X-Men 1st Redemptions

40: X-cavation

In the cab it was really awkwardly quiet for a while. They had a divider up between the back and front.

Finally, Kurt said, "Vhy did you do it, Mother?"

Mystique could never lie to Kurt, even if she wanted to.

"A while ago, Sinister gave me a tip about Rogue," she said dully. "I tried to get her back. I failed, but he said he'd ask for payment one day. I thought he'd faded into obscurity, but he's only been waiting for the right moment."

"Did he chip you?" Morph asked a surprisingly non-judgmental questions.

"No, he doesn't have to," Mystique said. "I know what he does to those who do not pay him." She grimaced. "He only wanted Xavier. I hate Xavier also. We had a common goal."

"But vhy do you hate Xavier?" Kurt said. "He is a kind man."

"He stole her from me!" Mystique said bitterly. "Suppressed her memory! How could I not hate him?"

"That really doesn't sound like Xavier," Morph said.

"Oh, I'm sure he put some spin on it," Mystique said, more bitterly still. "But call it what it is. Ask your precious Miss Likstar--even she doesn't like it."

"That is concerning," Kurt said.

Mystique thought to herself that of course her opinion wasn't valid.... Well, why would it be?

"But all this is no reason to kill him," Kurt said. "I'm sure he meant no harm. And the others are innocent. I'm not sure any of them even know Rogue's past. I don't even know it."

"You want to know?" Mystique said. "I'll tell you..."

And she did.

"You made her a criminal!" was what Morph got out of it.

"Ah, you took her in," Kurt said. "I alvays vondered how you came to adopt her. That's nice, but vhy did you make her a criminal?"

"It's what I did. Call it the family business," Mystique said. "What else could I have done with her? A power like that, she'd always be an outcast from anyone else."

"This is vhy you do not like the X-men," Kurt said. "They competed vith that.... She's happy vith them."

Kurt was just a little too smart.

"That does make sense," Morph said.

"I see vhy you are angry now," Kurt said. "I vould have seen before...if ve ever spoke."

He wasn't even bitter so much as just forlorn.

Mystique bit her lip. "I suppose you're angry now: I wanted Rogue, I didn't want you."

Morph gave her a quite justified look of horror at her cruel statement.

"I think I see vhy," Kurt said, though he sounded pained. "Vhen you found Rogue, it vas a better time for you to raise a child.... It is not easy to hear, but I see vhy it happened this vay. And it's better, I think, than believing you just replaced us on purpose."

Kurt would just never not find something to be glad about!

"What is wrong with you?" Mystique said. "I just told you all this, and you don't even care. You're just like that woman! Nothing ever upsets either of you! It's like you're not human."

"We're not human," Morph said.

"Shut up." She was still annoyed with him.

"Mother, stop this." Kurt actually sounded a bit stern. "Of course ve are upset. Miss Likstar has emotions too--I've seen it. In fact, she is often upset. But she takes her pain to Gott, just as I do, and He hears us and comforts us, so that ve an find solace in His love, and even if people do not help us, Gott helps us. Ve have hope. That is all. Ve're not invulnerable. If you keep thinking that, you put us on a pedestal. That is not how it is meant to be. Also, I'm sure Miss Shine is kind to you partly for my sake and doesn't show if you offend her. She is like that."