don't own Harry Potter or the marvel universe. One is too cliché even for me and the other too damn depressing at times.
Some reviews I would like to mention:
Mist shadow: the FF have been operating for a few years, but they don't have as many connections as you seem to think. I do have the idea of another person to act as a full time trainer for Harry's group (once he puts it together), but he won't appear for a while. And yes Harry still has mental issues, in point of fact he would fit in far better with Gryffindor now than he ever did in his old dimension.
Bub23453: the wards and why no one knows about Hogwarts (and no one does) will be explained in other chapters, though there is so much going on right now that Harry might not get free to go and study them for a while.
Plums: YOU ARE THE MAN! I love both wizard Runemaster and Last Second Savior, simply fantastic stories, and you updated both! Awesome. In terms of Harry's actions, he wanted to try out his car, and what better way than in a race? He also didn't need a lot to beat these guys, none of them were a threat to him. Hogwarts and everything about that will be explained in the future in bits and pieces. I will not officially add more girls for a while, but Emma will show up soon. Backups will come, but I am wondering if I should have them be part of the romance or just backups.
Cj-cold: love the review, hope you enjoy this chapter too.
I am debating how to emphasis spells, i have to different methods in this chapter, tell me what you think. And now on with the show.
Chapter 7 A Third Path to the Future has Opened
Kitty grimaced as she continued to run beside Kurt, thankful that Logan had forced them to do endurance training for so long, as without it Logan and Sabertooth would have caught up with them by now. Ironic that. The fact that her day had gone south so quickly was even more ironic. When I thought to myself I'd go to another country if it gave me a quiet place to work on my letter I really didn't mean it, and it's not like we've had much quiet since we got here. Stupid, stupid brainwashing, stupid, stupid Wolverine and his trying to handle his problems alone, and stupid me for thinking the x-Jet was a good place to get some peace and quiet!
Next to her Kurt bamfed again, then not even a second later was back, the smell of brimstone from his first teleportation reinforced by his return trip. "There's a clearing about five more minutes run in front of us, how much time do you vant me to buy you?"
Kitty let her legs carry her forward as her mind worked over what she would need. Wolverine was resistant to magic, so she'd need a lot more than a single stone with a simple 'hold' rune, like Teach used on his breakfast war with Jean. And then there was the other controlled idiot, but in his case she could be a lot…. firmer. She wasn't looking forward to it, but if anyone deserved what she might be forced to do, then Sabertooth did. "Can you give me about ten minutes or so?"
Kurt looked back over his blue furred shoulder to the two wild men that were chasing after them so single-mindedly. "Jah, I can hold them off for that long, but not longer. Hurry as you can ya?"
Kitty nodded firmly. "Don't worry I'll be as fast as I can." With that Kurt turned back and Kitty raced on to the clearing.
Kurt bamfed immediately behind Sabertooth his fist slamming into the man's ear hole rattling his head and then teleporting away to stand in front of both of the mind-controlled wild men. "Logan I know you can't hear me but this vill be painful to one of us that much I can promise you."
Wolverine didn't even so match as twitch, he simply charged at Nightcrawler snarling, his claws out to slay as Sabertooth joined him. "Don't tell me I didn't warn you." Kurt said, then began to dodge and bamf around, keeping them both busy. The easiest way to do this was to get them to hit one another as for a few seconds they would ignore him and move to attack one another before turning back to him, and Kurt quickly became an expert at it. He also made heavy use of his prehensile tail to trip both of them, and the martial arts Logan had taught him. Still it was only the fact both were moving rather predictably despite their speed and skill that allowed him to survive.
Even then he took a few slashes along his suit and body, a few of which would require stitches later. He only hit back when he could target their heads, the better to rattle their brains, but he wished he had brought one of the tazer wristbands Harry had designed, though of course to do that they would have to have already been built. He was quickly growing tired, only his teleportation ability keeping him alive. I might not last the full ten minutes at this rate!
Thankfully, a little less than seven minutes after he turned at bay a voice shouted out from behind him. "I'm ready Nightcrawler, let 'em go!"
With a groan of relief Kurt bamfed away to join Kitty in the clearing, leaving the two berserkers to chase after him. Kitty grabbed his arm as he staggered bleeding from several cuts along his arms and sides. "You did good Kurt" she said as she pulled him up and propped him against a nearby tree. "Now leave it to me."
Kitty had worked faster and better than she had thought she could, but it had still taken all the stones from the pouch she always carried with her just in case (a gift from Harry to his apprentice, the stones grew from tiny pebbles to palm sized stones when you took them out of the pouch, though Kitty had put the runes on them all) to make the binding array on the ground of the clearing as well as the little surprise she had put into it and even then it was in a very small area. She just hoped it would be enough because she couldn't recharge the things, only use them. this was a one shot deal, if it didn't work they'd have to retreat and maybe figure out how to fly the jet back to get some more help before the doctor operation the mind control chips decided to pull up shop, a forlorn hope at best.
Logan burst out of the trees to charge straight at Kitty who was kneeling now in the center of the clearing. Logan, like the beast the chip in his head had made him, charged forward to be caught in the binding array. Ropes of magical power rose up around him holding him in place. However, thanks to his skeleton being laced with adamantium Logan had a very high magical resistance and the binding could only hold him for a few seconds. But it was enough to hold him in place long enough for Kitty to shout "Activate!", while touching a rune on the ground with her hand. The second half of her trap sprang, the dozen shock runes, a specialty of the Potter family that he had passed on to her as his apprentice and because they were actually simple runes to learn and etch into stone, activated all at once. The shock, being magical in nature, had a bit more oomph to it than normal electricity, and the chip in his head that was controlling him didn't have any of Logan's immunity to magic, and the thing shorted out as he was knocked out for a few minutes.
Sabertooth came out of the woods into the clearing as Logan fell to his knees. Sabertooth snorted seeing his weaker friend down. "Not bad frail, but if you think that'll stop me you don't know me too well! And I might not be able to hurt you, but blue boy, him I can hurt!" Unlike Logan, who had fought with all his considerable willpower to not be controlled by the control chip Victor had given in easily, thus retained most of his personality.
He stalked forward and Kitty frowned. "Stay back Sabertooth, I've got other tricks to deal with you, that's your only warning." Sabertooth scoffed and ran forward aiming for Kurt. Kitty scowled, but ran forward to meet him, phasing out so that her body phased through his, but instead of just going through, she left behind one of her pebbles, one that didn't have a rune on it, and she grimaced with effort as she imparted some impetus to it as it passed through Sabertooth's shoulder. When she left it there, his arm exploded just like the tree and all the targets she had tried that maneuver on since, though they never blew up so bloodily, with blood bits and bone and other things spraying everywhere, nor did even the most realistic Danger Room target yowl as loud as Sabertooth did when his entire shoulder blew apart, dropping his arm to the snow.
Sabertooth stared at the frail that had just taken his arm, the shock and pain of the injury actually overloading the mental control from the chip in his head (not that it had been really controlling him all that much, just influencing him). He backed away, waiting for his healing ability to kick in, but with this kind of injury it would take hours, and he was already feeling faint from blood loss. Sabertooth knew though the instant Logan was up and about he'd come for him and try to finish him off in his injured state. So without even a backwards glance he ran off through the woods.
For her part Kitty stepped back, her gorge rising at the amount of damage she had done. After a moment Kitty controlled her gorge for now, she could throw up later. Though the fact that Sabertooth at least seemed to think his healing power could fix that was reassuring. She had just realized that she wasn't as happy about this whole fighting thing as she had thought. She turned from watching her, not opponent, victim worked better run off, to look over Logan. "Wolverine, are you alright?"
Logan shook his head, sparks and smoke from his magic induced shock coming off his hair and he waved off Kurt, who was hovering over him, ignoring his own nicks and scratches. "I'm fine kid that shock of yours knocked out the chip, but didn't do any other damage." He looked behind Kitty at Sabertooth, who was now practically out of sight into the woods. "Nice job, that should keep him busy for a few hours at least before it heals." Kitty resolutely did not look, and Kurt too looked a little green, though his gaze was steady on Kitty and he nodded respectfully. Logan got up and scowled. "Let's go. We've got a laboratory to smash."
Kurt smirked and nodded, and Kitty came back to the here and now with something to concentrate on. As Logan led the way through the woods back to the Weapon X lab she sighed. I hope the others are having a better day than we are.
Jean had a rather nice, calm day at school until the classes actually ended. Her problems began when she began to change with the rest of the cheerleading team. Even with her belsham-trees protecting her from actual thoughts she began to get impressions of envy, jealousy and even hate as she began to change. When she pulled off her normal bra to switch it with a sports bra, revealing her perky C-cup breasts with their dark cherry nipples, those feelings skyrocketed and she frowned. I really hope the soccer team doesn't have this envy issue or I may just have to quit. The feelings came back again as she switched out of the loose fitting jeans she had been wearing to the cheerleader's uniform, but subsided as her body became once more hidden. She looked around at the other girls, a few of whom were already dressed, and followed them out to start stretching.
The football team was exercising in its field while the cheerleaders began to stretch close by because the marching band was practicing on the other field. The wave of uncontrolled lust from the football team that got through her belsham-trees was disturbing, even more than the feelings that came through from her fellow cheerleaders. She was thankful beyond words that her belsham-trees kept out actual thoughts, if she had to hear what those hormonal teens thought about her and the other girls, well she would have been forced to fry a few of them. She stopped mid-stretch at that thought, wondering where the idea of using fire had come from, not that she couldn't do it of course, but no, the idea of breaking their pelvic bones was much better. She looked over as she finished that exercise at the few kids, both boys and girls who were here to watch one team of the other practice. Lance and Pietro of the Brotherhood were among them and she frowned.
Almost as soon as she thought that the two surprisingly didn't broadcast as much lust as the football team she felt the ground tremor under her. She scowled then sent out a brief stab of power, a telepathic shout that hit both boys. DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! They both winced and the tremors stopped and she suddenly smirked, realizing she could use a traditional feminine weapon to get them to back off for a few days. I'm just starting my monthly, and you do not want to know what I'll do to you if you bother me! She wasn't, that would be next week and she would be staying home those days as normal, she always did as the emotional chaos PMS caused effected her powers. Thankfully Rogue and Kitty didn't have the same problem, but Ororo did. The weather queen isolated herself for those days, and everyone else was thankful for it.
Her two targets flinched then looked at one another and got up hastily, not really knowing much about that time, only enough to fear it. The rest of the training went alright, after that, but as Jean was leaving the gym after her shower to meet up with her boyfriend to maybe go out on a date but certainly for a ride home her day tanked again. She rounded a corner of the gym to take a shortcut around its back to the parking lot only to find Duncan and a group of his friends surrounding Todd Tolansky and another boy wearing glasses who looked like a prototypical geek that she didn't recognize. She wondered how he knew Todd, who she didn't think was into computers or anything like that. However despite that minor question there was no mystery involved in what she was seeing. "What is going on here?"
Duncan flinched a little guiltily and her friends all looked down at their feet or away. Being caught by Jean like this was like being caught by their mothers for some reason, though thankfully none of them had ever been stupid enough to actually say so. "Er, nothing Jean, just, um, we found these two skulking around the gym," Our territory was implied there, but it wasn't actually stated, "And we were just asking them what they were doing here."
Jean looked at the boy with the glasses who looked rather rumpled and terrified and Todd, who looked rumpled (normal for him admittedly) and shifty. "I see, so it took four of you big strong football players to ask two younger boys who would barely make one of you together what they were doing here?"
"Little dweebs shouldn't be around here, we were just teaching them their place," one of the football players muttered stupidly under his breath, then froze as eyes the color of jade locked onto him with a disapproving gaze that made him feel about an inch tall.
Jean's frown deepened as she looked at her boyfriend. "You know what, I think you should all go before I report this." Duncan made to protest but she held up a hand imperiously. "I don't want to hear any excuses, this isn't the first time you've been caught bullying someone Duncan, and you know it. I don't want to be around you if you want to bully other people like this. Think about that, and I'll see you tomorrow. Now get out of here, all of you."
She glared at them and the football players, cowed moved past her shuffling their feet. Duncan paused and asked, "So I guess we're not going out tonight?" Jean turned to him and glared and he mumbled, "But how'll you get home?"
"I'll find a way." Jean said coldly, pointing off, and Duncan joined the other boys who were now muttering to themselves, angry at being talked to like that, but none of them were willing to try the redhead's anger. She turned to Toad and stared. "And what were you doing around here anyway?"
The two smaller teens looked at eachother. "We-were going to try and sell answers to the next math test to some of the football players, you can't be on the team if your grades fall below a certain point, so we thought we could make a lot of money." The nerd replied.
Todd took over the tale. "And then big, blond, and over-muscled decided they didn't need to buy when they could just take, and I objected. Thanks for the save Red."
Jean flashed out with the telepathic equivalent of a slap that hit Todd's mind. "Don't call me that!" As Toad flinched she glared at them both. "And if I hear that nickname around school or any rumors of you two trying to sell cheat sheets again, I will come looking for you myself, understand?" Both boys trembled under her stare and she nodded firmly and they ran off.
Why am I feeling like an adult among a bunch of brats these days? She sighed and pulled out her phone. To her relief Ororo answered quickly. "Ororo, I'm sorry to impose, but could you or Mr. Logan come and get me?"
Within a half hour thanks to not hitting any traffic Ororo pulled up in the now nearly empty parking lot in the mansion's van, a farcry from Duncan's Dodge Viper, but the company was better. "Rough day?" Ororo asked sympathetically.
Jean sighed getting in next to her and leaning back, closing her eyes. "Yes, a mix of my mental defenses not blocking out strong feelings in large quantities, my boyfriend being a typical teen jock and a few other little things." She opened her eyes and looked at Ororo, who also looked out of sorts, possibly because Harry hadn't come back yet, and Jean smiled as an idea struck her. "I don't suppose we could head out into the woods and have some flying practice?"
Ororo brightened up at the idea. "Well, if you think that will make you feel better?"
"I think it will make us both feel better," Jean said eyeing Ororo shrewdly.
Ororo smiled, "Yes, I think that is just what the doctor ordered." Her smile turned mischievous, "If for no other reason that watching your attempts at flight can be hilarious."
Jean pouted then joined the other woman's laugh. After a moment Jean said "I wonder where Harry is, and what the heck he's up to." And if his day was as irritating as mine.
Ororo shrugged, but was wondering the same thing. "By the way, have you seen Kitten or Kurt today?"
Harry and his new acquaintance Emma had already finished the most irritating part of their day. While Emma followed Harry's request of erasing all knowledge of the fight from the boomerang users brain Harry went and got rid of the goons truck by transfiguring it, then went over to the one named Taskmaster who he had first killed. Emma came over to him then, looking down at the contorted pain filled face of the man, whose mask had fallen off at some point during his death throes. "And what happened to this one?"
"Poison, venom actually, from a very poisonous snake. My sword was soaked in it at one point, and it took on the properties of the venom." Harry shook his head. Poison like that was not his preferred method of killing, but then again it wasn't the worst he could have used either. After all, he wasn't about to use a lot of his tricks in front of a telepath he just met, no matter how fetching. And even together this group of bully-boys wasn't really worth anything more interesting anyway. With a brief moment of concentration and a pointed finger the dead body was transfigured to a rock of equal mass, which he then levitated over the side of the cliff and let fall.
Emma's eyebrow rose. "And you couldn't have transformed them all like that before?" She asked, fishing for information about her new acquaintance's abilities. She knew they were formidable but how much so eluded her.
"No, I can't transfigure living matter like that, well not something that can think anyway. If you can think you have a sense of self and I would need to fight that sense of self on it's home turf so to speak." It wasn't impossible, but it was damn tough, and Harry thought rather cruel. "So did you find anything in that Australian bloke's brain? Well, something we could use anyway?"
Emma frowned. "It seems as if it was a shot across Frost Corps' bow so to speak. We recently have begun to get into the weapons manufactory business, and another company didn't want the extra competition. They met with a man who identified himself as a Hammer Industries rep. Whether that was true or not I can't say, that could just be a way to throw someone off the real person behind this." Of course that new business had been taking a loss, going up against Hammer Industries, Stark Enterprises and the other larger and already entrenched companies. Her father had already been thinking about selling it off.
"Hmm, well whatever, if you're done I'll let the idiot loose and we can finish our ride, and then have a dinner meeting to discuss your forfeit of information shall we say."
"I thought you'd never ask," Emma smirked a little. "Best two out of three?"
Harry laughed and agreed, then released the still comatose Boomerang from his cocoon of earth, after which the two got into their cars and raced off again, leaving him behind with his new mental disorder and .
Again Harry's astonishing reflexes and the speed of his Huayra won over Emma's experience, telepathic radar and Ferrari 458. As they entered the city of Devos though Harry signaled she should lead the way and she did so, heading toward an extended stay hotel she knew in the city that had excellent security.
Harry still put up his own precautions after they parked of course, after which he cocked an inquisitive eyebrow at the young girl. "What are we doing here may I ask?"
Emma smiled a butter wouldn't melt in her mouth smile. "We are going to get the penthouse suite, it has two bedrooms and a lounge area where we can have our discussion."
Harry smirked a little at her presumption but nodded all the same. "Sure, but after we check in I want to walk around and see a bit of the city before we have our talk."
"That's fine by me," Emma agreed. "We'll probably be talking into the wee hours anyway." The way she emphasized the word 'talking' and looked him up and done made him roll his eyes. So since the innocent seductress didn't work she's going for the full-on seductress? I wonder if it's simply habit, because she finds it amusing, or because she's actually interested in me?
Even with Emma demanding the penthouse suite they checked in quickly enough using the Frost name, though they split the bill. After that they went up and looked at the room, finding it indeed had two bedrooms, a sitting area, a large balcony and a kitchen, which made Harry smile. The suite came complete with cooking utensils as well.
As the clock struck eight the pair went out to see the city. They were interrupted by a white streak coming out of the night sky to land delicately on Harry's upraised arm. Hedwig perched there, checking on her human now that he was done with his irritating business things. "Hello girl, have a good time hunting?" Hedwig precked affably and Harry smiled. "Two rabbits, very nice indeed, though try not to eat too much. Wouldn't want you to get a stomachache, would we?"
Hedwig's answering preck was rather stuffy, and she nipped at her Harry's hair for a moment before turning her eyes and head to look at the blonde haired human standing beside him who was looking at them in amusement.
"I thought it was only witches that had familiars." Emma had loved fantasy books as a child, though she thought the legend of Camelot was far too biased against women and Tolkien had far too few female characters, though the character of Galadriel nearly made up for that on her own.
"Heh, no, wizards can have them to, well they did where I come from originally. This is Hedwig." Emma nodded raising a hand to touch the owl's feathers, noting that Harry had just admitted that his powers were magical in origin, and had again mentioned that he came from somewhere else presumably given his first mention of it, another dimension. "So, where's the market around here?"
Emma shrugged ignorance but the two still set off through the streets, Hedwig flying up to the balcony of the hotel to nap for a few hours before going out hunting again late that night.
As they walked through the streets, looking around at the sights and the architecture, sneering at the few other tourists in the city who were all taking pictures, going around in large groups and speaking loudly in Americanized English to one another about how quaint everything was.
Emma took this time to watch Harry and learn as much as she could about him, though her observations at this point had far more to do with his personality and bearing than his power, enough to tell her about his character and thus important to her to predict how he would react in social situations, which could often tell you just as much about someone as watching them handle a crisis.
For one thing he radiated a certain amount of charisma, which seemed to get people to notice or not want to come near him one or the other depending, Emma supposed, on their own temperaments. He made acquaintances easily, able to strike up a conversation with all of the market people as he looked around. Animals liked him too. Several times during their walk they walked past dogs all of whom wagged their tails and moved toward Harry to be petted, even random cats came out of alleyways for a good scratching. Harry also moved with complete, utter confidence, as if he knew there was nothing out there he couldn't face, though given his magic that was probably true. His presence was commanding, dominating the area he was in, a surprising feat for a boy who looked the same age as Christian, her older brother.
A familiar pang of sadness went through her at the thought of her brother. He was really the only family member she had that acted like a normal family member. Christian was nice and kind and thus was utterly unsuited to be part of the Frost family. Unfortunately Emma wasn't the first to notice this, and their father had made his life a living hell in dozens of ways large and small, especially since finding out he was gay. Nowadays, Christian drowned himself in drugs and alcohol to deaden the pain.
After walking around and seeing some of the produce and ingredients on hand he convinced Emma to let him cook, which Emma acceded to just to see if he was any good at it. By the time it was nine o'clock he had bought enough ingredients to make something for them for dinner, and they went back to the hotel.
As Harry started to cook Emma went and got her small trunk out of her car (small both because she hadn't planned to be in Switzerland for long and because her car didn't really allow for more) and brought it back up to the suite. After that she changed into her normal around the house attire, tight shorts and a grubby and short t-shirt, white of course, with no bra underneath. She was interested how Harry would take it, more she needed his help, so if she had to flash some skin, well it wouldn't be the first time she used her wiles for her own gain.
Harry looked up from where he was chopping small tomatoes, dicing them fine while behind him a pan of pasta simmered. His eyes widened and he smiled appreciatively at what she was wearing for a moment, but that was all before he looked back down at what he was cooking.
Emma frowned a little internally, wishing she could sense what he was thinking but then she shrugged, moving on to the meat of the discussion. "So you were saying you had a lot of actual gold. Well the first thing you need to know is any single citizen having that much gold will face a certain amount of scrutiny. You said you had what, two and a half tons of gold…." She rolled those words off her tongue and shivered a little at the sheer pleasure of it. "That will bring down a lot of scrutiny, circumspect or forceful depending on the country. You were right to create an account in Switzerland, as long as they don't think you're doing anything in their country they'll leave you alone, but gold will still catch the attention of those who watch such things. The richer you are, the more most first world governments will look at you, especially if you don't have a visible means of income. The best way would be to forge some documents that say you own an old abandoned mine somewhere and you're working it by yourself. Put a little into your account every month or so, or better yet randomly so it looks as if you're simply following a vein or whatever they call it. Now, what are you going to be doing with that money?"
Harry nodded to indicate he was listening as he finished slicing the tiny tomatoes and went to mince up some peppers, wondering how much he should tell the younger girl. After a moment he decided on a bit of the truth but no real details. After all, it's clear she needs my help, which I'll be more than willing to give when she eventually opens up, but she's also ambitious, and we've known each other for not even half a day. She seems trustworthy, but she is obviously in a dangerous situation, and she'll look out for her own interests first. "I have several ideas long term. One of them will be in the clothing industry, for a start anyway. The other will be pharmaceutical in nature, but it will require a large chunk of farming land." He paused, "Huh, I'll need to look that up actually, I can't remember offhand how much or what kind of land those ingredients will need. So where would I go to buy large plots of land or get access to a cheap but excellent work force to create clothing? For now I just want to create a few prototypes."
Emma's eyebrows rose in surprise at that, and she took a moment to think of her reply. Frost Pharmaceuticals was one of the family's biggest earners, and the only one she was even remotely interested in. If this product he's thinking of could actually sell, then the fact FP has a brand name already established and shipping and distribution system already in place would make it far easier and far more profitable to sell it through us. Yet it was clear there were some things Harry didn't want to share, and the exact nature of this item was one of them. So should I try to get him to open up or back off for now until we know each other better? Hmmm, wait I think, I can't sacrifice the personal aid I need now for the good of the company in the future, that would just be stupid. "That's interesting. If you want to buy land I would recommend in Greece, its having a recession right now and the government will be willing to sell large clumps of its land in return for cash, gold especially would be good for them, their currency is sinking fast. Watch out for buying too much land from private citizens as that can open a can of worms you really don't want to deal with. In terms of clothing, for single products Vietnam would be the place to go. They have clothiers there who will create whatever you want out of whatever you want for a very nice price. Also no unions an excellent point if you want to keep prices down."
Harry nodded thoughtfully at that as he finished putting together his special creamy dressing to go with the pasta, then moved on to put the finishing touches on his side salad. Both those suggestions dovetailed with his desire to use resources from the less powerful nations for his business in the future. I'm willing to work with the big powers eventually but there's no way I'm going to be tied to them or controlled by their policies. America especially with how none of their leaders have spoken out against the anti-mutant movement pisses me off. Not that the UK is any better, but still, for the supposed 'land of the free and home of the brave' it doesn't speak well of them. "Hmm, okay, so can I use Vietnam as the central, I don't even know the word for it, where my company is based for tax reasons?"
Emma smiled, then leaned in to smell the food, her eyes widening appreciably. In her family's house of course the staff did all the cooking, but this looked as good as any of their chefs could make. Though that wasn't all that made her smile. "I believe that was your third question Harry! And yes Vietnam has a very company-friendly tax code, not the friendliest in the world but up there. And the bakshish, the gifts they will give you if you do use them that way will be much more than most other countries."
The two brought the food out to the table, with Emma going out of her way to bend over and stretch, but Harry earned her respect by only glancing at her, if she said it herself magnificent, rear once and then ignored her rather blatant flirting. He shook his head as he brought out a local bottle of wine and chilled it with a spell before pouring it into two glasses. "The brazen seductress fits your personality better, but I'm afraid it's not working on me."
Emma pouted a little but shrugged, deciding on a bit of honesty, wondering where it would take her. "You intrigue me, and I'm not used to meeting people I can trust without in some way manipulating them. Plus the more people look at my body the more they underestimate my mind. It may be the only thing that lets me keep any power going forward, I'm frankly desperate for any lever I can use, and my looks have always been one such."
Harry took a moment to take a bite of the pasta as he looked across at the girl, his eyes, which had been snapping with good humor, now dimmed visibly. Despite her self-control, which was so complete it reminded him almost painfully of Daphne in her ice queen persona (though far different in type, Daphne was simply cold and aloof, Emma could change from an icy hauteur that made Daphne look like an amateur to a very outgoing and brazen flirt, neither of which let her real emotions be seen) something far too close to distress had leaked through there. He wasn't blind to the fact she was still trying to manipulate him, but the fact she was desperate wasn't a lie. His lips twitched as she took a bite of the pasta and made that little 'mmmm' sound that a cook lived for and he asked "Why don't you tell me more about your problems, and we'll see what I can do to help? After all it'd be a shame to leave such a lovely lady to face the wolves alone, and we still haven't discussed a deal for some of your company's scanning equipment."
Emma smiled, but continued to eat silently for a few moments, the food was simply divine. After a moment however she took a sip of wine to clear her mouth and began. "My father is part of a group, sort of a gentleman's club called the Hellfire Club…."
Harry listened as he ate slowly, taking it all in, her family's lack of emotional connections, the issue with the Hellfire Club and this Sebastian Shaw. Emma let a bit more in the way of emotions show than she might have wanted, but it told Harry more than just the words she used. There was real hate, almost loathing toward her father in the way he talked about him, and fear, not a lot but some when talking about Shaw. It wasn't just the fact that by the rules of this club he would have control over her, though that was bad enough, but something else as well. It was as if she knew enough about him to be scared, but not enough to know why. There also seemed to be a problem with her older sister, truly quite a lot of hate there, but the reasons for it weren't clear. And the ways her father had tied up her own bank account to keep her from running went right over his head.
Emma paused as she finished her pasta, surprised that she had talked for so long and worried she had let out a little too much. Harry however simply looked at her compassionately, and decided to share a bit of his own past to show he understood where she was coming from. "I lived with my mother's sister and her family until I was twelve. They hated me because I was smarter than them and because of my magic, and none of them were shy about showing me verbally and physically they hated me. Trust me I know about living in a loveless home. Even going to a school where my life was in almost constant danger was better than that." He let that sink in a moment before moving on. "In terms of your specific issue with this Hellfire club, I can provide you with a bit of defense there, a two pronged defense actually, just in case."
He leaned back sipping from his wine. "But first I will need your word to not divulge where you have gotten the charm if it ever comes to light. I don't want the heat that would cause if my abilities become well known, not yet."
Implied in that statement was that he didn't want her to share anything of his abilities with anyone else, a sign of trust that made Emma's eyes widen, then she actually grinned a little at the amount of faith it showed in her and she vowed to prove worthy of that trust, which simply showed she too could be effected by Harry's charisma and good nature.
Harry put his wine glass down briskly. "Now, the defense I can provide is in the way of a charmed item. When you wear it, men will find you attractive as usual but not feel the desire to actually make a move on you. It is subtle but powerful and will target any man within a certain range. I will warn you however it will feed off your own body's energy to power it, so you will be eating more than you have previously as long as you wear it." The item would actually have a rune to take power from Emma's bio-field, much like the ward he had devised for Ororo, but it would have to power the charm which meant it would need to draw more energy almost as much as the ones in his present crisis suit design. The charm was designed to target other people, rather than a ward which was designed to target the person wearing it. It had been designed by Hermione who had designed it after studying the arithmancy for the notice me not spell/ward scheme, and had tried to see if it could be modified in specific ways. It turned out it could. Indeed it was her notes on the changes to the notice me not spell that allowed Harry to create a target specific confoundus spell like the one he had used on the Brotherhood kids.
"The next one is a ward designed, um, well it's designed to protect virginal daughters really." He coughed uncomfortably as Emma's eyes bore into him, and he hunched his shoulders. "Um, let's just say the society I was forced to be a part of back where I'm originally from was rather patriarchal in their thinking."
One expressive eyebrow rose as elegant lips twitched, and he went on hurriedly. "Um, anyway I had a few friends who had views about things like that. So what the modified runic array does is rather than simply making a man unable to stand to attention" Emma giggled at that then put a hand to her mouth, surprised that she had let that out. Harry simply grinned at her unabashed. "As I was saying, the ward will attack the wedding tackle of any man who touches you sexually, I.E. down there or up on your baps."
Now Emma did laugh aloud. "Baps?! Is that what you call them in Britain?"
"Personally I'd call them magnificent myself," Harry said letting his eyes slide down to her chest, which was shown off to maximum effect by the short shirt she was wearing.
Emma giggled again, preening just a little. "Well said Potter, so you can play the game."
Harry shrugged. "I can, but someone else has a prior claim I'm afraid."
Emma shrugged in turn, and was amused to see that Harry kept his eyes firmly on her own. "I would like meeting this other woman at least, after all" she smirked a little, "It's not as if I haven't had a few fantasies along those lines."
Harry gulped then shook his head shoving the idea of Ororo and Emma sharing a bed out of his mind. "Moving right along, the effect will be based on a three strike system. The first person to touch you like that will only lose his hard on, the second will have effect last far longer, and the third, well that will last for a month, and the ward will stay at that level, it can't differentiate from one man to another, only the intent. I could use another charm, one that would be far more offensive and a lot less subtle as well but I don't think you want that?" Plus there was no way even with feeding off her bio-energy that it wouldn't dissipate after one use, it was simply too energy intensive.
"Tempting but no," Emma said shaking her head. "How much time would you need to create something like that?"
Harry frowned, cursing the fact he hadn't thought to bring any of his rune kit or anything else. "About a day to get it right and make sure the bio-energy part doesn't suck too much to harm you or too little to work. Can you meet me somewhere in New York in the states?"
Emma rolled her eyes. "My family's mansion is right outside Matinecock New York, trust me if you want to meet anywhere in the state I can do that so long as I have the, ward did you call it? Or charm? Whichever it was I'll need it before the end of the school year. I'm to be presented" she spat the word, her emotions plain to see, Harry having won her trust by trusting her in turn and agreeing to help her, "to the Hellfire Club over the summer at some point."
"Then I think we should talk about the price for some of your scanners." Harry said, getting up to clean the plates.
Emma sat there sipping at her wine and watching him reflectively. "I was thinking of possibly grabbing some on my own and then bringing them with me, but my father is sure to notice something like that no matter how well I try to hide it." And if he doesn't Adrienne certainly will be watching me for anything unusual, any sign of weakness she could take advantage of. Just par for the course with her really. "So what you'll need to do is first set up a dummy corporation which can buy them and then someplace to store them. The price shouldn't be bad, not for someone who has two and a half tons of gold" she shivered again at that and Harry laughed at her over-the-top reaction from where he was cleaning the plates in the kitchenette. "I can walk you through that if you want." She knew how to create a dummy corporation of course, she had learned in an attempt to funnel some of her funds away, but her father's people had found out and shut it down. She had lost Wi-Fi privileges and the money she had already funneled to that particular project. But Harry shouldn't have any problem, after all, no one is looking his way yet, and even if they are I doubt they are looking that closely.
That discussion went for another two hours as Emma walked her keen pupil through this process, then segued into illegal things Harry had done, and he opened up about a few of his more normal (not life threatening) adventures, and the two went to bed, Emma glad she had found a friend to aid her in Harry, and Harry thankful he had found Emma and was able to help her in return for her helping him. The friendship with him went without saying.
The next day they checked out of the hotel and went their separate ways after exchanging e-mail addresses, and making plans to meet up in a few days, the exact time would need to be chosen by Emma, as she didn't know yet when she could slip her watchers, and didn't want to lead her watchers to him. "I'll e-mail you when I get free," Emma said, as she turned to Harry after opening her car door and sticking her car keys in, the compilation CD she had in her player kicking in immediately, playing "I'm a bitch, I'm a lover" which brought a smirk to Emma's face. Reaching out she grabbed Harry's collar and dragged him into a kiss, not a deep one but heartfelt. "I'll see you later Harry." She got into her car and drove off without another word, leaving Harry to shake his head bemusedly behind her.
Harry rubbed his face for a moment shaking his head and chuckling then raised a hand to let Hedwig alight on his arm. "Hello Hed, have a nice night?" Hedwig precked amusedly as if saying 'yes I did, and did you?' and Harry chuckled. "A profitable one at least. Now, do you want to be in the car or meet me later, I want to drive for a bit before teleporting back to the institute." Hedwig ruffled her feathers, amused by her Harry's dismissal of the previous subject. The fact that an alpha like her Harry should have multiple mates was obvious to her and to any other animal, but it apparently hadn't yet occurred to him. Males, always so slow. Still she acceded to going with him in his Huayra, and a brief moment of conjuration created a perch in the front seat for her, looping it around and under the chair. Hedwig precked in satisfaction and hopped form his hand onto her perch. She was actually looking forward to this a little, seeing her Harry's driving from outside was pleasant, she wondered how it felt like on the inside.
Harry laughed a little as she settled into her perch, talons gripping the natural wood he had created out of air, her head twirling all around in interest as she looked at the inside of his car. Harry grinned and got in himself, taking a moment as he turned the key to look around. The speed, power and looks of the outside of the car had been part of why he had chosen it, the inside was the other. It looked like a futuristic attempt to create the interior of a space craft, all shiny metal, leather and diodes and it was obvious Hedwig approved, just as he did.
Harry decided to exit the city and head into Italy, along a road that, while excellent seemed to be almost empty. Perhaps Italy was also having a recession of something. Regardless he was able to gun his car again, and just enjoy the feel of the wind on his face as he zoomed along. Not as frenetic as it had been coming down to Devos the day/night before, but still a lot of fun. After about two hours he decided he had enough, and turned off the road slightly. Making certain no one was around he got out, shrunk his car, placed it into his pocket, and with Hedwig on one shoulder, disappeared with a slight pop.
Ororo was in a bad mood, not having realized how much she enjoyed waking up to her talks with Harry until he wasn't there to talk to. Especially with Kitten, Kurt and Logan missing along with the team's jet, she would have liked to have him here to help find them. Her eye narrowed as she thought of that. If Logan has taken them on some wild adventure of his without telling us I am going to see just how good a lightning rod he makes!
A knock on her door broke her out of her irritated mind state. "Come in." She belatedly realized she was still in her normal morning attire, and it might have been one of the youngsters, or maybe even Logan checking in, worrying thought that almost had her searching for a robe.
Thankfully it was Jean's head that stuck around the door to her arboretum. Jean looked at the older woman, astonished once again that she could sit there in the nude and yet still give of a regal, almost imperious feeling. The many facets of Ororo's personality that had been hidden up till now under her self-control fascinated her. "Still no sign of Harry?"
Ororo shook her head. "No, I wonder what that man is up to. Still I rather miss his presence here." Jean smirked a little and Ororo rolled her eyes, "Not like that Jean, we haven't taken that aspect of our friendship very far just yet. Although I am greatly looking forward to when we do… "No it's his conversation I miss this morning. I hadn't realized how… how lonely I was at times in the morning without someone to talk to." She actually had never realized how lonely it could be until she had a friend to talk to, but now that he was missing it hit her hard.
Jean frowned a little, but then smiled, realizing it was her turn to provide a friend to lean on for the other woman. "Well, I'm awake, and I'm free, so if you don't mind I could try and fill in?" In actuality she was finding that the stronger in the use of her telekinesis she became, the less sleep she needed, no matter how exhausted she was when she went to bed. This was the first time she woke up this early but it might well be her new norm.
Ororo looked at the redheaded woman and smiled. "I'd like that, however," she grinned impishly gesturing at her naked body, "don't expect me to change my attire to meet your American standards. In fact you could join me if you want?"
Jean blushed almost as red as her hair but shut the door behind her as she moved forward to join Ororo at the table. "Not likely, not with the hormonal teens around here, I just don't understand how you can be that, that comfortable not wearing anything."
Ororo shrugged and began to tell the younger woman about her time on the Serengeti plains, and how clothing other than a loin cloth or a rap was very strange to her for most of her teen years. Jean responded by talking about her parents and growing up with them, as well as the shock of realizing her ability to hear voices wasn't her going crazy. Ororo laughed and mentioned how she had blown away the leader of her street gang with a blast of hurricane wind force after he had announced her old enough to learn to whore she became so enraged that she activated her mutant power under her control for the first time. It wasn't the first time she killed someone (a girl as young as she was had needed to defend herself several times before that) but it was certainly the most bloody, the winds had torn into him and thrown him threw a concrete wall. This led easily to a conversation on ethics and how right and wrong impacted how their powers should be used.
This aspect of the conversation carried the two of them through Ororo dressing and the two of them working together to prepare breakfast, by which time the three missing X-men had skulked back in. Once informed of this by a message from Xavier, the two women looked at one another and Jean motioned wordlessly that she would watch breakfast. A grateful Ororo marched down to the underground hanger to greet the trio.
Kitty looked up as she and Kurt followed Logan out of the hanger as the elevator opened ahead of them to disgorge Ororo, striding toward them, her emotions as usual these days visible to see, and she winced at the anger there. "We are so in for it…" Kurt moaned agreement while Logan merely grunted, ready to stand up for the two kids if need be.
Ororo stopped right before the trio, her hands on her hips. "And where were the three of you, hmm? Leaving without telling anyone is something I would expect from you Logan, but I thought you two would have more sense than that." Kurt and Kitty exchanged a look but before any of the three could say anything Ororo reached out and pulled both kids into a hug. "Don't ever go off like that again, either of you! Or, oh I was so worried, don't ever do this to me again!"
Kurt blushed a little, not used to being mothered like that. The gypsies that took him in were not touchy-feely with him with him, saving such things for their own son, not that they were mean or didn't treat him kindly, just not as physically loving as all that.
Kitty however reveled in the hug, knowing that Ororo wasn't angryat her, simply worried abouther. Then too, she was a very huggy girl and had missed having her parents around, both of whom were very physically affectionate. "Sorry Storm."
Logan smirked shaking his head and thankful that Ororo was able to show her emotions these days. If she hadn't they might have just gotten the initial harangue rather than the hugs. "Don't be so hard on the kids Storm, they sort of came along accidentally, and they were a big help. Without them I wouldn't be here now."
That thought brought a shiver to him and Ororo looked at him, one white eyebrow raised. "I see that you all have a story to tell. Well breakfast should be ready soon, so let us go upstairs, you can tell all of us about it all at once."
The kids nodded eagerly, though Kitty looked a little less so than Kurt. Yet when it came to food that was normal and Ororo didn't notice, and she kept one arm around Kitty's shoulder as they turned to the elevator, the young teenager not even trying to move away.
The quartet joined the rest of the X-men and Charles at the breakfast table, where Logan began to give a briefing on what happened. Kurt described his part of the action in detail, as well as Kitty's who kept her head down, eating slowly as she finally finished the letter she had been so anxious to complete yesterday.
Jean frowned a little, looking at the younger girl. She sent out a small telepathic touch to taste her emotions and frowned even more at the chaos she found there. She looked over at Ororo, who was sitting next to Kitty, though most of her attention was on the tale Kurt was imparting. Ororo, the thought was a whisper, but it was enough to get Ororo to look at her. I think something is really bothering Kitty, I think you need to talk to her.
The African woman looked at the young girl at her side and mentally pinched herself for not noticing how withdrawn she was. Kitty would often go through a mood where she would fade into the background, but this was something different. Thank you Jean, I can't believe I didn't see it myself. I'll talk to her as soon as breakfast is over. Jean smiled happily, knowing the other woman would handle it. Ororo nodded back decisively and as Charles mentioned wanting to check the three wastrels down in the med bay she spoke up. "Actually professor, can you simply take Kurt and Logan with you. I think that Kitten and I need to have a talk woman to woman."
Kitty looked at her, her face torn between consternation and gratefulness and Charles nodded. Of course something like this and using her powers like that would have an effect on her, I should have spotted it right away. And such a discussion might be better coming with Ororo than I. "Then I will leave the young Miss Pryde in your capable hands Ororo. I'll meet you two down in the med bay after I call the school and inform them you'll be absent again."
After breakfast while the others went off to school she led Kitty up to the solarium, where she knew the girl was more comfortable than in her arboretum. After a few minutes of small talk they got down to business. Over the next hour she heard from Kitty's perspective their adventure up in Canada, and what she had done and how. Ororo soon learned that Kitty was more than a little disturbed about how much damage she had done with her power. A part of her wanted to blame Mr. Potter for it, but it wasn't like she had used a runic array, just her own power, oh sure the idea had come from him, but it was still her power. The blood and everything had frightened her a lot, showing her what she could do if she tried and she was now questioning if she wanted to remain an X-man at all. Ororo heard her out, not judging her at all and then said "Being an X-man is not something we can force on you if you do not wish to be one, we cannot, I will not make you fight if you do not wish to fight Kitten. If it disturbs you, then do not do it. Not everyone can be that type of hero, and if you decide you want to be the non-violent kind and help the team behind the scenes, or even do something else with your life entirely, I will not be any less proud of you." Kitty nodded then yawned, and Ororo chivvied her off to bed, then went and found Charles to tell him about it. Charles was a little dismayed, but to his credit it was about what Kitty had been forced to do rather than how he may soon be down an X-man.
Kitty woke up around noon to eat some lunch and was going back to her room, talking to Ororo about what she had put in her letter to her parents, when the two girls heard a faint pop from the room Harry had made into a rune lab. Ororo waved Kitty behind her, one hand glowing with electricity and opened the door to see Harry leaning shaking his head, his hands on his knees as Hedwig flew from his shoulder over to her perch. "Ugh, long distance teleporting is as bad as apparating, crud, I am not doing that again anytime soon." Hedwig precked smugly, her own stomach having handled the jump with ease. "Yeah, yeah laugh it up oh so superior winged one. At least I have opposable thumbs." Hedwig's eyes narrowed and she huffed and turned away. Harry laughed and straightened up, looking over at the doorway to find Kitty and Ororo looking at him. "Hey you two, I'm back."
Ororo rolled her eyes at his cavalier attitude but Kitty hurried forward hugging Harry tightly and sniffling a little as she babbled out the story of what happened up in Canada. After a moments shock Harry listened intently, letting the young girl get it off her chest for the second time that day. After the young teen's babbling slowed down Harry looked up wordlessly at Ororo who nodded, indicating with a touch to her lips that she had already talked to the girl. Harry shrugged, and began to talk, hoping his words could do some good when added to Ororo's. "Kitty, Curly-Cat, look at me." Kitty looked up from in his arms to his face and he led her slowly over to the bean bag that had been hers for the last few days as she learned how to draw and use runes.
When she sat down Harry began to speak. "First let me say I'm proud of you Curly-Cat." Kitty looked at him wide-eyed. "You did what you had to do to defend your friends, that's the only thing anyone can ask of a soldier a hero or anyone. Ask people what they fight for, and when the camera's on they'll say reasons like freedom, or belief in the family pie or something." Kitty giggled as he mangled that phrase but her eye never looked away from his. "But most people will say in private they fight for their friends, the man standing next to them in the fight. That's what you did, and that's why I'm proud of you. Now that you're back, and you don't know if you want to be an X-man, that's fine too. A lot of people don't want to continue after seeing their the elephant the first time. I had two friends like that, and I never respected them or liked them any less because of it." Blaize and Padma had both stepped back after the first raid the New Marauders conducted against Death Eaters. They still supported the group and even fought with them occasionally when on rescue missions, but they only used defensive spells to protect them all, neither could stomach the idea of using violence against someone else. Later, when Parvati joined, she didn't have the same problem as her sister, but then again her desire for justice had overrode much or her normal attitude. "If you don't want to be out in the field with the others, that's fine because if you still want to help you can do so in other ways. No one here will judge you because of that choice. Just because violence doesn't agree with you doesn't make you any less than you are."
Kitty sniffled for a bit then looked away over at Ororo, who had been nodding along with Harry's words with a smile on her face. Kitty giggled a little then asked "Did you two somehow practice that or something?"
Ororo chuckled, moving forward to ruffle Kitty's hair. "Not at all Kitten, it's just that wisdom looks the same regardless of the angle." Harry smirked but nodded all the same.
Kitty giggled again, this time a little longer, before a yawn interrupted her. "You, you two need to figure out a single nickname for me okay? Choose one or the other." The two nominal adults in the room looked at one another challengingly and Kitty giggled again, getting up and heading to her room. "Thanks for the talk Teach, Storm, I'm going to go back to bed now."
The two both wished her a good nap and as soon as the door closed behind her Ororo pulled Harry into a hug, which he returned. "The next time you go off without telling me where Mr. Potter," Ororo said sternly, pulling back a little, "I will give you a wind enema, are we clear?"
Haryr gulped and nodded, yet when she leaned in for a kiss he responded eagerly. After a moment they pulled back and one of Ororo's eyebrows rose. "Why do you taste like spearmint with a hint of cherry?"
Harry smirked. "I met another mutant, I'll tell you about it if you want. I want to show you my new toy anyway." The other eyebrow rose to join its fellow and she followed as harry exited the house, waving a flippant hand over at Charles and Logan as they went into the elevator, going down to the med bay, to remove the control chip from Logan's head permanently. Once outside Harry took out his car and enlarged it back to normal, causing Ororo to gasp in shock. "So, you want to go for a ride with me?" Harry wiggled his eyebrows. "I want to find that Mystique chick anyway and get her to agree to a meeting. I want to hear her side of things."
Ororo smirked a little. "It just so happens I know where she is, she poses as the principal over at Bayville High. It allows her to protect the brotherhood to a certain extent from any trouble they cause, and as long as they don't abuse the privilege we have seen no need to try and remove her. Wait here and I'll go get changed."
Harry shook his head as Ororo walked off, taking this as another sign that Charles knew more about the opposition than he was saying. He wondered what other secrets the man was keeping, but shrugged it off for now. He'd take action if the kids got hurt, but until then it wasn't important.
Ororo came back quickly and Harry whistled as he saw what she was wearing now. Before she had worn a nice feminine business suit, now she wore a pair of jeans so tight they looked painted on, and a loose short sleeved button up shirt with several buttons undone allowing a nice hint of cleavage. "Veeeery nice luv, ready to go?" He quickly transfigured his own clothing to be casual, a good long shirt and tie with jeans.