heard your name in every love song {Ben Hardy}

15. when you want me, give me a sign

Three days before you're required on set, the Sony and Marvel film executives call you into their Montreal office for a meeting about your future. You feel the excitement settle in your bones the moment you read the email from you manager, uncertain of what it means, but having more than a few suspicions. Things start to make sense; your character's open ending, the secret scene you'd filmed last year, someone mentioning something about the stinger at the read through back at the beginning of this all.

The only people who know of the meeting, aside from Alexandra, since she'd seen the initial email, though you're pretty sure she's forgotten about it, are your friends back home, who have been referring to it as your 'date with Marvel', which has worked it's way into your vocabulary, and you're terrified it'll slip out around the rest of the cast and crew. You've tried to keep your mouth shut around them, unsure of what you are and are not allowed to say, going back to costume fittings and rehearsals, but you can't help it if you're glowing with excitement, with joy.

I'm part of a franchise, you remember, vaguely, thinking something along those lines back at the beginning, and now it really means something.

So now, here you are, wearing your most flattering and professional outfit, sitting behind a desk with your contract lawyer and manager on either side of you, watching as unsmiling man in a crisp, black suit places a thick stack of paper in front of you.

"We at Marvel are currently working to bring a – what we deem to be – underutilized property to the big screen," he explains, while your lawyer reads over the contract, "and with Cassidy Temple's history in the comics and cartoons, and your performance in the role exceeding out expectations, we've begun development on a sequel we think will benefit from having you in a more central role."

Central role. There's a ringing in your ears all of a sudden, and you work to keep your expression neutral as the excitement and nervousness explode within you.

"You want me to be a lead?" You clarify, and your lawyer looks to you sharply, before turning to the executive. The executive's expression doesn't betray any of his thoughts, but he turns to one of the many Marvel and-slash-or Sony executives watching you all like hawks, and one on the end nods in silent confirmation.

"Yes."

"In what capacity?" You hear your lawyer beside you, but your mind is a million miles away, screaming and jumping up and down. Gaze glassy, you hear them begin to discuss the logistics of what this will mean for your paycheck, what your commitments will be, technical jargon that goes over your head. When there's a lull, however, and amendments are being made to the contract, the quiet scratching of pen on paper filling the room, suddenly deafening in the silence, you find your voice.

"How will it work; in Apocalypse, my future is open ended, isn't it? Am I reformed? Do you guys know that yet?" Every eye turns to you, and you swallow hard.

"We have a team developing the story for the as-yet-untitled future X-Men project, however they're working to adapt, at least in part, the early 2000s Riot Control arc of the comics."

"I'm not going to be the hero, am I?" There's the beginnings of a smile twitching at the edge of your lips, and there's not even a hint of disappointment in your voice, rather, you're tone is full of anticipation. Finally, the executive cracks a smile, raising his head just a little as he meets your gaze, a hint of a proud smile of his own gracing his face.

"No, Miss Y/L/N, at this stage, you are the next villain."

You are joining the ranks of Colonel Stryker, Sabertooth, Apocalypse, and pretty much every version of Magneto. The grin you wear is blinding.