Confronting Your Love Ones :Mystique

[Warren Worthington III]

It should have been no surprise to Mystique that Rogue would summon her so soon. Clearly her daughter's role in life was to inconvenience her mother as much as she could. Such as interrupting precious time with her old friend. But she had not come here to argue sentimentalities with Rogue. She was no telepath, but she had a feeling that she knew how this conversation was going to begin and end. Regardless, Rogue could do all the talking. She'd called her here in the first place.

Shutting the door behind her, Mystique simply stood in the middle of the room across from Rogue, both hands on her hips and as relaxed as she could convey herself. "Yes, my daughter? I received your message, although a bit of patience would have been most appreciated." Her tone was neither reprimanding or disapproving, just matter of fact.

[Warren Worthington III]

Mystique had no wish to sit. But she acquiesed if only to placate Rogue for a time while they confronted each other- however, she maintained an assertive position as if in reminder that she took orders from no one. Her yellow eyes narrowed as her daughter made the presumption that there had been any accusing on her part.

"And you question why I haven't placed you as a squad leader. I made no such accusation that you were responsible for Wolverine's intrusion. My point was that I desired you to be more careful. Your recklessness will cost all of us dearly if you don't learn to check yourself, my dear. He was able to track me from your scent. It would have served both of us far better if you had simply stayed away from him the moment you saw him." Rogue's attatchment to previous confidantes disturbed Mystique slightly. She feared losing her again, now that she had her back in the Brotherhood, where she belonged. This was not the time for shifting loyalties, and the consequences were not something Mystique wanted to think about. The last thing she wanted was to be on opposite dividing lines once more.

At Rogue's request for privacy, her brow furrowed for a moment in contemplation. To disagree or override the request would distance Rogue further, and endanger the possibility of her leaving. However, she felt her daughter needed to be reminded of certain requirements within the Brotherhood. "They should not be crashing at your apartment in the first place," Mystique replied. "Their primary residences are to be on Genosha or in their own domains. As for meetings, the convenience was too good to pass up." She stood up from the chair and circled the room to lean on the windowsill, arms folded over her chest. "I would gladly take up my apartment as the primary meeting location if Logan hadn't barged in when he did. The place is good and trashed now. I'll have a new location up and ready in the next twenty-four hours. Then you'll be free of the burden of our Brotherhood gatherings, since you resent them so much." The last was tinged with disappointment. "However, you don't even have a welcome mat out for your own mother?"

[Warren Worthington III]

Mystique was nearly ready to throw her hands up in frustration at Rogue's stubborn insistence that she refused to submit to Quicksilver's authority. Instead, she remained characteristically motionless against the window pane, catching the blurred movements of mutants in the city below from her peripheral vision. Keeping her tone level and controlled, she firmly reiterated her opinion once more.

"You will not be taking orders from Pietro indefinitely. The day you manage to exercise some self-control is the day I will let you lead a squad of your own. Your risks endanger not only yourself, but our members as well. You would do well to learn that." How many more times did she have to repeat herself? No matter how much she loved her daughter, the young woman seemed incapable of growing up. "I'm not just talking about you running into old acquaintances, you're impulsive with everything else. Thinking before acting would be a tremendous start for you. I don't need the other trainees getting ideas." Yet another part of her job was overseeing the squad leaders who answered to her to monitor the training of new arrivals. Their screw ups reflected poorly on her, which fortunately, ocurred rarely.

She grit her teeth at Rogue's insistence that she would continue to have contact with Logan. "Very well. But if he decides to make another house call, or if he gets in my way again, I will not be held responsible for damage he may incur." Mystique almost had to snort derisvely at that statement. Any damage she inflicted on the Wolverine would heal obscenely fast. "Having him too close could put our efforts in jeopardy. Keep that in mind as you're catching up on old times." She could scarcely hide the bitterness in her voice. Mystique resented the connection Rogue had with Logan, and she feared his influence would eventually overpower her ties to her daughter.

However, Rogue's request that she exchange their apartments made her pause. Her hesitancy stemmed from the mental possibility of Wolverine seeking her out again. If she was no longer at the apartment, he'd have a hell of a time finding her. Unless he proved to have a brain and figured out that she was staying at Rogue's place. Or just tracked her down, as the case was more liable to be. Her tentative agreement would hinge on only one thing. "Does Logan know where you live?" Her eyes had narrowed in thought, and now focused on Rogue.

[Warren Worthington III]

Mystique had had enough of this conversation. She had a job to do, and by the look of it, her work was cut out for her. "Is that right? I've yet to see you exercise your brain before your powers, so it's no use denying it to me, Rogue. You said yourself you had trouble with sentinels. Your impulsiveness is the quickest way for you to get yourself captured and jailed off to Neverland, and I won't apologize for trying to stop that from happening to you." She pushed herself off the windowsill, and strode across the room to stand face to face with her daughter, her sharp yellow gaze unflinching as she pegged Rogue's green eyes hard. "Granted, I would do everything within my extensive abilities to get you out. But I don't ever want to be put in that position. You might want to think that one over the next time you're about to do something careless!"

The frustration burning in her chest had made today an altogether bad one for Mystique. She had a trashed apartment, her computer drives were unsalvagable, and she'd had absolutely nothing to report to Erik. On top of the whole mess, her current alias was no longer useful, and it would take some more digging and time for her to insert herself into an authoritative position to get close to Senator Kelly.

But Magneto had suggested she find someone else new to train so that she could lay below the radar for the time being. Her mental gears turned as she momentarily considered the best course of action... Gambit was still in France, according to her sources. She needed to verify that tidbit of information herself, because if Gambit somehow managed to weasel his smooth-talking way back through U.S. Customs, it posed nothing but problems for the Brotherhood. However, Erik would be infinitely pleased if she managed to recruit the Cajun, and as much as she thoroughly detested the mutant, she had to admit to herself that he would be an asset to their organization. Perhaps a new assignment would assist in getting Rogue off her back- to an extent.

Straightening herself upright as she fuelled by the possibilities of a win-win outcome, she continued. "I have a proposition for you, Rogue. My terms are conditional and non-negotiable. You'll have to take it or leave it."

[Warren Worthington III]

Mystique despised having to do this. But it seemed as if she had no other choice. Rogue would quite possibly have her head should she find out her mother's reasons behind her deal, but that was a risk she was willing to take. Holding up one finger as a warning gesture, she laid out her terms without preamble. "Consider yourself up for promotion, Rogue, but let me assure you, the second anything goes down without my express approval, you're going to find yourself back under Quicksilver faster than you can blink. You'll command a squadron, but I will select your team, and I expect zero arguments from you, period." Mystique realized she was probably putting herself in the noose the second word got to Erik, but once she explained the advantages of the situation, he would have to acquise with her line of thinking for the moment.

"Secondly, we'll trade apartments. You're going to have a hell of a cleanup for your efforts, but I can't take a chance going back there so soon. Be sure to thank Wolverine for the hack job the next time you see him. You'll stay there as long as you wish, but I'm going to need access to your computer files to try and salvage anything I can. Any and all information you obtain on Senator Kelly's whereabouts is to be handed over to me. He is your first priority. Understood?" Mystique did not have to voice the hell that would be paid if Rogue screwed this one up.

[Warren Worthington III]

Mystique was not surprised that even with Rogue's acceptance of her terms, she still managed to interject her own. Raising one eyebrow in response, she merely murmured, "Very well, then. I'll give you fair notice before I drop in. But the same goes for you." She unfolded her crossed arms and strode quickly to the door. "I'll notify your squadron of the new addition in leadership. I'll handle Erik. Until then, stay out of his bad graces unless he calls on you. When I'm not on Genosha, you will answer to him, whether you like it or not." Her hand now on the doorknob, she looked over her shoulder at her daughter. "Pyro, Avalanche, and Domino will report to you. If any problems arise with those three, deal with it yourself. Don't come running to me. You want to lead so badly, you'll learn to handle the good, bad, and ugly that comes with it."

Leaving Rogue standing by herself in the meeting room to dwell on her words, Mystique sauntered down the metal hallway, intent on stopping into the computer control room to check a few records and see what could be gained from them. She would have to contact Quicksilver and inform him of her intentions regarding discreet supervision of Rogue. And then she needed to get her deviously clever blue fingers on Remy LeBeau's current whereabouts to determine whether he posed a potential risk- or potential asset, if she could work her manipulative magic.