The World is Your Gym (Sean)

[Micah and Moses Grey]

((tag Dr. Sean Neville))

If you asked Micah and Moses' dad, he would tell you that the boys spent way too much time watching YouTube. It wasn't that they didn't spend enough time being active, or outdoors, or anything. It was mostly that the pair came up with enough hair-brained ideas on their own and they didn't need other crazy folks in the videos they watched feeding their imaginations. 

It was on one such video, or really a compilation of several, people doing skyscraper parkour that had led the twins to the roof of Hammel. Getting here hadn't been exactly easy. But it was the closest thing that Pilot Ridge had to a skyscraper, at least the closes thing that they had access to. They had spent the better part of their morning trying to figure out which window would give them the easy access before finding a roof access door. Which made sense. Some adult had to be able to access it for maintenance, right? 

It had been more impossible than usual for them to focus during their mid-day class. Five times their teacher had called them out for having their heads in the clouds. The moment the class was over, Micah and Moses dashed out the door, unable to contain their glee, and almost getting caught by one of the dorm monitors as they slipped through the door to the roof. They weren't sure if it was always unlocked, or just their lucky day. Either way they couldn't believe it had been this easy.

Now for the epic part.

"You remembered the-?" Moses asked.

"-camera? Got it," Micah replied. The two scouted around for the highest point of the roof and where it would look best to film it from. 

"Here!" "Here!"

"Too bad it's not sunset," Moses said, thoughtfully. The fall foliage did make for a pretty good backdrop anyway.

"Would make for an epic photo," Micah finished, remembering they should pick an angle where the sun wouldn't mess with the exposure.

Without a word, the brothers held out their hands and played rock, paper, scissors to see who would be camera man first, and who would make his way to the highest edge.

Micah won. Micah always won. Still Moses pretended to act surprised and disappointed. 

"Maybe a few practice ones here?" Both twins nodded in unison as Micah did a handstand where it was more flat on the roof. He held his position easily, giving him all the courage he needed.

"Just fall the right way-," "-if I'm gonna fall. Right, got it."

Moses lined up the shot. Micah edged himself out toward the peak of the roof and started to set up for his handstand. Both brothers were grinning, their bodies alive with adrenaline, not paying any attention at all to the door behind them. 

[Dr. Sean Neville]

If one were to ask Sean, no child in the history of the world had ever benefited from Catholic school, with their stern discipline and open hostility to even the mildest manifestations of individuality and the outright lies taught under the guise of Catechism. Still, the psychiatrist had attended for seven years, and while he had left for Hammel before reaching the same age as the Greys were now, he knew for a fact that nobody at St. Joseph’s had climbed onto the roof for any reason whatsoever.

That had nothing to do with life before the Internet and the resulting ubiquity of Youtube.

He likely wouldn’t have discovered the stunt at all. Contrary to some rumors that abounded long before his promotion, and which had intensified by orders of magnitude over the past few months, he didn’t sit in his office as an omnipotent Wizard of Oz, using telepathy to spy on every detail of the students’ lives. Privacy was paramount.

A lesson formed during his years at Catholic school, ironically. Whether the privacy was real or merely an illusion because of the existence of telepathy came from later from Robert’s tutelage.

However, for once, he had a lull between sessions, and the last of his paperwork had been filed after double-checking his signature and ensuring that he had not, unwittingly, declared the month of December a holiday or ordered 10,000 tongue depressors instead of the chalk and marker requisition. The sun flitted through his window, beckoning him to break from the confines of his office and stroll around the courtyard. The temperature was brusque, but he donned his coat, and after spending closer to 2/3 of his life in Vermont, was used to the November weather. Best to take advantage of the sunlight before the sky turned gray and the clouds burst into droplets of rain or flakes of snow.

Hands tucked into his pockets, he strolled through the gardens, breathing deeply, lungs filled with crisp, fresh air, allowing the tranquility to wash over him.

Which abruptly came crashing to a halt when not one but two shadows loomed from above.

As a virtual giant, between height and build, finding himself in the shadow of another person remained rare enough as to be noticeable immediately, prompting the psychiatrist first to spin around because he had not sensed anyone immediately behind him, and how unsettling it was to think of someone getting a drop on a telepath. Yet, there was nobody there.

Thus he did what came naturally and craned his neck upward.

Blue eyes widened first in concern and then in frustration as he so clearly made out the form of two blond students, one upside down while the other held a camera steady. Whatever in the world were they doing?

At least Vincent Verax had the twin benefits of a power that ensured he wouldn’t break his neck and the utter absence of brains to perceive danger (and yet the confidence to realize it hardly mattered because of the aforementioned regenerative ability). Here, now, the boys could actually get hurt, no matter how impervious to planning they believed they were.

He brought his hands to his mouth, cupped to amplify his baritone as he called up to the roof. “Moses, help your brother down and both of you come inside!”

[Micah and Moses Grey]

It was perfect. The shot looked great. Micah was in perfect form, not even the slightest hint of a wiggle in his balance. 

Moses simply grinned as he held the camera, while Micah, always the louder of the two, let out a "Woot!" of celebration.

"Should I go for-" Micah started. "-one hand?" Moses finished, and answered with a slight nod. Their years of climbing heights and never being content with two feet firmly on the ground was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because Micah had not yet fallen. A curse because they didn't even really see that as a possibility. 

Micah was just starting to adjust his body weight to hold himself with one hand, Moses could feel the tension in his own muscles, when a voice called out from below, almost causing the upside down twin to lose his balance. He did bring his feet quickly back to the roof and then pressed his whole body flat to the roof in an attempt to hide. Moses dove down copying his brother and both creeped toward the edge to peer over. 

They hadn't been able to make out every word that was shouted up at them, but it definitely sounded like a faculty member. Hopefully not one of their fathers.

It was even worse. It was Dr. Neville.

Both of their stomachs dropped when they saw the tall man standing on the ground below them. "Do you think-" "-he knows it's us?"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

The physics of acoustics along far distances, at great heights, or in wide, open spaces notwithstanding, Sean presumed they had heard him because Micah dropped himself right-side up and managed not to slide off the peak and careen towards the ground to land in a bloody mass of broken bones and twisted limbs.  

Even during his own years of youthful immortality, he had never climbed the roof. At Hammel, it would never have occurred to him, and at his most brazen in college, such exploits more often took the form of binge drinking, smoking pot, weekend road trips, and the occasional flag set aflame during a protest. Goofing around with Josh or Greg never manifested in such potential danger.

”Good, boys!” He called up, hands firmly in position around his mouth now that he needn’t worry (or hoped not to) about trying to catch a teenage boy mid-fall. “Now go back inside, and I’ll meet you in the building!”

Which was to say that he would only turn on his heels towards the inside of the school once he had watch them safely pass through the door to the roof, and then they would have a mandatory chat about this behavior in his office.

[Micah and Moses Grey]

It was times like these that the twins felt like they should have been blessed with a more useful power. Teleportation, invisibility, something that could help them escape the wrath of parental and authority figures. It wasn't that they planned to always be up to no good.  It's just that it seemed that all of their great ideas ended in someone punishing them for having a bit of fun.

"What do we" "do now?" the boys whispered to each other as they slinked back from the edge, still lying down to keep as much out of view from the man on the ground as possible. 

"He can't know it's us?" "Hide?" "Maybe if we run? How's he going to know-" "-if we're just calmly chilling in the library?" But this was Dr. Neville. The all-knowing, no fun, disciplinary of all. He could really get in your head. Quite literally. 

The boys weren't afraid of much. Well except the dark. Or losing a family member. But who knows what wondrous ideas were floating around in their heads that the old man would spy and forbid them from doing before they'd even gotten the chance to dream. No punishment could be worse than that. Pops they could handle. And at least Dad gave them some slack now and then and just let them be themselves. But Dr. Neville wasn't know for succumbing to puppy dog eyes and promises that they'd be more careful while their fingers were crossed behind their backs. 

"Is he still there?" Moses asked as Micah was already climbing to take a peak. 

"What if we just open and close the door?" "And think real hard about going downstairs?" It was a better plan than nothing. They nodded in unison and crawled towards the door, jerking it open and slamming it has hard as possible to make sure the noise made it far. The boys grinned, proud of their idea, and then tried to focus on being downstairs while not giggling. 

This had to work, right?

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean stood there, feet planted firmly in the grass, neck craned upward at the roof where the boys had disappeared from his direct line of sight when they dove as though into trench warfare as though he might spy a tuft of blond hair or one of the eight limbs belonging to one or the other.

It was a simple task for them. All they had to do was step back through the door and descend the stairs to the main floor of the school, wind their way down the familiar path to his office, which was hardly enough to distinguish the day from any other given some of their antics. As soon as he had confirmation that they were off the roof, safely, where they couldn’t roll their ankles and slip, he would return inside and meet them there. Given his longer stride and the dearth of enthusiasm that would surely lead them to drag their feet, he might even reach his office before they did.

And then it happened.

Two thoughts, heard in stereo to his mind, a bit too intensely focused on a task as simple as opening a door and going downstairs. Free of the petulance that overlay students before ordered to act against their wills. Followed by the door opening and closing swiftly.

Nobody had walked through it, not even crouched down as though evading an enemy in paint ball.

Michah and Moses were still up there, and worse, they thought he was an idiot.

Sean’s expression morphed from concern to displeasure, lips tugging into a frown impossible to see between the vast distance separating them and the limits of their field of view ducked down as they were. So little offended him more than the utter futility of lying to a telepath.

They thought he was an idiot. And worse, they failed to grasp why he wanted them to climb off the roof, which had far less to do with any desire whatsoever to read their detention essays than to ensure they lived to see their graduation.

Sean stood there for another thirty seconds, and then almost the full minute, waiting for them to change their minds. They didn’t. He detected no movement whatsoever, which meant he had to take matters into his own hands.

With a sigh of resignation, he turned and, stride long and determined, he walked towards the nearest entrance to the building.

Apparently, he would have to retrieve the boys himself.

[Micah and Moses Grey]

For two boys who were often finding themselves in trouble, they always acted like this was the first time. Other trouble making kids might shrug it off and think it would just be some detention. No biggie. But Micah and Moses always cowered when they realized they had been caught, sure they were going to be sent off to military school or locked up in juvenile detention. 

Also, for two boys who grew up surrounded by metas, both in their family, at Hammel, and the surrounding community, they really had no real understanding of other peoples' abilities. Or really even the limits of their own. Hence, why they thought that lying to a telepath was a good and possible idea. 

"Is he still down there?" Moses asked, afraid to actually look over.

"Uh..." Micah hesitated, feeling his brother's fear as his own. He cautiously peeked over and was rewarded to see the old man finally walking back inside.

"He gave up!" "He gave up!"

Now, a smart pair of boys might have thought this the time to duck inside and rethink their lives. Maybe even try rush to the library and pretend that they had been studying this whole time.

But Micah and Moses were not exactly known for their clear thinking when it came to matters of fun and escaping repercussions from that fun. 

"Wanna see if we can get a better shot?" Micah asked, grinning and moving to re-position himself. 

"- better shot?" Moses echoed, already picking up the camera. 

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Rumors of their victory were greatly exaggerated, their celebration premature.

The door swung shut behind ring his shoulders and back as he crossed the threshold and walked with determination, not quite breaking into a run - not quite, his knees wouldn’t forgive him, and he had no desire to set other faculty or students into a panic if they saw the Headmaster running through the halls as though a fire was nipping at his heels.

He knew the school like the back of his hand - ten hours a day, five hours a week, sometimes more, nine months out of the year for almost thirty-six years - spent on these grounds and inside of these walls. There were multiple staircases between floors, but only one that led up to the roof. He bypassed the ones that would leave him stranded on a higher floor, near the boys dormitories without taking him that lest step to the roof. Passed one of the teachers and, over his shoulder, asked if someone could put a fresh pot of coffee on in the lounge because he’d need it. When he finally reached the right staircase, he opened the door with a bit more force than necessary, and as soon as that door closed, climbed the stairs at a faster clip - with nobody to watch or worry.

Yet, he was careful when reaching the top of the last flight, concerned that if he threw open the door with abandon, it might slam into one of the boys and send him careening off the roof, setting into motion the events that he hoped to avoid. Instead, he opened the door slowly, no wider than necessary to slip through, which was, admittedly wider than for a smaller or more svelte man - Declan, their librarian, for instance, or James Fawcett, slim enough to disappear behind a lamp post if standing in profile.

Emerging through the door, step by tentative step onto the roof, the psychiatrist arrived just in time to find Micah on his hands again, while Moses egged him on, camera in hand. Upsetting Micah would cause him to lose his footing, and thus Sean concentrated on Moses, appearing behind him and grabbing both of his arms - the type of hold he’d learned during his years of residency in the hospital, how to keep a person secure (from falling) and prevent them from struggling too much. “Both of you are coming inside now. Micah, get down before you hurt yourself.”

[Micah and Moses Grey]

The twins were so sure of their victory in fooling the old telepath that it hadn't even occurred to them that the man might be on his way up to the roof. That and they were so distracted by the fun they were now having, that most thoughts of the Headmaster had left their heads.

"Okay, your turn." "Okay, my turn." Micah and Moses were just about to switch places when the door to the roof opened. Luckily, Micah was starting to lower himself down, so the sound of the door and the sudden appearance of the old man didn't really startle him enough to make him lose his balance. What did startle him, was that the old man suddenly reached out and grabbed his brother in some sort of body lock. 

Moses was similarly startled. Sure they'd been yanked around by siblings and their fathers once or twice. The Grey family wasn't one to shy away from a little rough housing and sometimes it escalated and had they had to be separated by force, but aside from their trainer, they'd never been manhandled. 

"Let him go!" "Let me go!" They yelled, Micah running towards his brother in full defense mood, forgetting that this was not just a faculty member that he was dealing with, but the Headmaster. Still, he was heading towards the door, so at least that was the direction the old man had asked him to go. 

Moses started to struggle a bit in the grip of Dr. Neville as Micah reached out to try to pry his hand off. It wasn't really that they thought Dr. Neville was going to hurt them. They were just used to roughhousing with siblings and it was always the twins versus everyone else in their minds. 

Finally what the old man had said, made it's way into their heads and Moses stopped struggling a bit. "Geez, we'll go inside."

"Don't know what all the fuss is about," Micah grumbled, collecting their camera and strutting through the door.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Since Vincent had dropped out and moved away, and Samuel Rixon had graduated, Sean wasn’t in the habit of manhandling anyone, particularly not someone half his size, a quarter of his age, with three or four times as much energy and one-hundred times greater disregard for the limits of mortality. If Moses were a touch more limber or his power entailed ink secretion, then he might well have slipped from the psychiatrist’s grip.

Instead, here they were, grappling on the roof in a mockery of the final act of at least three separate Disney movies. Where instead of fighting to the death, where one or the other would push their nemesis from the surface to fall to their off-camera demise, Sean’s goal was to prevent anyone from slipping and ensure that all three of them emerged safely inside the building.

Of course, Moses struggled against him, and Sean lacked the same iron strength of his youth, but maintained both a height and weight advantage that he used to his favor, holding on for dear life to the boy. Holding on as he flopped around in his arms, as Micah charged him and they teamed up. His arm faltered briefly and he took two steps back towards the door with Moses still in his arms. “Not until we’re inside.”

Finally, the twins relented, his instructions permeated that fog of enthusiasm that seemed to enshroud them during the vast majority of their waking hours. Micah retrieved the camera, and, certain enough of their footing, the psychiatrist allowed Moses to slip from his grasp. “Good. Now the three of us are going to my office. Come along.”

He did not turn his back to them, waiting for both to cross the threshold before he would bring up the rear. Confident enough that they would not attempt to flee while he was right there behind them.

[Micah and Moses Grey]

((continued in We're in Trouble Now))