Dark Horse, a Glee + Last Witch Hunter Crossover fanfic

Dark Horse

If he'd learned anything over the centuries, it was that you could find magic in the most unlikely places. The Axe and Cross thought witches tended to congregate near coasts, for the balance of elements. But truthfully the four elements were present everywhere. And so were witches.

Small town witches were more subtle, more careful. In places where everybody knew everyone else's business it paid to learn discretion. And in the Midwest, well…when people didn't have anything else to do but watch their neighbors…best to do nothing that bore watching. At least nothing to do with magic.

Most witches plied their craft upon the land. They created small workings designed to encourage the growth of crops. Or the health of livestock. Things that increased the prosperity of the entire community and benefited them indirectly.

This town was a bit more sprawling, and could claim a roller rink, movie theater, several restaurants and diners, and a mall. It wasn't, strictly speaking, your typical small town where the sidewalks rolled up at eight pm. It was large enough to support a public school system and police force. Businesses did well enough it seemed.

He couldn't put his finger on what it was that made the place feel like one of the tiny villages he'd passed through during and after the Black Plague. Maybe it was that he saw jersey after jersey on boys who were likely high school age. He still found it interesting, the fairly recent development of an educational system that insisted upon schooling until a child was at least sixteen. He'd seen younger die in wars, at work, in sickness, and they'd been considered men and women.

Who was to say if this (relatively) new way of living was for better or worse? There'd hardly been enough time to give the disparate ways of life due consideration. If he was still around in a few hundred years he'd have to evaluate how things had worked out.

But this town, Lima, they called it (like the bean, not the city of Peru), he saw more black, white and red uniforms of various types than anything else. On the kids at least. Seemed like small towns (no matter their actual size/population) tended to emphasize sports as a pastime more than anything else. Maybe to encourage a work ethic. Maybe for the competition. Or the chance for everyone to turn out on a Friday night for some game.

He doubted he'd have felt that surge of magic if it had been a Friday night. But this was a perfectly ordinary Thursday. Figured that it was coming from the high school. Magic could be obvious from birth or it could lie hidden, but when a witch hit the teen years, their power tended to surge along with emotions and hormones.

Child's play to slip inside and follow that thread. He might not be able to conjure or create, couldn't brew or cast, but he knew the feel of magic by now. He didn't need a needle on a piece of cork floating in a cup of water to lead him. Not here in a place almost barren of magic.

Maybe that was the other reason this place felt so small. There wasn't much in the way of magic or witches here. Unlike other towns nearby, skirting the big cities, which he had driven through and noted a normal (odd word considering the property he'd been measuring) amount of magic.

Small towns, villages, communities, insular and suspicious of outsiders. Where everyone knew everyone else's business…tended to choke magic out like it was some sort of weed.

Funny thing though, and most people (including the Axe and Cross) didn't make the connection, in places where magic was healthy and thriving, the arts flourished. There was a reason so many actors, singers, musicians, artists and performers of all types flocked to the cities. Magic seemed to feed art.

Maybe it was the idea that magic could make so many things seem possible. Even if those things were only an illusion, people would dream and turn what they saw into something beautiful of their own creation. Maybe it was some kind of symbiosis no one had ever considered. Too much magic and the human race withered and died as witches took over. Too little and the soul died for lack of belief in the intangibles of the spirit.

Who knew? He shook his head, smiling to himself as he walked soundlessly down hallways lined with lockers and tiled with something that fifty years ago surely would have been imitation terrazzo made of asbestos. That had been one of mankind's stupider ideas. Effective but ultimately stupid. Old as this building was, and McKinley High was pretty damn old, asbestos tile was a possibility. Except most schools were forced to get rid of any of the hazardous (slight understatement there) materials. Even sealed tile that wouldn't be dangerous unless it was broken.

Auditorium. Decent size. Magic inside, practically sizzling against the walls. It soared along with the voices.

Interesting… He slipped inside the closest doors and took a seat. It had been a while since he'd been treated to this kind of a show. The two on stage didn't seem to notice him. Too wrapped up in each other. And their music.

"We gotta get better at pulling it back," The boy, a young man whose immediately obvious defining feature was a mohawk, told his companion. "We get carried away with the music it gets out of control."

"I know," The girl, olive skinned, dark haired like the boy, a profile straight out of the middle east. Jewish or Greek, maybe Egyptian… though the way the tribes of Israel had mixed and traveled all three were a possibility. "But if we don't…it just sounds lifeless."

"This really fuckin' sucks," The boy opined. "We were fine last week. What the hell happened?"

"I think it's called adolescence," The girl returned dryly. "Of which one of the notable symptoms is sudden change."

"Mood swings are one thing Rachel, but this," The boy gestured explosively. "If I'm gonna be run out of town on a rail can it be for something I did on purpose at least?"

"Noah, it'll be all right. We'll figure it out," The girl, Rachel, soothed.

Well, that figured. They were both witches and it seemed like the boy's magic was bursting at the seams (not quite literally but almost).

He'd better do something before they blew themselves up trying to figure it out. "Trouble is," He stood and began walking towards them. "You're trying to do two complex things at once."

The boy, Noah, stiffened and pushed the girl behind him, "Not supposed to be on school grounds unless you're a student or teacher."

"How do you know I'm not a teacher," Kaulder chuckled as he moved towards the stage and climbed the short set of steps leading up to it.

"We know all the teachers," Rachel's voice was prim and outraged both as she glared at him from behind her boyfriend.

"And you ain't one of 'em," Her boyfriend added. Hazel eyes fixed on Kaulder, sizing him up with the expertise of someone who's already been in more fights than he could count. Kaulder knew the instant the kid figured out who he was, "Shit. Shit." He began to back up, bringing his girlfriend with him, "You're worse."

"Worse than a teacher," Rachel muttered, bewildered. "He's not Coach Sue in disguise Noah."

"No, he's a fuckin' Witch Hunter," Noah snapped. "The Witch Hunter. Can't you feel it?"

One of these days he'd figure out how even baby witches could recognize him. He'd never been to this town before, not in his recollection, never met these two, but somehow they knew who he was. "Kaulder," He introduced himself. "And you're Noah and Rachel."

"What do you want?" The girl's voice trembled with nerves now but interestingly enough, no magic. Whatever she could do she'd gotten a handle on it early.

"Keep you two from killing yourselves with uncontrolled magic," Kaulder chuckled. "Witches…you always think I'm going to kill you, imprison you. Most of you I'm just trying to keep from killing yourselves."

"We've been doin' just fine without help," Noah retorted.

"Sure, that's why I felt the magic blast boiling out from this room from the street," Kaulder nodded in faux agreement. "What are you trying to do?"

"You heard of Katy Perry," The boy eyed him like he was pretty sure Kaulder didn't know anything about pop culture.

"No, when I drive I listen to audio books," The Witch Hunter rolled his eyes. "Yeah I've heard of Katy Perry. I haven't been living under a rock. Good singer, pretty girl, interesting lyrics. Big on female empowerment."

"That's part of why I like her so much," The diminutive girl nodded in agreement. "We're trying to do Dark Horse." She shrugged, "The video has a lot of magic in it and we're trying…evoke that feeling…without actually using magic on humans."

"Interesting idea," Kaulder took a seat on the piano bench and regarded the two witches thoughtfully. The girl, when she spoke, it was with carefully controlled power behind each word. Not to influence or control, it was if she used her magic to be heard. "Helluva song to pick."

"She's got two exes in the club with us," Noah remarked dryly. "I'm one of her favorite ways to make one of 'em jealous."

"That's not what this is about Noah," The girl shook her head.

"Yeah. Well. I got Finessa in my face telling me to stay away from you, like I couldn't kick his ass all the way to the county line," The young man smirked. "He's gonna be pissed at me no matter what so I might as well do what I want."

"He actually told you we couldn't talk to each other," Rachel seemed to forget Kaulder's presence in her outrage.

"Yeah, back when the two of you got back together, you know, before you found out he'd lied to you about Santana," Noah shrugged.

While the tiny olive skinned girl fumed, Kaulder looked over at the boy, "So what's the point of all this? Showing her exes that the two of you won't be controlled?"

"Plus we just like singing together," Noah shrugged. The slight unease in his eyes and wary tension to his stance hadn't eased one iota despite Kaulder sitting a yard and a half away from the two kids.

"Yeah, well seems like the issue is you're pushing your magic into your voice, you gotta sing with passion and that's sending your magic out of control," Kaulder shrugged back at the kid.

"Rachel doesn't have a problem, and no one sings better than she does," The kid ran a hand over his mohawk in irritation.

"Thank you Noah. But you have to remember, I've been singing since I could talk," The young woman spoke with the air of someone repeating the same thing for the umpteenth time. "Before I could do magic. I learned to put emotion, passion, into my voice but keep my breathing under control so my voice didn't break."

"That's why she can infuse her voice with magic and not have it boil over like a pot of noodles," Kaulder told them. "Control is second nature to her. Until it's the same for you, you're going to have problems."

"Shit," Noah shook his head. "Shit." He looked at the girl, "Do you think you can do it without me?"

"I could but it'd be really difficult," She frowned. "I don't know how obvious it would be afterwards that I'm worn down."

"Is there anything you do, easily, the way she sings," Kaulder tilted his head at the kid. "What do you do well, what have you been doing since you were talking?"

"Fighting," An immediate response. Interesting. "Football." The kid had to think a bit more and glance at Rachel, "Learned to play guitar when I was like…ten?"

"Around that age," Rachel nodded. "They had a children's guitar at temple that the Rabbi let you use."

"So use that," Kaulder shrugged at them. Seemed obvious enough to him. "You're not gonna be standing like a lump are you? Play the guitar and use that as the focus for your magic."

Rachel's face brightened and she nodded, grabbing a guitar from the rack near the piano, "Noah you can do that in your sleep."

The kid smoothed his mohawk down again, obviously a nervous gesture, and took the guitar, "Shit, if this doesn't work…"

"Then we'll just sing, and we can get our point across that way," The girl shrugged at him. "This was an experiment Noah. We sing together all the time."

That seemed to relax the young man more than anything and he gave her a sweet grin that made the girl blush. "Yeah we do."

Kaulder felt a low chuckle rise in his chest as it appeared for the moment the two young witches had forgotten his presence, "How long have the two of you been dating?"

"Oh," Rachel blinked and looked at him and then at the young man with a slight blush. "We're…we're not…"

"We dated for a week, long time back," Noah shrugged. "And she dumped me."

"Because you were still in love with Quinn," The phrase sounded well worn in her mouth and Kaulder smiled.

"Hey, I was never her boyfriend, I've never been anyone's boyfriend except yours," Another phrase, broken in so well that Noah kept tuning the guitar as he spoke.

"You were Lauren's boyfriend," She rolled her eyes with the reminder and Noah snorted in derision.

"Uh no, being her boy toy is not being a boyfriend," He countered. "And the only reason we're not dating is because you keep turning me down because you're still in love with Frankenteen."

"I am not," Rachel rolled her eyes again and Kaulder had the random thought that if she rolled her eyes any harder they'd get stuck looking backwards. "The reason we're not dating is because I'm not ready to have sex yet and that's your raison d'être."

"Is that all," Hazel eyes sparked with green, magic rising with his emotions. "Did I ever push you when we were dating? Even when we were alone in your room and you know damn well I could've seduced you after I sang for you in Glee club."

"No…" The girl shook her head. "But that was…"

"What? Different? Temporary?" Noah shook his head, "I liked being your boyfriend. My gorgeous little Jewish American princess…future star of Broadway, makin' the Tonies and Grammies your bitches. You'd take my arm like I wasn't the Lima loser everybody else thought I was."

"You weren't ever ashamed to walk down the hall with me," The girl seemed to be looking backwards into her memories as she spoke. "You quit football for me."

"Yeah, so you think we could try the dating thing again? For real this time," The boy took her hand. "Be my girlfriend? Wear this stupid class ring on a chain around your neck? It's got stars on it."

"Stars," She smiled. "If you'll wear mine." The two of them grinned at each other and Kaulder smirked.

"Kiss her already, and then take a breath and get the magic I can feel bubbling up under control," He suggested and got an annoyed glare from the kid and a blush from the girl.

Not that it stopped Noah from taking his advice. The two of them had a hot sweet clinch that would have devolved into a make-out/groping session if the guitar strings hadn't twanged when the instrument got caught between their bodies.

Kaulder chuckled as the two of them parted reluctantly, "Good start, now let's hear this song."

Rachel grinned and looked at Noah who obligingly began to play the guitar. A pure silky soprano flowed through the air as the girl sang into the microphone, "I knew you were…you were gonna come to me…"

Kaulder chuckled quietly as he walked through the school again. The kids had invited him to come and see their performance. Since it wasn't for the entire school they were singing in the choir room. It might have been hard to find if he hadn't learned the feel of their magic the night before.

He walked in and knew the two of them realized he was there. Rachel had half smiled as she explained, Kaulder might not be a practitioner of magic, but there was magic in him somehow. Any witch who knew to be alert for it would feel him coming if there weren't any other witches in the vicinity. Since she and Noah were the only ones in the school so far there was no mistaking when Kaulder was close.

Rachel looked up from the music she was studying and met his gaze in polite acknowledgement while Noah gave him a quick nod as he tuned a bright red electric guitar. The rest of the room took no notice of him. There were maybe a dozen kids, a collection including several of those uniforms, cheerleaders and jocks, others in what might be called civvies, some stylish, one of them goth and one in comfortable practical clothing and a wheelchair. Even Noah wore one of the letterman jackets though midway through tuning the guitar he pulled it off and tossed it over a chair.

Rachel looked as if she'd come straight out of the fifties in a little plaid skirt, knee highs, loafers and a sweater set. It was a cute look on her, though nothing about it made anyone think this was a witch with the magical leanings of a Siren. And maybe that was the point. Her old/new boyfriend didn't seem to have any problem with the prim style if the admiring glance he was giving her legs was any clue.

"Can I help you," A half confident, half concerned voice spoke from behind Kaulder and the Witch Hunter glanced over his shoulder at the shorter curly haired human male in a slightly worn suit jacket and tie.

"Kaulder," He nodded at the man. "Friend of Noah and Rachel's. Caught a little bit of their rehearsal and they invited me to hear the whole shebang."

"I…see…" The man clearly didn't but he nodded. "Well Mister Kaulder if you'll have a seat," He raised his voice, "And if everyone else will quiet down and take their seats."

"Mister Schue, why do we always gotta start out with Man-hands performing," A tanned brunette in a cheerleader's uniform complained.

"Do you have something prepared," Mister Schue (had to be the teacher/faculty sponsor of the club) inquired mildly. "Rachel and Puck have been working on this for a while from what I hear."

Puck. Interesting contrast to the name Noah. Kaulder tilted his head with a shrug and mouthed something. A moment later Kaulder heard the boy's voice near his ear, 'My last name's Puckerman. Been called Puck everywhere except Temple and home.' Kaulder nodded his understanding. The kid had better control of his magic than Kaulder had expected if he could do a whisper spell in front of this crowd with no one but Rachel noticing.

"Everyone, this is Mister Kaulder, he's a friend of Puck and Rachel's, here to observe," The teacher introduced him. Kaulder looked over the group again from his chair by the wall. Some pretty boys, probably couldn't throw a punch to save their lives, at least a few of them. One had a look on his face like the entire enterprise was a waste of his time. One of the jersey wearers looked like a mouth breather, another was cuddled up with the goth girl, both of them attentive to what their teacher was saying. Another of the pretty boys with very pale skin and carefully styled hair was whispering with a stylishly dressed black girl who had attitude all over her face. The three cheerleaders were whispering too, while a blond kid and another good looking dark haired kid sat quietly on either side of their gossiping boyfriend/girlfriend.

Probably a pretty typical bunch, nothing out of the ordinary, nothing special about any of them. Just normal teenagers. With no clue they were treating a powerful witch like dirt.

"Puck, Rachel, are you ready?" The teacher had a tone to his voice that suggested resignation and Kaulder found himself wondering how supportive the man really was of the girl. The way he said her name…no enthusiasm there.

"Yes," Rachel nodded. "Noah's got to finish tuning the guitar and I just need a minute to change please."

"You can use my office," Mister Schuester nodded towards the door behind the piano and Rachel grabbed a little duffle bag, dodged Noah's teasing swat to her rear with a laugh and ran for the office.

Noah smirked as he continued to tune the guitar, his eyes flicked towards the chairs in the risers and the mouth breather jock stiffened, while the bored pretty boy rolled his eyes as if Noah's behavior was uncouth as expected. When Rachel came back out of the office Kaulder grinned because the girl didn't look like she belonged in the fifties anymore. A white pleated shift dress, with several thick gold necklaces and high heeled sandals that reminded him of Rome.

Her dress definitely got her old(new?) boyfriend's attention and he grinned like he could see through the thing. The funniest reactions came from the rest of the group, the girls with narrowed eyes, though the little goth girl didn't seem irritated like the others, more thoughtful than spiteful. The boys seemed taken aback, the mouth breather and boredom boy both gave the girl their full attention, much to the displeasure of a blonde with a pageboy cut.

"All tuned up?" Rachel ignored the reactions she was getting to give her singing partner her attention.

"Yeah, we're good to go," Noah nodded and Kaulder found himself smirking in echo of the kids as they exchanged wicked little smiles. Rachel moved the microphone back, probably so they wouldn't deafen everyone in the room and took her place slightly in front of Noah.

Kaulder flattered himself that he'd seen a lot of actors come and go, a lot of performances, from lackluster to outstanding. But the girl took five steps and turned. And in that time somehow she transformed into a damn good imitation of Cleopatra.

Behind her, Noah wasn't quite the perfect copy of Amun Ra or Anubis but he had that dangerous contained rage look about him and Rachel looked like a queen standing in front of her bodyguard/consort. And then the music began.

Rachel's voice began…slow and sure…quiet…like the air before a storm, charged with electricity. "I knew you were…

You were gonna come to me
And here you are
But you better choose carefully
'Cause I, I'm capable of anything
Of anything and everything…"

Kaulder could feel the magic in the air. It seemed to crackle in his ears, not quite fueling an illusion but making every note of music and word of the lyrics seem like…more. And her voice continued, "Make me your Aphrodite

Make me your one and only
But don't make me your enemy, your enemy, your enemy…"

Another warning and he looked at the other students curiously. Did any of them have a clue? Even a hint that performing in front of them was one of the most dangerous people they'd ever meet? Judging from the looks on their faces, apparently not. Kaulder shook his head and watched as the chorus began.

"So you wanna play with magic
Boy, you should know what you're falling for
Baby do you dare to do this?
Cause I'm coming at you like a dark horse
Are you ready for, ready for
A perfect storm, perfect storm
Cause once you're mine, once you're mine
There is no going back."

Noah's face behind Rachel's was predatory as his fingers plucked and strummed at the guitar strings, those hazel eyes hot as they flicked from his girlfriend to the boys in the audience. Most of them seemed transfixed but two, to judge from their expressions, were more preoccupied with Rachel's legs and hips than the music. Even as she began the second verse.

"Mark my words
This love will make you levitate
Like a bird
Like a bird without a cage
But down to earth
If you choose to walk away, don't walk away

It's in the palm of your hand now baby
It's a yes or no, no maybe
So just be sure before you give it all to me
All to me, give it all to me

So you wanna play with magic
Boy, you should know what you're falling for
Baby do you dare to do this?
Cause I'm coming at you like a dark horse
Are you ready for, ready for
A perfect storm, perfect storm
Cause once you're mine, once you're mine
There's no going back."

Looking at Noah, Kaulder wouldn't have immediately pegged him as someone who had enough anger in him to perform rap, but five minutes conversation reversed that mistaken impression pretty damn quick. The words of the verse weren't exactly enraged but that didn't really matter. The delivery, the rhythm of rap called for a certain attitude and Noah had it covered. He practically sneered at the audience, his entire demeanor practically screamed that he knew something they didn't. Something they'd been stupid enough to overlook or dismiss as worthless, "Uh, She's a beast

I call her Karma
She eats your heart out
Like Jeffrey Dahmer
Be careful
Try not to lead her on
Shorty's heart is on steroids
Cause her love is so strong
You may fall in love
When you meet her
If you get the chance you better keep her
She's sweet as pie but if you break her heart
She'll turn cold as a freezer
That fairy tale ending with a knight in shining armor
She can be my Sleeping Beauty
I'm gon' put her in a coma,"

Noah's hands rested on Rachel's hips as he leaned over her shoulder, possessive seduction as he practically threw the second half of the verse at their audience, "Woo!

Damn I think I love her
Shorty so bad, I'm sprung and I don't care
She ride me like a roller coaster
Turned the bedroom into a fair!
Her love is like a drug
I was tryna hit it and quit it
But lil' mama so dope
I messed around and got addicted!"

One hand splayed over Rachel's stomach, an intimate grip that spoke eloquently of familiarity and Rachel's hands covered his before she began the last chorus, "So you wanna play with magic

Boy, you should know what you're falling for
Baby do you dare to do this?
Cause I'm coming at you like a dark horse
Are you ready for, ready for
A perfect storm, perfect storm
Cause once you're mine, once you're mine
There's no going back!"

Kaulder had to admit, he'd half expected Noah to lose control, magic blasting through the air rather than reinforcing the music and lyrics, but he'd kept that power reined in. If the kid could manage to do that when he was singing along with playing the guitar he'd be fine.

The rest of the audience was clapping, some of the kids asking questions, the two boys Noah had been glaring at were glaring right back as he draped an arm around Rachel's shoulders. Kaulder stood and some of the noise died down as everyone remembered they had someone who wasn't part of the club in the room.

"I live in New York," Kaulder dug in his pocket for his card case and pulled a couple out. "I'm guessing that's where you're headed when you graduate. You ought to audition for Julliard. I think both of you have a good shot. When you get to the city, look me up. New York's no place to be completely on your own."

The kids took the cards with slightly shocked expressions. Kaulder guessed they hadn't expected the Witch Hunter would offer to help them. "I'm serious," He added. "When you get there, you come see me. And if you need my kind of help, even before then, give me a call."

"Yeah," Noah recovered first. Kaulder guessed he was used to life throwing him hand grenades that might or might not explode. "Yeah we'll do that."

"Good," He shook their hands and nodded at their teacher before he repeated to the kids. "You got any questions, need help with anything, you call the number. I can put you in touch with tutors you might need."

"Yes sir," Rachel nodded. "Thank you."

Kaulder gave the two of them a grin and headed out. He had a lot of driving to do before he reached Chicago.

When he brought Chloë back to his apartment after the mess at Miranda's place, Rachel and Noah were the last people he expected to find on his doorstep. Truthfully he hadn't planned to come back but he hadn't had the heart to leave Miranda's cat on the streets. And God knew that he and Chloë could both use a drink.

"What's happening," Noah held the elevator door for them and hit the button for the penthouse while Rachel appropriated the fluffy white cat, cuddling and petting it. "Somethin's up Kaulder and it's really bad."

"The whole city seems like there's a shadow over it," Rachel seconded.

Kaulder regarded her thoughtfully. In the few years he'd known her, Rachel's magic had developed, gotten stronger. Her sensitivity to emotions and auras was second only to a witch with a scryer's eye. Maybe because in order to create the illusions and emotions she excelled at she needed to know what was needed. She couldn't know to sing a lullabye if she didn't know her mark needed sleep. If he hadn't theorized she was a Siren before that would have told him. "Ever felt like that before?"

Noah nodded after he and Rachel exchanged a look, "Senior year, remember we called you, felt like the entire town lost the sun?"

Kaulder took a breath and managed to keep from cursing, barely. He'd ended up back in Lima a couple years after he'd met these two. The kids had felt the presence of a dark witch. Someone who had decided to take advantage of the fact that the town was pretty much empty of magic and witches.

They'd managed to pinpoint the general area of origin, mostly by virtue of being the only other witches in town. Kaulder had done the rest. The witch was currently cooling his heels in prison.

"This feels a thousand times worse," Rachel added somberly.

"I don't think you're wrong," Kaulder kept his arm around Chloë's waist. The slender witch was finally beginning to register the people around them as he brought them into the apartment.

"Kaulder, who…are these…people?" Dolan stood from the computer, a concerned expression wrinkling his young face.

"Friends," Kaulder helped the red head sit down on the couch and got her a couple fingers of whiskey. "Drink that, it'll help." He gestured towards the loveseat nearby and the twenty somethings sat, Noah's arm around Rachel's shoulders protectively. The young man's gaze had fixed to Dolan and he didn't seem to like what he saw.

Kaulder frowned thoughtfully, ostensibly keeping his full attention on Chloë while he considered the implications. Noah's magic was pretty rare, if he'd been born a couple hundred years ago he'd have been what the Axe and Cross called a Battle-Mage. His magic was the most powerful when he fought to protect someone, or something. He and Rachel made a good team. Covered each other's weaknesses. But a sort of offshoot of Noah's talent and skills (like Rachel's offshoot was that sensitivity or empathy) was an ability to determine who was a threat. He'd liked Dolan Thirty-six, without question, grinning at the silver haired man like they shared a joke.

Dolan Thirty-seven though…no such thing. Not even a half smile of greeting. That didn't bode well at all.

Rachel was still cuddling the cat and seemed about to say something to Dolan when Noah's hand tightened on her shoulder, and he murmured something in her ear. Her eyes flew to Kaulder and she tilted her head, a silent question on her face.

Kaulder knew that look. She wanted to use magic and felt that she needed his permission. Which she did, since it was still against the law to use magic on humans. A minute nod in response, to which she didn't even react, simply giving Dolan a warm smile. "We met Kaulder when Puck and I were in high school," She gave half the explanation easily, magic filling her voice. Sympathy, reassurance and a touch of compulsion, something to coerce Dolan to tell the truth.

Chloë's body stiffened under his arm as she felt the magic and she looked at Rachel in surprise. Before she could say anything that might disturb Rachel's little spell Kaulder leaned in and murmured in her ear, "Don't say anything to distract him. Noah doesn't like him and that's a big warning sign. She asked for permission before she did anything."

The redhead lifted the drink to her lips and sipped, keeping her silence. For a moment the only sound in the room was the fluffy cat purring and then Dolan spoke, "You are friendly with witches." He looked at Kaulder.

"Long as I've lived, there are some worth knowing," Kaulder shrugged. "Not all witches are out to break the law."

"How long have you known Kaulder," Rachel asked softly. That was one of the best things about her gift in Kaulder's opinion. It didn't require volume to work. Didn't need force behind the words.

"We met when I was a child," Dolan looked at the Witch Hunter. "Witches, my parents, set the house on fire with me in it. I didn't have magic." His smile was cold and not a little crazed, "But I will soon."

"You just need training," Rachel wondered, and Dolan shook his head.

"When She comes to power again, She will give me magic," Dolan's smile tilted beatifically and Kaulder looked at Noah meaningfully.

The maturing Battle-mage nodded silently and his fingers twitched on Rachel's shoulders, hazel eyes glowing golden green for a moment. Magic of the same color settled in a nimbus around Dolan and Kaulder smiled.

"We're good," Noah said after a moment. "He can't move, see or hear. He can barely feel the chair he's sitting on."

"If we move him will it break?" Kaulder frowned at the latest Dolan.

"Nah," The young witch grinned. "Chair he's on has wheels. Just roll him to another room. Lock him in."

"How long will it last," Chloë's curiosity was getting the better of her again and Kaulder hid a grin.

"Long as I want it to," Noah shrugged. "I push it, set it and then it feeds off the ley lines that run under the building. It's like…sensory deprivation only he's cut off from everything. Even Rachel can't sense him when I've got him under it."

"He's like an empty room to my senses," Rachel agreed.

"That's good, means Belial won't be able to find him either," Kaulder nodded.

Chloë'd finally had enough of the mystery he guessed because she stared at the two younger (though not by much) witches. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Well, Noah here is Noah Puckerman, he's a maturing Battle-mage," Kaulder nodded at the young man. "I need to start teaching you the sword, among other things," He told the kid. "And Rachel…well she's a special kind of Siren. Emotions and illusions are her specialty and she's got a healthy dose of sensitivity to auras to help that along."

"I don't understand," Chloë shook her head. "What is going on?"

"Something big and bad," Noah nodded at the bag of stuff Kaulder had set down by the door. "That's the cat's stuff?"

"Yeah," Kaulder nodded absently as he thought. "Got one more place to try for that herb," He told Chloë. "But it's old money, old magic, and dangerous." He looked at the other two witches, "I doubt you'd be safe."

"Seems like you could use us then," Noah pointed out quietly. Rachel had gone to the bag of cat supplies and was getting water, food and a box set up for the fluffy white cat.

"Sensitive to magic you might be Kaulder," The girl spoke over her shoulder. "But you're still vulnerable to spells."

They were right. More's the pity.

He didn't have the words. And that was a new one. Long as he'd lived he'd expanded his vocabulary quite a bit. But he found himself at a complete loss for words when Chloë finally pulled that memory out of the depths of his brain.

Chloë explained to Rachel and Noah while Kaulder sat and stared. And then they'd all gone to work and figured out where Belial had taken all that dirt. Noah had found the GPS tracker on Belial's truck and Rachel had grimly gone into the room with Dolan Thirty seven and come out with a look of fury on her face and rage like a thunderstorm in her voice.

"The Dolans know where the heart is hidden," She told them. "That's why they tortured your friend. They wanted the location. He was going to tell you what they did. Destroy the heart. He thought that your life, your existence, should be your choice."

"The Axe and Cross betrayed you from the start," Chloë shook her head.

"Well…let's go and kill the heart for good," Kaulder wasn't sure he cared about his continued existence, what killing the Queen's heart would do to him. He could see on the faces of his young witches and Chloë worry over the repercussions.

"So," Noah quipped dryly. "I take it things didn't quite go as planned?" Figured the kid had disobeyed him and brought Chloë along for the ride. They'd seen Dolan wake up and Noah had immediately gone to find Kaulder. Chloë wouldn't be left behind, though Rachel at least had more sense than the other two. He wasn't thrilled they disobeyed but he had to admit having someone else drive was handy.

Needless to say, after the Queen rose, Kaulder was not at his best. Feeling every inch of bruised skin and all of his eight hundred plus years was more accurate than not. When they got back to the apartment, Rachel was sitting with Dolan, who was petting the white cat.

"Hey, kid. I was afraid I was too late," He pushed his lips into a half smile at the sight of his oldest friend.

"I hope I don't look as rough as you do," Dolan retorted in those dry cockney tones Kaulder had worried he'd never hear again.

"I killed the one who cursed you," He took a seat, more heavily than he was comfortable with.

"Here," Chloë handed both humans a potion. "Drink this."

"Thank you," Dolan nodded and regarded the three witches thoughtfully. "Noah, Rachel, it's nice to see you again. I take it you've been attempting to help?"

"They've been more than attempting," Kaulder told him. "Unfortunately, we were too late. The Witch Queen has returned." He shook his head, "I thought my immortality was the way that she punished me. But she just used me to save it for herself."

Noah's irrepressible snark popped up, "What, so like Kaulder, the safe deposit box?"

"Yeah, pretty much," It was an apt simile, even if he didn't enjoy the accuracy of it.

"I'm afraid I bear some responsibility," Dolan admitted. "It was hubris to think that our secret wouldn't be discovered by the enemy."

"I've seen what comes next," Kaulder waved that off. Time enough to deal with the treachery of the Axe and Cross if they all lived through this. "Death. The Witch Queen will cast another plague curse."

"Haven't covens with that kind of power been destroyed?" Rachel wondered quietly.

"We don't destroy witches anymore," Kaulder reminded her. "We incarcerate them." He rubbed his chin, "We took all the most powerful witches that ever walked the Earth and put 'em in one place."

"The witch prison," Noah muttered. "Shit."

"You said it," Kaulder agreed. "And they've been waiting, waiting to be released. Waiting to exact revenge. We created the perfect coven." The absolute futility of the last centuries hit him, and he shook his head, "Now I'm right back where I started."

"You defeated her once," Noah reminded him.

"You can defeat her again," Dolan nodded. "Kaulder, you must go. You have to fight."

He'd been doing that his entire life it seemed, but Dolan wasn't wrong.

The vault held all the most dangerous things he'd confiscated over the centuries. And more than a few more mundane weapons. "Kaulder," Chloë's voice, near the entrance of the vault as he brought down his blade.

"I never had a name for it," He slid it into the harness and strapped it on. "But my enemies came to call it 'Hexenbane.' Witch Slayer."

"I'm coming, too," The red head told him.

Not just no. Oh, hell no. "Our agreement depended on me keeping you safe," Kaulder reminded her.

"No, our agreement was that if I helped you, you'd keep me safe," Chloë corrected him pointedly.

"If I get hurt now, I stay hurt," That was the painful truth of it, and it made this entire thing even more dangerous. "Where would that leave you?"

"You know, I don't care!" That red hair…always came with passion it seemed. "Who says that a witch can't hunt witches?"

"Seconded," Noah's voice sounded from the doorway of the room where he and Rachel stood. "You don't have to fight alone."

"None of you have ever been in a fight," He shook his head. Damn kids. They'd get themselves killed.

"You so sure about that," Noah rolled his eyes and Kaulder remembered the first thing the young man had said he'd been doing all his life. Fighting, football, guitar, in that order.

"Not like this," Kaulder corrected himself.

"Got a few ideas actually, sort of…better our odds," Noah smirked.

"Yeah?" The kids were pretty damn innovative. So, might as well listen.

"I looked up Battle-mage," Rachel explained as Kaulder sharpened Hexenbane. "Noah has the power, and the instincts, he just doesn't have the skills yet."

"Well, we can't exactly give him that in an hour," Dolan reminded her as he handed Chloë ingredients upon request. The Dream-walker was making potions, to protect, to heal, to give strength. The trick was making sure none of them would conflict with the other. Thankfully Chloë knew her stuff. Running a witch's bar had sharpened her skills to a fine point.

"Actually we can," Rachel shook her head. "You have some very interesting books." She tapped one that sat on the coffee table, safely away from the potion making. "This has a spell for…quick teaching."

"How do you mean," Dolan looked intrigued.

"It talks about the master and apprentice system and some of the spells to be used in emergencies," She explained quietly. "There's a binding, or their used to be, between master and apprentice. When the apprentice reaches journeyman, it's dissolved but I think we can use the same binding spell to give Noah the experience with fighting that Kaulder has."

"What, like mimeograph his memories?" Dolan got several blank looks and Kaulder smirked.

"He means like a photocopier," He told the kids.

"Okay," Rachel shrugged. "If we link Kaulder with Noah, I can use this spell to copy Kaulder's skills to Noah."

"Will he have any idea of how to use them though," Kaulder asked.

"That's part of why we should use the link," The Siren told him. "The link will…inform his skills, tell him how to use what he's learned."

"Rachel says it looks like the spell was developed back when things were a lot less civilized, and you took an apprentice to keep from getting the kid killed. So, you had the link and at least the kid knew what to do when there was trouble." Noah told them, "I'm up for it if you are Kaulder. Shouldn't hurt or weaken you or anything."

"We wouldn't even want to try it if that was the case," Rachel agreed. "There's just one catch."

"Yeah, what's that?" There was always something.

"Every spell Noah has done, every spell running, will stop. The link…it kind of…resets everything," Rachel looked at the room where they'd locked up Dolan Thirty-seven.

"He's locked up," Kaulder shrugged. "Leave him where he is."

Dolan handed Chloë another herb and a moment later the girl leaned back in satisfaction after stoppering up the small bottle.

"And I'm coming with you," Rachel told him firmly. "Chloë's a Dream-walker, I'm a Siren. Between the two of us we can do a lot of damage."

"And arguing with 'em is just gonna waste time," Noah reminded him dryly.

Well, he wasn't wrong about that.

Odd to see a kid with a mohawk wielding a two-handed sword, reminded Kaulder of the earliest part of his life. Noah carried it well though. Good thing too.

"What is this?" Rachel's revulsion couldn't have been more plain.

"It's a plague tree. She's here," Kaulder kept them moving down to the prison levels. "When the spell is done, the fly swarm will be released."

"Looks like we don't have a helluva lot of time," Noah observed.

"Stay close," Kaulder cautioned them as he led them down to the sentencing chamber. The council had all been killed. He couldn't say he was surprised.

"Kaulder, where are the prisoners?" Chloë asked quietly and he pointed downward. The power of the magic being performed was obvious even with a layer of stone between them.

"Every witch I ever caught," The Witch Hunter told them as the walls seemed to vibrate around them. A glass vial thrown at the base of the wall revealed the spell. The glowing blue of the magic holding them in place, like bugs caught in amber, did nothing to stop the Witch Queen's spell. "The Queen's using their power to release the plague."

"How?" Rachel shook her head.

"The chant," Kaulder explained. "No witch would be strong enough to cast this spell alone. But the Witch Queen's linking their minds like a chain."

"So how do we stop them," Noah sounded like he was ready to take off a few heads.

"Every chain has a weak link."

Dragging Ellic out of the prison wasn't as hard as it could have been. He'd only recently been incarcerated after all. The 'amber', for want of a better word, hadn't completely solidified around him yet.

"I've really been looking forward to this," Noah had his sword drawn already. "Tell me I can kill him please?"

"No," No matter how much he agreed (and oh God did he agree) with Noah, Kaulder held up his hand to stop him. "It's not his body we need to destroy." He looked at the girls, and Chloë nodded, a little shaken in spite of her intentions.

"It's his mind." She murmured.

"If he dies in his dreams, the plague will be stopped," Kaulder nodded. This wouldn't be easy for either of the girls. He doubted either of them had killed before, "I wish there was another way."

"You three stay here," He ordered.

"You're taking on the Queen alone, aren't you," Chloë looked even more worried about that than she was about dealing with Ellic.

"It has to end," Kaulder took a deep breath. "Hey. Be careful in there."

"So are you worried about us then," The red head smiled teasingly.

"He's worried about you," Rachel gave them both a verbal poke and Chloë blushed a bit.

"Well, I've gotten used to you," Kaulder smiled.

"Good hunting," Noah nodded.

"You, too," The Witch Hunter nodded back, encompassing the three of them and looked towards the stars at the sound of a roar. "The Sentinel," He told them. "And it won't stop until this prisoner is put back in his cell. It's coming for Ellic."

"Kaulder?" Rachel sounded very young, and Noah's face had gone nearly as pale as Chloë's.

"You'll have to fight it, defend them," Kaulder told his 'apprentice'. "If you can get to the heart of it and destroy it, it'll finally stop, but unless you take that, it just puts itself back together again." He watched as Chloë and Rachel joined hands and the two of them sank into the unique trance only a Dream-walker could bring on. "Promise me, if there's any sign she's, they're, getting hurt in there, you have to wake her up." Noah nodded somberly, "And promise me you'll get them as far away from here as you can."

"Yeah, you got it," Noah nodded, his grip on the sword hilt tightening.

Tired. He was so damn tired of this. Tired of fighting. Tired of this empty life. "The rest is silence," He smiled for a moment. "The chanting stopped. She did it. They did it."

New York looking like a scene out of the movie I Am Legend. That would teach him to celebrate before the bitch was dead. And why the hell couldn't she just kill him without making the villain speech beforehand?

"A dream-walker shows your past. Only I can show the future. You will fail, and humanity will fall. I've taken this world back."

"Not yet," Kaulder ground his teeth around the words.

His past, the Witch Queen's voice, "Can you feel it? Your mortality? Your life ebbing away?"

His daughter's voice, "Father!"

"You are trespassers on our world," That damn voice, like snakes and oozing mud. Always so certain, certain and self-righteous and worse, with the power to remake the world in the image she chose.

"Father!" Echoes of his past as his memories and present collided.

"I've seen it in your eyes. You wish for death," The Queen crowed.

"You know the benefit of eternal life?" He asked as he threw a second vial of liquid fire on the ground. His sword blade filled with flame, "I get to kill you twice."

"Stop! Kaulder!" And of all things, Dolan Thirty-seven with a gun, his hand fisted in Chloë's red hair, the gun pressed under her chin. Kaulder could already see the beginnings of the bruises that would rise on her face.

How the fuck had he gotten out? Was Dolan Thirty-six all right? Where in the hell were Noah and Rachel? Were they even alive? Caught in the Queen's illusion he wouldn't have heard gunshots.

"Chloë…" Kaulder knew he couldn't stop. Not even for her.

"I'm sorry," Terrified. Her face. Terrified and resolute. And even as he hesitated, just that half a moment before he moved to strike the Queen down, Dolan Thirty-six fired the gun. Bullets, through the air, the impact to his chest throwing him to the ground, sword extinguished in a puddle.

Chloë screaming his name, rage and pain, demanding the Queen get away from him…and the chanting again. Gaining strength…

Helena…Elizabeth…their voices…so close… "Father?" Their home, his wife and daughter, gentle hands, a soft embrace. He hadn't seen and felt them in so long.

"My love… You must get up." He could never deny Helena anything, but he was so tired.

"Father, you need to get up. Save them." His sweet daughter, such faith in him. There'd been only one thing he couldn't protect her from. One thing he couldn't defeat.

He watched as Helena took Elizabeth by the hand and moved towards the door, leaving him sitting on the stool in their home. Helena… how such a simple command, such a gentle voice, could sound like understanding, permission. Tender insistence that he remain alive, even if it meant they would be parted for so much longer. "Go, my love. Fight."

Force his eyes open, the traitor Dolan Thirty-seven, a plague-stricken body on the ground, the Witch Queen with her back to him, leading a bespelled Chloë away. The chanting…louder and louder in his ears…

Beyond Dolan, burning hazel eyes. Blood welled up between Noah's fingers, pressed hard against his side, as he moved towards them with grim determination. Rachel, leaning against the wall, blood dripping down the side of her face. The fingers of her free hand moved in what Kaulder could see was a spell, a golden glow surrounding them as she closed them in a fist.

The Witch Queen didn't seem to notice, Chloë only stiffened for a moment, and the chanting didn't cease. Noah reached into a pocket and brought out two vials, downing one and handing the other to Rachel who did the same.

Kaulder could almost see it, a golden thread between Noah's chest and his, between Rachel's and Noah's, between Chloë and Rachel… They'd have to time this perfectly, Noah and Rachel and Chloë, disrupting the chant while he attacked the Queen physically. Rachel suborning Chloë's power away from the Queen with the soft whisper of a song, unheard beneath the loud chant. Noah's protective rage fueling their magic.

Kaulder let his hand fall from his chest, the weather runes clutched in his fist. When he opened his hand, they would fall into the puddle. They'd have to time this pretty damn close, or the Queen would have a chance to recover. Rachel's gaze met his and she nodded silently, inhaling from her lower ribcage in preparation.

The weather runes fell into the water and lightning began to spark. Noah attacked the Queen as Kaulder heaved himself to his feet and Rachel's voice rang through the tunnels like Gabriel's trumpet. The Queen's magic twisted as Rachel's voice filled Chloë and the Dream-walker's power filled the chant, utterly disrupting it. "So you wanna play with magic

Lightning, filling the air, Rachel running for Chloë, pulling her out of range of the swords and the Queen's talons/vines/tentacles.

The Queen taunted him as she used one of those powerful blows to throw Noah across the passage, damn close to hitting the girls as they retreated. Kaulder had to give the kid credit, he got right back up and into it. But the Queen didn't seem concerned, too interested in taunting Kaulder, "You cling to your pathetic life. And for what reason? Those closest to you betray you, and those you claim to protect don't even know your name."

"He protected us," There was no arguing with the voice of a Siren and the shocked pause Rachel's voice caused the Queen gave Kaulder the perfect opening. He guessed no witch had ever contradicted her. Or at least not in a long damn time.

"Noah, get back," Chloë screamed as she saw Kaulder heft Hexenbane like a spear.

"By Iron and Fire," It took every bit of strength he had left, and he prayed the lightning would do the job he couldn't. But his aim was true and Hexenbane slammed straight into the Queen's chest. A moment later lightning stabbed through the air, striking the sword's hilt and electrifying the witch, her body limned in crackling blue before she blackened like the charcoal of a banked fire, red glowing through the cracks of her body.

"Kaulder!" Chloë's voice, tears filling it, "Kaulder? Kaulder?"

He could feel his wounds beginning to heal, the scratches on his face closing, and saw Chloë's look of alarm. Rachel stumbled closer; they'd need to have that headwound looked at. "Kaulder," She dropped to her knees. "Oh good. We worried for a minute."

"More than a minute," Noah was limping, favoring the side with the bullet hole. Likely he had some cracked or broken ribs. He stopped beside the Queen's body and frowned. "Uh…Kaulder…this is some freaky shit."

"As long as the Hexen heart beats, she's never truly dead," Kaulder forced himself to his feet again and moved towards the body. He pulled Hexenbane out of the still smoking corpse and looked at Noah.

"Think with two of us it'll work," Noah asked uncertainly.

"Worth a try," Kaulder nodded. "On three."

The two of them raised their swords and Chloë shook her head frantically moving towards them. "No, you can't! You'll die."

"I'm ready to face that reality," He shook his head.

"No! There must be another way," Chloë protested. "Listen to me. When I was pulled into the shadows, I saw that there were things much worse than her. In the darkness. Waiting."

"Waiting for what?"

Kaulder was grateful that Noah had asked the question, he had the feeling Chloë would consider the answer obvious.

"The world without him," The Dream-walker told them. "We still need you. I need you."

A long time since he'd seen that look on a woman's face. More than attraction. Trust. Friendship. Affection. "The Axe and Cross betrayed me. I can't trust anyone."

"You can trust me," Chloë argued and looked at Rachel and Noah who seemed more than a little hurt by his declaration. "You can trust us."

"Eight hundred years I've been on this road. Always hunting," Kaulder mused. "Always..."

"Alone," Chloë finished for him and took his hand. "You wouldn't be." She smiled, a teasing curve of her lips that made him want to grin back and tug at that red ponytail. "Besides, you still owe me fifty thousand dollars."

"Five thousand," Kaulder corrected her automatically.

"Oh. So we're negotiating, then?" Little imp, he had half a mind to give her five hundred thousand just to see her reaction.

"What if you didn't have to be," Rachel asked, seemingly apropos of nothing.

Noah sat down wearily, as if without a reason to stand (like killing the Queen) he didn't have the energy to remain upright. "What?" He looked at his girlfriend quizzically.

Kaulder wondered if he had the same expression on his face.

"Kaulder is used to everyone leaving him, dying," Rachel told them as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Because of the Hexen heart. But what if it wasn't just him?"

"Putting aside the fact that it's pretty much impossible," Chloë countered. "How would that help?"

"If there were more Witch Hunters, even if they were witches, he wouldn't be alone. Wouldn't have to hunt alone. Wouldn't need to worry about who to trust," Rachel returned. "He'd have people. To count on. To help."

"She's right," Noah supported his girlfriend, albeit in an exhausted tone. "I was never so relieved in my life as I was when Rachel told me what was going on with me. And that she was a witch too."

Kaulder tried to consider it objectively. The worst part of immortality was knowing no one else would ever see the world the way he did. No one would be by his side in eighty years. No one to talk about the old days with. To have a team, people who shared the same burden, the same fate…if he couldn't have his mortality, a normal life, that would be the next best thing. And subjectively, he had Helena's blessing…her order practically, to keep fighting.

Rachel always had been good at reading expressions because she nodded (then winced because headwound). Kaulder winced in sympathy, "Okay…if we did it…how would we do it?"

"Right now, you just got it back, you're still barely healing. So, it's half in her and trickling back into you, right," The Siren theorized. "We create a bond, between the four of us."

"Be a hard thing to make stick," Noah mused. "You figure to use ley lines?"

"I think that's what she uses," Rachel flicked her eyes at the Queen's body. "If we can…twist her spell, do a binding to bring us all together, then Kaulder wouldn't be alone."

"Blood bond you think?" Chloë was considering the idea now, her hand still holding Kaulder's, not that he minded really.

"Blood and magic," Rachel agreed. "Noah can tap into the ley lines."

"I should be able to connect us, mind to mind, and that should help make the binding permanent," Chloë nodded thoughtfully. "Kaulder?"

"If you three are willing to do this," Damn this was probably the most selfish thing he'd ever done. Just because he didn't have the stomach to keep doing this job alone…but he hadn't asked. They'd volunteered.

"We won't get a better chance," Noah commented. "The air is saturated with magic."

"And we want to do this," Rachel reiterated. Chloë nodded firmly, eyes fixed upon his face.

"If you three think you can stand being around me for the rest of your lives, and mine, then yeah, let's give it a try," Kaulder nodded. Maybe it was selfish, but after having them around the last couple days… the idea of doing the job alone again for the next eight hundred years felt unbearable.

It took a good forty minutes, but Kaulder felt the bond snap into place. A near sizzling sensation over his heart and he looked at Chloë first. She grinned at him and nodded. Across from her Rachel did the same thing and Noah smirked from his place across from Kaulder. They'd kept the Queen's body (and heart) in the center of their improvised circle and after a moment Noah frowned.

"Did we plan on that happening," He pointed at the Queen's heart, now utterly still.

"Noo…" Rachel frowned along with her boyfriend. "I think you were right about the ley lines Noah."

"Well just in case, let's cut out her heart, bag it, and we'll talk about all of this back at the apartment," Kaulder suggested. "I don't know about the three of you, but my immortal ass still gets cold sitting on a wet cave floor."

"Seconded," Rachel nodded and nearly winced but stopped. As Kaulder watched the wound at her hairline closed.

"Somebody grab the weather runes," He suggested. "I'll take care of the heart."

"There's got to be part of the church that wasn't wrecked by the plague tree," Chloë speculated. "We can try to clean up a bit. We're going to attract attention walking around like this." She gestured at the bloody clothes of the other three. Her bruises had healed, as had the bullet wounds but immortality didn't fix clothing.

"Screw it," Kaulder shook his head. "If Dolan Thirty-six got out, the kid might be hurt. And he doesn't heal."

"And he ain't exactly a spring chicken either," Noah agreed as he handed over the weather runes, carefully wrapped in leather to keep them separated.

"I can throw up a slight illusion, keep people from noticing," Rachel offered.

"I'll take it," Kaulder agreed as he pulled a bag out of his pocket and used Hexenbane to cut the heart of the Queen from her body. Beating or not, he wasn't taking chances.

Dolan Thirty-six was embarrassed, bruised and pissed off but other than that, okay health-wise. He was rather un-Christianly pleased to hear that Dolan Thirty-seven was no longer among the living.

Kaulder took the bag to the vault along with the runes and locked the door before he did anything else. Noah had grabbed his phone and checked the texts and messages; groaned and told Rachel she'd better check hers.

"Problems," Dolan inquired a bit facetiously.

"Considering we've both been out of touch for a good two days or so?" Noah sighed, "I've been fired. I'm pretty sure Rachel's also been fired. Employers tend to do that when you're a no call, no show for two days."

"Order a pizza," Kaulder suggested as he came back into the living room. "Or five. Stay here tonight," he looked at the window and the rising sun and amended that, "today, and we'll figure the rest out tomorrow."

"Yeah," Rachel shook her head over her phone and Kaulder guessed that Noah had been right.

"It isn't like you don't have the room," Dolan agreed.

Chloë handed the old priest a potion, "It'll help with the bruises."

"And the embarrassment?"

"Sorry, only time works for that," She commiserated.

Early in the morning as it was, they decided sleep would be the best way to spend at least part of the day. Kaulder took his spot on the couch since he'd put Chloë in his room and Dolan was in the second guest room. Noah and Rachel were in the first.

Dolan's thoughtful look greeted him when Kaulder opened his eyes and he gave his oldest friend a smile, "How're you feeling?"

"A little sore, but better than I did," Dolan regarded him. "How are you? That's the question."

"Pretty sure the Axe and Cross will be unhappy to learn their weapon can think for himself and plans on doing a lot more of it," Kaulder told him. "And I'm not inclined to let them know where the Queen's heart is hidden either."

"Why would you," Chloë came out of his room with a yawn and dropped onto the couch next to him. "They lied to you for eight hundred years."

"Might wanna rethink the whole 'incarcerate black witches' policy though," Noah commented as he and Rachel emerged from the guestroom. "We gotta get back to our apartment," He explained. "You feel like getting together later?"

"Come by tonight," Kaulder invited. "I'll cook and we can figure out…the job situation." He finished a bit belatedly. "Besides, I still have to bargain this one down."

"And I will report to my superiors that you've successfully foiled the Witch Queen's nefarious plans," Dolan stood. "Kaulder, I'll call you tomorrow, pass on what they say."

"Can't wait," He stood, chuckling as Chloë fell sideways a bit when he moved and escorted his old friend to the door. "Be careful kid."

"Always," Dolan headed for the elevators and Kaulder watched him go before shutting the door and turning back to his new partners.

"Okay…so what the hell do we think happened?"

Noah flushed slightly and glanced at Rachel who shrugged. "I think its because when I do a spell I need to keep going without my…attention, I link it to the ley lines."

"Right," Kaulder nodded. "That's nothing new, as far as I've heard, witches have been doing that for years."

"Well, you know how we kinda theorized that was how the Queen was keeping her heart beating? Staying immortal?" Noah ran a hand over his mohawk nervously and everyone nodded. "I think when I linked our binding to the ley lines I kind of…overwrote her spell."

"Like saving one document with the same name on top of another and replacing it?" Kaulder did his best to clarify, and Noah nodded.

"Yeah, so basically we erased her spell and put our own in its place, sharing that immortality amongst the four of us," The young man said apologetically. "I'm sorry. I mean, if we'd known… I dunno."

"Hey, if that thing never starts beating again that's fine with me," Kaulder told him. "That's a big worry we don't have hanging over us so long as her heart stays dead. And from what Chloë says, I'd need to stay around anyway."

He watched as Noah sighed in relief and the fluffy white cat jumped up into Rachel's lap. "So what do we do then," She asked quietly.

"Well, this place is plenty big enough," He gestured at the apartment. "Glad to have you stay. Or we look into getting the apartment next to this one."

"That'll cost a fortune," Rachel shook her head.

"I've got money," Kaulder told her. "What I'm seriously lacking are people I can trust. People I can talk to about this job and know that they'll understand. Plus, we can always let the Axe and Cross pay for things for a while longer."

"I'd've thought you'd want to cut ties completely," Chloë wondered.

"It's tempting," Kaulder agreed. "But I've got the three of you now. And what they want and decide and think of me isn't too important anymore."

"So the big question," Noah looked at him. "You want to tell Dolan about what we did? What we are now?"

"Much as I'd like to, and I love the kid, make no mistake," Kaulder spoke slowly, clarifying his thoughts. "Dolan records all the things that I do. Minus anything personal. He's part of the Axe and Cross and even if he kept it to himself, I don't know if he'd be able to resist writing it down. It's unprecedented."

"Historians tend to get like that," Chloë agreed, her voice gentle. "All knowledge is sacred."

"Well protecting what we have, that's more sacred to me than having it written down for someone else to find out later," Kaulder shook his head. "Besides, the kid might figure it out on his own. But if no one confirms it for him, he can't record it. Only record certainties, not speculation."

"We can work with that," Rachel looked at Noah.

"Now since we're all no longer pretending we're sore and tired, let's go and collect your stuff from your apartments," Kaulder grinned. "We'll get the three of you moved in."

"Start the next phase of the Witch Hunter's chronicle," Chloë teased.

Kaulder chuckled. He was actually looking forward to the future. Being with these three, witches he could trust. For the first time in a long time, he didn't know what was coming next. He grinned as Chloë ran into his room to pull on her clothes.

When she came out again it was with a strange look on her face, "Kaulder, why does the guest room have a closet full of Kaulder sized clothing?"

"'Cause it's not the guest room," He smiled at her as he pulled on a pair of boots from the drying rack by the door. "That's my room."

"Why—" Chloë began and he shrugged at her.

"Guest rooms are for guests. They're impersonal. You'd lost everything because I needed that memory potion. I wanted for you to feel at home, comfortable," He told her. "Knew that my room would be better for you to wake up in."

The soft kiss he got for that definitely made his nap on the couch worthwhile and he grinned against her mouth. Noah whistled from the doorway of the guestroom he shared with Rachel and Kaulder rolled his eyes at him. Chloë blew a raspberry at the male witch and Kaulder got another kiss which he definitely wasn't going to argue with. "I think its one of the nicest things anyone has done for me in a while."

"Nice enough to keep sleeping there," Kaulder grinned.

"Sure," Chloë smiled back, that impish expression a clear warning that he was in for it. "So long as you keep sleeping on the couch until I'm ready to share."

Noah laughed, Rachel giggled, and the cat meowed as if saying they were all nuts.

And Kaulder couldn't have cared less. For the first time in what seemed like forever, he didn't know what would happen next. And he was fine with it.

Dolan would probably tell him that was called living.

He'd take it.

Author's Note: So I had the idea of Rachel and Puck doing Dark Horse for Glee and the video is just so cool with all the magic that I thought how interesting it would be if they really were witches. And the Witch Hunter coming to Lima just seemed like fun.

And since its canon that Rachel goes to New York, Puck could go with and that's also where Kaulder lives. So it really just felt like it could be a lot of fun.