"Oh my God stop, I'm beginning you, make it stop!" Peter's cries of despair could be heard throughout the whole school. Thea rolled her eyes and removed the needle from the vinyl.

"Okay don't be such a drama queen. How can you call yourself a music lover and not enjoy Debussy's Clair de Lune?"

The two youngsters were hanging out in the common room, Thea sitting on the ground against the couch on which Peter was sprawled out. He removed the cushion he had put over his face to muffle his screams.

"Have you been living in the 1890s for the past 25 years? Where's Scorpion, Pink Floyd, Queen, Led Zeppelin?" he moaned once more as Thea was giving him a blank stare. He stood up and started searching for a few discs on the shelf.

"This is all wrong. From now on, priority numero uno will be to upgrade your musical education," he kept rambling as Thea was watching him with an amused smile on her lips. She didn't think she would ever see Peter caring so much about anything. She was about to offer to get more drinks when Scott entered the room, a nervous smile on his face.

"Hey Thea, could I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure" Thea replied, suppressing a frown. Even though she enjoyed the young man company, they had never really have the chance to bond in the past four weeks that she had already spent in the school. They stepped away from the couch, ignoring Peter's glances.

"What's up?" she looked at the young mutant. She couldn't see his eyes behind the red shades but from the sound of his racing mind, she could tell he was nervous. It was an odd sight, as the handsome man usually looked so self-confident. She patiently waited for him to start talking, not wanting to pressure him.

"I was wondering if you- if you would agree to use your power on me. Again."

Thea's eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean?"

"Remember a few weeks back, when you trained with us in the danger room for the first time?"

"Oh yes" she said back, bitter. "I remember."

"Well I was thinking maybe… maybe you could try and negate my powers again? Just for a few seconds, a couple minutes top? I'm coming directly to you cause I know our professors would never agree to that, since you know it might be… dangerous."

"Oh you mean more dangerous than sending a dozen murder-bots after us?" she scoffed.

He laughed in return and stared at her.

"Is that a yes?"

She peered at Scott for a few seconds. He just wanted to feel normal for a while, not having the see the world in red for once. She could definitely relate to that. She eventually nodded with a kind smile. The young man couldn't hold back his excitement and suddenly pulled her into a solid hug, grateful for her generosity. Surprised, Thea patted his back, always happy to help.

"Don't tell the others ok? I know most of them wouldn't approve. They don't need to know."

She nodded and they started heading towards the exit.

"Hey Peter we're going to go… for a walk," she said while opening the door. "Rain check on that rock class?" she added with a smile.

The whole time she had been talking with Scott, Peter had been pretending to keep going through the dozens of discs on the shelf while glancing at them from time to time, fighting the jealousy that was slowly creeping in his mind. He had felt his fists clenching and vibrating at the sight of Scott hugging Thea.

"Sure," he mumbled without looking at her. "See ya."

Thea frowned and left the room, shaking her head. Sometimes Peter's mood swings were a little difficult to handle.

...

They made sure no one had seen them entering the danger room. Scott double-checked all the observation rooms and turned off all the cameras before coming back to Thea.

"Is that really necessary?" Thea asked with a nervous chuckle.

"We're not supposed to come down here alone. I won't let you get in trouble because of me."

Thea appreciated his honesty which made her want to help him even more.

"Alright," she sighed. "Let's do this."

She firmly anchored her two feet into the ground and stared at Scott. She tried to remember everything Charles had taught her in the past few weeks, breathing evenly, focusing her attention on the very core of Scott's power. It was like a dense spot in the middle of his brain that she could turn on and off on demand. Slowly, very slowly, the characteristic scarlet smoke seeped out of her fingers towards Scott's shades. Soon enough, she nodded at him, too focused to speak, and he carefully removed them. His eyes were closed at first. Then he turned his head so he wouldn't hurt Thea no matter what happened and slowly opened his eyelids. When he saw nothing red or hot or deadly was coming out of them, he let out a "YES!" of victory, which almost made Thea lose her focus. As Charles had shown her, she relaxed her tense muscles and put her power on 'standby'. Scott's powers were still negated, but she could breath and speak a little easier. The two youngsters looked at each other, smiling.

"You rock, Thea," Scott simply said, trying to enjoy every moment of it.

"I know," she answered with a smug smile.

They spent half an hour chatting and laughing, spending time together like two normal youngsters would. Thea was feeling particularly proud to be able to use her abilities for so long without feeling too drained. After a while though, she had to stop.

"I'm sorry Scott, but I think that's it for today," she gritted as a sharp pain appeared in her side.

He nodded and reluctantly put his shades back on. With a sigh of relief, Thea let go of her powers. She felt instantly better.

They went back upstairs. Everyone was in the common room, joyfully chatting. All except for Peter who was sulking in a corner, a gigantic headset on his ears. Scott softly pulled Thea aside.

"Hey, thank you. Really. It means a lot to me."

"You're welcome Scotty boy," she said slyly. "Anytime."

"Really? You'd be ok if with doing that again?"

"Sure, as long as we don't get busted. It's a good training for me too."

Grateful, he gently hugged her again before they joined the others. Thea crashed in the couch between Ororo and Jean as Kurt and Scott decided to play darts.

"What was that all about?" Ororo asked, a sly sparkle in her dark eyes.

"Scott needed some help with something," Thea awkwardly replied. "Jean, I hope it's ok, I know you an Scott are kind of a thing, I swear there's nothing going on between us. You can read my mind if you want."

Jean had a kind smile.

"I don't need too. I trust you. Plus, I'm not really sure what's going on between me and Scott right now, I don't mind him hanging out with you."

Thea nodded, relieved. The conversation kept going and the three girls were eventually arguing over which guy was the cutest in their group when Peter suddenly got up and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

"What's up with him?" Thea asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Thea, honey," Ororo sighed, "I love you but boy can you be dumb sometimes."

Thea shoved her shoulder as Jean was trying not to laugh too loudly.

"She's right" Jean added, "well not about the dumb part, but you have been pretty oblivious."

"What?" Thea cried, outraged. "What is that supposed to mean?"

The two girls rolled their eyes.

"I don't need to read minds to know that Peter is totally into you" Jean slyly mused, bumping Thea's shoulder with her own. "How do you think he felt when he saw you and Scott together?"

Thea bit her lip, worried.

"But it was totally innocent!"

"He doesn't know that," Ororo countered. "He's been through a lot emotionally; he's just being protective of his trust."

"Or his pride," Thea mumbled, frustrated that Peter would get upset over nothing. The girls giggled at her comment.

"Go find him." Ororo said, gently pushing her with her elbow. "I'm sure you'll talk it out."

Thea sighed and got up.

"If I'm not back in an hour, call for help. He probably will have punched me at super speed or something."

Ororo and Jean laughed and watched her leave the room with a look of pity on their faces.

"You'd think we'd have something more important than boys on our mind right now" Jean sighed, looking over at Scott who was yelling at Kurt for cheating at the game with his powers.

"Guess we're not that different after all," Ororo answered with a wink.

...

Thea slowly walked through the empty school's hallways. It was late at night and all the younger students were already in bed. She thought about what she could say to Peter to apologise, but she honestly had no idea. She wasn't so good with expressing her feelings, plus she had never thought of him this way before, even though she did feel closer to him than any of the other guys in this school. Confused and nervous, she walked outside, knowing exactly where to find him. She walked a good fifteen minutes through the woods behind the school before arriving to a gorgeous lake, hidden away in the middle of the dark trees. As she expected, Peter was there, sitting on the edge of a little wooden dock, his legs dangling over the water. She silently sat next to him and stared at the cloudless night sky. She tried to sense Peter's feeling but as always, it was just an ocean of racing and confusing thoughts that ended up making her dizzy. They spent a few minutes in silence, until Thea decided to break the ice.

"What are you thinking about?"

Peter stayed silent, so long that she thought he would never answer.

"My dad," he eventually said, his black eyes still glued to the horizon. "I think deep down, he knows. I saw the way he looked at me. I may act detached but I'm not stupid. He knows. But he still chose to leave."

"Erik has a troubled past" Thea whispered. "He probably needs to figure some things out on his own before letting anyone else in his life. That doesn't mean he won't come back."

Peter shook his head with a sad chuckle.

"People always leave," he simply answered. This time, Thea could feel Peter's pain like a hole being punched right through her heart.

"I'm sorry for earlier," she eventually said, eager to ease his pain. "I didn't mean to upset you. I just didn't think that you and I were-"

"What?" he cut her off, raising his voice. "That we were what? We're not teenagers anymore, Thea. And we're not liars like the rest of them."

"I never lied to you!"

"Then what were you doing with Scott this afternoon?"

Thea sighed.

"I- I can't tell you that but-"

He got up with a sarcastic laugh.

"Maybe you never lied to me Thea, but you have to stop lying to yourself."

As he was already leaving, Thea got up as well, ready to go after him.

If they hadn't been fighting, maybe they would have seen it coming. If Peter hadn't been so upset, maybe he would have gotten time to react. If Thea hadn't spent the afternoon with Scott, maybe they wouldn't even have been here in the first place. Whatever chain of events lead them here at this very instant, when ten men dressed in black and heavily armed creeped out of the woods, they definitely weren't prepared. Four of them were aligned in front of the others, one knee on the ground and holding gigantic guns with wide white canons. When they fired them at the two youngsters, they could almost see the destructive waves running trough the air towards them. Thea had just time to instinctively surround herself with a warm red shield of energy but on her right, Peter stumbled backwards before slowly falling in the water with a loud splash. Before she could run to help him, the men in black attacked her in unison. Mentally blessing Raven for the countless and painful hours she spent improving her hand to hand combat, she raised her fists to her face. She wasn't going to go without a fight.

She punched the first two men, using her powers to send them flying several feet in the air, ignoring the agonising pain as two of her fingers broke on impact. Quickly avoiding the others' attacks, she kicked another one in the throat before a fourth one grabbed her and threw her on the ground, trying to choke her. Putting her fingers on his neck, she sent him a shock, causing him to scream in pain and rage and collapse next to her. Gasping for air, she got back up and took off, placing herself several feet above the six attackers left. They hesitated. Apparently, they didn't expect her to have this much power. Yeah, I've learned a few tricks. However, the thought occurred that had they been instructed to kill her, she would probably be dead already. Someone wanted her alive. And she knew who it was. She spread her arms to the sky, her eyes turning completely red. Next to the attackers, a massive oak came out of the ground, leaving huge chunks of dirt behind. Thea tilted it in a horizontal position before sending it flying into the men in black. Too stunned to react, they all got violently hit and ended up on the ground, unconscious or worst. The trunk came to a stop several feet behind Thea and she tumbled to the ground, ignoring the blood dripping down her nose. She had never levitated something that heavy before, and she was paying the price.

Breathing heavily, she spun around, her thoughts swirling into her brain but focused on one thing: Peter.

"Peter?!" she screamed, trying to remember where he had fallen. Without wasting anymore time, she jumped in the cold dark water. The cold ceased her like a giant hand squeezing all the warmth out of her body. It was pitch black; there was no way she was going to find him like this. Trying to suppress her panic, she closed her eyes and focused on trying to hear Peter's messy thoughts. There. It was weak, but she could hear it. Following her mind, she swam for what seemed like an eternity before finally bumping into a motionless body. Placing herself behind him, she wrapped her arms around his chest and started swimming up as fast as she could.

She gasped for air as soon as she reached the surface and dragged Peter on the bank.

"Please be ok," she whispered, her long blond hair darkened by the dirty water. The fight had lasted less than a minute but it was more than enough for someone to breath a mouthful of water. His lips had turned as white as his skin. She held back her tears, checking for a pulse with shaky hands. As she did so, the young man started coughing and spitting water. She let out a loud sigh.

"It's ok, we're going to be ok," she softly repeated, not sure if she was trying to reassure him or herself. She put his head on her lap, brushing his silver strands out of his eyes. He kept gasping for air, clinging to Thea as if she was his lifeline.

She realised she was shaking, not out of cold or fear, but out of rage. She was done hiding and waiting for Stryker to make a move.

She was at war.

And she was bringing one hell of an army with her.

A/N: Once again, thanks A LOT for all the favs, follows and reviews, it really keeps me motivated. I'll try to keep updating weekly.

I usually reply to reviews via PM, but I answer the guests' reviews here.

So to Sara, thanks for the kind words, I hope you'll enjoy the rest of it!