A New Reason to Hate Paris

"I think we should walk," Marcus said. "Apparating in a muggle neighborhood can be a risky thing. It isn't easy to blend, you know. "Hang around a bit, Brant. Drink the coffee at Khaat's house long enough, and you get used to French roast. I don't think she drinks much else, except on rare occasion. Brian says she's been drinking that as long as she's liked coffee, and he's started to drink it now too."

He looked at Brant's bag. He was glad Brant had brought potions but it also made him think.

"You know, I'm glad you brought those, Brant. I never thought to ask, but if this is something that Robert or Brian have had very long, I'm going to guess there is one of their medical bags with bandages and whatnot. I took it for granted that, where there's a Lupin, there's a medical bag within reach. Shouldn't presume that, though, I suppose."

He looked at the scenery around him. Summer in Paris. The only thing Marcus could think of that was better than summer in Paris was springtime in Paris. It was so deceptive of why they were here, though.

"We'd better pray we find Brian alive with all his limbs attached," Marcus said. "You both know that, right?"

Brant chuckled and nodded his head at Marcus words, he knew eventually he'd try the French roast coffee Khaat loved so much. “We will and if not I know how to reattach limbs, French roast can't be as bad as I've had already.” He said then noticed his glance at the bag and chuckled at his words again, “Nope, Don't you know that potioneers are like the boy scouts, we're always prepared.” He moved slightly ahead as they walked towards the building they were checking out. Jack walked slightly behind them both his nose twitching at each scent he caught one made him sneeze making Brant jump a little and reach for a hanky to give him which he took.

“Shesh , women and their strong perfumes” He said sneezing again into the hanky. “Even Jess doesn't wear it this strong, at this rate my nose will be useless.” He tucked the hanky into his pocket as he followed. Brant glanced left then right as he watched several men walking on the outskirts, moving close to Marcus he opened his bag as if looking for something as he spoke.

“left upper, six men and I believe one has a gun under his jacket.” He said softly to him. Though he wasn't a fighter he knew the look of a gun hid under the cloth of a suit as he'd had to watch Marcus wear one several times.

"Yes," Marcus said, finding the man Brant was talking about. "He doesn't seem to be going for it, so let's just be cool about it, shall we? I'm guessing he might already know I have a gun too, but perhaps he isn't connected with our matter. We'll have to wait and find out, I suppose."

Marcus didn't think they were quite at the spot on the map that they'd picked out at headquarters, but, he supposed it certainly was possible that the security forces were fanning out. It would make sense if they wanted to make sure that they were not interfered with. However, if that were the case, then Marcus deducted they had something worth keeping others away from, and his best guess was that if that were the case, the most obvious thing that might need extra security was Brian. If it were extra security, then, Marcus was presuming that, at least for now, Brian might still be alive.

"I'd like to take a wide walk around this perimeter here and see if this bloke has any friends," Marcus said, hoping they might see others walking around at about the same distance from where they believed Gelding's operations to be.

Jack and Brant nodded though it was Jack who spoke “Good idea.” He said as they slowly walked around noting several men's places and where the concentration was highest. It was Brant who spotted a small window hidden with vines and he looked to Marcus. “ could be a way in?” he said softly. Jack turned and glanced at it.

“Yeah, for a skinny person.” He said “ beside there's several metal bars on it too.” he knelt down and took a deep breath in then shook his head “ Just the wine cellar.” He said and glanced up to Brant who shrugged.

“Well, it was well hidden “ Brant said stuffing his hands into his pockets as he walked ahead slightly then spotted a herb he knew was a healing one and began to nip the tips off it to save for his potion making.

Jack shook his head and moved to walk with Marcus his head low as he spoke again “ He has been here, caught an old scent by the cellar.” He said a slight puzzlement in his voice as to why Brian would come to this place it held no significance that he could find.

Marcus looked at the window. It had possibilities, but, it would not be easy. Marcus expect there to be an enchantment or four on the window, not to mention the bars. This was specialized work. Why didn't they have a catburglar when they needed one.
Well, hey, wait. Maybe they did.

"We could use a specialist here," Marcus said, "and I think I know just the chap." He had never used the weird coin around his neck, although Robert had instructed him in it's ability to send for people Robert trusted. Now that he had seen the organization in Paris, it was all making a great deal more sense. He touched the coin around his neck and twisted it exactly as Robert had instructed him.

Michael had delivered his boys to the estate, thinking that surely two more children, with Khaat's seven, wouldn't make or break anything. Besides, he had no idea what they were dealing with in Paris, but when it came to the extraction of intelligence officers in trouble, that was a large part of Michael's job. They hadn't taken him along with they'd gone to Paris, but that didn't mean they wouldn't need him.

The coin around his own neck vibrated, as if on cue. He had suspected the call might come. He kissed the boys and picked up his pack, and then, using the coin, he ported to where the signal had come from.

"I wondered how long it would be," Michael said. "What've we got?"

Brant spoke first to Michael with a warm smile as if greeting an old friend. “Small, barred window, wine cellar, Jack picked up a scent of Brian from inside but the doors locked.” he said “ other than the many men with guns its peachy.” he looked at Marcus as he spoke again “ you need to add anything?” He asked stepping back to let the senior man talk. Jack kept his eyes on the men around them seeing several drift away around a corner as if on patrol, then he noticed several more leave and five minuets later new men appeared.

“Shift change” Jack said as he lent back against a run down wall his head hung low as something made him look up a partly hidden pathway to a wooden door covered with Ivy. “What you make of that Michael?” He asked motioning with his head having a feeling the doors location was too convenient to obvious as a way in.”

"Hm," he listened to Brant's briefing.

"Sounds complete to me," Marcus replied to Brant. Marcus and Michael stepped into the shadows to avoid being seen when Jack alerted them of the shift change.

"Gelding's always had men around him," Michael said quietly, "but this isn't a place Brian would have willingly come alone--not if he expected to live to tell about it." Still, if Jack detected something, Michael was willing to move on Jack's word. "Let's not use that door," Michael said. "That doesn't have a good feel about it. Let me have a closer look at the window. We are wizards, you know."

He crouched down at the window and looked around the stone casing. It was indeed small, and the iron bars were securely bolted into the stone. He'd gone through worse spaces. He looked carefully into the windows. Wine racks filled with extravagant French wines filled the room. The room was lit by a dim light that seemed to be coming from the doorway on the other side of the room, light from a hallway.

And then he heard footsteps from inside. He scooted out of the way, motioning his friends to stay quiet. He listened. He heard a creaky door being opened. Then he heard some sort of angry yelling and something that sounded like a fight. Or was it a fight? Was it someone being interrogated? It didn't sound like Brian's style of fighting because Brian was lighter, quicker, and he certainly didn't make nearly that much grunting and groaning about it. It actually didn't sound a lot like Brian.

He decided to make use of the noise. He drew his wand and cast a spell to loosen the bars from the stone and he removed the slowly and quietly, one by one, laying them along the wall in the weeds. Then he cast another spell to enlarge the window just enough for them to squeeze through one by one.

"I'll go in first," Michael said, "because I can't exactly see what we'll have to climb down to get to the floor. If it's alright, I'll send for you. If it isn't,...well, you'll know what to do, I'm sure."

He crept quietly through the window, finding he could rest his feet on top of a wooden wine rack. He tested it to make sure it would hold the weight of the men on it. It seemed sturdy enough. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw that it would actually be fairly easy to climb down the tall wine rack to the floor. He opened his pack and called to Hiss.

"Give a hand down this rack, would you, Hiss?" The rope slithered out of the pack, across the rack and tied a firm knot. Michael pulled on the rope to test the knot, and he found it was good and used it to climb down to the floor. He was in--well, it was a start. The sounds were louder here. It wasn't fighting. It was interrogating, he was certain. He went to the hallway and looked out. He saw no one, but he could certainly hear them in one of the rooms down the hallway.

He went back to the window and whispered to Hiss. "Go tell them the coast is clear," he said. The loose end of the rope slithered up to the windowsill and motioned to Brant, Jack and Marcus. Then the rope slithered back into place for them to use to join Michael. Michael went to the doorway, his wand drawn, covering the doorway against intruders so his friends could enter.

Brant watched and listened to Michael fascinated by his ways, he saw him remove the bars then widen the window. Soon the rope motioned for them to follow and he went in first, at first it was dark but his eyes soon adjusted to the dim light, sliding down the rope he shifted the bag on his shoulder then he hit the floor and moved to stand with him. “Thank you Hiss” he said to the rope then turned to face Michael “Interrogation?” He said softly as he heard a soft yet heavy thump that told him Jack had reached the floor.

“Humm,” Jack said softly as he glanced at Michael “Some fancy wines in here, expensive too.” He moved to look at the labels on each bottle. Brant looked at Jack puzzled as to how he'd know they were expensive. “ Hey, I know a good wine when I smell it.”He tapped his nose lightly as they both waited for Marcus to join them. Jack knelt down and looked at something Brant could not see in the dusty dirty floor.

“Brian was here, foot prints.” He looked up at Michael “Please tell me you see them?” He asked and motioned with his finger to their location without disturbing the dust that had fallen over it. “ they don't look too fresh though.” He stopped hearing the interrogation stop. Brant moved to another door that light shone under but glanced at Marcus to see if he could see it or if it was just his were eyes that could pick up the detail in the dim light and dusty, dirty floor.

Brant moved and pressed an ear to the door but backed away slightly at the intensity of the interrogation even though he could not hear what was being asked or what was the reply being given to whom ever was doing the interrogating.

"Remind me to come back and 'relocate' some of these bottles to a different location," Michael said, seriously thinking of helping himself to a bottle or four. He looked at the footprints in the dust on the floor. "They need to sweep, don't they? He was here for sure. I see the tread of his running shoes."

Marcus went to the doorway, and he didn't like what he'd heard. He had been interrogated like that once or twice himself, and he knew, by the sounds of it, Brian wasn't having it one bit easier. He drew his wand, knowing he still had guns and blades if he needed them, and he certainly wasn't afraid to use any of it.

"I can't let them beat him to pieces," Marcus said quietly. It was what he did--he protected. He had, at one time, done the job simply because Khaat was his client. He had come to care about this quirky family, and he found himself unable to stand by and listen to Brian being beaten or worse. He started down the hallway alone, his wand at the ready.

"Are you crazy!" Michael was irked at Belby for simply charging ahead like a bull in a china shop. He looked back at the others. "We'd better follow or Belby's gonna get himself killed. Jack, if there's a chance of getting Brian out alive, that might rest on you, depending on what shape he's in. Brant, I hope you've learned how to fight. Hiss--pack!" The rope quickly slithered back into Michael's pack, and Michael slung it back up on his shoulder and headed out of the wine cellar, hoping to provide some sort of backup for the headstrong Belby.

Brant watched Marcus and was about to stop him but he moved too quick for him and he shook his head with his hand resting against his forehead in disbelief at what he saw.  Jack chuckled at Michaels suggestions about the bottles.

“let me know and I'll come with.” He said now grinning for only a split second as he saw Marcus move “ That idiot” he hissed as he followed nodding to Michael. Brant looked at him and nodded.

“Six hours a day with Owen's hand to hand combat lessons, you learn quick.” He told him as he fell in behind Jack as they headed after Marcus down the corridor “ He does know it might not even be Brian there interrogating, which could alert them to our presence?”  Jack stopped at a corner as a man rounded it he grasped him around the throat and held him until he passed quietly out to the floor. Taking an electronic key card he slipped it into his pocket.

“Might come in handy” Jack told Michael and Marcus, he lifted his head catching the faint scent of Brian and frowned. “This way” He said rounding a second corner right up to a large heavy metal door. “Okay cat man, do your thing” Jack said moving to one side.