A New Reason to Hate Paris

Khaat was up unusually early. She had been early the last three mornings. Today, it was still dark outside when she rose and wrapped her bathrobe around herself and went down to the kitchen. She found someone had brewed a fresh pot of French roast, and she poured herself a cup, hearing a tapping at the window. She opened the kitchen window and found an owl there and took the message. It was for her father, and it looked like it was from the Paris office. She opened it and read the note.

"No word, and all leads dead. Please advise at once. O."  The O was for Owens, the agent who headed the Paris office these days. Khaat did not like what she read. Brian had gone there Monday to pursue a lead about Thomas Gelding, and he had not been seen or heard from since. That was Monday, and this was Thursday. Three full days had come and gone without a syllable from Brian. Khaat knew this was trouble. Brian had told her he had expected to be back by breakfast Tuesday morning at the latest, even if things soured. Thursday was out of bounds of anything that was acceptable.

She made up her mind she was going to Paris. The trouble was in how to ditch Marcus. He was probably the most difficult man she had ever known when it came to being able to sabotage his assignment of shadowing her. Then again, she had never tried all that hard, so she was not an expert in it by any means. She headed up the stairs, seeing her father come out of his bedroom to head downstairs to work out.

"You did this," she hissed angrily at him, thrusting the wadded up note into his hand. "How dare you not have done anything about this?" She went into her room and closed the door, getting out a bag to pack. She could not imagine anything being more important right now than in going to Paris to find Brian.

Robert went downstairs, uncrumpling the parchment as he went. He went into the living room, got his reading glasses and read the note. That was not good news. He had been the one who had sent inquiries to Owens. However, for there to be not a single syllable from Brian, and for the organization to not find a single lead about Brian did not bode well at all. Brian was in trouble, and Robert knew it. He'd actually known it Tuesday morning when Brian had not come home. He had sent word to Owens then and had mobilized the agents in Paris, but now it appeared they had struck out.  

He decided he would perhaps send Jack to go look into it. He was not worried about Khaat's temper. She did have a right to be angry, after all, but he knew she had some important tax documents to gather for St. Mungos, and she did not have time to go gallivanting off to Paris. Surely she would see reason about it, right?

@jack black heart

Jack woke early this morning as he sat up he wiped his eyes with the back of his hands to rid them of the sand like particles that had formed as he had slept. His ears picked up the sounds of movement in the hall out side his door peeking his natural curiosity. Slipping quietly out of the bed that he shared with Jess, he quickly dressed and grabbed a brown leather jacket that hung on a chair close by the bed, having an eerie feeling he'd need it draping it over his shoulder as he headed down to at least get his first cup of coffee and one of the muffins he knew were stashed in the pantry by Angus the night before.

Heading down stairs he stopped in his tracks on hearing shouting, sounding like Khaat and Robert. He could not help but sigh as he now slipped the jacket on over his large frame. He continued down the stairs and to, he hoped, the waiting pot of fresh french roast waiting in the kitchen. Reaching the kitchen he pored a cup and headed to the work out room and lent on the door.

"Morning." He said watching Robert as he slowly sipped his coffee "So..She found out then?" He asked looking at him over the top of his cup. "Want I should.." He motioned with his head back up the stairs, wondering if he'd want him to watch Khaat for disappearing to Paris to speak to Owens. But he chose to wait for Roberts orders and continued to sip his coffee and eat the last bite of muffin.

@Khaat Lupin

Robert shrugged, not so worried about Khaat. He expected she was due to figure it out. After all, it was becoming more than a tad obvious that Brian was well off his time, and he believed she had a right to be angry.

"He's careful," Robert said, knowing his confidence in Brian did not mean things were foolproof. He was becoming concerned for Brian now himself. "If she's being a mature adult about it, she'll do her job and let us do ours."

"Absolute twaddle," Kate said, looking up from her yoga mat. "You don't expect anyone to believe that load of manure, do you? You should have been on this Tuesday morning, not just getting about it now."

"I was actually on it on Monday, if you must know," Robert said, looking at her.

"Didn't produce him, though, did you? You know she thinks you're full of crap, and since she is a Lupin, she intends to take care of matters herself. She is your daughter, after all."

"Yes, and full of Remus's nonsense," Robert sighed, having always believed that Remus should have spent a wee bit less time jumping under the proverbial bus and a moment more thinking out the consequences before doing it. "He never was very practical about things."

"What are you talking about? He was a warrior through and through," Kate frowned. "And you're cut from the same cloth. Go on, Jack. Go see if you can lend them a hand over there. And do make sure that Marcus is awake and packed. I doubt Khaat will wait for him."

"I doubt he waited to pack," Robert said. "He was probably packed by Monday afternoon, if he's a man of habit."

Finishing his cup he felt more awake than his first appearance. He could not help but smirk at Kate's banter towards Robert but he stood listening knowing it was friendly between two people who clearly cared about each other and Khaat. Looking up he looked towards Robert as he spoke then nodded. "Yay, another trip to Paris, you know maybe I should learn french the amount of times I've been, got good pastries though." He chuckled " oh I could pick up a birthday gift for Jess while I'm there too, any message for Owen?." He asked with a chuckle as he turned intending to head up to the kitchen but pausing to wait to see if Robert had any message..

Walking into the kitchen he placed down his cup and threw away the muffin paper. Now moving to Marcus's room he once more lent on the door frame. "Want some company?" He asked "Robert sent me to warn you, Khaat found a note from Owens." was all he said hoping he'd understand the meaning behind his words. He knew Marcus knew how flighty Khaat was in regards kids or Brian, she just couldn't sit by and wait and had to jump in with both feet, not that she wasn't capable of fighting even Jack knew she was very capable but it was his job to protect her, Robert and the others, even from their own harm.

"Not really," Robert said, "but I hope he knows that if he finds Brian in multiple pieces then it might affect Owens' impending salary increase."

"And it will most certainly affect yours," Kate told Robert will iron certainty. "You'd better rescue them all, Jack, because I don't hold much hope for them on their own. Marcus, however, does show some promise. If you're looking for a partner, I'd partner with him while you're there if I were you."

Marcus was upstairs, finishing dressing, tying his tie when Jack came in telling him that Khaat had found a note from Owens.

"Intercepting the owls now, is she?" Marcus asked. "Well, I rather expected it before now. I packed an extra go bag awhile back and put it in Brian's closet since I usually catch her packing and have about a fraction of a second to catch up with her. I just periodically repack it to freshen it up. Nice to know I can keep a half a step ahead of her.

"You certainly are welcome to come if you like. I'm not beyond chasing Gelding and his pack of brainless thugs. From what I hear from Angus, he said that Owens has told him that Gelding has apparently found himself some rather oversized apes to work for him. No offense. Angus said Owens sent a copy of the dossier of these new lackies, and these blokes look like bodybuilders who aren't that bright and are looking for an extra quid or two by causing a fair amount of hellraising. Haven't been in an old fashioned pub fight in awhile, but we might get our chance. I am hoping that Brian is still alive and in one piece when we get to him."

He motioned Jack to go come with him, and he went next door. He tapped twice on the door and then opened it. He didn't see Khaat but the closet door was open and the light was on. He got his bag out of Brian's closet and put it on the bed and then went into Khaat's closet.

She was angrily shoving jeans and sweaters into the bag. She clearly had enchanted the bag, but he wondered if she'd buggared the spell a tad because the bag was making hungry slurping sounds as it seemed to suck down one of her long duster length sweaters.

He frowned at the bag. "I do hope it coughs that sweater back up," Marcus frowned. "I rather like how that one looks on you."

"What?" she turned, having not heard him before.

"You really must get your magic under control when you're upset. It tends to go sideways when you do not. Did you buggar the spell on the bag?" He took one of her sneakers and dangled it above the bag, and the bag sent out a big sticky pink tongue like a venus flytrap, wrapped around the sneaker and sucked the shoe back into the bag. "Ew," Marcus wrinkled his nose. "Yeah, that's just all kinds of wrong. You might want your father to unscramble that before we go."

"Go?" she asked. "Where are WE going?" He did not miss that her tone was pointed.

"WE are obviously going to Paris, are we not?" he asked.

"I'm going," she said.

"And since Jack and I have our orders, it does appear we are all going to the same place. We might as well travel together. However, that bag is going to be a menace," he said.

Jack listened to Marcus and sighed "That's good thinking, mind if I borrow that idea" he simply said then chuckled "none taken, I see myself as an Alsatian, persistent yet loyal." He chuckled "oh Robert suggested we might partner up on this and I agree about Brian." he followed him out of his room and over to Khaats raising an eye brow at how she had not noticed that the bag was eating her clothes.

He lifted his hand and was going to mention it but at the insertion of the jumper he paused leaving him stood mouth open for a moment before he slowly closed his mouth and shook his head. He listened to them talking. Now he had to say something "Actually Marcus and I are now partners, so where I go he goes." He looked at Marcus and shrugged his shoulders glancing from Marcus to Khaat.

"Hey don't blame me, was Roberts Idea." He said softly as he moved to reach out his hand to touch the bag but he recoiled rather quickly when it tried to pack away his fingers. " I agree, rather like my fingers on my hand not in a bag thanks." he wiggled his fingers to show he still had them all.

She was about to speak when she heard the sound of two overly energetic little boys running up the stairs. She knew the sound. It was Michael's boys, Jeffrey and Scott. They had turned two in December and they were all energy all the time. The boys loved the nursery, and their footsteps on the stairs surely meant Michael wasn't far behind.

She wasn't particularly surprised that no one wanted her to go to Paris alone. She wasn't necessarily happy about it.

"If you're going, I expect you to not try to talk me out of finding Brian, and I do expect you to keep up," she said, all business about the task of packing.

"Do we seriously need to have the 'Marcus, keep up' debate again?" Marcus asked, rolling his eyes. "When have I not? And surely Jack has never had an issue with keeping up. Do remember who you're talking to."

Khaat fed the bag her other sneaker, and now watched the bag eat her shoe. Well, that hadn't been what she intended when she'd cast the spell for it to give her more storage space.

"I am not excited about calling my father to fix this bag," she sighed.

"What about the bag?" Michael asked from the doorway.

"It's a heathen," Khaat said. She picked up a pair of socks and fed it to the bag.

"It's not a heathen," Michael said, coming over and taking a better look at the bag. "You misunderstand it. It just needs some training up, that's all. I'd take it home but it would probably eat the boys until its housebroken. I rather like it, myself."

"I don't intend to have to housebreak my luggage," she scowled. "Can you fix it?"

"I could, but why would you want to?" he asked.

"Just because crazy is normal at your house, it doesn't mean its normal in mine," she said.

"Says the woman who made me keep the crazy in my house as part of the rental agreement," he said. He spoke firmly to the bag now. "Oi. You cough up the clothes when she tells you to, or I shall make you into some lovely looking luggage tags." The bag blew raspberries at him. Michael drew his wand and raised it over the bag, and the bag yipped in repentance.  "That's better. If I hear you so much as snagged a sock, luggage tags it shall be. Do you understand me?" The bag seemed to settle a bit. "That's better."  Michael looked back at the others. "You just have to let it know who's boss, that's all. Train it up right, and it will be a lovely bag that guards your diamonds for you."

"Diamonds?" Marcus asked. "What keeps the burglar from taking bag and all?"

"It won't," Michael said. "Train the bag well enough and the bag will eat burglar and all, even if he's Jack-sized." He looked at Jack. "I should be able to train it to eat you too if I work at it."

"Might be a handy thing at that," Marcus laughed, teasing Jack.

Jack stepped further into khaat's room to let the two boys run past him. He chuckled as Marcus spoke and shook his head " Hey I might be getting older but I can still keep up easily." He said with a lopsided smirk. Jack jumped slightly before stepped to one side to stand beside Marcus on hearing Michael speak from behind him.  

"We should fit you with a bell or something for early warning, can you stop sneaking up on people." He said softly as he lent back on a table behind him. He stood listening to Michael talk to Khaat about the bag on mention of a jack sized bag he shook his head.

"Oh don't you even go there." He said with a chuckle " only bags these hands touch will be normal non magic ones." he stood up and held up his hands " I value these too much." He looked at Khaat " as for the Brian search a good nose might come in handy Hey?"

As he stood he felt a tap on his shoulder turning he found Jess stood with an over night bag in her hand.

"Gonna need these," She said as she pulled him to her and kissed him as he took the bag from her. "Find him and bring him home" she glanced at Khaat and nodded before she turned and headed to the girls bed room.

@Khaat Lupin

Khaat had no objection to Jack coming. It wasn't as if Jack was strange to the Paris operation and the doings of Thomas Gelding. Khaat was betting that if Brian had gone to Paris, then Gelding as at the root of it. He always was. She wasn't as read in on the mission as she wished she were now, but Brian did not tell her much on those things. He distanced himself because he did not want her to worry. Although he didn't go as often, matters that pulled him to Paris now were matters he would not ask anyone else to do, and that meant higher risk.  At the back of her mind, she always was waiting on the one mission he would not come back from.

"You're always welcome to come, Jack," she said.

"Should I ask why you're feeding your bag at all?" Michael asked.

"Brian's been off grid in Paris since Monday night," Marcus said quietly. "Missed all check ins." Michael frowned deeply. He'd been working in the extraction teams in the Ministry for awhile now, longer than he liked, but that work made his radar go off now.

"You want me to come?" he asked.

"Stay here for now," she said. "If there's any new word, you'll bring it to us?"

"Immediately," he nodded. "You feel secure in taking that bag? Or shall I take it off your hands?"

"Is it going to give me more shenanigans?"

"I hope not," Michael said. "Jack, if it gives her a hassle, just keep it for the next time you miss your potion and then you can have at it."

"Will I get my shoes back?"

"Probably. If not, all you need to do is feed it a bar of soap, and it'll yak all over the carpet very nicely for you. Soap always ruins leather, you know." He kissed her cheek. "Are you armed?"

"Yes," she said. She lifted the edge of her sweater to show him she had a pistol and her wand both tucked into her waistband. Marcus frowned.

"Um, that's my gun," he sighed, annoyed.

"Don't worry, I loaded it first," she said, watching Michael shove the rest of her clothes into her bag for her and snap the bag shut, with one more reprimanding tap.

"That is no consolation whatsoever," Marcus said. "Give it here." He motioned to her. "If anyone's going to be shooting something, it's going to be me." She handed him the gun, and he checked the magical lock on his own bag and found the bag unlocked. He rolled his eyes.

"She's guessed my countercurse," Marcus said. "We'll have to watch her. She's learning our tricks, Jack." He picked up her bag and his, "Are we porting together or separately?"

Jack listened to Michael then chuckled crossing his arms over his chest as he basicly gave him permishion to rip it to shredds if he forgot his potion. " oow a new chew toy, lucky me." Jack said with a chuckle as he grinned as he looked at the bag.

at them meation of a gun Jack looked at Khaat his smile now turned sturn he didn't like guns and was glad when Marcus took it back from her. "The safty on?" He asked before loking back at her "Whats wrong with the good old wand?" He said then nodded at Marcus in agreement, " Guess thats why we're tagging along to Paris." he said picking his own bag up the same time as Marcus.

Jack made a digusted sound at the mention of porting, " I always get sick after, together would be safer, but seperate would draw less atenshion, we'd have to arrange a meeting place." He said shaking his head at the prospect of throwing up his breakfast.