One-Way Ticket On A Runaway Train

Summary: Help in finding Sabretooth comes from an unexpected source.


A week after they returned from Hawaii, the mansion received another visit from a member of the Brotherhood. Logan and Scott were summoned to the Professor’s office to find a Claudia Schiffer-looking blonde sitting calmly in a chair in front of the Professor’s desk.

“Mystique?” Logan asked, completely baffled.

“Hello, stud,” Mystique replied, giving Logan a mischievous wink.

“What the hell is *she* doing here?” Scott asked logically, folding his arms across his chest and raising himself to his full height.

“Relax, cutie, I’m here to help you,” Mystique replied, giving Scott an obvious and very thorough once over, then licking her lips wickedly.

“How the hell can you possibly help us?” Logan snapped.

“By providing you with information you’ll need to find Victor,” Mystique replied, as if it should’ve been apparent.

“You’re gonna tell us where to find Creed, just like that?” Logan asked, snapping his fingers.

“Well, I realize that you may find it difficult to believe I’d be willing to give you information without us both being naked…… like the last time,” Mystique said with a naughty grin.

Scott glanced over at Logan with a bewildered look of disbelief. They’d never discussed exactly how Logan had extracted the information out of Mystique when they were in Paris. Logan just shook his head in I-don’t-wanna-talk-about-it way.

“So. Persuasive tactics aside,” Scott began, as he flashed a glare at Logan, “why are you helping us?”

“Because Victor is a loose cannon and he’s becoming a liability. And besides, he just pisses me off,” Mystique replied coolly, opening a compact and delicately powdering her nose.

Scott finally asked the obvious question “Did Erik send him to attack the girls?”

“No. Victor sometimes does some freelance work and told Erik he had a job. I think he just came here looking to pick a fight with Wolverine,” she said, snapping shut the compact and putting it back into her Hermes purse.

“What was his problem this time?” Logan asked in exasperation, not that he’d ever consider any excuse a good enough reason to launch an unprovoked attack against women and children.

“Maybe he was jealous about our little *encounter* in Paris,” Mystique answered lasciviously.

Scott flashed Logan a murderously questioning look, which Logan just ignored.

“But why attack someone who’s pregnant?” Scott snapped. He wanted answers.

“For the sport of it. The only difference between Victor and an animal is that Victor walks erect,” she stated matter-of-factly.

“Yeah, well he ain’t gonna be standing for long when I get my hands on him,” Logan announced, flexing his hands for emphasis.

“I don’t care what you do to him,” she replied coolly.

“So glad you’re not on our team with that Benedict Arnold attitude,” Scott said snidely.

“Do you want the information or not? Because if you do, stop with the fucking insults,” Mystique snarled.

“Gentlemen,” the Professor finally interceded, “whatever Mystique’s motives are, is not the issue here. I suggest you accept the information provided graciously.”

“How the hell can we trust her, Chuck? She could be walking us right into a Brotherhood trap,” Logan stated heatedly, while throwing an accusatory glare at Mystique.

“Because I’ve probed her mind and she’s telling the truth,” the Professor answered.

“That was unethical, Charles,” Mystique reprimanded, wagging a well-manicured finger at him.

“Sorry, my dear, but I find it necessary to relax my standards somewhat when dealing with, well, let’s just say, people that have problems with their facts.”

“Huh. Even I know that’s a nice way of calling you a liar,” Logan snorted.

“Yes. Thank you. I got that,” she sneered.

“Look, just give us the information you have and go away,” Scott told her, frustrated, and not in the mood to play games.

“Not aiming for a career in the diplomatic field are you?” Mystique asked sarcastically.

Mystique handed the Professor a sheet of paper. “Victor’s usual haunts. Do whatever you want with that information.”

Then she stood up, walked over to Scott and ran her hand over his chest.

“You know, I could find a lot more interesting things for you to do with that mouth of yours, than smarting off.”

“I’m sure you’re real *talented*,” Scott replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“So you two have been talking in the boy’s locker room,” Mystique said with a wicked laugh, glancing over at Logan.

Scott threw Logan a ‘you’ve-got-a-lot-of-explaining-to-do’ glare.

Mystique handed Scott a small business-sized card.

“My private number. In case you decide you want to be a little friendlier,” she said with a wink.

Mystique couldn’t see beneath Scott’s glasses that he’d rolled his eyes. Then she turned to Logan.

“You could join us, Wolverine. I could be the meat in your little hero sandwich.” And then she laughed at her own little joke.

“If you were the only meat on the menu, I’d be a vegetarian,” Logan retorted.

“I’ll forget that little insult if you walk me to my car.”

“Only if you were going there via jumping off the roof.”

“Oh, Wolverine, your wicked sense of humor is my second favorite thing about you,” Mystique said and then added for Scott’s benefit, “Your nice big hard cock being first.”

With a maniacal laugh Mystique walked out of the office, leaving an agitated looking Scott and a guilty looking Logan.

Before Scott had a chance to pounce on Logan, however, the older man cut him off.

“I ain’t explaining nothing to you, Scooter. So don’t even bother opening your mouth.”

“Would you prefer explaining it to Rogue?”

“You wouldn’t fucking dare.”

“Oh, yeah. Try me.”

“Scott, Rogue has had enough grief to deal with. So let’s not threaten to add to it,” the Professor interceded.

“Charles, obviously he cheated on Rogue when we were in Paris. On the day he proposed to her, too. She has the right to know what kind of bastard she married.”

“I didn’t fuck Mystique!” Logan shouted, not in the mood to confess anything to Scott.

“Well, something happened and you owe us an explanation at least,” Scott snapped, refusing to accept Logan’s refusal to cooperate.

Logan, noting the look of utter disappointment etched into the Professor’s face, decided that apparently he wasn’t going to get out of it like he’d hoped. He didn’t want them to believe he cheated on Rogue. So, he took a deep breath and explained to them exactly what happened between him and Mystique in Paris. Logan finished by saying he didn’t understand what the big deal was.

“Logan, you were still naked with another woman. I can’t believe you don’t see what’s wrong with that scenario,” Scott said, obviously not as appeased as Logan would’ve liked.

“I have to agree with Scott on this, Logan. There had to have been another way to have obtained the information without resorting to such…… drastic measures.”

“Yeah, I suppose I coulda beaten it out of her. Would that have made you feel better about it, Cyclops? If I’d hit a woman as an offensive tactic?” Logan challenged.

“Of course I wouldn’t want you to hit a woman – even Mystique, unless it was in self-defense in battle. That’s a ridiculous question,” Scott sniffed indignantly.

“Well, then shut the fuck up and don’t give me any crap about the way I handled things. And if you ever hurt Rogue by telling her, I’ll cut you up into so many little pieces they’ll need sandwich bags instead of a regular body bag,” Logan warned fiercely, with no hint of levity.

“Gentlemen, I suggest you stop fighting amongst yourselves and devise a plan to deal with Sabretooth,” the Professor interrupted.

“You’re actually condoning us going after Sabretooth?” Scott inquired, stunned.

“Let’s just say, I’m turning a blind eye to whatever you do in regards to that animal.”

“Hey, that’ll work for me, Chuck.”

“Me, too,” Scott added.

“So, any ideas, Scooter?”

“No. Not yet.”

“Yep. Didn’t think so. Amateur. Ya know, Scooter, ya gotta stop think like a fucking boy scout all the time. Grow some balls for God’s sake.”

“I have balls.”

“Yeah, the size of cocktail peanuts. But don’t worry, I’ll make a man outta you and maybe one day you’ll even grow some hair on your chest.”

“Fuck you.”

“Sorry, sunshine, you’re not my type. But if I ever do decide to switch teams, I’ll call you, ‘cause you’re just so damn cute.”

“Very funny.”

“Oh, come on, Cyclops, can’t you take a joke? Loosen that pole you’ve got wedged up your ass. Now follow me outside while I have a smoke and we’ll discuss strategy –the Wolverine way.”

“This oughta be interesting,” Scott groaned, as he followed Logan out of the office.

The Professor just sighed. Well at least this time there was no bloodshed, so that was an improvement.

In the hallway, Logan turned to Scott with a warning.

“By the way, if you ever think about bringing up that bullshit about Mystique with Rogue, I wasn’t kidding when I said I’d conveniently forget about our little truce. Got it?”

“I just think that if you’re gonna have a life with her, you should be honest – about everything.”

“Yeah. Were you always a hundred percent honest with Jean? And think about that one real hard before you answer it.”

“I never kept any secrets from Jean.”

“Oh? So Jean knew about your little affair with Ororo last year?”

“What? How?” Scott stammered.

“The night before I got married, you told me about it, on the way over to drop you off at the hotel. You know, you really ought to try remembering what you tell people after you’ve had a few beers. By the way, does Kitty know about Ororo, Mr. Honesty Above All Else?” Then noting the look on Scott’s face, Logan added, “No, didn’t think so.”

“What’s your point?”

“Well, Scooter, before you go pointing fingers, just remember, you have a few skeletons stuffed in the back of your own closet.”

“So, I keep my mouth shut and you’ll do the same? Is that the deal?”

“Yup, that’s pretty much the general idea.”

“That’ll work for me,” Scott acquiesced.

“Ya know, Scooter, you ever thought about telling Kitty about ‘Ro? Maybe she’d be open to a three-way,” Logan said, giving Scott a conspiratorial wink.

~*~*~*

After Scott and Logan departed from his office, the Professor sat in quiet contemplation. He’d surprised himself by more or less condoning Logan and Scott’s plan for revenge against Sabretooth. Even though he realized there was realistically no other way to stop Sabretooth’s reign of terror, his sense of humanity still made it difficult to accept the lack of alternatives. Then there was also the issue of Jean. Maybe he’d made a mistake in sharing his suspicions with Logan and Scott; they seemed as merciless in their attitude toward her as they were toward Sabretooth. He simply couldn’t allow them to harm her. Sabretooth was one thing, the man was barely more than an animal, but this was Jean, his favorite. Was his prejudice blinding him; allowing her to escape punishment? Should she be afforded protection from Logan and Scott when the other contributor was made to take sole responsibility? If formal charges were issued against Jean they would at minimum include obstruction of justice.

Something had to be done. Jean’s poor attitude was seeping into other areas of her life and manifesting itself in the way she treated everyone badly, not just Rogue and Kitty. Neither of the girls had officially complained to him, so he’d not taken any action. Something he recognized wasn’t a decent enough excuse to neglectfully ignore the situation. After all, Rogue and Kitty deserved his loyalty just as much as Jean.

It had taken Jean’s students complaining about her harshness in the classroom for him to finally be spurred into action. The Professor weighed several options including asking Emma to find a teaching position for Jean on the staff at the Massachusetts Academy; then realizing that her approach to Emma’s students probably wouldn’t be any different, dismissed that idea. He then placed a call to his reliable friend Warren and together they’d formulated an offer to get Jean out of the mansion, while still utilizing her intelligence and talents for the mutant effort.

Even though he didn’t have a clear plan on how to deal with the situation, the Professor telepathically summoned Jean to his office and decided to improvise.