Howdy! Lucky you, you get another chapter pretty quickly! By my standards anyways... Anywho, enjoy!
Rays of warm sunlight shone on Laurien's face as she stood upon the outer grounds of the mansion property, her brain working furiously as it attempted to comprehend what had just occurred. She glanced around, finding herself surrounded by similarly confused students. A cloud of fire and smoke engulfed the area where the mansion once stood, while pieces of concrete and other various materials pelted the lawn.
A rising sense of nausea rose caused her to double over, clasping a hand to her mouth as she fought to keep her quick attempt at a breakfast down. Hadn't she just been in the basement? How had she gotten out here? Her mind seemed to be short-circuiting. The nauseous sensation soon passed, allowing her to take in a deep breath and right herself. She looked up and found herself staring at a familiar face from nearly a decade ago.
"Peter."
"Hiya, gorgeous." He beamed, with a pair of finger guns. The sun illuminated his silver hair and reflected off his matching metallic jacket and pants, making him rather difficult to look at directly.
Next to Laurien, Hank frowned, his body wavering slightly. "How did you…?"
Realisation dawned on Laurien as she recalled strains of a conversation she'd once had with Erik regarding Peter's powers. Erik had witnessed them first-hand during his prison break from the Pentagon. He'd described it as one of the strangest sensations he'd ever had the misfortune to experience. To be in one place before suddenly appearing somewhere else, with the perplexing feeling that you'd somehow lost time. Erik likened it to Azazel's teleportation powers, yet at a shorter distance and with far more queasiness.
Peter shrugged with a level of nonchalance that Laurien didn't think possible at that moment. She glanced between Peter and the students, aghast at how he'd managed to get them all to safety in a matter of moments. She knew he was fast, but this was something else entirely.
"I was looking for the Professor. I thought he lived here." Peter commented, squinting at the remains of the mansion.
Laurien exchanged a glance with Hank, the events immediately preceding the explosion returning to their minds. "They took him." Hank muttered.
"Someone took him?" Peter's brow furrowed in confusion. "When was this?"
"Uh, just now." Laurien responded, frustration rising within her as her mind wasn't working exactly as it should. She turned to Hank. "Those people and Erik, were they the Four Horsemen you were talking about? And the blue mutant…"
"Apocalypse." Hank finished gravely, his jaw clenching.
"Erik?" Peter chimed in, his eyes widening. "Like Erik Lensherr? Magneto was here?"
Laurien didn't get the chance to respond to him before a clamour rose from the crowd of students as they too began to process what had occurred.
"What the hell just happened?" Laurien overheard a girl's voice exclaim.
"Language, Marsha!"
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Denise." The first girl replied in a sarcastic tone, before following up with a "Shall I say what the 'heck' just happened instead?"
"I think the mansion just blew up." A boy's voice added.
Marsha's voice came again, its shrill pitch piercing through the air. "You think?"
As she took in the devastation of the mansion, panic struck Laurien's heart. "Oh, God. Where's Sera and the girls?" She demanded, strange streaks of pain and heat prickling up her forearms as her eyes desperately searched the crowd.
"Mama!"
Laurien turned around, relief sweeping through her as she saw Nina running towards her, with Sera pushing the stroller carrying Kasia behind her.
"Oh thank goodness!" Laurien gasped, picking Nina up into her arms. "You're all safe!"
"We were on the outskirts of the property when we heard the explosion." Sera explained, her mismatched eyes wide with shock as she accepted Lauren's hug. "Is everyone alright?"
Hank looked around at the crowd, frowning as he brought his hand up to his face, only to find that his glasses were no longer there. "Uh, I'm not sure, we'll have to do a roll call."
Laurien buried her face in Nina's hair, attempting to calm the quickening pace of her heart and breaths. Flashes of heat continued to streak up her arms, unsettling her mind and body as uneasiness began to bubble deep in her stomach.
The commotion amongst the students suddenly quietened, drawing Laurien's attention, and she managed to easily pick out Raven from the crowd. She was in her natural blue form, likely an involuntary instinct triggered by the explosion. The students stared at her in awe.
"That's Mystique." Nina whispered to Laurien, her eyes wide in amazement. "Just like my mutant action figure."
Laurien gave her a small encouraging nod, before glancing back at the smouldering remains of the mansion, realising that if Nina hadn't taken the action figures with her on their walk around the grounds, then they were most likely decimated by the blast.
With a sickening feeling, Laurien recalled how after the explosion and fire in Rotterdam, Aunt Mathilde had thrown out most of the twins' toys and stuffed animals, as they had either been burned beyond repair, or smelled overwhelmingly of smoke and ash. Both Roosje and Bastijn were unable to sleep properly for weeks, having lost both their parents, as well as the objects that may have given them the slightest bit of comfort in the aftermath.
Hank approached Raven, yet Laurien couldn't make out what they were saying, as the sound around Laurien seemed to fade in and out, all the while accompanied by a steadily growing high-pitched whine.
She flinched slightly when something touched her arm, only to see Sera reaching out to her, a concerned expression upon her face. "Are you feeling alright?"
Laurien blinked, the words seeming strange to her for a moment until she realised that Sera had asked in Dutch. She nodded, yet the high-pitched whine continued to increase.
A yellow convertible then screeched to a halt behind them. Laurien turned and recognized the passengers within as the four students who had taken care of Nina and Kasia the evening before.
The teenage boy wearing thick sunglasses, who Laurien now remembered was called Scott, jumped from the vehicle. "What happened? Where's Alex?" He demanded, rushing towards them. "Where's my brother?"
Peter glanced around at the crowd, frowning. "Pretty sure I got everybody."
"Alex was closest to the blast." Hank told them, his expression crumbling.
"No." Scott breathed out, a devastating mix of emotions erupting from him. He backed away, his hidden gaze turning towards the ruins, before then running off in its direction. The red-headed girl, Jean, went to follow him.
As she watched him go, a horrible heat overcame Laurien, seeping through every inch of her body. She slowly lowered Nina back on the ground, her head throbbing as pressure built within her. Flashes of images passed in front of her eyes; of fire eating away at the familiar blue wallpaper of her bedroom; of smoke collecting along the ceiling. Laurien reached out to grip Sera's arm momentarily, a silent message passing between them before she moved away from the others, stumbling over chunks of rubble.
"Oh God." Laurien whispered under her breath. A haze was creeping in around the edges of her vision. She needed to get away. She needed to be as far as possible from here. Her breaths were coming out in sharp gasps as she clutched at her sleeves. She pulled at them, momentarily revealing the patchwork of scarred skin hidden underneath. Another image flashed before her eyes, of the skin of her forearms bubbling and blistering from the heat of the inferno. Pain streaked up her arms again, phantom flames ghosting over her skin.
Behind her, she could faintly hear voices through the high-pitched whine. "Laurien?" Raven asked, concern and panic palpable in her voice. "What's happening?"
"Wait." Hank stated hurriedly, "Just wait here."
A moment later, she felt Hank's hand at her back, guiding her a little ways further away from the others. "Hey, hey, hey. Let's sit down for a minute, okay."
He took her arm and helped her to sit down behind a large piece of concrete, away from the view of any onlookers.
"Look at me, alright? I need you to breathe with me." He said, gently holding her by her shoulders. "I know that this feels so similar to Rotterdam, but everyone is fine. The girls are fine. You're fine. We're all here together."
She gasped a shallow breath of air, gripping his arm with a shake of her head. "But Alex…"
"I know. I know." Hank murmured, blinking hard as tears came to his pained blue eyes. He took her hand in his and brought it to his chest. "Just look at me, and breathe with me. I'm right here with you."
Laurien nodded, letting out a shuddering breath. She followed his instructions, attempting to match the rise and fall of his chest. She initially failed, her breaths still coming out in gasps, yet she kept trying, and soon each breath came easier than the last. With adequate amounts of air filling her lungs, Laurien let her eyes shut, cool relief gradually overtaking the heat throughout her body as she returned to herself.
Her eyes opened, finding her surroundings free of the haze that had previously marred it. Hank had tears running freely down his face, his face stricken and pale, and Laurien felt a renewed pang of despair. He didn't need to say a word, she could sense the growing guilt blossoming within him, a myriad of justifications running through his head for why he believed this was all his fault. Wanting to stop that destructive train of thought in its tracks, Laurien wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a fierce embrace. He gripped her tightly, slight tremors passing throughout his own body as grief ran its course.
They'd lost another one of their friends. They'd just gotten Alex back after over a decade of uncertainty and worry regarding his fate, and now he was gone again, never to return. A horrible voice in Laurien's head wondered if she'd actually witnessed him be engulfed by the explosion before she'd been whisked away by Peter. In all the chaos, it was as if he'd just vanished into thin air.
The crushing feeling settling into her chest was all too familiar. Laurien always tried to banish her memories of the days and weeks surrounding Sean's disappearance back in 1967. He'd gone to visit some family, and was due to return a week later, but they never saw him again. Of course, they had called his parents, but they too were concerned, as Sean had never even arrived at their house. By that time, Charles was taking the serum, but he endured the withdrawals and briefly weaned himself off it in order to use Cerebro. When even Charles couldn't find him, they all feared the worst.
Alex had retreated into himself, more sullen and uncommunicative than ever. The playful, boyish side of him swiftly disappeared from existence along with Sean, and never resurfaced in the years leading up to Alex being drafted for the war. Since they had lost touch since then, she couldn't be sure if he had been told if he'd ever been told about Raven's discovery of Sean's fate in Trask's files. For all Laurien knew, Alex had died never knowing what happened to his best friend.
When they released one another, Hank wiped at his face with his sleeve. "We should go help the students." He murmured quietly, his blue eyes bright and shining. "The sooner we get this sorted, the sooner we can come up with a plan to save Charles."
Laurien swallowed with difficulty, but nodded all the same, a steely resolve passing between them. Hank helped her to her feet and together they made their way back over to the crowd of students.
The young mutants were still rather stunned, murmuring in hushed tones amongst themselves. As they approached, Laurien noticed with curiosity that a student was holding a large water glass containing a goldfish within it. Laurien frowned, only for her attention to be then stolen by a bull dog milling contently about their feet. Beside Sera, Nina giggled, watching the pup as he snarfed down a piece of pizza.
Hank cleared his throat, evidently to call the students over and gather around him, but before he could, a strange sound in the distance met their ears.
"The hell is that?" Raven muttered, her long braid whipping about behind her as she turned to look for the source of the sound.
Before they could wonder for too long, what Laurien recognized to be the rhythmic beats of chopper blades grew louder and louder until a large military helicopter appeared over the trees and soared towards them.
"That was quick." Hank commented, squinting up at the helicopter.
"Who are they?" Laurien asked, observing the rather futuristic design of the aircraft. The exterior was matte black with darkened windows, and devoid of any insignia or name denoting its organisation. "It doesn't look like it's from the hospital's fleet."
"Military, maybe."
"Please remain calm." An automated voice blared loudly from the helicopter's speaker, causing several students to flinch. "Medical assistance is on the way."
The message repeated itself over and over again as the helicopter slowly descended to land on the mansion's lawn, buffeting the blades of grass in waves of wind.
"Hey!" Moira called to them, waving her arm over her head as she approached the craft. "Moira MacTaggert, CIA. Thank God you're here."
Laurien looked over at the men emerging from the helicopter, uneasiness filling her belly when she noted that several of them carried guns. In that moment, she was glad that Moira was there to converse with them, as she wouldn't relish the job of doing so, especially considering she was technically a fugitive.
Laurien averted her gaze, instead reaching out to brush a leaf from Nina's hair. She then glanced over at Kasia in the stroller, who was beginning to fuss from the collection of loud sounds bothering her sensitive ears.
Before she could set about soothing her youngest, a sudden burst of cold prompted Laurien to look up. She deduced that the sentiment had come from Raven, who was staring wide-eyed at the newcomers. Laurien frowned, following her gaze and spotting a man walking towards them from the helicopter. He removed his sunglasses from his face, only for Laurien's heart to stop as she too recognized him. He'd aged in the past decade, yet she knew his face from Paris, from Washington, as well as from the attack on the mansion all those years ago.
Stryker.
"Wait!" Raven's voice pierced through the air as she lunged forward, but it was too late.
"Fire!"
In an instant, a blast of tremendous force shot out towards them, and darkness suddenly overcame Laurien's senses.
Fuckin' Stryker can't leave well enough alone.
I'm unfortunately very familiar with having panic/anxiety attacks. I learned a trick from a counsellor I had when I was a kid that if you figure out which of your eyes is your dominant eye, and cover it with your hand when you're hyperventilating, then it changes your breathing, allowing you to take calmer breaths. I don't know why it works, but I've used it myself and it's helped others with great success.
Right now, I'm absolutely obsessed with Masters of the Air on Apple+. I've loved Callum Turner since Fantastic Beasts 2, and now I'm psyched that others are appreciating him too. And I've also developed an appreciation for Austin Butler and Nate Mann. Honestly, it's mostly guys from the 40s that's got me feeling a special kind of way. But now the series is done, and I'm just surviving off Masters of the Air fanfiction...
Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's a shorter one, used to be larger, but I cut it in half for simplicity's sake. At least it means that I can get this half out to you sooner, and can then get to work on the second half for a bit later. Please leave a review!