Shifting Sands
Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, Mystique's not mine, and if she were I'd give her a gun and make her go shoot all the people who don't review my stories! ::glares:: Rogue isn't either, and if she was. I'd make her ungoth!!!
A few things to clear up:
Setting: This story takes place after the whole thing about Kurt finding out that Mystique could be his mother. I personally find it bullshit that he stopped looking for answers, because he seemed so determined to find out who his real parents were. Also, I find it hard to believe that Rogue's nightmares just flat out stopped. This story is not right after the episode, but somewhat after that, granted that Risty is in this fic too, so when I wrote this, I am assuming in between the episodes Rogue's dreams have still haunted her, and Kurt still wants to know more about his real family.
Also, excuse the language in this story, but real teenagers cuss, and I understand that Kids WB sure as hell isn't going to let that slip through. But this isn't Kid WB, and I'm trying to keep this as real as it can be.
I suck at German accents. W=V. I took German for a semester. This is all I know of the pronunciation of the words.
Rogue's Southern accent is pretty easy to figure out, ah= I, and I drop the g off of ing, and the d from an, the e from the, and so forth. I have included like two corrections to help you figure it out. -lol-
I also missed the episode where Wanda joined, and Days of Reckoning, so if Mystique did not let herself known to the Brotherhood before then, deal.
Knowing all this, we can now start the fic!!!
* ~ *
Chapter One: The Warrior
It was a standard Monday afternoon at Bayville High. All the students and teachers were exhausted from the weekend they had just reluctantly finished. The homework had been turned in, assignments started, and notes passed. Routine went on as usual, but no one was fooled. When that bell rang, everyone ran for freedom.
Rogue was one of the students, anxiously exiting her last hour, American Lit, when a voice called out to her.
"Rogue, vait up!"
She stopped dead in her tracks and turned around to face the speaker. As made obvious by the German inflection, Kurt Wagner was the one eagerly racing towards his friend. All expression on his face made Rogue sure this would be a pleasant encounter.
"You vill never believe vhat I found!" he sang excitedly.
"Y'r rahght [right], ah [I] never will. So spill th' beans."
"I did some digging during study hall at the institute."
Rogue's green eyes grew wide in surprise. "You mean you 'ported t' th' institute durin' class? If anyone caught you-"
"Don't worry," Kurt assured her. "No one did. I faked sick and vent to the bathroom to teleport. And the Prof, Mr. McCoy, Ororo, and Mr. Logan vere probably outside discussing battle tactics or somefink."
"What were ya'all lookin' for anyway?"
"Remember vhen we all found out Mystique could be my mother?"
She rolled her eyes. "How could ah forget?"
"Vell, the Professor von't tell me anything about my past! He said he isn't sure vhether or not she's my mom. But vhen I looked through his computer, it said he thought she really vas, and felt the need to protect me from the truth. Can you believe that?! I mean, after ve fought Magneto the last time, he even said vhat she was my mother. So it has to be true."
"The Prof is full of shit," she replied. "An Magneto's a fuckin' psycho anyway. Just because Mystique's blue, it doesn't mean she's even related t' ya. You act nothin' like her. She's a-"
"Bitch?" he finished. "Yah, I know. That's why I'm so upset that everyone thinks ve're a family!"
Rogue sighed. "Like ah said, the lady's seriously fucked up in the head. Ah say, as long as y'r foster parents were good t' ya, don't go lookin' f'r trouble."
"You still don't care who your real parents are, do you?" Kurt asked.
"Nope, Irene had always been good t' me. Ah have more important things t' wonder about."
He smiled. "Like vhat?"
"Like none o' y'r business, Wagner," she teased. "Why ruin th' secrets that embody mah mysterious aura?"
Kurt rolled his eyes. "The only mystery here is how your hair got those vhite streaks. And vhat your real name is."
"Ah'm not tellin' that, either. But ah'm catchin' a ride from Risty, so ah'll see ya at th' institute."
He nodded. "See ya."
As Rogue walked outside to Risty's car, she shivered. You still don't care who your real parents are, do you? Nope, Irene had always been good t' me. It was true, Irene had always taken care of Rogue like a real mother should, albeit she was quite strict, but Rogue was glad she had kept a tight leash on her.
The only thing that bothered her is how easily she had lied to Nightcrawler. She would give anything to see her real parents, to know who they were, who she was. The only question was, what would they give to see her?
* ~ *
Mystique aka Raven Darkholme sighed. "I win again, Toad," she snapped, almost annoyed.
Todd Tolanske's king rolled about on the chessboard. As customary when the two played, Raven's pieces were pretty much untouched, but Toad's were slaughtered.
"Man, I never get this game. Why we gotta play it anyway?"
"This 'game' will help strengthen your battle tactics, your military intelligence per se. It's a game that challenges both strategy and patience."
"Oh," he replied. After a few seconds, he asked, "What's that in English, yo?"
She massaged her forehead and said tightly. "It means, you won't be so easily defeated again. Rogue always played this game, and managed to win the majority of the time. Perhaps that's why she so mercilessly crushed you last battle."
He shrugged. "Hey man, Fred, Pietro, Lance, and Tabitha ain't ever played."
"Pietro does not have one ounce of patience, Mr. Dukes broke the board last time, Lance is too busy being kissy-kissy with that feline friend of his, and I shudder to think Tabitha would actually care."
He shrugged and hopped off, leaving Mystique even more aggravated than before. "Whatever, yo."
"Hey, boss lady," Pietro said in his usual super-speedy speech. "What are we eating tonight? Chinese? Hey, how about pasta? I love a good dish of spaghetti!"
"Hey, give that back!" Blob bellowed from the kitchen.
"Yeah, Kitty, I miss you too," from Lance in the den, talking to his love interest on the phone. "The movies Friday? I'm there!"
Punk music blared from Tabitha's new room (as Mystique had kicked her out of her bedroom). Mystique heard Boom Boom's joyfully off-key voice singing along.
"Hey, I could go for some pizza!"
Mystique slammed a fifty down on the table. "Order in, or burn the house down trying to make your own meal, but you will feed yourselves, you imbeciles!"
Irritated and angry, Mystique marched to her room, slamming the door behind her. "Idiots, the lot of them!" she snarled.
"Don't be so hard on them, Raven," a voice said softly.
She spun around in surprise to face the source of the voice.
Irene Adler sat in an overly stuffed chair, a small smile on her voice. "It's been a while. I missed you."
"How did you get here?"
"You haven't seen me in a year and that's all you can say?"
"How did you get here?" she repeated. "I'm tired and I have a headache. You were supposed to stay in Caldecott, like we agreed."
"I had a vision," Irene replied.
Raven rolled her eyes. "Don't you mean a 'probablity'?"
She sighed. "Please, Raven, don't be like this. I understand what it's like for you right now. But don't-"
"Understand?" she interrupted. "How can you possibly understand what it's like to take care of several obnoxious, loud, annoying little teenagers?"
Irene's look made Mystique bite her tongue. "Okay, okay. So you do understand, raising Rogue and all. I need an Advil."
While Mystique rummaged through her drawers, Irene continued. "I came here not only because I wanted to see you, but because of my vision."
"What is it this time? The fate of mutant kind?"
"Actually. yes."
Raven dropped the aspirin. "Again? Irene, I thought we already discussed this."
"I thought so too, but the visions just keep coming. Remember who our warrior is, darling. I know you miss her, but you can't let her know you care. We agreed to let her go with Charles."
"I see her everyday, Irene. I watch her as Risty. I see her walking the halls like the whole world is on her shoulders! You know why she feels that way! If you would just let me tell her how to-"
"Out of the question!" Irene replied. "You know what will happen. She must learn to control her powers on her own, or they will consume her."
"Which is so inconvenient to us, isn't it?"
"I love her just as much as you do," Irene said coolly. "You will not turn me into a monster to satisfy your guilt. This was already decided. We planned this all out. Why do you think it's any different now?"
Her yellow orbs flashed. "Because I'm sick of playing this charade, Irene! So let Apocalypse destroy the world as we know it, at least I'll have my family!"
"But for how long?"
Unwarranted tears sprang to her eyes. "This isn't fair! We can't deny her of her own identity; it's just not right, not fair! She has no idea who she is, where she belongs! If I could've kept her-"
Irene just shook her head sadly. "She would be ruined. If she stayed will you, she would've killed Carol Danvers and lost complete control of her powers."
"Carol Danvers was no threat, and you know it! Rogue could-"
"Act your age, Raven," Irene snapped. "You're older than me. You expect me to have the answers. I have one answer for you: Rogue must stay at the institute."
"And stay depressed and confused and--- God, I can't stand to see her this way!"
She fell into Irene's arms, sobbing, while the woman absent-mindedly stroked her auburn hair. "I know, darling."
"You knew even then what would happen, didn't you?"
".Yes."
"And yet you let me make the choice?"
Irene smiled. "I love you far too much to lie to you. I knew for a long time what would become of you, of us, of your children. I am a precognitive, my love. Others are not as prepared for the knowledge of what's to come as I am. You're angry because I won't share all of the details with you, but I have revealed everything you can handle."
"Everything I can handle?" she echoed angrily. "I hardly think I can't handle-!"
"The end of the world." she finished sadly. "We both know it's inevitable, and perhaps the knowledge of our failure makes certain we fail. I did you no favor by involving you in my battle. Sometimes I wish you had carried on like the others, with all the innocence and naïvity of the unscarred."
"No!" Mystique protested. "How can you say that?! We're preventing it, aren't we?"
"Perhaps," Irene answered. "But look how much pain I have caused you in the process."
"Raven, when it is time, you will have your children back. I promise."
* ~ *
Author's Notes (trying to get your head clear here):
1.) Yeah, the first scene sucked. Sorry, I was being uncreative!
2.) A few of Irene's lines were changed but pretty much taken from X-Men Forever- Issue # 2 (I believe it was the second one).
3.) Mystique and Irene were said to be lovers (Claremont let it slip Irene was Mystique's leman: which means a lover more or less, and can either be male or female) in the comics, though I'm sure Kids WB wouldn't let it past the censors.
4.) Irene's comment of how Mystique was older than her, is based on the comics. It might scare people who don't read between Marvel's lines (being that Irene was old like a capital O), but Mystique has been revealed several times as an elderly-looking scary blue thing (X-Men Forever #4 and somewhere else- I forgot), and in X-Treme X-Men #1, Raven was revealed to be in Irene's past, making it obvious Raven was just as old as Irene (who I think was born somewhere in the 1800s EEEK!), if not older! This freaks me out though, so I'm thinking Mystique can be no older than 40. I'm not trying to discriminate against elderly people here!
That's about it. A lot of this story will have cameos from people mentioned in the comics, but not the show, and a lot of storyline will be based on the comics also. Just warning you.
Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, Mystique's not mine, and if she were I'd give her a gun and make her go shoot all the people who don't review my stories! ::glares:: Rogue isn't either, and if she was. I'd make her ungoth!!!
A few things to clear up:
Setting: This story takes place after the whole thing about Kurt finding out that Mystique could be his mother. I personally find it bullshit that he stopped looking for answers, because he seemed so determined to find out who his real parents were. Also, I find it hard to believe that Rogue's nightmares just flat out stopped. This story is not right after the episode, but somewhat after that, granted that Risty is in this fic too, so when I wrote this, I am assuming in between the episodes Rogue's dreams have still haunted her, and Kurt still wants to know more about his real family.
Also, excuse the language in this story, but real teenagers cuss, and I understand that Kids WB sure as hell isn't going to let that slip through. But this isn't Kid WB, and I'm trying to keep this as real as it can be.
I suck at German accents. W=V. I took German for a semester. This is all I know of the pronunciation of the words.
Rogue's Southern accent is pretty easy to figure out, ah= I, and I drop the g off of ing, and the d from an, the e from the, and so forth. I have included like two corrections to help you figure it out. -lol-
I also missed the episode where Wanda joined, and Days of Reckoning, so if Mystique did not let herself known to the Brotherhood before then, deal.
Knowing all this, we can now start the fic!!!
* ~ *
Chapter One: The Warrior
It was a standard Monday afternoon at Bayville High. All the students and teachers were exhausted from the weekend they had just reluctantly finished. The homework had been turned in, assignments started, and notes passed. Routine went on as usual, but no one was fooled. When that bell rang, everyone ran for freedom.
Rogue was one of the students, anxiously exiting her last hour, American Lit, when a voice called out to her.
"Rogue, vait up!"
She stopped dead in her tracks and turned around to face the speaker. As made obvious by the German inflection, Kurt Wagner was the one eagerly racing towards his friend. All expression on his face made Rogue sure this would be a pleasant encounter.
"You vill never believe vhat I found!" he sang excitedly.
"Y'r rahght [right], ah [I] never will. So spill th' beans."
"I did some digging during study hall at the institute."
Rogue's green eyes grew wide in surprise. "You mean you 'ported t' th' institute durin' class? If anyone caught you-"
"Don't worry," Kurt assured her. "No one did. I faked sick and vent to the bathroom to teleport. And the Prof, Mr. McCoy, Ororo, and Mr. Logan vere probably outside discussing battle tactics or somefink."
"What were ya'all lookin' for anyway?"
"Remember vhen we all found out Mystique could be my mother?"
She rolled her eyes. "How could ah forget?"
"Vell, the Professor von't tell me anything about my past! He said he isn't sure vhether or not she's my mom. But vhen I looked through his computer, it said he thought she really vas, and felt the need to protect me from the truth. Can you believe that?! I mean, after ve fought Magneto the last time, he even said vhat she was my mother. So it has to be true."
"The Prof is full of shit," she replied. "An Magneto's a fuckin' psycho anyway. Just because Mystique's blue, it doesn't mean she's even related t' ya. You act nothin' like her. She's a-"
"Bitch?" he finished. "Yah, I know. That's why I'm so upset that everyone thinks ve're a family!"
Rogue sighed. "Like ah said, the lady's seriously fucked up in the head. Ah say, as long as y'r foster parents were good t' ya, don't go lookin' f'r trouble."
"You still don't care who your real parents are, do you?" Kurt asked.
"Nope, Irene had always been good t' me. Ah have more important things t' wonder about."
He smiled. "Like vhat?"
"Like none o' y'r business, Wagner," she teased. "Why ruin th' secrets that embody mah mysterious aura?"
Kurt rolled his eyes. "The only mystery here is how your hair got those vhite streaks. And vhat your real name is."
"Ah'm not tellin' that, either. But ah'm catchin' a ride from Risty, so ah'll see ya at th' institute."
He nodded. "See ya."
As Rogue walked outside to Risty's car, she shivered. You still don't care who your real parents are, do you? Nope, Irene had always been good t' me. It was true, Irene had always taken care of Rogue like a real mother should, albeit she was quite strict, but Rogue was glad she had kept a tight leash on her.
The only thing that bothered her is how easily she had lied to Nightcrawler. She would give anything to see her real parents, to know who they were, who she was. The only question was, what would they give to see her?
* ~ *
Mystique aka Raven Darkholme sighed. "I win again, Toad," she snapped, almost annoyed.
Todd Tolanske's king rolled about on the chessboard. As customary when the two played, Raven's pieces were pretty much untouched, but Toad's were slaughtered.
"Man, I never get this game. Why we gotta play it anyway?"
"This 'game' will help strengthen your battle tactics, your military intelligence per se. It's a game that challenges both strategy and patience."
"Oh," he replied. After a few seconds, he asked, "What's that in English, yo?"
She massaged her forehead and said tightly. "It means, you won't be so easily defeated again. Rogue always played this game, and managed to win the majority of the time. Perhaps that's why she so mercilessly crushed you last battle."
He shrugged. "Hey man, Fred, Pietro, Lance, and Tabitha ain't ever played."
"Pietro does not have one ounce of patience, Mr. Dukes broke the board last time, Lance is too busy being kissy-kissy with that feline friend of his, and I shudder to think Tabitha would actually care."
He shrugged and hopped off, leaving Mystique even more aggravated than before. "Whatever, yo."
"Hey, boss lady," Pietro said in his usual super-speedy speech. "What are we eating tonight? Chinese? Hey, how about pasta? I love a good dish of spaghetti!"
"Hey, give that back!" Blob bellowed from the kitchen.
"Yeah, Kitty, I miss you too," from Lance in the den, talking to his love interest on the phone. "The movies Friday? I'm there!"
Punk music blared from Tabitha's new room (as Mystique had kicked her out of her bedroom). Mystique heard Boom Boom's joyfully off-key voice singing along.
"Hey, I could go for some pizza!"
Mystique slammed a fifty down on the table. "Order in, or burn the house down trying to make your own meal, but you will feed yourselves, you imbeciles!"
Irritated and angry, Mystique marched to her room, slamming the door behind her. "Idiots, the lot of them!" she snarled.
"Don't be so hard on them, Raven," a voice said softly.
She spun around in surprise to face the source of the voice.
Irene Adler sat in an overly stuffed chair, a small smile on her voice. "It's been a while. I missed you."
"How did you get here?"
"You haven't seen me in a year and that's all you can say?"
"How did you get here?" she repeated. "I'm tired and I have a headache. You were supposed to stay in Caldecott, like we agreed."
"I had a vision," Irene replied.
Raven rolled her eyes. "Don't you mean a 'probablity'?"
She sighed. "Please, Raven, don't be like this. I understand what it's like for you right now. But don't-"
"Understand?" she interrupted. "How can you possibly understand what it's like to take care of several obnoxious, loud, annoying little teenagers?"
Irene's look made Mystique bite her tongue. "Okay, okay. So you do understand, raising Rogue and all. I need an Advil."
While Mystique rummaged through her drawers, Irene continued. "I came here not only because I wanted to see you, but because of my vision."
"What is it this time? The fate of mutant kind?"
"Actually. yes."
Raven dropped the aspirin. "Again? Irene, I thought we already discussed this."
"I thought so too, but the visions just keep coming. Remember who our warrior is, darling. I know you miss her, but you can't let her know you care. We agreed to let her go with Charles."
"I see her everyday, Irene. I watch her as Risty. I see her walking the halls like the whole world is on her shoulders! You know why she feels that way! If you would just let me tell her how to-"
"Out of the question!" Irene replied. "You know what will happen. She must learn to control her powers on her own, or they will consume her."
"Which is so inconvenient to us, isn't it?"
"I love her just as much as you do," Irene said coolly. "You will not turn me into a monster to satisfy your guilt. This was already decided. We planned this all out. Why do you think it's any different now?"
Her yellow orbs flashed. "Because I'm sick of playing this charade, Irene! So let Apocalypse destroy the world as we know it, at least I'll have my family!"
"But for how long?"
Unwarranted tears sprang to her eyes. "This isn't fair! We can't deny her of her own identity; it's just not right, not fair! She has no idea who she is, where she belongs! If I could've kept her-"
Irene just shook her head sadly. "She would be ruined. If she stayed will you, she would've killed Carol Danvers and lost complete control of her powers."
"Carol Danvers was no threat, and you know it! Rogue could-"
"Act your age, Raven," Irene snapped. "You're older than me. You expect me to have the answers. I have one answer for you: Rogue must stay at the institute."
"And stay depressed and confused and--- God, I can't stand to see her this way!"
She fell into Irene's arms, sobbing, while the woman absent-mindedly stroked her auburn hair. "I know, darling."
"You knew even then what would happen, didn't you?"
".Yes."
"And yet you let me make the choice?"
Irene smiled. "I love you far too much to lie to you. I knew for a long time what would become of you, of us, of your children. I am a precognitive, my love. Others are not as prepared for the knowledge of what's to come as I am. You're angry because I won't share all of the details with you, but I have revealed everything you can handle."
"Everything I can handle?" she echoed angrily. "I hardly think I can't handle-!"
"The end of the world." she finished sadly. "We both know it's inevitable, and perhaps the knowledge of our failure makes certain we fail. I did you no favor by involving you in my battle. Sometimes I wish you had carried on like the others, with all the innocence and naïvity of the unscarred."
"No!" Mystique protested. "How can you say that?! We're preventing it, aren't we?"
"Perhaps," Irene answered. "But look how much pain I have caused you in the process."
"Raven, when it is time, you will have your children back. I promise."
* ~ *
Author's Notes (trying to get your head clear here):
1.) Yeah, the first scene sucked. Sorry, I was being uncreative!
2.) A few of Irene's lines were changed but pretty much taken from X-Men Forever- Issue # 2 (I believe it was the second one).
3.) Mystique and Irene were said to be lovers (Claremont let it slip Irene was Mystique's leman: which means a lover more or less, and can either be male or female) in the comics, though I'm sure Kids WB wouldn't let it past the censors.
4.) Irene's comment of how Mystique was older than her, is based on the comics. It might scare people who don't read between Marvel's lines (being that Irene was old like a capital O), but Mystique has been revealed several times as an elderly-looking scary blue thing (X-Men Forever #4 and somewhere else- I forgot), and in X-Treme X-Men #1, Raven was revealed to be in Irene's past, making it obvious Raven was just as old as Irene (who I think was born somewhere in the 1800s EEEK!), if not older! This freaks me out though, so I'm thinking Mystique can be no older than 40. I'm not trying to discriminate against elderly people here!
That's about it. A lot of this story will have cameos from people mentioned in the comics, but not the show, and a lot of storyline will be based on the comics also. Just warning you.