The Ties That Bind

"No problem. They're muggles, remember? Kieran lost his magic a long time ago. He's been living as a muggle because he had no choice. The only way I can see this whole thing will be a mess is if they are a lot of muggles, and with guns. Lots of muggles with lots of guns might not be a good thing. Other than that, we ought to be able to handle it. And the french roast sounds great. I know Khaat won't like it, but I"m going to set magic in motion to assemble some large chef salads. They can be assembling themselves while we're putting the groceries away."

Meanwhile, Khaat had decided she needed to go check on Kieran. She borrowed her father's medical bag from him and looked at the guys. "Alright?" Who's going with me?"

"Me," Brian said firmly.

"Only if you promise you can go and not lose control," Robert said firmly. "Do I need to go along to protect Kieran from you?"

"No," Brian said, glaring at Robert.

"Don't look at me like that," Robert said. "It doesn't impress me. If you're going, go and get back. I want your report. Khaat, don't let either of them be stupid. There are bug jars in there. Use them if you have to."

"Yes, Daddy," Khaat replied. She took Brian's hand and they apparated over to Kieran's apartment.

Cassidy nodded " yeah it does, wizards I can handel but muggles they still scare me a little " she said ans watched the scenery pass till she sa the gates of the grounds then she relaxed " ok that Is she will be happy to do " she said and looked back at the bags that sat in the back " good job we can use our magic here" she said " with all those bags i'd end up looking like jack " she said and chuckled again as she felt the SUV stop bacl in the garage luckaly it was joined to the kitchen so she didn't have to cary them far she picked up some and leveltated the rest into the kitchen and set them on a large wooden table that sat in the middle of the room. she cleaned the salad things and set them going while she opened the first bag and took out the coffee setting that going . Soon the smell of coffee rose threw the house taking over the musty smell that sat that sat there .

Angus found it was warm enough to open a few of the windows--not all of them, but a few, in order to air out the place. He had bought fresh cleaning supplies so the whole place could be scrubbed and disinfected, linens could be laundered for freshening and the place could rid itself of the lingering evidence of Kieran's hold on it. He set strong cleaning spells in place, and the place set to cleaning itself with organic cleaners designed to leave a fresh clean scent in the house. He was glad to let Cassidy take over the kitchen today. He had the menu for dinner in his head already. He knew what he wanted to do. Comfort food. Something to soothe tired bodies and jangled nerves. And he was looking forward to the french roast when it finished brewing. He had gotten used to the taste of it, and now it seemed like just the standard coffee in Khaat's house.


Meanwhile, Khaat and Brian had found that Kieran had torn the place apart and had found nothing. He had tried to get out and had been unable to. And now the withdrawal was upon him and he was a sick man. And he was just at the beginning of it. By the looks of it, Kieran had been doing this much too long. At the rate he was going, he'd be lucky if he survived. She wanted to consult with her father about staying longer--just in case. They were gone quite awhile, and Brian sent her back to the house while he agreed to stay with Kieran. They decided that he was much too ill to be alone.

She could smell the french roast the moment she arrived back at the house. "Oh, french roast," she sighed. "Could I have a cup please?" She had no idea when she would get to sleep again. She felt like the coffee was sorely needed fuel now.

Cassidy looked as she saw Khaat enter the room and smiled " sure its fresh " she said and pourd a cup for her as she walked over to give her the cup she sighed " how is he?" she asked a slight bitterness lingering in her voice as she spoke to her . she moved back to the counter and finished puting the last of the the things away " I have no sympathy for him" she said glancing at her over her she could not bring her self to understand why he had treat his own body like it was nothing but a public house filling it with filth both food and women. She wiped down the sides and chuckled, "you know if he sobered up and acted diferently towards Brian he could be a nice guy" she said but then shook her head " nope, I don't think he would though , hows the coffee Khaat strong enouph ?" she asked .

"He's withdrawing," Khaat said. "He's sick. He's been at this crap for awhile. Alcohol withdrawal can deadly. He'll be lucky if he lives."

"That bad?" Robert frowned, hearing the news. "Already?"

"Yep."

"This is not going to go well for Kieran Quinn," Robert sighed. "I guess I"ll be here the next 48 hours at least. Damn. And I do have things to do in England."

"No, Daddy, I can do this. Really. Just check in every so often?"

"I'm going to go see him first. Then I'll decide. You enjoy your coffee, my dear." He apparated next door, and she took a sip of her coffee. "Its perfect, Cassidy. Thank you. Its just what I needed. So, what did you think of American supermarkets?"

Jess smelt the coffee and stood up " I'll be back " she said and let go of him she took a deep breath and smiled at him " im fine " she kissed him and headed for the kitchen " coffee smells good " she said and pored herself a cup now ing more like her self and able to do her job better. She looked around the room and smiled " big kitchen " she said " nice thought, might remodel my own to be like this " she ran her hands over the surfaces and smiled.

Cassidy smiled at Khaat when she said the coffee was good " I learn from the best" she said glancing at what Angus was doing on the other side of the kitchen trying to see how and what he was coking " wish he'd teach me more though, hes so secretive with things, guess thats becuse hes cooked alone for along time now" she said sitting sitting with her as she sipped her own coffee now that everything was away in it right place. She chuckled at her as she asked how she likes american markets " there intresting and so much variety in them, half the thing they had i hadn't seen before" she smiled again " its intresting the things I think i could make with the ingrediants that were on offer , so filled with color and the smells " she chuckled once again " the coffee section was like walking into a cup of coffee its self " she sat back " totaly wonderful" her eyes sparkle as she spoke.

"That chain of supermarkets is particulary nice," Khaat said. "They're not all like that. Some of them are large but without much variety, or substandard products. We happen to like that one because it has a gigantic selection and really superior products, even if it is more expensive. I'm sure Angus doesn't mean to be secretive, but he does love to surprise people. That part of him is very intentional." She smiled. "Brian learned to depend on Angus a long time ago, and when he and I got busier, it seemed like a natural move to ask him to shift his assignment from Tuscany to England. It did take some doing though, and I can see why. Tuscany has to be, right now, my favorite place int he world I think. It just is exceptionally beautiful. I think Angus and Brian were counting on grilling steaks tonight. Nobody makes steaks so flavorful or buttery tender as they do. I'm not sure how they manage it, but they do. All Brian will tell me is that its in the dry rub they use on the steaks, but he won't even tell me the recipe for that. I guess that must be a guy thing. I've never met a guy who will ever reveal the secret to his dry rub recipe or his barbeque sauce recipe--to anyone."

"If you want to know what I'm doing, just ask," Angus laughed. "I'm just trimming out some steaks for tonight, that's all."

Cassidy sat and listened smiling " I wondered what the dried spices were for and the man sized steaks " she said turning to watch him as he trimmed the meat she stood up and moved to watch him " so what are you doing now ?" she asked leaning against the counter holding her cup in her hand as she watched him " I was wondering what you were doinf with those caveman sized peices of meat " she chuckled and took a drink of her coffee. " Khaat I agree Tusacany was beautiful the air the countryside and the open air markets " she smiled and shook her head " maybe i can perswede Steven to loan me his villa " she said just as he walked into the kitchen.

Steven fancied a refill and stood up with his cup moving intothe large kirchen he smiled " so this is where your all hanging out " he said crossing to the coffee pot " I belive they found nothing else bad in that pile of bills" he siad and sipped the frsh coffee " ah french roast nothing quite like it " he said looking at Cassidy as she spoke about his villa " nope Delilah and I are using it for our honeymoon were bringing the kids too " he said smiling thinking of Delilah always brought a smile to his lips.

"I'm trimming away any fragments of silverskin, any excess fat that is unnecessary in the grilling process. I know that most of us prefer out steaks to be as lean as possible without being dry and tough. Too much fat is unappetizing. Not enough makes meat tough and flavorless. Although, Khaat is very, very finicky about her steak. She does not want to see one speck of fat on her steak. I do extra trimming on hers," Angus said. "She wants hers 100% lean and cooked a perfect medium, maybe medium well. Never more or less. She's a woman who knows what she likes. Its what I like about her." He smiled. "I'm making her sound difficult to work for, and it really isn't the case. Its just her food that she's particular about. You know, I really thing that is the secret to Sparks. I think she is so finicky that other people can see the quality she puts into everything she puts on the menu."

Robert apparated back in. "Khaat," he called her. She put her coffee cup down and went over to him.

"What did you find?" she asked.

"He's been at this for years, but you knew this. This will be very touchy overnight tonight. If he lasts the night, he should be over the worst of it. Can you manage for a few hours? I'll come back tonight to help you try to keep his sorry ass alive. If it werent' for Brian,...well, I might feel differently and let you toss him off at a muggle emergency room. But for Brian's sake, no. I won't do that."

"I'll be fine, Daddy," she smiled, kissing his cheek. "How's Brian?"

"Tired. Weathering it out as best he can."

"Can we let him sleep tonight and do this ourselves?"

"If he can sleep. Depends on if he's too worried about Kieran to actually sleep."

"It won't be Kieran he's worried about," Khaat said.

"Meh," Robert shrugged. "If worse comes to worse, we'll just wipe out all the muggles Kieran owes and be done with it. I'm not worried about that."

"You'd kill them all?"

"Certainly. For my family? What wouldn't I do?" he said. "Be careful. He's starting into hallucinations. He could get dangerous, my dear. I'll be back this evening." He turned to the others. "You might want to go to bed early, you lot. You look like hell. I'll be back." And with that he apparated out. Smiling, Khaat sat back down with her cup of coffee. She'd go check on Brian in a minute.

Cassidy watched him and listened to him talk about how he was trimming the steaks " I think thats so I know when i ate there it was always fresh and good " she said now focused on watching him " humm sounds realy nice , not had steak myself , wouldn't it go better with a fresh salad , you know balance out the flavors?" she asked finishing her coffee and placing the cup in the sink to wash later that evening . Cassidy was fasinated at how he managed to get rid of even the smalest scrap of fat . " surly the fat is flavor?" she asked watching him.

Steven watched as Robert aperated in lisyeneing to Robert talk to Khaat on his last words he sighed " sleep would be good " he said loking at Khaat " but I think some of us should stay up alternate shifts, just incase mister over in the aprtment decides to kick off in the night" he said only adding it as a sugestion as he sipped his coffee.