Crossfire

Chapter 16

A/N Only two chapters left after this one. Are you ready?

When I woke up, Erik was standing by the window, fully dressed. I groggily reached around and found clothes of my own. Erik looked over at me. He didn't have the easy smile of last night. Instead he had a somber expression. Neither of us said anything. There was nothing to say. Not today. We were facing Shaw. I let out a breath. Calm and collected. Well rested. I reached into my bedside drawer and pulled out two things- a necklace that had a pearl charm on it that I always wore and the story that Monica had written about a fallen angel.

I never left home without them. Erik set down the metal wings.

"They were always supposed to be for you. Consider them an extension of me. I will always be there to protect you."

"I know, Erik. And I will never leave you alone. I promise."

"I..."

"If this is to be our last day alive, I want you to know that I love you, Erik Lehnsherr."

He smiled. "I love you too, Sky Weller."

We were going to have our hands full. That much was obvious. But we were ready for it. We were ready for anything as long as we remembered what was really important. I kept the story here and I took the wings, putting them in my pocket. Erik and I walked together. We were all meeting down by the lab, where Hank was supposed to be waiting for us. Raven was standing there in her true blue form. I smiled. She looked beautiful. She smiled shyly back. I was glad that she was finally accepting herself. If anyone here needed it, it was her. She looked proud to be here. We all walked to the lab. There was a note on the door. Charles looked at it curiously and pocketed it before pushing open the door.

To say that it was chaotic was an understatement.

It looked as if Janos himself had come through here. What had happened? More importantly, where was Hank? That note meant that he knew this had happened. I hoped that he was all right. Unfortunately, there was no time to waste. Not today. We didn't have that much time to begin with. We certainly had none to lose. The group made our way through the mess until we reached a metal box with an "X" across the top in black tape. Charles pushed it open. I looked inside and raised an eyebrow.

"Hank has been busy." Charles said.

"Do we really have to wear these?" Alex asked.

"As only one of us has mutated to endure extreme g-force or being riddled by bullets, I suggest we suit up."

Charles closed the lid again. Erik used his powers to move the box outside of the lab and we each found the suit that was intended for us. My own looked very similar to the rest, but had no sleeves. I supposed to make it easier for my wings to reach their full strength. There were two holes on the back. It was perfect, except for the colour. I wasn't sure how I felt about the yellow and blue colour, but I would have to make due with what I was given. Hank had been busy, that was for sure. When had he had time to do all of this? Somewhere in between speaking with Raven and all of this destruction, apparently. Erik gave me a once over when I came back.

"Not bad." He winked.

"Yeah, well, I try my best. Come on. We've got to go. No time." I said.

We took two cars to the airbase. There was a particular hanger that Hank had instructed us to go to. I had no idea what, exactly, was waiting for us there, but it was hopefully something that would help us get to Shaw that much faster. We got there early. Everyone got out of their cars and we all entered the hanger. The door was open. The group entered. Well, this was... impressive.