Hunting the Hunter

She said nothing. Nothing at all. It wasn't that she hadn't heard them. She had heard them both very well. Marcus looked into her eyes and he was irritated. He walked over to her and snatched her wand off the end table.

"You don't get to make that choice either," he said angrily. "For God's sake, give it a rest tonight. You've got a hole clear through your leg. How far do you think you'll get on your own? Really? If you want to go looking for him, can we at least postpone it til tomorrow?"

"I told you..." she began.

"Oh, right. I remember. You don't want us to come. Sorry. Going to visit James? If that's your goal, that's one party I'm not going to be missing. Have you always been difficult? Have you spared me from that til today? Or is this a new thing?" He looked at Jack. "Have we done the 'let me run off and get eaten by the werewolf all by myself' thing before, or is this just for my benefit?"

"And you lot have the nerve to call me snarky?" the portrait laughed. "Look who's talking. Headache getting to you, Belby? He might be losing his sense of humor, Jack."

Jack watched Marcus take Khaat's wand and talk to her again he looked at him and shook his head "Nope, nothing new, its a regular thing, she's as stubborn as Kate, Robert and .." He turned to look right at the portrait as he spoke again. "Remus all combined, and that's an explosive combination." He said his arms crossing over his chest as he waited to see what she would do. He heard the portrait talk but just snarled at it.

"Hes not the only one, now shut up, your not helping." He said watching both of them. as he stood in the room. He ran his own fingers over his some what smooth head as he wished he'd grabbed a drink of that fire whiskey that had almost taken his head off earlier.

"Lovely, then," Marcus said, hearing Jack say it was normal. "At least I know what I'm up against now. No wonder Robert told me not to turn my back. It wasn't just attackers he was worried about, was he?"

Khaat was infuriated with him. She'd had a good relationship with him til now, and right at the moment, she didn't need him or his foul mood. She wanted away from him. He could have her wand. She didn't care. She cast a wandless apparation spell and apparated out.

The portrait sighed. "A lot of good that will do her."

"What do you mean. Speak English, will you?" Marcus said, annoyed with the portrait.

"Her wandless apparation spells aren't very good, you know," the portrait said. "No wandless apparation spells go very far. They take more power than wandless magic can supply. About as far as she can go is, maybe, on a good day, the basement. On a crappy day, maybe just downstairs. Although, do be aware that her father tends to shut himself away working if he's in a foul mood. And I'd say, about now, that basement office is a pretty remote place for him to get lost in. If I were you, I'd certainly hope she didn't get that far today."

"Fabulous," Marcus rolled his eyes. "Its just gets better and better. Maybe we should leave them to each other. What do you think, Jack? Can we trust they won't destroy the house if we leave them alone?"

She had only gotten as far as the basement office. She apparated in, and her father looked up.

"Took your wand, did they?" he asked, unmoved.

"How the hell did I end up here with you?" she was furious. She was almost more angry that he was stonewalling her. He only did that if he was angry. She knew all too well the angrier he became the more stonefaced he got. And right now, he looked like just about nothing would move him.

"Spell gone sideways, my dear?" he asked.

Jack nodded to Marcus then stood silently watching as he aperated out of the room he sighed and shook his head " if it was me I'd leave them locked in a room together until they sorted themselves out, oh I think the Basement has those types of charms on it that no sound will be heard upstairs, lucky us." he said then spoke again as his stomach reminded him dinner wasn't far off as it growled loudly. " oh Jess has soup down stairs , I think its a cheese one but I'm not sure." He said turning to open the door again.

"Oh and if I were you, I'd keep hold of that." he pointed to Khaat's wand." never know when she might sneak back to get it." when he heard the portrait talking he chuckled " welcome finally to the mad house." He said and placed his hand on Marcus's shoulder

"And I had so hoped it would be different than Bulgaria. Same horsecrap, different day," Marcus sighed. "Soup sounds good. Haven't eaten all day."

"I refuse to argue with you," Khaat said fiercely to her father.

"Good," he said. "Thank you." He went back to his work, intending to ignore her. She saw his wand laying on the desk, and she reached for it. As it started to move, though, Robert snatched it in mid air. "I don't think so," he said with an icy tone. "That's mine. And, if you don't remember, this is the one Thaor made for me. I don't bloody know what all it does or doesn't do. If you're pissed, then just say it."

"You know I am," she said.

"Obviously."

"Then why do you need me to say it?"

"Because you needed to say it?" he leaned back casually.

"I don't need to say anything to you."

"Then why are you here?" he asked. She turned to leave him alone. "You can pop in and out of every room in the house all night for all I care, you know."

"And that's just the bloody problem, isn't it?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What about what someone else thinks or feels? Why does it always have to be about you?"

"Because I can," he said with all the warmth of an iceburg. He was purposely baiting her, and he knew it. But she had always taken his bait, every stinking time. She didn't move but he had his answer as the pictures started to rattle on the walls. She wanted him to think she had it all under control, but her accidental magic was betraying her rage at him.

Upstairs, Kate heard the pictures and rolled her eyes. "Why must he insist upon doing that to her?" she sighed.

"And here we go," Michael said, watching the kitchen ceiling light start to move.

"Should I go downstairs?" Brian asked.

"Without armor?" Michael asked. "I wouldn't."

Jack laughed " oh come on its not that bad and besides you'd be bored if we didn't keep you on your toes, oh and weren't you the one that said you were up for a challenge?" He chuckled again as he headed back down the stairs to the kitchen where Jess was still helping with dinner. He lent over the berry bowl and pinched another but not before Jess had tapped the back of his hand. He chuckled and moved to the living room pausing as he saw the pictures move and the light start to swing in the kitchen but with a shrug of his shoulders he sat down.

Jess had paused in her task as she felt the shift and increase in the level of magic she looked at Michael and sighed shaking her head a she heard Kate and Brian. "Oh please don't Brian, they both need to let the tension go, its harming not just them but us too." She glanced at Marcus and Kate. " I'm sure time alone together will clear the air" she paused seeing the light rock once more " or cause an explosion, but ether way it will be over." Jess looked to Michael hoping she'd chosen the wiser option. She glanced at Brian for a moment then to Jack.

" Brian the armors in the hall cupboard, helmets a bit dented, Brant used it last training session we had." Jack said this made Li look up worried at them both.

"I did say that, didn't I?" Marcus said, recalling that he had indeed said those exact words. "It figures you'd remember that." He picked up a few of the crackers from the dish on the table and began to munch on them.

""Perhaps you're right, Jess," Brian said. "At least for now. Wasn't Brant's head in that helmet when it was dented?"

"Oh, stop," Kate tried not to laugh. "Stand down, Li," she said. "This is just Khaat's accidental magic. She really does try to control it, but I'm afraid she hasn't ever quite developed that, not like her father has. He represses all of his emotion, and she can look fairly put together on the outside, but then the house goes all to pot in the process. Her magic just goes all wonky until she's past it."

"Remember my hat rack?" Michael reminded him. "And the rest of it?" He nodded. "Accidental magic. We just never put that bit to rights because she grew to like the hat rack and the dogs. Its not unheard of for someone to periodically have a little tic with their magic, but hers just goes all to hell."

"I always hoped she'd grow into it," Kate shrugged, reaching out to snatch a picture that was starting to fall. "At least it doesn't happen much anymore except for if she and Robert get into it, and that's actually pretty rare these days."

"Then, I'd say we'd best batten down the hatches," Michael said. "Just watch out for things falling down and breaking, Li. That's usually the worst of it, if it gets that far. Can't say as I blame her much. He's an easy person to get angry with and damned hard to argue with. Usually isn't much satisfaction in it."

"I don't usually have a problem with it," Kate said dryly, not one to shy away from Robert.

Downstairs, things weren't going any better.

"Why must you be such a prat about these things? You never..." Khaat asked him.

"Oh, come now. Name calling? That's the best you've got?" he asked. "You can do better than that."

"I want Belby gone, I want them all gone. I want..."

"No."

"No? That's it? Just no?"

"That's it. No." He looked at her. "Look, I'm tired. I haven't slept in a couple of nights..."

"Who's fault is that?" she scowled.

"If I recall, I was saving your hide last night and then operating on your leg..."

"From a hole you put there because it apparently the only shot you could dream up..."

"You don't get to play with James all by yourself. He's not just your problem. Lest you forget, let me remind you that he's got a Ministry warrant for him. I don't care whether we get him alive or dead not just because of you but because of a whole string of murders under his belt. The Ministry wants him, regardless of how we get him, and you don't work there anymore. Now, I'll ask you one more time to kindly get your ass out of Ministry business. You're a civilian now. This isn't your call. Its mine..."

"And he wouldn't be killing if he got me out of his system....."

"You don't know that," he replied. "In fact, I think you're just dead wrong. He's said very clearly that he doesn't want just you. He sees no point in humans who aren't turned to werewolves. He believes those humans should just be dead. He won't stop. He wants nothing less than control of every bit of power that he can get. I don't think he'll just stop at the wizarding world. He wants it all."

"And you want Fenrir to stop him? That's asinine. He wants the same thing! How could you even think about that after what he's done to this family..."

"Remus is dead," Robert said coldly. "Fenrir didn't kill hiim. Let Remus rest in peace. Stop drawing him back!. That's not fair to Remus. That's all about you! Be a grown up and learn to live your life without him!..." She said nothing. That had hurt. She had no words. There was nothing left to say, not to anyone about anything. She looked at him. He looked back at her for one more moment and went back to his work as if she weren't there, as if nothing had happened, as if it was all okay. She turned and limped out of the office.

Upstairs, everything stopped. All the accidental magic just stopped. It was suddenly eerily quiet. Kate paused. It never just stopped that way, not that fast, not that way. It didn't feel right. It didn't feel like it had ended downstairs in any sort of healthy way. Whatever had happened, it certainly could not have been good.

Jack looked at Brian and laughed nodding " He claimed his ears were ringing for a week after that knock." He said looking at them both. Li looked to Kate and nodded as he relaxed again. But he could not help feel the electricity that still hung in the air as he sat from what ever was going on in the lower office.

Jess felt the energy stop and she stopped what she was doing looking quickly at Kate now she wondered if leaving them together was a good idea. "Well she hasn't left." she said " You think that they might have reached a compromise?" Jess asked Kate

"No," Kate said definitely. "That wasn't a good thing we just felt."

"I'll go," Marcus said, ready to go check on her.

"No," Kate said. "Just wait. Let's give her a minute."

Khaat had no idea really what she wanted to do. Her mind was blank. She managed to get herself back upstairs to her room, and decided she needed to clean up. She stripped off the bandages and showered and managed to put a couple dressings on the incisions in her leg.

Downstairs, Marcus was restless. He knew his assignment still stood. "I need to go," he said. He went upstairs and found her getting dressed to go to work.

"You want to talk about it?" he asked. She didn't respond. She didn't want to talk to anyone right now. He saw her get out her heels and didn't know how, in heaven's name, she would ever walk in them with her leg wounds. He let her try it, but he knew it wasn't going to work. He was ready to stead her when her leg wouldn't hold. He picked up a pair of black kitten heels. "Try those instead," he said. He was right. They worked better.

"My wand, please," she said.

"I'm going with you," he said.

"I'm just going to work," she said. "Please. My wand."

"I know. And I'm going with you. Finish dressing, and I'll send them a note downstairs. They're worried, you know."

"They needn't be," she said. "I'm fine." She sat down at the vanity to do finishing touches. Marcus scribbled a quick note that said: "Looks like we're putting in a little time at the office this afternoon. M." He flicked his wand to turn the note into a paper bird and sent it downstairs. He wasn't going to promise them she was alright because he honestly didn't know. She looked okay on the outside, but it just wasn't sitting right with him. It didn't feel like she was alright. He didn't know if his instincts were on the mark, or whether he was imagining a problem where there wasn't one. After he sent the paper bird downstairs, he decided to help her by casting spells for her hair and makeup.

Jack looked up at Jess who frowned as a white paper bird flew down the stairs. Opening it she sighed " shes going into work, Marcus is going with her." She said and handed the note for Kate to read it not sure if it was a good idea for Khaat to go to work yet. " She needs to rest that leg not work. " Jess was concerned and it showed on her face and in her actions her hands moved against each other and Jack saw it. Standing he walked over and took her hands in his stopping the movement.

"Kate, do you think we should stop her?" he asked turning to look at Kate.