Glaring Decypher

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Chapter Fifty-Nine:

Charles Xavier pulled himself and Ororo into the black void of his mind. Coaxing their consciousnesses to manifest into physical forms, he glanced over and saw Ororo observing their, dark yet, endless surroundings.

"I'm uncertain where to begin," he said earnestly. She looked troubled. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"There is no right or wrong answer, Professor. But we must leave this place swiftly," she said, her voice anxious. His eyes widened as he reached over and grabbed her hand.

"I apologize, I didn't realize this would prompt your claustrophobia," he said as he extended his hand outwards and a bright light formed. "We'll depart immediately," he said as she squeezed his hand and pulled them forward into the light and into his memories.

The first memory he selected was of him and Moria having breakfast together in the institute's kitchen, one of the countless times they had done so after moving in together after graduating from Oxford. Given Ororo's company, rather than experience them from his younger self's point of view, he instead elected to manifest his memories in a given space and have himself and Ororo observe from within the confines of the memory.

"I apologize," he said again.

"It's alright," she said as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Breakfast, at this time in his life, was a peaceful affair. He and Moria usually enjoyed their meals in comfortable silence as they both read their newspapers of choice. This Sunday was no different. There was a rather large collection of various newspapers that were delivered from around the world. Hence, there was no need to pause the memory as he watched Ororo grip the back of one of the chairs regaining her bearings. The only sound in the room was the occasional turning of the page. Though, Moria tended to shift through her collection faster than he did.

He hoped the familiar setting, the open space, and the harmonious atmosphere he had selected, would all help put Ororo's mind at ease.

"I'm alright," she repeated as she opened her eyes.

"Perhaps, I should have come alone," he said, walking up to her side.

"No," she said as she glanced up at him. "You know I am always willing to help you. It-" she stopped as she glanced down at the table. It seems she was trying to distract herself but focusing on the table. "Charles," she asked after a moment, "why are there so many?" she asked.

"What? Newspapers?" he asked.

"Yes, there's close to twenty between the two of you," she commented. Charles followed Ororo's gaze and glanced at the stack of papers on the table.

"I suppose, it must seem a bit excessive," he said before laughing slightly. "Moria liked to stay informed and I sought to impress her. When she gave me her list, all those years ago, I was more than happy to have them delivered," he explained.

Ororo's lip curved upwards slightly at that, as she kept glancing at the table. Her expression turned back to curiosity.

"What is it?" he asked her.

"Caldecott?" she read aloud as she pointed to one of the newspapers. Though it was half buried midway in the pile. "Charles, can you- fast forward?" she asked, looking up at him. "I would like

to see that one," she said, still pointing.

"Of course," he said as he placed his fingers on his temples. His brow furrowed as he concentrated and soon the memory sped up to double, then triple time. His younger self barely seemed affected as he enjoyed the New York Times. Moria, however, was speeding through as newspaper after newspaper were picked up, reviewed, and cast aside.

"Stop," Ororo declared and he quickly paused the memory. "The Caldecott County Chronicle," she read aloud as Charles glanced down at the newspaper in question. The name wasn't lost on either of them. Her eyes snapped up, locking with his.

"Rogue clearly knows about Moria because of her knowledge of her past and it would stand to reason that Moria may very well have known Rogue through her knowledge of Rogue's future," he finished aloud, astonished.

"Charles, how often did Moria read this? And did she ever react to anything she read?" she asked.

"It was semi-monthly," he recalled. "And I'm not certain, but we're going to find out together," he said as he placed his fingers back on the temples. Ororo gave him a nod before he unpaused the memory.

And so they watched and waited.


Kitty Pride sat in the backseat of Jean's SUV, behind Rogue, who had taken the front passenger seat. And Amara, who they had bumped into on their way out, was sitting next to her in the back.

"Umm, Rogue," Amara said.

"I know I owe you a conversation about one of the locations I plan to cover. I promise we'll talk before I bring it up in my lecture. Good enough?" Rogue asked.

"Yeah, okay. Thanks, Rogue," Amara said before Kitty giggled under her breath. "What?" she asked.

"We're, like, just missing Tabitha," she commented.

"Oh, yeah," she smiled before they both giggled. "Do you ever miss it?" she asked.

"Which part? Midnight high-speed car chases? Catching the bad guys? The mall crawls?" Kitty asked.

"Definitely, the mall crawls," she agreed before they giggled together.

Jean let out an annoyed sigh, for some reason, as Rogue glanced at her before she turned her face towards the window. Kitty felt a slight vibration. Realizing it was Rogue's foot tapping against the floor of the car, she leaned over, looking into the passenger's side mirror. Rogue was resting her chin in the palm of her hand, as her elbow was prompted up on the open window. From her angle, she managed to see Rogue rolling her eyes before she let out a sigh herself.

Worried, Kitty leaned forward.

"Maybe, not chasing the bad guys," Jean chimed in, diverting her attention. "What we did was really dangerous and we were lucky none of us got seriously hurt," she said.

"But we had so much fun," Amara exclaimed.

"Yes, but, it was very irresponsible," she retorted.

"Hey, no one's saying we should start that up again. But Jean, just because you're, like, an instructor now doesn't mean you can't, totally, remember how cool it was," Kitty giggled.

"Things could've gone very wrong and we're lucky that nice cop lady let us leave when she did. Or who knows what would've happened," Jean argued before Rogue let out a sharp distressed moan. "What? You don't agree?"

Kitty heard the tapping get a little louder, her concern growing. They all listened to her take a deep breath.

"You know what, Jean," she said, her tone dry. "Yeah, you're right. We are lucky she showed up when she did. I'm grateful such an understanding member of law enforcement managed to beat all the other cops inta the locked warehouse. It's crazy that she was both completely alone and so accommodating," she said dryly.

Kitty glanced at Amara, who was just as confused as she was.

"Hmm," Amara hummed. "Maybe she just appreciated us cleaning up the streets," she said. Rogue let out a sigh as the tapping increased.

"Are you okay?" Kitty asked.

"Just peachy," she answered, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

"You don't-" Jean spoke up. "You don't actually think she was a cop, do you?"

"No, I don't," she confirmed.

"Because you think it was Mystique," Jean stated.

"I don't think it was, I know it was," she said.

"Are you sure?" Kitty asked nervously.

"But why would she want to stop us?" Amara asked.

"Any responsible parent would want to stop their teenage daughter from being a vigilante," Jean said. Kitty's eyes shifted to look at Rogue as her foot stopped tapping. What followed from her was a loud and incredulous laugh. From the back, Kitty could see that Rogue was hugging her stomach with her right arm as she doubled over with laughter.

"Jean, Jean," she laughed as she reached out with her left and placed it on Jean's shoulder. "Did you seriously just call Mystique a responsible parent?" Rogue asked as Kitty's eyes flashed to Jean's, which were narrowed in annoyance. Once Jean noticed, her facial expression dropped before she rolled her eyes. "Good lord," she muttered under her breath as she laughed under Jean's vexed gaze. "In what world could you possibly call her a responsible parent? You would have to be- she would have to be delusional to even think she comes close," Rogue laughed.

Amara gave her an uncomfortable look and Kitty shrugged in response before she looked at the street ahead of them. Kitty's eyes widened as she saw a man jaywalking in the middle of the road.

"Jean, watch out," Kitty yelled. Jean gasped as she pressed on her horn, prompting the man to start running. 'Oh no, we're going to hit him,' she thought distressed as she gripped the door of the van, readying herself to phrase them through the man if need be.

Turns out she didn't need to worry, as a few things happened simultaneously. Rogue sat up, drawing her arm across Jean's collarbone, pinning her to the seat, in a protective gesture. Jean's hands flew off the steering wheel as it sharply turned on its own. And Kitty and Amara were pushed up against the confines of their seatbelts as the van came to an abrupt stop on the shoulder of the road.

A little dazed, but no worse for wear, Kitty glanced up to see Rogue had removed her hand from Jean's person and was now giving the jay-walking the finger as she asked, "Y'all alright?"

"Yeah," Kitty said as she caught her breath.

"Good thing, you had Magneto's powers," Amara muttered.

"Yeah," Kitty repeated as she looked up at Jean, who was leaning back against the seat, taking a deep breath. "You okay, Jean?" she asked as she reached up and touched her shoulder. Jean recoiled, pulling her shoulder out of reach. "Jean?" she asked.

"Sorry, I'm fine," she said quickly as she placed her hands back on the steering wheel. Kitty saw her try to turn it, but it wouldn't budge. She let out a frustrated moan. "We need to get moving or you're going to be late for school," she said, looking over at Rogue.

"In a minute," she replied. "I just-" she said. "I really can't believe you said that," she said, softly chucking again. "After everything she's done to me, Kurt and you, and Scott," she said.

Jean let out a sigh before saying, "Okay, yes, that lady's made a lot of questionable choices. And I'm not trying to define her but, she's still your mom, right? Maybe she stopped us from being the Bayville Sirens because she was worried about you," she suggested.

"Okay, sure, why not? I can give her that," Rogue said, bluntly. "I'm sure that was part of it," she said, rolling her eyes. "But Risty's real motivation was jealousy," she said as she watched Jean's eyes widen. "She was upset that I was spending my free time with y'all, instead of her. So, she took the completely logical, extremely responsible course of action of removing the reason why I wasn't hanging out with her. So, she could have me all to herself again. No distractions or anyone else to keep me from keeping her company during and after school. Simple as that," she said.

"That's terrible," Amara whispered.

"Yeah," Kitty agreed.

"Did you?" Jean started to say before she cut herself off.

"Go ahead, ask me," Rogue ordered. Kitty watched her take a deep breath before she looked back up at Rogue.

"Did you know Risty was Mystique?"

"I always know when it's her," she said, her voice stern and cold.

"Not every time," Jean argued, as she looked nervous for some reason.

"Always," she said firmly as Kitty watched a bead of sweat roll down Jean's forehead.

'Wait a minute,' she thought.

"Now, look," Rogue said, breaking eye contact as she rolled her eyes. "I know this is an emotionally charged conversation, but could ya please stop reading my mind, Jean?" she asked, irritated.

"Yeah, yeah," Jean said apologetically, as a look of relief crossed her features.

'Oh no,' Kitty thought as Rogue's eyes flashed to hers as she waved her hand and the left blinker turned on.

"Sorry," Mystique in disguise said, casting her eyes on the road before pulling out of the shoulder.

'If that's- then where's Jean?' Kitty asked, alarmed.

"What I don't understand is," Mystique continued, "if you knew she was Risty, why didn't you tell anyone?" she asked.

"That's a good question," Rogue said as her eyes flashed to hers again. "I wanna tell you a story," she said.

"Sure," Mystique answered as Kitty nodded at her. She sat back in her seat and fought to keep her body language neutral. It was so strange hearing Jean's voice but knowing it wasn't actually her.

'Rogue has a plan. Totally. I just can't get in the way of it,' she thought. 'Everything's going to be fine,' she thought even as she felt her heart racing in her chest.

"On June sixth, nineteen-ninety-eight, I had intended to go to a concert," Rogue said, turning her attention back to Mystique. "I had it all planned out in my head," Rogue continued. "I knew how I was gonna get out of the house without Irene hearing me. I knew what time I had to leave, how I was gonna get there and pay for the ticket. And I had every intention of returning to that house right after. I wasn't trying to run away from them. I intended to go back," she said strongly.

"Should they have been worried?" Mystique asked.

"I never gave 'em a reason to. I did everything they asked of me. Every rule and restriction was rigorously adhered to. But between living with Irene and being home-schooled by her, I never went anywhere alone. I felt like they were watching me all of the time and the isolation was getting to me. I just wanted one night out to myself without an escort. A little breathing room, that's all," she explained.

"That sounds reasonable," Amara said as Kitty tried to keep herself from staring at Mystique.

"I thought so too," Rogue sighed.

"So, what was the problem?" she asked.

"It's the morning of the concert and I hadn't said a word about any of it. The plan only existed in my mind and my intentions," she explained.

"Ah-huh," Amara nodded along.

"So, I'm eating breakfast with Irene and Mystique shows up, all smiles. I have a surprise, she says. You've been so good that we think you deserve a treat. And so she pulls out three tickets to the concert and says, we're gonna have a great time," she finished.

Amara caught Kitty's eye as she shrugged, before asking, "so, you got to go?"

"Yeah, yeah, we went, alright," she sighed.

"I don't get it," Amara said. "You wanted to go to the concert and you got to. Yeah, you wanted to go alone, but was it really such a big deal?" she asked. Kitty bit her bottom lip, trying to keep herself from saying anything.

"Yes, it was," Mystique said. "Because it wasn't about the concert. It never was," she said as she looked over at Rogue. "You were testing Irene's powers and how much information her visions provided."

"Not just that. I spoke with Mystique the night before and she was halfway across the globe, in the middle of a job," she said.

"And that provided you with a timeframe," the other woman stated.

"It's a twelve, maybe fifteen-hour window," she confirmed. "Above all, I needed to discern how they would react to me exercising even a modicum of freedom."

"You were pulling at the leash, testing the depths of their restraints and how do they respond?" Mystique asked as she banged her fist against the steering wheel. "You felt like a prisoner and in one day they proved themselves to be your wardens, falling right into your trap," she said.

"Which is when I knew that once I was ready to escape, it was gonna have ta be a helluva plan," she said.

"Did Magneto help?" she asked. Rogue turned to look at her.

"That's," she said before turning to look at her. "Complicated."

"But not a no," their driver muttered under her breath. "So, he approached you, while you were still in Mississippi," she stated. "Magneto tried to recruit you before you were even in Bayville. He-" she said as her hand gripped the steering wheel.

"What? You think it was underhanded?" Rogue asked.

"Yes," she hissed as she flicked the blinker on.

"Hmm," Rogue huffed as the van turned right, pulling into the school's entrance. "Did ya think it's more underhanded than keeping an AK-47 underneath your desk and threatening to use it to kidnap me and Kurt?" she asked, pointedly. Mystique's eyes widened slightly but she didn't respond to that. Instead, she followed the road and pulled into a parking spot. "Cause that's what Mystique intended before Magneto ripped the damn thing apart," she added.

"You're grateful to him for stopping her," she stated as she put the car in park.

"Yeah, I was pretty damn appreciative of that," Rogue answered, as she and Amara removed their seatbelts.

"Hmm, I need to get going," Amara said sheepishly as she looked at the watch on her wrist.

"See ya inside, Amara," Rogue said. Amara gestured with her head, but Kitty shook hers. She wasn't leaving Rogue alone with Mystique. "Look, Jean, you're right," she continued as Amara shrugged before exiting the car. "For better or worse, there's a part of me that's always gonna consider her my mother and despite everything I do love her," she said.

"Really?" she asked skeptically. "With the way you talk about her," she added.

"I ain't heartless. She did raise me, after all," Rogue said. "But she's so quick to violence," she said, her eyes flaring as she stared at Mystique. "It's difficult to reason with her, ya know?" she asked, though she didn't give her a chance to reply. "Once she thinks you've wronged her, that's it, she's gonna retaliate. And with Irene being so protective of her, anytime someone intends to hurt her, my mother gets a fucking warning," Rogue explained.

"Oh," Kitty said before she could tell herself not to.

"I could literally," Rogue said as she pulled her hand up in front of her, "have all of the power in the world at my fingertips," she said as magnetic energy pulsed in her hands. "And even then, I can't do shit against her," she said, a hint of bitterness in her voice.

"And that's why you never told anyone," Mystique said. "Assuming you did know she was Risty," she said.

"Jean, come on, with that disguise, how could I not?" she asked as she waved her hand and the energy dissipated. "She chose a goth exchange student who made a beeline for me on the first day of the semester. She was about as subtle as a ton of fucking bricks," she explained dryly.

Mystique let out a huff at that.

"Honestly, even if I could hurt her, I don't think I'd want to. There's just a lot of emotions there and I really don't know how to deal with any of 'em," Rogue said. Mystique opened Jean's mouth to speak before she was interrupted by a bell sounding off.

"Wait, is that first-period bell?" Kitty asked.

"Shit," Rogue exclaimed as her seatbelt came flying off. "Jean, sorry, we gotta go," she said as both her and Kitty's doors flew open. Rogue gestured with her head and following her lead, she quickly exited the vehicle. She reached down and grabbed her backpack as Rogue got out. "Sorry, Jean," as she grabbed her own backpack.

"It's okay," she replied.

"Look," Rogue said, leaning down to look at her. "I've never really said any of this out loud before and I- I don't know, it actually felt kinda good getting all of that off my chest. Do ya- Do ya think we could talk again after school?" she asked.

"Yes," she answered quickly. "Of course, I'm here for you anytime," she said.

"Thanks," Rogue said with a smile. "Think you'll be able to pick us up this afternoon? Unless you gotta provide coverage for Logan or something?" she asked.

"Right, Logan's out of town," she muttered to herself as her eyes shifted like she was remembering something. "I don't think it'll be a problem," she said pleasantly.

"Okay, great," Rogue exclaimed happily. "Kitty, if we cut through the courtyard, we might not be too late," she suggested.

"Got it," she said as she closed her door.

"We'll see you right after school, Jean," she said.

"Have a good day," she called out as Jean's smiling face stared back at her. "Bye, Kitty," she said pleasantly.

"Bye, Jean," Kitty said, forcing herself to smile, as she waved. She quickly turned and followed Rogue as they ran past the main entrance and towards the courtyard. Once they had crossed behind the building, Rogue stopped running.

"You did good," she said as she turned to face her. "How ya holding up?"

"Oh my god," Kitty exclaimed, her heart was racing and she finally let go of a breath she didn't realize she was holding in. "You- you," she stuttered.

"You're okay, breath," Rogue ordered as she took a step towards her. "You weren't in any danger," she said.

"I kinda figured that, since you had Magneto's powers but- but where's Jean?" she exclaimed.

"Manhattan. That's where I'm going next," she said.

"Okay, okay. I'm, totally, going with you," she said.

"Kitty, no, just- Go to class and let me handle this," she said.

"Are you kidding?" she exclaimed. "No way. I can't just sit there knowing Jean's in trouble. I'm coming with you and that's final," she insisted. Rogue eyed her for a moment before sighing.

"Alright, fine," she said as she walked past her. "So much for you and Emma getting off on the right foot," she muttered under her breath as she peered around the wall.

"Huh? Who's Emma?" she asked as she joined her at the wall. Peering out, she saw Jean's van pulling out of the parking spot.

"You're gonna find out," she said as they watched the van drive away from the school. "Okay, let's go," she said.

"Where?" Kitty asked as they started waking.

"The Hellfire Club."


Okay, calling it here for now! THANK YOU all for reading! Please let me know your thoughts!

Kirogue: THANK YOU! Yes, we're getting close to having all the major plot points revealed in regard to Rogue's past. So, I think I answered some of your questions from the review :) Feel free to ask more! They are so helpful once I start writing the next chapter! I also love the concept of Moria's Krakoan Era background. I've only read up to Dawn of X 16. I've been meaning to catch up, but haven't gotten around to it yet. That really sucks, they just make her evil? And want to kill her. She's seen and done everything. That's so boring!

Well, that's not happening here, lol! More to come! Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

Dunadaness: THANK YOU! Lol! You're right, I probably would like it :) That's a really good question. The X-Men evolution universe is the only one where Mystique can transform into animals (To the best of my knowledge). My personal headcanon has always been this is a magical enhancement gifted to her by Agatha Harkness. So, great question, and more to come!