Marriage is Murder

"We'll be fine. You are needed far more at the ranch. Khaat and Brian need to be sure their kids are protected," Kate said. "We have a full crew of people outside on the grounds here. We are well guarded. No one knows Khaat is even here. If anything is going to happen, it won't be here. It will be back at Brian's. We'd prefer you all just go back to Brian's tonight. Robert and Michael and I are all here. We'll be fine. Everyone here is tired. Robert and Michael haven't slept, Khaat needs rest from her surgery, and I'm tired myself. I think we're all just going to turn in early tonight. Feel free to take everyone and go back to Brian's. We're fine."

Robert saw Michael head for the shower, and he went to his study and got the brandy decantur and poured two glasses of brandy and put them on the small table in front of the fire and sat down in one of the leather wing chairs and just waited on Michael to get there in his own sweet time. It was a tradition they had. Michael would come, they'd sip brandy in silence, and all would be well again.

Jack and Jim both nodded and after making sure the area was clear they ported back to the main ranch Jack headed to find Jess who was trying to settle Alex who on seeing Jack held out his hands , Jack picked up a book and began reading to the small boy as he lay in his crib smiling and slowly falling asleep. Once he was Jack left and headed on his patrol for the night with Jim and steven who went to the barn and guard house making sure all was and had been ok. Jack was glad to be back with the kids all of them as was Jim.

It took a couple of days for Alette to be stable enough to be released. By then, Robert had removed the bandages from Khaat's face. She had gone back to using the thinner veils and had been 'acceptable' enough to go home. Abbey didn't seem to make any connection except that Mama was home. She still seemed to believe Mama had been dead but that she was back--as if it were merely the same as going to town and back.

Once Khaat was back home, she had Brian use glamour spells on her face so that she could go back to work. And she plunged back into it full force to help relieve her father's stress. She saw very little of anyone. Except if they were St. Mungos staff. Robert had believe from the outset that she was working entirely too hard for someone returning from major surgery.

She hadn't been back at work more than a few days when she was called urgently to the emergency room. To her horror once she got there, she found the patient she had been called to save was Michael. He was laying in a pool of his own blood from multiple stab wounds. He was fading quickly.

"Call my father!" She ordered. "Now! Find him!" She began a life support spell to save him. He whispered to her very softly.

"Sweetheart--know when to let go." It was all he said before he faded into unconsciousness.

"Michael!" she said desperately, refusing to let him go. She resolved to do whatever it took to save his life. But the bigger question was who stabbed him and why.

Jess heard and felt the call she quickly headed to find Robert " Robert , Michael , triage they need you " she told him feeling the pain and hurt from Khaat and looked to Robert " its Michael somethings wrong with michael" she said softly to him as she headed down to where she knew Khaat was stood she quickly moved over to Michael checking his vitals and sending healing spells into him to start the stabs healing as she waited for Robert to arrive Jess began to wash away the blood from Michael's chest and abdomen to see exactly what had happened to him. she glanced as Robert entered. " Vitals are stable for now, can go either way, several stab wounds to the chest and abdomen" she told him then motioned for another healer to take Khaat out seeing how shocked she was, "Get her some hot sweet tea, and get her out of here" she told them turning back to work on Michael.

Robert reported to the ER and found Michael comatose and near death. He made a quick assessment. "Your spells won't be enough, Jess," he said. He ordered Michael taken to emergency surgery. "The blade hit several vital organs. I don't have a choice," Robert said. "Move quickly," he told the orderlies. "He doesn't have much time. Jess, you will assist me. Let's move."

He apparated quickly to the surgery scrub room and changed and prepared to operate. Khaat felt lost. Her godfather. She was not prepared to lose him. Not now, not ever. She went back out to the nurses who had brought him in. She spoke with them and found out he was discovered by the bartender at the Three Broomsticks when a blood covered Otto came running, frightened, into the pub.

Khaat apparated out to her old cottage in Hogsmeade. The door was standing wide open. She saw Faline and Otto hiding out behind some bushes, and they refused to go inside. She went in, her wand drawn. The inside of the house was a shambles. Furniture thrown, shredded, overturned. Michael's fine works of art all destroyed. There wasn't much left that wasn't destroyed. And there was blood everywhere. Everywhere she looked.

"Alette!" she called. "Alette, are you alright?" She heard a faint moan of pain from the kitchen. She went to the kitchen and found Alette sitting on the floor, covered in blood. She started to tell her about an intruder...and then, she seemed to shift...as if she wasnt' the same person. She started to laugh. Khaat saw the glint of a blade in her hand.

The next moments were a blurr. A fight--with knives. She found she was glad for all the years of training. She acted automatically, despite her own pain. Fighting back, not thinking, just letting the training take over.

And then, there was silence. Alette was dead on the floor, all the maniacal screaming echoing in Khaat's head. One of Michael's huge chef knifes protruding from Alette's heart. There wasn't much of anyplace in the house that wasn't covered in blood. There wasn't much of her own clothes that werent' covered in blood. She didn't know where her blood stopped and Alette's began. The corpse of Michael's old female continued to bleed out on the wooden kitchen floor.

Khaat's head spun. Overwhelmed, she dropped to her knees in the silence.

Jack aperated to Michaels house and with wand drawn moved inside he saw the ottoman out side and patted them " its ok" he told them and moved further in " Khaat " he said softly " what...what in robert's name happened?" he asked looking at the now dead body of alette. she moved to check her but he could tell she was dead as he could not sense a heart beat. " ok you leave, go home and clean up...Now" he told her as several of lee's men arrived and he began telling them what to do. "Get this place cleaned, as if nothing happened you understand and you two get rid of that body, I can assume something in her mind snapped and she attacked Michael" he said then moved to Khaat " go Khaat, Kate is waiting and so is Abby, we have it here." he told her.

Khaat jumped slightly when Jack entered, but she heard him telling her to go. She didn't know where she'd lost her wand. She accio'd it, and apparated out, intending to head home. Instead, she ended up back at St. Mungos, in her office.

She didn't know how long she sat there, on the floor, but the next thing she knew she felt a hand on her cheek. She looked up. It was her father.

"Where were you?" he asked softly. She wanted to speak, and no words came out. "Michael's going to be fine," he said gently. "We just finished. I asked Jess to stay with him. Are you hurt?" he asked. She didn't honestly know. "Who was it?" he finally asked. She burst into tears, folding into a little heap on her rug.

He took the time to take her to her private rooms, get her cleaned up, to tend to her own stab wounds. He bandaged them and helped her get into clean clothes. He sat her on the sofa in her private suite of rooms and poured her a calming potion and fed it to her. With a bit of time, he hoped, she could tell them what happened.

Cassidy aperated in and saw Khaat " Jack says Alette is dead Michaels place is a mess with blood hes got them cleaning it but he theorizes she attached Michael and Khat killed her when Alette attacked her" she said looking at Robert . Jack ported to the offices and shook his head walking over to Robert he spoke softly to him. " I asked her to go home Robert, I guess she's in shock , Lees got Michaels place cleaned as if nothing happened and their dealing with Alette's body" he told him.

"Well done," Robert said quietly. "Thank you. Leave it to Lee to always show up in a pinch. I would guess you're right. Hopefully Khaat and Michael can both tell us more in awhile. She is in shock. Definitely. I would guess she wanted to go home but misfired. Its okay. Brian will be here in a bit and he can look after her. I presume Lee will bring Alette's body here for autopsy. I want to get a closer look to see if there perhaps was a spell at work or why exactly she would attack Michael and Khaat like that.

"Do me a favor," Robert said. "Keep a guard on the intensive care unit and on Michael in case there is something I missed. I presume she acted alone, but until I know more about Alette, I can't take that chance."

Jack nodded at roberts words " yeah hes good at that Robert, he did say he would speak to you so yeah. " Jack said she nodded as Robert asked him to post a guard at Michaels door.

" I'll do it" cassidy said and left heading down to stand at Michaels door. Jack looked at Khaat and sighed.

" she will be alright won't she?" Jack asked hoping for Abby and their other kids sake she would.