Chapter Eleven

I still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that Erik had changed the future so drastically, or that he'd been willing to get shot to save my life. So, I did what I do best, shoved all those confused feelings down and focused on something else. It took me literally shaking the thoughts away to focus, but I made it. "What are we going to do with everyone, Charles?" I asked my friend, watching Ink move over to Sean and Alex.

"I don't know," he told me mentally. His worried uncertainty was unusual, but I understood. We'd never planned on this, hadn't realized there were so many people needing to be saved at the facility. "I'm not even sure if the villagers would be safe if they went home."

"And how are we going to get all the soldiers home? We can't have them just show up at home and get accused of desertion later," I added, somewhat bitterly. It felt a bit like the weight of the world was on us, and, if Logan was right, it actually was.

"Uh, Miss Serena?" Thomkins shyly asked, jerking my attention from Charles and my boys. "The villagers are asking what they should do."

I wanted to sigh, but Lotta and the boys were all watching me, waiting for me to figure out exactly what the plan was. There was no way I was letting them down again, so I flashed a quick smile, one that was completely false. "I'm working on that with Charles. I'll let you know when we've figured something out."

"Sounds good," he was quick to reply, but hesitant to add, "but I think Tien would like to talk with you."

Tien turned out to be the tiny elderly woman from the cells. With Thompkins's help, she explained to Charles and me that there was a cave nearby that was a sort of refuge, one that couldn't be found, unless one already knew where it was. I was a bit skeptical about that bit, but who was I to argue? I was the one who could use music to influence people. Tien also refused any help from us to get them there, not that I blamed her. After all, white men had been the ones to harm them all, in the first place. So, Hank took a quick look over all the villagers, Ink healed what he could, and Lotta dragged me into helping her fashion some carriers for the children. "They'll probably need to use their hands in the jungle," she said, turning to Logan with a blanket, indicating where she wanted him to tear it with his claws. "And this way, they'll be able to move more quickly. Who knows how much longer it'll take Stryker to start looking for us?"

Again, I noticed Logan slightly twitch at the name, almost as if he was repressing a different reaction. I filed it away to ask him later about it, once we were back on the plane.

"We've solved one problem," I said, after the last villager disappeared through the trees. "But we still don't know how to get everyone home without being accused of desertion."

"We go back to the base, Charles works his magic on everyone, Raven can help by looking like a general, and then we all load into the plane and go home," Alex said, still holding Sean's hand while Ink worked on healing what he could for both of them.

He focused on watching Ink work, until he noticed the silence of those of us around him. We all stared at him, in varying shades of awe. "I'm not just a pretty face, ya know," he laughed shortly.

"Right now, you're not even that," Sean rasped, grinning at him.

"Look who's talking," Hank butted in, with a cheesily happy smile on his face.

A tiny happy feeling flickered in my chest at the sight of my three boys, safe and laughing, if not wholly healthy. I had Lotta next to me, and Charles and Moira not too far off. The little boys were safe at home, as we knew because David and Charles could always communicate, no matter the distance. The rest of my family were dealing with the problem back at home in Atlantic City. I had everything I needed. The warmth at my back reminded me of something I didn't need, but desperately wanted. Sometimes. Probably.

Everything at the base worked even more smoothly than Alex had said. No one seemed to recognize us as the people who'd come in for the USO tour that morning, especially after the real performers had arrived. Raven shifted into a high-ranking officer, ordered some poor private to get the proper paperwork to get these men home, and Charles offered up our plane to get them all there. We were all aboard less than an hour after driving back to the base.

Mortimer turned out to be a pilot, able to help Hank in getting us in the air. "We'll need to spend another night in Hawaii," I told Charles, while making sure Alex and Sean, and the others we'd liberated, were comfortable.

"I've already made arrangements," he replied wearily. "I simply rented the whole house for two weeks, not knowing how long it would take to find Alex."

Raven snorted. "It helps to be rich, I suppose."

Charles looked a bit wounded at her retort, but I tuned them out. I didn't need to get in the middle of a sibling quarrel. I checked each of my kids, making sure that they were all comfortable and taken care of, and smiled when I saw Lotta with Sean and Alex. Sean was stretched out over two seats, already asleep, despite us being in the air for less than half an hour. And Alex was nearly there, as well, with his head pillowed on Lotta's shoulder, hers on top of his. Though their tightly entwined hands resting on his thigh surprised me a bit.

"When did that happen?" Erik's quiet words didn't surprise me, since that heat he always brought with him alerted me to his presence quite readily.

"I don't know," I confessed softly. "Though I'm pretty sure that's the reason Lotta insisted on coming with us."

"He could do a lot worse than a fiery, beautiful Italian woman."

His words seared through me, a combination of delicious heat and remembered pain coursing through me. I laughed softly, not willing to deal with him, not in front of so many people, most of whom were strangers. "She is a rather good choice, isn't she?" I quipped, then headed to a seat in the back of the plane.

But a hand around my arm caught me off guard just as I was about to sit next to Logan and propelled me further back. I glared at Erik, but his eyes begged me to go with him. Rolling my eyes, I complied, letting him lead me to the space normally meant for any stewardesses. "What?" I asked him, just as soon as we were alone. "What do you want, Erik?"

"You know what I want, Bianca," he said, crowding close to me, sparking more heat, though some of it was anger. "I want you. I've always wanted you."

"Leaving was a funny way of showing it," I spat back. I stepped back, only to find the wall behind me.

"You could have come with me! I wanted you to come with me," he pleaded with me to understand, moving so close, too close, to me.

Laughing bitterly, I retorted, "You know I couldn't. The boys needed someone, and who was that going to be? Charles was a mess, recovering from…" But even in my anger, I couldn't dig like I wanted, keeping the words that would have further wounded to myself. And even if I didn't want to admit it, I was tired of being angry. "Moira was busy helping Charles. So, who was going to look out for the three very lost boys?"

"I'm sorry, Bianca." The words were barely audible, and I felt them more than heard, with Erik's chest against mine with every breath either of us took. "I'm sorry. I regretted it the second you left that beach, but I kept telling myself you didn't need me, that I would only ruin you. I ruin everything in my life, so obviously I would ruin you. But I'm selfish, Bianca, I want you anyway. I love you."

Erik moved so slowly a glacier could have outstripped him, but he did it to give me time to stop him, if I wanted to. But I didn't. Instead, I stretched up to meet him, funneling all the hurt and want and anger and desperation I had swirling inside me into that kiss.

The moment our lips touched, the fire inside roared into an inferno. Erik's hands roamed, from my hair to my arms to my hips, and his touch left little licks of delicious fire, reminding me just what I'd been missing for five years.

Just as I thought my lungs might burst for want of air, he pulled back, just enough to look me in the eye. "I'm sorry, schatzi. I never should have left."

"You're right," I agreed, kissing him again. "And this doesn't mean I forgive you."

Erik's answering smirk nearly melted my knees. It was a good thing he still had his arms wrapped around me. "I'm alright with that, as long as I can keep kissing you."

"I would be very cross if you didn't."

AN: I wasn't going to have them sort of reconcile just yet, but Bianca is a very headstrong person and will have her way, no matter what I say. And we got a little bit of the real reason why Lotta came along! I hadn't planned that at all, but a few chapters back, she let me know quite forcefully that she's in love with Alex, and I can't say I blame her. I'm still a little bit in love with him, too. Thanks for reading, and a big thanks to brigid1318 for always faithfully reviewing. They make my day!