𝐒𝐖𝐈𝐅𝐓 (X-Men ~ Peter Maximoff)

A Temporary Farewell

Taking a deep breath, Jennifer raised her eyes to meet those of Erik. "I...I," she paused for a second, trying to find a way to explain the events that had occurred. "I uh, passed out on the way back from the shop, and when I woke up I was in nineteen seventy one."

Erik's brow creased, unable to tell if she was joking or not. Time travel definitely wasn't one of the possibilities he had considered when thinking over what had happened, and even seeing her standing before him, looking almost identical to the last time they saw each other, Erik was having a hard time depicting fact from fiction.

Sighing, Jennifer shook her head lightly. She couldn't expect him to understand what she had gone through, not when it had taken her months to come to terms with it. "It was Charles. He wanted to know where you where and he used me to find out.  The energy that cerebro used to reach me, to travel that distance, it somehow or other powered up a space-time rift. Well, that's the general theory at least, and don't bother asking how it works cause I honestly don't have a clue."

As her explanation had gone on, Erik's jaw and fist had clenched tightly, and now that she was finished, he was staring at Charles who was standing at the top of the stairs leading onto the plane, talking about something with Hank. She could quite easily understand his fury at the man, having felt the same for the past few weeks, but after all the hassle she had gone through today, she couldn't let it go to waste. If there was a higher cause preventing her from throwing Charles out of a window, then it would apply to Erik as well.

"Listen," she sighed, wishing she had kept her mouth shut. "As much as all this sucks, there's a bigger picture at the moment that needs you two to work together. So I sorts need you to refrain from doing something stupid that will end up killing us all, alright?"

Erik faced her, eyes crinkled in a mix of confusion and disbelief. "He ripped you away from your life, and you're fine with it? You've just let it go, and you expect me to do the same?"

"No, no, of course not. I'm pissed at him, I really am. You can whack him over the head, beat him to a pulp, leave him stranded in the middle of nowhere – I don't care. But make sure the future is in safe hands first, cause revenge isn't worth the entire world. And you heard what Logan said, its going to take you and Charles together to reason with Raven, because if you do it alone she won't listen, and then everyone's going to die. Not just the humans, and not just us - everyone. And that wouldn't be good cause I've got a friend whose on the homecoming committee and she will kill you herself if she finds out the party's cancelled because you couldn't let a feud go for two minutes. So don't screw this up, please." Her eyes were pleading, because although this wasn't her fight, she still had a part to play, and she wasn't going to let everything go down the drain on her behalf.

Carefully taking her words into consideration, Erik nodded solemnly. She trusted him to save the world, so he would, and then he would decide what to do with Charles. Part of him was still struggling to envision Charles, his Charles, who would believe in humanity till his final breath and strive to unlock the best aspects in people, had been the one to inflict so much pain and suffering on him and Jennifer. The other part of him knew how unstable Charles could be, what risks he'd take to ensure the safety of the majority. He was a utilitarian, and when you where in the minority, the effects of his choices were catastrophic.

"I'll do my best," he spoke gravely. It wasn't a promise, because he couldn't bear breaking one to Jennifer, but it was a reassurance, and that was all she needed.

"So," he started, his voice lighter than before. "You have a friend on the homecoming committee -does that mean you're at school?"

She nodded enthusiastically, glad for the change of subject. "Yeah, pretty sure I broke a few laws to get in, but what else is new. I got a job too, at a music shop, also illegally, but the managers cool, he wouldn't care if he found out."