Darkness within the Light

Rob had expected a lot of different questions but definitely not that one. It was logical though on her part. He’d never really said it enough. It was as if she’d forgotten and Rob didn’t like that. Of course he loved her but there were a lot of complications in that. Of course, he thought it best to leave her out of that side of his life for her own safety. As far as his employees were concerned he was probably never going to marry and definitely didn’t have a love life. This suited Rob fine. The less they knew the better as far as he was concerned but sometimes he did wonder what it would be like for Khaat to be part of the harem.
“I do.” He nodded. “I never stopped. I lied to Lizzie.” He was a lot softer with Khaat. He didn’t think he could ever raise his voice to her. Lizzie had it coming but he did feel guilty. She hit a nerve and he’d reacted irresponsibly. He’d apologize to her and try and make it up to her somehow. She hadn’t deserved the treatment he’d given her even if he thought she did.

"Then if you love me, I'm okay with everything else--except one thing. Just one. Will you move back home? Just be with me? I can see where, doing what you do, you would be extra afraid for Abbey and for me. Fair enough. So hire someone we can both trust to bodyguard us. Make up some excuse that they're long time family friends. I truly don't care. I'm sick of being in the house alone and wanting someone to be there with me. I don't want to be with Vincent or anyone else. Not really. I want to be with you.

"Rob, I don't care what you do--legal or illegal. Not as long as you're here with me. I want to know it all--the good and the bad. I'll walk it with you, as long as you tell me the whole truth. No half truths, no lies. Truth. All of it. I would prefer you did not father children with those other women who were just in the kitchen, but that's not my choice. And yes, I 'saw' them too. Some things aren't as easy to turn off as I'd like.

"As far as most everything else goes, I don't care. I am not as fragile as you think I am. Seems Vincent doesn't even like who I am becoming. I think I'm getting too dark even for his tastes. Especially after the last time he and I talked," She laughed a bit bitterly. It took a lot to be beyond what was acceptable to Vincent Majere, but somehow she'd managed it.

Rob smiled. She didn’t ask for much. Although he’d definitely be finding excuses to splash out on her now she knew so to speak. Although, he didn’t really know what she wanted. The best he could come up with would be jewellery or something equally random. He would protest about the body guard for him. He could handle himself, he wasn’t entirely useless. Well, he was but he ran a corporation that could successfully wipe out Britain without even having to lift a finger. A few drops of his girl’s new potion and bam, they’re all dead. He used to brew the very first potions but he and Jen got right quite fast so they didn’t have to. “Hey, I am a busy, busy man.” He laughed. “Gotta sleep in my office for a few nights, y’know. But I’ll be back for good.” He promised. “You can have a bodyguard or two, love but I’m fine. I can look after myself.”

He raised an eyebrow and smirked. If he was honest he didn’t want to father children with those women either. Not only would the kids probably end up eating him alive but the girls would be vixens just like their mother’s and that would definitely drive him to an early grave. Although, they’d probably be incredibly intelligent – like super babies. This would definitely be something that Rob could look into he put that away. Perhaps they’d work on genetic manipulation next as well. “Love, I don’t think I could handle it. Five women, all sisters....their offspring and part mine. A bit too much for one guy.”

“Wowza.” He whistled lowly and grinned. “Perhaps he’ll finally bugger off and let Jen have her fun with him. I doubt it but it’s worth a try on her part.” He shrugged and smiled. He was feeling better now, about everything. Fathering his best potioneers’ children did scare him a little though. He didn’t fancy that at all.

"The truth is, I don't really need the bodyguards either," she said, finally feeling like she was dropping the other shoe. "I'm only saying it if you need it to stop being so protective. That's part of what keeps you avoiding me. If a bodyguard makes it stop, then so be it. I'll learn to live with it. But since you didn't ask, I'll tell you anyway. Vincent is repulsed by my enjoyment of killing. Its a new hobby I have, and it seems I'm very good at it, and it also seems that I like it. He doesn't like that I do it, nor that I like it. So I do think I could hold my own. A lot more than you realize. And before you ask, yes. Daddy does know what I'm becoming. He hasn't said a word. I'm a Lupin--or I was. Not a shrinking violet. I was raised to be tougher than that. Bottom line--do the bodyguard to suit yourself. Not for me. I am very, very capable." She could hear the fierceness in her voice that had never been there before. She was burying deep the pain she felt when he had, basically, refused her in her request to move home. She didnt' understand, and that "I'm a busy man" crap didn't wash. He still was lying to her. Still didn't want to come home. She didn't get it. She really didn't get it. Somehow she was not enough for him. Would never be. It hurt. It really, really hurt. She sipped on her coffee, layering on heavy coats of ice around her heart. She was not ever going to let him get that close to her heart until he started being honest. Nobody was. She began to think, in her mind, about what she needed to do to adopt out Abbey after she was born so that Abbey was out of the way. Not a pawn to be used by either of them. Abbey was better without either of them.

Rob raised an eyebrow at Khaat. She was what? He didn’t actually want to know if he was honest. He was probably safer tucked away in one of the labs back in Knockturn Alley although the unstable Liquid Cruciatus was probably a problem so maybe not safer. He didn’t understand and if he was honest he really didn’t want to know what she was up to half of the time. As long as she didn’t get herself killed, captured or whatever he didn’t care. That was something he really didn’t want. Rob swallowed. “Uhm. Okay.” He said a little worriedly. “What’s brought this on?” Why the bloody hell hadn’t Robert said anything. She might be a Dent but she was still a Lupin. Jen would argue and say she’d never be a Dent but Rob disagreed. He really didn’t need one of his psychos running around after her watching her kill random people for fun. Sure he and Jen did it but it wasn’t something Khaat did. Evidently it was, though. It just all seemed a bit violent for her. Rob doubted she was professional enough at it though. She’d probably get caught eventually. How fun. He wasn’t bailing her out of Azkaban though in the event she was put there; no way.

"Some assholes killed the wife of a friend of mine and kept his son hostage while my friend was in a coma fighting for his life. They really thought they could mindbend the young son into doing anything they wanted. I got the boy back, killed his captors and blew their little illegal operation all to hell, robbed all the information I needed from the American Department of Magical Affairs,killed a couple of their agents in the process, and just kept killing until there was nothing left to clean up. The bastards that kept him deserved it, and I enjoyed doing it. They and their filthy little henchmen didn't deserve to live. In case you haven't noticed, Rob, life is very cheap. Especially in these days. People are very expendable and replaceable.

"They destroyed my friend and his family. He's struggling for a reason to still be on this little planet now, and I can't give him one. Not one. Yeah, he's got a great kid, but there's always someone to pick up taking care of a kid when a parent isn't there anymore. "

She looked at the odd look on his face and it made her laugh a bit, " Vincent gave me the same look. Said I wasn't the same as I used to be and said he liked me better as I was. Doesn't like the more brutal side of me. Oh, come on, Rob. If anything, my game is improved. I'm sharper. If I weren''t, Daddy wouldnt take me along to, basically, be a sniper for him on his missions. Nor would he have come along with me on one of my trips to America. And don't think I haven't done just exactly that. I would be a sniper for him anytime he asked, kill whoever he asked, no questions asked. No guilt attached.

"You're looking like my father and I betrayed you because we didnt' tell you. Well, Daddy knew exactly what I was becoming, and as for telling you, what would be the purpose? You were never interested in anything he had to say before. The only reaction he ever got from you was irritation and anger. What would have been the purpose for him in setting himself up to be on the receiving end of more of that? So long as I was in one piece, what was the harm?

"You're self righteous sister scoffs at me because I'm a Lupin. Because I'm not as good as she believes she is. And because I only carry two wands and am not armed to the teeth. Trust me, I don't need it. I don't need to carry 50 pounds of hardware to keep myself alive or to kill someone. Trust me, I'm all done trying to meet anybody else's expectations. "

"And next time, don't lie about not wanting to come home either. You don't want to come home, you say so. Its that simple. If there's something else you haven't said, spill it now. "

She sighed heavily, thwarted at one of the things she wanted the most, "All these months, I've wanted to kill every member of that lab that sold me that potion, and here I find, of all people, its you. The one person on the planet I couldn't ever hurt. Damn."

Part of her really wanted to unleash on him all the rage she felt towards him for so many reasons--the whole bloody list--the real reason her father had allowed her to become his private personal assassin, one of his many operatives. She was by no means his only assassin, but she was one he was coming to rely on for special things. She had signed up for her father's own very large scale international operation, one with quite a different purpose than Rob's. A part of the Lupin family life she presumed Rob knew nothing about. She knew full well that her rage concerned her father enough that he had reeled her in to his ranks in order to keep a safeguard on her rage, a place to vent it, to keep an eye on her and to keep the rage from destroying her. And she knew he always provided for his assassins very well indeed--including the very finest protection--of every type. And for his daughter, Robert Lupin would do anything. Anything.

She had spilled her heart to him, what she could still feel of it, and he response was that he was a busy man. Too busy for her and Abbey. She had become what she detested. And it ate at her like a cancer. Despite all the protests to the contrary, she was pitifully just exactly who she never wanted to be. What the hell was she supposed to do with this? She wasn't totally unresourceful. She was getting some ideas of her own.

This was all definitely news to Rob. He decided to keep a cool unmoving yet slightly disbelieving mask covering his face. She did have a point on most things but he wasn’t happy about the ‘Kill or be killed’ frame of mind she had. Or, well, that was Jen’s; Khaat’s was probably something like ‘Kill without motive’. He might have been sadistic for most of the day and pretty much hell bent on producing potions which would probably wipe out the whole of the Muggle community in the event Voldemort re-returns. Although that would probably turn him into Severus and Jen into a younger Bellatrix so he definitely wasn’t going to, uh, spill the beans on his little business. Plus, the mass murders in the Muggle community loved testing out some of the potions. Of course, they’d wipe his mind clean and then chuck him into a police station when they were done with him. Seeing the whole trial on TV and such was definitely a lot more fun than just letting them run around with Liquid Crucios.

He could have questioned whether the ‘filthy little henchmen’ deserved to live. He didn’t though. He could have said; ‘Well, do Werewolves deserve to live’ but that would have been out of line. Plus, he needed them to do some work for him. He sighed. This definitely wasn’t what he’d thought his wife would turn into. He hadn’t been about though so he couldn’t have foreseen it. He also could have blamed himself for the newer version of Khaat but he wasn’t giving himself all of the credit because he wasn’t happy about it at all. He had a mind to retreat back to Knockturn Alley and see what his potioneers had for him.

“Isn’t that convenient?” he smirked. “Look, I have nothing else to say I am afraid. Sorry to disappoint.”

"Of course you don't," she said, casually. "What did you expect? Did you expect me to sit around and pine away for you forever? Did you expect me to turn into Narcissa Malfoy? Despite how much I like her--and I do like her a lot--I refuse to spend my life feeling brokenhearted and hanging on hope against every feasible hope that you might give me one single ounce of affection. She's done that with Lucius for years, and look where its got her. She is a permanent mental mess. A lovely one, but a mess nonetheless. I told you before--I will NOT be Narcissa Malfoy for you or anybody else. If you won't be here, if our wedding night was the last time you could tolerate spending any time with me, than so bloody well be it!"

It dawned on her that she still had Sparks to run now that Rob was out of it. "I have a restaurant to run," she said quietly, getting up. She went into the kitchen and wiped away, with one hand everything he had been working on. She didn't want one single trace of it to remain. She wanted a clean slate to start with. She set the kitchen to cleaning itself. She dictated a specials menu off the top of her head to a magical quill while she started working on kneading another loaf of bread that Lizzie had been ready to knead before she had been so rudely interrupted. There were several bowls of different breads waiting to be kneaded, set for, bu their second rise and then baked. Pastries to turn out. Soups, slow braised meats, salads, and she was just one little pregnant woman who didn't have the energy she had before she had become 6 months pregnant. And there was more than enough to keep two people running. She needed her father's cloning spell.

She really wanted to unleash her wrath on Rob, but it would fall on a heart that no longer wanted to love her,a man she didnt even know anymore, a man that loved his whores and his money more than new bride and his child.. He had no concept of what he was doing. She knew it was purposeful on his part to drive her away to protect her, but the fact of that matter was that she did exist and so did Abbey and they were from now on far safer with him than without him. No one would dare mess with Rob Dent's wife or child if and when they were that close to him. He was an asshole. He couldn't see that by creating distance he was drastically magnifying the danger for his wife and his child. She had never believed him to be stupid before, but this was truly stupid. And truth be told, it was public knowledge that she had married him. Who in the hell did he think he was hiding it from anymore? His whores? What did they care as long as he paid them, and he was sure he spent more money on them than he did on her and Abbey. The more she kneaded the bread, the more tired she became, and the more angry she got at him.

The only choice she had, at least until Abbey was born was to go into hiding, since Rob couldn't see it. She would have to hire Lizzie some large burly Auror who could also cook to replace Rob because she wasn't physically capable of this. If he ever thought he would lay his hands on poor Lizzie again, she would kill him. Lizzie did not deserve his terrorizing. She had been protecting Khaat, the person Rob said he loved, and then did everything he could to hurt her. She owed Lizzie more than what she could ever pay her. And being anywhere near where Rob was wasn't fair to her. She had some ideas about perhaps burying her deep within her father's protection and hiring two totally new cooks. That might have to wait til tomorrow. She had all she could do today.

Robert could feel Khaat's rage before he opened the door at Sparks. And it was extremely rare for her to be that angry--ever. He was surprised to see Rob sitting at the counter instead of her. He could feel her energies in the kitchen. He wasn't sure what had happened, but it had not been good. He looked at Rob, who just didn't seem to know what to do next.

He tried not to interfere with Rob, but he poured himself tea by waving it magically to pour itself and come to him. He laid his money on the counter and went over to Rob. "I don't know what's going on, but I can feel Khaat's energies miles away. I haven't ever felt her this angry. You wanna tell me or should I ask her myself?"

A Narcissa Malfoy reincarnation wasn’t exactly what Rob wanted. He didn’t like blondes that much. He breathed out a shot of air once she’d disappeared and ran a hand through his hair. He moved over to one of the booths and sat down. Why had he lost his temper with Lizzie like that? She didn’t deserve his pent up frustration no matter what she’d done to try to bait him. He’d definitely have to apologize to her but he didn’t mind that too much when he had reason to apologize. He owed her one anyway. Perhaps then he’d ask her to work for him just as a joke but he’d already suggested that. He didn’t particularly want to donate her to the research part of the labs at all. They used others for that and Lizzie wasn’t needed down there.

There was a pop and the familiar face of Christophe appeared. Rob scowled and Christophe bowed mockingly. Rob sighed and slid out of the booth. Chris planted a kiss on each of his cheeks and patted Rob on the head. “Robbie, darling, you’re going to feel like someone has just shagged your for six hours straight!” he announced happily. “Although, that’s probably never going to happen to you again and you’re getting on a bit now bud so definitely not. Your girls are quite happy though. Anyway...I have a gift for you!” Rob raised an eyebrow and Chris took a box out from inside of his robes and took a card off of the top. He opened it up and read it out. “To our esteemed, scary and incredibly sexy leader we give you the first batch of our success. Love, Katrina, Lena, Althea, Maeve and Fay.”
“Thanks Chris. Back to work then.” Chris saluted Rob and disappeared with a crack. Rob shook his head and sent the box to his office with a snap of his fingers.

He heard the door of Sparks open and glanced over to see Robert walk in. Rob mentally groaned. This was just what he needed. He wanted to go back to work for once in his life and escape all of the drama. At least with drama at the work place he could just sack them all. Rob conjured himself a glass of something and drank some of it before turning to Robert. “Guess.” He said simply. “Perhaps something to do with my profession.”