Marriage is Murder

Jack looked at her but stood up as Brian walked in speaking he nodded " Even I could tell it was not, his scent changed subtly " he said " I guess he couldn't pick it up because of the rage he had " he looked at Khaat and smiled " Thank you Khaat " he said letting her know he would not let her down then he turned to Brian. "how can we beat him , his one weakness is his strength and his anger " he said knowing himself how when in a blind rage nothing mattered but the kill and the blood that raced threw that persons body being spilled on the ground silencing the thump thump that rang in their ears even though it was there own heart beating they raged against.

"We have to realize that he sees his strength and anger as his biggest weapon, and it clearly isnt," Khaat said. "When he makes critical mistakes in his thinking like that, he becomes vulnerable."

"Its not going to be won overnight," Brian said. "We have to outfox him. He thinks he can beat us with brute strength. And, no offense, but honestly, in my time, someone being big didn't mean they were necessarily stronger. It only meant they were bigger. Strength comes from knowledge and the use of it. We have to capitalize on his stupidity and not show our hand to him. He'll realize it just about the time that he's beaten. Tell me, Jack, what's really bugging you that you feel this time that you need to know the specific battle plan. You don't usually do that. You don't usually stress about a villain, you just do what needs to be done. I'm not sure exactly what you're afraid of. What's really going on with you?"

Jack stood listening he had to agree in all his time with them knowing what was happening seem to lessen the affects as far as he was concerned. He turned to face Brian as he spoke the last part catching him off guard he stood quiet for a moment. " hes different than the others, more deadly, hes like I could have been, I guess seeing him brought home what I could have become if Robert hadn't intervened in his office that day." he said " besides isn't it always good to be on the same page when fighting some thing like him" he shifted nervously on the spot he stood .

"He's not more deadly," Khaat insisted. "He just does it differently. he certainly isn't more deadly than gellert grindlewald. He works on trying to be intimidating and deadly. honestly, we've faced worse. Its good to be on the same page, yes. But we don't have all the answers in advance about how we're going to do this because we didn't really know what we were up against until yesterday. And I don't think we have all the information we need to get a good plan in place. We can do some things, but not all of it."

"This fight is not a family feud, Jack," Brian said. "Stop taking it personally. This is a power struggle because of the organization and everything it stands for. Your family differences is merely an added bonus for James. that's not his primary target. its merely geared to get us unfocused, and I, for one, am not about to let that happen. You need to stop being so anxious about this. If you don't, you're not only going to be no help to us, you'll actually be a risk to us. Get it under control, Jack. You can do that."

Jack looked at Khaat and nodded then at Brian, " Don't worry Brian, when the time comes I'll be focused " he said not seeing Jess walk in behind him with her arms crossed.

" yes you will jack black heart ,"She said walking over to him " your a good father and a good fighter so stop doubting your ability's " she said poking his chest as she looked at him as she stood facing him. Jack looked down at her as she told him off and smiled first at her then at Brian and Khaat and sighed.

"There you go, the boss of our relationship has spoken" he said chuckling and he pulled her against him " yes dear " he looked at Brian " I'll be fine " his arms holding Jess.

" I'll make sure he does" she said looking at Khaat " that spell doesn't last forever maybe when he has to renew it we might catch him out and get a location" she said seeing the scribing crystal laid beside her.

Khaat had an idea, but she didn't know if her father would approve, and it would take his help this time. "Excuse me," she said. she had a feeling Brian would hate it. she took her father outside to the pool and talked with him. They talked for a long time. They talked about the pros and cons of it. It was very dangerous. The only way Robert would agree to even attempt it was if he was there to back her up.

He finally got up and the two of them went back inside and Robert called them all together. When they all got into the living room, Robert said, "I brought you in here because Khaat has an idea. Its a good one. It won't be easy, but then we're all used to that. And it won't be risk free. Before you all jump to conclusions, I want you to hear us out. Because it very directly forces Khaat and me to put ourselves in harms way, and we would have to entirely rely on the rest of you to make sure we get out alive."

Brian bristled, but said nothing. He wanted to merely wait and here more.

Cassidy, Steven, Jack and Jess all sat up and listened closely each trying to figure out what he could be they were planning but all were gong to follow the plan to the letter each not wanting to let them down. Cassidy sat on the arm of the chair looking at them both " so whats this plan?" she asked and glanced at Brian seeing his bristling she said nothing and rested her hand on his shoulder while Jess drank some tea next to jack with Andrew sitting between them with his juice up copying everything Jack did.

"I'm the only one, because of the necklace that has a ghost of a chance of getting close to him. The necklace will keep me from being harmed if he transfigures," Khaat said. "The rest of you literally take your lives in your hands to do it. And if I take Remus's wand with me, if I do get into a big mess then if he chooses to come in and use me, he has his own wand for more power. I would need to directly tap into my father's energies because we're already bonded. Or, Remus could well choose to work through him. We've seen that last night. What it does mean is that I have to have someone who is willing, if that's what it takes to go toe to toe with a werewolf if he transfigures to protect my father first and me second. In the scope of that greater good thing that we all believe in, he's worth far more than I am. I am hopeing it doesn't come to that, but that's essentially what it means."

"And what exactly are you putting yourself directly and literally into his arms for?" Brian asked, trying not to reveal any emotions at this point.

"I want hair. Hopefully before he transfigures and afterwards. I want to be able to use it to track a magical signature no matter what state he's in," she said.

"Its a damned good plan," Robert said. "If we can just survive it."

Jack looked at Khaat then at Robert and back " if its hair you want let me so it or do you think I would enjoy it too much?" he asked smirking a little but he understood there thought. " You know its dangerous right?" he said leaning forward slightly in his chair as he waited Steven and Cassidy looked at them both and sighed shaking there heads.

" Haven't you learned yet mate, when Khaat wants to do something only Brian or Robert can stop her"he said looking at Jack who sat back , " besides your our secret weapon if anything does go wrong" he looked at them both and hoped he was right.

"Steven's right," Robert said. "We're not worried about you. What we are trying to do is to use khaat as bait because that's ultimately who he wants. If we use you as bait, we have a much smaller chance of getting you back alie and then we still don't have anyone to protect us from him later. This is simply about letting you be the insurance policy to keep Khaat alive. Unlike Khaat, I am not worried about my own protection. He really can't best me magically, so I'm not so worried about myself. I do however want my daughter protected. I'm counting on you to be there. If this all goes wrong, you're going to be the only thing standing between him and all of us, including the kids. Does that make senes?"