Thunderbird || X-Men

Chapter 18 ~ Making A Plan

Charles plopped onto his bed in annoyance, rubbing his thigh. The serum must be wearing off.

"Kayla could you get me that over there." He asked, pointing to a needle and a bottle of yellow liquid on the dresser. I walked over and grabbed it for him.

"Maybe Logan's right." I stated, handing him the serum and sitting down next to him.

"What?"

"I mean, he's got a point. I feel like we should help Raven." Charles smirked at me.

"I don't have to have my powers to know that the only reason you want to do this is so you can see Erik." He replied, cheekily.

I looked away for a moment. He wasn't wrong. I wanted to help Raven, Logan, and everyone in the future, but the main reason was so I could see Erik again. I hated him, but at the same time, I loved him. I looked back to see Charles, placing the empty needle on the nightstand next to him. He looked longingly at a photo of Raven across the room.

"I trust him, Charles. I mean look at you. I didn't see how much you've changed until now." I told him. He finally gave me his full attention.

"I get it, you're not the same as you once were. You lost Raven, Erik, your legs. But you can't keep sticking needles in your arm this often, moping around, doing absolutely nothing. Goddamnit Charles, you need to get up off your pitiful ass and do something about it." Charles looked me in the eyes. He could see how much this meant to me, and that I was serious. "And this might be the chance to do it."

"I see why Erik liked you so much. You're just as stubborn and manipulative as he is." Charles said, sighing, standing up and heading towards the door. He turned around to glance at me.

"But you're probably right."

~

"I'll help you get her." Charles caved, wobbling down the stairs like a drunk. I followed him down. "Not for any of your future shite, but for her."

"Fair enough." Logan accepted.

"But I'll tell you this. You don't know Erik, that man is a monster, a murderer." I looked over at Charles, not wanting to accept that he was right.

"You think you can convince Raven to change? To come home? That's splendid. But what makes you think you can change him?"

"Because you and Erik sent me back here together." Logan told him.

"Kayla, there's no going back from this." Charles told me. Logan, who must've not known about my relationship with Erik, looked up at me in confusion.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Kayla and Erik..." Charles tried his best to explain.

"We have shared past experiences." I told him, being as straightforward as possible.

"So you and Erik...?"

"Yea..." I responded. There was an awkward silence.

"Really... you guys... you did..."

"I think that's enough, Logan." Charles snapped, holding on to my hand, as he knew the subject upset me.

Hank was busy rooting through a nearby closet as we spoke. He pulled out a rolled up piece of paper. He quickly laid it out on the desk. It was some sort of map of the Pentagon. I wasn't sure why he would have such a map just laying around but I didn't question it.

"The room they're holding him in was built during the Second World War when there was a shortage of steel." Hank explained to us, as we were all crowded around the map. "So the foundation is pure concrete and sand. No metal."

"He's being held a hundred floors beneath the most heavily guarded building on the planet." Charles continued, looking back at me from time to time.

"Why is he in there?" Logan wondered. Charles and I exchanged glances.

"What, he forgot to mention?" Charles said sarcastically. I cleared my throat.

"Uh, JFK..." I mumbled. Logan seemed surprised, but I couldn't tell if it was because of what I said or the fact that I spoke at all.

"He killed-"

"What else explains a bullet miraculously curving through the air?" Charles began. "Erik's always had a way with guns."

"Are you sure you want to carry on with this? This is your plan, not mine."

"We don't have any resources to get us in." Hank reminded us.

"Or out." Charles piped up again.
"It's just me, Kayla and Hank."

They all look at each other. I could practically see the smoke from their heads as they thought.

"I knew a guy." Logan said after a pause. All of us looked to him, urging him to continue. "Yeah, he'd be a young man now. Grew up outside of D.C. He could get into anywhere. I just don't know how the hell we're gonna find him."

"Is Cerebro out of the question?" Hank muttered to Charles. Charles just sighed and looked away. I thought for a second.

"We have a phonebook."

~

"Here, here, here." Logan barked at us, pointing.

"Where?" Charles asked.

"Just stop here."

"All right, all right." Charles parked the car on the side of the road slowly. In front of us was a quaint house.

"Next time I'm driving." Logan told him, seeming annoyed.

"Don't get used to it." We walked up to the small steps to the door. Logan gave it a hard knock. Quickly, a woman answered.

"What's he done now?" She asked immediately. "I'll just write you a check for whatever he took."

"We just need to talk to him." Logan said calmly. The woman turned.

"Peter! The cops are here." She called down a flight of stairs. "Again..."