Eric wrapped his arms around me, as I curled in his lap. He had rested his
chin on the crown of my head, and for a long time we were silent; we didn't
say or do anything while the limo guided itself down the road. He was
taking us back to New York, where we would try to contact the X-men, who
might be able to find where William Stryker took Xavier.
Thus, we would all go and find Stryker, and with any luck, rip him apart.
At least, that's what Eric wanted- not like he didn't have his reasons. Stryker had underestimated and humiliated him, forced him to betray his friend. We were running out of time and didn't have anything on our side.
Oh, and we had to find him and stop him before he forced Charles to kill all the mutants on Earth.
Just like any other day.
Eric had been stroking my shoulder, slowly running his fingers up and down my arm, when suddenly, his head jerked up. He looked around the interior of the car, as if he could hear someone calling his name. He made the car stop moving, got out, and looked up to the sky.
I followed him out, and did't bother to transform myself; we had stopped on a back road and were far from any kind of civilization. It was already late in the day; the sun was shining brightly, yet Eric's eyes stared straight up towards some far off storm clouds.
"What do you see, Eric?" I had asked him. He kept his gaze on the sky, but smiled at my question.
"I can see nothing, my dear, but it's what I felt that got my attention. Something very odd is happening up there." I am constantly amazed at his abilities. With his power, he can sense the entire planet's magnetic fields; he's connected to the world.
"Ah, there it is. It seems that we won't have to go all the way back to Westchester to find our friends."
I rolled my eyes at his choice of words. To him, all mutants were friends, but to me they were just people. Some you could trust with your life, others would rob you of it in a second if given the chance. But right now, my personal feelings did not matter, we had to cooperate with them if we wanted to live...but that didn't mean I had to like it.
I followed his eyes, and saw what had gotten his attention. The unmistakable shape of the X-men's jet was falling from the sky, from the damage done to its hull.
It was on a downward spiral.
Eric held out his hand, and as I watched, the large aircraft slowed its descent, the hole quickly repairing itself. Somehow, they had been attacked and would have surely crashed if he hadn't been there at the right time. Slowly, slowly, the jet came back to earth. He guided it closer to us, until the nose was a mere few feet from our bodies. We stood right in front of them, making sure that they could see us, and that he had voluntarily saved all of their lives.
"When will these people learn how to fly?" he asked mockingly. Jean Grey and Wolverine were closest to the window, and didn't seem to appreciate his little joke. Some people have no sense of humor.
*****
It was an adversarial setting, they did not trust us. The feeling was mutual. Curtly, Eric informed them of William Stryker's plan. He was the strong, willful monarch; I kept silent by his side, making it clear to all present that I was his warrior.
It took time for some of the core members to accept such an unfortunate event had befallen them. Their precious professor, being forced to misuse his powers! Well, that's the breaks. When people are upset, they say stupid things.
Storm had rudely asked Eric how Stryker had known about Cerebro. Obviously, they had assumed early on that Eric actually wanted harm to come to Xavier, they still thought of him as a madman villain.
Fools, every last one of them.
I wanted to attack them, or at least say something in his defense, but I did neither. Eric can fight his own battles, no matter how personal.
I watched him closely; his hand was resting on the inside of his left arm, his fingers running over the stretch of skin where his prisoner tattoos laid. Then, he touched the back of his neck, where he had the scar from Stryker's injections.
I wanted to cry for him, and everything he has had to suffer through; he had been taken advantage of far too many times. He was a boy, a child, when he had been labeled as nothing more than a number in Auschwitz. As a man, history had repeated itself as he was scarred by Stryker.
'We'll get him, Eric.' I thought. When he answered, his voice had a dangerous edge.
"I told him. William Stryker has undeniable methods of...persuasion. Effective against even a mutant as strong as Charles."
He went on to explain things to them, of how Stryker will force Charles to target mutants, and of how we don't know the location of his base for operations. I almost burst into laughter when he made Wolverine appear foolish.
"Once again, you think it's all about you."
*****
After we had discussed a plan of action, everyone settled in for the night. Eric and I planned to sleep in the limo, while the X-men and a few of their students slept in tents. I had decided to take a little walk around the campsite, survey the area, when I saw it.
Wolverine and Jean, kissing.
What a nice thing to do, kiss the fiancé of the leader who had only been kidnapped days before! And she was no better, her loyal, brave Scott Summers could be being tortured right now, and she had decided to make out with the new teammate. She had broken the contact, although it was obvious that it had taken her some effort.
I watched as they parted, an idea forming in my head, when he approached me.
"Excuse me." It was Kurt. He was blue like me, but no scales. His skin would have been smooth, but his face was covered in scars. He had yellow irises, his hair was the same color as his skin. We were similar, but I was more humanoid; he had a tail, his hands and feet were cloven.
I glanced at him, said nothing.
"They say you can imitate anybody? Even their voice."
"Even their voice," I replied back to him in his own deep German accent.
He was surprised at the accuracy, most people are. Kurt may have been a bit creeped out, but he pressed on with his questions. I wasn't surprised at his next question, even Eric had asked me about it once.
"Then why not stay in disguise all the time, you know, look like everyone else?"
I kept my eyes on Wolverine as he ducked into his tent, and gave Kurt the best answer, which is usually the simplest one.
"Because we shouldn't have to."
I left Kurt then; hoping that, if nothing else, he can appreciate what I told him. We shouldn't have to hide; we're beautiful and powerful just as we are.
Smiling, I approached his tent.
Jean Grey's form is similar to my own. She is a slender woman with short red hair. There are, however, subtle differences. I am taller and fuller in some areas, but the transformation was easy enough. I walked right into his tent, kissed him; he returned every one of my advances like a hungry animal.
I am attracted to him, but I hate him at the same time. He hurt me, I wanted to hurt him back. This is why I took such pleasure in seducing him as Jean, and then breaking his heart with the realization that it was not really her. I would never be her, and she would never come to him, because she didn't love him.
He became angry a little too late. I could tell that he was tempted to let me keep up the charade, which was the only way he could ever have her...and he knew it. Regrettably, his sense of decency won out over his sense of longing, and he ordered me to leave his tent.
I walked back to the limo, with a smile on my lips. He got what he deserved. Everyone knew that if you tasted the forbidden fruit, you were going to be poisoned.
When I opened the door, Eric was already inside. Stretched out in the backseat with one leg crossed over the other, he seemed to be waiting for me. I shut the door behind me as I came in and sat down beside him.
Wordlessly, he poured some champagne into two fluted glasses. He handed one to me, which I gratefully took. We clinked glasses and sipped slowly.
He reached out and brushed some hair out of my eye, his hand lingering on my face for a few seconds longer than usual, caressing and tender. Oh, how I had missed those hands, the nights were so lonely...I moved over and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around me, protective and caring. I kissed from his mouth down to his neck and collarbone. I could feel the vibration of his voice rumble through his throat as he made a small moan of pleasure.
He and I hadn't been together in months, we were both hungry.
Eric laid back and pulled me on top of him. I stopped the kisses and just laid my head down on his chest. I could hear his heart beating quickly, he wanted me...but Eric isn't the kind of man who would do anything in the backseat of a car. He's classier than that; we always conduct our intimate acts in the bedroom. Besides, it would be awkward the next morning if we got started and the X-men heard us.
Best if we leave our carnal activities for when we were alone.
*****
The next morning, we all woke up bright and early, ready for action. Eric boarded the plane first, and I took a seat beside him. The man is very attuned to body language and behavior, and he noticed the look of subtle disgust that Wolverine threw at me, and the wink I gave in return.
With a hint of jealousy in his voice, he asked me, "What was that?"
I tried my hardest not to laugh as I told him what had happened between he and I the night before. He got a kick out of it, and laughed along with me. Not to be out done, he ripped into the first victim that wandered within his striking range. It just happened to be Rogue.
"We love what you've done with your hair." The girl's feathers were ruffled at that comment, and she threatened to attack, but her little boyfriend put a stop to her.
The ride was quiet; we really didn't have anything to talk about.
The bored teenage boy-who we would become more familiar with in time- criticized Eric's helmet in a plain attempt to spark conversation.
Eric indulged him; he had always been interested in the views of the young. He took the boy's lighter and asked him his 'real name', given the boy the title of a god.
Were we mutants gods? I didn't think so; we were just people, but much better. We had real power and beauty. Humans had fear and prejudice. Mutants were better, and should take over-if we lived long enough.
Pyro remained quiet for the rest of the flight, no doubt thinking about what Eric had told him.
Once we landed, Eric entrusted me with the dangerous task of infiltrating Stryker's base, which I gladly performed.
He told Wolverine he wouldn't take his chances with him, and then looked at me. I took great pride in the faith he had in me, because he knew that I would succeed in my task.
Eric followed me outside and insisted we venture into the forest. "Mystique, please be careful." His eyes were pleading me not to get hurt.
I probably should have said something romantic, something sweet and caring, but the memory of his shame from the night before had haunted my dreams.
Even as he held me to him, I dreamt Stryker had drugged him and then forced Eric to kill me in horrible, cruel ways. I wanted to kill Stryker for what he'd done to Eric, not waste time talking.
"Eric, I didn't put all the effort into freeing you just to get us all killed now. I'll be fine." I turned to walk towards the spillway of the dam, but Eric grabbed my arm and pulled me back to him.
He kissed me in a way I had never felt before. "Leave Stryker for me, love. Open the doors, that's all. Stryker's mine." He had seen right through me, of course. He knows me better than anyone else, he knew what I wanted to do.
I sighed, "Just yours?"
"Just mine. Off you go now, to the spillway."
It's very disappointing, isn't it, when someone calls off a plan that hasn't yet been carried out? I stepped out of his arms and changed into Logan. "If you insist," I sighed in my own voice.
Then, as an afterthought, "Bub."
I said the last part in Wolverine's voice purely for the effect of course. This mutation can be quite a lot of fun.
He smiled and we went our separate ways. He back to the jet, I headed towards the spillway.
Once inside, I opened the spillway door as I was supposed to, and then sat back and waited for them to arrive.
Hopefully this would be the most difficult part of the mission.
Thus, we would all go and find Stryker, and with any luck, rip him apart.
At least, that's what Eric wanted- not like he didn't have his reasons. Stryker had underestimated and humiliated him, forced him to betray his friend. We were running out of time and didn't have anything on our side.
Oh, and we had to find him and stop him before he forced Charles to kill all the mutants on Earth.
Just like any other day.
Eric had been stroking my shoulder, slowly running his fingers up and down my arm, when suddenly, his head jerked up. He looked around the interior of the car, as if he could hear someone calling his name. He made the car stop moving, got out, and looked up to the sky.
I followed him out, and did't bother to transform myself; we had stopped on a back road and were far from any kind of civilization. It was already late in the day; the sun was shining brightly, yet Eric's eyes stared straight up towards some far off storm clouds.
"What do you see, Eric?" I had asked him. He kept his gaze on the sky, but smiled at my question.
"I can see nothing, my dear, but it's what I felt that got my attention. Something very odd is happening up there." I am constantly amazed at his abilities. With his power, he can sense the entire planet's magnetic fields; he's connected to the world.
"Ah, there it is. It seems that we won't have to go all the way back to Westchester to find our friends."
I rolled my eyes at his choice of words. To him, all mutants were friends, but to me they were just people. Some you could trust with your life, others would rob you of it in a second if given the chance. But right now, my personal feelings did not matter, we had to cooperate with them if we wanted to live...but that didn't mean I had to like it.
I followed his eyes, and saw what had gotten his attention. The unmistakable shape of the X-men's jet was falling from the sky, from the damage done to its hull.
It was on a downward spiral.
Eric held out his hand, and as I watched, the large aircraft slowed its descent, the hole quickly repairing itself. Somehow, they had been attacked and would have surely crashed if he hadn't been there at the right time. Slowly, slowly, the jet came back to earth. He guided it closer to us, until the nose was a mere few feet from our bodies. We stood right in front of them, making sure that they could see us, and that he had voluntarily saved all of their lives.
"When will these people learn how to fly?" he asked mockingly. Jean Grey and Wolverine were closest to the window, and didn't seem to appreciate his little joke. Some people have no sense of humor.
*****
It was an adversarial setting, they did not trust us. The feeling was mutual. Curtly, Eric informed them of William Stryker's plan. He was the strong, willful monarch; I kept silent by his side, making it clear to all present that I was his warrior.
It took time for some of the core members to accept such an unfortunate event had befallen them. Their precious professor, being forced to misuse his powers! Well, that's the breaks. When people are upset, they say stupid things.
Storm had rudely asked Eric how Stryker had known about Cerebro. Obviously, they had assumed early on that Eric actually wanted harm to come to Xavier, they still thought of him as a madman villain.
Fools, every last one of them.
I wanted to attack them, or at least say something in his defense, but I did neither. Eric can fight his own battles, no matter how personal.
I watched him closely; his hand was resting on the inside of his left arm, his fingers running over the stretch of skin where his prisoner tattoos laid. Then, he touched the back of his neck, where he had the scar from Stryker's injections.
I wanted to cry for him, and everything he has had to suffer through; he had been taken advantage of far too many times. He was a boy, a child, when he had been labeled as nothing more than a number in Auschwitz. As a man, history had repeated itself as he was scarred by Stryker.
'We'll get him, Eric.' I thought. When he answered, his voice had a dangerous edge.
"I told him. William Stryker has undeniable methods of...persuasion. Effective against even a mutant as strong as Charles."
He went on to explain things to them, of how Stryker will force Charles to target mutants, and of how we don't know the location of his base for operations. I almost burst into laughter when he made Wolverine appear foolish.
"Once again, you think it's all about you."
*****
After we had discussed a plan of action, everyone settled in for the night. Eric and I planned to sleep in the limo, while the X-men and a few of their students slept in tents. I had decided to take a little walk around the campsite, survey the area, when I saw it.
Wolverine and Jean, kissing.
What a nice thing to do, kiss the fiancé of the leader who had only been kidnapped days before! And she was no better, her loyal, brave Scott Summers could be being tortured right now, and she had decided to make out with the new teammate. She had broken the contact, although it was obvious that it had taken her some effort.
I watched as they parted, an idea forming in my head, when he approached me.
"Excuse me." It was Kurt. He was blue like me, but no scales. His skin would have been smooth, but his face was covered in scars. He had yellow irises, his hair was the same color as his skin. We were similar, but I was more humanoid; he had a tail, his hands and feet were cloven.
I glanced at him, said nothing.
"They say you can imitate anybody? Even their voice."
"Even their voice," I replied back to him in his own deep German accent.
He was surprised at the accuracy, most people are. Kurt may have been a bit creeped out, but he pressed on with his questions. I wasn't surprised at his next question, even Eric had asked me about it once.
"Then why not stay in disguise all the time, you know, look like everyone else?"
I kept my eyes on Wolverine as he ducked into his tent, and gave Kurt the best answer, which is usually the simplest one.
"Because we shouldn't have to."
I left Kurt then; hoping that, if nothing else, he can appreciate what I told him. We shouldn't have to hide; we're beautiful and powerful just as we are.
Smiling, I approached his tent.
Jean Grey's form is similar to my own. She is a slender woman with short red hair. There are, however, subtle differences. I am taller and fuller in some areas, but the transformation was easy enough. I walked right into his tent, kissed him; he returned every one of my advances like a hungry animal.
I am attracted to him, but I hate him at the same time. He hurt me, I wanted to hurt him back. This is why I took such pleasure in seducing him as Jean, and then breaking his heart with the realization that it was not really her. I would never be her, and she would never come to him, because she didn't love him.
He became angry a little too late. I could tell that he was tempted to let me keep up the charade, which was the only way he could ever have her...and he knew it. Regrettably, his sense of decency won out over his sense of longing, and he ordered me to leave his tent.
I walked back to the limo, with a smile on my lips. He got what he deserved. Everyone knew that if you tasted the forbidden fruit, you were going to be poisoned.
When I opened the door, Eric was already inside. Stretched out in the backseat with one leg crossed over the other, he seemed to be waiting for me. I shut the door behind me as I came in and sat down beside him.
Wordlessly, he poured some champagne into two fluted glasses. He handed one to me, which I gratefully took. We clinked glasses and sipped slowly.
He reached out and brushed some hair out of my eye, his hand lingering on my face for a few seconds longer than usual, caressing and tender. Oh, how I had missed those hands, the nights were so lonely...I moved over and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around me, protective and caring. I kissed from his mouth down to his neck and collarbone. I could feel the vibration of his voice rumble through his throat as he made a small moan of pleasure.
He and I hadn't been together in months, we were both hungry.
Eric laid back and pulled me on top of him. I stopped the kisses and just laid my head down on his chest. I could hear his heart beating quickly, he wanted me...but Eric isn't the kind of man who would do anything in the backseat of a car. He's classier than that; we always conduct our intimate acts in the bedroom. Besides, it would be awkward the next morning if we got started and the X-men heard us.
Best if we leave our carnal activities for when we were alone.
*****
The next morning, we all woke up bright and early, ready for action. Eric boarded the plane first, and I took a seat beside him. The man is very attuned to body language and behavior, and he noticed the look of subtle disgust that Wolverine threw at me, and the wink I gave in return.
With a hint of jealousy in his voice, he asked me, "What was that?"
I tried my hardest not to laugh as I told him what had happened between he and I the night before. He got a kick out of it, and laughed along with me. Not to be out done, he ripped into the first victim that wandered within his striking range. It just happened to be Rogue.
"We love what you've done with your hair." The girl's feathers were ruffled at that comment, and she threatened to attack, but her little boyfriend put a stop to her.
The ride was quiet; we really didn't have anything to talk about.
The bored teenage boy-who we would become more familiar with in time- criticized Eric's helmet in a plain attempt to spark conversation.
Eric indulged him; he had always been interested in the views of the young. He took the boy's lighter and asked him his 'real name', given the boy the title of a god.
Were we mutants gods? I didn't think so; we were just people, but much better. We had real power and beauty. Humans had fear and prejudice. Mutants were better, and should take over-if we lived long enough.
Pyro remained quiet for the rest of the flight, no doubt thinking about what Eric had told him.
Once we landed, Eric entrusted me with the dangerous task of infiltrating Stryker's base, which I gladly performed.
He told Wolverine he wouldn't take his chances with him, and then looked at me. I took great pride in the faith he had in me, because he knew that I would succeed in my task.
Eric followed me outside and insisted we venture into the forest. "Mystique, please be careful." His eyes were pleading me not to get hurt.
I probably should have said something romantic, something sweet and caring, but the memory of his shame from the night before had haunted my dreams.
Even as he held me to him, I dreamt Stryker had drugged him and then forced Eric to kill me in horrible, cruel ways. I wanted to kill Stryker for what he'd done to Eric, not waste time talking.
"Eric, I didn't put all the effort into freeing you just to get us all killed now. I'll be fine." I turned to walk towards the spillway of the dam, but Eric grabbed my arm and pulled me back to him.
He kissed me in a way I had never felt before. "Leave Stryker for me, love. Open the doors, that's all. Stryker's mine." He had seen right through me, of course. He knows me better than anyone else, he knew what I wanted to do.
I sighed, "Just yours?"
"Just mine. Off you go now, to the spillway."
It's very disappointing, isn't it, when someone calls off a plan that hasn't yet been carried out? I stepped out of his arms and changed into Logan. "If you insist," I sighed in my own voice.
Then, as an afterthought, "Bub."
I said the last part in Wolverine's voice purely for the effect of course. This mutation can be quite a lot of fun.
He smiled and we went our separate ways. He back to the jet, I headed towards the spillway.
Once inside, I opened the spillway door as I was supposed to, and then sat back and waited for them to arrive.
Hopefully this would be the most difficult part of the mission.