Oof don't hate me! I know it's been so long since I have updated but my life has been crazy busy lately. I just underwent a massive move and I started law school! It's been a bit overwhelming, all the change at once, and I haven't had much time to write for fun. I have not, and will not, give up on my stories though rest assured!

Just watched First Class for inspiration:)

I plan to all update my Flash fic sometime soon, if any of you read that as well. I also have a lot of great ideas for the next few chapters of this one so hopefully I will have plenty of time to write-I probably will over the holiday weekend, as I still don't know many people in my new town and thus don't usually have plans.

Enjoy and I'm sorry for the delay! :)


The next day came and with it disaster.

Lara had spent most of the night holding her twin in her arms as sobs racked her whole body. Kira's pain broke her heart, even with her mental barrier preventing her empathy from picking up her emotions. Perhaps it was a twin thing, that even though she shouldn't have been able to feel the other's pain she somehow still did.

Her soothing words and comforting touch wasn't enough to help her sister and it killed her. After all, Kira had made it her mission to always be there for Lara and she desperately wanted to do the same. Searching her brain for an answer, she suddenly thought of an idea.

If she could project her own feelings onto others like she had Charles, was it possible she could also purposefully influence someone's emotions?

Putting one hand on each of her sister's cheeks, Lara closed her eyes. She thought about how it felt to feel calm, free of worries. She let the feeling course through her veins, imagining it washing over both of them like a wave, cleansing them of pain. Slowly Kira's sobs lessened until her breathing evened out.

"Thank you," Kira whispered before falling asleep, completely spent from her breakdown. Lara carefully laid her twin down on the mattress and began methodically cleaning up the destroyed room. There wasn't much she could do about the holes that had been punched into the walls, but she carefully picked up the mess of clothes one by one, neatly folding them and putting them away.

Looking at her sister's disheveled state she let out a deep sigh. She grabbed a cloth and ran it under the sink in the en suite bathroom before walking back to Kira and kneeling down beside her. Carefully, she got to work cleaning up her bloody knuckles and smeared makeup. Kira didn't so much as stir, so worn out that little could pull her out of her slumber. Lara smiled to herself; her twin had always been the heaviest sleeper she knew.

After grabbing a blanket and laying it over her sister, Lara figured she'd done all she could for the moment. Exiting the room, she retraced the steps back to her own, secluded, room so she could change out of her tear stained and rumpled clothing. Her body felt tired as she went through the motions of dressing herself in an oversized, off the shoulder sweater and high waisted jeans, though her mind was far too wired for her to even think about trying to sleep.

With the purpose of finding Charles, she exited her room and began to wander around the complex, suddenly aware that she had no idea where he would be. She took a turn around a corner and saw the hallway was full of well dressed men, probably CIA agents, walking to and from. Lara felt suddenly nervous at being around so many others. She took a moment to fortify her mental barrier before continuing down the hall. There were more people around today than there had been the previous night, and she felt the pull of all their emotions on her barrier, straining against her mind. She held steadfast, able to keep the majority of their emotions at bay, only noticing ghosts of their feelings breach her defenses.

"Oh, you're one of them aren't you?" one of the men asked her, a look of disdain on his face. Her heart lurched in her throat as she felt a light wave of contempt rush over her. She mumbled an apology, trying to move around him and avoid any trouble. "Oh no you don't. Your people are this way," he sneered, grabbing her arm and leading her roughly to a set of closed doors. His large palm slapped against one of the doors, pushing them open as he shoved her inside.

He left immediately, leaving her standing alone in a room full of people staring at her with shocked looks on their faces. Lara looked around at each of them, suddenly very unsure of herself.

"You're Kira's twin, aren't you?" a blonde girl asked her, delight creeping up onto her features. It hit her that these must be the other mutants Charles told her about.

"Yes," Lara said softly, nervous under all the unfamiliar gazes.

"Thank goodness!" the blonde replied, looking positively thrilled that Lara was there. "We've all been excited to meet you!" Lara felt the girl's excitement brush up against her mental barrier, telling her that this girl was, in fact, genuinely happy to see her. As someone who was perpetually isolated, this came as a pleasant surprise.

"What can you do?" the only other girl in the room asked. Apprehension gripped Lara's heart at the question, though she felt the others' innocent curiosity and knew they meant no harm.

In response, Lara lifted her hands in front of her and closed her eyes. She pictured the six others in her mind, imagining her powers reaching out and gripping onto each of them. She remembered how it felt to be scared, the single most potent emotion she had ever felt. Everyone in the room suddenly started screaming in terror or cowering in a corner, feeling the purest fright they had ever felt. After a few seconds, Lara let the fear fade, leaving the room uncomfortably quiet.

"You're an empath," Raven whispered, a hint of awe in her tone. Lara didn't know what else to do but nod awkwardly, unused to being the center of attention. "That's awesome! Guys, what should her code name be?"

Silence enveloped the room as everyone thought carefully about the question. Lara had absolutely no clue what an appropriate code name would be, so she kept quiet as everyone deliberated.

"Well," the man with glasses mused, "you could say that emotions are the windows to the soul and the Greek goddess of the soul is Psyche. She…"

"...was put through dangerous trials by Aphrodite in order to find her husband, Eros, Aphrodite's son. She went through all of them despite the danger in order to get back to him," Lara finished, thinking over the name. "I like it," she eventually decided, satisfied with the name.

Once that was settled, everyone else went through and introduced themselves, providing a quick overview of their abilities. Lara found herself amazed by all of them; she had never met anyone else like herself other than her twin before waking up here and was overwhelmingly happy to have found others like herself.

"Lara," Raven giggled, suddenly feeling much happier than she had a moment ago. "I think you're projecting your emotions onto us." At this Lara blushed, wishing she had better control over her empathy so that everyone didn't know just how much it meant to her to no longer feel alone in the world.

She mumbled a quick apology, a blush rising up onto her cheeks as she made sure her mental barriers were back to keeping her own emotions in, and others' out. It was difficult, more so around them than it hand been around the CIA agents. Perhaps it was because their abilities made them stronger than the humans; made them more themselves. It was a curious thing.

She noticed the blonde boy, Alex, refused to meet her eyes. He stiffened noticeably when Raven asked where her twin was today. Lara figured he must have been the one to ask Kira about her scars. She felt a little angry with him at the realization, but tried to keep an open mind, not wanting to risk alienating one of the only people who could understand her. Focusing intently on him, she felt a rush of guilt overcome her and decided she would forgive him.

"Kira had a rough night," she replied vaguely, not wanting to air her sister's dirty laundry out to these virtual strangers. Her curt tone must have been enough for the others to realize that the subject should remain off limits. "Where's Charles?"

"He, Agent McTaggart, and Erik had business to attend to," Raven explained, an eyebrow raised in curiosity at the girl's question. She had just met a whole group of people just like her, yet she seemed more concerned with her oldest friend. Interesting.

Lara nodded, a pang of disappointment in her chest. She had been excited to tell him of the progress she had with her abilities, after all he seemed to understand the struggles she faced. She also wanted to discuss her sister with him, hoping he had some insight on how to help her. The moment of disappointment she felt had been mirrored onto Raven, but the blonde decided to keep the accidental projection to herself, her lips curling into a small smile.

Alex and Darwin left the couches to play some game on the other side of the room. Lara had never seen anything like it and had absolutely no idea was it was. Raven had told her that it was something called a 'pinball machine,' though what that meant was beyond her. Despite her curiosity at the odd contraption, she remained on the couch, sitting comfortably between Angel and Raven. It felt strangely close to having girlfriends, something she had never experienced before. The thought delighted her.

She was pulled out of her happy musing by two agents approaching the massive window, who immediately began heckling Angel. Lara was generally a passive person, not quick to annoy or anger. However she couldn't stand watching Angel stiffen uncomfortably, nor could she stand the horrible mixture of lust and disgust emanating off the men. Hank made a move to stand up and close the curtain, but Lara held out a hand to stop him. She stood up slowly, making her face mold into an inviting smile. She approached the window, the two men's attention effectively captured by her act. She winked her blue eye at them at blew a kiss, making sure that along with the kiss she sent the most crippling feeling of sadness possible. They fell to their knees, heavy sobs rolling down their cheeks as they cried for their mothers. She smirked at them before sharply drawing the curtains shut.

When she turned around, everyone was absolutely shocked that the seemingly quiet and sweet girl did such a thing. She simply looked at them, letting her intense desire to protect her new friends roll of her and envelop each of them. Immediately they understood and gave her small smiles.

"They're just guys being stupid," Lara assured, returning to her seat between the other girls.

"Guys being stupid I can handle," Angel cut her off, annoyed once again. "Okay? I've handled that my whole life. But I'd rather a bunch of guys stare at me with my clothes off than the way these ones stare at me." At this Lara frowned, wishing her new friend hadn't been through so much.

Suddenly loud thumping noises filled the room and Lara was overcome with an intense feeling of dread. She didn't know where it was coming from exactly, though it felt like it was coming from a bunch of places all at once.

"Something's wrong," she whispered, growing more and more uneasy by the second. Out of nowhere a body fell from the sky, landing directly in front of the window. They all let out a scream, especially Lara, who had only seen a dead body once in her whole life...so long ago it felt like another lifetime all together. As more and more agents fell, the young mutants began to panic, desperately trying to escape but having nowhere to go. Her own fear began to dissolve her barriers, and Lara was suddenly overwhelmed by the fear of her friends, the fear of the agents, their pain the moment before they were killed. She couldn't breathe, it was too much.

As if the heavens had answered a prayer she hadn't known she had sent, she felt the familiar embrace of her sister wrapping her arms around her. She felt immediately comforted, knowing Kira was pushing an illusion onto her once again. She was too grateful for the reprieve to care.

The thing was, Lara knew she would never forget what she had experienced today.

Kira, having heard the commotion and immediately seeking out her sister, ushered her along with the others, making sure Lara remained numb to the barrage of emotions around her as they huddled in a corner of the room. After her sister's comfort and help the night before, Kira was more than happy to return the favor now. The sight before her was terrifying, yes, but terrifying things hardly affected Kira as they should. She had seen, done, too much to be scared by most things.

Darwin and Alex, bless their hearts, put their arms out in an attempt to shield the others from the mayhem unfolding around them. Gunfire and screams rang out all around them. It was a horrifying scene, truly, and Lara was deeply confused as to what the hell was transpiring.

As quickly as it had came, the attack seemed to be over. The silence that hung in the air now was deafening as they all stood, on guard, unsure of what would happen next. Three men entered the room, sizing up the group of young mutants. Lara didn't like the looks on their faces as they stared at them.

"Where's the telepath?" the one in the odd metal helmet asked. The question about made Lara's heart stop. So they were after Charles? That didn't make sense. The man was far too kind and gentle to associate with these barbarians, or even to do something enough to piss them off to this caliber. She didn't understand, but she wasn't about to let them harm the one person who had helped her, who could continue to help her.

As if Kira had read her mind, she reached out and kept Lara in place as she went to make a move towards the man in the helmet. The movement didn't go unnoticed by the man, who quirked an eyebrow at her in response, no doubt surprised that the fragile looking girl in tears had attempted to make a move at him. When the strange red man informed him that Charles was not here, he took off the helmet and smiled at the youngsters. The smile made an apprehensive shiver run up Lara's spine.

"Good evening, my name is Sebastian Shaw," he introduced himself calmly, as if he hadn't just murdered an entire government base full of agents. "And I am not here to hurt you."

"Freeze!" a lone guard shouted, pouting his gun at Shaw. The red man evaporated in thin air, reappearing behind the guard and murdering him on the spot. With Kira now distracted and her illusion not strongly in place, Lara felt the agony and pain as the man slowly died. In response she let out a gut wrenching cry, earning the attention of everyone in the room. Kira bent down and embraced her sister, bringing the illusion back up to provide her some relief.

"Interesting," Shaw observed, saying nothing else about the outburst. "My friends, there is a revolution coming. When mankind discovers who we are, what we can do, each of us will face a choice: be enslaved…" he looked at each of them as he paused, "...or rise up and rule. Choose freely, but know that if you are not with us, then by definition you are against us. So...you can stay and fight for the people who hate and fear you, or you can join me and live like kings…" he looked directly at Angel now, "...and queens."

The speech made Lara sick to her stomach, that this man could talk so casually about genocide and world domination as if it were nothing. Sure, there were many humans who were horrible to mutants. This hate, though, was born out of fear. Mutants were the unknown, and society had always feared the unknown. But that didn't mean they all deserved to be slaughtered in droves, such as that had occurred tonight. Lara's face pulled into a glare, one more acidic than she had ever given anyone.

Lara's heart lurched in her chest as Angel put her hand in Shaw's and let him guide her away from them. She felt Kira's hands clutch harder into her skin and knew her twin was just as shocked.

"Angel, are you kidding me?" Kira asked, voice breaking in such a way that it broke Lara's heart. Angel simply motioned for them to join her, though no one moved an inch.

"We don't belong here," she declared, calmly. "And that's nothing to be ashamed of." Darwin reached out, expecting her to return to them, but she simply turned around and left.

The next moments passed by in slow motion for Lara. She was so stunned by her new friends betrayal that she was barely able to register her surroundings. She didn't hear Darwin and Alex talking about how they had to do something, or hear them whispering some kind of plan to each other.

What did register, though, was Shaw absorbing one of Alex's energy blasts (when did he set that off?) and shove it right into Darwin. She watched in horror as the poor man's body fought to adapt, fought to find a way to survive. She watched as he crumbled from the inside out, feeling every iota of the anguish he had felt. She had no tears left to shed, though, simply collapsing to her knees and feeling absolutely nothing. It was as if a switch inside her had flipped. One minute she felt it all, and the next nothing at all. It was an empty feeling, but at the same time there was a certain peace to the nothingness.

All she had ever wanted was peace.


Kira didn't know how much time had passed between Darwin's death and Charles and Erik's return. It must have been a good amount, though, judging by the fact that the sun was now shining. They all had congregated in front of what remained of the facility, sitting on a concrete bench that remained amidst all the rubble. She mourned the loss of both her friends, grieving the loss of Darwin's life and Angel's betrayal. She had felt such a kinship to the girl, and seeing her leave them all behind to a group of murderers had stung more than she cared to admit.

She remembered, now, why she never let others in. The pain when they left or hurt you was just too great.

When she saw them return she jumped out of her seat and rushed towards them, making a beeline straight towards Charles. Normally she would have sought out Erik, for some reason she was strangely drawn towards the man, but her concern for her twin outweighed anything else in that moment.

"Charles," she choked out, all the repressed emotion finally bubbling its way up her throat. "Lara...she…" She didn't know how to describe it exactly, so she resorted to simply grabbing onto his arm and pulling him in the direction of her sister.

Lara sat stone still on the concrete bench, a blank expression on her face. The only movement Kira could see was the slow blinks of her eyes and the subtle rise and fall of her chest that signaled she was, in fact, still breathing.

"What happened?" Charles whispered, looking around at all the destruction. It troubled him deeply how much tragedy must have struck to create such a scene, but his heart clenched the most for the poor girl sitting before him. She had a vacant look in her usually vibrant eyes, seemingly staring right through anything in her line of sight. Hesitantly he raised finger to his temple, closing his eyes and delving into her mind.

As soon as he breached her thoughts he could see everything that had happened hours before. He could see the massacre of the agents, the young group of individuals he had recruited screaming in terror, the young woman whose mind he was in screaming and collapsing to the ground in pain as she felt all of it. He knew he should be able to feel what she had felt now that he was in her mind, whether or not she projected onto him. Instead, though, he felt absolutely nothing. She felt absolutely nothing.

His heart broke as he removed his finger from his temple and reopened his eyes. Looking at her now, the terrible reality of the situation sunk deep in his heart. He looked at the poor girl's twin, whose green eyes were alight with concern. He swallowed thickly before saying the words he wished he'd never had to say.

"She's turned it all off," he forced the words out. "All of her emotions, her ability to feel others...she's turned it all off."

"What?" Kira whispered in response, not believing what she was hearing.

"She's gone apathetic."