Author's note: What can I say? I love melodrama.
Disclaimer: I don't own Barbie, either.
********
NATURE OR NURTURE: Standoff
The first thing Jesse noticed when he came to was the stack of Barbies. Each one was outfitted in a mismatched conglomeration of sequined ruffles that would have made Shalimar cringe.
Hell, it made him cringe.
The second thing he noticed was the angel-faced little girl, watching him suspiciously. Her curly blond hair was pulled back into two fat pigtails. "You shouldn't be here," she said quietly.
Jesse blinked. As an only child, he had no experience with kids. They made him nervous. "I'm sorry. We didn't know."
The girl frowned fiercely, revealing a dimple. "Tyler says visitors aren't 'llowed." With that cryptic remark, she turned back to her dolls.
Jesse flexed his muscles experimentally. He was tied to an old lazy-boy recliner. His head pounded, an after-effect of whatever Tyler had used to incapacitate him. It was difficult to concentrate long enough to use his powers. Drawing a deep breath, Jesse tried to focus. His body phased and he leaned forward -
Pain.
Gasping, Jesse fell back in the chair. Whatever they had used to secure him was phase-proof. He glanced down, but the restraints looked like normal ropes.
The girl was watching him again. "We're not dumb. Tyler said that you were a 'specially hard target to 'comodate." She propped a Barbie on his foot.
Jesse counted to ten and tried again. "What's your name?"
She was forcing a tiny hat onto one of her dolls. "Katie."
"Hi, Katie. I'm Jesse."
Another doll was laid at his feet. "Did you come to see Tyler? He was very mad with you. Very mad. You and your friend aren't 'posed to be here." And like that, she was ignoring him again. Humming, she began to brush one of the doll's hair. It was hard for Jesse to reconcile this little girl with the person who had attacked him so ferociously outside in the snow.
"Katie, do you know where my friend is?" he asked, careful to keep his voice light.
"With Tyler. Do you wan to play?" She held up a garishly made-up Barbie sporting an electric blue tube top and a full-length tiger print skirt. Her blond hair was looped into half a dozen braids, secured by a hideous array of scrunchies. "You could be Teen Sensation Earring Barbie with retractable hair." Katie whacked a button on the back of the doll, and the braids were sucked into the doll's head.
"If you untie me - "
She shot him a pitying look. "I told you, we're not stupid." She put the Barbie in his lap. "You'll be Natalie." Before Jesse could react, Katie deposited a male doll next to Natalie.
"That's Justin." Jesse shuddered as he took in Justin's green hot pants and rainbow boa. Apparently, Justin had issues.
"Now - "
Under any other circumstances, Jesse would have cursed his luck when Tyler walked into the room. However, given the choice of being Natalie and Justin or duking it out with Tyler, Jesse would have gladly abandoned the dolls to Katie's dubious care.
Tyler's pale eyes were frigid. Next to Jesse, Katie scrambled to her feet. "Tyler, I - "
Tyler held up a hand. "Katie, go find Matthew for me." His tone was as blank as his expression. Katie threw Jesse a sympathetic glance before scampering from the room.
Clearing aside the dolls, Tyler settled onto the dusty couch opposite Jesse's chair. "I've just had an interesting conversation with your friend, Shalimar. She tells me that you're here to find out whatever you can about Lily Cross and Project Icarus."
Jesse had a hard time believing that the conversation between Shalimar and Tyler had been an easy one. Shal didn't take kindly to questioning in any form.
"She has a formidable will. It was a shame to have to break it." Tyler's unblinking stare reminded Jesse of a snake. "You, on the other hand, are an open book." He relaxed in his seat, crossing his arms over his thin chest. "Jesse Kilmartin. Twenty-four years old. Problems with your father - typical. A bit of a crush on one of your teammates, but nothing you'd ever act on. Ahh, a member of Mutant X for two years. With Adam. Tell me, how's Dr. Kane doing these days?"
With every word that came from Tyler's mouth, Jesse felt an invisible force clawing through his mind. His headache ballooned until he thought he might pass out again.
"Now, now, Jesse. Focus. Tell me about Adam."
Father figure. Voice of reason. Genius. Friend.
Tyler gave a mirthless little laugh. "Would it bother you to learn that your precious Adam was responsible for founding Project Icarus? Under another name, of course, but he hand-picked all of us." He sighed. "He's very, very good at playing wounded martyr. He's also very good at getting what he wants from people."
Jesse's mind rebelled against the foreign images bombarding his mind. Adam administering injections to children. Adam studying those same children through thick plexiglass, taking notes as he ran them through test after test. Adam leaving the children without a backward glance.
"One wonders which Adam is the real one? The loving father or the uncompromising man of science; personally, I always felt that it was somewhere in between." Tyler unfolded something and laid it on Jesse's lap next to Justin and Natalie. "And this, this I find very curious."
Brennan's face glared up at him from the composite sketch. Jesse looked at Tyler. The blond man had shed any trace of his earlier aloofness. Tension was visible in every line of his wiry body.
"Somehow, I think Shalimar already told you who this is."
Tyler smiled. "She told me who she thought it was. But I know better." Another set of images crashed into Jesse's mind. A man with Brennan's face setting fire to villages. Slashing throats. Setting explosives. Always with the same impenetrable expression. Methodical, controlled, self- confident.
"That, my Elemental friend, is Seth. Trust me, you've never met. He's a hard guy to forget."
********
Brennan lifted the squirming boy by the scruff of his neck. "Tell me where Tyler took them."
The boy snarled and lashed out, aiming for Brennan's head. Bren gave him an impatient shake. "Where are they?"
Next to him, Emma fixed her blue eyes on the kid. He stiffened in abject fear as she began to read his emotions, almost like he expected it to hurt. Clearly, whatever Emma was doing to him wasn't as bad as he'd anticipated. Curiosity quickly replaced fear. After she finished, Emma gave the kid a comforting smile. Then she turned to Brennan. "They're inside - with Tyler."
During their flight to Vermont, Emma had broken the news about the test results. Seth was either a clone or ... a brother. The idea made him ill.
Emma was already moving toward the farmhouse. In deference to Vermont's snowy weather, she'd changed out of the skirt and pulled on a tight pair of jeans. Despite all of the other distractions clouding his mind, he had to admit that her backside looked damn good in jeans. Tucking the kid under his arm, Bren loped up the hill after Emma.
The house was eerily silent. The unlocked door swung open easily, revealing the poorly lit interior of the farmhouse. Beneath his arm, the boy struggled, then fell silent, as though he'd heard something.
Emma darted to the left, disappearing into another room. A small moan reached his ears. Without thinking, he plunged after her.
In the corner, curled into a tiny ball, sat Shalimar. Her long blond hair was a tangled mess, her face scratched and dirty. Emma knelt next to her friend, murmuring softly. Her face was ashen. She looked up at Brennan. "Tyler's a full-fledged telepath, Bren. He knows we're here; I can feel it."
"And you, my dear, are quite an empath." Brennan whirled, freezing at the sight of the lean man lounging in the doorway. Tyler went pale at the sight of Brennan. Using Tyler's shock to his advantage, Bren dropped into a crouch, unleashing a bolt of electricity at the mutant. The man flew back with a satisfying thump.
The boy, released from Brennan's bruising grasp, went after Emma, his eyes flashing gold. Emma calmly hit him with a tiny ball of energy. He fell to his knees and began sobbing like a baby. Brennan looked at Emma questioningly. She gave a delicate little shrug and advanced on Tyler's prone form.
Tyler's hand shot out, knocking Emma's legs out from under her. He rose, an arm wrapped threateningly around her neck. His icy eyes locked on Brennan. "You're not Seth." As accusations went, Bren could think of worse.
"I told you," croaked Shalimar. She had risen to her feet, pure hatred blazing in her eyes. "Now let her go before I gut you like a fish."
Tyler laughed, the sound ugly. "I don't think so. It's too much fun to play with Adam's little family." His hand caressed Emma's cheek. "An empath - how interesting, considering Adam always thought that they were worse than useless."
Emma gave a helpless little cry as Tyler turned his powers on her. Her blue eyes glazed over in pain. "Just as I thought. Useless."
Brennan didn't think. He just reacted. He was on Tyler in a heartbeat, wrenching the man's arms away from Emma with brute strength. No one hurt his friends and got away with it. Emma crumpled to floor in a heap. The sounds of her gasping for breath sent Brennan over the edge. He was going to pound Tyler into oblivion.
Catlike, Shalimar slipped around him and grabbed Brennan's wrists. "Bren, stop. As much as I'd love to see this monster in a body bag, we need him alive. And he's not going anywhere." Sides heaving, Brennan pulled back. Tyler's body lay limp under him, blood trickling from a dozen different cuts.
He rolled away from the unconscious telepath and found Emma clutching her head. Her eyes were wide with shock and fear. "Bren, Shal ..." She drew a deep breath. "I can't feel anything."
Disclaimer: I don't own Barbie, either.
********
NATURE OR NURTURE: Standoff
The first thing Jesse noticed when he came to was the stack of Barbies. Each one was outfitted in a mismatched conglomeration of sequined ruffles that would have made Shalimar cringe.
Hell, it made him cringe.
The second thing he noticed was the angel-faced little girl, watching him suspiciously. Her curly blond hair was pulled back into two fat pigtails. "You shouldn't be here," she said quietly.
Jesse blinked. As an only child, he had no experience with kids. They made him nervous. "I'm sorry. We didn't know."
The girl frowned fiercely, revealing a dimple. "Tyler says visitors aren't 'llowed." With that cryptic remark, she turned back to her dolls.
Jesse flexed his muscles experimentally. He was tied to an old lazy-boy recliner. His head pounded, an after-effect of whatever Tyler had used to incapacitate him. It was difficult to concentrate long enough to use his powers. Drawing a deep breath, Jesse tried to focus. His body phased and he leaned forward -
Pain.
Gasping, Jesse fell back in the chair. Whatever they had used to secure him was phase-proof. He glanced down, but the restraints looked like normal ropes.
The girl was watching him again. "We're not dumb. Tyler said that you were a 'specially hard target to 'comodate." She propped a Barbie on his foot.
Jesse counted to ten and tried again. "What's your name?"
She was forcing a tiny hat onto one of her dolls. "Katie."
"Hi, Katie. I'm Jesse."
Another doll was laid at his feet. "Did you come to see Tyler? He was very mad with you. Very mad. You and your friend aren't 'posed to be here." And like that, she was ignoring him again. Humming, she began to brush one of the doll's hair. It was hard for Jesse to reconcile this little girl with the person who had attacked him so ferociously outside in the snow.
"Katie, do you know where my friend is?" he asked, careful to keep his voice light.
"With Tyler. Do you wan to play?" She held up a garishly made-up Barbie sporting an electric blue tube top and a full-length tiger print skirt. Her blond hair was looped into half a dozen braids, secured by a hideous array of scrunchies. "You could be Teen Sensation Earring Barbie with retractable hair." Katie whacked a button on the back of the doll, and the braids were sucked into the doll's head.
"If you untie me - "
She shot him a pitying look. "I told you, we're not stupid." She put the Barbie in his lap. "You'll be Natalie." Before Jesse could react, Katie deposited a male doll next to Natalie.
"That's Justin." Jesse shuddered as he took in Justin's green hot pants and rainbow boa. Apparently, Justin had issues.
"Now - "
Under any other circumstances, Jesse would have cursed his luck when Tyler walked into the room. However, given the choice of being Natalie and Justin or duking it out with Tyler, Jesse would have gladly abandoned the dolls to Katie's dubious care.
Tyler's pale eyes were frigid. Next to Jesse, Katie scrambled to her feet. "Tyler, I - "
Tyler held up a hand. "Katie, go find Matthew for me." His tone was as blank as his expression. Katie threw Jesse a sympathetic glance before scampering from the room.
Clearing aside the dolls, Tyler settled onto the dusty couch opposite Jesse's chair. "I've just had an interesting conversation with your friend, Shalimar. She tells me that you're here to find out whatever you can about Lily Cross and Project Icarus."
Jesse had a hard time believing that the conversation between Shalimar and Tyler had been an easy one. Shal didn't take kindly to questioning in any form.
"She has a formidable will. It was a shame to have to break it." Tyler's unblinking stare reminded Jesse of a snake. "You, on the other hand, are an open book." He relaxed in his seat, crossing his arms over his thin chest. "Jesse Kilmartin. Twenty-four years old. Problems with your father - typical. A bit of a crush on one of your teammates, but nothing you'd ever act on. Ahh, a member of Mutant X for two years. With Adam. Tell me, how's Dr. Kane doing these days?"
With every word that came from Tyler's mouth, Jesse felt an invisible force clawing through his mind. His headache ballooned until he thought he might pass out again.
"Now, now, Jesse. Focus. Tell me about Adam."
Father figure. Voice of reason. Genius. Friend.
Tyler gave a mirthless little laugh. "Would it bother you to learn that your precious Adam was responsible for founding Project Icarus? Under another name, of course, but he hand-picked all of us." He sighed. "He's very, very good at playing wounded martyr. He's also very good at getting what he wants from people."
Jesse's mind rebelled against the foreign images bombarding his mind. Adam administering injections to children. Adam studying those same children through thick plexiglass, taking notes as he ran them through test after test. Adam leaving the children without a backward glance.
"One wonders which Adam is the real one? The loving father or the uncompromising man of science; personally, I always felt that it was somewhere in between." Tyler unfolded something and laid it on Jesse's lap next to Justin and Natalie. "And this, this I find very curious."
Brennan's face glared up at him from the composite sketch. Jesse looked at Tyler. The blond man had shed any trace of his earlier aloofness. Tension was visible in every line of his wiry body.
"Somehow, I think Shalimar already told you who this is."
Tyler smiled. "She told me who she thought it was. But I know better." Another set of images crashed into Jesse's mind. A man with Brennan's face setting fire to villages. Slashing throats. Setting explosives. Always with the same impenetrable expression. Methodical, controlled, self- confident.
"That, my Elemental friend, is Seth. Trust me, you've never met. He's a hard guy to forget."
********
Brennan lifted the squirming boy by the scruff of his neck. "Tell me where Tyler took them."
The boy snarled and lashed out, aiming for Brennan's head. Bren gave him an impatient shake. "Where are they?"
Next to him, Emma fixed her blue eyes on the kid. He stiffened in abject fear as she began to read his emotions, almost like he expected it to hurt. Clearly, whatever Emma was doing to him wasn't as bad as he'd anticipated. Curiosity quickly replaced fear. After she finished, Emma gave the kid a comforting smile. Then she turned to Brennan. "They're inside - with Tyler."
During their flight to Vermont, Emma had broken the news about the test results. Seth was either a clone or ... a brother. The idea made him ill.
Emma was already moving toward the farmhouse. In deference to Vermont's snowy weather, she'd changed out of the skirt and pulled on a tight pair of jeans. Despite all of the other distractions clouding his mind, he had to admit that her backside looked damn good in jeans. Tucking the kid under his arm, Bren loped up the hill after Emma.
The house was eerily silent. The unlocked door swung open easily, revealing the poorly lit interior of the farmhouse. Beneath his arm, the boy struggled, then fell silent, as though he'd heard something.
Emma darted to the left, disappearing into another room. A small moan reached his ears. Without thinking, he plunged after her.
In the corner, curled into a tiny ball, sat Shalimar. Her long blond hair was a tangled mess, her face scratched and dirty. Emma knelt next to her friend, murmuring softly. Her face was ashen. She looked up at Brennan. "Tyler's a full-fledged telepath, Bren. He knows we're here; I can feel it."
"And you, my dear, are quite an empath." Brennan whirled, freezing at the sight of the lean man lounging in the doorway. Tyler went pale at the sight of Brennan. Using Tyler's shock to his advantage, Bren dropped into a crouch, unleashing a bolt of electricity at the mutant. The man flew back with a satisfying thump.
The boy, released from Brennan's bruising grasp, went after Emma, his eyes flashing gold. Emma calmly hit him with a tiny ball of energy. He fell to his knees and began sobbing like a baby. Brennan looked at Emma questioningly. She gave a delicate little shrug and advanced on Tyler's prone form.
Tyler's hand shot out, knocking Emma's legs out from under her. He rose, an arm wrapped threateningly around her neck. His icy eyes locked on Brennan. "You're not Seth." As accusations went, Bren could think of worse.
"I told you," croaked Shalimar. She had risen to her feet, pure hatred blazing in her eyes. "Now let her go before I gut you like a fish."
Tyler laughed, the sound ugly. "I don't think so. It's too much fun to play with Adam's little family." His hand caressed Emma's cheek. "An empath - how interesting, considering Adam always thought that they were worse than useless."
Emma gave a helpless little cry as Tyler turned his powers on her. Her blue eyes glazed over in pain. "Just as I thought. Useless."
Brennan didn't think. He just reacted. He was on Tyler in a heartbeat, wrenching the man's arms away from Emma with brute strength. No one hurt his friends and got away with it. Emma crumpled to floor in a heap. The sounds of her gasping for breath sent Brennan over the edge. He was going to pound Tyler into oblivion.
Catlike, Shalimar slipped around him and grabbed Brennan's wrists. "Bren, stop. As much as I'd love to see this monster in a body bag, we need him alive. And he's not going anywhere." Sides heaving, Brennan pulled back. Tyler's body lay limp under him, blood trickling from a dozen different cuts.
He rolled away from the unconscious telepath and found Emma clutching her head. Her eyes were wide with shock and fear. "Bren, Shal ..." She drew a deep breath. "I can't feel anything."
