CHAPTER FOUR —
( Cerebro. )

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        Now accompanied by Erik, the group of six made their way towards the Covert CIA Research base. Erik had been silent the whole ride as Charles mumbled to himself how disappointed he was in himself that he let Lydia join them. The man who could create tornadoes could've easily flipped their ship over, killing many people on board including Lydia. The car suddenly stopped in front of a large facility and the group all hopped out. Jordan stood in front of the group and looked out towards the building, a large smile on his face.

"Welcome to my facility." They all began to walk behind Jordan as he lead them towards the building, Lydia looked around and noticed how clean everything was. "My mission has been to investigate the application of Paranormal powers in military defence."

"Or offence," Erik snarkily commented, looking at Charles.

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

"Marvellous," Charles nodded. "So, we're to be the CIA's new mutant division, yes?"

"Something like that."

Jordan showed them all around the facility when he stopped in front of a model plane that was hanging up from the roof.

Lydia tilted her head, having not recognised that type of plane or jet before. "What type of plane is that?" She asked.

"It's a supersonic. The most advanced plane ever built." Lydia then turned around when she felt another presence in the room and saw a man with glasses and a lab coat walking up to them. "You should see it in real life. It's incredible."

"Hank, these are the special new recruits I was telling you about," Jordan gestured to the four mutants. "This is Hank McCoy, one of our most talented young researchers."

Lydia placed her fingers on her temple to search through Hank's mind and then grinned suddenly as Charles walked up to him. "How wonderful. Another mutant already here," Charles shook Hank's hand, then turned to Jordan. "Why didn't you say?"

Jordan frowned. "Say what?"

"That Hank is a mutant," Lydia said.

Charles let out a deep sigh. "Because you didn't know." He turned back towards Hank. "I'm so sorry for saying that."

Hank shook his head with a small sigh. "Hank?" Jordan asked as he walked up to him.

"You didn't ask, so I didn't tell," Hank told him.

"So, your mutation is what? You're super-smart?" Raven asked Hank as she walked up to him, the two locking eyes and holding it as everyone else continued to communicate.

"I'll say," Charles said. "Hank here graduated Harvard at the age of 15."

"I wish that's all it was," Hank said while keeping his eye contact with Raven. Lydia teasingly rose an eyebrow up as she looked between the two.

"You're among friends now, Hank. You can show off," Charles told him.

Lydia glanced down at his feet and then back up at him, nodding when Hank looked around at everyone uncomfortably. He then sighed when he realised he had no other choice and then took off his shoes and socks to reveal that his feet were incredibly large with his toes looking like fingers. Lydia smiled up at him. "Now that's cool."

"I'm sorry," Hank excused as he made his way past the group and they all took a step back. He then bent down and jumped up high into the air, then flipped over and used his feet to grab onto the model of the plane. Lydia laughed lightly in amazement as she and some of the others applauded him. "Ta-da!" Hank smiled lightly from upside down.

Raven walked up to him and smiled as she looked at his feet and then his face. "You're amazing."

Lydia shoved Charles lightly in the ribs. Raven never really showed that type of affection towards anyone.

"Really?" Hank asked.

"Really."

"This is so cute," Lydia wiped a fake tear from her eye. Both Raven and Hank blushed as they looked at Lydia. "Oh yeah, I can read your minds." She shook her head and began to walk away. "You two need to take into account that a ten year-old kid can read your minds. And, honestly, I'm way too young to be hearing those type of thoughts."

The last thing Lydia heard was Charles' laughter and then she was out of the room and heading towards where the food was.

↠↠↠

The following day, Charles, Jordan and Lydia were all looking out of the window in Jordan's office and at a large white sphere with satellites on top. Lydia could hear, with their thoughts, Charles' and Erik's talk the previous night outside the building about Erik wanting to leave.

"Hank turned that radar installation into a transmitter," Jordan explained to them. "It's designed to amplify brain waves so it could enhance your telepathic powers to help us find other mutants for our division."

"That's pretty cool," Lydia commented.

"What if they don't want to be found by you?" Erik's voice sounded out from behind them.

The three turned to look at him, a small smile forming on both Lydia and Charles' face. "Erik!" Charles smiled. "You decided to stay."

Erik smiled back and nodded before turning to Jordan. "If a new species is being discovered, it should be by its own kind. Charles, Lydia and I find the mutants. No suits."

"Yes, I'm being included!" Lydia fist pumped the air.

Charles turned to her and gave her a concerned look. "I don't think you should join us."

Lydia rose an eyebrow. "You're going to leave me here to be looked after by Raven and Hank, who both clearly have the hots for each other and are teenagers?"

Charles paused for a moment. "That's not a smart idea."

Lydia grinned at him.

"First of all, that's my machine out there. Second of all, and much more importantly, this is Charles' decision. Charles is fine with the CIA being involved. Isn't that right?" Jordan asked Charles.

Charles turned and made eye contact with Erik, knowing instantly what the smartest decision to make was. "No. I'm sorry, but I'm with Erik. We'll find them alone."

Jordan frowned. "What if I say no?"

Lydia grinned. "Charlie can easily make you do whatever he wants with just one look, can't you?"

Charles smirked at Jordan as Jordan looked back at him. "That I can."

↠↠↠

Lydia, Charles, Raven, Erik and Jordan met up with Hank inside the transmitter soon after and Lydia quickly noticed the funky looking headpiece in the middle of the room that was going to be placed onto Charles' head.

"I call it Cerebro," Hank told them.

"'Brain' in Spanish," Lydia said.

Hank nodded. "Correct."

Lydia smiled lightly at Charles. "My Spanish lessons at school have come in handy."

Charles chuckled lightly. "Whatever you say," he spoke in Spanish.

Lydia frowned back at him. "You're mean."

"Okay, so, the electrodes connect Charles to the transmitter on the roof," Hank began to explain. "When he picks up a mutant, his brain sends a signal through a relay, and then the co-ordinates of their location are printed out here." He gestured towards printers and computers that were all connected to the headpiece.

"You designed this?" Raven asked Hank.

"Yeah," Hank's cheeks tinted pink.

"Hey, Charlie," Lydia said, turning Charles' attention towards his sister, "Did you let school know that I won't be going for a little bit?"

Charles nodded. "I've pulled you out of school for the time being."

"Yes!" Lydia cheered.

Charles then walked into the middle of the room and Hank placed the Cerebro helmet onto his head. Lydia chuckled lightly. "I wish I had a camera with me now." With a flick of Erik's wrist, a camera came flying into the room and into his hand. He handed it to Lydia. "Bloody hell, I wish I could do that." Lydia held the camera up and took a quick snap of Charles. "This is being used for your fiftieth."

"Ha-ha, very funny, Lyds," Charles sarcastically said.

"Well, you do make an adorable lab rat, Charles," Erik smirked.

"Don't spoil this for me, Erik," Charles said.

"I've been a lab rat. I know one when I see one."

Hank walked up to the Cerebro and made sure that everything was in position. "Okay, great. Are you sure we can't shave your head?"

"Don't touch my hair," Charles quickly said.

"Okay." Hank went to the controls and began to turn everything on.

Lydia placed her fingers on her temple and went through Charles' head so that she could see everything that he was seeing as well, which was a huge mistake, because all of these people and voices raided her head very quickly. Lydia tumbled backwards but Erik was quick to catch her. Charles' mind went through everyone's in the United States, with a whole lot of them being children who probably didn't even know they possessed great power. Some of the children were getting checked up on by a doctor because their parents were worried about them and thought that something was seriously wrong with them, others were on the run or using their abilities to break the law and get away with it. Hank's machine was going off rapidly and began to put down the location of as many mutants as it could, beginning to form themselves a team.

AUTHORS NOTE
:')