Change of Heart

Chapter 2-Worry

“Charles?” Came Storm’s concerned voice from the other side of the door. “Are you alright?” Mystique’s eyes flew open wide at the weather witch’s voice, then flicked towards the door as the handle began to turn.

Charles’ eyes moved quickly from Mystique to the door, and he frowned deeply as the weight on him disappeared suddenly. Before he could turn to find out what happened to the blue mutant, the door was pushed open. Storm stepped inside the room looking worried. “Are you alright Charles?” She asked when she saw he was awake.

“Yes Ororo.” He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “What brings you here?”

“I was worried, you’re usually up long before now.” He glanced at the clock to see it was already after 8. ‘Damn, I was more worn out than I thought.’

“Had trouble sleeping last night.” He told her, only partially lying.

“Um…Charles? What’s with the cat?” Storm asked, he looked up and saw her pointing next to him. Frowning slightly, he followed her hand and saw a black cat on the bed next to him. ‘Of course! Forgot Mystique could change into animals…’ Turning back to the white-haired mutant he responded.

“I…found her last night…she was wandering around the grounds, she has no identification…so I thought I’d take her in.” Storm raised her eyebrows at him.

“Interesting…gave her a name yet?” She asked curiously. Charles looked down at Mystique and brushed his mind lightly against hers, hearing her say ‘What about Raven?’

“Raven.” He said, smiling back up at Storm.

“Hmmm, well…I’ll leave you then. I was just concerned when you weren’t at breakfast.”

“I know, and thank you Storm.” She nodded at him and left the room, shutting the door behind her.

“Phew!! That could have gone badly!!” Charles turned to see Mystique sitting next to him.

“Yes it could have.” He agreed as he pushed the covers off and slipped into his chair. “Quick thinking with that shapeshifting.” She gave him a faint smile and stretched languidly. Charles found himself watching the muscles of her stomach as they tightened when she arched her back. He quickly headed into the bathroom before he was caught staring.

Mystique stretched out on the luxurious bed, feeling herself more relaxed than she had been since the nightmares had started. Even though she had passed out, she had slept extremely well. She was starting to fall asleep again when Charles slid back into the room.

Mystique sat up and without a word, headed into the bathroom. Charles quickly stripped off his clothes, and found something to wear for the day.

* * * * * * * *

Mystique ran her fingers through her hair trying to tame the messy locks. ‘Damn! Don’t suppose Xavier has a brush lying around!’ She smiled wryly at her thought and opened the door only to freeze at the sight before her. Charles was only wearing boxers. As she watched he lifted one leg at a time into the pant legs, then tugged the fabric up to his thighs. She closed the door slightly so he wouldn’t catch her watching him.

Mystique watched fascinated as he held himself up with one arm to pull the pants the rest of the way up. ‘He has excellent upper body strength.’ She mused. Unconsciously her eyes were drawn to his bare stomach and chest, noting with interest the muscles she found there. ‘How does he keep so fit?’ She wondered, then berated herself for thinking that way about him. ‘What the hell are you thinking?’ She shut the door and shook her head, trying to clear the confused thoughts from her mind.

* * * * * * * *

Charles slid the undershirt on and tucked it in before buttoning and zipping his pants. He was just tugging on his jacked when Mystique emerged from the bathroom. “So…I expect you wish to stay here for a while, until I know if I can help or not.” She nodded slowly and moved to sit on the bed.

“If it won’t cause any problems.”

“Well…as long as you don’t appear as yourself, it should be fine. Oh! Hmmm…there could be a problem…” He trailed off, becoming lost in thought.

“What?” The blue mutant asked when he didn’t continue right away.

“Jean,” Her eyes flickered with recognition. “You’ll have to keep a tight rein on your thoughts when she’s around, but with the difficulties I have she probably won’t hear your thoughts unless she was concentrating on you. It should be fine.”

“Um…Xavier,” She said softly, looking away from him as she blushed lightly. “Would it be alright if I…stayed near you today? I don’t feel…comfortable wandering around your house…no offense.” He laughed at her comment and leaned foreward to pat her hand on the bed.

“None taken, if I were in your place I wouldn’t feel comfortable either.”

“Thank you.”

“While in your cat form, you’ll have to give me a sign if you need something. I’ll be able to talk to you telepathically, but only if you let me.”

“I can allow that, um…how about I paw your hand?”

“Alright, and if I need to talk to you I’ll…um…”

“Just scratch between my ears…” Mystique answered, still blushing brightly. “I’ll drop my barriers then.” He nodded in agreement and watched as she changed smoothly into a cat and leapt on his lap. With that, Charles headed to the kitchen to find breakfast.

tbc

So? What do you think? Please review!! Don’t worry, I’ll get Logan and Rogue into the next chapter!!