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PART 11
"The Invitation"
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Days went by and Betsy slowly regained much of her strength, with her self-appointed guardian angel hovering over her at all times. He made sure that she got plenty of food and fluids to help the natural healing process along. She had to admit, having someone fussing over her all the time was rather pleasant, especially someone as handsome as Warren. She had thanked him several times for his kindness, but he shrugged it off, saying that it was really nothing. Soon, Betsy was out of bed and moving about the apartment. One of the first things she did was re-dye her hair purple again, the first dye job had started to fade and she didn't really like Kwannon's hair color. From the balcony connected to the room she had been sleeping in she had a beautiful view of the lights in the evening and watched the bustling crowd in the daytime. It kept her from going mad with boredom when Warren wasn't hovering over her.

One particular day, Betsy was sitting on her bed watching television when she heard Warren working in the kitchen. She got up and wandered to where he was, coming up behind him when he wasn't looking and lightly poking his side.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, jumping a couple of inches, "there was no reason for that." He smiled at her.

"Sorry, didn't mean to ruffle your feathers," she giggled at her pun.

"I guess now that you're better you're going to want to go back to searching for the X-Men," Angel said, a hint of disappointment in his voice, which did not go unnoticed by Betsy. She bit her lip, thinking for a few moments. She had grown rather attached to Warren over the past couple weeks and really didn't want to leave him. However, she had also discovered that her friends, or at least some of them, were probably still alive. Could she really abandon them like this? Looking at Warren's deep blue eyes, she knew which she would decide and could only hope that she could forgive herself for giving up her pursuit of the X-Men.

"I want to stay with you," she murmured softly, a smile crossing her lips. She brushed a strand of her hair away from her pale face. As the words came out of her mouth, she paused, thinking about something she had completely forgotten. "But I need to go get some stuff from my hotel room... and... oh no... I can't imagine what the bill must be up to now!"

"Relax," Warren said with a soft laugh, "I already checked out on your behalf and paid. I had one of my maids go and pick up your stuff. He said you had quite an interesting assortment of blades."

She blushed, "Yes, well, I am an assassin after all, I need my weapons."

"Your beauty alone could stop a man's heart." He said. Betsy felt the blood rush to her cheeks and her ears. She glanced at the floor in embarrassment, shuffling her feet against the Italian marble. She felt his strong hand come up under her chin and draw her face up to look at his. They drew closer, Betsy could now smell his cologne. She trembled slightly, nervous, although happy that he had made the first move, it had been something she had been considering for a few days, but was too afraid to say anything. Her thoughts were interrupted as their lips met. He had a wonderfully soft mouth and she thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of it against hers. She could feel her heart beating faster and faster. As he pulled away from her, it felt as though a part of her soul had left her and entered him.

"Th-that was nice," she stammered, her eyes fixed on her bare feet. She nervously twitched her fingers, backing away just a little bit, trying to catch her breath. She managed a quick glance up at his chiseled, handsome features before having to turn away in embarrassment.

"Yes, it was," he replied with a smile. The tender moment was interrupted by a knock on the door. A quiet curse came forth from Angel's lips, "I thought I told William not to send anyone up..." he rapidly folded his wings into his sweater. By the look on his face, Betsy could tell it was not a very comfortable action. "Go into your room... I'll call you out if it's safe." He said in a hushed tone. Betsy quickly made her way into her room, quietly shutting the door. She pressed her ear against the door, listening. She heard the door opening.

"What can I help you with?" she heard Warren say.

"I was wondering if you'd thought about our proposition yet, Mister Worthington," a man's voice said. He had an accent, it seemed to be British, but it seemed fake. Betsy cracked the door open slightly to see if she could get a look at him. He was dressed in Victorian-era clothing, which struck Betsy as rather odd. He had a thin mustache across his lips and a sneer covering his face. He was handsome in his own way, although Betsy felt that somehow his looks were as artificial as his accent.

"I'm not sure yet," Warren replied with an annoyed sigh, "and I'm tired of you coming to my door every day to ask me. If you'll excuse me, Mister Wyngarde, I have company."

"We know," the man replied, "the purple-haired girl. Very pretty, she would make a fine addition to the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle. You know, many of society's elite have been among our ranks. Howard Stark, John Braddock, Sebastian Shaw... your father was even a member, although he left our club because it interfered with his busy schedule." Wyngarde smiled, "Why don't you and your lady friend come tonight, we will be crowning our new White Queen, young Emma Frost" Betsy found it interesting that her relative John had anything to do with this organization, whatever it was. To her, it sounded like some sort of secret society.

"All right," Warren said, "Miss Braddock and I will be in attendance tonight."

"Very good, then!" Wyngarde said with a grin, pulling two small squares of white paper out of his pocket, from where Betsy stood she could see the faint gleam of gold lettering, "just present these to the guards at the door. The ceremony will begin promptly at ten o'clock, please be sure to dress in appropriate attire. Before the end of the night, we hope you and your friend decide to join our elite ranks. People of our kind are especially welcome in the Inner Circle, if you catch my meaning." He winked, patting Angel's concealed wings. He gave a quick bow and left. Warren came back to the door and opened it, looking at Betsy.


"We're going to a party tonight," he said, "you can go through the closet to find something to wear." He added with a warm smile and a kiss on the cheek. She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off as he left the room, "I'll explain on the way." The only thing Betsy could think was that this was going to be a very interesting night.

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TO BE CONTINUED
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