Crossfire

Chapter 8

We were taken to a facility. In a plane. Have I expressed how much I despise planes? Even if it was a fancy private jet. Erik sat next to me. I thought about what Charles had said to me. I thought that I had given him enough of a hint about how much I cared for him, but maybe I was wrong about that. I rested against his shoulder and he didn't protest. I thought more about what Charles had said. Would it really be so far fetched to tell him and expect, well, something? I shook my head and moved to lean against the window. I was behaving like a high schooler. This was ridiculous. Erik looked at me curiously but didn't say anything. Neither of us ever said anything, not when it came to things like this. That just didn't seem right. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe I was destined to stay silent for the rest of my life. Who knew?

Charles, probably.

I chuckled at my private joke. Was Charles smiling? He nodded. Damn his telepathy. He struggled to hide another chuckle behind a coughing fit. Raven looked at him strangely, but thought nothing of it. I sighed and thought that he should probably stop reading my mind. He nodded again.

I'll try my best, but I make no promises, Sky.

Well, that doesn't seem like a nice thing to do.

All right, fine. But only if you talk to Erik.

Why did he care so much?

Because it's a step to making both of you recover from the awful things that have happened to you.

Fine. Tonight. Was that good enough?

Perfect.

Oh hey, his presence was gone. That was a good sign. For now. I looked up at Erik. How had Charles noticed before I did? I had thought that it was just my attachment issues, but I supposed that it made sense. It would explain a lot. I shook my head. Tonight. I had said tonight. I would have plenty of time to figure this out before then.

The plane landed and we all got off. I stretched my legs. We all into a military facility. We were led to a lab of some sort. It was impressive, given what it was supposed to do. What was it supposed to do, anyway?

"Welcome to my facility. My mission has been to investigate the application of paranormal powers in military defense." The man in black said.

That explained that. No one had told me his name. What was his name? I would just call him MIB for short.

"Or offense." Erik said quietly.

I elbowed him. There was no need to be rude. Even if he was technically right. About it all.

"This guy Shaw, Schmidt, whatever you want to call him, he's working with the Russians. We might need your held to stop him."

"Marvelous. So we are to be the CIA's new mutant division, yes?" Charles said.

"Something like that."

A man standing by one of the tables saw all of us. Charles was looking up at the plane model, clearly impressed with everything in this room. The young man pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"It's, uh, supersonic. The most advanced plane ever built." He looked at Raven and hesitated before speaking again. Yeah, she was beautiful, even when she wasn't in her natural blue form. "You should see it in person. It's incredible."

"Hank, these are the special new recruits I was telling you about." The MIB said. He turned to us. "This is Hank McCoy, one of our talented young researchers."

"How wonderful, another mutant already here." Charles moved to shake Hank's hand. "Why didn't you say?"

I didn't have to be a telepath to know that Hank hadn't told anyone. He looked a little horrified, as well as relieved. I turned my head to the side. I wondered what that felt like. Charles was humiliated when he figured it out.