[Angel Salvador]
"Wait, we're going to where now?" Aurora asked utterly confused.
"A gentlemen's club, Hasenhirn," Erik says to her, also calling her an idiot.
"Which is another word for…?"
"A strip club. We're about to walk into a strip club, Aurora." Charles explained.
Aurora's eyes widened and her cheeks were lightly dusted in pink. Erik laughed at her reaction and continued to walk ahead of her and Charles. Aurora looks up at Charles, slightly concerned at where they were heading.
"Charles, I don't want to walk into a club full of stripping women!" Aurora frantically said.
"Not a problem," Charles replied, starting to pull out his wallet. "Do you want to go shopping? There are a few stores nearby. I can give you some money to spend,"
Aurora gave him an 'are you kidding me' expression and pushed his wallet back into his back pocket. She put a hand on his forearm and stopped him on the sidewalk. She furrows her eyebrows and narrows her gaze at him.
"Charles, that's not what I meant! I meant that I don't want either of us to go inside. I mean, half-naked women dancing sexily… it worries me,"
Erik stopped walking when he realized that the pair had stopped as well. Charles smirked and tilted his head to one side. He crosses his arms, looking down at his shorter companion.
"Love, aren't you being a little protective? I mean, don't you trust me?"
Aurora goes red as she licks her teeth to try and buy some time to figure out what to say. She begins to tap her foot, suddenly feeling both men's attention on her. Erik, in the background, snickers and raises his eyebrows, enjoying the scene unfolding in front of him.
"You're jealous aren't you?" Charles says in her head.
"I am not jealous!" she says aloud. "I'm just concerned for the relationship that we both have!"
She crosses her arms and puffs up her chest, trying to protect her pride. She looks the other way and pouts her lip, looking much like a five-year-old. Charles laughs at her and wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him.
"Half or fully naked women do not have much to compete with when it comes to my affection towards you, darling. You have much more to offer when it comes to personality and beauty."
Aurora tries her best not to smile at his words, but fails to comply. A Cheshire grin erupts onto her features as her cheeks stain with a dusty pink. She gives Charles a quick peck on the lips then stares at him in adoration for a minute.
"You two are disgusting creatures. Hurry up already! We have things to do!" Erik shouted from several feet away from them. He huffs then begins to walk towards the club without them.
The pair laughs it off then rush to catch up with Erik.
When they reached the entrance to the club, Erik puts an arm in front of Aurora, stopping her from walking in. He narrows his gaze and tilts his head.
"What will we say if people begin to ask why you're in a strip club for men?"
"We can always say that she's a lesbian," Charles suggests.
Aurora nods in agreement and shrugs.
"I'm open to that possibility. There's nothing wrong with it either,"
The trio all walk into the club. From the second they took a step in, they were automatically bombarded with drinks and a stage with several dancing women. Aurora hid behind the two men and followed them around closely.
"Aurora, see if you can find anyone who knows something about mutants or mutations," Charles commanded. She nods quickly and begins to roam every single mind that was present in the club.
She was interrupted when a waitress in a babydoll walked up to them and offered to pick up their empty glasses. She grinned flirtatiously at Charles as he returned a blameless smile. As the waitress examines both men, she notices a meek Aurora standing behind them.
"Oh…what brings a lady like you to the strip club?" she asks her with a curious look.
"We brought her along because she likes it a bit… kinky," Erik replied.
Aurora held back her urge to smack him. Forcedly, she puts a smirk on her face. Charles takes a deep breath in before explaining it further.
"Our friend here isn't exactly interested in, erm, men…" he says awkwardly.
The waitress smiles and nods understandingly. She licks her lips and gives Aurora a wink before walking away with their empty drink glasses in hand.
Aurora's eyes widened as she stands there slightly shocked. She shrugs off the current incident and quickly goes back to searching. A light bulb flickers on in her head as she seems to have found the mutant.
"Charles, her name is Angel Salvador," She points towards a young woman in a black fringe bikin. "She's coming this way. Erik you have cash right?"
Angel struts towards them as Erik holds out a $100 bill. She grins at him and takes the bill.
"For this, daddio, you get a private dance." Angel says sweetly.
Erik looks at Charles and grins at him. He then looks over his shoulder and raises an eyebrow at Aurora. The trio gets up and follows Angel to a private room. Aurora stays seated until Erik turns around and gently grabs her wrist to drag her behind him.
Her eyes go wide as she realizes that she is being taken to the room along with them.
"What?! Erik, I'm not going in there with you!" She debates with a frantic look on her face.
"We can't just leave you out here."
Once they reached the room, they take their seats on the long couch bed that was on the far side. Aurora's face is a bright red as she tries to figure out how to act around a stripping woman.
Angel walks in her costume and smiles at the three of them. She looks in Aurora's direction and gives them a questioning look.
"She's a lesbian." Erik plainly stated smiling at her and nudging Aurora in the ribs, snickering.
Aurora nods quickly as she forces another awkward smile on her face.
"First time in the strip, girly?" Angel asks her. Aurora nods.
"You know its triple for all three of you right?"
"No, that won't be necessary," Charles says, shifting around in his seat.
"We were thinking more like… we show you ours, and then you show us yours." Erik intercepts.
Angel tilts her head and stands with a hand on her hip.
"Baby, that is not how it works around here."
Erik snaps his fingers and raises the champagne bucket with his powers. He brings the bucket in front of Aurora, who was sitting in the middle of both men. Charles holds out his glass and has champagne poured into it by Erik.
Angel scoffs, clearly amazed by what Erik was able to do. Aurora smirks as she crosses her stretched out legs and clenches her fists. Connecting to Angel's mind, she talks to her in her mind softly.
"Blink twice for me, dear,"
Angel does as she says and begins to laugh as she sees Erik and Charles dressed in drag. She put Erik in a blue dress and red wig and Charles in a blonde wig and green dress, makeup included.
"I know, I know. I'm good aren't I?" Aurora chuckles. Both Charles and Erik look at each other, clearly confused.
"How did you do that?" Angel asks.
"We're just like you." Aurora replies.
Angel nods as she says, "My turn," She unclasps her bra and spreads her arms out.
Aurora's eyes widen as she rushes to shield her eyes, thinking that she was about to remove the garment completely.
The tattoos she had on her upper arms detached themselves from her skin and transformed into shiny, silvery wings. She began to float and the trio looked at her in awe.
They smiled at each other, knowing what was yet to come.
[Sean Cassidy]
The men stood in the center of the aquarium tank room, watching the young Sean Cassidy emitting high-pitched sound waves through the tank glass.
"I sound worse than that when I try to sing…" Aurora quietly mutters earning a smirk from Erik. Charles looks at the both of them, smiling at the growing relationship they had. He gives Aurora a quick peck before turning his attention back onto the situation.
Charles clears his throat, getting the attention of Sean.
Sean turns around, surprised at the sudden noise. He looks at both of them questioningly then apprehensively asks, "Are you here to experiment on me…?"
Charles chuckles and strolls towards the boy. Erik shoves his hands into his pockets, bemused at the way the boy seemed so quick to jump to conclusions.
"Charles doesn't have the courage to cut open a fellow mutant,"
Charles shakes his head, disregarding Erik's comment. He extends an arm to lightly grasp the anxious looking boy's shoulder.
"What would you say if I offered you a chance to be with others like you?"
[Alex Summers]
Aurora's heels clank against the grimy white tile of the juvenile detention facility. She speeds after the guard, taking long strides in order to keep up with him. After a flight of stairs, they made it into a hallway that read "Solitary Confinement".
"In all my years, I have never seen anyone who actually likes solitary confinement…" the guard stated, stopping in front of one steel door. "I guess this guy just likes to be alone…"
The guard pulls the cell door open and in the shadow, a teenaged boy stood, staring at the ground. Aurora stands outside the cell and smiles brightly at the somewhat frightened boy. She puts her hands into her jacket pockets, twirling around on her heel to face him completely.
"Hello, Alex," she said softly. "Care to come out and take a quick stroll with me?"
Alex looks up from the corner and stares at her, trying to convince himself to trust her. He stays silent, but he cautiously walks out of the cell and in front of the older woman. He looks up at her carefully, with his hands behind his back, trying to refrain from harming her on accident. She smiles at him and gestures towards the exit of the prison.
"You're not one of those old grannies who're either social workers or government agents are you?" He asks quietly.
Aurora scoffs. "How old do you think I am kiddo?" she asks looking at him entertained.
"Like… 25 or something."
Aurora laughs sweetly and smirks at the mutant teen.
"I'm 93 to be exact. I have a regenerative mutation which means I don't age nor do I die."
Alex looks at her with furrowed eyebrows, slightly confused at what she just said. Aurora raises an eyebrow at him, the corners of her lips quirking up. She enters his mind and says, "And I'm a telepath. I'm just like you. You were never alone, Alex."
She leaves his head and then says aloud, "There are other mutants out there, dozens who are just like you and I. We would all love to have you join us defeat evil."
Alex frowns at her, taking in what she just said.
"You really want me to help you defeat evil? You've chosen the wrong guy for that," he laughs bitterly. "I am evil, granny. This mutation thing that I have can easily kill people and I don't want to end up doing that again."
Aurora cocks her eyebrow and dismisses the nickname she was given by the teen. Taking a breath, she tilts her head to the side and looks directly into his eyes. Although she didn't notice, her hair was switching colors rapidly.
Alex stared at her, shocked at what she was just doing.
"You're scared of your ability, aren't you?" She says to him in a near whisper. "I know what that's like, trust me, but if you go with me; you can learn how to control it. Soon enough, you'll master your power and know how to use it for good. There's no reason to be afraid…"
Alex watches her for a few more moments before looking off to the side and nodding.
[ … ]
After gathering all of the mutant recruits, they were back at the base, awaiting the instruction of Charles and the approval for transport from the government. Aurora stood next to Charles, holding the arm that draped around her shoulders. She leaned against him and listened carefully as Charles and Erik conversed.
"They're just kids…" he says quietly, sneaking a glance at the recruits.
"No, they were kids. Shaw has an army. We need ours." Erik replied gruffly.
"Erik's right, Charles… No matter how young they may seem, we have a much important matters that need to be taken care of. They'll learn how to cope," Aurora added.
They turned around, Charles' arm still wrapped around her. Angel raised an eyebrow, confused at the way they were acting.
"I thought you said you were a lesbian, girly?" she asked.
"You prefer girls, granny?" Alex added.
Aurora's blushed deeply as she licks her lips nervously.
"She's really not. We just needed something to say in case someone asked back at the club," Charles stated. "She's actually my girlfriend…"
Charles smiles down at her and kisses her temple sweetly. Erik chokes in the background as Angel smiles and nods in understanding. Charles sighs and nods, getting back into focus.
"If we're going to defeat Shaw, we need to train."
"We can't train here," Hank says. "I mean, we have no room. Where will we go?"
Charles grins, knowing the perfect place to go. Aurora feels his excitement through her connection with him and grins.
"We're going to the only place where we can all be at home, the Xavier Mansion,"