August 18, 1992

Erik watched as the boy fell to the ground. He could feel something strange fill him. He remembered the look in the boy's eyes, the sheer determination in his voice, undaunted as he demanded that he be let go.

There had only ever been one person who had asked that, but it hadn't been a demand. It had been a gentle plea murmured to him as he stood with the power to crush her. The words had brought back a memory, and for a moment his grip had loosened.

The boy had run, and Erik had looked after him. Emma had inclined her head to Erik, and he had nodded. They couldn't allow more mutant blood to be shed. The boy was silly and misguided, but he was just a boy. Emma turned her fist to diamond and hit him on the head, sending him to the ground.

"Max!" Rogue yelled.

Erik felt himself turn cold. He knew that name, a name that he had quietly filed away in his memory and tried to forget. His eyes looked at the boy, who was now lying on the floor. No, that couldn't be Max. That many years couldn't have passed.

He remembered seeing Alex on the other side of the field. Erik had been ready to leave the site of his latest battle. Alex had called after him and Erik had turned, expecting him to spout some empty platitudes.

Instead, what he'd heard had shaken him.

"Lorna just had a son," Alex had said, "We've named him Maximilian. Max for short."

There was a slight pause. Erik had tried to muster some response, but all he'd felt was anger and a deep, deep sense of loss. He turned away from Alex without saying anything. He would do the same to Scott years later when Scott told him about Luna.

Had that been fifteen years ago? Erik couldn't believe that it had. The proof was lying on the floor though, knocked unconscious. The boy, in all of his foolish, stubborn bravery, was his grandson.

Another thought, even worse than the last one, came over him. He'd said that his mother was downstairs fighting. Erik tried to fight that thought too. Lorna was in Alaska. She was doing some sort of lobbying activity there, something to help disadvantaged mutants. She wasn't an X-man anymore. It was the closest thing to good news about her that he had received in quite a while.

However, that's what Max had said. Erik wanted to go down, to see what was happening. He wanted to give her a chance to come with them. There might be time to get them all out. It wasn't as though the building had collapsed.

Another thought told him that he shouldn't care. He had already deemed it too dangerous to try and go back for Charles. Wherever he was, if he hadn't already gotten out, he was beyond Erik's help.

Besides, he didn't owe Lorna anything. Lorna wasn't his daughter, and Max wasn't his grandson. He had cast her out, her betrayal too much for anyone to bear. She had turned her back on her family, on everything she had been taught and believed, to join his enemies. She'd fought them, had children with the X-men's field commander. Lorna was no longer his daughter.

"The hell!" Logan snarled.

Erik put his hand out to stop Logan from charging him. Toad was looking at Erik with wide eyes. Despite what people seemed to think, Toad wasn't stupid. He was a little slower than others, but he wasn't stupid. He knew who the boy was, who the mother that he was so desperate to rejoin was.

Emma got up and looked at him, her face hard. She must have figured it out as well. Her expression was one of vague annoyance, almost as though she was impatiently awaiting his orders. He wasn't sure that he had any.

"He better be alrigh," Gambit said.

"Don't be such an idiot," Emma snorted, "I just knocked him out. He was going to get himself killed."

She looked up at Erik.

"Anyone who goes down there is going to get killed," she said.

Erik dropped Logan.

"Perhaps," he said.

He glanced back at the small group at the other end of the hall.

"We need to find the professor," Logan said.

"Charles is lost to us if he isn't already gone," Erik said, "How do you suggest we transport a wheelchair through all this?"

He jerked his head towards Max.

"Nonetheless, Emma, you and Toad leave with Gambit, Rogue, and...Max," he said.

Emma's mouth opened.

"You can't seriously be going down there!" she snapped.

"The boy's mother is Polaris, correct?" he asked.

The name felt like bile. Lorna had been Magnetrix once. Rogue hesitated, but Gambit gave a sharp nod.

"Then she might be useful," Erik said.

"Magneto-" Emma said.

"Just get movin, okay?" Toad snapped.

Emma glared at Toad, but she hoisted Max up. Gambit took his coat off and put it around Rogue's shoulders.

"Don't be touchin any o Max's skin now," Gambit said.

"Why not?" Emma asked.

"Cause it's dangerous," he said.

He began pushing Rogue forward. Rogue looked at Logan, but Logan just nodded. Erik began walking down the stairs, Logan following him. He knew that Logan was giving him an odd look.

"Why the sudden change of heart Mags?" he asked.

"As I said, Polaris might be an asset," Erik said, "She's been an X-man for a long time. We will need people like her."

Logan snorted.

"There's a lot more to this than that," he said.

"Well, if there was, then, now would certainly not be the time or place to discuss it," Erik snapped.

Logan didn't say anything. Erik hoped that he had effectively silenced him for the time being. He didn't want to bother with him while his own emotions were so conflicted. How could he be doing this after what his daughter had done to him? They needed to get out, not run further into danger.

At the bottom of the stairs they ran into a detachment of soldiers. Erik flicked his wrist and several went flying into the wall. He could hear Logan's claws coming out of his hands, slicing into several more.

There were more sounds of combat. He saw that Logan was keeping most of the soldiers occupied. That gave him a slender window of opportunity to act. Erik pressed on, cursing himself, cursing his weakness. He remembered how he had felt for the first few days after Lorna had left. It had been pure anger, a sheer inability to feel anything towards her except the hate that she had left him with. He'd been strong then.

Then the anger had begun to dissipate. When he was sure that no one was awake or gone, he had broken down. Erik had still been angry, but he had felt the overwhelming sadness as well. Lorna had been his daughter.

She had been the last and greatest gift that Susanna had given him. In their entire relationship Susanna had asked exactly one thing of him: to take care of Lorna. He'd failed at that. He had nightmares about Susanna asking him why he had let her go, why he had shoved her away.

Erik rounded a corner. He saw Lorna standing amidst a group of soldiers. Her green hair was frazzled and soaked in sweat. More sweat dripped down her face, mingling with blood, both dried and fresh. Her shirtsleeve was torn and her step faltered.

It was the first time that he had seen her in almost twenty years. He had no words, nothing to say. Lorna landed a solid punch on the last solider in front of her. She pushed her sweaty hair out of her eyes and spotted him.

Their eyes met. Although she had aged, her eyes had stayed the same. They were still that same, perfect shade of green that he had first seen all those years ago. She wasn't a child anymore, she was a woman grown, a woman who had made poor decisions.

He wanted to forget that though. Erik had never seen her in her new life, not since she had married Alex. He'd always taken great care to avoid her. He'd meant what he said to Angel. He couldn't have Lorna and the Brotherhood, but seeing her again made him want to forget about the Brotherhood. She was dangerous like that.

"Father..." she whispered.

Her voice was confused, almost as though she couldn't believe that she was seeing him. Erik reached out to her. They were still too far away for the gesture to mean anything, but he couldn't help himself.

The wall next to them exploded. Erik was knocked back into the opposite wall. He saw Logan run up to him, his nostrils flaring. Erik fought to get to his feet. Lorna was struggling to get back up again as more soldiers poured in.

Where were they all coming from? The supply of soldiers seemed to be bottomless, and all of them seemed determined to find a way to destroy everything and everyone in what was supposed to be a haven.

Erik put out his hand and pushed them into the wall. He saw Lorna doing the same thing. Her eyes glittered like emeralds, her green hair a beacon in the dim light and smoke. Erik got up and he and Logan moved towards Lorna.

There was another explosion, this one greater. Erik was knocked back again. He could feel the flames begin to lick the room, could see his daughter struggling up to her feet, her eyes still determined.

"Lorna!" he shouted.

Lorna turned, just as a large shadow loomed. Erik could just make out that the owner of the shadow was three times the size of his daughter. Lorna heard him coming in time to try to push him away, obviously looking for metal on him.

There wasn't any. The man knocked her aside, pushing her into the wall. Erik rushed forward, heading towards the flames. All thoughts of how she had left fled from his mind. He wasn't going to lose Lorna like he'd lost her mother.

A hand gripped his arm. He snarled and saw that Logan was holding him back.

"There's no way around the damn flames!" he said, "Let someone with a healing factor go through!"

Erik pulled his arm back. Logan began making his way through the flames, his flesh sizzling. Erik could see that the battle was going poorly for Lorna. She was already exhausted from fighting the soldiers, and whoever this was wasn't giving her any advantage. He continued to bludgeon her.

Lorna managed to block some of his blows, and even get a few in herself. Erik could see metal objects flying, crashing into whoever this was. Lorna coughed from the smoke, and Erik could see that she was swaying though.

A burning timber fell, blocking Logan's path. He tried to push it away as the man tossed Lorna to the ground.

"Lorna!" Erik yelled again.

He moved forwards. Flames or no, he had to find a way to help her. He saw her use the wall to pull herself to her feet. Even though there was blood on her face and she was holding her ribcage, she was standing. Lorna stared defiantly at the man.

Erik could just see the man smirk.

"After everything, you insist on being on your own feet," he said, "Magnificent."

He threw another punch. Lorna tried to block it, but it sent her across the room. She slammed into the wall. Erik watched in horror as the wooden beams fell, some still on fire, burying her.

"Lorna!" he shouted.

The man turned and looked at Erik, his expression curious. Logan stopped trying to make his way through the flames, moving back towards Erik instead. Erik pushed forward. He had to help her. It couldn't be too late, it couldn't be.

Once more Logan stopped him.

"Look," Logan snapped, "I hate you and even I know this is a bad idea!"

"What do you know?" Erik said.

His eyes fixed on where he'd last seen Lorna. It couldn't happen this way. He couldn't outlive his only child. He began feeling for the adamantium in Logan's body, determined to push him away. His daughter needed him.

He felt a fist slam into his forehead. Erik slumped, black spots swimming in front of his eyes.

"Sorry bub," Logan said, "But we might need you."