Who: Mystique OT Banshee What: Responses to the news When: Wednesday Morning after the thread with Karr and Mags Where: There apartment Warnings: language.
She could hardly believe it. Hardly credit it. Erik and Charles were doing nothing. No. Worse than nothing. They were playing by the rules, wanting to use the system.
It reminded her of one of the books she'd read on radical movements after her escape from Bosnia. That liberal movements wanted to work within the system, to get a bigger piece of the pie. But radical movement knew the truth, that the pie was fucking rotten to the core, an apple pie more worm than apple. Who the hell in their right mind would want a even a sliver of such a pie? Why not throw away the pie and bake a new one? Why eat rotten pie?
And to make matters worse, the Cure was something much darker? Kurt... Kurt was taking something much darker? No, she didn't have a relationship with him that spoke of love and caring, but to see him suffer? People had already died over the Cure. More would. She had a new purpose, her spine as stiff and hard now as Logan's.
Quietly, she closed the door to the flat she and Banshee had made into a home, her eyes closing at the soft, comfortable, sound of safety.
"Sean?" she called, wondering if he was even there or if he'd gone looking for food like she had, though it seemed like days ago now, not the mere hour or so she'd really been gone....
***
While Mysti had gone in search of food, Sean knew he should join her but instead decided to go out and actually get food for the week plus he needed a flight. So with a backpack, he'd left Mansion grounds, flying in the cool almost muggy morning air to the small grocers at the edge of town. They didn't need much, not until they could do some serious shopping later so he only grabbed a half gallon of milk, bread, some fruit, and deli ham for lunch later.
He also grabbed a newspaper but shoved it into the pack before he could get a good look at the headline. Once he was home, he put the food away and set the paper on the table with the intention of reading it after his shower. Mystique still wasn't home yet, but that wasn't unusual. It was entirely possible she'd gone to the shooting range after breakfast or was talking to someone and could be gone for hours. Shrugging to himself, he stripped and stepped into the shower.
As he passed the bedroom, he glanced inside to the completely messed up bed inside. Memories from the night before flooded his mind making him smile. The past weeks since he and Mysti had moved in together had been bliss and not just because every night (often times more than once) they were exploring each other's bodies. Sean hesitated to call it domestic since they had been working during that time and their "jobs" were hardly the nine to five, white collar desk work and while they lived on affluent grounds, their little suite wasn't the two story spacious suburban home either. Domestic, to Sean, was all of those things, but maybe it was something more. Maybe it was just living with someone, squabbling over putting the toilet seat down and who gets the last slice of cake, going to the grocery store and running errands on the weekend. Maybe it was all of those things but even still, even though that described him and Mysti to a T, he still hesitated to call it 'domestic.'
But life was good. He had a beautiful partner he loved and an equally beautiful daughter he also loved, both with all of his soul. Here at Haven it was easy to forget there was a world out there that wanted to destroy that, but Sean was good at blocking that world out when he wanted to. This morning, he intended to do just that.
He'd just shut off the taps when he heard Mysti call out his name. "In the bathroom, love," he called back, grabbing a towel and drying off. A couple of moments later, he stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his slim hips and smiled at her though his expression slowly fell at her expression. It wasn't exactly murderous but there was a familiar glint to her eye that he didn't like. "What's wrong?" he asked, the peace of the morning burning away as his body tensed to alertness.
***
Mystique took in the towel-clad form of her lover and sighed, wishing there was time to indulge herself. But there wasn't. She and Sean needed to talk, needed to make decisions. This was, in some ways, the first true test of their fledgling partnership.
"I take it you have not seen the news?" she asked softly, still too tense to sit but too controlled to pace.
***
Sean tensed even more and glanced over at the paper on the table across the room. "No. I went out and grabbed some milk and bread then I took a shower. I haven't had a chance to look at the paper yet," he replied warily as he walked across the room. The print was large accompanied by a picture of angry protestors holding signs that were for the law. Sean stared with numb shock as he skimmed down the paper, words like "mandatory," "the Cure," "registration," and "enforcement" jumped out at him. Hot anger stiffened his spine and he ripped the paper in two with the force of it. Hard on the heels of anger came a deep sense of betrayal, from this country that he'd grown to love would betray him and its own people, its own Constitution, founding fathers, everything it was based on so cruelly. And not only that - "What the fuck have Charles and Erik been doing if this... this bullshite is this fucking close to being voted on?!" he asked, turning to Mysti. "Sitting with their thumbs up their arses? Jesus fucking Christ!"
***
"They play at politics. I just left Erik's office, and his answer is that they are rallying support, that Charles goes before Congress. He... still has faith in the system. In humanity. I... do not."
She felt so tired. So very tired. It was as if only her anger were keeping her from sinking into the deepest pits of depression. Mystique did not give up, not easily, nor did she trust many. Sean had earned her trust, and this morning, Erik had lost it. "There's more though. That... that is only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. It seems that the Cure is no such thing. It seems that every one of the cases of this new flu sweeping the population here at Haven were mutants who took that Cure. And there is no Cure for the Cure. Not the doctors, not the Healers. This law is nothing less than full scale genocide," she said softly. "Charles and Erik have been collecting this data and are going to blow the whistle. I told Erik... I told him that everyone who gets ill from the moment he made the connection until the moment he goes public... those are on HIS conscience. I... I do not think he liked hearing that. My... son... is among them," she finished softly. She didn't speak of Kurt often. Couldn't. There was too much raw pain there, no matter how she tried to hide it behind coldness. A combination of guilt and hatred that threatened to drag her under. A combination that only Sean knew the details of.
"Erik let some hint slip, he's tired, and I... I used Kurt to get more of the details. Sean, Worthington Industries stands to gain a fortune from this law passing, and you know they have deeper pockets than even Charles. The Sentinels are already being expanded, and you know the military contracts will be pushing for this law. Haven... Haven will be a sitting duck. A target seeking a political solution. And the 'teams' will not stop a full scale assault. You and I both know it."
She took a deep breath.
"I'm leaving. I'm not going to stay here and be a target. I'm not going to stay here and give support to Erik and Charles. I cannot, in good conscience. I am going to find out what is going on, and I'm going to stop it using whatever means are necessary. You said once we were partners, that you'd... stand by me. Will you?"
***
Mercy be. Sean had sunk against the table in shock as Mysti spoke about the Cure but the pain in her voice drove him forward to wrap his arms around her. He knew that she didn't hate her son, but it had, unfortunately, taken something catastrophic for her to realize that. His hope was that she wouldn't add another regret to the burden she already carried and not say something to him if the worst should come to pass. Poor Kurt. Such a horrible thing to happen to a sweet kid. He hadn't really had much of a chance to talk to Kurt but the few conversations that they'd since he'd come to Haven had left Sean with a good impression of a very sweet young man.
I'm leaving. The words broke into Sean's thoughts forcing him to put his worries about Mystique's son and the Cure (how could they? Did Worthington Pharmeceuticals even know? Did they even care?) on the backburner for now. He stepped back and looked down at her, his expression blank, hiding the churning thoughts behind it. It was as much about standing with Mystique as it was leaving a target zone. Haven had a huge bullseye on it and it seemed like no one was aware of that. Yes, there was security and it was good security, Sean had no doubts about Network's abilities, but it was limited. The teams, while they were training, were untested and still very young.
But it wasn't just that either. Charles and Erik had seemed like they really knew the system, they acted as if the people in the government respected them and they had made it sound like their lobbyists were successful in getting support for legislation either for mutant rights or against bullshite like this. But they'd failed. Sean could understand if they'd tried their hardest but there had to have been some warning from their contacts or lobbyists or even the Senators they were supposedly good friends with. If there had been a warning to Charles and Erik, they'd failed miserably to pass that along to Haven. Did they not trust the people here? Did they expect everyone to blindly believe in them in the hopes that they don't misstep and show them for what they really were? What the hell had he been working for these past months if this was the result? They had evidence about the Cure, but how many people would think that the genocide that would result was a good thing? More than Charles and Erik would hope, Sean was certain of that.
"I'll stand by you," he whispered, reaching up to cup her cheek. "I won't leave your side. I need to talk to Theresa. Before this bill even passes, Haven will be an even bigger target. She needs to leave with us. And I think... I think you should talk to Kurt. If he's sick, he can't leave when we can't give him the care he requires, but I think you should talk to him. Just in case we never come back, just in case he.... Will you talk to him? It might be one less burden to carry."
***
Now that was two people telling her she needed to talk to Kurt. But... they were right. She couldn't leave without saying good-bye. Not if he were sick. He'd made his choices, true, and they were bad ones in her opinion, but... she'd made her choices, too. She had more guilt to carry than she was willing to admit to anyone else, even Sean. Maybe, had she kept him, then he wouldn't be facing whatever it was he faced. There were so many what ifs. So many might have beens. A life's worth. Two life's worth. So many paths diverging.
"I will. It will take time to pack, too. Tomorrow. We leave tomorrow."
***
"Tomorrow it is then," he murmured, his mind already on Theresa and the conversation that they were going to have. He had to convince her some how that she needed to leave, that she wasn't safe here any longer. If she refused to leave for any reason, well... he'd cross that bridge when/if he got there. Focusing his eyes on Mystique once again, he leaned down and kissed her softly and sweetly, gaining as much comfort as he hoped he was giving. "Will you be all right? Do you need a sparring partner to work out the rest of the rage?" He knew Mysti, he knew that she would've exploded upon hearing the legislation.
***
"No. I trashed the rec room. And tried to shoot that scrawny little feral kid when he complained. He seemed to understand," she said with a hint of a smile. For a long moment, she leaned her head against his shoulder, taking comfort in his support. "You go and talk with Theresa. Then we will have to figure out which safehouse to use and make our plans." She stepped away from him, hoping and praying this was the right thing to do. It felt right, though. And for Mystique, that would be enough. "Go. I'll see you back here for dinner." To encourage him to do the same, she walked to the door, opening and shutting it and wondering if it would be the last time she and Sean had a nice cozy apartment all to themselves.