The Mighty Kanes: Part One

They say that who we are, who we become, is a result of two seperate effects: nature and nurture. Of the former, who we are is a result of the genes, and perhaps the triumphs and sins, of our forefathers; of the latter, who we become is impacted by how we are raised, and the surroundings in which it happens.

It is this that tells how the Kanes became who they are: a family with pride, with secrets, with grave mistakes arising from high aspirations. They have terrible strength, but also terrible weakness -- and a history to prove they are quite capable of both. To be a Kane is to be presented with the opportunity for great success... or great failure.

Which will it be, now that the need to act is dire? What choices will our Kanes make; ones that lead to triumph, or failure? Will they finally prove themselves mighty, in the end?

---

Plink.
Plink.

As one noise came, another followed, predictably.

Plink.

As Bradley Kane sat before his greatest achievement, he couldn't help but consider the failures that had resulted from it. So much work, for so little reward. Here, before him, was one of the greatest pieces of technology the world would ever see... But ultimately, it was useless to him. It could never bring back the girl he loved.

His calloused hand reached to the ground, picking up another pebble; he flung it at the machine's huge metal door with a sigh.

Plink.

'What am I supposed to do, now?' Bradley thought to himself, still so weak and tired under the weight of his broken dreams. 'All that effort for nothing. I'm right back to where I started... Nowhere.' He felt another sigh escape his mouth, but this one was not intended; his body seemed to be plenty frustrated on it's own.

He felt like he'd been sitting here for hours -- perhaps he had been -- contemplating all the hopes he'd had, and how they'd all just led him to waste his time, to shun his friends, to worry his family, to break a girl's heart. 'This thing has turned me into something I'm not,' he almost thought out-loud. 'A monster.'

With another deep breath, he this time actually did say aloud, "Is this it, then?"

He wasn't sure why he expected a response, but he felt sad when none came; part of him was hoping Alesha would jump from the bushes, granting him the last shred of hope he so desperately needed right now... But no, she wouldn't be here. Not after what he said to her.

As he closed his eyes, Bradley realized that there was only one place left to go -- only one place that he wanted to be.

... But when he got there, his legs collapsed from exhaustion, and his heart couldn't take it, anymore. It did not bring the effect on him that he hoped it would have.

Her white grave stood there, as cold and white as always; but now it was a little overgrown, dusty and muddy, her photograph curled and spot-streaked from the recent rain. As timeless as he thought it would always be, it surprised him how much it had changed...

Though, maybe it hadn't. Maybe it was he that had changed. Maybe it was only his perceptions.

"Oh, Em," Brad moaned, so empty that not a single tear was left within him to spare. "I've become so lost. All I wanted was to save you, to hold you again. I've failed. I've done terrible things... I need help, but I don't know where else to go."

As Bradley rose from his knees, arms still sagging at his sides, he looked upon her tombstone, discouraged.

Here he was at the brink of losing it all, and he turned to help from a rock. From a photograph. From a corpse. He had pushed everything else away... This was all he had left.

Brad had never felt so alone.

As the weight of his eyelids became too much, he returned to the bench where he'd laid so many times before. There he had dreamt of what he and Emerald could have had, what it would be like if he could have brought her back...

But now, all he wanted was to sleep, and to make his grief finally fade into silence.

---

As the night creeped on, steadily turning the burnished sky to a matted carpet of stars, the seperate world of Twinbrook began to arise. Many slept -- as they should -- while the denizens of the night began their usual rounds.

Though, tonight was actually not so usual -- tonight, something special was planned in the world of criminals...

... something that Meredith Kane was determined to stop.

Her husband had betrayed her: again. Jebidiah had restarted his life of crime, and it was time that she, Meredith, put an end to it once and for all -- she wasn't going to stand for this nonsense anymore! It was time for Jeb to grow up! To be responsible, respectable!

But, as Meredith approached the building that Marta had told her about, the hairs on her spine slowly began to stand on end. This place... it didn't feel right. As brave as she felt when she left the house that night, all in a fury and ready to bring hell down upon her husband, it was all just a dream compared to how she felt now.

No, this didn't feel right at all.

As she looked around the abandoned train tracks, Meredith began to wonder whether she should have even come here at all. 'This was a bad idea,' she thought. 'A really bad idea. Maybe I should just go home... Before it's too late...'

But, as determined as she was, she gulped down her fear and continued; she had to find Jeb... He had to be around here somewhere!

Meredith jumped as she heard something creak behind her. What was that?! She looked, but she saw nothing. As far as she could tell, she was alone in the darkness.

'Yeah,' she decided. 'This was a horrible idea.' But, there was no turning back now. She was here... She might as well get a peek of what was going on before she turned around and went home.

I mean, Meredith Kane was no coward, right? Right! ... Gulp.

She tiptoed towards some nearby doors, noticing some movement through the glass in their center. "Aha, there they are," Meredith sighed to herself, feeling a little bit better. "I think I see Jeb in there... Maybe, oh, it's so hard to tell..."

Meredith scrunched her nose. This was so not what she'd expected.

But, perhaps Meredith wasn't expecting quite a lot of things, that night.

---

Across town and underground, few noises could be heard in the depths of Twinbrook's fitness facility.

As it was open 24/7, it was expected that you could always find at least one or two people here; some were trying to avoid the general midday traffic, while others simply weren't ready to go to whatever waited for them at home. It wasn't the most sociable crowd, but generally, they liked it that way.

Travis Kane, so desperate to work away his frustrations -- not to mention to keep himself at his peak for when the Llamas finally pulled him in as their newest Rookie -- was often here in the dead of night... but who he saw there this night not someone that he would expect.

Travis still felt bitter, but he knew he wouldn't prove anything if he avoided Lolly. Besides, burning his connections with her might not be smart if it turned out things between him and Jade really were over. He knew Lolly was still technically with... whats-his-face (I mean really, who cares?) but considering how much she'd been obsessing over Travis lately, she'd probably leave the guy in a heartbeat for him.

Lolly wasn't an ideal partner, but she wasn't unideal. A little crazy, but... Maybe he'd learn to stand it.

Okay, who was he kidding -- he'd never learn to stand it.

When she noticed that Travis was standing near her looking a bit awkward, she rested down her weights and carefully pushed herself up from the bench.

"I didn't realize you had come over," she said as she turned to face him. "I wasn't expecting that you'd want to talk to me."

"Well, I didn't really either," admitted Travis, not entirely sure why he hadn't high-tailed it out of there the moment he'd seen her. "But I'm not really sure I know the point of burning any more bridges than I already have, what with Jade practically not talking to me anymore."

"Listen, there's something I need to talk to you about," Lolly said, her face so emotionally unchanging. "I wasn't planning on telling you, not for a while... But seeing as Jade's being the way she is, there's something you should probably know."

'Great,' Travis sighed to himself. 'What sort of gossip does she have on Jade, this time?' Clenching his teeth, he asked, "What is it?"

"I'll be honest Travis, I didn't expect that this would happen. I kinda just expected a one night stand, maybe more if you were feeling it... Which was obvious you weren't, judging by the way you left," Lolly said with a bit of a roll of her eyes.

Travis couldn't help but think, 'That's the understatement of the century.'

Lolly continued on, her face still as stone cold as before.



"But well, I wasn't feeling all that great, ever since that night... So I went to the doctor's to try to figure out what the problem is."

"And?" Travis asked, irritated.

"Well... See, I'm pregnant."

There was a momentary pause, one in which Travis highly contemplated having an emergency evacuation of his dinner on Lolly's shoes; but, he managed to keep himself together -- if light-headed -- as he stared into Lolly's eyes.

"Pregnant." It wasn't even a question. "That's..." Absolutely horrifically horrible; but did he really want to say that to her face?

"Look Travis, I don't even know if it's yours, but--"

Lolly didn't even need to say anymore. She'd said the magic words -- the kind of words that makes Travis Kane immediately disappear.

His eyes stayed wide as he walked away from her, so dazed and sickened that he didn't even realize how he'd left her until he was already outside the building. But, frankly, he didn't care. At the moment, minding the emotions of Lolly Racket were the last things on his mind.

---

The wind escaped from Meredith's lungs in a silent gasp as she felt a man's arms close around her, tugging her quickly away from the double doors that lead to certain disaster.

Though she didn't know it, yet, she was being spared a far worse fate than just having her wits frightened out of her.

This was, of course, because her napper was none other than her husband.

As Meredith poised to scream, Jebidiah's teeth grinded and he growled. "Shut up, Meredith! You're going to get us caught!"

Though it wasn't exactly the words she wanted to hear, Meredith was plenty relieved that she'd finally found Jebidiah. Phew. See, that wasn't that hard!

When he finally let go of her, he turned her towards him and started to yell -- as loud as one can yell when they're trying not to be heard.

"What in plumbob's name are you doing here, Meredith?!" Jeb said with a hoarse, quiet voice. "I'm on an important stake-out... You could've ruined everything!"

"A stakeout, huh?" Meredith roared.

"Sssssh!" Jeb hissed. "Please Mere! Be quiet!"

"Oh, I'll be quiet," Meredith responded, although this time quite a bit less loudly. "Once you explain to me when you started lying to your wife, and turned yourself back into a criminal!"

"Don't even try to lie to me," Meredith said, cutting him off. "Marta told me everything. About how you're here to usurp some sort of power trip from the Lemans, how you've been doing this for months. I can't believe you, Jeb! Lying to me! Lying to our children!"

Finally, Jeb simply just rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Meredith," he growled. "You can't understand, so I won't even try to make you."

Meredith was more angry than anything, but those words -- they did sort of sting. He knew she didn't like being told she couldn't understand something, like she was stupid.

"Mere, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have lied to you, but--"

"Oh don't you dare try to apologize. You aren't sorry, Jeb. You never have been."

As Meredith's anger continued to boil, Jeb backed away. She continued, "What's stopping me from turning you in right now, huh, Jeb? What's holding me back from putting you behind bars, where you should be?"

"Meredith, please..." Jeb was not one to resort to begging, but at this point, he had no other options. "Once this is over, you'll understand. Marta clearly didn't tell you everything. Just stand by and watch, okay? Stay out of harms way. I promise, things will make much more sense, soon."

She wasn't sure whether to believe him or not; of all the lying that he'd done to her over the years, the cheating, the stealing and possibly murdering -- I mean really, did she actually know if he hadn't? -- the amount of trust she had for Jeb was minimal...

... but in the end, she realized that they only way to find out would be to do what he said. From the sounds of it, it couldn't hurt to at least stand by, for now.

"Alright, alright, fine," Meredith whispered. "I'll let you have your way. But if I detect even a hint of violence... I'm calling the cops."

"Trust me," Jeb said as he turned away. "You won't need to."

---

"I'm bored Mrs. Leman. Can't we just start loading this stuff already?"
"Shoosh, Zo! Just be patient, precious!" Carolina's voice echoed around the large, mostly empty building like a bullet in a metal room. "Thomas, dear..." She purred. "Are you about done counting?"

Thomas grumbled as he lifted the lid to one of the last crates numbered on their list. "I'm just trying to be precise, cookie. Wouldn't want you getting upset at me later because some of these ended up going missing."

"Such a good boy," Carolina said, smiling; the rest of their cronies grumbled at the sap, but at least it would be over soon.

At least, they thought it would be over soon.

"Pumpkin... Pumpkin dear," Carolina said, her purr not shaking in the least when her sharp eyes caught movement under the light across the room. "It would appear... We have a visitor."

"Is it him?" Thomas whispered, his eyes still peering into the box.
"It's him," she hissed back.

"Well, well, well... The great Jebidiah Kane. What a pleasant... surprise," Thomas began as all the eyes of his comrades suddenly became aware of the warehouse's newest occupant. "I was looking forward to when I'd finally get to meet you. Too bad it couldn't be under better circumstances."

"I know why you're here," Thomas continued, the sweat on his forehead dripping -- from the heat of the lamps, and the pressure of his wife's intense gaze.  "I know what you want. But I'm afraid, I can't let you have them. Now... I suggest that, before anyone gets hurt, you turn around and you leave... And we'll all forget this ever happened."

Carolina nodded; good, so far... Though their henchman were starting to get antsy.

"I'm not here to negotiate, Leman. I'm here for something I want, and I'm not leaving without it."

"I'm afraid you're going to be very disappointed then, Mr. Kane," Thomas responded to Jebidiah coolly. "I don't plan on giving you anything."

"I'm giving you a chance, Thomas," Jebidiah said as he slowly began to approach the group of criminals lurking at the center of the room. "A chance to give it all up, to walk away, to leave this town right now -- before anyone does anything they'll regret. I'm only going to offer this once."

Thomas scoffed as his wife began to laugh; cheap threats, that's all they were. "Oh yeah? And hand this town over to you on a silver platter?" Thomas said, amused. "In return for what?"

"For nothing, Leman. Nothing but your safety; you and that blood-sucking wife of yours don't deserve anything more than that." Jebidiah raised his finger, jabbing it into Thomas's chest. "You don't belong here."

"And who says you do, Kane?" Thomas's face could've turned the same color as his hair, had he had enough blood. "As far as I'm aware, you have as little stake in Twinbrook as I do. This town was up in the air for anyone willing to pay the price... I was. You weren't. You didn't have the balls, Jebidiah."

As Thomas pulled away, his eyes averting towards one of his henchmen, he finished: "Besides, this isn't up for negotiating, either. You're not the one who can call the shots, right now; I am. Either you leave now, or you leave in a couple of pieces as a gift for your little family to find. It's your choice, Kane..."

"Why you-- Leave my husband alone!" From the far side of the room, another shadow emerged -- but this time, it wasn't the towering form of an intimidating criminal...

... It was the bedraggled, neurotic Meredith Kane, quick to defend her husband's -- er -- whole-ness.

'Fudgebuckets,' Jebidiah thought to himself while peering over his glasses at his wife. His luck was really starting to wear thin. 'I knew I should've locked her in the car.'

"My my my," Carolina giggled, smiling cockily at Jebidiah. "Isn't this just precious."

---

The wind whistled through the trees; leaves stirred, dropping aimlessly to the ground; birds chirped, and the bugs hummed; sunset came, and night began.

It happens everyday, and most days it's nothing spectacular; but for some reason, tonight it was.

When the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, Bradley had finally fallen asleep. Where pills and feather beds and warm milk had failed, cold mist and a wooden bench succeeded. Perhaps it was just complete exhaustion, but Brad? He'd have liked to believe something more.

On and on he slept there, dreaming not of the things that could have been, but of the things he had done; it was certainly not the most restful sleep, but... It was sleep.

It was hours later when he finally awoke. Though the sun had long since vanished and the moon drifted over head, things didn't feel that different. Again, for some reason he felt that they should have -- like he was waiting for something that wasn't happening.

The bench felt colder then ever. Hard. Rough. Empty... Much like how he felt, himself.

Bradley quietly pushed himself to stand and his gaze drifted from tombstone to tombstone throughout the graveyard. He'd gotten over how spooky this place was long, long before; the unknown was always scary, but this place had become no less different to him than his bedroom. There were trees, rocks, decaying corpses underground. Yup, not all that frightening. Revolting, yes -- but not frightening.

Brad had seen Chandra, the ghost of his mother's victim, but she was different. As far as he knew, no one in this cemetery was murdered. They were all at peace... Quiet.

For once, he wished that they weren't; he'd give anything for them all to come awake, to chase him from their resting place. At least it'd be someone. As his grief once again overtook him, it wasn't just for Emerald that he cried -- it was for himself, that he'd gone down this path so foolishly.

As he wept in self-pity and remorse, a few words finally escaped his quiet, stifled sobs: "I just wish I could make it right," he cried.

The graveyard finally answered.

---

"So, you decided to drag your little wifey into this, huh?" Carolina said, howling with laughter; her laughter continued to echo poignantly, as she was the only one who seemed to find this funny. "How sweet! I've always wanted another house-wife to play with!"

Thomas, ignoring his wife, turned to look instead to Jebidiah, who had moved back to stand with his poorly-entered spouse.

"What are you doing, Mere," Jeb hissed through the corner of his mouth to her.

She shrugged, not looking at him either; she was suddenly very repentant of how stupid revealing herself had been. "I really don't know," was squeaked between her chattering, gritted teeth.

"I'm getting tired of this, Kane," Thomas snapped. "You're just wasting my time. I don't have the energy to play whatever it is you're trying to play -- and it's time you realized just how little control you actually have over this town. Even your own men."

"You want to show him, pumpkin?" Carolina quipped sweetly from beside him.

"Show me what?" At this point, Jebidiah's nerves couldn't be tested any more. He knew what he was doing, but Meredith -- oh, Meredith -- was in a position to ruin everything if she wasn't careful.

And, naturally, the Leman's weren't going to just sit down; but he knew they weren't from the very beginning.

"You see, Jeb," Thomas began, lightly tapping his fingers together. "As much as you'd like to believe that you have your grubby little fingers puppeting the strings of the people around you, I have evidence that your grip is a little bit too tight for others' liking..."

"... Isn't that right, Sinbad?"

From the shadows, Sinbad Rotter slowly walked between the rest of the men surrounding the two Lemans, and took his place next to Thomas' side.

"It definitely is, Mr. Leman."

"You see, Jebidiah," Carolina's sweet voice began to purr. "Your influence is growing weak. The criminals in this town know that you're losing your grip... They don't trust you, anymore. They want change. Even if Sinbad is only one man, he signifies the tip of the iceberg that's juuuust going to keep crashing down..."

"Why, Sinbad?" Jebidiah finally took a breath, his eyes turning thin. "Why did you betray me? We had a plan, dammit! We could have had them!"

"No, Jeb! No, we couldn't! The Lemans have far more resources than you ever did. What you asked us to do was foolish -- there's no way we could have taken them on! This plan was stupid, and a tired last trick of a man who's career was finished! There was no way I was going to go down in flames because of your last little crusade."

"You've made a terrible mistake, Sinbad," Jebidiah said hoarsely, his voice so quiet it was soon lost in the large space of the warehouse. "We could have succeeded, if it weren't for you."

"No, Kane... It's you that's made the mistake," Sinbad said with a gharish laugh. "And now, you're finished."

For a long, dark moment, everything dropped to silence. A stand-off had been reached; threats had been made, insults had been thrown, and everyone stood intensely still, as if waiting for someone to make the first draw.

Sinbad glared, Carolina smiled, the Rackets muttered to themselves, Zo buffed her nails, and Thomas stared intensely at Jeb, waiting for his move.

Finally, Meredith turned to Jeb. "What are we going to do?" she whispered, her voice shaking. "Th-they're gonna kill  us, aren't they?"

"Don't worry, Meredith," Jeb whispered to her against his lapel. "I have everything under control."

"I don't care what you say," Jebidiah finally spoke, his voice resounding true. "Take Sinbad, for all I care. This is your last chance to walk away. Take it, or leave it... That's all I ask."

"Well, you see, Jebidiah," Carolina began as she swaggered away from the bunch, lifting a finger to point across towards the Kane pair. "It's you who doesn't seem to be getting the picture. Do you honestly think that Sinbad would have just waltzed over without concrete proof that we could put you down, forever?"

"What are you talking about, Carolina?" Jeb growled.

"What I'm talking about, Jeb, is your itty bitty little secret... You know, the one that's kept you on the run all these years?"

"I'm innocent," Jebidiah began, as if assuming that Carolina spoke of the reason he was arrested all that time ago. "If they'd found real evidence that I actually murdered Carl Strummer, they would've come after me much harder than they did. But, there isn't any -- because I wasn't his killer. Call up Riverview for all I care, I doubt they even remember who I am."

"Oh, no sweetheart, I'm not talking about that," Carolina said slowly. "You see, it turns out that there's only one person in the Kane family who's a murderer, and I know exactly who it is..."

Carolina paused, before slowly smiling. "... And who are you to put your poor, poor little wife behind bars, Jebidiah? Would you really like to see your wife go to prison for killing Chandra Hawkins?"



As the word 'Chandra' left Carolina's lips, a heartbeat was skipped in Meredith's chest: she knew. She'd found out about her horrible mistake... And if Carolina knew that, then she probably knew everything -- where the evidence was hidden, the body, the weapon. How she knew, Meredith couldn't guess -- but this wasn't good, at all.

"... Jeb?" Meredith's voice cracked as it left her lips, only a mere squeak as her fear began to tighten every muscle within her. "Are things under control now?"

... To Be Continued ...