Dannie Bears whistled as he walked.

The EMTs were removing the bodies from the house. Tragic, really, when things like this happened.

Still, better to find four dead crooks than two dead children.

His partner, Rose, was waiting by the car. Rose Green was the newest detective in the precinct, which was why she’d been paired with an old warhorse like Dannie Bears. She had the technical skills which, he had to admit, he sorely lacked; and he had the ability to read people.

Not like an Ultra could, of course, but he certainly could tell when a teenager was lying - and when he was not.

“Did the boy say anything?” Rose asked.

“What we expected,” Dannie replied. “Four crooks broke in. He caught them in the act, they tried to kill him, he fought back. He knows how to break a chokehold and some judo throws.”

“That’s it? Him against four and he won?”

“He survived,” Dannie paused. “He admits to killing the first by accident. The guy landed on and broke his neck.”

Rose frowned. “But he doesn’t admit to the others?”

“He admits to Ezekiel,” Dannie sighed. “The butter knife through the eye - he says he stabbed him to protect his sister. What does the sister say?”

“She clammed up and demanded a lawyer,” grumbled Rose.

“And rightly so. She’s fourteen. Even if she told you something, we couldn’t use it.” He shrugged. “Not like it would make any difference.”

“Four people are dead, Dannie.”

“Four crooks who broke into a house are dead. Two kids are alive. This is self-defence, open and shut.”

“Dannie…” Rose looked pained. “We can’t make that decision.”

“You tell me what court’s going to convict them.”

Rose sighed. “I don’t like the boy.”

“Meaning?”

“He’s … unharmed. No way a kid like that could take out all four of them with barely a scratch.”

“You saw the gun.”

“That, too. Dannie - how in the hell would an unarmed kid manage to survive being attacked by four hardened crooks? Does it make sense?”

“Your point being?”

“He had help. Somehow.”

“And what if he did?” Dannie shrugged. “It’s his home. His sister’s in the upstairs bedroom. You think he wouldn’t have grounds for a castle defence?”

“.... This isn’t what a stand-your-ground case looks like, Dannie.”

“I know what a stand-your-ground case looks like.”

They both paused.

Finally, Rose spoke up. “I checked the house management system. To see if he actually lived here.”

“And?”

“And he was added to the list of authorized users four days ago.”

Dannie’s eyebrows shot up. “Four days ago?”

“Yeah. By his sister. Not by his dad.”

“Interesting.” Dannie shrugged. “Doesn’t change a thing.”

“Don’t you get it? He just recently moved in, and then this happened.”

“Again, it doesn’t change a thing,” Dannie repeated. “You know the law. It doesn’t matter if he was added four days ago or forty years ago; he’s listed as a resident of the house by the system, prior to the incident. That means it’s his home as well, and that means castle doctrine applies.”

“Castle doctrine is for old white men with guns.”

Dannie shrugged. It was an old argument between them.

“Another thing,” Rose said. “I can’t find any records of him. No birth certificate, no learner’s permit, no driver’s license. No school records.”

“He claims to be home-schooled.”

“Why? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Rose, let’s assume for a moment we take this forward. What laws do you think he’s breaking exactly?”

Rose frowned. “I …. Maybe he’s not her brother. Maybe he’s her boyfriend.”

“So?”

“She’s a minor!”

“So is he, and unless they’re actively having sex it wouldn’t be a crime. He has his own bedroom. And if she’s added him as an authorized user to the HMS, it doesn’t matter whether he’s one or the other.”

“Uhh….” She shrugged. “Maybe he’s a fugitive from another jurisdiction, hiding out here.”

“We already ran his fingerprints. They’re not associated with any crime anywhere in the United States. So?”

“.... I don’t know. I think he killed them in cold blood.”

“In his own home, where they attacked him? With him unarmed and them having a gun and a knife?”

“It’s just… Something in my gut tells me this is wrong, somehow.”

Dannie shrugged. “I think there’s a simpler explanation.”

“Yeah?”

“He said he and his sister were downtown on the day of the attack. They evaded a couple of alien patrols.”

Rose drew in a sharp breath. “Evaded?”

“He says they saw a couple of patrols, and they hid. From alien patrols, with their sensors and equipment.”

“Damn,” Rose muttered. “I know trained Army who wouldn’t be able to do that.”

“So tell me, Rose, how this sounds. Four crooks decide to rob a house where an ultra lives. Said ultra wakes up in the middle of the night and surprises them. The crooks, not realizing who he is, challenge him, probably threaten his sister.”

“That’s not a given.”

“Knowing Ezekiel Crawley, I’d suspect it’s the first thing he’d have done. Anyway. The ultra is new to his powers, feels like he has to fight them. He’s not used to fighting humans, so he’s fast and extra-lethal. Before they can negotiate, he’s killed them all.

“After which he realizes he needs to keep his identity quiet. With four bodies in the house. He comes up with a plausible story to tell the cops, and hopes they don’t question too hard.”

Rose winced. “Four normals robbing an ultra….”

“They bit off way more than they could chew.”

“If he’s an ultra, why go that far? Why not simply show them his powers? They’d have run. There isn’t a criminal on the entire East Coast stupid enough to fight an ultra in his home.”

“He’s new to his powers. Hasn’t used them much, still feeling them out. So he doesn’t realize there are rules.”

“Damn.” Rose sighed. “If he really is an ultra… the judge will rule it death by stupidity.”

“Castle doctrine, self-defence, death by stupidity.” Dannie shrugged. “Three airtight defences for the kid. Take your pick.”

“A half-decent lawyer would get him off….”

“A first year law student would get him off. Not to mention that if he is an ultra …. it’s federal jurisdiction, not state.”

“That too.” Rose grumbled.

He knew he had her. When Rose started grumbling, it meant she’d accepted he was right.

Self-defence, then. He should be able to persuade her to sign off on that. A joint finding, a quiet word in the prosecutor’s ear, and the case would be closed.

All things considered, it was the least he could do.

Rose got on her phone to brief the police dispatch team. He took the moment to check his own phone, specifically the article he’d kept all these years.

SUSPECT CRAWLEY ESCAPES FROM CUSTODY

Ezekiel Crawley, suspected of the brutal murder of Gwendolyn Bears (19) and her boyfriend Philip Arquette (20), escaped from custody today in the aftermath of the alien attack on Washington. Crawley is considered armed and extremely dangerous.

He closed the article.

He’d do what he could for the kid. And if the kid was in fact an ultra who didn’t know his own strength….

Well, he’d do his best to make sure that wasn’t the official story.