AN: Sorry for the short chapter, it was going to be longer, but the next part is going to be a good deal darker, and I wanted the relative levity to stand on it's own.
Avengers Mansion, New York City, A Few Hours Later
"You KNOCKED UP A SUPERVILLAIN?!"
The baby in Mystique's arms mewls unhappily at the unexpected noise, and Mystique holds him closer to her chest "Hey, keep it down, Stark! I just got him to sleep, and you won't appreciate what the consequences will be if you wake him up again!"
Tony Stark looks like he's about to yell again, before thinking better of it and stalks over to the liquor cabinet he'd been generous enough to install in my room, and looks over the content inside critically "Ugh, seriously Sunshine, you have the worst taste in booze. Fine, this will have to do..." He grabs a randombottle of cheap whiskey from the cabinet, pours some into a crystall glass, and throws it back with a grimace. He pauses, takes a deep breath, and turns back towards me. "Okay, where were we.. Oh, right, this!!" He points at Mystique through gritted teeth, carefully keeping his voice low.
"Okay, you of all people do not get to lecture me about sexual misadventures, Stark!" I snap back, trying to redirect some of the anger that's starting to bubble up inside me "Frankly, it's a miracle that the gene pool of the East Coast doesn't consist mostly of alcoholism and douchebag beards!"
"Yeah, it's called birth control you fucking moron, look it up! I can't belive-" He pauses to take another drink "-I can't belive you fell for this, it's the Honey Trap, it's the oldest trick in the book!"
"How am I at fault here, she's a fucking shapeshifter! If anything, I'm the victim here, she basically raped me!" I turn towards my apparent Baby Mama, wanting to vent my anger at her as well, but just looking at the baby in her arms just makes me deflate. I sigh, rubbing my hand over my face "...what the hell do you want, Mystique. Why..?" I motion towards the two of them "Why all this..?"
"Oh, I think you can call me Raven, Johan. I think we're past the point of first-name-basis" She says, running her hand through the baby's red fuzz "As for the Why, in simple terms, I wanted someone to father a powerful mutant child with me, a child with the combined powers of both it's parents. And as luck would have it, there was one mutant male who's star had really been on the rise over the past few years."
"Lucky me..." I groan.
"As I recall, you certainly weren't complaining at the time. If it makes you feel any better, the choice was down to either you, or Victor Creed. Though you might know him better as Sabretooth."
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me! Come on, that's just... ugh!" Stark exclaims from behind me.
"Creed would be easier to get close to, and likely easier to talk into willingly serving as the father, but frankly, I was looking for someone a bit more sophisticated" Mystique continues, ignoring Stark's outburst "While you didn't quite fit the bill either, "Mr Sunshine" she says my chosen superhero name with surprising disdain "I couldn't argue against everything you've accomplished, and the kind of power you've been exhibiting since you first appeared. The Brotherhood invasion of Santo Marco, the Masters of Evil, the Kree-Skrull War... you made quite a name for yourself. And as you can see..." she holds out the baby slightly, giving me a closer look of our apparent son "you've certainly lived up to your side of the bargain."
I take a moment before responding, trying to keep my emotions in check "Alright... that explains why you DID it, not why you're here. You break in here just to rub it in my face?"
Mystique just scoffs "Don't be ridiculous, what kind of idiot do you think I am?" She pauses, and there's a brief second where an uncharacteristic hesitation passes over her "It's been pointed out to me by.... someone close to me that my normal methods of parenting tend to be detrimental, at least in having our son growing into the kind of person I'm hoping him to. While I'm normally loath to accept this kind of arrangemnt... how would you feel about some sort of joint custody?"
"W-you're a wanted criminal!"
She gives me a cold smirk "And aren't I lucky that the father of my child just so happens to be a member of one of the world's premiere superhero teams?"
I reach my hand backwards, giving a wave towards Stark "Hey Tony, I think I'll have a drink too. Don't bother with a glass, just give me the bottle."
....
"So, you know, you had a lot going on at the time..."
Honestly, it's still rather difficult to digest. I'm dead, oddly enough, that's not nearly as weird in my mind than having a son, not to mention the... me, or whatever, of this era would have been, what, almost 50 by the time shit went down? I'm honestly surprised I lasted that long. I don't know how having superpowers affects my aging, but most heroes start in their teens, or their early 20's. I was in my 30's. And it's not exactly a low-impact career.
I take a moment to look over Sunset, or Lars I suppose. I can see parts of myself in his face, though the blue skin does sort of distract from any other features. There's something about him that reminds me of my mother as well, a grandmother he'll never know, but maybe that's just my imagination. He's got my fathers height though, just as I did, he stretches to 6'6 easily, only slightly shorter than myself.
I never planned to have children, never wanted any, and frankly, I find the circumstances around his conception to be horrifying, but I can't help but feel strangely sad that assuming I get back to the 60's, even if I do somehow become involved with Mystique, which I'm not planning on, Lars won't exist. Even if we have a child together, it's impossible for it to be the same person.
Well, thank Jack Kirby for Multiverse Theory.
"Okay, so I understand why I'd be occupied with my surprise baby shower" I nod towards Sunset before turning towards Thor "But what about the rest of the team? Didn't any of you notice something going on?"
Thor looks away, staring out the window overlooking the dark garden where the memorial statues are kept "You speak true, friend Sunshine. Long have the burden of my own inaction and blindness weighed heavily on my shoulders, many a night have been spent regretting the choices I made in those dark days. That all of us made. The truth is, there were warnings, alarms coming from other crimefighters, ones we had so long ignored because we considered them beneath us. We ignored the things lurking in the shadows, assuming they were minor threats to be handled by lesser warriors, or even outright fabrications created by sick minds. There always seemed to be something more important for the Avengers to handle. A threat from the depths of space, a would-be conqueror assembling likeminded madmen to face us in battle, machines seeking to destroy their creators. In face of such threats, the stories of childhood terrors seemed to warrant little consideration..."
Thor closes his eyes
"Until the day they struck. And the nightmares were real after all..."