Giovanna M. Bennet (burnwithlight) wrote in marvel_nextgen,
@ 2010-01-04 17:26:00

Entry tags:

Reasonable People Can Always Disagree
The holidays had been beautiful. Now it was time to get back to business.
The file she'd gotten from Gabriella Santiago sat between them on the table. They hadn't gotten around, before, to more than the most cursory discussion of it. Or her.

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	assaultnbattery 2010-01-05 12:39 am UTC (link)
	He's read the file, then read it again. "Their intelligence seems solid, and well put together. On the other hand, I'm leery of any group calling itself the Brotherhood. That name has a lot of weight and connotations here." (Reply to this)(Thread)

	burnwithlight 2010-01-05 01:12 am UTC (link)
	Giovanna has to think about that for a moment. "I can see how it would worry you, but she seemed very sensible; In the end, this is going to be your call, of course, but I don't think we should let a sense of theatrics get in the way of a chance to do something helpful." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	assaultnbattery 2010-01-05 03:42 am UTC (link)
	"Right, but we also need to be careful not to sabotage ourselves before we get started. We open up diplomatic work here this year on thin ice. On the other hand, I don't think using official channels to investigate the Purifiers further will hurt, anyway. Anyone who would be terribly shocked by that already isn't going to be terribly persuadable." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	burnwithlight 2010-01-05 05:21 am UTC (link)
	"Yes, I wouldn't think they would be," Giovanna says a bit drily. Then there's a pause. "What about getting people out? I know we talked, in the beginning, about preventing restrictions on international travel; maybe we could do more..." A slight frown. "I'm sorry if I'm being stupid or too impatient, but.." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

assaultnbattery
2010-01-05 05:38 am UTC (link)

"You're not. On this I'm in total agreement. We need a means by which people can become Genoshan citizens. The difficulty is doing it without hurting our chances of coming to terms with other nations. And with tensions where they are, we also need to be careful that we don't end up harboring terrorists... or importing anti-mutant terrorists to Genosha. Its a tough call - and I'm open to suggestions if you have any."

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	burnwithlight 2010-01-05 06:07 am UTC (link)
	"Terrorist's a hard thing to draw the line on, the way the word's thrown around, but that's a very good point." The possibility of being Infiltrated by the Enemy was particularly sobering. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	assaultnbattery 2010-01-05 06:09 am UTC (link)
	"Its a very hard line. A lot of people would say we already are. Obviously I disagree, but just like there's all sorts of people, there's all sorts of mutants. Regardless, its obviously a concern, and something we're going to have to approach with the U.N." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	burnwithlight 2010-01-05 06:24 am UTC (link)
	Giovanna nods with a wry smile to the first part. She's well aware of, for instance, her parents' legal status abroad. A slight sigh as she nods some more. "They're hardly just going to trust us that the point isn't to recruit a few Zebediah Killgrave types or something." So more tiptoeing. Ma foi, why did everything have to be like this? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

assaultnbattery
2010-01-05 06:28 am UTC (link)

"Exactly. The last thing most of the international community wants is Genosha's population increasing, or a risk of a new Brotherhood in the classic sense, or worse, a new Marauders arising out of the nation. They may not like mutants in some cases, but in their own territory they can monitor them. So its going to be a long road. Sadly, emigration can't be totally one sided or we're going to increase hostilities." He's definitely frustrated by all the difficulties arising as well, but nothing worth achieving has ever been easy.

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	burnwithlight 2010-01-05 06:37 am UTC (link)
	"I guess it's asking too much that they figure that something terrible is more likely to happen where people don't have options." "Well, we certainly can't go asking anyone to leave." She can't think of it any other way; immigration to Genosha would be saving people; emigration from would be casting them into the outer darkness. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	assaultnbattery 2010-01-05 06:51 am UTC (link)
	"We can't, certainly. But if we ask that we be permitted to legally nationalize other people's citizens, they may also want extradition treaties. I'm not sure yet how I feel about that." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	burnwithlight 2010-01-05 07:08 am UTC (link)
	The thought hits Giovanna with obvious disgust. "I'm a bit surer how I feel about it. What kind of sovereignty would we have if They could just demand everyone they consider a criminal?" Giovanna is really getting sick of other people's legalities. She knows well that she's not alone in this, of course; perhaps she's just a more fundamentally angry person. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	assaultnbattery 2010-01-05 07:12 am UTC (link)
	"We can always offer asylum where laws differ, but if we're going to gain anything, we need to give something too. We're already talking to a hostile audience. Without any kind of reassurances to give them or any olive branches to dangle, the road gets a lot steeper. We need to figure out what our priorities are, and what we're willing to lose to get them." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

burnwithlight
2010-01-05 07:22 am UTC (link)

She listens, and then nods with an annoyance that of course has nothing to do with Andrew himself. "Point." But they shouldn't have to lose anything, damn it. They're right.

She sighs. "Even that would be easier if we could trust other countries to be able to handle the real bad guys, which we can't." If Genosha did somehow acquire any monsters like the Marauders, it would be much smarter to just let Father have them than the Americans.

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assaultnbattery
2010-01-05 07:27 am UTC (link)

"It'd be easier if we could get one of the Avengers' mutants or the like to back us. I might have to approach them on that. Its a long shot, but might get us some wiggle room on reassurance and put a better face on mutants than what most people associate with Magneto. On the other hand, if we can find the right nations to work with, we might be able to get some more room by offering them actionable intelligence on shared threats like Sinister and Apocalypse."

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burnwithlight
2010-01-05 07:47 am UTC (link)

"Not many mutants are active Avengers these days, but I guess it's worth trying." She was never entirely comfortable with the idea of Andrew talking with American superheroes. She told herself it was because of the tendency for Violent Misunderstandings, but there was more to it than that.

"That's a good idea," she says even while grimacing. People Like That weren't going to truly understand the threat the False God posed to...well...everything. Not when they were obsessed with the "threats" of their twelve-year-old neighbors.

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assaultnbattery
2010-01-05 07:55 am UTC (link)

"You're allowed to disagree with me, you know. I treasure your opinion, even when I don't agree. I don't like a lot of this any more than you do, and if you feel strongly about something, I need to know it, because you represent a lot more of the prevailing views at home than I do. When it comes to business, don't spare my feelings. I love you, which is all the more reason we need to be honest with each other if work and... us... is going to succeed in unison."

He pauses and blinks. Did he just say the L word?

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burnwithlight
2010-01-05 08:26 am UTC (link)

He can't possibly be more 'did he just say...' than she is.
Giovanna just Looks at him for a moment, before she leans in, putting her hands on his shoulders.
"First, I wouldn't lie to you; the sharing intelligence thing's a good idea in terms of...political nonsense. I just can't help thinking it won't do anyone any practical good. But if we might get somewhere just be being more honest and informative with These People, it's a good idea to go for it."

"Second, I love you, Andrew."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

assaultnbattery
2010-01-05 05:01 pm UTC (link)

This time he's more certain and conscious of what he's saying when he says it. "I love you, Giovanna. I have for some time. I just wasn't very good at saying it when I should have."

That said, he looks back to the documents on the table. "Politics often isn't practical. The biggest problem we're dealing with is fear itself. People are afraid, and that's a hard thing to get around. Magneto casually destroyed some of the best defenses they could build with a wave of his hand at times. The Marauders killed... who knows how many people? That guy at the supermarket might not even need a gun or bomb to destroy the place. Same way we don't know who might be some fanatic out to kill everyone in our gene pool, who might back the sentinel program. Practical has nothing to do with anything - we need to be able to hand the nations some kind of reassurance. Something to convince them we're not always on different sides, and that sometimes the notion of a human side and a mutant side handicaps all of us. Intelligence on genuine threats is one of those things. If they can put names on the 'bad mutants', it makes it easier for us to wear the white hats."

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	burnwithlight 2010-01-05 05:25 pm UTC (link)
	She listens intently, then nods. "I'm convinced." She kisses his cheek. The odd factor of combining a major relationship point with a Work discussion is not lost on her. But with something this important going on, it was to be expected. "I'm not exactly the best at this, either." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	assaultnbattery 2010-01-05 05:29 pm UTC (link)
	"Yeah, maybe both of us work too hard sometimes. Thank you, I really do appreciate your feedback. You're the only voice I can trust in all of this, so when you disagree with me, politically or otherwise, or think I need to reconsider things, I need you to say so. The last thing I am is infallible, and you're a lot more than my bodyguard." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	burnwithlight 2010-01-05 05:45 pm UTC (link)
	"I will. And of course you're not infallible. Father never has to tell your Grandfather to go to bed." She smiles slightly. "Kiss me?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	assaultnbattery 2010-01-05 05:47 pm UTC (link)
	He gets up from the files, pointedly closing them for now. They can talk more later. "Any time." He kisses her, hard and passionately. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	burnwithlight 2010-01-05 08:42 pm UTC (link)
	And she'll reciprocate very much in kind. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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