Chapters 11/13 and 12/13 Cracked Diamonds
Title: Cracked Diamonds
Rating: M
Warnings: Graphic Sexual abuse of a minor, rape, domestic violence, implied violence, implied m/m sexual relations, and death.
Summary:
Emma Frost learned at her mother’s knee that if a woman wanted to get anywhere, she was the only person with the power to make that happen. Telepathy was quite helpful to those aims, including the manipulation of men. Cleavage or cortex, both helped her make her own way, often by changing the thoughts of others. She wanted to rule the world, but it is a man’s world. By playing with the minds of everyone, she thought she would take over the world.
Charles Xavier disagreed.
An AU-verse in which Xavier and Magneto are tempered by a diamond’s views of supremacy, and not a Mengele’s, even if they didn’t quite figure it out.
XI.
“Captain Stryker, I would like you to track down Cain Marko.” It was Emma Frost’s voice, hidden away in a room that attracted Raven. Mystique, now, but she had been Raven when Charles had taught her that voices that were trying to be overly quiet, secretive, were something to worry about. Charles had also taught her how to recognize the ways of a telepath trying to hide a conversation by convincing those around her or him to forget them, forget their existence and their place. It was an affront to her, a scrape of hidden self that made her hair lift, and her eyes yellow. Azazel is there next to her, his tail lengthening through the hallway, and she reaches out, grabs around his wrist, and concentrates.
Listen! She sends, and she can feel the creak of the muscles. She is used to the reciprocity of her brother’s telepathy, not the faded imitation that rests in her head and allows her this curiosity, this ability.
I did not know that you could speak through minds. Azazel answers, but he’s creeping closer, ear practically twitching. He’s passive, allowing her brother’s mind to capture the information in his mind. They will not rouse the beast, but still, better to be silent.
“Why?” They can hear it, Emma’s voice cajoling, explaining, convincing the man on the phone. “He is a mutant, one who has refused to work with your organization, which as a patriot, as a soldier, he should do. My contacts tell me that after your men contacted him, he left Long Island, his home for years, and left quickly. He is not the danger, but his loyalties may be. My husband Sebastian and I used to move in the same social circles in New York as he did. He, his Father, Kurt Marko, and his step brother, Charles Xavier.” Azazel’s eyes are widening. “Yes, that Charles Xavier. The man used to work for our government, but left under such interesting circumstances. Aren’t they still interested in what he did in regards to the problem in Cuba, William?”
“Yes, I’m aware he is a telepath. Did not the Israeli government confirm that for you, William? My husband’s contacts in the State Department told me that he’s still entertaining offers from them yearly. An American citizen who lived abroad for years, worked for foreign governments, William, and a mutant. He has to be a threat to us humans, and powerful, too, for the Israelis to use him, and this is proof that the Israelis have a paranormal program.”
Azazel, isn’t William Stryker the man that we’ve been told is doing mutant experimentation? Azazel is nodding at her. We need to get to Magneto. I don’t think that Emma is supposed to be doing this.
Hello, children. Her voice danced through their minds like an icy sheet of wind chimes. I didn’t know that Charles could do this… Raven could feel the diamond dagger tips pulling along the edges of her minds as Azazel steps forward, wrapping his arms around her. As they blast away to the restaurant where Riptide and Erik are having lunch, Emma’s voice lingers in her ears. You should not have heard that.
XII.
A telepath! William couldn’t believe it. And if the rumors that his assistants and scientists had found, Charles Francis Xavier was a strong telepath. Strong enough to bend minds to his will, or subtly persuade, hide his changes under the veil of another finding.
“Mutation took us from single cells organisms to being the dominant form of reproductive life on this planet. Infinite forms of variation with each generation, all through mutation.” He even flaunted it, taking a Doctorate in the studies of genetics. His wife had several of his papers, and he had asked Marcy about them. Well researched, well written. The man was a rising star, probably rising on the wings of his mutation, stealing his words and sources from other scientists with normal lives, normal talents.
Across the room, Damien shuddered, his eyes starting to blaze, and he calls on him.
“Damien.” Colonel Michael Damien chafed at being under the command of a Captain, and Army Medical at that, but his superiors had seen fit to assign him here, so there must be a relevant reason for this problem. “I want you and Gutierriez, Drouillard as well, to write up a plan of attack. I have an address, 1407 Greymalkin Lane, Salem Center, Westchester, New York. There will be mutants there, of varying powers, including the target known as Juggernaut.”
The target known as Juggernaut. Michael Damien had fought with the man in the war, and the man, if aggressive, had been in the least, honorable. Always showing pictures of his brother and sister, Charles and Raven, who looked more like a pair of sisters than brother and sister. He’d mentioned it once, earned himself a slug in the jaw for his words. “My brother has been hurt enough. Forget him.” It had earned him the memory of Charles Marko, darling baby brother, always protected by Cain, and victim of some unknown torture. “What do you want us to do then?”
Three photos were placed on the board, blown large enough that he and his men could see the faces as if they were sitting underneath the blackboard. A pile of file folders were handed out, one to each team leader. “I want you to capture Charles Xavier, alive. I need him alive so we can figure out how to keep America safe from these freaks.”
The hatred ran rampant through the room, tingling down spines. The photo on the board was familiar, the brother that Cain Marko had adored and protected. “Sir, you know that Juggernaut is the brother of the target?” Damien knew the man. “He will not react well to men trying to take his brother, Captain.”
“He’s just a mutant.” The man was sneering, and Damien wondered for a second if Stryker even bothered to read the mission statistics that he and his staff put together for his command. Juggernaut was impossible to stop once he started moving, and impervious to physical damage both once he stood still and when he moved. These were traits that he remembered manifesting, when the man was in the military.
“What do we need to know about the telepath?” It was a valid question, and Gutierriez asked it. “What are the man’s skills?”
“He was the man that convinced a Russian comrade to fire at the cargo ship that was about to break the line in Cuba, back in September. He’s strong, strong enough to make you do what he wants. If any of you go against mission parameters, you are hereby authorized to eliminate the man that breaks command.”
“Sir?”
“We have no way to keep any of you clean of the influences of a telepath, other than the death of the influenced, men. Shoot to kill, anyone except the telepath. I want the telepath alive.”
As they filed out of the room to create their plan of attack, William Stryker was humming, reading the freak’s thesis, sent from the Columbia Academic Library. Damien couldn’t control his shudder. Stryker might be his commanding officer, but he freaked Damien out.
Rating: M
Warnings: Graphic Sexual abuse of a minor, rape, domestic violence, implied violence, implied m/m sexual relations, and death.
Summary:
Emma Frost learned at her mother’s knee that if a woman wanted to get anywhere, she was the only person with the power to make that happen. Telepathy was quite helpful to those aims, including the manipulation of men. Cleavage or cortex, both helped her make her own way, often by changing the thoughts of others. She wanted to rule the world, but it is a man’s world. By playing with the minds of everyone, she thought she would take over the world.
Charles Xavier disagreed.
An AU-verse in which Xavier and Magneto are tempered by a diamond’s views of supremacy, and not a Mengele’s, even if they didn’t quite figure it out.
XI.
“Captain Stryker, I would like you to track down Cain Marko.” It was Emma Frost’s voice, hidden away in a room that attracted Raven. Mystique, now, but she had been Raven when Charles had taught her that voices that were trying to be overly quiet, secretive, were something to worry about. Charles had also taught her how to recognize the ways of a telepath trying to hide a conversation by convincing those around her or him to forget them, forget their existence and their place. It was an affront to her, a scrape of hidden self that made her hair lift, and her eyes yellow. Azazel is there next to her, his tail lengthening through the hallway, and she reaches out, grabs around his wrist, and concentrates.
Listen! She sends, and she can feel the creak of the muscles. She is used to the reciprocity of her brother’s telepathy, not the faded imitation that rests in her head and allows her this curiosity, this ability.
I did not know that you could speak through minds. Azazel answers, but he’s creeping closer, ear practically twitching. He’s passive, allowing her brother’s mind to capture the information in his mind. They will not rouse the beast, but still, better to be silent.
“Why?” They can hear it, Emma’s voice cajoling, explaining, convincing the man on the phone. “He is a mutant, one who has refused to work with your organization, which as a patriot, as a soldier, he should do. My contacts tell me that after your men contacted him, he left Long Island, his home for years, and left quickly. He is not the danger, but his loyalties may be. My husband Sebastian and I used to move in the same social circles in New York as he did. He, his Father, Kurt Marko, and his step brother, Charles Xavier.” Azazel’s eyes are widening. “Yes, that Charles Xavier. The man used to work for our government, but left under such interesting circumstances. Aren’t they still interested in what he did in regards to the problem in Cuba, William?”
“Yes, I’m aware he is a telepath. Did not the Israeli government confirm that for you, William? My husband’s contacts in the State Department told me that he’s still entertaining offers from them yearly. An American citizen who lived abroad for years, worked for foreign governments, William, and a mutant. He has to be a threat to us humans, and powerful, too, for the Israelis to use him, and this is proof that the Israelis have a paranormal program.”
Azazel, isn’t William Stryker the man that we’ve been told is doing mutant experimentation? Azazel is nodding at her. We need to get to Magneto. I don’t think that Emma is supposed to be doing this.
Hello, children. Her voice danced through their minds like an icy sheet of wind chimes. I didn’t know that Charles could do this… Raven could feel the diamond dagger tips pulling along the edges of her minds as Azazel steps forward, wrapping his arms around her. As they blast away to the restaurant where Riptide and Erik are having lunch, Emma’s voice lingers in her ears. You should not have heard that.
XII.
A telepath! William couldn’t believe it. And if the rumors that his assistants and scientists had found, Charles Francis Xavier was a strong telepath. Strong enough to bend minds to his will, or subtly persuade, hide his changes under the veil of another finding.
“Mutation took us from single cells organisms to being the dominant form of reproductive life on this planet. Infinite forms of variation with each generation, all through mutation.” He even flaunted it, taking a Doctorate in the studies of genetics. His wife had several of his papers, and he had asked Marcy about them. Well researched, well written. The man was a rising star, probably rising on the wings of his mutation, stealing his words and sources from other scientists with normal lives, normal talents.
Across the room, Damien shuddered, his eyes starting to blaze, and he calls on him.
“Damien.” Colonel Michael Damien chafed at being under the command of a Captain, and Army Medical at that, but his superiors had seen fit to assign him here, so there must be a relevant reason for this problem. “I want you and Gutierriez, Drouillard as well, to write up a plan of attack. I have an address, 1407 Greymalkin Lane, Salem Center, Westchester, New York. There will be mutants there, of varying powers, including the target known as Juggernaut.”
The target known as Juggernaut. Michael Damien had fought with the man in the war, and the man, if aggressive, had been in the least, honorable. Always showing pictures of his brother and sister, Charles and Raven, who looked more like a pair of sisters than brother and sister. He’d mentioned it once, earned himself a slug in the jaw for his words. “My brother has been hurt enough. Forget him.” It had earned him the memory of Charles Marko, darling baby brother, always protected by Cain, and victim of some unknown torture. “What do you want us to do then?”
Three photos were placed on the board, blown large enough that he and his men could see the faces as if they were sitting underneath the blackboard. A pile of file folders were handed out, one to each team leader. “I want you to capture Charles Xavier, alive. I need him alive so we can figure out how to keep America safe from these freaks.”
The hatred ran rampant through the room, tingling down spines. The photo on the board was familiar, the brother that Cain Marko had adored and protected. “Sir, you know that Juggernaut is the brother of the target?” Damien knew the man. “He will not react well to men trying to take his brother, Captain.”
“He’s just a mutant.” The man was sneering, and Damien wondered for a second if Stryker even bothered to read the mission statistics that he and his staff put together for his command. Juggernaut was impossible to stop once he started moving, and impervious to physical damage both once he stood still and when he moved. These were traits that he remembered manifesting, when the man was in the military.
“What do we need to know about the telepath?” It was a valid question, and Gutierriez asked it. “What are the man’s skills?”
“He was the man that convinced a Russian comrade to fire at the cargo ship that was about to break the line in Cuba, back in September. He’s strong, strong enough to make you do what he wants. If any of you go against mission parameters, you are hereby authorized to eliminate the man that breaks command.”
“Sir?”
“We have no way to keep any of you clean of the influences of a telepath, other than the death of the influenced, men. Shoot to kill, anyone except the telepath. I want the telepath alive.”
As they filed out of the room to create their plan of attack, William Stryker was humming, reading the freak’s thesis, sent from the Columbia Academic Library. Damien couldn’t control his shudder. Stryker might be his commanding officer, but he freaked Damien out.