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"She's moving remarkably quickly isn't she?"
"Most assuredly, almost frenetically."
Sebastian Shaw chuckled at his fellow king's comment while sipping at a fine Merlot. The two of them sat on either side of a small circular table in a special room overlooking the main floor of the Hellfire Club. The room had a wall of one way glass, allowing the two kings, who had the only keys (which were mechanical and technological devices, not actual keys) to this room to look out without being seen.
What many of the club's members didn't realize was that every table on the main floor had a single microphone pickup installed into the wood, hidden under a small veneer of wood that didn't block any of the sound. These microphones allowed the kings of the club to be aware of any deals being made or anything else going on of interest.
The two kings were a study in physical contrasts, yet that was only on the surface. Sebastian Shaw was a large, heavily muscled man, with short curly black hair, who wore the clothing of a medieval lord easily, yet his large hands still had calluses from his youth as a worker in a factory, and there was a dark, brooding almost thuggish air to him at times.
Edward Buckman was slightly taller and his body was much thinner, with blond hair and he wore the outfit of the club like one born to it, as he had been. While his hands seemed free of mark and callus they were still wiry and capable, his wrists powerful from years of fencing lessons and his light blue eyes were sharp and searching.
Both kings were sharp both in business and in every other walk of life. Now the two of them were watching the newest member of the Inner Circle once more wheeling and dealing.
Emma was currently ensconced at a table in one of the club's corners with Warren Worthington the Third. A not very well thought of recent addition to the club Warren had taken his family's place in the club after his father had passed away. The general consensus among the other club members was that the blonde playboy was a rather useless fop who would be lost without the extremely competent board of directors his father had left behind to actually run the company. In point of fact, both kings knew that Warren had absolutely no control over the company and simply received a stipend from its earnings, a state of affairs that would continue for at least three more years.
The two blondes were talking about Worthington Industries, and the boy was actually taking notes on a notepad as Emma dictated some ideas to him. Perhaps once the time came for him to actually take the reins he wouldn't be entirely useless. Emma's business acumen was truly impressive for one so young, but to the two Kings her moves were not nearly subtle enough to be overlooked along with some other oddities.
Edward sipped at his own bottle, looking out across the club. "She has done well in terms of making deals for her family's corporation. The net worth of that little deal she sprang on Lindel Walsh alone should be worth 2 billion a year without even considering the savings for FP."
Lindel Walsh was a senior member of the club in fact he had been a club member longer than Edward had been the Red King. He was a majority shareholder in an international shipping company, not big money in comparison to many of the other regular members, let alone the Inner Circle, but steady and somewhat important. The deal in question was to ship Frost Pharmaceuticals at well below the price they were currently paying to his rival's shipping company, a major coup for him, but an even greater one for Emma, as it would save FP several millions of dollars.
Shaw nodded absently, looking down at Emma who was smiling that little smile of hers that he had seen several times in the recent weeks, but there seemed to be an extra edge of happiness to it today, and he frowned, wondering why. Emma was a dangerous young woman, and he preferred to keep track of her movements just to be safe. Winston was a known commodity, easy to predict and plan for. Emma was something new, and he didn't have a handle on her just yet even with all the information he had gathered before she actually joined the Inner Circle. On Emma's short term goals, yes, on how she thought, really thought or about her long term goals, no.
Edward looked across at his fellow King. While the two did not in any way trust (or even like) eachother the Inner Circle always projected a united front, both due to the rules of the club and because it made good business sense. Edward had plans to change the status quo, but for now image had to be maintained. "Paris likes her, but I suppose that is natural. I am surprised however that you didn't take the king's privilege with her, you aren't exactly known for largesse." The king's privilege was what they called when one of the kings agreed to foster a queen and was repaid by use of her body, and in return in this case for several favorable business deals.
Sebastian coughed delicately, one of his large boxer's hand raising his glass in salute like a fencer signaling a touch. "The thought had occurred to me, and indeed I was going to, but the idea somehow didn't really appeal to me once I was in her presence. Then too, Lourdes would geld me if she found out. She's unhappy as it is with the fact I make use of the girls here. If I took another fulltime lover, she'd either leave me or attack me, not certain which."
Edward laughed lightly, but his eyes were shrewd as he looked at the other man, seeing the second part of what he had just said as the smokescreen it was. Lourdes was a pleasant and vivacious woman, but she and Shaw had little in common. Their relationship, if it could really be called that, was doomed from the start.
On the other hand Edward had found his own appreciative thoughts of their new member stopping whenever he was actually close to Emma. After a few days it was quite obvious, since one of his fondest dreams was to have a threesome with Paris and some other woman. Of course Paris would never go along with such a thing, but a man could dream. "Some kind of device you think, or something else?"
Shaw frowned internally. That was a very good question, one he didn't have an answer to. But that didn't mean he wanted his fellow King to have even an inkling of the Emma's ability. Sebastian hoped to eventually induce her to join him in various clandestine projects he was starting recently, and her power would be much more useful for that the more it was unknown. So it was best to redirect his suspicion. "Almost certainly a device, some kind of deterrent field, it could have come from the time she went off to find that mutant Forge His power has something to do with creating technological devices."
Of course both kings had their own intelligence agents and were aware of Emma's movement both before and after she was introduced to the Hellfire Club, though where she had disappeared to search for Forge they hadn't been able to discover, having lost her somewhere in upstate New York.
Sebastian watched Edward's face and saw a very tiny tick of the eye when he used the term 'mutant' and nodded internally. Emma's warning about Edward and Pierce had stuck in his mind (without any help from her, he had made certain of that) and he had already redistributed some of his surveillance resources to watch their movements. Pierce was obviously anti-mutant once Sebastian had looked at the background of some of his 'private security forces', whose size was tiny in comparison to Shaw's own, yet even better armed. On the other hand it wasn't that easy to get a handle on his fellow king's 'social views'. He had found out Edward's funds were going somewhere, but not where just yet.
Now he decided to throw his fellow king off the trail further. "Or it could have come from the same place some of Frost's software worms come from."
They both scowled at that idea, far-fetched though it was considering the lack of affection between daughter and father. Frost Corporation's corporate espionage was simply better than most of their enemies. Not by a wide margin across the board, but in the particular world of computer espionage, they were well ahead of practically everyone, bar Stark and a few other top computer tech geniuses and even there it was debatable. Their software worms were incredible, and both other kings had been trying for years (longer by far than Shaw's own kingship actually) to figure out where they had come from, who had come up with the programming for them.
What they didn't know was that Winston kept that secret to himself, not sharing it with anyone in his family.
Buckman thought Emma used them to gather the intelligence she used, but she didn't, she used her own powers, which Shaw knew about, and the other resources her company could bring to bear. Only Winston could use the majority of the computer worms that had made his company so very deadly at gathering information.
The two looked at one another, wondering which would broach the subject first and five minutes later it was Sebastian who at last broke the silence. "You realize we need to choose whether to stand aside or back one or the other."
There was no need here between them to explicitly state what they were really talking about here. It was obvious to anyone who watched her work that Emma was trying to distance herself from her father's control. There was obviously no love lost between Winston and any of his surviving children, and while neither king knew how she was going to do it, they both could tell Emma was going to strike out at him. Most of the agreements were between Emma and fellow club members making verbal agreements for her family's corporation, and thus would fall apart without her, allowing Emma to create her own powerbase.
Yet Until Winston was gone Emma was vulnerable, with no real power base of her own outside her recent personal acquisition of Stark stocks. Everything she did was connected to her family's corporation. And his recent murder of his son showed what lengths Winston would go to keep control of his family. Even though neither knew how or could prove it, they both knew Winston was behind his son's death, the boy had been a source of disappointment to the elder Frost his entire life.
Edward leaned back in his plush green leather chair thoughtfully. While none of the deals Emma had been making with their fellow club members directly enriched him or his lady, the fact Paris liked her made up for that, helped of course by the fact that anyone who made business deals in the club paid the kings a fee for the club's services. In truth it wasn't a difficult decision for him. While he and Winston came from the same social background, Winston had never been a friend he was a business associate at best, and he had never done much business with the man.
He looked thoughtful, "I think I will, like any intelligent future or current husband should, follow my lady's opinion in this matter."
Shaw laughed politely at his joke as he thought about his own response. In actuality Winston and he had been closer than it at first appeared to others. But Sebastian had never trusted the older Frost, and Emma was a mutant like Shaw which worked in her favor. The energy and ability she showed was refreshing even with that cold exterior she used so easily. On top of that he had come to the conclusion that the woman was almost certainly downplaying her telepathic ability, which made her even more intriguing and potentially useful. "Well, as long as young Emma continues to comport herself with a becoming grace, I suppose I can bear up under the weight of my sorrow at our friend's forthcoming passing."
Edward chuckled at the other man's tone. They both leaned back in their plush chairs looking out at the Hellfire Club. Both kings were wondering which of them would be in control of it and all its resources in a year's time, and what part the young Frost would play in the games of power.
OOOOOOO
Harry had taken the day after the meeting with Emma and the others to do two things. First he followed up on some suggestions Emma had made on how and where to start his company, as well as beginning to contact some names of people to talk to smooth the process. While that part had gone all right, it wasn't nearly as smooth a process as he had envisioned, and he resolved to learn more about the business side of things from now on. The rest of that first day was spent adding Orihalcum scales, small nail sized slivers of the metal, to Storm's suit. He didn't have enough at the moment to add them to both his lady's uniform and his crysis suit and that was an easy choice to make.
The next evening found Harry once more out and about to see if he could add one more government to the bidding war Emma had convinced him was a good idea. This visit however would be about much more than that, and deserved a more personable approach. The fact this way would also be more fun didn't have anything to do with it…
Harry's invisibility cloak was different from any other in his old dimension or this one. While others were simply made from the skin, fur or whatever of various creatures that could blend in or turn invisible, his got its version of invisibility from something far less mundane. It was the third of the Deathly Hallows in truth, like the Resurrection Stone and the Elder Wand, a thing made by his birth dimension's personification of Death.
As such, it didn't just make him invisible, it hid him from the sight of any who might do him harm. Harry wasn't certain even now how Melody had seen him under it, but he knew it could block out even the most advanced scientific methods of detection. Once he cast a silencing and scent masking spell on himself no one could even detect him and together he could sneak anywhere he wished no matter how tough the security. He had found out that even his infrared heat signature was blocked by the cloak.
Using this potent combination he had snuck through both magical and mundane security measures and even live guards to be here, on a balcony right outside some of the most dangerous wards he had ever seen. They weren't incredibly powerful, but they showed a certain… imaginative viciousness to them that made Hogwarts and even Dr. Strange's place seem gentle in comparison.
OOOOOOO
William (he only allowed his family to shorten his name, not even his closest friends called him Will) the Fifth of the house of Windsor by the grace of God King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, groaned happily as he slid into his comfy leather chair in his private sitting room in Buckingham Palace. His daughter, her husband and their new baby were out at Windsor Castle for the weekend, and thankfully the hangers-on had moved with them, leaving him time to actually get on with the business of running the nation. He smirked as he sipped at his gin and sling, amused as always in his old age at the memory of the faces of the privy councilors and Prime Minister all those years ago when he decided to start actually using the powers of the ancient monarchy.
At the time the pro-Germanic House of Lords had made a pact with the small minority of the House of Commons to back Adolf Hitler's anti-Semite agenda to stay out of the war on the mainland. When the Prime Minister, Lord Hampshire, had come before him for what had been couched as a 'routine' law signing to that effect, William had shocked them all and the rest of the government by refusing to sign the law that would have put the United Kingdom squarely alongside the forces of Nazi Germany.
They had been even more astonished when they realized that the armed forces of the United Kingdom took their oaths to the crown seriously and were champing at the bit to get in the fight with the Nazis. Then there was the fact that the House of Commons had decided they had had enough and began to move against the lords with the king's approval. Thanks to the fact that Lord Asquith had not succeeded in passing the Parliament Act of 1911 the House of Commons had become a playing ground for lord-led unions and guilds. But that ended dramatically when the commoners realized how much real power they already had, and decided not to go along with the status quo any longer.
What began as a political conflict between a thirty-something and not so idealistic king against a rich cabal of bought racists became an ongoing internal conflict, with William and his friend and mentor Winston Churchill on one side and the previous Prime Minister and his allies on the other. It actually came to direct combat several times, though three times were much more important than the majority which more often than not were merely violent police actions than real military conflict.
The first such real battle was when the former PM tried to have William assassinated. The attempt failed thanks to the sacrifice of the Kings Life Guardsmen of the 1st Commando Royal Marines, half of whom died at their posts fighting against a full scale assault by hundreds of German soldiers disguised as civilians and smuggled into the country by the Former Prime minister for this assault. After that, with hundreds of real citizens having seen the assault and heard the attackers shouting in German, public opinion had turned even further against Lord Hampshire.
The second time was after Hitler sent super-powered aid to his allies in the United Kingdom in the form of the Master Man and the Red Skull. They had intended to attack the House of Commons when it was holding a referendum that would have demanded that the House of Lord's powers be severely restricted. They were met by the Defenders, a team of superheroes comprised of Namor, the original Human Torch, and Captain America. The assault failed, and with William and his own lordly allies backing them, the House of Commons began the process of taking back power from their so-called betters.
The third time was when the Red Skull tried to detonate a gas bomb in the center of London to kill the king and his main supporters, who had just won the political battles against Hampshire and arrested him for treason. Thanks to Captain America and Union Jack this assault failed and the Red Skull was forced to retreat with his allies to Germany.
That was over forty years ago now, but William was still here, and the changes his little rebellion had wrought in the nature of Britain's government were also still in place. The Prime Minister of course retained a lot of power in the realm of politics both foreign and domestic, and the House of Commons and Lords (now significantly reduced and dominated by William's backers) controlled lawmaking.
But the domain of security of the realm (defined as defensive measures against foreign and domestic threats, in no way could he declare war or take aggressive action) was very firmly in the monarchy's hands, and he had the power of veto over any bill concerning that, though he would have to back up his reasoning in front of the House of Commons, which could override him with a two/thirds majority vote. And of course there was a committee that looked over any spending in that area, but for the most part since he worked with most of them on creating that budget, there were no insurmountable issues there.
Of course not everyone liked the idea of a monarch having that much power, back then or now, America in particular was leery of the idea of one of its closest allies being led by a monarch, but it worked in Great Britain. This was helped because he still routinely backed the House of Commons against the House of Lords, and the monarchy's resurgent power was based off protecting the common man from the influence of their so-called Lords, the same ones who nearly led their country and the world to ruin in WW2.
On top of that his personal views had a weight and gravity to them that couldn't be ignored, though he rarely used it these days. The popularity of his house was high across the board, especially after he had instituted the concept of 'service to the people' in his children and his entire family, which helped keep that popularity high. The people knew the entire house of Windsor now believed in self-sacrifice for the good of the nation they led and the security of their realm.
Of course these days 'the security of the Realm' meant more than it ever had before. William sighed as he shook his head, remembering the day's nasty business, shaking his head sadly.
His musings were interrupted by a voice he had never heard before coming from the balcony outside his very sitting room. "Congratulations on the birth of your second grandchild, your Majesty. I'd offer you some wine or whatever spirits you might prefer, but I'm pants at it and also can't actually come in to do it. I really don't want to get on the bad side of the magic wards around this palace. Frankly just standing here is enough to make me nervous. My name is Harry Potter, and I would like to discuss the possibility of my doing business in your fine Kingdom."
William's drink stilled about a centimeter off the drink coaster as his mind went into sudden overdrive. At first he had been worried that this was a particularly mouthy assassin with a flair for the dramatic, but someone getting this far and not simply taking his shot would be insane. Added to that was the second part of that statement, the bit about 'wards.' That told him that this visitor was a rather specific sort of visitor, and he wondered what else could go wrong today.
He decided to fish for information a bit and responded to the conversational tone of the intruder in kind. "The last time I heard about the wards of this castle was when Dr. Druid warned me of a dark cabal of seven sorcerers who were trying to gain control of the company. And while your accent is that of a citizen of my country, I thought I knew the few loyal users of magic in our realm, yet I have never heard your name before."
"I'm not here for anything like that, though explaining the reasons I am here will take some time. And the wards here are incredible." Harry thought they looked like something a Marauder with a lethal sense of humor would come up with. "It's not enough that they would simply kill someone attacking those inside with magic, no they would kill you and make your dead body an object of ridicule. Children would point and laugh until their mother's came and dragged them away from the mangled and twisted remains of what had been a magic-user foolish enough to challenge the wards here. As to why you haven't heard of me, well that will take some explaining. It's quite a story, if I do say so myself."
William chuckled at the way the magic user described the ancient wards around his family's castle. The fact was, this magic user was only the second one to have even gotten this far, and he knew that no magic user could do him harm here without overpowering the wards, something even Mys-tech, a group of seven ancient sorcerers who had sold their souls to a demon lord, hadn't been able to do when they tried to attack his family to sacrifice his first grandchild in some kind of ritual to summon their patron. The wards had slaughtered four of them, and Dr. Druid, Union Jack and a foreign mage Dr. Druid called in had killed the other three who had remained outside. So he felt relatively safe from one mage. Plus it isn't the first time I've been visited like this, even discounting Dr. Druid. "I presume I have to formally invite you in?"
"Indeed, unless you want your groundskeepers to find a new statue on the grounds shaped like…" Harry paused and looked closely at some of the wards around him, shuddering. "Each balcony has a slightly different effect if tripped by an unwelcomed guest. This particular one would transfigure me into a living statue of a teapot and kill me slowly by draining out my blood through the spout. I'll leave it to your imagination what particular part of me would be the spout."
William coughed on his gin and sling, shaking his head to remove the horrible yet oddly humorous image from his mind. "Then I, William the third do give you welcome for this night only, so long as you intend me or any within no harm. I thus bid you enter our royal presence."
Harry nodded and without removing his invisibility cloak opened the door leading from the balcony into the sitting room. Once inside he pulled back his cloak's hood and looked at the king of Britain, his body still invisible. He bowed, smirking as he knew what he looked like, a bodiless head moving up and down with nothing to support it. "Your majesty, thank you for your kind invitation, I really didn't want to tangle with those wards." Harry could have blown through them at his current power levels, but much like the ones around Hogwarts, the collateral damage would have been extreme.
William nodded, not letting any of his uneasiness show, though the fact that his guest's unexpected entrance hadn't caused at least a guard to come in and check on him was rather worrying. "Please be seated, and share with this business deal you have for us."
Harry did so, looking around the room almost nostalgically. "Well the furniture's the same, though the décor is decidedly different."
William raised an eyebrow in query. "I know that magic users are routinely older than they appear, but even with that, you seem to be far too young to have been here before without my knowledge."
"Oh, I suppose I've never been here before, not here, here. You see I'm from an alternate dimension." Harry needed a powerful political ally, so he was willing to be as open as he had to be to get the job done. And coming to the king, while made easier because of his connection to Britain in his old dimension was not a decision Harry had made on the fly either.
Ever since hearing a five minute bio of the king on the history channel he had researched the king of the United Kingdom extensively. William had impressed him both by his actions as a ruler in the past, and how he had come out in support of mutant rights a few days ago (primarily, it must be said, because his grandson might be one according to rumor). The king was old, well into his seventies, but was still a powerful presence despite that. His openness in this meeting was also helped along by the nostalgia for his home dimension, and the aid he had gotten from the royal family there in defeating Voldemort and his followers.
The king made an interrogative noise and Harry smiled. "I sort of came through the backdoor so to speak, thanks to the Fantastic Four; I presume you know about them?" William snorted in response and Harry smiled and went on. "Where I come from there were no superheroes or mutants, but there were a heck of a lot more magic users who lived apart in our own community. But suffice to say, I had a difference of opinion with the magical government there. You fought against the Nazis and their allies in the last world war; I fought against the magical equivalent, except they owned the government too." Harry explained where had he come from, and how he had come to be in this universe, but made no mention of the X-men, only saying that he had met the FF by chance, during one of Reed's overambitious scientific experiments.
This took about forty minutes all told, during which William merely sat and studied the young man in front of him. As Potter wound down he nodded. "So you met our equivalent and he aided you by giving you training? Interesting."
"Well, yes, except for the fact that your equivalent was a woman." The king coughed on his gin for the second time, and Harry chuckled, "Queen Elizabeth the second in point of fact."
William shot him a look but sighed, having gotten the measure of the young man in front of him during his description of his past. Potter might have a gift for the dramatic, but his was an honest, blunt personality, reminding William rather strongly of his old friend Winston. There was steel in his eyes though, an iron hard determination to stand up for those who needed his aid, a quick and ready wit, and despite his dubious sense of humor, there was a very dangerous aura about him, much like many elite veterans the king had met before, including one of his nephews, who had served in the SAS. There was also no deference in him toward the king, or any authority for that matter it seemed, nor fear even sitting under the very wards that had forced him to wait outside until he was invited in. "Be that as it may, perhaps you should get to the point of this nighttime visit Mister Potter; I'm old, and old people need their beauty sleep. I don't suppose this has anything to do with any of the 'dark regions'; those areas of Great Britain that none may enter? I asked Dr. Druid about them years ago, but even he could not enter them."
Harry frowned internally. He had thought about keeping Hogwarts a secret, well, okay, Emma had basically told him it would be idiotic to use it solely as the face of his company when it could be so much better used as a hidden resource that no one even knew existed, but he hadn't anticipated that the king of Britain would know anything about it, even in vague terms like this. And I didn't think there would be other areas like that… I suppose a warding scheme powered by the leylines might still be up even without anyone around for it to protect so long as the hearthstone powering them isn't being asked to do too much. I definitely need to check that out as more land/resources could prove useful in the future. Still, I'll have to share something with this man if I want both his political and personal backing.
"I can't honestly tell you anything about that, and while I do realize they are technically inside your country's borders they do not represent useable land to you and yours, so any discussion about them would be at best premature." Actually Harry wasn't even certain if he would be able to enter other warded areas as he had Hogwarts, but he wasn't about to say that right now. It really depended on if he could find the area they covered, and then break the wards or bypass them without causing the land around it too much damage.
"But that isn't the full reason I am here. I want to start a business, selling potions to begin with. I'm giving consideration to starting that business here in the United Kingdom. I'm curious if royal approval could pave the way for me, making the UK a much better fit than say Ireland where I am also strongly considering. I should clarify that the potions I'm considering selling have already been used on non-magicals, and they worked perfectly without any side effects."
William's eyebrow shot up, this was definitely not what he had been expecting. "Potions? What kind of ailments are these potions supposed to cure?"
"Four main ones to start with, though others may be released over time. The first is one that can heal any and all kinds of nerve damage, another can re-grow damaged or even missing bones, and there's a salve that can heal burns and re-grow skin better than anything on the market today, and finally there's the blood replenishing potion, which does precisely what it sounds like, no need to be matched up with a donor or anything like that. I'm afraid even magic can't re-grow wholly lost limbs or help with brain damage, but you can see that what I have to offer would be welcomed by the world and how valuable it could be. I even have some on hand if you want to see them at work."
Harry smirked a little on the inside as he laid that out in as blasé a fashion as he could. His time earlier that evening with Emma had been most informative. She had successfully conveyed to him that his potions would be sought the world over and that his choice in which country to headquarter in would be offering that country a multi-billion pound industry stretching far into the future. Any country, even a first world country, would be insane to ignore the potential revenue that could give them, the boost to the country's overall economy, and the increase in influence that country would be able to boast on the world stage. Success bred success after all. As Harry's company prospered, so would Great Britain and its citizens. And while he wanted to offer Great Britain the first opportunity, Emma had stressed that it would be up to them to woo him, not the other way around. Whatever sentimental reasons he had for going to the king first shouldn't change that.
It had taken quite a bit to force these truths into his head, but Harry had at last understood the logic and good sense of it, after six or seven repetitions. Ororo also agreed wholeheartedly with Emma's words and that clinched it for him (Jean simply said he should listen to the expert, not really caring about the business side of things).
"Of course as a British national, no matter my odd arrival in this universe, I felt that I would see what sort of offer I could get from my homeland first before shopping around." Harry added with a wry, yet somewhat false smile.
William felt his face blank for a moment as he thought about the truly massive amount of money those potions would garner the man in front of him if he could produce those potions in large enough quantities to meet the ridiculous levels of demand the world would inevitably have for them. To say these potions of his are game changers is putting it mildly. It would certainly skyrocket him into the echelons of the richest in my realm, possibly in the whole world given enough time. My god, the sales he would make to the armed forces alone!
Like the consummate statesman he was he controlled his voice and face as he began negotiations. "That sounds like an interesting proposal Mr. Potter. I suppose I could see my way into clearing your way to starting up your company here in the UK. For instance, setting the corporate tax rate to 15% for the first ten years, and waiving the land ownership taxation for any land you purchase for the same time frame. The value added tax will of course stay the same."
Harry tried to remember what Emma (and surprisingly Ororo, who had a very good grasp of taxation and what it meant) had pounded into his brain then smiled a faint little smile. "Well, that sounds interesting enough, for a start. But I believe my financial advisor mentioned something about setting the corporate tax at 12% for the first ten years and raising it from there. And as for land tax, I can't see the need for more land cropping up at any point. I have no quibble about the value added tax."
The king went on, "In terms of the corporate tax, I would be willing to have it remain at 15% for the first fifteen years, with an agreement to raise it by one percent every year after until it reaches my original offer." That was actually very close to the best offer he could make without consulting his cabinet and the PM since this was not in fact covered by his own area of control.
He hoped Harry went for it, not that he had any doubt it would be ratified once the PM and the others heard what it would bring them. "I could also see to extending that rate of taxation to any other avenues of business you open up in the future in my country. But you must realize Mr. Potter that we only have your word on the efficacy of these potions you intend to sell. Until their ability is proven by a neutral panel of experts, then all you have is the idea of them."
Harry made a show of rubbing his chin thoughtfully, and the king watched him with suddenly narrowed eyes. That was the same point that the people he had talked to in Ireland had mentioned, and they had been rather smug about it. Emma had set up several meetings with business people in Ireland and even with her last name and her endorsement he had been met with a lot more in the way of, well, amused contempt really. Oh, they had given him a decent first offer despite this, but it was clear none of them felt his potions would be able to do what he implied they would. The king on the other hand knew of magic, and seemed to believe him, despite what he had just said.
And that last little add about extending the rate of taxation to his other businesses was a major incentive all by itself, and the rest of the package was pretty close to ideal. Yet Emma had told him to never agree to the first proposal no matter what, not even a verbal agreement to that effect. "Well, I suppose as a first offer that sounds fair. I'd have to consult with my advisors of course before making any decision, as well as shop around a bit to see what the other nations would be willing to offer. I already have an appointment with a business rep in Ireland, so we'll see."
The king watched him through narrowed eyes. He's acting the part of a business man, but this is not something that comes naturally to him, so why? There's something else going on here. During his tale of his past Harry had never come across as someone who was all that interested in money, and seemed more the type to do good on his own rather than through a charity or business like this. This all strikes me as a means to an end, not the end itself. Whatever this young man is, he is not ambitious in terms of wishing for fame and wealth. And while he no doubt thinks his company can do a lot of good in the world, there is something else going on here. The question is what?
He stood up, his knees creaking as he deliberately let his face harden to match his voice as he spoke with the royal 'we.' "That is fine for now Mr. Potter, we will be willing to make a firmer offer later once your potions are proven to work. Yet dangling a carrot in front of us cannot blind us to the fact that you want something more than merely easing your way. Once proven such potions as you have described would clear any medical or pharmaceutical board in most countries faster than we could blink. The sheer amount of good they could do would force that, and the amount of money they could make the government and the resultant boost to its economy would have most bending over backward to work with you. What are your long term goals? Why have you come to us personally like this? And do not say it is just for nostalgia's sake or because you have a lingering sense of loyalty to the crown, we know that is not the totality of your reasons."
Harry leaned back smiling faintly, unsurprised that the king had seen through him. "You made a speech two days ago saying that mutants should be given the same rights under the law as anyone else, and that hate crimes against them should be subjected to the full power of the law. I believe the same thing, that mutants should not be feared or hated or discriminated against because of their powers, but nor should they set themselves above 'normal' humans. Humans and mutants should work together for the betterment of all humanity and the Earth as a whole. I've seen what can happen when one group discriminates against others." And I'm greatly afraid there are bigger fish to fry out there…
Harry had read through the records the FF kept on their past enemies and while many of the homegrown variety worried him (Doctor Doom topping that list by a significant margin, and it was coming close to the time when Harry knew he would have to contact him lest the Latveria monarch take offense at how long it had taken) it was the extra-solar and extra-dimensional enemies that most concerned him. While the FF were amazing and had handled the Skrull and the Kree expeditionary parties, that was all they had been, expeditionary parties. Neither race seemed likely to put forth the effort to conquer Earth, but they could destroy it far more easily. Human technology was changing rapidly, and it would not be long until they were noticed by other players on the galactic stage, and would thus become tempting a target.
That didn't even consider the other enemies the FF had dealt with, Like Galactus or similar enemies such as the Beyonder or even the Watcher (an idea that Harry had issues with). And course Harry was also worried about that big red thing that had ordered wizard-kinds genocide as a failed experiment.
"Mutant rights…." William said, sitting down again. "You want us as an ally for not just your business, but your political agenda. That makes some sense." He looked at the man in front of him, thinking hard. When he spoke up about mutant rights William had spoken as an individual. He had not spoken as the sovereign ruler of his nation, and had made that distinction at the time. Asking him to come out and support pro-mutant rights as the ruler of his realm was something very different. Yet even with that there was something else going on here.
Neither of them was putting all of their cards on the table here, but it was obvious the man had other plans even beyond promoting mutant rights in the political and social arenas by getting rich enough so that people had to listen to him.
Given the history he described, it would not surprise me at all if Mr. Potter is thinking of employing extra-lawful means to back up his position, and given his history he would probably be very good at it too. Hmm... Perhaps there is a way to see what else he can offer, as well as get some help with the problem facing my nation right now. "We shall be blunt Mr. Potter. It is obvious to us that you feel strongly about this, and are not the type to use only one arrow when you have more in your quiver. While I am fine as a person putting my backing behind that stance Mr. Potter, we as king of Britannia would require more immediate recompense to add our weight further to that issue. At the moment we would require you to undertake certain actions in our name for the defense of our land."
Parsing this statement out easily enough Harry steepled his fingers, his lips twisting in something closer to a grimace than a smile. It would appear as if the king had seen rather more than Harry could have wished, but it was also obvious that he was facing some problems on the home front. Still, perhaps I can get more out of this relationship than just an easier road to selling my potions. "So exactly what kind of magical issues are you having?"
William smiled, glad the younger man wasn't immediately saying no. "Not so much magical Mr. Potter as super-powered. Perhaps as a newcomer to this world you are unaware that Britain has had a history of super-powered individuals both heroic and villainous and not just magical. In recent times several superpowered individuals have appeared, including Captain Britain and others, ranging from heroes to simple citizens with special abilities. Unfortunately there have also been more superpowered criminals. Many of them agreed to be tied into our intelligence agencies, the MI's, as a new unit designated S.T.R.I.K.E., tasked with handling paranormal and superpowered dangers. It was to be a mixed unit of regular spy agents, all experienced personnel, and our new superpowered allies."
William's face twisted into a snarl of anger, sadness, and a bit of fear, something he would never allow on his face in public. "Evidently those who have turned to crime were ahead of us in this. A rather minor crime-lord named Vixen seems to have some rather powerful backers hidden to our sight. She was able to infiltrate the new unit and wipe out most of its members from within with the help of a few superpowered assassins. It was a major blow in terms of the lives lost and the accumulated experience and powers we can no longer call upon in times of great need."
Indeed that was heavily understating things. STRIKE had lost practically everything and everyone, and how things had gotten to that point was one of the many questions now plaguing William and the director of MI5 Jack Harper, whose agency STRIKE was supposed to answer to. Vixen had somehow impersonated the director of STRIKE so well she was able to completely gut it and get away, and the assassin Slaymaster had killed the telepaths who had seen through her deception. Every field agent had been compromised and quickly lost, and her hired killers hadn't just been Slaymaster, but her own gang apparently aided by several genetically enhanced thugs. She had waited until every field agent had been killed, then shut down the security of the building, allowing her own thugs inside while Slaymaster and others hunted down the telepaths and the other superpowered individuals in their civilian identities.
The clairvoyant Lady Witherspoon, whose sight had been blinded for weeks yet hadn't reported it for some reason, Brian Falsworth the aging Union Jack who had served the realm with distinction for so long. The telepaths Kevin Mulhearn, Vicki Reppion, Avril Davis and several other loyal special-citizens had all died in the horrific assault, not to mention the regular field agents and director Lance Hunter. Even Dr. Druid, the United Kingdom's expert on magic, had disappeared in the wake of the assault. The only superpowered agent who had survived was the telepath Betsy Braddock, sister of Brian Braddock, Captain Britain's alter ego, and young Betsy had her eyes gauged out by Slaymaster. It was only through her brother's timely intervention that she too hadn't died.
"Yet that would be bad enough, if we didn't think it was the start of something even bigger. Vixen alone should never have had the resources necessary to pull this off, or frankly the desire to, in our opinion. The only way this attack makes sense is if it was the start of something far larger." In point of fact after he had heard about the scope of the assault William had several flashbacks to the Second World War. "Thus we would wish for you to hunt down the perpetrators of this heinous assault, and when you do, do with them what you feel appropriate."
Harry leaned back rubbing at his temples thoughtfully, his own instincts about trouble roused by the story, as well as his Saving People Thing™, which Hermione had always told him would get him in trouble someday. "I'll need a starting point somewhere, some kind of description of the perpetrators in question, maybe a contact point with MI5 and the Yard, and you realize this might become ugly very quickly."
"Better a little ugliness now than far more later. If you can keep the fallout to a minimal that would be nice, but regardless we wish for this threat to the realm dealt with, and will okay whatever you do in pursuit of that within reason. Stop by the Braddock mansion tomorrow morning. We will inform them of your arrival and the reasons for it, and we'll pass on through the good captain names and phone numbers for you to contact as well as any information that has been thus far collected." The king rattled off the address of the Braddock estate, hoping this would also help Captain Britain get out of his rather stupid funk.
William would have been much more sympathetic to it if he had thought that it was because of what had happened to his sister, but given the ramblings and musings reported back to him it was more because he had killed Slaymaster to protect Betsy than anything else. That, William thought, was the height of naïve stupidity.
"If you can help us in our time of duress Mr. Potter you have our word that I will speak out as often as we can as an individual for pro-mutant rights, and as the king, as well as possibly aiding you in other areas." William looked into Harry's eyes, making certain the younger man knew he was speaking about far more than just making the UK a very attractive place to set up his company.
Harry understood that immediately, and wondered how else the king could help him, and if he was really serious about it. Still at the moment his own instincts were telling him there was trouble brewing with the STRIKE thing, and dealing with it now would be easier than dealing with the fallout later.
After a moment he nodded. "In that case your highness, I think we've come to as much of an agreement as we can at this point. I will do what I can to find out what is really going on concerning this current crisis but for now, I will bid you a good evening." Harry stood up, once more donning his invisibility cloak, pulled up the hood, and within moments was gone from the grounds of Buckingham palace. Once outside the wards he entered an empty alleyway, and then apparated directly back to the castle.
When he returned to Hogwarts, Harry found Ororo and Melody outside by the lake. The African woman was explaining the difference between fish and mammals to the young girl. She had been appalled by the fact that Melody seemingly couldn't remember anything she had learned in school before being sent to the sanitarium, and was determined to make up that lack of knowledge. Melody's powers worked against this unfortunately, interfering in her ability to take in and retain some forms of information, but Ororo was persevering, not yet willing to give up.
They both looked up as Harry appeared on the castle's lawn behind them, and Storm smiled faintly as Melody waved. "So did you have any success on your little endeavor?"
Harry had confided in Ororo that he was going to seek a political ally, but hadn't gone into much detail. If he had she would probably have been much more worried than she was. "Not exactly. It looks as if quid pro quo is the name of the game here, and you, me, and possibly Jean are going to have a bit of a job to do."
OOOOOOO
Since it would give her some more hours of daylight to work with Jean travelled back to the X-mansion with one of the house elves, a young male named Tipsy. From there she went out and rented a truck for a few hours and drove it around to the different parts stores and junk yards. It took her a while, nearly as much time as she 'saved' going back to the New York time zone, but in the end she had everything she and Harry would be able to find on the commercial market. These weren't components to build the arc generator she and Harry had designed of course. That would take specialized parts to build a working life size generator.
But this would be enough to build a few things that she thought they might need, as well as enough wiring to at the very least connect everything she wanted to a central generator and a specialized computer for design work, as well as quite a lot of random electronics and a new DVD player and TV, since the runes Harry had used to power the last two had burned them out. Jean was actually interested in opening the brunt out systems to see how his magic had done it, and decided that would be her first little project. That way they would know if wiring the castle could actually work before they devoted any time to actually doing it. Of course she had also thought of a few other points to bring up to Harry, but that was for later.
When she drove the full truck back into the garage where Tipsy would start to transport it she saw Logan working on his jeep. Rogue had taken it over almost completely, something that apparently irritated the Canadian native and he enjoyed taking care of it whenever the southern belle wasn't around.
Logan looked up as the truck pulled to a stop and Jean hopped out, smiling as she turned away from him, his eyes glued to her rear. Jean felt his eyes and shivered with a bit of revulsion, but also a lot of rage and more than a little honest confusion. "Put those eyes back in your head unless you want to lose them old man." Jeans word's came out almost conversationally, yet there was no doubting the threat was real.
Logan smirked however, not taking his eyes off her. "You got fire in you gal, I'm glad you're not saddled with that asshole Duncan anymore, and even more that you ain't with the Boy Scout."
Jean couldn't argue with the former label for Duncan, but in her opinion Scott had moved beyond the Boy Scout appellation, or if it was still applicable he was some odd kind of badass Boy Scout. Scott had won a lot of points with her in the fight with the FF against the demons, and while still a by the rules kind of guy he was much more confident and personable these days.
However what she took most umbrage with was the fact Logan said that line in such a way as to make it seem as if being free of them made her fair game for him. She glared at the man, shaking her head. "Look, Wolverine… you're a nice guy and all, but god this whole flirting thing is just so wrong it's freaking me out. Not only are you too old, but you're hairy, you've been my teacher for two years which makes it incredibly nasty, you're hirsute, we've got little to nothing in common, you're shaggy, and you're just not my type at all. I don't know why you've suddenly decided to flirt with me after watching me grow up for over two years, but I think you need to get a hold of yourself."
Logan was about to answer back with a snarky comment ('don't knock it till you've tried it') but her last few words made him pause and cock his head to one side. After a moment he frowned, then nodded. "You got a point there girl. I... Now ya say it that's kind of strange to me too. It could be because yer suddenly carrying yerself differently, but…" He shook his head and nodded. "I'll leave ya alone Grey."
At least until I figure out where the hell my attraction ta ya came from. It better not be my instincts coming out, wanting to bed the alpha bitch. Wolverines were not pack oriented like wolves but family oriented with one male and several females, yet the fact remained that strong females were much preferred as primary mates. Not that Jean was the only alpha bitch in the mansion. Ororo was another one, but she was also obviously claimed by Potter (who even his wolverine instincts could tell was a bigger predator). Rogue might eventually be growing into the same sort but for the moment Jean was the only alpha bitch available. However Logan liked to think he was more than his instincts, and Jean was right. Damn, why am I interested in her anyway? I mean yeah she's hot as hell now, but she's right, she's too damn young, and I've been around her for years now without her looks turning my head.
Suddenly a faint smell wafted through the air of the open garage door and he frowned wondering why that scent had his hackles rising, taking his mind off his current thoughts. "Anyway, I'll give ya yer space or whatever. Tell Chuck if he asks that somethin' came up, I'll see ya later." With that he turned and trotted out of the garage, heading towards the woods at the back of the mansion's grounds.
Jean's eyebrows rose in surprise but she shook it off. As long as the old man wasn't hitting on her, that was all she cared about. "Tipsy?"
The young male elf suddenly appeared right in front of her, and Jean wondered, not for the first time where house-elves went when they were just sort of hovering around waiting for orders. "Missy fire-hair calls Tipsy?"
Jean laughed, touching her flame-red hair. "Hah, better than Mistress Orrie. I've heard some of you call her that in the past few days, but unlike her, fire-hair I can live with. Anyway, can you start popping the stuff in the van to the mansion? But don't go too fast, I don't want you to hurt yourself."
Tipsy looked at the large white four-wheeled thing behind his master's missy fire-hair (master was a wise and powerful master to have so many missesses) a little worried. None of the house-elves really liked any of the 'teknoloy' that many of them had seen in the past few days on trips with the master or away from the castle. One or two were okay with it, Tipsy's sister Lissy was one. But most of them looked at the 'cars' and other things as weird and outlandish. So Tipsy was very grateful he had been able to stay at the mansion and wait for the wise missy to return before popping the odd and strange 'teknoloy' stuff to the castle. "Tipsy will do so miss. Does miss wish Tipsy to return here after?"
"Yes, that would be very helpful, but if you could bring back some of the leftover food that would be a good idea. None of the people here can cook for themselves." Tipsy nodded resolutely, horrified at the idea of people, even people who were not his master or his missesses not having food.
As the house-elf popped away with his first load Jean sighed. She would have to stay at the mansion overnight because her last physics class was on Monday. God, not even there for a week and already the castle is home, whereas this mansion has become just a place to stay. The rest of the week she would have free, with the finals scheduled the week after. This would also let her spend more time over with Harry and Ororo, and even meet up with Emma for their shopping trip before the gala thing on Saturday.
As she went up to her room she was stopped by a mental voice making itself known from right outside the ring of her belsham-trees, like someone using a foghorn to let his voice be heard on the other side of her trees. "Ah, there you are my dear, I hope that Mister Potter is paying you for doing these errands of his."
"Not at all professor," Jean sent back. "Harry has offered me a job once he sets up his company in a few weeks, but until then we're just doing little jobs here and there, setting up the electrical work and everything, and I would hardly charge him for that, he's paying for the parts that all."
Charles's mental voice sounded strangely incredulous when he replied. "He… he has offered you a job? But surely with college you would be too busy between that and being an X-man?"
Jean sighed both mentally and physically. It seemed as if this was a day for confrontations. She couldn't honestly say she was sorry about it, but she hoped this conversation wasn't going to be as bad as it could be. "Professor, I no longer wish to be an X-man." She said it bluntly, hoping to get past this and move on. "While I agree as strongly now with the dream of co-existence as I did at the beginning, I wish to do more with my life than be an X-man. Harry… I mean Mr. Potter has offered me a chance to make a difference with my mind and imagination above and beyond my abilities."
There was a moment of telepathic silence then Charles's voice came back to her again. "Please join me in my office Jean."
Jean sighed again, but decided to get it over with now. Moments later she pushed open the door to the professors office, finding him sitting behind the desk, with several printouts in front of him. A few seemed to have photos of people on them, but Jean wasn't really interested enough to take a closer look.
Charles was waiting for her and gestured Jean into a seat. "Jean, I realize that the idea of going out and making an impact on the world can be exciting, and I think you have the maturity to make your own decisions. But have you truly thought this through? I realize that Mr. Potter seems to have big plans, but how many of them are really feasible? And what of your education, I thought you wanted to go to college."
Jean frowned, "I'll still be taking classes via a correspondence course professor. And in terms of Mr. Potter's ideas, the one's I've heard seem to be great ideas, and he, Ororo and I will work hard to bring as many of them to life as possible."
Charles sighed and tried another tack. "Jean, you have a life here, and friends. You're an integral part of the team, what will they say if you just up and leave? And have you talked to your parents about this?"
"My parents haven't deigned to talk to me since I refused to follow their plans for my further education. They seemed to think I'd come crawling back to them or something when my own plans went belly up." Jean scowled at the idea then shrugged, visibly wiping her hands of her parents.
They had never been close, and that had been exacerbated when the mental blocks in her mind were broken. Strangely enough the way those blocks put a cap on her emotions actually made her more like her parents. Now that she didn't have them anymore, she was simply too different from them and their staid, organized, and forcefully normal lives.
She went on. "And in terms of the team, while they might miss my powers and even my presence at times, I have no doubt that Scott and the others will do fine without me. We'll still be friends, and I don't doubt we'll be able to keep in contact easily enough. No, after I graduate I'm going to move out with Ororo and Mr. Potter."
Charles frowned. Obviously this wasn't a spur of the moment decision as he had first thought, if she had already talked to Ororo and Harry. While Harry would be willing to indulge her on a whim, Ororo wasn't the type to allow someone to make a sudden decision like this that would change their lives so profoundly. Still he did not like the idea of Jean leaving the X-men at all. "I really wish you would stay here Jean. I don't think this is what is best for you, and I think you are downplaying the impact of your leaving to the team." He could also have brought up the idea of mutual protection, but Harry represented more firepower than the rest of the team combined, and that was excluding Ororo.
Jean frowned as she suddenly felt a pressure on the outside of her mind, her belsham-trees shivering as if under a powerful gale force wind. Jean suddenly realized that whenever she was anywhere around Charles her belsham tress acted like trees in a wind, but now they were completely bypassed. She then felt the outer stone wall of her mind which she had designed in the guise of Orthanc from the Tolkien books, groan under the strain. The thought seemed to permeate her mind that she should agree with whatever Charles said. Her jade eyes narrowed and she pulsed out her own telepathic power, pushing whatever the influence was back.
Charles didn't even wince, making Jean think she was correct in assuming that what she had dubbed his 'trust me' field after Emma explained it was not a conscious thing on his part. "Professor, I'm going to be blunt here. While as I said I still believe in the dream, I don't agree with the way you're pursuing it, nor do I want to remain here with you personally. While you have done a magnificent job gathering young mutants and training us, giving us a purpose and a set of ethics to follow in regards to our powers; you keep secrets and your own council when you don't have to, and you blundered badly in regards to me personally. I haven't forgiven you for putting those mental blocks in my mind and not informing me of them the moment you could. That is far too close to, to the mental equivalent of a rape for me to ever trust you again as I used to."
That statement did cause Charles to wince, and he looked away guiltily. "I, I did what I thought was best both for you and everyone around you Jean."
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions Professor, and that was a mistake." Jean kept glaring at him and when Charles refused to continue trying to convince her sighed, stood up, and left without another word.
That evening Jean was happy to see that Harry and Ororo joined them in the mansion for dinner, which Harry ate with Kitty in the runic workroom. Jean, not wanting to be around Charles, joined them there to talk about what she had bought earlier that day. Ororo joined them as well after seeing that Tipsy had followed Jean's request and brought over food for the others, meaning she didn't have to cook.
Kitty was a very observant young lady, and she noticed how possessively Jean was talking about the electronics she had bought, and wondered if Ororo wasn't the only one moving out. As long as they all kept in contact she was fine with Jean leaving, and knew the other woman would be able to handle anything that came up with Teach and Ororo with her. The fact Jean might have feelings for Harry occurred to her, but Kitty decided that even if that was the case it wasn't any of her business.
"By the way Red, I wonder if you'd be free to help us tomorrow local time on a little project." Harry asked, putting a strange emphasis on the word project.
Jean noticed this, thought for a moment then nodded. "As long as you can get me back to the mansion by around ten Harry, I have no problem with that."
Harry nodded, and after dinner the trio went back to Hogwarts, where Harry filled Jean in on what they might be doing in the next few days. As she got into her bed in the castle Jean shook her head, chuckling. "Little project indeed." Still, she hoped this might-become-a-crisis wouldn't stop them from their plan of going out shopping with Emma on Friday for the gala in LA on Saturday. The last thing she did before going to bed at last was to send Emma a confirmation E-mail to that effect.
OOOOOOO
Emma looked down at her laptop as she finished sending an e-mail to Jean stating where they would meet up before going shopping. How the other woman would get to Los Angeles was her own business of course, but the two of them, Harry and Ororo would meet up Friday afternoon. While Emma really didn't have much of an issue with Jean's fashion sense she knew the other girl would be lost at sea when it came to picking out what to wear to a ritzy event like this, and also wanted to make certain that Storm and Harry matched before they showed up.
She chuckled to herself. Not that Ororo could look anything but gorgeous, but she's the sort of woman who really doesn't care what she wears and to a high class event like this that just won't do. And if Harry even mentions just transfiguring his clothing for it to blend in, I'll strangle him.
She powered down her laptop then put on a large pair of headphones over her blond tresses and leaned back in her chair as the plane got ready for takeoff, crossing her long, sleek legs and closing her eyes. This is the way to travel, she thought as one of her families personal plane began to taxi down the runway. You'll never catch me in those piddling little commercial flights.
Feeling someone moving toward her Emma opened one eye and waved off the rather attractive stewardess, who nodded and with a smile took a seat a little ways away from the young Frost. All of the family servants much preferred Emma to Adrienne, and this one, Emma could tell from a gentle mental probe, was very grateful they were transporting Emma rather than Winston today. She was a recent hire and it appeared as if her father had flirted rather heavy-handedly with her the last time he had used the family's personal plane. Emma put that out of her mind for now. If all went according to plan her father would be taken care of shortly.
Emma was off to the Steel Belt at the moment, specifically Milwaukee. She was heading there to start work on figuring out where Sebastian Shaw's companies were leaking information. Sebastian would be meeting her there after he concluded some business in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, and Cincinnati each held a central office for one of his businesses, but Emma had already cleared the Pittsburgh office in a day trip. The plan was for her to hit up Milwaukee and all of his holdings in Wisconsin over the next few days, but Emma controlled the speed and time of her investigations.
The fact that Shaw would be joining her made Emma more than a little nervous, but there was no help for it at this point. She had been very careful to not meet the man outside the purview of the club, but this was going to be a challenge, and she knew it.
The look on Winston's face however when he heard about it stuck with her. Something had happened there, Emma was uncertain what, but something from when she had been introduced to the Hellfire Club to now seemed to have pushed her father out of simply not caring about her to actively hating her. The look of anticipation on Winston's face when he learned that Emma was going to be with Shaw for a few days outside the club and away from anyone else had been rather frightening. She had expected such a look from her older sister Adrienne, but her father usually had much more control than that.
Soon father, soon. I wonder what it will be like to no longer have to fear my own family? None of her father's precautions, which Emma knew he had set up, would be enough to protect Winston from what she had already put in motion.
Adrienne also seemed to be champing at the bit, and had been disappearing even more frequently lately but that played well into Emma's hands. While her plan for her father was rather final and definite, her plans for her sister were more flexible, and could go one of any three ways depending on the actions of the players involved. Adrienne's disappearing and suborning of a few of her bodyguards played well for two of them, and while Emma would be much happier for the one of those two that was lethal to occur, she would settle for the other in a punch. With that thought she allowed her mind to slowly drift off into sleep.