The Weaver's Web: Interlude: Gregory Veder

Denise Veder was waiting with her husband at home.

“Ten more minutes, and we call the police,” Jack said.

“I—“

There was a knock on the door, and both parents flew to it. Denise looked through the peephole and blinked. Greg was there… with an older black man? What?

She opened the door and then gasped at Greg’s bruises and torn clothing.

“Greg, what happened!” she said.

“Nothing Mom—“

“If you mean pissing off the Empire and starring in an Initiation is nothing, you’re right.” He nodded. “Gideon Lake, Ma’am. I was there as well, mainly for being black but your son he… Well, he got involved in matters that weren’t any of his concern.”

“I just said that it looked like Crusader might be more than he seemed and that I’d seen him—“

“Greg!” Denise snapped. “You did this online?”

“I… I also got into an argument at school…”

“Christ,” Jack muttered. “Greg, you don’t—why did they let you go?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t so much letting us go, as Scary showed up.”

“Scary?”

“New Cape. Orb Weaver?”

Denise didn’t keep track of capes. In fact, she considered the times Greg wasn’t talking about them to be a blessed relief. But Jack did, and he hissed. “I haven’t heard much about him. Just that he’s…”

“Scary.” Lake shook his head. “He also said…”

“He’d be in touch with me,” Greg burst out.

“No, son, he said you were in his debt.” Lake paused. “We took the roundabout way back here, so we weren’t tailed. I’ll leave it up to you if you want to talk to the cops. Maybe if you don’t, they’ll consider the matter closed, but yeah, your kid is known to the Empire. By name now. Alabaster was there, and he won’t be very happy.”

“Oh, Alabaster has many things to be unhappy about this fine evening.”

Denise squeaked. The house just seemed to rumble with that deep voice, ten thousand demons given a voice.

“Um, thank you for saving our son,” Jack said.

“I have not saved him yet. The Empire will be angry, and I will have to ensure that… they understand he is off limits. But as I looked into his past, present, and future, spinning out the strands of his destiny, I found other examples of ill-advised behavior on his part. Gregory, what possessed you to believe that Accord would tolerate someone inserting themselves into his affairs? Or that Lung would enjoy being called a coward? Oni Lee, it is said, is very loyal to his boss.”

“Gregory!”

“But it was under my handle!”

Lake rolled his eyes. “Son, don’t take this wrong, but anyone who can’t figure who you are online hasn’t met you for more than five minutes.”

“Indeed. And so I find myself in a quandary. I have saved you once, and yet, I have my own affairs, and I assume you do not consider me your personal bodyguard.”

Held in his mother’s tight grip, Greg squeaked out, “No sir!”

“Very good. And yet, you have said many things, made many promises, and while you do not break them… you can sometimes forget them. But now, you have entered a world where a broken promise can lead to substantial penalties. Alabaster is a fool, but many are not.”  The voice paused, a sound like deep breathing filled the room. “For now, after I verify myself, I will contact the moderators of PHO. I suggest you take a break from the parahuman speculation forums. A few weeks, at the least. You will also have other work to do.”

“Um, what?”

“I will speak to the principal of Winslow. If the devil finds work for idle hands, mayhap we should ensure your hands are not idle. By doing so, you may pay off your debt to me.” Then the rumbling sound got deeper. “Do not get involved in affairs not your own again.”

“Oh Gregory will not,” Denise growled.

“Well, I’ll be saying good night, then,” Mr. Jakes said. “Gotta go make a report. You want me to keep your son’s name out of it?”

“I—are you certain you can’t stay for dinner?”

[hr][/hr]

I bent over in the little alleyway. I’d realized where Jakes was going when he made a right turn, and so completed my affair with the police, then skated as fast as I could to get to Greg’s house. Probably the fastest and longest “run” I’d ever done.

Tomorrow, I’d talk to the principal about an egaming club. The computers in Knotts class would do for a start, and if they needed money for better machines, well, the more work for Greg, the less trouble he'd be. Right now I was bent over, vision going gray, great, heaving gasps racking my body.

How the hell was it that I’d just dealt with Alabaster and yet catching up to Greg to try to keep him from getting himself killed had been the harder part of the day?