AN: I've always thought Mystique was severely underestimated. I've never read the comics, but for the life of me, I couldn't understand why she stayed with Magneto. Personally, I expect a revenge back story, but we never find that out. I don't own X-Men. If I did, there'd be a whole lot more slash and sarcasm. :) On to the short!fic!
Raven looked in the ornate mirror and sighed.
Why does everyone look to me for the espionage assassinations?
Yes, she can look like anyone she wanted to, but didn't they understand she was more brains than gift? She had to study someone in a very short period of time and not only estimate body types, sizes, and outfits, but also mannerisms, slang, attitude, and personalities.
She had to remember every name, nickname, insult, and relationship of any person she impersonated, not to mention needing to have more than a passing knowledge of science, biology, protocol, and martial arts.
She had to be quick, silent, observant, knowledgeable, and deadly. She has to be a profiler, a scientist, a secretary, a hacker, a soldier, a pilot, a leader, a designer, and a politician.
So why was it, then, that she was being relegated to being a pretty face who takes orders? Why was it that everyone feared her? Why was it that people saw only her mutation and not the woman behind it?
It seemed to her that no one ever spoke to her as anything more than a mercenary, a messenger. "You! Do this." "You! Tell Magneto that."
Well, guess what? She's her own woman. She'll do what she wants. She'll be herself.
Now all she had to do was figure out who that was.