A/N: Thanks to ChrisDaughterOfApollo, Xenithia, AlecTowser, DuffyBarkley, Caranath, & Leyapearl for the reviews! Leya's another awesome HB writer here - oh, and SnowPrincess88? You can open your eyes now. :)
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"You're sure about this, Joshua?" Eli said, as they waited in the police station.
Joshua didn't answer. One of the advantages of having someone on the SFPD, especially a decorated, respected detective as Samuel: they could get in as "special investigators" to examine those being held as suspects. Those in the know would look the other way, and the rest would follow their lead. It wasn't something the Blades took advantage of much, only when there was no other choice.
"No one's ever sure of it, ever," Downs rumbled. "But it has to be done. I just wonder what tale the SOB's going to have cooked up."
Joshua didn't hold much hope; Frank's description of the People's Gate leader Saul Smith hadn't been good. But…still. It had to be done. If there was any hope for Smith to face justice and to ensure Thatcher was truly gone, they had to do this, especially before the feds got their act together and got involved with subpoenas, court-orders, and walls of silence.
"Josh?" Samuel came into the waiting area, nodded at the trio, and led them back into the station. "Just so you know," Samuel said in an undertone, "word is he's gonna make bail. Judge got 'influenced', is what they're saying. The normal illegal way, that is."
None of the local politicians had wanted to anger the People's Gate before it'd all gone down, and few wanted to take on what remained. Somehow Saul Smith had gotten his hands into a lot of dark closets, and no one wanted the contents dumped onto the public media sidewalk.
"Any word on the mother?" Samuel said.
Joshua only looked at him.
Sighing, Samuel stopped before the door of the secure interview room. "What a world."
"Angel reported it to your day-watch," Joshua said finally, taking pity on the man. Samuel had been awake two days straight dealing with the fallout, after all. "They haven't made the connection yet."
"They will." Samuel unlocked the door. "I'm sorry for her and the kids, but between you and me, Butterfly, I can't wait for that part to hit the news. Fifteen minutes. That's all I can give you."
Joshua only nodded and let Eli and Downs precede him into the bare room.
Saul Smith sat at the table, raised his eyebrows on seeing the trio. Slick, the beginnings of a jowl, black hair showing gray at its roots and combed back in an Elvis-style ducktail, thick sideburns. The man's shields glowed to Joshua's Sight: not the best, definitely second-rate compared to those taught by the Association, but it still would take too much effort to crack them.
While those shields were up, while Saul's mage-Gift remained intact, Thatcher's protégé was a nuclear-level danger…especially if the feds got their hands on him. Someone with Thatcher's knowledge and ability in the hands of Black Ops…Joshua wasn't pre-cog, but he knew where that would lead.
The world did not need any more nightmares.
"I remember you," Saul said to Joshua. Joshua saw Saul's gaze travel over Downs and Eli, dismiss them as unimportant, then rivet back on Joshua with a slow, bare nod: the predator recognizing another hunter. "You were there. Throwing your weight around again, I see. Cops so hard up they have to bring in a black faggot to do their dirty work?"
"Better mind your manners, darlin'," Joshua said. Something about the man's shields itched at him, something off. "Right now, we're the best hope you have for getting out of this place intact. Especially once those kids' stories hit the news."
The man had not made any escape attempts. Saul's mage-Gift was fair-to-middling, but anyone with a bit of wit could've used it to get out of any but the tightest security facilities.
Which meant Saul wanted to stay in. That was even more worrying.
"Now we come to it. The temptation." Arms crossed, Saul sat back. "Well, I know you're not cops. You're connected somehow with those two guys Orrin wanted. What'd the pretty boy call you…knives? No…Blades — yeah, that was it. Some super-secret organization."
Joshua glanced up; behind Saul, Eli nodded. "Not so secret, really," Joshua said. "Just so you know, darlin', anything we say here's under the table. There's no one behind that two-way mirror, and the hidden mikes are off. So…" Joshua raised his hand, and it came alight, a fierce gold that cast sharp shadows against the institutional-green walls.
"Get thee behind me, Satan," Saul said. "I will not betray my people to dupes of the conspiracy."
"Maybe you're not aware of it," Joshua said, noting Eli's uneasy expression; Downs had gone wooden, "but California is a death penalty state. And something about the cold-blooded murder of several hundred people will pretty much guarantee it."
"Not by my hand," Saul said calmly. "They knew the end was nigh."
"Perhaps. But there are a half dozen people who will witness to your personal hand in the murder of Edward Collins."
"Assisted suicide, at most." Saul leaned forward, and Joshua saw his shields flicker. "I can witness just as easily that one of your people shot that crippled boy down in cold blood. His own brother, I believe. Any of my children in custody will swear to that."
"That might be hard to do," Eli murmured.
"Try me." Saul spread his hands. "All right, Satan. We've both postured, threatened, and gotten absolutely nowhere. What do you want?"
Joshua settled back and studied the man. "Look, Saul…"
"Joshua," Downs broke in, "we best tell him the truth. He knows it, but he's not sure if we'll believe him."
Downs's gaze was steady. He had something in mind, that was obvious, but Joshua wasn't sure what. He nodded at Downs to continue.
Downs took a seat across from Saul, leaned forward with his hands on the table: open, honest. Play with me, Downs's posture said, give me a shot. "Mr. Smith, you didn't hear all the news. That crippled boy, Joe, was healed, by the grace of God. And when he came to, Joe told us of being possessed by a demon, a demon responsible for the killing of dozens of innocent children in New Orleans. Evidently that demon also possessed Edward, and what we stumbled into was an attempt to exorcise that demon permanently."
Something in Saul's eyes came alight, and again his shields flickered. "Oh, praise Jesus…yes, that's it. That's it, exactly."
Freed from having to keep the chat going, Joshua now watched those shields, alert for that flicker. Shields could be set in place without one having to pay constant attention to them, but that took training, and Thatcher wasn't the type to have taught that to anyone likely to be a rival. If Saul's shields required constant attention to maintain…
Saul still watched Joshua. Good, divide the man's attention; let him think Joshua was the only one to worry about.
Downs nodded. "We're trying to make sure the demon is gone. As you can imagine, that poor boy is having quite a few problems at the moment. The Blades are guardians, Saul. We use our God-given Gifts to guard folks. We know you're Gifted. We came to offer our protection."
Hearing Downs refer to Joe as "poor boy" almost made Joshua lose his concentration. He caught himself, went back to scowling at Saul Smith.
"If the demon was causing problems for your people…" Downs let his voice trail off.
"Oh, he was." Saul leaned forward, his gaze fixed on Downs. "He was. We were beset by that foulness of Satan. He rode me terrible, he did — he'd possessed me, made me give orders to hunt those poor children down, those poor, blessed children of my own body…"
In that moment, Saul's shields flickered again, and Joshua pounced.
With a gasp, Saul froze. Joshua felt the man start to bring pressure against the mental grip, but Joshua clamped down hard and ripped those shields completely away, as Eli moved up and laid hands on Saul's shoulders. For a long moment, Eli was silent, then slowly, sadly, shook his head.
"'O faithless generation, how long shall I suffer you?'," Eli quoted, and Saul whimpered. "Enough of the lies. There was no demon save what you allowed in, Saul Smith. You cared nothing for those children. All those deaths, all that pain, all that suffering, rests on your head. You gave yourself willingly to evil."
"Frank didn't tell you enough, Saul, darlin'," Joshua said. "We're secret, all right. But we're here to protect folks, Gifted and not. We protect them from people like you."
"Harold?" Eli said.
Downs got to his feet. "Gladly."
It took all three of them, each watch-dogging the other, just in case Thatcher had survived or Saul was more capable than he appeared — maybe Thatcher could slip in and possess one of them, but the other two would catch it and take action. Three of them to judge, to decide, to take the weight of that judgement. Through it, Saul cried, convulsed, and begged, pathetic, mewling whimpers.
Then it was over and Eli let go. Saul collapsed to the table, eyes wide and staring at something only he alone could see.
"'Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?'," Eli said softly, "'and in thy name have cast out devils? and done many wonderful works? And surely will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart, ye that work iniquity.'" Eli paused, with a deep, weary breath. "Your Gift is gone, Saul Smith. Burnt out. Whatever is left of your mind and sanity, the law can have. Joshua, Harold…"
Joshua held the door for the other two, and remained just a moment, watching. Saul hadn't moved, hadn't even registered that they'd left. Then Joshua stepped out, nearly ran into Samuel — who had been watching through the two-way mirror — and nodded at the question in Samuel's eyes.
Samuel sighed, rattled the handcuffs out, and went to call the duty-guard.
"I'm going to need a shower," Downs growled, as they walked out towards the Muni stop. "Fifteen of them, with Mar's homemade lye soap. Good God, Eli, why didn't you get Mar? She's better at that than I am."
"And Frank and Joe are as her own sons. I wanted someone who would know when to stop." Eli sighed, long and weary. "Those poor, poor children. We'll keep them at Center, of course, but I don't want to just dump them unsupervised."
"Hawk's already volunteered," Joshua said.
Eli shook his head. "No. They need a stable home, and Mar's not up to parenting children that young anymore. Maybe…" Eli slanted a glance at Joshua.
Joshua snorted. "Eli, darlin', me and Godz would love to, but you'd have CPS thundering down on you faster than you can say Florida Orange Juice. They've already laughed me out of Foster Services, twice."
"You could ask me," Downs said. "Cata's been talking about it, and we've got that spare room, since Jamie moved." Cata was Downs' wife, Catalina, a stout battleship of a woman who'd been a nurse in the Korean War.
Eli nodded. "Come see me after you get your multiple showers."
Joshua held his peace until they were on the Muni and Eli was chatting with an old woman sitting in the handicapped seat. Then, only then, Joshua leaned closer to Downs and said mildly, "Poor boy?"
Downs's gaze was focused on the windows. "Tell anyone I said that, and I'll break your arm."
Joshua raised an eyebrow.
"It changes nothing," Downs growled. "He was a damn-fool idiot to pull that stunt, and an even bigger idiot to do that to his brother."
"And yet…" Joshua let his voice trail off.
Downs didn't answer.
Then Joshua noticed Eli watching the exchange, and Eli nodded at him when Downs's attention turned elsewhere. Fine, then. Best not to push, not yet, anyway. Joshua had survived 'Nam because of his good sense of timing, after all.
With a bit of luck, the timing would last long enough to let everything work out.
