Thanks to:

Todd Fan – It's only gonna get more ominous from here!

Furygrrl – I knew you'd like it! Mallory is one of Mystique's aliases (married to a Senator, one adopted daughter) and yeah, one mutated virus is on it's way! There's mayhem, death and destruction yet to come…

UncannyAsianGirl – I used Thailand because when I was doing research that was the place that they used as an example – probably not a good choice in the light of current events, but it didn't occur to me 'til after I posted the chapter. Thanks for the info on Mystique! I had planned to kill her off right at the beginning so knowing she wouldn't die saved me making a cock-up ;) Thanks for giving this a try even though it's not your usual taste, I hope it lives up to expectations!

DragonMaster02 – Glad you liked it!

Fudie – I'm glad you found it interesting, hope you like this chapter too!

MJ – I don't like wading through tons of unimportant stuff either so I tried to keep it brief. The title actually comes from an REM song called 'It's the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine)' which is deceptively cheerful and I liked the implication – I'll be focusing on the survivors rather than the dead.

Tara – I'm glad you liked it! It'll be very different to 'First Dates'…

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Todd Tolansky cringed as he heard the front door thrown open and took his feet off the furniture just in time. Raven Darkholme strode in and gave the boy a look, half disgust and half amused contempt. But she seemed distracted and for this Todd was grateful.

"Open a window," she snapped and Todd leapt up to do so. Literally. A quirk of genetics had gifted him with powerful legs and an overlong sticky tongue, not to mention his ability to spit huge gobs of slime over several metres. The same genetics had left him skinny, strange-eyed and had given him a green-tinged pallor. He'd resigned himself to a lifetime of ugliness and when he reflected on it – which wasn't often – he understood why Raven held him in such disdain.

Not that she was so normal looking herself. When she'd entered the house she'd been a tall, dark haired woman in her late thirties or early forties, clad in a stern suit and glasses. Now she changed, her skin turning blue, eyes yellow, hair red, the suit replaced by a white outfit that left nothing to the imagination.

"I'll be in my room," she said grimly. "Do not disturb me."

"Sure," muttered Todd, standing to attention until she'd left the room and sticking his tongue out when he was sure she wouldn't see him. He feared her but he couldn't bring himself to take the thinly veiled contempt no matter how furtive and futile the small rebellion.

Mystique had taken him from the children's home some three months previously, where he'd been languishing for the better part of four years. The state had removed him from his mothers care, seeing his pallor and bony frame as signs of neglect. She'd made no attempt to win back custody and few people wanted to foster a boy who looked permanently ill, had dubious personal hygiene and was known to be an opportunistic pickpocket and petty thief. The other kids weren't afraid to blame him for loss of their possessions because a lot of the time he was responsible for the disappearances. He took beatings off several of them and because they were smart enough not to leave many obvious marks and because he wasn't suicidal enough to give names when his injuries were noticed, there were no repercussions.

When the administrator had told him he had a new home, he couldn't believe it. A part of him was convinced he'd screw it up and be back at the home within a week. But he knew it was his last chance, otherwise he'd be turned loose when he got to 18 and then he'd really be on his own. If he could win over his new family then he might be a part of something that had always been out of his reach.

But Mystique didn't want to be his mother or his friend. She spelled out everything she expected from him as they journeyed back to Bayville in the car, all the windows open in spite of the wind. She was part of an organisation that waned to bring together people with special powers, people like her and himself. She called them mutants. Her claim was that when the rest of humanity found out that they existed they would be hunted, persecuted, killed. People would be afraid of their gifts.

After brief consideration, Todd had agreed. He was tired of being different, tired of feeling alone and afraid. Mystique might be a bitch but she knew what he was going through because she'd been there herself. And she was Principal of his new school, which cut him some breaks, especially after being caught at his old tricks again. She'd told him that other mutants would be joining them soon but he was the first.

Todd was beginning to wonder if the other mutants would ever show up. Mystique wasn't exactly great company and she'd left him alone in the house for four days before breezing through the door. He doubted that she'd offer an explanation for her absence and he wasn't about to ask her. It might be nice to have some one to talk to.

Mystique went up the stairs quickly, not wanting to hang around the living room. Something about Toad's odour permeated the fabrics and even when he wasn't there she could still smell him. She was in no mood to deal with Toad right then. The last mission had gone wrong, everything was screwed up and now she had to think of something to tell the people paying her. It was hard enough to do this kind of thing without Magneto finding out, the last thing she needed was this kind of complication. Still, she had the disc and that was worth plenty on its own. She didn't trust Magneto and she needed to feather her own nest. Just in case.

Her mobile phone began to ring, the one she kept hidden away in case Toad ever decided to investigate her room. With a curse she threw the empty travelling bag on the bed and hunted for it in the hidden compartment of the dresser. Finally she got hold of it, checked the caller ID and pressed the reply button.

"Irene?"

"Raven, what did you do?"

Mystique took a seat on the end of the bed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You were in Thailand."

"Yes I was. So what?"

"I saw it all. Raven, the soldier broke the vial."

"That doesn't matter. I still have all the research on disc. It's worth a lot of…"

"No! That's not what I mean. The vial contained a virus, the mutated West Nile Fever."

"And? It's nothing to worry about Irene. In the stage it was in, it couldn't be transferred to a human host. The virus is limited to birds."

"You were disguised as a bird. A hen to be exact."

"So what are you saying?"

"Normally, the virus is transferred from birds to pigs and then on to humans, am I right?"

"According to the research." Mystique realised what Irene was trying to say. "You think it could have been spread to me?"

"Normally it wouldn't be a problem. Your…unique genetic make up allows you to shrug off all known illnesses and most injuries. But you were still contagious Raven. I saw it all. Things have changed."

Raven widened her eyes. "What did you see?"

"The people you met at the airport were all infected. They spread the virus on to the people they met and they spread it on to the people they met. You started an epidemic Raven and you might have gotten better but they won't. They'll keep on spreading the sickness until they die."

"Die?" Raven stood up and began pacing the floor. "What are you telling me Destiny? What can you see?"

"West Nile Fever is usually limited to the northern Mediterranean and can be fatal – but it's usually passed through mosquito bites. The sample you stole is different, it's been modified. It's airborne. And it's fatal."

"How fatal?"

"I see death visiting every country in the world. I see bodies left where they fall, creating secondary disease. I see Magneto's dream of mutant domination fall by the wayside in the wake of a bigger concern."

"You're a real ray of sunshine," snapped Mystique. "I can't see how this…"

"Wait."

Mystique listened intently as on Irene's end of the line there was the sound of a slamming door and a girl's voice. Irene said something, her voice muffled by the distance from the phone, then her voice returned to the line, stronger than ever.

"I have to go. Rogue's home."

"About Rogue…do you see her?"

"Later Raven. She mustn't suspect." Irene hung up the phone, leaving Mystique shocked. Irene's prophecies had never failed to come true and if she was right, then Mystique was responsible for thousands of deaths worldwide. She'd killed before but always out of necessity. To think that she might be responsible for the indiscriminate deaths of so many turned her stomach.

The big payday she'd been anticipating for the disc suddenly looked less appealing.