Hey guys! How's it going? I'm good, still getting over my cold, but much better. Hope you all had a wonderful week, and here is the next chapter, the longest I've written so far for this story. Enjoy!

After Erik had led her back to where the rest of the mutants and a thoroughly concerned Charles were waiting, she was told that they had made arrangements for them to be taken home. With all that had happened, Charles didn't want any more of them getting hurt.

"We're not going home." Sean stated under his breath.

"What?" Charles asked, confused.

"He's not going back to prison." Sean gestured to Alex plainly, who then said. "He killed Darwin."

"All the more reason for you to leave." Charles countered, his face dead serious. "This is over."

Laurien felt her stomach drop; suddenly realizing that she didn't want to go back to her life of bleak solitude in her dilapidated apartment in New York City. After only being with these people for a few days, she was surprised at how quickly she had gotten attached to them all in such a small amount of time.

"Darwin is dead." Raven told Charles, her gaze unwavering as she looked at her brother. "And we can't even bury him."

The silence hung in the air between them all for a few terrible moments, the weight of her words hanging above them all as they all wished that they weren't true.

Erik broke the quiet with a low growl. "We can avenge him."

Laurien looked to where he was standing next to her as the others did the same, wondering if he really meant what he said, behind those steely blue eyes of his.

"Erik, a word please." Charles muttered as he moved forward, passing Erik and leading him away from the group to talk in private. Laurien strained her ears to hear what they were saying, but to no avail. She watched them from afar, attempting to gather any information from their body language. Erik spoke emphatically to the other man, and, from what Laurien could see, Charles seemed locked some inner struggle as he listened to his friend, not exactly liking what he was hearing. The pit in Laurien's stomach grew with every second that passed as they waited to hear the final verdict that would decide their fates.

Finally, Charles turned to face them all, looking at each one in turn before uttering the words they'd been anxiously waiting for. "We'll have to train," He stated, a little unsure of himself. "All of us. Yeah?"

"Yeah." Alex responded, ultimately speaking aloud for them all, while the rest breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Charles nodded solemnly.

"Well, we can't stay here." Hank chimed in from behind Laurien, nervously biting his lip. "Even if they reopened up the department, it's not safe. We've got nowhere to go."

Charles' demeanor appeared to change as an idea dawned on his face before morphing into the hopeful and determined look she'd grown used to since the first day they'd met. "Yes, we do."

Raven seemed to understand what he meant and jumped in excitement, as the rest of them just stood there, looking confused at the two of them. They were soon herded onto the back of a very large truck that reminded Laurien of the ones she'd seen in Alkmaar during the war. A round canopied roof protected them from the wind as they traveled, the fabric buffeted around the steel framing like a weathered flag, filling Laurien's ears with the incessant sound.

She was relieved to be finally leaving the CIA base, with all its blatant reminders of the recent events and atrocities. In the truck, it was almost easy to pretend that nothing had happened at all, that it had only been a dream, but when she glanced around at the others, she could still see the effects weighing down on them. Across from her, Raven had her head resting on Charles' shoulder as he talked to Moira, soon falling asleep despite the violent rocking of the truck. Sean was nervously running his fingers through his curly auburn hair, making the strands stick up at odd angles as a morose looking Alex watched him numbly from the far end. Beside her, Erik was apparently lost deep in his thoughts, as he stayed perfectly poised in his seat during the entire ride, not budging a muscle. After their conversation in the forest, she did admittedly feel more at ease around the metal bender, but not entirely so that she lost all suspicion of the man.

Hank sat on the other side of Laurien, reading what seemed to be an outrageously large textbook about something to do with airplane mechanics. She could feel his anxiety as he flipped through the pages spastically, as if he were trying to make himself read a thousand words per second. Her heart ached terribly; in the two days they'd spent with one another, Laurien couldn't help but immediately see characteristics of her sister, Roosje, in Hank. How he seemed socially awkward around others, how he would bury himself in books when he was upset, and even in the way he would frown, furrowing his brow behind his thick glasses. Each reminder brought bittersweet memories of Roosje racing back into her head.

Seeing and feeling his distress made her feel oddly broken inside, and after wondering for a while, she reached into her black purse that had been retrieved from her room before they'd left, and delicately placed a Hopjes on the open page of his book. Hank stared in surprise at the candy encased in the little white and yellow wrapper, before looking up at her with questioning eyes. Laurien nodded towards the candy, gesturing for him to take it. He gingerly picked the Hopjes up with his forefinger and his thumb, raising it slowly as if it were to explode at any given moment. Carefully unwrapping the candy, he tentatively popped it into his mouth as Laurien watched for his reaction. Only a moment later did his face register in a small smile, as the taste of the coffee flavored candy engulfed his senses.

She felt his mood lift almost instantly, and she, in turn, felt better for it. He gave her a small nod that she took for thanks and returned to his book, no longer flipping the pages so aberrantly. The ride continued on for what felt potentially like an hour or two before they finally rolled to a stop. Charles gently prodded Raven awake before excitedly leading them all out of the truck. Upon her turn, Laurien pushed aside the canvas to reveal a sweeping field of green that stretched out for a kilometer before disappearing into a lush forest that seemed to go on forever. Erik held out a hand to help her down from the truck, which she gladly took, considering the last thing she wanted to do was fall flat on her face.

When she made it safely to the solid ground, Erik gently rubbed his thumb over her bruised knuckles that were now coated in dry cracked blood. "You should get those cleaned and bandaged up once we're inside."

She frowned. Inside where? She thought, but when she turned away from the field, she was surprised to see a giant castle of a mansion towering before her. Her eyes went wide when she took in all of its beauty; the brick walls, the gorgeous windows and flawless architecture. She knew for a fact that if her father saw this place, he would die of happiness before resurrecting himself to examine the pillars in detail. The others seemed just as stunned as she was; Sean was gawking, his chewing gum fell out of his mouth as his jaw fell open, while the other two simply stared up at the building in awe.

"This is yours?" Sean asked, unbelieving.

"No, it's ours." Charles responded, a small twinkle flashing in his eye as he looked back at them.

"Honestly Charles, I don't know how you did it, living with such hardship." Erik mumbled sarcastically, as he took in the sight.

Raven made her way from the back of the group up to where Erik and Charles were conversing. "Well, it was a hardship softened by me." She joked as Charles kissed her lovingly on the top of her head. She sighed. "Come on, time for the tour."

They followed Raven towards the front of the mansion; she led them to a pair of handsomely polished oak doors that swung out of their way as Charles opened them wide for their entire group to enter. The hall took Laurien's breath away as she entered, greeted by the comforting smell of old craftsmanship that her father had taught her to appreciate. There were chandeliers hanging from the ceiling surrounding a large fine table that reflected the main chandelier hanging above it. Ahead of her lay a perfectly carved staircase that split into two on the first landing, both leading opposite directions alongside an immense window that displayed the front yard in all its glory.

"It's beautiful." Laurien gasped, as she neared the staircase, placing a tentative hand on the solid oak banister to feel its smooth touch.

Charles chuckled behind her, "I see your father's architectural interest has been passed on after all. He would be very proud."

She paused for a moment, confused at how he had known, before remembering that he was a bloody telepath. She quickly shrugged off her foolish forgetfulness with a small bashful smile at the compliment and continued following Raven as she skipped up the stairs like an excited girl who'd just come home from a long vacation, eager to familiarize herself with the house again.

"When was it built?" Laurien asked Charles as they tried to keep up with Raven.

"Sometime in the 18th Century, I believe." He replied, thoughtfully. "Though we've certainly made some renovations here and there as things have fallen apart over the years, therefore some sections are newer than others."

They moved about the house, seeing the individual bedrooms and common spaces where they would be spending most of their time. They soon circled back downstairs to visit the kitchens and what appeared to be Charles' office, nestled comfortably in a room by the stairs. Raven was overjoyed to show them her room, neatly decorated with coordinated colors and pictures of different famous stars, most of which displayed a dazzlingly gorgeous Audrey Hepburn smiling down at them. Audrey was a favorite of Laurien's. Being a Dutch girl, she always had a soft spot for the Arnhem-raised actress, which wasn't all too far from Alkmaar.

They were shown to their rooms, all of them residing in the same hallway and as Laurien opened the door to her room, she was greeted by a simply lovely sight. Inside the large room, that was bigger than her whole apartment, surrounded by beautiful wood paneling, was a set up of a cozy double bed, a solidly built wardrobe and an utterly enormous desk with a vase of fresh red roses. In her excitement, she skipped over to the bed like a small child and practically threw her body onto it, giggling to herself as the springs sent her bouncing along.

Raven ran through the doorway, surprising Laurien as she leapt onto the bed and almost sent her flying off of it before she caught herself on the duvet.

"This is going to be fun." Raven gushed as she grasped Lauren's hands in her own, still bouncing around. A loud bell rang from down the hall, making Laurien freeze in sudden alarm. Raven squeezed Laurien's hand as she noticed her tension. "Oh, that's nothing to worry about, it's just how Charles says that breakfast is ready, come on."

"Ready? What do you mean it's ready? We just got here." Laurien asked as she got off the bed to follow Raven.

"Charles called the housekeeper before we got here to have some food prepared for us." Raven explained as she knocked on all the other doors of the other mutants. "Come on boys, breakfast!"

Sean poked his head out first. "Do I smell bacon?"

Laurien almost snorted out loud at the question, before Hank wandered out into the hallway, his glasses slightly askew on the tip of his nose. At the mention of bacon, he simply shuddered and returned back into his room. Raising an amused but questioning eyebrow, Laurien turned around to find that Alex was standing right behind her, making her jump.

"Jesus, Alex! You scared me."

"Meh, it's a habit." He shrugged, before heading out towards the staircase.

They followed him a couple of steps before Laurien caught sight of her wrecked knuckles as she put her hand on the banister. She somehow kept forgetting what she'd done to them, though a subtle flex of her fingers brought the reminder surging back as her hands throbbed painfully.

Remembering what Erik had advised her do, she ceased her descent of the stairs and sighed to herself. Breakfast would just have to wait. "I'll be back in a minute." She said to no one in particular, as she dashed up the stairs to her room and where her suitcase was lying by the foot of her bed. Getting to her knees, Laurien unlocked the case and rifled through her belongings until she happened upon her first aid kit. She grabbed the kit and dashed for the nearest bathroom, which admittedly took her longer than she would have liked to find.

She opened the door and to her surprise she found that someone else was already standing in front of one of the mirrors, Hank, who must have slipped away from his room unnoticed as they went down the hall.

"Oh, sorry." She quickly apologized, making to leave but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw his red tear stained face. "Hank, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." He sniffed, the blue in his eyes bright from crying. "It's nothing, I'm fine."

"No, you're not, Hank. Please–" One of the bathroom stalls caught her eye and when she turned, she stifled a gasp when her eyes took in the vomit that had accumulated in the toilet.

"It's the smell from the kitchen." Hank choked out, rubbing his eyes angrily as he reached over and flushed the toilet.

"The breakfast?" She inquired, feeling horribly inadequate to help in this situation.

Hank nodded, but then a moment later, shook his head, leaving her sadly confused.

"I just feel sick to my stomach, with all that's happened, I just can't– I don't–" Tears began to flow again as he became flustered with his words, Laurien suddenly felt something come over her as she instinctively moved forward and wrapped her arms around him. He seemed a little take aback by the sudden gesture, but he soon leaned into the hug and held her back.

His waves of distress slowly subsided to a calmer state as they embraced before Laurien pulled away and stood up on her toes to wipe the tears from his cheeks with her thumbs. "Everything's going to be all right, Hank. We're safe here. You'll see soon enough."

He nodded slowly, with drying eyes, and after a few moments of silence, he finally broke the quiet with a question that changed the mood completely. "Do you have any more of those coffee candies?"

Laurien giggled, the sound of her laughter making a small smile break onto his face as she replied, "Of course I do."

She dug her hand into the pocket of her skirt and unearthed the little yellow and white wrapped sweet. "I always make sure to have some at the ready." She winked, handing it to him.

"What did you do to your hand?" He exclaimed, as he noticed her knuckles, glad to find a change of subject.

"Hands." She confessed, sighing as she raised the other one up guiltily. "I beat up a tree."

"That's not exactly something you hear everyday." He joked lightly, though his eyebrows furrowed as he looked at her questioningly.

"Long story, I'm not quite sure I'm ready to discuss it just yet." She replied, answering the question she read behind his eyes as she scrunched up her face when her hands twinged painfully. "You wouldn't happen to know how to properly clean and bandage these, would you?"

He nodded again. "Yeah, if you want to sit–" He started to gesture to the toilet, but then remembering, thought better of it and told Laurien to sit on the counter near the sink instead.

"So," She started, seeing if she could distract him from thinking about the events of last night. "What's it like being a boy genius working for the CIA."

He chuckled as he investigated the small first aid kit. "Uh, it's all right, I guess."

"Come on, it's got to be better than just all right."

"Okay, I guess it's pretty cool." He conceded, sniffling as his cheek reddened bashfully.

"Were your folks happy when you got the job?" She asked, carefully rubbing the excess dried blood off her skin.

"Yeah, I suppose so. My father was a bit disappointed, he always thought I would do something a little more interesting with my life."

"Interesting?"

He blushed again. "Yeah, with the feet and all."

She nodded, understanding. "Any brothers and sisters?"

"No, one deformed child was enough for my parents."

"Oh, Hank–" She started, but he quickly cut her off.

"No, it's all right, I shouldn't have said that." He stated dismissively as he turned on the tap of the sink next to her, testing the water's temperature before guiding her hands beneath the stream of cool water. Laurien gasped as the icy liquid met the broken skin of her knuckles, sudden sparks of sharp pain blossoming throughout her hands before numbing down to a dull ache.

"What about you?" He asked loudly, almost startling her.

"Sorry?"

"Your parents, what did they think about your mutation?" He elaborated, his voice seemingly getting steadier by the second. "Sorry, I just hate talking about myself."

"Oh, that's fine." she said, wondering if she'd ever met anyone before who didn't like talking about themselves. It was usually most people's favorite thing to do. "Yeah, they were fine with it, they thought it was quite fascinating. But they only ended up seeing the eye aspect of it."

Hank raised an eyebrow. "Why not your telekinesis?"

Laurien took in a deep breath, summoning her courage, as she knew that she would need to explain it at some point or another while she was here. "Because my telekinesis started to develop when I was around fifteen, maybe, and my parents died shortly beforehand."

Hank looked up at her, his blue eyes alarmed. "Jesus, I'm so sorry." When she waved it off, he then asked, "How did they die, if you don't mind me asking?"

She could almost feel the actual heat rushing up her arms as the horrible images and feelings flooded back, her breath catching in her throat as she tried her best to make the air flow into her lungs to quell the emotions. She could remember almost every little detail of that day, the pain, the confusion, and worst of all, the silence.

"Sorry," She gasped out, pausing to take a deep steady breath to keep her heart from sinking, as she ignored the fact that her hands were completely numb with pins and needles from the cold water. "I know it's been a while, but it's still a little hard to talk about it."

"Oh, no, it's fine," Hank blurted, as he fumbled with the bandages in his haste to rectify the situation, looking utterly terrified at the prospect that he'd upset her. "I'm sorry, it was insensitive of me to ask."

Laurien breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn't lost her calm demeanor, but still felt bad for putting Hank in this awkward position and for putting the conversation at a dead end. She could feel the hot embarrassment radiating from his body as he gently removed her hands from underneath the water.

"I have two younger siblings, though." She started, trying to continue what they had started.

Hank grinned shyly, giving Laurien more confidence. "What age?"

"They would be fifteen now." She guessed, and at Hank's confused look, she elaborated. "They're twins."

"Ah!" Hank exclaimed softly, as he carefully layered the bandages over the sore throbbing skin of her knuckles. "Did you know that because of your family's specific genetics, you are more likely to have twins when you have children?"

She chuckled. "Yes, that's what my sister used to tell me when she got into reading those kinds of books. I honestly cannot imagine having kids, let alone twins."

"What are they like, your siblings?"

Laurien cleared her throat, feeling a tentative excitement build in her chest at the fact that she got to talk about her siblings, which she hadn't been able to for a long time. "Well, Roosje is basically one of the brightest minds I've ever met, she's so much better at everything in school than I was at her age, but she doesn't seem to talk much to anyone other than our brother and myself. She's too wrapped up in her books for her own good." She said, feeling a small grin rising as she remembered the little weathered copy of Anne of Green Gables that Roosje would carry around with her.

"Bastijn is a vrije geest, what you call a free spirit here. He plays all sorts of sports, but he prefers football, or soccer as you say, always running around with a smile on his face. He's always smiling, I just can't understand how he does it, for as long as I can remember he's had that air about him that just cheers you up when you're around him, it's simply infectious." Laurien faded off slowly, the glow in her heart slowly fading as reality slammed back into her like a brick wall. "But I haven't seen them for a long time."

Hank frowned, as he wrapped the finishing touch of gauze around her hands. "What happened to them?"

Laurien quickly realized her mistake and corrected herself. "Oh, they just live in Belgium now."

"Oh, you had me worried for a second." He grinned as he tied off the end of the strip of fabric, standing back to admire his handiwork. "There, all clean and wrapped up."

Laurien lifted her hands out before her, eyes looking over the expertly neat and proper technique he'd used. Knowing herself better than most, she knew that she would have made a royal mess out of it if she'd done it herself. She was used to doing it for others.

"Thank you so much, Hank." She pushed herself off the counter, just narrowly missing putting herself off balance by quickly grabbing onto the sink when she slipped on the tiled floor. "I do truly owe you one."

Hank waved her off, the redness creeping back into his cheeks. "It was nothing, really."

Laurien quickly glanced over at the door before turning back to her companion. "Are you going to be all right going downstairs, or should I bring you something up later?"

Hank shook his head, a look of determination filling his eyes. "No, I think I should be fine, just as long as you and Raven will be there."

She smiled reassuringly, "Of course." She placed a soft hand on his arm, before leading him out of the bathroom and downstairs towards where the others were waiting with breakfast.

Woohoo, October is almost here, and fall is in the air. Usually I don't get so chipper about these sort of things, but I have to admit that I have been feeling happier lately. It might be because Macbeth is almost upon us and also probably because of your guys' kind words and amazing encouragement these past few weeks. So, thank you so much to each and every one of you! Please leave a review!