Oh Crap

After all of Charles' lectures, it was Moira that really made Amelia question her potential for destruction.

They had just finished a run when Amelia decided to voice a few things that had been on her mind.

"Moira… Why did you decide to trust us? I mean after what you saw with Shaw and the Hellfire Club –why did you want to work with us?"

Moira looked at her like the answer was obvious. "There's good and bad in all of us. Mutant, not mutant, Black, White, male, female –it doesn't matter. I've put up with a lot of crap with the higher ups in the CIA but the ones that really respect me don't even think twice about the fact that I'm a woman. I trust you because you're you."

That reminded Amelia of what she had told Raven about being blue. "Thanks."

Moira smiled. "No problem. I hope the feelings mutual."

Moira had said it jokingly but that made her think of Erik. He didn't want to believe the humans would accept them. Maybe Moira was just the exception.

Why did everything have to be so complicated?

She sighed but gave Moira a smile. They walked back toward the mansion and passed Charles and Hank. They were in sweats. They were going to run.

Amelia gave Hank a thumbs for good luck. He smiled weakly.

She wandered the mansion for a while (avoiding Sean so she wouldn't get stuck with the dishes) before deciding that she should probably work with the weights again.

She was a few feet from the entrance when she heard Erik.

"If you're using half your concentration to look normal, then you're only half paying attention to whatever else you're doing. Just pointing out something that could save your life." There was the sound of something heavy and metal moving. "You want society to accept you, but you can't even accept yourself."

He was talking to Raven. He was trying to open her eyes too.

Amelia was mad. Suddenly and inexplicably mad.

Oh dear God. She was jealous.

Erik came out of the weight room and away from the entrance but stopped when he saw her.

Amelia hadn't had time to process her feelings so they were written allover her face. And Erik was tying to read it.

He cocked his head to the side. She stood there. He furrowed his eyebrows. She stood there.

A look of something like realization came over Erik's face. Amelia felt nothing but terror and panic. Erik looked like he was getting prepared to say something but Amelia spun around and practically ran away.

She bumped into Hank in the kitchen. He looked mad and hurt. But mostly hurt.

They looked at each other awkwardly. They were both upset and obviously didn't want to have an emotional heart to heart.

But Amelia didn't want to be alone while she stewed in her feelings. "Want to go hide in the lab?"

"Absolutely."

They hid in the back and sat on the floor side by side with their feet in front of them. A table was to their backs. If anyone came in they wouldn't be noticeable.

This was ridiculous. She was hiding because a boy, well man (Erik was definitely not a boy), hurt her feelings. But how did he hurt her? Really? He wanted all the mutants to feel the same way he did. Had she really thought that she was so special and he only wanted to convince her? But then why wasn't he having private conversations with Alex, Sean, or Hank?

Was it possible…? Did she… like him?

Amelia shuddered at the thought. He was smart –he knew more languages than anyone she'd ever met. He was funny –he always matched her smart ass comments. She liked being in his company. And yeah okay… she supposed he was good looking. Extremely good looking. In that dangerous and mysterious way.

But he was also screwed up. Shaw had messed him up. People had messed him up. Humans had messed him up.

Amelia wasn't perfect either –far from it. But she couldn't like him. It was Erik. At most they were friends and the rest of the time she was saying things to purposely annoy him.

But she was jealous, wasn't she? Crap. She did like him.

It wasn't some silly crush. And she wasn't under the delusion that she was in love. But she liked him.

But what did everything he had said to her mean now? Since he wasn't trying to convert Alex, Sean, or Hank, did that mean he thought she and Raven were weak and easily manipulated? Because he didn't want Raven. But there he went trying to flirt and say things that would make Raven question what she originally wanted. So that meant he didn't want Amelia too. He just wanted them to see things differently.

Amelia sighed. She didn't want to think about it anymore. "So… Want to talk about it?"

"Alex is a jerk –but no. Not really."

"Hank… This serum that you're working on… I know you know that I don't agree with it –but it's your choice. I just want to make sure you're doing it for the right reasons. Do it for you –not because you think people will like you more if you look a certain way."

"Thanks. But I am doing this for me. I want to be comfortable with who I am. But seriously, thank you."

"Sure."

"You want to talk about it?"

"Nope."

They continued to hide until Amelia's stomach grumbled loudly and Hank had to pee.

There was only one way Amelia could deal with her new found feelings for Erik. Denial, denial, denial.

She was pretty good at it.

The night before had gone smoothly enough. She and Hank had hid until after dinner so as to avoid everyone. Raven had come looking for Hank with bottles of soda and a plate of twinkies –what she saw was Hank doing lab science-y stuff and Amelia rummaging the drawers for food. Amelia had left to give them some privacy –but she stole the twinkies.

She managed to act normal during breakfast. Hank managed to act normal around Alex too.

It was after lunch that Erik managed to get her alone.

She was washing the dishes (damn Sean!) and a fork kept slipping from her hands.

She turned around and gave Erik a glare. "Very funny."

"I thought so." He walked closer to her. "You overheard me talking to Raven, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"What do you make of it?"

"I think you made a good point. It doesn't matter to me if she's blue."

"It doesn't?"

"No. But it's up to her to decide."

"I see…"

She rolled her eyes. "Are you going to let me wash the dishes now? 'Cause believe me –this doesn't make me very happy. And if you're going to keep on badgering me, I'll make you do them."

"Don't let me get in your way."

He left and Amelia sighed in relief. She dodged a bullet.

Later that night Hank and Alex seemed to have buried the hatchet. Alex managed not kill anyone despite Charles' insane plan involving Hank's sensor, a dummy, and he and Hank as potential dummies. Near death experiences worked wonders.

A/N: I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter -I'm not good at emotional revelations.