Sand and Snow

Jack looked at Khaat and chuckled " she gets them when she over does it , jefery said she would get them till it settles down , shes not letting them get to her that much " he said brushing back jess's hair away from her face and kissed her cheek " shes ok khaat don't worry 2 he said and smiled down at her . He sat listening to Brian not realy knowing what it was like to have such a relanship with a sibling as he never had any or if he did he never knew about them .

"Okay," Khaat said. She didn't say anything more about Jess. She was struggling with some very strong feelingg about Jess, and in order to keep Jess from picking up on them she had to bury them, not talk about them, not think about them. Bury them as deep inside as she could get. She glanced up at Brian. She caught him looking at her. He knew. She had talked to him before, while Jess was gone, about her feelings, and she knew that he was recognizing that the feelings, for her, were back.

"Angus," Brian said. "Did you say you needed to go pick up some fresh fish from your brothers down at the ship?"

"I do," Angus sighed. "I just haven't had a chance to get there yet."

"Well then," Brian smiled. "Accio!" He summoned a set of keys to his hand. "I think I'll let Khaat polish up her driving skills. See if she still remembers how to drive a standard shift transmission. She and I could use a couple of minutes alone anyway. We'll go pick up that fish and be right back."

"You sure?" Angus said. "I could just apparate and...."

"No," Brian said. "Let me be more clear. I'm looking for a few minutes alone in a romantic setting with the most beautiful woman I know. You all hold down the fort, and we'll be back in less than an hour."

"Don't over do your knee."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Brian said. He tossed the keys to Khaat who caught them easily. "You do remember how to use a clutch, don't you?

"Of course," she frowned. "Do you?"

"I do," he said. "But I can't drive while I"m on crutches. I guess I'll have to trust you."

"Let's go then," she smiled.

Jack sat smiling and listening to them " wow you drive stick ?" he said suprised " i can only do auto and thats at a push" he said chukaling " go jess will sleep awhile so not much for me to do stevens sunning him self again so we'll be fine, so go enjoy" he said softly as he smiled at them both " i know how it is to have quality time alone together" he again brushed jess cheek lightly " jeffery said it helps her know im close if i do that from time to time even when she sleeps "

"I"m sure it does," Brian said. He took Khaat down to the red car, and he gave her directions to the docks. Brian enjoyed riding for once and not driving. Ke was actually ijmpressed with her driving skills, even though she did like speed. He was just a little nervous at first until he saw how skilled she was. Then he relaxed and enjoyed himself.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked her.

"No," she said. "It won't change anything."

"And so, what are you going to do when Jess finds out?"

"She wont," Khaat said.

"She's a seer, like you," Brian said. "And she's your best friend. You really think you can mask that from her forever?"

"I'll manage," she said.

"Khaat, it wasn't your fault."

"Yes! It was! Brian, nobody is safe around me! Every woman who has ever worked for me ends up as a basket case!..."

"First of all, that's not true. Jess is far from being a basket case. And what about Lizzie? And Hannah, and all of your staff at St. Mungos and at Sparks? What about your mother? Your daughters? Ronata was a flake--out and out, and we both know it. We knew it the first day we met her. Don't lump Jess in with that. And what about Cassidy? She's doing alright. What issues she has are not related to you. They're related to whatever horseshit convinced her that she was better off as a singular, rogue agent. And its a good thing we did take her in. She had the right idea, but without training, she was going to get herself killed. Khaat, Jess was a victim like you were before you met her. She's bound to have some old scars that she needed to get past sooner or later. And from what you tell me, she's gotten stronger since she's met you, not the reverse."

"She had been," Khaat admitted.

"You really do have to get over thinking that if Jess remembers some of those painful memories, it makes her damaged and that its your fault. What if someone talks about Remus? Does it make you mentally ill to think about him?"

"No," she said.

"What about when you think about his death?"

"His murder?"

"Yeah. Does it make you mentally ill?"

"No,"

"Then, its not fair for you to judge Jess by different standards. "

"Can we just get the fish, please?"

"If you take a short detour on the way there."

Brian took Khaat to a quiet spot in the road, overlooking a rocky bay, where the birm was wider and was frequently used by tourists to take some spectacular pictures. It was also, at night, a key spot for couples to slip away to, to try to find a little bit of alone time in a romantic Tuscan spot. He made her pull over, and he showered her with kisses and romance. It melted her heart, bonded her to him, and made her stop resisting him and trying to face the world alone. It reminded her that Brian was not afraid of being with her, and that when he was with her, she felt perfectly safe and secure. Somehow, being with him always made everything right again.

They were a bit later in getting back than when Brian had said, but Khaat felt infinitely more peaceful, just by having that time alone with Brian. She didn't know exactly when she had given him her heart so completely, but there was no one in her life that quite made her feel so whole and content as he did. They came back into the villa together, and Khaat handed the package of fish to Angus.

"Everything alright?" Angus frowned. He had been getting concerned that they were gone so long.

"Do you realize how incredibly romantic Tuscany is, Angus?" Brian smiled slightly at Angus.

"Roman...oh. Yeah. Well, yeah, I did know that," Angus said. realizing that they had taken a few moments for some harmless necking. He was relieved to know they were safe. "I'll go take this to the fridge. Thanks."

"Anytime," Brian smiled.

Jack walked in from the garden and smiled " hey welcome back hope you didn't do anything i wouldn't " he said and chuckled as he grabbed a glass of cold water to drink. Jess walked in behind him " Hi, had a good time i see " she said and grinned at them both as she crossed to jack " hey thought you were getting mine too" she said and slightly tickled him.

Jack felt the tickle and laughed " hey not in front of the bosses " he said and kissed her lightly and looke at them " sorry " he chuckled as she did it again " jess stop it , save it for later " he said smiling a braod grin.

"Well, if letting Khaat do a bit of speed driving counts, then I guess we might have misbehaved," Brian grinned. "She's a damned good driver, Jack. I guess I didn't realize how good she really was."

"We dont' drive a whole lot back home," Khaat shrugged. "Well, we used to. We didn't really fit in if we didn't drive in the village when we were kids."

"That's true. The village closest to the farm is largely a muggle village and at that time, Robert was working as a chemist in an apothecary, filling prescriptions for muggles for the most part. Kate was working in a gift shop. Khaat and I had to learn to drive. It really just didn't work for us to live on a farm and not have a truck or drive. It just sort of came with the territory. I don't know where she learned how to race, though."

"Well, there just might be more to me than meets the eye," Khaat smiled.

"It ought to be fun finding out, then," Brian said, with a bit of mischief in his voice.

"You behave yourself, Brian Quinn," Angus said. "You just had surgery yesterday. Don't make me tattle on you."

"I'll behave--for now," Brian said.

"I'll go cook lunch for us," Angus laughed. "The fish is for dinner tonight."

jack chuckled " women ushualy keep things close to ther echest , no pun meant" he said and chuckled " I found that out with jess " he said grinning as she loked turnly at him but smiled a second later, he laughed at Brians tone and held jess tight against him " seems both our minds are on the same thing " he grined and kissed Jess again who shook her head and chuckle.

Jess chuckled " Khaat, i think our men have a one track mind " she said and chuckled but smiled as Angus said fish was for dinner " oow nice your fish is always wonderful Angus" she said looking forward to some expertly cooked fish and a nice wine to go with it thought she would have juice as she knew it would not be good for her control if she was to become drunk.

"Jess," Khaat said, "You're working overtime on control. I'm not trying to countermand any of Jeffrey's instructions, but you should be able to sip at a glass of wine with dinner without having it go to your head. I have never known of Jeffrey to ever release someone before they had the skills they needed in good control. It is far more common for someone not to trust their new abilities."

"Seers," Brian sighed. "They always make me feel like I'm coming into the middle of a conversation"

"You should be used to that by now after living with Kate and Khaat," Angus said.

"It somehow never gets old," Brian said, a bit frustrated.

"Sorry," Khaat said, kissing Brian's cheek. "You know,..." she paused and whispered into his ear.

"No," he laughed. "Not tonight."

"You sure?"

"Positive. Its supposed to storm here tonight. It would not be a good night to stay and sleep out on the terrace," Brian laughed.

jack looke dat Jess who smiled at Khaat " god i know how you feel brain its confusing " he said and chuckled as jess nodded to her.

Jess looked at Khaat and smiled " your right, one glass won't hurt , he did say it would help " she said and thought about it more her control was strong jeffery had said so when she left yet she didn't trust her self maybe now was the time to try to trust her inner self and relax a little bit more.

Angus fixed a beautiful shrimp and crab salad for lunch, full of an assortment of greens and vegetables, with a lemon and herb viniagrette. He had also put a loaf of crusty bread with fresh cremery butter. He poured some of the iced tea he made and soon had lunch on the table.

"Oh, you're spoiling me,' Brian grinned, when he came to the table, seeing the picture perfect salad. "Its been years since you've made it. Thank you."

"I thought you might like it for a change," Angus smiled.

"Thank you," Khaat said. "Its beautiful. And delicious. How come you haven't fixed it before?"

"I don't know," Angus shrugged. "Alright. I'll fix it more often if you like."

"I would like."

"Consider it done," Angus said.

"What would you say if we went into the village this afternoon?"

"Uh oh. Shopping?" Brian frowned.

"You can't go. You're on crutches. I'll take Angus with me. And I bet I could twist Jess's arm into going along," Khaat said.