Comes the Inquisitor (Tess)

[Dragon]

Continued from here (http://www.sw-fans.net/forum/showthread.php?t=16415).

It had been a long, long week for Professor John Rhee.

As if the pressures of the new semester weren't enough, he'd also had several very strenuous training sessions (http://www.sw-fans.net/forum/showthread.php?t=17794) with Anja as well as a few "faculty meetings" that had left him stiff and sore. Even a mutant couldn't crash through concrete walls without bruising the next morning. And he and Ethan hadn't even caught the Brotherhood operative they'd been pursuing.

The wintry afternoon waned in his office windows, casting narrow bands of golden light through the slats in the bamboo shades. John leaned back in his task chair and dreamed of sinking into a bath of scalding hot water as soon as his office hours ended.

In minutes, he really was dreaming, and snoring lightly.

There was a rapid knock at his office door, and he quickly sat up and tried to look busy. "Come in," he called.

[Tess Abrahams]

The longer you thought about things, the more you fixated on them. It didn't even have to be an important--like, a pair of shoes you saw at a mall and really wanted but couldn't afford. As long as you kept your mind busy things were fine; but the minute you got to thinking about those shoes, and how much you wanted them, you were doomed. Pretty soon it would be all you could think of, and everything would start to revolve around ways to devise their buying until you were in the middle of, like, a spinning class and you exploded.

Well, maybe shoes couldn't drive a person to that, but some things could.

Ever since Tess had returned from her secretive meeting at the Brotherhood's discreet mansion, a storm had been brewing inside the young woman. While she'd been willing to give the professors at Cullen's the benefit of the doubt, the revelation that an experimental genetic facility existed so close to the school was never far from her mind. Days passed without her saying anything, each one driving her closer to distraction.

Enough was enough. There was only so much patience the mutant was capable of displaying before her fiery, indignant protester side took control.

By the time she'd marched herself down to Mr. Rhee's office, breathing deeply and trying to remain objective, Tess had worked herself into a fit. She knocked on the door, much harder than necessary.

"Come in."

And come she did. Tess plowed through the door, slammed it behind her, and stormed across the room to his desk. Frowning heavily, she slapped her palms onto the thick wood and leaned against it.

"We need to talk." Obviously.

[Dragon]

John could practically feel the temperature in his office precipitating. Still shaking off his impromptu nap, he blinked mutely at Tess for a moment, then swept a sheaf of papers into a convenient file folder.

"Okay. Um... sit down."

He gestured toward the furniture he'd arranged in the open space of his office for counseling purposes - two armchairs and a love seat spaced around a low coffee table. He used the moment Tess had her back turned to discreetly rub his face. Parts of it still felt asleep.

John dropped into an armchair opposite Tess and clasped his hands in front of him. "What's on your mind, Tess?"

[Tess Abrahams]

Tess flopped into a chair, crossed her arms over her chest and then stood up again. She paced with clenched fists the length of the room and back before sitting again. Her knees bounced spastically.

"Okay so." An edge of frustration made the girl's voice sharp. Mr. Rhee appeared fairly calm, which was more irritating than comforting at the moment. "Is it like, school policy to for you guys to lie to us or something? Because we're already big enough targets as it is, being freaks; making us ignorant freaks is messed up."

[Dragon]

John blinked again in bewilderment. Was it possible she'd found out about the X-Men? He couldn't imagine how - or why it would provoke such a reaction if she had. He felt as though he were playing a scene without his half of the script.

"What are you talking about?"

[Tess Abrahams]

"What am I talking about? What am I talking about?" Tess exploded from the chair, launching herself into an upright position. Hands on hips and breathing like she'd just sprinted five miles, it occured to her that perhaps she was being a trifle unreasonable.

But only just.

Fisting her hair in exasperation, the mutant let out a low growl. "You all knew, you all knew about that, that... that facility where they experiment on mutants like us. It's within an hour's drive from the school and you all had to know about it and you didn't say anything!" She glared accusingly at the man, all the fire she could muster shooting from her incensed brown eyes. "What the hell!"

[Dragon]

John weathered the storm, all the while wondering how this whatever-it-was gotten so deeply under her skin. But now he had come very much awake.

He resisted the urge to ask her how she'd found out about it. The facility was public knowledge, but its inner workings were not.

"You mean the Jericho Center for Genetic Medicine," he said. "Yes, we know about it. Ethan's been trying to shut it down for years. It might not be common knowledge among the students, but we've hardly been trying to keep it a secret."

[Tess Abrahams]

"Gee, I guess I missed the part in orientation where you explained that they basically keep hostages and we should be careful." Tess rolled her eyes caustically. It was possible that some of the older students knew the real nature of the Center, although she doubted they'd seen some of the mechanics used within it's walls. That collar still sent chills across her shoulders when she thought about it.

"God, the things that could happen! We might've willingly walked into their hands for Godsake! This is exactly the sort of thing..." Tess trailed off, shaking her head. There was no way she was going to let slip she'd been contacting the Brotherhood openly.

"So what else haven't you told us, huh?" The teenager finally flopped back down into the deep seat of the armchair, huffing. "Are there mutie-hunters camped out in the woods? Should we be arming ourselves when we go out into the city? Ridiculous."

[Dragon]

John rubbed at a pulsing temple that he suspected may graduate into a migraine by evening. He wished he were in better shape to confront this.

"Tess, we've talked about potential dangers plenty of times in classes and in orientation," he said. "Jericho is an extreme case, but I can assure you that all our students are safe from them, and we do everything we can to prevent other mutant youths from going there. Obviously, it's very upsetting that such things happen, and we're doing what we can to stop them - but I think you're overreacting."

[Tess Abrahams]

"You think I'm overreacting." Tess repeated, very calmly. "Right."

With a great deal of control she laced her hands across her stomach and crossed one knee over the other. In one brief second of bravado, she decided to throw caution to the wind.

"Well, I think you're underreacting. And Hector Vespasian does too."

[Dragon]

If she was looking for a reaction, she got it. John had tensed up visibly - memories of the chase he'd shared with Ethan, of other missions, including the one that had landed Francoise in a coma, were still fresh in his mind.

"That's right, you were at the rally several weeks ago," he noted. "Is that what this is about?"

[Tess Abrahams]

"Yeah, sure. It was very illuminating." This was said with an air of smugness. A wicked thrill, half-apprehensive, raced up Tess' spine; how would John Rhee react if he knew she'd done a heck of a lot more than attend a stupid rally.

"He had the decency to be honest and straightforward about who he was and what he stands for. A lot of people support his ideals." The girl snorted and rolled her eyes, then. "Of course, we got hauled back to the school like criminals to serve detention. Heaven forbid any students question the supreme authority of Mr. Daniels and his omnipotent staff."

[Dragon]

John could scarcely believe what he was hearing - he didn't know what was said at the rally, but he couldn't imagine how it had made such an impression on the girl. The thought of Saladin somehow spreading his tendrils into the school and into students' minds was a very disturbing one.

"Tess, we are not in the business of dictating what our students are to believe," he said. "Take Mr. Bertrand's ethics class, or Miss Selvano's genetic biology, Mr. Daniels's civics, or any course that involves the relationship between mutants and humans - we welcome the discussion of multiple viewpoints."

He spread his hands illustratively. "So let's discuss Hektor Vespasian. You say he was honest and straightforward. Did he tell you he believes that humans are destined for extinction in the near future? That mutants share a destiny of supplanting humans as a new master race? Did he tell you that he supports radical segregation, the abolition of human government, genetic warfare? That he supports acts of mutant terrorism and that he has personally led terrorist attacks that have cost human lives? There is a reason he is not on our reading list - he is a militant extremist, and he is dangerous, Tess."

[Tess Abrahams]

"He said you'd probably say something like that. You're blowing things out of proportion." What surprised Tess was how quickly she'd gone on the defensive; not having her parents within phone-reach had her on edge, certainly, and the teenager was always susceptible to a cause--any excuse for a crusade, so went the family motto--but for whatever reason, Mr. Rhee's words felt like... like a personal attack.

"Maybe his methods are a bit extreme and there's never anything to justify extermination, but what he's saying isn't far from the mark. There are more mutants now than there were ten years ago, and pretty soon we'll outnumber humans. Things will have to change.

I believe in educating people and I'd like to believe that one day humans will see us for who, not what, we are but it's just not happening. Something's got to give, and why should it be us?" Tess paused, trying to remember the way it had been put at Bruderschaft. "There are exceptions, individuals who are different, but humanity as a whole? There's not gonna be a mass conversion. So what's wrong with making a world for ourselves?"

Spectre's cell number was still in the pocket of her jeans, and the little piece of paper felt like it was generating heat against her thigh; Tess shook her head. "They're not as dangerous as you'd like us to think."

[Dragon]

He wanted to tell her. Wanted to take her down to the Sub-Basement and show her. Show her Francoise lying stricken in an extended care unit. Show her mission photos of burning homes and crumpled bodies. And show her that the teachers at Cullen's weren't taking human oppression lying down, but that neither would they permit mutants to turn that oppression back in violence on the heads of innocents.

"This isn't about his philosophy," he persisted. "I don't agree with him, but I can respect his views. But I cannot condone his methods, and I can't believe that, if you knew half the things he's done, you could, either. He's a brilliant man, an excellent speaker, very good at persuading people to his point of view - but he's ruthless. He and his supporters have no regard for human life. Tess, if you've had any contact with him, I'm concerned for you. For your safety."

[Tess Abrahams]

"Yeah, well, don't be." Tess wished desperately for a more eloquent reply, but none came. A few awkward seconds passed during which she did little but glare at the mutant across from her.

She had nothing left, short of exposing herself, but bluffs. "I'm going to stay with my grandmother in the city. I e-mailed my parents and let them know everything, and they agree it's best."

[Dragon]

John felt a heavy sense of forboding about this - off-campus, she wouldn't be protected. She might even encounter a member of the Brotherhood herself.

The suspicious part of him that had never really left said, If she hasn't already.

He opened his mouth, on the verge of telling her...

I've met them in battle. I know their tactics and their brutality. We fought them, and one of us didn't return whole.

The situation with the humans is even worse than you think. And the safest place for you is right here.

But by the time it filtered through his tired mind, his uncertainty, his suspicion - who knew what company she was keeping - all that came out was a half-hearted apology.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Tess. I think you're cutting yourself off from a lot we have to offer. And, frankly, we'll be diminished without your viewpoint here. I wish you'd reconsider. I don't want you to make any snap judgments."

[Tess Abrahams]

"I'm sorry too, but I've made up my mind." With a confidence she did not feel, Tess shrugged and snapped her crackling eyes to the window behind the professor. The drifting snow had piled on the outside sill in sparkling drifts, bu rather than having a calming effect it seemed to Tess as if they were being buried in the room. She stood.

Jamming her hands into her pockets, she glanced at a small clock on John's desk. It was nearing five.

"I can still make the last bus to the city. I'd like to leave tonight." There were busses leaving in the morning, but that would mean explaining to her friends why she was packing up her things. If she hurried, she'd be able to get away with the neccessities and a quick note to Jacinda--Tess felt a twinge of guilt at that, because her friend deserved much more than a note--before dinner was over. They could meet later in the week, for coffee or something.

Coffee or something. That was the plan. A bloom of uncertainty filled her breast, and siphoned down into her belly where it became full-blown panic; this was too hasty. But Tess couldn't, wouldn't, stay. For all the overblown ferver of her reaction, the girl was really and truly moved by the hectic events of the last few weeks.

[Dragon]

John stood as well, his face still crimped with worry.

Say something. Stop her.

"Tess..."

He stretched out a hand over the coffee table toward her. "Wherever you end up, good luck. I hope this isn't the last we see of each other."

[Tess Abrahams]

After a moment's hesitation, Tess met his hand with her own. It was impossible tell what the girl was thinking as she solemnly shook it. Whatever sentiments might have been crossed her mind were left unsaid, and with one last glance over her shoulder, the teenager silently left the office and retreated upstairs to pack her things.

* * *

Even with a thick coat on, Tess couldn't stop a shiver from racing across her body as she stared through the gates at the school, a dark shadow against the fading light. The final click of the gates closing had been heavy and final, despite the muffled air of the snow-encrusted ground.

It took a great deal of will to turn around and walk away, and the girl didn't dare look back lest all of her bravado turn to salt and crumble. Within half-an-hour the city transit had reached the outskirts of the city. Tess didn't bother to listen to the announced stop, just stepped off and didn't stop walking until she found a payphone.

Two quarters. Ten digits. Three rings. Hand clenched around the scrap of paper, Tess was almost ready to hang up when a familiar voice answered.

"Hello, this is Tess Abrahams?" She paused to lick her lips. "This is Tess Abrahams and... I need a place to stay."