^Devil May Care^ Scott Summers

^is-is everyone safe?^

don't let me down: the chainsmokers

it's in my head, darling, i hope
that you'll be here when I need you the most
———
1990

The metal doors to the hangar as the six X-Men walked in, all dressed in yellow and dark cyan super suits. Max's long black hair was thrown over her shoulder, a little longer then in her teenage years. Charles had called them down for a mission so they went to the labs. Hank and Raven were already here, both blue and cramped into the same suits the others were wearing.

"It's a simple extraction. We go into space, we get the astronauts, we bring them home. Any questions?" Raven said simply like this was your run-of-the-mill mission. They had never done something like this before.

"Yeah, like a thousand." Scott said from beside Max, Jean on her other side.

"We don't have time for a thousand." Raven answered. Max could feel the nerves coming off of her and knew that Jean could feel them too.

"Zo ve're koing to sbace?" Kurt asked pointing up at the ceiling to make his point.

"Yes, Kurt, we are going into space."

"We're doing space missions now. Cool." Peter said nodding along with this plan.

"Will the X-Jet even get that high?" Scott asked, between curiosity and confusion.

"Well, technically, the-" Hank started but was cut off by Raven answering sharply, "It will get us there." Like she was trying to reassure herself that everything would be fine. "Let's go."

Everyone started walking towards the jet, Max slower than the others and Jean not moving at all. The black haired woman put a hand on Ravens shoulder, gave her a comforting smile and a squeezed her shoulder before jogging to catch up with the others.

***

The asphalt of the basketball court opened up straight down the middle as the jet rose from the ground. The engines revving as they rose into the air. Max sat in the first row, Hank in front of her piloting and Scott behind her. The plane tilted up slightly before shooting straight up into the air.

Max could feel her nerves start to get to her as they got higher and higher, above the clouds. The rumbling of the jet not helping at the moment. The thrusters accelerated immensely, forcing everyone to lean back in their chairs.

"I zink zis is not as much fun as I zought it vould pe." Max heard Kurt say from the back, his thick German accent giving him away.

The jet started to rattle, forcing everyone to hold onto something. Max's nail grew into claws on command, digging into the sides of her seat. Her eyes shut tightly trying to block out any sounds to calm herself down. Not wanting them to come back after years of pushing them down.

Scott, having sensed this, let his hand rest on her shoulder, his thumb rubbing back and fourth to calm her down. She pulled out her claws out from one side of the chair, while the other held on, letting her own hand clasp around his fingers before turning her head and placing a kiss on the top of his hand. It was comforting to know that her boyfriend was there.

They broke the Earths atmosphere and then everything stopped. The engines died down and the windshield was starting to freeze over at the corners. Through the windshield, they could see a small, from this far away at least, and something next to it. It was a large mass of fire like energy, swirling around itself. A solar flare.