Authors Note
Disclaimer - We do not own X-men
Chapter 3
Hours had passed since the loss of Darwin, no one had spoken since. Lara and Lily had barely known Darwin but they both felt as if they lost someone extremely close. Lara had never experienced the feeling of loosing someone close to her. Lily on the other hand, had.
"Raven?" Charles called, running towards Raven and pulling her into his embrace. Lara and Lily blinked back into reality at the sound of his panicked voice.
"We've made arrangements for you to be taken back immediately." Charles clarified.
"We're not going home." Sean commented in response almost immediately.
"What?" Charles frowned.
Sean looked at Alex, "He's not going back to prison." He turned his head to the right of him, fixing his gaze on Lara. "She's not going back to wherever she was before." Lara's eyes met Sean's, she wasn't sure how to react.
"He killed Darwin." Alex snapped, attempting to reason with Charles.
"All the more reason for you to leave. This is over."
"Darwin's dead, Charles." Misery was painted over Raven's face, "And we can't even bury him." The five teenagers looked at the ground, Lily felt her heart sink.
"We can avenge him." Erik stated with his hands on his hips. The mutants gazed up at Erik, their faces puzzled but filling with hope.
"Erik, a world, please." Charles guided Erik a few paces away from the mutants, out of hearing range.
"Are you ok?" Sean asked Lara who hadn't stopped fidgeting. She nodded, although she wasn't sure how she was feeling. Lara looked further down the bench at Lily and Hank, both of them sat gawping at nothing, still in surprise of the events that occurred the previous night.
Charles looked back at the mutants, none of them had a smile on their face. "We'll have to train." He stated. "All of us." The teenagers didn't speak. "Yes?" His voice was slightly taut, he wanted an answer.
"Yeah." Alex answered for them, the rest of them nodded.
"Well, we can't stay here." Hank spoke. The place was covered with rubble, the building completely destroyed. Even if they reopen the department, it's not safe. We've got no where to go."
Charles grinned, his eyes sparkling. "Yes, we do."
Lara paraded into the kitchen still wearing her pyjamas with a stretch, she was the last one up; she usually overslept.
"Morning!" She yelled, giving the five mutants an open mouth grin.
"It's the afternoon." Lily told her friend. Lara looked baffled, lowering her arms. "It's half twelve." Lily added.
"Oh, oops." Lara skipped over to the fridge, opening the door and taking out the carton of orange juice. Sean ambled towards Lara with a smirk.
"When's training?" Lara asked, whilst pouring the juice into a glass. She was eager to train. Lara was a very lively person who loved taking part in activities, she wasn't one to give up easily.
"Later today." Alex told her. Lara groaned.
"You can help me train." Sean leant on the surface. Lara ignored his comment, drinking some of the orange juice, feeling his stare burn a hole through her head.
"I finished my book." Lily sighed. Hank peered over her shoulder.
"No way! You read Eugene Anderson books!" Hank gasped in awe. Lara, Sean, Raven and Alex all glared at Hank and Lily, surprised at Hank. He usually kept to himself.
"Yes! He's amazing! You read them too?" Lily had never met another person who loved Eugene as much as she did, she couldn't hold her excitement in.
"I've read his books since I was young. I can't get enough of them." Hank boasted.
"What's your favourite book?" Lily asked, before Alex interrupted with a loud cough, trying to cover laugh. Hank and Lily noticed all the mutants were staring at them. Both of them burnt red in embarrassment.
"So, Lara?" Sean transferred his concentration towards the dark haired girl.
"What?" She sat on the stool against the table beside Lily who was still talking to Hank about books. Sean followed her, leaning against the table, standing opposite her.
"Where are you from?" Sean asked curiously.
She hesitated, "California."
"Is that where you were found?" He continued to question her.
"You asked where I was from not where I live." Her voice full of sarcasm. She drank the remaining juice from the glass.
"Why won't you tell me where you were found?" He inquired. Lara brushed her fingers through her knotty hair and began fidgeting in her seat. She looked absent as she stared down at the table.
"Lara?" Sean muttered. She looked up at Sean, her eyes catching with his. Her breathing decreased but her heartbeat sped up, her mind turned blank. Sean leaned in closer to her giving her a clearer view of his piercing blue eyes. She completely stopped breathing for a second, unknowingly. Her chest felt tight with an overwhelming fluttering in her stomach; she almost felt dizzy.
"What did you do before they found you?" Lara left the trance, peeved by Sean.
"Stop asking!" She yelled. Sean leant off the table in shock by the change of tone. Everyone jumped at the sound of her voice, leaving their conversations to see what was going on.
"I will when you tell me!" Sean argued back. Lara shot up of the stool, scraping the chair back. Lily winced at the high pitched sound.
"I barely know you! I don't want to tell you!"
"How will I ever know you then?!" Lara fell silent at Sean's response. She clenched her teeth, she found him incredibly aggravating.
"Just shut up." She mumbled, knowing she'd lost the argument.
"Or what? You'll freeze me?" Sean grinned mischievously, provoking her. Lara clenched her fists turning them a bright blue, her hand froze. Raven noticed, dreading what Lara was thinking of doing.
"Lara, let it go. He's not worth it." She tried to convince her, she didn't want to find out what Lara's plan was. Lily and Hank stood up of the stools, worried at how this was going to turn out. Lara unclenched her fist, darting out the room.
"I think she likes you." Alex joked. Sean scowled at the blonde then ran out the room after the girl.
"Lara!" He called, grabbing her wrist and pulling her back. She glared at him, her eyes burning in rage. Lara grabbed Sean's hand, yanking it away from her.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know it bothered you that much." He noticed her doleful look.
"I don't like my past." She confessed, "I don't want to talk about it." Sean nodded. He'd barely known Lara long but the amount of time he had, she had never been this lethargic.
"Can you see body heat?" Charles questioned the young girl.
Lara's look was puzzled, "What?"
"Can you see my body heat?" He repeated the question.
"I think I'd know if I can see body heat." Lara chuckled, her laughing faded when she noticed Charles was serious.
"You felt something when you met Sean. You know what I'm talking about." Charles declared. Lara crossed her arms, shaking her head.
"Tell me what I'm feeling. Just concentrate on me." Charles ordered.
Lara rolled her eyes with a huff before staring at the professor in concentration which quickly failed. "This is stupid. I can't see body heat." She moaned, uncrossing her arms. She wasn't near enough patient to find out.
"Concentrate harder." Charles instructed.
Lara took a deep breath before focusing her attention on Charles, squint-eyed. She stared at him for a while before anything happened; a glowing light formed around the man's body, his head and chest radiating with the brightest yellow, the rest of his body was lit up with a shining red.
The expression on the girl's face was pure perplexity but at the same time contentment.
"You're glowing." Her voice orotund in joy. She smiled at Charles and he returned the gesture. "What does it mean?"
"What do you see?"
"You're mostly yellow around your chest and head but you're red around everywhere else - you're very warm."
"Happiness." Charles replied, smiling to himself for a moment. "Now, let's focus on the ice. Try and freeze the bottom pool of the fountain." Charles guided Lara towards the fountain. It was huge. She stared at the fountain with brooding eyes.
"You're serious?" She raised her right eyebrows. Charles nodded. "Don't you think I should start with something small? I've only tried freezing small things before." She justified.
"You need to push yourself." Charles stated, nodding at Lara, signalling for her to begin.
Her eyes were glued to the fountain as she raised her right hand, taking long deep breaths. The icy mist escaped the palm of her hand spreading across the fountain, escalating across the garden where Lily was sat reading.
"Lily!" Lara squeaked, squeezing her palm shut. She had frozen the entire fountain and the grass leading up to the bench Lily was sat on. Lily spun around in alarm jumping out the way of the ice. She glared at Lara, bug-eyed. "Sorry!" Lara turned to face Charles with an 'I told you so' look. Charles gave her a fake smile, concerned about the fountain.
He swayed on the spot, his face contorted in thought - wondering what to do next with her training. "Right." He finally said, clasping his hands. "Lily!" He waved, gesturing her over.
She stood up hesitantly, adjusting her clothes, before sluggishly making her way over. She nearly slipped several times on the ice; Lara bit the inside of her cheek, trying not to laugh - but she soon arrived in one piece.
"Right. Lara, I want you to look at Lily's body heat." Lily looked alarmed, shrinking back slightly. "It's nothing to worry about." He muttered reassuringly to the blonde.
Lara nodded and directed her full attention onto Lily, her eyes fixated on the girl's body, making her a quite uncomfortable.
"What do you see?"
"Erm, there's a blue glow around her legs; they're cold." She started, edging her stare upwards. "There's a red glow around her chest, that gets more intense around her head and it's almost yellow around her eyes - they're really hot." She shook herself out of her trance, her vision of Lily returning to normal. "What does that mean then?" She asked, looking between the two of them.
"Well, how are you feeling Lily?"
Lily's brow furrowed at this as she pondered, "Erm... well I guess I was surprised by you nearly freezing me." She flashed Lara a grin and continued, "and I guess I still feel the same after you just did that. I didn't know you could do that."
"Neither did I." Lara chuckled.
"So Lara, remember that as surprised - learning what lots of different emotions look like could be very useful to you." Charles insisted. "I think that's enough training for today."