I have to admit, I'm gratified at the response to the first chapter of Revenant. Seriously, guys, thanks for the support. I'm partway through the fourth chapter, and once I have maybe 6-8 chapters, it'll get posted as its own story. Hadrian Kotomine is also nearing the stage where it can be published, but I've got the feeling that Revenant will be published first.
It's worth pointing out that, while not a crack fic, there will be moments of humour, some of them pretty dark.
Also, DZ2 has been inspired by this story to do another story where Harry ends up embroiled in the events of X-Men: First Class, called Harrison Peverell: The Black Prince. Not in the same way, admittedly, and with a different pairing and different relationships between the characters (basically, Harry detests Charles right from the start) and a different alignment (my Harry here is Grey, with a touch of Chaotic Good/Neutral Good, whereas DZ2's version for Harrison Peverell: The Black Prince is much darker), but DZ2 wholeheartedly admitted the inspiration I gave them. So, go check out their story.
It's worth pointing out here that while this story came from an idea I had been mulling over for a long time, I actually discussed a number of plot points with whitetigerwolf, who had the patience to listen to my yammering, so, thanks, whitetigerwolf!
Now, on with the show...
REVENANT
CHAPTER 2:
THE WOMAN FROM THE CIA
Golden eyes flickered open reluctantly. Raven Xavier would have loved nothing more than to remain where she was, warm and content. While technically, despite having many reptilian attributes, she wasn't cold-blooded, she did have a habit of basking in warm areas when she could do so without being conspicuous. True, she didn't actually need to: her Mutant physiology allowed her to walk about naked even in an infamously cold English winter, but there was something that called within her to bask and luxuriate in warm contentment, both physical and emotional.
Her relationship with Harry was interesting, to say the least. Then again, when your lover was a probably-immortal wizard from the future of a parallel world where Mutants didn't exist, but mages did, well, it couldn't help but be interesting, even if it was only in the cursed sense of the word. It didn't hurt that, while a bit scrawny, he was pretty easy on the eyes and a good lover.
But no relationship could be built on appearances and sex alone, especially given her own appearance. True, she could look like a beautiful human if she wanted to, a human form of her own physiognomy (this was the blonde form she used as her go-to human disguise when she walked abroad, her face and physique looking like it would have had she been human-looking…and blonde), but few people were accepting of her true form. But Harry, after getting over the initial shock and confusion, had accepted her almost straight away. Hell, he had even blurted out in his then-unstable frame of mind that she was sexy in that form. He had accepted her.
Maybe it was because he came from a time where normal humans were beginning to be a bit more accepting of differences. While wizards and witches still hid from the world, there was some better acceptance of differences in race, religion and sexuality. Not wholly: bigotry still existed. But one day, he pointed to Martin Luther King Jr on the TV, and said, "He's admired in my time." He even mentioned that a black president called Barack Obama had been elected, and that governments worldwide had elected female heads of state, like Britain, Germany, and Australia. In a way, that gave Raven some small hope that Charles was right, that one day, Mutants like herself could be accepted.
Harry was reluctant to speak about the future, though. He did mention recently that something called the Cuban Missile Crisis was about due before long, but he admitted his knowledge of world history was fairly shaky, especially where exact dates and details were concerned (she was glad that the world wasn't consumed by nuclear holocaust by 2009, and the Cold War was over, although this 'War on Terror' he alluded to sounded ominous). And he seemed reluctant to change the future deliberately, just in case he made things worse when trying to make them better. Plus, he said that, if he told certain important people about possible assassins and the like, would they believe him, even if he told the truth? He'd be treated with suspicion or locked away.
Anyway, his acceptance of her, scales and all, was as important to her as that night when she broke into the Xavier mansion in Westchester, eighteen years ago now. He didn't care that she looked inhuman. True, he didn't want her to draw the wrong sort of attention by exposing her true form carelessly, but that was part of the reason why he used his abilities to change her appearance, so she didn't need to concentrate as much on maintaining a more human form. Oh, she still went out without the charm, partly to practise her shapeshifting abilities and partly because she didn't want to remain reliant on Harry's magic (not that Charles liked to call it that: he preferred Will-based Transmogrification Force(1)).
Harry stirred, and those emerald eyes flickered open, and gazed into her own. "Hello, beautiful," he hissed.
Ah, yes. For some weird reason, he could talk to snakes. And she could understand him, even respond in the same tongue. They used it as a private language when they were not out and about, as it'd look pretty strange for them to hiss at each other.
She replied, "Hello yourself, handsome. No nightmares last night?"
"No, thankfully." He ran his fingers through her hair gently, and she smiled with pleasure. "You?"
"No." She yawned, stretching like a cat, before sitting up reluctantly. In English, she said, "We'd better get up. Charles is doing that presentation for his doctorate today, and I want to be there for him. I mean, he was there for us when we graduated earlier this year."
She knew he was looking at her derriere. While he was pretty much a gentleman in most regards, he also liked to be playful, albeit towards her, and her only. "Fine, fine," he said with mock-irritation.
Doctor Charles Xavier, Harry thought. Well, he'd be a professor if he had somewhere to teach. Charles was looking very pleased with himself given the doctorate he had been awarded, especially when Harry and Raven applauded him.
Of course, Harry and Raven were less pleased when, that night, at their favourite pub, he was about to start drinking from a yard glass, to the delight of various students looking on. For someone who aspired to be the voice of Mutants, Charles was a bit of a wild guy. Not fully, he was no frat boy, but there was a hedonistic streak that never left him.
Harry couldn't exactly throw stones: there were times when he and Raven got blind drunk, albeit at home to avoid Raven having any accidents with her powers, and those…well, didn't end well. But still…Charles sometimes loved making an arse of himself.
He looked at the newspaper they had at the table. An article that had interested him stood out. There was apparently a man going around and killing people who were allegedly ex-Nazis, particularly those who had worked at Auschwitz-Birkenau. While he personally applauded this, given what he had gone through with Voldemort and the Death Eaters, there were rumours stated in these cases by the few witnesses that remained that the man had the ability to manipulate metal, as if he was a living magnet. Another Mutant, perhaps?
Charles had encountered one or two Mutants, aside from Raven, before, and he could tell that they were different, mentally. And each Mutant had different powers. There were rumours of a Russian assassin who looked like a devil, and who could teleport, and another who could conjure whirlwinds from his hands. There had even been a soldier who'd fought in the Second World War who, according to one account, could not only heal from virtually everything, but also extrude claws of bone from between his knuckles.
So, was this mystery Nazi-hunter a Mutant? And, given the targeting of those from Auschwitz, one of the many victims of that death camp? Something to keep in mind. Charles certainly thought so.
Then, his keen eyes noted someone watching Charles very closely as the newly-minted doctor was waiting for his yard glass. Not like the students and other occupants of the pub were, but rather, with intense scrutiny. "Raven," he said quietly, or as much as he could to carry over the noise. "The auburn-haired woman there. You ever see her before?"
Noticing his line of sight, Raven peered at the woman. Quite beautiful, but with a somewhat no-nonsense demeanour. "No. Who's she?"
"I dunno, but she's here for Charles," he said, casting a spell discreetly from under the table. "…Probably not an enemy, but certainly requires his help. Still…she has a gun."
"How do you know?"
"I just cast a detection spell. Mostly intent and weapon detection. Not wholly reliable, but still…"
And then, Charles started drinking from the yard glass. To the cheers and chants of those around him, including both Harry and Raven (Charles grateful for the hangover potions the former had given to him), he drained the yard glass, and whooped in triumph. He hugged Raven, and grinned at Harry, before saying, "I'm getting another drink. You want more?"
"Sure. Charles, just be careful of the woman with auburn hair. She wants something from you, and it's not a night of fun," Harry said quietly.
Charles, knowing Harry would only warn him this way if it was important, began making his way to the bar, only to be intercepted by the woman, who congratulated him on his presentation. "American," Harry said, noting the accent, as he and Raven got up to join Charles. He may get irritated at the two of them for being gooseberries, but they got the feeling that the woman was not here for a one-night stand.
The woman introduced herself as Moira MacTaggert, and asked to speak with Charles. Charles nodded, but gestured towards Harry and Raven. "Sorry, these two are my research assistants. My stepsister, Raven, and my soon-to-be brother-in-law, Harry Potter. And we have plenty of time for a pretty little bean with a mutated MC1R gene."
"It's his way of flirting," Raven said, rolling her eyes. "He means auburn hair."
"It's a mutation…a very groovy mutation," Charles said, smiling at Moira. "Mutation, after all, took us from single-celled organisms to the dominant form…"
Moira, however, had enough. "Sorry, but that sort of thing, while it may go over well with co-eds, is not what I'm here for. I'm here on business. I really need your help, and you're apparently a wunderkind when it comes to evolutionary genetics and human evolution. In your thesis presentation, you spoke of mutations changing the human race, potentially conferring new abilities. I need to know if that may already have happened, in people alive now."
Harry and Raven shared a look. Charles, meanwhile, did his mind-reading thing, hiding his distinctive gesture of placing a pair of fingers to his temple by making it seem like a casual gesture, as if leaning on his arm. His expression changed, becoming more perturbed and intrigued. His voice echoed in Harry and Raven's minds. Harry, Raven…it seems that she has encountered a group of Mutants in Las Vegas while investigating someone called Sebastian Shaw at the Hellfire Club. I'll tell you more later.
"Professor?" Moira asked, leaning forward. "…Maybe we should hold this off until you're sober. Do you have any time tomorrow?"
"Something tells me you already knew the answer to your question. About people with abilities," Charles said. As Moira considered this, he added, "This is important to me…to us. If we can help you, then we will do our utmost to do so…"
Sometime afterwards, the Xavier siblings and Harry were conferring in their house. "So…this woman is from the CIA?" Raven asked. "And she was investigating a man called Sebastian Shaw, who owns a club called the Hellfire Club, in Las Vegas. She infiltrated the club, and witnessed Shaw and his associates conferring with some US Army bigwig called Colonel Hendry, trying to coerce him into deploying Jupiter missiles in Turkey."
Charles nodded. "More than that. I can't be certain about Shaw or one of those accompanying him, but at least two of them appeared to be Mutants. One of them, a blonde woman, turned herself into diamond, and another had a rather devilish appearance and an ability to teleport, like the rumours we heard about a Russian assassin. The latter was apparently called Azazel by Shaw."
"Hey, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the CIA do spying overseas, not on American soil?" Harry asked. "Isn't that what the FBI does?"
"Apparently Shaw's activities in other countries had Director McCone taking command of the investigation," Charles said. "He's been to countries both within NATO and the Eastern Bloc. And in any case, Shaw was possibly brought to the US from Germany during Operation Paperclip(2). Though Ms MacTaggert isn't privy to exactly why the CIA was working on home soil, and I didn't dig that deeply. That being said, she wants us to come with her, to make a presentation to Director McCone to impress on him the severity of the potential threat of Shaw and his group. Apparently the head of the CIA's paranormal research department, Division X, will be there too."
"As long as we don't end up vivisected or shot, I'll play along," Raven said. "Do you think they'll need a demonstration?"
"Perhaps. But we shouldn't scare them too much, Raven." Charles then looked over at Harry. "And that means keeping pranks to a minimum, Harry, even if they react badly to what we are. Yes, I know you're not fond of governmental agencies. Neither am I. But given what you said about the upcoming events near Cuba, if one of us is manipulating events, then we need to stop them. And having the CIA's gratitude could be the in we need to help us gain acceptance."
"You're too much of an optimist, Charles, but I agree that we've got to look into this," Harry said. "Anyway, when do we head off to the US?"
"We'll talk to Ms MacTaggert fully tomorrow," Charles said. "But time is of the essence. I think we should start packing soon…"
CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:
So, Harry, Raven and Charles have met Moira. Next chapter, meeting Erik.
1. This pseudo-scientific term for magic with a fun acronym was originally created for my Portal crossover Is Your Great-Aunt an AI?!, and used again in my Girl Genius crossover Girl Genius' Animagus.
2. This was an actual American operation to recruit or conscript German scientists and the like after World War II, regardless of whether or not they participated in any atrocities. Werner von Braun was perhaps the most famous of those brought to the US by Operation Paperclip.
