Chapter Two

Lensherr was in front of me far more quickly than I had thought him, or anyone, capable. "That monster is your father?" he growled, gripping my arms so tightly I was bound to have bruises the next morning. Or, I would have, had I been a normal person.

Instead, I easily broke his grasp, calling on my powers to do so. "I didn't chose him, so it's not like you could blame me for it," I shot back.

Xavier intervened before things could get more heated. "Why don't we all take a seat? Miss Serena, you can tell us your story. And I wouldn't say no to more of that excellent wine."

"Help yourself," I told him, settling into the chair at my vanity. It was the only one in my dressing room, so I watched, feeling rather vindicated, as they searched for some place to sit. In the end, Xavier perched awkwardly on the vanity next to me, while Lensherr simply leaned against the door and glowered at me, successfully blocking the only exit from the room.

"My nonno, my grandfather, was a rather prominent businessman in Sicily, which meant he had many political ties, leading to many meetings with important people," I began, after a long drink of wine for fortification. "My grandmother passed away giving birth to my mother, causing my grandfather to be very protective and sheltering. But she was also the woman of the house, so at the young age of thirteen, she began to be the hostess for all of my grandfather's meetings at the house. And she was often asked to sing at these meetings, to show off her extraordinary gift. After all, she was the first female born in the family for generations. In late 1937, he had meetings with prominent German leaders. It was at one such meeting that my mother caught the attentions of a certain Herr Doktor."

"So your grandfather was a Nazi sympathizer," Lensherr spat at me.

I retorted instantly. "He was nothing of the sort. He used his political connections to slowly get the family out of Italy. He saw that war was coming, he'd lived through the first war, and he wanted nothing to do with it. But he also wanted to be able to continue to take care of his family once he left."

I glared at Lensherr, silently daring him to once again malign my nonno. He didn't, however, simply snorted and shook his head. "Please do continue, Fraulein Serena," he said, mockingly inclining his head in my direction.

Ignoring him, I started to simply tell Xavier my story. "By early '37, Schmidt was a regular visitor in my grandfather's house. My grandfather never liked him, but had to continue to pander to him in order to keep protecting his family. During this time, Schmidt paid an unhealthy amount of attention to my mother, especially for such a young girl. But he was fascinated with her gift, and he flattered her endlessly. As a sheltered teenager, she thrived on the attention. But by this time, my grandfather had started hearing rumors of Schmidt's experiments on people with gifts, so he knew he had to get my mother away from him. He planned to leave Italy, with what little family still lived there, but my mother managed to sneak out to see Schmidt one last time. You see, he had manipulated her into thinking that he loved her, and she had foolishly fallen in love herself. And I happen to be the product of that last night together."

Xavier seemed appropriately horrified, and even Lensherr, from the corner of my eye, looked a bit chagrined. I knocked back the last of my wine before speaking again. "Schmidt purposefully impregnated my mother so that he could see what would come from two… you call us mutants? Mutant parents. What he failed to tell my mother was that his own mother had died giving birth to him, as he had absorbed all her energy and strength, even from the womb. And I did the same to my mother. She died at six months along, and I weighed a healthy nine and a half pounds."

A shocked silence followed my words. I poured myself another glass of wine, glad I'd ordered the red for the night. After all, champagne didn't have quite the same numbing effect as red wine did, and after what I'd just shared, I needed the numbing.

"I grew up here," I continued tonelessly, at this point just wanting to get it all over with. "Nonno didn't want to make the same mistake with me that he had with my mother, so I wasn't sheltered like she was. At least not in the same way. I knew all about the family business, everything that was involved in that. But my grandfather refused to tell me anything about my father, other than his name. So, as a rebellious teenager, I left. I'd heard my grandfather talking with some of my uncles about the Hellfire Club in Las Vegas and that that was where my father was now. Once there, it wasn't hard to find him. I simply had to ask around for a few hours, and then one of his minions, Azazel, collected me."

More wine was needed, I could tell, to finish this. Apparently, Xavier agreed with me, as he simply poured more into my glass. I nodded in thanks. "For the first six months or so, it was fine. Schmidt doted on me, spoiling me like he claimed he wasn't allowed to do as I grew up. I was on the periphery of their… business ventures, so it didn't seem terribly different from what I had always known. Until I walked in one day when he wasn't expecting me. I was supposed to be shopping for a new dress for the New Year's Eve gala he was throwing, but I'd found the dress I wanted far sooner than he had anticipated, so he hadn't quite… concluded his business when I got back. I found him using Janos and Azazel to torture a member of the President's Secret Service to get insider information about the goings on of the White House, just in case he ever needed it. Of course, Schmidt convinced me that everything was fine, that he wasn't really hurt, or at least he tried to. I'd seen that man, with blood running from his forehead into his eyes. I knew what I'd seen. But I convinced myself that it was just a one time thing. And Schmidt was incredibly careful after that to keep it all away from me. But not even he could control everything. I saw more and more, heard beatings, tortures, really, and the pieces fell into a picture I could no longer ignore. However, I was still young and stupid, so I confronted him."

"And you managed to get out alive?" Xavier asked, clearly impressed. "Not many could claim that, I imagine."

"Yes, once I realized that my father was even worse than my grandfather had always told me he was, Schmidt tried to keep me there. He tried using first Azazel, then Riptide to prevent me from leaving, and then he sicced Emma Frost on me once I used the men's energy against them. My loving father allowed that… witch to rape my mind, trying to change my memories so that I would stay there. Her assault was overwhelming at first, drawing on my very worst memories to try to bring me to submission."

"But she didn't succeed." Lensherr's tone told me that he was already guessing what happened next.

"No, she did not." I grinned viciously in remembrance. "As she replayed the memory of my nonno's heart attack over and over, she almost beat me, but somehow, the tiny bit of memory of Nonno telling me he was proud of me brought me back to myself. And then I did the same thing to her that I had done to her comrades. I used her power against her, and put her in a coma for two weeks."

Lensherr looked at me with a newfound respect, though it battled with a shrewd contemplation. Xavier simply refilled my glass, fear-tinged awe filling his eyes.

"What did Schmidt do after?" Lensherr asked.

"He tried to keep me there himself," I answered, after a long drink of wine. "But our powers sort of… cancel each other out, and since my nonno has made sure I know how to protect myself, I left. I was back here in Atlantic City before night fell, and I've never seen the man since."

The three of us were silent for a while, as the men attempted to digest everything I'd just told them, and I drained my glass, hoping it would help me forget everything I'd just told them. Finally, it was Xavier who broke the silence. "Would you come with us, Bianca? We- I would understand if you feel you can't, but we could desperately use your help."

I couldn't help the smirk that crossed my face. "Do you really think I would have told you all that if I was planning on telling you no?" I shook my head in slight amusement. "Do you gentlemen have a place for the night?"

For a telepath, Xavier wasn't terribly good at following changes in conversation. Fortunately for him, his friend was. "We had planned on heading back to Quantico tonight, but our little interview has been a bit longer than we anticipated."

"I'll get you rooms. Or one, if that's what you prefer. We don't ask questions at The Siren."

Xavier's face turned a lovely shade of puce as he spluttered his protest. "Relax, Charles," Lensherr ordered. "She was merely teasing."

"If you were together, you wouldn't have reacted to me the way you did when I came out half dressed," I explained drolly. "But I should probably put something else on. Nonno would probably have another heart attack if he saw me dressed like this in the presence of strange men."

"He's protective of you, then?" Xavier asked curiously.

I smirked. "I am one of three women born into this family in the past century. Of course he's protective. But what he doesn't know won't hurt me."

Slipping behind the dressing screen once more, I quickly put my dress from dinner back on. Fluffing my hair out, I headed to the door. "Let's get you boys some rooms."

…

Getting the men settled took all of five minutes, and that was mostly the walk from the club to the front desk of the hotel. I merely had to request the concierge take care of them and there was instantly two rooms for them. "I'll meet you here at eight in the morning," I informed them, before heading to Nonno's private office.

"I heard you enchanted the entirety of the club tonight," he said, continuing in his ledger for a moment before looking up at me. "Just as you always do. I also heard you had due gentiluomini visit during dinner, and then in your dressing room."

"Yes, Nonno, I did," I said, coming to sit in his desk, just as I always had for as long as I could remember. "But it's not what you were thinking. Unfortunately. The tall one was really rather attractive. Both of them are, actually."

Nonno glowered, but otherwise failed to rise to my baiting. "What did they want? It couldn't have been too bad if you got them rooms for the night."

I shook my head in amazed amusement. "I am eternally awed at how quickly you know everything that happens in this place."

"It's my job, both as the don and your nonno, to do so." he informed me, just as he always had. "Now, quit stalling and tell me what they wanted."

Sighing, I started slowly. "They're with the CIA, not the FBI, and they're trying to stop Schmidt."

"So you're leaving me again." It was said without a trace of malice, but I still felt it like a wrecking ball to the heart.

"I have to, Nonno," I said quietly. "If I don't, they may not be able to stop him. And I can't let him hurt any more innocents."

Nonno was quiet for a long moment, simply gazing into my face. Then, as he cupped my cheek with one large, weathered hand, he told me, "You are the very immagine of your madre cara, but you are the spirito della tua nonna. She was always doing what she thought best, regardless of what I thought. She was fearless. You will need that, mia tesoro."

"I'll come back, Nonno," I said, though I somehow felt a premonition telling me I was wrong. I ignored it and continued. "I belong here, with you and the family."

"And you will always have a place here with us," he assured.

I kissed his forehead and stood up. "Would you apologize to Lotta for me? I'll be missing a few music lessons, at least."

"I'm not sure she will understand, but I will. Now, you should get some rest. Who knows when you will get another chance to do so in peace?"

AN: I know it's been forever. Settling into a normal 9-5 type job is more exhausting than I thought it would be, and I just want to sleep when I get home. But now that I'm getting more settled in, I will try to write more often for you guys.

Here's the translations for you: due gentiluomini= two gentlemen

Nonno says, "You are the very image of your dear mother, but you are the spirit of your grandmother.

mia tesoro= my treasure

Thanks for reading, and especially to those who followed and favorited. A shout out to A.D. Tellen and CrystalVixen93 for your reviews. I always love them!