Page 62 of Legacy Found

"She saved someone. The instructors screwed up — they're the ones who couldn't get there in time. She nearly got mauled doing their job for them, and she's the one who gets a flag on her record?" He turns. "That's backwards. That's completely—"

"Torres."

He stops.

"I know," I say.

That lands harder than anything else could have, I think, because it wasn't what he was braced for. He was ready to fight me.

"I was in that room," I tell him. "I made every one of those arguments. I made them well." I hold his gaze. "And the ruling stands anyway. So we deal with the world as it is."

Jessica's watching me, and then she asks the question I knew she'd ask, because I know her.

"So what am I supposed to do next time? Let someone fall?"

"No."

It comes out of me fast and certain, and I watch it surprise her.

"I am not asking you to become a person who stands still while someone gets hurt because a rule says stay put," I say. I lean forward. "I'm asking you to understand what probation means. People are watching you now — with a file open. Some of them want you to fail. Some of them want everyone in your program to fail, and they will use you to prove it. If you hand them another clean disciplinary violation, they will not hesitate."

"So follow the rules," she says.

"Understand the rules." I shake my head. "That's different. Know when you're breaking one. Know exactly why you're breaking it. And understand precisely what it may cost you before you do — so that if you decide it's worth it, you've decided with your eyes open." I hold her eyes a beat longer. "And if you ever do something like yesterday again — try not to very nearly get yourself killed while proving Professor Faris wrong."

"Thank you," Torres mutters, with feeling.

Jessica gives the two of us a look that could strip paint.

"Do you think I did the right thing?" she asks. Quiet, now. It matters to her.

I don't hesitate. "Yes."

She almost smiles.

"Do I think you took ten years off my life?" I add. "Also yes."

The almost-smile arrives fully. I don't return it, not yet, because I need the next part to hit and hit hard.

"You're on probation now, Jessica. I need you to take that seriously. Not obedient. Serious."

She nods. I've watched this young woman nod before, but this time, she actually means it.

She stands. Torres peels off the wall to follow.

At the door I say her name, and she turns.

"Be careful," I tell her.

Not behave. Not stay down. I would never ask her for that, and she'd never give it to me anyway. Just — careful.

She nods again.

"I'll keep an eye on her," Torres offers.

Jessica rounds on him instantly. "No, you won't."

"You almost got eaten by a wolf yesterday."