Not Myself
By Princess Alexandria
Christy parked where they'd been before to wait until Rob left but the chattering conversation in the house went on and on. Christy finally just laid the seat back and ignored it. Nothing significant was going on, and it wasn't healthy to think of the enemy as too human. It was something she learned in her own world and this mission just drove that point home. She'd felt guilty about hitting Jacob. That wasn't good. Listening to Sam talking about his dead brother wasn't healthy either. The man deserved death. He was out killing teenagers, couples, lovers. Somehow that seemed worse than normal killing, because those people had found some semblance of happiness in the lonely world.
She stared up at the stars, so familiar but a reality away from the ones she'd stared at as a child, and a reality away from the deadly sky of her own world.
"You awake?" Shortpack asked her after a long moment of silence between them.
"Oh yeah, just thinking."
"You should be listening…" He sounded a little like Scott in his condemnation, but it was softer and didn't bother her as much, because at least Shortpack liked her. It wasn't that he looked for any chance to put her down.
"I was thinking maybe I shouldn't. Knowing them makes it harder to hurt them." Christy sighed.
"You're feeling guilty?" His voice was softer. "They are the bad guys."
"Not guilty." She was uneasy, it was different. "But knowing someone does make it harder."
"I know." He spoke softly and Christy looked back at him. He seemed to be giving her his full attention. "This is the spy business. We have to know the enemy well, have to see their humanity as well as their evil and use both to drag them to justice, or whatever the mission may be. Ignorance isn't a good idea. You should be listening." Well, put that way it made sense. Christy sighed and started to pay attention again. This was the opposite of what she did in her world and she really believed it was easier to not know.
……….
Rob sat down and grimaced at the pain in his stomach a bit more than was necessary. He let the bruise show as well, so when the others took a peek he was injured. This evening was just dragging on at this point. They were back to topics they'd already discussed, and the insults of her true form were tiring.
"I can't believe that blue bitch could move like that. We'll need to contain her first, she's clearly the better fighter."
"Well, she'd need to, looking like that."
"I don't get it. Like that girl with the pointy hair tonight. Who would find that attractive? Those muties are really freaks."
"Are we done?" Rob had placed his bugs and had a short tour of the house that gave him ideas of where he'd want to look later. "Terry's going to be worried if she wakes up and I'm not home."
"You already pussywhipped?" Liam sneered at him.
With a smile he replied. "Oh she's worth it." It earned a laugh from the guys and less hostility from Liam.
"Maybe you should share." Liam's smile was greasy and sick. His tone not quite a joke.
"Not in this lifetime." Rob glared at the man, unwilling to even joke about that.
"It would take a god to pry her from Rob's side anyhow." Jacob came to his rescue, with a smile that wasn't completely genuine. He was looking at Liam with a bit of apprehension himself. "It's pretty clear she adores her Robbie." Liam seemed to back off, so Rob was able to relax his posture. Some things were just not jokes, and the idea of a disgusting F.O.H. flatscan touching Christy was one of them.
"Yeah, she's special." He gave Jacob a small smile. "I need a ride to my car."
"I can take you." Jacob said after sharing a look with Steve. That was the first confirmation that Rob would be allowed to leave. They believed him and his saving Steve.
As they walked out to Jacob's car Rob glared at the ground, drawing Jacob's attention. "You okay?" Jacob asked.
"It was just a lousy night." He opened the car door.
"We'll do better next Friday."
"And his comment… " He might as well round out his character. "That's just disrespectful as hell."
"I know." Jacob got in the car, so Rob did as well. "Liam is a bit rude. I don't approve either, but he's good at hunting mutants, so we put up with him. He's not normally this bad. He just hates loosing them. You should have seen him after our friends died. He's not always an ass, but he can also be much worse."
The ride back to the car took far less time than it had to get to Liam's house from it. Rob thanked Jacob and got in his car to go. "Finally, I thought you'd never get out of there." Christy's voice came over the communication device, but Rob just smiled and waved to Jacob before pulling onto the street.
Once he was moving he replied. "I didn't want to seem too eager to leave. I left it bugged so we can hear what they say about me later."
"Like what a stud you are and damn you for making them all look weak and unmanly?"
"Yeah, something like that." Rob smiled and kept the male form for the drive just in case. It wasn't until he crossed the Narrows Bridge towards home that he shifted back.
Mystique got home first and parked the car, but waited outside for Christy so she could help her with Shortpack's stuff and so they could ditch the car back where it came from. Christy pulled up behind the other car and shut the engine off. Mystique gave her a flirtatious smile and moved to open the door for her. "How did you like the stake out?"
"I think I preferred you kicking my ass." Christy muttered and Mystique had to laugh. The waiting and listening wasn't her favorite part either.
How did she do? Mystique sent to Shortpack, rather than waiting until they were alone.
Not great. She spent more time staring at the stars than listening. She says it doesn't do any good to get to know them, it just makes it harder. See if you can get her to talk to you, and explain again why we need to research like that.
Will do. Mystique let him step into her hand and grabbed his computer in the other. "Get his other stuff, someone will come pick up the car in the morning." She looked at the lightening sky, morning was here, "or a few hours."
…………
Christy walked beside Mystique on the way back to the house, and while part of her worried about anyone seeing the blue woman, she liked that Mystique was herself. "Are you okay?" She asked as she glanced at Mystique's stomach. She didn't see any damage, but the men in the house had talked about a footprint.
"Why Christy, are you checking me out?" Mystique teased when she caught Christy's glance.
"You know it hot stuff." She smiled, but it faded to a concerned expression. "But seriously, did I hurt you? I tried hard not to, but…"
"It's okay. I heal fast, not Wolverine fast, but pretty damn good, and I can mask bruises." That wasn't quite reassuring, as Christy wondered how Mystique learned she could do that. "Christy?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you okay with this mission?" Mystique asked her and Christy was a little surprised at the calm way it was asked. Her instant answer of yes came to mind, but Mystique seemed to want more than that.
"I know why spies don't work in their own backyards now." Christy stared at her neighbors house as she walked past. This dark and deserted, it looked a bit more like her own world, and she remembered seeing the inside of that one and how the teenage boy that lived there kept a stash of candy in his bedside drawer. She knew little odd things about her neighbors sometimes. "Whatever I do here will directly affect Jessi, and its hard not to think about that." She sighed, knowing this didn't make her a great spy. "And Jacob bothers me. I'll do the job, but its just, I wish they were strangers."
"You heard what they would have done if they caught that couple." Mystique moved to stand in front of Christy, so Christy had to stop walking. "It's monsters like that I fight and have been fighting for more years than you've been alive." There was no teasing or flirting in that tone. Mystique was rarely serious, but this was one of those moments. "I've fought friends and family for missions. I've worked in my own backyard and I can tell you that you have to distance yourself. Use what you do know about them, but don't let yourself think about them in any other way. We've been ordered to not kill them, and that is the only allowance you make for him being Jessi's dad. Don't even think about her, except to know that once this is done and done right she'll be safer. No sad what ifs, no it should have beens, just the mission. The same goes for Jacob. From what you told me, your Jake would have wanted you to take him down wouldn't he?"
Christy remembered Jake smiling at her over a campfire and considered Mystique's words. Jake would have been horrified to see that his double would kill for such a lousy reason, out of fear and prejudice. In their world they killed, but it was necessity, and they always respected the dead, and killed quickly to end their suffering. Jake probably would want her stop this. She took a deep breath of the cool spring air as she thought about that. It felt like a weight was lifted when she thought she was doing this FOR Jake, and not to him. "You're good at that." She smiled at Mystique and watched the woman relax a little.
"I had practice."
"It's easier to be a sniper." Christy found Mystique moving to walk along side her again. "It was never personal. You aimed and fired and you never had to know anything about them."
"Some say being a sniper is more intimate than other jobs in the military, because you can look into their eyes while you pull the trigger, and you know they are dead before they do." The comparison to the military didn't surprise Christy, because she'd seen that in what her people did before. They'd had to become a fighting force, in their own unique way.
"I never let myself look into their eyes. Most of my shots were to the back of the head." Once again they were talking about her world, but it didn't hurt so much to talk about it anymore. Between Emma and Mystique she was getting to being able to think about her past without it always causing her quite as much pain. "Interrogations were more personal."
"That is. It's up there with the level we need to reach as a spy. We become part of their lives in order to take them down. We deal in the personal, the intimate. It's your role in the war if you become a spy." Mystique spoke a little louder. "And don't let anyone tell you a war isn't going on. It's there, it's quiet, but its there."
"I know." Christy spoke softly, knowing what this war did to Mystique. How it hurt her, and how she hurt others for it. Christy never once brought up Moira's death, and she didn't plan to.
"You didn't hesitate in the fight." Mystique started speaking after a silence that lasted until they reached the driveway. "I'd say you did well in that, but you lost sight of where the enemy was. You let their numbers overwhelm you."
"I know."
Mystique shook her head. "You need practice fighting more than one enemy at a time, but we aren't set up for that, so you'll need to struggle to be more aware and when you move to the mansion you can get them to cover that. I don't know anyone I can trust enough to call and help," Mystique grimaced, "and I think our time on this mission is coming to a close. The Professor is pressuring me to finish up and move on."
"Are you going to?" Christy stopped before they got to the steps to the house. Mystique had a choice now, she didn't have to go on whatever mission Charles had planned.
Mystique gave her a slight smile. "I'm going to play his game a little longer, but the rules are changing since I don't have to worry about him turning that damned box off." The smile Mystique shared with Christy was soft, "We can wait for the new box now. I can be choosier in what missions I let him assign me and it'll buy us time for training while he is forced to keep the Xmen off my back. I love that. He'll be working for me now and he won't realize it for a while."
"Well good." Christy opened the front door while thinking that was one of the longest conversations they'd had without flirting.
"Do you need company tonight?" Mystique wiggled her eyebrows and ended the seriousness. "You did hit me, you should kiss it better." A hand rested low on Christy's back and Mystique's smile grew wicked. "And I could return the favor. Did I hit you here?" Mystique slid her hand down to Christy's ass which had not been hit during the fight. Christy just batted it away gently, playing the game.
"I swear you were born a man weren't you? You just picked that form to attract women."
Mystique smirked and looked down to her own pants drawing Christy's eyes to a growing bulge there. "I did promise to hit you with my other pipe. You up for it?" Christy felt the hotness of a blush on her cheeks as she realized what Mystique just filled her pants with. "I can be UP for it in just a second." Christy found her eyes straining to see the outline in the tight pants, curious about what Mystique was able to do but a horrified second later she realized what she'd been doing. Christy's eyes were yanked away from the strange bulge on a woman to look into extremely amused yellow eyes. "Like what you see you kinky little thing?"
"Oh God." Christy couldn't help the embarrassed smile as she shook her head and turned to go down the stairs to her rooms. "I'm going to bed."
"Don't scream my name too loud, I'll be trying to sleep."
"I'm surprised you fit in the house with an ego that size."
Christy turned when she said that and Mystique ran a hand slowly over the lump of that new appendage while licking her lips. "It's not the only thing big on me." Mystique's voice was full of feigned passion and Christy didn't bother to respond. She just walked into her room and locked the door, hoping it would stay locked.
Her clothes faded as she got into the shower. She'd locked the bathroom door as well, just to be sure. She needed just a little privacy and couldn't be sure Mystique wouldn't press her advantage since the blue woman had managed to win their game of flirtation.
Just in case, Christy didn't let herself call out anyone's name.
………..
Emma found sleep difficult to maintain or achieve the night before and was at least grateful that Scott didn't feel the need to schedule another early Saturday morning training. She got to lay in bed and read the newspaper.
When the phone rang she rolled to the side of the bed to grab her cell phone. "Finally." Emma muttered as she noticed who was calling. "Hello?"
"Hey Emma." Christy sounded a little tired, but not like anything was wrong. "I was just getting ready for bed and thought of you." Emma glanced at her clock, which read almost nine. It was nearly six where Christy was.
"Long night?" Emma knew Christy had a mission last night, which may have contributed to Emma's trouble sleeping. Christy's estimation of her own abilities weren't high and Emma hadn't seen Christy train. She would much rather feel confident that her lover could handle what she was walking into.
"Men spend more time talking about things than actually doing them." Christy grumbled and Emma smiled as she laid back on her bed to talk. "They bitched about mutants for hours before even leaving the house. We saved the couple they targeted, but it's pretty much unanimous, I don't know how to fight multiple opponents and need training. I did kick a few butts though, and they are nervous, which is good." Emma wasn't so sure it was good. Nervous men might work harder to beat Christy next time they fought. "We have taped conversations that outline how very guilty these asses are. Mystique is a bit concerned about trusting the police to follow through with this if we hand it off to them, and we need to make sure Liam doesn't have anything against Jessi on him before we hand over what we have."
"Well, when you move in I could show you the Danger room sparring settings. We have one that helps with learning how to handle multiple opponents with varying difficulty levels." Emma planned to continue with Christy's training even if she wasn't approved as an Xman.
"Good." Christy's voice got a little deeper. "I miss you."
Emma smiled and reached up to put some stray hairs behind her ear. "Really?"
"Yes. Any chance you could be here in two minutes?" Emma could imagine the smile on Christy's face. She imagined her lover laying on her own bed, with the dawn sneaking past her blinds. She could drag this conversation on, but in Christy's voice there was more than a hint to how tired the woman was.
"I'm afraid you're the super teleporter in the relationship. So unless you can pop up in my bed suddenly, you'll be sleeping alone just a little longer."
Christy sighed. "That kind of control is far beyond me, and probably always will be. I love you, but if I tried I might end up in the Power Ranger universe or something else equally hideous."
"I managed to secure you a room on the same side of the mansion as mine. You'll actually have a view of the lake." While it was a temporary placement until Christy's position was approved, quite a few people expected Christy to get that approval. Charles had hired Danielle Moonstar as a recruiter over the summer. Storm's mission also sent a few students there way, so while enrollment was shaken up considerably due to the fiasco with Quentin, it seemed to actually be heading up. That was exactly what they needed.
"It sounds nice." Christy's voice dropped to a fake whisper. "So how far is it from your room, and how long is the commute?"
"It's the room below mine." Emma had been a little proud of how she'd thought ahead on that. If Christy had that room they wouldn't have as many neighbors complaining if their lovemaking got a little vocal. "The stairs aren't far from either door. I'd say it is maybe a long two minutes from door to door." She had no idea how long that walk took, and was just indulging Christy's playful nature.
"That sounds a lot better than the room I have now." They talked a little longer, but Emma finally had to be the one to end the call. It was clear Christy needed sleep and the woman didn't want to say goodbye. Emma smiled as she pulled her newspaper back to her lap. Christy was very good at making Emma feel like she was missed.
…………
Christy woke up suddenly very alert. She stayed silent and slowly, carefully turned to see she was indeed being watched. With a soft growl she tossed her pillow at the intruder. "You scared me." She glared at Mystique while silently being thankful it was only her. "Is there something wrong with knocking?"
"Yeah, I wouldn't get this view." Mystique's eyes trailed over Christy, and Christy looked down to see the sheet was barely covering her and her powers never kicked in when she was sleeping. She was naked.
A slow evil smile came to Christy as she saw the opportunity to get a little even. She rolled onto her side, allowing the sheet to fall away from her breasts. Her voice was a little rough with sleep and held an invitation to look. "You becoming a peeping tom?"
Mystique ran a hand down her own body and Christy watched pants disappear and Mystique was suddenly touching herself, shifting to show her what had been in those pants earlier. "You like this don't you?" Mystique's hand started to caress the male sex she now possessed and Christy stared with more than a little awe and desire as she watched her teacher get hard. "How would you like…"
The sudden loud noise startled Christy and she opened her eyes to a bright room. "Time to get up." Mystique's voice called in and Christy turned to stare at where her dream Mystique had been. Oh God, now she was dreaming about her? "Shortpack wants to debrief us and make plans."
"I'll be out in a minute." Christy got up and shifted her clothes on. Quieter she mumbled to herself. "I really need to spend more time with my girlfriend." Maybe she could see if she could talk Emma into a weekend visit once this mission was over.
………..
Mystique glanced over at Christy again while Shortpack went over what they'd learned in his normal overly anal way. Christy was paying too much attention to him and not joking around like she normally did. "So basically we have enough to hand over to the police and call it quits now, but we need to verify that he really doesn't have anything on the girl." Mystique finally interrupted him. She'd been there, she knew what they'd learned, and if Christy wasn't paying attention then Christy could deal with feeling a little lost. She obviously preferred it that way.
Shortpack looked a little irritated. "Yes."
"Well good. We can check out his house next. I found a few places I wanted to look into." But with everyone there and not leaving Rob alone a moment it wasn't possible last night. "I'll bring Christy in with me. A little lesson in breaking an entry would be good for her."
"Sounds good to me." Christy put her vote in.
"Have you checked to make sure the cops we plan to hand this over to aren't already on the take?" Mystique asked Shortpack, she could just imagine handing over all the evidence only to find out the cops were FOH as well. It wouldn't be the first time she'd had bad luck like that.
"Already done. The detectives assigned to the murders are serious about it, but they have such a large case load they aren't making progress."
"And you got this information how?" Mystique often suspected that her handler sometimes worked with other spies. She liked to tease him by saying he was cheating on her.
"A friend of mine." He grinned at her. He knew what she was insinuating.
"So you've been working behind my back again?"
"The other spies mean nothing to me. You know that." He glanced over at Christy and Mystique followed his gaze to see Christy smiling at them.
"Nice to know I rank as high as nothing Shortpack." Christy spoke and Shortpack was the one fumbling. Mystique laughed when he realized he'd shoved his foot in his mouth.
"I don't mean you Christy. You and Mystique are like a package deal." Christy sat back and ended her pretend outrage, but Mystique found she liked that idea. A partner. Too bad this baby spy didn't want to be in the business.
"Well, now that we have that established, how about we get back to work." Mystique gave Christy a slightly evil grin. "We're sparring while Shortpack here works on our Police detective care package." Christy needed to work on breaking holds and that's what they'd do today, until that woman won't be caught so easily again. "You went down too easily last night."
"You never complained before." Christy muttered with a smile, but the blush was a bit much for a relatively simple tease.
Mystique licked her lips slowly. "Oh, I have no complaints about you going down, but you didn't do it for me." She got up from the table. "So we're going downstairs and you're going to go down for me several times." Her teasing tone became more serious. "We're working on breaking holds. I didn't like how they overpowered you."
………….
Christy sighed in irritation as she stared at the floor her face was being pressed into. The mat would probably smother her if she needed air and Mystique pressed just a little harder. Not two seconds into the fight as she was down. Mystique's knee was in her back, Christy had no trouble feeling that. Her arms were trapped in strong hands. "Come on, don't indulge your submissive streak now, fight back." Mystique whispered in her ear.
"And how am I supposed to do that?" Christy struggled to move, but Mystique had her. There was no moving.
"I haven't immobilized your legs." Mystique told her as Christy was struggling to roll or free her arms. "Wrap your ankles around my throat and pull me down." Christy's frown grew as she tried to imagine her legs getting that far. Still without questioning she tried to raise them as high as she could, but her body was facing the wrong way for this move. She couldn't even feel her toes getting close and couldn't see anything. She lowered her legs with another defeated sigh. Just once she'd like to not have to beg for mercy.
"I can't move."
"Yes you can." There was a bit of angry impatience in that voice. Christy wished she could turn to look at Mystique. "I've let you up five times already. You do this or we'll stay here until dinner and after dinner we'll come right back down here."
"How am I supposed to do this?" Christy snapped at Mystique, feeling frustrated with this. "I can't reach you."
"Bend more." The blue woman was sounding more like a drill sergeant than ever before.
Christy's body tensed as she struggled to lift her legs again, this time without any shoes. She could feel the brief touch she'd managed with the tip of her toe, but she wasn't able to get close enough to grab Mystique's neck.
"How about this." The voice changed and Christy recognized Liam's arrogant drawl. "While you're sitting here on the ground I'll let my men have a crack at that little bitch with the balls. Jessi shoulda never been born, she's a fucking disgrace…" Christy gritted her teeth and tried again, while jerking her butt up as well, trying to get those few inches she needed. It wasn't working. "Jessi looks human enough, it's a shame. I call it false advertising, pretending to be a real women when she's just a freak."
With a growl Christy jerked and twisted, trying to dislodge Mystique. This wasn't funny. The hold wasn't budging.
"I could dump her body at your school when I'm done." Christy reached back with her legs, trying to make them do more than brush up against shoulders.
Christy bared her teeth as she felt her feet make contact. She pulled them back down hard, slamming Mystique down on the mat and then she rolled out from under Mystique. Christy sat up and stared at her teacher, who hadn't really shifted. It was still Mystique and this time the woman used her own voice. "Motivation seems to help." Christy just clenched her jaw and said nothing. She didn't like what Mystique had been saying, but she understood why she did it. Mystique started to rub her neck and Christy moved to crawl over to her.
"I could have hurt you." She suddenly realized that, feeling bad about the force she'd used.
"I expected it." Mystique smiled just a little. "So I reinforced my neck so you wouldn't snap it."
Well, this was training. These things weren't always safe, and Mystique knew what she was doing, but it still bothered Christy.
"You finally got it. You can move in ways other people can't. Shapeshifters don't have to be limited by normal joint movement. You can go further or go in other directions." Mystique held her arm out and Christy's eyes widened a little when it bent the wrong way at the elbow and then returned to normal. "You forced your legs further. Now you need to be able to do that without taking so much time."
Great, Christy thought with heavy sarcasm. She didn't care for this, but she stood back up and tried to fight being pinned again. Once again Mystique proved how easy she'd been going on her by pinning Christy quickly. "Do it again." Mystique whispered teasingly in Christy's ear. "Oh, and let me know if your butt gets sore. I'll massage it for you, since I'm right here."
"Promises, promises." Christy smiled just a little before she got to work trying to do that move again. They did that over and over.
"Oh, looky at that." Mystique's teasing voice filled the room, "You're getting so flexible."
"And you're still a rigid bitch." Christy felt like the woman was made of iron, with the strength Mystique used to hold her down. Mystique talked about leverage and holds, but to Christy it felt like pure strength.
"Oh I don't know, my lovers never complained." The hands on Christy's back shifted, but Christy waited obediently until Mystique had a new hold.
"That's because they were all gagged." Christy smirked. "I mean look at us. You obviously like all that freaky stuff, oh Mistress Mystique." Christy could imagine the sight they must be, with Mystique holding her down.
"Oh, but you seem to like it." Mystique's voice became a charged seductive purr. "I feel you straining against me." And suddenly this was something that really didn't belong in sparring. Christy swallowed hard and tried to not think about how Mystique's breathing seemed to pick up just a little, as Christy stopped breathing altogether.
"It's because I'm trying to get away from you. You kinda stink." Christy teased and could feel the tension in the woman holding her relax again.
"Oh you like it. Don't deny it." Mystique was joking again.
"And contrary to appearances, you don't smell like blueberries." Christy shifted to start trying to break the new hold. Of course Mystique didn't smell bad, but she did smell like sweat and a little like that shampoo she used.
…………
Mystique rolled her shoulders slowly while letting the warm water run over her body. Wrestling with Christy sure made her feel it later. "Damn girl, you need to get a massage." She muttered to herself as she tried to work the soreness out of her muscles. "If I didn't know she had an advantage, I'd say I was getting too old for this." They still had not real understanding of how strong Christy was, but it took a lot of work to keep her down.
They'd be practicing again tomorrow, so Mystique did her best to stretch out her tired muscles. Christy's powers were more impressive when Mystique thought about how the woman wouldn't be tired or sore tomorrow, while Mystique was most likely going to be still recovering. Christy's stamina was impressive.
Did that stamina extend to all physical activities?
…………
Monday finally came and Mystique drove them to Liam's house. When she had been looking around she'd noticed the security system was just standard. A small device she brought with her should disarm it with little effort, and it would give Liam a sense of security that they could abuse. If for some reason they didn't leave things exactly where they found it, Liam might assume he'd moved it since he'd believe no one else could have gotten in. This was a good starter home for Christy to practice on.
Mystique shifted into Liam once she was sure the man's car was missing. Christy chose her Chris form again. That girl needed more options.
"First thing you have to do is actually plan for a neighbor to see you. Chances are good that someone might look out their window or be walking their dog. You have to be prepared for it every time you walk up to a house." Mystique moved like Liam, but since she was talking quietly she used her own voice. Christy seemed to find it a little amusing. "If you can manage to look like someone that lives in the house it's better. Then no one thinks twice. Looking like you work for the utilities also works if you're doing a weekday job like this."
They got to the door and Mystique glanced around for a moment before squatting down to work on picking the lock. "We should work on this skill, but not now." She went quiet for a moment so she could focus on what she was doing. The door unlocked. "Okay, move in. I'll show you how to use this little baby." Mystique pulled out the small computer and stepped inside after Christy, shutting the door. A quickly tug on the security system's wires and a few keystrokes later they stopped it from going off.
She showed Christy more slowly what she'd done after that. "We have to make sure to arm it again when we leave." Christy just nodded.
"I broke into a lot of houses in my world, but no one lived there." Christy admitted and Mystique turned her head a little to see Christy looking into the living room. "I'd steal food. The dead didn't need it, and neither did the runners."
"Runners?"
"People who somehow thought running inland would keep them safe. They packed up a few things and headed to the Midwest like it was the promised land or something." Christy shook her head as if still surprised by that stupidity. Mystique sighed softly, feeling a bit lost at what to say. Christy occasionally spoke about her world now, and every time she did it Mystique was uncomfortably reminded that a world could indeed die.
"Don't forget about the bugs." She reminded Christy before the woman went down memory lane around one and Shortpack heard them. Christy's eyes widened a little. "Nope not here. But I did plant a few."
Mystique moved to stand in the middle of the living room and turned to Christy. "Okay. What we're looking for is most likely a file, or tape. He's hidden it in the house and he'd be worried that Steve would look around and find it. I noticed he didn't let Steve wander around alone in his house. I really think it's here." Mystique glanced around the living room and then back at her apprentice. "If he hid it in the house where would you think to look first?"
"Normal hiding places for things…" Christy seemed to be thinking about it while looking around. "Is Liam handy with tools?" Mystique smiled as she saw Christy was starting to see the value of knowing the enemy.
"He did the upgrades to the downstairs himself. He can put up walls, do some carpentry. I'd say yes." Christy grimaced as she looked around at the couch and entertainment center. That had just made this harder. An average person tended to hide things under the bed, in a closet, in a can in the kitchen. If they got creative there was in the couch or fireplace. Mystique didn't move to check any of those places. They had the house for a while and she wanted to see how Christy thought.
They went through the living room rather quickly, with Mystique doing what she was told. They searched the couch and fireplace. Christy inspected the entertainment center for hidden compartments, but there weren't any. The dining room showed little promise but Christy glanced around and made a good guess that they'd be wasting their time after checking the bottom of the table.
Mystique watched Christy open the cupboards in the kitchen. Watched as she slowly stopped moving and starting looking around the room without touching anything.
…………
Christy had been in so many houses in her own world, but that kitchen reminded her of something. There weren't a lot of kitchens that had tile backsplashes in that pattern. Christy stared at it, taking in the ugly cloud pattern. Christy stopped moving and tried to remember the way they'd come to get there. It was a few miles from the apartments that her tribe had turned into a camp, the one after the split.
"You'll never believe what I found." Tom's voice sounded disturbed when he came out of the house. Christy could almost see him standing in a driveway. Christy walked past Mystique and to the front window. She barely opened it and stared out at the yard, trying to see the similarities. It was trim, taken care of, but that boulder was the same. "Christy… you need to see this." Tom had lost his youth, his playfulness as he waved her in. She'd planned to check out the house next to it.
"Christy." Mystique was suddenly calling her. Christy turned to stare at the blue woman. "My god, I called you three times. What's wrong?"
"I've been here before." Christy spoke softly as she stared at the living room. This was the first time a memory came so vividly while she was doing something else, if she didn't count watching her kids Danger room session. "There aren't a lot of houses with that ugly backsplash."
The smell warned her before she got far down the stairs. Death was a normal smell in some houses, and they'd found bodies before. Christy glanced over at Tom and didn't like how his expression showed anger, rather than the normal regret or sadness. "Sick bastard lived here." His jaw was clenched as he moved into the basement before her.
Christy glanced around the half done construction, the walls going up, the wood waiting to go up, and the cement wall with strong chains that moved down to connect to bodies. The size of the bodies made it clear they weren't adults. "My god." Christy stared at the children and then over to Tom. Those kids had to have been young teenagers, her guess. She tore her eyes away from the poor bastards whose last hours were a nightmare and looked around at the construction. "No one here?"
"Hasn't been for a while." Tom's face twisted with disgust. "The bastard took them, and I think he raped them." Christy risked another glance at the decomposing bodies. They'd been dead a while. Longer than most they'd seen in houses. There was bed in the corner and the stains looked… Christy glanced at Tom and then the stains. He just nodded. He recognized that.
"And every day I see yet more evidence that people are monsters." Christy sighed and turned to head upstairs. "Have you checked the kitchen?" She was just as horrified as he was, but they couldn't do anything here. They were way too late. The bastard had left his victims chained to the wall to die of thirst or hunger while he ran.
"Christy!" Christy blinked as she found herself facing Mystique. The woman was shaking her.
Christy looked around the room for a moment. "Downstairs." Seeing the construction in progress, she'd remembered seeing something that after taking carpentry with Jon didn't make sense.
"Jake and Jacob may be different." Christy spoke quietly, almost muttering to herself. "But Liam was a monster here and there."
"You never told me you had flashbacks." Mystique spoke quietly as they took the stairs. "It was a flashback right, not precognition?"
"I don't get flashbacks often, I was just trying to remember." Christy cringed as she opened the basement door, almost expecting to see the bodies, but she couldn't see anything with the walls completed. "He built these walls double thick." Christy moved to the wall between the cell and the main room. The reinforced part was right around the corner. Christy ran her hand along the wall as she got closer to where it had been. A safe was built into the wall, but he hadn't put the plaster in yet. It was done now. "Here."
Mystique gave her a strange look, before moving to shove the recliner out of the way. "Good call. I noticed the scrapes on the floor. This chair is moved often." Christy caught Mystique looking at something and then back. This room was bugged.
It was there. The safe was behind a well disguised door. Christy waited in silence as Mystique enhanced her hearing and listened for the combination. It opened, revealing papers and some tapes. It was what they were after.
…………..
Mystique was quiet as she quickly checked over the papers while also photographing them so that they'd have copies of the information.
Christy had actually worried her staring off like that, with a horrified expression on her face. There was a story here, and once they were truly alone, without Shortpack listening it, Christy was going to tell her.
They found lots of evidence against the F.O.H., tapes, articles were on the wall. Nothing in the papers indicated Jessi. The tapes were audio, small tapes, which most likely had been hidden in a coat pocket to catch a confession. Mystique identified what they'd need to take while Christy stared at the article collection on the wall.
Christy turned and just looked at her, mouthing the answer to the question she couldn't ask yet. "He was a serial killer in my world. We found the bodies, the articles, when we went on a hunt for food." She looked worried and Mystique could see Christy staring at the door to the sealed up door as if she knew what horrors were in there.
"We're ready to go." Mystique put everything back in the safe, minus what would be a problem for Jessi. She pushed the chair back into place and turned to Christy. "You did it." It wasn't the way she'd expected, but they had what they wanted. "He has evidence on all of them."
They were walking out the door and down the driveway in their disguises when Christy finally spoke again. "Mystique." Her voice was soft, thoughtful. "If they don't lock him up he'll kill again. He'll go after Jessi."
"He was a killer in your world?"
"We found this house, and the bodies. He'd chained them to the wall, raped them, mutilated them, and left them to die while he ran to the Midwest, or died." Christy stopped outside of the car and stared at Mystique's Liam form for a while. It wasn't the first time someone that knew who it really was glared at the form and ignored the woman underneath, but she didn't like Christy looking at her like that.