A Birth day

Lucian listened and followed them into an office he could see child-like pictures on the walls and felt they were from previous children they had rescued he had heard Marcus take on his suggestion of a leak but simply nodded to him. Walking around he let Angus open the floor and listened to him talk to Kate " Tied into my info" he said "Maybe we should get back ASAP" he suggested "Give him an unwelcome surprise should he make his move tonight." she folded his arms across his chest and waited as Abngus continued he looked to Marcus "Im sure Aria has already checked and double checked every lock and window, and the area" he added " she's good at that."

He looked outside and then at the tray with cinnamon buns slices on. He walked over and stood next to it "I'm sure.." he stopped as a note flew in and dropped at his feet " hum strange nobody knows I'm here" he said and picked it up, turning it in his hands he opened it and frowned " there on the move, we should get back and ready ourselves." he added walking over and handing it to Angus so he too could read it.

"We have to go, Fi," Angus said quietly, his brain racing. He agreed. He opened the floo once more.
"Ru, where are you?" He had some thoughts, and he wasn't liking them. And he was remembering something important. When Ruby's face appeared, he sighed with relief.

"Look. I'm on my way back right now. Turn the stove off if it's on. Open the pantry, and you'll see a sort of small red duffle bag on the floor. Grab it. It's a go bag for both babies. It's ready to go. Take both babies, and you and Aria apparate over to the main house now. Don't wait. Go now. Don't give Suzanne even the slightest chance to get the drop on you and Aria. We think James is coming and sooner than probably you all know there," he told her. "I'll be there in a moment."

Ruby had just turned the stove off and removed the cottage pie when she saw the floor open. Placing the dish on the counter she walked over to it and saw Angus, she looked to Aria who had gotten up from the couch and retrieved the bag "We have it, we'll let Khaat know whats happening." she said as Aria picked up Dimond. "we're out the door, stay safe" she said softly to him then closed the floor and headed with Aria and the girls wrapped in thick blankets over to the main house. Opening the door she moved to the fire where Jack had just put another log on to keep the room warm. He frowned but seeing the red bag nodded ushering them closer to the fire to warm them and the babies up.

Lucian nodded " seems those two are well versed in Blood attacks, shame to say." he said hearing Rubys' response and seeing Aria behind her with the bag. He slipped on his gloves and waited for the others to be ready " I assumb you will allow me to help?" he asked Angus and Marcus " I'd like to see for my self just how big of a problem Blood it" he said as he pulled down the balaclava to keep the cold off his face and so not to be recognised by Blood.

"They are," Angus said, taking out his portkey home. "Let's go. I won't turn down an extra hand."

Angus ported them straight home, and he landed just a few seconds after James landed with a team of werewolves and a team of Gelding's men.

"Tom! Where are you, you knob! Come pretend you're a man and face me yourself!" Angus shouted, his wand drawn. A blast of wand fire came his direction and missed him by several inches. "couldn't hit a barn if he was right in front of it," Angus muttered, but he now had a direction. And then, emerging from the trees, coming straight for him was James. Angus didn't see Jack here yet, but until then, James was his.

Angus was racing straight for James, slashing lightning fast, rapid fire nonverbal sectumsempras. Marcus glanced at Lucien.

"He has the fastest sectumsempra most of us have ever seen, but that still doesn't mean I'm going to let James have at him. See you on the other side." He apparated to go catch up with Angus to try to protect him. The only advantagte they had at the moment was that the moon had not come out from the clouds yet. The werewolves had not transformed--yet.

"Jack!" Robert shouted, seeing James arrive. "James is here, and Angus thinks he can take him on by himself. You might want to go give him a hand. Kate, sound the alarms, we need all the fighters we can get right now."

"Already done," she said, drawing her wand.

"No, don't you go out there," Robert said.

"The hell I won't," she said, apparating outside.

Lucian ported with them back to the estate he stood wand at the ready as he saw several large men and several smaller ones facing off. Taking his wand he held it up to the air and fired a flare that burst and floated for a moment. He heard Robert and nodded "I see that, maybe he can handle them on his own. " he joked but he heard feet running towards him six men stopped and stood behind Robert and Marcus. He looked to Robert "Back up" he said simply.

Jack being inside heard Robert and grabbed his wand to walk out and look at Blood " Again brother" he said and walked over to Robert as he fired his wand at several men behind Blood knocking them to the ground "I guess he new an s are the six other men ?" he asked joining them, seeing Aria appear beside him he looked at her " I told you to stay inside" he said and she frowned.

"what and miss this, don't worry Ruby is safe as are the babies," she said looking at Angus " She has her wand and firearm just in case" she saw a man sneak up behind Angus and fired at him. " your brothers a pain in the ass" she shouted to Jack who fired at Blood distracting him.

Lucian stood but seeing several blood men moving to flank them he motioned to two of his men and they stepped back and fired off several sectumsempras and the men fell dead.

"Friends--I think," Robert said to Jack, arriving himself, despite his leg not being ready for fighting werewolves. He could not allow Kate to battle werewolves while he sat inside and waited to see who lived and who did not. That wasn't how he had ever responded to a threat. Worth the gamble tonight, and worth the ass reaming he was going to take from Nigel later for thinking he was ready to go to battle on that leg. "Do try to keep your brother from killing Angus, Jack.. It'd be nice to keep him awhile longer, but I'd like to keep you too, so watch yourself. He is definitely more agro tonight than usual."

"Jack," Kate said from the other side, "I have an exceptionally bad feeling about this one. Stay close to Angus. There are some strange dark energies here, and I can't pinpoint them yet.  They're being targetted at someone to get them off their game. My gut says she's targetting Angus. Stay close and stay alert. I'll try to find out where they're coming from, but don't let Angus make a misstep."

Angus went after James with a ferocity that even Marcus hadn't seen much of before, but that didn't mean that Marcus didn't understand it. Angus was sick and tired of Suzanne and her vendetta against him. He was sick of her blaming him for her lack of any interest in anyone but herself and then blaming him when her life went off the rails. He was tired of being frightened for the lives of those he loved the most, and he was tired of seeing kids at risk over and over because of her. He continuously risked his life for children, and she had the gonads to come after him, time after time, to try to off him for it. He was ready to see it all stop, and Marcus definitely understood that. One of Lucien's men was watching Angus go after James like a man possessed, with almost blindingly fast slashing spells.

"Who does that little dude think he is going after that overgrown furball? He's gonna get eaten." Lucien's man asked

"That little dude is the grandson of the slayer, and he's not so little. He's damned near 6'6", I'm guessing. You're just seeing him next to that big brick dunny he's firing at." someone else replied. A female werewolf was right at Angus's 9 o'clock position, leveling her wand at him, preparing to strike, and Lucien's man hit her with an expelliarmus.

"Watch yourself, Zorro," one of Lucien's men called to Angus, not knowing Angus's name. "You've got more on all sides." Marcus fired at one on their right. That took out the werewolf on their three o'clock.

"Not anymore," Marcus said, hoping to help keep Angus covered, and he pivotted 180 degrees to take out Tom's fighter at the 9 o' clock position.

"James!" Edward used a sonorus spell as he walked calmly across the yard, his battleaxe at the ready. The deadly battleaxe with the glistening enchanted silver blade that had killed so many werewolves tended to frighten most werewolves that knew of its history and of Edward's prowess with it. The other werewolves automatically all moved back a couple steps just by virtue of seeing the famed slayer here, ready for business. "Touch him, and it will be your last," Edward said calmly. "He's mine, and you can't have him, not tonight, not any night."

"He's the payment," James fairly hissed the venomous words to Edward. "A deal is a deal, so I'm afraid he's not yours anymore. The claim has been made. He's mine. I own him now." Angus understood in that moment. If James managed to kill him tonight, that would satisfy Suzanne's crazy need to off him for taking Sam and Victor and now Diamond too. And that would, somehow, get Tom to deliver Khaat to him. The only issue with that was that Angus didn't intend to die tonight, first of all, and Tom didn't have Khaat to deliver her to James. So the plan wasn't worth a shit, but to a crazy nutball like James, when did logic ever matter? James, for the first time ever, had made the same ownership claim for someone else. He believed now that Angus was his too, the same way he believed he owned Khaat, but for entirely different reasons. Khaat was supposedly his mate that he was deprived of. He, on the other hand, was chattel, to be claimed and used as currency for the dowry for his bride. What a nutter.

"Good plan," Angus said. "But Tom doesn't have Khaat, and, after all these years, you can't get her either. Not sure why you're letting him scam you like that, but maybe you're just that stupid. He's made you promise after promise and hasn't delivered on a one. I think Tom should deliver Khaat first and then, you give him what he wants. I mean, it isn't like you don't know where I live. Make him kidnap Khaat first, and then, you come and get me after he delivers her to you."

"You don't know," James narrowed his eyes and hissed at Angus. "Here's how it's going to go. I'm going to turn your bloody corpse over to Lady Gelding, and she's going to return my female to me where she belongs. And then, I'm going to take your female and your cubs one by one and feed them to my pack. And the mighty slayer, I'm going to make that a public execution so that I will go down in the history books forever as the werewolf who slayed the mighty slayer." In that second, all Angus could see was his family in James's hands, and no one to defend them. The visual cut in his soul deeper than any blade could ever go. It made perfect sense now, how James and Lily had both sacrificed themselves in the flash of a mere moment, to protect Harry. It made immense sense. And in his distraction, Angus had entirely missed Edward's laughter. James' half baked, lame threat was ridiculous to Edward.

"Lady Gelding," Angus laughed, amused. "James, that moldy old bat is no lady. She's completely barking, she is, but if you want bargaining power, I'd take that barking old bat, and use her as ransom to get your own bride." James flashed a glance at Tom and Suzanne. Angus had a point, and Angus knew James was starting to consider Angus' words. Angus, for his point, merely wanted to draw James's focus onto himself and away from Edward and the people here that he loved, but he hadn't figured out how he would keep James from hurting anyone else. He was just winging this and hadn't gotten that far in his head any sort of plan of his own.

"Keep your head with the team, Mate," Marcus coached Angus softly, not wanting Angus to try to make himself bait for James. He wanted Angus to remember he was part of a team. "Stay with the team." Angus felt a bit of courage replace the horrific vision that James had put in his head. Angus knew his place--to stand in the gap between James and them, no matter the cost.

Marcus could see some of the younger grounds crew members frowning at Angus, not sure why he seemed to be siding with James tonight. To them, he sounded like he had lost his mind. Marcus understood that Angus was, at least partly, buying a little time for the others to get into place to make a better assault against all the intruders.

Jack heard Kate turning to look at her he noded and moved to watch Angus's back from seberal trying to sneak up, trying but failing as he took them out he heard James but ignored him focusing on taking down the men around James he knelt as Angus took out the men around them in a single blast. " tht old chesnut again" he said with a groan and loked to Robert " I swear he must have been dropped as a baby, we keep telling him shes not his but it won't get threw" Jack rolled his eyes as he turned to stand with Angus.

Lucian took down two men about to take out Robert motioning to his men to take up new positions around them " hey Harry thats little dude Sir," he said to the man " and he could take your head off and walk away before it hit the floor" he added seing teh suprised look on the mans face " so show respect " he fired and tok down an man just behind his man grazing the boys ear slightly. " focus and take those men down leave James to us, got that" the boy nodded and scurried to his left while Lucian turned back to see Jack and Angus working in tandem " damn wish I worked that good" he said smirking as he fired and knocked another off his feet.

Kate got a clear image in her head of some sort of herbs that were being burned all around the duplex, intending to have a powerful negative emotional impact on the men who lived inside the duplex. It was not designed to impact women. Just men. Kate believed it was to make Angus vulnerable and the other men less than alert when it came to protecting Angus. She apparated over to the back side of the duplex but she could smell nothing.

That gave her an idea. She went to Jessie's and knocked on the back door.

"Jessie, James is here. We're under attack," she opened the door without invitation, "but I need your help There are some bunches of herbs that have been hidden around the duplex. They're mixes designed to muck with purely human males. I can't find them, and I can't smell them. Any chance that those werewolf senses of yours can smell them? We need them extinguished and then removed. I think they're designed to compromise Angus's judgments through this fight. Can you clear it for him?"

As Angus was slashing at James, he caught a glimpse past James of Tom in the woods. That gave him a new idea.

"You've got James, Jack," Angus shouted, and then he apparated out suddenly.

"Goddamnit," Marcus was suddenly filled with anxiety, not seeing where Angus had gone. He couldn't protect him if he couldn't find him.

Jessie was sat with Chris reading when Kate knocked on the door Yu nodded " I'll be back" he said kissing both Yu and Chris before he grabbed his wand and ran to the door. " I can do it" he said and lifted his head up a faint stale oder hit him and he began walking towards it." this way" he said then he coughed uncontrolably as the stench grew stronger." there, under that tree, theres one" he said staying back feeling a sudden weakness hit him but he stayed on his feet.

Jack looked at Angus and nodded " I got him, take.." he didn't get to finish and saw Angus port away " Marcus ! " he called to him and shrugged that he couldn't do anything about his leaving . He turned back and looekd at James " well brother just us now" he said and fuly transphormed and lept at his brother tearing at the larger mans shoulder.

Angus landed well behind Tom and had had all intentions of going after Tom, but then he saw Suzanne left with a couple of young guards. Angus fired two rapid fire petrificus spells, freezing her bodyguards and they fell to the ground like rocks. Then he apparated right behind her, and he jabbed his wand hard into her back.

"I'm going to kill you," Angus hissed at her. "He's not going to find enough of you to take you home in a thimble..."

"Wait," she stammered, suddenly now terrified, "I've got a baby..."

"No. I have your baby, and you know it. Your baby doesn't need you..."

"Donohue," Tom's voice shouted, "don't hurt her. We can work this out."

"I don't think so," Angus said. "You shouldn't have come here tonight. You're not getting Diamond or me. James isn't getting anything. Suzanne's getting a casket, and you're getting a French prison cell for the rest of your miserable life. And, James? We'll have to see whatever's left of him when all the brawling's done. And my family? They're getting their freedom tonight from you."

"Jessie," Kate said softly, "Look." She pointed out that Angus had captured Suzanne. "He's being partly influenced by these herbs. I think he honestly could kill her. She doesn't deserve mercy, but he's captured her, and she's not trying to escape. If he kills her now, it won't be self defense. It'll be murder. We have to find a way to let her slip out by the skin of her teeth. Could we perhaps catch Tom and turn them both over, for now, to whoever that auror is? That would send Tom's people back to the nick. And maybe they'd take a few werewolves with them. Can we manage that with the crew we have here, do you think?"