Caleb 49 - Repercussions

"Heath," she said.

Mary and Amanda both gasped.

"Wasn't he your backup for me," I asked, "if I turned out to be gay?"

She squirmed a bit but then nodded. "He was," she said. "Now his reasons for volunteering make even more sense."

Maggie came back in from the deck. "I just spoke to Judge Roder," she said. "She's just issued warrants for the arrest of Zacharia and Heath Everson. They're putting a team together now to go get them. She's not issued warrants for the rest of the council, but if they are involved, we'll find out. She's also given us full authority on the interrogation."

"Full authority?" Dianna repeated, to confirm. Maggie nodded.

"I'm going to ask Vincent Wragge if he would be kind enough to do the honors." Maggie said.

"I could..." I began but Maggie shook her head.

"I'm not letting you anywhere near this," she said. "His legal team would tear us apart in court if the victim was involved in the interrogation."

"If he's found guilty," I asked, "what will he get?"

"I don't know," said Maggie. "Ten counts of attempted murder, maybe ten to fifteen each but served concurrently, and out in eight probably."

I nodded.

"Do you remember my promise?" I asked her. Her face sharpened.

"Caleb, you can't," said Dianna.

"He not only tried to kill me," I said, "he tried to kill all four of my fiancées, plus my in-laws, plus Josh and Louise. Not to mention Gerry, and countless others on the ground who could have been killed or injured when the jet came down.

"Even so," said Maggie. "You can't take the law into your own hands like that."

"He gets to keep his power?" I asked.

Maggie and Dianna looked at each other.

"Probably," said Maggie.

I shook my head, disgusted.

"Then what is the fucking point?" I asked.

"The point?" asked Maggie. "The point is that he gets taken out of circulation."

"He'll get a holiday where his powers will give him a cushy life for the next few years which, given his lifespan, will just seem like an extended sabbatical. Then he'll be free to try again, and you know he will. He's a bitter and twisted old man with a sense of entitlement bigger than the country."

"What do you suggest?" asked Dianna.

"Strip his powers," I said. "Neuter him. Let him live out the rest of his life as a Norm."

"They will never agree to that," said Maggie. "It's cruel and unusual punishment."

"But..." I began.

"Caleb," said Dean. I looked at him.

"There's no point," he said. "He is in the legal system. You have to let them do their thing. Isn't that why you contacted Maggie in the first place?"

"But they..."

"I know, son," he said. "But what can you do? Don't answer that. I know what you could do, but what then? You end up in trouble, in jail, and where does that leave our girls? Jules, Ness, Mary, Amanda? It screws up your life for no real gain. Take it a day at a time. Let it go. If he comes after you when he comes out, then we'll deal with it at that time. He's not stupid enough to come at you directly though, so you'll have to watch your six."

I sighed. He was right. I just felt so helpless and so frustrated.

Ness came over and crawled into my lap, gazing up into my eyes.

"You ok?" she asked.

"No," I said. "I'm far from OK. That BASTARD tried to kill you, Jules, Mary and Amanda, not to mention your parents, Josh and Louise, and Gerry. I'm supposed to sit here and let him get away with it?"

"He's not getting away with it," said Dianna.

"He's getting a fucking holiday," I said. "He's probably taken shits that have lasted longer than you expect him to get for trying to kill almost my entire family."

"It's not our job to decide punishment," said Maggie "That's what the courts are for."

I sighed. "Maybe I'm not cut out for the FBI," I said. "Their idea of justice seems to be very different than mine."

"Justice is not what we do," she said. "We catch bad guys and protect innocents. The justice part of it comes after. I know it's frustrating, especially when you are personally involved, but vigilantism isn't the answer. You have to do your part, which you did, and then let the system do its part."

"There is something you can do," said Dianna.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Give Gerry his flying knowledge back," she said. "I know you took all his memories of his flight training. Give them back to him so he'll be able to fly again."

I looked across the table at Gerry who was looking at me with hope in his face.

"Of course," I said. "He'll have to stay here the night though."

"Done!" said Dean.

Maggie's phone rang. She answered it, going out onto the deck to talk. She was back two minutes later.

"Zacharia is in custody," she said. "He's lawyered up. We need to get back immediately."

"I'll get one of the boys to drive you." Dean said. Maggie nodded.

She came over to me.

"You need to let this go," she said. "It will only hurt you if you don't."

I glared at her.

"What I need," I said, "is family who is on my side." She stepped back like I had slapped her.

"Caleb," Dianna began but stopped when I glared at her.

The dogs barking signalled the arrival of their ride to the airport. Dianna gave all four girls a hug, before coming to me and cocking her head on one side.

"Caleb," she said gently, "we don't make the laws. We can only enforce them. I'm sorry if that makes you think that we don't care but it's because we DO care that we need you to not do anything to Zacharia. Even if we looked the other way, others would not. Not only that; what would that do to you? You're not a killer Caleb. In the heat of the moment, maybe, but not cold blooded. If you forced yourself to do it, it would haunt you for the rest of your life.

"Let the law deal with Zacharia and take your revenge by living your best life. You've already taken away everything from him that he values."

"He still has his power," I said. "He's still dangerous."

"I'm going to press for everything I can," said Maggie. "From multiple counts of attempted murder to hijacking to fucking piracy if I have to. He is going to go to prison for a long time."

I looked at her. I shrugged, defeated. "Whatever," I said, turning away and walking out of the kitchen door. I wandered across the yard and into the stable. Blaze saw me coming and came to the front of his stall snuffling at me and looking for the carrots I would normally bring. Since I hadn't brought any, he had to make do with a handful of oats that I grabbed out of the feed bin as I passed.

Blaze condescended to accept the inferior offering, and munched at the oats as I stroked his mane.

"It's not her fault," Dean said. He was leaning by the door. I'd felt him approaching.

"I know," I said in a flat voice. "It's just..."

"Frustrating," he said. "I know. Believe me. I may not have your powers, but I too want nothing more than to have five minutes in a room alone with Zacharia Everson. Powers or no, only one of us would step out. But it's out of our hands. Getting involved would only cause you trouble and, effectively, get him what he wanted in the first place which was to take you off the board.

"You're winning, Caleb. Almost without trying you removed not only him, but the entire Everson Council. Pretty much EVERY powered family thinks well of you, owes you personally, or knows someone who does. You're changing minds. You would do a lot of damage if you did what you wanted to do to Zacharia.

"You have achieved in a year what your entire family couldn't achieve in a millenia. Take the win."

"I just..." I paused not knowing what I wanted to say. "I feel..."

"You want to hit something," Dean said. "Hurt something, destroy something. I know. I feel the same. I could put some gloves on and beat the hell out of my heavy bag. I don't think that would do it for you though." He looked thoughtful for a second, then said, "Come on."

I followed him out of the barn and back to his truck. We got in and he drove down a road I didn't think I'd ever been down before.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"I acquired five thousand acres of land," he said, "since you were last up. The old boy, who I'd been chasing to sell to me for the last five years, finally upped and retired. He's living his best life in Florida now.

"I wanted the land, but I don't need his house or his buildings. I was going to call a demolition contractor to come and tear the place down. But perhaps you might save me a little time?"

We pulled off the road and into a farmyard. There was a small brick farmhouse and a couple of brick out buildings.

"I had all the services disconnected at the road." Dean said. "Once these are levelled, I'll get a reclamation team in, they'll take everything away, and eventually we'll dig out the foundations and turn this into a pasture. I'll probably expand the herd by another thousand head."

I looked at him.

"Seriously?" I said. "You want me to..."

"Go on," he said. "Let off some steam."

I looked at the smallest of the outbuildings. Roughly the size of a two-car garage, it was brick built with wooden doors. I reached out and ripped the doors off. The wood tearing like tissue paper. I dropped the doors and grabbed the roof and lifted, tearing it clean off and dropping it back down so it laid drunkenly atop the walls. Then I hit it with a TK wrecking ball, smashing it down into the interior of the outbuilding. I took the ball to the walls too and in seconds there was little more than a pile of rubble where the building had once been.

I turned my attention to the second slightly larger building. Again, I ripped the doors off after making sure there was nothing and nobody inside. Then I simply gripped the building and squeezed, exerting my will. It was strange to see the building implode in a shower of dust. Once more, a couple of blows with my wrecking ball rendered the remainder of the building into yet another pile of rubble. I was starting to pant now; it was hard work, but it felt good to be doing something. To be destroying something. To be venting my anger on something.

I turned to the farmhouse itself and, after a quick scan to make sure that there was nobody squatting inside, I let loose. I pounded at it, smashing great holes in the doors, blasting out the windows; basically throwing everything I had at it. I smashed, almost like the big green guy Bruce Banner becomes when he's angry. I couldn't see through the clouds of dust, but I continued to pound. I imagined that I was venting my rage on Zacharia Everson, that it was him I was pounding into paste. It was his face that was quickly becoming a blurry red smear in front of my eyes.

"Enough," said Dean quietly stepping forward and pulling me into a hug. "It's done."

It was only then that I realised that I was screaming and sobbing. Tears of rage and frustration pouring from my eyes as I turned what had been a pretty cottage style farmhouse into nothing more than a pile of dust. It couldn't even be really called rubble. I had pounded on it so hard that most of the bricks had been ground to powder. There was nothing recognizable left standing in the yard. Even the concrete foundation had been smashed into chunks. I doubted that any of these building's materials would be recyclable. I'd literally ground it all into dust.

It took me a few minutes to collect myself. Dean stood and held onto me as I sobbed out the last of my frustration. When he released me, I slumped back against his truck, my breath still catching. My throat was sore from where I'd been screaming.

"Better?" asked Dean.

I took a breath. The knot I'd had in my chest was gone. I looked back at the farm I'd just destroyed. The dust was starting to settle and an eerie silence laid over everything. I must have scared everything within a mile radius away. There was not a bird singing or an insect buzzing. They'd be back, I knew, but for now the quiet was a balm and I relished it as I felt the residual tensions ebb away.

"Thanks, Pops," I said. He grunted and slapped me on the back.

"Thank you," he said with a grin. "You saved the guys a ton of work. I can't wait to see Bobby's face when he comes up here tomorrow."

We climbed into his truck and drove back to the house.

Everyone was sitting out on the deck when we got back. They looked up as we walked into the yard, covered in dust.

"What have you been doing?" asked Cheryl.

"Caleb needed to let off some steam," he said with a grin. "Tell Bobby to cancel the demolition team. We just need a clean-up crew now."

"He..." Cheryl said looking at me. She stood up and walked over to me taking my face in her hands.

"I didn't really get a chance to say this before," she said, "thank you." she gazed into my eyes. You saved us, all of us."

"None of you would..."

"Don't," she interrupted me. "You didn't cause it. Do not let them make you feel responsible for their actions. That is the method of bullies everywhere. They tell you that it's your fault that they hurt or kill or destroy. No - They did this, not you. You saved us."

"I'm going to make dinner," said Ness. "Go shower."

I went for what was my third shower of the day and was back in the kitchen in time to sit down and enjoy the meal that Ness had made. After dinner, I spent a few minutes gathering the memories I had taken from Gerry, and then pushed them back into his mind. I then spent the rest of the evening in his head, sorting through them so he would retain them. When I was ready for bed, I was about a third done but I was hoping that it would continue as I slept, as it had for others.

Amanda was waiting for me when I came out of the bathroom to go to bed.

Even now, after I had gotten rid of my frustration, I really had no desire for sex.

I got into bed and Amanda snuggled up beside me.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Better," I said, "I guess."

"But still not happy?" she asked.

"How can I be?" I said. "The ones responsible for trying to kill all of us are effectively getting away with it. I know that they'll be back. And what of the rest of the council. Just because they weren't involved in this particular plot doesn't meant they are not coming after me, after us."

She snuggled in and I felt her power washing over me. Relaxation, trust, love. I slept.

The morning arrived before I knew it and I slid out of bed to start my morning routine. As expected, I had finished off consolidating Gerry's memories while I slept. I smiled to myself, glad that I could return that which he had given to me. I hoped he hadn't lost too much, because I was sure that he had lost something.

I was out in the yard 'dancing' for the dogs when Dean came out.

"I was thinking," he said without preamble. "You should start carrying while you are out and about."

"What?" I said, "Why?"

"Because you would get in far less trouble for shooting someone," he said, "than for using your powers on them. You don't need a permit here to carry, so we just need to get you a weapon and a holster."

"I have two guns at home," I said.

Dean nodded. "How fast can you draw them from there?" he asked.

I grinned at him. "Depends if I can borrow the jet," I said. He laughed.

"Let's go into town later and pick you up something," he said.

I was going to argue, but I kind of saw the sense in it.

I went in to get showered and changed. When I was ready, I went into the kitchen and helped Ness with the breakfast.

We were just clearing up afterward when the dogs went running into the front yard, barking. Someone had arrived.

Dean and I went to investigate only to find a mid-sized SUV parked there. Standing by the open rear door, being investigated by the dogs, was Matilda Bree.