Life continues to fuck me over hard, but maybe it'll get tired of it sooner or later, but so far it's only gotten worse. As I've said, though, I'll keep writing anyway. Once again, end of bitchfest. I want to think everybody gave me feedback on earlier chapters of this story. As I have said before, I hope to prove that I will not fail or falter. I'm still trying for one chapter per month from this point on, but maybe I'll be able to do better. As always, not even I know how long this story will end up being, again, we are still only in the beginning and I don't know the end of this journey anymore than you do. I will continue to give props to CSquared as his is the first story beyond mine that I have ever run across, where somebody had telekinesis, but did not have the ability of telepathy (always excepting the early eighties movie "Zapped!" with Scott Baio, and the debate on my end of reality is raging on as to whether or not he was mildly telepathic). But even in Powers there are telepaths on hand to pull an Obi-Wan and conveniently make everyone forget. So how much more difficult would life be if those with the super-human power to move things with their minds couldn't erase the memory from the standers-by? How hard would it be for someone to have pure telekinesis, with no telepathy, and no one around to help them out? In short, a world where telekinesis was suddenly real, but telepathy was still a pipe dream? Let's find out. Now, as always, please send any and all comments to me. Suggestions and criticisms will be gratefully accepted. Flames, however, will be ignored. Please, do me a favor and tell me what you think. After all, it really is the only payment we online authors get <g>. And before I forget, if you like this type of story, I'd highly suggest checking out the works of "The Book" series by Blackie and "Tim, the Teenaged MC" by Rass Senip (which he's updating again, yay!). Admittedly, they are mostly telepathy with a bit of telekinesis, but they are works for the ages. And then there is the newer work, but every bit as good, by CSquared, "Powers" which seems to have equal amounts of telepathy and telekinesis as time goes by, and I believe it will join the previous two as works to be remembered. ------------------------------------------------------ Pure Telekinesis by: Waylan Dagger (waylandagger@hotmail.com) (c) 2008 Chapter 7 : Meet the Deans The teens shot apart just as they had in Mr. Mahery's office. The first major difference is that this time they _had_ been making out. The second was that David forgot there was a wall next to him. He smacked into it face-first, rebounded off of it, and fell against Ang. Their suddenly entwined bodies headed for the wall next to the elevator doors at an alarming speed. Nancy, still over teen feet away, rushed forward, immediately thinking that David must have slammed Ang against the wall and half crushed her, since neither the boy, almost a man, nor her tiny daughter had fallen to the floor. She slowed to a stop and sighed with relief until David doubled over, holding his head. She almost started forward again, but her daughter had already taken a hold of David and was gently holding him to her. And it seemed to Nancy as though she was whispering to him. Nancy had been hovering over them as closely, ready to spring forward and aid the couple, which was the only reason she caught a glimpse of movement. She glanced in that direction and saw David's hand come away from his nose with a streak of blood on his finger. He quickly thrust the hand into his pocket, as Ang stroked his hair gently. Nancy spoke very softly, to David's immense relief. "If you two are done for the moment, I really need to speak with Angela." David chuckled, then winced. "Yeah. And I think I need to talk to your husband," he said and lifted his head to look at her, with an obvious effort. Nancy shook her head. "Davey, I really don't think that's a good idea." "Please," the young man said and looked almost as pained as when he had been holding his head a moment ago, "it's David. My mother named me David and David is all I will respond to." Nancy blinked as her opinion of his maturity was forced quite a bit upward. "David, then," she said with a small nod. "David, talking to Henry right now would be fairly high on my list of worst ideas ever." David grunted softly and nodded. "Yeah. Probably is," he allowed. Then he looked Nancy in the eye and said, "But if he thinks something is being rammed down his throat by the women in his life, well, I'm sure he'll accept it. But he won't ever like it." David smiled slightly, just for a brief moment. "Like when my Dad had to rearrange the garage so Mom and Yvette could used it as an exercise space last summer." Nancy looked puzzled so David explained, "Yeah, he found all his tools and everything else without looking for an hour. And it sure as hell made his life easier, especially when the van broke down again. But he never stopped bein' mad that he had to put everything away as soon as he was done usin' it, even though it meant he wouldn't have to look for it later." David shook his head. "Funny thing is that he was so proud of how organized it had all become. But he still resented the fact that it had been forced on him." Ang bit her lip and looked at her mother, who had a similar look on her face, then back at David. "Maybe you're right." Ang's voice had gone quiet and shy again. "But you really should listen to Momma. The last time the family got into a fight like this he walked into the garage and completely destroyed the place." David smiled at Ang. "So we're likely to fight. Good place for it. After all, the hospital ain't far." He leaned in to whisper in Ang's ear, "And I promise I'll keep my mind in check. I won't hurt him, hun." David pulled back, but paused to quickly kiss Ang. Her eyes snapped shut as the memory of the kiss they had just shared flooded her. By the time she opened her eyes David was gone. Ang and Nancy exchanged a worried glance, Ang's with a tinge of panic, but neither followed him immediately. David slowed as he turned a final corner and spotted Henry again. He took a deep breath, hoping for the thousandth time in less than two minutes that he wasn't making a grave mistake, and approached the older man. Staying carefully out of arm's reach, he said, "Mr. Dean?" Henry whirled, spotted David, and snarled, "You! You little..." David cut him off by calmly stating, "We can beat the hell out of each other right now, or talk as reasonably as possible and decide if we actually _want_ to beat the hell out of each other after." David gestured to the door of Jimmy D's room as Henry's face was noticeably nonplussed. "You're worried about your son and angry as hell about something, so you're reacting. If you'd really rather fight, just take off your sport coat. I'll even throw the first punch so you are just defending yourself and won't get in trouble. But, frankly," and he gestured along his own body, "I'll be lucky to get out of it alive. So I'd really rather talk, if it's all the same to you." Henry just blinked several times. He'd been expecting the usual teenage posturing. The 'we are doing this and you can't stop us so fuck you' attitude _all_ teenagers adopted when caught at something. He sure as hell hadn't expected anything like this. He took in a sharp breath and nodded. "All right," he said, his voice gruff but almost reasonable. "Let's talk." David let out a relieved breath and visibly relaxed. Henry realized that this young man had come back expecting to be in a fight he couldn't win. He wondered what in the fuck was going on here and, since his job had honed his inherently intense curiosity to a fine point, he waited for David to speak. Instead of telling the young man just how he felt about him. "Your son." David started and gestured toward the room, "seems to really hate me for some reason. I don't know, maybe it isn't really hate and he's just sadistic." David held up his hand, begging for a moment, as Henry swelled. "But I'd rather think it was hate... or at least dislike so intense it's become almost holy. James is a regular tormentor of mine and has been since the third grade." He took a deep breath. "I'm not going to tell you what it is like for me because of him and people like him. He isn't a bully because he isn't afraid of a fight." David saw Henry nod in concession. "But he is disliked rather intensely for his actions. Not just by me, but by almost everyone in school that isn't part of his private little clique." "Now hold on," Henry started. David looked him in the eye steadily, trying to convey every way he could that he wasn't lying or even exaggerating. "Just let me get through this Mr. Dean. I do realize that you aren't going to take anything I say at face value, why should you? But I hope you'll understand that I'm tellin' you the truth from my point of view." Henry blinked several times again and said, "All right, I can accept that." David exhaled again and Henry wondered why he was so nervous. He didn't think this young man was worried about being beaten, as then he'd be apologizing and rationalizing, instead of saying things that could only make the situation worse. He decided he had to hear where this was going and gestured to David, who nodded and continued. "Your son is an amazing football player, but he will never have a starting position because of his attitude. Now, so far I've given you personal observations and supposition. I imagine you'd like some verifiable fact to back it up." Henry nodded, almost all of the hostility gone from his face and stance. "Yes, if you please. So far you really haven't given me any reason to believe you." He pointed at David's chest. "Just so you understand, kid, I'm not automatically discarding your observations, thought I easily could. But with some solid facts I may be able to amend my thoughts about you." He frowned and added, "And maybe about Jimmy too." David nodded slowly. "Thanks for hearing me out so far. Since your nearest source of reliable information is your daughter, I'll focus on the last two days, which is how long she and I have comparable experiences with James. Now, can you accept that we were not expecting a negative reception today by either you or your wife?" Henry nodded, wondering anew where in the hell this kid was going. "Good," David breathed and smiled slightly, for the first time since opening Jimmy D's door. "So you can accept that she and I would not have had time to corroborate our stories, at least in this instance?" "Damn," thought Henry, "who the hell is this kid?" Aloud, he said, "Yes, I can agree to that." David nodded. "Good. It's important to me that you know, and believe, that I would not lie to you." Henry just looked confused, so David launched into the story of how he had knocked Ang down and how Jimmy D had reacted. He only left out the means of the lockers opening and slamming into Jimmy D. After he had finished, Henry said, "All right. Now, Mr. Maherty told us that Ang said her brother let her out of the car and she walked to your house. I'm told she also said she hadn't a clue about his accident." David grimaced. "She lied to Mr. Maherty." Henry looked like he'd been pole-axed. "Why?" he asked, quietly. David continued to stare him in the eye. "To protect me from you." Ang came round the bend just then, talking in whispers with her mother. She stopped and her hand went to her mouth as her face was overtaken by horror. "Baby, what's wrong?" Nancy asked. David glanced over his shoulder when he heard Nancy and spotted Ang, who was still just standing there. "Ang," he said softly, "please take your mother and bring us a couple of coffees." "David," she said just loudly enough to reach both David and Henry, then she began to tear up. "No. Please." Henry looked at his wife and nodded. David watched Nancy lead Ang back around the corner and sighed. Henry's hand had gone beneath his sport coat and David, though he was looking in the opposite direction, didn't miss the movement. "Please," he said, turning to Henry, "don't. I'll go quietly with you but don't make it about my survival. Ang would never forgive me." Henry swallowed and slowly removed his still-empty hand. "You did that to Jimmy's car, didn't you?" David sighed and nodded. "I'm afraid so. It was a reaction. He had Scott Vance with him. Scott had leaned out the window to throw a water balloon, from a car moving at over forty, and right at my back." Henry winced. "Yeah," David said. "I got hit by one last year and was knocked unconscious. It was almost summer then, so I didn't freeze over like I would have this time. Scott threw the one that hit me, and hundreds of others that have sometimes hit and sometimes missed. Anyway, I reacted this time and..." he didn't know how to continue. "Smashed the hood flat and flipped the car." David nodded. "Actually, the car didn't just flip over. You ever play tiddlywinks?" Henry sucked in a breath. "Yeah," he whispered. "Oh, my god, it didn't flip over. It flew." David shook his head sadly. "Yeah. And with Ang in the back seat. I didn't see her until the car was already airborne and flipping. So I grabbed it and set it back down gently. Something you might want to know is that when I do things accidentally, a reaction with no thought, it hurts some. Well, a lot, really." David paused, reflecting on all the times, since that damned locker, he had been knocked out or severely pained by his new gift, or curse. "What happens when you do things deliberately then?" Henry asked, a little terrified but mostly burning with curiosity. David grimaced. "I didn't catch the car deliberately, it was mostly reflex with a bit of thought. But the reaction is the same. I pass out and bleed all over the place from my nose. I can't seem to do nearly as much when it is entirely deliberate, though." He looked right at Henry. "It hurt so much and I lost so much blood..." He paused and sucked in a breath. "But I sort of knew that I would. I caught it to save Ang, but before I did I knew that there was a better than even chance that I wouldn't make it after. Hell, it took everything I had last night to completely deliberately flip a switch and James' car is a lot bigger, you know?" Henry blew a heavy breath out through his pursed lips. "I can't believe I'm asking this but is your," he searched for a moment for the right word, then gave up. "Is it extreme strength or what?" David shook his head. "Nah," he said. "I ain't the Incredible Hulk. It's all mental. I seem to be able to move things." Henry nodded slowly and sat down on a bench against the wall just behind him. "My god. You aren't pulling my leg, are you?" David shook his head. "I'm afraid not." He took a breath and turned sideways to lean back against the wall and closed his eyes. "So, Mr. Dean, your problem is solved. Ang won't be going anywhere with me tonight because I'll be in your custody." Henry turned and just stared at the young man. "You could have lied to me. Ang had already corroborated that one. And we didn't find any blood or tracks leading to or from the crash site." "Yeah," David breathed, leaving his eyes closed. "Ang covered up the blood an' wiped away our footprints, all the way back to my house. She knew you and the other members of your office would respond to somethin' so freaky. 'Specially with your son involved." Henry shook his head slowly. "We'd never have found you. You were already too careful, or Angela was. So, again, why?" David shrugged. "Ang loves you very much," he said. "I had two choices. I could let her lie to you and subtly damage your relationship," and he paused to let out a dry, mirthless laugh. "Gods, I already _have_ hurt the relationship between you. I don't think she'd've blown up at you if she wasn't already having problems trusting you." Henry sat back. "So you took the other option. Give Angela her family back and give up your entire life." David felt tears start to track down his face. "Not much of a life left," he said softly. Henry just sat and marveled at David who stood, stoically, tears slowly drying on his cheeks. "We don't have very long," David said. "You can't leave so you better call your people to come get me before Ang and your wife manage to get back." Henry slowly tapped a finger on his leg. "I have some questions for you," he said slowly. "Shoot," David said quietly. "I'm afraid I really don't understand what it is I do yet, though." "Not about your ability," Henry said. "About Angela." David's eyes finally flew open. "How far have the two of you gone?" David started blushing furiously, refusing to look at Ang's father right now, and thinking that being vivisected would be preferable to having to answer this question. "Uh," he croaked out. "Just kissing." Henry just stared. "Well," David wilted under that stare, "I did tickle her. And I kissed her belly once. Well, twice..." "Nothing else?" Henry asked. David shook his head and Henry, knowing the teens had been entirely alone for a good long time in David's house, marveled at the young man again. "And if you had the chance?" Henry prompted, knowing that it was likely that David already had had that chance and wondering what the hell was going on _now_. David opened his mouth and a squeak came out. Henry just shook his head at the thought that this young man, who could likely turn him into paste at a thought, was this nervous about these questions. "Not sex," David finally blurted out. "Not yet." Henry's eyes opened in surprise. "If she, say, stripped down to nothing and offered?" David swelled up with anger and glared at Henry. "That ain't Ang," he stated firmly. Henry blinked and then slowly nodded. "But if she did?" "I'd stare," David admitted. "And I'd want to touch but... the rest..." and he was floundering about again. "It should be special. Not like Yvette." Henry nodded. "Your sister was... promiscuous?" "No," sighed David. "I loved my sister, but, honestly, I'd have to say she was a slut. Mom and Dad were constantly worrying about her." Henry looked David up and down. "You are what, eighteen?" "Will be in a week," David allowed. "And you're still a virgin," Henry had stated that instead of asking. David closed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair, tracing the bandage again. "Mr. Dean, until I'd met Ang I hadn't really ever kissed a girl before." Henry sighed. "You have me at a serious disadvantage, my boy," he said. "Huh?" Henry shook his head. "If I don't take you in, I'm violating everything I've worked so hard to keep alive. But if I do, I'll lose my daughter." "She loves you," David started, but stopped again as Henry raised his hand. "Yes," Henry said. "And she still would. She might even understand. She'd just never trust me again." "Oh," David said softly. "Man, I wish she hadn't come around the corner just then." "Oh, kid," Henry said with a soft chuckle, "that wouldn't have mattered one whit. No, even if you'd just been gone, she'd have blamed me. So what the hell do I do now?" David shrugged, helplessly. "Beats me," he admitted. "Okay," Henry said after a long, quiet moment. "Can you promise me that you'll never hurt anyone or use what you have in a selfish way?" "No," David softly admitted. "I really can't." Henry slumped and looked at David with exasperation. "Come on," he said. "Work with me here, kid!" David just shrugged helplessly again so Henry said, "Well, at least promise me that you won't hurt my little girl or break her heart." David slumped. "I can't," he said helplessly. "I might. I wouldn't ever mean to, but I might." Henry controlled his urge to smash his fist into the wall or, better, into David's face. "You know, there _is_ such a thing as too honest!" "With people in general, yes," David allowed, then stared hard at Henry. "But not in relationships of any kind." Henry sat back. "I do believe I've been zinged," he said. David looked at him. "Let's be frank here," he said. "Your daughter, who I think loves you more than life, just blew up at you partially because she didn't think she could trust you, right?" Henry nodded slowly. "Now think," David urged. "Your wife would likely have blown up at you for..." and he tried to find a diplomatic way to put it, but finally gave up, "for being an ass anyway, but if you weren't keeping such a huge part of your life secret, would she have ever hit you?" Henry opened his mouth, then slowly closed it. "Has your mind always worked like this or just since you got your thing?" David actually laughed. "Always," he said. "I'll be honest, running into Ang, literally, was entirely due to a miscalculation of the traffic flow through a chokepoint in my preplanned path." Henry stared at him. "You're serious." David looked back at Henry and nodded. "As a heart attack." He sighed. "Mr. Dean, I'm weird. I always have been. I hate the name 'Davey Weirdo' that James so graciously gifted to me years ago, but I have to admit it's accurate. I have to calculate my route and every step at school entirely due to people like your son." Henry winced. "All right, you've convinced me. Being honest, I have to admit I was a lot like him as a kid, but I grew out of it." "James ain't," David stated flatly. Henry nodded. "I know," he said. "I just don't like it. But what do I do about him?" he asked, momentarily forgetting that he was talking to a boy far less than half his age. "Well, he's legally and adult now," David said. "Well over eighteen. In reality, the only thing you can do is kick him out. And with what I've seen of the way he treats Ang, you really don't wanna ask me my opinion on that one." "Yeah," Henry breathed. "But Nancy wouldn't forgive me..." "If I know Ang at all," David interrupted, "she's just mad enough and panicked enough that she may be telling Mrs. Dean all about James right now. Especially with me bein' involved and destabilizin' everything." Henry nodded and started tapping his forefinger again, obviously staring across the hall at nothing. "So where do I turn myself in at?" David asked after several minutes. "Uh, what?" Henry mumbled out, pulling his attention back to the here-and-now. "You can't haul me in or Ang won't trust you again. But you desperately need me, to secure your job if nothing else. Ang can be mad at me, but she can't blame you if I turn myself in voluntarily. So where do I go?" "What in the hell is the matter with you," Henry burst out, surging to his feet. "You have a martyr complex or something?" "No," David said softly. "Just not much to live for." "Oh, snap out of it," Henry said sharply. "Your family was taken from you. I can't even imagine that or how you feel so I won't insult you by saying I do. But you have a chance." His eyes went far away again. "I knew a girl back in my college days, Sharon. Sharon was the most driven person I've ever met. Not just academically driven, she also partied like nothing I've ever seen before or since. When I saw that movie with Robin Williams, 'Dead Poets Society,' I knew exactly what he meant by Carpe Diem, because I'd seen it and been swept up in it for a while. I asked her about it once. She didn't want to talk about it, but finally she told me that she'd been orphaned at twelve and spent the rest of her childhood and teenage years ion the hell that is the foster care system. She told me that since her family couldn't be there, she had to live for all of them. Then she played me a song by Blue Oyster Cult that she said she had based her idea around. It was beautiful and moving..." David just blinked as Henry shook his head. "You aren't going to turn yourself in. You have to live for your parents and, most importantly, for you sister who had the rest of her life stolen." He stopped, almost panting. After a moment, he shot David an uncomfortable look. "And, ah, if you see anyone out of the ordinary, maybe you could let me know?" David blinked, trying to process all Henry had just said. Finally he nodded. "If I can, Mr. Dean. If I can." Henry nodded as he saw his wife reappear around the corner, then call back to someone. Ang's head peeked around the corner as David followed Henry's gaze. The next thing David knew, he was on his back on the floor, being held tightly by a tiny, brown haired, hazel-eyed girl who was sobbing hysterically. Nancy walked up, her face serious, and said, "Henry, we have to talk about James." And she glanced down at the couple on the floor. "Just as soon as you tell me why the hell Angela was convinced she'd never see David again." David spotted the uncomfortable look on Henry's face, despite the fact that he had a nostril-eye view of the man. He patted Ang on the back and said, "Let me up, Ang. I need to show your mother." "But," she said and looked over and up at her father, who was trying desperately not to get angry at the sight the young man and his barely fourteen year old daughter were presenting. "He knows," David said. "And it's all good." "Okay," she said uncertainly, but climbed off of him. David just sat up and scooted back until he was resting against the wall. "Mrs. Dean," he looked up at the woman, "are you done with your coffee?" She blinked. "Well, yes, why?" David nodded to the floor in front of his feet. "Please put your cup there." Frowning, she set the cup down and stepped back. "David," Ang's voice was filled with worry, "are you sure? You've already lost a lot of blood." "All right, what the hell is going on here?" Nancy finally demanded. David ignored her and stared at the cup, "feeling" it. He got a good feel for it and tensed his mind, reaching for the twitch. It was coiled and ready, so he pushed the twitch as he squeezed the "skin" around the cup. Like in the hallway at home, the twitch hit him hard, like a hot nail being driven into his head by a sledgehammer. He heard his own voice give out a small scream as the walls moved in front of his eyes and everything went black. "I said he's all right!" Ang's sweet, calming voice was much louder than it was supposed to be right now, according to David's jangled mind, and he moaned quietly. "Quiet now," Ang's voice softly entered his ears now as he felt someone touch his face. "He's awake and he'll have a bad headache from landing on his nose." "Look," a man's loud voice hammered through David's skull and David let out a whimper. "We need to take care of him!" David whimpered a bit louder and tried to burrow into the softness under his head as the man's voice increased in volume. "Daddy," Ang's soft, quiet voice was an amazing balm to David's nerves. "He's hurting David." "Hey!" the man's voice impacted David's brain again. "You can't! Ow! Let me go!" The voice was moving away and David sighed in relief, relaxing against his pillow. After a minute or two, David managed to crack his eyes open and, though his vision was still blurry and the image was swimming all over the place, David saw Henry holding a man in hospital issue scrubs using an effective-looking head and arm lock. As Henry frog- marched the orderly around the bend, David mumbled out, "He wuzzunt 's bad 's Mrs. Lee" That's when he discovered that Ang's throaty giggle thrilled him even when his brain was still mostly scrambled and raw. "Mmm," he hummed, smiling. "Do that again." "David," Henry said softly. "I think you better stand up really soon now." David's mind re-engaged and he realized that he was nuzzling into Ang's lap in front of her parents. He looked up to see the returning Henry and the angry flare to the man's nostrils. He had just started to worry about that when he remembered exactly where he was and a full-blown panic set in. "Shit," he said, trying to scramble up and ignoring the pain as it slithered slowly down the back of his head. "They'll have Dr. Jindo up here any second." "Dr. Jindo?" Henry asked as he helped David up and, subsequently, the hell out of his daughter's lap. "Yeah," David said as he held onto Henry's hand to keep himself steady. "He's the quack that managed to keep me in this place as long as I had to stay here, and wanted to keep me for another six months to a year..." He trailed off as he spotted movement behind Henry. "Oh, no" he groaned as he looked over Henry's shoulder. "_She's_ with him." "She?" Ang asked and turned to see a young doctor of middling height and Oriental descent approaching quickly. He was flanked by a statuesque redheaded nurse who looked to be in her mid-40's. And if Ang hadn't looked at that precise moment, she would have missed it when the nurse spotted David, licked her lips, and pulled at the neckline of her scrubs top, trying to get it a bit lower. "Oh," she almost snarled. The doctor, who looked even younger as he approached and Henry mentally dubbed "Doogie," shook his head as he stopped just outside the group. "David, David," he said sadly. "I told you leaving early would lead to potentially serious problems, but you finally made such a problem that your dear aunt had no choice." David glared at him. "I tripped and fell," he lied flatly. "I must have hit my nose." "Nevertheless," Dr. Jindo said, "we have an authorization from your aunt already in file, just in case you had more fainting spells. So just come along, now," he said as he stepped close to the group and reached past Henry for David. David tensed up and got ready to fight when, to his surprise, Henry stepped in between them, blocking Dr, Jindo's hand. "David," he said, not looking back, "Do you consent to be treated?" "No," David snapped. "Not like that ever stopped them, though." Henry started and turned slightly to look at David. "What was that?" David shrugged. "I told them over an' over that I wanted out. That I didn't want another CAT scan that always ended up normal. That I didn't want more blood work, more tests, more this and that, and that I definitely didn't want Aunt Laura there durin' it all, but they totally ignored me." "He isn't thinking straight," said Dr. Jindo, who had used Henry's movement to reach around him and grab David. David tensed again, then, remembering the past episodes, just sighed as he started being drawn forward when Henry's voice, as angry as it had been at David when he burst out of Jimmy D's room, snapped out, "If you don't let go of him now I'll damn well have you arrested!" "For what?" Dr. Jindo wasn't pulling at David any longer, but still had a firm hold of David's upper arm. David heard a familiar, off-rhythm clumping sound and sighed, "Here come the security guards." "What?" Nancy said, looking around. David pointed as the redheaded nurse, who had slipped out during the confusion, reappeared around the corner and was quickly followed by three large, running men in uniforms. "When I'd try to run and just go home they always caught me." Dr. Jindo smiled at David as the security guards appeared. "Come along, that's a good boy. If you come along nicely we won't have to restrain you again." Henry's hand flashed into and out of his sport coat, emerging with a flip-wallet and popping it open to reveal the flash of a badge. "Federal agent," he barked out and the three security men screeched to a halt just out of grabbing range. He pointed to one of them. "You, stay here and make sure the good doctor doesn't go anywhere. The rest of you, leave!" The two guards, who looked relieved that they hadn't been selected, scrambled back down the down the corridor and around the corner. The third guard slowly approached the stunned Dr. Jindo and got a loose hold on the upper arm that wasn't extended and still holding David's. Henry flipped his ID and badge closed and shoved them into his sport coat again. This time his hand emerged with a cell phone and he dialed rapidly and held it up to his ear. "Peterson," he said, adopting the common look of someone on the phone, "it's Dean. Yeah, I'm at Providence General and I need some local law enforcement." He nodded. "Yeah, attempted kidnapping, unlawful confinement, that sort of thing." He nodded again as Dr. Jindo, who looked truly terrified now, finally let go of David. "Yeah. No, not a ring, a supposedly well-meaning doctor that was trying to confine a seventeen year old boy against his wishes. No, not my son, he's eighteen remember? No, not a psych either. Kid was in a car wreck last month, one that killed some others. He fell on his nose, that's what happened. Yeah, they were going to give him treatment whether he wanted it or not, and he stated that he didn't." Henry smiled and nodded. "Good. I'm sure the on-site security can lead them up, I put the fear of god into 'em. Thanks, Ralph." And he hung up the phone, dropping it into an outer pocket of the sport coat. Two hours later, after the director of the hospital showed up barely a minute before the police, the police took everyone's statements separately, and, despite the insistence of the Chief of Police who showed up during the circus, after David assured them all that he did not want to file accessory or conspiracy charges against his well-meaning aunt, David got a vicarious thrill he never expected. He got the extreme pleasure of watching one of his personal tormentors, Dr. Jindo, being led away in cuffs. The Chief warned David that the charges likely wouldn't stick, but gave David the card of a local attorney that he strongly suggested David call to file civil suits against the hospital, Dr. Jindo, and Aunt Laura. The Chief bid them all good day and spent a moment longer with Henry, making a politely bitter statement about how glad he was that the federal government had let them do their jobs for once, before following his officers out. "This is surreal," David muttered, fingering the card. "Not as much as this is," Nancy said, holding up what had once been her paper coffee cup, but now it looked something like a chewed up and broken pencil. "Yeah, well..." David looked away and rubbed the back of his neck. Ang stepped up to take David's arm possessively and looked at her father. "Daddy?" "No, Cat," he sighed. "I'm not reporting him. Mind you, _I_ would be arrested if my superiors found out. But I'm not." Nancy turned toward Henry with her hands on her hips, glaring at her husband. "All right, mister," her voice was firm and every word was clipped. "Just what in god's creation is going on here?" Ang giggled, the sound even more throaty and wicked than normal, and David couldn't help but smile at the sound. "Daddy, you really oughta tell her," Ang said to Henry, who was busy studying a pattern of small cracks in the ceiling. Nancy marched up to Henry and punched him in the arm. "Henry Dean," she snapped. "You told our daughter something that you wouldn't even tell me or James!" It was phrased as a question, but her tone made it a clear accusation. "Uh, this ain't my place but," and David wilted as the fury of the little woman switched to him. Nancy glanced back at her husband, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. David thought he heard Henry whisper, "Saved by the bell," but he couldn't be sure. "What is it David?" Nancy's voice was calmer, but held that same chill tone David's mother used to have in hers when he'd interrupted a burgeoning argument that she had no intention of being distracted from. "Sorry, Mr. Dean," David thought. "I didn't get you out of this one." Aloud, he said, "About James," he paused and shrugged. "I don't mind telling you that if you let him know about my secret he'll broadcast it everywhere he can just to fuck," and he paused again as Nancy's lips quirked. David quickly amended, "Uh, that is, he does everything he can to make me miserable as it is, you know?" Nancy sighed and Henry looked decidedly uncomfortable. "Yes, David, we've heard about James from Angela. And, while my husband was more willing than I to let it go with his statement that people are just jealous, I wanted to believe him too." She looked at James' doorway. "That is, until I heard him today." David nodded. "Yeah, well, anyway..." and he took a deep breath. "After tomorrow he's going to be desperate to prove how important he is to everyone. Mr. Dean, I'm absolutely certain he'd use your secret to further that." As Nancy's face got colder and she glared at Henry, David quickly said, "Mr. Dean didn't tell me, Mrs. Dean, Ang did." Nancy looked at her daughter, then at the now pencil- thin cup, and nodded in understanding. "If what you can do has something to do with my husband's work, whatever it is," and she shot a glare at Henry again, who realized he wasn't off the hook after all, "then yes, I can understand her telling you." "What, exactly," Henry stepped forward and plucked the remains of the cup from his wife's hand to toss sideways into a nearby garbage can, "is Jimmy going to react to?" Ang grinned viciously and David, whose eyes had tracked over to her of their own accord, blinked at the sudden change in the usually shy and quiet girl. He came to the sudden realization that she had inherited something other than her height from her mother. "The starting linebacker and Jimmy's _good_ friend, Stan Predmore, has been benched, Daddy," she said with relish. Henry and Nancy shared a confused look. "Ok," Henry said. "But why would Jimmy starting the games make him look for something else to make him look important? After all, he'll be well enough for tonight's game since he's only going to be in observation for," and he looked at his watch, "another hour or so." "James isn't the new starting linebacker," David said quietly, careful to keep any of the somewhat sadistic glee he was feeling out of his voice. It was Henry's turn to just blink. "Then who is?" "Pinky," said Ang with a grin. Nancy tilted her head to one side. "Nicky is the new starting linebacker?" "We were both there with Rick when Coach Brighton made the decision," David informed them. "Rick?" asked an addled Henry. "Rick Giles," Ang put in. "I guess he and David have been friends for years." "You know," Henry said thoughtfully, "I don't think I've ever seen him away from the football games and fundraisers. He never comes over like the other players." "Mr. Dean,' David's voice was soft, "how many of the first string players have ever hung out with your son?" "Oh, plenty," said Henry with a smile. "There's... no, he's second string. Oh, how about," and his smile started to fade, "no, he's not varsity..." and he trailed off, muttering quietly, his smile slowly morphing into a frown. "I don't think he does have a friend in the starting lineup, Dear," Nancy said softly. Henry's frown had become deep and foreboding. "Well, like Ang said, there was Stan Predmore," he said. "Did he get hurt or something?" "No," Ang said very quietly and almost hid behind David. Henry looked at David with a question plainly written on his face. "Your son's good friend," said David softly, "saw an opportunity with James gone. He backed Ang up against the wall and tried to grope her. It could've ended up very bad." "He what!" Henry barked and Ang clung closer to David. "I'll rip his goddamn balls off!" Ang giggled quietly and said, "David already tried kicking them off." Her voice sobered. "That's what stopped him. Rick showed up right after and backed David up, then we all went to see the Coach." David stepped back and to one side of Ang, putting a clearly protective arm around her shoulders. As Ang melted against David, Henry thought it looked damned ridiculous. David's thin build and incredibly pale skin did _not_ lend to his idea of a good defender. Then it finally sank in, the stark truth that he had accepted on the surface but not fully understood until just now. This kid, who wouldn't have looked that out of place with a pocket protector in Henry's own high school days, could crush a car, and the icing on the cake was that his mind seemed to work as fast and precisely as a computer. He finally understood that if he had tried to take David against his will, he'd probably have ended up dead. And even if they had managed to trank the kid, it was entirely possible, and probable, that he would have woken up to smash their entire facility flat with everyone inside when he woke up. David saw the scorn clear on Henry's face; an eerie older copy of the look Jimmy D always gave him. He watched as the scorn faded to be replaced by shock, then intense thought, and a flash of horror. Henry's face finally settled into a guarded look and a deep wariness settled about his eyes. Nancy was watching her husband also. She read the volumes of distrust and fear there, and knew this was as potentially dangerous as it would have been if he had tried to force David to do...whatever it had to do with his work. She, however, had been having similar thoughts since David had crushed the paper cup with a thought. A thought with consequences, but still just a thought. She had been reassured by something she had witnessed and Henry hadn't, though. She only realized after the official demonstration from David what had happened by the elevator. David had automatically protected her Angela, and didn't seem to care what it did to him. "Angela," she said softly, "how many times had David protected you or saved your life?" "Well," Ang said, smiling and leaning against David's side, "there was when we met and he caught me..." "You told me, dear," her mother interrupted. "But I mean with his mind." "Oh!" Ang said and straightened a bit and turned her head to look up at David's face. "He definitely saved my life twice, and protected me one time I'm sure of, just a bit ago, but I still don't know about that kick..." David grimaced. "I was at least twelve feet away when Stan was about to touch you so, yeah, that first kick was from my mind." Nancy looked at her husband. "And what happened to David those times, Angela?" Ang frowned up at David. "Well, it seems like he isn't passing out anymore, but I don't like the fact that he's started to bleed a lot from his nose when he does it. That's slowing down, I think, but I don't like it." She got an odd look on her face. "David," she said, and her voice almost vibrated with curiosity, "why didn't you pass out or almost pass out when you kicked Stan?" David shook his head. "I almost did pass out, but I didn't dare stop. It was like I was seeing twelve of him, though, just before I actually had to kick him in the nuts. Then there were only three of him and I had to close my eyes and hope my foot was going in the right direction." Nancy continued to look at Henry pointedly. "Well?" she asked him. Henry grunted. "All right," he grumbled, and all the wariness faded from his face and body, but there was still a bit around the eyes. "He'll do." "Huh?" Ang said looking from one of her parents to the other. "Never mind, dear," Nancy said with a self-satisfied smirk. David had also been looking from one adult to the other. He said to Ang, "I don't know about your Mom, but when mine smiled like that I never could get an explanation." "Tell me about it," Ang grumbled. Henry shook his head at the couple, then looked at his watch. "Nancy dear," he said. "If those two are going to the game tonight, you two should probably do that shopping thing you promised you'd do before her first date." Ang screamed in delight and launched herself from David to wrap her arms around her father. "Oh, thank you Daddy," she squealed. Nancy smiled at Henry as her daughter grabbed her and practically drug her down the corridor. They went around the corner, talking quietly but animatedly, both obviously excited. Henry watched his wife go, but David only had eyes for the tiny girl who had, somehow, shot right past all the defenses he had emplaced to keep people, even friends, at a distance. "Strange," David muttered. "I think she may be the smartest, most intelligent, most stable girl I'll ever know, and she still goes to pieces and turns into a little bundle of energy at the mention of a major shopping trip." Henry grunted again. "Trust me," he said," I know. Just don't get drug along without a couple of books and a really comfortable set of shoes, you'll need 'em." Henry chuckled for a moment, then sobered a bit, not looking away from the corner the girls had just disappeared around. "If you make her cry," he said, his voice perfectly reasonable, "I'm going to kick your skinny ass six ways from Sunday." "If I make her cry, I won't even try to stop you," David responded, in an equally conversational tone of voice, but he didn't look away from the corner either. Henry nodded once, then looked over at the door to his son's temporary accommodations. "Well, since you probably won't be having any more problems with Doogie Huaser..." He was interrupted briefly by David's bark of laughter and he smiled slightly and nodded, but the smile faded quickly to a frown. "I better go and read the riot act to my boy, or Nancy'll read it to me later. Maybe see if I can explain the adult facts of life to him." David looked over at the man. "I'm sorry," his voice was sincere. "Look, I'd offer to help if it'd do any good but James..." Henry looked back at David and nodded. "Yeah," he sighed. "But I do appreciate the thought." Henry shook his head. "Usually I'd be saying that _your_ current situation is going to make you grow up sooner than you should have to, but I don't think that's an issue for you." "Nah," David said. "Not really. I can take care of myself, mostly. Speaking of which, the ladies shopping trip reminded me, I should go see if my job still exists. If I can smash the nose of a car into a metal pancake, I can probably work an eight hour shift, no matter what my medical restrictions say." Henry nodded. "Probably," he said thoughtfully. "Where do you work?" David grinned. "Hot topic." Henry couldn't help it, he looked David up and down, obviously trying to fit the boy into a different mental image. David's grin got wider. "No, I don't turn Goth or Emo in the night. I wear these same preppy outfits to work and I don't own a single thing from there. Well, unless you count my band t-shirts or the Autobot t-shirt." He grinned. "You should come by if I'm still employed. It's funny as hell sometimes." Henry stared for a second longer, then burst into laughter as he turned to open the door. His laughter was cut off sharply as Jimmy D spotted him in the doorway and said, "I hope you left enough 'o that fuckin' weirdo so I can finish kickin' his ass Dad! The little fuck actually touched Angie! I swear I'm gonna..." David watched Henry's body tense up and his fists clench just before the door closed. ------------------------------------------------------ Unfortunately, all the people willing to edit my work have temporarily lost internet access. So any typos or glaring plot holes are my mistake alone. This story is copyrighted by me, the author, Waylan Dagger. Please do not repost this story or post it on an archive without obtaining permission first. I can almost guarantee that permission will be granted, but I would like the courtesy. I can be reached at waylandagger@hotmail.com