Okay, yeah, so it's been... a year (begins to cry). I'm terribly sorry for the delay, but I've really been busy with work and school, and then there was the whole being away for a few months... anyway, hope all my readers are still out there, and I really hope you stay with me. Please? Anyway, please review, and tell me what you think.

-Aries

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Jagged Fate 15

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The room was silent as the three scientists stood around the machine. It looked to be a simple cat-scan, with a large dome incasing a medical table inside. Lying on the bed-like table was none other than their subject.

The young woman's eyes were closed as her chest moved up and down. Arms to the side, she didn't move at all. Wires were attached either by needles or suction cups. She was wearing the regular tank and shorts, a shoe-like slipper on her feet. Young, not even in her late twenties yet, she had long dark brown hair, a streak of white around her face. Although usually her face was heavily covered with make-up, it was clear. If it had not been for the moving of her chest, she would have appeared dead.

Dr. Kavita Rao was standing with her male assistant next to the large machine. She typed in things into the keyboard positioned to the side of the computer, the screen reading off various things as she looked at it. Her assistant recorded things as he stood there, holding a clipboard in his hands. Another person was to the side, the younger woman waiting for the procedure to end.

Inside the dome, a band of light went across the body inside, up and down a few times, beeping as it did. Their patient never moved, just lay there sound asleep. The only difference in her usual appearance was that she had no blanket on, and straps held down her arms.

Rao was silent as she looked over the information in front of her. Her eyes didn't stay in one spot as she read, not even for a moment. But then, she finally did look at one area, and her gaze hardened. The young man with her looked up, but didn't say anything.

"According to this," she answered, without having him ask anything. "The maturation was a success."

He seemed confused. "We were aiming for that, weren't we?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yes, but this thing has been wrong before hasn't it?" she asked, smiling knowingly.

"What's your point, doctor?" the younger woman asked curiously as she slowly came over.

Rao looked over to her second assistant with a blank and yet curious stare. Melissa was cowering, face to the ground as she stood with her hands clasped in the corner. The girl had been silent for a while. Ever since the last procedure, she had been acting strangely.

The woman scientist at first didn't say anything, but finally answered, "We must test to see if it worked," she replied.

Both of her assistants glanced at one another warily. Their superior went over to the machine, and typed in a few things. The table that held their subject slid out carefully, and then stopped in front of her. Rao simply lifted her one hand, and snapped her glove off. She looked to the two with honesty. "Now," she said. "If I faint, then I know that it didn't work."

"Doctor?" her assistant said, horror on her face. "Is that wise?"

She nodded. "Melissa, even the best scientists test out their own work," she said, her bare hand going towards their patient's skin.

Her shaky hand moved ever closer, but before she even got there, a hand lashed out and grabbed her.

---

It was weird seeing her passed out. Actually, he really hadn't had too much of past experience with the woman, but from what he could tell, she usually had a head of authority on her shoulders. At least, that was the impression he was under. Well, at that moment, Mystique definitely didn't seem that way.

As he came into the room, he noted the security camera that was looking right at the bed where she lay. After all, she wasn't really an 'X-Man,' so who were they to trust her fully yet? He still didn't even know what those scientists did to her. Who knew what she'd do if left completely alone in the mansion?

Gambit walked over to the side of the bed. She was in a deep sleep, passed out being the proper term. They'd given her a hospital gown, and cleaned her up. She was hooked up to most of the things that Chère had been, and all of them looked relatively normal. Still, he looked over to the blue-skinned woman and stood next to her.

So, this was the infamous mother. It was a little ironic how both of her two children were taken like she had been. Shaking his head, he looked at her form with a little pity. She'd been screaming last night, he heard her when she woke and the others came to see her. She was hysterical, saying how that 'he' had 'them.'

The question was, was who was 'he'?

Only Xavier seemed to know that. When the professor had read her mind, he had gotten quite the look on his face. How did Gambit know about that without being present? Well, he had his ways of seeing things without being in the room.

It must have been incredibly terrible, the things Mystique had seen. She was entirely broken down. He didn't know why her children hated her. She did nothing but love them, in her own strange and demented way.

It was more parenting than he had ever gotten.

Shaking his head, he chuckled silently before he turned to leave. Only, before he could do anything, a hand reached out and clasped his wrist. His head whipped around to the form in the bed, the heart monitor speeding up only once as he saw her eyes open slowly.

Raising an eyebrow, he stayed quiet. He wasn't entirely sure on what to say to her. The last few times she woke up, she had been raving mad. At that moment, she appeared calm. Her yellow eyes looked around, as she firmly kept her grasp on his arm.

"I'm in the Xavier mansion," she said quietly. Her voice was rasp. He wasn't sure if it was a question, or a statement. If it was a question, he left it to be a rhetorical one.

Mystique stared up above her, blinking a few times before she closed her eyes tightly and moaned. She swallowed harshly before she mumbled something, "Water."

Her grip loosened enough, and he looked around the room. He went over and found a sink with a few cups. He went over an filled one, coming back over to her lounged form. She was half sitting up, and half lying down. He brought the edge of the cup to her lips for her to drink. She took a long gulp, before she breathed in and turned her head. Gambit took it away, and put it down.

For a moment, she just lied there. She breathed in through her nose deeply, before she exhaled and opened her eyes. Then her gaze turned to his. Her brow went up, almost as if she though she thought someone was joking with her. She cracked a smirk. "Why are you here?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

For a moment, he just looked at her. He was debating things to say in his head. But before he could say anything, she turned to look at the ceiling. She sighed heavily, a look of disappointment in her eyes. "Don't tell me, I might already know."

Hr cracked an amused grin. "Oh, really?" he asked, eyebrow raised. "And, what may t'at be?"

Mystique looked over with narrowed eyes, glaring at him. "Funny," she said, words rough. "We both know, so why don't we save our breath a little?"

As she asked the question, she looked over herself. "Well, at least they were nice enough to treat my wounds," she muttered as she looked at her arm, injected with a needle that led to an IV.

She snarled at it, and reached over to pull it out with a wince. With a strength that he didn't think she should've had, she pushed herself up, resting her weight on her arms. The blue-skinned woman sat up and shut her eyes, but shook her head and pushed away the many cords and wires attached to her body. And with that, she pushed the covers off her legs.

It was then that suddenly it hit him. What was she doing? With a look of surprise, he went over to the other side of the bed; the side of the bed he was on had a bar so she wouldn't fall off. He held up his hands to stop her. "'Old on t'ere," he stammered. "Ah don't tink le prof wants ya goin' anywhere."

She looked at them with disgust, pulling them out and away from her. Almost angrily, she looked at him. "So I'm guessing that you aren't going to come with me?"

He raised an eyebrow, giving her an almost challenging look. "Pardon?"

Mystique then smiled frighteningly nice. She gave him a look of knowing, and crossed her arms, ignoring the flat-lining monitors that were going off behind them. "Anna," she finally stated. "Are you going to help me find her, or stand there?"

Blinking, he watched as she tried her best to get out of bed. Her hands on the mattress beside her, she stretched her legs out until her feet touched the floor. Slowly, she moved her weight onto them and stood, only for her knees to give out.

He didn't know why, but he jumped to catch her. He held her at a distance, but took a hold on her upper arms. She closed one eye in a wince and cursed under her breath. Gambit glanced up to the security camera. "You know that they probably know," he told her.

She shook her head not looking at him. "I don't care," she stated. "They have my children, and I'm going to get them back."

Gambit looked to her with a wrinkled brow, for a moment trying to figure out what to do. He did want to help her, but wasn't exactly sure what the others would do about that. He wasn't exactly supposed to leave. They hadn't even removed that thing from his head yet. Who knew what Bella could do with that still in?

Still, he felt a little pity for Mystique. Not only that, he wanted to help Chère. He owed her that much. The longer they waited, the more they allowed those people to get away with their plan.

Mystique then snarled at her attire, finally gaining strength in her legs. He felt an eyebrow go up as he saw the hospital gown melt into her usual black attire. Her hair was perfectly done, and her clothes were straight and clean. The sight in front of him didn't surprise him. This was Mystique after all.

Gambit turned and looked at the camera staring at them, and reached inside his pocket.

Mystique flinched at the crash that followed and turned to look at him with a wrinkled brow. Then, she noticed he was looking at something else. Her gaze turned to the devise that had been monitoring her, now sparking and broken, pieces on the floor. A card was the reason, imbedded in what remained of the thing. Then she looked back to him. "Well, at least you aren't stupid," she stated with a great amount of candor.

He gave her an amused look. "Should Ah take that as a complement?"

She shrugged, but then glanced down. "I can't walk just yet," she said, looking at her feet with irritation. Then she looked back up and stared him in the eye. "I need you to be my feet, and I'll be the navigation."

Before did anything else, he glanced to the door. "If we do 'tis, we do it ma way, non?"

For a moment, she gave him a glare, her lips pursed. Gambit crossed his arms. "Ah'm ya only way outta 'ere," he stated. "And they'll be 'ere in a few minutes. Ah'd make up ma mind, if Ah was ya."

"I don't know what she sees in you."

---

The screen held a good image of the hospital part of the mansion. It carefully watched the subject in the bed, even as she woke and spoke to her visitor. But as she began to get up, Mystique showed a little bit of fire in her words towards Gambit. The camera only saw the thief reach into his pocket, before there was a loud crash and the screen was masked with static. Then, it went black.

Xavier turned off the viewing screen as he looked to the group assembled in the room. Logan and Storm were standing, most of the others sitting. Jean was there, as well as Scott, Kitty, and Laura. Surprisingly, also standing in the office were the twins, normally considered to be enemies. They were towards the back of crowd, not looking at their adversaries, but listening.

"Well, you can guess how she managed to escape," their professor stated as he looked at them.

"Where are they going exactly?" Scott asked with a brow wrinkled.

"To retrieve Rogue and Kurt, I believe," Xavier stated, clearing his throat. "But more importantly, they are going to visit an old acquaintance of Mystique's. He is the one responsible for all this trouble."

"So you know who it is?" Jean questioned almost hopefully. "That's been doing this, I mean."

"Yes," was her reply. "I've known since I read Mystique's mind. Who it is really is of no concern, although right now, I'm more than a little worried about Kurt and Rogue. Mystique is mentally unstable at the moment, and I'm afraid that if she should strain herself too much, she'd do something rash and danger Rogue and Kurt — even if it was unintentional."

The professor held his temple with a finger, letting out a sigh. Storm looked as though she knew what was wrong, and asked on it. "Are we to move out?" she asked.

He simply nodded. "Right now, even if they did run off, Gambit and Mystique are going to need some help. And hopefully, we can get to the bottom of this kidnapper and stop him."

"But where exactly are we going?" Kitty asked with concern.

"Actually, somewhere close by."

---

Eh, he, he... (laughs evilly and begins announcer voice) Has Rogue finally awoken? Where will Gambit and Mystique save her? What have they done to the others? find out next time on...Jagged Fate! (precaution, things are gonna start to make sense soon, and get a little...mature?) And yes, I know I'm evil. Please review!