Disclaimer: Same as usual, oh well.
Four
That night at the dinner table, everyone noticed a listlessness in Jesse that he didn't acknowledge himself. He only picked at his food, his expression distant and his eyes unfocused. None of them wanted to say anything, but finally Emma got sick of it. She exchanged glances with Shalimar, who smiled at her knowingly. Emma put down her fork and waved her hand energetically in front of Jesse's face
. "Earth to Jesse, are you there? Has your brained phased out without the rest of your body or what?" She said deadpan. Brennan smirked and Shalimar giggled. Adam only shook his head and continued to eat. Interference at this point would be useless at this point, what Jesse needed was a poke in the ribs by his friends. Jesse blinked slowly and it was few moments before he responded.
"What?" He looked around and the rest of his teammates, all smiling except for Adam who was still concentrating on his food. "What did I miss?"
"Oh nothing more than twenty minutes of consciousness at least," Brennan remarked.
"Yeah, where have you been anyway," Shalimar said stifling a laugh. Jesse didn't say anything, but only look down at his food. It didn't look touched, just moved around the plate and arranged into strange shapes. He wondered when he had done that.
"Come one Jess, tell us what's bothering you. Does it have to do with that friend of yours, Pheonix?" Emma asked frowning. She wasn't sensing the same elation and happiness she had sensed from him before. The worry that had been in the back of his mind was now evident in every gesture and a feeling of turmoil edged the worry. The elation and happiness was there, but it was clouded over by these other feelings. Something had happened, they just had to find a way to get it out of him. Jesse sighed, not able to keep it down any longer.
"I'm not sure what it is. We had lunch earlier today and for some reason I can't help but feeling she's keeping something from me. Call me crazy, but I think that she's almost afraid to tell me. It has to do with her father, I know that much is certain. That reminds me," Jesse turned to Adam. "Pheonix wanted me to ask you if you could help with investigating her fathers death."
"Investigating how?" Adam put down his own fork.
"Well when I asked her she said the police report listed it as a suicide. She thinks otherwise. None of it fits with the type of person Peter was. He was detached and a little strange, but he never seemed to type to me to commit suicide. The more I think about it the more I feel that she's right."
"I still don't see how I can help."
"Well, Phee says that she thinks that it wasn't suicide, she thinks that he was murdered and it was made to look like a suicide. She also thinks that Genomex has something to do with it. All of his files and research notes had been gone through, but when she checked nothing seemed to have been missing."
"Meaning they didn't find what they were looking for," Adam said nodding his head thoughtfully.
"Any idea as to what he was working on?" Brennan turned to Adam, after glancing at Jesse. Adam thought for a few minutes before answering him.
"Well, before the mutations of New Mutants were discovered he was working on projects that were typical for the everyday genetic researcher. After we started working more with New Mutant DNA, I'd say a few years after his daughter was born, he got into it more heavily. I can't remember anything specific, just that he was interested in the little details of the mutations that form the basis of all of your New Mutant abilities."
"Would it be the kind of research that someone would kill him for?" Shalimar asked frowning.
"Not unless he stumbled across something that someone wanted and he wouldn't give. The only person who would know that, however, is Pheonix."
"It could be what she's keeping from me, but I can't help but think there's more to the story than she's telling me," Jesse poked at his food again.
"I'll do some more research on her background and her fathers, maybe find out what they were doing these past eight years," Adam watched Jesse poke at his food some more. He couldn't help saying something before Jesse was lost in his melancholy. "By the way, didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with your food? You're supposed to eat it, not make art out of it." The tension broke out in laughter from the whole group, even Jesse couldn't even help but smile.
Four
That night at the dinner table, everyone noticed a listlessness in Jesse that he didn't acknowledge himself. He only picked at his food, his expression distant and his eyes unfocused. None of them wanted to say anything, but finally Emma got sick of it. She exchanged glances with Shalimar, who smiled at her knowingly. Emma put down her fork and waved her hand energetically in front of Jesse's face
. "Earth to Jesse, are you there? Has your brained phased out without the rest of your body or what?" She said deadpan. Brennan smirked and Shalimar giggled. Adam only shook his head and continued to eat. Interference at this point would be useless at this point, what Jesse needed was a poke in the ribs by his friends. Jesse blinked slowly and it was few moments before he responded.
"What?" He looked around and the rest of his teammates, all smiling except for Adam who was still concentrating on his food. "What did I miss?"
"Oh nothing more than twenty minutes of consciousness at least," Brennan remarked.
"Yeah, where have you been anyway," Shalimar said stifling a laugh. Jesse didn't say anything, but only look down at his food. It didn't look touched, just moved around the plate and arranged into strange shapes. He wondered when he had done that.
"Come one Jess, tell us what's bothering you. Does it have to do with that friend of yours, Pheonix?" Emma asked frowning. She wasn't sensing the same elation and happiness she had sensed from him before. The worry that had been in the back of his mind was now evident in every gesture and a feeling of turmoil edged the worry. The elation and happiness was there, but it was clouded over by these other feelings. Something had happened, they just had to find a way to get it out of him. Jesse sighed, not able to keep it down any longer.
"I'm not sure what it is. We had lunch earlier today and for some reason I can't help but feeling she's keeping something from me. Call me crazy, but I think that she's almost afraid to tell me. It has to do with her father, I know that much is certain. That reminds me," Jesse turned to Adam. "Pheonix wanted me to ask you if you could help with investigating her fathers death."
"Investigating how?" Adam put down his own fork.
"Well when I asked her she said the police report listed it as a suicide. She thinks otherwise. None of it fits with the type of person Peter was. He was detached and a little strange, but he never seemed to type to me to commit suicide. The more I think about it the more I feel that she's right."
"I still don't see how I can help."
"Well, Phee says that she thinks that it wasn't suicide, she thinks that he was murdered and it was made to look like a suicide. She also thinks that Genomex has something to do with it. All of his files and research notes had been gone through, but when she checked nothing seemed to have been missing."
"Meaning they didn't find what they were looking for," Adam said nodding his head thoughtfully.
"Any idea as to what he was working on?" Brennan turned to Adam, after glancing at Jesse. Adam thought for a few minutes before answering him.
"Well, before the mutations of New Mutants were discovered he was working on projects that were typical for the everyday genetic researcher. After we started working more with New Mutant DNA, I'd say a few years after his daughter was born, he got into it more heavily. I can't remember anything specific, just that he was interested in the little details of the mutations that form the basis of all of your New Mutant abilities."
"Would it be the kind of research that someone would kill him for?" Shalimar asked frowning.
"Not unless he stumbled across something that someone wanted and he wouldn't give. The only person who would know that, however, is Pheonix."
"It could be what she's keeping from me, but I can't help but think there's more to the story than she's telling me," Jesse poked at his food again.
"I'll do some more research on her background and her fathers, maybe find out what they were doing these past eight years," Adam watched Jesse poke at his food some more. He couldn't help saying something before Jesse was lost in his melancholy. "By the way, didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with your food? You're supposed to eat it, not make art out of it." The tension broke out in laughter from the whole group, even Jesse couldn't even help but smile.