Isolation [Erik Lehnsherr]

Chapter Three

"Right," Erik supplied, his voice sounding quite flat compared to Charles' excited tone. "Well, Charles, do you want to take them to their rooms? Or shall I?"

Rory rose her hand, a little nervous.

"Yes, Rory?" Charles asked chuckling.

"Is there a basement to this building? And if there is, can I have a room there? Or a room with as little windows as possible?"

Charles looked like he was confused at her request, and was probably about to tell her that no such room existed, when Erik nodded his head. "I think I might know a room like that. There's no mattress there, but I'll help you get one down there. And tomorrow, someone can get the full bed down there."

Rory shook her head. "I don't need a full bed frame or anything. Just a mattress will do." It had been what she'd been sleeping on for the past five years, so she really saw no need to change.

If Erik thought her response was strange, he didn't say anything. Instead, he turned to Charles, and told the shorter man, "Alright, so you can show Scarlett her room, and I'll take Rory down to hers." Instead of arguing, like it looked like he wanted to do, Charles nodded, and handed Erik the box that belonged to Rory that he was still carrying.

Before they got split up, Rory walked over to Scarlett, and wrapped the younger girl in a hug.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Rory told her. "If I'm not up by seven, come find me."

"I will," Scarlett responded, laughing.

With that, the two girls separated, with Scarlett following Charles and Rory following Erik. They got into the building, and right away, walked down a flight of stairs.

The two of them were silent for a while, until Rory decided to break the silence.

"What is this place?"

"It's a covert CIA base," Erik responded.

"What do the CIA want with mutants?" she asked.

Erik rolled his eyes, which did not go unnoticed by Rory. "You and your friend ask too many questions. You'll find out in the morning."

Rory groaned. "Why can't you tell me now?" She hated the mornings, and anyways, if it went her way, she wouldn't even be awake.

"Because, I've already told you. We're explaining everything to you and Scarlett tomorrow morning."

The impulse to stick her tongue out like a child at Erik almost won, but Rory pushed it away. "Fine. Be mean."

She heard a groan coming from the man. "Says the girl who I carried from a plane into a taxi. Maybe next time I'll just leave you on the plane."

Rory didn't need to be a mind reader to know the man wasn't being honest. She knew almost nothing about Erik, but she found herself trusting him more than she thought she could. He was more solemn than Charles, who seemed far too bright and cheery for Rory's taste. Plus, the ability to control metal seemed fascinating, but as she wasn't the world's biggest fan of telepaths, she found herself just instinctively not liking Charles.

"You don't mean that," she told him.

"Your room is right here," Erik responded, simply choosing to not respond to Rory's statement. She took that to mean that she was correct in her assumptions. "I'll see to a mattress being sent down immediately so that you can sleep."

Nodding her head in confirmation, Rory opened the door that Erik had indicated, and she smiled when she turned the light on. There really wasn't anything fancy, it was just a room, probably not even a bedroom. It was empty, but she had a suspicion that it was meant to be a storage room. The whole room was bare, and there was only two tiny windows up near the top, where she could clearly see the moonlight.