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Rebecca wanted to approach this with a clear head, but she could not wrap her head around the choices Maya and Sam made holding her sister off the books. They were allowed to investigate the cult's goings-on and when Aoife confronted them, they had the right to fight her and apprehend her. It was the choices they made after capturing her that disappointed Becca.

Before she interjected, what Aoife did to Sam gave Rebecca pause. She knew what it was like to be mind-whammied by Aoife, but whatever she did to Sam was clearly worse. Rebecca felt a sense of second-hand guilt, as though she was tangentially responsible for Aoife's actions.

That guilt only stalled her for one pregnant pause before she retaliated. "Ah know, Ah know; Aoife's done... reprehensible things. Things she needs tae be held accoontable for. But that's nae excuse tae gie doon tae her level. You're supposed tae be better than th' villains, Maya." Her tone was stern, but she softened enough to admit, "Ah know what she did tae Kalos and Ah has... weighed on ye. Your anger is valid."

The softness evaporated as Rebecca found her stride, reminding herself what Maya did. "But tae let your feelings convince ye tae lock a captive up off the grid? Dae ye realize if that got out, the X-Men could lose their deputized status? Your legitimacy. Ye hae a cult tryin' tae turn people against mutants, and yer pulling this shit, Maya?"

Rebecca huffed. "Ah'm talkin' tae mah sister, then we're transferrin' her tae SUPER containment. Dorn't make me report mah own damn team." Her former team, she reminded herself silently.

Okay, that did cause an obvious reaction. Rebecca furrowed her brows, and most of a sentence slipped from her lips. "Ye went efter mah sist--" Becca took a deep breath to rationalize.

In the interest of communication and transparency, she did did that out loud. "Okay. She's part of the Cult and she's involved with whatever crimes they have a hand in," she reasoned, still holding onto Maya's arms, but her voice was clearly still tense.

Another deep breath. "Ah want tae see her. Where is she bein' held? SUPER?" She could focus on the bright side; if he sister was contained there, Becca could ask hard questions and see if she could get answers she wanted.

Rebecca knew Maya wanted life to return to normal, but Rebecca was accepting that there was a new normal to work toward now. She still was not sure if the X-Men would be the best place to apply her new talents. She could not proactively go out to fight crime; leaving the X-Men meant she was not considered part of the deputized status the team enjoyed. Still, there would always be troubles in life and Rebecca wanted to be prepared.

They could worry about the future of her vigilante status later. Carefully positioning her antlers, Rebecca kissed her spouse back. "You're the best part ay bein' home, babe. Well, you and our two wee ones," she added cheerfully, watching Iris poke at her reflection.


Iris went down for a nap with minimal fussing, giving Becca the time to decompress and enjoy her wife's presence. Given how long it had been, Rebecca was feeling particularly affectionate. Once they had the door closed, Becca wrapped her arms around Maya's waist from behind and kissed her neck. It was easier to avoid crossing antlers from this angle. "Sae what have you been up to, besides missing me? Ah talk too much and want tae know what my wonderful, sexy, badass wife has been up to while Ah'm nae around."

Once she was settled in, Becca would call Kalos right away. She missed her daughter, and now that she was figuring out how to get her feet under her as a Mystic, it was her job as a mother to support Kalos and pass along those lessons. The two novice Mystics walked similar paths, which meant Becca had the chance and the privilege to help ease Kalos' burdens.

As expected, Maya was holding up well. There was no challenge, in Becca's eyes, that Maya could not measure up against. "Please, at this point, being part of the X-Team has been most of our lives," she joked, before her smile faltered for a moment. It was so easy to refer to herself as part of the team now that she was back in the Mansion, it almost slipped her mind that she resigned. It was another part of her identity she laid down, and that still felt bittersweet, but her trip helped her accept the new path she was on now.

Thankfully, attention shifted back to Becca's suitcases so they did not have to linger on weird topics. "There are plenty of souveniers, babe, but not in that chest. I want to show you, though." Her demeanor shifted, eager to share the fruits of her studies. It was the same dorky enthusiasm Mirror carried themselves with any time they delved into a history topic they were passionate about.

Unlatching her cache, several objects were wrapped in cloth, but Becca grabbed the widest and lifted it out of the case. "So Cafas griped, coz I sorta blew up the first two getting the glyph wrong," she hastily explained, not wanting Maya to get caught up with the dangerous side-effects of her magical experimentation, "BUT I finally found an orientation that channels everything right."

Dropping the protective cloth, Becca brandished a new shield, now in the heater shield style instead of her original round shield style. The surface was still highly reflective and polished, giving it a mirrored surface, but a glyph was etched in a darker reflective shade, shaped almost like a shield itself. "Ah figured if Ah could take the runes from when Ah... er, snapped or whatever, Ah could imbue my shield. If Ah have a protection charm, it makes sense to use it on something Ah can protect people with, right?" Becca wanted to believe that was why the Protection Charm was her first spell; the mystical energies understood who she was and gave her magic that suited her.

"Also, Ah spent a long time training with a shield. Not having one now would feel like a waste."

Rebecca still felt guilty being away from her family for weeks, but she had a lot she needed to take care of and Mirror was understanding as ever. She did not want things to change between them, even if she was not exactly the woman he married anymore. Everyone changed over time, but being a mutant was such a big part of her, she needed time to figure out who she was without that part. She still video called Mirror each night, getting the chance to see Iris and Kalos (when she was around.) She needed time to return to her roots, but she would never abandon the beautiful family she had grown into.

Returning to Scotland, Becca had her heart-to-hearts with her mother, lamenting how things turned out with Aoife. The Scottish countryside was a good place to clear her head and research legends. Magic was fiction to her until Aoife pulled the veil from her eyes and etched magic into her DNA. Now, Rebecca read through stacks of books and myths with a renewed willingness to believe.

Doing her due diligence, one of the first things she looked up were the runes scorched into the ground when she cast her first spell. Skold, with ties to Danish and Proto-Germanic, and translating, naturally, to "Shield." Not all her research was tied to magic, and the runes gave her a suspicion to brush up on her family history. Unsurprisingly, like many families of the British Isles, Germanic and Norse invaders-turned-settlers played a role deep in her family tree. It was worth a trip to Denmark and Finland, learning and documenting Norse pagan practices to go alongside her Celtic notes. She had plenty of reading to do on her second-to-last flight to the American West Coast.

The trip had two purposes. For one, it was a good boost to her mental health to meet with old friends. Maya, the Ghost, was someone Becca looked up to, so it was comforting having her support. Cafas was also kind, but he showed his consideration through acts of service. Now that Rebecca was not going to be frisbee-ing her round shield in a fight, her needs were different. He only gave her the tiniest amount of sh*t when she asked for a few custom jobs. It did lead to some complicated questions at the airport, but if she was going to explore her new life as a combat mage, she wanted weapons made by someone she trusted exactly to her specifications.

Finally back in New York, Becca wasted no time rushing back to the Mansion. She had been away too long, and with her sense of purpose long since renewed, the only thing she wanted now was to be with her family. Gemma let her back into the Mansion and Becca moved eagerly to her apartment.

The first voice that greeted her when the door opened made Becca's heart swell. She dropped her two suitcases, the larger of which making a metalic clang when it hit the ground. Becca ran over to her daughter and scooped her up. Almost immediately, antlers started sprouting from Becca's temples and she realized how much she missed her baby's random gifts.

Kissing Iris carefully to avoid her smaller antlers, Becca smiled. "Aye Iris, Ma is back." Bouncing the child in her arms, she looked to a face she had been missing since it dropped her off at the airport. "Maya, you're tae considerate. Next time Ah ask for time tae travel and find myself, please remind me how Ah'll just miss ye every day."

It was comforting to know Gawain was going to fancy her regardless of her body. He had seen wonkier things than a male physique thanks to their surprise box child. "Ah'm glad Ah married a romantic," she teased, glad she was in loose pajama pants for the night.

Sharing in his wife's curiosity, Gawain cautiously brushed the cheek of their child. The effect was immediate and familiar. Rebecca smirked, watching Gawain become the smaller and slighter of the couple until Gawain was officially the Maya Becca knew all too well, wrapped in a skirt and not much else. Maya was disappointed, which was fair given her distaste toward the act of shifting. Becca's change did not hurt, but there was a sensation she now recognized after the fact.

"At least it seems tae be a rare one in Iris' arsenal," she sympathized, stepping closer to enjoy a height difference she was usually on the other side of. "Gods, ye really get an eyeful of my chest up here, don't ye?" Maya was not as well-endowed as Rebecca in her normal body, but she could still see the benefits of the tall man's perspective.

"There's somethin' cute about ye bein' sae short," Becca teased, taking Maya's chin in her larger hands, lifting it to meet her eyes. "Ah dunno, this could be fun as a treat on occasion. Ah alsae have a real temptation tae pick ye up. Is that jist somethin' tall folk want tae dae with small folk?"

Gawain was getting too much pleasure out of watching Rebecca deal with the same transformation he experienced each night, scrambling to leave women's underthings before his body broadened and nearly strangled him. This was her first foray into that experience, and she finally empathized with why each night he rushed to get everything discarded. Next time she was taking her sweet time with Maya at eleven-fifty-five, she'd remember this.

Feeling her forearms, she was surprised by the extra muscle. She worked out plenty, but evidently a whole influx of testosterone probably did wonders for a body. She smirked at the romance novel comment. "Hitched tae th' Highlander, maybe?" What male-loving woman would not enjoy the fantasy of a ripped Scot to whisk her away.

Though that really was not Rebecca. "Ah mean, Ah'm nae a guy," she clarified, confident that she did not feel like a man just because her body was like this. "But Ah dae feel masculine. An' tall. Th' room looks different from this angle!" She looked around, then back at her body and jumped. "Ha. Nothin' tae bounce. That's weird; nae sure if Ah'm relieved or Ah miss them."