The Law of Averages

Chapter 39

The tension in the room slowly reached its boiling point. Dan was a heathen in Mecca, in the midst of a holy war. His mere presence stretched patience to its limit. Something was going to snap. It was inevitable.

"Fine!" an oddly familiar voice declared. "If you all lack the courage to speak up, then I will do it!"

There was a commotion in the crowd as a student forced his way to the front. He was dressed much the same as his fellows, in a distinctive suit and tie, shiny shoes and pressed pants. His dark brown hair was styled into a ducktail, slicked backwards and gleaming. He bore aristocratic features, narrow and sharp, with thin lips twisted into a condescending sneer.

He angrily jabbed his finger towards Dan, demanding, "Why are you here!?"

Dan took a step backwards, surprised at the vehemence in the question. "Me?"

"Of course you! Who else?" The aggravated senior spun dramatically, sweeping his gaze across the crowd behind him. His eyes lingered briefly on an attractive girl in the front, before swiveling back to Dan with a confident smirk.

"The rest of us are here to fulfill our civic duties, the sacred responsibility of the strong to protect the weak and to maintain order. We take that duty seriously, and pay respect to this institution that makes it possible." He waved a hand at the surrounding building, then crossed his arms. "Why are you here?"

The question was reasonable. A little forward, a lot rude, and not at all the place or time to ask it, but reasonable. Dan might've even taken the question seriously had anyone else asked it, but he recognized this kid in front of him. It wasn't just the voice that gave him away, but that familiar feeling of irritation that the words evoked. This was the jackass who had flouted his own superiority back in the squad room. His ego had apparently graduated from quiet whispers to outright boasting. Dickhead.

Judging from the not-at-all sly glances behind him, the boy was putting on a show for his pretty little girlfriend. Some part of him was probably truly offended, it was hard to fake that kind of self-righteous anger, but this had somehow devolved into a melodramatic mating display. Dan watched the girl out of the corner of his eye as her heated gaze lingered heavily upon the vocal senior. Personally, Dan thought the guy sounded like an idiot, but hey, different strokes for different folks.

The problem was the crowd. They were nodding along like lemmings, agreeing with the brat's inflammatory nonsense. Anger was sweeping through them like a wave. The group-think was strong in these students, and Dan didn't want to start a riot in the middle of the police station by saying the wrong thing.

But... he didn't really want to calm them down, either.

Whatever the motives, this group of students had well and truly pissed Dan off. As far as he was concerned, he'd done nothing wrong. He had been perfectly happy minding his own business and enjoying the scenery. He wasn't hurting anyone, he wasn't breaking any laws, so by what justification were they getting so riled up for?

Why was he here? Did they really have the authority to demand that sort of thing from him? Obviously someone wanted him around; it's not like he could've just waltzed in without a problem. (Dan conveniently ignored the fact that his power could, in fact, allow him to do exactly that.)

But fine. He'd just have to be honest.

Dan smiled, drawing his lips upwards with a languid motion. He glanced over the crowd, meeting as many eyes as possible, before casually stating, "I'm just taking a look around."

At this point, provoking some sort of rage-induced apoplexy would count as a win in his book.

The crowd exploded into angry muttering, as expected. The leader (who Dan was mentally referring to as 'Axe', on account of his heavily styled hair) gaped at the blasé reply. To his credit, he steadied himself quickly, possibly because of how unattractive his hanging jaw made him look in front of his lady friend.

"Just taking a look around?" Axe mocked furiously. "Where is your determination? Your fortitude? Your conviction!? You were brought here personally, even if by a less reputable member of the force, yet you're too weak to seize this opportunity to rise above your station? Trash! Do you know how many would kill to be in your position? A coward you are, spitting upon your own good fortune!"

It was like he was in the twilight zone, or perhaps a Monty Python sketch. Archaic insults rained down on Dan in a furious tirade. It should've been amusing, too bizarre and unexpected to impact him. Truthfully, Dan was barely listening to exact words. The words were irrelevant. The emotions they conveyed, the angry disdain, the smug condescension, the casual superiority, came through all too clearly.

Today was just determined to be a trial.

He was tempted to just leave; he could teleport away, go back to Abby's house, and never see these idiots again. He might have to dodge Gregoir for a while, but it was doable with his power. Its not like he'd broken any laws. Running away would be a simple thing.

The thought left a taste like ash in his mouth. These were... not kids exactly, but damn near. Run away from them? How would he look himself in the mirror? Wasn't he trying to better himself, to find some self-worth? Wasn't that the ultimate reason for his efforts? How could he run?

Time to take a firm hold on his balls and teach this punk a lesson!

Somehow.

Shit. What should he do? Dan had no experience to draw on for this situation. He wasn't in the habit of insulting random strangers. Should he just... make a 'your momma' joke? It might be juvenile, but so was this entire situation. Frankly, Dan was ready to embrace it.

"Speak up, lackwit!" Axe demanded angrily. "Why do you think yourself worthy to protect this fair city?"

Something inside Dan snapped.

"Alright, shit-stain, listen up." Dan willed himself forward without breaking eye contact. He barely noticed reality flickering as his power dragged him through t-space. Axe reeled backwards as Dan appeared in front of his face.

Dan jabbed a finger into the student's chest, not pausing for a single moment. "I don't have to explain a damn thing to you. You are just some idiot kid. Whether I'm worthy or not is not something you are qualified to decide, so you can just fuck right off."

Axe swelled up like a balloon, his outrage seemingly fueled by his own hot air. Dan, in some distant part of his mind that wasn't seething, wondered if anyone had ever spoken to the puffed up playboy in such a way before. Judging by the indignant expression on the young man's face, Dan rather doubted it.

"I have been training for this moment for nine years!" Axe declared furiously. He swept a hand behind him, towards his fellow students. "We have all worked hard to earn our place here! Why should you be granted special treatment?"

A fair point. Dan immediately disregarded it. Instead, he pondered what he might say to piss this guy off the most.

Hmm.

Dan settled on shrugging dismissively. "Beats me. S'pose I'm just better than you."

Red and purple blotches emerged on Axe's face as he visibly fought the urge to lash out at Dan's words. Another wave of mutters passed through the lemmings in the crowd, this time tainted with scoffs of disdain. Axe took a slow breath in and out, performing some sort of breathing exercise to control his temper. He finally met Dan's eyes once more, still flushed with rage but no longer frothing at the mouth.

"Better than me, are you? Care to back up that claim?" Axe sneered with a voice dripping in venom.

Dan narrowed his eyes at the reply. He shifted his stance slightly, the way Marcus had taught him, and prepared to fall into t-space at the slightest provocation. If the pompous peacock took a swing at him, Dan wouldn't be caught sleeping.

Axe scoffed at the defensive posture, much to Dan's surprise.

"You think I'd disgrace myself by striking you?" the student asked acerbically. "No, I am not so base. You'll learn your place in a manner befitting a civilized being."

Dan took a moment to parse the words thrown at him. Once he fought past the layers of hostility and arrogance, it seemed like he wasn't in any immediate danger. It seemed like brawling in the middle of a police station was such a moronic idea that even Axe could recognize the futility.

"What did you have in mind?" Dan asked, slowly lowering his guard. No matter how defensive his stance, he was still the sole person in the room squaring up for a fight. Not a great look, should an authority figure suddenly wander back in.

"I have a suggestion!" Gregoir boomed, leaping out from behind the reception desk.

Axe swore loudly in surprise, tripping backwards while pinwheeling his arms. He fell into the crowd of students as they recoiled from the blonde giant's sudden appearance. Approximately half the class fell over themselves, while the other half shrieked in a mix of confusion and fear.

Dan reflexively entered t-space, his veil surging around him protectively and dragging him out of reality. The jolt of adrenaline that accompanied an unpleasant surprise faded as soon as he fell into that strange not-reality. His heartbeat evened out— How could he have a heartbeat in this place? —then disappeared entirely. Dan floated for a few subjective moments longer, allowing his mind to catch up with his body and plotting ways to murder Gregoir, then pictured himself back in the police station.

He appeared beside the French viking, scowling at chest level. The marble tile beneath the reception desk was missing, revealing a large slide-away hole and accompanying ladder. Gregoir's bulk could just barely have exited the space, and his wide stance placed him directly above the opening. The blonde officer glanced over to Dan with a broad smile, unperturbed by the cacophony of surprised shouts echoing from the crowd of fallen students.

He cleared his throat loudly, the gravelly sound somehow resembling an avalanche, and the noise fell to an acceptable level of droning murmurs. Every eye in the room fell on Gregoir, who took the accusing stares with aplomb.

With both hands on his hips and his chest jutting out, Gregoir repeated, "I have a suggestion."

His eyes lingered on Daniel and Axe, noticeably evaluating the pair.

He wore the smile of a shark.