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Tony was a man in his early 30s, spare of frame and in relatively good shape since he had kept up with tennis and running most of his life. He had a goatee and a small mustache and wore a very expensive Armani suit like a second skin, and all in all looked the perfect image of a rich playboy. His eyes however were bright with intelligence, and they seemed to glitter as he bowed over Emma's hand grandly. "Charmed, I'm sure. I understand you bought some shares in our company Ms. Frost, I have to admit to being surprised, since your family's corporation hasn't done business with our company before."
Stane had willingly told Tony about the new shareholders, not telling Tony that he had bought up as many shares as he could. After Obadiah got over his anger at not being able to buy out the new shareholders he had realized he could use them to throw Tony off kilter. The kid had been acting very odd lately, spending even more of his time than usual working in his personal laboratory at his Malibu home, and the rumors of how he had escaped were… interesting to say the least, and Obadiah was very interested indeed on what he might be working on.
Of course being away like that didn't translate into Tony being completely out of touch with the company. Tony's personal assistant Pepper was very good, and under her auspices the company had slowly begun to change from a primarily weapons manufacturing company into a high-tech consumer goods company. The reverberations of that change were still being felt of course, and would be for years, as workers were laid off who didn't have any skills in the new factories, as other companies moved in to take over the share of the weapons industry, and other things.
Stane still plans to reverse that trend, and hoped that at least Emma and Weatherby would get behind him. Weatherby sounded like a man Stane could work with, behind the idea of staying in the weapons business and not interested overmuch in meddling with the company. Emma was another matter, and he had no idea really how she would jump. But she was incredibly attractive, and if Stane could woo her, in any sense of the word, her assets and her family's assets would be an excellent addition. For now they could be used as stalking horses to see how Tony was really doing.
For his part Tony was rather taken with the two young ladies in front of him. Unfortunately while he had many skills correctly discerning the age of a woman who dressed and looked like these two was not one of them, and he had never cared to keep track of the Frost family, even if his father had not liked the patriarch.
"So Ms. Frost," he said moving adroitly to one side of her and letting his hands run down her shoulder and arm before she moved away. "What're your thoughts about the present issue? Do you believe in the like this old guy seems to think, that we should continue making weapons or are you a forward thinking individual like me?"
"While I consider myself a forward thinking individual," Emma responded dryly, moving away from him even further, "to put it bluntly, I think that you were an idiot to make that announcement at the time and in the manner you did. While I bought stocks in your company because I believe that it can be a fantastic long term investment, that proclamation was almost, but not quite enough, to make me rethink my opinion on your sanity and competence."
That bluntness seemed to shock Tony out of his flirtation which was what she had desired. She went on, not letting him respond. "Instead of announcing to the world that you're going to shut down building and designing weapons, you should have stopped all sales then searched the interior of your company for the leak that allowed those terrorists to have the weapons you mentioned in the first place. Halting your manufacture of them does nothing if the weapons you've already made are still making their way into the hands of individuals like that."
Stane winced slightly at that. While he had been able to cover his tracks as much as possible, if Tony went searching for how those weapons got out, he would be bound to find the leak. His personal assistant and that damn partial AI Jarvis would see to that.
"Not that I think that you can't continue to make your company a fortune in consumer goods. It just is that your initial response was as much bombast and show rather than actual problem-solving. Still I understand that PTSD is a harsh trauma to go through, and I imagine once you're over it you will regain your equilibrium." finished Emma, thoughtfully looking at Tony, with her head cocked to the side, her voice switching to 'honest sympathy'4 at the end of her statement.
Tony had recovered enough from her frank assessment and now asked cautiously "I thought the federal investigators were leaning toward the leak being from one of the army bases over there."
"Please," Emma scoffed. Next to her Jean was watching her friend work with amusement, but didn't interrupt. "You can't honestly think that they could get weapons that new from the army? At least not without there being immediate and glaring red flags. Did you even follow up with that idea to make certain that the weapons they used against you were in fact present on any of the military bases in the area?"
"Well, no I've been… busy with other things."
"Then I suggest you get your priorities straight. If you really want to do something about your weapons getting into the hands of people who would misuse them, there are better ways to go about waving a giant hammer destroying everything around you in the attempt to squash one vermin."
While Stane was enjoying the biting tone the young woman was using on Tony he wasn't enjoying the fact that she seemed on board with the fact that Tony was switching Stark Industries entirely away from its real moneymaker. Nor did he like the fact that she seemed to be pointing him at Stane, though of course she didn't know that. He decided to make certain his tracks were covered before doing anything else, and decided that he might have to accelerate his plans to deal with Tony before he could start searching.
Tony on the other hand had not liked being brought to task in such a manner, but unfortunately for his ego could not find any way to dispute what she said. "I assure you Ms. Frost, that while my announcement may have had you question my competence as you put it, I do have plans in place to ferret out the individuals who sold my weapons to unsanctioned groups. And you still agree with the fact that we shouldn't be making weapons?"
Emma frowned. "Don't put words in my mouth Mr. Stark," she said coldly and Tony actually winced a little at her icy tone. "I think that weapons creation will be with humanity for as long as we are human, just because you're no longer making the weapons doesn't mean someone else like Justin Hammer will stop. You may like to assume that your hands are clean, but that doesn't mean someone else won't dirty theirs and not care."
Tony scowled angrily. In his opinion Justin Hammer was a warmonger of the first degree, his weapons were shoddy and lacking in any kind of imagination, but the man made a lot of them, and his business was the only real opponent in the weapons industry that was on the same level as Stark Industries.
Of course there were the weapons that sometimes crossed the border from Latveria to the rest of the world, but Dr. Doom wasn't interested in crass commercialism. "Hammer is a scumbag of the first degree, and you're right he's the type to only care about his bottom line, but that doesn't mean I want to seem to be connected to the same sort. And if you're only interested in your bottom line then the private sector may prove to be even more lucrative."
"True," Emma said with a nod. "The commercial sector is poised for a breakout, and there is certainly a great deal that could be done in computer technology, making it cheaper and easier for the consumer to get as well as cell phones and portable technology of all sorts. If you can go into that area just as strongly as you have represented the weapons industry you'll be making out like gangbusters and I won't seek to interfere too much with the company."
Tony nodded, ignoring that last as the bluff it was, while she had 11% stock, that wasn't enough to make a lot of waves. "That's what we intend to do, that and possibly the energy sector. There's a lot of good that can be done if I can figure out a way to reduce the cost of the arc reactor. Don't worry Ms. Frost, those stocks will be money well spent."
"But how likely is it that you'll figure out how to reduce the cost of the arc reactor?" Said Jean looking at him with her head cocked to one side.
Stane smoothly interposed himself, thankful the conversation had moved away from dangerous topics, though he briefly wondered why he hadn't introduced the redhead before this, and it took him a moment to remember her name despite her beauty. "I'm sorry I neglected to introduce you. Tony, this is Ms. Grey a friend of Ms. Frost's who is here as her guest."
"I'm following an engineering line of education at the moment," Jean said, nodding her head. "I'm particularly interested in miniaturization when it comes to the arc reactor, the reactor you've got now is rather too huge, and I think it's output could be much better too." She rattled off a few numbers that she had worked out to that effect and both Stane and Tony were impressed.
Stane in point of fact was now seriously wondering if he could interest the young lady in a job after Tony wasn't around. Despite his own desire to keep the company in the weapons business, he knew there could be a lot of money to be had in other sectors.
Tony however was just as interested in Jean as a woman as with her mind, and he let his lower head do the thinking for him yet again. "While that sounds good to me Ms. Grey, most of what you just said would require a metal harder and stronger than anything I've been able to create so far. Still your ideas are interesting, and I would be interested in continuing this discussion, say over dinner sometime?"
"Isn't she a little young for you Tony?" said a voice rather more coldly than normal behind him, and Tony turned with a ready smile on his face.
Behind him stood Pepper Potts, his personal assistant and secretary, as well as predominantly the voice of the company lately. She was a redheaded woman around Tony's age who was usually rather self-effacing in public but who possessed a sharp, sometimes biting wit. Despite her somewhat shy personality and her natural inclination to follow others however, Pepper could show off far more personal courage than most would think she had.
During the time he had used to recreate the item that had allowed him to escape in a far better, more streamlined version, Tony had used Pepper to relay orders to the company whenever he thought of the company at all.
The fact was that Tony was not a businessman, he was an inventor and a damn good one, but he did not think like regular businessmen, who put the company and profits first. He saw the company as a means to an end, which allowed him to create and play with his toys. He wasn't even a scientist like Reed Richards, he wasn't pushing the boundaries of what was known, merely fiddling and toying with what was already known in new and interesting ways.
Pepper was the shoulder he leaned on for anything to deal with the company, she was a fantastic organizer, really good with the little things, as well as being a decent enough manager of his public relations. Of course with Tony that meant both regular public relations and his nigh weekly flings with different girls. The two flirted on off, but Tony had never seriously hit on Pepper as much, after looking at her in a cocktail dress, he suddenly felt he should have been. This wasn't the first time he had seen her dressed like this, but there seem to be something extra to her tonight that for a moment that stopped his ready reply.
This was probably a good thing since Jean nodded politely at the woman and said "I rather think I am considering I'm graduating from high school in a week." She didn't in fact say that she was already 18 pushing 19 in a few months, but that statement would be enough to stop Tony from hitting on her.
Pepper nodded having heard enough of the conversation to realize that despite the fact that she should probably hate this young woman for being so damn good looking in a red dress with her flaming red hair rather than Pepper's own ginger colored hair Jean did in fact have a mind underneath all that. "Well if you're looking for a job I would suggest continuing with what you're doing, we won't be hiring any more weapons developers after all."
She looked up at her boss. She had been meaning to ask Tony if he was feeling well enough for this party, but after hearing him flirt or at least attempt to flirt with the younger woman that was gone from her head and she went on rather grimly. "If you're feeling up to it I have over a dozen public speaking announcements, and we really should work on following up with your initial press conference. Like Ms Frost said," here she nodded at Emma who nodded back, "taken alone it sounds like the ravings of a lunatic, but we have some hard numbers on the next quarters outlook to share with our stockholders and Ms. Frost isn't the only one of them here tonight."
Pepper frowned slightly. She had done some research, but by the time she had started to look at who was buying their stocks, Stane had covered his tracks far better than before, setting up several fake identities to show the few stocks he had snatched up before Harry (not that she or Obadiah knew who it was of course) went on his spending spree. "I have to say I'm not happy with the fact our shares have been consolidated so much, but I…"
A susurration of noise went through the crowd, and Jean and Emma looked around with Stane to look at the entrance-way. The crowd around it was parting in the face of what was coming through and Jean and Emma both blinked at what they saw walking toward them, with Jean making a little noise at the back of her throat. Emma looked and shook her head slightly, murmuring "oh my…."
Ororo had decided on what looked like a sari. It had two wide bits of clothing going over her shoulders but not covering them, falling down her front to join the rest of the dress to sweep around her legs in purple glory. Her arms were bare down from the shoulder, and the sari only allowed a bare hint of décolletage to show. Around the edges was a crisscross pattern of silver and black brocade, with a pattern that looked like blowing wind stitched out in silver. Ororo's hair was done into a complex braid down one side of her head down to her chest and she wore the golden chain that contained the warding array that Harry had created for her. On one wrist she wore another bracelet in silver and gold that had the same sort of charm on it as the bracelet Harry had made for Jean.
Emma whistled under her breath, smiling faintly. Well now, no wonder Ororo didn't want my help when we were buying dresses. That is magnificent on her. And as for Harry… if that is what he is going to look like in the future, I am most definitely jumping on the wagon now.
Harry had adopted a illusion of a man that looked about twenty years older than him but with the same general features bar his lightning scar and green eyes, which only people who already knew him could see through the illusion. He stood slightly taller than normally, with wider shoulders. Harry wore a very good tuxedo with a red vest underneath and a silver stud with what looked like a Celtic design on it in lieu of a tie.
Jean practically whimpered at how good the two looked then found her eyes caught by Harry's. Suddenly, despite his inability to send or receive mental messages Jean somehow knew that he felt she was just as good looking as Ororo, and his desire and love for her, despite his having not actually said the words yet, flowed through her. She smiled in welcome, and Harry smiled back, a smile she somehow knew was only for her at the moment.
While Ororo had volunteered to be a distraction at this event, knowing that her identity was hidden under his charms, Harry had decided to add a bit more to his own magical defense. He wore a slightly under-powered Remember Me not charm, much like the permanent ward he had placed on Ororo's suit, that would make anyone who looked at him be completely unable to remember anything about him. Those with weak minds would be hard pressed to even notice his face, especially with Ororo there to take their attention.
The two green eyed individuals broke off their staring before anyone but Ororo and Emma could see it, and the two newcomers walked toward where Tony and the others were.
Obadiah smiled, moving forward with his hand outstretched. The man was slightly younger than he expected, but the face was the same as on what little of a background he could find about the man. "Mr. Weatherby I presume, I'm Obadiah Stane."
Harry smiled, though this time wasn't nearly as warm or welcoming as the smile he had set Emma and Jean's way. "Mr. Stane, a pleasure to meet the man who kept Stark Industries afloat for so long. And it's George please. May I introduce my lovely date for the evening, and well beyond it, the lovely Ms. Munroe."
Ororo smiled and Obadiah nodded, noticing that the other woman didn't put her hand out to be kissed or anything like that. "A true pleasure madam. May I introduce Emma Frost and her friend Ms. Grey, fellow stockholders, and the man of the hour Tony Stark."
"Indeed, the ponced up idiot from the news in the flesh? I do hope you have some plans to recoup your companies losses in this last quarter." Harry said, his voice going flat.
Tony flushed at Harry's sardonic tone which came through very clearly with his faint British accent but fired back quickly. "As a matter of fact I do, so long as you can keep an open mind about things."
Harry hummed noncommittally while Ororo looked over at Jean. "I love your dress my dear, it is often very difficult for those of us with odd hair colors to find dresses that so match us like that one does you."
Jean smiled, a little too warmly for such a compliment from someone who should have been a stranger, but no one noticed. "Thank you Ms. Munroe, and may I say that sari looks lovely. Would you like to get a drink? I think this discussion is going to become business related, and that is one area I really can't be bothered to care about."
Ororo nodded and the two walked off toward the bar. Harry smiled as they walked off, knowing that the two of them were communicating telepathically, filling one another in on their day. He was right about the communication part, but both women were using this time to compliment one another further and exchange endearments in their heads where no one could see. And then of course the discussion turned to Harry.
Harry himself however turned to Tony. "And what might these ideas be exactly? Realize that at the moment it looks as if you're doing your best to pilot your company into a mountainside as fast as humanly possible."
Tony grinned. He hadn't expected to be put on the spot like this, but if there was one thing about Tony, he was good under pressure. "Well for one thing, I've already come up with plans for several new miniaturized computers, which can also take the place of regular cell phones, I call them T-phones, and I think that they would sell really well on the open market. Not only will they be cell phones, but they will also have some of the same functions as a computer. Then there are a few other technological devices I've thought up and designed, including a new type of laptop, and several new types of computer screen."
Harry nodded, glad to hear the man was at least thinking about the future of his company, from what Harry had read he wouldn't have wanted to bet on that. "Those sound well and good, but do you honestly think you would make more money selling those into the civilian sector then you would selling bulk weapons to the American military? That's not even looking at your foreign sales? As an ex-soldier myself, old boy, I have to say that I am not exactly pleased with that. Your company is one of the main sources for high-tech weaponry in the West, and I have to say I would put more stock in your weapons than in anything from Hammer Industries which is the other name that springs to mind in that field."
Tony shrugged. "I honestly don't particularly care about that, it's more important to me that the weapons I've designed don't kill anyone anymore. I don't care anymore about which side the bodies are on, I just don't want my weapons to be used to put them in the ground."
"And as for numbers?" Pepper put in, seeing 'George' frown slightly. "If you like I could e-mail you our projections for the next quarter. Mr. Stark is correct that there isn't any one big name in computers, especially in the portable computer market. Toshiba and Compaq and the others all make decent laptops but nothing that is revolutionary. The tech we're looking at would, and we think it would help us corner the market quite quickly."
Harry scratched his chin thoughtfully, and Emma interjected. "Well I for one would like to look at your numbers Ms. Potts," and she gave one of her better known e-mail addresses, one of the ones that she wasn't displeased that people knew about. Pepper then promised to send her a spreadsheet soon.
Obadiah was not pleased that Tony seemed to be convincing George and Emma that his position was correct, but out in public he couldn't truly go against Tony without Tony finding out that he was his in-house enemy. His plans were not that close to fruition that Obadiah could afford that just yet. They might have been if he hadn't been sidetracked by needing to figure out everything he could about the new stockholders.
Emma was easy to find a lot about, most inconclusive however, and none of it good for him. But her looks and age made him reconsider a hard option in her case. Anastasia was easy to find a lot about, proper little rich girl who had two grandparents die and leave her and her older brothers and parents some money, which she promptly squandered.
George Weatherby however was a different story. He was ex-SAS. That was it. The sum total of everything Obadiah, with all his connections and power, could find out. That meant he had truly been somebody in the black community. Talking to him on the phone had made Obadiah think he would be easy to convince to back Stane in his push to marginalize Tony, but so far in this discussion George seemed more open than Obadiah could have hoped.
'George's' next words however allayed some of his fears. "Mr. Stark, I'll be honest with you. I'm not happy about this. Not only as a stockholder, since that is a rather new addendum to my life, but as a soldier. I well know how horrible combat can be," he said shaking his head. "And I can understand that your initial reaction was to do something, and what you did was in keeping with your personality, grandiose and rather egotistical."
Tony's eyebrows twitched slightly, but he did indeed have an ego so didn't argue the point.
"However, in recent years there has been a sharp rise in the number of high-tech weapons seen in terrorist hands and in countries whose governments are, shall we say, of questionable morality? Your company is one of the few companies that up until your own issue had remained relatively clean of anything that could smack of backhanded dealing to these individuals, and as such you were trusted by the people on the ground."
This part was actually taken almost verbatim from a magazine written by soldiers and ex-soldiers that Harry had read a few weeks ago, in one of his few moments of downtime.
"And he while I can sympathize with you and your ordeal and the need in you to do something, the way you went about it is simply wrong. If you were going to stop the sale of weapons it should've been a gradual process rather than a 'cease all' order like this, that way you could have controlled it. It's not about the bottom line," 'George' finished, shaking his head, "it's about the people on the ground that look to your company for their edge, to the workers who looked to your company for their livelihoods."
Tony rolled his eyes. "I heard that speech before thanks," he said waving his hand. "I've got plans in motion that may affect things but that's all I'm going to say."
Emma shook her head. "While I can sympathize with the people on the ground Mr. Weatherby," she said looking him in the eyes and surreptitiously winking with the eye that Pepper, Obadiah and Tony could not see. "To me it is about the bottom line. So long as your figures agree with you I will back your movement into the commercial sector and out of the weapons industries, though it won't be without cost, which we can sort out at a later date. If you'll excuse me gentlemen," she said bending her neck slightly, "I believe my drink needs a refill."
Tony smiled and nodded at her as she walked away then turned back to 'George'. "Whatever you may think, I do understand your point, but I think that this is the best thing for me the best thing for my company. I've faced my own weapons pointing back at me, and I am damn certain that I don't want it to happen again."
Harry snorted, "Oh, I see. You don't want to face your own weapons pointed at you. But you'd be okay with having weapons developed by Hammer pointed at you?"
"Putting aside that point, what have you done to make certain it doesn't Mr. Stark?" said Harry shaking his head. "You may have cut off the manufacture part of your company, but there are still guns out there that you made, locked up in some warehouse somewhere. You haven't found the original leak yet have you?"
Obadiah frowned again not liking the direction this conversation was taking and he stepped in adroitly. "I assure you are doing all we can to find the leak, and while the government is looking at the military connection we've been searching our own records and our own resources and distribution points. We haven't turned up anything yet, but I'm certain we will."
"You see," Tony said, slapping Obadiah on the shoulder, "Everything is being taken care of. Trust me Mr. Weatherby, the world will be a better place without the weapons my company has created in it."
With that Tony walked off. Behind him Harry rubbed his forehead thoughtfully. While he really didn't have a problem with Tony stopping the weapons manufacture, the way he went about it didn't sit well with Harry. It was a big picture move without really understanding that the big picture was made out of little pictures. Tony hadn't responded to his comment about the workers that were now unemployed (though Harry knew they would be snatched up by rival companies soon enough) the hundreds of now defunct warehouses and factories not only nationwide but worldwide.
When he first heard about Tony Stark Harry had sort of expected Tony to be like Reed, an absent-minded scientist sort who needed someone around to bring him down to Earth occasionally. And there was a certain similarity there, but not a lot. Reed was the absent-minded professor in truth, and he knew it and relied on other people to bring him out of his frequent trips into scientific Lala land.
Tony had a good grasp of interpersonal relationships, but he was more of a narcissist then Reed was. Harry had no doubt that Tony cared for the people he met, but he didn't show any care or compassion for people outside that sphere, no understanding of how his own actions could cause ripples above and beyond what he wanted to cause.
Tony was extremely intelligent, but there was a brittleness to him, a weakness to him above and beyond his need to feed his ego. Harry wondered if it was simply PTSD from his recent brush with death. Whatever the case, Harry didn't like how he had the personality of a grandstander, such people were dangerous to be around.
Harry looked over at the entrance to the gala, using a small one shot communicator in his pocket to send a message out to Kurt, who was waiting for his big entrance. "Ah well," Harry said shrugging. "That was an interesting first meeting, and if Tony had actually been polite enough to actually respond to my points rather than to ignore most of them like he did I would've warned him about the hurricane that's about to descend upon him."
Obadiah looked towards where Harry was looking and saw a young woman whose face he vaguely recalled seeing from a picture from when he was looking up information on the people who had bought stock in Stark Industries. Pepper however looked and had no clue what Harry was talking about and asked worriedly, "What do you mean hurricane?"
"I met a rather… young lady outside while awaiting entrance," said Harry rather pompously. "She looks all of, I would say 18 pushing 15 if you know what I mean? And she was positively gushing about the opportunity to meet Tony Stark."
"Oh God," Pepper said frowning as she saw the blond who frankly Pepper wanted to send to bed. She looked far too young to be allowed he at this party without a chaperone. "Don't tell me one of our investors is a fan girl?"
"Afraid I can't say that," Harry cheerfully, "shall we go get some drinks, this might be a good show."
Obadiah laughed, and moved to join Harry. While he fully intended to kill Tony Stark eventually, that didn't mean he couldn't have fun watching his irritation at this first. They joined Emma, Ororo and Jean at the bar.
Pepper remained behind for a moment, warring with herself about what to do at this point. After a moment she decided to let events take its course for a bit. After all she didn't really like how Tony had sort of talked down to Mr. Weatherby who seemed a pleasant sort. Nor did she like the fact he flirted with girls that were so young as Emma and Jean. She could ride to the rescue after she watched the fun.
At the bar Tony had just picked up his drink when he heard a loud high-pitched female voice behind him. "Oh my God it is you, Tony Stark!"
He turned with trepidation in his heart and saw a young girl who he would have to say was 16 at best, though obviously she would have to be older than that to have been allowed in here, and she would had to have a invitation to. She wore a one-piece dress that thankfully covered her body pretty well, with flared shoulders and a long skirt, but the low décolletage revealed far too much skin for someone that young and that body shape. "Er, yes I am, can I help you miss?" Tony said hoping that the woman wasn't a total dimwit and wouldn't try to flirt with them. Good god she almost looked young enough to be his daughter.
This hope was in vain. The blonde wrapped herself around his arm almost but not quite shouting loud enough to be noticed by everyone in the room, "OH my God, I've been wanting to meet you for so long! You're so dreamy!"
At the bar Harry had taken up the place next to Ororo which was between Jean and Emma and the older African woman, while Obadiah took a chair next to Emma. One hand lightly touched Jean's hand while his other held Ororo's as he nodded slightly at Emma. Jean, wearing a slightly bemused expression reached out and tapped her friend on the shoulder as if making certain that she was watching the activity around Tony. Now that the four were connected Harry pulsed a small spell between the quartet muffling their words as well as covering them with a small illusion that made it seem as if they were watching the interplay around Tony.
Emma looked quizzically at Obadiah who had turned away and didn't seem to hear her last question. She looked over at Harry smirked at her. Emma shook her head, not wanting to break her mask while in public even with whatever it was Harry had done covering her. "You are a most useful individual to have around Mr. Potter".
"I am to please, my lady." Harry said bowing slightly then said seriously. "Sit-rep, what's Obadiah up to, and does anyone else here think that Tony is a little… brittle? I can't really describe it any better than that, sorry."
"I would call it brilliant but flawed," responded Emma promptly. "The man's a bit of a narcissist and that seems to feed off his intelligence but that isn't actually that abnormal in highly intelligent individuals."
Jean nodded. "You're spoiled by Mr. Richards, Harry. He's one of the most levelheaded and self-effacing geniuses in the world, compared to Dr. Pym for one. Tony is actually pretty normal for geniuses, though I would say that I would prefer to see him have some more empathy."
Harry nodded a little bit, "I suppose I'll withhold judgment then but I just don't like the guy. He's a bit too egotistical and about the big picture for me. Now, what about Obadiah?"
Jean looked over at Emma who smirked and filled her friends in on what she had found in Obadiah's mind.
As the quartet was talking Kurt was doing his best not to laugh aloud, which even the charm Harry had placed on him to sound like his character wouldn't be able to block out. Being the girl in this scenario was rather disturbing, and being this close to another guy was making it worse, the payoff would be tremendous. His mouth was already salivating at the thought of all the ritzy food he saw over at one of the corners, and yesterday and today had been amazing fun just lounging around in the beaches of San Francisco before they came down to LA.
Of course when he got back to the Institute he'd have to deal with his friends' envy, but that was just icing on the cake really. And the look on the bigwigs face was well worth the momentary discomfort. Harry really was the master of pranks.
Five minutes later Tony finally extricated his arm from the girl's surprisingly strong grip which stopped the verbal worship she had been heaping on him. Some would have found that pleasant, but not when it came from someone of such limited intelligence. "Um, we-well I hope you enjoy the party Ms. Anastasia, I'll see you around but I see some people I really need to talk business with. If you'll excuse me."
With that he tried to escape, and Kurt/Anastasia pouted outrageously then slouched over to a table and sat down. Around her the crowd realized the entertainment was over and everyone went back to mingling and their regular discussions, while Harry adroitly lifted the spell on the quartet.
He turned to Emma and bowed, "Now that the entertainment is over, I believe there is a dance floor somewhere in here. Would you care to accompany me Ms. Frost?"
Emma looked over at Jean who nodded, tapping her head behind her ear thoughtfully as if she was scratching something there and Emma nodded. "I'll be delighted to Mr. Weatherby, so long as you don't step on my toes at least."
"Ah, that much at least I can promise."
With that the two walked off, leaving a rather disgruntled Obadiah behind. He looked over to where Jean and Ororo were discussing fashion, with Jean leading the discussion, since Ororo couldn't bring herself to care about fashion in the slightest. He sighed and began to circulate the party once more, wondering if he could get Emma alone at some point that evening.
The duo passed the young girl who had been so bothering Tony and Harry patted her shoulder. This was a prearranged signal, and the words he said didn't matter to Kurt after that. "Chin up there, he'll be back soon enough just keep after him."
Anastasia/Kurt looked up and nodded, inwardly relieved. "Don't worry I know true love will conquer all!"
About 3 minutes later, in a darkened corner of an empty staircase Anastasia disappeared and in her place stood a rather dapper young man with curly hair in a good suit. Now that his part in the prank was over, Kurt could have some fun tonight, and since he was already inside, no one would think he didn't belong.
Once they reached the dance floor, Emma and Harry began to dance around, but in reality they were having a discussion under a modified Mufilatio.
"So do we do something about Obadiah or not?" Emma asked. "I don't think we want someone like him with the resources of Stark Industries. Despite the fact Obadiah doesn't have a stance on mutants yet, it's only a matter of time. On top of that the man is dangerous on a personal level. Once he realizes he can't influence our thinking enough he will move against us physically." The fact she knew he had plans to try and seduce her had nothing at all to do with her opinion about the disgusting old man, nothing at all…
Harry frowned thoughtfully then shook his mental head. "I think the fact that we are neither backing Tony or backing Obadiah is enough to let us keep under his radar for now. Obadiah struck me as a sort of person who would rely on brute force only as a last resort. Warning Tony about how high he needs to look for his internal enemy should be enough. If it becomes a physical confrontation between the two somehow, like via whatever it was Tony used to escape from those terrorists, the Fantastic Four are within 15 to 20 minutes flight from here anyway. I remember Johnny telling me he frequently flies down to LA or further in less time than that."
Harry had hoped to actually make an ally of Tony, but the brittle and egotistical nature of Tony's personality dissuaded him.
Emma paused thoughtfully then said. "I could enter Stark's mind and implant the suggestion that way. Could even get some more information out of him about his plans going forward? He really didn't tell us anything you know."
Harry paused then shook his head. "No, while I trust you could do it and get away with it at this point we can't really justify it. He's no threat to us, and whatever he is up to might serve as a distraction to our own moves."
"Which are? Ororo said something about you needed my help and I'll do whatever I can. I owe you too much to quibble. I wouldn't say this aloud, not even covered by your spells, but you've done far too much for me not to want me to pay you back anyway I can."
Harry shook his head rather embarrassed. "Don't worry about it, I only did what I wanted to. As for how you can help me, I seem to have set up a bit of a bidding war, pretty much like you said I should only with quite a bit more in the way of advertising for my potions. We ran into a bit of bother over in England, you probably heard of it on the news?"
Emma eyes widened. "You had something to do with stopping that terrorist attack, the one that hit London?"
"Let's just say there was more to that story then the normal individual could handle. Anyway," he went on, "after the battle was over I used quite a lot of my readymade potion supply on some of the soldiers that stood with us. There were at least a dozen doctors from various countries."
"How did you manage that? Never mind I don't want to know. That is excellent. The amount of money you will make with those potions alone will jumpstart all your future plans."
"I hope so. There seems to be a few places in the economy where my own plans could slip into niches easily enough, outside of power which I know Jean mentioned. For one thing, I hope to go into mining in a major way, I believe I mentioned wanting to look into space-borne industries?" Emma nodded, her head cocked to one side, her hair falling like a blonde wave down one side of her face.
"Well, that will be one area of interest for me. While first and even second world countries seem to have enough metal and resources, that isn't the case in third world countries, and I could certainly think of ways to produce the metal needed even in first world countries more easily. Certainly using my… patented techniques I might be able to make it much cheaper on my end."
Emma whimpered a little at the idea, licking her lips. "You, you could run Shaw and another one of the Inner circle out of business if you went into it as hard…" she said the word with a certain tone to it, but Harry didn't pick up on it. "As I think you will. That would certainly make my takeover of the Hellfire club much easier."
Again she thought of telling Harry about Buckman, but again thanks to how little information she had about the 'Sentinel Program' she discarded it for now.
"I can see that, but even though I've found something that may allow me to meet demand for my potions" He wasn't entirely finished with that yet, but he would come much closer after figuring out how to safely using the time-turning runic array. "I still have no idea where to start on the business end. Who do I need to hire, how many, what kind of laws will I be dealing with, etc, etc."
"I'll give you a minimum list of positions you need to fill before you start selling to the public." Emma promised. "You said you set up a bidding war, military and civilian and how many?"
Harry paused for a moment remembering the number of doctors helping with the Royal Guard's wounded. "I think there were about six different countries represented, both civilian and military doctors, though the majority was British military."
Emma whimpered again, going moist at the very thought of what terms she could force through with that many interested parties. "Ooh… I'll help you with that certainly. And um, you'll also need a distribution network, Frost Pharmaceuticals can help with that, and I can transfer some our doctors to work with you if you want."
"That sounds like a good idea, and if you remind me before we split off again, I have a communication mirror ready for you. Wasn't much trouble really, just had to make the array small enough to fit. "What about your own plans?" Harry asked, cocking his head to one side.
"The first stage should be complete in the next day or so, possibly even now" replied Emma calmly, that question having brought her back to Earth with a bang. "I cannot tell you exactly when it will occur, but it cannot be stopped now, not by him or me."
After that they ironed out the way they would warn Tony about the need to look higher.
"By the way," Emma said as they were walking off the dance floor to where Ororo and Jean now stood along the side, smiling in welcome. "The way you were talking business was such a turn on."
Harry laughed shaking his head. "So what, talking profits and money is like talking dirty to you or something?"
"Please, nothing so gauche as all that, it just shows another aspect of you that I am attracted to."
Harry frowned slightly as the second song they had danced to came to an end. "Emma, I…"
Emma shook her head, while the two walked over to the edge of the dance floor. Jean and Storm stood there, the redhead holding a nearly full drink. "Don't worry, I'm not going to push you to join you and Ororo, or, if I'm honest, you, Ororo and Jean. I want to, but I don't think I'm in love with you, attracted, oh yes, but in love? I'm not certain I even know what that means. But maybe someday…"
Harry gulped and nodded. "Um, well, maybe someday." By that point they had reached the other two. "Would you care to dance my lady?" he asked Ororo.
The African beauty shook her head and gestured to Jean. "I believe this young lady would like to go first."
Harry paused looking Ororo in the face and after a moment Ororo nodded faintly amused that despite all the signals she had sent him about being open to this, despite their actual conversations about it he was still looking for reassurance. After her nod however he smiled gently and took Jean's hand, weaving a spell about them as he took her to the dance floor.
The passersby would see the two of them dancing almost as if they were father and daughter, a middle-aged man doing his duty by dancing with his lady's new younger friend, but nothing could be further from the truth than this was to the reality.
As soon as they were on the dance floor their arms went around one another's waists, Harry's one hand gently resting right above Jean's rear, and the other resting between her shoulder blades on her bare skin, sending a shiver down both their spines. Jean's hands clasped around his waist, resting at the small of his back as they danced slowly to the music.
"Having fun Red?" Harry asked winking at her.
Jean laughed. "The last two days have been fantastic, but the night before, that I could've done without." Harry nodded with a smile, and the two danced on for a time just holding one another.
Eventually Harry's hands began to move around on her back, one hand remaining still just above her rear, his pinky grazing the top of her rear, while the other began to play with her hair. "You did magnificently you know, you do everything magnificently," he murmured, looking into her eyes. "I saw the way the guys here looked at you, even Tony looked at you and Emma. You could have anyone in the world you wanted."
Jean shook her head. "I might be able to have anyone, but there's only one I really want."
Harry gulped. Now that he came to it he was almost afraid of finally giving into his feelings for this young girl, afraid that he wouldn't be able to be the man that both she and Ororo deserved him to be. That was his worst nightmare about this. That the three of them would try to make it work, only to realize that both girls wanted more of his attention then he could give without scorning the other. That would break their current friendships, which had become the cornerstone of his life.
He looked over Jean's shoulder towards Ororo only to find his lady looking back at him with understanding and love.
Harry took a deep breath, nodded a final time then looked at the girl who he called 'Red' as part of a defense mechanism against his growing feelings towards her. Are you sure about this?" Harry whispered into her ear.
Jean smiled up at him the bare inch between their heights, their faces close. "I have never been more certain about anything before Harry, but you need to say it Potter. Say it."
Harry smiled gently and leaned into one of her ears where he whispered, "Jeeaan." The way he said it sent a shudder through the redhead, the emotion in it laid bare and she tightened her grip around his waist moaning a little. "I love you Jean," he said and then kissed her ear. "I want you, I love you as much as I love Ororo, and I want you with us."
Jean moved her head back slightly smiling at him. "I love you both," she said simply one hand moving from his waist up to the back of his head. "And I want to join you."
While the words might have come out rather formal in their wording, the emotions between the two were anything but. The air practically crackled around them with passion, repressed desire and love, and when Harry leaned down the small distance to her lips and kissed her, all that pent-up emotion came out.
Jean returned the kiss immediately, her hands tightening around his head and waist, while his own one hand went to the back of Jean's head and the other to her rear, pulling them against one another as they kissed. A time or two they broke for air to stare at one another through half lidded eyes and then attacked one another's mouth again, kissing on and on while murmuring words of love.
Emma and Ororo had stood by the edge of the dance floor and Emma shook her head looking around at the crowd of dancers, none of whom realized what was going on. She did however, and the sheer emotion of the scene took her breath away and made her body react as it had earlier to hearing Harry talk business. It was almost like being a voyeur watching the scene in front of her, the emotions between the two were so real and powerful. It reminded Emma strongly of watching Harry and Ororo dance at the dance club after she had gone to the X mansion.
She shook her head. "That is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen," she said honestly, "and I so want to join them right now."
Ororo chuckled, laying a hand on the younger girl's shoulder. She would've done more if they weren't in public, but she wasn't certain how Emma's powers would have hidden something like her putting her arm around the other girl in a hug. It certainly would've looked odd considering they were supposed to be practical strangers. "Don't worry my dear your turn may come."
Emma nodded slowly and took a breath at Ororo mentioning it so openly,. "I… guess I know, and Jean has basically said she won't shut me out which I suppose I will have to do for now. Until you and I get to know each other at least," she said looking at Ororo challengingly, daring the other girl to back away from the idea of Emma joining them.
Ororo however simply nodded her head chuckling, she was amused by the way Emma hid her hope behind a challenging demeanor. "That would be an excellent idea, however I think we need to break those two up for now. Harry's done the 'dutiful boyfriend bit and danced with my younger friend' she said holding her fingers and making air quote marks, "but any longer than one song for that sort of thing would probably look very strange."
The two women shared a laugh and then moved over towards the dance floor, with Ororo butting in and Emma grabbing her friend as the music began to speed up into a faster song. "You," said Emma looking at her friend, "are one lucky bitch you know that?"
"I know," said Jean dreamily, briefly touching her rather sore lips looking at Emma. Then she frowned. "Where did my drink go?"
"Oh I drank it. You wouldn't have liked it anyway, far too subtle for your plebian palette anyway." Emma replied airily, throwing her hair back. "And far too strong. It would have put a lightweight like you on your back, and then you would never have had that lovely moment."
Jean's eyes narrowed. "Oh, as I recall you were the one who became drunk first during our sleepover back at the mansion. After all, I was the one you were using as a pillow, not the reverse."
"Then you're memory is faulty, and you toss and turn in the night. The places your knees wound up, well…"
"Well then," Jean said, leading the way back to the bar, though Emma wasn't actually fighting her, "There's only one way to settle this."
Behind them Ororo and Harry watched the two walking away, shrugged and decided to finish the song before going after them. Emma and Jean were big girls after all, they could handle themselves, and besides Harry wanted to go find Kurt.
He found him talking up a rather good looking young lady by the table that was laden with food. The two of them were eating and chatting amicably in German, so Harry waited until he caught Kurt's eyes, then nodded at the men's room. Kurt excused himself, and the two men chatted for a few minutes, after which Kurt had a final mission for the night.
OOOOOOO
Tony sighed rather sadly as he made his way towards his car. While Obadiah might've been happy with the way the evening went (the old man had checked in with him then left early, heading out on a trip to one of their African plants) Tony's evening hadn't really been that good despite his desire to show himself and make certain the public knew he wasn't an invalid. The new stockholders had thrown him for a loop and that didn't even count Anastasia who Obadiah had informed him was another stockholder. The old man had laughed at Tony's look of horror, but Pepper at least had been somewhat sympathetic.
Tony shook his head forcefully removing thoughts of Pepper from his mind for the moment; he could come back to his developing feelings for his secretary later. Not that it was going to be easy or anything, after all while he had had literally thousands of girlfriends over the years he could honestly say that none of them had particularly mattered to him except as momentary objects of affection, or as a cruder man would've put it, notches on his bedpost. But his attraction to Pepper was just as much mental as it was physical, and that threw him for a loop.
For now however he concentrated on his thoughts about Mr. Weatherby, the strangest of the trio of new stockholders. Anastasia was simple and straightforward, as was Emma Frost. Dangerous in the second one's case, but easily understood. Yet there was something about George that bothered him, something about the man's body language and tone of voice. There was no awe they are, but there was no awe in Emma either, nor any real sign that Tony was anything but a normal person, so there had to be something else, something that set his hackles on edge. The fact the man was probably far more intelligent than he let on wasn't enough to put him on edge like this, there had to be something else.
His musings were interrupted as he neared the valet, where he was absconded by an all-too-familiar voice telling him from his left side. "So where are we going Tony?"
Before he could move Tony found his arm yet again gripped by the underage looking stalker that he had somehow acquired. "W-well miss Anastasia,"
"Oh just call me Anny, everyone does!" the blond said, looking up at him with a fatuous and adoring face.
"Well miss," he said gamely trying to remove her from his arm, "I'm still under doctor's orders to be asleep by a certain time and I'm afraid I've rather overshot that already," Tony lied with the ease of long practice, using his so-called invalid status to his advantage. "But I'm certain we can meet sometime later at a stockholders meeting somewhere, and at that point I'll probably be feeling much better."
The girl actually surprisingly let go at that having slightly. "I'll hold you to that."
After bowing grandly Tony left swiftly, not noticing the fact that the girl had slipped a small piece of paper into his tuxedos pocket. Behind him the young woman re-entered the party, disappearing soon after to allow Kurt to find his young dinner partner. While he wasn't all that outgoing, the girl being from Germany like him made it easier for the two to talk, and it was fun, more than repaying him for the irritation of being female and having to flirt with Tony.
When Tony got home he found the note in his tuxedo pocket when he was getting undressed. At first he assumed it was 'Annie's' phone number or something, yet when he went to rip it up and toss it out he found he couldn't tear the paper. This was because Harry had hit the paper with a indestructible charm, a short time-based spell, but it would be enough for this.
Tony looked down at the plain looking piece of paper than turned and went down into his lab, ignoring for now the nearly finished body armor that he had dubbed Iron Man. He walked over to an analyzer, and stuck the paper into it. "JARVIS, give me a reading on this."
A moment later the semi-AI that served as his house security, lab assistant, communication computer and butler, responded, its computerized tones sounding a little confused and somewhat worried. "Sir, it is merely a piece of paper, wood pulp."
"JARVIS, look at this." When one of the computer's sensors was on him, Tony tried to rip it apart again, only to fail just as badly as before.
JARVIS answered a bit hesitantly. "Sir, you are not given to planning pranks on me so I would ask if you are drunk, and if so should I prepare the normal cure?"
"I'm not drunk, still, here you try." Tony moved the piece of paper over to one of the many robots he had around his lab/workshop/garage. The machine obediently began to try and tear it apart, but even the machine's strength didn't do anything.
"I… I am at a loss as to explain this sir. My molecular analysis subroutine is showing as working at 100%, but this does not compute or match nay known information in my data banks."
"Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing."
"Might I suggest sir that you see what the message on the wood pulp actually says before you continue to try and test it to destruction?"
Tony nodded, and opened it and read the note therein which said simply 'watch your back around Obadiah'. He stared at it for a moment then sighed and decided he would think about it later before getting ready for bed.
OOOOOOO
Winston Frost got into the back of his limo, anxious to get home and have a nice nightcap before bed after what had been a surprisingly busy few days. His plans to grab a larger chunk of the weapons market had slowly borne fruit after Shaw and Leland had transferred ownership of a few multi-purpose factories and think tank respectively, but he had spent the last few days staving off attacks both minor and major from competitions. These ranged from sabotage both physical and software related, as well as attacks on a few of his new scientists, and a smear campaign against the name of his weapons company Cold Steel.
Yet Winston had deflected or reversed all of them, and within a few weeks Cold Steel would be putting out a new line of weapons and he was quietly confident that they would find a seller's market.
He leaned back in his comfortable chair and reached for the wine coaster in front of him.
"Straight home sir?" said the limo driver.
"Indeed," said Winston shortly, never having seen the point of being friendly or talkative with the help. "Quickly if you please."
The limo driver, one Ralph Zegerisk, nodded, and the two guards assigned to his personal retinue got in on either side of Winston, one sitting across and down, while the other one took up the window seat on the far side of the limo, letting ample space between him and his boss. Winston's men knew not to crowd him.
About 40 minutes later the little timer in Ralph's head clicked, and suddenly his head was full of the knowledge that his boss had been sleeping with his wife for several years and he reacted pretty much as Emma had thought he would. He waited calmly, calmly,until they were on an empty stretch of highway heading upstate towards home. Then with one hand he disabled all the controls in the back of the limo, so that the guard glass between the front and the back wouldn't respond to commands. Then he reached with the hand on the outer side of his body and pulled up a little surprise.
At that point he began to speak. "So you're in a hurry to get home are you? So you can fuck my wife again behind my back! You bastard, I don't care how rich you are or how much you pay me, no one cuckolds me and gets away with it!"
The two bodyguards looked in shock at their boss wondering where the hell this it come from, the allegation giving them pause. Winston wondered the same thing but his face showed nothing. Oh he knew who the man was, but how he had found out about his trysts with the maid was another matter. "I have no idea what you're talking about Zegerisk. As that is a serious charge to make against someone, I will overlook this outburst but only if you pull over now and get out of the limo. I won't even put a black mark on your record after I fire you."
"Oh someone's going to get fired!" the man said and then without warning began to shoot over his shoulder with a shotgun he had hidden up front, though his conscious mind didn't remember doing it.
The two bodyguards had already pulled out their Glocks and fired back swiftly, nailing him in the head and back through the chair, but the damage had already been done by that first blast of buckshot, neither bodyguard having thought their friend would have a weapon like that.
Winston hadn't tried to dodge or move at all, not realizing how dangerous this moment was, assuming as always that he was still in control, but he was wrong. The blast from the shotgun caught him square in the chest and face, and he died almost immediately, the buckshot slamming through his unprotected body, ripping his head and face to shreds.
Emma had contemplated some way of coming up with a plan that would let Winston have enough time to realize that it was Emma who was killing him for a few moments, and to somehow make him understand that it was both to protect herself and to avenge her brother, but in the end decided against it. Her father was too wily an opponent to give him that much time, and this way it would be much more certain.
As soon as the shootout began it was over. Ralph lay slumped in the chair, one of the guards was bleeding badly from a shoulder wound from a stray pellet and the other was reaching forward over the chairs trying desperately to grab the steering wheel of the car to steer it off the road onto the emergency shoulder along it.
Both bodyguards would live to give their statements to the police, though one of their shoulders would never be the same again. When questioned Ralph's wife would break down and admit to the affair, though she had seen no sign her husband had found out before this all happened. After that the police wouldn't look deeper into it considering it an open and shut case.
Emma's first strike had hit home, while miles away her second one faired almost as well.
OOOOOOO
Adrienne gazed across at her 'date," her Frost mask in place and only her eyes showing her anger. It wasn't a real date of course, the man across from her was not her type at all, but the power he represented, that was something she could get into bed with, and she had thought they had been doing just that. "What," she said icily, "do you mean by that?"
Robert Hildebrant looked over at her, his face showing faint surprise, and something else, contempt. "I would think what I said was simple enough to understand. My employer is no longer convinced that backing you is a viable solution to the problem Cold Steel might eventually become."
While Justin Hammer was based mostly in Europe, his men in America were not picked out of a hat. Robert and his nominal boss Steven Smythe, were both extremely competent, and they had looked at the loss gain ratio for this little agreement between them and the second Frost offspring, and decided that it was no longer worth it. There was evidence that Emma had gotten some evidence to link Hammer Industries to her kidnapping attempt, and none of the secrets Adrienne had passed on were important, neither in total or taken singly. And with Cold Steel proving that it was going to be around for a while, and with the tumult in the market caused by Stark Industries, Robert had other things Steven and he both felt he should concentrate on. The choice to cut their losses now was a simple one.
Adrienne glared at him, but then sat back,. Her mask in place as her mind worked furiously. She had no leverage here, she had contacted Hildbrante, not the other way around, and it was true their relationship hadn't really panned out as she had expected. Her sister Emma was still around after all. However, she felt her attempts to sow dissent and hate between her and Father have borne more fruit than this association. Adrienne felt that perhaps she should concentrate there, as well as on her burgeoning connections in the Hellfire Club. "Very well, I won't say you don't have reasons. But realize that if I do come to lead my family's corporation, you will not see any remuneration."
Robert nodded, pleased the young woman was taking his news so well. "That is agreeable. Up to this point we have neither of us gotten anything substantial out of this, so going back to a clean slate is possibly the best for both sides."
It was at that point that one of Adrienne's bodyguards came towards them from the door of the bar the two were meeting in. Robert frowned, then motioned with one finger to his own plain-clothes guard, dressed as a waiter moving around the bar tonight, to do nothing.
Adrienne's bodyguard looked irritated and worried, and the young blonde frowned. After him came her other bodyguard looking much the same. She knew both of them, not as well as her regular guard who had fallen a few days ago in a biking accident and was laid up with a broken foot, but they seemed competent enough and she wondering what was going on to have them both so flustered.
The bodyguard closed swiftly, leaning over to whisper in her ear. "Miss, we have to go, we monitor all radio frequencies around here, and one of them just lit up, saying there was a bomb threat on this building. The police are on their way."
Adrienne's eyes widened slightly, then narrowed. This can't be a coincidence. A bomb isn't at all like Emma, she would never be that crass, and anyway where would she get the resources? But it could be a aimed at someone else… She looked over at Robert, her mind working furiously. "Is this you're doing?"
Robert frowned slightly, laying his hands on the table between them, keeping his eyes on Emma's bodyguards. "I assure you I had nothing to do with any bomb scare."
"A likely story," one of Adrienne's bodyguards scoffed, then reached down and hauled Adrienne to her feet. "Regardless Miss we should get you out of here now."
Adrienne was about to shout at the man about how he was manhandling her but before she could Robert's official bodyguard reacted, grabbing the man by the shoulder. "Let's all calm down here…Ack!"
The 'ack' came from the fact the man he had thus grabbed had turned and sucker-punched the man in the face. Before anything else could happen Robert's other bodyguard, the one dressed as a waiter pulled out his gun, causing a ripple of screams to resound the bar as people scrambled for cover.
Adrienne's other bodyguard pulled his own gun, and the two fired as one, after which things got… chaotic. Seconds into the firefight Adirenne, who had taken cover behind a booth, was shot in the head by one of Robert's guards.
In the end Robert Hildebrant walked away wondering how things had derailed so quickly. Adrienne's bodyguards were dead along with one of his, and the other was being held for the murder of Adrienne herself. Luckily Robert had not been infected by the madness and had simply dived under the table staying there until a single policeman burst into the room and arrested his remaining guard.
The radio report Adrienne's bodyguards reported was not in fact from the police, and while the whole incident was highly suspicious, and Robert and his bodyguard would be questioned for some time, nothing would come from it save for the bodyguard doing jail time.
OOOOOOO
Back at the gala Harry and the others had simply stayed and partied. Around eleven local time Kurt popped back to the mansion by Cory, who Harry had assigned to help them with this duty. Kurt had a lot of fun, and despite being a girl for some of the time had felt it was well worth it.
The quartet stayed until the gala ended by which time Jean and Emma were well into their cups, leaning on one another rather drunkenly as they exited the gala. It was something that Emma would never have done, save for the fact that Harry was there, and told her he would keep her safe this evening.
As soon as they were out of sight Harry's charms went to work, and Obadiah and a few other less savory individuals would have no memory of George the man, only his voice and words, and no sense at all about the gorgeous redhead other than the simple fact she was gorgeous and had red hair. The same was true of Ororo. It was a masterful piece of charm work, if Harry said so himself.
Realizing neither was in any shape to drive Harry adroitly stole Emma's keys from her passing them over to Ororo. With that done he gently took Jean in his arms, and guided her down the street towards his supercar while Ororo took Emma back to her own car. From there they drove the cars over to where Emma's hotel was (she and Jean had transferred down from San Francisco that morning) and then took the elevator up to the penthouse suite.
Harry gently steered Jean toward one of the beds, and she flopped down on top of it, half on and half off the bed. Harry laughed quietly, kneeling down next to her running his hands over her legs which earned him a murmur of appreciation from the inebriated young woman. He gently pulled off her high heels, running his hands up Jean's leg.
Behind him came Emma, who was as drunk as Jean but who was for some reason more amorous than tired. She aimed for same bed as the redhead, leaning lightly on Ororo, but ignoring the older woman's attempts to divert her elsewhere. Ororo had actually stayed away from the sauce for the most part, having not enjoyed being drunk the last time.
Jean giggled drunkenly. "Ish thish the part where you have yer wick-hiccup-wicked way wis me, Harry?"
Harry shook his head. "Sorry love, not when you're drunk like this."
Emma giggled, plopping herself on the redhead's lap where she lay on the bed. "I," she said annunciating the words carefully with the attention of the highly inebriated. "However, am not nearly so noble." Before Jean could respond, Emma leaned down and kissed Jean on the lips
Jean responded, bringing her hands up and kissing Emma back. Their hands began to roam around their bare backs, moving into one another's dresses to grasp and fondle.
Harry remained where he was kneeling at the foot of the bed, his eyes wide as he watched this. Ororo too was watching in something between shock and arousal and the incredible sight. "Er, should I be jealous right now or what?"
"I think it is an 'or what' moment my love, that is… that is erotic in the extreme." Ororo said, an amused, yet slightly dirty smile on her face.
Emma had moved down her friends neck and begun to nibble there, while Jean looked over her shoulder at Harry licking her lips in such a way that Harry instantly felt himself harden. A moment later the redhead had somehow flipped Emma over and was not on top, she looked over her shoulder at Harry and then began to do a incredibly sexy strip tease.
She first unbuckled the wide string of sequins that was around her waist, letting it drop to one side then undid the tie behind her neck, letting her dress fall to bunch around her waist. She turned slightly, so that Harry could see her hands holding her breasts, smiling rather wickedly.
Alas the drink had gotten to both ladies, and that was the end of the show. Emma had fallen asleep under her friend and seeing this Jean dropped to the side, soon joining her.
Ororo and Harry looked at one another then gently tucked the two girls in before retreating to the suite's other bedroom. Aroused by the show the two had put on Harry grabbed Ororo and carried her swiftly into the suites other bedroom. The rest of the world would come knocking tomorrow morning, but for tonight, there were other matters to see to.