Charles & Morgan | BACKDATED Wednesday

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Charles makes a request of Morgan that he isn't entirely comfortable with.

How convenient it must be to be a telepath, Vanessa thought as she made her way through the mansion. Xavier's mobile bill was probably nonexistent since he just had to pop up in your head for a bit to ask you to come see him at your soonest convenience, please. At least he'd put in the please. If you're going to pop up in someone's head you ought to be polite about it. In truth, she'd always liked Charles so she didn't really mind the mental intrusion.

After knocking on the door to his office the metamorph waited for the instruction to enter that she knew was coming. She found him behind his desk as always, though there were subtle signs of much more distress than she typically saw worn on the man. It was understandable; he was a fairly sympathetic and empathic person and the situation over in India was horrible. "Hey Professor."

"Morgan." There was an edge of weariness in his voice that wasn't usually there either, but he gave her his usual warm smile. "Thank you so much for coming. I apologise for the intrusion, but time is rather of the essence. Please, have a seat." He gestured at one of the chairs opposite the desk.

"Who needs newfangled devices like mobiles when you can have a direct brain-to-brain link anyway, right?" Her voice was light and good-natured as she spoke. She really didn't mind but he looked put through the wringer a bit so maybe the lightness was needed. Or maybe it would just irritate him. She sat down without another word.

"I'm afraid I need to ask you something of a favour," he continued once she'd sat down. "It's not something I'm comfortable with - you are a member of my staff, not an X-Man, after all - and the task is..." He paused, actively struggling with the words. After a moment, he tried again. "You are aware of the recent events in Pakistan and India? The earthquake, India's intention to annex the country?"

She nodded, not sure where this was going. When you preface requests with not being comfortable making them it didn't always turn out that great for the person receiving the request. Then again, this was Charles, how bad could it get? "Yeah, I'm aware. Whatever you need from me, seriously, you just need to ask."

"World politics is not something the X-Men normally become involved with," Charles said with a sigh. "But it has become apparent that the Indian leadership is not only fully prepared to use mutants in a military fashion, but that Prime Minister Neramani is prepared to sacrifice the lives of millions in his ambitions. To that end, the X-Men have been deployed against the Indian military invasion of Pakistan."

It sounded to Vanessa like to that end someone should have been out for Neramani's head, but she had a very difficult outlook on life. She wasn't sure she'd gotten that point of view from years as a mercenary. In fact, Vanessa was fairly certain that her strike now, be sorry later mentality preceded her mercenary career. "So the X-Men are putting on the leather and shipping out to deal with the military," which she thought wasn't the brightest idea ever since militaries trained to use lethal force whereas the X-men were prohibited from it, "and everyone else is scurrying about to put together relief efforts for everyone hit by the earthquake." It went unsaid that she was looking for where the favor came in here.

"Officially, yes. There is one other group involved - your former co-workers, to be exact." Now Charles looked troubled. "I believe they are going after the problem at its source, as it were. Which is where my favour of you comes in."

The Snow Valley crew was going in? Bodies got left behind them a fair bit of the time. Maybe that's why he was looking so haunted right now. "And that favor is?" Admittedly, Vanessa was getting a little tired of the beat around the bush routine.

"My apologies, Morgan. I don't normally take so long to get to the point. This has been... a difficult decision for me, and I suppose I am feeling the need to justify it, if only to myself." He gave her a strained smile. "Lilandra Neramani is the Prime Minister's sister. She is, I believe, India's best chance for stabillity and peace once her brother is... removed. I need you to ensure she lives through this so that she can ensure proper democratic processes take place in the aftermath."

Bodyguard work. Protection work wasn't the sort of thing you needed to justify to yourself. It meant keeping the bad people away and dissuading them from wanting to test your resolve to do the job at hand. There had always been a lot less brutality and fewer fatalities in the protection work Vanessa had done with Mag Ealga than in any other job they took, which made her wonder why Charles was so hesitant about this. "Where is she that she needs someone to make sure she makes it through alright?"

"She's being held by forces loyal to her brother in the Secrretariat Building." Charles frowned and rubbed at his forehead "My resources will not allow me to determine where precisely - Mr. LeBeau has assured me he can get that information." It was obvious Charles wasn't comfortable with the means Remy - and the rest of X-Force - would probably use to determine that information, but he knew there was no other way. "It is likely once the X-Men enter the conflict, D. Ken will have his sister executed, in order to prevent a rallying point for any opposition."

Oh. Vanessa's expression clearly showed she understood. It was smart strategy, after all, but she didn't say that aloud. She wasn't really sure if Charles was the sort of man who understood or appreciated wise planning from the side of the asshole. "So LeBeau will get the information and you want me to play nice with his team to get her out before she gets killed for our efforts?" She tried not to say, "that's easy," because it wasn't in practice just in objective. He wasn't the sort of man who would appreciate that this was a lot less complicated than some of the stuff she'd done before when those had all been kill missions. Some things were better left unsaid. "Does LeBeau know you're asking me to come along and secure her?"

"He does. He believes your skills are best suited for the task of locating Lilandra and protecting her while you relocate her." Charles paused, and then added. "I understand in your previous experience you employed any means possible to perform your job, including causing the deaths of others. This is not something I can condone - if you take on this task, I would need you to give me your word that you will not kill anyone. This situation is complicated enough."

The request left the metamorph torn for more than one reason. Killing made life a lot easier when people were trying to kill you. There were no doubt times she'd gone for the gun when a fist and some rope would do the job, but her assured survival was in distance attacks not proximity ones. Proximity could get you fatally injured a lot more quickly. Maybe it was the sniper instinct Thom had trained into her. Take them out from a distance and they'll never be a threat to you again. Subdued targets could come back to bite you in the ass. Or shoot you in the back.

"I can't do that. If it's me or them then I choose them. If it's Lilandra or the guy trying to slit her throat then I'm going to kill him, I'm not going to sit around reasoning with him and then give him a scone. I'll give you my word that I won't kill anyone unnecessarily, but blanket statements tend to be lies. You said it yourself, the situation is complicated. Without knowing what I'll find I can't promise you that no one gets killed. Sometimes that's the only way to secure the objective." Vanessa held up a hand as if to pause any arguments from him. "I know you probably disagree with that, but I'm not risking my life or hers if I don't need to on the fluffy feelings of someone who doesn't have four guns pointed at them at the time."

For a moment Charles considered a telepathic imperative preventing her from killing, but just as quickly dismissed it. That was not his way and was the beginning of a slippery slope. Erik's ways, not his. And even without the breach of ethics and trust such a thing would entail, it might also spell disaster for the task he was charging the metamorph with. Charles was an idealist, but he wasn't naive. Even his X-Men had killed - and worse - in the field and not always in straight self-defence or defence of another.

"Very well," he said at last, his shoulders slumping just a little, his voice heavy. No unnecessary killing." He looked tired then, tired and old and perhaps just a bit out of his depth. The world had changed dramatically in the past few years and he was beginning to wonder if his dream would be able to keep up. Right now, it did not appear that way. "Thank you, Morgan. I do not ask this of you lightly and I appreciate your candor."

"I'm not going to lie to you, professor, and not just because you're a telepath." Life as a mercenary had made her a killer, but she still prided herself on being an honest killer for the most part. "I know it's not easy for you, but don't worry, I've got your back here and I can work with the Snow Valley guys just fine. We'll get her out safe if it's possible." Honesty never sounded all that reassuring, did it? She would have to work out a way around that one day. "If that's all then I should probably go get ready to ship out of here and all, aye?"

"I'll let you make your preparations. Again, thank you."