Disclaimer: I don't own Human Target and intend no copyright infringement.
A/N: THANK YOU niagaraweasel and pocketsevens for your input!
"I'm not going to tell you anything", the bound man snarled. "No matter what you're planning to do to me, trust me, the people who hired me are ten times worse."
"I wouldn't bet on that…", Winston mumbled, throwing an uneasy glance at Ames.
"A challenge! Now, how cool is that?"
Ames put her hands on her hips and leaned towards the man on the chair with an amused twinkle in her eyes, studying him as if he was some sort of interesting beetle.
Of course she made sure she was far enough away from his face that he couldn't suddenly snap his head forward and break her nose or bite her. Guerrero was a brutal teacher, but you did learn from him, boy, did you learn.
"I really love challenges", she added in a mock purr. Then she took the taser from Chance and pointed it in a more -um- central location... "I wouldn't have aimed for your thigh. Now talk or I BBQ the boys."
"I don't need to remind you that the Marshall Pucci foundation has a certain policy towards torture and human rights, do I?", Ilsa anxiously asked Ames.
"Because it made such a difference the last ten times you did…", Winston muttered.
"Maybe you should leave the room…", Chance told Ilsa.
"We still have five law suits pending – FIVE!", she protested, shoulders already slumping in defeat.
"Are you planning to torture him?", Mr. Tucker asked cautiously, eyeing the captive and his daughter's bodyguards with equal worry.
"Are you very fond of this carpet?" Chance used the tip of his foot to turn a corner of it over. "The stains are usually hard to remove, even with one of those oxy action cleaners."
"If you're not too fond of it, the size would be perfect for later… wrap up… you know…" Ames looked at the carpet with an appreciative nod.
"I'm NOT hearing this! I'm NOT hearing this!" Ilsa threw her hands up in complete desperation.
"Oh, and if you do have any of these oxy action cleaners it would be great if you could lend me some… they truly work miracles…" Ames was broadly grinning now.
"I'm going to text the lawyers that they're in for an all-nighter…", Ilsa sighed.
"We… ugh… prefer environment friendly products…", Mrs. Tucker stuttered. "Would tabs for the dishwasher do?"
"With a bucket of water…" Ames nodded at Chance to help her remove the carpet. Mrs. Tucker scurried out of the room
Mr. Tucker and Marybeth just looked at them, all of them, with eyes the size of saucers.
"If you think you can scare me…", the captive started.
At this very moment, the telephone rang.
"Number suppressed", Mr. Tucker read from the display.
Chance took the call and put it on speaker so that the others would know what was going on.
In hindsight, that would turn out to have been a mistake.
"You've made the acquaintance of one of our employees", an ominous voice said darkly. "He wasn't supposed to do any harm to Ms. Tucker. It would be great if you could take that into consideration…"
"So far no damage done…", Chance replied. "All we need to know is who and why. To flush out the threat and keep Ms. Tucker safe for good. We can't watch over her forever."
"We've neutralized the threat half an hour ago ", the voice said. "Permanently. We were just on the verge of calling our employee back. Thank you for watching over Marybeth, Mr. Chance."
"So this is it?", Mr. Tucker blurted out. "My daughter's life was threatened, at least two people died, if I understood you correctly, and now it's all over, just like that? Without any explanation?"
"Trust us, Mr. Tucker", said the voice. "You don't want an explanation. Just keep living your life like you used to do."
"But that's impossible. You people… brought a gorilla to the table… why was Marybeth threatened? What did my daughter do? Could it happen again?" Mr. Tucker was beside himself with worry.
Mrs. Tucker came back into the dining room with the tabs and a bucket of water. She heard the voice on the phone and froze. Marybeth walked up to her and took her in her arms.
"Don't I deserve an explanation?", Marybeth spoke up. "Don't I deserve to know why somebody wanted me dead?"
The voice on the phone hesitated for a moment, then: "If you really insist, Marybeth, then we'll tell you. But know that afterwards nothing will ever be the same."
Chance felt a cold shiver running down his spine. There was something about this situation… Ames was suddenly by his side and took his hand.
"I insist", Marybeth said.
For a long while the voice said nothing. Then: "Please keep in mind that I warned you." The voice fell silent again, for at least a minute before it finally continued.
"Thirty-eight years ago, when you were born, you were not born to the Tuckers. You were born to a young prostitute who had accidentally become pregnant from one of our bosses. He knew that you would never grow up in peace if he let her keep you, so he took you away from her and exchanged you with another baby that had been born at the hospital in the same night, almost at the same hour. Another girl. The Tucker's daughter."
Mr. and Mrs. Tucker gasped in horror at this completely unforeseen revelation. The voice just kept talking.
"It turned out our boss' worries were well-founded. Half a year later the prostitute and the girl died when a bomb exploded underneath their car. An act of revenge for some… business decisions… that didn't go down well with everyone. You were safe for many years, Marybeth, because the Tuckers raised you as their own. Unfortunately now someone found out. We hope we managed to stop him before he could spread the word."
The caller hung up on them, leaving a room full of completely shocked people.
"They killed our daughter? My baby is dead?" Mrs. Tucker's legs gave way. Winston caught her. He had to carry her into the living-room and place her on the sofa. Mr. Tucker kneeled by her side. Both were crying.
Marybeth was crying, too. But no one was by her side. Opposite her parents she stood, speechless, helpless, horrified. "Their daughter was killed for me", she whispered. "It's my fault a baby died."
Ilsa embraced her and told her that she had had absolutely no control over the situation, being a baby herself. She repeated several times that the circumstances she had been born under were not her fault.
But they could all tell from Marybeth's face that she was not buying it a bit.
When they left the Tucker's house that evening, it left a bad taste in everybody's mouth. Marybeth's life lay in ruins.
Would she and her family ever get over this? Or would the Tuckers from now on forever blame her for the death of the real Marybeth?
Where would she go from here? The road that way lying ahead of her was damn dark and rocky.
When Chance came home he sat down by sleeping Ash's side for a long time.