LONDON CALLING

Ruby sat down with her coffee and began to drink it slowly as she read turning each page as she took in the information about each animal. Syanding she transfigured her sloths to a swim suit and heded for the pool to swim keeping up her stammina trainning as she did. Feeling the cool water around her she relaxed, pulling strokes as she reatche each end of the pool. Soon she ahd donw at least five lengths and she stopped at the end away frm the house. Climbing ut she sat on a sun lounger and relaxed more.

Jack moved around the house casting an extra strong charm to hold off any one not autherised from getting in he also set an alarm spell so it would ring should any unautherised persons enter or leave the grounds. "Hey Oswald , watch for the alarm." he said to the man he was with. knowing this paticuler man had clumsyness writting all over him even if he was a good shot.

Angus drank his coffee, and when one of Lee's men came in, Angus clearly saw, from the view out the front door, Ruby lounging by the pool. He was immediately frustrated with her. They had just had someone firing a pistol at them, and he had warned her not to take chances, not to go outside, not to make herself a target. And there she was doing exactly what he had tried to warn her not to do. She wasn't listening, and he didn't know why. Hadn't this been enough? Hadn't it frightened her enough? What was it going to take?

He had to make some choices. He couldn't depend on her to have wise judgment about keeping herself safe, and why, he didn't know. He was going to have to get Tyler before Tyler got one of them. His mind began to spin. He had to have a plan, and it had to work. It had to be a plan he could actually run, and one that minimized the risk to her or anyone else. But it also had to eliminate Tyler once and for all. He didn't have a lot of options at his disposal--or confederates. Anyone here on the team, if he asked them to pair with him this time, they would object. They wouldn't want to pair with him. They would only try to talk him out of it. No, this plan had to be a solo plan, and the sooner, the better.

Ruby died herself off and headed inside to clean up the kitchen and make some snakes for every one , she locked the door behind her. Moving to the kitchen she grabbed some sheet pans and made some cookies. Jack walked in and stood looking at her. " um..yeah?" she asked.

"are you apsolutly stupid, we just had a gun fight and your out side swimming?" he told her off stirrnly Ruby looked confused at him.

"I have to keep up my trainning , what am I supose to do sit around all day, besides a few mineys isn't going to hurt, that guys probably long gone. " she said putting the cookies in the oven.


"thats not the point, use that brain of yours, theres not just you at stake now, use the basement gym or don't do it but stay inside from now on, aperate between her and the duplex , DO NOT GO OUTSIDE ALONE, got that and please for the love of all thats good, think of that baby, it needs you to protect it." he said to her " and we need to protect you, help us do our job, got it?" 

Ruby looked stuned at jack having not heard him talk this way before so she knew she'd acted foolish. When he finished she nodded " okay, I'll use the gym in the basement and aperate to and from the duplex." she finished the last batch of cookies and sighed " sory Jack" she said but he huffed.

"its not me you should say sorry to, its Angus, hes worried you can't take care of your self, and right now I tend to agree." Jack heard Jess aperate in and he loked over at her " please make sure this one stays inside." he said and left the house leaving Jess looking to Ruby who smiled sheepishly at her.

"oh boy what you do this time?" she asked and Ruby explained what had happened " well I can say , Jack was right, Listen first rule , do not go outside after a gun fight, I know you want to relax but find a safer way, meditation works, I'll set it up in yours and Angus room."

Things in Paris had been going almost too smoothly, but that was what made Michael on high alert. Robert was obviously now suspicious of someone, but Michael didn't know who. While Robert was doing the individual dueling with Owens, Robert was making small talk with Owens. And then Michael caught it. Robert had fed Owens a completely made up story about a memory of a rescue that had never ever happened. And Owens was following along just like the incident had actually happened. It was Owens. Owens was the mole. Suddenly Owens took a pot shot at Robert and struck Robert, blasting him off his feet. Michael immediately fired his wand and fired a petrificus totalus, followed immediately by a incarcerous. Owens was knocked to the ground and bound instantly. Michael hurried over to Robert, and after a moment, Robert woke, finding he was having issues breathing. Breathing made his chest hurt. He suspected a broken rib from the blasting spell.

"You're a right foul git, Robert," Michael said. "I thought we agreed we were going to do this together."

"Michael? Is that you?" Robert asked.

"And, just like I said, here I am covering your very naked ass again."

"I think he broke one of my ribs, the idjit," Robert scowled.

"If that's all he did, then we'll consider it a blessing," Michael was irked.

"That's not the real Owens, you know."

"Yeah, obviously not. So where is he?"

"Well, maybe he did a Barty Crouch and shrank him," Robert said.

"Oh, fabulous, so now we go on a hunt," Michael said.

"Let's gather what staff we do have and ask them to help. Maybe we'll turn him up," Robert said.

"And what about the asshole on the ground?"

"Let's wait for the polyjuice to wear off and then we'll see who he is," Robert said. "He can't have the same formula we do. His will wear off a lot sooner. Why don't you keep watch, and if he tries anything stupid, change him into teacup til we can get him home."

"My pleasure," Michael said.

"Angus," Andrew said, "where are you? You're a thousand miles away."

"Just thinking, that's all," Angus replied.

"Ruby's gone back inside, if that's what upset you.

"She should bloody know better," Angus said quietly. "I really thought she did. She really, really isn't ready for any sort of missions work if she can't rationalize that if you have a shooter on the property, it isn't the time to go for a stinking swim. Dear God. And even if she can't reason that out, I told her and told her and told her. I told her this morning before she went to work. I told her right after the shooting happened. I really thought I knew her. Now I don't understand her at all."

"I can't answer that except that sometimes she seems to have her own way of reasoning things out."

"I don't know," Angus sighed. "I really don't know."

Jack walked over to the duplex and heard Andrew and Angus talking , opening teh door he walked in " I gave her a talking to I don't think she'll do it again" he said to Angus, " but your right shes a little out of sorts lately, well a lot out of it but I think I put the fear in her and Jess will keep an eye on her from now on" he told Angus " don't think too bad of her, I think she's still getting to grips with everything." he told him " now charms are strengthened around the main house and im about to do here." he said casing a wandless charm to suround the house " its got an alarm charm too so any one enters we'll know, but I thought you should know  Ruby was quite shook up but I think I got the message to her."

Ruby looked at Jess then sat down " am I that bad " she asked and saw Jess saddly nod " oh god, I didn't even know I was doing it." she said Jess chukle and then palced her hadn on Ruby.

"thats why you need to think about your actions." she told her " stop , think, then react." Ruby sighed and nodded " its the same for wand work." Jess chuckled " start to be as you were before and not this flightly woman you've become" Ruby sat back in the chair and sighed.

"all right, focuse , listen and do not go outside." she said standing up " im going to use the gym until Michael and Robert get back" she said but I won't over do it." she told her.

A couple more hours work, and Michael came back with Owens, sealed tightly in an enchanted jar that he could not get open. He couldn't break it either. And inside, was a three inch high Owens who just wanted out of the jar. When the phony Owen's polyjuice had worn out, they discovered he was a shapeshifter hired by Gelding, way before Gelding had gone to jail. Michael contacted Daphne, who sent some of her people who manage to put some sort of a spell on the shapeshfiter to bind his shapeshifting abilities and they took him, gladly, into custody.

"Well, almost all that's well has ended well for the moment," Michael said. "What the hell do we do with Owens?"

"We'll have to take him home and see if Gabe can get the jar open," Robert said. When their polyjuice potions wore off, the additional pain from the transfiguration combined with the pain in Robert's chest, and it was more than he could tolerate. It caused him to pass out. When he came around, looking like Robert once more, Robert struggled to his feet, and Michael took hold of him and ported him home.

They landed in the yard, and they walked into the house slowly.

"Jess, this is priority," Robert told her, handing her the jar. "See if you can find Gabe and see if he can get the jar open. The mole is in custody in Paris, thank goodness. This is the real Owens--if we can get him out of the jar and get him resized. If you don't have a resizing spell, I'll do it in a few minutes."

"We'll be right back," Michael told her. They went upstairs and found Nigel reading in his room. "Nigel," Michael knocked, going in uninvited. "Would you check Robert, please? He got hit in a duel with a pretty powerful blasting spell."

"Certainly," Nigel said. "We'll go downstairs where I can see to it properly." Nigel took hold of Robert and apparated him down to the sickbay room. That left Michael free to go downstairs to the kitchen to see if they had gotten lunch sorted and if they had given any thought to supper duty at all.

Jess walked over to Robert and Michael and tok the Jar shaking her head "you poor man" she said and looked in the jar then the lid. " okay let see if we cn get this open. Placing it on the counter she loked threw the books in the lab but finding nothing she pisked it up carfuly and walked to find Gabe. Finding him she didn't have to say anything as he chuckled and new exactly what to do, soon the lid came open. Placing it down Jess resized the poor man " welcome back Owens" she said and lead him to a chair so he could sit down.

Ruby saw Micahel and breathed out as he entered the room " lunch has been ordered from Sparks, I didn't know when you'd be back and well we had an icident of some one trying for Angus, he saw the man and shot at him winging him but the man got away, we know he was winged becuse Lees men found blood where the man had been stood" she told him. " oh and Jacks put stronger charms around and an alarm charms to."

"Well, okay, then. Lunch should be coming. That's fine. After the day we've all had, I vote they deliver supper for us too. Screw cooking today, shall we? Just this one day? How the hell did Jack get an alarm spell to work on the protection grids? I've been trying for at least a week to make a reliable alarms charm that would work, one charm for all the different grids we have layered, and he just simply casts one? How the hell did that happen? Oh what-the-eff-ever." Michael sighed, frustrated. "It's sorted now, apparently, and the alarms are in place. And there's a week of my time wasted. I'm going downstairs."

He went downstairs and waited for Nigel to finish with Robert. He peeked into the room where Nigel was wrapping a rib binder around Robert's chest."

"Bloody git broke two of them," Robert scowled, edgy.

"Feel like going for a pint?" Michael asked.

"A pint? No. A firewhiskey and some cigarettes, yes," Robert said.

"Splendid. You're on."

"Not unless you have a glass of firewhiskey for me too," Nigel said. "And maybe one of those cigarettes--unless you have some pipe tobacco."

"Come along then. We'll make it an old fart's afternoon," Michael said.

"Capital!" Nigel smiled. "Should we tell them upstairs?"

"You tell them," Michael told Robert. "I'm not telling them anything. You go tell them. I'm going home to get out the firewhiskey and the cigarettes. You two toddle on over when you can get free."

"Someone rattled your chain," Robert frowned.

"No. Not really. I just got put into my place, that's all. Every so often we all do need told to mind our own business, so it's all good. I'm going home to lick my wounds, and I suppose I'll be back. I usually am." Michael drew his wand and apparated out.

"What was that about?" Nigel asked.

"No idea," Robert said. "I'll pour half a bottle of firewhiskey into him, and he'll tell us all about it. Give me a moment to tell them that we're going out." He put his shirt back on, and Nigel took one moment to cast a pain relief spell for Robert before he went upstairs.

"Hey, Ruby, just so you know, Michael and Nigel and I are going for a pint--an impromptu meeting of the Old Fart's Society. We'll be back--eventually. You know how that goes," Robert told her.

Ruby looked at Michael and looked puzzled at him but said nothing " okay" she said watching him leave to head down stairs. Jess moved to Robert and palced her hand over his ribs " okay , hold still I can start them healing" she said feling the bones knit together oir rather start to " okay thats started" she said softly " hum seems some one upset him." she said as Ruby walked down to find Michael only to find him gone.

"All I did was tell him Jack had strengthened the charms and added an alarm spell too, so to warn us if any one came or went, he got all huffy and left." she said " he also mentioned he'd been working on one for a week , I didn't say that if it worked or not, as I don't know, but anyway, enjoy your drinks this afternoon" she said as she herd the dinner being delivered " and theres something else what am I suposed to so with all this food we ordered..never mind I'll keep it warm." she looked to Jess as she moved back up the stairs to sih up the food to send over to Angus and Andrew first.

Placing it all in the warmer she made sure to call Every one  over for food then sent a note to Kate and abby to let them know dinner was ready.

Everyone that was there gathered for lunch, and Andrew intercepted the tray that Ruby had sent over. It was a good lunch, but that's what Sparks did. They had come to expect that.

Lee's men brought Angus' wheelchair in from the terrace, and they helped him back into it. Then they went back out on patrol. Andrew busied himself with house cleaning and laundry, and Angus worked on trying to fine tune his own plan to get rid of Ruby's father from their lives once and for all. Right now, they didn't know if he had wounded Tyler or not, and when or if Tyler would be back. Angus felt pretty darned certain he would be back.

Robert and Nigel were only gone two or three hours, and they came back from Michael's. They'd each had two or three drinks, but they were largely sober. Michael wasn't with them, the place seemed quiet when they got back. They went over to check on Angus. Robert hadn't had a chance to do that in a day or two, and he definitely wanted to see to it. They discovered that the birth control spell was gone, but they had expected now to find that. What they didn't know was when it had stopped or exactly what had caused it to. It didn't give them all that much more information than than they had before.