"Asshole" she said again, swatting my ass as I stepped past her. Then she stood up and followed me to the door.
I opened the door and turned to say goodbye. She pulled me into another hot and steamy kiss.
"It was good to meet you Caleb," she said. "I hope we can do it again sometime."
"Likewise," I said smiling down at her for a second.
I turned away coming face to face with the young man who'd been gearing up to say something to us the previous night at dinner. His face screwed up and he opened his mouth to speak, just in time for a squelchy squeak to escape from his rear. His eyes widened again, and he dashed off down the corridor. I heard Hadiza laughing as her door closed.
+++++
The FBI Seattle office was only ten a minute drive from the Hotel, and I arrived in plenty of time. I pulled into the parking garage.
"This is FBI only," said a guard sitting in a booth on the entrance. I showed him my FBI ID.
"Where you from?" he asked. "I've not seen you before."
"Portland," I said.
"There's no spaces," he told me, "but if you leave your keys, you can park anywhere. I'll move it if you're blocking anyone in."
"That's great," I said. "Thanks." I parked the truck, hopefully where it wouldn't be in anyone's way, and dropped the keys into him as I passed. He hung them on a peg in a key cupboard and then closed and locked it.
I walked down the block and in through the main door of the office, went through security, and approached the reception desk. I'd looped my ID over my belt as had become a habit, and I was holding the invitation letter in my hand.
An older lady with the name tag 'Barbera' was sitting behind the desk. She looked up as I approached.
"Good morning," she said.
I handed her the letter and she nodded.
"Ah yes," she said. "I was told to expect you." She glanced at my 'Consultant' ID. And nodded.
"If you'd take the elevator up to the sixth floor, there's a second reception up there. Check in with Amy there and someone will be along to collect you."
"Thank you," I said. She smiled at me.
I followed her instructions and by ten minutes to the hour, I was seated in a reception area waiting to be collected.
There were low tables with a couple of magazines which looked to be at least three or four years out of date, a water cooler, and a couple of potted plants, presumably to make the area look less sterile. The fluorescent lighting was completely destroying that effect though, and the whole area had the vibe of a dentist waiting room, but not the smell. The place smelled like an office. Paper, air conditioning, that strange electrical hot smell that photocopiers and old computers give off, and people. Lots of people.
"Caleb Stott?" I looked up to see a middle aged man approaching me. I stood.
"Special Agent Garry Abbot," he said holding out his hand. I shook it. "Please, follow me."
I followed him down a hall and into an office, where a man sat waiting.
He didn't rise as I entered.
Seated, he looked to be over six feet tall, and, if indeed it was Mbisi, I was surprised. Where her skin had been dark brown, his was black, like jet black. I wondered at that.
"Caleb Stott," said Agent Abbot, "This is SSA Mbisi."
He nodded in my direction, but made no effort to rise nor to hold out his hand.
"Sir," I said in his direction.
"Please," said Abbot, "take a seat."
As I sat, I felt Mbisi probing at my shields. I looked at him for a moment, wondering how to respond. Since I was fairly certain he wouldn't get through I ignored it for now.
Abbot sat and pulled a file in front of him and opened it.
"You've been quite busy," he said, "since you came into your powers."
"Just in the right place at the right time," I said. "Mostly."
"I can see that," he said.
"You have four letters of commendation in your file," he said. "And you haven't even joined the agency yet."
"Four?" I asked wondering what they were about.
"There's one from a captain in the state troopers," he said. "Something about stopping an attack on one of his men? Then there's one about the white supremacist compound in Montana, another one from a SWAT sergeant regarding a hostage situation in a bank, and finally one from the US Marshall's office."
I grimaced at that final one.
"That one didn't end ideally," I said.
"According to this, you saved the lives of a family in WitSec, including that of a two year old girl," he told me.
"It's never a good outcome, when someone ends up dead," I told him. "If I could do that again, there are so many things I would do differently."
I felt Mbisi press on my shields hard. He was trying to remove them.
I'd had enough, so without even glancing in his direction I tore down his shields leaving him completely open to me. I did nothing more than that. His eyes widened slightly but other than that he gave no reaction.
His shields were back up instantly, but his attack on mine ceased.
"Dianna told me you were strong," he said. "How strong are you?"
"I don't exactly know," I said. "I've not come across anyone who's shields I can't take down though."
"Will you drop your shields so I can see?" he asked.
"Sure," I said. "Just as soon as you get a court order."
Finally, his face cracked, and he smiled slightly. "She also said that you were not one to be bullied."
"I made some mistakes," I said. "No, scratch that. I made LOTS of mistakes when I first came into my powers. I learned a lot from those mistakes and am hoping not to make too many more."
"That's all we can ever hope for," he said. He reached for the file, taking it from Abbot, who'd sat back in his chair leaving the interview with Mbisi. I got the feeling that his questions were merely something to occupy me while Mbisi did what he did.
He flicked through the file.
"You're a Healer too," he said. "Saved the life of an agent who'd been shot multiple times."
"That wasn't just me," I said. "Jeevan Patel did most of that, I just helped."
"Not what it says here," he said. "There's a statement from Jeevan saying that he wouldn't have even attempted Healing without you there."
Then he changed tack.
"Why the FBI?" he asked.
"I've always wanted a career in Law Enforcement," I said. "That's what I've been working toward all my school life. I did well enough to get fairly good grades in my major in college, but it was only when the Amulet came off that I realized how much better I could have done if I hadn't been hobbled with it.
"Then all of a sudden, I had relatives I'd never even heard of. One of whom was an ADD in the FBI. She and Dianna, sorry SSA Everson, showed me how the FBI were working to stop wild power users from abusing Norms. That seemed like a really good use of my powers and talents, and far better than, say, the NSA where I'd be spending my life spying on my neighbors, or the CIA, where I'd have to work overseas.
"I have a family in the US that I really don't want to spent time away from, so the FBI made sense. I'm not one hundred percent set on the ESP section although I'm pretty sure that no matter where I get posted, I'm going to get pulled into dealing with rogue Power users, especially stronger ones."
"Looking at your file," he said. "Everything you've done so far, has been you. The Lone Ranger riding in and saving the day. That's not how the FBI works. We're a team. Can you work as part of a team Caleb?"
"Definitely," I said. "If you look at the event at the hospital where Owen Booth was taken down, that was definitely a team effort. All I did was neutralize his powers. The rest of the team went in and took him into custody."
He flicked through the file until he found the relevant page.
"Also," I continued, "look at the Montana compound event. Again, all I did was neutralize the nut with his finger on the detonator. Once that was done the bomb squad went in and defused the devices and the rest of the team swept up all of the others in the compound."
More flicking through the file.
"You might also notice," I went on, "when I've come across situations, whenever it was possible, I always ask for direction from SSA Everson. Unless immediate action was required, I have and will continue to do so, until such times as I have the seniority to make those decisions independently."
"And you think there will come a time when you will have such seniority?" he asked.
"We live a long time," I said. "If I don't progress to such a degree after an appropriate time, then I'll obviously be in the wrong career and have some decisions to make as to where I'd be better utilized using my skills."
"And if not in the FBI, where do you think that might be?" he asked.
"Possibly as a Healer," I said. "I have the utmost respect and love for Jeevan and what he does. I doubt I have his ability to work in the shadows though. All the major healings I have done, have been felt by the patient, and recognized for what they are. If I were to go that route, I'd have to do a lot of work to be much more circumspect with my healing."
"Why hypnotherapy?" he asked. "Were we not paying you enough?"
I smiled. "You were paying me plenty," I said. "It was never about the money. It was a way to train my Compulsion and Telepathy. I suggested it to SSA Everson after one day when she'd got me in for a telepathy training session. I thought that I could kill two birds with one stone, and also help people at the same time.
"Two birds?" he asked.
"I could train my telepathy," I said. "The consent form clearly states that I can obtain information from their subconscious mind, and my compulsion in making sure that they achieve whatever goal they are looking for."
"Surely you could do this in one session," he said. "Why are you making them come back so many times?"
"Cover," I said. "Nobody would believe that I could stop people smoking or get them to lose massive quantities of weight in a single session. It has to be believable."
He nodded at that.
