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Enjoy this new chapter!

Chapter 16 - Looking through your eyes

The drive towards the General's mansion wasn't necessarily a long one, but to call it pleasant would have been an understatement. There were about a dozen soldiers sitting quietly in the back of the truck. The compartment was made entirely out of wood which caused it to look more like a big box than a proper army transport vehicle. But that was exactly the point of it all. They were, after all, travelling in disguise. There were no windows built into it either, preventing any daylight from shining inside thus making it an incredibly dark place. There were but a handful of small cracks in the wooden panels through which a tad bit of light found its way in, but it wasn't enough to make heads or tails of anything.

Erik Lensherr was experiencing a number of feelings being cooped up in there. He was a little anxious for what was about to happen, as well as excited, but also annoyed with how things were currently going. As he sat there in the darkness, he couldn't help but think back to those days of encampment. He knew far too well what it felt like to be in a confided space without knowing what time of day it was due to the lack of light. This was no comparison to those days, but enough to send a little chill down his spine. He glanced sideways to catch a glimpse of the people sitting next to him.

Ann was sitting on his left and on her other side sat Charles Xavier. They'd been stuck here together for half an hour, but it felt much longer than that. Every now and then Charles would say something to him in his mind. It was mostly insignificant matters, such as apologizing for being late this morning for breakfast or reminding him of the plan and how they were to exactly follow it according to Moira and Nikolay's orders. Erik wondered if Charles was also talking to Ann through with his telepathy, as none of them had talked, or were even allowed to, during the drive.

One thing he'd noticed for the past five minutes, was a slight trembling coming from the woman next to him. He felt it beneath him, vibrating through the wooden plank they were all sitting on. She was shaking her leg, moving her ankle in an up and down motion. It was beginning to annoy him a little, especially because she was touching his own leg every couple of seconds though she didn't seem to notice. Without warning he moved his hand and grabbed her leg firmly giving it a tight squeeze. She stopped shaking immediately and after a couple of seconds pushed his hold off her knee. He could have sworn he'd heard her click her tongue at him. But at least she had stopped her twitching.

Perhaps they'd all expected this to be an easy trip. Armivolkoff's retreat was in a secluded area, away from Moscow and deep within one of its surrounding forests. To the CIA's knowledge, infiltrating the place should be a swift process and without too much trouble. Nikolay Ivanov had shown them a detailed map of said area last night. There were a couple of guard posts surrounding the place, where soldiers from the Russian army made sure to check everybody coming and going. They were headed through a route where no guards nor post was positioned. Only as luck would have it, that did not go according to plan.

Nikolay, who was driving the vehicle filled with the three mutants and a dozen of American soldiers, couldn't believe what he was seeing in the distance up ahead. The informant dropped his jaw with surprise as he was driving down one of the supposed unguarded paths but then noticed the small tower and barrier blocking their way. Nikolay tightened his hold on the steering wheel, his heart pounding in his throat and an uneasy prickling warmth spreading throughout his body.

He swallowed heavily, his mouth dry and a drop of sweat made its way down his back. This was not how it was suppose to go. He quickly turned his head to glance out of the window, but the path was too narrow to turn around. The chance of the soldiers not having spotted him were slim and he was still driving on as the thought of turning back crossed his mind. Stopping midway and backtracking would only cause suspicion and the last thing Nikolay wanted was for the soldiers to check what he had stowed away in his vehicle.

He leaned towards Moira, who sat next to him in the passenger's seat. "This is not looking good. I'll try and convince them we're driving through towards our farm."

It was a lousy back up plan, but it was better than nothing. A fight was the last thing they wanted and even though Moira had assured him that all would be fine no matter what was to happen. In all honesty, Nikolay would rather engage in battle with the soldiers than get caught by his fellow countrymen. Treason was always punished more severely than committing murder or any other crime. He quickly reached behind him and pushed back a panel which turned out to be a rectangular hatch connecting them to the back of the truck. For the first time some proper lighting made it's way inside of the wooden box.

"Stay quiet. We've got company." Nikolay ordered them before closing the hatch again.

Ann tried to swallow the lump in her throat away for what felt like the hundredth time already. It had been there since the doors of the truck got closed up in Moscow. She had not expected to feel this uneasy at all. Sitting there in the dark and hiding quietly was not unfamiliar territory for her. But during those times she had mostly been on her own, at least this time she had some company. But even with Erik on her right and Charles on her left, she still managed to feel a tad bit frightened. And both of them had noticed it.

Erik had grabbed her knee a minute ago, she hadn't even been aware that it had been trembling as much as it had. And Charles had already told her more than once in her mind that she didn't have to worry about a thing. That he was going to take care of it all. She wasn't sure if he'd properly heard her thoughts after that, as she'd told him to not fret about her as she was perfectly capable of handling herself. After that he hadn't talked to her no more. Until now.

'Whatever you do, Ann, don't say anything. As I said, I'll take care if this.'

Ann had no idea what Charles meant or how he was going to take care of things, but the man always did have tricks up his sleeves. He could freeze people in a room for heaven's sake, but how was that suppose to help them out in this situation? Charles suddenly began addressing the soldiers sitting there with them. Ordering them to stay absolutely quiet and most of all not use their weapons. Ann wasn't sure if these men knew that the three of them were mutants or if Charles was doing something to their minds in the meantime.

The vehicle stopped and voices sounded on the outside. Russian voices and Nikolay's was one of them. A door opened and then closed shut, followed by the sounds of footsteps crossing gravel travelling around the back of the truck. Charles quietly reminded the men to take it easy and do nothing. Ann felt her heart pound in her throat and then the two large doors opened up right before them.

At the same time something rough clasped itself over her mouth. A gloved hand, pressing firmly against her face. Her eyes shot to the right and landed on Erik, who was the one making sure she wouldn't make a peep. She then turned her gaze back to Nikolay and the Russian soldier, who was holding a German Shepard on a lease. They both stared into the truck. Albeit with different expressions. Nikolay had a puzzled look on his face, his mouth hanging slightly open and his eyes shot from left to right. The soldier had merely thrown one glance into the vehicle before his dog decided to react.

The canine barked loud and viciously. It jumped into the truck with its lips curled back and its teeth showing. Ann moved in her seat and pushed herself back against Erik, her heart beating frantically in her chest. The Russian didn't seem to care much for his dog's antics for he pulled on the leash angrily, causing the dog to fall backwards onto the forest path with a loud whimper. The man cursed at the creature and then yelled something in his language at another officer. Nikolay seemingly relaxed and licked his lips before shutting the doors. Darkness once again filled the wooden box and various soft sighs emitted.

It wasn't until the vehicle moved again that Erik finally removed his hand from her mouth. "Entschuldigung." He whispered to her ear.

"That was rather uncalled for." She hissed at him as she quickly slid back to the left.

But Erik nodded in Charles's direction. "He told me to do it."

"I told you to only do it of you thought she was going to scream." The other mutant countered as he sat back down.

"Nice to know you two felt it necessary to talk behind my back." Ann muttered under her breath angrily crossing her arms, hoping they would arrive at the place soon.

::::::...::::::

Within ten minutes the three mutants, two agents and a dozen soldiers were gathered on the edge of the woods surrounding the estate belonging to General Armivolkoff. The place was rather heavily guarded, even more so than Nikolay had initially expected. The amount of Soviet soldiers appeared to not be the same amount as his information had foretold. On top of that each and every one of them were armed to the teeth. Extra protection because of the person the General was about receive no doubt. It made sense, but it placed them in quite the predicament. All they could do now was wait until Shaw would arrive. For Ann had gazed through Armivolkoff's eyes earlier and had found the place to still be empty.

This really was doing nothing for her nerves and the German woman had felt anxious ever since getting out of the truck. She was a little bit excited to see Shaw with her own eyes instead of through those of another. She was half expecting, and hoping, it was going to give her that extra push she needed to finally be able to see through his eyes, something she hadn't been able to. But if things were going to go as planned, it also meant there would no longer be a need for her to do so. That was why they were here after all. To capture Shaw and put him away for good.

She turned her head towards Erik who was lying on his stomach on her left side. A pair of binoculars in his hands, pressed up against his face and aimed at the large building ahead. He was keeping an ever watchful eye. This was his moment. The thing he wanted most. Perhaps Ann felt more nervous about what his reaction was going to be once Shaw would arrive than actually seeing Shaw get captured. She knew Erik wanted something different. His face was a mixture of emotions. He had his jaw clenched and his tongue flicked out of his mouth every couple of seconds to wet his lips. But his eyes were hard and cold.

Suddenly Erik moved the binoculars upward as a noise of swooping blades sounded above them. There was a helicopter approaching and that could only mean one thing. Shaw was finally here. Every single one of them eager and nervously watched as the chopper landed on the open field in front of the estate and someone stepped out of it. Only the surge of excitement and even joy was short-lived, for the person appearing was not Shaw. It wasn't even a man. It was a tall woman with icy blond hair and white clothes. She made her way through the short cut grass, in a pair of knee high heeled boots, towards the steps of the house.

"Where's Shaw?" Erik growled and he fiercely turned his head towards Charles.

The other man shook his head and bit his bottom lip. "I don't know. But she's a telepath and if I read her, she'll know we're here."

Ann opened her mouth but Charles immediately responded before she had the chance to tell him her idea. "Same goes for you, Ann. We have no idea if she'll notice you and we're not risking that. Let me try something else."

He leaned forward, placed his fingers against the left side of his head and closed his eyes. Whatever he was doing, he wasn't sharing it with any of them. A choice he made purposely for he knew it was going to spark a discussion between him and a certain someone sitting on the right side of Erik Lensherr. A faint voice echoed in the professor's head as he glimpsed through the eyes of a nearby soldier to eavesdrop in on the conversation the blond haired woman was about to have with General Armivolkoff.

'Shaw sends his apologies, but he's indisposed. He asked me to come in his place. And between you and I honey, I'm a lot better company.'

It had worked. Charles could hardly believe it. He quickly shut the connection between himself and the soldier and reopened his eyes. This was bad news, on multiple levels. He didn't dare to look at neither Ann nor Erik as he turned his body towards Moira who was lying next to him in the dirt.

"Shaw isn't coming." Charles pursed his lips. "So what now, boss?"

He wasn't coming? Erik's entire demeanour did a full one-eighty as he furrowed his brow angrily. He looked to his right at Ann who had the same confused look on her face. They had come all this way only to find out that Shaw had decided at the very last minute that he wasn't going to show? This was unbelievable. Erik's heart sank deep into his stomach. No, this wasn't going to happen. He wouldn't allow it.

"We're doing nothing for now. We're here for Shaw. Mission aborted." Moira spoke loud and firmly as she nodded at Nikolay.

Erik dropped his binoculars. "The hell it is!"

The CIA woman turned her attention to him. "Erik,-"

"She's his right hand woman. That's good enough for me." He countered.

His response was nothing if not predictive and even logical in some sense. But Moira couldn't have him run off into that open field with all of those soldiers standing guard, as well as those barbed fences blocking their path. He was going to start a full out war if she didn't manage to stop him. "The CIA invading the home of a Senior Soviet official. Are you crazy?"

But Erik wouldn't be Erik if he'd cared in the slightest what Moira or her entire organization thought what was best given their current situation. "Good thing I'm not CIA then."

As expected he got up on his feet and ran away from the lot of them. With Charles rapidly yelling in a hushed manner after him. "Erik, Erik!"

But it was too late. The professor banged his fist against the ground and cursed himself for not seeing what his friend was about to do. He should have frozen him on the spot. Shaw not being here was enough to push Erik over the edge of committing a reckless act. That being said, there was no doubt in Charles's mind that he might just be lucky enough to pull it of, but at what cost?

"We need to get out of here before he blows our cover." Moira said to him.

He couldn't agree more with her, but he also couldn't leave Erik in the hands of the Russians. He had to think of something. Going after Erik was all that he could do now. Charles pushed himself upward and jumped over Moira's legs. But he halted next to Ann and pointed at her, not giving her the opportunity to even react or follow him.

"You stay here! And don't do anything that makes that woman notice you."

His tone was harsh and judging, something he hated to do to her, but he had to. They couldn't risk getting noticed and he was certain that she might do something to try and help them. The fact that Shaw's second in command already knew about him and Erik was more than enough, Charles wasn't going to risk her finding out about Ann as well.

The woman stared at his back as he left down the same path as Erik had done. Now both of them were gone and heading straight into a Soviet Official's estate with guards, dogs and that was merely what they could see on the outside. Who knew what they might encounter in there? Ann reached for Erik's binoculars and looked through them onto the field. He was using his metal bending ability on the soldiers. Wrapping and trapping them tightly with the barbed wire. Her chest tightened as Erik continued his rampage of knocking every soldier over that dared to cross him. Within a split second he had made it into the building.

"He's already inside." Moira muttered. "And now Charles is out there as well." She added.

Ann lowered her arms and shoved the binoculars aside. "I take it leaving the premise is no longer an option?"

"Not anymore. Erik was a risk in itself, but with Charles having gone after him,-" The CIA agent paused and blinked. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. That was unkind."

"It was, but it doesn't matter. I know how you feel about Erik,- and Charles." The upper right corner of Ann's mouth twitched. "Let's see if I can manage to take a look inside."

Immediately Moira placed her hand on Ann's arm. "Charles told you to stay here."

"Oh I wouldn't dare to disobey Charles. Well,- perhaps just a little." She gave Moira a look and the other woman suddenly understood what she was talking about.

"Alright. Let me know if we need to get in there." She removed her grip and turned her eyes back towards the field where Charles was currently running across.

Ann took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Part of her was more than eager to ignore Charles and try and see if she could look through the eyes of Shaw's right hand woman. But the chances of her noticing her presence was more likely to happen than not. She was a telepath after all, just like Charles and he had also noticed her when she'd accidentally entered his mind. A risk she was willing to take if the situation really called for it. But for now she would lay low. Instead she was going to go for a safer option, one that wouldn't involve any telepath being able to notice her.

Erik.

As the image of said man entered her mind, Ann let out a shuddering breath. He was going to dislike her for doing this, but what other choice did she have? She tried the exact same approach as how she'd found Charles that time. His bright blue eyes, his brown hair on top of that long face with strong cheekbones and sharp jawline. The pull came instantly and there she was running through the corridors of Armivolkoff's estate.

Several Soviet soldiers lay on the dark wooden floor. All of them passed out. Erik rounded a corner and was met by another. He halted, raised his arm with an outstretched hand. The man in front of him began to groan as he dropped his gun to reach for his waist. Erik's fingers clenched into a fist and the Russian fell onto the floor, his eyes closed and his clothes looked seemingly tighter in the middle. He'd tightened the guy's belt in some manner to the point of him passing out. And Erik didn't stop there. Every soldier ended up with the same fate. Knocked down through the use of their own weapon. The mutant was on the hunt and everyone that came in his path had to pay the price.

"Erik!"

Charles's voice practically boomed inside her own head. Ann flinched. Apparently she could also hear him in her mind as he called out to Erik telepathically. It was a rather unpleasant feeling. Louder than what she was used to. Erik stopped and turned around to face him.

"Don't stop me, Charles."

"That's not why I came after you, my friend. Come on, I know where she is."

The pair ran down another hallway and ended up in front of a large black door. On the count of three, they pushed it open and rushed inside where they immediately spotted the blond haired woman, as well as Armivolkoff the Soviet General, only the latter appeared to be rather occupied. The diamond skinned mutant sat on a chair, scarcely dressed in nothing but her undergarments but still adorning her high heeled white leather boots. Armivolkoff was sitting on a bed, his arms moving in an odd manner and his tongue sticking out of his mouth. It was a weird sight indeed, disgusting even.

Suddenly the old man stopped and blinked. He lowered his hands and furrowed his brow. He started to shout and reached for his gun. But before he could do anything Charles was already one step ahead of him and told the General to 'fall asleep'. Ann had never seen him do anything like that before. It was the same as a little while ago, when he'd apparently used his powers to trick the Russian soldiers at the guard post into seeing an empty truck instead of one filled with three mutants and a dozen of American fighters. There really was more to this man than he let her, or probably any of them, to believe. She didn't like it one bit.

Shaw's second in command got up from her seat and before their very eyes her pink flesh turned into glass. It shone brightly, like a diamond, as she treaded through a ray of faint sunlight falling in through one of the large windows. She stared at Erik for a swift second before focusing on Charles, a smirk appeared on her face and she let out a faint chuckle.

"You can stop reading my mind, sugar. You won't get anything out of me while I'm like this."

Telepathy and a diamond skin. More than one power, just like Charles. Were all telepaths like this? An uncomfortable sensation went through Ann as she looked at the woman before her. Or perhaps it was Erik who was feeling this way and she could sense it from him. Nonetheless, she felt the same way. Compared to all of them she was the odd one out. Here she was, watching them, listening to them, even smell the faint scent of wood and cigar smoke coming from the table in the centre she could pick up on. But this was all she could do compared to them. Sit back and observe, nothing more, nothing less.

All of a sudden, the blond moved forward, ready to confront the two men head on. But Erik and Charles were alert enough to catch her as she jumped over the furniture. Grunting and shouting, they managed to push her all the way back towards the bed and pinned her against the golden metal frame. A jolt ran through Erik's body as the bars began to bend and encircle themselves around the woman's wrists. She let out a growl of frustration as she was pulled even further back against the bed. Completely stuck with nowhere to go. They had her.

Ann had seen more than enough, she had to go and tell Moira what was going on. But then she felt a rumble from within as Erik suddenly spoke.

"Tell us. Where's Shaw?"

It seemed Moira would have to wait.

The woman tried to wiggle her way out of the metal bars holding her down, though she must have realized that even in her current state she was no match for Erik. He continued his dominance over the situation as another part of the rail wrapped around her neck. Erik wasn't even using his hands in order to use his power. Ann wasn't sure if she was imagining this but she swore she could feel something tingle all over her body as the bar tightened more and more.

"Erik." Charles said sternly. "Erik."

But it seemed Erik chose to ignore his friend. His eyes were focused on the person on the ground. He gritted his teeth. Ann found it a little difficult to breath as he continued to display of his power.

"Erik, that's enough." Charles tried again.

The blonde began to gasp for air and her eyelids fluttered rapidly. A sharp sound of something snapping or breaking slowly was distinguishable. Ann felt another surge shoot through her. Erik was going to far. He was actually using his power to hurt somebody with full intent. No,- to the point of potentially killing her. But Ann couldn't look away as Erik lowered his eyes towards the woman's neck. Multiple cracks appeared on the diamond surface. He wasn't going to break her apart, was he?

"Enough, Erik!"

Finally Erik obeyed and the golden rail retracted itself from the female's neck. Immediately she turned back to normal and her chest heaved up and down, trying to put as much air back in her lungs as she could.

"All yours." Erik said to Charles and Ann could feel him smirk smugly as he spoke.

Ann pulled away feeling no need to eavesdrop on them any longer. When she returned to her own conscious self, she found herself looking up at the sky as she opened her eyes. Her chest felt tight, as if Erik had somehow squeezed the air out of her body as well. She blinked. Her eyes felt dry, as did her mouth, not to mention there was a slight throbbing in her head. The last time she had been looking through the eyes of another for this long, had been with colonel Hendry right before Shaw killed him. That had also been an unpleasant experience. She let out a shuddering breath as Moira appeared right above her.

"Are you alright? You fell over at some point. You gave us quite te scare, I tried to wake you but you were unresponsive,- Did you find out what's happening inside?"

Oh, that she had indeed. Not a thing about Shaw, but she had discovered quite a lot about two certain individuals. The things they were capable off. Ann wondered if Moira knew about this, but something told her that her friend wouldn't be quite as shocked as she was. With a little help from Nikolay, Ann sat up and rubbed the back of her neck.

"They caught her. There were soldiers inside but Erik and Charles took care of them, as well as the General. He's not dead, don't worry. None of them are. I don't know what's currently going on. I stopped looking as soon as they captured that woman."

Moira sighed with relief. Nobody had died and they had managed to capture someone who knew exactly where Shaw was. Considering all of this, the CIA agent felt it was safe to head in there. She looked at Nikolay, who nodded and motioned for their soldiers to move ahead. The auburn haired woman turned her attention back to Ann and smiled gratefully.

"Thank you for doing that. I'll tell Charles it was my idea,-"

However Ann immediately shook her head. "Don't. We did exactly as he asked. I doubt he'll give me any trouble for it. Chances are he didn't even notice." And if he had, there were plenty of things she had to say him with regards to what she'd seen him and Erik do out there today.

But as it turned out a lot more had happened after Ann had left Erik's mind, causing her to withhold her planned emotional outburst as soon as she'd spotted the two men walking out of the estate. Apparently Charles had read the telepathic female's mind and now knew the exact details of Shaw's plan. But he didn't seem thrilled at all. In fact, he looked pretty worried. He pulled Ann and Moira aside and explained to them what it was Shaw wanted to achieve. In the meantime the American soldiers had entered Armivolkoff's home to take the woman, Emma Frost as it turned out her name was, into custody.

"This all sounds too familiar." Ann muttered softly as Charles finished his story about what Shaw was planning.

"You should not be surprised, considering where it was that I met him for the first time." Erik reminded her.

He was right about that. Shaw had worked for the Nazi party. Perhaps he'd even been one of them, though he clearly had his own agenda even at the time. As Erik had explained to her before, Shaw checked on every single person displaying some form of abnormal behaviour. He'd tested Erik in many ways, most successfully through murdering his mother right in front of him. Ann bit her bottom lip, reminding herself that he had very good reasons for hating Shaw as much as he did.

She'd felt it when she was looking through his eyes as he nearly choked the life out of Emma Frost a few minutes ago. The anger and the disgust Erik carried with him always lingered close to the surface and now that he had been near one of those connected to Shaw, he could do nothing to hide it. It scared Ann more than she thought it would. The hatred he had reminded her a lot of how she'd felt for years, perhaps it was never fully gone but with Erik it seemed fresh. As if all of it had happened only yesterday.

"The other thing she mentioned,-" Charles continued, "Is that the CIA has bigger things to worry about right now. I saw it in her mind. Shaw is no longer in the area. He's currently in the US and on his way to go after the others."

"The others as in Raven and Hank?" Ann asked.

The telepath pressed his lips together and nodded. "I fear the worst."

Moira widened her eyes and scoffed loudly. "He's heading to the base? Why didn't you say so? We need to get back to the hotel and contact headquarters immediately. We have to warn them!"

The auburn haired woman turned on her heel and hurried into the direction of Nikolay. How was she going to warn them in time? What if Shaw was already there this very moment? The fact that they'd managed to capture Shaw's right hand woman seemed pointless. What good was any of it should Shaw succeed in destroying the entire base and on top of that kidnap every mutant they'd manage to gather? Coming here was suppose to be the end of it, but it seems luck was no longer on their side. Moira felt her cheeks heat up, she had to get them back to the United States as soon as possible.

The Hotel

The second they arrived at the hotel, Moira MacTaggert left all of them immediately to contact agent Frank or anybody else she would be able to get a hold of. Nikolay Ivanov went with her, only his task was to arrange a way out of the country for them. A private plane was their best option, but trying to get a hold of one at this time of day was going to be tricky. Therefore, for the time being, Charles, Erik and Ann went back to their rooms to prepare themselves for leaving Russia. At least that's what Moira told them to do. Charles, however, had other plans.

Once they reached the fourth floor, Charles hooked his hand in Ann's elbow, pulled her to a halt and told Erik to stop for a minute as there was something he needed to discuss with them. "But this is not the place. I suggest we head to my room so we can talk in private."

Both Ann and Erik looked at him with a frown but nodded. Charles pulled a key from the inner pocket of his jacket and opened the door to his hotel room. Once inside he ordered Erik to pull the curtains together after closing the window. In the meantime he locked the door behind him and pulled up a chair for his friend to sit on. Charles motioned for Ann to sit on the bed as he settled for a spot next to her.

"Right, I know there's a lot going on currently, a lot of uncertainties. But I,- we, can't sit here and wait until Moira manages to contact the CIA to see how things are back there. We need to do something ourselves. It might even be quicker and more thorough that way." Charles spoke rapidly. There was a tilt in his voice indicating that he was probably incredibly worried about what could be going on at the base.

Of course, Erik knew exactly what Charles was implying and he looked over at Ann to see her reaction. Based on her slightly parted lips, he could already tell that she knew what Charles wanted to ask of her and that she was about to protest. Though he could also see her hesitation. She'd never been able to find Shaw before. And he had tried to make her do it more than once. How was she going to pull that off now that they needed it the most? It would take a miracle and Erik did not believe in those.

"What are you suggesting, my friend?" He asked and arched an eyebrow. "You want Ann to try yet again to find Shaw? And should she by some stroke of luck be able to, what good will that do? We're here in Russia. Right where he was suppose to be."

Erik said the latter part with a low guttural growl. He felt tricked by what had happened and even though they had managed to capture Shaw's second in command, he was not satisfied at all. Shaw clearly did not care about the blond haired telepath, why else would he be halfway across the world conducting his own plan?

Charles gritted his teeth at Erik's comment. "I'm not talking about Shaw. He's not the one whose wellbeing I need to know of."

He then turned to Ann with that grim and concerned expression she'd seen for the majority of the day. But most prominently during their ride back to the hotel. Charles had been incredibly quiet, which was not at all like him. Staring out of the car window with his hand clenched into a fist and pressed against his mouth. And now he was staring at her with an intense gaze and he licked his lips quickly before speaking again.

"Ann, I know this might be a lot to ask of you, but I need your help. More than anything." He paused and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I need you to search for Raven and find out if she's okay. I have an incredibly bad feeling about all of this and I can't,- I can't see that far. Not without a machine to help me." His voice croaked a little a he spoke.

His question did not come as a surprise. Ever since he told them where Shaw was headed, according to that Emma Frost. Ann had a suspicion he was going to ask for her help in some shape or form. In all honesty, she had tried already to pick up on Raven as they were driving back to the hotel in Moscow, but to no avail. She wasn't sure if that had been because of the literal bumps in the road throwing her off her focus, or because she was tired from having looked through Erik's eyes for that long. She hadn't told either of them as of yet that she'd watched them without their knowledge.

But she wondered if she was even capable of finding Raven now. This place was much quieter, but the pressure was the same. Raven was her friend too, in a sense, despite not really knowing her that well. But what she really didn't want was to disappoint Charles, not when there was so much at stake. He really loved the girl like a sister. He sounded incredibly hurt, perhaps guilty even for the way he'd left things between him and Raven right before heading to Moscow.

Ann nodded with sympathy. "Of course I'll look for her, Charles. I'll do my best, but I,- I,- don't want you to get your hopes up. I don't have anything that belongs to her."

"Now is as good a time as any. I know you're capable of finding her. You just need to believe in yourself." He told her, his mouth forming a small smile. "You've already looked through her eyes once before. Surely that must give you some advantage? Besides, you and I both know you can find a person without a personal item. You did so with me."

There he went again, trying to boost her confidence and show her he had faith in her powers. He meant well, she knew this, but it was becoming an incredible repetitive cycle and she couldn't help but sigh a little. There was no significant proof that it was easier for her to find a person if she'd seen through their eyes once before already. It was merely a theory she had.

Though it was true that she had been able to find people by merely thinking of them. She had done so with Charles and now Erik as well. Only with Erik she suspected it was because he had been close by and with Charles,- Well, with Charles she wasn't really sure how that had ever been possible. She hadn't even been thinking about him that hard.

"That was different." Ann reminded him.

Charles cocked his head. "How was that different?"

"I,- I don't know." She exhaled deeply. "That happened on accident. I just don't want to disappoint you, Charles. What if I can't do it and meanwhile something awful is happening to her? I wouldn't be able to forgive myself or look at any of you." She lowered her head and averted her eyes.

"It sounds as if you're not even willing to try,-" Charles answered shortly and immediately Ann looked at him again.

"How can you say that?"

"She has a point, Charles." Erik suddenly spoke up, interrupted them.

The other man blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

""Like I said before, even if we find out what is going on at the base, there is nothing we can do. If Shaw is there and he is after the others, who knows what will happen? They don't know anything about him. What if they try to attack him? None of those kids are a match for his powers, Charles. Technically it doesn't matter whether or not Ann is capable of using her ability to do what you want."

It wasn't as if Erik cared about those kids. Well, perhaps he did a little. But he hated wasting time more than anything. Should Ann be able to see what was going on, if she happened to succeed, where did that leave them? She could looking at a battlefield, a slaughter taking place before her very eyes. Neither him nor Charles would be able to see what was going on. No, the best thing would be for them to get back to the US as soon as possible and for Ann to simply keep trying to find Shaw so they would not lose his trail once he'd left the base.

"I don't care, Erik. I need to know if Raven is safe. If all of them are safe. Knowing something is better than sitting here in the dark. You of all people should know that." Charles raised his voice loudly and a quiet spell fell over the room once he was done.

He'd had quite enough of this. Did neither of them understood what he was going through? That wasn't entirely fair for he knew very well the hardships both Erik and Ann had endured during their lifetimes. He hadn't expected to be met with such resistance. At least from Ann he'd hope for a different response. He understood her concern, he really did. But she was his only chance. He didn't want to wait until Moira got her information from the CIA. He wanted a more reliable source.

Charles then felt something soft touch his hand and he looked down to see Ann's on top of his, giving him a reassuring squeeze. He raised his eyes and watched as she threw him a small smile. That was all the confirmation he needed and he let out a sigh of relief. Charles nodded and moved a little as Ann turned and sat more upright.

She was feeling rather self-conscious at the moment. There she was, once again, about to use her ability with two men practically breathing down her neck. She knew why she was doing this, but truthfully it would have felt better had she been alone in the room without them.

"Thank you." Charles whispered at her, but she didn't reply. She had to focus.

Ann closed her eyes and thought as hard as she could about Raven. The way she looked, the way she sounded when she spoke and laughed. That moment they'd shared talking over a fast food meal together. How kind Raven had been to her from the moment they'd met. How she confided in her about her powers and on how she hated her blue skin, red hair and yellow eyes. It took Ann a little longer than it had with Erik and with Charles. But she replayed these memories and thoughts about Raven over and over again in her head. Until she heard a loud bang and followed by a scream.

Guns fire sounded all over the place and people were screaming. There was nothing to see at first, until Raven slowly raised her head with the other mutants standing right there with her. Raven focused her eyes into the distance, where a tall man with skin as red as a fire hydrant stood surrounded by several agents. His dark hair slicked back and a long tail flicked from left to right as he fought against them with not one but two swords.

Ann had seen him before, when she had been looking for Colonel Hendry. He was one of Shaw's men. A cloud of red smoke appeared and the hellish looking creature vanished into thin air, only to reappear somewhere else a millisecond later. Raven turned her head into the other direction where a large tornado rushed across the backfield straight over the observatory where Hank kept Cerebro. The odd golf ball looking dome broke apart in mere seconds. It then took a turn and went straight into their direction.

One of the agents who was outside got caught in the crossfire and was hurled with great force against the sitting room's window. It shattered into a million pieces and Raven screamed from the top of her lungs and hid behind Alex Summers. Ann could feel the panic surging through the young woman's body. How long had this been happening and where was Shaw? Considering his people were both here, he could not be far behind.

"Do you want the mutants? They're right there through that door. Just let us normal people,-"

A loud thud was heard and whoever had been talking had abruptly stopped. Not only that, but it would appear that everything had suddenly come to a complete halt. Ann could no longer hear any screams nor the sounds of weapons being fired. All had gone quiet. Her heart pounded rapidly in her chest and then her attention was drawn to the double doors as one of them was pushed open.

She recognized the person stepping into the room immediately. At least this time he wasn't wearing that ridiculous white suit, though there was some sort of odd looking thing covering the majority of his head. A helmet of sorts. But there was no doubt about it. Emma Frost had shown Charles the truth. Sebastian Shaw was indeed in the United States and at the base.

Ann felt warm and her skin tingled all over. He was there, with reinforcement. Destroying the base and killing several CIA agents. What was he planning on doing next?

"Where's the telepath?" Shaw asked out loud and he turned his gaze to the red skinned man standing on one of the window sills.

The devil shook his head. "Not here."

Had he been looking for Charles? Oh no. What was she suppose to do now? Stay and listen to see what else they were going to reveal. What were they planning on doing to Raven and the others. A sharp sting erupted inside her head for a split second and she winched, trying her hardest to keep her connection to Raven intact.

"Too bad. but at least I can take this silly thing off." Shaw seemed rather disappointed at hearing that Charles wasn't there.

Ann couldn't stay, despite wanting to. She had to tell Charles and Erik what was going on. Again that same sharp sting shot through her head, only this time it was followed by something else.

'Stay, Ann. I'm right here with you.'

What? That sounded an awful lot like Charles.

'It is me.' The voice said. 'I'm in your mind.'

I'm sorry to end it here but, well, cliff hanger?

Charles is riding along, but how? Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out and what Ann's reaction will be. (Perhaps you can all guess what it would be).

I do hope you all enjoyed it. Would love to hear your thoughts!

Until next time!