-I don't own a single thing here, dmnit all!
With a special thanks to Chris Thile ((this is his song title)).
Dedicated to the Angst Queen herself, Nyltiak.
You wouldn't expect a killer to have a funeral.
What's more, you wouldn't expect any one to attend.
But then, the world was brimming with things that one didn't expect.
Raven was one of them.
They buried Mortimer Toynbee on a rainy Sunday afternoon.
Yeah, rainy. The weather fit the occasion.
Raven was quiet as Eric Lensure read the eulogy. She didn't match glances with Xavier's lap dogs; They wouldn't have attended if Xavier hadn't prompted them to do so.
She didn't challenge the Wolverine; Victor had taken care of that long time past.
She just stood, staring at the iron casket. Closed. No one wanted to see the face of a killer.
No one but Mystique.
And when they buried him, when they put him in the ground, she bit back tears. Victor, in a rare act of kindness, lay a hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it away.
And when they left, one by one, no one urged her along. No one dared.
And when the sun set, and she was still slumped against his tomb stone, neither Eric, nor Victor noticed her absence.
Say what you will; He had been something special to her. From the night he had joined the brother hood, cold, frightened, and alone; the night she had sat beside him in his quarters, comforting his fears -From that night, he had always been something special to her. Her second chance at raising a child.
She had trained beside him, fought beside him, lost beside him. She had cared for his hurts and injuries like only a mother would have. She had loved him.
And now this was it. A piece of stone. A plot of earth. That was all that remained of Mortimer Toynbee.
Not even flowers.
"You deserved flowers, Mort…"
She stroked the churned dirt mournfully, tears gathering in her eyes.
"You deserved so much more."
He brought joy to all who inhabited the toad obsession realm. Peace to our sweet baby boy!