"Get back to work," Charles grumbled, after being asked for the thousandth time how his date went. God, Charles wouldn't trade his relationship with his force for anything in the world, but he could see the advantages of being a heartless superior who only had to say things once.

Raven, of course, was the most persistent of them all, and still remained firmly at his side even as he walked away with his tea.

"You still never answered the question, chief." And while her persistence was admirable in reference to her duties, there were times when Charles really wished she were easier to distract.

"It was hardly a date, alright? A dinner. We talked a little, about our respective roles in our organizations, he very quickly informed me that any attempts to fish him for information would be shut down immediately, and we had a meal. I don't know what romantic, life-changing thing you're looking for, but you won't find it here." With a huff, Charles quickened his pace.

-TCAB-

After finally herding his children of a force back into business, Charles finally settled down to work on a few cases of his own, and by cases, he meant paperwork. Being the chief did have its boring periods, after all, and being a telepathic chief meant that most of his activities ended up being boring, and those that didn't were often tinged with frustration.

At the very least, Charles reminded himself, no matter how frustrating the case of the Steel Vipers was, at least it wasn't a murderer evading capture.

They were, as it stood, a relatively harmless case to test his wits against. (Traffic dangers notwithstanding, but, alas, nothing a police department dealt with was truly harmless.)

Logan slammed the door open, "I got some news from the asshole up north."

Charles didn't even attempt to restrain his sigh, unsure whether to berate his manners or his language. The so-called 'asshole' was Chief Stryker, and as it sounded, patrolled the area directly north of Charles's own. Even Charles would admit the man was rather unsavory, but he got the job done efficiently, which was all he cared about. Logan was originally an officer under him, before transferring to Charles's command. "What is it, Logan?"

"Turns out they've had the pleasure of dealing with our little snakes not long before they showed up here." Logan haphazardly tossed a file onto the desk, and Charles had to scramble to keep everything else from hitting the floor.

Charles quickly flipped through the pages, noticing images of a few members they had already identified, plus some other information he would have to look at later. "It seems as though he was even more interested than we are."

"Yeah, well, you know how Stryker feels about anyone other than himself causing ruckus in his neighborhood." Logan's face violently twitched.

"And they migrated here recently, of course…" Charles said, mostly to himself, considering what would cause such a move. It was entirely possible that they were just a migratory gang, relying on connections and (possible illegal) money to fund their lifestyle, or they had simply gotten tired of dealing with Stryker, and sought an easier domain to make their territory.

"The most interesting news is on the last pages."

Charles obediently moved to the end, and was greeted by a couple of pictured primarily featuring a red and purple blur. The remaining parts of the pictures were of fairly high quality (minus one night shot) and a closer examination led Charles to vaguely interpret a motorcycle rider, "…Magneto."

"They think so. As in, the colors match and they don't have a much better idea of who either of them may be." Logan sat down.

Charles read the information on the opposing page. Much like what Logan said, the mysterious motorcyclist spotted and photographed several times behaved recklessly and wore the gang's purple and red, but has never been seen directly communicating with them or sporting their logo. Stryker's force had tried to capture the man, but he always vanished without a further trail. They can only assume he's the so-called "boss" the rest of the gang refers to, but without proof. Charles sat back and considered the information.

"Think they did something of use for once?" Logan seemed amused by the prospect.

"I think that if they couldn't catch him, we're going to have a hard time doing so." Charles's mouth twitched upwards, but he was far from amused. "I also wonder if they had simply asked one of the members if that was their boss, since they seemed mildly cooperative so far."

"Since when has asking ever been in Stryker's dictionary?" Logan's nostrils flared.

"I suppose I'll have to rectify that mistake." Charles tsk'd softly, closing the file for now.

"What, are you going to ask your boyfriend?" Logan raised his eyebrows in a clear taunt.

"No, unfortunately, the topic is entirely off-limits as per our agreement." Charles would have to confront one of the others—maybe take Raven, she seemed to be good at it.

"You would settle around 20 ongoing bets with that statement." Logan stood up to leave.

"What? There will be no gambling in my force!"

-TCAB-

ATTN ALL OFFICERS:

Please recall that all bets are strictly off limits during working hours and as such any placed, specifically about my dating life, are null and void.

Chief Xavier

P.S., those of you that bet against me, please have more faith in your chief.

-TCAB-

"What are we doing?" Raven asked, eager to spend more time with Charles, and, he suspected, interrogate him about his boyfriend.

"Official business, still," Charles attempted to correct that immediately, showing the blurred images of their mystery rider. "We're going to try to get confirmation whether or not this is their boss."

"You think a purple and red blob might be their leader?" Almost in unison an eyebrow and a corner of her mouth quirked up.

"Ha. Ha." Charles gave her a flat stare before putting the images away and starting the car.

She smiled innocently.

They talked a little during the ride, mostly Charles questioning where she originally encountered the members and subsequently following her directions.

As before, they encountered a group of five gang members congregated on the edge of a restaurant's parking lot. It was impossible to determine if the restaurant was bothered by their presence even though they were obviously loitering and likely driving away business. As Charles parked a block down, they already began to look over and watch their actions.

Charles felt a pang of hesitation about sending Raven alone to confront them, but he knew it had the chance of success, Raven could handle herself, and Charles was right there if they turned hostile.

Raven took the file. Raven exited the car. She approached the gang members. She said something.

They remained mostly neutral.

She opened the file.

Two glanced down at it. One watched her. Two watched Charles.

One said something.

Raven laughed.

They seemed unamused.

Raven said something else.

They glanced at each other. They nodded. They said something.

Raven nodded. Raven said something. Raven walked away.

Charles blinked and looked over as she opened the door and sat down.

"Yeah," she confirmed.

"What else did they say?" Charles watched warily as the gang mostly returned to talking to themselves, but were still obviously watching Charles and Raven.

"The same spiel about how we'll never catch him." Raven shrugged, closed the file with a flair, and snapped her seatbelt with a click.

"Well," Charles hated to admit it, "they have some facts to back that up, unfortunately. If you hadn't noticed, that file we're working with came from Chief Stryker."

"That's…actually impressive." Raven frowned. "But," her tone picked back up, "One thing Stryker doesn't have is you."

"Am I supposed to be flattered?" Charles teased as he reversed out of the parking lot. "Besides, examining the minds of the 100 or so members that we've found—so far—is simply unfeasible and needless to say immoral, and taking control of someone is complicated as it is, let alone someone controlling a vehicle at dangerously high speeds."

Raven hummed, "I'm sure you'll figure it out regardless. Though I don't know, you do have a boyfriend in the way now."

"Oh for the love of—!"