Charles took in a deep breath. He had, on a few occasions, met Graydon Creed. Mostly it was during a protest at a conference he was at, or at a speaker forum. He was a good orator, even if Charles had reason and logic on his side whenever the two clashed.
It was always difficult whenever he had to come face to face with him. Even if Graydon didn't know he was behind the X-men, Charles knew that it was on Graydon's orders that many of his students had almost lost their lives. While Charles always made sure to project a front of serenity and calm in front of Graydon, more than once he'd had to fight the urge to punch him.
Now he found out Graydon was actually the son of two mutants. Some of the X-men, Scott included, probably saw his crusade as hypocritical. Charles, however, saw it as a sign of deepening insanity.
After all, if he hated mutants that much, and was fully aware that he had mutant blood in his veins, then his disgust with himself personally would likely match the fury with which he hated mutants.
"And it's not like we can go back and correct this mistake," Mystique said, "Even if Graydon believed us, he'd just try and kill Kurt and I to make sure before going up for Kayla and Emma."
She shook her head.
"Besides, I'm not really in the mood to throw two other people under the bus to appease some psycho," she said.
Charles was relieved to hear it.
"For a while he was huntin Mystique here," Logan said, "Not many people know she's got a kid."
"I'm sorry, slow down for a minute," said Warren.
Confusion was rising in Warren's eyes, and Charles braced himself for what happened next.
"Okay, I get everything you've said so far," he said, "And I was pretty shocked about the whole Graydon-is-related-to-mutants thing, but I think we were all kinda swallowed by that one so much that we kinda let something else fly under the radar."
"Like?" growled Logan.
Warren shrank back a little, but his confusion overcame whatever fear he had of Logan.
"Like Kurt being the son of one of the most famous mutant terrorists of all time," he said.
Yes, that was what he was afraid of. It, was, however, a valid question. Mystique fixed Warren with her golden eyes, and the corners of her mouth twitched.
"I mean, I knew Kurt had trouble at home, but-" Warren said.
"I gave Kurt up for adoption when he was little," said Mystique coldly, "So he wouldn't have to be around me, so that this particular situation wouldn't happen. But now it has. So thank you for rubbing my face in that particular failure."
Warren flushed and his eyes narrowed. The rest of the X-men were looking distinctly uncomfortable now, and Charles figured he'd need to have a private discussion with all of them after they laid out a plan.
If this was their reaction to Mystique being Kurt's mother, than he had a feeling the knowledge she was his sister would hit them particularly hard. Yes, that would have to be a private discussion, and perhaps one that should have happened before now.
Warren's eyes flicked up, looking at the wall.
"So you admit that you ditched him?" asked Warren, "But you regret it now?"
That will be quite enough of that, Charles thought.
Warren didn't respond, and Mystique's mouth tightened.
"I hardly see how that's any of your business," she said.
"Oh, it's not my business at all," Warren said.
He nodded behind Mystique.
"But it is his," he said.
Charles's heart sank. He'd asked Kurt to wait a little while before coming in, given his words outside, but from Warren's tone, and the looks on the rest of the X-men's faces, he could tell that Kurt hadn't listened.
Kurt stood still in the doorway, looking over the scene. The man who had helped save his life earlier was there, as well as two other men he didn't recognize. The last unfamiliar figure sat with her back to Kurt, not looking behind her.
"I think everyone needs to leave right now," Charles said quietly.
Alex nodded and grabbed Warren's arm, looking unhappy. Kurt wasn't sure how he felt about him revealing that he was there. He'd wanted to wait a few more minutes before saying something, but perhaps it was better to get this over with quickly.
"Awww," a man wearing a red and black mask said, "I wanna see the soap opera."
"You do that and I'll tell Terry you massacred a bunch of FOH as a distraction," Alex snapped.
The man moaned and picked up a gun that was leaning against the wall.
"I can tell we're not gonna like each other," he said.
"I already don't like you," Alex said, "Now everyone, get."
Warren and his friends were the first to leave, shoved forward by Alex. The man who'd saved Kurt's life earlier shot a sympathetic look toward his mother, but she still didn't respond. He left quickly though, as they all did. The only one who lingered was the man in red and black, and even he hurried up when Alex shouted at him from the next room.
That left him, his uncle, and Amanda alone with his mother.
"Vell?" Kurt asked quietly.
It wasn't the best way to start a conversation, but it was the only one he could think of. His mother didn't turn around though. She just kept staring forward. The silence was uncomfortable and thick, and he found himself reaching for Amanda's hand again.
It must be bruised after the amount of times he'd held it tightly that night.
"I was nineteen when I found out I was pregnant," his mother said, "Almost twenty."
His throat seized up.
"Your father was another member of the Brotherhood," she said, "His name was Azazel. You look a lot like him. I hear you teleport. You got that from him too."
There was a hitch in her voice.
"He died on a mission two months after I found out I was pregnant," Mystique said, "Kurt was the name he wanted for you if you were a boy."
It was becoming harder to breath by the second.
"When you were a baby," Mystique said, "You were...you were so small. You were born two months early. I was so scared you wouldn't make it, that I was going to lose you too. Some of the doctors even wanted to kill you, because I'd disguised myself when I entered. They didn't know what to make of you. But you survived."
Amanda reached out and grabbed his hand.
"And then I realized I had to do something," she said, "Our leader had just been arrested for the assassination of John F. Kennedy, which I think I should say, he didn't actually do. Your father was dead and the Brotherhood was falling apart. I'd had an uncomfortably close call in Florida."
Kurt glanced at his uncle, who was looking at his mother with rapt attention. It appeared he hadn't known any of this either.
"I had to give you to someone I thought would care for you," she said, "So I gave you to your father's childhood friend, Margali. She'd sheltered us a few times when we were on the run."
Amanda stiffened and Kurt blinked. He remembered wondering if Margali had known his birth parents. It appeared she had.
"She'd known I was pregnant," his mother said, "We had taken shelter with her a few weeks after I found out. Azazel had wanted me to stay with her, but Margali wouldn't risk it. Not being recently widowed with one small child and another on the way. I can't blame her for that."
His mother sighed, a deep, shuddering sound.
"I was so frightened," she said, "I was alone, hunted, and young. I thought I could give you a happy family life, a life I never could. I thought I was giving you to a family who would love you as their own. Margali was always very fond of Azazel. He said he thought of her as family. I thought she would take you in as her son."
"You were wrong," Amanda said.
Her voice, so sharp and unlike the one he was used to, startled Kurt. His mother stiffened.
"You didn't even ask if she would," said Amanda, "We've both seen the note you left. And don't tell me you didn't give Kurt to her in person because it was too hard. You left a baby on a doorstep."
"I stayed to see if she would open the door when I knocked," his mother said.
"Then why not just give him to her in person?" Amanda persisted.
"Your mother didn't like me," his mother said.
He could tell she was getting irritated, and Kurt shook his head when Amanda opened her mouth to speak. While Amanda was one of the kindest souls he knew, she was also a lion when she was protecting people she cared about. It was clear she felt his mother had too long of a history hurting him to be trusted completely.
Some insidious part of him agreed with her.
"But I knew she would take him in, for Azazel's sake if no one else's," his mother continued, "And I felt like I needed...like I needed to give him the best chance he could have."
"Which was with Margali," Charles said quietly.
His voice was quiet and sad, without a hint of accusation in it. Kurt turned to him and saw an infinite expanse of pain on his face and, for the first time since his mother started speaking, he felt a flicker of anger toward her for what she'd done.
Ever since Kurt had crashed into his life, Charles had been nothing but understanding and kind. Even when Kurt told him he'd killed Stefan, Charles had understood. He had wanted nothing more than to get to know Kurt, and Kurt could tell that he sincerely accepted Kurt as his nephew.
To know that he might have been given to this man at birth, that this man could've acted as more than an uncle growing up, that he could've been his father, mad Kurt's head spin. True, he wouldn't have grown up with Amanda, but he had a feeling they would've found each other somehow.
His mother turned and looked at Charles, even if she wouldn't look at him.
"That's not what happened Charles," she said softly, "I'm sorry you thought that."
"Raven, what else am I supposed to think?" asked Charles, his voice more desperate than angry, "You didn't want me to raise your son. Was I really…was I really such a poor choice in your eyes?"
"That wasn't it Charles," Raven said.
She waved her hand around.
"For a while, I truly intended to give Kurt to you," she said, "I truly did. It was actually a comfort to me to think about him growing up in the same halls that I did, sliding down the bannister, hating that color on the walls in the library-"
Her voice choked and she stopped abruptly.
"Then why didn't you?" asked Charles.
Raven bit her lip.
"Charles, Kurt was born in October of 1964," she said, "I hadn't reconciled myself with giving him up until seven months later."
Charles went still, and then bowed his head.
"May 1965," he whispered.
Raven nodded, and Kurt blinked.
"What does that mean?" asked Amanda.
"I…one of my students died that month protecting some of his fellow students from a hate group known as the Purifiers," Charles said softly, "The government came in and took his body before we could give him a decent burial."
"Margali just seemed like a safer option after Sean died," said Raven, her voice coming out quickly, "I left the note, because I thought things might change. But Charles, I couldn't…I just couldn't do it then."
"I…I understand," Charles said.
Something like relief shadowed his mother's face and, suddenly Kurt couldn't quite stay silent anymore. Everything swirled in his head, both what he'd heard about the man who thought he was his brother, and the mother he'd never known.
And, more than anything, he wanted to know one thing.
"Vhy von't you look at me?" he asked.
Raven didn't answer. He swallowed, and looked at her pleadingly.
"Vhy von't you look at me?" he repeated.
Her teeth began worrying her bottom lip.
"Bitte?" he said.
Slowly, his mother turned to look at him, and Kurt found himself staring into his own golden eyes. It was like looking into a reflection that had been warped into glass, and the whole world began wobbling, moving back and forth.
Something familiar to him was whirling in his mother's eyes.
"Kurt," Raven said, "I know I made mistakes. But everything I did was to protect you. I didn't…I didn't know how else to keep you safe. I didn't know how things would turn out. I had to…I had to do what I thought was right, and I'd already done so much wrong."
The world stopped wobbling, steadying out. Amanda's hand was sweaty in his, but he kept holding it. It was less like an anchor and more like a comforting gesture now, more like what it should be, had been meant to be.
"I know you never felt like I did," she said, "But I love you. And I don't expect anything from you. Not your love, not your forgiveness-"
"But you haf it."
The words surprised even Kurt, and his mother's eyes widened. Kurt thought of the years he spent bent over his rosary, asking forgiveness for his own sins, worrying if he'd ever be good enough.
"I…what do you mean?" asked Raven.
Kurt took one last deep breath.
"I forgive you," he said.