"There's a beauty in every little strange thing- that is something a friend of mine and i love to say, but do you believe in that too, Charles?" Devin asked him, looking out of the office window to see several students passing by. They noticed Devin's presence in Charles's office and although they don't know who the silver haired man in the office was, they waved at him enthusiastically, a polite gesture to greet someone. Devin smiled and nodded, acknowledging their greetings, before they were out of Devin's sight.

Charles, who was watching him closely, nodded as well, before he paused for a moment to think about Devin's words again and began to shake his head. "I tend to believe that every single thing in this world has its beauty, but it's the strangest things that other people often overlook the beauty of. They don't seem to believe that it's there, but it is there. They just don't see it from their own eyes- from their own perspective," Devin turned away from the window and looked at Charles. "It's not particularly important if they don't see it but rather why they don't see it from their eyes."

"It's the same thing as mutants really," Devin started, slowly walking around the room. "Most of the humans- not all of them are open-minded with us, as you know it. They don't see the beauty in us, but rather fear or hate us. Nothing more, nothing less. I rarely see a human parent not getting horrified after finding out their child is a mutant. The very few children to have those parents are quite lucky, while the rest are hoping that they wouldn't get killed by them in their sleep or by someone else," he stopped walking and turned to Charles again. "But there are some rare cases, several of which you may not have heard of."

"Let me tell you about one of them," Charles hummed, gesturing for Devin to continue while drinking his cup of warm tea. "There once lived a man- his name is not important at the current moment, but that man has never felt a moment of hatred or fear towards a single mutant ever in his life. He was one of the few people to believe that mutants are equal to humans and treats them like he does with the other humans. One day, that man fell in love with a mutant and got married with her. They had three beautiful children together, all of whom were mutants as well. They lived a happy life together, even with the many threats they received from neighbours who feared them. The man, in particular, received the most warnings about his family but of course, he ignored them all. He loved his family too much to even care if they are dangerous. However, that all changed one night," a frown appeared on Devin's face as he continued with the story.

"It was late at night, everyone was already in their own beds sleeping after a long and tired day. The day was normal and nothing out of the ordinary happened, but one of the children- the eldest daughter -had a strange feeling before she went to sleep. I was told that it was one of her gifts, but her parents didn't think much of it because she can be paranoid about things sometimes," he grimaced. "The man regretted not listening to his eldest daughter that night when he heard his son's screams and saw the horrified look on his eldest daughter's face. She shared a room with the son, you see, so it traumatized her badly. Poor girl couldn't even speak due to shock and fear until the following week, but she was still too scared to go back to the room she shared with her brother, even after the maids cleaned the room various of times. She took one glance at the bedroom and the memories of that horrifying night flashed back to her."

Charles wore a sad look when he heard that and asked, "He was murdered because he was a mutant?"

Devin shook his head. "The police thought he was kidnapped at first but after seeing the blood in the room, they thought otherwise. The man was furious and demanded for them to continue searching while his wife took care of her traumatized children. The man was not quite successful in convincing the police, especially since his eldest daughter refused to discuss what had happened with anyone during that time. The wife tried her hardest to be strong for all of them and made sure to take care of each and every one of the members in the family. She was so busy trying to make everyone feel better to the point that she forgot to take care of herself. A week after the incident, while she was driving, the wife became overwhelmed with the emotions she tried to keep inside her and lost control of her gifts, which resulted in a car accident that ended her life."

Charles frowned. "I am terribly sorry for the loss of the man and his children,"

Devin didn't reply to Charles's words and avoided his eyes. "The family of five that turned into three were in absolute shock and disbelief. The man grew depressed and the youngest daughter had to take care of her still traumatized elder sister. And after the eldest daughter built up the courage to talk about the terrible event, she told her father of a mutant who injured and eventually kidnapped his son. The man was in rage and forbade any mutant to enter the neighbourhood he lived in ever again. An unknown mutant once tried to go in there, but was killed as soon as he placed his foot inside the neighbourhood, supposedly by the same man."

"Hatred can grow due to the people who hurt or kill our loved ones. I know that by experience," Charles's mind went to Erik, before he glanced back at Devin. "Why are you telling me this story?"

"It's quite important for you to know this story. Even until now, that man has been searching for his son's killer and he has reasons to believe that your school is somehow connected to the killer," Devin informed him carefully, watching his reaction.

Charles furrowed his eyebrows, confusion written all over his face. "What reasons led him to believe that?"

"Whether you believe it or not, Charles, there has been rumors about your school ever since you first opened it, both good and bad, and trust me when i say that those rumors spread as fast as a virus does. The most recent rumors are of a mysterious and powerful mutant lurking around the school grounds. Don't ask how i know of this rumor, by the way. But some said that this mutant is looking for someone in the school," said Devin.

Charles furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as to how those rumors had came to be in the first place, but held a small yet forced smile on his face. He didn't feel quite comfortable about the rumors, and made a mental note to ask Hank to find out more about this rumor after he finish his conversation with Devin. "I'm afraid i can't say that it's not true. Is that the only reason why you came here, Devin?" He asked him and Devin hestitantly nodded. "I wasn't quite sure if the rumors were correct and had to see them for myself, so i came here. Before though, i made a theory about everything and pick up the pieces of the puzzle together. Even if the rumor of a mutant lurking around not true, it wouldn't explain why Thomas Horan would be targetting Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters. He doesn't hurt the innocent, especially children, so him targetting this school is a big red flag towards everyone."

Peter let out a small noise outside the office when he heard the familiar surname and Jean had to cover his mouth. Fortunately for them, the adults in the office didn't hear the sound and Elizabeth was far too busy listening to the conversation to pay any attention to her surroundings.

"Thomas Horan? Elizabeth's and Hailey's father?" Charles repeated his name, his eyes wide in shock. "Well, that makes the possibility of him targetting the school even slimmer. His daughters are here and i have met him several times before. He was a strict but kind man and he loves his daughters very much. He wouldn't dare to think about endangering their lives, much less actually do it."

"Exactly, and that makes matters worse," Devin shook his head in disagreement. "You see, Elizabeth and Hailey are his only two loved ones left and he loves them more than anything in the world, even himself. However, he is not willing to let his son's killer get away- especially not when the killer ruined his family's lives forever. I have met him several times too and yes, he was a strict and kind man, but he was also cunning and intelligent. He gets whatever he wants not just by working hard but also by working smart, and Thomas isn't the type of man to kill other people's children, so he would do whatever it takes to get revenge on his son's killer while making sure the others are not harmed."

"I'll inform Elizabeth and Hailey soon about this then. They might be able to change his mind or at the very least, delay his plans. We can't let him get to this mutant," Devin shook his head again. "No, it would be best to extend the lockdown even longer for the safety of both the students and the teachers."

Charles raised his eyebrow at that. "A few moments ago, you said Thomas will be making sure that the others would not be harmed, except for his son's killer,"

"But it doesn't mean Thomas would not use one of them as bait," Devin replied back, a grimace on his face. "He would not be harming anyone who's innocent, but it doesn't mean he would not be doing everything else in his power to get the person responsible for ruining his life."

Charles frowned and leaned back against his wheelchair at the information, his eyebrows furrowing while he began to think deeply about the situation. "What is he going to do right now?"

"What we should be doing now as well," Devin responded, moving closer to Charles and stood right in front of him. "This mutant that Thomas suspects is the killer- rumor has it that he was on the school grounds because of someone in the school and yes, the killer is a male. It was one of the only things Elizabeth could tell the police," Devin got lost in his words for a moment, before snapping out of it and continued, "Thomas is currently trying to figure out who that someone is."

Charles hummed at the information, before he moved his wheelchair away from his desk and headed to the door. "Where are you going?" Devin questioned him, his eyebrow raised.

"To find out who the mutant is here for," the headmaster replied, and that was the last thing Elizabeth heard before she quickly left the hallway, making sure to do it as quietly as she could. Jean and Peter held their breath again when the two men walked out of the office.

Charles moved his wheelchair towards Jean's and Peter's direction- the opposite of where Elizabeth had gone to, while Devin stopped his tracks near Peter and Jean, a look appeared on his face that told them that he was in deep thinking, before a look of wonder and curiosity replaced it. After a few moments though, he started to follow Charles again and walked behind him.

When Charles and Devin were out of sight and Jean was more than sure that they were far away from them, she made Peter and herself visible again. Both of the teenagers's eyes were wider than usual, still trying to process the information, and taking a deep breath to get oxygen into their bodies. It stayed like that for a couple of minutes until Jean turned her body to Peter's direction. "We need to go tell the others," she stated, and Peter nodded. He stood behind Jean and placed his hand behind her neck to prevent her from getting whiplash, before he used his superspeed and ran to the school's entrance to find Teresa, Jubilee and Warren.

••••

"Devin, i would like to introduce you to Mister Warren Worthington, Miss Jubilee Lee, and Miss Teresa Rosalie. And you've already met Erik, of course," Charles introduced the three young mutants near Erik to Devin. Erik narrowed his eyes at Devin, but Devin just smiled at Warren, Jubilee and Teresa. He only glanced at Erik's direction, his smile disappearing for a moment.

Erik huffed quietly at his actions but didn't say anything about it.

Peter and Jean who were watching them from a near distance, wore a confused look on their faces. "How did they get here so fast...?" Peter questioned, as Teresa caught sight of Peter and Jean. She wore an annoyed expression and mouthed to them, "You're late," before she sent a glare to their way. Jean sent an apologetic look to Teresa and mouthed back, "We're sorry," The dark-haired girl tilted her head a bit, acknowledging Jean's apology and seemingly accepting it as well, before she hesitantly directed her attention back to Erik. Jean wanted to say more to Teresa and Teresa wanted to hear more from Jean, but they knew that it wasn't the right time to discuss about the things Peter and Jean heard- not when Devin and Charles are literally right in front of her.

Jean turned her head to Devin and began to stare at him while Peter watched his father carefully. Both of Erik's children were eyeing him closely out of fear that he may lose control and suddenly attack Devin.

Warren looked at Chares with a disgusted expression on his face, showing his disapproval of introducing himself to a dangerous stranger who he thinks might have been the one to injure Peter. Jubilee was paying attention to both Devin and Erik, glancing at them back and forth.

"I'm Devin Spencer," Devin introduced himself again to the teenagers.

"Yeah, we know," Warren snorted, but then made a noise of pain when Teresa elbowed him hard and gave him a look. "Watch your tone," she murmured, leaning her face close to his to ensure that he was the only one to hear her.

Warren just grumbled in response, which made Teresa roll her eyes and leaned back. "And right over there," Charles turned to Jean's and Peter's direction, causing Devin to do the same and making Jean and Peter freeze in their spots, "we have one of my most brilliant students in the school, Miss Jean Grey, and another member of the X-men, Mister Peter Maximoff."

Peter and Jean felt a little startled at Charles's words as Devin waved at the two of them. They waved back at him awkwardly. Erik's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "How long have you two been there for?"

Jean opened her mouth to respond to Erik's words, but Peter cut her off with a response of his own- a really unexpected one too, "We have been here all along, Erik, but you were just way too busy staring at Devin like he's a piece of fried chicken to notice us."

Warren bursted into laughter at that while Jean choked back a chuckle. Teresa attempted to hide her laugh by coughing, but couldn't stop the grin that formed on her face. Charles also attempted to hide his chuckle by coughing and covered his mouth with his hand. Jubilee giggled quietly as Erik rolled his eyes and glared at Peter. He wanted to say something but Charles moved his wheelchair in front of Erik, which made him pause. Charles sent a small smile to Erik before turning to Teresa, then to Peter. "Teresa? Peter?" He called their names, catching their eyes and attention.

"Yes?" Teresa and Peter asked in unison. This caused them to glance at each other, and made an amused smile crack on Jean's face.

"Could the two of you please show Mr. Devin Spencer around the school? I'm sure he would be more than happy to have you both as his guide," Charles questioned them in a gentle tone.

Teresa and Peter glanced at each other again, forming some sort of silent sibling communication. They turned their heads back to Charles and nodded, agreeing to show Devin around the school.

As Peter walked towards Devin, Teresa took a glance at Jean's direction but Teresa quickly looked back at her when she noticed the worry behind Jean's eyes and her own eyes softened at that. Teresa gave Jean a look of reassurance in an attempt to give her comfort, even if it was just the tiniest bit.

Be careful. I'm not able to read his mind. Teresa heard a soft voice inside her head say. I'm sorry for using my gift on you, but i didn't want the others to see me mouthing to you. It will only increase their worries.

It's alright. Just tell the others about what you heard when you're done with Erik and Charles. And knowing Erik, make sure that he doesn't lash out too much on Charles. Teresa thought inside her head, knowing Jean will hear them.

Scream the first second you think you are in danger. Teresa heard that voice responded as she eyed Peter who was looking at Devin awkwardly.

Of course i will, and Jean? There was a hum in Teresa's mind, telling her that Jean was listening to her thoughts. Don't worry too much about me and Peter or else you'll get wrinkles.

Jean rolled her eyes at Teresa's words, but her lips formed into a smile, showing her dimples.

Her smile is very pretty. Jean's smile grew wider when she read Teresa's thoughts as the dark-haired girl walked alongside Peter and led Devin into the school.

You know, i can still hear your thoughts. Jean's voice appeared in Teresa's mind again and this time, she could hear the joy and delight laced in her words.

I know. Was the last thing Jean read from Teresa's thoughts as the smile on her face continued to linger for a while, staring at the direction Teresa, Peter and Devin went to.

"Why is she smiling so much?" Erik furrowed his eyebrows in confusion while Jubilee wore a concerned look on her face, both of them staring at Jean.

Warren just shrugged. "A happy Grey usually ends in a happy day," he replied, not really caring that Jean started to smile out of the blue. He narrowed his eyes at Charles, "but i want some answers to some of the questions in my mind right now and you know all of them, Charles."

This made everyone turn to Charles, even Jean who snapped her head to the mind reader after hearing Warren say that and sensing the tension at the school's entrance. She looked at everyone and scanned their expressions carefully, before landing her eyes back on Charles. Like the others, Jean was waiting to see what his response would be.

Charles frowned. "The situation seems to be worse than we had expected, Erik."

••••

Author's Note: Exams have been giving me a headache. *sighs* but i hope all of you like the new chapter! It's shorter than the previous chapters but i put some efforts into it like i do with the others. That's all from me today. Don't forget to vote, comment and add this book to your library or reading list!