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*****
Debt and DishonourBy Chya
"So good of you to come," the tall thin man said, his accent marking him as from New England.
"Like I had a choice," the shorter, greying, dark haired man griped as he failed to shake off the two goons that had firm grips on his arms. He squinted up into the tall man's dark eyes and wrinkled his nose in an effort to keep his glasses from sliding. "So, who do I have the honour of thanking for my, uh, escort?"
Any merriment in the tall man's subsequent chuckle was dissipated by the large, bare white room they were in. "Somehow, I didn't think 'honour' was a word in your vocabulary. Especially considering the reason you're here."
"Which would be?" The shorter man continued to try and wriggle out of his captors' grasp with no success.
"A little over twenty-five years ago your wife was taken seriously ill. You loved her so much that you pledged absolutely anything to me to make her well again." The shorter man's dark circled eyes widened in realisation and then horror behind his glasses, and the tall man continued. "How ironic that she chose to divorce you barely five years later for desertion. Nevertheless, the time has come to repay that debt."
The shorter man shook his head violently. "No, you can't. Please, anything else, but not that."
The taller man smiled in amusement. "You're assuming you know what I want."
"There…" The shorter man swallowed hard." Uh, you said at the time that the genetic modifications required to make her well again would affect the, uh, my, uh, the foetus she was carrying."
"Ah, so you do remember. And that I intended to have those modifications skewed as much as possible in a direction of my choosing."
"You…" The shorter man was starting to hyperventilate now. "Please, take me, please, not my son, please, no."
The tall man smiled indulgently. "But you don't have the skills your son does. Now, you are free to choose not to repay your debt, in which case you will be allowed to leave here, both alive and in one piece. I will then exact financial restitution of an amount to be decided. However, you should read this before making such a choice." The tall man held open a pristine folder containing a single page.
The shorter man visibly wilted, his head hanging in defeat as he nodded slightly.
Smiling, the tall man said, "Now, Mr Kilmartin, this is what I want you to do."
And as Noah listened to his instructions, he tried to figure out how he was ever going to get Jesse to trust him again.
*****
Emma and Shalimar watched in amusement while the boys battled it out over one-on-one basketball. Shalimar called it exercising their testosterone levels, but Emma found the game fascinating on many levels. Opening herself up to them, Jesse's self-confidence was on an incredible high, unsurprising given that he'd spent the last month making some radical but successful modifications to the computer systems. From past experience, Emma was aware that Jesse's confidence levels had a direct correlation with his performance, and nowhere more obviously than on the basketball court. Brennan, on the other hand, was so totally comfortable in his own skin that his play was usually consistent, the only thing causing an adrenaline spike being when he thought he was about to lose. But Brennan thrived on that rush and he'd been called a hustler many times by both Jesse and Shalimar. He always denied it of course, with a twinkle in his eye and a mischievous grin, but Emma knew that Brennan needed to be on the underdog's side to get the boost that would propel him to victory. Therefore, if he started off badly she'd always bet on him to win, yet if he started off well she could never be so sure.
Today, however, things were pretty even and Emma thought that Jesse's self-assurance might give him the edge, although perhaps he was just a little too over-confident. Either way, it was a good game, with nothing between them, and neither man would have anything to be ashamed about.
Next to her, Shalimar's hormones were in overdrive, and while the feral didn't have any romantic interest in either of the young men duelling across the room, the natural increase in testosterone and pheromones that emanated from them reacted with her own hormones and, well… Emma blushed. Not that she could blame her friend in the slightest. Dressed in tanks and sweats, almost identical except that Brennan wore grey with a flash of red and Jesse wore black with a flash of white, they were of wildly differing builds, yet both were fit to the max, muscles clear and defined and glistening with sweat…
Emma's concentration broke as Shalimar nudged her, and glancing at the feral she saw that Shalimar was looking at her with laughing incredulity.
"Well," she said, feeling her face go red, and fidgeting as she realised she'd been caught. "I mean, you know," she trailed off.
"Mmm," Shalimar purred, looking over at the boys again. "Who could resist, huh?"
"Mail call!" Adam grinned as he came in, waving a couple of letters. It wasn't often that they got letters that weren't sent electronically, but they kept a box at a reasonably local post office just in case. "One for Brennan and one for Jesse. Shalimar, your mail order catalogues are in the trunk of the Audi; might I suggest you have Brennan help you?"
"Sure, no problem." Shalimar hopped down as the boys came over to grab their letters. "But Brennan, no peeking at the lingerie catalogue, you know it's not good for you."
Brennan put on his most injured puppy expression which really didn't work so well with the sweat and heaving muscles while he took his letter and handed Jesse his.
"New girlfriend?" Emma asked Brennan, as the heavy scent of paper saturated with perfume wafted over to them.
"Well, if it is, the fact that her nose doesn't work properly probably explains it," Jesse commented as he checked the return address on his letter.
"Oh, ha ha, guys, come on! If I remember right, she's really sweet."
"Brennan, please, don't tell me it's the one with the, erm…" Emma twirled her fingers by her ears. "…with the hair."
"Rainbow coloured extensions don't mean she's, uh, well, she's really cool, okay?" Brennan pouted and everyone else giggled at his little boy defensiveness.
A short spike of anger from Jesse had Emma turning in his direction, but he just grinned and said. "Now I whooped his ass my work here is done. Gonna catch a shower."
"Hey!" Brennan protested as they all began to disperse, "I was a point up!"
"Of course you were!" Jesse laughed as he retreated and slipped the unopened letter in a nearby bin.
As Emma departed with the chuckling Shalimar, Brennan was left mumbling to himself, "So, what is this? Pick on Brennan day? Jeez. At least somebody loves me."
Brennan inhaled the perfume and was left choking. He opened the letter and tried to remember what the rainbow haired girl's name was, and why he'd given her his postal address. His eyes widened as he read. He was all for commitment and all that with the right woman, but this Anya person was downright obsessive. And if there was one sure-fire thing that put him off a girl it was one that tried to tie him down from the off. Women with strange bodily odours excepted. Then he remembered why he'd given her his address - her intensity had put him off giving her his email or cell. But on the other hand, he'd been slightly drunk and she'd had the most amazing… hair… And the guys were right, overkill on the perfume.
Sighing and wondering what the best thing to do would be, he too went to get a shower. As he walked towards the bathroom, he stopped as he saw a puzzling, yet not unpleasant sight. He decided to leave it a moment so as to enjoy the view before, as any good friend would do, clearing his throat to announce his presence. Almost simultaneously Emma straightened, some paper clutched victoriously in her hand, spinning and blushing guiltily.
Brennan made a mental note to get her rummaging in bins more often as it did fabulous things to the scenery. "Lost something?" he asked.
"Er, yeah." Emma smiled brightly. "But I found it now." She paused a beat. "So, that was a good game, don't you think?"
"Yes," Brennan agreed, knowing a diversion when he saw one, especially one that unsubtle. "So what did you lose? Can I see?"
"Er," Emma hesitated and looked away for a moment before replying. "Nope." Brennan's eyebrow rose of its own accord and the flustered psionic rushed on. "I mean it's a surprise and I don't think… I mean…"
Brennan jumped to snatch the paper Emma was hiding behind her back, but the young woman, already on the defensive, was quicker and jumped back with a squeal. Brennan faked a left and dove right, catching Emma about the waist, and both fell to the floor laughing, although Emma refused to give up the paper, which left Brennan with only one option. He sat on her and tickled until, hiccupping, she gave in. "No fair!" she protested, laughing.
Brennan had no qualms about looking at the paper, knowing full well that Emma could easily have stopped him if she'd been that serious about not letting him see. They sat side by side as Brennan turned the paper over and over. It was the letter Jesse had thrown out and it was from Noah Kilmartin, his father.
"What were you planning to do with this?" Brennan asked thoughtfully.
"Quite honestly? I don't know. Ask Shal I guess. It just seems so wrong that Jesse's cutting his father out like this, and we all know he has issues there. I mean, I know that what Noah did has to hurt, but I just thought… I don't know what I thought. I saw Jesse throw it away without opening it and that's not like him and he was so angry, I thought I'd check it out."
"Sure. Hey, Em, would you let me deal with this?" Brennan asked seriously, and when she looked hesitant he added, "Please? We shouldn't be meddling, and he'll have a fit if he thinks we're all prying, but I think he needs to deal with this. And if he's going to hit someone over it, I'd rather it was me."
For a brief second, Brennan had the familiar impression that Emma was reading him, but then she nodded. "I'll keep the band-aids on standby," she laughed.
*****
Brennan met Jesse coming out of the shower and handed him the crumpled letter. "Think you dropped this."
Jesse half smiled uncertainly. "So, what, your own mail so bad you have to read mine?"
"Nah, just noticed it wasn't opened. Return name says it's from your dad, so I thought you must have lost it by accident."
Rolling his eyes, Jesse screwed the envelope up into a tight ball. "It wasn't an accident," he growled, trying to get past Brennan who used his bulk to good effect.
Of course, Jesse could just phase, but Brennan was relying on the idea that Jesse might at least listen a bit before resorting to that. "You can't cut him out forever you know."
"Sure I can, watch me." Jesse tossed the ball of paper over his shoulder where it landed in a toilet bowl. "He shoots, he scores." Again, he tried to get past without success.
"Jess, just listen to me, just for one moment. Please?"
The younger man didn't reply, but set himself defensively with arms tightly folded and glare firmly in place.
Brennan took a deep breath. "Okay, so I know that Noah isn't exactly the father you wanted him to be." Jesse snorted derisively, but Brennan continued without pause. "Hell, I think he's a complete asshole, and the fact that he betrayed you, that must have hurt more than I can imagine. I can't even pretend to understand that. But what I do know is how it feels to not have a father at all, and I know that if I had one, no matter what he did, maybe I'd never forgive him, maybe I'd be angry at him my whole life. But at least he'd be there to be angry at, and that has to be better than having this huge hole where he should be."
Knuckling his eyes, Brennan realised that he wasn't explaining himself very well. "Ah, you know what I'm trying to say. Noah may have not been around a lot, and he might have set you up, but I was there too, remember? I know how much you loved, you idolised him, but at the end of the day, Noah is only human, and he's made mistakes like we all do. Maybe you should just talk to him, give him a chance?" At that point Brennan ran out of steam. He looked at the unmoved Jesse, threw up his hands in defeat and disappeared into the shower.
He didn't see a thoughtful Jesse fish a soggy mess of paper and running ink from the toilet.
*****
"So, where are you guys off to?" Shalimar asked playfully as Jesse and Brennan headed towards the garage.
"Nowhere."
"A date."
Jesse and Brennan spoke simultaneously, and Shalimar laughed. "A nowhere date? Standard Operating for you… boys, then?" she giggled.
"You like to think," Brennan winked.
Shalimar sniffed, "Well, I'll just have to see if Emma wants to come shopping then, won't I?"
"Or Adam might need help figuring out the new programs. I left instructions, but uh, you know how these old people are." Jesse's grin was mischievous as Adam walked round the corner.
"Hey, less of that!" smiled the older man. "Or I'll have you cleaning out the sub-processors."
"Ooh-er, lets get out of here, Brennan, quick!"
"Oh, I don't know," Shalimar smirked, "you might get a kick out of it, cuz that's where Brennan keeps his net porno collection."
Brennan sparked the railing the feral was leaning on and she yelped at the sudden static. "Don't forget I know what you keep in your you-know-where," he grinned.
Shalimar made a motion of zipping her lips, while Adam called after the two young men, "Good luck and be careful!" as they vanished into the cavernous garage.
"Good luck and be careful?" Shalimar asked quizzically, with a hint of worry.
Adam shrugged. "A meeting between Jesse and Noah? Won't be fun."
Shalimar looked slightly shocked and upset. "His father?" Adam nodded. "He didn't tell me."
"I think it's one of those man things, Shalimar, so don't be put out. He asked me if he should go and I said yes. Noah is his family after all."
Shalimar shook her head. "D'uh, I know that. But, but, Brennan?"
"Yeah, I'm a little puzzled by that too."
*****
Noah looked pretty rough, Jesse thought, as they sat on the fountain wall sharing hot dogs. He'd looked rough last time, but now he was gaunt and tired and looked a lot older than he had before.
They hadn't really said anything meaningful, just awkward pleasantries as neither seemed to know where to begin.
"Did you have to bring him along?" Noah nodded at Brennan's lanky form lazing under a tree with a book. "I did ask for you to be alone and you know how my job is –"
"No, actually I don't know," Jesse interrupted, a little sharper than he'd intended. "I don't know what your job is these days and besides, you should be grateful - he's the one talked me into giving you a chance."
"A chance, Jess? Is that all? I suppose Adam knows you're here too?"
"A chance is more than you deserve after setting me up like that. And yes, of course Adam knows I'm here, I'm not stupid, I learned well from the last time." Jesse squirmed under Noah's scrutinising gaze.
"You were such a trusting boy. I've changed all that haven't I?" Noah's voice was softly regretful and, with one part of his mind wondering what game Noah was playing, that regret grated.
"And how would you know?" he snapped. "It's not like you were ever there!"
Noah snorted slightly. "Your mother always kept me well informed. Mostly to make me jealous of what I was missing, I think."
Feeling his temper rapidly rising, Jesse turned on Noah. "Don't you ever talk about mom like that! She did her best, she did everything she possibly could for us!"
Noah half smiled and rolled his eyes. "Must have been hard with all that money –" he broke off, seeing that he was really pushing Jesse's buttons. "No, I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. You're right. And I didn't ask you here to fight."
Jesse let out a breath and looked over towards Brennan, who was chatting with a girl. He smiled at the sight; the elemental always seemed to find them, wherever he was, whatever he was doing. "So why did you ask me here?"
Noah was silent for a moment while Brennan became engrossed in the girl. "To ask for your forgiveness," he said.
"I already told you – " Jesse began, still watching Brennan's interaction with the girl.
"No, I know," Noah interrupted, as the girl leaned in to kiss Brennan on the cheek. "You've already made your feelings clear in the past. I wanted to ask your forgiveness for this." A quick movement and Jesse started to mass, but it was too late. Noah had already stabbed a dart into his thigh.
Muscles were the first to go, suddenly weak knees no longer holding him upright, Noah supporting him on the way down only to relieve him of his ring. Hearing distorting and fading to blood rushing past his eardrums, but the sky, the leaves on the trees, the blades of grass and candy wrappers all sharp and bright like a polarised picture. And Brennan, lying unconscious by his tree as the girl, a blonde with sparking fingers stood triumphantly over him.
And then, without warning, even sight was gone.
*****
Cont'd.