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Chapter 6

The blazer went back on the hanger when I got back to my room. The skirt, to a laundry pile, and the heels, back in the closet. I was dressed in my fluffy white robe and sitting at my desk with my feet up, Miss Bonsai purring in my lap, and the computer monitor displaying Brian Rivera's file while I pondered on what to do about the eventual pain in my butt. I didn't like his talent; it seemed too much like rape to me, and I had a whole new perspective on the subject now that I was female.

He'd been at The Center since its inception almost eight years ago. At first they thought he was an anomaly, a freak of nature, but that changed when Christopher came along. Then some analyst made the connection between the change and the bottling company fiasco. It turns out that Christopher was wrong. While Brian was a tomboy when he was a girl, he wasn't a transsexual at the time. Now, he'd spent almost as much time as a guy as he had lived as a girl. He was young enough at the time that he really didn't identify with being female too much and after a few months readily identified with being totally male, thus emulating his older brothers' and father's view of what a male should be.

Well that explained why he was an ass all the time. He'd taken to training very well, up until two years back when he had gone full blown into puberty. Now his counseling sessions, grades, and general attitude were declining into the crapper. He was becoming a liability. If I was reading the writing on the wall properly, it didn't look like he would be here for much longer unless something radically changed.

I grabbed my cell and sent a text to the Colonel: What happens to students that don't work out?

I wasn't expecting a reply since it was after hours, but within a minute I got one: My office 0600.

That wasn't good.

Knock Knock

I frowned at the door. "Who's behind door number one, Miss Bonsai?"

She jumped down and raced up the steps to the top bunk to take her attack cat position while I answered the door. I opened it up and Ray stood there looking somber. "Hey," I said with half a smile. Stepping back I let him in before closing the door and locking it. I know there was a pretty good one in place, but you can never be too secure. I tightened the sash on the robe considering I was only wearing my undies underneath.

Ray looked around the room. "I saw the security they installed on your door. I was expecting some wicked looking scifi computer system in here, or at least a plasma screen with a decent video game set up."

I smirked at him wryly. "I'm apparently easy to buy off."

He looked at me in consideration. "As long as they let you keep the robe then I consider it a good deal."

Looking down at my semi-frumpiness, I couldn't see what he thought was attractive about… never mind. It wasn't about the robe; it was about what I was wearing or not wearing underneath. He edged up in front of me and tugged on my sash, pulling me closer. Looking up at him I missed my heels. I was so short in comparison now. According to Ray's file he was six foot one. That gave him seven inches on me. I pictured a lot of neck cricks in my future if I didn't wear my heels. Maybe Wardrobe has a pair of high heeled marabou slippers I could wear around the room. In the meantime I'd have to deal. Raising up on the balls of my feet, Ray took me in his arms and gave me a kiss hello.

When I dropped back down in a mild lust filled daze I wondered if I could get in trouble dating a subordinate. I decided to file that one away for tomorrow morning's meeting with the Colonel. With a contented sigh I pushed on to obvious business. "Come by for anything in particular?"

He gave me busted face. "Was I that easy to read?"

I shrugged and went over to lean against the desk. The robe split apart at the opening in the front showing a good portion of my naturally tanned legs, but the rest was neatly tucked away for proper teasing. "Well considering you've only been to my room to pick me up for a non-date, I'm kind of wondering."

He shrugged. "I just wanted to give you the lowdown on what happened after the smackdown you laid out on Rita."

Pondering on the uses of said information I nodded and gestured to the other side of the partner's desk. "Let's keep this semi-unofficial for now then. We can play after, if you like." In the recess of my mind I hoped he wanted to. I had been really stressed out over the last twenty-four hours.

I sat behind my monitor and opened up an input file for the Student Data Base that was set up for additional information into each student's person file. Labeling it for my use only, I set a security password on it that was only accessible to me and Colonel Harris.

Ray leaned back on two legs, at an angle so he could see me, and set his heels on top of the desk. "Ready?"

I nodded. I really needed a coffee maker in here, or at least a fridge so I could bogart some sodas. I was thirsty. "Shoot."

"They're scared as hell."

That took me off guard. I thought he'd give me the lowdown on who hates my guts at this point. I let what Ray told me roll around for a bit in my head. "I can see that."

"Rita thinks you're a plant by the Colonel. That you've been there all along in the background. It was the only thing she could think of that explained how you were able to take her down and get the position they gave you so quickly." He laughed at that. "Dani told her she was an idiot, not to mention James and Lili confirm everything."

I stopped breathing for a second and then restarted. Something just came to me, and I've been so incredibly stupid to realize it just then. "They're telepaths. They already know what I know." Everything.

Ray shook his head. "Telepaths are taken aside from the beginning. If the Colonel even suspects that they read anyone's thoughts but who they're told, something very bad will happen."

"What?"

He shook his head. "That's all they are allowed to say. They value their own hide enough to know that they don't want to screw up. Plus when they read you there's a dead giveaway. A little tickle at the back of your skull. We've all been trained to notice it. If either of them violate the policy…"

I waved him off. "I already know about the Colonel's confidentiality agreements." Prison or dead. "So how can they know I'm not a plant?"

He winced a bit. "Because all new students are read after transition, by all the resident telepaths, to make sure they're not nuts. They've already been in your head. Probably when you were in the clinic asleep at the beginning."

"Lovely."

"Max thinks you're the cat's meow."

I snorted. Okay, that was unattractive, but I couldn't help it. Sudden topic changes throw me. "Oh please."

"No really. He loves strong, intimidating, domineering women. He was a lesbian long before the changed and it hasn't made a difference." I just sat there with my mouth open. "When you popped Rita in the face, you didn't hear him squeal just a little?"

My eyes narrowed. He was screwing with me. "Right."

Ray laughed from the belly this time. "Well, he may not have squealed, but I'm not kidding about the rest. He's your second biggest supporter."

"Second?" Should I even ask?

"Dani."

I nodded. My best friend… what can I say. "I'm more interested in the other end of the spectrum."

Ray crossed his arms. "I guess that's pretty obvious."

"Brian."

He confirmed it with a nod. "He even tried to get me to dump you. Talking about how you put your foot down on me at the meeting too." I was about to explain that, but he rolled his eyes. "Please, like I don't know when someone is jerking my chain?"

"What about Rita?"

"Tame as a mouse. I think she used to be part wolf or something. Once you dominate her she knows she's beneath you."

"I don't think she's beneath me." I think she's a generalizing immature twit, but not beneath me. "And what do you mean dominate? Is there something you're not telling me?"

A playful grin graced his face, but he moved on. "That's about it for the pros and cons. I can tell you that they are going to be very wary around you for awhile. You've become a big question mark in their minds."

"What about yours?" This was something that I had been anxious about, every since the Colonel had brought up the whole idea of my taking control. I knew Ray to be a suspicious person. He had reason to be, hell, I had reason to be, but would it affect what we seemed to have started?

He rested his hands on his chest as he looked out the window. "I don't have a problem with you being in charge. I do have a problem with how they may be using you for their own ends."

"The Colonel."

He looked back at me and nodded. "Maybe I've seen too much game playing on Shanahan's part. Let's just say, I don't trust them, and leave it at that." Ray leaned forward and dropped his feet to the ground, so that I would pay close attention. "Be careful, Kris. When they tell you to do something, look at it from ten different directions before you do it. They always have reasons behind their reasons."

The chirping of my cell alarm woke me at four-thirty the next morning. I couldn't blame my lack of sleep on Ray. He gave me a lot to think about, not to mention some happy dreams to contend with due to our impromptu make out session afterward. It didn't progress to the point of craziness like it did in the workout room. I didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. Probably the former. I was still a little weirded out about my new attraction to guys, well, not guys in general, but I was attracted to Ray. Either way I had some happy dreams for once. Having to make notes on Brian and Rita's files took less time than I imagined. Writing 'pain in my ass' isn't all that time consuming.

After a shower and a blow dry, I tried pulling my hair back into a ponytail, but it looked weird. The style didn't work for me, so I left it down and pinned it back to keep it out of my face. Only took me two times to get it right this round. Same blazer, white blouse this time, and matching slacks for the meeting with the Colonel. I tried a different set of heels. I went with four inch this time. High heels were becoming addicting to me. Five days ago I hated them and now I hate not having them. A quick check in the mirror, front and back… what is that on my butt? A frustrated sigh and a change of panties later and I was out the door at a brisk walk. When in my life did I ever care about the appearance of panty lines? I feel a mental breakdown coming very soon. If I didn't know better I'd swear Miss Bonsai was laughing at me from her perch.

I had to readjust my badge so it wouldn't flap so much before entering the main offices. Were there other offices located somewhere else in this place? Why was it named 'Main'?

A different receptionist today. Very tall, African-American in very good shape, still military looking though. "Miss Keys, the Colonel is waiting for you."

I nodded and zipped through the door on the right of the desk that he was gesturing to. I hadn't been down that hallway before. It only turned to the left once before coming to a dead end. I knocked at the closed door. Two seconds later I heard, "Enter."

A much nicer office than Shanahan's, but he was the boss, he got the perks. "Miss Keys, come on in. That will be all Dr. Shanahan."

Doctor Doom nodded at me this time around and I didn't get any go to hell looks. Hmm. Soon after she shut the door behind her I sat down and tried to get comfortable. "I get the impression she doesn't like me too much."

The Colonel was pulling something up on his computer as I was waiting for him. "It doesn't matter if they hate your guts, as long as they do their job and do it effectively. The minute a subordinate's attitude affects their job is when you step in and make it your problem. Much like Rita McFadden last night."

I ran my tongue behind my teeth on that comment. Even though he sent me a text that said good job after I took Rita down, I had the impression he had words to say. He didn't disappoint. "You took a big chance, not knowing what you were up against. Her talent stood good odds of making you useless to me."

"I knew what I was up against. Her sole duty is to take care of witnesses after the fact. She's never been in a real fight."

He quirked a bushy gray eyebrow. "Sacramento, just five months ago she saw action."

A burst of laughter bubbled up. "Hiding behind a couch screaming at the top of her lungs, 'take him out take him out' doesn't qualify as action. If she was any good at a quick response then she could have downed the boy in question instead of getting them both killed." I folded my hands on my lap. "I knew she hadn't had any significant training since then on her talent. Her hand to hand was the only thing I had to worry about, and when I distracted her with using her talent offensively, I knew she couldn't pass up the chance to take me out of the game and proclaim herself queen of the hill."

It was hard to tell if he was impressed or if a tooth was bugging him by the movement of his jaw. "You surmised all of this from her file?"

I nodded. "Knowing you were going to pop this on them at dinner gave me a chance to go over the files of the people I suspected were going to be a problem."

"Who were the others?"

"Brian Rivera, Sean Hunter, Lili Kirkland, and possibly Max Stevenson."

His eyes flicked to the screen. "I see the notes you added to Rivera and McFadden. You want to be more specific with your analysis other than, 'Pains in your ass'?"

I sighed and tried not to sound overly judgmental or juvenile. "Rita is just annoying. I've taken care of the problem, but I expect something more to come up later. She just rubs me the wrong way. Brian… Brian may be a lost cause. Depending on what I'm allowed to tell him, I may be able to shake some sense into his head. I don't know at this point. Hence my text last night."

There was that jaw working again. "We don't have time to play games. Tony Carter, your Clairvoyant, has seen seven more transitions this month, two of which have the possibility of going bad, and one is high risk."

I blinked in shock. "That many, so soon? We only have fifteen people that have changed in the past eight years…" Then I realized what I just said. "We've had fifteen successful changes." The Colonel nodded. "How many went bad?"

"Eight. I'm assuming that you haven't read up on the progression of the changes?"

I shook my head. The Colonel turned his monitor around so that I could see it. A simple line graph showed a gradual progression of something. "Right here." He pointed. I saw a point where the progression took a sharp turn north-east of about thirty to thirty-five degrees. "We estimate that this year we will triple the amount of students here. From Carter's predictions, we may be aiming low."

From what I saw of Tony's file, which wasn't much, he had an eighty-nine percent success rate for true visions.

"I need you to make it a point to come in physical contact with Danielle Marks at least twice a day."

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why. I'd be going on all the missions and I would be the contact person. Dani was one hundred percent accurate, but only where someone close to her was concerned. "I'll talk to her."

He didn't seem to like that I would inform her, but he nodded anyway. "Do what you need to do." He cleared his screen. "How comfortable are you with your talent?"

I shrugged. "I can get by. I really need to find out where I can take it. Being a walking taser is fine, but I know there's more."

"You have five days before the first higher risk mission. Tomorrow you go to Phoenix to pick up a low risk. Just a snatch and grab. Details are already uploaded to your cell. I would suggest bringing along Lomax, for back up on procedure and just in case."

"Alone?"

The Colonel nodded. "You were a higher risk than this boy will be, and you were taken down in eight seconds." I would have said something, but why waste my breath. "What are your plans today?"

"I wanted your permission to pull Brian aside and lay it out for him. If he isn't going to contribute then he needs to be moved."

"Moved?"

I shrugged. "Whatever it is you do with all of the bad little boys that don't behave."

He turned his head slightly. "I thought I made myself perfectly clear yesterday, Miss Keys. The ones that can contribute to this organization are to come here. Those that can't, you deal with."

My eyes fluttered for a second. "He's not evil or insane. I just can't kill him for no reason."

"He's a liability, Miss Keys. Deal with it. I don't care how. Make it work or eliminate the problem." My heart thumped hard in my chest. "Dismissed."

It kind of looked like a gymnasium; it could have been at one time. Now, half of it was a firing range and the other half, separated by what I'm told is three layers of cinder-block, is the place where the Psychokinetics go to play with their powers. That's where I had a dedicated source of power set up for me that didn't connect with the school at all. I guess the maintenance guys had enough of me. The talent coach left me to my own devices after an hour long session with him. At least his hair was back to normal. Practicing alone was somewhat cathartic after the bullshit that Colonel Harris laid out. Fix him or kill him. Is that what I signed up for? I guess it was, in a way. Maybe I should have read the fine print.

While I was trying to work on my aim with smaller jolts of taser strength blasts the door opened behind me. I didn't bother turning around. I already knew who it was, since I contacted him myself only thirty minutes ago.

"You wanted to see me, Miss Warrant Officer Keys, sir, ma'am?"

His taunting brought up a surge of anger that I let loose with my right hand at a target. The targets were actually collection grids that would store up most of the energy that I shot into them. It was a little easier on the generators if I helped them along. That particular one took a little out of me. I needed to juice up again. "Have a seat, Brian, I'll be right with you."

I saw him out of the corner of my eye as I headed to the big gray box on the wall next to the big yellow caution sign that read High Voltage. He sighed and slumped down into one of those really comfortable folding metal chairs. You know the ones that make your butt go numb in about ten minutes? Lifting the safety cover I flipped a switch on the inside of the box and heard a high whine building in strength until the little green light turned into a little red light. Red was bad for anyone that wasn't me. Shuffling a little to the side I allowed Brian to have a front row seat to the event. Two metal shafts stuck up from the bottom of the box. I grabbed them and energy crackled between my hands, but mostly into me. Five seconds later I felt like could leap off a skyscraper. Screw energy drinks and coffee.

With a calming breath I flipped the disconnect and secured the gray box. He was still sitting there looking entirely bored. I guess he wasn't impressed. C’est la vie. I picked up one of the chairs and flipped it around. Might as well take advantage of not wearing a skirt. After I straddled the chair and leaned my elbows on the back I gave him my best no bullshit look. "What's your problem with me?"

"No problem, Miss Keys, sir." He didn't even bother to look at me, finding his nails much more interesting.

I laughed. "You seem to be under the impression that I'm Shanahan or something. I don't give a crap what you call me. You want to play BMOC that's fine. You want to flirt with girls that you know don't like you, fine. But when you screw with me then we've got a problem."

He looked at me under half closed lids, and then away again, not saying anything. It looked like he'd played this game his whole life. Pushing just enough to get under your skin and then backing off so he didn't get into too much trouble. Sadly, that had to end.

"Your vacation is over, Brian. It's time to wake up and join the rest of us in the real world."

He jerked up so fast that I almost didn't see him move. "Real world? This? Please."

"It doesn't get anymore real than this."

Brian looked at me like I'd lost it. "You're kidding, right? We spend our lives in a building, going to class like good little boys and girls, except we aren't and we don't. If we don't have the right talent," he spat the word with sarcasm, "then we go to some more classes. All this is great and wonderful, but it ain't the real world." His seat scraped along the floor as he pulled it up close to me. "I used to have a dad. He was the greatest dad in the fucking world. And now I have Shanahan and Fine, and Harris. They're all great as long as you do what they say to the letter, like your buddy Marks."

He leaned in and copied my posture, half a foot away from my face. "But complain? Slack off on school, just a little? Not be a part of the one big happy dysfunctional family unit that they have here and pretty soon you're me."

Brian made some good points, but I knew it was mostly bullshit. "I'm sorry about your dad. You don't get to see him?"

His face tensed up in repressed anger. "I did up until last Christmas. They arranged for me to bump into him in the mall. He'd planned on shopping, at least that's what he told some friends. That's how they found out. Yanno, so they could arrange the bump."

I nodded along.

"He never showed. They sent someone to his house to see if there was a problem. Found him in the garage sucking on a hose he'd hooked up to his exhaust."

God I feel like an ass. That was nowhere in his file. "I'm sorry."

He smiled at me. I could see his eyes welling up. "My two older brothers went missing at sea two years ago. Dad didn't have anyone left. We were all dead to him. And we were… all except for me." Brian's face was going well into the red. "So don't you come to me with your 'I'm the queen hear me roar' speech I've heard it before. I just don't care anymore."

I wanted to reach out to him, but I just didn't know how. My fingers even lifted a little in reaction, but I pulled them back. This was beyond me. "Do you want to die, Brian." It wasn't a threat. I was genuinely curious.

His eyes dropped. That really wasn't an answer.

"I need to know, Brian. I'm not going to go running to Shanahan or Harris. This is just between you and me."

He crossed his arms and set his head down. His body just slumped like all the energy and hate just pooled out of his body on the floor. "Sometimes I think it would be easier. But I'm too much of a coward."

"Is that why you are letting everything go. Like maybe Harris will take away the choice for you and have you killed?" I saw him close his eyes. That was it. He was committing suicide by anger and apathy. I closed my own eyes and said a prayer to whoever was listening and then opened them again. "That's why I'm here, Brian."

He didn't move. Not an inch. However, he did breathe out and open his eyes. "Can you make it so it doesn't hurt?" Tears dropped from my face. He sounded so innocent, so relieved.

"No," I whispered. "But I can get you some help."

They closed again. "Been there, done that."

Then I started grasping for straws. "I can get somebody else in here. Somebody that can actually help you. I'll get Shanahan out."

His chest rose and fell again, then he lifted his head up and stared me in the eyes. A faint tickle itched at the back of my skull. "You'll do what you are supposed to do, Kristyn."

My body froze up on me. I couldn't move. All the animosity that I had seen in Brian's face over the last few days was gone. He was almost peaceful now as he looked at me. "It'll be my fault. Nobody will blame you. Shanahan has been expecting me to do something. This'll prove her right."

I wanted to scream, but I was held by his talent. He wasn't supposed to be able to do this. He wasn't this strong.

"I can feel that you actually care, Kristyn. Maybe that will be good for the others. Take care of them, okay? Don't let what happened to me happen to them."

My body lifted up and released my hands which moved forward to either side of Brian's head.

"Now where is the trigger…" During his search I screamed at him inside my skull, but nothing made it through to my mouth. Don't do this, Brian. Please. "…ah. There it is."

He gave me a wistful smile and then leaned in to lightly kiss my lips. "For good luck, right? Make sure to tell Shanahan to kiss my ass and Fine… just tell her 'see ya'."

The smell of ozone hit my nose. God, I didn't want to look. Blue white light leaped from my fingers and dug its tentacles into his head. It was overpowered just to make sure. By the time his power failed and I regained control it was too late. The side of his head was charcoal black and his face was unrecognizable. I jumped back and dropped to the floor. My heels slipped as I tried to push myself away. Brian slumped over my chair and teetered for a moment before falling to the side. I had already started to hyperventilate and tried to scream, but it was no use. I couldn't get it out.

The smell of burned flesh hit me and I couldn't hold it together anymore before turning my head away and emptying whatever was left in my stomach from the night before, which was nothing. The dry heaves tore at my abdomen for I don't know how long before I was able to get control of myself.

Scrambling to my hands and knees, I finally made it to my feet and ran to the door. Even on the other side of it I couldn't rid myself of the smell. It made me sick all over again.

Thirty minutes later I was still sitting outside the door. The tears had ran themselves dry, my stomach was still rolling in waves, but my mind was working once more. I pulled out my cell and sent out a global text.

Training room - Emergency — All staff, administration, and students required — ASAP. This is an order.

After punching send I sniffed and rubbed my nose with the back of my hand. I really needed a tissue. Once I was standing I smoothed out my blazer and adjusted the lopsided badge. Releasing the pins from my hair I combed my fingers through it a few times and then reattached them. I was not going to look like a train wreck in front of everyone. The more sane I looked, the better.

The first to arrive was Ray. He was just upstairs working out. I heard his feet pound down the stairs and his body slam open the door. He slowed a little when he saw that I was unharmed.

"Kris?"

"Just…" I had to stop and clear my throat before I could speak properly. "Just wait for the others."

"What happened? Are you okay."

I shook my head. "No, I'm not. Just wait." On second thought. "When Shanahan gets here find your way behind her and be ready."

His eyes hardened, but he didn't say anything, just agreed with a nod. Making his way down the hall toward the stairs he stopped and leaned against the wall. Security and Mrs. Fine were next. They were all armed and busted into the hallway like the storm-troopers they were.

"Keys! What's the meaning…"

"Shut up, Mrs. Fine. Holster your weapons and wait for the others." Her goons didn't listen to me so I let loose with a little light show. "Do it now!"

"Stand down gentlemen," she told her security team.

The noise in the stairwell increased and I knew the bulk of everybody else had arrived. Shanahan was cloistered in the middle of them, along with most of the students. I flicked my eyes to Ray and he moved in. When I saw the Colonel amongst the bunch I went ahead and started my impromptu speech.

"When I got here, at the Center, I couldn't figure out some things."

Colonel Harris spotted that Ray had taken position, but did nothing. Apparently Mrs. Fine did too, but the Colonel held up his hand to her. Interesting.

"Everyone was segregated. It made no sense to me. I mean we were all supposed to work as a team, weren't we?" Nobody even acknowledged me. "But there was something else going on behind the scenes. Some major freaking problems. Lili, James come here, please."

They looked a little nervous, but stepped up. I whispered in their ears and then turned back to the crowded hallway. "Dr. Shanahan, can I ask you a few questions."

"What is it Miss Keys?" I don't think she liked being singled out. She eyed the telepaths warily.

"Tell me about Brian Rivera."

It wasn't a second later that Lili gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh my god!"

James looked sick to his stomach.

"Ray!" I don't know what Shanahan thought she was going to accomplish by trying to run, but I guess getting caught with your brain in the cookie jar, so to speak, was a bad thing in her eyes. My boyfriend grabbed her hand and probably did some really painful pressure point thing because she looked like she was in a lot of pain. "Bring her to me, Ray."

The crowd separated to let them pass. The whispering had already started and Fine looked like she was going to burst if she didn't get to shoot something very soon. The Colonel looked very interested in what I was going to do next. I waved the telepaths back to the crowd and stepped over to the training room door.

"I want to show you something Dr. Shanahan. I think you'll find this really interesting." Ray forced her to the door and I cracked it open about half a foot so she could see Brian's current condition. Ray got an eyeful and he almost faltered. Before he could say anything I closed the door back. With my head I gestured to the wall and Ray slammed her into it without holding much back. Shanahan was scared, really scared. Her eyes were darting between Ray and me. Her hands were shaking and her jaw was working, but nothing was coming out.

Looking back at the crowd again I noticed James holding Lili's head on his shoulder. A crackling sounded at my hand. Ray slid to the side so he wouldn't get all toasty when I brought it up in front of the good doctor's face. "I think it's justice, don't you Doctor?"

"Someone's dead."

I turned to the crowd and saw one of the boys that I hadn't had a chance to talk to yet. Sean Hunter, the Necromancer. Well, not in the way you think. He's the one that talked to dead people. I held up my finger and looked at him. "Shhh. We're not through yet. Someone else is about to be dead."

"Harris," she shrieked. "Colonel Harris! You can't let her do this to me!"

I moved my hand a little closer to her face, just enough to let the tendrils lick at her cheeks. The doctor jerked and screamed.

"Miss Keys, may I?"

The Colonel stood to the side with his hands behind him at parade rest. I pulled my power back and nodded warily. Without moving closer he looked at the doctor. "Dr. Shanahan. Confess and you'll live to see a prison cell for the rest of your life. Stay silent and I'll be going to back to my office so that Miss Keys can continue uninterrupted."

She looked at him and his betrayal. And then at me.

"Oh don't sweat the little shit. Just tell me about Brian," I snapped.

She swallowed. "I… I…"

My hand ignited again and I brought it up.

"I took advantage of him!"

Lili's shriek echoed right after. "You RAPED him!"

Hearing enough to make me sick for the rest of the month I slammed my hand into her face. I pulled back the electricity enough to not be lethal, I wasn't a murderer. At least not today I wasn't.

I looked at the Colonel and he nodded to me. "Mrs. Fine arrest her and put her in confinement." I moved out of the way of the door so the Colonel could have a look. He just stared at Brian's body for a good minute without moving. His face just became progressively harder.

Moving in so only he could hear me I said, "He took control of me and used my powers to commit suicide." His eyes closed and I saw his face tense before he turned away and walked off. I shut the door once more.

I felt Dani behind me. I don't know how I knew it was her, but I held my hand out and she took it. "It was Brian. He's dead, isn't he."

I nodded as I felt the tears returning.

"I'm so sorry."

I shook my head. "He was dead a long time ago. She made sure of that."

"Miss Keys." The illustrious Mrs. Fine returns.

I turned to her and released Dani's hand. "Go tell everyone else. I can't deal with it right now." Looking up at Mrs. Fine I set my face in stone and wiped at my eyes. "What can I do for you?"

She smiled at me in sympathy. "You can take the rest of the day off. You did good today."

Breathing in and letting it go slowly I shook my head. "I have things that need to get done today, but thank you for the thought. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go dry heave some more."

I stepped around her and saw that all of the students were still standing there, looking at me. "The rest of you take today off, no training, no studying, do something that you enjoy doing. Please."

They separated when I passed, and I felt a few hands brush mine. I don't think I looked up until I was in front of my door swiping my keycard to open the lock. Ray was right behind me. Before the door was even closed he pulled me into him and I grabbed on tight. I felt like I was coming apart at the seams, but a few minutes in his arms and I felt I could breath again, at least for now.

"You're taking the day off, right?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Too much to do. I'll rest later."

I actually thought he was going to argue with me, but he didn't. "It's cool. I'll be hanging around if you need me." He slipped the keycard out of my hand. "I'll be right back. I'm going to grab something to do and get you something to drink, alright?"

I nodded and went to sit at my desk while he bugged out for a while.

My cell chirped as I was entering in what actually happened to Brian in his file. I was damned if this was going to be hidden like Shanahan did the deaths of his family. I didn't even bother to look at who the caller was. "Keys."

It was the Colonel. "I wanted to let you know that I'm bringing a few people in to have available for anyone that wants to talk about what happened. They're personal friends of mine. I'll vouch for them, but if you want to have James and Lili scan them they'll be agreeable."

"Thank you, Colonel. I'll let everyone know."

There was silence on the line for a moment. "Are you going to be able to continue with your duties or…"

"It's part of the job, Colonel. I knew that when I signed up."

More silence.

"I suspected something, but not this."

He sounded very old over the phone at that moment. "There's a lot of guilt to go around, Colonel, only take your fair share, not the whole lot."

"Same goes for you."

He signed off without any fanfare or salutations.

Ray returned with an ergonomic keyboard for him and a large Pepsi for me. Setting the drink and my keycard on my desk he leaned over and kissed me on the forehead. "I'm back and I'm staying until you kick me out."

Kindness showed on my face. "You might be here for a while then. Maybe a couple of years."

He shrugged. "I'll have James and Christopher haul my clothes over."

I stood up and leaned into him for a kiss. I need something to make me feel normal again. Afterward I received another hug, then he settled in on the other side of the desk and swapped his keyboard in place of the standard one that was in all the rooms. I continued with my addendum to Brian's file and then switched to Shanahan's.

I had to go shower. The smell of… it stayed with me. Returning to my room, I saw Ray kicked back with the chair on two legs, his hand on the mouse, his sock covered feet on the desk and he was asleep. It was cute, what can I say. I stepped lightly into the closet and picked out another official looking outfit. Hopefully they'll be able to get the burnt smell out of the last one. I paused at the bright yellow blazer that Heather insisted I take with me, and shook my head. Instead I moved to the black. More fitting, considering. A blue silk blouse went with this one. The skirt actually dropped to just below my knees this time. Wonder of wonders.

The only heels that went well with it were the two inch black pumps. I frowned at that. All the higher ones were too dressy and mostly strappy. Apparently they didn't go well with the business look. Once I had my make up and hair fixed I returned to my computer and downloaded the mission file for the next day.

His name was Michael Hicks of 937 Marion Drive, Phoenix, Arizona. Jesus, he had a fairly big file already. At sixteen he was set to graduate high school. Been in trouble with the law, underage drinking. I almost laughed at that one. What teenager hadn't drank. He just got caught. It looked like he'd been in the hospital a few times. His medical records were present. I guessed that's why his file was bigger than normal. Broken arm, fractured jaw, bruised ribs. All from a fall downstairs. Yeesh bad luck. And it's about to get worse.

Closed psychiatric report. Nothing I did seemed to work on opening it. After sending the Colonel a text he gave me Shanahan's access code, along with a warning that anything in there was to remain private. Yeah, like I'm the town gossip.

After reading the juicy bits I stopped and looked up at my boyfriend. Still asleep and balanced on two legs. How in the hell?

"Meow."

"Well hey sweetness." I picked up Miss Bonsai. "Are you tired of being locked up in here all day?" She licked her nose at me. I'm starting to believe that gesture meant either yes or I have a runny nose and you're annoying me. Get me a tissue.

"You're in luck because we are about to make a break for it. Grab your kitty purse."

After throwing a paper clip at Ray and watching him rear back only to catch himself at the last second, plus the resulting adrenaline burst afterward, I smiled at him. "I need to raid Shanahan's files."

"Okay," he yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"You want to come or are you bored yet?"

I picked up my cell and sent Mrs. Stapleton a text:

Found something interesting. Have a minute?

I figured since Stapleton was the go to lady for background checks that she'd probably be info-girl as well. Ray begged off to go shower and change out of his workout clothes. We'd meet back up for lunch, not that I think I'd be eating anything today. My appetite was pretty much crunched for the day. Miss Bonsai tagged along and was able to attack a cricket that had made its way into the school somehow. It was kind of gross, but I guessed that was what cats did. As long as she didn't feel the need to present me with a dead mouse on my pillow in the morning I was fine.

The receptionist gave me a weird eye, probably because I didn't have an appointment. "I'll be in Shanahan's office if you can let Mrs. Stapleton know I'm here."

He nodded and punched a button on his phone set up. I heard him in the background as I made my way to her office. The door was locked. My badge didn't work on the lock. Right when I was about to blast the lock off the door, the Colonel was there, swiping his badge.

"Anything I should know about?"

I shrugged. "Just a hunch. I need to check out her computer since I don't have access to her session files."

He pushed the door open and I heard the clicking of high heels in the hall. I assumed that was info-girl. I flicked on the light and made my way around the desk. Her computer was still on and I cleared the screen-saver. Scanning the folders on the desktop I found one for every student, so I just clicked on the first one: Brian. Subfolders directed me to individual counseling sessions.

"If you are looking for more incriminating evidence I assure you that Mrs. Fine is up to the task."

I shook my head. "It doesn't have anything to do with Brian. His was just the first folder."

Right when Stapleton entered the room I looked up at her. "Is there a way I can find specific commonalities within variable folders?"

She paused for a second and then walked around the desk to see what I was doing. "Counseling sessions?" I nodded. "All the sessions with all the students, I assume?"

"Yes."

She nodded. "Right click on the specific folders you want to include in the search, send it to the desktop, group them and do an F5 keyword or phrase search."

Okay. It took me a couple of minutes to rip through all the folders and group them on the desktop. Then I did the search.

Colonel Harris's eyebrows lifted at my entry. "What are you looking for, Miss Keys?"

"I was reviewing the medical file of the boy I'm picking up tomorrow. When something jumped out at me. I'm wondering if it's common to all of us here, if so then…"

The computer bleeped at me.

1057 matches.

Okaaay, that was a little bit more than I was expecting. Scanning through the files it brought up I found several of Christopher's. "Just a quick peek to see if it's what I'm thinking." Upon opening it I found exactly what I was looking for. "Okay, I'm using Christopher as a baseline since I was obviously right with that one. Now Brian."

Brian, Max, Ray, Dani, Sean, Lili, all of them, everyone of us.

The Colonel leaned on the desk and looked up at Stapleton. "I was informed that there were no commonalities between any of the students. How can something this obvious slip by?"

Stapleton moved over and sat on one of the chairs. "Dr. Shanahan was part of the original team to research the first discoveries. I can only assume she was able to conceal the information for her own use." Her eyes darted to the Colonel and watched as his face turned an unpleasant shade of red, well on its way to puce. His phone was in his hand a half second later.

"Ms. Fine. I need you to go over every piece of correspondence of Shanahan's main, email, personal and business. I want phone logs of all of her calls. Every possible contact within her tenure at the Center. Get the telepaths on it as well. She was selling information. I need to know to whom."

"Does this mean I get a raise?" I said with just a tad of humor.

The Colonel looked at me and his lips twisted like he wanted to spit. "It means your security clearance is being raised. If you come up with any more ideas I don't want you wasting any time because I'm not there to let you in the door."

"What about the other thing?"

Mrs. Stapleton grinned at me. "You, my dear have made my job a lot easier. Determining that all the students that transition were intersexed at birth was quite a find. How did you know?"

"Michael Hicks. He had a hospital stay after falling down a flight of stairs. They discovered he had ovaries on top of having testicles. They weren't in working order at the time, but they were there. The only thing I'm worried about is that they removed them when he was nine. Is that going to cause a problem during his change?"

The Colonel wiped a hand over his face. I was beginning to wonder if he was starting to dislike me and all the problems I was uncovering. "He supposed to be a PK as well, correct?"

I nodded. "Tony says he's a Reikikinetic, a healer."

"Do you think we can pick him up early?"

I considered the options. "We can always gas him like you did me, but I have a feeling that he might be our first volunteer."

"Why's that?"

"They shouldn't have taken out his ovaries. He believes he's a girl inside. He didn't fall down his stairs. He was pushed by his older sister for catching him wearing her clothes. It was in the police report after the incident. His father had them remove his girl parts, probably thinking he could fix him."

He nodded. "Brief Tina Duncan and take her with you. Her perspective might come in useful." Then he looked at Stapleton. "You've got a lot of work ahead of you. I want you in every medical and psychiatric database out there looking for possible candidates. Whoever is out there that has this information is leaps and bounds ahead of us."

I started closing down the files when the Colonel stopped on his way out and turned around. "If you want it, this is your office."

My fingers froze over the keyboard. "Um… cool."

He smiled at me. "You've earned it. Keep doing what you're doing Kristyn. Pretty soon, you'll have my job and I can retire."

"No thanks. The way things are going, I'll probably have an ulcer before the month's up."

All the tables were beside each other in a circle of sorts, when I broke the news.

"What's intersex mean?" Sean asked.

The looks on Christopher and Danielle's face told me that they knew. The others? No so much. "I means somewhere along the line, probably when our mothers drank the magic water our sexual chromosomes got fried and tried to make us into both sexes. One of them lost out, the one you were born with, and when the transition happens, something funky goes on… I don't know what, that's for the scientists to figure out, but it triggers the change in sex."

Lili took her chance to speak up. "That doesn't explain why I'm white now?"

I blinked. Okaaay. "You were another race before your change?"

"I was Chinese-American."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't have a clue. Did you have any blood relatives that were white?"

She was about to shake her head, but stopped. "I think my Great grandfather was white. There were rumors."

Holding out a hand I smiled. "Well there you go. Look, I'm just grasping at straws, but I thought you should know that there was a reason behind the change. Someone isn't screwing with you and it wasn't at random."

Ray was staring at me with a blank look on his face. "So I'm still a girl, sort of?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. I think the doctor needs to run a test or something. He might be able to tell if we still have a chance on going back to our original gender."

That seemed to be a conversation starter, because I was able to go get some dessert. I still didn't want anything to eat, but I had a sugar craving that needed a fix and Miss Bonsai insisted on me getting her some ice cream.

Christopher met me in the kitchen. "You wanted to see me?"

I looked up at him while I was scooping a little mound of ice cream in a bowl for Miss Bonsai. "Yeah, I want you to come with me on a pick up tomorrow."

He looked mildly surprised. "Wouldn't Dani be a better choice? She's a stronger Empath than I am."

I licked my finger after sliding the scoop in the bowl. "It's not because of your skills that I want you along. Actually I want Tina to come."

He squinted a little at me in curiosity, so I explained. "The boy we are going to pick up is having gender issues, and due to a medical screw up we need him in here early so the doctors can have a look at him."

"What happened?"

"He had an accident when he was younger and they found his ovaries. They took them out. It might cause some problems when he changes."

His hand went to his mouth. "Oh no."

I nodded. "He'll probably be like Dani and actually want the change, but if it requires him to have his ovaries, then he's screwed."

"You want me to talk him into coming?"

"No, that's my job. I just want you to be there so either way he knows that he can come here and be safe knowing that there are others like him here." Again with the not understanding. "His accident was on purpose. He crossdresses. His sister caught him and tossed him down the stairs for stealing her clothes."

Understanding finally settled on his face. "What time?"

"It's in Phoenix, so a two hour flight. Tony says it's nighttime when he transitions, so we need to get there early in the morning. His file shows he goes to the local pool every morning for a swim. We leave at four."

"I'll be ready."

It was only one o'clock and I was beat, not necessarily physically, but mentally. The mission in the morning would give me the excuse to go to bed early, but just the general feeling of tasks left undone left me wanting to push on. The added advantage of not being able to sit still, in a room myself, left only to my own thoughts was attractive. I didn't want to think of Brian. I didn't want to think of how many ways Shanahan had screwed us over or to whom she sold us and other innocent teens out there. But it had to be dealt with. Brian could wait for now. The rest of us couldn't.

Before leaving, to bury myself in the seclusion of my room, a number of the students wanted something to do. They were like me in a sense. Just sitting around with nothing to do was driving them nuts. So I gave them an assignment. They were to actually talk to one another. They could do it in groups or maybe one on one with someone else, but they had to get out their worst fears or experiences at the Center. Something like what Brian experienced couldn't happen again. It was a wonder that Shanahan was able to go as long as she did without discovery. If only Brian would have told somebody what was going on, then he'd be alive and Shanahan would have been in prison a long time ago.

I left them looking at each other. It was a hell of a thing for a teenager to unload about their problems. I suspected a few tears and maybe an argument or two, but hopefully they'd come out of it stronger.

Miss Bonsai was still licking her whiskers atop the upper bunk bed while I poured over Michael Hick's file in an attempt to get to know him better, to hopefully find a way to convince him to come with us. It might be something as easy as saying, 'Hey Mike. Want to be a girl full time? Come on, here's a ticket to your fantasy come true!' But somehow I doubted that.

Knock Knock.

Dani was there. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," she said. "Busy?"

I shrugged and stood aside. She giggled when she came in. "I love what you've done with the place."

"Sarcasm doesn't look good on you, Dani." The truth was that I hadn't had any time to decorate at all. The place was as spartan as the day I moved in.

"Oh, there you are." Miss Bonsai meowed and let Dani pick her up for a cuddle. "I only got to look out for her for a few hours, before you left. I like kitties." In pure girlie fashion she rubbed her face in Bonsai's neck and repeated, "Yes I do, yes I do."

For her troubles, Miss Bonsai turned away and batted at Dani's nose. "Did you only come by to annoy my cat?"

She held up Bonsai and kissed her on her nose while I battled whether or not telling her that as much as she licked it, that it was probably runny. "I came over to see if you wanted to talk about what happened."

She released poor Miss Bonsai to my bed and watched as she jumped down and ran back up the steps to the top bunk.

I shrugged. "Nothing to talk about."

I got the look she used to give me when she was Drew. It said that I was stupid if I thought she was going to believe that. So I did what I did best when confronted with a really personal issue. I clammed up and moved on to something that needed doing. "Seriously, I have more important things to worry about now, Dani. I don't have time to break down and cry."

"Have you cried at all since it happened?"

Turning away I made my way to my desk and continued my notes on Hicks.

"Ignoring me won't help you."

"And crying about something I had no control over won't either, so can we drop the subject now?"

She had her arms folded under her breasts, gripping them… her arms, not her breasts. "Would you like me to get Ray?"

I sighed heavily. "I would like you to let me get on with my life without having a sisterhood of the traveling pants bonding moment, Dani. I may look like a girl. I may even act like a girl when Ray is around, but inside I'm still a guy and I don't like sharing my feelings." Her eyes welled up and I knew that I had gone too far. "I'm sorry, Dani. I really am. But I've killed two people in as many days, and I'm sixteen years old. Not to mention the fact that now I'm in charge of making sure the rest of you don't have to deal with things like this. Does that seem normal to you?"

Trying to keep your feelings down when your body is awash with estrogen is like turning on a faucet and trying to hold the water from coming out. I felt my own eyes burning.

"You don't have to do this alone, Kris."

"Yeah," I choked out. "I kinda do."

She moved toward me, closing half the distance. "We could go to Colonel Harris. We could tell him…"

I cut her off before she could make up a shitload of reasons why I couldn't do the job. "No, we couldn't. Leave it alone, Dani."

"I can feel your emotions. You're tearing yourself up over this. You need help."

I threw the pen I was holding across the room. "And I did not ask you to go rooting around in my head, did I? Get out. Get out now and stay out until you can respect me enough to not mentally rape me every chance you get."

She flinched backward at my words and covered her mouth at the end of my tirade. Spinning around she ran to the door and flung it open, dashing out into the hall. The door swung back and closed on its own while I just stood there and gaped at what I just did. God, I hate myself sometimes.

Photo Credit: Kristen K.