"Kill him, Raven. You need to kill him."
Mystique's eyes widened to impossible sizes.
"Irene! I can't kill James! He's unkillable for a start!"
The blind woman simply sat there solemnly.
Raven gave her a look. "I know you can see the look I'm giving you, Irene! I am not going to fucking kill James! I. Won't. Do. It!"
Destiny sighed. "You must, Raven! Our futures depend on it!"
Mystique bit her deep blue lip, frowning. James was her old lover. They had been together for three whole years, living in that shithole apartment in Kentucky. And then she'd taken that bank robbing job and had to leave town when it went wrong. That was when she'd gotten Anna from that kids home and started her new life. She'd felt so guilty about taking an illegal job after she'd promised James she wouldn't, and about hurting him by leaving him.
She sighed and slumped down into the big orange easy chair in Destiny's front room. She had never planned on leaving him, had never wanted that. But she hadn't thought he would want her back after supposedly hurting him like that, committing a capitol offense, and becoming an overnight mama. But the first time she'd seen him after taking the undercover job for Magnus as Irene had instructed her, she'd seen the pain in his eyes. The hurt and the betrayal.
She ran a hand through her hair. She loved James. Loved him like she'd never loved anyone before or since. But now she was supposed to kill him. Kill him! Was it even possible to kill the Wolverine?
"Goddamn it, Destiny!" she bit out from behind clenched teeth. "This is James we're talking about. How in ever loving fuck am I supposed to fucking kill him?" she cried desperately. "I love him!"
Her eyes widened. Shit. She hadn't meant to say that out loud. Shit, shit, shit. Shit!
Irene hid her smirk. She knew that. That was the very reason she was sending Raven back to Bayville. After all that had happened with Apocalypse a few months ago, she'd come back, heartbroken because her kids had renounced her. She'd been doing nothing but mope around the Mississippi flat all day long like a heartsick teenager.
Destiny had a plan. She hadn't seen anything at all concerning the X-Men in her visions. But she did know that Raven loved him, and he loved her, even if he was angry with her. He was also close to both Rogue and Kurt. So she was sending Raven to Bayville to get up close and personal with the X-Men, and with Logan especially. She knew Raven couldn't ever kill him, couldn't even try. It was a perfect plan.
"I know," she answered finally. "But you must. Now go to that phone," she pointed to the one mounted on the wall in the kitchen. "And contact Xavier, ask for a job as an instructor. Say anything you have to. The goal here is to infiltrate and take out, Raven. Nothing more."
"But—"
"Now."
Mystique gave a simultaneously pained and pissed off look. She hated being ordered around and truly didn't want to do this. But she stood and did as Destiny ordered. With her visions of the future, Irene had never steered her wrong and had been one of the only people Raven had ever listened to without question.
"Xavier's institute for gifted youngsters, how may I help you?"
Oh, this will be fun, Raven thought, sighing.