Road Trips Suck but Airplanes Suck Even More
Hank was getting ready for takeoff, and Peter had decided he wanted to see how that happened so he was sitting in the co-pilot’s seat. The fifteen year old was driving Hank nuts with his frequent questions of “ooh what does this button do” or “hey once were in the air do you think I can fly this thing.” He couldn’t help it; he had always been a curious child and that curiosity hadn’t died with age, if anything it had grown. Hank would still rather be in the cockpit with Peter than in the other cabin where you couldn’t cut the tension with a knife.
Logan was trying to ignore the palpable tension between Charles and Erik who were locked in a morbid staring contest. Erik as upset as he was at Charles for dragging his child into something that could have gotten him killed was also concerned. Charles didn’t look like himself, he smelt of booze and looked like he had missed more than one shower and several haircuts. He was going back and forth on whether or not to interrogate him on it, but Erik had never been good at holding his tongue.
“How did you lose them?” Erik asked, tapping his head and trying to keep his tone light.
“The treatment for my spine affects my powers,” Charles replied, sounding bone tired. Erik felt rage course through his veins. He couldn’t understand why someone would give up their powers, the thing that made them special for something as arbitrary as being able to walk. A large part of him blamed Hank for encouraging and enabling Charles' self -destructive streak.
“You gave up your powers so you could walk?” Erik was unable to keep his disgust from his voice. The Charles he knew wouldn’t have done that. The voice at the back of his mind whispered that he had left the Charles he knew all alone on the beach paralyzed from the waist down, from a bullet that was meant for him. Gone was the clean cut college playboy and in his place resided someone that Erik didn’t recognize. So he may have more than just Dallas as a regret, he tried to push Cuba from his mind as often as he could.
“I gave up my powers so I could slee….” Charles cut himself off his voice sounding strangled “what do you know about it?”
“I’ve lost my fair share,” Erik snapped back, unable to let Charles have the last word. He knew he was inadvertently throwing what little chance he had left with the man out of the window but he could feel his control slipping. He never had much control anyway when it came to Charles with his bright eyes and wide smiles.
“Dry your eyes Erik, it doesn’t justify what you’ve done,” Charles had a new strength to his voice now as he confronted the metal bending mutant.
“You have no idea what I’ve done,” Erik said, trying to mask the emotion in his voice.
“You took everything from me Erik, you took my heart and then you took my sister” Charles’ voice was rough and cracked with emotion. Erik didn’t quite know what to say to that, he didn’t think Charles loved him like that, like Erik had loved him.
“You said that we didn’t want the same things!” Erik lashed out though there wasn’t much bite to his words. He had become hung up on Charles’ last words to him. He couldn’t stamp out the festering hope that burned in his shriveled heart. His mind started whirling, Charles was great with children and would love his children as much as Magda and himself. With a child like Pietro a third parent wouldn’t be unhelpful. He shook the thoughts out of his head, Charles still hated him. That much he was sure of how you could love someone that hurt you like Erik had hurt Charles. Erik reminded himself that Charles had also dragged Pietro away from the safety of Magda’s home and into a lethal situation. Part of him would always hope though, not even Shaw could stamp out the small golden glimmer that one day everything would work out.
“No we didn’t! I would never agree to assassinating a president” Charles laughed incredulously. Erik’s anger spiked dangerously at Charles' ignorant words and he could feel himself losing control.
“If you had your powers you would know that isn’t true!” The metal of the plane began to crack and bend in direct correlation with his volatile emotions. Peter at the plane shaking dashed out of the cockpit staring at his father with wide eyes. He had never seen his Vati this angry before. Erik ignored the alarmed shouts continuing to yell at his ex-lover.
“I didn’t kill the president, I was trying to save him!”
“The bullet curved Erik!” Charles shouted back.
“He was one of us. I was trying to save him! If you had your powers I wouldn’t have been separated from my children for ten fucking years,” the last part came out sad and broken and the plane began to right it’s self.
“But why didn’t you tell me you had a family? Erik, I loved you and you left me,” Charles’ voice was just as broken as Erik’s own as he stumbled backwards towards the cockpit. Erik felt awful but they both needed to quit bottling things up. He had meant to tell Charles about the twins after Shaw was gone but things hadn’t worked out. He should have realized how much that would hurt Charles. Charles who loved children and wanted to open a school for mutants. Erik knew he was a dick, he had no illusions about that he just wished he could quit fucking up anything good that came to him.
“So you were always an asshole. You wanna pick all that shit up” Logan barked looking unimpressed. Erik quickly gathered the fallen chess set, righting it. Once he stood up though he was tackled in a big hug from his silver haired son. He gripped the boy back tightly, taking in whatever affection he could get from the teenager. He knew that hugs became more rare and precious as children grew and he had missed out on ten years of them. He would retire from his mutant advocacy once he had Mystique safe and sound. He just wanted to spend what was left of his children’s childhood with them. He had no chance of gaining a relationship with Charles back but he could love his family and protect them.
“It’s gonna be okay Vati, he still loves you. People who don’t care aren’t that passionate” Pietro told his father with a rare tone of maturity.
“I don’t know about that… let’s just go save your Aunt” Erik replied unwilling to hold onto that hope.
So Erik sat trying to teach Pietro chess, which was going just as well as when he tried to teach the boy when he was five. That is to say, not well at all. Erik was going to throw the knight at Pietro’s head if he called it a horsey one more time. Pietro also knew this so he made sure to mention said horsey every chance he got. Annoying his Vati could only keep him occupied for so long though. He was up and restless pacing the narrow aisles and the vein in Erik’s head was throbbing with irritation.
“Kid, please sit your ass down” Logan grumbled, finally getting irritated enough to snap at the teenager. Peter had the decency to flush at the call out. After Erik, Logan had probably been the one most tolerant of Peter’s overcharged ADHD. Logan had been pretty good friends with the twins in the future but forty and fifty year old Peter was a lot more tame than fifteen year old Peter.
“Sorry, Peter mumbled, plopping down on the sofa across from Erik.
“Hey Vati how much longer?” He asked, his leg bouncing.
“Peter, we've been in the air for an hour and a half. We have another six and half hours,” Erik replied, trying not to get too annoyed with his son. He knew that this flight had to be torturous for the speedster. Peter had never done well with road trips or really anything where he needed to remain in a contained space. His mutation was a blessing and a curse at times.
“This sucks,” the fifteen year old whined. Charles having calmed down made his way back into the room sitting across from Erik. The two men avoiding eye contact with each other.
“Yes it does” Logan rolled his eyes.
“Peter, why don’t you go lay down and have a nap? It may make the time go by quicker,” Charles suggested pointing to the door that led to his private bedroom on the plane.
“I am a little tired and I already ate all of your snacks,” Peter chuckled, wondering back towards the bedroom Charles had pointed him to. Once the door shut behind the hyperactive teenager the adults in the room let loose a collective sigh of relief. It would never be said that Peter was a great traveling companion.
“I take it we’re not best buddies in the future,” Erik jabbed lightly at Logan who had sent him frequent glares since they had busted him out of the pentagon.
“Spent a lot of years trying to take you down,” Logan replied, chewing on the end of his cigar.
“And how did that work out for you?” Erik asked, flashing his shark-like grin. Charles couldn’t help but roll his eyes at Erik’s cockiness, the attitude simultaneously pissed him off and turned him on.
“You’re a survivor like me” Logan replied honestly and Charles was also interested in knowing more about this future so he didn’t try to interrupt Erik’s questioning.
“So why drag me into this if we’re enemies like you say?” Erik asked and Charles knew that Erik would be shocked by Logan’s answer. He had come close to not believing Logan when he had been told that both he and Erik had sent the man back in time together.
“You and Charles actually sent me back together” Logan chuckled, enjoying Erik’s discomfort. Erik was normally unflappable unless you were a senator or military official.
“Together?” He questioned, the festering of hope was back and Logan couldn’t miss the longing look Erik sent towards Charles when he didn’t think anyone was watching.
“Yes you guys reunited after they started openly segregating mutants. It was exactly what happened in Europe to the Jews and Romani. With genocide on the table you guys were able to put you petty differences aside. Which by the way you guys should go ahead and do that it’ll save everyone a god damn headache” Logan finished with a grumble and Erik was horrified. He never wanted to live to see another genocide he never wanted his children to have to live through that.
“Pietro and Wanda … and Lorna,” Erik says the name of the daughter he has yet to meet yet reverently “you know them in the future?”
“I do,” Logan answers but can’t keep the grimace from his face. The day they lost the twins was truly terrible. Peter’s leg had been snapped and the sentinels had got him, Wanda had felt their connection snap and had been inconsolable. In her grief the sentinels had murdered her. Erik didn’t speak for weeks after the twins died; it was only after rescuing Lorna from a camp that he had even come close to a shadow of his former self. Erik had been many things, a terrible husband, and insufferable prick, but he had always been a good father to his children and his children adored him.
Erik who noticed Logan’s grimace felt his stomach roil with fear and anger. He had always felt that even if he wasn’t the best father he could protect his children. It was something that he had prided himself on. That illusion was smashed now his twins would die if they didn’t get this right and he would do anything to prevent that from happening. If that meant laying down his militant ways that’s what he would do.
“We won’t let that happen Erik” The weight of Charles' hand came to rest on his shoulder steadying him. He hadn’t even realized he had been shaking at Logan’s admissions. Erik looked up at him and his eyes were softer than they had been all day.
“That’s why I’m here, we’re going to save Raven and by doing that save the twins” Logan told him, feeling bad for even bringing it up. The magneto he had known had insisted he bring it up with his younger self though.
The rest of the plane ride was more tame. Erik and Charles played several games of chess, all while looking longingly at the other when they looked away. Peter remained asleep in Charles cabin, exhausted from the day's events. They all knew that the drama would resume in full force the next day when they went to confront Mystique at the Paris Peace Accords.