A Birth day

"Maybe James, but if we find out they're not werewolves, I don't see a way to really connect them to James. I really doubt it's Rob. The Rob I knew never had any desire to hire a couple of dropouts to do his dirty work. He was far more the type to hire a loose woman. He liked to surround himself with lots of women. I went with Robert once or twice when he busted up Rob's potions lab, and the cauldrons were all being manned by beautiful women who all thought Rob was God's gift to virility. And, believe me, that didn't give him any points with Robert either," Angus told her. "Rob is just a sleeze--an egotistical, lazy sleeze."

"You know," he said, thinking, and a new idea hitting him, "if I didn't know better, this strikes me as far more the sort of thing that either your father or mine would have done for Tom. Maybe this is all Tom's doing. After all, we do know James is still waiting for Tom to pay up by delivering Khaat to him. And, if he's working on another big auction, maybe he's got some sick kids. I don't know. I know it's tempting to draw conclusions without evidence, but that's also an easy place for mistakes to happen. Perhaps we shouldn't be trying to draw any conclusions until we do our search. Maybe we'd best get over to A&E and search that treatment room before we do anything else."

Ruby listened to Angus and at the mention of Tom she gave a soft gasp realizing she'd completely not thought of him doing something like this and she nodded " yeah, does sound like something he would do, but we should check the A&E to check Im betting things will be missing there." she said and followed him down the corridor to the A&E and held open the door for him and then followed him inside she walked over to the nurse's desk and spoke to someone who handed her a clip board with a long list pinned on it.

" here this is their stock list" she said and handed it to Angus to take a look at as they walked around the department looking at the equipment.

Angus looked at the list. He handed it back to Ruby and went to the potions cabinet. He found it entirely empty.

"So, this part looks pretty clear to me," he said. "I think one of two things happened. Either they didn't know one potion from another so they just cleared the shelves off and dumped them in the bags. Or--they didn't have much time so they did the same thing--cleared the shelves and dumped the bottles in the bags. This was done fast." He opened the drawer where the dressings and bandages and gauze were kept. That hadn't been touched. It was all still here.

In a lower cabinet, he found sealed bundles of equipment. They were rolled in some sort of white cotton fabric. He took one and opened it and looked at what was inside. He saw a number of instruments that he'd seen Robert use in the past.

"Looks like these are emergency surgery and suture kits," he told her. "There's a number of them in here. Doesn't look like any were taken. I think they were probably bundled and taped shut to keep them sterile. And the shelf below that are plastic basins of various sizes. I bet you'll find sheets and blankets and gowns over there." He closed the cabinets and went over towards where the bed was and saw some dangling cords. He looked at the list again.

"That's weird. There's a mention of two small, liquid oxygen tanks. They should be right here. but they're not. Those are small but not that small. They'd have had to shrink those things to get them out. Wonder what they want those for. Maybe Robert has a couple ideas about other uses for them. It would be worth asking. You turn up anything?"

Ruby followed beside Angus watching and counting as he opened each draw and cupboard to inspect it as he opened the bandage draw she noted it was correct, and then as he opened each draw she ticked off it, and it was correct. " I agree with the hurried approach," she said as he opened the cupboard with blankets and sheets in "Hum, four sheets and three blankets," she told him "That's what the difference is" She marked it and moved to another opening it she saw the suture and emergency surgery kits, It was now she turned to look where Angus was looking and walked over and looked in the cupboard "yeah, List says there should be three right here" she added then looked on the shelf above " hum Oxygen masks are missing too" she marked them on the list and nodded to Angus " has more medial minded and could tell what they would be used for." she said the shook hr ehad " nothing other than what we've already found," she said taking the list off the board and handing the board to the charge nurse. Folding the paper she slipped it into her pocket.

"may be we should check on Robert now so he can take a look at the list of missing things to see if he could come up with a reason as to why they would take them," she said moving to hold his hand ready if he wanted to port them back to the main house where she knew Robert would be.

"Yeah. We should go soon, but I want to check that stairway before we go," he said. When they finished in the treatment room, he headed down the stairs, and, at first he didn't see a thing. Then he lifted the lid on the trash can, and inside he saw some unused oxygen masks in their sterile packaging still. He laughed.

"Well, okay. This proves impulsivity. Looks like they took the oxygen masks, decided they didn't need them, and they tossed them out," Angus said. "So it looks more and more like it was a dash-and-grab.

As he was turning to look at Ruby, things went off the rails all at once. He saw a very large man coming up on Ruby from behind, a wand pointed right at her.

"Don't move," he said to her. And as he spoke, someone grabbed him from behind, an arm around his neck, a wand jabbed into his neck from the other side. And he smelled perfume. a lot of it. "Moira," he sighed, wrinkling his nose, "you know, I like patchouli but not that damned much. Damn, Girl. You stink."

"Then I'll just take care of you right now," she hissed in his ear, "and then I won't have to listen to your mouth, Asshat."

"You can try," he told her. He heard a soft snapping sound behind him, and he knew that sound. It was the snap of a switchblade. He didn't hesitate. He deliberately jerked his head backwards so that it slammed hard into Moira's withe a loud crack. She cried out sharply, surprised. It made Angus's own head spin hard for a moment, but he didn't have time to pay attention to it. He stomped hard on both of her feet, with his full weight boring into her feet. She shouted obscenities out to him, as he then kicked his foot back, hard, right where he knew it would cause her some serious discomfort. It made her let go of him immediately, crumpling to the floor.

"Duck!" he told Ruby, firing a powerful blast wandless magic right into the face of the man who was behind her.

Ruby nodded and followed him to the starwell watching as he lifted the lid on a bin and saw the masks dropped inside " hum." she said but as she looked up at Angus she heard him and stood stock still but as she didna large hand snaked around her and grasped her throat tight making her raise her hands to try and pry them away they were tight enough to cut off just enough air to make her feel weak but not enough to make her pass out . She watched as Moria spoke to Angus and tried to attac him but he had the upper hand.

When Angus told her to duck she stomped her heel down on the mans foot which made him drop her to her knees gasping for breath . she stayed on the ground waiting for Angus to say she could stand up safly. she rubbed the reddening lines around her neck as she waited for the all clear.

He hit his alarm on his pendant, knowing it would alert Marcus and Khaat and Aria and Jess. Angus's own head was spinning, and he was hoping this chapter was done, but Moira and the big oaf that was behind Ruby took off on the run up the stairs, trying to escape.

"Oh, damnit," he sighed. "Ru, stay here. The cavalry should be here in a moment." He raced up the stairs after them.

"Uh oh. Trouble," Marcus said sharply when their alarms sounded.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go," Khaat said, rising to her feet.

"And deliberately walk you into trouble?"

"I'm not going to hide up here if Angus and Ruby are in trouble. Let's go," Khaat told them. "I am not completely helpless."

"Let's go," Marcus told Aria. Khaat apparated out, responding to the alarm on her pendant, and Marcus did the same. They landed in the basement and saw Ruby there by herself. Marcus went over to her. "You okay?" he asked her. "Where's Angus?"

Ruby nodded to Angus as he told her to stay put as he passed by her. She took short breaths in as her throat felt like it burned with each breath. Aria felt her medalion vibrate and she looked to Marcus just as Jess ported into the room " Okay, whats wrong" she asked her wand at the ready. Aria stod up and drew her own wand and looekd to Khaat.
"yeah let go" she said as they all left and headed to the abck stairs to find Ruby on her knees taking slow deep breathes.

Jess moved to her when asked where Angus went she pointed in the direction he had gone. It was now she said one Word "Moria" she crocked out as Jess placed her hand over Rubys throat to heal the bruising that was begining to show.

"Go, get them, I'll stay with Ruby." Jess said to Khaat , Aria and Marcus as she helped her to sit on the step while she tended to her. Aria moved up the stairs with her wand out and her eyes searching for signs of where they had gone to her left she saw a door just about to close " There!" she said pointing to it.

"I'm on it," Marcus said, seeing the door closing. "It goes to the rubbish room. There's an external exit from there." He ran after them. The room was partly full of rubbish bins that were due to be emptied when the truck came. Marcus saw that an overhead garage type door had been opened at the bottom maybe a couple feet, and he saw a flash of Angus skittering under the door and out as he followed Moira and her thug. "That way," Marcus said.

"Be careful. Muggle neighborhood," Khaat called.

"I don't think Moira cares," Marcus said, sliding under the door and outside too. Khaat took hold of the door and opened it to about waist high and then ducked under it and ran after Marcus, not losing a step, even in her heels.

Angus scooted around a corner, and the moment that he did, Angus was scooped up like a sack of flour and hurled into a stone fence--by James. And he wasn't alone. He had some of the men from his pack with him. The moment, Angus hit the fence, it all went black and he fell in a limp heap on the pavement.

"Aria! Get Khaat out of here! Now! Go!" Marcus shouted, hoping Jack or Jessie or Edward had heard the alarm and perhaps were on the way. Even so, they'd end up with Jess and Ruby and not with him out here. As Marcus figured it, he was about to be on his own.

Aria moved with Marcus and Khaat following beside the two of them she saw Angus being thrown back towards them and heard Marcus glancing at him she nodded and held onto Khats arm porting them to the main house. Seeing Jack she quickly told him what had happened and he ported back to the alley, Jack growled seeing James.

"James" he growled at James "How many times do we have to do this dance, brother." He told him moving to Marcus as he faced off on his own brother and Moria both in the alley standing close to Angus. Jessis apeared bedise him and held his wand tight as he looked at Jack to Marcus and back.