Chapter 134: Put in Place
2nd March 2006, New York City
(Wanda Maximoff POV)
The woman, Natalia or Natasha, whatever her name was, pulled the trigger and a loud bang appeared, firing a bullet straight at the history teacher. Wanda almost screamed out, until she noticed that Jasmine’s form started to flicker and disappear, revealing a smiling Jasmine sitting at her desk, who looked like she was grading some papers.
She raised her head and smiled at the woman who just tried to kill her, “Testy, testy, what a light trigger finger you have, Natalia,” She then turned to Fury, “Don’t try to intimidate me, Fury. Now, why don’t we get started.”
The smile Jasmine had on her face was similar to that of a shark. Wanda remembered her having this exact same smile on her face when she said that it was time for Wanda to start physical training. The young witch shivered at the memory, and felt a tinge of pity for the men confronting her teacher.
Slowly, every person in a room took a seat in front of the teacher. It was comical in the sense that they looked like they were her students, not government agents that just tried to arrest her.
Jasmine nodded to them in approval, “Very good. Now, let’s get to the crux of the matter. Why do you want to arrest me?”
Fury started again, “You’re wanted for multiple accounts of espionage on government property, hence your treason charges, and the kidnapping of Jean Grey.”
“Let’s start with the first charges, what exactly did I spy on?”
“Don’t look so smug, I’m talking about every file concerning Wanda Maximoff’s time in the Vault. You erased every file, document, physical or digital of her time in the Vault. You erased every scrap of knowledge of her from everyone's minds, even if they were Senators or Military Generals. As far as the United States are concerned, Ms. Maximoff is a normal high schooler and has been an American citizen for as long as she lived, something we both know to be false.”
Wanda tilted her head down in shame; they were using her as a way to imprison Jasmine.
Her mother figure appeared unperturbed, “Oh, is that what happened. If that was the case, then how do you know that this happened? Perhaps if all the evidence points to the fact, the simplest explanation is true. Perhaps my ward has never been to the, what did you call it, oh yes, the Vault. Perhaps, she’s just a normal girl, as you said.”
“Don’t try to be snippy with me Sayre; we know it was you. You even erased my memories, I don’t know how the hell that happened with the precautions I have taken, but it happened.”
“Then how do you know that someone erased your memory?”
The man looked like he was going to explode, “Xavier showed me a conversation we had that you erased!”
“Oh, how interesting. Your entire accusations and evidence stem from one man. You have no evidence, no documents, no video, nothing really, but the accusation of a single man. I wonder what’s more likely, a school teacher infiltrating every secret agency, every government office, every military site, in the whole world, and somehow erasing the memories of thousands of individuals, no matter how well protected, or the director of SHIELD being tricked by a confirmed telepath who has it out for the accused woman who he has expressed his dislike of, many times. Which do think is more likely, or more believable? Seriously, Fury, you’re embarrassing yourself. Pursuing this would make you look even more incompetent than you already are.”
The man with the eyepatch looked down, probably realizing that he was dealing with someone who easily used words as a weapon and would tear him down should he try to pursue this.
However, Xavier interjected, “What about Ms. Grey? Where is she? What have you done to her?”
Jasmine nodded, “I didn’t know about the situation with Ms. Grey until one day after her disappearance. Wanda came home, distraught, about someone abducting her friend. I tried my best, but it wasn’t much, I am just a history teacher after all. However, somehow, Ms. Grey found herself in my home, saying that she had fought off her attackers and escaped. I let her stay in my guest bedroom for the weekend while she recuperated. I drove her to school this morning, so I assume that she’s somewhere in this building.”
Charles looked apoplectic, “And you didn’t think to contact us?”
“The girl was passed out for two days straight and I didn’t know if she wanted to return to the institute. I only thought of my student’s safety after all. Not to mention that your open dislike of me, made me wary of contacting you.”
Xavier nodded, obviously not pleased with her answer.
Jasmine continued, “Well, that’s all the charges out of the way. Now, let’s talk about why you’re really here.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
At Fury’s surprised face, she burst into laughter, “The director of SHIELD doesn’t just come to arrest someone. So, tell me, Fury, what do you want?”
“You’re a threat, Sayre. There’s no need to deny it, I know you are. I don’t know what your powers actually are, outside of these little illusions and a resistance to telepathy, but the way you act, even in the presence of people that should terrify you, it makes you look like you can take them on easily. I don’t think it’s just arrogance, you’re so confident that no one would even be able to hurt you that you strut around like you own every place you step into. Considering what you did to the Juggernaut, I was going to offer you a job in SHIELD.”
“No, thanks, I’m good.” Jasmine replied immediately.
“Who do you work for? Who sent you?” Natasha asked.
Jasmine just smiled at her, “No one sent me, Natalia.”
Fury looked ready to explode, “You have access to classified SHIELD files. Barton’s wife is something that no one except agent Romanoff and myself know about. This is enough to get me permission to take you with us, whether you like it or not.”
“And here it is…” Jasmine exclaimed to their confusion, “this is what you’re here for. You want me to join SHIELD whether I like it or not. That was always the plan; blackmailing me when I refuse your offer. You think that I’m working for some sort of organization that was responsible for Wanda’s files disappearing and the removal of memories from so many people. You’re looking at a worldwide conspiracy; an organization like this that grew without you knowing about it and you want me to be your informant.”
The man wearing the eyepatch looked like he was gaping in shock but he regained control of himself once more, “Yes, that’s exactly it. We could use a mind like yours in our organization. So, which one will it be, would you rather be incarcerated and interrogated, or join SHIELD as one of its agents?”
Jasmine actually burst into laughter, “Oh, honey, neither of these things are going to happen.”
The agents stiffened preparing for an attack that never came, “Don’t worry about me attacking you. While I could fight you, it would end in people dying. Their friends and family would swear revenge and would kill the other party whose friend and family would also swear revenge. It’s all a big cycle of hatred and aggression where no one wins. That’s not how one destroys an organization, especially one as massive as yours.”
“Then what are you going to do?” Fury asked wearily.
“Why fight when words would be so much more effective. I know more things about your organization than you yourself do. I’m not exaggerating. Imagine what revealing a couple of them would do. Something bloody like agent Romanov’s past, some of the human experimentations you were doing, what about project PEGASUS. What would people do, if they learnt that you’re playing mad scientist with something that could easily blow up a planet. And to weaponize it, too.”
“What do you know about project PEGASUS?”
Jasmine smiled back at him, “The tesseract, one of the most dangerous and powerful artifacts in existence. It was used by the Red Skull during World War two, and weaponized by Zola. Say what you want about the mad man, he was a genius to be able to pull it off. This is an artifact whose powers you can’t even comprehend, let alone use properly. You’re playing with things that you don’t understand, Fury. I would recommend you stop doing so or someone will take notice, if they haven’t already.”
Fury stayed silent and probably didn’t want to give her more ammunition.
Jasmine didn’t care and continued, “Now, what would happen if the world knew about SHIELD, the truth about an organization that is trying to create superweapons and recreate the super soldier serum. That’s not even considering what happened with the Kree and the Skrulls. Imagine the public’s outrage. And the governments that support you would be quick to remove their funding, trying to get as much distance from you as they can. Without any funding, you’re finished. That’s how you destroy an organization, not with a punch, but with a simple phone call. I’m not joking when I say that’s barely the surface of what I know. You have more problems than you realize.”
Every single person in the room looked horrified at the consequences of Jasmine’s threat. Wanda thought that her mother was even more awesome than she thought.
Fury gritted out, “What do you want?”
Jasmine looked confused, “Nothing,” at their incredulous faces she continued, “I really want nothing from you. I’d rather not destroy your organization for no reason, considering how useful it will be in the future. You’re the one who came to me and threatened me for no reason. Director Fury, you need to realize that you’re not invincible. Your little trump card by summoning Danvers is a very good one, but it won’t help you if you don’t know who your enemy is in the first place. You need to understand that it takes more than a big gun to protect the world.”
“How the fuck do you know…?”
Jasmine interrupted him, “Seriously? I know so many things. Good things, bad things, boring things. Every single one would be useful if one knew how to use that knowledge. I am a very understanding woman, Nicholas, and I have been relatively cordial in this meeting. I expect you to take that into consideration the next time you confront me.”
Logan growled at her, “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Alright, Logan, let me make it a bit clearer. If a single agent, that has a single relationship to SHIELD, comes to attack me or my daughter in any way, be it physical, mental, emotional, I will not care how important your organization will be in the future and will destroy everything that it stands for, brick by brick. I will reveal every single one of the secrets I know about your organization, and after the organization is destroyed, I will personally hunt down every agent, from the Security Council to cleaning staff that takes care of the Triskelion. Is that understandable enough, or do you need me to be even clearer?”
Wanda had never seen this vengeful side of Jasmine. She had to admit that she was terrified of her. And secretly a little happy to see how protective Jasmine was of her. She even called Wanda her daughter. The young witch couldn’t help but smile at this.
The people inside the room were actually scared shitless of her threat. The redhead visibly gulped, and Fury’s face was pale.
Suddenly, Jasmine raised her hand and caught an arrow that was about to pierce her heart. She raised an eyebrow at Fury, “This is your first and final warning. There won’t be another. Now get out; I have papers to grade.”
Visibly shaking, the intruders slowly walked out, or in Xavier’s case, rolled out of the classroom. Wanda had created an illusion to hide herself and Jean from them. As soon as they got out, Jasmine called out loud, “Wanda, Jean, it’s very rude to snoop on private conversations. Now go on, you’re late for class.”
The two teenagers looked at their watches and started to run to their classroom. They were over ten minutes late.