1983(20) Apocalypse - 1973(10) Days of Future Past - 1963 Etta is born
AN: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS EXCEPT MY OC'S Maria AND Etta. THEY BELONG TO THEIR RIGHTFUL OWNERS
AN2: Welcome to my new story. This came into my head while watching Apocalypse. I felt so bad that Erik lost his family (That he knows of) and so I wanted to give him some family to hold on to. This chapter is to introduce my OC into the saga and her background. The prologue covers from a year after First Class till the beginning of Apocalypse. The beginning of Apocalypse will be in the next chapter.
AN3: There will be APOCALYPSE SPOILERS in this story
Prologue
September 1963
Maria glanced out of the window in worry. Her hand placed upon her swelled stomach. Her baby was two weeks late, it was now the 6th September. Erik, the father and the love of her life, wasn't there. He had been there for the week of the due date but that was all he could spare. Both of them had been upset when he had to leave and the baby still hadn't arrived. Maria glanced backwards when her bedroom door opened.
Raven stepped in. Maria owed so much to Raven. Raven had been one of the first mutants Maria had ever met. She had been there when Maria was recruited to Erik's side and then encouraged the blossoming relationship between her and Erik. She'd been there through the entire pregnancy. She refused to leave Maria's side when Erik wasn't able to stay himself.
"Should you be stood up Maria?" Raven asked, her blond hair reflecting what little light there was shining in from the night time light.
Maria smiled slightly as she looked back out of the window. "Probably not. I just thought a walk may make the little one make an appearance. He's keep me up and wearing me out. The contractions are still mild."
"He?" Raven asked with a smile.
"He acts too much like Erik to not be, but I think both Erik and I were hoping for a little girl to spoil rotten" Maria replied with a large smile. "Did you know that while Erik was here he held a metal ball over my stomach and it floated up with Erik doing anything?"
Raven chuckled a little as she walked up to Maria's side, and ushering Maria back to the bed. "Wow, that's incredible. But I'm sure you'll both love it whether it be a boy or girl. I know I will"
"Well, they'll love their aunt Raven. Gosh Raven I don't know what I would have done without you these last few months." Maria commented as she climbed into bed, the sheets covering her. She cringed as a mild contraction hit, her hand going back to her stomach. "With everything going on you've been a life saver"
"You would have been fine Maria. You're a strong woman. Brave. Loyal. You saved my life, this is the least I could do for you." Raven commented taking Maria's hand tightly for support. She was thinking back to when they first met. Raven had been in the same bar as her. Erik had been there too. They'd been sat on the table next to her with another person. Someone had recognised Erik and Raven for what they were and had pulled out their gun. Before they could move the gun was fired. Maria hadn't even realised she had acted but her electric blue shield had flared up in front of them. Her eyes and hands glowed when she did. When the men of the bar turned on her she released her shield outwards. As it passed through each person they received just enough of an electric shock to knock them unconscious. She'd been drafted to Erik's cause immediately.
Maria smiled and the smile doubled when she felt a familiar presence in the room. She looked over to the doorway. There in the doorway was the one person she wanted to see.
"Erik!" Maria called with a grin on her face.
Raven also turned and smile to her friend. "I'll leave you two alone. Call for me if you need me"
Raven left the room, but not before Erik said to her "Thank you Raven."
Erik closed the door and approached Maria. He sat down beside her, placing a hand on her stomach. "Do you think he'll move the metal again?"
Maria smiled. "I think so."
Erik called over his little ball of metal and placed it on top of the stomach. At first it didn't move. Erik pressed his hand to her stomach. "You can do it little one."
The ball started to move upwards. Erik smiled, gave a little laugh and flicked the ball away. He leaned down and placed a kiss to where the ball had just been moved from. "I cannot wait for you to join us little one."
Maria suddenly lurched forward. Her hand going to her stomach. Erik quickly wrapped his arms around her, trying to comfort her. After a few moments she relaxed. "That was a painful one. They're getting stronger. It won't be long now."
"You're contracting? You're in labour?" Erik asked in a shocked panicked way.
Maria glanced up at him and smiled. "Maybe you should wait downstairs Erik. Raven will be back soon. And the doctor should be here soon too."
Erik nodded as the door opened. Raven and the doctor stepped in. Erik pressed a kiss to Maria's forehead before stepping out.
He waited very impatiently downstairs for any news. He could hear Maria screaming as she pushed. Every time she screamed Erik wanted to do nothing but storm in there and be with her. After several hours her screaming finally stopped and another higher pitched screaming began. Erik's face broke into a large smile when Raven came down the stairs. In her arms was a bundle wrapped in blankets. She handed it over to Erik with a smile.
"Say hello to your little girl Erik." Raven said with a large smile on her own face.
Erik glanced down and he could feel his eyes watering. She was beautiful but tiny. You'd think she had been born early with how small she was. She had a small tuft of hair on her head. Her eyes were closed in a peaceful sleep.
"How's Maria?" Erik asked.
"I don't know. She doesn't look good Erik. The birth took a lot out of her. The doctor told me to bring the baby down to you while he works on her." Raven said, her smile disappearing on her face having being replaced with a concerned frown.
Erik's breath halted. "Please go up there Raven. I need to know."
Raven nodded. She turned on her heel and went towards the stairs when the doctor appeared down the stairs. The expression on his face told them all they needed to know. Erik's knee's gave out and he dropped. His eyes brimming with tears. He could feel them coming when a small sound caught his attention.
His eyes dropped to the bundle. She'd woken up. Her aqua blue eyes looked up at him. Maria's eyes. She looked up at him, straight into his eyes and he could help but let a small smile reach his face. "We'll be okay. You'll be okay, little one. I'll protect you. I'll love you. I'm make sure nothing in this world can harm you"
"Etta. Etta Maria Lehnsherr" Erik told her, not taking his eyes of Etta.
November 1963 – aged 2 months and 2 weeks
Charles sat in his wheelchair, his mind still reeling. Erik, his friend, had not only betrayed him, paralysed him, took away his oldest friend but had now he had assassinated the President of the United States. It had happened three days ago. They had captured Erik three days ago. Charles couldn't shake it from his head that Erik had done such a thing. Hank, Sean and Alex were sat on the sofa beside him as the news again repeated the assassination. Suddenly all of them heard a knock on the door. Charles searched with his ability to find who was at the door. He felt his mind latch onto one. The jumbled mess of images rather than words told him all he needed to know. It was a child, a baby.
"Charles?" Hank asked curiously, watching Charles expression fill with shock.
"Come with me." Charles said wheeling himself to the front door.
Hank reached the door first and opened it. He was shocked when he saw what had cause Charles to go into shock. There was a baby wrapped in a blanket placed in a small wooden weaved bassinette. The baby was thankfully asleep but as Hank picked up the bassinette he noticed a letter. He drew all three of them inside to where Sean and Alex had stopped before turning back to Charles.
"There's a letter Charles" Hank said holding the bassinette at the right height for Charles to pick the letter up. Charles instantly recognised the handwriting of the person who wrote this letter. It was Raven's handwriting.
"It's from Raven." Charles commented quietly.
Hank didn't reply. He didn't know what to say. He glanced down at the baby and couldn't help but wondered whether it was Raven's baby. Sean didn't have a problem voicing a similar opinion, "Is it her baby?"
Charles starred at the letter for a long time before finally opening it and pulling out the actual letter.
He read it aloud for the others benefit.
Charles
I know after all that had happened I have no right to ask you for a favour but if you do not wish to do it for me then do it for this little girl. Her name is Etta Maria Lehnsherr. She's is Erik's child. She was born on the 16th September of this year. I was at loss of what to do with her. Her mother, Maria, died during child birth and I'm sure you are aware of the circumstances that Erik is in. As much as I wish I could keep and raise her myself, it is too dangerous for Etta to remain with me and the brotherhood. She will be safe with you and if I know you as well as I think I do she will be loved by you. She is also a mutant and is already displaying her mutant capabilities. She will need training in the same way you trained us. Please take care of her.
Raven
Everybody watched Charles as he lowered the letter, looking for a reaction, for an answer. Charles looked up to Hank and then to the baby whose eyes had now opened. The others looked to the child too. She had beautiful aqua blue eyes. Charles raised a hand to the baby's cheek. He marvelled at how soft the skin was. The baby smiled and Charles could hear his own thoughts being reflected back at him, through the child's mind.
"Incredible. Raven was right about one thing. She is a mutant." Charles said, before moving to lift the baby completely out of the bassinette. He held her tightly against him, even as she wiggled trying to free herself from the blanket.
"I don't know how to raise a child. I'm going to need all the help I can get." Charles commented honestly, looking up at Hank in particular.
"I will be here to help as I can Charles but I haven't had much experience with babies." Hank replied reaching to take the babies hand, but when they came in contact with her hand it turned blue and flurry. Hank jolted back and as soon as the contact ended her hand returned back to normal.
"I have a younger brother. I can slightly remember what it was like when he was a baby. I can help." Alex commented. With a smile as he caught the attention of the baby. He waved and grinned when he got a smile from her.
"I have no experience but we've been through a lot together I'm not going to leave now." Sean said completing the group of four. He went to take her hand just like Hank had done when Hank grabbed his wrist.
"I think after what happened when I touched her I'd imagine she can copy other mutants abilities when she touches them. Maybe you shouldn't touch her, just in case she decides to start screaming and it turns supersonic. A normal screaming baby is bad enough, I highly doubt we want a sonic scream" Hank commented with a smile to try and ease the blow.
The others agreed, though they couldn't stop their minds from going to the thought of her screaming like Sean can scream. They all cringed at the thought.
1973 – aged 10 (Days of Future Past)
Etta rushed down to the door of Xavier's Institute or ex-institute. It hadn't been an institute since soldiers turned up and took every available man of age, whether they be a student or teacher, to join the war effort. The others had been sent home in the weeks after. Charles, Hank and Etta were the only ones left in the institute walls and it seemed too quiet after being filled with students. Etta missed the others she had grown up around like Sean "Siren" and Alex "Havoc". Those two in particular had been there when she'd been left on the doorstep at three months old with only a letter. She didn't pay much attention to the letter though. Charles and Hank were, as far as she was concerned, the only guardians she'd ever known and therefore loved them unreservedly. Even during the bad days where she wouldn't see Charles until the evening she loved him and worried for and about him. He hadn't been the same since the school was emptied. Yes, in that time he'd regained the use of his legs but at the cost of his ability and he had lost a majority of his friends and family. Etta barely saw him around the institute during the day but she would see him, without fail, every evening so he could talk to her as he tucked her into bed even though she was too old to be tucked into bed. It was their time. A time reserved just for the two of them to spend time together and talk. It was often the highlight of her day after spending a day being schooled by Hank.
As Etta reached the front door, she opened it to see a scruffy bearded man stood there. His hair was trimmed and brushed in a way that it resembled a wolf's fur around their ears. He was wearing a pair of baggy jeans, a grey shirt with a light grey pattern and brown leather jacket.
"Who are you?" Etta asked.
"Never mind that kid. Is the professor in?" the man replied gruffly, glancing behind her into the house.
"Well I can't tell the professor, who may or not be here, that you're here to see him if I don't know your name" Etta replied sassily, her arms crossed and a frown on her face.
"Look kid, I don't have time for this" the man said exasperated, "Is he in or not?"
"I'll ask for you" Etta replied, her mind immediately finding Charles in his room. She connected their minds and said 'There is a man here to see you.'
Etta kept their minds connected until Charles replied with, 'I do not wish to see him.'
"I'm sorry Sir but the Professor is extremely busy at the moment. Perhaps you should return a different day" Etta said to the man as she began to close the door.
However the man grabbed the door before it closed, pushing it back open and pushing Etta at the same time. In her frustration Etta's mind connected with the mans and images flashed before her eyes. Logan, the school, an older version of her, Charles, Hank and her father. The good, the bad, and the war. She gasped as she reeled back. She grabbed the man's hand.
"The professor is this way Logan. We'll have to hurry if your mission is so time sensitive." She immediately turned and began pulling him towards the professor's room, mentally calling for Hank to join them. 'Hank, a man is here to see Charles. Will you see him as well?'
"How do you know my name?" Logan asked her.
"You already know that. I'm Etta." Etta replied with a smile on her face.
Logan looked down at the young ten-year old girl who he would meet in the future and who would be so brave, powerful and charismatic. It was strange seeing her as a child, he'd only known her as an adult when her innocent light had been soiled by real life. Though by the mature way this girl spoke she was already on the way to being the adult that he knew.
"Etta!" Etta heard the familiar voice of Hank and so turned to face him. Hank glanced between Etta and Logan before saying "Go to your room, try and get on with that work I left you. I'll take him the rest of the way to the professor."
Etta nodded. "Okay. It was nice to meet you Logan. I'll look forward to meeting you in the future."
Etta took her leave before Logan could reply by skipping down the corridor happily, confident that the things she'd seen in Logan's head were about to be corrected.
1979 – aged 16 (6 Years after Days of Future Past)
Etta stepped out of the bus, thanking the bus driver in fluent Polish. She was glad that he had been settled here long enough for her to not only be able to find and visit him but also to learn the language in preparation for her trip. She tapped into her mutation, or rather the mutation she'd permanently mimicked from Charles, to locate the man she was after. Her stomach flipped when she realised how close she actually was to meeting him – her father. She'd been thinking about it ever since Logan had visited and he, Charles and Hank had broken her father out of the Pentagon. Six years it had taken for him to settled for long enough that she could plan the visit to Charles' satisfaction. Charles had been relatively supportive of her finding and meeting her father. She knew, from her quite strong telepathic connection with him, that part of him was afraid of her going and never returning, another part of him was afraid of her being rejected by her father and getting her heart broken, and the final part, which seemed to be the slightly stronger part at that point, was hopeful and happy about the reunion of herself and her father.
She could see the house now but she was freezing cold. She had underestimated how cold it would get and therefore had come severely underprepared. Her entire body was shaking. She knocked on the front door when she reached it and barely waited a moment before a man came and opened it. She was in the right place. It was him. Her father, Erik "Magneto" Lehnsherr, was in front of her. He glanced at her, up and down, probably noticing the thin coat and the severe shaking.
"Sorry, you must be at the wrong address." Erik said, as he began to close the door.
"No!" Etta called out but he still closed the door in her face.
She knocked again but there was no answer. "Please! I am in the right place". She knocked again. She knew from Charles' power that he hadn't moved from behind the door and wouldn't until she left. She knocked again desperately. "Please! My name is Etta Lehnsherr. I know who you are." She called loudly.
She had barely a second until the door suddenly swung open and she was pulled inside. The door closed behind her on its own, presumably by his mutation to move metal. She looked into his eyes, not the same colour as hers but Charles had told her that they wouldn't be, but she was the feminine version of him in every other way. She felt his hand come up and rest on her cheeks, his eyes watering.
"Etta? My Etta?" he questioned, his voice cracking slightly as his emotions took over. Metal objects began floating but it seemed only Etta took notice.
She smiled to him and nodded before turning the room and raising a hand, tapping into her least used permanent mimicked power, and slowly lowered the objects back down into their places. She noticed that Erik was watching her, a proud smile on his face.
"You have my mutation. I suppose I should have known. Even from within your mother you could make a metal ball float." Erik commented with a large smile, his eyes going slightly reminiscent.
She smiled slightly. "Only technically. I don't have the same mutation as you but Charles said that my mutation, which is to mimic others abilities, has permanently wrote yours into my DNA due to me being around you when I was a baby and when my mutation was developing. It's one of three that have been permanently written in."
Erik's face went from just proud to a mixture of proud and angry. "Charles?" he asked.
Etta nodded. "Charles Xavier. He's raised me since I was left on his doorstep when I was three months old."
"I've seen him since then. Why didn't he tell me? I've spent the last six years wondering how to even start looking for you. I considered looking for Raven or asking Charles or breaking into every orphanage in the world to see the records. After all this time he hasn't told me and I've missed so much of your life." Erik said, beginning angry but slowly deflating as he went on.
"Don't blame him. He wanted to make sure we were all in the right frame of mind when we were reunited. I wasn't six years ago, Charles wasn't and from what I've heard neither were you. We would have done more damage to our relationship then good." Etta told him maturely, while raising a hand to place on his shoulder.
Erik looked at her gently. His eyes were full of pride again and were bright with happiness that he had not felt in a long time. "You are very mature for your age"
"Well I was raised by Charles and Hank, mostly surrounded by older students. In fact Hank says that I'm learning at a rate faster than others my age. He's said that he's going to make me his official assistant outside of my classes" she said excitedly with a large smile.
Etta's enthusiasm and smile made him smile largely. He took her hand and lead her into his main room to where his sofa sat facing a fire. The fire was raging. He led her to the sofa and sat her down before taking a seat next to her, not letting go of her hand.
"You've grown so much since I last saw you Etta." Erik said looking at her face, analysing her features and her smile. "When I last saw you you were just starting to giggle. I'd make these metal toys float around the room and you'd giggle and wiggle just wanting to take the toys yourself. You'd pull them down and grab hold of them."
Etta couldn't help but smile. "I didn't realise I was doing it so young. The earliest I can remember was when I was six. The other students were playing with the ball and it went over the fence. None of us could get out without admitting to Charles that we'd been playing so close to the edge of the property. I didn't realise I was doing it at first. But the metal bent. One of the students were able to get through and grab the ball."
"I've missed out on a lot. I should have been there to see it or help you with it." Erik said looking down.
"Well we're together now. We can make up for missed time. Though I have to check in with Charles every evening and be back at the institute before my classes are meant to start again in two weeks." Etta told him with a smile.
"Check in with Charles? Every night. He doesn't trust me with you" Erik asked, his voice almost hurt.
"No, he does. He is just worried. He wasn't sure what your reaction to me might be. We were never told what your reaction to me had been or whether you even knew I existed." Etta told him, with a small smile.
"How will you contact him?" Erik asked curiously.
Etta tapped her head. "We have a strong connection. Charles says that there isn't anybody else in the world that he could speak to from the other side of the world. He says that if only one of us was telepathic it would never reach but as both of us are, we kind of meet half way."
"Your telepathic?" Erik asked incredulous.
Etta nodded. "It's one of the three mimics that my mutation added to my DNA due to long term exposure to Charles, just like with you."
"What is the third?" Erik questioned curious to know more about his daughter and her quite impressive mutation.
Etta separated her hand from her father and pressed both his palms together. Slowly she pulled them apart and a blue spark began sparking between her palms. She put her palms back together. She reached out in front of her and a glowing blue and sparking shield formed in front of them both, in the middle of Erik's living room.
"Charles says there was a good chance the power belonged to my mother and I mimicked it while still in her womb." Etta explained to him.
Erik smiled. "And he was right. That was your mother's ability."
"Will you tell me about her?" Etta asked him curiously. After all she'd never met anyone who had known her before now.
Erik's smile widened and he did just that. They spent the rest of the day talking about various things, ranging from Maria to Charles to the school to Erik to politics and finally after dinner to places Erik had visited.
When Etta finally lay down in the only bed in the house after Erik wished her a good night Etta realised she'd never felt so complete. She hadn't really felt like there was something missing but now she could tell that there had been a hole where she had wanted her real father. Charles was great and she loved him like he was her father but she wanted to know her real father, her blood father. And beyond that she wanted to get to learn about her mother.
She spent her whole two weeks with her father and was relatively sad to leave at the end of it. She told Erik to write to her and he promised to do so. Neither of them wanted to lose contact with him now.
And they did keep in contact. Etta visited many times over the next four years, as Erik met a woman, married her and had a daughter, Mina. Mina and Etta adored each other. Whenever Etta was visiting you could be sure to find them together. Etta adored her new extended family – her father, step-mother and half-sister – as well as her school family including Charles, Hank and her new roommate Jean Grey.
AN4: CHAPTER COMPLETED 21/05/2016
REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. Should I continue?
If yes, I'll hope to get the next chapter up by the end of 23/05/2016 (UK time)
