Emma Frost stood before her father's desk having been summoned to his office the moment she got in from a day spent out with her friends. Well they weren't really friends per-se, as a Frost she couldn't afford friends, especially not this close to where her family lived. So more acquaintances really, but hanging out with then had given her an excuse to get out of the house on a Saturday which was really the only point.
She stood at something approaching parade rest, her face cold, controlled and revealing absolutely nothing as a Frost's should. Nothing about her manner indicated anything but cool indifference, but the fact that her elder sister Adrienne was again standing to one side of the desk worried her.
Her father had been looking at her for a few minutes silently after her arrival. Now, his eyes flicked from Emma to her sister and he said abruptly, "Analyze the recent upheaval in Stark Enterprises. Is it on the level?"
This question was obviously addressed to both his daughters and Emma waited for sister to go first. The girl did so quickly, frowning thoughtfully but eager to show her skills as always. "I believe it is on the level, Stark apparently ran into a group of terrorists in the Middle East somewhere that were armed with Stark weapons. He's overreacting of course, but he has always had a flair for the melodramatic."
Their father nodded sharply to indicate that she didn't have to explain that line. All three of them knew it was true after all. Tony Stark was one of the most flamboyant and brilliant men in the world, on par with Reed Richards and very few others, but with none of their stability. He jumped from bed to bed, and the number of for affairs he had with celebrities, ambassador's wives, and other women would fill a good sized phonebook. Saying he had a flair for the dramatic was an understatement.
Adrienne went on thoughtfully. "A better way would have been to shut down the company for a short time, hold all new sales and shipments until the leak's been found and then fire or levy fines appropriately, but he's not doing that. Halting permanently all sales of weapons, will hammer their bottom line and their stocks. Whether or not he can actually succeed in doing that will depend on whether or not the board can get him certified insane."
"And the odds of that happening?" Winston asked, looking over at Emma indicating she should answer.
"Low," Emma answered promptly then elaborated. "Tony Stark was the company's money maker the moment he graduated from college. In fact there's been indications that he was a major contributor before he graduated from college, almost all the new weapons designs they have sold since come from his mind. He also still has controlling interest of the company, a holdover from his father."
The elder Frost leaned back nodding thoughtfully, as his daughters' analysis matched his own. Tony Stark Senior had been a thorn in his side in several business endeavors and strode the business world like a giant until his death. The fact that his son had stepped in so quickly after graduating college and had brought Stark Industries to new heights had, he thought at the time, been the death knell of anyone else in the weapons industry. In fact if not for Hammer Industries Stark would have a monopoly on weapons manufacture or at least high-end weapons manufacture in the States. Their sale outside of America was comparable, with Hammer selling mostly to Europe and Asia, and With Stark selling to the Americas, Canada as well as portions of Africa and Japan. Neither sold much to Russia or the former communist states around it, but that would possibly change in the future if any of those nations righted their economy. Both also sold to the Middle East, but were very careful about who they did business with there, Hammer just a bit less so than Stark.
Taking his silence as a signal Emma went on. "Regardless, if their weapons sales stops, Stark Industries cannot sustain itself as it is now structured. That will require major reorganization across the board. Their losses for the quarter will be horrible, and their pulling out of the industry will open the door for other competitors to enlarge their profit margin" she said the last more thoughtfully, her eyes narrowed just slightly in speculation.
She wondered briefly if her father had had any hint that this would be happening, which was why he hadn't gone through with the sale of their weapons company just yet. Cold Steel, the family's weapons design and manufactory had actually been posting a loss after all, and it was unlike the old man to not cut his losses quickly. But with this maybe they would regain some of their footing and the money invested into it.
"No new weapons means a lot of designers and factory workers will be looking for a job shortly, we could probably pick them up for song." she went on thoughtfully to which her father snorted. He had in fact already begun to do so. Cold Steel had acquired over a hundred weapons developers and enough manpower to open up two new factories.
His gaze switched back to his older daughter and she answered swiftly, sending an almost unseen glare at her sister for having spoken for so long. "In any event it means there is a major upheaval going on in the weapons industry which we can take advantage of if we wish. With Stark gone there's only one other real high-tech weapons manufacturer, and it is doubtful Hammer industries will be able to corner the market in America, which is by the most lucrative market in the world. Stark's stocks are plummeting, and investors are leaving the sinking ship like rats."
"What about these rumors about how Stark escaped?" Winston asked with one eyebrow raised.
Adrienne answered quickly. "Almost certainly true in some ways, Tony Stark is a genius, this cannot be overstated. What he could build on his own I have no idea I'm not an engineer, but the fact of the matter is he was not rescued by Marines as the American government is saying, and no other group is taking credit for it."
All three of them sneered a little at that. Such saving face gestures were well-known of course in the business world as well as in politics, but if you were in such a bad way that you needed to save face you'd done something wrong far earlier. In Frost Corporation if something like that happened heads would roll, and that was not a euphemism.
"It is doubtful at this point that Stark will make such a weapon open for the market, but it will still fire the imaginations of weapons designers everywhere. Hammer industries in particular will probably be able to follow it up, and China could possibly field its own version of whatever it was. Hammer industries has been making some inquiries in Russia recently and hiring several scientists from there. One of the names, Ivan Vanko, caught my attention. Anton Vanko worked with Tony Stark senior on some projects in the past, and there were rumors of some kind of rift between the two when Anton went back to Russia."
Frost industries had one of the greatest spy networks of any organization, and their computer sprites, designed to ferret out information that could be of use for any of their various enterprises, were extremely efficient. Of course neither daughter knew where those sprites came from originally, nor was their father about to tell them. Some secrets were far too dangerous to share with anyone, especially family.
Winston nodded and looked over at his younger daughter. "Your debut at the Hellfire Club is been moved up," he said abruptly changing the subject or at least appearing to for the moment. "You will be presented to the Hellfire Club's inner circle in two weeks as its new White Queen."
Emma froze a little inside, but externally she showed no reaction other than single eyebrow lifting inquiry. "Might I ask why this is occurring during the school year year, and will it affect my standings there?"
"It will not, though that will be your responsibility of course," her father replied coldly. "I have shared some of your abilities with certain other members, and that is a resource that they all wish to make use of." Not once did he mention the fact that as a female she would be under the control of one of the Kings, in fact it would almost certainly be the new Black King, Sebastian Shaw, who was also one of his personal friends if such a word could be used by a Frost. The only other one that might make the attempt to control her would be the White King, Edward Buckman, though he had been getting reports latel ytaht the man was becoming increasingly paranoid about mutants, so he might not be interested. It would be decided by who could either woo or simply outright purchase her of course. "You will use your powers as they see fit for two months after your debut there."
"I assume this is in payment of something" she said, her voice still conversational, still cold showing none of her inner rage. Inside however she once more wished desperately that her powers could work on family members. It would be so easy just to reach out into their minds and shut them down from the inside. That image would warm her heart for weeks to come.
"It is," he said not showing any sign that the thought of basically pimping her out to an older man bothered him in the slightest. Family members were just like everyone else after all, tools to enlarge the Frost fortune. He was actually proud that his daughter seemed to understand this. It seemed that her childish delusion of getting away had faded now and her acceptance of what would be required pleased him.
"Several of the other members have agreed to sell me some other factories, our push into the weapons industry will be much larger and more coordinated than it would have been otherwise, and one of them has even agreed to transfer the contract of one of his think tanks over to us entirely." Not Edward's unfortunately, his think tank had recently been transferred elsewhere, their spies couldn't find out where. "With the upheaval in the weapons industry going on we'll be in position to expand quickly."
Emma took this opening this sudden opening as quickly as she could. "In point of fact I might be able to help us bring in someone else, I think I've been able to hunt down a lead on a young mutant whose power is connected to machinery somehow. He made an antigravity device in ninth grade, and is already being headhunted by several colleges, but his domicile has always been unknown. I was going to leave next weekend to see if I could hunt him down personally."
Her father thought about it for a minute then nodded. "What was the name of this young mutant?"
"His name is Forge actually, though whether that is an alias or his real name I don't know, what is known is his age and the fact he is a Native American hailing from the Cheyenne tribes."
"And how did you exactly hunt this mutants name down?" asked her sister coldly yet forcefully. Her powers of psychometry were useful in keeping tabs on what her family was up to, and she hadn't seen any hints that her sister had used any of their computers to hunt for this Forge character.
The key to lying, thought Emma sardonically keeping all of her thoughts hidden behind her cold exterior with the ease of a lifetime of practice, is to tell just enough of the truth so that the lie goes down smoothly. "I heard of him from an acquaintance of mine at school actually, and was able to hunt up his previous domicile on their network."
That the truth to go along with the lie. She had come across Forge's name when she was doing a paper on recent developments in science, and the fact his name had been mentioned in a paper alongside Reed Richards had caught her attention. The picture of him standing in front of a working antigravity generator that the he apparently had built based on something the older man had worked on at one point had caught her attention. The fact that she was not in fact searching for him was the lie.
"Very well, you may have next weekend to search for him. That is all," Winston said, and then turned back to his work.
The two sisters continued to glare at one another for a few seconds before moving out of the room still glaring at one another as they walked. "Don't take it so hard dear sister," Adrienne said as soon as the door closed behind them. "after all who knows you might have fun."
"I'll take that under advisement sister dear," said Emma coldly. She just knew her sister had been the one to suggest this in some way, the look of triumph on her face, the fact that it had been visible at all, told her that. The fact that her sister was also involved in the decision-making process despite her father naming Emma the heir of the company was worrisome.
I might have to take my shots sooner than I expected she thought, as she walked away, and she wondered how she could do it. She also prayed that Harry had finished the work on her rooms, as she had run out of time. Her family would now be looking over her shoulder even more closely than ever and there was no way she could send him any kind of signal without them knowing. Oh well, showing up unannounced is the fashionable thing to do anyway, and at least I can arrive bearing gifts.
OOOOOOO
Deep up in the forested mountains of Wyoming was a house standing alone in a little clearing. It was of simple yet sturdy construction, had a power generator out the back and, if one entered, they would find that it had all the modern accoutrements despite it being so isolated from civilization. The individual who had lived here had no need or wish to mingle with humanity as a whole, and preferred the secluded life.
This made it all the more easier for the two individuals who were now sneaking through the nighttime forest toward the house. One was a woman, dressed in a strangely eye watering skintight uniform or green and blue swirls. Her name was Vertigo, and her powers were much like her uniform.
Approaching the house from another side was a Native American with long black hair down to his shoulder and a mustache that bent down over his mouth like down-turned horns. He was wearing a outfit that was seemingly made out of high tech electrical gear. In one hand he held a large handgun of unusual design, and he had another one strapped to one of his thighs. He was Scalphunter, and his powers too were hinted at by his uniform.
He was the nominal leader of this little expedition, and signaled he was in position by double clicking his teeth into the headset. The two killers approached the house at a run, with Vertigo in the lead. She entered by slamming the front door open and trying to run inside.
The 'trying' part came into play when instead of entering the house and taking one supposedly elderly woman hostage she tripped a very simple, low tech trap. This consisted of someone having left the gas on in the kitchen, then spreading as much flour into the air as possible, and attaching a lighter to a tripwire across the door that would break and make a spark if the door was opened. The outcome was, well, "BOOOM!"
A massive explosion rocked the clearing around the house and the house disintegrated in the explosion, bits and pieces going everywhere, along with the burned, broken and very much dead body of Vertigo.
The explosion also threw Scalphunter away, but because he hadn't quite reached his position just yet and because his suit was much more effective armor than Vertigo's skintight spandex suit he escaped with only third degree burns on half his torso and face. As such he was spared a brutal sudden death for an excruciatingly painful and long one. His low scale healing factor could keep him alive, but couldn't combat all of his injuries before they killed him.
Another man, his features hidden in a hood suddenly appeared in the clearing by the rapidly dying Scalphunter. The former bounty hunter looked up hopefully only to take a needle through the eye, ending his suffering in a way though obviously not as he would have wished.
The man then nonchalantly walked forward to examine the remains of the building before activating his headset. "Master, the precog is gone. Someone set a booby-trap for any followers here, which took out Vertigo and Scalphunter and utterly destroyed the house. I doubt I will be able to find any clues as to where she went after this."
The voice on the other end chuckled quietly, its tone one of dark amusement. "One does not chase after Mystique or who she protects without consequences. Very well, return to base, I have other servants who can take up this chase for me. Oh and do remember, no loose ends."
"Of course master," said the man in the hood. That said he moved around and put a small device on each of the bodies, and within seconds the bodies went up in flames, burning to ash in seconds. Luckily this was all that was necessary as neither of the bodies had lost any bits he would have had to collect. And within moments he left the scene of the explosion, leaving no clue as to its cause.
OOOOOOO
The moment they got back to the mansion Ororo herded the X-men into the medical wing. After Logan unceremoniously dumped the Summers brothers into two of the beds Ororo started to work on the others. Jean was fine, a little sore in her ribs from one shot from Magneto that had gotten through, but that was all. Kurt too had superficial wounds, none of which were serious. Logan took over administering to him quickly, simply helping him apply Band-Aids, gauze and wraps to his wounds.
Rogue too wasn't that hurt, a little banged up but that was all (and utterly ecstatic about the way she had performed), and Kitty of course was unhurt. She had been shocked at one point after phasing through some of Magneto's lab equipment, but there was no lasting damage done.
The two Summers brothers had bumps on their heads the size of ducks eggs and possibly concussions, but Logan didn't care enough to comment, the fact they were alive was enough for him.
Evan was the worst off. Sabertooth had shattered his armor over his side at one point, causing some bruising along that side. Thankfully Evan had developed the ability to have a dual shield, one layer of bone above and one directly below his skin, which protected him from further wounds there, but he couldn't use it throughout his body yet. The worst injury he had sustained was a gash in his unprotected thigh from the berserk Sabertooth that had come perilously close to slicing into his femoral artery on that leg. It hadn't hit it but the wound was still a deep one, and he had lost a lot of blood.
Ororo quickly gave him a sedative which knocked him out, and she set up an IV while the table he was laying on came alive with robotic arms. The tables were an incredible (and incredibly expensive) piece of technology developed by Henry Pym. Programmed with the medical knowledge of hundreds of the world's best doctors and with a surface that could scan and diagnose any injury on a patient laid on them, they could help all but the worst cases.
Now the robot arms went to work, first deadening the area around the wound and then beginning to stitch the area together after cleaning it as much as possible. When the machine was done Evan would have a neat scar on his thigh, but that was all.
Once she was certain her nephew would be alright, Ororo raced out of the room to find Hedwig and send her after Harry. Something both owl and woman agreed upon was that Harry could not be left to his own devices for long without female control or else Bad Things would happen. Whether those Bad Things would happen to him or to someone else was up in the air.
While this was going on Lance stood talking quietly to Kitty in one corner of the room. Pietro had escaped the moment he woke up, none of the others had been fast enough to stop him from sprinting out of the jet and out of the mansion. Lance however had opted to stay and explain what had happened and why he had been a part of it to his sort-of girlfriend.
This took a bit but by the end Kitty was mollified that he had done what he could to minimize the conflict. The fact he had influenced the fights enough to send Blob and Toad after her and Rogue, the ones they matched up with the worst, was a major point in his favor. "But next time," she said tapping his forehead, "call me, and we'll see if we can come up with a better solution together."
"If there is a next time," Lance muttered. "I really don't know what me and the others'll do from here."
"If you wish for it there is a place among the X-men for you Mr. Alvers," Charles interjected as he came through the medical wing's door, having just finished calling in a few favors to have Candra's comatose body delivered no questions asked to the Vault. He had been saddened by the length Ororo had been forced to go to stop the so-called immortal, but he wasn't so naive as to go into her brain and help her recover so that she could threaten his charges again.
Lance frowned at the old man then looked at Kitty's hopeful face. Sighing he shook his head. "Sorry professor, Kitty, but I wasn't with the brotherhood because I was brainwashed or something like that. I'm with them because I believe in their cause. The need to defend mutants from persecution is real, and I'm not interested in trying to co-exist with them until they prove as a group it's something they want. None of the world governments have shown themselves willing to make a stand like that, and I haven't seen any group coming forward to defend mutants except other mutants."
Xavier sighed sadly. He understood Lance's reluctance. Unlike his other charges who despite several personal tragedies hadn't had that harsh a life Lance had seen quite a bit of the seedier side of humanity. Lance had grown up in a poor family and been bullied most of his life for it, had his father leave them and dealt with drugs and gangs from a young age. It was no wonder he had grabbed onto his power as a way to separate himself from those around him, nor was it hard to see why he would demand homo sapiens prove themselves first. It was unrealistic in the extreme of course, but understandable. "I understand your reluctance Mr. Alvers, just remember that there is a place open for you here."
Lance nodded and then looked over to Kitty. "I'll see you at school okay?"
Kitty nodded sadly. "Yeah, I'll see you there." She smirked suddenly. "We can discuss your penalty for your part in this debacle then." Lance nodded rueful agreement and swiftly left the mansion.
However, unknown to Lance he was followed as soon as he left the mansion's grounds. SHIELD might not be able to penetrate the mansion, but they could see who was coming and going, and Lance didn't move nearly as fast as Pietro. Both teens would soon find, along with Blob and Toad, that there were other powers on the move in the world beyond Magneto and Charles.
Kitty watched her boyfriend leave, then grinned and joined Kurt over by Scott's bed, where the blue-furred teen had begun to make his displeasure about Scott's actions known in no uncertain terms through adroit use of a black marker.
It was at this point that everyone blinked, reaching up to grab their heads as the memory of the environment they had fought Magneto and his allies in disappeared from their minds. After a moment Ororo smiled taking this as a sign that her boyfriend was alive and kicking.
Much to Ororo's consternation another hour swiftly passed without Harry showing up. By this point it was pushing eleven at night and Kurt, Kitty and Rogue turned in for the night, trusting Harry to look after himself. Charles excused himself to his office and Logan took himself off on his bike to the pub, thinking he had earned himself a drink or twenty.
Ororo had thought that Jean had turned in too, and was thus surprised when someone smacked the back of her head lightly with something that swished. She looked up from her position in a chair by the door in Harry's workroom to see Jean standing in the doorway, a bottle of wine in one hand and two wine glasses in the other.
Jean smirked a little at having snuck up on her friend like that. It was obvious that Ororo was more worried than she wanted to let on about Harry. "Thought you could use some company while you're waiting up for Mr. Oh so heroic wizard."
Ororo smiled up at her friend then chuckled at the sight of the wine bottle, taken from the mansion's cellars no doubt. Charles kept several bottles down there for guests mainly, since Logan was a beer drinker and Charles himself didn't drink. Ororo was more of a brandy person, but truly didn't imbibe that often to care. "You do know that you're still a minor yes?"
Jean shrugged unrepentedly. "So report me. After the day we've all had I think we deserve a bit of a treat."
Ororo chuckled again, and took the bottle from her, pouring a glass for each of them while Jean sat down across from her in the beanbag. Jean sipped at her wine appreciatively, but decided on the whole she didn't see what the big deal about alcohol was. "So, what should we talk about to get your mind off your missing beau? Not my own love life for preference."
Ororo shook her head at her friend's attitude, but was grateful for the company all the same. The two spent the next few hours talking together as they waited for harry to return.
OOOOOOO
Candra had been reported to the authorities as someone going after Storm because of her previous profession as a young child on the streets of Cairo, telling a bit of the truth but nowhere near the whole of it. The story however was enough for a team of guards to be sent from the local FBI branch to take her into custody, medical or prison had been up in the air. Of course someone else had learned of this request and pulled the jurisdiction card, which meant the agents who actually took Candra from Logan at the front gate had been SHIELD agents. They had gone there to ask some pointed questions, but just like Agent Barton the moment they tried to concentrate on the mansion or what might be going on there they lost interest and left without further discussion
The truck carrying Candra and the SHIELD had just turned off the highway when they were attacked out of the blue by several cars whose sides suddenly opened up and out poured fire from masked attackers who wore a strange ensemble of red and purple body suits with blank silver masks covering their faces.
The group had been taken completely by surprise, and the driver went down with a bullet through his chest.
Despite their training all the other guards were similarly dispatched swiftly, though one of them had been able to get off a shot that took one of the assailants in the head. The mask fell away to reveal an even blanker face underneath with gaping eyes and a metallic cast.
A van swiftly pulled up alongside the bullet riddled prison van and out stepped an even larger man, this one obviously not completely human given his hulking size and over muscled forearms. He reached forward and ripped the door off the back of the van. Reaching inside he pulled out Candra's comatose form, and transferred her into another car. After that the cleanup crew went to work, destroying the bodies and taking the car with them. Moments later the road was once more empty, without a single hint of what had happened.
OOOOOOO
Harry had rested a good 45 minutes after finishing his initial inspection of his new Asteroid H before deciding to apparate down to his workroom, more because his nerves and adrenaline needed to calm down some more then the fact that his magic needed to refill itself. In fact magically speaking Harry felt like he was still good to go for another round with the magnetic using bastard. He estimated that he was at least 5% stronger after draining the gem (and the two numbskulls thought that didn't add much) than he had been before, not as much as he had been after draining the gem of Juggernaut and Cyttorak himself, but still an appreciable difference.
It was about 1 at night when he appeared his workroom, and he was honestly surprised to find that Ororo and surprisingly Jean had waited up for them. The fact he saw the two nursing two glasses of wine was beside the point. "Er, Hello ladies."
Jean sprang to her feet but before she could say anything Ororo spoke up quickly reaching out to grab Harry's shoulders. "Are you all right, what happened after we left? Where have you been all this time? Don't tell me you were fighting Magneto this entire time! I felt that odd spell, the hiding one start to work in my head, is everything alright?"
Harry blinked at the deluge of questions and before he could respond Jean broke in. "Yeah, what's the big idea Potter, there's no way you were fighting this entire time, if you were alright you should've got in contact with us immediately. We sent Hedwig to you for that purpose after all." Jean glared a little at the owl which had teleported in with her master. Hedwig shrugged her shoulders and hopped away turning her back on the angry redhead.
Harry shook his head slightly, a small but happy smile on his face. He brought a hand up to touch Ororo's cheek tenderly. "Sorry, luv. I'm still getting used to the idea that I've got people who care about me again. I didn't mean to worry you by staying out of contact."
"Of course I'm worried, you green-eyed moron," said Ororo, slapping his chest angrily with Jean nodding fervent agreement. "We care for you, that means we worry about you! This is not just a one way street!"
"That's something I'm going to have to get used to I suppose," responded Harry, wrapping his arms around the woman. "I'm sorry for worrying you." He laid a chaste kiss on her forehead than reached out to pull Jean into a hug with a hand on her head, ruffling her hair affectionately. Jean stiffened a little, but relaxed as Ororo's arm wound around her as well. Jean had become her closest friend, and a rock that she could lean on at times, proven when she stayed up to stay with Ororo tonight.
After a moment Jean pushed Harry's hand off her head and stood back grinning. "All right, now answer our questions! What the hell happened! I've been sort of told what was going on by the others, so I know what I missed from their perspective but how did the fight end?"
"It ended with magneto running away with his tail between his legs," Harry said sardonically. "I won't say it was easy because you know it really, really wasn't. That bastard took nearly everything I could throw at him and matched a lot of it."
Harry had analyzed the fight a little during his cleanup of the asteroid's interior, something he had gotten into the habit of doing after tough fights. In the case of a mages or wizards the old saw of knowledge equating to power was true beyond a shadow of a doubt. Harry had to know what worked and what didn't against Magneto for the next time. His higher end attacks seemed to work a little better than anything else, but cutting attacks and area effect spells just could not get through his shield. Maybe if the fight had continued the Black-Fyre would have gotten through, but Harry wasn't certain Magneto wouldn't find some way of blocking it.
Magneto also seemed to wield an almost subconscious field of control on the molecules around him. Electromagnetism was just fucking scary as a power and it allowed Magneto to counter some of Harry's transfiguration skills. During the fight Harry could actually feel their wills clashing for control of some of the bits and pieces around them. In the air, Harry could conjure anything he wanted, but it was almost immediately countered by something from Magneto, as if the very act of conjuring warned him a little. In nonferrous materials their wills fought, and eventually Harry was able to win through and transfigure things, but it slowed it down enough again to give Magneto warning and time to counter. The only time this hadn't been the case was when Harry had overpowered his spell on the floor right after draining the gem, and that was because Magneto had been so incandescently angry that he had neglected to keep watch for attacks.
But it was in metals, especially steel, where Harry lost. Harry simply could not transfigure metals around Magneto without giving the task his full attention, his power of magnetism and electromagnetism had given him some kind of home-field advantage in stopping Harry's ability there. The only time that hadn't been true was when Jean and Ororo attacked Magneto, forcing his attention away from his giant cannon shell attack that knocked Harry into the Genetic Enhancer.
In fact if Harry was honest with himself (and he was) the whole experience had been sobering. Fun too, Harry had loved the challenge, but sobering. In point of fact Harry knew that without the power he had gotten from draining Juggernaut's gem and the God connected to it he might have lost, or worse been forced to use some of his Bloody Insane spells while the teens were still around. If he had done that the asteroid might have been blown up and probably him as well, after all there was a reason he called them Bloody Insane, every one of them was a world killer.
"It's not a story I want to tell twice however, are any of the others awake?"
Ororo nodded and led the way out of the room, with Harry rushing to his room to change out of his crysis suit. He rejoined the two women swiftly in the living room and Harry was surprised to see that Logan was still awake, sitting there and well into his second six pack of beer. The bar had been full of punk kids, and Logan had decided he'd had enough irritation for one day so just grabbed three six packs of beer and went home. Charles too was awake though he looked very weary.
"How are the kids?" Harry asked looking at the two men.
"Exhausted," said Charles bluntly, "Evan was the only one that was badly injured however, for which we have you to thank. He's in the medical wing with the Summers brothers, who still haven't woken up, and will recover in a few days." Harry nodded taking note of that for his cooking in the future, Evan would need even more calcium in his diet from now. "Kurt was a little cut up as well, but the others were more tired than hurt." He looked at Jean, surprised the redhead was still awake, but shrugging it off as unimportant for now.
Harry nodded. "If he was awake I'd feed Evan some healing potions, but as they're all asleep I'll wait until tomorrow."
"That's fine, not like he really needs it though. Hell it might be a good learning experience if we let him heal naturally." Logan ignored the sudden angry stare directed his way from Ororo with ease, asking, "But what happened after we all left? Is old bucket head dead?"
Harry shook his head sadly. "No, though not for lack of trying I assure you." He filled them all in on the fight. After he finished Harry leaned forward and whispered into Ororo's ear. "The fight between Magneto and Harry Potter happened on Asteroid M in orbit over Earth."
Suddenly the memories flooded back into her head and she frowned tapping the side of her head. "That was a most unusual experience."
"You should've seen Hedwig," Harry laughed. "When it happens to a place that you're actually still in it is the most utterly disorienting feeling. Especially to an owl like her, who relies on knowing where she is and where her target is to travel the way she does."
"I can imagine," she said, smiling a little.
"So you used some kind of magic trick to get us to forget the place?" Logan grunted, popping the top off the next bottle of beer.
"Yep," said Harry happily. "The place as you put it is under new management, and I don't want any interlopers."
"And you will not share this secret with us Mr. Potter?" asked Charles sadly.
"I don't know," said Harry looking at him a little angrily. "Maybe when you start sharing some of your secrets with me I'll think about sharing some of mine with you. Care to inform us how you knew that asshole in red?"
Jean and Ororo joined in to glare at the man too, and Charles sighed. "I will inform you all of that at the same time tomorrow, it is not so interesting a story that I would like to tell it twice."
Harry frowned a little but nodded. "I can accept that I guess, but I will reiterate something I pointed out to you a while back Charles. Keeping secrets from your own side is folly."
"And whose side are you on Mr. Potter?" said Charles looking at him shrewdly.
"That of the Earth as a whole," said Harry cryptically, bouncing with to his feet. "And with that gentlemen and ladies I believe it's time for bed."
The group reluctantly broke up, with Charles and Jean going to bed and Logan popping another beer. Harry made his way up to his workroom, his mind already on his projects, all of which he wanted to try and finish in the next few days so he could concentrate on working on Asteroid H. This was why he didn't notice that Ororo was following him.
Just as he was about to enter his workroom Harry stopped as a slim hand gently touched his shoulder. He turned and saw Ororo there, smiling faintly. She didn't speak, merely indicated that she wanted him to follow her with a slight wave of one hand, then turned to walk to her room, her hips swaying hypnotically. Harry gulped a little, but followed her and soon the two entered Storm's bedroom.
Harry barely had time to look around (he hadn't actually been in here before) when Ororo turned and pushed him against the door, kissing him hungrily. Harry returned the kiss immediately and his hands went around her waist, slowly making their way down to rest on her hips. Just as he was about to deepen the kiss Ororo moved away, pulling him further into her room and she sat on the bed, pulling him down to sit beside her. "When you leave," she said abruptly, leaning in to nibble at his neck between words, "I'll be leaving with you."
Harry paused in leaning forward to give her the same treatment. "I, I didn't want to presume, you've got a life here, and Evan to look after. You've done enough just listening to some of my plans. I can't ask you to leave your life behind for me."
"You're not asking, it is my choice to go with you. I have, I have become too fond of you to let you go just like that. And I have come to believe that you might represent a better chance for mutant coexistence than Charles. He seems to talk a good fight, but doesn't show enough."
Harry stared into the cerulean eyes of this woman who had wormed her way into his heart so easily, helping to mend a part of him he hadn't even known was broken. He couldn't say just yet that he loved her, they hadn't known each other for more than three month after all, but his feelings were definitely building in that direction, and the idea of making this a more permanent commitment appealed to him greatly. But he was still getting used to the idea of other people caring about him again, so the idea that Storm would put that much emphasis on their relationship as to willingly follow him when he left, that was something else. "Are you sure this is what you want? I, bloody hell, I'd love it more than anything if you did, on a personal and professional level, but are you sure you want to leave with me?"
Ororo brought her hands up and lightly slapped him on both cheeks. "Yes. I am not letting you go so easily Harry Potter. I will go with you, and together we will forge that third path that Mystique's friend told her about."
Harry frowned for an instant remembering that conversation and Mystiques disappearance, but then grinned widely. "I wanted you to come, but I didn't want to pressure you. This means a lot to me Ororo." He leaned forward, capturing her lips, and Ororo's hands slid from his cheeks to the back of his head, pulling him deeper, her mouth opening in invitation, an invitation Harry immediately took.
LIME CONTENT WARNING
As their tongues twirled around one another she let go of her grip on the back of his head, moving down his body and grasping the bottom of his shirt. They broke off just long enough for Harry to pull his shirt off then were back to making out furiously.
Harry suddenly took charge, pushing Ororo down to lay on the bed, trailing kiss down to her neck where he began to nip and kiss at her collarbone. Ororo moaned, closing her eyes and lifting her hips slightly in response to the stimulation. Harry reached down, laying his hands on the bottom of her button-up blouse, looking up at Ororo's face. She nodded, her white hair billowing out around her head on her pillow, her eyes half-lidded, her lips wet and just a little open, easily the most magnificent sight Harry had ever seen. Even his girlfriend's back in his home dimension didn't hold a candle to Ororo in terms of beauty, and this pose was no exception.
Harry deftly began to undo the buttons on her blouse, taking the time to kiss every inch of milk-chocolate colored skin that appeared as he did so, while Ororo began to make the low moaning sound that he found so irresistible. She began to run the fingers of one hand down his muscled back while the other began to help undoing the top buttons of her blouse.
Harry reveled in the feel of Ororo's skin, like silk under his lips and fingers, the taste like a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg and something else he couldn't put a name to, a vision of loveliness with her now exposed D-cup breasts, full yet somehow firm cradled in a gold colored lace bra with frills around the upper edge. He rained little kisses down on her flat stomach, loving the little gurgle of laughter that escaped as he did so. He then nipped and sucked at the skin, causing the laughter to change into a moan, then flicked his tongue into her belly button before sucking hard enough on the skin right above it to cause a hicky.
Harry looked up at her face again, resting his hands on her jeans, but there Ororo shook her head, unwilling to go that far after only a few weeks of dating him. Harry nodded in reply but his eyes widened when instead Ororo reached under her back and undid the clasp on her bra. She pulled it off and threw it away, exposing her breasts to his eyes.
It wasn't the first time he had seen them of course, not even the first time when they were engaged in similar activities, but again he was struck by how amazing they were. Large, a little more than a handful for him, but not overdone, full but not fat, firm yet bouncy, capped with small areola the color or dark chocolate centered around large nipples that looked hard enough to cut glass right now. It shouldn't have to be pointed out by this point, but Harry was a breast man, and a big one too. Ororo's were easily the best he had ever seen, putting the girls he had seen like this back in his old dimension (not nearly as many as he went out with admittedly) to shame.
He worked his way up her body, thrilling in the little news, mewls, moans and gasps that Ororo made, the fingers of both hands now worked into his hair and rubbing at his scalp. That grip became far firmer as he at last reached her breast and began to kiss and nip at the bottom curve of them making his way around and up in a circular fashion while his hands began to play with them, staying away from her nipples for now. "Magnificent, my goddess, every part of you, just magnificent."
Ororo had been worshiped back in Africa as a goddess, but she was rapidly coming to the conclusion that there was being worshiped and being worshiped. The attention Harry was lavishing on her, the love, the sensual pleasure, the desire she felt under every caress and lick was so different than anything her previous two lovers had done. Neither the forceful and experienced nature of the tribesman, who cared not for foreplay, nor the egotistical fumbling of the college boy came even close to this. For him getting her worked up was a means to an end, and he spent just as much time as he could get away with on it before trying to move on to his own pleasure.
It was obviously not the same for Harry. This slow, sensual buildup was pushing all her buttons, and she could feel herself getting wetter by the second, so much so that when she looked past Harry down her own body she saw a wet stain actually seeping through her pants!
Harry gently began to lick and nip at the valley between her breast and his fingers at last moved in to play with her nipples. His right hand began to just gently roll the nipple it was playing with between his thumb and forefinger. His left hand however began to pull on that nipple, and the mix of hard and soft treatment revved Ororo's motor even higher, causing her to lift her hips up in response, her moans even louder.
After about fifteen minutes of this slow torture Harry stopped playing with Ororo's nipples, bringing his hands to the outer side of her breasts and pushing them together. Despite their size he was able to push them together enough to get both of her nipples in his mouth, sucking and biting them gently between his teeth.
"OH goddess, YES!" Ororo came with a shriek, an orgasm that made even the one he had given her on their picnic in the mountains pale by comparison. It was only because of Harry's fast casting of a Mufilatio that stopped telling everyone else in the mansion what the two were doing.
Harry let go of her nipples but continued to rain little kisses around them, occasionally licking them as she shuddered and gasped coming down from her orgasm.
Eventually she pushed Harry away, turning his body so that he was now laying beside her, whereupon she began to return the favor. Her dark lips began to trail licks and kisses down his body while her hands worked at the belt buckle on his pants. She pulled them off him easily, but left his boxers on, though this didn't do much to hide his excitement. Still Ororo wasn't willing to go that far, not quite yet anyway.
She moved back up his body, letting her hands rest on his cock where it was making a very sizable tent in his boxers, slowly working her hands up and around it, giving him a hand job through his boxers. When she reached his face he immediately latched onto her lips, and the two began a very deep kiss while her hands continued to work him over.
Ororo was somewhat surprised at the size of the member she could feel through his boxers. She had known he was well endowed, but the extent of it was still surprising. He was easily larger in girth than either of her previous lovers, and possibly a little larger in length than the tribesman who had taken her virginity (looking back on it that phrase seemed to fit far more than any other she could choose). Her two hands were barely able to work his shaft now, but by the fact he was lifting his hips in an attempt to get more of the feeling it was obviously enough for him. It was calling out to something in her, almost demanding that the two of them go further than she wanted to at the moment, but she held off the feeling.
His kisses too became more forceful, and this hands around her body, one hand on her jean clad rear and the other on her bare back tightened pulling her into his side, her breasts mashing against him. One hand moved around to fondle one of her breasts, a little harder now, but still with that underlying tenderness.
This continued for about fifteen more minutes, with Ororo getting more worked up, heading for a second peak, while Harry manfully tried to stave off his own. He reached down and moved he so that he could once more latch his lips onto one of her nipples and began to play with it, causing her to moan aloud again, here hands working even faster along his boxer-clad shaft.
This went on for several more minutes, until Harry finally couldn't hold it anymore. He let the dark chocolate nipple in his mouth lose for just long enough to say "Ororo, Luv, I'm going to CUMMM!" Before latching onto it even harder, using his teeth to stimulate it even more.
Ororo cried out again, the sensation of teeth on her nipple sending her over the edge once more while Harry shot off his load, his cock moving under his boxers like a cannon, firing shot after shot which soaked through the boxers, quite a lot of it shooting up out of the hole for pissing, going everywhere and covering his thighs, her thighs and even a bit of her mattress under them. In the end it looked like someone had dribbled some kind of slightly watered down clear glue on their thighs, there was so much of it.
Ororo stuck her head into Harry's shoulder, shuddering through her second orgasm in this session, another one that made the ones she had slogged through with her previous lovers seem weak by comparison. She opened her eyes to see him looking at her with his emerald one, a small, loving smile on his face. He leaned in to kiss her gently, which she returned just as gently, basking in the afterglow.
After a few minutes she languidly raised on of her hands to her mouth, tasting his essence, moaning at the taste, a mix of vanilla and cinnamon to her taste buds. She then began to use two fingers to scoop up the cum on their thighs and bring it up to her mouth where she sucked it off her fingers.
Harry watched this with widening eyes then stopped her with a gentle touch on her wrist. "Stop that." He chuckled as she looked up at him in surprise. "If you don't I'm afraid we'll have to go again." He waved down at his crotch, where his cock hadn't flagged despite the almost ridiculous amount of cum he had shot out.
Ororo chuckled throatily, licking her finger in such a manner that Harry nearly jumped her there and then despite their desire to take it slow. "Oh, we wouldn't want that, would we?"
LIME END
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