Marriage is Murder

"On a two year old? Its easy," Kate smiled. "I'll do it." She got up and went in to where the children were still sleeping, taking what was now an afternoon nap. She went in to the nursery quietly and leaned over Abbey's little bed and stroke her hair gently kissed her forehead and paused her hand on Abbey's temple, placing a block there. The block was much harder to do on adults, but was relatively simple on children. She cast a slight bliss spell so that Abbey would not begin to grieve her mother.

Brian had gone into his bedroom and there was part of him that was deeply relieved that his bed was not empty anymore. But the woman in it looked like a phantom of the woman he loved. It haunted him deeply. She slept a long time, and he simply sat, exhausted, drinking french roast that he had purposely brewed double strength. The coffee had made even Angus cough and sputter.

"What the hell are you brewing asphalt in our coffeepot for?" he had asked, choking on it.

"Its just coffee," Brian had refilled his cup.

"You should have warned me I'd need a chain saw to whack off a piece to put in my cup," Angus sarcastically snarled at him.

"Funny," Brian said. He had gone back upstairs to Khaat, and there he had remained for the afternoon. When she began to stir and wake, he was a bit anxious, not sure how she was going to respond. To his surprise, she was curious, disoriented. He watched her look around.

"You're home," he said to her very softly. She had only jumped slightly when he spoke. "This is your room. Our room." She looked at her night gown. It was white flannel and lace. Her left arm was in bandages and a brace from her fingertips to her shoulder. She didn't hurt anymore. And it wasn't cold. She tried to speak. Her voice wouldn't work.

"Not to worry," he smiled. "You can't remember because you have a very serious head injury. And you probably can't speak because of that or because of how sick you've become. I know you don't feel well. Do you?" She shook her head no. She looked for paper. He sat beside her, leaning on the headboard and laid a clipboard in his lap and handed her a pen. "See if you can write it in a couple of words."

"Am I dying?" she wrote.

"Does it feel like it?" he asked softly. She paused. "You used to tell me everything," he reassured her. He waited for her answer. She nodded. It was feeling frightening. "Let me debunk that for you. No. You're not dying. But I'm sure it feels like it. You have a whole houseful of healers here. And yes, we can afford the very best care. You'll be fine. Do you need anything? Can I get you to drink another couple sips of your tea? Its gone cold, but I can reheat it." She didn't want it. "Khaat, do you remember anything? Anything at all?" he asked. She thought hard. No. It was blank.

Downstairs as Angus and Michael busied themselves making the evening meal, Lee apparated in. Robert looked up from one of a stack of old newspapers he hadn't had time to read. In Lee's hand was a manila envelope.

"I have your forensics results from her clothes," Lee told Robert quietly. Robert noticed Lee's rather solumn look on his face. "Do you want to meet in private?"

"No," Robert said, becoming very professional. "This is her staff. Her family. I'd have to tell them anyway. Lets just let them join us if they want."

"And Brian?"

"No. He's sitting with her. I'll talk to him myself later. His being with her is more important than reading a report." He looked at the others. "I presume you want to know what he's found, then?"

Lee sat down beside Robert and opened the envelope. He drew out the multiple pages that were stapled together.

"The clothes she wore had multiple layers of different kinds of soil on them. The first was a sort of sand. It was a mix of mud, sand, and silt with a high limestone and quartz mix..."

"Caves," Robert said.

"Thats what I'm thinking too," Lee said. "That was actually on the bottom layer. Over that was dander. A lot of residue of animal dander. It did not match anything known in the muggle data bases of the millions of common species around the world. There was also a few strands of what they thought was human hair. But between you and me, I know fur when I see it. This was transfigured human hair..."

"Are you saying it beloned to someone with lycanthropy?" Robert said, trying not to tense up.

"I haven't ruled it in, but I certainly can't rule it out," Lee said. "And I can't find anything else that makes sense. There is also quite a lot of dried saliva where the rips in her clothes are. And the muggles have no known DNA match for it."

"They tried to bite her, then."

"I think so. Does she have scars?"

"Nothing obvious," Robert said. "I haven't looked closer, honestly. I was looking for wounds. Her skin is very dry and doesn't look like it should because of the lack of food."

"Ah, well, there was some of her hair on her clothes. Her hair carries a record of what she's been eating. She hasn't gone all this time with no food whatsoever, but what she did eat does appear to have been spoiled at best. She's lucky she didn't die of food poisoning. There is a list in the report of what we found, along with a whole host of muggle drugs that her magical systems would never be able to deal with. And then there is one more thing. I think she got the head injury when she was hit by a car. There are layers of other things on top of the other layers of filth. The chmicals they use to seal asphalt roadways. Motor oil. Other automotive chemicals. And there was a bit of car paint. Black. I think she was hit by a car, probably took a roll over the hood and landed on a wet roadway.

"I'm not sure the forensics tell us much more. But we do have some tests that arent' back yet. And if I were you I would cross section that with unresolved hit and run accidents through the muggle law enforcement agencies here. See if you can find anything. I'm sorry I dont' have more, Robert. Really."

"You gave me plenty," Robert said. "If your test show more..."

"You'll get it immediately," Lee assured him.

Robert listened and looked up, seeing Edward's shadow in he kitchen doorway, behind Angus. Edward had been listening. He finally moved forward.

"Robert," he said, treading very, very carefully. "You know my reputation. If I have to kill an out of control werewolf, I keep my word. Now--how much are you willing to bank on that?"

"How much do I need to?" Robert asked, feeling that Edward had a plan he wanted to propose.

"When any animal hunts, which animal is he attracted to first as prey?" Edward asked.

"The sick and the weak," Robert said. "The law of natural selection."

"Precisely. I know she's fragile, and I don't want to put her in jeopardy, but..."

"You would like to use her, in her delicate state, deliberately to flush him out," Robert said.

"I do," Edward said very gently. Kate bristled. She was prepared to protect her daughter. Robert, instead, looked at Jack and Jim and Michael and Steven.

"If I agree to this," Robert said. "You all have to be in agreement. You all have to follow Edward to the letter. We must put Khaat's safety ahead of whether we get this monster or not. And--if it comes to it, you must all be ready to accept that you put her ahead of me."

"I agree," Michael swore quietly, ready and able to protect Khaat at all costs, and ready to follow Robert right to Robert's death or even his own in order to protect her.

"I'm in," Angus said, without hesitation.

"Well, I'm not in," Kate said defiantly. "I refuse to lose you both."

"I dont' intend to lose anyone," Edward said.

"But you can't promise me you won't," Kate was angry now.

"No," Robert said. "He can't promise you that, Kate. But we've been all through this a million times in the last 32 years. I'm not changing my priorities now."

"Then I will go make the plans," Edward said, turning and heading for Brian's office. Kate was outraged. She slapped Robert's face hard enough to leave a handprint. He didnt even flinch. He understood.

"I'm your wife! You're supposed to discuss this with me before you toss yourself and our daughter under the bus!" she charged. Then she whirled on Michael and slapped him equally as hard. "And you! I expected better of you! I thought you were his friend!"

"I am," Michael replied softly, his loyalty to Robert rock solid. He didn't want anything to happen to Robert but he understood that Robert would never forgive himself if anything happened to his child while he survived.

"Go ahead and just kill yourselves then, but you leave my daughter alone!" she said, apparating out in a huge swirling white spiral. It was quiet for a moment.

"It actually went better than I thought it would," Michael looked at Robert. Robert cast him a slightly mischevious smile.

"Indeed. She'll be back. Give her a few minutes," Robert said.

"I think we should wait to see what Edward designs first," Robert said. "He's no doubt already working on it. He'll have a plan. You wait and see. Let's get dinner on the table. Its been a long time since lunch. I'm sure the kids are hungry." Angus and Michael took their cues and returned to the kitchen.

It didn't take Edward long to formulate his plan. Robert went upstairs to see Brian and found that Brian had fed Khaat a few more sips of tea, and, again, with the pain of hunger stopped for the moment, she had fallen back asleep.

"Is she any better?" Robert asked softly.

"I don't think she's as frightened," Brian said.

"Come out in the hall for a moment while she sleeps and talk with me. We need to talk," Robert said. He took Brian outside the bedroom door and talked very softly to him about the results. Brian said nothing. Not about the report, and not about the plan to use Khaat as bait. He hated all of it, but, as a trained fighter, he understood. He didn't voice his strongest fear. He did trust that they would protect her. But as a healer, Brian did not trust that Khaat was physically or mentally or emotionally able to survive the plan, even if the werewolves didnt' kill her. He was strongly afraid that merely offering her up to the werewolves was going to be too much for her as ill as she was. He said nothing. He merely went back into the bedroom.