I knocked on Raven's door to once again receive no response. Moira had just let me know that Erik and Charles were successful and were coming back by tomorrow. I wanted to update Raven right away. I knocked once more and sighed, pressing my forehead against the cold wood. The past two days of staying behind at the CIA base had been ultimately the right choice, but that didn't mean I reveled in it.
The meals that brought Hank, Raven and I, together were pleasant. They were good people, though the nervous glances and quick peeks they gave each other were too obvious to ignore. Raven always insisted I stayed with them, but I often found myself alone in my bedroom or walking around the grassy outskirts of the facility. I've never been very social and I wasn't about to drastically change anything about my solitary habits, I just missed the quiet presence that was usually sharing the silence with me.
Still trying to find her I reluctantly headed to Hank's lab, not knowing where else to look. My heels echoed across the empty hall, my pace slowing as I got closer to the door. If Hank was awkward and shy with Raven then it was mild in comparison to when we happened to find ourselves alone. Though I had no idea what happened, something Erik said or given the impression of, made having a normal conversation one on one conversation with him nearly impossible.
I opened the large metal doors to see Hank hunched over, going back and forth from rapidly writing on a legal pad, peering into whatever was underneath a microscope, and working some machine connected to it.
"Hank," I said to catch his attention.
"Hmm?" He hummed, still focused on what he was doing.
"Do you know where Raven is?" I got to his table and set my hands on the cool steel top.
Hank turned his head up to answer, "No I-," he fumbled, his eyes widening as they finally caught mine, "Lena, hi, wasn't expe- no I don't," Hank paused momentarily to push his glasses up, "know where she is. Do you need her for something?"
"Yes, Erik and Charles should be back tomorrow with someone," I drummed my fingers on the smooth surface and scanned across his very organized work space, "Our first recruit."
"That's uh, exciting," Hank replied, twirling the pencil in his hand before adjusting one of the dials on the machine.
I leaned in to take a further look at his equipment, barring a slight resemblance to the workings of his other creation, Cerebro. "What is all of this?" I asked, my curiosity peaked.
"Oh this? Hank refocused on his setup, "I'm trying to see if Cerebro can be more efficient, it's powerful now, but I think it has a lot more potential." He gestured at the microscope, "Charles volunteered a bit of his DNA so I'm running some trials to explore the results when exposed to other substances like electromagnetic radiation or to be more specific radio waves or microwaves or…" He stopped as if catching himself, and looked back up at me, "It's not really anything big."
"No," I shook my head, "It's impressive. I've never had a formal education, so this is all…" I peered in closer to the lab, "very… enlightening. It is 'big', what you're doing."
Hank sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, "Thanks. That's um, really nice of you to say." He sat back on one of the tall stools and twirled his pencil again before setting it down. After a long lull as he had finally decided on something, he opened his mouth again, "Your brother, he doesn't seem to like me much."
My brows raised at the seemingly non-sporadic Hank who was actively making conversation with me even if it was only about Erik. "He doesn't tend to like anyone much," I agreed with him.
"Right," he nodded blankly, and hesitantly opened his mouth again, "Did he say anything to you?"
My head quirked to the side, "About what?"
"No, no, it's nothing," Hank hurriedly waved the topic away.
"Alright," I replied, still confused on what exactly had transpired. Another long pause settled into the empty lab, signaling me that it was my time to go until Hank carefully reached out once more and spoke.
"So, did you ever get the chance to?"
"To?"
"To go to school, I mean. Being able to do what I do, it's helped me alot with… everything, and you seem interested, so I…" He drifted off, not looking directly at me.
"Bits and pieces here and there," I pulled in a nearby stool under me and smoothed down my skirt, "By the time I was born things were not ideal. Erik went to the local Synagogue when he could, then…" a grim smile barely graced my lips, "Our parents did the best they were able to, but mostly everything I do know was either taught by myself or Erik."
"Oh," Hank's eyes held a sympathetic gaze though oddly enough it didn't feel like the pity I used to be accustomed to, "If you ever want to learn about any of this," he hastily cleared the words from his throat and then motioned to the lab, "feel free to ask."
My eyes widened at his surprising kindness, "I might take you up on that. Thank you."
"Yeah," Hank nodded and went back to looking down and twirling his pencil before restarting his work, "I'll just be here."
"I'll let you get back to it, then," I said as I rose from the stool. I pressed my lips together in a tight line, swallowing the small lump at the back of my throat. As I turned, the doors opened to a cheerful looking Raven holding a plate of pastries.
"I brought muffins this time," she announced as she entered the room. "Lena," she greeted me, "I didn't think you'd be here. Want one?" She gestured the plate towards my direction.
"No, thanks," I shook my head and was finally able to follow through my original goal, "Actually Moira just told me that Erik and Charles should be back tomorrow with someone."
Raven responded with a broad grin, "More reason to celebrate. C'mon, take one," she leaned the plate over to me again.
I managed a small appreciative smile and relented, taking one of the not so sweet looking ones as I made my way past her, "If you insist."
"You're not staying?" Raven asked seeing me walk to the door, "Dinner then?"
"Yeah," I agreed with her as I left the lab, preferring to leave those two to be alone together.
"Everyone, this is Angel," Charles announced as a dark haired girl followed him into the room, "She'll be joining us from now on."
"Hi guys," she waved a bit sarcastically, "I guess I'm a part of, whatever this is."
Raven immediately went up to her and smiled, "I'm Raven," then pointed at us, "That's Hank and Lena."
I nodded in acknowledgment, but Hank followed Raven's steed and joined her in greeting Angel. Raven started to lead her to the door, "C'mon, I'll show you around."
"I'm not really well versed in secret CIA facilities, so that would be helpful," Angel quipped. Raven giggled and pulled her through to the hallway, closing the door behind them.
The three of them left, leaving me, Erik, and Charles. Erik, who had before stood silently as the welcoming party had happened, walked to me, pulling something from him back pocket.
"Here," he handed me the item. I took it and brought it up to the light. The item was a worn out coaster and on it was a detailed drawing of a unicorn circled by the words Vanilla Unicorn Strip Club. "It's your souvenir," he smirked as I rotated the hard cardboard around my fingers.
"You really tried this time didn't you?" I looked up at him, a laugh struggled to escape from the back of my throat.
"I always do," he pulled me in for a hug and I could smell the familiar familial scent I was accustomed to. Even if I wasn't willing to admit it to his face, I really did miss him.
"Should I be worried?"
Erik squeezed my shoulder and shrugged, walking to the small bar to pour himself a drink.
Charles gestured at him, "Pour me one as well, dry." He smiled sheepishly at us, "Long flights don't quite agree with me."
"If you are so worried, come with us to the next one," Erik said as he handed a glass to Charles.
"Will we be going to another strip club?"
Charles downed his scotch and grinned, "If you're lucky."
A/N: Ahh, who even am I? Seriously, what am I doing?
I know, I promised something longer, sorry! I'll definitely do something more length heavy next chapter. It works out better with the way I've planned this story.
Thanks to, NicoleR85, AboveReality, and KurisutaruAi, for the reviews!
KurisutaruAi: I'm continuing this! It just takes me an embarrassingly long time to write stuff. I'm terrible. Thanks for that, I kinda imagine Lena like a stray cat, it's going to take a bit until she fully warms up to him.
Thanks to everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed my story!
Until next time, Vanesky
