Hiya, new chapter! Enjoy!
Once they finished and paid for their meals, they headed towards the truck in the parking lot. The sky was blue and clear, as though celebrating the news of the astronauts' safe return alongside them. Laurien reached for the handle of the driver's said door, only to pause when she glanced back and saw that Raven was standing stock still in the middle of the parking lot.
"Hey, you coming?" She called over to the other woman.
Raven's gaze shot up to meet hers, eyes wide as though she'd just abruptly awoken her from a dream. "I-I think I need to go to Westchester," she stammered suddenly.
"What? Why?" Nina asked in confusion from where she stood on the step of the other side of the truck. "The news said that they're all fine."
"I know, but even so…" Raven trailed off, her expression pinching as she tried to sort through her thoughts.
A car was slowly moving towards them, yet Raven seemed unaware of its presence, prompting Laurien to quickly walk the distance between them. The moment she placed her hand on Raven's elbow to guide her the rest of the way to the truck, she felt a deep frustration brewing within her friend. It was evident that something had rattled her, and from what they'd just witnessed in the diner, Laurien couldn't blame her. She wasn't feeling quite stable on her feet herself.
"What are you thinking right now, Raven?" She inquired gently as they reached the truck, unlatching the tailgate with her powers and gesturing for Raven to sit.
"I'm not quite sure," Raven murmured, taking a seat and letting out a deep breath. "But God, he just put every single member of that team in danger."
Laurien nodded solemnly in response. "I know."
"I mean, they've been taking bigger and bigger risks lately, and for what? So that Charles can have his photo with the President featured on the front page of every newspaper and magazine?" Raven muttered bitterly, her mouth twisting into a grimace. "Meanwhile, the team has to deal with the repercussions."
"It's true, Mama." Nina piped up from where she was leaning against the truck bed. "The papers didn't mention it, but Peter told me that both Scott and Storm got pretty badly injured on a mission a few months back. Apparently it was a bit touch-and-go for a while there."
This information made Laurien's stomach roil unpleasantly, and she was suddenly afraid that her lunch might make an unwelcome reappearance. "Christ."
"I know we've had instances where we've been injured during our missions, but that was when Charles was putting his life on the line alongside us; when there wasn't the eyes of the world upon us or any possible accolades to gain from our risks."
"I… I get what you mean." Laurien said, gripping the side of the truck for some semblance of support. "I haven't seen him in person in ages other than in the papers, but from what I can tell, he seems…"
"Different?" Raven offered with a sigh. "Yeah, he's been different for a while."
"How did he used to be?" Nina asked quietly.
Raven gave the girl a sad smile. "You would have liked him. He was fun, carefree, perhaps a bit of a ladies' man."
Laurien let out a forced exhalation of air at this remark.
"And he would never send someone off to do something dangerous that he wouldn't do himself."
"But he can't now, can he?" Nina reasoned with a slight frown, "What with his injury and all."
"I know. I'm sure he would if he could, but under these circumstances, it's a matter of him not adequately assessing the risk for others when there's fame to be gained." Raven explained to Nina, before turning to look at Laurien. "As well as the matter of him sending the X-Men off to risk their lives for humans when they used to try to kill us."
As she said that, Laurien couldn't be sure, but she thought she'd caught Raven's blue eyes flit momentarily towards Laurien's temple, where the painful reminder of human's hate was still etched into her skin. Laurien's gaze fell to the pavement, focusing on moving a bit of gravel with the toe of her shoe while she simultaneously pressed down the sudden flashes of memories that threatened to rise to the surface.
"You know I love Charles, but this mission to space might as well be the final straw. I think I finally need to have a serious talk with him."
Raven seemed to be waiting for Laurien's response, perhaps to dissuade her from going or to mount some sort of defense of Charles despite the fact that Raven knew Laurien had her own fair share of grievances with the man.
Instead, Laurien simply took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay. If that's what you want to do, then we'll drive you there."
"Oh. No, no. It's alright. I can't ask that of you." Raven said, her expression softening. She reached for both her and Nina's hands. "You've got some more shopping to do and supplies to deliver back to the island. I can take the train."
"Are you sure?"
Raven nodded, squeezing Laurien's hand. "And I promise I'll be back for the potluck." She vowed, before shooting a wink at Nina. "I've gotta keep up the tradition of making my famous cheesy bread."
"At least let us drive you to the station." Laurien countered, and before Raven could say anything more to try to decline their offer, she looked to Nina and quickly added, "we insist, right?"
Having taken her meaning, her daughter echoed, "yes, we insist."
A gentle smile tugged on Raven's lips and she bowed her head in assent. "Thank you. To the both of you."
After dropping Raven off at the train station in Providence, they drove back and continued with the rest of their errands, stopping at their usual grocery store. As they gathered the items on the grocery list for the potluck, Laurien still couldn't shake the guilt of not driving Raven to Westchester herself. On the hour's drive to Providence, Raven had repeatedly assured her that she didn't mind the time on the train, and that it would give her some time to properly formulate exactly what she wanted to say to Charles. Besides, Raven had reasoned, if Laurien and Nina drove her all the way there, they would likely be roped into staying the night at the mansion, an outcome that Laurien did not desire.
Once they'd finished their shopping and made their way back to the ferry, they loaded their supplies onto a trolley and carefully wheeled it down the gangway onto the boat. Laurien waited until they were safely docked on the island side and out of view of any humans before she let her powers take over the job of moving the trolley. It followed behind them as they walked the path from the dock to the town hall.
As they walked, a swoop of wings signalled Darcy's arrival only a moment before he perched on Nina's shoulder.
"Hello, sweetheart." Nina cooed, giving his feathers a gentle caress. Darcy let out a few guttural clicks in greeting, eliciting a chuckle from Nina. "He's happy we're back. Apparently everyone was quite boring while we were gone."
They made quick work of unloading the groceries in the town hall's small kitchen, with Darcy carefully inspecting some of the more colourful packages with keen interest.
"I'm gonna run Leni's meds over to her." Nina said once they were finished, holding up the pharmacy bag.
"Sounds good." Laurien said, with a tired smile. "Thank you for your help today, kochanie. See you at home."
As Nina left with Darcy, Laurien took a moment to lean against the kitchen counter, feeling absolutely wiped out from the day's proceedings. A subtle pain was becoming building in her head, and she shut her eyes tightly as though she could will the coming migraine away. While her migraines truly weren't as painful as they used to be, they could still pack a punch, and with how busy she constantly was, she couldn't afford to let them stop her.
Looking forward to getting back home to where her family and her pain medication were waiting, Laurien started the process of cleaning up. She had just parked the trolley in its usual spot when the door to the hall opened, casting a ray of early evening light into the large and dimly lit room. She glanced up at the sound, and felt a wave of relief sweep through her when she saw that it was Erik.
"Hey, Nina said I would find you here. How was the supply run?"
"Uh, uneventful for the most part," Laurien began with a sigh as she approached him. "That is, until we stopped by the diner for lunch and caught a breaking news story."
Erik's body tensed, as if sensing that whatever she had to say was not good news. "What happened?"
"Apparently something went wrong with the space shuttle that was launching today, and they lost contact with NASA, spinning completely out of control through space." She explained, taking a deep breath before she continued with what was troubling her. "The President called Charles, and he sent the X-Men after the shuttle."
Even as Erik remained silent, his mind mulling over what she had just told him, Laurien sensed a slight chill pass through him.
"It seems like the rescue mission was a success, but…" Laurien trailed off, shaking her head in frustration. "We couldn't help but wonder what was he thinking? Even with their mutations, they all easily could have died up there."
"I know. It's…" Erik murmured, choosing his words carefully. "It seems extreme, even for Charles."
Laurien hummed in agreement.
"However, I'm sure they all knew the risks and were still willing to do it anyway." Erik continued, raising an eyebrow. "And if I'm recalling correctly, you and all the other members of the First Class were quite insistent on taking on Shaw, despite the many reasons not to."
Laurien bristled slightly, knowing that he was correct on that matter. "Well, sure, but we had time to prepare. Also, we weren't fighting him in fucking space."
"Laur…"
"I know, I know, but I feel I'm allowed to be upset about this." She relented, running a calming hand through her hair as she recognized an uncomfortable heat rising within her. "I know they're not kids anymore, I mean, Peter's a grown man and can make his own decisions, but I can't help but…" She paused, taking a deep breath. "God, if you had felt Nina's fear when she found out that he was on the rescue mission, you would feel the exact same way I do."
Erik's expression sobered further, and he nodded, "I understand, and I agree with you, Laur. It was reckless, but I don't feel like we're in a position to critique Charles' judgement."
"Why not? We know full well that Hank's not going to put up much of a resistance to Charles' will, no matter how dangerous, so someone has to do it." She countered, crossing her arms over her chest. "In fact, I think that's what Raven's on her way to do right now."
Erik frowned, "She didn't come back with you?"
"No, we dropped her off at the train station in Providence so she could go to Westchester."
"Then I don't envy Charles." Erik said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and gently guiding her out towards the hall door. "Well, let's hope she can talk some sense into him. Perhaps what he needs is someone to challenge his decisions so that he can reconsider them from a new perspective."
Laurien sighed, letting him corral her home. "I hope that's the case."
Laurien paused to lock the hall behind them before rejoining Erik at his side, casting an arm around his waist as they jointly walked across the peaceful Shire towards their house. The scent of various dinners wafted through the air, making Laurien's stomach rumble; her lunch of tomato bisque suddenly seemed so long ago.
"You're alright though, right?" Erik prompted, breaking the silence.
"What?" Laurien startled, a brief flare of alarm blossoming in her chest. "Yes, I'm fine. Why?"
"It's just that you seem to get quite agitated whenever Charles is concerned."
"I mean, after hearing Hank's stories and his frustrations with the man over the years, can you blame me?"
"Of course not." He said, looking at her with understanding eyes as he gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "However, there is a reason why we haven't returned to visit Westchester these past nine or so years, isn't there?"
"I suppose." She confessed with a shrug, feeling guilty as she reminded herself that despite not having seen him in person for almost a decade and her own personal issues with him, Charles was still their friend. "But even Raven says that he's different now. That he's been different for a while now."
"I'll admit, sometimes I forget that you knew him differently than I did." Erik murmured as they neared the front door of their house, the sound of ABBA drifting through the open kitchen window. "He's always seemed the same to me, even after all these years. He's just always been Charles."
Laurien let out a small noncommittal sound in response. In her mind, there was a memory of Charles in the sixties for whom she held unconditional love, however it was clear to Laurien that this particular version of Charles didn't exist anymore, and hadn't for a very long time. Not since she'd discovered what he'd done to her.
"I wish I could still see him that way."
Shorter chapter this time, but things are really gonna hit the fan in the next chapter, so buckle up... Hehehe.
It's frustrating when you come up with a really good line, but it doesn't fit in the chapter. I'm hoping to have it fit sometime down the road.
I discussed the fact that we're coming up on the tenth anniversary of this story this year with my best friend, and she says I need to throw a party. How would I even go about approaching that idea with my friend group? Hey, this story that I've been writing online since I was fifteen is turning 10, so let's have cake! I don't know, maybe I'll get some bubbly to mark the occasion, but I don't know about an entire party. What are your thoughts on what I should do?
I know things have gotten rough (what an understatement!) on the world stage- believe me, I'm Canadian, I know -but I hope that everyone is taking time to take care of themselves and others in these difficult times.
Anywho, thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed, remember to take care of yourself, and please leave a comment or review!