"It's not that often that I hope to be wrong, but this was one of those situations." Joe froze mid step and turned towards the voice, hoping desperately it was just a bad dream, that he wasn't really here. And even more so that his dad wasn't. They had known it was risky going back to the classroom one last time, especially since they were prime suspects, but earlier that day it had seemed like a risk they were willing to take. Now, staring at his dad like a deer caught in the headlights, Joe wasn't so sure anymore.
"There is nowhere to go, kid." Joe veered around, surprised, at the sound of the second voice and turned around just in time to watch Danny take a firm hold of Will, who unlike Joe hadn't frozen at the voice, but tried to run. Logan started inching slowly towards the pair, looking like he was about to try his luck at getting past Danny while he had his hands full with a struggling Will but stopped short at the third voice.
"I wouldn't try that." It was JJ's time to step into view in the doorframe. Logan stopped, but his posture remained tense, his eyes searching almost desperately for a way out.
"Alright. Masks of. There is no need to pretend that we don't know who you are." Frank ordered. The room was silent for a long moment, the six friends wondering if there was any chance to escape after all, but Joe shook his head silently. If Danny, JJ and Dad were here there were more than likely more officers out there that they hadn't spotted on their way in. Any chance they took at running now would only lead to a greater heap of trouble. Still it would be a point of no return to show their faces. Either way they were doomed.
Wyatt eventually made the decision for them after hat had felt like an eternity. All eyes fell on him as he removed the ski cap and let it fall to the ground, glaring openly at Danny in the process.
"This is the exact reason I never liked you."
"I'm doing my job." Danny defended himself causing Wyatt to snort.
"More like polishing your ego. You know if you would have done something about the real problem instead of chasing after us, we wouldn't be here now."
"Really?! You would have stopped?!" Danny looked like he didn't believe a word coming out of Wyatt's mouth.
"Yes. Whether you want to believe it or not. Cause this was never about revenge. It was about opening somebody's eyes to the abuse taking place in this classroom. One would think you would have been more concerned about that considering your own little brother…" Wyatt stopped himself just short of revealing the big secret Joe had kept, the one he desperately didn't want his family finding out.
"My own little brother what?"
"Was a witness to it all and could just as easily have become a victim." Wyatt finished in an icy voice.
"It has no…"
"That's enough." JJ interrupted, realizing the conversation would only go downhill from there.
"No, it's not." Wyatt argued heatedly. "Not until you understand what we had to deal with every fucking day! Answer this Danny: would you had acted differently if it would have been Joe on the other end of the abuse?"
"That's not fair. I had my orders." Danny protested.
"So the answer is no. I thought so, but I hoped that I was wrong." Casting a glance at JJ he continued: "About both of you."
"You heard the commissioner, masks off, kids. The game is over." JJ answered calmly, not rising to the bait.
"It was never a game." Callum removed his ski cap and threw it at Danny. "But you did never understand that. Go ahead and call my parents. At least they will actually listen."
"Oh, we will, we just want some answers first."
"Whatever you or they say it will still have been worth it."
"And yet you claim it wasn't a game."
"Because it wasn't!" Joe's mouth argued before his brain could catch up. "I don't know how to explain this to you any other way than we couldn't simply sit back and watch him hurt our friends and classmates, day after day." Steeling himself and turning fully so that he wouldn't have to see his dad's face, he too removed his ski cap and barely refrained from throwing it at Danny.
"There were other ways."
"That's where you are wrong." Joe felt his voice cracking, but pushed through it, needing to get the words out. "You have no idea what you are talking about."
"Then enlighten me."
"Like you haven't made it clear that it doesn't matter what I say. It never has." Joe blinked against the tears threatening to fall, distantly feeling Cindy take his hand in hers and squeeze it tightly. "I've got it now Danny, you are cop first and brother second."
"Joe…" Danny softened for a moment, seemingly searching for words.
"Just shut the hell up!" Callum shouted in Joe's place, walking up to Danny to glare at him angrily. "You took your stand, don't act like you all of the sudden care now. We all know you couldn't care less."
"That's enough!" His Dad's voice suddenly boomed in the otherwise empty classroom. "This has gone on for far too long. You have two choices, either the rest of you take your masks of and we have a civil conversation, or your parents will have to pick you up at the station."
"Will you actually listen this time?" Wyatt asked, facing Frank with his head high and eyes blazing in a way Joe couldn't have.
"We are not the enemy here Wyatt."
"Could have fooled me."
"We'll talk." Joe's voice was quiet and forced, but he knew the others would listen to him.
"Then take a seat." Frank nodded towards the rows of desks. "And those of you who haven't yet, please remove the ski caps."
"Ned assistance?" Danny asked Will who hadn't stopped struggling in his hold.
"Fuck you!"
"Is that your final answer?" Danny readjusted his hold on Will and pulled of the ski cap himself with only a little trouble. "Why does it not surprise me that you are the one with a big mouth?"
"Same reason it doesn't surprise me that you'd betray your own."
"Will." Joe pleaded. "I appreciate it, but it doesn't matter."
"The heck it doesn't!"
"Will. Please." Will calmed down at that and stopped struggling. "Let go of him." Joe ordered Danny next.
"Who made you the boss?" Danny asked annoyed.
"Daniel. Let the kid go." Frank ordered, turning expectantly towards the last masked Daredevils.
"For the record; we hate you all." Logan stated as he revealed himself.
"Cynthia." JJ reacted disapprovingly as Cindy shook out her long blond hair from the pony tail tucked into the hood of her sweatshirt.
"JJ." She answered evenly before linking her hand back into Joe's and leading him towards the front row. They sat down so that Joe was sat in the middle with Cindy and Logan on each side. Callum sat down next to Cindy and Wyatt behind Joe to make sure Danny kept his distance.
"I want the story from the beginning and I want some names for all of you." Frank sat down on the chair that had replaced the one they destroyed barely a week ago, rolling it so he was seated directly in front of the group of teenagers.
"I had a bad feeling the first time I saw him." Joe started out, looking at the desk rather than the three adults in front of him. "He spent the first hour going through rules and talking bad about previous teachers when it became clear that we didn't know the material he quizzed us on. When he ran out of bad names for them, he turned towards us."
"Logan Haddock." Logan introduced himself. "First he chose one or two punching bags in each class, but once he got tired of that, everybody became fair game." Logan trailed of, shooting Joe a questioning look. Joe gave an almost unnoticeable shake of his head as answer. "A couple of us tried to stand up for those he bullied, but he usually only made it worse for the original victims. And yes, we did take it to the principal, but nothing happened."
"What did Mr. Ball say?"
"A lot." Logan answered with a tone that made it obvious to everybody in the room that he himself had been on the receiving end of those words. Joe shifted a little in his seat so that he could squeeze Logan's shoulder in silent support. "Yet nobody believed us, so we took it upon ourselves to bring attention to what was happening behind his closed classroom door. It was nothing short of bullying and abuse."
"William Cadieux. I came up with the idea." Will explained. "The rest tagged along, but it was my idea originally. And Cindy only jumped on board after the Tessa incident."
"Are you talking about this one?" Frank held up a hand scribbled note with the words: For making Tessa Grey cry.
"All she asked was for permission to go to the bathroom." Cindy explained softly. "He kept on going until she was crying and Callum punched him." She sent Callum an appreciative smile.
"She's my girlfriend." Callum explained with a shrug of his shoulders. "I couldn't let him get away with it. And I'm Callum Reed if you didn't already figure it out."
"Why not go to the principal?" They all shared another look between them before Will spoke with a sigh.
"He quickly made a habit out of picking out the one who had tattled and making their life a living hell."
"Did he do that to you?"
"Not me, no. Because I wasn't brave enough to speak up. But I saw it first-hand. The taunts, threats, humiliation and everything else he had to go through. Just for trying to do the right thing. Ball made an example of the first one he found out had spoken up about him. Nobody dared say a word after that. And Bully-Ball was really sneaky about it too. That's why it has been so hard to prove it."
"Who?" Joe felt his dad's eyes on him.
"I'm not at liberty to say, sir."
"Is that person in this classroom?"
"No." Joe felt an overwhelming amount of relief at the easily detectable honesty in Will's tone.
"Do the rest of you know who the scapegoat is?" Franks asked. They all nodded, including Joe. If there was one lie that he was willing to keep alive it was this one. "My only reason for asking is that I want to make sure he is okay."
"He is getting there." Cindy answered softly, giving Frank a small smile.
"There is no way to get you to tell me?"
"I know you could probably find out, but please don't try to." She pleaded. "We will make sure he is okay."
"I can't promise not to."
"Then we have nothing more to say." Cindy answered firmly. "The person wants to remain anonymous and we won't compromise his identity by telling you more. The rest of our class is aware of it as well so they won't tell you."
"It's for his own good."
"No." Wyatt disagreed. "If you really care about his well-being, leave it be. Whoever the scapegoat is, he has our support. To look for him would be to punish him further."
"His parents don't know, do they?" JJ asked quietly. The Daredevils shared another look amongst them.
"We don't think so." Joe finally answered. "Just trust us on this one, okay?"
"He is a victim. His parents should be made aware." Danny spoke up.
"If that is your stand then you can just go ahead and call our parents." Cindy told them.
"He could be a vital piece of the investigation. We have your witness accounts, but we might need somebody to actually testify to make sure he never teaches again."
"You have at least forty potential witnesses." Joe argued.
"But the case could fall in court without the scapegoat since he is the key to why you stopped complaining to the principal." Danny pointed out.
"That's basically blackmail." Callum argued. "Don't you think he has been put through enough already?!"
"It's not about what we think, it's what a judge sees that matters if you truly want him gone."
"No. Fall or fly, his anonymity is too important. The case will have to do without him." Wyatt told them firmly.
"Promise you won't go looking. For his sake."
"You are aware you are the underdog here, right?" Danny pointed out. "You are the one wanting to get rid of him."
"That's why I'm begging you. All of you."
"Fine. But don't blame me if it doesn't hold up in court."
"He needs…" JJ started objecting but Cindy interrupted him.
"He needs anonymity. That and us is all he needs."
"Okay. But keep an eye on him, please." All eyes turned to Frank then.
"I promise." He agreed with a sigh. "But please tell him that he is welcome to talk to me if he changes his mind."
"We will. Thankyou."
"Who tackled Danny?"
"I did." Joe answered, relieved at the change of subject. "I knew he wouldn't shoot us."
"And you had the audacity to come at me for suspecting you." Danny growled.
"I couldn't go down without a fight, could I?!"
"You put your friends in danger."
"No, he didn't." Wyatt objected. "We put ourselves in danger. We knew the risk that came with doing what we did. That the risk seemed worth it should have been your clue to the level of bullying and abuse taking place in here."
"Who is the climber?" Frank pushed on before Dann and Wyatt could get into a proper shouting match.
"I am." Logan raised his hand.
"I was the security expert, keeping track of potential escape routes and guard schedules." Joe admitted.
"I came up with a lot of the ideas." Will said with a shrug.
"I was usually the lookout." Wyatt waved his casted arm carefully. "This is one of the reasons we wore gloves. I would have been way too easily recognizable otherwise."
"I did whatever needed to be done." Callum said with a shrug.
"As did I" Cindy explained.
"What happens now?" Wyatt asked after a moment of silence.
"I want phone numbers for your parents who are going to have to pick you up."
"With Bully-Ball." Wyatt specified.
"An investigation has been opened into him and he will be removed from his position at least temporarily. If we can get it to stick in court, he'll be fired and loose his teaching license."
"And if you don't?"
"Let's take it one step at a time."
"Yeah, because it's isn't your future." Callum muttered, kicking at the desk.
"I want him gone as much as you do, but my hands are tied."
"Then untie them. I don't care what it takes, I frankly don't care what you do to us, I'm not going stop until he is gone."
"We don't have much proof." JJ tried to explain.
"Get us body cameras." Cindy proposed. "What? It's the perfect solution. You'll catch him red handed on tape abusing his students."
"It's actually not a half-bad idea." Danny admitted. "If we can get permission and you are willing to wear them."
"We'll do whatever it takes." Wyatt assured him.
"Is it possible to hold of on suspending him for a day to try to get evidence?"
"I don't see why not." Frank agreed. "I'll make a few calls."
