Kitty was bored. Wasn't it strange how people got excited about a mission, but the work afterwards was always left to some unfortunate soul? She sighed to herself as she she continued to scan through pages of personnel files, hoping something would catch her eye. As soon as they had returned from their successful mission, with nary a word of congratulations from anyone else, she had set to work. To say that she was disappointed would be an understatement. Didn't bad guys have any common sense anymore? No file encryption, nothing, really, to stop someone from just perusing these files at will! While it was true that this certainly made her life easier and made the job go faster, she had been looking forward to testing her skills. Now she was stuck with just the monotonous work of checking to see whether any of the personnel at this place were noteworthy member of Friends of Humanity or some other such group.

Scott was watching the news in his office to see if word of their adventures was going to make the news. Unlikely, because a private organization Doing Naughty Things wasn't likely to want to advertise to anyone, particularly their competitors, that their security had been compromised. It still behooved them to not underestimate the people they had just stolen from and caused major property damage to.

Were these even bad guys? She thought, disgusted. There wasn't even a whisper of illicit activity. Some nerdy science types, a few ex-military, some paper pushers. Where was their Darth Vader leader? Was Ororo's informant wrong about the important information here?

She gave up on the personnel files- for now, she'd get back to them later. Instead she moved to the activities files. Detailed minutes of meetings. An annual Christmas party. Could they be any more boring? Kitty felt on the verge of falling into a coma. This Sword and Shield corporation seemed to be a legal, if not ethical, company. Compiling a database of mutants and then selling that information, however distasteful to her, was not exactly illegal. It seemed like they did little else. It was time for a break. And by that she meant it was time to do more Logan research. She looked around her. The door was shut. The room was uncomfortably warm with the heat of the electronics. There was no Scott peering at her from the doorway every half hour for information- it'd be a few more days before he'd reach that level of impatience.

She found his records disturbing but also fascinating. Sometimes Kitty would watch Logan stalk the grounds and marvel at the fact that she knew pieces of his history that he did not- but he would soon. She wished she would have better information, but that seemed more and more unlikely with every file she opened. Apparently Logan had become a participant semi-willingly after the death of his wife (or lover, the files didn't really say and Kitty couldn't make it out). While their had been pressure from the Weapon X organizers, they had preyed on his grief. He had two children of which he gave up custody under the advice of a Dr. Cornelius who had bluntly told him that a half-wild man like Logan would do harm to their psyches. An older girl and a younger boy, both clearly mutants, who were placed in the care of the Lanista orphanage group to find a better home.

Kitty leaned back in her charge, suddenly aware that it was late evening. The quiet murmur and shuffle of students getting ready for bed could be heard softly through the walls. She sighed to herself. Many of the students would be going home for the Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow. It was always an uncomfortable feeling to go on missions while there were students in the mansion- sooner or later the reality of the world they faced would come knocking on their doorstep, and every mission made it that much more likely. Thankfully they all returned home after this last mission, but someday, inevitably, that would not be the case.

Kitty powered down the system. Tomorrow she'd throw herself more fully into the Sword and Shield research. She tried to shake the feeling that digging into Logan's past was not going to be good for any of them. It seemed impossible that this new-found information she had gathered after going through only a small percentage of the files from Weapon X would make Logan happy. It seemed much more likely that it'd send him into further isolation. Make him hunt with a deeper desperation for the complete story of his past, the one only touched on by the files. Yet knowing what she did, could she pretend that she hadn't read the files? That she didn't know some of the information he was looking for? Could she hide it from him, knowing how fervently he had been searching, even if the answers were terrible?

Her thoughts continued to haunt her, even as she tried to will herself to sleep later that night, pillow wedged firmly over her head as though it would muffle the sound of her own thoughts bouncing around the inside of her skull.


"Our meeting with the Dark Lord has been approved. We must head towards the apparition point now." The voice of one Severus Snape was clearly recognizable, even through the slightly distorting quality of the silver engraved mask. He removed the mask and tucked into into the pocket of his plain black robes before exiting his chambers, the younger man's long stride keeping perfect pace. He was wearing his own set of black robes, though he did not have a mask. He quickly tied back his hair once they exited the school building as the brisk wind seemed intent on making sure it ended up in his eyes. The younger man stood tall, a little over six feet and well muscled. While he projected calm, Severus could see the anxiety creating a pinched expression around his eyes. Too small a detail for anyone who did not know the man to pick up, but as his former head of house, a small detail which could not be hid.

Nor could Severus fully quell his own anxiety. There was a chance- a bigger one than they had presented to Albus- that there would be no second spy. That only one, or even no spy, might return by morning. While theoretically the premise of their proposal was sound, one could never fully account for the moods of the Dark Lord, nor of those who whispered their sweet poisons in his ear.

"I chose this." Was all the second man said. Simply. Whatever the outcome, he was not going in blind. He knew the risks.

"Let us be on our way then." Severus said once they had finally reached the apparition point. He grabbed hold of the other man's arm tightly and with a sharp crack they were gone.

They apparited to one of the Malfoy Manor's. Not the family home, but a site further concealed and less known. It also was in the "middle of bloody nowhere and we have to hike through sodden fields." Snape growled. "Since the Dark Lord has been here more often as of late, the apparition boundaries have been pushed back past the fields." It took them a good 15 minutes of slogging, but they did eventually make it to the Manor and were let into the front parlor, suspicious, unseen eyes observing their every move. With a few quick wand movements the younger man had them both returned to their original, cleaner state, as well as the mud they had tracked in entirely cleaned from the floor. He said nothing, just looked blankly ahead as Lucius Malfoy sneered at him, appraising him and cocking an eyebrow in Severus' direction, a clear really? Him? Before he dutifully brought them into the ballroom-cum-throne room. Lucius stepped to the side to allow them to make their own introductions.

The Dark Lord lounged on what could only be considered a throne, not sparing a glance for either man as they bowed at his feet. Instead he watched with affected boredom at the torture of a young woman, maybe eighteen years of age who had been stripped to the waist as Bellatrix straddled her hips and lightly drew seemingly random patterns on her bare torso with her wand. The burns that bubbled up in the wake of her wand and the terrified shrieks the only sign that the torture was already underway rather than just beginning. With a adoring look to the Dark Lord she raised her wand and with a slicing hex she slowly dragged her wand over the young woman's voluptuous breasts, the skin parting revealing the shock of white fat before the blood burst forth. The agonizing screams made Severus' own throat feel hoarse. The girl's screams continued. On and on and on. Eventually the Dark Lord seemed to grow weary and waved his hard towards the door. At his instructions Bellatrix dragged her now limp, but still conscious, victim to the great doors by her hair, the rustling of cloth fading in their wake, though the streaking trail of blood left by the woman stood in stark contrast to the while tiles.

Still, the two men knelt at his feet. After almost an hour of being ignored they were finally addressed.

"You said you had a special present for me, Severus, hmm? What makes you think he is so special? Looks like a Mudblood to me." The reptilian face finally took them in, his red eyes appraising. The younger man kept his face turned towards the floor, a picture of submission while Severus made his case.

"My Lord," he began, finally looking up. "We have been seeking contacts with outsiders to bring them into the fold. We have been focusing on magical creatures like the werewolves, but I think we might consider moving our work to others who have a reason to want to end the infiltration of the muggles into our world." The Dark Lord looked vaguely interested and gestured for Severus to continue, as he himself settled further into his throne.

"The muggles are actually formed of two groups, one that we traditionally think of as muggles, and mutants." The throne room was quiet enough that they could hear a scoff from the back of a sea of black-robed, silver-masked Death Eaters. "It is true, My Lord. Their battles are all over the muggle news. The muggles want to take away their powers. I think we can harness these powers in our upcoming battle. Particularly when we have such individuals as these," he remarked with a gesture to the other man, "who are both magical and mutant." At this the Dark Lord leaned forward, seemingly much more interested in the young man in front of him. "Mutants have powers- different from magic, to be sure, but more specialized. They could be of great use to us in the coming times. Then afterwards..." He then gave a half-hearted shrug.

"And this one here is a mutant?" He inquired

" A Hybrid, My Lord. A mutant and magical."

"Let me see him." He commanded. "Stand." The young man stood, but kept his eyes on the ground. "They don't seem that different from their muggle brethren, do they?" Severus could hear the boredom creeping into his Master's voice. The situation was going to spiral from control.

"Sometimes the might appear the same, but they are not. You should see what he can do." He said lazily, his tone betraying none of the pleading that he felt. To all observers it was as though he had brought a prize dog for show, but would cull it immediately if it displeased his Lord.

"Go on."

Severus gestured at the other man. At this the young man looked into the red eyes of the Dark Lord, with red and black eyes of his own. A breakout of murmuring began in the gathered Death Eaters and the Dark Lord, appearing fully intrigued, leaned forward to give a fuller inspection. Perhaps he had been too hasty in his dismissal.

From his pocket the young man drew forth a knut. It began to glow pink. More intense the light became, until he nodded to Severus who immediately erected a shield around the members present in the room. Into the middle of the floor he tossed the knut and the ensuing explosion threw chunks of tile against the shield, but even the reverberations could be felt by all present. When the dust cleared there was nothing left of the knut but a decently sized crater in the floor.

"Impressive." There was no doubt from the look on the Dark Lord's face that he was indeed impressed by the display. "Magical, too, you say?" For the first time he addressed the mutant.

"Yes My Lord. If I may?" He nodded his approval and watched the man use his wand to repair the crater, even transfiguring exact replicas of the floor tiles. When he was done it was impossible to tell the site of the damage.

"Your accent?"

"America. I have lived there and here off and on for a number of years."

Turning to Severus he asked, "Do you propose we use him as a weapon then?"

Severus hesitated, whether real of affected the other man couldn't tell. "I think he would be a good source to bring mutant kind to our side. I also believe, if My Lord agrees, that he might make a fine Death Eater. He was sorted into Slytherin and has a history of fighting against muggle kind." They waited in silence. To Severus is felt like acid was climbing up his throat while the Dark Lord mulled over his request. Too much enthusiasm and he'd be turned down just to keep him in his place. Too little and he'd be punished for daring to bring such a trivial matter to his Lord.

"I will see his mind before I make such a decision." He finally declared. He beckoned the other man closer. Without raising his voice he cast Legilimens. To the observer there was nothing to see, simply two men having a staring contest. But to the young man it was like having every embarrassment, petty anger, school-boy hurt dragged into the light and relived. They had practiced this, however, he and Severus. He would need to give little bits of his soul to the Dark Lord, while his shields, unobtrusive and entirely mutant as they were, hid in the depths of his mind with all of his important secrets. Eventually the Dark Lord broke from the spell. With what might, if one were feeling generous, be called a smile, he said "Welcome to our brotherhood, Remy."


Chapter 3 is already half way done. The real crossover will occur there. I hope you've enjoyed the build up thus far.