Post by Admin on Aug 24, 2020 18:43:33 GMT
A Change of Power By Order of Wizengamot! Part 3 (Seth Wright's Office)
(OOC: Combined threads from the previous site)
BRENNAN
The Protector was confused as somehow he had upset his young friend when he had allowed his presence to be known. He shook his head as he thought, “I am following the rules and letting her know that I am here...So why is she soo upset with me? I have been here since I lost Seth at the Muggle Prime Minister's...Somebody is confusing my friend and making me look bad to her...And now she is trying to block me, why? When I reported to my master that I lost the Minister...He was furious and reminded me why I hate feeling him like that! Right before I lost the Minister...I felt a presence that Master told me was named Fixer...He also told me to find out what the man wanted with the Minister! He also reminded me about the price of failure...I Don't Fail!”
Protector felt Sinclair and thought still angry, “He can know but the princess won't tell me...Then He Will or I Will Wait Until They All Leave And Ask Tia's Godfather...And I Won't Be Gentle like I am with my little friend!”
Protector listened and realized that his master's priest had misunderstood the question. He also felt Tia pain and got furious as he thought, “Priest, I Care Nothing For What Fixer Did To The Rest of Them...What Did He Want With Tia's Godfather? Tell Me Now!!! Or I Swear That I Will Find Out From The Minister's Mind Myself! Also Why is my friend crying? Who Upset Her?”
Protector thought furious at feeling his little friend's pain, “Priest, you have not Stopped Whoever Is Upsetting Her! I Could Come In There and Teach The Fool a Lesson...Do You Want That?”
Seth saw Tia's tears. Without looking away from her he tried not to clinch his teeth as he said, “Max, He is hurting her, isn't he? When you told me and Air of your plan, you said nothing about his violent nature. I will not have him hurting my god-daughter!”
Turning to Air as Seth said terrified of what The Protector could do to Tia, “Air, Maybe we should reconsider what to do concerning him? I thought he liked Tia but if this is how he treats his friends, maybe we need put up more of a barrier between the two of them if he can not pull back more?"
Bren watched Tia for her reactions, while listening to what Seth said. He turned to Max trying to keep a smile on his face, so he would not frighten Tia and said in a clam voice, “Max, explain to Tommy what he is doing. I will shield Tia as best I can. Max, maybe Tommy needs to leave the area before Seth as Minister orders his arrest...Seth is only thinking of Tia at the moment as Air is thinking of Tommy? We need to defuse this before the progress you have started to make is destroyed.” Bren had first thought like Seth but after that first night at Charitee's, he had realized that Maxwell was on to something. The Profiler had chosen to give Max's plan a chance.
Tia nodded making mental notes on what needed to be discussed at the Core's meeting that afternoon.
Seth cringed and placed his hands flat on his desk, trying to stop the slight shake of fear threatening to take over his hands movements. He nodded at his god-daughter. She knew about America and seemed to be putting him and William in a good light. After a few minutes, Seth gave a small smile as he said, “We will talk later Tia but now go back to the school before Sasha overreacts please. I am fine and well protected as you can see.”
After Tia and Bren left, Seth looked at the others. wanting to figure out a way for her to not see he was being tested for his continuation in the Caretaker Group. He would not be able to take the pity, so he said, “I don't want Tia to know until it over please? She has been though enough in her young life.”
Knowing Max would pick up his thoughts, Seth realized what his real fear was, “I can't shake the feeling that I am somehow responsible for their deaths. … That somehow I betrayed Tia's family and got them killed...these gabs in time are getting worst... and the notes afterwards are really starting to worry me... and now If Tia's right about the time frame I could have done some real damage.. .but how to find out if it has only been eighteen hours as I remember or thirty as Tia said? In addition, if it has been thirty where was I and just what or who did I hand over this time? Do I really want to know?” Seth was terrified and was sure that this time he was beyond saving. Eyeing the secret door, he felt like running after his goddaughter and asking her forgiveness, for…. but he would not be able to put into words. He was having trouble putting his fears in coherent words even in his own mind. Seth wondered if told the truth of what Seth feared Tia would still try to protect him as Samantha had.
Franco cringed as he watched his nephew Seth. He knew that Fixer sending notes to him (Franco) meant trouble. He looked at Neo sadly shaking his head as he thought, “Maybe you should have let me read those notes first instead of grabbing them out of my hand, brother? Well at least you allowed me to come, as I am terrified that after all this time, Fixer succeeded in getting to Seth. And Neo if that is the case then I am responsible for whatever Fixer put him through...” Franco was sure that the notes were Fixer's way of gloating.
Neo, put up his hand in a gesture telling Franco to be patient and wait. He knew his brother still had some sessions to go with Maxwell and he would let the Psy-healer know how his brother was feeling.
Franco watched the way Bren walked and realized that the young fellow Hufflepuff had somehow gotten into hot water yet again. Turning to Richard, Saint asked as he tried to keep his mind off the notes from Fixer, “What did he do this time?”
Seth had just finished putting down his timetable as he remembered it. He handed it to Martin.
Seth's thoughts concerning Time Frame
Sept.7th
5 AM -Seth is awaken to a note being on his pillow
9 AM- Seth is summoned to Wizenamogot (Emergency Session)
10PM- Seth enters his new office after receiving crystal plant from Dalphe
10:15 PM-Lucas enters the office
11PM -Lucas leaves office and starts round up
11PM- Seth heads for Meeting with Cameron Rowe
?- Cameron and Seth say bye and Seth leaves
?-Seth enters office
Max arrives, followed by Air, Richard, Tia and Bren then
Martin and Pip, Bren comes back, and Neo, Franco and Lucas show.
4:00AM-hands time sheet to Martin
Afterwards, Seth looked at Franco and sadly shook his head, as he thought, “He needs to be in bed resting as that uncle of mine can barely stand let alone attend a meeting. The man that was called Boss by this group was scared for the first time in a very long time.
Bren smiled toward Richard and stood up a little prouder. Turning to Air he said, “Air, I know the rule book by heart. I chose to bypass the rule I broke and plead guilty. I go with my gut most of the time even if it means I have to break one of the rules. I will always accept the responsibility for doing so but it is how I work...which is why the Head of Security for the Caretakers should go to somebody like Martin.” Bren never felt comfortable with that big of a job. He thought back to his time in Shadow's hands and was glad he had only been newly recruited at the time, “If I had been Head of Security then, Shadow could have done a lot more damage... I have to get Martin to understand that he is the best man for that job... Even if it means I have to fail the infield exercises. Air has finally given me a way to insure I never become Head of Security again... though I never want to lose Caretaker as a partner or lose the sub-team we have formed. It is just Martin's mind is more suited to carry such sensitive information... as it is impossible for somebody to mind-dive the man's mind.” Sherlock just prayed that Max never told Air that he had broke the rule on purpose as he had profiled Air and realized that this was the only way to force Air into removing him as Head of Security.
Bren inwardly smiled as he nodded and walked over to Martin. He thought to Martin, “The new tunnel was finished this morning. It is more of a maze of tunnels with several dead ends and a few that go straight to cells in Azkaban. Martin those that go there, we can somehow lock down once the wizard is in the cell...One Way Trips....Only One Path leads from here to Hogwarts. Here is the map of all of the tunnels. Once you have the map and security codes wipe the information from my memory.”
Looking at Air as Bren said, “Done!”
Bren cringed as he saw how trusting his friends were. Handing the notes to Martin unread he said, “Martin hand these to me as you feel I need them. As Head of Security, you can also decide in what order I profile the notes. Hand me one as soon as everybody is here, please.”
PROTECTOR OF THE SHIELD
Max closed his eyes and pretended to be thinking. He was not sure where to start with the Protector. He was a man of about 85 years old, but he was still very much the boy of five, which had been stolen from his mother and raised by the dark one in a cave, to guard the shield the Dark One was trapped behind. With thoughts only, Max said, "My friend, humans do not like the idea of someone being in their mind without asking permission to go there. We all like to have private thoughts."
Protector did not understand … was the Priest trying to say he was not a human being. “I am human ... me and Master have always been linked .. .It special and keeps things honest on both sides ... blasted headaches ... It will just have to be handled later ... this is too important...my friend is upset with me and Vlad always said that meant there was still areas that needed improvement ... wish Vlad was here ... He would help me understand ..."
Maxwell listened with great interest to the Protectors attempts at rationalizing why he did things. When he was done, Maxwell decided to try and straighten out a few misconceptions on the Protector's part. "My friend I know you are human. As far as you thinking you have always been linked to the one you call Master, it has not always been like that. Your link was not started until you were five years of age, when you were taken from the outside world." Maxwell felt Protector's agitation over this fact. It was manifesting itself in wonder and disbelief.
When the man mentioned the headaches, Maxwell knew he was fighting against something he had previously accepted as concrete The second thing which struck him was the mention of the name Vlad. "Where have I heard that name before?" he thought to himself, blocking his out flowing thoughts. The memory finally came to him, it was during the time when Brennan was undergoing a deep mind-dive to try to break his connection with the Dark One.
Max still kept his eyes closed but he sat up a little straighter. The Protector had followed Seth to the Prime Minister's office. Still using only thoughts Max continued. "The main reason she is trying to shield her mind from you, is because you cause her pain when you try and communicate with her. She feels it as a pressure …. like if someone had pushed you up against a wall and kept trying to push you through the wall. It is uncomfortable to her … maybe we can come up with a better connection of some type. I have an idea but it will be hard for you and for her. I want you to try and imagine you are sitting beside Tia … your thoughts are sitting beside hers not interwoven. .. Can you try that my friend?
The Protector was getting more confused. “The priest is not making sense? Pressure ... I have no knowledge that a open mind feels different ... then this ... it only hurts when you are hiding things, doesn't it ... I can't do this with most wizards as their minds are too closed off...they hide to much ... blast ... head again ..."
Maxwell decided to break into the Protectors answers. Thinking only so the man could hear, "The pressure Tia is feeling is what you would call say was the beginning of a headache …. she is in pain when it comes. … It is not that she is trying to hide anything she just does not want you in her thoughts, so she tries to keep you out. A process that makes her head hurt …. what you call the actual headache."
The next part of Protectors questions was very interesting. "…. I wonder if Vlad has this problem and that is why he don't open his mind much ... that one Auror felt the same as Vlad ... closed like a door that is locked and you have lost the key ... but that Auror was able to see through me like Vlad but he was hidden like Tia's cousin ... I wanted to trust him but Master says if I had he would have just used me as they did my father ... I hate the headaches...but what can I do they have gotten worse since Zia showed up...”
The only Auror, the Protector could be talking about had to be Martin Kildare. The Wizard was an excellent blocker, with abilities Maxwell even envied. It made the Protector upset he was not allowed to read Martin. It was interesting the Protector also was beginning to think of the possibility of trusting someone outside his closed world the Dark One had created. Maxwell needed one bit of clarification which may give him an idea on how to get closer to the Protector. "Protector, how was your father used?"
Protector's voice was tentative as if no one had ever before asked him the question. His anwer came out as more of a question than a statement. "Master said the Hidden Ones befriended my father just to get the shield's location...when he realized the truth and confront them...they sent...that woman...Arianna....head hurts...dizzy...need to stop my headache...nowhere to sit out here..."
"Protector, I know you are not going to believe me, but your father was not used by anyone … he was helping to find the shield so your Master could be stopped from harming anyone … I do not know how much free thought you have but if you get a chance I want you to try ond figure something out …. I want you to think about when you get headaches … could they come when you are trying to remember the past or maybe you are not one hundred percent sure of the information you have been given …. just think on it my friend … I care how you feel." Maxwell realized the Protector had the worse headaches when he was thinking about his past and not just accepting what had been told to him. He also realized the man was not ready to hear, that Arianna was his mother, and he had been given false memories about her being the one who killed his mother and baby sister, who was still alive.
The pain in the Protectors head was not allowing him to think clearly. He did not think of his father much, because every time he did his head hurt. The Master had told him to get the pain to go away he just needed to stop trying to remember the bad times. He was not sure all the time had been bad though … he remembered laughter and comforting warmth. When he tried to add faces to some of the voices, he remembered his head would hurt worse. The Priest was trying to get him to not pay attention to the Master who was the only family he had left, the one who always told him it was because of him, the Protector was still alive. He thought to the Priest, "I can feel you are trying to help me … but I am part of the Master and he is part of me, as he has instructed me over the years. … I cannot totally break off from my young friend because she is important in my understanding of the world outside the cave. I will try and hold back … but I must continue to find information for Master or he will be angry and his pain is worse than a headache. "
Maxwell cringed …. Fixer had gotten a hold of Seth. Everything the others had done to try and protect the information Seth held in his head was now with certainty given to the Fixer. That meant the codebook needed to be changed immediately. Max opened his eyes long enough to scribble on a piece of parchment, "Seth unknowingly has given Codebook to Fixer. Fix immediately." He handed the scrape of parchment to Ari and closed his eyes again to listen.
Maxwell decided to give the Protector a lesson in humanity. "If you hurt the Minister, then Tia will be both very sad and very upset with you. .. you want her to be hurt …. she cares for the Minister and friends do not hurt their friend's friends. … It is an idea to think on."
Protector's voice told Max how much pain the man was in. "I know Minister is Tia's Godfather but have nothing to connect that title to...head hurts...was that from Tia or did that come from my head...an old man who loved life...why do I feel that not only do I know him...but that he is in Land of Last Breath...and why does the Minister remind me of him...headache Go Away...This is Important...This Man I Need To Remember...How I Know Him...Fine...Maybe Later!"
"I know you are in pain, my friend, I can hear it in your voice. A godfather is someone who is willing to take on the responsibility of raising a child if the parents are killed … normally it is not someone related to the child, but a very good friend of the parents. …" Maxwell was going to take a chance, The Protector; (Tommy) had two godfathers. One was Darik an Elf and the other was a man named Hawk, who was Tarik's Uncle and had secretly married Starling MacStone's Grandmother. Continuing he thought, "I know of someone who had two godfathers which made him very special. One godfather was named Darik Tocoferty and the other was named Hawk ===. Darik is an elf and Amir Hawk was a great man in the land he came from. They were both great friends with this person's parents." Maybe the Protector could use the information to come to some other conclusions.
The pain was evident in every word the protector thought. "Darik...headache I Said Go Away ... Hawk what should those names remind me of ... Headache ... Not Now! .... falconer ... the Medjai that is at the school ... that is why ... a baby like Molly...he got upset as he asked the elf...no Darik...for a special wand .. .two ... one for his daughter and one for his godson Tommy ... Head hurts bad .... I didn't mean to ease drop ... godfather was not upset ... though he said ... that our custom was to wait to earn it but since I would be going to my father's school or Hogwarts ... I would only have to wait another six years...instead of waiting until I was seventeen...before I could ask questions momma went into pain as she had Molly ...."
The man was in too much pain so Maxwell decided to stop for the day in putting him through the therapy session. "You have remembered a lot today, my friend. We will stop now. Try and not push into Tia's mind. Give her some time to recover from your visits. She will not run from talking with you if you let her know you are trying to make your connection softer. … she cares about you friend as others of us do." . Max could still feel the anguish. The man was even pushing it toward him …. the connection was stronger than should be normal… Maxwell understood in a flash of recognition, the Protector must be empathic which would be like his father had been. Maxwell now realized, the pain in Tia's head was not just coming from the Protector trying to get in but from the connection itself, where Tia was feeling how the Protector felt. Maxwell was going to have to talk to Darik and see if he could come up with a simple shield Tia could use, which would allow Tommy's thoughts in but not the pain. At the moment he had to get the Protector to back off a little bit.
"Protector, Tia can hear what you say …" Max needed to get through to man. "All she has heard you talk about is hurting someone who is related to her … someone she loves and it scares her he may be hurt …. I know you are being forced to do what the Dark One wants you to do, or he will hurt you, but people do not normally hurt others in our world … maybe Tia is a little worried about you being hurt also ..." Max hoped that idea would get the man thinking. The Protector had suffered and Max was not the only one trying to figure out how to break him away from the Dark One's influence . "She cares about you Protector …. many of us care about you."
Max was getting mad now. "Protector you must realize and accept the idea, you are the one upsetting her at the moment. … Stop threatening her family and friends …. show her you care about her feelings, even a small amount and it will be easier on both of you." The man was acting like the trapped child he had been taught to be.
"My head hurts so bad, Priest … can you help with the pain?" The Protector knew, the Priest was important to Master so he must be powerful. "My friend says I should always ask please … can you make it stop hurting."
The plea from Protector was heart wrenching, but there was not much Max could do unless the man was closer and could sit through some sessions. He had to try something though, "The reason you are getting headaches is because, and when you were very small there were those around you now who wanted you to forget your past and think they were the only friends you had. They made your mind give you pain when you tried to remember about your real past. I can not take this pain away, but maybe I can lessen it some… You must find someplace quiet to be with no one else around and you must try and close your mind off to as much as possible. You must make your mind as blank as you can make it. This should allow your mind to relax and heal itself. This is not something you can keep up for a long period of time and it will not always work, but if you can get it to work, the pain will leave for a little while." Max was also hoping it would allow memories to come to the surface and unconsciously imbed themselves in the man's mind, making it easier for him to "hear them".
Looking Seth in the eye, Max said, "She will be alright, Seth. We need to work out the communication skills between the two of them … it is something which must be done and I would much rather it be done when there is help near her mind." Max did not want to see Tia in pain either, but the Protector had to tone it down a little. He had never been taught to consider others feelings.
The Protector listened and heard the Priest say he needed to work on his communication skills with his little friend. It sounded like he was even willing to help.
Air just shook her head "No" and pointed to Max.
Using a loud whisper, Max said to Brennan, "I am trying to explain it to him … he has never been taught to worry about how others feel … it is a new lesson to him and he is trying to make it work with other things he has been taught." The Protector, now known as the boy Tommy who was kidnapped from Arianna 75 years earlier, had been taught by the Dark One, to only take and do whatever was needed to reach his end, not to care how others were affected by his deeds. It would be a long road to get to the point where he could feel how others felt and realize he was truly hurting them.
The Protector had learned everything the Dark One, said was important, but apparently it was not enough, with those who lived outside the Cave. The woman known as Zia had told him things he needed to learn … but her lessons were physically painful. She said she beat him and punched him to teach him control of his pain … but he could never get through one of their sessions without breaking down. She would call him weak and said he should be sent out of the Dark One's protection, into a world where everyone would try and kill him because he believed in the Dark One. It confused him when the Priest would tell him he cared about him … not everyone he met wanted to destroy him personally.
Maxwell could feel the Protector listening. When Air had said they did not keep secrets, he felt the man jerk. It had to be hard to realize they were asking Tia to trust them with information and she was agreeing. He wanted her to trust him also, but he had not figured out how to respect her wishes enough for that to happen. It was a huge puzzle to him.
The atmosphere around Seth had changed. Fear was coming to the top of the man's emotional state. Max had caught Richard's hesitancy when Seth had cringed. Thinking only to himself he thought, "Seth you are not the only one who is worried about what we are going to find."
Through Tia and a little through the Priest, the Protector felt fear floating through the air in the office where everyone sat. He tried to pinpoint who it came from. His first thought was to protect his little friend, but the fear was not coming with her at it's core. The Protector finally found the source. It was the Minister, the man they all called Seth. The man was in great fear of something. Protector thought toward Max, "Am I the cause of the Minister's fear? I have done nothing to make him fear me."
Maxwell listened to the question and then thought back, "No, my friend … the man is worried about the missing time … it scares him he does not know what happened to him … he is afraid he did something which has hurt the ones he cares about." .
Protector heard what the Priest said and asked in his thoughts, "Should I join with him and try and remove some of the fear?"
Seth would have been even more terrified if Protector suddenly leapt into his mind, "No my friend, I need you to concentrate on being careful with Tia's mind. … If I need your help I will let you know though."
Protector smiled, and thought "I have never had anyone ask for my help before… I will help if I can, Priest. … "
Maxwell knew Arianna realized Tia could not stay. She had not reached the age of understanding yet and some of the things concerning her destiny, which would come up, would either frighten her or scare her away from her future. Circumstances had to happen naturally or Tia would never become the person she was meant to be, a true Princess who could take care of her people with grace and wisdom. "Protector, Tia is going to be leaving in a short time. This is not because of something you have done but she needs to get back to the school and rest… Brennan will be taking her and two Aurors will help her on her trip … they are no danger to her so allow them to do their job. When she leaves could you go also and make sure she is all right? You will have to remember to be very gentle when you join with her. She feels your pain along with her own and it is hard on her."
The Protector did not want to take his mind away from the room where everyone was talking … but his Master had told him to keep track of what the Princess did, so he should have no problem with him following the Princess. "Yes I will follow her and help to take care of her."
It was hard for Maxwell to realize Seth's fear could grow greater, but the man's face showed differently. Maxwell closed his eyes and in his mind said to Seth, "Seth, calm down … take a deep breath … we have told you we will figure this out and we will … if you do not calm down, I will personally put a relaxation block on you and although you will not be asleep you will not be able to fathom what is happening in the office … do you want that to happen?"
"I felt fear from him before ... .the cab.... Fixer ... 1a.m. ... Fixer is causing my friend to be upset..." Protector wanted to let the Priest know he was willing to help watch out for the others.
Tia's body language was shouting at Maxwell. She was beyond nervous, made plain as her hand went to her medallion, a medallion which connected her past to her future and would give her the right to rule the magical world of Egypt when she became of age at 18. Maxwell was also starting to get worried and confused. He made a notation on his parchment notebook of the time table Tia kept bringing up. He did not want to interrupt her now because she would stop with the free thoughts and start consciously worrying about what she was saying and thinking.
Arianna gently motioned for Tia to return to her seat, next to her near the wall.
"We all agree with you Tia. There are plans, which have already started which will protect Seth. As far as the Protector not being happy we will just deal with how he feels as he learns that pain and mind control are not the way things should be done. … when you get a chance try and let him feel how you feel when he invades your mind or tries to listen in. … He needs compassion, understanding and the strength of knowing someone cares in order to understand how the outside world works." Maxwell knew Tia had it within herself to help the Protector; the only thing he was worried about was now the Protector was mentally stronger than Tia and had not learned how to back off.
Even with Seth's hands flat on his desk, Maxwell was close enough to see the tremors in the mussels of Seth's hands. He had not brought any medicines with him. Hopefully when Lance arrived he would have his bag. They could not give Seth too much calming agents, because the man had to be totally in charge of his mind and body when he was taken to St. Mungo's for examination. They would have to worry about false readings.
After Tia and Bren left, Seth looked at the others. wanting to figure out a way for her to not see he was being tested for his continuation in the Caretaker Group. He would not be able to take the pity, so he said, “I don't want Tia to know until it over please? She has been though enough in her young life.”
"Tia will not know about the testing until it is complete and all of the results have been gathered together, so Air can make her decision. …. Seth you are Minister of Magic now, and the Caretaker Group can not take that title away for you … even in the worse case scenario you will be protected by the group as much as possible. … Tia would not even realize you had been cut from us." Looking at Air and then back to Seth, Max continued, "None of us want you gone, Seth, I know in your heart you know that … so hang in there my friend and let us do what we must for all our sakes."
Shaking his head slightly Maxwell raised it and caught Seth's frightened eyes. Staying in his thoughts, he said, "Seth at the moment I cannot help you find answers to your questions. When we are in the mind-dive par to the examination I will help, you find answers. The mind dive will be frightening, but I will be there and Lance will also. He is there as a physical doctor but he has also studied and mastered many of the techniques we will be using … you will not be alone. We will find your answers and help you deal with the aftermath of the knowledge."
Maxwell chuckled. Arianna very rarely drank even Butterbeer. He had seen her take a sip of vodka once, but it was only a sip. She definitely did not like it. "He will be fine Air. The boy is still learning how to fit in. His profiling talents are going to be well worth you taking the time to train him.
(OCC: Had Sinclair's permission to control him for this post. Protector is an Admin character to further plot)
LANCE
Maxwell looked around the room. So far this meeting had kept him very busy taking notes. He was glad he had brought the Muggle notebook and several Muggle ball-point pens. Parchment and Quills were fine when you were re-writing something or had to take verbatium information down, but Max had found the scratching of the quills on the paper, distracting to most of his clients. Some of the newer models of quills did not scratch, but they were too expensive and high tech for his needs.
Looking at Ari he could tell, the simple meeting of the minds she had planned had taken a direction she had not expected. When she looked at him, he smiled and nodded. She had just turned the meeting over to him to try and get Brennan's take on several notes Martin had in his possession. He first reached in his pocket and took out a fresh pen and turned the page on his notebook. Nodding to Martin, he silently told him to hand Brennan the first note.
Martin nodded back and took the top piece of parchment from the stack. It was one Seth had once hidden in his desk and relinquished. Handing it to Brennan he looked at Seth who was sitting near Richard, on the back wall, close to Pippin. He tried to give him an encouraging smile, but all it did was make Seth sit closer to Pippin and Pip wrap her arms around Seth's arm. Returning to his seat, Martin again nodded at Max. All eyes were turned to Brennan. "Ok Sherlock, you are on… do your magic."
!
Brennan air wrote the note on the board. Then smiled as he broke it up into sections as he said, “I always give myself space in between sections to add my notes.”
He said calmly as he wrote, “This part is surprising as we know that only very few even know that Seth had been appointed Minister until this morning. So the only way that Protector could have given Seth that message yesterday is that we have a rat.”
Maxwell was watching Seth, while he continued to take notes. The man was looking straight forward toward the wall behind where Ari still sat at the desk. He had taken his hand and put it on top of Pip's hand, which was on his arm. Both of Pip's arms were wrapped around Seth's arm. Although Seth was trying desperately to keep all expression off his face, the thinness of his lips and his determined stare gave away his fear. His body was also radiating waves of fear. Max realized Richard could feel it, in the chair on the other side of Seth.
Bren smiled as he said, “They are trying to imply that the note is from Khalid. But it was not.”
Richard had a question on how Brennan knew the note did not come from Khalid, but decided to wait until the end of the profiling. He was afraid of breaking the man's train of thought. If that Dark Wizard had not sent the note, then they had a new player in the game.
Bren grin got wider as he said, “And this piece is how we know. Guys, there was only one that had a chat with Tia this Summer.”
Maxwell put down his pen and cringed. The Dark One had someone send the note to Seth. It meant the Number was pleased with Seth being in the position he was and would be trying to use him. Rubbing the back of his neck, he picked up his pen again and waited. The future mind-dive had just taken on a dangerous aspect. He would be fighting against the Dark One again, as they had when they had taken Brennan down through the levels. It had taken three days for Max to recover from that dive and he was not looking forward to it again.
Bren started to show his anger as he said with venom, “Not if I or Lance has anything to do with it Evil One!”
Lance smiled. He had rather enjoyed mind diving into Brennan's head and going against the Evil One. It was not very often he was allowed to do field work, even though he had all the training the other has received. He was the doctor of the group. He also kept his practice at St. Mungo's active and he was a specialist assigned to the school. He nodded to Brennan to let him know he was in agreement with whatever he wanted to try.
Sherlock frowned as he said, “Seth it looks like you need a new codename?”
At this point Ari visibly cringed. She new some of their names had been compromised, but the note sender had used Seth's name as if it was normal for the situation. She looked at Martin to let him know she was upset. Her son-in-law looked back and nodded. He would be using every possible avenue to close up any possible leak.
Bren said, “This is telling us that he trying to hint at a possible truce? Most likely it is a truce that we don't want?”
Martin had gotten up out of his seat and walked closer to the air board. There was no way he could see a truce being called, even if they were eventually able to pin the note on someone other than the Dark One. Security was going to be a nightmare, but he would have to figure out something. He looked toward Ari, to see if he could tell what she was thinking. It would be possible to read his mother-in-law's mind, but the one time he had tried, it had given him such a headache, he had vowed only to do it again in an extreme emergencies. The ladies thoughts traveled in so many different directions at one time, there was not possible way to follow any of the thoughts to some conclusion. Even now her face was a perfect blank, but Martin would still never consider diving in to the chaos he knew was just under the surface. She did nod at him, letting him know she understood he was going to be a very busy wizard.
Sherlock said angrily, “Not on your non-life Evil One!” Looking around he noticed, everyone was in agreement with that statement.
Bren read the next part twice, once aloud and once to in a low whisper to himself, to be sure before saying, “He is giving Seth a choice between truce and his family making the Dark One's list. It is a very well hidden threat. At least we know who we need to protect?”
Pippen was patting Seth's arm. She was desperately trying not to shake herself. Seth was in trouble and she could not figure out how she could help. She looked at Richard but he was no help. Looking back at Seth's face, he had seen it go white almost gray. The man was terrified. Trying to offer some type of encouragement she whispered in his hear, "Seth, it will be alright. Everyone here is on your side. They can keep you and your family safe and I will help anyway I can. Hang in there, Seth, please."
Seth had been listening to all of Brennan's explainations, with stoic, determination to not show fear. He knew Pip was feeling some of how he felt inside. When Brennan had made it clear it was either he helped the writer or his family would suffer, he could not prevent the shakes which racked every nerve. He hung his head in shame as he heard Pip's words in his ear. How was he going to tell her, he included her as part of his family, even though he had not gotten up the courage to tell her yet how he really felt, and there was no formal agreement between the two of them. He might have to quit his job, at least as part of the Caretakers. He may still be able to stay on in the Ministry, but if it could be let out, he no longer had connections with the group, maybe it would make his family safer. Looking at Ari, he knew it would not be easy to get her to let him go … and the mind wipe which would be a requirement scared the living dickens out of him, but he would not loose anymore of his family. He put his hand on top of Pip's and squeezed. He would not lose another love in his life even if she did not know she was on yet.
Sherlock shakes his head as he says, “The Dark One is arrogant isn't he?”
Seth wanted to run, he had no idea where but a huge bulls eye had just been painted to enclose everyone in this room. He could not ask them to fight for him, not this type of fight. There was still on more part to the message. When Brennan was finished he would give the speech he knew he had to give.
Bren looked around the room catching Lance, Richard and Martin's eyes. Getting a sly grin on his face he said, “He doesn't know Seth very well, does he guys? At least we know to expect more?”
Seth picked his head up and squared his shoulders. Carefully he unwound Pip's arms from around his and offered her a smile. He touched her cheek with the back of his hand and then stood up and turned toward the rest. Pip's hand was in his before he could say a word. He looked at the hand and then into her eyes, only finding a smile of encouragement. He hoped that smile would stay, but had little hope of it still being there when he had finished what he knew he had to say.
He looked at all the colleges and friends sitting around the room. Many had saved his life more than once as he had saved many of their lives. His eyes stopped when they hit Ari's steadfast stare. He bowed slightly, acknowledging her superiority and then to everyone in general he started. "It is clear by what Sherlock has been able to deduce by the note I received, that my life and my job have been compromised. I have no memory how this was done, but it has been that we are all sure of. In the past I have been blessed with the backing of everyone in this room, and others who have not been able to make it. I have laid my life and career on the line for many of you and you have done the same for me."
"The person or being who wrote that note," Seth pointed toward the air board, "has decided I am to go down. I cannot and will not allow this organization to be taken down or damaged because of me. I cannot allow my friends, some who are dearer than others," Seth turned and looked at Pip, hoping he could see the meaning in his eyes, then turned back to the room, continuing, "to be harmed or killed because of me. This is no ordenary threat, it is an altermatium, of either I comply or everyone I know dies…" Seth had to stop and try and clear the lump out of his throat. Turning to Ari, he said, "Air, I will still go through the debriefing you have set up for me, mainly because I need to leave you all with as much information as was given to me by someone breaking into my mind. When it is done, I am requesting a full mind-wipe to the point you will be absolutely sure I know nothing about the Caretaker group. I accept the consequences of this action." Seth felt Pip squeezing his hand almost to the point it hurt. She had grabbed his hand with both of hers. He knew the look that would be in her eyes and he refused to see it until he had some kind of answer from the others in the room, especially Arianna. Standing as straight and as tall as he could he waited for the axe to fall.
Neo turned toward Seth and looked him in the eyes. He looked like he wanted to physically shake some sense into Seth, instead he said in a very low and determined voice, "Don't you even think you are taking The Dark One on alone Nephew! Stop that train of thought Now! Or do we tell Maria?"
After his brother had asked the question, Franco though maybe Pippin would not know who they were threatening Seth with, "Pip, Maria is Cameron's wife and the only cousin that even Seth will cower to! You have got to see her when she thinks one of us especially Seth is putting himself in harm's way without including the rest of us...it is a sight to see as she does the talking and Seth does the apologizing and then promises to do anything to just see her smile again."
Pip felt Seth flinch. He hid the response well, but she still saw the shake of his head when they talked about Maria. Pippin had heard the name before but had never made the connection. She would have to meet this Maria, she knew she was going to like her. "Seth listen to them please." But Seth would not even look at her. The only way she knew he had heard her word was from the squeeze given to her hand.
Everyone in the room wanted to say something but they would be there all day if she let each of them tell the man what they thought of his little speech. They had all been much too quiet as Seth spouted off. Air sat bolt upright within the first few seconds of start of his speech. She knew he would be saying something, but the man had gone over the top. When he was done, she put on her I'm-the-boss-face and lite into him. "Seth Wright, do I take it you are turning in your resignation to the Caretaker Group?" She did not wait until he answered before continuing, "Sir, you should know there is no resigning from my organization. So your resignation is refused. Also how dare you think you are the only one in this group who is targeted and is important enough to bring the group to its knees?" Air had spent long hours herself over the years if maybe she should disband the group because of this threat or that threat against the membership. But the group was more than its parts, so she kept going.
Softening and settling back in the desk chair, Air stared at Seth who was still trying to stand straight and tall and show confidence and determination in his decision. After what Neo and Franco had said, some of the stiffness had melted away. "Seth … Boss …. You know we will not let you do this alone. We have been together for too many years as a unit and as friends. We were not able to protect Sabrina and your son, and for that, we have all suffered, but the unit has grown since then and there is enough expertise in the group to cover anything, which can be thrown at us by anyone."
"You will go through the debriefing and we will pick at your brain," Ari added a small smile as she sat forward in the chair and rested her arms on the desk, "but after you will be returned to work. You have another codebook to write and you have extra security to help set up. I need you Seth," she swept the room with her arm, "we all need your expertise, experience and ability to set up plans. So sit back down, and shut up…" Turning to Pippin she said, "Pip please keep him quiet so we can get on with the meeting…" Ari smiled at the nod Pip gave her and the loving look she bestowed on Seth. She hoped Seth would have the courage to tell the woman soon how he felt.
Seth sat slowly back down in his chair. Pippin kept hold of his hand and everyone knew it would take vice grips to get her to let lose. Soon everyone slowly turned back to the room in general and continued to make notes or discuss softly the different parts of the air board. "Thank you Brennan. That was great. Everyone, make the notes you have to make and you can get with Brennan individually on any part of the note you want to work on… Martin, what is out next note?"
(OOC: For more information on mind diving see, Legacy Wiki > Magical Items > Legilimency, Occlumency and Mind-Diving ; for more information on mind dive on Brennan see Hospital Wing > Closed Taking Notes)
ARIANNA
Arianna took a deep breath. She had originally called this meeting to find out how everyone was doing and if anyone needed anything from the group. So far it had been very active. They still had two more notes for Sherlock to decipher, the secretaries desk needed to be gone through to find out how deep in the enemies camp she was, and Seth was missing twelve hours they had to find. Just as she was about to tell Brennan to proceed on the first of Franco and Neo's notes, Darik arrived in the office.
Darik went straight to Air's desk. He wished he did not have to deliver the information he had, because it would affect his friend Master Franco. Mistress Arianna would know how to handle the problem. Darik handed her the small piece of parchment he had in his hand. When the Mistress had it he turned his head just enough to see Master Franco out of the corner of his eye. The young Master was talking to Master Neo and did not know yet he was in a lot of trouble.
Arianna accepted the note with a questioning look in her eyes. Opening the one fold, she read:
"Franco broke… has new partner … problem for all of Caretakers…
Arianna read the note a second time. Looking at the room in general she said, "excuse me everyone for a moment." Then she turned in her chair and motioned Darik closer. Asking so only he could hear she whispered, "Do you know who sent it?" She received a shake of the head. "Can it be traced?" Darik raised and lowered his shoulders. "Go then and see what you can find out… I will have him put into custody with Seth. This room is secure so we can carry on here." Darik started to walk back to the corner he had arrived in when Ari added, "Darik be careful. I will call a Code Black if I need to." Darik nodded and faded out. A Code Black would virtually shut down the Caretaker Group until every member had been screened including herself. She had only done it once before and it had taken a month to get everyone cleared and active again.
Arianna turned back to the room, to find everyone staring at her. She knew everyone had heard her mention the Code Black. She proceeded as if she had not said it, with one exception. Mentally she told Martin to move next to Franco and put him under guard. Before she continued she waited just long enough for Martin to get up, hand the two remaining notes to Brennan, go to where Lance was sitting, whisper in his ear, causing Lance to get up and move, and then he sat down next to Franco. Neo was on the other side. Martin's wand was half out of his sleeve, hidden by the one leg he crossed over the other. When Ari had received a nod, she continued, "Brennan, please continue with the notes Franco and Neo received this morning."
Bren saw the new positions and got extremely worried. Reading both notes quickly to himself, he sadly shook his head as he said to Franco, "Saint, is there anybody in this office that you don't want involved once I begin? Now might be a good time for them to leave."
Franco just looked at Bren and realized that something in the notes worried the man as Bren had looked at Neo. Thinking quickly he just said, "Bren if your gut is worried about Neo hearing it then I can say that in honestly, nobody needs to leave. If there is something that we need to know then tell it?"
Bren nodded and turned to Air as he said, "Do us all a big favor and restrain Neo."
Air first looked at Brennan reading the extreme worry on his face. Almost everyone in this room had seen what happened when Neo lived up to his Codename of Cooler the man became deadly and there was a chance he would not even realize he was hurting friends. Anyone who came near him in a threatening manner, when he was in that frame of mind was taken down. Ari nodded to Richard. Richard's wand dropped instantly into his hand and Neo was bound in his chair.
Bren nodded as he said with worry in his voice, "Sorry Neo but I think Saint knows what is coming and neither of us want you to do something you will regret. Though Air, I would like to point out that Saint is unafraid of the Caretakers hearing what I have already profiled. So I ask that the same measures shown me last term, be shown with both Franco?"
Arianna looked at Neo and said, "Cooler, this will only be temporary. Your brother is going to need your support I think, so if you want to be loose and be able to give him that support, you will show restraint now. If you cannot then I will have Franco removed immediately from the premises and held out of yours and your brothers and sisters ability to communicate with. This is serious, my friend." Turning to Brennan she said, "Proceed Sherlock. I will agree, as long as it is possible to allow Franco the same measure of lenience."
Bren smiled as Neo nodded. Looking at Franco, as he said, as he wrote the message on the air board, "The first message reads:
Holding up a hand as he said, "Now Franco if you had opened this note when it was delivered, who would have suffered if you gave a heads-up?"
Franco read the air board with shock on his face and then answered, "The Core. Fixer has somebody besides Antonio at Hogwarts. Somebody close enough that if he wants words with them all or even one, it will happen. Bren most likely if I had read this then, I would have only told family. We would have left the finally decision to Seth? I would not risk the Core, not even for Seth."
Bren smiled as he said to Air, "You want any certain section profiled?"
Air looked at the various expressions around the room. They ran the gambit from disbelief to the realization, Franco was about to possibly come up on charges as far as Air was concerned of being a traitor. Air tried to keep her face blank as she said, "Franco I will put Darik on the hunt for who else may be at the school. The school just became off limits for you, clear?"
Turning back to Bren she said, "Proceed as you like Sherlock. When you are ready add the second note." Ari was having difficulty keeping her blank expression. Her heart was telling her she was going to have to do something, which would hurt all of them.
Bren smiled and said, "Air, read that note carefully. If Franco had truly broken and betrayed us..."
Air held up her hand interrupting Brennan. "I am reading the note Sherlock. The note Darik brought me was from one of his contacts. It says, and I quote…" Arianna picked up the piece of parchment and read, " Franco broke… has new partner … problem for all of Caretakers… ." So you just keep profiling and let me decide what has to be done next."
Bren was praying Air would see what he had. That if Franco was truly gone then why did Fixer need to threaten Saint. Turning to Franco, he realized that the man's head was down. Shaking his head as he said, "Saint, snap out of it! You guys never gave up on me and my gut and profiling is saying you are no traitor either! So Pull yourself together. If you can't then Fixer was smart about one thing, you were broken?"
Richard looked at Bren who was sitting to his left and asked, "Both notes are short I gather?" When he received a nod he said, "Bren remember when you did the notes I had when Fox disappeared? You had just as little." Richard smiled as he remembered another very short note. "I thought you never would figure that one out and yet you came up with a lot of info. Concentrate, Sherlock, because somebody wants us to believe Franco is a danger to the Caretakers?"
Richard looked at Ari. He knew what she was going to order and to try and keep all the heat off her, he brought up the subject first. "Something we have not been able to totally grasp is going on here, and the only way to find out is with a mind-dive." He let his eyes roam the room in general as he said, "The one person Fixer has underestimated is Sherlock and that will hopefully be his undoing?"
There was a general murmur of approval in the room. Air let everyone get the feeling out of their system, before she said, "We all agree Richard. Bren, do you have anything to add to the first note. If not then let's hear the second." Air was worried. For some reason, Brennan was holding back on reading the second note aloud.
Bren looked at Lance and Greene as he asked, "Lance, Richard what has been your impression of this guy Fixer?"
Lance looked at Richard and signaled him to go first. Richard cleared his thoat and thought for a moment before answering. "The man plays on others weaknesses. I think he spends a lot of time profiling the person or persons he may think he will be coming in contact with when he takes a job. And he does think of each thing as a job. He definitely has reasons for everything he does. I think he can change directions during a job, but if he does the direction change is thought out to some type of possible conclusion."
Lance nodded and added, "Richard is right with his view and I think I can add the man is not as bad or it you want… rotten… He is always going to complete his job but there is a form of compassion there. He may use physical force, but he will get you medical help. He may make you tired and exhausted, but he will eventually allow you to rest and make sure you are all right. Richard was returned to St. Mungo's twice and Franco was sent there after his last visit with the man, with a concentrated list of what had been done. In his own way the man cares."
Bren smiled as he asked, "Air, when you guys were held by him at the Hog's Head? How well did he seem to know how you would handle certain issue?" Bren had a feeling in his gut that Fixer wanted the Caretaker to know that stories that Franco would bury were the important ones. Sherlock was also sure that the Franco's mind-dive would reveal something that Fixer wanted the Caretakers to know.
Air leaned on the desk and thought back to the Hog's Head. She had one personal moment with the man. "Speaking for myself, I can safely say he had me pegged. He knew I would not give in if it was just me, but when he added Richard to the mix," Arianna looked at Richard and smiled, "he knew I would do what he wanted, not that he wanted a lot from me." Looking around the room she stated, "He new Franco would comply when he brought his mother's cherished camera into the mix. I am not sure what made Richard comply, but whatever he told him when they were in the room, Richard thought it was worth, giving his signature for." Ari held up her hand when it looked like Richard was going to say something. "Save it Caretaker, because you and I have still not had your debriefing on the subject."
Sherlock grinned as he asked, "How much does Fixer know about me?"
"As far as what he knows about you Sherlock, I have no clue… from what has been said already here, I would be willing to bet he has studied you."
Bren smiled as he said, "Then we can pretty much guess that Fixer worded these notes with me in mind. Franco, you betted him didn't you?"
When Franco sadly nodded Bren continued, "Let me guess the bet? Since you were pretty sure that Fixer would never get the Codebook? Franco for some reason, you said if he did, you would become Editor of the Prophet and agree to print stories for Fixer?"
Franco again nodded as he said, "I also promised to bury any story that Fixer thought needed to be. But Bren, I would have just placed it in our usual section of the paper, section C?"
Ari smiled and shook her head, because Section C of the paper was where messages were left for the rest of the Caretaker group. The stories there were actually the first that most of them checked on to see if anything really important was happening. There were times, important stories were started on another page, like the front page, but if the story was important to the group, the story ended in Section C. "Bren what does the second note say." Air knew in her heart what it would indicate.
Bren smiled as he said, "I think Fixer knows all of the Caretakers habits. Even what Air is about to order Franco. So why is the question? Answer there is something in Franco's mind-dive, we as a team need to know. Something that Fixer knew that Franco would not know but that his mind stored."
With that Sherlock wrote the second note on the air-board.
The room became very still as each person realized the meaning of the second note. Fixer had the codebook. Seth who was still sitting at the back of the room holding Pippin's hand, turned toward Pip and put his forehead on her shoulder. She instinctually wrapped her free arm around his back. All she could do was shake her head back and forth.
Richard allowed the back of his head to rest on the wall behind his chair. He stared at the sealing for only a moment before he looked at Arianna. Ari cringed and dropped her head into her hands. Finally taking a deep breath, she straightened up and said, "Richard, Martin and Franco could you please join me here at the desk."
Bren looked around and saw Neo try to protect his baby brother by saying, "Air, if anybody is to blame it is me and you know why. Fixer put my brother through the ringer. Please, Air? He would never betray Tia or the Andreas line!"
Franco shook his head sadly as he said, "Stop Neo! I made the bet, I will pay the piper. Please Neo stop protecting me!"
Richard waited for Max to make his way back to Seth and Pippin, before he headed for the desk. Seth knew now he had given information to Fixer and it was making him shake. As Richard walked past Lance, he bent his head in Seth's direction and received a knowing nod. Lance would keep a medical eye on the man.
Franco had reached the desk first, so Richard stepped up beside him on his right. Martin took a place on Franco's left. Ari did not speak right away. She motioned for Martin to step aside and give her a view of Neo, who she could still see was thinking of fighting his bonds. "Cooler, your brother is not a child. Either relax or I will have you removed, and you will not be allowed back until he is removed." Receiving a nod Air motioned Martin back into place.
Looking at the three men standing in front of her desk she leaned back in the chair and thought. She knew to some extent Fixer was playing her like a fish. He was forcing her to examine Franco and the group in general. Maybe she had gotten a little complacent in the handling of the Caretakers. It had been a few years since it was necessary to tighten down the regulations. Taking a deep cleansing breath she started. "Franco Spellman, it has come to the attention of this group you may have put this organization in general danger, because of information you have given and promises you have made to at least one person. This cannot and will not be tolerated. Do you have anything to say before I give my ruling on your future as both a member of this organization and the possibility you will be brought up on traitorous charges?"
Franco was still going over in his head what he had done that could cost his position in the Caretakers. Shaking his head as he was sure he had never fully broke or gave any real information that could cost the Caretakers.
As he looked at Lance, the memory of what Fixer had said about Lance remembered his friend's life would be in danger. Saint stayed silent as he hoped nothing in his memory would endanger Lance remembering
Arianna watched Franco. He was thinking and had decided not to voice the thoughts in his head. She waited about fifteen seconds before she started again. Laying both her arms on her desk she took on the boss posture and said, "Franco, I will take your silence as agreement to your willingness to accept my decree." Looking at Richard, then at Martin and returning to Franco, she gave her ruling. "At the end of this meeting, you Franco Spellman shall go with Richard Greene and Martin Kildare, to the special section of St. Mungo's Hospital, where you will be held for a period of not less than 48 hours. During that time, you will submit to a complete Caretaker physical. You will also submit to a mind-dive to level six…. It has come to my attention elves may have been involved in your time with Fixer, so I am authorizing that Darik will be involved in the mind-dive. He will be able to take over control of the dive at any time….I fully understand you have responsibilities with the paper, but I also know you are on medical leave as far as they are concerned. I will allow communication with them through Martin, but not directly."
Looking down at her desk for just a moment, Arianna raised her eyes up to Franco again."Saint, I do not do this lightly… you will not choose your advocate. You may not choose one of your brothers, but may choose any of the other Caretakers."
Franco looked into Arianna's eyes and then down at the edge of the desk. He stood with his arms and hands at his side, his hands open and loose. He was not going to fight the charges. This was probably the end of his career in the Caretaker Group, because when they dove into his mind, and found things he was sure were not good, Arianna would probably do a mind wipe. Hopefully he would come out of that with the ability to still be Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Prophet, but that was also not a given.
Richard could not stay quiet any longer. Franco had just given up the fight for his life as a Caretaker and even in the world outside the group. Ari could not send him to Azkaban, but she could do a mind-wipe on the man. Richard could feel the fear radiating off Franco. "Air, I will appoint one of the Caretakers to be his advocate." Turning to Franco he said, "Saint, this is not over. There is an end to the tunnel you are walking though."
Still Franco did not respond. He just stood there. Martin looked at him and then sent Arianna a silent message, "Saint has given up. He thinks something in his head is going to get Lance killed. He is going to fight the mind dive. " .
Arianna nodded slowly. Silently to Martin she thought, "Let Lance know about the fighting, so he can take precautions. I want no numbing drugs, but with his heart still healing I want him watched. Oh, and Martin, keep an eye on Lance… if there is something buried there, I want to know what it is. Darik will be able to help with that." Arianna was getting furious. She now had two of her top operatives undergoing mind-dives. An unknown enmity, unknown at least in what he would do next, probably enjoying his power to get into her organization. Fixer was going to have to be dealt with soon. "Gentlemen," she said to Richard, Franco and Martin. " Richard please release Neo's bonds. And then please all take a seat over there. Franco you are under guard… do not make me bind you."
When they had taken their seats, with Franco in the middle, Arianna looked at the back of the room. Maxwell was sitting close to Seth, speaking very quietly. Seth occasionally nodded. Pippen had a hold of Seth's arm, absentmindedly rubbing it, and listening to Maxwell. Lance although he had not moved from his chair was tuned into the conversation behind him. Arianna turned to Brennan saying, "Sherlock, I want you present at both of the mind-dives. Maybe you can pick up on something which will be helpful. You will not be allowed to take part, but you will be allowed to observe and through Lance, tune in to what is happening."
Turning to Neo she said, "Cooler, I am now going to unbind you. Your brother has chosen to not use an advocate during his stay in the Caretaker Unit. You will not, and I repeat NOT be allowed to observe anything going on there. Am I completely understood? The first sign you or your brothers or your sister are trying to interfere in anyway, I will ship Franco to another location."
Neo got a sly grin as he heard Bren say, "It will be my pleasure Air. Just maybe I can find out something that will allow us to turn the tables on him? Air, you know how the Spellman's handle family problems? I would not want to be in Fixer's shoes when those boys find him. As for Franco and Seth, are you sure I have all the notes? How did he get Seth to meet him? Something don't feel right?"
Neo then turned to his brother and socked him as he said, "We don't just give up Frankie. What do I have to do? Have Marco talk some sense into you?"
Franco reeled from the slug, but made no move to block another, or to even show he felt it. Ari realized he had gone into himself. Silently to Martin she thought, "Watch him; there is a chance he is going to run. Stop him as gently as you can, but stop him." . To this she received a slight nod and Martin turning his body slightly more in Franco's direction. She noticed Martin's wand had dropped halfway out of his sleeve.
Turning to the room in general she said, "Fixer is starting to be a bother, but until further notice I do not want any hunt for him to take place..." Arianna looked pointedly at Neo, "personal or otherwise."
Neo was furious as he watched Frankie slip further away. He planned on first having words with his brother Marco about trusting this Frank Cole. Yelling at himself in his head that he should have just took the man down instead of believing that Fixer had Marco's permission to toughen up their baby brother.
As he looked over at Frankie, Cooler thought, "He looks defeated to me. Fixer lied about toughening Frankie up and I have every intention of making Frank Cole pay dearly for this after I teach Marco a thing or two about trusting an outsider with our baby brother." Neo knew that Leo would agree with him about payback.
Martin looked to his right at Neo, out of the corner of his eye then turned back and signaled Richard to keep an eye on Franco. When he was sure Richard understood, he turned his whole body in the direction of the Cooler. "Cooler, Air has just given you a direct order. You seem to think once you are out of this room, that order does not hold true. Marco is not part of this organization, at least not at the moment. You and I both know if you start badgering him about Frank Cole eventually you are going to have to tell him how you know what happened. That will be a breach of this organizations rules. Do I have to take measures you do not have the ability to compromise the Caretaker Group. Your brother is already in a lot of trouble. If I hold you, the first thing I will do is make sure you are unable to help him, for a very long time. Frank Cole will be dealt with, but with the group dealing with him. If you go after him now… there is a very good chance he will go deeper out of our reach."
Neo looked at Martin as he said with venom, "That is my baby brother Martin and I plan on making Fixer pay! With or Without the Caretakers!"
Then in his thoughts, he added, "Martin, I trusted Frank Cole's word that he just planned on toughening up Frankie... I should have taken him at Hog's Head. First chance I get I plan on correcting that mistake."
Air had been watching Franco, as his brother talked. She was looking for any sign the man was hearing and registering what was happening around him. There was very little movement in Franco's body. He was deep inside himself and going deeper. When Neo passionately declared, he was going after the Fixer, with or without the Caretakers, her head jerked to the Cooler. She looked at Martin then nodded. Martin's wand shot out of his sleeve the rest of the way and Neo was again bound. Air looked at him and stated, "Neo you are not going after Fixer. Your family is not going after Fixer. You heard before Franco said, the man has one or more spies at the school. Anything you do puts the children at risk. Take a good look at your brother Neo, take a very good look… what do you see… what has your talk about going after someone he knows has a huge advantage over you in manpower alone, done to him. How far into himself do you want to send him?"
Air was getting worried about Franco. His skin was turning darker and becoming ruff. His eyes were glazed over. She reached for her message ball and summoned Darik, who almost instantly popped in. She pointed to Franco. Darik walked over and placed himself behind the Saint. Putting two fingers on each temple, Darik closed his eyes and dove. "Master Franco, I am here with you… it will be alright… we need you to fight for now, Master Franco. Your brother needs to know you will be all right…. Fight Master Franco… I will help." Darik concentrated and tried to pull Franco back from the brink. The man was sub-consciously using his ability to metamorph into a turtle. Darik knew he had the ability and he knew the process was either unknown or very new to Master Franco. He would not have the experience to control it. Mentally Darik held onto Franco's mind and pulled. He would not let the young master sink.
Franco was scared, as he had never heard Neo talk like this. All he could think of was hiding from his brother's wrath. The Cooler had never exploded and all Franco could do was think to Darik, "I thought I my agreeing with Fixer before he could fully break me would insure that I had some control but Neo is in a Blind Rage and I almost killed Fixer when I was like that. Darik I am scared that I did break fully and now if they find out about Lance's mind wipe. Fixer said if he remembered…"
Saint felt true fear for his friend, as he thought, "It would most likely get Lance killed. One thing I learned about Frank Cole the man means what he says and will carry out the threat. Darik, I can't let Lance or anybody know the truth. Let me go, it is better for everybody as then nobody is in danger except me. Please Darik?"
Darik pressed his finger harder into Master Franco's temples. "No Master Franco, you must show your brothers you have not broken totally. You must stay in the world of the human's and prove to them you can handle this. I will stay with you, if you like. Master Neo will calm down if he sees you are paying attention to what is happening. Do you want to drive him into Fixers hands, because that is what you are doing by running from the problem? Now come Master Franco, we must climb out of this dark place, together, that you are headed into." Darik pressed just a little harder with his fingertips.
Just then Marco burst in the room. The door was hanging barely by the lower hinge, as he ran straight toward Franco yelling, "Neo, Cool Down Now! Help me with Frankie!" He had received a note from Fixer warning him that Franco might not understand this phase of his training. Grabbing Franco as he yelled, "Franco Spellman, Snap out of it Now! You withstood everything Frank threw at you and now just because Neo decides to have a meltdown...you want to run away instead of proving that you got what Neo has always seen in you?" Marco smiled, as he knew the only thing that might get Frankie to fight what was happening. Saying quietly, as if to himself, "Well I guess I was right, you are weak!"
Franco yelled as he decked Marco, "I Am Not Weak Marco! You just never understood..."
Air jumped. The whole room had been so intent on either helping Seth or watching Darik with Franco; security had gone out the preverbal window. Marco Spellman, who was not a member of the Caretaker Group, had just entered the room, unchallenged except for the now hanging door, and lay out cold on the floor in front of the desk. Air stood up and yelled, "Freeze, everyone just freeze." Looking around she eventually added looking toward Richard and Brennan, "Caretaker and Sherlock, get me some security back in this office." Motioning to Lance she ordered, "Doc, I believe you have a patient on the floor."
To Neo she said, "Settle down Cooler… when you can prove you can stay calm, I will have your restraints removed…" Air motioned to Max to remove the restraints when she realized Neo was almost in shock himself by what had just happened. The man had taken a deep breath and was sitting as calm as expected. When the restraints were, removed Neo knelt down beside his brother and looked up at Franco. A large smile slowly spread across his face, as he realized Franco had gotten tougher. He would have never have taken a swing at his brother before Fixer had gotten a hold of him.
Air pointed to a piece of paper crumbled in Marco's fist. Neo untangled his brother's fingers, while Lance was checking Marco's vitals and handed the note to Air. When she had read it, she called Brennan over and handed to him. Turning to Lance she said, "If Marco is all right, get him out of this office. I want him held securely in one of the outer rooms, until I have a chance to talk with him…. No other visitors. Neo you and Franco remain here." When it looked like both Neo and Franco were about to disagree, Air added in a voice, which gave no opening for disagreement. "That is an order gentleman. Either stay under your own power or stay under mine." She looked pointedly at them and dared them to move.
She watched as Richard fixed the door and held it open so Lance could levitate the still unconscious Marco out of the office. Before closing a securing the door, he watched Marco be carried into one of the rooms used for interviews. There would be a comfortable couch, and several chairs along with a table and chairs in the room. There was also a very small kitchenette complete with refrigerator and cold drinks. The room had a magic dampening spell on it, so Marco would not be able to leave it.
Richard stood by the door, watching for a signal from Martin to retake his seat. Looking at Arianna, he saw her blood pressure was elevated and saying she was not happy, world have been the understatement of the day.
Arianna found she could not sit back down at the desk and relax. She felt out of control and she did not like it. Moving to the front of the desk, she sat on the edge of it and looked over the room. Looking down at the floor, she tried to collect her thoughts. Finally she looked back up and looked at the now seated Franco. "Nice to have you back with us Saint, although I think your brother may have a few words for you when you are allowed to see him again." Air knew Franco had caught the word "allowed". Now she was not sure what contact she was going to allow with Marco. She had been considering having Marco join the Caretakers, but had shied away from have all the brothers as part of the group. The brothers worked as a team, and although they could still work as a team in the Caretaker Group, there would be times they would invariably be asked to split up and go their separate dangerous ways. They would not always be able, to back each other up. Air was not sure they had that ability within them. It looked like she was going to have to make a decision on what was going to happen with Marco.
Taking her eyes off Franco, she turned to Brennan and said, "Well…. Who do we have to thank for that display of brotherly love…. Or should I ask."
Brennan read the note quickly before replying, "Fixer seemed worried about Franco? It seems Marco and Fixer know each other. By the way Marco has a codename it seems." Brennan looked down at the message in his hand, "Fixer calls him Trickster. Interesting name…" Brennan whole face took on the questioning look.
At this bit of news, Air looked at Neo and Franco, "How much more information has been kept from me. All this talk about finding Fixer … taking care of Fixer … handling Fixer and finding out about Fixer. I find out much to my disbelief, I was not informed, your brother knows the man personally. I am taking it for granted, the two of you also know the man personally… I think gentlemen you better start talking, now." Ari crossed her arms across her chest and looked daggers at the two men.
Neo said calmly, "Only at Hog's Head did I make the connection. It was something Fixer said that made me realize that Marco had talked about him before. Marco wanted Franco trained and I flat refused because of Frankie's heart. Marco said if he could, he would have the man that trained him train Frankie. Franco hardly talks to Marco so most likely he was never told."
Air was fighting the angry feelings inside of her. It had been many years since she had felt this out of control of the organization. "Neo I need to trust you… you know that. If Marco is in communications with Fixer than the plans I had of possibly bringing him into the organization have most likely just flown out the window. You brothers have some strange ways of handling situations but having one brother purposely put in the hands of someone like Fixer to be trained goes beyond anything I believe you would do." She looked at Franco, adding, "although I do see a difference in Saint, but…"
Bren said, "Air wait on your thinking until I profile this note."
Air changed her look to Brennan and said, "All right Bren, convince me I should not sanction these two and come down hard on their brother."
Bren smiled as he said, "Air let's have words with Marco. Martin you need to come as well. Seth, look through your pockets while we are gone. I have a feeling there is one more note which I will profile when we get back."
"Well why not," , Ari thought to herself. Aloud she said, "Lead the way, Sherlock." She motioned toward the door.
RICHARD
If Brennan wanted Martin along that meant, Sherlock was going to keep Martin, a mind blocker busy. Neither one of them were going to be available for security. Richard was going to have to go along. Besides Brennan was his partner, so where the kid went so did Richard.
Richard opened the door and stood back as Air, Brennan and Martin filed out. He turned, just before he closed the door and told Darik he was in charge of security. If he had to put everyone in a catatonic state then do it, until he or Martin returned. Then he closed and locked the door. The others had already reached the interview room when he unlocked the outer lock. Walking in he looked at Lance and said, "Doc wake him please and then join the others in Seth's office. Darik is in charge of security. I do not think we will be long."
Lance stood up from where he was sitting on the edge of the couch, finishing his exam of Marco Spellman. "His nose was broken, but it is repaired. He also had two teeth knocked out, but I have replaced them. He is going to be sore, but he will be all right. He needs to stay on the couch while you are talking with him." Lance took one more look at Marco to make sure he was coming to and then left the room.
Marco came to and laughing said, "Boy, and I thought I had a mean right hook." When his eyes focused, he realized he was not in the same room and there were less people. After he did not see his brothers, he said with venom, "Where are they?"
While they had been waiting for Marco to become fully consious, Richard had walked over and pulled out one of the very comfortable looking office chairs from the small conference table in the center of the room. With a gallant bow he offered it to Air. Martin had taken another one of the chairs and pulled to near Arianna. Both he and Richard would be acting as security and out of force of habit both, stayed close to help Arianna if Marco tried to over react to his gentle confinement. Richard had his wand out just in case.
Brennan had pulled one of the straight back chairs from the wall and was now straddling it, note in hand to read. Richard talked first saying, "They are in Seth's office…. The one you decided to, unceremoniously enter earlier." He made sure he had Marco's attention before he added, "We found the note from your friend Fixer so we know why you came. If you have anything to add do it now, because Sher… Brennan is about to discuss your note. He has a knack for figuring out the meanings between the lines of correspondence."
Marco smiled as he said, "You guys don't know nothing! Cause if you did, what Fixer has set up would not be needed. Richard, do you really think I would just anybody near my brothers? You above everybody should understand what me, Frank, Hank, and Antonio are trying to do? I don't want the Rat that got Maggie, Bart, Theo or Marcus killed to get my baby brother because Frankie trusts to easily. Richard did your father ever tell you who married Maggie's mother Lili? Do you have any idea who is Maggie's father? Cause Frank only found out last year. And believe me both men want Payback from the one that set her and the rest of us up! Ask Your Question though I only know what I need to. By the Way you all know Fixer and trust him, just not as Fixer?"
Arianna listened and took in the information. She could place some of the names; Frank was Frank Cole the Fixer, Hank had to be Hank Reynolds the head bartender of the Hog's Head; Antonio was the caretaker at the school, and a man with more than one personality. The rest she was going to have to learn about, because if they were mentioned they were important. She motioned to Richard to keep going, because she wanted to use this time to study Marco. There was still the possibility he could be brought into the group. Having two-hotwired brothers, Marco and Neo would be an interesting challenge.
Richard grabbed another one of the straight back chairs from against the wall and straddled it on the other end of the couch from Brennan. Keeping his wand out he said, "Marco you were just somewhere you should not have been. I know you know about the Caretakers, because your brothers are part of the group and you are too good a researcher and too protective not to have found out what information you could. But you have not had the training, we all have gone thorough. We answer to only one person." Richard wondered if Marco knew that one person was Arianna. "That person's word is law and there is no place for vigilantism in the group. Your brother's have been reminded of this fact and will be going through some extra re-training to drive the fact home." Richard looked at the others in the room. "We do not have any major questions at the moment. Brennan is going to go over the note you had in your hand when Franco, turned out your lights. During his evaluation you may make comments, add any further information, or clarify anything he may be mistaken about. At the end of the evaluation, it will be decided on how to proceed and what your future will be. You are my friend Marco. I know you and I trust you, but the Caretakers are all of our top priority. It makes no difference if you have a problem with this; it is what will be done." Richard turned to Brennan and said, "Proceed Brennan."
Marco smiled as he said, "You have not answered my question, Richard. Did your father tell you? Did you ever wonder Richard why none of Marcus team showed when he died and why to this day I have no interest of ever joining The Caretakers, except to help my brothers and you when needed? What does your training mean against Fixer?"
Richard only had questions in his eyes as he studied Marco. "Father never discussed Aunt Lili other than to say she was killed and the family took on the responsibility of raising my cousin Maggie." Richard looked sidelong at Ari, before continuing. This was not going to be easy. "I found out Maggie married Frank Cole. She had written me that she was going to have a baby, just before she was killed." Turning fully to Ari he said, "I had not met Frank Cole or heard from him before the Hog's Head problem."
Ari turned a hurt look toward Richard. Even he had kept information from her. Information which may have made it easier to keep track on what was happening at the school and when she was trying to pick up the pieces after the Hog's Head.
Bren smiled as he said, "You tell us Trickster? And Maggie was found dead soon after her and Richard's uncle. Marco, we are all trying to help Franco but with this connection between you and Franco Cole, that could now be impossible?"
Air was reeling a little. She was trying to come to terms with the changes in the Caretaker Group. When her husband was alive and they had first conceived the idea of the group, it was so everyone would have access to information which could make a difference in how their world ran. Now she was finding secrets buried within secrets.
Marco smiled as he realized that he was about to drop a bombshell on a woman that thought she had things figured out. Then he shook his head, as he was not even sure that he had all the pieces as he said, "Princess, does Gatherer ring a bell?
"I know a man, codenamed the Gatherer, has been used by the Caretakers for various mercenary jobs…." Ari paused and her eyes snapped to Marco. "You are telling me, the Gatherer, aka. Franco Cole, is also Frank Cole the Fixer." She dropped her head in her hands. Looking up she put as blank a look on her face as she could. The Gatherer knew the ins and outs on how the Caretaker Group operated. He had been brought into several meetings, with only a very few members present, to give what information he had located for them. He apparently got around; he was an informant for the Caretakers, a member of the PACT group, working for Khalid and a rouge mercenary with his own private little army.
" … And Maggie is Khalid's daughter and believe me Frank was floored as was I to learn that the man actually loved and still does his wife, Lili. That Medjai wants some serious Payback. Don't be mad at Richard, Arianna as Frank was close to killing Khalid when the truth was revealed…"
Arianna was getting a headache. It really should not surprise her how the world was so intertwined. She had once heard a theory that there were seven people between every person in the world. If you took any person and traveled through a friend, and then another friend of the friend and so on, when you reached the seventh level, you would be back to the beginning of the circle because that seventh friend would turn out to be a friend of the first person. Circles cut through and flowed through other circles and they were all linked.
"… Air, did you know that Khalid can't read?"
Khalid was Arianna's brother and Tarik's half brother. "But I have had several letters from him over the years and I have written him back. The whole family has always found great enjoyment in the written word. Tarik and myself can read and write several languages. It is inconceivable to me my brother cannot have that same enjoyment." Slowly she shook her head as the information worked its way into her soul.
Marco gave a sly grin as he looked at Air as he said, "And that name (Trickster) does not ring any bells?"
"In the codebook we have another mercenary codenamed Trickster who was used as a sharpshooter and sometimes a go between the Caretakers and the PACT." Arianna sat up straighter. "You are Trickster." When she received a nod, she relaxed back into the chair.
"Fixer had to read Lili's letter to him and that is how Khalid and Frank learned the truth. All this time Khalid had thought Lili had just left him. I will see if Frank can get the letter for Bren to profile.", Marco was not happy that he had to deflate the Caretakers egos like this but they had to get back to training and harder than they ever had. Looking at Air as he said, "Khalid said that the letters and words read funny. He also told Frank a lot about why he has ordered what is being done. Like I said the man wants Payback and you sort have showed him what needed to be done? Air, those guards that Khalid sent were suppose to protect you and Tarik not betray you. Bren, That note is for you as a way of explaining what Khalid and Fixer dare not reveal. One question should be in Air's mind though? If Khalid can't read, then why does he want..."
Richard's head snapped up from where he had been looking at the floor … trying to look anywhere but at Arianna. He had hopes of possibly getting closer to her, romantically but this situation was not going to help. Arianna believed in truthfulness and the sharing of information. It had saved her life more than once over the years. Richard had broken one of her cardinal rules of not holding back information which can help the group, even if it is embarrassing or you had to except flack from the results of putting it out there for review. He finished Marco's question, "If Khalid cannot read, and then why does he want the codebook?" Richard looked at Arianna. "He does not want the codebook personally, so who does and what for…" Fixer was the one who would have possession of the codebook. Richard looked at the wall behind Marco; trying to think of a reason Fixer would need the codebook. "So what was he looking for… people he could tenget information from…. Double agents maybe. "Ok, Fixer wants the codebook for himself. He needs information so he is looking for double agents to give him the information. If our list and the list of agents he gets from the dark side coincide with any of the names he knows he will have people he can get information from. Marco, can you find out who these people are?"
Marco smiled as he said, "Bren, take that note a line at a time and soon they will see why you thought Martin was needed. Fixer is taking a big risk as Khalid made him swear never to tell you and he is not but...well you see...I hope?"
Bren smiled as he said, "This part I can handle at once because this is to you. He is even keeping things from you. I gather Morph is Franco because of his abilities. So Fixer figured out what I suspected about Franco having skills from all you Spellman's. That means he and not you or Neo are the most deadly?"
Richard looked at Ari, but she only signaled for him to go ahead and comment. "Bren are you and Marco saying Franco can Morph into something or even someone else? Does he know this? Does he have control over it? If Fixer has control over Franco, he could use this ability and cause a very large scale problem."
Bren smiled as he said, "I think Air has suspected Franco's true ability for some time, haven't you? We have Fixer to thank for making Franco aware of it, if he is? Richard, did you notice him changing, all Air did was call Darik?"
Air smiled and nodded. "I knew a long time ago, but as you all know you have to be careful when you push an ability someone does not know they have. I am surprised, Fixer pushed. He must have some powerful Elves working for him, because their magic is the only true way to control it other than the person taking control." Air thought about the possibility of Franco knowing about the changes and decided, he had to have at least an inkling it existed. "I think he knows it exists, but whether he has accepted the ability, or has even thought of controling it I am not so sure. I know when I saw the changes taking place, he did not appear to be knowledgeable they were taking places. Darik will have to have a talk with him, soon. The man will need some fast and furious training."
Richard nodded. He had not been aware of the possibilities of Franco's changes, but looking back there had been signs. Franco was an expert at makeup application and portraying other people. It had always seemed effortless for him. Knowing he could morph would explain how the process worked so well; he would apply the makeup and start trying to get into character, his brain probably sub-consciously made his body morph in small ways to help him take on the other personification. Richard had been taking a few private lessons from Darik and calling him was the only thing Air could have done, to keep Franco in the world as a human.
Marco smiled as he said, "Mom had the ability and since none of the rest of us seemed to, I figured Frankie might. I asked Fixer to check. He told me that Frankie' first full transformation was into a bird that he had as a boy. I am not upset about Air keeping mom's secret, as it has kept my baby brother from becoming like mom. Air, Fixer has the video of my mother's murder. Her killer wanted the child with the gift; she died to keep Franco's from getting into their hands."
Air cringed, because she could see in her mind's eye, a small boy watching his Mom protect him and giving up her life to keep him free. "Does Franco know he has the video, or is it locked away in that vault his mother had? Do all of you brothers have a key to it? I'm not asking because I want to see what is there, that is private family stuff, but maybe you all should take a look as a group on what is there."
Turning to Brennan she said, "Brennan continue please. I do not want to be absent from Seth's office longer than necessary. Darik is fine keeping the piece, but it makes me nervous leaving so many things up in the air, with this group."
Marco shook his head as he try to explain just how much he trusted Frank Cole, "Only me and Kat were there with mom, Frankie was being released from St. Mungo's. If he had been there, those men would have gotten him. Fixer says that with Frankie, the morph is instinct, when he is scared or worried. Frankie was the only one with the key, though now Fixer has it safe as something in mom's vault got her killer to know about her gift. My brother has hunted those killers down with no luck. I don't want my baby brother like me so I asked Fixer to keep those files away from him and the video. I gave the video to Fixer. When he knows the identities of the four, I will deal with them."
Martin had sat quietly just listening, but it was time to say something. "Marco you are trying to get all of us to believe Frank Cole is on our side in all of this… working from a different direction, but not working as a Dark Wizard? After everything the man has done to thoes people in this room and to those in the Caretaker group in general, and all the threats he has made about the children in the school, I think you are deluding yourself on what type of person he is now. He may have been your friend, at one time, but his present actions do not strengthen that theory."
"I tend to agree with what Martin is saying, Marco," Air had thoughts in the past about the true nature of Frank Cole, but all he had done in the short past period, were direct contradictions to what she had put together as his personal profile. "He is coming across as a double-agent where darkness and light in the Wizarding world bump up against each other." Looking at Richard, she realized he was in deep thought, "Richard care to add anything?"
Richard looked up and half smiled. "I have had personal experience with the man at least three times in a very short amount of time. Twice he got me drunk," Richard cringed, because the second time Fixer had gotten him drunk, it had taken double the time to pull him back into the sober world. As he got older, it was getting harder and harder to fight the pull of the hard liquor. "A third time he used pain, but he did make sure I got medical attention all three times. He seems to try to use shortcomings of people to either get or give information." Looking at Air he said, "Arianna is correct in assuming he is a double-agent of some type. Trust is going to be very hard to give in his direction."
Changing his look to Marco, he added, "Marco, my friend, I trust you…I would trust you with my life … but I ask you to be very careful where this man is concerned … I would not put it past him to use any of us or any of those in your PACT group, to further what he thinks is important."
Bren wrote the rest on the board,
Bren smiled as he asked, "What does the P.S. part of the note tell you guys? Cause it tells me a lot about what really is in Fixer's head? Though I am worried about his threats to the children."
Richard had spent some time, since Air had made Brennan his reluctant partner, in trying to second-guess the Profiler. He was still not good at it, but getting better. He looked up at the air board and started, "I would be willing to guess no one has told Franco that Marco, here," he indicated his friend sitting on the couch, "had agreed with Fixer to let him try and toughen Franco up a little. Also, none of the other brothers were originally told, why it was so easy for Fixer to get and keep his hands on Franco." Looking with anger in his eyes toward Marco, he added, "All of us have been trying to locate Franco since he was taken from the Hog's Head and you knew how to find him. Maybe you did not know exactly where he was, but I bet you could have gotten in touch with Fixer and told him to return Franco. At a minimum you could have prevented some of what happened to our member."
Richard looked away, before he got up out of his seat and took a swing at Marco's already damaged jaw. Continuing he said, "As far as Franco's toy is concerned, it has to have something to do with that yo-yo he keeps in his pocket at all times. I have seen him do tricks with it and it could be used as a weapon…. Fixer is also suggesting Franco is going to fight the mind-dive. This could be true if he stays out of the depression he was dropping quickly into, in Seth's office. He is also warning us Lance could be in trouble."
Arianna sat back in her chair, trying to make herself as comfortable as possible. Half her mind was back in the office, wondering what was happening. She was thinking of shutting down the meeting all together to get the other procedures started and see if she could regroup her thoughts. Reading the air board and then looking at Marco she said, "I have to agree with Richard on one point Marco Spellman, it was a very dirty trick, letting your brother be purposely tortured by a supposed friend. Franco is not like the rest of you… he is softer in manor… but that is to his credit. He has an inner strength, which he uses to get behind the stories he is witnessing and not just react, but act on the truth being revealed. It is what makes him a good reporter and will make him a superior Editor-in-Chief for the Dailey Prophet."
"I think his gift should not have been forced out of him. Now he will question it and may be not use it when it would have been natural for it to help in a given situation." Arianna had seen her brother all but destroyed because a gift had been brought out, long before any control could be established. "As far as the mind-dive is concerned, it will happen, even if we have to make him unconscious. It has just become necessary for Darik to be completely involved to block his morphing abilities, because the mind-dive is definitely going to scare Franco, which will bring out his gift without his being able to control it."
Martin had gotten up out of his chair and walked to the back wall of the small room opposite where Marco was sitting on the couch. He had already established a general block on the room. It would hold anything said by anyone present, within the walls of the small area. If things proceeded to where he saw them going, Brennan was going to be proven correct in having him join the party. Fixer was definitely an enigma, on a large scale. The man was acting like a double agent, working for a dark wizard, Khalid, and still trying to give as much information to the lighter side. By the P.S., Fixer was hinting at the possibility that Khalid was not as dark as originally thought. Marco was collaborating this possibility by backing Fixer's deeds. Marco was definitely not a dark wizard and he was definitely honest, but he was also secretive in his dealings with the world, even in his family unit. Walking back around the table and sitting on the edge of it not far from Arianna's chair, Martin simply stated, "Marco, I will concede the point that Fixer is trying to help us with information. I will also concede the point, the man is not as bad as he has been trying to establish himself. But I still do not trust him."
Bren smiled, as his theory was proven correct. Getting a grin on his face as he said, "I think you guys saw what you wanted to see in the note and not what Fixer had hidden there. You all read the same note but each answer you gave was different, why do you guys think that was?"
No one answered. They all watched Brennan for an answer to his own question. It was obvious it was because of their own experiences.
Bren shook his head as he said, "Remember when I said that I was worried about the threat made towards the children?"
Everyone nodded. Arianna looked at Brennan and said, "We remember Brennan... What was your point?"
Bren grinned as he said, "My point is that you guys most likely assumed that I meant that I was worried about Fixer making good on his threat. When all I meant was I don't think there was ever a threat to the children at least not by Fixer. Martin, find out exactly what Fixer said to Saint about the children?"
Martin dropped the shield on the room, enough to contact Darik in his mind. He asked the elf to check with Franco and see exactly what Fixer had said about the children being in danger. In a few moments, Darik came back to him with a reply. Martin re-established the shield and then went to just below the airboard. Taking out his wand he wrote:
Marco stepped back and looked around the room. Arianna was extremely worried, and Richard was making plans in his head to figure out who could get to the children and how to stop them. Martin looked at Brennan and said, "That's all," then returned to his seat on the edge of the conference table.
Bren smiled as he said, "I wish I had his exact words but I don't think he ever really threaten the children. Am I right Marco? Fixer let Saint believe that it was threatening when it wasn't? His contact at the school is you, Antonio and most likely an elf?"
Marco grinned as he answered, "You are good Bren and you will get even better. Yes on all counts. By the way guys, The Caretakers protect Tia because she is a princess. Richard, you remember what William said about putting in place protection for his children and a promise made?"
Richard now realized that in one of the films Tarik had seen Fixer but had not realized who it was. Tarik had only remembered the face as somebody he had seen before. Tarik had just not known the person's name or where he had seen him from. Now Richard had a name, Fixer.
Richard sat up straighter and looked at Marco when the realization finally came to him who the man was. He asked, "Why was Fixer there when William was poisoned? He was the third man in the picture, the one no one could identify. And does him being there have anything to do with what William told Lance about?"
Marco smiled as he said, "Everything to do with what William told Lance!"
Air had been quiet long enough. "Marco, the PACT was created separate from the Caretakers. At one point I even tried to combine the two group, to see if we could help each other. Because of circumstances back then, that never happened. You have secrets you are reluctant to give up … and I fully understand the need, but the times are creating a need to join our information. Whatever you say, can be kept in this room, among us if you like, but we need to know what information you are keeping so we can truly protect some young wizards and future."
Marco remembered why he was leery of ever fully trusting the Caretakers. Reaching into his pocket as he said angrily, "Yea, I remember very well the night this note lead me, Bart, Joshua into the trap that got them killed and me into a coma! It was the same night that Marcus was also murdered. Sorry I am having a hard time trusting but The PACT trusted once and we lost most of our group. Either you guys have a Rat or the PACT does, maybe both. As for keeping the info safe, Air can you insure that the Dark One won't find out? Cause if he does You, Tarik, and Darik are DEAD!"
Richard nodded at Brennan and looked pointedly at Marco, "Marco, my friend, I think that is why Bren asked for Martin. Martin is the very best blocker, which exists in the Wizarding world. We will know the information but Martin will make sure it is buried so deep not even the Dark One will get it!" Martin had looked at the floor. Richard smiled because Martin knew how good he was, but it still embarrassed him sometimes to have it said aloud.
Marco smiled as he said, "I hope so cause as I said a lot is riding on this. Fixer had been requested there by William. They had both went to school together, though William was a third year when Frank Cole started. When William started realizing that information was leaking out he sent for Frank. They hatched a plan to insure the safety of Marcus and Tia. Lance was there though for some odd reason did not recognize Fixer when he saw him at Hog's Head. You see The PACT was created so Frank could keep that promise to William. A promise that his children would be kept safe and the Rat that was informing The Dark One would be dealt with. It was then that William jokingly called Frank, Fixer. The name stuck and Fixer has a personal reason for wanting the Rat. The Rat must have been in that hospital cause soon after Fixer received visitors. They were the same type of visitors he had received when Tia was two and he last his wife Maggie and I lost James. Richard the night your uncle was murdered and Marshall was born. Well the visitors wanted Fixer to know that he no longer needed to be concerned about William or the children as their friend had already insured that the Dark One's freedom was a given and that no one would ever figure out how."
Martin had stood up and was preparing the room for the block. He would not complete it until told to, but the stage was set and it would not take long to drop the wall for everyone.
Brennan smiled as he watched Martin saying, "Martin can you put the info so deep in each of our minds that a mind dive can't get to it?"
Martin nodded and explained, "I will have to put it at Level 7 because that is where the diver and the person's mind he is diving into become separate. Do you want a code word to be able to retrieve the information or just have it available?"
Bren looked at Arianna and asked, "How should we do this as we need a way we will know but nobody else can get at it? Cause I know that I am a risk as The Dark One is still giving me headaches?"
Arianna's eyes went to Brennan when he said he was still getting headaches. He had not bothered to tell anyone that little tidbit, or at least no one had informed her. "That is interesting to know… we will talk later Mr. Dawson." Turning to Martin she said, "Use the level 7 and make the code words orange balloon flying . Also make it a necessity for someone else in this room to say it in order for it to activate the memories.
Martin took a deep breath and closed his eyes. It did not take long before he had the wall established and dropped on everyone in the room. He also sent a private message to Darik, letting him know what he did. Darik would be his second if for some reason the shield needed to be lifted and Martin was unavailable. "It's done, and anything else said in the room will fall into the same slot. When we leave the room, information will be remembered normally."
Marco smiled as he said, "Fixer will be pleased as now I can tell you. Khalid made a wand vow with the Dark One. It protects Arianna, Tarik and Darik as well as those known to be related to Khalid. Which is why Khalid's mind has no knowledge of the reasons behind Fixer's orders. You see Khalid was ordered to kill Darik and chose instead to attack the Dark One. To save his family, Khalid made a vow to never personally attack or go against the Dark One. Now that causes a bit of a problem after Air found her four guards to be traitors. Cause when she returned them dead to Khalid he noticed something about them. That something is why Fixer got the instructions he received about the Codebook."
Richard put his wand away and laid his arms on back of the chair he was straddling. "So Fixer is planning on using the code book to find double agents, those he knows for sure work for Khalid and those in the Codebook we have used in the past for information. Marco, that still puts a lot of information into someone's hands who can go rouge anytime he wants too. If he adds vigilantism to the mix, some of our people could find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Arianna sat forward, "Or someone we are playing for our bennifit could get killed or we could lose the chance to complete a project we are working on. I do not like his methods, although I can see why he used them." Arianna sat back, and made a pyrimid with her fingers. "Marco I want a one on one meeting with Fixer. He can bring a second if he wants and so will I. If he agrees to the meeting, and I want you to stress that it needs to happen, we will arrange neutral territory. I want that meeting soon, Marco."
Martin all of a sudden stood up and looked around, "Someone is trying to get into this meeting uninvited." Martin closed his eyes, mumbled something, then opening them he smiled and said, "who ever it was, they are gone and they left with one whopper of a headache." Looking at Arianna he added, "We need to get back to the main meeting area. I need Darik's help and I do not want to leave that area unprotected, from a block."
Bren slowly nodded as his head felt like it was about to explode as he tried to explain, "I can't risk profiling this note fully with either The Dark One or Tommy trying to read my thoughts or listen in. I have been able to block them so far but each time I get a worse headache. Air it is safe to say that Fixer is a puzzle and one that needs solved. So far he has made a visit to each of us, except me and Pip? I expect to be paid a visit, what are my orders when he does?"
Air did not answer Brennan right away, instead she looked at Marco. "What Brennan is saying is logical. Fixer will be paying him a visit, it would be the way I would handle it. Marco, I want the visit to Brennan to be a conference of sorts. Brennan is a top notch security operative. I want some type of communication set up. We can trade information if he would like. If he does not want to do this then, we will continue to hunt Fixer and when he is caught, and he will be Marco, I will personally make sure he understands my position on what needs to be done. My brother can only be going after on being, and it is too soon for a lone operative to try. The principle characters are either not old enough yet, are not strong enough in their abilities, or have not figured out the best way to come together. Give him my message Marco." Turning to Brennan she said, "Use your guts on this on Brennan. I also want you back into Max's office to check on your headaches." Looking toward the ceiling she added, "I don't know why I just don’t open a mind-diving clinic." Looking at the others she asked generally, "Anything else?"
Marco shrugged as he said, "I will see what I can do but I can't promise anything. Khalid is needing elves to keep him sane. And he has ordered Fixer to get Tarik to finish that translation by any means necessary and I do mean "Any MEANS" including..." Marco stopped as he had to explain so slowly shaking his head as he said, "Air, Fixer hates what he has be order to do there but Khalid is not taking Tarik's answer and told Fixer that his baby brother's stubbornness is blinding Tarik to the importance of that prophecy. Can you do any ideas of how to talk some sense into that Stubborn Medjai?"
Air cringed. "Tarik has told me and anyone else who has asked about what he was doing for Marsden, that everything that concerned his time with the man, had been destroyed by a fire and by overzealous members of the Ministry when they trampled the man's private island. I think we can take it for granted he included anything he was translating at the time, being included in that summation. He did tell me once; he would have never gone back to the island, even if it had not been destroyed. I will say something to him, but Tarik does not lie, so if he says the translation cannot be completed, then he has lost whatever samples he was using. If the information is gone then it is gone…."
Marco cringed as he said, "That is just it, Air. Tarik has not said that he can't do the translation. He said he won't, even when Fixer asked if he happened across some. I know Star is working on something as a surprise for Tarik and that she copied whatever it is from Tia's journal. Luckily I have never seen her working on it or I would have a very hard choice to make?"
Arianna's eyes shot to Richard, who nodded. He would be paying Star a visit. The girl was becoming very good with languages, especially those which contained symbols. Tarik had mentioned once she was a natural and he hoped to get her to think about teaching Study of Ancient Runes, instead of History of Magic, which she had told anyone who would listen she was going to do someday.
Turning back to Marco, she said, "As I said before, I will have a talk with my brother. Maybe something can be worked out. If Tarik says he won't then there is a very good reason. Tarik is a first classes Saygar and has some experience as a Seer, but he is not very good at it, because he has trouble believing and sorting through what he sees." Arianna got very thoughtful, but continued after only a moment's hesitation, "Tell Fixer, I will help where I can … but Tarik is his own person, and when he digs in he cannot be moved. We will take precautions where we can also."
Marco nodded as he said, "It is all I can ask but understand Fixer has made certain promises concerning this assignment and I am partly to blame for that. He agreed to take the job from Khalid to insure that Franco stayed breathing. You see Hog's Head was a trap set by Shadow. His target was never you Air but my baby brother. When Fixer got wind of the trap, he sent word to me that he would do whatever was needed to keep Frankie alive. I guess he felt making a deal with Khalid was the best way?"
Air could feel her temper working it's way from the pit of her stomach to her head. "You are telling me Marco Spellman, that Fixer knew he was going to eventually walk out of there with Franco in his clutches… and you did not deem it necessary to let your brother Neo know that fact. Cole's idea of whatever was needed was to break your brother to his will. Franco is sitting in the other room, waiting to see if he is going to be brought up on charges as a traitor," Air held up her hand when she saw Marco about to speak, and continued, "the charges will not be brought up with the information I have at the present. However, he is also considering letting us do a total mind wipe, just to make sure his honor stays in tack. Is that what you wanted for your baby-brother? He thinks, and the rest of us also are starting to feel, that he totally broke and is now Cole's man." Air was trying to get her temper under control as she added, "Such loving brothers Franco has … with your interference, you may be loving him to death." Ari gave Marco a very hard stare.
Richard's wand dropped back into his hand. Sometimes Air could cause others to react without thinking. After what she had just said to Marco, he was not sure his friend could hold his own temper.
Marco blew as he said angrily, "At least he left Hog's Head. Shadow intended to bury both Franco and Neo! Shadow believing Fixer broke Frankie is what is keeping my brothers alive. Also, Frankie needs to learn to deal with problems on his own cause there might come a day when nobody will be there to back him up. My baby brother is no traitor!"
"Sit back and relax, Marco or I will have Richard make you sit back. I have no intention at the moment on bringing Franco up on traitor charges. I know what he went through, at least some of it and we are going to find out the rest of his experiences, with a mind-dive. I will force the mind-dive if I have too. He has chosen to not have an advocate with him. Normally I confine the advocate position to Caretakers, but if you can convince him to select you, I will okay it." Air sat forward so she was as close to Marco as she could be in her chair, because she had to watch his eyes. She was about to break protocol, protocol she established, but still protocol. "Think about this though Marco. Franco will be confined in the special unit at St. Mungo's Hospital for a minimum of 24 hours and that could be extended to 2 or 3 days. During that time there is no communication with the outside world of either those being examined or their advocates. If you can deal with that then make your choice."
Richard was looking at Arianna, with surprise written all over his face. No outsiders was a rule Arianna stuck to at all times. She was up to something. He turned back to watching Marco.
Marco nodded as he said, "You forget my baby brother can't stand me. I do what I must to protect and avenge my family. Something Frankie can't understand? I have walked a very tight rope since James' murder and I never even considered trying to explain my reasons to him. It just seems better they just believe what they want? Me and my brothers are just oil and water, we don't mix. You can asked Richard?"
Richard nodded. "That is an understatement," he added with a sarcastic chuckle. "Ari, Franco would never go for it."
Ari smiled and asked back, "I would be willing to put up two-weeks paid vacation in any spot of the world, as my portion of the bet that he does, do I have any takers?" Arianna looked around the room. Martin was shaking his head no… he knew his mother-in-law too long to take a bet against her. "Richard want to try for a trip anywhere. You can take the guest of your choice?" Arianna added a large smile. Richard just might take the bet. Looking at Brennan and Marco she asked, "Gentlemen, want to take me up on the bet?" by now she was chuckling.
Marco gave a sly grin as he said, "I would take that bet but not the vacation … Cause I know Franco won't let be anywhere near him. On the off chance I lose, what would you want in return?"
Bren just shook his head.
Ari looked at the wall behind where Marco sat, thinking. She knew what she wanted. She wanted Marco to start asking for help and not try and carry the world his brothers were in on his shoulders alone. All she needed to do was figure out how to phrase it, so he would be forced to ask for assistance. "When you lose, you must agree to ask Richard, Brennan, Martin or me for help with something of your choice everyday for a month." Air knew this would not seem like a lot to Marco, but it would get him in the habit of asking for help. The first things may be small and crazy, but eventually he would ask for something more important and that would open the gate to the future.
Marco laughed as he said, "It is a bet Air!"
Air reached forward and shook Marco's hand, then stood up. "Gentlemen, it is time to return to Seth's office. Martin please take a moment and double check your settings.
Martin closed his eyes then opened them saying, "All is set Air…" They all filed out of the room and back into Seth's office. No one had moved much, and the conversation was general about possibilities of who was where in the world and if all safe guards had been established. As everyone took their seat, Air walked up to Franco and whispered in his ear, " Your brother says you would be afraid to choose him as an advocate because you would not be able to stand up to him, if you made a decision and he disagreed. Want to prove him wrong, choose him and show him you have learned from your experiences." Then she walked over to the desk and took her seat again, saying to the room in general, "We have covered a lot of subject today. It is time to take some action, but first I have one thing to take care of. Franco I offered you the chance to choose an advocate during your stay at St. Mungo's Annex… you refused one, but I am hoping you have reconsidered. I make the offer again… who would you like to choose as an advocate?"
Franco heard what Air had told him. His brother thought he was a chicken. Smiling as he said, "If I can, I would like to choose Marco Spellman?"
Arianna smiled and winked at Marco, who looked very surprised. "Very well Franco, please join me at my desk; Marco you also please and Richard I will need you up here." When all three men stood in front of her she said, "Marco Spellman, it has been requested by your brother, that you act as his advocate, in the event he is unable to either medically think for himself or needs advice," Air turned to Franco, "which he may choose to accept or refuse." Turning back to Marco she asked, "Do you agree with this?"
Marco looked at Franco as he said, "You sure that you want me Frankie? You have never been able to stay in the same room for an hour let alone twenty-four."
Franco smiled as he answered, "You scared Marco that I will finish what I started earlier? I am not weak just because I won't fight you or anybody else if given another way. To answer your question though, yes I am sure but let's get one thing straight. I won't take your "Take Charge" attitude. You might be the oldest now but that don't make you dad or James! Understand, I want my brother not my boss?"
Marco looked at Air and sadly shook his head as he said, "I accept but you guys better not even think of railroading him because my brothers, especially Frankie are not traitors. Frankie, You better keep that fiery attitude and stop beating yourself up."
Air again smiled and looked at Richard. "Franco is to have a complete Muggle physical including cavity search and all Caretaker protocols are to be added. I want his and Seth's physicals done separately. I am going to end this meeting, because too much ground needs to be covered. Take charge of your people Richard and I want a report every six hours. If I need to attend any of the secessions, let me know."
Richard nodded and turned toward Franco and Marco. "Please go and stand by the door. We are not using restraints but I will if I need to." He looked toward the back of the room and said, "Seth you and Pippin, please join us at the door. Lance, you Max and Darik can leave now. Brennan, you are welcome to come, but since I know Apparating makes you sick, please do not take too long to make your way to the special unit at the hospital. It will be locked down, so you will have to use, the Caretaker counter-lock to get in. Once you are in though, please disable even that, understood?"
Richard did not wait for an answer, but went to the door and he and the other four disappeared. Lance, Max and Darik had already gone. The next stop was the separate housing unit, which had been taken over by the Caretakers as a specialty unit. Originally, it was a house built on the hospital property as a safe-house for Tia's father, Tia and her brother. The last thing Richard heard was Air telling everyone they were dismissed.
Neo waited until only he and Air remained and then asked, "Are you sure having Frankie and Marco in the same area is a good idea? This side of Frankie I have only seen twice before and both times the end result was not pretty."
Air smiled and nodded. "It will be alright Cooler, I think better your brother than you. I wanted someone there for Franco, because this is going to be rough. I know he is not a traitor Neo, but if he continues to act like he is, then it is going to be very difficult not to bring him up on charges. It would not mean an Azkaban stay, but the Caretaker confinement is not pleasant either. You all spent a week there, just so you would know what it was like. I hope to have Marco, keep your brother mentally and emotionally fighting until we can reach some type of conclusion. What I need you to do is find me information on Fixer, anything no matter how small will help." Air stopped for a moment and came around to the other side of the desk and sat on the edge of it."Cooler, I do not, I repeat, I do not want the man touched in anyway. I want information only."
Standing back up she returned to her seat and said, "Now dismissed… you have a lot to do… let your family know where Franco is, but if any of them try and release him before I do, then I will not hold back on repercussions." Air waved her hand and started to russel through the paper on the desk.
CLOSED
(OOC: Combined threads from the previous site)
BRENNAN
Arianna watched Maxwell face because he was intent on watching Tia. She knew Tia trusted Maxwell more to be able to read her, because of their past sessions.
Tia shook her head as she thought,“He used me to find that tunnel? He is out there and seems furious, Why?”The pressure got worst as she tried to block her friend.
Maxwell said gently, "Tia he is frightened you want to leave him behind. He has been told to find out all the information he could from all of us. He feels comfortable with you and knows you are important … so he stays near to get what information he can. You must make him understand you feel uncomfortable with him always trying to break into your thoughts…. only you can do that?"
She said to him in her thoughts,“This meeting is private, I won't be your master's listening device or your's!”Tia felt her friend's confusion and anger.
Maxwell smiled at Arianna to let her know it was all right now.
Tia shook her head as she thought,“He used me to find that tunnel? He is out there and seems furious, Why?”The pressure got worst as she tried to block her friend.
Maxwell said gently, "Tia he is frightened you want to leave him behind. He has been told to find out all the information he could from all of us. He feels comfortable with you and knows you are important … so he stays near to get what information he can. You must make him understand you feel uncomfortable with him always trying to break into your thoughts…. only you can do that?"
She said to him in her thoughts,“This meeting is private, I won't be your master's listening device or your's!”Tia felt her friend's confusion and anger.
Maxwell smiled at Arianna to let her know it was all right now.
The Protector was confused as somehow he had upset his young friend when he had allowed his presence to be known. He shook his head as he thought, “I am following the rules and letting her know that I am here...So why is she soo upset with me? I have been here since I lost Seth at the Muggle Prime Minister's...Somebody is confusing my friend and making me look bad to her...And now she is trying to block me, why? When I reported to my master that I lost the Minister...He was furious and reminded me why I hate feeling him like that! Right before I lost the Minister...I felt a presence that Master told me was named Fixer...He also told me to find out what the man wanted with the Minister! He also reminded me about the price of failure...I Don't Fail!”
Protector felt Sinclair and thought still angry, “He can know but the princess won't tell me...Then He Will or I Will Wait Until They All Leave And Ask Tia's Godfather...And I Won't Be Gentle like I am with my little friend!”
Tia heard her friend(Protector) as he linked with Sinclair, “You are confusing her! I care nothing for this meeting! I want to know what Fixer wanted? Either you will tell me or I Will Get It From The Minister!”
Maxwell closed his eyes and put his hand to his temple as if he was resting his head on his hand. Through his thoughts he said, "Gently Protector, I can hear you… Just before last summer break a Fixer took several of the people in this room hostage and asked for information concerning our codebook and other facts. He harmed several of the people bad enough they had to be put in the hospital to recover. He works for who hires him and pays him the most. He is neither good nor bad although I personally think there is better in him than he will allow others to see. He once saved Tia's life when she was very small"
Maxwell closed his eyes and put his hand to his temple as if he was resting his head on his hand. Through his thoughts he said, "Gently Protector, I can hear you… Just before last summer break a Fixer took several of the people in this room hostage and asked for information concerning our codebook and other facts. He harmed several of the people bad enough they had to be put in the hospital to recover. He works for who hires him and pays him the most. He is neither good nor bad although I personally think there is better in him than he will allow others to see. He once saved Tia's life when she was very small"
Protector listened and realized that his master's priest had misunderstood the question. He also felt Tia pain and got furious as he thought, “Priest, I Care Nothing For What Fixer Did To The Rest of Them...What Did He Want With Tia's Godfather? Tell Me Now!!! Or I Swear That I Will Find Out From The Minister's Mind Myself! Also Why is my friend crying? Who Upset Her?”
Tia shook her head as the pain brought tears to her eyes as she quietly said, “Who's Fixer?”
To Tia, Maxwell said, "Fixer is a mercenary who works for the person who pays him the most. Our group has had some dealings with him."
To Tia, Maxwell said, "Fixer is a mercenary who works for the person who pays him the most. Our group has had some dealings with him."
Protector thought furious at feeling his little friend's pain, “Priest, you have not Stopped Whoever Is Upsetting Her! I Could Come In There and Teach The Fool a Lesson...Do You Want That?”
Seth saw Tia's tears. Without looking away from her he tried not to clinch his teeth as he said, “Max, He is hurting her, isn't he? When you told me and Air of your plan, you said nothing about his violent nature. I will not have him hurting my god-daughter!”
Turning to Air as Seth said terrified of what The Protector could do to Tia, “Air, Maybe we should reconsider what to do concerning him? I thought he liked Tia but if this is how he treats his friends, maybe we need put up more of a barrier between the two of them if he can not pull back more?"
Bren watched Tia for her reactions, while listening to what Seth said. He turned to Max trying to keep a smile on his face, so he would not frighten Tia and said in a clam voice, “Max, explain to Tommy what he is doing. I will shield Tia as best I can. Max, maybe Tommy needs to leave the area before Seth as Minister orders his arrest...Seth is only thinking of Tia at the moment as Air is thinking of Tommy? We need to defuse this before the progress you have started to make is destroyed.” Bren had first thought like Seth but after that first night at Charitee's, he had realized that Maxwell was on to something. The Profiler had chosen to give Max's plan a chance.
Maxwell thought for a moment and then said to Tia, "We do not trust him either Tia and we are trying to take precautions. It would help if you had the school group do the same thing. Protect yourselves, through the group."
Tia nodded making mental notes on what needed to be discussed at the Core's meeting that afternoon.
Turning to Seth, she (Tia) said, “Godfather, whatever happened at one this morning...Please don't take it on yourself. I understand why you and Samantha kept my identity a secret even from me but once I found out, I wished you guys had come clean as Samantha was a bad liar. It is easier for me to prepare and know my enemies when those I trust are honest with me. Seth, I am not a little kid anymore and I hate hearing about my family from people who have no right judging them. Godfather whatever you need to deal with, do so but I really think it is time that you came clean about why my dad and you blamed yourselves for a raid that you guys did by the book, don't you?”
Seth cringed and placed his hands flat on his desk, trying to stop the slight shake of fear threatening to take over his hands movements. He nodded at his god-daughter. She knew about America and seemed to be putting him and William in a good light. After a few minutes, Seth gave a small smile as he said, “We will talk later Tia but now go back to the school before Sasha overreacts please. I am fine and well protected as you can see.”
After Tia and Bren left, Seth looked at the others. wanting to figure out a way for her to not see he was being tested for his continuation in the Caretaker Group. He would not be able to take the pity, so he said, “I don't want Tia to know until it over please? She has been though enough in her young life.”
Knowing Max would pick up his thoughts, Seth realized what his real fear was, “I can't shake the feeling that I am somehow responsible for their deaths. … That somehow I betrayed Tia's family and got them killed...these gabs in time are getting worst... and the notes afterwards are really starting to worry me... and now If Tia's right about the time frame I could have done some real damage.. .but how to find out if it has only been eighteen hours as I remember or thirty as Tia said? In addition, if it has been thirty where was I and just what or who did I hand over this time? Do I really want to know?” Seth was terrified and was sure that this time he was beyond saving. Eyeing the secret door, he felt like running after his goddaughter and asking her forgiveness, for…. but he would not be able to put into words. He was having trouble putting his fears in coherent words even in his own mind. Seth wondered if told the truth of what Seth feared Tia would still try to protect him as Samantha had.
As Brennan made his way to the desk, Arianna welcomed, Lucas, Neo and Franco to enter. Apparently, they had been in the waiting room thinking the secretary had just stepped away from her desk. Richard had checked his message globe and discovered they were there, and then went and invited them into the meeting. "Hello, gentlemen," she said as they entered. "Please have a seat and we will bring you up to speed in a moment. Franco it is good to see you here, but maybe you should not have left the hospital so soon." Receiving a thumbs-up from Neo, she realized Franco was being watched, for medical after effects of his kidnapping.
Franco cringed as he watched his nephew Seth. He knew that Fixer sending notes to him (Franco) meant trouble. He looked at Neo sadly shaking his head as he thought, “Maybe you should have let me read those notes first instead of grabbing them out of my hand, brother? Well at least you allowed me to come, as I am terrified that after all this time, Fixer succeeded in getting to Seth. And Neo if that is the case then I am responsible for whatever Fixer put him through...” Franco was sure that the notes were Fixer's way of gloating.
Neo, put up his hand in a gesture telling Franco to be patient and wait. He knew his brother still had some sessions to go with Maxwell and he would let the Psy-healer know how his brother was feeling.
Martin watched as Brennan tried to square his shoulders and stand up straight walking toward Seth's desk, where Arianna now sat. He would not want to be in the young man's shoes. He was going to have to play this straight up …. Later he could tell the young man how bad he felt. Brennan had put himself in this situation and from what Arianna had discussed with him he was going get treated with Kid gloves…. he had seen Arianna a lot worse with punishment for breaking the rules.
Franco watched the way Bren walked and realized that the young fellow Hufflepuff had somehow gotten into hot water yet again. Turning to Richard, Saint asked as he tried to keep his mind off the notes from Fixer, “What did he do this time?”
Turning to Seth Bren said in his best Head of Security voice, “Tia said that you were more upset about the time frame… why? Maybe you should give Martin what you wrote. It is your schedule as you remember it right?”
Seeing the look of fear in Seth's eyes, Bren smiled as he said to his friend, “Seth, we will figure this out but you have got to trust us and have the same faith that I had back when I was ordered to go through this. Seth, any more notes that we need to see?”
Although she (Arianna) was taking note of each of Brennan's points, she let him get everything out of his system, looked at Martin and asked, "Martin did you get all of Mr. Dawson's concerns noted?"
Martin nodded and answered in a very professional tone, "Yes Air, all have been noted and will be handled when you are done."
Seeing the look of fear in Seth's eyes, Bren smiled as he said to his friend, “Seth, we will figure this out but you have got to trust us and have the same faith that I had back when I was ordered to go through this. Seth, any more notes that we need to see?”
Although she (Arianna) was taking note of each of Brennan's points, she let him get everything out of his system, looked at Martin and asked, "Martin did you get all of Mr. Dawson's concerns noted?"
Martin nodded and answered in a very professional tone, "Yes Air, all have been noted and will be handled when you are done."
Seth had just finished putting down his timetable as he remembered it. He handed it to Martin.
Seth's thoughts concerning Time Frame
Sept.7th
5 AM -Seth is awaken to a note being on his pillow
9 AM- Seth is summoned to Wizenamogot (Emergency Session)
10PM- Seth enters his new office after receiving crystal plant from Dalphe
10:15 PM-Lucas enters the office
11PM -Lucas leaves office and starts round up
11PM- Seth heads for Meeting with Cameron Rowe
?- Cameron and Seth say bye and Seth leaves
?-Seth enters office
Max arrives, followed by Air, Richard, Tia and Bren then
Martin and Pip, Bren comes back, and Neo, Franco and Lucas show.
4:00AM-hands time sheet to Martin
Afterwards, Seth looked at Franco and sadly shook his head, as he thought, “He needs to be in bed resting as that uncle of mine can barely stand let alone attend a meeting. The man that was called Boss by this group was scared for the first time in a very long time.
The partnership was definitely strong, she noticed. Richard had said hello to Brennan before he acknowledged the request. Trying not to allow more than a small smile to take over her face she said, "Are you sure you want to stay connected to Sherlock?" before he could say anything she added, "No don't answer that question …. Your hand was raised higher than the others in the vote. Sherlock, I think is ready to return to work. He still has to complete the articles of the judgment so he is going to be very busy for the next two weeks. Use Martin mostly for you backup with Seth. I am going to place him (Bren) under your watchful eye, he is not only your partner but until he passes the security test he is also your charge. ….”
Bren smiled toward Richard and stood up a little prouder. Turning to Air he said, “Air, I know the rule book by heart. I chose to bypass the rule I broke and plead guilty. I go with my gut most of the time even if it means I have to break one of the rules. I will always accept the responsibility for doing so but it is how I work...which is why the Head of Security for the Caretakers should go to somebody like Martin.” Bren never felt comfortable with that big of a job. He thought back to his time in Shadow's hands and was glad he had only been newly recruited at the time, “If I had been Head of Security then, Shadow could have done a lot more damage... I have to get Martin to understand that he is the best man for that job... Even if it means I have to fail the infield exercises. Air has finally given me a way to insure I never become Head of Security again... though I never want to lose Caretaker as a partner or lose the sub-team we have formed. It is just Martin's mind is more suited to carry such sensitive information... as it is impossible for somebody to mind-dive the man's mind.” Sherlock just prayed that Max never told Air that he had broke the rule on purpose as he had profiled Air and realized that this was the only way to force Air into removing him as Head of Security.
Turning back to Brennan she said, "Sherlock return to your duties …. let Martin know how things are going with the new tunnel and we will meet again in two weeks for your exam and a progress report."
Bren inwardly smiled as he nodded and walked over to Martin. He thought to Martin, “The new tunnel was finished this morning. It is more of a maze of tunnels with several dead ends and a few that go straight to cells in Azkaban. Martin those that go there, we can somehow lock down once the wizard is in the cell...One Way Trips....Only One Path leads from here to Hogwarts. Here is the map of all of the tunnels. Once you have the map and security codes wipe the information from my memory.”
Looking at Air as Bren said, “Done!”
Broadening her smile she added, "Now go you two and let's get this meeting started. Brennan I will give you about 20 minutes, to get your thoughts in order concerning the notes."
As Richard and Brennan started toward the back of the room, Arianna noticed Neo and Franco both reach into their pockets…..
Neo and Franco reached into their pockets and handed two notes to Bren as they said, “These might help as they are from Fixer and we received the first ones sometime after midnight. We were asleep so did not find out about them until right before we headed for this meeting. That was when Franco received his second one from Fixer. So we chose to bring them.”
As Richard and Brennan started toward the back of the room, Arianna noticed Neo and Franco both reach into their pockets…..
Neo and Franco reached into their pockets and handed two notes to Bren as they said, “These might help as they are from Fixer and we received the first ones sometime after midnight. We were asleep so did not find out about them until right before we headed for this meeting. That was when Franco received his second one from Fixer. So we chose to bring them.”
Bren cringed as he saw how trusting his friends were. Handing the notes to Martin unread he said, “Martin hand these to me as you feel I need them. As Head of Security, you can also decide in what order I profile the notes. Hand me one as soon as everybody is here, please.”
PROTECTOR OF THE SHIELD
She said to him (Protector) in her thoughts, “This meeting is private, I won't be your master's listening device or yours!” Tia felt her friend's confusion and anger.
Maxwell closed his eyes for a moment and felt the confusion of the Protector. The man/boy was having a hard time realizing it was not acceptable to Tia to be so close. It was going to be a hard lesson for him to learn.
The Protector was confused, as somehow he had upset his young friend when he had allowed his presence to be known. He shook his head as he thought, “I am following the rules and letting her know that I am here...So why is she so upset with me?"
Maxwell closed his eyes for a moment and felt the confusion of the Protector. The man/boy was having a hard time realizing it was not acceptable to Tia to be so close. It was going to be a hard lesson for him to learn.
The Protector was confused, as somehow he had upset his young friend when he had allowed his presence to be known. He shook his head as he thought, “I am following the rules and letting her know that I am here...So why is she so upset with me?"
Max closed his eyes and pretended to be thinking. He was not sure where to start with the Protector. He was a man of about 85 years old, but he was still very much the boy of five, which had been stolen from his mother and raised by the dark one in a cave, to guard the shield the Dark One was trapped behind. With thoughts only, Max said, "My friend, humans do not like the idea of someone being in their mind without asking permission to go there. We all like to have private thoughts."
Protector did not understand … was the Priest trying to say he was not a human being. “I am human ... me and Master have always been linked .. .It special and keeps things honest on both sides ... blasted headaches ... It will just have to be handled later ... this is too important...my friend is upset with me and Vlad always said that meant there was still areas that needed improvement ... wish Vlad was here ... He would help me understand ..."
Maxwell listened with great interest to the Protectors attempts at rationalizing why he did things. When he was done, Maxwell decided to try and straighten out a few misconceptions on the Protector's part. "My friend I know you are human. As far as you thinking you have always been linked to the one you call Master, it has not always been like that. Your link was not started until you were five years of age, when you were taken from the outside world." Maxwell felt Protector's agitation over this fact. It was manifesting itself in wonder and disbelief.
When the man mentioned the headaches, Maxwell knew he was fighting against something he had previously accepted as concrete The second thing which struck him was the mention of the name Vlad. "Where have I heard that name before?" he thought to himself, blocking his out flowing thoughts. The memory finally came to him, it was during the time when Brennan was undergoing a deep mind-dive to try to break his connection with the Dark One.
"… I have been here since I lost Seth at the Muggle Prime Minister's...Somebody is confusing my friend and making me look bad to her...And now she is trying to block me, why…."
Max still kept his eyes closed but he sat up a little straighter. The Protector had followed Seth to the Prime Minister's office. Still using only thoughts Max continued. "The main reason she is trying to shield her mind from you, is because you cause her pain when you try and communicate with her. She feels it as a pressure …. like if someone had pushed you up against a wall and kept trying to push you through the wall. It is uncomfortable to her … maybe we can come up with a better connection of some type. I have an idea but it will be hard for you and for her. I want you to try and imagine you are sitting beside Tia … your thoughts are sitting beside hers not interwoven. .. Can you try that my friend?
The Protector was getting more confused. “The priest is not making sense? Pressure ... I have no knowledge that a open mind feels different ... then this ... it only hurts when you are hiding things, doesn't it ... I can't do this with most wizards as their minds are too closed off...they hide to much ... blast ... head again ..."
Maxwell decided to break into the Protectors answers. Thinking only so the man could hear, "The pressure Tia is feeling is what you would call say was the beginning of a headache …. she is in pain when it comes. … It is not that she is trying to hide anything she just does not want you in her thoughts, so she tries to keep you out. A process that makes her head hurt …. what you call the actual headache."
The next part of Protectors questions was very interesting. "…. I wonder if Vlad has this problem and that is why he don't open his mind much ... that one Auror felt the same as Vlad ... closed like a door that is locked and you have lost the key ... but that Auror was able to see through me like Vlad but he was hidden like Tia's cousin ... I wanted to trust him but Master says if I had he would have just used me as they did my father ... I hate the headaches...but what can I do they have gotten worse since Zia showed up...”
The only Auror, the Protector could be talking about had to be Martin Kildare. The Wizard was an excellent blocker, with abilities Maxwell even envied. It made the Protector upset he was not allowed to read Martin. It was interesting the Protector also was beginning to think of the possibility of trusting someone outside his closed world the Dark One had created. Maxwell needed one bit of clarification which may give him an idea on how to get closer to the Protector. "Protector, how was your father used?"
Protector's voice was tentative as if no one had ever before asked him the question. His anwer came out as more of a question than a statement. "Master said the Hidden Ones befriended my father just to get the shield's location...when he realized the truth and confront them...they sent...that woman...Arianna....head hurts...dizzy...need to stop my headache...nowhere to sit out here..."
"Protector, I know you are not going to believe me, but your father was not used by anyone … he was helping to find the shield so your Master could be stopped from harming anyone … I do not know how much free thought you have but if you get a chance I want you to try ond figure something out …. I want you to think about when you get headaches … could they come when you are trying to remember the past or maybe you are not one hundred percent sure of the information you have been given …. just think on it my friend … I care how you feel." Maxwell realized the Protector had the worse headaches when he was thinking about his past and not just accepting what had been told to him. He also realized the man was not ready to hear, that Arianna was his mother, and he had been given false memories about her being the one who killed his mother and baby sister, who was still alive.
The pain in the Protectors head was not allowing him to think clearly. He did not think of his father much, because every time he did his head hurt. The Master had told him to get the pain to go away he just needed to stop trying to remember the bad times. He was not sure all the time had been bad though … he remembered laughter and comforting warmth. When he tried to add faces to some of the voices, he remembered his head would hurt worse. The Priest was trying to get him to not pay attention to the Master who was the only family he had left, the one who always told him it was because of him, the Protector was still alive. He thought to the Priest, "I can feel you are trying to help me … but I am part of the Master and he is part of me, as he has instructed me over the years. … I cannot totally break off from my young friend because she is important in my understanding of the world outside the cave. I will try and hold back … but I must continue to find information for Master or he will be angry and his pain is worse than a headache. "
"…When I reported to my master that I lost the Minister...He was furious and reminded me why I hate feeling him like that! Right before I lost the Minister...I felt a presence that Master told me was named Fixer...He also told me to find out what the man wanted with the Minister! He also reminded me about the price of failure...I Don't Fail!”
Maxwell cringed …. Fixer had gotten a hold of Seth. Everything the others had done to try and protect the information Seth held in his head was now with certainty given to the Fixer. That meant the codebook needed to be changed immediately. Max opened his eyes long enough to scribble on a piece of parchment, "Seth unknowingly has given Codebook to Fixer. Fix immediately." He handed the scrape of parchment to Ari and closed his eyes again to listen.
Protector felt Sinclair and thought still angry, “He can know but the princess won't tell me...Then He Will or I Will Wait Until They All Leave And Ask Tia's Godfather...And I Won't Be Gentle like I am with my little friend!”
Tia heard her friend as he linked with Sinclair, “You are confusing her! I care nothing for this meeting! I want to know what Fixer wanted? Either you will tell me or I Will Get It From The Minister!”
Tia heard her friend as he linked with Sinclair, “You are confusing her! I care nothing for this meeting! I want to know what Fixer wanted? Either you will tell me or I Will Get It From The Minister!”
Maxwell decided to give the Protector a lesson in humanity. "If you hurt the Minister, then Tia will be both very sad and very upset with you. .. you want her to be hurt …. she cares for the Minister and friends do not hurt their friend's friends. … It is an idea to think on."
Protector's voice told Max how much pain the man was in. "I know Minister is Tia's Godfather but have nothing to connect that title to...head hurts...was that from Tia or did that come from my head...an old man who loved life...why do I feel that not only do I know him...but that he is in Land of Last Breath...and why does the Minister remind me of him...headache Go Away...This is Important...This Man I Need To Remember...How I Know Him...Fine...Maybe Later!"
"I know you are in pain, my friend, I can hear it in your voice. A godfather is someone who is willing to take on the responsibility of raising a child if the parents are killed … normally it is not someone related to the child, but a very good friend of the parents. …" Maxwell was going to take a chance, The Protector; (Tommy) had two godfathers. One was Darik an Elf and the other was a man named Hawk, who was Tarik's Uncle and had secretly married Starling MacStone's Grandmother. Continuing he thought, "I know of someone who had two godfathers which made him very special. One godfather was named Darik Tocoferty and the other was named Hawk ===. Darik is an elf and Amir Hawk was a great man in the land he came from. They were both great friends with this person's parents." Maybe the Protector could use the information to come to some other conclusions.
The pain was evident in every word the protector thought. "Darik...headache I Said Go Away ... Hawk what should those names remind me of ... Headache ... Not Now! .... falconer ... the Medjai that is at the school ... that is why ... a baby like Molly...he got upset as he asked the elf...no Darik...for a special wand .. .two ... one for his daughter and one for his godson Tommy ... Head hurts bad .... I didn't mean to ease drop ... godfather was not upset ... though he said ... that our custom was to wait to earn it but since I would be going to my father's school or Hogwarts ... I would only have to wait another six years...instead of waiting until I was seventeen...before I could ask questions momma went into pain as she had Molly ...."
The man was in too much pain so Maxwell decided to stop for the day in putting him through the therapy session. "You have remembered a lot today, my friend. We will stop now. Try and not push into Tia's mind. Give her some time to recover from your visits. She will not run from talking with you if you let her know you are trying to make your connection softer. … she cares about you friend as others of us do." . Max could still feel the anguish. The man was even pushing it toward him …. the connection was stronger than should be normal… Maxwell understood in a flash of recognition, the Protector must be empathic which would be like his father had been. Maxwell now realized, the pain in Tia's head was not just coming from the Protector trying to get in but from the connection itself, where Tia was feeling how the Protector felt. Maxwell was going to have to talk to Darik and see if he could come up with a simple shield Tia could use, which would allow Tommy's thoughts in but not the pain. At the moment he had to get the Protector to back off a little bit.
Maxwell closed his eyes and put his hand to his temple as if he was resting his head on his hand. Through his thoughts he said, "Gently Protector, I can hear you… Just before last summer break a Fixer took several of the people in this room hostage and asked for information concerning our codebook and other facts. He harmed several of the people bad enough they had to be put in the hospital to recover. He works for who hires him and pays him the most. He is neither good nor bad although I personally think there is better in him than he will allow others to see. He once saved Tia's life when she was very small"
Protector listened and realized that his master's priest had misunderstood the question. He also felt Tia pain and got furious as he thought, “Priest, I Care Nothing For What Fixer Did To The Rest of Them...What Did He Want With Tia's Godfather? Tell Me Now!!! Or I Swear That I Will Find Out From The Minister's Mind Myself! Also Why is my friend crying? Who Upset Her?”
Protector listened and realized that his master's priest had misunderstood the question. He also felt Tia pain and got furious as he thought, “Priest, I Care Nothing For What Fixer Did To The Rest of Them...What Did He Want With Tia's Godfather? Tell Me Now!!! Or I Swear That I Will Find Out From The Minister's Mind Myself! Also Why is my friend crying? Who Upset Her?”
"Protector, Tia can hear what you say …" Max needed to get through to man. "All she has heard you talk about is hurting someone who is related to her … someone she loves and it scares her he may be hurt …. I know you are being forced to do what the Dark One wants you to do, or he will hurt you, but people do not normally hurt others in our world … maybe Tia is a little worried about you being hurt also ..." Max hoped that idea would get the man thinking. The Protector had suffered and Max was not the only one trying to figure out how to break him away from the Dark One's influence . "She cares about you Protector …. many of us care about you."
Tia shook her head as the pain brought tears to her eyes as she quietly said, “Who's Fixer?”
To Tia, Maxwell said, "Fixer is a mercenary who works for the person who pays him the most. Our group has had some dealings with him."
Protector thought furious at feeling his little friend's pain, “Priest, you have not Stopped Whoever Is Upsetting Her! I Could Come In There and Teach The Fool a Lesson...Do You Want That?”
To Tia, Maxwell said, "Fixer is a mercenary who works for the person who pays him the most. Our group has had some dealings with him."
Protector thought furious at feeling his little friend's pain, “Priest, you have not Stopped Whoever Is Upsetting Her! I Could Come In There and Teach The Fool a Lesson...Do You Want That?”
Max was getting mad now. "Protector you must realize and accept the idea, you are the one upsetting her at the moment. … Stop threatening her family and friends …. show her you care about her feelings, even a small amount and it will be easier on both of you." The man was acting like the trapped child he had been taught to be.
"My head hurts so bad, Priest … can you help with the pain?" The Protector knew, the Priest was important to Master so he must be powerful. "My friend says I should always ask please … can you make it stop hurting."
The plea from Protector was heart wrenching, but there was not much Max could do unless the man was closer and could sit through some sessions. He had to try something though, "The reason you are getting headaches is because, and when you were very small there were those around you now who wanted you to forget your past and think they were the only friends you had. They made your mind give you pain when you tried to remember about your real past. I can not take this pain away, but maybe I can lessen it some… You must find someplace quiet to be with no one else around and you must try and close your mind off to as much as possible. You must make your mind as blank as you can make it. This should allow your mind to relax and heal itself. This is not something you can keep up for a long period of time and it will not always work, but if you can get it to work, the pain will leave for a little while." Max was also hoping it would allow memories to come to the surface and unconsciously imbed themselves in the man's mind, making it easier for him to "hear them".
Seth saw Tia's tears. Without looking away from her he tried not to clinch his teeth as he said, “Max, He is hurting her, isn't he? When you told me and Air of your plan, you said nothing about his violent nature. I will not have him hurting my goddaughter!”
Looking Seth in the eye, Max said, "She will be alright, Seth. We need to work out the communication skills between the two of them … it is something which must be done and I would much rather it be done when there is help near her mind." Max did not want to see Tia in pain either, but the Protector had to tone it down a little. He had never been taught to consider others feelings.
The Protector listened and heard the Priest say he needed to work on his communication skills with his little friend. It sounded like he was even willing to help.
Turning to Air as Seth said terrified of what The Protector could do to Tia, “Air, Maybe we should reconsider what to do concerning him? I thought he liked Tia but if this is how he treats his friends, maybe we need put up more of a barrier between the two of them if he can not pull back more?"
Air just shook her head "No" and pointed to Max.
(Bren) … “Max, explain to Tommy what he is doing. I will shield Tia as best I can. Max, maybe Tommy needs to leave the area before Seth as Minister, orders his arrest...Seth is only thinking of Tia now as Air is thinking of Tommy? We need to defuse this before the progress you have started to make is destroyed.” …
Using a loud whisper, Max said to Brennan, "I am trying to explain it to him … he has never been taught to worry about how others feel … it is a new lesson to him and he is trying to make it work with other things he has been taught." The Protector, now known as the boy Tommy who was kidnapped from Arianna 75 years earlier, had been taught by the Dark One, to only take and do whatever was needed to reach his end, not to care how others were affected by his deeds. It would be a long road to get to the point where he could feel how others felt and realize he was truly hurting them.
The Protector had learned everything the Dark One, said was important, but apparently it was not enough, with those who lived outside the Cave. The woman known as Zia had told him things he needed to learn … but her lessons were physically painful. She said she beat him and punched him to teach him control of his pain … but he could never get through one of their sessions without breaking down. She would call him weak and said he should be sent out of the Dark One's protection, into a world where everyone would try and kill him because he believed in the Dark One. It confused him when the Priest would tell him he cared about him … not everyone he met wanted to destroy him personally.
(Arianna) … “You may ask any of the member’s questions and I will give them permission to answer you. But Tia if they say they cannot answer your question, you will need to accept that as your answer. The information either does not concern you or is too dangerous for you to know. The members of the group do not keep secrets from each other, because a bit of information which may not be important to them at the time may save someone else’s life later.” …
Maxwell could feel the Protector listening. When Air had said they did not keep secrets, he felt the man jerk. It had to be hard to realize they were asking Tia to trust them with information and she was agreeing. He wanted her to trust him also, but he had not figured out how to respect her wishes enough for that to happen. It was a huge puzzle to him.
The last statement about not keeping secrets, made Seth cringe, a movement he hoped none of the others had noticed. He had been keeping secrets from the group, to try and keep them out of his problems. Air was not going to be pleased when she found out…. And if they did the mind-diving she was going to find out.
Richard was not sure anyone else had caught Seth’s cringe. …. More and more he was not looking forward to taking Seth to St. Mungo’s complex. Air was asking for a hard job this time. He tried to send a small smile of reassurance to Seth, but he knew it had not registered with the man. Seth was scared.
Richard was not sure anyone else had caught Seth’s cringe. …. More and more he was not looking forward to taking Seth to St. Mungo’s complex. Air was asking for a hard job this time. He tried to send a small smile of reassurance to Seth, but he knew it had not registered with the man. Seth was scared.
The atmosphere around Seth had changed. Fear was coming to the top of the man's emotional state. Max had caught Richard's hesitancy when Seth had cringed. Thinking only to himself he thought, "Seth you are not the only one who is worried about what we are going to find."
Through Tia and a little through the Priest, the Protector felt fear floating through the air in the office where everyone sat. He tried to pinpoint who it came from. His first thought was to protect his little friend, but the fear was not coming with her at it's core. The Protector finally found the source. It was the Minister, the man they all called Seth. The man was in great fear of something. Protector thought toward Max, "Am I the cause of the Minister's fear? I have done nothing to make him fear me."
Maxwell listened to the question and then thought back, "No, my friend … the man is worried about the missing time … it scares him he does not know what happened to him … he is afraid he did something which has hurt the ones he cares about." .
Protector heard what the Priest said and asked in his thoughts, "Should I join with him and try and remove some of the fear?"
Seth would have been even more terrified if Protector suddenly leapt into his mind, "No my friend, I need you to concentrate on being careful with Tia's mind. … If I need your help I will let you know though."
Protector smiled, and thought "I have never had anyone ask for my help before… I will help if I can, Priest. … "
Arianna could not let the girl stay. With any luck on their part, Tia would decide to leave on her own. He was not fooled though; she would be hounding any of the people she saw here, who were confirmed as part of the group, with questions.
Maxwell knew Arianna realized Tia could not stay. She had not reached the age of understanding yet and some of the things concerning her destiny, which would come up, would either frighten her or scare her away from her future. Circumstances had to happen naturally or Tia would never become the person she was meant to be, a true Princess who could take care of her people with grace and wisdom. "Protector, Tia is going to be leaving in a short time. This is not because of something you have done but she needs to get back to the school and rest… Brennan will be taking her and two Aurors will help her on her trip … they are no danger to her so allow them to do their job. When she leaves could you go also and make sure she is all right? You will have to remember to be very gentle when you join with her. She feels your pain along with her own and it is hard on her."
The Protector did not want to take his mind away from the room where everyone was talking … but his Master had told him to keep track of what the Princess did, so he should have no problem with him following the Princess. "Yes I will follow her and help to take care of her."
Richard was the first to ask, “Tia, your friend told you Brennan was going to be called to this office today?”
Tia shook her head as she answered, “No, yesterday around eight a.m. That was why I was wondering why it took thirty-six hours? If godfather became Minister yesterday and Bren was needed, why didn't the little man wait until today?”
Tia watched her godfather pull out his appointment book and started writing down something. The young Slytherin noticed that Seth was shaking his head and looking at Dr. Sinclair extremely worried. She was glad that her journal was in her pocket and had a list of everything that she did every day.
Tia shook her head as she answered, “No, yesterday around eight a.m. That was why I was wondering why it took thirty-six hours? If godfather became Minister yesterday and Bren was needed, why didn't the little man wait until today?”
Tia watched her godfather pull out his appointment book and started writing down something. The young Slytherin noticed that Seth was shaking his head and looking at Dr. Sinclair extremely worried. She was glad that her journal was in her pocket and had a list of everything that she did every day.
It was hard for Maxwell to realize Seth's fear could grow greater, but the man's face showed differently. Maxwell closed his eyes and in his mind said to Seth, "Seth, calm down … take a deep breath … we have told you we will figure this out and we will … if you do not calm down, I will personally put a relaxation block on you and although you will not be asleep you will not be able to fathom what is happening in the office … do you want that to happen?"
"I felt fear from him before ... .the cab.... Fixer ... 1a.m. ... Fixer is causing my friend to be upset..." Protector wanted to let the Priest know he was willing to help watch out for the others.
(Richard) Turning around he asked, “Tia, you are not telling us everything, are you…. you need to tell us all you know or maybe someone here will be in more trouble than necessary.”
Tia (got) … up and going to stand by him (Seth) … “I don't reveal secrets and my friend told me things that I have no right repeating. Not without his permission first!”
Her hand went to the pocket with her journal while her other hand went to her medallion. “What did my friend mean when he got angry that Seth disappeared from one a.m. To one p.m.? I can't believe that my friend had been following my godfather all day yesterday. Why? At least my journal has a record of what my friend told me.” , Tia wondered.
Tia started to get the pressure that came when her friend was near and trying to listen in on her thoughts.
Tia (got) … up and going to stand by him (Seth) … “I don't reveal secrets and my friend told me things that I have no right repeating. Not without his permission first!”
Her hand went to the pocket with her journal while her other hand went to her medallion. “What did my friend mean when he got angry that Seth disappeared from one a.m. To one p.m.? I can't believe that my friend had been following my godfather all day yesterday. Why? At least my journal has a record of what my friend told me.” , Tia wondered.
Tia started to get the pressure that came when her friend was near and trying to listen in on her thoughts.
Tia's body language was shouting at Maxwell. She was beyond nervous, made plain as her hand went to her medallion, a medallion which connected her past to her future and would give her the right to rule the magical world of Egypt when she became of age at 18. Maxwell was also starting to get worried and confused. He made a notation on his parchment notebook of the time table Tia kept bringing up. He did not want to interrupt her now because she would stop with the free thoughts and start consciously worrying about what she was saying and thinking.
Arianna gently motioned for Tia to return to her seat, next to her near the wall.
Tia smiled and said, “Thanks guys. I would not have followed Bren but I got worried about what my friend said especially after what happened this summer, Max. I don't trust my friend's master and I am not at all happy that he is having my godfather watched.”
"We all agree with you Tia. There are plans, which have already started which will protect Seth. As far as the Protector not being happy we will just deal with how he feels as he learns that pain and mind control are not the way things should be done. … when you get a chance try and let him feel how you feel when he invades your mind or tries to listen in. … He needs compassion, understanding and the strength of knowing someone cares in order to understand how the outside world works." Maxwell knew Tia had it within herself to help the Protector; the only thing he was worried about was now the Protector was mentally stronger than Tia and had not learned how to back off.
Turning to Seth, she said, “Godfather, whatever happened at one this morning...... I am not a little kid anymore and I hate hearing about my family from people who have no right judging them. Godfather whatever you need to deal with, do so but I really think it is time that you came clean about why my dad and you blamed yourselves for a raid that you guys did by the book, don't you?”
Seth cringed and placed his hands flat on his desk, trying to stop the slight shake of fear threatening to take over his hands movements. … “We will talk later Tia but now go back to the school before Sasha overreacts please. I am fine and well protected as you can see.”
Seth cringed and placed his hands flat on his desk, trying to stop the slight shake of fear threatening to take over his hands movements. … “We will talk later Tia but now go back to the school before Sasha overreacts please. I am fine and well protected as you can see.”
Even with Seth's hands flat on his desk, Maxwell was close enough to see the tremors in the mussels of Seth's hands. He had not brought any medicines with him. Hopefully when Lance arrived he would have his bag. They could not give Seth too much calming agents, because the man had to be totally in charge of his mind and body when he was taken to St. Mungo's for examination. They would have to worry about false readings.
After Tia and Bren left, Seth looked at the others. wanting to figure out a way for her to not see he was being tested for his continuation in the Caretaker Group. He would not be able to take the pity, so he said, “I don't want Tia to know until it over please? She has been though enough in her young life.”
"Tia will not know about the testing until it is complete and all of the results have been gathered together, so Air can make her decision. …. Seth you are Minister of Magic now, and the Caretaker Group can not take that title away for you … even in the worse case scenario you will be protected by the group as much as possible. … Tia would not even realize you had been cut from us." Looking at Air and then back to Seth, Max continued, "None of us want you gone, Seth, I know in your heart you know that … so hang in there my friend and let us do what we must for all our sakes."
Knowing Max would pick up his thoughts, Seth realized what his real fear was, “I can't shake the feeling that I am somehow responsible for their deaths. … That somehow I betrayed Tia's family and got them killed...these gaps in time are getting worst... and the notes afterwards are really starting to worry me... and now If Tia's right about the time frame I could have done some real damage.. .but how to find out if it has only been eighteen hours as I remember or thirty as Tia said. In addition, if it has been thirty where was I and just what or who did I hand over this time? Do I really want to know?” ….
Shaking his head slightly Maxwell raised it and caught Seth's frightened eyes. Staying in his thoughts, he said, "Seth at the moment I cannot help you find answers to your questions. When we are in the mind-dive par to the examination I will help, you find answers. The mind dive will be frightening, but I will be there and Lance will also. He is there as a physical doctor but he has also studied and mastered many of the techniques we will be using … you will not be alone. We will find your answers and help you deal with the aftermath of the knowledge."
(Arianna) Turning to where Brennan was reading the note and quietly discuss some of the points with Richard, Air called him over to where she and Tia were, “Mr. Dawson could you join us please.”
… “Mr. Dawson you will please escort our guest back to the other end of the tunnel. She had decided it would be better to have a meeting later.” …. “Tia, if you do not allow the Aurors to transport you to the school, or you return here without my express permission, you will cancel our arrangement to talk, is that understood?”
(Arianna) “That was hard. That young man is going to drive me to drink something stronger than Butterbeer someday.” Straightening up in the chair she said, “Ok where were we…?”
… “Mr. Dawson you will please escort our guest back to the other end of the tunnel. She had decided it would be better to have a meeting later.” …. “Tia, if you do not allow the Aurors to transport you to the school, or you return here without my express permission, you will cancel our arrangement to talk, is that understood?”
(Arianna) “That was hard. That young man is going to drive me to drink something stronger than Butterbeer someday.” Straightening up in the chair she said, “Ok where were we…?”
Maxwell chuckled. Arianna very rarely drank even Butterbeer. He had seen her take a sip of vodka once, but it was only a sip. She definitely did not like it. "He will be fine Air. The boy is still learning how to fit in. His profiling talents are going to be well worth you taking the time to train him.
(OCC: Had Sinclair's permission to control him for this post. Protector is an Admin character to further plot)
LANCE
Franco and Lance went back to where Lance's medical bag sat, and Lance started a check on his vital signs, and how his injuries had healed. Maxwell went back to his chair and continued to jot down notes in his small parchment binder while explaining something to Lucas. Air looked at her globe again. There were only a couple members still absent.
Maxwell looked around the room. So far this meeting had kept him very busy taking notes. He was glad he had brought the Muggle notebook and several Muggle ball-point pens. Parchment and Quills were fine when you were re-writing something or had to take verbatium information down, but Max had found the scratching of the quills on the paper, distracting to most of his clients. Some of the newer models of quills did not scratch, but they were too expensive and high tech for his needs.
Looking at Ari he could tell, the simple meeting of the minds she had planned had taken a direction she had not expected. When she looked at him, he smiled and nodded. She had just turned the meeting over to him to try and get Brennan's take on several notes Martin had in his possession. He first reached in his pocket and took out a fresh pen and turned the page on his notebook. Nodding to Martin, he silently told him to hand Brennan the first note.
Martin nodded back and took the top piece of parchment from the stack. It was one Seth had once hidden in his desk and relinquished. Handing it to Brennan he looked at Seth who was sitting near Richard, on the back wall, close to Pippin. He tried to give him an encouraging smile, but all it did was make Seth sit closer to Pippin and Pip wrap her arms around Seth's arm. Returning to his seat, Martin again nodded at Max. All eyes were turned to Brennan. "Ok Sherlock, you are on… do your magic."
Note To The New Minister of Magic:
Seth Wright,
I was please to hear that Wizengamot overlooked the American incident though I doubt Shadow would. Consider his reasons...Have you told my Guardian of yours or more importantly her Father's role? We had a insightful chat with her and I this past summer...I plan on more...As for your New position...Boss...I find no Problem...Do You? Who Knows....We Might Make A Great Team...I think Your Family...Might find that has its Rewards Think of Me as Your Advisor
P.S. Show Your Wisdom Minister....Be In Touch
Seth Wright,
I was please to hear that Wizengamot overlooked the American incident though I doubt Shadow would. Consider his reasons...Have you told my Guardian of yours or more importantly her Father's role? We had a insightful chat with her and I this past summer...I plan on more...As for your New position...Boss...I find no Problem...Do You? Who Knows....We Might Make A Great Team...I think Your Family...Might find that has its Rewards Think of Me as Your Advisor
P.S. Show Your Wisdom Minister....Be In Touch
Brennan air wrote the note on the board. Then smiled as he broke it up into sections as he said, “I always give myself space in between sections to add my notes.”
Seth Wright,
He said calmly as he wrote, “This part is surprising as we know that only very few even know that Seth had been appointed Minister until this morning. So the only way that Protector could have given Seth that message yesterday is that we have a rat.”
Maxwell was watching Seth, while he continued to take notes. The man was looking straight forward toward the wall behind where Ari still sat at the desk. He had taken his hand and put it on top of Pip's hand, which was on his arm. Both of Pip's arms were wrapped around Seth's arm. Although Seth was trying desperately to keep all expression off his face, the thinness of his lips and his determined stare gave away his fear. His body was also radiating waves of fear. Max realized Richard could feel it, in the chair on the other side of Seth.
I was please to hear that Wizengamot overlooked the American incident though I doubt Shadow would. Consider his reasons...
Bren smiled as he said, “They are trying to imply that the note is from Khalid. But it was not.”
Richard had a question on how Brennan knew the note did not come from Khalid, but decided to wait until the end of the profiling. He was afraid of breaking the man's train of thought. If that Dark Wizard had not sent the note, then they had a new player in the game.
Have you told my Guardian of yours or more importantly her Father's role? We had a insightful chat with her and I this past summer...
Bren grin got wider as he said, “And this piece is how we know. Guys, there was only one that had a chat with Tia this Summer.”
Maxwell put down his pen and cringed. The Dark One had someone send the note to Seth. It meant the Number was pleased with Seth being in the position he was and would be trying to use him. Rubbing the back of his neck, he picked up his pen again and waited. The future mind-dive had just taken on a dangerous aspect. He would be fighting against the Dark One again, as they had when they had taken Brennan down through the levels. It had taken three days for Max to recover from that dive and he was not looking forward to it again.
… I plan on more...
Bren started to show his anger as he said with venom, “Not if I or Lance has anything to do with it Evil One!”
Lance smiled. He had rather enjoyed mind diving into Brennan's head and going against the Evil One. It was not very often he was allowed to do field work, even though he had all the training the other has received. He was the doctor of the group. He also kept his practice at St. Mungo's active and he was a specialist assigned to the school. He nodded to Brennan to let him know he was in agreement with whatever he wanted to try.
… As for your New position... Boss...
Sherlock frowned as he said, “Seth it looks like you need a new codename?”
At this point Ari visibly cringed. She new some of their names had been compromised, but the note sender had used Seth's name as if it was normal for the situation. She looked at Martin to let him know she was upset. Her son-in-law looked back and nodded. He would be using every possible avenue to close up any possible leak.
… I find no Problem...Do You? …
Bren said, “This is telling us that he trying to hint at a possible truce? Most likely it is a truce that we don't want?”
Martin had gotten up out of his seat and walked closer to the air board. There was no way he could see a truce being called, even if they were eventually able to pin the note on someone other than the Dark One. Security was going to be a nightmare, but he would have to figure out something. He looked toward Ari, to see if he could tell what she was thinking. It would be possible to read his mother-in-law's mind, but the one time he had tried, it had given him such a headache, he had vowed only to do it again in an extreme emergencies. The ladies thoughts traveled in so many different directions at one time, there was not possible way to follow any of the thoughts to some conclusion. Even now her face was a perfect blank, but Martin would still never consider diving in to the chaos he knew was just under the surface. She did nod at him, letting him know she understood he was going to be a very busy wizard.
…Who Knows.... We Might Make A Great Team...
Sherlock said angrily, “Not on your non-life Evil One!” Looking around he noticed, everyone was in agreement with that statement.
… I think Your Family ... Might find that has its Rewards …
Bren read the next part twice, once aloud and once to in a low whisper to himself, to be sure before saying, “He is giving Seth a choice between truce and his family making the Dark One's list. It is a very well hidden threat. At least we know who we need to protect?”
Pippen was patting Seth's arm. She was desperately trying not to shake herself. Seth was in trouble and she could not figure out how she could help. She looked at Richard but he was no help. Looking back at Seth's face, he had seen it go white almost gray. The man was terrified. Trying to offer some type of encouragement she whispered in his hear, "Seth, it will be alright. Everyone here is on your side. They can keep you and your family safe and I will help anyway I can. Hang in there, Seth, please."
Seth had been listening to all of Brennan's explainations, with stoic, determination to not show fear. He knew Pip was feeling some of how he felt inside. When Brennan had made it clear it was either he helped the writer or his family would suffer, he could not prevent the shakes which racked every nerve. He hung his head in shame as he heard Pip's words in his ear. How was he going to tell her, he included her as part of his family, even though he had not gotten up the courage to tell her yet how he really felt, and there was no formal agreement between the two of them. He might have to quit his job, at least as part of the Caretakers. He may still be able to stay on in the Ministry, but if it could be let out, he no longer had connections with the group, maybe it would make his family safer. Looking at Ari, he knew it would not be easy to get her to let him go … and the mind wipe which would be a requirement scared the living dickens out of him, but he would not loose anymore of his family. He put his hand on top of Pip's and squeezed. He would not lose another love in his life even if she did not know she was on yet.
… Think of Me as Your Advisor …
Sherlock shakes his head as he says, “The Dark One is arrogant isn't he?”
Seth wanted to run, he had no idea where but a huge bulls eye had just been painted to enclose everyone in this room. He could not ask them to fight for him, not this type of fight. There was still on more part to the message. When Brennan was finished he would give the speech he knew he had to give.
… P.S. Show Your Wisdom Minister .... Be In Touch!
Bren looked around the room catching Lance, Richard and Martin's eyes. Getting a sly grin on his face he said, “He doesn't know Seth very well, does he guys? At least we know to expect more?”
Seth picked his head up and squared his shoulders. Carefully he unwound Pip's arms from around his and offered her a smile. He touched her cheek with the back of his hand and then stood up and turned toward the rest. Pip's hand was in his before he could say a word. He looked at the hand and then into her eyes, only finding a smile of encouragement. He hoped that smile would stay, but had little hope of it still being there when he had finished what he knew he had to say.
He looked at all the colleges and friends sitting around the room. Many had saved his life more than once as he had saved many of their lives. His eyes stopped when they hit Ari's steadfast stare. He bowed slightly, acknowledging her superiority and then to everyone in general he started. "It is clear by what Sherlock has been able to deduce by the note I received, that my life and my job have been compromised. I have no memory how this was done, but it has been that we are all sure of. In the past I have been blessed with the backing of everyone in this room, and others who have not been able to make it. I have laid my life and career on the line for many of you and you have done the same for me."
"The person or being who wrote that note," Seth pointed toward the air board, "has decided I am to go down. I cannot and will not allow this organization to be taken down or damaged because of me. I cannot allow my friends, some who are dearer than others," Seth turned and looked at Pip, hoping he could see the meaning in his eyes, then turned back to the room, continuing, "to be harmed or killed because of me. This is no ordenary threat, it is an altermatium, of either I comply or everyone I know dies…" Seth had to stop and try and clear the lump out of his throat. Turning to Ari, he said, "Air, I will still go through the debriefing you have set up for me, mainly because I need to leave you all with as much information as was given to me by someone breaking into my mind. When it is done, I am requesting a full mind-wipe to the point you will be absolutely sure I know nothing about the Caretaker group. I accept the consequences of this action." Seth felt Pip squeezing his hand almost to the point it hurt. She had grabbed his hand with both of hers. He knew the look that would be in her eyes and he refused to see it until he had some kind of answer from the others in the room, especially Arianna. Standing as straight and as tall as he could he waited for the axe to fall.
Neo turned toward Seth and looked him in the eyes. He looked like he wanted to physically shake some sense into Seth, instead he said in a very low and determined voice, "Don't you even think you are taking The Dark One on alone Nephew! Stop that train of thought Now! Or do we tell Maria?"
After his brother had asked the question, Franco though maybe Pippin would not know who they were threatening Seth with, "Pip, Maria is Cameron's wife and the only cousin that even Seth will cower to! You have got to see her when she thinks one of us especially Seth is putting himself in harm's way without including the rest of us...it is a sight to see as she does the talking and Seth does the apologizing and then promises to do anything to just see her smile again."
Pip felt Seth flinch. He hid the response well, but she still saw the shake of his head when they talked about Maria. Pippin had heard the name before but had never made the connection. She would have to meet this Maria, she knew she was going to like her. "Seth listen to them please." But Seth would not even look at her. The only way she knew he had heard her word was from the squeeze given to her hand.
Everyone in the room wanted to say something but they would be there all day if she let each of them tell the man what they thought of his little speech. They had all been much too quiet as Seth spouted off. Air sat bolt upright within the first few seconds of start of his speech. She knew he would be saying something, but the man had gone over the top. When he was done, she put on her I'm-the-boss-face and lite into him. "Seth Wright, do I take it you are turning in your resignation to the Caretaker Group?" She did not wait until he answered before continuing, "Sir, you should know there is no resigning from my organization. So your resignation is refused. Also how dare you think you are the only one in this group who is targeted and is important enough to bring the group to its knees?" Air had spent long hours herself over the years if maybe she should disband the group because of this threat or that threat against the membership. But the group was more than its parts, so she kept going.
Softening and settling back in the desk chair, Air stared at Seth who was still trying to stand straight and tall and show confidence and determination in his decision. After what Neo and Franco had said, some of the stiffness had melted away. "Seth … Boss …. You know we will not let you do this alone. We have been together for too many years as a unit and as friends. We were not able to protect Sabrina and your son, and for that, we have all suffered, but the unit has grown since then and there is enough expertise in the group to cover anything, which can be thrown at us by anyone."
"You will go through the debriefing and we will pick at your brain," Ari added a small smile as she sat forward in the chair and rested her arms on the desk, "but after you will be returned to work. You have another codebook to write and you have extra security to help set up. I need you Seth," she swept the room with her arm, "we all need your expertise, experience and ability to set up plans. So sit back down, and shut up…" Turning to Pippin she said, "Pip please keep him quiet so we can get on with the meeting…" Ari smiled at the nod Pip gave her and the loving look she bestowed on Seth. She hoped Seth would have the courage to tell the woman soon how he felt.
Seth sat slowly back down in his chair. Pippin kept hold of his hand and everyone knew it would take vice grips to get her to let lose. Soon everyone slowly turned back to the room in general and continued to make notes or discuss softly the different parts of the air board. "Thank you Brennan. That was great. Everyone, make the notes you have to make and you can get with Brennan individually on any part of the note you want to work on… Martin, what is out next note?"
(OOC: For more information on mind diving see, Legacy Wiki > Magical Items > Legilimency, Occlumency and Mind-Diving ; for more information on mind dive on Brennan see Hospital Wing > Closed Taking Notes)
ARIANNA
Seth sat slowly back down in his chair. Pippin kept hold of his hand and everyone knew it would take vice grips to get her to let lose. Soon everyone slowly turned back to the room in general and continued to make notes or discuss softly the different parts of the air board. "Thank you Brennan. That was great. Everyone, make the notes you have to make and you can get with Brennan individually on any part of the note you want to work on… Martin, what is our next note?"
Arianna took a deep breath. She had originally called this meeting to find out how everyone was doing and if anyone needed anything from the group. So far it had been very active. They still had two more notes for Sherlock to decipher, the secretaries desk needed to be gone through to find out how deep in the enemies camp she was, and Seth was missing twelve hours they had to find. Just as she was about to tell Brennan to proceed on the first of Franco and Neo's notes, Darik arrived in the office.
Darik went straight to Air's desk. He wished he did not have to deliver the information he had, because it would affect his friend Master Franco. Mistress Arianna would know how to handle the problem. Darik handed her the small piece of parchment he had in his hand. When the Mistress had it he turned his head just enough to see Master Franco out of the corner of his eye. The young Master was talking to Master Neo and did not know yet he was in a lot of trouble.
Arianna accepted the note with a questioning look in her eyes. Opening the one fold, she read:
"Franco broke… has new partner … problem for all of Caretakers…
Arianna read the note a second time. Looking at the room in general she said, "excuse me everyone for a moment." Then she turned in her chair and motioned Darik closer. Asking so only he could hear she whispered, "Do you know who sent it?" She received a shake of the head. "Can it be traced?" Darik raised and lowered his shoulders. "Go then and see what you can find out… I will have him put into custody with Seth. This room is secure so we can carry on here." Darik started to walk back to the corner he had arrived in when Ari added, "Darik be careful. I will call a Code Black if I need to." Darik nodded and faded out. A Code Black would virtually shut down the Caretaker Group until every member had been screened including herself. She had only done it once before and it had taken a month to get everyone cleared and active again.
Arianna turned back to the room, to find everyone staring at her. She knew everyone had heard her mention the Code Black. She proceeded as if she had not said it, with one exception. Mentally she told Martin to move next to Franco and put him under guard. Before she continued she waited just long enough for Martin to get up, hand the two remaining notes to Brennan, go to where Lance was sitting, whisper in his ear, causing Lance to get up and move, and then he sat down next to Franco. Neo was on the other side. Martin's wand was half out of his sleeve, hidden by the one leg he crossed over the other. When Ari had received a nod, she continued, "Brennan, please continue with the notes Franco and Neo received this morning."
Bren saw the new positions and got extremely worried. Reading both notes quickly to himself, he sadly shook his head as he said to Franco, "Saint, is there anybody in this office that you don't want involved once I begin? Now might be a good time for them to leave."
Franco just looked at Bren and realized that something in the notes worried the man as Bren had looked at Neo. Thinking quickly he just said, "Bren if your gut is worried about Neo hearing it then I can say that in honestly, nobody needs to leave. If there is something that we need to know then tell it?"
Bren nodded and turned to Air as he said, "Do us all a big favor and restrain Neo."
Air first looked at Brennan reading the extreme worry on his face. Almost everyone in this room had seen what happened when Neo lived up to his Codename of Cooler the man became deadly and there was a chance he would not even realize he was hurting friends. Anyone who came near him in a threatening manner, when he was in that frame of mind was taken down. Ari nodded to Richard. Richard's wand dropped instantly into his hand and Neo was bound in his chair.
Bren nodded as he said with worry in his voice, "Sorry Neo but I think Saint knows what is coming and neither of us want you to do something you will regret. Though Air, I would like to point out that Saint is unafraid of the Caretakers hearing what I have already profiled. So I ask that the same measures shown me last term, be shown with both Franco?"
First Note:
To My Future Partner:
Am about to keep my appointment with Seth. Since we both have a vested interest, I will let you know how it turns out. You know who will suffer if Seth is made to break this unscheduled appointment. Talk with you soon.
To My Future Partner:
Am about to keep my appointment with Seth. Since we both have a vested interest, I will let you know how it turns out. You know who will suffer if Seth is made to break this unscheduled appointment. Talk with you soon.
Arianna looked at Neo and said, "Cooler, this will only be temporary. Your brother is going to need your support I think, so if you want to be loose and be able to give him that support, you will show restraint now. If you cannot then I will have Franco removed immediately from the premises and held out of yours and your brothers and sisters ability to communicate with. This is serious, my friend." Turning to Brennan she said, "Proceed Sherlock. I will agree, as long as it is possible to allow Franco the same measure of lenience."
Bren smiled as Neo nodded. Looking at Franco, as he said, as he wrote the message on the air board, "The first message reads:
To My Future Partner:
Am about to keep my appointment with Seth. Since we both have a vested interest, I will let you know how it turns out. You know who will suffer if Seth is made to break this unscheduled appointment. Talk with you soon.
Am about to keep my appointment with Seth. Since we both have a vested interest, I will let you know how it turns out. You know who will suffer if Seth is made to break this unscheduled appointment. Talk with you soon.
Holding up a hand as he said, "Now Franco if you had opened this note when it was delivered, who would have suffered if you gave a heads-up?"
Franco read the air board with shock on his face and then answered, "The Core. Fixer has somebody besides Antonio at Hogwarts. Somebody close enough that if he wants words with them all or even one, it will happen. Bren most likely if I had read this then, I would have only told family. We would have left the finally decision to Seth? I would not risk the Core, not even for Seth."
Bren smiled as he said to Air, "You want any certain section profiled?"
Air looked at the various expressions around the room. They ran the gambit from disbelief to the realization, Franco was about to possibly come up on charges as far as Air was concerned of being a traitor. Air tried to keep her face blank as she said, "Franco I will put Darik on the hunt for who else may be at the school. The school just became off limits for you, clear?"
Turning back to Bren she said, "Proceed as you like Sherlock. When you are ready add the second note." Ari was having difficulty keeping her blank expression. Her heart was telling her she was going to have to do something, which would hurt all of them.
Bren smiled and said, "Air, read that note carefully. If Franco had truly broken and betrayed us..."
Air held up her hand interrupting Brennan. "I am reading the note Sherlock. The note Darik brought me was from one of his contacts. It says, and I quote…" Arianna picked up the piece of parchment and read, " Franco broke… has new partner … problem for all of Caretakers… ." So you just keep profiling and let me decide what has to be done next."
Bren was praying Air would see what he had. That if Franco was truly gone then why did Fixer need to threaten Saint. Turning to Franco, he realized that the man's head was down. Shaking his head as he said, "Saint, snap out of it! You guys never gave up on me and my gut and profiling is saying you are no traitor either! So Pull yourself together. If you can't then Fixer was smart about one thing, you were broken?"
Richard looked at Bren who was sitting to his left and asked, "Both notes are short I gather?" When he received a nod he said, "Bren remember when you did the notes I had when Fox disappeared? You had just as little." Richard smiled as he remembered another very short note. "I thought you never would figure that one out and yet you came up with a lot of info. Concentrate, Sherlock, because somebody wants us to believe Franco is a danger to the Caretakers?"
Richard looked at Ari. He knew what she was going to order and to try and keep all the heat off her, he brought up the subject first. "Something we have not been able to totally grasp is going on here, and the only way to find out is with a mind-dive." He let his eyes roam the room in general as he said, "The one person Fixer has underestimated is Sherlock and that will hopefully be his undoing?"
There was a general murmur of approval in the room. Air let everyone get the feeling out of their system, before she said, "We all agree Richard. Bren, do you have anything to add to the first note. If not then let's hear the second." Air was worried. For some reason, Brennan was holding back on reading the second note aloud.
Bren looked at Lance and Greene as he asked, "Lance, Richard what has been your impression of this guy Fixer?"
Lance looked at Richard and signaled him to go first. Richard cleared his thoat and thought for a moment before answering. "The man plays on others weaknesses. I think he spends a lot of time profiling the person or persons he may think he will be coming in contact with when he takes a job. And he does think of each thing as a job. He definitely has reasons for everything he does. I think he can change directions during a job, but if he does the direction change is thought out to some type of possible conclusion."
Lance nodded and added, "Richard is right with his view and I think I can add the man is not as bad or it you want… rotten… He is always going to complete his job but there is a form of compassion there. He may use physical force, but he will get you medical help. He may make you tired and exhausted, but he will eventually allow you to rest and make sure you are all right. Richard was returned to St. Mungo's twice and Franco was sent there after his last visit with the man, with a concentrated list of what had been done. In his own way the man cares."
Bren smiled as he asked, "Air, when you guys were held by him at the Hog's Head? How well did he seem to know how you would handle certain issue?" Bren had a feeling in his gut that Fixer wanted the Caretaker to know that stories that Franco would bury were the important ones. Sherlock was also sure that the Franco's mind-dive would reveal something that Fixer wanted the Caretakers to know.
Air leaned on the desk and thought back to the Hog's Head. She had one personal moment with the man. "Speaking for myself, I can safely say he had me pegged. He knew I would not give in if it was just me, but when he added Richard to the mix," Arianna looked at Richard and smiled, "he knew I would do what he wanted, not that he wanted a lot from me." Looking around the room she stated, "He new Franco would comply when he brought his mother's cherished camera into the mix. I am not sure what made Richard comply, but whatever he told him when they were in the room, Richard thought it was worth, giving his signature for." Ari held up her hand when it looked like Richard was going to say something. "Save it Caretaker, because you and I have still not had your debriefing on the subject."
Sherlock grinned as he asked, "How much does Fixer know about me?"
"As far as what he knows about you Sherlock, I have no clue… from what has been said already here, I would be willing to bet he has studied you."
Bren smiled as he said, "Then we can pretty much guess that Fixer worded these notes with me in mind. Franco, you betted him didn't you?"
When Franco sadly nodded Bren continued, "Let me guess the bet? Since you were pretty sure that Fixer would never get the Codebook? Franco for some reason, you said if he did, you would become Editor of the Prophet and agree to print stories for Fixer?"
Franco again nodded as he said, "I also promised to bury any story that Fixer thought needed to be. But Bren, I would have just placed it in our usual section of the paper, section C?"
Ari smiled and shook her head, because Section C of the paper was where messages were left for the rest of the Caretaker group. The stories there were actually the first that most of them checked on to see if anything really important was happening. There were times, important stories were started on another page, like the front page, but if the story was important to the group, the story ended in Section C. "Bren what does the second note say." Air knew in her heart what it would indicate.
Bren smiled as he said, "I think Fixer knows all of the Caretakers habits. Even what Air is about to order Franco. So why is the question? Answer there is something in Franco's mind-dive, we as a team need to know. Something that Fixer knew that Franco would not know but that his mind stored."
With that Sherlock wrote the second note on the air-board.
Partner:
Everything went well. Will enjoy working with you and your staff.
Everything went well. Will enjoy working with you and your staff.
The room became very still as each person realized the meaning of the second note. Fixer had the codebook. Seth who was still sitting at the back of the room holding Pippin's hand, turned toward Pip and put his forehead on her shoulder. She instinctually wrapped her free arm around his back. All she could do was shake her head back and forth.
Richard allowed the back of his head to rest on the wall behind his chair. He stared at the sealing for only a moment before he looked at Arianna. Ari cringed and dropped her head into her hands. Finally taking a deep breath, she straightened up and said, "Richard, Martin and Franco could you please join me here at the desk."
Bren looked around and saw Neo try to protect his baby brother by saying, "Air, if anybody is to blame it is me and you know why. Fixer put my brother through the ringer. Please, Air? He would never betray Tia or the Andreas line!"
Franco shook his head sadly as he said, "Stop Neo! I made the bet, I will pay the piper. Please Neo stop protecting me!"
Richard waited for Max to make his way back to Seth and Pippin, before he headed for the desk. Seth knew now he had given information to Fixer and it was making him shake. As Richard walked past Lance, he bent his head in Seth's direction and received a knowing nod. Lance would keep a medical eye on the man.
Franco had reached the desk first, so Richard stepped up beside him on his right. Martin took a place on Franco's left. Ari did not speak right away. She motioned for Martin to step aside and give her a view of Neo, who she could still see was thinking of fighting his bonds. "Cooler, your brother is not a child. Either relax or I will have you removed, and you will not be allowed back until he is removed." Receiving a nod Air motioned Martin back into place.
Looking at the three men standing in front of her desk she leaned back in the chair and thought. She knew to some extent Fixer was playing her like a fish. He was forcing her to examine Franco and the group in general. Maybe she had gotten a little complacent in the handling of the Caretakers. It had been a few years since it was necessary to tighten down the regulations. Taking a deep cleansing breath she started. "Franco Spellman, it has come to the attention of this group you may have put this organization in general danger, because of information you have given and promises you have made to at least one person. This cannot and will not be tolerated. Do you have anything to say before I give my ruling on your future as both a member of this organization and the possibility you will be brought up on traitorous charges?"
Franco was still going over in his head what he had done that could cost his position in the Caretakers. Shaking his head as he was sure he had never fully broke or gave any real information that could cost the Caretakers.
As he looked at Lance, the memory of what Fixer had said about Lance remembered his friend's life would be in danger. Saint stayed silent as he hoped nothing in his memory would endanger Lance remembering
Arianna watched Franco. He was thinking and had decided not to voice the thoughts in his head. She waited about fifteen seconds before she started again. Laying both her arms on her desk she took on the boss posture and said, "Franco, I will take your silence as agreement to your willingness to accept my decree." Looking at Richard, then at Martin and returning to Franco, she gave her ruling. "At the end of this meeting, you Franco Spellman shall go with Richard Greene and Martin Kildare, to the special section of St. Mungo's Hospital, where you will be held for a period of not less than 48 hours. During that time, you will submit to a complete Caretaker physical. You will also submit to a mind-dive to level six…. It has come to my attention elves may have been involved in your time with Fixer, so I am authorizing that Darik will be involved in the mind-dive. He will be able to take over control of the dive at any time….I fully understand you have responsibilities with the paper, but I also know you are on medical leave as far as they are concerned. I will allow communication with them through Martin, but not directly."
Looking down at her desk for just a moment, Arianna raised her eyes up to Franco again."Saint, I do not do this lightly… you will not choose your advocate. You may not choose one of your brothers, but may choose any of the other Caretakers."
Franco looked into Arianna's eyes and then down at the edge of the desk. He stood with his arms and hands at his side, his hands open and loose. He was not going to fight the charges. This was probably the end of his career in the Caretaker Group, because when they dove into his mind, and found things he was sure were not good, Arianna would probably do a mind wipe. Hopefully he would come out of that with the ability to still be Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Prophet, but that was also not a given.
Richard could not stay quiet any longer. Franco had just given up the fight for his life as a Caretaker and even in the world outside the group. Ari could not send him to Azkaban, but she could do a mind-wipe on the man. Richard could feel the fear radiating off Franco. "Air, I will appoint one of the Caretakers to be his advocate." Turning to Franco he said, "Saint, this is not over. There is an end to the tunnel you are walking though."
Still Franco did not respond. He just stood there. Martin looked at him and then sent Arianna a silent message, "Saint has given up. He thinks something in his head is going to get Lance killed. He is going to fight the mind dive. " .
Arianna nodded slowly. Silently to Martin she thought, "Let Lance know about the fighting, so he can take precautions. I want no numbing drugs, but with his heart still healing I want him watched. Oh, and Martin, keep an eye on Lance… if there is something buried there, I want to know what it is. Darik will be able to help with that." Arianna was getting furious. She now had two of her top operatives undergoing mind-dives. An unknown enmity, unknown at least in what he would do next, probably enjoying his power to get into her organization. Fixer was going to have to be dealt with soon. "Gentlemen," she said to Richard, Franco and Martin. " Richard please release Neo's bonds. And then please all take a seat over there. Franco you are under guard… do not make me bind you."
When they had taken their seats, with Franco in the middle, Arianna looked at the back of the room. Maxwell was sitting close to Seth, speaking very quietly. Seth occasionally nodded. Pippen had a hold of Seth's arm, absentmindedly rubbing it, and listening to Maxwell. Lance although he had not moved from his chair was tuned into the conversation behind him. Arianna turned to Brennan saying, "Sherlock, I want you present at both of the mind-dives. Maybe you can pick up on something which will be helpful. You will not be allowed to take part, but you will be allowed to observe and through Lance, tune in to what is happening."
Turning to Neo she said, "Cooler, I am now going to unbind you. Your brother has chosen to not use an advocate during his stay in the Caretaker Unit. You will not, and I repeat NOT be allowed to observe anything going on there. Am I completely understood? The first sign you or your brothers or your sister are trying to interfere in anyway, I will ship Franco to another location."
Neo got a sly grin as he heard Bren say, "It will be my pleasure Air. Just maybe I can find out something that will allow us to turn the tables on him? Air, you know how the Spellman's handle family problems? I would not want to be in Fixer's shoes when those boys find him. As for Franco and Seth, are you sure I have all the notes? How did he get Seth to meet him? Something don't feel right?"
Neo then turned to his brother and socked him as he said, "We don't just give up Frankie. What do I have to do? Have Marco talk some sense into you?"
Franco reeled from the slug, but made no move to block another, or to even show he felt it. Ari realized he had gone into himself. Silently to Martin she thought, "Watch him; there is a chance he is going to run. Stop him as gently as you can, but stop him." . To this she received a slight nod and Martin turning his body slightly more in Franco's direction. She noticed Martin's wand had dropped halfway out of his sleeve.
Turning to the room in general she said, "Fixer is starting to be a bother, but until further notice I do not want any hunt for him to take place..." Arianna looked pointedly at Neo, "personal or otherwise."
Neo was furious as he watched Frankie slip further away. He planned on first having words with his brother Marco about trusting this Frank Cole. Yelling at himself in his head that he should have just took the man down instead of believing that Fixer had Marco's permission to toughen up their baby brother.
As he looked over at Frankie, Cooler thought, "He looks defeated to me. Fixer lied about toughening Frankie up and I have every intention of making Frank Cole pay dearly for this after I teach Marco a thing or two about trusting an outsider with our baby brother." Neo knew that Leo would agree with him about payback.
Martin looked to his right at Neo, out of the corner of his eye then turned back and signaled Richard to keep an eye on Franco. When he was sure Richard understood, he turned his whole body in the direction of the Cooler. "Cooler, Air has just given you a direct order. You seem to think once you are out of this room, that order does not hold true. Marco is not part of this organization, at least not at the moment. You and I both know if you start badgering him about Frank Cole eventually you are going to have to tell him how you know what happened. That will be a breach of this organizations rules. Do I have to take measures you do not have the ability to compromise the Caretaker Group. Your brother is already in a lot of trouble. If I hold you, the first thing I will do is make sure you are unable to help him, for a very long time. Frank Cole will be dealt with, but with the group dealing with him. If you go after him now… there is a very good chance he will go deeper out of our reach."
Neo looked at Martin as he said with venom, "That is my baby brother Martin and I plan on making Fixer pay! With or Without the Caretakers!"
Then in his thoughts, he added, "Martin, I trusted Frank Cole's word that he just planned on toughening up Frankie... I should have taken him at Hog's Head. First chance I get I plan on correcting that mistake."
Air had been watching Franco, as his brother talked. She was looking for any sign the man was hearing and registering what was happening around him. There was very little movement in Franco's body. He was deep inside himself and going deeper. When Neo passionately declared, he was going after the Fixer, with or without the Caretakers, her head jerked to the Cooler. She looked at Martin then nodded. Martin's wand shot out of his sleeve the rest of the way and Neo was again bound. Air looked at him and stated, "Neo you are not going after Fixer. Your family is not going after Fixer. You heard before Franco said, the man has one or more spies at the school. Anything you do puts the children at risk. Take a good look at your brother Neo, take a very good look… what do you see… what has your talk about going after someone he knows has a huge advantage over you in manpower alone, done to him. How far into himself do you want to send him?"
Air was getting worried about Franco. His skin was turning darker and becoming ruff. His eyes were glazed over. She reached for her message ball and summoned Darik, who almost instantly popped in. She pointed to Franco. Darik walked over and placed himself behind the Saint. Putting two fingers on each temple, Darik closed his eyes and dove. "Master Franco, I am here with you… it will be alright… we need you to fight for now, Master Franco. Your brother needs to know you will be all right…. Fight Master Franco… I will help." Darik concentrated and tried to pull Franco back from the brink. The man was sub-consciously using his ability to metamorph into a turtle. Darik knew he had the ability and he knew the process was either unknown or very new to Master Franco. He would not have the experience to control it. Mentally Darik held onto Franco's mind and pulled. He would not let the young master sink.
Franco was scared, as he had never heard Neo talk like this. All he could think of was hiding from his brother's wrath. The Cooler had never exploded and all Franco could do was think to Darik, "I thought I my agreeing with Fixer before he could fully break me would insure that I had some control but Neo is in a Blind Rage and I almost killed Fixer when I was like that. Darik I am scared that I did break fully and now if they find out about Lance's mind wipe. Fixer said if he remembered…"
Saint felt true fear for his friend, as he thought, "It would most likely get Lance killed. One thing I learned about Frank Cole the man means what he says and will carry out the threat. Darik, I can't let Lance or anybody know the truth. Let me go, it is better for everybody as then nobody is in danger except me. Please Darik?"
Darik pressed his finger harder into Master Franco's temples. "No Master Franco, you must show your brothers you have not broken totally. You must stay in the world of the human's and prove to them you can handle this. I will stay with you, if you like. Master Neo will calm down if he sees you are paying attention to what is happening. Do you want to drive him into Fixers hands, because that is what you are doing by running from the problem? Now come Master Franco, we must climb out of this dark place, together, that you are headed into." Darik pressed just a little harder with his fingertips.
Just then Marco burst in the room. The door was hanging barely by the lower hinge, as he ran straight toward Franco yelling, "Neo, Cool Down Now! Help me with Frankie!" He had received a note from Fixer warning him that Franco might not understand this phase of his training. Grabbing Franco as he yelled, "Franco Spellman, Snap out of it Now! You withstood everything Frank threw at you and now just because Neo decides to have a meltdown...you want to run away instead of proving that you got what Neo has always seen in you?" Marco smiled, as he knew the only thing that might get Frankie to fight what was happening. Saying quietly, as if to himself, "Well I guess I was right, you are weak!"
Franco yelled as he decked Marco, "I Am Not Weak Marco! You just never understood..."
Air jumped. The whole room had been so intent on either helping Seth or watching Darik with Franco; security had gone out the preverbal window. Marco Spellman, who was not a member of the Caretaker Group, had just entered the room, unchallenged except for the now hanging door, and lay out cold on the floor in front of the desk. Air stood up and yelled, "Freeze, everyone just freeze." Looking around she eventually added looking toward Richard and Brennan, "Caretaker and Sherlock, get me some security back in this office." Motioning to Lance she ordered, "Doc, I believe you have a patient on the floor."
To Neo she said, "Settle down Cooler… when you can prove you can stay calm, I will have your restraints removed…" Air motioned to Max to remove the restraints when she realized Neo was almost in shock himself by what had just happened. The man had taken a deep breath and was sitting as calm as expected. When the restraints were, removed Neo knelt down beside his brother and looked up at Franco. A large smile slowly spread across his face, as he realized Franco had gotten tougher. He would have never have taken a swing at his brother before Fixer had gotten a hold of him.
Air pointed to a piece of paper crumbled in Marco's fist. Neo untangled his brother's fingers, while Lance was checking Marco's vitals and handed the note to Air. When she had read it, she called Brennan over and handed to him. Turning to Lance she said, "If Marco is all right, get him out of this office. I want him held securely in one of the outer rooms, until I have a chance to talk with him…. No other visitors. Neo you and Franco remain here." When it looked like both Neo and Franco were about to disagree, Air added in a voice, which gave no opening for disagreement. "That is an order gentleman. Either stay under your own power or stay under mine." She looked pointedly at them and dared them to move.
She watched as Richard fixed the door and held it open so Lance could levitate the still unconscious Marco out of the office. Before closing a securing the door, he watched Marco be carried into one of the rooms used for interviews. There would be a comfortable couch, and several chairs along with a table and chairs in the room. There was also a very small kitchenette complete with refrigerator and cold drinks. The room had a magic dampening spell on it, so Marco would not be able to leave it.
Richard stood by the door, watching for a signal from Martin to retake his seat. Looking at Arianna, he saw her blood pressure was elevated and saying she was not happy, world have been the understatement of the day.
Arianna found she could not sit back down at the desk and relax. She felt out of control and she did not like it. Moving to the front of the desk, she sat on the edge of it and looked over the room. Looking down at the floor, she tried to collect her thoughts. Finally she looked back up and looked at the now seated Franco. "Nice to have you back with us Saint, although I think your brother may have a few words for you when you are allowed to see him again." Air knew Franco had caught the word "allowed". Now she was not sure what contact she was going to allow with Marco. She had been considering having Marco join the Caretakers, but had shied away from have all the brothers as part of the group. The brothers worked as a team, and although they could still work as a team in the Caretaker Group, there would be times they would invariably be asked to split up and go their separate dangerous ways. They would not always be able, to back each other up. Air was not sure they had that ability within them. It looked like she was going to have to make a decision on what was going to happen with Marco.
Taking her eyes off Franco, she turned to Brennan and said, "Well…. Who do we have to thank for that display of brotherly love…. Or should I ask."
Brennan read the note quickly before replying, "Fixer seemed worried about Franco? It seems Marco and Fixer know each other. By the way Marco has a codename it seems." Brennan looked down at the message in his hand, "Fixer calls him Trickster. Interesting name…" Brennan whole face took on the questioning look.
At this bit of news, Air looked at Neo and Franco, "How much more information has been kept from me. All this talk about finding Fixer … taking care of Fixer … handling Fixer and finding out about Fixer. I find out much to my disbelief, I was not informed, your brother knows the man personally. I am taking it for granted, the two of you also know the man personally… I think gentlemen you better start talking, now." Ari crossed her arms across her chest and looked daggers at the two men.
Neo said calmly, "Only at Hog's Head did I make the connection. It was something Fixer said that made me realize that Marco had talked about him before. Marco wanted Franco trained and I flat refused because of Frankie's heart. Marco said if he could, he would have the man that trained him train Frankie. Franco hardly talks to Marco so most likely he was never told."
Air was fighting the angry feelings inside of her. It had been many years since she had felt this out of control of the organization. "Neo I need to trust you… you know that. If Marco is in communications with Fixer than the plans I had of possibly bringing him into the organization have most likely just flown out the window. You brothers have some strange ways of handling situations but having one brother purposely put in the hands of someone like Fixer to be trained goes beyond anything I believe you would do." She looked at Franco, adding, "although I do see a difference in Saint, but…"
Bren said, "Air wait on your thinking until I profile this note."
Air changed her look to Brennan and said, "All right Bren, convince me I should not sanction these two and come down hard on their brother."
Bren smiled as he said, "Air let's have words with Marco. Martin you need to come as well. Seth, look through your pockets while we are gone. I have a feeling there is one more note which I will profile when we get back."
"Well why not," , Ari thought to herself. Aloud she said, "Lead the way, Sherlock." She motioned toward the door.
RICHARD
Bren smiled as he said, "Air let's have words with Marco. Martin you need to come as well. Seth, look through your pockets while we are gone. I have a feeling there is one more note which I will profile when we get back."
"Well why not," , Ari thought to herself. Aloud she said, "Lead the way, Sherlock." She motioned toward the door.
"Well why not," , Ari thought to herself. Aloud she said, "Lead the way, Sherlock." She motioned toward the door.
If Brennan wanted Martin along that meant, Sherlock was going to keep Martin, a mind blocker busy. Neither one of them were going to be available for security. Richard was going to have to go along. Besides Brennan was his partner, so where the kid went so did Richard.
Richard opened the door and stood back as Air, Brennan and Martin filed out. He turned, just before he closed the door and told Darik he was in charge of security. If he had to put everyone in a catatonic state then do it, until he or Martin returned. Then he closed and locked the door. The others had already reached the interview room when he unlocked the outer lock. Walking in he looked at Lance and said, "Doc wake him please and then join the others in Seth's office. Darik is in charge of security. I do not think we will be long."
Lance stood up from where he was sitting on the edge of the couch, finishing his exam of Marco Spellman. "His nose was broken, but it is repaired. He also had two teeth knocked out, but I have replaced them. He is going to be sore, but he will be all right. He needs to stay on the couch while you are talking with him." Lance took one more look at Marco to make sure he was coming to and then left the room.
Marco came to and laughing said, "Boy, and I thought I had a mean right hook." When his eyes focused, he realized he was not in the same room and there were less people. After he did not see his brothers, he said with venom, "Where are they?"
While they had been waiting for Marco to become fully consious, Richard had walked over and pulled out one of the very comfortable looking office chairs from the small conference table in the center of the room. With a gallant bow he offered it to Air. Martin had taken another one of the chairs and pulled to near Arianna. Both he and Richard would be acting as security and out of force of habit both, stayed close to help Arianna if Marco tried to over react to his gentle confinement. Richard had his wand out just in case.
Brennan had pulled one of the straight back chairs from the wall and was now straddling it, note in hand to read. Richard talked first saying, "They are in Seth's office…. The one you decided to, unceremoniously enter earlier." He made sure he had Marco's attention before he added, "We found the note from your friend Fixer so we know why you came. If you have anything to add do it now, because Sher… Brennan is about to discuss your note. He has a knack for figuring out the meanings between the lines of correspondence."
Marco smiled as he said, "You guys don't know nothing! Cause if you did, what Fixer has set up would not be needed. Richard, do you really think I would just anybody near my brothers? You above everybody should understand what me, Frank, Hank, and Antonio are trying to do? I don't want the Rat that got Maggie, Bart, Theo or Marcus killed to get my baby brother because Frankie trusts to easily. Richard did your father ever tell you who married Maggie's mother Lili? Do you have any idea who is Maggie's father? Cause Frank only found out last year. And believe me both men want Payback from the one that set her and the rest of us up! Ask Your Question though I only know what I need to. By the Way you all know Fixer and trust him, just not as Fixer?"
Arianna listened and took in the information. She could place some of the names; Frank was Frank Cole the Fixer, Hank had to be Hank Reynolds the head bartender of the Hog's Head; Antonio was the caretaker at the school, and a man with more than one personality. The rest she was going to have to learn about, because if they were mentioned they were important. She motioned to Richard to keep going, because she wanted to use this time to study Marco. There was still the possibility he could be brought into the group. Having two-hotwired brothers, Marco and Neo would be an interesting challenge.
Richard grabbed another one of the straight back chairs from against the wall and straddled it on the other end of the couch from Brennan. Keeping his wand out he said, "Marco you were just somewhere you should not have been. I know you know about the Caretakers, because your brothers are part of the group and you are too good a researcher and too protective not to have found out what information you could. But you have not had the training, we all have gone thorough. We answer to only one person." Richard wondered if Marco knew that one person was Arianna. "That person's word is law and there is no place for vigilantism in the group. Your brother's have been reminded of this fact and will be going through some extra re-training to drive the fact home." Richard looked at the others in the room. "We do not have any major questions at the moment. Brennan is going to go over the note you had in your hand when Franco, turned out your lights. During his evaluation you may make comments, add any further information, or clarify anything he may be mistaken about. At the end of the evaluation, it will be decided on how to proceed and what your future will be. You are my friend Marco. I know you and I trust you, but the Caretakers are all of our top priority. It makes no difference if you have a problem with this; it is what will be done." Richard turned to Brennan and said, "Proceed Brennan."
Marco smiled as he said, "You have not answered my question, Richard. Did your father tell you? Did you ever wonder Richard why none of Marcus team showed when he died and why to this day I have no interest of ever joining The Caretakers, except to help my brothers and you when needed? What does your training mean against Fixer?"
Richard only had questions in his eyes as he studied Marco. "Father never discussed Aunt Lili other than to say she was killed and the family took on the responsibility of raising my cousin Maggie." Richard looked sidelong at Ari, before continuing. This was not going to be easy. "I found out Maggie married Frank Cole. She had written me that she was going to have a baby, just before she was killed." Turning fully to Ari he said, "I had not met Frank Cole or heard from him before the Hog's Head problem."
Ari turned a hurt look toward Richard. Even he had kept information from her. Information which may have made it easier to keep track on what was happening at the school and when she was trying to pick up the pieces after the Hog's Head.
Bren smiled as he said, "You tell us Trickster? And Maggie was found dead soon after her and Richard's uncle. Marco, we are all trying to help Franco but with this connection between you and Franco Cole, that could now be impossible?"
Air was reeling a little. She was trying to come to terms with the changes in the Caretaker Group. When her husband was alive and they had first conceived the idea of the group, it was so everyone would have access to information which could make a difference in how their world ran. Now she was finding secrets buried within secrets.
Marco smiled as he realized that he was about to drop a bombshell on a woman that thought she had things figured out. Then he shook his head, as he was not even sure that he had all the pieces as he said, "Princess, does Gatherer ring a bell?
"I know a man, codenamed the Gatherer, has been used by the Caretakers for various mercenary jobs…." Ari paused and her eyes snapped to Marco. "You are telling me, the Gatherer, aka. Franco Cole, is also Frank Cole the Fixer." She dropped her head in her hands. Looking up she put as blank a look on her face as she could. The Gatherer knew the ins and outs on how the Caretaker Group operated. He had been brought into several meetings, with only a very few members present, to give what information he had located for them. He apparently got around; he was an informant for the Caretakers, a member of the PACT group, working for Khalid and a rouge mercenary with his own private little army.
" … And Maggie is Khalid's daughter and believe me Frank was floored as was I to learn that the man actually loved and still does his wife, Lili. That Medjai wants some serious Payback. Don't be mad at Richard, Arianna as Frank was close to killing Khalid when the truth was revealed…"
Arianna was getting a headache. It really should not surprise her how the world was so intertwined. She had once heard a theory that there were seven people between every person in the world. If you took any person and traveled through a friend, and then another friend of the friend and so on, when you reached the seventh level, you would be back to the beginning of the circle because that seventh friend would turn out to be a friend of the first person. Circles cut through and flowed through other circles and they were all linked.
"… Air, did you know that Khalid can't read?"
Khalid was Arianna's brother and Tarik's half brother. "But I have had several letters from him over the years and I have written him back. The whole family has always found great enjoyment in the written word. Tarik and myself can read and write several languages. It is inconceivable to me my brother cannot have that same enjoyment." Slowly she shook her head as the information worked its way into her soul.
Marco gave a sly grin as he looked at Air as he said, "And that name (Trickster) does not ring any bells?"
"In the codebook we have another mercenary codenamed Trickster who was used as a sharpshooter and sometimes a go between the Caretakers and the PACT." Arianna sat up straighter. "You are Trickster." When she received a nod, she relaxed back into the chair.
"Fixer had to read Lili's letter to him and that is how Khalid and Frank learned the truth. All this time Khalid had thought Lili had just left him. I will see if Frank can get the letter for Bren to profile.", Marco was not happy that he had to deflate the Caretakers egos like this but they had to get back to training and harder than they ever had. Looking at Air as he said, "Khalid said that the letters and words read funny. He also told Frank a lot about why he has ordered what is being done. Like I said the man wants Payback and you sort have showed him what needed to be done? Air, those guards that Khalid sent were suppose to protect you and Tarik not betray you. Bren, That note is for you as a way of explaining what Khalid and Fixer dare not reveal. One question should be in Air's mind though? If Khalid can't read, then why does he want..."
Richard's head snapped up from where he had been looking at the floor … trying to look anywhere but at Arianna. He had hopes of possibly getting closer to her, romantically but this situation was not going to help. Arianna believed in truthfulness and the sharing of information. It had saved her life more than once over the years. Richard had broken one of her cardinal rules of not holding back information which can help the group, even if it is embarrassing or you had to except flack from the results of putting it out there for review. He finished Marco's question, "If Khalid cannot read, and then why does he want the codebook?" Richard looked at Arianna. "He does not want the codebook personally, so who does and what for…" Fixer was the one who would have possession of the codebook. Richard looked at the wall behind Marco; trying to think of a reason Fixer would need the codebook. "So what was he looking for… people he could tenget information from…. Double agents maybe. "Ok, Fixer wants the codebook for himself. He needs information so he is looking for double agents to give him the information. If our list and the list of agents he gets from the dark side coincide with any of the names he knows he will have people he can get information from. Marco, can you find out who these people are?"
Marco smiled as he said, "Bren, take that note a line at a time and soon they will see why you thought Martin was needed. Fixer is taking a big risk as Khalid made him swear never to tell you and he is not but...well you see...I hope?"
Bren wrote on the air board.
"The Pact we made seems to be coming along nicely … Your brother might not be ready but he is not as weak as you thought … Worried he might slip back into his shell … What is coming is needed as I explained earlier …I am thinking of him being Morph in the near future with us … Watch out as he has learned from all of you and might one day … Lay you flat, Sorry about not being able to tell you everything … As I said before The Less You Know The Better"
"The Pact we made seems to be coming along nicely … Your brother might not be ready but he is not as weak as you thought … Worried he might slip back into his shell … What is coming is needed as I explained earlier …I am thinking of him being Morph in the near future with us … Watch out as he has learned from all of you and might one day … Lay you flat, Sorry about not being able to tell you everything … As I said before The Less You Know The Better"
Bren smiled as he said, "This part I can handle at once because this is to you. He is even keeping things from you. I gather Morph is Franco because of his abilities. So Fixer figured out what I suspected about Franco having skills from all you Spellman's. That means he and not you or Neo are the most deadly?"
Richard looked at Ari, but she only signaled for him to go ahead and comment. "Bren are you and Marco saying Franco can Morph into something or even someone else? Does he know this? Does he have control over it? If Fixer has control over Franco, he could use this ability and cause a very large scale problem."
Bren smiled as he said, "I think Air has suspected Franco's true ability for some time, haven't you? We have Fixer to thank for making Franco aware of it, if he is? Richard, did you notice him changing, all Air did was call Darik?"
Air smiled and nodded. "I knew a long time ago, but as you all know you have to be careful when you push an ability someone does not know they have. I am surprised, Fixer pushed. He must have some powerful Elves working for him, because their magic is the only true way to control it other than the person taking control." Air thought about the possibility of Franco knowing about the changes and decided, he had to have at least an inkling it existed. "I think he knows it exists, but whether he has accepted the ability, or has even thought of controling it I am not so sure. I know when I saw the changes taking place, he did not appear to be knowledgeable they were taking places. Darik will have to have a talk with him, soon. The man will need some fast and furious training."
Richard nodded. He had not been aware of the possibilities of Franco's changes, but looking back there had been signs. Franco was an expert at makeup application and portraying other people. It had always seemed effortless for him. Knowing he could morph would explain how the process worked so well; he would apply the makeup and start trying to get into character, his brain probably sub-consciously made his body morph in small ways to help him take on the other personification. Richard had been taking a few private lessons from Darik and calling him was the only thing Air could have done, to keep Franco in the world as a human.
Marco smiled as he said, "Mom had the ability and since none of the rest of us seemed to, I figured Frankie might. I asked Fixer to check. He told me that Frankie' first full transformation was into a bird that he had as a boy. I am not upset about Air keeping mom's secret, as it has kept my baby brother from becoming like mom. Air, Fixer has the video of my mother's murder. Her killer wanted the child with the gift; she died to keep Franco's from getting into their hands."
Air cringed, because she could see in her mind's eye, a small boy watching his Mom protect him and giving up her life to keep him free. "Does Franco know he has the video, or is it locked away in that vault his mother had? Do all of you brothers have a key to it? I'm not asking because I want to see what is there, that is private family stuff, but maybe you all should take a look as a group on what is there."
Turning to Brennan she said, "Brennan continue please. I do not want to be absent from Seth's office longer than necessary. Darik is fine keeping the piece, but it makes me nervous leaving so many things up in the air, with this group."
Marco shook his head as he try to explain just how much he trusted Frank Cole, "Only me and Kat were there with mom, Frankie was being released from St. Mungo's. If he had been there, those men would have gotten him. Fixer says that with Frankie, the morph is instinct, when he is scared or worried. Frankie was the only one with the key, though now Fixer has it safe as something in mom's vault got her killer to know about her gift. My brother has hunted those killers down with no luck. I don't want my baby brother like me so I asked Fixer to keep those files away from him and the video. I gave the video to Fixer. When he knows the identities of the four, I will deal with them."
Martin had sat quietly just listening, but it was time to say something. "Marco you are trying to get all of us to believe Frank Cole is on our side in all of this… working from a different direction, but not working as a Dark Wizard? After everything the man has done to thoes people in this room and to those in the Caretaker group in general, and all the threats he has made about the children in the school, I think you are deluding yourself on what type of person he is now. He may have been your friend, at one time, but his present actions do not strengthen that theory."
"I tend to agree with what Martin is saying, Marco," Air had thoughts in the past about the true nature of Frank Cole, but all he had done in the short past period, were direct contradictions to what she had put together as his personal profile. "He is coming across as a double-agent where darkness and light in the Wizarding world bump up against each other." Looking at Richard, she realized he was in deep thought, "Richard care to add anything?"
Richard looked up and half smiled. "I have had personal experience with the man at least three times in a very short amount of time. Twice he got me drunk," Richard cringed, because the second time Fixer had gotten him drunk, it had taken double the time to pull him back into the sober world. As he got older, it was getting harder and harder to fight the pull of the hard liquor. "A third time he used pain, but he did make sure I got medical attention all three times. He seems to try to use shortcomings of people to either get or give information." Looking at Air he said, "Arianna is correct in assuming he is a double-agent of some type. Trust is going to be very hard to give in his direction."
Changing his look to Marco, he added, "Marco, my friend, I trust you…I would trust you with my life … but I ask you to be very careful where this man is concerned … I would not put it past him to use any of us or any of those in your PACT group, to further what he thinks is important."
Bren wrote the rest on the board,
P.S I have not told him and have no intention to. Cooler knows though and is like you said Not Happy At All. I want the Rat that betrayed US and Khalid is worried about Shadow finding out that Morph is far from Broke. One-Day Shadow just might meet Morph's toy and I can't wait. Hope you have a Trick up your sleeve as your brother might not want his mind read as Lance will not be safe if certain Dark Ones find out. Pack A Cloud Know we will get Payback. Whip has been replaced as his brother is just as good if not better as has Dagger.
Bren smiled as he asked, "What does the P.S. part of the note tell you guys? Cause it tells me a lot about what really is in Fixer's head? Though I am worried about his threats to the children."
Richard had spent some time, since Air had made Brennan his reluctant partner, in trying to second-guess the Profiler. He was still not good at it, but getting better. He looked up at the air board and started, "I would be willing to guess no one has told Franco that Marco, here," he indicated his friend sitting on the couch, "had agreed with Fixer to let him try and toughen Franco up a little. Also, none of the other brothers were originally told, why it was so easy for Fixer to get and keep his hands on Franco." Looking with anger in his eyes toward Marco, he added, "All of us have been trying to locate Franco since he was taken from the Hog's Head and you knew how to find him. Maybe you did not know exactly where he was, but I bet you could have gotten in touch with Fixer and told him to return Franco. At a minimum you could have prevented some of what happened to our member."
Richard looked away, before he got up out of his seat and took a swing at Marco's already damaged jaw. Continuing he said, "As far as Franco's toy is concerned, it has to have something to do with that yo-yo he keeps in his pocket at all times. I have seen him do tricks with it and it could be used as a weapon…. Fixer is also suggesting Franco is going to fight the mind-dive. This could be true if he stays out of the depression he was dropping quickly into, in Seth's office. He is also warning us Lance could be in trouble."
Arianna sat back in her chair, trying to make herself as comfortable as possible. Half her mind was back in the office, wondering what was happening. She was thinking of shutting down the meeting all together to get the other procedures started and see if she could regroup her thoughts. Reading the air board and then looking at Marco she said, "I have to agree with Richard on one point Marco Spellman, it was a very dirty trick, letting your brother be purposely tortured by a supposed friend. Franco is not like the rest of you… he is softer in manor… but that is to his credit. He has an inner strength, which he uses to get behind the stories he is witnessing and not just react, but act on the truth being revealed. It is what makes him a good reporter and will make him a superior Editor-in-Chief for the Dailey Prophet."
"I think his gift should not have been forced out of him. Now he will question it and may be not use it when it would have been natural for it to help in a given situation." Arianna had seen her brother all but destroyed because a gift had been brought out, long before any control could be established. "As far as the mind-dive is concerned, it will happen, even if we have to make him unconscious. It has just become necessary for Darik to be completely involved to block his morphing abilities, because the mind-dive is definitely going to scare Franco, which will bring out his gift without his being able to control it."
Martin had gotten up out of his chair and walked to the back wall of the small room opposite where Marco was sitting on the couch. He had already established a general block on the room. It would hold anything said by anyone present, within the walls of the small area. If things proceeded to where he saw them going, Brennan was going to be proven correct in having him join the party. Fixer was definitely an enigma, on a large scale. The man was acting like a double agent, working for a dark wizard, Khalid, and still trying to give as much information to the lighter side. By the P.S., Fixer was hinting at the possibility that Khalid was not as dark as originally thought. Marco was collaborating this possibility by backing Fixer's deeds. Marco was definitely not a dark wizard and he was definitely honest, but he was also secretive in his dealings with the world, even in his family unit. Walking back around the table and sitting on the edge of it not far from Arianna's chair, Martin simply stated, "Marco, I will concede the point that Fixer is trying to help us with information. I will also concede the point, the man is not as bad as he has been trying to establish himself. But I still do not trust him."
Bren smiled, as his theory was proven correct. Getting a grin on his face as he said, "I think you guys saw what you wanted to see in the note and not what Fixer had hidden there. You all read the same note but each answer you gave was different, why do you guys think that was?"
No one answered. They all watched Brennan for an answer to his own question. It was obvious it was because of their own experiences.
Bren shook his head as he said, "Remember when I said that I was worried about the threat made towards the children?"
Everyone nodded. Arianna looked at Brennan and said, "We remember Brennan... What was your point?"
Bren grinned as he said, "My point is that you guys most likely assumed that I meant that I was worried about Fixer making good on his threat. When all I meant was I don't think there was ever a threat to the children at least not by Fixer. Martin, find out exactly what Fixer said to Saint about the children?"
Martin dropped the shield on the room, enough to contact Darik in his mind. He asked the elf to check with Franco and see exactly what Fixer had said about the children being in danger. In a few moments, Darik came back to him with a reply. Martin re-established the shield and then went to just below the airboard. Taking out his wand he wrote:
Fixer has the ability to help guard the children…. Fixer has established someone other than Antonio in school to be able to interact with the children quickly… Says he is helping Franco keep track of the children… what Franco does will determine what happens to the children … Fixer can talk with and give presents to any of the children anytime he wants…
Marco stepped back and looked around the room. Arianna was extremely worried, and Richard was making plans in his head to figure out who could get to the children and how to stop them. Martin looked at Brennan and said, "That's all," then returned to his seat on the edge of the conference table.
Bren smiled as he said, "I wish I had his exact words but I don't think he ever really threaten the children. Am I right Marco? Fixer let Saint believe that it was threatening when it wasn't? His contact at the school is you, Antonio and most likely an elf?"
Marco grinned as he answered, "You are good Bren and you will get even better. Yes on all counts. By the way guys, The Caretakers protect Tia because she is a princess. Richard, you remember what William said about putting in place protection for his children and a promise made?"
Richard now realized that in one of the films Tarik had seen Fixer but had not realized who it was. Tarik had only remembered the face as somebody he had seen before. Tarik had just not known the person's name or where he had seen him from. Now Richard had a name, Fixer.
Richard sat up straighter and looked at Marco when the realization finally came to him who the man was. He asked, "Why was Fixer there when William was poisoned? He was the third man in the picture, the one no one could identify. And does him being there have anything to do with what William told Lance about?"
Marco smiled as he said, "Everything to do with what William told Lance!"
Air had been quiet long enough. "Marco, the PACT was created separate from the Caretakers. At one point I even tried to combine the two group, to see if we could help each other. Because of circumstances back then, that never happened. You have secrets you are reluctant to give up … and I fully understand the need, but the times are creating a need to join our information. Whatever you say, can be kept in this room, among us if you like, but we need to know what information you are keeping so we can truly protect some young wizards and future."
Marco remembered why he was leery of ever fully trusting the Caretakers. Reaching into his pocket as he said angrily, "Yea, I remember very well the night this note lead me, Bart, Joshua into the trap that got them killed and me into a coma! It was the same night that Marcus was also murdered. Sorry I am having a hard time trusting but The PACT trusted once and we lost most of our group. Either you guys have a Rat or the PACT does, maybe both. As for keeping the info safe, Air can you insure that the Dark One won't find out? Cause if he does You, Tarik, and Darik are DEAD!"
Richard nodded at Brennan and looked pointedly at Marco, "Marco, my friend, I think that is why Bren asked for Martin. Martin is the very best blocker, which exists in the Wizarding world. We will know the information but Martin will make sure it is buried so deep not even the Dark One will get it!" Martin had looked at the floor. Richard smiled because Martin knew how good he was, but it still embarrassed him sometimes to have it said aloud.
Marco smiled as he said, "I hope so cause as I said a lot is riding on this. Fixer had been requested there by William. They had both went to school together, though William was a third year when Frank Cole started. When William started realizing that information was leaking out he sent for Frank. They hatched a plan to insure the safety of Marcus and Tia. Lance was there though for some odd reason did not recognize Fixer when he saw him at Hog's Head. You see The PACT was created so Frank could keep that promise to William. A promise that his children would be kept safe and the Rat that was informing The Dark One would be dealt with. It was then that William jokingly called Frank, Fixer. The name stuck and Fixer has a personal reason for wanting the Rat. The Rat must have been in that hospital cause soon after Fixer received visitors. They were the same type of visitors he had received when Tia was two and he last his wife Maggie and I lost James. Richard the night your uncle was murdered and Marshall was born. Well the visitors wanted Fixer to know that he no longer needed to be concerned about William or the children as their friend had already insured that the Dark One's freedom was a given and that no one would ever figure out how."
Martin had stood up and was preparing the room for the block. He would not complete it until told to, but the stage was set and it would not take long to drop the wall for everyone.
Brennan smiled as he watched Martin saying, "Martin can you put the info so deep in each of our minds that a mind dive can't get to it?"
Martin nodded and explained, "I will have to put it at Level 7 because that is where the diver and the person's mind he is diving into become separate. Do you want a code word to be able to retrieve the information or just have it available?"
Bren looked at Arianna and asked, "How should we do this as we need a way we will know but nobody else can get at it? Cause I know that I am a risk as The Dark One is still giving me headaches?"
Arianna's eyes went to Brennan when he said he was still getting headaches. He had not bothered to tell anyone that little tidbit, or at least no one had informed her. "That is interesting to know… we will talk later Mr. Dawson." Turning to Martin she said, "Use the level 7 and make the code words orange balloon flying . Also make it a necessity for someone else in this room to say it in order for it to activate the memories.
Martin took a deep breath and closed his eyes. It did not take long before he had the wall established and dropped on everyone in the room. He also sent a private message to Darik, letting him know what he did. Darik would be his second if for some reason the shield needed to be lifted and Martin was unavailable. "It's done, and anything else said in the room will fall into the same slot. When we leave the room, information will be remembered normally."
Marco smiled as he said, "Fixer will be pleased as now I can tell you. Khalid made a wand vow with the Dark One. It protects Arianna, Tarik and Darik as well as those known to be related to Khalid. Which is why Khalid's mind has no knowledge of the reasons behind Fixer's orders. You see Khalid was ordered to kill Darik and chose instead to attack the Dark One. To save his family, Khalid made a vow to never personally attack or go against the Dark One. Now that causes a bit of a problem after Air found her four guards to be traitors. Cause when she returned them dead to Khalid he noticed something about them. That something is why Fixer got the instructions he received about the Codebook."
Richard put his wand away and laid his arms on back of the chair he was straddling. "So Fixer is planning on using the code book to find double agents, those he knows for sure work for Khalid and those in the Codebook we have used in the past for information. Marco, that still puts a lot of information into someone's hands who can go rouge anytime he wants too. If he adds vigilantism to the mix, some of our people could find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Arianna sat forward, "Or someone we are playing for our bennifit could get killed or we could lose the chance to complete a project we are working on. I do not like his methods, although I can see why he used them." Arianna sat back, and made a pyrimid with her fingers. "Marco I want a one on one meeting with Fixer. He can bring a second if he wants and so will I. If he agrees to the meeting, and I want you to stress that it needs to happen, we will arrange neutral territory. I want that meeting soon, Marco."
Martin all of a sudden stood up and looked around, "Someone is trying to get into this meeting uninvited." Martin closed his eyes, mumbled something, then opening them he smiled and said, "who ever it was, they are gone and they left with one whopper of a headache." Looking at Arianna he added, "We need to get back to the main meeting area. I need Darik's help and I do not want to leave that area unprotected, from a block."
Bren slowly nodded as his head felt like it was about to explode as he tried to explain, "I can't risk profiling this note fully with either The Dark One or Tommy trying to read my thoughts or listen in. I have been able to block them so far but each time I get a worse headache. Air it is safe to say that Fixer is a puzzle and one that needs solved. So far he has made a visit to each of us, except me and Pip? I expect to be paid a visit, what are my orders when he does?"
Air did not answer Brennan right away, instead she looked at Marco. "What Brennan is saying is logical. Fixer will be paying him a visit, it would be the way I would handle it. Marco, I want the visit to Brennan to be a conference of sorts. Brennan is a top notch security operative. I want some type of communication set up. We can trade information if he would like. If he does not want to do this then, we will continue to hunt Fixer and when he is caught, and he will be Marco, I will personally make sure he understands my position on what needs to be done. My brother can only be going after on being, and it is too soon for a lone operative to try. The principle characters are either not old enough yet, are not strong enough in their abilities, or have not figured out the best way to come together. Give him my message Marco." Turning to Brennan she said, "Use your guts on this on Brennan. I also want you back into Max's office to check on your headaches." Looking toward the ceiling she added, "I don't know why I just don’t open a mind-diving clinic." Looking at the others she asked generally, "Anything else?"
Marco shrugged as he said, "I will see what I can do but I can't promise anything. Khalid is needing elves to keep him sane. And he has ordered Fixer to get Tarik to finish that translation by any means necessary and I do mean "Any MEANS" including..." Marco stopped as he had to explain so slowly shaking his head as he said, "Air, Fixer hates what he has be order to do there but Khalid is not taking Tarik's answer and told Fixer that his baby brother's stubbornness is blinding Tarik to the importance of that prophecy. Can you do any ideas of how to talk some sense into that Stubborn Medjai?"
Air cringed. "Tarik has told me and anyone else who has asked about what he was doing for Marsden, that everything that concerned his time with the man, had been destroyed by a fire and by overzealous members of the Ministry when they trampled the man's private island. I think we can take it for granted he included anything he was translating at the time, being included in that summation. He did tell me once; he would have never gone back to the island, even if it had not been destroyed. I will say something to him, but Tarik does not lie, so if he says the translation cannot be completed, then he has lost whatever samples he was using. If the information is gone then it is gone…."
Marco cringed as he said, "That is just it, Air. Tarik has not said that he can't do the translation. He said he won't, even when Fixer asked if he happened across some. I know Star is working on something as a surprise for Tarik and that she copied whatever it is from Tia's journal. Luckily I have never seen her working on it or I would have a very hard choice to make?"
Arianna's eyes shot to Richard, who nodded. He would be paying Star a visit. The girl was becoming very good with languages, especially those which contained symbols. Tarik had mentioned once she was a natural and he hoped to get her to think about teaching Study of Ancient Runes, instead of History of Magic, which she had told anyone who would listen she was going to do someday.
Turning back to Marco, she said, "As I said before, I will have a talk with my brother. Maybe something can be worked out. If Tarik says he won't then there is a very good reason. Tarik is a first classes Saygar and has some experience as a Seer, but he is not very good at it, because he has trouble believing and sorting through what he sees." Arianna got very thoughtful, but continued after only a moment's hesitation, "Tell Fixer, I will help where I can … but Tarik is his own person, and when he digs in he cannot be moved. We will take precautions where we can also."
Marco nodded as he said, "It is all I can ask but understand Fixer has made certain promises concerning this assignment and I am partly to blame for that. He agreed to take the job from Khalid to insure that Franco stayed breathing. You see Hog's Head was a trap set by Shadow. His target was never you Air but my baby brother. When Fixer got wind of the trap, he sent word to me that he would do whatever was needed to keep Frankie alive. I guess he felt making a deal with Khalid was the best way?"
Air could feel her temper working it's way from the pit of her stomach to her head. "You are telling me Marco Spellman, that Fixer knew he was going to eventually walk out of there with Franco in his clutches… and you did not deem it necessary to let your brother Neo know that fact. Cole's idea of whatever was needed was to break your brother to his will. Franco is sitting in the other room, waiting to see if he is going to be brought up on charges as a traitor," Air held up her hand when she saw Marco about to speak, and continued, "the charges will not be brought up with the information I have at the present. However, he is also considering letting us do a total mind wipe, just to make sure his honor stays in tack. Is that what you wanted for your baby-brother? He thinks, and the rest of us also are starting to feel, that he totally broke and is now Cole's man." Air was trying to get her temper under control as she added, "Such loving brothers Franco has … with your interference, you may be loving him to death." Ari gave Marco a very hard stare.
Richard's wand dropped back into his hand. Sometimes Air could cause others to react without thinking. After what she had just said to Marco, he was not sure his friend could hold his own temper.
Marco blew as he said angrily, "At least he left Hog's Head. Shadow intended to bury both Franco and Neo! Shadow believing Fixer broke Frankie is what is keeping my brothers alive. Also, Frankie needs to learn to deal with problems on his own cause there might come a day when nobody will be there to back him up. My baby brother is no traitor!"
"Sit back and relax, Marco or I will have Richard make you sit back. I have no intention at the moment on bringing Franco up on traitor charges. I know what he went through, at least some of it and we are going to find out the rest of his experiences, with a mind-dive. I will force the mind-dive if I have too. He has chosen to not have an advocate with him. Normally I confine the advocate position to Caretakers, but if you can convince him to select you, I will okay it." Air sat forward so she was as close to Marco as she could be in her chair, because she had to watch his eyes. She was about to break protocol, protocol she established, but still protocol. "Think about this though Marco. Franco will be confined in the special unit at St. Mungo's Hospital for a minimum of 24 hours and that could be extended to 2 or 3 days. During that time there is no communication with the outside world of either those being examined or their advocates. If you can deal with that then make your choice."
Richard was looking at Arianna, with surprise written all over his face. No outsiders was a rule Arianna stuck to at all times. She was up to something. He turned back to watching Marco.
Marco nodded as he said, "You forget my baby brother can't stand me. I do what I must to protect and avenge my family. Something Frankie can't understand? I have walked a very tight rope since James' murder and I never even considered trying to explain my reasons to him. It just seems better they just believe what they want? Me and my brothers are just oil and water, we don't mix. You can asked Richard?"
Richard nodded. "That is an understatement," he added with a sarcastic chuckle. "Ari, Franco would never go for it."
Ari smiled and asked back, "I would be willing to put up two-weeks paid vacation in any spot of the world, as my portion of the bet that he does, do I have any takers?" Arianna looked around the room. Martin was shaking his head no… he knew his mother-in-law too long to take a bet against her. "Richard want to try for a trip anywhere. You can take the guest of your choice?" Arianna added a large smile. Richard just might take the bet. Looking at Brennan and Marco she asked, "Gentlemen, want to take me up on the bet?" by now she was chuckling.
Marco gave a sly grin as he said, "I would take that bet but not the vacation … Cause I know Franco won't let be anywhere near him. On the off chance I lose, what would you want in return?"
Bren just shook his head.
Ari looked at the wall behind where Marco sat, thinking. She knew what she wanted. She wanted Marco to start asking for help and not try and carry the world his brothers were in on his shoulders alone. All she needed to do was figure out how to phrase it, so he would be forced to ask for assistance. "When you lose, you must agree to ask Richard, Brennan, Martin or me for help with something of your choice everyday for a month." Air knew this would not seem like a lot to Marco, but it would get him in the habit of asking for help. The first things may be small and crazy, but eventually he would ask for something more important and that would open the gate to the future.
Marco laughed as he said, "It is a bet Air!"
Air reached forward and shook Marco's hand, then stood up. "Gentlemen, it is time to return to Seth's office. Martin please take a moment and double check your settings.
Martin closed his eyes then opened them saying, "All is set Air…" They all filed out of the room and back into Seth's office. No one had moved much, and the conversation was general about possibilities of who was where in the world and if all safe guards had been established. As everyone took their seat, Air walked up to Franco and whispered in his ear, " Your brother says you would be afraid to choose him as an advocate because you would not be able to stand up to him, if you made a decision and he disagreed. Want to prove him wrong, choose him and show him you have learned from your experiences." Then she walked over to the desk and took her seat again, saying to the room in general, "We have covered a lot of subject today. It is time to take some action, but first I have one thing to take care of. Franco I offered you the chance to choose an advocate during your stay at St. Mungo's Annex… you refused one, but I am hoping you have reconsidered. I make the offer again… who would you like to choose as an advocate?"
Franco heard what Air had told him. His brother thought he was a chicken. Smiling as he said, "If I can, I would like to choose Marco Spellman?"
Arianna smiled and winked at Marco, who looked very surprised. "Very well Franco, please join me at my desk; Marco you also please and Richard I will need you up here." When all three men stood in front of her she said, "Marco Spellman, it has been requested by your brother, that you act as his advocate, in the event he is unable to either medically think for himself or needs advice," Air turned to Franco, "which he may choose to accept or refuse." Turning back to Marco she asked, "Do you agree with this?"
Marco looked at Franco as he said, "You sure that you want me Frankie? You have never been able to stay in the same room for an hour let alone twenty-four."
Franco smiled as he answered, "You scared Marco that I will finish what I started earlier? I am not weak just because I won't fight you or anybody else if given another way. To answer your question though, yes I am sure but let's get one thing straight. I won't take your "Take Charge" attitude. You might be the oldest now but that don't make you dad or James! Understand, I want my brother not my boss?"
Marco looked at Air and sadly shook his head as he said, "I accept but you guys better not even think of railroading him because my brothers, especially Frankie are not traitors. Frankie, You better keep that fiery attitude and stop beating yourself up."
Air again smiled and looked at Richard. "Franco is to have a complete Muggle physical including cavity search and all Caretaker protocols are to be added. I want his and Seth's physicals done separately. I am going to end this meeting, because too much ground needs to be covered. Take charge of your people Richard and I want a report every six hours. If I need to attend any of the secessions, let me know."
Richard nodded and turned toward Franco and Marco. "Please go and stand by the door. We are not using restraints but I will if I need to." He looked toward the back of the room and said, "Seth you and Pippin, please join us at the door. Lance, you Max and Darik can leave now. Brennan, you are welcome to come, but since I know Apparating makes you sick, please do not take too long to make your way to the special unit at the hospital. It will be locked down, so you will have to use, the Caretaker counter-lock to get in. Once you are in though, please disable even that, understood?"
Richard did not wait for an answer, but went to the door and he and the other four disappeared. Lance, Max and Darik had already gone. The next stop was the separate housing unit, which had been taken over by the Caretakers as a specialty unit. Originally, it was a house built on the hospital property as a safe-house for Tia's father, Tia and her brother. The last thing Richard heard was Air telling everyone they were dismissed.
Neo waited until only he and Air remained and then asked, "Are you sure having Frankie and Marco in the same area is a good idea? This side of Frankie I have only seen twice before and both times the end result was not pretty."
Air smiled and nodded. "It will be alright Cooler, I think better your brother than you. I wanted someone there for Franco, because this is going to be rough. I know he is not a traitor Neo, but if he continues to act like he is, then it is going to be very difficult not to bring him up on charges. It would not mean an Azkaban stay, but the Caretaker confinement is not pleasant either. You all spent a week there, just so you would know what it was like. I hope to have Marco, keep your brother mentally and emotionally fighting until we can reach some type of conclusion. What I need you to do is find me information on Fixer, anything no matter how small will help." Air stopped for a moment and came around to the other side of the desk and sat on the edge of it."Cooler, I do not, I repeat, I do not want the man touched in anyway. I want information only."
Standing back up she returned to her seat and said, "Now dismissed… you have a lot to do… let your family know where Franco is, but if any of them try and release him before I do, then I will not hold back on repercussions." Air waved her hand and started to russel through the paper on the desk.
CLOSED