Hunting the Hunter

Michael found the sweet bread dough in the walk in refrigerator as Jess was getting soup ingredients. He wasn't entirely surprised when Jess said she had felt Khaat's energies back in the house. Nor was he surprised that Jess wanted to see if Khaat was alright.

"I can't imagine Marcus would let her be outside in the cold very long," Michael said. "Surely not without a coat, and if I know her, she didn't bother taking one with her. But you're probably right, they probably are cold. You could try taking up some tea if you want.

"I doubt I need to tell you though that she isn't likely ready to talk to anyone. This sort of thing always puts her in a tight spot, feeling like she's being pitted in the middle between Remus and her father. And that's what Kate hates, when she feels like Robert creates a situation where Khaat is going to be forced to choose. So far as I can remember, its been just about the only thing that Kate and Robert ever fought seriously about. I can tell you one thing. Someone will be sleeping on the couch tonight, and I'm not ready to bet on which one it will be. It will be whichever one Kate says it will be."

Jess listened as she gathered the ingredients along with the tea things. Once the Soup was simmering gently she made the tea as she listened to Michael talk once more. With a sigh she knew he was right " I know, Im just Glad she had Marcus with her, How he got her to come back is a mystery but I for one wish he'd teach all of us that." she said and smiled if be it a slightly forced smile.

Taking the tea tray in hand she walked through the living room to the stairs that lead to the upper floor. Jack glanced at her " tea for Khaat and Marcus." she informed him then continued up the stairs. Reaching the door that lead to Khaat's room she could hear voices from inside and so balancing the tray in her left hand she knocked gently on it. " I brought some Tea, thought it might warm you up."

Marcus hadn't missed the smell of the turkish cologne, but Khaat apparently hadn't picked it up. He wasn't surprised. She was more into her own thoughts than he believed she realized. She wasn't really in the frame of mind to really find Remus at the moment, and maybe that was just as well. He heard the knock on the door and then Jess's voice. He answered it and saw the tea tray.

"That'll help," he smiled. Then he said a bit more quietly, "She's fine. No harm done. I think she just needed a break from her father for a moment." He glanced back at her and saw her shoot the entire shot of firewhiskey in one gulp. "She was looking for Remus, but I doubt she'll find him right now. I don't think she's really looking as much as she'd like to think she is. She's just really irked at her father right now. I can take that tray if you want, or you can come in if you want. As I said, she might not be a good conversationalist, though."

Jess smelt the cologne and sighed shaking her head as the door opened she smiled in relief as she saw Marcus standing in the now open doorway. Standing holding the tray she listened to him and nodded "Oh he's around here some place, I smell that god awful cologne he wears." She said softly then at his mention that Khaat wouldn't be much of a conversationalist she nodded.

" I guessed as much, but I would like to come in." she glanced up at him "for my own piece of mind Marcus." She said now with a genuinely concerned smile. " She is my dearest friend Marcus, before you came we'd sit and talk, she helped me through a lot of things and I wish I could help her though this thing with James, but there are somethings even old friends must step back from." she walked passed him and into the room lacing down the tray she poured a cup of tea for Khaat. Holding it carefully she walked over to her.

"Khaat , here, its cinnamon tea, will warm you up." she said not expecting a response. Returning to the tray she pored a second for Marcus then walked over to him. "This ones yours, there is a little bit of restorative potion in it , just enough to make you feel warmer." she told him before taking one last glance at Khaat before she headed back down to the kitchen.

"As expected Micheal" she simply said as she gave the soup a gentle stir.

"I thought that was what I smelled," Marcus couldn't avoid an amused smile. "I'm guessing it was what he could afford back in the day. Couldn't have been easy to afford much of anything when werewolves were 'too dangerous' to be trusted to hold a job. I always wondered if they didn't have better on the other side of the veil, but who knows? Maybe its not about that at all. But someday I'd really like to know if Remus was as much of a cheeky buggar as his portrait is or if the artist who painted him was the cheeky devil. But his portrait has a heavy dose of sarcasm, that's for sure."

"Just so you know, she misses that too," Marcus said. "Its not always its cracked up to be, you know. Having someone shadow you all the time. It gets to her. I'm not supposed to replace her friends. I'm supposed to make sure she's still alive and breathing in order to enjoy her friends. From where I stand, I'm not sure its James that bothers her. I think it's Robert. I certainly wasn't there for the history of it, but as Brian tells it, she and Robert have a bit of ugly history together in their past, but I'm sure you know that. I don't think she was ready for him to go there today, that's all."

Khaat wasn't really paying attention to much of anything until Jess spoke to her, offering her tea.

"Oh," she said quietly. "Thank you. I didn't hear you come in. Hadn't thought about tea either." She took the cup from her. When Jess poured tea for him, Marcus took the cup, nodding that he understood about the restorative. If he were going to be on duty, then he would need all the restoring he could get.

When Jess came back, Michael thought she sounded a bit disappointed somehow. "Chin up, Jess," he said. "She'll be fine. If she rests this afternoon and tonight, she'll be better tomorrow. Wait and see--because if she's not, Kate will be completely livid with Robert like most of you probably have never seen from her." He laughed slightly. "Its not pretty."

Jess looked at Michael and smiled nodding to him "I put two drops of restorative potion in the tea it should make her rest and help Marcus to recover so he could be on duty " she told him " I'll sit with her later once the children and others are fed." she told him " But I agree she's part Robert and part Kate and its a volatile mix." Jess looked up at Michael as she moved to the crockery cupboard and took out the soup tureen and placed it on the table.

" So hows the twins, doing okay?" she asked smiling as she pored the soup into the large tureen then placed down the ladle next to it. " I have heard there's an excellent child minder in the area." Jess said " have been thinking of contacting her for our twins, the more they grow the more of a hand full they become, not that I don't mind looking after them myself no mother wants to just hand over their child or children to a stranger whose not been checked out." she placed a bread basket down ready for the bread that would go with the soup.

"Well, and somewhere in that mix, she somehow got a part of Remus too. Heaven only knows how," Michael said. "But, yeah, I'm sure Marcus is going to need a good night's sleep himself. I know he's not supposed to be working today but I don't think we're going to dissuade him for awhile. Not til he's sure she's not going out again."

He took the homemade crackers out of the oven and let them cool for a moment to get crispy. "The twins? They're fine," he said. "Me? Not so much. You have no idea how many times I've said volumes of obscenities to my ex-wife who isn't here. She's supposed to be here, helping with this. There are moments, when they're both slinging poo and pee from one end of the house to the other, when I seriously think they'd scare any decent dementor away. They used to be so cute. Now they're hellions. Don't get me wrong. These are my boys. I know that, and I want to be a decent dad. I'm just not cut out, at my age, to be a mom too.

"I hadn't thought of hiring anyone. I guess I just thought that they'd outgrow this stuff, but its not happening. And Snidely doesn't make a good babysitter. He's more kleptomaniac than hat rack, and he's no sitter. They get on his nerves. I'd be a better dad, I think, if they were properly housebroken....Wait. Housebreaking isn't the right term for it, is it? Whatever the right word is, they're not it."

Jess could not but help laugh at the mix he'd described " yes that too and its that part that seems to get her in trouble " Jess said with a sigh she watched as Michael took out the crackers to cool down for dinner.

She listened to his response to her suggestion and nodded " I think its the same for them " She said now taking the crockery to lay the table along with several sippy cups for the children. " well maybe you should think about it for when they stay so you won't be so...overwhelmed when they do." she placed each bowl down and added a spoon. "Her names Addison Barlow." she said " Just Look her up its an idea if any and it would free you up to do things you want." she continued to lay the table each child had their own bowl and she ahd to make sure each had their matching spoon or she knew things could get messy.

"You're right about that," Michael laughed, remembering. "Remus was always the one of those three that not only could plunge headlong into adventure but he actively looked for it. Robert didn't usually seek it out but he wasn't going to back away if he got dragged into it. Kate, I think, went along to try to make sure that Robert or Remus didn't get hurt, and then she figured out it could be a lot of fun. And by the time Khaat got old enough to walk, she was well on her way to finding all sorts of trouble. Robert didn't have a lot of patience for it, and Remus thought it was funny as hell."

He listened to Jess talk about the woman she'd heard of. "Barlow, huh? Alright. I'll look her up. I know Khaat and Brian offered to help whenever I needed it, but they've got enough on their hands as it is. And, I want my boys to know their own home. I want..I guess I want them to know who their dad really is, for however long I might have to be their dad. I'm not getting younger, and the time will come, I'm sure, when they outlive me. Or at least I certainly hope that's the case. But they need to have a sense of their own heritage, their own family. So far as I know, I'm the only Tremaine left, aside from them. I have a brother, but I haven't heard a thing from him for, well, probably close to 50 years now. For all I know, he's already passed on. I don't know." He put the crackers in a basket and put out a large tossed salad that the house elves had made. Then he went back to the fridge.

"Where the devil are the berries? You know what hell we'll all pay if we have no stinking berries, don't you?" he frowned.

Jess nodded as he talked listening to him talk took her mind off Khaat and Marcus " sounds a bit like Jack before Robert and I met him. " she said smiling as she saw him sat in the living room watching Robert and Kate. " he'd tell me of times he'd just disappear for days, then there was when I was taken he would not give up, I believe that was when he met Robert and Khaat, together they calmed him down." she chuckled as he glanced at her and pulled a tongue at her.

Li wandered in and took a deep breath in looking from Michael to Jess and back. "It smells wonderful in here." he said " maybe one day I could make you all some Miso soup, Children love its salty and rich flavor, and when tofu and rice are added it makes a healthy and easily digestible meal for toddlers too." he said smiling.