Mommy Dearest Redux

Not a good strategy, Kurt. I assume you're here on your own because you don't want your... friends knowing that you are looking for me. You aren't the only one who feels that way.

Kurt finally breaks and leaves the mansion in search of some answers only his mother can give him. And we don't mean Margali.

Cast

Kurt Wagner, Ororo Munroe, Nathan Dayspring, Marie D'Ancato, Lorna Dane, Amanda Sefton, Sam Guthrie

NPCs: Mystique, Szardos Clan

Timing

September 29-October 31, 2006

Plot Summary

Not yet completely over what happened on Youra, still reeling from the events of Bleeding, and horrified by his own actions during a team mission, Kurt doesn't even stay out the night following the latter before he disappears from the mansion, leaving only notes stating that he needs some time away to clear his head and promising to return as soon as he can.

During his time away, unknown to anyone at the mansion, he starts to actively look for Mystique, believing he needs to talk to her to better understand what had been happening to him. He catches up to her - or vice versa - a few days after his departure, in Savannah, and sends notes back to selected people at the mansion to tell them he's with his mother. They then spend the better part of a week travelling together and talking, while Mystique actively keeps Kurt's presence from the Brotherhood of Mutants.

Unfortunately for all concerned, Nathan sends Amanda on an unrelated trip to Germany to do some research for Elpis. While she's there, she meets with Stefan in Berlin and asks after Kurt, immediately finding out he isn't with the clan as everyone had been led to believe. As a result, she returns to New York straight away and raises the alarm, collecting Kurt's X-Men tags (which he left behind along with his rosary) for use in a location spell. This shows that he is likely to be in Chicago, and the team get ready to go after him as the Professor tries to pinpoint his location with Cerebro.

Three days later, with a precise location (Kurt and Mystique having stayed put for long enough), Nathan, Lorna and Marie go to Kurt's 'rescue'. However, during the confrontation and much to his teammates' shock, Kurt takes an active role in Mystique's escape before coming back with them to the mansion.

The results of this for Kurt and the others are mixed: Marie's image of him as a hero is somewhat dented, while Amanda makes it clear she doesn't think any less of him for what he did, and he's put on enforced stress leave from the team and becomes a patient of Jack Leary. The biggest consequence, however, is his exile from the Szardos clan when Margali finds out what he did. This leads directly to both Amanda and Kurt changing their names by deed poll to Sefton, for Amanda as a final cutting of ties with the clan, for Kurt as a step away from the past and into the future.

Related Links

Thermopylae

X-Men Mission: Alcatraz

Bleeding

External Links

Mommy Dearest Redux

Trivia and Meta

Trivia

This plot, specifically Kurt's casting out at the end of it, led both Kurt and Amanda to legally change their name to Sefton. For Kurt, this symbolised a step towards the future rather than clinging to the past.

Amanda used the location spell successfully for the first time since getting back the magic

Meta

Plotrunner: Kate