LONDON CALLING

(i took it upon myself to decide that maybe ruby hadn't really known where she was headed except that she was rather impulsively headed out with him because Robert told her to, and they ended up in Hogsmeade simply by chance. and, i have to tell you, i love angus in this post. he's just so casual about it. he hasn't even considered they were trying to kill him. that hasn't even entered his head. he's only upset that they made holes in his duster, like this is all just a walk in the park for him. lmao.)

"Bad choice, Pee Wee," James said, "'Cause you ain't seen nothin' yet." He whistled, and up from the back of his fighters came two large figures dressed from head to toe in black cloaks, their faces blacked out. Robert wasn't sure if they were dementors or hags or shadow creatures.

"Shields!" Robert shouted to everyone.

At the farm, Kate felt a cold chill go through her, as did Mira. Mira looked at Kate, turning pale.

"Is it bad?" Mira asked.

"I don't know. Stay here! We can't all go," Kate told Mira. "Do not follow, no matter what you see!"

"We'll hold the fort," Gabe said to Kate, and she flicked her wand and apparated to the estate beside Robert.

"Kate,..." Robert began, fearing for Kate.

"They're shapeshifters, just shapeshifters," Kate told them, her seers' abilities letting her see clearly what they were. "You can take them out."

One moment Angus was engaged in heavy combat, having to watch every movement around him, using rapid wand fire techniques to stay alive, and the next he was caught up in a whirlwind and then found himself deposited someplace else entirely. It took him a moment.

Then he realized he was standing out in the middle of High Street in Hogsmeade with the Three Broomsticks on his right, and all he could hear was the sound of crickets, a little of the usual night time hubbub from the pub, and the sounds of a little yappy dog. Partway down the street was an old woman carrying a market basket and holding a leash to the same little yappy dog that he had heard. The old woman looked at him and scowled.

"Put that thing away, you young galoot, before you hurt somebody!" she snapped at him. He checked himself, still standing in combat stance, wand aimed at fighters that were suddenly no longer anywhere in sight.

"What the..." he frowned, confused. He lowered his wand and straightened up, not understanding how the hell he'd gotten from the estate to Hogsmeade. And then he saw Ruby, pasted to him. He looked down at her, puzzled.

"What happened? Did you do that?" he asked, confused. "Why are we here? And look at me. They've cut holes in my good leather duster, damnit. I like this coat. Rude--that's what they are--just rude."

He saw her shaking as he listened to her saying Robert had ordered him out.

"So he's the one that ordered me out," Angus sighed. "He tends to not do that unless we've buggared something up. I'm sure I'll hear about it sooner rather than later. I don't know that I'd do anything differently, even if I could do it again."

"So what was it that got to you?" he asked her. "Come on. As long as we're evicted, let's talk a moment, and then, probably, we should go back to the farm and see if we can be any help there." He reached for her hand and saw there were some drops of blood on his sleeve.

"Are you bleeding?" he frowned. "Were you hit?"

"Never thought about it," he shrugged when she asked where the holes in his coat had come from. Then he listened to what she said about why Robert had wanted him out. "Oh. Makes sense, I guess," he shrugged. "Look. I'm fine," he said, dismissing things a bit.

He didn't really resist her when she took him to the Three Broomsticks. A pint would be great about now. But she wasn't thinking about a pint, he soon learned. She commandeered a room at the back, and took him into it to patch him up. As she led him towards the back, he looked at the barkeeper.

"And a couple pints, yeah?" Angus called. The barkeeper looked at Angus, frowned at him for a moment as he noticed all the blood and then a bit reluctantly, he nodded. When they got into the room and she had shut the door and turned on the light, he sighed.

"You wouldn't be taking this a bit seriously, would you?" he asked her gently. "I told you--Donohues don't die easily. This is nothing. A plaster, and I'm right back in it. It does beg the question, though, of why all of a sudden they turned specifically on me." And then he saw the bracelet in his hand.

"I wonder if it has to do with this thing," he frowned. "Picked it up from one of Gelding's fighters. No one should have time to be carting jewelry around in their hands in a hot fight like that--not unless it is important somehow. Not sure I want to muck with it a whole lot until I figure it out, but that was when they went after me, now that I think about it. Wonder what it does."

He thought at first she was just being a little overprotective, so he got up and went over to a mirror and looked.

"Oh," he said. "Sorry. I didn't feel anything, so I didn't realize. Robert has always said that adrenalin can distract a pain response. I guess he was right. I apologize. Still, I don't think I'll bleed out. I'm not planning on it anyway."

He took off his shirt, and there was a knock on the door. Angus went over and opened the door and saw a pert little barmaid with a tray that held two pints. She saw his muscular chest and her face flushed. She tried to say something but all that came out was stuttering. He dropped a couple galleons on the tray and took the pints, thanking her and closing the door.

He took both pints, handed one to Ruby, and then sat down near the table.

"Sorry. Was thirsty," he replied, taking a drink from his glass. "Alright, make with the patch kit. I'm all yours."

He laughed when she downed her pint so quickly. He took another drink out of his, giving thought to her suggestion that the bracelet was a portkey.

"Well, a portkey would make complete sense," Angus said. "It might be something that a fighter might want to keep hold of, particularly if he wanted to be sure he had a way out always within reach. Makes all the sense in the world. But even as a portkey, I can't see it being that important for his entire squad to redirect themselves to me.

"After all, they came for Khaat. Remember, that's James' entire motive about everything he does. And Gelding has to make it one of their top motivators if he hopes to get James to get rid of Robert. And I think he hired James because James has gotten into the estate a couple of time before, and he's taken Khaat twice. So, with that kind of a track record, Gelding seems to maybe be thinking that James gets in and out easier and that might mean Gelding things James can get closer to Robert than Gelding has been able to do. Gelding hasn't learned that Robert is rarely unprepared. He is not willing to be a target for anyone.

"So--where the devil could this portkey go, if it is a portkey, that the whole lot of them would want to try to get it back? That is definitely worth some thought. If it is a portkey, Michael and Gabe are definitely the right people to check it out.

"My other questions are two--where is Edward, and is he alright? And--is where the devil is Khaat and Marcus and Abbey? I presume that Abbey is with Khaat and that Marcus made off with them somewhere, but they could be anywhere on the planet. And, wherever they are, are they safe?"