Peter felt out of the loop the moment they got back. He knew Charles, Erik, Raven Hank knew something he didn't. They would look at Crystal with pity whenever they thought he wasn't looking. He wanted to pry the information out of Crystal, but she wasn't acting her usual self. He put it down to her experiencing the memory of her mother. He knew when she was ready, she'd tell him why everyone was looking at them strangely.

He didn't have a lot of time to think about what the others were hiding, as Raven had upped training to a ridiculous amount. She had them practice in their teams ready for an attack on the mansion every day. Which meant Peter, Crystal and their fathers were locked in an inescapable room for an hour every day. It always ended in two things: a successful mission and an argument between Charles and Erik after Erik killed the fake soldiers. The tension between the two caused the young couple some concern, especially when their names got thrown into an argument.

One day Hank had seemed to have enough, but instead of calling the usual time out, he pulled Charles and Erik out, telling them they needed to see something. 'Peter, Crystal. Don't waste the hour or Raven will kill me. Rerun the simulation with just the two of you.'

'You ready?' Peter pulled his goggles down as Crystal nodded.

The lights came up as the danger room became a replica of the x-facility (or, at least how Crystal remembered it). The stimulation had soldiers with plastic guns and sonic blasters. Even though they knew they were completely safe, neither of them wanted to be hit with pellets. They aimed to get out with the fake crystals Hank had made in hand.

'Let's go.'

They moved flawlessly between each other. At some point, Crystal had readied her hands for Peter, and he took her to the blasters. When he joined her speed, she'd already destroyed the blasters by freezing them. He was impressed with how quickly she could find her bearings after he moved her. They moved onto their next targets: the soldiers and the fake control room. Crystal finally created that tornado for Hank, and it swept away all their enemies. While that was happening, she created platforms of air for Peter to run up, so he could reach the control room. He threw the last two guards into Crystal's whirlwind and 'opened the gates' to the building. Crystal summoned the fake crystals through the air and Peter yelled time.

Hank's voice came from the speaker above '2 minutes, 34 seconds. Well done you two.'

'Well, that was quite extraordinary.' Charles was at the door. 'How did you become so in-sync with each other?'

'Good communication, I guess.' Crystal smiled as Peter worked his way down from the ledge and placed his arm around her waist.

Erik walked in behind Charles, 'no, it was more than that. You predicted where he was going to be with those platforms. I understand how Peter would know what you were doing so quickly, but not the other way around'.

Crystal looked up at Peter, slightly puzzled. 'Maybe I've just noticed his patterns, and I'm pre-empting his movements.'

'No - I've checked all the tapes. It's always random, yet you two always sync up.' Hank's voice came from the speaker again.

'Why does that sound like we're having more tests ran?' Peter looked up as he said this, clearly not as interested as Hank was in this new development.

On top of all the training and new testing, Erik had any mutant who would notice the early warning signs of an attack taking part in nightly patrols. He, Charles, Jean, Kurt, Peter and Crystal were all roped in. After four months, they had become used to the disturbance in their sleep. It didn't help that Crystal and Peter were essentially running double shifts, unable to fall asleep without knowing the other was lying safely next to them.

Peter would run laps around the mansion for two hours, then go wake up Erik for their switch. Crystal would sit in the TV room on the sofa, reading a book or writing an essay (it was the only time she could sit and do it with all the additional training). Tonight she was reading Hank's paper on her and Peter. He'd concluded that if mutants were in a relationship and in close proximity to each other for long enough, and their mutations complemented each other, they may blend over time. He believed that their synchronicity was caused by their full understanding and trust for each other on a subconscious level. It seemed like the roses all over again to Crystal, Hank was trying to link it to science. Really, she just knew what Peter would do in certain situations like he knew what she would do.

It was June, and as the nights were warmer, Crystal left a window opening during duty. The air was still. The only rapid movement was Peter running. Suddenly that stopped, and she felt a breeze across her face.

'It hasn't been two hours already has it?' She asked as she felt Peter's hands rubbing her shoulders and neck.

'No, but I wanted to give you this.' As he spoke, he handed her a silver rose from the garden and sat beside her. 'I've just realised it's past midnight. One year ago today you created those roses after I was such an awesome teacher.' He laughed, remembering the events of that day.

'No, you kissed me, and I got distracted.'

'Can't keep using that excuse. Trying to make out I have an impact on your body and powers. It isn't fair to me. It's pure slander.' He smirked as his hand ran up her knee and across the inside of her thigh, he squeezed it ever so gently, but it still made her release a small moan.

'Peter we're on duty.'

'You'll sense a change in the air from thirty miles off. I can literally be 45 seconds.' He was coaxing her now, but she was determined not to give in.

'45 seconds? That doesn't sound very enjoyable for me.' She pulled her neck away from his lips, trying to pull herself up straight.

'In 45 seconds, I can give you the same amount of pleasure you'd get from three hours, but all at once. Don't pretend you don't enjoy that when I know you do.' His hand was vibrating down her body now, causing her to lose her resolve. She gave another small moan and whispered to him '30 seconds tops.'

True to his word, 30 seconds later, they were sat fully dressed, composing themselves, kissing each other slowly and softly. Crystal felt the movement from upstairs but continued her tender moment with Peter. It wasn't until a knife came flying towards them from the kitchen that they parted. Peter caught it in his hand, while Crystal had started putting a dome around them. Peter lifted her arms around so that when he rejoined her time, the dome was entirely in place, though she took it down straight away when she saw their attacker was unarmed now.

'Is this how you two complete a watch?' Erik was whispering, but his anger was evident.

'Relax, we knew it was you.' Peter threw the knife into the dartboard across the room. Treble 20. Crystal knew he'd clearly cheated. 'No need to try and kill your own son for making out. Try living in a house with two psychics, eight empaths and a dad who just pops up when you least expect it. Chrissy and I don't get a lot of alone time.'

'You're calling Charles dad now?' Erik looked visibly hurt by the thought. He'd been working hard on being a father to Peter. Still, it was difficult to bond with an adult who acted like a teenager and had the attention span of a toddler.

'No. I was talking about you. You have this creepy habit of popping up every time Chrissy and I think we have a minute to ourselves. Although this is the first time you've tried to injure me in the process.'

'It would have never hit...' Erik cut the end of his sentence short when he saw Crystal walk to the window. 'Crystal, what's out there?'

'Don't you feel that? The air is being disturbed by something big.' There was panic in her voice.

'Helicopters' Eric replied 'they're here.'

'They're just in my range. About 30 miles away.' She focused on the fire alarm and pushed the air around it, the bells went off. Everyone knew what to do. She and Erik were to lock the house down, while Peter collected all the students and put them in the tunnels. Erik threw metals plates at the windows, while Crystal fused them to the walls with heat. It took them less than three minutes to cover every possible entrance, except at the front door. Afterwards, they ran to the main hall and were met by Peter and Charles.

'Remember, no violence. We want them away from the school as quickly as possible.' Her father had been clear in that, but as he spoke, Erik's armour was flying downstairs and wrapping itself around his body. He had transformed into Magneto before their eyes. It didn't help that Peter had found a few extra milliseconds to grab his silver jacket.

'Really? Is this the time for a costume change?' Crystal couldn't understand the vanity that ran through the family at times.

'They're nearly here. Let's go.' The four of them walked out of the house in solidarity, though it wasn't the ideal family outing. 'Crystal, if you'd be so kind.' Her father gestured to the house. She focused on the conifer trees lining the drive. She focused them on wrapping themselves around the house as a protective dome. It drained her energy a little but would provide Jean more time getting all the students through the tunnels.

The helicopters landed. A small army of soldiers emerged, guns were pointed at them from every direction. Erik looked slightly at ease by the sight of all the metal, they clearly weren't expecting him to be here. 'Are you sure this will work Charles?' he muttered, trying not to move his lips too much.

'No.'

Crystal felt Peter grab her hand. She thought he was ready to run but he couldn't. He mustn't.

'Well, well, well.' Stryker stepped off the final helicopter. 'This is a pleasant surprise. I thought I'd have to rip the school apart to find these two, yet you've got them ready for me to pick up. You're too kind, professor. And adding yourself and the world's most wanted mutant as a bonus. I really don't deserve this.' The smug look on his face made Crystal want to set him ablaze.

'Colonel Stryker, we'll leave with you peacefully, but the school has been emptied. I would ask you to leave it be.' Her father spoke in such a polite manner it took Stryker by surprise, but he still had a quick retort.

'Fair enough but know that when I control you, you're going to track down every single one of them for me. Then I'll have him bring them back, and her kill the ones that are no use to me.' He nodded his head towards Peter and Crystal as he spoke. 'Crystal, it's been a long time. Don't look so shocked. I had a fail-safe to make sure I remembered you. When we met in January, I knew I'd seen you before. A helpful psychic was able to help jog my memory and pull the missing pieces together. We're going to have so much fun.' He grabbed her face and pulled it close to his, separating her from Peter. His touch revolted her. 'Don't worry. I won't let you get away again.' Then, as if she was nothing, just to show his authority, he licked down the side of her face and laughed.

The four of them continued to hold their ground, though how none of them reacted to his action bewildered Stryker. What he couldn't see was Charles mentally holding Peter back from ripping him to pieces.

'Let's move out.' As this was said, Stryker stood back, and a wave hit them. Crystal felt her eyes close and then blacked out.