Hitchhiker

By Princess Alexandria

"Amazing, isn't it?" The brunette spoke, but the rough looking man seemed to give that girl a strange look that made her silent. Brooke's mind registered that, but her own words were still silenced as Mystique took a few steps closer.

"Hi." Mercy spoke a little loudly, her tone happy and welcoming. "I'm blue too." The little girl sounded so happy to be able to say that. It shook Brooke out of her haze and she swallowed hard.

"Hello Mystique." Brooke spoke softly, knowing her big secret was way out there now. She had planned to spill it gently if she was going to tell Mystique at all. She hadn't decided yet what she was going to do, but her decision was stolen now. "This is my little girl," Brooke shifted Mercy in her arms to make her just a little more comfortable to hold. "Mercedes."

Mystique seemed to take a rather deep breath from her nose and stared at the little girl. Brooke was nervous, because Mercy already seemed to like the blue woman and she prayed that Mystique would be kind in front of her little girl. If she wanted to yell and scream, Brooke prayed it wouldn't be in front of Mercy.

The rough man whispered but everyone could hear it. "Come on darlin' this place is getting crowded." He tugged on the brunettes arm and the woman stared at Brooke, but Brooke was too busy staring at Mystique to shift her attention to the eyes she could feel on her.

"I didn't know you had a daughter." Mystique spoke softly and stepped just a little closer. There was so much said in the tone.

"She's my little angel." Brooke moved just a little to the side letting two people walk passed her. Brooke glanced around at that and started to worry about the audience they might attract, a pair of two new blue people in town would attract attention and speculation. Her eyes shifted to Kurt and watched his wide eyes move from her to Mystique and back. He looked as stunned as Mystique had for that moment before she spoke.

Brooke didn't want to do this around a stranger, hell Mystique herself was a stranger. An intimate stranger, but still someone Brooke had only spent one day and night with. She didn't know her all that well. That made her nervous as she held Mercy tight.

"I'm Mystique." She introduced herself gently to Mercy, and Brooke watched as the woman stared at their daughter, something tender and still stunned in her eyes.

"I'm Mercy." Mercy almost hit Brooke in the chin as she shifted around trying to hold out her hand for a shake. Brooke dodged her head a little to avoid the collision.

"Did you leave this woman with your daughter?" Kurt's voice was low and angry and Brooke was startled by the coldness to it.

Mystique looked up from the hand she was shaking and stared right into Brooke's face as she spoke to him. "I didn't know I had one." Brooke blushed at the way she was being stared at by Mystique, and she finally had to look away.

Kurt looked startled, Brooke thought. She stared at him. "Um, do you think you could excuse us?" She asked him politely. He nodded just a little and then was suddenly not there. There was a stink to the air though.

Brooke shifted Mercy's weight in her arms and sighed while glancing at the small alley between the barbershop and the store next to it. It would have to do, because it was only a matter of time before the busy bodies of the town noticed this. "Hey baby, let's go get out of the sun." Brooke spoke gently to Mercy and then locked her eyes on Mystique and shifted her head toward the alley.

As they stepped into the alley Mercy was hanging her arm and head over Brooke's shoulder to talk to the woman behind them. "My Uncle calls me his blueberry. Do people call you a blueberry?"

"No, I can't say that they do." Mystique spoke tenderly and it started to calm Brooke a little.

"Oh." Mercy shifted and Brooke grimaced at the elbow to her ear, but she didn't turn around as she got where she'd been going, the semi-privacy of the alley. She was letting Mercy talk while she tried to think of what to say herself. Mercy was having the time of her life. "I'm three." The fingers left Brooke's shoulder and she felt Mystique step closer.

"One too many fingers doll." Mystique's voice was close and Brooke felt the woman so close. She turned and watched as Mystique gently corrected the number of fingers Mercy held up. "That's three." Mystique said once Mercy had it right.

Brooke shifted Mercy again, feeling her little girl getting a little heavy and lowered her to the ground, but she held Mercy's hand tightly. "I ah," Brooke ran a hand through her sweat damped hair and sighed while she looked at Mystique, who was standing rather still waiting for it. "I really didn't think I'd see you again." Brooke whispered as Mercy was busy pulling on her arm while trying to get closer to the blue woman. Brooke watched her little girl stretching her arm out to try and touch Mystique's blue skin.

"This wasn't an accident was it?" Mystique spoke softly, so it was hard to determine how angry she might be. "I'd apologize about not knowing I could do this, but I get the feeling you planned this." There was a hint of steel to the last words and Brooke really wished Jimmy was in town so she could drop her baby off before this discussion.

"I owe you a sugar cube." Brooke grinned a little weakly. "You bred the mare." Mystique's jaw tensed, but when Mercy managed to touch the blue woman's hand she stared down and then opened it so that Mercy could hold her hand.

"You're blue." Mercy said, sounding enthralled. "I bet my Uncle will call you a blueberry if you want."

Brooke took a deep breath and looked up from her little girl at Mystique. "I got just what I wanted." She admitted it while forcing her body to relax. "A nice night and my little girl." Brooke wondered if her smile looked as much like a grimace as it felt.

"Why?" Mystique didn't seem to want to complain as Mercy started to swing her arms, swinging Brooke's and Mystique's with hers.

"None of the donors I was trying to pick from were right." Brooke glanced out to see that rough man leaning on the wall of the grocery store, appearing to be watching out for her truck. She hadn't locked it, but this was a small town. No one was likely to try and steal it, well unless Mystique's son inherited his mother's tendency to steal cars. "I liked your look, and your style. I breed horses, and the same principles work in humans, people claim there is more to it, but it's just breeding. I wanted a strong, attractive, and intelligent set of genes for my little girl and when I ran into the chance just when it was time, well, I took it."

"Mommy I have lots of jeans." Mercy said, her eyebrows pulled together in confusion on her face. "What jeans are you talking about?"

Mystique grinned just a little at Mercy's comment. "Maybe she's talking about the one's you're wearing. I think they look nice." Mystique squatted down and really looked at Mercy. She even reached out and straightened Mercy's shirt for her. Brooke let go of Mercy's hand and just watched the two interact. She was under no delusions; she knew that she was only being let off the hook this much because Mercy was there.

"You have my eyes." Mystique spoke softly and smiled at Mercy.

"No silly, I have my own eyes." Mercy gently slapped Mystique's arm and laughed.

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