Sitting pressing her fingers tightly together before stretching them, Valeryia sat massaging her hands. She couldn't think of a moment in any day where they didn't hurt, where she didn't hurt. She always hurt, it was strange to say she had become rather accustomed to pain, and always being in pain.
Hearing footsteps, her eyes slowly moved away from the window and looked up. Rolling her eyes she just chose to ignore Erik sliding to sit down in front of her. She had moved away from Logan a little while ago, he had relented and finally let Erik have the newspaper, and he was sitting reading it on one of the sofas.
Valeryia had moved back to where Charles was sitting, he as yet had to reappear. He was still shut away in the cockpit with Hank, it seemed silent enough, although muted conversation could be heard now and again. She could only imagine Hank was trying to calm Charles down, and probably complain about Erik behind his back. Valeryia didn't blame him really.
"I didn't want to fail you." Erik said at length, deciding to be the first person to talk.
Valeryia paused massaging her hands and raised an eyebrow. Turning her face, she looked incredulously at him. "Well, you kinda did, Erik." She stated while rolling her eyes back to the window. By now the sun was slowly starting to set, an orange glow was radiating throughout the sky. The same warm glow was filtering through the windows of the jet and filling the cabin with the same tint. If anything the ember lighting was causing Valeryia's own ember coloured hair and eyes to shine and become more radiant and bright.
"Me staying wouldn't have done anything."
She laughed, a short, sharp cynical sound. "No, you staying wouldn't have happened, because you'd have to be around the constant reminder, that is me, that you screwed up and you were wrong. You dislike many things, Erik. Being wrong seems quite up there on the list."
Erik just sat staring at her, his legs stretched out underneath the table as his hands rested on his stomach. "That's true," Valeryia smirked his way, she probably should've taken that badly, but she knew she was right. "But I still apologised."
"And that makes everything better? You know, I thought when you left, you were genuinely going to go and do something decent, or at least half decent. Not end up killing the President! Honestly, Erik..."
Erik nodded and looked out the window by his side too. "You're angry because you see me leaving you to follow through with murder. I didn't murder him, Val."
"No, I'm angry because you make me angry. Yes, okay, a small part of me was annoyed you left me like that, with Charles, for the sake of clearly planning to kill the leader of the country. I foolishly liked to think you were out in the world doing something half decent. But, as I have come to learn with you, it's best to have low expectations because then I can't really be disappointed, or disheartened. I don't expect anything great from you, Erik. I will be surprised if you prove me wrong, but I doubt you will." She paused and then shook her head, "Erik, I am not about to get into what classes as murder with you, because you're not stupid. You are well aware of murder, and what it is." She went back to rubbing her hands together with a frown.
"Never say never, Val."
She scoffed, "You're predictable. I'll keep my low expectations, thanks all the same." She flexed her fingers and continued rubbing her hands and fingers. She couldn't feel what she was doing, but the pressure and flexing of muscles seemed to do something, she just didn't know what.
Erik sat and watched her from the corner of his eyes. He wasn't expecting to be welcomed with open arms. Valeryia was always on the fence or at least more on his side, considering how close they were at one point, so to have her so frankly arguing with him did little but annoy him just a small bit. She'd grown up, she'd grown up in that manor and considering how Charles now was, why or how else is she meant to be other than jaded? Erik had always presumed that Charles would never lose his way, only he clearly did and had taken everyone around him with him. The one thing, the one person he trusted Charles with was as bad as him.
Although this trail of thought caused Erik to lean forwards. Valeryia looked up as he leaned against the table, hands folded together and looking at her curiously. "Why didn't you bail out too?"
Valeryia placed her hands in her lap and looked at him blankly. "What use would it do me?"
Erik shrugged, "It seems to do well for them two."
"...They're not as messed up." Valeryia said with a struggled tone.
Erik's expression softened. "You're not messed up."
Her lips pressed into a thin line and she sighed. "You don't even know me anymore, Erik. Hank doesn't wish to be stared at, so he hides. Charles struggled to sleep, struggled to exist and get through day to day because of the mental agony he could sense, so he hides. Me? It isn't going to do shit to me. What...it'll maybe turn my hair and eyes a different colour, and take my power away. I can barely use it properly, it's taken years to try and get used to using them again. It won't bring the sense of touch back, likewise it won't take back what was done to me. Taking the serum would do nothing. Why would I need to hide, when all I do is stay indoors?"
Erik listened to her with a patient expression. He shook his head slowly, flattening his hands on the table he was half content to know that she hadn't ventured out and got into trouble, and that in a way she saw taking the serum as a slightly cowardly act, no matter the reason. But, also he felt saddened that all she had seemingly done since parting ways, was to stay in the manor and try and get control of her powers again. He remembered her wanting to go off travelling, and how adamant she was with this. The fact at some point in the past she had said she wished to see Paris, only this time being awake for it. Yet here she was, looking nervous about being out in the world. She was a shut in. An uncertain shut in. She had grown up, yes, but she had clearly grown up a paranoid wreck. And Erik couldn't help but blame Charles for it really.
Inhaling deeply, Erik looked at her. Valeryia just stared right back at him, albeit a little confusedly. "People don't fundamentally change, Val. I probably remember a lot more about you, than you think. You're not exactly an easy person to forget. But," he paused and held his hand out. "Truce."
"Truce, Erik." Valeryia sighed, yet she looked at his hand sceptically. Lifting hers up, she slipped her white gloved hand into his and held on gently. Erik shook her hand and went to retreat only for her hand to latch on. He looked up to see her looking at him seriously. "When the moment comes where you stab us in the back, and it will happen, this truce is off and I will come for you."
Erik found himself slowly smirking. "I wouldn't expect anything less."
Valeryia smiled and let his hand go, she leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms. She had only really fought him once, and that was in the manor ages ago for the sake of training. She found it amusing actually, fun even. Which was wrong, she guessed, but she was basically bought up to be a weapon, or whatever.
"Why didn't you go with everyone else?" Erik was curious as to why she chose to stay here in the jet.
"Security people, cameras..."
"You do realise there is likely to be the same when we go to this conference?" Erik hated to state it, of course there would be because of who was attending.
"I do not think it would go down well if I maybe destroyed the Pentagon and you went missing."
"You've become stronger." Erik looked at her curiously.
Valeryia shook her head sadly. "There's a difference between being strong, and barely being in control."
"You were always a bit unstable."
"Wow, thanks," Valeryia laughed quietly and shook her head. "And you're perfectly stable?"
"Why are you barely in control?" Erik asked, sounding somewhat helpful actually which surprised Valeryia as she looked confused.
"My power flows through my arms. Without the sense of touch and feeling, I can't feel how much energy is being charged, there's a small hint, a small sense...I have always been...what's the word?"
"Emotional?" Erik offered, Valeryia made a humming noise in thought. He wasn't saying she was ruled by her feelings, but much like him she seemed to rely on anger quite a bit at times, or at least always used to. "Did no sense return?"
Valeryia shook her head, "Not really."
"And the gloves..." Erik trailed off watching her tense and fidget in her seat.
"Compression. Helps with scars and...whatever else, Hank sorted them out for me." Valeryia said while looking downwards at the white material encasing her arms and hands.
"Do you ever take them off?"
"Ah...well, not in public, no."
Erik frowned, "You have nothing to hide though."
Valeryia, although a little assured by that shook her head. "People stare anyway, Erik. If they clocked sight of the scarring which I have...I'd rather not. It sounds vain in a way, petty even I know, but I'm quite alright with that." She fidgeted out of her seat and stretched, "Think I'm going to try and grab some sleep."
"Okay," Erik just looked up at her as she passed him by with a small faint smile. He could hear her move to one of the sofas and get comfortable, he even looked around the chair he was sitting in to see her curled up and breathing deeply. She looked tired, Erik didn't know when the last time she got proper sleep was. By looks of it, it had been a long while.
With a sigh, he stood and walked to where he was sitting. Reaching down, he grabbed the long coat he had been loaned and opened it up to drape it over her, well aware to the fact that his every move was being watched by Logan. In fact, their whole conversation had been listened to by him, this caused Erik to frown and stand up straight and look slowly over to him.
"In the future, your future, what happens to her?" Erik turned and looked at him fully, he was curious.
Logan rubbed his chin in thought, he had been sitting actually musing over, well, everything. There was something actually which had came to his mind not too long ago. Debating whether to say anything was something else entirely. But, seeing as how Erik had asked. "I've never met her. She died quite a while ago."
Erik frowned, "By humans?"
Logan nodded slowly, "By their actions, and if we fail here, I guess she's likely to wind up..." Logan trailed off, mainly because of the hard look Erik was sending his way. Holding his hands up, he sighed. "She died protecting someone."
Erik tilted his head, he looked downwards at Valeryia, who seemed rather content huddled under his coat sleeping away. Somehow her protecting someone didn't surprise him. "Who?" Logan seemed to withhold this, Erik frowned and looked back at him. "Who?" He asked in a harder tone. Considering Erik was with Logan and everyone else in this bleak future, it proved to Erik what he already knew: his survival skills didn't fail with age. However, Valeryia...if he knew how she died, okay by protecting someone, if he knew who that was, he could intervene.
Logan tilted his head, he sighed. "A girl."
Erik frowned, "That's it?" How come he felt like it wasn't? Something about Logan's tone just seemed off.
Logan shifted in his seat and looked at him firmly. "Your daughter." Logan may regret saying that, but he had crossed paths with the girl a few times, due to witnessing some clashing and the Erik from his time being rather clearly called 'father', it didn't take much to figure it all out really...
Erik looked a little confused, startled too before looking downwards at Valeryia. He looked quickly back at Logan, "Our daughter?"
Logan looked at him stupidly. "No, yours and...forget it, yeah." Realising anyone else he'd name drop would be lost on Erik, Logan just didn't bother.
"Does she survive?"
Logan shook his head, "No. They die together. You mentioned it once, while we were all hauled up. Something about irony in hiding somewhere so run down. But you soon stop."
Erik nodded and looked up at the ceiling. "Val went home, searching for her father. I found her in some underground fight club, but the place she was staying in was awful. Run down isn't even enough of a description for it. Would be ironic I suppose if I wound up in a place like that."
"We all do, it isn't just you." Logan stated while looking past Erik when he heard the cockpit door open. Even Erik turned too, Charles looked a bit disgruntled yet sat down and chose to ignore them both. They were having a conversation, he was leaving them to it. "If I were in your position, and had singlehandedly pissed off everyone around me, I would try and make peace for the moment. If you don't, it'll make working together a hell of a lot harder." A truce of convenience, wasn't like Logan hadn't dabbled in that in the past, future...whichever, sometimes that's what was needed. Didn't have to like each other, but it would be handy not to have an argument nearly every five minutes. Giving advice to Erik of all people was something which Logan really found weirdly ironic, in a way. Yet he sat and watched as Erik opened up one of the overhead storage drawers and pulled something out. Logan just watched as Erik sat on the other sofa, sending a cursory glance at Valeryia, before setting the chess board up.
Once done, he picked it up and walked towards Charles. He was leaning against his fist, looking out the window. By now darkness had settled outside, yet it didn't stop Charles from looking out there. "Fancy a game? It's been a while." Erik questioned while sliding the board on the table, Charles just glanced at him then the window, Erik just stood there waiting for him to speak to him.
"I'm not in the mood for games, thank you." Charles just went back to looking out at the starry sky, on the table to one side sat a forgotten glass and bottle.
Erik wasn't too sure when he cracked that out, but there it was. He stared at it before leaning forwards. He grabbed a glass and poured some of the liquor into it. "I haven't had a real sip in ten years." He lifted the glass to his lips and drunk slowly. Looking over the glass in his hand, he looked thoughtful. "I didn't kill the President." He slowly looked down at Charles.
He seemed to look disbelievingly at him, which wasn't a surprise. Charles seemed more surprised he was still going on. "The bullet curved, Erik." That was something which doesn't typically happen.
"Because I was trying to save him. They took me out before I could." Erik said while still examining the alcohol in his glass.
"Why would you try and save him?" Last time Charles checked, Erik wasn't fond of humans. Let alone humans in power.
"Because he was one of us." Erik stated, he watched as Charles double took. He knew there was a chance he wouldn't be believed. Regardless he went and said the truth anyway.
"You must think me so foolish. You've always said they would come after us." Charles said while finally moving away from his fist and looking at Erik.
He shook his head slowly, "I never imagined they'd use Raven's DNA to do it." Even he was surprised by that. He never doubted people would hunt mutants out eventually, but this was certainly creative.
Charles couldn't help but nod, "When did you last see her?" He couldn't help but ask, he was curious, worried even about what his sister was up to.
"The day I left for Dallas." Erik said while finally moving from leaning on the chair behind him and sitting down opposite to Charles.
Charles raised an eyebrow, he did glance over to Valeryia warily. Erik looked over too before looking back at Charles. "Best not tell her that."
Erik nodded, "I know she's bitter about me going. We've spoken." Valeryia would be more than bitter if she knew that he had seen Raven more recently, in a way.
Charles sighed, shaking his head he leaned back in his chair. "How was she?" They didn't need to talk about Valeryia, she was here, and she wouldn't like being talked about when she was asleep. Although Erik and Logan had already done that, little to Charles's knowledge.
"Strong, driven, loyal."
Charles looked dissatisfied with this answer. "How...how was she?"
Erik crossed his hands on his stomach before leaning against the table. "She was...we were..." Charles sent another glance Valeryia's way. "She knows. Thanks to Emma. Crossed paths before she died, showed her everything that happened when she got taken. She hasn't openly voiced Raven, but...no way would Emma leave this detail out." Vindictive till the end, Erik paused for a moment. Emma seemed to have it out for Valeryia, even right up until her death. In a place of death, and torture, Emma still inflicted Valeryia with all this knowledge, all this information that involved himself, and the others that she may not ever have seen again.
"Probably another reason why she's bitter." Charles mused, Erik just nodded slowly. Valeryia and Raven were best friends...
Shaking his head, Erik sighed. "I can see why she meant so much to you. You should be proud of her, Charles. She's out there fighting for our cause."
"Your cause. The girl I raised, she was not capable of killing." Charles said quietly yet firmly with a frown.
"You didn't raise her, you grew up with her. She couldn't stay a little girl forever, that's why she left."
"She left because you got inside her head." Charles said, his voice growing sterner and more annoyed the more this conversation went on.
"That's not my power. She made her choice." Erik said, having no regrets despite the slightly pained expression which flitted across Charles's face.
"But now we know where that choice leads, don't we? She's going to murder Trask, they're going to capture her, and then they're going to wipe us out."
"I thought I'd planned to get in there first to kill Trask." Looking over to the sofa, both males looked at Valeryia, she slowly opened her eyes and then sat up suddenly. She looked a bit confused before shaking her head. She made a quiet shushing noise and then looked at them sheepishly. She tapped her temple and waved her hand. "Psyche break...erm, what's going on?"
Charles looked sympathetic, he had caught her a few times talking to herself, dark, serious words only for her to tell herself to shut up. It was worrying, it worried him, but he wasn't surprised. Loneliness had caused her mind to seemingly split, it happened long before she returned to him. "We're just talking about Raven." The way in which Valeryia's head twitched quickly caused Charles to regret even speaking. Perhaps she wasn't as clued in as Erik presumed and just heard everything they just said...
She stood, choosing to wrap the coat around herself. "Move up," she stared down at Erik, he shifted to the next seat and she sat down. Wiggling her arms into the coat, she leaned against the table before resting her chin against her arms. "Revenge will get no one anywhere." She looked between them two, "I mean, it did wonders for you, didn't it?" She shot a look Erik's way before looking up at Charles. "Bad acts can't lead to good consequences. I want Trask dead, yes. I would kill him, slowly, and brutally. But it won't stop others becoming like him."
"And that's why we're going to get to her first," Erik said, Valeryia tilted her head and looked at him. "We can change history tomorrow." She didn't look like she believed him, her eyes darkened and she just stared at him. Erik looked away from her, it was a hit to him to know how much wrong he did to Valeryia, yet here she was humouring, he could see her talking to him was her humouring him. "I'm sorry, Charles. For what happened, I truly am." Erik said, watching as Charles's eyes glassed over with tears. Turning, he looked down at the woman beside him. Valeryia had a frown on her face and her eyes were shut. "Val, I am sorry, again. For everything."
Her eyes slowly opened, she shook her head. "Actions speak louder than words, I don't believe you, Erik. Wouldn't be the first time you've spoken empty words to me."
Erik looked downwards before looking back at Charles as he reached out and picked up his glass. He downed it rather quickly before shifting forwards in his seat. "It's been a while since I've played."
"I'll go easy on you. Might finally be a fair fight." Erik said, opting to leave the previous conversation where it was.
Charles frowned, displeased by the dig, yet let it go. "You have the first move." Erik glanced at the board before looking back up at Charles and using his power to move the piece he wanted.