"Good luck," Tony replied, a little distractedly. "Rope Raven into helping with the little monsters."

"I would if she wasn't gone for the week," Paige said. "I'll be fine. But I'll see you another time."

"Alright," Tony agreed. "See you." He looked back at her as she left but got distracted again quickly. At least for the moment.

About a week later, Paige realized something. Crystal had been in the habit of checking in every other day or so since she'd left with Remy, and up until now, she hadn't missed one. But somehow, six days had slipped by without a word from Crystal, and that worried Paige.

Charles had noticed also and thought that maybe Crystal had just been texting Paige and had forgotten to text him, although she had been very good about it up until that point.

"Paige, do you have a moment?"

"Of course," Paige said, nodding. She could tell he was worried about something.

"Have you heard from Crystal in the past week?" Charles asked quietly, trying to keep the children out of the conversation for now.

That made Paige's heart sink.

"No," she replied just as quietly. "I was hoping you had."

Charles shook his head, frowning. "No, I haven't heard from either of them." He was quiet for a moment. "I'll see if I can find them. This is... worrisome."

Paige nodded.

"I'll try to call her, see if she picks up," she said.

Charles nodded. "Let me know if you get hold of her," he said, glancing around for Erik so he could let him know what was going on too.

Paige nodded and went to call Crystal.

Three unanswered calls later, she set her phone down again, now very worried.

So far, Charles wasn't having any better luck finding them, although he had yet to use Cerebro. He had hoped it would be easier than that, that it was just Crystal had forgotten to charge her phone or hadn't had a chance to. But this was going to require deeper digging.

"She's not picking up," Paige said when she found Charles again. "It rings, but then rolls to voicemail." Which meant that the phone was charged and on, rather than dead or turned off.

"Damn." Charles made a face. "Alright. I need to find them, then. I'll have to use Cerebro, that will be the fastest way."

Paige nodded.

"Do what you need to," she said. "I'll look after the kids if you need Erik with you."

Charles shook his head. "No, Erik will be more help in here with the children, for now at least," he said. "I'll let you know as soon as I find anything."

Paige nodded.

"Alright," she said. "Let me know as soon as you know anything." And she made a mental note to bring him some tea, if he was down in Cerebro for more than an hour or so.

Charles nodded and headed down to see if he could find them.

It took over an hour, but only just, and he looked upset when he finally did emerge.

Paige was about to bring him down some tea when he came back out.

"Charles?" she asked, setting the tray down when she saw how upset he looked. "What happened? Where's Crystal?"

"Somewhere she's not supposed to be," Charles said, shaking his head. "All I can tell is that she's in a room, and it's dark. Remy is not with her, although he's not far from her either. There are several other mutants in the building with them, at least I'm guessing it's a building." He rubbed his temples a little.

Paige handed him the teacup.

"That sounds like someone gathering mutants," she murmured. "At least, if Crystal isn't there of her own will."

"I doubt she is, she and Remy would not have vanished like that, and they would not have separated," Charles said, accepting the teacup. "We need to find them."

Paige nodded.

"Any idea where to start?" she asked. Crystal needed help, and there was no way Paige was going to just leave her to flounder.

Charles shook his head. "I'll need to get a more exact location soon, I didn't dare focus on them for much longer," he said. "Besides, this way Erik can be getting things ready for us to leave."