A/N: Here's the neter! Which also means the four chapters are up on my Patreon for early access as well as the ce to vote on the dire of the story!

  Thaddeus spills the beans... but isn't a plete dumbass about it.

  -x-X-x- He hits the ‘Accept Call’ button with just enough restraint that his enharength doesn’t crack the s. A moment ter, Emma Frost’s smiling face appears as the video call ects, 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 oip 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 however many years… is not safe. Oh, it’s probably as safe as it was before to sleep in. If the gover always knew about him, then the possibility of him getting kidnapped in his sleep was always oable. However, this isn’t a safe pce to talk. He’d just let a gover agent into this room. He’d just fucked her here, in fact. But more than that… Natalie Rushman had been the o him here. She’d already known whi was going to be his, whether she’d assig 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 babsp;Immediately jerking to his feet, Thaddeus frowns down at Emma on his phone and decides to answer her earlier question. “I’m holy not sure if I like yift or not, Emma.” The beautiful blonde psychic blinks at Thaddeus’ gruff to’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 expnation 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 py’ and it might e back to bite him in the ass ter, no matter how much he was willing to expin. So instead, he just shakes his head. “Give me a sed.” 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 eleic listening devices in his dorm more than anything else. Still, after cheg the ceilings and the ers to make sure she wasn’t hiding up in one of them like some sort of cat burgr, Thaddeus safely firms 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 s. “Emma… if I’m not sure if I’m being recorded or not, where I go for privacy?” The psychic’s blue eyes, which had been turning particurly flinty on top of their usual iess, suddenly widen at Thaddeus’ question, some small amount of uandiering 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 sehaddeus quickly looks for stair access to the roof, and thankfully locates it without much issue. Eveer, Emma doesn’t say another word as he takes the stairs two at a time, finally reizing 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 as out a sigh. “Thaddeus? What’s wrong? What’s happened?” Emma’s ed 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 separatioween 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 Gover Agent Natalie Rushman has thrown all of that very muto doubt. Still, Emma ’t read his mind from a phone call he’s pretty sure. But they 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 psychid I know you read my mind to manipute me into joining the Hellfire Club.” For a brief moment, Emma Frost stiffens… and loses any ce to deny it with that hesitation. But then to be fair, Thaddeus is pretty damn vinced. He’d turned a blio Emma’s ability usage ba the Ice Cream Parlor, ving himself that it was simply a perception filter or something. Or HAD he vinced himself? Either way, he was fident he khe 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 aowledgment 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 dey… circumstances don’t ge the fact that you are now free and indepe 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 gd that they have some distaween 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 prove you mean what you said, about not f me down any given path.” Emma blinks, tilting her head to the side in fusion. “Oh?” Holding his phoightly, but not too tightly, Thaddeus voices his single greatest desire at this moment, fully ready for Emma to ugh 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 anization. “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 train psychic resistao 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 o 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 go rummaging around in my head, are you?” Just from the way Emma’s eyes gain a distant look in them for a sed, Thaddeus knows he’s right. The thought that there might be dozens of powerful psychics running around fills him with dread to be ho. It’s funny, because it’s defihe 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 mao make all of the arm bells go off again. “… You’re right, Thaddeus. Some form of prote against psychitrusions would only help you in the long run, especially given our enemies. No, Xavier and I are not the only psychi 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 dire, I o know what brought this all on. Why are you ag so hunted? Why do you think you’re being recorded or listened in on?” Letting out a somewhat bitter ugh, Thaddeus shakes his head. “Well, that goes back to your inal question, doesn’t it? Do I like my gift… I don’t know, Emma. Because it seems to me that your pn 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 Gover 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 armed. But then, obviously she was going to be armed by that news. Thaddeus himself was still pretty fug armed truth be told. “What… does she know you know?!” Thaddeus grimaces as out a sigh. “… Yeah. I reacted without thinking. fronted 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 gover. She was very clear about ohing however… she’s here iigating Hellfire Club, not me personally. She wao turn me against you and the club. Wao make me her aplice.” He’s never seen Emma look so frazzled before, but maybe that has something to do with getting all of this ued information but not actually being able to firm anything with her powers. Receiving this knowledge over a phone call was defihrowing 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 siders 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 w.” Now it’s Thaddeus’ turn to look at Emma, furrowing his brow as she gnces off to the side in thought. “… W what, exactly?” Gng back at him, Emma sighs. “Natalie Rushman might not be the only pnt 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 and out. A few m arm bells. I’ll o look into this more…” Oh, of course she had access to the registry. Jesus fug Christ. Still, the idea that his whole dorm might be made up of gover pnts did not invoke joy for Thaddeus. Emma had tried to give him a gift, and instead saddled him what a couple dozen hos, hadn’t she? “Thaddeus… you shouldn’t let this ge how you act or what you do .” Wait, what? Blinking, he looks to see Emma him a smile on the s. “Not only would it be suspicious if you suddenly forewent all female pany… the fact remains that it doesn’t matter who these women truly are or what anizations they might each belong to. The fact is… you o get stronger. And if I’m right about how many of these girls are actually enhahen you have an opportunity here to get quite a bit stronger indeed. So… enjoy yourself. Nothing has truly ged.” Thaddeus lets out a ugh of disbelief at that. Everything had ged. 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 knoreciate your loyalty. You didn’t have to tell me all of this.” She appreciated his loyalty. Not the Hellfire Club. Thaddeus’ mind makes the distin, even as he slowly nods before frowning at Emma. “Yeah, well… my loyalty has already been bought and paid for by your as so far, Emma. I won’t deny it, I AM happy with the path you maniputed me onto. I’m not going to betray you just because some gover stooge es along to tell me things I already knew deep down, like the fact that everything with a pce 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 o stop. I’m either in or I’m not and if I’m going to have your back, I o know you’ll have mine as well.” “… Of course, Thaddeus. No more lies.” The beat of hesitation before she agrees is all he o know that she’s definitely c up more. But he ’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 their versation shortly after that, and Thaddeus desds 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 colpses onto the mattress all the same and stares up at the ceiling, the events of the m rolling around in his head. He o figure out what he was going to do . In a way, Emma robably right. He SHOULD try and act like normal… even if normal was a h. But then, what if that ying into everyone’s hands? But THEN… what if by pying into their hands, he could get more information himself than even Emma could mao 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 khere 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. Ahe thought of just staying in bed all day was incredibly tempting… Besides. Wouldn't they e to him if he just waited long enough? Especially if they all wanted a piece of him like Emma cimed... -x-X-x- The Patreon Vote: [X] Thaddeus goes and greets his new neighbors, being his flirtatious, outgoing self. - 88%[ ] Thaddeus decides caution is the better part of valor ahem e to him. - 12%

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