Chapter Text
There was nothing she could be more grateful for than a few hours of dreamless sleep. There was beauty in the nothingness her mind settled into. A switch had been flipped somewhere and allowed her to just be utterly shut down. Every once in a while she would wake as Logan shifted her around. Each time he would move slowly, trying not to wake her and failing. She simply smiled up at him, her eyes still closed, before curling into him just a little more as sleep claimed her again.
She roused from her sleep as daylight poured in through the windows, a shift from the nighttime sky she saw during her last bout of semi-consciousness. She glanced up at Logan's face, seeing the peacefully blank countenance that she had witnessed the last time she had woken up in his arms. Only that was back in her time, in their room at the mansion, and it was only the other day. She wondered exactly how long it had been since this Logan stopped remembering what it was like to wake up entangled in her limbs. After all, in his life, she never returned from this excursion.
With a quick peek around, she noticed Erik and Charles catching some sleep in chairs facing each other. A chess board was between them, in the middle of a game. She surmised they had dozed off while playing against each other. At least it meant they were talking, and hopefully willing to work together. Knowing her plans ended up not working, she was curious as to where she failed. This was her first go at it, but it was altered now with Logan's presence. She imagined she elected not to retrieve Erik after learning of his whereabouts, against the wishes of her original self. Either that, or the dislike she already harbored for him. She was empathetic to a point, and he was a flight risk. She didn't anticipate treating him nicely.
With a gentle grip, she unbound herself from Logan's grasp. It was not surprising he woke up from it. There were times he was a heavy sleeper, but when he was on edge all of his heightened senses caused him to rouse rather speedily. It was a boon and a curse, depending on their situation. As they stirred, Jean finally standing up and stretching out, she saw out the window. Drawn in by the view of the city below, she stepped closer to it. From their altitude it seemed miniature in size, even though she knew it was far from it.
Logan came to a stop behind her, his large hands starting a trail on her lower back before wrapping themselves around her waist as she leaned over to continue to stare in small wonder. His face pressed against her, his cheek warming the spot between her shoulders, as she listened to him breathe in her scent. He was more affectionate in the mornings as sleep slowly left his brain. He operated on a more primal level, simply taking in the comforts of his chosen partner. This Logan had been deprived of her for years. She would not fault him or scold him for this display of intimacy while others were present. They were never big on public displays, not wanting to draw attention, but they had their moments. Most of them stemmed from hard won victories that could have cost them more than they would like.
He heard the two grown children stir before she did, straightening himself before digging through cupboards with a rumbling groan about coffee. She left him to his own devices and made her way past Erik and Charles to get to the cockpit. She doubted Hank had slept a wink and she hoped it didn't have too large of an effect on him. He had been known to pull a few all nighters when engrossed in tests and experiments. While he was younger than the Hank she knew, there was little doubt that he didn't do the same now.
Her fingers clutched his shoulder as she stood beside him. A smile graced her lips as well and he returned it halfheartedly. She slipped into the copilot's seat, her body turned towards him. “How long before we land?”
It was nice to know she was capable of still reading people without the crutch of her powers. To her it was obvious he was swimming in an ocean of feelings. They played across his features and danced just beneath her skin. Her small rest did bring back more of her powers though, a little victory. The emotion behind the thoughts he held were less of an inkling and more pronounced. Still, it would be a considerable effort to read him fully.
“A little under an hour.”
He was tense and his response clipped. All of these men knew and were attached to Mystique, or Raven as Charles and Hank called her. There was a history she didn't know. Her Charles had been vague, only telling her he grew up with her and she had left him to go with Erik. She only knew that much from him opening up to her in an effort for the two of them to get to know each other. Her sessions had begun to shift because of how his knowledge of her original self still caused her some anxiety. Even during his vague recollection he had been emotional. Emotional was an understatement for the man just a few yards away. His feelings were overtaking him, consuming him raw. There were only a few glimpses of the Charles she had come to know inside of him.
She prayed to a higher power that she wasn't sure she believed in, that her alterations of the timeline would still bring the man she knew out of the man that raged and roared and drank. She had not gotten along with Charles at her beginning, but she attributed it to left over emotions stemming from the other part of herself. The monster was largely aided by his mistakes, but they were well intended.
Now that the two of them had begun to understand each other on another level, she had forgiven him a while ago, finally let him into her head where he merely visited and never intruded. He offered help when she needed it but never interfered. She could understand why so many loved and cherished him, because she did too. It was why seeing the broken person claiming to be Charles hurt. This Charles still had a lot of growing to become the one she knew. Perhaps this is how Charles felt at her beginning too. She aimed to give him the hope he had given her.
It took some time for there to be any talk behind her. She could hear the loud sipping of coffee, likely from Logan as he was notorious for his bad table manners. Just as they began to lose altitude as they were landing did she hear any chatter. Surprisingly, it was from Logan and neither of the tense men. "So, work things out? You guys must have some sort of chess fetish or something. Always play it instead of talking about what you need to."
"Perhaps instead of using a dull tongue, we use our keen wits to say what we need to without speaking," Erik easily retorted at Logan.
"Even if your partner is a telepath, you still need to communicate how you feel. It ain't a joke that communication is key." Logan pointed out, earning silence from the men for a long beat.
Jean chuckled at the conversation before her attention returned to Hank. He was watching her, and her reaction to Logan. No doubt they were an odd and intriguing couple. Enough so that Hank had questions.
"Is he your husband?"
Jean only laughed more, shaking her head. "While I know that'll change one day, currently we are not. But yes, he is mine. We are very much in love, if it's not obvious."
"How did you end up with him?"
"It's a very complicated story, but I'll tell you one day. I promise."
"Most time travel stories warn of telling too much to someone and affecting the timeline. Guess I shouldn't ask so much." Hank was so much younger right now, but his own personal charm was still there. It was endearing to Jean, enough to give him a smile. One because of him, for him.
"I like that you ask. I just can't tell you for a while, but you'll know it when I can. One day, when you least expect it, when this conversation is just a memory, I will come to you. I'll ask if you still want to know, and if you do, I'll share. Sound like a deal?"
"Yeah. I'd like that."
"Then it's a deal, Hank. Now," Jean motioned towards the rest of the plane, "I better go and check on the children. If you need anything, let me know."
Jean stood up, leaving Hank back to his thoughts. She hoped easing his anxiety about some of his questions now would give him the clarity of mind to focus on landing the plane. When they landed, the plan was to rent another car to get to a hotel where Raven would be. Anxiety, and everyone's emotions, were bound to be unchecked and mounting as the clock ticked on them.
Once she was by the rest of the group, even with the tension in the air and their looming destinies, someone had to take care of them. Doing so was only natural for her. "We can't run on just coffee. Let's raid this plane and see if we can't drum up some breakfast, shall we?"
Paris. She had always wanted to go to Paris, once she started learning geography again. It had turned out to be one of the subjects she didn't need to learn from scratch. It had been like riding a bike and just picking it back up after setting it down for a couple of years. Paris was supposed to be the city of love. Nothing felt romantic about her current situation as she cried herself in the back of the car. It was now or never as they pulled into the parking garage.
She wasn't operating on a field ready level. She felt weak enough that she wouldn't risk it on a mission. Now she had no choice. Maybe Logan was here now because she died originally but those thoughts would lead nowhere. He was here now so the future could still be changed. There was still hope and she would always fight for hope.
As they strode through the hotel room, panic and fear flooded into Jean's mind. With their mission in mind, it could only be one thing. "It's happening. Move it."
They passed the fleeing crowd to get to the room that Raven had to be in. Charles called out her name as they entered the room. She was already on the table, gun aimed at whom she assumed to be Trask. Right as Jean crossed the threshold, a man in a military uniform who was prone on his back shot a taser at Raven. The blue skinned mutant writhed on the table as the current went through her system. Erik removed the prongs, latching them onto the shooter. Charles called Raven’s name out over and over as he tried to help her.
She was surprised to see him, "Charles?"
"We've come for you, Erik and I." Charles wasn't sure where to put his hands as Jean zeroed in on Trask's location. Her aim was to mess with his mind to stop sentinels from being created at all. Just a little rewiring should be simple, if she was at a normal level.
She wasn't. It was something she would come to regret later, not giving herself time to recover. She felt something take hold of Logan. It wasn't unlike his truly bad nightmares, but it couldn't have happened at a worse time. Trask had slipped out of her sights and she felt a terrible mental war happening to Logan, enough to risk a lot of damage if the Wolverine was let loose. Logan backed into the wall, dazed, as Jean approached him.
"Erik?" Raven questioned in the middle of Charles' loving reunion with her. It split her attention to see Erik holding a gun. Erik could hold Logan down while she got him back, which meant Jean had to take care of Erik.
"Erik, what are you doing?" Charles questioned his counterpart while Jean tried to quickly come up with something to stop him. Maybe she had enough in her to stop a bullet but she wouldn't win an actual fight against him right now.
"Securing our future," Erik replied blankly, "Forgive me, Mystique. As long as you're out there, we'll never be safe."
Hank tried to intercede but he wasn't getting through to him. Raven tried to hide behind Charles, "Use your power, Charles. Stop him."
"He can't." Erik replied for them all. Everyone came to a realization at once. Raven began to run. Hank tackled Erik, and Jean closed her eyes to focus on the bullet that was shot. She fought Erik's curvature of the bullet. She was fighting him at full strength while she was basically on the ropes with her powers already. She was pouring all her will into making the bullet stop, an unfamiliar trickle escaping her nose, as she fruitlessly attempted to stop the bullet.
Her eyes opened after she felt the bullet connect to Raven’s leg. She was out of juice entirely, which meant she couldn't stop Erik even if she wanted to. The blood making its way past her lip to touch her tongue told her so. She had pushed too hard. She turned to Logan, feeling something was wrong with him still. He was lost in a memory, possibly, triggered by something here. Her first step caused her to collapse, her legs giving out from beneath her. She called out to him, but he was unresponsive.
Charles and Hank were brawling with Erik, Raven was the on loose along with Trask, Logan was losing his mind, she couldn't keep herself up, and she had no powers to rely on. Today was not her day. One thing at a time. She crawled over to Logan, who was sitting against the wall and panting. He was fighting as hard as he could, she could see it. When the metal claws came out, she worried about everyone else around her. The Wolverine could not be let loose right now.
"Logan," she called out again to no avail. She laid defeated on the floor next to him, losing the energy to keep her eyes open as she put a hand on his closest leg. Typically her scent could calm him, and when it was bad, her mental presence. This seemed worse than most.
Logan was still panting and his eyes were wild, looking around to try and piece everything together. "Where am I?"
"Logan." Jean at least got his name out, which caused him to jump and scramble. His metal claws were still out. He started wiping her nose for her before cradling her close like she was the most fragile thing in the world. His nose was in her hair, and that was when it hit her. He felt different, mentally. He felt normal. This new Logan wasn't in there, this was her boyfriend. Her lost, confused, accidental time traveling boyfriend.
When Jean saw a bright shock of blue, she nodded to Hank. "Go. I can't help you, and he won't be able to either."
"Jean, what's going on? Where are we? Was that Hank?" Logan, her Logan, questioned the redhead who only shushed him in return. He did so without question, they had a process for him when he was in a state like that. She stroked his arms and hands, dragging her fingertips along his exposed. It always helped to ground him. He was still able to slip between either state and while her place in his heart made it safe for her, it wasn't for Charles.
"Charles, you need to stay away from us until I give the okay." The man who has the tasers put into him by Erik rose up and fled the room, running past Jean and Logan. She caught him eyeing Logan's claws for a moment before he left for good. She managed to pull herself up enough to a sitting position beside Logan. She reached over and began to softly draw lines along his face, to which he closed his eyes and breathed deeply.
As quick as the shift began, it was over again. Those years of turmoil weighed back down on overburdened shoulders. The racing heart calmed and the claws disappeared. His gaze told her scores once she finally peered up to see if it was him. One of his hands clasped hers, resting it over his heart. He wasn't quite her Logan, but he was Logan after all. A blush appeared on her cheeks before she cleared her throat.
"It's okay now Charles. Logan, will you please carry me? We need to get out of here fast. Let's go."