Peter Ellis looked at the clock at the corner of his office. It was midnight now. After several hours of waiting, researching and writing his reports, he believed that he hit upon what character he was to compete with, the mutant named Logan that Leon had to deal with. After all, if he was to race with this man for Danielle, what better way than to search for weaknesses and go from there?
It was not easy, Peter had to admit, but he found a few things.
Five years ago, Stryker had given Leon a file, which was left in this office for all those years, a copy even digitally put on the office computer at the call center in Tarrytown, Peter soon found out. The hard copy was kept in the desk, which Peter had found recently and read carefully, especially in light of the visit the mutant was paying to Danielle. Compared to what he had achieved in his life, Peter had to count himself lucky that he was not a mutant…and a hunted man for most of his life, to boot.
It had been horrible to admit that the government had been using mutants in their wars. Peter even found it dishonorable that, from the Civil War to Vietnam, this Logan character had been given the chance to fight. Luckily, he escaped with William Stryker after killing his commanding officer during his tenure in Vietnam, but not being causing enough damage. Even the Three Mile Island damage was reported by Stryker, in this file, to be the direct responsibility of this mutant.
Peter closed the file and put it away, feeling a little impressed and small, compared to the crumbs he had to lick up. He had felt he was following in his cousin's shadow many times over, even now, and it should have overwhelmed someone like Danielle, mutant or not. Granted, with his age, he was could almost pass for Danielle's father, like Leon had (there was a twenty-two year difference between Peter and Danielle compared to Leon's twenty-seven), but his experience alone would beat a mutant born in the nineteenth century and with an unknown track record for the most part, except in war.
After all, Peter Ellis (as well as those few in his generation) had been born in a privileged world, but even that gilded cage allowed him to arrive where he was with gladness. The only cousin to Leon and Mae and the last male Ellis of his generation, he grew up with them, since his own parents had died in a tragic car accident when he was six. Since then, from those childish eyes in 1961 and onward, he viewed the world warily, even going as far as following Leon as well (and being threatened by him in the process too). The two had taunted Mae mercilessly when they worked together (her mutation being the top of their list) until his aunt and uncle separated him from Leon, sending Peter to their wizened and wise grandparents in 1968. By then though, Mae was traveling to a friend's house and Leon was going into the Army, so the three were separated for now.
However, Peter was soon excited by the aspect of fighting in Vietnam, urged on by Leon to go. When he turned eighteen in 1973, he immediately signed up, but he was almost too late. While dropped into the jungles for a few months, he was soon pulled out and sent to a desk job, sending others on their way to the humid woods even after the official hostilities were over. By 1975, he was discharged, but not without some recognition for his deeds and a ticket back home to Salem Center.
Afterward, Peter thought this phase up until his 1981 marriage to Mary Belkin aimless, like the military had bought him structure and his discharge shattered it. He didn't know what to do with himself, but had drunk enough to fill an ocean and smoked enough cigarettes to kill his lungs. He could hardly recall what had happened, but that women were his solace and that he had as many as he pleased, with the fortune left to him by the Ellis family elders. By 1981 though, he found himself a soon-to-be father and walking down the aisle of a church with running shoes and a ragged suit on. At the end was the obviously pregnant Mary with her irate father, both of whom stood there, angry and expecting much more.
Peter shuttered to think of his late wife, now buried next to her hated brother and mother. No, she had not been like the others, submissive and accommodating. No, she had to be different, that Mary Belkin. The only surviving child of wealthy parents who disowned her eventually (and long after her marriage to Peter), Mary had been accused of murdering her brother, a mutant too, and a sibling loved by her parents. His death shattered the family and left Mary bruised and quite neglected by her parents, who seemed to expect more out of her, especially in light of the recent rumors that surrounded her in complete secrecy. Although she was acquitted of the charges, Mary was still whispered amongst the town as a murderess.
"Well, I proved them wrong," Mary stated a week before she died by an assassin's hands, staring at a rare picture of her parents on their living room wall (the only thing that resembled normalcy between the two at their New York home). "And nothing can stop me now."
"I don't think any mutant can," Peter muttered from his living room seat, easing himself into a newspaper and ignoring his wife's ranting as a crossword puzzle interested him. "I don't think I can either, for that matter."
Nothing had stopped the pair either from achieving their positions of power. While Mary quickly miscarried three times and had given up on children by the time she decided on a political career (which was stopped time and again because of her gender in a conservative party), Peter was already putting himself to good use. From 1981 onward, he used his GI Bill and went back to school, gaining a law degree and opening his own practice by 1988 with some men he knew from Vietnam with like ideas. However, by this time, they were all seeing Leon rise, elected by the time of Peter's marriage, to public office and more. By the late eighties too, Peter was seeing him sneaking off with Chameleon, which roused his suspicions about where Leon's interests were.
For Leon Ellis though, it was not a time for games, especially with ones so close to achieving a groundbreaking registration act that he too supported. He could not afford to play with the voters and those who had the mutant problem close to their hearts. He had to draw the line and draw it soon.
It was then that Peter was curious, sure that his cousin was getting softer and more secretive with his plans. One night in 1992, when Peter could no longer keep himself from thinking of the many possibilities that it could be (working with mutants being top of his list as taboo), he followed Leon to a bar. This bar ended up being Phineas Teller's (one that was reputed to be serving underage drinkers and mutants and employing girls in their very young adolescence to dance), one that would change his life forever afterward.
In a grandiose style, Peter seated himself under a disguise in a corner and sipped beer given by a pretty young pole dancer (she had to have been thirteen, at the oldest maybe), watching Leon and Chameleon wheel and deal. The two argue all throughout the time, but had kept their fighting in whispers, aiming their glances intermittently at a fellow at the door, presumably a bouncer and one who resembled the mutant Leon was entertaining. They were even served personally by Teller, the owner himself, and often had to conspire with him as well, head down and very interested.
By then, Peter was disgusted. Leon Ellis, conspiring with mutants? It was too much, especially in light of his beliefs and policies. He left immediately, paying the perky pole dancer waitress and promising time for another night. But by the time Peter somehow stumbled into bed around three that morning, listening to Mary's loud snoring, he could not figure out how and why his cousin was playing double with everyone and, for that matter, how he got home safely and without being stopped for driving under the influence.
His answers came soon enough. The next day even, as Peter prepared himself to go to the office (ignoring the headache and the lights coming from a hangover), Leon called him, requesting that he drive to New York City and to meet him on Wall Street, by the crowded stairs.
It was early yet, about six in the morning. Mary had not risen from her slumber and was not going to until at least ten in the morning, when Peter was well into his office hours. When that kitchen phone rang and Leon immediately asked that Peter join him, the latter was full of excuses. He had yet to answer his own questions from the night before and did not seem keen to have more of them when meeting his cousin. After all, he was still reeling from the discovery and did not need to confuse his mind more.
"I have a case to prepare for," Pete explained weakly, rubbing his forehead in frustration, especially when his cousin – a man who never liked him in the first place, despite their blatant similarities in many areas – was now pushing him around like a rag doll. "The client is depending on me, Leon, to get through this case. It's a pretty tough, especially with it so open and shut, but –"
"Listen…and listen carefully, Peter," Leon interrupted rudely, his tone snide and unforgiving. "I need you here and here soon. You do what I say and nothing will happen to you and Mary."
Peter had to snort and snicker out loud. The threats he was used to. The abuse he endured under his cousin was nothing new. And Mary…well, she could hold her own, as Peter had seen. After all, they did not have their happy days as a married couple, but Mary was one that would always get the last word in, even if it was throwing a priceless lamp from Europe across the room to smash in the TV Peter had spend hundreds on. Not to mention, gossip around Salem Center always swirled around Mary and her brother's murder, one that she was questioned on and was never arrested for, so violence was never a problem with his wife.
After all, it was certain that Mary had murdered her brother and let his body in a dumpster. Leon Ellis, trying to kill her? Ha! Peter stifled his laughter at the thought, knowing that his snort and snicker already angered his cousin.
"One hour," Ellis said to Peter, not directly saying anything regarding the response to his threats. "You're not on the road then and at the meeting place, I'll make sure your life is ruined and linked with people you despise. Understand, Peter?"
The only thing in life Peter hated was mutants. It was clear that Leon had meant that, but how was the question…and one he did not want the answer for.
Without even calling the firm to confirm that he was not coming in and working on the case, Peter raced to his car and drove like a madman to New York City. He parked his car some miles away from Wall Street and walked, grabbing a bottle of water from a street vendor on the way. Although it took some time to spot his cousin on those crowded sidewalks, Leon Ellis was there, sitting on a bench and looking unconcerned about what was happening.
When Peter sat down wordlessly next to his cousin, he never dreamed of what Leon might say. After a long history lesson, and one in which Ellis had to repeat once more and again, Peter understood why he was using Chameleon. It was not to work together and keep Chameleon off the radar, as the mutant was thinking perhaps, but to use him as a means of war. And war was always on Leon's mind, trying to up his standing in Washington, and war was going to come sooner or later. All Ellis had was Trask and their weapons and Colonel William Stryker, who was also using military money to work on the mutant problem.
It was the plan for the bomb naturally, but when that was defused by mutant powers in 2002 (by Danielle, of all women!), things had to change. War was coming regardless, with or without the bomb, but Peter could debate that for hours and get nowhere on how to detain it. The best part for him now was that it was achieved and that his and Leon's dreams were becoming a reality.
It's too bad that Leon and Stryker are not here to see it.
The rise of Peter Ellis had been too easy as well. Leon had arranged for him to build up his career, in case he was assassinated by mutants (he had a fear of Chameleon, to be exact, and Peter was sure he was the culprit), and to succeed him in that case. Naturally, this was on his word and passed onto many, including Mary, but those did not see him worthy commented little. After all, it took until 1998 for him to be elected to the House by a slim margin (and that had taken some time). Afterward, it wasn't until 2005 when Leon stepped down from the Senate and Peter filled his shoes. By then, Leon Ellis had stepped into the most important role, one he had been waiting since 2002 to fill: Director of Mutant Affairs.
Leon Ellis had beaten Hank McCoy to the finish line. And since the position had been his from the start (as he played the puppet master to a Democrat, who was weak enough to control for three years), Leon had split up the office and margined off the States into sections to deal with the problems. From there, he appointed Mary to the Midwestern section, Peter to the Eastern section and another follower to the Western section. All reported to him, but all had also the means to master the mutants into submission.
Already, because of Magneto's attack in San Francisco and the injury and death of many mutants and humans on that night at Alcatraz, Leon Ellis had the control to do as he pleased with the time left to him. While many had held the olive branch after that assault, Leon had snatched it away and stomped on it. He turned the military domestic, sighed with relief when the new president agreed to his every word, and concluded his long wished-for treaty with Mexico and Canada.
The borders closed. The leash tightened. The camps were now being built in full view of all.
There were protests of course. Peter had expected it. But tensions grew to a boiling point and one in which had full public support. The majority ruled and the mutants were slowly being sent away and killed. Some were even being lynched in the streets and in their homes. While sympathetic humans were left alone for the time being, Pete estimated that time was short for them too. The Sentinels would take care of them too…
One in the morning.
Peter looked up again at the clock and sighed. He had a report to finalize about this Logan character before he could turn in with his whore, who was surely waiting anxiously for him. From there, he can plan accordingly. After all, this boss from higher up, someone that even Leon had kept a secret from him (and perhaps in his conscious mind too), was waiting for s status update. As Peter soon figured out, he was not one to keep awaiting, even if this one was in the next building over and could perhaps walk over.
The tired Peter had to wonder why Leon had kept this boss undisclosed, washed away as he was over the schemes he planned and the toys from Trask he got to play with. Perhaps Leon had nothing to fear, confident that his dreams had been reached without a higher power disturbing them? Perhaps Leon was given the power to do as he pleased, while Peter, sitting late into the night, was allowed no sleep and little fun?
It was through a quick flip of the calendar that Peter planned his next visit to the farmhouse, something he aimed on doing since Thanksgiving anyway. Michael and Riley Ellis had been scheduled to be deported in February to the main Kansas camp, but an early start was not an issue, even if it was a month earlier. Peter was one hundred percent certain that two powerful child mutants were easy to put away. With the public behind him, Peter stood no chance of resistance from those two sons of Leon's.
All Peter had to contend with was Danielle and Logan. The former was easily disposed of, Peter thought, as he thought back to Stryker's little supply long stashed away within easy reach. The latter, however, had to be dealt with carefully. For, if Peter remembered from the files, Logan was immortal, and was infused with adamantium.
There had to be a weakness somewhere. And that someone was perhaps Danielle.