"Hi, Eric!" Charles greeted him by the door.
"Charles!" Eric's face lit up. They've been through so much together. Sometimes as friends, sometimes as enemies. But Charles has always been there for him when he thought he lost it all. He was always there to show him the goodness he thought he no longer had.
"Oh my goodness! Hi!" Pietro said excited.
Eric frowned at him, confused, "Hi. You're the quick one, correct?"
"That's right!" Pietro smiled.
"I see you still haven't brought the whole school down," Eric smirked at Jean.
"No, not yet," Jean said, half a smile forming on her face.
"You!" Eric gasped when he saw Logan.
"Hi, did ya miss me?" Logan was still mad at him for nearly drowning him, but he remembered that one day they will get along.
"Sorry about...that," Eric said with a hint of regret. And if Charles wasn't in the room with them, he so would be.
"Peaceful thoughts," Logan thought. Or was trying to think.
"Hello, everyone!" Raven walked in.
"Raven!" Hank hugged her immediately. She left him again without any explanation, but he was so happy to see her that none of it mattered in that moment.
"I am loving this reunion, but we need to talk strategy now," professor said.
They came into the dinning area and sat at the table.
"Go on, Eric, tell us everything," Charles said.
"Actually, I think Mystique should start," Eric said. He never called her Raven. She would always be Mystique to him, and Raven to Hank.
Charles gestured for Raven to speak.
"I left the school to see if there were other threats for us, mutants," she said, "I was looking for people with ties to Trask, and I found one. His name is Henry Gyrich, but you already know that. After Trask got arrested, Gyrich tried to persuade the government that they needed to continue Trask's research, and also that Trask was right and they should have wiped us out a long time ago. He didn't get much support until Apocalypse showed up."
"Just one mutant to persuade everyone that our entire kind must be destroyed?" Logan asked.
"A very powerful mutant that nearly destroyed the world," Charles said. He always defended the humans. He understood their fear.
"This is my fault as well," Ororo said ashamed, "I was helping him..."
"He manipulated you, Storm," Charles said, "and Eric, before you say something as well, let's concentrate on how to avoid the carnage instead of who's fault it was."
"He didn't persuade everyone, most of the government officials know nothing about it," Raven continued, "There's a lot of secrecy around this...project. I only found out thanks to my ability to shape-shift," she said, changing into her natural blue form.
"So they are going to attack us without most of the government knowing about it? How do they plan to get away with it?" Jean asked.
"They are going to blow up some kind of a sewer system. There's supposed to be a group of mutants living in it," Raven said.
"Morlocks," Logan said.
"You know them?" Charles asked.
"Yeah. Can't say I've only had pleasant experiences with them," he said.
"Anyway, they want to blame other mutants for this," Raven said.
"Us? Why would we kill our own?" Scott asked.
"Because they don't have abilities like we do, they only look different. They want to make it look like we're doing the "cleansing process"," Eric said.
"We need to save them," Charles said, determined.
"They can be a real pain in the ass," Logan sighed.
"We can't give them the excuse to attack us. Besides, they might be grateful to us for saving them," Charles said.
"Guess it's worth the shot," Logan agreed.
"How about the sentinels?" Jean asked.
"They have a lot of the same abilities we do. Sadly, they found and experimented on more mutants. They found more abilities to transfer into the sentinels. And now they can sense the powers of the mutant they're looking at. They will be ready to counter us before we even make a move," Eric said, shaking his head.
"So we need someone to distract them while someone else attacks from behind," Scott said.
"I thought of that, but that won't work if they send dozens of sentinels. We don't have enough manpower," Eric said sadly.
"Yeah, we do," Pietro looked at Jean.
Eric perked up, intrigued. He's never seen her powers, but he knew she played a big role in defeating Apocalypse. He knew she was one of the most powerful mutants in the world.
"I'm all ears," he said as he turned to Jean.
"Basically, I can vaporize anything in a split second," Jean said.
"That sounds good. What's the catch?" Eric asked sensing uneasiness in Jean's tone.
"I am still learning how to control it. He is the reason the school is still standing," she said looking at Logan.
"When are they planning on blowing up the sewer system?" Charles asked.
"Four days from now. They'll send the sentinels at us a day after that, and maybe to a couple different locations. We weren't able to find out. They'll claim the reason for attacking us is that if we think mutants without abilities are below us, we surely think the same about humans," Eric said.
"But ya actually think that," Logan pointed out.
"I'm getting better about it," Eric said defensively.
While they were talking about the sentinels, Raven and Hank started whispering to one another.
"I missed you," Raven said.
"Why did you leave then?" Hank asked.
"I just told you why..."
"Yes, to look for danger...and to find Eric. It's always been him," he said bitterly.
"I was looking after him because I didn't know for sure if he could stay out of trouble. And it hasn't always been him."
"Raven, please..."
"It's also been you."
"You just left us, you didn't even say where you were going."
"I only left to look after us, and I was right. You trained them well, they didn't need me anymore."
"I needed you!" Hank wasn't whispering anymore.
Everybody stopped talking at once. Jean felt Raven's and Hank's emotions so intensely, it made her tear up.
"What's wrong, Jeannie?" Logan asked.
"I just feel their pain," she said.
"Everybody take a break. We'll talk more about this later," professor said.
Eric rose from his chair.
"Go tell him!" Kurt whispered to Pietro.
"I'm not sure if this is the right time..." Pietro said.
"There never is!"
Eric, Jean, and Logan left the dinning room first, followed by everyone else except for Raven and Hank. They were left there on purpose so they could talk it out in private.
"Was there anything else you were going to say?" Charles asked Eric.
"That was pretty much it," Eric shrugged.
"Okay. While Raven and Hank are catching up, I want you all to think about what we should do. Then we'll listen to everyone's ideas and make a plan. I'll be outside if you need anything. Fresh air helps me think," Charles said.
"You know what, that sounds like a great idea!" Jean said. Taking a walk and thinking every evening has become a routine for her recently.
"Let's just all go then!" Eric said.
Jean looked around. Professor and Moira were next to his second favorite tree. His absolute favorite was unfortunately destroyed by Scott when he tested he powers. Kurt and Scott seemed heavily engaged in discussing their ideas, while Ororo and Jubilee seemed to be talking about something totally different. Then she spotted Pietro slowly walking up to Eric. He was very nervous. He kept stopping and taking a deep breath after every couple of steps he took.
"Are you going to tell him?" Jean asked him telepathically.
Pietro turned around searching for her.
"Should I?" he thought when he found her.
"Yes, hurry!" she said when Eric headed over to professor.
Pietro started walking with more confidence, but Eric was already very close to Charles.
"I could use my super speed, but that would freak him out," he thought.
"Arrrgh!" Jean grunted in frustration when Eric reached the professor.
Pietro shrugged his shoulders, "Next time!" he thought.
"What was that?" Logan asked.
"Don't freak out," Jean spoke very softly, "but Magneto is Quicksilver's father."
"WHAT?!" Logan shouted, startling everyone.
"Shhhhh," Jean placed her finger on his mouth.
"What?" he whispered.
"I know, crazy, right?"
"But how did that happen? I mean, I know how it happened...but...so Magneto doesn't know?"
"No, he hasn't told him yet."
"Wow, Eric is in for a surprise," Logan chuckled.
"If Quicksilver ever tells him," Jean rolled her eyes.
"You had quite a day today. How ya feelin', Red?" Logan asked.
"Really good, actually," she said before she kissed him.
"Well, I feel good myself," he smiled.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Anythin'."
"What did Scott want from you in the danger room?"
"He came to apologize for the other day."
"Oh really, that's great! I forgot to ask why you two got in a fight in the first place," she said.
"We both lost our temper," Logan admitted, "but it started when he asked me what we were doin' in the danger room after practices."
"Oh my goodness," Jean could totally imagine what Logan's answer was.
"D'ya know who told him? It's been buggin' me for a while."
"No, sorry."
"Too bad. I'd like to know if I owe the Elf an apology."
"Elf?" Jean asked confused.
"Nightcrawler," Logan said.
"Oh, I see the resemblance," she laughed.
Ororo and Jubilee walked up to them.
"Hi guys, what are you talking about?" Jubilee asked.
"We were wondering who told Scott about us practicing alone before he nearly challenged Logan to a duel," Jean said.
"Oh. That would actually be me," Jubilee took a step back just in case Logan's temper gets the best of him.
"You're the blabbermouth!" Logan said.
"Yeah...I'm sorry," she said, giving Logan her best puppy eyes.
"Well, looks like you owe the Elf an apology," Jean said smiling.