2023

ELEANOR DISCOVERED JUST moments later that Kitty Pryde and her group were currently hiding in an abandoned monastery in China. She stood beside Charles at the doors, waiting for the jet to land on the ground. She internally thanked the supersonic flight capability of the Blackbird. They were able to reach any place in the world within minutes. To say Eleanor was excited was an understatement, she could literally feel the wild beating of her heart against her chest. She was elated to see her son.

When the doors opened, Eleanor's eyes first searched for him although she kept it subtle. Her hands were situated on Charles' wheelchair, gripping it tightly. Soon, their former students began to descend from their hiding positions, showing themselves. "Nathan?" she whispered softly in the air.

Black mist began to swirl around them, dancing as a body slowly materialized in front of them and there, stood Nathaniel Xavier with a relieved smile on his face.

"Mom!" He exclaimed, happily. Within a few steps, he reached her, hugging her tight. Eleanor cried, thankful to whoever was out there for keeping him safe. She cupped his face in her hands, checking how he was.

"I'm not going to lie, son." She started, swallowing the lump in her throat. "You look like shit."

Nathan rolled his eyes, playfully. "I know," he shook his head. "I haven't taken a proper bath in days." The boy then turned his gaze behind her. "Hi, dad." He greeted, hugging him too. "I missed you both."

"We were so worried about you." Charles said, patting his son's hand before adding, "Well, mostly, your mother was. I knew you would always pull through." The young Xavier chuckled at this, causing Eleanor to send a glare at her husband.

"When your mother and I lost communication with you, we assumed the worst, but we both still felt you. We never lost hope that we will see you again."

"And here I am now with the others, alive and kicking. I suddenly developed my second mutation after the massive slaughter in D.C.." recalled Nathaniel, closing his eyes as if to forget the carnage. His eyes cast downwards, guilt and fear covering his features before he shook them away. He raised them again to see the surviving members of the X-Men.

"Erik." he acknowledged, nodding towards him. Erik greeted him back with a slight nod of his head. "Aunt Valerie!" Nathan strode over to her confidently with open arms, but then suddenly paused in his tracks. He narrowed down his eyes and raised his finger, tapping the air cautiously.

"Ah," Valerie chuckled, mirthly. "So, he has finally learned his lesson, El." She commented as she shared a glance at Eleanor who chuckled, remembering the times the woman would suddenly put up a barrier in front of her and everyone would just harshly crash into it. It was her a biggest advantage in a battle.

Valerie Swan-Lehnsherr, the Brotherhood's second leader and Erik's wife. A brilliant archivist and engineer, she was the inventor behind Erik's machine that almost turned every human into mutants in 2002. Eleanor was aware that she was her husband's first love after she had seen her in his mind, but she had no problem with it. She knew Charles' heart will always remain with her. It was also one of the reasons why she chose Valerie as her son's godparent. She trusted her after they had met during the wedding.

Valerie just really wanted equality for mutants. She wanted mutants to be accepted, not feared by humans. She just did it with drastic measures.

Grinning, Nathan then tackled her godmother with a big bear hug, slightly lifting her off of her feet. The woman let out a slight oof before embracing him back. "I missed you... and your chocolate treats!"

"Wow, I think you're only so fond of me because I bring you treats, young boy." She smirked as she pulled out a piece of chocolate bar from the pocket of her uniform. Nathaniel's eyes lit up with happiness and took the bar enthusiastically. "Thank you!"

"Hi, Storm, Logan!"

"Good to see you, kid."

"I'm relieved you are well, Nathan."

He steps back a little and wrapped his arm around Claire Langley's waist, giving them all a knowing smile. Eleanor knew her son had always been hopelessly in love with Claire and in a way, they complimented each other very well. Nathan had the power over darkness while Claire had the power over light. It was a match she had already seen happening ever since, but what she didn't expect was the little boy around the age of five came running outside of the monastery.

"Is this them, daddy?" gushed the young boy who greatly resembled his father and Charles. "Hello! I'm Atlas Francis Xavier!" he proudly introduced himself. "And one day, I want to be part of the X-Men! I'll make humans see that we, mutants, can live peacefully together!"

"Oh god, it's a little Charles." mentioned Erik, glancing at his old friend in mock horror.

"He got my optimism, Erik. Watch out." Charles claimed, smirking.

Eleanor's heart soared at the sight of her grandchild that she stepped forward and knelt in front of him. "Hello, kid."

The little Xavier eyed her curiously, tugging at his mother's shirt. "She's grandma?"

Claire urged her son to come closer to Eleanor. Taking this as a signal, the energetic boy ran towards the brunette, embracing her. "Well, aren't you zestful?" She leant her cheek against the head of her grandchild. Within a second, she carried the young Xavier in her arms, handing him over to her husband.

"Woah, we have the same eye color. You're grandpa?"

Amused at this, Charles nodded. Eleanor watched her husband and grandchild interact with one another. "Oh, he's got good gifts."

"What?" Eleanor asked.

"Show them, my boy."

Shyly, the boy got off his lap and stood in the middle, closing his eyes. In a matter of seconds, the child shifted to an older and mature version of himself. Eleanor's eyes widened in shock. Age manipulation. "Mom said I should maintain my looking like a five year old because it's my real age." The teenager shrugged, his deep voice reverbating. He casually shrinked back to his original age, a young five year old boy.

"That's cool, bub." Logan commented, impressed with Atlas.

"Come on, let's all get inside. We have a lot to talk about, professors." Claire invited, taking her son's hand in hers. All of them entered the monastery where they lit a fire, illuminating the room. Eleanor stood beside Charles, observing her former students. They all looked scarred and haunted from all they've been through. They have faced a lot of hardships together that she could clearly see their dependency on each other.

"Whenever the Sentinels attack, Warpath spots them I send Bishop back to warn us of the attack before it happens." Kitty explained the strategy on escaping the faultless mutant murderers. "Blink scouts the next site, and then we leave before they ever know we were there."

"Because we never were." Warpath added, making Eleanor glance at Charles, confirming their assumptions about it.

"What do you mean you were never there?" Logan asked, confused.

"In simpler terms, Kitty projects Bishop back in time a few days to warn the others of the coming attack, Logan." Eleanor simplified for him.

"So, she sends Bishop back in time?"

"No, just his consciousness, into his younger self, into his younger body." This time, Charles clarified for him, glancing at Erik and Valerie with a hopeful look.

"This might just work, Charles."

Eleanor shifted in her position, uncomfortable with the direction of their conversation. She and Charles briefly discussed it in jet earlier. He mentioned Kitty's time-travel ability was their key to save everyone and end the war. She was a little scared about it to be honest. Changing history meant countless possibilities. A lot could happen in just changing the past. It wasn't going to create an alternate timeline, but it would definitely alter everything they once knew.

Eleanor found herself opposing to it, but she knew this was their last chance to survive. Everyone will have a better future, and so for the greater good, they must do this. As if he sensed her hesitance, Charles took her hand in his, squeezing it.

"What might work?"

The professor cleared his throat. "The Sentinel program was originally conceived by Doctor Bolivar Trask. In the early seventies, he was one of the world's leading weapons designers. But, covertly, he had begun experimenting on mutants... using their gifts to fuel his own research."

"Including me." Valerie bitterly muttered, clenching her fist.

Eleanor knew about the horrors this woman in front of her braved and endured. For years, she was experimented for her ability to conjure a forcefield of pure energy. They had weaponized her forcefield in capturing mutants and killing them. This was what fuelled her rage when she had finally escaped from the Trask facility.

Charles glanced at Valerie, sympathetically. "At that time, there was one mutant who discovered what he was doing."

"A mutant with the ability to transform herself into anyone."

"Mystique." Colossus and Nathan pointed out simultaneously.

"I knew her as Raven. We met when we were children, grew up together. She was like a sister to me." Charles recalled, nostalgic. Raven was one of the many stories Charles loved to tell her. She remembered how he admitted he was regretful of his past decisions towards her and if given the chance to change them, he would. "I tried to help her, but only succeeded in driving her away. She hunted Trask across the world. And at the Paris Peace Accords in 1973, after the Vietnam War, she found Trask and killed him. It was the first time she killed."

"It wasn't her last." remarked Logan.

"But killing Trask did not have the outcome she expected. It only persuaded the government of the need for his program. They captured her that day. tortured her, experimented on her along with Valerie."

"In her DNA, they discovered the secrets to her powers of transformation. It gave them the key they needed, to create weapons that could adapt to any mutant power. And in less than 50 years, the machines that have destroyed so many of our kind were created." Valerie further expounded, giving them all an idea of what led to this.

"But it all started that day in 1973, the day she first killed, the day she truly became Mystique." Charles said.

"You want to go back there." Kitty concluded, shocked.

The professor nodded, resolutely. "If I can get to her, stop the assassination, keep her out off their hands then we can stop the Sentinels from ever being born."

"And end this war before it ever begins." ended Erik, facing the group. Eleanor took note of how the group looked indecisive especially Claire and Nathaniel.

"Uh, I can send someone back a couple weeks. Maybe a month. But you're talking about going back decades. You and your wife have the-the most powerful brains in the world, Professor." Kitty stated. "But the mind can only stretch so far before it snaps. It would rip you both apart. I'm sorry. No one could survive that trip."

All of the fell into silence as if hope was taken away from them all until Logan spoke up. "What if someone's mind has a way of snapping back? What if someone can heal as fast as they're ripped apart?"

"It's too risky. I don't like it." voiced Nathan, letting go of his girlfriend's hand.

Logan scoffed. "As if I don't know that."

Nathan shook his head. "You don't understand, Logan. Claire, can you take Atlas out of here for a while?"

"Nate, our son deserves to hear all of this." Claire asserted. "It's his fate too that is in question. He's part of this." The raven-haired woman then faced them. "Professor, is there any other way we can get out of this?"

"Claire -- " Charles tried, but Nathan held his hand up. Eleanor's heart broke in two as she realized what her son meant. Atlas Xavier will be a casualty. Of course, as a father, it was his natural instinct to keep his son alive and safe.

"Dad, it's too big of a risk for us. There's a lot at stake. Some of us might not be born, some of us may die at that time. Some of us may not live to see the future. Am I willing to risk my life for a future I might not be part of?" He then gestured to the rest of the group. "Are you?"

"I'm not." Bishop replied, agreeing with his statement.

"We'll keep fighting." Blink added, sternly. Eleanor was about to reason with them, but Valerie beat her to it.

Valerie scoffed. "Until when? Until the Sentinels find us and obliterate us once and for all? How long do you think you have before your plan on outwitting the enemy fails? You, children, are not looking at the bigger picture here. This second chance is not just for us, but for everyone we have lost in this goddamn war too." Valerie snapped, glaring at each and every one of them like children who never learn.

"I have a son, aunt -- "

"Do you really want to raise him in a world like this, Nate? Be sensible."

"Nathaniel, son," Eleanor called him, cutting the tension rising among them. "I know you're scared. We all are, but this, this is for the greater good."

"Mom, you can't expect me to --"

"Dad," Another voice raised in the room, making everyone turn towards the direction of Claire and her son. Atlas, in his thirty year old self, stood in front of them all, decisively. "I know it's me you're worried about, but it's okay. Our kind will have a better world. This is for a bright and better future for all of us."

"But -- "

"But, nothing. If this is it, I'm thankful that I lived this long. I'm thankful for this short life."

Erik gestured to Atlas, raising his eyebrow. "Even your son sees more reason than you."

It took three full minutes for Nathan to consider everything. With a heavy sigh, he resigned. "I'm hoping to God you don't fuck this up, Logan." He walked away, taking his son with him.