FOREWORD: another long chapter yEET

"what goes unsaid doesn't go unheard"

~

January 28, 1973

Dear Alex,

I miss you a lot. I sometimes wonder if leaving to Paris was a good idea because then I can't see if you sent any letters.

Anyways, we landed and are driving to the Paris Peace Accords thing. The war is pretty much over, and I wonder if you'll be home soon. I really hope so. And I hope my dreams weren't foreshadowing anything.

Sometimes, I think I'm failing at this "hiding my emotions" face. What goes unsaid doesn't go unheard, as crazy as that sounds. Hank and Charles know about my sadness, but they can't feel it. They probably feel the same way, but no one says anything about it. Logan started to notice too, I think. I really want to read his future, but I don't know what I'd see.

Maybe it has Scott or River or something. Maybe it has us. Together.

Ok, Charles is looking at me strangely, so I have to stop before he asks me any questions. I'll probably write later.

Love, Neva Liu

~

Neva slid the paper into her satchel and took in a deep breath as they rolled up the gravel driveway. She looked out the window at the tall building in front of the car. There were lots of flags and people with cameras. She wondered where Mystique was.

"Time to go," Erik said, stepping out of the car. Neva did the same and took in another deep breath. She felt Hank rub her shoulder.

"You ok, Neva?" he asked. She put on a smile and nodded.

"Yeah. Let's go find Mystique," she said. He smiled back at her, and the two followed Charles up the stairs of the building.

As they neared a conference room, there were shouts of alarm from inside. Hank and Neva exchanged glances and the mutants all ran into the room. Pushing the big doors out of the way, they walked into a chaotic mess. Men in uniform were on the floor, crouched in pain, and a blue skinned woman was aiming a gun right at a small man's forehead. Neva widened her eyes and debated about tackling Mystique to the ground. Before she could, Charles ran in.

"Raven!" he shouted. Suddenly, a colonel aimed a device at Mystique. It shot out a web of electrical circles and she fell onto the table, convulsing violently. Charles ran over to her, and Erik used his powers to pull out the tasers. Unfortunately for the colonel, they were metal and Erik threw them onto his uniformed body. The colonel shook with electricity.

Neva stood in the back helplessly. The small man was looking with wide eyes as a little, white shape in his hand beeped rapidly. Neva turned back to Charles who was stroking Mystique's hair.

"Raven?" he said softly. Mystique, who was still shaking slightly, turned to look at him with longing eyes.

"Charles?" she asked. He nodded with a smile. Neva hadn't seen him smile like that in a long time.

"We've come for you," he said gently. "Erik and I, together."

"I...I never thought I'd see you again," she said with a small smile. He smiled back and continued to stroke her hair.

"I'm going to keep you safe," Charles comforted. "I'm going to keep you out of their hands." Neva saw a small movement, and suddenly, Erik raised a gun towards Mystique. They all looked up with alarm, except Logan who was blinking and seemed distracted. Neva wondered if he was ok.

"Erik?" Mystique said, eyes wide.

"Erik, what are you doing?" Charles asked, becoming protective.

"Securing our future," Erik replied coldly. He aimed the gun with steady hands. "Forgive me, Mystique, but as long as you're out there, we'll never be safe." Neva put her gloved hand in her bag to hold onto a small pistol that was for emergencies.

"Erik..." Hank said cautiously. She saw his hands curl into fists.

"Use your powers, Charles, stop him!" Mystique cried out. Charles took a shaky breath.

"He can't," Erik said, straight faced. There was a split second, and before he could shoot, Mystique got up, ran down the long table, and jumped out the window. Hank threw himself at Erik, and a gunshot made Neva duck. She faintly saw the metal bullet follow the blue skinned woman.

"Oh no," she murmured to herself. There was a groan behind her. She turned and saw Logan swaying and hitting the wall with his shoulder, claws extended. "Logan! Are you ok?!" He growled at her. "I'll take that as a no."

"Erik!" Hank yelled. Neva watched as Erik escaped from Hank's grasp and floated out the window.

"This is turning very bad very fast," Neva mumbled. Charles was rubbing his temple, clearly frustrated. There were screams heard outside from the various newspeople and citizen observers. Neva could also hear Mystique yelling out in pain.

"Where am I?!" Logan asked. Neva and Charles turned around quickly.

"Huh?" Charles said, confused. Logan looked at them with wild eyes.

"How the hell did I get here?" he asked in the same tone.

"What?" Neva furrowed her eyebrows.

"You came to us," Charles said. Logan looked at the room in confusion and fear.

"Who are you?!" he practically shouted. Neva tightened the grasp on the gun in the purse. Logan's claws looked dangerous.

"I'm Charles," said the Brit. Logan suddenly grabbed him by the shirt. "Charles Xavier!"

"Hey!" Neva yelled. "Put him down!"

"I don't know you!" Logan said loudly.

"What?" Charles said, still very confused. Hank stood up, and Neva saw that he was covered in blue fur, full beast. Logan widened his eyes.

"What the hell is that?!" he shouted. Hank growled, and Neva wanted to facepalm. The wheels in Charles' head were spinning fast.

"Woah woah!" He put up hands between the two. "I can deal with this! You two go and stop Erik!" Neva and Hank nodded. Hank jumped out the window with a roar, and Neva sighed.

"I can't just jump out of windows like everyone else, geez," she muttered. She pushed the doors open again and sprinted down the stairs and hallways.

Outside of the building was chaos. People everywhere were screaming or holding cameras. Erik was being pummeled by the blue Hank, and Mystique seemed to have disappeared. Neva tried to push through the crowds and watched Hank push Erik down into the large fountain. There were tints of red in the water, and she put her hands over her mouth. It seemed that Hank was winning the battle, when all of a sudden, the large metal bars from the fountain bended and latched onto the blue man. There were also metal objects being thrown around, causing the civilians to panic more. Neva was able to get through and run to the fountain where Hank was being slowly pulled up by the metal ornaments. He roared with anger. Erik stood up out of the water, drenched, and stared at her. Neva held her breath, but then he walked off, obviously looking for Mystique.

Neva turned to Hank, who was growling more. She heard cameras click as they all took pictures of him. He looked down at her in pain.

"I got you," she whispered. Taking a deep breath, Neva pulled out the gun and more screams were heard. She raised it and proceeded to shoot out some nearby cameras. She also raised it and shot into the air a couple times for emphasis. By that time, all the photographers and filmers had scattered. The crowds were also running away, frightened. She turned back to the blue man, and he ripped himself out of the bars. "Let's get Charles." He nodded, and the two ran off.

~

Hank helped Charles through the door. Neva ran behind them, biting the inside of her cheek. Charles was using all his effort to walk, and as soon as they came inside, he fell down. Hank and Neva both gasped a little and helped him back up.

"What's wrong?" Logan asked. The four had just gotten back from the plane from Paris, and Charles was slowly losing his legs again.

"Come on," Neva said to Charles. "Get up, you can do it." Charles squeezed his eyes shut.

"Why can't he walk?" Logan asked again. He looked worried too.

"He needs the treatment," Hank explained. Charles suddenly cried out and sank down by a pillar near some stairs.

"Hang in there," Neva said softly.

"It's okay, I'll make it stop, I'll get it," said Hank quickly. He ran up the stairs as fast as he could, and Neva watched him go. Charles was groaning in pain, hands over his head.

"Hey, hey," Logan said. "Pull yourself together. It's not over yet." Charles put two fingers on his temple and scoffed.

"You don't believe that," he spat. Logan raised an eyebrow. Neva started biting her nails.

"How do you know?" Logan asked. Charles shakily pointed to his legs.

"As these go..." he pointed at his head, "this comes back." He hit his head on the wall. "They all come back!" Neva tried to calm her own thoughts to help Charles. Logan sighed a bit.

"Look, I'm...I'm still here," he said. "She's still out there. But we need your help, Charles. Not like this," Logan motioned to Charles on the floor. "I need you. We can't find Raven, not without your powers." Neva couldn't help but agree. If they were going to find Mystique, they would need Charles' powers.

"He's right," she whispered. Charles looked at both of them. She could tell he was conflicted.

"Ok here," Hank interrupted. He ran over with a needle filled with amber liquid. At the sight of it, Neva's stomach turned and she closed her eyes to steady herself. "I added a little extra because you missed a dose." He handed the syringe to Charles, a bit hesitantly. Neva's stomach turned more, and she went over to lean on Hank. He held onto her, and she knew that he wanted to see Charles taking it as much as she did. Charles was about to inject it into his vein, and Neva turned away into Hank's shoulder. He rubbed her back, comfortingly. She wished Alex was there to knock some sense into the professor.

"Charles," she heard Logan said. There was a pause, and then, she heard a small clink. Neva turned back around and saw that Charles had put the needle onto the floor instead. He cleared his throat.

"Hank," he said. "Do me a favor. Would you help me to my study please?" Neva let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding in. Hank let go of her and nodded with a smile.

"Alright," he said. He helped Charles walk over to the open study. Neva turned towards Logan. He gave her a small smile, and she crashed into him with a hug.

"Um..." the man said, surprised.

"Thank you," she said quietly. He patted her awkwardly, and she let go. "Sorry."

"Neva! Logan!" Charles called. The two walked into the study and saw the other two looking into a closet. Neva's heart skipped a beat when she saw the metal wheelchair below the coats.

"Are you sure about this?" Hank asked. Neva grinned, and Charles sighed.

"Absolutely not."

~

"When was the last time you were down here?" Logan asked. The three walked down the silver hallways while Charles rolled down in his wheelchair. Neva shrugged, but a wave of nostalgia hit her with each step. Each panel and tile took her to memories of the X-Men: training together, fighting together, joking around together. She willed herself not to cry.

"The last time we went looking for students," Hank replied.

"A lifetime ago," Charles said. They all stopped at a big door at the end of a hallway. Neva took in a breath. It really had been a lifetime ago.

The security system scanned Charles' eyes with a blue light and beeped in confirmation.

"Welcome, Professor," it said. Neva bit back her grin. They hadn't been called by their codenames in a long time.

The door clicked open and Hank rushed in. Neva let everyone walk before her and observed the silver room. She missed the X-Men. A lot actually. Charles turned to look at her. He gave her a cheeky smile.

"Stop reading my mind, professor," she teased. He rolled his eyes but turned back to the machine in front of him: Cerebro. Neva always wished she had been there during the first time they tried out Cerebro. Hank had told her it was pretty fun. Erik and Raven had been there too, along with another woman with brown hair. Hank had forgotten her name, so Neva assumed she was just another scientist at the CIA. Maybe she wasn't that important.

"Raven's wounded, so she won't be moving fast," Hank said. Charles picked up the helmet and blew the dust off.

"These are muscles I have not used in a long time," he said, past memories in his voice. Logan and Neva stood behind as Charles put the helmet on. Suddenly, they were surrounded by webs of red and silhouettes of people. Charles sucked in a breath. "God!" Neva put a hand on the back of his wheelchair.

"Stay steady, Charles," she said. He seemed to not hear her. The different people and voices whisked past them faster and faster. The machinery started to whir uncontrollably.

"Charles!" Hank said, looking frantically at the arrows spinning. Neva could tell that all the voices were overwhelming the Brit.

"Charles!" repeated Logan. Suddenly, the whole equipment broke down. Neva ducked a bit as some sparks flew near her. The whole room went dark. Charles pulled the helmet off his head and panted.

"I-it's alright," Hank stuttered, looking around. "I'll go check on the generator." He ran out of the open door.

"I'll go with him," Neva said. She patted Charles' shoulder gently and went to follow Hank. She saw him at a nearby device. He was fiddling with some wires. "Hey."

"Hey," he said, without looking up. She leaned on the wall.

"How does the um generator look?" she asked, trying to break the silence.

"It's fine," he replied. "Just a little fried. I think Charles' powers was too much, you know?" He looked up at her, and she nodded.

"Yeah. Makes sense." There was another silence. They heard low murmurs from down the hall, and Hank played around more with the machinery.

"D-do you think Charles will ever be, you know, himself again?" Neva asked quietly. Hank plugged in the wire and then took out another one.

"Yeah. I think so," he responded. He smiled at her and pushed up his glasses, making her laugh.

"Nerd."

"Hey! You're mean!" he rolled his eyes. She stuck out her tongue and looked up at the dark ceiling.

"Wow we haven't been down here in ages, huh?" Hank nodded.

"Feels like decades," he said, pushing in a metal piece. "That should do it." He flipped a switch, and with a vroom, the lights came back on. Neva smiled.

"Good job, bozo," she patted his back. He rolled his eyes again but smiled back.

"Thanks. C'mon." He put a playful arm around her, and they both walked to Cerebro again. "The power's back on!" Hank announced. Charles was smiling at Logan, and Neva wondered what they had missed.

"Yes, yes it is," said the Brit. He rolled back into the silver dome and pulled on the helmet. Neva patted his shoulder, and he took her hand. The machine powered up again, and they once again saw the millions of mutants crying out for help. Neva felt Charles squeeze her hand tighter.

"You can do this," she whispered. He nodded slightly, and the voices stopped whirling around so fast. The machine focused on a single person. Neva saw Mystique in front of them. Hank took in a quick breath. She was in human form, with long blonde hair and a trendy outfit. She had a small suitcase. Neva wondered where she was.

Charles got into a nearby woman's mind and turned to Mystique.

"Raven, stop," he said. In Cerebro, it was the woman's voice. Mystique turned sharply. "Stop running."

"Charles?" she said, confused. "Where are you?"

"Back at the house," Charles said, "where you should be." Again, it was the elderly woman's voice. "I need you to come home." Raven shook her head.

"I know where I need to be." She got up quickly and walked away.

"There she goes," Hank murmured. Charles held onto Neva's hand in concentration. Cerebro zoomed past more people. He used them to talk to the fleeing Mystique.

"If you kill Trask, you'll be creating countless others just like him," he said, from a man in a blue suit. Mystique walked faster.

"Then I'll kill them too," she shot back. Charles moved onto another traveler.

"Those are Erik's words, not yours," he said. She shook her head in denial and practically ran off. As she as running, she bumped into an airplane stewardess. Neva saw Mystique drop her boarding pass and passport. The stewardess reached down to pick them up, but Charles got into her mind. "The girl I grew up with wasn't capable of killing," he said through her voice. Mystique tensed. "She was good, fair, full of compassion." The blonde grabbed her papers roughly.

"I have compassion," she said. "Just not for Trask. He's murdered too many of us." She walked away. Hank let out a sigh.

"Shut her down, Charles," Logan said, pointing at Mystique. "Get into her head."

"She's not letting me in," Charles said with a shake of his head. "I'm barely holding on. I'm not strong enough yet."

"You can do it," Neva encouraged. "Just a few seconds." Charles sighed but nodded. He closed his eyes and focused. The mutants saw Mystique stop in her tracks as Charles created an image of himself standing in front of her. Everyone around the two seemed to freeze in time. Neva squeezed his hand. "Good job." He nodded, still focused.

"I know what Trask has done," he said to the blonde, "but killing him will not bring them back. It will set you on a path from which there is no return. An endless cycle of killing, us and them, till there is nothing left. But we can stop it, right now, you and I." His voice became teary, and Neva saw Mystique battling with herself.. "You just have to come home." He reached out a hand to her. The other mutant's face hardened.

"I have to?" she asked, almost taunting. "You haven't changed at all, Charles. And like I said, I know what I have to do." Mystique continued her walk and went right through the image. Charles sighed again and took off the helmet. He let go of Neva's hand, massaging his neck.

"Where is she?" Logan asked.

"She's in an airport, about to board a plane," he replied, rubbing his forehead.

"An airplane to where?" Hank inquired. Charles closed his eyes for a moment, reading back past memories.

"Washington, DC," he said. Neva bit the inside of her cheek.

"Weren't we there earlier..." she mumbled. Hank lit up.

"Alright guys," he said. "There's something I need to show you."

In a few minutes, the four were in Hank's extra room, which he had filled with TV's, computer monitors, and a web of wires. Neva looked around the room, a small smile on her lips.

"You're such a nerd," she said. He glared at her, and she put her gloved hands up. "Sorry!" Charles laughed, and Logan cracked a smile.

"Well, Hank, what did you need to show us?" asked the Brit from his wheelchair. Hank sat down and flipped some switches.

" I designed this system a few hours ago after we got back," he explained, "to record any news about Paris, over all three networks and PBS." Neva nodded impressed.

"Wow, all three networks?" Logan asked sarcastically. Hank nodded, a bit annoyed

"Yeah," he said, "And PBS." Neva laughed a little bit. "Anyways, look what I found." He turned up the volume on one TV.

"Tomorrow in front of the White House," a news reporter with a black microphone said, "the President will make his announcement. He'll be joined by Secretary of Defense, Laird, and has even sought the help of renowned scientist Bolivar Trask, his special adviser to combat this mutant issue. The White House has asked..." Hank stopped the recording and turned back to them.

"Raven doesn't realize that if she kills Trask at an event like that with the whole world watching..." Charles started.

"Then I came a long way for nothing," Logan finished. Neva bit her lip.

"What are we going to do?" she asked.

"Wait, there's more bad news," said Hank. "I saw the report - they found traces of her blood in Paris. For all we know, they already have her DNA, which is all they'd need-"

"To create the Sentinels of the future," Logan finished again. He sighed.

"Now there's a theory in Quantum Physics," Hank said, "that time is immutable. It's like a river: you can throw a pebble into it, create a ripple, but the current always corrects itself. No matter what you do, the river just keeps flowing in the same direction." Neva looked up at him.

"What're you trying to say?" Logan said, arms crossed.

"What I'm saying is," Hank sighed, "what if the war is inevitable? What if she's meant to kill Trask? What if this is just simply who she is?" Neva looked back down at the floor.

"It sure seems like it," she whispered. Charles shook his head slowly.

"Just because someone stumbles, loses their way, doesn't mean they're lost forever," he said as if reciting someone else's words. Neva smiled - maybe Charles had come back after all. He looked at Hank. "No, I don't believe that theory, Hank," the brunette said. "And I cannot believe that that is who she is." He looked at Neva, Logan, and then Hank again. He smiled.

"What are you thinking of, professor?" Neva asked.

"Ready the plane, we're going to Washington."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: this book is ending soon and i sad