A Birth day

Robert put the hairs in separate envelopes and labeled them and put them in his pocket.

"Thank you, Jack. No, I don't need you to get the potion from St. Mungos," Robert said. "I created that potion, so I'm sure I have some in my own stores. What I'm trying to tell you, though, is that I've created a new DNA test that, when I finish the potion for the new test, it should be a tad faster, and it definitely will be more accurate. St. Mungos does not have the new and improved DNA test yet because I'm not ready for them to have it yet. When I've done some more testing on it, then I might consider giving it to them, but not before I feel confident in using it for a wide group of people."

"Besides that, the fact remains that regardless of what the dna does or does not say, the real issue with Tom and Suzanne is whatever they believe or don't believe about whether Sam and Victor have a claim on the Donohue money," Angus said. 

"What's this about my money? Why are we here in Paris, in HQ, talking about my money like I'm not bloody even here?" Edward was in the doorway, and he was angry. 

"Loose speculation only, my friend. Caprice showed Kate a coded page in her cookbook. We've revealed what it really says, in Caprice's own hand. Perhaps you should read," Robert handed him the page. Edward took a moment to read, and then he nodded.

"Ah, that old matter," Edward said, looking at Angus. "Angus, your dad would shag anyone or anything that would stand still long enough. I'm not sure how we went so wrong with him, but he really had a boatload of issues his entire life. Frankly, there were far too many women for me to begin to keep track of. Am I surprised he ran into Suzanne years before? No. Not in the least. Would it surprise me if they were biologically Benjamin's? Certainly not. The fact was that I couldn't have kept him from shagging if I'd welded him into a chastity belt myself, and knowing that, your grandmother and I made some extremely hard choices about the estate, the money and the assets. Suzanne can believe what she wants, but frankly, as long as I'm alive, it's all a mute subject. Let her believe whatever pipedream she wants. Even if you tell her the truth, she won't accept it. So, as far as I'm concerned, the fact that the Geldings are chasing a lie amuses me to no end. Let them chase it, and we will go right on rescuing the kids they try to take, and we'll go right on loving your sons, Angus, like the Donohues they are. If you really want to turn the heat down, find a way to get Elliot back to him and let Suzanne sit on ice. That's my vote."

"I dont' know if I can find a way to free Elliot," Robert said seriously. "It might be beyond me. But I will give it serious thought."

"Fair enough?" Edward looked at Angus quietly. "The stinking DNA doesn't matter tonight. It honestly doesn't. For all we know, you might have some Highland cow half brothers." Angus looked at Edward and wrinkled his nose at the thought of sharing some DNA with some Highland cattle.

Jack looked at Edward and chuckled " exactly , she's bat shit crazy right now" Jack said and chuckled at the highland cow brothers comment Edward said " more like chasing a cloud on a stormy day, Vic and Sam see you as the dad they needed when they needed him, not Tom or Suzzanne, brother or son you gave them a stable home and jobs and an education they lacked with her, and was he really such a gigolo?" Jack asked " maybe you should have used that chastity belt, or castrated him." it was now Jack shivered at the thought of any man laying with Suzzanne.

" Jack don't even..," came Jess's voice before she paused " eww too late" she pulled a face " now I'll have to think of good things to get rid of that image" she said shaking her head before looking at Angus. " Edwards right its all mute for now, the kids are what we're fighting for right now."

"He was that and a good deal more than whatever you're imagining," Edwrd told Jack dryly.

"I was there with the rest of you the night that your parents died, Angus," Robert said, and I realize I'm talking out of school here, but I do believe that your father definitely had some issues. The man I saw that night was not well, clearly. As for your mother, it's hard to say. I don't know whether she had issues as well, or whether she was ill or influenced by money or what her deal was. Either way, what Edward is saying about your father makes perfect sense to me."

"I am sorry, Boy," Edward said. "You didn't deserve any bit of it. However, the one thing I do not regret for a single moment is that because of him, I have you. The rest of it can go to blazes. Aside from your grandmother, you are the best thing in my entire life. You, I do not regret for a fraction of a moment. The money thing? You let them believe whatever twaddle they choose. In point of fact, its all settled. I trust that if you believe that Evan and Tyler and your sisters need and deserve an inheritance, you'll see that they get it. I have made a bit of an addition to leave a bequest for Simone. but all the rest of it will be yours to do with as you judge fit and fair. Just make sure, when the time comes, that the Geldings don't get so much as a ha'penny of it."

"Oh, believe me, they won't," Angus said, determined. As he was speaking, one of the other women came in and brought a message.

"Here we go, Boys and Girls. Here's the big auction for tonight. It's an old warehouse in Paris," Robert said. He put a mark on the map. "On the right bank neighborhood here in the north. That's where its going down right now. Jack, you take every agent we have with us tonight, and you get there and bust it up. Get every single kid. It looks like Tom didn't have the manpower to keep the chaos going long enough to get the auction done before Irene found out about it. Get going. Jess and Ruby, he might need extra wand power for this one, so if he does, you both get going and go with him. Angus, you aren't going, and that's final."

Ruby moved and held Angus close to her " he's right" she said softly to him with a smile. " Edward is the man who made you the man I fell in love with" she said before she saw the woman enter and jack move to stand up straight. Listening to Robert she nodded to him " I'll be back once we're done" she said to Angus and gave him a kiss before moving with Jack and Yu, Jess joined them out in the corridor while Jack got the co-ordinates of the bank neighbourhood and ported every one to a secluded alley.

Jack looked around and saw a boarded up house " there, has to be" he said watching it closely seeing movement from inside he picked up faint cries and gave a soft growl but calmed himself down " there inside " he said softly as they moved around the back of houses to get to the one they needed. closing in each hid in a bush Jack reached the back door that was open but guarded but a basement window wasn't and he shook his head as Ruby squeezed into it and gently in locked the kids that were hid inside. carefully she and Jess who checked each child as she lifted them out made sure they crouched and stayed quietly hid in the bush beside Jack but just as they got the last child out a guard stepped out onto the porch close to them but turned away from them, Jack looked at Jess and Ruby while Yu and he moved to the man Yu wrapped his hand around the mans mouth to silence him while Jack knocked him out cold and lay him in the bush " Ruby, Jess get them back to the HQ" Jack said as he lay the now out cold man on the ground.

Seeing the children with Ruby and Jess port out he looked to Yu and they too ported to the shouts of the men inside as they found all the children gone. Jack once at HQ walked over to the captains room shaking his head " he's becoming sloppy" he said " we got all the kids Jess is doing a full work up, half looked undernourished" he told him " had to knock one guy out who came out on the porch but no one else." he told Robert and Angus.

"You'll be fine," Angus told Ruby, knowing he usually had more confidence in her abilities than she had in herself. "This is what you trained for. Good luck."  Angus had no choice but to sit and wait while they mission went without him. He wasn't particularly frightened or nervous. He knew the agents they had tonight would surely outnumber Gelding's men. This would be shut down in minutes, he was positive. 

While the team was out, Robert went and made sure that Owens was transferred to St. Mungos for additional care, and he made sure that the regular workers were readying themselves to take in new arrivals. The usual routine was to get each child registered, assessed, bathed and fed and not necessarily in that order. And when it was late like this, as most of the auctions were, the kids frequently needed a cup of tea with a sleeping potion in it, and a clean warm bed aas soon as they were bathed, clothed and fed. 

"He's not necessarily sloppy," Angus said. "I think he's short staffed. He has money troubles, and his crew can't keep up with our bigger force of fighters. Remember, those kids need to look like they're healthy and ready to start earning their muggle placements lots of money. Nobody wants to buy damaged goods. I think they took too many kids to care for properly, so the kids have gotten thin and, when this has happened before the kids are usually dirty and some of them are always sick."

"How many did we get? Do we know yet?" Robert asked. "If there are too many for us here, we can port them over to Colorado. They're able to take a lot bigger numbers there than we can take here, and I can bring in some healers to tend to them there if I need to. Oh, and if Ruby or Jess can get information on where the kids were held prior to the auction, we need to send a team there to make sure there are no more kid there."

"Do let me go," Angus said.

"No," Robert frowned. "I've seen what you like to do to his locations, and the last time you took care of one of his warehouses, you were nearly put in jail. I like you on this side of the cell door, not the other side." Robert looked at Jack. "Sometimes Angus likes things that go boom."

Jack looked at Robert and nodded " its starting to show, his men are getting sloppy." he said as Ruby walked back in with a sketch of a building in her hand.

" one of the girls did this from memory she says this is where they were held and there are still about thirty more children held in cages there." she placed it down and looked at Angus smiling before talking to Robert again " half the children we rescued are at Colorado the worst are here, Jess is tending to them as we speak"

Angus didn't reply to Jack. Jack believed Tom's men were sloppy. In Angus's experience, it most generally said something entirely different. Angus took the drawing and looked at it, and got up and went to the map to get a fix on where the building most likely was. 

"Let me see it," James Potter said from the portrait. Angus walked the map over and showed it to James. "Lily, get the book."

"You still have your copy?" Robert frowned.

"Of course. It's in the painting so we have it. Never mind that some mole nicked yours a decade ago," Remus teased. 

"Give us a minute," Lily said, putting a large, atlas sized book on a large table in the painting. She started flipping through the book. A long moment passed, and then she finally smiled.  

"Here. Right here," Lily said. "In its prime, it was an old muggle department store that catered to English and Americans when they came from Dover on the boat train, traveled from Calais, into Paris. It was across from the rail station at the time. In our time, the place was abandoned. We'd ahve no idea if its abandoned now, of course."

"With your permission, then," Marcus said to Robert. "I know what station they're talking about. It makes sense."

"Fine," Robert said. "Get the team back out. And I don't just want a few. If you have thirty more, you take every single agent we have. You get in, get the kids, and get the hell out. Angus, you get another message out to Irene before this team launches. Make sure its not a set up. We just made him more desperate, but by the same token, he knows I'll be after every single kid I can find tonight. So we have to move fast. Nobody moves out on this until Angus has had a chance to talk to Irene."

"On it," Angus said, going to the Captain's quarters to open the floo there in private to try to reach Irene. Marcus looked at Jack. "You and Jess and Yu coming on this, do you know?" 

Angus came back two minutes later. He was definitely tiring quickly. Robert walked him to the chair behind the desk and put him there.

"Hold up," Angus said. "This is why he hasn't moved in quite awhile. He's got three more warehouses. Irene just found out. There could be upwards of a hundred kids still out there tonight, on top of what we've already rescued tonight. He's been saving them up for weeks and weeks."

"Oh, Jesus," Robert sighed. They'd not done a raid that big ever. They hadn't needed to. 

"You want me to sound the all hands alarm?" Angus asked.

"Absolutely," Robert said. The all-hands alarm was one that was very rarely ever used. It would alert every agent in every corner of the globe that they were needed. "We'll have to divide and conquer. is Irene getting warehouse locations?"

"Yes," Angus said, going to the desk and sounding the all hands alarm. "I left a messenger there on the floo to Irene to get the coordinates.  Let's map out the coordinate, break up into teams and send one team to each warehouse. Let's hit them fast and hard and get those kids back."

"And take them immediately to Colorado. Don't even bring them back here. Just take them right to Colorado," Robert directed.

Jack watched Robert take the drawing then show it to James in the picture he stood watching as they used a book in the painting to find it and talk to Robert. When Michael asked if he Jess and Ruby were going he nodded " I can guarantee Jess will want to go to make sure the kids are seen to properly" he looked over at Ruby who nodded she too would be coming as Yu walked in with Lucian beside him.

" I heard and we're coming" both said as Yu finished his tea that he'd made for himself. Each stood and listened watching as Robert gave out orders each nodded as they were told to wait till Irene had contacted them with more information, when it came Yu almost spat out his tea but kept his calm demeanour but jack swore at the mention of how many kids there was " straight to Colorado, we got it" he said as the others nodded " just say when" he said.

Ruby moved to sit with Angus accioing some tea for him " here this should help" she said placing it in his hand. she sat and listened to Robert " all those poor children, sooner we get them out of there and to Colorado the sooner they can go home" she said as she listened to Robert talk more about what he wanted them to do.

"The kids had better be seen to properly. First, because I pay a damned big group of people to do just that. And, second, with the amount of money I spent in Colorado, if they drop the ball, there will be a huge group of people unemployed by daylight," Robert scowled.

"Tell them," Angus said. "Or they won't understand you."

"I couldn't have that many kids in Colorado and not have any sort of sickbay there," Robert said. "So, I just built a thirty in-bed clinic there and hired a full-time medical team to staff it. We didn't have a choice. We either do it right or we don't do it. The closest med facility to the ranch is a muggle hospital, so, yes, we had to step up. And if I need to expand it, then I'll expand it." He listened to Ruby trying to tell him they were out of time, and Robert tried hard not to be irked with the team trying to tell him what to do. He wasn't sure why they seemed to need to do this, but they were always getting pushy, and he didn't like it.

"Look, Guys," Angus said calmly, "settle down and breathe a bit. De-stress just a wee bit. Stop trying to rush it. When we rush it, we make serious missteps. We know that we need to get the kids out quickly.  We get it because it is what we do, after all, but we need to do it right. We have four warehouses, and we can't go anywhere til we know where the hell they are. And then we need to divide into four teams. Robert, can we organize the teams for now?"

"Yeah, I suppose we can," Robert said. "Michael is alright to go on this one. He can lead a team. Marcus, can you lead a team?"

"Certainly," Marcus replied.

"Jess, your senior rank gives you the right to lead a team," Robert said. "If you're going to lead a team, though, you need to put your healer's hat away and put your fighter's hat on. I won't be sending you as a healer. I'll be sending you as a fighter. Can you do that?"

"I'll go see if Irene has anything yet," Angus said.

"You sit. I'll go," Marcus said, going next door to check on the open floo with Irene to see if they had locations yet.

Ruby looked at Robert then to Angus " that's not what I meant but, your right" she said to Angus as she listened to Robert talk about the Colorado base and the med bay he had built.

"That's quite a substantial increase in beds" Jess said then looked at Robert when he said she could lead a team she nodded when he asked if she could stop being a healer and become a fighter " I can Robert, don't worry" she said simply and moved to stand with Jack. Together they listened to Robert continue and watched Marcus head to the captains office instead of Angus.

Yu finished his tea and took his cup back to the kitchen and washed it smiling as two small kids ran past him. Now returning to the office he looked at Jess and stood with her and Jack part of her team. " Has Michael sent in any new info yet?" he asked as he wiped his hands dry from washing the cup also knowing Michael was out and about looking at the warehouses.