A/N: So, here is the first chapter. I am someone who would like to take things slow. I want all my readers to get to know the characters of the story since each character I have chosen has some important side plot. Therefore, I wont be introducing everyone's OC's in the start chapter. My rule is 2 to 3 new OCs per chapter so the readers should atleast know who they are before new faces are inserted into the plot.

XXX 21st-at Xavier's Mansion XXX

ACT 1: THE EAGLE CLAWS

The great doors to Beast's labs opened wide to allow Professor Xavier glide his way in. The bald-headed man wiped his wet eyes with a handkerchief, his lips were dry and he had an expression of a thousand woes. He held the handles of his floating yellow machine firmly. His companion, Dr. Hank McCoy, retreated from what he was currently doing and stepped aside to allow Xavier some space. The two mutants stared at each other before shifting their gaze to the floor, hearts laden with sorrow and regret.

"How is she doing, Charles? At least Rogue has recovered after attending the funeral last week but I am worried about Kitty," Beast said, his voice arid from not having talked in a while.

Xavier joined his hands together, brown irises quavering in their sockets before returning to survey Hank's gloomy face. He watched his furry, blue friend's giant arms return to working on the machine behind him. It is a wonder, Xavier often thought to himself, how a good person like Hank is considered a horror and damnation to mankind. Hank's appearance is enough imprecation for the most fearless, with his blue fur, large limbs and pointed teeth, but his heart was the purest of all people that Xavier had ever come across.

"I'm not sure if this is a good idea, Hank," Xavier replied after a few moments of silence, where only Hank's tools were to be heard. The latter's grip tightened around the pliers that he was holding. The Beast sighed and Xavier watched his friend's broad shoulders sag, his fingers letting go of the tools in his large hands.

"Charles, I know this will cause problems if anyone finds out about the time machine. However," the Beast faced Xavier once again with a look of determination, "I am certain it is the only way we can get them back. Please, just trust me. Once our mission is completed, I promise to get rid of this machine once and for all."

Xavier pondered on those thoughts. He sensed the sincerity in Hank's words. He knew his friend is a mutant of his words but the idea of a time machine to retrieve a dead man was far beyond Xavier's morals. The consequences of meddling with time are enough to turn the most apathetic man into insanity. Not only that, the deep hatred brewing among humans against all mutant-kind was spreading the country like a contagious disease. Was it not better to discuss matters of the future than wasting precious moments and getting glued to the web of the past?

"I trust you, Hank," the professor admitted, "And I also trust that you will destroy this machine once and for all after usage. For the moment, we need to worry about Kitty's mental health. Jean is not too happy with their counselling session. I wish to send Kitty back to her parent's house but due to the current situation, it is best not to leave the mansion."

"Oh Kitty," Hank sighed heavily and stared at his large feet, curling his toes inward flexibly, "I hope she will recover from her trauma."

"Hopefully she will too," his bald companion iterated before bidding the Beast goodbye and soaring out.

Beast wanted to push aside the heavy feeling in his chest. Why did he feel that Kitty will not heal? He implored himself to think positive but his heart protested otherwise.

XXXXXXXX

Kitty shifted on her bed. Her long dark hair was in disarray. She couldn't remember the last time she brushed them after the funeral. That did not matter to her much. She was never one to take pride in her appearance more than her intelligence. What mattered to her was her broken heart. She did not understand how her heart could be melting into liquid inside of her. The thought caused her to curl her fingers tightly against her palm, relishing the marks they left in their wake and the slight pain they left. The pain brought her back to reality, made her feel alive but most importantly, it made her temporarily forget her grief.

"Kitty?" a voice called out from the other side of the room. The voice belonged to no one else other than Anna Marie. Kitty rapidly moved onto her side and pretended not to hear.

"I know you're awake," Rogue continued in her southern accent.

Kitty huffed silently in defeat. How long had her friend listen to her sob in the darkness? At times, Kitty was ashamed of herself. She considered herself intelligent, incorrigible, so why was she destroying herself like this? Day by day, her appetite grew smaller and her sadness, larger. Whenever, she glanced into a mirror, she could barely recognise her reflection, which stared back with sunken eyes and taut eyelids. The vibes given by Rogue's voice pulled the younger girl back to reality.

"Kitty, I know being nineteen is still too young, but you are old enough to move on. I am hurt just as much as you are but killing yourself like this isn't gonna get him back," the redhead confirmed.

The words left a pang of guilt in Kitty's heart. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks and she bit into her knuckles to prevent her cries from becoming audible. A muffled sob escaped instead. Rogue was obviously true, her words as clear as water is to the eye but still, Kitty didn't understand why her heart refused to cooperate with her mind.

"Rogue," Kitty swallowed, her voice croaked in the stillness of the night, "He had asked me out the day before he died…And I turned him down."

Her lips quivered and she wanted nothing more than to kneel to the floor and cry a river. However, her body was exhausted and she cried earlier in her counselling sessions with Jean. Letting her tears to flow became a routine to hear. The lack of oxygen at times gave her chest awful constrictions and she was sure her lungs would shatter one day from straining too much. She heard Rogue murmur an apology and she was glad the other girl did not make an approach to comfort her. She was tired of people holding her tightly in their arms when all she wished for was space to mourn.

"You know, I heard Beast is still up this moment, working on a time machine," Rogue said after moments of mutual silence. Kitty's attention perked at the mention of this. When was Beast putting together a time machine? Was that intellectually possible?

"Bobby overheard him and Professor X talking the other day. I think they want to go back in time to prevent Magneto's death. Of all people, huh?"

Kitty was glad the darkness masked her shocked expression. Of all people indeed, Beast and Professor X wanted to bring back Magneto? What about their comrade who died trying to protect them? Her sorrow and fatigue vanished away that instant and a plan flashed through her mind like an illuminated light bulb. Her rational mind urged her not to go ahead with the idea that was slowly taking shape in her thoughts. She wasn't as strong as the other X-Men, how could she survive what she was planning to do?

"That's strange." Kitty replied.

"I know…" The other girl whispered with sadness in her voice.

Kitty was glad that Rogue fell asleep a few minutes after their conversation. When the peace of night entered the air, Kitty Pryde changed into her infamous X-Men uniform, with a yellow front instead of blue. She brushed her hair back into a pony-tail like old times, though it was much longer now. Pulling her boots, she caught her reflection in the mirror. For a split second, she recognised her former self once again, before the shadow of sorrow dominated her features.

Breathing deep, Kitty left her room, making sure to close it gently behind her. She made her way to Beast's labs, avoiding the alarm detectors on the way with her phasing ability.

XXXXXXXX

Pietro Maximoff eyed the time machine with suspicion. It was shaped like a giant shell of a snail. The end of the shell, where one would usually see a snail's head contained a large keyboard with symbolic buttons that were beyond Pietro's intelligence. It was true; he didn't have the slightest clue how to activate the machine. He asked Wanda, his smarter sister (whom he is afraid of) to assist him with his neurotic idea. She, surprisingly, refused. In a way, Pietro thought to himself, Wanda is correct. What is the use of returning to the past to prevent a man' s premature departure? Not only that, the man Pietro wished to defend was a father who never acknowledged him.

"It's for the Acolytes," he reassured himself though he knew he wanted his father back for other reasons. Unidentified feelings mingled inside him, confusing him as to how he truly feels about the loss of his father.

His eyes surveyed the various buttons on the keyboard.

"How in hell's name am I supposed to do this?" he mused, tapping a finger on his chin.

"What do you think you're doing?" a familiar voice resounded in the room.

Jumping in his spot, Pietro swiftly searched for the origin of the voice. His gaze found the deep blue eyes of Kitty Pryde. Her appearance shocked him. Her hair was restlessly pulled back, her face appeared sullen and she seemed to have lost a lot of weight since the funeral last week. She was clad in her X-Men uniform.

"Why are you here?" he asked, squinting at her warily.

"Like, I was about to ask you the same question," she answered, placing a hand on her hip and glaring at him.

"That ain't none of your business, Kitty-cat. Stay out of this." A pang of reality turned Pietro's attention back to the time machine and he hurriedly pressed random buttons in hopes of activating the device. He felt Kitty run to his side but he was quick to run away from her, appear from behind and grab both of her wrists.

"I know why you're here," he whispered into her ear, "But what you lost isn't as important as mine!"

He threw her against the machine, hoping the blow would have her knocked out and returned to the keyboard. Kitty remained sprawled across the floor, her sobs immune to his ears. If he wasn't in such haste, Pietro was sure he would have been ashamed of himself but seeing her mourn for somebody so insignificant was revolting. The determined, quick-witted Kitty Pryde was no more. The girl crying beside him was a mere remnant of the true X-Man from before.

A screen flashed with math formulae and equations. Pietro growled and banged a fist on the keyboard.

"How the hell does this piece of shit work!?" he snarled. Suddenly psychedelic flared across the walls.

"Warning! Preparing to initiate time travel! Warning! Preparing to initiate time travel!"

"Uh-oh…"

A sharp punch across his jaw forced the speedy mutant's head against the keyboard. Pietro recognised Kitty glaring at him when he rubbed his head. He wiped some blood away from his mouth. The girl's features were scrunched up in anger. She almost resembled Wanda!

Pietro attempted to run away but before he could, a blinding flash of light forced him into unconsciousness.

XXXXXXXX

An hour after the time travel…In the Triangle Organisation's Headquarters….

"Jager! There has been a spotting of two mutants in the café near the Bastion woods. Go check it out and try to capture them!"

Jager, baptised as Duce, closed his phone with a grin on his face, his fang implants exposed as he did. He stood from his chair, a height towering over six foot and rubbed the horn implants on his tattooed bald head. Reaching for his long trench coat which was heavy with hidden knives, he pulled a black hood over his face.

"Squad number twenty! Come to insist me!" he yelled to three junior comrades as he left his office.

"Let's go fishing for some mutants," Duce chuckled to himself, disappearing into the darkness of the night.