Marriage is Murder

Jim stood with his coffee and listened to Michael he could not disagree all he had said was right when the noise came Jim jumped to his feet and with Brian dove to the bedroom glancing aorund nothing was disturbed. " might be right no sign of any brake in or anything being disturbed. "I agree once she wakes she might come back" he said hoping and praying she would do just that and return. " Problem is what if she doesn't return where do we start looking for her?" he asked as he moved to the bed side and looked form Brian to Michael and back.

"No clue," Michael shrugged. He went to the fireplace in the bedroom and opened the floo. "Ozzy!" He waited and heard a slow sleepy moan and then a response.

"Yeah?"

"Ever know a seer to pop out before they're awake?" Michael asked. The sound from the other end was Robert and Kate's sleepy laughter. "I take that as a yes."

"Let me guess," Kate said. "And you want to know where to look."

"Uh...yeah."

"Don't," Robert said. "Not yet. She did this nonsense all the time when she was a kid and just getting her powers. Abbey will probably do the same thing at this point. Its an accidental thing. Where she went depends solely on what she was dreaming. Lets just hope for her sake she was at least somewhat dressed."

"She was," Brian said.

"Alright," Robert sighed. "We're up. We'll do our best to try to see where she went."

"Dont worry about it for now," Kate said. "Not until you see you have to. For all you know, she might have been dreaming about just walking in a park."

"Or being trapped again with Blood," Brian muttered.

"I heard that," Robert said unhappily. "You do have a talent for negative thinking first thing in the morning, don't you? Give me a minute to open my eyes before you do that, would you?"

"Sorry," Brian said.

"We're on it," Kate said. "Go get some coffee or something. Or less. Whatever has you amped up so early, stop doing it." Kate and Robert disconnected and closed the floo.

Jim watched as Michael opened a floo and spoke to Robert he sighed and sipped his coffee again witch he'd floated into the bedroom. He again hoped she had not returned to Blood for it meant it would take her longer to recover from her trauma of the fire. Jim moved back to the living room as he now puffed on his pipe that he'd accioed from the bedroom he'd slept in. He looked out the window over the canals and buildings of Venice hoping and praying she came back soon, he worried about her being out alone even though he knew she was capable of looking after herself thought with out her eyes she could walk right into a canal.

Robert and Kate were awake and out of bed now. Robert was dressing and Kate was already trying to use her divination skills to see if she could find anything. Michael headed back to the kitchen, and decided on a very simple breakfast, under the circumstances. He served a platter of scones and some of the fruit salad he'd made the night before. The fruit was now well chilled, and the scones were still fresh.

"I think we should eat while we can," Michael said. "We dont' know what the rest of the day holds. We might well be busy today."

"I'm not hungry," Brian said, heading out to the balcony to look for her.

"Brian," Michael said. "What does your gut tell you? Is she just really standing on the bank of the canal?"

"I just dont want her to be in the canal," Brian said.

"Good luck on that, then," Michael said, somehow knowing that wasnt' where she was. He couldn't picture her dreaming of Venice. Not right now. "Come on, Jim. Let him settle his anxiety. Lets get soem food while we can."

Jim chuckled hearing his own fear spoken to Brian. The smell of food woke him from his thoughts and he nodded to Michael " don't see why not, can't do anything just yet any way." he said and moved to the kitchen to get some food. Sitting down he began to eat his breakfast knowing some one would spot her and report back or even bring her back to them knowing who and where she had come from. He pored Michael and Brian some fresh coffee and refilled his own cup looking at them both. He could not help once more wish she was back with them he felt a little like he'd not done his job.

It took a couple of hours, and by then Brian was nearly beside himself with worry. They hadn't heard a syllable. And then the hearth sprang to live in the living room of the hotel suite. Brian flew to the hearth as numbers and letters began to take shape in the flame. It was an address that was forming--in Robert's handwriting. An address in Paris. One Brian remembered all too well. It was the largest muggle hospital in Paris. Paris?

"Gotta go, guys?" he called. "We're going to Paris."

"Paris?" Michael echoed as he finished preparations for dinner that evening. What he was fixing needed to marinate for a few hours before cooking. "Well that makes sense. She certainly couldn't go very far, not without porting, and that would have taken a key. But I wonder why Paris?"

"She has bizarre dreams," Brian shrugged.

Jim had finished his food and now just sat puffing on his pipe and drinking his coffee when he heard Brian " Paris?" he said along with Michael. "well I'll grab a warm coat" he said accioing one to him " you are going right ?" he said not surprised in the least at Brian's anticipation at going " or maybe it could be a trick to get hold of you" he suggested and lent back on a chair. He had seen the code and knew it was a special code only Brian knew so it could not have been a trick though something inside him kept saying be careful

"You wont' need a warm one," Michael said to Jim. "A spring jacket will do. Unless you're cold blooded." Michael picked up a tan suit jacket and looked at Brian. "Dress, Lad. We dont know what we're going into."
Brian merely picked up a black leather jacket and put it on over his shirt and his jeans.

"That's it?" Michael asked, disapprovingly.

"You two are well dressed. You're my pass so I don't have to be. Lets quit wasting time and go." He accio'd his new wand and sheathed it." Michael took out a ring of keys from his pocket and chose one that looked rather rusty.

"Here we are. Lets' go." He ported them all to Paris to the boiler room of the hospital.

"You just can't learn to use doors, can you?" Brian sighed, starting down the hallway. He found the elevator and they took it up to the ground floor. As the elevator doors opened into the emergency department, he caught just a glimpse of the back of Robert as he went around a corner and down the hallway towards one of the hallway of treatment rooms. Brian and Michael just followed silently, hoping to see where he was going before he disappeared into one of the rooms.

Jim held Michael as they ported out of the apartments to Paris , Jim saw what they did and stuck as close as he could to them wondering why Robert was in Paris but he then realized it must have something to do with Khaat. " any sign of Khaat?" he asked glancing around at the people seeming to crowd around them. " damn it wish they would move " he cursed to himself as he followed behind Michael now wishing he could smoke but being a hospital that was a big no no since oxygen was around and in almost every room they pasted.

"No," Michael said. "Not yet. But there's Robert." He noticed Robert pause and talk to a muggle doctor in the hallway. Michael motioned for them to stop and just wait a minute. He waited until Robert had finished his consult and had produced some sort of identification to show the doctor. The doctor motioned to the room just to Robert's right. The doctor walked away, and Robert went into the room. Michael motioned for Brian and Jim to come with him down the hallway.

When they got to the door, the first thing Brian and Michael saw was Khaat, sitting on a bed. Her clothes were filthy. Her left leg and her left arm were scraped and bleeding almost their full length. The left side of her face was turning black, and there was a tick dressing that was taped to her forehead that was already bleeding clear through.

"Khaat," Robert called gently. There was a pause. She was listening but not responding. "Khaat," he repeated, touching her hand.

"You...know me?" she asked timidly. Robert looked back directly at Michael and made eye contact. Michael didn' move his head but shifted his eyes up to the ceiling and saw the camera in the room that was part of the muggle security system Michael never uttered a sound. He just flicked his fingers slightly and magically disconnected the camera. Then he shifted his eyes back to Robert. Robert laid his hands on Khaat's head and slowly cast a spell to start healing. She groaned slightly. He pulled back his hands for a moment.

"Khaat?" he asked again.

"Daddy?" she asked, hesitantly. Then she realized she hurt everywhere. "Where am I?"

"Long story. I'll explain. Hold still. Behave. The muggles are coming back." He laid his hand over the dressing on her forehead and managed to heal it just enough that the cut would not need stitches. "Say as little as you can until we get you out of here."

"We?" she asked.

"Brian and Jim and Michael are here. What happened?" he asked.

"I don't have any clue," she said softly. "We...we were in...our hotel...and now we're...someplace else?"

"Yes," he said. "As long as you're alright. But we have to give them a couple of scrapes and bruises so they think they're doing something. You know how it goes." She nodded, and laid her hand on her head, her head throbbing. He reached up and drew off just a bit of the pain, just enough to be tolerable. "Better?" he asked. She nodded.