Finding Femininity

"Then you don't know me at all," she said fiercely. She was refusing to say all the terrible things that were locked inside her at the moment. She did not want to go over a line that she could not come back across from.

"Khaat," Kate said quickly, her own seer's powers now zeroing in on exactly what Khaat was thinking, the memories that were flashing at light speed through her mind, the feelings that were spinning like a tornado inside her spirit. "Nobody wants to make you uncomfortable here. Nobody. Can we make one compromise? One?"

"Depends on what it is," Khaat replied.

"Give me one hour and promise me you won't go anyplace. I won't bring your father here--or his goons. I do know what that is like, believe you me."

"Depends on who you're bringing here."

"Sweetheart, you don't have anything except the clothes on your back. Brian's going out of his mind. I'll take the girls for a couple of days. Let me get you some things, reassure Brian you're okay."

"You're going to send him here, aren't you?"

"You have an objection to him?"

"No," Khaat said softly. "Its not him."

"I know. Its you that you object to. I understand that. But I believe he'll come. Just this once, Khaat, trust me. Please."

Khaat thought for a moment and then said, "On one condition. that its only Brian. Nobody else."

"Done," Kate said. "Let's go, Jack. Its time we went to let Brian make his own decision now."

jack stood quiet in the window till kate asked if he was ready to go he nodded and movd to her side " yeah i'm ready " he sauid and walkd over to her his eyes looking at Khaat " I'll let Jess know yoour ok " he said his tone was of annoyance that she had not come home but he knew brin being with her alone was th first stage " though im guess ing she'll know already " he finished as he now stood next to Kate .

Kate portkeyed them out and back to the estate. Brian was waiting, doing his best to pace, worried about Khaat. When Kate and Jack apparated back in, Brian said anxiously, "What took you? Where is she? Is she okay?"

"Calm down," Kate said to him, going over to him. "And get off that knee before you make Robert repair it again. Sit. Let's talk a minute. She's fine. She's in muggle London, and I'll give you the address. She's agreed to let you come. No one else. Brian, she's feelling boxed in...."

"By whom? Who is boxing her in?" Brian demanded.

"Herself. Brian, you know how you and she were trained, what you were taught to believe in and support--beyond all else...."

"She's not going to throw it all away because of some old Gryffindor moral code!" his eyes flashed.

"She feels like she needs to try. Think, Brian."

"It's stupid! She doesn't need to throw away us!"

"Brian," she said, brushing his cheek affectionately. "Stop a minute. She's overloaded. She really only wants to try to clear her head. Do a favor for both you and her. Go pack a bag for the two of you. Plan to stay as long as it takes to help her face her demons. It might be only overnight. But you really do need to go deal with this."

"Deal with it! Certainly I'm going to deal with it!" He stormed upstairs. He got out a bag, and cast a spell to shrink/pack clothing and esentials for both of them.

Meanwhile, Kate said, "I'll take the girls. Angus, pack them for me please."

"Certainly," Angus went upstairs at once.

"As for the rest of you," Kate said. "This won't take Khaat long to work through. I know her. Take a day or two off. Go recharge your energies. At some point, Robert is going to, without a doubt, go after Burke and Gelding. I don't know how soon he'll do it, but you all need to be ready for battle when he does." She didn't want to tell them the rage that Robert was repressing, but Kate knew all too well, that Robert was planning some unprecidented damage to Gelding and his entire operation.

steven stood up when kate reaperted he saw jack ws angry and wlk over to jess .

"brian she is one of th3e most stubborn women i know , sorry jess but she makes you look like a pussy cat compared n" he said and kissed her deepl;y , Jess held him back and he felt the anger slip from him " sorry Brian, she just got me worked up " he said .

steven raised an eyebrow at this and wondered just what Khaat had said to make jack so annoyed but he said nothing when Brian sid thy could have two days off he smiled knowing delialh ahd her exam coming up and now he could be there with her for it nd he was so looking forwrd to spending qualirty time with her and dylan. " I'll let you guys know what Delialand I are having shes got her first scan tomorrow " he said smiling .

"That's because you don't know her nearly as wellas you thought you did," Kate said gently. "I know she's coming across as being very stubborn right now, but you have to remember how she and Brian were trained. Brian gets it. That's why he's packing so quickly. Remember, the Lupin family has generations of being Gryffindors in their blood. Khaat and Brian are Gryffindors in every cell of their bodies, the same way Robert and I are, the same way Remus was.

"Gryffindors are trained to believe that the importance of the greater good supercedes everything. They believe that one's own life is extremely expendible if it helps to meet the general goals and values that most of us believe in--love, peace, unity, all of those sorts of things. They are taught that at any given moment a Gryffindor may be called upon to lay down their life for another,and they learn to gladly give that, no questions asked, no regrets, no second thoughts.

"Khaat and Brian were taught those values long before either of them entered Hogwarts. Khaat was born into it and brought up in it her entire life. She's not running away from you for any other reason than to protect all of you--from her. She believes she has no choice but to protect you from herself. She's not abandoning you--she's protecting you. Brian gets that. That's why he's throwing things in a bag right now. She always did talk to him when there was no one else. He's fully prepared to help her battle those demons now--to help her see that she is not too dangerous for you all to be around. I think we need to give him that chance--don't you?"

jess looked at Kate and walked over to her " I agree she needs some time to talk threw things and being with Brain is th met thing for her "Just as I doid with jack at the comune " she said smiling " I'll calm him hes just concerned the lever of worry in here is some what high right now , you should know " she said and chuckled to her showin g eh was not worried or if he was it was only that khaat and brian would kill each other before she let it all go.

"Well, let us all be glad that its Brian that's going and not Robert. Khaat and Robert really know how to make the sparks fly between each other--sometimes literally," Kate laughed.

Brian came back down the stairs in a hurry, with a shoulder bag slung over his shoulder.

"Kate, the girls...." he began.

"I've got it under control," Kate said. She kissed him on the cheek. "Go. Go. I'll keep Robert off your tail as long as I can. Take care of her."

"That's what its all about, Kate. Angus, you're in charge. You know how to reach me," Brian said. "Where am I going, Kate?" Kate wrote the address down on a slip of paper and handed it to him.

"Thanks, Kate," he smiled, kissing her forehead. He flicked his wand and was gone.

steven could not help but smile and chuckle Brian seemed like a man posessed as he dove down the stirs bag in hand as he left he moved up to the nursary and picked up both girls bringing them dow for kate " they were awake and throwing things at each other " he said handing abby to Kate " I'l stay for a bit if you need me Kate " he asked playing with Dakota.

Kate was about to speak when Robert apparated in suddenly, and he looked 100% business. He looked at Kate, and he knew.

"Where is my daughter, Kate?" he asked firmly

"She's safe, and Brian is with her. Relax," Kate said. "Robert, ..."

"I know what she's doing and why! I trained her to do it!" Robert bellowed. "Now, where is she?"

"Don't you raise your voice at me," Kate walked straight up to him and stood toe to toe with him. Her words now became fierce, protective of Khaat, and very deliberate. They were pointed and staccato and almost hissed in his face. "I am not afraid of you, Robert. I never have been. You can play those games with somebody else. It doesn't wash with me. She's my daughter too. I've seen her, and she's unharmed. And if she's doing sometihng you think is foolish now, you've got no one to blame but yourself. You and your desire to save every single person in trouble. You knew it could jeopardize our family when you started it. Well, now its here. And the one who is paying the consequences for your heroics is your daughter. No, I will not tell you where she is. Brian deserves that much from you. He deserves that chance."

Jess stood listening and nodded feeling the strength from Kate as she stood up to Robert she smiled and wraped her arms around Jack more and held him sgainst her " shes a strong as Khaat " he whispered to him softly glad that she was on the good side of Robert and Kate but she knew behind svery strong man was a stronger woman and Kate showed it when she needed to and right now boy was she showing it.