Some More Mischief

Jack grinned. "It's great for when you're out with young'uns. They think everyone is drinking the same thing so no one asks any questions that have to end with 'because I said so.' And it's damn good. So, win-win all around." She took another hearty swig of her Butterbeer, feeling a bit as she did the first time she had tasted the drink years and years ago - though this drink certainly had more of a kick to it. She mused on the fact that she and Michael were pre-gaming danger missions. She wouldn't have it any other way.

"I don't think I could take another," Jack said, shaking her head. "Charlie is already in major distress that she can never find anything to wear." She grinned. "When she decides to move out, though, I'm sure she'll need one. To make it feel like home."

Charlie would hate her. Worth it.

She took the necklace from him and shook her head. "It's..." She struggled, not looking at Michael because, y'know, emotions. "Thank you. You know I'll put it to use." She slipped it over her neck, where it rested against the chain that held the golden chess piece as well as the slim wedding band. For a woman who was not keen on jewelry, she certainly loved the few things she carried on her neck.

"I don't..." She didn't have a gift. Christmas had been a hard time for the family, and money had been put towards Goose's adoption fees. She looked at him - he would understand. When she could, she would pay him back.

She cleared her throat. "Want to see how I'm going to be tracking your lady-friend?" she asked briskly. She fished something out of her picket and dropped it into his hand. It was a ring that looked exactly like the one Michael had just given Alete, but the stone acted as a screen. And it was playing out what its twin was seeing. Landscapes, sky, brief glimpses of elegant clothing. "We're with her now."

He understood. He didn't like emotional displays either. He didn't think he was good at them, and it put him in too vulnerable a position.  He waved aside her concern that she didn't have a gift for him. That wasn't important.


"Saving my arse from Azkaban? That's worth far more than a little thing like that," he said.  He picked up the ring and watched the scenes he was seeing in the stone itself.  "Damn," he frowned, immediately thinking of situations where he wouldn't want someone watching him.  "That has all sorts of implications, doesn't it?"  He watched a little longer.  "Trees? There are trees, fields...Somehow I don't think she's in London anymore. Looks like we're headed for the countryside, my friend."

He was thinking, processing. Dressed in all black he'd stick out in broad daylight  and in the countryside as bad as Alete had.  Blend, Tremaine, blend. He handed her back the ring and used his wand to change the colors of his clothes. Khaki slacks. Light blue shirt.  Better.  Oh, and brown boots, not black.  Much better.

Jack approached, looking over his shoulder as he watched the scenes unfold over the rounded edges of the ring's jewel. This was magic far beyond Jack's power and she wasn't going to take the credit for it so quickly. "While you were getting ready to meet her, I zipped over to Kip's. He heard about a mirror that had been given to Harry Potter. He tracked down a shard of it on the black market and was... I dunno, dissecting it? He figured out how to do parts of the spells used to enchant it. He helped me enchant the rings, by, y'know, enchanting the rings." She shrugged. "He can have the brains. I have the brawn."

She could tell he was a bit offput by the magic, so she added, "It will only work for 72 hours. Though, Kip said he could re-enchant it, if necessary. We would have to bring it back in before the 72 hours." She wasn't sure how he would respond to it, but perhaps Michael would like some way to check on his friend. Just every now and then. It might be nice, considering how final he had felt about this being the last time he bailed her out.

Jack followed Michael, leaving her jacket and jeans the muted green they were, but changed her hat and top to a tan that would blend well with dried grass. "I'm ready when you are, sir." She winked at him on the final word.

"Oh, the magic is brilliant," Michael grinned. "That wasn't it. I was just having a twisted little vision of all the things I probably didn't want people see me doing. Job hazard, I guess. Yeah, I would like to know she's safe--if it ends that way."


He saw her transform her clothes too.  "Very fitting. Now, if I just knew where this was.  Trees and fields aren't all that helpful. Lots and lots of nothing. And even less of anything useful."  He watched it awhile longer. "I know where this is, though," he finally frowned. "Look here. It's a little hamlet off the A-1. Used to be bigger ten or fifteen years ago. Muggle place called Potters Bar. There are some local farms around there. Some of them are abandoned now. Would have a lot of places worth using for a buy--or a murder."  He looked at her. "Roadtrip?"

Jack grins. "I suppose most of us value privacy as one of our greatest gifts. Kip told me he could fiddle with it - make it so it only shows when there's a drastic change of location, or when stress increases blood pressure. There's loads of variables. I have no idea how to do any of that, but I know he wouldn't mind if I asked for you. It's not out of spite for an enemy. It's for-" She stopped herself. The L-word was probably not welcome yet. "For safety. He'd understand that." She nodded.

Jack watched the images as Michael described them, just as interested by the enchanted ring as he was. She wouldn't know how to begin with such elaborate spells but she desperately wanted to learn. She looked up at Michael in eagerness. "Oh, please."

"Well, we'd better secure ourselves a car, then. Give me a couple of minutes and then meeting me in the parking lot just south of the Ministry building.  If I'm going to do this, might as well do it 100%." 


His plan was rather simple, but it wasn't going to make Robert any happier. Flat out, Michael was going to do what he did best. Steal.  And in broad daylight.  He just had no desire to have Jack showing up in the muggle cameras any more than necessary.  She didn't need to rack up multiple counts of being an accessory, and certainly not all in one night.

He ported out and to the Ministry.  It made his skin crawl at the moment, frankly.  He saw aurors already passing photos of him around, and his name was being dropped.  Just like Robert to continue to do what had to be done.  Didn't give me much time, did you? he thought, a trifle angry with Robert now.

He refocused and headed for the parking lot, scanning the cars.  The question now was how to stay in as little trouble possible. Selecting the right car was going to be important.  


He watched a couple of muggle Ministry officials get out of a business car, a black sedan. Well, hell, it's easier for him to explain it to the muggle PM than for him to explain it to the muggle police, isn't it? he figured. Having no better plan, he simply walked over to the empty black sedan, defeated the electronic lock, and got in.  He still liked doing things the old way, and seriously considered hotwiring it just for fun, but, for the sake of time, he decided against it and used a simple spell. The next thing he did was to hex the GPS tracking system.

He drove the car over to the entrance of the parking lot. If Jack were on time, she would be showing up any moment. And if not, he was basically screwed.

(ooc: you know, i'm starting to have thoughts about a thread where robert calls him and jack both on the carpet for all this.  LOL)

Jack would have offered her car, but after Max's last attempt to drive, it needed... some work. To say the least. She trusted Michael enough to know he would provide some sort of transportation for the pair of them. Besides, it gave her time to go home.

She explained her situation to Max, trying her best to give the truth without emphasizing the illegality of it. She knew he would know - he wasn't stupid, and this wasn't her first mission. She had come home before drenched in blood and stopped to quickly water the garden. He had become accustomed to the inherent danger of living with her.

Still, she hugged the kids. It was hard just leaving them for dangerous missions now, now that they meant so much to her. But she wanted them to live in a safe world, and that meant doing unsafe things. And she couldn't deny her family her true self, either.

Jack apparated near the place she needed to meet Michael and very casually approached it. She cast an eye around and finally caught sight of her friend driving in a sedan. She walked across the street and hopped into the passenger seat.

"So, this is the trusty getaway car."

"Yeah," he said, accelerating, "Spiffy, isn't it? Actually, for a government car, its not bad. This is going to sound completely backassed, and Robert is probably not going to understand it, but I'm really trying not to rattle Robert's chain any more than I need to.


"So, here's my train of thought. If I steal...well, borrow. I'm not stealing. I'm borrowing. I intend to bring this back. So, if I borrow a civilian car, I'm doing something harmful to a civilian, someone who most likely doesn't have deep enough pockets that a missing car won't hurt.


"However, we both know the ministry parking lot is constantly under surveillance. I took my time so that when Robert sees the footage from the surveillance tape, he'll see me, doing it deliberately, not hiding it.  I somehow have to trust that he's wondering what the hell I'm up to. The more I do in plain sight, the more it might cause him to pause, to give us a bit of time. I'm trying to cash in a marker against our friendship. Surely to God he has to know I wouldn't do this to him.

"And, here's my other thought. These cars are built several notches above and beyond. They're better reinforced, and the engines are bigger, heavier.  Designed to bring more power to the drive train. In short, a whale of a lot faster.  I want to get to Alete before its too late, and if a faster car gives me an edge, I want it.


"So, flawed as that logic might be, its the best I've got."  He sighed. He wanted a cigarette in the worst way, but he figured that since generally there was no smoking in a police car, he wanted to try to be respectful of that.  


"Um, one thing that we do need to discuss, though, while we have a minute.  I'm not going to have a choice this time.  I can't just let her walk away from this one.  If I do, there is no one to take responsibility but me.  Slim as her odds of survival are, if she does live, I don't have a choice.  I have to take her in.  She would rather I use a killing curse on her than to send her to Azkaban, and I can't say as I blame her for that.

"I'm going to have to make a choice.  Jack, you can't let me wimp out on this.  You have to help make sure I follow this through. Promise me."

Jack ran her hands across the dashboard, playing with some of the knobs as she investigated the car. She probably looked like a ten year old, but the only other time she would be in a government vehicle, she would surely be in the back, with hands bound. So if she ever had a chance to mess with a government owned vehicle and explore it, it was now. As he spoke, she continued rolling the windows up and down, flipped through the radio stations, adjusted her seat back and forth, etcetera. When he finished, she looked over at him, smirking. "Tell it to the judge, Tremaine. I'm just along for the ride."

Honestly, it did make sense. She followed the logic completely, thinking it very clever. That was made Michael a very different sort of burglar. He understood the political climate and navigated it just as he navigated his way into trouble.

She wasn't sure what he was implying by his words... Was he saying Alete might die in this mission? Her stomach twisted, as she did not like that option. The woman needed to be in a care home, not a jail cell, that much Jack was certain. She seemed a bit dotty on top of the weakness in her hands, but Jack did not think she needed death or a cell. So Jack looked hard at Michael and said, "Just remember that some choices aren't yours. I'll help you do all we can for her."

Some choices weren't his. Boy, was that ever the truth.  


He noticed her getting acquainted with the car. It made him smile. "I'd teach you to drive, but you'd have entirely too much fun with it. If you ever do learn to drive, do go the extra step and learn how to drive a standard transmission. For any adrenalin junkie its such a must."

"You're right, though, of course," he said, downshifting to pass a couple of slowpokes in front of them. "Some choices are indeed not mine. And, where Alete is concerned, all I've been doing is damage control. 

"I'm not quite sure what to do with her if we do get her out of this one.  I don't want to see her go to Azkaban. I've tried to get her a 'housekeeper,' or that's what I called her. The intention was to try to keep her at home, keep her from going out. But if she really doesn't want to be stopped, its not an easy job. I've thought about having Robert bind her magic but that, by itself, would do little. She certainly has the knowledge to pull off a heist without magic.

"I do know, though, I am not moving full time to France to argue with her for the rest of my life. That's not an option.  What I'd much rather do, when we get back to London, is to stop off at the butcher's, get a couple of perfectly cut steaks, fix us a beautiful Steak Au Poive, open a Bourdeux, and just breathe for a change--strange as that might sound."  It wasn't sounding all that strange in his own ears. Unamused with the circumstances as he was, his stomach had noticed he hadn't eaten in a long while and was going to be in need of refueling fairly soon.