X-Men 1st Redemptions

79: X-stablished

"Uh...well, I was chasin' her around..." Rogue said guiltily. "I guess both of us kinda broke it, and she shot me."

"She shot you?" Storm said.

"It was a blaster," Rogue said, "so it didn't do much to me. 'Course, I didn't know who it was... Momma sure do like to double down on bad decisions... But what do that have to do with the Morlocks?"

Storm took them into the hall before she explained.

"Oh...that's terrible." Rogue was upset.

"And Mystique still here?" Gambit said. "Why not leave her in de sewer and bring dem?"

"Shine would never allow that," Storm said. "At this time, I'm starting to think she is keeping Mystique here for her own protection, not ours. One thing I have come to understand about that woman is that she is a magnet for trouble. And we do not know who may be looking for her. Shine also always thinks ahead, if you haven't noticed. Nothing she or Wally ever do is just for one reason, I think. For example, leaving Mystique out there now, while it might be safer than here in one way, also might not be. We don't know that the Morlocks won't hunt her down, or that someone else might not, and she now has information that would interest them. Those two people are on a rampage. It makes the most sense to try to keep an eye on her and them at the same time."

"I guess," Rogue said. "But...not that Momma don't deserve what she gets, but, I don't want 'em to kill 'er. That would be a nasty thing to happen, and under our roof, it's even worse."

"Well, short of shutting her back into her cell, what else can we do?" Storm said.

Mystique might have agreed to such an offer, for how scared she was.

She'd gone straight to her room as soon as she got the chance and listened for any sound of someone following her.

"Gambit don't like dis," Gambit said. "Never trust dem Morlocks."

"I think we can put our past differences behind us," Storm said. "They are mostly harmless, I think."

They heard Wally yell, "Hey, don't touch that!"

"Harmless?" Gambit repeated dryly.

"I'm sure it was an accident," Storm said.

"Maybe, but aren't a lot of 'em dangerous?" Rogue said. "I mean, just...their powers, that's why they live down there."

"I hardly think we should care about that. Many of us are dangerous," Storm said. "Excuse me. I must finish what I was doing."

"Wait a minute," Gambit said. "How Logan mix up in dis? You say before he want to get on good side."

Storm paused.

"I really don't think it's my place to explain anything," she said. "Ask him. But I'd advise against doing so."

She walked on.

"I would advise that also," Rogue said. "Logan's meaner than a wet cat when he's in one of those moods of his."

They both left it alone for the time being.

Fast forward to the next day when Jubilee returned, and things were not much better.

Scott accepted the situation with his usual surly manner but less of a fight than expected, and the others tired to make the best of it.

Callisto was being a pain however, by telling Shine every 20 minutes that they were not here to stay long, and the sooner they found the two minions in question and put it to rights, the sooner everything could go back to normal.