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A/N: Thaddeus is going to get to the bottom of this mystery once and for- oh, that was pretty easy actually.
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It felt incredibly strange to be putting a cap on the whole mystery surrounding Madelyne Pryor without having actually dealt with Sinister is some sort of permanent fashion. Like having something itching at the back of your mind because you forgot about it. Or maybe that wasn't the right analogy.
No, it was more like having a To-Do List for the day and being unable to check off the last and arguably most important item on the list through no real fault of your own. Unfortunately, that item would remain unchecked for the foreseeable future because neither Thaddeus nor Emma had any idea how to track Sinister down.
More than that though, seeing as so far he'd stayed true to his word and not actually told Selene what had happened yet, if they DID try to track Sinister down to silence him, they would only be inviting him to talk in retaliation.
So yeah, there really wasn't anything they could do but live and let live, at least for now. Still, at least Madelyne was safe and on their side. Not to mention she seemed so much happier with her new powers than her old ones. She was still going to stay a Biology Professor, but she and Emma were already talking about finding ways for Madelyne to secretly use her healing to help people without letting the entire world know what she could do.
Given the amount of sex he and Maddie were having, Thaddeus might have to get in on that at a certain point. His own healing powers were only going to grow with time, after all.
Regardless, with the mystery of Madelyne Pryor solved, Storm read in on the situation, and She-Hulk tentatively on their side when it came to the rest of the Hellfire Club… there was just one final issue to be addressed. Not Sinister… but rather Shu Wong.
To be specific, Thaddeus' new Math Professor. That Shu Wong. While it was arguable that her arrival at the same time as Madelyne, Storm, and She-Hulk COULD have been coincidence, Thaddeus couldn't bring himself to believe it. No, something was up with Shu Wong, and while the possibility of her being a secondary backup plan for Selene was fleeting… they had to know for sure.
That's why Thaddeus found himself meandering. Professor Wong was the only one of his Professors who hadn't actually made a direct move on him yet and they hadn't even spoken to one another at this point. So while Thaddeus could have made contact himself, he didn't want to risk spooking the woman and tipping off whoever she was working for that he was onto them.
Instead, Thaddeus was letting Lady Luck take the wheel. Focusing specifically on his desire to find out what the fuck his Math Professor's deal was, Thaddeus was letting his luck power guide his feet, much like he'd done what felt like an age ago right after his night with the two Dominos.
Unlike then however, he's found himself walking for a lot longer than back in that hotel. In fact, he's starting to wonder if he's actually getting anywhere. He's gone from his dorm out onto campus and then back to his dorm, but not to his floor and- oh.
Blinking, he finds himself stopping outside of a door. Was this just him being ridiculous, or did Lady Luck guide him here? Only one way to find out. Reaching up, Thaddeus knocks. At the same time, he focuses his super senses on the room beyond the door and immediately hears a familiar heartbeat.
When the door finally opens to reveal his RA 'Natalie Rushman', aka Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, Thaddeus can't help but grin. The red head blinks at him before furrowing her brow.
"Thaddeus? You've never visited my room before. Usually you'd just text or call."
Nodding, Thaddeus just shrugs.
"That's true. Extenuating circumstances though."
Frowning, Natasha steps back to let him inside, closing and locking the door behind him. Thaddeus glances around for a moment, but there's nothing that would speak to her true identity in here, at least not out in the open. The place looks pretty much exactly like what you would expect an RA's living space to look like, as far as he can tell.
"Is this a 'social call', Thaddeus? Or was there something else you needed?"
He can practically hear the emphasis on 'social call' in her voice. As well as the eagerness and longing. Him and Natasha had been fucking for a while now, as long as he'd known who she really was in fact. Fucking her didn't give Thaddeus much in the way of power, but it did give him her loyalty. And for someone with Natasha's skills and experience, that was worth an awful lot.
In exchange, what Natasha got from him WAS power. Every time they fucked, she got stronger and tougher and faster. Every time they got together, she improved. Thaddeus was well aware that she would eventually leave him, but he'd tried to make it clear to her that he wouldn't mind. All he wanted was a heads up and a clean break, rather than her betraying him or something because she thought he wasn't going to let her go.
Admittedly, the fact that he'd killed Sebastian Shaw for her had muddied things between them a teensy bit. If he were more rational type, he would have just let Shaw have her for the evening, or even longer since it would have given Thaddeus a spy on the inside of Shaw's camp.
But alas, he had let himself get emotional… he'd let himself get attached to Natasha. Did she still think he would let her go if she asked? It might be bad if she thought she had to find a way to break away without him knowing…
Putting all that aside though, Thaddeus focuses on why he's here. Now that he knows he's wound up at Natasha's door, he no longer thinks his meandering had no purpose to it. No, this had his Super Luck written all over it. Which is why Thaddeus doesn't hesitate to take out his phone, flip to a picture of Professor Shu Wong that he'd surreptitiously taken during one of her lectures, and flip it around to show Natasha.
"Who is this woman?"
Maybe it's a little presumptuous to think she'll know for sure… or maybe it's not, because as soon as Natasha has enough time to squint and peer closer at the slightly shaky photo, her eyes widen and the blood drains out of her face.
"T-The Cavalry… fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck."
Thaddeus blinks as Natasha turns and begins to pace up and down the length of the room. His brow rises as he watches her cross her arms over her chest and seem to start panicking. He's never seen the red head scared before he doesn't think, so this is… weird.
"Is she really that dangerous? Who is 'The Cavalry'?"
Still pacing, Natasha shakes her head.
"It's not her I'm afraid of… but rather what she represents. That woman is an Agent of SHIELD, Thaddeus."
It only takes him a moment to process that and put together what it means. And yeah, once he understands… that's bad. That's really bad.
"SHIELD doesn't trust you anymore. They took your last report about Shaw and put another Agent on the case without telling you."
Stopping in place, Natasha turns to him and bites her lower lip in regret. Huh, it's interesting… he didn't used to be able to read her this well. But whether it's simply because Natasha is rattled at the moment or because he's gotten better with his senses, he can tell right now that she's regretting not holding back her reaction better when he showed her Shu Wong's picture. She might have been able to pretend she knew all about this new SHIELD Agent or something if she'd simply controlled herself.
"I… I can still be useful to you, Thaddeus. Even if SHIELD doesn't trust me anymore, I'm still loyal."
He stares as Natasha walks up to him, placing a hand on his chest and looking up at him with these big, soulful eyes. He's more than a little nonplused by the move. What the hell is wrong with her? Why is she acting like he's going to toss her aside at any moment?
… Perhaps because she thinks that's precisely what he's going to do. After all, if she's no longer trusted by SHIELD, than she can no longer act as an additional layer of protection between him and them. They're spying on him outside of just her now, meaning that she can't hide what Thaddeus is up to or what he's truly capable of for him anymore.
But that doesn't mean he's going to abandon her or let SHIELD have her or anything like that. He didn't kill Shaw for her just to throw her away the moment things got tough a couple weeks later.
The only thing that's confusing Thaddeus… is why Natasha is so scared of him cutting ties with her. He would have expected her to use this opportunity to tell him they were done and that she was out. Sure, she may not be as powerful as she might have liked to be by this point, but they'd certainly fucked enough that she was far stronger, tougher, and faster than she was before. She was a bonafide superhuman at this point in time.
So why… was she so intent on staying at his side.
When he doesn't answer her immediately, Natasha starts to sink down to her knees. That's when Thaddeus stops her, grabbing her by the shoulders and holding her in place.
"Natasha, stop. Just… hang on for a second. I'm not going to throw you in the trash just because SHIELD knows something is up. We still don't even fully know what they're thinking by doing this, or what this Shu Wong woman has learned."
Shaking her head, Natasha lets out a shaky breath.
"That's just an alias, to be clear. I don't know her real name because of SHIELD's compartmentalization… I only know her as The Cavalry, one of their top Agents."
Thaddeus nods, taking that in.
"Alright. So she's The Cavalry in the same way you're The Black Widow?"
"… As far as SHIELD is concerned, yes."
Right, because there were technically more Widows out there, weren't there? But only one had defected to SHIELD. Still, that was good to know. This Cavalry chick was as good if not maybe a little better than Natasha had been back when they first met.
… Thaddeus wasn't that worried if he was being honest. Maybe it was silly of him, but SHIELD simply didn't feel like that big of a threat in the end. Not when Natasha had been giving them the runaround for so long and it wasn't until Shaw that they'd seemingly noticed something was up.
No, given everything else he was dealing with, especially concerning the Black Queen, SHIELD felt a bit like a yapping purse dog nipping at his heels. In fact, right now he was more concerned about Natasha's reaction to this news than he was concerned about the news itself.
"Regardless, I don't care about her or SHIELD. And I don't value you solely for what you can do for me where SHIELD is concerned. For as long as you want a place at my side, you'll have it. As soon as you no longer want to stay with me, just say the word and I'll help you disappear myself."
There's a pause as Thaddeus gently reminds Natasha that the latter is always an option. Then, her face goes blank and she curses in what sounds like Russian under her breath. Moving away from him, the beautiful red head collapses into a nearby chair and groans, running a hand over her face.
"… I'm a fool. And now you're suspicious."
Thaddeus furrows his brow, a little confused by that. Suspicious? He was concerned but he wouldn't say he was suspicious. Seeing the look on his face, Natasha lets out a mirthless laugh.
"Or rather, you're not suspicious now… but you'll get suspicious eventually. So I might as well come clean now… especially seeing as nothing has borne fruit like I wanted it to."
Okay, now he's a lot confused. What is she talking about?
"… It was never about power, Thaddeus. I didn't want to fuck you to get stronger or faster or tougher. That was a lie." seaʀᴄh thё NovelZone.fun website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
Wait, what?
"I was hoping that if we fucked enough, it would improve my body enough… to be able to heal it. I told you before, didn't I? At the end of my training, the Red Room didn't just give me a diluted super soldier serum. They removed my womb, sterilizing me."
… Yes, she had said that. Thaddeus remembered quite well. Unable to meet his eyes, Natasha bites her lower lip.
"I… I've always regretted losing out on the chance to ever be a mother. So when I found out what you could do, my hope was that you might be able to restore me, given enough time and… encounters. Or rather, that you might enhance the serum flowing through my veins enough that it would give me some sort of regeneration which in turn might heal what was taken from me."
Oh. That was…
"Why didn't you just tell me that to begin with, Natasha? Why the lies?"
Huffing, Natasha crosses her arms over her chest.
"Because it takes two to tango. It was one thing for you to think I might eventually break off once I'd gotten enough power. But would you have really let me go as readily if you knew I was pregnant with your child?"
… No. No he would not have. At the very least, he would have demanded a way for them to keep in contact so he could be part of his son or daughter's life. And Natasha would have seen that as a security risk, a way for her enemies to find her through him.
Well shit. It was finally all out on the table wasn't it? And as though his Luck just couldn't get enough of being a 'helper', Thaddeus just so happened to learn Natasha's true motivations right after he'd gained access to the very power she needed him to get in order for her to be healed.
He could literally restore her womb to her right now. But finding out she'd been lying to him this entire time… that she'd intended to just get healed, get pregnant, and then disappear without anyone ever being the wiser… that stung a fair bit.
It stung enough that Thaddeus wasn't entirely sure what to do next.
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The Vote:
[X] Heal her and knock her up while trying to convince her to stay with him and become a proper part of his and Emma's faction. - 79%
[ ] Heal her and knock her up, but help her disappear like she wants to so that even he doesn't know where she is. - 9%
[ ] Heal her but don't knock her up personally, just let her disappear and find someone else to get her pregnant down the road. - 11%
[ ] Don't heal her or knock her up, just help her disappear, that's all she really deserves from him at this point. - 1%
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