Chapter 21

Deep in sleep, Mystique could smell warm, rich scents of cinnamon and clove. The smells seemed to float around her like ribbons, coaxing her eyes to flutter open. For a brief moment, her heart skipped a beat when she faced her surroundings, but as unconsciousness dissipated, her memories tumbled back violent and the view of the mansion was no longer a surprise. She sat up, the bed sheets pooling around her waist, and noticed with a certain amount of pleasure that the pain in her left side had decreased considerably overnight. She also noticed with far more pleasure that Azazel was leaning over her bed, carefully holding a tray piled with French toast, orange juice, coffee, and a white rose. He smiled happily at her.

"Dobroye utro." The food smelled wonderful, and she grinned warmly at his gesture. "For you, I have breakfast." Azazel gently the tray next to her and took a seat in the chair he had pulled alongside the bed.

"Did you make this?" The red mutant shrugged and offered a noncommittal answer. Mystique picked up her folk and giggled. "Don't lie to me; I've seen you burn water." Azazel rolled his eyes and smirked as he retrieved his coffee mug from the tray.

"Your friend - the boy with the red hair who likes toys? – He made this. He does all the cooking here." Azazel looked thoughtful for a moment before offering, "he is quite good in a kitchen."

"Where's your breakfast?" Mystique's question came out muffled, as she was already eating the toast at an alarming rate. It was delicious, and the first time she had real food she had eaten the attack. She didn't realize how hungry she was until she started eating, and Azazel was right; Sean might be awkward, but he was amazing in the kitchen.

"I have eaten already downstairs with Emma." Mystique's fork paused in mid-lift and she cast a curious glance at her mate. He bit his lip and tilted his head.

"I…I did not want to wake you so early. Emma and I needed to speak with Charles about using his machine to find the others. This is alright?" Mystique nodded and resumed eating.

"Yeah, it's fine. I was just surprised is all." The food was sitting heavily in her stomach. She chastised herself internally for feeling put out that Azazel let her sleep in the first morning the were back together to spent time with Emma. She knew that using Cerebro was key to finding their lost teammates, and at this thought, she felt guilty for being jealous. Azazel was here now with her, and really, that's all that mattered. Mystique finished her breakfast, and pushed the tray back. She had eaten so quickly that was tempted to ask Azazel to get more food.

"Here." Azazel picked her the second mug of coffee and held it out for Mystique. "Two sugars, no cream. Just as you like."

"Thanks." Mystique reached for the mug but as she did, the smell of the coffee brought on a sudden, sharp wave of nausea. Her sat back as her hand shot to her mouth, her stomach churning angrily. Azazel looked alarmed and quickly placed the cup back on the tray. He put his hand firmly on Mystique's arm. She squeezed her eyes shut and desperately attempted to will away the instinct to throw-up. Not now, not now…

"Devotchka?" The concern in his voice was palpable.

"I'm okay," Mystique swallowed hard as the sick feeling subsided, and she took a deep breath. "I'm okay, I just ate too fast, that's all." She smiled weakly, hoping that Azazel didn't push the subject. The red mutant still looked concerned, but he nodded and released her arm. Mystique eyed the coffee cup warily as she pushed it away. No more coffee until this kid comes out, either. Mystique frowned at the thought of the next seven months without her morning caffeine.

"What is it?"

"What is what?" Mystique looked up at her mate confused. His brow was furrowed in concern and his pale eyes searched her face. She felt vunerable and exposed under the intensity of his gaze.

"You look worried."

"No, it's just…well…" Mystique trailed off. She couldn't hide her situation from Azazel for long. Now, with the two of them alone in her childhood bedroom and him still so relieved that she was recovering, might be her best chance to break the news to him as gently as possible.

"Da?" Azazel took her hand in his and rubbed the back of it soothingly.

"Azazel, I should to tell you…"

"Azazel, there you are! We were just looking for you." Charles sat smiling happily as Emma stood behind him, her arms defiantly crossed across her snowy white corset. She rolled her eyes at Charles's comment, and although Charles had his back to Emma, he frowned at her reaction. As a telepath, Charles would know exactly where Azazel was, and Emma never believed in being pleasant for the sake of non-telepaths. Azazel stood up and faced the two mutants. Charles smiled again, although his expression looked strained. Mystique couldn't imagine how difficult it must be for Charles to work with the two Brotherhood mutants, especially to allow them access to his most prized technology. Emma offered a curt nod to the blue girl.

"It's good to see you're well." Emma's face remained expressionless. She looked uncomfortable in the presence of another telepath, especially one as powerful as Charles. Mystique wondered if Emma actually meant her well wishing, or if it was just another moment for show.

"Thank you Emma. I was glad to hear you and Rémy arrived safely." Charles rubbed his temple and frowned. The internal tension between the two women was strong.

"We are ready to begin with Cerebro, and we'll need your assistance." Azazel nodded to Charles, but before moving, he turned back to Mystique. Before he could speak, she answered.

"It's okay, we can talk later. It's…no big deal, really." She forced a reassuring smile and patted his hand. Azazel looked unconvinced, but after a slight hesitation, he leaned down and kissed her hand before walking to Emma. Charles glanced at the red mutant as he wheeled himself into Mystique's room. The two Brotherhood members disappeared down the hallway, speaking quietly to each other as they departed.

"He has his own room you know, just down the hallway." Mystique sighed as her bother approached her bedside. He was using the same voice that he had lectured his undergraduate students while at Oxford. "I just don't know how entirely proper it is that he sleeps in here."

"Oh Charles, stop worrying or you'll give yourself a nosebleed." Mystique smiled lightly at her brother. "I'm already pregnant, so really, what more trouble can he get me into?" Charles shook his head and sighed. He and Mystique never did share the same sense of humor.

"Have you told him?"

"No, not yet." Mystique interrupted quickly and looked away. "I just…I need a little more time." Charles put his hand over hers and squeezed it lightly.

"Moira will be in later with some things for you. Find a spot to hide them, if he doesn't know." Mystique nodded. She wasn't thrilled at the thought of Moira visiting, but she knew Charles wouldn't ask her to do so if it wasn't necessary.

"Be careful today, will you?" Mystique looked at him pleadingly. "I don't want to lose anyone else."

"I'll make sure they are safe. I'm not entirely thrilled about the situation, but Emma can pinpoint the whereabouts of your teammates much more easily than I. With any luck, you will be reunited before nightfall." Charles smiled and patted her hand. "Don't worry Raven; you have enough to think about right now."

Mystique had just reached a good part in her book when her door opened sharply and loud footfalls interrupted her reading. She looked up sharply and frowned as Moira entered the room and shut the door behind her. She carried a brown paper bag loosely in her arms.

"Good afternoon, Raven." Moira walked over to the windows in Mystique's bedroom and drew the blinds. The sunlight was blinding on the fresh coat of snow on the estate grounds. Moira turned to face her sister-in-law and forced a smile. Her expression made her look like she was trying hard to maintain her cheery attitude. It was probably just as hard for Moira to be in here as it was for Mystique to receive her company. Mystique gave Moira a sour pout before crossing her arms and turning away.

"It's Mystique now."

"Ah, yes…Mystique. Good to see you are feeling better." Moira walked briskly towards Mystique's and placed the brown paper bag onto the nightstand.

"Charles asked that I bring you a few items to help with your, ah…the situation." Moira pulled out a large brown medicine bottle and held it up for illustration. "These are prenatal vitamins. You are supposed to take them before you get pregnant, but it's best to take them now rather than never. Take two each morning with food or you'll get very sick." She handed the bottle to Mystique, who eyed it distastefully. She hated swallowing pills. Moira handed her a water bottle to go with the pills.

"This," Moira produced a small bottle with a dropper top, "is for indigestion. Put one drop in water and drink with each meal. It should help with the nausea." She handed the second bottle to Mystique. The blue mutant smelled the liquid and made a face. It smelled strongly of anise and pepper.

"Lastly, I have a book you should read." She handed Mystique a large paperback with a drawing of a pregnant woman on the cover. Mystique bit her lip looking at it. It would take her the entire pregnancy just to get through the first few chapters. "This will give you a basic look at what you can expect over the next several months, and…"

"I never said I was keeping it."

"What?" Moira cocked her head, momentarily confused.

"I never said I was having this baby." Mystique looked away. "I'm still…deciding what do to do about this…situation, as you and Charles keep calling it." Moira looked at the blue mutant silently for a long time. Her voice was calm when she finally spoke.

"Well then, while you are deciding what to do, you can at least take care of yourself and your baby." Moira soothed her skirt pleats and looked at Mystique thoughtfully. "You might not believe it, but there are families who would be happy to raise this child, mutant or not, if you and your mate are unwilling. You don't need to get rid of it. You could give it up for adoption." Mystique looked at Moira warily for a few moments. Her sister-in-law smiled sadly and looked towards the windows. Mystique suddenly realized that with Charles's injury, he and Moira could probably never have children of their own. She felt a pang of guilt as she watched Moira stare out the window, off into the distance. Moira probably wanted a baby more than anything else, and here was Mystique, pregnant and not happy at all about it. Eventually, Moira shook her head as if snapping out of a trance and faced Mystique again.

"Anyways, you need to be much more careful. Until you do decide what you are doing, no more running around fighting. You almost got yourself killed. You need proper rest and…"

"Don't tell me what to do in my house!" Mystique's momentary pity was quickly replaced with anger as Moira took on the same lecturing tone as Charles. It was one thing if her brother adopted that attitude, but she would be dammed if this turncoat agent treated her like a wayward child.

"This is not your house Mystique." Moira faced her calmly, her hands folded in her lap. Her collected demeanor stoked Mystique's anger further.

"What do you mean? I grew-up here with Charles and I…"

"You walked away from this life. Don't think for one second you have any right to walk back and pick-up were you left off." Mystique looked at Moira dumbfounded. In all the time she knew her, the former agent had never so much as raised her voice to the mutant. "You chose to become Mystique, you chose to leave this house, just like you chose to leave your brother on the beach that day. You have no right to claim this house as your home." Moira took a deep breath and continued. "I am Mrs. Xavier now. This is your brother's house, I am his wife, and you are here as our guest. The fact is that he is allowing you and your team to stay here, and I will be god dammed if I am ordered around in my house by you." With this Moira stood quickly and handed the remainder of the brown bag to Mystique.

"Find a spot to hide this if you haven't told Azazel yet. Please, for the sake of your baby, try and take care of yourself for the time being. And think about what I said. There are loving homes for your baby if you don't want to love it yourself." Moira turned and quickly trotted for the door.

"You don't like me." Mystique's voice made Moira hesitate. The woman turned and looked back at Mystique over her shoulder. Mystique looked at her definitely.

"No, not particularly."

"You've never liked me." Mystique held up the bag of medicine. "Why are you doing this for me?" Moira held Mystique's gaze steady.

"I am not doing this for you. I am doing this for Charles." Moira then walked out of the room, allowing the door to slam shut behind her. Mystique looked down at her new vitamins. She sighed and shook two out of the bottle, reaching for her glass bottle. Her hands were shaking as she tossed the pills into her mouth.

Several days had past with no word on the other Brotherhood members. Azazel and Emma continued to work with Charles on a daily basis. The trio left for Cerebro early in the morning and retired late at night, thus far empty handed. They had a few false leads and once Azazel believed he missed intercepting Angel and Janos by mere hours. During this time, Mystique had found that she was able to walk for short distances before becoming dizzy and requiring rest. It was a vast improvement from her former state, and allowed her out of her room for a few hours each day. Rémy was a regular visitor during Mystique's recovery, as was Sean and Jean. The others seemed to give the Brotherhood members a wide berth with the exception of Rémy. The rouge Cajun, with his quick charm and easy, playful ways, fit in with the rest of the mansion's residents with ease. More and more often Rémy would spend time with his new friends, even electing to eat dinners with Charles's team and join Azazel, Mystique and Emma much later in the evening, much to Emma's persistent scowl. The four Brotherhood members were allotted rooms together, but Rémy seemed to prefer to spend his time with the X-Men, as Sean explained to Mystique that were no called. In particularly, the Cajun stuck up a strong friendship with Alex. The two former convicts had much in common. Despite his absence, Mystique found she was happy for Rémy. She had always worried that he was not cut out for the violence that seemed to followed Brotherhood these last few months. As much as she would miss him, she couldn't help but think that Rémy had found a home at the mansion.

Azazel was drained from his work looking for their teammates. Mystique never felt like any time she saw her mate was a good time to tell him the news, or could find a way to broach the subject. He was either sound asleep from the exhaustion of their work, or the two mutants there in the company of Emma or the others, discussing tactics and new search methods. The previous night was the closest she had come. Azazel practically fell into bed next to her when he returned.

"Azazel?" She looked at him expectantly in the darkness. He was laying face down on his pillow, still fully clothed.

"Mmm?" He lifted slightly and struggled to remove his coat. Mystique helped him patiently take off his clothing, which he uncharacteristically allowed to drop on the floor next to their bed in rumpled heaps. He slipped under the covers and immediately stared breathing deeply, ready for sleep.

"Have you ever thought about having a family?" Azazel stirred next to her. His pale eyes seemed to glow in the darkness.

"What?"

"You know, having a family."

"I had family."

"Right, yes, I know." She nodded her head vigorously, not wanting to offend him. "But I was thinking…like maybe with me?" He looked at her with an eyebrow raised. She swallowed and repeated herself. "Have you ever thought having a family with me?"

"A family?"

"Yes, as in…you know, a child?" Azazel sighed loudly and closed his eyes.

"You know this is not possible."

"But if it were…?"

"Mystique, it is very late, and I am very tired." Azazel rolled onto his back, tossing his arm over the top of the pillow. He stroked her hair with his other hand in an indulgent gesture. "We can play house in morning. Now, sleep." Mystique bit her lip as she watched Azazel fade into sleep in the darkness. Sometimes he treated her too much like a father gently chastising a child. She bit her lip. The moment to tell him had been lost.

Now, Mystique sat in her bedroom flipping through the book Moira had brought for her. The drawings and illustrations where somehow terrifying to her. There was so much involved in pregnancy and so many steps during which stuff could go wrong; she was amazing that mankind had gotten as far as it had. She was also concerned for the fact that her baby was undoubtedly mutant, and of course, there was nothing written about mutant pregnancies. What if the baby was a shapeshifter? Or, a teleporter? Were there special precautions or complications she had to know about? Already the baby as preventing Mystique form using her own powers. She frowned as she flipped through the book. How did I get myself into this?

The knob to Mystique's door turned sharply. Instinctively, Mystique thrust the book she had been reading under her pillow and looked up nervously. She was surprised to see Emma standing in the doorway, her arms crossed and her lips drawn into a thin line.

"Emma?" In the hallway, Mystique could her the faint sounds of male laughter coming from the parlor. Rémy's distinctly boisterous laugh was among them. "Azazel's not here." Emma's scowl set deeper at Mystiuqe's words.

"You think I don't already know that?" The white mutant stood a moment longer before sighing and walking over to Mystique's bedside. The blue girl eyed her teammate suspiciously.

"I…sorry, I forgot." Emma rolled her eyes and sat on the side of Mystique's bed. The blue girl cocked her eyebrow. "Can I help you with something?" Emma held her gaze for a moment before sighing and casting her eyes to the floor.

"I didn't want to be in my room anymore. Azazel's not around, and I can't talk to them." Emma jutted her chin towards the door. More laughter trickled up from the boys. Mystique was dumbfounded that Emma wanted to talk to her. She didn't know what the two had in common outside of Azazel. At this thought, Emma narrowed her eyes and bounced her foot harder. In a voice akin to a snarl, Emma snapped, "we're on the same team, remember? I can't talk to them and I am bored." Emma sighed and put her hand down next to Mystique's side, looking out the window at the fresh snow. Suddenly, the white mutant cocked her and slowly turned to face Mystique. Mystique raised her eyebrow at Emma's peculiar expression.

"Emma? Are you alright?" Emma's eyes narrowed as she looked at Mystique. Her gaze slowly drifted to the blue girl's stomach. The white mutant frowned, but then her cerulean eyes widen in sudden realization. A perfectly manicured hand shot to Emma's mouth. She turned back to face Mystique, surprise flooding her features.

"Mystique! You're pregnant!" Emma's voice was just above a whisper. Mystique sat straight up in bed, shocked as to how Emma suddenly knew. She did not feel the white mutant reading her mind.

"How did you…did you read my thoughts?" Mystique wrapped her arms around herself protectively. She felt vulnerable and exposed, and certainly not happy that Emma knew the news before Azazel.

"No, I didn't. I…I can feel the baby's thoughts." Emma swallowed and looked back at Mystique's stomach, as if to illustrate. "How far along are you?"

"Two months, about." Mystique felt panicked. She did not want to be discussing this with Emma. "If you can feel the baby, then how come you didn't know before now? I only found out when Charles was treating me for my injuries."

"Babies are different. You have to be really close to detecting their thoughts. They think in more feelings than actual words." As Emma said this, she nodded. Mystique wondered briefly how Emma knew this exactly. Even Charles didn't know much about reading the thoughts of unborn children. Emma looked back at Mystique. "Does Azazel know?"

"Not…yet." Mystique bit her lip. "We weren't planning on it. It just kinda happened." Emma nodded her head but did not speak again. "Emma? Please don't tell him."

"Why would I go and do that?" Emma eyed Mystique coolly. Mystique shrugged, knowing full well that the white mutant knew exactly why she would request that. Emma sighed. "No, of course. This isn't my news to share. Who else knows?"

"Charles and his wife, and Hank. Hank found out when he was running blood tests during my recovery. They've all promised to keep it a secret. And now, you." Emma nodded again and returned her gaze to the windows.

"Charles…Charles doesn't think I should keep it." Mystique's voice came out quietly. She was surprised that she suddenly felt something akin to relief discuss this with someone other than her brother and Moira. Her initial shock of Emma's discovery had waned, and while she certainly didn't feel close to Emma - she would rather have Angel to talk with - it still felt like a relief to discuss this baby with someone who seemed sympathetic.

"What?" Emma's voice sounded like a dagger. Her eyes fixed on Mystique and narrowed.

"Charles doesn't think…"

"You listen to me!" Emma stood and pointed her finger at Mystique. "Don't you ever – EVER – let a man tell you what to do, you understand me?" Mystique shrank back from the force of Emma's words. The white mutant looked like she could start a fire with her anger. Mystique wondered briefly if there was something behind Emma's rage and fury. She didn't know much about her teammate's private life. "Do you want this baby?"

"I don't…I don't know. I don't know if Azazel wants this baby." Emma sat back down next to Mystique. In a surprise gesture, she took Mystique's hand in hers reassuringly.

"He'll want the baby Mystique. It'll just take some time for him to get used to the idea."

"But what if he doesn't? I can't raise this baby alone." Tears pooled in Mystique's eyes. Emma squeezed her hand.

"You're not alone. You're part of a team, remember?" Mystique sniffled and raised her eyebrow at Emma. "You really think we would abandon you just because you are pregnant?"

"No but…"

"Then it's settled." Emma stood and nodded at Mystique. "You get rest. Don't worry about Azazel or the others. We're a team. We might not always get along, but if there is one thing a team does, it doesn't abandon its teammates. We'll take care of you...both of you."

Mystique watched Emma walk out of the room. Her head was spinning. It was the closest she had come to having a normal conversation with Emma, and Emma was actually kind to her. She put her hand on her stomach and closed her eyes. For a moment, Mystique wondered what the baby thought of this turn of events.