Candlelight for Four

Brian flicked his wand and conjred Khaat's long cloak into a mid calf length black wool coat that had a belt at the waist and had stylish military details with pewter buttons. Another flick tailored it slimly to her. He smiled, liking the flattering fit.

Khaat smiled, approving his good taste. "Oh! Can I keep it?" she asked.

"If you want," he said. "Or I could buy you one."

"No, I like this one."

"Fine by me. Well, here's the deal. Khaat wants to go downtown into London. She wants to take a nighttime ride on the London Eye. So what do you think? A romantic bird's eye view of the city? We'll have to be careful about where we apparate in because we can't be seen, but it does sound like fun. Its one thing neither of us have ever done. Does that interest you?"

"Make it a homecooked meal, and you have a deal," Brian said. He preferred, by far, a homecooked meal to anything that could ever be bought at a restaurant or conjured. With Khaat working two jobs, and Brian now working at the Ministry and sometimes filling in as healer when Khaat and Robert ran short staffed, he didn't get as many homecooked meals as he liked. If he werent always a bit uneasy about Khaat's security now, he might have found himself looking to hire a houseelf. He would never enslave one--ever. But it certainly was tempting to hire one. The estate was massive, and he really found he could use the help. What always stopped him was his girls, though. He was not going to expose Khaat or the girls to anything he didn't put rock solid trust in.

"Well, I think we should go then," Brian said. "Let's see if we can get there and not be seen." He slipped his arm around Khaat's waist with his left arm, and took her right hand with his right. "We'll see you in a moment." He apparated them.

Khaat always thought Brian excelled over her when it came to apparating, and this time, he managed to get them behind a parked food truck in a parking lot. Khaat could smell some sort of deep fried sugary muggle dessert that apparently was being sold from the food cart. After the incredible creme brulee she had had, the greasy deep fried sugar didn't smell at all good to her.

"Hold it," she stopped him. She pulled him to her, and took a moment to steal a slow passionate kiss. "Now," she said. "Let's see if we can find them." He laughed, and they stepped out into the London muggle nightlife together.

"It's not going to be very private," Brian said in a whisper in Khaat's ear. His breath in her ear tickled, and she giggled slightly.

"Its okay," she stroked his cheek with her hand. "I won't see anyone but you anyway." He smiled back at her. She could see how satisfied he was that her heart was starting to heal. The whole recovery had been nothing more the sheer hideousness. It was nothing she wanted to even remember as a page of her past, much less remember anything that happened during the days that they were alone in Tuscany. Well, that really had been just this morning that they had come back. It was fresh in her mind and in her heart.

"Hey," he lifted her face to look at him. In his eyes was the look of hope and confidence and reassurance that she so desperately needed. He kissed her forehead, his unspoken reassurance light a bright light in the darkness for her. Right now, with so many lights all over, the ground around the Eye was lit up like daylight. Nowhere for any wizard to hide or do anything in amongst all these muggles. At lesat here, she was safe. She'd been safe at Murray's because Blaire was an auror, so was Brian and Jack. She was safe there. And she was safe here too. When they drew up to the ticket booth, Brian paid for his ticket and Khaat's. They passed the tickets to Brian and he and Khaat stepped aside in order to let Jack and Jess get their tickets.

"Um..no. Lets not do that," Brian laughed. "The wheel never really stops moving, so I think getting off and on would be very, very difficult if we did that." Brian admired the muggles' creativity when it came to the capsule shaped glass pods that allowed for an amazing panoramic view of London and the ocean. And in the night sky, with the lights on the wheel itself, Brian and Khaat were both sure it was going to be amazing--even for wizards where the amazing was relegated to be a bit more commonplace.

The line, once the tickets were purchased, moved relatively quickly. They stepped up to the wheel and stepped inside the glass pod. Brian and Khat moved over to a place where they could stand and look out the glass and enjoy the view. Brian moved Khaat in front of him so she could see, and, standing behind her, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, holding her. He kissed her cheek softly

An older couple came up to stand beside them. Muggles. They looked at Khaat and Brian. "Newlyweds?" the short stocky older woman asked in a friendly tone.

"Engaged," Brian said, displaying the large diamond and emerald ring on her hand. The woman's eyes grew a bit large as she eyed the large cluster of precious stones. "Oh, its beautiful," she cooed, looking at the ring. "Well, you two make a beautiful couple. You'll do just fine."

"Thank you," Brian said, content. He couldn't remember ever being his happy. Not ever.

For awhile, while the British nighttime sky floated peacefully in front of her, with the movement of people below looking like mere ants, Khaat felt like here, camouflaged in amongst the muggles, no wizard could dare to strike here in the huddle of the masses. She was feeling hesitant at going home tonight. Brian's had always been safe for her, but for some reason, going back to her own world made her heart start to beat a bit faster out of a fear she'd never had before. Not about being with her own kind.

"Hey," She said very softly. "Relax. You're safe."

"I know. But we can't stay here forever," she sighed. "What time is it?"

"Almost midnight. I'm not going to let anything happen. I promise."

"He's still out there, Brian. Barker, Burke, Gelding...they're all still out there."

"I know, Baby. I know. But not forever. We're going to stop them. I promise--trust me."

"I do. "

"Besides, Abbey and Dakota are back there. We arent' going to forget them, are we?"

"No. But I've been wondering if we need to find a safehouse I can run to if he comes back."

"I have enough safehouses to choke a battleship," he sighed. "More of those, we do not need. You need to be patient with yourself and how afraid you still are about this. It only makes you very human, Khaat. That's all."

"I hate it," she said. He laughed.

"But that's one of your best assets," he said soothingly.