Author's Note: I'm a terrible person. I know. However, I finally got off my butt and wrote another chapter. I hope yall enjoy it.

A New Age, A New Team

Chapter 19: Choose To Accept

All of the members of X² were sitting in a large half circle room facing towards the flat side of the room. The half-circular part of the room was setup much like a seminar room or a movie theater. On the first level, there was a large rounded couch, and two sets of stairs on either side of it. On the level behind the large rounded couch, there was another large rounded couch. Al the members of X² were sitting on the couches as they waited to find out why the alarm had gone off.

Dawn leaned over to Aurora, "What's going on?" she whispered.

"This is the briefing room." Aurora whispered back in her Irish accent. "When there's a mission for us to go on or there's trouble, we meet here."

"Do you know why we're here then?"

"No, sorry." Aurora sighed.

Slowly the large wooden door to the room opened and Jamal walked through with a folder in his hand. Everyone quickly got quiet while Jamal stood up at the front of the room, which was the flat side of the room. "I'm happy to know you all responded so quickly." Jamal said very seriously. "As you probably have already guessed, something has happened." Jamal said, as he slowly looked around the room at all the members that were sitting before him.

"So what's wrong?" Tonya asked in annoyance, which made Noah glare at her from across the room. What Grissom? You know you were wondering the same thing. Tonya thought at Noah even though she knew he couldn't hear her thoughts.

Jamal walked over to the wall where he pulled down a screen and then walked back over to the slide projector. He turned it on and then opened his folder. On the screen was a picture of the police in City Hall looked around the opened file cabinets. "City Hall was broken into a few days ago."

"Why are we just now hearing about this?" Sean asked Jamal in his Australian accent as he reached over to Grace and took her hand in his.

"Because we had to wait until the police cleared out because their number one suspect is any mutants." Jamal explained as he slowly flipped through the different slides.

"When aren't mutants their number one suspects?" Tonya scoffed to herself in her British accent as she rolled her green eyes.

"I have to agree with Sorenson," Noah said slightly in disgust.

"Never thought I'd see the day you agreed with Tonya." Sam rolled her hazel green eyes at Noah before looking back at Jamal's slides.

Noah looked over at Sam and sighed as he looked back at Jamal, "They always think we did it when most of the time it isn't us." He sighed in frustration. "What's so special about this time?"

"Because I suspect it was mutants also." Jamal said firmly, which slightly caught everyone off guard. "This is City Hall. It's not the easiest place to break into, let alone get into the basement where the blueprints are kept."

"Wait… blueprints were stolen?" Grace asked as she slightly leaned forward in concern.

"Yes." Jamal sighed.

"To what?" Sean asked.

"Not sure." Jamal sighed in disappointment. "That's why I need some of you to go check it out."

The large wooden doors slowly opened and Lyndsey slipped inside the room. "Sorry I'm late." She said as she quickly took a seat on the front couch, which was in front of Sam. "What'd I miss?" She asked in her Australian accent.

Sam's hazel green eyes glared daggers at Lyndsey as she sat down, "How are you late?" She asked loudly. "How did you not hear the alarm?"

Oh no. Tonya thought. Here we go again.

Lyndsey turned halfway around to face Sam, "I wasn't here, alright?" She spat.

"Where were you?" Sam quickly asked.

There was an odd silence in the room as Sam and Lyndsey glared at each other as if they might kill each other. "Away." Lyndsey said bluntly before turning around.

"Where?" Sam persisted.

"Sam," Sean interjected, "drop it. She's here now, so just drop it." He sighed as he stared firmly at her.

Sam stared back at Sean for a moment and then sunk back into the cushions of the couch, "Fine." She said softly. I don't trust her…

"Anyway," Jamal said before clearing his voice, "I was just explaining that someone broke into City Hall and stole blueprints, Lyndsey." He nodded to her.

"Big deal." Lyndsey shrugged.

"It is a big deal," Jamal said quickly and in slight annoyance. "I suspect it was a mutant or mutants doing."

"Well then…" Lyndsey said sarcastically.

Jamal glared at Lyndsey because of her disrespect towards him, "Anyway," he looked away from her, "I want a small team going to check this out." He paused, "Cerebro has given me orders to send Grace, Sean, and Seth. Cerebro also wants Dawn going in order to get some first hand experience in going on a mission."

"Alright." Sean nodded professionally.

Jamal looked over his notes one more time and then nodded. "That's all I had on my list, so you are all dismissed."

Everyone in the room stood up to make their way out of the meeting room, but Lyndsey rolled her eyes, "That's all we were called in for?"

Sam looked back at Lyndsey to say something but Sean placed a soft hand on her back and ushered her out of the meeting room. Just leave it alone Sam. He thought to her as if she could hear him.

"Noah." Sean said calmly to the tall second leader of the X².

"Yes Sean?"

"Will you check up on Sam for me while I'm gone on this mission?"

"Yes sir." Noah nodded.

Sam quickly walked passed everyone and stormed up the stairs of the mansion, up to her room and then slammed her door shut with a loud bang.

Noah and Sean stood at the bottom of the stairs, staring up at where Sam had just stormed up to.

"Good luck." Sean patted Noah's shoulder before turning away to meet Grace for their mission.

Noah sighed as he stared up the stairs. "Thanks… I'm going to need it." He sighed as he started up the stairs.

Sam was sitting in the bay window of her room with her knees bent and close to her chest. The sunlight was shining down upon her and the outside was beautiful, but that wasn't Sam's focus. She was holding something in her lap: a picture.

In between Sam's slender hands was a small black picture frame that held two pictures in it. The picture on the right was a picture of a young boy with platinum blonde hair, which appeared almost the color of white, and where his eyes should have had pigment, they were black. He was smiling happily for the camera. The picture on the left was a newspaper clipping of the obituary of the young boy.

Sam softly ran her fingers over the little boy's face as her eyes fell into a deep trance just staring at the boy.

"Sam?" Noah asked sheepishly as he lightly knocked against the door and walked into her room.

Sam looked up from the picture at Noah and sighed in annoyance. "Yes?" She sighed.

Noah walked a little closer to Sam and noticed the picture of the young boy. Ghost… He thought in sympathy. "I, um, I'm really sorry about Ghost. You know that. And if there's anything I can do just tell–"

"Spare me Grissom." Sam said as she rolled her eyes. "I don't need your sympathy or anyone else's… So I hope that the reason you came in here isn't to give me sympathy but to either talk about our project with Tonya or something about the team." She paused for a moment. "Otherwise you can leave."

Noah opened his mouth to say something but stopped. He slowly closed it and looked down at the ground. He wanted to help her, but Sam wasn't one for help. "I'm sorry to have disturbed you." He said before turning around and walking out of Sam's room; closing the door behind him.

Sam stared at the closed door and then sighed. She slowly turned her head and looked out the sunny bay window down at the other students playing on the ground of the institute. She sighed before looking at her lap at the picture of Ghost.

"I'm sorry…" She whispered as she carefully ran her fingertips over the picture of the boy.