Murphy's Law (4/5)
by Anne Olsen
Rating/warnings this chapter: This Fic has been rated in accordance with the approved TTFF Rating System. OK (Oz/Kiwi spelling/grammar etc) - PG - Angst, drama.
Author's notes: This fic is part of the 'Tears in Heaven' series. More info and stories in this timeline can be found at
It can be read on its own but there are references to previous stories in the arc.
This fic will also be archived at the new Expressions site.
Summary: The new breakout witnesses a grizzly murder, and insists that his new history teacher is responsible. Are things really that simple?
Disclaimer: The Tomorrow People belong to Roger Damon Price, Thames/Tetra and ITV television. Highlander is the property of Panzer/Davis, Rysher/ Gaumount Televison. Stargate SG1 are owned by Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Products.
Alex MacDonald belongs to me and shouldn't be used without permission.
Thanks to: Big hugs to Megan for her support and beta reading and to Wendy for her suggestions. Thanks also to Lorena for reading through and taking the time to give support and comments.
Feedback to: anneo @ paradise.net.nz
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Chapter Four
Teleportation, telepathy - the whole nine yards.
Alex sat down on one of the benches built into the wall of the ship and glanced out the window at the ebb of swirling waves. Their colour was brighter than he'd seen at home; it was weird to think that they were under the sea. He grinned. Only a short time ago he'd complained about how life was treating him and suddenly he was part of a world he hadn't even known existed.
[We're going to have to teach you some shielding.] He heard Kevin's voice, but at the same time knew the older boy hadn't spoken aloud.
"Shielding?" he asked.
Absently brushing a lock of brown hair out of his eyes, Kevin watched Alex intently for a moment before nodding and switching to speech. "At the moment you're projecting a lot of what you're thinking telepathically. We all use mental shielding, to some degree, in order to have some privacy."
Jade turned from where she'd been staring out the other window. She'd been quiet after the others had left and Megabyte had insisted she stay behind; whatever the relationship between the two, it was clear that she was worried about him.
It was also clear that despite the potential danger, Adam had deemed it necessary to investigate the situation in New Zealand further. He'd taken charge of the situation with an ease that insinuated that the leadership role was one he took on often. Of all the Tomorrow People, Adam was the hardest to gauge. He was friendly, as were all of them, but Alex had a weird feeling that for some reason his presence made the Australian uncomfortable. He shrugged, putting it down to his over active imagination.
"Much as it's fun to eavesdrop sometimes, it's really not good manners. One of these days some of us are going to work that out." A look of annoyance crossed Jade's face as she made the comment and in his mind, Alex could see a very clear picture of Megabyte.
"Where did that come from?" he asked, frowning.
"Sometimes shielding doesn't work as well as it should, even for those of us with more experience." Kevin smirked after Jade's face burned a fiery red. "You accidentally picked up on what Jade was thinking, " he explained. "Don't worry, Alex, you'll get used to it."
Although he didn't feel convinced, Alex nodded. There was no way he going to get used to this anytime soon. He felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder as Kevin moved to sit next to him on the bench. Their eyes met, he thought he saw an expression of something he couldn't quite put his finger on, and then it was gone.
/Empathy perhaps?/
Kevin chuckled. "Empathy," he said, as though it explained everything.
Had he been broadcasting his thoughts again? Alex frowned. How the hell was he going to get the hang of this before he gave away all his secrets? Not that they were that interesting, but they were still his and he'd like to keep them that way.
"Kevin's an empath," Jade said. "He can pick up on how you're feeling. Some of us have an extra power the others don't. Adam calls it an edge power."
/Oh/. Alex felt his cheeks flame.
"Hey," said Kevin quietly, suddenly serious. "Stop panicking. I can teach you how to deal with this. You just need a bit of practice, that's all."
"You reckon…" Alex's voice trailed off. The weird pins and needles sensation he'd felt earlier when the others had teleported had returned. Air crackling around them, the three light signatures appearing to the side of him coalesced into Adam, Megabyte and Ami, and the feeling subsided. Sighing in relief as he noticed Ami was holding his schoolbag, Alex rose to his feet to collect it from her and nodded his thanks.
"I don't think we have to worry about the Immortal," Adam explained. "It turns out that your Mr O'Neill was no other than our old friend, Adam Pierson." His complexion seemed greyer than it had been, and Alex shuddered, remembering the body. Kevin had explained to him about their inability to kill, but he was sure that seeing a decapitated corpse would have been difficult to cope with for anyone, Tomorrow Person or not.
"I doubt he thinks that way after what Megabyte said to him," said Ami, in her clipped English accent. She glared at the American, and waved her arms to accentuate her annoyance, the action causing her hair, which was braided into a multitude of small dark plaits, to swing about her face.
One American, three Brits, an Australian and now him. /We're certainly a multi-national group/, Alex decided. It was scary to think they were the only ones of their species on the planet.
"Hey," replied Megabyte. "Be nice. Besides he started it. I told you that already."
Alex stifled a grin. The interplay between the two reminded him of his twin brother and sister when they got into one of their discussions. "Adam Pierson?" he asked. This day was getting weirder, if that was really possible.
Leaning back against the wall of the ship, Adam nodded. "Megabyte and I met him late last year."
Alex decided that he'd ask Kevin for the details later. For now, he was having enough problems getting his head around the idea that he was a Tomorrow Person without adding the complications of Immortals to the mix.
"So are there are other Tomorrow People?" he asked instead, thinking back to his earlier thoughts. Surely there couldn't be only the six of them? The atmosphere in the ship grew quiet and Alex wondered if he'd asked something he shouldn't have. He glanced out the view port of the ship, noticing for the first time the raised symbols on the walls. The reflection from the central column bathed them in an eerie glow and Alex shivered. The constant hum he'd been aware of since his arrival seemed to change in intensity for a moment, shifting to match the sudden silence.
Okay, so that hadn't been a good question for some reason. He tried another tact in an attempt to make amends for whatever he'd just done. "Funny how I met you guys about a month ago. Does that happen often before someone breaks out?" /Hang on a moment./ Alex felt pieces of a puzzle slide into place. "You guys know Lisa. Is Lisa one of you?"
Megabyte and Kevin exchanged a look before the American moved to stand closer to Jade.
Finally Kevin broke the silence. "One of us, Alex," he corrected quietly. "You're a Tomorrow Person too, now." He glanced at Adam and Alex saw his concern echoed on the faces of the faces of the others. What the hell was going on?
"Lisa is one of us," confirmed Adam, and Alex could feel what he guessed was his telepathic awareness of him diminish. Was this what happened when a Tomorrow Person strengthened their mental shields? Adam continued, his voice totally lacking in emotion, "but she'd rather not be."
He was upset by Lisa's decision. That had to be it. As their unofficial leader, he probably took his responsibilities very seriously; it wouldn't have been easy letting her walk away from them.
/How could someone rather not be a Tomorrow Person?/
Lisa had been on edge for quite a while after seeing Kevin that day in the Forest Park, as had Jamie. Alex hadn't asked, after all it was none of his business but he'd felt concerned for both of them. Jamie didn't like it when Lisa distanced herself from him; he knew his brother well enough to read the signs. He doubted she'd told him about this either; not if it were something she was trying to ignore herself.
/How could someone rather not be a Tomorrow Person?/ He repeated the question in his own mind, realising that it led to other questions, questions which now affected him.
/Who is supposed to know about the Tomorrow People? I don't like keeping secrets but surely it can't be a good idea to let too many people know that we exist?/
"Got it in one, kid," Megabyte told him. Damn, he'd been broadcasting again. The sooner he learnt about this shielding the better. "There are too many psycho bad guys out there who'd love to get their hands on us. Some have already tried." Megabyte squeezed Jade's hand and Alex remembered the way she'd introduced herself as his girlfriend, despite the protestations to the contrary.
"What about our families?" he asked, Megabyte's words sending a shiver through him. He'd been so worried about controlling his powers that he hadn't given a thought to the danger having those powers might involve.
"I'd get used to the idea yourself first, Alex," Kevin suggested, "and worry about who needs to know later." The other boy gave him a sad smile. "One step at a time, and hope it's the right one…"
******
"So how do Trent and his band of merry men fit into the Watcher scenario?" asked Damon. "You guys watch Immortals but don't interfere, right?" Although he appeared to be taking the concept of the Watchers in his stride, his previous ignorance of their existence confirmed Joe's suspicions that Methos, acting true to form, had only shared as much information as he'd had to. "Did Trent lose his copy of the guidebook or did something happen to make him decide not to follow the party line?
"We refer to Trent's organisation as Hunters," Joe told him, before taking another swig of coffee. "The title's self explanatory. They used to be Watchers but then under the leadership of my late brother-in-law, James Horton, decided that Immortals were a threat to the human race and needed to be wiped out."
"Because of the Game or because they aren't what you might term human?" Damon frowned as he took a moment to study the ring on his left hand. His tone, when he finally spoke, echoed his earlier disgust. "Like the Tomorrow People aren't human."
"Got it in one," Joe confirmed. Not only did they have a common problem, but a common goal. They were each, in their own way, trying to protect those they cared about from the same enemy.
"It sounds to me," Damon said slowly, "that we should be pooling our resources against this threat. We both have secrets to hide and people to protect, and you have access to resources I could use and vice versa. I'd like to think I could trust you, Dawson, I really would. I've been practically on my own with this one for a long time, and I could sure do with someone to share the load with."
Noticing again just how tired Damon seemed, Joe held his hand out in a gesture of friendship. "My friends call me Joe," he said, "And don't worry, your secret is safe with me. Even if I need the Watchers' help, I can't see any reason why I need to tell them the whole truth. There's no way I'm prepared to let the Hunters go after a bunch of kids. I don't like them going after Immortals either, but at least they have a fairer chance of defending themselves than these kids do."
Damon hesitated for a moment and then reached over the table to accept Joe's offer. "The name's Bill," he told Joe. His initial look of relief grew sombre. "The Tomorrow People can't defend themselves…how the hell can these Hunters justify wiping out a race which can't even kill to protect themselves?" Joe's eyes widened. This was a piece of information he hadn't known. Bill continued, watching Joe carefully. "As my son keeps trying to tell me, having these powers has its downside too. I'm not convinced being unable to kill is bad thing, but he's having problems coming to terms with it." An expression of pain crossed his features momentarily before disappearing.
"Okay," said Joe, sensing that it was time to move on. "How many people if any, in your organisation, know about the Tomorrow People and who can you trust?"
"Frank, my aide. That's about it, really though it's beyond me why more people haven't found out by now considering the trouble they've teleported themselves into lately. They seem to attract psycho bad guys like a magnet. I'm spending more and more time trying to cover their tracks and that's what worries me, Joe." He took another swig of coffee. "It's only a matter of time before I slip up and leave a trail for the wrong people."
"Gil Hawkins has been working undercover for me in Masters' organisation. He's the one who got me the copy of the CD I'm sure you used to track me down." Joe paused. Damn. He muttered something rude under his breath as realisation hit home. "He never told me that the Tomorrow People were kids; it's information he should have been aware of."
"He's in his twenties, with bleached blond hair?" Bill asked.
Joe nodded.
"The guy was listening to the fun discussion I had with Masters. We talked about the non-killing and the fact they were kids and it would have been loud and clear that one of them is my son." Bill put down his cup, his face grim. "It sounds as though this guy is working undercover, alright, but as a double agent."
It was the only thing that made sense. Those details shouldn't have been omitted, especially given the information Bill had just shared. The details that Hawkins had conveniently forgotten to share were those which would have tipped the scale in the Tomorrow People's favour. The way the CD had read, it had looked as though the whole teleporter angle had been an experiment gone wrong, nothing more. There was certainly nothing there to suggest that the next stage of evolution had arrived. This put a completely different spin on things.
"Okay," he told Bill. "It sounds as though there isn't anyone we can trust on either side apart from this Frank of yours. And Methos, if the old guy ever shows his face again." Joe paused, frowning as he wondered if he was getting sloppy in his old age. Did Bill know Pierson was really Methos? Hell, if he and Bill were going to work together they had to share all their information or this would be a waste of time.
"So he's been able to disappear so well that even your Watchers can't track him? " Bill rolled his eyes. "Do they even know he's Immortal? From what he told us, it wouldn't surprise me if very few people knew that Methos was any more than a myth."
"Very few people do," confirmed Joe. "I suspect it's the reason he's managed to survive so long." He paused. "This is going to be harder than we thought. We need to find out what exactly Trent is up to, how Hawkins fits into all this, and what the hell we can do to stop them."
"Oh is that all?" asked Bill, the sarcasm in his voice obvious, as he took another swig of coffee. He grimaced. "It sounds like the story of my life, at least for the past few years. Do you have kids, Joe?"
Half-guessing what was coming next, Joe nodded.
"I've read all the parenting books, including the ones on raising teenagers - though I suspect my kids would be surprised to hear me admit to it - but I've yet to find a chapter on how to deal with your kid being a member of a new species." The corners of Bill's mouth twitched. "There needs to be a parents' guide available for raising a Tomorrow Person," he sighed, "and another on how to deal with the psycho bad guys as the kids like to refer to them."
"And another called /Watching Immortals Made Easy/."
"Same books, different titles?" Bill chuckled.
Joe grinned. "You learn fast. I'll make you a deal, I'll find you a copy, if you find me a copy."
"Done." Bill paused. "And thank you."
******
End of Chapter Four
TBC