Something was wrong.

It was night already. Thea was walking back home from her lab, exhausted, barely walking straight. She had spent all day going through her parents' papers, but she couldn't make sense of it. It was like she was missing the one thread tying all the information she had together. It was driving her crazy. She had even forgotten to eat.

The only thought keeping her sane was coming home to her little sister. Ellie's nanny had picked her up from school earlier this afternoon and Thea couldn't wait to hear how her first day in her new school went.

As she was crossing a street, she tripped over the sidewalk. And that's when she saw it. A quick flash of light ten feet in front of her, so fast that for a second she thought she'd imagined it. But she couldn't ignore the oppressive feeling that someone was watching her. Her heart started beating fast. Too fast. The lights around her flickered. Calm down Thea. For the love of God, calm down. If she made a scene in the middle of the street, she and Ellie might as well pack their things the same night. Besides, if someone really was following her, she needed to stay cool and not alarm them.

The rush of adrenaline had completely woken her up. She quickly made it back to her apartment and sighed in relief when she arrived safe and locked the door behind her. However, while closing it, she suddenly shivered, feeling goose bumps on her skin, as if something had just touched her.

"Ellie? Get down here, I need to talk to you! Something… weird just happened."

Silence answered her.

"Ellie?"

Oh no. She feverishly grabbed her cell phone while moving towards the mezzanine. From where she was standing, she couldn't see if Ellie was there or not. But before she could do anything, a soft voice echoed inside her head.

"Calm down Thea. We are not here to hurt you."

She let out a cry of surprise. Her phone escaped her hands and fell on the floor. And there it was again, that white strike of lightning, right in front of her. Before she could even think about doing anything, her instincts took over. She felt a rush of blood in her temples. A large kitchen knife arose from the worktop and flew across the room before suddenly stopping.

Time froze.

She was heavily breathing. Behind the knife she had just moved was standing a young man, dressed with black shirt and pants and a silver jacket. His hair had a weird white-silverish color. He was staring at her with wide dark eyes, not with fear, but surprise.

"I don't care how fast you are" she said with a dangerously calm voice. "You move a muscle and I'll slit your throat without even thinking about it."

She wasn't lying. She didn't even know how or when she decided to move the knife.

"Where is Ellie?" she asked as the young man wasn't saying anything.

"She is fine, I promise you. Please put the knife down."

It was that voice again. Her heart skipped a beat.

"Yeah, no, she's not a big fan of the telepathic thing Professor" the white-haired guy finally said guy between his teeth with a grimace of pain, as a thin streak of blood was slowly running down his throat. "Cut this crap and come over here."

A couple seconds later, her door opened. She was certain she had locked it. A bald man in a wheel chair came in, followed by a beautiful blonde women and a tall man wearing glasses.

"Ok" Thea said with a trembling voice. "Who the hell are you people and what are you doing in my apartment?"

"I am Professor Charles Xavier" the man in the wheel chair replied with a strong British accent. "And this is Hank, Raven and Peter".

"Nice" the women whose name was apparently Raven said, nodding towards Peter. "I didn't know there were people who are actually faster than this guy on this planet."

"What do you want?" Thea asked, ignoring the blonde woman.

"Right now, I would love for you to put the knife down" Charles answered, his calm blue eyes staring at her. "We are all a little on edge."

"A little?" Thea repeated with a sarcastic chuckle. "Tell me where my sister is and maybe I'll consider not killing this guy."

Peter was already opening his mouth to complain but Charles suddenly squinted and put two fingers on his temple.

"She is upstairs, sleeping. Look."

She wasn't quite sure how, but she saw Ellie, peacefully sleeping on her bed. She felt a heavy weight leave her stomach. At the same time, the knife fell on the floor with a loud metallic ringing, making everyone in the room jump, including Thea. Peter sighed, carefully rubbing his throat.

"Man, what was that all about? You didn't tell me she'd be armed," the young man said, casually walking towards Charles and the rest of the group before folding his arms.

"Who are you? What do you want from me?" Thea asked before they could say anything.

"We need your help" Charles simply said.

"You couldn't email me or something?" Thea mumbled.

The Professor had a thin smile.

"You are not an easy person to find, Thea."

"Yeah, that's kind of the point. You know, the moving and all? It's to avoid being found by people like you."

"That is not what I meant, but there is that too."

Thea frowned, intrigued.

"So what exactly do you need me for?"

"I would rather not discuss that here. If you could follow us to our facilities, I cou-"

"Nope. No way. I am not following you anywhere."

"Come on" Peter sighed, exasperated. "Didn't you see us on TV? We're the good guys. We basically saved the world."

"So you kicked another mutant's ass. Doesn't make you the good guys. From my point of view, you're only the least bad guys. Aren't you buddies with the man who destroyed half the city? The mutant with the funky helmet?"

Silence. Peter's eyes suddenly turned dark and he leaned back on the wall without a word. Hank, who had stayed silent until then, awkwardly cleared his throat.

"Our history with Erik is… complicated to say the least. Please, give us a chance to explain ourselves. I assure you our intentions are honorable."

"Really? Is that why you broke into my place?"

They looked at each other, clearly embarrassed. Except for Peter, who was sulking and clearly not paying attention to what was happening anymore.

"I was really hoping I wouldn't have to do that" Charles said, putting his fingers against his head again. "But you are giving me no choice."

Thea braced herself, unsure of what was about to happen.

But nothing did. The five of them spent a few moments staring at each other.

"Hum, Charles?" Raven finally asked.

"I'm not surprised," the Professor answered with a light smile. "So powerful already, and she doesn't even know it."

"Ok that's it" Thea said, tired of all this, picking up her phone that was still on the ground. "I'm calling the cops. Breaking and entering, stalking… that's enough to have you all arres-"

A loud BOING kept her from finishing her sentence. She blinked a couple times, surprised to feel a strike of pain in the back of her head. And then she fell into nothingness.

Behind her, Peter was standing with a frying pan in one hand and a smirk on his face. He had enough time to go put the utensil down and be back next to Thea to break her fall. He carried the unconscious young women in his arms as if she weighed nothing.

The others were staring at him, speechless.

"Peter!" Hank finally cried. "What the-"

"You said we had to bring her back no matter what," the young mutant said with a shrug. "This is my definition of "no matter what"."

Charles was slowly rubbing his forehead, eyes closed.

"That is not what I- Never mind. It is done now. Hank, Raven, go get her sister. We are leaving."

And so they left as fast as they came in, leaving a silent and empty apartment behind them.