Aim Higher

He smiled brilliantly when she suggested world domination, only for it to fade at the next remark. “I have no real gripe with the X-Men, I might even be amused by their pitiful penchant for mob mentality if it didn’t affect me,” he professed in mild protest. “But you know all about that, Raven. You have an immensely loyal posse of considerable numbers. That has a certain swaying power in a town of this size, I would imagine.” The baby looked so comfortable in her arms, and he thought again how oddly picturesque it seemed. He really never had thought her to seem motherly, if her children were anything to go by, but there she was. It almost made him jealous.

She elected not to correct him about the fact that she might have fifty people, but a third of them were children and others were new to fighting.  Still, just under a fifth of the population wasn’t bad if she did need to apply leverage, especially since two thirds of her adults were mutants.

“So mutants flourish in adversity. Something else we have in common.” 

With every hardship and misfortune since his fall from the Bifrost, Loki had only grown stronger. Every torture and tribulation making him that much more cunning and determined. He did not even recognize the man he once was. The one who had let go, who had given up. Loki would sooner chew glass than give anyone such satisfaction now. The god of mischief never conceded defeat. “Humans are always distrustful of what they don’t understand. And even more so of things they can’t control. Survival of the fittest as they.” His lips pursed in thought for a moment. He was still learning about the compound and the world that surrounded it. It was so different from the Midgard he had left behind so many years ago. “Are there any at Haven who still hold old prejudices for the mutants?” 

“Do they say that in space?”  She wondered if someone else had just happened to say it on Asgard, or if Darwin (or Herbert Spencer) had just happened to make it out there.  “There are a few who can’t seem to hide their aversion to mutants, especially mutants who don’t look human.  I imagine that Ororo would do something about it if she knew, but given that she’s considered one of the most beautiful people on the planet, I imagine they find it harder to be disdainful in her presence.”  There was something terribly hypnotic about Storm, which probably helped her live as a goddess as long as she did.  

“I’m here.” Kurt said, warily. He wasn’t about to open up to his estranged mother about how alone he felt in Haven, considering many of his friends were still missing, and the few he did know either had amnesia, or were too busy.

“I guess, a few days ago? Time is strange when you’ve been sleeping most of the time.” Kurt said, leaning against one of the posts. “I don’t have anything useful to do yet. Scott barely knew what to do with me on the team. It might take a while for me to get a job. I still need to get my sea legs.” he joked.

“I’ve been wandering around alone out there since this all started. I have no idea how long it’s been.”

Safe places to sleep were hard to come by, Raven knew that.  So she understood why he had been asleep for most of his stay so far.  Resting and recharging were important.  Kurt would have struggled to find people that would accept him into their shelter as well.

“It’s a poor leader who fails to find something for a person as capable as you to do, I overestimated Cyclops.”  She said, though to be honest she hadn’t overestimated him by much.  “They don’t expect you to get straight to work here, they give you time to rest and process things.  I suppose Ororo knows what she’s doing, at least.”

“Why not?” Gabby asked simply, once again wondering if she would answer the question…

“I’ve heard Laura mention them, they’re X-Men too, right?” she asked with a smile. Gabby loved to hear about the X-Men, anything and everything. Her bedtime stories as a child by Zelda had been about the X-Men. Not real ones, they didn’t know enough about them for that; but the title. Mutant heroes. 

“He doesn’t remember most of it, last time I checked.  But more recently, we often found ourselves disagreeing about the best way to make sure mutantkind thrives.”  He seemed to like Charles’ tidy little utopian views.  Raven was a realist.

Her mother spoke so fondly, Anna couldn’t help but smile. “Ah guess ah was lucky to have you two” She wondered briefly what would have happened to a lonely mutant child if no one had been willing to take her in…

“Kurt?.. He ain’t here is he?” Anna asked, though she thought she knew the answer. If they were really close, she supposed he’d be with her. “Of all the days of mah life, my wedding day is the one ah wish ah could remember…” Her gaze dropped to the ring on her finger; even lost and alone, she’d never taken it off. That was her sign; her compass. Someone out there loved her, she had someone to find, even if she didn’t know who. She hadn’t found him yet, but she would. “Were you there?”

“Not yet.  I’m hoping soon.”  And she really was.  “He inherited my ability to survive, as far as I can tell.”  Because he survived her dropping him to his supposed death.  “So I believe it’s a matter of when, rather than if he appears.”

Kurt had spent a few days lazing around haven while he got used to everything. Or, that’s what he claimed. Truth was, he was hiding out in the dark of his designated room, only making brief trips to get food. Going from seeing no one, to a lot of people, was almost a shock to his system. But he needed to get out at some point. He had decided to get some of the reintroductions over with while he still had some courage.

Kurt had heard that Raven, his mother, was usually out by the farm area most of the time, so that’s where Kurt went. He was never one for vast, outdoor spaces, preferring to be inside most of the time. But he could go outside for a bit for a touching family reunion. Or a super awkward one. Whatever Raven wanted.

Kurt spotted her across the field, as he stepped across the field, trying to be seen easily. He had a habit of blending into the shadows and scaring people without realizing he was even doing it. Which was no way to start a conversation.

“Uh, Good afternoon Raven. How are….things.” Well. Turns out it’s going to be awkward.

She felt the tension in the air, but appreciated that he was powering through it in order to engage with her.  She had not heard that he had arrived, since she was so absorbed with things here.  She passed on care of the horses to a heavily freckled young woman with a slight glow to her frost-blue eyes, and gave her full attention to her son.  “Things are going very well here,” she said brightly, gesturing behind her to all the work being done.  Everyone looked busy but happy, “it feels so good to have something useful to do, doesn’t it?”

Whether useful was overthrowing humanity, or making sure that everybody could eat, having constructive business to attend to was always important to Raven.

Loki’s smile deepened at her reasoning. He liked this human. She had an attitude very akin to his own besides the fact that she could shift her form as easily as he.  He was not very familiar with mutants. He hadn’t exactly kept tabs on the goings on in Midgard since New York, and he was very curious about the different range of powers that these individuals had. 

“Yes, that would be rather inconvenient and messy,” Loki replied with a sideways smile before he turned his gaze back to the path ahead. His expression becoming more pensive as his thoughts turned to the task ahead of them.  “Do you know if there are any mutants among this group we’re going to visit?”

“I don’t yet.  It isn’t overly common to see humans and mutants mixing.  Haven is an oddity that way.”  She explained, “There may be mutants if the humans are of the tolerant sort, or if they realised that many mutants have very useful skills and they’re prepared to ignore the whole mutie thing.

Wade grimaced under his mask. He didn’t like the idea of surrendering his weapons, he hated being caught with his pants down.

“Sure thing - Pete.” he said, handing over his katanas, throwing knives, utility belt, handguns, the gun from his left leg, his right leg, and the razor blade from his wrists.

^Everything better come back in mint condition!^ [I Do Hope We Get A Reciept] “I feel strangely naked now” said Wade, accidentally out loud. “Can you show us to our room please? Pete.” They were lead through the hall of the old house, and down a long corridor. The paintings and ornaments that were once in here were now ripped and smashed - these guys clearly hadn’t seen Better Homes and Gardens in their lives. Ripped paintings are sooo last year. “We’ll fit you in here” said Pete, opening a door. The room was formerly a study, converted to a sleeping area. A desk had been pushed back to the window to make room for three or four mattresses on the floor. Books had been ripped from the shelves and strewn about the floor.

“Look my dear” said Wade. “The honeymoon suite!”

She watched Pete’s face going comically slack at the sheer volume of weapons Wade had on his person.  Raven removed a handgun and hunting knife from her belt, and a switchblade from her boot.  In a pinch she could generate some blades for herself, but she could feel how uncomfortable it made Wade to be stripped of all his firepower and sharp edges.

The level of destruction inside seemed excessive.  One or two smashed photo frames and a snapped live, laugh, love cutout was one thing, but there were only so many mutilated Klimts you could see without it feeling like a decor choice.

He left a moment’s silence, a note of question in the air, and his smile returned, a smooth determination to seem as if it was all the same to him, as if he didn’t particularly care and certainly wasn’t disappointed. But he knew it was best not to pursue her when she said no. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t flirt, of course. “Well, I’ll be around,” he offered, because he certainly wasn’t planning on going anywhere, and neither he suspected was she, given those people she had brought. There was no rush.

“I believe I asked you that first,” he recalled smartly, pulling a smirk. The secrets of her conspirings were some he definitely needed to take into account if he was going to take over Haven. He’d rather not go against Mystique directly, if it was avoidable. At least not until all the other competition was eliminated.

Logan paused, he had heard about Rogue and understood Mystique in that need. Nodding he said, “believe it or not, being dead gave me back my memories, I remember us fighting Nazi’s together.” 

Logan took a drag on his cigar and said, “I ain’t gonna cause any issues for you Mystique. If they’ve trusted you enough to let you in here I ain’t gonna do anything. I mean I will if you try something. But. You’re alright for now.” 

“Huh.”  She vocalised her subdued surprise.  “That’s probably a lot.”  She wondered if remember everything raised or lowered her in his esteem.

He shrugged, “depends on the decade, I remember the war, but my years in deep freeze makes after that a blur. But a lot has come back.” He shrugged a bit and said. “I take what I can get. When you’ve been through a blender mentally you take what you can find I guess.”

She nodded.  “I was in espionage back then.  One of those times when the powers that be realised mutants are useful rather than a constant reminder that evolution keeps on rolling.  I was posing as an Austrian kid who got out before Germany closed the borders.”  She pushed a lock of fiery hair out of her face as she transformed into a skinny youth dressed in shabby 1940s civilian clothes, complete with a newsboy cap, which he doffed when he gave a stage bow.  “Rudy Winkler really liked the Howling Commandos,” he grinned up at Bucky, continuing in his Austrian accented tenor, “much nicer than that grumpy Canadian.”

Rogue listened to her Mother and found herself thinking of Remy. The husband she couldn’t remember… She had been told that she loved him, that he loved her. Maybe one day she’d remember those feelings too… 

She looked back to her Mother as her smile grew, mirroring it on her own face for a moment. “Ah’m sorry I was such a terror” she apologised, though there was a grin on her face. “Were there any others? Kids like me?.. Did ah have any other family?”

“Children should be terrors.  I prefer to think that Irene and I just got the full parental experience at a time when people like us rarely did.  We had children with other people, but you were ours.”  It was strange, pouring out her feelings this way.  She had never gotten to talk to Rogue like this, to explain just what she meant to her.

Oh man. This was awkward. He had no idea what to do. How to react. Run? No that just meant the next time they ran into each other would be worse. Just… Turn around and pretend this never happened? No he’d already spoken, he was in the moment now. 

Instead of doing anything, even speaking he froze, a dumb look on his face, glancing over at the other woman in the kitchen.

‘Say something.’ He urged himself. ‘Literally anything.’

“My arm grew back.” he blurted out, holding up the arm in question. ‘Nope. Nope not that.’ Where did you even go from there? Raven had a pretty good sense of humor. Maybe she’d just laugh at him and leave it at that. Well, this was bound to happen sooner or later. Perhaps it was a good thing it was happening this early on. Get it out of the way. Clear the air.

“I knew it would,” she replied, her tone light and conversational, as though he had commented on the weather.  “That’s why I shot it.  I know that isn’t particularly kind, but I don’t always make the best choices in the heat of the moment.”  She allowed that thought to sink in, “So I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m sorry I shot you.  That was insensitive.”

“True, things won too easily aren’t nearly as entertaining as those that require a testing of your skill,” Loki nodded. He continued along at her side, watching as the tree’s became more dense. It reminded him of days long ago, adventures with his brother, the warriors three, and of course, the lady Sif. Heading out together on whatever quest the god of thunder had decided on that day. “Chopper? I assume that is another word for the motorcycle? Or is that another kind of motor vehicle all together?” 

“Type of motorcycle.”  She clarified, “Custom built, there’s quite a culture around them.  I usually leave them somewhere in one piece, but accidents do happen.”  Her brows raised thoughtfully, “Horses are much less combustible than a motorbike, which depending on your needs is a pro and a con.  I wouldn’t want to blow up a horse.”

Logan paused, he had heard about Rogue and understood Mystique in that need. Nodding he said, “believe it or not, being dead gave me back my memories, I remember us fighting Nazi’s together.” 

Logan took a drag on his cigar and said, “I ain’t gonna cause any issues for you Mystique. If they’ve trusted you enough to let you in here I ain’t gonna do anything. I mean I will if you try something. But. You’re alright for now.” 

“Huh.”  She vocalised her subdued surprise.  “That’s probably a lot.”  She wondered if remember everything raised or lowered her in his esteem.

He licked his lower lip. “Would you like to find out?” Alright, so he didn’t want to seem overbearing or immature, which was never something he’d normally worry about — but normally, there was literally no one left alive he cared much to impress. For that there were pheromones, and if that failed, claws. Right now, he got the feeling he’d dragged this out too long.

Around now was when he would make a move, but it was evident she wasn’t feeling it. He wondered if she’d say anything if he put the baby outside. Was that a thing you could do with babies? Surely they couldn’t kill themselves sitting on a boring floor for a while. “Personal space? Never met the woman.” And… no. He tried to put on an aura of elegance for Raven, for the sake of trying to figure out her plan for taking over this place. But he wasn’t above being corny.

She made a face of contemplation and then replied, “Not really.”  She inclined her head as if continuing to consider, “Not today, anyway.”  It would be foolish to think someone who could change her appearance so easily couldn’t change her mind just as easily.