Marriage is Murder

Jack stood up as Robert left he moved to follow up to Brian's room and to Enzo. Moving over to the dog he sighed and reached out to gently stroke him " Robert your right , I'm a man not a wolf " he said and looked at Enzo then at Brian and Khaat then down at Enzo. "So who lets you out at night?" he asked the dog and chuckled " ok its me then" he looked at Robert and took a deep breath in. "Might get one of my own, a small one , maybe black " he said still stroking Enzo gently the more he did the less he felt himself angry and he smiled at him kneeling to face the dog. " Take good care of her" he said and moved out of the room strangely relaxed.

Brian watched Robert come in and watched Enzo sit up at alert, detecting Robert's anger. Jack followed, and Jack apologized, introduced himself to Enzo and left again. Robert petted the dog, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

"Its okay if it gets to you," Brian said, referring to James, not to Jack.

"Its all getting to me," Robert confessed. "I know he knows better. I really do."

"Ah now we're talking about Jack," Brian said. "Yes. He does. He just needs a gentle reminder every so often."

"I wasn't so gentle."

"Then maybe he'll remember a bit longer," Brian laughed. "Why didn't you kill James today, Robert?"

"I've got no bloody clue. Well, yes I do. I wanted him to suffer. I didn't want him to die. I wanted him to hurt. Dying let him off the hook. I want him to remember intolerable pain when he sees me. And I want it to be his last thought and his last feeling before he crosses over."

"Does that need to be at the end of your wand?" Brian asked.

"No," Robert said. "So long as its done. I want him dead. However it happens. Go eat. I need to be with my daughter a bit. I'll make sure she's okay."

"You sure?"

"Yep. I can get acquainted with Enzo a bit."

"Where'd he come from?"

"Edward. Enzo is a trained guard, a service dog, and a companion. Edward thought a trained seeing eye dog would help her. And--he needs a new home."

"Well, its not like we dont have room--so long as someone tells him he can't eat the cats," Brian said. He stood up. "You'll call me if she wakes?"

"I dont' want her to wake," Robert said, sitting on the foot of the bed, petting Enzo. Brian went downstairs to the table.

"Got any left?" he asked. "He's okay, Jack. I think you just accidently irked him, thats all. And thats not hard to do right now."

Jack looked at Brian and sighed " no, hes right, I have to remember I'm not a wolf, I'm a man all the way to my very core, but that damn brother of mine, he gets to every one." he said stirring his soup that was now being reheated by Jess slowly. Jack smiled at Jess and finished his now hot soup. Jess looked at Brian " Khaat sleeping ?" she asked not feeling anything coming from the room or her. Cassidy ate in piece next to Steven who quickly finished and left to continue the search they had found half of the items and disposed of them now he searched for the rest.

"Yes," Brian agreed, as Angus got up and served Brian. "Dealing with Tom Gelding is one thing, but James takes it up to a whole new level. And I think we're all sick of it. I think Robert will feel better once he sees Khaat is alright. He just wants her to rest for a bit, but I think being with her makes him feel useful for now."

"Well, that and he doesn't want her to wake up and find herself alone," Edward said. Angus had set a bowl of soup in front of him and he had joined them all at the table.

"Enzo is a magnificent dog, Edward," Brian said. "Thank you."

"My pleasure," Edward said. "You saved him from being sent to one of those horrible muggle rescue places. His wizard died of old age, and we couldn't find an owner for him."

"How old is he?"

"He's just four. He has a long life in front of him."

"Well, that's good," Brian smiled. "Does he play frisbee?"

"Whats a frisbee?" Edward asked.

"I think you can take that as a no," Angus laughed. "But we can teach him."

Jess left the table and moved up the stairs to Khaats room she heard them talking about Enzo and smiled " I think I'll have Jack teach him if that's ok with you " she said smiling at them as she stood in the doorway. " how is she now, still sleeping?" she asked and smiled looking at Khaat then back at Robert " Steven and Cassidy are out finding the other items, but hes hid them rather well this time." she told Robert and moved to the bed side she touched Khaats hand and felt her just sleeping and comfortable. " how long do you feel till she can see again?" Jess asked softly so not to wake Khaat, she moved to stroke Enzo gently feeling his soft fur against her hand as she did.

"Feel free," Brian said. "Might be good for both of them." She watched jess go upstairs.

Robert was sitting on the bed, a book in his hands. He lowered the book when Jess came in.

"Yes," Robert said, "She's still sleeping. I don' think she'll sleep much longer. The sleep spell wasn't that strong. I just wanted her to rest. She needed to have a chance to get over the shock of all of this. Brian mentioned to me that she felt like the stone betrayed her and she was permanently trapped with it. I do need to talk to her about that. I don't want her to feel cursed. Not when she's so blessed. If things go well, i think her hearing will be restored in maybe 24-36 hours. Her burns will take 4-5 days, I think. And her sight will take 3-4 days.

"But--I get Remus's message. He's concerned abou how thin and weak she's becoming. Part of that is the illness itself. Part of it is the pressure she feels for doing her job and mine. I'm taking that piece back for a few days for her to get her health back under some sort of control. I'm going to talk to Brian about keeping her here for perhaps a week. If I had you and Jack and Steven at St Mungos, you help pick up some of our caseload, and Jack and Steven can deal with security. We could manage that way for a week. If Brian wants, I'll leave Angus here with Khaat and Brian to help take care of them and provide some temporary security. But--We're only at the start of our weekend. She might well have her sight back by the time we were scheduled to go home anyway. And if that happens, she'll prefer to be home. So--I guess I"m saying it all depends on her."

Jess gave a deep sigh at Roberts words and nodded " I got that much from cassidy , so a forced leave of absence for one week , I feel mine is under control now so I will return to St Mungos, cassidy can help here also " she said softly then she had to agree. " yes its best for her to see in a familiar environment, lessens the stress, I will start my shift first thing tomorrow and I'll let Steven and Jack know they are on security duty at the hospital " Jess smiled at Khaat still sleeping " I hope she does Robert, with everything that's gone on I truly hope something good comes out of this for her" she moved to lightly touch Khaat then moved back " her ow exhaustion has deepened it a little " she sat down facing Robert. For a moment she doughted her ability's " I should have seen what was coming Robert I feel I blocked out too much " she said feeling he was like a father to her and she could open up to him.

"You didnt miss anything," Robert smiled. "She's been trying to push harder to keep going. And I've stopped her from slipping back to Knockturn for energy potion by letting her take some of my formulation of it. Its less toxic. But it does play a part on her weight loss. Its a side effect of the potion. And it is far harder to detect my energy potions than it was Rob's. His were more lethal, more powerful, easier to detect b/c of the foul smell that it made the body give off, caused by the slow burning of bodily organs and systems.

"You don't need to watch that. I'm watching that myself. Brian notices her fatigue and her weight and her nightmares at night. But that's because he's closer to her with those things. I expect him to not miss them. I guess if I expect anything of you and Kate, its to notice anything that is seer-specific. I can't do that and neither can Brian. We can watch her work load. we can watch what she eats, but that whole seer's thing is just not someplace we can go with her. "

She stirred and woke with a hard jolt, her hands automatically going to the bandages over her eyes. Her father got up and went over and took hold of her hands. "You're alright," he said soothingly. "I"m right here."

"Take them off," she begged him.

"I can't, Dear," he sat with her wrapping her close in his arms. "It'll hurt if I do. It'll burn like you wouldn't believe. It needs to be closed off from the air. You know, Remus tried to stop here while you were sleeping."

"He did?" she asked.

"Yes," he said, kissing her forehead. "He's worried about you. Are you still able to make contact with him?"

"Sometimes," she said. "Should I try?"

"Maybe. But first, Edward brought you a gift. YOu need to meet him."

"I already know Edward," she said.

"No, no. Your gift. Enzo--come," Robert called. The large dog got up from his place at her feet and walked up the mattress on Brian's side of the bed. He sniffed her face and gave her cheek a litle lick.

"A...dog?" she asked, reaching up to feel fur. "A...dog?"

"Yes," her father laughed. "A brilliant dog who has been trained to be the service dog and companion for a blind wizard. The wizard died, and Enzo needs a home. And right now, you need him."

"What..what does he look like?"

"He's a white german shepherd. He's gorgeous."

"He's huge. He's like a small horse," she said.

"He certainly is."

"Jess? Is that your perfume I smell?" she asked.

Jess nodded to Robert and sighed she would have spoken but Khaat woke up first and she watched as Khaat found Enzo , standing she moved to the bed side. When Khaat spoke asking if she was there she moved and took her hand " yes Khaat I'm here, I an do something that will let you see for a short time , there's a trick I use to do where you can see threw my eyes just briefly so you can see Enzo" she said smiling as she looked at Robert " its ok I have done this before" she moved and placed her hand on Khaats temple and focused " you have to focus on me Khaat imagine your opening your eyes and you'll have control of mine.

Jess felt her sight slowly dissipate and she smiled turning to face Enzo " do you see him, hes beautiful isn't he" she said hoping she had taken some of Khaats fears away from her. She knew she had from herself as she checked her letting Khaat do what she needed.

Khaat watched the image come into focus and saw the beautiful face of a pure white dog with dark eyes almost nose to nose with her. She could see the gentleness in his eyes. The dog nuzzled her face, and she let the vision fade, not wanting to keep power that didnt belong to her for more than a mere instant.

"He is exquisite," Khaat said. "Thank you, Jess. He looks very smart."

"Edward says he is amazing," Robert said. "How would you like to try him out?"

"What?" she asked.

"You're not bleeding. Nothing's broken. There is no reason why you can't be up. This is Tuscany. Its beautiful here. I suggest we get his harness and let you take him out for a walk. Go out to the yard or down to the beach. I'm sure Brian would love a chance to go with you,' her father said, accio'ing not the leash but the seeing eye harness that Enzo had come with. It took him only a moment to fasten the harness around Enzo.

"Lets go," he said to Enzo. The dog got off the bed and stoo beside the bed, waiting. Robert took Khaat's hands in his. "Alright, up. Take your time. Up you get," he said to her. She wasn't sure she wanted to have to get up, blind and partly deaf. It..wasnt right. It was unnerving, She had planned on simply staying in bed, curled up, reclusive, until it all came back. Her father was refusing her. Wasn't going to let her do that. "Give me your hand," he said to her, taking her good hand and wrapping it around the harness. He stood her on her feet. "We're going to walk. Let Enzo do the work. You just follow. Enzo--forward."

The dog moved forward, and Khat felt the pull on the harness. It forced her to walk so she would not hurt him by not moving.

"We're going downstairs," Robert told her. I'll be right beside you. Just keep walking." They walked one step at a time until they got to the stairs where Enzo stopped. Khaat was startled.

"Its just steps," Robert said. "He's just warning you. With me now." He took her elbow and commanded Enzo forward. He coached them both down the steps successfully one step at a time.

"For a man with no bloody training in it, you did that rather well," Edward laughed. "Do you mind if I take it from here? I am familiar with how to do this."

"As long as I can come along," Brian said.

"Is that alright with you, Khaat?" Edward asked.

"Yes. Please," Khaat said.

"Then off we go. Let's go out into the sunshine," Edward said. He coached them out into the garden, teaching her and Brian how to use Enzo and explaining that when he was not in his harness, he was pretty much like any other dog. He taught them Enzo's commands and skills. Brian was utterly amazed. It didn't seem like there was much Enzo could not do. Edward explained that when a dog was owned by and taught by someone who spoke to animals, the training never really ended, and Enzo learned far more than most dogs. Brian wanted to know if the training could continue with Kate or perhaps Steven. Edward didn't see why not. The possibilities were endless.