Work Text:
F U Money
2098
“Wait, wait, wait,” Dianne Simms commented, to Karen Wainright, a couple of weeks after her rescue from the Mysterons. “Kallen faked a report stating that whole warehouse district was a front for the Beneznik’s?”
“That’s right,” Karen confirmed. “And we blew up the lot of them, other than the one that you were being held in – the Mysterons handled that.”
“As much as I appreciate your efforts,” Dianne replied. “Wouldn’t the owner of the warehouses be annoyed at the destruction of their property?”
“I wouldn’t worry about it too much,” Clara Metcalfe Tracy muttered, as she gently rocked her sleeping daughter, Tian, in the portable crib beside her. “The buildings had just been brought by a new owner, and were slated for demolition, we did the owner a favour.”
“Uh huh,” Dianne replied. “You can’t guarantee that Clara, do you know the new owner’s name by any chance?”
“Hmm… Let's see,” Karen replied, as she looked at the report. “Ah, here it is, some guy called Emmet Houseman.”
“Emmet Houseman?” Dianne replied, suspiciously, as she reached for her tablet. “You sure?”
“Positive,” Karen replied. “Why do you think there’s suspect about it?”
“I know there’s something suspect about it,” Dianne answered as she leaned over the back of the couch to face Kallen Tracy and Paul Metcalfe, who were quietly catching up on reports at the table in the small quarters, while the ladies were having their chat in the lounge area. “Kallen, do you care to share with the class, or do I have to dismantle one of your aliases?”
Paul looked at his son-in-law, “Kallen?” he answered.
“All right Dianne, you caught me,” Kallen replied. “I bought the warehouses, I figured I would cut down on the red tape Blue had to cut though, the weapons that were planted on the site, were stolen weapons from a police impound, that Pat had just tracked down,” he sighed. “And before you ask, yes, those weapons have been accounted for, and what’s left of them have been returned to where they were meant to be.”
Karen looked stunned, “How did you manage to buy those buildings?” she asked. “I know your family is loaded but I didn’t think you had access to the funds anymore.”
“You’re right, I don’t have access to my family’s funds,” Kallen replied. “But I maintained a few aliases as part of the job I did for International Rescue, and let’s say I was able to salvage a few of them, including their bank accounts.”
Karen stared at Kallen, “Just how much…?” she asked.
Dianne held up a hand, “One thing you need to learn about Tracy’s,” she cut in. “Is that they are taught certain things, from a very young age, how to work in the world of business is one of them.”
“You don’t want to know exactly how much money is in those accounts, Karen,” Kallen added. “Only that the purchase price for those warehouses barely made a dent in them.”
Karen whistled loudly, “So what are you going to do with the now empty block of land?” she asked.
Kallen shrugged, “At this moment in time I’m not sure,” he answered. “For security reasons, I’m going to leave as an empty block for now… I’m not comfortable with putting anything there in the short term, because the location is known to the Mysterons, otherwise the location would have been a good area to put a safe house/equipment dump.”
Karen looked at Kallen with surprise, “A safe house?” she questioned.
“As much as I trust your old man, to keep our family safe,” Kallen replied. “I can’t say the same about his superiors.”
“Kallen has a point there, unfortunately,” Paul muttered. “All it would take is some stupid idiot in high command to decide that we are better as science experiments than assets to the fight against the Mysterons, and getting the backing to do it.”
“People like Dr Winston?” Dianne asked softly. “My god she’s going to be coming for my baby, isn’t she?”
“Not if we have anything to say about it,” Paul growled. “That bitch needs a reminder on what could happen to her if she tries anything.”
“Woman needs to learn how to read a room,” Kallen added darkly. “She has been told time again that there are certain tests and experiments we will not allow to be performed on us or with our genetic material.”
“Genetic material?” Karen asked.
“Since I’m proof that reproduction between a Mysteronized human and an ordinary human is possible,” Clara answered with a snarl. “They have wanted Dad, and later Kallen, to donate so they can create more people like me.”
“Which is not going to happen, ever,” Kallen growled. “The only children I’m ever going to have are going to be the ones that Clara has agreed to have with me.”
“Simone became infertile after she had Clara,” Paul added softly. “Gold and Burgandy were not able to figure out if it was because Simone had early menopause or it was a side effect of carrying a child with my DNA.” He sighed, “And if it was the latter, I wasn’t going to let random stranger risk their health to bare my child, that I would most likely not have a say in how they were or cared for.”
Dianne frowned, “Black did mention that it took a couple of years for a Myst female to be able to fall pregnant with another child after having one,” she commented, softly. “And if Simone had Myst hormones affecting her ability to have children…”
Clara put her hand on Dianne’s, “That may have been possible,” she added. “My cycles, before Tian was born, were never the same as a normal human’s, which could be a result of the fact we don’t age as fast or die as easily as a normal human, and I’m yet to have another one.”
Karen gave Clara a side eyed look, “Would you even get a chance find out that your cycles had started before you fell pregnant again?” she asked cheekily.
Kallen groaned, Clara blushed, and Dianne started to giggle, “Not likely,” she snorted.
“Either way, my sentiment on having children is the same as Kallen’s,” Paul growled, as he glared at his son-in-law. “I do not plan on fathering anymore children unless Dianne’s the mother of them.”
Dianne stared at Paul her heart leaping in her chest, she knew Paul had agreed to help her raise her baby once he or she was born, but this was the first time Paul had mentioned having more children himself.
And he wanted to have them with her.
Before she had been Mysteronized, such a sentiment would have frightened her - not the jumping Paul’s bone’s part, she was attracted to him from the first moment she saw him – but having a relationship with a man that was old enough to be her father.
But after becoming a Myst and realising that the connection that they shared was more than just physical attraction…
It was quiet for a few moments, when Karen asked, “But what will you guy’s do if Winston does get her way and comes after you?”
Kallen frowned, “That’s the million-dollar question,” he commented. “Because Skybase is the safest place for us to be currently.”
Paul nodded, “It’s because it’s a moving target with defences,” he added. “It’s harder for the Mysteron’s to pin us down here.”
“But don’t the Mysterons have enough fire power to take out this place if they wanted to?” Karen asked.
“They do,” Clara commented. “But what’s a war of nerves it you blast your opponents out of existence?”
“They are toying with us,” Dianne growled. “They want us beaten and broken and our children as slaves.”
“And will almost certainly affect our ability to run and find a safe haven if people like Winston get their wish,” Kallen growled. “We can run and hide from the powers that be if we need to, but if the Mysteron’s catch wind of us running, they could lure them to us and expose the safe havens I have already set up.”
“Are you saying if something goes wrong that there is nowhere for you to go?” Karen asked.
“Not if we need to hide for an extended period of time,” Paul answered. “And we can’t ask any of our friends dirtside to shelter us.”
Kallen nodded, “They know your, Clara’s and Dianne’s real names,” he added. “First people they would harass would be known friends and family of ours.”
“And your family would be dragged into it because of me,” Dianne muttered.
“Not just by you, Angel,” Paul added. “The Metcalfe’s and the Tracy’s have been family friends since before the Mars mission.”
“The Mars mission?” Karen asked. “The one where Jeff Tracy was the first person to step foot on the planet Mars?”
Dianne nodded, “Who were the other two astronauts on that mission, Karen?” she asked.
Karen thought about it, “Lee Taylor and Tom Met-“ Karen turned to face Paul. “Your father was the third person on Mars?”
Paul nodded, “He was,” he confirmed. “And I think my relationship with the Tracy family is playing a large part in why they don’t want our true identities getting back to International Rescue.”
“Come again?” Kallen asked.
“Think about it Kallen,” Paul pointed out. “If your family knew who we were, their stance on people who are Mysteronized, and broken free of the Mysterons control, could change to one where they would actively defend us.”
“And the last thing people like Winston want, is a powerful organisation that isn’t bound to the world government, becoming a friend to Myst’s that escape Mysteron control,” Dianne muttered darkly. “Why do I get the feeling had you not died on Skybase, when you first broke free, and Colonel White not vouched for you in the beginning, a death notice would have been sent to your sister?”
Paul sighed loudly, “I’ve always wondered about that,” he muttered. “And I started to distance myself from my non-Spectrum friends and family pretty much after the Mysteron’s tried to kill me and my sister and nephew on the first and only trip I took with them after I was Mysteronized.”
Kallen cocked an eyebrow at Paul, “Yet you attempted a camping trip with, Clara, Scott, Sky and Shay in 2080,” he commented.
“Not my smartest decision, in hindsight,” Paul grumbled. “Blame it on me wanting to do something normal with my friend and introduce my daughter to people not in Spectrum.” He sighed loudly. “There is going to a time in the near future when the issue of Tian and the little one getting the chance to meet new people their age is going to come up.”
“And that is not going to be easy,” Karen commented. “I don’t think there is anyone else on Skybase looking to start a family soon.”
“What?” Dianne asked, in a teasing tone. “Are you telling me Ed still hasn’t asked you out for a date?”
Karen swatted Dianne playfully, “Are you forgetting that your boyfriend is my father’s best friend?” she hissed. “I don’t want Ed to get to trouble for something that isn’t happening.”
“Yet.” Paul, Kallen and Clara replied, at the same time.
Karen rolled her eyes, “But seriously,” she grumbled. “How many of the others are likely to start a family on an active military base?”
“They would have to be both active service members of Spectrum to start with,” Clara commented. “That rules out Daniel, if he ever gets the chance to spend more than one week with Sophia again.”
“And considering that we haven’t had Gordon and Si trying to get up here on a turkey shoot,” Kallen quipped. “I’m guessing what birth control they were using that week held.”
“Got issues with the use of birth control, Kallen?” Karen snarked.
Paul laughed, “Karen,” he snorted. “If there is one thing Tracy’s are notorious for, is the unplanned pregnancy.”
“We are not that bad…” Kallen muttered.
“Bad enough,” Dianne commented. “I know that you, Key’s and Sky were conceived before your parents got married.”
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, then,” Karen teased. “We know Clara was knocked up before you two tied the knot, Kallen.”
Kallen and Clara exchanged a look, “Actually, Tian was half planned,” Clara admitted. “None of the Myst… is that we are calling ourselves now… officers are allowed to use birth control.”
Karen and Dianne blinked, “Ha, Ha,” Dianne laughed, sounding slightly hysterical. “Not that I would object to having a couple of kids after this one, I don’t necessarily want to have more than your in-laws, Clara.”
“I don’t necessarily want to more children than my in-laws, either,” Clara replied, as she looked at Kallen. “No offence, Honey.”
“None taken,” Kallen replied. “I don’t have any great desire to have more children than my parents, if it is possible, either.”
“But we may not have a choice in that,” Clara continued. “I have no desire to go back to abstaining from intimacy either.”
Karen’s jaw was hanging open as she looked around at the Myst officers in the room, “So what you guys are basically saying…” she started.
“What we a saying is our rights are pretty limited,” Kallen finished. “And they want to replicate our retrometabolism.”
“From a military standpoint, an army of solders that can heal themselves in hours and on top of that hard to kill in the first place, would be seen as an incredible advantage in the battlefield,” Paul commented. “But…”
“They forget that we are people, not machines,” Dianne stated. “With feelings, thoughts, and wills of our own.”
“What happens if one of you decide that the military life is not for you, then?” Karen asked.
“Since there is a war on, and that we are technically enemy defectors,” Paul answered. “We would be held in custody as prisoners of war since we know too much to be sent back to Mars.”
“Under the tender loving care of the R&D department of Spectrum no doubt,” Clara added darkly.
“What about after the war?” Karen asked.
“We have got to find a way to end it first,” Kallen replied. “I want to take Clara and Tian, as well as anyone else that may be interested, and rejoin my family at Internation Rescue, if they will take us.”
“There would quite a few people leaving Spectrum if it wasn’t for the war, myself included,” Paul added. “My sister’s concerns for me are not misplaced, had I been able to take the opportunity, I would have left Spectrum before Clara was even born.”
It was a sobering thought, and Dianne wasn’t surprised, of course Kallen wanted to go home, and take his family with him… Tian would have several cousins for playmate’s as well as another set of grandparents along with Aunt and Uncles and all the chaos that goes with a large family…
Daniel would undoubtably follow for a chance to finally be with Sophia.
Paul, even though he didn’t look it, was at an age where being on the front lines of a conflict didn’t appeal to him the way it used to, he had a daughter, granddaughter, not to mention other children and grandchildren he would have to look out for in the years to come, that he wanted to be able to spend time with, without being killed every other week.
Tian stirred in her crib and started to cry, “Uh oh,” Clara commented, as she lifted her out. “Looks like somebody needs to be changed.”
Karen pulled a face and looked at the clock, “Is that the time?” she exclaimed, as she got up and moved to the door. “Destiny is going to have my hide, if I don’t report in soon, see you later.”
When Clara took Tian to the bathroom, Dianne stood up and walked over to Paul and Kallen, “You didn’t have to do that for me, Kallen,” she commented. “I’m sure Blue could have gotten the clearances to attack those buildings without you buying them.”
“With or without tipping off the Mysterons?” Kallen replied. “I don’t care about the money I spent on those warehouses, Dianne, it’s part of the reason why I have those accounts and keep them healthy – to protect us, to help give us the means to run, the means to hide and the means to cut through red tape when needed.”
“But-” Dianne started
Kallen held up a hand, “Dianne, when you decided to stay on as a double agent in Spectrum, I became your handler, I had a responsibility to keep you safe,” he snapped. “A responsibility I failed at-“
“Stop right there,” Dianne snapped. “I don’t blame you, or anyone else in Spectrum and IR that matter, for what happened to me, even if I didn’t choose to stay there would have been no guarantee I wouldn’t have been attacked by the Mysterons at another date.”
“She’s right, Kallen,” Paul agreed, as he stood up and pulled Dianne into a hug. “Nobody had any indication that Black was about to target her and your family again.”
“Even the attack on you was random, Kallen,” Dianne added softly.
Kallen sighed loudly as he ran a hand through his hair, “Tell that to the guilt that I feel,” he muttered darkly. “To the thoughts that whisper in the night, that say no matter what I do, I will not be able to keep my family safe, from the dangers coming from all sides.”
Paul tightened his hug, and Dianne knew Paul shared some of the same feelings as his son-in-law.
That even though they were currently safe, who knew how long that safety would last…
And if they had to run, where could they go…