So, em, holy shit long time no see!? I actually cannot believe it's been so long since the last update and I sincerely apologise to each and every one of you interested enough to revisit the story. University life is just a tornado of socialising and studying and it's incredibly easy to get caught up in the excitement and panic of it all. If you have been here from the start then I admire your tolerance as much as I am grateful for it, and if you're new then welcome aboard and prepare yourself for some long waits..

So, without further adieu, here's the next installment and I hope you enjoy it!

DISCLAIMER: Of course I own nothing.

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Chapter 6 – Bonding

I was awake. But was I still in my memories? Was I dreaming? I wasn't sure. I could feel soft blankets beneath my bare arms and legs, a pillow cushioning my head comfortably, and a weight next to my hips that had the mattress dipping towards it. Then I felt the fingers on my temple, and I froze, panic shooting through me like lightning, blindingly hot and disorientating beyond belief.

"It's alright, Evelyn," Charles' voice said in my mind. "You made it out. You're safe. It's alright."

I could feel peace and calm seeping into me, and I knew it was Charles' doing, but this time I let it relax me and wash away the panic. It was so much easier than fighting it off; I'd done too much fighting recently. However, that didn't stop me from fighting against opening my eyes. If I did, what memory would I relive? What traumatic scenario awaited me?

"You can open your eyes," Charles said aloud.

"She's awake?" Erik's voice asked. "Evelyn, no one will hurt you."

I let an eye open, one-hundred percent prepared to slam it shut again if what I saw proved I was still lost in the dark crevices of my memory. But all I saw was Charles perched on the edge of my bed, his arm retreating from me as his fingers left my temple. I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding as my other eye opened and I looked around the room, spotting Erik on the other side of my bed, sitting on the edge of the seat he'd obviously brought in. They both looked tired but relieved, and I frowned. "How long have I been asleep?" I croaked.

"You slept through most of the day and a few hours into the night. It's quite late now," Charles replied.

My frown deepened. "Did you two sit here the whole time?"

Charles smiled softly. "We didn't want to leave you completely alone," he said. "And we weren't the only ones."

The door opened and Charles stood from the bed, moving aside so that Sean and Raven could approach my side. Raven rushed forward and wrapped her arms around my shoulders, pulling me up towards her quickly. She buried her face in my shoulder as I blinked, startled, and put my arms around her back, sitting up properly. "I'm so glad you're okay," she told me, her voice muffled and–

"Are you crying?" I asked incredulously. I felt her nod into my shoulder and blurted out, "Why?" before I was able to stop myself.

She chuckled and pulled back to sit properly, using the heel of her hands to wipe away her tears. "It's what a person does when they're worried their friend might not wake up," she said, still chuckling.

I was speechless. I felt strangely weightless in that moment, and absolutely bewildered. I hardly knew her, and here she was crying because she was worried that she might not see me again. She would care if I wasn't there anymore.

The next thing I knew, Sean had engulfed me in a hug as well, squeezing the life out of me. "I'm really sorry, Evelyn," he muttered solemnly.

They were going to confuse me to death, this pair. "Why the hell are you sorry?" I asked, pulling away from him.

"He thinks it's his fault," Raven told me, clearly irritated with the ginger.

"It was!" he insisted. "If I hadn't gone to get more snacks then–"

"Sean," I sighed, bringing my hands up to rub at my face. "Nobody forced me into that hall. Besides, it's technically my fault."

"Not you too!" Raven exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

"What do you mean it was your fault?" Charles asked curiously, reminding us that the two adults were still in the room.

"I had to get your attention somehow," I shrugged. "I thought you might be able to detect high levels of emotion."

"You mean you purposefully put yourself in that state?" Erik clarified.

I nodded. "There were five of them and two of us; they're trained to fight, we're not. We couldn't take them alone."

Charles shook his head, chuckling slightly. "Next time, just shout for help."

I crossed my arms over my chest, frowning defensively. "You could have been on the other side of the facility; you might not have heard me."

"Someone would have." He stood, glancing at Erik, and smiled at the three of us. "We'll leave you in peace now. I suggest you two try and get some sleep before the night's gone."

Sean stood too. "The guys will want to know you're back with us," he told me, grinning. He reached out to ruffle my hair, his eyes full of relief after I assured him again it wasn't his fault, and walked out after Charles.

Erik was the last to get up. "Try not to have another breakdown," he smirked.

I shrugged, smirking back at him. "It worked, didn't it?"

He chuckled, shaking his head at me, and walked out the room, closing the door behind him to leave Raven and I in peace. I crossed my legs underneath me, watching as Raven sat back and pulled her knees up to her chin, staring right back at me. "You're not used to having friends, are you?" she asked quietly.

I smiled bitterly, a little shaken by her forwardness, feeling my eyes stinging. "Not even in the slightest."

She smiled sympathetically. "You know we're all here for you, right? We're all here for each other; we're like a family now."

I cleared my throat and bowed my head, running a hand through my hair as I felt the tears build up. "I'm getting there," I replied, my voice strained. "It's a little scary."

"That's okay," she said, scooting across the bed so that she could sit next to me, her back against the wall with mine. "I think Alex is a little scared too."

"It's just a really big jump from having everyone hate you, to having these people you barely know suddenly caring about you, enough to cry over you. It's a little hard to follow." I cleared my throat again, but the tears had started, falling silently down my cheeks.

She put an arm around my back and pulled me into her side, letting my head fall onto her shoulder. "Let it out, girl," she chuckled.

It took me a while to feel comfortable, but I eventually did what she said and gave in, knowing from experience that it was better to not let these emotions build up and up until breaking point.

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I sat on a sofa next to Sean, our feet propped up on the coffee table in front of us, accepting the Oreos he continued to pass to me. "At this rate you're gonna make me fat," I told him, shaking my head.

"I eat more than this every day; are you calling me fat?" he exclaimed with mock outrage, holding a hand against his chest while the other went to his flat stomach. Across from us, Darwin chuckled, while Angel and Hank smiled amusedly from their seats in the armchairs. Alex was making us drinks at the bar and Raven was off visiting Charles somewhere.

I rolled my eyes at the ginger and shoved the Oreo he had given me into his mouth. "No. I'm saying not everyone has as efficient a metabolism as you do, Sean."

"Yeah, what is it with your metabolism?" Darwin chipped in. "Is that what your mutation is?"

Alex arrived then, holding three bottles in each hand, and gave them out to everyone. I smiled gratefully at him as I took mine, watching a smile spread on his face in reply as he sat next to Darwin. Sean took a drink of his Coke before putting it down on the table and replying. "No, my mutation doesn't have anything to do with my metabolism," he said. "I don't think. I'm pretty sure it doesn't, anyway. Does it?" he asked himself, his voice rising significantly in pitch.

We chuckled at him as Darwin leaned his elbows on his knees, his expression turning curious. "Seriously, though, do you think anyone's mutation is as simple as that? I'm assuming none of ours are like that, 'cos I don't know how that would help beat Shaw," he grinned.

Hank shifted in his seat. "It's possible, I suppose. Charles said that when he was using Cerebro, he didn't think he saw a single mutant with similar abilities to any other. I mean, the variation in the mutations I'm aware of currently suggests that there are countless possibilities."

"I wonder if someone can turn invisible," Sean mused. "Man, that would be handy," he smirked.

"What, so you could watch girls undress without being caught?" Angel asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Think about it; how amazing would that be?" he asked the other guys excitedly.

"That's just wrong," Alex chuckled deeply, his lips adopting a half-smirk sort of position, exposing rows of perfectly-shaped, white teeth. I realised I was paying far too much attention to his facial activities and cleared my throat, looking away from him to have a drink of my Coke.

Sean elbowed my side, and I worried for a moment that he'd caught me watching Alex, but then he said, "If someone was watching you undress, but you didn't know they were there 'cos you couldn't see them, and they weren't taking pictures or anything, would you be mad?"

I felt everyone's eyes on me as I gawped at the ginger. "Yeah, Sean, I'd be pretty mad if someone was doing that."

"But you wouldn't know they were there!"

"It's still creepy as hell, you idiot!" I laughed incredulously, throwing an Oreo at him. The others laughed with me when it hit him on the nose and he pouted, rubbing at it.

Suddenly he smirked, laying an arm across my shoulders, and I felt very worried. "What if it was me watching you?" he winked.

I quirked an eyebrow at him daringly. "You really want me to answer that, Cassidy?"

His eyes narrowed, studying my features for a moment. Then he said, "No," drawing the sound out as he took back his arm.

"Wise choice," I grinned, patting his shoulder.

As the conversation continued, I looked around at my friends – I was still getting accustomed to using that word – and smiled contentedly. They really did make it easy to fit in here, even though we were all so different, and they made it enjoyable too. I'd never felt like I truly belonged somewhere until that moment and it was absolutely glorious. I'd told myself before that this would be a new start, that I could really get on with these people, but every time I let something stop me. I let my lack of experience with people limit my interaction with them, because I didn't want to get too comfortable in case I was sent back to the asylum, or they left, or I made a fool of myself and they didn't like me anymore. Now I realised how foolish I had been. They were my friends, my family, and they would put up with me partly because they had to, but mostly because they wanted to. If I continued being so distanced and detached, then I really would lose them; I needed to stop being so dramatic and self-absorbed and just have fun.

My eyes found their way over to Alex, and I watched as he chuckled and grinned and smirked easily with the others. As well as noticing again how attractive he was, I noticed that he was finding it easy to join in the conversations and the banter. Sure, he was quiet at times, but I think part of that was due to his personality, not just the fact that he'd been locked up in solitary confinement for the past however-many years. The point was: if he could adapt to this new life easily, then so could I.

Suddenly the doors banged open and in sauntered Raven, with Charles and Erik trailing behind her, arms full of pizza boxes. "I bring food!" the blonde girl announced triumphantly.

Sean shot off the sofa like a bullet and practically sprinted over to them, grabbing both Erik and Charles' load of boxes. The adults watched his careful but hurried return with amused expressions, Erik probably waiting to see if Sean would drop everything and fall flat on his face. "You'll eat in here from now on," Charles told us then.

"How come?" Darwin asked, frowning over the back of his sofa at them as Raven sat down on my left.

Sean plopped down on my right again and dropped the boxes on the coffee table, opening the first to reveal an incredibly appealing margarita pizza. Several hands shot out to grab a slice as Charles replied, "Things between us and the majority of the CIA agents here are obviously tense, so we decided it would be better for everyone involved if interaction between our groups was significantly less."

Erik walked over and snatched up a slice as well. "It also lowers the chances of me killing them all on your behalf," he smirked, giving me a look.

I glared at him. "You know that's not what my intention was."

He shrugged, taking a bite. "Could've fooled me," he grinned, before he and Charles walked out, the telepath calling a "Goodbye" as they did.

I shook my head and started into my slice, enjoying the quiet. But, when I looked up again, I realised everyone was quiet because they were staring at me. "What?" I asked, frowning.

"How do you do that?" Sean asked.

"Do what?"

"Make Erik smile," Angel expanded.

"Uh," I mumbled, glancing at each of their faces and seeing only expectance. When I turned to Raven, I saw that she was just watching me with a grin. "I don't know," I shrugged finally, after sending her a brief glare.

"It's like he has a thing for you," Angel shuddered.

I frowned again, recoiling slightly. "Erik?"

She chuckled, nodding, and turned to the guys opposite me. "Doesn't it seem like that?" she asked them.

"It would be weird for me to have a thing for one of you, never mind Erik," Darwin replied, shaking his head with a small smile. "He just prefers Evelyn, I think."

Hank looked like he didn't have a clue, Sean looked half-repulsed and half-amused, and Alex just fiddled with his bottle, avoiding Angel's gaze, which was now stuck on him. "Alex? What do you think?" she asked, holding back a smirk.

I quirked an eyebrow at her behaviour, feeling even more confused when Raven groaned so quietly that only I could hear and muttered, "Oh my God."

"What?" I whispered. "What's she doing?"

Alex cleared his throat then, and I looked over to him, catching his gaze flicking away from me over to Angel. "It's not really any of my business," he said tensely.

Angel sighed dramatically and fell back against the cushion behind her. "You're no fun."

Alex scratched the back of his neck, shifting in his seat. Then his gaze locked onto mine and I found myself unable to look away, strangely. His eyes were a really nice colour, I had to admit.

"Evelyn, eat more pizza," Sean snapped suddenly, making me jump. He shoved a slice into my hand and looked at me as I frowned down at it, my mind slightly muddled. I had no idea what the hell had just happened, but it really threw me off. "I'm your dietician, remember?" he said, nudging my arm. "Eat the unhealthy food."

"I'm really starting to regret that now," I told him, despite the fact that the pizza was glorious on my taste buds and I knew that I needed to eat more anyway. It was just the idea of him having responsibility over such a vital factor in my life; it made me slightly uneasy.

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In the early hours of the morning, I'd left the girls' room and returned to the recreational room, sitting myself in front of the window facing out towards Cerebro. I'd slept more than enough hours the night before and now I wasn't feeling tired in the slightest, which suited me quite well. After involving myself as much as I could during the day, I was in need of some quiet time, and there was no better place other than actually being outside.

The lights were pretty much all off, save for the ones above the bar, which made it easier to see out the window into the darkness. I could barely see my olive-coloured skin it was that dark, but I knew it was there, poking out from my shorts and thin-strapped tank top. My hair was loose and down over one shoulder, falling in waves to my ribcage, only visible because of the moonlight shining in through the window, hitting the dark strands.

I looked out to the trees beyond the fence, remembering the barrier of branches I'd brought over myself in my sleep. I had no idea how I'd done it, but knowing that I was capable of controlling them brought a smile to my face. I just wondered if I'd be able to do it again sometime, and if Charles was really able to help me perfect my mutation so that I'd be able to learn more about it and do more things with it. Hopefully he got on with it before Shaw made an appearance.

I was startled out of my serene state of mind by one of the doors opening, and my head snapped around to look over my shoulder at whoever was walking in."Oh, sorry, I didn't know anyone was in here," a deep, masculine voice spoke.

"Alex?" I asked, struggling to see him behind the lights of the bar.

"Evelyn?" he asked, just as surprised. I'd never enjoyed hearing my name being spoken until that moment. It just sounded so good in his voice.

Banishing the confusing thoughts, I said, "What are you doing up?"

He moved into the light, illuminating a grey shirt and his dishevelled bed-hair, which he was currently running a hand through. My eyes were drawn to the arm muscles his action was exposing, but I quickly looked away again, swallowing. "I couldn't sleep," he replied. "It happens most nights."

I had no idea what to say. "That sucks." And the prize for most comforting words goes to the girl with the social awkwardness!

"Why are you up?" he asked, his hand leaving his hair as he moved around the bar to get himself a drink, letting me see that he was only wearing a pair of loose, black boxers on his legs.

I'd never seen a male show so much skin before. I had to admit, it made me a little nervous. "I slept long enough yesterday," I shrugged, struggling to act nonchalant, "I didn't feel tired when I went to bed."

He nodded, looking at me. After a moment, he must have realised I wasn't going to say anything else and looked away, clearing his throat. "Do you want a drink?"

When I thought about it, I realised my throat was a little dry. "Yeah, please."

He walked over, carrying a bottle for me and a bottle for himself, and passed one to me."Do you mind if I, uh-" he mumbled, pointing at the floor next to me.

"Oh, no, of course not," I replied, shaking my head, as I shifted slightly as if to make room for him, even though there was more than enough for us both.

"Thanks," he said, lowering himself down until he sat cross-legged next to me.

I sent him a brief smile before looking out the window again, his musky cologne washing over me pleasantly. I shifted slightly, suddenly aware of the fact that a lot of my skin was on show, as were his arm muscles, and also suddenly aware of the small distance between us – had it been that small when he sat down? My mind had turned to mush. I didn't know why or how, but I did know that it kept happening around Alex, which wasn't very helpful since I'd be fighting next to him against Shaw, when the time came.

I took a drink and stared down at the bottle after, feeling the cold seep into my fingers. Shaw was something that I hadn't really put much thought into lately; it seemed more like an idea than a real event that was growing closer and closer the more the time passed.

The silence between Alex and I was far from awkward – although there was a bit of tension somewhere; I could feel it, even though I had no idea why it was there – but I figured it wouldn't hurt to talk to him again. Besides, I liked listening to his voice. "When do you think we'll have this fight with Shaw?" I asked, looking over at him.

His eyebrows furrowed a little as he took a drink. "I dunno," he muttered. "Charles said that he was going to help me with my mutation, but I don't know if he means before or after we fight."

"He told me that too," I said, shifting to face him more. "But I'm seriously hoping he means before, 'cos otherwise I'm not going to be much help."

Alex frowned and copied my movements, turning to face me better. "What do you mean?"

I ran a hand through my hair with a sigh. "I didn't really have time to practice it once it showed itself. I hardly even knew what it was before Charles told me."

Alex nodded understandingly. "I haven't practiced mine much either." His gaze fell to his bottle as his eyebrows furrowed again. "It's too dangerous to practice."

I could tell that this was a sensitive subject for him – maybe his mutation was the reason for him being locked up in solitary confinement? – and turned more until my back was pressed against the wall and my legs stretched out into the room, replying, "Do we even know what this Shaw guy can do?"

"Uh," he mumbled, scratching the back of his neck as he stared at the floor by my legs as if avoiding looking at something. He cleared his throat, took another drink, and said, "Nobody's told me yet."

I nodded, looking away from him into the room, and my eyes landed on the machine thing to my left. I'd seen Darwin at it a couple of times, but I still didn't know what it was. "Do you know what that is?" I asked, gesturing my bottle towards it.

He looked over at it, then back at me with a smirk. "Yeah, why? You want a game?"

I quirked an eyebrow. "A game of what? I have no idea what it is."

His smirk turned into a grin and he stood up, holding a hand out to me. "C'mon, I'll show you."

I stared at his hand for a moment, my heart beating heavy in my chest, and put my bottle down. "Okay," I murmured, accepting his help.

Warm, strong fingers wrapped around my hand firmly, pulling my body up off the floor to stand inches from his, feeling the tempting and almost unnatural warmth radiating from him. His dark blue eyes stared down at me intensely, rooting me to the spot, as his cologne overwhelmed my senses. I felt the need to eliminate the small space between us, but why or how, I didn't know. All I knew was that he was still holding my hand, and the skin he touched felt like it was on fire.

Suddenly he blinked and cleared his throat, letting my hand drop as he took a step back. I felt the cold air hit me and shivered involuntarily, tearing my gaze away from his face to look at the game machine. "So, how does it work?" I asked, my voice hoarser than it usually was.

We spent the next few hours mucking around on that machine. I'd watch him play incredibly well, and then he'd stand behind me, looking over my shoulder, murmuring hints to me as I played – which was very distracting and therefore frustrating – and sometimes guiding my movements by placing his hands over my own. The sun was beginning to rise when I finally sat down again in a chair next to him, listening to him play the game and talking with him about random things.

I discovered a lot about Alex Summers that night: he enjoyed comfortable silences as much as I did; he had a younger brother he hadn't seen in years; he wasn't fond of speaking about prison like I wasn't fond of speaking about the asylum; he had the patience of a Saint; he was really, really attractive no matter what he was doing; and, when I woke up the next day in my bed, despite having fallen asleep in that chair, I discovered that Alex Summers was too damn gentlemanly for his own good.