She had, like most days, been excited to step through the door to her classroom where the smudged and smiling faces of her little students would be waiting. On top of that, today was the annual Show and Tell Extravaganza and the kids' desk would be filled with colorful toys, shaggy pets, and glimmering family photo albums. Looking back, she must have seen that Zach Parkin's desk had been empty. It must have stuck her as a little bit odd. Rebecca couldn't imagine that anything she could've thought of could have lived up to the true reason behind Zach's empty desk.
The sharp crack of another support beam inside the school succombing to the fire brought Rebecca out of her reminiscing. From across the parking lot, she could see a man in a dark suit wading his way through the crowds of confused school kids and worried parents towards her. By his clothing, Rebecca was sure he wasn't another police detective or arson inspector and he certainly wasn't one of the firemen. As he approached, Rebecca could see the man's eyes were slightly red and sniffed his nose lightly as if he wasn't acclimated to the smell of the fire.
"Miss Dennington?" asked the man in the dark suit, leading his head down to see through her open car door.
Rebecca poked her head out. "Yes?"
"Miss Dennington, can I please have a word?" The man's eye, while red, sparkled in the fading light of the day.
"Of course you can," said Rebecca, standing up and stepping out of her car, "I've already given a statement to the police though."
A firm smile touched the man's lips. "I'm not with the police, Miss Dennington."
Rebecca stood and tilted her head in curiosity. "FBI? CIA? MIB?"
The smile remained unmoved. "I do work for the government ma'am." The man quickly flashed an official looking badge, but the identification had only fluttering in front of Rebecca's face long enough for her to read the name "Agent Wesley King" across the top.
"Well," said Rebecca, "What would you like to talk about, Agent King?"
Agent King stuffed the badge happily back into his breast pocket and then turned to look at the smoldering school building to his right. "Quite the day you've been having here."
Rebecca followed his gaze. "I assume you are talking about Zachary Parkin."
Agent King turned back to look at Rebecca. "Tell me about show and tell today Miss Dennington."
Rebecca let out a quiet little breath. "Well, everything had been going smoothly, much more smoothly than other show and tell days. No screaming about who gets to go first, no dogs pooping on carpet. Zach was one of the last of my students to go. He didn't even seem excited."
"Well," said Agent King, "He certainly caused some excitement."
"It's not really his fault."
Agent King crossed his arms at Rebecca's words. "Now, why would you say that, Miss Dennington? Numerous eyewitnesses, including a teacher assistant, a visiting parent, the school's principal, and your entire classroom of students, say that this was all in fact Zachary Parkin's fault."
Although she wasn't sure why, Rebecca's hand shot out and grasped Agent King's folded arm. "You aren't taking him away, are you? I'm sure he had no idea what was going to happen when he..."
Rebecca paused.
"When he showed the class that he had the ability to shoot flames three feet high from his palms," Agent King finished for her.
Rebecca hung her head and dropped her arms to her sides. "It's not his fault that he couldn't control his powers, Agent King. He's too young. He's couldn't have known."
Her mind flashed back to the movement that the flames had sprung from Zach's small, glistening palms. There was an immediate sense of panic that had swept over the room, replacing all feeling of excitement and happiness. She could remember the feeling of the licks of heat that spread over her cheeks and she could remember the look of fear on Zach's face as the flames in his hands grew out of his control.
Agent King cleared his throat and sniffed a few more times. "Well, Miss Dennington, I am not actually here to talk to you about Zachary Parkin."
Rebecca looked up at the man in the dark suit. "You're not?"
Agent King looked back at the school once more. "No. I'm here because seven of your students claimed to have seen you put out most of the fire with an icy blast of wind from your hands."
Rebecca's face whitewashed. "I, I don't know what you mean, Agent, Agent King. The imagination of kids, kids at that age. It's truly amazing."
Agent King's firm grin return again. "The principal gave me the security tapes, Miss Dennington. There's no denying what I saw."
Rebecca's eyes fluttered past the man in a panicked attempt to find a way past him. Agent King chuckled deeply and placed a hand on Rebecca's shoulder.
"Don't worry Miss Dennington, you aren't in trouble."
Rebecca furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "I'm not?"
"No, no," said Agent King, "I explained to your principal how what he saw on the video was just a sort of camera trickery and that what looked like fire coming from Zachary's hands was actually a magic trick gone extremely wrong."
Rebecca nearly hugged the man. "Really? He bought that?"
"Hook, line, and sinker," said Agent King, "The badge helped too, of course.
"Why?" asked Rebecca, "Why would you do this?"
Agent King dug a hand into his back pocket before responding. "I am here, Miss Dennington, on the behalf of a friend. A friend that is very interested in you and young Mr. Parkin." He handed her a small white business card and began to walk away.
"Give him a ring sometime, Miss Dennington," said Agent King, "He's expecting your call."
Rebecca looked down at the card with curiosity. It read in simple and elegant lettering:
Charles Xavier
School for Gifted Youngsters
1407 Graymalkin Lane, Westchester County, NY, 10461
(542) 555-0993
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