Author's Note: The first posting of this had a few typos. It irked me. I changed it. Nothing plotwise changed at all.
What Dreams May Come
"Have I made myself clear?"
Mastermind looked at the sum of money being handed to him. It was a large amount, two thick rolls of twenties. More than he had seen at one point in time. He looked up at the cloaked figure.
"If I'm caught-" he began.
"If you're caught then you're useless."
Mastermind scowled. "You dare-?"
"I'm paying you, aren't I?"
Mastermind felt that greenery calling his name. He snatched the money. "Fine. I'll take up your offer."
"Good. Then you know what to do."
Mastermind stuffed the bills into a pocket of his tattered coat and grinned wickedly, showing his yellowed teeth. His cloaked companion retreated, backwards, watching him until it disappeared into the darkness. Even after it was gone he could still feel eyes on his back. He fingered the money, wondering if his hubris and greed wasn't going to finally catch up to him. . . with a vengeance.
*
"Well, well, well, look at you."
Jean Grey glanced up from her makeup to see Tabitha standing in the bathroom doorway, grinning broadly. "Hello Tabitha," she said merrily. "How are you?"
Jean scanned the other girl's outfit with interest. Tabitha was wearing a primarily black shirt with bursts of orange and yellow on it, as if she had captured the look of one of her firecrackers exploding on a black background. Her jeans were tattered and her hair was more mussed up than usual. Next to the blue strapless dress Jean was wearing, it was quite the contrasting image. Tabitha noticed her looking and grinned.
"Like it? I'm heading down to see Bayville's hottest band tonight, and this is what the guitarist wears. He's major cuuuuute- and I've got an extra ticket. . ." She tempted.
"Not tonight Tabitha. I'm having dinner with Scott."
Tabitha's eyes lit up. "So that's why you been in her waaaaay over an hour and a half!" She hopped up to sit on the counter next to the sink. "So, is this the first official date or what? Detail, details! Is it just dinner? Dinner and a movie? Dinner and a make out session? Dinner and making out in the movie?"
"Tabitha!" Jean exclaimed.
'No?" Tabitha's grin grew. "Then a trip to the lover's lane of town?"
"Excuse me?!"
Tabitha threw her arms into the air, "Well if you don't tell me, how am I supposed to know?"
"It's. Just. Dinner." Jean picked up her brush and began to brush out her hair. "Nothing more."
Tabitha turned the faucet on so that it was just barely a trickle and ran her fingers beneath it. "Uh huh." She glanced up at the redhead, "You'd like it to be more, wouldn't you?"
Jean dropped the brush in astonishment, but her telekinesis saved it from crashing to the tiled floor. Jean waved her hand and the thin stream of water skirted away from Tabitha's hand and hit her in the face. Tabitha sputtered.
"Ack! Ptoo! No fair! I didn't even get a chance to defend myself!" The younger mutant gasped.
"You didn't give me much room to defend myself verbally," Jean countered.
"You're a psychic," Tabitha protested. "You don't need to defend yourself verbally!" She wiped the water from her face with a towel. "Do you know how tempting it is to throw a firecracker into your makeup and watch it explode all over your perfect outfit-?" she spied Jean's small look of horror and concluded with "-But I'll save my revenge for another time."
Jean snorted. "You harass me, I retaliate, and you see it fit to take vengeance?"
Tabitha gave Jean a shocked look. "Of course! Why shouldn't I?"
"You are one of a kind Tabitha."
"I try."
*
Scott adjusted his bow tie nervously for the sixteenth time. He was wearing simple black pants and shoes and a crisp white shirt. He tugged gently on the tie to the right, then to the left, then he tried pulling it up a little more. It just didn't look right.
"Having troubles bro?" Alex asked his brother.
"This stupid thing. . ." Scot mumbled. "It- it just doesn't look the way I want it to."
Alex snickered.
"What?"
"Dude, bro, that could be because you tied the thing so that it's like. . . Inside out or something. Here, let me see." Alex removed the bow tie form his brother's neck, redid it, and then tied it back up. "Better?"
"Yeah, thanks Alex," Scott said, ruffling his brother's light hair. "You're a lifesaver."
"Hey, if that's the case then can you forgive me for nearly drowning us both in Hawaii?" Alex said, punching his brother in the shoulder.
"Are you kidding me?" Scoot said mockingly. "You're never living that down little brother. What was it that you said-? Massive storms mean massive breakers?"
"Uh, something like that," Alex said sheepishly. "But it was true wasn't it? Some of those waves were HUGE!"
"Yeah, especially when they were looming over our heads."
They both laughed. Scott ran a hand through his hair nervously.
"I have never seen you this scared bro- not even when mom and dad threw us out of the plane," Alex mumbled the last part. "She means a lot to you, doesn't she?"
"Yeah. . .Yeah she really does," Scott admitted, the light slipping across his glasses.
"Well, first impressions are everything, right?" Alex said. "So, you'd better get a move on, or you're going to be late on the first date. . . And that's never a good sign."
"Late-? Oh crap!" He exclaimed looking at his watch. "Thanks Alex!" He gasped, hurtling out of his room at breakneck speeds.
"Good luck bro. You're gonna need it," Alex said, shaking his head and closing the door to Scott's room behind him.
*
Kurt strolled down the halls of the institute whistling. Normally he would have been teleporting all over the place, but the furry blue elf was not trying to go anywhere. Rather, he was stalking prey.
"Remy LeBeau, Ah swear t' high heaven if y'all don't stop tryin' t' do that Ah'm droppin' yah like a sack of c'ment."
Rather loud prey.
"What-?" Remy said innocently, coming up behind Rogue with a swiftness only a thief could muster. "You don' want Remy t' be holdin' you cherie?"
"Not in those places- no! An' ya shouldn't be that close t' me anyway. We could accidentally touch-" Rogue scolded him.
"So? Remy's not worried 'bout dat mon amour. You can touch me any time you like- anywhere you like."
Loud and rambunctious prey.
Kurt slipped behind a door as Rogue and Remy's voices came closer. He peered around the door and watched with a wry grin as Rogue thrust a gloved finger up in front of Remy's nose.
"Now ya listen t' me LeBeau," she began, "ya need t' learn when t' keep ya hands off!"
"Ah, but you're tempting me sorely Rogue."
"Well Ah tell ya one thing- yah gonna be really sore if ya keep this up, if ya know what I mean."
Kurt couldn't help but snicker. Rogue's head turned in the direction of the noise and he tried to pull out of sight.
"KURT!" Rogue shouted seeing the blue tail suddenly dart behind the doorway. She grabbed the doorknob and swiped at his tail. Kurt teleported away and Rogue was left with a lung full of sulfur. "Ugh! That ELF!"
*
Kurt reappeared outside his own room. "Dat girl is vaaay too sensitive," he mumbled, opening the door. He entered the room, tweaked his stereo and began blasting some music. He looked down at the floor, where his backpack lay open and sighed. "I might as vell get a head start on my homework, ja?" He said to himself. He held the bag open with his tail and scooped out his notebook and math textbook. Kurt's tail snaked out over towards his desk and slipped under a pencil and lifted it up. He flopped down on his bed and dropped the pencil on the open notebook in front of him. He glanced at the paper with the numbers in front of him and sighed. It was going to be a long night.
*
Wanda Maximoff was washing her face in the upstairs bathroom of the boarding house, trying to figure out how even the sink in this place could be covered in a thin layer of slime or dust or. . .something. It was way past high time they cleaned this place up. Maybe she would suggest it to the boys tomorrow. They'd probably look at her like she was crazy. Then again, then did that a lot. Especially when she was talking about her father. It struck her as very odd. They tried to hide it, which was stranger. She couldn't quite figure it out.
Her father had been in much closer contact with the inhabitants of the Brotherhood house since the incident with Apocalypse. In fact, he was stopping by in two days. Wanda smiled a little at her wet reflection. She always felt better when her father was around. She picked up a towel and was about to use it to dry her face when she saw the large stain on it. She rolled her eyes. She picked up a second towel and patted her face lightly, then popped her head out into the hallway.
"Hey guys!" She shouted. She could see Blob wince as her voice carried down the hallway.
It was funny the way everyone did that whenever she raised her voice.
"Don't you think we should clean up this dump before my father gets here?"
"Uh, yeah, sure," Blob nodded. He was holding a large bucket of fried chicken, recently purchased from a fast food place. He watched her nervously for a second and then held out the bucket to her. "Want some?"
Wanda looked over the crumbs all over his shirt and eyed the chicken dubiously. "Uh, no thanks." She looked up at him. "How's Lance doing, by the way? Anyone run to check on him today?"
"I think Pietro might have stopped by for two seconds," Blob nodded.
"Literally two seconds if I know my brother," Wanda mumbled. "Thanks. Maybe if we get this place cleaned up we can take a trip down there. We could get him a card or something."
"Uh, yeah, sure," he said again.
"Hey cuddle-muffin!"
Wanda groaned as she saw Toad come hopping over. "Hello Toad," she said, hoping he'd catch the tone that said, loudly, 'I'm-not-interested'.
"Whaddya say we ditch these losers and go catch a movie, just you and me?" He smiled, showing all of his crooked and green teeth.
"Uh- no. I'm going to bed early tonight. We're going to clean this place tomorrow."
"Clean?" Toad said, eyes widening. "As in clean clean?"
"Yes. We're going to fix this place up," Wanda said firmly, watching with a bit of satisfaction the expression of mild terror on his face. "That means you should take a shower."
"Sh- sh- shower?" He said, his pitch considerably higher.
"Yes. With soap."
Toad staggered back. "S- s- s- soap? Yo! Wait a minute! The Toad don't use no soap!"
"It's obvious. You smell like last week's garbage," Wanda said.
This stunned Toad into silence for a moment. "B-but sweetie-pie," he said as his voice returned to him, "I thought you liked the way I smelled!"
"What on god'sgreenearth gave you thatidea?" Pietro interjected in his usual rushed manner as he appeared from seemingly nowhere, only a gust of wind indicating that he had been somewhere else. "I mean seriouslyman, you reeksobad that it'sawonder we don't all justdropdead."
"Pietro, you're talking way too fast," Wanda informed him. "I can hardly understand you, and I've lived with you all my life."
The boys all paused.
Again with that weirdness.
Wanda let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm taking a shower and going to bed," she said flatly. "You guys figure out who's going to do what tomorrow."
The boys looked at one another quietly as Wanda slipped upstairs to get her bathrobe. Toad began creeping towards the bathroom but Pietro grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.
"What, yo? I was just, you know, gonna make sure she got in the tub all right," Toad whined.
"I have toomuch respect for my sister to letyouspy on her," Pietro grumbled at him. "Go chase a garbage truck," he said tossing Toad at Blob.
Blob caught Toad with one arm, still clinging to the chicken with the other. Toad flipped Pietro the bird, and suddenly found a drumstick shoved into his mouth. He gagged for a second, then extracted it.
"Yo! That was totally uncalled for!"
"Take it easy Toad," Blob said. "If there's one thing you don't want to do it's mess with that family." He added sagely, "They have enough problems all ready."
*
Scott was still nervously playing with his bow tie as he raced towards Jean's room. Just as he was about to knock on the door it opened.
"Hey there Shades!"
Scott jumped back as Tabitha came right up into his face. He blinked. "Uh- Hi Tabitha. What are you doing here?"
"Just helping Red get ready," Tabitha winked, running her finger under his chin.
Scott looked at the outrageous outfit Tabitha was wearing, the rumpled hair and the makeup that was darker than what Rogue usually wore and made a muffled noise. Tabitha laughed heartily. She shook her head and walked down the hallway, throwing up her arm in a wave. "Good luck Shades!"
Why does everyone keep saying that? Scott wondered. He peered into Jean room and didn't see her. "Jean-?"
"Scott!" Jean called out from deeper inside the room. "Come on in! I'm just putting on my lipstick. Sorry I'm running a little late.
"No problem," he assured her.
Scott entered the room cautiously, as if something was going to jump out and try to take a bite out of him. He looked around nervously, but didn't see Jean until she stepped out in front of him and twirled.
"So- how do I look?"
If there was once in his life that Scott wished the world wasn't always tinted ruby red it would be that moment. He could tell that she was wearing a dress in a shade of blue, and he could only imagine how well it set off her hair and eyes. He smiled broadly and said, "Wow. . . Jean. . . You look amazing."
She smiled at him, that Jean Grey patented smile that no one else could pull off. He grinned, somewhat foolishly, back, and offered her his arm. She took it and they walked down the hallway and made their way outside to Scott's awaiting car.
"So, where are we going?" Jean asked.
"That little Japanese restaurant Logan took everyone to a while ago. You seemed to really like it, so I made reservations," Scott said. She saw her smiled broaden and he beamed back at her.
"Mr. Summers, I do believe you've outdone yourself," she said playfully.
He grinned and opened the car door for her. She stepped inside elegantly, and he shut the door after she was in. He wound around to the driver's side and opened it up, sat down and started the car. He fastened his safety belt and looked over at Jean.
"All buckled up?"
She nodded.
"Then here we go!" Scott said making the car roar to life.
They sped down the road with the top down, Jean's hair whipping out behind her like a flag. Scott admired it for only an instant, since he had to drive. There was a silence between them, a little awkward, but more relaxed than it could have been. When they pulled up to the restaurant Scott stopped the car, got out and opened Jean's door for her.
"My, my, aren't we the gentleman tonight?" She said her eyes twinkling.
"First impressions are everything- or so I'm told," Scott chimed.
The two entered the restaurant and were greeted by a short elderly Japanese man. He was a kindly, grand-fatherly fellow. He gave them a short bow and directed them to a table. He pulled out the seat for Jean and she thanked him in Japanese, which delighted him. He smiled broadly and scurried off to get them menus.
"Since when do you speak Japanese?" Scott asked her, one eyebrow cocked.
Jean smiled. "Lets just say I picked it up from somewhere, shall we?"
Scott chuckled.
The little grand-fatherly man came back with the menus. He rattled off the specials in broken English, and then went over to greet another party that was entering.
"Mmm. I think I'm going to get the sushi dinner," Jean said. "It comes with miso soup and a salad, that should fill me right up. What about you Scott?"
"Raw fish? I'd rather do a one on one with Magneto," Scott said. "No, it's chicken teriyaki for me."
They placed their orders and an awkward silence fell over them both.
"So. . . " Scott began.
"So," Jean echoed.
"Uh, how you've been? Anything interesting happen lately?"
"Oh, nothing really," she said. "Duncan's been around lately and it's ticking me off. He wants to use me to find out the answers to some college entrance exam he's got to take. Personally I hope he fails. The college couldn't possibly know what kind of major character flaws he has, and I don't want them to suffer through learning about them."
Scott laughed, then looked grim. "If he bothers you again you could always tell him I'd be happy to use my powers for him."
"Scott! There's no need for that. Besides, we shouldn't be threatening people with our powers." No matter how tempting it may be, she added mentally.
Scott smiled. Well, can I imagine punching him through a wall for you and share the vision?
Be my guest.
They both laughed and the other patrons looked puzzled, obviously not getting the joke.
*
Kurt groaned. After a few hours of math homework he was exhausted, no bones about it. Almost as much as he would have been if her had done one of Logan's training sessions. That was saying something. He teleported off of his bed, and reappeared, standing, next to his dresser. He pulled out his pajamas, and swiftly changed. His tail snaked out and flipped off the switch for his main lights.
Kurt teleported back onto his bed and turned on the small side table lamp to light up his math work again. He began scribbling on the paper again. "Dhis was dhefiantly made to be used as a torture for criminals vay back when. Now dhey just put the teenagers through it because teenagers are 'difficult'."
His eyelids drooped, and the numbers began to blur in front of him. He stifled a yawn and pushed his books gently off of the side of his bed. "Dhat's enough of a head start," he murmured. "I vill finish it up in dhe morning. . ."
He curled up inside his blankets and almost instantly fell asleep.
The landscape around him was familiar. It was the fields around his adoptive parent's house in Germany. Kurt wandered across them smiling. A long way off he could see a younger version of himself, maybe eight, tops, playing in the freshly fallen snow.
"Kurt Wagner!" His adoptive mother called out in German. "I don't care how much fur you have- you get right back in here and put your coat on!"
The younger Kurt bounded over to her on all fours. "Coming mother!"
Kurt watched the scene with a nostalgic smile, until he realized that he was not the only one watching the scene.
"Wretch! How can she call herself his mother?"
Kurt jumped as he noticed a cloaked figure next to him. He knew who it was instantly. His real mother. Mystique.
"Vhat are you doing here?" Kurt demanded of her. She didn't respond. He was about to demand an answer from her again when he realized that she was just a figment of his dream. Nothing to be concerned with.
The younger Kurt leapt out into the snow again laughing gleefully. "Come on mother! Come play with me!"
His adoptive mother shook her head. "I cannot play Kurt- I have to make dinner. You be a good little boy and keep yourself entertained."
The younger Kurt sighed and scurried out into the snow. His mother went inside the house.
"Vait- I remember dhis," Kurt said. "I vas playing, and dhen mother came out and joined me, even dhough she was going to cook dinner."
He watched the door to the house intently, a light smile playing across his lips. When the door did not open he frowned. "I don't understand. . ."
Mystique beside him stirred. She stood up, and suddenly assumed the form of Kurt's adoptive mother. "I will not let that human bitch have all of the moments that should be mine, with my son," she said firmly. Then she snuck out of the woods quietly. She scooped up a handful of snow, and tossed it at the younger Kurt. He squeaked and fell over, unprepared for such an attack.
"Mother!" The younger Kurt said happily. "You came to play! But- what about dinner?"
Mystique smiled at him. "I'll have it done by the time you Father comes home, but let's not tell him about this-"
The older Kurt mouthed the next words as Mystique spoke them.
"- let's just keep it our special secret, my little one."
He watched, fascinated, shocked, confused, as the two played in the snow. "Dhat's not possible. Mystique- she never visited me. . . Did she?"
As their playtime came to a close, Kurt teleported himself over to the mother and son, listening to their words.
"Mother? Why are you crying?"
Kurt's heart leapt into his throat. He remembered this.
Mystique held the boy close. "Because, my little one, you don't realize how special you are to me."
The little Kurt wiped away a tear from his mother's eyes. "Mother. . . Why is it that I can never play with the other children? Why are they so scared of me?"
Mystique buried her head into the boy's hair. "Because they do not understand. They do not understand how beautiful you are. My little boy."
The younger Kurt stayed in her arms for a few more minutes, then he began to squirm. Mystique released him, and as the younger boy was looking away, she turned into a bird and flew off.
*
Wanda had changed into her red and black tee shirt and pulled on her black pajama pants when she heard the boys whispering in the room next to hers. Ignoring what they were saying she slammed her fist into the wall and shouted "Hey! Keep it down!"
The boys fell silent. They had been discussing whether it was possible for Wanda's altered set of memories to break down, and what would happen if they did. It was not a conversation they wanted her to hear.
Wanda grumbled a little about 'common courtesy' and then picked up the book that was balanced precariously on her night table. It was Sabriel by Garth Nix, a book she had taken a liking to within the first few pages. Sabriel, the main character, was the daughter of the Abhorsen, a man with necromantic powers who used them to lay the dead to rest. He had gone missing, and Sabriel was trying frantically to find him, along with a cat-creature of 'free' or 'wild' magic called Mogget, and a man who had been imprisoned as a ship's figurehead for two hundred years. He had just introduced himself to Sabriel by his new name, Touchstone (which had been given to him by Mogget), when she felt herself nodding off. The book fell to the side of her bed with a light thud and she began to dream.
"FATHER!"
She had screamed for him until her throat was sore.
She had screamed for days. . . for nights.
He wasn't coming back.
What had she done that was so wrong? Why was she being punished this way? Has she broken something important? She didn't think so.
"PIETRO!"
He brother. . . He would come get her. She felt the loss of her twin like a wound in her side. They were so close. They shared a bond that couldn't be broken. Why hadn't he come to get her yet?
There were people who would open the little slot in the door and peer in at her like she was a zoo animal to be ogled at. She yelled and kicked and screamed every time they did so.
"Some sort of freak- a mutant. . ."
Her father was a mutant. Her brother was a mutant. So was she. What did that have to do with anything? Why were these men talking in whispers about it?
"Well?" said a cold voice.
"We've gotten permission from the state to conduct a few research experiments."
"Fantastic. Bring me some sedative. It's time our dear Ms. Maximoff learned why she was here."
*
After watching Mystique fly off the older Kurt shook his head. "Dhis is not real Kurt. Get a grip man!"
His 'real' mother stuck her head out from the kitchen window. "Kurt! Supper time!"
"Coming!!" The younger Kurt said in a singsong manner. He was totally oblivious to the way his mother had managed to get back into the house and cook dinner in a matter of minutes. This fact, however, was not wasted on the older Kurt. "Vhy am I remembering dhis?" He asked out loud.
The scene shifted. It was a very, very, unpleasant shift. It skipped his years traveling with his parents when they joined the circus when he was ten. This memory took place on a dark, moon less and stormy night. One that he would never forget, not a long as he lived. It took place about a year before he had journeyed to America ad had enrolled at Xavier's school. It was because of this night that his parents had begun looking for other places for him to stay.
Kurt watched as another image of him crossed his line of sight. This Kurt Wagner was out of breath, running frantically on all fours, gasping, groaning, unable to keep moving, but unable to stop. There were cuts all over his body, scratches littered across his face. He left a trail of dark red behind him, spatters appearing every time one of his limbs hit the ground. His tail dragged behind him, twitching loosely. He tried teleporting, but only wound up a few feet in front of where he had been, and he was thrown from the portal so violently that he hit the ground with a sickening crunch. He yelped in pain. The slightly older Kurt winced at the memory. His tail, his poor precious tail had all ready been fractured by that point, he had just compounded it.
"There he is! Monster!"
"Get the demon! Slit its throat!"
The roars of a mob built up around him. His way was suddenly lit up by a hundred or more torches. Kurt gasped in horror in time with his other self. The dream Kurt managed to scramble to his feet and begin to run again.
"Shoot it!" someone shouted.
"No!"
Kurt had never looked back to see who had said that. Now that he was reflecting upon the past he did turn, and saw a woman struggling with a man who was holding a shotgun.
"He's not some sort of animal!" The woman shrieked. "He's a human being!"
By this time the dream Kurt was well out of sight, and earshot.
The man with the shotgun slammed the butt of the gun into the woman's head. She crumbled to the ground. "The demon possessed her!" The man cried. "He had magical powers! Hurry! We must kill it before it enslaves another mind!"
The woman had just begun to stir as the mod ran off after the dream Kurt. She groaned and changed into a familiar blue form. "Damn them!" She snarled. "I'll give them a demon!"
Kurt watched with wide eyes as Mystique changed into him and ran off into the woods.
He followed her.
They caught up with the dream Kurt surprisingly fast. Or maybe it wasn't so surprising. Kurt remembered that moment vividly. He had been so tired, his bones ached so much, that he just couldn't go on any longer. He had resigned to let himself die. The dream Kurt found a tree with a hole between two of its roots, and curled up inside of it. Too tired to weep, too terrified to breath, too broken to tremble. He closed his eyes and waited for death to come.
The real Kurt watched in amazement as Mystique, in his form, ran down the path, straight towards the mob. As soon as she saw the first torched she skidded and began running in the exact opposite direction that dream Kurt lay.
"There! There's the demon!" The man with the shotgun shouted. He took aim, and let a bullet fly with a 'crack'! It grazed Mystique's shoulder. She yelped, in his voice, and began running faster.
*
Wanda struggled, screaming. "Wait! Just wait until I get my hands out!" She shouted. She was ten, it had been four years since she had been brought to this hell-on-earth. She was cursing, struggling with the guards. The man she only knew as 'The Doctor' was standing there, his syringe ready.
"That's not proper language for such a young lady," he said quietly.
"Bite me, asshole!" She snapped, twisting her jacket, trying to free one of her hands.
"You keep acting like this, Wanda, and we'll have to use shock treatment again."
"I'm not a fucking animal! I have rights! You can't be doing this shit to me!" Wanda gasped as he plunged the syringe into her arm.
"You're a mutant girl. You're worse than an animal. There are animal rights activists. No one cares about the mutants." He smiled softly at her.
Wanda managed to twist one finger out of the restraints. A chair flew across the room and smashed into the wall. She raged, and tried to send the fragments of the chair flying at the Doctor's head, but the liquid in the syringe kicked in, burning her veins and clouding her vision.
"Hassole," she garbled, the world becoming increasingly fuzzy around her. "Fukming hassole." Her legs crumbled beneath her, and her head bowed to the ground.
The Doctor smiled. "Bring me my tools."
*
"Don't let it get away!"
Kurt watched as the mob disappeared, following Mystique deeper and deeper into the woods. He swiftly returned to where dream Kurt lay, like he had suspected, his dream self had passed out.
A few minutes later his adoptive parents found him. His mother gasped in horror and his father scooped him up. "Back to the wagon!" He ordered her. "Get the horses ready, we are leaving immediately!"
He remembered waking up hours later to find his tail wrapped up, his wounds cleaned and a damp cloth on his head. That night they fled the circus, went back to their isolated little cottage in the middle of nowhere. His parents had nursed him back to health. The first word he had spoken, upon recovering enough to speak, was "Why?"
His mother held him, crying, "Because the world is a cruel, cruel place my son. A cruel place, where people cannot look past what they see."
A few days later they were contacted by Charles Xavier. His parents had said nothing about if for months, not until after he had fully recovered. He was still scarred emotionally by the event, and when they had spoken of leaving and going to school in America he had refused.
"No! The people there will be just as bad as the people here! I will not go ANYWHERE!"
He slammed the door in his father's face and curled up in a corner. Kurt watched his dream self as he rocked back and forth, knowing exactly what he was recalling. The bloodthirsty cries. The torches, The pitchforks. . .
'In America they will be worse!' He thought. 'They will have guns! They will lock me up and experiment on me!'
It was a strange cooing at his window that distracted him from his thoughts. He looked up and saw an injured baby screech owl. Kurt opened up the window and took the small creature up in his three fingered hand.
"What are you doing here?" He asked the creature in German. The owl cooed at him. Kurt held it close to his chest, and opened the door to his room. He found his parents sitting at the kitchen table, looking worried. They looked up as they saw him.
"It's hurt," Kurt said.
His father got up immediately and took the animal form his son. "We'll get a shoe box and some cloth and make a bed for it. Then we'll see what we can do."
It had taken them a few weeks to nurse the owl back to health. Kurt had become very attached to the creature. As it had gotten well it had taken up the habit of sleeping by his bedside. After about a month and a half the little owl was flying around the room.
"It's time to let it go Kurt," his father told him gently. "Tomorrow night, we have to set him free."
"But what if he doesn't want to go back out there? What if he doesn't want to get hurt again?" Kurt said.
His father frowned and said nothing.
*
It wasn't so much that she disliked the darkness of the padded cell. The total absence of decoration didn't bother her either. It was the silence. The silence that left her only with her rage. Her father had abandoned her, left her here to die. The self righteous bastard. He was all about mutants rising above humans, preventing injustices, but he had left his own daughter with that Doctor that called himself a man. Her body still ached from the electricity he had run through her to get her to cooperate. She could remember his most recent experiment. She had been strapped down, nude, as he poked and prodded in places that he shouldn't have ever been allowed to touch. She still felt violated. She was fifteen now, she had spent the better part of nine years being tortured by that man, and by her memories of another.
"I HATE YOU!" She screamed, hoping that somewhere, her father could feel that. "I hate you and that spineless coward that called himself my brother!"
"And what about me?"
Wanda twisted around to see the Doctor's eyes at the slot in the door. Her rage built up into a bellow inside of her as she lunged at the door, slamming her shoulder up against it. "YOU! I'll KILL you! Just like I'll KILL that son of a bitch who thinks he's my father!! Just let me out once, just once with my hands free and I swear to high heaven I'll turn you inside out!"
The Doctor laughed.
Wanda spit through the door slat.
The Doctor jerked his head back and scowled at her, "That'll cost you dinner for the next week."
"Fuck dinner! You only give me leftover processed garbage anyway!" Wanda roared.
"Well you'll be wishing you had that processed garbage after a week of no meals," the Doctor snapped. To a nearby guard he said, "Keep her in isolation. No one is to talk to her, pass her any food, or even look at her. Am I understood?"
The guard nodded. "Yes sir."
Wanda listened to the sounds of the retreating Doctor until she was left in silence once again. She began twisting and turning in her straight jacket. The one thing the Doctor hadn't realized was that he had now given Wanda a week alone, and she was ready for it. Even only a few hors into her twisting, the small part of one of the metal belts that held her tightly bound was beginning to slip out of its hole.
*
Kurt went to his room, where the little owl was sleeping on his bed. As he entered the little creature woke and hooted at him.
"Hello my little friend," Kurt said. "Did you sleep well?"
The little owl hooted in reply.
Kurt chuckled. "That's good." He sat down on the bed. The owl fluttered up to rest on his knee, where Kurt pet it gently. "My parents say I have to let you go tomorrow."
The owl stayed silent.
"But- I don't want you to get hurt again. It's a cruel world out there. People hurt people, before they even know why."
The owl cooed.
"My parents want me to go to America. To go to a school with people who are- different. Like me. . . But not like me. I'm afraid that they will be scared of me. That they will hate me. That they will hurt me."
The owl puffed up under his fingers. Kurt looked at him.
"Do you want to go back out into the world that hurt you? The world that left you for dead?"
The little owl hooted softly and spread its wings as widely as it could.
Kurt looked at it thoughtfully. "Maybe- maybe you're right my little friend." Kurt got up off of the bed and went back into the main part of the house. He told his father that he wanted to meet Charles Xavier and see what he had to offer. His parents were proud of him.
*
It had been a long week. Wanda had passed out once due to a lack of fluids in her system. The Doctor, who didn't want his precious experiment to die on him, order the guards to give her water. She had been working furiously on the straps of her jacket, and finally had them loose enough that she could move her hands. She sat in the darkest corner of the room. She heard the Doctor and his entourage approach.
"Open the door."
The guard did so and Wanda struggled a little as they placed the collar on her, like she was an animal. Her eyes flashed with fire. The Doctor smiled.
Wanda smiled back.
That unnerved him instantly. He lunged at her with the usual syringe, but she, moving just a few fingers, made it explode in his face. With a further movement she freed herself from the collar and had her arms moving freely.
"This is what happens when an animal gets their revenge!" She shouted. She flung her hands out in front of her and the Guards coming towards her shot backwards into the wall. She whipped her hands over her head and the long pointed needle that would have injected her for the umpteenth time spun into the air. The Doctor backed away in horror.
"Don't!" He begged.
That set her off. "How many times have I begged you to stop? You torture me day after day, week after week, year after year! I'M ENDING THIS RIGHT NOW!"
The needle shot through the air and pierced the jugular vein of the Doctor, then pulled away, causing a stream of blood to begin to shoot from his neck. He sputtered, grasped at the wound and gaped at her. Wanda flicked her finger and the needle plunged through the front of his throat, silencing his gasps, but making him gurgle as blood came up in his mouth.
"Now I'm an animal just like you," she hissed. Looking at the Doctor bleeding on the floor and realizing what she had done she gagged.
"Oh god, oh god no. I'm just like. . . Just like my father. . ." She gasped.
Guards leapt up to restrain her, and some went to help the Doctor, even though it was too late. The man who had been the second in command over her situation commanded, "Get that man Xavier on the phone!" He looked at the Doctor, dead on the floor. "I knew you would push her too far. I knew it. You just wouldn't listen."
Wanda's mind raced. They were most certainly going to kill her now. Why wouldn't they? They had no reason to keep her alive. She had killed the man that had wanted to keep her alive. Alive for sinister purposes, granted, but alive. For the first time in years, not in anger, but in sheer terror Wanda screamed, "FATHER!"
Pietro was shaking her awake. "Wanda? Wanda? Whathehellisgoingon?"
Throat sore and dry Wanda jerked awake with a terrified gasp. "Oh, oh god, Pietro!" She threw her arms around her brother, trembling. "I- I had the most awful nightmare. . . Father- he'd left me in an Asylum. . ."
Pietro stiffened.
". . .It was horrible! There was this man, Pietro, this man, he tortured me for years and years and then I killed him. I killed him!" She was whimpering. "But I wanted to kill him so much, because he used me as a lab rat! He cut me and poked me and used all sorts of tools and electricity. . ."
Wanda could not see the mortified look on Pietro's face as she buried her head in his shirt. Before her brain had been rewired Wanda had said very little about her time at the Asylum. If this dream had been some sort of memory. . .then she might have been tortured for years. He'd never thought of what they would have done to her, knowing she was a mutant. Mutants didn't have the same sorts of rights as other people. Not yet anyway. He spoke slowly, in a reassuring tone.
"It was just a dream Wanda."
"It felt so real Pietro. I wanted you and father to rescue me so badly. I thought I had done something wrong. . ."
Pietro hugged his sister tighter. "It's okay, it's okay Wanda. You know that Dad and I would never, ever leave you in someplace like that. We would never want you hurt."
Wanda sobbed brokenly into his shirt. Pietro rubbed her back gently, and felt something that made him swallow hard. Running down Wanda's spine was a long scar.
No way! Someone. . . Someone really hurt her in that place?!
"I- I could go get him," Pietro said softly. "I'll find him for you, you know I will."
"No!" She exclaimed. "No. . . I don't want him to see me like this, all because of some stupid dream. . ."
"Hey- wassamatter with my sweetie pie?" Toad said, finally entering with Blob.
"Wanda had a nightmare," Pietro cast them a warning look, "about being thrown in an Asylum by our father."
"NEVER!" Toad said, maybe a tad too loud. "Yo' poppa would never do that sort of thing!"
"Exactly," Blob echoed.
"See?" Pietro said. "Father loves you. He would never put you through that."
Wanda, still shaking, nodded. "You're right," she murmured. "Yeah, of course. You're right. . ."
Pietro was gone and back in an instant. "There, I put some milk on the stove. I'll make you some hot chocolate, so we can talk about it."
Wanda smiled weakly at him. "Thank you Pietro. I know I can always count on you."
Somewhat guiltily Pietro smiled at her, and then sped down to the kitchen to watch the milk.
*
The real Kurt watched with a twinge of sadness as his dream self let the owl go the next night and then went back into the house. He did, however, note that the little owl suddenly turned around and landed nearby a window. His jaw
dropped as the owl morphed into Mystique.
"So. . . This professor Xavier-"
"He's coming to meet you next week Kurt. If you like what he says, you can go with him as soon as you want. If you don't we will not pressure you into leaving," his father said gently.
Mystique looked furious. "Xavier! That stuffed imbecile! How dare he steal my son! He must know- he's doing this to spite me! That insufferable, meddling cripple!" She swore. "I'll kill him! I'll kill that bastard! He can't have my son! Not after what I went through to protect the boy!"
Kurt was slightly taken aback by that statement, but then noticed the barely healed wounds on Mystique. The most ugly of these was one on her shoulder, which looked like it had been horribly infected. Kurt swallowed hard. The owl had been injured in the wing, with a bad infection. So bad that it had almost killed it. . .
The scene abruptly turned violent. Kurt was in Mystique's shoes as she raced away from the mob in his form. The wound on his. . . Her shoulder throbbed. Quite a few villagers had taken to throwing things. She shrieked in pain as another bullet tore through her leg and she collapsed, twisting around to put her arms up to defend herself.
The mob was upon her in an eye blink. They were tearing at her skin, raking at her eyes, shouting and screaming. Mystique's cries of pain were beaten out of her. Kurt felt the bull of the man's rifle come down against her skull again, and again, and he screamed with her. She did the only thing she could- abruptly changed into an animal and ran off. The villagers screamed 'Sorcery', but she could care less. Her form, which looked somewhat like a rabbit, collapsed as soon as she was out of their view. She pulled herself into a hole and tried to find a form that would help her recover from her injuries. She could hardly breathe. One of the men had been crushing her trachea. . .
"Kurt? Kurt! Wake up!"
"Oh my god Rogue, did you hear him scream-?"
"Kitty- shut up an' go find th' professah!"
Kurt's eyes snapped open. He was on the floor of Kitty and Rogue's room, tangled in his bed sheets, which Rogue was trying frantically to remove from around his neck. Kitty grabbed the sheets and pulled, phasing them off of her furry friend.
"Jesus Christ, Kurt!" Rogue gasped.
Kurt was trembling and sweating. "Vhat-? Vhy am I in here?"
"'Bout three seconds ago ya teleported yahself int' th' middle o' our room. When Ah say middle, I mean middle. Mid air an' all," Rogue informed him. "And you were choking by th' looks of it. Or about to."
Kurt rubbed his throat. It did feel sensitive. "Oh man, oh man oh man oh man. . ." He gulped.
"Kitty- go find th' professah!" Rogue ordered again.
"All right- all right!" Kitty phased through the wall.
"Kurt- what th' hell happened? Ya were screaming when you appeared!"
"Ah- Ah had a dream- about our mother."
Rogue knew who he was referring to immediately. "What th' heck was she doin' t' ya?!"
"She wasn't doing anything to me! She was doing something for me. She saved my life, Rogue," Kurt shook his head. "She saved my life and I never knew!"
Rogue stared at him with wide eyes. "Kurt- did you get hit on the head? We're talking about Mystique, fir' o' all, an' a dream secondly. It didn't really happen."
"No! No, Rogue it vas real! You don't understand!"
"Kurt-" she began but by that time the Professor and others had arrived.
"Are you all right Kurt?" The professor asked.
"Ja, I'm all right now, professor. I had. . . A bad nightmare."
Rogue shot him a look. The professor noticed and raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
"I'm okay, I just. . .need to get back to my own room," Kurt said, looking sheepish.
That drew a bit of a chuckled from some of the other students. Xavier smiled. "Well, if that's all then. . ."
Rogue looked at Kurt pointedly, but he nodded. "Dhat's it professor."
Rogue said nothing.
"I suggest that we all go back to what we were doing then."
Bobby began complaining loudly that he, Sam, and a few of the other younger students had just missed the bast part of the movie they had been watching when Jubilee pointed out that it was a DVD anyway. Bobby's eyes lit up and the group of younger students raced downstairs to see if they could get better positions on the couch. Kurt slunk out of the room when Kitty told him that she wanted to finish changing- he noticed that she was in jeans and her pajama top. Kurt apologized, and Kitty shut the door on him just before Rogue opened her mouth to speak. He was glad about that. He didn't really feel like getting into an argument with his 'sister'.
*
Jean and Scott had finally gotten the main course of their meal, and Jean had spent the better part of ten minutes trying to convince Scott to try a piece of sushi. "One little piece isn't going to hurt you!"
"That's what you think!" Scott said, shaking his head. "No way. I'd rather try my luck against Apocalypse."
Jean flinched.
"Sorry!" Scott said quickly. He knew how broken up Jean had been after the professor was zapped by Apocalypse. If his mentioning it had the effect he supposed, Jean had probably just envisioned him disappearing into nothingness. "I didn't mean to-"
"It's okay Scott."
"No it's not," he grumbled. "I should have thought about what I was going to say before I said it."
"Scott," she said seriously. "There is one way you could make it up to me."
"How?"
Jean held out a piece of sushi. "Open up."
Scott groaned. "I asked for that one, didn't I?"
"Oh yeah," she said as he gingerly took the fish.
"Oh well, here goes nothing. . ." He said gulping the fish down. Jean watched his expression.
It's not that bad, is it Mr. Summers? You just don't want to admit defeat out loud, Jean said mentally as he tried to hide his surprise.
All right, all right, you win, he admitted.
Jean leaned over and kissed him across the table. Scott blinked. His faced glowed as she settled back into his chair. A few other the other dinner guests mumbled things like "How cute," and "Well isn't that sweet?"
"You are too nervous," Jean teased him gently. "You need to loosen up and-" she paused. "That's. . . Odd."
"What?" Scott asked.
I sense a psychic of some sort nearby. I can't pinpoint him. . . but I think. . . I think his mind is connected to someone at the mansion. . . She said mentally.
Any idea who it is?
Not sure. He cloaks himself well. . .
Mesmero?
No, I know his mind. It's not him.
What about- that guy working for Magneto?
I can't be sure. . . But maybe. . . I think you're right. . . Jean frowned. He's nearby us, working from afar, so I'm not sure the professor knows- wait! She swore mentally.
What?
He sensed me. Cut the power. Blocked me out. Jean scowled.
Maybe we should head back to the mansion. . . See what's up? Scott made a move to call the host over to get the check.
No Scott. . . He's not causing any more trouble. Let's just finish our date like we had planned to, Jean mentally protested.
You sure?
Of course.
The rest of dinner was eaten in a sort of tense silence. They both were wondering what would await them when they got home. After departing, they rode back in the car without saying a word to each other, both worried.
"Jean, Scott, you're back earlier than I expected," Ororo said, surprised.
"I thought I felt a disturbance at the restaurant," Jean explained. "Is everything all right?"
"Well, yes, Kurt had a nightmare earlier but that was sorted out an hour ago," Ororo nodded in the direction of the clock, which now read eleven-thirty.
"I see," Jean frowned more. "Thank you Ororo." Maybe I was wrong Scott. Maybe I was just nervous, and I was imagining things.
Why would you need to be nervous Jean? Scott thought back at her. You're perfect.
Jean laughed out loud at him. "Mr. Summers, you flatter me too much." She planted a long good night kiss on his lips, then pulled away and whisked off to bed.
*
Wanda couldn't sleep. Not even after the hot chocolate. Her dream was haunting her. It had all seemed so vivid, so real. So. . .terrifyingly real. Pietro could hear her tossing and turning from all the way down the hall. He frowned. Finally he got out of bed and raced out of the house, zooming to all the spots his father might be at, finally finding him in his office at the Acolytes' base.
"Father?"
Magneto looked up, a bit startled. It was unlike Pietro to come looking for him when he hadn't requested it. Lately though, his feelings for his children had taken a sharp turn. He saw the worried look on Pietro's face and his brows furrowed. "Pietro, what's wrong?"
"That- that mind wipe that Mastermind did on Wanda- was it supposed to wear off?"
Magneto's attention towards his son suddenly became more rapt. "Wear off? No. Why?"
"She- she had a nightmare tonight. A bad one. AboutbeingthrowninanAsylum," he added the last bit in one breath.
Magneto stood up. "I see," he said gravely.
"Father- didyouever- did you ever check up on what they were doing to her in that place?" Pietro asked slowly. His face worried his father even more.
Magneto frowned and said, "I regret to say I did not. Why?" He shifted his cloak about him with a swish, and removed his helmet.
"Because- because she told me, shetoldmethat in the nightmare, there was a guy. . .a guy who did things to her. Experiments. . ." Pietro stammered.
Magnetos eyes glowed. "What?"
"She has a scar- down her back. A big scar. Ithink. . . I think that they used her to experimenton untilshe killed the guy doing the experiments."
Pietro could practically see the bile surging in his father's expression.
"They. Did. What?" Magneto roared. He was furious at the humans, and at himself. Wanda, his daughter, experimented on by those vile flat-scans! And he himself had given them the opportunity! When he had abandoned the girl, he had done it for much different reasons. He had never wanted her hurt. After the incident with Apocalypse he realized how much he cared for the child, how wrong he had been. He was genuinely sorry. He had debated having Mastermind remove the mind blocks one by one, and trying to explain his actions to Wanda- but he was scared of losing her. However the fact that Wanda was having these dreams troubled him. Mastermind had assured him that no one but he himself could break the mind blocks. . . Magneto's eyes flashed in rage.
"Father?"
"I'm going to move my visit up a day Pietro," Magneto said firmly. "Don't tell your sister."
Pietro nodded and whizzed off.
"Creed!" Magneto shouted. Sabertooth entered the room with a grumble and a bow. "Come with me. We have some work to be done." He began to fly out of the room, putting his helmet on, his eyes glowing furiously.
Sabertooth knew better than to disobey him when he was in mood like this. He followed wordlessly as Magneto left the base and began hover through the night sky, like a wraith.
*
"Kurt, Ah know yah in there, and Ah know yah awake. Now open up willya?" Rogue said tapping lightly on Kurt's door. "Don' make me go get th' professah an' tell him what ya told me. Kurt? Kurt!" She knocked on the door more fiercely, "Kurt open th' freakin', goddamn, door yah fuzzy elf!"
Kurt lay on his bed, his arms underneath his head. He thought about opening the door for Rogue for a minute, but frowned. He really just wanted some time to think things through.
"KURT!" Rogue said with more passion. "Kurt, open this door or Ah swear t' gawd Ah'll-"
"Rogue, what's going on?"
Kurt sat up, recognizing the voice. Rogue turned around to see Jean. Rogue did a double take, looking over the way Jean was dressed up, and then remembered that she had gone on a date with Scott.
"Kurt won' open th' door," Rogue said flatly.
"Maybe he's asleep," Jean offered, but Rogue shook her head.
"Naw, he's up. Ah know it," the southerner hissed. "But he's being' stubborn!" She directed the last comment at the door.
"Why do you need to talk to him so badly? Can't it wait until morning?" Jean asked. The thin-lipped expression she got in reply surprised her.
"Ah'm not waitin' 'till mawnin'. We need t' talk now, before he does somethang stupid," again, her comment was directed at the door.
Kurt grunted and rolled over onto his side. Rogue was the stubborn one.
"Rogue-"
"Ya don' un'erstan' Jean, so stay outta it. . ."
Jean observed Rogue's expression. "Is this about Mysti-"
"Shut. Up." Rogue snapped. "Don' say that woman's name."
"Wait- what exactly is going-"
She was cut off by a 'bamf', and the arrival of a semi-irritable looking Kurt. "Let's talk," he said to Rogue.
"'Bout freakin' time," she retorted, in the same irritable tone.
Kurt put a hand on Rogue's covered shoulder and teleported the two into his room. Kurt made his way out onto the balcony, and Rogue followed him.
He was the first one to speak.
"What makes you hate her so much?"
Rogue looked at him incredulously. "Yah kiddin' me right? Yah not really askin' that. Let's think. Oh, yeah. Every single time she was involved with me she was lyin' or usin' me, more often than not, both."
"Did you ever dhink dhat maybe. . . Just maybe she was actually trying to do somedhing for us?"
"Like when she released Apocalypse? T' turn th' world int' mutant? T' help us?" Rogue said bitterly.
Kurt was quiet. Then he said, "It made sense. Dhe dreams. Dhey all made sense. Dhey all seemed like the truth."
"Th' best lies always have a grain of truth t' them Kurt," Rogue said. "They were dreams Kurt. O' course they're going t' make sense in a dreamlike way. That don' mean what happened was real."
Kurt's tail flicked back and forth. Rogue bit her lip, then spilled out, "Was it something about the mob that tried to kill you?"
Kurt rounded on her, eyes wide. "How in dhe vorld do you know about dhat?"
"Ah've absorbed you Kurt. O' course Ah know about that. Ah- Ah've nevah wanted t' mention it before. . ." Her eyes looked glazed for a second. "Not even aftah Ah've had. . . Nightmares about it. . ."
Kurt's face looked pained, "Rogue you should have told me!"
"Why? There's nothin' you could do about it," she said angrily. "'Sides, this ain't about me. It's about you. Was it th' mob?"
Kurt nodded. "Ja. . .mother. . .she changed into me. . .led them away. . ."
Rogue pursed her lips. "You know, it was a dream. A dream Kurt. You understand that, right? That it wasn't real?"
And that there was a psychic in contact with one of the minds in the mansion, as Jean has just informed me. Xavier's mental voice boomed. The two teenagers closed their eyes, and saw the Astral projection of the professor and Jean.
So, vhat does dhat mean? Kurt thought anxiously.
Xavier sighed. From what I can tell, Mastermind was manipulating your dreams, making you see what he- or someone else wanted you to see.
Rogue opened one eye and saw the dejected droop in Kurt's shoulders and the sudden inactivity in his tail.
So, you dhink dhat mother vas telling him vhat to show me?
I'm afraid so.
Kurt sighed heavily. I understand professor. . .
Xavier said no more, and faded out slowly. Kurt opened his eyes.
"But- but I vant to believe it Rogue. How could someone abandon dheir own child, an just not care?" Kurt's eyes begged for answers.
"Ah- Ah don't know Kurt. . ." She swallowed hard and stammered.
Kurt squeezed his eyes shut. "I- I need some time to dhink." He teleported out of the room.
Rogue coughed. "That stupid bitch. . . Why can't she leave us alone?!" She snarled, leaving Kurt's room. He was probably on the roof. She thought about going up there to find him, but then dismissed it. He probably needed some time alone.
*
"YOU." Magneto's voice rolled like thunder as he slammed Mastermind up against a wall using the iron in his blood. "How. DARE. You."
Mastermind sputtered. "Magneto- what- what have I done?"
"You know perfectly well what you have done!" Magneto bellowed. "If you ever, ever even entertain the thought of betraying me again I will have Sabertooth rip your bowels from your belly!" He made the iron in Masterminds body heat up. "Who told you to do this? Was it that miserable woman? Was it Mystique?"
"Yes!" He gasped. "Yes! I'm sorry! She- she gave me more money than I had ever seen in my life!"
Magneto roared in anger and flung Mastermind into a wall. "You will never do anything like this again! Now- you will tell me- what were her specific orders? Did you make up what was in those dream? Or did you draw upon her memories?"
"I- I-" he stuttered in horror.
"ANSWER ME!"
"I was told to draw upon memories! I- I was never sure what the girl was dreaming! I only- altered some of the memories- for the boy- changed perspective-" Mastermind said, eyes wide with horror.
Magneto's face was a mask of stone. He dropped Mastermind abruptly. The boy must be Mystique's son, but that didn't matter to him. What did matter was that what Pietro said was true. If the dreams had been memories, then Wanda had been tortured.
A set of blue numbers on his right arm burned.
Without another word Magneto began flying towards the boarding house.
*
He arrived in mere minutes, and Toad opened the door for him. The boy was surprised that Magneto didn't make some sort of derogatory comment towards him. His complexion paled, however, as he saw Magneto drop down onto the floor in front of Wanda's room. He removed his helmet, and his cloak, and dropped them to the ground. He put his hand on the door handle and pushed the door open.
Pietro was there, talking to his sister again in soothing, quick words, which caught and stopped as he saw his father. He let go of Wanda wordlessly and backed away.
Magneto did something he had never imagined he would do in a hundred thousand years, or longer. He wrapped his arms around his daughter. She suddenly began crying in his embrace. He rocked her slightly, his own memories clouding his vision for a moment. "Wanda, my poor, scared, brave little girl," he murmured. "I'm so sorry."
Wanda didn't hear his mumbling, she was too focused on the way she felt safe in his arms. Pietro's eyes went about as wide as they could go without dropping out of his skull entirely. A tear or two trickled down his father's cheek. Had the affair with Apocalypse changed the man that much? He couldn't believe it.
"Hush, Wanda. It's all right. I will never, ever leave you. Never again. Never," Magneto murmured, visions of his own parents being slaughtered before his eyes flashing through his mind. "Never," he repeated, stroking her hair. He looked up at his son, a look of such fatherly. . . something there that Pietro almost gasped.
"S- Should I- gomakesomehotchocolate?" He said nervously.
Magneto looked down at the top of Wanda's head and nodded. "Perhaps that would be a good idea."
Pietro nodded and was downstairs in a flash.
Magneto closed his eyes. One day, one day I will have to tell her. . .
That thought was one of the very few things that had ever scared him.
*
Kurt watched as the moon began to dip below the horizon. In the east there was faint traces of the rosy colored dawn creeping along the mansion lawn. He had spent the better part of the night on the roof, debating with himself. Or himself and a little version of Rogue representing his logical set of views, trying to talk some sense into him.
"Vhy do you keep on doing dhis to me mother? I don't know whether I can trust you or not!" He said loudly.
The sleepy moon made no reply, but somewhere far off Kurt heard an owl hooting.
He stood up, trying to located the source of the sound, but whether it was a passing bird or it was indeed Mystique, he could not be certain.
"Kurt? Are you coming down for training?" Kitty asked, popping her head up through the roof. "The professor said you could, like, skip it today if you wanted."
Kurt looked at her concerned face and put on a goofy smile. "You might think me veird, but I dhink I'll come down and train." He looked around at the rising sun and the setting moon. "It'll help me relieve some stress."
"Okay, I'll, like, see you in a couple of minutes then?" Kitty asked.
"Ja," Kurt said.
She phased her head back down through the roof and Kurt sighed.
"Vell, vhether you were trying to tell me dhe truth or not mother," he addressed the morning sun, "I do vant you to know that some part of me does love you. And I think some part of Rogue does too, otherwise she wouldn't feel so hurt about what you did to her."
Kurt teleported off of the roof with a flourish.
A owl hooted.