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General 'Thunderbolt' Ross stared out of the window of the Army transport plane his mind working furiously. He'd just come from a second hearing with the higher ups, all of whom had fallen in line with that damned spook Fury. Though Ross didn't really think he was the real Fury, no matter the tales about Fury since he hung up his spurs, he had been a man who knew a threat to national security when he saw one. I can't believe that, that fake convinced the brass to shut down my Hulk Busters! Why the hell can't anyone see that green menace is a danger to America, but that his powers could be a great asset too?
That had been the deciding factor for both hearings: that he had continued to research how to create new Hulks. Abomination had been a control failure, but he felt it should've shown that the technique at least to create superpowered soldiers was viable. The brass didn't see it that way, looking at the cost, in lives, in money, and in public opinion of the army.
Ross couldn't understand it, so what if an inner city had been destroyed in the battle between the Hulk and Abomination? Only fifty people had died after all, what worth was that in comparison to having soldiers with Hulk style powers under American control? Even one soldier with that kind of power would be worth an entire army, let alone the savings in upkeep, and what about using them as a deterrent? But all of his arguments had gained little toehold in his superiors' eyes.
His gloomy thoughts were interrupted as a voice spoke up behind him. "Is this seat taken, General?"
Ross turned to see a man in Air Force Colonel's clothing standing alongside his seat. He was a younger man, about fifteen to twenty years younger than rose, with the build of a soldier to go with his army uniform, and short cropped gray hair. "Who in the blazes are you, Colonel?" Thunderbolt looked around, noticing there wasn't anyone else nearby.
"A friend who believes much the same as you, that America needs to look to new and different ways to strengthen its position against exterior threats." The man said obliquely. "Though I personally believe that the mutant threat is the primary concern not the Hulk." The man sat down uninvited and looked at the general searchingly. "Tell me, what do you think of mutants? Or worse, the idea of them teaming up with the Hulk?"
Ross frowned. He'd seen the news reports about mutants, both here in America and worldwide. There'd been an incident a few years ago involving super-strong mutant in red armor, but he honestly didn't think that any of them could match against the Hulk. Still their powers were much more insidious and wide ranging than the Hulk's. "I suppose I can see your point on mutants, though that isn't my particular beef to grind."
"What if I said we could work together? You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. I have a plan to show the world why I think mutants are so dangerous, as well as take the fight to them. But I need a man with your experience to help me. In return, those resources will be yours whenever the Hulk shows up again. Don't worry about the higher ups either, I've got backers that are higher up the food chain the five stars in the Pentagon."
"I'm not going to agree to anything unless you lay out your plans out in full, Colonel." The general said angrily. "They haven't stripped me of my rank just yet soldier, and whatever you might be, I do by God outrank you! What's your name for starters? And I'll tell you flat, that I'll kill you myself if I think any of these so called plans of yours threaten the US or its security."
The Colonel leaned back thoughtfully, not having anticipated that Ross would take such a stern line given his initial offer. Still, he nodded. The leadership ability of Ross was important enough to get him to agree to that. Plus there were the resources that as a general Ross still had nominal access to, let alone the ones his name would get them. "My name is William Stryker. As for my plans…"
OOOOOOO
Harry woke up slowly, much more slowly than normal for him. He was one of those people who went straight from sleeping to wakefulness instantly, a holdover from his days with the Dursleys, but today that seemed to be in abeyance. Still, he knew he was sleeping somewhere safe. He reveled in feeling the arms of Ororo and Jean around him, with his own arms around them in turn. With his eyes still closed, he slowly took stock of his body.
The ribs which he knew had been broken in that fight were healed now, as well as a few other smaller injuries, including his hand, which had been badly burned, despite his Magia Erebeahealing himafter he burned it, and a cut he had taken along the side of his face. Moving his tongue around his mouth, Harry could taste the bone-knitting potion, which strangely enough had a sharper aftertaste then its parent potion. His other wounds, a cut here or there, a shattered bone in his arm which he had ignored during the battle, a thigh wound that was deep in to the meat of his limb, thankfully missing his vital arteries, along with a dislocated knee were all mended now.
Most of those Harry hadn't even noticed during the battle, ignoring the pain thanks to his Magia Erebea, but when that spell had died for lack of power, they should have kicked in with a vengeance, though Harry wasn't surprised that in his exhaustion he hadn't noticed. It looked as if most of them had healed themselves however, though Harry was touched to feel they had been wrapped in gauze in several places, knowing his ladies had done that for him.
After that Harry delved inside himself, feeling out his magical core. Normally his magical core would have, even after a strenuous fight refilled itself, but this was the first time he had pushed himself to the limit since coming to this dimension, and he could feel that he wasn't up to 100% just yet. Moreover, his magical core seemed to have shrunk from the gigantic monstrosity it had been after he had drained Balthakk. After it was completely filled once more Harry estimated it would about 2/3 as large again as it had been before he drained the Elder God, but it wouldn't reach the massive amount it had been leading up to the battle against Mephisto, which had been at least twice that.
It seems that there is an upper limit to the power I can drain and actually retain for the long term. A better way to put it might be that my core adjusts slowly in comparison to the power I can take in initially. That was good honestly, after all, on a day-to-day basis there was a limit to the amount of power Harry really needed. And there are all those little knickknacks and treasures from Selene that I can drain if I need more power at any given point.
Not wanting to be sidetracked until after dealing with William and Doom, Harry had allowed himself only a brief look, but some of them seemed interesting from a magical perspective. The painting of Selene, two of the carved gems which looked like lions, and the statue that Jean had found in the second cache in particular were covered with spells that Harry hadn't recognized offhand. And that's not even considering what will be in her last cache down in Greece. Things Selene categorized as odd and unusual knickknacks, brrr, he shook his mental head at that thought. But that could wait a few weeks.
Harry opened his eyes slowly, noticing out of the corner of one eye that the armor that he had been wearing had been negligently tossed to the ground of what looks like a suite in a hotel somewhere. It still retained the massive fist shaped indent where it had been struck by one of Mephisto's spells, the one that had cracked his ribs despite the armor, his crysis suit and his Magia Erebea. He winced a little at that, but hoped to analyze it as he had Juggernaut's armor, since it was definitely a good bit lighter. It didn't retain the same rigidity or strength but it came close enough, and for fighters like he and his ladies mobility was more important than strength. Eventually he hoped to get to a position where he could let each individual teammate choose what kind of armor he wished.
Harry was pulled from his thoughts and he looked up irritably as the faint tone of the bell on the suite's door registered on his senses. He slowly eased himself out from between Ororo and Jean, smiling as the two ladies moved towards one another, Ororo resting her head against Jean's negligée clad breasts, the top of Jean's white underclothing visible above the blanket of the bed.
His hand twitched slightly, and he conjured up a bathrobe for himself pulling it on then and making his way through the suite to the main door. Idly he noticed the time being seven in the morning. That was their normal wake up time, but he wondered why the hell someone was at the door. Opening it Harry's eyebrows knit together and he growled, "Yes?"
The bellhops on the other side of the doorway had won a contest among the bellhops to see who would bring up the breakfast for this suite, since everyone was interested in the trio that had apparently rented it. A hot as hell redheaded twenty something had rented it and paid in advance for three, but then an equally attractive black woman and the redhead had been seen later that same evening while a young man had been seen parking a Pagani Huayra, one of the most expensive and fastest cars in the world. But later, no one on the staff could say if they had seen the man come in all, but here he was. It was minor mysteries like these that made working at a hotel bearable.
Now however the man decided that he would much rather have lost, there was something about this man's presence and the glare from those emerald eyes that made him want to wet himself. "U-um, a Ms. Monroe ordered breakfast for, for three, sir?" Next to him his fellow bellhop was too busy to help him, blushing at the fact that the man was quite obviously naked underneath those robes. Pity he was probably straight if he was dating either of the women that had been seen the day before.
"Leave it there." Harry nodded, waving a hand that was hidden by the doorway around to summon up his wallet, wondering idly why Ororo asked for room service rather than for a house-elf to wake them up with food. Probably still not used to their service deep down, he mused. He pulled out two twenty Franc notes and passed them over, then pushed in the trays himself, thanking them before closing and locking the door.
After that, he cast a charm over both pushcarts, making certain that the food would keep before making his way back to the suite's bedroom. There he found that Ororo had kicked off the covers, and was thus revealed in all of her glory as she lay there on her stomach, her head still nestled into Jean's negligee clad chest. The sight caused Harry's heart to pound and he smiled then moved forward, deciding to wake his loves in the best way imaginable.
Lemon start:
Harry began by working on Ororo's feet, his hands kneading them as he began to suck and lick at her toes, causing Ororo to sigh in her sleep, shifting slightly. From there he made his way up, kissing and gently kneading her legs until he came to her rear, which he began to fondle, lick and occasionally bite gently. His tongue traced from one check over to the other than down into her crack, and from there to her pussy lips, which was glistening with arousal already. For Ororo her feet were a major erogenous zone, something Harry had found out a while ago. With both hands gripping her cheeks he thrust his tongue inside her pussy, licking furiously.
This finally caused Ororo to wake with a gasp and moan, bucking up off the bed. She looked blearily over her shoulder down her back to find Harry at work on her nether regions. She laughed quietly, twisting her body around so she lay flat on her back, giving him much better access. Her hands found purchase in his hair while she murmured quietly. "The best way to wake up Harry, though I had plans to do the same to you."
Ororo quirked an eyebrow suddenly, not finding a few scars on his scalp that had been there. Her eyes traced down his neck and back, what she could see in the light of the dawn coming through the window and noticed many of the scars that he had were gone. In particular Harry had some scars on his back right under his shoulders. He had said once that those had come from his time with the Dursleys.
At that point in her search however, Ororo's higher brain functions went away for a time. "I love the taste of you my Ororo," Harry said, deliberately licking from one end of her pussy down to the other in one long lick as he stared up past her breasts into her eyes. Ororo shuddered in ecstasy at the look of love and lust there, and Harry delved back down to work her over even bit more thoroughly, one hand rising to her a breast to tweak and fondle, while the other began to play with her clit gently.
"MMM," Ororo moaned louder, as she raised her hips up into Harry's mouth. Both the noise and the continued jostling woke up Jean behind her, who looked blearily at the action going on and shook her head faintly for a moment before deciding to join in.
She leaned down, kissing Ororo's face, turning the African woman's face to her. They nuzzled against one another for a moment, their eyes shining with love then kissed tenderly. The redhead's hands began to fondle the other woman's dark chocolate nipples and breasts, tweaking and caressing, heightening her pleasure.
"Jean, that feels so goooood." Ororo gasped, moving back from the kiss to move down Jean's neck to her negligee clad chest, her hands pushed it upwards, while Jean lifted her arms, aiding Ororo in getting her sleepwear off. Soon Jean was only clad in a sheer set of red silk panties. Now it was Jean's turn to moan aloud as Ororo began to kiss and lick at her breasts, while her own hands went back to Ororo's chest.
Below, Harry was now fingering Ororo furiously, in and out, in and out, his thumbs from both hands now moving from between running down her pussy and playing with her clit at the top of it, as his tongue worked the edges and occasionally thrust inside, alternating with the fingers. Moments later, Harry thrust in a third finger, then, as Ororo bucked her rear up again at this more powerful intrusion pulled all three fingers out, thrust his tongue inside, then called on his parseltongue ability. "§Come for me, Ororo, my weather witch§!"
"GODDESS!" Ororo bucked and thrashed cuming with such intensity her eyes rolled back for a moment.
Harry let her rest for a moment, before turning her over onto her chest, positioning her so that she was now on her knees with her head now resting on Jean's chest as the two women exchanged light kisses. Harry divested himself of his conjured bathrobe.
He exchanged a heated glance with Jean who stared down past Ororo at his turgid erection, watching avidly as Harry moved forward to sheaf himself in Ororo's very well lubricated pussy from behind. Her attention was grabbed however when Ororo moved her head down to rest it between the redhead's legs. Her tongue flicked out lightly, licking the outside of Jean's panties, causing Jean to jolt upright with a gasp of pleasure. Ororo's hands moved to bracket her head, and her thumbs began to works up and down the edge of panties that was the only thing between them and Jean's pussy.
"Oh goddess!" Ororo shouted, raising her head just slightly to breathe deeply and moan aloud at once more being filled by her lover. She loved this position at times, it was somehow more primal more animal-like, so for morning attacks like this, it was perfect. And, she thought to herself as Harry leaned over her, his hands now moving underneath her body to play with her breasts and tweak her nipples his lips on the back of her neck, there is a place right theremm! "MMM!" Her thoughts were interrupted as she moaned aloud again. That he can't quite reach if we're face to face! "I love it Harry, more!"
Harry pounded into his African lover, his head thrown back as he tried to keep control of himself. The sight of Ororo eating out Jean and Jean's own eyes on him, her jade eyes clouded over with lust and desire was helping Ororo's pussy to eat away at his self-control. He tried to change the angle and power of his thrusts to increase Ororo's pleasure, leaning forward again to nip and bite at the back of her neck, something Ororo likened to a lion with his lioness.
Eventually the two of them changed positions a few times with Harry pulling Ororo onto her side, one leg thrown over his shoulder. Most of the time during their lovemaking she was more involved than this, but for some reason Harry was utterly overwhelming her this time.
Eventually however, as Ororo came again having lost count of her orgasms, her pussy clamping down on him once more before she went nearly limp, Harry reached his new limit. He thrust deeply inside, bellowing aloud as he came in a torrent. "Ororo!"
Ororo's own scream of delight and the vibrations of her face against her privates sent Jean over the edge for the third time, and she gasped and bucked, her legs rising to clamp down on either side of Ororo's back pulling her face deeper into Jean's cleft.
After a moment the sensation subsided, and she unlocked her ankles from around Ororo letting her legs fall boneless fleet back to the bed. Ororo however fell onto her side completely insensate, as Harry slowly pulled out from her, letting her rest.
At the sight of Harry's still hard cock Jean weakly twisted herself forward, moving towards him on her hands and knees over the bed, her mouth open and her tongue licking her lips, her eyes still clouded with lust. Harry made to lay down, and Jean scooted over, just enough so that he could lay down before she moved in, her mouth gobbling and nibbling at his cock, smiling at the mix of tastes. Today Harry tasted like pear, while Ororo tasted like a musky, heady sort of vanilla. An odd combination, but it worked.
Harry lifted one of Jean's legs over his head, and with one hand pulled her soaked panties down, leaving her bare to his eyes for the first time, which had Harry comparing the two women's private parts. Ororo had actual small lips to her pussy, while Jean had no visible lips, but her pussy did have a slightly larger clit, though overall her pussy looked somewhat smaller which made sense. Jean was hairier down here, trimmed but not nearly to Ororo's level. She was meticulous about keeping her pubic hair trimmed into the shape of a small lightning bolt.
Jean's pussy was also glistening and twitching from Ororo's earlier attentions. So much so a few drops actually fell onto Harry's face as he waited a moment for her to protest or do anything to indicate that she wasn't ready for this. But Jean merely continued her work on his cock, not trying to deep-throat it, merely working up and down his shaft with her lips, occasionally taking tip into her mouth while one hand cupped and played with his balls, the other moving up and down his shaft. With this sign of approval, Harry pressed forward, his mouth finding her pussy and his fingers already tweaking it flicking in and out slowly.
As sensitive as they both were from their previous orgasms the sixty-nine couldn't last for long, and not twenty minutes later they both came once more, with Harry only warning Jean by the barest second to pull back before he came, shooting his spunk up onto her face and into her hair, so much it nearly covered her entire face. In turn Jean came with a wail of "HAAARRRYYYYY!" She actually squirted a little, her juices filling his mouth as he clamped down on her pussy again.
The taste was a heady mixture of cinnamon and vanilla, making Harry wonder idly if the two of them had shared some ice cream the evening before after looking after him. While surprising, it also brought a smile to his face, happy that he had made Jean cum so hard. Switching her twitching a bit in aftershocks however, he knew the fun was over for now.
Lemon End
Ororo gently reached down, pulling Jean up over her body to rest on the right side of the bed, as Harry wearily fell backward. The three of them exchanged heated kisses for a while, their tongues out and questing as they kissed and cuddled in the afterglow of the moment. Then Harry pulled back and said with a grin "so, ready for round two?"
Jean gurgled with laughter, smacking his shoulder lightly before nuzzling in between the other two for a moment, one arm going around Harry while her other hand found Ororo's. "On a somewhat similar note Harry, Ororo and I decided we all needed a few days off. We've got a lot of work to do when we get back, but let's face it, we've been running ourselves ragged the past few weeks, and we can afford some down time now that Dr. Druid, Ms. Brown and father Garnoff can watch the kids and Shiang Chi can continue training Piotr and Nikolai. Nothing needs us right now save our own long term projects, none of which are time sensitive."
Harry nodded. "I suppose we could take a break, three days, four?"
"Four if we can get away with it," Ororo said firmly, recovering a bit more quickly than the other two, humming in contentment as her free hand rubbed her lower stomach, where she could still the warmth of Harry's essence deep inside her. Harry's hand covered her belly for a moment glowing briefly as he cast the anti-pregnancy spell. Normally he would've conjured that before beginning, but it had slipped his mind this time, still it was within the time limit for it. "That will allow us all to go out on dates, and for Emma and myself, if she can get away at least, to spend some time together."
Harry nodded not commenting on that until Jean raised an eyebrow. "Come on Harry, we're not going to bite your head off or anything. What do you think about her joining us? You have to admit that there is some kind of chemistry between the two of you."
"Am I attracted to her? That would be a hell yes; I do have a pulse after all. Is there a connection there, yes." Harry said shrugging with a lopsided smile on his face. Jean chuckled but Harry went on. "Am I ready to say that I love her as much as I do the two of you, no. Could it go that way yes almost certainly, but I'm worried about messing what up what we already have. Sooner or later," he said smiling wider as his fingers began to trace down Ororo and Jean's sweaty sides. "You two are going to realize that I'm only one man. I've been trying to be the perfect boyfriend, and I think I've succeeded, but could I do that for three women, not just two? That worries me, and you all are worth it."
"I for one am not letting you go regardless," Ororo said firmly, both of her hands now grabbing his and bringing it to her lips to kiss gently. "Face it Harry Potter, we both love you, and you're stuck with us."
"She speaks for me too," Jean said firmly as well, leaning up to kiss Harry's cheek and neck, nuzzling there for a moment. "We're together Harry, that's not ever going to change. I'll say that I would like Emma to join us, I think that we could be good together all four of us, but it's still Ororo's decision as well as yours since I know my own attraction to her is clouding my judgment there. Do I love Emma as much is the two of you, no, but I am attracted to her. But Emma has said she loves you, and that's not something that she would say lightly."
Ororo nodded pressing close to Harry, "As I said, she and I will talk. I have no problems with you dating her, to see if the attraction and the connection between you can go deeper Harry on your part. But she and I still need to get to know one another before I am happy about her joining the relationship we have full time."
"Agreed," Harry replied quickly. "I think dating her is a good idea so long as you're certain you're fine with it, but this isn't one of those old-style harems the sheiks used to have. I'm not the center of this relationship." Ororo and Jean exchanged a glance and very carefully did not giggle at that, since he most definitely was. "This is a triumvirate; if she joins it will be a… whatever you call a group of four. Equals, all of us, with all of us having equal amounts of affection for one another."
Ororo and Jean exchanged another smile, and proceeded to kiss Harry senseless for a time. Once that was done, the trio got up to eat breakfast and plan out the first day of their vacation. The evening before, while Harry was out of it, Ororo had told Nessy to inform the others that they would not be returning for a few days since they were having a little break, and that they weren't to be bothered except for emergencies. The house-elf had returned promptly and stated that the others at the castle all understood, and that Melody in particular wished them well.
After a bit Harry described the changes in his core, and the fact his injuries had healed without even any scarring. Ororo had him stand up and turn around for a moment, then nodded. "I thought it might have been my imagination, but many of your scars are gone my Harry. The ones on your back are gone, and from what I can remember the ones on your scalp as well. You still have your lightning scar on your forehead, and the one on your arm, you said that one was caused by a basilisk tooth? Those and two more on your side is all I can see." It also had heightened his endurance, both regular and sexual from what Ororo could tell.
"So my little near-immaterial moment did have some long term consequences." Harry mused. "Interesting, but not in a worrisome way. So, what do you have planned for this little vacation?"
One thing however Ororo and Jean would have to take care of quickly was that neither of them had brought along enough cold weather clothing. "This hotel has shops does it not?" Ororo asked as she bit into her fresh orange slice, a smile on her lips.
"I saw some yesterday when Harry and I checked in," Jean affirmed. "This high up in the Alps, the ski season is nearly year round, so we could go skiing, but well need some more clothing for that."
"Cushioning charms got it," Harry muttered shaking his head. "I've never been skiing, and I understand that crashing is a part of learning that particular sport."
"Most definitely, but that'll just make it more fun for us," Jean grinned at him. Harry stole a piece of her pancake as it moved towards her mouth, smirking at her in retaliation and Ororo shook her head at their antics. After that, the conversation continued from there to less serious topics.
After the meal was over the two girls went to shower and get ready for the day, while Harry cleaned up the mess from the meal, and set it aside by the doorway. He noticed however that the house-elves had already come in and cleaned up the bedroom, and he thanked the air around him for that, then waited for the two girls to come out. "I'm going to head up to London for a bit," he stated as they rejoined him. "I should only be gone a few hours, but I want to check in at the Braddock estate. I need to figure out if whatever took Betsy was magical in nature. If it left even a trace, I can figure out a way to track it."
Jean frowned. "Would your magical sight carry over into your memory thingy, the P something?"
Harry nodded, "Yes and it's called a pensieve."
Jean laughed at the note of censure in his voice as Ororo finished toweling her hair. The two girls had a few more moments in the confines of the shower to make out, but they were careful not to get too into it just at that moment, with shopping to look forward to later on Jean's part, and some lingering sensitivity on Ororo's. "Good, in that case maybe it'll leave some residue if you see any kind of energy or anything. I wish had developed a scanner for that, but I don't suppose you could nip over to the Fantastic Four and grab one of theirs?"
"I'd rather not find out firsthand what kind of anti-teleportation defense Reed has developed since the last time we talked," Harry said dryly. "However, it's a good idea, so I'll call them right now."
While the two girls were getting dressed Harry did so, and was surprised to get Johnny Storm on the other end, with some toddler noises in the background, indicating Franklin was up well past his bedtime. "Babysitting Johnny? How did things go with your sort-of ex-girlfriend?"
"Irritably," Johnny growled. "We're still communicating, but her family is rather… isolationist I suppose you could say." That was of course understating the case, but even to an ally like Harry, Johnny certainly wasn't going to share the secrets of Inhumans unless he had their permission. "What's up? Oh, and Wyatt said that he had figured out a time and date for you to meet one of his friend's relatives or something in the next few days."
"Excellent," Harry nodded. I'll be happy to meet with them whenever. But right now I have a quick question. Do you know if Reed has anything that can detect energy signals?" Johnny laughed and Harry rolled his eyes. "Alright stupid question. Can you find it and place one example of such somewhere where I can come and get it?"
"I can find one of them easily enough, though I don't think you'll be able to teleport in. Reed put up a new anti-teleportation defense recently, and Agatha says it blocks even her technique."
That caused Harry's eyebrows to rise, since Agatha's personal method of teleportation, while requiring a bit of a ritual to use, was actually much smoother and better than his own. Anything that could simply slide through Dr. Strange's wards after all was something to be respected. Let this be a lesson Harry, he thought to himself, anything magic can do science might be able to accomplish with the right mind behind it. "In that case, how do you suppose we could get it to me quickly? There is a woman in the UK, a friend of ours that has gone missing recently. I have to admit that we didn't keep in contact with her as much as we should, simply because of well, practically everything else that happened recently."
"Why do you think I'm babysitting?" Johnny growled. "We've had four different crises since we last saw you one after another, including a few that, well let's just say that there are a lot of creatures that live in odd areas of the world shall we? Including one group in the Himalayas which just had to be seen to be believed, and of course they had a world domination scheme that we had to stop. Seems everyone and their grandmother has one of those."
"I understand, though I'll see your odd species bent on world domination and raise you fighting a Demon Lord in his own dimension. It was not a pleasant experience." Harry smiled darkly.
"Not even gonna ask." Johnny shook his head as he stood up, the phone in one hand and his nephew hanging from the other as he looked around. "I have one device here already, I don't think that the anti-teleportation field extends to the lower levels of the building, I'll head out, and you can teleport in to the lounge or something."
Or, Harry thought to himself. Since I don't remember the entrance lounge of the Baxter Building nearly well enough to teleport there, I could teleport up to High Note then move it over to America and fly down from there. "I'll be there in an hour and a bit then."
This put him back around an hour and a half, so by the time he had the device it was time to go back to the girls. He did so, popping into the suite just as they came in carrying a bag each. Jean's was noticeably bulging while Ororo's was much smaller. Ororo didn't particularly like shopping, and had simply taken what she liked and went with it while Jean insisted on trying things out. This included some eyeliner that she thought looked fantastic on Ororo, but which Ororo had declined. There were only a select few individuals that she wanted to look at her with desire, and they already did so, so she and saw no point in adding to the effect.
"Your suggestion was a good one Jean, though I was right, Reed's put up an anti-teleport block. He also wasn't there to take it down, apparently he and Sue were out on a date." It was actually nine hours ahead of California time here, so in California it wasn't past two in the morning just yet. Johnny was probably going to be yelled at by his sister for letting Franklin stay up so late, though Harry had been happy to see the little tyke. "Thankfully there's no indication that its anything but the two of them spending time away from the others. They've been having a busy time of it too, apparently."
Ororo laughed quietly, leaning over to kiss Harry on the cheek, still feeling very affectionate from the morning. Jean had come into quite a lot of kisses as they were shopping, and the two of them had startled a worker rather badly at the ladies lingerie shop at one point by making out in the changing area. "Even if something has happened, I'm certain the Fantastic Four can handle themselves my love, they've been doing it for several years after all."
"Oh yes, I'll be sticking this problem, if it is a problem at all, under the heading, 'not mine'. It's a glorious heading, I wish I could use it more often," Harry quipped, pulling her into a deep kiss, still feeling a little randy himself actually. He hadn't been joking earlier about a second round.
Jean laughed and after the two broke off pulled Harry into her own kiss, then pushed him away. "Go on, figure out what the hell happened to Betsy. I'm worried about her."
"So am I," Ororo said, her own ardor dissipating at the memory.
"I am too, that girl's as tough as nails, she did a hell of a job at directing the Gurkhas during that incident with Selene, and her refusal to simply give up after her eyes ripped out…" Harry shook his head. "There's a lot of strength in that girl."
Ororo smiled hearing the admiration in his voice and kissed him on the cheek again. "Go on then, Jean and I will figure out what the three of us will be doing for the rest of the day, and then will contact Emma to see if she's free to join us."
After another round of kisses Harry bowed his way out, heading down to where his car was parked to drive it out of the city then teleport it and himself to London. Despite his desire to take it out for a spin, this errand was such that he didn't want to spend much more time lollygagging about.
About an hour later, he was once more pulling up outside the Braddock estate and ringing the doorbell. Brian himself answered this time, and met Harry at the door, looking haggard. His sister had been gone coming up onto a week, and he was becoming more and more concerned. "I hope you find something Harry, I am, I am deeply worried for my sister."
"If it was a magical anything that took her, I'll find traces of it almost immediately and I'll be able to track it down with ease." Harry replied tapping his eyes for a moment. They glowed light green slightly as he activated his mage sight. "If not, I have this device that will scan for various energy traces, and a contact that could tell us something. He's not in the office today, spending time with the wife apparently, but he'll be able to help us if Jean can't." Harry would back Jean as an engineer, but this wasn't really engineering was it? And despite their initial plans, she hadn't had time to start to take long distance courses of her own in other areas.
Brian nodded, and led the way up to Betsy's room. The interior hadn't changed overmuch, though the bed had been made recently. "And you're saying Betsy disappeared directly from her room?"
"Yes, one moment she was here the next she was gone. We had had lunch as normal, and she made her way up the stairs." Brian smiled somewhat proudly. "She was very happy to be able to get around without her eyes, though she had hoped to hear from you or the others. I know that Ms. Monroe has called her several times as has Ms. Grey, but…" he shrugged. "A part of me wants to blame you for not getting back to us about helping her eyesight come back but my honesty forbids it."
"I'll be honest with you, I haven't been able to work on that project at all. Other things have taken precedent, and that'll be a tough one anyway. Creating the eyeballs will be one thing, connecting it to her mind will be another, and both will take time. I was hoping to talk to my scientist friend to see if we could come up with a mixed technological and magical solution, but even that hasn't been easy." That wasn't the only thing he wanted to talk to Reed about, of course. It was time to move some of his plans forward, especially his space-born ones. "I apologize for that, but we had no hint she was in danger, so thought we had time on our side."
"Can you see anything?" Brian asked after a moment of silence.
Harry didn't mind Brian jogging his elbow, if Harry had a sister and she suddenly disappeared… well the phrase 'move heaven and earth' would fit quite well. "No, nothing with my mage sight." Harry straightened up from where he had been looking underneath the bed, and shook his head. "Time to turn to technology."
He pulled out the device, a small handheld scanner about as large as his palm, with a radial disc at one end that fanned out as he turned it on. Almost immediately the thing began to beep loudly, and Harry frowned toggling it's controls. A brief hologram appeared in the air, showing a circle of some kind of energy beyond the visible spectrum in the air right above the bed. "I think that might be the scientific equivalent of a teleportation," Harry said frowning deeply. "I need to meet with my friend, but off the top of my head, I can't think of someone who has access to teleportation technology like this, not without knowing this room as well as their starting point."
Doom had some teleportation technology, but he also had no need to take Betsy that Harry could see. Reed might as well but again no reason, Tony possibly could create something but hadn't yet, and of the other geniuses he knew by name, none of them were working in this area of expertise.
Even this little bit of information made Brian smile, happy that some progress had been made though he was still unhappy he had to wait. "The moment you do, I trust you will contact me? If we need to mount a rescue expedition, you will bring me along, do I make myself clear? She is my sister Mr. Potter."
"I understand." Harry said straightening further and reaching out to grip the other man's shoulder. "If we do need to rescue her, I'll call you in. Until then, stay strong, and don't give up hope."
Brian nodded and escorted Harry to the door, sensing he wasn't in the mood to hang about. Moments later Harry was on the road again, driving down the road a ways until he could teleport back to the place he had teleported up from the Alps.
OOOOOOO
Emma walked into the Hellfire Club for only the second time since she had taken control of Frost Corp, and was greeted as the royalty she was. She waved one hand at the servants who were hurrying towards her to see if she needed anything. Emma knew they served the club, and the Kings in particular, so could not be trusted beyond providing good service. Still, in that they could be trusted at least.
People moved aside for Emma as she strolled through the main area of the club. She smiled very briefly but warmly as she noted Paris moving towards her. People got out of her way as well of course, and there was much whispering in corners as the two Queens exchanged polite greetings then moved to a table together. The fact the queens were on good terms wasn't news, but speculation always ran rampant on the why of it, as well as what deals the two would be working on together. When you were talking about multi-billion dollar businesses, everyone in the club wanted to see if they could jump on the bandwagon.
While the two kings had their own secret chamber where meetings between the two of them could take place, the queens had no such resource, nor could they use the Kings. So they were forced to use one of the upstairs meeting rooms, or a table on the first floor. As the two women made their way toward the large central staircase they took the time to nod pleasantly at Pierce who was once again at the bar, drinking something dark in a tall glass, who simply nodded his head at them, his eyes watching them as they moved away.
Emma's true thoughts about Pierce never showed on her face, as she turned away to follow Paris, but she felt it was time to do something about him. He had been much more wary, of her since her father had died rightly assuming that she had something to do with it. On top of this wariness Emma could also sense Pierce was jealous of her wealth and success, not just as leader of Frost Corp, but the success she had in working with the rest of the club, making contacts and gaining more business for her companies. It seemed a mix of honest jealousy and masculine anger that a woman was doing better than him. As she stepped up onto the first stair, she read a surface thought to that indicated he wanted to intimidate her in some physical fashion but after a second he thought better of it.
Yet beyond that, Emma sensed the thoughts that told her it was time to move against him. His increasingly rabid feelings towards mutants were becoming closer and closer to the surface of his mind. She didn't know what was causing it, certainly the public debate on mutants hadn't changed lately, though Britain's pro-rights stance had sent ripples of shock throughout the rest of the world. It seemed to challenge the other democracies saying 'we are leading once again, will you follow'? So far, none of the other governments of the world had decided to take up that challenge, but the debate in the halls of power here in America had definitely become even more vociferous.
As Emma and Paris sat across from one another in a small, very nicely appointed room however she kept her thoughts on Pierce, and what she was going to set into motion today for the man. Late the evening before, her worms had finally found some solid information about him and his plans, and they weren't pretty at all, based around some of his company's holdings that dealt with artificial limbs and robotics. They were so disturbing she was willing to pass it on without any strings attached. I find it ironic in the extreme that Pierce, for all his hatred of mutants, is willing to… augment himself in such a fashion. Still, we will see if Shaw responds as I believe he will.
"So, are you enjoying your new status? And exactly what did you want to meet about?" Paris asked drawing Emma out of her thoughts as the two women finished ordering a few drinks and some aperitifs. Say what you would about the servant's trustworthiness, but the food was excellent. Almost as good as Harry's house elves.
"I wanted to thank you in person for all your aid as I was getting used to the club and its foibles." Emma replied looking across at the older woman. "On a personal level, I thank you for your help, woman to woman. On a professional level, it let me get my feet wet much more easily they would have otherwise been the case."
They both knew that she was talking about how Paris had basically kept the other two kings from interfering at first, convincing Buckman to join Shaw in merely observing her, and Paris had been a friend to her visibly, something that made the bishops much more cautious in trying to take advantage of her. After the first few days of course that was no longer necessary as Emma had proven that she couldn't be taken advantage of, and could stand on her own, but it had still been helpful.
"On another happier topic, I read in the tabloids a few days ago that you and Edward have decided on a date for the wedding? The Caribbean would not be my choice, I think no pun intended that Paris would, but…" she shrugged. "Congratulations in any event."
Paris's smile became much more warm and genuine at that. It always amused Emma how much Paris was looking forward to just being a simple housewife, and a mother in particular. She genuinely loved Edward, which was rather startling given how rare it was for anyone in their positions to feel such emotions. "Thank you Emma, I'm rather looking forward to it. Of course Edward has left all the arrangements to me, saying what is that old saw oh yes, 'weddings are for brides, wedding night are for grooms'."
Emma laughed politely at the older woman's put upon expression, and then they got down to serious business. The two of them had talked before Emma over her company of the possibility of Paris using her companies' advertising power to push Frost Corp goods and services. Now they hammered that deal out, until they both felt it was one that would make both of their companies quite a lot of money in the future.
"By the way," Paris said as Emma went over some of the paperwork, both of them eating from a plate grilled shrimp. "Those new weapons that Cold Steel has come up with are making headlines already. It won't be very difficult to bring them to center stage in any number of ways but do they work truly as well as you claim?"
"The long-range tazer system in particular is an excellent weapon yes, and one I would like our first run of commercials to be about." Emma replied.
Harry had passed on two other designs both of which were good, and had a wide range of applications. A wide area sound-based knockout system that had been tested numerous times and been found to work on crowds was the second, and it had even more applications in terms of security than in police keeping. The third design was a wrist-based system much like the tazer they could be hidden under civilian garb just as easily as a watch, something that had been making it one of the big time draws for plains clothes operators of all sorts. SHIELD in particular had ordered an even hundred of them.
After a little while they finish the paperwork and exchanged it, both of them pleased with how it had gone. The rest of the time while they finished their small meal was spent discussing the club in general, the upcoming wedding, and various economy-related news. Naturally they both watched the international news and the international business news very closely, and both women had already pulled some of their holdings in Spain and Greece out. The Greece government in point of fact was so corrupt that it was in danger of collapse, and neither wanted to deal with the upheaval of that affecting their profits. At the same time Shaw and Buckman had actually been moving in, if somewhat small scale in comparison to Hammer Industries, which always saw profit in such chaos.
"You do know that you have made yourself a target with Hammer? Not only is Cold Steel once more a viable name in the weapons industry albeit in a different direction than most Hammer stock, but that embarrassment that his American representative got into with your sister has given the whole company a black eye. Justin Hammer isn't one to take such things lying down."
Emma looked at her interestedly. "Have you ever met him in person?"
"Twice actually, once at a social function, once at a business deal that never went through." Paris closed her eyes for a moment bringing the man to mind before opening them. "By this point he's an older man, pushing 65 or so, his hair was going gray the last time I saw him so probably all gray by now. Somewhat wrinkled face, like someone who's been worked outside, though the rest of his body gives that the lie, no tan to speak of. Tall, thin very thin fingers I remember. Somewhat strong for all of that, he's one of those men you know, who think that a good strong grip gives them a position of power in a discussion."
"Oh, one of those, that's just grand." Emma rolled her eyes.
"Oh definitely one of those," Paris laughed. "He's an arrogant little so and so. Admittedly with more reason than most, but he doesn't try to hide his arrogance. I wouldn't say he's a genius, but he's methodical, meticulous, and employs several scientists who on the whole can possibly stand up to Tony Stark. He is also personally unscrupulous, not just in his business dealings but his personal arrangements, worse than Shaw in a few ways. I know for a fact that he has forced a few women he's been with over the years to have abortions, and then quietly removed them."
'Remove them' of course in this parlance meant 'kill' but Paris was loath to use such words thinking them, and the people who resorted to such methods, beneath contempt. "He has a dominating personality and tries to dominate any deal he makes, and is not above threatening in person if he thinks he can get away with it. He tried in my case, which was the entire reason why he wanted to meet with me in person but it didn't work."
"I've dealt with that type before." Emma frowned. "I didn't expect someone he in his position to be that blatant though." Shaw, for all his thuggish attitude, was careful to hide such in most situations.
"It's just part and parcel of his personality. If you are in his presence, he will be as overt as he can, he doesn't seem to honestly think anyone is his equal. I'm not certain why frankly, nor do I care. But don't let that fool you. That man is very capable of subtlety in business and clandestine operations, it is simply not his preferred method."
Emma nodded and waited until Paris finished copying her signature to another paper before speaking again. "By the way, I have been approached by a startup company in Britain, which may be looking for some commercialization a few months down the road. Would you be willing to talk to them?"
"That would depend on how big the business is." Paris replied coolly. Just because they were friends didn't mean that she was going to do Emma any favors, after all. Plus startups rarely had the money available to pay her rates.
"Well apparently their first earnings, even before they have officially come out into the open is nearly $4 billion pounds sterling." Emma very carefully hid a smirk at that, remembering her own not insignificant role in that.
"Significant…" Paris murmured letting none of her initial surprise show. Raking in that much money before even actually officially becoming a corporation was astonishing, let alone Emma's interest was impressive.
The conversation diverged from there, while Emma's mind was busy elsewhere, delving into the mind of one of the club's workers. She left the club an hour later with a faint smile on her face at how well it had gone. She spared a moment to nod at Pierce who nodded back from his own position as he was leaving, and thought pleasantly to herself yes, we'll see what Shaw chooses to do, I do hope he reacts as I expect him to, you half-alive abomination.
Emma's day only got better when she came home to receive a message via their mirror communicator that Jean, Harry and Ororo had decided to take a few days off, and had invited her up to join them at a very high-class resort deep in Switzerland. While she couldn't get away for the entire time, she found herself eager to join them of an evening, and replied fervently. The fact that Ororo had agreed to talk to her was icing on the cake.
That very evening Sebastian Shaw walked into the club. He entered the upstairs area, finding the Inner Circle's meeting area empty as he had expected it to be. From there he entered the king's observation lounge, and stopped as his foot hit something by the door. He looked down at it quickly, wary of some kind of trap, but only saw a small data disk, half hidden under the door. Reaching down swiftly he scratched at one ankle as if he had been bitten by something, while thumbing the data disk into his palm. Underneath it was an equally small piece of paper folded over many times.
Once within the confines of the King's viewing room, and the palm and eye protected door closed behind him, Shaw folded out the pace of paper to look at it while waiting the data disk in his hand. On the piece of paper were several addresses and names. Below this was the phrase 'I believe it is time to move against Pierce, how you do so is at your discretion. If you need further aid, you may contact me'. There was no signature but the handwriting was clear enough, at least in that portion.
Shaw frowned for a moment then stuck the data disk into a small recorder set into his chair. A screen popped up and out of the other armrest moving on a metal arm to set itself to go over the information, his frown deepening as he did so. Two hours later he leaned back and nodded. "Yes, time and time past to move against Pierce. And to think after all I've done for him, he is most definitely not who I expected him to be. Now, how to go about it…"
OOOOOOO
Later that day it turned out that Harry's sense of balance didn't translate well to skiing. Ororo and Jean had laughingly forbidden him to use any kind of magic to aid him, since they weren't using any of their powers either. Still, they had fun, especially when Emma was able to join them for a few hours. She couldn't stay for very long that first day, but thanks to the time difference she would be able to spend time with them over the next few days.
After thoroughly humiliating himself on the slopes, Harry took Ororo out on their date, though it wouldn't just be the two of them. After talking it over, the two of them had decided that what Harry wanted to do sounded more like something Melody would positively love, and they had popped up to Hogwarts to ask the girl if she wanted to come with them.
When informed that she would have to get dressed up she had looked a little skeptical, but the lure of actually going to Les Miserable at the Queen's Theater was too good to be true. She had heard a few of the songs from it, and was ecstatic to see the real thing. That, plus the fact that the songs around her parents, even if she didn't call Ororo mother, that was the position Ororo had taken, were brighter and stronger than ever.
She could however see that it wasn't just the Harry and Ororo, but Jean's song wended its way through theirs, adding a bit of energy and a faster beat to the mix. What was strange however, was that now she could see another song wending its way into the quartets, a lyrical flute number that was deep despite itself, which she somehow recognized as Emma, though it had lost none of its prideful nature. That solo hadn't quite joined the others just yet, though she expected if it did then the overall song would be even better.
Thus, while Jean and Emma spent an early dinner together after spending a few more hours on the slopes, Harry, Ororo and Melody went out on the town in London. First, they went out to a fancy restaurant where Harry had booked the evening. While most of the time Ororo preferred that they make their own food, tonight was about lavishing attention on her and there were some proprieties to be met in doing so. The meal was decent, though Melody commented after eating her own spaghetti that she much preferred Harry's food.
Ororo nodded in agreement with the young girl. "My own veal parmesan seems to be trying too hard, there are too many flavors trying to battle against one another in it."
Harry laughed quietly taking her hand and kissing it. "You know you don't have to sound like a food critic just to give me a back handed complement, love?"
"Well then tell me what you think of your own meal." Ororo replied promptly. "I notice you haven't eaten it all."
That was actually more on target than normal, since to get his magical core back up to strength Harry's appetite had risen dramatically. In fact he had two large meals earlier that days when they rested from skinning. Harry answered honestly. "It's subpar, the salad was excellent, the appetizer was good, but this steak is a little too stringy. I'm not certain this place is really worth a Michelin star to be frank."
The waiter winced a little and apologized as he was filling up their water. "Sorry about that, we got a new chef in. He's also a little temperamental Frenchman, so I'm not even going to try to pass on your comments to him. Still if you leave a message with the maître-d, we'll add it to the growing pile."
Harry nodded agreeably, and the three left a comment card with the front desk, before leaving the restaurant. From there they had twenty minutes before the show started. They spent it walking around, picking up some munchies for Melody and Harry for during the show. After that they moved towards the theater.
They never noticed that they were being discretely followed. They looked like normal people, but they weren't, neither normal, nor people in the strictest sense. One was an android specifically designed to blend into the crowd, assigned to London since it was one of the places that the mysterious wizard that had sent ripples throughout the world was known to be. AIM was interested in acquiring the man behind the new medicines that their spies had reported, and had flooded the UK with spotter droids in an effort to find him. The other was a man working for Interpol, who had been stationed in London for much the same reason.
And while Harry, as a matter of course, had covered his features and those of his daughter and Ororo with a Remember-me-Not, that very forgetfulness could be tracked by a sufficiently paranoid and prepared human or a computer. The crowds however worked against both more than they had anticipated/calculated.
When they handed in their tickets Ororo and Melody discovered that Harry had gone all out. He had booked them a stall seat on the second floor of the theater, directly overlooking the stage from the right side. "You spoil us Harry," Ororo murmured kissing him lightly on the cheek as they entered. Their strange, not exactly matching appearances caused a bit of a stir in the crowd but Ororo and Harry took no notice of it.
Melody on the other hand seemed to shrink a little and clung to Harry's hand. Thanks to how loud Harry and Ororo songs were, she hadn't had the normal problems she ran into in crowds as they walked around managing to avoid being overwhelmed by the different songs of the people and places around her. But now that they were in a real crowd rather than just moving about the city or sitting down to eat it was starting to get to her little.
Harry smiled reassuringly at her and they moved away quickly through the crowd up to the second story of the theater into one of the stalls where Harry put up a very low powered sound dampening charm, causing Melody to breathe a silent sigh of relief.
Outside both the android and the agent hid in nearby alleyways, waiting, never noticing one another. The android had not been able to obtain a ticket to the theater, so was waiting for his targets to come out. At the same time, he was also getting in contact with the strike team his creators had on standby, ready to use their latest matter transportation devices to teleport directly there. It would be expensive in terms of energy, but it would be worth it in the end if they could bring the mysterious Wizard into the fold.
The Interpol agent on the other hand simply wanted to talk to them, and pass on a message from his superiors. To do that he was able to use his own initiative, which despite its human and myriad abilities, the android could not do. To that end he had made his way to the back of the theater then inside, quickly finding an employee to bribe to let him take his place. It took a little longer however for him to figure out a way around Harry's Remember-Me-Not to figure out where the trio was sitting. Concentrating on that feeling allowed it, but was difficult.
Inside, Melody still looked a little uncomfortable as the theater filled up below them, while she sat in a comfy chair between Ororo and harry. Luckily once the play actually began all of her concerns and worries fell away. All the songs of the people below and even Ororo and Harry subsided as they focused almost entirely on the play, as did Melody. She began to hum along to the songs, and even joined in during Cossette's solo 'castle on a cloud'.
The girl who was singing noticed this halfway through her second refrain. She looked up as much as she could without breaking her role to the stall where the music was coming from. Harry's sound dampening charm wasn't quite up to this, though it did at least cover from their stall to the rest of the audience well enough that no one else noticed. The girl went on gamely enough, smiling to herself as she finished and could hear faint yet rapid clapping from there as well as from the audience. Nor was this an isolated incident. Melody sang along in perfect harmony to many of the songs through the opera.
At the intermission, there was a knock on the door leading into the box. "Drinks or snacks sir?"
Melody sat up promptly. "Grape juice?"