A/N: Part TWO of the double update! Shorter chapter; but no less important! ;)

All dialogue in italics is the characters speaking in french.

Chapter 36/Chapter 38

Paris, France. 1347.

It was raining. It had been for days now. People skirted from building to building, clothes hiked up as their boots sloshed through the puddles.

Horse-drawn carriages were the taxis of this age. -If you didn't have enough money for them, then you needed to stay out of their way.

This was the Banilieu. The poorest district in Paris. Home to beggars, thieves, and murderers.

And although orphans resided here, they were all but stripped of their childhoods.

Most were sold into slavery or servitude -often by their own parents- and those who weren't, rarely survived their seventh year.

The air was damp. Nora kept her mouth closed, as to not breathe in the heavy smells of sweat and shit and stink.

She stayed close to her older self, hand keeping a firm grasp on the coin purse she had snagged.

Some poor nobleman had made the mistake of traveling through here and now he had paid the price -literally.

The elder Nora quickly stepped onto the cobblestone street, hand raised.

A carriage slowed to a stop in front of her. Its driver dressed in a black cloak and large-brimmed hat.

She told him which street to take them to, then her and Nora got inside.

With a roof now over their heads, the rain was muted to a dull pitter-patter.

"Where are we going?" Nora asked -and not for the first time.

The woman hung her head. Her voice was low when she spoke. "To the place of our sister's death."

Nora blinked wildly, pushing her back into the wall behind her.

Old France… heavy rains… Banilieu… It was starting to make sense now.

"It's today, isn't it?" The day she died.

The woman nodded. "Yes: soon."

They rode in silence until the older Nora spoke up again.

"In my timeline..." She took Nora's hands in hers. "Nora: things are very different there. I am very different there."

"Okay..." What was she getting at?

"All of this… Everything you know -everything I know is like that because of one causal factor." She took a deep breath. "And that factor is Danielle."

If Nora wasn't sitting down, she would have taken a step back.

"...What?"

"In my timeline, Nora; Danielle came with me to the twentieth century. She was alive."

A dangerously hopeful light flickered through Nora's eyes. Her mouth opened slightly and her hands shook.

She smiled hopefully. "That's why we're here, right? To change the past… to make sure she lives," Nora whispered the last part to herself.

Her older self stared at her pityingly.

"Not- not… exactly."

Nora blinked, "What..? What do you mean?"

"Danielle was alive in my timeline… so many things happened because of that. And- and if we want the future to have the chance to be changed -changed beyond repair- then… then she needs to die."

It was as if a switch had been flicked off in her brain. Nora stammered -unable to get a word out. She couldn't seem to find any air -her chest heaved up and down as she tried to breathe. Her eyes were suddenly overcome with tears -her already blurry vision made indistinguishable.

She shook her head, "No… no, no, no, no, no!"

Her hand fumbled for the door, trying to get out.

The woman grabbed her hand, clutching it. Then she shook Nora lightly by the shoulders. "You mustn't go out there! Just… please… let it happen.." She was crying too. This was more difficult than imaginable for both of them.

For the younger, it was impossible. She'd spent her entire life working to get back here, and now that she was… she would just have to let Danielle die!

This was impossible… This… could not be happening.

For the older, it was just as difficult -maybe even more so!

She'd grown up with Danielle in the twentieth century. They had come there by accident. Survived, lived, and grown used to the strange, new time together. Despite their differences, the elder Nora remembered those years as some of the best of her life.

Then, they had been separated in a hell-storm between two groups. For too long, Nora had been forced to work, not knowing if her sister was even still alive. Then, briefly reunited, until Dani had been ripped away from her one last time.

The older Nora went through her twenty years with her sister. For how much longer she would have these memories… she did not know. Once the causal factor was changed, and if Logan was successful, then this timeline would cease to exist for her… for anyone.

For a moment, deep in thought, the woman loosened her grip on Nora, giving the teen a chance to slip away.

Nora burst out of the carriage, boots landing in the mud.

The driver cried out at her sudden exit.

He pulled on the reigns sharply, making the horse rear back in shock.

Nora was suddenly shoved aside. She looked down, only spotting a flash of grimy brown hair before the child skirted out of sight.

In that moment, she felt the loss of weight as the tiny, deft fingers had pick-pocketed the coin purse off of her. It was a feeling Nora was not accustomed to, usually she was the one doing the stealing.

The horse jumped again, letting out a frightened neigh. A child had run into its path.

There was a sickening thud as the hoof made contact. The horse whinnied, returning to all fours as the driver regained control.

The light was gone from her eyes before she hit the ground. Her tiny form seemed to crumple in on itself as she fell, the body soon mixing in with the muddy street side.

Bystanders would later recall the young woman's rather dramatic reaction to the child's death.

They would blame it on nerves. After all, it was such a tragedy.

Nora put a hand over her mouth. She didn't scream -she didn't say anything. She couldn't.

Her older self slowly exited the carriage behind her. She saw that it was done, a single tear flowing down her cheek.

"I am sorry… Danielle." She murmured.

The older Nora paid the driver, ignoring his hurried apologies. Soon after he had left, so did everyone else.

A common street rat was found dead almost every other day. Another would just mean one more round for the coroner.

"Come on," Nora felt a tug on her sleeve. "It's done. We must go now."

Nora let herself be pulled back, despite the shock. When they were a safe distance away, she swore she could've heard the mournful wail of an innocent, brown-haired child being carried along with the wind; now truly alone in the world.

.

.

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Paris, France. January 28th, 1973.

Nora woke, alone, in the empty field. Her clothes were draped beside her on one of the oak tree's many sturdy roots. She had been covered up with a blanket.

Carefully dressing herself, she returned to the social world.

People spoke in hushed voices, huddled closely like penguins. Parents held their children close, suspicious looks crossing their eyes. There were road blocks and police patrolling every major road. Nora paused time to skip past all these.

From the snippets of conversation she heard, Nora gathered that there had been some sort of attack.

Her suspicions were confirmed once she stopped in front of the Paris news-station's main office.

Every television screen available was plastered with the moving pictures of blue-skinned people, and a man floating down from an official-looking building covered in flags.

Nora looked closer and saw that the man was Erik.

Oh. Charles, Hank, and Logan were nowhere to be seen. Only Erik, the blue woman… and another mutant. Also blue, just with more hair -and clothes.

This can't have been the purpose of their mission, Nora thought to herself.

She turned away from the window displaying all the screens, keeping her mouth clamped shut.

She was in shock -as was the rest of the world. Why? What… What had gone wrong? Who is the blue-skinned woman?

"They're looking for her." An old woman said. She had hobbled over to Nora, and joined her in front of the window.

Nora looked her up and down until she was satisfied she wasn't some future incarnation of herself.

"I was there, you know, when it all happened." The old woman seemed a bit over-eager to talk about the subject. Like if someone let her speak, she wouldn't stop. Like she had been waiting to tell someone all of this.

"What did you see?" Nora asked, easily slipping into her native language.

"Not much," the woman said. "That one crashed out of the window; then the floating one came down and tried to snatch her."

"He can control metal," Nora stated. "-At least, that's what I've heard."

The old woman readjusted her grip on her cane, back hunched. "Yes… I believe you're right. He pulled something out of her leg… looked pretty small, maybe she was shot..." She grumbled, "Who does he think he is!? Disrupting something as important as this!"

She turned around, but the teenager had disappeared.

"Damn kids..."

.

.

"Can you imagine looking in the mirror and seeing that staring back at you?"

Emilie stared down at her patient. The blond-haired woman waited a moment, then responded in English.

"Yes, I can."

"Where do you think she comes from?" Emilie mused absentmindedly. "You think she has a family?"

"Yes, she does."

After the strange wound on her calf had been cleaned and wrapped, Emilie left to go find some antibiotics.

Raven expected to be left alone, so she could leave unnoticed. But then another Nurse entered the ward carrying a tray.

She was young, with long, curly brown hair.

Pretty; innocent. Raven wondered what her family was like -if she had one.

Then she spoke, in perfect English, "He will be at Gare du Nord, at two forty-five."

Her brown eyes made a fleeting glance to Raven's face, then she turned tail and left.

.

It had taken Nora two hours in a time-stop to find the right hospital.

Though she wasn't in her recognizable blue form, Nora could still see the vague similarities between the contours of her face and that of the blue woman's.

Nora's future self made it look so infuriatingly easy… leaving such mysterious messages, then ditching before she could be asked any questions.

She had found Erik in the train station three hours from now, but then she had gone back to tell the blue woman, and so that timeline had been abandoned.

Nora made her way to the airport, time-stop in full effect.

Things were surprisingly calm considering there had been a 'terrorist attack' just one day ago.

Though there was some more rigorous airport security, Nora walked through there untouched.

She went into a bathroom, and came out in different clothes, carrying a walk-on bag and a ticket that used to belong to a 'Miss Brady Tyler'.

Nora made up a story in her head as they were called to board.

She was a Southern Virginia belle, returning home from the disaster that was the Paris 'Peace' Accords. Her brother, Mitchell Tyler the Third, had volunteered to fight in Vietnam. He had died there, and she'd been in support of the war's end ever since.

A few fake tears and the prospect of a bitchy freak-out would certainly put the flight attendants off of questioning her.

Surprisingly enough, the plane ride was uneventful.

No hijacking, or spontaneous lightning storms. No crying babies, either; it was a peaceful flight -the second time Nora had been in an airplane.

Even the turbulence seemed to be on an all-time low today, and for that, Nora was thankful.

People took little notice of her. Nora was sure to act out the mature yet rather snobby demeanor of the woman she was impersonating.

She had none of Brady Tyler's memories. She hadn't made any new contact since Trask's onslaught.

She was simply bullshitting her way through this -quite artfully, of course.

Nora was afraid of what might happen the next time she touched someone.

Her stomach rose as the plane began to descend. The pilot's voice crackled over the loud-speakers, announcing their arrival in 'approximately fifteen minutes.'

Nora nervously clutched the armrests of her chair. This flying thing in unnatural, she concluded. Convenient, but unnatural.

The passengers exited the plane in an un-orderly fashion, none of them noticing the disappearance of the young, brown-haired woman.

She almost missed the bustling business of it all.

Everything in the United States was so loud and in-your-face… it drowned everything else out to a point where you couldn't hear yourself think.

And sometimes, that was a good thing.

Nora stole a motor-bike and drove it -time-stop turned on, of course- to the first remote location she came across.

She was in a forest, somewhere in the middle of New Jersey. She ditched the bike. Then, keeping time paused, she made her way into the wilderness.

She needed time to think -she needed time to mourn.

.

.

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Silver Spring, Maryland. January 29th, 1973.

There was a knock at the door. For the second time in three days, Magda opened it to reveal three scary-looking, unfamiliar figures.

Two men, one woman; all dressed in suave, black suits, dickish sunglasses covering their eyes.

"Ma'am," the lead man spoke frankly, holding up a flashy badge.

"Can I help you?" She asked cooly, crossing her arms in front of her chest. If these 'FBI Agents' were here for Peter, they had another thing coming.

"We're here regarding the recent escape of a felon. Nora Green, supposedly a close friend of your family."

Magda shifted back and forth on her feet, careful not to let her nervousness show. "She was a friend of my children, yes. But we haven't had contact with her for many months! -I wasn't even aware that she had been arrested!"

Mój Boze, Pietro. What have you gotten yourself into?

"Yes," the man said. "The situation of her arrest is highly classified…" He smirked, "And from what I've been informed of, she was a little more than 'friends' with your son."

After that intrusive statement, the three agents let themselves in.

"A number of days ago," the sole woman said, opening the folder she was carrying for Magda to see. "Nora was broken out of her prison cell. You were the most recent connections to her… Has she tried to contact any of you?"

"No!" Magda's hands shook as she offered them all coffee. "Like I said, we haven't spoken to her since last July."

"Of course, of course," the lead man held his hands up defensively. "It's only our job to make sure. She is, after all, a dangerous criminal."

Magda didn't know what Nora was in trouble for. All she knew was that the girl was lost. And Magda'd be damned if she didn't help her.

Magda answered their questions as calmly and as vaguely as she could.

But then they brought up Jason. Brygit's father. The lead man began to question after Wanda and Peter's parentage, an almost gleeful smirk growing on his face.

At this, Magda stood up.

"I think you should leave," she said, slowly, calmly. "We have nothing in our house, and without a search warrant or a valid reason for being here I can no longer permit you to stay."

They seemed a little taken aback by this -her sudden change in demeanor. But it wasn't long before their kind expressions were overcome with suspicion.

"You're oddly defensive for someone who has 'nothing to hide.'"

"And you're oddly persistent for someone just doing a 'routine check!'"

The lead man took a sharp breath through his teeth. "I can see that we've intruded on your gracious hospitality. We'll trouble you no more, Miss. Maximoff."

She nodded curtly, seeing them out.

In the kitchen, just twenty feet away, Peter struggled to keep Wanda from bursting out into the living room.

"Let… go of me!" She growled through gritted teeth.

"No!" He kept his hands secured on her shoulders until they both heard the door shut.

"Gaah!" Wanda cast her arms out, throwing Peter back with a flash of red energy. "What- what is your problem!"

"My problem? My problem is you getting arrested for assaulting three federal agents! You looked like you were gonna beat the shit outta them!"

"They- they had Nora!" Wanda put her head in her hands. "They… had her… I was so close… I could've found her." She looked close to tears.

"No," Peter shook his head. "They don't have her -not anymore at least. -Didn't you hear what they were sayin'? She's gone. Someone broke her out a couple of days ago."

Wanda massaged her temple with her fingertips. "So she's out there… but now she's missing! We- we have to help her!"

Peter put a gentle hand on his sister's shoulder. This time, she didn't flinch away. "She'll be alright, Wanda. Nora can take care of herself -Just trust me. ...And if she doesn't want to be found, I don't think we'll be able to find her."

"But- but how can you be so sure!?" Wanda stuttered, her face turning angry again. "You're the reason she was taken away in the first place! The last thing I should be doing right now is listening to you! I need to be out there-" She stopped as Peter held up his hand.

He sighed, "You remember those three guys that came here last Friday?"

.

Thoughts?