Longest chapter yet! A nice juicy one to get the plot started. Enjoy!
The baby was born exactly a month after Sera had arrived on their doorstep. Upon midday of August 17th, Laurien's water broke and she gave a call to the factory, reaching the secretary, Jeszie, their friend Anatol's girlfriend. Laurien listened as she heard Jeszie announce over the factory loud speaker that Henryk needed to "get his ass over to the hospital in the town over, or incur his wife's wrath." Laurien thanked her with a laugh when she was back on the line, before then asking Sera if she could drive them to the hospital.
After Sera had taken them on a nauseating ride, Laurien was admitted. Her impression of hospitals hadn't changed since her stint in the Floridian hospital after their Cuban excursion. The room was hot and very uncomfortable, as the air conditioning had long since been broken. She was sweating profusely from enduring the combined effort of both the heat and the pain setting her body on fire. The nurse looked even worse than Laurien felt as she went through all of the delivery protocol that Laurien herself had told many expecting mothers during her time at the hospital in New York. She was very glad when Erik arrived only twenty minutes after they had, still in his work clothes and with traces of soot outlining the creases of his face.
"Didn't miss anything, did I?" He asked breathlessly as he kissed Laurien on the forehead.
"Nope, still pregnant." She joked, giving him a smile that was quickly transformed into a grimace as she shifted herself to a more comfortable position in the hospital bed. "You had good timing, they're going to be taking me in soon."
Erik took her hand in his, bringing his lips to her knuckles. "How are you feeling?"
She sighed, revelling in his reassuring aura. "Ready."
"I bet you are." He said smirking, before looking around the room. "Where's Nina?"
"Sera took her to the washroom not too long ago. They should be back soon."
"Have we decided on names?" Erik asked, furrowing his brow as he tried to recall their conversation through the adrenaline coursing through him.
Laurien groaned as a contraction hit her, making Erik wince as her grip on his hand became painful. "I believe the last we spoke on the matter that we had decided upon Kasia for a girl, or Ari for a boy."
"Ah, that sounds about right."
Just then, Sera entered the room alongside Nina who was carrying a teddy bear in her hands. When they reached her bed, Nina proudly held out the bear to Laurien, a goofy grin on her face. "Here, Mama."
"Oh, thank you, kochanie. He's lovely!" Laurien exclaimed as she took the bear with her free hand and got a better look at him, trying to keep her voice upbeat as the contractions continued. "You know what? I think that he needs a name? What shall his name be, Nina?"
Nina took barely any time to think before she announced, "Bilbo!" eliciting a laugh from her family.
"That's a wonderful name! Bilbo the bear for your little brother or sister." Erik praised, stroking Nina's hair. He glanced up at the entering nurses, who began to prep Laurien's bed to be moved. "But I think that you'd better hold on to Bilbo for Mama."
Laurien handed back Bilbo to Nina before the contraction worsened and made her gasp aloud in pain. "Christ." She hissed, her eyes squeezed shut.
"You're going to be okay, right Mama? Nina asked nervously, clutching the bear to her chest.
"Mama's going to be fine, liebling. How about you wait with Aunty Sera outside?" Erik suggested, allowing Sera to guide Nina back into the hallway. He turned back to Laurien as they began wheeling her towards the doorway. "Are you ready for this?"
Laurien huffed a small breath of laughter through her pain. "Ready as I'll ever be."
The delivery was mercifully quick, and they were rewarded with a beautiful baby girl; Kasia Gurzsky. As she held her daughter to her chest for the first time, a swell of indescribable emotion swept throughout Laurien's body. The sensation accumulated in her chest, bringing tears to her eyes as she finally allowed herself to relax in Erik's comforting embrace.
"Well done, my darling." He murmured quietly, his words for her alone, as he pressed his lips gently to her temple. "She's perfect."
And she was. Just like Nina when she was born, Kasia was the most amazing little thing. Laurien couldn't quite believe that she had a part in making something so beautiful. While she did think it was odd that Kasia hadn't opened her eyes within the time since her delivery, she was assured by the doctor that it may take a bit of coaxing, and it would most certainly occur within the next few hours.
Nina and Sera were soon permitted to see the baby and, in hushed and awe-filled tones, Nina fawned over how much bigger Bilbo the bear was than Kasia. After a nurse took Kasia to the nursery, Laurien dozed off for what felt like only a few seconds, but when she awoke, the dying sunlight stained the sky through her window. She blinked away the sleep in her eyes and turned over to find Erik sitting in a chair to her left.
Noticing that she was awake from her stirring, he reached over and took her hand in his as he gave her a kiss. "How are you doing?" He asked, rubbing his thumb back and forth over the back of her hand.
"Good. Tired." She smiled sleepily before glancing around at the darkened, empty room. "Where's Nina and Sera?"
"It got a bit late and Nina was nodding off, so I sent them home. Took a bit of convincing that it wouldn't be as comfortable sleeping here than in her own bed." He explained, before then giving her a cheeky look. "You know, I'm starting to think that keeping Sera around was a great idea."
"Oh, you're just now starting to think that, huh? Good Lord, Henryk." Laurien teased, making them both chuckle softly. "What about you? Where are you sleeping?"
"Oh, they've got me all set up with a little cot of my own right here." He said, gesturing to the other side of her bed where the aforementioned cot had been prepared.
"Cozy." She murmured, bringing his hand up to her lips to kiss.
They were suddenly interrupted when a dishevelled looking doctor strode into their room, a strange look upon his face. "You are the parents of Kasia Gurzsky, right?"
Erik stood up, still holding Laurien's hand tightly in his own. "Yes, is there something wrong?"
"Nothing wrong exactly, it's just–" The doctor paused with an open mouth, as if failing to put what he wanted to say into words. "You wouldn't happen to have a family history of mutations, would you?"
Laurien's heart plummeted, feeling a collective wave of fear pass through both herself and Erik. "My sister and I have mutations in our eyes, but that's it." She quickly stated, tightening her grip on Erik's hand to steady him.
"Ah," The doctor declared, seemingly somewhat relieved. "That would explain it."
"Kasia has a mutation?" Erik asked, his voice wavering slightly as he attempted to prompt the doctor into explaining.
"Uh, yes. She opened her eyes and appears to have a rare combination of heterochromia, where one eye is blue, and the other is a quite vivid shade of violet." The doctor stared off into the corner of the room as he stood in a state of silent awe.
Both Laurien and Erik looked expectantly at the man, wondering if he was finished.
"Ah, sorry. I'm Dr. Ruzek." He elaborated once he snapped out of his reverie, a bit flustered as he walked forward and extended his hand to them. "I've been reading up about mutant cases like this. I never expected to come across one myself."
Erik took his hand, giving it an overly stiff shake before releasing him. The doctor then continued on with his ramblings. "I would advise you to keep a close watch of your daughter when she is nearing puberty, as I believe that an additional mutation may reveal itself."
Laurien nodded quickly, giving him a forced smile. "Thank you, Dr. Ruzek."
"Pleasure is all mine, really." He stated, retreating with a raised hand of farewell. "Goodbye now."
And with that, he was gone.
Erik took a deep breath before sitting himself down next to her on the bed, agitation now simmering beneath his skin. Laurien ran her free hand comfortingly up and down his arm, hoping to ease this new worry before it got the better of him. They knew that it was a risk, having children together while attempting to remain under the radar. The likelihood of their children having mutations was almost a distinct certainty, and it effectively put them under the watchful eyes of others. While Nina's mutation could be explained as her simply having a way with animals, Kasia's would be much more apparent due to the betrayal of her eyes. Laurien had been forced to manage the same issue with her own mutation throughout her life; the sudden shift of their hues meant that she could never truly hide in plain sight without the help of sunglasses, which of course she couldn't wear full time. Controlling her emotions had been a major aspect of her life, as was probably the case with any mutation. Despite her fears, a spark of hope glimmered to life within her as she thought back to the conversation she'd had with Sera when she'd first arrived in Poland. If the other woman was correct in her observation of the world around them and its view of mutants, life would be significantly kinder to their children than it had been to them.
"Well, I guess we know that the baby is definitely mine." Laurien said, eliciting a sudden snort of laughter from Erik.
A month later, the family had gotten into the swing of things with a new baby around the house. Sera was a great help as predicted, and gave Laurien someone to hand Kasia off to if her migraines reached a peak while Erik was at work. Sera's presence also permitted Laurien and Erik to spend more quality time with Nina, so that she wouldn't feel forgotten with the new baby. While their days were often hectic and busy since the family's newest addition, Laurien's heart felt fuller than ever. Erik was working hard at the factory as usual, and Sera had offered her help to the family who owned the neighbouring farm. The father had recently broken his arm in a car wreck and was unable to do much around the farm, so Sera pitched in to help him and his wife where she could. Laurien would join her most days and keep an eye on the couple's three young girls as they all played games in the field with Nina. When summer seemingly transitioned to fall in a blink of an eye, school started once again for Nina. She had been buzzing with excitement in the week leading up to the first day back, excited to see her schoolmates and to tell them all about her new baby sister.
It was September 10th that Laurien would remember with a vengeance in years to come. She had just gotten up from the kitchen table to check in on Kasia during her afternoon nap, when a slight rattling sound brought her attention to the china cabinet. She had paused for a moment, and the next thing she knew, the entire house seemed to give a massive sustained shudder. She grabbed hold of the kitchen table to steady herself as everything in the house clattered and shook. Without warning, the cupboard door swung open as some of the dishes within tumbled out, prompting Laurien to reach out to grab them with her powers. She caught the majority of them, though two somehow slipped through her grasp and smashed loudly on the tiled kitchen floor.
Laurien swore loudly, only to wince afterwards as she hoped that Nina wasn't within earshot. She held the dishes securely in her power's grip until the shaking finally ceased as abruptly as it had started, and she then carefully placed the dishes back into the cupboard.
"Mama?" Nina's voice called from the other room.
"Nina?" Laurien quickly leapt over the mess and met her daughter in the living room, taking her into her arms. "Nina, are you alright?" She asked, giving her daughter a quick look over with her eyes for any injuries.
"Yes, but my deer friends were scared away."
"Oh, I'm sorry, kochanie. I'm sure they'll be back soon." She said, giving her daughter a small reassuring smile as she pushed a strand of hair away from her face. "But that was kind of scary, huh?"
Nina nodded, bright blue eyes still wide in alarm.
"How about we go and see how your room and stuffed animals fared?" Laurien suggested, knowing that the best way to divert Nina's fears was to give her something to do to keep her mind off of it.
"Okay."
Laurien followed Nina up the stairs and as Nina went into her room, Laurien quickly entered the nursery to check on Kasia, who was somehow still fast asleep in her crib. Nothing had fallen from what she could see, though some photos were precariously close to the edge of the side tables. Laurien quickly rectified them with her powers before making her way to Nina's room.
"How is everything?" Laurien asked, leaning against the doorway and watching as her daughter collected the mutant action figures who had fallen off her shelf.
"The mutants fell over, and some stuffies did too, but that's it." Nina reported, and Laurien could already sense that she was calmer.
"Ah, well. As long as everyone's alright." Laurien said with a smile. She turned to leave before stopping to add, "Oh, and maybe don't go into the kitchen until I say that it's okay. Some dishes broke and I don't want you accidentally stepping on any sharp bits, okay?"
Nina nodded, still preoccupied with her action figures. "Okay."
Laurien left Nina to finish sorting things and went back downstairs. She sighed as she studied the mess in the kitchen from the doorway. She was very thankful for her mutation in that moment as she grasped the individual shards of china with her powers and deposited them into a container. Laurien snapped on the top of the Tupperware before placing it on a high shelf, safely out of reach of the children until she could get around to gluing what she could back together. If that didn't work, then perhaps a craft of some sort would make use of the pieces.
An hour or two later, Laurien had just finished feeding Kasia in the nursery when she heard the telltale scrape of the key in the door downstairs, announcing that Erik was home from work.
"Hey, did you feel the earthquake?" She called from the top of the stairs, all the while making playful faces at Kasia to make her smile. "Thankfully, it was somewhat smaller than the one last year, only lost two plates this time."
Erik was uncharacteristically quiet in the living room, and she wondered if he hadn't quite heard her. "Hey, how was work?" She asked, carefully making her way down the stairs and then towards him, where he was scrabbling in the mess within the drawers of the entryway table.
He straightened up as she neared him with Kasia in her arms, his eyes spooked and his panic palpable. "We need to leave."
Laurien's heart stopped, the smile fading from her face. "What?"
"I'm so sorry." He said as he moved closer and gripped her shoulder with one hand while the other caressed their daughter's head, his fear and sorrow seeping through his touch. "I made a mistake."
Laurien's mouth had gone dry. "What happened?" She asked, her voice hushed.
"The earthquake, we felt it at the factory as well." He said, suddenly dashing up the stairs. "It destabilized some of the equipment and caused one of the metal containers to fall and almost crush a man."
"Almost?" She asked, following him up to the second floor and into their bedroom.
"I stopped it."
"Did anyone see you?"
"I don't know." He shook his head, pulling clothes from the drawers in a frenzied fashion. "But we can't risk it."
"Erik, please slow down for a moment." She pleaded, using his real name as she held out her free hand towards him. "You did a good thing. You saved that man."
He turned to face her. "That's not the point. If I'm exposed, we're all exposed. We have to go."
Laurien stood frozen in the middle of the bedroom, holding a wriggling Kasia in her arms as she felt her carefully pieced together world crashing down around her. "This is our home." She stated finally, digging in her heels. "This is our daughters' home."
"We are their home." He countered, breathlessly. "We've done it once. We can do it again."
Erik continued putting items into a bag for a while longer before stopping to look at her as she stood motionless. He abandoned his task and stepped close, bringing his hands up to hold her shoulders. Laurien knew what he was doing. He was trying to center her, as he always did when her nightmares took a toll. "Do you trust me?"
She stared unblinkingly back at him. "You know I do."
"Then I need you to trust when I say that we can't stay here anymore." He let out a rattling breath as slight tremors shook the hands upon her shoulders. His lips twitched as he searched for the words, guilt pouring from him in droves. "I'm so sorry, Laurien. I've completely destroyed what we've built here."
"No, it's not your fault." She responded, shaking her head. "I'd much rather you save that man than let him die."
Erik's hand came up to cup her cheek, a sad smile curving his lips. "No good deed goes unpunished."
Laurien let out a small breath of a laugh, leaning into his touch for a moment before taking a deep breath and stepping away, her mind reluctantly made. "Alright, I'll get Nina packing."
She turned and headed towards Nina's bedroom. "Kochanie?" She called as she opened the door, only to find a dark and empty room.
Laurien frowned and entered further into the bedroom, checking the closet for good measure. A steadily deepening pit of uneasiness began to burrow into her stomach as she then moved to the window and scanned the view of the yard. Her breath caught in her throat when she found nothing.
She quickly went back into the master bedroom, her heart beginning to beat faster in her chest. "Nina's not in her room." She stated to Erik, handing Kasia over to him. "And I don't see her in the back."
"Laur?" She heard Erik call after her as she rapidly descended the stairs, but she'd already reached the front door. "Wait, Laurien!"
Laurien threw the door open, only to almost run into Sera who was struggling with her keys on the other side, having just arrived with an armful of groceries. She looked up at Laurien in alarm. "Uh, hi." Her expression changed when she noticed Laurien's panicked gaze. "What's going on?"
"Did you see Nina as you drove towards the house?" Laurien asked, fighting hard in the futile battle of remaining calm.
The other woman frowned, shifting the bag in her arms. "No, I didn't see anyone."
Another pang of panic blossomed in Laurien's chest as she pushed past Sera and ran into the yard, eyes searching everywhere for any sign of her daughter.
"Nina?" She called out, scanning the perimeter of the house as her mind went a mile per minute. Could Nina have gone to check on her friends after the earthquake had scared them away? Perhaps, but Nina knew to stay close to the house when she did visit them, especially with the light slowly fading in the horizon.
"Nina!" Laurien called again after jogging further into the forest, her voice echoing through the darkening surroundings.
"Laurien, wait!" She heard Erik yell from the entrance of the house, but she continued forward. She quickly grew winded, her body screaming for her to slow down. She reluctantly obeyed, allowing Erik to catch up with her.
Once he reached her, he gripped her arm to prevent her from running off again. "We need to stick together. We don't have much time." He urged, his eyes flickering to her chest as her lungs worked arduously to keep up. "You shouldn't even be running out here this soon after having the baby."
Laurien nodded, her breaths coming a bit too shallowly for her liking, but she pushed through it as they both began to move further into the forest together.
They searched for what felt like ages before Erik spotted something in a small clearing. They rushed over, but once they entered the clearing, now immersed in the dark blue hue of approaching dusk, they realized that there were twelve police men, some armed with bows and arrow, while others were not. At the front of the group, the police captain, Mazur, stood with his hand resting firmly upon Nina's shoulder.
"Nina, are you alright?" Erik asked as he moved towards her, stopping short when one of the men shifted his grip on his bow.
"She's fine." Mazur told them.
"Then let her go." Laurien insisted, her muscles tense as she watched the men's every move.
"We will." Mazur assured them. "We just wanted to have a word."
Laurien furrowed her brow, trying to remain calm. "You could have easily had a word at our house." She stated as evenly as she could. Even at a distance, she could sense the cloud of tense apprehension surrounding the men.
"You're not wearing your badges." Erik remarked nervously beside her, and upon closer observation, Lauren saw that he was right.
"No metal."
Laurien's heart plummeted. She forced herself to resist the urge to glance at Erik, but the damage was done anyways.
At their silence, Mazur's blue eyes glinted from across the clearing. "Some men from the factory said they saw something today. Something that didn't add up."
Erik raised his hands out to them. "Please, put your weapons away."
"You've been a good citizen, Henryk. A good neighbour, a good worker." Mazur continued, ignoring Erik's request. "I want to believe that's what you are."
"It is." Laurien pleaded, glancing nervously at the other armed men as they all shifted uncomfortably.
"But nobody in this town really knows you."
"Yes, you do. I am Henryk Gurzsky." Erik insisted. "Jakob," He called, beckoning to their family friend amongst the ranks of the police. "I've had dinner in your home."
"And you were lying the whole time." Jakob spat back, his stance tense. "I brought a killer into my house."
Laurien felt something break within her, remembering how warm Jakob and his wife had been since they'd first met only a few years ago. Their two children had played board games with Nina while the parents talked, and they had all gotten along beautifully. Since then, Nina had considered Jakob's eldest daughter, Rebekka, to be her best friend.
"Is this you?" Mazur asked, bringing Laurien back from her now tarnished memory. He was holding up a newspaper clipping. "Are you the one they call Magneto?"
Laurien sensed a shift in Erik demeanor as his gaze fell to the ground. She glanced back up at the men, a split second plan settling in her mind as ice ran through her veins, spurred on by her powers, but she was stopped by a hand on her arm. She whipped her head around to see Erik shake his head minutely, blue eyes boring into her own as if trying to convey a desperate message. Laurien suddenly understood and gave a small nod. He then released her, and moved away. "Take me in." He commanded, raising his hands up in surrender. "Please, just let my daughter go."
Mazur relinquished his grip upon Nina, allowing her to walk forwards. As she met Erik in the middle of the clearing, he held out a hand and cupped her face. "Go with your mother." He said softly before continuing towards the men.
Nina kept walking, eventually reaching the safety of Laurien's arms, yet her eyes never left Erik. "Please! Don't leave me!" Nina cried out, reaching out a hand to her father as the men began to bind his hands behind his back with a rope. "I'm not going to let them take you!"
Laurien was prepared to enact their plan, but suddenly became aware of the sound of rustling feathers in the trees above them. She glanced up and spotted an unnatural number of crows perched upon the branches of the trees. The sight sent a chill down her spine.
"Nina." Laurien urged, keeping her daughter in a tight embrace as she cried for her father. "Nina, don't. It's going to be alright."
The sound of crows rose in a chorus of angry squawks as progressively more and more of the birds joined them, alarming the armed men below.
"What's going on?" One of the men demanded, their group glancing around fearfully as the birds began to circle them.
"She's one of them!" Another exclaimed as he readied his bow with an arrow pointed at Nina and Laurien. At that moment, the birds began to swoop down at the men, their wings buffeting their heads and claws swiping menacingly.
The captain shook Erik by his arm. "Tell her to stop!" He commanded, panic edging his voice as a bird came close to colliding with his head.
"She can't control it." Laurien heard Erik try to explain, pleading with the men. "Please, she's scared of you."
"I'm not going to let them take you!" Nina screamed again.
"Make her stop!" Mazur demanded forcefully.
"Nina!" Laurien exclaimed, clutching her daughter. Panic was seeping through the connection of their touch. "Nina, please!" Laurien got to her knees and held her daughter in front of her by the shoulders, trying to get her message across. She could feel the sense of profound desperation being emitted from her daughter, something she'd felt herself when she had witnessed the carnage after the explosion in Rotterdam. The feeling when she'd seen her parents' bodies lying bloody and broken in the yard and had to be dragged away by the firemen on the scene. Laurien brushed the hair away from her daughter's face, but before she could even begin her attempts to calm Nina down, something in the corner of her eye drew her focus away. In a split second reaction, Laurien pulled Nina protectively to her side and threw out her hand, a cry of alarm ripping itself from her throat.
The sharp point of an arrow stood wavering in place an inch from the palm of Laurien's hand, the force behind it causing it the vibrate slightly in her power's grasp. She felt Nina shift in her embrace to look at what had just occurred, and suddenly all of the birds seemed to disappear into the night. The forest was quiet once more.
Laurien let out a strangled gasp as she registered where the arrow had meant to make its mark and how close it had been to making it. She glanced up to see Erik's eyes similarly wide and horrified as they met hers. She carefully released the arrow with the head pointed at the ground, flinching slightly as she heard the dull thump it emitted when it made contact with the soil. Nina whimpered in her arms, burying her face into Laurien's shoulder. Across the small clearing, Laurien heard the slight murmuring of the police men, as they voiced what their intel had not revealed; that she was one of them as well.
An unbearable heat crept beneath her skin as Laurien let out a shuddering breath and slowly got to her feet, keeping a protective arm around her daughter. "Let my husband go." She commanded, her voice shaking just as violently as the rest of her body.
When the men failed to comply, their only movements to turn their heads to glance nervously at their comrades, Laurien's vision went red. Her hand suddenly flew out. The man holding the empty bow was sent flying high through the forest until his back connected hard with a nearby tree. He dropped to the ground like a ragdoll, causing the other officers to wince when the audible crunch of breaking bones echoed throughout the air surrounding them.
"Don't make me ask again." Lauren bit out slowly.
The man holding Erik quickly released him, allowing Erik to walk back across the clearing to his family. Laurien snapped the ropes around his wrists and handed Nina over for him to take into his arms.
"Now this is what is going to happen." She asserted to the awaiting men, trying to keep her voice as steady as she could. "You will let us go and tell your superiors that you found the house empty when you arrived. In return, your lives will be spared despite your reckless actions having almost taken our daughter's."
Fire was blazing through her veins as she was met with frightened stares. "Are we clear?"
Captain Mazur gave a small nod before backing away. Laurien kept her gaze set upon them, the horrible heat rising to a blistering temperature in her chest as she gave a slight twist of her wrist. The sound of twelve collective snaps and surprised cries of pain were heard across the small clearing as the men collapsed to their knees.
Erik looked at her in alarm, but she met his gaze head on. "It will take longer for them to get back to their superiors if they all have a broken ankle." She explained in German so that Nina wouldn't understand.
Erik nodded tentatively, a hollow look in his eyes.
"Let's go." She whispered, herding Erik and Nina back towards where the house lay waiting, keeping her eyes upon the men as they attempted to collect their fallen comrade who would undoubtedly slow them down even further.
They made their way through the forest wordlessly. Erik carried their daughter securely in his arms as Laurien took unsteady breaths, focusing on not tripping up as they hurried along, only now realizing that she wasn't wearing any shoes.
Once they reached the house, they quickly got inside and locked the door securely behind them. Erik let Nina down from his arms before slowly staggering into the living room.
Laurien frowned, her eyes lingering upon him. She tore her gaze away as she held Nina close and kissed her tear-stained face. "Start packing up some of your things, Nina. Only things that you absolutely need."
After receiving a wordless nod, Laurien then ushered her towards the staircase. Once she knew that Nina was safely in her room, Laurien carefully approached her husband, who had sunk to his knees on the living room carpet.
"Erik?" She asked gently. She kneeled down next to him, seeing that his face was wet with fresh tears, an intense despair burrowing under his skin. "Erik, are you alright?"
"That was too close." He stated quietly, his voice hoarse. His body trembled with the effort of carrying this emotional burden. He took in a ragged breath. "For a horrible moment, I thought that I had lost you both. If you hadn't stopped that arrow in time..."
"But I did." She implored, gently holding his face between her hands. "Please, look at me, Erik. Don't think about what could have happened."
He shook his head, a wretched sob ripping from his throat. "I can't lose you."
Laurien pulled him close in a crushing embrace, tears of her own running down her face. "You won't." She said as she tightly gripped the fabric of his shirt, feeling as if she were committing to a promise that was not in her control to keep. No matter how hard she tried to ease his fear through their touch, she found that it only mingled with her own, as she too was desperately afraid. "We'll get through this together."
Hehehe, and you all were worried that I was going to kill off Nina. Nope, I hate fridging, but I've probably been guilty of it at some point. Nina deserves a story arc of her own and to live a happy life with her loving family. I've also always hated how in X-Men: Apocalypse Magda's death didn't seem to matter to Erik, just rubbed me the wrong way.
I've been watching the new season of Game of Thrones, enjoying many aspects of it, like getting my mind blown every Sunday, but just not how a lot of things don't make sense any longer.
Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame were amazing. New Dark Phoenix trailers coming out every day now, looks like some interesting new material for me to work with...
Thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoyed this extra long chapter, and please leave a review, cause it makes me happy.