Irreversible (Sequel to Time Loop)

Chapter Eight

I woke up to the sound of an engine rearing, and the soft touch of fingers brushing past my hair. As I opened my eyes, I saw a familiar bearded chin, along with familiar shaggy brown hair. "Charles?" I whispered, my voice sounding a bit raspy as if I hadn't had water in quite a while.

"Oh good, you're finally awake," Charles looked down at me, sighing in relief. I glanced down at my side, realizing my head was resting on his lap and my legs were curled up due to how small the backseat of the car was. Logan had been driving and Hank was on the passenger seat.

"What happened? Is Raven okay?" I quickly asked, my eyes widening in worry.

"Well, we know she's alive at least. So that's a good sign," Hank answered. As I glanced up at Charles, I could tell he was still concerned about her, which meant Raven still wasn't safe. The car slowly came to a stop.

"Can you stand?" Charles asked with an arched brow.

"Yeah," I nodded, sitting up and stretching my arms as I yawned. We all got out of the car and walked onto the front lawn of Charles's mansion. "Jesus, how long was I out?"

"About 8 hours. Considering the plane ride back home was 7," Hank shrugged.

"Crap," I muttered with wide eyes as we entered the home. As we walked through the doors, Charles suddenly collapsed, but Hank caught him in time before he fell to the floor.

"What's wrong?" Logan sharply turned around, furrowing his eyebrows, "Why can't he walk?"

"He needs his treatment," Hank muttered as he lifted Charles over his shoulder and set him down on a chair.

"Hank I can hear them," Charles grimaced, closing his eyes in pain. Hank quickly ran upstairs, probably to go get the treatment.

I knelt beside Charles, holding his hand to calm him down. "It's okay just breathe. Everything will be okay," I tried to reassure him. He clung his other hand to his head, still flinching.

"Hey, pull yourself together," Logan said, trying to snap him back to reality, "It's not over yet."

Charles eyes suddenly opened back up and he gasped, trying to form a sentence. "You don't believe that," he finally spoke, "None of you do."

"How do you know?" Logan muttered, furrowing his eyebrows.

"As these go," he points to his legs, then points back to his temple, "This comes back." He shut his eyes again with a grimace, letting go of my hand as he clung both of his hands to his head in excruciating pain, "They all come back."

"Look we're still here. And she's still out there," Logan said, "But we need you're help Charles. We can't find Raven, without your powers."

Charles quickly pulled his sleeve up, his breaths becoming more hitched. Hank finally came with the serum, "I added a little extra because you missed a dose."

Charles gazed at the syringe in awe, licking his lips as he grasped it. "Charles," I warned, knowing this was a terrible idea. He glanced at me, yet snatched the syringe, already placing it to his vein.

He gazed at all of us for a moment, ready to inject it, until he suddenly stopped and placed it on the floor. With a sigh, he wiped his face and looked back at Logan, who nodded in approval. Charles then turned to Hank and said, "Hank, do me a favor. Would you help me to my study please?"

Hank nodded and slid an arm under Charles's to help him stand. He carried him over to his study and I quietly followed, along with Logan. Once we all got inside, Hank opened the closet, revealing a large grey wheelchair. "Are you sure about this?" Hank asked.

"Absolutely not," Charles panted weakly.

~Time Skip~

"What happened to the power?" I furrowed my eyebrows as I walked to the basement and saw Hank approach. I had been walking around the halls until suddenly, all the lights had shut down.

"Charles was using the cerebro and well he uh, broke it," Hank explained, adjusting his glasses.

"He broke it? Is he okay?" I asked.

"Yeah he's fine. I just have go turn back on the power. Wanna come?"

"Sure," I shrugged, following Hank.

"Hey can I ask you something? Hank turned to me as we walked down the long corridor.

"Sure," I shrugged.

He stopped once we reached the fuse box and pulled out a key, "Why'd you choose to come back? No offense but, from what you told us when you first left here, we thought you never wanted to see any of us again."

"Well I honestly didn't. However, Logan kind of convinced me. And I didn't know things had gotten this bad while I was gone," I explained. "Technically, I actually do come back here, years, maybe even decades later from now. You and Charles even formed a team once again called the X-Men."

"The X-Men?"Hank chuckled slightly, still focusing on the fuse.

"Yeah it's a long story," I shrugged with a sigh, "I'm just used to being alone. I guess I have a tendency to abandon people."

"Well you haven't abandoned us now," Hank implied.

"Maybe you're right," I agreed and suddenly the lights came back on.

"And the show goes on," Hank muttered triumphantly, closing the fuse box. He walked past me, heading back to the cerebro and I followed. "Oh and Isabelle?"

"Yeah?" I asked.

"You're not alone. You've got us," Hank reassured with a smile.