Love in the Time of Sentinels

Venice, 2023

"I think I miss ice cream the most."

Warpath chuckled darkly. "I miss not being constantly chased by Sentinels."

"Well yeah," Blink said, "I miss that too. But I mean, ice cream is one of the normal things I miss."

"If we're talking food, there's so many things I miss."

"What was your favorite ice cream flavor?"

Warpath thought for a moment. "Vanilla."

Blink scrunched her brow. "Really? Mine was mint chocolate chip."

"I liked my ice cream flavors simple. I don't need mint, or pistachio, or whatever."

"Pistachio was my dad's favorite. He'd get it every time."

Blink fell silent. Warpath put his arm around her, drawing her close. It was always hard, thinking about family when so many people had died. She nestled closer to him, her hand now on his thigh. They sat together, Warpath at his customary lookout position. The others were inside, but Blink was keeping him company.

It did not take too long for Blink to get restless. She was fidgeting; unlike Warpath, who was attuned to everything around him, she had nothing to focus on but him. The hideout they had chosen was in a deserted area, surrounded by half-destroyed buildings, so there really was nothing of note to see.

Her hand moved higher, squeezing, and Warpath got the message. Even if she had not done that, he could smell her arousal. He shifted, pulling her into his lap, and kissed her. She opened her lips for him, his tongue slipping inside to meet hers. Their tongues battled, the two of them kissing, Blink beginning to squirm in his lap. The air was thick with her arousal now; he could feel her blood pumping faster through her veins.

His hand dropped down between them, quickly unzipping her pants. As he slid his hand inside her panties, he slipped his mouth off hers, moving down to her neck. He tasted her sweat, the intoxicating taste of her, of her arousal, and felt his cock harden quickly.

Blink groaned, grinding against his hand. His sudden movement caught her off guard; she found herself on her back, and instinctively threw her legs around him.

Warpath quickly set to undoing his pants, but just as he was about to, a familiar and dangerous sound reached his ears, from across the waters of Venice. A steady whirring that meant only one thing.

Damn,

he thought,

cock-blocked by Sentinels.

He sat up, Blink quickly realizing why.

"Sentinels," he said, but she knew, and took a few seconds to re-adjust her clothing.

The sound was approaching fast. Warpath nodded to Blink, who threw a dart of purple energy at the air. A portal appeared, and on the other side, their fellow mutants were gathered. Sunspot and Bishop were playing cards, Peter was sketching, and Kitty and Bobby were talking in the corner. They all looked up as Blink and Warpath appeared.

"They're here," he said, and they sprang into action.

Stockholm, 2023

Warpath sat on the marble bench, legs crossed. The sounds of the Swedish evening easily reached his ears. In an earlier, happier time, it would have been the sound of culture and society, but in this day and age, it was the whipping of wind and the occasional squawk of a bird. Stockholm, like many other cities they had visited, had been torn apart by the war, left deserted except for a few foolhardy stragglers.

Another sound registered, the soft burst of one of Blink's portals. He turned just in time to see her step through one.

"Hey," she said, "thought I'd come keep you company."

He smiled, patting the space beside him. When she sat down he threw his arm around her, and she nestled closer.

Warpath was the lookout, since one of his powers was enhanced senses. Having Blink, the woman he loved, next to him, was not a distraction. Rather, she helped him focus. Of course, sometimes it could be a slight distraction, such as now, when she started to kiss him, first on the cheek, and then on the mouth. As the kiss heated up, she shifted sideways, pulling him closer. Even with Blink occupying a large part of his focus, Warpath could still keep his senses attuned. He would still hear the Sentinels before they got too close.

So he allowed Blink to pull him down on top of her. He kissed his way down, over her neck, at her cleavage, and further down, stopping to undo her pants. As she waited impatiently, he slid her pants and panties down. His tongue came out, and he tasted her, savoring Blink's juices. She groaned, arching her back, hands tangling in his long hair. The different flavors assaulted his tongue; Warpath had not been a fan of complex dishes with heavy flavors, since his palate always got overwhelmed, being able to taste everything involved with the food. But he loved her taste, loved the sweetness, the tanginess.

When Kitty had first used her new powers, sending Bishop back in time, none of them had thought too hard about it. To consider all the details would just give them massive headaches. All they had needed to know was that it was a way to survive the Sentinels. But Warpath knew that it meant that he had died, already, numerous times, and would keep doing so. Only he would not be aware of the dying; they would know to move when Bishop told them to, but they would not feel any different. Warpath also knew that just as many times as he had died, so had the others, specifically Blink. Those thoughts, about the chance of not just her dying, but him seeing her die, always made him appreciate her more, appreciate the moments they got to share more.

So he savored not just her taste, but the time to do this. Given that the Sentinels could come at any time, it was a rare luxury to have moments like these. For all he knew, they could be interrupted by that all-too-familiar sound, and would have to fight off the Sentinels to let Kitty and Bishop warn them in the past.

Blink was close now, he could tell. She was groaning, her hips bucking into his tongue as he kept up his effort. He slipped a hand up her top, reaching his way to her breasts, stroking them. It added to her pleasure, making her gasp. She moaned his name, making him tingle with pride. Her blood was racing through her veins, the movement like a drumming on his fingertips, resonating up through her skin.

Warpath by now had his tongue inside her sopping slit; he could feel her clench around it as he drove her higher and higher. His hands kneaded at her breasts, her heartbeat pounding at his palms.

Blink came with a cry, her back arching. Her juices increased in amount and flavor; to Warpath, there were very few things that tasted better than his lover's orgasmic nectar. His taste buds were awash in her flavor, only making him harder, only making him want her more.

The need for a quick reaction to oncoming Sentinels made it impractical for them to throw their clothes off and go at it. Whenever they fucked, it was always with clothes on; pulled down or yanked aside, but on instead of taken off fully.

So Warpath dragged her into his lap, his own pants already around his knees. He held her by the hips, steadying her as she inched herself down on him. The heat of her pussy easily swallowed him deep. All Warpath could do was groan, marveling at the sensation. She groaned back, starting to move her hips. As he held her, she fucked herself on him, her wet cunt gripping him, milking his shaft. Her head fell back, resting on his shoulder, and he fixed his mouth on her neck. She gasped, taken by surprise, and groaned, enjoying the feeling of him sucking at her flesh. As she dropped down on him again, he thrust upwards, driving his cock even deeper inside her. Blink cried out, and he took over for her, pumping up into her sodden heat. As always, he held himself back. With his strength, if he fucked her too hard he could injure her.

Her gasps and groans spurred him on, so he kept it up, fucking her. Even with him holding back, he was fucking her hard. Blink did not care; all she wanted was him, however she got him. After a little while, Blink joined him, starting back up again.

Warpath gritted his teeth, feeling a stirring in his balls. Ordinarily, he would want to prolong this, but since they needed to be ready to go at any moment, he knew it was better to let it end. She had already cum once, and he would do all he could to make her cum again before he did.

So with that in mind, one hand drifted from her hip to her clit. As he fucked, and as she still bounced eagerly in his lap, he took her clit between two fingers, rolling it, tweaking it. Blink whined; the fumes of her arousal encouraged him, making him pound her harder. The slapping of his flesh on hers, the wet thwack of his cock into her cunt, the halting gasps from her mouth, all contributed to his lust.

Blink came, but did not stop bucking up and down. Her juices trickled down his shaft; he gripped her harder, sweat popping up from the exertion. She would have bruises later, he knew, despite him doing his best to hold back.

His balls tightened, and he gave in, pounding up into her soaked depths until his cock twitched. A second later, he came, his seed gushing into her womb. He growled, shivering with the intensity of his orgasm. Blink cried out, cumming along with him; he could smell her cream, mingling with his own.

He held her in his lap as they both recovered, breathing heavily. Her weight in his lap was comforting; feeling her relax into him, he sucked softly at her neck, Blink sighing in the afterglow. They had precious few of these moments anymore, so he savored it.

China, 2023

Warpath stood on the shingled roof, the steady mountain wind blowing around him. Below him, his fellow mutants were at the ready. The night sky was clear so far, but the Sentinels would come. They always did.

A soft burst caught his ear; one of Blink's portals. A second later, her scent reached him as well.

She stood with him for a few minutes, silent. He heard her breath catch a few times, as if she were about to speak but stopped herself.

"You know," she finally began, "if this works...if this new timeline is created, there's a chance we won't know each other there. We might have never met."

Warpath nodded solemnly. It was a painful choice, to have to sacrifice the love he had with Blink, but it was the right one.

"I know," he answered, turning to look at her. Her face was set, resolute, but there was some uncertainty in her eyes. "But we both made this choice. We both know how important this is."

She nodded, moving closer. He put his arm around her, feeling her hand rest on his shoulder.

"Besides," he continued, "there's always the chance that we will know each other, that we will have met. And in the new timeline, we could have a future, Blink, a real future. Not running, hiding, fighting, like now, like here, but a future. A real, true future. For the both of us, together. A future, a family..."

Blink's eyes widened. The two of them had never talked about having a family; the love they had shared had come about in this war, with no chance of a future. But if this plan worked, they could have a future together, in a happier time. Warpath wanted that, very much, wanted a bright future, a happy family, instead of this bleak existence.

"A family?" she asked. He nodded.

"A family," she said, this time a statement instead of a question.

Warpath nodded again, Blink's eyes lighting up now.

"We could have children," she said.

"Of course."

"And a dog?"

He laughed. "If you want."

She nodded. "I want a dog."

"Ok," he said, "we'll have a dog too. It's good for kids to have a pet."

They fell silent again. Warpath knew Blink was thinking about those hypothetical children, that hypothetical dog. He looked out into the sky, and saw nothing yet.

Blink had a faraway look on her face. He pulled her into an embrace, and only broke it to kiss her.

"I promise you," he said when he pulled away, "in this new timeline, no matter what, I will find you."

She smiled. "Not if I find you first."

He laughed, and kissed her again.

She leaned on his shoulder. With that comforting weight on him, he looked out into the sky, and saw nothing yet.

San Francisco, 2023

The morning sun through the shades woke James. He stirred, from a dream, a dream that even as he thought about it slipped from his mind.

A familiar scent was the first thing he sensed when awake, that of Clarice, his wife. Her scent was different these days, having changed since a few months ago, but he could still easily recognize it as hers.

A sensation on his hand, resting on her belly, underscored the change in her scent: their unborn son's heartbeat, drumming up lightly on his palm. It was one of his favorite sensations nowadays, feeling that pulse from her womb every time he touched her stomach. It made him more aware of the life inside of her.

She shifted next to him. "Morning," she murmured. He kissed her bare shoulder. "Morning," he murmured back.

James glanced over at the clock; they still had plenty of time before their morning workouts with the rest of the team. Even if they were late, the others would understand.

So James pulled Clarice closer. She nestled into him, their son's heartbeat drumming still.