He'd never been in charge of training another mutant. It was a big step for him. Peter thought about when he'd started his training and knew what his first step was. By the time he'd thought it through, he was standing next to Hank. The shock of Peter standing next to him caused Hank to bang his head. Peter caught the blue tint skin appear on his forehead, but anyone else would have missed it. Nobody noticed things like Peter.

'You'd better have a good reason for giving me a migraine' said his closest friend.

'You remember when we started X-men training you gave us all those tests to check out our limits. Fancy having a look at Crystal?'

'Get her down here now. I've been waiting for someone to ask me that since she got here. From a research point, she's fascinating. I looked into her files when I hacked into the systems to delete her information. The things she can do!' Peter could tell Hank was excited. He was speaking almost as fast as he did.

Within three minutes, Peter had Crystal in the lab, ready for Hank's testing. He could have done it in seconds but thought it was best to explain where he was taking her.

'We'll start with basic fitness tests' Hank said, pulling out his equipment. Crystal was strapped to heart monitors and all other sorts of wires that Peter had no name for. Science was not his thing. Not that he hadn't spent a significant amount of time doing the same tests. He had once been Hank's favourite experiment. Pushing his limits to see how much Peter could endure. The answer was a lot!

Crystal looked uncertain. It must have reminded her of her x-facility days. Peter zipped to stand next to the mutant he had shared such a tender moment less than half an hour earlier. With his support, they managed to get her fitness tests done.

'Wow! I'm impressed. You did better than nearly all the team. You fall straight into second place.' Said Peter gleefully. He had expected much worse.

'Better than you?' she smirked. She was in a good mood despite the testing, her smile reached her eyes. Peter noticed all the little things all the time. Crystal's little thing was that her eyes gave him access to her emotions. She also pulled her hair away from her face when she was upset. She would play with her hands when she was nervous. Damn it! Peter had become an expert on her body language. He hadn't meant to, she was just like nothing he had ever seen before. Peter realised he was lost in his pace again, Crystal and Hank weren't moving. He'd had a whole revelation about how he had obsessively studied her in the past three days and realised this was more than a physical attraction. She had barely finished the original sentence that brought on this epiphany.

'No one beats Peter at this bit. His mutation gives him practically unlimited endurance. He wore the first three treadmills out.' Hank said this proudly. Peter remembered how excited Hank had been when given the almost impossible task of measuring Peter's speed with technology that wouldn't hold up.

'Well then, what's next?' She sounded slightly impatient. Maybe she was tired. No, that wasn't it. She was an old pro at this. Her whole life was testing. She wasn't tired, this must just bring up bad memories for her. Peter made a mental promise not to have her down here too often.

Hank has Crystal perform various tests with the different elements while he ran her blood through his machine. Peter watched as she created solid blocks with the air, made water appear, throw fire across the room. The professor was right. She was pure power. But, she seemed to have an exceptional level of control over this. What was the professor worried about?

'Well,' Hank took off his glasses and sat at his many computer screens. This was going to take a while, and Peter hadn't eaten in what felt like forever. He dashed upstairs and made a sandwich, ate it and grabbed two cans of Pepsi. He placed one in Crystal's hand before Hank had got to the next word. 'Your psionic abilities are incredible. I've never seen any mutant that's able to control all four elements. That must be the inhuman DNA in you. I think that's why you have such strong physical endurance and speed compared to the average mutant. You're like a mutant plus.'

Hank was gleeful. This was his favourite part of the job. He continued to go on about how Crystal controlled the elements on a molecular level. He wanted to take her into the danger room to see if she could cause a tornado, but Raven was training, and it was best not to disturb her. Peter knew that Hank would be like a dog with a bone until Crystal had destroyed the lower levels with wind power.

Peter couldn't help but notice Crystal sat calmly through Hank's mini science lecture. She was so still; Peter had to check a couple of times he'd not accidentally slipped into 'Peter time', as the students called it.

She finally posed a question, 'what do we know about these Inhumans?'

Good question. Peter had to keep reminding himself she was half-alien. Half-alien, half professor. He knew how to pick them. Though his dad would be proud, not one part of her was human.

'I hacked their system to delete you from the database the night you got here, while the professor used Cerebro to delete you from the employees' minds. We don't have all the information, but we believe that they were the first breed of mutants. They started to react to something in the air that gave them powers. When humans found out the majority took the source of the mutations and fled the planet. A few stayed, but without the source, their offspring showed no sign of mutations for generations. That is until this century. The dormant genes have begun to activate again due to the radiation caused by mankind. Your mother, we know a little more about. She was given the code name 'power source' by x-facility. She came to earth to hide the source of the Inhumans' powers. She was captured by x-facility and used in their breeding project until she caused a psychic blast ending her life'. Hank spoke softly and handed Crystal his handkerchief once he was finished.

As she silently wept, Peter couldn't resist pulling her towards him and holding her tightly. He scooped her up, so they were sitting and just let her cry. Hank and Peter watched helplessly until she composed herself three minutes and seventeen seconds later.

'I want to stop now, please' pleaded Crystal.

Peter had a compulsion to stop the testing for today and started to help Hank pack everything away. This was the first time Crystal had used her voice manipulation in the mansion, and it almost went unnoticed. As Crystal stood up, her Pepsi fell from the bench Peter had sat them on. He automatically kicked into gear to catch it before it hit the floor. As he did, he realised his compulsion to stop the testing had gone. There were still things he wanted to know. At least he did know that as long as he could run, Crystal could never use her voice against him. Not that she needed to. He would do whatever she asked, even if he disagreed.

'How did you do that?'

'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I don't know how it works.' He could tell she was embarrassed.

'It's fine. You're safe down here. I promise we've had much worse. Scott's brother set the danger room on fire constantly in the early days.' Hank was as reassuring as possible, but Peter saw Crystal pull her hair back from her face. She was upset.

'Hank let's call it quits for today' Peter didn't want to break Crystal's morale or upset her. He should take her somewhere safe. It was twelve in the afternoon; the students would be starting lunch. He had a plan. Within minutes, he had whipped up a lunch, a blanket, set up a picnic and had Crystal sat outside to enjoy the summer afternoon.

'Wow, how long did you have this planned? It's pretty impressive.' She'd never had a picnic before. She'd never been treated with such kindness, it filled her with so many mixed emotions. Peter, on the other hand, was impressed by how well Crystal was adjusting to him moving her from place to place. She'd reacted the same way everyone else did the first night, but she was becoming used to the motion very quickly. She hardly seemed phrased at all now.

'Well, I've rushed you through the day, so to speak. I thought it'd only be fair to slow down and let you see the joys of the mansion. Training's fun, but there are other benefits to living in a mansion with a billionaire. The food is always good.' He gave her a little wink causing her to giggle gently.

They spent an hour talking and laughing. Crystal wanted to know about his childhood, so he told her about his mom and sister, his step-dad. His basement collection and how he used to steal twinkies just for something to do. In return, she had given him an insight into life in the x-facility and how she had grown up. He listened intently, placing his hand on top of hers, stroking his thumb across the back of her hands. She was overwhelmed by his compassion. She had never felt valued before now.

After their lunch, Peter had to leave to teach a class. He had the youngest mutants come out for their daily exercise. 'You'll be able to see from here if you want. They're always a handful. Only the professor can keep them calm, and I know he cheats.

As she watched, she saw Jean approach her. They hadn't had many conversations, but she always seemed sweet and pleasant.

'He really likes you, you know.' She started it like it was such an indisputable fact. Like the whole school knew.

'They pretty much do. Sorry, I don't mean to. It's hard to control.' Jean looked down as if she was embarrassed by her gift as well.

'I understand. I don't have a clue what my secondary mutations are and no idea how to begin to control them.' Crystal realised as she said this that she had a lot in common with Jean. She saw a future life-long friend.

'Jean, honestly...does it get easier?' She didn't have to elaborate for Jean to understand the full meaning of the question.

'With the professor's help, yes. Trust him, and it'll get better?'

The two of them bonded at that moment. The girls knew the other would be there as a shoulder to cry on in years to come.