Out of options

Felix heard the second pair of footsteps, and when they stopped, he knew they weren't for him. The voice that came with the footsteps was unfamiliar to him, and Felix slowly lifted his head to look up at the face that matched the voice. The man that looked down at him was tall, very tall, and dressed like a hunter.. Felix knew the look, and now he knew the face. A werewolf hunter.

A snarl that sounded like a wounded animal escaped his throat. This son of a b*tch was the kind of person who would only be too happy if Naomi were to die. Felix may not be in her good graces right now, but he still loved her, the only person he had ever loved, and who had loved him back, albeit in an odd sense, he wouldn't let this a$$hole kill her off like every other pelt he had collected.

Felix glared up at the man, and then spit at his feet, his jaw clenched again, tears still in his eyes, but a fury in them as well, no longer weak, Felix was looking at the man who would only gladly kill the only thing he loved. "You stay away from me." He growled, his voice deep, almost wolf-like in his appearance, his face gone dark with hatred.

"Now that's the look that I've come to know and love. That helpless animalistic defiance," Edward said. "Look at that. The man's in love with a canine."

"He has been," Khaat said, still looking at Barker, remembering his attachment to her.

"Indeed," Edward laughed. "Still, though. There is no Greyback like a dead Greyback. Pestilence and nothing more. But if you kill him, then where will my bait be?"

"Greybacks are all self centered prats," Khaat hissed. "She won't surface for him. He's useless as bait."

"Not entirely," Edward said. He had no emotional feelings about Barker whatsoever. If Barker made it worth his while, Edward would let him live. Otherwise, the Ministry would welcome the corpse of an escaped Azkaban convict. As Edward saw it, there was profit in Barker either way. He rested his black leather boot on Barker's good leg, hooking the toe of the boot just inside the hem of Barker's pantleg. If Barker thought he would apparate out, he'd only take Edward along.

Felix felt panic rise up in his throat, they were looking at him in the way he was so used to looking at his own victims. Mocking, snide remarks, the hatred.. for once it felt like the world was turned around upside down. Felix was the one who loved, and the good guys were the ones who wanted to kill the love, how was this possible? Khaat Lupin sneering about a werewolf, when her own name was made famous by one!

Felix eyed Khaat for a moment, obviously torn by her actions. Everything he had thought about the Lupins was wrong.. it had to be. They were the dog-loving, kind-hearted people he despised. They didn't look down upon someone for loving a Werewolf, they were the lovers themselves! Panic was rising faster in Felix's throat, his eyes focused only on Khaat, watching her reactions.

But they were giving him an option to live. An option to maybe even save Naomi, because whether they liked it or not, he could be bait, at the same time, he could purposefully lead them away from her. Or he could simply do what they wanted, as long as he was alive, there was a chance Naomi would be kept alive as well. "I'll help you find her." His eyes moved from Khaat to Edward, glaring, his voice weak, but loud enough to be heard. "I'll find her for you.. just.. let me live."

"Why don't you head home, my dear?" Edward said to her. "I'll be happy to take out the trash."

"You know, you won't..." she began.

"I know what I'm doing," he said. He didnt plan on trusting Barker. "Go home. You've done enough wand practice for one night." He kissed her on the cheek lightly. "Goodnight." She flicked her wand and apparated out.

Edward looked back at Barker. "Confused, are you?" Edward looked at Barker. "Fairly common when you miscalculate like that. Unfortunate for you, though. I didn't stop her for your benefit. You, I couldnt' care less about. You are very, very disposable."

Felix watched their interaction with mixed feelings. For one.. he was going to live, and Khaat was going to stop breaking his joints, which were still sending shooting pain through his body originating in the areas she had broken, his ankle hurting the worst though. He let his head drop, confident he wouldn't be killed quite yet, and taking advantage of their moment to let out a small short gasps of pain, tears sprinkling from his cheeks until he heard the crack of her apparating, and literally flinched, thinking another joint had been broken before she left. Feeling no pain however, his eyes drifted back up to the face of his 'saviour.'

"You think.. for a moment... I don't know that?" He asked, smirking and taking deep breaths between each burst of speech. "What's the plan garbage man?" He asked, letting out an airy breath of laughter before shaking his head and letting his body go limp for a moment, his arm shaking, coughing and shuddering harder than before.

"Well," Edward said. "You aren't much use to me in the shape you are right now. I shall have to follow the golden rule, I suppose." He snatched Barker up by grabbing a fistful of his coat and merely picking him up. He didn't say anything. He merely ported them out. Edward's golden rule was to do unto others in the same way they intended to do unto him.

He took them deep into the heart of a remote, wintery woods. There was a small encampment of what looked on the outside to be little more than garden sheds. On the inside, the cabins were very well furnished. A large bonfire was burning brightly in the center courtyard area where the men who worked the camp were gathered to keep warm.

Off in the distance, Edward could smell the stench. The good thing about illegal dragon encampments was that they made rather snazzy hostage holding tanks. The bad thing about them was, first, the stench. And second, most hostages got eaten before they were useful. And this was more than likely going to be another of those. Edward figured that the dragons would get Barker first. The cells had always been ill-designed here to be within the reach of some of the dragons if they were hungry enough to work at it. The dragons had appeared to be asleep in the snow until they got the scent of Barker's blood.

"Do try to bleed more quietly," Edward said. "You might live a bit longer that way." One of the men got up from the fire. He came over to them and scowled. He reached out his hand to Edward. Edward responded by placing a bagful of gold and gemstones as payment. "The usual should suffice."

"First aid will cost you extra," The man told Edward.

"Don't know if I want it for him," Edward shrugged. "Come on, you." He took Barker to a cage and opened the door and put Barker inside. One large corner of the cage was designed to be enchanted so that it was not cold. The other 3/4 of it was vulnerable to the snow. Edward shut the cage door and locked it. "You might not want to try to slither out from in between the bars because the only thing you'll end up doing is splinching yourself."

Felix let out a small yelp of pain when he was dragged to his feet. He couldn't help it.. THAT hurt. When they arrived at their destination and Felix was dragged along behind the taller man, the first thing Felix noticed was the stench, the place smelt absolutely horrible, an odd place too. Middle of some snowy woods, and there what appeared to be an odd collection of hills surrounding a small camp of some sort.

Felix assumed the hills were man made to protect the camp from the elements, but if that was the case why not just proof the whole place, obviously it was magical, seeing as the werewolf hunter had simply apparated up to it and walked in, before handing money to some man. Felix wasn't quite sure what the plan was, as his blood-loss made it hard to concentrate, as well as the pain, which made it worse. It wasn't until Felix was being dragged towards a cage, that he saw the nearest hill move, and that's when it struck him.

The hills weren't there for protection.. they were dragons. Huge, rumbling dragons, all sniffing for the blood he was losing. Edward's earlier comment became clearer to him about bleeding quietly, and he gulped, half crumpling into the cage and crawling towards the corner, getting lucky and choosing the corner that was warmer, he curled up, pulling his useless leg after him and staring up at the Dragons, his eyes wide. If Felix Barker had ever looked pathetic before.. it was now.

"How's the ale supply?" Edward asked.

"Fair," the man replied, pocketing the bag. Edward turned and walked towards a keg that waa on a rough hewn rack. The whole works was sitting under a tree. He picked up a tankard and put some ale in it. The man Edward had paid saw their new prisoner and tossed him a sealed paper envelope.

"Powdered pain potion," the man said to Barker. "I don't want to hear your bellyaching all night long, so be a good lad and take it so we can all get some sleep."

"He's impervious. Its a perfectly good waste of expensive pain powder," Edward said. Then he shouted to Barker. "Isn't that right, Tough Guy?"

Felix stared at the powdered pain potion and nodded once at the man, he was obviously in some state of shock, whether it be from the Dragons or from the pain, he wasn't sure which, but he grabbed the pain potion with shaking fingers and slid open the packet, quickly dumping the contents down his throat and tossing the paper aside, his eyes glued to the Dragon.

Felix could only think of one thing though, and that was Naomi. He had agreed to find her, track her down and find her so this dog hunter could do what he wanted with her, which would probably be kill her. Felix wondered if it was any better for him though, if he lived through this, and Naomi didn't.. he would never have to torture her, and she would be out of misery.. misery being what he had done to her.

Felix stared at the encampment of Dragon keepers, and wondered their purpose, there was no doubt they were illegal, or at least he hoped they were illegal and the Ministry wasn't hiding out huge hordes of Dragons across the countryside, waiting for prisoners, this wasn't some kind of camp they kept those waiting to go to Azkaban these days was it?

Felix was drained though, not only was he drained, he lost his willpower, and without even caring what the others though, Felix Barker, once known for his charm, his will, his incredibly good looks, fell down onto the ground, and curled up, tucking his good knee against his chest, and closed his eyes.

Edward sat down around the fire with the others. He wasn't surprised his old friend had been a bit benevolent. Actually, it wasnt' benevolence at all. His friend was very self centered and was being truthful that he had no patience for whining and didn't want to be awakened by it.

"Did you have to bring in such a sorry sot as that one?" His friend asked Edward, sitting by the fire. "You busted him up pretty good."

"That's not his work and you know it," a cockney dragonkeeper said. "He'd have lopped off a limb or two if that had been him.

"I haven't done any limb lopping in awhile," Edward said with a wry smile. "He was safer with me tonight."

"Damn. He was in trouble then. Who was at him?"

"A woman," Edward replied simply. The men guffawed that the man couldn't hold his own.

"What did he do?" one asked.

"Some very foul things," Edward said. "He is a wanted man. Wanted for muerder and attempted murder, along with a laundry list of other things. The woman was entitled."

"What's your interest in him?"

"If he wants to live, he'll lead me to the Greybacks," Edward said.

"I thought you gave that up."

"Not when its worth my while," Edward replied. "Anyway I'll keep an eye on him."

"Don't worry, Mate. Nellie is in heat and she's a might testy right now. If he so much as puts an eyelash out of line, she'll just eat him. Get some sleep while you can. Breakfast is at dawn, as usual."

And it was dawn before Edward realized it. He'd taken to playing poker with the men overnight, and he had won a sizeable pot. Not needing the winnings, he split it amongst his fellow players as he began to smell coffee, tea, and breakfast cooking over the open fire.