The Ties That Bind

"I'm quite sure most of that equipment in there has not been used at all since I was here last, Cassidy," Brian said, breaking off a piece of the scone and putting it into his mouth. "Thank you for thinking of more apricot scones. Khaat and I have a lot of fond memories of apricot scones. Kate made them a lot as a special treat on Sunday mornings and on special occasions--birthday breakfasts and such. And I can use some good memories right now." He took a drink from his coffee cup. Fuel. It felt like the food and coffee were fuel not just for his body, but for his mind. And Khaat and Steven and Angus and Cassidy were fuel for his spirit. If he had come here alone, as he had first been tempted to do, he'd have felt very alone right now. He was glad Khaat had talked him out of coming alone. Very glad indeed.

Khaat sat beside him and slid tight against him and took his arm and draped it lazily around her shoulder. That made Brian smile. He kissed her cheek. That was where whe belonged. With him. It made him happy. She made him happy. "I have to tell you," he said to them all, "I first told Khaat I was coming here alone. That I wasn't dragging you all into this mess with me. I did have some idea of what might be coming, and I didn't want to drag you all through it. But honestly, I am very glad now that I brought you." He picked up the printout that Steven gave him about the siphoning off of his accounts to Burke's accounts. He was sorely tempted to go next door to the apartment and turn his brother into fairy dust and see how far he could scatter that dust. And then, he began to think of the things he had recenly "acquired" in the organizations last raid. He leaned his head back and began to laugh, truly amused.

Khaat looked at him, just a trfle concerned. He had read the printout which said Brian had taken a massive loss to his accounts and Burkes accounts were flourishing because of Kieran. "What's so funny?" she asked him gently, kissing his right hand, the one that caressed her arm.

"Do you remember when, about Christmas time, I raided all of Gelding's organization? Raided their financial holdings again? Wiped them out again?"

"Yeah. Don't you do that every so often?"

"Yes. I do. It seems like every time I do, it takes Gelding longer to resurrect himself. Its starting to really hurt him now. Well, I just remembered. In the last raid, I also got some deeds for some companies. I just tossed them into my safe, thinking they were just dummy corporations for Gelding to funnel monies through. I haven't done a bloody thing with them. And you know what? THIS corporation is one of the ones I have the deeds to. Kieran doesn't know that, in part, he's been robbing me from one account and that he's been actually paying it right back to me in the other." He roared with laughter. "Steven did you see how many millions were here? This might well go a long way in clearing up this matter. And the money is just sitting there now that Burke is gone. My guess is that Gelding doesn't even know this company exists. Steven, you might well have helped us find part of the way out of this mess. Good job."

Khaat took the dvds and cds downstairs to the family room and put the dvd's into the player. She was so flabbergasted by what she saw that she had to sit, gaze fixed onto the television. It was Gelding, Burke, Barker, all in compromising situations with women. And certainly not things any of those men, even as crazy as they were, wanted getting out. Clearly, none of them men, in none of the incidents, knew they were being filmed. Kieran had been either planning to blackmail them or was doing it. And she wasn't sure which.

The cd's were next. She put them in the cd player and found a set of headphones. She put the headphones on, thinking it would help her hear any faint background noises. The audio recordings were of some of Geldings most sensitive meetings about his organization. Plans to kill her were talked about, amongst other things. She sat, stunned, listening to Burke and Gelding talk about how critical it was to their organization that Khaat Lupin should die. It was one of their top objectives right now. She sat, listening to their plans for her death. She felt her own mind slowing down, as memories began to flow back from her time with Burke. Her mind could see and hear nothing but him. His voice. His touch, his scent. It was overwhelming, and she felt herself becoming numb again. Somewhere inside, the fact that the numbness was returning, frightened her, and it frightened her more that she didnt' know how to stop it.

Steven turned back to the computer and typed abut more chuckaling to himself atot his sif how stupid Kiran was for his sifening from Brian to a company he owned " ok theres about 230 milion in that one company account alone " he said and read off the inventory th at was listed on the disk drive . He slid out the disk and headed back over to Brian " you'd better hang on to that " he said smiling and handing it to him as he sat down. he picked up a cup of coffee and drank slowly " hum glad she perswaded you not to " he said "i'd like to give that brother of yours what for. " he said now blowing over the top of his cup as he watch Khaat and Brian together , he could not help smile and think of how he had Delileh were the same together when alone or even just being close. He saw Khaat stand and walk off and sat looking at Brian " i'll do another sweep of the house in an hour but don't ask me to check on him " he said .

Cassidy nodded to Brian and stood up she moved back into the kitchen and opened each door to each cabinet and sighed finding each one empty . She glanced at Angus and shook her head " guess he was partial to ordering out than cooking in " she said closing yet another door . opening a box she took out a quiche she ahd made " i made some cold things that i could bring with me , something told me that i'd find this place barren" she frowned hearing noises from the family room. Becoming curiouse she moved to the kitchen door and followed the sounds , soon they stopped but she was already at the door her eyes wide at what she saw and shivered recognising one of the woman as her freind . she watched as Khaat sipped on the recorder . she was about to leave when she saw in the reflection Khaats face change " ow no " she siad and quickly turn around moving to the player she tuned it off slipping off the head phones . spotting half empoty bottle of brandy she accioed a glass and pored a glass " Khaat drink this " she said and let some trickle down her throat then looked at her " khaat ?" she said softly to her " come back " she again spoke softly to her her own hand shaking a little but she focused on Khaat.

The brandy flowed like a river of fire down Khaat's throat. She coughed a little, unprepared for it. But the fire had brought her back. She looked up and saw Cassidy there with a glass of brandy in her hand. She sighed heavily. "Thanks," she said softly. "It's embarresing when those moments happen. Daddy told Brian and me that those moments would decrease over time. It hasn't happened for quite awhile now, and I thought they were gone. I guess not." She went over and turned off the cd player and took the cd out. She looked at Cassidy.

"This cd needs to be directly in my father's hands. I...I dont' want Brian to even know it exists," she said somberly.

"Exactly what do you not want me to know?" Brian's voice came from the doorway. She looked up to see that he had come downstairs looking for her. She sighed heavily and looked at the floor. She did not want him to hear the content of this cd. She heard his footsteps and then he removed the cd from her hand. "This? Is this what you're protecting me from?"

"Brian," she began, feeling a loss for words. He looked deep into her eyes and frowned. He looked at the glass of brandy in Cassidy's hand. "What happened, Khaat? I'm not stupid."

"I...just, more or less,...remembered Burke," she said, stumbling for words.

"You blanked, didn't you? Whatever is on this cd made you blank out, didn't it? Don't hide it from me. Truth."

"Its the truth," she admited, unable to look up.

"Then you're not giving it anywhere but to me. I will decide if it goes to your father or not." He picked up the DVD and the memory chips of photos. "Stay with her, Cassidy. I don't want her alone. You two just need to come back upstairs and help me filter through that mountain of paperwork." He turned and left.

Once he was gone, she sat down on the sofa, feeling frustrated with herself. "I just didn't want him to hurt any more," she said softly, looking up at Cassidy.

Cassidy looked up at her as she sat in front of her. Her hand touching Khaats as she waited tosee if the Brandy would make any diferance . she sigh when she heard her speack " thank goodness you had me worried" she said sof tly looking up at her. She heard Khaat talk and nodded " I know I saw the look you had on your face it was the same you had that day " she said " I understand it was the same for my freind " she sighed " the woman in that clip, it was her " she looked at her then at Brian as he walked in waking her from her thoughts she didn't even know she was lost in . Cassidy placed her hand on Khaats telling her she was there for her suport as she spoke. when he asked what had hapened and that she had blacked out again Cassidy could do little but sigh and nod it was her duty as there freind to tell him. " Yes sir " she said and looked back at Khaat again offering her the glass again for if she didn't want it Cassidy felt right at that moment she needed it afte seeing her freind on the wide screen being raped and abused buy some man after so long.


Jack ported with jess to the front door and knocke he was suprised when steven opened it and smiled at them ushering them in as he told them of what had gone on . Jack gave a low growl as they walked into the living room " sorry we're late my mother insited on going over every tiny detail with regards the twins " Jack said chukaling " she loves them but can be too protective some times " he said and placed the bags down with stevens as he looked around the room " hum, up to his tricks i see " he said jess moved away from him slowly moving to the family room and khaat " hi " she said softly with a smile " Its ok I can sense it Khaat " she said and moved to give her a deep hug . feeling words were not needed " Cassidy, they were along time ago pu those thoughts away " she said and smiled feeling her do just that. " well look at us all girls together and no popcorn" she said chukaling " jacks mother insted he show her every little thing or i would have ben here sooner" jess spoke softly and chuckled at the look on Cassidys face she reatched over and closed her mouth leaving her smiling " much better dear" she said slowly she looked at Khaat " you need to not focus on those Khaat put them away like jeffery tought me to do "

"Good to see you, Jess," Khaat said. She was glad Jess and Jack were here. She wanted them here. "Kieran is in over his head. I know you've never met him, but, well, lets just say its no big loss." She took the brandy glass back from Cassidy, deciding it sounded good after all. Brian had disappeared into another room, presumably to look at the DVD and listen to the cd.

"Angus," Khaat said, "Have you thought about a shopping list yet?" she asked him.

"I've already made it. There is some sort of massive organic supermarket within driving distance. Its a chain called Whole Foods. Ever hear of them?"

"I have," Khaat smiled. "Top notch products. And its huge. You'll find everything you want in one stop, and you'll be pleased. Lots of organic produce, whole grains, I have been to some in other states on some of Daddy's brief business trips to the states. Mom and I went to one of those types of stores in New York and were there for over 3 hours. We were utterly fascinated. Take Cassidy with you. She'll be dazed. Its mindblowing what Americans have available to them over here. And get whatever you like. And, yes, we do have to feed Kieran. Prisoner or not, we can't starve him."

"I didn't intend to. But I am not buying him any more alcohol."

"No, he's had his share. And probably our share too." That made Angus laugh.

"Help yourself to food," Khaat told Jess and Jack. "Angus, please take everyone's things to a room please and get them settled. I'm sure at some point, we're going to want to rest."

"Already on it," Angus smiled. He passed copies of the same maps that he had given Steven and Cassidy to Jack and Jess. "Kieran has been magically locked and secured in his apartment. The apartment adjoins to the kitchen, but Brian put him in his own apartment and locked him in as securely as if he were in a cell. He's not going anywhere. Once you get settled, my guess is that Brian will want you to help us sort through this evidence we're finding about Kieran and his activity. What did you find, Khaat, that has Brian so preoccupied?"

"You all might as well know," Khaat said. "He's about to listen to a cd of a recording of a secret meeting between Tom Gelding and Luther Burke. Either Kieran has been blackmailing one or both of them or was intending to. Anyway, the cd was a meeting detailing how important it is to their organization to kill me and talked about their plans to do it--as painfully as possible in order to make Brian and my father both suffer as much as they can muster. It was..difficult...to listen to." She glanced briefly up at Cassidy, grateful for her help a few moments ago. Angus's eyes narrowed. He was angry. Very angry. He had met Kieran the last time Brian had been here. Brian had asked Angus to bring some fresh Tuscan produce and seafood, which Angus had done, gladly. But even back then, Angus thought Kieran was little more than a lazy idiot. Now, he was feeling a strong need to hurt Brian's brother.

Cassidy was relived when Jess walked in she was becoming more than a little worried . She could not help but chuckle a jess and nodded moving her thoughts to the hear and now and recipys she wanted to try out . When Khat sugested she go with Angus she smiled " ow sounds as good as the market you took me too back in england" she said and stood up " i'll take my own thanks Angus " she said and picked up the small bag that lay in the door way. He wondered just what she would see Khaat had said he would be blown away with what they had and she smiled " hope its as good as Khaat says it is " she said moving to his side " so you driving or am I ?" she said and chuckled lightly " only kidding I can't drive here or in england for that matter " she said grining at him. she shook her head seeing the look on his face and tapped his shoulder " plenty of time for that and your not the only one " she said quetly and looked into his eyes hoping he would see she was gunning for Brians brother also.

Jess sat and sighed she ahd sensed the tenshion f rom the moment she ahd walked in to the building and now between angus and Cassidy she shook her head " hes that bad hes g ot you all worked up " she said softly she knew it was true she ahd picked up on the thoughts of Kiran as soon as she had ported to the building so she understood full well " hum, hes a sexist one thats for sure , where does he think he gets off treating you that way " she said " well hes got three woman here ald all strong willed " she said smiling at her. Taking the glass Khaat had she stood up " come on we'd better help you know men can't multi task" she said and chuckled " well jack can't not sure about steven or angus " she said waitng for her to stand so threw too they could go threw to the main living room " im sure there will be more suprises with him , i can tell " she said .

Khaat led the way back to the stack of paperwork, saying, "Jack, why don't you and Steven go with Angus and find the rooms for everyone? Cassidy and Jess and I will get back to this nonsense on the table."

She sat back down and picked up a stack of the paperwork and said, "I guess I should start by sorting out the bills from the threats and the other things. If you find photos or deeds or anything odd, speak up," she said. "This seems to be a whole stack of years of gambling debts and IOU's to some sort of bookie. At least my stack of stuff is related."

Then all of a sudden she perked up, diverted. Her seers powers were immediately bombarded with images. Brian. He was outraged. Brian's great love for Khaat was powerful. And the cd had set him off even deeper. He had apparated over to Kieran's apartment and she saw him grabbing Kieran and pounding him into the wall, letting loose his rage on him. She stood up. "Brian's in trouble," she said softly. "I have to go. Tell the guys."

She apparated over to Kieran's apartment and saw Brian indeed had Kieran by taking huge fistfuls of his shirt and slammed him against the wall. "How deep are you in it with them!" Brian shouted. "You'd actually sign up with the men who want to kill my wife and my babies? I'll kill you, you bastard! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't tear you to little pieces right now!"

Jess stopped and looked at jack even her seers powers as they were icked up on the intense rage Brian gave off " Jack you'd beter get over there before he kills him" she paused and looked at both men " hey hes a human beside don't want Brian geting into trouble no matter how worthless his brother is " she said jack dove out and around to the apartment bursting threw the window and pulling Brian off him turning to Kiran he spoke in a low growl as Steven joined him holding Kiran back " I would advise you say nothing or at least the truth if you know wh ats good for you " he said then looked at Brian " he's not worth it , you got Khaat scared " his eyes flicked to his wolf side then back as he faced Kiran again " I don't like when my boss is angry and trust me when i say you don't want to cross me " he showed his fangs to prove a point to him. Steven stood one hand on the man chest he wanted little contact with him " do as he says and we'll get along don't ...and well it will be your own fault" he said both men making it clear Brian was not alone in his anger against him.

Jess sat and sortd the papers till she ahd three piles one IOU's and two that were bills and threats " seems hes racked up quite a loss on brians account " she said and shook her head she could not belive a single man could do all this " i can't belive it " booze, women, gambling horse betting , hes one loseing machine nothing more and he doesn't care one bit " she said sighing and looking at Khaat and smiled and placed her hand on Khaats again " there caming him don't worry" she said " by the way nice ring i didn't get a chance to see it up close " she said and smiled " he really wants you to feel like his wife , in his heart you are and its nice " she said softly she could feel jack rage but she knew he was in control she could tell by his thoughts he wanted to rip the mans heart out but couldn't as he was Brians family and also Brian was his boss. " I think when A ngus and Cassidy get back we should ask them to make breakfast this is going to be along day" she said seeing yet another pile of papers suved under the couch. sudenly she watched Khaat aperate and followed seeing jack with brian and steven with kiran at arms length she stood her arms folded across her chest her eyes seiming to dril holes in his skull as she stood with Khaat.

Kieran laughed, seemingly truly amused, his gaze fixed on Brian. "You've really gone over the deep end over a woman? Honestly? I always knew you were a sap. And look at her. Got yourself a pretty little tart, don't you? How much did she cost you, Bud?"

Brian pulled away from Jack's grasp. His fist slammed into Kieran's jaw. Kieran's head pounded back into the wall. Blood flew, and Kieran's form fell limp, sliding down the wall. Brian had knocked him out completely. As Keran fell, Khaat saw a couple of Kierans teeth fall out of his mouth and hit the floor. She went over to Brian and laid her hand softly on his right upper arm just as Brian was tempted to snatch Kieran up off the floor and continue the beating. But at her touch, he looked at her.

"Do you know what I am?" she asked him softly. He looked at her for a moment, frowning deeply at her. "If you know, then it doesn't matter what Kieran thinks. Isn't that what you told me at the Parke Hotel when we were there? As long as you knew, nothing else mattered."

He sighed heavily. "Alright. I'll let him live--for now. But I won't promise you for how long."

"Thank you," she said. She left Jack and Steven to take care of Brian and Kieran, and she went into the kitchen. She looked in the fridge and the cabinets. No food. None. But a great deal of alcohol. She flicked her wand to cause the bottles to all drop out of the cabinet and smash to the floor. The sound of smashing glass was deafening.

It woke the stunned Kieran. "Nooooo!" he groaned, his hand to his jaw. "Not the whiskey!"

"The whiskey, the beer, every drop of alcohol you've got. Consider it a gift--from the tart. You're about to detox," Khaat said quietly, coming back into the room. She flicked her wand back at the kitchen when the bottles stopped smashing and cast a spell for the kitchen to clean itself. "And for your information, we've met before. I'm not a tart. Shall I ask my father to re-introduce us?"

"I don't know you. I've never seen you before he brought you here tonight," Kieran said, his head pounding. He groaned.

"Oh, but you do," Brian hissed. "Maybe that's a good idea. Maybe you should meet my father in law. Maybe he should handle you."

Jack felt the tenshion in Brian and released his grip slm him and headed straight fightly watching as he pulled foom him and went strait for Kiran. He glanced at Jessica who nodded she understood why he had let him go and would have done the same thing. he stood watching him and grined when hse saw the teeth laid on the floor " he deserved it " he said softly and moved to Jess who wrapped her arms around him and sighed deeply.

"Some people just won't learn " she said softly to him as she held him she could feel the tenshion in his muscles and knew he would go f or his run to rid himself of it . Jess looked at Brian and Khaat " we should get back to the main area hes out cold for now " she said not even attempting to make sure he was allright she knew what he got he deserved. Mov ng Jack aperated her and him back to the main livingroom and sat down. He looked at her as she smiled at him " its ok Jack" she said kissing him quickly before any one else arrived.She held him f eeling his body against hers and her control growing stronger every second she did . She gave a sigh as she rested her head on his shoulder.

Steven watched stepping back from kiren as brian walked past him he wanted to stop him but resisted knowing kiran needed to be shown Brian was the stronger and better man. He stood beside Khaat and folded his arms across his chest " jess is right, he won't learn men like him see it as a thrill to gamble there life thinking thet have nothing left they drag who ever is with them down too" he said shaking his head a little " i m thinking he has dozens of people after him as well as woman with his kids " he hated the fact he was a user and loked at him with daggers in his eyes. He had seen with his own eyes what devistation and ruin a man like him had caused he had seen it in Delilah's eyes over Clayton the hurt and pain he had caused to her his now wife. If he wasn't working for Brian he probably would have done the same thing . Steven smirked at hearing the smashing glass he knew the worst thing of all was detox he ahd seen it in several freinds of his own. he moved to stand just behind Khaat making sure that he knew he was there not to protect Kiran but to protect Khaat.