Zemo: And It Starts

[x-dominion.livejournal.com]

Christian comes to the mansion to ask for help, and has to convince them that a madman with a purple bag on his head could indeed endanger the world.



The offices of the mansion often had a liquid quality in the late afternoon; the sunlight went golden and treacle-like coming in through the huge old glass windows, the imperfections in the panes muddling it. Many a student had sat either in academic terror or administrative dread in those offices, dealing with test scores or rising demerit counts. Today, it was a scene utterly unlike that. The man sitting comfortably in the chair was certainly not a student. He was old; the gray solid look of a man who kept himself in shape all through his life, and now had the money to maintain it in a relaxed lifestyle. His long white hair was bound up in a ponytail, and his beard still held shots of iron gray in it.

Beside him sat a young woman who could have been one of her trainees. She was youthful looking, with a short brown bob and an upturned nose speckled with freckles. She had a stack of files on her lap, and the relaxed posture of somehow who was immensely confident in her own abilities, irregardless of age. The two of them made an odd pair at first, until you really looked to see the ways they mimicked each other to an extent.

With Ororo's customary straight-backed posture behind her desk, and the three of them could have been international power brokers or some kind of royal commission. Anything but what they really were; three people who were discussing the possibility of a threat that only they could deal with.

"Miss Munroe, I understand your reluctance, especially considering that this is the first anyone who doesn't have a security clearance equal to a head of state or has died years ago has heard this name, but I assure you, Baron Zemo is back." Christian Kane leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees in a manner that she'd seen a hundred times from his son. "And unless we do something, there won't be a single person ready to deal with him."

"And what exactly is the threat he poses?" She saw no reason to beat around the bush; obviously Christian Kane had a reason for being there, and the sooner she learned this reason and what, if anything, he wanted from them the better.

"Last time we thought we killed him, he was in the process of trying to blow up the moon." Kane shook his head. "Actually, let me be totally clear. He wasn't trying. He was in the position to, and if we hadn't reached him when we did, he would have." He waved to Didi and her folders.

"These are rough outlines of a number of crimes noted over the last few months, which I believe are linked to Zemo. He's the only person who would find value in these specific elements together, or at least, I believe so."

Ororo accepted the folders from the other woman, opening the first and rifling through it with an increasingly perplexed expression. "I must say, I cannot see the value myself... the connections seem tenuous at best."

"We have records of buried accounts being reactivated in a number of banks and holding companies," the young woman announced as she took a folder and fanned the papers out on the desk. "Cross-referencing with KGB archives, British security, Interpol records, eyes-only CIA files, it all adds up to someone reviving programs from decades ago. The only reported link to these cold cases is Baron Zemo."

"I understand that this is all a little hard to take on faith all at once, but believe me, Miss Munroe, Zemo is very real, and if there's a chance that either he's back, or someone has stumbled on his work, the entire world will be in danger. All I'm asking is your help in confirming the information one way or another." Christian paused as there was a knock on the door and it opened.

"Ma'am, you asked to see me? If it's about the punching bag, Kyle got his head caught in the canvas during our training and--" Garrison came around the door, and suddenly froze, seeing his father and his wife there. "Oh no, no, NO! You are not here! You're here! What are you doing here, dad?"

"Mr. Kane is here on official business," Ororo said, glancing up from the documents to fix Garrison with a gaze. "He has come to request help confirming a suspicion." Her gaze moved to Kane the elder. "Which leads me to ask... how exactly would you ask us to do that? It seems you have far more connections than we do in this matter."

"I do, but at my age and reputation, moving quietly in and out of the countries I need to confirming this isn't as easy as you might think. As well, if it is Zemo, well, it's been some time since I last faced down a madman and his pet army. Considering that lovely stealth plane in your possession, as well as the skills of your X-Men, I felt you could make the process a great deal easier." Kane said easily, not phased by his son's reaction. "Of course, I wouldn't dream about doing so without offering payment."

Didi opened another folder, pointing out photographs and reports to Ororo. "These are from Australian intelligence. They have been monitoring possible youth mutant testing and training camps directed by a group in Jakarta. Christian thought this would be of great interest to you."

She turned her face to Garrison and smiled before she stood up and stuck a hand out. "Didi Lucrelira-Kane. Christian's told me all about you. I'm so sorry you weren't able to make it to the wedding. He does take after you, doesn't he, Christian?"

Garrison all but glared at her hand, not bothering to reach out. The elder Kane shook his head. "Yes, dear, I'm afraid he does. Miss Munroe, if you'd like to take some time with this. My son will be useful."

The old man got up, and the physical similarities between him and Garrison were obvious. They were both about the same height, same physical build, and it wasn't hard to see an image of the man Christian Kane had been in Garrison. "Didi and I are going to have lunch in Salem Centre. If you'd care to join us once you're done with Miss Munroe, you have my cell phone number."

"I can almost guarantee that I'm going to be busy with real work, Dad."

"Pity. Well, Didi." Kane said, ushered them both out of the office, and leaving Garrison alone with Ororo.

The Canadian let out a long breath and sank into a chair. "Fucking hell... Didi, for God's sake."

"She seemed very nice," Ororo said as neutrally as possible, thumbing through the photographs the other woman had handed her. "And your father seemed very serious about this."

"Sure, she's nice. I bet we'd get along great, having so much to talk about, since she's about a year younger than I am." Garrison rubbed his eyes. His distance with his father was well known, and part of it was linked with his mother, and the elder Kane's infidelities which eventually led them to split. "Wait, serious about what? Did he say Zemo?"

"He did. Apparently he believes this Baron Zemo is back - though from where I'm not sure - and trying to amass resources for... some purpose." She couldn't quite bring herself to say 'take over the world'. "What do you know of him?"

"Just stories from my Dad. Blow up the world devices, crazy secret bases, advanced ships..." Kane shook his head. "Still, if my Dad thinks it's happening... look, there's no one better on the planet than him on this stuff. The British once diverted an entire Navel squadron on his say so. He might not be able to prove it yet, but if he says there's a threat, he's probably going to be right. Whatever it is, we should check it out."

Pursing her lips, the silver-haired woman regarded Garrison for a long moment, obviously weighing the outlandishness of the request against the deadly seriousness of the people who had made it. "Very well," she said finally with a nod. "I will speak with Scott and the Professor. Perhaps we can help."