10.

The Present

Chapter Theme Song: If I Could Turn Back Time - Cher

Nathan stood for a long time out in the hall, with what had just happened repeating itself again and again over and over in his mind.

What had he done?

What was he doing?

Go after her, damn it! Cursing himself, he took off running down the hall, only to crash into Wade and Domino.

"Hey, what's the rush, old man?" Wade questioned. "Don't overexert yourself, now."

"Nina, where is she? I need to talk to her."

"She just left," answered Domino.

"With Wolvie," added Wade, making Nathan want to strangle him.

"God damn it!" Nathan pulled at his hair in frustration.

"What happened?" asked Domino.

"We got into a fight, I said some things, bad things, and she left-"

"AHH!" Nathan was cut off and jumped when Wade suddenly screamed. "The bear's alive!" He pointed, and Nathan looked down at Hope's bear at his belt to see that it was slowly pulsing, in and out of focus – threatening to disappear completely. Oh, no.

He'd been screwing up this whole time, but now he had put their whole future at risk.

"Oh wow, this is so Back to the Future!" Wade was saying.

Nathan shoved past them and headed to his room, slamming the door. As soon as he was alone he let out a long string of profanity that would have made Nina livid. He could just hear her scolding him for it: Nathan Christopher Charles Summers, watch your language! You know how I don't like it! How many times do I have to tell you?! What if Hope hears you?!

He wished she were here, yelling at him, instead of walking away, trying to hide hurt and tears that he had caused, leaving him without looking back.

If only he could go and take back what he said. If only he could prevent it from happening altogether-

An idea struck him. Wait, he might just be able to.

"Nathan, what can I do for you?" Charles asked when Nathan entered his office.

"I need your help." Nathan launched right into an explanation. "I screwed up. Nina and I got into a fight, a bad one, and I think she hates me now. You're the most powerful telepath, so I need you to erase her memories of me."

Charles folded his hands on his desk as he absorbed this. "And you think this will solve the problem?"

"Yes, maybe, I don't know!" Nathan threw up his hands in exasperation. "I hope so..." He cursed himself under his breath. God, he was an idiot.

"Well, Nathan, I don't think it will. I think you need to talk to her yourself. This is an issue between the two of you and you need to solve it together. You started this, you need to fix it."

The Professor was right, of course, but Nathan was still frustrated that he wouldn't help. But he was even more frustrated with himself. This was his fault, and Charles was right, he had to fix it.

"You seem pretty fascinated by that guy."

"He's from the future, Scott. Who wouldn't be fascinated?" Jean and Scott were sitting in the courtyard of the mansion, finding some shade beneath a tree. They had spotted the leather-jacketed figure of Cable walking along the path back to the house, and Jean waved to him.

Nathan was strolling slowly along the path, hands jammed in his pockets, lost in his thoughts, when he caught sight of a figure sitting beneath a tree over on the grass waving to him. Despite being a ways from them, he would recognize that red hair and those red-lensed glasses anywhere.

"Come sit," his mother offered.

While Nathan knew he was running a risk, he had to admit he was always curious about his parents' time at the mansion, so he went over and joined them.

"So, how are you settling into the School for the Gifted so far?" Jean asked. She'd asked him that very question when he first came here in his thirties.

"Pretty good. I'm still really homesick." Jean nodded sympathetically. "But, I guess there's worse places to be stuck."

"Sure are," agreed Scott. "So, how far into the future are you from?"

"Fifty years."

Scott gave a whistle. "I bet things are pretty different than now, huh? Hey, maybe when you get back home, you could look us up and see where we're at."

Nathan couldn't help but grin. Oh, trust me, I know exactly where you're at. Then he caught himself, remembering that his mother was an Omega-level mutant telepath.

"So, you're students here?"

"We were, we've graduated already but stay to help with training and missions," Jean explained.

Nathan nodded. So they were already finished school – that meant that his own birth was only a few years away.

"So, you're telepathic?" he asked her, feigning uncertainty to make conversation.

Jean nodded. "Yes, I am."

"I am too, though not at powerful as I hear you are," he said as casually as he could. Then he turned to his father.

"Laser eyes," Scott answered. "That's why I've got to wear these all the time." He tapped his glasses. "Otherwise I'll fry everything and everyone around me. Not cool."

Nathan recalled his childhood, pleading with his father to show him how his laser eyes worked. That was before the virus had settled in, before he had been sent away from home into the very distant future to deal with it.

A familiar laugh turned their heads to the pathway, where Nina was walking, the Professor wheeling beside her.

She had returned from her romantic weekend with Logan, and was actively avoiding Nathan. He wanted to give her space, but was also madly trying to figure out what to say to heal the wounds he'd created.

While at first, when they had first started dating, Nathan had been somewhat – okay, admittedly a lot – jealous of the obvious affection still between Nina and the Professor, he also admired their close friendship even after breaking off romantic connections years, no decades, ago. They still relied heavily on each other and were the very best of friends.

"So, Ms. Nova, huh?" It took Nathan a moment to realize his mother was speaking to him. He had been staring again. He turned back to his parents with a questioning look. "You like her," Jean continued. A statement, not a question.

Love her. He almost corrected her out loud. For a moment, Nathan thought she had read his thoughts without telling him. He hated it when she did that. "Did you-"

"No, I don't need to use my powers to know that."

He chuckled a little. "That obvious, huh?"

"Dude, it's so obvious," Scott confirmed. It was strange having your dad call you 'Dude', especially when he was younger than you at the moment by a good couple of decades.

"She's great," Jean said.

"Yeah, she is."

"Isn't she dating that Wolf guy?" asked Scott. Nathan tried not to glare daggers at his father for bringing up the fact and unknowingly rubbing it in.

"Wolverine," Jean corrected. "His name's Logan."

"How do you know?" Scott questioned, suddenly defensive. Seemed like his father's dislike for Wolverine was early-onset, as well as his mother's interest in the guy.

"I pay attention, Scott."

"She seems to really like the guy," Nathan sighed. "And really dislike me."

"I'm sure that's not true," Jean tried.

"I pissed her off. Said some bad stuff, stuff in the heat of an argument, that I didn't mean."

"Talk to her."

"Easier said than done."

"True, oh definitely, but worth it," said Scott. "Trust me, Jean and I have had our moments, but we wouldn't be together now had we not talked things through. Right, Grey?"

"It's true," agreed Jean.

Some good parental advice. Nathan nodded, getting to his feet.

"Good luck with Ms. Nova," said Scott.

"Thanks, I'll need it."

"I thought he had a wife and daughter in the future that he was desperately missing and trying to get back to," Scott remarked as Cable walked away. "But now he's got a crush on Ms. Nova? That doesn't really make sense, does it?"

"I don't think it's quite that simple, Scott," said Jean thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?"

But she didn't answer, and continued to watch the time-traveler as he walked back to the mansion.

Haha, I just had to have a scene of Nathan and his young parents! ;) But now the future is at risk! D: Cher's 'If I Could Turn Back Time' worked out so well for this chapter, so perfect! ;)

Thank you so much for reading! Hope you enjoyed! :)