The Future

Wolverine was still trying to wrap his head around the idea of time travel when the Professor and Magneto began giving him instructions. "There were two other people who had discovered what Trask was doing before Raven," Charles said, as he explained the situation regarding Trask. "A mutant named Jeremy Walker and a human woman named Stevie Carson." Wolverine didn't know why, but a look of intense pain crossed Magneto's face as Charles said this. "She had been planning to expose Trask for a long time but Trask ensured that she did not live to share what she had found. Since she had not yet told Erik or I what the files contained, neither of us could do anything. Jeremy Walker, who had also seen those files, went into hiding shortly after Stevie's death with the help of the CIA." Wolverine didn't see much of a connection before Charles added the final piece. "Raven knew that Stevie had been investigating Trask when she died, which is why Raven knew there was information to be found. Raven also knew that Trask had been responsible for Stevie's death which may have fueled her desire to kill him."

Before too long, it was decided that Wolverine would go back in time. How the hell did they expect him to convince their past selves that he was from the future and they should listen to him?

"Wolverine," Magneto said sternly. "This was a very dark time in my life but there is one way to ensure my full cooperation."

When he didn't elaborate, Wolverine asked "And that would be?" They might be working with Magneto now, but that didn't mean that Wolverine didn't still find the other mutant irritating.

"When you find me, tell me that if Trask dies, I will never find Vera."

"Who or what is Vera?"

"It doesn't matter. Just tell me that and I guarantee I will not give you any trouble. At least, not much trouble." Magneto was well aware that no matter how cooperative he was, he would likely push Wolverine's patience to its limits. He hoped that Wolverine not only fixed the future for the entire world, but that his own personal life could be fixed in the process.

1973

Ten years in prison. Ten years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. It had been all he could do to keep his sanity in that blank, white room when all he had to think about was how he had failed. There had been nothing different about that day – no variance from any other. Except when his tray came down with a note that said "mind the glass". Above him was some kid smirking, so he could only assume it was a prison break. Now, Erik had been involved in a number of prison breaks of some sort or another, but this one was certainly the strangest.

The kid who broke him out of his cell had Erik well on his way to freedom within a matter of seconds. The horrifying nausea that swept through him during his 'transportation' was unpleasant but he could live with it. The only thing that was truly insufferable was the inane chatter of his rescuer – whom Erik didn't recognize from anywhere.

"So what'd ya do to get locked up in the pentagon? Come on, man, what'd ya do?"

Erik groaned internally. If this was what he would have to endure in exchange for escape from his prison, he would almost prefer prison. "For killing the president." He let that sink in a moment before adding "The only thing I am guilty of is helping people like us." Or at least trying to. The first time Erik had actually tried to do anything that could actually be labeled as 'noble' had earned him a one way ticket to prison. He would certainly not be repeating that mistake.

"So they say you can control metal."

"They?" Perhaps this kid worked for the people who were interested in Erik's release which made him very curious as to who would want him released badly enough to break him out the pentagon.

"My mom knew a guy who could do that."

Erik turned towards the kid. Shit. There must be someone else like Erik. Yes, that had to be it. Thankfully, the elevator door opened so Erik could escape that incredibly awkward situation. The person he saw on the other side of the elevator doors was the last person in the world he would have expected to see. "Charles?" No sooner had he spoken when his 'old friend' decked him across the face hard enough to send him to the ground. "Good to see you, too, old friend," he grunted. "And walking!"

"Yeah, no thanks to you."

It had been ten years since they had last seen each other and more than eleven years since they had last spoken. Still, Erik couldn't blame Charles' resentment over the spinal injury, which begged a very important question. "You're the last person I would have expected to see here."

"Believe me, I wouldn't be here if I didn't have to. If we get you out we do it my way. No killing."

"No helmet," Magneto quipped. "I couldn't disobey you even if I wanted to."

"I am never getting inside that head again," Charles hissed. "I need your word, Erik."

Before he could make any promises to Charles, guards burst into the room – not that they stood any chance against four mutants. If Magneto's assessment of the fast kid was anything to go off of, Charles had come prepared with powerful friends. And of course Erik's abilities were not to be overlooked. Though Charles had clearly meant his refusal to get inside Erik's head to be an insult, Erik was secretly pleased that Charles would not be snooping around. This wasn't a simple fear of Charles being in his head, but his pleasure was out of somewhat genuine concern for his friend. If Charles entered his mind, he would feel what Erik had felt the past ten years: loss, anguish, defeat and overwhelming guilt. He also didn't want Charles to sense this weakness in him, but the former reason played the larger role of the two.

Why wasn't Charles freezing the guards? They weren't kidding when they said they would shoot. "Charles. Why aren't you freezing them, Charles?"

"I can't," he whispered.

Well, if Charles couldn't do anything, Magneto wouldn't sit around to be thrown back in prison. The metal objects in the room flew into the air – more out of reflex than anything – but before anything else could be done, the kid proved himself to be useful a second time.

There was one more piece of business that Erik had to take care of before they left the pentagon. "They still have a few items that I had when they arrested me," he realized. He wasn't about to leave those behind.

"Erik, your helmet and anything else you intended to use as a weapon was moved well away from here." That would mean the balls from Stevie's newton's cradle weren't there but they were only second on his list.

"Those weren't what I was referring to."

The kid turned to him. "What're ya looking for, man?"

"There is a photograph. Don't bring it in here and get it wet but that photo is of incredible importance to me. Please." He wasn't in the habit of begging people but this matter was of too much importance for Erik to abide by his usual habits.

In a flash of silver, the kid took off as Charles let them all out of the kitchen. Within moments, he was back with a handful of photos. "Every single one in the entire pentagon," he announced with a very self-satisfied smirk.

"We don't have time for this, Erik," Charles insisted, trying to pull him away from the photos. Sifting through all the photos Peter had brought wasn't going to help their chances.

"I'm not leaving without it." There it was. Stevie. The photo he had taken from her room ten years ago. His blood pressure rose with anger when he saw how little care the photo had been handled with, but there wasn't anything he could do about it.

They were at the mansion now – only staying for an hour or two while Hank made preparations for their flight and Charles found Erik some clothes that didn't scream "escaped convict".

"These ought to do."

Erik looked up to see a resentful Charles throwing him his new clothes. He gently placed the photo down before examining what his 'friend' had brought him.

Charles walked over and picked up the photo. "Stevie," he gasped. He hadn't realized this was the photo Erik had been so insistent on retrieving.

"Stevie and my daughter," Erik reminded him. "Don't think that I've forgotten them," he warned the other man.

"I took this photo," Charles informed him. "Two days after she was born."

"I hadn't realized you and Stevie spent so much time together."

"You weren't the only one who cared about Stevie," Charles growled. "Yes, we became friends and I looked after her because you weren't there." He left Erik before he could respond.

Only an hour later, Erik was stepping onto a plane and investigating Charles' new pet. His claws were certainly unique, though when they barred Erik from taking the newspaper and trying to catch up on the past ten years, Erik couldn't help but feel pissed off. He didn't even know who the president was and this man wouldn't even let him read the paper. "Imagine if they were metal," he grumbled, as he sat down across the way. "Where did they dig you up?"

"You're going to find this hard to believe, but you sent me. You and Charles. From the future."

Erik turned slowly to the other man. This entire thing was becoming more convoluted by the hour. First Charles breaks him out of prison and puts him on a plane and now some guy from the future was supposedly sent by a future version of Erik who was actually on good terms with Charles? "Convince me."

"The future 'you' told me that I had to say only one thing to get your cooperation. Let's see if he was right. He said that I should tell you that in my present – your current future – you never find Vera. Apparently, Trask's death means you can't find whoever or whatever Vera is."

The plane began to shake a little while Erik contemplated this future. Insurmountable loss began to consume him as he realized the potential consequences of Raven's actions and wondered if – with this knowledge – he would somehow find his daughter. Metal objects started to levitate, earning him a very irritated look from Logan. "Calm down, bub."

After a deep breath, the plane stopped shaking and all other metal was returned to where it had been sitting.

Logan snorted. "Care to explain that? Or explain why you told me to tell you about Vera?"

Erik composed himself just as he had when he heard about Stevie's death. "I can explain both of those simultaneously," he said darkly. "Vera is my daughter."

Wolverine's jaw dropped. If he had been drinking, he would have choked on it. "You have kids?"

"Only one that I'm aware of." But then again, that fast kid warranted further investigation.

"So what the hell happened?" Erik had never once mentioned anything that even hinted he had any sort of romantic or domestic past.

"Trask murdered her mother and took her. If she is still alive, then I need Trask alive so that I can find her."

"It's been ten years," Wolverine reminded him.

"That doesn't change the fact that she's my daughter and she deserves to know the truth. I doubt she was told that she was taken from her biological family."

"You wouldn't have been a lot of good to her where you were."

Erik narrowed his eyes and sent an icy glare towards Wolverine. "She had other family. Two aunts, for instance, who are mutants and would understand her and explain what happened. Mystique would even have been a better option than anyone who Trask would have stuck her with. You're right: it has been ten years, which means that her abilities could begin to manifest. My daughter will not feel the loneliness, the alienation or the rejection that most mutants must endure; nor will I leave her to the experimentation that I grew up with. I may not have been here the past ten years but I am here now and I will be damned if anything prevents me from seeing her – saving her from whatever fate Trask has in mind."

"How do you even know she's a mutant?"

The photo was gently drawn out of Erik's pocket and he allowed Wolverine to see it briefly. "The hair was something of a giveaway."

"Fair point." Wolverine hadn't ever seen this side of Magneto, even after he had come to his senses and joined Charles. If he had gone even further back in time, would he have seen Magneto before he had become so cold? He also couldn't be sure why, but the woman in the photograph looked familiar, though he couldn't place her exactly. "And I guess her mother would have been a mutant, too."

"Her mother was human."

Erik was just full of surprises for Wolverine today. "Last time I checked, you hated humans."

"I've never cared for them but Stevie was different. She's done as much for mutants as Charles has – probably more given how short-lived his school was." Erik caught himself speaking in the present tense, mentally kicking himself.

"Stevie…Is that the chick who found those files on Trask?"

"Yes. Stevie is another reason that I have to find Vera. I owe Stevie at least that much."

Wolverine had never really felt sorry for Magneto before. There had been times even before Magneto had joined Charles that Wolverine had felt sympathetic for Magneto's cause and in the past few years he had even found himself liking the guy a little, but he had never felt pity. Now he did. (Wolverine also couldn't help but think that after everything Erik had suffered through – though Logan knew he had only scratched the surface – he almost couldn't blame Erik for hating humans.) "I hate to admit this, but we really aren't that different, Bub."

"And how is that?"

"We've both been lab rats, we've both seen too many people die and I think we both want the same thing: for mutants to be safe. You just have a really bad approach. You really suck at helping mutants."

Erik laughed humorlessly. It was interesting that Logan would choose to use the term 'lab rats'. "Charles doesn't seem to think that he and I want the same thing. Perhaps we don't. Seeing what's happened to him, I don't think I want to be like Charles – not like this Charles. The Charles I knew…"

"I get it."

The other mutant appeared surprised to hear Logan say this, but was comforting nonetheless to know that there were others who knew that Charles could be better than this.

Now Charles and Hank were stepping onto the plane. The former was completely silent, sitting as far away from Erik as possible while Hank just stared at Erik. "Erik…it's…I…"

"You don't have to pretend to be happy to see me, Hank. Though I hope you're well."

"It's not that I'm not happy to see you it's just…it's been so long…and after Stevie…"

"It's alright, Hank."

"I'm sorry, Erik."

He could tell that Hank meant it and Erik couldn't even quantify how grateful he was that at least one person he used to know wasn't holding some sort of grudge against him. What had everyone else thought of him after he was arrested? Jeremy? Allegra? Dianna? Did they believe that he had killed JFK and consider him the monster that Charles believed he was? "Thank you, Hank."

The non-hostile mutant entered the cock pit to take them to their destination, leaving Erik with Logan and Charles. It was going to be a horrifically long plane ride.

A/N: Back as promised and ready to write the rest of Erik's story concerning his daughter Polaris. More Charles/Erik drama to come.