xp_logs | There Will Be Peace...: Act 1- Scene 6- "Mastermind"

Julian and Angel arrive at the Malibu beach house only to discover Dori and Nico have portaled their way across the country to assist them. Things go from bad to worse when Gordon shows up with instructions for Julian get get his family back.

Backdated to Friday the 26th

Technically the Keller's had over a dozen homes located across southern California- but Julian had a feeling that the one Simon had meant in his message was the one where he, Angel and some others had spent time prior to being disinherited by his father. "Hey," he reached out and prodded his ex-girlfriend, waking her from the slumber she'd come to deserve after driving a good portion of the night. Julian hadn't slept since his meeting with Simon nearly two days before and the strain was showing as large bags were starting to form under his eyes. "We're here," he said plainly as they pulled up to the large, rebuilt metal gates of the Keller's Malibu beach house.

In the front passenger seat, Angel grunted and stirred, finally sitting up completely. Normally sleeping in a car was hard for her as she just could never seem to get comfortable; after the relentless driving, though, she'd passed out the moment she'd handed over the wheel. Angel rubbed at her face and took a look around, frowning slightly.

"Place seems pretty deserted. You sure we're not going to get a gate winged at our heads again?"

"About fifty-fifty on that," Julian reached out and undid the latch on the gate before swinging it open and pulling forward. About halfway through the gate, the car came to an abrupt stop as the teenage duo peered through the windshield at a light coming from the living room window. "Shit."

"Shit? Lights on are a bad thing?" Angel swung her gaze to stare at Julian.

He pulled the car the rest of the way forward with the lights off. Once clear of the gate, the doors silently swung shut. Opening the car he pocketed the keys and looked over to Angel who was still staring at him. "Stay here- if things get nasty, come in from the back porch."

Angel was immediately out of the car, completely ignoring his words. "Keller, I'm having the sinking feeling that you're holding something back from me," she said quietly. Fury underlined her words but only barely - if something was wrong, she'd deal with him later. "Staying here is stupid. I'm going to go 'round back and make my way from in there." She stabbed a finger in his direction. "When we get an all clear? We're going to talk about this."

Before he could blink, Angel was already heading off toward the beach that would lead to the stairs up to the deck, with a sigh he approached the large bay window that had been repaired since their last visit. The curtains were drawn, but he could make out vague shapes, two people were inside...watching television? If Gordon had wanted to kill him, he certainly would have hired better assassins than this. With a lump forming in his throat, Julian quietly moved toward the front door, reaching out and taking the hinges apart with his TeeKay, then floating the massive block of red wood onto the driveway without a sound. Taking a few steps inside, he heard two women talking and a television blaring...their voices were instantly recognizable.

Nico wasn't exactly watching television. Or not anymore. She had stood and leaned against the back of the sofa where Doreen was sitting, staring at the ceiling and sighing every now and then. She had left the only safe place for her, all to keep an eye on not only Julian, but the girl in the room with her. She knew Dori wasn't going to accept a now, and had ended up making things easier for both of them; it wasn't as if she were going to sit put and wait for Julian to get into trouble anyway. So they were in the Malibu house, alright. "This isn't probably the right place", said for the time number three hundred seventy four. She trusted the Staff of One, but hey, maybe her command hadn't been clear enough.

"Trust me, it is," Doreen said around a mouthful of chips, "He'll be here."

Julian reached out and turned off the television, "What...the...fuck?!"

Dori had a smug smile on her face as she turned to Nico, "Told you so," she said to her one friend and then turned to Julian and waved, "Hi!"

Turning slightly red in the face, the teenager's eyes began to glow an acidic green as he looked to Nico, "You were supposed to stay put!" Suddenly the glass holding back to the plasma screen's medium shattered and the lights began to flicker.

If Nico was surprised by the things suddenly breaking and exploding, she did one hell of a good job covering it. "You seriously thought that Dori would just stay put? I wasn't going to let her run away on her own...and I wasn't going to let you run away, so suck it up." She looked past him, and then around. "Where's Angel?"

Julian glanced behind himself, half expecting his ex to be standing there, tapping her foot on the marble floors with an expression that could only be interpreted as 'we need to talk.' Thankfully, she wasn't there, "She's coming in from the back since we saw the lights on. We thought we might get ambushed." Taking a few steps toward them, Julian pointed for the front door, "Go, if she catches you here it's all over. Just, teleport or whatever, back to Colorado, please!"

Doreen sniffed the air lightly, "She is almost here. You two couldn't ambush me if you life depended on it," she said then took a more serious stance, "We're not going anywhere. We're here to make sure you don't get yourself killed and if you think we're leaving you can well... stuff it!" she said, pointing a clawed finger at his chest.

"Sweet Jesus, people can hear you three a mile away!" Angel snapped, slamming open the door to the room. She looked even more furious than she had when she'd left Julian moments before. "I don't know what the hell is going on, all I know is that Keller's in some sort of trouble and you two decided to run headfirst into it!"

Silently, she held up the cell phone in her hand. "Call's been back to the mansion," Angel said grimly. "Jean and Jan already figured something was up and are on their way here."

Julian shut his eyes and took a deep breath, "Fine. Fine! Exactly what I was trying to avoid." He started toward the door, "I have no intention of being here when they arrive. I-" suddenly a large, bright flash of light filled the room. Once it faded and the stars had faded from his vision there was a well dressed man standing in front of him. Taking a couple steps back, Julian barely registered the other scrubby looking man standing in the corner. "McPhearson."

As his hands and arms curled into two two bars in front of his chest, a smile twisted only the corners of Gordon McPhearson's lips. "Wow, I don't know if I should be proud of my super sneaky skills that let you get this close to me, or insulted that your the same kid that landed me in the slammer, and now walked head first into what could obviously be a trap." He let out a low chuckle. "But we should save the pleasantries for a more private place. The balcony perhaps?"

*****

The cool, late November night-air blowing off the ocean carried the scents of salt and dead fish as Julian leaned against the railing of the overlook attached to the rear of his family beach house. Beside him, Gordon took up a similar posture and a beat of silence passed between them as Keller forced down the instinct to crush his old boss into a smear on the sand. "You went through a great deal of trouble to get me to talk, Gordie. How about you tell me why?" the teenager's tone couldn't have been more icy if he'd tried to make it so.

"Is that anyway to start a conversation with an old friend Mr. Keller?" As Gordon peered over his nose, he matched Julian's smile. But his was literally dripping with sarcasm and confidence. The kind of smile that could only be held by someone who was involved in a game of high stakes that they already knew they had won. Slowly he turned his attention back to the ocean. "Besides, why would I show you my hand already when it's always oh, so much fun to watch you sweat?"

Anger boiled over and Julian fought back the urge to toss McPhearson into the ocean. "Look, you son-of-a-bitch, you're a coniving pusher and I don't trust you any more than you trust me." Julian closed the gap between the two of them quickly, nearly touching McPhearson's arm and pulling away at the last second to prevent the older man from stripping his powers. "You brought me out here, now tell me what the hell it was for."

Gordon quickly raised a single finger in front of his face. "Careful, you don't wanna get too close." His smile grew even larger. "After all, you wouldn't want to have something happen to mommy and daddy Keller now would you?" He couldn't help but let a bit of a chuckle rumble from his throat. "It's funny. Even without my powers, I've learned ways to relieve you and others like you of using yours."

"Gordie, you couldn't have picked worse bait. I mean, haven't you heard? They disowned me!" Julian's voice cracked slightly. This was the first time since it had happened a year ago that he'd been this angry about it and all that fury was being channeled right at his former boss.

The older mutant quickly cocked his head to the side. "You can put on the front all you want Julian, but I've known you a lot better than they even did. And I know that despite talking a big game, you still would do anything to protect your parents." He quickly moved his hands over the railing in front of him. "And in case you haven't noticed, you're from a bit of an exclusive environment. If two prominent members of the community turn up missing, do you really think they're going to think too far outside the box? Or will they quickly have police knocking down the door of the couples son that we all know is a bit different?"

With a low growl, Julian leaned back against the rail and looked out at the ocean. "Fine. You've got me cornered. Now what are you going to do? Kill me?"

"You disappoint me Keller." Gordon doesn't even look to the side as he continues. "What use would you serve to me dead, when you can provide me with so much more alive." Finally he turned, the half-cocked grin still on his face. "Your talents would be such a waste if they were ignored by someone in my current position."

"And what position would that be?" Keller mumbled.

"You're old position Mr. Keller." Gordon had to resist the urge to turn around and watch Julian's reaction. He was still feeding off the energy of his former cohort. "There are certain... jobs that have come to my attention. Jobs that someone of your ilk could be very useful in their completion."

"So you want me to work for you again and you'll let my family go?" Julian shook his head, "You really expect me to believe that a snake like you will keep your word?" Picking up a patio chair in anger, the boy flung it into the ocean, putting all his excess energy behind it. Panting, he turned back to Gordon, "Fine, you let them go and I'll work for you again."

It was the response that Gordon already knew was coming, but it still didn't change how much more satisfying it sounded out loud than in his head. "Wonderful." He finally spun around after the chair flew over his head. "But to be honest, I'm still amazed that you thought that you even had a choice." Walking forward he extended his hand, a slight shrug in the process. "What, no handshake to seal the deal?"

Julian raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest, "I'm not that dumb, Gordon." Julian turned toward the ocean, "So what do you need from me?"

"Well you see Julian, I'm feeling a bit... generous today." His smile took on the shape of a cat's, just playing with his prey. "I could always just keep your family, and force you back in your old post. But I hate employees that are unhappy on their job. So I'll cut a deal with you." For the first time since moving Julian to the deck, Gordon made direct eye contact. "One job, and your family goes free Keller. One job for each of them that is."

"Three jobs then, fine," Julian didn't dare break eye contact with the crime boss. "What do you need? Drugs? Money?"

"Not just three jobs. Three jobs in three days." He let out a snort of laughter. "But why would I send you to go after drugs or money Keller? I could get those any time I want. I need to make sure that my competition knows that the Lords of War aren't a group to be messed with. But this pretty face isn't one that would be served too well on any most wanted list." His smile returned. "But yours will do." Raising his index finger up in the air, he began. "On the 29th, I need you to knock over one of Malibu's high end jewelry stores. Let them know that no one is safe from us." His middle finger raised as well. "On the 30th, your job is to take down one of our rival's drug labs, establishing us as the only safe supplier in town." His ring finger popped up. "And on the 1st, a kidnapping. Just to show that the elite aren't safe either. And to let you have a taste of just how hard it is to nab someone in this town." He couldn't stifle his laughter at the not too subtle jab.

Julian exhaled slowly, "You're not giving me a lot of time to plan this. I mean, let's start with the first job, a raid on a drug facility, by myself?" With a shake of his head he threw his arms up in the air, "I need some sort of support with that, I mean, am I leading a team or what?" He held up two fingers, "Second, a jewelry store? My face is going to be plastered everywhere! And finally, you want me to kidnap someone? Fine, whatever, but you had better fucking hold up on your end of the deal, otherwise, I'm going to enjoy watching you die, slowly and painfully as I telekinetically cause your heart to slow and your blood to speed up...maybe a nice stroke in the brain too while we're at it." Julian poked his former boss' chest, putting some force behind it, just enough to push him back. "I'm not fucking around anymore McPhearson. You try to cross me, and I will end you. Whether or not my family is safe."

"Tough words for someone that doesn't have any chips to bring to the table." Despite the slight shove, Gordon simply crossed his arms in front of his chest. "You're gonna have to figure out how to get through this situation. That is of course if you ever want to see the other Keller's again." He cocked his head to the side. "But I'm a man of my word. You come through your end of the bargain. They walk."

Julian was quiet for a moment as he considered his lack of options. Finally, he broke the silence with a nod, "Deal. What are the details?"