If you want to help me financially, you can do it on https://www.patreon.com/NeverluckySMILE
As today was going to be a long day, Ororo and Harry had spent the night in High Note, while Jean spent the night in the mansion with her fellow students for the last time. Ororo fell asleep first, her hair matted with sweat and a small, ecstatic smile on her face as she cuddled against her lover's chest, once more reveling in the feelings he could evoke in her. The two of them had gone on a date down in London and then come back up to High Note for several hours of languid, toe-curling lovemaking, and she had loved every minute of it.
Harry soon joined her in the land of dreams, but where her night passed uneventfully, his dreams that evening were not his own. His dreams these days either tended to be memory based and incredibly horrible for the most part, or about his two ladies and er…, or about the future which was rather more topsy-turvy. Those dreams could be good or bad, and were therefore surprisingly Harry's favorite dreams. He loved his ladies, and the dreams of their lives together were the best.
The fact that he sort of recognized where his astral projection stood was another clue. "We really have to stop meeting like this," he said not even looking over his shoulder, staring straight ahead and out the window a few feet down in the hallway he found himself, with rather familiar stone wall around him and an even more familiar view of a dead landscape outside.
After a few minutes of rather speaking silence Harry turned and was completely unsurprised to see Death, or at least the anthropomorphic personification of death standing a few feet behind him.
Harry was of two minds honestly about Wyatt introducing him to Terry Pratchett, on the one hand it was simply one of the most hilarious series he had ever read, and certainly the best mix of thought-provoking satire and pure comedy. On the other hand it had sprinkled his conversation with in-jokes, and the blank stares he sometimes got from his two ladies got to him occasionally.
Death stood there, still in the form of a woman, for which part of Harry was rather pleased. For the sake of his sanity however the rest of him refused to acknowledge that part and subsequently shattered its kneecaps and tossed it into the darkest pits of hell his mind could create.
Death's eyes were the same blue flames they had been the first time they met, colder than the depths of space, colder than anything could truly be in the natural universe, and her face was still a skull. To others she would have appeared intimidating beyond belief, but to Harry she held no terror. They stood staring at one another for a few minutes, or at least what felt like minutes until Death raised a finger pointing at Harry.
He suddenly had quite a lot of information in his head that he didn't remember putting there it was that quick and easy for Death to bypass his Occlumency. Vaults, account numbers, two buried secret caches in the mountains of the Middle East, another one in Greece, one more down in South America in some kind of desert whose name he wasn't even going to try to pronounce. "W-What," he muttered, shaking his head "what the hell was that?!"
Now Death spoke. "For tidying up my paperwork, Mr. Potter."
"You're going to have to explain that one to me," Harry groaned, still shaking his head. She slid that book into my mental library of memories so easily! That's not only disturbing, it's terrifying! After all if Death can do it maybe someone else could. Harry thought for a moment about that last sentence to himself and then shook his head. Okay so maybe it wasn't very likely, but it was still something he was going to have to think about. To say Harry was rattled was an understatement.
Death shrugged. "The universe runs on paperwork. For every death there must be paperwork. For every life there must be on ongoing paper stream. Those who become immortal through various means outside of being born such or the natural order of their mortal lives create paper havoc. Your killing of Selene Gallio, the alchemist and the dementors cleared up quite a lot of old paperwork, the dementors in particular."
Even Harry was not entirely immune to the effect of her gaze, which had been somewhat warm now turned incredibly cold, causing him to shiver. "Those beings were dead. Their souls given to me to cleanse until they were torn from my grasp and returned to the mortal coil in such a fashion that I could no longer touch them. Not until you came around."
Harry nodded, having taken the time that she was speaking to make certain that nothing else had been inserted into his mind. Luckily there hadn't been, and his invisibility cloak was still in place, so he suppose that he was safe enough. The idea of keeping out Death was obviously a fallacy and now that Harry had recovered his equilibrium he supposed it was okay she could get through his defenses. Of course he wasn't happy about it, but there was little he could do about it. She was Death.
"I can understand that," he said as he narrowed his eyes. "I don't suppose you could find it in your heart to tell me anything about the bastard who created them could you?"
Death seemed to pause for a moment, then nodded slightly. "They are called the Celestials, and they are powerful beyond nearly all others in existence. You ran into one of them in the Negative Zone. I know, but you did not kill it. You may have destroyed its body, but his soul was still there and it reconstituted itself after you retreated. The avatar of my opposite, she who you call Jean Grey could possibly become strong enough to take them on, as could you and the child of Gaea. But you are nowhere near the level needed to fight them now."
Death was certain that Harry at least could give any one of them a very rough way to go save for the one they called the Executioner, and possibly even escape while their bodies were being destroyed, as well as the planet he had fought them on, but that was all.
Harry nodded having already assumed that, mentally rifling through some of the information that Death had given him. Not a lot on the woman's business, apparently the British government had moved swiftly against all of the known holdings of the Hellfire Club and its members, and anyone they could not hunt down immediately had their assets seized. But there was a lot of information about buried treasures, magical and otherwise. He made a mental note to go through this at some point, though he would be busy for the next few days with other things. "If that's all, I'd actually rather like to get some sleep now."
He paused a moment before shrugging, "And you didn't have to thank me for doing anything like that, I have a people saving thing™ after all, and a mad on against dementors."
Death shrugged. "I wish to show my appreciation. Now that I have, farewell Mr. Potter, I hope that I do not meet you in my professional capacity in the near future." Harry nodded agreeably to that and his astral projection faded swiftly from her realm.
The avatar of the ultimate end turned again to the window, staring out at her dimension. She had been tempted to not only give Harry Potter a gift for what he had done, but also to give him some more knowledge of local soul containers since their destruction would make her paperwork that much easier. Yet in the end she had decided against it, since that would have been too much direct interference. A gift was one thing, using a mortal as her agent was quite another. All things came to Death eventually, she had no need of avatars.
And then there is the other matter. Death suddenly turned from her window, disappearing from her dimension for a moment.
She found herself floating in a endless sea of white, there was white everywhere, and walls further away than thought yet close enough to almost touch. This was the center of all realities, of all differences, and probabilities, the center of the Mk'raan Crystal.
Across from the avatar of Death appeared another woman at the same moment, yet the fact that they were both women was the only thing they had in common. While Death, even when she was happy, radiated a certain amount of cold, this woman was fire and heat. Her form was fire, the wings along her back were fire, the shape was feminine, but everything about it was a flame undying, of all colors of the rainbow, hot enough to make the brightest star, the hottest supernova seem cold in comparison.
This was the Phoenix, whose extra-dimensional properties was beyond the ken of understanding, so beyond any mortal or immortal to be inconceivable.. Even the highest dimensional beings, Celestials, and Watchers and even those few that were more powerful would be unable to fathom the full breadth and width of her power and majesty. For as varied as life could be so she was, for as varied as rebirth could be so she was. She was the life-fire, life and fiery rebirth and renewal all in one.
As such she was the exact opposite of Death and they had been around since the dawn of time. For as soon as life came into being, so too did death and the possibility of ending.
The two of them stared at one another for several silent minutes, while around them the universe turned and normal time went on in its normal fashion here slowed to a millisecond. After a moment they stepped back, nodded once to one another and disappeared.
OOOOOOO
Since the graduation ceremony was scheduled to take place around eleven local time neither Harry nor Ororo were willing to start any projects. So, since he knew all of Selene's secret caches were safe where they were for now, instead of moving on the information his 'dream' with Death gave him immediately they spent a few hours with Melody going over her homework with her.
After that while Ororo prepared for the day, Harry spent some time calling Emma on the mirror. She answered promptly, and from the background behind her Harry could see that she too was getting ready to head out somewhere. "Busy day?"
"Quite busy," Emma replied dryly. "My younger sister is finally coming home, after days of trying to get out of it. I had to send a few more bodyguards to drag her back here, and I'm picking her up from the airport in a few hours." She shook her head. "Little brat. But hopefully not," here she paused for a moment before going on, "not completely irredeemable."
Emma had already heard back from the doctor she had hired to live with and watch over her mother, and the prognosis was not good. It would be years if ever before her mother was able to kick all of her myriad habits, and her ability to interact with the world around her was limited at best.
"On top of that I have a public speech I'm giving to a new group of factory workers, and later today I'm scheduled to begin the first interviews to fill up the family security detail. We'll see what happens there." Emma had gutted the old security detail, getting rid of anyone who had any problems with the law, or any issues swept under the rug by her father both before and after he/she joined up, as well as any who had even questionable items anywhere in their pasts. Being competent and loyal was not enough, they also had to be trustworthy and worthy representatives of her and her businesses.
After saying that Emma turned away, deliberately, Harry thought, flashing a vision of her very pert rear as she bent over pulling up a pair of panties.
Harry shook his head at her exhibitionist streak. Since these calls began she had taken to teasing him like this. Yet when she found out Ororo merely laughed and whenever the blond vixen got too comfortable or too outgoing, she would simply make out with Harry and put on a little show for Emma in turn. The two seemed to be in some sort of competition, but what type alluded him, thought he had a good idea of the prize.
She turned back, deliberately enticing him with one arm covering her chest, while her other hand pulled up her skirt. Her face however had softened noticeably from the somewhat harried and irritated expression she had worn a moment ago. Harry enjoyed seeing her display so many emotions during these talks, it made her seem more approachable, warmer, and this moment was no exception. "Give Jean my regards would you? I wish I could be there to watch her walk, but I just don't have the time to get away today."
Harry nodded smiling gently. "I'll tell her you said so, it'll mean a lot to her." He knew that despite the fact that Jean had only once joined them for these conversations, being slightly too busy on her own and going to sleep well before the time when Emma could get free, that the two had dozens of discussions via e-mail the past few days. All of them had become even closer thanks to these daily talks, and Harry felt it was a pity that Emma would not be along for his little present to Jean and the others.
Emma nodded firmly, then asked, "Did you see my last e-mail that I sent to her? I told her to share it with you."
"The news you found out about that plane going down in the Atlantic being Obadiah's? Yes I saw it, do you think it's on the level?"
"Almost certainly, I have a radio report from a few US Air Force doctors who looked over the bodies there. Obadiah is dead, and Tony Stark has a new weapon, possibly based on a better design like the one he used to escape those terrorists. This Iron Man armor of his is very intriguing." Tony had made yet another rather grandiose public statement that morning, saying that he was Iron Man. She wondered how this affected his plans for Stark Industries, but had seen no change of his company's changeover from a military construction. And even if he did try to get back in the game, he would find it very hard to build up the work base at this point.
Harry nodded again. "Yes I'll be on the lookout for any newsbytes or other information about it, but I don't think we have to worry about Tony in particular. At least not if you're thinking about him being a direct threat to us; physically he's not. And I don't think he's ever said one way or another what his position on mutant kind is true, but I hope that the responsibility of this suit and what he can do with it centers him again. That man was suffering from PTSD so obviously at the party and at that press conference a few weeks ago that it's not even funny."
The blonde shook her head angrily. "Over the last few days I've delved into the numbers, and that little act of his put a lot of people out of work, and unfortunately I wasn't in charge of Cold Steel at the time. Of course," she smirked "it just means that I picked up the most intelligent and least inclined to jump at the first opportunity that came along, but we'll see if that translates into the cream of the crop." She sighed. "If only my father had jumped at the opportunity to hire them like our competitors."
Hedwig alighted on Harry's shoulder for a moment and Harry smiled at her. "Who's the smartest post-owl ever?" he cooed gently reaching up with his free hand to stroke her plumage. After a moment he turned back to Emma. "I'm going to send Hedwig over to you with a memory stick with several designs on it. Have your new people look at it, I think it might open up some new avenues for your weapons company. Of course if you find that they might be profitable I get 50%."
"20," Emma countered quickly though internally she was smiling. It seemed as if her messages about haggling and business seemed to have gotten through to Harry. "Our personal relationship is just that, personal, this is business."
"45. One of them is a stunner that is small enough to fit in a person's hand but with enough range to cover up to a full book city block." Of course it wasn't strong enough to get through even the uniforms of the Fantastic Four, let alone the uniforms he had planned for his group, or the ones that the X-Men would use, but police forces the world over would still love to have something like that.
"25, something like that is mostly civilian police oriented, and the police are even slower to adapt to new weapons then the military. There's no telling how long it would take them to catch on." She responded
"40. Federal agencies would also like him, and they're much faster to adopt new weapons." He countered.
"Thirty," said Emma firmly. "You may have come up with the designs, but my company is going to be the one actually creating them, and that costs money."
Harry nodded smiling faintly. "30. I'm almost beginning to pity Shaw and Buckman when you start moving against them, but you will still inform me of when anything momentous occurs there?"
Emma nodded, once again wondering if she should tell him about the Sentinel program. But all of her leads about it had come up dead ends, and he wouldn't be able to help her find out what the hell it was. On top of that Harry had enough issues on his plate as it was. "I will, again give Jean my love, and I'll talk to you Monday."
Harry nodded, and then handed the spell from his land, touching the mirror along side. With that done he turned his yes back to Hedwig. "You think you can get to Emma and back before the end of the graduation ceremony?"
Hedwig hooted arrogantly, pecking him lightly in on the forehead as if demanding why he would question her abilities like that.
"Oh ho," he said smirking, "you'll be back even before it starts? Well I trust you Hedwig… so if you think you can do it, do it." He reached out and picked up a little memory stick, then used a piece of wide string to wrap it around Hedwig's claw.
These were some of the weapons designs Harry had developed for the X-Men, and he was going to urge Charles to buy them from Cold Steel once the company began to make them since Charles had no other connections that could supply him with weapons. At the moment Harry didn't have the parts or the inclination to create them himself, but they were still viable designs. And he of course was still of the opinion that only relying on your mutant power was rather silly.
With the final head rub Hedwig leapt off his shoulder disappearing in midair. Left alone for the moment, Harry wondered once again how the hell his dear familiar did that. He had activated his mage sight which was getting so good that this time he had actually felt a brief flare while he watched it, but otherwise she was as sneaky as a thief and twice as hard to spot. Moreover she seems to have developed the ability to ignore or at least overcome the distances between High Note and the ground much more easily than she had previously.
Harry shrugged that mystery away once more then looked down at himself and after a moment's thought snapped his fingers. Where he had before been in his nightclothes of shorts and no shirt, inadvertently having given Emma something to look at as well, he now stood in a decent but not overly dressy suit. Good pants, a brown dress coat and a green undershirt that was just slightly different from his eye color. No tie however. Harry believed that ties were thought up by some demon of yesteryear much like whoever came up with high heels for women.
Maybe even the same one, Harry thought to himself sardonically, looking up when the door opened revealing Ororo. After all liking pain and bondage isn't that far from having an asphyxiation fetish is it?
Ororo was clad in a very nice but obviously utilitarian dress the kind that women could wear while being on the move all day. Harry had refused to tell her what he had planned as a gift for the kids, since this was basically a going away gift from then for both of them to the kids as well as a graduation gift for Scott and Jean. He had however told her that it might involve quite a bit of walking in the sun, and she had planned accordingly, as had the teens or so they hoped. "Are you ready to go my love?"
Harry moved over to her taking her hand in his and kissing it gently. "You look as lovely as ever love," he kissed her on the cheek. Ororo smiled faintly always enjoying the compliments Harry paid her as she knew they were both true and heartfelt. "Shall we go?"
Ororo took his hand in hers, and they moved through the asteroid station, saying farewell to Melody and asking one of the house-elves to watch her for them while they were gone for the day. Harry also took the time to grab a folder with several printed out papers in it, smiling faintly as he looked at it. Ororo too looked at it giggling a bit before kissing his neck. "Her reaction to that should be amusing my love, but I feel it is well deserved."
"I certainly believe so." The two shared a chuckle, and walked down into the teleportation room, where Harry opened the only hole in the wards that allowed apparition at this point, having closed off all the other points even to himself.
Even the house-elves could not port out of the asteroid base from any other point. It might have been paranoid, but after his battle with Selene he felt it was justified. Someone like Stephen could probably bust through them by force still, but that would send Harry a warning, and even he would have to take some time doing it. That, the other wards that protected it and the fact that it was under a Fidelius would be enough protection for the asteroid base.
A moment later the two found themselves standing in Harry's workshop in the mansion. Harry waited until Ororo got over the increasingly brief disorientation from the teleportation, then the two shared a glances as they heard shouts from down below.
Everyone from the mansion was going to the graduation ceremony, since for Scott in particular the people at the mansion were his family, and even Jean despite the distance that had grown between her and the other students were still friends with all of them. Of course they all wanted to be there, yet while Scott had no parents, Jean did and her parents arrived at the mansion in an attempt to talk to her before the ceremony began at the school.
It wasn't so much talking however as it was browbeating. At least that was what it looked like to Harry and Ororo as they came down the steps into the foyer of the mansion where everyone was ready to go, but had stopped getting ready to stare at the argument going on between Jean and her parents.
Jean's parents looked… normal, so normal it was slightly freaky. The man wore a nice, run of the mill suit, black with black tie and white shirt with a perfectly trimmed goatee. The woman wore a decent dress, but nothing about either of them stood out. It was like looking at two people who had taken the Dursley idea of normality to the utter extreme, and Harry shuddered a little at the thought, idly wondering where Jean had gotten her red hair, since neither of her parents were redheads.
"I don't care about your opinions about women in the hard sciences, mother," Jean almost snarled. "I told you this before, I am going to take as many classes in physics, engineering, chemistry, hell even astrophysics, and anything else I can think of. I've decided what I want to do with my life and frankly you need to butt out."
Her mother went puce with anger, being talked to in so rude a manner by her daughter in public no less!
Her father opened his mouth, but before he could say whatever he planned to say Scott stood up moving to stand beside Jean. "I have to say sir, ma'am, that from my own experience Jean is the sort to achieve whatever she sets her mind to, and she is truly brilliant at engineering. Besides in this day and age there's really no barrier to a woman in the hard sciences, its only society's impression of them that is holding them back."
Harry smiled faintly watching this and shared a smile with Ororo. Scott had come a long way since Harry had first arrived at the mansion, and it showed. Before Scott might not have the stomach to go up against Jean's parents, or even agreed with their point of view as he would've wanted Jean to stay with the X-Men and make that her priority, and going to ca nearby college would have helped toward that goal. Now he was willing to step away, retain his friendship with the redhead and support her while not smothering her.
Charles nodded as well. "Going by her grades in school I would assume that Jean could easily get into any of the Ivy League schools that offer her classes."
"And who is going to pay for these classes?" asked her father sternly now able to get a word in edgewise. "We warned you before Jean, we froze your account, the one that we had given to you as a stipend for your time here. If you don't want to go to the school that we have chosen for you, if you don't want to really better yourself in a way where a woman such as you can truly make her own way, then we refuse to pay for your foolishness!"
"That is not at all necessary," said Harry finally coming to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. Everyone had been so engrossed in the argument that only Logan had noticed the two newcomers, and he smiled faintly at them looking very uncomfortable in an admittedly very good suit. It must've been tailored to his height and width of shoulder, yet even with that Logan's wild nature seeped through.
"And who are you?" Jean's father asked angrily.
Harry smiled handing over the folder to Jean who took it opening it quizzically. "Starting tomorrow I'm her employer."
Jean flipped through a few pages and gasped at the numbers she was seen. Then she gasped again feeling faint at the final portion and looked up at Harry. "H=Harry, this is, it's too generous!"
"On the contrary," Harry replied, smiling faintly. "When the new Arc Technologies company opens up and we start selling the reactors you'll be the chief engineer of the company. That's actually the normal wage for such a position, trust me I asked around and did some research there."
"A-and the shares of that company? Er, and can I change that name later? Its focus is a little too narrow." Jean asked the last part almost sheepishly.
"Well I'm not about to open it up to anyone outside our circle am I, and yes you can bloody well change the name later." Harry groused then went on more seriously. "Our companies are never going to go on to the public trading block, but this way you have as much say in what we do in that portion of the company as I do." Indeed both of them would have 49% of the new Arc Technologies company, with Ororo having a 2% swing vote.
That way, if it came down to a point the two of them couldn't agree on (and Harry was not so naïve as to think that wouldn't happen) they could have Ororo arbitrate for them. Outsiders may think that this could in some way influence their relationship, but that was not the case. Both Jean and Harry had a healthy respect for Ororo's common sense, and she often posed problems and solutions that neither of them had seen.
Jean stared at Harry then over at Ororo who smiled broadly, her eyes alight with amusement and encouragement. "Take it Jean," she said softly, "I think you're well worth it."
"You're going to make my daughter, someone who has no background in this, no experience in the field, your chief engineer, what kind of put up job is this?!" said her father angrily. "Jean, how many years are you going to waste on a lash-up like that until you realize that the company itself is probably going to fail miserably, and that your talent lies elsewhere?"
Jean's eye narrowed angrily at that, disparagement on her skill but before she could say anything Charles spoke up, rubbing his forehead. "I think that's more than enough. Mr. and Mrs. Grey, you are in my home at my sufferance, shouting like this is discourteous in the extreme. Your daughter is a woman, of legal age to move on with her life regardless of your own opinions. Please accept that and move on."
"Where the hell do I sign?" asked Jean while flipping through the papers in the folder. She looked up at her parents her eyes growing cold again. "You two have never really cared all that much for me emotionally you know? Your attitude toward my dreams and desires for the future show that big time. You were standoffish when I was younger, standoffish throughout my entire life, you never even noticed when!..." she broke off angrily chopping that thought off not wanting to tell her parents about the entity that she had once held inside her head or what Charles had done to it.
"You two may be happy with your little lives, your little normality, but I think normal is overrated. I'm going to soar, and if you don't want to back me up, to be proud of me, then so be it. I don't need you in my life, I've made my own family," she said looking over at Ororo but keeping her eyes away from Harry for now, not wanting to hint to her parents what was going on between them, far too much hassle, then glanced around at the other X-Men. "I have other people who will support me regardless."
She looked up at the clock and shook her head. "We better go or we'll be late. Don't try to contact me again," she said after turning back to her parents. "You've shown what you think of me, and I don't want anything to do with you anymore."
Charles nodded firmly, mildly appalled by how the Grey's had responded to the idea of their daughters independence, it reminded him of his own response but they were far harsher in language and scope. "Logan please export these two out, and the rest of us I believe we have a date with a few vans."
Harry jangled his keys in the air. "We can fit one more in the back with Jean in my Huayra."
"Dibs!" Kitty shouted before anyone else.
Rogue snapped her fingers. She had never had a chance to drive in the supercar, and really wanted to before Harry could move out.
Harry saw this and smiled. "We can take you with us there Rogue, and on the way back I think we might wish to switch out with the kids who haven't had a chance to drive in my car yet. It is an experience I will tell you that."
Rogue and the others all smiled faintly, though Scott shrugged having his own car. It wasn't nearly as fast as the European supercar of course, but it was his which made it far better in Scott's opinion. Harry saw this to and smiled faintly nodding his head at the younger man.
"Let's go!" said Kurt actually rubbing his hands together in anticipation, while next to him Evan grinned in anticipation.
Harry noticed this and one eyebrow rose. "What have you got planned?"
Kurt cackled faux-maniacally, rubbing his hands together. "You vill just have to see my master. I would say however it vas not me alone that though this one up, but myself, my accomplice here, and a certain redhead who has just disappeared down the hallway."
Charles who was moving at a much more sedate pace than the others, groaned aloud, wondering what was going to happen here.
A moment later Hedwig arrived back, having dropped off her burden on Emma's pillow. Harry smiled, congratulated his owl for her good work ,then sent her to see Nessy about some bacon before following the others down into the garage.
OOOOOOO
Emma looked over at her scowling younger sister, smiling internally. On an older Frost (even Christian, though he rarely used it) such an expression would be most forbidding, but on Cordelia who was all of 16, it just didn't have that impact. "Stop that," Emma ordered, "or it might freeze that way. And wouldn't that be horrible?"
Of course the contrary teen continued to scowl at her. "I don't understand what I am doing here. And don't give me that line about caring for me as one of only two family members remaining to you, sister. I know there was no love lost between you, Adrienne and our father. I have to be honest, there was no love lost between those two and me either. So don't try to use familial feelings to manipulate me."
"The thought hadn't crossed my mind," Emma said dryly. "You're with me simply because I don't have time at the moment to drop you off at home. And before you ask, no, I wasn't going to send you home alone with the bodyguards." She smiled faintly as she noticed Cordelia's eyes going towards the man sitting next to Emma.
Patrick Welton was a good-looking young man in his 20s, fit and with a crew cut. He was former Force Recon, having left the Marines after a single tour and joining up with the security detail for the Frost family after his first few jobs fell through. If Emma was honest with herself she found him rather handsome, though nowhere near a Tony Stark let alone a Harry Potter. Cordelia however seemed to definitely find him appealing.
I wonder if she has a thing for older men or something, rather a disturbing thought given our late unlamented male role model. Emma mused. Still it looks like Patrick at least has no interest in Cordelia.
Patrick thankfully seemed to look at Cordelia as if she was a rambunctious child, which hopefully would keep any issues from popping up there since Emma had decided upon seeing the way her sister looked at the man to assign Patrick to her full-time. If Cordelia was too busy trying to figure out a way to talk her way into her bodyguard's pants then she wouldn't be in a position to undermine Emma. The Frost matriarch had decided that she rather liked the calm and safe home life, and she didn't want to have to deal with her younger sister's teenage angst or issues caused by said.
"Besides," she continued. "This might be educational. The workers I'm going to speak to are going to form the backbone of our Cold Steel company's resurgence into the weapons market."
Cordelia proved she was a Frost when her eyes narrowed and she concentrated on her older sister again. "You hired them after they were let go by Stark Industries? I still can't believe that they're getting out of the weapons business entirely."
"If by weapons business you mean offensive weapons that's most certainly the case," said Emma frowning faintly. "I don't know what Tony plans, but it's obvious that he doesn't want to sell any more weapons to the military or into the commercial district. They are still creating other military goods for now, but Stark may put a stop to that as well. That leaves a very large hole here in America as well as abroad, and since Hammer Industries is now having its own issues here in the states it puts us in a position to take advantage of it. I wasn't able to higher nearly as many ex-stark employees as I could've hoped this late, but I think I got quite a few of the best ones at the managerial level at least. I'll be meeting with them over the next few weeks, today is just for the blue-collar workers."
Cordelia began to sneer at that but Emma cut her off sharply. "Don't make the same mistake Tony did. Those people are the backbone of any company, make them happy and they will work for you 120%, giving you their ideas, their loyalty and their sweat. Do you know how many ideas for different types of armor or planes came from the managers of Stark industries various factories? Almost as much as much as from Tony. Granted he came up with more weapons, but it was the policy his company had to cosign the patent of any ideas to the workers who came up with anything workable that made Stark Industries as viable as it was in other areas of manufacture. The carapace armor that is even now being tested for the American army use for instance, several vehicle modifications, and their jet engines, all came from the minds of white collar workers."
That made Cordelia frown more thoughtfully and she nodded slowly. "I can see that, I guess. And I'll try not to look down on them, I know that was what Winston would do, and the less said about how Adrienne viewed the 'little people' she made air quotes in the air for a moment, "the better."
The two shared a look, both of them thinking about what would never be said. Adrienne had not been gentle to Cordelia either, though she had never been as bad towards her as she had towards Emma who she viewed as an actual threat. But Cordelia had been much more into gossip around the house, and she knew what kind of things Adrienne had been into.
And in the case of Winston Cordelia had only considered the man her father until she was around nine or 10, at which point she gave up on looking to him for any kind of familial affection instead turning her attentions to a few of the servants who had raised her. As the third daughter she had been mostly overlooked by Winston, and had gotten away with quite a lot more than Emma had especially after Christian's sexual orientation was discovered, which helped further distance her from Winston and his control.
The rest of the trip passed in silence, and Emma sat back her eyes closed as she reviewed what she was going to say to the crowd of factory workers. She wanted more out of this public speaking engagement than simply wowing the crowd or getting good workers to understand that she wasn't going to throw them out on their hearers like Tony did. She wanted to weld them to Cold Steel, get them to buy into the company fully as they had with Stark Industries before Tony showed that he didn't really care about the little man.
She wondered idly how Pepper had done it, as according to her sources there wasn't much actual hard feelings towards Tony prevalent in the workers. Oh, there was some of course, but most of them seemed to have little in the way of hard feelings towards the man who had cost them their livelihoods. There was a sense of 'well yeah he was a bit of an asshole laying us off like that, but at least he has style' to the report she was getting, a mix of almost bemused respect and a bit of irritation.
It was odd, but she put it down to Tony's charisma. Even as a playboy billionaire who barely interacted with the lower echelon workers Stark still had a certain flair that drew people to him. That flair was in 'stark' abeyance when he showed up at the gala, but I hope he will get back to normal quickly and start SI making me money again soon.
She smiled faintly, remembering the stocks that she had found. The worms her father had somehow acquired (and she still hadn't figured out where they came from originally, which was irritating her rather a lot) had been able to hunt down all of the secret hidden stocks that Obadiah had bought after Tony's announcement and hidden under fake bringing Emma's stocks almost up to Harry's level. Of course his was still split between two fake IDs, and she had swiftly moved the stocks that she had found to other made up identities, but she doubted that would last long.
It would be obvious to Tony once he began to look into things, especially if he used his own systems which were so much better than the federal ones it wasn't even funny, that she had picked them up. What he would think about that she didn't now, but she doubted he would make an issue of it. In point of fact she was uncertain what his long-term goals were, or if he even had one. That iron Man armor of his she thought to herself then shook her head. That thing represents an entirely new level of warfare, one that is on par with Dr. Doom's suit. If such suits become commonplace this world is going to get very dangerous very quickly. I hope at least that he has taken steps to ensure that that does not happen, but I have to wonder what he thinks he is going to be doing. Is he a new superhero on the scene like the Fantastic Four or that odd spider fellow in New York, or what?
She shook that train of thought out of her head, and went back to preparing herself for her speech.
OOOOOOO
While Emma was preparing herself for her speech, Jean and the others had just arrived at the school for the graduation, which was being held in the gym. It had already been set up for the purpose, with a three feet tall stage set up at the far end of the gym from the doors.
Once inside the group separated, with Scott and Jean moving toward where the seniors were sitting in the front two rows from the stage. Charles and the others as nonfamily members had to sit at the far back, though Harry and Ororo simply moved to one of the walls and leaned against them. They had actually arrived early enough to find a place near the front.
Ororo had been handed a booklet as she entered that told her about the order of the events, as well as quite a bit about the alumni that were going to give some speeches. Once she and Harry were leaning against the wall she began to idly flip through it. "It looks like your normal graduation, nothing special. Strange, I would have thought the acting principal would have tried to liven things up."
She informed Harry, though of course he wouldn't know what she was talking about. Harry had never graduated from high school, though he had taken more than enough classes to graduate, but normal education had always been too slow for him. And of course the Dursleys and Bumble-more (a nickname that despite its childishness Ororo actually approved of) would never have allowed him to taken regular courses. Hermione's parents helped immensely, but not enough to actually get him into a regular high school.
Realizing this, Ororo elaborated. "First will be a speech from the principal, then several from the alumni who are gathered here," she pointed that out a few of them, matching their faces with the pictures in the booklet. "Then they'll assign special awards, ending with Jean as valedictorian whereupon she will also give a speech. Then the students will be called up to take their diplomas, a final short speech from the principal again and that's it."
"The question becomes," Harry mused, "where in all of that will Kurt and Jean's prank occur?"
"I presume it will start during Jean's speech," said Ororo smiling faintly. "Possibly her speech is part of the prank."
"I think her speech will be a separate thing, and will carry its own entirely different message, than whatever prank the two have come up with," he said looking at her with one eyebrow raised. "Care to put a wager on what the prank will entail?"
Ororo cocked her head to one side, thinking then nodded. "Very well, I believe the prank will be something happening to the audience."
"I believe it will be something happening to disrupt the flow of the ceremony," Harry responded. "Not something to the audience but to either the people involved in the ceremony or to disrupt the ceremony itself."
"And the wager?" Ororo asked.
"To be determined at a later date," said Harry smiling faintly. He had a few ideas of what he wanted to try to get Ororo to agree to, and it involved certain… food products and the kitchen table, not the sort of thing Ororo would normally agree to but as the stakes in a wager, possibly?
Ororo frowned at that and then shrugged. "Nothing humiliating of course."
"Of course not," her lover replied, his tone sounding offended that she would even consider questioning his virtue A tone that was overdone enough that it made Ororo's eyes narrow suspiciously. Yet before she could respond the doors at the back of the gym closed, and the ceremony began.
Ororo was unfortunately correct, and an hour and a bit later Harry was near to falling asleep from all the boring, rather predictable, speeches from the principal and the alum when Ororo shook his shoulder gently. Harry woke up just enough time to hear "And now for a word from our valedictorian this year, Jean Grey."
Harry came fully awake and began to smile showing just a hint of teeth in his expression. "Here it comes," he muttered.
At the front of the audience Jean stood up gracefully from her rather uncomfortable chair. She strode forward, the kind of stride that seemed to challenge and grab the attention of everyone there without being sexual. Unlike the dresses, skirts and blouses of the girls around her, Jean wore a woman's business suit. Khaki pants, a good blouse over a shirt and tie looking altogether professional. Yet in contrast her hair was loose along her back, cascading down her neck and shoulders like a crimson wave. Despite the fact she had dressed like this, she was still incredibly attractive, and Harry and Ororo were not the only ones in audience watching the redhead avidly.
Looking at Jean now, Duncan growled under his breath, irritated beyond belief that he had never gotten far with her. She was truly gorgeous, even if her choice of clothing wasn't anywhere near what he liked to see women wear.
His voice was not the only one muttering, though generally speaking the parents and the rest of the audience were approving. Her peers, having long been swayed by Duncan's rumor-mongering which had never fully gone away looked at her with scant approval, but Scott at least clapped heartily with the rest of the audience.
Jean took her place at the podium looking across at the audience smiling blandly. She looked down at her speech for a moment then back up at them and began. "The world is full of contradictions. We're told by social media, commercials, and the world around us that standing out is a good thing, that it is the only way to be important. Yet the moment we start school that goes away, we have to 'go along to get along', both our teachers and our peers tell us this in various ways."
The principal frowned suddenly seeing where this was going but he didn't see any way to stop it, and on second thought he felt it might be a wake-up call for the community anyway about the bullying and other social issues going on inside the school.
"If you are not able to conform, if you go against the grain, go against the norm you are derided, mocked and ostracized. People make rumors about you, labeling you a slut, a lesbian, or a frigid bitch… though they seem to disagree which is worse. I have recently had all those thrown at me, and yet they did not matter to me at the time and they do not matter to me now because I know two truths that were beyond the grasp of most of my peers and fellow students."
"Conformity leads to complacency, and normality never changes the world. In our history classes we do not read about normal people who simply 'got along to get along', we read about people who challenge the status quo! Who change the world as we see it through their energy, their thoughts, and their dreams! Abraham Lincoln, Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Nellie Bly, Martin Luther King, Marie Curie. None of these men and women changed the world by going along with the status quo."
There was some muttering in the audience now, but most of them were nodding approvingly save for a few parents who had heard their children mention Jean in a negative light, those were merely looking confused, and wondering if this girl was the same they had heard about.
"Up to this point we, as students, could get by in life by simply doing as we were told, moving along with the flow and letting our parents dictate what we were doing. The moment those doors open," Jean said pointing out past the audience to the doors leading out of the gym, "That is no longer the case. Are you ready for the world as it comes at you, are you ready to make your mark if you so wish? What dreams will propel you, what heights will you reach?"
"Far too few students here," Jean went on, softer now looking out over the rows at the front filled with the other seniors. "Have yet to answer those questions. They have been too busy in their own little world here at school, not realizing that nothing here matters outside of these walls, only what you have worked for and what you can show matters."
Jean's voice rose as she went on. "I have a dream. It isn't exactly like Martin Luther King's or peace in this world, but I have a dream to change the world for the better, to make my mark on this world and make it a better place for future generations. That dream is so fierce so bright in me that it sustained me while I was mocked, cheated on because I wasn't a slut, made fun of, and ostracized here in the past few weeks. Now everyone who did that has to watch me soar! I urge my fellow graduates to think of what they want to do with their lives, to think beyond the here and now and into the realm of possibility that is the future, to grasp it with both hands and to make it their own, because in the end that is the only thing that matters!"
She put her speech down and backed away, and there was a moment of silence in the audience. After that moment however there was a large roar of applause, mostly from the adults, while the seniors themselves merely went through the motions, not really understanding what they wanted to say or think about the speech. On the one hand she had been almost contemptuous of them, calling them out on the way they had treated her, yet on the other hand she had urged them to rise above their pettiness, and to make their marks in the world.
Duncan and others of course were in no way ambivalent about their own feelings at being called out, but they were in the minority.
Of course Ororo and Harry were both clapping loudly for her, amused at the fact that she had been able to deride her mockers, get a last dig in on Duncan, and basically demand that all of them raise their game up as they moved forward. "So which of us called that one?" Ororo muttered out of the corner of her mouth.
"I believe if that had been part of the bet it would have been a tie love," said Harry wrapping one arm around her waist as the applause died down. Jean looked back at the two of them as she moved to her seat seeing both of them smiling approvingly. Harry surreptitiously gave her a thumbs up.
At the back of the crowd Charles and the other X-Men had also found the speech most illuminating, and all were smiling proudly at Jean. Come what may, despite her moving out they knew that the woman she had become was someone they were all proud to call a friend.
The principal moved forward, taking his place at the podium. "Thank you Ms. Grey, and with that we will now start handing out the diplomas. Alexis Abraham."
Almost as soon as Alexis, a rather dumpy girl who had clapped ferociously throughout the applause for Jean's speech having been bullied many a time stood up, the audience knew something was going on.
It was pretty obvious after all, what with the music suddenly blaring from unseen speakers all around. It sounded almost like a chorus going off, but with dozens of different songs coming from everywhere in the auditorium. Daphne paused for a moment then shrugged and moved on, not really caring.
The principal and the other teachers however were looking around wondering where the hell the music was coming from, and Alexis stomped up the small stairs to gain the acting principal's attention.
Jean had devised small wireless speakers that Kurt had hid in several places in the gymnasium, very carefully hidden in the rafters and in various other places. To get most of them down he would either have to have a ladder, or be able to teleport like Kurt. Jean had merely wished to prank or possibly disrupt the ceremony, but Kurt had added his own fillip to the prank, which would become clear soon enough, and he was even now gleefully fingering the remote for the radio which was feeding songs into the speakers.
The choice facing the school's faculty was either to stop the ceremony here, which would cause the principal and the teachers to be a laughingstock, or just get on with things as if nothing was going on, which, despite the fact they would take some heat for not stopping whatever was going on, would earn them some points for coolness under fire.
Kurt actually was impressed, as beside a slight twitching in the eyebrow area the acting principal showed no outward change of expression to the noise, and simply went on with the ceremony calling out the next names calmly.
Ms. Sarah Bulton was the first of the people who had propagated rumors about Jean to stand up. In point of fact she was one of the school bullies, not physically, but with words. She was a cheerleader who took great care of her body, and was one of the few people on campus who was actually better looking than Jean. Of course she had nothing else going for her, save for a control of the school's rumor system that was almost magical. It did not help her escape her upcoming humiliation.
The songs all ended suddenly only one playing now. "'Kylie won't kiss my friend Cassandra, Jessica won't play ball, Mandy won't share her friend Miranda, doesn't anybody live at all? Amanda won't leave me empty handed, got her number from the bathroom stall. Brandy just got way too much baggage and that shit just gets old. But I got a girl who can put on a show, the dollar decides how far you can go!'"
Kurt had decided that merely having songs in the background was not enough, there had to be a pointed message to the people who had so wronged his redheaded friend. So with the help of Nessy and Tipsy, who had taken to living in the mansion as long as one of the 'misses', Kurt had compiled a list of the worst detractors, putting them down for special songs. There was a list of other students too, just to add a lighter tone to the proceedings and make it less of an attack and more gentle teasing.
Sarah stopped and flushed angrily, looking around her with a glare that should've stopped everyone's hearts as people in the audience began to chuckle, save for her parents who were simply looking scandalized.
The principal however merely glared at her and made a gesture with one hand urging her to move on with things. She did so but her anger did not fade from her expression until the music went back to its cacophony of several different songs without lyrics the moment she took her diploma.
A few names later another woman stood up. Her name was Imira Beckum, and if Melody had ever met her she would've found in Becky a kindred soul. Not because she saw songs, but because she was a singer and wanted to pursue a singing and acting career, believing that music was the greatest and most pure expression of thought in the universe.
When her name was called it moved into a song that was part of a new show on broad-way that had opened a few months ago. The show was called Wicked, and it poked gentle fun at the Dorothy of Oz theme, portraying the Witch of the West as not so much wicked as a nonconformist. This song in particular carried that mention and it was called Defying Gravity. She smiled, wondering how whoever had set this up had figured out that this was one of her favorite songs. In actuality Evan had developed a bit of a crush on her after having heard her sing once in the music room, and he had helped Kurt with this prank.
Amused Imira began to sing along as she moved slowly toward the stage. "Something has changed within me, something is not the same. "I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game. Too late for second-guessing, too late to go back to sleep, it's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap!" In point of fact her singing would gain her the attention of a musical director in the audience, and eventually land her a job on Broadway. All because of a little crush, and a little prank.
There were a few other examples of people who actually enjoyed their songs, and one or two examples of people who didn't before Duncan stood up. As soon as his came on however everyone in the audience began to mutter and laugh, and his parents, who had initially been rather amused by this display began to shout angrily. Unfortunately they were stuck dead center in the audience, and no one on either side was willing to move. "'…Right now, he's probably buying her some fruity little drink 'cause she can't shoot whiskey. Right now, he's probably up behind her with a pool stick, showing her how to shoot a combo...'"
Again the acting principal proved he wasn't someone to mess with as Duncan made to angrily turn away but a cough and a glare from the principal forced him to move on despite the rather humiliating song emasculating him in the background. "'Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats!'"
Soon enough it was Jean's, and her song, which Kurt had chosen with care, showed precisely what she thought about the name-calling as well as hinting at what she thought about the whole mutant rights issue. "'So shout if you're a freak like me don't apologize. They can't hold you down, you were born to rise
It's our time now, to come out!'"
There were a few more moments, both good and bad especially for the people they were involved. When it became his turn for example Scott and his song raised some eyebrows. 'Warriors of the World' was not the first combative sort of song that had been played, but most of the other students that had songs like that were known to be going into the military.
Yet for all that they still moved like civilians. When Scott stood up he moved like a soldier, marching in step towards his diploma, and then back to his seat with such precision and control that even the most insane drill sergeant would've been impressed.
Summers was near the end of the list of graduating names. The rest of the ceremony was anti-climatic in comparison, and the principal ended it on a higher note. The fact that he had managed to get through it and controlled the audience and the students despite the ongoing noise garnered him quite a lot of points in the community, and next year he would be back as the actual principal rather than the acting principal. The ceremony broke up after he spoke with the music dying out as he did, and the students and audience got up from their chairs, leaving slowly.
Duncan made a beeline towards Jean, along with her parents, who intercepted him. The mother in particular was furious, and took him to task rather sharply about what it was really going on at school, not liking the fact their family had been humiliated like this. The two of them had been filled in on what really happened between their boy and Jean by a few of the parents around them, and were not happy about having been lied to.
During this confusion Jean met up with Ororo and Harry, who exchanged hugs with her rather staid hugs here in public, then moved over to join Charles and the others, before they all left swiftly, avoiding the crowd. Jean crowded in with Ororo, Charles and Logan in the van, while Scott and Rogue took his car alone. Evan, Kurt and Kitty piled into Huayra.
While they were moving out into the road, Kitty picked up the folder that Jean had accidentally left there looking it over and whistling appreciatively. She looked up at Harry who was driving, shaking her head. "Geez Teach, if this is the salary we can expect if we start working for you, where do I sign up?"
"I've actually already got a contract ready for you once you graduate high school," said Harry blandly, the supercar moving swiftly through traffic and heading back towards the mansion at a far faster clip than the van despite the fact that Logan was tempted to try and keep up regardless of their different specs.
Kitty gaped at him, and Harry laughed. "Remember, I told you that you're my apprentice in runes. That means I have to look out for you in the future as well. I was serious when I mentioned that to your parents Kitten."
Kitty flushed. Since she had begun studying for her finals Kitty hadn't had much time to devote to her runic studies. She had however finished the work for the arrays for herself and for the other X-Men, and was just waiting to put them on their uniforms. Scott had asked that they be able to change the uniforms, letting the kids have some individuality and Charles had approved. When he heard about it however Harry had brokered a deal with the Fantastic Four for enough cloth made from their unstable molecules for suits for all the kids and another team of a similar size, though none of the kids knew it yet.
Before she could speak however Harry went on. "Take whatever classes you want, I'm not going to try and pigeonhole you or anything like that, I don't particularly see you as an engineer like Jean, but you have a flair for runes, and I'd like to see what you come up with eventually. In point of fact, if you have time over the summer I could offer you a job right away."
"Deal!" Kitty shouted gleefully. "Having some extra spending money will be great, and I can send some to my parents too!"
In point of fact Harry had so many tasks and jobs piling up for himself that having another person around that could do runic work would be a major help. He wouldn't throw her at the problems up in High Note, not the time dilation stuff yet, but she could easily do what he called the 'trust me, trust me not' array, so that they could start really interviewing people and clearing them in the future when they hired more people for his different companies. Kitty could also help around the castle with things Harry was doing there, start work on a communication array like the mirrors only better and with a wider range, lots of things.
About five minutes of frenetic, traffic defying driving later they were at the mansion. They pulled in and, after waiting for the other two cars to arrive Harry sent the kids off to pack. He told everyone to pack enough warm clothing for three days, including swimsuits and a good dress or clothing if they wanted. "After you're packed, we have some time to kill before we can check in where we're going, so I'd suggest grabbing a nap, because you'll need it."
Some of the kids took his advice, while Ororo and Jean decided to take over the solarium for some reading time. He, Scott and Logan talked a bit about the new kids that were going to arrive over the summer, and Charles went about packing his own clothing for the trip. The ceremony had taken four hours, so they had a little over five hours to kill thus.
Harry belatedly realized he could have used this time to hit up at least one of Selene's hidey holes, but decided against going off to do so now. If he red Selene right, the woman was definitely the type to provide defenses of her hidden treasures, and destroying said would probably take a while and simply enjoyed a bit of down time by himself, reading a fantasy novel from cover to cover after he finished talking to Scott and Logan.
A little after nine all the kids gathered again in the foyer with their bags over their shoulders or in their hands. After making certain they were all present Harry asked Tipsy to grab a hoola-hoop of all things, though this one had been greatly enlarged. It was wide enough for at least five people to stand inside the circle, and enough space along the circle for everyone at the mansion to grab on.
At that point Hedwig arrived, landing lightly on Harry's shoulder. "Hello beautiful one, is the area still clear?"
Hedwig hooted approvingly, nudging her head against his for a moment then flying over to Kitty to land on her shoulder and receive her head scratches. She liked the one who reminded her of her Masters previous mate, all those curls on her head were fun to play with.
"So where are we going?" Asked Evan, looking at the hoop questioningly, "And what's that for?"
"I'm going to create a portkey with it, it's generally speaking the best magical way to travel, and this way I can transport all of us at once. As to where were going, you'll see when we get there though I think most of you will have to use some translation spells. You'll protect me from your aunt won't you Evan?" Harry asked half jokingly, half seriously.
Evan raised his hands in an X in front of his face. "Not a chance man. You're on your own there." Kurt and Kitty both chuckled
Harry motioned everyone around, including Charles and Logan. "Grab onto the hoop guys, and prepare yourself for a bit of an experience."
Charles looked at the hoop skeptically. "This won't be like you're driving will it?"
"Not at all Professor," Harry said soothingly then ruined it when he went on to say, "At least I don't think so."
"That does not fill me with confidence" Charles replied dryly but reached up to grab onto the hoop all the same.
Once Harry was certain that everyone had a good grip he nodded. "Activate." A moment later the group disappeared from the mansion and New York State entirely.