Erik wasn't in his room in the morning so I resigned myself to the shared kitchen of the living space they assigned us.
After pouring my first cup of coffee Hank wandered in with an empty mug. As he saw me, a slightly relieved look mixed with surprise spread across his face, but it quickly disappeared when he noticed I was looking at him as well. He glanced away before greeting me, "Morning..."
I sipped my coffee and nodded in acknowledgement. Hank shuffled around and then went to rinse his mug out, "Uh, how was your night?"
"Alright, " I shrugged, wondering why he was being so fidgety, "how was yours?"
"Good, great! In the lab, getting some work done... all good..." he replied, trailing off, "You were there too for a little bit…. and you're here, not somewhere else. Here. Which is also…. good."
"It is good," I repeated after him. Frowning, I motioned around his body with my empty hand, "What is, all of this?"
"What?" He blinked, mouth hanging open.
"The way you're acting." I didn't know Hank well at all, but even the dimmest person could tell something was off.
Hank's eyes darted around looking for something distracting, but finding no immediate escape, he relented and came clean, "I was worried last night and... It's just nice to see that you're still... here."
"Oh," my brows raised in surprise that he had correctly guessed I didn't go outside to just get a breath of fresh air. "Did you think I was going to leave?"
"No, no. I, no. It's just you and your brother and," Hank struggled to find the correct words to use, "he didn't seem like, well he said something, and-"
"Hank!" A chipper voice interrupted his floundering and Hank's face visibly lit up, relieved that he had been saved from his own faltering explanation. Charles strolled in, hands in the pockets of his pants, "I've come to tell you to start that contraption of yours," he smiled, "why don't you go fetch Raven and we'll meet you there?"
Hank nodded and set off to find her, looking happy to escape from the room. Charles walked closer to me took a cup out of the cabinet, serving himself a cup of coffee. He leaned on the counter behind him and lifted the cup towards me, smile still on his face, "So, how was your evening?"
Figuring that Charles had gotten information from non-direct means, I rolled my eyes, and took another sip before speaking, "Thought I said to stay out of my head."
"Ah," he tilted his head forward, "but I did."
"I'm sure Hank wouldn't appreciate someone picking his mind like that," I said, setting the mug on the counter and crossing my arms.
"Well, if he has any grievances with me, then I would be glad to hear him out," he noted drinking from the cup, "and by the way, I do agree with him."
"Agree with what?"
"That you've stayed, I'm very happy that you did," Charles stared me on directly, face more serious than before. For some reason I couldn't hold onto his new earnest expression, so I broke his intense gaze and fixed my eye at the plain cabinet behind him.
"I'm staying with Erik," I reasoned with him, giving the same excuse I gave to my brother. Erik was the deciding factor in my decision, but I didn't want Charles to know that there were already inklings of other reasons on why I didn't want to leave.
"Even so, Lena you have the chance to become something much larger than yourself. We're all in this together now and I'm glad that you chose to become part of it," Charles reached out to pat my arm and then drank the rest of the coffee, placing the empty mug in the sink.
"Come on," he turned in the direction of the door, "Hank has something to show us."
I almost reached out to stop him, still running over what he had said. Erik had given me that same line last night for why he wanted to stay. Was Charles the main catalyst for my being here? Did he actually manage to get through to Erik? Erik listened to no one else and he trusted no one else, well besides me, but it seemed that he had given in to the man in front of me. Were we really to place our trust in him?
Charles looked over his shoulder, "Coming?"
I shook myself out of it, and decided to not let this little tidbit change anything quite yet. I still didn't know him.
"Yeah," I replied and followed him through the doors.
We stepped into a large golf ball looking installation after meeting up with the others. Inside, a middle platform was placed under a large helmet connected with wires to the various machines and computers behind it. Charles had explained to me on the way there that it was designed to amplify brain-waves.
"I call it, Cerebro," Hank said, gesturing towards the contraption.
"You?" Charles chuckled, questioning the name.
"Spanish for brain," Hank confirmed his guess.
"Yes..." his eyes lit delightfully in the presence of Hank's machine.
"Okay, so, the electrodes connect Charles to the transmitter on the roof," Hank pointed at the helmet, explaining how the process worked, "When he picks up a mutant, his brain sends a signal through a relay and then the coordinates of their location are printed out here," he walked to one of the many computers.
We gravitated towards him as he explained, Raven getting closest, awe in her eyes, "You designed this?"
"Yeah," he answered looking back at the numerous buttons, cheeks faintly tinted red.
Charles climbed onto the platform and lowered the device to his head, Erik and I walked over to observe him.
"He looks like a science experiment," I noted, staring up at all the interwoven wires.
"What an adorable lab rat you make Charles," Erik said, a smirk on his lips. I snorted back a laugh.
"Don't spoil this for me, Erik," Charles responded trying to stay focused.
"I've been a lab rat," he pointed at himself, "I know one when I see one."
"Don't undersell yourself," I grinned at him, "I think you were much more adorable."
Erik breathed in a chuckle and Hank went to check on the helmet, "Okay great," after a beat he continued, "Are you sure we can't shave your head?"
Charles responded quickly, "Don't touch my hair."
"Okay," Hank said quietly and went to the back and began to click some buttons, starting Cerebro.
The room darkened and the lights on the helmets started to go off, an anxious look grew on our faces, not knowing the outcome.
Charles gasped suddenly and reached out to grip the railings. I jumped slightly in surprise and remained staring at him as his mouth started to twitch into a broad smile.
"It's working," Hank announced, the sounds of the machine's busy writing proving so.
Charles' smile grew into a laugh and his face morphed into the epitome of exhilaration, looking like an adrenaline rush had just coursed through his veins. I stayed fixated on him in awe. Pure joy spilled out from his pores as the grasp of his mind grew and the hurried sounds of the machines working became larger with it.
"Amazing," I murmured, taking a side glance at Erik who watched him just as intently as I did just prior. He nodded silently in response, but I could see the faint smile on his lips.
A heightened ball of energy grew in my stomach as I continued to observe Charles. For a fraction of a second his bright eyes flickered into mine and it almost felt as if I was feeling along with him. I could imagine the mass of minds he was rapidly coursing through and the many lives he was about to change. All the lives we were all about to change together.
"I'll be back soon," Erik said, as we stood outside the CIA base. He stepped in for a hug which I quickly reciprocated.
"Soon," I replied into his leather clad shoulder, before stepping back to look over him once more, "Remember, a souvenir."
He smirked and leaned down to pick his suitcase up, "What, blood and honor isn't good enough?"
I huffed out a laugh. Erik's humor was dark and infrequent, but nonetheless I appreciated when it did manage to show itself.
I peeked over at Charles who was saying similar goodbyes to Raven. His eyes caught mine and I gave him a pointed look, trying to convey to him to look after Erik. Not that Erik needed looking after, but it was something like that more or less. We hadn't known Charles for long, but I could tell in that in this short period of time Erik had at least developed some respect for the man. I wouldn't outright call them buddies, and though I had not yet even decided where I stood with the mind reader, I knew that it would be more beneficial for Erik to go on this trip with just Charles, me not included.
It wasn't like I wasn't dependable or unable to take care of myself, but I knew no matter what Erik would always see himself as my elder brother. My presence has always been one to watch after, to protect, even if it wasn't clear to him. Seeing Erik able to level with someone on equal footing made me want to fortify their relationship. The two of us always watched out for each other, but I wanted him to have this. It would be good for him.
Breaking my gaze from Charles, I looked back to Erik and reached up to brush some stray hair back, my thumb resting on the light scar above his lip, "You never could get facial hair to grow on there."
He chuckled and the crinkles of his blue eyes pulled out a muddy picture from my mind of a similar yet older looking man with the exact same ones. I could never fathom how a family with blue eyes could produce their only daughter with brown.
One of the identical town cars pulled up and I brought my hand back, taking a step away to let him go. The men placed their suitcases in the trunk and walked up to open the doors, preparing to enter the car. Before stepping in Erik took another look back at me, "Bis bald," he said, before the door closed shut.
The car drove down the road, the sun gleaming down on the black exterior. I crossed my arms as it slowly disappeared from my view, "Bis bald."
A/N: Hello lovelies! I apologize for this long gap but here I am, even though this chapter is kind of short, I promise the next will be longer. Just want to say I am so flattered by the response this story has gotten, I am amazingly flattered, thank you all so much.
Bis bald - See you soon
I appreciate everyone who favorites, follows, and reviews, it keeps the morale up!
Superdani4ever: Yes! Loving the Hank, that little awkward bundle of nerves. And I know that this only the 3rd chapter, but I have plot written out for a dofp sequel so I already have an idea, which I hope you like when the time comes even though it'll probably take a while. (lol, the dofp plot is probably more detailed than the one for first class. Is that bad? I think that's bad.)
cat-afterlife: Thank you! And bam, here's the update.
witchdeveraux: Reviews are always appreciated no matter what so thanks! I'm glad that you like the characterizations so far, Erik tends to be a pretty bitter guy so I was excited to write a more warm side of him while keeping with his original personality.
dearmaggie: Haha, this is more like a text than a review, but watevvs. You better get writing! I miss your stories.
sumplan182: I actually watched the movie a couple of times and wrote down the times for certain scenes, so thanks for that, I appreciate it. I totally imagine it as a movie scene as I write it out so I guess it's working, haha.
Skyeward MusicLover: Here you go! And thanks!
Guest: I love you!
Bobfred: No Bob, you're awesome.
Aranel Silvertone: Thanks for the compliment. I actually laughed out loud since I got the notification of your review right when I opened up my draft for this chapter, so spot on timing. I plan to keep writing this when I can, but I hope that means more often with longer chapters. And good luck to you also for whatever endeavors you're pursuing!
