Chapter 28
Present...
Mystique plunged her hand into the warm, soapy water, feeling the sink bottom for the sponge. A mountain of dishes was stacked next to the sink, and she sighed in resignation as she took a dirty a bowl from the pile and began wiping it in a circular motion. While there were many things about the new headquarters she did enjoy, she would never stop missing the daily conveniences the Hellfire Club's hotel provided; namely, the dishwasher. Here in Montana, she was the dishwasher, and the drudgery of cleaning the cabin for her six teammates was wearing on her. Every little job helps us win battles, Erik had said to her last night when she voiced her frustration feeling like the cook and maid instead of the warrior she was trained to be. She scowled at Erik's dismissal. If every little job is so important, why doesn't he ever offer to help with the dishes, laundry, or anything else around here? The sharp crack of breaking glass interrupted her thoughts. Mystique froze and listened carefully to the room behind her.
"Sorry! That was me! I'll, uh…I'll go get the broom!" Mystique shook her head at Mort's most recent accident and returned to the dishes. Nothing exciting happens around here anyways, she mused. While the rest of the team was on a mission, Mort was assigned to "protect the headquarters" with Mystique. It was a subtle way of Azazel making sure Mystique was never left alone; Mystique supposed that at least Mort was pitching in to help clean.
As she scrubbed last night's dinner off the next plate, the baby became restless. She paused, bracing her weight on the countertop through the worst of the kicking. At seven month along, her son was proving to be quite energetic, and she was happy she only had 8 more weeks before his arrival. With any luck, she'd be back on missions in the next 4 months. Mystique she smiled and thought back to the moments she shared with her team throughout the last few months of her pregnancy…
2 months prior...
The blue mutant lay on the exam table, breathing calmly. Her entire body felt ridged and strained.
"Emma, I don't know how much longer I can…"
"Relax, you're doing fine." The white mutant didn't even look up from the fashion magazine she flipped through. "Try counting backwards from 100."
Mystique returned her gaze to the ceiling, took a deep breath and swallowed. 99, 98, 97…she flexed her hands and admired the perfectly manicured, flesh colored-fingers twisting in the air before her. She was 5 months along in her pregnancy, and waiting for her first ultrasound. It was Emma who had insisted on an ultrasound to see if the baby had any physical mutations, and it was also her idea to accompany Mystique to the hospital for her visit. If anything was amiss, Emma could wipe the doctor's mind and get Mystique out of the hospital before anyone was aware. It pained Mystique that Azazel couldn't be there for the procedure, but there was no way he could have participated without drawing considerable attention.
"Hello Ms. Wagner, Ms. Frost." The doctor stepped into the room holding Mystique's chart and nodded curtly at the two women. Mystique sat-up suddenly, her blond curls spilling over her shoulders, momentarily flashing auburn. Emma gave her a raised eyebrow sharply and mouthed "calm down," and Mystique took a deep breath, calming her nerves. It was much harder to control her mutation. Luckily, the doctor was busy studying her chart and did not notice the discrepancy.
"Hello Doctor Rothberg. Thank you so much for taking time to fit my sister in to your busy schedule." Emma smiled sweetly at the man, who was clearly smitten with the blond beauty. Mystique smiled warmly at the doctor, and was ready to play the part of Emma's little sister Raven, whose husband was a US solider stationed in a foreign country. Mystique wore her old Raven skin, with minor tweaks to more closely resemble Emma's coloring and features. It took incredible concentration to maintain her look. She hoped the appointment wouldn't take too long.
"It's my pleasure, really. Anything to help our soldiers fighting abroad." Doctor Rothberg motioned to the exam table. "Ms. Wagner, let's have you lay back and we'll do a basic exam before the procedure." After a general exam and a few questions, the doctor began applying the gel for the ultrasound. The cold liquid made Mystique gasp, and Emma readied her fingers to her temple just in case she needed to block the doctor's mind from seeing anything amiss.
"Here we go now. Say, we're starting to get an image already!" Mystique turned toward the screen. In the fuzzy, murky black and green screen, a small, curled figure started to materialize on screen. She held her breath as the image of her unborn child appeared.
"Ah, here's the head, here's the arm, and…say, what's this?" As the doctor peered closer to the screen, Emma touched her temple.
"What's what, Doctor Rothberg? I only see a normal, healthy human child." The doctor looked at Emma, his eyes glazed over and a soft, dreamlike smile on his face.
"Yes, a normal, healthy as can be!" A panicked look came over Mystique and she looked at Emma, and then back to the screen. Something was wrong. Her skin started to flicker between flesh tones and blue scales. The doctor looked at Mystique in shock.
"Emma?"
"Hold on," the white mutant closed her eyes, and suddenly the doctor slumped over, deep in sleep on the floor.
"There, he's asleep, and I've wiped his memory of you and the baby." Emma stood up and walked closer to the screen. "Let's have a look." Emma and studied the image with a look of concentration. She was quite for several minutes.
"Is my baby Ok?" Mystique was becoming alarmed.
"Mystique, I'm not a doctor." Emma rolled her eyes. After another moment, the white mutant tapped a perfectly manicured fingernail on the screen. "Here, look at this!"
Mystique squinted at the image. A white half circle ending in a spade point was wrapped around the baby. It almost looked like…Mystique gasped and clapped her hand over her mouth.
"Is that…?"
"We've got a tail!" Emma laughed, her eyes glittering. "I'm sure of it. That's what the doctor saw. Azazel will be thrilled with that."
"Can you see if it's a boy or a girl?" Mystique moved closer to the screen. Emma shook her head.
"No, I can't. We'll have the doctor look when he's awake; I'll just make sure he only looks for that."
"Are the baby's legs supposed to look like this?" Mystique frowned and looked hard at the ultrasound image. The baby's legs looked backwards, like an animal's legs. Emma tapped her finger on her lip and looked at the screen in silence before turning to the blue girl.
"I don't know." Mystique looked imploringly at Emma but the white mutant only shrugged. "This child is the product of two mutants. We can already see the baby has a tail, so it is feasibly it has other mutations. We'll just have to see what comes out. There's no point in worrying about it now. What we do know now is that the baby is growing and has a heartbeat, and we know that I'll have to be in the delivery room with you so the staff doesn't try to kill or take away a "deformed" baby. We'll have to wait to see the rest. " Emma smiled slyly. "Besides, the baby could even be purple for all we know."
Mystique smiled at the team's running joke about her baby's skin color. The blue girl marveled at the long way she had come with her teammate, and she was grateful for Emma's help with the doctor's visits. Mystique reached out and touched the ultrasound screen, running her fingers along her unborn baby's arms, feet, face and tail. It was the first time she could see her child, and she couldn't wait to tell Azazel what she saw.
"Wake up the doctor; I want to know if it's a boy or a girl!"
Azazel was waiting on the front porch for them as the two women drove up to the cabin. Mystique burst out of the car, clutching a print out photograph from the ultrasound. The red mutant rose and walked down the stairs to greet her.
"Well?" Azazel was looking intently at her, and Mystique couldn't hold back any longer. She thrust the ultrasound photo in Azazel's face.
"Look! It's a boy!"
Azazel took the photo and held it up to the sky. He smiled brightly, showing all of his teeth.
"A boy!" As he examined the photo, he narrowed his eyes, and then opened them wide in surprise. "And what a boy!"
"No, Azazel," Mystique laughed, taking the photo and turning it in the right direction. "That's his just his tail."
"Oh." Azazel cocked his head and looked at the photo again. Suddenly he looked at Mystique in surprise. "He has tail?" Mystique smiled and nodded. "He has tail! I have a tail!" Azazel picked-up Mystique and spun her around, kissing her deeply until the sound of a throat clearing caught their attention. As Mystique pulled away form Azazel, she saw Angel and Janos standing on the front porch, smirking at the couple.
"Well?" Angel sauntered over to Mystique, "are you going to share with the rest of the class?"
1 month prior...
One month after her ultrasound, Mystique was sitting in the living room studying automotive plans to figure out how to jumpstart a variety of cars. Just because I can't go on a mission, she thought as she flipped through the plans, doesn't mean I should get rusty. As she read, Azazel appeared in the doorway. He didn't say anything, nor did he enter the room. He just stood in the doorway, grinning wolfishly at her as she lay on the couch. Eventually, Mystique had put down her magazine and looked at him.
"Azazel, what?"
"I have surprise for you."
"Which is?"
"Come, I show you." Mystique raised her eyebrow at the red mutant, but he only smiled wider and motion with his hand for her to walk to him. She signed, swung her feet to the floor and pushed her way off the couch. In the last month, she felt like her belly had doubled in size, and walking tired her out easily. When she took Azazel's hand, the red mutant walked her into each room of the cabin; there was nothing.
"What is it..?" Mystique was starting to get annoyed. Her feet hurt, and her back hurt, and now, for some unknown reason, Azazel was taking her on some kind of tour of the rustic headquarters.
"Shhh…listen." Mystique held her breath and listened. She heard not one sound outside of the normal noises of the cabin settling and the surrounding wilderness.
"What? I don't hear anything." Azazel put his hands on Mystique's shoulders and turned her to face him. He leaded down, and kissed her softly. When he pulled away, he raised his eyebrow suggestively.
"Da, correct. No one is home but us." The realization hit Mystique and she smiled. Azazel pulled her close and started walking backwards to the direction of their bedroom, gently taking her with him. The smaller size of the new headquarters meant that privacy was a premium, and her pregnancy prevented her from teleporting without becoming nauseous.
"Wait, is this surprise for me or for you?" Mystique asked playfully.
"Well," He started kissing her neck and swung the door to their room open with his tail. "Both I think." He started kissing her collarbone, his hands moving down her body. As much as Mystique hated being pregnant, she often thought Azazel liked her very much this way. He smiled and teased her for her clumsiness.
"Just be gentle." Azazel raised his hands in mock offence.
"What? I am always gentle."
"Yeah, that's why I had to hide a bite mark for three days last time."
Afterwards, Mystique and Azazel lounged together in their bed. Azazel had his arms wrapped around her, his chip resting on her shoulder and his face buried in her hair. Mystique was sitting cross-legged in his lap, resting against him. She had both hands on her stomach. The eight of the baby was making her uncomfortable. She shifted and tried to find a more comfortable position.
"Ugh, he's kicking up a storm right now."
"Mmmm?" Azazel responded dreamily.
"The baby. Here." She took one of Azazel's hands and placed it on her stomach. After a few seconds, Azazel laughed.
"A little acrobat!" Mystique rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, except I'm the trapeze. Not fun." Azazel put his fingers on her chin and turned her head until her amber eyes met his icy blue ones. He studied her face for a moment before speaking.
"Devotchka, we should have a talk, perhaps. I have been thinking…"
"Azazel, you know that's dangerous." Mystique smiled and Azazel playfully bit her ear before continuing.
"As I said, I was thinking, when the child is ready to come, we should maybe live with Margali for a time."
"Margali?" Mystique turned her body to face Azazel. She couldn't believe what he was saying. "You mean, we should leave the Brotherhood?"
"Da, I mean nyet. Nyet forever, Devotckha." Azazel regarded Mystique for a few minutes. "We should maybe leave just until he is older. It wouldn't do so good to have him trapped inside all the time, especially…" Azazel trailed off and looked at Mystique imploringly. She knew what he was trying to express.
"…especially if our son looks like you, and can't change like me?" Mystique looked at her partner. He gave a sad smile and nodded.
"Especially. I do nyet wish want him to be stuck inside like I was. Is not right, not fair." Mystique nodded. She understood where Azazel was coming from, but the thought of being away from the Brotherhood for years did not appeal to her. She put her hand over Azazel's and squeezed it tight.
"Well, we have no idea how he'll even look. He might look…normal for all we know. Well, except for the tail, but if he looks human beyond that, we might be able to hide the tail…?"
"Devotchka, think on it. We have three months until he comes."
"Ok," Mystique settled down into her mate's arms once again. She wasn't happy with the idea, but she wondered if it would be the best for all parties involved.
Present...
Mystique shook her head and smiled at the memories of her early pregnancy. Suddenly, there was another soft crash in the living room.
"Mort?" Mystique called over her shoulder. I bet he knocked something over again, Mystique thought. In the tighter confines of the new headquarters, Mort's jumping mutation was always causing him to accidentally knock over furniture and other household items.
"Mort?" Mystique furrowed her brow and drew her hands from the sink. It wasn't like Mort to ignore her. Maybe he didn't hear me? She grabbed the nearby dishtowel and wiped her hands dry and turned to face the door to the main room. She looked at the kitchen clock; it was only Noon. There was no way it was the team returning from their mission. She heard another soft crash followed by a dragging noise, as if someone was walking with a limp. An uneasy, tingling feeling started creeping up from the base of her neck.
Suddenly, Mort slammed into the kitchen the doorway, his body taking up the entirety of the frame. Mystique yelped in surprise and jumped back, hitting the kitchen counter behind her and sending a plate crashing to the floor. Mort looked at her with wide, wild eyes, grasping the doorframe with one hand as if it was the only thing rooting him to the earth. His other hand was clenched at his neck, and through his fingers, Mystique could see a shiny, silver dart. Her eyes widened in terror.
"Mysty, ru…ru…" Mort's lips trembled as if he couldn't catch his breath. Mystique took a step towards him, her hand reaching to pull the dart from his neck. With all the strength he could muster, Mort pushed her hand away and gasped, "…RUN!"
Mystique heard noises from the room behind Mort. He turned in the doorway to face the oncoming intruders, blocking their advance and giving the blue girl a chance to escape. Mystique took off towards the cabin's back doorway. She skidded past the dinning room table, instinctively grabbing the chairs and throwing them to the floor in her wake, creating obstacles for her pursuers. As she approached the back door, she saw a shadow of a figure on the other side of the curtains.
Fuck, fuck, fuck! Mystique thought hard and fast, scanning her environment. She could hear Mort struggling with the intruders in the kitchen, and she knew he couldn't hold them off for long. She turned left and darted for the back bedroom. If she could get out the window, there was a small ravine on the west side that she could follow until she reached the woods. If she could make it out of the cabin, she'd have a chance to collect her thoughts long enough to reach Emma. Once inside the bedroom she slammed the door behind her and locked it. It would buy her seconds at most, but it was better than nothing. She flew to the window and pried it open. As she looked out the window to the soft fall, she hesitated. How can I do this? In previous times, the blue mutant wouldn't have hesitated to launch her body through the window, but her body was no longer just hers. She put her hand on her seven-month pregnant belly and took a deep breath. If I stay here, we're both dead; at least out there we have a chance. She thought briefly about the best way to roll to avoid impacting her stomach when the bedroom door exploded into splinters. Mystique closed her eyes and dove through the open window.
For a second, she was overcome with the feeling of weightless flight, as if she was in a dream. The next second, she collided hard with the ground, rolling on her shoulder. After a few bounces, she came to a stop, panting and quickly scanning her body for injury. While her shoulder burned with pain, her legs and belly were spared impact. She scrambled to her feet and took off as fast as she could for the woods. She could not hear shouts and commotion behind her, emanating from the cabin.
As she ran, she concentrated hard and turned her body into that of a young blond woman; she figured they'd be looking for a blue mutant, not a random individual. She put her hand to hear head and concentrated hard. Emma, please, please, hear me! Mystique thought as hard as she could. She was almost to the tree line, if she could just make it there…
Mystique? She heard Emma's voice telepathically. What's wrong?
Emma, we're under attack! The cabin, we need…Mystique cried out as a cloaked figure appeared suddenly in front of her, blocking her escape. In her shock, she cried out and veered to avoid a collision. Where did he come from? Mystique hadn't seen even a shadow between her and the woods. It's like he appeared out of thin air…as she twisted her body, she saw a small, silver gun extend from the figure's cloaked hand. A sharp, stinging sensation pierced Mystique's arm. The blue mutant quickly ripped the dart from her arm, only to feel a sharp prick in her neck. Tears flooded Mystique's eyes at the pain. With in a few steps, she faltered, and then sank to her knees. She started crawling desperately towards the trees, knowing she was fighting a losing battle. The figure approached her as she fell on her side, gasping for breath.
Emma…Mystique thought feebly, her mind losing focus. The dark figure had reached her, and placing their boot on her shoulder, gently nudged Mystique until the mutant rolled onto her back. Mystique's breath was coming in shallow, painful gasps.
"Don't hurt…please." Mystique felt her skin shift back into her true colors. With her last ounce of strength, Mystique wrapped her arms around her stomach and peered into the hood of the cloak, pleading with the stranger. "Please. I'm pregnant." While she couldn't make out the figure's facial features, she could tell that he figure was taken aback by the sudden change of her form. For a second, a gloved hand extended down to Mystique's arm, touching her body gingerly, as if the figure couldn't believe what they were seeing. Mystique grabbed the gloved hand and squeezed it tightly. The figure jumped back, attempting to pull their hand away.
"Please." Two pale, crystal eyes shone from shadows of the hood, looking at Mystique with confusion, and a spark of curiosity.
Mystique, we're coming! Emma's voice sounded frantic.
Mystique's vision faded as the figure bend down over her and pulled something out from a bag the figure carried. A few seconds later, Mystique felt a cold rush of air and the sensation of falling, but she had no idea where, or if, she would land.
A/N: I wanted to post an exciting, action-filled chapter right away. I hope you enjoyed it!
