With thanks to the whole Fringe roster especially Juli 'Fever' Laine, Chris 'Stout' McGrane, Kirsty 'Sci Fi' Parton and Daniel 'Decibel' Stephens whose contributions to this little tale were invaluable.
Stout was losing his patience quickly.
" Sure and someone is goin' t' explain what's goin' on here NOW! Why dinnae ye start? " he asked Ricardo sweetly and squeezed his neck a little tighter. The Irishman was unsure how to react to the recent revelations but went with the adage 'Stick with the devil that you know.'
"As ye insist," said Ricardo, mimicking the Irishman. "The truth. You should have told them, Dave. It'd sound better coming from you." Dave stayed silent. "So it begins. Dave first encountered the Fringe on the Phalanx homeworld. I say encountered because whilst he knew you were there, you did not know he was there either and he could not find you. He was looking for someone. In fact he was looking for two people - Fever and Blaquesmith. He didn't find them so he returned home and waited for the next prime opportunity to present itself. He'd been watching the two of you for a few months before going to make contact.
"Then came the Hellfire Club - it was perfect and a plan was formed. Jo was a member to get them in and when they were there they did some scouting about. The main plan was to aid one or more of the X-Warrior teams with an aim to joining one. It worked well, and all it needed was a little luck. The luck came as Dave was enthralled by Fitzroy using a mindtap device created by Selene. Jo came to help him, but she was captured and possessed by Mountjoy. Then Fever entered the room and rescued Dave from Fitzroy. Fitzroy and Fever fought it out, with Dave's warning about Fitzroy's powers whilst he freed Jo.
"Then as they realised their luck, Sinister and Storm took on the Inner Circle and Dave used this to his advantage. As they fought, Dave pulled the Hellfire Club apart, allowing the Inner Circle to depart, striking a blow at Sinister in the process for alarming Jo earlier in the evening. Fever invited Dave on to the Fringe and he accepted. Everything Dave did after that was all part of a carefully prepared plan - his battle with Luke, the alien invasion, granted the crystal wave was a blip he had not anticipated, but things happen." He paused to look at Dave who had sat down, his eyes closed. Ricardo smiled again and he waited whilst the Fringe members absorbed what he had told them.
"So he had his eye on us for a while before joining. Any person wid a brain does dat before joining a team. We all got plans, Monsieur. Some are bigger dan odders and you certainly haven' horrified dis Cajun yet. Let me know when to shriek in alarm," Fever replied, unimpressed. She picked up her staff, letting it collapse. "Do go on."
"Oh, Fever," said Ricardo, shaking his head as best he could with Stout grabbed hold of his neck. "That's only the beginning of the tale. I don't expect you to be impressed. Horrified later, perhaps. You have no idea of what your destiny is. Or was. Perhaps it still may be. Other forces will decide Blaquesmith's fate now. For him, it truly is too late. Which just leaves you." He smiled as he continued. "You see, Dave had to make a choice as to what had to happen to prevent the future from collapsing in to a chaos so dark, even the Fringe would fear it. In order to do this, he had a decision to make and as far as I can tell he still has. He has no desire to see your goals succeed. He has and never has had any intention of letting any of you complete your plans. When the time was right, Dave was going to kill you all."
Fever's grey green eyes narrowed. "At least you have de verb tense correct, homme." Her attention turned to Dave. She studied him for long moments, eyes unblinking. The air, thick with tension, threatened to stifle them all. "I, for one, would prefer to hear what you have to say on dis subject, Dave. Your silence could condemn you too easily. I would prefer to give you de benefit of de doubt - especially as I was de one dat made de choice to trust you enough to extend de invitation of membership to de Fringe."
And so the foundations begin to crack, he thought.
"Over five years of planning brought down in minutes," he said quietly. "I think damn is too light a word." His eyes tinged with regret and a sorrow for what he was about to lose. He closed his eyes as he summoned up whatever was left inside him to say what he had to say. He felt a hand hold his. He opened his eyes and saw Jo standing next to him. She nodded and he felt the strength he needed come to him. "Everything he says is true. Totally and completely true. Especially at first. It was like a gift, being offered a place on the team I had to destroy. Granted, at that time the team roster was way too powerful for me to handle, though if I had acted sooner, certain events might not have happened" and my nightmares after the AoX wouldn't have reminded me of what I had to do, he neglected to add. "The problem was as time went on, I found myself liking what I had here - friends, responsibility, perhaps even family - and I tried to influence events so that I wouldn't have to do what I had to. I thought I'd done it, until a few hours ago. It turns out I failed. And there seemed only one way to correct it..." he trailed off, not needing to add detail to it and his counterpart smiled.
"Monty ended up not bombing de place and I kept him. I fail to understand what your t'inking is. Why you t'ink we all have to die for somet'ing we haven't even done? Dere is no fate but what you make and de t'reads can change wid each second." ~By hell, dis team is not going down just coz some gods somewhere else decreed it so. Dat just isn' going to happen.~
Dave shook his head.
"Now there's the problem. 'There is no fate' is a lie. It always has been a lie. It was started to give hope to those who needed it. The only time things can change is at a critical juncture of the time stream. The next one of those is due in about a year or so with the birth of... Well, you don't need to know that." He shook his head. "And why must you die? I can't tell you, because it might or might not alter the way of that critical path. It is damned frustrating, at times." Ricardo spoke up.
"Do you really think it was coincidence that I was down here tonight? That I met Dave tonight?" He laughed. "I knew he was coming. He was going to kill you all tonight."
Sci-Fi stepped up, before Dave could deny the accusation
"Perhaps there is fate, but have we NO control over it?" She looked at Goldfish warily. "I'm not fond of the idea of dying, you know." Something troubled her still. "You," she pointed at Ricardo. "You are what I don't understand. Why are you here then? To stop him from killing us?"
"An intelligent question. I am here to make sure that he does as he is supposed to. I know Dave because I am Dave and I know that there is still a spark of decency in him that might have stopped him. There's one thing that keeps that decency alive - his love for Jo." He looked to Dave. "And for what this is worth, I'm sorry I have to do this." He turned his gaze to Jo. "Do you realise that Dave has also been lying to you as well? You know when he was captured by the Shi'ar and charged with destruction of the UK and the deaths of millions? Did you know that he slept with Sapphire de Silva whilst they were on the Shi'ar prison planet, waiting to either escape or be rescued?"
"Oh, God. Not that," whispered Dave, and inside him something broke, as he saw the look in Jo's eyes.
"No," said Jo as her hand fell from her husbands. "NO!" she slapped Dave hard across the face, and ran from the Bar. Something in Dave snapped and the look on his face now was that of pure rage, directed at his counterpart.
"Excellent!" said Ricardo. Goldfish's powers reached out to Ricardo and snapped his neck, killing him instantly. He turned to the assembled members of the Fringe.
"Make peace with whatever gods you have, for you are all next!"
Stout felt the man's pulse slow and stop beneath his thick fingers. He cursed himself for not acting sooner to have both Dave and Ricardo under control. " Ye know Dave lad this Irishman is gettin' a wee bit tired o' people stridin' in here and makin' death threats! But if'n ye have yiur heart set on it than ye can start with me! " With that Stout tackled Goldfish, driving him back against the bar with a crunch that could only be the sound of ribs breaking. While he still had a hold of Goldfish, Stout tapped his communicator to initialise the transport sequence. The portal appeared beside them and Stout dove into the portal dragging Goldfish with him. The portal snap shut but unfortunately there were no exit co-ordinates so the Warder and Chevalier were dumped back onto the floor of the bar, both of them very disoriented from the backlash.
Dave was the first to recover, due to his experiences with teleportation but Stout soon followed him. Dave's ribs hurt badly but he ignored the pain, using the iron in his bloodstream to bind them. He had been chided by his other self for not fulfilling his potential, so he wondered how much of it he would need to survive this. His entire plan shot to hell, a one on one fight with these people was something he'd not been prepared for. He had been prepared to take them unawares, a series of accidents. But that was not to be so he concentrated on Stout's body, forcing the blood under his skin to rise to the surface, through his pores. At first there were a few drops, then a trickle. Soon it would be pouring. Then he realised he had been focusing solely on Stout, ignoring Fever and Sci-Fi. Curse me for a fool, he thought, but deep inside there was a voice begging his friends to somehow stop him.
Fever had almost cried out in fear when the two had disappeared. She grabbed up the mop by the jukebox as they reappeared on the floor. Blood started to appear on Stout. She wished she had one of the inhibiting collars with her. The mop's wooden end swung up and then in the downward arc, slamming into Dave's right temple. It quickly reversed direction. ~Gotta knock him out. Have to.~ The mop end swung downward full force, Stout rolling aside. It connected with the left side of Dave's head with a sickening crack as Fever angrily snarled, the protective feralness rising in her. The man had crossed the last line with her. Her hand slid down, grasping the wood vertically, ready to drive it down into his sternum.
Dave's head spun, with millions of thoughts going through his head, including those of sleep. The plan was gone, and this opportunity would never come again. He knew it was nearly over, but he would not go down this easily. Push past the pain, he thought as he concentrated, knowing that this next move would have to be a good one. Fever's viciousness swallowed his own and he saw the wood coming down. He reached out with his powers, commanding the trace metals in Fever's body to stop in their tracks. The timing was closer than he had liked with the staff stopping just before it hit him, but it had been enough. Rolling out of Fever's way, he knew he could not hold her for long and his head was pounding.
Sci-Fi constructed a protective magnetic bubble around herself, then leaped to Fever's aid. She didn't know if the magnetic powers would help her or not, having never quite understood Goldfish's powers, but she hoped she would be safe enough. Grabbing the a chair, she swung down hard at Dave.
Oh, bloody hell, thought Dave. His hold on Fever was weakening and he was definitely hurting badly. He released his grip on Fever, who slammed her staff down on to the floor, nearly losing her balance. He focused on the chair coming at him, using the heat powers at his command. Changing tactics was a good idea he thought as he focused all the available heat in the room onto the chair, igniting it. Sci-fi yelped as it began to burn her and her aim altered and she hit Dave on the leg with the chair. His head pounding, his ribs in pain and his leg seriously burnt, he summoned up his willpower and stood up, using his daystaff as a support.
"Who else?" he snarled, the pain of his body and the cold of the room keeping him conscious.
Stout was down but by no means out, he stared at the blood on his skin in shock, bleeding was not something he was familiar with at all. Sci Fi's scream of pain shaking him into reality, Stout took in the situation before acting. Fever stood frozen in place and Sci Fi was doubled over clutching her burned hands to her body. Stout dove at Dave again, slamming a fist into the Chevalier's already broken ribs.
"Dinnae be countin' us down yet boyo! " Stout said between clenched teeth and swept Goldfish's feet out from under him. " Well now! Sure and it looks like we're back at square one! " he said closing his fist around Dave's neck and holding him to the ground. " Now 'Dave'. " the Irishman used the name with disgust. " Ye let Bright Eyes loose..... NOW! "
"I've already done that, you fool," snarled Dave, his temper not cooling a bit. The daystaff had fallen from his hand, though he could just about reach it, which put him in its sphere of influence. He could just about summon enough energy to ignite all the metals in Stout's body, frying his blood in its veins. "Say goodnight, Gracie!" Then everything happened at once. Dave let loose his powers a fraction of a second before Stout vanished in a flash of light, Jo appearing in his stead and Stout appearing by Fever.
"NO!" cried Dave but it was too late to stop it and Jo took the blast full on. "No," he whispered, shocked back to reality, filled with remorse at his actions and disgust at how far he had fallen. "My God, what have I done?"
"I love you, D," said Jo, and then she was gone.
Sci-Fi saw Stout disappear, then reappear beside Fever, as someone else was hit by Goldfish's blast. Still holding her burnt hands carefully, she rushed over to her teammates.
"Stout?" she looked to the warder in confusion. "What happened?" "I dinnae know lass! " Stout exclaimed as he wrapped one protective arm around Fever, knowing that she did not need protecting but it made him feel better. They watched as Jo slumped to the floor and Stout began to finish the fight. He stopped short though when he saw that Jo was dead. " SWEET MOTHER MARY! WHAT ARE YE? SOME KIND O' MONSTER? " Stout bellowed, not yet understanding that Dave was as shocked as he. Without waiting for an answer, the Irishman grabbed Goldfish up and smacked him open handed across the side of his head.
Dave felt himself being draped over Stout's massive shoulder as he slipped into unconsciousness. He woke up coughing at the smelling salts being held under his nose and found himself strapped to a medbed with a dampening collar around his neck. Fever, Stout and Sci Fi stood over him an unhappy trio at best.
The door to the medlab opened and in walked Decibel, hair tussled, his face partially coated in shaving cream, and a small bleeding cut on his chin. As he reached for the Band-Aids, he noticed the strange gathering.
"Oh, hey guys. What's going on? Thought I heard some noise earlier. Dave try to arm-wrestle Stout or something?...... What? ..........What?"
Oh great, thought Dave. Let's make a party out of this. "Actually, I tried to kill everyone," he grunted as he tried to sit up, but found he couldn't. The collar around his neck hurt and his battered, bruised and burnt body was only just responding to his thoughts. He saw his daystaff at the other side of the room and he sighed. Jo's last words to him still haunted his mind. 'I loved you' she had said and had gone before he could say a word. His madness was gone and lacking the rage to keep him going, he was tired. He looked at the trio he'd attacked and he closed his eyes. "Say what you have to," he whispered, "and then I'll go."
"I can't even find the words," Fever whispered, her original southern back. She turned away, setting her hands on the counter and resting on them as she thought. Her hair spilled down over her face, hiding from everyone. Her velvet voice spoke lowly, wearily, edged with betrayment. "You need to see to Jo's burial rites. You need to decide if killing de Fringe is still your A-One priority and know we will not go down so easily. And Know you have broken Fait' wid me..." she trailed off, unsure what to say, unwilling to have to boot yet a third person out of the Fringe. Stout had already taken his communicator. She straightened and left the infirmary without looking back at him.
Stout watched Fever leave before turning back to Goldfish. He gave Sci Fi a curt nod and she started the scanner.
"The Medbed we'll heal yiur body boyo. " he said in a flat tone. Stout was fighting against the urge to rip Goldfish from the bed and throw him out , unsure of what made him angrier, the revelation that Goldfish had come to kill those that had trusted him or the fact that the betrayal had hurt Fever. " But ye'll have t' fix the damage t' yiur heart yiurself. " he said finally, crossing his massive arms over his barrel chest as the Medbed went to work on Goldfish's injuries.
The Medbed healed Dave's physical injuries, but he knew it was over. So much for being the master tactician he thought to himself as it did its work. After it had finished, Stout released Dave, unwilling to talk to him. Dave gathered his possessions together and collected Jo's body. Stout escorted him in to the Bar area where all the Fringe members stood. No one spoke and Dave couldn't bring himself to look at them. He walked slowly outside and, not looking back, activated the trans-mat to his orbital base. He had had Weapons Tech examine the Fringe teleporter and they had built him one of his own, just in case. His mission had been a failure, and now he had to pick up what was left of his life, and forge himself a new future.
EPILOGUE
Goldfish sat alone in his orbital station, thinking of the recent events. Jo's funeral had been a solemn affair, with very few attendees, though the few friends Dave still had had sent some flowers. He wondered if Blaquesmith and Slen would be still be amongst them, but as they were still missing, he did not know. The government had taken Ricardo Aughoti's body and a cover up had been implemented. Dave still had questions about him but since he was dead, he'd get no answers that way. He still had no idea what to say to the Fringe, something compounded by the fact he had made a huge mistake in his judgement - the problems with the time line were NOT Fringe related and there were other forces at work. He had not needed to make a move against them, perhaps he never would have done. He laughed at the futility of it all. One minor miscalculation and his entire life had been destroyed. All that remained was WeaponsTech - the only link to his old life left. His own industrial company had been making certain acquisitions from other companies, and WeaponsTech were fast becoming a large multinational corporation. At least it provided an income for him and Beth, who still did not understand what had happened; though she knew she would never see her mother again. Dave looked at the bottle of scotch on the table, and he opened it planning to get very drunk indeed.
"Don't," said a voice. "It's not worth it." A figure stood behind him
"Who?"
"The one man who can answer all your questions..."
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