A Birth day

Yu nodded to Nigel and chuckled at the banter between Robert and nigel. "of course " he said and looked at the paste he took several gauzes and placed the potion on it then after cleaning Khaats wounds he applied them to her just as he had done to Sergio's son while he watched Nigel wrap the plaster around the necklace that was shining green and emitting a tone constantly.

Jessie looked at Sam and chuckled "Of course" he said moving to sit up on the couch as he looked at Edward and Jack. " you seem to be doing great with him Sam" Jessie said " um has Angus returned yet?" he asked hoping he had with Anise. " I wonder how Sergios son's doing. " he spoke softly as he watched Cris playing happily. He moved to the kitchen and took out his cookies and set them to cool on the counterbefore returning to watch him again.

Jack walked over to Jessie and chuckled " relax Jessie , he'll relax once he knows you and us better, look how hes laredy relaxing around Sam even with their age diferences." he told him.

"The problem with you Gryffindors is that you don't give a flying fig what your consequences are," Nigel said to Khaat as he tended the wounds. You all seem to have this belief that you're immortal."

"No, we don't," Khaat told him. "Sometimes, though, the risks are worth taking, but you Ravenclaws can't ever seem to figure that out."

"Look," he replied. "I'm all for rescuing people out of the way of a speeding bus. That's all well and good, but you lot seem to think the best way to do it is to just dive headlong under the bus to try to stop it."

"You could have thought of a better way to stop this child from bleeding to death under the circumstances? We were out of time. It worked didn't it?"

"For the moment, but if these wounds don't quit, then what's your backup plan? Keep passing them around like a poker hand?"

"Well, I hadn't gotten that far because i rather thought you two would have it mended before we needed a backup plan."

"Oh. I see," Nigel laughed. "Your backup plan was to not need a backup plan in the first place."

"Right," she replied.

"Your plan stinks," he told her. "And what if I'd been out on a hot date and hadn't been available today?"

"Nigel Sigworth, you haven't had a date in the last five years," she scowled.

"It's been longer than that, but that's beside the point," he replied. "There. That's one. Don't go anywhere. We have two more to stop, and you aren't going to feel like bouncing up anyway. How's the boy, Robert?"

"Looking a little better," Robert said.

"Clean yourself up before you go talk to the parents. You'll scare them to death as you are," Nigel said.

"Yeah. I'll need a moment," Robert replied, stepping over to the sink to wash his hands and arms.

"Your face too from where you wiped your forehead. Check the mirror," Nigel told him. Robert sighed, and opened an upper cabinet door where he had put a mirror on the inside of the cabinet and saw the smudges of blood on his face. He washed his face and then returned to start cleaning up the boy, the bedding, taking his clothes for a gown, cleaning up the floor and everywhere in radius. He knew he did not want to leave a single smudge to betray to Sergio and Ana how horrendous it had been. "There. That's two," Nigel said. "Just one more. These claw marks were made by smaller, thinner, sharper claws than what I've ever seen," Nigel said.

"Its because they were made by a child werewolf," Robert said. Nigel was stunned. He whirled around to look at Robert.

"Say that again?"

"It was a child who was turned. He's barely seven. When they're small like this, that's what their claws look like," Robert said, still cleaning.

"I have never seen a child who was turned," Nigel said, horrified in his own way.

"Stick around. I'll introduce you when we get done here," Robert said. "I have yet to meet him myself, but he's here." Nigel didn't reply. He merely went back to work, and after several more tense minutes, he closed the third wound and put dressings on all of the spots. Then he helped Robert to clean the rest of the sickbay. Robert summoned Marcus, who came and brought fresh clothes for Khaat. After they helped her change, Marcus apparated her upstairs to her room to rest, while Robert went to talk to Sergio and Ana. Nigel stayed to keep watch on the boy.

Yu handed Nigel the gauses once he'd put the paste on them he also saw Robert washing clean of blood and he was glad the boy would be allright. When he spoke about Cris he nodded to Nigel " his name is Cris" he said as he wiped away blood from Khat and applied another gauze to her skin. When Nigel told them all were closed he relaxed just a little. " will he be okay?" he asked Nigel" knowing it was probably maybe if she stayed still. He saw Marcus aperate with Khaat up to her room he started to clean the med bay doubling what Nigel and Robert had already done making double sure it was fully clean as he had seen a few spots Robert had missed. " I'll continue cleaning if you want to go see Sergio and Anna and tell them about their son," he said taking the sheets and placing them in a wash basket to be washed.

"Yes, please. Thank you, Yu. They're frantic for good news," Robert said. He went upstairs and found Sergio and Ana pacing in the living room. When he said that they had stopped the bleeding and that, the boy was weak but out of danger, Ana curled into Sergio, feeling nothing but immense relief.

"When can we see him?" Sergio asked.

"He's still unconscious. He needs rest right now," Robert said, "but you could see him for a moment."

"I need to see him because I need to go back," Sergio said. "I need to find the beast that attacked my son..."

"Sergio," Robert said, wanting to be tactful. "Angus and a couple others found the werewolf, but you need to know. This werewolf is not what you would expect. The one who did this is just a little boy. He's just a tiny lad that was turned by the beast you caught with Edward and Anise and Jessie not long ago...."

"What!" Sergio was thunderstruck. "A child? Someone turned a child?"

"Yes. His family turned him in to officials to be eliminated, but the boy escaped and has been living on his own for a long time. We have him--alive. He will not be returned to your village because they believe him to be dead." Sergio and Ana sat down, trying to take it all in.

"I need...I need to think," Sergio said.

"Understandable. Your son was not bitten. Clawed, but not bitten," Robert said. "Not that I can find, anyway. Why don't you both go see him?" They nodded.

"Thank you," Sergio said, and they went downstairs.

Angus knew Cris needed to know the truth. He went over to Jessie's and Edward opened the door.

"Can I speak with Cris for a moment?" Angus asked.

Yu nodded nd continued to clean up the room making it as if nothing bad had happenws he even cleaned the boys face and hands clean of blood so he would look respectsable for his perents. Now with the boy clean he turned his attenshion to the bedding that sat waiting to be washed. Jessie turned seing Angus walk in and ask to speack to Cris. " sure" he said and smiled at Cris before moving with Jack out to the porch area to wait till he'd spoken to Cris.

Jessie paced wondering what they were going to do with him but Jack made him sit " stop worrying, hes in safe hands" he said and Jessie chuckled and did his dep breathing to slow his thoughts and rid him of his worry.

"He needs to know the truth, Jessie," Angus told him. "Not knowing what he is and what's happened to him and his family is only going to make him believe that you and your house is just a stopover. He needs to know that everything he's ever known is going to change so that he can grieve and get angry and act out--and then start to heal. I want him to take it out on me so that he doesn't ever have any of those angry bitter feelings about you. Give me a few minutes alone with him."

Angus spoke to Cris and took him by the hand and took him outside.

"Jessie," Edward said, "don't forget that over the years, Angus has had to do this ugly task countless times in Paris, having to tell kids that they can't go home again because their parents sold them out to Gelding. This isn't going to be much different. He's doing this hideous piece so you don't ever have to."

Angus took his time and told Cris about being bitten, and that was something Cris remembered. He showed Angus a big ugly scar on the back of his right leg, on his calf, that had been where he had been bitten. The lad knew what a werewolf was--sort of. He had been told werewolves were monsters, ruthless killing machines. And when Angus told him that wasn't entirely true and that, with medicine, it didn't have to make people into monsters, Cris seemed to accept that. When Angus told him that the bite had infected Cris too and that if he didn't take the medicine, he would become a werewolf at night every so often and probably not remember what had happened while he was in werewolf form. That was not something Cris wanted. Angus explained that the medicine tasted bad but that it really did help, Cris wasn't entirely opposed.

But then came the hard part. Angus had to explain the facts of what had happened to him and his family and how he had come to be on his own in the woods---and that he could never go home again because his parents had not known the entire facts about werewolves and had believed that Cris would not be human and needed to be hunted like other monsters.

Cris burst into tears of grief and rage, and he flung himself at Angus, screaming and beating on Angus with his fists and kicking him and just basically having a meltdown. Angus glanced up and saw Edward watching from Jessie's patio door. Angus raised up a hand to signal Edward that he didn't want anyone interfering. He just let Cris wear himself out until Cris was laying limp against him in a little, heartbroken puddle.

Angus explained that they had a new, safe place for Cris to be with people that would be good to him and understood how he could have a normal life and not be living in the woods on his own anymore. He explained that nobody was going to rush him into anything. Angus accio'd the stuffed dinosaur, but he signaled to Edward.

"Angus wants you to go comfort him," Edward told Jessie. "Save your words. He wouldn't hear them right now even if you did speak his language. But its important that you be the one to comfort him now that he knows the truth."

Jessie listened to Edward and nodded " I understand" he said and stood up to give Angus space. Jack stood betwen him and Edward and the doorway as they all watched what was hapening inside. Jessie stood silent as he watched Cris explode in anger but then calm down tears rolling down his litle cheek. When Angus had singnled to not intervean as Cris nad let out his anger Jessie nodded again and waited.

Soon he saw Angus and Edward have a silent conversation and he heard Edward say he could go to him he nodded and moved to Cris wrapping hs arms gently around the boy and holding him close to him in he hoped comfort but he said no words ltting his actions speack for him and show Cris he was there to help and comfort him. Jessie looked at Angus as he held Cris.

"I told he knows he's a werewolf--what he understands of werewolves at his age, anyway. Robert will be a help to you there since Remus was even smaller than that when he was turned. From what he's told me about those years, his memories are surprisingly vivid about that time period. He might be able to help you help him understand, but Cris is willing to take the wolfsbane. He knows it tastes bad, but he was told werewolves are monsters, and he does not want to be a monster. For now, that might be all he needs to know. He's got enough to work through today as it is." Angus handed Cris the dinosaur, and Cris wrapped it tight into himself, now, almost hiding in Jessie.

"I feel for him. His whole world feels to him like it just fell apart. He'll be okay, though," Angus said. "Let me know if I can help." He got up and simply walked back home. As Edward watched a package apparated into the living room. It was the clothing allotment from Clive that Edward had ordered for Cris.

Sam set about opening the package, getting out the clothes and sorting them, tops from trousers from pajamas, jackets, knickers and socks. The clothes were cute and colorful. Clive had done outstandingly well. And Sam even found a couple dinosaur tees and some dinosaur pajamas.

Jessie lookd at Cris then to Angus as he spoke to him abut what he'd told Cris. " I know what thet feels like" Jessie said and looked at Cris now cuddled against him holding the dino tight in his hands " but he has nothing to worry about." Jessie smiled seeing the box apear and sam unpack it. " thanks Angus and I will do that" he said then he thought of something " do you think its too much if we got him his own bed?" he asked Angus wondering if he was going too fast again but for now he was comfortable staying with Cris on the couch but he also wnted him to know he had his own place and things to reasure him this was a safe place.

"No. I don't think its too much. He has absolutely nothing of his own. Give him some roots to anchor into," Angus said. "When Edward and Caprice took me in, that was the one thing that meant the most--the sense that I was theirs--unconditionally loved, and with a permanent place where I belonged. he needs roots. And understand he could have some rough going for a little, but it'll come. You know where to find me if I can help."

Angus turned and went home. When he got inside, Victor poured Angus a cup of fresh tea

"You just let that little turd beat you up?" Victor asked Angus.

"Yeah," Angus said.

"Why?"

"He's upset and hurting. He lost everything he's ever known."

"Sort of like Sam and me," he sighed.

"Sort of, yeah. And sort of like I did too," Angus said.

"Did he hurt your shoulder?"

"Well, I don't think it was ready for a seven year old's temper tantrum, but it'll be fine," Angus said.

"Why don't you get a little pain potion to take the edge off. You want your magic wrap? Might keep it from swelling."

"Maybe, but Marcus isn't here to help me with it."

"He said he'd be here in a few minutes. He was helping Khaat for a little, but he'll be straight back," Victor said.

"Then it'll wait until he gets here," Angus said. Instead, he sat with his tea in the quiet.