Authors note: this is it! Only a couple more chapters to go!! Horary!
*****************************************
Scott Summers was thinking.
That was something that he seemed to be doing a lot lately. He was sitting on the stairs to the mansion doors, elbows resting on knees, watching as Logan directed the younger X-Men in a short athletic training exercise. The kids - once affectionately known as The New Recruits - were running around the lawns while their instructor programmed the defensive systems to send a couple of laser blasts their way every now and again. Scott wasn't worried, he knew that Logan would have set the lasers on their lowest setting - little more than a high-tech light show really - but the sheer normality of the scene had struck a cord within him.
Funny to think that just a year ago it had been he who had been conducting the training sessions. Of course back then there were less students to deal with. The original X-Men. Despite the small size of their team they had all pulled together...become best friends in fact. After so many long years of loneliness, Scott had truly believed that he had found his family. Jean, Kitty, Rogue, Evan...Kurt...they meant the world to him, and now he could feel them all slipping away...
He didn't look up when Jean sat quietly beside him. In fact, he'd been expecting her to put in an appearance for some time now. She had a knack for appearing exactly when he needed her the most.
"Penny for them?"
Scott frowned distractedly. "Hm?"
Beside him, Jean cupped her hands in her lap and watched as Bobby artfully dodged a blast of red light. "It's a saying that my dad used to say to me," she explained. "'Penny for your thoughts'. It means, what's on your mind?"
The young leader of the X-Men didn't answer her for a long moment. He continued to stare bleakly ahead of him, eyes thoughtful behind his crimson glasses. "It just...it just doesn't seem right."
"What doesn't?"
Scott waved a hand toward to commotion on the lawn. "This...all of this...the way that everyone's acting so normal after everything that's happened. It doesn't feel right."
Jean gave a slow nod, understanding instantly what he was talking about. "Kurt?"
Scott returned the nod with mute confirmation.
"It's been weeks, Scott. We can't just stop living."
"And we shouldn't just forget him either."
"Hey, nobody's forgetting him," Jean leaned forward and placed a reassuring hand on his knee. "But we all have to adjust. Kurt was one of us, but he made the decision to leave. Nobody forced him. All that we can do is respect his choice and move on with our lives."
Scott thought about what she said for a short moment. An early autumn breeze ran through his hair, short strands falling over his pale forehead. "I miss him, Jean."
The young telepath sighed sadly. "I know how much he meant to you, and I know how difficult that this has been. But you're going to have to let him go. You can't protect him anymore."
"This is all my fault."
"No..."
"Yes it is." Scott turned to look at her, eyebrows pulled together in a look of barely suppressed pain. "I should have been there for him, Jean."
Jean shook her head. "You were there for him, okay? There's nothing more that you could have done."
"Kurt and me...we were supposed to be friends. I always thought of him as a brother, you know? But then all this happens. Jean, he didn't trust me enough to even tell me that he had feelings for Rogue. What does that say about our friendship?"
Jean watched him with clouded green eyes. The hand on Scott's knee gave a gentle squeeze - a chaste gesture of comfort. "I don't think even Kurt knew how he felt for her until that night. Not really."
"He should have been able to tell me. The maybe if he had...I don't know...maybe I would have been able to stop this." He frowned and looked away. "If he had a problem, I would have helped him. He should have come to me."
She paused for a moment, then turned her gaze back to the younger mutants. "Kurt has to find the answers in his own way, just like Rogue will. But they'll both get through it, Scott. It'll just take time."
Scott was about to open his mouth to speak when a sound from behind cut him off. Through the open Institute doorway came the shrill ring of the telephone. Almost instinctively, Scott was on his feet. Leaving Jean still sitting on the stone steps, he walked quickly into the entry foyer, shoes echoing on the polished marble as he went to pick up the phone.
Picking up the receiver, he held it up to his ear. Even now, weeks after Kurt had left, Scott still hoped to hear his voice every time the phone rang...
"The Charles Xavier Institute. Scott Summers speaking."
There was a pause on the other end of the line, shortly followed by a low snigger. "Well, well, well...if it isn't old one-eye himself. What's this, Summers, torn yourself away from the red-head for long enough to answer the phone?"
Scott bristled, his grip tightening on the smooth plastic phone. "Lance?! What do you want?"
"Me? Oh I want a lot of things. The real question here is - what do *you* want?"
"You mean besides your head on a pole?"
Lance made a short sound, which Scott could only interoperate as a snort. "I didn't call to bitch with you, okay Summers? I've got a message. You and your little X-friends are to come to the construction site right away. There's some unfinished business that we have to take care of."
Scott glared coldly into space. "Oh yeah? And what makes you think that I'd want to do that?"
"Because if you don't then you'll never see your precious Nightcrawler again."
There was a click and then a silence. Lance Alvers had hung up.
Scott stood frozen in disbelief. Something cold and unpleasant crept over his skin, a clammy terror growing in the pit of his stomach.
...Kurt...the Brotherhood were going to hurt Kurt...
...oh God.
There was a quiet sound of footsteps behind him and the warm pressure of a hand on his shoulder. Still, Scott couldn't move.
Jean watched him with concern, having heard half of the conversation from the doorway. "Scott?" she whispered, drawing closer. "Scott, what's going on?"
Scott swallowed. "Find the other X-Men and tell them to suit up."
"Why? What's going on?"
The young leader turned to look at her, his expression hardening with a resolve that Jean had never seen before.
"It ends now."
***************************************************
Mystique was in her bedroom when Kurt found her. She was crouching next to the ornate vanity-table, reaching into one of the draws. He watched her silently from the open doorway for a long moment, lingering uncertainly on the threshold. If his mother noticed his presence, she did not acknowledge him.
"Mother?"
Mystique glanced upward, seeing her son's shadowy blue form reflected in the table-top mirror. Rising to her feet, she turned around to face him.
"Not now, Kurt. We have to get ready."
The young boy's eyes were troubled and uncertain, his fingers drumming nervously in a silent beat against the tops of his thighs. "I'm sorry mother, but I...I can't."
"Can't what?" she asked, already knowing full well what the answer was going to be.
He looked at her in abject desperation. "I can't fight the X-Men!"
"And why not?" She challenged, a little more harshly than she had meant. "What have they ever done to you but lie and keep you from the truth? What have they ever done but deceive you? You and Rogue were torn apart by Xavier's treachery - never forget that."
Kurt lowered his head and closed his eyes tightly. At his sides, Mystique watched as his three-fingered hands curled into fists of despair. "You promised that I wouldn't have to fight them," he muttered quietly, "You *promised*"
Mystique sighed, frowning. She hadn't meant to speak to him so unsympathetically. Some habits were hard to break, she supposed. "I know, and I am sorry for that. But things have changed now, Kurt, and I'm afraid that inaction is no longer an option."
"But why?" He shook his head, dark curtains of hair shielding his face. "I don't understand."
"Do you trust me Kurt?"
The blue-furred mutant glanced up at her. "Was?"
"Do you trust me?" She stared at him intently, pale eyes fixed onto his own. "I need to know."
Kurt swallowed, the weight of her gaze almost too much to bear. Did he trust her? A month or two ago he would have answered in the negative without hesitation. But now...well, a lot had changed. Since coming to the Brotherhood House Kurt had seen a side to Mystique that he had never dreamed existed. She had shown warmth, tenderness...even love. At the back of his mind there was the faint anxiety that she might be manipulating him for her own gain, but he wanted to believe in her so badly that he was willing to ignore these fears. For the past few weeks she had not been his enemy, but his mother.
And he loved her.
"Yes..." he murmured, giving a single slow nod. "Yes, I do."
She gave a small smile and leaned forward, taking his hands into her own. "Then you must trust me with this. You owe the X-Men no loyalty whatsoever."
Kurt lowered his head. "Maybe not, but that doesn't mean that I can just fight them."
Mystique sensed that she was fighting a loosing battle. Kurt's bonds with the Brotherhood were strong, but the still lingering attachment to the X- Men was proving more of an obstacle than she had suspected. In order to convince him, she realized, she was going to have to play him for his weakness...
"You have to, Kurt." She whispered. "You have to or Rogue will die."
It worked, just as Mystique had known it would. At the sound of Rogue's name her son glanced up quickly, eyes instantly wide and fearful. No matter what had happened between them, Mystique knew that Kurt would always love Rogue. He would die for her...and for the moment those feelings were something that she was willing to exploit.
He blinked uneasily. "...Rogue? Rogue is in danger?"
"Yes...I cannot tell you any further, but know this: if you choose not to fight, it will be your sister's blood that you gamble."
Kurt seemed to waver for a moment, standing still and unspeaking. As she watched, his expression changed. From fearful anxiety his features changed, the young boy gaining a look of reluctant acceptance. Finally, he nodded.
"I'd never do anything to hurt her," he whispered fiercely.
Mystique allowed the ghost of a smirk to play at the corners of her mouth. Turning back to the draw she had been previously occupied in, she withdrew a folded uniform. Kurt's Brotherhood uniform. She had ordered it the day that she returned from telling Xavier the truth, knowing even then that her son would turn away from the X-Men. Configured to his exact requirements, it was much the same as his old X-Men uniform...only black, and bearing nothing that even remotely resembled the hated X-insignia.
A new uniform for her son's rebirth.
"Come Kurt, we must join the others."
Kurt watched her for a moment...then hesitantly reached out to accept the uniform.
***************************************
The term 'garage' hardly seemed to do the cavernous storage area justice. Clinically lit by narrow bands of florescent light, this is where Professor Xavier kept the various vehicles that the X-Men were equipped with. Scott remembered the first time that the Prof had shown it to him...how astounded he had been. For a young man who had lived his entire life in a state-run orphanage, the Xavier Institute garage had been better than Disney Land. Even now, all these years later, he still experienced an involuntary intake of air when he came here.
Today, however, there was no time to lovingly examine each of the cars as he usually did. Today he was here with a purpose...a purpose that he was reminded of when he saw the group of teens turn to look at him expectantly. They were all there and fully suited up - Jean must have contacted them telepathically, because there was no way that she would have been able to find them all so quickly otherwise. Kitty, Rogue, Evan, Jean and himself: five of the original six X-Men.
Together again, he thought, somewhat bitterly.
~Scott~
Scott flinched as a familiar voice entered his mind. The Professor.
~Scott, I know that you got a telephone call from Lance Alvers, and I also know what you are planning to do. Please, take a moment to consider your chosen course of action.~
~What, to give you time to get Logan down here to stop me from going?~ Spending the past few years with Jean and Xavier, Scott had learnt a thing or two about communicating telepathically. He didn't slow down as he continued to walk towards the others. ~Sorry Professor, no can do.~
~You must realize that this is a trap.~
Scott sighed audibly. ~Of course I know, but what choice do I have?~
~There's always a choice, Scott. Please...don't do this. Not alone.~
The young team-leader halted as he drew close to the assembled mutants. Jean must have already filled them in because nobody asked questions. They simply stared at him, all wearing the same expression of resolution that he knew must be mirrored in his own features. Without a single words being said, they all moved away and began to clamber into the parked X-Van.
~No Professor, I'm not alone. The X-Men started this together, and that's the way that we're going to finish it. I'm sorry, but I can't just leave Kurt. Not now.~
Scott slid into the driver's seat and revved up the engine, the kids around him silently buckling their seatbelts. The voice in his head said no more, apparently realizing that argument would pointless in this matter.
The X-Van roared into life and sped out of the garage. The instant it had cleared the massive entryway a door at the opposite end of the holding bay slammed open and Logan burst into the garage, quickly followed by Hank and Ororo. The three instructors stared at the empty space that the X-Van ordinarily occupied.
"Damn!" Wolverine's whole body tensed, hands forming into fists of impotent rage. "We missed them!"
Hank watched the vehicle as it raced out of the Institute gates. "Not by much. We can still catch up with them if we hurry."
**************************************************
Rogue was sitting in the back of the X-Van, fidgeting distractedly with the cuff of her glove. Staring darkly out of the window, she pressed her painted lips together into a grim line. The buildings rushed past them in a blur of grey - Scott definitely breaking the local speed limits. Luckily for them, this part of Bayville was largely office buildings and there were few cops around to see them. Even if there were, Rogue doubted that Scott would pull over.
From the look on his face, not even Magneto himself would have been able to stop him at that moment.
She still wasn't quite certain what was going on. Jean had filled them in on what she knew, but that patchy information only created more questions in the young mutant's mind. Lance Alvers had phoned Scott? And told him to meet at the construction site? Why? It made no sense. And what had Lance meant by that remark about Nightcrawler? Was the Brotherhood really going to hurt him, or were they just using him as bait to draw the X-Men out?
Rogue didn't know for sure, but whatever was going on, she didn't like it.
She sighed and slumped lower in her seat, screwing her eyes tightly shut. She had been just about to go and see Kurt at the Brotherhood House when Jean had contacted her. As strange as it sounded, she was disappointed that her plan had been interrupted. She had been steeling herself all day for the encounter, determined that she would make Kurt listen to her...that she would find a way of salvaging their relationship...
...that she would find a way to earn his love again.
And now *this* had come up. Not for the first time, Rogue wished that she could just forget about the X-Men and the Brotherhood. There were too many people...too many conflicting interests...if she and Kurt would just be left alone, maybe they would be able to work things out between them.
Hmf...some hope.
Sitting on the seat beside her, Kitty Pryde leaned over to touch her shoulder. "Hey," she whispered, "Are you okay?"
Rogue glanced over to the young girl looking at her. For a long time it had been Kitty who had been the object of Kurt's affections...and Rogue herself had never truly understood why. After all, why would a guy as intelligent and good-natured as Kurt form a crush on an air-head superficial bimbo like Kitty? Now Rogue realized how harsh her earlier judgments had been. When things got tough, Kitty remained strong and loyal. And Kurt had known that, even in the very beginning. He had a way of finding the good in people, even when others could not...
...Just like he had with her.
That was why she loved him.
"I just want to get this over with," she whispered back to Kitty.
Shadowcat nodded. "I know what you mean." She paused, blue eyes downcast momentarily, and then looked up again. "Do you think that they'll have Kurt with them?"
Rogue shook her head. "I don't know...but I sure hope not."
***************************************************
Kurt Wagner stood with the other members of the Brotherhood, squinting his eyes against the growing dusk. The construction site was deserted now, all of the workers having clocked off hours since. The houses surrounding the site were also suitably derelict.
No witnesses.
He lifted his gaze to the tall scaffolding towering above his head, to where Mystique was standing watch.
Mystique - his mother.
Her scarlet hair flowed in a growing breeze, her expression grim and thoughtful. As much as he loved her, there was a ruthlessness in her features that he could not deny. It frightened him. If it wasn't for the uniqueness of her coloring, Kurt might have wondered if this harsh fighter could possibly be the same person who had treated him so gently while he had been recovering from his fever. Mystique and Raven Darkholme - one a terrorist, one a mother. The only question in Kurt's mind, was which one was the true her?
Half an hour previously, Kurt would not have hesitated in answering to the latter. No matter what she had been to him while he was a member of the X- Men, she was his mother now. He knew that he would never do anything to hurt him. And that might still be true, but looking up at the hungry glint in her eye, at that moment he began to see something of the old Mystique come to the surface.
Despite himself, Kurt Wagner shivered.
The rest of the Brotherhood were scattered around the construction site. As darkness began to fall, the first of the streetlights flickered on, illuminating the group in a sickly neon light. Kurt found himself standing hidden in the shadows that polled around the partially build buildings. He had always felt more at home in the shadows.
Todd Tolanski stood close by, watching his friend mournfully through oversized eyes. It was strange to see Todd in full uniform after living with him so long within the boarding house. As strange as it sounded, he'd almost forgotten that they had once been enemies. Seeing him as the Toad once more...it made Kurt appreciate just how much had changed.
"I don't get you, blue boy," Todd hissed quietly, "I thought you didn't want to fight the X-Geeks, yo?"
Kurt shook his head and sighed. "I don't."
"Then why are you? This is stupid?"
The blue-furred mutant lowered his head sadly. "You don't understand."
Todd snorted and leaned against a nearby wall, arms folded sulkily across his chest. "Damn right I don't understand."
"If I don't fight then Rogue will die!" Kurt whispered desperately.
Todd snorted. "Says who?"
"Mother."
"Mystique? And you really believe her?"
"Yes."
The pale-skinned teen sneered. "Then you're even dummer than you look, fuzz face," he spat.
"Please, Todd...don't be like this."
Todd turned to glare at him. "Hey, I'm you're friend, okay? That's why I can't just watch you do something this stupid."
Kurt looked at him despairingly, taking a hesitant step closer on his two- toed feet. "I can't risk Rogue being hurt," he murmured quietly, "I...I'd rather die than see anything happen to her. I love her."
The Toad watched him for a long moment. Slowly, his expression softened somewhat, anger replaced by sadness. "Yeah, I know you do." He managed a low snigger, but it was a cold and cheerless sound. "Hell, if you didn't then none of us would be here. We'd be back home watching Jepordy."
Kurt smiled apologetically. "Sorry."
Todd ran a hand through his limp hair and returned the smile. "No worries. I don't like Jepordy much." He sighed. "Look, all I'm sayin' is...well, are you sure that you know what you're doing?"
The blue-furred mutant thought about it, then shook his head. "No."
"That's what I figured."
They were interrupted from a shout from above them. All of the teens glanced upward as Mystique let out a warning call.
"Get in your places, all of you! They are coming!"
It had begun.
***************************************************
There was a storm brewing.
Clouds, thick and bruise-colored, were rolling in over the dark ocean. Obscured from view the sun had slid below the horizon, leaving Bayville cold with bleak shadows. Not a patch of sky showed through the cloud-cover to give him hope. The whole scene looked like it had been lifted from a Victorian-gothic melodrama.
How appropriate it seemed.
Charles Xavier was sitting alone in his darkened study. His brown eyes were uncharacteristically dim that evening, focused somewhere deep within himself. His thoughts were far away from the Institute, however...to a dimly lit street where a group of teenagers was at that moment preparing for battle...
~Good luck...my X-Men.~
*****************************************
Scott Summers was thinking.
That was something that he seemed to be doing a lot lately. He was sitting on the stairs to the mansion doors, elbows resting on knees, watching as Logan directed the younger X-Men in a short athletic training exercise. The kids - once affectionately known as The New Recruits - were running around the lawns while their instructor programmed the defensive systems to send a couple of laser blasts their way every now and again. Scott wasn't worried, he knew that Logan would have set the lasers on their lowest setting - little more than a high-tech light show really - but the sheer normality of the scene had struck a cord within him.
Funny to think that just a year ago it had been he who had been conducting the training sessions. Of course back then there were less students to deal with. The original X-Men. Despite the small size of their team they had all pulled together...become best friends in fact. After so many long years of loneliness, Scott had truly believed that he had found his family. Jean, Kitty, Rogue, Evan...Kurt...they meant the world to him, and now he could feel them all slipping away...
He didn't look up when Jean sat quietly beside him. In fact, he'd been expecting her to put in an appearance for some time now. She had a knack for appearing exactly when he needed her the most.
"Penny for them?"
Scott frowned distractedly. "Hm?"
Beside him, Jean cupped her hands in her lap and watched as Bobby artfully dodged a blast of red light. "It's a saying that my dad used to say to me," she explained. "'Penny for your thoughts'. It means, what's on your mind?"
The young leader of the X-Men didn't answer her for a long moment. He continued to stare bleakly ahead of him, eyes thoughtful behind his crimson glasses. "It just...it just doesn't seem right."
"What doesn't?"
Scott waved a hand toward to commotion on the lawn. "This...all of this...the way that everyone's acting so normal after everything that's happened. It doesn't feel right."
Jean gave a slow nod, understanding instantly what he was talking about. "Kurt?"
Scott returned the nod with mute confirmation.
"It's been weeks, Scott. We can't just stop living."
"And we shouldn't just forget him either."
"Hey, nobody's forgetting him," Jean leaned forward and placed a reassuring hand on his knee. "But we all have to adjust. Kurt was one of us, but he made the decision to leave. Nobody forced him. All that we can do is respect his choice and move on with our lives."
Scott thought about what she said for a short moment. An early autumn breeze ran through his hair, short strands falling over his pale forehead. "I miss him, Jean."
The young telepath sighed sadly. "I know how much he meant to you, and I know how difficult that this has been. But you're going to have to let him go. You can't protect him anymore."
"This is all my fault."
"No..."
"Yes it is." Scott turned to look at her, eyebrows pulled together in a look of barely suppressed pain. "I should have been there for him, Jean."
Jean shook her head. "You were there for him, okay? There's nothing more that you could have done."
"Kurt and me...we were supposed to be friends. I always thought of him as a brother, you know? But then all this happens. Jean, he didn't trust me enough to even tell me that he had feelings for Rogue. What does that say about our friendship?"
Jean watched him with clouded green eyes. The hand on Scott's knee gave a gentle squeeze - a chaste gesture of comfort. "I don't think even Kurt knew how he felt for her until that night. Not really."
"He should have been able to tell me. The maybe if he had...I don't know...maybe I would have been able to stop this." He frowned and looked away. "If he had a problem, I would have helped him. He should have come to me."
She paused for a moment, then turned her gaze back to the younger mutants. "Kurt has to find the answers in his own way, just like Rogue will. But they'll both get through it, Scott. It'll just take time."
Scott was about to open his mouth to speak when a sound from behind cut him off. Through the open Institute doorway came the shrill ring of the telephone. Almost instinctively, Scott was on his feet. Leaving Jean still sitting on the stone steps, he walked quickly into the entry foyer, shoes echoing on the polished marble as he went to pick up the phone.
Picking up the receiver, he held it up to his ear. Even now, weeks after Kurt had left, Scott still hoped to hear his voice every time the phone rang...
"The Charles Xavier Institute. Scott Summers speaking."
There was a pause on the other end of the line, shortly followed by a low snigger. "Well, well, well...if it isn't old one-eye himself. What's this, Summers, torn yourself away from the red-head for long enough to answer the phone?"
Scott bristled, his grip tightening on the smooth plastic phone. "Lance?! What do you want?"
"Me? Oh I want a lot of things. The real question here is - what do *you* want?"
"You mean besides your head on a pole?"
Lance made a short sound, which Scott could only interoperate as a snort. "I didn't call to bitch with you, okay Summers? I've got a message. You and your little X-friends are to come to the construction site right away. There's some unfinished business that we have to take care of."
Scott glared coldly into space. "Oh yeah? And what makes you think that I'd want to do that?"
"Because if you don't then you'll never see your precious Nightcrawler again."
There was a click and then a silence. Lance Alvers had hung up.
Scott stood frozen in disbelief. Something cold and unpleasant crept over his skin, a clammy terror growing in the pit of his stomach.
...Kurt...the Brotherhood were going to hurt Kurt...
...oh God.
There was a quiet sound of footsteps behind him and the warm pressure of a hand on his shoulder. Still, Scott couldn't move.
Jean watched him with concern, having heard half of the conversation from the doorway. "Scott?" she whispered, drawing closer. "Scott, what's going on?"
Scott swallowed. "Find the other X-Men and tell them to suit up."
"Why? What's going on?"
The young leader turned to look at her, his expression hardening with a resolve that Jean had never seen before.
"It ends now."
***************************************************
Mystique was in her bedroom when Kurt found her. She was crouching next to the ornate vanity-table, reaching into one of the draws. He watched her silently from the open doorway for a long moment, lingering uncertainly on the threshold. If his mother noticed his presence, she did not acknowledge him.
"Mother?"
Mystique glanced upward, seeing her son's shadowy blue form reflected in the table-top mirror. Rising to her feet, she turned around to face him.
"Not now, Kurt. We have to get ready."
The young boy's eyes were troubled and uncertain, his fingers drumming nervously in a silent beat against the tops of his thighs. "I'm sorry mother, but I...I can't."
"Can't what?" she asked, already knowing full well what the answer was going to be.
He looked at her in abject desperation. "I can't fight the X-Men!"
"And why not?" She challenged, a little more harshly than she had meant. "What have they ever done to you but lie and keep you from the truth? What have they ever done but deceive you? You and Rogue were torn apart by Xavier's treachery - never forget that."
Kurt lowered his head and closed his eyes tightly. At his sides, Mystique watched as his three-fingered hands curled into fists of despair. "You promised that I wouldn't have to fight them," he muttered quietly, "You *promised*"
Mystique sighed, frowning. She hadn't meant to speak to him so unsympathetically. Some habits were hard to break, she supposed. "I know, and I am sorry for that. But things have changed now, Kurt, and I'm afraid that inaction is no longer an option."
"But why?" He shook his head, dark curtains of hair shielding his face. "I don't understand."
"Do you trust me Kurt?"
The blue-furred mutant glanced up at her. "Was?"
"Do you trust me?" She stared at him intently, pale eyes fixed onto his own. "I need to know."
Kurt swallowed, the weight of her gaze almost too much to bear. Did he trust her? A month or two ago he would have answered in the negative without hesitation. But now...well, a lot had changed. Since coming to the Brotherhood House Kurt had seen a side to Mystique that he had never dreamed existed. She had shown warmth, tenderness...even love. At the back of his mind there was the faint anxiety that she might be manipulating him for her own gain, but he wanted to believe in her so badly that he was willing to ignore these fears. For the past few weeks she had not been his enemy, but his mother.
And he loved her.
"Yes..." he murmured, giving a single slow nod. "Yes, I do."
She gave a small smile and leaned forward, taking his hands into her own. "Then you must trust me with this. You owe the X-Men no loyalty whatsoever."
Kurt lowered his head. "Maybe not, but that doesn't mean that I can just fight them."
Mystique sensed that she was fighting a loosing battle. Kurt's bonds with the Brotherhood were strong, but the still lingering attachment to the X- Men was proving more of an obstacle than she had suspected. In order to convince him, she realized, she was going to have to play him for his weakness...
"You have to, Kurt." She whispered. "You have to or Rogue will die."
It worked, just as Mystique had known it would. At the sound of Rogue's name her son glanced up quickly, eyes instantly wide and fearful. No matter what had happened between them, Mystique knew that Kurt would always love Rogue. He would die for her...and for the moment those feelings were something that she was willing to exploit.
He blinked uneasily. "...Rogue? Rogue is in danger?"
"Yes...I cannot tell you any further, but know this: if you choose not to fight, it will be your sister's blood that you gamble."
Kurt seemed to waver for a moment, standing still and unspeaking. As she watched, his expression changed. From fearful anxiety his features changed, the young boy gaining a look of reluctant acceptance. Finally, he nodded.
"I'd never do anything to hurt her," he whispered fiercely.
Mystique allowed the ghost of a smirk to play at the corners of her mouth. Turning back to the draw she had been previously occupied in, she withdrew a folded uniform. Kurt's Brotherhood uniform. She had ordered it the day that she returned from telling Xavier the truth, knowing even then that her son would turn away from the X-Men. Configured to his exact requirements, it was much the same as his old X-Men uniform...only black, and bearing nothing that even remotely resembled the hated X-insignia.
A new uniform for her son's rebirth.
"Come Kurt, we must join the others."
Kurt watched her for a moment...then hesitantly reached out to accept the uniform.
***************************************
The term 'garage' hardly seemed to do the cavernous storage area justice. Clinically lit by narrow bands of florescent light, this is where Professor Xavier kept the various vehicles that the X-Men were equipped with. Scott remembered the first time that the Prof had shown it to him...how astounded he had been. For a young man who had lived his entire life in a state-run orphanage, the Xavier Institute garage had been better than Disney Land. Even now, all these years later, he still experienced an involuntary intake of air when he came here.
Today, however, there was no time to lovingly examine each of the cars as he usually did. Today he was here with a purpose...a purpose that he was reminded of when he saw the group of teens turn to look at him expectantly. They were all there and fully suited up - Jean must have contacted them telepathically, because there was no way that she would have been able to find them all so quickly otherwise. Kitty, Rogue, Evan, Jean and himself: five of the original six X-Men.
Together again, he thought, somewhat bitterly.
~Scott~
Scott flinched as a familiar voice entered his mind. The Professor.
~Scott, I know that you got a telephone call from Lance Alvers, and I also know what you are planning to do. Please, take a moment to consider your chosen course of action.~
~What, to give you time to get Logan down here to stop me from going?~ Spending the past few years with Jean and Xavier, Scott had learnt a thing or two about communicating telepathically. He didn't slow down as he continued to walk towards the others. ~Sorry Professor, no can do.~
~You must realize that this is a trap.~
Scott sighed audibly. ~Of course I know, but what choice do I have?~
~There's always a choice, Scott. Please...don't do this. Not alone.~
The young team-leader halted as he drew close to the assembled mutants. Jean must have already filled them in because nobody asked questions. They simply stared at him, all wearing the same expression of resolution that he knew must be mirrored in his own features. Without a single words being said, they all moved away and began to clamber into the parked X-Van.
~No Professor, I'm not alone. The X-Men started this together, and that's the way that we're going to finish it. I'm sorry, but I can't just leave Kurt. Not now.~
Scott slid into the driver's seat and revved up the engine, the kids around him silently buckling their seatbelts. The voice in his head said no more, apparently realizing that argument would pointless in this matter.
The X-Van roared into life and sped out of the garage. The instant it had cleared the massive entryway a door at the opposite end of the holding bay slammed open and Logan burst into the garage, quickly followed by Hank and Ororo. The three instructors stared at the empty space that the X-Van ordinarily occupied.
"Damn!" Wolverine's whole body tensed, hands forming into fists of impotent rage. "We missed them!"
Hank watched the vehicle as it raced out of the Institute gates. "Not by much. We can still catch up with them if we hurry."
**************************************************
Rogue was sitting in the back of the X-Van, fidgeting distractedly with the cuff of her glove. Staring darkly out of the window, she pressed her painted lips together into a grim line. The buildings rushed past them in a blur of grey - Scott definitely breaking the local speed limits. Luckily for them, this part of Bayville was largely office buildings and there were few cops around to see them. Even if there were, Rogue doubted that Scott would pull over.
From the look on his face, not even Magneto himself would have been able to stop him at that moment.
She still wasn't quite certain what was going on. Jean had filled them in on what she knew, but that patchy information only created more questions in the young mutant's mind. Lance Alvers had phoned Scott? And told him to meet at the construction site? Why? It made no sense. And what had Lance meant by that remark about Nightcrawler? Was the Brotherhood really going to hurt him, or were they just using him as bait to draw the X-Men out?
Rogue didn't know for sure, but whatever was going on, she didn't like it.
She sighed and slumped lower in her seat, screwing her eyes tightly shut. She had been just about to go and see Kurt at the Brotherhood House when Jean had contacted her. As strange as it sounded, she was disappointed that her plan had been interrupted. She had been steeling herself all day for the encounter, determined that she would make Kurt listen to her...that she would find a way of salvaging their relationship...
...that she would find a way to earn his love again.
And now *this* had come up. Not for the first time, Rogue wished that she could just forget about the X-Men and the Brotherhood. There were too many people...too many conflicting interests...if she and Kurt would just be left alone, maybe they would be able to work things out between them.
Hmf...some hope.
Sitting on the seat beside her, Kitty Pryde leaned over to touch her shoulder. "Hey," she whispered, "Are you okay?"
Rogue glanced over to the young girl looking at her. For a long time it had been Kitty who had been the object of Kurt's affections...and Rogue herself had never truly understood why. After all, why would a guy as intelligent and good-natured as Kurt form a crush on an air-head superficial bimbo like Kitty? Now Rogue realized how harsh her earlier judgments had been. When things got tough, Kitty remained strong and loyal. And Kurt had known that, even in the very beginning. He had a way of finding the good in people, even when others could not...
...Just like he had with her.
That was why she loved him.
"I just want to get this over with," she whispered back to Kitty.
Shadowcat nodded. "I know what you mean." She paused, blue eyes downcast momentarily, and then looked up again. "Do you think that they'll have Kurt with them?"
Rogue shook her head. "I don't know...but I sure hope not."
***************************************************
Kurt Wagner stood with the other members of the Brotherhood, squinting his eyes against the growing dusk. The construction site was deserted now, all of the workers having clocked off hours since. The houses surrounding the site were also suitably derelict.
No witnesses.
He lifted his gaze to the tall scaffolding towering above his head, to where Mystique was standing watch.
Mystique - his mother.
Her scarlet hair flowed in a growing breeze, her expression grim and thoughtful. As much as he loved her, there was a ruthlessness in her features that he could not deny. It frightened him. If it wasn't for the uniqueness of her coloring, Kurt might have wondered if this harsh fighter could possibly be the same person who had treated him so gently while he had been recovering from his fever. Mystique and Raven Darkholme - one a terrorist, one a mother. The only question in Kurt's mind, was which one was the true her?
Half an hour previously, Kurt would not have hesitated in answering to the latter. No matter what she had been to him while he was a member of the X- Men, she was his mother now. He knew that he would never do anything to hurt him. And that might still be true, but looking up at the hungry glint in her eye, at that moment he began to see something of the old Mystique come to the surface.
Despite himself, Kurt Wagner shivered.
The rest of the Brotherhood were scattered around the construction site. As darkness began to fall, the first of the streetlights flickered on, illuminating the group in a sickly neon light. Kurt found himself standing hidden in the shadows that polled around the partially build buildings. He had always felt more at home in the shadows.
Todd Tolanski stood close by, watching his friend mournfully through oversized eyes. It was strange to see Todd in full uniform after living with him so long within the boarding house. As strange as it sounded, he'd almost forgotten that they had once been enemies. Seeing him as the Toad once more...it made Kurt appreciate just how much had changed.
"I don't get you, blue boy," Todd hissed quietly, "I thought you didn't want to fight the X-Geeks, yo?"
Kurt shook his head and sighed. "I don't."
"Then why are you? This is stupid?"
The blue-furred mutant lowered his head sadly. "You don't understand."
Todd snorted and leaned against a nearby wall, arms folded sulkily across his chest. "Damn right I don't understand."
"If I don't fight then Rogue will die!" Kurt whispered desperately.
Todd snorted. "Says who?"
"Mother."
"Mystique? And you really believe her?"
"Yes."
The pale-skinned teen sneered. "Then you're even dummer than you look, fuzz face," he spat.
"Please, Todd...don't be like this."
Todd turned to glare at him. "Hey, I'm you're friend, okay? That's why I can't just watch you do something this stupid."
Kurt looked at him despairingly, taking a hesitant step closer on his two- toed feet. "I can't risk Rogue being hurt," he murmured quietly, "I...I'd rather die than see anything happen to her. I love her."
The Toad watched him for a long moment. Slowly, his expression softened somewhat, anger replaced by sadness. "Yeah, I know you do." He managed a low snigger, but it was a cold and cheerless sound. "Hell, if you didn't then none of us would be here. We'd be back home watching Jepordy."
Kurt smiled apologetically. "Sorry."
Todd ran a hand through his limp hair and returned the smile. "No worries. I don't like Jepordy much." He sighed. "Look, all I'm sayin' is...well, are you sure that you know what you're doing?"
The blue-furred mutant thought about it, then shook his head. "No."
"That's what I figured."
They were interrupted from a shout from above them. All of the teens glanced upward as Mystique let out a warning call.
"Get in your places, all of you! They are coming!"
It had begun.
***************************************************
There was a storm brewing.
Clouds, thick and bruise-colored, were rolling in over the dark ocean. Obscured from view the sun had slid below the horizon, leaving Bayville cold with bleak shadows. Not a patch of sky showed through the cloud-cover to give him hope. The whole scene looked like it had been lifted from a Victorian-gothic melodrama.
How appropriate it seemed.
Charles Xavier was sitting alone in his darkened study. His brown eyes were uncharacteristically dim that evening, focused somewhere deep within himself. His thoughts were far away from the Institute, however...to a dimly lit street where a group of teenagers was at that moment preparing for battle...
~Good luck...my X-Men.~