A/N: As always,

Enjoy.

Disclaimer

: All characters of the Harry Potter series (hereafter known as 'legal property') are the sole ownership of J.K. Rowling (hereafter known as 'owner of said legal property'). No infringement on any copyright of owner of said legal property of the legal property is knowing intended. Published by author (hereafter known as 'other') for entertainment purposes only. No monetary or personal gain was knowingly made by other with the publication of this story, which was based on ideas and characters created by owner of said legal property as they pertain to legal property. No plagiarism of legal property or of any ideas of the owner of said legal property was knowingly intended by other. This statement is fully transferable and is legally held binding for all chapters of the story Family Ties as they are presented under different chapter headings and titles for individual chapters.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: TALON BLACK

Becca sat nervously looking about the foyer of the house Mr. Black and his wife had brought her to.

They had apparated to the front of the house. Then, after being led into the small foyer area by a small house elf, Mr. Black and Katlin had followed the elf out of the foyer, leaving Becca seated on a small bench, with a brief promise to return shortly.

To her that had seemed hours ago.

Where was Mr. Black?
Where was Katlin?

Oh, how she wished Katlin were still there. Katlin was so good at explaining things to her. So patient and understanding.

Before they had left Katlin had never seemed to leave her side, patiently listening to her concerns and answering her questions. And no matter how many she ask, Mr. Black's wife always seemed to listen as attentively to the hundredth one as she had the first.

Mr. Black seemed to get bored after the first five.

But Katlin had gone with Mr. Black and she was left alone in this room with nothing to do but wait.

Getting to her feet, she began to pace about the foyer. It seemed a good way to help her calm down a little. Just by giving her body something to do rather than sitting there waiting for Mr. Black to return.

But eventually even that tonic wore off and her nervousness returned.

Just as she was sure she was about to scream from the building tension, she heard voices approaching the open area.

One of them she immediately recognized as Mr. Black's. But the second voice she had never heard before and she did everything she could to try and simply vanish into the cushion as she tried very hard not to seem nervous or anxious.

"All right then, Becca," Orion said, coming back into the foyer, "let's make introductions then, shall we?"

Becca felt a small amount of relief sweep through her when she saw Katlin had returned with her husband and immediately turned her attention to the second man who had entered the room with them.

"Becca," Orion drew her attention back to him, "this is my father, Talon Black. Father, this is Becca."

The new occupant in the foyer walked straight over to her, all the while giving her a hard, appraising look.

Becca kept a carefully measured distance between them as the man looked her over, as she equally did a quick appraisal of him.

From her point of view, the man seemed a simply older version of Mr. Black, with the same dark hair and angular face that seemed set in a permanent scowl.

Becca waited for the man to say something, but he simply continued to look her over as though she were no more to him than an interesting object in the room.

True to her nature, Becca never allowed the man to get behind her, but turned with him so that he walked around her.

Finally Talon turned his attention back to his son.

"You said she has no host." He stated.

Orion nodded.

Without a word, the tower of dark robes materialized in the room.

Again Becca felt a wave of relief sweep along her nerves, but for a different reason this time. Whereas Katlin seemed an unending source of kindness and patience, Bo was a familiar face she could relate to on her own level. Someone who made her feel safe simply by being close by.

But rather than getting any sort of acknowledgement from him, the boggart seemed to focus all of his attention on the man next to him.

"What do you make of her?" Talon ask, turning to the tower of dark robes.

The boggart stood perfectly still, making none of his usual gestures. But Becca got the definite impression something was going on between the two as the man stood staring at the boggart with fixed attention. Finally he nodded and the man turned his attention back to his son.

"Leave her with me for a while. I'd like to question her about a few things. Get a better idea of where we stand."

Orion answered the man with no more than a nod.

But as Talon directed her out of the foyer, Becca's nerves got the better of her. She didn't much care for the stoic older man and she liked even less being left alone with him.

"Katlin?" She ask tentatively.

Katlin turned back to her and gave her a small smile. "It'll be fine, Becca." She reassured her. "You go with Talon. He's not going to hurt you. All he wants to do is ask you a few questions. That's all. And Bo will be there. So you won't be alone."

The news was a marginal relief for her, and she managed a small, but unhappy nod in return.

(-----------------------------------------)

Several hours later Talon Black walked into the room where his elder son sat reading in front of a glowing fire. Next to him his wife sat sipping on a cup of tea. Behind him a very sedate Becca followed, making a beeline for the side of the sofa closest to Katlin, where she quickly deposited herself, folding her hands tightly in her lap as she stared intently at the floor.

"Well?" Orion ask, studying the girl's demeanor with interest and wondering just how well the 'interview' had gone.

Talon gave a loud sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose before answering.

"I thought you said the girl was naive?"

Orion looked up. "You didn't think so?"

"I don't think 'naive' begins to cover her. 'Clueless' seems a bit more on the mark."

"She's not stupid." Orion interjected quickly in Becca's defense.

"I didn't say 'stupid'. And she's hardly that."

Katlin already had a arm around the girl's shoulders and was speaking quietly her.

"As long as she's been in this realm, she should really be much further along. Far more adapted. But she almost gives one the impression she was called.....a matter of days ago...instead of years."

"Becca's been a bit.........sequestered." Orion offered.

"She's been locked up." His father replied bluntly. "She told me about her 'master' and her time with him. The man was an idiot. The whole situation was the equivalent of giving a five year old child a stick of dynamite and a lighter and telling him to go have fun. He had no idea what he was dealing with. And what's worse, he apparently couldn't even control her. Since here she is, far outside the influence of the one who called her."

"That was more my doing than Becca's." Orion pointed out. "Heudros was simply abusing Becca's power. It was best we got her away from him."

"And I'm not saying that wasn't a necessary move." Talon agreed. "But you should have kept better control of her after that."

"There wasn't a lot of time." Orion defended. "At that moment I was more interested in saving the lives of several other people."

"Well, she can't just be left as she is, running about without anyone watching over her. She's far to naive about this realm yet for that. If someone even less scrupulous than this Heudros were to get a hold of her.........."

"Someone less scrupulous already has." Orion reminded his father.

"And thankfully she escaped." He conceded, folding his hands behind him. "So for now, I think we need to focus on the most pressing problem. What to do with this...girl."

Becca had sat silently through the conversation, carefully following it as it jumped back and forth between the two men. But in her opinion they had already lost sight of the most important matter at hand. "But we have to find the elder!" She suddenly blurted out.

Both men simultaneously turned to her.

"Becca," Orion answered her in as patient a tone as he could, "if this elder is as strong as you indicate Richard says he is, he can take care of himself for the moment."

"But we have to warn him about Richard!" Becca insisted. "And to do that, we have to find him!"

"And we will." Orion tried to reassure her. "But in the meantime, my girl, we have to make sure you're protected too. That you can protect yourself from this 'Richard'."

"Me?"

"Yes. Now, Becca, be honest.........how well can you do magic?"

The Fledgling 'Power' crossed her arms in front of her. "I destroyed the castle." She stated with great resolve.

"Yes, you did. And good for you. But how well can you, say, transfigure something? Or apparate. Or even cast a simple spell?"

Orion watched as the defiant light in the girl's eyes flickered and all but went out.

"Honestly, now, Becca." Orion repeated.

"I can do magic." She stated simply.

Talon gave a huff of impatience and took a cup off the coffee table and placed it on the mantel above the fireplace.

"Give me a saucer." He stated firmly to her.

Becca quickly reached over to the table and picked up the saucer that had been under the cup and handed it to the man.

Katlin hastily seized hold of her arm and pulled it down. She carefully took the saucer from her before Talon could respond in the way Katlin was sure he would to the display.

"No, no, dear." She corrected her gently. "Talon meant he wants you to transfigure the cup into a saucer." She explained, pointing to where the cup still sat.

Becca turned her attention to the saucer, for several moments just staring at it.

In her expression alone Orion could see the sheer force of concentration she was putting into the task. Something that was surely overkill for something so simple.

Finally the fledgling 'Power' raised her hand and pointed a finger at the cup.

Orion felt he had to give her credit when only half the mantel disappeared in a shower of sparks, smoke, and debris.

"I.....I'm sorry." Becca stammered, looking more shocked than anyone else in the room. "I....I didn't mean for that to happen."

"Unfortunately," Talon replied slowly, looking over the remains of his mantel before turning back to her, "I believe you."

"She's very good at that." Orion pointed out.

"But I can do magic." The girl stated in an almost pleading tone for her effort to be recognized for what it was.

The older wizard turned back to the still smoking remains of his mantel. "That is not magic." He stated bluntly, turning back to her. "That is an unfocused release of a magic force. But it is not magic by any means."

"But it is magic." Becca replied, her voice starting to shake.

"That is not magic!" Talon stated more forcibly. "That is a wild, uncontrolled, untrained, destructive force. But please do the rest of us the courtesy of never again referring to that as magic."

"She's trying her best, Talon." Katlin cut in, wrapping an arm about the girl's slumped shoulders. "She hasn't had the benefits that Bo has. She hasn't had anyone to show her how to live here or what she needs to do to better control her magic."

"Then she's more a danger to herself than anyone else." The older man replied, none of the hard edge leaving his voice. "If she's that inept with her magic, she would be better off being sent back where she was called from."

A joint cry of denial answered the proposal from both Katlin and Becca. One a blatant refusal and the other a plea.

"How can you even suggest such a thing?" Katlin stated fiercely.

"By knowing what we're facing here." Talon replied, not backing down in the face of his daughter-in-law's outrage. "She's a danger here. That....that 'child' could very well destroy this world if she put her mind to it."

Katlin turned to Becca with a solid stare. "Becca, do you want to destroy the world?"

The girl quickly shook her head.

"She doesn't have to 'want to'." Talon stated. "She could end up doing it by pure accident. Look at that mantel." He indicated the still smoking remains behind him. "That is but a very small fraction of what she is capable of."

"And she didn't ask to be here!" Katlin defended the girl firmly. "She deserves a chance at least."

"And that type of sentimentality tends to get people killed, Katlin. In these situations, sometimes one has to take a firm position."

"She came to us for help, Talon." Katlin replied in a calm, level tone. "I am not going to repay her act by....by 'dealing' with her." Katlin gave both men a look that warned them off before she turned her attention back to the girl huddled next to her. "OK, Becca," she said gently, "you can 'do' magic. But how well can you 'control' your magic?"

The fledgling 'Power' started to answer, but stopped and fell silent again.

Katlin reached over and carefully took the girl's hands in her's. "Becca, we want to help you. But in order for us to do that, you have to be honest with us."

The girl paused, then slowly turned to the floor. "I can do magic." She stated again, but in a much lower voice. "But sometimes......I can't stop it. It just.....seems to get out of control."

"And has anyone ever tried to teach you to control your magic?" Katlin asked.

"Richard.....Richard tried." She offered in a quiet voice.

Orion's father continued to study the girl, rubbing his beard as he listened to her. "What puzzles me," he said finally, "is how could she have come this far without being able to control her magic."

"I don't think she ever had to." Orion answered after thinking for a few moments. "Everything Becca did was basically done through Heudros' thirteen. Becca was little more than a battery for them. The only time Heudros let her do magic on her own was when he needed something done on a grand scale." Orion turned to the girl. "Am I right, Becca?" He asked her.

Becca stared up at him for a few seconds as she thought over the question. "I helped the thirteen carry out Heudros' wishes." She finally phrased her answer. "If Heudros needed them to take care of some problem, I was to supply them with the magic they needed to do his will. But I never went with them. I only went out with Heudros. I only served him directly."

Talon was still studying Becca carefully. "The girl's got power, there's no doubt about that." He stated. "The problem is she can't control it, and as such, can't use it to protect herself."

"So what do you suggest?" Orion asked.

"I've already gave my opinion on this matter." He replied. "The girl is a danger both to herself and everything in this realm. Sending her back to where she was called from is the only answer."

"That's not the only answer." Katlin spoke up firmly, cutting off Becca's cry of protest. "In fact, it isn't even an option from where I stand."

"Because you are allowing your sentiments to cloud your judgment." Talon replied in an equally stern voice.

"What she needs isn't to be dealt with like an unsavory problem simply made to vanish." Katlin replied, not backing down in the least. "She isn't a 'thing', Talon. She's a frightened, confused young girl. What she needs is our help. She needs training. Both in controlling her magic in this realm and in learning to protect herself."

Talon raised an eyebrow. "And you're going to give her this 'training'?" He asked.

Katlin shook her head. "I wouldn't even begin to try and qualify myself as Becca's teacher. But I can think of one person who could be."

Orion already felt he wasn't going to like the answer. "And that would be?"

Katlin turned to her husband with a somber expression. "Orin Bale."

Q&A

ilovesiriusblack

:

So if powers can sense each other, if Richard can find this other power then so can Bo unless of course Richard is an idiot and Bo is the elder?

Welllllllllll......................, how to answer this?

Can the 'Powers' sense each other?

Sort of. It depends on a lot of factors. One, are they trying to shield themselves? Remember, Orion is currently having Bo shield Becca from Richard so he can't 'sense' her. Next, is the 'Power' strong enough to sense other? It takes a certain degree of magical ability, either inherent or work at, to be able to sense another 'Power'.

If Richard can find this other 'Power' then so can Bo.

That's actually a very interesting question/statement, Dear. Think about it. If the 'Powers' can sense each other, and Richard said there were others in this realm, then why hasn't Bo 'sensed' them, so-to-speak? Orion said that Becca was the first of Bo's own kind he had ever met. So has Bo actually never found any of his own kind, or has he just not ever bothered to look?

Is Richard an idiot?

Kind of depends on who you're asking, I guess. I mean, Richard doesn't see himself as an idiot. The elder might feel very differently on the matter.

Is Bo the elder?

By the end of this story you'll know who the elder is. But it would make the story sort of pointless to tell you now.

All reviews are as of 8/16/2009.

And remember;

Folks, take it from me. Do NOT ever have elective surgery one day and schedule a root canal the next. Just don't do it.