Chapter 9

Things Get Serious

At the Institute

"Mystique" Dean says out loud with clear anger in his voice.

"Yes, that's a smart boy" she said mockingly.

"What have you done to her?" he asks in a menacing tone.

"I told you I always get what I want, oh and I haven't done anything besides kidnap her…..yet" she said.

"Don't you dare harm her!" he yells out. At this point Jean had already contacted the Professor to come and see the commotion and was now with the rest of the crowd listening to the conversation.

Mystique chuckles, "Oh don't you worry now my dear boy, I won't hurt her as long as you do as I say".

Dean makes a fist and squeezes tightly, "What do you want?" he said in the calmest manner he can manage, which isn't very much.

"Well now here is what you're going to do. Tomorrow at one o'clock you will come to The Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House where you will join my Brotherhood and fight for our cause, if you don't you can say goodbye to your dear mother." She said with all seriousness.

"Understood" he says hiding his anger.

"Good, then I'll see you tomorrow." She said before she hung up.

Dean hangs up the phone and punches a hole through the wall in a fit of rage.

The Professor comes forward, "Dean what is the matter?" he asked.

Dean takes his hand out of the wall, "Mystique kidnapped my mother!" he said with hatred.

"This is most unfortunate. What does she want from you?" The Professor asked.

"She wants me to join her Brotherhood." Dean said.

"This is definitely not good. What do you want to do?" The Professor asked.

"The only thing I can do, turn myself over to them and hope they keep their word." Dean said with an angry face.

"That's not true; we can try and rescue her from the Brotherho-"Scott gets cut off.

"No Scott! I won't endanger my mother's life, plus we don't even know where she is being held. She could be in a different state." Dean said.

"If that is what you wish, it will be so. This is your family matter so you will decide what to do, we will not intrude. Just remember, you will always have allies here." The Professor said.

"I understand. I'm gonna go to my room, I have some packing to do." Dean said reluctantly before he made his way upstairs.

At the Boarding House

Mystique hangs up the phone and looks at Effie smiling, "It's the simple things in life".

Effie glares at her and says "I'm warning you, you are making the biggest mistake of your life."

Mystique laughs at her, "The biggest mistake of my life? This might be the best thing I ever did. With your son at my side, my Brotherhood will swat the X-men like flies! And I'm not even including the new recruits that should be arriving soon."

Effie snorts, "Just remember I warned you. You might not live to regret this stupid decision of yours."

"Don't you get it? Your son can't do anything about it, he can't even touch me. Cause if he does, you die. If he fails to cooperate, you die. If he tries to rescue you, you die. If by some miracle he somehow manages to kill me. You. Die." Mystique said.

"Who's going to kill me when you're gone? Your pathetic little lackeys?" she replied.

Mystique growls at the thought of her Brotherhood screwing it up, again. She puts tape over her mouth so she doesn't have to hear her bickering anymore, "TOAD!" she yells out.

Toad comes hoping up the stairs and into the room, "Wassup yo" he said.

"I want you to watch her while I'm gone" She said.

"But why do I gotta do it yo?" Toad complained.

"Because I said so! Now here's what you're going to do, every four hours you're going to switch shifts in watching her with someone else except me, did you get that Toad?" she said in a mocking tone.

Toad nods, "Yeah, I got it" he said.

"Good, now don't disturb me. I have some planning to do." She says as she walks out.

"Punk ass bitch" he mutters.

She turns around, "What was that!" she yelled.

"Um, I said I won't snitch" he said in fear.

"That's what I thought" she turns around walks out. Toad sticks his tongue at her.

Downstairs Fred, Lance, and Pietro are sitting in the lounge while watching TV.

"Ah man why does he have to come with us?" Fred complained about Dean coming to join them.

"Because he beat us all by himself bonehead, which makes him very valuable." Lance explained.

"Oh check out Mr. Smart over here, like we didn't know that" Pietro said mockingly.

Lance glares at Pietro, "Well Blob didn't know so I explained it, you gotta problem with that?" Lance replied with a threatening tone.

"Yeah I gotta problem with that; I'm starting to think you actually think highly of this guy." Pietro said referring to Dean.

"I don't think 'highly' of him, I'm just admitting that he's good. No matter how hard it is to believe that." Lance said with a tint of resentment towards the beating they got at the hands of Dean.

"Yes, which raises the question. How did he do it?" Pietro said.

"Yeah, I mean how did he know I was behind him when I was trying to sneak up on him?" Fred said in confusion.

"No offense Blob, but I don't think you can sneak up on anybody if you know what I mean." Pietro said with that cocky grin of his.

"Yeah. Wait I don't get it." Fred said scratching his head in confusion.

"Well now that you mention it, Fred was walking slowly towards him so he must have some good hearing." Lance said.

"That's another thing, how does he have so many abilities? I mean he can keep up with Blob's strength and he actually managed to touch me. He actually managed to touch me! Nobody without super speed can do that." Pietro complained.

"Well whatever his mutant power lets him do, I've got a score to settle with him. We all do, so when he gets here I suggest some payback. What do you guys think?" Lance asked.

"Yeah" Pietro and Fred say in unison without noticing it.

At the institute

Dean has been in his room ever since the phone call, thinking about what he's going to do in a few hours. This will probably be the toughest thing he has ever had to do. He was going to have to betray his newfound friends and allies in order to keep his mother alive. And today had been such a great day too, how ironic that it turned out to be the worst day ever.

Dean right now is lying back on his bed and bouncing a handball on the ceiling to pass the time. He always liked doing that when he had nothing else to do, besides playing guitar. He had already packed his things for tomorrow so there was nothing left to do, the only thing that wasn't packed were his swords which were still hung up above his mirror.

Dean looks at his swords; they bring up the thought of his father. He had called him earlier to make sure at least he was alright. He was, but barely. His father didn't know what to think when he was suddenly knocked out cold and woke up without a wife. Dean assured him everything was alright and explained to him what he was going to do. His father agreed 100% that there was no other way to settle this little problem of theirs. He trusted his son to do the right thing or the just thing depending on how you look at it.

Dean takes a second to look at his silver cross around his neck, the one his father got him many years ago. It always reminded him how much he loved both his parents, and that he would do anything for them.

All of a sudden he hears somebody knock on his door. "Who is it?" he asks out loud.

"It's Rogue" he hears from outside the door.

Dean sighs and says, "Come in."

Rogue walks in and closes the door behind her. "Ah guess this is a bad time to get back at you for tickling me huh?" she asks with a tiny smile trying to lighten up the mood.

Dean would have smiled and made a comeback if he wasn't already furious.

"So how are ya feelin?" she asked with concern in her voice.

Dean throws the hand ball at the ceiling, "I still wanna use Mystique as a punching bag if that answers your question." He catches the hand ball after it bounces off the ceiling.

"Yeah I know what ya mean. I have my own issues with Mystique." She said reluctantly.

Dean throws the ball, "Hmm, what did she do to you?" he asked giving away no emotion whatsoever.

Rogue sits down by Dean's bed, "She used meh because she saw meh as a weapon that she could have used against the Professor. She impersonated some of the x-men and tried to attack meh. I thought that they were the enemy so ah ended up joining up with Mystique, but after ah found out that she used meh ah took a piece of her mind. If you know what I mean." She said pointing to her hand.

Dean catches the ball and stops throwing it, "It seems like we have something in common. So what brings you to my room?" he asked.

"I figured that maybe since I got ma own history with Mystique ah could keep you company until you get tired." She said lying next to him.

"I'm probably gonna go to sleep soon, I have a long day tomorrow." He said.

Rogue gets up from the bed, "Well ah hope you start to feel better" she said.

Dean gets up from the bed and walks over to his window, "Sorry Rogue, the only thing that will make me feel better is if my mother is safe or Mystique's head at the end of my blade." He said with anger.

Rogue can understand why he's like this; she was the same way when Mystique used her. What she can't get is why Dean is acting so…..out of character. She thought that the minute he hung up the phone he would have been out the door. 'He probably doesn't want to take any chances, I wouldn't' she thought.

Rogue walks over to him and embraces him tightly; her head is now resting on his broad chest but making sure not to touch him in the process. He returns with his own embrace also making sure not to touch her directly.

She feels the warmth of his body, its soothing. She listens carefully and hears his heartbeat, it's slow and steady. A few weeks ago she would have been so happy if she could have done this with Scott, now she seems to not care as much anymore.

She realizes what she's doing and decides to end it before she is tempted to go further. "Ah should go now." She said backing away a little from Dean.

"I'll see ya tomorrow then" he said as he turned to face the window again.

A little later at the Boarding House

It was a very quiet night, one of those nights that would be perfect to watch a horror movie. Upstairs was Fred watching Mrs. Mantagas. Toad had switched with him about two hours ago and was now sleeping. Toad wakes up to a familiar feeling; he has to go to the bathroom.

He gets up and walks to the bathroom; he tries to open the door but finds it to be locked.

"Occupied, come back in ten minutes." he hears a voice from the inside.

"Ah c'mon Lance, I gotta go. Just let me in for a second." He says.

"No way Toad, go outside and take care of it." Lance says from inside.

Toad hops his way towards outside, "This some bullshit yo, we need a second bathroom in this damn house." He stops and looks around to see if anybody is around.

Nobody is in the vicinity. "Finally some peace" he takes care of business. All of a sudden something really hard hits him over the head and knocks him out cold.

Inside the house sleeping is Pietro. Probably dreaming of the day he can finally stand by his father's side, or having a nightmare about Wanda where she comes back for revenge. Nah nobody would ever release her from that mental institution, who would be stupid enough to do that?

Pietro suddenly feels a hand wrap around his mouth and nose preventing him from breathing, he tries to break free but to no avail. Before he can do anything he's out cold.

Lance finally finishes with the bathroom. He walks out looking dead tired when all of a sudden something really hard hits the back of his head knocking him out.

Fred is upstairs sitting while watching Dean's mother. He's falling in and out of slumber, he suddenly thought he heard something so he wakes up momentarily only to go right back to sleep right before someone hits him really hard at the back of the head resulting in him falling face first to the ground with a THUD!

Mystique has been pacing back and forth for hours tirelessly. She expected the boy to have showed up by now with his X-men allies to try and negotiate for his mother. This might be easier than she thought it would be. All of a sudden she hears a THUD in the next door room. She makes her way into the room where Mrs. Mantagas is being held, she spots Blob lying on the floor snoring.

'That buffoon can't even stay awake for four hours. Maybe it's time for someone else to keep watch, it's Avalanche's turn soon anyways so he might as well switch now' she thought to herself as she headed for the staircase. She hears something behind her so she turns around prepared for someone to attack but finds nothing, 'must have been the wind'. She turned around to face the staircase only to find a foot hit her hard all the way down the stairs.

There are no lights on in the house so it's pitch black. She suddenly feels something sharp pointing at her stomach and against her throat. She looks for the figure with the blades in his hands and recognizes his face, "You!" she said with fear in her voice.

At the institute

Logan had checked a few hours ago to make sure everyone was in bed as usual. But today he wanted to make sure nobody went rogue on them and tried to do something drastic, no pun intended. He really hadn't expected Dean to react the way he did. I mean he was mad of course but he expected something totally different. Like for Dean to just run for his swords and run off to go get his revenge. Thankfully he didn't because it would have been hard to stop him.

Logan comes to a stop outside Dean's room and opens the door to check if he's still there. He seems to be in bed, Logan goes to close the door but notices something. Dean's scent, it's kind of weak. Like he's been gone for a while. Logan goes up to Dean's bed and removes the sheets to find a couple of pillows stacked together to form a fake body lump.

Logan then notices Dean's swords are also gone. His eyes widen at the realization of what's going on. "CHUCK!" he yells out hoping to wake up everybody in the process.

At the Boarding House

"You!" Mystique said to the young man kneeling over her with his blade at her throat. "How did you get in here unnoticed?" she asked.

"You have terrible recruits, but that's not something you should worry about right now." he brings back his sword for momentum with his thrust, "AAAAAHHHHHH" he yells as he goes to plunge his sword through her stomach.

Mystique trembles in fear of what the boy is about to do.

'Stop! Don't do it.' Dean suddenly hears in his head making him freeze in place. "Who are you!? How are you speaking to me in my head!" he yells out in frustration.

Mystique raises an eyebrow in confusion, 'Maybe Xavier or Ms. Grey stopped him'.

'It does not matter who I am, what matters is that you do not kill this woman.' The voice said.

"Why shouldn't I?" Dean asked in anger.

'Because she is important for your future, and some of your friend's futures too.' The voice said.

"And why should I believe you?" Dean asked.

'Because I know why you are the way you are. And so do your parents.' The voice said.

"Then tell me!" Dean yells out.

'Not now. All your questions will be answered soon enough.' The voice fades.

Dean squeezes the handle to his sword as he returns to the current situation. He puts the tip of his blade at her throat and looks at Mystique and says, "Now listen carefully. If you ever do anything to my family again, I will find you. I will hunt you down, and I will show you the true meaning of pain." He said with the outmost hatred in his eyes that made Mystique shiver. He punches through the wall right next to her face; "GOT IT!" he yells inches from her face. She nods in fear.

He stands up straight. "Good" he says with a much calmer voice before kicking her face knocking her out cold. "Then go to sleep bitch." He says before walking up to the room where his mother is still sitting.

He removes the tape that was on her mouth and cuts the rope with one of his blades. She embraces him in a tight hug. He drops his swords embracing her back in return. "Mom?" he asked.

She looks up at him, "What is it?" she asked.

"I know that you know about how, you know, I'm special." He said bluntly.

"But how-"

"It doesn't matter, all that matters is that you finally tell me so I know what I am." He said.

"Can this wait till we get home?" She asked.

Dean smiles, "Sure Mom"

At the institute

"I can't believe I let him go out all on his own." Logan said putting one of his boots on while hopping towards the front door.

The Professor is rolling right behind him, "You couldn't have foreseen this, none of us could. What matters now is making sure Dean is safe and sound." He said stopping by the front door where everyone else is ready to go.

"Alright Professor, are we ready to go?" Scott asked.

"I believe we-"the door bell rings. Everyone looks to the door wondering who it could be at this hour.

"Logan would you please." He asked.

Logan opens the front door only to find the last people they were expecting. Dean and his mother, "What's up guys" he says with a smile.