X-Men: The Gifted Ones

35. MAIN KITCHEN, XAVIER MANSION. WEST CHESTER, NY

"That's why I wanted the school, so children like you would never have to hide again."

Mystique found herself liking Jane against her will, so she doubled down on the taunting. "So you keep us all cozy and safe here, away from everyone else?"

Jane pushed past her, not afraid to stand her own ground. "Doesn't Erik do the same thing? Hide all of you away from everyone else? Even in your true form with him, you're still hiding. I suppose we all do. We all hide. We're mutants and the world is afraid of us and hates us and what we can do!"

"Oh, but a pretty thing like you has never had to hide, has she? Charles has never asked you to look different to appease him, has he? No, you don't know what it is like to hide!"

They both turned around as the kitchen door opened and Charles entered. His face was clouded with emotions when he saw Mystique with Jane. "Raven!" he exclaimed as he feigned joy, but was very confused and worried about his wife. "What in heaven's name are you doing here?"

Mystique sneered and walked towards Charles. "Charles, Charles, Charles. My brother gets married and does not even invite me to his own wedding? Afraid I'd show up looking like this? Embarrass you?"

"It wasn't that kind of wedding. We had no guests. Had we a proper wedding, I'd have invited you and, yes, invited you looking as you are, even with..." he swallowed, seeming uncomfortable at seeing his sister without clothes, "no clothes on. It's not like I don't know how to find you."

"Ah yes, Cerebro. Your little mutant tracking device. Is that how you found the little wife?" she mocked, tousling Charles's hair like she did when they were kids.

"Raven, why are you here?" he demanded to know.

"I wanted to meet my sister-in-law. After all, your good friend Erik is quite taken with her, too."

"You and Erik need to leave us alone. Let us live in peace. Fight your fight, but leave us out of it."

"It isn't that easy anymore, Charles," she snapped. "You will be pulled into the fight whether you want it or not. Don't forget a little place called Vietnam. I'm sure the wife hasn't forgotten it."

She walked out the door and shifted her form back into Evie's. Charles hoped she was leaving the mansion. He still felt uneasy. Jane rushed to him and wrapped her arms around him. He tried to reach up and hold one of her arms but he was too troubled. Raven's visit troubled him. He could never call her Mystique. What happened to her? What was she doing here? What did she really want? Charles' wondered how Magneto and the Brotherhood were involved in Vietnam and how that would involve him and Jane.

Charles gently removed Jane's arms from him and followed Mystique who was now disguised as Evie. He followed her down into the driveway where he managed to call after her. "Raven, what is going on? Why are you here?"

"Don't call me Raven anymore, Charles!" she turned on him.

"Come on, you can't expect me to just forget 20 years of you being my sister. Has Erik destroyed the sister I've known?"

"No, Charles," she retorted, changing into her true form. "Erik just allowed me to be who I always was, the person you wanted to hide!"

"I never wanted you to hide to please me, only for you to stay alive. Stay safe. Protect you. Take care of you. I thought hiding was safest. I see now I was wrong to deny you the chance to be yourself."

"It's easy for you to say, always blending in, never feeling the need to hide! People always finding you attractive."

"Raven, is this still about the way you look?"

"You will never understand!" she cried.

"No, I won't. I can't help that, and I wish I could understand what it has been like for you. Why does it hurt you so? I've always loved you, you know."

"Not like you love Jane! You never saw it, did you? Always saying you saw me as your sister, never as a woman, only finding me beautiful when I hid."

Charles was stunned. He never expected such strong feelings from her. He always took for granted that she viewed him as nothing more than a brother. "Oh, Raven. How can I expect you to understand? We were children when we met. We grew up together. I took care of you, protected you. It seemed unnatural to see you as anything other than my sister, my best friend. And it had nothing to do with your looks."

"You've always been blind, blind to everything except your obsession with mutants and your research and all this! Now you can actually see when the mutant is pretty enough?"

He closed his eyes. She misunderstood so much. Jane didn't open his eyes because she was beautiful, she opened his eyes because he had kept himself walled off from everyone. He had used his paralysis as an excuse to shut himself off from love. "You hate Jane for how she looks? She can't help it, she can't change forms like you and judging by the way she was staring at you, she clearly wishes she was more like you. Why must you hate her?"

"I hate her because even the one man who always found me beautiful now wants her!"

"I can almost assure you that Erik doesn't want her for her looks."

"Prove it! Every man I've loved loves someone who doesn't look like me! Makes me feel like I should hide! Wants me to hide, wants me to change, look like everyone else, or wants someone who looks like everyone else. You, Hank, even Erik!"

"When has Erik ever asked you to change?"

She had no answer.

"My dear sister, I only wanted to keep you safe." He stared at Mystique, picking up a few of her thoughts. He saw an image of a gravely wounded Mystique being bound to Jane who has been rendered immobile, and Jane's powers being used to save Mystique. A look of pain crossed his face. He realized that Erik plans to have Jane only to save himself, or Mystique. His voice is shook with pain from what he has seen. "I can assure you, Erik will keep you alive at all costs. You and I both know how he plans to do that and that is exactly why he wants Jane... for no other reason."

"Maybe you should enjoy what time you have with her then, huh?"

Charles could only gape at her.

"Stay out of my mind, Charles," she told his mind. "Where I'm going, you can't follow. You should have stuck with Erik, stuck with us. Your love for this woman may mean her death and you know it!"

Charles felt uneasy by her threat. He stared after her as she walked away. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was clear to him now that the Brotherhood had rightfully perceived that his biggest weakness is his fear of losing Jane. This is why I didn't want to fall in love, he scolded himself. This is why I never wanted anyone close to me. He didn't regret his marriage, but he regretted that Jane now had a target on her, and if the Brotherhood had their way, he would always live in fear of losing her.