One Heart

"Good," Kate said. "There's a holster in the case under the padding, but if you were MI6, you'd put it where you could get it quickly where it wouldn't be seen easily. Angus fires a gun with his right hand, so he usually chooses to tuck it into the left side of the waistband of his jeans, if he's not wearing a holster. But, Robert did send a holster for him too." She lifted up the padding and pulled out a leather holster for Bella if she wanted it. Then she lifted up the padding in Angus's gun case and pulled out Angus's leather shoulder holster.

"So you know," she said to Bella, "Robert is going to be awake and at the ready if you should need him. I don't know if Angus has had a chance to show you, but, turn the stone in your necklace to the right to send an alarm out to the entire organization. He's had your necklace configured so that if you push on the stone in the setting it alerts just Angus. However, if you turn the stone counterclockwise, it alerts just Robert. That's all you need to know about that thing for now. Angus's works pretty much the same way. Any other questions?"

In the bathroom, Angus had taken a moment for himself to breathe. He had washed up and had shaved and had changed as if he were starting any other day. On missions like this he chose disposable clothing. Jeans. He'd chosen a simple white v neck t shirt. They were cheap and easy to replace. He would have preferred his leather jacket, but he chose a denim one. He preferred to replace cotton if it came to it as opposed to leather. The running shoes. He wanted flexibility and movement. And running shoes were washable. What the hell was he worried about laundry for, anyway? He sighed. If he'd been a smoker, this would have been a great time to light up.

He fully believed he understood what Kate wasn't saying. He wasn't going to ask until it was over, but he believed Kate had seen him die. Her message had been pretty clear to him. He didn't want to take Bella to witness that, but he didn't hold all the cards.

He opened the window and took a few moments to breathe the night air to clear his head. He had done countless missions before. This was just one more. He knew how to detach and do the job. He knew how to wrap his head around it.

He'd pushed his emotions to the background when he finally closed the window and came out of the bathroom. He was about as ready as he was going to be. Kate looked at him and saw he was geared up and had his head in the game. He was ready to work. She watched him go to the window of the suite and look towards the main building, scouting, looking for any signs of movement.

She looked at Bella. "He's good," she said softly.

(blows raspberries at PA for timing out over and over)

She put the gun back down on the table and listened to Kate talk about a holster for the gun. She nodded when she said she'd need to get to it easily. She picked up the gun and again aiming it back at the door and found which hand she shot with, it was her left. She looked at the holster for her then picked it up, she ran her thumb across the leather of it. "I'll put this on my right hip, I have a long enough shirt that it will cover it and my jacket will cover the bulk of it." She said thinking about the jacket she had. It wasn't restricting or would cause her any issues.

"Okay, hopefully we won't need him." She said then listened as Kate explained how the necklace worked. She knew she'd remember to turn it counterclockwise to call Robert if it was needed. "Okay so turn to the right is to send an alert to the organization and to push it is to alert Angus. Turn the stone counterclockwise to alert Robert, I have it down now." She said softly.

She glanced towards the bathroom where Angus was changing.

When he came out she looked at Kate when she said that he was ready. She nodded at her before taking a deep breath, "I'm gonna go get ready." She said softly.

She grabbed her jeans and t-shirt from her bag, then picked up her boots before walking into the bathroom. She pulled on her jeans and t-shirt, she found her brush with hair tie. She brushed her hair up into a messy bun making sure that none of her hair would get into her face. Her hands shook slightly as she looked in the mirror at her reflection, she was scared to death. She wouldn't show it to Angus or Kate because she needed a clear head.

Going to the bathroom window she opened it and put her face towards it taking in several deep breaths of clean air. She shut it after a few minutes and sat on the toilet, she began calming herself softly trying to center herself with what she needed. She found her center and finally got up, she felt she was ready enough to do this. She smoothed out her top and walked out to where they were standing, she nodded at Kate to let her know she was ready. She picked up her leather holster placing it on her right hip then put her gun in the holster.

"I'm ready." She said to Angus as she pulled her top down slightly over the top of her gun.

Angus heard her leave to get dressed.  He couldn't even imagine what surely must be going through her head. He still didn't want her to go, but he also knew there really wasn't a choice.  There was no point in going over it again.  

While she was in the bathroom, he looked at Kate. "If it all goes wrong,..." he began softly. "I..haven't had time to put my affairs in order, but..." he looked towards the bathroom door. He wanted Bella and Rose always taken care of.

"Stop that," Kate said. "You're coming back like you always do. But if it makes you feel better, Robert and Edward will work with your affairs to make sure she's taken care of."

"Thank you," he said. He caught something out of the corner of his eye. He looked back out the windows. Headlights. A large dark car approaching the main building. "You were right. They're here already. They're going around to the back." If they were here to find some wizarding child, then they didn't have much time to lose.

Bella came out of the bathroom and put on her holster. He picked up his shoulder holster, took off the denim jacket, and put on the holster. He picked up the gun, and just out of habit, he checked it again before tucking it into the holster. He put the jacket back on.

"Good luck," Kate gave each of them a kiss on the cheek and then flicked her wand and disappeared. He looked at Bella. He didn't dare give them time for thought, much as he wanted to say a million things. He had to keep moving before he changed his mind.  

"Let's go," he said softly, reaching for her hand. "Remember, we need to look like nothing's wrong until it really is wrong."

She secured her holster making sure that it was fine and not gonna end up falling off. She looked over at him when he began putting on his shoulder holster. She grabbed her own jacket pulling it on as she watched him check his own gun. She looked outside the window and took a deep breath before looking at Kate.

She nodded at Kate's words and looked over at Angus when he looked her way at the same time. She knew that he wanted to say something and she did too, so she gave him a soft smile. She walked over to him making sure that she was calm and collected because that was what he needed from her at this moment.

She nodded at his words and went to his right side taking his hand in hers. "I know, don't worry sweetheart we'll be fine." She kissed his cheek leading him out of the room. She took a deep breath and began smiling putting on a smile. Her hand squeezed his softly as she lead them to the main villa, she stopped just before the door and kissed him softly on the lips. "I love you." She said softly.

((Sorry this sucks))

(does not! okay, time for her to be the hero.)

"I know," he said, smiling, glad she was dealing with this. He kissed her, glad they had the chance to have at least one more moment, one more kiss, one more "I love you." He didn't want her to ever doubt--just in case there was never another. "I love you too."

They walked to the main villa, and Angus noticed how silent it was outside. Nothing but usual night sounds. He noticed everything, heard everything, knew he was seeing shadows in the moonlight where there probably weren't any. There was some security in feeling the weight of the pistol under his jacket.

When they reached the main building, he could see lights on inside, as there should have been. Through the windows, he didn't see anything amiss.

"This is one time I'm not gonna be a gentlemen," he said, deliberately reaching the door before her. He pulled the door open with his left hand so he could have his right free to be able to draw his gun if he needed it. He didn't think he needed to tell her to stay close. He went in and noticed an immediate icy tension in the air. Something was definitely wrong. He saw two men at the registration desk, one of them with his back turned.  When the clerk turned around Angus saw that it was Lorenzo, and Angus saw a recognizable fear in Lorenzo's eyes. Still holding his cover, Angus walked over to the desk.  

"Mr. and Mrs. Donohue, you're up early. Everything alright?" Lorenzo asked, also clearly trying to be calm.

"Couldn't be better," Angus said casually with a smile. "We thought we'd go for a walk before breakfast and see the sunrise.  Any chance of getting a couple coffee's to go?"

"Oh! But of course," Lorenzo smiled. "I'll get you some from the kitchen...." He was interrupted by a man coming out of the kitchen into the lobby--a man Angus knew all too well. Kate had been right. The man looked at Angus and rolled his eyes.

"Donohue," the man sighed, disgusted and outraged.

"Burke," Angus replied.

"Don't make me hurt you," Burke said, his fist in his pocket. Angus saw the outline of a gun in Burke's pocket. "I don't know how you got here, but just turn around and walk away."

"Can't do that," Angus said. He glanced at Lorenzo who was completely confused. "You have children in here, Lorenzo?"

"J--Just one," he said, frightened. "My..my 9 year old daughter. My wife is sick, and I had to bring Gina with me tonight..."

"Where is she?" he asked calmly.

"None of your business," Burke said. "I'll tell you one more time to go..."

"And I'll blow you off one more time," Angus said. He looked again at Lorenzo and saw Lorenzo's eyes shift nervously towards the hotel management office. He was hoping that Bella had seen that. Perhaps he could hold them off while Bella went for the child. Okay, so he hadn't discussed that with her, but...

Burke suddenly went for his gun. Angus drew his as Burke began to fire. The door of the office flew open, and Thomas Gelding burst out, his gun drawn.

"Donohue!" Gelding raged. "Burke, kill him!" Angus fired at Burke first, turned his wrist and fired in Gelding's direction, knowing his shot wouldn't hit him.  Angus felt a ripping pain in his chest but he wasn't sure where. It knocked him backwards onto the floor.  The air seemed to be sucked out of his lungs, and he couldn't tell whether his heart was racing or not beating at all. Something wasn't right. His shirt was already wet and sticky. He hadn't dropped his aim, though, and he glanced over towards Gelding who slammed shut the office door now. Lorenzo was screaming in incoherient Italian. Burke was continuing to fire, and to Angus, it was all happening in an indelible slow motion. He knew it was happening in seconds, but he felt like he was memorizing every movement.

He felt his head spinning, and he saw he was losing power. His aim wasn't as sharp, and his gun was starting to lower. He didn't feel pain, but he was beginning to suspect he was hit. Bella. Where was Bella? He wanted..no, he needed to know she was alright. He jerked the gun back up at Burke and fired again, but Burke just looked like he was going to keep coming.

Was this it? Was this the shortest marriage in wizarding history? Was this how he was going to go out? His training told him he needed to count on his partner. And if Bella didn't have this, he was screwed. Hell, they both were.

"Run!" he heard himself trying to urge Bella away, even though he knew without a doubt she'd never go.

She listened to everything around her but all she heard was silence.

She looked into the windows of the main building not seeing anything wrong. She looked around like she was taking the their early morning stroll.

She followed him into the main villa sticking close to him. She felt something was wrong and saw the men at the desk. She kept her eyes somewhere near the men at the desk but made sure she wasn't obvious about it. She kept her calm and let Angus take the lead on this not knowing what they would say.

She followed Angus to the desk.

"Hello Lorenzo." She said with a smile knowing that he was trying to be calm.

She saw the man coming out of the kitchen where Lorenzo was heading. He rolled his eyes at Angus and she knew that this was one of them.

She knew this wasn't going to be something easy.

She heard Angus' question to Lorenzo and stilled, she didn't know he had children.

Listening to the words back in forth, she waited until she completely understood when she was needed.

At Angus' words she understood that things were going to blow up soon. She saw Lorenzo's look towards the management office.

She was about to head to the office when she saw Burke go for his gun. She pulled out her own gun and began shooting at Burke. She aimed her gun at Gelding when he burst out of the office shooting rapidly switching between the two of them.

She saw Angus go down backwards with blood seeping out of his chest. She reached up turning the necklace to the right. She picked up Angus' gun and began shooting at both of the men at the same time hoping that she hit one of them. "Hold on Angus!" She yelled above the gunfire. She heard Lorenzo screaming but ignored it hoping that she hit them both taking them down. When her gun ran out of fire she pulled Angus towards where she could hide from the gunfire. She yanked off her coat and pressed it to his chest, "Don't you dare die on me Angus!" She said softly as she peeked out to see where the men were.

She knew that she had to keep her cool until Robert came to help them. She didn't want to lose Angus but she needed help now. She hoped that it wouldn't take long for Robert to get here and for now she was their only line of defense.

Michael was sitting in a hotel in Rome, waiting. Brian was smoking a cigarette, pacing. Robert was in the other room, playing chess with Kate. They had to do this right or it risked international wizarding security.  Beside Robert were a small handful of driveway gravel.

The alarms on all their necklaces went off. Michael stood up, putting on his coat. He picked up his gun and shoved it into his belt.  

"Are those done?" Michael asked.

"Indeed they are," Kate said, getting up and going over to Michael.

"And they're from right out in front of the main villa?"

"I know how to pick up a pebble, Michael," Kate said.

"Just checking," Michael said, picking up one of the pebbles that Kate had picked up from in front of the villa at the resort and that Robert had made into portkeys.

"Go get them out," Robert told Michael and Brian. "We'll be ready to do our part when it comes to it. "I've alerted Daniella." Brian ditched his cigarette and put on his coat, grabbing a very muggle looking medical bag.

"Brian," Robert said. "I want them both alive."

"So do I," Brian said.

Michael and Brian used the portkeys to go to the resort, and as they got there, they heard gunshots still being fired. Brian and Michael circled around to the back and went into the kitchen and found the kitchen staff cowering in the walk in freezer. Michael told them in Italian that they were from the police and advised that Inn staff stay in the freezer for the moment.

Michael was able to come into the lobby from one direction and Brian came in from another.  Michael put his gun right against the skull of Luther Burke. Burke was like firing into a brick wall. It just didn't seem to intellectually ever phase Burke until the shooting stopped

"Oh, come on, Burke give me one reason to mop your brains up off the floor. Come on, Mate. Been waiting for it for a long time," Michael said.

"Shut your trap, Tremaine!" Burke barked hoarsely, starting to realize maybe he'd been hit too. Michael wasn't going to cut him one inch of slack. Michael reached around and disarmed him of the pistol in his hand, and the gun in the ankle holster that Burke always carried.  Michael got out a pair of handcuffs and cuffed Burke.  

Brian meanwhile had seen Gelding. He had been chasing Thomas Gelding for almost 15 years.  It was an old feud. Now Gelding was responsible for shooting one of Brian's men. That meant Brian wanted Gelding even more than before. Brian headed straight for Gelding. He and Gelding got into a fistfight. Looking past Gelding, Brian could see a young girl who had been apparently sleeping on an office sofa who was now curled up tight at one end, clutching tight to a blanket.

"Bella!" Brian shouted. "Get the girl! They want the girl. Keep her covered. Nobody lays a hand on her, got it?"

Michael looked at the men at the registration desk who were frozen with terror. "Oi," he snapped his fingers to get them to snap out of it. "We're British secret service. Call the police," Michael ordered. "Tell them we've had a shooting, the suspects are in custody, and we need an ambulance. Can you do that?"  The men, blankfaced, nodded and began to dial the phone

Michael managed to pull a slight of hand and use wandless magic to cause Burke to go unconscious. He watched Burke slump to the ground. Good. One idiot in custody.

He heard the bar room brawl that was going on in the hotel office, but Brian seemed to have the upper hand, by the sound of it. He went over to Angus, grabbed a couple of pillows off the sofa,  and knelt beside him. He elevated Angus on the pillows so Angus could breathe.

"Bella!" Brian called. "You've got to tell me if either you or the girl is hurt. I'll get to Angus in a moment."

"I'm hit?" Angus asked, his voice sounding thin now.

"Yeah, mate. You are," he said. "You'll be alright. Just hold on. The doctors have been called." Angus thought a moment, and then it clicked. Robert was not far away and prepared to deal with any wounds.

"Bella," Angus said. "Where is Bella?" he asked. "Did they get her..."

"We're here. We're not going to leave without her. She's okay," Michael reassured her.  

"There's a child..Get the child..."Angus said.

"I know," Michael said. "We're on it." Michael heard sirens--lots of them. That could only mean the Italian police. And that surely meant that, hopefully, they'd be able to get Angus to Robert very, very soon.

"We're on that too. Just rest. Save your strength. Help is on the way."

Bella stood on guard as Burke kept shooting at the bricks of the wall they were hiding at. Then the shooting stopped, she peered over towards Burke and saw Michael standing with a gun at Burke's head. Relief flooded through her as she dropped the gun she was holding.

She went over to where Angus was still bleeding and put pressure on his wound to try and stem some of the bleeding. "It's okay Angus, help is here." She said softly, she knew that she had to keep her emotions at bay so she wouldn't cause him to panic.

She distantly heard Michael and Burke talking but she looked over toward where Gelding was. She saw Brian there fighting for the upper hand.

She had almost forgot about the girl until Brian said to grab her. She got up from Angus' side and ran into the management office. She saw the girl on one end of the couch clutching her blanket close, "Hey sweetie. I'm Bella, I need you to come with me to a safe place." She said holding out one of her hands to the young girl. Seeing the girl shake her head and curl further on the couch. "It's ok sweetie. I'm not gonna hurt you. I know your daddy Lorenzo," She tried again to get the girl to come to her. At the sound of the young girl's dad's name she came to her crying. "Shh it's ok sweetheart." She said rubbing her back softly. "Ok we're gonna cover you up with the blanket so that we can get to that safe place ok?" She asked as the little girl nodded. She covered the little girl up with the blanket that she had been clutching.

She heard Brian's next words and looked at the girl not seeing any wounds. Bella however knew she had been clipped by a bullet twice but nothing bad. "The girl is fine, I was just clipped I'll be fine." She said back to Brian as she picked the girl up and quickly moved out of the office. She clutched the girl to her tightly as she ran to part of the lobby that had couches. She found one that was near a corner and dragged it to where it blocked the two of them in the corner. The little girl held tight to her not wanting to let go as Bella made sure she had her wand out in case someone tried to come for the girl.

She heard Angus' voice asking that he was hit, she couldn't help but hear how thin his voice was. She heard them tell Angus that he was going to be ok. She wanted to cry but she needed to be alert for anyone who would try to grab the little girl.

She heard Angus ask where she was, "It's ok Angus. I'm fine." She spoke up so that he could hear her.

She heard the sirens in the distance and knew that help was close. When the police arrived in the lobby of the main villa, Bella came out of her hiding place with the girl and walked over to where Michael was with Angus.

They began questioning why they were all shooting and that they would be needed to be taken into custody for questioning. She grabbed Angus' as well as her own ID and showed them to the cop talking to her. "I need to speak with Daniella Ricci, she's the Minister of Internal Affairs." She said keeping her calm while looking at the cop who narrowed his eyes at her.

"And how do you know Daniella Ricci?" He asked crossing his arms in front of him.

"She's my husband's aunt." She said looking at him still holding the young girl who was still trembling from what happened.

The cop went to go call Daniella as she gave Lorenzo his daughter who cried when she saw him. She went back to where Angus was and sat down next to him, she took one of his hands in her own.

Daniella arrived to take them from the police custody and into her own, taking them back to the Italian Ministry of Magic. The woman lead them to the medical clinic there so that Bella and Angus' wounds could get tended to.

These things were never easy.  Burke was in custody--for now, and wasn't likely to escape the Italian wizarding courts very easily. Brian had turned his back for a fraction of a moment, thinking Gelding was knocked out, and when he turned back to cuff him, Gelding was gone--apparated out. Damnit. Fifteen years chasing him, and it still wasn't over. And, Brian still didn't know why Gelding had wanted this child, this muggle child, not when all Gelding had ever wanted was wizarding children. That was still a mystery. He had a thought, though. Since Bella had rescued her, perhaps, if Bella were okay to do it, she might help him find out why the devil Gelding had been so insistent on having the concierge's daughter, and the sooner the better, since Gelding had escaped.

More importantly at the moment, though, Angus didn't look at all good. Brian had wanted to go help them from the start, but that wasn't how Robert wanted it done. Brian wasn't sure he'd have wanted Bella dragged into it and certainly not before the ink was dry on their marriage license, but Brian had been overruled.  Once the police and Daniella had arrived, things had moved quickly, well, as quickly as muggles did anything.

Because of Bella and Angus's wounds, they were all taken to a medical clinic deep within the Italian government. They'd flown by helicopter to Rome. The paramedics on the flight were concerned with the wounded. Daniella told them that Robert was a surgeon, and the muggles had deferred to him. Robert started to do what he could using muggle methods--not something he liked to do. Brian knew he detested using muggle medicine.

Once they got to Rome, they were all moved again into the governmental complex and down into a basement to a medical clinic. Angus's stretcher was quickly surrounded by medical personnel and was taken into another room, while Robert appeared to be taking charge. Robert took a moment to talk to Bella. Understanding these were clearly wizarding healers who had some understanding of who Robert was and what he wanted, Brian and Michael went over to join Bella to see what Robert's initial findings were.

"I've only got a moment," Robert told Bella, "but Daniella is going to get me a procedure room where I can do things properly. First, you did a brilliant job in an impossible situation.  I could never have asked for better. He's alive because you were with him.  I'm incredibly proud of you.

"That being said, though, he's certainly been better. He's lost a lot of blood, and I've got to get that stopped. It feels very much like he's taken a hit to his left lung.  There's not a lot of empty space for a bullet to go, really. I was able to do some stabilizing on the flight though, so that's in his favor.  It's much easier, though, for me to get to it than the muggles can. Keep good thoughts that the stupid muggles leave me alone for half a tick so I can get this done. Kate's here someplace, I know. And Brian and Michael will stay with you."

"Do you need me to assist, Robert?" Brian asked.

"Actually, yes. That's a good idea. Two sets of hands would be a good thing," Robert said.  

"Go, then," Michael said. "Kate's coming. She's gone for a bit of tea. She's got another patch kit with her, so I think we can deal with Bella's wounds..."

"Oh, I'm sorry, my dear," Robert sighed, kissing Bella's forehead. "I'm not meaning to neglect you, I promise. They're good at patching, though. Its not like they're inexperienced, that's for certain. I'll double check them to be sure they did it the way I like it, though, alright?"

"Be off with you, Robert," Kate said, coming down the hallway with a paper cup holder with cups of tea. "We'll manage. Daniella's got us use of the lounge across the hall. We'll be fine."

"We'll keep you informed," Brian promised Bella. "I'll try to come out as often as I can." He and Robert headed into the procedure room to help Angus.

"You were splendid," Michael told Bella gently. "Brian and I saw your work. Robert's right. Angus wouldn't be here if you hadn't gone along. You made a bloody good partner for him. I know this isn't the way you wanted to start your life with him. How are your nerves? You alright?"

Bella was terrified for Angus because of where he had been hit, it never showed on her face how scared she was. However if you were to look in her eyes they showed how scared she was for her husband, she stayed by his side not moving unless forced to. She had noticed however that once police and Daniella were there things went by quickly.

She watched as Robert worked on Angus while they were flying in the helicopter. She gripped her hands together then looked down, she looked at her leg which was slowly bleeding but didn't think it was all that bad.

When they touched down in Rome, she followed everyone into the governmental complex then to the medical clinic that was in the basement. She wrapped her arms around her waist as she looked around carefully, she saw Robert and Brian coming over to her.

She nodded when Robert said that he only had a moment. "I should have been faster, maybe I could have been able to avoid him from getting shot. He's wounded though Robert, the bullet hit him in the chest." She said then lost her voice when Robert said he was proud of her.

She wanted to cry because of what Robert was saying but she was trying to hold herself together. "You'll be able to make sure that there's no lasting damage right?" She asked softly her voice sounded small. She remembered seeing him go down after he got hit, it kept replaying in her head. She wanted to know that Angus would be okay after they did what they needed to make him better.

She listened to what Brian and Robert were saying thanking merlin that they both knew what they were doing.

"I'll be fine, they are just nicks." Bella said to Michael when he said that Kate had another patch kit.

"There's no need to be sorry Robert." She said softly. "Go I'm fine. Just make sure that Angus is doing well. Okay." She couldn't grasp the words she wanted to say.

She looked where Kate's voice came from and saw the cups of tea she was carrying.

"Thanks Brian." She said as she watched them disappear into the procedure room where Angus was.

"I should have been better." She said softly. She looked at him confused not thinking she even hit one of them. "What do you mean saw my work? I need more training if I'm gonna be his partner in this again, should the need arise. To be honest I'm scared to death." She looked away before he could see the tears forming in her eyes.

((Sorry it took me so long))