Patroness

Chapter 21: Rockabye

After spending some time to themselves, cooling down from their heated argument Erik approaches a still upset Charles hoping for the chance to catch up with his old friend.

"Fancy game?" Erik asks placing a chessboard in front of Charles. "It's been a while."

"I'm not in the mood for games, thank you." Charles declines as Erik takes the glass and pours himself a drink.

"I haven't had a real sip in ten years."  Erik states before taking a sip of his drink. "I didn't kill the president."

"The bullet curved, Erik." Charles retorts.

"Because I was trying to save him." Erik explains  "They took me out before I could."

"Why would you try and save him?" Charles questions. 

"Because he was one of us." Erik snaps as Charles' eyes widen in shock. 

"You must think me so foolish. We've always said they would come after us." Charles laments. 

"I never imagined they'd use Raven and Felicia's DNA to do it," Erik replies.

"When did you last see Raven?" Charles asks.

"The day I left Dallas," Erik answers as he takes the seat opposite Charles. 

"And how was she?" Charles asks.

"Strong. Driven. Loyal."  Erik answers. 

"How...how was she?" Charles asks again wanting a more truthful answer.

"She was...we were..." Erik pauses unable to think of the right words to express. "I could see why she meant so much to you. You should be proud of her, Charles. She's out there fighting for our cause." 

"Your cause. The girl I raised, she was not capable of killing." Charles rebukes.

"You didn't raise her, you grew up with her." Erik corrects. "She couldn't stay a little girl forever, that's why she left."

"She left because you got inside her head," Charles argues. 

"That's not my power," Erik replies. "She made a choice."

"But now we know where that choice leads, don't we? She's going to murder Trask, they're going to capture her, and then they're going to wipe us out."

"Not if we get to her first. Not if we change history tomorrow. I'm sorry, Charles. For what happened, I truly am." Erik apologises.

Charles looks up at Erik with tears in his eyes before looking down at the chess set as he finishes his drink.

"It's been a while since I've played," Charles says.

"I'll go easy on you," Erik replies warmly. "Might finally be a fair fight."

"You have the first move," Charles replies as Erik looks down and moves a piece using his powers.

~

The next day Trask arrives at the summit accompanied by William Stryker Jr and the two quickly enter the room where the Vietnamese dignitaries along with other representatives of communist nations are waiting.

"Good afternoon everyone. Hello, thank you for coming. Congratulations on winning this war." Trask greets as Stryker places a folder in front of each dignitary. "Now I know you all have hands to shake and photos to take downstairs so I will get right to the point. There is a new enemy out there, an enemy that will render your arsenals useless, your armies powerless and your nations defenceless. You'll need a new weapon for this war. I call them Sentinels."