A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the four chapters are up on my Patreon for early access as well as the bsp;to vote on the dire of the story!

  It worked, but there are still some things to be discussed...

  -x-X-x-

  There’s a brief pause from both of them and then Thaddeus lets his smile grow when he feels absolutely nothing at all. ue’s end, she stares down at their csped hands in wonder, also likely not feeling anything on her eher.

  “It… it worked? It worked!”

  The goth young womas out what might have seemed like an uncharacteristic happy little squeal if Thaddeus hadn’t just taken a walk through her mind and seen what she was like before life experiences successfully beat her down and closed her off. Lunging forward, the naked mutant s her arms around Thaddeus’ equally naked body, pulling him into a hug and kissing him soundly on the lips before nuzzling into his ned whisperihanks over and ain.

  “Thank you. Thankyouthankyouthankyou…”

  Hugging her in turn, Thaddeus rubs soothing circles intue’s back, having a rather intimate uanding of just how meaningful this moment is to her now. Sure, he might have lived the tragic awakening of her mutation backwards, but that didn’t ge the fact that he’d felt the emotiue felt during all of that and knew just how horrible it had been for her.

  Rogue, or rather Anna Marie, wasn’t a bad girl. She wasn’t a demon, or a sinful whore, or any of the numerous awful descriptors that her boyfriend’s family and even her own family had pio her. She was just a young woman who’d bee a bad hand, and Thaddeus was happy he had been able to find a way to help her out of her hole.

  Of course, in their moment of happiness, they’ve fotten the elephant in the room. Mystique clears her throat, the shapeshifter calling out to her adoptive daughter.

  “… Rogue?”

  Pulling free of his arms, Rogue turns to her adoptive mother, who has transformed bato her base, blue-skinned form… and lu her as well. Mystique mao hide the way she stiffens in fear momentarily and Thaddeus is pretty sure he’s the only ohat sees it. He doesn’t bme her either, if he was in her shoes, he probably would have preferred to start with just a simple hand touch, just to be safe.

  But Rogue isn’t having that. She hugs Mystique hard and while Mystique does hesitate for a single moment, she quickly hugs the younger woman back. Thaddeus smiles as they embrace. And not just because they’re naked and that makes the hug rather sexy from his point of view. Really, it’s just great that Mystique and Rogue finally touch.

  For all that he has his s regarding Mystique’s motives, she and her partner DID take Rogue in when no one else could. And rather than just trying to turn Rogue into a on to be used for their cause, Mystique had go of her way t Rogue here, in the hopes that he could help them ‘cure’ Rogue’s dition.

  At the end of the day, the shapeshifter wasn’t a bad person, Thaddeus decides. And when she looks at him ue’s shoulder and mouths ‘thank you’ to him, he gives her a simple smile and a nod before rising to get his clothes and head out.

  Of course, upon doing so, he draws the attention of the two women quite rapidly, with Rogue pulling back the moment she detects movement out of the er of her eye. Looking at him with a puffy nose and watery eyes, the tearfully happy mutant blinks.

  “Wha- where are you going, Thaddeus?”

  Tilting his head to the side as he finishes zipping up and buttoning his pants, Thaddeus shrugs.

  “Just thought I’d stop intruding on yuys’ moment. We’re only halfway through the day after all… and you both… well, you’ll probably be leaving now, won’t you?”

  Rogue’s face sches up in fusion and sternation at that, but Mystique has a knowing look in her eyes even as her adoptive daughter shakes her head.

  “L-Leaving?”

  Smiling softly at the coed goth, Thaddeus shrugs again, only to start feeling a little dumb for all his shrugging.

  “You guys got what you came fue.”

  Uanding finally dawns ue as well, as she realizes he’s right. After all, Thaddeus had overheard them his very first day in this dorm. This was why they were here, to see if he could help Rogue with her mutation. Perhaps her of them expected it to get fixed so fast, of course. Perhaps her of them thought he would be able to help them so easily during the first ‘session’. In truth, Thaddeus reized that his ability to help was based around a whole lot of lud some quick thinking on his part.

  If he hadn’t just spent the weekend fug his beor Emma Frost all over an incredibly expeel room, Thaddeus wouldn’t have had the psychic abilities necessary to help solve Rogue’s problem. Instead, they would have just kept fug and she would have gotten stronger, but with no actual ability to trol it. Things could have gotten bad.

  So yeah, lucky. But at the same time, Thaddeus was under no disillusions here… they were here for that ohing, and now that they’d gotten it…

  “But… I don’t want to go.”

  Rogue’s simple, pintively spoken words drop like a depth charge into the room. Thaddeus mao hold back a wince, even as he gnces over at Mystique to see the shapeshifter has goill. Rogue, meanwhile, is lookiweewo of them, her eyes big and round and her lower lip starting to jut out in a pout.

  Finally finding her voice, Mystique begins to speak up.

  “Rogue, I…”

  “Mama! I finally trol my mutation! I finally be around people! So… ’t I stay? And just… tio go to college? I know you’re busy, I know you have more important things to do theend to be Risty Wilde forever… but would it be so bad if I kept attending csses here?”

  Thaddeus tries not to be too noticeably tense, but damn if it’s not hard. Because the fact is, he is tense. He’s not sure Rogue knows just who she’s dealing with. Truthfully, Thaddeus still isirely sure HE knows who they’re dealing with. Mystique isn’t just a shapeshifter, she’s a shapeshifting terrorist. And sure, the Brotherhood of Mutant’s goals might be lofty and well-iioned, but their as have often times been anything but.

  Part of the reason Thaddeus chose to go with Emma and the Hellfire Club over Mystique and her Brotherhood was so that he could live a normal life and not be put on a number of gover watchlists just for associating with terrorists… to say nothing of what Mystique or other Brotherhood leadership might have eventually asked him to do with his powers.

  And that was the real kicker. The other Brotherhood leadership. Was it just Mystique and her parthe mysterious Destiny? Or was it more than them? And most important of all, would the others in the Brotherhood really be okay with Mystique leaving a resource like Rogue to her own devices, to ‘waste time’ going to college of all things?

  Thaddeus isn’t sure how Mystique is going to react here. That’s why he’s so tense. Will she try to pull the adoptive mother card ue and attempt to bully and guilt trip her into leaving ESU with her? And if she does so, what the hell is Thaddeus supposed to do in response? He’s barely knue for more than a week, is it really his pce to step in? But at the same time, he ’t help feeling responsible for the young woman now…

  Everything seems to ban a knife’s edge for a long moment as Rogue awaits her adoptive mother’s response. Finally, Mystique psters a smile on her fad dips her head.

  “Of course you stay, Rogue. I want you to be happy, and if attending college csses makes you happy…”

  Here, Mystique trails off and from the way Rogue fidgets, Thaddeus tell the shapeshifter is going for a more subtle type of guilt tripping. But Rogue heless stands her ground, not immediately folding uhe pressure. Admittedly, it’s a very mild pressure Thaddeus finds himself noting. Almost like Mystique really doesn’t want to force Rogue to do anything she doesn’t want to do.

  “I-It does. It… I just want to feel n-normal for once. And now… now I don’t even have to wear gloves everywhere or worry about arts of my skin are showing when I walk down a crowded hallway. I finally… I f-finally just be me.”

  Rogue looks down at her currently bared hands while saying that, and misses the moment of ahat appears on her adoptive mother’s face at the words ‘feel normal’. Thaddeus doesn’t miss it though, even as Mystique reaches out, pg her own blue hands in Rogue’s. Despite whatever she might be internally feeling, the shapeshifter still keeps her tone even and her voice gentle and calming as she speaks.

  “Normal is overrated, darling. But being yourself… that’s never a bad thing. I just want you to be happy, my dear. That’s all I’ve ever wanted for you.”

  She sounds sincere, even to Thaddeus’ ears. And Rogue certainly seems to believe her, because the younger mutas out a squeal of excitement and flings her arms around Mystique again, hugging her close. Thaddeus takes the ce to get his shirt ba, though once he has it over his head, he finds the two naked women have pulled apart again and are looking his dire once more. Mystique in particur is gazing at him rather intensely.

  “I will be ting on you to keep a close eye on my daughter and watch over her, Thaddeus.”

  Rogue immediately squawks at that.

  “Maaa…”

  But Mystique isn’t having any of it. She brushes a lock out ue’s face, tug it behind the young goth’s ear and smiles, clearly immensely pleased at finally being able to do so.

  “I will of course still be around from time to time as Risty Wilde. Luckily, my persona is ohat absences and poor academics are expected from. However, I will not be able to stay with you while you tio attend csses, my dear. As such, you must promise me you will look to Thaddeus for support when necessary… a to me if he is ing you in any way, alright?”

  Rogue whines in the back of her throat.

  “Mama, that’s not… he doesn’t o… you’re being silly!”

  Mystique just raises an eyebrow at that.

  “He doesn’t o take responsibility for his as? Well, I say he does. And I’d hope he agrees with me.”

  Her yellow eyes are fixed directly on him for that part, even though she’s ostensibly still talking tue. Still, Thaddeus straightens up and squares his shoulders. Because frankly she’s right. He does o take at least some responsibility for his as. Befue protest her adoptive mother’s words any further, Thaddeus nods, speaking up.

  “She’s right, I do agree with her.”

  Rogue looks at him askand more than a little fluttered, no doubt appalled by the thought that she o be ‘taken care of’ or babied. But Thaddeus just shakes his head.

  “Rogue, what I did for you… it’s pletely ued.”

  His blunt hoy brings the goth coed up short just a little bit.

  “I was able to help yht now, but will it st? Is it perma? that false memory degrade because it never really happened? Will the ability to turn your mutation on and off degrade with it?”

  The more he talks, the more ill Rogue looks. Mystique, at least, looks unsurprised though she does glower at him a bit. The shapeshifter had clearly already thought of these things but hadn’t wao rain ue’s parade… like Thaddeus was doing right now. Even still, he respected Rogue too much to sugarcoat things.

  Stepping forward, he takes the naked young woman’s hands in his own.

  “I promise yue… whatever happe, I’ll have your back.”

  He means that too. Beyond just making sure she got to keep her on-off switch, Thaddeus also intends to have her ba every other way he possibly as well… including against Mystique and the Brotherhood of Mutants if that proves necessary. Something that Mystique herself doesn’t miss, judging by the slight narrowing of her eyes.

  Except, rather than looking angry at him for the assertion that her adoptive daughter might need his prote… the shapeshifter nods ever so slightly, too slight fue to see but definitely not too slight for Thaddeus to pick up on.

  Rogue, meanwhile, looks like she doesn’t even know what to say. So Thaddeus leaves it at that as go of her hand, giving them both a smile.

  “Ladies. I’m sure you still have plenty to talk about. Rogue, I’ll talk to you ter.”

  “Ah… alright…”

  With that, and with his clothing ihaddeus leaves their dorm room behind, stepping out into the hall. As he does so, he’s admittedly a little distracted and not paying as much attention to his surroundings as his enhanced senses would allow him to. But he does get one siingle from his ‘sexy sense’ before he finds himself pushed up against the wall by a certain blonde, who narrows her eyes as she looks at him pyfully.

  “Have a good weekend, boytoy?”

  Thaddeus looks down into Gwen Stacy’s eyes and ’t help but be a little amused, even as he tilts his head to the side. He answers holy in the end, even if it’s maybe not what she wants to hear.

  “It was a great weekend, Gwen.”

  That brings a scowl to the pretty young woman’s face, but Thaddeus is quick to follow up his words.

  “I AM sorry I had to bail on you and Kitty, however. That part sucked and I owe you both an apology. Also, if you’d be willing to let me, I’d like an opportunity to make it up to you, either together or individually.”

  That brings Gwen up short. Before she really get mad at him, Thaddeus cuts her anger off at the knees by apologizing and meaning every word of it. For a moment, Gwen pauses and siders him, her eyes still narrowed.

  “Oh? You’d be willing to do ANYTHING to make it up to me, is that what you’re saying?”

  Thaddeus lets out a small ugh, eyebrows raised as he gives her a grin.

  “Within reason… yes.”

  Gwen huffs when he doesn’t give her total cart bo demand anything too ridiculous… but from the ptive way she’s eyeing him, she’s definitely ied all the same. Now it’s just a matter of her deg what she wants.

  -x-X-x- The Patreon Vote: [X] Gwen wants to finish that threesome with him and Kitty - 73%[ ] Gwen invites him to the gym, both to workout and 'workout' - 18%[ ] Gwen asks him to e with her as backup on her patrol - 8%

  -x-X-x-

  Also shameless plug time: Just started a new Free Write and it would mean the world to me if you guys checked it out!

  An Iron Resolve (Marvel)(Time Travel)

  Summary: Tony Stark travels ba time after the Snap determio get things right this time. Even if he has to take over the world to make sure everyoually works together against the threat that Thanos poses. He's not going to let everyone down. Not ever again.