Hey guys, sorry for the long wait. I actually took a break for a few weeks to mull things over, and I ended up pretty happy with how things are turning. So, for anybody who read Proxima: Beginnings and/or Proxima: Rhapsodies, things will be...different...

Thanks for listening to my rambling and enjoy the chapter

-Sera

~:~

XAVIER MANSION

As I drove into the garage, I was greeted by a familiar face. "Hey, Logan. How's it going?"

He frowned."What do you think? You didn't give me an explanation when I last called you."

"Let's just get inside. I think this is something all of y'all want to hear."

~:~

"So, they shut down the Tesseract and captured Loki, sending him on his way to sweet Asgardian justice. Plus, I planted a nice punch across that smug face of his."

"That's my girl," Logan chuckled.

"What's the plan now?" Scott asked.

"Not sure. I'll-" The door burst open and Marcos ran in, hugging me. "Hey, buddy," I muttered, turning back to Warren. "I'll deal with it along the way. And thank you for y'alls help with the cube."

"All we did was tell you about the machines," Hank replied.

"Y'all did more than that, Hank. You helped me get my friend back. I can't thank you enough for that."

"How is he, my dear? " the professor asked.

"Better than he could be, but he's getting there," I replied. "But it's not Clint who-"

Suddenly the alarms went off.

"Sorry to interrupt." Logan turned and grinned at me. "Wanna join us? It'll be like old times."

"Nah, I've had enough excitement this week." I hugged him. "Have fun. Stay safe. Punch ole Sabretooth for me."

He saluted me, running after the others towards the Blackbird.

I wrapped my arms around Marcos and pulled him tight. "I missed you so much."

"You almost died, didn't you?"

"I…"I sighed. "Yeah, I almost did…" I let go of him and placed my hands on his shoulders. "But I'm here now and everything's going to be okay."

He nodded. "Now what?"

"Pack your bags, and you'll find out." His eyes widened and he took off.

I walked outside, watching the Blackbird fly off. I heard steps behind me and thoughts even louder. "What do you want, Warren?"

"Can't I just say hi for once?"

I turned around and gave him a pointed look. "No, you can't . Because every time you come around, you always want to talk. Well, you had your chance six years ago. You blew it."

"Don't you think I know that, Ange! I regret what I did. I know you were trying to help. "

"Then, why did you push me away?"

He opened his mouth and closed it shut, and finally spoke. "I didn't want to hurt you more than I already did. "

"Did you ever stop to think that pushing me away hurt more?" He stood there speechless. "That's what I thought."

I turned and started to walk away. "I'm leaving tonight. Tell the others I'll call them when I get settled." He nodded and I walked off leaving the winged mutant behind me.

~:~

"Are you sure about this, Mom?"

"Not at all, but it doesn't hurt to try." He gave me a nervous look. "Trust me, everything's going to be fine."

"Last time you said that, you almost died," he replied.

"I know, bud…" I grabbed my bag from the backseat. "Come on, it'll be fun."

"Okay…" He grabbed his bag too and followed me out of the car.

"Let's head inside." We started walking towards the house, but I stopped. "Maybe we should tell them we're here."

"Why?"

I shook my head. "Don't ask."

"Angie, we've been watching you for the past ten minutes. Get in here."

"Nevermind then."

"And how dare you insinuate that-" Tony's voice cut off.

Once we got inside, Tony continued his sentence. "How dare you insinuate that-"

"Tony, shut up!" I clamped my hands over Marcos' ears. "Keep his innocent ears clean, please. I already had to have a talk about colorful language."

"Whatever..."

I let go of Marcos's head. "Thank you." I rested my hands on his shoulders. "So, this is Marcos. And Marcos, this is my Uncle Tony and Pepper, his…."

Girlfriend...Pepper said.

"Girlfriend."

Pepper held out her hand. "Pleasure to finally meet you. I've heard a lot of good things about you."

"Pleasure to meet you, too." Marcos replied, shaking her hand.

"Come on, I'll show you around while they talk."

Marcos tensed up. Code Red!

I smiled. She already knows about us. It's okay…. He relaxed and followed her out of the room.

"What's up with him?" Tony asked. "Seemed a little tense."

"He came from a bad situation. He's...still working on trusting people." I slung my bag over my shoulder. "And he's tense? Have you seen yourself?"

"Yes, I have; handsome as ever."

I cocked my head. "You're not sleeping. I can see the bags under your eyes."

"I'm perfectly fine," he exclaimed. "It's not like I went through a wormhole and almost died or anything."

"Tony, stop this. You need help."

"For them to tell me everything I already know?"

I sighed. "Last time you didn't get help, you almost died from palladium poisoning. I will not lose you."

"I'm still alive, aren't I?"

"Tony, that's-" I saw Pepper and Marcos coming down the hallway. "Hey, bud. What'd ya think?"

"This place is awesome," he replied.

"You should see the tower when it gets fixed," Tony said. "You're gonna love that place even more."

I smiled."Okay, bud. What's the rules?"

"Stay away from the basement, alcohol, and the record player. Ask the robot butler for help-"

"Robot butler?" Tony shrieked.

Marcos rolled his eyes, "Sorry, Ask JARVIS for help. And don't break anything?"

"Depends on what you break," I replied. "Just be careful."

Pepper smiled. "So, how does pizza sound? We can watch a movie while we eat."

"Sounds good to me."

Tony raised his hand. "I second that."

"Me three."

"Alright," Pepper laughed, dialing the number. "Pizza it is."

~:~

After Marcos passed out from exhaustion, Tony headed down to the lab, leaving me and Pepper alone.

"You doing okay, sweetie?"

I sighed. "I don't know, Pep. First, the breakup. Then, Warren came back. And...New York. I…" My eyes started to well up. "I don't know if I will be fully okay for a while."

"What happened with Grant?"

"I found out something about him, and he found out a certain something about me."

Your powers…Pepper shook her head. "How?"

"His job. And some other things."

"What'd you find out about him?"

I shook my head. "If I told you, someone could get hurt." Please don't ask….

"And Warren?"

"He keeps visiting…every once in a while." I pointed down the hall. "Marcos got involved once. He almost hurt Warren."

"Haven't y'all tried to be civil with each other?" she asked. "For everyone else's sake?"

I ran a hand over my face. "Yes, I have. But I can't get what happened out of my head." I sighed, "That's why I want Tony to get help, to talk to someone. Because I know what it's like to go through hell and back."

"You'll never be over it, Angie. Tony, too. You have to learn to embrace it, and not let it define you or your life," she replied. "When you met Grant, I thought maybe you had learned that and I guess I was wrong."

"It was…amicable to say the least. I thought he was the one but he wasn't."

~:~