LONDON CALLING

"Beater," Michael replied. "Yeah, little idjit stole a shrinking potion for the potions professor's stores and drank it. "Seems the headmaster knew exactly where Sam was and what he did, so he and Robert put their heads together, and now Sam is probably about 6 inches tall and sitting in Khaat's dollhouse. So, Robert's solution was simple. He's leaving him that way for awhile. Put him in the dollhouse and gave Sam time to think about his boneheaded plan. If I know Robert, he was very deliberate about not raising his voice so that Sam couldn't deflect responsibility on anyone else but himself, said very little, and basically just provided for him and walked off for awhile."

Kate finished cutting the aromatics as Michael finished trimming and dicing the lamb.

"If you start the sautee, I'll get the potatoes," Michael told her. She got out the skillet and started to sautee the aromatics and the lamb for the hotpot, while Michael started scrubbing and peeling potatoes. "Rowan, if you want to help, start cleaning and shredding brussels, please," Michael told him. "They're in the walk in," he pointed to the fridge. "There are knives on the wall," he pointed to the magnetic knife strip, "or in the knife block, or there's a mandolin on the eye level shelf in the pantry."

Andrew parked Angus's chair on the bank of the pond, and he settled himself on the ground a short distance from Angus. Angus chose a bobber, a sinker, a lure and a hook and put them on his line while Andrew did the same. It didn't take them much time at all, and before long, they had cast out their lines, reeled the line back a little, let go of she spin release to lock the line in place and then settled back, breathed a bit of relief, and listened to the silence around them.

"God, I'm going to miss this place," Andrew sighed. "There isn't one thing here that I don't absolutely love."

"If you ever want to change employers, you could talk to Robert or Brian," Angus said. "We need competent people, you know. Robert would be glad to get rid of an idjit for someone that's competent."

"You don't need a permanent rehab man, though," Andrew sighed.

"You're underestimating your worth. You're a jack of all trades--like me. You could do a hundred different jobs. Robert puts a high value on people with multiple talents. I can promise you that you'd earn more."

"You don't know how much I make."

"Yeah, but I know how much Robert pays," Angus replied. "I write the checks. You could have a log cabin of your own here, travel the world for free and get paid for it. Work at St. Mungos part time if you want, ski for free in Colorado in the winter, have lunch or supper on the Champs Elysees any time you like..."

"Shut up," Andrew scowled at him. "You're tempting the shit out of me."

"I'm just sayin'," Angus said. "And Robert would probably loan you out to Nigel if there was a special rehab need..."

"Stop it," Andrew said laughing.

"Gourmet food, first rate medical care, unlimited adventure..."

"You're a pain in the butt," Andrew laughed. "Alright. You are making a strong argument." Angus got a scratch paid and the stub of a pencil out of the tacklebox and wrote down a money figure and handed it to him.

"I have some power to hire and fire. That's what I could offer you, today, on the spot, without having to ask Robert." Andrew took the paper, looked at it, and he stared back at Angus, stunned.

"You're out of your mind," Andrew said. "Nobody pays that much just for somebody like me."

"With Robert, that's a medium range starting salary. He'd very likely offer you more to start."

"Dear God," Andrew said. He looked at Angus. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"100%," Angus said. He saw Jack outside, but Jack was far enough away that the only way to get Jack's attention was to whistle. He hated to do it, but he really couldn't yell that loud to carry that far. He whistled, hoping Jack would hear and come over.

Rowan looked up and listened to Michael and Kate talking he heard what position Victor played and chuckled then heard about Sam and shook his head " yep needs it by the sounds of it" he said watching the two of them cooking together. When Michael asked if he could wash and shred the sprouts he nodded and stood up. " sure thing dad" he said and chuckled. Moving to the walk-in in he hear Michael talk about his options to grate the sprouts and he looked for the mandolin, finding he brought it out along with the sprouts and started to wash them then grate them minding his fingers at the same time.

Jack was walking his patrol when he heard a whistle and sighed. walking over he looked at Angus. "Realy, the whistle?" he said with a bit of a tease in his tone as he smiled down at Angus and looked at Andrew. " so whats up?" he asked glancing back to see Jessie running the assault course for a second time that day, before turning back to Angus.

"Well, Andrew is realizing how much he likes it here, on this estate, with all of us. He likes us, he likes just about everything about it. What do you think if I offered him to join us as sort of a jack of all trades position--like a lot of us started out as? We already know he's a trained agent, a good rehabilitation specialist, a good cook, and does about a hundred other things. I told him I thought Robert would snatch him up and we could start him at a medium starting salary rate, set him up in one of the small cabins, and let him fill in wherever he's needed whenever the time comes that I can actually be on my feet again. I think, with Brian as a trainer, and with all the healers we have, if we had a good rehab man, that would round out our organization's medical team, and he's an experienced fighter. At least, we would be adding a competent guy onto the staff..."

There was a yank of Angus's line as he spoke. Angus's attention temporarily went to hooking and reeling in his catch. He worked at reeling it in, and he finally pulled up a gorgeous large trout.

"Beautiful!" Andrew was excited to see Angus's catch. He grabbed the line and took the fish off the line and dropped it into the creel. "I bet he's eight pounds."

"Thats about average for the farm trout we get here," Angus said.

"Well, damnit, I want one," Andrew laughed. "What else do you have in this pond?"

"Mainly trout, bluegill, perch, and bass," Angus said. "Might be some catfish left but I haven't bought any catfish in four or five years now."

"I'm not leaving this pond til I catch something," Andrew said with a determined look at them.

"Well, there's something on your line. I just saw your bobber go under," Angus said. Andrew reeled in his line to reveal a big wad of seaweed. Angus laughed. "Well, technically, you've caught something."

"Smartass," Andrew shot him a glance, taking off the seaweed and chucking it back.

Jack listened to Angus but when his line yanked he went to grab it but Angus was well ahead of him and he looked at Andrew " welcome to the pack" he said and chuckled wanting to shake his hand but didn't while Angus was reeling in his fish. " will he have to run the course?" Jack asked, " and I'm assuming your all good on your background checks since Robert brought you in." he chuckled seeing the fish Angus had reeled in " what you planning on doing with that?" he asked then heard Andrew say he wanted a fish and a catfish at that. " stay around long enough and you might catch one..might" he asied and chuckled again.

Inside the duplex Ruby sat and looked at her brother in his doll house home. "Im not angry with you, just disapointed, I would have thought this was Victors sort of thing to do not yours." she said softly to him knowing not to increase her blood presure. " Angus is trying, he and Robert both have given you a home, a real home, he cares about you and Victor as our perents should have done but didn't." she said then looked at him." everything we said in the letters is true theres a room upstairs for you, theres new clothing as you saw with the hoodie, thats yours to keep, and you'll not want for anything again, it ws our mother and father that kept everything from you and Victor.not just you guys , Jessie and I too, but I'll tell you that when your older." she stood up and faced Same " for now Roberts right, you stay here and think about what you did ether I or Andrew will fix supper soon, you need anything theres a bell on that table its enchanted to make the sound of a normal bell Just ring it and oh" she moved to th counter and shrunk the bag with the things she'd bought down to his size and palced it in the house " I was going to drop these off to you , but now you'll have them to ocupy your self while you think about how dangerouse taking potions you don't know about is." she sighed and walked to the back door

"Well, he hasn't joined the staff yet," Angus said, casting his line back out. "I'm still trying to convince this yankee its worth his while to take a job on this side of the pond. As for the fish, I'm hoping there's more where they came from. Maybe Michael will do something with them tomorrow while they're good and fresh."

"He's making a very strong case for me to leave my job with Lee and join you guys here," Andrew said. "I do like it here. There is a lot to be said for not fighting New York or Washington traffic on a daily basis, and I really do love waking up in the morning and hearing nothing at all but birds. I like the people, and I really do love the family atmosphere. I've been included as part of the group from the moment I go there, and I do like not always being alone. There's no way to get that working in a large American corporation. That sort of work is about recognizing that you're just one little cog on a much larger wheel. I haven't felt like that once since I've been here. Angus's offer is very tempting."

"Wait a minute," Sam scowled at Ruby. He'd listened to her and he had accepted what she said--until she said she would tell him about their parents when he was older. He got irked with her. "When I'm older? How the heck much older do I need to be? I'm old enough to enlist in the army, more than old enough to drive a muggle car, old enough to drink, old enough to get married, old enough to buy a house, old enough to work a full time job...how the hell much older do you think I need to be before you tell me the truth about my parents. Ruby, wake up! I'm not a little kid! I'm going to be eighteen in about 7 months. What is it that you think I need to be older to know?"

Jack laughed and nodded " you should, look at the health benafits and pay grade, its an improvement all round " he said "Im biase but look at Jesie and Ruby they work for Robert, he's helped them ememsly with the issue of their perents." he said smiling " besides we need copetent men around here the women out number us, i think.."he then started counting out the names on his figers "Six women to..hum six men if you don't count the paris bunch , come on add to the ranks" he  said smirking.

Ruby looked at Sam and sighed deeply at his anger " all right you want to know, they wer in leage with the biggest human trafficer in the world , Tom Gelding" she said and paused " now you know, they put a hit on Angus almost killed him, thats why hes in the wheel chair for now, he's attacked Robert god knows how many times and now our mother has shacked up with him" she paused taking and took a deep breath to calm her " also Im pregnant with our first child, So can't have a lot of stress, that's why I left things to Angus and haven't been involving my self in any dangerous missions." she looked at him hoping he now had a better understanding of the situation.

Andrew laughed out loud.

"In all fairness, I really would feel like I needed to talk to Lee before I quit, but honestly, I don't really have friends in New York. I have work associates and neighbors but not really what you would call friends. I think I could have that here, and the longer I'm here, the more I realize how much I'm missing by only going to work, coming home, and going back again. I'll talk to Lee."

"And I'll talk to Robert," Angus said. Angus looked at Jack. "He's gonna be in. I know it."

Sam looked at Ruby, waiting for a moment, and when nothing came, he shrugged, not angry, just being very matter of fact. "That's it? That's the big secret? So, evidently you're more out of touch than you thought. You missed the cocktail party Mom and Dad threw at Christmas time. They paid some big firm to decorate the house like they actually gave a damn. Told Victor and me we had to stay in our room. They had champagne and caviar and uniformed maids to serve food and drinks on silver platters. Had a live band, all of it. Dad was in a tux, and Mom was in some little sleezy red hooker dress that didn't do a good job of covering the the front or the back either one. Heard Dad tell her she had to 'make them happy.' She knew what that meant because if she didn't, he'd slap her around. Well, at this party, Dad got into some argument with some bloke over money. The argument--and the party--ended when Dad killed the guy. And you know what? He buried him in the basement. And don't think for one moment that's the only dude down there because it isn't. So, whatever you think you're sheltering Victor and me from? Get over it. We've seen a lot more than Mom thinks we have. So--Dad was a crook. Yep. Knew that. Tried to kill Angus? Yep. Knew he was trying. He hated Angus. And he hated Robert Lupin with every cell of his body. Not sure why, but he did. Haven't really thought about why, but knowing Dad is was about money. And you're pregnant. Not surprised there either. That's what comes from shagging. The only thing that irked us about Mom and Dad was that Victor and I were always an afterthought. Left behind, left to fend for ourselves. Are we angry? We've been angry. Our parents sucked. Am I sorry Dad's gone? Nope, and I'm not surprised she's already hooked up with some bigger crook. Dad basically trained her to do that. Dad spent a lot of years telling us we were going to be just like him. I'd rather die and so would Victor.

Jack laughed and nodded " all right you talk to Lee," he said to Andrew " and you talk to Robert but I would not be surprised they take you on" he said still admiring the fish Angus caught " you cooking that?" he asked, " got some fresh fennel that would go lovely with it if you want it" he said


Ruby st back down listening to Sam talk and she sighed "why at this point am I not suprised, I never knew becuse I never went back home after I left becuse of their disgusting ways." she told him " now Im going to have to talk with Robert about a clean up crew for the basement before its sold, well you should know Robert basicaly runs the largest anti gelding organisation around here or any place, hes fighting to keep children younger than you some times even babies with ther perents and shut Gelding down, you see this." she took out her medallion " its charmed that if its set off every oen comes , its also a symbole of acceptance into the organisation, if you stay in school and don't pull any more stunts you'll be able to come part of that team if you pass the tests." she told him gently, " and pulling stunts like this isn't going in your favor, listening to Robert and your house master will." she said softly to him " oh and think about this , you'll be an uncle and he or she will look up to you as such."

"Oh, fennel!" Angus said, liking Jack's idea of fennel. "That would be great. Thanks! I'll have to send a note to see if there are any leeks in the pantry or in the fridge. It's a bit early for them, but there's a great recipe for a fish pasty that uses leek, fennel, and celery in a nice mustard sauce, all tucked into a phillo dough pasty crust. It's really lovely."

"And there you go, making me hungry again," Andrew said. He attempted to adjust his line and got it caught on something. He sighed, frustrated. It took him a moment, but he unsnagged it, and soon brought it up. Angus saw the glint of something shiny on an old hat he'd brought up.

"What's that?"

"Some manky old hat," Andrew said.

"No, no. There's something else. Hand it here," Angus said, motioning for Andrew to swing it over towards him. He saw some sort of pendant hanging from the hat. It had some sort of oddish glow to it, and when he touched it, he felt his energies start to drain instantly. He let go of it as if he had touched a red hot poker. "Damn!" he cursed, grabbing his hand. "Damnit! That thing's got bad juju all over it! Don't either of you touch it. Andrew, lay your pole down. Jack, we've got a problem." He gave a sharp whistle, one that had been a signal between him and Edward since Angus was a little boy running Edward's Tuscan estate. It was a signal between the two of them that one of them needed the other.

In a moment, Edward came around the duplex from the garden where he and Simone had been doing the weeding.

"What's up?" Edward shouted. Angus motioned for him to come over. Edward walked over.

"What is that thing?" Angus pointed to the pendant on the ground. "Don't touch it." Edward crouched down and tried to brush some of the mud off of it with a bit of a brushy plant.

"Oh. I see. Well, I'll be damned. So that's how he's been doing it. And no wonder we couldn't find it. Jack, you might be interested in this. Look at the symbol on it. It's actually the coat of arms for the Blackheart family but it's been altered. Someone has magically altered the knights helmet and replaced it with a triskelion--the symbol for werewolf. I can tell you exactly what this is. This is an heirloom from the Blackheart family that has been changed to be an enchanted dark amulet to be used by a dark werewolf. Gabe could tell us more, but I think, unless I am badly mistaken, that this was something that James planted on this estate some years ago, given the nature of the tarnishing that this has had. I think this is the tracking device we could never find that allows him to find this estate again and again and again. I think, Andrew, that you actually found what Robert and Brian have been looking for, for years. Nice work. That's worth more than all the fish in this pond."

"Robert?" Sam frowned. "Why Robert? Doesn't Angus own the house now? Should be him to deal with it, right? Or did Robert buy it?" He listened to her nutshell version of the organization. "I don't know what I want to do," he told her. "Haven't decided.""

Jack looked at the emblem on the hat and sighed as Edward explained what it was " nice catch " he said but then growled at the mention of his brother " I wish he'd disapear " he siad " best get that to Gabe to decharm" he said " you think I could touch it?" he asked " I am a darkheart after all, it might not harm me." he looked to Edward waiting to see what he said .

Ruby sighed and shook her head " Robert deals with clean ups its his organisation that Angus works for too, he owns this whole estate and another in colarado , that if you finish school you could see and train at, yeah, hes all over the world even romania." she told him " as for our old home yes Angus owns it but hasn't decided what hes going to do with it yet, I vote for burning it down but selling it would give you guys some sort of inheritance, it's what your owed by our perents."