X-Men Evolution: First Years

Well, I think we can all determine when this is placed

-fy

Yes, Apocalypse was gone. At least for now; no one was under the illusion that he'd been beaten. He had left on his own, still at his most powerful. He was a danger that would continue to hang over them like a weight that would fall in it's own time.

And Magneto was gone, dead, destroyed by his own insanity. Kitty was worried about that. In a way, she'd actually miss him. From his point of view, he was fighting to protect people like her and her family. The worst part is that the Professor had barely reacted when his long time friend and rival had just, like, poof, vaporized. He had been silent on the flight back, staring into nothing

But when they got back, it had been too quiet. Of the older students, only Rogue and Kurt hadn't flown down. Kurt should have been in the hanger, waiting for them, with Rogue in her usual "wha', me cah? Ain't nothin tah worry bout" spot, stretched on the couch until they got back. That had been disturbing, but it was that time of night that some called "oh-dark-thirty".

Kitty wasn't ready for what she found in her room. She wanted to grab clean clothes, shower and write up her after action for Scott, then just crash. She'd been quiet to not wake Rogue,but the latter girl was still awake. She lay face down on her bed, shoulders shaking with silent sobs.

She sat next to her friend, hand on her shoulder. "Rogue? Rogue? What happened? What's wrong?"

Rogue ignoring her, or pushing her away, those she would have expected. Rogue rolling over and hugging her around the middle, shaking and gasping as she tried to make a voice worn to nothing by tears hadn't been expected. It took her several seconds to gasp out, "Ah killed her, Ah pushed her over and she shattered. Oh Gawd... Ah killed her..."

Kitty held her friend as she learned what happened, torn between compassion and horror. Her fingers stroked Rouge's spine, as the words rasped out four and five at a time from the traumatized young woman. Learning what had happened made Kitty nauseous. Mystique was dead, turned into a statue like something from one of Amara's myths. "Why did you do it Rogue? What were you thinking?"

"She used me, she and Irene, they were going to turn me into a weapon. They lied to me, made mah mind a mess. She's dead and she's still messing with Kurt." Wide streaks of dark makeup ran down to Rogue's chin from her eyes. "I couldn't let her hurt him any more. He's... I... He's mah little brother. I had to protect him... from her."

Authors notes:
I'm not sure if Kitty missing Magneto is her own thoughts- the Professor grew up with "boys don't cry". He can't mourn his friend who became the enemy, but I suspect there was a lot of psychic backwash coming off him.

Friends are the people you'll die for; family are the one's you'll destroy yourself to keep safe.