DISCLAIMER: I don't own the X-Men.
"Momma, there's something Ah should tell you. No, no, it ain't that. No, Ah'm fine. Ah... RAVEN! Will ya shut up a second? Ah'm invulnerable. There's nothing wrong. That's not why Ah called. No, Kurt's fine, too. No, don't worry about that. Ah told ya. No, it's not the...Ah have a daughter. Ah mean just what Ah said. Her name is Marie. Yes. She's twenty four. No, Ah ain't crazy. She's from the future. No. Yeah, Remy. He's right here."
Remy looked up and his eyes got wide. He waved his hands and shook his head, but Rogue just smiled.
"Yeah, Ah'm sure he'd love t' talk to you. Hang on."
She covered the mouthpiece of the phone and handed it to him. "Momma wants t' talk to you."
"T'anks." He rolled his eyes and took the phone, pretending to gag. "Bonjour, Raven. It's been so long since Remy had de pleasure of talking to you. Non, really. Oui. I can close my mouth and listen." He sat and listened to Raven rant, his eyes occasionally showing the full scope of the pain that she threatened to inflict upon him. When it seemed as if she finally had come up for air and given him permission to speak, his face was much paler, and his voice was thin and squeaky. "Oui. Remy understands. Oui. Here she is." He handed the phone back to a grinning Rogue, and basically collapsed in the chair, closing his eyes and whimpering softly.
"Yes, Momma. Of course you can see her. The Professor wanted to talk to you. Ah don't know. No, Ah didn't tell him where you were. Yes, Remy is still here. As much as Ah enjoy having you chew him out, Ah think he's had enough for one day. What did you say to him, anyways?" She waited a minute while Mystique recounted as much of her rant as she could remember. "Ah see... Well, that might be a problem. Considering the fact that this daughter of mine ain't gonne be born for another few years, that might be something he'll need later. Ah don't care if that puts a bad mental image in yer head. Oh, fine. But just for five seconds." She handed the phone back to Remy, and counted on her fingers as Remy tolerated another round of harsh words. Sure enough, exactly five seconds later, he hung up the phone and ran his hand through his hair.
"Well, now Remy knows where you get it from."
"Why'd you hang up?"
"Raven hung up."
"She gonna call back?"
"Who knows? But she said dat she can't wait until she comes to say hello to Marie."
"So she is gonna come...that should be nice."
"For you, maybe."
Mystique dialed the phone, and waited only seconds for it to be answered on the other end.
"Ok, Xavier. I'll meet with you, but only because I want to meet my granddaughter."
Pietro happened to be in the next room over, and he overheard the conversation. Once the plans were made, and he heard the phone slam into the receiver, he appeared on the other side of Mystique's desk.
"A grandmother, huh?"
"Get out of my office."
"You're a lot older than I thought, Mystique."
"What did I just say?"
"As you wish, granny."
He was gone in a rush of air, the door slammed behind him. Looking at a photo on her desk, Raven couldn't help but laugh at Pietro's statement about her age 1. She picked up the framed picture and looked at the younger Rogue, the one who had threatened her with a shotgun the first time they met. Standing next to her was Irene. She remembered (painfully) Destiny's death 2. It had been an extremely horrible time for her. She had feared Rogue dead at the time, and Destiny's dying practically in her arms was just the icing on the cake. She wiped the tear that was forming from the corner of her eye and looked away from the picture. She had centuries of memories, none of which really seemed to be comforting. But she was good at hiding it. If her face gave it away, she simply changed her face. Just one of the perks of being a shape-shifter. She reached into her desk drawer and pulled out a remote control. Pushing a button, the bookcase against the wall slid open, revealing literally hundreds of assorted firearms.
"If Xavier thinks I'm going in there unarmed as well as alone, he's out of his mind."
She selected a handful of weapons, including some that were made to look like jewelry. Only a few people were able to spot the weapons, they blended so well with her body and her general sense of style. Rogue was one of those people, but she usually kept quiet about it, choosing to laugh silently instead. Now that she had a granddaughter, maybe that would change. She paused, as she was checking the magazine in her gun. Screwing on the silencer, she imagined what she was going to do to that disgusting Cajun who was responsible for her having a grandchild.
"Will be responsible," she reminded herself, cocking the gun. She hit the remote control and the wall replaced itself. Walking back to her desk, she locked the computer and replaced the remote control, then headed out of the office, stopping to poke her head into the den where Toad and Blob were watching television.
"I'm going out. If anyone needs me, tell them that I do not care."
Toad turned around and smiled a disgusting smile. "No problem, Gramma."
"And if you see Mr. Maximoff, tell him that he's lucky that his daddy is so influential."
"She's coming over NOW?!"
"That's what the Professor said."
"Dieu... dat's not enough time for Remy to clear out."
"Rem... ya don't have to clear out." She thought for a moment. "Just maybe take everything that belongs to you outta mah room."
"Oui, dat's probably a good idea. Got a box?"
Rogue laughed. "Ya might need a few boxes."
Gambit grumbled and started to pile things onto her bed.
"Hey! I been looking for dis for a long time!" He held up an electric razor.
"Sorry, sugah... but it works so much better than mine."
He tossed it on the growing pile, as she started to go through the drawers. She pulled a small box out of her nightstand.
"Might wanna take these t' your room."
"Oui."
After five minutes, the bed was almost full of assorted items. Remy pulled up the corners of the comforter and twisted them up at the tip, then tried to sling the large bundle over his shoulder. It was too heavy, though, and he soon got pushed out of the way as Rogue picked it up easily with one hand and walked out of the room. He did one last scan of the room before closing the door behind him and running to catch up with her.
On the way to his room, they passed Marie in the hallway. She eyed the bundle that Rogue was carrying and asked, "Is Raven coming over?" Rogue nodded, causing the small box that she had pulled out earlier to fall out of the bundle.
"Whoopsie."
Marie looked towards the small article and then quickly looked away again.
"Did NOT need to know that."
Remy laughed and picked it up, slipping it into his pocket. "All gone."
"Believe me, it isn't. If you'll excuse me, I have to go ask the Professor for a mind wipe." She staggered off towards her room, closing the door quietly behind her.
"Pfft, kids. She'll be fine. Jus' being dramatic, non?"
They continued walking, and Rogue and Remy looked back, as they heard a very distinct scream from the general direction of Marie's room.
"Yeah, she'll be great, Remy."
They had just finished shoving the large bundle into Remy's closet, when Jean entered their minds.
"Did anyone order a psycho?"
Rogue turned to Remy. "Ah guess momma's here."
They poked their heads out of the window, and saw Mystique's green Corvette coming down the driveway.
"Be careful, Rem... She's probably armed to the teeth."
"Dat's good. For everybody."
"'Specially you."
"Oui. 'Specially Remy."
They walked out of the room, stopping by Marie's room to collect her. Marie opened the door.
"Ugh... yeah?"
"Showtime."
"Please, a 'show' is the last thing I want right now."
"Oh, shut up. Ya know what Ah mean."
"Fine, fine." She stepped out of the bedroom and followed them to the main staircase. When they reached the top, they could already hear Mystique chewing out whoever answered the door.
"I don't care what you were told, I'm not here to kill you, although it's starting to look like a good idea. I'm here to see my daughter. And I will not be turned away. Either you step away and let me through or I blow a hole through you and save you the trouble."
They heard the sound of a gun cocking, and Rogue rushed to the top of the stairs, where she saw Mystique aiming a pistol, point blank, at Bobby's head.
"RAVEN! Ah've told ya before, ya come here, ya can't kill mah friends." As Remy walked up and stood beside her, Raven aimed the gun towards him. Rogue stepped in front of him, into the line of fire, and glared at her mother. "Not even th' Swamp Rat." Raven didn't put the gun down. "Ah dare ya."
Mystique rolled her eyes and pulled the trigger.
1 Mystique seems to have met Destiny around the turn of the 20th century, maybe earlier. This makes her...really really old. (X-treme X-men #1)
2 Destiny dies in Uncanny x-men #255... :-(
A/N: This is me trying to get as much up as I can before the shut down this weekend...I'll probably have the next chapter ready by Wednesday, but review anyways. If you can.