That night we settled into a new safe house fairly close to New York. I stood at the window and stared at the familiar skyline beginning to take shape on the horizon. Strange might be there somewhere. Tomorrow morning would be the perfect opportunity to scope out the scene. There weren't any labs left on our radar now. No doubt they existed, but the hunt would be slower until I came across more intelligence. It's time to start looking for a way back.
If I go, that's the first step away from Erik. The thought makes me hesitate more than I should. I knew this was coming. Even if he can come with me back to fight Thanos, why would he? He's got his own battles to fight here, his own life to pursue. Why would he give that up to follow me into another fight? Anyways, they need him here. Someone's got to counter all the angry anti-mutant organizations. Erik can take them out on his own, Charles can keep him from going too far.
"You realize how stupid you were earlier fighting Victor by yourself?" Erik's voice cuts through my thoughts. I smile at his scolding. When it hadn't come up at dinner I thought he must have forgotten. Of course he didn't. Erik chose the timing of these arguments very well. He usually waited for me to be thinking about something else probably in hopes of catching me off guard. What he doesn't know is that I spent the last few years arguing with Tony Stark and or Steve Rogers at least once a day. I am a pro at arguing.
"I wasn't fighting him, I was stalling," I say with a small smirk. He won't buy it, even if it was the truth. "He fought like an old acquaintance of mine." This was also the truth, Thor wouldn't spar with me very often, but when he did, he used his strength and brawn in a similar fashion. Victor of course wasn't nearly as strong or fast or polished or even close to being as good a fighter as the god but it was a nice refresher. If Thor was thirty percent weaker and fought like the Hulk, then that would be the perfect equivalent to Victor Creed.
"He's killed plenty. I've never run into him before but he has quite the reputation. You're lucky."
"Erik, I find your lack of faith disturbing," I tell him as seriously as I can before I crack a smile and laugh. He hasn't seen Star Wars yet. "I'm good at my job, even when my partner is behind."
"You're very cavalier with your health," he counters dryly.
"I'd rather worry about the stuff that won't come back."
"Your pain isn't something you can just disregard. What if this was your last chance? What if death stuck next time?"
"Will it make you feel better if I promise to be more careful?"
"You won't mean it," he admits with a chuckle, his hands wrapping around my waist and turning me to him. I meet his eyes and soften at the worry I see.
"To you? It's a promise I'll keep. Yes, I'll still fight every battle like I've got nothing to lose, but I'll pick those battles with a little more care," I promise him. I tuck my head under his chin and hold onto his jacket. He smells like sandalwood and iron. Sucking in a deep breath I allow myself a moment to melt in his arms. After all, it might be the last time.
No one has ever questioned my inability to stay dead like him. Steve might have worried, but he never tried to stop me. The mission was always too important, no matter what it was. Maybe it was just guilt from the Potomac that made Erik care, but I had a feeling it was not. He didn't want to see me hurt.
"So I've been thinking," Erik begins, his voice rumbling above me. "It's time to move on."
"If you think so, you've certainly done some good. I know that's what you set out to do," I tell him, keeping my tone neutral. At least he can't see my face with it buried in his chest. I don't want him to leave. Maybe I can lie and say it's just because I like having someone to watch my six. Only an idiot would admit it's anything to do with his lips on mine. No, I'll keep the fact that I had fallen for him hard somewhere back when he pulled me onto the roof of a high speed train all to myself. At least he's saying goodbye. I wouldn't be able to find the words.
"Yes. But I think there is more that I can do," he states and I pull away and see the set look on his face with confusion on my own. "I'm going to come with you. You helped save this universe, allow me to help you save yours."
"You would...leave?" I ask in disbelief before I can get too excited.
"I would follow you," he corrects. "I think you need someone to watch your back. I don't like how you ended up here, a teammate trading your life without your knowledge. And, of course, some day you're going to pick a fight you won't get out of. I'd like to make sure you see the end of it."
"But what about Charles? Raven? This is your world, your entire life."
"They don't need me. I think they would understand too. Let me follow you, Annabeth."
"I could never ask you to do this," I state, searching his eyes for any doubt. "There's nothing proving we can return here. Erik, it's a one way trip."
"That's why I'm asking," he points out. I laugh and hug him tightly, a silent yes.
"And I'll follow you," I murmur softly into his ear. His arms just hold me a little tighter.
XxX
After strolling the entirety of Bleecker street for the second time, I was ready to admit defeat. I was positive I knew the street. The exact address I was less sure about but I knew it was Bleecker street. Nothing stood out. Maybe nothing stood out on purpose. The thought stopped me in my tracks and Erik nearly ran into me. He met my eyes and knew I had an idea.
Lacing his fingers through mine, Erik patiently followed as I tugged him along, keeping his head down and sunglasses on. I called off the search and we made our way back to the safe house. The answer was sitting in storage in Westchester. I need my suit. If Strange or associates are hiding behind some magic spell, I hoped the address would at least help in pointing me past it.
"I need to go to Xavier's," I tell Erik once we've made it back. Hopefully he won't argue too much. I'm sure Charles wasn't nearly as forgiving as I was.
"You think Charles will be able to find this friend of yours?" He asks and I frown. Charles's abilities would continue to astound me. Honestly I'm not sure I'm a big fan of telepaths.
Wanda is alright but she's also never really explored that avenue because no one really wanted her poking around their heads, especially after Ultron. She was warm though, kind, when she did. During the Ultron fiasco, she didn't mess with my head. Now that I think about it, I know she had the opportunity. I underestimated her heart. Maybe Pietro talked her out of it, he had a bit of a crush on me.
Hopefully she's safe wherever she is. It has been months since I've seen her. A little less than a full year if we count my time here but she had been a friend. Natasha was my best friend, but we didn't talk about Steve and I. Towards the end, she felt like more Steve's friend than mine. I think Wanda had known it was going to go sour far before I did. Wanda didn't tell me, but she pointed out some things that weren't quite right. She knew, hell, she knew before she even met Steve.
When I called off the engagement, she was there. I had expected Natasha. No one was supposed to have been able to find me so quickly. She was keeping tabs on me, probably similarly to how she kept tabs on Pietro. I could be mad but I'm really not. That night we went out drinking and I swore I would get over Steve. That's the night she told me about her and Vision. Hopefully they're keeping each other safe right now.
"No, but my suit is there. If I can get it powered on then it will be able to fill me in," I state, nodding as the idea grows roots. Hopefully Hank didn't upset it. If the mansion has a hole in it when we get there we will know.
"I know I said I'd follow you…" Erik begins. I smile softly and laugh.
"Not expecting a welcome mat? I was there on the plane with you Erik, Charles is still your friend. He's not the type to hold onto grudges, especially if he sees what I do when he looks at you."
"What do you see?"
"A good man," I tell him sincerely, he just scoffs.
"After what I've done? Especially to you?" He asks in disbelief. I sigh and cross the space between us. My hand catches his chin, and I turn his head to look him in the ice blue eyes I've come to adore.
"Good men make mistakes. I never claimed they don't. Ignoring a well constructed plan and instead encapsulating the white house in a baseball stadium was a big one. Honestly, I questioned your intelligence for it up until that second military base."
"What?" He asks, caught off guard.
"Yeah, I was fairly certain you were an idiot," I confirm with a smug smile, glad I was able to turn him off of his self-deprecating path. Insulting intelligence usually works with males. He shakes it off, not rising to my bait...sort of.
"That second base was a mess."
"It would have been cleaner if you agreed with the first option," I argue.
"There's no reason for you to keep killing yourself and we finished the job at the end of the day."
"Erik, you were out cold in that last containment area and I got shot twice."
"I got us out though, and all that would've happened if we had done it your way too."
"I could have destroyed their system all the way to the basic controls like those security protocols that released the sedatives before you even got there with the extra truck."
"And if they did a full autopsy before running any samples?" He asks dryly.
"Why do you have to ruin all my fun?" I ask with an exasperated eyeroll.
"Why do you consider hurting yourself fun?"
"It's a job Erik. One that I do very, very, well. Someday, you're going to have to start trusting me, maybe not to take care of you, but at the very least to take care of myself."
"I already do. My actions may not reflect it, but I do. Just, imagine our situations were reversed, would you react any different?" He asks softly, running a hand through my hair. My eyes close and I lean into it. Feed me and play with my hair and I'm done for. Side note, Erik is a fairly decent cook.
"No. I suppose not."
"Why don't you let me take care of you?" He asks quietly and I sigh, thoughts spinning as I try to formulate the words. I've thought about it myself a few times. Compared him to Steve like I know I shouldn't. Steve was the only other man I've ever held in the same esteem that I regard Erik with.
Originally, I thought they were very similar. Charles is more like Steve than Erik though. Erik is assured like Steve, but he only looks out for his own people. Steve wanted to look out for everyone. When we get out of sync, Erik brings it up and we solve the problem together. Steve never would have brought up his distance from me. He'd have hidden it thinking it was for the better and he did, if I had brought it up earlier maybe things would be different. That's not something I dwell on anymore.
I was waiting tables in Amsterdam for a month before I bucked up the courage to go see Tony. Every day I would see couples that reminded me of before. They'd make me regret breaking up with Steve and calling off the engagement. One day it was a blond man holding up a baby just under a year old. It was exactly what I pictured Steve to look like when we got that picket fence. I quit and started making my way to New York in the twenty minutes following that interaction.
Now I see Erik. That's the only concrete thing I picture in my future. Wherever I am, whatever I'm doing, I know Erik is going to be there. So what if it doesn't happen? What if I just poof over back to my own universe with no control over it? What happens when I wake up and have to live in a reality with a newly broken heart? I can't pick myself back up again.
"Because sometimes I don't think you're real. Maybe I'll wake up and this will all have been a dream. Trask, Raven, Logan, all of it. If that happens, how will I ever go on knowing that you were a dream," I tell him, taking his hand and placing it over my heart so that he feels it hammering away. "How could I move past this? It would break me, Erik."
"This is real, Annabeth," he whispers, grabbing my other hand and setting it on his own. It beat as fast as mine. "Perhaps this is the start of the end for us, but I'll face it with you."
"I guess my original assessment stands correct."
"And what's that again?"
"That you're an idiot," I tell him and he rolls his eyes and drops my hands in annoyance. I just catch his hands and finish making my point. "We both are because now we'd just be lost without each other," I tell him, closing the space between us.
"Care to ruin the moment one last time or can I kiss you now?" he asks dryly before I can kiss him..
"Says the man that just ruined the moment," I point out with narrowed eyes, pulling away, his arms stop me from going far though.
"You drive me absolutely insane but I have a feeling that you already know that."
"Erik," I whine, pouting now that he won't just kiss me. He just smirks and leans down. My hopes skyrocket but then crash as he brushes past my lips. I gasp when he kisses the corner of my jaw just below my ear. A laugh breaks through the heavy breathing after a wince from the sharp nip of a hickey about to form. Right, I am about to go see his friend Charles.
Erik seems to have decided my neck has received enough attention and tilts his head back up, my lips finally meeting his. Hands trail down my body, urging me to jump up and I do, managing to snake my legs around his waist without breaking the kiss.
Charles and Hank can wait.
XxX
"Would you promise me something?" Erik asks later, his voice opening my eyelids slowly to the dark room lit by the table lamp. I thought he was asleep. Honestly I think I was asleep.
"What?" I ask, frowning at the troubled look on his face. After what we just did, he should not be troubled. He should be satisfied, exhausted, and maybe a little sore but certainly not troubled.
"Come back to me," he whispers. "Promise me you'll always return."
"I promise," I tell him, leaning up and meeting his eyes. He smiles softly and I close the space for a soft kiss. This is a promise I'll keep. Him and I until the mausoleum doors close behind us...maybe even then too.