Not About Angels

Chapter 20

The plane ride home was silent.

Even if Hank wasn't in the cockpit, Heather knew he wouldn't speak. He'd been humiliated when Erik left him hanging in his beast form in front of all of those people and when they had finally found him, he shrugged away from them all. Charles did nothing more than stare at the chessboard, the pawns and rooks still sprawled out from his last game, while Logan looked out the window, eyebrows furrowed in what seemed to be distress as he absentmindedly held a lit cigar in his mouth.

Normally, Heather would have no problem yelling at the time traveler to stop smoking - but she couldn't seem to find the words.

She couldn't even find the right words to comfort her children.

Pietro stared out the windows, his headphones on, but Heather could tell he wasn't enjoying his music - or even focusing on it. His thoughts were elsewhere and Heather could bet by his anguished expression that those thoughts were on Erik. Wanda had buried her face into Heather's lap and let out a few frustrated tears during the beginning of the plane ride, but had eventually fallen into an uneasy rest.

Heather's hand ran weakly through her daughter's curls, as her mind raced.

She felt like an idiot.

After all this time, after all the tears and struggles, she'd let Erik right back into her arms and had started trusting him again. And, of course, not even a day later, he tries to kill Raven and runs off - crushing anything that was starting to grow between them, between their kids. Now, once more, Heather was left to pick up the pieces.

_______

The mansion had changed tremendously.

Of course, the structure itself was the same, but it had fallen into disrepair. Vines clung to almost every inch of it, overgrown weeds surrounded the perimeter, and the signs that used to hang in front of school were now filthy from age and exposure. The once proud and gorgeous mansion was now closer to a ruin.

Heather walked further behind the man, her attention still on what was left of her former home. She, however, was snapped out of her exploration when she heard something hit the ground and sudden loud voices.

Rushing inside, she was greeted by the sight of Hank trying desperately to pick Charles up.

"Make them stop," Charles mumbled, before Hank leaned him against the wall and sprinted upstairs. "Go to the living room," Heather said to the twins, before rushing over to Charles' side. "Hey, hey," Logan said, "Pull yourself together. It's not over yet."

Charles moved his hands away from his ears, his eyes wide and his breathing heavily. "You don't believe that."

"How do you know?"

"As these go - " Charles' shaky hand moved towards his life, before pointing at his temple, " - this comes back." A pained look came over his face, before he whined, closing his eyes and holding his hands once more over his ears, "They all come back."

Logan stood and began walking away slowly, before turning back to face them, his voice softer now. "Look. I - I'm still here. And she's still out there. We need your help, Charles. Not like this. I need you. We can't find Raven without your powers." The two shared a glance, before Hank interrupted.

"I added a little extra because you missed a dose."

Charles nearly ripped the needle out of Hank's hand, looking at it like a starving man. "Charles," Logan said, a warning in his voice, and the man looked between them all and the needle in his hand. Don't do this, Heather thought, knowing well enough that Charles could hear her. The needle pierced his skin for a few seconds before - with a look of pain - he removed it and set it down beside him. In that moment, relief washed over Heather.