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▎ BEAUTIFUL CRIME    ▎
»»————-　act two. another lifetime
CHAPTER THIRTEEN ━━ the future

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♯ ❝WELCOME! ❞ 
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"THE FUTURE, A DARK DESOLTE WORLD. A WORLD OF WAR, SUFFERING, LOSS... ON BOTH SIDES. MUTANTS AND HUMANS WHO DARED TO HELP THEM. FIGHTING AN ENEMY we cannot defeat. Are we destined down this path? Destined to destroy ourselves like so many species before us? Or can we evolve fast enough to change ourselves? Change our fate? is the future truly set?"

Maggie Hendrix feels helpless, a combination of dread  and loss woven together between her heartstrings and there is nothing she can do about it. No place to go from here, no safety, no future.

Their chances feel as bleak as the dark and ominous sky that hangs above her, polluted by the dozens of factories holding mutants—or better said killing mutants and mutant sympathisers alike. There is a constant ache inside her heart now, and with each beat, a painful quiver running down her spine.

But in spite of it, she stands tall, powerful and her strength still radiates as strongly as it did when she was young, standing on a beach in Cuba, finally picking her own path. Now her hair has greyed, stature less big and bones more brittle than before, but still, Maggie is standing.

Her hand clasps on her small locket hanging from her neck, the cold metal soothing as she can recall the memory of when she had been gifted with it. But she does not dwell on it, the pain far too great, the loss far too bitter. Instead she focusses ahead, the past a soft whisper behind her and her eyes travel to the small boy curled up on little cot. Brown tussled hair stuck out in every which way and a flicker of smile makes it way on her face. A bright burning desire is sparked in her tired eyes.

The future. He is the future.

It is all Maggie can think about, she has to if she want to make it true. It rings around her mind every minute of every day.

A warm hand latches onto her shoulder, bringing the elderly woman out of her spiel of thoughts and back to their sombre reality.

"You okay Ma?"

Maggie smiles half-heartedly at her son, the little boy he had been, the chubby cheeked, wide doe eyed kid had become a strong and kind man. One that took greatly after herself. From the shimmering brown eyes down to the chestnut hair and curve of his nose. But every time he talked, the way he acted and spoke so passionately all she could see was her husband—her dead husband.

"I'm fine Mason," Her words sound hollow, and Mason's heart breaks at the sound of it. The joyful and sweet woman he had known his mother to be, had long since replaced when the first sentinels came to hunt his family down—and if he was honest, she had maybe already changed before they came for them. He had watched his mother watch the news everyday like clockwork as more mutant killings were displayed on the screen like it had been a normal sports event.

And every time Kitty projectiles someone subconsciousness back in time to warn them after they have lost another fight, another replay of their deaths, another moment to see her son die heroically another piece of her heart is chipped away. 

"Okay." He breaths out, a gently squeeze of his hand before it disappears again, his shadow growing further away as he leaves her alone with her grandchild.

But the rumbling of something outside alerts the grey haired woman, as she stands up straight, high on alert and she hurriedly walks to the door, just in time to see Bishop approaching the large doors of the remote Chinese temple, gun, powered by Sunspot solar powers tightly clutched in his hands.

Glancing behind her, she took in the sleeping form of her grandson, Maggie closes the door behind her before walking up to stand beside her companion as they unsurely watch a large aircraft hover in front of the temple.

With bathed breath, Maggie watches as a hissing sound comes from the aircraft before the ramp slowly lowers. For a moment no one appears, and Maggie can feel the water creep around her arms protectively, ready to defend their temporal home from whatever, or whoever found them as the tension thickens in the air.

And then someone comes into view, a woman, still young but her hair is a grey colour, but the roots remain dark. But her most haunting feature are her eyes, they are a milky white, like clouds covering her irises. She walks with a purpose, and Maggie can clearly see she has a lot of fight left in her unlike most people these days. Something strikes her as familiar, a flash of remembrance, and she knows, that whoever follows after Ororo is no enemy to them.

The water around her arms vaporises again, turning back to air and she gently places a hand on the gun Bishop is holding up, a clear sign, unspoken words with a single glance—and pushes it down. The man easily obeys her command, his tense shoulders relaxing.

Behind Ororo another familiar face steps forward, but this one is only a vague piece of her past, one where she was just on her journey of becoming the woman she wished to be. A brief overlapping moment in time where their paths had crossed.

Logan looks not a day older than he did the day she met him, the same power radiating of him—and his slightly stand-offish, borderline cocky way of carrying himself remains just the same. She almost smiles at the sight—at least some things hadn't changed.

Maggie can't help it when her eyes gloss over at the sight of someone very familiar, someone that in a way played a large role in her life. Charles Xavier looks very different since the last time she saw him face to face. But the... so did she.

He hovers in the air, gliding forward gracefully in a way she knows only he can. "Charles." Maggie breaths out, like speaking it out loud is the only way to make sure this is real, that he is really here.

He smiles, that same smile that he used to swoon Moira Mactaggart with back in the days, and for a moment, when her heart beats this time, instead of pain, it feels a bit of relief, a little bit more hope.

"Maggie." Charles stops in front of her, taking in her weathered appearance as he greets her. "It is good to see you."

"You too Charles," A low chuckle leaves her parted lips, "you too."

But then behind him, one last person walks down the ramp, and her heart stops for a moment, before skipping a beat. She swallows thickly, long forgotten memories she had locked away resurfacing again, flashing in front of her eyes.

Erik nods, a silent understanding passing through them even though this was neither's preferred outcome. "Maybe in another lifetime."

They never gotten that other lifetime. He became consumed with his need of vengeance, with the Brotherhood, with everything that would destroy him. And Maggie had turned a new leaf, leaving the sufferings from the past behind, and making sure than no other mutant child would ever suffer as she did.

Seeing Erik and Charles together nearly shatters her heart. Here they were, the end of the world, and finally together at last. How awfully bitter sweet. They exchange no words, there are no words to be spoken anymore. None they haven't said already.

"Professor." Bobby comes walking down the stairs, Mason hot on his heels as he goes to stand next to his mother, eying the newcomers with curious eyes.

"Hey Bobby." Ororo greets the man happily embracing him in her arms.

"Hey Storm."

"Professor you made it." James comes bouncing down too, followed by everyone else, the air seems to become lighter, more hopeful with the presence of Charles Xavier.

"Daddy!" Little Thomas is standing on the top of the stairs next to Kitty, teddy bear in hand and all eyes on him.

Mason is quick to jog back up the stone steps, easily picking the boy up in his arms while Thomas automatically latches onto his neck. Carefully the brunette man walks back down the stairs to stand next to Maggie.

She can clearly see Erik observe the two, eyes flickering between Thomas, Mason and herself, connecting the dots, the resemblance. They catch each other's gaze, locking on for a moment and she musters up a ghost of a smile when she can see the realisation in his eyes.

"Welcome." Maggie breaths out softly, gaze expanding to look at the others, "Let's get inside."

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     "WHENEVER THE SENTINEL ATTACK, WARPATH SPOTS THEM." KITTY PRYDE EXPLAINS THEIR WAY OF SURVIVAL to the other as they all gather around, "Then I send Bishop back to warn us of the attack before it happens." She nods to the dark skinned man before moving to point towards the pink haired woman standing against the wall, "Blink scouts out the next site," She pauses, "And then we leave before they ever know we were here."

"Because, technically." Maggie speaks up, averting her eyes from Thomas who is sitting on her lap to everyone else in the room, "We never were."

"What do you mean you were never there?" Logan frowns, eying the grey haired woman curiously. But it seems she is not the one that has to explain anything as Charles already speaks up.

"She projects Bishop back in time a few days to warn the others of the coming attack."

"So she sends Bishop back in time?" Logan repeats to confirm, eyes flickering towards Kitty who is standing next to Bobby and back to Charles.

"No, just is consciousness into his younger self." Charles corrects. "His younger body."

"Wow."

"This might just work, Charles." The first time Maggie hears him speak, she immediately realises how much time has really passed. He sounds so much unlike his younger self and she almost doesn't recognise the sounds.

"What might work?" Kitty stand up straighter, looking between Erik and Charles with wide eyes.

"The Sentinel program was originally conceived by Doctor Bolivar Traks. In the early '70s, he was one of the world's leading weapon designers. But, covertly, he had begun experimenting on mutants, using their gifts to fuel his own research. There was one mutant who had discovered what he was doing."

"A mutant with the ability to transform herself into anyone." Erik cuts in, speaking of someone very special to everyone that had been part of the Cuban mission. Raven.

"Mystique."

"I—we," Maggie gestured to Erik and Charles, "knew her as Raven."

"We met when we were children," Charles spoke, a faraway look in his eyes has he reminiscences his old memories. "grew up together." A smile finds itself on Charles' face, "She was like a sister to me. I tried to help her but only succeeded in driving her away." He pauses, eyes shimmering with unshed tears as he looks at Erik. "She hunted Traks across the world. And at the Paris Peace Accords in 1973 after the Vietnam War, she found Trask and killed him."

Charles pauses, and Maggie closes her eyes, picturing sweet, innocent Raven, golden locks and still unsure on how she fitted in the world.

"It was the first time she killed—"

"It wasn't her last." Logan stated, eyes casted on the table, a faraway look in his eyes.

"But killing Traks did not have the outcome she expected. It only persuaded the government of the need of his program. They captured her that day, tortured her, experimented on her. In her DNA, they discovered the secrets of her powers of transformation. It gave them the key they needed to create weapons that could adapt to any mutant power."

"The Sentinels." Mason breaths out in realisation, dark brown eyes focused on the professor her mother spoke so highly off.

Charles nodded, "And in less than fifty years, the machines that have destroyed so many of our kind were created. But it all started that day in 1973. The day she first killed. The day she truly became Mystique."

"You want to go back there?" Kitty spoke in realisation.

"If I can get her to stop the assassination, keep her out of their hands, we can stop the Sentinels from ever being born. "

"And end this war before it ever begins." Erik adds.

"I—I can send someone back a couple weeks." Kitty begins, voice cracking, "Maybe a month. But you're talking about going back decades. You have the most powerful brain in the world, Professor, but the mind can only stretch so far before it snaps. It would rip you apart. I am sorry. No one could survive that trip."

"What if someone's mind has a way of snapping back?" Logan speaks up from the back, eyes flickering towards Kitty, a flash of determination inside his dark eyes. "What if someone can heal as fast as they're ripped apart?"

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⊱ ────── {⋅. AUTHORS NOTE .⋅} ────── ⊰

welcome to act two of beautiful crime!!! I am really excited for this part bc we can finally get some moments between Maggie and Erik (any ship name suggestions 🤔📝) ... or not who knows? Hehe. I am already attached to Mason and Thomas and I am sad to see them go after they enter a parallel universe or whatever they wanna called that after they changed the timeline. Mayeb this will be the another lifetime Erik promised her? 👀. I also want to know if you guys want flashback throughout the story of Maggie's life and her family or just one chapter that is dedicated to her past? Leave some love behind ❤️ and thanks for reading.