บท 6: Chapter 6: Lessons
The Blackbird was boarded with the entire assembled group of X-Men. This was a mission where Xavier suspected that the entire team should go on. Given the fact that this was a weekend and thus not a school night, there was no reason for any of them to stay in bed.
Ororo, or Storm, was the one who was designated to fly the plane. There was space designated next to her, where Professor Xavier's wheelchair could be placed. The ramp extended down, and Xavier rolled up it, and only place. The next two seats on the plane back were occupied by Jean and Scott. Kitty took a seat in the next row, and Harry sat down beside her. Kurt sat in the next one on the plane. Logan, being Logan, sat away in the back, and propped his feet up, waiting to go to their destination.
There was silence that was going to be broken in a matter of moments.
"So where are we going?" Logan asked. He was short, and to the point, always one to get to the answers without cutting through the bullshit. "We pulled everyone out of training, so it has to be important."
Logan had the air of someone who thought that was a mistake.
"It is Logan," Xavier said. "Another mutant was picked up on Cerebro, and her mutant powers are quite intriguing. This will be a bit of a flight, so it's best that I explain properly."
Scott spoke in a casual voice. "So, are we talking about the good kind of interesting? Or are we talking about the bad kind of interesting?"
"Depends on what your perception is, Scott," Xavier said. "She can absorb the memories of people through the touch of her bare skin."
"That must be a useful power," Harry mused.
"Well, providing if you can control it," Xavier said.
"She can't control it," Harry said, and he suddenly grew rather grim.
"That does seem to be the case, she touched just a tiny bit of her flesh on a boy's hand today, and he blacked out," Xavier said. "The boy will recover in time, but for now he's in a catatonic state. It's uncertain if he'll remember what has transpired. The girl's assumed name is Rogue, at least that's what she goes by."
"Well it seems like that name's already taken," Kitty said to Harry in a joking manner. "That kind of sucks, it does fit you."
"Very funny," Harry said, and Kitty just nudged him.
"Oh come on, it's not like you're someone that stays out of trouble," Kitty told Harry.
"Yeah, she does have a point," Kurt said. "You tend to attract the most trouble for us in those Danger Room sessions."
"I get you out of the trouble don't I?" Harry inquired. His expression remained firm and emotionless. Kitty and Kurt both nodded their heads.
"It's all part of your training," Ororo said, before this discussion could go any further again. "Although one day, I hope that your training will progress to the point where you don't get into trouble in the first place."
Harry would have to agree. He thought that as well. Contrary to popular belief, he would have liked to be have avoided trouble. Yet, it seemed to follow him. No matter what universe he was in.
There was silence on the Blackbird. Harry thought his Danger Room training was moving nicely. The solo stuff he was better at than the team work. He had to admit, for some reason he worked better alone. Still he was improving, so that was actually something that encouraged him.
"It's going to be a long flight to Mississippi," Kitty commented lightly. She looked at Harry with a smile. "And someone dodged out of the conversation about the codenames yesterday, before we could properly finish it."
Harry opened his mouth, before he decided to go in with the only retort that he could think of.
"Jean doesn't have a codename," Harry said.
"Hey, don't get me involved in this," Jean said. The truth was she thought of one that sounded cool. When she was about sixteen, and now at the sophisticated age of seventeen the name "Marvel Girl" did not sound that cool or anything but cheesy. Scott was the only one who knew, and he was not going to say anything.
If he knew what was good for him.
"Come on, codename," Kurt said. "It's not that painless, its better you pick out one, before Logan does or something like that."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Logan asked.
Kurt shook his head.
"Nothing, nothing," Kurt said, changing the subject. "Still, I picked out Nightcrawler, and Kitty…"
"Shadowcat, duh," Kitty said. She shook her head, and crossed her arms.
"So that was the one you finally decided on after the fifty million codenames you threw out in the state of hyperactivity you were in," Harry said. He had a grin on his face, and Kitty just shook her head.
"Hey, I couldn't decide, all of them were epic," Kitty said.
Scott turned around to look at Harry.
"You know you'll never here the end of this, if you don't pick a codename soon," Scott said.
Harry sighed. Names were not something that he was good at. He closed his eyes, and began to crack his brain.
'Firebolt…no naming myself after my old broom isn't going to work out,' Harry thought to himself. 'Sparky…no I'll never here the end of that one. Wizard…too generic. Sorcerer…yeah that's even more generic. Spanner…I have no idea where that bit of stupidity came from. Who would want to be named after a wrench? Downfall…no. Potter, think off something before you get saddled with something that's going to stick."
The plane hit some temporary turbulence, but it was nothing that it could not recover from. Harry was jolted out of his thought process.
"I've got it," Harry said. Kitty moved over, and nearly phased through her seat belt in excitement. She could not wait to see what brainstorm her team mate had come up with. "I think Arcane would be the perfect codename for me. I don't know what, but there's just something about the codename that speaks to me."
Kitty looked at him, blinking in confusion, before she understood. She looked impressed.
"Well given that it means something that's understood by few, mysterious and secret, that fits you to a tee," Kitty said.
Harry thought that did fit him, even though that was not quite the direction he was going for.
"Actually, I was going for the magic user aspect of it, more really," Harry said.
"Although you really should have gone with the name Excalibur or something, I mean that just sounds cool," Kitty said. Harry looked at her, with a raised eyebrow. The brunette looked at him in an exasperated manner. "You know, like the sword with King Arthur and Merlin and all that stuff."
"Yes, I'm aware of what Excalibur is," Harry said with a chuckle, and there was laughter all around. "I just don't see it as a name fitting me. And are you trying to say that Arcane isn't cool?"
"No, I'm not saying that all," Kitty said. "But you got to admit that the name Excalibur just seems to be so much more epic."
Harry sighed. He looked at her, with a frown.
"Arcane's good too," Kitty added.
"Glad to see I have your vote of confidence," Harry said.
"Good, we finally got that settled," Kitty said. She turned to Kurt. "Unless you can think of a better name."
"No, it's good," Kurt said.
"Well, I'll miss hearing that debate," Scott said dryly and suddenly they saw that they were there.
The X-Men prepared to see what they could find from the newest mutant. The way Xavier had briefed them on the situation, they knew that they would have to take extra care not to terrify the girl, and cause her to lash out against them, using her powers. The Blackbird landed, and they exited it to walk to the last known spot where the girl was sighted.
Getting here was the easy part. Finding their mystery girl was going to be something different all together.
A young girl dressed in gothic clothing stepped forward. She was pale, with dark hair, and white bangs. She looked around over to the side. Her heart began to thump a mile a minute. She could hardly believe what had happened. Her entire world had been turned topsy-turvy. She continued to run forward as fast as her legs could carry her. The events of the last few hours had played through her mind. She had gotten mostly a sense of herself. However, there were just many more questions that were yet to be answered.
The girl known as Rogue leaned against the wall. She was at a party. It was a rare outing that her guardian, Irene, had allowed her to attend. There was something that was always different about her. She had been told that she had a skin condition, and had to avoid contact with other children her age. Well, skin condition would be one way to put it what she had. She held her arms across her chest, and took a few deep breaths.
It all came back to her. There was this boy, at the party. His name was Cody. He asked her to dance, they did. Suddenly their skin touched, and the lights went out. His memories became hers. His talents on the Football field had become hers. She was standing there, and took a deep breath. She still shook her head.
'What's happening to me?' Rogue asked herself. She put her hands on her face. 'Is this what's going to happen every single time I go out in public. I can't even stand to face anyone? I have to be afraid to accidentally bump into someone, because this might happen. This is crazy. This is…no there's got to be an explanation. I got to get out of here…get home."
Rogue put her hands on her head. She continued to be confused, and took a deep breath. The solution had swam around her head. She needed to get home. However, where was home? That was something that she had no idea. Was she home right now? Was this her home or Cody's home? Where was she going? She wiped her hand across her forehead.
She barely even remembered her real name any more. She could not sit around here, gawkin' like some kind of idiot. She had to keep moving. It was useless to try and think otherwise. She made sure her skin was completely covered, or at least as covered as it was going to get. The last thing the girl wanted was some relapse of the incident.
Suddenly she stopped. She heard growling from outside. Rogue felt faint, and stopped.
"Who's…who's there," Rogue said, and she prepared to fight.
A short man dressed in orange had stepped out. He had dark hair.
"I've got you, right where I want you," he growled.
He charged forward, and jumped at Rogue. Rogue tucked her head, and rolled out of the way. The man crashed into the bed, and Rogue decided to use that as her opportunity to rush out of the backdoor, as fast as her legs could carry her.
Mystique watched Rogue leave. Her eyes followed the girl's progress out the door, as she thought about the plan. Wearing the face of Wolverine was something that she detested, but it would have to do for the plan to work. She could not allow Rogue to be recruited by the X-Men. Xavier had already gotten to one of them, and poisoned him with his lies. Mystique refused to allow another one to get corrupted by that foolish man's even more foolish dream.
She watched Rogue leave. Her beady eyes were narrowly fixed on the girl. She gave the girl a couple of moments to sweat things out. Then she turned into Storm. She reached into her belt, and pulled out a miniature pellet. This would simulate fake lightning.
"No one escapes the X-Men," the faux Storm bellowed in a commanding voice.
This performance would go on without a hitch, and Rogue's own confusion about her powers planned into her plans perfectly. She pelleted in, and the flash of light scorched the ground, it caused Rogue to tumble head over heels. She landed on the ground with a thud.
She rolled over, and got back to her feet. The woman she saw kept in the shadows, so she looked like an imposing figure. Rogue took a few deep breaths, and tried to remain on her feet. She scrambled on her back, and kept running.
Mystique watched Rogue leave. It was a shame she had to do something like this. The name of the game was deception. It was all about sticking to the plan. Mystique turned around, and she got on her cell phone when she was sure Rogue was running out of sight.
"She's running scared," Mystique said. There was a small bit of regret in her voice. Yet, she was trying to keep neutral.
She had a job to do.
The X-Men had arrived. Already Rogue would be confused. Mystique morphed into a raven. It was time to get a bird's eye view, and watch the show. Soon she would continue to drive nails into the reputation of the X-Men.
The entire group exited their jet, unaware that they were being watched by Mystique. As long as she remained hidden, and in the shadows, there should be no way that any of them would know that she was here.
The game was afoot. Now it was the time to take things up to the next level when Xavier and his disciples got involved.
The seeds of discontent will be sewed even further.
Harry always found himself to be someone who could think really quickly on his feet. He had never been much of a planner. That was the one reason why he kind of was a bit reluctant about being a part of a team. It kind of stopped him from thinking on his feet. He had to compensate for the follies of others.
He stood around. Scott, Jean, and Logan went one way. Ororo took to the air to see if she could spot this Rogue girl. Harry was with Kitty and Kurt on the ground. One of them could teleport away from trouble, and one of them could become intangible to avoid attacks. And they could do so to other people.
Harry thought he heard something. It was merely a bird.
'Got to learn to relax, Potter,' Harry thought to himself.
Suddenly, he did spot something. The girl Professor Xavier described had been running in the distance. He had gotten a glimpse of her. It took him a few seconds to register what he saw.
"Look," Harry said to Kitty and Kurt. They both spun around.
"Yeah, that's so her," Kitty said. She pulled out the communication device that she had on her. "Hey, Scott, Jean, we got her."
"Great, don't let her out of your sight, we're going in," Scott said.
"That shouldn't be too hard," Kurt said, and he teleported out of the way.
"Not all of this can do that," Kitty said. Harry disapparated away next and left Kitty stranded. Kitty placed her hands on her hips. Harry returned.
"Hang onto my waist tightly," Harry advised her.
Kitty looked at him strangely. "Your waist?"
"That's what I said," Harry said, and he grabbed Kitty, pulling her in closely. Kitty wrapped her around his waist. The two disapparated with a pop.
There was a moment where Kitty had her arm around Harry's waist. She paused, and noticed that they were there.
"Um, right maybe I should let go," Kitty said.
"Take your time," Harry told her with a smile.
They joined Kurt over to the side. Kurt was standing there, and Logan hovered in the background. The fuzzy mutant turned his attention to both Kitty and Harry who stood and waiting.
"It looks like we don't have to worry too much, Jean's found her," Kurt said, pointing them out.
Harry moved in to listen closely, and he caught snatches of conversation.
Jean walked up towards Rogue. She had collapsed on the ground, and was now seated on the ground cross-legged. She looked up at Jean. She backed off.
"It's okay, there's no need to be upset," Jean said. "With your powers, you're scared, and confused. But we're here to help."
"You are?" Rogue asked.
"We're here from the Xavier Institute for the Gifted, and you can learn how to use your powers," Jean said.
"And you expect me to just get up, and walk off with you," Rogue said. There was a great deal of distrust dripping from her voice.
Jean shook her head. She could see the suspicious look in Rogue's eyes.
"I don't expect you to do that. However, just think about it. Take this communicator device, and if you consider going, just press that button. It should contact one of us, and we can pick you up. We'll be around a little bit longer tonight."
Rogue just pondered. She really didn't know what she wanted to do to be honest. Suddenly she looked up, and spotted of the ones who attacked her. The man who had tried to attack her in her room was now walking up towards her, and Rogue panicked.
She saw the woman who had tried to zap her with lightning. Immediately, Rogue ran off.
"I don't understand, it looked like she was going to join," Jean said.
"Something's rotten here," Logan said. He sniffed the air. "I can smell it."
"Yeah, the way she's running, could someone else be here?" Harry asked.
Logan considered that for a second.
"Possible, I'll keep an eye out," Logan said.
"So do you think that we should try and talk to her?" Scott asked.
Kurt popped up. This was his first official recruiting mission, and he thought that this would be the perfect chance to do something useful.
"Maybe she ran away from you guys, but maybe I could talk to her," Kurt said.
Harry nodded. He thought that Kurt was more of a people person than he was. His conventional regular appearance was not a reflection of what lied within. This Rogue girl seemed rather more distressed than Kitty was when Harry had run into her. Kitty was just dealing with her powers. If Harry did not know any better, Rogue was attacked by someone.
"I'd be careful, someone might have been attacking her," Harry said.
"You mean trying to make us look bad," Ororo said.
"Yeah, that makes sense," Kitty said. Her eyes focused on Logan and Ororo. "When she saw the two of you, she panicked."
"Elf, go see if you can talk some sense into her," Logan said shortly, and Kurt nodded. "The rest of you, stick around here. If someone is attacking here, they could be going after us."
Rogue nearly collapsed on the ground. She had been running for so long that she was sick of it. She saw a dark haired boy on the swing set of a playground area.
"Hey there's no need for alarm," the boy said with a smile. "We're not your enemy, we're your friends."
"I don't know what's going on here," Rogue said. "Who are you?"
"My name's Kurt," he said. He dropped down, and looked at Rogue. "The X-Men are here because they want to help you."
"The X-Men, two of them tried to attack me," Rogue said. A scowl appeared on her face. "Look, you might be one of the good ones, but the one that attacked me today were not good."
"None of us saw you until you were running," Kurt argued.
There was a long moment where Rogue looked at Kurt with abject disbelief. She shook her head, and could not believe him at all. It just seemed so crazy. She wanted to believe it, but she couldn't.
"I just want to try, and get home and get some answers," Rogue said.
"I understand, you think the entire world is out to get you," Kurt said.
Rogue thought that was an oddly accurate statement. Kurt got up to his feet.
"So, just let everyone have a chance to explain themselves, and it won't be so bad," Kurt said to her. He paused, and gave Rogue an encouraging smile. "You'll see."
Rogue shook her head. She took a step forward, but a figure jumped her from behind. Before either Kurt or Rogue could see who it was, Rogue accidentally brushed up against him. His powers had been absorbed and he dropped to the ground, knocked completely unconscious. Rogue panicked. This was the second time this happened, but she got something more than memories.
Rogue teleported immediately. All she intended to do was to get out of there. However, all she could do was teleport.
Kitty and Harry arrived. They saw Kurt on the ground.
"Kurt!" Kitty yelled frantically.
Harry held her back. He performed a few diagnostic spells. It was determine if Kurt was in any immediate danger.
"He's merely stunned," Harry told Kitty, before she could completely freak out. "She barely touched him; he'll be up in a couple of minutes."
"How do you know?" Kitty asked him.
Harry looked at her seriously.
"Because, I saw it before we got here," Harry said. He turned around. His gaze was in the shadows. "There's something else here, that attacked both of them."
"Is that the same thing you think is attacking Rogue?" Kitty asked.
Harry nodded. Scott and Jean were nearby in case they needed back up. It would be another couple of minutes before Kurt would come too.
His breath quickened, as did his heartbeat. Harry began to pick up the pace a little bit more. He hoped to reach Rogue before it was too late. She was still teleporting like mad. Harry knew that this might get him absorbed too. He grabbed Rogue's wrist to block her, and grounded her in place.
There was a long pause for a moment where it appeared that nothing happened. Then Harry felt something wash over him. He passed out from the pain as quickly as Rogue grabbed his wrist. He dropped to his hands and knees, and then blacked out.
Rogue staggered back. She had gotten a taste of what it was like to have Harry Potter's memories. This was not going to be pleasant for her at all. She began to scream in pure agony. She managed to disapparate nearly halfway across the town with a huge crack.
Harry was coming to. He felt like he had been dunked in ice water. His powers had protected him for the most part. He had only felt a slight buzz when Rogue absorbed him.
"I tried to stop her," Harry told Jean as she showed up.
"You did, but it seems like your powers aren't something that can block hers," Jean said. She paused, and added. "You weren't assuming they were, are there?"
Harry responded with a shrug.
"Magic makes an idiot out of most science," Harry said. He thought that this was the most logical explanation at the time. "I had to take a guess."
Jean nodded. That was fair enough. Kitty moved over with them, and Kurt was beginning to stir as well. They still had the problem of a rogue…well, Rogue.
Harry got a good look at how her powers worked, and if he would have had to grab her next time, he would be able to negate them. His mind processed that much. He could be completely of base, but he hoped not.
Rogue shook her head. The longer she ran around, the more confused she was. The moment she touched that second boy, his memories just did not make any sense to her. At least for the most part, and the memories that made sense had completely tortured her mind. What kind of life did he live to have something like that in his head? That had to be the most messed up mind ever.
The X-Men were something else that caused her confusion. Sometimes, they seemed to want to help her. Then there were other times where they wanted to attack her. She took a step back, and ran into a building. She just needed a quiet place to think and to recoup.
She heard the footsteps behind her.
"Who's there?" Rogue demanded. Her Southern temper flared up at this moment. "Look, I'm so sick and tired of you all giving me the go around. I want some answers, and I…"
She stopped, and the redhead who had given her the communicator had shown up at that moment. She managed to straighten up, and take a deep breath.
"It seems like some people just don't want to be helped," "Jean" said.
Rogue looked up, and the columns behind her exploded. She scrambled towards the nearest exit as fast as her legs could take her. The girl came to one conclusion. This entire group was nuts and possibly fickle as well. Rogue took her next steps, and scrambled away as fast as her feet could take her.
Mystique stood, under the guise of Jean Grey. So far, everything was going towards plan. Pretty soon, Rogue would be turned away from the X-Men forever. She closed her eyes, and then her form morphed into that of one Harry Potter. Mystique took a step forward, and drew a breath.
"Going somewhere?"
Mystique turned around to come face to face with the real deal. This was not part of the plan at all. How did he get here some quickly?
"You know if she sees us in the same place, at the same time, your little deception is going to go down the tube," Harry told her.
Mystique fired a kick. Thanks to his reflexes, Harry ducked. He rolled out of the way, and tried to back off. He tried to alert the team, but Mystique had kicked the communicator out of his hand. Harry was now on his own, and he turned to engage her. He tried to manipulate her into position to fire a spell at her. She seemed to be able to dodge that accordingly, and they circled around each other.
Rogue stepped back, and now she was really confused. Not to mention she was very angry. She saw two versions of the same dark haired, green eyed boy that she was fighting. This made no sense at all. One of the boys shot energy beams from his hand of some sort. She felt stupid for describing what he did like that. Yet, that was the only explanation she could think of.
The X-Men showed up at that moment. They were greeted by the sight of the two Harry's fighting.
"So, which one is the real one?" Kurt asked. He had just woken back up, and was still a little groggy from the battle.
Kitty frowned, and she pointed out the right Harry.
"I'm guessing the one that's shooting the magic stuff out of his hands," Kitty said.
"Yeah, that makes sense," Logan grunted.
Mystique was getting more and more frustrated as time went on. No matter what she did, she could not get one hit on this young man. Who had now ruined everything, and it was not like he was skilled at fighting. He was not skilled at fighting in the slightest. It was just that he was jumping around, and it was beginning to drive her nuts. All he was doing was dodging.
She backed off when she saw the X-Men. The numbers had turned into odds that she did not like. This was the last thing that went through her mind before an orange light impacted her chest. She landed to the ground and her breath had been knocked out of her.
Jean decided to ask the obvious question. "Professor is that…"
"Yes, that is, Jean," Xavier said. The other members of the X-Men looked confused, especially the newer ones. "This is Mystique. She is a shape-shifter, and a highly dangerous fighter. She's a master of deception."
"That much I gathered," Harry said dryly.
"So, she's the one who tried to go after her?" Logan asked.
Rogue stepped forward, and looked at the entire group of X-Men. Her eyes widened at that moment, and her mouth opened.
"Will any of you explain to me what the hell is going on here?" Rogue asked. Her eyes narrowed, as she looked at all of the X-Men. "Is this is some kind of sick joke?"
"There's no kind of sick joke here, Rogue," Xavier said. Rogue looked rather skeptical. Anyone would be given the circumstances. Thankfully Xavier was able to pacify the situation as only he could. He sat on his wheelchair, and peered up at her. "The X-Men are not your enemies. We can help you figure out your powers."
Rogue looked dubious at best. Mystique's eyes flickered open. She slowly managed to get to her feet, before she was missed. Logan had seen her rushing from the window.
"We've got a runner," Logan growled.
Harry moved over to stun Mystique again. However he was stopped.
"Let her go," Xavier said.
Harry's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"What?" Harry asked, unable to believe this.
Xavier sighed. This was going to be hard one to explain. Yet he had to.
"We must let her go, young Rogue here is of the most importance," Xavier said.
"We had a perfect opportunity to bring someone dangerous like that down, and we're just going to let her go," Harry said. He spoke slowly, and deliberately as if he was not sure he was hearing right. He was pretty sure he did not get hit in the head during the battle.
"I got to go with him on this one, Chuck," Logan said.
'I'll explain my reasoning for it later, Logan,' Xavier told the mutant telepathically.
Logan just grumbled.
"Harry could have got her easily you know," Kitty said. "The rest of you aren't going to just stand around and let her get away, are you?"
"If the Professor has a good reason for it, then perhaps we should," Scott said. He was in two minds about the situation, but Professor Xavier often did have a good reason. Even if he was at a loss to figure out what that reason might be.
Rogue stared.
"You can come with us Rogue, if you want, or we will drop you off back home," Xavier said.
"Fine, I'll come with you," Rogue said. She looked at them to make sure she let them know this decision was completely in her hands. "Then I'll decide whether or not if I'm staying."
Xavier nodded his head. All and all that was the best that he could hope for given the situation. He would be able to talk to Rogue.
"We all got off on the wrong foot I think," Harry said. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Rogue asked.
"You saw my memories," Harry said.
"Yeah, well I was the one who touched you, so I had it coming," Rogue said. "I'm going to have to figure out why that keeps happening."
"Well come to the school, and you might," Kitty said.
Her cheery demeanor was something that threw Rogue off, and just annoyed her on principle. It was nothing personal against the girl. It just was against her nature. She just nodded. Perhaps that would be something that she had to consider.
A black bird watched as Rogue left. Her beady little eyes were fixed on both Harry Potter and Charles Xavier. She blamed both of them for what happened, and she plotted her revenge.
There would come a day where both of them would pay.
"So have to come to a consensus of whether or not you're going to stay, Rogue?"
Rogue stared at the assembled group of the X-Men. The truth was she had really been trying to figure out where she stood. There were a million thoughts going through her mind. She was quiet the entire trip back. No one seemed to want to look at her. Then again, after this entire event she took a deep breath. She looked at the group, and folded her arms. She delayed the answer, even if she knew what it was going to be.
"I'll be honest, I thought that you people were out to get me," Rogue said. "Then it was…that Mystique wasn't it?"
"Yeah that was her," Xavier said. "She is a master of trickery. Do not feel bad that you nearly were tricked by her. There were many people who had fallen for her tricks in the past. And there will be many more people who have fallen for her tricks. Many of them far wiser, and it was lucky she was caught."
Harry had no idea whether or not luck had anything to do with it. Mystique was there, and then she was gone. Harry took a step back. Kitty, Kurt, Jean, and Scott stood in the background. He had wondered why Xavier made the decision that he did. That one was going to annoy him for a long time.
He was hoping to avoid the standard answer of people having their reasons. And Xavier likely had a good reason he was sure. The only thing that stopped Harry from calling out Xavier on everything was the fact that he did not have a back-up plan. He was still in this strange world.
Still one day, he would likely have to confront him on it.
"Yeah, Mystique is slippery," Harry told Rogue, for lack of anything better to say.
"You took her down," Rogue said. "And then you let her go."
"Yeah, I'm at a loss for that one too," Harry said.
"Why did you tell Harry to let her go, Professor?" Kitty asked.
"Yeah, she was one of the bad guys, so we should have brought her in," Kurt said.
Xavier knew this was not going to be a conversation that he would not relish having with the younger members of the team. If he had taken in Mystique, he would risk starting a war with Magneto. Humanity would be caught in the crossfire. Their relationship had been tense. It was almost a truce, or a ceasefire.
"No human prison would have been able to hold Mystique," Xavier said. The answer was honest, and most would have bought it.
Rogue, Kurt, Kitty, and Harry all exchanged expressions of deep skepticism. The older members of the team seemed about ready to buy this answer. Logan just grunted, and scowled. Something told them that he did not believe it any more than they did.
"Okay, Professor, you're the boss," Kurt said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Now, I hope that today's events will not sour our relationship," Xavier said.
Harry nodded. He was still getting used to being a part of a team. Perhaps this is one of those team building exercises, and things he had to learn to deal with.
The more answers he got, the more questions he got.
"I'd like to stay, Professor, give the X-Men a shot," Rogue said. She shifted her shoulders.
"We'd appreciate you giving us the chance," Xavier said.
"Welcome to the team, Rogue," Jean said in a bright voice.
"Yeah, you won't regret it," Scott said.
Rogue nodded. She hoped that she would not. Harry looked at her, and she followed him out of the room.
"I want to talk to you for a minute," Harry told Rogue. His voice was low and urgent. "What did you see?'
Rogue thought this was a good question. The memories when she absorbed them barely made sense.
"I don't really know," Rogue said. "None of your memories that I absorbed were that vivid. Even your powers, I couldn't really control them."
"My powers are far different than most," Harry said. "It's a wonder you didn't black out yourself when you absorbed them."
Rogue blinked when Harry had dropped this statement on her.
"You can't be that powerful," Rogue said.
Harry chuckled. This was going to be fun. He looked at the gothic girl seriously. This was going to be one of those things where he would have to explain it carefully. He felt a bit more at ease that she had not seen something that would come back to haunt him later on.
"No, trust me, power has nothing to do with it," Harry said. "And it's a wonder that you didn't start blowing things up. But that's beside the point. I just want to know if you saw anything. There are some things in my mind that I don't think anyone really deserves to see, or have to experience."
Rogue shifted. She had gotten a sense of that.
"You've had a hard life," Rogue said.
"That's one way of putting it," Harry said.
"And you're not happy about letting Mystique go," Rogue said. Harry did not blink. He opened his mouth to try for the diplomatic approach, not trying to stir anything with the new student. "It's okay; I don't blame you at all for thinking about that. I would have done the same thing."
Rogue turned around, and walked off. Accidentally, she brushed against Harry. She winced immediately, but Harry kept watching. The girl was sure that their skin touched together. She remembered what Mystique did today. She almost did not go to this school, because of everything that she tried to pull. She had enough problems with the fact that she could not touch anyone without knocking them out.
Harry walked over, and sunk into the chair with a sigh. Kitty sat down on the chair opposite of him.
"Tell me about it, it's been a long day," Kitty said. "I wonder why the Professor wanted to let Mystique go."
"Damned if I know," Harry said, slumping in the chair, and he summoned over a book to read. Kitty dodged it when it flew through the air.
"No, need to get all broody over it," Kitty said.
Harry jumped to the defensive mode immediately.
"I'm not getting broody," Harry said. He looked at the brunette with a smile. "You'd know when I was getting broody."
"Oh, are there little storm clouds forming above your head or something?" Kitty asked. "Because that's the only way people would be able to tell the difference between now, and how you normally act."
Harry just smiled.
"Trust me, you'd know," Harry replied.
"And you were totally scared when Rogue energy-vampire you," Kitty said. "Is the big bad Harry Potter keeping some deep dark secret?"
"Yeah, the bodies of brunettes who keep pestering me with questions," Harry said dryly. He looked at her with a slight smile. "I keep them in my basement."
"Hey!" Kitty yelled.
"Seriously, I just like my privacy," Harry said. "And the past should remain in the past."
Kitty nodded. That was fair enough. Harry barely talked about his friends, or where he came from. Then again, he was never going to see them again.
Kitty would freak out if she went through what Harry did. She found herself watching Harry, as he was reading. She found herself lost in his eyes.
"What do I have something on my face?" Harry asked her.
"No, just thinking," Kitty said.
Harry just smiled at her and went back to his book.
The day that was had been a rather frustrating one for Mystique. She had thought that she had everything under control. Then she had to deal with that Potter. Potter had not only figured out her deception, but he had knocked her unconscious. It was a small miracle that she managed to escape. Yet, there was no miracle what she was up against. She found herself face to face with Magneto.
"You failed to recruit her properly into the Brotherhood," Magneto said in a calm voice.
Mystique wished Magneto had raged at her. This calm disappointment was far more demeaning to her than mindless rage.
"My plan was compromised," Mystique said.
Magneto seemed to be not in the mood to listen to any excuses. He stared down Mystique, and promptly began to speak. "Compromised, plans do tend to get compromised, Raven. Yet, the true measure of a mutant is how well they are able to adapt. If our brothers and sisters are able to withstand the onslaught, than adaptation is something that you must learn. Do not disappoint me such again. So far, you have gathered a few recruits to our group. And there will be many more to come."
"Yes, I won't disappoint again," Mystique said.
She watched Magneto. These moments of long silence really did get to her much of the time. She had thought Magneto was considering whether or not she was an asset. Had she not proven her loyalty to that man time and time again? She should be thanked for all that she had put on the line, and now all that she had lost.
The Potter child would have a problem.
"I trust you will continue to keep an eye out, and give me further progress reports on the situation," Magneto said.
Mystique nodded in a stiff manner. She had no choice, but to do that. Magneto turned around to depart. This left Mystique standing there, a frustrated expression spreading across her face. She took a deep breath, and turned around to see a dark haired woman with glasses. This woman was her associate Irene Adler. She was blind; however she had the gift for the foresight.
"You have encountered the one that walks between worlds," Irene said in a cryptic voice.
Mystique's face was contorted with confusion. "The one that walks between worlds?"
"He is not strictly classified as a mutant and he has great potential," Irene continued. She stood in front of Mystique, and nodded carefully. "He will serve to be an asset for whatever side commands him. He has the ability to inspire great light inside darkness, and could lead mutants to a new age."
Mystique nodded. Her friend had told Rogue's powers would manifest. And warned her not to be careless.
"He has influenced many already, even if his time here has been short," Irene said cryptically. "He will be one for many to watch. And many will see fit to end him, to prevent him from becoming a threat to their plans."
Mystique had no idea how much of this she wanted to believe. The mysterious arrival of the boy only known as Harry Potter had completely vexed her. Yet, the fact that he could be some kind inspiration to mutants intrigued her just a little bit. Magneto seemed interested in monitoring the boy's progress.
For now, Mystique considered him a little more than a thorn in her side, and an individual who disrupted her plans.
She would have to wait if that opinion was changed.
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