A Birth day

Lucian watched as the women diapeared Ruby breathed out and calmed herself knowing he was right . Lucian gave a loud shrilled whistle and one man appeared infront of him " fine the men who were here and report back" he said the man nodded and ported away moments later a second appeared beside him.

" there hold up in an old out house down the road " he said Lucian nodded and looked at Edward " seems they ran back to their hidey hole" he said " Angus and I found them hiding in one of the out houses not far from Marcus and Aria s cottage, I can show you where" he said as the second man ported away just as the first had done. Turning he Jogged back towards the semi large out house and motioned there ." he said one man ported behind Lucian and spoke to him in a whisper "thank you , get the men in position , not one is to escape got that?" he said the man nodded and disappeared. " there all inside and haven't moved, its your choice " he said and looked to Edward " my men won't move until your done" he added then looked to Ruby " you want to take out your anger I'd wait till Edwards done first" he then chuckled " if there's anything left, oh and don't worry about my men they follow me." he smirked at Edward.

As he stood waiting he saw the door to the out house open and the men walk out wands at the ready. " oh look they want this as much as you do?" he said folding his arms.

Edward walked over from the coffee shop to the property where Marcus and Aria's house was. He saw the aurors all posted around the outside of the place to surround it. Edward had had just about enough of Suzanne making a bolloxed up mess with Angus's life. He walked through the property, thinking, trying to get a hold on his anger. And then he saw an old wreck of a car behind the barn.

"That should do nicely, I should think," Edward muttered to himself. He changed it to a pumpkin. Then he picked it up, and walked to the center of the property, just outside the building where the metamorphs were, and he put the pumpkin on the ground. Once he had it on the ground, he changed the pumpkin to a coach and changed it to a perfect orange color.

"Remember your Cinderella, Ruby?" Edward asked her. "Watch this. You've all wondered where Angus got his wand skills at. Let me show you." He cast some transfiguration spells, with every bit of the same speed that Angus used with his slashing spells, and he transformed the metamorphs into ten little mice in harnesses, except that he turned them bright Halloween colors and then sent them flying through the air and hooked them to the orange pumpkin. It somehow made him feel satisfied with these young idiots. Lucian's men looked wide eyed and blindsided at any man his age that could move that damned fast.

"Got jar handy, Lucian? I'll box them up for you. Or, if you don't have a jar, I'll just feed them to one of the neighborhood stray cats. Take your pick. They aren't worth any more than that," Edward said

Ruby and Lucian stoon and watched as Edward worked his magic literally making Ruby smile as she watched . Lucian when Edward asked was handed a large jar "Will this do?" he asked and walked over " nice wand work by the way, I saw a few of my men taking notes and few others needing a change of pants" he said and chuckled Ruby walked over to Edward and hugged him tight.

"Thank you" she said smiling up at him " there too good for the cats , might give them an upset stomach and we wouldn't want that" Ruby was relived he'd changed the men into mice , even brightly coloured mice with a pumpkin coach.

Lucian stood back to watch Edward work again and chuckled watching him.

"You're welcome," Edward smiled, hugging Ruby back. Edward flicked his wand at the mice, one at a time, choosing to flip each one up in the air and spin them around several times to make them good and nauseated before chucking them into the jar, one by one. He put the lid on the jar, picked it up and handed it to Ruby and looked at her and at Lucian. He looked at Lucian, intending for Lucian to get his meaning.

"Poor little blokes and their buggared up magic. Morphed themselves into mice and can't undo it," he said, creating a fabricated story about how the metamorphs had become mice. "Now, you have a jar of bargaining chips, you and Lucian do--if the two of you are clever. They want out of the jar and back to human form, and I bet they can give you plenty of information, if you press them about it, about what they know about Priscilla and Suzanne and Tom. Maybe they'll tell us how they get into the grounds or where Priscilla is staying. Ten to one, she's staying in Paris with them. We could do with knowing where the leak is that lets them into the grounds so we can close it up before Priscilla starts coming there whenever the mood suits her. Or we could use to know if she's at tom's in Paris or not. Any information you can squeeze out of them is more than what we have now. You'll have to work together though, otherwise it won't be legal."

Ruby felt Edward hug her back and smiled stepping back as he placed each mouse into the jar . Lucian chuckled and nodded " oh don't worry about the poor mice/men we'll get the information one way or another while we work on getting them changed back." he said with a chuckle as he took the jar from Edward "Ruby you want in on this" he asked and saw her shake her head then she paused and nodded " yes , Yes I would like to be in on this" she said moving to tap on the jar " listen well, you'll tell us everything you know or I know a nice alley cat who loves mice." she said " I'll personally feed you to him one by one ." she said one mouse stood defiant but several others seem to talk between them selves and move forward nodding its head.

Lucian opened the jar and took that mouse out casting a spell to allow tit to talk he waited "seems we have a winner, well?" he asked and the mouse began to talk telling all looking towards Edward.

After a moment Ruby looked to Edward " you think that's enough?" she asked

"You two can handle this just fine," Edward smiled. "You have at it because I want to head home and make sure Angus is alright. And, he is going to be very relieved if you come home with information on where Priscilla is staying. Even if she's staying in Paris, that is information that Michael can use to get a search warrant of the Gelding house in Paris, don't forget. If she's here in this country, Robert would sign any search warrant you'd need. I'll see you all later." He apparated home.

In the meantime, Michael and Marcus and Aria had found where the cave had emptied. It ended, under a bridge, at the opening of a large drainage pipe, big enough for a man to crawl through, and even easier for a metamorph to use in some canine form. And the bridge was in the village, not far from a shop that sold outdoor sports equipment, well within walking distance of the property Marcus's house was on. It all fit.

Now, having crawled to the end of the pipe, Michael was able to look and see the gathering of aurors outside the cottage.

"That's your house, isn't it? What's the party going on over there?" Michael asked Marcus and Aria. "Suppose we should go check it out?"

Lucian looked to Edward and nodded chuckling " sure go we got this" he said and looked to Ruby " you can go too " he said as she put the muse back in the jar , it went right to the others and they stayed together while one mouse seem to scowl at them all. Ruby looked to Lucian and nodded.

"I'll come with you Edward" she said and moved to his side " I want to check on Angus too." she told him " besides looks like Aria and Marcus will be joining Lucian soon" she said motioning to where she could see them stood before they walked over to where they were. Lucian turned around as he placed the kid on the jar and chuckled seeing Marcus and Aria. Aria walked over to Lucian and looked in the Jar lightly tapping it.

"who are these little fellas?" she asked then saw the look on Lucian's face she turned to face Edward "You pulled a Robert?" she said and laughed. Lucian looked at Edward and then spoke.

" I'll get these to the ministry poor fellas strange enchantment turned them to mice" he said in a non sympathetic tone as he spoke. "we'll get that information from them." he said then looking at every one he chuckled and waved " see ya tomorrow" he said and ported away as did all his men leaving Ruby and Aria with the others.

"I know what those are," Marcus teased. "I believe those are the very rare Were-Pumpkin Mice. Looks like they're going to earn their keep in one way or another. But why are they mice?"

"Mr. Donohue wasn't happy because some woman named Priscilla showed up and..." one of Lucian's men began.

"Priscilla!" Marcus frowned, understanding immediately now what Edward surely must have been upset about, and knowing the effect Priscilla would have on Angus and the danger she would be. "No wonder! I have to get home right now," he told Aria quickly. He reached out for her hand.

When they arrived back at the duplex, Marcus hurried inside. Angus's caving suit was lying in a heap on the floor because Robert had gotten all the caving gear off Angus. Angus was in a light doze, and Robert had already put one of Nigel's air pendants around Angus's neck temporarily to help him breathe. Robert was in the kitchen pouring himself a mug of fresh tea. This was a cherry chocolate flavor he had created for Valentines Day for Sparks. He motioned for them to be quiet.

"He's alright," Robert said softly. "I've cast the countercurse to Priscilla's spell, and he's already a good deal better than he was. I'm afraid his dozing is a temporary side effect of the spell I used to slow his breathing and to stop the residual chest pain he was feeling...."

"Chest pain?" Marcus frowned. "Was it Priscilla?"

"You know about her, do you? Yes. Get your gear off, and I'll catch you up while he takes a short snooze. Get yourselves some tea to warm up, and, if we're very quiet, we can debrief and all get on the same page about all this. The tea is a new chocolate cherry I made for Lizzie for Valentine's Day."

"Where are the babies?" Marcus asked, not seeing them.

"Kate and Simone took them over to Kate's studio because Kate's got a commission textile art piece to finish, and Simone said she'd help her cut macrame cord." Marcus took off his caving suit and picked up Angus's and folded them so he could take them back down to the storage room later and then he poured himself and Aria a mug of Robert's chocolate cherry tea.

"So Priscilla really is out of prison?" Marcus asked.

"She is," Robert nodded. "I just finished a brief conversation with Lee. Apparently, at her trial, one of the attorneys made a misstep, and Priscilla's attorney was able to press that advantage and get her conviction overturned. They released her just about a month ago. Lee honestly didn't know or he'd have alerted us, but Priscilla made a legal name change. She now is, legally, Marie Laveau, and her partner changed his name, legally, to Dominic Laveau, clearly a reference to the original Marie Laveau's husband, Louis Christophe Dominick Duminy de Glapion. Laveau was the original Marie's maiden name. It does appear that Dominic and Priscilla are now legally married as well, and they do now on the House of Voodoo in New Orleans. Lee believes they're restarting her cult in the area, and it sounds like he's going to be putting together another detail to go to that area. He hasn't asked us to help at this point, and I'm glad because we have enough going on right here as it is. He will send a detail, if we need it, to help capture Priscilla. It sounds like his new unit has some particular expertise in voodoo and hoodoo, and I think that may help him. So, it seems that the article that Angus saw in the paper is accurate." Robert picked up the newspaper that Angus had brought back from Evan's, and he showed it to Aria and Marcus.

"He never said a syllable about that," Marcus said. "Or I'd have done things 100% differently this morning."

"Oh, I believe you," Robert said. "If Angus has one character flaw it's that the bigger a deal is with him, the more he keeps it to himself. Edward told me one time that he thinks that Angus learned early on that displaying any vulnerability to his father was definitely not in his best interests, and now, it's just habit. I really don't think he does it intentionally now."

"No, it isn't intentional. I know him well enough to know that. So what did Laveau try today?"

"She tried a spell that would have eventually crushed his chest if Lucian hadn't intervened so fast. He saved Angus from suffering any harm except a lot of pain and breathing issues. For him, it would have felt like he was having a heart attack. He's going to be fine but I'm sure he's going to not feel like doing much this afternoon."

"How upset was he?"

"No more than I'd have expected if I'd found out that the woman who tried to kill me by burying me alive was not just out of prison but nearly at my doorstep."

"I'll stick closer to him," Marcus said. "Sometimes he'll talk to me."

"I don't think anyone needs to hover over him, but if we can try to help him stay safe, that would be good. Oh, and speaking of this afternoon, I'm supposed to tell you that Simone and Kate made a big batch of chicken salad in the fridge for sandwiches if you lot are hungry, and a mammoth tossed salad."

"That's fine. We still have the lunches Kate packed too. We certainly won't starve," Marcus said, sipping his tea. "Great tea, by the way. I like the chocolate cherry. It's quite nice."

"I'm glad you like it," Robert said.

"I probably should go take the babies off Kate's and Simone's hands," Marcus said.

"I wouldn't do that," Robert laughed. "Grandma time is sacred time, I have learned. And those two love everything about being grandmothers. I'd leave them alone if I were you. The only thing those babies are at risk for at the moment is being spoiled utterly rotten."

"Fair enough," Marcus laughed.

Lucian stood and listened as one of his men spoke to Marcus then stopped glancing at him as he motioned for him to leave knowing by the look on Marcus face he understood exactly that he knew what had happened. Aria had walked up beside Marcus when she heard him he grabbed hold of his hand when he reached out for hers and looked at him to say she was as ready as he was to get back. Lucian nodded and held the jar " go I'll follow once these have been put in a safe place." he told them watching them leave.

Ruby heard porting and saw Marcus and Aria return she sat close to Angus but did not disturb him as he slept. Aria walked with Marcus shedding her caving gear as she also helped Marcus take his off. Walking to where Angus was she picked it up and proceeded to return it to where they had gotten them from for later use

" Thank you" she said to Edward as she took a cup of the tea holding it as she listened to the two of them talking " good thing Lucian was there" she said " but we should be more vigintile for black magic items around the grounds, I'm sure Jacks already on it" she blew over her tea and took a sip from it liking the flavour of the cherry and chocolate in her mouth. She could not help but chuckle and smile as Robert told Edward that grandmothers time was precious especially for Kate and Simone.

"I'm sure if Jack isn't already on it, he will be when he finds out that Priscilla is out and is in England," Robert said. "Oh, and Ruby, so you know, I've hired an attorney that is more than capable of taking on the lawsuit that Suzanne has launched against Angus. His name is Nelson Nightwing. He's very good at complicated cases like this. You should know, though, that he will more than likely do any meetings at night because he's a fullblooded vampire. He's a decent chap, though, despite that. Not all vampires are dark arts practitioners. I think he can more than cope with those high priced ninnys that Suzanne hired. Just because she's throwing a great deal of money at a law firm doesn't mean they're better."

"Robert, shouldn't we ask Owens for any new intel on the Gelding house?" Marcus asked.

"Oh, I did, but I also had a conversation with Daniella. She's getting a warrant to do an unannounced search of the Gelding house. And, no, I have not told anyone at the Ministry. It's none of their business. This information went only between myself and Daniella, but Daniella will allow one of our people to go along with the French auror teams. Aria, I'd like to send you, if you're open to going. That will mean, however that you'll need to look like an auror for this, so I hope you kept your black skirt and suit blazer and heels because that's what it would require."

Angus stirred and woke, finding himself at home. It took him just a moment to realize where he was.

"Feeling any better?" Robert asked him.

"Yes, thanks," Angus said sleepily.

"You could be a bit sleepy today but that's the effect of the spell I used to put you back to rights," Robert told him. "You're fine, but I think you really should just take it easy for today. You probably won't feel like doing much anyway. I'll leave you some potion to relax your chest muscles and ease some of that residual discomfort in case you need it, but I expect that will be gone by morning, and I'll send over some dreamless sleep potion in case Priscilla tries any of her old horsecrap tonight. Don't be afraid to take it."

"You don't look comfortable, though, Mate," Marcus said. "Why don't I help you get changed into some sweats? If you're not going anywhere, you might as well have more comfortable clothes on."

"That's a splendid idea," Robert said.

"Where are the kids?" Angus asked.

"The babies are with their grandmothers in Kate's studio," Robert said. "Haven't seen Victor or Sam yet, but they still could be out with Michael perhaps. I wouldn't worry yet. At their age, they won't miss a meal, so they'll turn up." Angus nodded, and Marcus helped him upstairs to change.