Author's Note: this chapter switches to 1st person POV. Enjoy!
"Do you understand, Eric? It may not be possible for Mystique to recover her lost ability. She may have to live the rest of her life as a human."
Upon hearing this statement, Mystique's world began to spin.
She felt a strong wave of dizziness sweep over her, followed by a feeling of vertigo.
She had heard enough; she desperately wanted to get away from the two men she *thought* she could trust, the mansion, the medical lab, everything. She just wanted to get away...now!
She had been crouched beside the office doors, but now, in her desperation to flee she gave no thought to the two keys of stealth: silence and invisibility.
She scrabbled back away from the office entrance, not caring about the vase she knocked over in her escape. Her breathing had increased rapidly as she rose unsteadily to her feet.
"Oh, God, it's Mystique!" she heard from behind her as she ran down the hallway.
She was feeling suddenly claustrophobic in addition to the vertigo, dizziness and shock. She saw the door to the backyard at the end of the hall and bolted for it. All she wanted was to escape from the crushing pressure that was building in her chest.
She shoved the doors open and ran across the lawn and into the flower garden. Had she been more coherent she would have noticed how beautiful it looked in the moonlight, but she could not concentrate on anything other than what she had just heard.
Trapped as a human? For the rest of her life? Impossible!
How could this have happened? Mystique felt a ball of lead forming in the pit of her stomach; her chest was swelling to the point that it was painful to breathe.
The panic attack wracked her body as her mind raced with questions and concerns.
The Friends of Humanity had used her as a test subject. In stealing her ability to shape-shift, they had stole a part of her life. She could be doomed to live as a normal human woman for the rest of her years. The normal human woman she would have grown to be had she not been born with an x-gene.
How would she reenter the world? She had graduated from high school, but had dropped out of Xavier's college level courses after only a semester.
She was a martial artist and had extensive computer hacking skills; but how could she help Eric in their cause without her power?
Eric. What would happen to them if she became the very thing he despised?
She had been trudging through the large gardens, so consumed in her predicament that she hadn't noticed where she was going.
She stumbled on some rocks, and fell face first into the large pond at the center of the flower gardens.
Angered now, she sat up on her knees and wiped the mud from her face. The moon came out from behind the gathering clouds above, illuminating the whole area around her.
She looked down at the water, where her reflection blurred in and out of focus as the pond rippled with her movements.
Her skin was washed pale by the moon's light reflected on the water, her hair appeared platinum. She was a stranger to herself.
She hated her human form more than anything, and she screamed at the face staring back at her from the water, "I hate you!"
A burning fury spread through her body, and she brought her fist down on her reflection, splashing the image.
"Mystique, what you heard, it's not..." Eric stammered once he caught up to her.
Without letting him finish, she demanded, "Is what the Professor said true? Am I...stuck like this?"
Eric sighed heavily. "It is possible."
"It's possible?! Well what if it's true? What about us?"
"Mystique, this doesn't change anything."
"You say that but you don't mean it."
"Yes I do, more than anything."
"I can't believe you, Eric. I'm sorry, but I can't believe that. Not after everything we've been through. For years, it's always been us against the world...now it'll be my race against yours."
"It won't be that way!"
"Yes it will!" Mystique protested, "We'll try to pretend like it doesn't bother us, but as more time goes on, we won't be able to ignore it. Without my power I'm just another human; what use am I to you or anyone else?!"
Eric was shocked, "Mystique, don't say that, don't even think it."
"All I've ever been is a soldier or a spy for you, now I'll just be another human in the way."
"That's not all you are to me, Mystique. You mean more to me than you could ever know."
He gently took her hands in his. Her human hands.
Mystique could no longer speak; it was too much too fast. She was breathing hard, trying to pull in more oxygen than was available.
She had never felt so upset in her life. She felt betrayed by Eric. She had trusted him to help her, and now he was telling her that it was 'possible' she may be trapped like this forever.
He had promised her that he would find an antidote, and now he was giving up! It was like he wanted her to stay like this! She was doomed to be a human and it was all Eric's fault!
In once swift movement, Mystique twisted out from his grasp; releasing all of the anger, fear and frustration she had kept pent up inside over the last few weeks, she slapped him across the face.
As hard as she could.
In a split second, knew that she had gone too far. In all their years together, Eric had never laid a finger on her in anger, but her outburst had changed all that their relationship once was.
"Eric, I...I didn't mean to...it was..." He held up a hand to silence her, and shook his head. His gesture was plain: she had crossed the line.
He turned his back on her and walked back towards the house. She stood there in the moonlit garden; her borrowed nightgown wet and muddy, her face smeared with dirt, her hair a wild mess.
Of all the things she had wished for in the past, now she wished to turn back the clock. That would be such a useful power to have right now.
Eric loved her, and wanted to go back to hold her, comfort her in any way he could, but he was too hurt right now. Had he looked back, he may have seen how she had sunk down to her knees and cried.
*****^^^^^
I ran from the mansion, or rather, I drove. Poor Scott, if someone isn't stealing his motorcycle, someone was stealing one of his new cars. But that's his problem, not mine.
I had bigger things to worry about.
Like the fact that I just ruined my relationship with Eric. The things I said paled in comparison to what I did to him when all he was trying to do was make me feel better.
I slapped him. Hard.
I don't know why, I was just so angry and frustrated about being so helpless. My life as I once knew it, is no more. My mutant ability has been tossed to the winds, and I am doomed to remain as I am: a human.
I could not have imagined a worse thing to happen to me if I had tried. Compared to this, being stabbed by Wolverine seemed like a cakewalk.
I don't want to be a human again, it was bad enough the first time around: the abusive mom, the guys she picked up from the bar always in and out of our house, never having enough money, cops always hassling me.
I don't want to go through that again!
Everything I said to Eric would probably happen anyway. If I were to be stuck like this, I would only get in the way; I wouldn't be of use to him anymore.
Eric, I hate that this has happened. I want things back to the way they used to be, when we were living on the island and everything was perfect because all we had or needed was each other.
I stripped off the nightgown that Storm had let me borrow. It was still wet and muddy from when I tripped into the pond. I saw my reflection in the bathroom mirror. I looked weird; my skin was light instead of dark blue and my hair was blonde instead of red.
And that face...the face that didn't belong to me, just stared back.
I threw the nightgown over the mirror. That face was the last thing I wanted to see or think about right now.
I just wanted some sleep.
*****^^^^^
Because she did not feel like ordering room service, only to eat alone again, Mystique decided to test the waters of humanity. She was in a large building filled with complete strangers who did not know anything of her past, or her present.
She had spent days in her room, trying to come to terms.
She reasoned with herself that if she were doomed to be a human, she might as well act like one. She tossed on the provided hotel bathrobe and ventured outside.
There was a café a few floors above her room, and since she was hungry anyway, she decided to go up there and try to behave like a normal woman.
She took the elevator five floors up, and sat down at a table.
A waitress approached her.
"Hello Miss. Can I get you anything to start off with this morning?"
Mystique glanced at the menu. "Oh, yes, I'll have the Spanish omelet please."
"Coming right up, ma'am."
Mystique sat comfortably in the chair, and watched the other people around her.
For the first time, she really looked at them. She wasn't watching for any potential threats, choosing the proper time to attack, or selecting a target from the crowd; she was just watching as people went about their daily lives.
Mothers cooed over their babies, teenagers flirted and argued with each other, little children ran around the floor.
"You look pensive, should I come back later?" asked a masculine voice from behind her.
Mystique twisted in her chair quickly to find who had spoken to her.
It was a young man, very handsome. His thick, black hair fell into his eyes; his dark brown eyes, which complemented his bronzed skin. She estimated that he stood taller than her, and he carried his body very well under his leather jacket.
Mystique could hardly find her voice. "I, um, no, you're fine. I mean, you being here right now is fine."
The man flashed her a smile. "Well, that's good. If you had told me to leave, I would have looked very foolish." He took the chair across from hers at the table.
"Good morning, my name is Jake Truman." He took Mystique's hand in a firm yet friendly handshake.
He held onto her hand, his expression searching hers. He wanted very much to know her name, but what could she tell him? 'My name is Mystique, no last name.' He'd probably think she was some self-absorbed rock star!
"Uh, my name is...Misty."
Jake smiled, "Just Misty? Misty what?"
"Um..." Mystique looked past Jake and saw a woman strike a match to light her cigarette. "Misty Allerdyce. My name is Misty Allerdyce, and good morning to you, Jake Truman. It's nice to meet you."
"Misty Allerdyce," Jake said, testing out the name. "That's a lovely name for a lovely woman."
Mystique felt a blush creeping over her cheeks and could just kick herself for it. "Oh, thank you Jake."
"Misty, I'm know I've already been very forward, but I'd like to press the boundaries just a little more, if you'd allow it."
Mystique must've smiled or made some gesture to urge him on, though she was sure it wasn't conscious.
"Would you like to accompany me for a night on the town? I'd make it a very memorable experience for you."
Mystique was astonished! "I...uh..." she stammered helplessly.
"What's the matter, you're not attached, are you?"
The question caught her off-guard. She and Eric had been through so much, and the events from the night in the garden had put a nearly insurmountable strain on their relationship. She had no idea whether or not if they could recover from what she had done, she had not even spoken to him since she left the mansion.
They just needed time apart, even the most loving of couples need a break every now and then, she reasoned.
Besides, it's not like anything serious could develop.
"Um, well, sort of, but we're taking a sort of a little...vacation from each other."
"Well, I can respect that, but who would want to leave you? You're not the daily grind, you're the ski resort!"
Mystique didn't know what to say, but she couldn't help herself when she started laughing.
"I'll take that as a 'yes'. We could go to dinner, see a show, or go shopping if you'd like."
"Sure, that'd be wonderful!" Mystique laughed.
"Perfect, I'll pick you up around eight?"
"Eight is great, my room number is 12B."
"Cool, I'll be there!" Jake left her table and went down the elevator, leaving Mystique alone to eat her breakfast and think about the night ahead.
"Do you understand, Eric? It may not be possible for Mystique to recover her lost ability. She may have to live the rest of her life as a human."
Upon hearing this statement, Mystique's world began to spin.
She felt a strong wave of dizziness sweep over her, followed by a feeling of vertigo.
She had heard enough; she desperately wanted to get away from the two men she *thought* she could trust, the mansion, the medical lab, everything. She just wanted to get away...now!
She had been crouched beside the office doors, but now, in her desperation to flee she gave no thought to the two keys of stealth: silence and invisibility.
She scrabbled back away from the office entrance, not caring about the vase she knocked over in her escape. Her breathing had increased rapidly as she rose unsteadily to her feet.
"Oh, God, it's Mystique!" she heard from behind her as she ran down the hallway.
She was feeling suddenly claustrophobic in addition to the vertigo, dizziness and shock. She saw the door to the backyard at the end of the hall and bolted for it. All she wanted was to escape from the crushing pressure that was building in her chest.
She shoved the doors open and ran across the lawn and into the flower garden. Had she been more coherent she would have noticed how beautiful it looked in the moonlight, but she could not concentrate on anything other than what she had just heard.
Trapped as a human? For the rest of her life? Impossible!
How could this have happened? Mystique felt a ball of lead forming in the pit of her stomach; her chest was swelling to the point that it was painful to breathe.
The panic attack wracked her body as her mind raced with questions and concerns.
The Friends of Humanity had used her as a test subject. In stealing her ability to shape-shift, they had stole a part of her life. She could be doomed to live as a normal human woman for the rest of her years. The normal human woman she would have grown to be had she not been born with an x-gene.
How would she reenter the world? She had graduated from high school, but had dropped out of Xavier's college level courses after only a semester.
She was a martial artist and had extensive computer hacking skills; but how could she help Eric in their cause without her power?
Eric. What would happen to them if she became the very thing he despised?
She had been trudging through the large gardens, so consumed in her predicament that she hadn't noticed where she was going.
She stumbled on some rocks, and fell face first into the large pond at the center of the flower gardens.
Angered now, she sat up on her knees and wiped the mud from her face. The moon came out from behind the gathering clouds above, illuminating the whole area around her.
She looked down at the water, where her reflection blurred in and out of focus as the pond rippled with her movements.
Her skin was washed pale by the moon's light reflected on the water, her hair appeared platinum. She was a stranger to herself.
She hated her human form more than anything, and she screamed at the face staring back at her from the water, "I hate you!"
A burning fury spread through her body, and she brought her fist down on her reflection, splashing the image.
"Mystique, what you heard, it's not..." Eric stammered once he caught up to her.
Without letting him finish, she demanded, "Is what the Professor said true? Am I...stuck like this?"
Eric sighed heavily. "It is possible."
"It's possible?! Well what if it's true? What about us?"
"Mystique, this doesn't change anything."
"You say that but you don't mean it."
"Yes I do, more than anything."
"I can't believe you, Eric. I'm sorry, but I can't believe that. Not after everything we've been through. For years, it's always been us against the world...now it'll be my race against yours."
"It won't be that way!"
"Yes it will!" Mystique protested, "We'll try to pretend like it doesn't bother us, but as more time goes on, we won't be able to ignore it. Without my power I'm just another human; what use am I to you or anyone else?!"
Eric was shocked, "Mystique, don't say that, don't even think it."
"All I've ever been is a soldier or a spy for you, now I'll just be another human in the way."
"That's not all you are to me, Mystique. You mean more to me than you could ever know."
He gently took her hands in his. Her human hands.
Mystique could no longer speak; it was too much too fast. She was breathing hard, trying to pull in more oxygen than was available.
She had never felt so upset in her life. She felt betrayed by Eric. She had trusted him to help her, and now he was telling her that it was 'possible' she may be trapped like this forever.
He had promised her that he would find an antidote, and now he was giving up! It was like he wanted her to stay like this! She was doomed to be a human and it was all Eric's fault!
In once swift movement, Mystique twisted out from his grasp; releasing all of the anger, fear and frustration she had kept pent up inside over the last few weeks, she slapped him across the face.
As hard as she could.
In a split second, knew that she had gone too far. In all their years together, Eric had never laid a finger on her in anger, but her outburst had changed all that their relationship once was.
"Eric, I...I didn't mean to...it was..." He held up a hand to silence her, and shook his head. His gesture was plain: she had crossed the line.
He turned his back on her and walked back towards the house. She stood there in the moonlit garden; her borrowed nightgown wet and muddy, her face smeared with dirt, her hair a wild mess.
Of all the things she had wished for in the past, now she wished to turn back the clock. That would be such a useful power to have right now.
Eric loved her, and wanted to go back to hold her, comfort her in any way he could, but he was too hurt right now. Had he looked back, he may have seen how she had sunk down to her knees and cried.
*****^^^^^
I ran from the mansion, or rather, I drove. Poor Scott, if someone isn't stealing his motorcycle, someone was stealing one of his new cars. But that's his problem, not mine.
I had bigger things to worry about.
Like the fact that I just ruined my relationship with Eric. The things I said paled in comparison to what I did to him when all he was trying to do was make me feel better.
I slapped him. Hard.
I don't know why, I was just so angry and frustrated about being so helpless. My life as I once knew it, is no more. My mutant ability has been tossed to the winds, and I am doomed to remain as I am: a human.
I could not have imagined a worse thing to happen to me if I had tried. Compared to this, being stabbed by Wolverine seemed like a cakewalk.
I don't want to be a human again, it was bad enough the first time around: the abusive mom, the guys she picked up from the bar always in and out of our house, never having enough money, cops always hassling me.
I don't want to go through that again!
Everything I said to Eric would probably happen anyway. If I were to be stuck like this, I would only get in the way; I wouldn't be of use to him anymore.
Eric, I hate that this has happened. I want things back to the way they used to be, when we were living on the island and everything was perfect because all we had or needed was each other.
I stripped off the nightgown that Storm had let me borrow. It was still wet and muddy from when I tripped into the pond. I saw my reflection in the bathroom mirror. I looked weird; my skin was light instead of dark blue and my hair was blonde instead of red.
And that face...the face that didn't belong to me, just stared back.
I threw the nightgown over the mirror. That face was the last thing I wanted to see or think about right now.
I just wanted some sleep.
*****^^^^^
Because she did not feel like ordering room service, only to eat alone again, Mystique decided to test the waters of humanity. She was in a large building filled with complete strangers who did not know anything of her past, or her present.
She had spent days in her room, trying to come to terms.
She reasoned with herself that if she were doomed to be a human, she might as well act like one. She tossed on the provided hotel bathrobe and ventured outside.
There was a café a few floors above her room, and since she was hungry anyway, she decided to go up there and try to behave like a normal woman.
She took the elevator five floors up, and sat down at a table.
A waitress approached her.
"Hello Miss. Can I get you anything to start off with this morning?"
Mystique glanced at the menu. "Oh, yes, I'll have the Spanish omelet please."
"Coming right up, ma'am."
Mystique sat comfortably in the chair, and watched the other people around her.
For the first time, she really looked at them. She wasn't watching for any potential threats, choosing the proper time to attack, or selecting a target from the crowd; she was just watching as people went about their daily lives.
Mothers cooed over their babies, teenagers flirted and argued with each other, little children ran around the floor.
"You look pensive, should I come back later?" asked a masculine voice from behind her.
Mystique twisted in her chair quickly to find who had spoken to her.
It was a young man, very handsome. His thick, black hair fell into his eyes; his dark brown eyes, which complemented his bronzed skin. She estimated that he stood taller than her, and he carried his body very well under his leather jacket.
Mystique could hardly find her voice. "I, um, no, you're fine. I mean, you being here right now is fine."
The man flashed her a smile. "Well, that's good. If you had told me to leave, I would have looked very foolish." He took the chair across from hers at the table.
"Good morning, my name is Jake Truman." He took Mystique's hand in a firm yet friendly handshake.
He held onto her hand, his expression searching hers. He wanted very much to know her name, but what could she tell him? 'My name is Mystique, no last name.' He'd probably think she was some self-absorbed rock star!
"Uh, my name is...Misty."
Jake smiled, "Just Misty? Misty what?"
"Um..." Mystique looked past Jake and saw a woman strike a match to light her cigarette. "Misty Allerdyce. My name is Misty Allerdyce, and good morning to you, Jake Truman. It's nice to meet you."
"Misty Allerdyce," Jake said, testing out the name. "That's a lovely name for a lovely woman."
Mystique felt a blush creeping over her cheeks and could just kick herself for it. "Oh, thank you Jake."
"Misty, I'm know I've already been very forward, but I'd like to press the boundaries just a little more, if you'd allow it."
Mystique must've smiled or made some gesture to urge him on, though she was sure it wasn't conscious.
"Would you like to accompany me for a night on the town? I'd make it a very memorable experience for you."
Mystique was astonished! "I...uh..." she stammered helplessly.
"What's the matter, you're not attached, are you?"
The question caught her off-guard. She and Eric had been through so much, and the events from the night in the garden had put a nearly insurmountable strain on their relationship. She had no idea whether or not if they could recover from what she had done, she had not even spoken to him since she left the mansion.
They just needed time apart, even the most loving of couples need a break every now and then, she reasoned.
Besides, it's not like anything serious could develop.
"Um, well, sort of, but we're taking a sort of a little...vacation from each other."
"Well, I can respect that, but who would want to leave you? You're not the daily grind, you're the ski resort!"
Mystique didn't know what to say, but she couldn't help herself when she started laughing.
"I'll take that as a 'yes'. We could go to dinner, see a show, or go shopping if you'd like."
"Sure, that'd be wonderful!" Mystique laughed.
"Perfect, I'll pick you up around eight?"
"Eight is great, my room number is 12B."
"Cool, I'll be there!" Jake left her table and went down the elevator, leaving Mystique alone to eat her breakfast and think about the night ahead.