[Chapter One]

Somewhere in Window Rock, Arizona, USA

The heat was scorching. Erik rolled down his window in an effort to cool down, but the hot air blasting through dried him up rather than cooled him. He grunted, quickly rolling the window back up. He violently pressed a few buttons in the car but the A/C wasn't working. He grunted once more, despairing that Charles would get a shitty car, drive out in the middle of a godforsaken desert, and have no A/C working, just to bother him.

"What are we doing in the middle of a desert Charles?" he finally asked. Charles, who was busy driving, discreetly peeked at his partner who was having a hard time keeping still in his turtleneck.

"Told you, comfort over fashion any day, my friend,"

Eric rolled his eyes, focusing back on the lounging desert in front of them.

"But really Charles, a mutant? Here? We haven't seen a breathing living being since we passed that casino, a good twenty minutes back,"

Charles nodded in agreement, "She's here, just be a bit more patient,"

Erik didn't respond. He continued staring out the window gloomily. Patience was his middle name.

They had finally arrived. Charles pulled up on a sandy driveway, coolly getting out to inspect his surroundings. Erik slowly followed him, squinting his eyes.

"So…this is it?"

"This is it,"

It was Native American. That could definitely be distinguished. The two totem poles, draped in vines, that greeted them at the entrance couldn't have been a bigger hint. Past those were a couple dozen of scattered wooden houses, built on clay foundation. Erik frowned. The excessive amount of greenery was odd. He looked around. In a desert, he would never have expected to find bushes of roses and thick green oaks.

"Who are we looking for, specifically?" asked Erik, looking very confused.

"A mutant," replied Charles cheekily. He flashed a smile at Erik before quickly entering the premises, heading straight to the first person he saw. On a porch nearby sat an elderly woman on a hammock-like bench. Her peppered hair covered her bronze face, as she hunched over her project, a basket.

"Excuse me, madam," Charles interrupted the woman's humming. The elderly woman looked up. Her milky white eyes gazed up, staring at neither Erik or Charles, but rather at the space between them. With her peppered hair and thick bronze wrinkles brooding around her eyes, she looked mystical. Erik looked a bit taken back. He definitely wasn't expecting that.

"You government boys?" she rasped out. Now this took back Charles. He prodded a bit around her head and frowned. Right. Not good.

"Um," Well he certainly didn't want to lie, "Not really?"

The old woman chortled. The basket dropped from her hands as she tried to stand up, her limbs shaking underneath her. She held her hand out, against the front of the house for support.

"Iina! Come out and escort these boys out of here," creepily, her empty eyes focused directly on Charles, "They're lost,"

Charles could feel Erik tense beside him.

"Well, not lost per say - we're, we're looking for someone,"

But the old woman waved her hands, as if trying to shoo them away.

"There would be no one here to interest you. IINA!"

A middle aged woman finally came bustling out. When she noticed the two men standing by their porch, dressed so strangely for such an inexcusable heat, she stopped. The insect screen door behind her made an awkward PFFFT noise as it closed.

"Government boys?" she stated in disbelief. The woman now standing in front of Erik and Charles had the same sharp cheekbones as the older woman. 'Her daughter,' Charles thought, happy to make the connection. He watched her black eyes calculating him and Erik with suspicion. 'And definitely not their first meeting with the government,'

"What do you want?" Iina asked coldly. She now held her mother in an embrace, supporting her small frail structure from falling, "We owe the government nothing,"

Erik stirred beside Charles. This wasn't going as they had planned. The hostile atmosphere signaled a red flag, but Charles wanted to push through. He at least wanted to meet the young girl.

Charles held both of his hands out, in signal of surrender, "We have no malicious intent," he ignored Iina's snort, "Rather, we would like to meet someone - a teenage girl, to be more precise,"

Almost immediately, the response appeared in both of their minds. 'Haseya', both women's thoughts echoed. He bit on his lip to keep his grin from forming. Checkmate.

"What do you want with her?" forced out Iina.

"No Iina! Get them out! Get them out!" screeched the elderly woman in Iina's arm. Her head barely reached Iina's breasts, and, in an effort to get her daughter's attention, she hit her in the arm. "I don't want these men here!"

But Iina ignored her mother's pleas. She continued to stare at Charles, expecting his answer. He rolled back his shoulders, focusing his eyes on her. Truth be told, he didn't like that tone of voice, and the more he looked in her thoughts, he didn't think he liked her attitude either.

"Mother," Iina bent her head down to her mom's small stature, "I think it's time for your nap,"

"No! NO! Iina, no!" shaking, the elder woman began to breathe heavily. Charles stepped forward but halted under Iina's dark glare.

"Should we continue this somewhere where she can sit?" he asked, genuinely concerned for the older woman's health. Unlike her daughter's thoughts, the elder woman's thoughts concerning Haseya appeared genuine and maternal.

"Y-yes," breathed the elderly woman heavily, "I-if you want to continue this talk about Haseya, let's do so with me present,"

Erik raised an eyebrow. Charles seemed to have picked up on the odd choice of wording because he too looked back at Erik with a curious expression.

Iina didn't look too happy. She turned around with her mother, refusing to look back at the two men. They entered the dim house. There were no signs of a teenage girl. The house was furnished with stuffed, moth-bitten sofas, multiple clay vases, and tapestries. But the bland palate of furnishing were lit up by the colorful assortment of flowers. Flowers, ranging from sunflowers to exotic Four O'clocks lit up the dark room.

The men shuffled in and took a seat on the opposite couch of the elder woman and her daughter. The elder woman started to breathe slower, regaining a more peaceful expression. After Iina made sure her mother was comfortably settled, she returned her gaze on the two men.

"What does the government want with Haseya?" she asked. Erik and Charles exchanged a glance. Should they explain..?

Charles took a deep breath. Seeing as this wouldn't go anywhere without the consent of at least one of the women (specifically, the older one) he turned to face them. He offered a small smile, "We have reason to believe that Haseya is a mutant - a genetically evolved human that allows her to do extraordinary things,"

The reactions were instantaneous- different, but instantaneous.

While the look on the younger woman darkened, the elder woman began slapping the arm of the couch, to draw all attention onto her.

"She is not a mutant - she is simply gifted! Mother Nature blessed her with more than life, so what? Why is the government interested again? We straightened this out years ago!"

Alarmed at the rush of memories that overtook the elder woman's thoughts, Charles was quick to reassure her.

"No, I assure you madam, we are not here for any experiments of any kind! In fact, my partner and I…" Erik shot him a dark look that quickly halted his speech. Right, maybe not a good idea to reveal more than necessary, "We are simply here to aid young upcoming adults to deal with their 'blessed' powers. Some of them have a hard time controlling them, and it could be catastrophic to others…,"

"But my Haseya has done nothing wrong!" exploded the elderly woman once more. She began to shake again, her cheeks flushing red, making her pupil-less eyes pop out even more, "N-nothing!"

"Mother," the other woman tried to soothe her, "Mother, relax. This might be a good idea. Haseya doesn't have total control-"

"Hush up child!" The elderly woman turned to face the voice of her child and began patronizing her, "Aren't you suppose to start your shift at the casino in ten minutes?"

The cold attitude that took over Iina was so obvious that one didn't need to be a telepath to know what her exact thoughts were going through her head. Erik watched nonchalantly as Iina stood up, throwing her mother a venomous look, before glaring at him and Charles once more, and taking off. It was quiet in the house for a few more minutes. No one began talking until the engine of a car could be heard taking off.

"My granddaughter has done nothing wrong," the elderly woman let out a big breath, "Is it so wrong for her to be born blessed?" she asked, her voice small and trembling.

Now Erik understood the old woman's protective nature - Haseya was her granddaughter. And, the fact that the grandmother had yet to call forth Haseya's parents for their opinion proved another thing, deduced Erik. She was an orphan.

Charles too let out a big breath. The pure love emitting from the grandmother's mind was strong and admirable. He held in a groan, messing up his hair in frustration. A mutant with an unconditionally loving parental. Good God, he felt like a home wrecker.

"Y-yes, but your granddaughter, Haseya is it?" once the grandmother nodded, Charles pressed forth, "We believe that she could help us,"

"And why would we want to help the government? After all the government help they gave us?" she spat out.

Charles sat back in the moth-bitten sofa and looked at Erik. Well, he really couldn't argue against that. The American government really hadn't done an excellent job handling the Native Americans. Silence consumed the trio and it was a while before anyone said anything. Finally, Erik spoke up,

"Look, I think what my partner is trying to say is that your granddaughter has an extraordinary power - a power, if taught under the right tuition, would be beneficial for not just the government, but for everyone,"

Erik watched as the grandmother turned to face his voice. He ignored the goosebumps her blank stare emitted.

"We have no plans on testing or hurting her in any shape or form. We just want to help her. Not hurt her. There are others, too, others with formidable gifts, that we plan on helping. In a community such as this one, we hope for her to reach her full potential and make her comfortable,"

Erik stopped, staring straight at the white eyes. He clenched his fists.

"But the government will use her," concluded the old woman gravely. Impatient, Erik stood up, no longer able to handle the old woman. Of course the government would use her! Everyone used everyone else to their advantage!

He looked at Charles, 'Let's go. It's a lost cause and we honestly have better things to do,'

But Charles simply lifted a hand, signaling him to stop from doing anything.

"Madam, I truly believe it would be the right choice for her to come with us. Can't she at least meet us and choose herself? Her own opinion must matter,"

Erik rolled his eyes and impatiently stuffed his fists into his leather jacket.

'Stop trying to persuade her, it's not going to work. Why don't you just make her say yes, and get on with it,' but Charles shook his head at Erik's suggestions. Erik rolled his eye once more. Fucking Charles and his fucking ethics.

'At least give me the keys, so I can start the car,' but even that didn't get a response from Charles.

"Fine," the grandmother finally spoke, "Haseya is her own person. She can choose for herself,"

Charles nodded in agreement, ignoring the shade being thrown at him. He was just pleased with the outcome of the situation. If he could just persuade Haseya then, everything would be perfect.

As Charles helped the elderly woman to her feet and grabbed a disregarded wooden cane on the side, Erik couldn't help but shake his head lightly, hiding a small grin.

Fucking Charles. He always knew how to get them in the end.

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