[Thanks to everyone who has reviewed this so far, it is very much appreciated.]
[Also, apologies for the switch to use of -x-x- as a scene or POV change. I can't seem to be able to get --- to work properly at the moment. It will be rectified when I figure out what I'm doing wrong.]

Chapter 5

Sometimes, Fate had rather too much taste for dramatics; Richard mused as he swept sodden hair out of his eyes for the hundredth time. His robes had long been charmed for water – and other, less pleasant substances – resistance, but even that was under strain from the veritable cloudburst that was currently endeavouring to wash him off the landscape. His dark gaze swept across the landscape in before him. He'd Apparated in atop a small hill, railway tracks strung out along a raised bank to his left, their dull glint just visible through the storm's gloom. There was an open area of grass at the side of the track, but he couldn't see anything else.

"Lumos."

Light swept out from his wand, turning the rain into falling silver needles and scattering strange shadows across the ground. Richard's sharp eyes scanned again and this time they found something. He centred his beam on the barely visible glint and headed quickly towards it, slipping and sliding down the sodden grass. Mud sucked at his feet as he squelched over to his goal, periodically having to stop and renew his water-repelling charms. Even so, by the time he got there he was soaked to the skin. He bent down and brought his wand closer to the ground. It was as saturated as the rest, but here there was something other than mud slicked across the grass. Thick, silvery liquid was shimmering in the lumos glow, bright even through the grime.

After a moment's contemplation, Richard stuck his spork in it. The liquid immediately began to bubble and blacken, losing its sheen as it dissolved back into the mud. He swore quietly and stood up again, trying another visual sweep of the landscape. Now he was closer, the glow from his wand picked out more spots of silvery fluid and he headed towards them. The frequency, and size, of the patches increased as he continued, roughly proportional to the mounting difficulty he had with movement across ground that increasingly resembled a battlefield. There were deep grooves torn into the earth, now filled with rain, and all the groundwater was tinted with the same shimmering substance as before.

"Luce! Luce, can you hear me?"

No response. Richard tried again, this time enhancing his voice in an attempt to be audible over the howling wind, to no avail. He was beginning to get seriously worried. The devastation and the silver slime pointed very squarely to one possibility, but… Something else wasn't right. Even if it had been one of those, Luce should have been able to handle it. She was good, she was damn good. Her and Darek were the best he'd trained, even a U-

He was dragged out of his thoughts as his foot encountered something distinctly not mud. Richard felt his eyes narrow as he looked down, and his gaze locked on the thin figure half-submerged in the wet earth by his feet.

It was the Sue. What he'd originally taken for more of the smeared silver turned out to be a mass of faintly luminescent hair spread out around her. Richard did a quick, practised assessment. Young, early teens, stupidly thin, disproportionately endowed chest-wise and with softly glowing, silver-white hair. Mostly basic, except for the fact that both red and silver blood was caked around the deep wounds that covered her body. This one must have put up quite a fight…

An unpleasant thought struck him and Richard knelt down, keeping his wand warily pointed at the Sue as he did so and, very carefully, checked for a pulse. For a few moments he couldn't find one. When he did, his frown deepened. The heartbeat was there alright, and regular, but it was incredibly weak. Her breathing was the same, shallow, barely noticeable unless you were looking for it. It could just be the effects of exposure – she'd clearly been here for some time, but…no, something just wasn't right here.

Richard cast a quick bind, then levitated the prone Sue into the air behind him. This kind of obvious resistance should have entailed an immediate sporking, but something really, really wasn't normal about this, and he wanted to know what.

Well, he'd found the Sue. Now he had to find Luce.

A fresh glance around showed that he was getting near the railway line again, and that the occurrence of silvery splotches was decreasing, so he doubted she was around here. Okay. He knew Luce. One thing at least would be near her.

"Accio wand," he murmured. To his relief, a moment later a familiar thin piece of wood sailed out of the gloom into his hand and he immediately set off in the direction it had come from, shining a double lumos in front of him. The twin searchlights swept the ground, illuminating pools of silver, torn, sodden earth and finally –

"Luce!"

He dropped down next to his student's battered figure. She looked terrible. Cuts and bruises covered any skin that was clear of mud; a large section of her blonde hair was half-torn away and there was a long, oddly groove-like wound etched down one arm. Her ribcage was an unusual shape too, and even over the noise of the storm Richard could hear the painfully laboured sound of her breathing.

At least she was breathing.

Richard quickly stripped off his still-charmed outer robe and wrapped the girl in it. At the same time he checked her own sodden clothing and felt an extra surge of relief as he found what he was looking for and pulled it free. A tangle of toothpick-thin wood and fine material, tied together with string. Good thing Luce always came prepared – Apparating back carrying these two would be impossible.

He untied the bundle and tossed it to once side, muttering the required charm. The tangle twitched and unfurled in the air, then fell to earth as it assembled itself. A moment later what looked like a narrow, man-high, three-walled tent stood slightly lopsided in the mud, green flame flaring into existence inside the thin shelter. Fitting, really – if he remembered right, the one-shot fireplace had arrived with Luce in the first place. They were tough to make and for emergency use only, but if anything counted as an emergency, this was it.

Richard straightened up and turned to deactivate the levitation on the Sue still floating behind him. She hit the floor with an undignified splat; but that wasn't what suddenly caught his attention, making him squint through the rain. In the distance, tiny blobs of light were visible, bobbing along the line of the track. A Ministry Squad. Not surprising – with the amount of power that must have been fired off here even those idiots couldn't help but notice. Richard felt his lips twitch into a momentary, tight smile.

"Too late boys. Far too late."

He turned back to the spluttering emerald flames – the one-shot would disintegrate immediately after use, so he didn't have to worry about that – and went to pocket the wands. He'd need both hands to carry Luce and the Sue.

Suddenly, he hesitated, Luce's wand still gripped tight in his fingers. The condition of the Sue, the extent of the battle here, the overall wrongness of everything…there was one possibility. He didn't have much time though. Luce needed medical attention very quickly – it was probably only her Sue's more specialised characteristics that had kept her alive so far, but…he had to know…

He felt his eyes shift, darkening with his mood as he raised the wand.

"Prior Incantato."

-x-x-

Sam had the distinct impression she'd been forgotten about. The same moment Richard had vanished, Jackie had pounced on Chris' clipboard, studied it intently for a few moments, then started to try and calm down the clearly-shaken Admin. The redhead had then vanished into the midst of the kitchen chaos, with a sharp order of 'stay here', leaving Sam sitting by herself at the abandoned table. She'd been there for a while now, and was just beginning to consider trying to find her way back to her room when a mirror above the fireplace suddenly crackled. Every point of attention in the room shifted on it as what look like TV static formed in the glass. After a moment the image resolved into Richard's face. His expression was, as usual, very closed, but there was something approaching urgency in his eyes. He also looked like someone had tipped a bathtub of water over him – there were even droplets running down the screen.

"Get the medi-team! Now!"

The two women nearest the fireplace seemed to hesitate, but before they could do anything Jackie was suddenly next to them, pulling them forcefully away as green flames caught up in the old range.

"Tell Elsa to get ready!"

"What about-?"

"Forget the clearance! Go!"

The women nodded and fled out the door so fast they almost blurred in the air, leaving a wide clear path through the crowd of people. Jackie dodged back so she was standing on the edge of the fireplace, her wand drawn.

Sam realised that she was holding her breath. For a few stretched out, eternal seconds, nothing happened. Then the flames roared, sparks flying out across the room as a whirling shadow formed in the fire, before Richard stepped out of the emerald inferno. Water cascaded off him, thick with a combination of mud and soot, and instantly formed filthy rivulets on the floor under his feet. His hair was plastered down so far it looked as if the top of his head had been tarmaced and thick mud was caked up his body as far as his waist.

He was carrying two figures. One, a young girl with semi-luminescent, knee-length silver hair, was slung unceremoniously across his shoulders like a bad rucksack. The other older, less ethereal one was in his arms, wrapped in his cloak and seemed to be the main focus of his attention. Both girls were covered in angry-looking wounds, under the veneer of sodden earth, and blood joined the spreading pool beneath them. Richard crouched for a moment, unceremoniously shrugging the younger girl off his shoulders onto the wet tiles. He straightened up and strode towards the door, ignoring his former burden as he swept wetly past Jackie, who looked faintly surprised. She waved a wand over the girl and levitated her towards the door, following the damp footprints.

As the door swung shut behind them, the odd silence that had descended vanished as the room erupted in a dozen loud discussions. Sam couldn't single out any one conversation from the swell, but a few overall themes were clear enough.

The Terrace was worried. That seemed strange in itself. After everything she'd seen so far, the reactions she'd encountered when she'd first arrived, it was odd to see anyone here actually look phased by something. What on earth had happened?

-x-x-

By the time Jackie caught up with him, Richard was almost dry. Now they weren't under constant deluge the charms on his robes were working overtime. It meant he was leaving quite a trail of muddy water as it was repelled away from him, but he ignored it. Luce was shivering violently in his arms, even under the now-dry robes, her lips blue with cold.

"C'mon Luce," he muttered so quietly that even Jackie, hurrying along behind him dodging puddles, couldn't hear, "Don't give up on me now."

There was no response and a dark edge of thought eased into Richard's mind. No, she was just unconscious, even if-

No matter. He forced the thought aside, returning his attention to walking and his expression to its usual scowl. Jackie kept trying to talk to him and it took a lot of effort to ignore her. Long-practised steps carried him quickly through the corridors to the set of interlinked ground-floor rooms that had long been the Terrace's Infirmary. He planted a solid kick on the doors and they swung back with a dull crash.

"If you had less of a flair for dramatics Richard, I would see you here far less often." The crisp, clipped, clinical tones of Elsa, the Terrace's blue-haired, intellectual medi-witch, rose to greet him. Richard met the violet stare.

"It's Luce, not me. My best guess is she was up against a Unicorn, amongst other things…"

Elsa's eyes widened as she saw the figure in his arms. She drew her wand and waved it at the opposite wall, where two trolleys immediately detached themselves and rolled over. Richard carefully laid his burden down on the first one, and glanced back in time to see Jackie levitate the other limp figure onto the second. Elsa hurried forward and ran an assessing gaze across Luce, then nodded and turned towards the other trolley.

"Don't bother."

The bright-haired woman glanced up at him, looking surprised, and he shrugged in way of reply.

"It's a shell, nothing more."

Elsa's eyes narrowed, her lips pursed as they always did when anyone questioned her on a diagnosis.

"I have to try, Richard, even if-"

"The last thing Luce cast was the Patronus Charm," he said quietly, and at that the medi-witch went quiet. She swallowed hard.

"If you would wait outside?"

Reluctantly, Richard complied. He glanced back at the prone figure still swathed in his cloak and tried to push the doubts out of his mind. She was in good hands now. He'd seen Elsa perform minor miracles a hundred times. There was no reason this time would be any different.

No reason but one…

A hand dropped onto his shoulder and Jackie swung herself round so she was infront of him. Her face was pale.

"A Patronus? You're serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Richard snapped, shrugged off her hand as he leaned heavily on the wall, resting his forehead against the cool surface. He really wanted to yell at Jackie, vent some of the angry frustration swirling round inside him, but it would be pointless. She'd done nothing.

He'd done nothing. That was the problem.

"She should never have been out there," he muttered, "I should've handled it."

Jackie blinked at him, surprised.

"What are you talking about? You weren't even here when-"

"I know that!" He glanced towards her, eyes narrowed, "But I should have been! Look what I was doing."

"Hey," Jackie matched his stare; "You got the only successful pickup in four months!"

"Easily. Too easily. I should have-"

"And - ?" Jackie's voice was suddenly very quiet, with an odd edge to it, "- what happened the last time you came up against Dementors?"

There was a moment of very heavily silence. Richard glared at her.

"That was a long time ago. And I did better than that," he gestured towards the closed door, feeling a pang of guilt as he did so. Jackie echoed his unspoken thought.

"Not by much. Listen," she caught an arm round his shoulders and squeezed lightly, "I'm gonna go tell Kate what's happened. You're staying?"

"Yes. Until…" he briefly fought himself for the words before continuing, "…until I know. Then I shall have a word with Kate."

Jackie nodded and straightened up, unconsciously wiping dried mud off her arm where it had touched him.

"Okay. You might want to get changed, or I doubt Elsa will let you back in. Oh!" Her hand flew up to her mouth for a second, eyes widening, "I forgot about Sam! Hope she hasn't wandered off…"

"Just go already." Richard turned; fixing his attention squarely back on the door as his friend darted away. He toyed with the idea of peering in through a crack, then discarded it. It wasn't Luce's actual injuries that were worrying him. She'd survived worse before – it would take some rather specialised equipment to actually kill her, thanks to her Sue's particular delusion – but…

Dementors.

Richard felt an involuntary shudder run through him, and Jackie's words rose again across his mind. The Terrace had only faced those things three times, including this one, and the last time…if he'd been on his own…

He shook himself. That had been four years ago. Things were very different now.

Right now, it looked like he was going to be in for a long wait. He spent the next few minutes applying scouring charms across his body, unwilling to leave for long enough to change, and then settled down against the wall, head resting on his forearms. After a few minutes he found himself nodding slightly and sat very deliberately back upright. This was stupid, he'd only been awake for a few hours, and he'd slept over twelve last night! Fitfully, though, he would admit. He was used to strange dreams, but the most recent set of unconscious cinematics had been weirder than usual. If he were honest, that was far from good news. Sleeping was when you had the least control…

Focus. The issue here was Luce, not him.

It was a long wait. Some sound filtered through the doors, indistinct, voices, the sound of cupboards, the dull scrape of trolley wheels on floorboards. Several times Richard stood up and almost went inside, before forcing himself back down against the wall again. Jackie returned after a while and sat next to him, surprisingly quiet, as they both feigned intense interest in the plasterwork. Richard was just starting to nod forward again when the door suddenly opened, spilling light into the corridor.

"Richard?"

He jerked upright, shaking off sleep, and scrambled to his feet as he met Elsa's gaze. She was very pale, and he felt his stomach give a lurch.

"Is she-?"

"She's got nine broken ribs, a fractured femur, concussion and she's lost a lot of blood," the medi-witch gave a tight smile, "But she's stable now, and sleeping. She's a tough one."

"Always has been." It took a lot of his self-control not to sag slightly with relief. Jackie let out a sigh.

"You're good Elsa."

"I try," Elsa hesitated for a moment, then shook her head, a strange expression flickering across her face, "But… You'd better see." She turned back into the room, holding the door with one hand. Wordlessly, they followed her.

It was obvious what they were supposed to be looking at. There were two sets of screens set up along the far wall, one drawn, one open. Richard swept over to the visible trolley and looked down.

The Sue had been cleaned up and her visible wounds dressed. Richard regarded the blank face. She was a bit younger than he'd first thought and by now…different. Her hair had lost most of its shimmer, more a dull grey than silver now, her skin an unhealthy pallor rather than pale, and the overall form seemed less perfect, like a smudged drawing. She was breathing, but very shallowly. Carefully, Richard reached out and rolled back her eyelids.

He let them close again almost immediately.

"Nothing."

"Not even Sue," Elsa said softly, a clear shake in her voice, "There's nothing. Luce is just unconscious, but this…"

"Sometimes I hate being right," Richard muttered.

"We could take her to St. Mungos," suggested Jackie, "They're usually discrete."

"Can we risk that?" Elsa bit her lip; "I mean, she's not exactly normal and with no thrall…" She trailed off. There was a very long silence.

Richard looked down again at the empty shell of Sue.

Then he shook his head.

"No, we can't. I'll handle it."

"But Kate-"

"And that."

-x-x-

Richard slipped through the curtain surrounding Luce's bed, feeling Elsa's glare drilling into the back of his head as he did so. She wasn't happy about this – what he'd just done or what he was about to, but she was at least co-operating. There weren't many other options. All the same, he'd only been granted five minutes.

He crept quietly over to the narrow chair by the bed and sat down, allowing his gaze to scan across Luce's still form. Elsa had done a good job. Minor wounds had been sealed, larger ones dressed, and there was a set of coloured potion bottles set out along a shelf behind the bed. There was also a drip feed of something purple and shimmering feeding into her left arm. She looked so peaceful he felt a pang at waking her, but five minutes of conscious Luce would be considerably more helpful. He gently laid a hand on an un-bandaged part of her shoulder and shook lightly.

"Luce? Can you hear me?"

It took a while before her eyelids flickered open. One lid only moved halfway – even Elsa's salves could only cure so much bruising – but after a blink she focused on him and her lips curled up slightly. The expression was little more than a muscle twitch, but it was a start.

"…hey…" The words came out as a croak. Richard reached out, dropped a hand down over hers, and offered a rare grin.

"Hey. I hear you had an interesting night."

Luce's face twisted in a grimace.

"You…ever tried…to fight…a bloody…unicorn animagus…with a dozen…Dementors…baring down…on you?"

"Only at weekends."

I was right then, he thought.

"Hah," she gave what might have been a short laugh, "Stupid…bint… Wasn't quite…as affected at first. Absurd enthusiasm…would've driven…everyone insane in a week…"

"You can tell me fine print later," Richard squeezed her hand, "Like when you've got the normal number of ribs again."

Luce managed a small smile.

"Looking out…for me…boss-man?"

"You've told me enough. Go back to sleep Luce." He half made to stand up, but she caught his arm weakly.

"Richard? The Sue…she-"

"Kissed."

"Oh." Luce slumped back. She was silent for a moment.

"…thought so. Lucky kick, caught me in the chest. Dementors…all over the train…she yelled she was…going to save Potter…or something. Charged after them. I fired…a patronus…don't think it worked…"

"Boundless-enthusiasm, unicorn animagus?" Richard raised an eyebrow, "Dementor ambrosia. I'd give her thirty seconds, tops."

More silence.

"So…you…?"

"Yes."

Even more silence. Richard gave her hand one final squeeze and stood up, turning away.

"Get some sleep Luce."

"…you're…going to get…angry…aren't you…?" Her voice faded out as she slipped back into sleep. Richard glanced back at his recovering student and felt his eyes darken.

"Possibly."

-x-x-

"Kate!" The shout rose up like a wave, crashing down and cutting out the usual noisy chaos of Scanns. Forty pairs of eyes suddenly became intensely interested in their owners' shoes as the furious black tornado swept across the room, heading with deadly precision towards the raised platform. It slowed and the swirling cloak flung aside to reveal Richard's seething form as he bore down on the stairs. His eyes burned, brilliant amber and oily black fighting for dominance of his irises as the Glare – worthy in every way of the capital letter associated with it – surged across the room, people fairly leaping out its way to avoid breaking the line of sight.

"Everyone out!" Richard snarled, one hand arcing round as if trying to physically sweep the room clear. Something in the combination seemed to work as Scanns emptied like it had sprung a leak, and by the time he stormed up the steps the only sign of earlier occupation was a confetti-scattering of hastily-discarded biros. Kate hadn't even moved, and continued to run her fingers lightly across the ornate table infront of her. It took up easily a third of the main platform space and housed what was unofficially known as the Suescope.

She did finally look up as Richard slammed his palm into one of the switches, sending a dark wave surging across the writhing patterns under the wide glass inset.

"A gentler touch would work better."

"I want a word with you," Richard snarled. Kate pushed a few more switches and the screen went grey, before she turned to face him, her expression infuriatingly calm.

"I thought you would."

"You thought? A bit late to try new things isn't it?"

Kate gave an exasperated sigh and matched his glare.

"She got the Sue, she did everything she was supposed t-"

"She should never have been out there!" Richard drew himself up, although it had little effect – he and Kate were matched height for height, glare for glare, "What the hell did you think you were doing? Sending Luce out unmonitored? I thought you had more sense!"

"And I thought you had more faith in your students!" Kate shot back, glaring at him as her own ire rose, "In case you forgot Richard, you picked the levels!"

"Even I would have reported in from something that high risk!" He growled. Kate gave a sharp laugh.

"Yeah, sure you would. There's always an element of unknown on any pickup, you know that! I trust our Field teams to be able to handle whatever arises."

"Dementors?" Richard's fist slammed into a nearby bookcase with force enough to dislodge a shelf; "I should have handled that! I should never have given you more Field control!"

Kate sighed. She stepped round the table and, very gently, laid her hands on his shoulders. She held his gaze.

"I know you're angry. I also know Luce isn't you, but she is a damn fine Field operative. No one knew what she was going to be up against, but she handled it magnificently. You might have waltzed in, driven off the whole pack and sporked unicorn-princess to smoke. Or you might have gained as many broken bones as she did. It's irrelevant. You're the best Richard, I know that better than anyone, but even you can't be everywhere at once."

"I know that," Richard snapped, shaking off her hands, "I –" He stopped. There was a moment of silence, broken only by very measured breathing. Finally, Richard looked up again.

"I know that," he repeated, calmer this time, "I just…"

"…don't like to see any of our little misfit sect get hurt," she finished, cracking a slight smile, "However much you may snap and snarl at them."

Richard couldn't prevent his lips from twitching slightly and he sighed, shaking his head.

"I'm on edge," he muttered, shooting an accusing glare at the Suescope, "There's something big building, I can taste it, we're that close. I can barely remember Serena, unicorn or 'elven' activity levels this high singly before, and we've never seen so much together. Or with such lack of guise – Sam's the only one who's had anything even resembling a personality for months."

"I had noticed," Kate gestured around at the room with a wry smile, "This stuff isn't just for decorative purposes."

"What d'you think? Black escaping, Dementors in the school –"

"We've already checked that for Sueage, it's clean."

"Okay," he conceded, "I agree, something's building in canon sure. But there's something else."

Kate shrugged.

"All we can do is monitor. It's probably just a reaction to something canonically important, but if it isn't we will spot it. Trust me."

"I always do." Richard finally conceded and managed the ghost of a smile. Kate returned it, in her usual fleeting way, before her expression iced back to business-like again. She moved back over to the Suescope and re-activated it, passing her fingers in complicated sweeps across the surface. Richard waved a hand towards the door, which swung back open again and exposed a wall of anxious faces. The Scanns staff began filtering cautiously back in, still shooting worried glances up at the stage.

Richard started to make his way towards the door. Sometimes he hated how Kate knew exactly how to diffuse him. He still wasn't happy about Luce, but…it could wait. She was safe now. Although he was going to keep a very close watch on any new callouts, particularly those near Hogwarts. They'd known Dementors had been brought into the school, but turning up on the route…

His thoughts cut out after he'd taken a few steps as Kate's voice suddenly captured his attention again. He turned back, not quite believing what he'd just heard.

"What?"

"The new girl," Kate stared at the Suescope thoughtfully for a second before she turned, throwing a hard glance over her shoulder as the room filled up around him, "Let her meet Serenity."

"Serenity?" Richard said sharply and frowned, which quickly turned into a scowl, "No. She's not stable enough for that yet."

"I won't argue with you, Richard," Kate turned round and leaned over the rail, holding his gaze, "I want some proof the kid won't crack. If you won't take her I'll have Jackie do it."

There was another moment of heavy silence. Then Richard leaned forward, his eyes narrowing.

"I'll do it. But," he stepped even closer, lowering his voice, "Don't forget who you're talking to, Kate. I will not be ordered around."

Kate leaned in to meet him.

"Consider it a request."

"I'll consider it a favour." Richard stepped back, "But you owe me."

"I always do," a slight smile twitched Kate's lips and she straightened up, turning back to the queue of people hovering nervously around the steps, unwilling to move any closer but doubtless straining to hear every word. They parted like a biblical sea as Richard strode through them and closed again behind him, the usual controlled chaos of Scanns settling in anew. He ignored it and stalked towards the door, fuming slightly. He got the impression he'd been outmanoeuvred – not unexpected, he and Kate were always locked in a battle of wills over anything that encompassed both their main spheres of influence – but this time he wasn't exactly sure why. He could see her point – if there was one way to test stability it was an encounter with Serenity, but he was still hesitant.

He just hoped the kid had found some Self by now.

-x-