Hola! So I'm starting university soon and I figured now would be the ideal time to push out another chapter. By the way, I just keep going mad with new fanfics - it's going to kill me. I've started writing stories that have nothing to do with existing material (GASP I actually have a functioning imagination that can make my own characters and not bring in already existing ones) that I might end up posting somewhere - I think Wattpad's the place for that. Also, in doc manager, where the hell has the 'line break' button gone?!

But, back to the reason we're all here! Enjoy the chapter, and reviews are welcome as always:)

DISCLAIMER: You already know what I'm going to say, don't you? Good. You're clever. I like you.

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Chapter 5 – Lost

My forehead was pressed against the cool metal of the table in the empty mess hall, a pained groan escaping my lips as I clutched my bloated stomach. I felt the bench dip a little as Sean sat down next to me again, setting his third tray of food down on the table. Feeling his finger prod my cheek, I swatted half-heartedly at his hand. "Good, you're still alive," he commented, chuckling to himself.

"I feel like my stomach is going to burst," I complained, squeezing my eyes shut as I felt the organ clench around the mass of food uneasily.

"You only had two trays!" he exclaimed through a mouthful of food. "Not even that!"

"I haven't eaten more than leftovers in seven years," I told him, "Stuffing my face with that much food that fast isn't safe."

"Well, you better get used to it," he replied. "From now on you're gonna be eating more; you need more meat on those bones."

I turned my head so that my temple was on the table and looked up at him with a slight smirk. "Are you going to be my dietician?"

His eyes widened and he gaped at me. "That is the single most genius idea anyone has ever had ever."

I chuckled, closing my eyes again contentedly. Letting my guard down around the others was a lot easier when I was only with one of them, and Sean's playful attitude definitely helped with that. He was never subtle with what he wanted to say; he'd just spit it out, even if he knew it was a sensitive subject – for example, the fact that I was a little unhealthy considering how skinny I was – and somehow that made it easier to approach for me, as well. He didn't make a big deal out of how fragile I could seem sometimes and it certainly didn't hold him back from teasing or flirting, which made me feel like it really wasn't a big deal at all. It was inexplicably helpful – he was inexplic–

My head jerked back and my eyes snapped open to see Sean grinning at me, holding a spoon of beans that he had pressed to my lips seconds before. "Goddamnit, Sean!" I exclaimed, unable to stop the laugh that escaped my chest at his ludicrous behaviour. I wiped the bean sauce off my mouth as he laughed at me, his elbow leaning on the table as his hand supported his forehead, his shoulders shaking with the silent laughter he was emitting. "Asshole," I muttered, scowling.

He looked up at me, his amused expression replaced with one of delight as he pointed a finger at my face. "Look who's coming out of her shell!" he grinned happily.

"I'm not just going to sit and not react when you're trying to force a spoonful of beans down my throat," I retorted.

He ignored me and stood, bowing to an invisible audience with a smug smirk. "Yes, thank you. You're right! I am the one that broke through her cold, distant exterior and brought out this happy, playful beauty! I take full credit! Congratulate me! Bow to me! Give me your money and snacks and I shall do the same to you all!"

"Sean," I said quietly, standing next to him and putting a hand on his arm.

"She wants to thank me herself! Perhaps I'll get a ki–"

"Sean!" I hissed, squeezing the slight muscle beneath my fingers. He frowned down at me and then noticed I wasn't looking at him.

"Oh," he mumbled, finally spotting the cluster of five agents standing in the doorway, watching us with hateful, disgusted eyes. There was a tense silence where we just stared at each other, mutants and humans, uncertain and apprehensive. Then Sean spoke up again, "You should try the sausages; they're really good," he told the group, chuckling nervously.

"And here I thought you couldn't be more of a freak," one of the agents spat. Sean flinched.

"Leave us alone," I said, my voice coming out stronger than I felt.

"What is wrong with you?"another agent asked, and suddenly I was strapped into a chair with black eyes scrutinising me, asking the same question over and over and over again as the shocks got worse and worse.

"What is wrong with you, Evelyn?" the eyes asked me. "Why are you here?"

There was a hand gripping my upper arm.

"What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong?"

There was another hand pressed against my cheek.

"Evelyn, what's wrong? Are you okay? Evelyn!"

I blinked and the black eyes disappeared, finding that Sean was standing in front of me, blocking the agents from my view, his bright blue eyes watching me with concern, not cruelty. "Sean?" I croaked, confused.

His face sagged with relief. "Good, you're okay. C'mon, let's get back to the others." He took my hand in his, making me flinch slightly, and turned back to face the doorway. "Leave us alone," he said firmly.

One of them let out a harsh bark of laughter and my eyes clenched shut. "After that show? Are you serious?"

Something bad was happening, I could tell; Sean's grip tightened and he took a step back, my nose pressing against his shoulder. I could feel it rising and falling steadily with his heavy breaths as they began to quicken.

"You're really just making it worse for yourself, you know," an agent commented. "You're a bunch of immature, unnatural kids; there's no way you can fight against anyone, acting like that. Someone has to toughen you up."

At the unspoken threat, my eyes snapped open and anger bubbled in my chest. He was threatening Sean; he was threatening one of the few people I cared about. I stepped out from behind the lanky ginger and glared at the agents heatedly, seeing a few smirk at my sudden burst of bravery while others recoiled slightly, even more apprehensive now. "Back off," I said threateningly.

One of the agents laughed. "That's real cute, girly." The most confident of the group started to stalk towards us, smirking cruelly. Memories of the same predatory look flashed in front of my eyes and my heart hammered against my chest, enraged and terrified. "What are you gonna do if we don't 'back off', huh? You gonna cry? You gonna scream for help?" I vaguely deduced that they didn't know Erik and Charles were back yet. "Don't worry, girly, we're only gonna beat some sense into you."

How could I get the older mutants' attention from in here? I started thinking Charles' name hard, concentrating as much as I could on it, but I received nothing in reply. Wondering if he could detect high levels of emotions, I took a deep breath and gave in, letting go of Sean's hand so I wouldn't crush it.

Memories continued to flash in front of me, and I forced myself to stop fighting them, allowing the panic, fear, hatred, and rage to consume me. I could feel myself shaking, my cheeks hot and wet with the tears starting to drip down them. My heart was thumping erratically against my ribcage, so hard I was sure everyone in the room could hear it, and my muscles were jerking with the memories of shocks attacking my mind like knives.

I was slipping. I knew I was, but my control was also slipping, and that was only fuelling my panic. I was going to lose myself in the memories, and I didn't know if I could come back from them; fighting them off for so long was finally taking its toll on me.

I couldn't see the agents, or hear them, and I couldn't feel Sean's presence beside me anymore. I blinked, and then I was back in the asylum, strapped to the chair for real this time.

"Sweet Evelyn, why do you think you're here?"

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Erik hadn't felt such fury since Shaw had killed his mother. As soon as Charles had let out a pained yelp and clutched his head, muttering "Evelyn," and "Mess hall," he had bolted from the room for the young mutant, his awareness of the metal surrounding him growing stronger and more tempting with each pounding footstep. And then he had slammed through the doors to the mess hall, taking in the scene before him: five suited agents surrounding something. All he could see in front of them was a mop of ginger hair and all he could hear was Sean's voice yelling Evelyn's name as the agents chortled and taunted the two mutants.

One of the tables at their sides crumpled into itself noisily, grabbing their attention and coating the room in silence. Slowly, they turned to look at him, eyes widening in fear at the look on his face.

His jaw was clenched so hard he thought his teeth would shatter, and his entire body was tense with rage, emphasising his muscled arms and chest. Then he started walking towards them. "You humans," he began, his voice low and deadly quiet, "Are weak–" another table crumpled, "cowardly–" a third table, "disgusting–" a fourth, "creatures. I have half a mind to kill you." He glared at each one individually, eye twitching. "And the other half agrees whole-heartedly."

"You should leave," Charles' voice said sternly behind him. "He isn't joking."

Erik suddenly felt opposed to killing all of them as they hurried out of the hall, giving him a wide berth, and knew Charles had taken a field trip inside his mind. However, he would deal with the telepath later. For now, his legs brought him quickly towards Evelyn, who was curled into the foetal position on the cold floor, shaking, flinching, and weeping. His angered look went to Sean, who didn't even meet his gaze he was so concerned with the girl's state, and then to Charles, who had come to kneel down next to her head. "What's happening?" Erik demanded.

"She's lost," Charles muttered, frowning in concern and thought. Then his hand reached out to cover her forehead and he said softly, "Sleep." Her body's spasms lessened almost imperceptibly, but other than that, Charles' power seemed to have no effect.

"Charles?"

"Her memories are too strong. There's nothing I can do except wipe them from her mind, but I'm not even considering that at the moment. She'll need to face them for now. If it goes on for too long then I'll take action, but this is something she has to do herself."

"We can't leave her here," Sean spoke up for the first time, his voice strained and solemn.

"No, we can't," Charles agreed. "Erik, take her to the girls' room while I speak to Sean."

"Should she not be put somewhere quieter?" Erik asked, immediately sliding his arms under Evelyn's back and knees, lifting her up against his chest.

"I'll let Raven know that she shouldn't be disturbed," Charles replied thoughtfully. "I'm not quite sure whether their presence would hinder her or not, though. She could need the comfort."

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After speaking with Sean and sending him to the boys' room for some rest, Charles told the other mutants to stay inside the recreational room until either he or Erik told them otherwise, and to not answer the door to any agents unless it was Moira. They had protested at first, affronted that they were being confined to one room without a say in the matter, but then Raven asked where Evelyn was and everyone was suddenly concerned and insistent in their desire to see her. Alex was quiet, since he had only just met the girl, but Charles could feel his concern along with everyone else's.

"I'm sorry, but for now you'll have to give her some space," Charles told them apologetically. "I'll come back to let you know how she's doing later on."

As he was leaving, Darwin said his name and walked over, speaking quietly. "Did the agents do something to her?"

Charles sighed, knowing that Darwin was the most mature out of the group of young mutants. "They triggered memories of her past," he explained briefly. "She's asleep now but not yet free of them."

Darwin looked deflated. "She only just recovered," he murmured.

Charles frowned. He remembered the other mutants' recounts of Evelyn's strange behaviour while he and Erik had been recruiting Alex, and slipped his hands into his pockets. "The emotions and memories may have been building up for a while," he deduced, "And this might just be Evelyn's grip on them failing. She's been trying to suppress them all ever since she left instead of confronting them, and I think they might have finally overwhelmed her." He watched as Darwin brought a hand up to rub his eyes, frowning as if in pain. "I'm not sure if she'll need the presence of her friends to help her through this yet, but I'll let you know if she does."

"Thanks, Charles," Darwin nodded, turning to go back to the other mutants.

The telepath tried to send a reassuring smile in his sister's direction, but he sensed her anxieties worsen and knew it had not sufficed. The truth was: he was worried that Evelyn's years of cruelty were finally making their mark on her mental state, and he could only hope that the recent development of friendships would be enough to keep her from falling apart or turning into a revenge-seeking machine.

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I stared at the floor beneath his feet, eyes droopy, head heavy, silent tears continuously falling down my face. Just when I thought my body had gone numb, he'd shock me again, and suddenly every cell I consisted of awoke and shrieked with agonising pain, sending my limbs into a fit of spasms as a silent yell tore at my throat, my eyes clenching shut to try and block out his sick pleasure.

When I opened them, I was lying on the hard floor of my cell, two guards looming over me, their features fuzzy and indiscernible. Foul, heavy breathing hit my face, rough hands groping, ripping, slapping, punching. I was weak and helpless – pathetic. I could only whimper and close my eyes, pretending it was a bad dream.

My eyes opened again and I was sat at a small table, a chessboard set in front of me, a twitching patient sitting across from me. One move and I would win. I knew the patient would snap if I did, but I needed to know that I was good at something, that I could come out victorious and the better player in this game, since I lost in every other. I took my piece and moved it. "Checkmate," I muttered. The patient let out an ear-shattering screech of rage and threw herself across the table, knocking the board and the pieces onto the floor with a loud, clattering noise. Her hands clawed at my face as we fell backwards, and then she was gripping my neck. I tried to tell her it was too tight, that I couldn't breathe, but the words wouldn't come. She pulled my head up and smacked it down hard on the ground, and my eyes closed again, this time unintentionally, as pain blossomed at the back of my skull like a thorn bush.

This time, when I opened my eyes, I was sat at one of the visiting booths, staring through the bulletproof glass at a group of familiar faces. I saw Darwin and Raven, Erik and Sean, Charles, Alex, Hank, and Angel, all watching me, but not without kindness. Hearing heavy breathing behind me, I turned to see him, standing in his white coat, his black eyes burning into my soul, with guards flanking him and patients huddled behind them.

"You belong here, sweet Evelyn."

"They're your old life." I turned to face forward again, watching Raven's mouth move. "We're your new life."

"You can trust us," Erik said.

"Come with us," Raven smiled, so radiant and beautiful.

"The glass is bulletproof," I heard myself telling them. "I can't break it. I'll have to climb over it. I can't break it." And, yet, I didn't move.

"No more avoiding things," Charles told me.

"You can break it," Darwin said.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"You can break it," Sean repeated.

"You don't know that. How can you believe that?"

"You're strong." I'd only heard this voice once, but I instantly identified the speaker. Alex looked at me, admiration in his dark blue gaze.

"Come with us," Angel said.

"We'll be your family," Hank said.

"I can break it?" I asked. They nodded their heads. "Okay."

I stood.

"Sweet Evelyn."

I pulled my arm back.

"What is wrong with you?"

I punched the glass as hard as I could and it shattered beneath my fist. "There is nothing wrong with me."