Bits and Pieces

Bits and Pieces Chapter Thirty

Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST
WOMAN ALIVE ™, Prophetic Muse, Hamster Witch and Uberbeta…style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Kind of looking forward to the whole covered
in mud thing, actually, lol. style='mso-spacerun:yes'> InterNutter, TC, Maxwell Pink, Dracena and
Greywolf… *GLOMP* For archiving/hosting.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Jstyle='mso-spacerun:yes'> ProPhile: I’ll explain the mud thing
later. Morgan: Go, sleep…style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Readers/Reviewers: Thank you thank you thank
you! And sorry for the wonky update schedule.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Summer is always weird for me like that…

“I owe an
explanation to no one, least of all Nathaniel Essex,” Mystique said quietly,
her temper held in check. class=GramE>Barely.

Magneto
made an open-handed dismissive gesture. “That
might be true for you, but for him…” His
smile became fixed and tight, “he seems to think you plan on betraying the
Brotherhood to Xavier and, in his words, ‘Heaven knows who else’.”

She rolled
her eyes, folding her arms under her bare breasts.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Do you honestly think my…friendship…with
Mark is a threat to the Brotherhood? He’s
not even affiliated with the Institute, outside of his job.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Hell, he’s not even a mutant!”

Magneto’s
brows rose a fraction at this.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Oh, really?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> This is indeed most interesting… Is he aware
of your…state?”

“Does he
know I’m blue?” she sniped. class=GramE>“Belike. Does he know
I’m a shapeshifter?
Belike.
He’s never mentioned it and I’ve never brought it up after our last…visit…to
the Institute en masse.” She did not
look over as the door to Magneto’s office opened and Essex
let himself in. She could feel his eyes
on her, feel him trying to get a read on the
room. It did not take an class=SpellE>empath or psychic, she thought bitterly, to know what was
going on in the office. The atmosphere
was tense, thick enough to cut. “At any
rate,” she continued, standing straight and nodding curtly to Magneto, “I have
the lab work to supervise this afternoon and an appointment this morning.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I’ll report back to you on the lab findings
this evening before your tea.” She
waited for Magneto’s nod of approval and turned away, pausing when she saw how
close Essex was standing.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Pardon me, Nathaniel.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> You’re between me and the door.”

“I know… I’m
afraid I come bearing sad tidings… Sabretooth, it
seems, is quite upset at the current turn of events in your private life.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He feels you have betrayed…well, from what I
gathered, him.” His smile was slick,
reminding Mystique of a charlatan in the old fairs, the ones who would try to
sell bottles of water as miracle cures and useless beads as fantastic
totems. “He was most annoyed when he
discovered the destination of your forays.
He seems to think it’s rather a betrayal, seeing the librarian like
this.”

Mystique’s
eyes narrowed a fraction but she did not let the outburst rising within her
loose. Instead, she smiled and reached
out to take Essex by the elbows, firmly yet gently
moving him away from the door. “That’s
too bad. If Sabretooth
ever ascends to the level of ‘leader’ within our organization, I’m sure his
disappointment will affect me more deeply. As it is, I’m surprised he spoke
with you. It’s so rarely he seeks out
company.” She nodded politely to Magneto
and let herself out of the room, keeping her steps measured and at a casual
pace, as if she did not have the overwhelming urge to break every bone in Essex’s
body with her bare hands. Or, she decided, turning the corner to go into the
lab, a backhoe. Tarot was hunched over a
rack of test tubes, muttering to herself as she poured liquid from each one
into a large beaker, frowning. “I see
you’re committing yourself to this mad scientist role,” Mystique observed,
leaning against the doorframe.

“class=SpellE>Pietro has once again distracted me from my duties,” Tarot
snapped. “I have no time for outings and
dates if I am to have this finished before Magneto needs it!”style='mso-spacerun:yes'>

The older
woman winced inwardly. There was
something intrinsically wrong with a woman Tarot’s age who
had no interest in shirking her duties to have fun once in a while. “Where is class=SpellE>Pietro now?”

“He’s at
the boardinghouse… Blob was lonely, it seems.”
Tarot looked up, her expression near bemused but closer to annoyed. “I
do not understand why he went over there… He never speaks of Blob in glowing
terms.”

Mystique
raised a brow, measuring her response carefully.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Pietro feels
responsible towards him. As Magneto’s
son, the chances are quite good that he will one day run the Brotherhood.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He learned early on that a good leader does
not ignore even his lowest soldier.” She
highly doubted Pietro thought that but it was nice to
make Tarot cringe, even a little.

Tarot
looked past Mystique and frowned. “Shut
the door please.” She moved around the
lab table and fixed the shape shifter with an almost pleading look.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Please,” she mouthed.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>

Mystique stepped
fully into the lab and closed, then locked, the door behind her.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “What is it?”
Tarot had never appeared like this before her, tinged with fear and a
little nervous. The change in her mood had been sudden, like a curtain falling,
and that triggered a curiosity and defensiveness in Mystique.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> For all that she did not like the class=GramE>girl, she was still that, a girl.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Far too young, Mystique thought bitterly, to
be dragged into Essex’s foul planning.

“I can’t do
this,” she said sotto voce, her eyes lowered. “I’m going to fail Magneto… I don’t
deserve my place here… I need to leave.”

class=GramE>“Cant’ do *what*, exactly?”
Mystique stepped closer, disturbed by the appearance of tears on the
younger woman’s cheeks. “Tarot, what the
Hell is going on here? Is someone hurting
you?” Maternal instincts, something she
usually kept under careful wraps, were threatening to burst out in full
force. “Or are you being made to hurt
someone?”

“I don’t
know,” she admitted, closing her eyes. “I
just… He’s only a child!” she finally spat, jerking away from Mystique as if
scalded. “I don’t trust Essex!style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I can’t do this!”

Mystique
inhaled slowly. “He’s only a child?” she
repeated. “Who is this, Tarot? Tell me
everything and I’ll do what I can to help you.”

Tarot shook
her head. “I can’t… Essex
is… I don’t trust him. I can’t do this
anymore. I can’t be part of this.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I thought I could but I’m weak!” She covered
her face with her hands and bent over the lab table, taking deep, sobbing
breaths. “I’m weak…”

Mystique
chewed her lower lip delicately as she thought, her
eyes on Tarot. “Go find class=SpellE>Pietro. I’ll tell
Magneto he needed your help with the Boardinghouse. style='mso-spacerun:yes'> If Essex asks any
questions, I’ll give him the same answer.”

“He’ll
know,” Tarot hissed. “He always does…”

The shape
shifter narrowed her eyes. She did not
like this spike of fear in Tarot’s demeanor.
“Tarot, trust me. Essex
will not harm you. I will not let
him. Now go.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I’ll clean up in here.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Leave by the side door,
take the red sedan to the Boardinghouse.
Stay gone all day if you need to.” Tarot stared at her for a long
moment, then nodded slowly.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Mystique did not exhale until the teenager
had left the room and then, she let her body sag against the lab table.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Something was not right, not by a long shot, and
Magneto was getting them into the thick of it.