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Posted May 24, 2012.

-CHAPTER 10-
CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT

Evening of August 10, 2000

For the first time since before Jason's birthday, he and Mace were alone for the evening. As much as Jason appreciated the company and so on, it was nice to actually have a bit of peace and quiet. So, the pair of them were squished up together in an overly large bean chair, on the back porch of the house, enjoying each others' company. The heat was still with them, suffocating southwestern Ontario in a near-deadly bout of heat and humidity. The two of them, however, were more than comfortable, thanks to the use of mild cooling charms.

"Hey Jason."

"Yeah."

"You give that hourglass thing anymore thought?"

"No, not really. I mean, though it brought me to you... we almost died, so... I'm a bit weary of it."

"Makes sense, I guess. You are a magnet for disasters, based on what you told me."

"Ain't that the truth," Jason snorted, digging in the pocket of his shorts, and pulling out the strange device. Even though it did make him weary, he kept it on him. In retrospect, it had given him a way to escape a dire situation, and had saved both of them from a situation far worse. Still... "I keep it on me just the same... it got me out of two dire situations, right?'

"True. But you're not curious how it works, shit like that?"

"You mean experiment with it? No thanks. We could end up in Timbuktu for all I know."

"That's a real place you know."

"Really?" Jason let out a giggle. "Well... let's not test it out anyway. Or well... I'd rather not land on another spacecraft with a piss-poor air supply."

"Maybe you might pick up another boyfriend."

"I like the one I got," Jason smirked. He let out a yawn and gave a stretch, but snuggled in close again. "You're mine, forever." He craned his neck so their eyes met, and they kissed, while Jason's hand was busy feeling under Mace's shirt, rubbing his chest.

Sometime later, Mace slowly came awake. They were still cuddled together on the bean bag, with the only light being from the moon, and Jason still clutched the strange device in his hand—the device that brought them together. He dared reach out and touch it. It was a rather unique device, come to think of it—never mind its magical properties. He got to thinking, if Jason was able to save him... could they go back and perhaps... save anyone else? A picture of a certain nerdy physicist popped into his head.

Jason's blissful dream of flying with his boyfriend and doing unnatural things on a broom were rather abruptly shattered, with the rather obvious motions of travelling by port key. What the hell? Flying across time and space, he was already assessing the worst: Death Eaters had somehow gotten to him and his boyfriend. He cursed at himself in his head. He'd put too much trust in the security of Canada's magical borders, and now it had proven costly. Question was, were they taking them directly to the Dark Lord, or to some undisclosed location which the Dark Lord would attend once he was summoned?

They landed rather roughly, in a narrow corridor which was dimly lit. Jason produced his wand at once, but let out a breath he was holding. There were no Death Eaters waiting for them, wherever this was.

"Bloody hell what did you do?" Jason hissed, rounding on his boyfriend.

"Jesus Christ, it... I didn't expect... Jason... listen to me. We're in the payload. The bomb," said Mace, seriously.

"How-"

"We've got about two or three minutes at most. Listen." Sure enough, Jason could hear someone speaking, although it was hard to make out what was actually being said.

"You owe me an explanation, Mace. I mean it. Where would they be?"

"This way." Jason shivered, feeling the chilly air, and dispelled the cooling charm he'd placed on himself, but quickly caught up. The room was enormous, with shiny black walls, floors, and the ceiling, dimly lit by a few sparse lights. Jason could make out three people to one side of the room, and as they got close, one of them looked... wrong. More frightening, he or it had one of the others lifted off the ground, quite literally choking them with his bare hands.

"Stupefy!" Jason snapped, wand at the ready. The spell missed, and fizzled into the wall off in the distance. That, of course, was enough of a distraction for the second to grab the attacker's arm. The attacker simply hurled the person, a female crew member, off the side. She vanished out of sight.

"Cassie!" Mace immediately recognized her, but... she was gone.

"Stupefy!" Jason roared again, and once again, the assailant managed to duck the spell. However...

KAWHACK! Mace's aim was dead on, the icy projectile catching the assailant in the throat. He fell over almost in slow motion, releasing his victim, who collapsed in a heap.

"Capa?" Mace was at his side as fast as his legs would carry him. The guy was clearly in bad shape.

"M-mace? How?" Capa whispered. He looked gravely ill.

"The bomb. You gotta trigger the bomb. C'mon."

"Stomach... P-pinbacker got me good..." Capa wheezed, and tried to sit up.

"Fuck. Jason, help me, we gotta get him to the payload's controls. He's the only one who can do this."

"T-two minutes... we won't make it," Capa whispered.

"Like fuck we won't." Mace picked up the smaller man, and threw him bodily over his shoulder. "This way." Mace set off toward the opposite wall, and Jason could make out some sort of depression in the floor. He meanwhile started casting healing charms on the stranger.

"I could've levitated him in front of us," said Jason.

"No. Gotta save your magical reserves, remember? How'd that thing work before?"

"Twist the knob on the end. So that's what you did. What were you thinking of and doing just before it went off?"

"No, I didn't twist anything. I just... got thinking, what if we could save other people here. C-capa's face popped into my head, next thing we're being port keyed here."

"N-not making sense, Mace," said Capa, sounding a little better.

"Hold your questions," said Jason, and for the first time, the pair's eyes met. Jason immediately remembered his godfather, seeing Capa's mesmerizing blue eyes. Capa, meanwhile, had never seen such green eyes as those belonging to Jason. They were then travelling down a short ramp, and along a short corridor.

"Put me down," said Capa, "Open the unit case—that one, and put it on the floor so I can reach it." Mace put Capa down, while Jason pulled the case off of the pedestal, and put it within the guy's reach, then opened it. It contained a series of controls—switches, knobs, and dials. Capa was already manipulating those, obviously in some kind of sequence.

"Jason... the device," said Mace, "We'll have about thirty seconds once he finishes."

"How did you get here anyway?" Capa questioned, his eyes still fixed on the box he was operating.

"Long story. Guess my friend here missed you. We're all leaving once you're finished."

"Just about there." Jason happened to look up, to see a single spark bloom high above them... and then another... and another.

"Time to go. Capa... grab on," said Mace, offering a hand, while gripping Jason's shoulder. Capa grabbed it, and Jason twisted the knob on the hourglass, his home back in Ontario fixed firmly in his mind. They vanished in a whirl of black smoke.

Much to Jason's relief, they landed in a heap in his back yard. "Are you bloody mental?" he snapped, "We could've died!"

"HEY! I didn't expect it to actually go off, you know! I sure as hell didn't do this on purpose!" Mace snapped right back.

A new voice joined the argument. "Stop and explain what the FUCK just happened." Capa sat on the ground, looking completely confused. "Better question, you got some sort of first-aid kit?" He ripped open the armoured vest he was wearing, to expose a very serious wound across his abdomen.

"Merlin's pants. Kreacher!" Jason shouted. The old elf appeared with his customary noisy pop. "I need Essence of Dittany, right away." The elf bowed and popped away.

"Mace... go floo Upper Canada Hospital, tell them we need a healer here immediately."

"Got it." Mace scrambled to his feet, and tore into the house.

"What... I'm dead... gotta be dead," Capa muttered.

"Trust me, you're not. I'm Jason, by the way." He offered a hand.

"Capa." They shook. "What... how... where am I, guess that's the best question."

"This is my place. We're a few miles away from a small place called Port Stanley, on the north side of Lake Erie. Thanks to your friend here, we were teleported to you." With a pop, the elf was back, and he held out a small brown bottle.

"Thank you, Kreacher." As the elf bowed and popped away, Jason vanished Capa's shirt, exposing his torso, and the terrible injury. "How'd this happen?"

"Pinbacker... the guy who had me by the throat... slashed me with a scalpel—ow!"

"Sorry." Jason was applying the solution with the dropper included with the lid, and the wound was knitting itself. It would do, but the healers would be able to do a better job.

"How's he doing?" Mace had reappeared, along with a short witch wearing the lime-green robes of a healer.

"Essence of Dittany," said Jason.

"I'm Healer Linda. What happened?"

"Sliced open with a Muggle surgical tool," said Jason, as the healer knelt beside Capa.

"The only injury?"

"Uh, yes, ma'am," Capa answered, still looking very confused. He got a further shock, as the woman drew a small stick, and began making a series of motions with it. He felt himself tingle for a moment.

"You've suffered from lack of oxygen... nearly twenty-four hours."

"Um... difficult to explain."

"I'll take it from here, Mr. Black."

"Right." Jason stopped applying the Essence of Dittany, and stepped back. The healer, meanwhile, set to work, rapidly healing the gaping wound. Jason was amazed at how quickly she worked, and within only minutes, it was as if the injury had never happened. She cast a few more diagnostic charms to be sure she hadn't missed anything.

"Thank you for your help, Healer Linda."

"Not a problem, Mr. Black."

"I'll lead you back to the floo, then." Jason led the healer back into the house. Mace, meanwhile, offered a hand. "Let's go inside... got a lot of explaining to do."

"Yeah... no doubt." Capa looked completely bewildered at what was going on, but he took the offered hand, and was helped back to his feet.

They met Jason at the door.

"Right. Let's go sit down. And since you made this mess, Mace, you can explain things." Jason was clearly still unimpressed with what just happened. Mace narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend, but softened. It was true, after all. Intentional or not, he'd been the one to touch the object and cause their unexpected trip back to the Icarus II.

"You were dead, though," said Capa, "I went by you, you were a block of ice!"

"He wasn't quite," answered Jason, as they took seats in the living room. Kreacher produced a platter of snacks, as well as a few bottles of Muggle beer. Mace had been unimpressed with Butterbeer, and somehow coaxed the old elf into keeping 'stronger stuff' stocked.

"What... exactly is he?" Capa dared ask, watching the elf patter back into the kitchen.

"He's a house elf, and someone I now call a friend. I'll properly introduce you to him later."

"Amazing. Never saw something like that before. But seriously. Mace, you were dead. I'm sure of it."

"Would've died, if Jason hadn't shown up. You were already gone by then, but... he hauled my ass out of the coolant tank, fixed my leg, now here we are."

"By that thing you're holding." Capa gestured to the hourglass, still in Jason's hand. Interestingly, it had a red glow to it.

"This saved both our asses, actually... and now yours. Still don't know what it's for exactly."

"Time travel," said Mace.

"Not."

"No, seriously. We were on the Icarus II for three, maybe four days... memory's a little messed up on that one, but come on. The bomb would've been triggered long before we left the ship."

"All right, all right, I concede. Fuck, if the Ministry ever caught wind of what we did, we'd all end up in Azkaban, I think."

"Wizard prison," said Mace, seeing Capa's strange look.

"As in witches and wizards."

Jason only smirked, drawing his wand. "Wingardium Leviosa," He intoned, giving the wand a swish and a flick toward the platter of treats. It instantly lifted off the table, to hover in the air.

"And if that doesn't fuck you up..." Mace smirked, producing a wand of his own. "Lumos." The tip lit up, while Jason cancelled his own charm, letting the platter float back down to the table top.

Capa sat there, stunned. Real magic! Stuff that defies the very edicts of science itself! The possibilities threatened to run away with him. Even after Mace ended the light coming from the end of his wand, he could still see it, like a ghost, blowing holes in everything he knew. And...

"How? Fuck, Mace, you've been keeping a lot of secrets, then."

"He found some sort of book that came with this device. It somehow gave him the ability to use magic—normally something not possible. I'm still not even sure of how it worked. A person normally has to be born with a magical core. Merlin, you shouldn't know about us as it is... but too bad... if you two are friends..." Jason pinched the bridge of his nose again. His boyfriend had really stepped in it in a way. There would have to be a floo call to Sandra in the morning.

"You really thought of me when you... um... set that off." Capa pointed to the device now resting in Jason's lap.

"Yeah." Mace felt his face get rather hot, and Jason smirked, knowing what his mate was feeling.

Capa, though, seemed to be oblivious. He ran a hand through his hair and said, "God, so much bullshit though. Why me?"

"I dunno, just... I missed you the most."

Capa arched an eyebrow. "For real? Sure didn't act like that earlier, before, um..."

"Yeah, I was a dick. Guess being away from the shit that was going on, being here, being with Ha—Jason here, you don't realize things until it's too late, right? I think we were all crazy at the end of it, each in our own way."

"I guess." Capa leaned back on the couch. "Searle was a little obsessed with staring at the sun, and I mean... I think Cory was already dead, after the Oxygen Garden was destroyed. I think Cassie was the sanest of us all, really. Though she did like to tune us out and fall into her books a lot."

"And you obsessed over the payload."

"Like you and the mainframe."

"Right, yeah... true." Mace cracked a smile for the first time since much earlier in the evening. "Eighteen months stuck together with each other... we drove each other crazy." Mace felt like he was talking to a ghost at this point. "I'm sorry... for being such a jackass to you at times."

"It's all right... everything got done in the end, didn't it? I guess the big question is, what now?"

"For now, you still look like death warmed over," said Jason, "Come with us, I'll show you to a spare room. You can get some sleep, and we'll chat more in the morning."

As the pair climbed into bed, Jason wasted no time pulling his boyfriend close. "First thing that went through my mind, when I realized we were being port keyed somewhere... I thought Death Eaters had found us. I know you didn't trigger this thing on purpose, but please... be careful. There are so many things out there that are a hell of a lot more dangerous than this is."

"Yeah... serves me right... know the old expression though... curiosity killed the cat."

Jason let out a giggle at the visual that presented itself. "Merlin... how true is that?" He thought for a moment, then said, "I'm calling Bill over tomorrow, gonna get him to set up some wards on the property. After you scared me half to death, it did get me thinking. If they ever figure out where we live, they could show up here by port key... send us a port key in the mail that is activated by touch... it's just too easy, and too open right now."

"The fireplace... they could come through that way too, right?"

"Exactly. Bill's a curse breaker and a warder, so he can help set up security here." He let out a yawn. "Let's get some sleep."

During breakfast the following morning, both Jason and Mace filled Capa in exactly what sort of world he now found himself in. It included a rather detailed tale of how Jason came to be on the Icarus II—Jason had briefly pulled the hourglass out just to show it, and hastily put it away, to, in his words, "Avoid further incidents." there were also several visits into the pensieve—Capa was amazed at power of the device, and the possibilities for its use.

Exiting the pensieve after viewing the last memory, Capa felt his face getting very hot, and it felt like... a stone had fallen into the bottom of his stomach. Now, seeing Mace and the young wizard together, everything made sense... and somewhere in the back of his mind, he felt like he'd been left behind. A small part of him was screaming, "That should've been me!"

He mentally sighed. No. It wasn't meant to be. There had been no time for love on board the Icarus II, no matter how much the temptation had been there. That small part of him now wished they'd not come back for him, and allowed him to burn up with the stellar bomb he'd created. For now, he would be reminded of something he could have had... and an opportunity missed.

AUTHOR NOTES: So yeah, Capa makes a return to the living, so to say. It just felt appropriate. Mace will certainly make mistakes, and this one's rather tame, compared with ideas I do have. If anything, this one gets him a friend back—let's face it, the two of them do have a ton of respect for one another, among other things. As to how Capa will fit into the new world he finds himself, we'll have to wait & see—and no, he will not become a wizard. That's a one-off thing, I think. But of course, it doesn't make him any less useful, the man is absolutely brilliant, right?