Chapter Three

I successfully avoided everyone until it was time to call Lucia. She quickly agreed to help, especially after I told her it was to save one of my boys. She assured me that everything would be taken care of by the next evening. We would simply need to stop in Los Angeles to pick up paperwork.

I next had a screaming match with Lotta, letting her understand in no uncertain terms that she was to stay at the school until Nonno sent someone for her. She'd wanted to come with, thinking it would be an adventure, of course, but I wasn't going to put her in danger like that. I finally got through to her that she wasn't going, after I threatened to lock her in her room until we left. Leaving her fuming in her room, I decided to wander the grounds. I desperately didn't want to see anyone else.

Of course, since I wanted to be alone, Fate had other plans. I'd barely had five minutes to myself when the glow of a cigar alerted me to Logan's presence. "Charles kicked you out of the house to smoke?" I asked, slightly amused even for the intrusion.

"Yeah, about fifty years from now," he grunted. "You finally convince Lotta to stay?"

I sighed. "That girl. I hope so, otherwise Nonno is going to be very cross with me. But she's crafty, and stubborn. I'll have to keep an eye on her tomorrow."

"She just wants to be like you," Logan said, surprising me.

I paused, then shook my head. "She hates me," I corrected.

"Nah, she doesn't," he assured. "Remember, I know these things."

Still trying to wrap my head around the concept of time travel, I asked, "So, are you two close in the future?"

He laughed darkly. "Lotta's not terribly close to anyone in the future. Well, my future, anyway. But I have come across her screaming her lungs out, and we've talked a bit. I can understand some of what she's- what she will go through. Though, hopefully, we might be able to change some of that, too."

I stared at him, letting the inklings I'd had since that afternoon come to the forefront of my mind. "I'm dead, aren't I? In your future, I mean."

Logan looked startled, then sighed. "Old Mags always said you were brilliant."

"You almost said all of you, earlier in Charles's office, that you were sent to save 'all of you'," I said. "And if Charles and Magneto are the ones to send you back in time, clearly they survive. Which means I die, in the near future."

"That's not going to happen this time," Magneto said, coming around the corner of the house. His fierce look warmed me slightly, before I could tamp down on the feeling.

"Yes, that's what we're all trying to prevent," I said dryly. Turning back to Logan, I ignored Magneto as much as possible, even for the awareness I owned of his body so close to mine. "Tell me more about Vietnam. What happens to Alex? I need to know to be able to prevent it."

He shrugged his shoulders, regret clinging to his every line. "I don't know. The plan wasn't to send me. It was actually to send Charles, but his mind wouldn't have survived the trip. I was the last-minute replacement, so I don't know everything. And I didn't join the X-Men until- well, for about fifty more years. I don't know all the history."

"The X-Men?" I laughed, but stopped at his confused look. "What are the X-Men?" Now it was my turn to be confused.

"How do you not- Oh," Logan said, understanding dawning. "McCoy pushes the Professor to let him start up the X-Men, after you and Alex and Sean."

Headlights on the drive stopped any further thought of these so-called X-Men. I knew exactly who it was. "Hank," I breathed, taking off running. I needed to see my boy, needed to see with my own two eyes that one of my boys was safe.

Hank stopped in front of the house and waited for me. I threw myself at him, for once not caring who was around to see my moment of weakness. His arms closed around me, and he buried his face in my neck. "Hey, B," he croaked out.

I carded my fingers through his hair, reassuring myself that he was really there. He was there, in my arms, and unharmed. He was safe. I started to hum, almost without thought, trying to shove as much comfort and reassurance into every note as I possibly could. Hank instantly started to relax, until he was nearly hanging off me. His tall, lanky frame nearly pulled me down, but I simply stiffened my legs and held him up. I was used to it, after all. It was just something that my boys did, whenever they needed some extra affection.

I knew the moment Magneto arrived. Every cell of my body stood at attention, even for my mind nearly screaming, "NO!" Hank caught on to my distress, straightening until he was glaring at the other man over my head. I disentangled myself, staying between the two of them. I wasn't sure how Hank would react to seeing him again.

"It's good to see you, Hank," Magneto said glibly. "I see you managed to control your furry problem."

Hank simply grunted. "Who's your friend?"

"I'm not his friend," Logan said with a grin. "In fact, I'm actually yours."

Seeing Hank's confusion, I suggested, "Why don't we continue this in Charles's office? It might take a while."

The four of us joined Charles in his office, where he was getting to know his nephew. But when little Kurt saw me, he squealed, "Ama!" and teleported directly into my arms. He gave me a sloppy kiss on the cheek, giggled, and cuddled into my neck.

It only took one look at Hank to know he had correctly guessed Kurt's parentage. The raw hurt blazoned on his face gave it away. But he shook himself and locked it all away a moment later. I was torn between pride and worry, both at how well and quickly he had managed it.

Hank was quickly convinced of Logan's time travel, far more quickly than I had. His scientific mind allowed for a far more broad view of possibilities. "So, we need to go to Vietnam to save Alex," he summarized.

"And stop Raven," Charles reminded.

Hank shrugged it off. "Where do we start?"

"I called a friend in the USO, Lucia, before my screaming match with Lotta," I sighed. "We just need to make a stop in Los Angeles tomorrow to finalize everything, and then we'll all have official covers."

Charles looked uneasy about it, but no one else had any qualms. "Hank, your room is ready for you," he said, clearly indicating that our planning session was over. "I'll sort something out for you, Logan. And, Erik…"

"Your old room is still the same," I said, knowing Charles didn't want to bring up old hurts for my sake. I headed to the door. It was past time Kurt went to bed, anyway, so I decided he could sleep in David's bed for the night. We could figure something else out in the morning.

"You left everything there?" Erik's voice at my shoulder didn't surprise me. I'd already known he was there, given my ridiculously heightened awareness of him.

"None of us bothered with the garbage," I replied. "Now, Kurt, let's go find you some pajamas, alright? I think David's old clothes are still in his closet. He and his mama won't mind if you use them."

I left Magneto in the hallway, or, I would have, had Kurt allowed me to. "Va!" he cried happily, but it turned to distress when he wasn't answered. "Ama, Va! Va!"

"Oh, for the love of- He's clearly not going to stop until you come," I snapped, turning to look at Magneto. "I would like some sleep tonight, and that's not going to happen until he does, so are you coming or not?"

I tried to ignore the smugly pleased expression on both male faces. It was difficult, but I managed it.

AN: And we have the next chapter! I really hadn't meant to, but Kurt insists on being a little matchmaker, though not on purpose, of course. He's just being a normal toddler, wanting his two favorite people. It's quite entertaining, especially with Bianca's grumblings. Stay tuned for more soon, and brigid1318, as usual, thanks for your lovely review!