IC INBOX; MoM

[pushtheboundaries]

"You've reached Robert Callaghan, Headmaster to the Heropa Organization for imPort Education. Please leave a message with your name, your phone number, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. As a reminder, my office hours are..."

Comments

[ voice ]

[hostage]

[If he wasn't on this road trip, they'd be having this conversation face-to-face. Alas...]

Killing kids, huh?

[ voice ]

[pushtheboundaries]

[ah, yes. another conversation he knew was coming.]

...If you're looking for a defense, I don't have one. Only that it wasn't how you might think.

[hostage]

How was it, then? I wanna hear about it.

[pushtheboundaries]

[...]

Have you ever loved someone, Jesse? Loved them so deeply, that they were your entire world? If not, try to imagine the thing you most care about, the thing most important-

-now imagine someone taking that from you. Calling it a 'setback' in their advancement. Things happen, have a condolence package and forget it ever happened.

[hostage]

[Oh, he knows that feeling. It's the feeling he had when his own child was poisoned, when Jesse believed his best friend had betrayed him. But he was wrong. His thirst for revenge had led him to nearly murder the only person in the world who was trying to protect him.]

I'm not seeing the part where killing kids helps make anything better.

[pushtheboundaries]

I wasn't trying to kill kids. I was trying...I was trying to kill the one responsible.

[you know that frustrated sound when someone's rubbing their face? insert that here.]

They had the bad luck of getting in front of someone who'd made themselves stop caring about everything. One ran in to a burning building because of it. He...didn't make it out.

[hostage]

You're saying it was an accident.

[pushtheboundaries]

I'm saying it's not so easy as 'murder', but I was prepared to accept whatever charges they threw at me. All things considered, I doubt the public would care - people like having someone to blame.

[hostage]

I don't give a fuck what the public thinks. Did you want the kid to die or did it happen by accident?

[pushtheboundaries]

I didn't want any of them to die!

[and it's- true. to a point. in the beginning, he didn't, and he never looked forwards to it- he just made himself do what was necessary, when things got out of hand]

[hostage]

But you still did stuff knowing there was a chance, right? Did the building burn itself down or did you do it?

[pushtheboundaries]

I didn't plan it beforehand, if that's what you're asking. [he sounds vaguely annoyed, but- at himself?] But it wasn't an accident.

[hostage]

[Jesse's not going to bother asking if Callaghan's sorry. He doesn't really give a shit if he is.]

The kid who's gunning for you now... Sounds like he wants to take away your second chance. Sounds like another person coming after something that belongs to you. What're you gonna do about that?

[pushtheboundaries]

Nothing.

That 'kid' is responsible for bringing that 'something' back to me.

[hostage]

Good. 'cause if anything happened to him, or somebody he cares about... You're not stupid. You know what people would think.

[pushtheboundaries]

If anything happened to him, or somebody he cared about, I would be the first in line to investigate the source.

I owe him that. And more.

[beat]

Anything else you'd like to ask about, while you're on the line?

[hostage]

Do you care about the school, or are our kids just your insurance policy?

[pushtheboundaries]

Insurance-?! I've never hidden behind anyone!

[wow, you just. legit. offended him.]

If I have a chance of keeping someone from making half as stupid a set of choices as I did, you can damn well bet I'm going to put forth the effort!

[hostage]

[Dryly:]

Inspiring.

[pushtheboundaries]

I'd imagine. [god, he is such a shit public speaker unless it's about science. have another frustrated noise.]

If that kid came on to campus demanding blood, I might not give it to him, but I wouldn't put our kids in danger. If there was some other sort of fallout that'd threaten them, I'd do what I needed to to keep them safe.

Does that make you feel better? They have nothing to do with what's between Hiro and I. Or- anyone else from San Fransokyo.

[hostage]

Does it make me feel better? No, Robert, that doesn't make me feel better. Talk is cheap. I'll believe it when I see it.

But you're not the only killer who's ever worked at Xavier's.

[Not by a long shot.]

[pushtheboundaries]

[and there's a sharp intake of breath that implies that he was not expecting that last comment. the first, maybe, but-



god help him, but he can't make a deadpan comment;]

It should become a mandatory question for admission. One of the faculty can tell when someone's lying, can't she?

[hostage]

[Please.]

There wouldn't even be a school if that was how we did things.

We protect our own. That's the important thing.

[pushtheboundaries]

[...Jesse can't be implying what he thinks he is. he'll move on to the more likely.]

The kids.

As I said, they're safe. As safe as I can keep them, that is, with all the chaos this place holds.

[hostage]

[The kids had better be safe, or else Callaghan is going to be Jesse's science experiment: How well do nanites stand up to hydrofluoric acid?

He won't make a threat over the phone, however. And it's likely unnecessary. Cal gets it.]

As long as you keep that promise, you're not alone, either.