Go back one chapter... I screwed up! (Edit: 2/1(January)/2013)

AN: First of all I screwed up and I apologise. I posted chapter 17 instead of chapter 16... what's weird is none of you noticed. At least no one who reviewed. Go back to chapter chapter 16 for the missing chapter. The good news is that there is very little follow on from these chapters so you can pretend for now it is chapter 18... bad news is you will kick yourselves later when you realise I type the chapter numbers at the top of the story AND there is a slight reference to it in Tony's POV in this chapter further down this page.

Anyway... normal posting will hopefully resume tomorrow with the real chapter 18.

Chapter 17

Things fell back into a nice regular pattern. Harry tended to join Emma in her ethics classes where he offered his insight into ruling and society as it develops. He also spent a lot of time in Wakanda making magicals and then taking them to keep the villages around the world he helped fix up safe.

For today he was enjoying a day at the zoo with MJ and Jean. Jean was now about five years old and very energetic.

"How did you cope when it was just the two of you back in your dimension?" MJ asked as she watched little Jean babble happily at the spider monkeys.

"We didn't have any plants or animals so I just transfigured and conjured certain animals. I learnt the hard way that baby Jean does not like my dragon form." Harry chuckled in memory.

"Why didn't you just repopulate the Earth with conjured animals?" She asked.

"They wouldn't have been real animals, they couldn't reproduce and they didn't have souls. Not like these animals." He waved a hand to indicate the gorillas they had moved on to.

"Harry! Harry! Come see! Come see!" Little Jean cried happily as she ran up and grabbed his hand dragging him towards the gorilla's. "Look! Like Hank!"

MJ desperately tried not laugh at the thought of Jean running up to Hank and telling him she saw him at the zoo. Whilst it was true that most of the non-human looking mutants had had their physical mutations repressed by Harry, they would still practice changing back and forth, this meant that even the hold outs like Ben and Santo were now allowing Harry to repress their mutations so they could learn how to do it themselves.

Fortunately Hank was one of the kindest souls she knew and she had no worries that once the shock wore off Hank would engage the current five year old in getting all the details of her exciting day from her.

"Harry, why do they keep moving away?" Jean asked in disappointment.

"Maybe they think I smell funny." Harry offered as he sniffed his armpit causing the little girl to giggle. "I'll go stand back, then they might come over again, ok?"

Jean responded by pushing him away and Harry just laughed.

"So what's the real reason for their reactions?" MJ asked.

"I'm Death, the Master of Magic and a dragon. I am a true apex predator and they know it and fear me." Harry shrugged.

"So you coming with us was a bad idea?"

"Nah, just means I can't get too close. I still get to enjoy watching Jean be happy and experience new things. This is very much a highlight of my time in this world." Have sighed happily. "Go on, have fun, I can watch from here." He said as he nudged MJ away towards Jean.

"Hey MJ."

MJ was startled as she heard her husband's voice behind her. "Pete? Why are you here? Where's Harry?"

"Petey!" Jean squealed as she came running up and jumped on him.

"Hey there Jeanie! Harry grabbed me and decided to drop me off here. Said trouble was coming and that I should trust him. I hate when he says things like that."

"Could you climb his neck?" Jean asked as she pointed to the tall giraffes.

"I think the better question is would he let me climb his neck." Peter corrected.

"We could ask him!"

"I don't think he would understand us, Jean." Peter laughed as he turned back to MJ with Jean still in his arms.

"Pete… I-I-I-" Peter watched as a red stain grew on the front of her light yellow summer blouse and she fell to her knees before collapsing to the ground.

"MJ! NO!" Peter quickly put Jean down and began pressing down on the hole in MJ's chest. "Call an ambulance!" He shouted at the people surrounding them. He was enraged when they began pulling out cell phones and started taking pictures instead of calling for help.

"P-P-Pete… trussssst Haaarrrry." MJ slurred.

"MJ, don't go!" Jean cried as she wrapped her arms around Mary Jane's neck.

"J-J-Jean's t-t-tears." MJ mumbled as she started to lose consciousness, but it was all Peter needed to get his intellect running.

"Jean, quickly, rub your tears into Mary Jane's chest." At the moment he was pouring his magic into Mary Jane and hoping it was doing what it was supposed to. Harry said magic was all about intent. His intent was focused on keeping his wife alive.

Jean was always a smart girl and Harry had told Mary Jane and Peter to be completely open and honest with her about what she was. So she understood that her tears were magic tears that could help Mary Jane.

"Please wake up MJ." She whispered as she leaned over the young woman that had raised her for the past few weeks.

Peter and Jean watched as the wound began to heal. "Jean, grab my arm and I'll take us to Harry, he can fix her up nice and right."

"I can't believe those fools were just standing there and taking photos!" Peter ranted as he paced back and forth in front of the infirmary bed where a whole and healthy MJ was relaxing. Jean was also tucked in next to her.

"I can." Harry shrugged. "I did tell them to do it after all."

Peter turned instantly. "You did what?!"

Harry just laughed. "Pete, didn't you wonder why your spider sense never went off? I knew the sniper would be there! The people around you were the other heroes in disguise, right now the scene of you and Jean helping Mary Jane is being uploaded and seen by millions of people. Trish has already called and asked me to come on the show tonight to discuss what happened."

"You knew?" Peter asked Mary Jane, half accusingly.

"She had no idea. I made this decision." Harry said seriously. "The only thing the heroes and students knew was that something was going to happen at the zoo but that they should let it happen."

Harry sighed, he knew Peter would not like this. He devoted his whole life to protecting others and keeping his loved ones out of it.

"Look Pete, you know I would never allow Mary Jane or anyone to be in any sort of permanent danger. The problem was that so long as this threat hung over them, as known family of Spiderman, they were in danger.

"What happened today was a controlled exercise that we can use to put things back the way they are supposed to be.

"I know you are pissed at me, and that's fine. My goal is achieved and you can now relax and be happy by keeping your identity as Spiderman a secret."

The problem was that as much as Peter wanted to be angry with Harry, he couldn't. Not only did Peter owe Harry so much, he knew that Harry would never have allowed Mary Jane to come into any real danger.

He was still pissed, he just didn't know where to direct it.

"Mind if I use the Danger Room?" He sighed.

"I'll do you one better, I'll let you fight me." Harry smirked.

"I wanted to beat something into submission! Not buy a one way ticket to the other side."

"No powers, I promise. Regular human strength too."

"This from the man with the ability to spin a lightsabre." Peter grumbled as he headed for the door, Harry on his tail.

"Hey, that took me millions of years to perfect!"

"Are Peter and Harry really going to fight?" Jean asked Mary Jane worriedly.

"They are going to play fight, Sweetie." She said giving her a squeeze.

"Can we play?"

"Maybe later. Do you want to go and see the triplets?"

"Yay! And Cessily, can we get her to make a slide again?" Having stumbled upon Cessily practising and attempting to change between her metallic and flesh state, Jean had seen the silvery girl and thought she was a fun slide. The rest is history.

Trish Tilby sat in her armchair whilst in several other chairs sat various people. The cameras were rolling and it was time to address the issues.

"Earlier today we reported that Mary Jane Parker, wife of Peter Parker the super hero known as Spiderman, was shot whilst visiting the local zoo. She was saved only by the quick reactions of her husband and the human Phoenix, Jean Grey-Summers.

"Needless to say this has caused the anti-SRA movement to rally and place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the government and the pro movement. With me today in the studio I have Tony Stark, the main proponent and enforcer of the Superhero Registration Act and Harry Potter who has been very outspoken against the act and known for aiding heroes who also oppose the act, also we have J. Jonah Jameson, the owner of the Daily Bugle and long time critic of the superhero Spiderman and Mrs May Parker, Spiderman's aunt.

"Mr. Stark, if we could start with you. Surely after today's events, the whole concept of registering the secret identities of heroes has been revealed as inherently flawed?"

Tony was in full charismatic leader mode today. He was pleasant but suitably saddened by the day's events. He still resented Potter but his time serving for his crimes against Banner and the Hulk had helped him to see other people's points of view and understand how they might perceive his actions. The one thing Reed and he hadn't changed their minds on was the necessity of the Superhuman Registration Act.

"Not at all, Trish." He responded easily. "Today showed us that with super heroes out in the open they are able to operate in plain clothes and not worry about having to hide their abilities."

Harry resisted a snort as Tony deftly sidestepped the actual question.

"How about the fact that it is your insistence that Peter reveal his identity that got Mary Jane targeted and shot?" Harry said dryly.

"I don't believe there is any conclusive proof that this is the case. Mrs Parker is quite famous in her own right after all." Tony countered. "We have no evidence that she was the target, she was shot soon after being seen standing with both yourself and her husband."

"And why would they shoot her because of that then?" Harry pushed. "No one else was shot. A single bullet was fired and hit a single target. There was no collateral damage and no additional shots or attempted targets. This was a message to Peter Parker."

Trish decided to wade back in. "Mr. Stark, are you suggesting that Mrs. Parker, a model and minor actress, was targeted by a very efficient sniper for reasons beyond revenge against her husband: Spiderman?"

"Stalkers have been known to attempt to kill the objects of their obsession if they discover they can no longer have them for themselves."

"And the fact that the 'Stalker' made absolutely no attempt to contact her or remove her friends or family from the picture doesn't suggest to you that you are making this up?" Harry asked in disgust.

"I'm sure it was just an anomaly."

"Mary Jane has never had a threat that was directly about herself, they were always related to my nephew." May spoke up. "I am very disappointed in you Tony, you are being stubborn for stubborn's sake!"

"Mr. Stark, are you suggesting that it is statistically more likely that Mrs. Parker was shot by a random lunatic then by one of Spiderman's many, many enemies or someone working for them?" Trish asked, she couldn't believe Tony actually thought his bullshit would fly.

Harry jumped back in before Tony could respond. "What about the thirteen other attempts made on Mary Jane and May Parker?"

Tony viciously fought the urge to scowl. How the hell had Potter known about them?

Harry just smirked. "You didn't think I wouldn't add protections for my close friends, did you?"

"Thirteen attempts?!" Trish asked in astonishment.

"This is why we should lock up psychos like Spiderman!" Jameson barged into the conversation. "They are nothing but a menace that-"

"What was the first major event that Spiderman was involved in, Mr. Jameson?" May Parker asked with a raised eyebrow. "Wasn't it saving your own son from dying in a space crash when his shuttle failed?"

"He caused that himself!"

"And where is your evidence? What was his motive?"

"Revenge, he had it in for me from the beginning."

"And the evidence?" Trish asked. "There was no investigation and no report. The military and NASA denied that Spiderman was responsible, as did your own son."

"A cover up."

"You are accusing the United States Government of a cover up?" Harry asked with a smirk. "Tony, as a representative of the US Government, do you have a response?"

"I have seen the reports as Stark Tech was involved in the manufacturing, and it was simply an accident. One that resulted in much better techniques."

"I would appreciate it if you did not make such unfounded accusations against my nephew and print a retraction regarding all your other baseless claims." May said imperiously.

"Absolutely not!"

"Then you will be hearing from my lawyers." May smirked. "It seems that there is some benefit to Peter being public with his identity, he now has legal standing to sue you for libel and slander."

"I'll be happy to fund that myself!" Tony smiled genuinely. Despite this whole political mess, Tony had learnt during his time under the Hulk's supervision that it was important to not let political views affect your friendships. Bruce had been quite insistent about that when rifts began to form between himself and Reed and Stephen over their culpability regarding the Hulk and Bruce.

Trish decided to try and get things back on track. "If we could, I would like to redirect the discussion back to the effects of today's events and the SRA, especially something Dr. Potter said about thirteen attempts to kill Spiderman and his family."

"Thirteen attempts in the time since Spiderman revealed himself to the world. And those are only the ones S.H.I.E.L.D knows about since they also posted personnel to prevent an incident." Harry confirmed.

"There were more?" Tony mentally kicked himself, he couldn't believe he had just asked that. The simple fact was that he was astounded by the number S.H.E.I.L.D had stopped, but Spiderman was just that good at what he did that he had so many enemies.

"There were six additional attempts that I personally took care of. They tended to involve large amounts of explosives, including one idiot who decided to use a mini-nuke." Harry said with a disgusted roll of his eyes.

"A NUKE!" Trish almost screamed, live TV be damned, Tony Stark would never live this down.

"What can I say? Spiderman is one of the true guardians of the city. If we were to lose him anarchy would reign." Harry said seriously. "And what's truly amazing is the fact that he has been doing this since he was a teenager with absolutely no help."

"What proof do you have?" Tony managed to ask. He really didn't want to believe a nuclear weapon was involved, it would undermine the entire SRA, S.H.I.E.L.D and his own reputation, not to mention his own belief.

"I have the nuke and other explosives. I also have video of myself and a team taking down the assassins and terrorists, and their subsequent confessions."

Tony was instantly on guard and leant forward. "You have a nuclear weapon in your possession?"

"Sure, what did you think I was going to do with it?" Harry grinned. "I found back in my home reality that nukes are great for dealing with things like asteroids and meteors that are heading for the planet."

"Having a nuke makes you a terrorist." Tony snarled.

"So… does that make the United States a terrorist state?" Harry countered.

"I-"

"Let's leave this subject for now as the device is perfectly safe and presents no danger to the people of Earth."

"But-"

"We are here at the request of Miss Tilby and her employers to discuss the Superhero Registration Act and it's viability in light of today's attack on the relative of a superhero you forced to reveal their identity."

Trish was aware that Harry had hi-jacked control of the show but she was still a little stunned to hear that New York had come close to being the victim of a nuclear attack, and all because of Tony Stark and his control issues.

"We can't ignore the fact that you just admitted you have a nuclear weapon!" Tony insisted.

"Well what exactly do you expect me to do about it?" Harry asked with a hint of snide.

"I demand you turn it over to myself as a representative of the United States."

Harry just stared at him.

Ten seconds later Trish was wondering if she was going to have to prod Harry.

But Harry leaned forward and spoke very carefully. "You want me to turn over a weapon of mass destruction to you? A man who has seriously endangered the lives of a single city already by his carelessness. To a government who clearly has no compunction about experimenting on its citizens or persecuting them?"

Harry sat back and shook his head sadly. "Go back to your bosses Tony. Tell them to sort themselves out and stop this insanity with the SRA or I will begin to actively take over the government."

"Did you just threaten the United States of America?" Tony growled.

"No you egotistical little fool!" Harry snapped. "I threatened you and your government! The people of this country have nothing to fear from me, unless they intend to hurt the innocent.

"Do you know what the real problem is with the SRA? It's the fact that it requires anyone with a power to register. That includes all mutants."

"Which is entirely reasonable." Tony argued. "They have these abilities and they need to be properly trained and monitored."

"Even the children who have no desire to do anything other than watch TV and go shopping with their friends?"

"Yes."

"Tell me, what about Prodigy? You know about him, he's a mutant with the ability to learn what others know, all their skills and he retains them. Should he be registered, he doesn't have an active ability like shooting lasers."

"He has a power so he should be registered." Tony stated.

"He was depowered in M-Day. He still remembers everything he just can't add new skills. Should he still be registered?"

"He has the knowledge so yes, he still benefits from that power."

Harry smiled. "Knowledge. So. By that logic, all college students should be registered. All children with the ability to learn quickly or a reasonably high IQ should be registered."

"That is not true. The Act-"

"Is open to wide interpretation. It makes no specific demands." Harry interrupted.

"Mr. Alleyn, Prodigy, has access to super human abilities, therefore he should be registered."

"What super human abilities?" Trish asked. "I mean, I know Harry has turned them all into magicals, but if he was just a depowered mutant, what then? He's just very smart. I can see where Harry is going with this, if you continue down the route you are taking then anyone who studied Karate or martial arts should be registered, from there you move onto anyone who can run one hundred metres in less than thirteen seconds. Where does it end?"

"With common sense." Tony said with a slight hint of sageness…. And a whole bunch of sarcasm.

"Common sense? Where was that when this all kicked off?" Harry laughed mirthlessly. "That whole massacre in Stamford. A group of superheroes tried to take in wanted criminals. Why were they suddenly penalised for that?"

"They caused the deaths of 600 people! Including 60 school children, that's why!"

"No they didn't." Harry said calmly. "I've seen the footage. I actually have that bastard Nitro in custody."

"Harry, language." Trish whispered.

"Sorry."

"Wait… what do you mean you have him in custody?" Tony demanded.

"Exactly that. I have him in a holding cell."

"You are harbouring a fugitive!"

"I, as a sovereign power, am holding a mass murderer prisoner on my soil. So unless you want to declare war I suggest you watch your next words very carefully." Harry warned.

"The United States of America demands you hand him over!"

"I would be more than happy to negotiate the extradition of the criminal known as Nitro. However, certain conditions must be met."

"Are you blackmailing the USA?"

"Trish, what did I just say?" He asked the presenter tiredly.

"That you wanted to negotiate. That you were willing to hand him over if certain conditions are met. What conditions though?" She asked.

Harry turned and smiled at Tony condescendingly. "You see Tony, that should have been your response. Asking me about my conditions, not accusing me of blackmail.

"In order to answer your intelligent and sensible question Trish." Harry winked at his friend. "I have several conditions that must be met.

"First, the Superhero, Speedball AKA Robert Baldwin of the New Warriors must be given a trial immediately. As in within seven days."

"Mr. Baldwin is being held as an unregistered combatant."

"The United States of America has not declared itself in a state of war and therefore doesn't have the right to hold him as such." Harry retorted. "Before you go on, Tony, I have extensive legal training.

"Second, the Superhuman Registration Act is to be abolished. It violates many of the founding principles of the United States of America and definitely those valued by the rest of the world.

"Third, the United States Government and yourself and all those involved will make a public apology to Lord Thor of Asgard for the theft of his DNA and the gross crimes perpetrated in his name by yourself.

"Fourth, the United States Government will pay compensation to all superhumans who were not convicted or charged with criminal acts beyond violating the SRA."

Harry stood up and began removing his microphone belt pack. "I apologise Trish, I can't stand to be in the same room as this man at the minute. Call me to arrange our next interview."

And with that Harry left a speechless Trish Tilby and Tony Stark.

It was a good thirty seconds before Trish and the crew managed to scrape their jaws off the floor and end the segment.

"So Emma, care to perform a little mischief?" Harry asked as Logan followed him into her office.

Emma sighed and put down the papers she was grading. "Aren't you a little old for mischief, Harry?"

"That's like saying I'm too old to date Laura and the Trips. I'm fifteen million years old, technically I'm too old to date anyone!" Harry grinned as he flopped into a chair. "So, you in?"

"Define 'mischief'."

"Eradicating the threat of nuclear war."

Emma just looked at Logan.

"He told me mischief." Logon said holding up his hands. "No way I was gonna turn down an offer of that from him."

"And the panic it will cause when nations discover their nuclear arsenals are gone?"

Harry leaned forward excitedly. "That's the beauty of it! No one will know unless they fire the missiles! Only the three of us will know… well, possibly Jean and the girls but it will just be a rumour or legend."

Emma eyed him carefully. "You did this before, back in your world, didn't you."

Harry just grinned.

Millions of years ago, Harry's home universe…

It was nearly one hundred years to the day since the anniversary of the start of World War II. August 31st 2039. Since the end of the Second World War there had been numerous smaller wars and even large conflicts. But none that would have seen the entire world thrown in to chaos and turmoil.

North Korea had decided to take South Korea by force. They had stormed across the border killing indiscriminately. This had sparked a domino effect as Russia moved west and China bulldozed through Japan.

And then the west panicked.

The American President was caught by a sleeper agent and killed on live TV. The Vice-President was a weak willed man who considered himself a patriot but was actually a racist bigot. He pushed the button unleashing America's first wave of nuclear missiles.

Where were the missiles heading?

Anywhere that wasn't the American continent.

"I assume you have this situation well in hand, Harry?" Daphne asked calmly as her six-month pregnant sister wife, Hermione sat beside her chewing her nails as the dour newsreader announced that they had mere hours to live and that they shouldn't panic.

"Of course! Sad thing is that today means I am about to be very busy for the rest of our lives."

"And the outbreak of nuclear was of course, the cue to lay back and relax." Daphne said sarcastically.

A twenty-year-old girl with ebony hair and gray eyes teleporting in suddenly interrupted them.

"Dad?" She asked with narrowed eyes, it was the kind of look that said 'am I going to have to speak to your teacher?'

"Yes my beautiful Luna. I have it all sorted. Neville and I will be there just before the bombs land to make our big… splash."

"Good. As long as it's sorted."

"Explain! Now!" Hermione snapped. The stress was really getting to her, it didn't help that she was pregnant at the moment.

"Daddy promised me that if the world ever fell to nuclear or apocalyptic disasters then he would sort it all out and make sure it never happened again."

"In my defence, she was only four at the time and America was about to take another run at Iran." Harry explained.

"What did you do?" Daphne asked suspiciously.

"I might have… I dunno… replaced all the nuclear material in the warheads with blue jelly." He said with a cheeky grin.

"How?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

"Lot's of veritiserum and kidnapping and obliviates."

Daphne just shook her head. That was the problem with Harry. He tended to only listen to the laws he liked. If he saw a problem he would do everything he could to fix it, even if it would piss someone off.

"Wait, what about the explosives and impact?" The pregnant mother asked.

"I put a charm on the missiles, they will explode at around 200 feet above the ground. There will be no shrapnel and no fires… just a lot of blue rain."

"What about the invading armies?" Luna asked.

"Neville, your grandfather and I will be pulling their teeth over the next few days."

"Just the three of you? Why not ask Bill for help?" Hermione asked.

Having finally revealed Camelot to his friends and family, Sal had taken them all to the castle for a tour along with the King of England and his family. They had all been shocked when the great city-like castle rang like a huge bell and every portrait and suit of armour bowed to Bill Weasley declaring him the lost son of King Arthur.

Sal had spent two weeks accusing Harry of knowing all along. Harry was actually as gobsmacked as the rest of them. Xander found the whole thing hilarious as it seemed fate was displaying it's sense of humour again.

"Because those three can do it without putting civilians in danger and if King Weasley gets involved Britain will be considered the invaders instead of this just being Harry's work. But you might want to stay away from Fleur and Nym for a few months." Daphne warned.

Present Day, Present Universe…

"Blue jelly?" Emma remarked blandly.

"I thought it would be funny." Harry smiled.

"And the panic? The mayhem that occurred over the hours before and after the missile launches?"

"Unfortunately that was necessary. It's the same as when we were waiting for MJ or May to get shot. It needed to happen to drive the point home. With the High King of the British Empire backing me, I was quickly appointed the global peacekeeper. Neville got to be king of the world." He said with glee.

"I thought you were king." Logan commented, speaking for the first time.

"We took turns. Do you know how boring it is to run a world? All that paperwork!" He said with a hint of horror.

"So I assume you want me to read the locations of the missiles for you from various officials so you and Logan can sneak in and do the same thing here?"

"We thought you might like to join us with the actual implementation as well. The chance to prevent another Genosha or Horishima."

Emma didn't need long to think about it. "I'm in. But what happens when we are discovered, or if someone fires one of them?"

"That happens and I keep my promise to my first daughter Luna and take control of the world myself."

Emma should have known this wasn't going to be easy. After one week they had managed to disarm only ten percent of America's nuclear arsenal. They had started, to Emma's horror, with the President himself. They entered the White House invisibly and Emma would start reading his mind. She would tell Harry the locations the President knew before reading the names of other individuals who had access to that type of knowledge in case the President was unaware of a few.

Once they had the location they began infiltration of the silos, Harry did the charms and transfigurations whilst teaching Emma and Logan. A specially layered notice-me-not charm kept the technicians and computers from realising anything was wrong.

It seemed as though it was going to be a few years before they could finish the whole world though.

"So, Charles, what brings you back to the school?" Harry asked as walked the grounds with Professor Xavier.

"Three reasons, I suppose. First I was curious about how well the school was coping in the light of M-Day. Second, I wanted to make use of Cerebro to investigate the effects of M-Day on the world and see if there have been any knew mutant births. And lastly… to meet you." He smiled.

"Cool. Any progress?"

"Well… the last one is currently underway." He smirked. "The school seems to be thriving and Hank has been assisting me with Cerebro. No new mutants though and that is truly worrying."

"Not really, patience is needed. It hasn't even been nine months yet. It's highly likely that all mutants in the womb were also de-powered. That means that we need to wait for new mutants to be conceived."

Charles nodded. It was a valid hypothesis. "What confuses me is why there were some mutants not de-powered."

"Wanda didn't have that kind of authority." Harry said firmly. "She had the power and the strength but the eradication of a whole subspecies was not her decision to make."

"A higher being intervened?"

"In a sense." Harry allowed. "Reality, time, magic… even myself, we all have the right to make that type of decision, we are, as Odin recently explained it to me, aspects of existence. But even then, we must all be in harmony and agreement to make such a huge decision."

Charles didn't respond, his brow furrowed in thought as they walked.

Harry smiled softly. "You have doubts about my claims of being Death."

Charles sighed. "It is a rather… outrageous claim."

"Yet the wonderful thing is that it doesn't matter if you believe me." Harry shrugged. "I don't need people to believe me for me to be Death. I am quite capable of being Death without anyone else's help."

Charles had to laugh at the mockingly proud way Harry said that.

"At the moment I am not all that important. Most of my work is done in the background. All you need to know is that I don't mean any harm to innocent people."

"Ah, but just what is your definition of 'innocent'?"

"Standard dictionary definition will do. If I see someone hurting someone else I will put a stop to it. How badly they are hurting them and their motivations will determine just how hard I stop them.

"Just focus on the remaining mutants. Any day now we should begin to see more mutant births."

"Dammit Harry! Just take me to a remote island! We can screw like bunnies and no one can complain."

After several weeks Jean Grey had finally hit sixteen. As Harry had predicted she was horny as hell.

"I thought you were joking." MJ said, she was slightly horrified considering a few weeks earlier she had been changing the girl's nappies.

"Nope. Although this time round she is a bit of a late bloomer."

"Is that a crack about my breasts?" Jean glared angrily.

"Don't pull that crap on me, Jeanie. You want to get laid then fine, we'll head off and spend some time away. Remember I have several girlfriends thanks to you."

"Hey, I only recruited three. You got the others all on your own. And where the hell did you get an Aesir for a wife?"

"I refuse to try and explain it without copious amounts of alcohol. So… we'll discuss it later."

"Is that really fair to your younger soul mates?" MJ asked carefully.

"What do you mean?" Jean huffed impatiently.

"I know for a fact that Laura keeps jumping Harry and the triplets can feel it every time Harry sleeps with Lorna or Dani, hell even Amara can feel it. But if you will sleep with sixteen year old Jean but not the others who are about the same age… I don't think they will appreciate it."

"Yes, but they haven't got a thousand years experience." Harry pointed out.

"Neither did Jean till five days ago, but the thing is, they won't get that experience unless you give it to them."

Harry had to agree that it wasn't fair to the girls.

"I'll talk to Emma and Logan and head off to Gretna Green to get married." Harry agreed. "Come on, we need to talk to them all."

"But I want sex!" Jean whined.