Cell Block Tango

by Kumadapuma

A story of six murders. Note to self. Never abandon your best friend. Especially if she's a cold hearted, karate chopping, unforgiving B with a penchant for revenge.

6. Mystique v Magneto

Title: Cell Block Tango

Verse: X-Men movieverse

Timeline: Post X3

Author: KumaDaPuma

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters and I am not making any money off of this. Cell Block Tango is a song from the Broadway hit Chicago featuring six murdering women. I had absolutely no part in it's creation nor am I benefiting from it's popularity. I'm just a gal who enjoys showtunes among many other genres.

Summary: A song fic centered around six women and their reasons/methods to murder.

Author's Note: This idea was brought to me by one of my fave reviewers: XChocolateChipX. I thank you very much for the suggestion and I hope I bring justice to this story. I am so honored that you would allow me the chance to write something based on your brilliant idea! Be forewarned all…some chapters will be funny, others dramatic…you just never know with me.

For those who don't know the song the original lyrics for the first part is:

pop

six

squish

uh uh

Cicero

Lipschitz

…but I changed the last line because I thought it would be more appropriate for this story. Here are the corrections:

pop

six

squish

uh uh

Cicero

Lehnsherr

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pop

six

squish

uh uh

Cicero

Lehnsherr

x

He had it coming

He had it coming

He only had Himself To blame.

If you'd have been there

If you'd have seen it

I betcha You would have done the same!

x

Mystique:

Mood: Vengeful

x

Lehnsherr. Erik Lehnsherr. So many emotions arise with the sound of his name. Lehnsherr. He had betrayed me and I killed him.

But first let me sum up my relationship with this man, this mutant, this…god among insects. He was everything to me. And I mean everything. He was my teacher, my leader, my idol, my family, my teammate, my best friend, my lover, my obsession, my betrayer, and then my enemy. All in that chronological order. As a teacher he had grown to be my leader without having lost his previous role. Although he became my enemy I still think of him as everything else even after the pain he so needlessly caused.

Perhaps it was his charisma that drew me in the first place. At first he was Professor Lehnsherr. As a student he captivated me with his passion for physics using his smooth, solid voice that was like silk upon the ears. Later he became Magneto when we left Xavier's to pursue a life of what others deemed treacherous villainy. Around the time we had become family he had then become Erik. Though I always agreed with and obeyed Magneto, I liked when he was Erik best. I fell in love with Erik. Fell for him hard.

But Erik betrayed me. I saw it in his eyes when he stood sadly staring at me under my terrible demise when I took the dart for him. He chose to leave me behind instead rushing off to end the cure rather then stop a moment to help me. I had saved him and I received nothing in return. I had cried for days. I never cry. I had put myself in that position, but for him, so in a way he had put me in that horrible circumstance when I felt weak for being human, weak for crying over him, weak for now understanding I had never been a strong, independent woman, weak for having realized how much my life revolved around Erik Lehnsherr. Lehnsherr…

I hate him. But I still love him. I hate that I still love him and that makes me hate myself for being weak all the more.

Still, every time I see my reflection in the mirror I remember how he had betrayed me. Every time I glance upon my pale, soft hands I remember how he had betrayed me. Every time another man hits on me or asks me out I remember how he had betrayed me. I should be with him now. He never should have left me. He never should have caused so much pain in my heart that I end up crying myself to sleep over the memory of him. I wish I could get him out of my mind but he was my teacher for twenty years, my lover for ten, and my enemy for six months. We have so much history together. We'd been through and survived so much. We both rescued each other on numerous occasions. We were partners in everything. Why did he cast me aside like an old shoe?

Lately my distress had slowly morphed into intense anger. The more I thought about it (which I could never stop thinking about it) the more I realized he was to blame for everything. He's the one that setup the plan to infiltrate the building. He's the one that had failed to get me out of the structure without being captured. He's the one that had not noticed the guard on the floor was still conscious. I blamed Erik for everything. I blamed him for breaking my heart.

I wanted revenge.

It was very hard to locate him. I finally found him in New York under an alias he hadn't used in years. It's kind of lucky that I even remembered that old alias. I looked his address up but decided to scope him out before taking out my revenge. In the past few weeks I had realized my powers were returning. Although I had heard he had been taken down with four darts to the chest, plus he had sustained the cure two weeks after I did, I was still a little wary of him. He's the most powerful mutant I know. Despite the amount of cure running through his veins plus the time frame for which he took it I was a little suspicious that his powers might have been returning too.

I drove my rented car to the address I was given. I parked it and waited. It was a cute townhouse set in one of the middle income neighborhoods. There were many people milling about, mostly kids hanging out along the stoops, smoking and laughing with their neighborhood friends. They reminded me of Pyro. They were about his age.

Two hours later a man came out of the townhouse. I subconsciously inhaled a heavy breath. He wore pressed khakis, a white button down shirt, a black pea coat and a black cap on his head. He had a graying goatee, neatly trimmed. In his hand was what looked like a cigar box. He gracefully alighted the steps proceeding down to the sidewalk then causally glanced around before heading down the walk opposite my direction. I watched him as he walked away, unable to tear my eyes away from him. His elegant movements looked out of place in this unrefined part of town. Despite the change in his usually impeccable fashion, the facial hair and the low droop of his head that I had never seen other then held high with pride, I knew I had found Erik. I would recognize him anywhere.

I got out of my car and followed him making sure I had the sharp metal blade in my bag before leaving. I wished my powers weren't so slow in returning or else I could disguise myself but unfortunately I had no choice but to assume the current state I was in. The state of Raven Darkholme. I followed him a couple blocks down the road to a large park surrounded by a small pond and myriads of benches. It had been a bright day but now the clouds were beginning to block the sun with sinister hate. Still, the sun did it's best to keep the bright rays shining upon the many people not wanting to leave the park just yet.

Erik kept walking through the park till he came upon an area almost completely shaded by tall trees. Most of the tables here were vacant. I noticed Erik chose one that sat under the sun's weakened glare. His back was no longer to me and I was careful not to approach him any closer. He was about a hundred feet from where I stood. I hid behind one of the trees, making sure he wouldn't be able to see me. I watched him place his box on the table, open it up then slowly place the contents standing on the table. His chess pieces gleamed in the already dying sun.

Luckily there weren't many people in the park or else someone would have spotted me spying on some random older man. Plus the surrounding trees and bushes concealed my whereabouts quite well though it was hardly away from the path. From my position I watched Erik intently, catching every move he made, which wasn't much. His motions were slow and sad, his expressions subtle. Most of the time he sat there in stony silence. I could tell he was thinking. He looked so melancholic, so sad. For the first time since I had ever known him he looked old and fragile. I couldn't believe this was Erik. After about an hour he began to come to life. He started moving the pieces much more deliberately, his fingers nimbly picking them up and placing them on the appropriate squares in rapid succession. As soon as he placed one down he picked up and moved another opposing piece. I watched in amazement. To me it looked like this game he played against himself was a challenging one. The energy I had thought was not there had been renewed. He leaned over the board and continued his game with great amounts of visible intensity and vigor. The pieces were being overtaken one-by-one as he progressed deeper into his game until only five stood. His motions had slowed down till I saw him slowly pick up the shining white queen and knock down the silver steel king replacing its prior location with its new successor. He sat back in his chair, his chest heaving as though he had just run a marathon. Apparently that game had been very intense.

Even from this distance I could tell that he had somehow lost the game. His mouth was turned down slightly into a disappointed frown. His head drooped lower on his chest. His shoulders slumped in failure. He had been playing against himself, and he had lost. I wondered what it all meant.

Finally, I saw Erik breathe out heavily in a sigh before gathering his chess pieces and placing them back in the box. He slowly stood up and assumed the role of an old man again. It was almost like a façade, a character he portrayed to mislead anyone looking for him. He began walking back towards his townhouse…in my direction. I hid behind the trees as he approached. He was looking down to the ground, the box was tucked under his bicep, his arms hugging his jacket around himself protectively, his cap low over his eyes. As he passed I glanced at him from behind my hiding spot just in time to see him walk not ten feet away from me. There was a look in his downward gazing eyes that struck my heart with pity. There was something about him that was strikingly hard for me to bear. Something in that look. Like he was lost. Or had lost. Or was tired of losing.

He walked by with head down and I continued watching him, keeping my distance as he shuffled down the path. When he was about twenty feet away I came out of my hiding spot behind him. My heel touched the path without a sound.

Suddenly Erik stopped walking though his body remained in the same despondent position. I didn't know what to do. He hadn't turned around so couldn't have known I was behind him. He stood frozen for a few seconds, my heart pounding in my chest, but then it had been pounding since I'd first laid eyes on him an hour or two ago. Slowly he raised his head but still had not turned around. Was he looking at something? To my surprise I saw his arm raise and he took his cap off. I hadn't realized how short his hair was. It was neatly cropped. I hadn't seen it that short since I was eighteen and he was my physics professor. I could see the hesitancy in his gestures. I had never seen him like this and I knew it wasn't because of his appearance that he seemed different. He actually seemed…fearful.

He slowly turned his head first glancing over his shoulder and then turned his body around to face me. Our eyes locked and once again I felt my heart cry out excruciatingly with so many emotions he had triggered. Every moment I had ever had with him, every feeling I had ever felt for him rushed back at me with the charge of his glare. I almost gasped at having been overwhelmed.

Silently we stood facing each other. Neither of us knew what to say. I hated that the first thought that came to mind was how handsome he looked in that pea coat and trimmed hair. Damn you, Erik. It looked like he was waiting for me to approach him. I drew in a breath and came towards him, thankful that I looked just as ravishing as he did in my white blouse, black skirt and heels. I was dressed to kill.

He held his cap in his hands as he waited for me to walk up to him. A look of dread could not be concealed on his face. I stopped short of him, my heart racing, the blood pulsing in my ears. I swear I heard my heart beating. I wondered if he could too.

"Erik." I said, notes of anger overlapping pain in my voice. He was silent for a moment, his light blue eyes shifting back and forth between my green ones.

"You're looking well, Raven." He said quietly. It made me angrier to hear him say that. I knew he was implying my existence as a human. I had already mourned the death of Mystique and moved on. Erik was having a harder time saying good bye to Magneto.

"Still the same disparaging Erik." I said condescendingly. He slowly shook his head and reached his hand up to my face. I felt his thumb slide across my cheek back and forth, his eyes suddenly tender though his features remained harsh.

"No, I'm not." He replied. I felt the anger, the pain, the lost pride, the betrayal and blame swell up in me till my teeth gritted in rage. I sunk the sharp heavy knife into the left side of his abdomen. I pushed it in good and hard.

Erik didn't even flinch.

It was though I had not plunged the knife into him at all. He never let his soft gaze leave my eyes. A sad raised eyebrow the only indication he felt the blade. I looked down and noticed the bright red blood now soaking into his white oxford under his black coat. He was bleeding and he acted like he didn't even care. Perhaps he didn't. I was shocked. I looked back up at him to see that the color in his face was draining. He was losing blood rapidly, surely I had punctured his liver, yet he continued to stare at me with that tenderness he had never shown before. Where was that tenderness when I saved him from the cure the first time?

"Erik…?"

"Mystique." He whispered with a soft smile placed at the corner of his lips, his features now turning into a mask of sadness. I watched as his blood surged from his body and ran down his legs to the ground. The blood, like my anger, was seeping away and I realized that this was his way of apologizing for betraying me. This was what he felt he needed to do in order for me to understand his shame. Upon the dawning of that revelation suddenly I felt immediate regret. What had I done? He had been remorseful after all. I was killing him. What had I done?

The loss of blood weakened him. The box slipped from his hand and hit the ground with a rattle as the pieces escaped and were strewn across the sidewalk. His head swayed with the heaviness of his conscious and his knees faltered underneath him. I caught him before he fell to the ground though I couldn't keep him up. I laid him as gently as I could onto the path, his head was now in my lap as my tears began to escape my eyes.

"Erik, I'm sorry." I said through my tears. The strength he still had he used to shake his head.

"So am I, Mystique." He replied. He reached up to stroke his fingers against my jaw. His slight upturned smile held only forgiveness for my deed. The sky was now completely covered by the clouds. Large drops of rain started to fall from the sky, splashing onto us with no regard for our current situation.

"I can go get help, Erik." He shook his head again.

"It's too late." I couldn't believe what I had done. He lay dying in my arms, the rain washing his blood away. There were large puddles of red surrounding us.

"Erik." I cried. I felt so helpless. I still hated him. I still loved him. I still can't live without him. I glanced at the knife still embedded in his abdomen. I quickly pulled it out. His only response was a groan of pain. I raised it high over my head and then hesitatingly started to plunge it towards my heart. I had no intention of living without him anymore. Before I could puncture my skin I felt the knife pull out of my grasp on its own. It sailed through the rain and then landed twenty feet from us into a puddle in the grass. I looked down at Erik with surprise. He had his powers after all which was probably how he knew I had been behind him. He had sensed the knife. He knew all this had been coming. He knew all along.

"Mystique," He barely whispered. Only a minute amount of his energy was left. "I love you." Was all he said. He didn't want me to die. He wanted me to know how he had felt all these months. All this shame and misery and futility, like a personal hell on earth at having betrayed your best friend, your lover…your obsession. I bent over him and pressed my lips to his. He was already cold though I felt him return the kiss, his lips moving with the comfort of mine. The caress of his mouth was still familiar after so many months without it. He tasted the way he always had but this time mixed in with hints of blood and rain. After several seconds he was still and I knew he was dead. I had killed him. And I hate myself even more for it.

And so that was how Erik died.

Now, sitting here in jail, in this cell, with nothing to occupy my time but my thoughts, I have nothing to do but reflect on my life. My memories are all that I have. But I have a hard time recalling anything that doesn't involve Erik. He was my world for over twenty years. My heart is in constant pain because of the memory of him.

It's quite clear to me that he wanted to die by my hand. His regrets at having failed the Brotherhood, of not saving mutantkind and for allowing Charles Xavier to die were too much for him to bear. But mostly he regretted betraying me. I know this now. The pain and regret he had was passed onto me when I killed him. He wanted me to understand the remorse he felt, to live with it like he did. I understand now.

I'll live the rest of my days longing for him, wishing I hadn't acted vengefully, suffering under the weight of this guilt. Currently, I am waiting to die so that I can be forever back again with Erik Lehnsherr.

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Author's Note: Of course Mystique would kill Magneto. It only seems reasonable. But I couldn't seem to make it funny because my love for both characters hindered my sight to see it in a comical aspect. Btw, chances are I'll probably re-write the Jean/Xavier chapter at a later date and as a one-shot because I still don't like the way it turned out.

Also, I'm thinking about writing a short fic as a comparison to "One Day at Magneto's" called "One Day at Xavier's". Any ideas? Doesn't have to involve the Brotherhood. I'm not sure I really want to bang out another fight scene. Those are so hard to write.

Chip – Happy Birthday! Hope you're having an awesome day! Btw, this famous fountain impression of yours…This intrigues me. It also makes me laugh just thinking about it. Can I use it in a future story? Is that okay?

42 – That's a good idea! I would have incorporated that strategy into this chapter except that I just can't seem to be able to degrade Erik in any way. I'm working on it though.

AngelofSnow – Oh, of course! Dammit! I never even thought about changing the lyric from Cicero to Cyclops. I'm shaking my head in disbelief. How did I overlook that? You're a genius! No wonder I steal all my best ideas from you!

Frankie – Xavier is one of my faves. He's hard for me to make fun of too but I'll do it anyway on occasion. I'm thinking about re-writing chapter 5 with exaggerated comical overtones as per 42's suggestion so look out for that one!

Bobby's Icequeen – You hit the hammer on the head! Or however that term goes… Mystique did kill Magneto, but that's because Mystique is the only one I consider "cool" enough to kill him. It would upset me if someone else (especially Wolverine, Colossus or some magnetically feasible character) had killed him. That would be unjustifiable in my opinion.