Monday, October 22, in Attilan

[x-ccelerate.livejournal.com]

Pietro hands his final report on the recent terrorist activity to the Queen in person, and receives a surprising offer in return.



It was amazing how much one could accomplish in not quite a week, Pietro thought as he moved through the now-familiar palace hallways, his stride unhurried (at least by his standards.) True, he had been exactly what the Attilani security bureau needed: a single analyst who could make connections between datapoints that a group might miss, who could nevertheless review that data at supercomputer speeds. He'd raised the hackles of their security chief within minutes of meeting the man by refusing to look at any of their own preliminary analyses--but when he'd had a working priority list mere hours after disembarking from his flight, and when that list had agreed in nearly every respect with the one the Attilani had put together over the past several weeks, he fancied the other man had been a touch impressed.

At which point Attilan's security force had impressed Pietro, by dismantling the top five conspiracies in two days. He'd sat in on a few of the interrogations, done a bit of legwork on his own, and then dived right back into the sea of data, and he and the natives had rubbed along together rather well ever since. The docket was nearly clear now; he'd left a final report on the security chief's desk regarding the wealthy, influential, and therefore slippery little weasel who, Pietro was certain, had provided funding for as many as half-a-dozen of the recently-foiled attacks, and on a whim decided to give the King and Queen their copy in person.

He'd had fun with this, Pietro was realizing. On the flight over he'd made any number of dire predictions about how much this would resemble the newspaper trawling he'd done for his father, but . . . well, intent really did matter. Yes, there'd been a lot of brute-force information triage, but at least this time it was helping put terrorists away--and he was doing it of his own will, without any obligation to anyone. Even self-imposed obligation. Yes, it had been fun. Pietro was almost sorry they were coming to the end of the crisis.

Medusa glanced up as Pietro was shown into her office and announced. Nodding at her steward in dismissal, she gestured at one of the available seats as she smiled at Pietro. "Greetings. I have heard many positive improvements in our ability to respond to threats since your arrival. I cannot express my gratitude sufficiently."

"Yes, well, it's amazing how often a fresh pair of experienced, intelligent eyes can have that effect on a frustrating problem. One does one's best." Pietro's best had never been particularly humble. "Actually, I find myself grateful for the opportunity--this sort of analysis isn't something I get much call to do with the X-Men, and I enjoy the challenge more than I realized." He proffered the folder. "Sufficient for the arrest and, I hope, the successful prosecution of one of your more poisonous thorns. I think your people should be able to handle things from here." There was a tinge of regret in his voice. "Don't hesitate to ask if you find you need the help again, though."

"Funny you should mention that," Medusa said, a strand of hair reaching out to pull the folder towards her. "I am not the only one who has had a positive impression of your stay here," she said after scanning its contents. "The prime minister and his cabinet members have been pleased with your accomplishments. " She paused, dropping the folder on the table, her hair flaring out slightly. "Pietro, the ministry would like to offer you a job. Permanently." She leaned back, green eyes focused on the man across from her. His initial reaction would be telling. She was asking him to move halfway around the world and leave his life at the mansion behind. However, the redhead had never felt that Pietro was happy at the mansion. And he had seemed truly happy during all of his stays in Attilan, especially this one.

"That's not the first impression I generally give," Pietro said, his eyebrows shooting up. Though to their credit, the people he'd worked with had proven quite willing to judge him on his performance rather than his personality, once he'd actually begun to perform. And the work had been interesting--though he had no illusions that it would always remain so, especially once the current crisis passed.

Still . . . he was reminded of last week's conversation with Crystal. Attilan was another place he could work on behalf of his people. Perhaps not directly against his father into the bargain, but. . . was that such a bad thing, really? Pietro had, it occurred to him suddenly, been defining himself in terms of his relationship to his father for almost as long as he could remember. Even when he'd run, he'd gone straight to his father's enemies. Perhaps it was time he started doing things for himself. "That's an attractive offer," he said finally. "What kind of job? This same kind of independent consultancy?"

"It would be a little less independent," Medusa said, a lock of hair extending to unlock a nearby filing cabinet and retrieve some papers. She quickly skimmed the papers before handing them over to Pietro. "These would be the terms. I believe you'll find the terms fairly reasonable. I am told this is quite a reasonable rate for this type of work, though we would have some fairly stringent on-call policies for your availability."

Meaning that he would have to leave the X-Men, of course. Well, it was a purely volunteer organization. Summers would be sorry to see him go, and perhaps a few others, but they would not begrudge Pietro the choice, he thought. "It's a generous offer," he said neutrally. "I'll need some time to think about it."

"A perfectly reasonable request, though I will need to know when I can give the ministry an answer. They have determined this is a necessary position and while they would like very much to see you take the role, if not, we have a long search ahead of us," the redhead replied.

Pietro smiled faintly. "I think perhaps we have different definitions of time." He paused for another moment: was this, truly, what he wanted? "I accept. Though I will need a day or two by anyone's measure to settle things back in New York."

Medusa smiled slightly, nodding her head. She was quite pleased that Pietro had accepted, as she had been the one to suggest the government offer him the job, once it had been established that they needed someone like him in a full time capacity. "Of course. If you need longer, that can be arranged as well. Just let me know when you anticipate being able to begin so the ministry may make the necessary arrangements for you."

"Oh, by the end of the week, I'm sure," Pietro assured her. "I don't actually have very much to pack."