Chapter 7: Background Information

Consciousness returned with a jolt, and Peter found himself jerking upright. The motion had its consequences; a migraine appeared almost instantaneously. As he rubbed his temples, trying to alleviate the pain, he looked up and could see the bright mid-morning sun. Oh, God. He didn't know if he had been out because of his powers or because he was just plain sleeping. The fact that he couldn't tell scared the hell out of him. Slowly, Peter dragged himself to his feet. Looking around, he felt his spirits rise. There were no bodies around. He hadn't hurt anyone this time. But as fast as they had risen, any hope or optimism he felt disappeared as the memories of what he had done already cascaded through his mind. There had been the three lab assistants. Later, there were two more. He couldn't remember any of their faces. He had killed them, just like he had killed the others before. He looked up when he heard a noise. They would be coming after him. He couldn't stay here anymore. He had to leave, had to get away as fast as he could.


It was Tuesday afternoon and Lexa, Shalimar and Brennan were waiting outside a trendy lunchtime café in downtown Philadelphia. When Katie had suggested lunch here, the members of Mutant X had balked, reminding her that the information they would be exchanging was rather sensitive. Katie replied that this particular diner was popular for business deals because the seating arrangements allowed privacy, and it was busy enough that it was impossible to overhear other conversations. Plus there was the fact that it provided an easy access location for all, and they were hungry for something besides leftover takeout.

Lexa's original plan had been to meet David and Katie alone. However, that morning, even after the exhausting tasks of taking Dan to New York and retrieving Rachel, Liang and Anton – and putting them in safehouses – Shalimar had been perceptive. She had sensed that Lexa was hiding something. Lexa had actually been harboring two secrets – the information about Peter and Emma that Jesse had told her last night, and the attack on Katie and David on Saturday night. Given that she wasn't about to break Jesse's trust, and Katie had only told her not to tell Jesse, she had given in and told Shalimar and Brennan about what had happened to Katie. Predictably, they were a little miffed that they had been left out of the loop. Katie had quickly become a part of the family, endearing herself not just because she was Jesse's little sister, but also because of her intelligence, loyalty and congeniality.

Shalimar spotted Katie walking toward them. She was dressed in business causal, blue pinstripe slacks covering sensible square-toed shoes, and a blue stripped fitted top all emphasizing her blond hair, making her look the consummate professional. Walking by her side was a tall man, just over 6 feet tall. He was dressed much more seriously than Katie. His blue power suit was tailored to his trim body, and his hair was combed back neatly. The two of them blended perfectly with the atmosphere of the café, unlike the three mutants, who, although dressed similarly, didn't quite seem to fit in.

As she approached, Katie frowned. "You told them," she stated simply, acknowledging Brennan and Shalimar's presence. "Does Jesse know?"

Lexa held up a hand in mock defense. "I only told them because they figured out I was keeping something from them. And no, Jesse doesn't know."

Brennan had his arm around Shalimar's back in a protective gesture. He had never met David before, and until he had a chance to size him up, he was still a threat. "The only reason we figured something was up was that she wasn't with working with us and she wasn't working with Jesse last night and this morning. She had to be doing something on her own." He didn't mention that the last time she had been doing something on her own, it had resulted in her being captured by the Dominion. But Lexa had become more of the team, which is why, he thought, she had owned up to what she was doing rather than try to hide it.

Katie relaxed some. At least for now, she was safe from the overprotective wrath of her brother. "David, this is Lexa Pierce, Shalimar Fox and Brennan Mulwray," she said indicating each as she introduced them. "They're good friends of mine. Everyone, this is David Yoltz, lead counsel for Kilmartin Enterprises."

The four of them exchanges pleasantries for a few moments more before Brennan ushered them into the building. Shalimar and Brennan flanked David as they entered the establishment, engaging in further pleasantries, and Katie dropped back to speak with Lexa.

"If he doesn't know what's going on, how did the three of you get away?" she asked in a low voice.

"Jesse's gone to New York to talk with Tyrone and Dan." Before Katie could ask who Dan was, Lexa gave her a brief rundown of the events since Saturday night, leaving out the private conversation she had had with Jesse yesterday evening. "Now that everything has had a chance to settle down a bit, he's hoping they'll have more information."

The five of them sat down at a table in the corner of the restaurant. The members of Mutant X found that Katie had been right. The place was so busy that even Shalimar had trouble picking out individual voices. The waiter came by, gave them their ice water and took their orders for soups, salads and/or sandwiches. Once the young man, who looked like he working his way through one of the local universities, left, they felt comfortable enough to begin their conversation.

"So," David asked. "What is it exactly that you guys do? Katie just told me that you were friends of hers and you could discreetly and effectively investigate what happened."

Shalimar sent an almost imperceptible glace towards Lexa. Along with Katie and Brennan, they had agreed to use their standard cover story whenever someone unacquainted with the mutant world asked what it was they did. Although Katie had known and trusted David for several years, the fewer people who knew who they were and what they did, the less chance there was of a security breech, whether it be purposeful or accidental.

"Well," she said to David. "We're basically a private firm that specializes in high security investigations. It's primarily freelance work, and we don't have many competitors. We're they guys they call in when someone steals something top secret or if someone tries to kill the CEO and the company doesn't want anyone to know about it so the company stock won't suffer. If we do our job right, the public never knows anything went wrong in the first place."

Katie listened to Shalimar's explanation for their actions, abilities and talents. She couldn't help remembering the when she had sat down with Adam once and he had explained the reason for Mutant X. He had formed the group because he felt responsible for the repercussions of his research. Rogue scientists and mutants were wreaking havoc on the general public, and in such a way that no one knew what they were doing. Innocent people, whose only crime had been having their genetic structure altered when they were embryos or children were being targeted by those in who thought all evidence of the entire programs should be destroyed. He had told her "they were fighting to protect them from a world most people don't even know exists." It was a phrase that still reverberated in her mind.

Brennan took a sip from his water glass. "We told you about us. What's your deal?"

Shalimar elbowed him. He was being too blunt.

David saw this and relaxed a bit. He knew he was being sized up, but it was nice to know that they weren't out for blood. He waited as the waiter brought their food, then spoke as he used his spoon to stir the soup so it could cool. "Well, I'm sure Katie told you that I did my undergraduate work at Duke and then went to Harvard Law. Maybe even how we met through Natalie?"

They indicated that they had.

"After I graduated, I clerked for an Appellate Court Judge for a year, then went to work of an international shipping company in New York. That's were I was when Katie gave me a call, and I've been working for Kilmartin Enterprises for the past six months." He took a sip of the soup, which was French onion. Hmm. Not bad, he thought.

"What about family?" Lexa asked.

"I was an only child, and my parents died when I was 19."

"I'm sorry."

David shrugged. "I wasn't very close to them." He cleared his throat, anxious to get to the point of the meeting. "Lexa, did you find out anything about the accident?"

She fiddled with her napkin for a moment before answering. "I didn't find as much as I wanted to; we've had a few 'emergencies' back at home base. But, according to the police report, there was only one man in the car. His name was Josef Stalin."

Brennan blinked. "As in the Russian dictator who died in 1953?"

Lexa didn't flinch at Brennan's knowledge of history. After she had let herself get to know the other members of the team, she had quickly realized that Brennan was a lot smarter than people gave him credit for. "Same name, but it's the alias for a known hit man. According to Interpol and the FBI, he's known to have killed at least 14 people."

Both David and Katie sat back in their seats. "Why was he after us?" she asked.

Lexa shrugged. "That's one thing I couldn't figure out. The car he was driving was stolen the day before, so that was a dead end. But once the police figured out who he was, I was able to trace his bank accounts. They may be secure by a normal person's standards, but for our systems it was fairly easy. A week ago, someone transferred $20,000 into his account, but I couldn't trace the source. But when the person who paid him for the job finds out that he not only failed, but got himself killed in the process, they'll revoke the transfer. I put a flag on the account. Any activity at all will activate it."

"You think they'll try again." Katie asked, the tone of her voice making it a statement rather than a question.

"Yeah. It's a good bet that whoever is behind it will try again. David, you need to be careful. For your own safety, you should probably stay at the mansion until we figure out who's behind it. I've already researched your professional career. There's no evidence that anyone's out for revenge, so we've got our work cut out for us."

David chuckled. "You already did a background search on me. Why bother asking me about my past then?"

Lexa tilted her head. "It's a classic maneuver. Do your own research about something, then ask the person about it. If there's a difference, someone's lying. I'm sure you do the same thing in your work."

"Touché," David chuckled, saluting Lexa with his water glass.

The rest of the meal passed in relative normalcy. The girls chatted about a new style that they didn't particularly like, and Brennan and David talked about Russian history. By the time they were leaving the restaurant, moving south down the street, the boys had moved on to the local football team. Just as they were discussing the team's poor defensive line, a sudden crash, stunned them all into silence.

"Are you guys all right?" a guy on the street asked. "You could have been killed!"

The other people on the street murmured their assent as Brennan, David, Katie, Shalimar and Lexa stared at a heavy winch that had just fallen between them. The machine was the size of a basketball, and had it fallen directly on someone it would have easily killed them. Looking up, they saw the source. A window-washing platform, attached to the building they were standing next to, dangled precariously from one end, a good 150 feet above the ground. Two men were still clinging to the dangling platform.

"Oh! Someone call 911!" a woman shouted.

The five of them moved away from the crowd, which had now turned its attention to the drama unfolding 15 stories up. They walked slowly, eventually coming to a stop.

"A freak accident, right?" Shalimar said.

"Yeah, of course. Hey David, what did you mean the team can't defend their goal?" Brennan nudged David and started walking again, obviously intent on changing the subject for the time being.

"Right, right. Uh, they've got a huge hole in their line. The defense can't move fast enough."

Shalimar watched the boys' conversation resume, albeit solemnly. She turned to Katie. "Keep him at the mansion, if you can. Even if this was an accident, we're obviously dealing with someone who doesn't give a damn about collateral damage. There's something funny going on here, I can almost smell it."



AN: Hey! Where'd my reviewers go? You guys had me spoiled! Anyway, I'd like to know what you guys thought of the 'songfic' from the last chapter, because I'm think of writing some one-shot songfics in the future