August 20, 1992
"Dad!" Sharon said.
She cradled the phone close to her head. Her father breathed in relief on the other end of the phone.
"You don't need to call me every fifteen minutes," she said, "I'm fine."
"Perhaps," her father said, "or maybe you've gotten yourself into some more trouble."
She shrugged and pulled her legs closer to her chest. Sharon winced at the movement: it hurt worse than she'd thought it would. Her whole body was sore after the events of a few hours ago.
"Nice job keeping Sean's boss out of it," she said, "Sean said he had no idea how you managed it."
"I'm a politician Sharon," her father said, "I have ways. Now, Charles tells me that you're dating his son. Is this true?"
Sharon blushed. She had no idea why, after everything, she felt nervous about this. How had he even found time to talk to Charles about this. It wasn't even light out yet.
"Yes," she said.
"A future lawyer. Not bad," her father said.
She laughed, tucking some of her hair behind her ear.
"Glad you think so," she said.
There were a few noises on the other end of the phone.
"Your mother wants to have a word with you," her father said, "And it appears that one of my aides needs me. Come home soon, alright Sharon?"
"Sure things. I'm catching a ride when they drop off Amanda. That's Kurt's girlfriend," Sharon said.
A bristling noise filled the phone, and Sharon knew her father had shken his head.
"You all suddenly decided you were interested in having boyfriends and girlfriends fast," he said.
"That's not true," Sharon said, "Lots of things just came to fruition."
"In any case, I'm glad you're alright. Now hurry home," her father said, "I love you Sharon."
"Love you too dad," Sharon said.
The phone shifted.
"I'm glad that you're safe," her mother said.
"I wasn't in too much danger," Sharon said.
"That's not the way I hear it," her mother said, "You flew the Blackbird?"
"And then crashed it," Sharon said.
She suddenly realized how that sounded. Sharon rushed to patch up her mistake.
"It was a strategic move though," Sharon said, "I made the choice to do that: it wasn't an accident. Don't worry about the car, okay? I'm perfectly qualified to drive that."
She considered her words.
"And don't tell dad I crashed it either," she said.
Her mother laughed.
"I heard that things with David worked out," she said.
"Yeah," Sharon said, blushing again, "Dad already talked to me about that."
"I'm glad that he isn't a fool," her mother said, "Where is he now?"
"Resting I thi-" Sharon began.
One of the side doors opened and David walked in, running his hand through his hair. He gave her a tired smile, but his feet wobbled when he took a step. There was no way he was going to be able to support himself back to somewhere he could rest.
"I have to go," Sharon said, "Love you mom."
"Love you too."
Sharon hung up and walked over to David.
"You shouldn't be up yet," she said, "They said you needed to rest."
David shrugged. He wrapped his arms around her and laid his head on her shoulder.
"I'm sleeping here," he murmured.
"Don't be silly," Sharon said.
She draped his arm over her shoulders.
"Let's get you upstairs," she said.
He grinned, the expression lazy.
"Stay with me?" he asked, "I still want you close you know."
"Of course," Sharon said.
Terry put a hand up to her throat. She could just feel the ridges that lined her throat where, before, they had felt like ropes. Her father put a hand on her shoulder.
"Well?" he asked.
She breathed in. Wade was looking at her from across the room, keeping a respectful distance from her father. Terry had made sure her father knew that they were back together, that everything had been smoothed over. It hadn't done much to help her father's temper.
Warren was slumped in a nearby chair. There was barely any color in his face and he looked exhausted. He'd given a lot of his blood in the past few hours, and he'd pushed himself to give her a transfusion. He'd stopped just short of needing a transfusion himself.
At the moment he just needed a lot of rest, but his skin was no longer blue. It was a step in the right direction.
"Terry?" her father said.
Terry grasped her father's hand. She was scared, scared that it hadn't worked. Her wounds were old, and they had been great. Someone had ripped open her throat for goodness sake, and she'd been silenced.
She swallowed and rolled her eyes towards the ceiling. Saying a silent prayer she opened her mouth.
"I think...I think..." she said.
The sound of her own voice stopped Terry short. She couldn't believe that she had spoken. Her father laughed and pulled her into a bear hug. Terry laughed and cried, holding him close.
Behind them Wade grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. Terry would talk to him later. The idea that she could talk to him later was exhilarating. She wanted to hear him say he loved her again, and this time she wanted him to hear her say it.
Warren smiled and started to get up.
"Warren," she said.
Her voice came out raspy. Warren stopped, surprised.
"Thank you," she said.
"It was nothing," Warren said, "I need to make up for the things that I've done somehow."
Terry frowned.
"That wasn't your fault," Sean said.
"Maybe not directly," Warren said, "But...it's just going to be a little hard getting over all of this."
He stumbled as he walked, only to be caught by Ororo. Terry hadn't seen her come in, but Ororo smiled gently at Warren.
"And I'll be there for you," she said, "Now come on, you've lost enough blood today. I can't have you getting into an accident and losing even more."
The two of them walked off. Terry smiled as her father hugged her again.
"This is a miracle," he said, "A downright miracle."
He sounded like a child on Christmas. Terry felt giddy too, and her father beamed at her.
"Don't overtax yourself, okay?" he said.
She nodded, even though she wanted to speak in order to agree. It felt like it had been far too long. Her father kissed her on the forehead. She batted him away playfully, but he just kept grinning.
"Get some rest," he said, "Fury's probably going to try to get our heads when we go back. He won't be happy Hank stopped him. We'll have to be well-rested for that."
She smiled and nodded again. Her father walked off. He stopped short in front of Wade and glared for a minute before moving on.
"He's not gonna forgive me anytime soon, is he?" he asked.
Terry shook her head. Wade shrugged and sat next to her.
"Long as you do," he said.
She pulled his mask up and kissed him. He kissed her back and put his hand underneath her chin.
"Ya know I do love ya, right?" he asked, "I wasn't just saying that."
"I know," Terry said.
"Good," Wade said.
"I love you too," Terry said.
"Double good," Wade said.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, holding him for a moment.
"My father's right though," she said, "There's probably going to be hell to pay when we see Fury again."
"Hell schmell," Wade said, "After all that, I don't think Fury scares me anymore."
He paused.
"Well, much," he said.
Terry nodded. It was hard not to agree with that.
Kurt rolled over. Amanda groaned next to him, burying her face in her pillow. Kurt made his movements smaller. Now that she was finally asleep and resting up, he didn't want to disturb her. There had already been enough of that.
He gently disentangled himself from her arms and got up. The past few days had been long, but there was something that he needed to do now. Not everything had been settled and, before he went down to talk to his parents in a few hours, he wanted to settle this.
Kurt began teleporting around the mansion. Most people were asleep, but somehow he knew that she wouldn't be. He saw Alex and Max talking in one of the halls. Alex hugged his son before Max disappeared inside his room. The sight made Kurt smile, but there was more to do.
He checked a few other rooms and hallways before finally finding her in the study.
Mystique was sitting on a sofa, flipping aimlessly through a photo album. Kurt cleared his throat and knocked on the door. She turned and Kurt briefly got a look at the photo she was looking at. He saw his father, aged about thirteen, with a young girl standing next to him. He supposed that was Mystique.
"Oh, it's you," she said.
Kurt teleported so that he was sitting across from her. Mystique clapped her hand on the edges of the photo album. An awkward silence descended between the two of them. Kurt fidgeted, but he already knew what he had to say.
"I'm not angry at you you know," he said.
Mystique shut the album.
"What?" she asked.
"It's not...nice finding out that you're adopted," Kurt said, "It's not nice when you spend so much of your life deliberately not thinking about what you are or aren't. For a long time I didn't understand how anyone could do what you did."
Mystique put the album away, her eyes on the floor.
"But...I heard what you said to Apocalypse," Kurt said, "I was hurt, but at the same time...you were doing what you thought was best for me. Why would you think that leaving me would be best though?"
He tried to make his question as innocent as possible. He didn't want to scare her away. Kurt just wanted to understand.
"I think that you're not being harsh enough," Mystique said, "But...the reason I did what I did...Kurt, your father had just died. I wasn't sure if I could do it myself, and I already saw Lorna struggling with our lifestyle. I couldn't risk that."
"Why didn't you leave?" Kurt asked.
She gave him a long look.
"Because it wasn't who I was," she said, "Which was one of the reasons that I had to leave you here. Do you regret growing up here?"
Her voice was bitter and irritated. Kurt shrank back.
"Did you?" he asked.
Mystique sighed and got up.
"If you'd asked me that question a few years ago, I would've said yes," she said, "But things are so different now...I don't regret what happened. I don't regret leaving either though."
She touched his cheek. Kurt looked up at her. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lorna walk by, Luna's hand clasped in hers. Luna looked at the two of them curiously before her mother ushered her further down the hall.
Mystique hadn't seen them though. She just kept looking at Kurt.
"That girl with the golden hair," Mystique said, "Are the two of you together?"
"Yes," Kurt said.
"Good," Mystique said, "She seems nice, for a human. Just be happy. It's what I wanted for you."
She took her hand away and walked towards the door.
"You don't have to leave you know," Kurt said.
"I do," Mystique said, "It's who I am. I'm glad that you're the kind of person who thinks there's a choice here though."
Without looking back Mystique left the room. Kurt stared after her.
"That was very brave of you."
He closed his eyes.
"I learned from the best mom," he said.
The couch shifted as his mother sat down next to him. He opened his eyes and she took his hand.
"How long were you listening?" he asked.
"Not long," she said.
She squeezed his hand.
"I'm glad you talked to her," she said, "Heaven knows I hated her when I was younger, but she's troubled Kurt. She thought that it would be better for you if you were raised with us."
"She might've been right," Kurt said.
He squeezed her hand.
"I've had a good life mom," he said, "I've had good friends, a good brother, and good parents."
His mother smiled and Kurt hugged her. He could still feel some pain in him, pain that he'd carried around with the knowledge that he had other parents out there. It was faint now, and it felt like he could breathe easier.
"What else could anyone ask for?" he asked.
