April 22, 1968

"Alright," Raven said, helping Azazel to his feet, "God, you weigh a ton."

He rolled his eyes. It had been fairly easy to find someone with the appropriate key card. She'd done a bit more shifting and swiped a few more badges. Now she had several in her possession, and she had the feeling that the last one she'd nabbed would open Azazel's collar as well as his cell.

She just hoped that no one went into the facility's basement any time soon. It had been the only place big enough to hide all of the unconscious guards.

"Now for the collar-" she began.

Raven?

Raven gasped and held the side of her head.

"Devochka?"

"My brother's calling me," she said, "Just, a minute."

I'm here Charles, she thought, setting Azazel down.

Thank God. Are you alright?

I managed to shift into one of Trask's goons before he started carting everyone away, she thought, I know where Alex and Todd are, but I can't get at them. I think I have a solution to that though.

Which is?

You might want to see this through my eyes, Raven said.

She looked over at Azazel. Raven felt a slight prickle behind her eyes before it withdrew.

Are you quite mad?

Charles, I know what it looks like, she thought, But he was a prisoner here.

The man is a murderer!

Understood, Raven said, But he's also a teleporter, and for some reason I didn't think that he deserved to be chained up and bated like a bear. Charles, they did a number on him.

She could almost hear her brother's chiding sigh. Raven was getting sick of him treating her like she was a child.

Fine, Charles thought, Just...be careful alright?

I will be, Raven thought, Are you all coming?

We're just getting ready to set out, Charles thought, I wanted to see if I could find you. You are all are close to the Institute, but without the Blackbird things are going to be a little slower.

When will you be here? Raven thought.

Perhaps an hour. Hank did some work on these engines.

I can try to meet you at a certain point, thought Raven, I'm not sure about the landmarks around here though.

There was a pause, and she knew that Charles was thinking.

Try to get them to the roof, he thought, That should be recognizable by all of us. We have several people who can fly.

They have robots that can hover.

I'm aware, sadly, Charles thought, What we need to do is get out of there as quickly as possible before they even know we're gone. Under no circumstances are you to take any unnecessary risks.

I am more than capable of-

Raven, I know you're not a child, thought Charles, And you're right: I don't want you hurt because I love you. But there's another reason too. We've heard reports that they are currently developing a way to make those robots adapt to any mutant's mutation. They're looking into mutant's DNA to see how it can be done.

She felt sick.

You mean...if they catch me...

Yes, Charles thought, We need you to stay out of the worst fighting. No matter what happens Raven, you can't be captured, and you can't be hurt. And for once it's not just my protective nature talking.

Raven managed a smile.

I've got you, she said, Just...tell me when you get close.

I know your mind. I'll be able to find it.

I'll see you soon Charles, Raven thought.

So will I. Stay safe.

She felt Charles leave her mind. She breathed in and looked at Azazel. He was giving her a speculative look.

"Your brother, he is telepath?" he asked.

"Yes," Raven said.

Azazel shrugged.

"Did not know mutation goes to both siblings," he said.

"It's not like that," she muttered, bending to put his arm over her shoulders, "I'm adopted."

He raised his eyebrows and Raven took out the key card that she hoped would work.

"Don't you dare leave me here as soon as I get you out," she said, "You owe me."

He gave her another speculative look before nodded.

"Da," he said, "I do."

She tapped the key card to Azazel's collar. The collar unbuckled. Raven took it off and tossed it onto the ground. A few wires sparked as it lay there and she glared at it.

"Filthy thing," she said.

"You just saw and hate," Azazel said, "Four years for me. Your hate is nothing."

He smiled.

"Feel as though I can breathe again."

"Good," Raven said, "Because now it's time to rescue Alex and Todd."

Azazel cracked his neck.

"Just tell me where are," he said.


Alex had fully regained his faculties by the time he started to feel hungry. He knew that he would have to parcel out that feeling. He didn't know how long he was going to be without food, and he had to prepare for the worst.

The first thing he'd tried to do was blast the door down. Instead there had been a beeping and he'd ended up with a headache. It was then that he noticed the collar around his neck and he silently swore. Whatever was around his neck was blocking his powers.

He cursed Trask for the millionth time and began looking for any weaknesses in the construction of the cell. He had just started to do a thorough inspection of the hinges when he heard a soft bang from the other end of the hallway.

"What was that?" Todd asked.

"Get back," said Alex.

"Do you know what it was?" asked Todd.

Alex didn't respond, but yes, he knew exactly what it was. He'd had a few nightmares about that noise, of being pulled from place to place without knowing how it happened or where he was. He didn't understand what it was doing here, but he most certainly didn't trust it.

A minute later he saw a soldier come down the hall, half supporting Azazel as he moved. It made for an odd scene.

"What the hell?" Alex asked.

The soldier turned to him and, for a moment, the eyes flickered gold.

"Raven, you are awesome," said Alex.

"This makes this the second time I've disguised myself as military personnel in the past forty eight hours to save your ass," Raven said, "You'd better be grateful."

"I am," Alex said.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Azazel smirk.

"Just curious what that asshole is doing here with you," he said.

"He's another prisoner," Raven said, "And until you all develop the ability to teleport, he's going to be incredibly useful getting us out of here. He's not going to be the only one helping us though."

Alex's eyes lit up. So Peter and Lorna had made it back. They were going to come for them, and things were going to work out. He put a hand on Todd's shoulder as Raven began scanning a key card on the door.

"Looks like I didn't need a plan after all," Alex said.

"You could come up with a back up plan," Raven said, trying key card after key card, "So far all we need to do is get up to the roof. They're going to pick us up there, and luckily they won't know we're gone for hours."

Todd got up next to him, touching the collar around his neck.

"Do you have something for this?" he asked.

"How do you think I got this guy out?" Raven asked, jerking her head towards Azazel, "I just need to figure out which one of these damn cards works for this cell."

The frustration in her voice made Alex pause. He noticed then that she only had a few cards left. She flicked her eyes up to them and he gave her a look of understanding.

"None of them are working, are they?" he asked.

"You might be too new here for any of the cards to have access to you," Raven said, frustrated, "Azazel, could you-?"

"So soon after last?" asked Azazel, "I have not done this for four years! I will end up in middle of bars."

Alex wanted to say that he didn't see how that was a bad thing, but he bit the comment back. Saying things like that wasn't going to help the situation, and his first priority had to be getting out of there.

His eyes zoomed in on Azazel's unshackled neck. Maybe his study of the door's hinges had had a purpose after all.

"Well, I do actually have a plan for that."

She cocked her head.

"Which is?"

"Give me the card you used for Azazel," Alex said, "I can probably blast the lock if I have my mutation. It's just a basic one, the door should just swing open once it's gone."

"That's a pretty big should," said Raven.

"I know doors, and I know door locks," said Alex, "You know I used to rob places, right?"

"You did what?" Todd asked.

"I had a troubled youth," Alex said.

"You're still in your youth!"

"I kinda grew up when I was seventeen," he said, "But Raven, come on. I can get the lock off."

"Probably burn whole place down," Azazel muttered.

Alex gave him a filthy look.

"Things change, and my mutation is one of them," he said.

Azazel gave him a piercing look, which Alex returned evenly. Raven flipped through the cards until she came to one. She nodded to herself and passed it through the bars of the cell, and Alex took it.

"I don't even know if this one's going to get you free," she said.

"If it doesn't, then we'll talk about another plan," Alex said.

He pressed the key card up to his neck. For a moment nothing happened. Then there was a slight clicking noise, and the collar came off. Todd punched the air and Alex took the collar off. He flung it at the wall before handing the key card to Todd.

As Todd pressed it to his collar Alex looked at the lock. He put one of his fists in front of him and summoned up a blast of energy. It hit the lock and the lock broke, causing the door to swing forwards.

When it did an alarm went off. Alex cursed and hurried out of the cell, Todd tossing his collar aside and following Alex.

"Smooth," Raven snapped.

"Not really our first priority right now," Alex said.

The door opened on the other side of the cell. Alex directed both of his fists towards them and sent several bolts of light towards them. They hit the ground and Alex looked back at Raven and Azazel.

"We need to teleport out of here," he said.

"Three at once?" Azazel asked.

"For a guy who she didn't have to free, you're certainly acting like a prima donna," Alex snapped.

"How about we stop fighting and get a bit more concerned about the freaks who run this place?" Raven said.

Her voice came out sharp and demanding. It was like getting scolded.

"As far as I can tell, the plan is still the same," Raven said, "We still need to get to the roof. When Charles contacts me, I'll tell him what's going on down here. Until then we still need to get up there. If Azazel can't teleport right now, then we're going to have to give him some more time."

She gestured to Alex, her expression still ablaze and irritated. When she did Alex caught Azazel staring at her. Granted, everyone was staring at her, but this was different. The look on his face was almost adoring.

Creepy.

"Any ideas about how to do that?" she asked.

Alex swallowed and looked at the hall.

"Todd, bring up the rear," he said, "I'll bring up the front. If we see more than one guard, then we call each other. We give it ten minutes before we teleport."

He looked at Azazel.

"Think you can handle that?" he asked.

"Da," Azazel spat.

"Good," Alex said, "Then let's get moving."