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"There is no part of me that is not blissfully happy right now. I mean, who knew my toes were so sensitive?" Jean Grey murmured, nuzzling her head into Harry's chest. Harry chuckled, the sound causing a deep sort of rumble in his chest that Jean felt which caused her to chuckle in turn. Both of them were sweaty, almost shining with sweat in fact and sore, but above all naked.
Harry waved the hand that wasn't currently pinned under Jean's body around, having noticed that the spells protecting their little love nest from the winds and dust of Olympus Mons were flickering. "That's the fifth time," he murmured shaking his head and looking down at Jean. Despite that he was smiling, in fact someone would've had to use surgery to remove either of their smiles.
To say that Jean and Harry had made up for lost time would have been an understatement of epic proportions. Harry didn't think they slept for more than an hour or so throughout the night before one or the other would wake up and they would begin again. Both of them were almost insatiable, much like Harry and Ororo had in that first night, though without the silk restraints.
Right now however he did have something on his mind. While the hand whose arm was currently pinned under Jean's body began to slowly stroke her naked thigh, he asked. "So did you like the date before this? Not to sound smug or anything but I don't think I have to ask if you liked everything after we arrived here."
Jean gurgled in laughter, shaking her head. "The date was magnificent Harry, you literally took me to other worlds, what could be better than that?"
Harry sighed, his hand pausing its strokes along her thigh. "It's just I'm still worried about the whole multiple girlfriends thing. I want to make certain I'm making each of you as happy as you make me, you know?"
"Trust me Harry that's not a problem and it isn't as if we're each only in this relationship because of you. We've come to love and care for one another too, so Emma and Ororo joining us for the first part of the date was just fine." She sat up freeing his arm while she stretched luxuriously, then seeing his serious expression Jean sighed dramatically. "Seriously Harry, the date was magnificent. The only thing that could've made it better was if we had gone dancing or something." Then she leaned forward and kissed him ardently for a moment before pulling back. "You don't have to be perfect Harry, you just have to be yourself, that's more than enough reason for me to love you."
"I love you too." Harry murmured, running his hands through her hair.
Jean sighed disengaging with him reluctantly, stretching and began to search for her 'bra', which surprisingly was in one piece, hanging from one of the bedposts. It might be the only piece of my clothing that still is in one piece after this she thought to herself, rather amused looking back on how… eager she had been. Frowning for a moment she concentrated on the sheet presently covering them, telekinetically rearranging its molecules into a dress.
Harry squawked as the sheets disappeared from all over his body and Jean laughed. "Please, you can conjure up something for yourself out of thin air. I at least need something to start with."
"Be that way." Harry said, conjuring up a pair of boxers and a T-shirt for himself looking around for the tattered remnants of his pants. They alas had been blown away during one of the times his protective spells failed.
Jean sighed, pulling at her hair and making a mental note to get a shower as soon as they got back to the Castle. Her mind however was on much more serious matters. "How long do you think it would take for us to start creating our own spaceships like the Hellion?"
"I don't know honestly. There are so many steps before we get to that point. We have to create the industry, we have to create the tools to create the industry, we have to first make certain that we can house people up in space for long lengths of time, we have to think about the design of the ship, all those things. Doom's robots will make an excellent start on a labor force, and my magic can do a lot, but I don't think we'll have a space going industry for another few months and at minimum. In the short-term we are horribly vulnerable, though I've thought up a few ways to address that with lower tech solutions given what we've already discovered about Kree/Skrull tactical doctrine." He said seriously now looking over at her.
"I don't like trusting Dr. Doom that much, oh I'll trust his word I suppose, but..."
"I don'ttrust Doom my dear, if by that you mean believe that he's truly a friend rather than a limited ally in certain circumstances, and I will certainly have you and Reed go over the robots he sends us. But I think that his current acquisition of most of the former Eastern Bloc and hunting down the Red Skull will hopefully keep him from making mischief. His mother has also changed him in some ways, so I don't think we have to worry about him lashing out indiscriminately as he pursues his ambitions. And in the long-term we might be able to direct that ambition."
"Maybe, I just wish we could keep a better eye on him, without breaking our agreement anyway."
"He tricked us into giving him an open hand in dealing with the Red Skull and none of us have enough intelligence sources in the former Eastern Bloc to figure out where that problem ends really." Harry replied ruefully. In actuality that was proving harder than Harry had suspected. The Red Skull had been active almost since the end of WW2, and had his fingers in every pie in the Eastern Bloc, and even had agents among Latveria's citizens, a fact Doom was… not pleased with. "After Doom is done with the Rote Schädel however, we might get away with some kind of surveillance."
Taking in the Vista once more of the red planet, where no man had walked before, Jean smiled, which segued into an evil smirk as a thought occurred to her. Harry caught the expression and cocked his head inquisitively to which Jean replied. "Oh, just wondering if we could do a flyby of the Mars Lander. That'd shock those NASA paper-pushers wouldn't it?"
"I intend to shock them quite a bit in the future without such, trust me." Harry replied dryly. He reached out and took his hand kissing it while staring into her eyes for a moment. "Ready to get back?"
Jean raised a hand to his face cupping his cheek gently as she opened the telepathic link they shared, which was now more of a telepathic highway then a tiny tenuous link. Somehow during their lovemaking their connection had grown even without her willing it, but was still, in some fashion hidden or perhaps a better word was separate from the rest of the astral plain. Not that Jean was complaining mind you. "I love you Harry," she said telepathically.
"I love you too, Jean." He replied in the same manner, and they kissed one last time before Harry teleported the two up onto the bridge of the Hellion.
OOOOOOO
While Harry and Jean had been on their date Ororo had gone back to Hogwarts. There she spent the evening going over the last of the portfolios for teachers, searching the ones with the right background to discover those that would be able to deal with the magical nature of the school, if not the extralegal activities of the team. Needless to say this was a small list.
The next day she and Emma met up for lunch in Hogwarts (for Emma it was for breakfast) to go over what questions they felt Harry was most likely to be asked in his upcoming live interview. Emma had set that up with Paris' news company for that for two days hence. It was going to be an extremely important moment for their entire group, not just Harry's company, and there were some issues that had to be addressed first.
They had finished writing up a list and were quietly sipping their coffee and tea when Harry and Jean teleported into the room. Ororo smiled in welcome, standing up and moving quickly around the table, where the three met in a hug. A moment later Ororo pulled back, looking at them both, allowing the two to move forward to grab up some food from the table, though Jean was interrupted by Emma who pulled the redhead into a hug of her own.
There was a noticeable glow about the two of them and Jean was limping slightly, though not as much as Ororo had from what she could remember of the night she lost her virginity. I wonder if that has something to do with being the avatar of the Phoenix, some kind of healing ability perhaps, Ororo thought. For just an instant that thought bothered her, niggling at her mind for a moment, but she couldn't bring it to the fore.
Emma pulled away from Jean to look at Harry, smirking a little. "Now that Jean's had her turn, don't think for an instant that I'm going to wait nearly as long for mine. For now however why don't you go find something to do and leave us ladies to talk. It's a tradition after all."
Harry shrugged, watching the three girls actually giggle for a moment, even Ororo who rarely giggled. For some reason Harry knew he didn't want to be here right now. "Um, okay, I'll see you ladies later."
As Harry disappeared Ororo and Emma both turned to Jean inquisitive eyebrows rising and she laughed, shaking her head. "Feed me, bathe me, then I might answer your questions."
OOOOOOO
After checking the time, Harry made his way down into the basement, where Shiang-Chi was going over different martial arts with the team in the training center, including Wyatt but not Betsy. She was doing something with her brother today and hadn't yet officially moved into the Castle. She would in a few days, but not just yet.
Harry entered, then waited about 20 seconds for them all to notice him. The girls noticed him first, and began to look at one another smirking while they wondered if they could skive off to talk to Jean. But his serious expression stopped them from even thinking that a few seconds later. Once Shiang-Chi had called a halt to their exercises, Harry nodded at them all and said without preamble. "You all know that recently we took an extra-terrestrial ship. I've been thinking about this and going over the notes that Emma made about talking to the prisoners, and I've become very worried about how vulnerable humanity is at the moment."
While the others all became serious, Piotr and Danielle both nodded grimly remembering how damn tough the Sentry had proven. Harry nodded back to them before going on. "As such, I want you all to spend at least two hours a day practicing on boarding and taking a spaceship." With that he turned motioning them all to follow, leading them to the Room of Requirement.
He walked in front of it three times, and then opened it to show a long metal hallway. "Most of this I don't know if the RoR will be able to show, but it'll get the enemies right, and will create at least the magical equivalent for their defensive weapons."
"Piotr." he said looking over at Colossus. "You'll be in charge of the first run through, then Amara, then Danielle, then Nikolai. After each run through you'll talk about it among yourselves. Next week I'll switch off to command the team and one of the four of you will take over the opposing side per day while we run through various scenarios, such as smaller teams being assigned to the mission, larger vessels, more numerous or prepared enemies, and so on."
Piotr winced. "Which means you'll be commanding them now correct, tovarishch?"
"Sorry, but yes." Harry smirked while all of them groaned at that, causing him to chuckle evilly. "Remember, we don't learn just by winning, but at times by losing spectacularly. "None of the Kree warriors will have magical powers of course, but they will have the full repertoire of weapons that we saw when taking the Hellion. You've got 5 minutes to talk about it, and then we'll start." With that Harry disappeared, leaving behind a very determined, yet worried group of young men and women.
OOOOOOO
A long, black limousine with black tinted windows drove up a dirt road towards a splendid mansion in a remote part of Apulia, Italy. The mansion, which looked like a renovated castle that had not been renovated fully, was set on a hill. It overlooked a vast property dominated by a vineyard and what looked like some kind of orchard, the limousine driver couldn't make it out. Of course it wouldn't have been interested in the first place even if it could have, it was simply the driver. It drove, that was all that mattered to it. This was because the driver was in fact a cyborg. While its basic appearance could fool anyone who looked into the windows, it couldn't actually move from its seat, being more a part of the car than a separate entity.
Because of this it was the passenger, a well-dressed man with a wide brimmed hat, who got out and to push the intercom button on the rather large, forbidding yet tasteful gate blocking the entrance to the property. He pushed the button on the intercom, waited a few seconds then said. "Madame, it has been several decades, but I have no doubt that someone of your beauty and intelligence will remember my voice."
With that the man removed his finger, pushing up at his hat slightly. Underneath it, the man had a pasty white complexion and red eyes, with a small red diamond on his forehead.
A moment later a woman's voice responded. It was most definitely a woman. The voice alone was so sensual and vibrant that it almost oozed sex even over the intercom. "Indeed it has young Sinister. Can I ask what has brought you to my door? And how you have found me exactly?"
"I believe it is time for me to call in an old debt Madame, and as to how I found you that will remain my secret for now. Might I come in?"
There was silence on the other side of the intercom, but the gates slowly opened, and Sinister smiled as he got back into his limo. A few moments later, it pulled up outside the mansion, and Sinister got out. He very hesitantly touched the door, almost expecting some kind of magical trap to activate upon that touch, but it appeared as if the lady he was here to see was willing to at least hear it him out.
Inside, the interior of the mansion was much more luxurious and well-cared for than the exterior. The floor was marble, and there were marble columns at the entrance to the sitting area to one side and to the dining area on the other. In front of Sinister was a wide, heavy marble staircase leading up to the second story. On the walls were what looked like some very expensive artwork here and there while a very good copy of the Greek sculpture, Laocoon and His Sons standing in pride of place below the staircase.
"It isn't an imitation." said the voice from the intercom, causing Sinister to turn slightly to face the staircase. A woman was coming down the stairwell as if it was a fashion runway and like her voice, her body was almost built for sin. She wore a silk dress that covered her entire body yet clung to it in certain areas like a second skin. On her feet she wore heels, and she had long lady gloves that covered her forearms and hands completely. Her dark magenta hair was done up in to a coif, allowing her high cheekbones and porcelain neck to be seen.
Her ruby lips smirked slightly at him. "You were thinking that the stature was an imitation, I assure you that none of my art pieces are imitations. I desired it, and so took it. The one in the Louvre is a fake made by my magics. I have no doubt the curator and others know it by now too, but they cannot admit the original was stolen right under their noses with no one the wiser for so long, which makes having the original all the sweeter."
Sinister smiled slightly bowing to her, as one would to equal. "I suppose we all have our little foibles, Madame Le-Fay."
"You are comparing my acquisition of art pieces to your acquisition of rare DNA structures?" Morgan Le-Fay, ancient lover and betrayer of Merlin, one of the most powerful magic users on the planet, asked archly. "How droll."
Then her eyes narrowed, and suddenly she no longer looked as if she was trying to seduce him into bed, unless of course it was his deathbed. Morgan's eyes began to shimmer, darkening noticeably. "Why are you here Sinister? I know I am in debt to you slightly for your aid in Britain 24 years ago, but it is a slight debt. Do not try my patience, or else we will see whether or not that 'mutant' given durability of yours, can withstand my magics." and here her tone seemed to indicate that she knew full well that his durability had not been come by naturally.
"I have run into a magic user who is interfering in some of my long-term plans." Sinister replied, holding up his hands placatingly, though at the same time tensing noticeably. "I lack any true knowledge about magic or how to counter it, which I need to in this case. I have a video of the man in question, though no real idea about what kind of powers he can bring to bear, if I could show it to you?" At her slow nod, he slowly reached into a pocket, and pulled out a video player.
It flew from his hand into the woman's, and she opened it looking into the small video player that was part of the recorder. She then hit play, and anyone else might have missed the way her eyes almost immediately narrowed. The video was the one Sinister's cyborg had taken of Harry talking to Scott in New York, and it was soundless, but Harry's features showed through as they were sitting there. The moment they both began to leave however, that faded quickly.
The very short video stopped playing, and for a moment Morgan looked at it then from it to Sinister. It was obvious to him she was weighing something up in her mind then she smiled faintly, a dark smile but somewhat warmer than her initial greeting. "My dear Sinister, it appears as if we might have a certain synergy of purpose here. Do come in, would you like some tea, or something stronger perhaps?"
OOOOOOO
The next day Harry and Jean headed up to High Note to work on designing what Harry was calling the Ravenspires. They looked to be a very good idea. They were low tech one for the most part, which meant that they could possibly make them much quickly than actual ships, thanks to all of their disparate powers. What they were was essentially hollowed out asteroids, with massive shields added to heighten their defenses even further. Inside they would have livings quarters, hydroponic sections, everything they needed to support a crew. As orbital bases they would take some beating especially with Harry willing to add various runic arrays to their defense.
The Ravens themselves, which were basically space fighters, were a different matter entirely. This was something Jean was going to some pains to explain to Harry, despite the fact that Harry had come up with a decent starting design. Building the things would take a lot of space-based industry, which they weren't ready to even start on yet, even if they could power them, which they actually could at this point. So Harry and Jean concentrated on further denuding the Atiras asteroid field picking out asteroids that would make good Spires later on and gathering a few others as well for other ideas.
Back in Hogwarts, Ororo was concentrating on her magical lessons with Gaea for the day, and the team had been given the afternoon and evening off. Nikolai, Piotr and Shiang-Chi had headed to California to meet up with Ben and Johnny to go to a Nascar race, both of the FF members insisting that the foreigners get a taste of some American fun.
The girls however were doing something much more sophisticated. Amara, Danielle, and Paige met up with Betsy to go shopping in Paris, with each of the girls armed with a bag of holding thanks to Kitty. Betsy had won a 500 pound gift certificate to a dress store there and the three younger girls wanted to get to know Betsy more. She had performed well in the assault on the Hand, and Dani, who had worked with her closely on that mission, had come to trust her in the field but that was different than knowing her as a person.
As they all stretched out in the first-class compartment that Amara had booked for them, Paige started the ball rolling. "Damn, I never thought I'd ever be able ta go ta gay-Parie. Then again, I've been to more places around the world since that night Cyclops and Colossus walked into my room than I ever thought I would. I don't suppose I should think that all the French talk with accents and look down their noses at everyone?"
"Not all French no, many of the Parisians seems do that though," Betsy replied with a laugh. "I'm British luv, don't look at me for an objective discussion on the French. Great clothing, great food, let's just leave it at that, alright?"
She leaned back in the luxurious chair, looking at the younger girls closely then asked her own question. "What's it been like working with the company?" Despite the fact that there was no way they could be overheard, she wasn't about to use direct language. Betsy might not have been a spy but she had worked for an agency that employed such, and knew the rules of the game.
"Exciting!" said Paige grinning.
"Educational," Dani supplied, smiling faintly.
"Sort of like that old Chinese curse." replied Amara, "living in interesting times. It's been a roller coaster, but at least it's had breaks here and there so you can get off and enjoy the view."
"I'll agree with that," said Dani nudging Amara shoulder gently. "It definitely has its good points' including tall, kind hearted artiste types hmm?" Amara chuckled lightly nudging her back. "What do you think so far?" Dani asked, turning back to Betsy. "And would you have even thought about joining up with our… employer if your old group was still around?"
"I don't know, I certainly wouldn't be the person I am today if that group hadn't fallen so spectacularly." That was said rather bitingly and Betsy motioned towards her eyes, which all three of the other girls knew were artificial. "I know that Jean and the others would have welcomed me at least, but would I be as useful? That one I don't know the answer to. I certainly wouldn't be as good… er… out in the rest of the world as I am now." Trying not to say 'field operative' was rather hard.
From there the conversation meandered. All four of them got to know one another over the next three hours until they pulled into the station in Paris at around four in the afternoon. It continued as they shopped, with Paige and the others using money they had been paid by Harry. That had come as a shock to Paige: that they actually were being paid for their work on the team. But the basic premise was that he wanted to make this both a profession and a passion, and wanted to have them all have their own resources as well.
It was close to six and the quartet had stopped to eat at a restaurant on the fourth floor of a building near the mall they had been shopping at. Paige was trying to use her Ororo-given lessons in reading languages to good use on the menu outside the restaurant while Danielle and Betsy were trying to convince Amara not to drag all four of them to the Louvre. They were not having much luck, when both desires became secondary concerns. Suddenly they heard a loud scream of some kind, so loud it was incredible even through the intervening walls and windows, then in the distance a loud boom, followed by a sort of 'Spiz' sound barely heard from here, then alarms which most definitely were.
"What the hell was that?" Dani said rubbing at her ears.
"Something we might need to get involved in." Amara said, pointing out a nearby window. Barely visible through the intervening rooftops there was a man in a green and yellow suit of some kind flying in the air.
"The Banshee had something like that, sonic powers and flight." Betsy said before moving rapidly towards the emergency exit and down the stairs. The others followed her quickly.
"That's right he does, that'd be weird wouldn't it, him putting off joining us, then us finding them here?" Paige mused. "That really irritated Harry when he put it off again."
"Spandex dilemma." Danielle said laughing quietly even as she led the way into a nearby alley. They all reached into their bags. Harry had firmly ordered that every team member always have their suit on regardless of what they were doing whenever they left Hogwarts, and this had proven prophetic today.
Dani pulled her half-mask on after tying her hair into a ponytail and sticking it down her mane of feather, and Ghigau began to give orders. "I'll go first, scout out what's happening, you three follow-up. Remember, code-names from now on, P, you're Husk for now, until you figure out your own damn codename."
Paige grimaced both at that reminder and looking down at the clothes she was wearing. She resolutely moved past the others to put herself behind a dumpster at the far end of the alley. She then looked around to make sure that there weren't any video cameras anywhere then removed the very expensive outfit Paige had just bought. It was a short skirt and blouse ensemble that Paige had seen once a few months ago in a fashion magazine and had coveted with the longing of a young child for something she could never really obtained. Now that Paige had attained it, she wasn't about to rip it apart. Once she was naked Paige concentrated and began to pull off her skin, revealing her normal metal form underneath, before she reached into her bag, pulling out her suit, a simple affair of unstable molecules like the FF's.
By this point Ghigau had used her hover boots to race up the side of the building and onto the roof, jumping from there to the next one and on towards the disturbance. She didn't even have to go halfway toward it thought before she saw what was happening. There was Banshee, closer now she recognized him from the pictures she been shown of their possible teammate, which confirmed Betsy's guess. He was flying around and blasting sonic booms down at someone on the ground, who was blasting back.
The blasts of force from Banshee came from his mouth, and they seemed to be waves of almost sound going so fast as to be a physical force. The other was different, almost reminding Ghigau of some of the weapons of the Sentry, small bursts of orange-ish light that were racing up towards Banshee. They hadn't hit yet so Ghigau couldn't tell what effect they would have, but that didn't really matter.
She watched for a moment then realized that Banshee wasn't striking at one target, but several. And one was extremely strong apparently because just as she thought that a streetlamp was thrown at him from below, going past him quickly as he dodged.
"Interesting," Ghigau murmured, then looked around as the others joined her with quite a bit more difficulty than she had. She was still the only one that used the hover boots, though Betsy/Psylocke might eventually get a pair herself. The other two of course couldn't use them because of their powers. "Let's get in close and see who he's fighting without being seen, then we'll figure out a way to get them away from the pedestrians. Why the hell did the Banshee attack them here anyway?"
"He might not have, or at least not done it on purpose." Psylocke said as she ran along with the others, leaping from one roof to another with quite a bit more difficulty than Ghigau. "He might have been simply tailing them or something and they spotted him, or he had to step in to save a civilian, or any number of things. A lot can go wrong in any kind of police action, trust me on this."
As they came closer to the action they noticed that it was happening right in front of a bank, and were finally able to make out the players. Magma, Husk and Ghigau all hissed, staring at one of them in particular. "Is that the Sabretooth guy that Guardian warned us about?" Husk asked worriedly.
Harry had of course informed his team about the enemies they might be facing out there, including Magneto and those who had sided with him. "Yes," Ghigau said grimly. She mentally ran over what she knew of him then frowned. "I don't think we'll be able to try and take him prisoner, even if we try with the others, his regeneration ability is supposed to be insanely quick. Magma, I hesitate to ask, but is there any place nearby where you could use your powers?"
Magma shook her head. "I can use some of my low-key stuff, but I don't know, I'll have to head down to the ground to check."
The other mutants down there was a heavily muscled tallish man, though not as tall as Colossus even in his unarmored form,. He looked almost their age, but was heavily muscled beyond even Piotr in his normal body. As they watched the rather nice suit he was wearing tore, and what they thought was a rather distended stomach turned out to be two extra arms clenched tight to the body. With those two arms he began to hurl things up at Banshee, while the other two held large sacks of what appeared to be money.
"A bank robbery really?" said Psylocke shaking his head. "I thought that Harry was joking about stopping one of those in New York. There are easier ways of getting money you know."
"I feel it's sort of one of those supervillain things, they have to rob banks in order to call themselves supervillains…" said Ghigau actually stopping for a moment to contemplate that before shaking her head. "Whatever. Magma what do you think?"
"There's a place nearby I could use without causing any major damage," she said, frowning thoughtfully even as her body shimmered into its energy form. "So long as what's above it isn't important anyway. Are you thinking of what I think you're thinking? That Sabretooth's healing factor can't protect him from being dunked in lava?"
"If we have to." said Ghigau nodding her head grimly staring at the other girl through her bird of prey eyes. Magma returned the look for a moment then slowly nodded. She hadn't killed anyone yet, she had fought androids in Mojo's world, and had fought against magical golems and other creatures before that, then the Hand ninjas, who were only very technically human. This would be the first time she was going to fight a human opponent, someone actually, really alive, and it scared her. Still, Sir Dennis had found quite a lot about Sabretooth after Harry had described him, and the man was more a beast than the creature he was named for.
In the distance they could hear the approach of sirens and Ghigau groaned. "Dammit, that's not going to make this any easier."
"I'll handle that right now." said Psylocke, closing her eyes for a moment and sending out her telepathic power.
She found the police men's minds very easily, they were very focused in this current moment of chaos, while the normal civilians' minds were panicking, fearful or mildly inquisitive depending on individual temperament and their location in relation to the chaos. "Stop," she said projecting that thought so strongly that it came out as an order. Several blocks away the police cars slid to a halt, their drivers having all heard that shout. "Wait until the battle has passed then move in to aid the civilians who have been caught up in the current battle. Unless you are extremely heavily armed, you can't help against this threat ."
She glanced up at Banshee and nodded her head firmly. "This is an Interpol matter, afterwards you can take it up with agent Banshee, serial number 247953." Harry had requested a full dossier on Banshee and had been given it after making his deal with the Inspector general of Interpol. I repeat, you cannot help us here, you would only make it harder for us to do our jobs.
She held the connection for several seconds, overriding the policeman's fear and talking them down, repeating herself several times. Once she was certain they would follow her suggestions Psylocke opened her eyes then gestured with her hands. Her telekinetic blades appeared and she nodded grimly to Ghigau, noting that Magma was gone, having left for some reason she hadn't noticed. "Done, the police will stay back for now. Let's get it stuck in with the arseholes."
Ghigau nodded then jumped up over the car they had all been hiding behind at that point, racing forward on her hover skates. "Bow and arrow!" she muttered under her breath, and when they appeared immediately pulled back on the string, firing at the four-armed man. That was one of the special bolts, inscribed with lightning runes from Harry. It struck, and the man screamed a little before pulling it out and turning to glare at her. "Stupid bitch, you think that can stop Forearm!" He shouted, dropping the gold from one hand then using both arms on that side of his body to grab up a car before hurling it at her.
Behind Ghigau Husk grimaced, grabbing the car as it flew towards her jumping up as she grabbed it, then flipping with it in midair to stop its momentum before slamming it down into the ground and jumping forward. Thank god for Shiang-Chi's training!
She was intercepted by Sabretooth, who grabbed her arm and hurled her into a bus, which was thankfully empty, all of its passengers having fled earlier. Husk slammed into it with such force that she nearly was buried into its side. "You three are new," Sabretooth growled. "Who the hell are you lot supposed to be?"
That was as far as she got before he had to dodge a telekinetic blade aiming for the back of his head. He then dodged another one that would've taken him in the throat. Whatever those glowing blades were Sabretooth didn't want to find out what they did to him. He trusted in his healing power, but he'd recently learned that it really didn't help much against magic, something in magic made his healing ability go so much slower than normal, and those blades looked too much like magic.
The man who had been shooting out beams at Banshee was a black haired man with a neat goatee that had been wearing a decent suit, but was now wearing a black suit with red gloves and a mark on his chest. In his hand he was wielding what looked like a shillelagh. Except normal shillelaghs did not shoot beams of power out from their ends, and in his hands this one did so now.
The blast caught Husk as she was trying to remove herself from the wreckage of the bus, flinging her back with a cry of "dammit not again!" but no real damage.
He looked down at his stick for a moment, shaking it as if it was broken then had to dodge an arrow from Ghigau. "What is this, some kind of feminist superhero group?"
"Not exactly," said Ghigau racing forward. "You just caught us on a shopping day."
"The thing about shopping is that there's always a price." The Irishman said as he turned his cane towards her, blasting out with several bolts that nearly caught her, forcing Ghigau to dodge thus slowing her advance. "Is what you bought really worth your life?"
"Is gold worth yours?!" Ghigau retorted another arrow on her bow firing back, but the man dodged easily.
Banshee flew down, slamming a sonic assault into the man who simply shook his head while Banshee moved on to strafe the fore-armed man and Sabretooth, the latter of which dodged almost frantically. "Really Sean, haven't you learned that our powers cancel out yet?" With a sigh he turned to continue to fire at Ghigau. "He always was a slow learner and always quick to hold a grudge, a family trait that!"
At that point he was forced to dodge a piece of the bus, as Husk removed herself from its wreckage once more. She looked over to where Sabretooth was busy trying to gut Psylocke and raced in that direction, while that brief moment allowed Ghigau to retake the initiative. An arrow nearly caught the man with the goatee in the leg, and another almost caught him in the head. "My word!" he muttered, rolling on the street for a moment and then pushing off to dive behind a parked car. "You don't exactly play by the normal goody-two-shoes game, do you?"
"What are you talking about?" Ghigau shouted rather irritated by fact the man still had enough breath to trade barbs. "You dodged it didn't you?"
Nearby Forearm and Sabretooth were trying to battle the team of Psylocke and Husk, with Banshee up above trying to get in a blast. But he was hampered by the fact he didn't want to hit his new allies or the pedestrians.
Yet despite not actually having trained together very often, Husk and Psylocke were a very good team. Psylocke would dodge here and there, drawing their attention while Husk simply moved in for a haymaker when she could. Psylocke would aim at their heads from the side or back, which even Forearm had to turn around to deal with, while Husk was simply really strong.
Husk wasn't as strong as Forearm, something that irritated her, but she was much more durable. Already he was sporting a missing tooth, and one arm was holding his rib cage. She'd also smashed Sabretooth a few times, but his healing factor dealt with any damage Husk could do with ease. It was astonishing to her to watch as his jaw, which she had just broken, healed within seconds, and he was learning to aim for her eyes which despite being metal were still vulnerable.
Sabretooth had also found out that when one of Psylocke's blades hit him, he felt pain the likes of which he had rarely felt before. Yet despite that the blades didn't do any physical damage, and were thus useless against him. And unfortunately Sabretooth still had his mental faculties. "Forearm, grab that car and hammer the steel bitch!"
Forearm tried to do so only to be interrupted as Banshee flew near, hitting him directly in the chest with a sonic scream that threw him backwards. The man screamed as the blast exacerbated his busted rib, and Husk capitalized by grabbing the car he was going to use on her, slamming it down on top of him.
But this had pulled Husk away from Sabretooth long enough for him to catch Psylocke in the leg, gashing her deeply. She jumped away wincing, but Sabretooth didn't follow up, turning and tearing off the door of another nearby car, revealing a family of four huddling there. He reached in to grab a young boy, only for the father to try and stop him. Sabretooth snarled slapping him aside with such force the man's neck snapped, then pulled out the boy with his hand around the youngster's thin neck.
He held the boy by his neck snarling. "Back off bitches, or else I'll snap the brat's neck!"
Psylocke had charged in again as soon as she realized what he was doing and she skidded to a stop barely out of reach, cursing. Husk too turned from where she had been trying to keep Forearm under the car, her eyes blazing with anger. Ghigau, who had been slowly closing the range with the man with the goatee stopped as well. Even Banshee, who had been about to attack Sabretooth from behind stopped, seeing how tight his grip on the boy's neck was.
Sabretooth smirked at them then looked at his downed comrade then over at the man with a goatee. "Black Tom, Forearm let's go!"
Forearm grinned weakly then moved over to where he had been forced to drop the gold bullion, picking it up in two of his arms while the third and fourth held his stomach.
Ghigau growled behind her mask then whispered. "Is there any house elf watching us?"
Behind her she heard a faint pop, and Cory appeared in the driver's seat of a parked car right behind her. "Yes Missy Braid, mistress Ororo told us that one of us should follow you so's we could pop anything you buys back to the Hogywarts."
"Do you think you can pop that boy out of his grip?" Ghigau asked, pointing slightly with the end of her bow.
Cory looked over to where Ghigau indicated, his usual smile disappearing quickly as he saw the young child in danger. It has been mentioned before that most house elves hold a special fondness for children. Threatening them was like waving a red flag in front of a bull, and most elves, who wouldn't raise a hand to anyone if they could help it, would defend a child from any threat they could match.
But here on territory not owned by their Master, and without their master here to give them direct orders, they couldn't do much. "I could get him out Missy Braid, if that man's grip was loosened a little, but I could not be teleporting far. Without him knowings it be happening, he'd bes fighting all the way, and that mights hurt him." He reached up to his long years pulling at them worriedly.
"All right, wait nearby and do it when I tell you."
The so-named Black Tom however had been looking at Sabretooth in shock. "I don't do that boyo!" he said pointing is stick at Sabretooth. "We don't take hostages especially not a leanbh!"
Banshee above him scoffed angrily. "You'd killed them soon enough though wouldn't you, you croi dubh!"
Black Tom whirled on him angrily. "I don't kill indiscriminately, and I've never killed any leanai! I've only killed people getting my way on my capers! I'm better than that!"
He turned back to Sabretooth but Sabretooth simply scoffed. "This was a group caper not just you Tommy boy. If you're so worried about the brat, I'll let him go when we reach our getaway vehicle. And you, Screamer, land down here now or else!"
Black Tom scowled angrily, but nodded reluctant agreement, staring at Banshee as he landed. He took a moment to deck the other Irishman with a punch to the jaw that flung Banshee's head back before turning away. "I'll hold ya to that Sabretooth."
"What should we do about these bitches?" said Forearm, nursing his mouth.
"Leave 'em," replied Sabretooth looking at the mall. "For some reason I think killing them'd bring down more trouble."
The girls moved after the quartet, with Banshee nursing his jaw, glaring angrily and trying to figure out a way to use his powers on Sabretooth that wouldn't cause him to convulse. If he did, the boy's neck wouldn't survive. At that moment, Psylocke's voice entered his brain. "Go along with it for now, we've got a plan. When we say though, hit Sabretooth with a low-key sonic pulse, to mess up his equilibrium, and keep doing it!"
"Who're ya four miss? You look familiar, but ah can't place you." Banshee replied in his head.
"I'm Psylocke, and you met my brother captain Britain once a year or so ago. I work with Guardian, which is what you should've been doing for the past few months." She replied tartly then cut the connection, leaving Banshee to wince mentally before she came back momentarily. "Oh, and I've used your name with the local police, they should be clearing us a route."
Thanks to Psylocke ordering the police around in Banshee's name, they didn't run into any further issues= as they passed through the city. They soon reached a rundown area of the city, where a young redheaded girl of around 15 was waiting with a large truck. She looked on aghast at Sabretooth as he dragged the boy after him, facing back towards Ghigau and the others. "What are you doing you crazy fool, set the buachaill down!"
I'll let him go when we're all in the van and out of the city." Sabretooth growled, not even looking back at her, losing patience with the Irish half of this job. They'd signed up for it both to get some cash for themselves and to get a good word in with the big M, but now they came to it they were both pussyfooting around? He'd half a mind to snap the brat's neck and tossed the body at the girl, just to show her that this was serious business, and that in battle you broke a few eggs.
She looked over at Tom. "Father?"
Banshee stared at the girl then over at Tom who looked at him his face blank. He didn't even seem to have heard the question from the girl who called him father. Seeing that the girl turned away glaring angrily at Sabretooth. "I said let him go!" Suddenly that scream took on a force all its own. It slammed into Sabretooth rattling him and his grip loosened around the boy's neck.
"Now!" Ghigau shouted, racing forward. She had been trying to figure out a way to bring Sabretooth's hidden fears to life to make him drop the boy, but hadn't been able to do so, but this worked just as well.
Banshee took that as his cue and began to bombard Sabretooth with a low key sonic scream, scrambling his senses so badly he couldn't figure what way he was facing. Ghigau reached him then jabbed an explosive arrow down his throat, which burst as she slammed his jaw shut.
Sabretooth howled, but with Banshee still hitting him with his sonic powers and now the injury couldn't fight back as Ghigau grabbed his arm, racing down the street as fast as her hover boots could carry her.
Behind her the boy who had stumbled to his feet looked around fearfully then abruptly found himself several feet away, and with a giant stuffed animal in his arms. The stuffed animal was taken from a toy store they had passed on the way through the city. Cory felt it might make the boy feel better, not knowing what had happened to his father earlier.
Forearm tried to fight back, but with both Husk and Psylocke concentrating on him he was only able to lash out for a few seconds before falling as Psylocke as slammed her blade into his forehead. He was dead before he hit the road below them.
Thanks to his healing power Sabretooth recovered quickly from the explosive round stuffed in his mouth and even began to heal from the damage being done by Banshee's powers. He tried to slash Ghigau across the face, but she abruptly let go of his arm, ducking and skating back quickly. Seeing he was now several blocks away from his allies, Sabretooth made to turn and run rather than face Banshee's powers or the bitch with the mask.
He was stopped however when the ground underneath him began to quake. He looked around wildly, wondering where the cause was coming from. In front of him a young girl, or at least what looked like a young girl made of a fiery sort of energy, was touching the ground with her hands. "I think the world is better off without you in it , Sabretooth." The girl said glaring at him.
Sabretooth got his balance back once more, only to feel the ground actually give underneath him. He's then had a few brief seconds to feel an intense heat from directly below him then he screamed. "AGHHHHH!"
Magma hadn't taken part in the battle because she had been preparing this, working to gradually bring up lava towards the surface without damaging anything important or creating a permanent flow, which was extremely difficult. Now Magma controlled the lava as Sabretooth tried desperately to claw at the ground of the hole he had fallen into, his lower legs being burned to nothing by the lava.
"GAHH, pleaaaaHHHH!" He screamed again as Magma's control of the lava actually formed hands to grab him by his arms and pull him back. With a last despairing wail Sabretooth disappeared into the lava below.
Banshee and Ghigau had watched this, one in horror and one in grim satisfaction. As Magma once more went to her knees, concentrating on closing the hole she had opened to swallow Sabretooth into the earth she moved forward, resting a hand on her friend's shoulder, protected somewhat from her energy from by her suit's gloves. "It had to be done Magma, I'm just sorry you had to be the one to do it."
"Only my powers could." Magma replied, her eyes closed for a moment. "I, I'll get over it, I think. You were right, Sabretooth was a fucking monster. Did he really kill that boy's father?" Psylocke had told her what was going on as they followed the villains through the ceiling.
Banshee turned away reluctantly, keeping his gorge down with difficulty. He knew that Sabretooth's death was something to be celebrated, but he hadn't liked having to watch him die like that. Seeing the other girl, the one in the half-mask, talking to the one made of energy, he turned back and flew back to where the others were. To his surprise Black Tom was still there.
Indeed Black Tom hadn't tried to fight back, he simply raised his hands dropping his shillelagh to the ground and crossing them behind his head. He turned, staring at Banshee, who moved forward slowly looking at him incredulously. "I'm a villain and I know it Sean, but there are lines I won't cross, and taking a boy as a hostage is one of them. Sides, I doubt these Furies'd let me go."
Nearby Paige and Psylocke were standing on either side of the redhead. She looked at them, hopefully. "Er, I hope my helping there at the end'll help me get off with just a fine or something?"
OOOOOOO
"She's my daughter?" Banshee said blankly a few moments later as the police arrived at last, staring at Black Tom where he was sitting in the back of a paddy wagon. "Yer lyin'."
"You bloody fool!" Black Tom said, not sounding arrogant or anything, simply tired. He sounded like a man who needed to do some soul-searching, or perhaps had already begun and didn't like what he found so far. Watching Sabretooth kill a man then take his son as a hostage had affected him more than Black Tom Cassidy would ever have suspected such could before actually seeing it.
"You blasted me with your bloody power before I could tell you about her. Maeve had Theresa a few months before she died in that IRA bombing." He glared at Sean. "I was the one that watched over Maeve, I was the one that took care of her while you were gallivanting around the globe! And when she died, I raised Theresa, and I think I did a damn good job! You might be her biological father, but she calls me that! Not you!"
He leaned back as if that bit of energy had sapped something from them. "I think that might be the only true, good, thing I've done in my life. She doesn't deserve to go to prison. She didn't even want to be here, but Sabretooth, Forearm and their superior insisted that she had to show she was willing to step up and fight for mutant rights."
"And that was what this was supposed to be, the money was supposed to fund something or other?"
"I don't know." Tom said shaking his head. "Tell me, those four girls, were they part of your team before all this, or was that just dumb luck like that one with a mask said?"
"Dumb luck," Sean replied. "Though they're saying something about some kind of spandex dilemma, not certain what that means." The two were silent for a moment, staring away from one another. There was lot of bad blood between them, but a lot of good before that, and come what may Tom had raised Sean's daughter. He didn't have to, and in fact Sean couldn't think of why he had after what Sean had done to him, winning the mansion and family fortune from Tom, and then there was the whole Maeve thing that happened between them. Neither of them had acted well in that, and Sean had won once again.
"I'll, I'll put in a good word for both you and Teresa." Sean said finally, as if the words pained him, but they came out firmly despite that.
"She prefers to go by Siryn, says she isn't willing ta live up to her namesake." Tom smiled weakly.
Sean nodded, looking over at where the girl was being put into another paddy wagon. She had talked to a few of the other girls, most of whom had disappeared now, leaving only Psylocke. She had already informed him that she had assumed power from Interpol in ordering the police about, but he had no problem with that, his superiors would back him up for this day's work no question.
With a final nod towards Tom, Sean backed away and allowed the wagons doors to close before moving over to Psylocke. Psylocke simply nodded over at Siryn. "Talk to her, I don't think you'll be able to assume a father's position in her life at this point, but you might become a family member at least. That's better than nothing isn't it?"
"Aye, it is, but I have to ask, is there anything you or your employer could do to help keep her out of jail?"
"I have no idea, but I'll ask. She won't be let off scot-free whatever else. She really was willing to be involved in this caper, and I talked to her. She does believe in mutant supremacy at this point, though Sabretooth's actions rattled her a lot, and she's a thinker, we can work with that."
Banshee grimaced. "I'll talk to her." he said again. He looked at the purple haired woman then nodded. "Thanks for your help. I'll be in touch, I know I've been putting off joining your group, but I think right now family takes precedence."
Psylocke nodded. "It does indeed, though I'm learning that maybe family means more than just those you were born with." With that parting quip she walked away, and suddenly felt as if no one was watching her. She looked around, and smiled seeing this was indeed the case then heard Ororo's voice. "Over here Psylocke."
The African woman was leaning against a nearby building, smiling in welcome as Psylocke moved toward her. She held out her hand taking Psylocke's and with another brief moment of concentration the two of them were gone from Paris off to Hogwarts to report the day's adventure to Harry.
Later that day, Harry sat Amara and Dani both down, talking to them softly about their performance, then about what Amara had done, helping her through having killed for the first time. That night he slept apart from Jean and Ororo for the first time in months. Instead he slept in the student tower's common room, and, when Amara woke up with nightmares, was there to help her calm down, talking with her again about what had happened, eventually getting through to her enough to head back to bed.
OOOOOOO
Despite the growing list of space borne sensors Reed had continued to work on, they could not detect everything. Thus a small unmanned probe entered the Earth's atmosphere undetected. Once hidden in the Rocky Mountains it went to work invading the local information network, looking for information to help its master, specifically one or two targets had to be identified before the master arrived, and he wished to find some local help as well. Willing or not.
OOOOOOO
It turned out that Harry was willing to put in a good word for both Teresa and Black Tom but Harry didn't have much influence in France unlike in Britain. He passed on a 'suggestion' that the two of them have their sentences reduced to the French ambassador who had been a part of the negotiations for where Magical Minds would be headquartered. She replied with a bland 'we'll think about it,' not wishing to say yes or no on that issue. While France was willing to follow Britain's lead on how to treat its mutant citizens, thought they were dragging their feet over it slightly, this was the first major crime by a mutant that had occurred since that push began. So it was going to be interesting to see how the government responded.
For his part Harry had other concerns to worry about as he woke up the day after what was being called the Shopping Disaster. Today was the day of his interview, and while Harry was pretty good at making things up as he went along or making up speeches he supposed, this kind of thing really wasn't something he had a lot of experience in. Oh, Harry had the time he had given a speech on the opening of Magical Minds to draw upon, but that was it.
He looked over to where Ororo was getting dressed, she wouldn't be coming with him for this of course. Instead she would be leading the reorganization of the castle to prepare it for the four new teachers she had found and the influx of new students. They wanted it set up so that the new teachers and students wouldn't necessarily be in the know about the still-unnamed team. After all, Harry and his group were acting outside the law, and that did tend to throw most people. It hadn't thrown Ms. Brown simply because she trusted Dr. Druid, but they couldn't assume all the new teachers would be willing to ignore that aspect, even if they were fine with the magical portion, which could not be hidden in Hogwarts even if Harry tried.
Surprisingly or perhaps not surprisingly given the age of the students in question, most of the new students didn't have issues with magic, and loved the castle and everything in it. But it was a major hurdle in finding teachers, and Ororo and the others felt trying to find teachers who would look the other way about the team's activities and were fine with magic wouldn't allow them to find any teachers at all.
Harry had already done his part for this adding so many runic arrays designed to stop or redirect attention from the basement and the seventh floor that it was doubtful the new hires would even realize they were there even if someone walked through those doorways while they watched. The location of the school was also restricted, but that the teachers knew about, having been told it was a safety feature for the mutant children that were being taught here.
"I forgot to ask yesterday, but how long do you think it will be until the school is able to run itself?"
"All the new hires I've cleared have experience in administration, but none have served as a headmaster of course, those are remarkably hard to find given our... unique needs." Harry and Ororo both chuckled at that, before Ororo went on. "The classes should be able to run themselves however, so the only real issue will be the fact we'll have to conform to National standards and submit exam grades to show that compliance." Ororo said shrugging her shoulders. "Ms. Brown and I have talked, and we wish to be ready by September of course so that we can start acting like a regular school, so that's what we're shooting for."
Ororo turned from pulling on a pair of business trousers to look at Harry, frowning thoughtfully. "By the way, have you talked to either Emma or Jean about the rather large bombshell you dropped on me during our last date? I agree that Jean's status as the avatar of the Phoenix will probably enhance her own life span, but that leaves Emma out."
"Call me a coward, but I haven't." Harry said rather grimly. "It's not a conversation I'm looking forward to, and one we can hopefully put off for, oh, a dozen more years or so."
Ororo nodded understanding that since she wasn't exactly looking forward to that discussion either. Best to wait on it until all the current issues they were dealing with, preparing Earth for any further spaceport assaults, the Hellfire Club issues including whatever the Sentinel Project was, and getting their companies all running as efficiently as possible along with the school, were dealt with. Listing them all like that it's a wonder we have time for anything else.
"At the moment, I need to get going." Harry said moving back reluctantly. He let his hands traced up her side for a moment to touch her cheek lightly. "I'll see you when I get back." Ororo nodded and watched Harry leave the tower, heading to give Shiang-Chi a few instructions for the training he wanted the team to go through while he was away.
After that, Harry teleported to the X-Men mansion pausing for a few moments talk to Charles, handing over some contact information for him from Betsy so that he could be brought in to help with Emma Steed, before flying off. He flew along the coastline, then found an unwatched and camera-less parking lot. There he found an empty parking lot and brought out his Pagani then drove to the location of the mansion where Emma was going to introduce him to Paris before the interview.
She had reiterated that it was a must that they have Paris on their side. She could sway public opinion like no one else, and at least in the free world had her hand in practically every news agency and those she didn't have a hand in owning, she had agreements with.
Emma was ostensibly meeting with Paris there to take in some sun along with Cordelia and Angelica plus Paris wanted to meet the becoming famous Harry Potter in an informal setting. She also wanted Emma to join them at her news agencies headquarters to introduce Emma to her newest draw, who was going to be the controlling spokesperson for the discussion.
This villa was actually part of a gated community, so he only had to be let into the community itself before heading up to the villa in question, which was much smaller than the Frost place in New York. Paris had a mansion of her own in New York of course, but if pressed she would say this place would probably be her favorite. She had said so to Emma that morning. "I mean really, North Eastern weather or Floridian weather, which would you pick?"
A butler answered the door, showing Harry in then through the mansion to where the ladies were relaxing on the veranda. The butler bowed him in saying, "Madam, Mr. Harry Potter is here."
"I'm feeling rather overdressed…" Harry said looking around. Emma and Paris weren't the only two there which surprised him. He hadn't known that Emma had brought along her sister or Angelica, but both of them were here and swimming around the pool. Cordelia was wearing a very daring bikini that wasn't quite the right size for her, and Harry looked away before he laughed at her attempts to look sexier than her current body type could back.
Paris and Emma were sitting at a lounge table, sipping something fruity looking while nibbling on what looked like bruschetta. Both of them wore business suits, light ones for the weather, but still serious looking. As Emma had told him Paris was another blonde, her hair tied up in a style that almost reminded him of Prof. McGonagall at present. Emma's own hair was cut to her shoulders, loose yet somehow merely adding to the overall seriousness of her outfit in some indefinable way.
"Mr. Potter." said Emma coolly, though her telepathic reading was much warmer. "Hello Harry, are you ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." Harry thought back, as he bowed, 'responding in a somewhat lighter, yet still distant tone of voice aloud.
Emma responded by glaring at him before formally introducing him to Paris. "Paris Lourdes, this is Harry Potter, owner of Magical Minds and one of my business associates."
"I have to thank you again for putting your name behind my company like this, and for letting me advertise on your networks before this." Harry bowed, formally kissing the back of Paris' hand when she held it out to him. "I understand the public needs to know more about me before placing trust in my medicines."
Paris looked at him through her sunglasses, putting down the paper she had been reading. "Your medicines have taken the world by storm, inquiring minds wish to know how they are made, where did they come from, and of course more about you. Trust me, the ratings for the interview you've agreed to give will more than repay me, not even mentioning the art piece you sent me."
"Art piece?" Emma asked, one eyebrow rising in feigned surprise. It had been her after all who had asked Harry to send a Faberge egg to Paris as part of his payment for broadcasting this interview.
"Oh yes, Mr. Potter here is quite the art collector, or at least has access to such. He sent me an actual Faberge egg, one of the ones that had been lost to history during WW2. As a calling piece, that takes some beating."
Emma turned to stare coldly at Harry, to which Harry simply glared back, before Paris caught his attention once more internally wondering what that was about yet changing the subject adroitly. "At any rate I hope you're ready for the questions. For my part, I note that you haven't allowed the FDA to start testing your medicines, and that you haven't changed your initial stance on selling at a somewhat unbelievable price to those countries that haven't explicitly extended their laws to protect their mutant citizens." That had caused a bit of what Paris thought of as 'a moment' for Edward, but Paris herself couldn't care less about the whole mutant issue. Though Paris was as interested as Edward in finding out Potter's reasons for becoming such a champion of their rights.
"No I haven't." Harry replied with a shrug. "Unlike the MHPRA the American FDA wanted to know everything about the process of how his potions were made rather than simply relying on the case studies of the soldiers that had been given them after the battle in London against Selene's forces. Every other nation I'm currently selling to seems to have taken having their own doctors look over the case studies in person as a sign that my medicines are precisely what they appear to be. While I admire much of America, I'm not about to bend over backwards for one of its bureaucracies, especially when the doctors their embassy assigned to look over the soldiers that used them are on my side rather than the FDA's."
"And yes, my position on the pricing of my medical products hasn't changed. If a country is unwilling to protect their own citizens because of an arbitrary definition on what it means to be human, then they can continue to pay through the nose for my companies products. In fact if he had his way Harry wouldn't be selling to hospitals in those countries that hadn't met his demands on that issue yet at all. Emma however had convinced him to simply sell his goods at a price that most hospitals or even most states couldn't pay for now. That would whet their appetite for more, and would make it seem an economic as well as moral choice to get behind mutant rights and push. "We like open competition here in America." Paris replied drolly, waving him into his seat. "If you don't allow other companies to know how you are creating your medicines, how can they try to create better versions of said in order to compete? How can less expensive versions eventually be sold under other names?"
"Never and never." Harry replied bluntly. "Not to put too fine a point of it, but the… unique nature of my medicines means that no one else will ever have the means to produce them. Yes it's a monopoly, sorry, but that's just the way the biscuit crumbles."
Emma growled slightly, indicating without words that she had tried to figure out those means of production, which she had hinted to Paris before this. Paris looked at her friend for a moment before looking back at Harry engaging him in small talk. She found out that Harry was very well read, which she liked, and also very knowledgeable of the world, something Paris also liked, though his views were much more direct than most she was used to. It was obvious Harry was new to the world of big business, where politics and business went hand in hand.
Despite this Paris was forming a good impression of the young man, and wondered idly if he and Edward would get along. She shook that thought off however, not wishing to dwell on thoughts of Edward at the moment. He had been supposed to join her for an entire week down here, but had only been here a day before being called back to work. Apparently her fiancé had been neglecting his own company recently, spending too much time on his own 'private projects', and was now paying for it.
During the conversation Paris learned that the two of them had met when Harry had discovered Emma's company was investigating his medicines, during the time when they were still being field-tested. Then he had simply called her up rather than deal with any middleman. It was a unique approach that had earned him some measure of respect from Emma, but it was obvious that the two of them were simply incompatible personalities.
Two ringleaders without a ring, Paris amused to herself, watching as the two of them politely ignored one another save for an occasional barbed comment. Or are they? It isn't like Emma to be this obvious in her dislike of someone, especially if she has a working relationship with him. She frowned in thought, looking at the two of them then joining in commenting on Emma's hairstyle with a wicked little smirk on her face, though her mind was still working.
So was Cordelia's. She looked at the three adults at the far end of the pool, wondering if this man had any connection with the change she had seen in Emma over the past few months.
Eventually however the time had come and Paris sighed theatrically. "Unfortunately, we have to move this on, would you like to ride in my limo Mr. Potter, or will you follow us down?"
"I think I'll follow you down, I like to drive myself and I've never driven in Florida before. The weather here is amazing." Harry replied.
Paris nodded and the three of them went inside, then into the mansions garage where Paris stopped staring at the green supercar that was waiting for Harry. "My word, I can see why you like to drive."
She gestured over to where a Lamborghini Athon, a concept vehicle that had never been sold on the open market, had been parked far back of the garage area. "That is what I drive when it's just myself, though I don't get nearly enough time for it." In fact the only time in the last few months Paris had gone out to drive was a few days ago with her new acquaintance Amora Galan. The two of them had a lot of fun simply driving the day away.
"I can sympathize with that sentiment, though here in America it is probably much worse." At Paris's quizzical expression Harry elaborated his opinion with a smile. "Here if you want to go fast you have to either acknowledge that you're going to break the law and be on the watch for police, or be near one of the dinky little tracks they like so much here in the colonies."
Paris chuckled then gestured Emma over to where the limousine was being pulled out for them. The two of them got into the back, where Paris simply nodded at the driver and told him the destination, the PL News Network headquarters downtown. When the security partition closed, Paris turned to Emma, staring at her. "That was an interesting performance both on yours and Mr. Potter's part."
For a moment Emma almost allowed her surprise to show on her face. She was also almost tempted to probe her friend's mind, wondering where she was going with this, but refrained for the moment. "What are you talking about?"
"As if you don't know." Paris scoffed. "You would never show your dislike for someone so openly my dear especially if you were trapped in a working relationship with them. I've seen you brush elbows with Shaw and a dozen others at the Hellfire Club, many of whom I know are chauvinists of the first order and many who are generally unlikable even beyond that. So what is your real relationship with Mr. Potter?"
"We are… friendly…" Emma said, now giving in to the impulse and probing her friends mind. As usual Paris didn't have any of the technological devices necessary to block or warn her about such probes. Emma quickly found how Paris had figured out that Emma and Harry were acting and also that Paris wasn't done asking questions. But she also now knew how to answer them, and pulled back quickly, feeling a little dirty about having given into her paranoia now.
"So who are you trying to trap?" Paris' eyes were cold as she looked at her young friend. "And for what reason?"
"Sebastian Shaw." Emma replied promptly. "And the reason is to see him and his influence removed from the Hellfire Club. He's made several moves against me, both to coerce me and to simply undermine my companies in various ways. He even threatened me physically once, well after my initial introduction to the inner circle."
"That assassination attempt on you a few days after your father and sister died?" Paris said her eyes narrowing in thoughts now. "There was nothing to connect it to anyone, I recall. The police found some evidence linking the men to Hammer Industries, but later felt that that evidence had been planted, correct?"
Emma nodded slightly. "That was the conclusion the police reached, much more quickly than I had thought they would reach any such, which was another clue that something was going on. I've found evidence that would not stand up in court, mostly because of the… electronic means I went through to gain it, that linked that to Sebastian."
Paris frowned thoughtfully, trying to remember what little her own corporate espionage agents had discovered about the conflicts arising in the Hellfire Club at present. There were several low-key feuds among the lower members, but she also remembered Edward mentioning something his spies had caught, which seemed to indicate… "But aren't you moving against Pierce with Shaw?"
"Shaw asked for my help in that endeavor, and given what I've since discovered about Peirce I am more than willing to do so," Emma replied calmly, again having been forewarned that this question would be coming. "Initially however Sebastian implied that if I did he would back off, but trusting his word on that would be a mistake I feel Potter can be a major ally, and his own holdings are also a place to run if things go horribly wrong."
"I want to be clear that you are not intending any move against myself or Edward." Paris said coolly looking at her. "If you do not give me your word on that, I will warn Shaw that you are after him."
Emma was almost, almost tempted to push Paris just then on her connection with Edward. Having read the woman's mind she now knew that Paris was even unhappier with Buckman then she had thought several weeks ago, and it had only a little to do with how he was continually pushing back their wedding date. Paris had a hint of Edward's obsession with the mutant threat, and was becoming more and more worried about being associated with him if he was that fanatical about it.
But Emma refrained from pushing Paris about it now. It was not the appropriate time, and Paris was not at the point yet where she would be willing to break things off with Buckman. Instead she replied simply, "I promise neither Harry nor I are planning to move against Edward Buckman or yourself. "Potter is not interested at all in these corporate maneuvers, and has his hands full running his various companies now. And I have no interest in anything Edward owns, nor any interest in enlarging my own holdings through attacking others. I am simply defending myself."
Paris stared searchingly into the younger woman's eyes, then nodded slowly. "I'll believe you for now. It'll be interesting to watch you two in action at any rate, nor will I lose any sleep over Pierce or Shaw, or even Leland if it came to that." She looked away for a moment, wondering how that clash would go before looking back at Emma, a small smirk appearing on her face. "So, exactly how… friendly are you? Those eyes of Potter's…"