Erik and Hank met Raven at a step of stairs, which were hidden from view. The only reason Erik had even noticed them was because men had started running from them. "What are you doing here?"Erik asked, not happy that Raven hadn't listened and stayed put.

"Doesn't matter, we need to find Charles." Erik couldn't disagree and from the sounds coming down the hall, he guessed the others' had things in hand.

Taking the lead, Erik searched around for all the metal around him. The stairs led down to a sort of basement and from what Erik could tell, the rooms down below were made of mostly metal. Labs, most likely, Erik thought to himself as the three of them reached the bottom of the steps. There was a large door at the end of the hall but that wasn't where Erik's focus was.

Noises were coming from inside the door on the right and Erik could vaguely make out an erratic beeping coming from inside. Reaching for the metal inside the door, Erik pulled the door from its' hinges, revealing the inside of the room. A shout came from the now open door as 3 men in lab coats came running out. Hank threw one across the room as Erik used the metal on their' clothes to get rid of the other two as Raven ran inside.

Mark Warren was standing in the room, in front of a metal table where Erik could vaguely see Charles lying on. "Who are you?" The man asked, raising a sharp surgical knife that may have been dangerous if not for the fact it was covered in metal. Erik lifted it from the mas' grasp with ease, causing Mark to pale. "Who are you?" He repeated as Raven went to push him out of the way. Mark grabbed raven by her arm, twisting it and causing her to yell out in pain.

Hank growled beside Erik, running at Mark and pushing him off Raven who whimpered in pain as she clutched her arm, which was now hanging at an odd angle. Erik glared, pulling a piece of metal towards Mark so he was trapped in a corner. This man didn't deserve to die quickly, Erik resolved as he rushed to the table Charles was lying on.

Charles was pale and limp on the table with an assortment of wires attached to him, but that wasn't what made Erik's anger boil over. The base of Charles' neck was covered in drying blood and something metal was faintly poking out of the slice across the neck. "What is that?" Erik asked, his voice oddly calm and even.

"I don't know." Hank replied, sending a filthy look at mark as he bent over Charles' still form.

"What is it?" Erik said, walking over to Mark. He pushed the metal bar further towards Mark, crushing the man in place. Mark struggled to get away but Erik wouldn't allow that, his anger rising as the man struggled.

"Erik, don't. I need to know what he did to Charles." Hank said, putting a restraining arm on Erik's shoulder. This pulled the mutant out of his angry haze as he stopped pushing the metal further towards Mark.

"Tell us what you did."

"Why should I? You'll kill me anyway." Mark grunted, his hands still on the metal bar.

"I could kill you quickly or not. That depends on what you say next." Erik replied, his voice low and threatening. He meant what he said and Mark knew it because he went suddenly very pale. "What did you do to Charles?"

"Nothing he didn't deserve." Mark spat, causing Erik to push the metal bar so it pressed hard on Mark's chest. The man was struggling for breathe, something Erik didn't care a lot about. "Alright, I'll tell you. Just stop please." Erik didn't move for a minute, letting the man suffer until finally releasing the grip on the metal just enough for Mark to be able to breath properly again. "It's a new system we were working on to stop the telepathy."

"What does it do?" Hank frowned, going into his Doctor mode.

"The rod pushes on a part of the brain I believe to have caused the telepathy."

"You believe." Erik spat, anger coming in waves at the implications of that statement. He knew Charles had gone through some sort of mutant experimentation but he didn't know the extant. To think these men had messed around in Charles' brain made Erik seethe.

"How far did you get?" Hank asked, ignoring both Erik and Raven who were quietly contemplating how best to kill Mark Warren.

"Almost done."

"Can it be reversed?" Raven asked, fear towards Charles obvious in her tone.

"Take it out, the damage you'll do doing so might just be irreparable." Mark grinned, causing Erik to lose all sense of calmness. He brought a piece of metal over to mark Warren, using it to knock the man unconscious.

"Is he right?" Erik glared straight at Hank, refusing to believe what Mark had said.

"Maybe but the same could have already happened." Hank explained, once more walking over to Charles. "The brain shouldn't be messed with because extreme problems can occur."

"You don't need to explain Hank, just fix him." Raven grabbed a hold of Hank's arm then.

"What do you need?" Erik asked then, making sure Hank knew he would get anything he needed. Erik would make sure of that.

"We can't move him and I'll need space." Erik nodded. Raven looked like she wanted to protest but she didn't, moving from the room after whispering something in Hank's ear. "I also need your help Erik." The other mutant frowned, wondering what help he might be. "The rod's metal and I might need your help to pull it out." Metal. Erik could do that.

….

Raven collapsed on one of the ornamental chairs in the hallway. She'd made it up the stairs before being completely overwhelmed about what she'd heard. Raven might not be a scientist but she's heard of what happened to people with brain damage and that was what Hank had been talking about. That was what could have happened to Charles.

"What happened?" Alex appeared in front of Raven who just blinked owlishly at him. "Raven, are you alright? Did you find the professor?"

"Yes, Charles is…Hank and Erik are going to make sure he's alright." She said. Hank was the best doctor she knew, he wouldn't let Charles die. He'd make sure he was okay.

"Do they need us?" Alex asked and Raven shook her head. "What happened to Mark Warren?"

"Downstairs, Erik's dealing with it. Hank said we needed to…" She trailed off, not being able to finish but Alex nodded his head in understanding.

"I'll pass the word on. You going to be okay?" Raven nodded, watching as Alex disappeared around a corner. She would be fine, the question was, would Charles?

Nearing the end of this Fanfic now, just a few more chapters left. As always please review and thanks for reading :)