"I was dispossessed. I've been in the City for a long time, like I said. I had a good job. I'd built a good quality of life." He glanced at her. "They took it all. And the locals don't want to hire me after what I did." It takes him a moment to admit "I've been working in a dump of a coffee shop for scraps; I can't get anything else." Then a beat. "Charles... his powers were reversed for a little while. Instead of him hearing everyone's thoughts, everyone could hear his. But he hid until it passed. He didn't tell me until after." He looked at her. "I think you should settle in a bit before we start talking about who the most strategic targets are. I want you to really see this place. I want you to really understand the price. It's always personal. They hit you where you hurt."
Erik's punishment had only been maybe half of Erik's punishment. Devi's prolonged absence after the mission, the way she was returned, her injuries, her depowering... they had to know that hurting her hurt him too. And he had a suspicion they sought to diminish him in her eyes. Manipulating her memories, setting a punishment for him that would strike him in a sensitive spot but wouldn't have bothered her that much if it had happened to her.
He looked at Mystique, the graceful line of her profile, the quietly lethal way she moved. One of the previous versions of Charles to grace the City had implied that she and Erik were intimate after Cuba, but she didn't look or sound jealous. Maybe Charles was off his rocker. Maybe they'd only been friends and co-conspirators and he'd made assumptions. Or maybe it had been a while since then and she wasn't the jealous type. He couldn't know and he wouldn't ask.
"Devi is an artist. She was brought here from the 1990's. We met when I was the Chief of Police and she was questioning one of my detectives on how the police handled suspects." He looked at Mystique a little self-deprecatingly. "I showed her grisly crime scene photos and told her off."
no subject
Erik's punishment had only been maybe half of Erik's punishment. Devi's prolonged absence after the mission, the way she was returned, her injuries, her depowering... they had to know that hurting her hurt him too. And he had a suspicion they sought to diminish him in her eyes. Manipulating her memories, setting a punishment for him that would strike him in a sensitive spot but wouldn't have bothered her that much if it had happened to her.
He looked at Mystique, the graceful line of her profile, the quietly lethal way she moved. One of the previous versions of Charles to grace the City had implied that she and Erik were intimate after Cuba, but she didn't look or sound jealous. Maybe Charles was off his rocker. Maybe they'd only been friends and co-conspirators and he'd made assumptions. Or maybe it had been a while since then and she wasn't the jealous type. He couldn't know and he wouldn't ask.
"Devi is an artist. She was brought here from the 1990's. We met when I was the Chief of Police and she was questioning one of my detectives on how the police handled suspects." He looked at Mystique a little self-deprecatingly. "I showed her grisly crime scene photos and told her off."