A Birth day

Aria looked at the equipment Michael had ready and the new one he brought out she listened to him talk about what it did. She gathered the weapons and nodded to Michael " you not coming?" she asked as she stood looking at him.

Ruby looked to Owens and nodded knowing he was right about being stealthy not to risk Caprices life in any way. When Jessies name was mentioned he stepped forward " no worries on my account." he said " I can be stealthy, werewolf remember." he chuckled moving to stand with Ruby who looked at the dice objects as Owens explained how they worked.

" how many men can w take and how many should we need " Ruby asked but Jessie looked at her.

"A small party will make less noise and be more discreet." he said and looked to Owens " so just ruby, me and Aria right" he asked looking to him as he took out his wand and placed it on the table " I'm leaving mine here, don't need it anyway" he said showing his claws to them before turning them back to normal and chuckling to Ruby who nodded and did the same.

"Better safe than sorry, don't want or need anything going wrong." she said picking up a dice and looking at it. " okay so silent and deadly."

"I hadn't been assigned to go," Michael replied simply. "I was only told to get you a weapons package together, and I got you three."

"I wouldn't necessarily presume you to be stealthy because you're a werewolf because, believe it or not, we've had some bloody clumsy werewolves in the past. I have not presumed that one necessarily determined the other," Owens said to Jessie.

"Take your bloody wands with you," Angus snapped at them. "Trying to get in silently doesn't mean you won't end up making noise, and it doesn't mean you won't get caught and have to fight your way out. Don't be silly. Your wand is a weapon, maybe your best weapons because you're probably the most comfortable with it than any of the others we've trained you on. Take it, for Merlin's sake. Just don't fire unless you have to. If you're discovered, they might come in handy. And Jessie, just because you can use claws when you're transformed doesn't mean that your enemy will be within striking distance. Besides, it isn't a full moon anyway. If you're taking your werewolf potion, you shouldn't be capable of transforming outside of a full moon. God, I need to go on this, don't I?"

"Over my dead body," Robert muttered at Angus in the background. "I swear, I'll change you into a teacup until they return, if I have to. Don't make me do it. Ruby, you aren't supposed to be deadly. You're not going to assassinate anybody. Despite how angry you are, you are not an assassin. You're a rescuer. Totally different focus. Silent rescuer. That's all. Get out of the idea that you're going to teach them a lesson. Here's the mission--3 steps. Step 1: Get in. Step 2: Get Baby. Step 3: Get Out. That's it. Got it?"

Jesse chuckled and thought of Jack and nodded " yeah I know of one or two like that" he said then heard Angus words so he picked back up his wand as did Ruby feeling a bit like she'd been scolded but agreed " we get it" Jessie said to Angus threw the floo, in, grab, out, and if we can't back out tell Owens and regroup, got it" he told him Ruby looked to Owens and nodded she was ready to get going .

" Take us to where we can get entrance." she said to Owens then looked to Jessie .

"Aria looked to Michael and nodded " okay guess your acting like James bonds Q today" she said smiling " I'll get these back asap" she added and smiled as she ported back to the Paris HQ " Don't leave me out" she said placing the bag with the weapons on a chair next to the table " Michael gave me these , its what was requested" she said took the liberty of arming myself , strictly for stealth or recon, no noise" she said looking to Owens and then to the floo.

"I don't mind being quartermaster every so often," Michael told Aria. "Good luck."

"Alright," Robert said through the floo. "We're going to leave you lot to it. Angus is getting tired, so I don't think I'm going to need to change him to porcelain. I believe you have it under control. If you need something you know how to reach us. Otherwise, good luck, and we'll see you when you get back."

"I'd love to take you to wherever the baby is, but as of yet, we still don't know, remember?" Owens said to them. "I have all the intel teams out that we have, and quite honestly, you haven't been here as long as you think youhave. You need to give the teams some time to get some intel for you. I told you that part of this was going to require a waiting game because we presume she's at the main house but that's just a guess. We don't know for sure shes' there, and we . So, in the meantime, I suggest that you either get some tea or coffee and settle in to wait, or go into the back yard and each of you try one of the new 20 sided dice so you have a feel for them and you know what to expect. I would not use a lot of them and save them for the mission, but if you each test one, that might help you to feel more comfortable. If something comes in while you're outside, I'll let you know."

Ruby nodded to Owens wanting to go and get Caprice but at the same time understanding why they had to wait. " okay, we'll each take one and test it out, outside" Aria said picking out three and handing Ruby and Jessie one " come on" she said taking Jessies hand " might as well try these new toys out while we wait, Some one will come to find us when its time, okay" she said with a smile as she led Jessie to the back yard.

"Will you have some one demonstrate how to use these, please" she asked as she looked at Owen and followed behind Aria and Jessie hoping they would not blow up in their faces once out side.

Aria retched the back yard and let go of Jessie who stood looking at the small dice he held. Aria looked at him and then behind as she saw Ruby hoping Owens would follow or some one who could show them how to use them other than press a number and wait.

Owens walked outside with them, asking another worker to stand by in the Captain's office and keep an eye on things for a couple minutes. He walked outside with them, and when he had secured a dice from one of them, he showed it to them.

"The shape of the dice and the numbers on the dice do absolutely nothing. They're only there to be cosmetic, to help disguise them if one of us drops one of them. You can press the damned numbers for a year, and, trust me, not a damned thing is going to happen. These are activated exactly like the bubbles. Watch."

Owens chucked the dice to the ground, right at his own feet, with some force to cause the dice to break, just as if it had been one of the bubbles. The dice made no sound at all, but a strange clear smoke rose up from the dice and in a moment, Owens seemed to disappear.

Owens moved deliberately, silently, behind Jessie, and he gave a yank on the back of Jessie's jeans, playfully, to give him a wedgie and the same moment he tugged lightly on Ruby's hair. Then he also gave a little tug to the back of Aria's blouse and walked back around in front of them, just as the invisibility charm wore off.

"I only screwed with you so that you got the idea that you will be completely invisible for a few seconds. Understand clearly, though--it does not make you silent. The dice is silent. If you are not stealthy, they might not see you, but they sure as heck will hear you. This is yet in the experimental stage. For it to move to be approved for general missions use, it has to be perfected, and then Kate and Robert and Michael have to all agree to approve it for missions' use. You're being allowed to take some simply to give you an edge. I dont' know when, or if, it will ever be approved to use in any future missions," Owens told them. "I think you should each try one so you know what its like not only to be invisible yourself, and know how difficult it is to not be seen or heard either one, and what its like to have a missions partner be invisible. I think that's important, and I think that's why Angus gave you several, in case you needed to use more than one during the mission. Keep your regular bubbles to use as a distraction if you need to have one, or to help you fight your way out, but if you don't need them, then don't use them."

Angus was still feeling exceptionally driven to want to go to Paris, but Robert was completely forbidding it.

"I could go and stay in HQ and command," Angus said.

"You could," Robert replied. "but you're drained as it is from what little you have done. And you wouldn't stay there even if I did let you go. You'd be trying to go out into the field to get her back yourself. I understand your desire to go. It comes because you've just plain had more experience than they do. But new doesn't mean incapable. Let them try. They're nervous because none of us 'old hands' are with them this time. But we've trained them, they have weapons, and you've given them the very best instructions you can. If they need us, they know how to reach us. If one of us needs to go, Michael will go or Edward or I will go. But I have no reason to think they can't do this. Now, I suggest you rest while we wait on some sort of intel."

Ruby watched as Owen spoke watching as he threw down the dice and it broke making him invisible for only a short while she felt him tug her hair and watched as he tugged Aria's blouse before becoming visible again " so leave anything that could make a potential noise here, got it" she said " no keys or coins got it" she took out her dice and threw it down being enveloped with the smoke she quietly moved to behind Jessie and did just as Owens had before moving to Owens and standing behind him as she reappeared " nice" she said making him jump slightly, only slightly.

Aria went next but when she went invisible she transformed into her bird form and flew to a top a wall only to reappear sat on top of it before jumping down. Jessie stood looking at it , throwing it down he tried to be quiet but as he reached Ruby she turned to look right at him.

"don't even" she said Aria laughed as she walked over as Jessie reappeared beside her. " awe how'd you know/?" he asked. Ruby chuckled as she moved to stand with Aria .

"I know you all to well Jessie, besides your tooth paste gave it away, too minty go eat something to get rid of the smell." she said to him and he looked to Owen.

"Sounds like you lot have it figured out. Very good," Owens said. "Well done. Our rebuilding of the kitchen is done enough that we have a couple cooks making soup and sandwiches for the kids for lunch, so while you have time, go get some food. I'll go back to the office..."

"Owens," a worker called, "Irene might have something useful--maybe."

"Coming," Owens said. He turned and looked sternly at the three of them. "You lot stay here. You have desperation written all over your faces, and I do not want you asking her ten million questions. You let me go talk to Irene, and I'll bring you news, if there is any, in a moment."

He went inside, and after just a couple minutes, he came back out.

"Okay. Irene did have something useful. Angus's idea of the nanny might actually work. She said that one of her friends has a granddaughter that has been working for one of these nanny services. Her previous family has moved out of Paris and gone to Germany, and she did not want to go along, even though the family hated to lose her. So she comes highly recommended.

"Apparently," Owens continued, "she was approached 3 days ago about interviewing for a new family and it just happened to be the Geldings. According to Irene, this young woman did not, at all, have a good feel for this family, and good for her. She has not responded back to them, but they left her a message this morning that they would like her to start at once at Gelding's main estate. Irene said she just went and had a conversation with her friend and the woman's granddaughter and talked her out of starting this job.

"And--this is why I love Irene," he said, "she talked the young woman into giving not just a lock of her hair but letting her borrow three of her nanny uniforms. We could add some hair to some polyjuice, dress all three of you as this young nanny, and let you three go in to get her out. Understand that you will not be able to be seen together, but this would get one of you right in the front door. I dont know that you could use the dice to get all three in because you can't guarantee you'll have enough time before the charm wears off. But if one of you goes in the front, the other two could go in one of the cellar windows, just as Angus suggested. Aria, you're the most experienced, so I'm wondering if you're the one who should go in as the nanny, but that's up to you three to decide. I think this is worth trying. What do you three think?"

Ruby heard one of the Paris crew call to Owens and heard him say for them to stay put she crossed her arms but Aria spoke to her softly " he's right , best let him deal with the Paris crew" she said then saw him return and tell them what they had found " sounds like she's got a good head on her shoulders" she said and chuckled. Pausing she listened more and nodded " good that way guarantees one of us will come out with Caprice , if things do go tits up we can separate and trick them into going after the wrong one till the juice wears off allowing the right one to get back here" Aria said and nodded " I'll go in the front door, Marcus taught me how to be in formal situations so I could easily pass as a nanny" she said then looked to Ruby " once inside I'll unlock the cellar window for you two too slip in." she said then looked back at Owens , sorry if that's okay with you" she said.

Ruby thought for a moment and nodded " if its okay with Owens its okay with me, Jessie and I can run distraction if anything goes wrong, not that it will if we stealth it" she added and looked to Owens. Aria nodded as did Jessie.

"You might not be able to slip away right away to go to the basement, Aria," Owens said. "You might be busy getting a tour of the house, being told your duties, that sort of thing. Jessie and Ruby need to get in on their own, I think. They actually need to try to avoid being seen, but their uniforms and polyjuice will help them so long as you don't get seen together. Don't rush, but don't dally either. Get in and get out. Remember your polyjuice won't last more than an hour or so at best.

"I'm going to prepare the polyjuice for you. We have some here, of course, but I'll prepare the doses and send them with you, along with the uniforms. You three remember you have to look identical before you go in. I'm going to send you three in a muggle cargo van, and you three will have to get over any modesty issues and change in the van because it gives you up to another twenty minutes. We'll provide you a cover as a reason not to have them pick you up today. I'll work that out. Your weapons belts are not going to work right now, not as Michael had them. However, I have an idea.

"We do have some garter belts. Don't even ask why we have them. We can magically attach the pouches to your garter belts and you can wear them on your thighs under your skirts. That's the best I'm going to come up with in a hurry, unless you can tuck something in our bras. So, go get some food while I arrange transport, the polyjuice and the revision of the weapons belt. Go eat so I can work for a little."