Author's Note: No, your eyes are not deceiving you. After over six months of no activity, I've finally finished and uploaded the next chapter for Turning Tables. It's been a long time coming, but due to the fact that life has frankly sucked for the past few months, it's just taken awhile to get my creative juices flowing enough to be able to update this baby.

That being said, I'm pretty happy with this chapter, but considering the fact that fun things start happening next chapter, I thought it would be a good idea to get this updated so that I could get to the fun parts that will quickly start. And yes, that means the mansion, where lots of things happen.

But we do check up with Daniel first, because the Daniel subplot becomes so important for a lot of parts, including the sequel, which is in the planning stages with the first chapter given a detailed outline. But there's some foreshadowing for the sequel in here as well, so see if you can pick it up. I hid it pretty well, but it's there. But there's Alex and Miranda bonding, because we can't get enough of that, can we?

Hope everyone enjoys, and I do not own First Class. I wish I did. But I don't. Leave a review on your way out, even though I don't really deserve it.

And in other news… Hunger Games. Friday. So freaking excited that it's not even funny. Anyone else? ;) Leave your thoughts in a review, so we can celebrate it.

EDIT: So apparently this chapter couldn't be seen when I uploaded it last night, so here's the second try. I know that others are having this problem all over the site, so I'll try uploading it this time and see what happens.

Turning Tables
Erik glared at her. "You haven't even heard my plan yet." "I don't need to. It involves boats and a sociopathic doctor. It won't end well." With a partner in his vendetta against Shaw, Erik Lensherr thought things would change. He was right. Erik/OC

Chapter 20

Unknown Location
1962

Screams, the sound of splashing waves, the screech of twisting metal, the bang of a gun.

Hot white pain quickly followed.

The pain swallowed him whole. He couldn't think, couldn't breathe, couldn't focus. He could only lay in the rough sand, listen to someone scream his name in horror, and the sound of rushing water, followed by silence and choking noises, with a dull thud soon after.

He couldn't see it all; he couldn't focus.

All he could feel was the intense, hot white pain, and as his hand fumbled to his side, he felt the rumpled fabric of his shirt, the rough sand of the ground beneath him, and then, finally, the hot blood pouring from the wound on his side.

Someone screamed his name again as strong, calloused hands pressed hard against his side, trying to staunch the blood flow. His body shook at the pain, and blood slowly flowed from the corner of his mouth as he choked. The choked sobs of another came through, and his body slowly went still, his body cooling quickly as blissful oblivion came over him again…

To Daniel, however, the vision did not end.

It only carried over into reality.

It was as if his body was the one that had been wounded. Not blood came from his side, but Daniel's faced was twisted in pain, and his haggard gasps and sweat-soaked hair only showed what Daniel now knew Shaw had expected.

Daniel's powers were advancing.

The vision had come suddenly, when Daniel hadn't been prepared. One moment, he had been snarking on the floor and taunting everyone within earshot, and then he had shouted, in surprise and fear and pain, and then the vision had come, full force, leaving Daniel in the state he was in now. It was if Daniel's body couldn't tell the difference between reality and vision.

Azazel stood to the side, watching warily as Daniel continued to choke. A moment later, Daniel's whole body shook from pain as blood came from his mouth, landing on the floor as Daniel threw up what little food had reached his stomach in the past few days. Daniel was still chained to the wall of the sub, but the handcuff keeping him trapped seemed to be the only thing keeping him from collapsing completely to the ground.

Daniel couldn't breathe; he could only choke as more blood came through his throat and onto the floor in front of him. His face was slowly becoming pale, and yet, he was slowly able to realize what was going on around him, the voices of the mutants in the cramped quarters.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" came the surprised and even fearful voice of the newest member of this time, the one that had betrayed everyone just to go with Shaw. Angel, Daniel dimly remembered, as more blood hit the floor. That was what her name was.

"If I knew, I vould stop it," Azazel snapped back.

It was as if those words were the trigger. A second later, Daniel took a shaking breath, and his body slowly stopped shaking. He breathed slowly and quietly, his eyes fluttering open, the world in front of him blurred to the point that he could only see vague shapes, in particular one familiar shape of red.

"He's still alive?"

Shaw. Of course he would know something about this. That vision was proof that Daniel was more powerful than he gave himself credit for. The vision proved that Daniel was the current key between victory and defeat for Shaw and his little crusade.

He was only one key, however.

And Daniel knew that Erik was the other.

"What the hell was that?" Angel repeated, a bit off to the side.

"Daniel's powers are unique," Shaw explained. His voice came closer as steps echoed on the floor. Daniel was too weak to reply or even look up, and his body had only just stopped shaking. "He's going to be quite useful. Isn't that right, Daniel?"

Too weak to reply, Daniel's chocolate colored eyes slipped shut as he succumbed again to blissful unconsciousness.

State College, Pennsylvania
1962

"Okay, so you're allergic to peanuts-"

"No, shellfish."

"What is it with you and water?"

"We don't get along. It's Katie that's allergic to peanuts."

"Okay, then who's allergic to eggs?"

"No one."

"Then why is it on the food list?"

"Because Erik, Katie, Sean, Raven, and I all hate eggs."

Moira rolled her eyes as she crossed the item off the list. "If all of you hate eggs, just don't eat them," she told Miranda, who scowled from her position on her bed. The motel room was more than a little cramped, but it was more than enough for Miranda that she wasn't sharing a bed with Erik tonight, despite the new status of their relationship. The plan to stop for the night in Scranton had flopped when everyone realized that they were exhausted and just needed to sleep. Luckily, a motel nearby had enough room for them all.

"Fine," Miranda said, rolling her eyes again as she looked at her own list. "Why are we taking care of the medical stuff?" she wondered as she took another file from the briefcase on Moira's bed. She frowned at the front. "Here's Sean's. Oooh, his school record's in here." She grinned.

"Because Charles pretty much has all of the training ideas down, and Erik is just adding his own ideas," Moira explained. She chuckled as Miranda proceeded to pull out Sean's record. "We have a lot of personal records for them. Birthdays, criminal records, all that jazz."

"Why was Alex in jail when we got him?" Miranda asked, glancing over at her friend with a frown.

"Breaking and entering," Moira explained. She sighed as she pulled out Alex's file, holding it out to the mutant as she took it. "He took the max sentence."

"Just to stay somewhere that no one could get hurt," Miranda murmured. She bit her lip before looking at Sean's school record again. She rolled her eyes. "God, Sean has spent a lot of time in detention."

"High school," Moira murmured wistfully, chuckling quietly. She shook her head. "I don't miss it."

"Me neither," agreed Miranda, nodding once briskly.

It was at that moment that a pounding on the door started. Miranda and Moira exchanged a surprised glance with each other before looking over to the clock on the other side of the room, which was set firmly at 11:03 PM. The two exchanged another glance as the pounding continued, seeming to almost increase in intensity.

"Miranda, Moira, it's Sean!" a frantic voice exclaimed, slightly muffled through the wooden door. The two women exchanged a confused look as Sean added, "It's an emergency, you've gotta open up!"

Miranda sighed before standing up and walking towards the door. She stepped back as she unlocked it. The door swung open immediately, revealing a panicking Sean, Hank following closely behind.

Before either woman could ask, Sean blurted out, "We can't find Alex!"

For a moment, neither Miranda nor Moira could speak. They both just stared at Sean in a combination of horror and confusion. Moira was the first to regain her ability to speak, and managed to get out, "Wait a minute, you lost Alex?"

"We didn't lose him exactly-"

"We lost him," Hank confirmed, rolling his eyes at Sean.

Miranda groaned. "Tell us what happened," she said, in a voice of forced calm. "Now."

"Okay, so it was like an hour or two ago, and he said he was going to get something to eat at that store nearby. Except he hasn't come back yet."

"So you think he… what, ran off?" Miranda asked. The entire time that Sean had been speaking she had looked more and more worried, and as she ran a hand through her brown curls, Moira saw the protective spark in Miranda's eyes that reminded her of a mother.

"Or Shaw grabbed him," Moira murmured, saying the possibility that none of them wanted to consider.

Miranda bit her lip before walking over to the coat rack, grabbing her black coat. "If I'm not back in an hour, get Erik and Charles," she ordered, pulling her hair into a quick ponytail. She pulled on her coat as she explained, "If it's Shaw, I'll be bait. If Alex just ran off, I'll be able to find him quickly enough."

Moira nodded briskly in agreement. She then turned and frowned at Sean. "Why didn't you go to Erik or Charles?" she wondered, cocking her head as Miranda wrapped the scarf around her neck, grabbing her gun from the table nearby.

"Because Erik scares the shit out of me," Sean replied bluntly, staring at Moira as if she should have known the answer.

Miranda only rolled her eyes as she hurried out the door, praying that she would be able to find Alex before it was too late.

She didn't have to go far.

State College was a nice enough time to be sure. College kids were out on the town, which was expected easily enough. Miranda could remember Friday nights back in college; she and her friends had made it a point not to go home until they absolutely had to.

But that had been a long time ago.

She found Alex in a pawn shop. She watched in the window as Alex examined a small, intricately detailed wooden box. In one hand was a purse that Miranda knew was Katie's, one that she had been complaining when missing since lunch that afternoon. In the other was the plastic container than held Darwin's ashes.

It was only a few minutes until Alex pulled out the wallet from the purse, pulling out the money needed for the box. Miranda couldn't hear what was being said, but she had a good idea what the conversation contained. The owner frowned at the purse before gesturing out towards Miranda. Alex turned, freezing in surprise as he saw Miranda waiting outside.

She sighed before raising an eyebrow at him. He nodded once before taking his change back, heading to the door a second later, both the plastic container and wooden box in hand. A moment later, the bells on the shop door jingled as Alex stepped out, walking slowly towards Miranda.

"How'd you know?" he asked softly, looking down at the concrete sidewalk.

"Sean and Hank came to my room, saying that they didn't know where you were," she explained. She looked at the box before looking back at Alex. She gestured behind her. "There's an ice cream parlor about two blocks back that way, open until midnight. Let's go get something, and we'll have a talk."

Alex rolled his eyes before shoving past Miranda, stalking in the direction of the ice cream parlor. Miranda only sighed before following him in the shadows of the town.

Twenty minutes later, the two sat on the wooden picnic table just outside the ice cream parlor. Neither spoke nor ate the ice cream that Miranda had bought them. Alex kept the plastic container and wooden box on his lap.

Finally, Miranda broke the silence. "Did I tell you about the first time that I used my powers?" she asked, looking over at the teenage blond.

Alex jumped in surprise, and then returned a suspicious glance towards Miranda. "No," he said slowly, not sure where Miranda was taking this conversation, if she even had a point to get to in the first place.

Miranda smiled nostalgically before saying, "I was young. I think I was around Sean and Katie's ages when they first surfaced." She readjusted her position. "I've always hated water. I almost drowned when I was about four, so I never really went in it after that. When I was a teen, though, my friend knocked me into the water as a joke. My powers surfaced in that instant. I nearly electrocuted myself and my friend, Andrew."

"What happened to Andrew?" Alex asked, looking over to Miranda. His face was carefully blank, but Miranda saw the look in Alex's eyes, a look that she knew all too well.

Miranda sighed before taking a quick lick of her ice cream. "We both survived. But Andrew has suffered heart problems ever since." She paused as she looked up at the night sky, closing her eyes as she continued, "He thought it was a freak thing, that we were too close to power cables. But I knew I did it. Because of me, one of my good friends has suffered ever since, and will suffer ever since." She shook her head. "Eventually, his heart problems will kill him."

Alex nodded, suddenly refusing to meet Miranda's gaze. "That didn't happen to me," he whispered. His hand clenched the plastic container tightly.

Miranda swallowed. "What did happen to you?" she asked.

For a few minutes, both were completely silent. Alex gaze at the wet grass below them, and Miranda watched the blond mutant, the teenager that she saw so much of herself in that it definitely scared her half to death. If she had a choice to go back in time, she knew that there was a lot she would choose to change.

But at the same time, she knew that she couldn't. No matter how much she might wish it wasn't so, David was dead and had been dead for years, Colin, her son, her baby boy, was dead and never had a chance to live, and Miranda wasn't the same girl she was when she first used her powers. She had loved and lost so much.

But now, she had another chance. There was another chance for love in her life, and she wasn't going to let that slip away if she had anything to say about it. There were kids in her life that needed help, and Miranda would be damned if she just watched them struggle without doing anything about it.

For the first time in years, Miranda had something to live for. And she was going to make the most of it.

"I was fifteen," Alex murmured. He looked up, but stared forward, his eyes dark, refusing to meet Miranda's gaze. "My dad and I had just had a huge fight, and I was in the kitchen. My mom was pregnant, and she came down during it. I just… my power just activated. My house burned down…" Alex's voice cracked a moment later. "My dad died in the fire."

Miranda's eyes softened before shutting, swallowing hard before asking, "And your mother?"

"She survived," replied Alex, his hand clenched into a fist and quickly turning white. "My younger brother Scott was upstairs when the fire started, but he got out. My mom and I did too, and my mom had my brother Gabe a few months later. But from there, I just went downhill… I just wanted to get away from people, so that no one else would get killed…"

"It wasn't your fault, Alex," Miranda said firmly, shooting a sharp glance towards him.

Alex gave a bitter scoff. "It was, Miranda," he corrected. "I got angry, I couldn't control it, and I killed my dad. I nearly killed my brothers and mom." It was almost as if he couldn't stop talking now that he had started, "I haven't talked to my mom in two years, since I got in jail. I can't… and I can't look at Scott and Gabe knowing that I killed our dad."

"Alex, look at me," Miranda interrupted sharply. Alex finally forced himself to look at the brunette, who continued, her voice softer, "That was not your fault. There was no way you could have controlled it. It's okay to feel upset about it, it's okay to grieve, but do not blame yourself for something that is out of your control."

She hesitated. "You should call your mom, Alex." Alex looked away, his face carefully emotionless, and Miranda continued, "Alex, she's your mother. She has to miss you. Just call her, and see where it goes. Don't you think you should hold on to what you have left?"

Alex swallowed. "Right now, I can't," he refused, shaking his head. "With everything going on, I don't want to risk getting my mom or brothers involved."

Miranda nodded slowly. "It's your choice, but you need to just know you're not alone in this, Alex," she told him firmly. "We're all stuck in this situation. It's going to be hard, but we're going to take Shaw down and deal with it."

Alex nodded firmly, but then hesitated. "I didn't want Darwin's ashes just sitting in a plastic container," he admitted, looking down at the two items in his hands. "I saw the pawn shop on the way into town and thought I could find something nicer…"

"Don't worry about it," Miranda interjected. "We were worried you ran off or Shaw grabbed you or something. Just tell someone next time, alright? We can't afford to be divided right now." She sighed before standing up, tossing her ice cream cone into a nearby trashcan. Alex did the same, and Miranda patted his shoulder as she took the purse from him. "Let's get back to the hotel."

As they walked, Alex shot a curious look to Miranda. "Do you think Katie is going to kill me for stealing her purse?" he asked.

Miranda chuckled. "If I know Katie, death would be merciful when compared to what she might have planned for you," she replied, laughing at the resigned look on the blonde's face.

Alex sighed as they continued on, prepared to meet whatever consequences he might have to face.

It only took a few minutes to reach the motel again, but it was more than enough time for Miranda to realize that she and Alex had been gone for much longer than the hour window that Miranda had given Moira. In fact, the door to Miranda and Moira's motel room was open slightly, enough for Erik's voice to be easily heard.

Miranda stopped outside it, holding out a hand to keep Alex from entering. "Wait, I want to hear this," she whispered, straining to hear whatever Erik was saying inside the room.

Alex rolled his eyes. "You're horrible," he teased, chuckling softly under his breath.

"Shut up and let me listen!" Miranda hissed, slapping his arm to keep him quiet.

"It's been over an hour." There was no other way that Miranda could describe the tone of Erik's voice other than panicked. He actually sounded worried, and that couldn't help but bring a simple smile to Miranda's lips when she realized he did care. "I'm going out to find her."

"Miranda can take care of herself, Erik," Charles's calm voice replied, though Miranda could hear a trace of worry in it.

"Against Shaw, alone, while she's looking for Alex? No, she can't."

Miranda narrowed her eyes as Alex laughed quietly; he smirked at the glare that she shot him.

"But we don't know State College at all," pointed out Moira. Miranda smirked at the fact that, as always, Moira was being logical and realistic even in this situation. "If Shaw grabbed one or both of them, it was because they were alone. By splitting up and going out to look for them, we're giving them more targets."

It was at that point that Miranda finally grabbed Alex's arm and pushed the door open. The gazes of the rest of the group, who must have come after Moira had told Erik and Charles, immediately went to the new arrivals, and Miranda gave a cheerful smile as she caught the carefully hidden relief on Erik's face. "Relax, we're fine," she said, gesturing to herself and Alex. "We're right here. Not captive, not missing, not dead."

Erik shook his head, rolling steel blue eyes. "Do I want to know?" he asked.

Alex swallowed before holding up the wooden box. "I didn't want to keep Darwin's ashes in a plastic kitchen container," he explained bluntly. He held up Katie's purse. The teenage girl narrowed her eyes darkly at Alex as he continued, "So, I kinda stole Katie's purse – sorry, Katie – and got him a box that's actually nicer than plastic container."

The explanation received reactions all around. Whatever protests Erik had died as his blue eyes turned from suspicious to solemn. From her position near Charles, Raven's gaze went to the carpet. Sean visibly flinched, and Katie swallowed hard.

"And then I wanted ice cream, so we went to get ice cream," Miranda finished, smirking slightly to herself. "I found him like a half an hour ago, but there was an ice cream place open, so…"

Erik rolled his eyes. "Of course you did."

Katie stood up and limped over to Alex, hitting him hard on the arm as she took her purse back. "I would have given you the money if you had asked, you idiot," she pointed out, hitting his arm again as she limped back to the bed, huffing as she sat down between Caroline and Hank.

"Can we go back to bed now?" Caroline asked groggily from Katie's other side. She was leaning against Raven, her eyes drooping quietly.

Miranda chuckled. "Go to bed, brat," she ordered. She smirked before ruffling Alex's messy blond hair. "That means everyone. We're leaving bright and early, right?" she asked, looking to Charles for confirmation.

Charles nodded, chuckling slightly to himself. "She's right. We'll get to our destination late tomorrow afternoon, so the earlier we leave, the earlier we get there."

"And the sooner I get out of sharing a car with Sean," Katie added, looking much happier than she had in the past few days.

"I still say we just put Katie with Caroline and let Al and I share a car," Sean put in.

"We're not doing that unless we want the car destroyed," Raven replied, shaking her head as she headed out the door. The younger mutants followed her, Hank helping Katie out, leaving the four adults alone.

Miranda turned a victorious grin towards Erik. "Worried about me, huh?" she asked, barely able to hold back a yawn.

Erik rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Hanson."

Miranda's grin merely turned to a smirk. "Make me, Lensherr."