Chapter 51: Revelation

Authors note:

Yada yada Thanks to Dr Mark as always Yada Yada rate and comment. Yada.

PM

They took Zachariah away. He shuffled out looking every day of his one hundred and eighty years old.

I sighed sadly. I’d thought it would feel good to finally get my revenge, to put that old man in his place, but it didn’t. I just felt like a bully in the playground. I’d picked on someone far weaker than me, and they had had no defence.

“Thank you everyone,” said Judge Roder. “If you would all please wait outside...”

I turned to leave.

“Mr. Stott.” It was the judge. “I’d like a moment of your time please.”

I looked at Maggie, eyebrow raised, but she shrugged.

Dean gave me a reassuring pat on my shoulder.

“I’ll wait outside,” he said.

It took a few moments to clear the room. When the door closed behind the last person to leave, I was left standing in front of the judge’s desk. Melissa, I noticed, was still at her post.

“Please sit,” The judge said indicating the seat that Zachariah had previously occupied. I sat.

“You don’t seem satisfied with the outcome,” she said after a moment. I grimaced.

“I’m not,” I said, “but not for the reason you might think.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“I feel...” I began not knowing how to put it into words. “I don’t know. He was dangerous, sure, and it needed to be done. I get all that. So then why do I feel so guilty about having done it?”

“Because you’re a good man,” Melissa had spoken. “And good men don’t like hurting others, no matter how justified it is, and no matter how much they may deserve it.”

I looked at the judge.

“She’s right,” said the judge. “I’ve been watching you, Caleb. I’ve seen all the reports of pretty much everything you have done since discovering your power. You’ve made mistakes but let he who is without sin and all that.”

“You have proven time and time again that, when it matters, you make the right choices. Yes, you may have bought a few beers underage using your power...”

My eyes widened and she smiled.

“The Eversons did watch you pretty closely,” she said, “but each time you were really tested, you chose right. You did the right thing. Even today. What you did was the right thing, and the fact that doing it disturbs you makes me even more confident in your ability to make those choices.

“There were others,” she said, “in the room in whom I do not have the same confidence. Some of whom are or may, in the future, be in positions of authority over you. I want you to know that if you are ever in a position where you question an order you receive, or where you don’t believe that what you are being ordered to do is the right thing, you can call me.

“Too many times the ‘I was just obeying orders!’ defence is offered in trials of the military and of law enforcement, and it is rarely successful. We aren’t recruiting robots into our organizations. We want people with the capacity and capability to think for themselves. Remember, also, that the oath is not to the bureau or to your commander, not even to POTUS himself; you have sworn an oath, and will be swearing it again, to the constitution. If ever you feel an order you have been given is not lawful, or more fundamentally violates your oath, then use your judgement and call me.”

She picked a card from a holder on her desk and handed it to me.

“You do realize I will tell both Dianna and Maggie about this?” I asked. She grinned at me.

“As I said,” she maintained, “you make the right choices. Both of them will immediately think I was referring to them. It will keep them on their toes, and honest.”

“It’s nice to have uses,” I said, almost sarcastically but with an air of bitterness.

She regarded me impassively for a moment.

“You need to grow up, Caleb,” she said to me, not unkindly. “We are all tools for someone. You think that any boss cares individually for all their employees, for all the employees of their suppliers, or all the employees of their distribution network? Do they care about the welfare of their mailman, the cable guy, or the guy that cuts their lawn?

“We are all parts of a machine. We are tools for someone else to use. That is your professional life, and that’s what you get paid for. And before you say you’re not ‘in’ the bureau yet, ask yourself ‘who is putting three thousand dollars a month into your account?’

“If we were to be personally involved then that would be different. I’m sure that your fiancées see you in a completely different light. But to me, everyone that works for me, and by several degrees of separation that includes you, is a tool for me to use and those tools allow me to do my job.

“Personally, I like to look after my tools, and I try and treat them well and with respect. I try not to shove the fact that I’m only using them down their throat at every opportunity but sometimes, like now, it has to be pointed out to them.

“Don’t confuse personal and professional relationships. Your problem with Maggie and Dianna is that they are both family too. So, the lines blur. Separate out the two in your mind. Don’t think of ADD Forbes as Maggie, or as Grandma; think of her as, and address her as, ADD Forbes or Ma’am. Same with Dianna. She’s Special Agent Everson or Ma’am.

“Then, when you clock out, Maggie and Dianna can truly be your family without all of the workplace formality and encumbrances. They are different people, Caleb. They need to be to do their jobs. They need it too. At some point they are probably going to have to order you into harms way. How much more difficult is that going to be for them if you are Caleb the grandson and not Agent Stott?

“Separate it out.”

I looked at Melissa. She wasn’t looking at me, but at her hands which were resting in her lap.

“Her too,” said the Judge.

I nodded. It made sense, and she was right.

“Now,” she said. “I have one final favour to ask of you, and then you’re free to go.”

I cocked my head to one side.

“Melissa here, like two of your fiancées, has endometriosis,” she said. “That means that for almost one week out of four she is out of action, and I have to put up with a random power user. It’s really irritating to have to do this. So I’d like, if you would be willing, for you to take care of her. Then she can get back to doing her job.”

I quirked a smile at the judge. She’d couched that request in such a way as to make it look like the only reason she wanted Melissa helped, was to give her, the judge, an uninterrupted service she needed in the office. Her mind, and aura, told a different story.

“Did you forget I’m an Empath too?” I asked. The judge looked puzzled and looked at Melissa who was smiling gently.

“What does that mean?” asked the judge.

“It means,” said Melissa, “that he can read your aura, and knows that you are not the uncaring selfish old battle-axe that you pretend to be.”

The judge glared at me for a moment.

“Hey,” I said holding my hands up. “I didn’t say old.”

“Just get on with it,” growled the judge glaring at us both.

I looked at Melissa. “May I?” I asked, and she nodded.

It was the work of moments to set the correct things in motion. It would take about a week for her body to fully absorb the instructions I’d given it, but it would, and by the time she was due again, it would all be resolved.

“Okay,” I said.

Melissa looked a little shocked. “Is that it?” she asked.

I nodded. “All done,” I said. “As with the judge it will take about a week for things to sort themselves out, but after that you should be all good.”

Melissa smiled at me. “Thank you,” she said.

“Any time,” I replied.

I looked back at the judge and saw our meeting was over. I stood.

“Thank you for your time,” I said. She nodded at me. I smiled at Melissa.

“What did she want?” asked Maggie almost before the door to the judge’s chambers had closed behind me.

“To give me her card,” I said, “and to tell me that if you ever gave me an order I thought was unconstitutional, I was to call her.”

Maggie’s eyebrows went up. “Did she now?”

“She didn’t mention you specifically,” I said. “She said anyone.”

Dianna looked at me. “And will you?” she asked.

“Like a shot,” I said grinning at the pair of them while tucking the judge’s card into my wallet.

Dianna chuckled, “Well, that’s us told.”

“I doubt I’ll ever need it,” I said, my face becoming serious. “I trust you both to always do the right thing.”

“Keep the card in your wallet,” said Maggie, “and never be afraid to use it.”

We walked back to the car. “What’s your plan for the rest of the break?” Maggie asked as we set off, again with Dianna driving.

“We were going up to Dean’s place for a couple of weeks,” I said. “Then we were going to spend a few days at my parents. As Dean said, I need to mend some fences there but there really isn’t the room for us to stay for long.”

“So ... you’re coming back the weekend before you are due back in school?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said. “Probably on that Saturday. That will give us the Sunday to prepare to start classes. That reminds me, our grades should be published today. We can check them when we get home.”

“I need to have a chat to you about your joining the bureau,” said Maggie. “You said that you might have changed your mind?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I guess there is so much I want to do, so many things I could do. I always wanted to be in law enforcement and the FBI was definitely on my radar. I guess I’m just like any other senior in college. I’m trying to figure out the next steps. I do want to join, but there are other things I’m interested in too. But then again, I have a long working life ahead of me and I don’t necessarily need to spend my entire working life as a fed. Isn’t there compulsory retirement?”

“We’re exempted,” Dianna said. “For obvious reasons.”

“Good to know,” I said.

“I wanted you to know,” said Maggie, “that if you do decide that the FBI isn’t for you, I won’t hold it against you. Things have moved so far past where we were just a year ago. I got to know you, and ... well ... just ... you don’t need to join if you don’t want.”

“I do want,” I said gently. “But I might not want to make it my whole career. Maybe only the first forty years or so?”

Dean chuckled. “You’ll need to take some time off then to come look after Cheryl and me.”

“I doubt it will be necessary,” I said, “but you know we would.”

“I know son,” he said. “I know.”

Dianna and Maggie declined our invitation into the house for something to eat and took off almost as soon as we closed the doors of the SUV. Mary and Amanda were standing at the open door. They looked at me a question in their eyes.

“It’s done,” I said. “Zacharia no longer has any powers.”

Both twins sighed in apparent relief.

“What about Heath?” they asked.

“He has some punishment coming,” I said, “but he’ll survive it intact. I actually have some sympathy for him given his life growing up, but hopefully he’ll learn.”

“I made some lunch,” said Ness, “before we head back.”

We ate, and then headed back to the airport where Gerry was waiting with the jet.

I declined his invitation to ride on the flight deck with him. I was still out of sorts from this morning and wanted to think things through.

Prior to yesterday, if I’d been told I’d be the downfall of the Everson Council, and be able to strip Zacharia Everson of his power, I’d probably have been ecstatic. They were the evil Eversons who had kept my family under their jackboot for generations. When I’d discovered the binding oath, I had been so incensed that I would have been capable of just about anything. But, as it happens, my rage eased, reason reasserted itself, and I realized that, for all the anger and frustration I felt, I kind of understood how we had come to be in this position. I didn’t for a second excuse it, but I could see how they, particularly someone as old as Zacharia, could rationalize to themselves why they should continue. For him, the past was still present.

I’d celebrated bringing the Everson Council down, but what had I actually achieved? I’d simply taken the Everson family off the board for a time while they reorganized. From what Matilda had said there were probably not that many candidates for the council in their family. Could I do something about that? Could I speak to Abuela Gonzales and explain that it was all Zacharia, and that they should allow the rest of the council to continue?

If I did that, though, I’d be taking responsibility for them, not only for their future conduct, but more to the point accepting their past conduct. It’s easy to scapegoat Zacharia, but the remaining two did have the opportunity to change things – they could have stood up to him. They could have worked together, but they were too frightened, too cowardly, and allowed him to browbeat them into actions that they knew to be illegal, immoral, and just plain wrong.

No. They didn’t get a pass. They were as responsible as he was. Maybe we could build a relationship with them over time, maybe not. But I wasn’t going to speak for them to Abuela Gonzales or anyone else.

This train of thought had my anger rising again and I took a breath, centring myself.

I felt Mary’s hand on my arm. I looked at her and smiled. All the girls were watching me, a little concern in their eyes, but none had tried to talk to me. I guess they’d sensed that I needed to work this out for myself.

The spike of anger reminded me of the first time that I’d made the journey to the Ranch. Yes, we’d been driving then, not flying, but the rage I’d felt had been similar. Only then I’d been mad at Maggie and the FBI – for what? Some dumb transgressions that I shouldn’t have gotten all bent out of shape about. Something about an illusion where my girls had lied to me – or withheld information. That was it. Jesus, how much of a prick was I back then? How much of a prick was I now?

Speaking of being a prick, what the hell had I done to my parents?

I’d always gotten along with my parents as I grew up. My father never once raised his hand to me, and any punishment required was left to my mother. That’s not to say that she was any freer with her fists either. Neither of them had ever hit me. My mother, though, could guilt people for America.

Strange that, since I’d come into my powers, she hadn’t tried to do that to me. Maybe she was the one feeling the guilt. As she should...

Or should she?

It had been said from the beginning that they had had no choice in the way my upbringing was handled. The rules, set by the Eversons, and the advice from the Matriarch of their line determined their actions. I’d thought that they’d sided with those people against me, but once again I’d been wrong. My father had been bound. His oath had made sure that he was unable to disobey the rules of the council, even if he had considered them to be wrong.

Strangely I’d never asked him that question. Perhaps I should, or perhaps I should put it behind me and look forward rather than consistently looking back and finding stuff to complain about. There was no doubt I’d become a whiny little bitch, constantly feeling sorry for myself. Every time I met any kind of headwind I’d go off on some rant about how unfair everything was, how I didn’t ask for any of this, and how badly done to I was.

So lets tally my life up. Exactly how bad off was I?

I had four, count them FOUR, beautiful fiancées who literally worshipped me. I equally worshipped the ground they walked on. I felt the love from them, even now, through the connection. I’d not spoken to any of them since taking off and they’d respected my wish to have some me-time. Me-time ... what a prick. What was so special about Me that I was entitled to go off in a sulk every time something unpleasant happened? Didn’t it happen to them too? Wasn’t the deposing of the Everson Council, the revelation of their sins, and the stripping of power of one of their most senior family members actually far MORE of a blow to the twins than it was to me?

All right, it had been me who had done the stripping, but that could be even worse for them. I had done it. I’d attacked their family and just assumed that they’d be fine with it. Because it was me, because it was just, because, because, because.

I’d gotten sidetracked. I was tallying up how bad off I was. So, four beautiful fiancees. Mary and Amanda. Stunningly beautiful. Mary more considered, apparently more intelligent, but don’t let Amanda’s happy go lucky demeanour fool you – she’s not dumb. Then there’s Jules. Quirky, quick witted, and with more love to give than I’d ever have imagined a single person could. Finally, last but definitely not least, Ness. Fiery and fierce, but vulnerable too. I couldn’t imagine being without a single one of them. My heart ached at the mere thought of that possibility, and yet, here I was isolating myself from them again – with them mere inches away. What the fuck?

Anyway – still tallying. I had in-laws who could be my parents. I loved both of them fiercely and felt it reciprocated. And then I had my parents. Once again I realised how badly I’d treated them, but even so they still loved me. I felt it. I knew it. There was so much I needed to apologise for, to both of them really, but primarily to my mother. The snide comments, ignoring them, each jibe I’d directed at them played through my head, an aural testament to just how much of an asshole I’d been. What made it worse was that I could remember the righteous indignation I’d felt every time I’d delivered one of these barbs. It was like I was getting vengeance for being wronged when, in fact, all I had been doing was hurting them, insulting them, decrying them for something they had neither choice nor control over.

Then I had Josh and Louise. Louise, who had literally shown me what love was. And Josh, who’d not only allowed it, but encouraged it, and joined in, loving me with an intensity only second to that of his love for Louise. I had no idea how they did it, or why I deserved it, but it felt so good to be around them.

The same was becoming true of Dana and Gracie. It was embryonic, but I could feel the seeds growing within them. They would be another couple who’s love for each other would grow exponentially but even so, their love for us would be there growing with it, supporting it, nurturing it.

And Dianna. And Maggie and ... there were so many people who I’d railed against. I won’t say that there was no justification for it but, with the benefit of hindsight, I could have, SHOULD have, done much better. I could think of several occasions where I’d lashed out at Dianna and Maggie for no other reason than they were there. That was evil, it was cruel, and it was not the man I wanted to be.

I had to do better.

So – since I was surrounded by all these people who loved me so much – there has to be a down side right? Something to even things out? Cosmic balance?

Well, it wasn’t my body. I was young, fitter than I’d ever been in my life – apparently going to live for three to four times my previous life expectancy, and I was practically immune to every disease. I could die but death would have to work fucking hard to get me.

Was there something I’d change about my body given a choice?

The thing is, I had the choice, and hadn’t changed a thing. That told me everything I needed to know.

So Mr. Cosmic Balance, what was I lacking in my life to balance out my perfect body and all the people who loved me?

Was I poor? Fuck no – I was richer than I had ever imagined being. I had over five million dollars in my bank account, and all of my fiancées were loaded also.

So where was it? What was the flaw in my otherwise perfect existence? There had to be one. There always was.

Then it came to me.

I was a dick!

Pure and simple. I was a spoiled brat with gross issues of entitlement. I went off into tantrums every time something didn’t go quite my way. And what was it this time that had sent me to the floor kicking my legs and screaming?

Zacharia Everson. I’d murdered Zacharia Everson.

That’s how it felt at least. I’d taken away everything that made that man who he was. What’s more, at the instant I had done it, I’d revelled in it. I’d marvelled at my own magnificence, as I’d taken away the only thing that he had left.

It was like I’d taken sweets from a toddler and that had made me feel like a real tough guy. I was disgusted with myself.

I felt the telltale thud as the undercarriage of the jet dropped and I knew that in a few minutes we’d be on the ground. And thirty minutes later, I would be arriving at what I had come to consider not a second home, but my primary home. Thinking of the ranch reminded me of a couple of other things I had forgotten to include in my tally. Blaze, a horse who had become a friend. When we were together there was a companionship that I’d seldom felt with most humans I’d dealt with in my life, all of the above mentioned people excepted. And then very last but definitely by no means least Terra, the matriarch of the Steadman pack. She wasn’t the oldest but she was by far the most intelligent dog I’d ever encountered, and she showed a remarkable capacity to understand, to know what was needed, and to deliver it with an almost motherly love.

The plane had landed and we taxied to the hangar. I heard the engines spool down, and I stood, and followed the girls onto the apron.

Mary took my hand, “Are you okay?” she aside. I smiled at her.

“Yes,” I said. “I am.” I stretched my arms out and gathered all my girls up pulling them into a hug and surrounding them with my power, pushing love, gratitude, and apology.

“I’m perfect,” I said holding them all to me. “Thank you.”

We spent the next two weeks at the ranch. Josh and Louise had a great time, although Josh found out the hard way just how much work farming was. He was a city boy and had never really been out into the country. I doubt he’d come face to face with a real cow before.

We flew back home on the Friday night, intending to stay over at the house, and then drive to my parents the next morning. We had dinner with Gracie and Dana who seemed closer than ever, and then we went bowling. Gracie hadn’t been with us so far and we had fun.

The two boys that Mary and Amanda had gone home with that time were at the alley but they barely looked in our direction for the whole night. Nor were we bothered by any other guys. I bowled like a one-legged, left-handed blindman. I came dead last. Jules, of course, won the night with Gracie snapping at her heels.

I woke up the next morning at my usual time and extricated myself from my girls. I’d been out on the deck training for about an hour when Dana came out to join me.

“Sorry,” I said. “Did I wake you?”

She shook her head.

“I wanted to talk to you,” she said. I sighed as I wasn’t really ready to do this now. But would there ever be a time when I would be ready? Perhaps now was a good time.

“About?” I asked.

“About me and Gracie,” she said, “and about Josh and Louise – and you and Gracie and you and me.”

“That’s a lot to talk about,” I said. “Let’s go inside.”

We walked into the kitchen where I made us coffee, and then we took them through to the living room.

“I see what Josh and Louise have,” she said, “and I want that, with Gracie.”

I smiled at her. “I would too,” I said. “The love between those two is profound. I hope you and Gracie can find that together.”

“That’s not what I mean,” she said, “but it’s part of it.”

I frowned at her slightly. “What then?”

“Josh and Louise have each other,” she said. “But then they also have you and the girls too, although Josh tells me that Jules and Ness don’t play with him. Something about yours being the only cock they want?”

I nodded “That about sums it up,” I said.

“I want that too,” she said.

“My cock?” I asked a little surprised.

“No,” she said laughing, “well, yes actually, but that’s not what I was talking about. I meant I want to be included. You have a core family with you and the girls, and you don’t want to extend that. I get that. But you also have an extended family which includes Josh and Louise. And I’d like it to include me and Gracie too.”

“And what does Gracie want?” I asked.

“She wants the same thing,” said a voice from the doorway. I looked around and Gracie was standing leaning against the door jamb.

I regarded the pair of them. I got where they were coming from, but this felt contrived, forced. Josh and Louise had joined us organically. They had lived with us, become part of our family a bit at a time. They hadn’t come to ask, filled in an application form, or auditioned.

“What Josh and Louise have with each other,” I said, “is something that has grown over the years they have been together. I’ve known them both since I started at PSU and they were always right for each other. I hope that you can find the same kind of love together as they have.

“But...” started Dana but I held my hand up.

“What Josh and Louise have with us,” I continued, “with me, is something that evolved. I lived with Josh since I started at PSU. Then they both moved in here and we grew closer and closer together. What happened at my party was the culmination of that.

“I’m not saying that if you move in that we will not develop the same kind of relationship, but I am saying that it’s not as simple as asking to join. This isn’t a club, a cult, a cabal or any of the other c’s that you might want to label it. Before you came along it was two families, seven people living together and slowly getting closer.

“Will that happen with you two? Maybe, maybe not. You are both beautiful and interesting people. Just over a year ago I told both Josh and Louise that I did not love them, individually, but together there was something about them as a couple that I did love.

“With you two it’s different. I actually think it would be very easy for me to grow to love either or both of you. And seeing you two together makes me so happy.

“So, while I’m not saying ‘no,’” I concluded, “I can’t say ‘yes’ either. Let’s see what happens. We’ve got a year of school left. Who knows what is going to happen in that time.”

“So can I move in?” asked Dana.

I sighed.

“After we talk,” I said. “We’ll be back next Saturday latest. I promise we’ll talk then.”

“It doesn’t really give me much time to plan,” complained Dana. “School starts the following Monday. When am I going to be able go to the housing office and sort things out?”

I considered this. She was right. I needed to give her an answer before we left.

It was time for ‘the talk.’

“Let’s get some breakfast.” I said “The others will be up soon. Then we’ll talk.”

An hour later we were all sitting in the kitchen.

To my surprise Gracie separated herself from Dana and came to sit by me, facing the younger girl. Dana looked surprised, and a little scared, all of a sudden.

“Dana,” said Gracie, “you know what I do for a living.”

“You work for the FBI,” said Dana, “you’re an agent.”

“What Caleb and the girls are about to tell you,” Gracie said, “you can never repeat to anyone. If you do, you won’t be prosected or arrested, you will be discredited. There is a whole department of the FBI dedicated to keeping this secret, and the way they do it is to make anyone that tries the make the information public, look barking mad. In short, they destroy them. So, if you don’t think that you are capable of keeping the secret say so now, before Caleb says another word.”

Dana looked at me with real fear in her eyes now.

“Do I want to know?” she asked looking at me.

“If you want to move in here,” I said, “you have to know; the choice is yours.”

“You’re frightening her,” complained Louise going over and putting her arms around Dana.

“They’re making it sound scary,” she assured Dana. “I promise you it’s not. But secrecy is important you know?”

Dana looked at Louise, then at me.

“Okay,” she said.

“Just over a year ago,” I began, “On my twentieth birthday...”

I told her the tale. I told her how I had discovered my powers, and pretty much everything that had transpired since.

For the entire time I talked she sat silent, unmoving, and stared at me.

When I finished, she remained seated and said nothing.

Then she looked at Gracie.

“I wondered,” she said, “why there were no scars. You told me you’d been shot four times and yet your skin is flawless. They operated to save you and yet there’s not a mark. I wondered how that could be. But it’s all because of Caleb.”

“And Jeevan,” I said.

“The ethics class,” she went on, not heeding my interruption. “The ethics of having superpowers. You weren’t theorizing, you lived it, are living it. Those boys. You could have ... broke his arm ... why didn’t you?”

Gracie went and wrapped her in a hug. She was starting to hyperventilate.