"I knew that you wouldn't be able to stay away."
Erik looked across to the door as he stood up, leaving Grace on the bed and to the mercy of the metal headboard which had covered her body. Charles was stood tall, his limp hair covering his face and creating a shadow. His gaze was set on Erik as the metal bender picked his helmet up. Charles acted with haste.
He pressed his fingers to his temple and found himself inside of Erik's mind once more. He did his best to look past all of his memories and he finally managed to control the metal bender. Erik involuntarily raised his hand in the air and Grace felt herself freed from her constraints. She moved from the bed quickly and snatched Erik's helmet from his grip, tucking it under her arm as Charles finally released him.
"You have your powers back, I see," Erik spoke in a low voice. "I am pleased."
"You came here to stop Grace," Charles ignored him. "It isn't Grace who needs stopping. You know that. It is both you and Raven."
"You always did think the worst of me," Erik said. "I am doing what I can to save our kind."
"You are instilling fear into humans," Charles replied as Grace moved to stand by his side. "You did the same thing on the beach in Cuba. Look how much you lost, Erik. Look how much pain you caused everyone. You have the chance to change it all, but your hatred still blinds you."
"Your naivety still blinds you," Erik quickly retorted and Charles scoffed, shaking his head back and forth.
"I may have been naive back then, but I wised up. I had to...having you as an enemy has shown me that," Charles said, his tone bitter and cold.
"I am not your enemy," Erik assured him. "I never once wanted to be your enemy. I am doing the best for all of us. I wish that you could say the same."
Grace's brows furrowed in confusion and Charles's hand twitched by his side as he slowly listened to Erik's words. His brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean," Erik spoke lowly. "You know what happens in the future. Are you willing to let it happen?"
"The future can change," Charles replied. "If you are insinuating that I should let Grace go then I have no intention of doing that. She is her own person and she can make her own decisions. She knows what happens in the future, but I swear to God, Erik, if you think that I would sit by and watch her suffer during childbirth then you are more of a fool than I think you are."
Erik looked to Grace and she stared back at him. Was he so scared of the future? Did he not honestly believe that it could change? Grace didn't know, but she did know that she was too slow to keep hold of Erik's helmet in her hands. He moved his hand and it flew back to him as she remained mute.
"Charles is right," Grace agreed. "I can make my own decisions."
"And what do you choose?" Erik asked of her.
"I choose to go to the President's speech tomorrow," Grace said, taking a step forwards and closer to Erik with each passing moment. "I will stop Raven and I will stop you. I won't let you continue down this path of destruction you have set yourself. I may not want to be with you, but that doesn't mean I will let you do as you please. I shall never do that, Erik."
Erik tilted his chin up, looking down his nose to Grace as she pushed a hand against his chest and shoved him backwards. She expected retaliation and she wasn't disappointed with the one she received. Erik reached out for her, but she quickly intercepted his movement and hit him across the arm. He flew into the corner of the room with brute force as Grace felt her energy bubble through her.
"Grace," Charles whispered her name lowly as she moved back to Erik.
"You're getting stronger," Erik said, moving his body against the wall until he stood up. "But do you truly have it in you to hurt me?"
"I have it in me to stop you," she promised him.
She was about to reach for him again, but she felt something grab hold of her wrist to stop her. The lampshade stand wrapped around her wrists, the metal splitting and grabbing her other wrist as Erik chuckled.
"You should learn quickly, Gracie," he urged her, kissing her on the cheek before he looked to Charles and the telepath glowered back.
"I suspect I shall see you tomorrow."
Charles didn't do anything as Erik brushed aside of him and moved for the door. It was only when the wood closed did the metal let go of Grace and she lost her balance, collapsing to the ground.
Charles looked to her and went to help her stand up. He wrapped his hand into hers and Grace stood tall. She looked Charles in the eye and he stared back at her, wondering what more he could say to her of the matter.
"He's wrong, you know," Charles whispered. "I would do everything in my power to keep you safe should...well...anything happen in the future..."
Grace smiled and kissed Charles on the cheek before wrapping her arms around his neck.
"I know."
...
Wandering the grass covered lawn in front of the White House was a surreal moment for Grace. She had left Charles to sit down as the President began to speak and inform them of what was going to happen. Grace pulled at the short green dress she wore, her eyes set in all different directions as she searched for Raven. She should have known that it would be difficult to find her in a disguise. It was foolish for her to think that it would be so easy. She lazily placed one foot in front of the other, looking to Logan as he walked past her with a small wink. Hank stood right at the back near the TV crews, looking out too.
Grace slowly went to take her seat by Charles again once she had covered the perimeter. She turned in her chair slightly, leaning down to whisper into his ear, her hair tickling against his cheek as she did so.
"Can you not try to read her mind?" Grace wondered.
"It is harder than you think," Charles mumbled.
He caught her cheek before she turned away, his fingers roaming her skin before he kissed her quickly and she flushed red.
"What was that for?" she muttered. "I don't think make out sessions are allowed whilst the President is speaking."
Charles resisted his scoff and cocked a brow at her, tucking his hair behind his ears and running his hand down his nose as Grace continued to stare at him.
"That was hardly a heavy make out session," Charles whispered back to her.
"Hardly like the time in Paris," she whispered and made a move to stand as Charles remained flustered in his seat.
He watched her as she sauntered the edge of the chairs and looked back to him, a flirtatious smile on her face as she did so. Was this her choice? Did she want Charles? He could be excused for thinking that she was giving him plenty of signs. Charles had heard Erik kiss her the previous night, but he had no brought it up in conversation. He trusted Grace to make the decision she wanted. He knew that her love for Erik would always be strong, but he only hoped that she could come to love him like that.
"You and your girlfriend should get a room, perhaps?" Logan suddenly sat down next to Charles as the President took a breather from speaking.
"Girlfriend," Charles mumbled the word. "I don't know if Grace would like to be known as my girlfriend."
"She practically is," Logan scoffed. "You just made out in public. You're basically there."
"A discussion for another day, perhaps?" Charles said, doing his best not to think on it. "Have you seen anything suspicious?"
"Nothing but a kid eating two ice creams at the same time," Logan shrugged to Charles. "Do you think she will definitely show?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Charles sighed lowly. "I don't know what to suggest we do. I keep trying to look for her, but she is keeping her thoughts very well concealed."
"Just wait until something suspicious happens," Logan shrugged.
Grace continued to wander around the grass, thankful that she wore flat shoes due to the uneven surface. She looked up to the purple Sentinels as they were unveiled, her eyes widening at the sight of them. They were the downfall of mutants in the future. They were the creatures which would ruin everything she ever knew.
She watched as they flew into the air suddenly and the men on stage looked shocked. The audience clapped and Grace continued to stare. She shook her head, sensing that something was wrong. Slowly, she moved closer to the stage, just before they began to shoot into the crowd. Bullets flew from their arms and people began to shriek loudly.
Grace watched with horror as everything was destroyed and the Sentinels continued to open fire. She knew she had to do something, but she didn't know what. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a man being restrained by an invisible force. It was almost as though he was frozen. She snapped her head back to Charles and saw that he had his hand on his temples.
His restrain didn't last long as a Sentinel rounded on him and he stood up, releasing Raven from his grip.
Grace ran back to him and stood in front of him, just as soon as the Sentinel opened fire again. She closed her eyes as the bullets hit her skin, but did no damage. She absorbed their energy, the shells falling to her feet until the Sentinel stopped. It was then when she held her hands out in front of her, a large fire aiming straight at the Sentinel and pushing it backwards and to the ground.
"Are you alright?" Charles demanded from her.
"Never better," she mumbled. "What the hell is happening here?"
"I have no idea," Charles spoke slowly. "We need to get inside and find Raven."
"I think that could be harder than we thought," Hank spoke in a small voice as he came to stand behind them.
"Why?" Grace asked before seeing the answer to her question.
A large shadow was suddenly cast over the White House, darkness covering it as the sun seemed to hide behind whatever was in the sky. The Sentinels slowly rose into the air, hovering above whatever it was that stood above them. Charles took Grace's shoulder by his hand and she felt her mouth drop open. She could just about make out the purple figure hovering in the sky, his hands outstretched as he controlled the football stadium he was holding.
"His powers are much stronger than I thought," Charles whispered, horrified at what he was seeing.
"He means to trap us all in here and kill the President," Hank said, stating the obvious. "It's the perfect plan."
"No," Grace whispered. "He can't do it."
She stormed off to the side, her eyes set to the sky and to the stadium that hovered above them.
"Grace," Charles called her name. "What are you doing?"
"I have the power to absorb energy, right?" she checked with him, her voice slightly shaky as she did so. "One way or another, Erik is going to let this thing come crashing to the ground. If I can absorb its energy on the way down...I can maybe stop it from landing...let the police in here...and they can restrain him before he does anything."
"No!" Charles yelled at her as the stadium began to descend. "It will crush you, Grace. It is far too big and this is far too dangerous. You cannot do it."
"Have a bit more faith," Grace whispered as she felt anger boil through her.
She looked to the sky as the stadium began to fall downwards and she stood right underneath the edge of it, her hands outstretched above her.
"Please...don't, Grace," Charles begged of her. "I can't lose you. Not again."
"You won't lose me," Grace promised him, trying to feel her power run through her as she looked to Charles once more. "And I will never lose you again."
...
A/N: A bit of a cliffhanger for you there. Thanks so much to the overwhelming response for the previous chapter. Do let me know what you think!
