At first glance, there was nothing odd about the scene taking place in that room. Four women gathered around a small coffee table and one man standing between two chairs, what could be more normal than that? Well, considering the fact that the man was Logan and the woman with short dark hair and the body of a model was glaring at Logan, holding an icepack to her temple, then one would have to admit that something was indeed strange in all that.
"Go to hell, I'm not telling you anything," Mystique grumbled.
Since she'd become more human than not, she'd developed a great fashion sense she used to control men with the new power she'd discovered, her looks. Logan might have brought her to the mansion butt naked, but she'd been given clothes and now she looked like she'd been posing for the cover of a fashion magazine. No need to say that it made Rogue feel terribly self aware and even Storm felt a little out of place, while Stardust couldn't care less, as she concentrated on not moving too much to prevent any strain to the wounds, although even breathing hurt. Logan, standing so close to her, was almost as annoying as the way he was looking at Mystique.
"You don't have to, the Professor will read your mind like a book," Storm retorted.
"I'm glad you put so much faith in me, my dear." Xavier's voice was heard as he rolled his wheel chair into the room. He could have read her mind from his office, but there was a strong reason behind everything he did, and he had chosen to do it this way. "Hello everyone," he greeted and turned around so he could see them all. They were all his children and he worried for them all. "Mystique." Yes, he even worried for her, or was that because of her?
"Charles."
"It's good to see you. You look lovely." The Professor, a charmer? Who would have thought?
"Look what your dog did to me," she barked back, removing the icepack to show him the big blue bruise on the side of her head.
"Logan, I didn't know you beat women," he smirked. No, he just slices them, the answer echoed in his mind coming from you know who.
"I thought she looked better in blue," the big mutant smirked back.
Mystique obviously didn't approve by the look she gave him, although she missed the special powers that came with the blue look. Those present had the decency not to snort aloud.
"Let's not lose our focus here," Xavier chided him softly, not sure he agreed. A pissed off Mystique was more dangerous than ever. "Storm," he invited the white haired woman to start the interrogation.
"So what we know so far, what everyone knows, is that you've been kicked out of Magneto's camp," Storm began. That had happened a while back, when she'd been given the cure. "The question is, what were you doing there inside that facility where we found you? Are you back with Magneto or are you working on your own?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Mystique smiled sweetly and poured herself some tea.
"Neither," the Professor answered for her, reading the facts contained in the stubborn, vindictive mind.
Eyes turned to him disconcerted, not understanding what that meant.
"Mystique is not working for Eric, and she is probably never going to do it again." He paused to look at her. Mystique nodded slightly. "She is working for others," he stated and the woman's hand trembled on the cup. "A new group… the fraternity of the mutants cheated by the so called cure…" information was extracted piece by piece from Mystique's mind.
"Pah!" Logan rolled his eyes. What could such an organization want? It had to be another group ready to spread terror among people, especially if Mystique was part of it.
"Don't under estimate us," she warned him. No one did. Any group of mutants, organization, fraternity, brotherhood or whatever they called it, was dangerous. Even the School and the X-men were dangerous, when they wanted to be. Very dangerous.
"Why did you need another organization? Wasn't Magneto bad enough?" Logan grumbled.
"This time is different," she claimed. "We won't take the power by force, we will take it by…"
"Mischief," the Professor interrupted.
"Rhymes with Mystique." Logan deadpanned.
"…legally." Mystique finished.
"God, this starts to look more and more like politics." Stardust feigned a bored sigh and Mystique gave her a thin smile. This was exactly what they were doing, politics in the front and violence in the back, until they achieved their goal.
"What did you need Warren for?" Storm wondered. "He's never been given the cure, he can't technically join your cause… whatever that is."
"His father designed the cure and wanted to give it to him against his will." The Professor echoed Mystique's thoughts, though he didn't need to read her mind since those were things already known. "He's supposed to be some sort of an icon," he murmured. "Wise…"
"Thank you." She smiled boldly at him.
"She's useless, she doesn't know anything more than that." The Professor shook his head, which earned him another glare because it reminded her that, again, she wasn't the first in command… yet. "Politics, you say…" he looked pensively to Stardust. "There's supposed to be a conference in Washington next week, regarding mutants' rights," he remembered. The officials did those regularly, just to keep them quiet. "You might have to pack your bags." He glanced at Storm and Logan and then at Stardust. "But first, I need to talk to Hank," he said and turned around to go to make the call. The cup, thrown by a furious Mystique, exploded into small porcelain pieces as it hit the back of his chair.
The Professor didn't stop, having better things to do than argue with her, but thank God there was Logan to assume that responsibility. "Now that wasn't nice." He shook his head scolding her.
"Have you looked in the mirror lately?" Mystique started to morph into a wako version of Logan just to piss him off.
"That cure really wore you out, if that's all you can do…" Logan mocked her.
"Oh, really?" Eyes narrowed at him. "What about this then?" Fire red hair started to grow out of her scalp flooding down her shoulders, eyes lit up and limbs became slender.
"Jean…" Logan watched her dumbstrucked. This couldn't be. Jean was dead. He'd killed her.
"Mystique, stop it!" Storm exclaimed worried for Logan and what he might do when he came out of that dream like state.
"You're not afraid of me, big boy, are you?" Mystique purred and spread her thighs teasingly. A hint of lacy underwear flashed in front of their eyes. Logan still didn't move, he looked like he'd stopped even breathing, he just stared mesmerized at the creature in front of him.
"Stop it, stop it right now!" Storm advanced towards the woman that now had a very trashy smile on her face. A warning growl made her stop instead. Logan wasn't even aware of it but no one was touching his Jean.
"You want me don't you?" the fake Jean continued to purr. "Good… 'cause I don't want you!" she hissed full of hate. Logan had turned down her advances once, now she was getting even, paying him back with interest.
Logan bristled, though not at her. When he looked down he discovered, almost with surprise that a clear mark of teeth was slowly disappearing from the hand resting on the back of Stardust's chair. "Did it taste good?" he smirked.
She licked her lips and quirked her nose. "Not really."
Taking advantage of Logan's distraction, Rogue grabbed the kettle off the table and threw its content at Mystique. The woman cursed, throwing the warm liquid off her nose and, losing her concentration, began to turn back. Stepping forward, he quieted her for several minutes, his fist turning the other side of her head blue too.
"Someone get this wet bitch out of here!" he called out to some people passing along the corridor.
"Woman beater," Stardust murmured quietly, obviously teasing. She would have done the same if she had had metal fists.
"Damn, it felt good!" he grumbled, shaking his hand, and winked at her.
