Learning to Breathe
Disclaimer: "You're only in trouble if you get caught"—Disney's Aladdin
Chapter Thirty-two: Tricky Business
Kurt felt so conflicted during his hour detention that he actually sat still for once. Should he do the right thing and tell Xavier about his younger sister? Or should he listen to Mystique and keep her a secret for her own good? And how should he act? The brotherhood would be watching, not to mention his teammates. Could he keep this a secret?
He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he never noticed the bell ring for end of detention.
After all the paint had been cleaned, Andi walked to her mom's car in the parking lot, only to find it already claimed. There were four boys loitering around by the car, and she knew them all.
"What do you losers want?" She asked.
"Wanted to know who the creep was who painted the library." A silver-haired boy smirked.
"You're just jealous because you didn't think of it first." Andi glared, staring the boy down. Taller than her, but really skinny. She could take him.
"Why were you coming to the principal's car?" A brown-haired teen with a mullet demanded. That one could be trouble to deal with.
"I was just walking across the parking lot, dumbass, now let me by!" She hissed. The four now surrounded her, preventing her from walking to the bus station.
"Uh uh." A large boy with a mohawk shook his head. "We got questions."
Jeez, what has gotten into Freddy? She thought. "I'm not doing anything wrong, you jerks!" Freddy, the tallest one, flinched. The others, however, only circled closer.
"How'd you get all that paint on the roof?" The silver-locked boy asked.
"What's it to you?" She asked.
"You have help then?" Mullet-head asked. "We want names!"
"I'm not telling you a damn thing now let me pass!"
"What is all this?" The four whirled around to see Principal Darkholme storming to them. "Why are you interrogating the girl?"
"I.. We were just…" Silver boy started, but the older woman cut him off.
"Stop! All four of you have just earned detention for the next week!"
"But we didn't do anything!" The fourth boy shouted. Smaller and far thinner than his companions, he reeked of a swamp.
"That's not the point." Darkholme snarled. "She is the daughter of one of the faculty members and I promised that I would take her home this afternoon. Now get out of here before I enroll you in my "special" course!"
The boys groaned, then ran to a dark green jeep and tore out of the parking lot. "I'm glad you taught me to hide my stripes." Andi sighed. "If they'd recognized me, there would have been even more trouble."
"Indeed." Mystique sighed. "But as it is, you must be more cautious. The last thing we need is Magneto showing up here to investigate."
"I understand." Andi sighed. This was trickier than she thought.
Kurt informed Jean that he would be going out to dinner after school with a friend. After assuring her that this lady would do them no harm and he would do double sessions when he returned, he broke into a run on the way to the park. When he arrived, he saw Mystique and Andi sitting by a creek.
"I don't see how this will help me with my shifting." Andi stated.
"The less focused you are on stopping the process, the easier it will be to control." Mystique replied.
"It doesn't make sense." Andi groaned.
"It doesn't have to." Mystique glared. "Now just relax and touch something."
Andi had, Kurt noticed, shed her black hoodie and gloves. His sister rolled his eyes and tapped a blade of grass. Her body instantly began to take on the same color and texture of the plant. It spread over most of her body before she made the change stop and turned blue again.
"Well, it's an improvement of earlier." Mystique sighed.
Deciding to feign ignorance, Kurt backed up and walked through the bushes. "Am I late?"
"No." Mystique sighed. "Come here."
Kurt obeyed. He had no reason to argue. "I have about two hours." He said. "What did you have in mind?"
"We need to talk." Mystique answered. "I know both of you have questions."
"Could we go somewhere?" Andi asked. "Like a coffee shop or something."
"No." Mystique replied, possibly on automatic. For reasons she could not quite deduce, coffee acted like a cheap alcohol substitute for teenaged mutants. While they would eventually grow out of it, she certainly wasn't going to spend all night chasing them around Bayville. "We can talk here. No one should bother or interrupt us here."
Kurt nodded, the memory of their last encounter fresh on his mind. "Why did the brotherhood attack?" he asked.
"They bugged you too?" Andi asked.
"What did they do to you?" Kurt demanded.
"I don't think they knew anything, but they circled me in the school parking lot." Andi explained. "They might have started a fight if Mom hadn't given them detention."
"So they are on to us." Kurt deduced. "Great! What next?"
"You two must stay calm." Mystique warned. "They are beginning to turn on me now. If they find out that you two are siblings…"
"I get it." Kurt said, wincing at the thought of what the four brotherhood boys could do to them. "But why did they come after us at the construction site?"
"I should never have let Pietro deliver that note." Mystique glared at the ground. "He read it and reported in to Magneto, who ordered them to attack. The little backstabber would probably sell out his own mother to be Magneto's golden boy."
"Who is Magneto?" Kurt asked. Andi and Mystique both winced. "Did I say something wrong?"
"Let's just say he's not someone you want to meet." Mystique sighed. A wave of anger crashed over her as she remembered what Magneto had conned her into fifteen years ago. "He's the one behind the curtain. No one has stood up to him."
"Because he physically and mentally abuses his subjects." Andi added. "Mom, you have got to get away from him! You don't owe that monster anything!"
"It's too late for me to leave now." Mom sighed. "I made my choices and now I must live with them."
"That doesn't mean you have to put up with abuse." Kurt countered. "We can help you!"
"Whoa! Back that truck up a minute." Andi threw up her hand. "Who is 'we'?"
"The X-Men!" Kurt declared.
"Uh-huh. And what can they do for her exactly?" Andi said. "I may not have met Magneto, but if what's being said about this guy is true, not even your little friends at Xavier's can protect her."
"Why?" Kurt asked, genuinely confused. Sure, the brotherhood was annoying, but the X-Men could keep them out of their school.
"He is the master of magnetism, Kurt." Mystique met his eyes. "He could take you all with or without the brotherhood."
"And with my dad deciding to play the metal lackey, he becomes virtually unstoppable." Andi said.
Kurt sighed. There was no point in arguing with both of them, so he changed the subject. "How old are you?" He asked his sister. Andi blinked.
"Fourteen and a half." She cocked her head. "How old are you?"
"Fifteen." Kurt said.
"When's your birthday?"
"January 28th . You?"
"August 15th . What year?"
"Let me save you both the trouble." Mystique broke in. "You were both born in 1988. There are seven months between you."
Kurt's mind boggled. "How is that possible?" He was certain that a human pregnancy lasted for nine months, not seven.
"She came three months early and left me unconscious for a week." Mystique elaborated. "I believe she stayed in the ICU for about six months."
"I thin that's right." Andi said. "That was around the time I was adopted."
"You were adopted too?" Kurt asked. "Where did they take you?"
"Originally Canada, where I was born." Andi thought a minute. "They stayed there until I turned one, then shipped off to Texas. What about you?"
"Germany is all I remember." Kurt answered. "I don't know where I come from."
"Germany." Mystique answered.
"Oh." Kurt blinked. He didn't know that. Then again, his foster parents had no idea exactly where he'd come from and wouldn't share any details.
The trio continued to talk well into the night, eventually walking to the ice cream shop across the street for dinner. Kurt returned home at around nine, and his teammates all stared at the completely blissful look on his face.
When Mystique returned to the boarding house that evening, the brotherhood and Sabertooth surrounded her at the door.
"What do you want?" She asked.
"Just seeing where you'd been." Pietro smirked. "You were gone a long time."
"I met a friend for dinner." Mystique glared at all of them. Sure, Victor could smell the truth, but he wouldn't put his daughter in danger. "I lost track of time. It happens, now let me through!"
"No can do, boss lady." Pietro sped in front of her. "We wanna know who that blond chick was that helped elf-boy paint the library."
"I already told you, she is the daughter of one of your teachers, who has asked to remain anonymous." Mystique glared. "Her guardian had to leave early. I know where she lives, so I brought her home. If that is all you are worked up about, you are more childish than I thought, and that's a stretch!"
The boys seemed to back off except the speedster, who leaned in closer. "Who did you meet tonight? Was he goo… Ouch!" The boy howled as Mystique wrenched his arm around, turning him enough for her to put him in a chokehold using her free hand. Speedy was tall, but not tall enough yet.
"For the last time, nothing is going on!" she growled. "You can go tell Magneto that as well! I have nothing worth saying to any of you! And from now on, you will not attempt any more interrogations on my life! Am I clear?"
"Crystal." Pietro squeaked. "Now could you please…"
Mystique released him and kicked him into the wall next to the staircase. "Good." She snarled at the assembled males, stomping up the stairs.
When she came out of her shower, Victor was waiting on her bed.
"God. Why are you still here?" She groaned.
"You didn't tell me she was here, Raven." He snarled.
"I didn't know she was coming until yesterday!" Raven protested. "Besides, she's been having a bit of trouble with her mutation right now. She's not going anywhere."
"Except with your little elf." Sabertooth retorted in a low voice. "Oh yeah, I know he was there too. Just what did you tell them?"
"Not everything. Not yet. Those two just met today, I don't think a detailed history is entirely appropriate just now."
"Oh lord, you took her to school? What if one of Xavier's other kids saw them?"
"Miss Grey tried to ask questions, but Kurt took care of her for now. Summers may be harder to convince."
"She shouldn't be in school at all now."
"And I should do what? Leave her alone in my apartment? She needs something to do, Victor. She and Kurt painted the roof of the library this afternoon because they were bored during free period!"
"All the more reason to keep her home!"
"For Magneto to find her! At least while she's at school her brother can keep an eye on her when I can't. If Magneto gets suspicious, the first place he'll check is my old apartment! And if he stops by and finds her there…"
"I know, Raven, I know." He groaned. "That doesn't mean I like it."
"You don't have too." She glared. "She is my daughter too, Victor."
"Fine." He sighed. "We'll play things your way this time. I'll distract Mags with some minor emergency. Just don't screw this up, Misty!"
"I won't. I can't." Raven replied. "There is too much at stake."
"Good." Victor growled. "Goodnight, Raven."
"Goodnight!" She shouted as he slammed the door. She thanked whatever deity was listening for giving her the idea to soundproof her room. Even if Toad saw the discussion through the window, he couldn't make out what they were fighting about. Her children would be safe for now, but would be better off once Andi flew back to her employer.
"I'm tellin' ya, yo, I couldn't hear nuttin' through that window." Toad said to his older housemate.
"Well, did it look like they were fighting?" Lance asked.
"Fo sure, Yo." Toad said. "Man, I wish I could read lips!"
"Don't sweat it, Froggy." Pietro waved. "Those two were probably just fighting over whatever assignment the Boss wants her to pull off. We're not going to get anything out of her, so there's no point in letting Magneto know anything yet. But keep your eyes open, guys!"
"That's right." Lance nodded. "If you see that girl getting friendly with the X-Geeks, or even talking to Mystique, find Pietro or me so we can inform Magneto."
"Don't worry." Freddy nodded. "I'll let you know if I hear anything."
"Good." Pietro smirked. "Meeting dismissed!"
There you have it! Family bonding, Brotherhood scheming, and the promise of future X-Men involvement! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!