A Birth day

Ruby listened to Lizzy and chuckled as she nodded to her then saw her dive back into the kitchen. She chuckled hearing Angus say they could return to eating their breakfast then she heard the commotion at the new breakfast treat that was given to everyone in the restaurant. "I'm happy we all gave her a new breakfast idea," she said smiling as she continued to eat. Ruby saw Caprice had finished her mesh and looked to Simone . " how do you fill the pacifier?" she asked wondering how to do it so she could do it at him for her.

Now finished she placed her knife and fork on the plate and sat back in her chair now full. " that was wonderful" she said and smiled at Angus " I'm glad we did this " she said " I'd forgotten how wonderful the people and atmosphere was here, it's welcoming" she said.

Simone was about to show Ruby how to refill the pacifier when some people came in to the restaurant, and they seemed to all be rather stirred up about something. Angus heard them mentioning something about a disturbance at St. Mungos. It sounded like it was still happening. He finally stopped a woman.

"What's happened?" he asked.

"Well, there's a nutter on the loose there, isn't there?" she looked at Angus. "She killed two healers. Stabbed 'em, she did, and she's taken Robert Lupin hostage up in the looney bin. And she says she's not lettin' him go til her fiance gets there." Angus's blood ran cold. It could only be one thing. They'd underestimated Evelyn, and Marcus was nowhere to be found this morning. And then it dawned on him. Evelyn wasn't looking for Marcus. Marcus wasn't the one she thought of as her fiance. He looked at Ruby, wide eyed as it all dawned on him.

"Oh my God," he said softly. "She's got Robert, and she's looking for me, not Marcus. I've got to go. I've got to get him out."

Ruby heard the commotion and looked at Angus. Listening to them talk her blood ran cold at the mention that Robert was taken hostage "We have to do something" she said and glanced at Edward and Simone knowing Angus would want to help him. And she was right as she heard him talk "Then we will go "Do you think you could take care of Caprice, we will be back. " she asked Simone," It's just we know this nutter and she is dangerous, very dangerous." She looked at Angus "that's if you want me to come, I know what shes thinking right now?" she asked him knowing sometimes he wanted her to stay safe.

Ruby looked at Angus and to Edwrad and simone then gave Caprice a light kiss on her head " We'll be home soon " she said softly to her but saw she was intrested in her new pasifire. " I', ready when you are, I do know Jess will be there and Jack, but maybe we should call the others too" she sujested. " as a back up."

"You need me to come?" Edward asked.

"No," Angus said. "The fewer the better. I'm not sure we'll get in since we're not with the ministry or with the hospital either one. Let's go, Ru. I don't think we should call the others because they probably won't get in either. If we see Jess or Khaat, we can suggest it if we think we're gonna need it, but you and I might be a formidable force on our own,"  Angus got up and reached for Ruby's hand, and then he apparated them to the fifth floor of the hospital, one floor above where the chaos was, knowing they would very likely have shut the rest of the hospital down below the fourth floor.  

"Now, Ru, listen," he told her seriously. "Their standard procedure is to bind a patient's magical powers once they're admitted to the fourth floor. So the only thing she's going to have at her disposal is some nonmagical weapon--probably one she's made herself, and I'm willing to be she's made a shiv from a part of a bed, a part from the toilet, something she could take apart and make into a weapon. And we already know she's quick and violent. Try to keep yourself at arm's length from her at all times. You don't want to get close enough for her to get ahold of you or wound you. Keep your eyes on her. Know where she is and what she's doing at all times. Don't worry about anyone or anything else. And focus. You have to really stay focused. Remember if she gets louder, you get quieter in direct proportion to how loud she's getting. If she gets worked up, you get calmer. She'll have to lower her voice to hear you. It may keep her from getting completely out of control with you. Got all that? I'll do the work at trying to get us in, and I'll try to get her preoccupied with me. If you get a chance to get Robert out, by all means, take it. He's far more valuable to too many people for us to lose him. I'll get out. Get him out if you can. Let's try this way." He took her to a back employees' stairway and he led her downstairs. They made it without difficulty to the fourth floor but as soon as they stepped out of the stairwell, they were stopped by hospital security.

"You have to let us through," Angus said urgently to one of them. "I'm the one she wants. I'm the fiancé."

"No one in or out..." one of the security officers began, trying to shove Angus back into the stairwell, with all intents of sealing him off from the fourth floor in the stairwell. Angus looked past him to see Jess was on the floor already.

"Jess! She doesn't want Marcus. She's looking for me! I'm the fiancé! You have to let us through!" Angus called to her. He knew she wasn't going to understand that, but Ruby did. And that was what mattered most to Angus. He believed that if Jess saw Ruby with Angus that as nonsensical as it was for Angus to be the fiancé, Jess might believe it.

Ruby listened to Angus and took his hand as he ported them to St Mungo's she followed him and when he stopped so did she. Listening to what he was saying she knew it made sense and nodded "Of course" she said " I'll follow your lead" she told him as they headed for the fourth floor. Opening the door she saw a guard and said nothing but standing slightly behind Angus as he spoke to the guard.

Jess had been dealing with injured and sending guards to lock rooms so the mad woman would not get into them. Hearing a familier voice she turned and looked seeing Ruby and Angus she looked to the guard " Let them threw, NOW!" she ordered and watched the guard back away to let them pass " thank the goddess your here" she said smiling " you too Ruby, shes some where on this floor I've got men going room to room and locking them after the patiants have been checked and removed to a lower level." she said " she's hiding we think in the family room, becarful six of my men are in the OR." she told him.

Angus breathed a sigh of relief when Jess let them through. Angus listened to Jess's briefing, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw aurors arriving. Just what they didn't need. Looking at them, he saw that one woman, that auror that had gotten his behind out of Azkaban. What the heck was her name again? He couldn't remember.

"Oh. Aurors. Great," Angus sighed. "That's another complication we don't need. Where are Khaat and Brian when you need them? Your friend is here though, Ruby. Whatever her name is. Maybe you could get her to work with us and not against us?" He looked back at Jess. "She's probably irked with me for getting her in here under a bit of a little white lie on my part. It worked to get her here, but clearly, she's been shiftier than any of us counted on. Let me ask you, Jess. The other lockdown unit on this floor--the unit for contagious diseases--have you had that unit searched? It wouldn't be easy for her to get over to that unit, I realize, but then again, it wasn't supposed to be easy for her to get a weapon either. Maybe you could ask the aurors to gown up against the contagious diseases and search that unit while we keep looking for her here? Might as well use them while we can since they're here, right?"

One of the aurors, a man looking to be about his own age, with dark hair, dressed in a pair of black twill trousers and a dark gray and white windowpane check buttondown came over to Angus and spoke quietly to him.

"I didn't bring Hiss but if you think we'll need him, I'll pop back and get him," the man said to Angus. Angus looked at the man square in the face, and he somehow knew at that moment, it was Michael, using polyjuice. "Where is he?"

"Don't know yet. They think she's got him and she's hiding someplace on this unit," Angus told him.

"I'm gonna turn that hussy into a cockroach," Michael seethed. "And if she's hurt him, I'm gonna get a can of insecticide and forget she's not really a roach."

"And I'll let you," Angus replied.

"So what's her beef?"

"I lied to her when I brought her here. She thought I was taking her to a 5 star hotel. And she has it in her head that I'm her fiance."

"When we get him out, you're going to tell me this whole tale over a pint, aren't you?"

"Hadn't thought about it."

"Well, yeah. Consider it payment for helping on this one," Michael told him. Angus just nodded.

Jess listened to Angus and saw him glance over to the Aurors "they're here to help with the search " she said "ministry's orders" She added a bit put out. Ruby glanced over and saw Aria who nodded she had seen her too. ordering several of her men she moved over to them.

"Okay so wher do we stand?" she asked looking at Angus. " my guys are at your command, I know you never come unless it's important so I'm here to help in any way I can" she looked to Ruby "Good to see you back," she said then looked to Jess " Im guessing infectious containment , we've practialy got every where but there locked down." glancing to her left she nodded again " michael" she simply said " I hope the Auror whose identaty you took is in a safe place." she then looked back to Angus " I know my men, well."

"I just suggested to Jess that your people gown up and go search the infectious disease unit," Angus said to Barnett. "It's decidedly harder to get off this floor, and if she had been able to get off the floor she wouldn't have needed a hostage. So she's here somewhere. I'm the one she wants. She's put out with me. I wager she'll trade him for me, and if she would, that would give us an opportunity, if the cards are played right, to take her at that point."

"It's risky,' Michael said. He looked at Barnett and nodded. "He's fine." Michael had absolutely no intention of telling her that Tony Dodd, the man who he looked like, was a man who didn't exist anymore. The hair had belonged to a homeless man in Australia that Michael had met decades ago, before Barnett had even been born. When the man died, all of his belongings were a mere handful of trinkets in an old cigar box, and one of the trinkets was the man's ponytail that he had cut off when the 70's ended and long hair was no longer fashionable. He'd tucked the hair in the cigar box, and, after Michael had inherited the box, he had simply tucked the box away at home. When he and Robert had needed an untraceable face for an alias for Michael, Michael remembered the cigar box, and he and Robert had cobbled together a whole life for a new man, Tony Dodd, and Michael had been using the same alias now for about twelve years or so, giving him an entire career at the Ministry. Michael did go on missions with the aurors from time to time because Dodd needed to look legit. So, Barnett did know Dodd, as far as just about anybody knew Dodd. She just didn't know the other half of the story, nor could they afford to have her know--not ever.

"Of course its risky, but if I come up with a better plan, I'll let you know," Angus said. "I'm going to have a second look. Maybe I'll see something that has just been overlooked."

"I'll go with you," Michael said. He looked to Ruby. "You coming, Ruby? Which end of the hall should we start at?"

"Let's start at the other end, down close to the elevators. My bet says she'd go that way since she knows that as her way out," Angus said. "Just in case, Jess, can you get us a copy of the floor plan so we can look at exactly how the footage is laid out in this unit? I'd like to look at it on paper, please."

"Fine by me," Michael said,

Aria listened to Angus and motioned to one of the other Aurors " gown up and check the infectious unit, take frank and Arnold" she said and he noded " get the rest of the men standing guard over any and all exits" she called after him. Turning back she heard Michael and just nodded before listening to Angus talk to Michael.

Ruby had listened and looked to Angus as he asked if she was gong and she noded " of course " she said " and by the way if shes harmed a hair on his head I'll be the one turning her into a bug for you both" she said taking out her wand , Jess chuckled and motioned for them to follow her .

"I have print outs of the floor plan " she said picking up a map off the nurse station and handing them each one. " helps new nurses when they arrive." she added. Ruby took her map and studied it looking at the orientation of the map then sliding it into her pocket.

Angus took a look at the plan, and so did Michael. As they walked down the hallway, Angus was trying to compare the spaces on the floor plan to what he was actually seeing. He stopped down near the elevators and frowned.

"Michael, what's this space here?" Angus pointed out. "There's an open space on the floor plan here, by one of the elevators, but I'm not seeing it here on the floor."

"Where?" Michael asked. Angus pointed it closer to him. "Oh. That. Well, remember, not all the elevators go up to the fifth floor. They changed that to try to improve security. That room you're seeing is a machine room that holds the hoist and the controllers for the elevators, and also looks like it holds some of the old muggle furnace system ductwork and such. We wouldn't have needed about half of that stuff, but we'd need some of it. So what they normally do is just put a cold air return vent in the wall and forget about it. There probably is a door to it somewhere but sometimes, quite honestly, we've changed them over to hidden doors to keep undesirables from mucking with them."

"Would Evelyn know about that?"

"I don't know," Michael said.

"And would there be any other escape from there other than how someone got in?"

"Unlikely," Michael said, "Well, let me correct that. If they went in the doorway, they might be able to use the cold air return if they wanted to crawl. Or vice versa. Other than that, though, no. There would be easier places for her to hide him than that, though."

"Well, alright. Let's just walk through it and check it out for ourselves. If we run out of ideas, then maybe I'll go crawling through the ductwork to find that machine room. I mean, they must have found her somewhere if six of the hospital security guards are in the OR, right?"

"Makes sense to me. Alright. Let's recheck the obvious first." They began walking through the rooms, checking the closets and the bathrooms and any other odd spaces they could check. And then Michael happened to see a black mark on the floor, like a smudge in the floor wax from pushing furniture across the tiled floor.. "Looks like they need to strip the wax in this room and..." He cut himself off. He checked his floor plan. He looked at Angus and Ruby and put his finger to his lips to motion to them to be silent. He pointed to the marks on the floor and then to a heavy wooden dresser that had been moved in that particular room. It looked to Michael like it might be covering perhaps where a cold air return vent to the machine room would have been put near the floor in that wall.

If they wanted to see behind it, they were going to have to move the dresser out of the way, but that would create noise and also would create light in the machine room. And both of those things would give their positions away.

Michael motioned to them to go back out into the hall to decide their next move without Evelyn having a chance to overhear them if she were, in fact, hiding in the machine room.