LONDON CALLING

Kaden held Jessie and listened to Robert with a sigh he looked at Jessie then to Robert. " I will take you up on that offer, after todays epasode I am not as ready as I thought I was." He said then smiled at Kate as she handed him a cup of tea." oh, perfect" he said softly as he held the cup in both hands. Listening more he nodded " any one who could help I'd except."

He sipped his tea leaning back slightly on Jessie who kept his arm around his waist. " I don't think I could train you, I'd be scared to hurt you, maybe Jack would be better or Angus." he said to Kaden softly. Kaden shrugged as he sipped the tea.

"Have to say this almond tea is fantastic, oh I forgot." he turned to Jessie and handed him the bag of fudge he'd bought him " for you." this made Jesie blush and smile.

"Thank you." he said taking the bag and placing it in his own pocket. He watched Jack's face as they spoke of his brother. " I think I'll take Jack for a run this time," he said chuckaling as Kaden agreed.

"yeah looks like some one needs to blow off some steam" he said in his normal level making Jack look over at them as Jessie let go of Kaden and walked over to him.

"Come on" he said placing down Jacks cup and dragging him to the back door.

Kate took a mug of tea to Michael with a little plate of some of his biscuits. Marcus watched Jessie and Jack go out for a run, and he saw how rattled Kaden was from being tossed into his first real life skirmish.

"Well, Kaden," Marcus said, "as the old saying goes, any skirmish you can walk away from is a victory. Sounds like you all did well, so, perhaps you should start by joining Robert's team for their morning workouts. Most of them go before daylight because their duties keep them busy all day long, but find someone to work out with. Some days they run, and some days they do a pretty grueling routine of calisthenics."

"Any of us can get you started on a beginning training program to get you in shape," Angus said. "We also get together at least once a week to brush up on dueling skills and to stay in shape for Robert's training weekends. Those can be pretty intense but they're great for learning new skills and for doing through all sorts of practice scenarios."

"And, don't for get that as part of St. Mungo's staff, you're entitled to a membership to the fitness center in the basement there," Robert told Kaden.

"Its one of the best places outside of Brian's estate here or the Colorado ranch to go work out," Angus said. "Next time you and Jessie get a weekend off, you should go to Colorado and immerse yourself in the ranch. It's a real western ranch in the mountains of Colorado. You can be a real cowboy for a weekend and also do some training. The mountain views are spectacular, especially this time of year."

Kaden listened to Angus and sipped his tea " also might help him get over this fear of hourse types." he said and chuckled with a nod " I'll do that." he said " and the gym in the basement I knew of, the sauna is real good for releving tenshion and stress." Kaden finished his tea and placed the cup in the dishwasher.

He moved back still listening to him and sighed " I was begining to feel out of my depth, but extra trainning won't go a miss, " he looked at Angus as he spoke again " look I might not have much musle, or be fast but I have brains and know how to draw my wand quickly, maybe its time I adressed the weaknesses and built them up to become strenths too." he told him

"We all have strengths and we all have deficits," Brian said. "You can improve both, and part of it is to learn to have more confidence in yourself so that when and if danger comes, you know how to think and how to act quickly so you can keep yourself alive."

"If you learn how to keep your head and not panic, you can come up with some amazingly creative solutions to some tough situations," Robert said. "So part of the training for this team is to toss them into a situation that is unpredictable and hurls unexpected obstacles in their way so they can learn to think creatively. We also do survival weekends in order to further that creative thinking."

"Those are not anyone's favorite," Brian laughed, "but they probably are some of the biggest confidence builders, and they also build team relationships. When they're thrown together to survive, people get to know each other and trust each other quickly."

Kate let the conversation go on without her, and she got out some onions, carrots and celery to make a basic mirepoix in order to start preparing one of her special dinners. Khaat went over and picked up a chef knife and joined her mother in cutting vegetables.

"So what are we fixing?" Khaat asked.

"Roast beef, yorkshire pudding, with all the trimmings," Kate said.

"And dessert?"

"Either sticky toffee pudding or knickerbocker glory, I think," she said.

"Now, that's a tough choice," Khaat laughed. "I hope everyone comes hungry."

"How about I make the homemade ice cream and the fruit topping for the knickerbocker glory?" Angus offered. "And if i have time, I'll try to put together the sticky toffee pudding."

"A truly homemade knickerbocker glory is time consuming. We might need to go without the toffee pudding," Kate said.

Kaden listened to Brian and nodded his head " I know how to draw my want fast and cast spells but as you can see Im not build for muscle or group activitys, I prefer to be on my own, other than Jessie, I was suprised at how fast he broke down that barrier." he sat back in his chair as he continued. " as for the group thing I can't I have a fear of public speacking." he admited " even Jessie dosn't know that."

Listening to Kate he got up from his chair and moved to help her " I can make the batter for the yorkshire puddings." he said with a smile taking out a bowl and a whisk along with flour, eggs and milk. " my mother taught me to cook and how to make things from scratch too, I think secretly she knew I was gay but was acepting of it."

"Thank you. Additional hands in the kitchen are always welcome," Kate told him as he stepped in to make the pudding.

Marcus frowned a bit as Kaden talked about his fear of public speaking.

"Nobody's going to ask you to make a speech," Marcus said to Kaden. "Did you know that up to 75% of the entire population has the same fear? Almost nobody is comfortable with that. Makes you just like the rest of us, Mate. You don't appear to be in any great distress being in the kitchen with us, and I'll wager its because you know you're amongst friends. A training isn't all that different. You're still amongst the same friends. It's pretty much the same thing except that, largely, they're outdoors instead of indoors."

"Nobody is going to force you to do anything you don't want to do," Brian said. "Wand speed is a good thing, so maybe all you need to do is keep practicing. You don't need a training program for that."

Angus got out the fixings and made the mixture for an extra large batch of a very lovely homemade french vanilla ice cream, and Kate told him where the ice cream freezer was. Angus put the mixture in the freezer and set a spell in place to churn the mixture to make the perfect creamy texture. Then he got out the ingredients to make a couple of different sauce types for the sundaes. He also intended to cut up some fresh fruit to tuck into some of the layers, and he intended to make some homemade whipped cream.

Kate put the roast in the oven to slow cook, and then she made up the batter for the Yorkshire puddings. She had a big basket of little tiny baby potatoes, and she decided to do a sheet pan roasting of them so they would have crispy skins and tender fluffy insides. She decided on doing some carrots the same way but with adding toasted pecans and a delicious brown sugar candied glaze to them. And Khaat made a lovely chopped salad assorted greens with apples, walnuts, dried cranberries, feta cheese, and a champagne vinaigrette.

"This looks like it is shaping up to be quite a feast," Khaat said.

"Did you leave me anything to cook?" a voice asked from the doorway. They turned and saw Michael in the doorway, in his pajamas and robe.

"Did I give you any sort of permission to be up? Did I not tell you to stay in bed until I told you otherwise?" Robert flew to him, frowning deeply. "Come sit. Slowly. Straight spine. No bending. You are not cooking today. Absolutely not. Why are you up?"

"He's bored," Marcus said, knowing Michael probably better than Michael intended to be known.

"He's about to be grounded," Khaat said.

"I'm not five," Michael retorted.

"Well, then, get ready. You're about to be treated like it," she said quietly, knowing her father's temper with such things.

Kaden could not help but smirk at how they spoke to Michael as he pored the batter into the hot oil in the moulds to put in the oven. " I feel at home here, is that bad?" he asked " and I will keep practicing my wand skills."

Its now Jessie and a rather sweaty and exausted Jack returned from their work out Kaden raised an eye brow as Jack went straight to the sink and got a drink of cold water. Jessie walked over to him intending to give him a kiss and he pulled back. " shower first you stink." he said pointing to the hallway where the bedrooms where. Jessie chuckled and walked to his room.

"oh how I feel so much beter, but still want to tear my brothers head off and play soccer with it." he said downing his third glass of water.

"Don't make yourself waterlogged," Kate cautioned Jack.

"That can be dangerous if you drink too much water after a workout," Robert told Jack. "Be careful. Don't overdo it, Jack."

"Maybe we need to go on a bit of a fishing expedition," Khaat suggested.

"Wait a second. I know you," Marcus said. "You want to go fishing for James, don't you?"

"I do," she said. "I think we need to find out where he is and what he's up to, and I'm the best bait we've got."

"Nope, nope, nope," Marcus said. "Absolutely not." Marcus had sparred several times with James when he had guarded Khaat, and he knew how strong James was.

"Agreed," Brian said.

"If you go looking for him, you dont do it without taking Marcus with you," Robert said.

"Marcus?" Kate frowned. "He's supposed to be with you. Jack is his brother..."

"It almost always takes two to deal with James," Robert said. "I'm sure if you go looking for him, Jack won't be left behind, but I want you to take Marcus with you. I can keep plenty of nannies around me for that long. Besides, I did promise Michael I'd soundly beat his sorry butt in a chess game tonight."

"I did win the last game," Michael pointed out.

"I let you win," Robert deliberately baited him.

"You wish you'd let me win. I won it fair and square because I'm better than you are." Robert laughed out loud at Michael's attempt to bait him. Marcus let their sparring go on without paying much attention to it. He was far more interested in watching Khaat. He could read her like a book, and he was getting the very sound feeling she had a plan to try to find James.

Jack set the glass down and listened to Khaat " and not with out me" he said with an almost evil grin he glanced at Marcus then to Khaat again "theres no bloody way shes going without me I want a peice of him." he said just as Jessie walked back from his shower.

"great I just got him calm." he said shaking his head as he dried it with a towel that staid laid across his shoulder. Kaden slipped the yorkshire puddings out of the oven and tested them for crunch finding them nice and crunchy he left them on a cooling wire.

"Kate yourkshire puddings are done." he told her as Jessie walked over to him his hands resting on his hips as he smelt the puddings. " hands off their for dinner."

Jessie chuckled and nodded " I know, but I didn't know you could cook so well, we should have a dinner together one day." Kaden smiled at him " what?"

"well if Im going to train here we will have lots of dinners together." he said making Jesie's smile grow. " but first lets get this James situation done with first." he added looking at every one sat in the living room.

"Do you know where he is?" Brian asked her.

"No. I don't," she said. "I know where his pack was the last time I saw him, but I don't know if he's still there. Still, I know how we can lure him out pretty effectively."

"Alright," Marcus said. "Spill it. How are you going to find him, and what are you going to do with him when you do find him?"

"I think I can lure him out of hiding. It just takes being in the right place at the right time," she said. "And, when he does come out, I intend to try to get him to tell me exactly what he's up to."

"Wait. You plan on asking him straight up if he intends to try to kill your father? Is that your plan?"

"Pretty much," she said.

"Well, that plan stinks," Marcus said. "You think he's going to just pop out and tell you everything?"

"Well, James is not his brother. Jack is clever. James is stupid," Khaat said. "it isn't that difficult to get a rise out of James and get him to tell me everything he's thinking. I think it could work. Jack? What do you think? If we want to know if he's hooked up with Gelding, let's ask him and see how he responds. I think we'll know from his reaction whether we have something to worry about or not. And, it isn't a full moon, so he shouldn't be able to go completely postal on us, right?"