Isolation | E LEHNSHERR

CHAPTER EIGHT

"I'm the one, cause I'm still here."
-I'm Still Here, John Rzeznik

The next week went by rather quickly. By the end, everyone was able to do what Charles wanted them to do in training. Rory was quite pleased with herself, as she was able to shadow around the dummy fifty times before she was hit by the water. Of course, she demanded an hour or so of sleep afterward, from all the excess energy it took, but still. It was quite amazing.

She loved watching Scarlett do her training. Charles had set up an obstacle course for her to run through in the backyard of the mansion. In order for her to succeed, she had to rapidly change into different animals to complete each obstacle. Charles had told her that her goal should be to run the entire obstacle course in a minute or less. Her first day, she did it in ten minutes and twenty-eight seconds. By her last day, she was able to do it in fifty-eight seconds, something everyone had been super impressed by.

Throughout the week, Erik and Rory had gotten close to each other as well. They hadn't kissed again, although Erik would occasionally kiss her forehead. But, they'd shared other moments of intimacy. He'd been the first to hug her when she'd gone her hour of training with only getting squirted by the water ten times, and she returned it when he was able to turn the satellite. However, Rory also made sure to spend time with Scarlett, to let her best friend know that she wasn't leaving anytime soon. After they all defeated Shaw, they could take on the world together.

On Friday after they'd arrived at the mansion, they were all gathered in the living room, watching the president address the nation about the Cuba issue with Shaw, although they didn't know it had anything to do with Shaw. Rory was standing by Erik and Scarlett, and her hands were clenched into fists as Kennedy announced that if the Russians passed the embargo line surrounding Cuba with their missiles, it would be considered an attack, and nuclear war would happen.

And it wasn't even because of the missiles. She really could care less if the humans were destroyed, what with how they viewed mutants. Her anger stemmed from her distaste of Shaw himself. The man deserved to die, for what he'd done to Scarlett and Erik, causing the two people closest to her pain. If Rory could've had her way, she would have kept Scarlett from ever seeing death, as that was something no one needed to witness.

"That's where we're going to find Shaw," Erik stated when the president finished speaking.

"How do you know?" Alex asked from where he was standing next to Scarlett.

"Two superpowers facing off and he wants to start World War III," Charles responded from where he was sitting on the couch next to Moira. "He won't leave anything to chance."

"So much for diplomacy," Erik scoffed. Rory looked at him, and she patted his shoulder, smiling. She was aware that this fight meant more to him than anyone else in the room. Erik returned the smile and then turned to everyone else. "I suggest you all get a good night's sleep."

Rory followed his advice and went upstairs shortly after the address was done. However, instead of going straight to bed, she went to Scarlett's room and smiled at her.

"You ready for tomorrow?"

"I think so," Scarlett responded. "I...I just don't want Shaw to wreak havoc on the world. He's killed Darwin, and we have to stop him from killing anyone else."

"Why though?" Rory asked.

"Why what?"

"Why should we stop him from killing humans? They're the issue, they're afraid of us. They laugh at us and ridicule us. But, once everyone becomes aware that we exist, they're going to start locking us up and trying to take away our powers. And that's not okay. My parents' basement will seem like heaven compared to what's in stake for us after tomorrow."