Aftermath
She couldn't stop crying.
She hated the tears and every damn emotion their falling told her she felt, but she couldn't stop them.
Nor could she control the shaking of her hands as she hastily threw her clothes into her backpack and prepared to leave the mansion.
"Oh Gawd," she suddenly sobbed aloud as she once again replayed the scene that was forcing her to make this flight.
She'd killed her.
She still couldn't believe that had been her. That it had been real.
Shoving the last bit of clothing that she could into the backpack she zipped it shut then froze to stare at her hands.
Murderer, an inner voice whispered, reminding her of what those hands had done.
"No!" she screamed aloud at the voice even as in her heart and soul she knew it spoke the truth.
Breathing rapidly to try and control the tears and inner turmoil, she threw on her hooded cloak, grabbed the bag she'd packed and ran from the mansion as if the hounds of Hell nipped at her heels.
There was no longer any denying the truth of her name.
She was the Rogue, a blackguard and outlaw on the run.
~*~*~
Even as Kurt slowly picked up the pieces of his biological with great care and attention, he could not believe this had happened.
His mind could not grasp the reality that Mystique was no broken and could never be brought back to life.
The facts that Rogue, his own sister and Mystique adopted daughter, had done this and that he'd been too late with his teleporting to save his stone encased mother from impacting with the ground were just too much to deal with right now.
Refusing to give in to the tears building within him, he again filled his arms with as many broken pieces of Mystique as he could then teleported back up to the gazebo to lay them gently with the others he'd collected.
Mechanically, he ported back to the rocks and shoreline to gather more bits of stone, repeating the process until his searching yellow eyes could find no more of his mother's remains.
Finally he returned to the gazebo for the last time then stood staring blankly at the scattered pieces of stone.
A slight rustling of clothes behind him alerted Kurt to the fact that Agatha Harkness had not yet left.
He turned his head sharply to see her looking down upon the remains of her friend with a tear sliding slowly down her wrinkled cheek.
"Is zhere any zhing zhat can be done now?" he brokenly asked the wise old woman.
Without a word Agatha knelt next to the scattered pieces and began laying gentle hands upon them to see if any sign of life existed in the shattered stone.
When the woman sighed defeatedly and her shoulders slumped forward in despair, Nightcrawler fell to his knees in grief and began to sob at the death of the mother he'd never had the chance to know.
~*~*~
"We have to find her, Charles," Logan growled as he passed the Professor's office.
Charles sighed and tiredly rubbed his head as he watched his friend's movements.
"I'm afraid we cannot, Logan. I fear Rogue has just had too many traumas recently for us to be able to help her right now and with Apocalypse awakened and plotting heaven only knows what, I can spare no one to try and find her. We must let her deal with this as she feels she must and if running away is her answer we have to accept it."
"No way, Chuck. She's scared and vulnerable right now and needs us more than ever. There isn't much we can do until Apocalypse makes his move. Let me go find her."
"If you do find her, what then Logan? She crossed a line tonight with her actions. Kurt may never recover from what she's done."
"You're turning your back on her just like that?" the pacing man froze to snarl at the man in his wheelchair.
Again, Charles sighed.
"No, Logan, I am not. I simply cannot help her now, no one may be able to. There are just too many other matters to deal with right now for this to be a priority."
"It may not be a priority to you, bub, but I don't give up that easily. I don't turn my back on people I care about that easily."
With that the man turned and stalked toward the door to leave the room.
"Logan, you're needed here," the Professor said sternly as he picked up on the other man's thoughts.
"I'll have my communicator with me. If the Apocalypse comes, beep me," he growled from the doorway.
"She could be anywhere by now," Charles tried to reason. "How will you be able to find her?"
Before leaving the room, Logan turned to face his friend with absolute conviction in every line of his body.
"The old fashioned way, Charles. I'm going to look for her."
Moments after issuing that statement and leaving the room, Charles heard the roar of Logan's motorcycle coming to life and tearing down the driveway.
This day had simply been too much for the Professor and tiredly he left his office to go to bed.
As he maneuvered himself from his wheelchair into his bed, Charles reflected on all that had happened.
Magnus and Mystique appeared to be dead.
Kurt was devastated by his grief.
Rogue had fled and Logan was now chasing after her rather than trying to help return the team to some kind of order.
And the team was left shaken by all the events of the day.
Witnessing Apocalypse's powers yet again and seeing the powerful Magneto vanquished so easily left them all scared – fearing that would be the fate they all met with. Then learning that their teammate and friend had, in essence, killed Mystique and ran from them had left them reeling.
For the first time in a very long time, he did not know what to do.
There were no speeches he could think to make for reassuring and rallying in the team. No condolences he could give to Nightcrawler to help the boy deal with this blow.
As he tried to get to sleep he was left feeling that there was no … hope.
~*~*~
The door of his cell swung open and alerted Mesmero that his master had not forgotten him.
An unseen force, the same one that was freeing him from this prison, carried to the man's cape and staff to him in the cell.
~~ Bring them to me. ~~
~~ I live to serve you, Apocalypse. I will see that thy will be done. ~~
~~ Spare me words, minion. Bring me results. I give you two days. ~~
Sighing, Mesmero put on his cape and calmly left the prison he'd been held in for the two weeks since freeing his master. Apocalypse was right to have lost faith in him, the telepath thought.
He had come so close to failing in that most important mission, he could not blame the God-like mutant for having abandoned him in Egypt for the X-Men to turn over to authorities.
This time though, there would be no hint of failure. He would carry out his master's wishes and return to Apocalypse's good graces so that he could be among those spared when the ancient power claimed the world.
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Author Speaking: I will try to have an update to this story within the next few days. Please review what is up so far and be patient for more. I apologize for the shortness, but it's just opening the series.