Xaviers!

Seated in one of the back seats of a passenger carriage car traveling the rails from London to Maldon, Jezabelle was busy on her phone. She had to get ahold of the school, X-corp, her father... but first she had a promise to keep. She dialed the number that Basil had given her and waited patiently for someone to pick up, or at least the voice mail beep.

Someone did answer, a male voice. Unusual, given the time of the night.

"Benson residence." Was all the voice said.

Jez cleared her throat. "Ah, hello, yes. May I speak with Mrs. Benson please? Jessica Benson?"

"Who, Basil?" Jez frowned. "I wasn't able to talk to him much, but apparently a woman attacked a friend of his and he helped to detain her. The police took him in to take his statement."

"London, actually. He said the police were just going to take his statement, but -" Jezabelle paused. "- after what took place this afternoon I think he could use a lawyer to look out for him."

"Well that depends. Do I need to in order to get his lawyer in there to help him in case the cops decide they're going to make an example of him?"

"Spoiled little shits don't risk their own safety to protect their friends, they just buy new ones." Jez didn't know Basil very well but she wasn't about to let this go. "And if you're not going to tell her, I will be happy to."

"I'm not his -!" Jez started before she was put on hold, fuming with petite rage. She took a deep breath and forced herself to relax; it'd been a long day.

"Good evening Mrs. Benson. My name's Jezabelle, and I'm a friend of Basil's. Sorry to disturb you so late."

"No ma'am, he's fine. Physically anyway." Jezabelle leaned back in her seat as the train rolled along the tracks toward Maldon. She was lying, after all he'd messed up his arm and his side earlier, but if his parents didn't know that already then she wasn't going to be the one to break it to them.

"A friend of Basil's was attacked by some crazy woman while they were out, and he helped to restrain her. The police in London have taken him to get his statement."

"Oh no ma'am, students are allowed to leave the grounds. I mean, it's not a leper colony or something. Actually some of our students commute to the school from the surrounding... is it Romeos they're called? No, hamlets. Yeah that's it, hamlets. I think. But I'm getting off topic here...."

"Oh, no, I'm the pretty face who was getting bailed out just before he was getting taken in."

Jezabelle sat up in her seat, taking on a more serious tone.

"I haven't known Basil for very long, but I do know that he deserves to be able to do everything that anyone else his age can do. If I can go to see a movie, or go to a pub to get some drinks, then he or any other student at the school can too. Yeah it led to trouble this time but you can't have freedom without risks. I'm assuming you can't shoot lasers from your eyeballs either but that doesn't stop you from going out to the shops."

"But that's all beside the point, ma'am. Right now Basil is with the police, and I want to make sure that nothing bad happens to him. I need to know if you're going to help your son or not, because there is a holding cell full of protesters who I doubt have the luxury of a family lawyer at their disposal and I need to find a way to help them as well."

"Good. Because if you don't, I'll make it my business. And if you think we Americans are annoying to deal with as tourists, you ain't seen nothing yet.

"Have a good evening, Mrs. Benson."

Jezabelle breathed out deeply through her nose before she slumped back into her chair. She wasn't really sure why she'd let herself get so worked up, maybe it was just because of the day she'd had. If she hadn't been afraid of missing her stop she might've tried to have a nap on her ride back to the campus. Instead she used the time to send some texts, most importantly to her father explaining the situation she'd been in and what others were still in. She wouldn't know until a few days later if he'd been able to do anything, but at least she had tried.