I'll Get Right On That

Brian was sitting at a table in the Leaky, with an untouched pint in front of him.  He was unshaven, sleep deprived, and starting to doze, one elbow propped on the table, and resting his forehead on his hand.  Within just a couple minutes he was in jeopardy of doing a header, face forward into the pint.  The barkeeper slid the pint out of the line of fire and put a stiff cup of coffee under Brian's nose instead.  

"Oi," he called to Brian. "We've got a room left upstairs. Take it and get some sleep."

"I'm supposed to meet someone," he said, yawning. "Oh. Coffee. Good."

"Try not to land your face in it," the barkeeper said, walking away.  

"I won't," Brian said, barely hearing him, as he slipped back into a sleep.  He was starting to relive the last three or four days in the dream he was slipping into, when someone tapped his cheek a couple of times.  Felt exactly like the childhood moments when Robert would wake him if he dozed off doing his homework. He woke, expecting to see his blond haired younger guardian there.  Nope. This was gray haired Robert, black business suit, an envelope in his hand.

"You look like hell," Robert said. He took a flask out of his suit jacket and poured some potion from the flask into the coffee and then put the flask on the table, figuring Brian would eventually need more potion. "Now, drink. I need you awake."

"What? What's going on?" he forced himself to drink the potions laced coffee, feeling very foggy. He stretched a bit.

"I need your skills. Here. Your next assignment," Robert said putting the envelope on the table.  

"Assignment?" Brian frowned.  He opened the envelope. Photos of kids. A stack of them, with a report paperclipped to each photo.  Happy faces of little kids that should have delighted any heart. But Brian had seen all sorts of these over the years.  He looked up at Robert.  

"This isnt the norm. I don't know who has them or why. Get them home. They disappeared, all of them, in the last 12 hours.  We can't wait.  We need to move."

"I don't work for you at the Ministry anymore."


"Then find a partner. Just get it done. Oh, and get a shave," Robert turned and walked out of the pub.

"I'll get right on that," he said dryly, as Robert disappeared back out into Diagon Alley.  "Briliant," he said to himself. "No 'Welcome back. How'd it go in Paris, Mate? Need a day to sleep? You look knackered. Feeling alright? No. I hear "Get a partner, get it done. Bloody Brilliant."

Jack and Kip had been getting along royally lately. So many people had needed their talents and both had seemed desperate to be doing something. They had helped train muggles, they had helped Keiran and Mai find some help, and now they were going out for a drink. After a long week, they felt they deserved it. Jack had originally invited Max, but when her roommate had said he'd prefer a night in with the kids. That's when she had thought to pop over to the Ugly Pigeon. With a smile, Kip had excused himself from his friends and stepped out into the night with his half sister.

They were different, the two children of Gregory Dyllan. But they were passionate, and they used everything in their disposal to protect what they thought needed protecting. It was these instincts that brought them together. Kip was a man who relied on his brain, on prior planning, and calculated actions. Jack put stock on instincts before all else, she improvised like crazy, and the wild option was always her favorite.

They shouldn't have gotten along. But they did.

Jack and Kip stepped into the Leaky Cauldron, and both unzipped their jackets, Jack working the zipper on her green jacket, Kip working his black one. They moved into the building, reaching the bar to order their whiskeys.

Find a partner. Just get it done. You get a partner, Robert, he thought. You get it done. Then he rethought that.  Robert was particularly driven to get these kids back, and to do it fast.  Meh...Robert sometimes was a bit more, well, direct? Was that the right word to describe him in combat? Robert didn't play when it came to the safety of children, and, although it had been awhile, the last Robert had been "let out" to go rescue a child--his own, and his twin grandsons--Robert had gotten just a wee trigger happy. Brian remembered the whirling dervish the curse had made Robert. Nevertheless, Brian liked to be more delicate and reduce the risk. Nah, leave Robert at home.  Probably a better plan.

Brian had been doing these sorts of missions since he left Hogwarts.  He could do them in his sleep. Well, that was just about what he was going to be doing this time anyway, wasn't he?  He had no auror or unspeakable credentials now. He had resigned his post at the Ministry because, frankly, he didn't need the money, and he had eight kids under 4.  He was needed at home to be a dad, and he loved every minute of it.

But, somewhere were these kids, and they didn't have their dads or their mums at the moment.  They probably hadn't had food, could be wet or cold or hurt....Ah, screw it all.  He knew they weren't home, and he was sure they were frightened.  These six kids were all under 4 too.  Little kids.  Really little--just like his own. It struck the part of his heart that was a really dedicated, sometimes fiercely overprotective father.

He was in, but he needed someone with the badge to partner with so he wasn't simply breaking and entering or assaulting.  A partner who could cover his....Hey!

He had caught the sight of Jack and Kip at the bar, ordering firewhiskeys.  Nice. Just what he needed. He hadn't paired with them often, but he knew enough about Jack to know she was always up for something on the fly.

"Tom! Put those on my account!" he shouted to the bartender.  Tom looked at Brian and nodded. Then Tom looked at Jack and Kip and motioned towards Brian.  Brian motioned cordially for them to join him at the table. He didn't know how they felt about rescuing kids. He did know how Jack felt about kids though.  Pretty much the same as he did.

He hoped one or both of them was up for a bit of intrigue and danger.

The whiskeys were delivered and Jack settled into her barstool comfortably. She hadn’t been out drinking socially in a public place in a long time. Probably not since Nemo. Once or twice she had drank with Gabby, but those rarely lasted long because the two of them could not get along for longer than an hour. She drank in the privacy of her own home, but beyond Kip, Max, and Gabby, her social group had considerably decreased. Fortunately, she and Michael were back in contact, and she hoped to keep it that way from now on.

Kip lifted the glass, pausing to look at her. “To change?”

Jack shook her head. “I don’t want to welcome it. Unexpected changes aren’t typically so pleasant.”

“I’m offended,” Kip said, lifting his glass to his lips. Jack snorted and tossed back her own shot, placing the glass on the bar. “That is good,” she said. “We need another.”

“No, no, I have this round. You had the last-“

Tom interjected then. “Actually, that gentleman down there had that last round.” He motioned towards a man, and Jack and Kip both turned to look at the savior of their buzz. Brian Quinn waved. Jack pleasantly humph-ed a little, interested at this turn of events. She was fairly sure she had met with all of the Lupin clan at least once, but never with Brian. She figured she had unlocked some sort of achievement or something.

Tom continued. “I mean, you could both pay-“

“You’re cute, Tom,” Kip said. Jack was already heading towards Brian – she had a feeling about this. Kip ordered the extra whiskeys and Tom whipped them up and handed them off. The half siblings sat on either side of Brian.

“Evening, Brian,” Jack said. “This is my half-brother, Kip. Don’t know if you two have met.”

Kip handed one of the shots to Jack and then held out a hand to shake. “Pleasure to meet you.”

((Also, I was really hoping that the kid Kip's gonna rescue will be a 8-9 year old Russian girl. Maybe she could be the one they are bringing in when the three of them get there.))

Brian shook Kip's hand. "Brian Quinn, otherwise known as Mr. Khaat Lupin. Pleasure to meet you."  Brian had gotten adjusted to people recognizing Khaat immediately, but Brian not so much. He had become the not-so-famous husband of a celebrity wife. Secure with himself, the matter struck him funny now. 

"I'd ask you what you'd been up to, Jack, but I think I know better. And I probably don't really want to know the truth, do I?" he grinned. "Oh, and, by the way, Abbey was asking about Sunny a few days ago.  I think she's hoping for a playdate in her new playhouse. She says she's too 'grown up' to play with 'little kids'." 


Abbey was the oldest of Brian's seven children, and she knew it. She was four.  And a month older than Dakota. The triplets were three, and the twins were going to be two. Abbey often struck Brian as 4 going on about 9.

"I know you two probably don't need a business proposal, but..." he was finding it hard to ease into. "How would you both like to make a fast 50,000 galleons? If we're lucky, 24 to 48 hours in and out, and cash in your accounts the minute we're out."

100,000 galleons. That ought to put a small but proper pinch in Robert's wallet, Brian found a bit of passive aggressive satisfaction in taking full advantage of the wide berth Robert had given him without giving it much thought.

Kip smiled widely. "I've heard your names. Typically associated with your wife, but I'm sure that's a point of pride." Khaat Lupin and Brian Quinn could help make or break his political career, should he choose to pursue it. He wasn't going to act of character, of course, because he was an honest man. But it was definitely something to consider moving forward.

Brian had a proposition and the number dropped into Jack's stomach, hard and fast. She worked good jobs, but she had a lot of expenses. Constant bills, hospital bills, repairs to her businesses, and unexpected expenditures like rent for vampires. She had gotten herself into debt more than once. And it was always worth it. But a night where she and Max didn't pull their hair out and chew pencils down to nubs while looking over their budget...

She owed her family that.

And Kip was thinking one thing... His country cottage. How long had he considered it, buying something more than the small apartment that seemed to cramped and unlike him. He had wanted it for a long time but it had never been a responsible investment.

Even so, the money wasn't the real intrigue. Jack and Kip slowly looked at each other, their eyebrows arched, almost perfect mirrors of each other. Jack turned back to Brian. "It's gotta be a pretty fun mission to fetch such a price."

(ooc--oh, and I'm open to however many kids, whatever ages...i was only winging again.  Whatever works.)


"The mission? Oh, yeah. Barrels of monkeys," Brian said, with a boyish grin.  "Tracking, breaking and entering, probably sparring with bad guys, finding our targets--at which point more sparring with the bad guys will probably ensue, followed by breaking back out, running our arses off..Yeah.  Typical mission stuff, pretty much, with a few little hitches. You know how it goes. I'll get to the hitches in a second."


He was purposely brushing off the envelope of "little hitches" as if that part was incidental. Actually, that was the most difficult part for him, but he'd weathered it well, every time he'd done a rescue. It was getting hard now to rescue kids because when he saw a hurting child, he always somehow saw his own children. Before he had his own kids, he would see himself in every kid that was either kidhapped or alone.

"However, you'll appreciate the humor.  I'm just back from Paris tonight, and here he comes, my own father in law, who knows I've not had time to sleep or stop for 3 nights in a row now, and he's got the guts to drop this mission on me, telling me he doesn't care how I get it done, just get it done.


"Do you know how hard it is to put one over on Robert Lupin--ever?  He left the door wide open for a wee bit of payback on this one. I can't just not go through it. I gotta do it," he laughed. It wasn't as if he hadn't temporarily outwitted Robert before.  And he still enjoyed doing it.  


"I'll pay you out of his funds," Brian said, "He doesn't care about the cash, not really. Then he'll give me that look. That thing he does with his eyebrows when he's been had. He'll threaten to get me back, and that will be that. But next time, not only will he think twice but the perks will be outstanding."

"However," he said, becoming more down to task now. "the bit that you're waiting on is the downside. This is a mission that needs to happen fast. Its a rescue mission.  Its not going to be easy, but the tough part always is in the getting out." He slowly slid the envelope to them, looking at them before taking his hand off the envelope. "This is tough because the victims aren't the norm. This is about kids. I'm going after kids."

Jack found that she enjoyed Brian's personality, as it had been revealed to her thus far. Robert had a playful side, but it was often lost to the side that was the British Minister of Magic. Khaat was always under so much strain and tragedy, Marcus seemed so serious, and Michael had lately been so frustrated and worried. This playful excitement to do something dangerous was nice, it reminded her of how she used to be. Hadn't she always loved playing the hero, stepping up to whatever challenge came her way? If this mission had that flavor, she would love it.

Jack raised the corner of her mouth excitedly, glanced towards Kip, who leaned in with eager curiosity, keeping his eyes trained on Brian. He laughed at Brian's stories, finding the dynamics of the Minister of Magic and his close group of friends refreshingly warm. It reminded him of his own circle of friends, a group that he hoped would follow him into office, did he ever decide to run.

Jack was less interested about the money, now that she was feeling that this was going to be a trying mission, one that would give her the opportunity to finally work with her halfbrother. But then Brian delivered the kicker, and the smiles slid off the siblings' faces. Kip looked at Jack who was staring forward, the faces of Sunny, Goose, Lize, Tomas, and Charlie quickly flashing through her mind. Kip blinked and reached forward, sliding the information out of the envelope, looking through the pictures. Jack's eyes slowly lowered, as her hand brushed over the picture of a young boy with bright blue eyes.

Jack exhaled and Kip looked up at Brian. "We need to-"

"Let's go," Jack said, straightening up. "We need to move quickly, I'm assuming. I'm ready. You're ready, aren't you?"

Kip glanced at Jack, who had suddenly become all business. He nodded, feeling the need to be more gentle. "Yes, I'm ready."

"Look," he said, pausing, "sorry about that. There really isn't an easy way to break this sort of news to anyone. In case you're wondering, I'm probably one of the other mysteries about Robert.  Michael rescues things. I rescue people. Its about that simple.


"It is, for me, easier, though, if once I start moving, I keep moving and I try not to think--because then I overthink it."

"I didn't read the dossiers indepth yet. What I did want look for was where the kidnappings seemed to happen.  There's a better than 50% bet that if they're mostly Brits, we're heading north."  He shrugged. "Not Sherlock Holmes. Just noticing that London is almost about as far south as they can go, and there's only a couple of train lines north out of London. Just sort of sounded like even money to me. You've got the dossiers on the kids. What's it look like to you? I've got a map in my pack if you need it."

Jack inhaled and straightened up, lifting her chin and shaking her hair free from its clutch on her neck. "No, it's fine, just... surprised," she explained, quickly putting up a steely resolve under the gaze of her half brother. She had gotten close with him, sure, but she wasn't going to allow him to see her vulnerable on that merit alone. She didn't like showing that to Max... no way she was about to become the sensitive one on this mission. No way in hell. She was always the tough one, and it was going to stay that way, thank you very much.

Jack nodded, saying, "Same. I'd like to start as soon as possible and keep on it until these kids are safe." She glanced at Kip, whose eyes were darting rapidly across the pages that he was slowly spreading out. She could see the cogs turning in her half brother's brain. He put a finger, bidding them wait a moment. Jack looked down at her drink, realizing it was untouched.

She was going to need this. She tossed the drink back.

Kip raised his head, though his eyes were on the paper. "Two were from this gifted school in North London. I've volunteered there. It's for children pre-Hogwarts age without means or family who have tested well. Then there's four of them from an orphanage, and another couple from the foster care system. The former are located in the North East, near Liverpool. I'd bet on Birmingham."

Jack shook her head. If she had the brains, she would be unstoppable.