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Family Matters
Water Under the Bridge, Part I
1973
Mystique's charade as Stryker hadn't lasted long. Once the real major had appeared, she had quickly made herself scarce. And after helping the Wolverine out of the river, there was only one place she was willing to turn to for rest.
She took the first bus she could find headed south. Thanks to delays and heavy traffic, it took nearly four days for her to make it to Caldecott County, Mississippi. And none too soon, the gunshot wound on her leg needed to be cleaned.
She had just stepped off the bus when she spotted her, Irene Adler, leaning casually against the bus stop building. Her thick, dark hair was pulled into a messy bun and large glasses covered her face. She was clutching a walking stick in her hands.
Raven felt her stomach flutter as her heartbeat quickened. She had truly missed the other woman, and shouldn't have been surprised to see her there, waiting for her. Slowly, she approached her.
"It's been four years, Raven," Irene spoke, a small smile on her face.
"I know," was all she said. She didn't apologize, didn't need to with the precognitive.
Irene nodded her head and looped their arms together, as she began leading her towards her home. They ambled in a comfortable silence. It felt nice to have the other woman close to her again, and Raven would have loved to lace their fingers together, to feel her lips against hers again. But it was a small town and being a mutant was dangerous enough. There would be time for that later though, behind closed doors.
Once the two made it towards her home, Irene surprised Raven by not leading her into the house, but onto a bench on the front deck. Laid out on the patio furniture was a roll of fresh bandages and other items to clean her leg.
Raven sat on one end, while Irene sat on the other, and pulled the shapeshifter's injured foot into her lap and began to roll up her pant leg.
"You don't have to do that," she protested, attempting to pull her leg back.
"Nonsense." Irene had a firm grip. And sternly she spoke, "I'm not completely blind, yet. I'm more than capable of cleaning this for you."
"I've missed you," Raven finally said, relenting and letting the other woman do this for her. Irene hummed softly as she worked, and for the first time in a really long time, she felt herself truly relax.
Once she was finished, Irene didn't move her hand. Soothingly, she ran it across her leg and said, "There's something you should know."
"Another vision?"
"Not quite," Irene replied, apprehension lacing her words. But whatever she was about to say next was silenced by the loud ring of the house phone.
Raven wanted to tell her to ignore it, but the other woman was already stepping into the house, shutting the screen door but leaving the main door open. Even from her spot outside, she could hear Irene's one-sided conversation.
"Another fight."
Irene sounded exasperated, and a little amused if she weren't mistaken.
"I'll be there shortly to pick her up."
She wondered who had gotten into a fight, and why Irene needed to pick her up. It sounded like she had been doing that for a while.
"Oh, they are. Okay, I'll be waiting for them then."
Raven's curiosity grew. And as Irene walked back outside and settled down besides her, she spoke, "The Robinson's are my neighbors. A nice, normal family. They have a boy, Cody, around four."
Her confusion growing, she wondered why Irene was telling her this. But before she could ask, an old pickup truck stopped in front of the house.
Irene walked towards it as the passenger door opened. She spoke briefly to the driver, before a smaller body jumped out. A young girl, she grabbed Irene's hand as if she had been doing it forever.
Raven felt her stomach churn uncomfortably. Irene did say it had been four years.
The two were walking back to the house now, and she got a better look at the girl. She didn't look much older than two or three. She had a mane of unruly brown hair, that matched Irene's and bright green eyes. There was a particular stripe of white hair laced in the girl's hair, and she wondered if that was her mutant marker.
Once they were on the porch, the girl looked up towards Irene, silently demanding answers. If she hadn't been so distraught at the possible implications, Raven would have found the bratty look amusing.
Irene looked towards her first and said, "This is Anna Marie Darkholme."
The implication hung heavily in the air. Raven was caught off guard, not quite expecting that bombshell.
