[OP: "Clocks"-- Coldplay. Really fits actually.]

[If you read that title out loud, it has an interesting play on words]

Mystique backed up from the Time Broker..

He certainly didn't look that threatening...but...

"You know who I am?" she said.

"I know who everyone is," The Time Broker said. "I knew you would come. And came. Come again?"

"What?" Mystique said.

"Exactly," The Time Broker seemed to think that was funny. "But there should be another one."

Morph came hurrying into the room.

"Mystique look--oh...TB?"

"Hello Morph," The Time Broker said. "I would say, a pleasure to see you again, but I saw you next and last time also."

"And you're the same as always," Morph joked.

"You still understand I see," The Time Broker said. "And you're not a minute too late, or too early, as it happens."

These time jokes were going to kill Mystique if Mimic didn't first, she thought

"Your dimension is in grave danger," Time Broker didn't leave much time for small talk.

"Yeah we know," Morph said. "But...uh...sorry for breaking the rules, and all, but--"

"Ah, I knew you would," Time Broker said. "I could have stopped it if I wanted to. But this is fine. Even Mystique has a place here. Come, look, this is your dimension right now. I have been studying it..."

Morph gave Mystique a look like "Are you still mad?"

She didn't return it.

Morph followed the Time Broker to the wall, and she did also, she had nothing better to do.

Mimic came in also, but he said nothing.

"This... is kind of blurry," Morph said. "Why? Usually it's more clear."

"The real reason I have not contacted you," the Time Broker said. "The connection to Earth 616, as we call it, is fading. And to earth 1081...both worlds of the X-men's existence..."

"Fading?" Morph said. "I didn't think that could happen."

"It's rare," Time Broker said. "Every so often...over thousands of years perhaps if we counted them all up, a old dimension...fades back into the Ultimate Reality, never to exist again. Sometimes a new world comes into existence...But the fading is not from that. There is a third way."

He studied the wall slowly. "Worlds can fade when whatever has made them what they are is wiped from existence. I believe this is what is happening to both of yours."

"Both?" Morph said. "But how? Even influencing one world is crazy hard."

"It is...but parallel universes have some apparent connections that make it a little easier," Time Broker said, not very emotionally.

"The particular cause of this is, from what I can tell. A kind of Merging."

"Merging?" Morph said. "I...don't think we could do that either..."

"We are not supposed to," Time Broker said. "But there is a great evil, inhabiting one of those worlds...somehow they have begun the process. It started with just one person, maybe two. The number has grown...or is growing...or will grow. It's unclear. If it keeps up, the reality itself will start to merge...instead of being parallel, they will become one...but they cannot exist as one, and so they will be swallowed up, one or the other, and become a NO MORE."

"Are you saying that...but...how?" Morph said.

"It is hard to say," Time Broker looked at one panel. "All time around it have been blurred to me. The merging is beginning...one event is overlapping another. Things playing out the way they did, too similar...the timelines will combine."

"But...I thought just having two people from different timelines wasn't a problem," Morph said.

"Yes...one or two isn't," the Time Broker said. "Even a team of them, perhaps as long as they are responsible about it. But what happens when it's dozens and scores of them? The timelines themselves become intertwined, who can tell which it is? They share more and more knowledge, more and more things...And they become one. But that is just them most basic level of merging, but it's the beginning. I fear it will become worse than that."

"How...how worse?" Morph said uneasily.

"If not stopped..." Time Broker turned from the walls. "People themselves could begin to merge with the other versions of themselves."

"You mean...they'd fuse? Like in that one place?" Morph said.

"Not quite..." Time Broker answered. "Two souls cannot inhabit one body, not permanently. It's not done. One eventually wins out. No way to know which one, but outside two bodies...one soul will die. Permanently."

"What?" Morph said.

"Unless it somehow was unmerged while the other body was there, but if the bodies are separated by dimensions...that would be impossible," Time Broker said. "The problem cannot go that far, or people will start to die."

"Please tell me that's the worst part," Morph said.

"No," Time Broker said. "That will be the next to final stage. But the final stage, the universes themselves would merge into the same reality, and be likely to become a barren waste land. Or inhabited solely by people who have had part of themselves destroyed...neither of those possibilities is good. It would crumble away sooner or later, all on its own."

"You're telling me that my world could just fade..." Morph said.

"If this person continued to merge them," Time Broker said. "It is unclear if that is their plan. What their plan is, I do not know, But you must find out. And you must return the lost to their own dimension in time."

Mystique had listened to all this in growing horror.

"So...it's not just dying," she said finally. "It's losing ourselves...completely?"

"Into the Ultimate," Time Broker said. "Good or bad depending on the person, but losing their hold on earth that much is certain."

"And...we don't know who's doing it?" Mimic spoke.

"There are few beings on those planets who could do such a thing," Time Broker said. "Some of them you know, others you don't. This, I cannot tell you for sure.  You must find the source of the merging."

"Okay...so the switched people, they're all in the other dimension, right?" Morph said. "Mine, right?"

"No," Time Broker said. "Not all of them. I sense that some of them will simply swap places, until the merging becomes complete. But others are vanishing from both dimensions...or will vanish from both."

"Can you tell me which ones?" Morph said.

"No," Time Broker said. "The answer will become clear, when you know the cause. We cannot work backwards...Too much interference. But, you should look out for people with powers that might relate to this, or knowledge perhaps. They are likely to be the next targets, perhaps you can trace the culprit from there, if you can preemptively stop their abduction."

"Okay...at least that's something..." Morph said. "People with powers that have to do with dimensions...wait."

He looked at Mimic. "Magik."

"Magik..." Mimic said. "But she's dead."

"Ours is," Morph said. "But there's another one in the world I've been in...she must have just gotten her powers...they could go after her."

"Or other telepaths," Mystique said flatly. "Telepaths can access the astral plane. That's like another dimension."

"Uh...yeah," Morph said. "Good point...so..."

"Psylocke," Mystique spoke again. "The other Frost, all of them."

"Xavier too then," Morph said. "But there might be more people who can."

"Blink," Mimic said. "She exists in both realms too. Not ours, but..."

"All those are good ideas," Time Broker said. "They may lead you to the answer. At the very least, prevent them from being taken and the process will slow. But if you don't find the source it cannot be stopped entirely. Whether it takes years, or just months...but if they keep increasing, it will probably...let's see... my estimate is, take less than 2 months of your world's time, either one of them."

"Less than 2 months!" Morph said. "To find someone you can't even identify!"

"The world is smaller than it seems, Morph," Time Broker said. "I have confidence that you all can do this. You do have two assets..aren't there currently World Walkers in your dimensions."

"Yes...so...you know what they are," Morph said.

"Of course, World Walkers and Reality travelers have always almost been cousins to each other's purposes," Time Broker said. "But rarely have they worked together. They may have the key you need to defeating this enemy. Our power over dimensions is weak, we simply go through them, and do what we can...but their power has far more authority. Protect them at all costs, they can defeat the person behind it, or no one can.

Then he turned to Mystique.

"Symbolism," he said. "One person from each dimension has come here. One person from each dimension will know this information. If the two are merged further, then on both ends, you will have to guard it. This is a real responsibility...you will accept it?"

Mystique didn't feel like a responsible guardian right now, but neither did she like the idea of the world ending, so she said. "I'll pass it on...But what if I end up in the other dimension?"

"Then you know what to do, find whoever there can help," Time Broker said. "You seem unlikely to be targeted for some time though. But beware of old ghosts. They like to come haunt people at times like this."

Whatever that meant.

"And Morph," Time Broker said. "Things are not always what they seem, remember that. Use people from both worlds, do not try to decide who is and who is not important. We have no way of knowing this, except by where they are now."

"Won't that make it worse though," Morph said. "The more we hear ideas and stuff..."

"No," Time Broker said. "In certain ways yes, it will speed the merging...but there are good connections between worlds also. And the stronger they are, the stronger we are. It's the only way to counter what is happening, to try to form something stronger...but that is not easy. Those bonds are forged in fire, not by the use of dark powers. Be vigilant. Mimic, are you going with them?"

"I don't know... I might not be able to get back here, will I?" Mimic asked.

"Until this is remedied...no," Time Broker said. 

"Maybe you shouldn't then," Morph said to Mimic. "Someone has to be waiting for the others...we can't all end up stuck in my universe..."

Mimic sighed. "I really wanted better news..."

Morph swallowed, then he checked his Talis. "We're going to have to go, aren't we? We don't have more time."

"No, your time is very short now," Time Broker said. "But you have all the time in the world."

"Ha ha..." Morph chuckled weakly.

His sense of humor was making more sense all the time, Mystique thought. Irritated at herself for even thinking of such things right now.

"Well let's go," she said coldly. "I don't want to spend anymore time in here."

"You may have spent more days here than you'd like," The Time Broker said. "Beware, the connection will fade more and more...being able to time travel will be impossible until you fix this. None of us will be able to come and help you. You must find people who can help where you are now. Good luck Morph."

"Yeah. Morph...and uh...sorry if I...caused problems," Mimic said.

"Yeah well..." Morph glanced at Mystique. "For the record...about the mind control thing...I kinda know what it's like now...so...again, I'm sorry if I was too harsh about it. It wasn't your fault. "

"What happened to you?" Mimic said.

"A long story..." Morph said. "I think I'm better now, but..."

"Better watch her," Mimic said.

"Mimic, I really don't want to part on bad terms, so can we just bury that hatchet?" Morph said sternly.

"Right...yeah, okay," Mimic glanced at Mystique. "Well you have a big responsibility now, lady, so...don't screw it up, I guess. That's about as civil as I feel like being here."

Mystique just flipped him off in response.

"Should have seen that coming..." Morph muttered.

"Hurry," Time Broker said. "All the time is no time to waste, go."

"Mystique we have to go," Morph said. "Or we won't be able to, so..."

"Who's stopping you? Turn it on," Mystique said.

Morph spun the Talis...

***

The second time was a little less of a shock.

But the Talis brought them to the wood outside the mansion, not the living room.

"Distance is a little tricky with this thing...honestly we're lucky we're even in the same part of the country at all." Morph said.

Mystique just stood there, thinking...boiling under the surface also.

"So, before we go in, about what Mimic said," Morph said. "You have to know, I was never going to tell you any of that, I wouldn't do that."

"Why not?" Mystique turned to look at him, eyes blazing. "So I wouldn't figure it out?"

"Figure what out?" Morph said. "I mean...because it's not right to just put that kind of thing on people that's why. You shouldn't think about it too much, Mimic has had issues with knowing how much to say for a long time. I should have known he'd blurt it out."

"So what you're saying is, you knew the whole time," Mystique said. "You acted like you had no idea who I was, back when Creed dug us out, but you knew."

"I...well I didn't think about it," Morph tried to explain. "Being out of the loop for so long, you start to forget stuff and by the time I did think of it, it was way later..."

"You knew I worked for Apocalypse, so you must have known," Mystique said.

"I guess in the back of my mind I probably knew, if I thought about it," Morph said. "But I was a hot mess from what Sinister did, so I can't stress how little the whole thing occurred to me."

"Really?" Mystique's tone said she didn't buy it. "How little it did huh? That such a load of s---."

"What?" Morph said.

"I see it now," Mystique said. "You were watching me...that's what this had been about."

"I...what?" Morph said.

"Because I'm blacklisted, or something," Mystique said. "I understood what he was saying...I'm one of those people who just is never good, I guess. I understand...that's what all that questioning and trying to figure things out, you want to know if I was still going to do those things."

"That's...crazy..." Morph said.

Though when she put it that at way...it did sound like that.

"Is it?" Mystique said. She was bitter now. "Makes sense, doesn't it? Who wouldn't do that. Who wouldn't eliminate a threat like that, in enough time?"

"Hey we don't do that-- of our own volition!" Morph said. "That's not okay."

"He sure sounded like he'd like to," Mystique said. "And you didn't deny any of it, that you knew. So you did know, and that's all I need to know about it."

"What are you saying?" Morph said. Now mad. "That I was spying on you all this time? That's insane."

"Don't," Mystique said. "I know, you're trying to make it sound like it was better than that, because it always has to be. But I prefer to just look at things how they really are. Call it what it was. Spying, watching...I wouldn't be sure if the whole thing with Psylocke wasn't part of all this. That's what's been going on...so I wouldn't work for them anymore, is that it?"

"Are you listening to how crazy this sounds?" Morph said. "You can't let what Mimic said just make you forget common sense, okay? Why would any of that happen? Geez, if I wanted to stop someone, I would just talk to them."

"Yeah, well you did plenty of that too," Mystique said.

Morph didn't know what to say.

"But...that wasn't why," he said oddly.

"It was," Mystique said. "And you know it was...It doesn't matter how nice a spin you put on it, if someone is a threat, you treat them the same way. Everyone does. He--, I would have understood." She glared at him. "If I'd just known that was the reason...But the real twist? Pretending there was no reason whatsoever for it...I'm a fool, I didn't think of this sooner, I should have know the second I found out what you were, that's why you never wanted me to know, that's why the DJs didn't want me to know, isn't it? Do they know this also? They knew...I know they knew! Things they said that make sense all of the sudden...all of you, trying to get me to not go back to the same monsters I worked for before...I see why...I guess the world would have ended?"

She almost choked there...it was something that no one would have wanted to hear about their actions...and even someone as stoic as her was having a hard time dealing with it.

"I might have known," she said, hugging her sides and turning away. "In the end, it's the same..."

"Mystique..." Morph wasn't sure what to say after all this. "It's...it's really not true...come on, that's crazy talk...We like you, that's all."

"Why would you?" Mystique said, cynically. "I'm dangerous."

"Well, who isn't?" Morph said. "That's not the point. You're acting hysterical, I get why, that was a lot of stuff to hear, and it's probably making you irrational...it can do that, but don't just rush headlong to into these conclusions without thinking about it, please, I'm begging you."

He sounded sincere.

It was making her sick.

"Look Morph," she turned finally and her look was just heartwrenchingly bitter and resigned at the same time. "I understand in one way, that probably all of you are just doing the right thing...whatever that is, because that's what you do. I'm not that blind to what's going on here. Maybe even, lying to me about it seemed like the right thing...Who am I to say? Who am I to judge? I do that all the time...I just thought you all were a little different than that. I shouldn't have, it was my mistake. But don't try to justify it. There are some things worse than being killed, you know."

"But--" Morph had some idea that he either had to convince her she was wrong or he was going to have a break down himself, but Mystique never gave him the chance, she just ran for it.

Morph just stood there, feeling more crushed than he had in years.

What had Mimic done? Mystique had this idea...and he could already tell she wasn't going to let it go, not easily...

Shine would know what to do right? She always did.

Morph half forgot what his actual mission was, and ran for the house.

***

To Morph's relief, it had only been about 6 hours of earth's time since they'd gone...which was long compared to how long they'd been there, but pretty accurate for a time trip.

Everyone was overjoyed when he showed up, they'd been going out of their minds with worry.

"Shine!" Morph barely said anything to anyone. "You have to come, quick, something's really wrong."

"What? Where's Raven," Shine suddenly asked.

"That's what's wrong, come on," Morph dragged her out to the house. 

He tried to explain, not very coherently.

The others looked at each other.

"I'm sorry, did he just come back from the time whatever, where he was supposed to be gettin' vital information, and then rush out again to look for Momma?" Rogue said.

"And, no, she's not missing, " Emma said, hand to her head.

"Well..." Storm said. "Hmm..."

"Something must have gone very wrong," the tone deaf Hank said.

"I'll say," Emma was still using her telepathy. "Oh...wow...This is even better than I could have predicted."

"Better?" Rogue said.

"I mean worse," Emma amended.

"Maybe I better find Momma," Rogue got up.

"Ja," Kurt said.

"I don't advise that," Emma said.

"And I didn't ask you to advise me!" Rogue snapped at her before hurrying out.

Emma shrugged.

Kurt poofed out also.

"You care to explain what all that was about?" Logan asked Emma.

"It's really not any of your business," Emma said. "So perhaps I should just let you find out for yourself...but don't you already know?"

"I don't know nothing!" Logan said. "I'm going to find Morph, we need to know what we're up against."

***

https://youtu.be/r_tax4RA1Dk

[Move Me-- Half alive.]

"Okay..." Shine said, "so Mimic...he gave her the idea that we...we did all this just because of what she was?"

"Yeah," Morph said. "You have to talk her out of it. She was acting crazy."

Shine stopped running.

"Morph..." she said, "did you...did you tell her that wasn't true?"

"I tried. She wouldn't listen," Morph said. "She just said we thought it was the right thing, but it's all wrong."

"I know something about this kind of paranoia," Shine said. "It's...it's very hard to be talked out of it. You have to realize, Morph, that wasn't just Raven, that was decades of trauma talking. Every other time, she thinks...she may be right... Against that, just our words? I don't know if that will work. I can try... I was afraid she'd find out, but I never thought your friend would put the idea in her head so directly."

"I know...he...I guess he never forgave the other Mystique for causing trouble," Morph said.

"But you did," Shine said.

"By the time I even thought of it I knew that Mystique wasn't all like that," Morph said. "I hadn't even remembered it at all till we talked about it. And she isn't like that...she's really not...just confused...right, Shine?"

"I don't believe she's a villain," Shine said. "Not...by intention... But we don't always get to choose who matters the most to certain changes. I can't tell you if she's important to the future or not, but she was important to me, Morph. That's why I did this. I reach out to people who would never affect anything that I know of that much, and I reach out all the time to people I may never know. In her right mind, Raven would know that...but she won't hear any of this through her rational mind right now. All of us have that little devil that sits on our shoulder and tells us the worst spin on things, and most of us have never learned to shut it up."

"Yikes..." Morph said. "But...we can't just let her think that..."

"Morph...you have to go tell the others what you learned," Shine said. "Let me look for her...okay? I have to make sure she didn't do something stupid. But let's not gang up on her. It might spook her more."

"Yeah...okay," Morph said. "Oh...oh, yeah, it's really bad though. The dimensions are merging..."

"Merging," Shine said.

She looked sober. "That's.. I've dealt with something like that. It's very, very rare that this kind of thing can ever happen...but reality unravels when it does."

"Yeah, we got that, and it's worse than you think," Morph said.

"Okay, go tell everyone...but maybe save some of the more out there details for us," Shine said. "I'll be there as soon as possible."

Morph ran back to the house.

https://youtu.be/rF5oITEq43Q

[Apologize-- Timbaland feat. OneRepublic] 

* * *

Shine found Mystique hiding, predictably, between two trees closely set together.

It was very encouraging that as soon as she saw Shine coming, she got up and tried to disappear into them more.

"You know I can follow you," Shine called, tapping her foot. "Don't make me."

After a sullen moment, Mystique stepped back into view.

"Don't start," she said.

Shine wasn't even sure where to start. She saw at once how upset the other woman was, though she doubted Mystique herself knew it.

"Please just come back to the house," Shine said carefully. "Even if you're still furious. Don't play these games."

"Games?" Mystique's tone was like razor blades. "I'm the one who's been playing games? Did you know? You knew...I can tell. And you never said."

"What didn't I say, just so I know what you're accusing me of?" Shine's tone became a little clipped also.

"You knew about the timeline...and the things I did," Mystique said. "Or...the other me...but...also me. You didn't tell me."

"I believe...at some point, I did mention how our actions affect the future, actually," Shine said.

Since that was true, Mystique was temporarily put off.

"But you didn't explain it like that," she said.

"I'm sorry I didn't explain things to your specific satisfaction," Shine said. "I hardly ever do, it seems."

Mystique stared at her.

"So that's it, then," she said coldly. "You won't even try to deny it."

"I never lied to you," Shine said. "I told you what I thought was wisest."

"There it is." Mystique didn't even sound surprised.

"There it is, sure." Shine felt she was not doing very well, but she continued anyway. "Nothing is really different. At no point did anything about how I treated you reflect a hunch about the timeline."

"Oh, really?" Mystique said. "Because something tells me you're too crafty not to be thinking of that. Don't lie to me."

Shine paused. "Well, I might have thought about it, a few times," she admitted reluctantly.

Mystique exhaled.

"Not because that was my reason," Shine elaborated. "But it would be hard never to think of it, I suppose. Still, I don't try to solve future problems. That's not what we do. Just because we know what people can do doesn't mean we can try to stop it. I told you, we work in the present. I find that much easier to deal with. Didn't I warn you? I tried to."

"Not about that."

"I don't mean to be rude, but of all people, are you the one who should be angry about this?" Shine knew she was going to regret saying that.

Mystique straightened, looking at her with a different, more wary look now.

"I see," she said. "Because I would do something like that, right? You're not wrong... This is exactly the kind of thing I would do...but in the end, I'd have at least owned up to why, Likstar."

Ouch.

"But that is not why," Shine said. "Listen, all I'm trying to say is that you're jumping to all these conclusions about it. But even if you were right, is protecting the timeline something you should fault us for? Wouldn't being grateful be better? Just because it involved you personally, does that make it okay for us to neglect it? What do you want from me?"

Strange to hear that from her.

"Don't you know? You know all about people," Mystique said.

"I know." Shine was mad now. "You want the impossible. You want to somehow be convinced that this wasn't about a job. But you also want it to be about a job, don't you? That'd be more comforting for you. You're dying for me to confirm what you're saying because you can't handle the alternative. What if no one actually did care about that, and we totally ignored it, because what we cared about was you, a person? You know, what we claimed all along? We can't have that, can we, Raven? You want me to defend myself and make excuses like I'm guilty. That's what you want. Well, I won't do it."

She was really mad now. "I will not give in to your trauma-induced paranoia."

"Don't you talk to me like that," Mystique said. "I know you think I have issues, or whatever you call it, but I can still think for myself."

"First time for everything," Shine said, before she thought about it.

Mystique blinked at her.

Shine covered her mouth. "Oh...I'm sorry.... I shouldn't have said that."

"Well, maybe you're right." Mystique admitting that was not her being mature about it, that was clear from her tone. "I suppose I have been a pawn. Many times. It looks like I can add this time to the list. I only am shocked at how much you claimed to be different. Maybe you aren't that different from Apocalypse after all. You call it one thing, but isn't it just using people in the end?"

"That's...a blatant untruth," Shine said. "How can you even stand to say something like that?"

She just seemed shocked now, not even angry.

Mystique felt some twinge of guilt, like deep down she knew better, but she ignored it.

"Why shouldn't I?" she said. "I just found out the truth about what I've been this whole time. Just tossed between two sides of this game, that's all. Like everyone else."

"Perhaps all humans are," Shine said steadily. "Myself also. Don't compare me to that madman who thinks he's god. Maybe I have made mistakes about this. Maybe I have the same temptations as you to make the wrong choices...but here's one thing you know, you salty and bitter woman, I did not shame you for those temptations...and you, right now, are shaming me for mine."

That was such a just comeback, on so many levels, that Mystique was silenced for several minutes by it.

The wait was agonizing to Shine.

Finally, Mystique shrugged, not lightly.

"I suppose that's fair enough," she said dully. "So both of us are caught, is that it? Maybe you just did what you thought was best... I of all people should understand that. I just shouldn't have thought that it ever ends up being different in the end. We all just survive."

"No," Shine said. "That is not the conclusion I would come to here. I wouldn't have lied to you. And you should know that by now about me. If you really thought about the last several months, you'd see that if they were about using you, there were many times it would have been easier to just let you die. Are you that much of a fool? And is it worth it, Raven? To shut me down, and out, just to feel like your view of life can stay unchallenged?"

"Stop it with those speeches. Not in the mood."

"Do I look like I care? If you're going to make a little tirade against me, I ought to at least get the fun of sassing you back over it. Do you even care how much you just hurt my feelings? And yes, I have them. Happy?"

"Not at all," Mystique said. "And I'm done listening to you. I suppose I have to deliver the message I got, since I don't particularly want the world to be destroyed, since I live in it. I'll cooperate for that long. But don't talk to me any more about this."

"That's a foolish decision," Shine said.

"And I'm finally not going to listen to your advice," Mystique shot back. "Why should I? You said it yourself--you're just as caught between this as I am."

Shine stared at her.

"Well," she said, "the difference is, Raven, I at least know what side I'm trying to be on."

She waved her arm. "And you're being ridiculous...so I'll stop trying to argue you out of it, for now. Please reconsider...and if you do, I'll be willing to forget this happened."

"You would," Mystique said. "Because it doesn't matter that much, does it? Win some, lose some."

Shine stopped just as she was to go and looked back at her. "That's not how I see it," she said. "But it's how you see it, isn't it?"

She started walking again. "Hurry up...even if you won't be helped, the world is probably still in danger... We can't just let our personal problems get in that way. If you can understand that."

Mystique smarted from that burn also...but she had no real choice except to do this. So she followed her sullenly.

[And that was ugly...and uncomfortable...geez...

This is why two people who are good at manipulation should never fight.]