Marriage is Murder

And Remus wasn't having an easy time of talking to her. She had chosen, for herself, to surround herself with an image of the campsite at the farm where she and Remus had spent so many nights sleeping out under the stars. She was simply sitting at a campfire, her hands around her knees. Remus had managed to add a warm blanket underneath her as part of her image, and he draped a warm blanket around her shoulders. She had brought all of her bleeding wounds and bruises and injuries that she had gotten in the cave with her. When Cassidy left, Remus went back to her and sat down on the ground on the blanket beside her.
He conjured up a cup of almond tea for her and handed it to her. She didn't even look at him. He wrapped her hands around it.

"I know you can hear me," he told her quietly, looking up at the stars. She didn't respond. "Drink your tea." She didn't move. "Its just tea. Drink." She didn't know if she'd taste 'other worldly' tea, but it smelled comforting. She managed to drink some of it, and it reminded her so strongly of when she had been safe, at home, with him, that now, it brought forth deep anguish that felt unending for her. It was what Remus had been looking for. A sign of anything. Now he drew her close, under his shoulder, kissing her head. "You know I don't have any ability to take the stone off, right?" he asked her. "Without a body, I can't change that." She didn't respond. She knew. And she also knew that if he were still alive, he wouldn't take it off her anyway. It had the potential to save her life, just as much as it had the potential of killing her.

As Robert continued to work, he thought he smelled Remus's cologne. Faintly, but it was there. Robert understood. It was just a reassurance that Remus hadn't blindly walked away.

"I think, since you've all been up all night," Robert told them all, "you should let Celeste take you to the quarters they've established for us and get some rest. Brian and I will stay. And Michael will not sleep. Not for awhile. If I know Brian, he's taking a breather for his own stress and then he'll be back. Lee won't be far. Why don't you all find him and ask him where our rooms are? Get some food and some sleep. I might need you more in the morning. And so might the staff--if they bring me any more of those damned plastic wands. I might have to hurt them if they bring them back."

Steven nodded leading Cassidy while Jess looked at Robert " shouldn't one of us remain with them ?" she said softly " to monitor for changes, or do you want muggle nurses doing that?" Jess asked somewhat irked at the inexperienced nurses around her. Jack nodded knowing what Robert said Robert ment . Jess had caught the scent in the air and sighed knowing remus was close by. Cassidy looked around at Khaat and just could not understand the man or were who would do such a thing to Khaat a young mother, even with all her power she still was a person. It was then she thought back to hr father and sighed knowing there were men out there that would do such things but seeing Steven smile she smiled back also knowing some men were not that bad.

"You worry too much," Robert told Jess. "Brian and I won't sleep. We can monitor them. You guys put in a heck of a battle earlier, and that is fatiguing. Brian and I are both running on adrenalin right now. We wouldn't be able to sleep if someone paid us. But that adenaline will wear off in another few hours. And I'll have to decide if we're taking them home to England tonight or wait until they're a bit more settled and sstable. I'm just letting them rest a bit for now. Its unlikely that I'll do anything diffferent for the next 5 or 6 hours but let them rest and keep an eye on them. But I might well try to get them home by then. We'll see.

"Michael will doze eventually. He's exhausted. Adrenalin or not, he's exhausted. Khaat's systems are still responding as if her systems are dealing with a hue amount of adrenalin. It may be that she gives in to Remus a bit when her body settles a bit. When she gets tired, she won't be able to be as stubborn with him.

"Jess, I know you all want to be here. But Brian and I will need you far more when we start to get tired. I need you all to be ready to pick up the slack when we're not as fresh to do it anymore. And at some point, we need to tell Kate. That is not something I'm looking forward to. She's about had it with people hurting her child. So--Let Brian and me do the pacing and the coffee drinking for a few hours, and you lot come back to rescue us after a short break. And at some point, we're all going to need to ask Lee to send us all some food. "

Jess listened to Robert knowing he was right and she after placing down Michaels chart and turned to face Robbert " promise me that those experienced jackals will stay away from them both" she said knowing her words were because she was tired and with a sigh she left for a prearranged room and to sleep. Jack looked at Robert and sighed.

"sorry sir she gets this way when shes tired " he told him as steven and cassidy left and jack followed.

"So do we all, Jack," Robert said, understanding them all too well. He felt that way himself. Brian returned after his cigarette and passed the pack and the lighter to Robert who took the moment to stretch his legs. Lee made sure that Michael had been sent a tray of food, and Michael found it acceptable. Steak. Potato. Salad. Red velvet cake. Tea. He hadn't thought about food until he had it. But, finally, warm, out of pain, tended, clean, and fed, he fell asleep, much as he hadn't counted on it. Robert had. He knew Michael would not hold out against his exhaustion forever. No one could.

After Michael slept, the room fell largely quiet. Brian and Robert talked very softly about what they needed to do next. Home. That was their first thought. Brian considered briefly about exploring the cave, but a report from Lee in the middle of the night said that the caves were still burning. Lee had a full party of aurors ready to go in as soon as they could finish putting out the fire. He suggested Robert return home and offered to help them get there. Robert was sure he had more than enough people to make sure everyone got home safely.

Roughly four hours later, Robert and Brian glanced over to Khaat and noticed she was awake. Not moving much, but clearly trying to figure out where she was. Robert motioned Brian to silence. He wanted things kept very quiet, despite the kneejerk temptation to make a fuss over her being back. Instead, he didn't speak either. He merely filled a cup with tea and took it to her and fed her sips of tea. No conversation whatsoever.

She couldn't remember when she'd had so much as a sip of water last. The tea with Remus didn't exactly count. It was odd having something in her stomach again. A cup of tea felt like a feast. She was quiet and calm. Robert wasn't sure yet if she'd vented it all on Remus or if that was yet to come, but either way, if she was calm for now, he was prepared to leave it that way.

Just before sunrise, the day crew for the sickbay came on duty. Lee had food delivered for everyone. Breakfast. And he had trays sent to the rooms of the others so that theywere waiting for them when they woke. Along with fresh, clean clothes in the proper sizes. It wasn't fancy clothes, but it was serviceable enough to get them home.

Michael's tray had a large belgian waffle with strawberries and whipped cream and a decent cup of coffee. Lee had sent a fruit salad for Khaat with a cinnamon scone and french roast coffee. He'd sent to Brian and Robert cheese omelets, fried potatoes, crispy bacon, toast, and plenty of Earl Grey.

With a bit of silent coaching, Robert found Khaat could slowly feed herself, so he let her--with no interferance. He was hoping everyone could follow his lead and just be very matter-of-fact about things. At least for now.

Jak woke before Jess and stretched out he smelt the breakfast and smiled sitting up he slipped from the bed and began to eat his food Jess smiled and ate with him both showered and dressed then headed to the med bay to check on Michael and Khaat . Jess walked in dressed in her healers unifor still and smiled feeling Khaat awake. She walked over to Michael's bed and looked at his chart then closed it to move to Khaat she didn't take her chart knowing Robert and Brian were stood close by. " she's awake at least thats a good sign isn't it Robert, its a start?" she asked hopeful it was.

((OOC: going to sleep now night Khaat ))

Robert and Brian were done with breakfast and finishing thier tea when the others arrived. Khaat had finished playing with her fruit salad. Robert had left her alone with it, and although she hadn't done as well as he would have liked, it was better than he had honestly expected.

"It means Remus won the argument," Robert said simply to Jess. "But then again, he rarely lost."

"Lee's coming," Brian said, hearing noise in the hallway on the other side of the relatively thin wall.

"Maybe he's got more coffee," Michael said, a bit persistant. Robert smiled very slightly, amused. Michael had never liked being inconvenienced or sidelined. He was starting to be a bit more himself this morning. Lee and Celeste came in, and behind them were two aurors, each with garment bags over their arms. Lee and Celeste had shopping bags in their hands.

"Shopping spree?" Robert asked.

"Would you rather I gave you all army fatigues?" Lee asked. He nodded to one of the aurors who handed Robert and Brian each a garment bag and a shopping bag. There was a garment bag and a shopping bag for Michael and a garment bag and a shopping bag for Khaat. "We equipped the rest of your crew with a change of clothes. Should we do less for you?"

"Thank you," Robert said. "Might you have a shower?"

"Your quarters, which you neither one got the chance to use," Lee said. "Shall my staff take watch for awhile?"

"No thank you," Robert said. "My own staff will take over for a bit. After I change, we'll see if Michael and Khaat can get up enough that we can get them home. As always, Lee, we're in your debt. Have you seen Edward this morning?"

"Last night," Lee said. "Once you lot were safe, he left. He said he needed to follow up on details left undone and he'd see you at home."

"Undone?" Brian frowned.

"Leave it," Robert said. "Edward has us covered, whatever it is." He looked at the others. "Can you lot manage long enough for Brian and I get get changed? Let Michael and Khaat rest and then I'll see if they're up to it when I get back. Oh, if you find any decent coffee, I'm sure they'd both enjoy a refill. Calm and steady." His last few words were directed to be instructions for caring for Michael and Khaat. Calm and steady. Very quiet. He was hoping they'd picked up on how Robert and Brian had been handling things when they came in.

Jak nodded seeing lee enter with the bags for Michael and Khaat he looked up as lee told Robert they had provided similar bags for them but he looked at Lee " um you might want to tell who ever got mine to go two sizes up" he said and showed the rips under his arms " happened when I flexed " he told him and chuckled " i'll be fine till I get home" he said as Jess walked over to them and nodded to Robert.

" I guess it just means we have the battle now to come" she said to him then looked down at Khaat .

"Did you forget how to resize?" Brian asked. "Or how to use a simple reparo spell? You really could fix that with a couple second year spells, you know." He followed Robert out to go shower and change. He said nothing more, even thought he felt Jack was being a bit ungrateful to their host for his kindness. He was grateful that Lee had been generous enough to provide fresh clothes for them all when he didn't have to do it. He wasn't going to gripe about things not being specifically tailored. That was what wands were for.

Brian and Robert enjoyed the time to themselves to shower and shave and change. It was helpful to reduce their stress a bit to have the chance to refresh. When they finished, Brian and Robert returned. Brian helped Khaat wash and change into the clothes into the fresh ones Lee's assistant had furnished. Grey slacks, a grey turtleneck, and a beautiful soft gray cashmere sweater that was a maxi length--it went clear to her ankles. And with that were soft gray suede boots that Brian knew she was really going to like. He helped her dress and refresh herself. He could tell she appreciated the warmth of the sweater when she curled into it. He helped her with her hair and made sure that, despite all her injuries and bandages, she was as presentable as she could be.

Robert helped Michael--as much as Michael would accept help. Lee had provided Michael a pair of jeans, a fresh pair of shoes, and a pewter colored half-zip sweater. Robert finished with Michael about the same time that Brian finished helping Khaat. Robert went through the business of thanking Lee and his staff for their graciousness and help so that they could leave and go back home to England. And while Robert did that, Michael got up and went to Khaat's bed where Brian had helped her sit back down on the edge of the bed.

Michael went to her. "Take my hand," he said softly to her, reaching out to her, deciding to not treat her much differently. She hesitated and then slowly took his hand. He stood her to her feet. "Let's go home," he said to her softly. He wrapped her in his arms in a strong hug and slowly she wrapped her arms around him and hid in his chest. "I'm still here," he reassured her. "And we're going home. It's alright."

Jack chuckled and repaired the shirt and made it larger " sorry was more focused on getting in here , sorry lee thanks for the clothes though well needed " he said and smiled at him Jess rolled her eyes as did steven and Jim Cassidy just chuckled as she watched every one.

"Well, this is one person whose more than thankful for the clean clothes." Jess said as she walked over to stand with Jack.

"Make that two of us" Steven said as he smiled, it was then he turned and watched Michael with Khaat and he heard his words of going home.