Hello! Don't hate me because this is a very short chapter! There is plenty more to come, I promise!

Harper got to her room and closed the door, locking it behind her. She walked farther into the room, her ankle throbbing and she ran her hands over her face and through her hair. As her palms went over her face she felt the wetness on her cheeks. She untangled her fingers from her hair and her arms fell down to her sides. She shook her head and found herself standing in the middle of her room and she started to laugh. She laughed harder, feeling the tears falling down her cheeks that were not at all happy ones. Her laughing subsided and she whipped the tears away. She smiled to herself but it wasn't a happy one.

"What were you expecting, Harper?" she said to herself, as she went to sit on the edge of the bed, not being able to stand on her ankle any longer.

For him to say he actually felt something for you.

Harper shook her head violently and ran her hands through her hair again.

"No. No, you weren't. He made it very clear that he has hates humans."

Not you.

"No, including me."

It doesn't seem like that.

Harper sighed with frustration. This wasn't supposed happen. This couldn't have happened.

But it did. And she couldn't deny it even though how much she wanted to.

She had feelings for Erik Lensherr and she had believed that he would have some for her. Though his explanation downstairs confirmed that he didn't. She had blinded herself with everything that had happened over the past couple of weeks. Thought that all the little gestures were something more. It was all in her mind. Harper put her head in her hands and cried.

Harper had managed to regain some of her sanity and composure. She reminded herself that she needed to get her notes from her lab. Harper took a quick look in the mirror and wiped away mascara and eyeliner smudges. Her eyes were slightly red but there was nothing she could do about that. She opened her door and looked down the empty hallway. She took a deep breath before closing the door behind her and headed to the lower levels. She only encountered students thankfully. She got down to her lab and switched on the light. She walked over to the case where the microscopes were kept. She opened the glass door and reached for one of the microscopes. She wrapped her fingers around the eyepiece and turned it. She unscrewed the eyepiece until it popped off. She reached into the body tube and pulled out a key. She put the eyepiece back on and then crouched down to the lower shelves of the case. She pushed aside several pieces of medical equipment to expose the back and a keyhole. She unlocked the hidden vault and reached in, grabbing her notebook. She shut the vault but didn't bother to lock it. She put everything else back in place and then left her lab.

Her ankle and side had gotten worse pain-wise throughout the day so she decided to stop by the kitchen to get an icepack. Harper felt stupid, treading carefully through the mansion so she wouldn't run into Erik. It gained her a few odd stares from the students but she ignored them when she finally reached the kitchen which was empty. It was late so she expected no one would be in here. She set her notebook on the counter and went to the freezer. As she reached into grab an icepack, she heard footsteps behind her. She turned to see who it was, praying it was a student. Angela walked into the kitchen and smiled when she saw Harper.

"Hey, Doc," she said. "Getting a snack before bed, eh?" she asked, indicating the freezer. Harper smiled and shook her head, grabbing an icepack and closing the freezer. She held it up so Angela could see. "What do you need that for?"

"I, uh, trained too hard in the gym today," she said gently pressing the pack to her side. The cold sent shivers through her body but soothed her aching hip.

"Well, then. I take back what I said earlier." Angela sat up on one of the bar stools and rested her arms on the counter. Harper grabbed her notebook and walked over, standing opposite of Angela. "What's that?" Angela asked, indicating the book.

Curious as ever.

"Just some research I've been doing. Busy work."

"What kind of research?"

"Oh, just boring scientific stuff with huge words that you wouldn't understand." Angela raised an eyebrow and then rolled her eyes.

"You're probably right."

"No, I am right," Harper said, then sighed. "It doesn't matter anymore now. I've lost interest in it all so I've stopped." Harper patted the notebook as if it were an old friend she were about to send away for a long time. She shook her head and looked back at Angela. "Have you checked in with Jeremy since his fall?" The teen mutant shrugged.

"Yeah, but only to tell him how stupid he is." Harper smiled and let out a small laugh.

"You know what they say about girls who are mean to boys: they have a crush on them." Angela made a gagging gesture with a noise to go along with it.

"Or they're just total jerks." Erik flashed across Harpers mind.

"Your right. They are total jerks," she said, the disdain clear in her voice.

"Whoa there Doc. What's eatin' you?" Harper shook her head.

"Grown up stuff," they said at the same exact time. Harper and Angela laughed and Harper nodded.

"I should probably retire for the night and so should you. You've got an early class tomorrow if I remember correctly." Angela groaned and slipped off of the stool. "I'll walk you to your room." Harper grabbed the notebook off the counter and walked with Angela upstairs. She walked Angela to her room which she shared with another student. They said goodnight to each other and Harper headed back to her own room. When she got back, she hid the notebook as well as she could. If anyone did come looking, the first place they'd suspect was her bedroom so she tried to be as crafty as she could. After hiding the notebook, Harper changed into black sweatpants and a maroon tank top. She scraped her hair up into a messy bun and settled into bed. She placed the icepack on her ankle and laid back. She turned the bedside lamp off and before she knew it, she was fast asleep.

The student snuck out of their bedroom as quietly as they could so that they didn't wake up their roommate. It was late and there was no one else in the halls. They slipped on their jacket that they had grabbed and headed for the back door. They crept out and once outside they headed to their designated spot far away from the mansion. They crouched down in the brush filled area and closed their eyes.

Hello? Can you hear me, Carter?

Yes, I've been waiting to hear from you. Well, more like Max has. He is quite impatient.

Of course he is.

Have they suspected anything yet?

I'm not sure. I think they have their suspicions but I don't think that I'm on their radar. Tell Max that it's going to be hard to get new copies of those notes. Harper Pierce has moved the notebook.

There was silence from Carter's end as he relayed the message to Max.

It doesn't matter, Max says. Steal the whole thing this time if you have too.

getting the notebook is the least of our problems. I think Pierce has stopped her trials.

There was an even longer period of silence.

Max has a plan. He needs you to execute it tonight.

Tonight?! Is he crazy?

Relax. He recruited a new teleporter. They will come to get you and will inform you on the task and take you where you need to go.

*Seattle, Washington*

The mutant woman and the teleporter appeared out of thin air in the kitchen of a small apartment. All lights were off and the inhabitant of this place was sound asleep. The mutant woman quietly crept in the dark, the teleporter close behind her. She went straight to the bedroom. She cautiously opened the door and it took a while for her eyes to adjust. Her eyes then focused on the motionless figure in the bed. The target. She motioned for the teleporter to stay by the door as she moved farther into the room. She went right up to the side of the bed and crouched down. She observed the sleeping man. He was young, at least 23 years old. He was handsome. He was also a mutant. He could manipulate electrical impulses and basically shoot lightning from his fingertips. Though that wasn't going to be a problem. The mutant woman slightly blew on the man's face. The man stirred and his eyes slowly opened. The man blinked a couple of times and adjusted to the darkness enough to see the outline of a woman's face and her brightly colored eyes. She smiled brilliantly. her white teeth shining through the dark.

"Hi," she said in a low, dangerous voice. Though before the man could attack her with his power, the woman used her quick reflexes and jumped on top of him, pinning him to the bed. The man felt something prick his neck and then felt something in his body disappear. It was the surge of electricity that he always felt…it was gone. The man shoved the woman off of him and he lunged at her. But she was faster. She moved out of the way and grabbed his wrists, pinning his arms behind his back. The man struggled to get out of her grasp. He looked up and saw a man with light blue skin standing in front of them. The teleporter punched the man in the jaw. The man groaned in pain. The teleporter threw a couple more punches and a few kicks to the stomach. Soon, the man was unconscious.

"Alright, that's enough. Let's get out of here," the woman said. The teleporter grabbed her by the arm and teleported the three of them out of there.

There was a pounding. It was loud. Harper listened to it, thinking it was in her dreams. Then there was the shouting of her name. Harper opened her eyes and realized that someone was at her bedroom door, pounding on it, yelling for her to get up. Harper suddenly became very alert and untangled herself from her bed sheets. She hurried to the door, unlocking it and swinging it wide open. Standing there was teenage student that she sadly didn't recognize.

"Dr. Pierce, you have to come quick! It's awful! Please! Please!" Harper nodded and ran alongside the student through the halls. It was still dark outside and Harper guessed that it was very late. A door to the right swung open and a tall figure stepped out.

"What's happening?" Harper stopped and looked at Erik. His hair was mused from sleep and all he wore was a pair of dark grey sweatpants. Harper eyes lingered longer than they should have on his bare chest until they went to his face.

"I, uh, don't know."

"Dr. Pierce!" the student, who had noticed Harper was no longer following him, called from down the hall. Harper and Erik both looked at the student. "Hurry! C'mon!" He beckoned. Harper glanced back at Erik before rushing down the hall. She heard the thump of his own fast paced footsteps behind her. The student was ahead of Harper and Erik the whole time that he led them to their destination. They hurried down the staircase and when they reached the bottom, Harper almost didn't believe what she saw.

There was a man, lying face down on the floor by the front door. There were a couple other students there, kneeling next to the unconscious man. Harper rushed to the stranger's side, telling the students to back away. Erik helped back up some of the more curious students.

"What happened?" Harper asked no one in particular as she crouched down.

"Well, I was walking past the front door to get a late night snack and I heard a knock on the door. I opened it and this man was just lying there. I got a couple other students to help me drag him inside and then I ran to get you, Doctor." Harper looked up at the student, who she now recognized as Jack. Harper scanned the small crowd of students and saw Angela, her face grim. Erik moved to stand opposite of Harper, looking down at the man. Harper turned her attention back towards the stranger. Harper scanned the man with her eyes. He was beat up severely and there was dried blood in his messy dark hair, which hid his face. Harper gently shook his shoulder to see if there would be any response but there was nothing. Harper looked up at Erik and motioned him to crouch down as well.

"Help me flip him over onto his back. Gently." Erik nodded and they both carefully grabbed the man. Harper grabbed both shoulders while Erik grabbed the man's legs. Harper counted to three and they turned him on his back. There was more blood on his shirt and Harper observed that he was wearing what seemed like pajamas.

"Look away kids," Harper warned, although she knew they wouldn't. "Someone go get the Professor," she ordered.

"Already done. Charlotte went to get him," Angela said.

Harper nodded as she looked at the man's face. She gently swept away his hair to reveal his face completely. Harper's hand retracted immediately and she fell back on the floor. Her breathing became labored and she felt the sting of tears in her eyes.

"Dr. Pierce? Are you alright?" she heard a student ask but she didn't, couldn't, answer them.

"Doctor?" It was Erik this time, but she still kept her attention on the unconscious man. "Harper." Erik's strong tone made Harper look up at him. She wanted to say something but the words were lost in her throat.

"Alright I'm here. What's going on?" Harper heard Charles' voice and looked up at him. Charles immediately saw the situation and the horror was evident on his face. "What happened?" He looked at Harper. "Harper?" She didn't answer him, just stared. "Harper, what is it?" Charles asked. Harper blinked several times and felt a tear fall down her cheek. Then she looked back down at the battered, young man. She started to speak but nothing came out. She cleared her throat and tried again.

"It's my brother," she said, her voice hoarse.

"What?" Charles asked, alarm in his own voice.

"He's my brother."