LONDON CALLING

Edward dug into his linguini, and he smiled. "This is quite nice. Thank you, Ruby. You come to Tuscany, and you end up cooking your own Italian food. Something not fair in that, but its quite lovely all the same. And--I love just eating in the kitchen instead of fiddling with the dining room, and I especially love having friendly faces at my table. This is what family is about. People who love you and the quality time you spend with them. Nothing else matters."

"To family," Michael said, making Edward's sentiment into a toast. They all raised their beers and joined the toast. They had a quiet but relaxing supper. Even Angus appeared to be really trying to focus in on the present and not be thinking terribly hard ahead.

While Angus and Michael were stepping in after dinner to clear the table and set the washing up spells in place, Brian told Jack he believed that just for an abundance of caution, he believed he needed to pop home and get some pistols. He ported back to the farm, loaded some pistols with silver bullets and brought them back. Edward armed himself with his own pistol and with his silver axe.

Angus did not want this ending like last night, but a part of him already knew that the chance of his mother surviving this were very slim. He busied himself by taking the kitchen trash bag outside and putting it in the outdoor trash can. It was getting dark outside, and he knew that the moon was full enough still tonight that there would be transformations happening.

"Jack, did you take your potion?" Robert asked him.

Angus tucked his gun into his holster and watched everyone else gearing up too. His blood was running cold. Part of him now wondered if their rush to secure the estate had been driven in part by his need to try to see his mother one more time, to try to see if there was any humanity left in her at all. Edward walked over to him and purposely drew Angus's face up to look at him.

"If she comes, and if she can be reached, we will do that. If her humanity is lost to us and all that remains is the monster within, I will have to stop her," Edward said quietly. "Angus, I do not hate your mother. I don't like how she treated you when you were a child, but I don't have a need to kill her. However, I cannot allow a mad, murdering werewolf to wreak havoc on us, our family, the Lupins, and the public at large. And the beast within will be full of rage because the beast remembers we took her mate. Eileen might not know, but the beast within absolutely knows. And it will try to kill us. So keep your head i the game tonight."

He turned and looked at all of them. "That goes for all of you. Head in the game or go home. I know this is your mission to command, Jack, but this is far too dangerous to play with. If someone isn't ready, they need to go back to the farm right now."

"Edward, it is Jack's mission but this is also about your home and your family, the mother of your first born grandchild. It isn't that simple," Robert said quietly. "I would hope you and Jack would be on the same page tonight. Jack? Your thoughts?"

"She's done fine on the missions she's been on before," Robert said. He looked at her.

"You know, Ruby? I'm not against you going on a mission, but I really wish you'd knock it off with that defiant attitude." His voice was calm and somewhat paternal, but her attitude truly bothered him at times. "No one cannot continue, over and over, to dig in their heels about what they think they will and will not do and stay employed with me--just so you know. Just consider this a bit of additional information. Anyone who remains in my organization is flexible, cooperative and works for the good of the team and mission's goals, and they ask for what they want or need. Everyone knows your preference to stay close to Angus, and, for the most part, no one has ever opposed that. But right before we face a full pack of new werewolves who have not developed any sort of controls is not the right time for any team member to be giving us lip.

"Now, as for tonight's work," he shifted gears to get off of the reprimand and to move on to prepare the entire team for the night's task. "This is going to look and feel very, very different. I don't know of anyone, Edward included, that doesn't feel some bit of horror when they see a werewolf face to face. There is immense strength and speed and enormous danger with a werewolf because of how savage and unpredictable they are. Most werewolves are brutal killers to humans. They don't generally prey upon other animals, but we are their primary food source, so when someone runs into a werewolf, most of the time, they are seen immediately as food, and all too often they're hunted and killed.

"For those who stay, you will need to stay close together. If we tell any of you that you're out, then you're out tonight. That has always been the rule for any team member. If you're told you're out, you use your medallion and you port home straight off or you apparate back here to the house.  

"Jack," Robert looked at him. "I think we should let her go, but she will need to listen. It's your command. Do your best to keep the team in line. I'll do my best to help you."

He deliberately looked at Jack and then at Angus to send Jack a silent message that he would look out for Angus tonight, and Brian nodded very slightly to silently tell Jack that he would help Robert try to keep Angus safe. Brian really didn't want to see Angus again tonight beneath a headless corpse. It was just fact that the team's mission was on getting some control of Eileen Donohue and the pack that James had cobbled together of brand new werewolves that knew nothing about the world of werewolves that they had just entered. It was also just plain fact that it was highly likely that Eileen Donohue might not survive the night, and it was also plain fact that Angus wanted desperately to find a way to save her. Robert absolutely knew that Angus would follow the team--until the point where his mother's life was at risk. And then he would not hesitate to try to rescue her. But for Robert, it was also a fact that he had not shared with anyone else that Angus's aim to save her was completely unrealistic and completely impossible to achieve. If Eileen died tonight, Robert and Kate were going to have to step in as the parent figures and help Angus to rescue him from himself.

"Much better. Thank you," Robert smiled. He really did want her along, but she was new in so many ways that she needed to settle in and trust the team that they did look out for each other. He knew she was anxious about Angus, but she needed to learn that they could and would look out for Angus if he needed looking after.

Edward dimmed the kitchen lights so he could see out the window to see what was happening outside.

"There's a pack assembling in the yard," Edward said. "There are all the wolves we saw last night, so far as I can see, and a few more. I'm guessing they didn't bring all the pack last night. These are young ones. They may not be so young in their human age, but as far as werewolf skills go, theses are newly turned ones. Jack, you might want to look for yourself."

What Edward was seeing was a lack of organization, and a relative ignorance of pack law. The new wolves were basically running amuck in the yard, peeing and pooping everywhere, ripping things up, chewing on things, wrestling with each other, and generally making a massive teenaged wolf mess.

"God, I hate it when they don't know the first thing about being a werewolf. They're just a pain in the butt," Edward sighed, annoyed. "They rip up my flowers and my garden, and I'll make handbags out of them." As he was watching, he saw a female with muddy brown fur and some odd looking blonde streaks, as if she was hit with a paint can at some point.

"There," Edward said. "That has to be her. That muddy dirty blonde is her natural hair color. I think what blonde you see is part of the dyed blonde hair that she has in human form. Sort of odd that it's so patchy. And look, she wants to get back into the billiards room in the window she left out of last night."

"That's her. It has to be. Look at the eyes. I'd know those eyes anywhere. I need to try to talk to her," Angus said.

"It isn't going to work, my boy," Edward said, turning and looking at him. "Angus..."

"Let me try!" Angus was urgent now. He knew that the odds were almost none at all that he could find her humanity. "I have to know I tried!" Edward looked at Jack.

"I'll go with him," Edward told Jack. "Could we compromise, Jack? It looks like she has some sort of authority in this mob. If we have to eliminate her, the rest of them are likely to go bananas. If you leave her to Angus and me, could you lead the others to manage the rest of the pack? And if I have to take her out, then we'll be in a big hairy werewolf pile up. That won't be easy to deal with, and you'll need every fighter we have here to manage them. Once we deal with Eileen, Angus and I will jump right in to do whatever we can do to help. Does that work for you, Jack? Or do you have a better idea?"

"Do try to leave her to me if you can, please? She's mine," Edward said. "You're welcome to do what you need to do if I fail, though, certainly." He picked up his silver axe off the table, and left his arm at his side, not raising it in a threatening position. Then he turned to Angus. "Get this straight, Lad. I'm not coming with you. You're coming with me, and that's vastly different. Let's go."

He went outside with Angus and walked over to where Eileen was trying to get in the window.

"Eileen!" Angus shouted at her. She turned, saw Angus, didn't seem to see Edward, and growled.

In the house, Michael was with the others, watching this play out. He glanced at Robert.

"This isn't going to go the way Angus wants it to, is it?" he asked Robert quietly. Robert never took his eyes off of Eileen.

"No," Robert replied quietly. "This can only go the way Edward believes it can go. I have to agree with him. She is not experienced enough to have anything at all human inside her. She does not have any capacity for understanding human speech or behavior at all at this stage. Right now, she sees Angus as just a food source."

"Eileen," Angus called, taking a couple slow steps forward.

"That's close enough," Edward said. "Stay still."

"Mother," Angus called. "Remember. You have to remember. I'm your son." He took off his jacket and laid it on the ground, hoping she might smell it and remember. He dared to take another step forward, and as he did, the silence was broken by a far more chilling sound.

It was a loud, long, ferocious howl by a very large male wolf. Robert knew this howl anywhere. He looked over to the west, behind the pack and saw a silhouette against the moonlight. He didn't have the slightest doubt. James. Effing James. And this howl was one Robert recognized as a howling sound that always seemed to urge any werewolves within the area to attack.

"James. Mother-effing James!" Robert cussed. That sounds alone was going to rain the wrath of hell down upon this estate. He drew his wand, prepared to go help Edward, but Edward was already on it.

Edward had apparated deliberately in front of Angus, and now Edward raised his axe.

"NO!!!" Angus shouted, hoping against hope he could reason, but Edward knew they were out of time. Angus raced to try to grab the axe, and Edward used his free hand to cast a wandless magic spell to fire a knockback jinx to knock Angus backwards and put him on the ground. Eileen made one last crazed leap to try to fling herself at Edward to kill him, and Edward took one swift swing and eliminated her.

"Michael, go!" Robert shouted. "Jack, your team--go!"

Ever the extraction expert, Michael didn't need any other instruction. He knew what Robert needed him to do. Michael drew his wand, apparated out, grabbed Angus by his sling since it was the quickest thing he could grab, and he apparated back out with him. Edward had whirled around, prepared to defend Angus, just in time to see Michael getting Angus out completely. Edward was visibly relieved.

"Now, down to business," Edward said, ready to face the pack in front of him.