𝙕𝙚𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣 𝘽𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨' 𝙁𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙍𝙚𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣///𝙓-𝙈𝙚𝙣 𝙛𝙞𝙘

//ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 7//

Charles paused a bit. He'd never heard me say it so sincerely. He'd never heard me say it as I meant it. 

I ran my thumb over the side of the teacup 

"I'm sorry I've never been the perfect daughter. Hell, you had to save me from that shithole but I've never repaid you. That  I've always blown you off and treated Erik with zero respect. I've never been the best. I listen to Pink Floyd and Billy Idol, I wear band t-shirts and stuff. Not really girly...But I've always sworn to protect you." I looked up at him "No matter what I've always reminded myself, I don't care what circumstance it is. We may not be blood, but I'll be there to protect you. Through and through." 

Charles smiles "Then you're wrong." 

I paused a bit "Excuse me? That came from the bottom of my heart and the top of my head." I set down my teacup and saucer 

He laughed a bit and wheeled closer to me 

"Zeppelin, we are blood. Bonded through time instead of blood. An Oaktree is a brother to another tree, not by type, but by growing together through time. A river only becomes deep enough to walk through by making its own dent in the earth. Not by existing, but with time. We have worked together, through so much. We are bonded through time, Zeppelin." 

I smiled and looked down "I guess your right." I looked up at him "You'll always be my dad. By time." 

He smiled that warm smile again "By time Zeppelin. Now go see Hank. I don't want you to be out of the fight for too long." He smiled and chuckled 

I stood up "Gotcha pops." I kissed his forehead and walked down to Hank's lab. 

There's that little cloud of negativity. And a bit of jealousy. 

Jean and Peter were sitting next to each other, watching over their loved ones, and both holding coffee. Though Peter was probably drinking an energy drink in a coffee cup. 

I sighed and shuffled over to Hank. He'd always been like an uncle to me. Hell he was, he took care of me while my dad slept, and was a mess during the early '70s.  "Hank?" 

Hank's head shot up and looked around, his eyes soon landing on me with a small little Hank McCoy Smile™. "Zeppelin, hey." 

I smile "Hi uncle Hank. Ready for my checkup doc." I smiled widely 

He nodded and gestured to a stool to which I sat in and he grabbed a couple of supplies before walking over "So where are the primary burn marks?" 

I sighed "One bad one on my shoulder and side and a couple of cuts. The one's on my cheeks seemed to be okay."  

Hank nodded "Mind lifting your shirt a bit so I can see the burn on your side?" 

I did as he asked, and Hank reached out and touched it, earning a hiss in pain from me. Hank retracted his hand quickly, "Sorry..." I nodded a bit and sighed "So?" 

Hank sighed "I'll apply some petroleum jelly and bandage it. Same with the shoulder." He grabbed the vaseline and applied it to both burns before bandaging them with gauze. "You really should have seen me before showering. You could've infected the burns or done worse. Now let me see the cuts." 

I sighed "Hank I can do it..." I said, to which Hank shot me a raised eyebrow look™

I put my hands up in defense "There's a few on my arms and two on my right calf. The two on my leg aren't so bad but the one on my left upper arm is kinda bad.  

Hank nodded, taking his seat next to me and checking out the cut on my arm. He disinfected it (There was a lot of squirming and 'wait!'s and 'is it gonna sting?'s along with 'stop moving!'s) and put a square of bandaging over it. He did the same to the cuts on my calf except using bandaids and that was that. 

I got up and moved a bit smiling up at Hank "Thanks uncle Hank." He nodded in response with a smile as I left. I glanced at Peter as I left, who shot a bit of a glare back. So I looked down and walked out. 

I sighed and fiddled with the ring on my left ring finger. No, Peter and I aren't engaged. It's a promise ring. Silver (he told me I had to remember him distinctly) with A Dark Side Of The Moon logo across the front. He had a matching one. He wore it on the same finger. I ran my thumb over the logo with a sigh. 

I had to talk to him at some point. 

I sighed and walked back into Hank's lab, over to Peter "Can I talk to you for a minute?" I asked quietly. Peter was the only one I really didn't give mouth to. I only picked on him because that shows we care. 

He nodded a bit and got up with his coffee cup (I could see the energy drink in it for sure.) and followed me outside of Hank's office "So what'd you want to talk about?" He set down his coffee cup and crossed his arms, looking at me. 

At that moment I felt small. Vulnerable.  I stuttered a bit before sighing "I'm sorry...About letting Erik get hurt. I didn't mean to give Vanessa over to Erik or anything...I just-" 

Peter cut me off with a hug. A tight hug. Like I was going to slip through his arms. He buried his chin in the crook of my neck like he always does, and I wrapped my arms around his waist like always. 

Peter sighed and pulled away "God, pretending to be so angry at you was getting hard..." He said with a small laugh, looking up at me "I'm still upset...But I know you didn't do it on purpose, I'm just upset that it happened y' know? He's my dad...Sucks to see him get hurt like that..." He rubbed his arm a bit

I put my hand on his cheek "He'll be okay. I know he will. Same with Scott." I smiled softly "I'll make sure Erik's okay." I kissed him sweetly 

Peter smiled against my lips softly "Thanks, twinkie."