Chapter 35: Gearing Up

Chapter Thirty Five: Gearing Up

Harry scoped out the situation; needless to say he was very intrigued to hear the explanation for this one, about what this woman was doing here. He had to take his hat off to her; she managed to avoid detection for a number of weeks. Harry found himself rather impressed by that fact alone. That being said, he was not going to allow her to make the same mistake again.

"Who are you?" Harry asked when he looked at the woman in her eyes.

Black Widow struggled, admonishing herself for a rather careless error although to be honest she knew the risks when she signed on for this mission. She did not expect into being in such a compromising position when she signed on for said risks, that much for certain. She knew as a spy this was not the most perilous position that she been in, no guns on her head or knives threatening to cut into her throat.

"Untie me and I'll tell you," Natasha stated when she looked up at Harry with a seductive expression dancing in her eyes when she managed to lick her lips. "I'll make it worth your while."

'Tempting, sorely tempting,' Harry admitted to himself mentally when he looked down at her, seeing down her skintight suit with the wonders that she had underneath. A woman like this might have a little bit experience, okay maybe more than a little bit and Harry could tell based on the way the suit hugged her every ample curve that she wore nothing underneath it. That much interested him and inflamed his inner most desires, appealing to him. His powers being based a great deal upon intercourse, Harry thought that there was much to consider with her.

Yet Harry decided to be more practical, at least for the moment. Although given the compromising position he was in, this woman was in his debt and the dark haired wizard found a way to collect as only he could before too long. While he found spontaneous sex as exciting as the next person, he wanted to let this one build a little bit. The young man bent down and looked the hot spy in the eyes.

"There was a reason why you'll here and I think that it would be in both of my best interests if you told me," Harry answered when he bent down, looking in her eyes, mischief dancing in them.

Natasha tried to struggle from the ropes; normally most ropes had some kind of slack in them where she could writhe out. These ropes were very different however; they offered no give where she could slip out and escape. She commended him on this, as frustrating as it might be to try and escape.

"Yes there was a reason," Natasha admitted, feeling that she had to play by his rules but that was the rule that she learned, sometimes one had to show a tiny bit of vulnerability to exploit that of others. "Nick Fury sent me here to take a look at you to see what you were up to."

Harry's expression clouded over immediately before he looked at the Black Widow with a smile crossing his face. "The old one eyed bastard still wants to know everything about me and you decided to take a look at me. He sent you. I only have one thing to ask you. Did you enjoy the show?"

Black Widow did not even answer him out loud but she knew the answer and she knew that he knew that they knew the answer. Harry bent down, with a smile.

"That's not all, I've been keeping an eye on this place for the moment where HYDRA makes their move," Black Widow stated when she pushed herself out. "You may have noticed weeks back how the Brotherhood has been….better equipped. That's because HYDRA is backing them but they're a distraction. They're being prepped for something."

"Do you have any idea what?" Harry asked when he looked at Black Widow, still not allowing her from the ropes. That was the level of freedom that Harry did not want to allow the spy. The spy shook her head when she looked up at Harry to try and get free with the dark haired wizard never allowing his gaze to leave her for a minute.

"No, that is one thing that I have been unable to determine but it is something that the two of us….the two of us can determine together," Black Widow stated when she shook her head, pushing herself against the ropes, knowing how it made her when her curves writhed against the body.

She realized that many men could have taken advantage of her right now and did what they wanted. However, she sensed something different about this Harry Potter, sure he expressed interest because of her form but he wanted their involvement to be one that was consensual. He wanted her to be worked up so she was driven mad by the lust and what he could do to her would not be leaving her mind any time soon.

Given the shows she witnessed over the past month or two, she thought that she was on her way there, or at least close enough.

Harry got out his communicator, rather than leaving the Black Widow alone, which she honestly respected. He was not stupid and he reached over.

"X-Men report to my room, we have a situation," Harry answered in a voice that commanded authority when he held the communicator in his hand.

Kitty was first on the scene, looking concerned and she looked down at the tied up form of Black Widow on the floor. She blinked once, twice, and shook her head; something told her that there was a logical explanation regarding this situation, even though one seemed to elude her at the present moment.

Rogue followed next, with Kurt, Scott, Jean, Rachel, Amara, and Bobby, with the rest of the New Recruits likely filing in from outside later and then Ororo and Logan showed up, with Beast in toe. Logan was the one who stopped and stared, recognizing the woman on the floor, tied up and trying to pull herself out.

"Getting sloppy Widow," Logan remarked in a casual voice when he looked at her, a bit of a grin curling across his face. He got a lot of amusement out of the fact that she was bound and tied like this.

Ororo's eyes snapped towards him. "You know her?"

"We've met," Logan answered in a voice that indicated that was all that he was going to tell her.

"So what's going on?" Kurt asked when he looked around, and Harry turned around and brought them up to speed.

"You know, the Brotherhood are just down the street, we can go and have a chat with them," Harry responded when he turned around to face them but there was one person who had to challenge this.

"I'm not sure if that's a wise idea," Scott answered when he looked at the fellow team members.

Rachel was the one who cut in with another response when she looked at the rest of the team, turning her head and smiling. "Let's take a vote then. All in favor of going on Harry's hunch?"

Kurt, Rogue, Kitty, Jean, Bobby, and Amara all agreed, with Scott looking defeated and he turned around. He motioned for Harry as if to say "go, lead the way." The mage smiled before he freed Black Widow.

"You will come with us, because if HYDRA is involved, SHIELD would want to know the details of this," Harry responded to the Black Widow when he kept his eyes plastered firmly upon her.

"Agreed," Black Widow stated when the group walked off in search of answers, she knew that the X-Men could have taken out the Brotherhood at any time but they decided not to. It was not like it was an even fight to begin with.

The X-Men scrambled to the Brotherhood Boarding House with a good plan in mind, they would shake them down, hope to get some information, and overwhelm them with sheer numbers. Was that a dirty tactic? Perhaps one could say that it would be. Was it a smart tactic? One could also say that the tactic would be extremely smart.

Harry carefully lead the charge through the door, everyone showed up, because after last time with the Brotherhood, their new leader, and everything that went along with that, they weren't going to take any chances. The Taskmaster and Sin upgraded the Brotherhood from dime store thugs to quarter store thugs, so the old ways of dealing with problems was out the window.

"It's quiet, a little bit too quiet," Kurt whispered which caused Rogue and Kitty to both cringe and Rachel's eyes to spin around towards Kurt in a frustrated manner, when she shook her head.

"That's the last thing we need to say right now, you're going to jinx us?"

"It wouldn't be this easy," Black Widow commented in an undertone but never the less she prepared to throw a gas canister in there to subdue them. She walked inside but sure enough the place had not even been cleaned because of the Green Goblin's little attack, furniture on the ground blown to bits and exploded pumpkin shells strewn in every single direction.

"Nothing is that easy," Logan commented when Harry turned around to his team.

"Spread out, see if they left any incriminating information around," Harry answered when they walked around, before the X-Men broke into teams and scanned the house. The dark haired wizard stepped around and looked forward. "And I'll set up some monitoring spells in case they return."

Scott had to question this. "If they cleared out, wouldn't they not come back, since we know they're here and this place has been compromised?"

Harry had an answer. "They'd think they we'd think that, which means there's a likely shot that they could come back and use this house given that it's the last place that we'd look because they'd think that we'd think we should not bother with this place because they'd move to another place."

"After that I don't know what to think," Bobby quipped when he moved over from the next room with the rest of the new recruits.

"Try and stay focused, I trust you didn't find anything," Harry answered but it was Amara who answered.

"Nothing at all but it wasn't for….lack of trying," Amara answered but Harry pulled her into an embrace to tell her that she did the best that she could. She relaxed a little bit into his arms.

"How does he do it?" Bobby whispered to Ray and Sam but the two boys shrugged, not knowing the secret to Harry Potter's success. Scott threw his hands into the air in defeat.

Kitty returned a moment later, with a joyful expression on her face when she held up a portable drive in her hand.

"I found this in Sin's room, I think she might have classified information and stuff on it," Kitty answered when she looked around the group, all of them nodded that seemed likely.

Harry voiced a concern that he had. "We better not look that at any computer that we plan on using later or that's hooked up to the Institute. For all we know, Sin placed a virus on there, hoping to cripple the Mansion's computer systems."

"That is wise," Natasha agreed when she nodded and saw the flash drive in her hand. "There is a secure location at SHIELD that we can scan it, if you allow me to…."

"I'm not letting that out of my hands, given that it was my team that found it," Harry responded with Scott cringing at the words, "my team." "I'm heading with you over to SHIELD."

"I'll tag along," Logan offered with a grunt, he figured that it would be best of the kid had a bit of back up. Not that he could not handle himself but still with Fury, the rules of someone who could handle himself was out the window.

Expect the unexpected was often a rule with dealing with Fury.

"I'm coming too," Kitty answered when she looked at the Black Widow, daring her to contradict and Rachel, Amara, Jean, and Rogue all nodded, with Kurt and Bobby all stepping up to assist as well.

The Black Widow decided that this would not be one battle that she would not win. She reached over to pull a communication device out before she pressed a few buttons to activate it.

"Fury, we've found something, potential information on HYDRA or maybe a trap," Black Widow offered when the flash drive did not leave Kitty Pryde's hand and the group stood. "I'm bringing the X-Men. Their team leader wants to speak with you."

She inclined her eyes to Harry which Scott had to protest about. "Hey I'm…."

"Quiet!" Black Widow snapped when she turned around to relay the information to Nick Fury, who nodded. Widow nodded her head a little bit when Fury reported to her.

"Bring them all aboard, especially Potter, I wish to have a word with him. He may be the person that I need to help me with an ongoing problem."

Black Widow inclined her head with a slight nod before she turned around to face the rest of the team who stood up straight and faced her.

Harry was intrigued but suspicious.

"Commander Fury has agreed and will be sending transport within the next hour," Black Widow stated when she looked at them. "Any of you who wish to come can come, any of you who wish to stay can return to the Xavier Institute. It is your choice but naturally SHIELD requires full cooperation for anyone who comes aboard."

'Seems like she needs to get laid, maybe someone can help her out with that,' Rachel projected to Harry, Rogue, Kitty, and Amara, all of the girls laughed, and Jean picked up a thought, with a smile crossing her face.

Black Widow turned around, she suspected some kind of mental interplay but naturally that was well beside the point. The Widow prepared to lead the X-Men forward, waiting for the helicopter to pick them up and bring them to the SHIELD base where they could head off.

She knew that Fury needed help on this project because his window of time to complete it was dwindling and there were people who wished to pull the plug on Captain America; although their agenda seemed to be rather suspect. Fury was more concerned with keeping a promise that he made then investigating the intentions of anyone.

"I dig these new digs."

This was the statement made by Toad with the Brotherhood four walked into the new facility that they were brought to, with Sin and the Taskmaster leading the way. It was high tech, state of the art, and actually was a professional set up beyond what they were used to. That to them was the best thing of them all but the eyes of Sin shifted towards them, cold intentions dancing in them.

"Touch nothing."

Sin's statement snapped with malice rolling from her tongue when she looked at Toad and he raised his hands into the air defensively and stepping forward. He knew that there was no reason why he should fight this, in fact he shook his head and prepared to step forward. Toad, Quicksilver, Blob, and Avalanche walked forward.

"So, are we going back or is this our new headquarters?" Blob asked when he looked around, of course the more important question would be where was the fridge. That was the statement that Blob wanted to know and he stood on the ground, his feet sinking into it but right away he had no answer from Sin.

Quicksilver turned to Sin and offered a smile towards him. "Hey, as long as you're here, it's home sweet home."

Sin elected to ignore him, even though she had a number of well-placed insults that she could make to him in a variety of different languages. The young woman stepped forward on the ground when she walked forward and saw the HYDRA soldiers and they fell back into line at her.

"Stay back here, do not go past these doors," Sin stated when she looked over her shoulder to face the Brotherhood, they could tell that she was serious, not to mention deadly when she made this statement. The woman took a few steps forward into the room, she knew what awaited her in there.

Sin stepped forward and bent her head down a little bit, before she shook her head and looked up at the imposing figure in the shadows. Her father stood there, his face in the shadows but a strong pair of hands could be seen, along with the shadow of his imposing body.

"Your mission with the fodder goes as planned," he stated in a crisp voice, his sunken in eyes peering at her from the shadows.

"It goes about as well as could be planned but you can't make gold out of dung," Sin responded when she looked up at her father.

The silence between the two of them was extremely eerie.

"Weaklings like that I would have killed by now," her father stated, holding the gun in his hand and aiming it towards Sin. She stood tall and proud when she looked at him, she knew by now that if she flinched even the slightest, she would be shot.

The fact to never show fear in front of her father was practically conditioned into her with his sadistic methods, all of them worse than the next, and all of them completely and utterly….yeah that was the case. The young woman turned around on her heel before she bent down on her heels and looked up to incline her neck up to the side, before she placed her hands on her hips. She adopted a firm, proud, and bold stance but not too bold because that would get her shot by now.

"They serve as a diversion for the mutants," Sin responded when she turned to her father. "Fury is getting closer."

"Fury is nothing but a fool, the one I need to worry about is Captain America, if he awakens, then he could stop my plan all over again," her father stated from the shadows, folding his arms. "Of course, I do wonder if this country would accept someone like him in this day and age. Times have changed after all. It's no longer the 1940s and the people are different, much less…idealistic."

"He could still be a symbol," Sin answered when she looked up at him.

"A symbol for the weakness that these pathetic sacks of flesh exhibit," her father stated, which Sin agreed with. "You were premature in revealing yourself to this Potter."

The gun was still on Sin but she did not back down.

"He is strong although not as strong as you,' Sin answered when she looked up at him.

"One might admit that you're trying to buy favor with me with your compliments, Sinthea," her father stated in a cold and distant voice that chilled the bones of everyone who heard it. "I lack this patience. The Red Skull will not allow you to fail for much longer. Once the gas is completed, these heroes will be weak as the people who I had sentenced in the camps. They will beg me as much, while I slowly kill their loved ones around them."

The Red Skull masterminded the deaths of countless, exploiting the sadistic whims of a madman for his own amusement. Not that this particular individual needed much prodding, but still he fueled him and helped him along. Then when this individual's usefulness passed, the madman committed suicide. Red Skull considered him to be too weak to begin with, too soft to weed out those who were not superior.

The plan went as he intended for the most part until these X-Men showed up at the Weapon X base. This Potter who popped up, he posed an interesting threat but one that he would eliminate should he get too close.

Sin nodded in understanding when she stood back a little bit and waited for her father to give a further statement of anything. There was none given.

"You will prepare the gas, I want it delivered within the next few days," Red Skull stated when he felt that this poison would be the doom of many people. He could twist the entire world in his whim. "HYDRA has arranged a distraction, therefore they will not know that the gas is being dispersed until it's much too late."

Sin inclined her head, nodding before she took a step back. She knew by now not to turn her back on her father because he shot other men in the back of the head for doing that. Not her because he hinted that the next time her back was turned could be the last time her back turned, so that was something to keep in mind.

The X-Men found themselves in a state of awe when they entered the Helicarrier, looking around at the high tech equipment. Kitty in particular looked like a kid in a candy store, about ready to geek out about everything but somehow she reigned herself in, even if it was just barely. The group walked inside the HYDRA complex and made their way further inside.

"It is impressive," Rogue managed when she turned around and looked over her shoulder.

"Yes, state of the art," Harry agreed but he heard footsteps which put him and his team on high alert. They wanted to keep all eyes on anything that was approaching, especially the new recruits. Constant vigilance was something that Harry kept harping and beating into their heads.

"I'm glad to see that you approve, Mr. Potter."

Logan turned around before he caught sight of the man, the same voice and he'd recognize the eye path anywhere. "You had to go for a new look, didn't you Fury?"

Fury stood next to them dressed in a black uniform that contrasted his black skin and his bald head, when he had an eye patch on.

"It's time for a change," Fury answered when he looked at Logan.

"It suits you, very Samuel L. Jackson," Logan answered when he looked at Fury, the two men who had been down the road. "But what…."

"Flesh eating parasites, a nasty business, my mind was transferred into a new body," Fury answered when he looked at them. "Decided to only keep one eye, I feel like that's a look I need to stay with. I've got an image to maintain. I trust no one has a problem with this change."

Obviously no one did.

Harry waited calmly for what Fury had to say, wondering what he had to say to him but sure enough the young mage did not have to wait for too entirely long. The director of SHIELD turned towards Harry, an intense expression in his eyes before he regarded the young man before him.

"We've been working on a project since the events at Asteroid M but it's hit a dead end," Fury stated when he had two of his agents pull on a box, and see one of the crystal pieces form the asteroid. Scott in particular flinched a little bit, to him those crystals were nothing but trouble. A man with dark hair and a goatee, dressed in a blue suit stepped forward, acknowledging the group with a nod and Bruce Banner followed him in, crossing his arms. "Tony Stark and I believe you've met Bruce Banner."

"Yes, good to see you again Doctor Banner, pleased to meet you Mister Stark," Harry answered and Tony nodded with a polite smile on his face.

"Mister Potter, I understand that you have special abilities that will be able to help us activate these funny little crystals," Stark stated when he looked from Harry to the gem fragment, to be honest he worked over them for weeks and weeks, trying to use every scientific method known to man.

Harry peered at the crystal for a moment; the crystal bits were unstable and felt the need to lecture Fury about trying to play with them. The trace amounts of radioactivity were not enough to kill a person, at least right away but in due time they would. He turned towards the crystal before taking a long look at it.

"I fail to see why you think that I can use this crystal any better than you could," Harry responded when he looked at it, taking it in his hand and turning it over.

"The gems are activated by a mysterious element that cannot be replicated by science and that element is…."

Harry tapped on the edge of the crystal because he heard a harmonic vibration, he was about ready to get out of the way but suddenly the crystal lit up and a bright red light smacked Rachel in the face.

"Rachel!" Harry yelled when he placed the crystal down but the girl got up to her feet, indicating that she was fine. She shook her head and rubbed her face. "What….are you…I'm…."

"Harry, it's okay, I'm fine," Rachel stated when she felt her face but she felt nothing on her face. The scars, at least the physical ones, were gone from her face.

"So we were right, the gems can heal," Fury answered without another word when he looked at Harry.

"So do you want me to grow your eye back or something?" Harry asked when he gazed at Fury but the Director of SHIELD shook his head before he peered at the young wizard.

"No, I've got something more worthy, I trust you've heard about Captain America."

The entire group of X-Men looked on in awe, and Logan nodded, he knew Steve Rogers back in the day that was one of the few memories from the past that flooded back to him. The two men been through hell and back but it was something that made them respect each other all that much more.

"I've heard of him, yes" Harry responded when he turned around, wondering what that was all about. Tony was able to bring him up to speed.

"My father….he was a friend of Steve Rogers and made a promise before his death along with Nick Fury and….we need to bring him out of the state he is. His body is badly deteriorated due to the long term effects of the super soldier formula and he's being kept on life support."

Banner picked up where Stark left off, crossing his arms over and looking at the young man before him. "We believe that the gem could bring him back and with the missing element…."

Harry held up a hand and bounced off of the one fallacy to this statement. "If his condition is to the point where he has to be kept on life support, we need a bigger piece of the gem to do so."

"We were hoping that you could track the gem for us and bring it back, if any more of them exist," Fury responded when he crossed his arms and stared at Harry.

"For someone like Captain America, I will do it but don't think that I can do your dirty work for you too often Fury," Harry answered when he warned the other man and the commander of SHIELD nodded, he understood, believe him he understood everything before him. "I'll get the gem, but I need the piece you have now so I can figure out a way to scan for it."

Dollars to donut Harry was willing to bet that someone really sadistic and twisted had the gem he was searching for, because let's face it, that was the direction his luck ran at that moment. He had a hunch to be honest and if he was right, well it was going to be tricky.

Still Harry Potter had a job to do and he would do the best he could to win the day.

"I'm willing to pay money for your time and help," Stark added and Harry nodded, who would turn down an offer like that.

Plus in the back of his mind, the gem could help him deal with the Sirius situation, perhaps. He wouldn't feel right using it until he did some tests.

"I'll get on it and see you later," Harry remarked before he turned towards Black Widow. "I'll be seeing you later as well."

"I'm sure, we'll be seeing a lot of each other later," Black Widow answered when the two looked at each other, practically undressing each other with their eyes.

It could not escalate more beyond that because Harry had work to do.

Harry found himself sitting in his bedroom, concentrating, deep in meditation when he tried to locate the gems in the world .There were some gems that they he found but they were small fragments, no more than a pin, but that was the way things rolled. The young man folded his arms across his chest before he leaned his head back and focused on the pins, trying to detect a bigger concentration yet.

He was very closely to finding something but there seemed to be a huge one buried in a mine shaft somewhere halfway across the world. It was in China, in some kind of temple. The scribbling on the wall Harry tried to focus on but he shook his head. He reached up and dialed on Tony Stark.

"There's a temple that has a huge chunk of what you needed but it's buried underneath," Harry stated without preamble before he stated. "It's in China, there are strange markings all over the temple, a dragon too."

"A dragon?" Stark asked, a feeling of dread crossing through his body before he closed his eyes and shook his head, even if Harry could not see it. "Are you sure you can't find another gem because….we could stir up something if we go over there?"

"What could we stir up?" Harry wondered, he could sense the apprehension and the trepidation in Stark's voice and sure enough the billionaire was going to dive forward with an explanation to enlighten Harry on the situation.

"There is a very powerful mob lord over there, he has mystical rings, ten of them, he's called the Manadarin. He's not someone who you wish to mess with, in fact he's not someone who I wish to mess with any more than I have to. He….dealt me a humiliating and crushing defeat, shall we say one time. He has diplomatic immunity much like Doom so anything he does, we can't very well go against him….legally speaking at least."

"And he has a vast criminal empire," Harry answered and Stark confirmed this.

"A vast criminal empire and….he hasn't expanded over here but if he has the gem and ever figures out what it is, it could cause trouble."

"There's no telling if he knows what it is or even if it's under his nose," Harry offered when he turned around in a crisp voice. He shook his head from one side to the other. "We're going….we're going to figure out a way to liberate the gem without knowing if we can. If he knows….well we'll deal with that."

"Agreed," Stark responded when he paused. "I've got a call on the other line; I'll be back in touch."

It was as well when there was a knock on the door and Harry turned around, rolling his shoulders back and sighing. He turned and looked at the door, sensing the person on the other end of the door. "Come in Rogue."

Rogue pushed the door open and entered the room before she walked inside, offering Harry a smile. She wore a black jacket, a black top, and tight black pants, and she did her make up a little bit differently, perhaps using a little less. She had her wristband on.

"Harry….something about my powers, they're changing," Rogue offered when she looked at him. "I've been able to fly and lift a lot more than I could before."

Harry nodded crisply when he looked at the young mutant and turned to her, looking in her eyes.

"Do you have any idea why?" Rogue asked when she waved towards Harry, asking if she wanted the answer.

The dark haired wizard looked thoughtful when his green eyes turned on Rogue, staring into hers a little bit. The young wizard stepped forward towards Rogue and grabbed her hand, before the two of them shifted and ended up in the Danger Room.

"The best way to test your limits is to lift things up," Harry answered when he calibrated his charm on a metal box. "This is charmed to lift up twice your body weight."

Rogue lifted up the box with ease and turned to Harry.

"Come on Harry, I want a challenge," Rogue offered him with a smile crossing her face, shaking her head and Harry placed a hand on hers.

"Okay, try this one, three times your body weight," Harry answered when he readjusted the charms and sure enough Rogue did lift it up once again with a bit more effort. "Try four more times."

Rogue lifted up the four times her body weight easily so Harry upgraded to five times, that was something she had a bit more trouble with and only held it up for a few seconds before dropping it.

"Do you have any idea what's causing this?" Rogue asked, folding her arms and wondering about this.

"You know, my powers make you able to touch me but I wonder….I wonder if were draining some of my powers, and making them permanent, changing you in certain ways, evolving your powers," Harry offered when the green eyed wizard peered at the young mutant and she stroked her chin thoughtfully.

"You know that's the best explanation I can think of," Rogue offered when she saw the metal blocks swinging down and she punched it, when she dented it and flew in the air, at least managing a moderate height or velocity. Of course her direction could use a little work before she dropped down to the ground.

Harry offered a smile before he turned to her. "Not bad, not bad at all."

"But I think that I can get better," Rogue offered when she looked at him and Harry nodded.

"That's always an encouraging attitude to have, you can always get better, trust me," Harry answered when he placed a set of hands around Rogue's waist and he leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers. She returned the favor, her lips melting against his in the passion before she backed off with each other.

The two parted ways, they had a lot to do and Harry was expecting Stark to call back at any moment.

Scott walked down the hallway, for some reason, the need to clear the air was something that reigned in the back of his mind. He took a step forward, looking in the air and saw Jean walking outside in the corridors. He decided now the time was to speak to her.

Jean's mind was going a lot, a few days ago she thought about how long she would take some time away from the Xavier Institute and now she was here. She saw Scott and figured this conversation was coming before too long, she had to get it over.

"Hey, Jean," Scott stated in a nervous voice.

"Hi, Scott," Jean answered when the two old friends and original members of the X-Men stared at each other.

They knew what happened the last time the pair of them said more than two words with each other, the Phoenix incident and Jean's extended leave from the Mansion. Jean remembered the fear that Scott experienced and exhibited in his eyes, shaking her head from one side or the other. She stepped forward and looked at Scott, shifting her expression to him a little bit more.

"So we need to talk," Scott offered when he waved his hands.

"So talk, I'm listening," Jean offered in a cordial voice, perhaps a bit too impersonal for Scott's taste, not that she really cared at this point.

"If this is about…."

"No, Scott, it's not about you, it's about me," Jean stated when she looked at him and Scott decided to reach forward and grab her but she brushed his hand away and he flinched by this spurning of his contact. "Last time we talked, I saw it, on your face, the fear you had about the Phoenix."

"I won't let the Phoenix hurt you Jean," Scott stated when he looked at Jean.

'Ah, that's cute, he's trying to be assertive, and grow a set,' the Phoenix cooed mockingly in Jean's head.

'Phoenix, I can handle this, alright,' Jean thought back to her desperately.

'You do realize that you're pleading with yourself to stay out of your own conversation, don't you?' The Phoenix thought back to Jean.

Jean realized that she was fighting a losing battle and stopped fighting with the voice inside her head.

"The Phoenix is me Scott, it's a part of me, and a part that I need to learn to accept, if I don't want the power to destroy me," Jean stated when she looked back at him, before she turned around. "You fear what I can do."

"Jean, we can help you…."

"Help me what Scott, control it?" Jean asked when she looked at Scott. "The last time someone controlled the Phoenix, it nearly ripped me apart. I'm not going through that again. I've learned to compromise with it and come to terms with it."

"What if you can't come to terms with it?" Scott responded when he looked at with Jean.

"Then I'll find someone who will help me come to terms with it," Jean answered back briskly when she looked at Scott.

"Jean I'll…."

"Scott, you need to come to terms with who you are and don't worry about what I do with my life," Jean answered when she turned around. "We've been friends, good friends even but if you've hung your heart on something more, than I'm sorry. You can't accept me, all of me, and that's fine. There are some things about you that I don't accept."

Scott stopped, knowing now was the wrong time to say anything.

"You won't have to worry about Harry taking your leadership for much longer, I don't think, but even if he doesn't take it, someone else could step up and do so themselves," Jean stated when she spun around and walked off. "We're teammates and nothing more."

Scott waited, he did not miss the point that Harry could be leaving and in another time he'd be very happy about that. Yet he wondered how badly it would fracture the team. The huge fact that bothered Scott the most was that Harry was not trying to undermine him. He just had the better answers and ones that even he had to admit make sense.

If Harry stayed, he would naturally usurp the team leadership whether the mage intended to or not If he left, then Scott would always hear the whispers that he was only the leader because the person who was best equipped to do the job stepped away to do his own thing.

This was what one would call a no win situation.

A pair of eyes watched from the doorway, conflicted, and wondering how this would affect her future, if at all. Yet if Jean was happy, that's all that mattered to her.

Kitty and Harry took a moment to watch the stars outside over the city, stealing a few moments together with themselves. After all of the hectic things that happened between the two of them and all of the hectic things were about to happen, they felt they should allow a little downtime.

"I'm leaving with Stark in the morning, we're heading to China to try and get the gem," Harry informed Kitty and she looked at him.

"And you're doing this alone, why?" Kitty asked when she looked at Harry with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not alone, I've got Iron Man, Hawkeye, remember him?" Harry asked her and Kitty smiled.

"Yeah, his war on the school toilets were among the hardest fought in the school," Kitty answered with a bright smile on her face.

"And there's the Black Widow," Harry answered and Kitty gave him a smile.

"She's on your to-do list anyway, isn't she?" Kitty asked with a smug satisfaction on her face. Sure there were other girls but she was Harry's first.

"One could say that," Harry offered when the two of them watched from above, smiling with wide eyes. The two of them stood on the top of the balcony, waiting for everything to happen.

"And Jean, she's on there?" Kitty asked when Harry turned to her, an eyebrow raised. "Oh come on, it's not like I haven't noticed the chemistry between the two of you, everyone has."

"Scott especially I'm sure," Harry responded when he looked out into the distance.

"I know you don't want to take the leadership role but real leaders aren't granted that role or even say that they're the leader, they just lead and that's kind of what you do," Kitty answered with Harry wrapping his arms around her. "Do you think Jean's back for the long haul?"

"For the moment at least," Harry answered, before he grabbed Kitty pulling her back a little bit. "The night's still young."

"And so are we," Kitty remarked when she put a hand on her hips and arched her head back a little bit, offering a flirty smile when the two of them walked back and Harry scooped her up in his arms, before he flew. "Where are we going?"

"Anywhere we want to, I can fly you know," Harry responded when he continued to fly through the air, with Kitty gently cradled in his arms when he continued to pick up flight.

The two of them made their way to a hotel room halfway across the world in Italy and hopefully away from any crime or distractions that would ruin their night.

No sooner did the two of them set down on the ground in the room, Kitty grabbed Harry and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a deep and hungry kiss. Harry returned the kiss, running his fingers through her brunette hair, and his fingers slowly down her back, causing pleasures when his fingers danced across his body.

Smut/Lemon Begins. 

Harry gently tipped Kitty back on the bed with a kiss, pulling her shirt over her head to reveal her breasts encased in a black bra. The dark haired wizard planted a brief kiss between her cleavage, kissing her and causing her to shiver, before he worked her shorts down, to reveal a pair of black panties that wrapped around the lower half of her body quite nicely.

Kitty reached down and removed Harry's shirt over his head, before she felt his muscles underneath her hands, rubbing and pushing them, rubbing her hands over the developed flesh. She went down, and pulled down Harry's pants, to reveal his boxers and a tent that was sprung out.

Harry breathed heavily when he felt her fingers tease him and his did likewise, running over her body and simulating it with little bits of magic. The little moans of content was music to the ears of the young mage, when Kitty cupped him down low.

"Feels good," Harry managed when she played with him down below, feeling him grow in her hands and he tilted her head up, to look into her vibrant blue eyes.

Kitty pulled his boxers down over his legs to reveal his erect cock, and she stroked him, before she licked her tongue down him.

"Best cock in the world still," Kitty commented when she wrapped her tongue around him and licked him up and down a little bit.

Her warm tongue ran up and down Harry's shaft and moved around to lick his balls before she popped his length into his mouth, pressing it into her mouth, and tilting it back, where it hit the back of her throat.

"Getting good," Harry breathed when he stroked Kitty's hair and pushed his cock back into her mouth, shoving it into her tight hole. Kitty took him and hummed. "Not that….ah you weren't good before but practice makes perfect."

Kitty would have to agree, feeling her lover's cock press against the back of her throat, pressing against her, and feeling his warm tender flesh hit the back of her. He reached around and unsnapped her bra to play with her lovely breasts and her tight little body. His gentle but somehow strong caresses caused Kitty to get wet and caused her to reach, to play with herself but Harry gently grabbed her hand.

"No, that pleasure is mine," Harry managed to her, and the two were on the bed, with the wizard pealing Kitty's panties down and putting his head between her legs to munch on her tender peach from underneath.

'You can really work it with your tongue, oh feels good, I'm in heaven,' Kitty mentally stated as she breathed heavily when Harry worked his tongue into her folds.

'You are heaven,' Harry thought to her when he continued to lick her, and the two sucked and licked each other, feeling pure sexual fire burning through their body.

The brunette rubbed her pussy up against Harry's face, causing her to be teased and the dark haired wizard continued to bury his tongue into her. The two of them worked over each other, their panting getting deeper until the two of them climaxed, releasing a heavy string of juices into each other's mouths.

The two of them only needed a second to catch each other's breath, before Kitty laid back and raised one finger, lightly brushing them against her face, before she scraped his cum off. Slowly, she popped a finger into her mouth and closed her eyes before she licked the creamy essence of her lover off of it.

"Minx," Harry whispered grabbing Kitty's hips, before he brushed against her opening with his cock head.

"Do it," Kitty managed when she lifted her hips, grinding against Harry's head sexily.

"You want it?" Harry asked and Kitty bit her lips, nodding, before he aimed his cock at her and pushed it inside her.

Kitty felt her pussy clench together when Harry entered her and it felt good to feel his cock stretch her out, pushing into her with slow and gentle thrusts, before at his urging, he sped up.

Harry grunted when thrust into her. "Jesus, Kitty, your pussy feels like heaven."

"Your cock feels better than heaven," Kitty managed when she arched her hips up to feel Harry thrust into her womanhood.

The two of them matched their strokes, with Kitty trying to keep up the pace. She could tell that ever since the incident at Oscorp, Harry was gaining more stamina, which gave her an incentive to pick up the pace. That gave her a little cardio workout and it was the fun kind.

Harry knew that he would have to dial it back a little bit for Kitty until she worked up enough momentum but that was more than fine. He thrust into her deep depths, pushing against her, and running his hands all over her body. She gave an impassioned squeal when he played with her nipples.

"Feels good," Kitty moaned when she arched back and felt her pussy clench around Harry.

"So tight, so lovely," Harry managed when he continued to pump into the delight below him as he writhed on the bed.

"So yours," Kitty offered when she locked legs around him and pressed her hands onto his back to encourage him to bury himself deeper into her. The brunette's eyes bugged up when her hips lifted up to meet his incoming thrusts and Harry picked up the pace, working into her, grinding his cock into her.

"Yeah, so mine," Harry answered when he felt her body up and she felt his up when the two continued their dance of passion.

"Oh, I live for this," Kitty breathed when she arched her back and he pushed into her.

She clenched around him a few more times but Harry kept up the pace. She worried about burning herself out before the ending came but true to form she held on. Kitty Pryde was stubborn and would not be defeated, despite the fact that Harry's stamina increased.

"Do you….yes…don't stop," Kitty breathed when she squeezed his bicep to ask him to going.

Harry continued to go, pushing into her, and each movement going faster and faster into her, Kitty clenched him the best she could, rubbing against him, and sure enough after a time passed, Harry splashed his thick seed into her waiting walls ,filling her up with his creamy essence.

Kitty fell back, content after that round even though there would be another.

Smut/Lemon Ends.

Kitty's eyes flickered shut, she was out of it but Harry checked to see if she was still breathing.

"Good night Kitty, I love you," Harry stated when he offered her a light peck on the lips.

"Love you too," Kitty murmured, when Harry wrapped his arms around her and they drifted back to sleep in a few hours until they had to fly home and Harry needed to leave on his mission.