Disclaimer: All characters depicted in this story are eighteen years of age or older. Any sexual content involves only consenting adults. This is a work of fiction.
A Marvelous Devil.
Chapter 55: New Waitresses.
Dante Andromalius.
The group leading us toward the med bay was smaller than before. Apparently, Scott didn't handle the revelation about Sinister's genetic plotting as well as I expected. It appeared that he needed a bit of alone time.
A small part of me was curious about what that would end up like. He was… absurdly obsessed with Jean.
Not that it was surprising. Even without knowing what she was, she had the air of someone who simply refused to be ignored. She was beautiful, fun, and a strong telepath in her own right.
She would have attracted my interest even without her connection to the Phoenix. The cosmic firebird was simply the cherry on top.
A cherry covered in Uru that had been sitting in Death's mouth before falling into mine. Or something like that.
The rest? Well, I wasn't surprised Storm decided to be present. She knew it was about to be a clusterfuck when Xavier woke up, and Jean started drilling for answers.
She knew her boss wasn't as squeaky clean as the rest believed.
But even then, she still believed he had his reasons for what he did.
She didn't approve of it or like it, but she was waiting to hear everything. And I intended to make sure he wouldn't squirrel his way out of it.
After all the messes he caused, I was somewhat interested in how it would all blow up. Especially the tension between Jean and Xavier. I suspected that said thing would be the turning point in her accepting my offer.
And it was simple, after all. I was willing to teach her and Rogue how to use their powers. But interest aside, that gave me an in with the two girls I wouldn't waste.
And that brought us to the last member of the X-Men escorting me through the halls.
Kurt.
He watched me nervously, and I could see that he needed to learn more about himself and his bloodline.
Which still made me want to laugh.
"Finished thinking, dude?" I sighed as we got deeper into the mansion. It was surprisingly empty, but many kids were interested in trying their power outside and all that.
Not many wanted to be inside in case Jean had another outburst, and I noticed when Ororo took Piotr aside and told him to keep the kids away.
Quick thinking, honestly. I couldn't say that there wouldn't be another explosion.
"Did they sell their souls?" Kurt asked hesitantly. "Like, I'm trying not to judge, but you're basically proof that God really exists and the others just did something we're taught to avoid."
"They aren't even Christians," I deadpanned, "In fact, most of the ones who made a deal with me didn't particularly think that I being here meant that other mythological beings exist."
"I think they had other things to think about," Jean interjected softly, her tone calm but firm as she sent Kurt a look, "I get it, I truly do, Kurt. But even if Dante here is proof, you can't expect everyone to turn to religion like that. You know better. Also, a demon doesn't necessarily mean that God, as you believe in, really exists."
This was getting a bit more theological than I preferred, but I could stomach it for a bit. It's not like I had anything better to do, considering that this place was absurdly big and we walked at a sedate pace.
"Yahweh does exist, though," I said, grinning as I saw the surge of pride in Kurt. "So do the Greeks, Nords, and all the other mythologies you have on this planet. So do other planets with their own Gods, and even higher than them are the other monsters in the cosmos."
Surprisingly, that didn't dampen Kurt's faith. I could respect that.
"Becoming a god is not even that difficult. The woman walking next to you has the opportunity to enter divinity one day," I said, sending a teasing look Ororo's way.
Storm looked hesitant for a bit, even a bit surprised at hearing this.
She sighed after seeing the interested looks from her two students. It was cute seeing someone as mature as her acting embarrassed by her youth.
"When I was younger, I was revered as a Goddess by a small group around Kenya. It was… something else, and I didn't particularly like it." She shook her head, "It was before Xavier found me, and it honestly played a big part in why I decided to join him. All that belief was too much for me."
"Divinity is quite simple," I shrugged, smiling at her gently, "obviously not that simple, but one of the most important parts of the divine is the faith of their followers. Did your powers act a bit differently back then? Maybe easier to control? Or more potent?"
Storm paused for a moment as surprise crossed her face. "Truly? Now that I think about it, it did. I didn't need to have that much control over what I wanted, like in here."
Making a so-so gesture, I continued walking. "Like I said, simple enough to be easy to comprehend, but not so simple that anyone could become a God. The faith they have in you has empowered you, and I see some interesting things in your bloodline that might make that jump from mortality a bit easier. That's not even mentioning the interesting connection you have with this planet."
I shook my head in disbelief, "hell, I could say that you're the human closest to divinity I had met during my travels in here. A proper earthen Goddess, not something else or adjacent like what Jean could become."
"Is being the avatar of the Phoenix Force that big of a deal?" Jean asked quietly, "Like, I understand your words, but I don't have anything to compare it to."
A snort escaped my nose, "You have no idea. A cosmic force of that level is not something simple divinity can match. Don't get me wrong, a divine being is respected on their home planet and maybe even more so, depending on how widely their name spreads through the cosmos. A cosmic force, though?"
"They don't need faith. They are parts of reality in a way that they basically hold it together. The Phoenix, Death, Oblivion, Infinity, they are aspects of life as a whole, not something comparable with the rest of the rabble that populate the multiverse."
"That's…" Kurt mumbled.
"Absurd, I know. And honestly, something you lot shouldn't worry about. Even Jean at her strongest wouldn't reach that level, obviously. They aren't people, and I suspect you will never meet them in your mortal lives. They have better things to do than poke their noses into this place, or anywhere else in fact."
I let the silence settle, the three mutants thinking on their own for a minute or two before I continued.
"The Phoenix is life, rebirth, evolution, and change through destruction. Like I said, it's neither good nor evil, but strictly neutral. Life has to go on, that's her whole identity. A stumped race might need to be reborn from the ashes to continue. A dying star might need to burn before life can start again."
"That doesn't sound neutral," Jean gritted out.
"At the same time," I rolled my eyes, "when it is appropriate, the avatar is tasked to protect life from extinction. Oppose forces that would bring ruin to planets, or even the damn universe as a whole."
"They are not human, they don't think like mortals." I grunted, "and that will be the biggest hurdle for you, my dear. The Phoenix is tasked to make sure life itself has a future. Not saving 'people'. The scope you'll be filling is much broader and more important, but that doesn't mean you can't use your significant power to do whatever you want."
Jean hummed, deep in thought. I decided to let her mull over it for a bit.
"Now, about your father, Kurt," I looked at him, "want to hear more?"
He sighed, looking torn before shaking his head.
"No. I don't care about cosmic forces or whatever else is in the world. I care that my God is real, and his teachings say that I shouldn't deal with your kind. I don't blame my friends, I don't even fault them, but I cannot do that."
"Good thing I changed my mind about asking for payment," I shrugged. "Consider this a freebie because your dad is quite pathetic and charging for it gives him more importance than what he deserves."
He looked like he didn't know what to say, so I continued talking.
"Your dad's name is Azazel, and yes, he tried to use the name Satan for the same reason I mentioned. Faith." I barked a laugh, "not that he had the power to back that claim, as Mephisto took the moniker and has been since then using that fear from your kind to empower himself. Fear and Faith are different sides of the same coin."
Kurt stopped cold, his whole body going still as his eyes widened. "Isn't that one of the fallen angels? Is God my… grandfather or something? Wait a damn minute! You're meeting my dad?!"
I burst out laughing, shaking my head in amusement. "As sad as it is to pop that daydream, no. The one I'm meeting is the real deal; your dad is just a demonic-looking mutant that decided to call himself that way. He's locked inside a hellish dimension, and it's only because of his power that he can sneak into the human world to sire children for whatever braindead plan he's cooking up."
I racked my brain for a moment, "I wish I could tell you more, but I genuinely never paid attention to him. It was just amusing when Mephisto retold the story about the claim of Satan."
"I don't know if I should feel disappointed or glad," Kurt murmured, almost whining.
He was hilarious.
"Disappointed, for sure," I snorted, "Like, no offense, but your dad is kind of sad. I wouldn't mind if you lot call me to deal with him; I wouldn't even charge you that much just to trample over him a little bit."
"We'll take that into consideration... if the time comes," Ororo interjected gently, "but we're here."
So we were… I wondered how much Xavier would aid me, even without trying.
Ororo Munroe.
Xavier's Institute Med Bay.
I didn't like the quiet in the med bay.
There was something in the air that simply felt wrong. Xavier had always been ahead of everyone, knowing what to do no matter the problem. But seeing him in the bed, with the only sound coming from the machines helping push oxygen into his lungs, made it all feel so real.
Hank stood by the window. He practically lived here at this point. Blind, lost, and blaming himself.
His expression didn't change at the sound.
He looked even worse than Charles did at this point.
"Ororo, is everything in order? I heard the alarms blaring," he said carefully.
I didn't mention the fact that he ignored Jean's outburst. It was a good thing that they were this far away from the mansion, because Dante didn't pull them away when Jean destroyed it.
I couldn't even decide if he just didn't want to or if he hadn't found them. From the little I had seen from him, it was probably the first one.
"Hank," I touched his arm briefly, "You should eat something. And maybe give your classes once more, the students miss you."
"Later," he looked back at Charles, "I think I'm getting closer to an answer. There's some neural activity, even if briefly."
Now it made sense why he was being less blunt than the last time I had seen him.
I took a peek in Charles's direction.
It was… bad. And it didn't look like it was getting any better, but I didn't understand the readings as much as Hank did. He looked smaller than I remembered. Thinner, at least.
Covering for him was not easy, but I was getting by. Doing my best because that was all I could do at this point.
It was only recently that I started wondering how many of those conflicts he fixed with ease had been so effortless because Charles was making them so.
And I wasn't just speaking about conflicts with other groups. But even those that happened inside these walls.
At the start, I had put it down to his experience and the fact that someone as powerful as him had been brought this low by some unknown without anyone the wiser.
I wasn't so sure anymore.
Dante walked in with Jean and Kurt trailing behind. Kurt was still deep in thought, but his excitement at his faith being proven didn't diminish in the slightest.
I was glad for him, but… it opened a whole can of worms I didn't even know how to face.
Jean was also quiet, much more than usual, including the last few weeks when she passed in basically isolation.
Dante, the demon, looked at Charles.
And snorted with disgust.
"Damn if he doesn't feel just like some of my peers."
He wasn't even hiding what he was doing, and I had to smile and nod instead of sending him away because, despite everything, he had the answer to our problems.
I expected he would somehow turn this around for me to have to thank himbefore he left the mansion.
But every word he said ensured that Jean and the rest would trust Charles less.
"Who is this?" Hank asked curiously, but I knew him well enough to notice the anger inside my blue, furry friend.
"He's here to heal you two," I interjected before Dante could open his mouth. At this point, even if I didn't know everything about him, it was clear that he didn't think much about us and, in fact, enjoyed being irritating.
Dante snorted once more, but at least this one was directed at me.
He walked towards Charles and once more started acting like a brat.
For a demon, he was surprisingly, or perhaps unsurprisingly, petty.
He made it like he was going to touch Charles's face, then did another disgusted expression, and decided to just put it in the air. A pale light, the same he had fed Rogue at the end, moved from his palm and into my friend's head.
It didn't take even ten seconds, and Charles gasped.
Quite dramatically, in fact. He probably didn't ensure that the process wouldn't be painless.
But despite wanting to say something, I kept my mouth shut.
Hank's irritation disappeared in an instant as he barked orders at the machines, which gave a verbal report on Charles's situation.
And my old friend pulled the tube out of his own mouth by himself, coughing and spitting, but awake.
Watching him breathe on his own for the first time in months was… freeing.
Dante had already stepped back, shaking his head in amusement.
He looked at Hank.
Then waved his hand once more, and the same light flew into Hank's eyes, where color returned to his retinas.
"That's… that doesn't make sense, what is that?" Hank blinked in disbelief, "You're so… young."
"Way above your pay grade," Dante snorted.
He walked towards the wall and took a seat with a grin on his face.
It wasn't until then that I noticed that Charles's legs remained exactly the same.
Again, I didn't expect any different.
He hadn't even met the professor, but he held a grudge.
Charles's gaze traveled across the room, finding Hank first and smiling in thanks. Then mine, his eyes going softer.
Then Kurt, who waved a bit absentmindedly.
And finally Jean.
He opened his mouth.
And Dante coughed, covering his mouth with his hand like any normal person.
Then, very briefly, Charles lit up. Fast, fast enough that if I hadn't been paying attention, I wouldn't have noticed.
In fact, no one apart from me did.
Dante put his hands in his pockets and grinned at me.
Before I could ask for an explanation, Jean stepped forward.
"Why did you do it, professor?"
Her voice was quiet. Angry, but still in control. At least.
Charles looked at her with all the warmth I had seen coming from him to his pupil. Like a parent, in fact.
"Jean," he reached for her hand, caressing it softly, "I am so relieved to see you in good health. There's so much I need to explain."
And wasn't that an understatement. He had no doubt already scurried through our heads about what the problem was.
"And I want you to understand that everything I did came from a place of…"
He stopped, and he was surprised when he couldn't continue.
"From genuine…"
He stopped once more. He frowned deeply before sighing.
"I was afraid of what you would become," he finally said, slumping into the bed.
And it was then that I understood what Dante had done.
And so did Charles, but he also seemed to accept that this was happening.
He looked down at his hands.
"Charles," I said quietly. I wasn't sure why. Did I want to stop this? Part of me did, not wanting to risk their relationship this soon, maybe to find a better way to have this conversation without ending in ruin.
But I also wanted to know the truth. To know what my friend had done to the students who looked up to us.
"It's alright, Ororo." His voice was steady, firm. "I believe it's time."
Jean gritted her teeth, "When… when did you decide that you knew better?!"
"As soon as I met you," he said evenly, "When you awakened your powers when your friend died, you felt everything she did. You were young, traumatized, and you carried more power than anything I had ever seen. I made my decision then."
The emphasis on anything was heard by everyone in the room.
"And after?!" Jean's voice rose a bit, "After you knew me!? After you taught me and I did my best to follow your every direction?"
Dante was keeping a close eye on Jean. He looked at me and waved my worry off.
It didn't help.
At least he would act before everything went to hell again. I could trust him to do that, at least.
Charles paused for a small moment. Too short for my liking.
"My decision didn't change, Jean."
Jean laughed, and the sound broke my heart.
"I listened to you for years, professor," she said through her laughter, "you told me I was safe here. That this place existed so we could learn who we were."
Charles opened his mouth, but Jean continued without care.
"And the whole time, you always saw me as dangerous despite everything I did to control my powers. To show I was no danger to normal humans. Every time I worked my ass off and felt my mind turn into mush from training. All for nothing!"
"What you could become…" Charles said quietly, "Without my intervention… It's not something a normal human should carry, Jean. Not when we knew so little."
"I'm not a child! I'm not your child, Charles!"
"You were, when your parents sought my help." Charles responded firmly, "And you are. All of you are like my children. All that power left unchecked had the potential to…"
"To what?!" Jean marched all the way to the bed, her hands gripping Charles's shirt, almost lifting him up. "Say it to my face!"
I glanced at Dante, who watched it all with an amused expression.
"To end a great many lives," Charles looked directly at Jean's eyes. "Possibly even more. As a child, your mind was in a worst state than Erik's own the last time I met him. Jean, you lived through her death, vividly, feeling every ounce of pain, realization, and fear coming from a dying girl on the street. That's not something I could allow. Not on someone so broken."
"And you decided for me," Jean said blankly, "without understanding what you were causing, that you knew better than anyone else. You locked something inside of me without telling me, and you never tried to find what it really was."
"And I, like an idiot," she laughed, "decided that you could do no wrong and made it even worse in the process."
"We couldn't have known, Jean. I thought that with time, you would grow strong enough to control that entity. That I could lead you to build a foundation you would need to…"
"To be told the truth?" Jean's voice cracked, "Did you ever plan on telling the truth, Charles? Really?"
"If it all remained the same?" Charles looked at his lap. "No. I wouldn't have said anything."
Hank clenched his fists, but his expression wasn't one of surprise.
Like mine.
Kurt was. He looked at Charles like he didn't know the man.
"What about the other presences inside my head?" Jean pushed him against the bed with more force than necessary.
Dante's hand moved before he stopped himself.
"I didn't have knowledge of them. Their work was flawless, and I was preoccupied with the Phoenix's presence more than anything else. I failed you, Jean, and I apologize for that."
Jean looked at him, hesitating for a moment.
"And if you had known," it seemed she also noticed that Charles couldn't lie at this moment, "would you have told me?"
"No. I wouldn't have. Not at this time." Charles shook his head.
"Why?!" Jean's hand shone orange for a moment, and the windows broke, but it didn't do more.
"Because it would have destabilized you. Your control has always been fragile, and the blocks would have been strained even worse with that knowledge."
"And of course, you know better than anyone else," Jean spat out, looking at him in a way similar to Dante's.
That made Dante's lips quirk upward for a fleeting moment.
Jean let go of Charles's shirt and started pacing in the room.
It looked like it took her significant effort to let him go.
I found myself speaking before I noticed. But I didn't regret it. I needed to know, too.
"If you went through it again," I began, "would you do it the same way, Charles?"
He was quiet for a long time.
"No. I made a mistake. I should have done things differently. Maybe not right, but I wouldn't have put her through all this once more."
A weight lifted from my shoulders at that answer. He, as Dante so crudely put it, fucked up. But he wasn't evil. My friend was just flawed.
Deeply so, but he had good intentions.
The phrase saying that the road to hell was paved with good intentions came to mind.
I ignored that for the moment. But I would keep an eye on my friend, because that's what he would do for the rest of us.
Jean made a small sound at the back of her throat and crossed her arms, her eyes anywhere but Charles's.
In the corner, Dante uncrossed his legs.
He just opened his mouth, and a glob of fire formed a contract that floated in the air for a moment before he snatched it.
Jean saw it out of the corner of her eye, marched towards the demon, and snatched the glowing piece of paper from his hands.
"Thank you for the honesty, Charles," I said, even if it wasn't entirely up to him. He accepted his faults and came clean. That meant something.
He looked at me with the same warmth in his eyes. And again, it was entirely real.
I could trust that, at least.
"Rest, old friend. We can talk more later," I sighed.
The sound of Jean turning the pages of her contract was the only thing heard in the room for a moment.
I had been dreaming of everything righting itself and having Charles's back so that everything could be back to normal.
I hadn't considered that waking him up might introduce different kinds of problems.
In the corner, Dante smiled genuinely at me.
He knew what was going to happen. He didn't lie, I knew that, and he was more than fair with the kids.
He just gifted Charles the rope my friend used to hang himself. But he hadn't caused this.
I had never had much interest in the scripture.
I found myself hoping, without much conviction, that the parts of demons and their sweet talking had been exaggerated.
If only I didn't have the feeling that they had been deeply understated.
Dante Andromalius.
Charles Xavier was… a human.
Yes, I said it. I genuinely didn't expect anyone else in his place and with his knowledge to do any different.
Did I fault him for the fuck up? Of course I did; he genuinely messed around with something he didn't understand and almost doomed billions, if not more, because he didn't know any better. But I could blame him because I knew.
He didn't have the necessary contacts to find a better answer than the one he had. Who was he supposed to ask? SHIELD? The American Government?
They would have locked Jean in a cage, and the explosion would have happened a decade or so ago. Those groups always fucked up the hardest.
The ones I knew I could trust to deal with something of this magnitude could be counted on a single hand. Odin, thanks to his previous experience with the bird.
But he had stopped interfering in the affairs of the ten realms after he sealed Hela and lost his most elite force. Even if he had known, which I doubted, he might have let it happen.
Yao… it was a maybe. She knew more than normal mortals, obviously, but she was connected to Dormammu, and I didn't know what the flaming head would have done if he had learned that Yao had the next Phoenix avatar at hand.
The absolutely perfect pick would be Uatu. But again, he broke his vow whenever he wanted to and convincing him to act was surprisingly hard for someone who broke his word that often.
But he's literally one I would trust with something of this magnitude.
From what I read in Kamar-Taj, Agamotto, and Oshtur could be trusted with something like this, but they rarely interfered with mortals.
As I said, I couldn't even fault the man for his decisions.
And so did Jean. She was angry, insanely so, but deep down she understood that he had done his best.
In time, she would forgive him.
My task, in short, was to win her over before that happened.
Not to steal them from her kind. She cared too much and was too good a person to achieve that within my timeframe, but I could make her list of friends and earn her trust after it had been broken by the bald telepath.
It's not like I cared what she did in her free time. Same with Tandy, she wasn't my slave, she was my light, and she could do anything she wanted.
She hadn't yet found her calling, but when the time came, I would help her to the best of my ability because she deserved nothing less.
The quartet listening outside the room finally knocked on the door.
"Are we interrupting?" My light smiled innocently, acting perfectly like they hadn't been waiting for this exact lull.
"Not at all, my dear," Ororo sighed, almost in relief, seeing her and the rest.
Kitty and Rogue were behind Tandy, and behind them was someone whom I still needed to deal with.
Logan. Or James, I wasn't sure what he was going to prefer.
"My friend, it's good to see you in good health," Charles smiled at the man before sending a disapproving look my way.
I wasn't apologizing. Fucking idiots.
"Right," I clapped my hands, "come here, read this, and sign it if you agree."
With enough time to calm myself, I decided to give him an option.
The contract that came from my mouth was simple. I would take the information about the mission he encountered the symbiote, and in return, I would give him what he wanted most.
His memories.
He wouldn't like all of them, but a man without all his memories was incomplete.
I wasn't going to apologize, but this was my way of saying I would leave all this behind us if he accepted.
Not that he had any reason not to.
Logan snorted, grunted, and grabbed the piece of paper.
He fell silent as he read it, long enough for me to open my mouth.
"Any problem? Don't tell me you can't read, man."
That brought a snort from the girls and Kurt, who hid it as soon as Logan glared at them.
Ororo shook her head amusedly, putting her head on his shoulder and reading with him.
She sent me a thankful look, which went ignored.
Reacting would show that I felt bad for what I had done, and I didn't. I was just calmer now.
He pulled a pen from somewhere and signed his name, nodding at me.
There was no need for anything else. We both understood what this peace offering meant.
"Perfect," I nodded and put my hand on his head.
It took longer than fixing Charles's overload. Almost a century of memories was gone from the feral man, but I took my time with the Vietnam mission and all involved.
And fucking SHIELD. Because, of course, they were fucking there and the main cause.
I didn't know exactly what had happened from the memories alone, but they didn't paint a pretty picture. The way all those super-soldiers went mad could be explained by Knull waking from his coma.
I finished fixing the mess inside Logan's head, then took my hand away from his head.
"Dante?" Tandy asked nervously. "How bad is it?"
"Bad, but I didn't find proof it's as bad as I think it is. Could have been their own mortal messes, could be the worst-case scenario," I fell silent after that. "Logan here arrived late to the party and I can't infer things from what he didn't see."
"You lot keep up with your news, right?" I looked at the X-Men, who nodded.
"Has there been news about someone dressed in goo? Super strength, speed, absurd mobility, and the ability to eat the emotions of their wearers?" I asked seriously.
They shared a look, and I sighed when Kitty's eyes brightened.
She looked at Rogue, then at Jean, who completely ignored her, "Didn't someone similar fight against Spider-Man? Calling himself poison or something like that?"
"Venom," Rogue drawled, "He called himself venom."
I made an image with my magic of the typical creatures under Knull back then.
"Something like this?"
They hesitated for a moment.
"Similar," Rogue shook her head, "I can see hints of it, but it's not a perfect copy."
That wasn't of much help. It was something, though.
I shared a look with Tandy, "At least we have a new lead, my light. It appears we'll have to look for the kid for more answers. Hopefully, he will be less skittish this time."
Tandy giggled in amusement, "He was adorably flustered. You shouldn't tease him too much."
"You know who Spider-Man is?!" Kitty squealed loudly, "Tell me! Tell me!"
Rogue slapped Kitty's forehead softly, "Respect his boundaries, girl. He hides his face for a reason."
If only she didn't look as curious as her friend.
It appeared that little Peter was popular with the girls.
And from having seen his soul, I wasn't surprised.
There was something simply magnetic about people as pure as he was.
Jean, who had been silent and looking anywhere but in Charles's direction, cleared her throat, "This clause about working for you, what does that entail exactly? This is not about stealing souls, right?"
She ended with a teasing tone.
Before I could answer, Rogue lifted her eyebrow in her direction, "You got that too? Tandy explained that they have a café in Hell's Kitchen."
"That's… more mundane than what I expected, to be honest," she sent me an amused grin.
"I said the same thing," Rogue snorted quietly, sharing a laugh with the redhead.
"Coffee is life, ours, almost literally," I snorted, "and that's my hub on this planet. Considering that your training would take some time, and that it might be a good idea to… make some distance while things remain tense here, I thought of killing two birds with one stone."
"But it doesn't mean only that," Tandy shook her head, "Dante makes the majority of his deals there, but sometimes some of them make us move around the planet! Last time, we saved Tony Stark from Afghanistan!"
I laughed at her excitement.
"I got to blow up hundreds of terrorists!" she finished with a dark giggle.
Many here saw her in a different light, but Logan grunted approvingly. "Did Howard's brat make it out okay?"
"Traumatized and maybe a superhero, but yeah," Tandy nodded, "you should have seen his armor, it was awesome!"
The disapproval from Charles's bed was completely ignored. Hank didn't seem to care much when Tandy called them terrorists. Ororo was understanding, just like Hank.
The younger generation was the surprising one. Rogue nodded in approval, which… nice.
Kitty didn't approve, but she also didn't look at my light negatively.
Jean was the same, but I could see in her soul that she would do the same when the time came.
Both reluctant, but if push comes to shove? They would do what was necessary.
Kurt? I expected disapproval. It went against his beliefs, but he was surprisingly understanding as Tandy started to talk about the mission. When she explained all the slaves we saved and what the terrorists wanted to do with Tony's creations, he nodded in understanding.
"And we would help you in these deals? As long as they don't go against our morals?" Jean spoke once more after Tandy finished her story time.
"I follow my contracts to the letter, Jean Grey." I nodded firmly.
"Fuck it all, I can't believe I'm thinking of this," Jean cursed, glaring at Charles with surprising vitriol. "Know this is all your fault."
She kept her eyes glued to his and signed her name on the paper, and the contract burned to ashes before our eyes.
Pettiness. I could respect that.
Rogue snorted in amusement. "Pass me the pen, Red. I want my damn switch."
Tandy squealed and hugged her new friend.
I didn't mention the different gaze Rogue threw my way. It was a bit less guarded, not to the same level, obviously, but similar to how Tandy saw me.
Jean nodded firmly at Ororo, no doubt having a conversation about me inside their heads, but I was a gentleman and didn't peek in.
Rogue signed the contract as well, and I grinned, "Glad to have you both, girls. You won't regret it."
I winked in Ororo's direction.
"They might, though."
If you'd like to support me and read up to FIVE chapters ahead, you can find me on pat * e*n . com (slash) Infinityreads99 Heads up: I post chapters fully edited, but I sometimes make minor tweaks before they go live here. Thanks for reading!