𝐒𝐖𝐈𝐅𝐓 (X-Men ~ Peter Maximoff)

A Trip Abroad

When Jennifer had informed Charles that she wouldn't be able to cover the weekend shift at the school because she was going on holiday, he, along with the rest of the staff, presumed she was going sightseeing in Venice, partying in Ibiza, wine tasting in France, or tanning on the beaches of Florida. She had just smiled when people guessed her destination, not revealing anything, for if she did they would be sorely disappointed and ask more questions that she really couldn't answer.

Only when people kept pushing her for information about her mid semester weekend getaway did she say she was visiting a family friend. It was a vague enough answer, and while she was certain Charles and Hank had a good hunch about who she was visiting, they didn't say anything. 

It wasn't easy to meet up with him after the fiasco of seventy three,  constantly moving place to place to avoid additional conflict. Erik had no issues with fighting, in fact, it often seemed like it was a hobby of his, but even in his arrogance and rage he knew that there was no winning in a fight that needn't be started in the first instance. After constantly moving around, he had settled down with Magda a few years back in a house in the desolate regions of Poland, not far from where he lived as a boy, and a new life was started where the old one had died.

Jennifer stood on the doorstep of the house with the white picket fence, waiting for a response after knocking. It had been a while - six months to be exact - since she had last stood here, but from the outside the quaint house seemed to be frozen in time, the fence once again requiring a fresh coat of paint and the flowers barely uncurled from their buds. Once the door swung open, Jennifer realised that time had indeed passed by without her noticing.

A girl, younger than Maisie had been when Jennifer had first met her, opened the door, hesitantly looking up at the brunette at the door before recognising her. The girl grinned giddily. "Auntie Jennie!," she exclaimed, holding her arms out for an embrace that Jennifer immediately returned, lifting her off the ground (which she thankfully still had the strength to do) then kneeling to place her back on the doorstep. "Hi Nina. Are your mum and dad home?"

Nina grinned up at her and proceeded to grab Jennifer's hand and pull her into the house. It took a great deal of effort for Jennifer to find her balance back on her feet and kick the door shut behind her as she was practically dragged along the hardwood floor to the second door on the left.

As soon as her feet hit the worn beige carpet Nina released her unusually firm grip on Jennifer's wrist and ran through the connecting door that led into the kitchen, no doubt where the young girl's mother was. Jennifer watched her 'niece' dance through the doorway with great joy. Eight times she had visited the young girl and her parents, and the girl had never forgotten her face. She never stayed long, a week at most, though Jennifer supposed the exclusivity of her visits were part of what made them special. Nina was her family, blood relation or not. Seeing her was special, it filled her heart with happiness. She loved the girl dearly, almost like a sister, and she had vowed the first time she had held her as a baby that she would protect her at all costs.

A voice cleared itself from the opposite end of the small living room, where they had come in from. Snapping her head around, Jennifer's eyes fell on Erik, leaning on the doorframe, looking just as characteristically collected as she remembered - adulthood had yet to take a toll on the man. He was looking through the doorway that Nina had left through. "She never bothers to look for me first," he said humourlessly, shaking his head.

"That's cause she knows that you'll poke your head in whatever's going on sooner rather than later."

An almost offended frown passed over Erik's face before he smiled at Jennifer, opening up his arms for a hug that she happily returned. "It's good to see kid."