A/N: While Marya and Django will always refer to Magneto as "Magnus," any chapter revolving around him will refer to him as "Erik." This will also be the last chapter before a timeskip of a few years.

Chapter Three

Erik

Everything that could have gone wrong had gone wrong. Erik regretted leaving his children with his friends, but he knew he couldn't go back and rewrite the past. What had been done had been done. Still, he knew he would never lose the feeling that he had betrayed Magda in giving the twins away. Everything had just happened so quickly, and he hadn't had time to think. It wasn't as if it mattered any more. He had a movement to take care of. He needed to make sure the Homo sapiens were put into their place, but he would need time for that, more time than he cared to admit to needing.

He had lost so much in the past several years: his mother, his friendship with Charles Xavier, his wife, and now his children. Still, none of that kept Erik from thinking of them all. Somewhere deep down he hoped they were all right, wherever they might have been. He wondered if Magda and his mother had met, if they got along. He wondered how Charles and his wife Moira were doing. He'd even heard rumors that they were expecting.

Erik shook his head. He couldn't allow himself to get sentimental. He had to address the problem of his children, or more specifically, the problem that they were going to be taken across the Atlantic Ocean. He knew he would follow the Maximoffs. Besides, he needed to get to the U.S. anyway. That was where he would base his operation.

The small part of Erik hoped his children would do well in the States. He knew they would have more opportunity there than they would anywhere else. And if they were mutants, and he hoped to God they were mutants, they would join him in his campaign to show mutant supremacy. Still, the problem was with the boy. Erik wanted to say he loved Pietro as much as Wanda, but something about it didn't feel right. He knew it wasn't his son's fault that Magda had died, yet he still blamed the infant. It wasn't right, and it wasn't fair. But the world had never been fair to him, and he had turned out fine. His impending war would mean losses, and it was a loss he was willing to take.

It seemed that other than Django and Marya, Raven was the only friend he had left. Then again, he wasn't sure she qualified as a friend. There seemed to be the mutual acceptance that he was using her for his gain. She had left for some time, gotten married, and had a son. And truth be told, Erik was amazed Raven had stayed around after he had done some rather… unethical things to the boy.

Erik was torn from his thoughts as he heard a knock on the door. "Enter," he said without turning.

Raven gracefully made her way into the room. Erik had always been amazed at the way she carried herself. After all, he had known her back when she was insecure and ashamed of everything about herself. "The Maximoffs are leaving at the end of this week," she announced.

Erik turned to face her. "They said they weren't leaving for a month," he frowned. He despised being lied to.

"Plans change," Raven shrugged. "Will you still follow after them?"

Erik nodded. "You should go as well. I'll need you there with me."

"What good will it do?" she questioned. "Two people don't make an army, and I doubt we can win back Emma, Azazel, Angel, and Riptide."

"We don't need them," Erik responded. "We never did. We got on fine before them, we will after."

"What do you suggest then?"

"I suggest we wait," Erik answered harshly. "Years, decades if we have to. I will not lead an unprepared army into war with the humans. We need the strongest mutants we can find, and we need to get to them before Charles does."

"And this future army will involve your children?" Raven asked.

"God willing, yes," Erik sighed. He couldn't remember when the supremacist thinking had started. It seemed as though it had been in his mind all along. That was what Charles had never understood. They were the superior race. They were meant to rule over the humans, not live among them. Evolution had a funny way of working, some would argue cruel. The dominant race would always defeat the others. The superior race would come out on top, always. "We will go to New York, blend for awhile, and then make our move."

"And if we fail?" Raven replied. She refused to admit she saw flaws in the plan, huge flaws that could ultimately get them both defeated.

"We won't," Erik assured. "We'll form a team, one better than Charles' will ever be." He seemed to get an idea. "Better yet, we'll form two teams. You will run one, and I the other."

"Seems reasonable," Raven nodded. At least then she would be able to against Erik if their ideals began to conflict more than they already had.

"It's settled then. We go to New York, we wait, and when the time is right, we act." Erik was convinced it was a brilliant idea, a foolproof idea. He would have his war, and he would have his world.