Into the Mouths of Wolves

Gabby's lip curled a bit at the name of Edward Donohue. She had heard his purpose was to take out wolves like Blood and Fenrir, the ones that had become murderers, the ones that were threats to society. But by becoming what they were, killers, he had compromised himself as well. Anyone who was willing to kill become a bit strange. And there was always a victim. Innocent werewolves slain. Women widowed and children orphaned when a werewolf who forgot his wolfsbane went a bit too far one time. Gabby had no problem with weeding out the bad seeds, but he had never agreed with a vigilante who murdered.

"Donohue's tactics never sat well with me," Gabby said. He didn't feel bad if the other man found it disrespectful or offensive - when did he ever care about something like that.

Gabby turned over the information on Khaat Lupin in his head, weighing the possibilities, trying to wrangle some sort of supposition out of it. And then, it slid together a bit. "She's a Lupin. Werewolf blood but not a werewolf." He ticked his head. "Don't know which part, I'm betting the human side, but some part of him wishes he had a better balance, something like hers. And jealousy can be very possessive."

Gabby let out a sigh, trying to think about what would work best. "I mean, it's not like one full moon will make me a trusted member of his pack. Do we need to get him alone somewhere? I just... what do we want to get out of him?"

"I'm not condoning or defending Donohue," Marcus said. "Neither."  Marcus had been on both ends of it--being hired and being chased.  He didn't particularly enjoy hunting or being hunted. He liked the adrenalin, the intrigue, the puzzle.  Not the killing. It was sometimes just necessary. 


"The theory just makes better sense than anything I've been able to come up with," he shrugged. Short's information aligned with Khaat's own thoughts--things she said only to him when the isolation became too much. Despite the spaciousness of the Lupin compound, a cage by any other name....


"You sound like her now," Marcus said, just a wee bit more quietly. "She had a half theory she never followed through.  There's a piece of her history she doesn't broadcast.  Evidently, her father believes Remus nipped him when they were boys, shortly after Remus was turned. Robert never showed any signs of the curse, but when Khaat was born, apparently there was some question as to whether it was possible that Robert was perhaps a carrier without ever transforming. There was always some insecurity as to whether she might genetically carry the curse somehow, much like Remus had been afraid most of his life that he could pass the curse onto his children. Maybe you're right. Maybe that's part of the attraction."


Short was not going to be good with killing a werewolf, not even one like James. That didn't particularly matter to Marcus, so long as James stopped the chase for Khaat and stop the random massacres to make political statements.


"The ministry doesn't always get what it wants. However, the one point I'm not liable to give up on is that he leaves Khaat alone. I don't care what concession we give him. A base outside England, feeding his pack here if thats what it takes.  I don't need him dead. I need him out of the Lupins' collective hair. However we manage it."

Gabby wasn't surprised that his theory had been considered before, as it was the only thing that seemed to fit all of the parameters of the strange situation. He was sure it was nice to get confirmation from an actual werewolf on the situation, especially one as seasoned as he was. Because someone like Edward or even Jack, bless her, simply could not jump the bridge from predicting werewolf behavior to understanding it. He preferred Jack's take on werewolf culture, because it had always come from the frame of mind that the creatures needed to be protected just as much they needed protection from. But while she could say 'perhaps its something to do with her being human and werewolf' she couldn't understand the hunger to find one's place in that dangerous limbo between man and beast.

Gabby didn't like understanding Blood, but he couldn't deny that he understood him a bit.

His face screwed up in confusion as Marcus continued on. "A bite?" Gabby said. "He must not have been fully transformed, otherwise he would have been turned. There's no immunity to it... A scratch, you can get away with. Not a bite." If he had been bit when not transformed, it would have put some of the curse into the bloodstream. Legally, a half-werewolf, if anyone even noticed. Khaat would be a quarter-werewolf then. What made her different then, from some other part-werewolf?

He hated to think it, but his instincts told him the answer. She was either in heat, or still smelling of fertile new motherhood.

Gross.

Gabby considered the needs and found a plan was formulating. His days as a burglar helped. "We could do some trickery. Wait towards the end of a full moon. On wolfsbane, I can make sure the wolf gets something right. Enchant a portkey that I can slip around his neck. Set it for early morning when he's coming out of the transformation, and it'll teleport him somewhere of our choosing. Somewhere that gives us the upperhand."

Marcus looked at Short and frowned. This was one of those Do-headslap-yourself-now-please moments. He didn't know why he hadn't connected the dots the way Short had. The other piece of the Lupin puzzle shifted into place for him.


"Serves me right for not knowing nearly enough about magical creatures," he sighed.  "Hadn't thought about that. This is why you'll lead and I'll follow.  But I'm understanding something I hadn't before.

"Khaat has a necklace she never takes off. Its obviously some sort of enchanted green stone.  She doesn't entirely know what its capable of. What she does know is that 1.) Remus put it on her within minutes of her birth and enchanted it so that he was the only one ever capable of removing it. Its why she never takes it off. She can't.


"And-2.) The only thing that her father knows for certain is that Remus had the stone made when Kate was pregnant, and, presumably by Nicolas Flamel. Khaat's tried to trace some of Flamel's notes, but hasn't had any luck.


"3.) When she was a child, it linked her somehow to Remus and allowed him to find her at will.


"And 4.) Its primary purpose was to prevent a werewolf from being able to kill her.  Presumably by some sort of warding off or protection or another. I don't know about that. I do know the damned thing gets a little cranky around James. Not all werewolves. Just werewolves intending to do harm, or so it appears. So, I don't know if the missing link is really her, or whether its the stone or its direct link to Remus that fires him up.  Or if thats even possible.


"Incidently, I'm not an alchemist either, so thats about as good on that as I get.  Your plan is good. I like it. But if its a portkey you want, something he'll be sure to keep, then you ought to use some new item of Khaat's since he's so obsessed with them.  What's one more piece to his collection, more or less, and if you do decide to infiltrate them, it might help your ticket in.

Marcus continued on and Gabby listened with great interest. He knew very little about enchanted objects, as that had less to do with his curse and more to do with charms and complicated magic he certainly could not pull off. He was a clever man, but it was not a studious type of intellect. He had never really understood magical theory, so he didn't know what exactly to think of this device. He listened carefully, though, because he knew people who could.

"That's interesting," he said, actually sincere about it. "If we prove unsuccessful, or this stretches too long, I'd love if some friends of mine could take a look at that. You know Jack's halfbrother? Kip? He could tell me a bit more and, between us, we might figure it out." He would have loved to understand more.

Gabby nodded, enjoying that their plan was beginning to take shape, beginning to make sense. "That's perfect. I'm sure you could handle that part. Then we decide a place, a time, and maybe a small team, if you feel the need. Might piss him off more, but it'll help us guarantee we make it out alive."