Where There's A Will...

Michael instantly got a visual that was far too funny to keep himself from laughing, and he regretted he couldn't share it entirely with her. It was, though, the first thing that made him truly laugh--something he hadn't envisioned doing again for awhile.

"I'm sorry," he said, gathering himself again. "But I just had a very interesting visual on that. I think that is a much, much better idea. Either way. Your containment unit or Azkaban either one. I can probably give you a list of folks who will be very interested in visiting him. But, changing the subject slightly, what do you suggest we do to find him? As I see it, we can lure him out with some sort of bait, or...try to track him...or...I have no third plan. Sorry to say that but now if he were holed up in the Louve, we'd have no issue, would we? Well maybe just one more photo." He drew out the last one and laid it in front of Jack. It was a one of a kind necklace. A heartshaped, enchanted green stone, almost identical to an emerald, in an unusual setting, in a pendant. "That might help us as bait, as a last resort if we need it. That is one thing he is very interested in. But...in order to offer it to him, we have to literally offer him the woman who wears it. And that risks compromising everything."

Jack grinned with Michael, though it was, admittedly, a confused smile that had formed out of obligation for when a friend laughs. It faded and she nodded as he agreed to her ideas, and she felt herself a little excited to consider actually starting her plan. If she could just get one menance to turn away from bloodthirsty tendancies, it would make great strides in her field...

He pulled out another photo, and she duplicated it, mulling over their options. Tracking a werewolf was no easy task, and baiting could be dangerous. This idea of baiting with the necklace had some merit, however, and she tossed it over in her mind, trying to figure out a way to get around the worries that Michael had presented to her.

But then she got a brilliant, crazy idea. "Well... what if the woman was a bad ass who knew how to deal with werewolves with her ninja-like friend watching nearby?"

"That thought has merit," he said, "with one teensy flaw. Part of the spell on the pendant is that the woman wo wears it can never take it off. The one person who could remove it is deceased. The only way we've ever been able to figure she could get it off is to behead her and I really would prefer we not do that. This stone..." his voice got lower, "was comissioned decades ago by Nicolas Flamel. One of the last pieces he made. It supposedly helps the wearer to ward away werewolves. It does appear that James is interested in it but not for the most obvious reason. One would think he'd want to destroy the stone, but the more I think about it, the more I think it serves him better as a training tool to entice werewolves to learn control of their transfigurations. The more threatening the werewolf, the more threatening the stone becomes in direct proportion. Hm...I bet I know someone who could make a copy of this. Without the enchantments of course, but it would be good enough to fool James--at least until the stone might be provoked into trying to defend the wearer. Or--we use the current owner in our plan. Either way. Or..both. If you would be willing to perhaps wear the duplicate with some polyjuice. Perhaps we could deal with the rest. But we would not have the stone to help protect us unless we're prepared to stuff the owner of the stone in a bush or something. In this weather, it might be shoving her into a snowbank--just in case we needed a bit of additional backup. But I cannot have her as the first line of defense. And its not that she wouldn't do it. Its about me. I won't risk it."

Jack would not question the stipulations to the plan Michael had. She understood, very easily, that sometimes people had to do things, and they could not blab about it. She knew sometimes a situation went beyond what spoken word could describe. She knew that sometimes the stakes were simply too high for things to be carried out any other way than the way they had to be.

This Jack knew only oh so very well.

She nodded. "Understandable. I can deal with Polyjuice and a copy. He comes at me, we go in and get him down. I'd suggest a few days after the full moon. There might be the possibility of him still having side effects from the moon, but more often than not the transition back is too hard for them to focus or to have their full energy and stamina. Unless the situation is more urgent than that."

"That actually is perfect. It will give me time to copy the stone. It also gives me time to get the polyjuice, the hair, and some of her clothes with her scent, etc. I might also perhaps get some intel on where he's hiding. At this rate, though, nobody wants to go near him. The last I heard he was making himself scare into wilderness areas. I hope you're not against a bit of winter wizarding camping. It may well require it. Shall I presume you know the standard shrinking spell to shrink your gear? I'll bring the survival gear we need in case we do need to deal with some February conditions if you just bring what you yourself need. I have no bloody idea what we need to contain a werewolf. I was presuming I'd have to off him. However, I do like the idea of leaving him alive, if for no other reason that to have the chance to try to annoy him to death." He thought about his next remark carefully.

"If this goes well for us, this might well help you with your career in the Ministry in ways you dont imagine right now, Jack. And if you like this sort of covert work, I can link you into a lot more where this comes from, though it might not be all chasing beasties.

"If you need a petsitter, I've actually trained Snidely to be a rather handy pet nanny." Not everybody had a kleptomaniac hat rack as a trained pet sitter, but for Michael it worked rather well.

Michael seemed to agree with her and, before she could stop him, he was running through plans and possible scanarios and what they potentially need. She let him run through his listm, not wanting to risk interrupting him and making him lose his train of thought and potentially miss out on some piece of information that could prove to be vital.

"I've been camping alone since I was seven. You can't shake me," Jack said confidently. She actually thought it might be nice to get back out into the wilderness. "I have a great team of interns to cover me in the Ministry. And I might have a few things for the werewolf. We have developed some new equipment and there are a few potions that work."

His next words made her nod. She had considered it but she said, "I don't need the help, really, I just want to be the type of person who actually sticks to her promises about doing what needs to be done." Whatever it took. Though she did not add that. "I'm always up for more work," she said, grinning. "Keeps me out of trouble." His comment about Snidely made her laugh.

"Right, then," he said, "I do not have to worry about whether you can hold your own in combat. I know better. There are few others I would even want to take this on with, to be honest. I will need at least until sunrise to get what I need. I have gear that will more than meet our needs. It will be the other bits that take me the time to assemble.

"Now--for the last little tidbit that I have managed to avoid to mention but that I am equally as sure you've already fit the pieces together quite nicely for yourself. The woman. If you are to become her, you will surely know in a few hours who she is when the polyjuice takes affect. We're protecting my goddaughter. But then surely you guessed that already. I have my own theories about why James is after her. But my theories have no proof.

"I have seen him try to come after her once, but Robert tells me he's made more than one attempt to attack her. By all I've seen in that one incident, he struck me as doing his very best to try to model hiself after all of Fenrir Greyback's thoughts and behaviors. He's a Greyback wannabe. I have no idea if Greyback himself knows if James even exists or not or how he would feel about it if he did know. I would not be disappointed if the two of them set themselves upon each other, but then that's just me. However, perhaps he's just trying to impress Greyback himself by being able to offer him the Lupins on a silver platter.

"Any chance you can be ready and be at my place by no later than sunrise? If you get there before hand, Snidely will let you in. You're welcome to help yourself to any of the guest rooms upstairs. I will need to make two or three stops before I go home. Give some thought, would you, to a bit of a more precise direction where you think we should start our hunt?"

Jack lapsed into silence again, patiently listening to Michael. He had supplies, and she would bring her own as well, those she was comfortable and used to. They always made the trips easier, having the same gear to rely on. He was right that she might have guessed. She was thinking of Michael's close knit circle, and Khaat did seem to fit the bill of what he was describing. Jack would help Khaat of course, she had patched herself and Vito up and kept them alive after all.

Jack tried to hide her churning emotions as the name Greyback entered the conversation. Nerver mind her involvment in trying to track down Naomi, but there was also the issues of that other Greyback sibling. She kept her face passive and cleared her throat, saying, "I have some connections to Greyback that can help me find out that information. Once this goes down, I will contact my.. connections, and see what they know."

As Michael decided a time and place, Jack nodded. "I'll stop by the Ministry, grab some stuff, and go home and take care of a few things at home. And as for that, maybe I'll have to talk to my connection a little earlier. We'll see thoug." Yes, she would see. "I'll be there by sunrise, Michael."

"It sounds like a plan," he said. "I need to be going then, if I am going to roust a forger out of bed. You did not hear me say forger, did you? Sunrise it is then. Til morning. Goodnight."

He apparated out. It took him all night. But he ended up with everything he needed. He had it all sprawled out on the sofa in the cottage living room. And he had Snidely bringing him extra things to pack. He was condensing it all into a backpack. The tent first, the furnishings for the tent, the carefully packed food, clothes, Khaat's clothes, a tiny bottle of her perfume, the copy of the green necklace she wore, and an assortment of other things he considered essential. Hiss seemed to be waiting for his invitation to join the bag.

"Not yet," Michael told the rope. "Behave yourself or you shan't go." The rope immediately began sulking as Michael disappeared back into the kitchen. He had breakfast cooking and he needed a refill of his tea. He heard Snidely and Hiss begin squabbling--again. It seemed that Snidely had developed recently a need to swipe Hiss, and the rope wasn't about to participate in it or let himself be stolen. And so the fight was beginning again. He sighed heavily, pouring tea into his mug.

"Shall I ground you both?" he bellowed

Jack nodded to Michael and he parted ways with her. She drained the last of her drink and stood up, twisitng her torso briefly to crack her tired, aching, knotted back. She gathered her jacket around her and grabbed her mug, dropping it off at the bar and thanking the bartender and wishing him a good night. With that, she headed out into the night and apparated.

Home was first, because it had the least work waiting for her. She arrived and grabbed her usual pack, which was full of gear. She headed down to the kitchen to grab some food items that were nonperishable and could aide them. Elliot, Fred, and Mongo all watched her with interest, the latter two perched atop the ruff of Elliot, who had kindly accepted his role as taxi.

She turned and looked at the three. Elliot could come in handy. At the moment, he was in his spectral wolfhound state, but he could easily transform into something more portable. And if they faced a werewolf, Elliot could easily turn into a large wolf or dog that could defend them. She turned and said, "Elliot. We're going on a trip. I need you small. Eat." She poured him some food and gathered Fred and Mongo. She headed upstairs to her office and dumped them in, pouring them food (cat food mixed with fish for Fred, socks for Mongo) for three days, just in case. There was a littler box for them, she had trained them, and she patted them both before closing the door.

She walked back downstairs, grabbing her bound journal from work on her way down, and a pure white Basenji dog met her at the steps. She smiled and reached down, before placing him in the pack, where he hung half out. She stepped outside and locked the door, before turning on the spot and apparating to the Ministry.