Mystique Dearest

"That was one of the most unpleasant experiences I have ever had," Emma sighed. "And I don't just mean the part where I was nearly strangled to death..."

"Well what do you know? The White Queen does have a heart after all?" Kitty said, not too flippantly.

"Even though I wasn't happy to bear the brunt of Mr. Maddox's temper part of me can certainly understand his motivation," Emma admitted. "If our places had been switched I suppose I would feel the same way. Of course my priorites would be to escape instead of killing people but you get the idea."

Rogue sighed. "I never want to go through anything like that again."

"Neither do I, Rogue but we have jobs to do," Scott said. The X-Men and Misfits were meeting up back at their headquarters in San Francisco. It had only been an hour after Multiple's capture and the two teams were conferring about what had happened.

"That bad?" Fred asked.

"So say Multiple didn't go quietly was an understatement," Logan rubbed his shoulder. "When did the squirt get so good?"

"He ain't no squirt no more, that's for sure," Rogue grunted.

"Yeah and Fury won't treat him like one," Lance frowned. "We were just lucky they didn't ask for Willow or anyone else."

"Speaking of Willow how are you guys holding up with adding her on the team?" Bobby asked.

"We don't have a problem with her," Fred said. "I mean most of us Misfits aint' exactly had the best records ourselves so it's not like we think we're better."

"Losing her family the way she did really tore her up inside," Lance said. "She was close to her father. It's no wonder she reacted the way she did."

"Well what about what she did to Toad?" Bobby pointed a thumb at Todd.

"Hold on, neither she nor Multiple or half the team in X-Force knew what Bishop and Mystique were planning," Todd spoke up. "Besides if I held a grudge over every guy who kidnapped me or tried to kill me I'd never have any friends."

"Well Multiple could use some friends right now," Kurt sighed. "Oh wait we sort of betrayed him."

"We didn't betray him. He went crazy and tried to kill us," Kitty said. "If he just got over his ego and let us work with him things would be different now!"

"Pryde is right. If he trusted us and came quietly I believe his situation would be very different right now," Emma agreed. "But it's not. What happened happened. And there's nothing we can do for him until he decides to get over it and forgive us."

"Could have used him too for building the town," Bobby sighed. "Maybe we can talk Fury into a work release program or something?"

"It's worth a shot but I wouldn't hold my breath," Logan said. "And to think he was supposed to be the easiest one on the list."

"List?" Kurt raised an eyebrow. "What list?"

"They also want us to take down a few mutants on the wanted list," Scott said. "Juggernaut and Black Tom for example. Even though they turned on Apocalypse at the last minute the government is nervous about where they are and what they are planning next."

"I'm concerned about that kid they have with them," Wanda remarked. "Juggernaut may care about that boy but he's already had his DNA warped by Apocalypse merely for associating with him. Who knows what else Juggernaut is going to put him through?"

"What kid?" Logan asked.

"Remember that little orange kid that we saw with Juggernaut a while back?" Wanda told him. "The one with the gills? Well he got bigger."

"Oh yeah that one," Logan nodded.

"They also want Sabertooth, Victoria, Daken…" Scott began.

"Those three are not going to be a problem for me," Logan remarked. "Family or not."

"Speaking of family guess who else is on the list?" Kitty brought the wanted list on the screen of a large computer.

"Yeah the government isn't exactly crazy about our connection with the top three," Scott pointed to pictures of Vulcan, Daken and Mystique.

"Vulcan and Daken are crazy," Alex grumbled. "Family or not they need to be taken down!"

"I am personally going to have a talk with my boy and explain to him how I feel about what he did to Amara," Logan growled as he shot his claws out.

"You're not going to..." Kurt gave Logan a look.

"No I'm not going to kill Daken. But it's amazing what you can live through," Logan snarled.

"Vulcan is at the top of the list," Scott growled. "Him, Daken and Mystique. I hate to say this Kurt but…"

"Actually I have no problem bringing Mystique in," Kurt growled. "Any delusions I ever had of that woman being a part of our family were shattered as soon as the war stared. What she did with the GRSO…And Apocalypse…And God only knows what else she did during the war, I just can't forgive her. And I've tried. Believe me I've tried but I just can't forgive her."

"Let's not forget a certain strip club incident," Pietro added.

"Thank you Quicksilver for throwing salt on an open wound!" Kurt snapped. "I will definitely never forget the strip club incident!"

"Strip club incident?" Xavier blinked.

"Yeah that happened while you were in a coma," Hank ran his fingers through his hair sheepishly. "I'll…tell you about that later."

"Must be some story," Xavier remarked.

"It is," Pietro smirked.

"I'm sorry Kurt," Rogue let out a breath and put her hand on her brother's shoulder.

"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you," Kurt said. "I can't believe I was so blind. You were right all along. Our birth mother is nothing but a lying snake and can never be trusted. Not after all that she's done."

"Part of me wanted you to be right but…" Rogue shook her head. "I just never wanted you to get hurt."

"The way she hurt you?" Kurt asked. "I just feel like a fool for not seeing the facts before my eyes."

"Well she can't fool us anymore," Rogue said. "We're gonna find her and lock her up before she does any more damage."

"That's easier said than done," Logan groaned. "With her advanced shape shifting abilities she can even fool Cerebro now. She could be anyone, anywhere."

"That's gonna make our job so much harder," Rogue groaned. "Wonderful!"

"There's one good thing about all this," Kurt shrugged. "Now that I've finally wised up to my mother's tricks, there is no way Mystique can ever hurt our family and screw up our lives anymore."

Meanwhile somewhere far away in a bathroom in a safe house…

"Oh crap…" Mystique groaned as she looked at the pink line, indicating a positive remark. "Why does this always happen to me?"

Three guesses who the daddy is? He he…Oh so much fun in the future!