Broken Promises [Book Two | REMASTERED]

Chapter 20: For Better or for War

        There was certainly a change in the atmosphere of the plane from the last time they had all gathered on board. Without Erik, Kat felt more at ease and less in some form of competition. There was a mutual respect between herself and Erik, but there was a different kind of tension between the two of them that no one would like ever come to fully understand. The fact that it all stemmed back to Charles made her force her thoughts to the back of her mind and away from the man. Her face remained calm as she sat adjacent to him across the aisle. She could see him massaging his knee with his right hand, seeking out an incessant pinch in an otherwise absentminded nerve ending. 

        "You all right?" Logan asked from where he was seated in his usual spot towards the end of the plane, his back to the private bedroom as always. To think of what she had tried to do in that room so little time ago. . .

        Charles glanced her direction and Kat focused her gaze out of the window. She warded off his mind, though she knew that he could break past her barriers if he so wished. After all, he was the one she had gained the power from, and he was the one that taught her to control it, among so many other things.

        He did teach her a lot. Though she wished more of it had been good.

        She trained her eyes on the clouds that passed by them in blankets, listening to the two men speak, catching glances of their bodily movements.

        "Getting there," Charles answered after a moment of hesitation, his hand stopping to rest in his lap. He looked out the window again and Logan let out an audible sigh. 

        "Whatever happens today, I need you to promise me one thing." Kat could have sworn he was addressing the both of them, but it was clearly a discussion between the two men. Suddenly, she wished she were in the cockpit with Hank, for things were relatively quieter in his company when he was at work. Logan continued, "You've looked into my mind and seen a lot of bad, but you've seen the good, too. You both have."

        Kat looked up and turned her head to meet Logan's eyes before glancing back to her husband across from her. Their eyes met, and for the first time she thought she saw clarity towards her in those blue irises. They both looked away to Logan at the same time, intent on listening to what he had to say to them.

        "The X-Men." Logan leaned forward in his seat, looking back and forth between their gazes. Hazel to blue and back again. "Promise me you'll find us. That the two of you will use your powers to bring us together. To guide us. Lead us."

        The weight of the conversation was heavy, making both Charles and Kat sit up a little straighter.

        "Storm. Scott," Logan began listing off some names, his eyes softening before glancing downwards. With his elbows on his knees and his body leaning forward, he appeared even more aged, his eyes showing more years than either of them could count. "Jean. . ." He looked up suddenly, insistent. "Remember those names. There are so many of us. We will need you. The both of you, more than ever."

        Together, Kat and Charles looked to each other. How different Charles appeared to her now than he had a mere few days ago. For a moment she was looking at a stranger, but at the same time she was looking at the man she had fallen in love with. That man with hope in his eyes, even if there was only the faintest whisper of it left. 

        They did not have to say a word to know what the other was thinking.

        "We will do our best," Charles answered for the both of them.

        "Your best is enough. Trust me."

        Something settled in Charles's eyes just as it had set into Kat's a long time ago. With her eyes on Logan, Kat could not help but glimpse into his mind. It was with that glimpse that she was reminded of what her fate once was, what her fate had been. Logan's timeline had not involved her before he traveled to their time; now, their future was just as much in her hands as it was Charles's. She had a say in what would happen, and she perhaps with this route, she could make the difference she would not have been able to make before.