LONDON CALLING

He wrapped her closely, as closely as he could with one arm. A million things flashed at light speed through his mind. He remembered clearly not wanting her to be there with him if he died because he hadn't wanted to have to live with the memory of seeing it in her mind's eye only then to be tempted to replay the visual of it long after. He wanted better for her than that, especially in what he believed was to be his last moment.

It was perhaps a little easier to look at it as if someone somewhere who had the power to determine fate had decided in that last possible second to look at him and decide that 'the little dope deserves a bit of a do-over," and then perhaps gave him a second chance to get things right.

He wanted to apologize for rushing headlong to try to go get this nieces and nephews. He had been on most of the rescues the organization had done in the last 8 or 9 years, but it felt so dramatically different when it was his own family. He had tossed away his training, forgotten everything he knew about caution and restraint, and in his emotional overload, he had rushed to try get to them and get them out. And it had nearly cost him his life. She deserved someone so much better than he was. And yet...

Robert's words came back again, echoing in his head. It sounded as if perhaps Robert were right there, drawing him back out of the deep darkness that was still in his head. The words Robert had said to him sliced through the noise in his mind with surgical precision and told him again to get out of his own head, to focus outside of himself on the present moment right in front of him. He had promised Angus it would get easier, but right now the priority was to work on keeping the proper focus. And right now, in this moment, it was just the two of them. In this moment, she was here.

Last night, when he had been hanging by a tree root, he had wanted more time, more time to just be with her, time to put their hopes and dreams into motion, time to do absolutely nothing at all but to be together. Their relationship was new, but it wasn't fragile. She wasn't a shrinking violet that couldn't bear up to the work he loved. She hadn't asked him to stop rescue work, but instead, she wanted to dive right into doing it with him. And she was still here, this time rescuing him. Their time had not run out after all. He had had close calls, but nothing quite like this.

"It seems like there should be mountains to say, but there are no words today," he said quietly. "I'm sure at some point we'll talk about it, but right now, I can't get past not wanting anymore than this. Last night, this was all I wanted. I can't imagine wanting more."

Ruby moved to look up at him and smiled "There should always be time for this, time to reflect and recover" she said softly " Personaly I don't think there are any words to say, except for three, I..Love...you" she said softly and kissed him gently. " Now relax and enjoy what nature is giving us and what Michael cooked for us." Ruby could see on his face he was strugaling internally but she choce not to push him she knew he needed to sort out in his own mind what had happened.

Jack appeared in tuscany with Brain and looked around " all right where to now Boss" he said chukaling not fully understanding why he ws there except to charge and strengthen the charms and spell around Edwards house where the family were at thet moment in time.

"I might be as relaxed as I'm going to get," he managed a smile. "I love you too. I'm glad we still have time to say it. In case you were wondering, though, you were just about the only one I was thinking about. Just so you know." His stomach growled. He hadn't really considered he might be hungry but his stomach had other ideas. "I'm sure I will enjoy the lunch, whatever it is. Michael never disappoints. I bet you haven't been to sleep yet and you've probably been busy, so we should probably get to that basket, shouldn't we?"

"Robert doesn't want even the slightest chance that Gelding can return and try to make another grab here, so he wants us to redo the protection grids and scramble them so it's as difficult as we can make them for any of Geldings' toadies to infiltrate here again. We can't really make it unplottable because the family does sell wine and olive oil to muggles, and then there's their luxury yacht line that they operate to take wealthy clients on cruises. We can't shut down their livelihood, so we have to redo the protection spells and layer several on so that we've done all we can to protect them. And Tyler did send a note to Angus, evidently. Robert suspects it's a thank you note, so I'd sort of like to just talk to Tyler for a moment and sound him out and see what sort he is. I don't know if he's like Angus' father or not, but Angus doesn't seem to be as hostile towards Tyler as he is towards his dad."

Ruby smiled and kissed his cheek " and you were in mine and always will be." she told him. She chuckled and moved from the hammok as she heard his stomach rumble " I'll fix us some plates" she said moving to kneel by the bounty of food that was spread out on the blanket. Placing some on a plate she moved abck to Angus and placed it on his lap. " here you are" she said also placing a soda next to him on a low table. Making her own she smiled as she sat with him to eat.

Jack listened to Brian and nodded " okay agreed I'll walk the perimiter and add another layer to the protection spells as I go" he said " yeah he seems okay, tyler, not so...up himself you know?" he said " see you when Im done" he then began to walk around the house and grounds noting the other men that now patroled the area becuse of what had happened.

"Well, then the feeling is very mutual, like it has always been," he smiled. When she brought the plates, he was grateful. "Thank you. This is one of the fanciest ploughman's I've ever seen. I think it's a great choice." He took his time, but for as distressed as things were in his head, he really ate exceptionally well. He had always liked, in particular, the olive salad and the Scottish oatcakes. But Michael's little improvised trifle was, in Angus's mind, well done. And having it all paired with a perfect wine, it was more than he ever expected.

"I know exactly what you mean," Brian said. "I almost think I saw Tyler looking for him to try to talk to him but that was long after Marcus and Ruby had taken Angus home. I don't know, honestly, if his father has any idea what Angus really does for a living. Even more, I don't know if it would make any sort of difference, but I sure would like to give that foul nasty man a piece of my mind, and if I get a chance, I can't promise I won't. I'll start around the other way on the perimeter, and I'll probably meet you in the middle."

Brian took a walk around the estate from the other direction, planning on just meeting Jack in the middle, and as he started around, he saw the enormous farmland that was covered with either vineyards of olive orchards. It was impressive, Brian thought. It did make the walk longer to get around the estate, though. A young man just a bit younger than himself came up to Brian.

"You're one of Angus's friend's, aren't you? We were told you all were coming back today to check the protections. I'm Tyler," the young man said. "Angus's brother."

"I remember," Brian said.

"Angus isn't with you, by chance, is he?"

"No, he isn't. My apologies. He's resting. He just had a major surgery on his shoulder a couple days ago, and I've put him back on medical leave from his post to recover."

"I saw he had a sling on for part of the night, didn't he?"

"Yes. he did. He had to remove it during the recovery mission. Your brother is a remarkable man. I hope you all know that. He's an exceptional law enforcement officer and a member of our first string of fighters. He led last night's operation on the ground, and he's the one your family needs to thank. He was responsible for engaging our services last night in the first place."

"Why did he leave so fast?" Tyler said. "I didn't even get a chance to speak to him. That isn't like him at all. Our father said he had a wife, but he brought a girlfriend last night? I'm confused."

"Well, you'll have to ask him about that piece," Brian said.

"If he's on leave, is it possible for me to go to him? To visit him?"

"I'll check with his healer and let you know," Brian said.

"By the way, it's a long, long way around the estate. Wouldn't you both rather do this by horseback?"

"I ride, but I don't know about Jack, but I can page him and ask him," Brian said.

"I'd be happy to loan you a couple horses," Tyler said. Brian touched his medallion, not as an alarm signal, but rather just a paging signal for Jack.

Ruby chuckled and nodded " yep he realy pulled this one together, and it tastes devine" she said with a smile as she sat with him eating and sipping the wine.

Jack walked around the property until he saw his medallion slightly glow he quickened his pace and met up with Brian on the other side of the house " okay so whats up." he asked and looked to the younger man who stood with him. "And whose this?" he asked noticing the resemblance to Angus

"Tyler Donohue, this is Jack Black Heart," Brian said. "Jack, this is Tyler, one of Angus' brothers. He's offered us a couple of horses to cover the perimeter with since there is so many acres of farm land."

"Nice to meet you, Jack," Tyler said. "I remember you from last night. Thank you again for helping to get our kids back. Mine are doing just fine today, but they have no desire to leave the house today. And their mother and I are good with that. I haven't had time to check on the other kids, but I'm grateful. I was hoping Angus would be with you this morning, but Brian tells me Angus is recovering from surgery. I'm hoping that maybe I can go to him and see him because I'd like to thank him in person. I can't speak for the rest of my family, of course, but I miss spending time with him."

Angus finished his glass of wine and set it near the basket.

"Feel like taking a little walk? I've found something here that, I bet, haven't been found since Remus's time here, and I haven't said a syllable about it," he told her.

Jack looked at Tyler and shook his hand " nice to meet you" he said and listened to him " well, thats up to Angus when hes feeling better, and hes relaxing with his girl Ruby, and yeah, would be a good idea to use horses " he said looking at Brian.

Ruby looked up at Angus as she finished her food placing the plate down she stood up " sure, oh I bet its realy cool" she said and took his hand in her own."lead on." she said going where ever he would lead as she trusted him implicitly.

"I'll get them saddled up and bring them straight back," he said, leaving quickly to go get the horses. He came back a few moments later with two enormous Shire horses. One was a bay, and the other was a smoky black.

"This brown boy here is Brownie, and the black one is Coal. My kids named 'em when both horses were newborns. They're enormous, but as gentle as they come, and these two can go for long, long time. I let my kids ride 'em sometimes when I can go with them. They can't get on 'em without a ladder yet, but they'll do the job for you. They know the way around the perimeter in their sleep because there's plenty of fresh water along the way and they like to swipe some of the grapes right off the vineyard if I let 'em. I think they think a perimeter check is just a moveable feast for them."

"They're amazing looking," Brian said, already petting the muzzle of one of them. They genuinely impressed the daylights out of him. He was already thinking he wanted a pair of Shires now. "Thank you. We'll get 'em back safe and sound," Brian said.

Angus got up, noticing a lot of places where he was stiff and sore after last night's gymnastics, but compared to how it could have ended, the stoving up was nothing.

"This way," he told her, taking her hand and leading her into a part of the farm that was just pretty wild and overgrown and unusued.

"Robert has just never had time to develop all the land, and this spot has some hidden gems on it," Angus told her. "See that apple tree over there? It's just to the right of the apple tree--tucked in that little clump of bushes." He walked her over to the bushes. They were overgrown and there were a lot of weeds and vines tangled up around them.

"See? They're too overgrown. I doubt even Jack knows about this little spot because he's too bloody big to fit in between all the bushes. Come this way. There's a way a little person can squeeze in." He found the spot and crawled back in the midst of the bushes, leading her in. And right in the center were all sorts of ignored wild berry bushes, of all sorts of varieties. Long forgotten, they were flourishing here.

"Look--blackberries, currants, elderberries, loganberries...all sorts. And they're utterly delicious. And I don't think anyone knows they're here but me. So, for now, they're our little secret," he told her.

Jack looked at the horses and chuckled at their names " I'll take coal, since my name is black." he said chuckaling " we'll get along." he moved to the horse and listened to Tyler more " haha, yeah, they probably do" he strocked the horses mane and shoulders.

Ruby followed Angus and saw the spot he mentioned " yeah I see it." she said then moved with him again to the small opening. Crawling inside she chuckled and looked around moving to sit next to Angus " its like mother natures own buffet" she said reatching out and touching but not takeing a gooseberry. When he spoke and said it was their secret she smiled and kissed his cheek " thankyou for sharing this with me, its peacful here." she said " and we can always make pies with the fruit, leaving some for the animals and birds to eat of course."