Pietro sat quietly in the room while Rogue stepped away, lost in his thoughts as his father drifted back to sleep.
Monet was resting elsewhere, but he knew she would be awake by the time his sisters arrived. She hadn't been imprisoned nearly as long as some of the others, for which he was grateful.
But his feelings on how his father had been forced to power that place were mixed, especially now looking at the worn and exhausted body of the man who had been so steadfast, a symbol of unshakeable conviction.
The letter in his pocket didn't help matters.
He almost didn't hear the soft knock as Rogue entered the room, a soft smile as she looked over at Magnus, sleeping once more.
"Hey…." She spoke to Pietro in a whisper.
"How did it go?" He murmured.
"Let me give ya an update, before your sisters get here."
Dropping the news that Magneto had an impersonator had gotten a mixed reaction from Pietro. She was certain that the relationship between father and son wasn't ideal, especially after Wanda's resurrection on Krakoa.
At least with his sisters here, there's less of a chance of them bein' at each other's throats.
She made her way downstairs, finding Theresa Cassidy resting on the couch with her father and uncle on either side of her, talking quietly so as not to disturb her as she leaned her head on her father's shoulder.
Madelyne was in the kitchen, cleaning up and giving them space, and Cain was…helping. Or at least trying to. Madelyne seemed to find his clumsy attempts to be endearing, and he seemed appreciative of her patience with him.
"Maddie?" Rogue called softly.
The Queen of Limbo wore a smile as she walked closer to Rogue and gave her a careful hug. "How are you feeling? How's Magnus?"
"He's restin'. We're both okay, all things considered. Ah actually came down here ta let ya know….Lorna and Wanda will be here soon. Ah figured-"
"That I'd want to make myself scarce, considering who will likely be accompanying Lorna." Madelyne stated.
Rogue sighed softly. "You don't have to, ya know. You have as much right to be here as he does."
"True. But I think dealing with one Summers brother at a time is my limit for now. Besides, I think the Cassidys might want to go home."
Rogue smiled slightly. "Just know…you're always welcome here."
Madelyne hugged her, fully this time. "You call me if you need anything, okay?"
"Ah will. Thank you….for everything."
The soft clicking of heels alerted Sean Cassidy to someone entering the sitting area, and looked up into the eyes of Madelyne Pryor as she crouched down, speaking quietly so as not to wake Terry.
"I think it's time I take you all home. What do you say?"
His mouth twitched slightly. "Well, ya did drag me out of my warm bed this mornin'. Seems only fair."
She smiled. "Thought you might say that."
After a short goodbye, Rogue watched as Madelyne, Banshee, Siryn, Black Tom, and Juggernaut walked through a portal taking them to Cassidy Keep, the youngest of the Cassidy clan needing her rest to recuperate from the ordeal of being imprisoned at Graymalkin.
She's gonna need all that support. Poor girl went through a lot.
It wasn't but maybe less than a minute after the portal closed that Lorna, closely followed by Alex Summers, walked into the safehouse.
"Babycakes!" Rogue softly exclaimed as she hugged the youngest of Magneto's children. "Ah'm so glad you're here…"
"How is he? How are you? You sound tired."
"Ah am, but ah'm a sight better than your daddy right now. Come on, ah'll take ya upstairs."
Magneto was still sleeping when Lorna walked in and hugged her brother, who was relieved to see her. Her face turned grim as she saw the condition their father was in, how his body seemed to have aged, a stark comparison to what he had looked like just months ago.
She felt tears come to her eyes, and she turned to Rogue, who offered a gloved hand.
"I swear to God, Rogue, Xavier better be dead-"
"He is, sugah. He is."
"I half-expected you not to come." Scott commented.
Alex rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, well…Lorna was pretty freaked out about Magneto. Felt like the least I could do is be supportive of her."
"Were you hoping to catch Madelyne?"
"What? No….no, I'm the last person she wants to see right now."
"Beg to differ on that." Scott sipped the cup of coffee in his hand. "She and Jean both chewed me out pretty good earlier."
Alex let out a low whistle. "Not jealous of you, at all."
"Shut up."
Alex chuckled and went quiet.
"Maddie needs her space. I'm sure she doesn't really want to see me right now. Not after I left the way I did."
That got a reaction from Scott. "What? I thought it was a mutual thing."
"Is that what Maddie told you? If so, she's being entirely too nice about it."
Scott sighed. "What happened?"
"The short answer is I chose Lorna."
"Ah. And she was….okay with that?"
"She told me she wasn't gonna stand in the way of me being happy. Which….for her, is a pretty big deal."
Scott mulled over this new information, wondering what his ex-wife's true feelings were on the matter.
A portal opened in the room, and Wanda Maximoff made her entrance.
"Sorry, I…"
She stopped as she saw the bed her father currently occupied, how he had changed since last she saw him.
There was a silence as the gravity of the situation fell over the room.
He had almost died, had been all alone, and no one had been the wiser.
As the three children of the great Magneto solemnly gathered, Rogue slipped quietly from the room, preparing herself for the next step:
Alaska.