Not Myself
by Princess Alexandria
Christy sat in the quiet dining room eating her breakfast and reading the paper. Mystique's spy job kept her out until a bit late last night and Christy had barely been able to sleep until she knew the woman was home safe. Yes, this might be a small time mission for her but Christy still worried. If her inability to use her powers well enough to be Mystique's backup got the older mutant killed Christy would have a hard time forgiving herself. Mystique wasn't a traditional hero, but Christy still looked up to her a bit. Even without that, Christy felt like Mystique was a friend and Christy didn't have enough of those. At least she could be honest in telling Mystique there were things she hadn't told her. That was more than she could do with her kids.
"Oh shit." Christy's eyes widened when she found the article hidden away in the paper. It wasn't even front page news, just a small side column, when mutants were killed. Those bastards Christy killed got front page and this poor couple was put so far back most people wouldn't read it.
The teenage couple had been on a date, having fun, and were attacked. They were dead.
"I didn't hear about it until it was too late." Mystique's voice was quiet and Christy was surprised to hear it this early. She looked up into tired eyes as the woman stared at her. "It was them though. I got to hear all the details. They are starting to trust Rob" A note of disgust entered Mystique's voice as she talked about the alter ego she was using to infiltrate the Friends of Humanity. "The articles don't tell even half of the story. They tortured them. They drug them, nullify their powers, and torture them to death. They do it because the mutants are on a date, because they might reproduce and the bastards use that as a message. That's why the bodies are always so easy to find."
Christy set the article down. Her jaw was clenched and her fist bunched up in the newspaper instead of letting it go completely. Mystique needed backup last night and Christy wasn't there because she wasn't trained enough.
"I'm sorry." She whispered, knowing this failure hurt Mystique because it hurt Christy so Mystique must feel it.
"We'll get the bastards." Mystique's voice grew harsher. "Don't worry about that."
"I'm in now." Christy took a deep breath and stared into yellow eyes. "trained or not, I know how to use a gun."
"I know you can, but that wasn't the mission." Mystique's lips turned into a snarl. "Charlie wants a nice no fatality mission here, or I'd take you in and see how good you really are with that gun." Mystique's head turned to the floor, glaring at it as if it were Xavier. "I've got a good lead on evidence, I could go further under, take over for the second in command but if I do that I can't be home at night. I'd be gone until I had enough for the police."
"XAVIER," Christy's voice rose, "Is a fucking idiot! We can't wait for me. Those kids died because I can't help you and he won't let you do it alone." Her head shook from side to side. Kids were dying because of her... again. Because she couldn't act and was stuck on the sidelines. "How many people have to die before he realizes I just can't do it?" Her voice cracked.
"You can do it." Mystique's voice was softer as she moved around the table towards Christy. "It's just no one can learn this fast. You shouldn't have to."
Christy moved to lean her head on Mystique's stomach when the woman hugged Christy even though Christy was still sitting. She was so tired, and this news didn't help. Her nightmares had multiplied lately.
********
Mystique held Christy as the woman went quiet. There were no tears and little breathing. "When is the last time you got a good nights sleep?" She asked while caressing Christy's hair and holding the woman to her. With her working Mystique hadn't noticed how tired Christy had been getting, but now she could see it in the way the woman moved.
"It's been a while." Christy pulled back, seeming a bit self conscious. Christy wasn't even there. It was Mystique that showed up too late to save the kids and had to help the bastards move the bodies so that their 'message' would be found. All of that so that they'd trust her more and give her access to people higher up in the fucking organization. In spite of all that Mystique managed to sleep. A spy had to be able to shut the pain away and keep moving.
"Go back to bed." Mystique ordered quietly. "It's Sunday and you can afford the time."
"I'm not in the mood." Christy stood up and stared into Mystique's eyes. What Christy was apologizing for with those eyes wasn't clear, but obviously Mystique had a damned martyr on her hands. Nothing that happened last night had anything to do with Christy and even if Christy were fully trained the chance that it would have made a difference was slim.
When Christy moved downstairs Mystique just sighed. This mission wasn't good for Christy. Pushing her so hard to learn wasn't good for her. Mystique was almost ready to bet money that it was Christy's feelings of inadequacy that kept her up, because the woman couldn't learn what took other people a few years to learn in a couple weeks.
Christy was right about one thing. Charlie was an idiot. He was going to burn out his brand new spy before she even got out of the gate. Christy's lack of sleep was making her more impulsive, something that normally Mystique liked, but it wasn't right for Christy. Christy was a quiet and thinking fighter. Rage just seemed wrong on her.
********
It had been a week and no one came forward to claim responsibility for the drugs on campus. Emma couldn't say she was surprised about that. "So now we have another problem. There have been some unsolved murders in the nearby town. It is clearly the work of mutants and the locals are getting nervous." She sighed out her frustration. She'd let Charles call the shots on this and there was going to be a teacher's meeting. "It's very likely that some of our students have taken to hunting down the bigots, and while I can admire their proactive approach this is murder, not self defense." Emma's sarcasm would seem cold and shocking to some, but she doubted that Christy would take offense.
Christy's voice was a bit subdued. "They're hunting?" The silence after that short comment had Emma fidgeting just a little on her couch. Maybe this was too close to home for Christy. Emma just liked having someone to share her frustration with that seemed to agree with her, but she hadn't really thought of it like that. Hunting. That was what they were doing. "No, this isn't good. Do you have suspects?"
"I would if I were allowed to scan them, but Charles is coming down hard on abusing mental powers lately."
"Probably guilty." Christy's disgust was a bit worrying. "His morals aren't nearly as strong in real life as I thought."
"How are you doing?" Emma spoke a hint more softly. She'd started ranting about her own problems rather quickly in the conversation, but she got the sense that all was not well with Christy either.
"More people died Emma. I can't control more than the clothes on my back and people are dying." Emma's teeth gritted at the helpless frustration she was hearing. "I read about it. Mys... Robbie is making progress, but she's alone and I can't help her because..." Christy's voice trailed off. "I'm trying so hard. Xavier doesn't want her to just do this for me. He made it very clear that I'm supposed to help, but I..."
"This isn't your fault." Emma held her cell phone a bit more tightly as she sat up. "It's only been a few weeks, not even a month. None of us were battle ready in a month."
Christy's voice was cold. "I'm waiting to hear if he's gonna change his mind because of the recent deaths, but if he doesn't I'm going in now. My teacher thinks its a bad idea because I can't fight but the old methods are looking mighty good to me at this moment."
"Christy." Emma felt her blood pounding just a hint faster. She didn't like having to try and help from so far away. She wanted to be able to touch Christy's mind and see how bad the situation was, but she couldn't from over the phone. It was one of the first things she'd told Christy, and it was a little odd that she remembered that now. "Don't put yourself at risk for this."
"It's basic math, or for the greater good... who was that philosopher that said..." the rambling stopped, "I won't. I'm just..."
"Frustrated. I understand. People are dying over here too, but I have the ability to use my powers and he won't let me."
"He really seems to think inactivity and the damage it causes isn't his fault doesn't he?" Emma could imagine Christy's sickened expression at that. "What happened to him? He was never like this, never this bad."
"I don't know." Emma sighed as she leaned back, now a little less worried about Christy's mental health. "It might have been Genosha, or his own losses of loved ones. Whatever happened, speculating does us little good."
"I know." Christy sighed. "So you get my latest research?" A less than subtle change of subject, but then Christy wasn't trying to hide what she was doing from Emma.
"Yes I did." Emma reached out to touch the papers on her coffee table. "I think we have enough of an argument for the need to teach a more advanced sexual education class." A slight smile came to her lips. "So perhaps you should put together a syllabus and lesson plans we can propose." Emma could have done that herself. Many people would assume she wanted to be the one to teach that class, and she did, but Christy wasn't qualified to teach English or some of the other classes that Emma would have to give up if she did that. If Christy put together the lesson plans arguing that Christy could teach that class would be easier. They already had a computer teacher, so Christy needed to branch out.
********
Mystique walked past Christy's door and heard the laughing. It was a welcome sound, after the morning they'd had. For a moment Mystique thought Christy was going to grab a gun and just march up to that man's house, ending the need for all the surveillance that Mystique was doing. The White Queen couldn't have called at a better time.
When she got to the top of the stairs she could see Shortpack staring at her. "She's doing better." Was all the time she took out from her trek to the shower. Christy's yelling about Xavier earlier must have been a rude way for the boy to wake up. Although Shortpack's Xavier fan club membership seemed to be waning lately. Perhaps he wouldn't renew it.
********
"Did you see that article?" The dark haired man tossed the paper he'd carried in onto the table roughly. "Fucking buried after lost dogs and world record size cookies. How do you guys stand that?"
"Rob." Jacob reassembled the paper that had fallen apart a bit in Rob's toss. "Mutie deaths don't make front page, doesn't mean it isn't worth it to kill them." The smirk he gave Rob at that moment made Rob want to bury a knife in Jacob's stomach.
"A message that most people don't read, what good does that do?" He pressed the point, making sure that it sounded like he was upset about the crime being ignored. "I told you we should have driven the bodies to the courthouse."
"And the camera's would all get a good look at us. I don't think so Rob. Leave the planning for the experienced." Jacob stood up and moved around the breakroom table. "And really, talking about this at work isn't a good idea either."
Well, these guys weren't as stupid as Mystique had hoped, but they still weren't in her league. She'd take them down. "Sorry." Rob spoke a bit more quietly as if he just realized he made a mistake. It was a shame the idea about the courthouse didn't catch on it would have given the police a lead without exposing Rob as a traitor.
When one of the other coworkers at the warehouse stepped in to have lunch that conversation ended immediately. "Hey." Jacob spoke a little louder, sounding like he was trying to cover up what they were talking about. "Your fiancee in town?"
Rob took a breath while thinking about the answer for that. Christy wanted to stop being on the sidelines and it sounded like an invitation was on Jacob's lips. "She'll be back from her mom's on Thursday."
"You have to come to my house for dinner." Jacob smiled. "Bring your lady. I've got to warn her about what an asshole you are." Jacob chuckled and Rob gave him a slightly tense smile. "Friday night. I'm sure Sarah can whip us up something." Sarah was Jacob's wife and she was an odd woman at that. Fifties housewives were a thing of the past, but still that subservient disgustingly sexist behavior thrived at Jacob's house. "Maybe Theresa can bring a little something for dinner as well."
"I'm not marrying Terry for her cooking skills." Rob smirked when that caught Jacob's interest. "Maybe it would be better if we brought the wine." Even undercover Rob wasn't eager to play the sexist man with Christy. Christy wouldn't be able to stay in character if it was so different from her own and that woman was no fifties housewife.
"Well, breaks over." Jacob glanced meaningfully at the back of the co-worker that interrupted their talk as that man worked on getting some lunch from the fridge. "I'm eager to meet Theresa. Hopefully she's the type of woman that fits in with our friends, it would be nice to have more friends."
"Terry supports everything I do." Rob's voice took a slightly darker edge as he answered that challenge. Apparently this was another part of Rob's interview process. How very archaic. He had to provide a suitable mate for inspection to prove he was worth moving up in the organization.
********
Christy left her classroom and started towards her office at a more leisurely pace than normal, feeling a bit drained. Apparently her body still did need the normal things or the lack of sleep wouldn't be kicking her ass this hard.
"Ms. Taylor?" A young girl walked up to her as Christy was trekking back to her office and Christy tried to place her but couldn't. Obviously this was one of her students at some point but for the life of her Christy couldn't remember her.
"Hey." She gave the girl a friendly smile pretended that she knew who she was talking to. "How have you been doing?"
The girl gave her a strange look for a moment and then smiled back. "I'm okay. The classes are a bit harder than I thought but I think I'll pass most of them. I need to drop English."
Christy continued to walk slowly towards her destination and the girl walked with her. "So what classes were you taking?"
"You don't remember?" The girl sounded a bit insulted, just a little. Great, must be one of Christy's students alright. Even though Christy was trying to be better about remembering them, some still slipped past her notice.
"I have a lot of students. It's hard to remember everything." or everyone Christy added silently to herself. It seemed to appease the girl. It would be nice if Christy had a name to go with her before it became obvious Christy didn't know it.
********
Mystique kept her mischievous smile to herself as she walked alongside Christy towards the woman's office. "Well, my Psychology class and the Biology class are okay." It was a safe bet any school would be offering those classes this term.
The small talk about classes and other school related things as they walked Christy to her office actually impressed Mystique a bit. Christy was covering that she didn't know the girl Mystique was pretending to be rather well, wording things just vaguely enough to get away with it. Perhaps once they got to the impersonating other people part of their lessons Christy would really shine.
"Oh, the one good thing about that English class was this new book I was reading for a book report." Mystique's smile was genuine as she decided to really fuck with Christy's mind. "It was Souls Tangled in Time by Christine Meadows." Mystique waited for the shock of a random unnamed student knowing the title of Christy's unfinished book and her penname.
"I haven't heard of that one." Christy didn't catch it. Mystique studied those eyes she was so familiar with and she didn't think Christy was covering.
"It's a new one. The main character goes on vacation and runs into her soul mate. It starts triggering memories of past lives with the other woman, but in this life they are members of competing companies, enemies, and the main character is the only one getting the flashbacks." Mystique started to outline the plot she'd seen. "I've never read much lesbian romance but this was good." The word lesbian got a reaction but nothing else. Christy didn't know what she was talking about. Mystique took a deep breath and just walked quietly next to the woman while listening to Christy talk about books in a very general way. "Well I better get going. My mom's gonna pick me up." Mystique decided to not tip her hand just yet. She'd come to tell Christy about the Friday night dinner she'd set up, but right now perhaps it was better that Christy didn't know who she really was. She followed her instincts and left. She could tell Christy about the dinner tonight.
********
"Logan." Emma called out to him as she walked from car to building. She changed her destination and moved towards him. "How is guard duty?"
"Caught two couples making out, one boy wanting to leave to meet his girl and five underage smokers." Emma just rolled her eyes.
"Well, I for one feel much safer now that you are curbing our children's destructive habit of smoking." Her sarcasm was thick. Charles was holding out on a campus wide scan and instead had the teachers patrolling the ground and enforcing the new policy of not allowing students to leave campus without a teacher. "Not to mention the dangers of kissing on campus. Now the world truly is a safer place."
"Keeping the kids here on Friday night is a challenge." He just nodded his goodbye and crept after the girl heading towards the gates under cover of darkness to meet her boyfriend, a young man that didn't attend this school. Of course Emma had to break a rule or two to get that information from the girl's mind.
She wasn't thrilled with Charles' solution to the problem. Instead of weeding out the potential killers in their midst or discovering that they weren't there, he put the entire campus on lockdown, imprisoning innocent and guilty alike. He said it was because of the anti-mutant sentiment that those murders had inspired to flare up, but Emma wondered if he was hoping that someone would die while all his children were present and accounted for so that he could rule them out as suspects without ever scanning them.
********
Christy took a deep breath and stared at herself in the mirror. Well, they did it. She'd managed to shift enough that she looked like someone else. Her hair was smooth and blonde. Her eyes a pale blue. She'd modeled the changes after Emma, because it felt like it was easier to do. Emma must have left a bit of her self image in Christy when they separated, because the only hair color change Christy had been able to do was this dramatic blonde. Still she didn't look like Emma, she still had her own face, and her own body although the skin tone was definitely more pale than it had been.
"You're still too close to yourself." Mystique called from her place lounging on Christy's couch. Christy turned to take in the way the blue woman seemed to spread out, taking up space like a man. Mystique got up and moved closer while shifting. The sight of herself was less upsetting, because Mystique didn't look like Christy normally did. "Try changing your lips." Mystique's lips shifted subtly becoming a bit fuller. This exercise was becoming second nature. Christy reached out to gently touch the other woman's lips, to stare at what she was supposed to do. The tongue that snuck out to teasingly lick Christy's fingertip just made Christy sigh with a hint of irritation. Flirting and learning didn't mix well with Christy. She needed to concentrate.
"There you go." Mystique's new lips smiled before the form in front of Christy shifted again. "Try this." It took a bit longer to get the cheekbones right. It was a bit too angular, but those small changes would make the difference. People might think this form and the real form were related, but they wouldn't think they were the same person.
"Ready to go Terry?" Mystique gave Christy a small smile, but Christy's nervousness was still a bit much.
"Ready as I'll ever be." Was all she said as she glanced once more in the mirror. It had taken a while to learn how to do the subtle shifts.
Mystique faded into a man just a hint shorter than her true form. He was nicely built, not too strong. Dark hair and green eyes. He was attractive for a man, but not so attractive as to gain too much attention. It was Mystique's smirk that made Christy relax. Even on a man it was the same knowing look. "We don't want to be late." An arm was held out for Christy and she took it. Old fashion manners. Sometimes Mystique did show her age.
********
by Princess Alexandria
Christy sat in the quiet dining room eating her breakfast and reading the paper. Mystique's spy job kept her out until a bit late last night and Christy had barely been able to sleep until she knew the woman was home safe. Yes, this might be a small time mission for her but Christy still worried. If her inability to use her powers well enough to be Mystique's backup got the older mutant killed Christy would have a hard time forgiving herself. Mystique wasn't a traditional hero, but Christy still looked up to her a bit. Even without that, Christy felt like Mystique was a friend and Christy didn't have enough of those. At least she could be honest in telling Mystique there were things she hadn't told her. That was more than she could do with her kids.
"Oh shit." Christy's eyes widened when she found the article hidden away in the paper. It wasn't even front page news, just a small side column, when mutants were killed. Those bastards Christy killed got front page and this poor couple was put so far back most people wouldn't read it.
The teenage couple had been on a date, having fun, and were attacked. They were dead.
"I didn't hear about it until it was too late." Mystique's voice was quiet and Christy was surprised to hear it this early. She looked up into tired eyes as the woman stared at her. "It was them though. I got to hear all the details. They are starting to trust Rob" A note of disgust entered Mystique's voice as she talked about the alter ego she was using to infiltrate the Friends of Humanity. "The articles don't tell even half of the story. They tortured them. They drug them, nullify their powers, and torture them to death. They do it because the mutants are on a date, because they might reproduce and the bastards use that as a message. That's why the bodies are always so easy to find."
Christy set the article down. Her jaw was clenched and her fist bunched up in the newspaper instead of letting it go completely. Mystique needed backup last night and Christy wasn't there because she wasn't trained enough.
"I'm sorry." She whispered, knowing this failure hurt Mystique because it hurt Christy so Mystique must feel it.
"We'll get the bastards." Mystique's voice grew harsher. "Don't worry about that."
"I'm in now." Christy took a deep breath and stared into yellow eyes. "trained or not, I know how to use a gun."
"I know you can, but that wasn't the mission." Mystique's lips turned into a snarl. "Charlie wants a nice no fatality mission here, or I'd take you in and see how good you really are with that gun." Mystique's head turned to the floor, glaring at it as if it were Xavier. "I've got a good lead on evidence, I could go further under, take over for the second in command but if I do that I can't be home at night. I'd be gone until I had enough for the police."
"XAVIER," Christy's voice rose, "Is a fucking idiot! We can't wait for me. Those kids died because I can't help you and he won't let you do it alone." Her head shook from side to side. Kids were dying because of her... again. Because she couldn't act and was stuck on the sidelines. "How many people have to die before he realizes I just can't do it?" Her voice cracked.
"You can do it." Mystique's voice was softer as she moved around the table towards Christy. "It's just no one can learn this fast. You shouldn't have to."
Christy moved to lean her head on Mystique's stomach when the woman hugged Christy even though Christy was still sitting. She was so tired, and this news didn't help. Her nightmares had multiplied lately.
********
Mystique held Christy as the woman went quiet. There were no tears and little breathing. "When is the last time you got a good nights sleep?" She asked while caressing Christy's hair and holding the woman to her. With her working Mystique hadn't noticed how tired Christy had been getting, but now she could see it in the way the woman moved.
"It's been a while." Christy pulled back, seeming a bit self conscious. Christy wasn't even there. It was Mystique that showed up too late to save the kids and had to help the bastards move the bodies so that their 'message' would be found. All of that so that they'd trust her more and give her access to people higher up in the fucking organization. In spite of all that Mystique managed to sleep. A spy had to be able to shut the pain away and keep moving.
"Go back to bed." Mystique ordered quietly. "It's Sunday and you can afford the time."
"I'm not in the mood." Christy stood up and stared into Mystique's eyes. What Christy was apologizing for with those eyes wasn't clear, but obviously Mystique had a damned martyr on her hands. Nothing that happened last night had anything to do with Christy and even if Christy were fully trained the chance that it would have made a difference was slim.
When Christy moved downstairs Mystique just sighed. This mission wasn't good for Christy. Pushing her so hard to learn wasn't good for her. Mystique was almost ready to bet money that it was Christy's feelings of inadequacy that kept her up, because the woman couldn't learn what took other people a few years to learn in a couple weeks.
Christy was right about one thing. Charlie was an idiot. He was going to burn out his brand new spy before she even got out of the gate. Christy's lack of sleep was making her more impulsive, something that normally Mystique liked, but it wasn't right for Christy. Christy was a quiet and thinking fighter. Rage just seemed wrong on her.
********
It had been a week and no one came forward to claim responsibility for the drugs on campus. Emma couldn't say she was surprised about that. "So now we have another problem. There have been some unsolved murders in the nearby town. It is clearly the work of mutants and the locals are getting nervous." She sighed out her frustration. She'd let Charles call the shots on this and there was going to be a teacher's meeting. "It's very likely that some of our students have taken to hunting down the bigots, and while I can admire their proactive approach this is murder, not self defense." Emma's sarcasm would seem cold and shocking to some, but she doubted that Christy would take offense.
Christy's voice was a bit subdued. "They're hunting?" The silence after that short comment had Emma fidgeting just a little on her couch. Maybe this was too close to home for Christy. Emma just liked having someone to share her frustration with that seemed to agree with her, but she hadn't really thought of it like that. Hunting. That was what they were doing. "No, this isn't good. Do you have suspects?"
"I would if I were allowed to scan them, but Charles is coming down hard on abusing mental powers lately."
"Probably guilty." Christy's disgust was a bit worrying. "His morals aren't nearly as strong in real life as I thought."
"How are you doing?" Emma spoke a hint more softly. She'd started ranting about her own problems rather quickly in the conversation, but she got the sense that all was not well with Christy either.
"More people died Emma. I can't control more than the clothes on my back and people are dying." Emma's teeth gritted at the helpless frustration she was hearing. "I read about it. Mys... Robbie is making progress, but she's alone and I can't help her because..." Christy's voice trailed off. "I'm trying so hard. Xavier doesn't want her to just do this for me. He made it very clear that I'm supposed to help, but I..."
"This isn't your fault." Emma held her cell phone a bit more tightly as she sat up. "It's only been a few weeks, not even a month. None of us were battle ready in a month."
Christy's voice was cold. "I'm waiting to hear if he's gonna change his mind because of the recent deaths, but if he doesn't I'm going in now. My teacher thinks its a bad idea because I can't fight but the old methods are looking mighty good to me at this moment."
"Christy." Emma felt her blood pounding just a hint faster. She didn't like having to try and help from so far away. She wanted to be able to touch Christy's mind and see how bad the situation was, but she couldn't from over the phone. It was one of the first things she'd told Christy, and it was a little odd that she remembered that now. "Don't put yourself at risk for this."
"It's basic math, or for the greater good... who was that philosopher that said..." the rambling stopped, "I won't. I'm just..."
"Frustrated. I understand. People are dying over here too, but I have the ability to use my powers and he won't let me."
"He really seems to think inactivity and the damage it causes isn't his fault doesn't he?" Emma could imagine Christy's sickened expression at that. "What happened to him? He was never like this, never this bad."
"I don't know." Emma sighed as she leaned back, now a little less worried about Christy's mental health. "It might have been Genosha, or his own losses of loved ones. Whatever happened, speculating does us little good."
"I know." Christy sighed. "So you get my latest research?" A less than subtle change of subject, but then Christy wasn't trying to hide what she was doing from Emma.
"Yes I did." Emma reached out to touch the papers on her coffee table. "I think we have enough of an argument for the need to teach a more advanced sexual education class." A slight smile came to her lips. "So perhaps you should put together a syllabus and lesson plans we can propose." Emma could have done that herself. Many people would assume she wanted to be the one to teach that class, and she did, but Christy wasn't qualified to teach English or some of the other classes that Emma would have to give up if she did that. If Christy put together the lesson plans arguing that Christy could teach that class would be easier. They already had a computer teacher, so Christy needed to branch out.
********
Mystique walked past Christy's door and heard the laughing. It was a welcome sound, after the morning they'd had. For a moment Mystique thought Christy was going to grab a gun and just march up to that man's house, ending the need for all the surveillance that Mystique was doing. The White Queen couldn't have called at a better time.
When she got to the top of the stairs she could see Shortpack staring at her. "She's doing better." Was all the time she took out from her trek to the shower. Christy's yelling about Xavier earlier must have been a rude way for the boy to wake up. Although Shortpack's Xavier fan club membership seemed to be waning lately. Perhaps he wouldn't renew it.
********
"Did you see that article?" The dark haired man tossed the paper he'd carried in onto the table roughly. "Fucking buried after lost dogs and world record size cookies. How do you guys stand that?"
"Rob." Jacob reassembled the paper that had fallen apart a bit in Rob's toss. "Mutie deaths don't make front page, doesn't mean it isn't worth it to kill them." The smirk he gave Rob at that moment made Rob want to bury a knife in Jacob's stomach.
"A message that most people don't read, what good does that do?" He pressed the point, making sure that it sounded like he was upset about the crime being ignored. "I told you we should have driven the bodies to the courthouse."
"And the camera's would all get a good look at us. I don't think so Rob. Leave the planning for the experienced." Jacob stood up and moved around the breakroom table. "And really, talking about this at work isn't a good idea either."
Well, these guys weren't as stupid as Mystique had hoped, but they still weren't in her league. She'd take them down. "Sorry." Rob spoke a bit more quietly as if he just realized he made a mistake. It was a shame the idea about the courthouse didn't catch on it would have given the police a lead without exposing Rob as a traitor.
When one of the other coworkers at the warehouse stepped in to have lunch that conversation ended immediately. "Hey." Jacob spoke a little louder, sounding like he was trying to cover up what they were talking about. "Your fiancee in town?"
Rob took a breath while thinking about the answer for that. Christy wanted to stop being on the sidelines and it sounded like an invitation was on Jacob's lips. "She'll be back from her mom's on Thursday."
"You have to come to my house for dinner." Jacob smiled. "Bring your lady. I've got to warn her about what an asshole you are." Jacob chuckled and Rob gave him a slightly tense smile. "Friday night. I'm sure Sarah can whip us up something." Sarah was Jacob's wife and she was an odd woman at that. Fifties housewives were a thing of the past, but still that subservient disgustingly sexist behavior thrived at Jacob's house. "Maybe Theresa can bring a little something for dinner as well."
"I'm not marrying Terry for her cooking skills." Rob smirked when that caught Jacob's interest. "Maybe it would be better if we brought the wine." Even undercover Rob wasn't eager to play the sexist man with Christy. Christy wouldn't be able to stay in character if it was so different from her own and that woman was no fifties housewife.
"Well, breaks over." Jacob glanced meaningfully at the back of the co-worker that interrupted their talk as that man worked on getting some lunch from the fridge. "I'm eager to meet Theresa. Hopefully she's the type of woman that fits in with our friends, it would be nice to have more friends."
"Terry supports everything I do." Rob's voice took a slightly darker edge as he answered that challenge. Apparently this was another part of Rob's interview process. How very archaic. He had to provide a suitable mate for inspection to prove he was worth moving up in the organization.
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Christy left her classroom and started towards her office at a more leisurely pace than normal, feeling a bit drained. Apparently her body still did need the normal things or the lack of sleep wouldn't be kicking her ass this hard.
"Ms. Taylor?" A young girl walked up to her as Christy was trekking back to her office and Christy tried to place her but couldn't. Obviously this was one of her students at some point but for the life of her Christy couldn't remember her.
"Hey." She gave the girl a friendly smile pretended that she knew who she was talking to. "How have you been doing?"
The girl gave her a strange look for a moment and then smiled back. "I'm okay. The classes are a bit harder than I thought but I think I'll pass most of them. I need to drop English."
Christy continued to walk slowly towards her destination and the girl walked with her. "So what classes were you taking?"
"You don't remember?" The girl sounded a bit insulted, just a little. Great, must be one of Christy's students alright. Even though Christy was trying to be better about remembering them, some still slipped past her notice.
"I have a lot of students. It's hard to remember everything." or everyone Christy added silently to herself. It seemed to appease the girl. It would be nice if Christy had a name to go with her before it became obvious Christy didn't know it.
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Mystique kept her mischievous smile to herself as she walked alongside Christy towards the woman's office. "Well, my Psychology class and the Biology class are okay." It was a safe bet any school would be offering those classes this term.
The small talk about classes and other school related things as they walked Christy to her office actually impressed Mystique a bit. Christy was covering that she didn't know the girl Mystique was pretending to be rather well, wording things just vaguely enough to get away with it. Perhaps once they got to the impersonating other people part of their lessons Christy would really shine.
"Oh, the one good thing about that English class was this new book I was reading for a book report." Mystique's smile was genuine as she decided to really fuck with Christy's mind. "It was Souls Tangled in Time by Christine Meadows." Mystique waited for the shock of a random unnamed student knowing the title of Christy's unfinished book and her penname.
"I haven't heard of that one." Christy didn't catch it. Mystique studied those eyes she was so familiar with and she didn't think Christy was covering.
"It's a new one. The main character goes on vacation and runs into her soul mate. It starts triggering memories of past lives with the other woman, but in this life they are members of competing companies, enemies, and the main character is the only one getting the flashbacks." Mystique started to outline the plot she'd seen. "I've never read much lesbian romance but this was good." The word lesbian got a reaction but nothing else. Christy didn't know what she was talking about. Mystique took a deep breath and just walked quietly next to the woman while listening to Christy talk about books in a very general way. "Well I better get going. My mom's gonna pick me up." Mystique decided to not tip her hand just yet. She'd come to tell Christy about the Friday night dinner she'd set up, but right now perhaps it was better that Christy didn't know who she really was. She followed her instincts and left. She could tell Christy about the dinner tonight.
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"Logan." Emma called out to him as she walked from car to building. She changed her destination and moved towards him. "How is guard duty?"
"Caught two couples making out, one boy wanting to leave to meet his girl and five underage smokers." Emma just rolled her eyes.
"Well, I for one feel much safer now that you are curbing our children's destructive habit of smoking." Her sarcasm was thick. Charles was holding out on a campus wide scan and instead had the teachers patrolling the ground and enforcing the new policy of not allowing students to leave campus without a teacher. "Not to mention the dangers of kissing on campus. Now the world truly is a safer place."
"Keeping the kids here on Friday night is a challenge." He just nodded his goodbye and crept after the girl heading towards the gates under cover of darkness to meet her boyfriend, a young man that didn't attend this school. Of course Emma had to break a rule or two to get that information from the girl's mind.
She wasn't thrilled with Charles' solution to the problem. Instead of weeding out the potential killers in their midst or discovering that they weren't there, he put the entire campus on lockdown, imprisoning innocent and guilty alike. He said it was because of the anti-mutant sentiment that those murders had inspired to flare up, but Emma wondered if he was hoping that someone would die while all his children were present and accounted for so that he could rule them out as suspects without ever scanning them.
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Christy took a deep breath and stared at herself in the mirror. Well, they did it. She'd managed to shift enough that she looked like someone else. Her hair was smooth and blonde. Her eyes a pale blue. She'd modeled the changes after Emma, because it felt like it was easier to do. Emma must have left a bit of her self image in Christy when they separated, because the only hair color change Christy had been able to do was this dramatic blonde. Still she didn't look like Emma, she still had her own face, and her own body although the skin tone was definitely more pale than it had been.
"You're still too close to yourself." Mystique called from her place lounging on Christy's couch. Christy turned to take in the way the blue woman seemed to spread out, taking up space like a man. Mystique got up and moved closer while shifting. The sight of herself was less upsetting, because Mystique didn't look like Christy normally did. "Try changing your lips." Mystique's lips shifted subtly becoming a bit fuller. This exercise was becoming second nature. Christy reached out to gently touch the other woman's lips, to stare at what she was supposed to do. The tongue that snuck out to teasingly lick Christy's fingertip just made Christy sigh with a hint of irritation. Flirting and learning didn't mix well with Christy. She needed to concentrate.
"There you go." Mystique's new lips smiled before the form in front of Christy shifted again. "Try this." It took a bit longer to get the cheekbones right. It was a bit too angular, but those small changes would make the difference. People might think this form and the real form were related, but they wouldn't think they were the same person.
"Ready to go Terry?" Mystique gave Christy a small smile, but Christy's nervousness was still a bit much.
"Ready as I'll ever be." Was all she said as she glanced once more in the mirror. It had taken a while to learn how to do the subtle shifts.
Mystique faded into a man just a hint shorter than her true form. He was nicely built, not too strong. Dark hair and green eyes. He was attractive for a man, but not so attractive as to gain too much attention. It was Mystique's smirk that made Christy relax. Even on a man it was the same knowing look. "We don't want to be late." An arm was held out for Christy and she took it. Old fashion manners. Sometimes Mystique did show her age.
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