Log: Kane/Kettleman

[x-dominion.livejournal.com]

Garrison has a visitor at his desk at the FBI field office, and he brings news that Kane is sure will end up causing him trouble.



Why was it that everyone just showed up at his desk? No one ever called to warn him. Garrison Kane was getting absolutely sure that Duncan had left orders for the staff at the front to just let everybody through. That's also why every delivery guy seemed to show up at his desk first. So, the man in the somewhat rumpled looking jacket over his blue jeans with the visitor's badge didn't surprise him as much as make him wonder what was in store.

"Let me guess. Someone has called in sightings of a lobster boy across four states and you want me to look into it, eh?"

"Not exactly. Agent Kane, I reckon?" The visitor extended his right hand while producing a badge with his left. "Bernard Kettleman, US Marshal. I work out of the El Paso office. I'm given to understand you work up at the Xavier school, the one for mutants?"

"Work isn't so much the right term. Endure maybe? Still, yes, I'm with Xaviers when not being flogged by Fred Duncan." Kane leaned back in his chair and grinned. "You're a long way from your usual beat, Marshal. What brings you to New York in general, and my desk in specific?"

Kettleman pulled up a chair and took a seat opposite Kane. "You might not be familiar with the case. John Paul Temple, former Texas Ranger. Stole a couple hundred thousand dollars worth of seized cash from an evidence locker in El Paso back in the nineties, went on the run. I was the agent in charge of the manhunt for almost eleven years until we caught him back in '06. Busted up a bank robbery in Corpus Christi, brought him in without a shot fired."

The Marshal continued, "It ain't Temple that I'm here about, though. He's doing twenty-five in Beaumont. It's about his daughter, Inez."

"Inez? How old of a daughter are we talking about here?" Kane groaned inwardly. Obviously, if he was asking about Xavier's, they likely had another young mutant involved in all of this.

"She's sixteen," Kettleman drawled, "and yes, she's a mutant. Since Temple's arrest, she's been bounced from welfare facility to foster home to foster home. My wife and I even tried to take her in for a while, but I will tell you, Agent Kane-" He stopped to wipe his forehead with a handkerchief, "that girl is a hellion. Strong as an ox and about as stubborn. Liable to cause as much trouble to herself as everyone else around her. I made some inquiries, and an old friend of mine pointed me your way. Fred Duncan says hello, by the by."

"Oh, I just bet he does." Kane rubbed his eyes for a moment. "Let me make a quick guess. If she's got powers, you're going to enroll her Xaviers, and you want someone who can keep an eye on her while she's there to make sure, what? She doesn't start fights or take a runner back home?"

Kettleman nodded and leaned forward. "As a bit of a favor," he said. "you see, Inez's mother - god rest her soul - was my sister, Alice. And thanks to her no-good father, the girl's got a bit of a wild streak. I understand that Xavier's has taken in some pretty questionable kids who'd have been public menaces to society otherwise, turned them into decent citizens. Inez could use a bit of discipline, make no mistake."

"Well, their record is a little mixed on that, but they will be able to provide a few more outlets for her energy than your average local town or school. The important part will be Inez herself. I mean, the school isn't a prison." Kane said, turning thoughtful. "About the best that I can say is that if she does try and take off, we should be able to find her before she can cause too much trouble."

Kettleman stood up and nodded to Kane. "I certainly expect her to try," he said. "It's her nature. She hates me for her father being in prison, but with time, she'll see that's where he belongs and that it's all for the best."

Kane didn't bother to comment on his thoughts to that. The students and even some of the staff at the mansion were not exactly the most trusting of either police or the law in general. Hopefully, it would more likely be that the school would teach her that impetuous action wasn't the best response, no matter what her feelings on the subject. "Well, I can see what I can do about keeping an eye on her. She doesn't have to like me if she at least knows I'm capable of hauling her back by the scruff of her neck despite all her powers."

"Yes, Duncan mentioned that as well," the Texan lawman said as he headed for the door. "I'll bring her by this afternoon. I have the feeling that she'll think anywhere is an improvement once she sees me going the other way. I can't say that I don't feel the same way. Thank you, Inspector. You're doing my family quite a favor."

"Why do I have a feeling this one is going to involve me getting kicked in the privates on a regular basis." Kane muttered, considering the prospect. "Bring her in. At worst, she'll at least get bullied into a bit of education before she goes."