Chapter 9.
A Slip of the Tongue.
"I'm afraid I have some bad news for you, my friends," Hank McCoy took his glasses off and began to clean them, "I'll have to leave tomorrow. Duty calls," the sadness in his voice was genuine. While Beast was surprisingly good at his new job as UN Ambassador, he was a scientist first and foremost.
Moira MacTaggert asked, "Anything new you can tell us about Rogue's condition before you leave?"
"Not much. If I was monitoring Marie's health I could pinpoint the moment when The Cure stopped working. But she wasn't at the Institute when it happened so the data is insufficient."
Storm asked, "What happens if she gets injected with the Cure again?" That was a valid question considering Rogue's treatment of her abilities as a curse.
Beast shook his head, "That won't do her any good. After the repetitive injections the mutant's body is forced to build immunity to the Cure," Ororo sighed in relief. She had nightmares since the day she learned of Worthington's so-called Cure. Storm wasn't sure she could survive becoming powerless with sanity intact.
Wolverine cleared his throat, "Let's forget about the damn Cure for a moment, 'Ro. Why Mags is after Rogue again?
Beast chuckled humorlessly, "Now that's a question worth investigating."
"Perhaps our "guest" can offer some insights," Logan cranked his neck in anticipation.
Hank said, putting his glasses back on and leaning back in his seat, "Without you, Logan. No offense, but we need a talk, not an interrogation".
Logan frowned, "None taken, Furball. If ye hope to use your diplomacy to win Mystique heart, I wish you the best of luck. Just remember - don't trust anythin' she says; trust only your nose. I hope you didn't lose your sense of smell after hangin' with politicians too much?" He grinned, "I have to go; I promised Kal to arrange his first session in the Danger Room".
Ororo looked at him in disbelieve, "Isn't it too early for Danger Room, Logan? When the students tell scary stories, they talk about your training sessions. I don't want you to chase the boy away ".
Wolverine reassured her, "Nothin' too extreme, 'Ro. That's his first day here, so I cut him some slack. But I want to see him in action. 'sides, Kal is tough, he doesn't get scared too easily".
Ororo suppressed a smile. It wasn't too hard to notice that Logan felt more sympathy towards the new kid than he was willing to show. Weather witch wondered if he warmed up to Kal because of their mutual memory problems, or Logan just trusted his instincts.
The Sunday morning started relatively peaceful and calm by the loose standards of Xavier's Institute - no food fights, no fire alarms going off, no lynch mobs chasing after one of the resident pranksters.
Tabitha Smith settled on the sofa in the living room, remote in hand, and started flipping through the channels. Her longtime rivals Jubilation Lee and Amara Aquila were looking through the fashion magazines.
CLICK!
"What's up, Doc?" Bugs Bunny asked, chewing a carrot.
CLICK!
"The former WWF wrestling star denies all the accusations, claiming…"
CLICK!
"Next add a pinch of cinnamon and a teaspoon of brown sugar."
CLICK!
"Sixty-seven channels and nothing on," Tabitha muttered.
CLICK!
"Mutant terrorists John Allerdyce also known as Pyro and his associate, Jane Doe also known as..."
CLICK!
Jubilee and Amara hissed in unison, "Tabby, switch back, quickly!"
CLICK!
"…extremely dangerous. Do not engage under any circumstances. I repeat – do not engage".
"Dammit, Tabby! We missed everything!"
"What did you miss?" Rahne Sinclair asked, entering the room with a half-eaten maple donut. Despite her scary werewolf form, Rahne was probably the most well-behaved girl in the Institute.
Pointing a shaky finger at the screen, Jubilee explained, "They were talking about Pyro, like, five seconds ago!"
"Pyro? He can't stay away from trouble? What did he do this time?"
Amara threw up her hands in exasperation, "I don't know! Tabby switched the channel and we missed everything!"
"Whatever it was, I doubt they gave him a public service award."
"Ahem," Theresa Cassidy joined the others in the living room, "I couldn't help but overhear you saying something about Pyro."
"Bet you could," Jubilee muttered. Amara nodded.
"So you already know that Pyro tried to kidnap Rogue and the new guy cleaned his clock?"
"Kidnap?"
"ROGUE?!"
Theresa looked very smug in 'I know something you don't' was, "I saw them talking to Wolverine last night, Rogue and the new guy. I think Wolverine noticed be, but he was too busy asking questions about kidnapping…"
"Hold your horses, Tess. You saw ROGUE?"
"She is back? No freakin' way!"
Jubilee added with a bit of mischief in her smile, "Wait till Kitty finds out!"
He found Mystique sitting in the corner of a garden, under a tree, watching the young mutants playing Frisbee.
"You are not surprised that I have sent for you?"
Instead of answering her Logan asked, "What do you know about Magneto's new plans on Rogue?"
"Nothing. Eric played his cards very close to the vest." She studied his face for a few moments, "You believe me. I'm glad."
"I don't believe you, I believe my bullshit radar," Logan tapped the side of his nose with a finger.
"And that's why I asked for you, Wolverine. I don't want X-Men looking for the double meaning in every word I said. You can just accept I'm not lying and move on to the next question."
Logan wasn't sure whether he had been complimented or insulted.
"You told Hank that you need the help of X-Men. Why?"
"My friend, Irene Adler, is a mutant. Magneto captured her. I want to save her, and I can't do it alone".
That was enough to get Wolverine's attention. The leader of Brotherhood kidnapped Rogue to use her as a part of mutant-creating machine. Marie almost died on top of the Statue of Liberty, and Logan remembered it too well.
"What does Magneto want with her?"
"Irene's abilities are unique; she is a prophet. She warned me about Erik's betrayal, more than once. If only I listened to her..." Mystique sighed, suddenly looking exhausted. "He can use her knowledge to win the war. It's in your best interests to help me retrieve her."
Wolverine snorted, "So the old coot finally lost his marbles but that's hardly surprisin' given his age. I have yet to hear any reasons why we should risk our lives to rescue some fraud with a crystal ball."
He expected Mystique to be offended, but she just laughed.
"What's so funny?"
"The man with metallic claws and unbreakable skeleton talks to the woman who can be whoever she wants to," the shapeshifter turned into Angelina Jolie, then her skin began to melt back in the blue shell of Mystique's true form, "And he tells her that it's impossible to predict the future. Wolverine, you used to be more open-minded when we worked together."
"WE WORKED TOGETHER?"
"Shit," Mystique cursed herself for a slip of the tongue when Logan grabbed her hand and squeezed hard, "Let go of me!"
Wolverine roared, "Start talkin' before I crush your fingers!"
Mystique's yellow eyes narrowed in anger. She suddenly backflipped, her long leg hit Logan square in the jaw. He let out an inaudible growl and unsheathed his claws.
"When Magneto abandoned me, weak and depowered, I decided that I'm through taking orders from the men," her voice was low and dangerous, "I'm not making exceptions for you, no matter what happened in the past."
They were glaring at each other, ready to fight to the death. The tension was broken by the Frisbee accidentally thrown at them. Logan's instincts screamed warning and his deadly claws slashed the plastic disk in two halves. The feral mutant looked up and found all the kids staring at him.
Mystique anger was diminished after seeing her opponent in rather awkward position.
"Hide your blades quickly, before they need a change of underwear," Logan forced himself to relax and sheathed his claws. Mystique gave the kids her best smile, "It's okay, guys, we were just sparing. Right, Logan?" He nodded, playing along. "Don't mind us, keep playing; we are already leaving."
They walked in silence along the path that led through the grove of trees to the front door of the Institute. The tension hung in the air like thick ice as neither of them spoke; both of them wondering what was going on in the other's mind. When the shapeshifter reached for the door handle, another hand also reached for it.
"I'll help you to find your friend," Logan offered quietly, "But I need to know. That's my final price; take it or leave it."
Mystique's hand froze on he door handle as she though how to respond.
"Okay," she said after a while, still unsure if she made the right choice,
"Let's find your hidden stash of alcohol. It'll take a while to tell you everything. I have to warn you though; you'll hate me for telling you the truth."