Moving Forward

Khaat's sleep was interrupted by her seer's powers again. She dreamed she was confronting Burke and Gelding by herself. They promised to make Felix Barker look like a mere schoolboy, and when they were done with her, they were coming for her babies, and then Brian, her mother, and everyone else her father loved. She saw them strike her with a cruciatus curse, and then....

She was waking with a hard jolt. She sat bolt upright, so frightened, she couldn't even breathe. She wasn't sure her heart was beating at all. Her neck and her back hurt, and her head was even worse. She couldn't remember ever having a headache like that. It was so severe it brought tears to her eyes. And the jolt made it hurt even worse.

She looked around seeing Steven coming in the patio doors with Cassidy. She didn't want to look like she was as fragile as she felt. She did her best to try to pull her nerves together and regain her composure. She had never let anyone frighten her like these guys had. Her mind flashed to Remus, and it occured to her that this was not the warrior he had raised her to be. He might have understood her fear at first, but he would not have allowed her to be captive to it like this. She suddenly felt ashamed of herself. She had never wanted, ever, to feel that she would disgrace or disappoint Remus. Not ever. And this, she thought, he might have given her a sound come uppance for. She did her best to not give in to the tears that burned in her eyes. She didn't want anyone to see. This was not who she was. She was Khaat Lupin. And Lupins coped with anything. Well, didn't they?

"Thank you," Khaat said very softly, taking the cup from Cassidy. She looked at Jess. "If its a vision, we can't stop it, Jess, can we? It's going to happen, and there isn't anything we can do about it," she said, feeling entirely helpless now.

Brian came downstairs, with Abbey in one arm and Dakota in the other. Both girls were chattering in his ears eagerly, just as fast as they could babble. Dakota was yanking on Brian's ear. "Hey, You!" Brian laughed. "That's my ear! Hey, anyone want to grab this one?" He caught the look on Khaat's face and frowned. "Take them both--now." Angus rescued Abbey from Brian.

Brian shoved Dakota rather quickly into Jack''s arms and he crossed quickly to Khaat. "What happened? I thought you were sleeping."

"They're coming, and we...we can't stop them," she looked at him, truly frightened.

"What did you see?" Brian frowned.

"Burke and Gelding and me--alone."

"Khaat, now listen to me," He told her with a fierce protectiveness. "Not gonna happen. I don't care what you thought you saw. You're not going to be alone. Let's say for instance that you might be encountering them in the future. They're not invinceable. And you're a damned good fighter. You can take them. But here's the thing I don't want you to ever forget. You're not going to have to face them without us." She looked at him, not believing him. "Khaat, I swear," he said softly. "look at me. Do you trust me? I mean, really trust me?"

She looked in his eyes. There were few people she trusted like she trusted him. "Yes," she said softly. "I do."

"Then its going to be alright," he said softly, kissing her slowly. "Jess, would you go into the kitchen and get Khaat a bit more pain potion for in her coffee? Robert's spell is wearing off. I can see it. "

Khaat nodded, trying to get a grip on her fear. She didn't want to be this way. She really wanted to be stronger. This wasn't who she was. She sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, All," she said. "This is not at all who Remus would have ever wanted me to be. He would be so ashamed if he could see me right now."

In the midst of her words, Robert apparated in, and hearing her words he frowned. "What? What sort of twaddle is that, Khaat Karina Lupin?"

"But he..." she began.

"Now you listen to me," Robert said firmly to his daughter. "Remus loved you more than anything else in this world. And he was the first one to understand pain and fear and suffering. You above all people know that. He would never, ever have condemned you for being rattled after all this. You stop that nonsense this instant. He'd have only been thinking, first, about how very very proud he was of you for remembering enough of what we taught you so you could survive. And then, he'd probably have been heading up this whole detail we have to protect you and stop them. Now, you get a grip on this, Khaat. You're tired and hurt. You need a chance to rest up--physically and emotionally and mentally. You let us all help you a bit to share the load with you. Thats just what families and friends do. That's why we're here." Robert went over and took Abbey from Angus, anxious to hold his granddaughter. "You have any bloody tea in this house?" he looked at Angus.

"Uh..yes, Sir. Coming right up," Angus said, leaving promptly to get it.

"Constantly," Angus laughed. "Get used to it. People pop in and out of here like it was Kings Cross Station--at all hours of the day and night. Especially Robert. At least we know, for th emost part, that whoever does that is a friend. Brian and Robert have layered all sorts of protective spells and enchantments all around the estate, but especially around the house. The grounds have been breeched once or twice, but those individuals have been dealt with. The house, well, that hasn't ever been breeched. Not to this point. Brian has gone to every length he knows to make this house as undetectable as he knows how. The only way one gets here is by express invitation. I bet you don't even know where you are, do you? You're farther north of London than you know. Brian will, at some point, give you a portkey so you can go in and out as you need to. But my best guess is that he hasn't thought of that yet."

He poured the tea. "Oh. Tea--where Robert is concerned, he doesn't use tea or sugar. Straight up is how he likes his tea. He prefers tea, except if he needs to stay focused and alert. And then he moves to French Roast. Khaat is a coffee drinker. Black, no sugar. Brian? Well, he never quits working, so he always feels like he has to stay awake and hyper alert. So, yeah. He's a coffee, black, no sugar sort of guy too. Jess and Jack are normally tea drinkers, but they sometimes drink coffee. Steven, he's an American. He's strictly a coffee guy. Me, I like both. It just depends on what mood I"m in."

"Let's get this back to him before he fires us," Angus laughed. "He's extremely no nonsense when they're working on something like this. You'll get used to him. He's more bark than bite--well, most of the time. But he can bite. You don't want to be on the end of that."

He took the tea back into Robert, who was now sitting next to Khaat on the sofa. He was holding Abbey on his lap with one hand and had his hand on the back of her neck, checking it. "You're going to be coal black for awhile," he sighed. "Can't help it. Bad bruising, my dear. Drink your coffee. You need the pain potion." Khaat looked at him and realized he clearly had smelled the potion in her coffee. "It'll help," he told her gently.

"They have no secrets," Angus said to Cassidy softly. "Well, almost none that I know of." He took the tea mug over to Robert and handed it to him. Abbey began to grab for Robert's tea mug, and Robert held it out of her reach, not wanting Abbey to get burned. Abbey got upset and offended and began to cry.

"Now you've done it," Brian said. He went over and took Abbey from Robert. "Is Grandpa being mean to you?" he asked Abbey, cuddling her. She began babbling at him tearfully.

"I think she's thirsty," Khaat said softly.

"Well, its Angus's fault," Brian said, pretending to be irked, and kissing Abbey. "He was mean, wasn't he, Abbey? Brought Grandpa something to drink and not you. That wasnt' nice, was it? Jess, would you like to take her while I get her some juice?"