"Hi": Speaking

'Hi': Thoughts

"Hi": Speaking threw communicator/phone

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"ANSWER ME!?" I yelled, breaking another one of Mystiques fingers, getting a scream from her. "Just fill in the blanks Mother, the day Charles and Jean disappeared, you had picked me up and dropped me off at the Institute. You must of seen something, you know what happened." I said as she got her breath back. "I don't want to keep hurting you, but I will. What happened that day, why did you tell me to be careful?" I questioned, with her relaxing. "WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM!?" I yelled as I broke another finger, getting the same response from her.

"I don't know." She said once she got her breath back. "Charles was a brother to me, he helped me when I was younger. We may of been enemies then, but I would never attempt to kill him, even if Magneto ordered it. Whatever happened affected me as much as you. Who knows where they are, what they are doing or if they are still alive." She said, with me waiting for more. "Yeah, I was there as a bird watching over you, but whatever happened to them happened to me. I was sent across the ocean and from there everything goes blank. Whatever reason, my powers vanished." She said, with me knowing that she could just change into an animal to get away. "I lived in England, doing whatever to get by. I just tried to fade away." She said, with me feeling bad for he as she was just as affected as I was.

Walking around her, I grabbed her face and made her look at me. "You expect me to believe that?" I questioned with a glair.

"I don't have the answers you want, that should be obviously now." She said calmly as she looked me in my eyes. "You're desperate for a lead, one that I cant give you, despite how much we both want one. The fact remains, this was a targeted job." She said, with me tensing up. "Jean and Charles were both affected, telepaths. I've thought of it over and over, why them, and the only answer I could think of, is their mutation." She said, with me relaxing my hand on her face. "My thoughts on the matter, the humans thought it was time to make a move and dropped a missile on them, everyone else was collateral damage." She said, with me glaring at her. "Its us or them." She said, with me bringing my hand back.

"Shut up!" I yelled as I smacked her across the face, with her falling over.

"What did I tell you about about torcher, keep your emotions in check or the victims will find a weakness." She said in a saddened tone, with me helping her up.

Later

'There, foods done.' I thought as I started to make our bowls of stew.

"Where am I?" I heard Mystique, with me looking at her as she started walking up. Walking over to her, I placed her bowl on the table, where I slid her chair closer to it. Cutting her restraints, she rubber her hands as she looked at the bowl. Sitting across from her, I started eating myself, scarfing it down. "I see you gained quite the appetite." She said as I continued to eat. "Do you always cook your meals yourself? Most of my life, up until I lost my powers, I didn't enjoy food, as if I didn't even taste it." She said, with me looking up at her, seeing her still staring at her bowl. "When I found myself in England, I met this family that taught me how to cook, even took me in. Those kids hated my food, even went as far as to keep me from cooking. I kept practicing, and then they started asking for meals that I had made. I got obsessed with that, made me feel like I was someone important, a true mother... not unlike how I treated you, Rogue or even Kurt. The look they gave me when they tasted something new, that was what I was living for. Can you picture me there? Me, a trained killer, feeding kids for their smiles." She said, where she picked up her spoon for the first time, only to drop it due to her broken fingers.

She tried again, and failed like before. Getting up, she looked at me as I dragged my chair over to her and set it next to her. Taking the spoon, I got some of the stew and held it out to her, with her looking at it, then me. She bit down on it, chewing it as I pulled my own bowl over and started eating.

"That is good." She said with a smile, a small one at that. "My mother once told me, "never trust a man who could cook for himself, he would be trouble for you up until the day you die"." She said, where I fed her once more.

"The secret is Lime Juice." I said, with her grinning at me.

"Never pegged you for one to like something sour, you always pegged me as a sweet lover." She said, with me staring her down. "I'm teasing you." She said, with me feeding her once more before eating myself. She started laughing, catching me off guard as it was a quiet but loud laugh. "With everything that has happened, it sure has changed you a lot." She said, looking at me with a loving smile, one she had never given any of us. "Relax, that's a good thing." She said, with me looking down.

"Its not just me." I said, catching her off guard this time. "You're different also, tonight is the first night I've ever heard you genially laugh, even smile like you just did." I said, smiling a bit at the thought of it.

"Its hardly a feeling I'm used to, but I'm sure you can relate to that." She said as she closed her eyes with a smile. "I don't know why they vanished, but what if it was by design?" She said, with me looking at her. "And this, this is what it gave us, a second chance? What if they survived, spread around the world, just in a deep sleep." She said, looking at me with a serious expression. "I want to help you find out, because the moment I landed here, I was sure of it, that you were here." She said, with me looking down at my food.

Later

Walking down the street, Mystique grabbed my hand, squeezing it. Looking back at her, I saw that she was trembling, either from the cold or fear, and I had known her for too long for this to be fear. "We can stop and get some warmth." I said, with her shaking her head.

Letting go of my hand, she gained her composure once more. "Lets go." She said, leading the way, with me following slightly behind her. Seeing the ship yard getting closer, I couldn't help but feel relived at this. Stopping at a fence, I watched as Mystique shook even more, with me looking at her as she looked down at her hands. "I can feel them... they are getting closer!" She said, her eyes wide with fear, something that I had never expected to see. "They're going to kill me." She said as she looked at me, tears sliding down her face.

Feeling the wind pick up, I knew that woman was getting closer. "I wont let them get their hands on you!" I said, taking her hand and making a run for it. "You're not a Mutant anymore, and you don't need to be. You've just got to be you!" I said as I lead us into an building to make the trip faster.

Once we exited threw the other side, the wind became even stronger. Running down the street once more, it started to rain, with me knowing this combo and was ready for them to attack me. As we ran, Mystique fell, with me coming to a sliding stop and looking at her as she got to her knees and looked at her hands. "I cant... please!" She said, looking at her hands in despair, another expression I had never thought I would see on her face.

Helping her up, I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and pressed on. "I told you, I wont let them take you. Besides, I need you to help me find out the truth of that day." I said, where there was a sickening sound and her gasping. Looking down at her stomach, my eyes widened as I saw a large block of ice sticking threw her. Seeing two more stab her in the chest from behind, I grabbed her and ran into the closest ally.

Laying her down, I could see the life fading from her eyes as her hands shook as she held them up to the ice, unsure of if she should pull them out or leave them. "Its too late... run." She whispered, with me kneeling in front of her and placing my hands on her face, making her look at me. As I did that, she copied me, placing her bare hand on my face. "Da... kota... I'm not..."

With her final words, her hand fell and hit the ground, the rain stopping. "Mom?" I said, tears falling from my eyes as I didn't want her to go, I didn't want her to leave me like this. "Mom, wake up!" I said, sitting against the wall and pulling her closer to me. "You cant do this, not like this! What do I tell Rogue, or Kurt? You cant just up and die like this, you were unkillable!" I said, taking in some air as I tried to stop myself from crying out loud.

It was too late, there wasn't anything that I could do. If I was Deaths Champion, I could of pulled her soul out of the air and placed it back in, but I wasn't. Death. This was her doing. Death had the answers that I needed, and I would get them one way or another.

Standing up, I yelled to the heavens, drawing the two towards me. Placing my mask on, I made my way out of the ally, with me looking to my left and seeing the man who looked like an older Bobby, with the woman to my right who looked like a "fashionable" Storm. Seeing him freeze the ground, I burned the ground, countering his attack. Seeing him throw ice shards at me, I cut them down with ease with my claws.

"The thing about classified missions is that you never get to brag." He said, with me holding my hand out and started pulling on his life force, or tried as it failed. Looking at the girl, I got the same result, shocking me. "Your power wont work on us, we've had something whipped up just for you." He said, showing me his wrist, showing some strange bracelet. "Keeps out life force where it belongs." He said with a smirk. "I have to hand it to the guy, he has out done himself once more, most of his Tinks are weird, but this is his best yet." He said, with me remembering S.H.I.E.L.D. was after the Tinkerer, who was most likely the one who made those. "Mystique is dead, whatever your mission was, its over. We both can benefit for a friendly conversation, so do us a favor and give up. I would hate to see a fellow mutant get killed." He said, with me tossing the knife at him, with him bringing his arm up out of reflex.

I was close to stabbing the bracelet, with me sending flames across the wire to hit him. "Die!" I growled out, with him jumping back just in time. Seeing a incendiary grenade appear on both sides of me, I watched as they went off. Looking up, I saw Argo, who held her hand out to me. Taking my Decay form, I flew up at her and grabbed it, where I took off into the night.

Later

"Why did you leave us in the dark?" Yoruichi said as we stood on a roof, watching as they moved Mystiques body into a ambulance before taking off.

"She was my mother and one of the only people who could tell me what happened the day that the Professor and Jean vanished." I said, with them looking at me. "With her gone, it made everything harder. I have no way of reaching Kurt or Rogue, she was their mother. With her dead, it will hurt them knowing that it was in such a way." I said, walking to the other side of the building. Watching as Zero Two stepped in front of me, she placed her hand on my face, making me look down at her. Smacking her hand away, I walked past her and made my way down the stairs, no longer in the mood to be around others.