CHLORIS

6. CAUGHT

The meeting went well and it ended shortly after Charles's plan was finalized. The final thing to do was to execute them. Once Charles and Erik scouted other mutants using the Cerebro to recruit them into the team, all there's left to do was to go to the warzone and stop Shaw.

Charles, Moira and Colleen were the only few remained in the meeting room after the other agents left. From the end of the long glass meeting table, Colleen heard Charles and Moira chat playfully.

"That presentation was impressive, Charles," Moira smiled and it seemed to have taken the professor away.

Charles smiled back bashfully, "Oh, it was nothing but thank you." He observed carefully how Moira trimmed up her meeting reports inside a special file. "What are those?" He asked, without revealing whether it was a real question or a test he like to do on people.

"These are files on Shaw, reports on his whereabouts the last couple of months and more that I need to go through," she replied. She packed up her final things and said goodbye to Charles, "I'll finish it tomorrow. That's when I'll see you again."

"I'll see you too tomorrow then," Charles waved. His perceptive eyes watches the way the attractive brunette carried herself out of the room, checking out all her assets as he forgot Colleen was still there.

"Keep an eye out for that one, Charles, but not like that," she joked, revealing her presence in the room. She brushed her raven hair back in her casual hairstyle, while laughing at her own joke, "Seriously, she's a keeper."

Charles couldn't keep his eyes off her and his smile off thinking about her. He turned to his stunning old colleague, "You think?"

"I mean, if she's single. Why not?" Colleen shrugged. "So, how long have you known each other?" Colleen wondered.

He replied, "Awhile. She came to me during my thesis presentation–"

She interrupted, "No, I was talking about Erik." Charles stopped. She can tell by his expression that he was unwilling to tell.

Charles chuckled for a good few seconds, leaving her confused why he was laughing at her. He pats her shoulder and wrapped his arms around it in a brotherly way. "What is it with you and men with conflicting pasts?" He wondered.

"Ouch, too soon." Colleen folded her arms.

He leaned onto the side of the meeting desk and fold his arms. He tried to answer briefly, "We met at the right time. It doesn't take long to get to know Erik. He was a man of vision and ambition."

"Sounds too familiar." She responded, referring to Charles himself.

"Why are you asking me this?" He asked in a bold manner.

Colleen would lie that there was no reason, but Charles would have known this immediately. She replied, "We had a lovely conversation today. Today and last night, actually."

"Last night?" Charles questioned. He was immediately alerted.

She went on and told him, "Yeah, he was in the research lab last night. It wasn't really a conversation, it was more like–"

"Wait a second, Erik didn't have access there. What was he doing?" This time, Charles was clearly aware of what's happening. He looked like he just witnessed a strange accident.

Colleen noticed this and felt like she said something wrong. She began to articulate faster, "He said he didn't need one. I don't know, I think he was looking for something in Hank's work desk, but he couldn't find it." Before Charles left, she asked, "What's going on?"

"Just don't get too close," Charles stated his advice to Colleen. However, he knew she wasn't always a good listener. "There's a lot you don't know about Erik Lehnsherr," added Charles before he sent Colleen away and advised her to take some rest in the east wing of the facility.

This time, she took his advice. She traced the long hallways of the building to reach the guestroom in the east wing where metal doors aligned perfectly on either sides of the wall. She stopped at the sight of a half-opened door that was Agent Moira's office. Her curiosity led her to lean closer and take a peek.

There was Erik messing about Moira's office in search of something. She watched until he found the thing under Moira's desk. It was a thick file containing papers and information about Sebastian Shaw. He placed the confidential file inside a leather suitcase.

Suddenly, he paused, sensing a presence nearby. He spoke in his distinctive cold tone, "You can come out now." He turned around and stood where the lights accidentally exaggerated his high features.

She showed herself and the door behind her was shut. "What are you doing?" She flustered, although she knew she just caught Erik stole something.

He only smirked. His blue eyes flashing with mischief. "You caught me," he dropped the suitcase and taunted her by placing his hands up. "You can tell me you win this round."

"I'm not in the mood for games." She replied assertively, "Tell me what you took."

He let out an evil chuckle. "If you're going to stop me, at least, try." He began to barb. "And if you keep asking questions you already know the answer to, you're only wasting our time, sweetheart." He picked up his suitcase and urged to leave.

Colleen bravely stood in the way of the door to block his only exit. "Why?" She grunted, "What does Sebastian Shaw mean to you?" This time she really didn't know the answer. Erik stared down at her with a wide smirk. He knew she was smart enough to ask the real questions.

"Let's just say I'm Frankenstein's monster – and I'm looking for my creator." He blustered with hints of rage in his voice.

The situation began to grow tense. Colleen was wrong to not take Charles seriously when he warned her about Erik. Her pretty face went slack. "You're not going to kill him, are you?"

He took big steps towards her. Intentionally intimidating her. Leaving her no place to go. Studying her expression that was growing frightened. Her conscience scattered to find a source of power but being three-stories high in the building, it wasn't easy.

She backed up until her body slammed roughly against the wall. She could tell Erik enjoyed every second of overpowering her. He muttered, "I'm going to do the same thing he did to my mother." In his hollow head, the memory of his mother plays hauntingly.

"You think killing Shaw will bring you peace?" Her voice was shaky but she was sure. She spoke softly and watched the emotion run through his gorgeous face. She felt his steady breath on her cheek that was only inches away.

His eyes wandered below her chin, just inside the tight blouse that wrapped around her chest perfectly. He saw the necklace she was wearing. Every particle of it was pure metal. Under his control, her necklace began to float as Erik was about to open the round locket that holds her mother's photograph inside.

Quickly, Colleen gripped it in her hands and stopped Erik from learning about her past. "You're so filled with agony because of Shaw." She persuaded with harmless remarks. "Believe me, Erik, you're so much more than Shaw's creation."

He tilted his head to one side. For a few second, he went silent, but not dangerous silent, more like a remorse silent, like something was dead inside. He looked at her after hearing the words he had never heard before and Colleen looked back into the abyss.

"Don't do this, Erik. You have me – you have Charles too. You don't have to go through this alone." Colleen still begged, but she knew she couldn't be as persuasive as a mind-manipulator.

Blue eyes turned glassy. Cheeks flushed. He never believed in anything or anyone but himself, but it was different this time. Something inside of him was raging, hungry for revenge in the form of Shaw's blood. At the same time, something tender made him want to trust her.

His lips began to move, ready to speak the unspoken words, "This is the only option." The tears ran back behind his eyeballs. He sniffed and brushed his hair to its place, "I'm sorry, but this is personal."

The distance grew between them when he withdrew. He picked up his suitcase and ambled towards the door. As he turned his back on her, he heard her mutter with hopelessness in her voice, "If only you could see that you're capable of love as much as you are capable of hate."

Erik walked away after saying, "Goodbye."