Marcus apparated in and made a beeline for Nigel. Nigel saw at once that something had gone dramatically wrong.
"Who's down?" Nigel asked.
"Angus," Marcus said. "Marie got him, and she had her people bury him alive in a casket underground. We got him out, but he was in a full arrest when we got to him. Robert's taking him home to the bayou house. He needs his bag."
"It's right here," Nigel said, going to the other side of the room. He got it and handed it to Marcus. "Robert might need help. I'll join him if someone either gets me coordinates..."
"We'll come and get you and bring you when you can get free," Marcus said.
"I have a commanders medallion," Nigel said, showing Marcus he had the same medallion that all the team commanders had tonight. "I'll let you know."
"Fair enough," Marcus said. He took the bag and apparated back to the bayou house.
"Where is she?" Evan said, driven to find Marie now. Then he got a glance of her. She was over near on the far side of the back yard of the shack, near an old well. "Ah ha. There she is. She's at your 10, Ruby, by the well."
Robert and Kate were going to take him to the bedroom, but Angus became upset, desperate to be able to see outside. Four walls of any kind right at that moment felt suffocating to him. It made sense to them, and so they put him in the chair by the windows that he was used to. Kate brought a basin, soap, and towels, and Marcus had brought him a pair of pajama shorts. Not wanting anyone else to see him unclothed, they took his filthy clothes from him, hastily washed him up and put the clean pajama shorts on him. They made quick work of a shampoo, and then, last but certainly not least, Marcus sat on the arm of the chair and slowly washed the dirt and mud from Angus’s face with fresh, warm, scented water. Kate brought some ice water and also some of Robert’s calming almond tea. Robert was continuing to monitor Angus’ heart and lungs closely.
He was also very concerned about Angus’ nerves. Robert was very well aware that being buried alive was a relatively common fear, and within it, it held some of the most common fears of all mankind—fear of the dark, fear of death, fear of rejection, fear of abandonment, fear of being alone—there was a whole list of them that were all wrapped up in one experience. And Angus had had good reason in his lifetime to have experienced a good many of these. Angus was going to need and want to have the people he loved the most to be close to him for awhile, probably in small numbers. He was going to need wide open spaces and light and a lot of fresh air. Probably familiar and safe settings. And, given a little time, he was going to need to train. He would need to regain his confidence as a fighter. Robert did run it through his mind about perhaps bringing Jeffrey in, but once Angus recovered from the physical ordeal of nearly dying, Robert knew Angus would return to being very closed about what he thought and felt. And the last person he would confide in would be a stranger. It was far more likely that he would confide in Marcus and Edward and Ruby. When he was physically recovered, he knew that the other first stringers would wrap around him and get him back out running and strength training again.
For now, though, Angus had to recover from nearly being asphyxiated. He was still struggling for air, still coughing, still had irregular breathing and heart rate. He was still, understandably, confused, and Robert was detecting that Angus had a fierce headache from the lack of oxygen and a good deal of chest pain. It was all textbook, Robert knew, and it was part of what had Angus still quite anxious and rattled.
Marcus brought Robert’s bag, and Robert rooted in a side pocket and got out a gold pendant.
“Got this from Nigel,” Robert said. “Apparently, they’ve been using this for some time. I hope it works.” The pendant had a gold coin that had a rune with the symbol of air on it. It was designed to be very lightweight, with a strong but fine chain. Marcus, put this around his neck, would you, and then press the rune symbol. Let’s see if it helps.” Marcus did as Robert asked, and he felt a slight breeze around Angus’s face. “Give him a moment now,” Robert said. “Nigel said he keeps these in his bag now. They’re amulets that create a circle of oxygen. Doesn’t work underwater, but for cases like this, it works similarly to a muggle oxygen mask, or so Nigel says. It might help him breathe easier.”
“Where’s Ru…the kids…” Angus was trying to speak, but his voice was hoarse and almost entirely gone and was only a very faint whisper. Part of that was the asphyxiation itself and part was, Robert guessed, from some effort that he guessed Angus had made to try to call for help.
“They’re safe,” Marcus said, not actually knowing if they were safe or not. “They’ll be here shortly.” Marcus felt that this was one time when a little white lie was probably best. He picked up the water and fed Angus a couple small sips. “Better?” Marcus asked. Angus nodded. Robert cast a pain relief spell and some additional sedation, and that was going to hit Angus a good deal heavier. Robert saw it as necessary tonight, though. Angus suddenly panicked a bit when his eyes fluttered shut because of the spell, and he latched hard onto Marcus. “You’re safe. We’re not leaving. It’s safe to close your eyes for now,” Marcus told him. A moment later, Angus unintentionally slipped into a light sleep.
“Robert,” Kate asked softly. “How is he really?”
“He’ll be alright,” Robert said. “Tonight will be the roughest. He is desperately going to need familiar surroundings. I honestly want to get him home—really home—back to the duplex. I might move him there in the morning whether we get Marie tonight or not. We have enough operatives that I might be able to pull him out. He isn’t going to be in any shape to fight her again, not for awhile, and I want this wrapped up sooner than that.”
“And if you’re needed here?”
“I’ll have to go back and forth…”
“Couldn’t we ask Nigel..”
“Medically, yes. However, he needs to be surrounded with people he trusts, and I have a much better relationship with him than Nigel has with him.”
“You take him home and the rest of your team is going to want to go with him. They’re going to want to wrap around him. That’s what this team does. They’re a tight, close knit family. They aren’t going to stay on the other side of the Atlantic, and you know it.”
“I haven’t solved that yet,” Robert said, pulling up a footstool to sit beside Angus and opening his bag.
“I thought you had him settled.”
“Partly,” Robert said. “I wanted him in a solid deep sleep first before I started this. Look at his fingers, Kate. He tried to claw his way out. His fingertips are bloody and bruised and full of splinters from that old rotten wood because he was just that damned desperate. I could do it fast with magic. Or I can do it right and do as much of it by hand as I can see. This is going to take awhile.” He got out some equipment and, using a good magnifier, he set to work in silence.
by 
