Chương 121: Undeserving
A/N: Reminder that I've stopped writing new chapters, and will only upload the old ones. The story is officially dropped!!
Read on!
—
6th June, 2012:
Emma Frost was a no-nonsense woman who brokered no insubordination from her employees. She had been working for the MIS for close to 50 years now, and was the Director of the same for the past 37 years.
And all these years, she had strived to make the world a better place for mutants, one country at a time. Already there were policies in place to prevent discrimination against Mutant kind. And offices in every borough, village, or town in the United Kingdom ensured that not a single bad cop took advantage of his Power.
Even still, Emma Frost was proud to say that save for the Cabinet Ministers, similar Counterintelligence Organizations like Shield, and the British Queen, not many people knew that this organization existed, or why.
That is why she found herself very much surprised when the phone reserved for her personal use rang loudly, the loud start to Paramore's Ignorance playing for just a few seconds before she managed to silence the call.
She stares at the screen, only to see "Unknown Number" instead of one of the 17 people that had this number. Which was a bit odd, since if it was actually an unknown number, it should have been automatically rejected.
Pressing a button on her workstation, Emma activates the intercom and says, "Jacobs, can you send Edward up please?"
Olivir Jacobs, a man that had joined the MIS 7 years ago, was recruited after saving him from the Canadian Army's Project Superior, a project that was kidnapping mutants to experiment on them, and turn them into Army personnel. While Jacobs wasn't the first person the Project had taken and brainwashed into being their tool, he was the last, as MIS had taken great care to dismantle the entire operation.
"Yes, ma'am." Jacobs immediately answers, and within seconds, a tiny hole in space appears inside her office, and spits out the stumbling and grumbling form of an agent, wearing a white shirt, black tie, and a black pair of trousers.
Jacobs's power to create tiny wormholes that sucked in Matter, only to teleport it out somewhere else, was really useful in such times.
Emma Frost looks at the man the wormhole had spat out, and showing the phone to him, she says, "Trace the call, if you will."
Robert Edwards, on the other hand, the man who immediately got to work on commandeering her workstation and her cellphone, was someone who actually approached them. His Mutation was a bit weird even to Emma.
Edwards could detect signals, and decipher them to basically hack into anything he wants as long as it uses some form of wireless connection. He could control the signals, and even manipulate them somewhat. It had allowed him to not only remain hidden from all the Anti-Mutant groups still out there, but also to find the MIS, and ask for asylum as well as offer to help.
As Edwards touches her system to access the internet, and the phone to actually track the signal, Emma watches the map on her monitor start flying across the ocean, and into her homeland. Until just three seconds after it had begun, the map stopped highlighting one location above others.
"Stark Tower?" Emma mused, watching the still ringing phone, and Edwards used the opportunity to walk out.
While coming here was easy through Jacobs's portals, he had to leave back to his own cubicle by himself. No shortcuts unless it's an emergency.
Emma, however, makes the decision to pick the call up, and listens as an audible groan sounds from the other side.
"Finally! How long does it even take to trace a call? I've been waiting for ages!" The whining voice of Tony Stark says, already grating on Emma's nerves.
She had met Howard Stark only a few times, mostly when she was new as the Director of the MIS, but she could tell that Tony was definitely his son.
"Mr Stark. May I ask how you found this number let alone how you managed to call it?" Emma asks, keeping her tone polite, but making it known that she expects an answer.
She could almost feel him grin, as he answers, "It took a while to get the call to connect, I'll tell you. Way more than I expected. Whoever secured your phone like this definitely deserves a raise if it took me a couple days to finally make the call actually connect. As for how I found the number.. I got it from Fury."
Emma frowns, racking her brain as to why Fury might deem it a good idea to share her number, and the answer is immediate. He didn't. Stark took it.
"What do you want, Mr Stark? You might not know but I am a busy person who still has a lot of work to do." Emma says in a clipping tone, not at all interested in his word games.
He hacked Shield and took her number from Fury's files; she deduced that much. Was it her job to secure SHIELD systems, though? Nope.
Tony, still sounding as energetic and jovial as before, coughs fakely, and says, "Ah, you see. I don't want anything from you, per se. I need help from a mutual friend of ours. The Greatest Flying Wizard Captain Avalon!"
Emma closed her eyes, hoping to all Gods that Jameson's nickname of all people for Mason Aves, did not stick.
Unknowing to her frustrations, Stark continues speaking, and says, "I find myself in need of his talents, and I know he told Fury that you have a way of contacting him. Could you be terribly kind as to tell him to come meet me? It's.. not an emergency, but something very very important nonetheless."
Emma sighs, and wanting to just end the conversation, she says, "I will inform him once I have established a connection with him. Until then, you may only contact me through my Assistant by taking an appointment. I have sent you the contact information for her. Goodbye."
Before Stark could open his mouth and annoy her more, Emma shut the clal off, and immediately crushed the Samsung phone in her diamond covered hand. She would have to pick another number.
Maybe this time, Fury won't let it be hacked by someone like Stark.
—
4th July, 2012:
"Did you pack enough clothes?" His mother asks from the door, as Harry flitted around the room, gathering the last vestiges of the things he was remembering to take.
He had no doubt that Lily Potter would most definitely see the frustration on his face, and was probably amused by it, as Harry answered, "Yes, mum. I've packed everything. Clothes, extra pair of pants, Herbology primers, my set of Potions knives, and even the lunches you packed for me, all sealed inside the Tupperware."
Magically enchanted to not spoil, of course. Not for a month anyway. Lily would have had to spend at least the entirety of yesterday preparing all the food she gave him, if she wasn't a witch, let alone someone adept at using Magic to cook.
But Harry could understand where Lily was coming from. The last time he had gone on a trip was with James, and his friends, along with Sirius's son, Altair. And that time, both James and Harry had almost forgotten to take their own wands.
Harry absentmindedly checked his wrist, ensuring that the Wand Holster, wand included, was still there. His Elder and Phoenix feather wand was a bit special in the sense that it wasn't made by Ollivander like the rest of his family, but by his Uncle Mason himself. And despite knowing that Mason was as old as he was, it still astonished him how perfect this wand felt for his magic.
Done packing, Harry pats his pockets, checking to see if he still has his wallets, both for Magical and muggle cash which would be used to travel from Muggle Britain to wherever Mason pointed him at, along with his handkerchief - 'Damn it, I forgot to pack extra handkerchiefs!'- and his Maglet.
He could only snort when he remembered that particular device. Invented by some wizards in India, through the international organization of the DOM, the Maglet(pronounced Maj-let, like Magical Tablet), was a replica of the Stark Phone that had been invented almost a decade ago.
It took inspiration from a lot of things, like the Communication mirrors, the floo, and of course, the muggle telephone and cell phones. The Maglet could be used to call, both with video and without, and had a Mapping system that didn't need any satellites to be sent to space, music players, video players, and a lot of other stuff.
And all the while, it looked like any other phone in the muggle market, making it safe for muggle use, except for a few of the more.. obviously magical features. People just had a tendency to brand any of the Maglets as a Chinese copy of Starkphone.
He turns towards his wardrobe to get the handkerchiefs and his Maglet's charging plate(an enchanted plate that had the ability to suck in ambient magic to charge the device, which could also be used to wirelessly charge most muggle phones), when he finds his amused mother standing in his way, the objects in question in her hands.
Sighing, he says, "Thanks mum. Don't know what I'd do without you."
"Would you prefer staying then?" His mum asked, in an amused tone, but Harry could detect the undertone of Hope in her words.
Smiling, as he packed the objects in a different compartment in his bag, Harry says, "Nah, as much as I'd love to spend more time being coddled by you, I want to go. I need to go, if only to figure out what I want to make out of my life."
Lily only sighed, and Harry could only hope that she was tired of trying to discourage him from leaving.
Her next words, however, prove otherwise. She sits down on his bed, as he lifts his bag, and says, "I'm worried, Harry dear. It's Earth! You're not just leaving to go to another country. You're leaving for another planet!"
Harry looks at her, unimpressed, and drily says, "You're from Earth. And so is dad."
His mother scowls, when that useless excuse fails to convince him, and is about to say something else when a glowing orange portal opens inside the room.
Harry looks at the Portal, unafraid since he knew that only one Sorcerer was allowed through the Protective wards, and sure enough, Mason Aves stood on the other side of the portal, an uncharacteristic smile on his face.
Mason looks at the both of them, and says, "Ah, Lily. Harry. Good, you're both here. Come to Sanctuary tonight, would you? I've put together a small party for our family."
Our family. Mason's words don't even bother either of the parent-child pair, and Lily nods, smiling at her husband's uncle, a superhero from her own muggle childhood. But one question was on her mind, though. "What's the reason for such a sudden party?"
It can't be to celebrate the Win in New York, that party had already been had. And Mason had actually even showed up. Even Harry wondered the same, staring at his pseudo-grandpa with confusion.
Mason grins, and for the first time Harry notices how carefree it is. He had never noticed Mason so carefree, not in his entire life. He says, "Selene's back. She's back and she's better than ever. Don't forget, tonight at 7. Don't forget to bring James and Rosie."
And then, right as the portal closed, Harry and Lily dropped down to sit on his bed, unable to believe the words that they had just heard.
Selene was back.
For all 27 years of his life, Harry had never thought he would even see this mysterious Selene in the flesh. And if it wasn't for everyone's memories that he had seen of her, he would have thought Selene was just a fantasy Mason had cooked up, growing senile with his old age.
Not that anyone said it to Mason's face, or thought it in his proximity, but there were a lot of doubts in the family if she even was alive. And now, she was back. As per Mason's own words.
Harry turns towards his shell shocked mother, and says, "Well.. that means I'm not going to Earth immediately."
That brings his mother out of her shock, and she just snorts. Shaking her head, Lily gets up, and says, "Go find Rosie and tell her the news. If it is true, we will not miss it. I have some bones to pick with Selene anyway."
Harry sighs, and lets his mother walk out. Every one of Mason's closest friends, and especially Aunts Darla and Dorea, were very angry with Selene for what they considered a betrayal to Mason. For leaving Mason to go wherever she went.
Harry just plucks out his Maglet, and with a few touches on the black screen, calls his little sister to tell her the news. Let's just hope Rosie didn't take after the rest of the ladies of this weird disjointed family.
—
Selene Aetos looked around the dining room, at all of her husband's friends and their children mill around.
Where once it was just Mason and his three friends, along with the Flamel couple and Euphemia Potter, there were now even more. Luca, the daughter of Ana and Darla, Cassiopeia, the daughter of Dorea, Alain, the son of Nicholas Flamel, and James, the child of Euphemia. Then there were Sirius, Luca's husband, and Lily, James's wife, along with their four children in total.
The friends that Athreos had turned into a family were growing. And Selene was glad for it. Glad that Athreos had them to be his support, even if he probably didn't allow them to support him too much.
The dinner party had begun with a tale of her last 27 years, abating some of the anger she could feel they all had towards her. And Athreos's condition when he found her proved to her that at least some of that anger was justified.
She should have told Athreos about her plans, she knew that now. And now, after they'd had a month of reuniting, Selene could only hope that Athreos trusts her not to leave again.
As she watches Athreos talking with Harry, who was a grown adult now, and not a babe barely able to walk, she feels a tendril of Magic enter her mind, and allows it, using her Telepathy to smooth the connection.
"You are angry at me." Selene says, as soon as she enters the Mindscape and faces the mental representation of her attacker, standing on a beach, waves crashing around them.
The old woman of 90, looking like a 60 year old, glares at her with what is no doubt intense hatred, and says, "You hurt him. Why wouldn't I hate you?"
Selene sighs, and as she sits down on a chair that forms behind her, she says, "Trust me, Dorea. If I had any other option, I would have went with it. My only mistake was not telling Athreos about it beforehand."
One she had no doubt that she'll pay for dearly. Not in any physical way, but through hurt. Athreos wouldn't trust her as implicitly as he did before, and she couldn't fault him for that.
Dorea Black scoffs, and as she sits down in the chair Selene had formed for her, she says, "I don't hate you, not really. I know enough about your former Curse to know that the solution was not something you could think twice over. I just hate what you did to Mason. What your absence did to Mason."
Selene smiles, a bit self-deprecating, and softly whispers, "I hate it too, Dorea. I hate it too."
Dorea turns to look at her, as Selene continues watching the water in the far distance. Snorting a bit, Dorea shakes her head with a smile, and says, "I never had a chance, did I? I mean, after 80 years of loving him I should have realized it, but still."
Selene likes that about Dorea. It told her that Dorea would not betray Athreos, or even herself. She really did love Athreos, or Mason, as Dorea called him.
Sighing, Selene leans back, and says, "No.. not really." At Dorea's look, she smiles and says, "Unfortunately for the Mason you knew in school, his mind was unconsciously resonating with the mind of Athreos, my husband. He was still a child but from what little I managed to sense from the child Mason without Athreos knowing, he was already thinking like an adult by the time he was 10."
It had piqued Selene's curiosity a lot, since she knew Athreos was actually trying to shut the resonance off. The only thing he managed to do was prevent his own younger self from discovering that resonating connection, and accessing the older Athreos's memories that way.
Dorea groans and says, "So that's why he thought of me as a child, or why he always behaved like our older brother. And here I thought the reason behind his older interests lay in the size of their bosoms."
Selene chuckles, remembering the conversation between the friends that she had once spied on. A younger Mason had apparently been caught staring at his older teacher's behind, while completely ignoring a teenager that had tried to catch his eye with her cleavage. Selene could still remember the disgruntlement that Dorea had felt then.
A few seconds go by in silence, neither one worried for the outside world, knowing that the Time out there is almost still. Selene was good at Telepath like that.
The sound of a sigh makes Selene glance at her companion, who starts standing up. As she watches, Dorea says, "Mason.. he is my closest friend. He is the only person I've felt love for except for my family, and he is the only one I could feel an actual Future with. While I think you don't deserve him, not after you caused him to spiral into depression, he still loves you." She turns towards Selene, and Selene notices the tears in the old woman's eyes, as Dorea continues, "And his love for you almost cost me my best friend. He was losing his will to live, and he didn't even know it."
Selene looks down, knowing this to be true. Mason didn't let her know, since how could he? If he didn't know it himself. He was beginning to unravel, and External or not, if she was gone for a century or more, she had no doubt that Mason would have died.
Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she looks up, two pairs of tear filled eyes meeting. Dorea nods at her, and says, "Don't do it again, Selene. Immortal or not, I WILL find a way to kill you if you hurt Mason like this again. It is a promise from a Black, and as you might know from our history.. we are really good at all things violence."
And with that, Dorea returns to the outside world, leaving a thoughtful Selene on her lonesome in her Mindscape. She had no doubt that Dorea would do all these things if she hurt Athreos like this again. An Alchemist, let alone someone of her caliber, is a really dangerous enemy to make, she knew that from experience.
She could only wonder what it was about Athreos that attracted dangerous women to him. Tatiana, Lorraine, herself, and now Dorea. She just hoped that Hela wasn't on the list of people that loved Athreos like this.
Her lips twitch upwards once she returns to the real world, barely a few seconds having passed, amusement filling her mind as she wonders how Athreos would feel if Hela did have feelings for him.
Disgusted, would probably be one of the more dominant emotions.
As Dorea's words kept spinning through her mind, she asks herself.. Was she deserving of Athreos's Love?
But as she watches Athreos's love filled eyes turn towards her, watches as his face drops down just a bit when he notices her thoughtful face, she thinks that deserving or not, Mason loves her. And she will treasure that love without letting Dorea's scornful words bother her.
—
Triskelion- December 2012:
"Stark Mansion attacked by The Mandarin! Tony Stark missing, presumed dead."
Alexander Pierce read the newspaper with just a twitch on his lips showing him how amused he was at this development.
Brock Rumlow, leader of Strike Team Alpha, sat leisurely on the opposite side of the table, swinging the chair side to side on its base.
Putting the newspaper down, Pierce says, "It was fortunate that we didn't have to do anything about Stark. His habit of poking his nose where it doesn't belong would surely get him killed someday."
Rumlow raises an eyebrow, and asks, "Stark knows about us?"
Pierce waves his hand, dismissing the issue, and says, "He's just been constantly hacking SHIELD, CIA, FBI, and even NSA for the last few months. Maybe he suspects about our existence, or maybe he suspects there are infiltrators. Or maybe he's just having some fun. Either way, if he wasn't stopped, we would have been forced to make a move of our own."
Whether purposeful or not, Stark was smart enough to find discrepancies when it came to SHIELD and Hydra's presence within it.
But despite the news saying he was presumed dead, they both knew otherwise. Stark was just too resourceful to die like this. And besides, you don't believe anyone actually is dead unless you see the body. And sometimes, don't believe they're dead even after you've seen the body.
Pierce taps the table a few times, thinking whether or not to send the Asset after Stark, just in case he was actually looking for their presence in Shield, but then stops. "Who is behind the Mandarin, again?"
"Some guy named Aldrich Killian and a think Tank, AIM. They're backed by the Ten Rings too, but only financially. It seems Stark offended Killian a long time ago, and Killian's been sitting on his revenge for this long." Rumlow immediately answers.
Nodding in satisfaction, Pierce says, "Make sure Killian knows where to find Stark. Our analysts should have been done with the tracking part by now. This should keep Stark busy enough to not look too deeply."
As Rumlow walks out, his orders given, Alexander couldn't help but think that perhaps.. It was time for Project Insight to go online.
"Hail Hydra." He whispers to the silence of his office, belatedly realizing he never said it after Rumlow saluted him with it.
But Project Insight won't just start immediately after he puts the idea forth. There will be opposition, not the least of which was one of his oldest friends, and the Director of SHIELD. Nicholas Fury.
Four images flash on Pierce's monitor, making him frown. Four of the biggest threats against Project Insight as per Zola's algorithm. Mason Aves, Nicholas Fury, Steve Rogers.. and the former Director of SHIELD.
Peggy Carter.
It seems the Asset did have work to do, even if Stark's assassination was left in the hands of this AIM.
—
A/N: Plot goes on, and Stark has just found himself on Hydra's radar simply because of suspicious hacking.
Dorea still loves Mason, and is angry at Selene for hurting Mason. The others are a bit angry too, but once they heard the explanation, they're cool.
Any questions?
Thank you for your support! Tata!
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