Chapter Six: You Could Never Understand

A/N: Again, only minor editing with this chapter, but the major edits come a bit later! Hope you enjoy it all the same :)

Tobi felt a little awkward as she led Alex out into the night where the others couldn't see them. The stars were their only observers, flickering and watching silently from above. No longer did she hate Alex Summers with a passion…now she pitied him, could understand the demons he faced. They sat out on the grass near Cerebro, away from everything except this private little world they'd developed for themselves. Alex was shaking violently and he had gone very pale. Tobi thought he might vomit, but he'd kept himself together valiantly.

"This isn't the first time," Alex choked out, no longer trying to hold everything back, "I…I was eleven years old. There were a group of bullies harassing me, picking on me and my cousin. Her name was Shae. You probably would have liked her. Anyway, these kids had been messing around with us for some time…you know, it started off subtle…but then this one day when we were walking home from school…"

Tobi waited patiently as Alex sucked in his breathe. Now that he'd started telling her, he felt that he couldn't stop. Once he'd loathed Tobi…now that petty hatred just seemed stupid in comparison to everything that was real. Tobi placed a hand on his back, her slender fingers rubbing between his shoulder blades as she nodded, silently encouraging him to continue.

"They were calling us names and everything, just rude stuff mainly. Then they called me a freak and I just tensed up, because I thought…I thought they knew what I was. Shae saw my reaction and turned around and started bad-mouthing them, swearing at them. The biggest one just stepped forward and slapped her so hard that her nose started to bleed…and I just…I lost control."

Alex felt the bile rising in his thought at the memory of complete decimation that followed, but he swallowed, determined that he wasn't going to hold back. Why should he have to keep secrets? It was a terrible thing he'd done…but he felt that oddly, he could trust Tobi.

"The energy just blasted from me and…I killed all of them, Tobi. I reduced them to just…ash. Not just the bullies – I killed her. I killed Shae."

No wonder he was reluctant to use his powers. Tobi swallowed the lump in her throat, tears welling in her eyes as Alex's pain struck her as if it was her own. She wished she could close herself to feeling the emotions of others, but despite the fact that she could control her speed, she couldn't control this.

"That was when I ran away. What was I supposed to tell everyone? I couldn't say I'd accidentally killed my cousin. No one would ever understand." Alex turned to glance sharply across at Tobi, but she could clearly see his vulnerability. "Now do you get it?"

"You were only trying to…"

"Do the right thing?" Alex laughed mirthlessly, "Yeah, whatever. When I try and do the right thing, people end up dying. Funny that, isn't it? I'm a murderer. All I can do is destroy."

Tobi shook her head, green eyes sparkling with grief. Alex's reaction was making her grow upset. She wished that he wouldn't take things to heart like this. She wished he could see it wasn't always his fault.

"You don't mean that. Alex, you're a good person. I know that because if you weren't, you wouldn't be so worked up about Darwin. Please just see that you can't blame yourself."

Tobi could see that Alex needed comfort. Right now he was bitter because of what had just happened and no matter what she said, he still believed it was his fault. Feeling a little embarrassed, Tobi put her arms around Alex and drew him close, allowing him to sob into her hair. She patted his back as if he was a small child and felt that she was closer to understanding Alex Summers than she ever had been.

After the horrors they'd experienced, Tobi wasn't surprised that despite the fact that she and Alex returned in the early hours of the morning, the others were still milling around in the games room. Hank was pacing around with his hands clasped behind his back, Sean was snoring on the couch and Raven was just sitting there with red-rimmed eyes.

"Do you want a coke or something?" Raven murmured, rousing herself from her stupor to clamber to her feet and wipe at the stray tears that lingered at the corners of her eyes. "Maybe it's time for a midnight snack…"

Tobi shook her head slowly, still numb from the shock of Darwin's death and Angel's betrayal. Angel…she had been one of Tobi's closest friends and it was still hard to believe she'd turned her back on them. Now Tobi felt lost. Nothing was as it should be.

"I'm fine thanks, Raven. Umm…maybe Alex wants something."

Alex didn't answer. It was as if he couldn't even hear them. Raven glanced anxiously at him before she crossed over to speak in a quiet undertone to Tobi.

"Is he alright? You two were out there for a while. You didn't get through to him?"

Tobi remembered Alex's tragic story about Shae and knew she couldn't share with Raven. It was Alex's secret and it was up to him who he did and didn't tell. Instead Tobi just shrugged.

"I don't know. He's still a bit messed up by the whole thing. I think we all are."

Raven couldn't argue with that. She bit her lip and glanced one last time at Alex, before she entered the kitchen. Hank watched Tobi as she sat down and she saw the despair in his eyes. Despite the fact that he hadn't said anything, Darwin's death had impacted upon him, too.

"You're an empath, aren't you?" he asked suddenly.

Tobi shrugged. She had superior reflexes and senses, not to mention strength. She could also feel what others were experiencing, the emotions running through their mind. Was that an empath? She wasn't really sure and right now she was too out of it to really consider.

"I guess so. Why?"

Hank nodded, understanding. Alex was still very quiet, but he seemed a little less upset than before. If Tobi could feel others' emotions, then there was every chance she could be projecting her own. Perhaps her attempts at soothing Alex had been more effective than Hank had previously thought. Raven returned with two cokes and a box of cookies tucked under her arm. She sat down and ripped open the box, pushing a coke across to Alex and taking a huge bite of her cookie.

"What are Charles and Erik going to think when they get back?" Alex asked hollowly, speaking at last after taking a sip from his coke, "Darwin's dead, Angel's gone and I've wrecked the place. I don't think this is going to go down so well."

Charles, Erik and Moira returned with horror written all over their faces – well not Erik's, because he always remained impassive. Yet as he inspected the ruins of the CIA base, Tobi could sense his boiling anger despite his dispassionate expression. Tobi sat with an arm around Raven's shoulders, but the blonde girl leapt up and hurried to embrace Charles.

"Thank God," Charles murmured as he wrapped his arms tightly around his foster sister, "Are you alright?"

Raven nodded fervently, not quite trusting herself to speak without bursting into tears again. Charles examined the other mutants, each of them tense with apprehension and clearly shaken by what had happened. Darwin's death had rendered them all shell-shocked.

"We've made arrangements for you to be taken home immediately."

Tobi's head shot upwards. No matter what had happened, she couldn't take that. She shook her head fervently. No, Charles couldn't send her back. She didn't want to go back. After knowing what it was like to live free, it would be like a death sentence.

"We're not going home," Sean replied firmly, his eyes hard. Despite what had happened, he felt as though they couldn't just bail now. It would be an insult to Darwin.

"What?" Charles sounded astonished.

"He's not going back to prison," Sean said, indicating Alex and then turning to point at Tobi, his tone indicating how passionately he felt about the subject, "She's not going back to stealing off the streets."

"They killed Darwin," Alex commented, his hands clenched into fists. His jaw was working and Tobi could see the fire that still sparked in his blue eyes. Just like her, the others weren't giving up.

"All the more reason for you to leave," Charles pointed out, "This is over."

"Darwin's dead, Charles," Raven reminded him, crossing over to her foster brother. Tobi wasn't sure if she would cry, but she didn't. "And we can't even bury him."

"We can avenge him," Erik supplied in a steady tone, but Tobi could hear the undercurrent of vengeance, saw the spark in his eyes. She knew why he was doing this.

Charles turned to face him with a surprised look on his face and then he shook his head. "Erik, can I speak to you alone for a moment?"

As they walked to one side, Moira glanced at the teenagers incredulously. At first she'd been dismissive of them, especially after they'd wrecked the statue and decided to have their own little party, but now she saw their brave, resolute faces and knew that they were more iron-willed than she'd given them credit for.

"Are you sure about this?" she asked of them.

Tobi's eyes were twin emerald fires and when she voiced her thoughts, she spoke for all of them. "We've come too far to just give up now."

Charles turned to face the others with a serious expression on his face. He was mulling over what Erik had said and decided that it was best to let the teenagers decide for themselves. It was their lives on the line and it was up to them.

"We'll have to train. All of us. Yes?"
Alex nodded, his jaw clenched. He was determined to master control of his power, to ensure that he'd never be forced into a situation again where he would accidentally kill someone. He exchanged a brief glance with Tobi and she offered him a tight smile.

"Yeah."

"We can't stay here," Hank gestured to the ruined facility, "Even if they re-opened the department, it's not safe. We've got nowhere to go."

The hint of a smile crossed Charles's lips. "Yes, we do."

Tobi had been astounded by the opulence of Charles's mansion. To her, it was difficult to comprehend that someone could be so wealthy and yet so kind. In her experience as a street urchin, the rich men had always been the insufferable pricks, but Charles was as nice as they came. She staggered down the corridor towards her room – right near Raven's, to Tobi's satisfaction – with her meager supply of belongings. Sean and Alex had just finished bringing in their things and watched Tobi struggling down the hallway with slight amusement.

Sean raised his eyebrows. "Need some help there?"

Tobi shot him a glower. "No. I can handle this fine by myself, thanks."

Sean just shrugged nonchalantly and sure enough, Tobi stumbled and half of her stuff scattered all over the ground. He nudged Alex in the side and jerked his chin towards Tobi as she scrambled through the mess, trying to pick things up. Alex rolled his eyes as he realized Sean was looking down Tobi's top. When Tobi finally gathered her things and ambled on past the boys, she offered Sean a death glare.

"Next time you decide you're going to be a pervert, I'll hit you into tomorrow. Okay?"

Sean looked rather surprised as Tobi moved into her room and slammed the door behind her. Alex couldn't help but smirk at his friend's mixture of awe and astonishment.

"She's an empath, idiot," Alex reminded him with a snicker, "I bet your brain was pretty much screaming 'lust' when you were looking at her. Unless she thought you were gay – which she doesn't – she knows exactly what you're up to."

"Damn." Sean clicked his fingers. "There goes my cover."

Alex shook his head disbelievingly. Sometimes he couldn't get over how seedy Sean was. Much as Alex hated to admit it, Tobi was kind of attractive. But then again, so was Raven. Besides, Alex wasn't checking Tobi out as…well, desperately…as Sean was.

"Here's a hint," Alex called over his shoulder as he headed down the corridor to his own room, "You're as likely to sleep with Erik as you are with Tobi."

Tobi was a little anxious when Charles asked to speak with her before dinner. She entered his study with her shoulders tensed, wondering what he wanted of her. Charles was reading a book when Tobi came in and he looked up at her with a quick smile as he put the book down.

"Ah, hello Tobi. You're probably a bit puzzled as to why I asked for you, is that right?"

Tobi smiled wryly. "Wow, Charles. Anyone would think you can read minds."

Charles patted the spot beside him on the couch. Still uncertain, Tobi crossed the room and sat down beside him. Charles's eyes held no trace of anything sinister and Tobi could sense no negative emotions stemming from him…but she wasn't sure if her empathetic abilities worked with Charles.

"There's something I need you to do for me…well, for Alex, really."

Tobi's green eyes narrowed suspiciously. Something for Alex? Boy, she was interested to hear what this one was going to be. She folded her arms across her chest to indicate her reluctance.

"Yeah?"

Charles sighed heavily. "You have extraordinary abilities, Tobi. You have senses and reflexes superior to any normal person…relax, Tobi. I'm not going to ask you to do anything drastic. I also know that you can sense the emotions of others…and I'm beginning to believe that you could possibly do the reverse."

Tobi's brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well." Charles looked a little nervous and he moved forward so that his eyes were boring straight into Tobi's. "I think that, given the chance to expand on that particular skill, you would be able to influence others using your emotions. That was why I was rather hoping I could ask a favour of you. Think of it as your first lesson. I want you to try and help Alex. He's still devastated about what happened to Darwin and he needs help. I think you can help him."

Tobi gnawed at her lip, uncertain. The eccentric relationship between her and Alex was one that she was still only coming to terms with. They didn't hate each other anymore; in fact there was now a grudging trust between the two of them, a connection they were unwilling to accept. Tobi wouldn't exactly call them friends, though.

"I…I don't know…"

"Please, Tobi." Charles's eyes were pleading and Tobi sensed the desperation in his mind, the concern for Alex…and she knew that she couldn't refuse. Even if Tobi didn't know whether she could accomplish such a feat, she had to try. "We all need saving sometimes, and right now Alex needs saving by you."