The LA church meeting was just two days after the Texas one, and that didn't leave much time for things to blow over.
Scott sulked even after he returned.
Rogue kept to herself, thinking about what she'd been told.
Logan and Storm tried to make Shine and Wally feel better. Wally was actually okay. Though he'd gotten mad at Scott many times, his anger was the sort that blows over very quickly once he'd said or done something about it.
Shine? She was slow to anger, but, apparently, slow to get over it, at least if the other person didn't meet her halfway. She avoided talking about it in order to not blow up any further.
Mystique had never found her so bearable... Perhaps in her own, warped way, she sympathized with disliking Cyclops--and feeling the X-Men were in your way.
"I could kill him," she offered casually. "It would be easy."
Shine was listlessly tracing shapes on the table. "No thanks" she said dully, like she didn't think it was a serious suggestion.
"You ought to get revenge," Mystique said.
"If this is you trying to cheer me up, it's not working," Shine said. "We don't take revenge."
"Your God won't like it?"
"He allows for justice, but not mindless vengeance," Shine said. "If retaliation would accomplish nothing other than our own satisfaction, it's not allowed. No end to the bloodshed then."
"I wouldn't be so scrupulous for anything," Mystique said. "If someone hurts me, I get back at them. No one else is going to take up your cause for you."
"God will."
"And what's He going to do, strike that idiot with lightning?"
"Storm could do as much. God will do worse than that: He'll prove him wrong." Shine sat up. "It's not Scott's dislike that bothers me, it is what he's willing to say to the others over it. I guess I've never quite gotten over the feeling of being turned against and set up and lied about. But I know the X-men are not so stupid, even if they are not perfect. But what he said to Rogue bothered me also. It's a mess. If I'm not mad for my sake, I'm mad for someone else. I can't trust myself right now."
Mystique frowned. "Rogue shouldn't have taken that from him."
"You took what he said about you," Shine said.
"That was the truth. I don't care who says it." Mystique crossed her arms. "They're all supposed to be friends... I knew she never should have left me. This team is just using her."
Shine folded her hands under her chin. "Perhaps she thinks you used her too."
Mystique was quiet.
"Did you?" Shine asked.
Silence again.
"Or," Shine said, "have you ceased to be able to tell whether you're using someone or not...? I remember that point... It's not a nice feeling, but it happens to us all."
"I'm sure you know all about it." Mystique was sarcastic. "Maybe I did use her--it's what people do--but I still took care of her. She'd have been lost without me. I made her strong, everything I did. Even what happened with that superhero."
"Did you know that Ms. Marvel would become trapped in Rogue's mind?" Shine asked.
"How could I have known that? It had never happened before," Mystique said.
"But you thought Rogue would kill her, didn't you?" Shine guessed.
Silence again.
"I'm only asking for clarity," Shine said.
Mystique nodded slowly. "You think that's wrong, I suppose."
"Of course I do, but that's not what matters," Shine said. "I'm sure it was not the first time."
"It will probably not be the last," Mystique said.
"What did Ms. Marvel do to deserve such a thing?" Shine asked.
"She was in the way, that's all."
"Like the X-men," Shine said.
Mystique frowned.
"You'd like to get rid of them," Shine said, "get Rogue back, wouldn't you?"
"Unless you're offering, I don't want to talk about it. Sounds like a trap," Mystique said.
"I wouldn't help you do that," Shine said. "I choose love, however little I like it at times. It's saved me a lot of trouble in life not to go after revenge. It just bites you in the rear later anyway. But, on record, I understand some of your anger...not all of it. I won't pretend I'm like you." She shrugged. "But the anger over Xavier taking Rogue's memories. I've had mine stolen a few times. I've dealt with the enduring trauma of people who've had that happen to them... One girl, her brother did it for years, stole her whole life. She broke free, but it almost shattered her. A lot of people stepped up to help her, and she pulled through, she's one tough little girl. Doing great now. Her bother actually came out of it, though just barely. I hear he's going into therapy now. Decided to use his power for good." She laughed lightly. "God works things out so funny sometimes. But before then, so many people were harmed by his power. It almost killed many of my friends, multiple times. I have an aversion to memory tampering. It's not like your reason, but I do hate it just the same."
"Then you should hate Xavier as much as I do," Mystique said.
"I don't care for him much, but he did not mean it to hurt her," Shine said. "Unfortunately, Xavier is messing with things he does not properly understand--and doing it the wrong way. The mind and heart have always been difficult for the highly intelligent people to blend together. We focus too much on one or the other, and we get unbalanced. Anyone with common sense ought to know that sealing away memories is a very poor solution and a temporary one at best. But you get enough in your head, it sounds logical." She tapped the table now. "Try not to hate him so deeply. His intent was to make her less miserable. If she had to be away from you anyway, why have her suffer the whole time?"
"She could have come back to me," Mystique said.
"Rogue does not go back to people she's run away from," Shine said. "It had nothing to do with you, it has to do with her. She's embarrassed. I think you could understand that."
Mystique didn't like to hear this. "Don't act like you understand us."
"I can't act like I don't. How would I do that?"
"What do you know about my daughter anyway? What did she tell you?" Mystique said. "That she blames me?"
"No, she doesn't talk about you," Shine said, gently, like she knew even that was going to cause pain. And it did.
Mystique scowled.
"She's lost, you know," Shine said. "She can't help it in some ways. You know, things have never gone well for her since she got her power."
"Yes, her and many of us," Mystique said. "We understood each other."
"I don't think you gave her much chance to understand you," Shine said. "Why didn't you ever tell her who you were?"
"It was who I was, then," Mystique said. "Why did it matter what I looked like?" She was defensive.
Shine decided to drop it for now. "I suppose appearances don't matter much... Well...you know, we should get out of this house. I'm sick of the tension.... I can't get revenge on Scott, but how would you like to do something just a little rebellious to blow off steam?"
"I'm listening." Mystique didn't have high hopes for Shine's version of rebellion, but any step forward was useful for her, right?
"I'd better grab Wally first," Shine said.
* * *
Shine's idea?
"Binge shopping?" Wally said.
"We don't have money," Shine said. "But there are things you can do for free in downtown New York, Manhattan, and stuff.... We should check out Coney Island if we ever do get money."
"And this is rebelling?" Mystique said.
"Ah, no, the rebellious part is that I'm going to let you go off alone," Shine said, mischievously. "Not forever, naturally, but for a bit. Scott would blow his top if he knew I did that. Now, we can trust you not to do anything, right?"
Mystique stared at her.
"And you think I'll come back?"
"Oh, no, we'll get you," Shine said. "I would never expect you to come back. But I'd prefer you be somewhat out of plain view...so let's give it two hours, shall we? Wally and I need some alone time outside that stupid mansion. And you ought to have some after almost 3 and a half weeks of being watched. I'm doing this for me, too. Don't reward me by stealing something or trying to get arrested for real, please."
"I have no intention of putting myself in prison," Mystique said. "That is where Creed could find me." She shuddered. "I'll cooperate with this only because I know you will track me down either way, and I'm not willing to make a scene."
"Good," Shine said. "Have fun. I trust you can take care of yourself just fine, so we're off."
"You sure?" Wally said to her. "I feel bad for the blue girl, but we will get in serious trouble."
"Hence the rebellion part, Wally," Shine said. "Come on."
"Shine, you're over-stressed." Wally followed her off.
Mystique smirked.
Even if it was not exactly pure freedom, it was the closest she'd gotten in weeks, and she intended to make the most of it.
She considered trying to escape anyway...but she reflected partway to the subway station that Shine could easily snatch her out of anywhere, even if she got on a ship or a plane, and that would only make people wonder...and perhaps get them caught if it made the news.
That portalling power was so annoying.... To escape, she needed a way to disrupt it. But how?
Left alone, at only about 30 minutes, she realized she really didn't know what to do. She wasn't much for fun, and she'd been surrounded by people so much lately, ever against her will, that without someone to taunt, she was bored.
She kind of window shopped... She wasn't above stealing, but if Shine or Wally caught her doing it, they'd make her give it back, and where would she hide it in that house?
She ought to get a weapon and catch the X-men off guard...but there were too many, and if she did that, she'd get any outside privileges revoked...or maybe they'd just kill her--or brainwash her, finally.
The whole thing made her uneasy.
And she realized, about an hour and half into her wandering, that, in some way, Shine's very annoying offers of friendship had provided an escape from thinking about the precariousness of her situation.
Mystique had not had a real friend in...probably never, really. At least not for years and years, not one who knew who she was. And she hadn't bothered trying to make friends either...but she was helpless in this situation, and she knew it. Only that Shine never made her feel helpless. She treated her normally. Wally too, if he was around. They didn't make her feel like an intruder and a criminal, like the others.
And she resented that...but it was about the only time she didn't think about what could happen if the X-men lost patience with her stubbornness and just took away her choice. They'd taken away Rogue's, hadn't they?
She'd lived with that with Apocalypse once, but she was useful to him if she was able to think more clearly, and had managed to escape before anything had happened to her. It was a perilous existence then too.
But then, her existence was always precarious.
She could not start feeling like her jailers were some kind of haven. What would that do? She had to outwit them somehow.
She slowed by the edge of a park, still thinking about this.
Spotting a bathroom, she walked towards it, thinking she'd get a moment of privacy.
Suddenly, from inside it, something grabbed her and yanked her inside.
Mystique almost drop-kicked the person before she saw who it was.
"Sinister!" she gasped.
"Hello, Mystique," Sinister said, smiling unpleasantly. "Remember that payment you owe me?"
* * *
"I thought you were gone," Mystique said, resuming her unreadable expression. "How did you know it was me?"
"I know your tricks by now," Sinister said. "Put off that form; it's insulting to me."
She reverted to her natural form. "How did you find me?"
"Interesting story," Sinister said. "I heard about the FOH's little clash with a certain Spiderman in Central Park. I knew the X-men had to be behind such a thing, so I paid them a little visit in prison. Creed told me everything, in exchange for my promise to see justice served."
"Creed? told you--a mutant," Mystique said.
"I might have persuaded him a little," Sinister said.
Mystique had a moment of almost pitying Creed.... He'd been through so much at the hands of Sabretooth. Sinister was even worse.... He gave even her the chills.
In fact, she was thinking this was not a great time to be caught by him now.
"Well, I don't have the time to talk," she said. "I have less than 30 minutes before I'll be called back. I'm working with other people now."
"I know you're being held prisoner," Sinister said. "It wasn't hard to track the X-men to all the religious establishments they've been frequenting. Someone saw you there with them. I take it you're being coerced."
Mystique shrugged. "You do what you have to to survive. Until I can escape, I'm playing along."
"And this is your lucky day," Sinister said. "Because I still have a bone to pick with those X-men, myself. They ruined all my plans too many times."
"I thought you'd finally bit the dust," Mystique said.
"I'm immortal, you fool," Sinister said. "Just took me a while to come back. Now that I have, I remember you owe me, and it seems you're in the perfect position to pay me back."
"I can't single-handedly take them down--they don't trust me. I'm watched at all times," Mystique said. "I don't have help. Creed at least provided me with backup."
"Ah, yes, my previous victim." Sinister was so casual about that. "I should have let that rat die. What a disappointment. Xavier's persuasion is strong with them."
Mystique couldn't argue that.
"I need Xavier gone," Sinister said, "as much as you do. I have finally discovered someone who hates him even as much as we do and who can take care of him. All I need is to be very sure that at least two of the X-men are not around when it happens. One is that Jean Grey, who I wanted for other purposes anyway."
Mystique almost threw up internally at that insinuation. But she blocked it out.
"The other is your daughter."
"Rogue?" Mystique frowned.
"Oh, I don't want her dead," Sinister said. "She's useful, anyway. You can just get her off somewhere far away. Surely you can contrive that. I just need Xavier alone or with the other useless ones... He hasn't been going to those meetings, has he? Are there going to be anymore?"
Here it was...the perfect chance.
But Mystique wasn't just going to swallow this without some kind of benefit to herself.
"And if I help you? What do I get?" she said. "I didn't get Rogue back with your tip, so what do I owe you?"
"Your failure was not my responsibility," Sinister sneered. "That I'm giving you another chance at all ought to be payment enough. You make of it what you will. Run if you want. Take her with you. But cross me--" And he glared. "--and you'll find that I'm a lot more creative than Grayton Creed in the ways I can think of to end your life painfully...after I've toyed with it first. You'd make a nice addition to my collection."
Mystique backed up. "I suppose I can't refuse at all, then."
"This was not a negotiation," Sinister said. "Those fools letting you stick around at all is what astonishes me, but I intend to use it. You will help me, or I'll cut you down along with them."
Mystique swallowed. "Well, I can tell you most of them will be going to Los Angeles, of all things, tomorrow. Xavier will be alone, save for that Cyclops and perhaps the Beast. It will be nothing to take them out."
"Hmm. But at their house, it will leave too much evidence," Sinister said. "I want them lured away. You make some kind of distress call from the others, bring them here...or better, I'll follow you to the Sunny State. It would be such cruel irony to take them out only miles from their only hope of survival."
Mystique didn't ask how he intended to accomplish this; she knew he had ways to travel.
"One more thing," Sinister said. "Who are those three others? I know the blue one is your son, isn't he? He could be a problem. Can you keep him busy?"
"I..." Mystique bit her lip. "He won't be a problem. He'll stay at the church, I'm sure of it."
"And them? Can they do anything useful?"
Mystique hesitated. "They have certain abilities that could be a problem, but, unfortunately, they are not mutants. Perhaps they are magic. I know of no way to counter them."
"Describe them to me." Sinister had the air of a scientist... [Which he was once, if you didn't catch his bizarre backstory episode.]
Mystique had a feeling she was doing something unwise, but if she refused, he'd force it out of her, so she described it.
Well, Shine could stop them, right?... And why did she find that a comforting thought?
But Sinister instead looked intrigued. "That's some sort of spiritual power. I've seen the like before.... I do believe I have a method that will work. This will be simple enough. Well, go before they notice your absence.... Do not disappoint me tomorrow."
Mystique left, still feeling cold from his emotionless way of talking.
It was sharply contrasted with the light of the portal that snatched her only a few minutes later.
Shine and Wally were waiting outside the mansion.
"Have fun?" Shine asked.
Mystique used all her acting skills to assume an unconcerned expression. "It was pleasant up till this moment."
"Wow, that's, like, high praise," Wally said. "What, did you actually do something cool?"
Mystique scoffed at him. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Not really," Wally said.
Mystique ignored the sinking feeling she was getting about all this.
* * *
The next day, they packed for warm weather and bright sunshine. Shine assured them it would not be raining in California; they didn't get storms in summer above once every 5 years, in her estimate.
[This is an exaggeration. It's more like every other year or so a few thunderstorms might happen if you live in the right area--but nothing like the East Coast.]
"We'd be a desert if we didn't have mountains that got snow." She acted like a tour guide as they stepped out under...a beach pier?
No one noticed them.
"Oh, I couldn't take us to the city line. LA is surrounded by suburbs," Shine explained. "We'll have to take a bus. It'll take over an hour, easy, to go 10 miles through LA traffic by bus, but we came early. Oh, pro tip, anytime you're going to LA, allow at least 90 minutes to get there if it's during rush hour and you're coming from farther away than the county itself. Even then..."
Well, New Yorkers were no strangers to public transportation--or traffic.
Everyone had joined them this time--even Gambit.
He came because he was worried about Rogue, but Rogue was actually rather serene compared to the previous time. She was quiet, but not so nervous. She kept shooting Shine uncertain looks and then shaking her head.
Storm asked Shine if they'd spoken.
"Yeah, but it was personal." Shine was apparently no snitch.
Storm let it slide. By now, she had confidence Shine would have handled it well.
Actually...handling the bus was a bit more of a problem for Storm. It was a little too crowded for her, and while the bus didn't go underground, thankfully, it was still cramped. And people seemed very aloof. But no one gave Kurt's pigmentation much of a second glance.
"They probably think it's a costume," Shine muttered. "People dress pretty weird around Hollywood and LA. If they look at you, smile like you're a celebrity. No one will question it."
This strategy actually worked.
And the civilians must have written off Rogue's costume and the others' more eccentric looking hair and style for the same reasons.
Case in point, one person whispered to their neighbor, "Is there a movie or something coming out about space cowboys? Like, are they the new Star Wars cast or something?"
"Probably just a rip off." The other person barely looked up.
In fact, when they switched buses, someone said, "Where's the Wookie?!"
And laughed.
The X-men froze up, thinking it was some kind of jab at them, but Shine looked over. "Back at the Falcon, duh. Someone had to hold a parking spot. Have you seen LAX?"
A few people laughed and walked on.
Shine smirked. "We're so lucky that movie just came out. This will be easier than I thought."
"Yeah, wow," Wally said. "That was so cool. Hey, do you think I could pass as Han Solo?"
"No, honey, I don't think anyone is going to mistake you for a brunette." Shine patted his hair.
"But it would be perfect--you could be Princess Leia."
"No way, I'd never sport hair buns."
Someone actually asked Gambit if he was supposed to be Han Solo while they were waiting, though he looked nothing like Harrison Ford. Some people really just can't see past a certain style of clothing.
Gambit had yet to actually see Star Wars, so he was confused. Logan thought it was hilarious.
On the next bus, it was even more crowded, and people were not very polite about making room.
Storm ended up standing, along with Logan and Rogue.
Storm felt like this might be for the best. She looked out the window and told herself it was not a small, closed in space, it was just a bus, moving.
The bus took a corner a little too fast, and her hand slipped because she was perspiring so much.
Logan grabbed her before she fell on someone else.
"You okay, Sugar?" Rogue asked her.
Storm nodded, thinking she might sound a little too pathetic if she tried to speak.
Logan decided to just keep a grip on her in case it happened again, and at least 10 minutes later, the bus finally stopped.
"This is us." Shine had a schedule in her lap. "This is so hard to figure out... I spent an hour on it last night. I better have been right."
"Don't worry, we've still got a while," Wally said as they got off. "We can jog the rest of the way. I wore shape-ups." Which was a joke.
"Jog?" Jubilee said.
Yes, she'd finally been allowed to come. Scott had declared they could do what they wanted--he didn't care anymore.
He was saying it just to be a pill, but Jubilee snapped up her chance anyway, and Xavier, anxious to make peace, had allowed it. Anyway, it was the last meeting, he told himself.
Mystique thought it was perfect for her. She'd have felt a tiny bit guilty about Jubilee being caught up in this--she was just a kid after all. Mystique wasn't one to attack teenagers if she could avoid it. She also blamed Jubilee far less for aiding the X-men; she'd joined after Rogue anyway.
"You really could go around in your real form," Shine commented to Mystique. "You'd look just like an alien too. No one will think anything of it."
"No thank you," Mystique sniffed.
"I could." Morph turned blue, then green, then red. "Which one looks more convincing?"
"One alien to another?" Shine said. "I'd go green. That's big in California."
Wally laughed at that way harder than the others thought he should. They didn't get the joke.
[That joke was worth this whole chapter, by the way, if you unpack it enough.]
"I hope Scott is okay," Jean said. "He told me to go, but..."
It had actually been Mystique, but Jean had not realized this. Mystique by now was a familiar person to her, and her radar hadn't detected that the emotional patterns were not Scott's, and her mental prowess wasn't enough to pick up on it without that clue.
"Why would he tell you to go?" Jubilee asked.
"He said to keep the rest of you out of trouble, but I think maybe he also wanted space. I wish I knew how to help him," Jean said.
Logan rolled his eyes.
"What would help Scott would to get over himself?" he muttered, not loud enough for Jean to hear, but Storm heard.
"Indeed." She was still mad.
"Boy, you two rarely ever agree on anything," Morph said. "You're both so angry at Scott, I'm shocked."
"Scott crossed a line," Logan said.
"He's let this whole thing get to him," Storm insisted.
"Yeah, well...uh, you're both kind of scary when you're angry, so I'm real glad I'm not Scott," Morph said, morphing into Scott. "I'd be like: 'Hey, Logan, Storm, don't kill me. I can't help it--I'm just an idiot!'"
Logan smirked.
Storm didn't find it amusing. "This is not a joking matter, Morph. Making light of it won't solve anything."
"I wasn't trying to." Morph reverted back. "Just lightening the mood, is all. Cheer up, you don't want to be all upset for the meeting, do you?"
"Well, no." Storm softened. "I'm sorry, I'm just... I feel responsible for it, but I also regret nothing I said. This is unusual for me."
"Get used to it," Logan said. "This is how I feel all the time with Scott."
"You provoke him," Storm said.
"And you didn't? Own up to it, Storm. You've turned into one of us now." Logan was half kidding, but Storm took it kind of seriously.
"I suppose there is something in that... Perhaps I just never considered the reason for all those clashes could be more than personal differences. I'm learning so much these days."
"You're so serious," Morph said. "Maybe it's just stress. It'll blow over once these meetings are done and things go back to normal."
"And that is where I have to disagree, Morph. I think nothing is going to be quite normal in the old sense," Storm said. "I don't think this will 'blow over'. Our new friends are determined not to let the momentum die out, and it's a golden opportunity we aren't likely to get again. If Scott persists in finding problems with it, I see no end to these disagreements. That is what's troubling me."
"Hey," Shine spoke up, "Scott will come around in time. Don't worry about it. He's not that confident."
"You're so sure?" Storm said.
"I'm sure at least that if it's between all of you giving up on him, and him compromising, he will eventually compromise," Shine said. "The X-men are everything to him. I know it sounds manipulative, but the best thing you could do is press on and ignore him until he comes around. If you give in at all, he will think you're weakening, and if you have no intention of doing so, that will only add to the irritation later... I've had to deal with this situation a lot of times, and quick, clean cuts always are better. Usually the person eventually comes around that way. The gentlest approach doesn't work."
"I can live with that," Logan said.
"I know you can," Shine said wryly. "But not everyone else feels the same."
"Shine's right, you know," Wally said, eating a candy bar. "Scottie'll just have to be a big boy and get over not winning this one. None of us always get what we want. If he can't deal with it, that's not your problem. You all could still be fine if he'd stop pushing you. He's in the wrong, not you."
"Of course you would say that," Morph said. "He's mad at you also, but we're not so sure." He frowned.
"What cause do you have to defend Cyclops?" Mystique muttered. "He wouldn't do the same."
They looked at her.
"What was that?" Logan said.
"Nothing," Mystique said.
"I think that's the place." Wally suddenly pointed. "Big cross, lights...yep, this is California, all right."
"The cross and lights aren't how we can tell that, hon--it's the two huge palm trees right in front of the entrance." Shine looked over. "Yep, only in California and Hawaii...and Florida maybe. They have palm trees there, right?"
"How should I know?" Wally said.
"One thing," Shine said. "Am I the only one noticing a weird smell? Like...I don't know, in the air."
"Oh, you mean the smog pollution," Storm said. "I can sense it. It's awful, isn't it?" She covered her mouth. "Some days, I've heard, there's so much of it they can't go outside."
"Smog..." Shine suddenly got a funny look. "My mom told me about that.... Yeah, when she was younger they had smog days.... Huh, they cleaned up the air by the time I was old enough to go to LA.... It's not great, but it's not that noticeable now. We have worse from brush fires in the inland empire." She made a face. "Always makes me feel ill."
"I'm starting to think the hurricanes are less of a problem," Storm said.
"Not by damage tolls, Storm," Shine said. "I guess now I know why we can't see the sky. I thought that was overcast..."
"Yikes." Wally looked up.
[Smog was at its worst in the 50s but wasn't as bad after the 70s Clean Air Act. It's gotten better over the years mostly, but, fun fact, in just 2020, it got worse again. In 83, roughly when this story is set, it's likely it would have been better, but still bad on some days. The average amount of some days a year varied over the decades. Could be as high as over a 150 when it was bad.]
They walked up to The Church on the Rock, Assembly of God church.
[I gave this one a denomination because it's the one I have probably experienced the most in some ways, and it can also vary a lot in how people act it out, so there's less room for error. Also, it's a popular denomination in California. Bethel Church in Redding California is, I believe, an AOG church. IHOP is also, I believe, though that's not a church exactly. If you're not in the Christian circle, or real familiar with the US, then both those groups are huge in the Christian world of America. Bethel is like America's Hillsong. Jesus Culture is the better music one in my opinion, but whatever floats your boat.]