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The XXX-Gene Ch. 60 (Marvel)
🕑 Added 2024-12-08 15:51:01 +0000 UTCA/N: Originally wanted to have all three interlude convos in this chapter, but Sage likes to think a lot so her convo with Xavier ran long lol.
-x-X-x-
“What. Happened.”
Director Nick Fury’s clipped tone makes it clear he’s barely containing his anger. Natasha doesn’t wince or anything like that… but she is grateful that this conversation is happening over the phone, rather than back at the Triskelion in the Director’s Office. After how rattled last night left her, the femme fatale isn’t really interested in testing her ability to lie to her superior face to face at this point. Given Natasha’s skillset and training, that really goes to show just how… off the rails last night got.
“The situation evolved quite rapidly, sir.”
“I’d say! Shaw is DEAD. Chad Cummings was supposed to be a minnow in a damn ocean! He was supposed to be a patsy, our pathway into the Hellfire Club. Instead, he just whacked the king last night and no one saw it coming?!”
The events of the previous night flash through Natasha’s mind’s eye. Watching Thaddeus transform to deal with the gunmen had been interesting to say the least. Even a little impressive if she was being honest. However, when he’d refused to let her go with Shaw, Natasha had been… worried. The smart thing to do would be to let Shaw have her. Then, she could have acted as Thaddeus’ spy on the inside of the Black King’s court. After all, she still needed Thaddeus.
But Natasha supposed she’d thoroughly underestimated the pride and possessiveness of the young man. Thaddeus wasn’t willing to give her up even temporarily, even though he should have thought that he was still her best path to power. Watching him and his… suit transform into liquid metals and force their way down Shaw’s throat to kill him wasn’t what Natasha had expected as an outcome though.
Of course, she can’t tell Fury that. She can’t tell Fury half the things that happened last night.
“Shaw’s mutation made him an incredibly capable combatant, but it also gave him an obvious sense of superiority that ultimately led to his downfall. Thaddeus, as he prefers to be called, wasn’t even the one who killed him. It was another mutant he’d made common cause with, a woman named Mercury whose mutation allows her to turn into living, liquid mercury. She bypassed Shaw’s defenses entirely. Even someone as powerful as the Black King still needed to breathe.”
There’s a long, pregnant pause as Fury turns over Natasha’s explanation in his head. The red-haired femme fatale waits patiently, sitting with the phone against her ear and her face expressionless.
“Mercury is one of Xavier’s get, isn’t she? How did we not know about her and Cummings’ connection?”
Luckily, Natasha had her bases covered there.
“As I had already reported, Charles Xavier sent some of his students to ESU to keep an eye on and ingratiate themselves with Thaddeus. Mercury was not one of them, but I can only assume she was introduced to him through them.”
“You can only assume.”
Fury’s tone is deadpan and more than a little irate. Which is fair. If Natasha wasn’t lying to him about all of this, she would be beating herself up right now for failing to notice the connection. It was an inexcusable failure on her part, allowing a threat like Mercury to slip under her nose. Of course, that hadn’t happened… but Natasha had to pretend it had for the sake of the story.
“I’m sorry sir. I was focused on Thaddeus’ connections to the Hellfire Club. I deemed his interactions with the X-Men to be of minimal importance and prioritized keeping track of his meetings with Frost as well as building my relationship with him. That said, there is a silver lining on that front out of all of this.”
The SHIELD Director snorts derisively.
“Yeah? Lay it on me then.”
To be fair, Natasha is pretty sure Fury already knows what she’s going to say. In fact, it’s probably the only reason this ISN’T an in-person meeting with her pulled off of this mission entirely. Still, it has to be said aloud all the same.
“Last night, Thaddeus Cummings was willing to die for me. To the extent that his secret ace in the hole had to reveal herself to all of us and kill Sebastian Shaw to save his life. We can use that to our advantage, especially since Frost promoted Thaddeus to the position of White Knight in the aftermath. This isn’t even a setback for us sir, not really. If anything, it’s a massive leap forward.”
Another pregnant pause ensues, though much like the previous one, Natasha simply waits patiently. She already knows what he’s going to say after all.
“… Stay on target Agent Romanoff and continue reporting in on the regular. Keep an eye out for any more surprises.”
“Yes sir.”
With that, the call ends and Natasha lets out a slow breath as she puts the phone down. It wasn’t easy lying to the Director of SHIELD. But… needs must.
-x-X-x-
“I must confess my dear, there were times when I worried you might have gone… native. Our last meeting was understandably under adverse circumstances, but even then you gave me doubts as to whether Shaw had managed to turn you.”
Unlike Natasha, Sage doesn’t get the luxury of a simple phone call. Instead, she finds herself sitting in the backroom of an incredibly expensive coffee shop, at a table across from one of the most powerful men in the world. Professor Charles Xavier looks at her with a friendly albeit wary gaze, even as Sage offers a brief smile in response.
“Then I suppose I was doing my job correctly, wasn’t I?”
That gets a slight smile from the wheelchair bound mutant and a dip of his head in turn.
“Indeed, I suppose you’re right. Still… what on earth happened last night?”
Sage makes a show of hesitating for a moment before reciting the facts in a clipped tone.
“Frost’s new pet brought a Black Widow to the Gala. Shaw wanted her. Before he could take her, Donald Pierce came back from the dead to try and take revenge. Shaw dealt with him, and Frost’s new pet dealt with Pierce’s gunmen. In the aftermath, Shaw made another play at the Black Widow… things went awry.”
That draws a soft incredulous snort from Charles.
“I should certainly say they did. The Black King of the Hellfire Club… dead. On the one hand, it’s not as though the turnover of that particular organization isn’t abysmally high. On the other hand… I would not have expected Shaw to go down so easily.”
Yes, Sage knew that very well. If Charles thought that Shaw was an easy target, then he might have made a play for removing the Black King from the board years ago. Not killing probably, but certainly, with Sage as Shaw’s ‘defense’ against other telepaths, they had multiple options available to them. Multiple options that Charles had ignored… much to Sage’s continual chagrin.
“… Afterwards, Frost altered the minds of all of those present, including my own. She believes me to be subordinate to her now, since she was able to dominate my mind and change my loyalties so to speak.”
That gets a proper frown on the bald mutant’s face. Charles Xavier leans back in his wheelchair, his hands steepled together in front of him.
“… I suppose your particularly unique mind allowed you to throw off those shackles relatively swiftly and report to me here and now.”
Sage inclines her head in silent acknowledgment, but Xavier’s frown only grows.
“Even still… she shouldn’t have been capable of such a thing anyways. Emma Frost is a powerful mutant to say the least. However, you have always been her equal, if not her outright better.”
The Professor thinks himself clever. And to be fair, he is clever… perhaps one of the smartest men Sage knows. However, something she’s noticed in all of these years knowing him… he sometimes lets his cleverness distract him from the intelligence of others.
Affecting a furrowed brow and a worried expression, Sage grimaces and shakes her head, making sure to look as confused and baffled as possible.
“… Yes. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s like she suddenly grew in power overnight. She’s easily twice, maybe thrice as powerful as she was previously. Her psychic abilities completely eclipse mine. As you said, if it wasn’t for the secondary effects of my mutation, I would probably have no clue what really happened. I can’t explain it.”
There’s a long moment of silence at that. And then Charles nods.
“It’s the boy, I’m afraid.”
Hook.
“Dear Kitty has informed me of what young Thaddeus is truly capable of.”
Line.
“He doesn’t just grow more powerful through copulation. He gives back to those he lays with, and when it comes to women with power… he enhances them, seemingly permanently.”
And sinker.
Sage lets her eyes widen at that revelation; a sharp intake of breath intended to reveal her abject surprise over Charles’ reveal. She can tell despite the grave look on his face that the male mutant is eating it up.
Thaddeus and Emma had postulated that Charles likely already knew the full extent of Thaddeus’ mutation. They’d even mentioned Kitty Pryde as the most likely to have reported such facts about Thaddeus to the Professor. As such, it was deemed… less than ideal for Sage to outright lie to Charles about what REALLY happened last night. Instead, banking on Xavier’s propensity for holding his cards extremely close to his chest, they had decided he would be the only one to know the truth.
“… That would explain how Shaw truly died then.”
When Charles gives her a curious look, Sage explains the events that led up to the Black King’s demise. How it wasn’t just Mercury who went down Shaw’s throat, but also Thaddeus… in what looked like a liquid diamond form. She also tells Xavier outright that their plan is to pass it off as solely Mercury’s murder based on how Emma altered her memories of the events.
The wheelchair bound psychic falls into a contemplative silence at that and Sage watches him think things over.
“… I must admit, the terrifying union of Ms. Kincaid, Ms. Frost, and young Thaddeus’ powers was not something I had truly considered before today. In truth, Thaddeus is becoming a terrifying young man in many ways, and he can only grow from here. If he and Ms. Frost copulated enough times for her to overpower you like she did, then it’s likely he himself is now a telepath of some power as well.”
Finally, Charles looks up at her.
“What does Frost have you doing now?”
Sage sighs.
“She’s assigned me to be the newest White Knight’s personal assistant.”
That surprises him.
“Truly? I would have thought she would have taken you for herself to keep you close and maintain the changes she made to your mind.”
Yes, Sage would have expected her to do that as well, in a situation where that was what had actually happened. The White Queen and Knight had some excuses ready for that though.
“Frost is upset with Cummings. She didn’t know about his relations with your X-Men, nor was she even aware that he was wearing Mercury under his suit last night until after she revealed herself. I am to watch him for her and report back on his dealings from now on. To Thaddeus Cummings, I am a gift. For Emma Frost, I am insurance. And of course… she likely delights in the insult of having me work for a boy when I was once the Black King’s secretary and closest advisor.”
Again, the Professor takes the bait, slowly nodding as if what Sage has said made perfect sense to him. Then, he looks at her with, much to Sage’s surprise, genuine concern.
“Perhaps it is time for you to leave your position at the Hellfire Club, my dear.”
Sage raises an eyebrow at that. She’d honestly not expected Xavier to be the one to offer an out. He’s quick to elaborate though.
“With Shaw dead, the Hellfire Club is missing both its White and Black Kings for the first time in a long time. The threat is greatly diminished for the time being.”
Scoffing, Sage shakes her head.
“The White and Black Queens are some of the most powerful women in the world, however. Between Emma Frost and… Selene, the threat is more real than ever.”
Charles just nods.
“Which is precisely why it might be time to get you out of there. The danger that Frost will discover you overrode her mental commands is one thing. The danger of Selene coming after you however… that’s something else entirely. It would be safer for you if you disappeared, don’t you think?”
He’s right, of course. But Sage can’t take him up on his offer. Not just because she’s made promises to Frost and Cummings that she intends to keep, but also because… she’s not sure she can trust Xavier to truly have her best interests at heart. Not after everything he’s put her through. She’s still his perfectly trained spy after all. If she lets him pull her out of the Hellfire Club, what’s next? Will he have her infiltrate HYDRA next or something?
… No, better the devil she knows and all that.
“My work isn’t done yet. And you and I both know that Shaw, while a pox upon this world, was not the greatest evil the Hellfire Club has to offer. Even the Black Queen doesn’t hold a candle to the evil of the man behind the curtain.”
That gets a pronounced grimace on Charles’ face and after a long moment he nods and lets out a sigh.
“Very well… if you think you can make something work of your new position, then do so. But please be careful. It’s not worth your life.”
Sage wants to scoff at that. If it wasn’t worth her life, he shouldn’t have trained her and sent her on this mission in the first place. She wants to say that to his face and watch him sputter without a response. But she knows better. He won’t sputter. He’ll have some empty platitude… and also be aware from that moment on of how she truly feels about him.
So instead of saying anything, Sage just nods. They talk for a little bit longer before going their separate ways in the end. Sage has to admit, she’s still not sure about all of this. But if there’s one thing that she’s always been good at, it’s making the best of bad situations.
And really, it could be worse. Talking with Charles was irritating but not really terrifying. Emma Frost, on the other hand, was likely having a face to face conversation with the Black Queen right this instant. Sage could only hope, for all their sakes, that the conversation went well.
Comments
Keeper
Which becomes very funny with the later reveal that Jean and Phoenix are one. Phoenix is part of her to the point that her AU daughter Rachel could say she has two moms and a dad.
Alun Lewis
I voted for the use of Emma's POV on the next chapter...while the Black Queen has only been talked about and never shown (so far), I feel like experiencing the Emma vs. Selene conversation via Emma's perspective will be more dramatic that way because it will be Emma trying to play chess blindfolded against an opponent who she's familiar with but hasn't playing against enough to know all of their moves. Does Selene know more than Emma thinks she does, or can Emma use what she knows about the Black Queen to keep Selene in the dark a little longer.
Gamesempie
We haven't gotten a look into the mind of our current Big Bad in a while.
VaticToxic
Xavier was the whole reason Dark Phoenix was a thing. Suppression and mentally chaining a cosmic being inside it's own chosen host, only to then reinforce said chains at every opportunity instead of prepare the host. Because he was scared, or didn't feel like helping a scared young woman deal with her emotions and trauma healthily.
Devon
We already know Emma's quietly tearing out her hair, Selene's the unknown, and thus more interesting option.
Nanaya7Nights
Selene's PoV will show us how many of team Thaddeus' gambit worked. Also, hoping for a foursome scene with Emma, Sage, Natasha & Thaddeus, where Emma has Thaddeus & Natasha "punish" Sage for revealing Natasha's identity to Sahw causing them to drop their slow & steady plan.
Nanaya7Nights
Also, unless I am mistaken: In every confrontation with the Dark Phoenix, Xavier has only ever made things worse because he thought he knew better.
redhawktiger
I am really hoping to see Selene's pov, especially since while she's been oft mentioned, we've basically seen nothing of her yet in story....and I admittedly don't see much of her in fanfiction either as writers tend to focus more on Emma or Shaw
Keeper
That is him. We’re talking about a dude who every time he has regained his legs right away fires Ororo/Scott/Dani from being field team leader thinking he can do much better. Only to always end up in a worse spot.
Just_Call_Me_Steve
Anyone else think Xavier feels a little condescending?
