The XXX-Gene Ch. 13 (Marvel) (Patreon)

A/N: Thaddeus spills the beans... but isn't a complete dumbass about it.

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He hits the ‘Accept Call’ button with just enough restraint that his enhanced strength doesn’t crack the screen. A moment later, Emma Frost’s smiling face appears as the video call connects, a twinkle in her eye.

“Hello Thaddeus. Do you like my gift?”

As he thought, she’s only calling to check up on him. She doesn’t know anything… yet. But he’s going to tell her. The knowledge that he knows everything is on the tip of his tongue as he opens his mouth to speak… only to stop dead in his tracks.

Slowly, Thaddeus looks up and around the room.

“Thaddeus? Is something wrong?”

Yes. Yes, something was wrong. He’s just realized that the dorm room he’s expected to live in for the next however many years… is not safe. Oh, it’s probably as safe as it was before to sleep in. If the government always knew about him, then the possibility of him getting kidnapped in his sleep was always on the table. However, this isn’t a safe place to talk.

He’d just let a government agent into this room. He’d just fucked her here, in fact. But more than that… Natalie Rushman had been the one to bring him here. She’d already known which room was going to be his, whether she’d assigned it herself or merely been told where he was supposed to go. She’d BROUGHT him here… the room HAD to be bugged to hell and back.

Immediately jerking to his feet, Thaddeus frowns down at Emma on his phone and decides to answer her earlier question.

“I’m honestly not sure if I like your gift or not, Emma.”

The beautiful blonde psychic blinks at Thaddeus’ gruff tone. It’s the gruffest tone he’s ever taken with her, so he’s not surprised when it makes her frown. Still, grabbing his wallet and keys, he hurries out of the dorm room, even as Emma tries to get an explanation out of him.

“Thaddeus, what’s going on? What are you doing?”

He should have hung up on her and called her back, but he wasn’t sure how she would respond to something like that. She might deem it a ‘power play’ and it might come back to bite him in the ass later, no matter how much he was willing to explain. So instead, he just shakes his head.

“Give me a second.”

His first order of business as he steps out of his dorm room is to look up and down the hallway, making sure Natalie is gone for real. The woman had literally strut out of his room in her birthday suit, so he didn’t THINK she’d stick around to try and physically spy on him. No, it was far more likely that she’d left some electronic listening devices in his dorm more than anything else.

Still, after checking the ceilings and the corners to make sure she wasn’t hiding up in one of them like some sort of cat burglar, Thaddeus safely confirms that the hallway is deserted. There’s no one, not Natalie and not anyone else either. With that, he hesitates for a moment, not quite sure where to go. With his door closed behind him, he decides to risk speaking to Emma, looking down at the increasingly irate blonde on his phone screen.

“Emma… if I’m not sure if I’m being recorded or not, where can I go for privacy?”

The psychic’s blue eyes, which had been turning particularly flinty on top of their usual iciness, suddenly widen at Thaddeus’ question, some small amount of understanding entering her gaze. Her lips thin out for a moment, before she gives a simple nod upwards.

“The roof, Thaddeus. That’s your best bet, so long as you keep your voice down.”

That… that made sense. Thaddeus quickly looks for stair access to the roof, and thankfully locates it without much issue. Even better, Emma doesn’t say another word as he takes the stairs two at a time, finally recognizing that something really IS up. Soon enough, Thaddeus is finally on the roof, the door closed behind him as he leans back against the brick wall of the door access and lets out a sigh.

“Thaddeus? What’s wrong? What’s happened?”

Emma’s concerned voice would mean more to him if he didn’t know she’d lied to him. But… no. He’d already made his decision, hadn’t he? Bringing the phone up, Thaddeus finds that he’s grateful for the separation between them. On a phone call like this, they’re on even ground… he might even have a slight advantage. He’s gotten a little better at reading people he likes to think, though Government Agent Natalie Rushman has thrown all of that very much into doubt.

Still, Emma can’t read his mind from a phone call he’s pretty sure. But they can at least both see each other’s faces. Which means she gets to see how pissed he is as he frowns at his phone.

“I know, Emma. I know you’re a psychic, and I know you read my mind to manipulate me into joining the Hellfire Club.”

For a brief moment, Emma Frost stiffens… and loses any chance to deny it with that hesitation. But then to be fair, Thaddeus is pretty damn convinced. He’d turned a blind eye to Emma’s ability usage back in the Ice Cream Parlor, convincing himself that it was simply a perception filter or something. Or HAD he convinced himself? Either way, he was confident he knew the truth now. He was certain that in the case of Emma at the very least, Natalie hadn’t lied to him.

Finally, Emma lets out a sigh and a single shrug of her shoulders, up and down as she finally nods her head in acknowledgment of his words.

“You’re right, of course. I am indeed a powerful telepath, and I did use my telepathy to coax you onto your current path. I won’t deny it. But you must know that I did nothing to directly alter your thoughts or truly force you down this path, Thaddeus. You wanted what I had to offer. I could see that clearly in your mind, even as you made your decision. My… circumstances don’t change the fact that you are now free and independent in a way the X-Men and the Brotherhood would not have allowed.”

Thaddeus grunts and nods in agreement.

“I believe you, Emma.”

Privately, he had some reservations. It would always be a ‘what if?’ situation, wouldn’t it? Had Emma messed with his mind? Would he be able to know if she did? Thaddeus is just glad that they have some distance between them right now, so she’s not hearing his doubts. Instead, all the blonde has to go off of is his face, which he keeps stoney and expressionless.

“Which is why I need your help. And by helping me, you can prove you mean what you said, about not forcing me down any given path.”

Emma blinks, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

“Oh?”

Holding his phone tightly, but not too tightly, Thaddeus voices his single greatest desire at this moment, fully ready for Emma to laugh in his face or shoot him down. But then, if she did that… at least he’d know precisely where he stood with her and her organization.

“I want some sort of psychic resistance. You and I both know that I gain the abilities of empowered individuals I have sex with. You read it straight from my mind, didn’t you?”

“… Yes Thaddeus. I know you gained some of Mystique’s shapeshifting abilities right before our first meeting.”

“Right. So get me a woman with natural psychic resistance… or a teacher who can train psychic resistance into me as a skill. I’ll be happy with either option, really. But if you want to rebuild the trust between us, if you want to make me happy, then this is what needs to happen. You’re not the only psychic out there, after all. There’s Professor Charles Xavier for one… but I bet you two aren’t the only ones who can go rummaging around in my head, are you?”

Just from the way Emma’s eyes gain a distant look in them for a second, Thaddeus knows he’s right. The thought that there might be dozens of powerful psychics running around fills him with dread to be honest. It’s funny, because it’s definitely the kind of thing you don’t worry about until you really know about it. Charles Xavier had done a good job of setting Thaddeus’ mind at ease during their first meeting, but learning what he had about Emma had managed to make all of the alarm bells go off again.

“… You’re right, Thaddeus. Some form of protection against psychic intrusions would only help you in the long run, especially given our enemies. No, Xavier and I are not the only psychics in the world. Not by a long shot.”

Thaddeus feels some relief that she isn’t shooting him down. But of course, Emma isn’t done quite yet.

“That said… before I make any moves in that direction, I need to know what brought this all on. Why are you acting so hunted? Why do you think you’re being recorded or listened in on?”

Letting out a somewhat bitter laugh, Thaddeus shakes his head.

“Well, that goes back to your original question, doesn’t it? Do I like my gift… I don’t know, Emma. Because it seems to me that your plan to ply me with a bunch of nubile young coeds has backfired. The RA of the all girl’s dorm you’ve set me up in turned out to be an Enhanced Government Agent… which I only found out because she let me think I seduced her and we fucked.”

Emma’s eyes widen at that, and she suddenly looks very alarmed. But then, obviously she was going to be alarmed by that news. Thaddeus himself was still pretty fucking alarmed truth be told.

“What… does she know you know?!”

Thaddeus grimaces and lets out a sigh.

“… Yeah. I reacted without thinking. Confronted her. Her name, as far as I know, is Natalie Rushman. She didn’t tell me WHAT agency she works for, only that she’s with the government. She was very clear about one thing however… she’s here investigating Hellfire Club, not me personally. She wanted to turn me against you and the club. Wanted to make me her accomplice.”

He’s never seen Emma look so frazzled before, but maybe that has something to do with getting all of this unexpected information but not actually being able to confirm anything with her powers. Receiving this knowledge over a phone call was definitely throwing Emma for a loop, Thaddeus could tell.

“I… I see. I’ll look into it on my end, Thaddeus. You should avoid this… Natalie as much as possible until I have more information for you though.”

Thaddeus considers the difficulty of that request and snorts in amusement, causing Emma to really look at him for a moment before speaking.

“No… you’re right, that might not be possible. Actually… now I’m left wondering.”

Now it’s Thaddeus’ turn to look at Emma, furrowing his brow as she glances off to the side in thought.

“… Wondering what, exactly?”

Glancing back at him, Emma sighs.

“Natalie Rushman might not be the only plant in your dorm, Thaddeus. I didn’t do my due diligence, obviously. I didn’t think I had to. But now… well, now I’m looking at the registry for your dorm this year and a couple of names stand out. A few more ring alarm bells. I’ll need to look into this more…”

Oh, of course she had access to the registry. Jesus fucking Christ. Still, the idea that his whole dorm might be made up of government plants did not invoke joy for Thaddeus. Emma had tried to give him a gift, and instead saddled him what a couple dozen honeypots, hadn’t she?

“Thaddeus… you shouldn’t let this change how you act or what you do next.”

Wait, what? Blinking, he looks to see Emma offering him a smile on the screen.

“Not only would it be suspicious if you suddenly forewent all female company… the fact remains that it doesn’t matter who these women truly are or what organizations they might each belong to. The fact is… you need to get stronger. And if I’m right about how many of these girls are actually enhanced, then you have an opportunity here to get quite a bit stronger indeed. So… enjoy yourself. Nothing has truly changed.”

Thaddeus lets out a laugh of disbelief at that. Everything had changed. Even still… was Emma right? Maybe. Maybe she was.

“As I said, I’ll look into all of this and see about getting you more information as soon as possible, Thaddeus. You just be yourself. And… I want you to know I appreciate your loyalty. You didn’t have to tell me all of this.”

She appreciated his loyalty. Not the Hellfire Club. Thaddeus’ mind makes the distinction, even as he slowly nods before frowning at Emma.

“Yeah, well… my loyalty has already been bought and paid for by your actions so far, Emma. I won’t deny it, I AM happy with the path you manipulated me onto. I’m not going to betray you just because some government stooge comes along to tell me things I already knew deep down, like the fact that everything with a place called the ‘Hellfire Club’ might not be on the up and up.”

Emma smiles at that, even as Thaddeus lets out a shuddering breath.

“Still… the lies need to stop. I’m either in or I’m not and if I’m going to have your back, I need to know you’ll have mine as well.”

“… Of course, Thaddeus. No more lies.”

The beat of hesitation before she agrees is all he needs to know that she’s definitely covering up more. But he can’t say for sure whether it’s just run of the mill criminal stuff, or actually pertains to him personally as well. In the end, they wrap up their conversation shortly after that, and Thaddeus descends from the roof, making his way back to his dorm room.

Exhausted emotionally more than physically, Thaddeus presses his lips together as he looks around the sparsely decorated room, knowing full well that it’s likely bugged to high heaven. Still, he collapses onto the mattress all the same and stares up at the ceiling, the events of the morning rolling around in his head. He needed to figure out what he was going to do next.

In a way, Emma was probably right. He SHOULD try and act like normal… even if normal was a horndog. But then, what if that was playing into everyone’s hands? But THEN… what if by playing into their hands, he could get more information himself than even Emma could manage to obtain in the short term?

He’d firmly tied his horse to the Hellfire Club now. More specifically, he’d firmly tied himself to Emma Frost. Even if Natalie Rushman didn’t know that he’d betrayed her to Emma just yet, Thaddeus knew there was no going back at this point. Whether Emma came through for him on the psychic training or not would be a big sign of what way the winds were blowing going forward, however.

In the meantime… he should probably get up and start meeting new people like Emma suggested, like would be his usual ‘move’ if he didn’t know what he knew. And yet… the thought of just staying in bed all day was incredibly tempting…

Besides. Wouldn't they come to him if he just waited long enough? Especially if they all wanted a piece of him like Emma claimed...

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A/N: Discussion Question Time! How do you guys think Emma would go about satisfying Thaddeus' request? Is there anyone obvious she could reach out to with Psychic Resistance for him to fuck, or a skill that they could train him in so he could learn it the normal way?

I can't necessarily think of anyone myself, but I do have one idea for her that I'm calling 'the Last Resort' so if I don't get any ideas from you guys that I like, I'll probably go with that lol.