Thaddeus watches Illyana closely and carefully, curious to see what she decides. He's not going to try to stop her, no matter which route she chooses from here. Even if she wants to go to the X-Men and her brother and confess everything that had happened to her… well, it would be unfortunate and Thaddeus would ask her to leave his and Emma's names out of it, but they would deal with that, come what may.
Instead though, Illyana only has to think about it for a moment before looking at him.
"I want to stay with you. And… I suppose I should also keep ruling Limbo as well because otherwise, more like S'ym might try to betray me. But in the moments I'm not over there… I want to be with you. If… if you'll have me."
Ah. It would seem fucking her senseless with the express intention of entirely ruining her for other men (and other men for her) had had its effects. Thaddeus smiles crookedly, tilting his head to the side.
"I certainly won't turn you away, Illyana. But you should also know I'm not exclusive. My powers… well, they encourage a certain mentality that I haven't exactly tried to fight against. I'm regularly intimate with over a dozen women at this point and emotionally tied to around half a dozen."
And frankly, that was just a generalization that he was spouting off the cuff without thinking too hard about it. Especially given what had happened on the plane back to the states from the Red Room. If he counted all of the Black Widows too, that rather inflated the number.
Still, his words get the point across all the same, with Illyana slowly nodding and mulling that over.
"I understand. I suppose I can't complain… even in the heart of my power, you were able to run me out of energy and outlast me."
She huffs, smirking slightly.
"But you can't blame me for wanting another piece of you, can you? After all, it sure felt like that was what you were going for. You COULD have just half-assed things if all you wanted was a copy of my power to escape with. But you didn't. Did you?"
Thaddeus grins apologetically.
"No, I didn't."
At his admission, Illyana just nods sharply.
"So then you'll just have to take responsibility."
That startles a laugh out of Thaddeus because where in the world had she heard that before if she spent most of her life in a literal hell dimension? But then he sees the way her face scrunches up cutely in confusion and realizes she just said it naturally, no 'reference' intended. And honestly, that just makes it more amusing.
"What? Are you not going to accept your part in my current state?"
Shaking his head, Thaddeus calms himself down and gives her a broad smile.
"No… you're right. I do need to take responsibility. And I don't mind you sticking around whenever you're not back in Limbo, Illyana. Still… is there nothing else you want? Nothing at all?"
He can tell immediately that there is something, especially with the way Illyana fidgets and squirms for a moment. Biting her lower lip, she seems to be considering whether to tell him for several seconds… but Thaddeus doesn't push. Finally, Illyana lets out a shuddering sigh.
"I'd like… I'd like to be introduced to this world's version of Cat, if that's alright. I don't want to tell her anything, but she looks to be close to my age and I… I don't know. I guess I just want to see if we'd get along. Could you… help with that?"
Hah. On the face of it, it's one of the smallest requests that Illyana could make of him. And yet, once you got beneath the surface… she really has no idea what she's asking of him. Thaddeus and Kitty have barely talked since the time they worked together with the others to destroy that illegal laboratory.
It wasn't that he disliked her or anything like that. It was more a case of knowing he could trust those like Cessily and Laura… and knowing that he couldn't trust Kitty in the same way. After all, with Sage firmly on their side, they had an 'in' into Charles Xavier's inner circle in a way those like Laura and Cessily did not. Meaning that Thaddeus knew full well just how much Kitty was telling the Professor whenever she went to report on him.
He hadn't even really meant to pull away from her… it had just happened naturally. And nobody had tried to do anything about it, probably because it hadn't been actually been that long of a time period yet and they also had Storm working as a professor at the university now for good measure.
Still… Illyana is waiting for an answer. And after searching his feelings for a moment longer, Thaddeus just smiles.
"Yeah. I think I can make that happen."
Illyana doesn't light up like a Christmas Tree or anything like that, but she does smile a little bit more, looking hesitantly hopeful in a way that Thaddeus suspects she would hate if she could see her own face right now. Still, this was good. Everything was… good.
-x-X-x-
Getting Illyana set up to meet Kitty wasn't particularly hard. They just went back to Emma and asked for her help. It was the work of maybe an hour to get Illyana a proper identity in the real world. She kept the name Illyana but changed her last name to Popov to separate herself from her old identity.
From there, getting the newly minted 'Illyana Popov' into Empire State University was also fairly easy (too easy, really), and sliding her into one of the empty slots in the dorm was even easier. After all, not every woman in the dorm that Emma had set up for Thaddeus back at the start of the university semester had been thrilled to learn that there was an 'unfixable' mix-up and a man rooming with all of them.
It was a relatively small percentage of the whole, and not anyone Thaddeus ever actually met or interacted with, but a handful had nevertheless requested transfers to new dorms that had been immediately approved. And so there was room for Illyana to just… slip right in.
Of course, her actually meeting Kitty and them hitting it off (or not) was completely on Illyana after that point. The last thing Thaddeus had Emma do for the blonde teleporter was set up a bank account with enough funds for Illyana to not have to worry about money any time soon.
And Illyana herself had then suggested that maybe she could earn more money using her teleportation power to help them out, since she could go anywhere in the world in a couple of steps and take people with her on top of that. So yeah, now they had a teleporter on retainer, on top of Thaddeus himself having the power.
Never mind that he could technically also give Illyana's power to anyone he wanted since his infinite quickie session with Sage… for now they were keeping that under wraps while considering how best to utilize it in their inevitable and eventual conflict with Selene.
Speaking of which…
"I'm surprised at how quiet she's been of late."
Him and Emma are alone a day after getting Illyana situated. His date with Wanda is coming up that weekend and Thaddeus likes to think he's ready for it. And from what Rogue had said, that was just supposed to be a one-night stand of sorts. And once he and Wanda have been together, they're planning on having him pump Emma with some real power, the kind of thing that should let them take down Selene once and for all.
That said…
"Well, she is rather ancient no? Maybe she's used to operating on longer timetables?"
Emma hums, considering that for a moment… before finally nodding.
"Yes, you're probably right. We do need to keep our guards up though. She won't stay this quiet forever and when she does finally make her move… well, we'll be as prepared as we possibly can be, I suppose."
Thaddeus nods, before giving Emma a smile.
"We'll be ready. Everything we've done, everything you've done… it's been building up to this. We won't fail, Emma."
She gives him a look at that and then rises to her feet, closing the distance between them. Thaddeus is all too happy to welcome her with open arms when the beautiful blonde climbs into his lap, straddling him and grinding against his crotch despite them both being closed.
"Sometimes I wonder if you picked up some sort of 'charismatic leadership' power somewhere along the way when you say things like that, Thaddeus."
He flushes, even as his hands wander along her sides and down to her waist. Emma arches her back, humming as she smiles at him.
"I'm no leader, Emma. That's what I have you for."
Her smile turns into a scoff as she rolls her eyes.
"You barely even need me, Thaddeus. Sometimes I wonder if you'll bother even keeping me around once we've dealt with Selene."
Wait, what? Thaddeus jolts up at that, tightening his grip on Emma as he frowns at her.
"Don't say things like that Emma. I'm never abandoning you."
They'd had conversations like this before and Thaddeus knew that deep down inside, Emma was a somewhat insecure person. But he thought they'd handled this already. He thought she understood. Maybe not though, because rather than respond with words, she all but attacks his mouth with her own, kissing him hungrily… almost desperately.
Hm, maybe Illyana kidnapping him yesterday had effected Emma a bit more than she'd let on in the moment. Sure, he'd been gone for just seconds, not even enough time for her to fully process his absence… but that was then. Now it had been over twenty-four hours since and Emma had apparently had plenty of time to decide her feelings over the incident.
And those feelings, it seemed, went straight to needy and possessive. Thaddeus couldn't really blame her though… he would have felt the exact same way if someone had tried to steal her from him instead…
Hands roaming, bodies pressed together, the two of them lose themselves in one another, making sure that both know just how much the other means to them through the best way they know how. Carnally.
-x-X-x-
Saturday arrives and with it, Thaddeus' date plans. He'd initially considered doing dinner and a movie with Wanda, but from what Rogue had said, this was almost certainly going to be about the sex more than anything.
Wanda likely just wanted to fuck, plain and simple, probably to escape from her own head for a bit. Thaddeus could understand that, so in the end he'd truncated the actual date down to just dinner… albeit dinner at one of the most exclusive and expensive places in New York City.
Arriving outside of Rogue's dorm room door at precisely 5:55 PM on the dot, Thaddeus is just about to knock when the door suddenly opens before he can. He blinks as he finds himself face to face with Rogue, who blanches and then quickly steps out into the hallway and closes the door behind her.
"S-Sorry, Wanda is running a bit behind… she needed to use my shower."
Thaddeus blinks and sure enough if he focuses a bit more, he can hear the shower going in Rogue's bathroom. Chuckling, he just shakes his head.
"That's fine, I can wait out here. How have you been, Rogue?"
Biting her lower lip, Rogue hums for a moment.
"I've been… good."
Raising an eyebrow, Thaddeus smirks.
"Just 'good'?"
When she pouts at him for that, he knows it's not too serious. Though she does still glance both ways down the hall to make sure nobody else is around.
"Yeah it's just… well, I'm not really doing things with the Brotherhood at this point. And Wanda is… sort of one foot in, one foot out. So it's a whole thing, interacting with her again. Like I'm glad to have her stopping by and hanging out, but at the same time… I don't know."
Thaddeus hums.
"… How is she? Do you really think she's ready for something like tonight?"
Rogue blinks at that, pulled out of her own thoughts. She pauses for a moment before shrugging helplessly.
"I mean… does it matter what I think she's ready for? I'm the one who set this up for you two. What kind of friend would I be if I tried to shut it down now?"
Giving Rogue a serious look, Thaddeus smiles.
"A good one, Rogue. Seriously, tell me what you really think. Hell, we could even just stay in and watch a movie, all three of us, if you wanted. What do you really think Wanda wants and needs right now?"
Rogue's mouth opens and closes a few times… but finally, she just blurts it out.