Chapter 7
"I'm BORED."
Angel was lazily draped over a couch in the lounge, drying her freshly polished nails by gently fluttering her wings. Mystique's hair stirred slightly from the breeze, forcing her to tuck it behind her ears every so often. Erik, Emma, and Azazel had been gone for three days.
"Let's do something."
"What do you want to do?" Mystique sat on the floor idly flipping through a fashion magazine, not really looking at any of the pages. She attempted reading a book that Azazel left for her the day after her mission, but it was dense and philosophical and she simply was too distracted to really concentrate. He had taken to leaving books on various topics outside of her door whenever he was away on missions reasoning that, "just because I am away doesn't mean you can stop training."
"I don't know. Something not involving sitting here on our asses."
"Want to go down to the Hellfire Club?" Mystique suggested, turning a page and eying a silver sequin dress.
"Nah, we did that last night."
"Want to practice training in the ballroom?"
"Mysty, I said I'm bored now, I don't want to be more bored a few hours from now, too."
Janos sat at the coffee table shuffling a deck of cards. He cut it a few times and then dealt the cards out before him in traditional solitaire rows. With a gentle rotation of his hand, Janos started to twist the cards in the air in a slow, languid funnel. Mystique continued to flip through her magazine, occasionally glancing up to watch Janos's growing funnel. Suddenly, Angel sat up and snapped her fingers.
"Dancing. That's it! Let's hit some dance clubs on the strip. This place is b-o-r-e-d city!"
She translated her idea to Janos and he nodded and collected his cards back into their pack. Angel looked expectantly at Mystique. The blue mutant shrugged her shoulders.
"Alright, dancing sounds fun." It sounds like something that will get me out of here for a few hours. Mystique was worried. Their teammates had been gone for too long without word. She was worried about Erik, especially after how nervous he appeared during the last mission. She knew the details of this operation, and while she hadn't thought the mission would be quick, three days seemed like a long time to be gone, especially when they have a teleporter with them. Mystique found her thoughts drifting to Azazel. She was worried about him too, a little.
"You planning on going out like…that?"
"Hmmm?" Mystique's thoughts had distracted her from Angel's question. Angel motioned to Mystique's body.
"Mysty, love you blue but the world ain't gonna. Sorry babe." Angel was already flattening her wings to her body, making them appear as nothing more than exotic tattoos.
Mystique grinned. Her teammates accepted her true form without hesitation, but she knew Angel was right. There was no way she'd be able to walk outside the hotel without disguising her mutation. Mystique thought briefly about all the faces she'd grown since joining the Brotherhood. With Charles, it had been easy - she was simply the cute blonde. Here she was constantly changing faces to deceive, infiltrate, and accomplish missions. She had to learn to be so many different people that it was amazing she didn't lose herself at times. Mystique concentrated on her skin. Who should I become tonight?
As Mystique pondered this, she suddenly thought about the woman from Azazel's locket. Closing her eyes, she remembered the waves of ebony curls, the porcelain skin, and the large, soulful eyes. Then she imagined a short, shimmering dress from her now discarded magazine. When she felt confident in her physical form, she opened her eyes. Janos nodded appreciatively and Angel clapped.
"Not bad! She's a new one. I like the dress."
"Thanks!"
Angel linked her arms through Janos and Mystique's arms. "Come on. Let's make this a night to remember!"
The music beat throughout her entire body. Mystique chewed on an ice cube and enjoyed the colorful interplay of lights from her seat on a lounge couch in front of the dance floor. They visited four clubs before Angel decided this was a "good one." Mystique differed to Angel when it came to clubs. Charles and she only visited pubs, and even then, it was often the same pub repeatedly. Angel seemed to know what qualified as a good club. Mostly, Mystique thought, she judged clubs on the amount of seemingly lonely men with money to burn. Angel was currently working her charm on one of those lonely men at the bar.
Janos approached Mystique with two colorful drinks. He handed one to Mystique and clinked his glass against it after she accepted.
"¡Salud!" She eyed her glass warily, but took a sip. The drink was surprisingly sweet and minty, and tasted much more pleasant than she would have guessed. After joining the Brotherhood, Mystique was pleasantly surprised to discover that she enjoyed social drinking, and she had even mastered the ability to stay in disguise while consuming alcohol. Charles was always so worried she'd "slip-up" at the pubs they frequented that he made her too nervous to enjoy drinking. Things were certainly different now.
"¿Qué…es esta, um…bebida?" Mystique held up her drink. Janos laughed and enthusiastically, applauding her attempt.
"¡Bueno! Es una Grasshopper."
"Grasshopper?"
"Si, una Grasshopper!" As if to prove his point, Janos did a mock imitation of a grasshopper jumping. Mystique almost spilled her drink laughing. Janos grinned at her and threw back his glass. Angel sauntered over, smiling triumphantly. She waved a handful of bills at them.
"Piece of cake. Jan, baby, buy us ladies a drink?" Janos smiled and took Angel's hand, kissing it and bowing dramatically as if she was royalty. Angel giggled and pursed her lips at him. When he let go of her hand, the money was gone.
"Boys!" Angel hopped over the couch and slid down next to Mystique. If there was one thing they could count on with Angel, it was her ability to charm men and relieve them of their money. They never had to worry about buying drinks with Angel around. Mystique began to think that if Angel was part of Janos and Azazel's little game, she'd win, if that were possible. I wonder what he, Erik, and Emma are doing right now. Angel gave Mystique a tipsy smile, reached over and brushed back Mystique's dark curls over her shoulder.
"Oh, Mysty…don't worry about Magneto. He'll be fine. If Red can't stop 'em, Emma's cold bitch on wheels attitude will." She giggled at her own joke, and her throaty laughter caught the attention of a man standing at the bar.
Mystique sighed and looked down at her drink, swirling the green liquid in its glass. She would have to work on better concealing her thoughts.
"I know. I can't help it. I just feel like they should be back by now, or at least they should have sent Azazel back to update us on what's going on."
"I bet they'll be back by the time we get home."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, I'm sure they're bored without the three of us to keep them entertained." Angel smirked.
"Is this…is this how you thought it would be?"
"Is what how I thought it would be? The club? It's cool."
"No, the Brotherhood." Mystique turned to face Angel, her expression serious. "When you left and joined Shaw…" Mystique realized too late it was an awkward way to start. She took a breath and continued. "When you left to join Shaw, did you think we'd be here? That this would be our life?" Angel considered Mystique for a long moment before answering.
"Honey, I don't know what I expected." She finally admitted as she began fiddling with the fringe on her dress. "I just wanted to do something. I was tired of taking my clothes off for money. I was tired of pretending my wings were tattoos. To hide my abilities all the while pretending I was some dumb whore…" Angel paused. "It's not fair. We shouldn't have to hide what we are. Charles…he's a good cat Mysty, and I know you love him, but he wanted us to hide until everyone else was ready to accept us. Well, I'm done with that shit. Shaw wanted change now, and so does Magneto. Janos doesn't want to hide his abilities, and lord knows Red's probably sick of hiding himself. Can you imagine? At least we," she motioned to Janos, Mystique and herself, "can blend in. Poor Red can't even walk down the street or come to a club like this and dream of being accepted. Well, I'm tired of it and what we're doing in the Brotherhood – that's gonna shake. Shit. UP!"
Mystique sipped her drink and thought about her second day of training with Azazel, when she contemplated his physical mutations. True, her natural appearance was also extreme, but her abilities allowed her to look normal whenever she wanted. She couldn't truly imagine what kind of limits his appearance placed on social interactions, never mind opportunities or experiences. Still, he never once talked about his mutations negatively.
"Well, at least Azazel doesn't seem to be that mad about how he looks."
"Shit, Red wouldn't change a damn thing about himself. The only time I seen him get mad – I mean, really get mad - was that time the coffee maker was broken and Magneto took his sweet time getting a new one." Angel paused and seemed to recall the memory for a few seconds. "Actually, that was kinda a scary week. Caffeine withdrawal seems like a bitch."
Angel blew a kiss to a stranger at the bar. The man pretended to catch it. Mystique raised her eyebrow at Angel's playful behavior.
"Doesn't Janos…get mad when you do that?"
"Janos?" Angel looked seriously at Mystique for a confused moment, and then burst into laughter. "Oh, Mystique…Janos likes boys. You didn't know that?" She howled with laughter.
Janos likes…wow, thought Mystique. That was eye-opening. Angel recovered just as Janos returned with a fresh round of drinks. She recounted the conversation to Janos, and he acknowledged the truth with shrugged shoulders as he handed Mystique her drink. He raised his glass, and Mystique gave a shy smile and returned the gesture. I guess Janos really knows what it's like to be different.
"What about you?" Angel motioned around the club in an exaggerated fashion, "is this all you dared to hope and dream?"
"Yes and no. I wanted to be part of something greater than myself. I'm tired of hiding too, and I want to be able to have the same rights as everyone else. I think that's what we're going to do with the Brotherhood, soon enough. And after the government attacked us – all of us – after Shaw died…" anger flared up in Mystique. She bit down on an ice cube to calm herself before continuing. "I don't trust anyone associated with the government. Magneto understands this, and his vision of the future – one of mutant equality at any cost – it's really what I've wanted my whole life. But…at the same time, I do miss the others. Sean, Alex, Hank…and Charles, of course."
"Ooo, I miss that Alex. He looked like he woulda been one hell of a ride!" At Angel's omission, Mystique laughed out loud. Alex had been a regular topic of conversation among the girls when they lived at the CIA compound.
Angel smiled at Mystique and reached over, placing her hand over Mystique's. Janos reached down and put his hand over both girls' hands and squeezed them gently, as if the three were making a pact. Mystique was surprised by the sudden, warm gestures of her teammates.
"Well, for what it means," Angel smiled, "I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you are on my team."
Mystique beamed and squeezed her teammates' hands in happiness. It was amazing how much closer she had grown to the former Hellfire members in the last nine weeks. She considered Angel and Janos true friends; she respected and was no longer afraid of Azazel; and Emma…well, she reasoned, three out of four isn't too bad.
The stranger from the bar walked over to Angel and struck up a conversation. Within minutes, Angel walked out onto the dance floor with him. Mystique began to feel the buzz of the alcohol, and found her feet tapping to the beat. At that, Janos put down his empty glass and held his hand out to Mystique.
"¿Quieres bailar?"
"I don't understand!" Mystique laughed. Janos repeated his question and mimicked dancing with an invisible partner.
Angel and her new man swung by the two, and Angel came close enough to yell, "You don't need to understand! Just get your ass up and dance!" She whirled away to the music.
Janos had a broad grin on his face and his hand was still extended. Oh, what the hell? Mystique took his hand.
She had no idea that Janos was such an amazing dancer. They twisted and turned all around the dance floor, laughing and having fun. He showed her a few moves with her hips and some footwork to match his. She caught on quickly, and mentally thanked Azazel's training for her new found gracefulness. Through sword work, she was becoming stronger, and more sure-footed. The band's music pumped through her body like a heartbeat. Janos's taut body pressed against her, guiding her through the motions and movements. For a brief time, the freedom and carefree feelings when she first joined the Brotherhood returned, and for once, Mystique didn't want the experience to end.
They didn't return to the hotel until daybreak. Janos, Mystique, and Angel walked haphazardly down the main strip arm in arm, Janos leading the girls in an off-key rendition of "Do You Love Me (Now That I Can Dance)." In the Hellfire Club elevator, Mystique had trouble fitting Janos's key into the pad to unlock the Brotherhood's private floors, and Janos and Angel howled like this was the funniest thing to happen all night. They danced the entire ride up to their home.
Erik, Emma, and Azazel were in the lobby when the elevator opened. There was a moment of surprise when the two parties collided. There was a serious mood in the lobby, and Mystique was instantly, painfully aware that she, Angel, and Janos looked like a bunch of guilty teenagers being caught by their parents.
"Hey look, they're back!" Angel stumbled out of the elevator first, wobbling on her platform shoes. She would have fallen if Janos hadn't caught her. Mystique composed herself and tried to walk without stumbling. She smiled in relief at Erik, Emma, and Azazel…
…was frozen in mid-stride, mouth agape, staring at Mystique.
"What's wrong?" Mystique looked puzzled at Azazel. He looked…like he's seen a ghost. His entire body was ridged; even his tail hung suspended. Suddenly, she realized she was still wearing her disguise…of the woman from his locket. Oh fuck!
"Oh…no, it's just me! It's Mystique!" She quickly morphed back to her blue scales, holding up her arms to exaggerated the gesture. "Ta-da!"
Azazel remained frozen for a few seconds longer before what only could be described as a wave of pain crossed his face, quickly replaced by one of rage. He narrowed his eyes and his hands balled into fists at his side. His nostrils flared. Mystique took a step back, suddenly feeling very small, and very afraid. Azazel looked absolutely furious. Emma, who had been watching this Mystique's display with a frown and crossed arms, suddenly winced and cried out, holding her head in both hands. She spun to face Azazel just as he disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.
"What. The fuck. Was that?" Angel swayed uncertainly on her feet, looked at Mystique, then back to Erik and Emma. Even Erik looked alarmed. Emma turned quickly to face Mystique with a look of shock on her face. She slowly closed her mouth and her expression melted into a cold, hard stare.
"How…how dare you!"
