Charles stared after his twin as hurried from the room. It was no secret he was fiercely protective of her. He had done his best with Arik, but his tolerance was fading. Slowly, he turned to face his hot-headed friend.

"A game of chess?" he suggested. "To clear our heads?"

Arik smiled and quickly retrieved the set as Charles arranged a couple of chairs and a small table. Chess would give them plenty of time to talk. Both were too competitive to leave a game unfinished. Only after several minutes did he finally breach the topic tying his heart in anxious knots.

In a voice of deadly calm, he said, "You do realize, Arik, that you have now become her greatest threat."

Arik leaned back in his plush chair, eyeing Charles through narrowed eyes, but he continued, "Your hatred could easily kill her." The other man didn't respond. "Jennifer and I determined when we were young that love was too dangerous for her. Her mutation makes her heart too fragile. That is why she fought you these past weeks."

"Then why did she change her mind?"

Charles hesitated. He knew the truth. He just wasn't sure if he wanted to share it with Arik. Making up his mind, he took a deep breath.

"Because..." he began slowly. "She believes you love her as much as she has begun to feel for you."

"You can read my mind, Charles. You know I would never do anything to hurt her."

Charles gave an acknowledging nod. "Not directly. No. But have you thought of the consequences of killing someone near her? Torturing them?"

Arik ground his teeth. "She doesn't have to come," he finally snapped.

Charles laughed dryly. "You really think she'll stay behind?"

Arik frowned.

"Cuba, Russia, America. It makes no difference. Shaw has declared war on mankind. On all of us. Jenny has as much a right as any of us to fight for what she believes in. Besides," he added with a small smile. "She would never let these kids go off to face danger without her, and Shaw has to be stopped."

Arik froze, eyes hardening at the mention of the name as they always did.

"I'm not going to stop Shaw," he stated matter-of-factly. "I'm going to kill him."

Charles' heart pounded in his chest though his face remained blank. He had known this, of course, but he had hoped...for Jenny's sake...that for once, he was wrong. Arik leaned forward to move one of his pawns.

"Do you have it in you to allow that?"

Silence filled the large room as Charles' blue eyes flickered slightly with an anger of his own. He shifted in his own plush armchair folding his hands beneath his chin.

"You've known all along why I was here, Charles," he continued calmly. "But things have changed. What started as a covert mission, tomorrow, mankind will know that mutants exist. Shaw, us, they won't differentiate. They'll fear us. And that fear will turn to hatred."

His voice was cold, hard, and Charles could only pray that Jenny was too distracted by Raven to notice Arik's swelling hate or his own growing anger and frustration.

"Not if we stop a war," he countered quickly. "Not if we can prevent Shaw. Not if we risk our lives doing so."

"Would they do the same for us?" Arik demanded in a low hiss.

"We have it in us to be the better men," he insisted. "Jenny believes you are a better man."

"We already are," he half growled in exasperation. "We are the next stage of human evolution. You said it yourself!"

"No. No!" Charles stuttered out, his temper rising.

Catching himself before he fell to Arik's level, he took a deep breath, reaching for his glass. This wasn't working. Arik's hatred burned too deep.

"Are you really so naive as to think that they won't battle their own extinction?" Arik asked in a condescending voice, watching him carefully as he set aside the glass. "Or is it arrogance?"

Charles' eyes shot up to meet Arik's goading gaze in affront.
"I'm sorry?" he demanded in clear offense, almost disbelievingly.
"After tomorrow," he continued quickly. "They're going to turn on us. But you're blind to it, because you believe they're all like Moira."

He watched his friend warily, beginning to doubt the trust he had placed in his fellow mutant and the closeness he had maintained with his sister. He didn't need his ability to know Arik's intentions. Perhaps Jenny was in more danger than he realized.
"And you believe they're all like Shaw," he countered in a soft voice.

The two men glared at one another a moment before Charles leaned forward slightly.

His bright blue eyes locked with Arik's intently as he murmured, "Listen to me very carefully, my friend. Killing Shaw will not bring you peace."
"Peace," he responded coldly. "Was never an option."

"Peace is always an option," Charles retorted in a voice of forced calm. "Even for you. Did you not feel it with Jenny? Don't you want that again?"

Arik didn't say anything; his face merely hardened.

"You may believe you are ready to kill Shaw," he whispered in a slightly emotional voice. "But are you ready to kill her?"

"Wars always have a price," he stated coldly. "You should focus on who you let pay it."

Charles merely glared at him as he stood abruptly, unable to contain himself any longer.

"You'll get her killed," he tried again.

"That's her choice."

"Arik!"

"She will choose to follow you against Shaw, not me."

"I'm not worried about what Shaw can do to her," Charles responded steadily. "You're the one with the power hurt her."

"One person will not deter me from a lifetime of pursuit." He stood, preparing to leave. "Nothing you say can change my mind, Charles."

With that, he turned and strode confidently from the room.

Fear and grief filled him, spurring a flurry of anxious thoughts from his twin, but he ignored them. He needed time to think.