Mystique was starting to worry about Erik. He had only had the briefest of contact with Brotherhood members over the past few days. Even though he was in the same area as them she was only receiving check-ins via the phone. She wondered what it was that he and Charles were talking about that would take so long. He'd even left his helmet with them, which couldn't be good. There was momentary hope in her that perhaps he was converting Charles to their cause. It was an impossible wish; she knew that. Still, she could hope.
Until then she was stuck in a small space with Azazel. He was getting impatient for her answer and she knew why. The plan would only work if she broke up with Erik soon. Mystique bit her nail. She didn't want to break up with Erik. She was still in love with him but couldn't bring herself to feel that way for Azazel. It was like one of those bad soap operas she used to watch.
"We couldn't raise them you know," she said once, "Our lives aren't conducive to being parents."
He'd smacked the ground with his tail irritably.
"We will have months off when he is born, I'm sure," Azazel said, "A 'gift' from Magneto if you will. Then we raise in shifts Raisa. Rotation. Simple."
She wished it were that simple. What disconcerted her more was that Azazel started referring to her child as a 'he'. It was giving her chills down her spine, so she was relieved when the door opened one day and Erik came in. Mystique got to her feet and gave him a quick one armed hug.
To her surprise he pulled her into a full hug and kissed her. Erik had never been one for public affection, even when they had first gotten together. She pulled away, confused.
"I have wonderful news," he said, "Azazel, you should hear this too."
Azazel nodded, seemingly unaffected by the display. Dropping into a chair Erik put his helmet over his head.
"I've been at Charles' school for the past few weeks," he said, "Not entirely; I don't stay there. But you all know that. You just don't know why."
Mystique nodded, sitting down on the edge of the hotel bed.
"Charles contacted me because he had to tell me I have a daughter," Erik said.
Ice flooded into Mystique's brain. From the corner of her eye she saw Azazel smirk.
"You do?" she managed.
Grinning he nodded and fumbled in his pocket.
"I didn't know until recently. She gave me this," he said, "I thought all fathers should have pictures of their children."
He drew a picture out and showed it to her.
"Her name's Lorna," he elaborated.
The girl's smile glowed even through the black and white film. Her hair flowed behind her and her eyes seemed bright even for someone of her age. To Mystique's dismay the girl was only a few years younger than her.
"The picture doesn't show it, but her hair's green," explained Erik, "She's also a metal bender, just like me."
The pride in his voice was unmistakenable.
"Excuse me," Azazel said politely, "Metal bender? Is this the girl Janos mentioned?"
"Unfortunately yes," sighed Erik, looking irritated by the interruption, "She's been on Charles' little team for quite some time. I'm working on it though. I couldn't get my friend to see the light. I'll be damned if I lose my daughter the same way."
He stood up and walked over to the bed. Erik sat next to Mystique and said;
"I'd like you to meet her."
"What?" asked Mystique, shocked, "You'd want…I…"
Erik raised his eyebrows.
"Of course," he said, "I'm trying to have her come with us. The more she knows about me the better, although I obviously haven't told her certain things. Charles was very obliging about that. And Mystique, I couldn't possibly tell her about myself without including you."
Suddenly he frowned.
"Unless, of course, you don't want to."
A lump formed in her throat.
"She's nearly my age," said Mystique despairingly.
"I'm sure that won't be an issue. Now I want you to meet her, but I won't pressure you to," Erik said, "But I might add that Charles is a father now."
Her head shot up and her mouth formed an 'o'.
"He married Moira and they have a son together now," said Erik, "Charles has expressed a hope that you'd be able to see him. If you came you could see them both."
She looked down at the picture of the young teenager and straightened.
"I'll meet her," she said.
She was so caught up in Erik's grin that she entirely missed the dark look that passed over Azazel's face.
Lorna liked staying up late. It made her feel like she was getting away with something, especially if she was in a common area. She was flipping through her mother's journal. By this point she'd read it all, but she still hoped that there was something she'd missed.
So far there was still much about her father that she didn't understand. If he had known Charles and advocated mutant rights, then why hadn't the two stayed together? Granted, his approach was a little more militaristic. She'd remembered telling him, on one of thier nightime outings, that she always felt a little better for looking at the stars at night. He'd asked her why and she replied;
"I know it sounds silly, but it makes me feel a little connected. Mutants, humans, it doesn't matter. Everyone's under the same sky even if the stars are different."
"Hm," he'd replied, "Animals are also under the same sky. Does that make them equivalent to us?"
She'd laughed, thinking that he was joking.
"You know what I mean," Lorna had said.
"Don't think that mutants and humans are the same," he'd replied, "Compare them to animals in your mind. You'll find many similarities."
"Not that many I think," she'd answered after a time.
He'd given her an indulgent smile as if to say; so innocent. Smiles like that made her feel odd, those were what kept her up that late. That was the reason she was the first to hear the knocking on the door. She hesitated; she was in her nightgown after all. Still, if it was an intruder than she would be able to take care of them. Setting down her book and adjusting her bathrobe she unlocked the door, keeping it connected to the chain.
Alex stood there. His hair was filthy and matted. Dirt streaked his face under a nasty looking purple black eye. Slung over his back was a duffel bag and in his arms he carried his younger brother Scott. Although Scott was wearing a coat Lorna could see that he had oversized clothes that had been belted underneath.
"Alex?" she said, "What happened? I thought you weren't coming for another week!"
He looked down and shifted Scott.
"We're uh, here early," he said.
She undid the chain and ushered him in. Scott woke up and looked around.
"We're here?" he asked.
"That's right boy scout," Alex said.
Swallowing Alex asked Lorna;
"Kitchen still stocked?"
"Yeah, it is," she said, finding her tongue, "Do you want me to get the Professor or-?"
"No," said Alex, "Not yet."
He carried Scott into the kitchen and set him down on a chair. Lorna started pulling a box of instant macaroni and cheese. They both looked ravenous and from past experience she knew how hopeless Alex was in the kitchen. As she put it into the pan she saw that Alex had grabbed cokes out of the fridge. He opened them and set one in front of Scott before sitting down. She stared as Scott began chugging his.
"Boy scout, wanna go a little slower?" he asked, "You're gonna get sick otherwise."
Scott nodded and Lorna started stirring the concoction. She was glad that it cooked up quickly and poured both of it into bowls.
"Again, slow," Alex cautioned him as she put it on the table.
The two of them started to eat, faster than she'd seen anyone eat. Lorna took a seat across from them. Alex finished first.
"Thanks," he said, "We haven't exactly had the best eating over the past few days."
"I see," she said.
Alex patted Scott on the back when he finished.
"Your old room's vacant and I know the bed's made up," Alex said, "Why don't you go upstairs? You get to sleep in a real bed tonight."
Scott's face lit up as he slid down the chair.
"Night Alex," he said, "Night Lorna."
She watched him go. Once he was out of sight she got up and sat next to Alex.
"What happened?" she asked.
He paused and took a swig of his coke.
"My parents got into a fight," he said at last, "Started talking about how they didn't want us coming back to the school. Obviously Scott and I weren't going to take that lying down. It came out that they didn't want 'freaks' for sons and one thing led to another…"
Alex tapped his black eye. Lorna's eyes widened.
"So I packed quickly and got on my bike," he said, "Scott asked to come too and we didn't have time to pack anything for him. So we drove here."
"But…you live in Ohio," she said.
"Yeah, I wasn't thinking too clearly," said Alex, "I had about twenty dollars in my things. And I had to ration that out for gas too. Scott got covered in mud and I couldn't let him wear those pajamas anymore. Didn't want him to catch anything. So he started wearing some of my shirts and shorts but nothing fit him properly. I'm sure you saw that. I tried to make sure that he was well rested and fed; I got him into this mess after all. I let him come."
Smiling bitterly he grabbed his coke and took a long swallow.
"We slept mostly in camp grounds," he said, "But we didn't have camping material...I don't know what I was thinking. I just couldn't stay in that house anymore and I didn't want to leave Scott with them. And he wanted to come...it was a dumb idea. But at least we're here now."
Her hand covered his. Alex's eyes met hers. She saw that the days of travelling had taken thier toll on him.
"What about your parents?" asked Lorna, "Did they know where you were going? We didn't get a call or anything."
"They knew where we were going," Alex said, "They tried to stop us, if you can call it that. But personally I couldn't give a damn if they went looking for us or not. For all I care they can go die."
She gasped.
"Alex, you can't mean that," Lorna said, "They're your parents-"
"Not anymore," he snapped, "Look, your mother loved you and didn't care that you were a mutant. So you don't understand what it's like to see your parents look at you with fear. I've seen a lot of people fear me but it disgusts me that they do. Don't talk about things that you don't understand!"
She recoiled. He was right, of course he was. What did she know about it? She was lucky with who life had given to take care of her. It seemed like fewer and fewer mutants had been though. Before she had thought that people like Reverend Craig were the exception to the rule. Now it seemed that instead it was Moira, her mother, and Dr. MacTaggert who were the exceptions.
"I'm sorry for snapping at you," Alex sighed, reaching out and taking her hand again, "It's just, these past few days have been…"
Lorna moved forward and hugged him. He leaned his head into the crook of her neck and put one of his arms around her shoulder. After a few seconds she realized he was silently crying.
"Don't worry," she said, "It's been hard for you."
Stroking his hair she whispered odd words in his ear. It seemed to comfort him somehow. She could see that he'd been trying to be strong for Scott for so long that he'd forgotten to be strong for himself. So she held him for a little longer, waiting for him to make the first move.
He sniffed and sat up.
"I just...we're runaways. Knowing them they'll probably cough up the tuition to keep up appearences in our neighborhood," he said, "But it'll...it'll probably look bad. All the time I was driving I just, I don't even know if the Professor would let us stay here."
"Wonder no longer."
They both looked up. Charles sat in the doorway, his hands on the wheels of his chair. He looked at Alex with sympathy and a profound sadness.
"Don't worry," he said, "You always have a home here."
Alex's grip on Lorna's arm tightened.
"Thank you," he said.