It's way over due, but here's chapter 7!! I'm sorry, this story is killing me.as I've said many a time, I know what's gonna happen, I just don't know how it's gonna happen. I don't even know what this chapter will be. I'm just gonna write and see where it takes me. So here goes *crosses fingers*

I'm using Todd Fan's lovely suggestion, because damn FF.net won't honor my spacing. Oh well, thanx for the idea, TF!!

Disclaimer: "Onion blooms are people!"

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Talia lay in her little bed staring out the window into the night sky. It was starting to get a bit foggy. She hoped there wasn't going to be a storm, storms scared her. And Mommy and Daddy weren't there to protect her. She missed her Mommy and Daddy terribly. But Mr. Magneto and Miss Mystique said that she'd see them again soon. She hoped so. It wasn't that Mr. Magneto and Miss Mystique were mean to her. In fact, they were really nice. They gave her all these dolls and toys to play with and even let her have ice cream for dinner that night. She was still a little frightened. She had had a fun day with them, once she realized that they weren't going to hurt her, but now she wanted to go home. They just didn't know how to tuck her in like her parents did, and she couldn't sleep in this strange room. She sighed and felt tears coming to her eyes again.

"Talia? Are you still awake?" It was Miss Mystique. T.J. turned to face her as she walked over and sat down.

"I can't sleep," she told her.

"Oh, well, why don't you close your eyes?" Mystique offered. She felt stupid even suggesting it. But she didn't know what else to say.

"I did, and it's not working. Daddy always sings me a song when I can't sleep." Talia looked at Mystique with a small plea in her eyes.

"He does? Hmm, well," Mystique thought for a minute. She wasn't much of a music buff, and didn't know what kind of song you'd sing a child to get them to sleep. So she just started singing the first thing that came to mind. "Devil went down to Georgia, he was looking for a soul to steal. He was in a bind because he was way behind---"

"Not that song." Talia stopped her. "A nice song. The one Daddy sings me is in German."

"I don't know any German songs, Talia," Mystique told her. T.J. looked disappointed. She sighed and turned her eyes away from Mystique.

"I wanna go home," she said.

Mystique didn't know what to say at all. She couldn't tell Talia the truth, that she may not see her parents again, but that this was all for the best of mutant kind. She put her hand out and ran her hand through Talia's long indigo hair. She felt her regret coming at her full force. She wished she had been there for Kurt when he was her age. To sing him to sleep when he couldn't, or sooth him after a nightmare. These were things that she had always thought about. And now that there was this child for her to sooth, she found she didn't know what to do at all.

Talia began to whimper a bit. Mystique bit her lip. "Don't cry, Talia." she said. Where was Eric? He was so much better at this parenting stuff than she. Talia's whimpers became louder. Mystique let instinct take over here and pulled Talia into her arms. She cradled the crying child, rocking her back and forth. "Shh, baby girl, don't cry. Everything's going to be ok." Suddenly, she found herself humming. She didn't really know what she was humming, but she just kept to it. Talia began to relax in her arms and after a while had drifted off to sleep.

Mystique carefully lay her back in the bed and tucked her in. Before turning to leave the room, she bent down and gave her a small kiss on the forehead. She shut Talia's door quietly and turned to see Eric standing behind her.

"You have quite a gentler side, Raven. I had no idea." Eric smiled at her.

"I don't expect you to know everything about me. But she is my granddaughter, Eric. What else would you expect of me?"

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The X men all filed out of the Blackbird. They could just see through the fog that Storm had created to conceal their craft. They were in a farming town just outside of Bayville. The Scarlet Witch looked around. She could just make out a small farmhouse ahead of them. That's where they had her baby. The house looked like it had been empty for years. It was partially boarded up, and there was no sign of any life within. It felt so cold there, and she just hoped that her little girl was ok. Nightcrawler put his arm around her and she reciprocated.

"Ok, everybody, let's split up," Cyclops began. "Toad, Shadowcat and Wolfsbane are to go in first. Approach with caution, survey the scene. If all seems ok, and Talia is not in any sort of danger, report back to use with everyone's location. Wave one will be Avalanche, Rogue and Magma. You will approach from the left. Your objective is to--"

"Cyclops, stop," Nightcrawler said. "Enough. While we appreciate your leadership skills, mien fruend, the plan has changed."

"What are you talking about Kurt? We have to stick to the plan. If we don't- -"

"This isn't your fight, Scott." Wanda interrupted him. "We really appreciate the fact that you all want to help and everything."

"This is our battle," Kurt continued where Wanda left off. "We know that you all want to help, but we have to do this on our own."

Scott looked at his friends. He saw the determination in their eyes and knew that any argument he gave would not work. He sighed. "Ok, but we'll be here, just in case."

"Thank you, Scott," Wanda said to him, before she and Kurt departed toward the house.

"Rahne, follow them, make sure everything goes ok," Scott told her. The girl shifted into her wolf form and followed the couple.

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As they approached the house Kurt and Wanda stopped and turned toward each other. "Time we split up, ja?" Kurt asked her. She responded by pulling him down into a kiss. A tear fell down her cheek, and they parted, each going separate ways into the house. Kurt stayed in the shadows, making his way to the side of the house, looking in windows for his daughter. While it was Wanda's job to keep Mystique and Magneto busy. She threw a bolt at the front door and it flew inward. She stepped into the house and looked around. No one. Then she heard something shuffle in the next room. She stepped in, spotting Magneto poised for an attack. Wanda felt her hands charging.

"Hello, Father."

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Oooo..cliffhanger..This chapter was pretty cool..I hope you felt the same...you know how you can let me know what you think?? Review!!! Please do!