I have a theory that an animagus's clothes become a part of the fur, scales, feathers, etc, when they transform and that's why the books never mention someone changing from animal to human form and ending up naked.
Crossover: Young Justice and Spirited Away
Harry, Ron, and Hermione didn't return to Hogwarts that year. This was somewhat problimatic since attendance was mandatory that year, but Harry and Hermione would have been arrested the moment tried to board the train since Harry. Ron was the only one who needed an alibi. He, his father, and the twins trasfigured the ghoul from the attic to resemble Ron with Spattergroit to convince the Ministry the he was seriously ill. The plan was for Harry, Ron and Hermione to travel around the countryside looking for Horcruxes.
It was a stupid plan. Once the twins found out the exact nature of their little brothers plan they went to Sirius and the three of them dragged Harry, Ron, and Hermione to Lisa who immediatly tore their plan to shreds. They had no idea were to start looking for Horcruxes and were uncertain of where to look for information that would help them. They hadn't planned on contacting anyone else for help, and had no plan for a serious injury or illness other than the supplies hermione had packed. It was a stupid plan, but not as stupid as Harry's original plan to go alone. He knew Voldemort was after him and didn't want anyone he cared about to get hurt. Lisa put the three of them to work.
Because of her love of books and talent for retaining information, Hermione was sent to work with the research team. Ron was given the task of spotting holes in any of the plan's for Muggleborn Rescue and Death Eater Distraction since his chess skills had proven he had a knack for strategy that Lisa wanted to nurture (well that and she couldn't get a five year old child). Since Harry was the Ministry's number one target he was given self defence lessons by Fiona who specialized in taking down her enemies using any means avalible.
Of course, once Hermione found out about the Muggleborn rescue effort she wanted to get involved. She given small roles until what was jokingly referred to as "Death Eater immunity" and "Divine Protection" kicked in. It only appiled to people Bree cared about. Hermione thought she would be protected. She, Harry, and Sirius were sent out to rescue a Muggleborn man and his pregnant muggle wife. It was supposed to be an easy mission and Harry had been sent to dissaude rumors that he had fled the country or died. Unfortunatly, Hermione had been overconfident. She had also been wrong.
The hypothesis had been that Bree had done something to protect the people she cared about. The truth that no one knew was that Bree had wished for Voldemort and those that work for him to be unable to hurt her friends and family. Even if Bree did care enough about Hermione to not want her hurt she had already made it clear that she did not consider the bookworm a friend.
The mission was a sucess and the husband and wife were taken to a safehouse. Hermione was hospitalized having nearly bled to death after being hit by a cutting curse. Harry and Sirius got away without a scratch, and a lesson was learned. It was safer to assume you didn't have the protection and be wrong than the other way around. Harry became angry and threw himself into his training. How dare Bree protect him and not his friends! Hermione became reflective, it was really all she could do being cooped up in a hospital bed. How could she have been so stupid? Bree had made it clear how much she didn't care for Hermione. Ron started planning for everything. Couldn't be too careful, not with his friends lives on the line.
The funereal was put together quickly. Lisa payed for and planned the entire event. She said that always took care of everyone that worked for her and that she didn't want to put the Weasley family through any unneeded stress. The truth was that she needed the funereal to happen as quickly as possible for the plan.
Since Ron was supposed to be sick, he couldn't go to his brothers funeral. Not as himself at least. Instead he was polyjuiced to look like one of Lisa's bodyguards. Ginny had been allowed to leave Hogwarts for the service. Percy was to be laid to rest in a cemetary just outside Ottery St. Catchpole. It was slightly overgrown and full of aging tombstones. A few were leaning slightly, others were sinking, most were growing moss. There were a few mausoleums here and there. One had a broken window, another had a door hanging open.
It was a bright sunny day distintly at odds with the moods of the mourners dressed in black and gathered in a section of the cementary that was the final resting place of many generations of Weasley. Mrs. Weasley bawled loudly the entire time and the rest of the family cried as well. Sirius kept shifting uncomfortably and Lisa managed to shed a few tears for her act. At the end, when the casket had been put in the ground, there were a few meaningless words of comfort and then Lisa went home and waited.
Meanwhile in the graveyard, darkness fell. Late in the night or early in the morning two lights moved amoung the graves. Two men held their wands aloft to light their way as they walked through the crumbling headstones. Once they found the right grave all it took was a simple earth moving spell to get the coffin to the surface.
They opened it, revealing the ashen face of Percy Weasley.
"He really does look dead, doesn't he?" one of the men asked.
"Just prop him for me." said the other.
The first man muttered somthing, but grabbed Percy anyway, propping him up. Percy's head tilted to one side. The second man held Percy's head up and forced his mouth open. He poured a potion down Percy's throat. Nothing happened.
"Come on. Come on." the second man muttered.
Ever so slowly Percy regained a healthy appearance. He gasped suddenly and his eyes flew open. He sputtered a bit, before taking in deep lungfulls or air.
"Why does it taste like something crawled into my mouth and died?" he questioned hoarsly.
"Well, technically you were dead. That's why they call it the Draught of Living Death." The first man replied, a grin on his face. Percy glared at him.
"You couldn't have given me a little bit of warning Sirius?" he asked. "You know instead of just abushing me in an alley and saying "it's time drink it." I thought I was going to die."
"If we'd told you what day it was going to happen you'd have been expecting it and might have tipped them off." the Second man replied.
"You're not-I'm-just shut up Owen. I can't think." Percy muttered.
"Yeah, the draught does that. Depends on how long you're under. One guy was out for over a week before we were able to get him. Had to dig up every recent John Doe in the county. He was pretty out of it for about a month." Owen replied. "Let's get you out of there and get that thing back in the ground."
Percy blinked. "Am I- Am I in a coffin?" he questioned and Sirius helped it out of said cofffin.
"Well, not anymore." Sirius replied. Owen used the earth moving spell again and sent the coffin six-feet-under.
"Why was I in a coffin?" Percy questioned.
"Well, dead people usually have funerals." Owen explained patiently. "Let's people get together and grieve."
"Wait does my family, do they think I'm dead?" Percy blurted out.
"Yeah, and so does your ex-girlfriend, and Oliver Wood, and Remus, and your Aunt Mu-" Owen cut Sirius off.
"If you list everyone who came to his funeral we'll be here the rest of the night." he said.
"Technically I think it's morning." Sirius replied. "And didn't we discuss this all already?"
"Yes, but he's a bit confused since the potion pretty much shut off his brain." Owen answered.
"I'm pretty sure no one mentioned the part were I got buried alive." Percy snapped.
"Well. if we had told you, you would have freaked out. Everyone freaks out when you mention that part of the plan." Owen stated.
"How many times have you had to do this?" Sirius asked.
"A lot more then I would have liked." Owen responded. "Anyway, we need to get going."
"Wait! What about the twins!" Percy exclaimed as Owen lead the way out of the graveyard.
"What about them?" Owen questioned.
"Are we going to tell them about-" Percy gestured helplessly. "this?"
"No. Lisa's afrais they might let it slip to the rest of your family. Which would be problamatic." Owen answered.
"So how many people think- No, how many people know I'm alive?" Percy asked.
"Well, there's the three of us, Lisa, Vince, my sister, and Ben, so, seven." Owen answered.
"Great." Percy muttered.
Lisa had her reasons for keeping Percy alive. Usually when a spy was discovered they were repurposed, sent to gather information elsewhere. This could not be done with Percy, he had no infiltration training. He had become a spy after landing the job in the ministry and had been given a crash course on information gathering without getting caught. He had done well for awhile, but obviously somone had caught on.
Lisa's many times great grandfather had started the company with a single dream. He wanted it to be as vast and prosperous as the empires of old so he named it Imperial. He mandated that only the most qualified would be allowed to lead because one bad leader could cause the entire empire to crumble.
Lisa was loyal to those that worked for her. She didn't develop personal relationships with them, she didn't become attached to them, but she was loyal. They got benefits and insurance along with raises and promotions and Lisa made sure they didn't feel like pawns in somone else's game. She did everything to ensure they were loyal to her, to the point where she could order them to die and they would do so without hesitation. That was why she was named heir instead of her brother.
Her brother had been the typre of person to blatently use and abuse anyone he considered beneath him. He felt entitled, that he deserved everything that was given to him. Naturally this led to him becoming quite angry when he found out the Lisa would become the company's next CEO. Even though he would inheirate a sizable sum, he plotted to kill his father a forge a will naming himself heir, leaving his sister out in the cold. Instead he became the ultimate example of what happened to those who were disloyal.
So you see, Lisa had to keep Percy alive. She had to maintain loyalty, even though he had lost his usefullness as a spy so she came up with the plan to fake his death. The only flaw in the plan was the Weasley family clock. It wouldn't be fooled by the draught of living death and so Sirius was sent to remove Percy's hand from the clock around the same time that Percy was supposed to "die" in an alley. Lisa would just have to find something else for Percy to do and well, she needed more people working to snuff out the Light anyway
Bree was lost in the woods, soaking wet, with twigs a leaves caught in her fur. And she was still a cat because, for whatever reason, she was stuck in her animagus form. Someone giggled and Bree felt herself being lifted up until she was face to face with her own grinning face. The only difference being a pair cat-like yellow eyes.
"Someone seems a little lost." the other Bree stated. "A bit stuck too. Can't change back, can you? I'm afraid that's my fault."
Bree hissed and swiped at other Bree's face. Other Bree just chuckled.
"Now I have a little test for you. If you pass, you'll learn something new, if you fail, you'll be stuck like this until you pass." she explained. "You followed me here through one of the thin places in reality. You're test is to find your way out of here by finding your own thin place, doesn't matter where you end up, just as long as you get out of here. Here's a tip: You'll need to let go." And with that Bree was dropped on the ground.
Finding a thin place in reality was easier said than done. Reality tended to be very thick. Or maybe solid was a better word. Either way, Bree was unable to find her way out of the woods. Maybe she was trying to hard. When she had found Yuko's shop she hadn't wanted to go anywhere. And what had the other Bree meant by letting go? Hours had gone by and it was getting dark. Bree was getting tired and frustrated and she really wanted a bath. And now she was on a bridge.
A wooden bridge with red railings. At the one end of the bridge was a large building with red walls, green eaves, and gold and brown accents. At the other end were many more buildings, mostly shops and foodstalls. Some were in the traditional style, some had added staind glass windows to the traditional sliding doors, others looked more western, and it was bright. Bright colors and bright light from the the paper lanterns strung up and from inside the buildings. It reminded Bree of the shopping district she had followed the cat to. Especially with all the spirits moving in and out of the buildings.
She turned back toward the largest building, wondering what it's purpose was. Steam wafted out of it, carrying the scent of various herbs and spices. Curious, Bree went in.
"Hey, get out of here! We don't need some mangy cat running around in here!" A man shouted. He looked more human than some of the other spirits Bree had seen, though his head was far to large. Bree grinned at him a changed back with a pop.
The man went pale and took a step back. "I-I mean. Welcome honored customer!" he stuttered out, bowing deeply, a terrified look on his face. "How may I help you.
"Well," Bree began, as the man stood back up. "I could really use a bath, my clothes need to be washed, and I'd like a place to stay for a bit." The mud a twigs that had been matted in her fur was now in her two-toned hair and covered her clothes.
"Of course, of course. Right this way." the man said, motioning for her to follow him. It was a bath house, Bree discovered, so she had ended up where she had wanted to be, a place where she could take a bath. But still, it just didn't make any sense.
The bath house was apparently very popular among spirits, proven by how crowded it was. Most had a somewhat humanoid shape but could never be mistaken for human as they had distictly non-human features such as the one with an octopus for a head or the one that looked like a human shaped radish wearing a large sake cup for a hat. A few had mutiple tentacles and one group appeared to be made of giant chicks. The workers all gave Bree a wide berth.
The man grabbed two of the workers and told them to cater to Bree's needs. Lin and Sen both looked completely human. Lin was a pretty young woman while Sen was a rather plain looking girl.
"I hope you don't mind that Sen is a human." the man said hurriedly.
"Oh course not!" Bree replied brightly. "Humans are interesting."
"Right. Well, good. I'll just be on my way then." the man replied before hurrying away.
Bree was relaxing in a rather luxurious bath, still wearing her protection bracelet and translation key since she was in a bath house filled with Japanese spirits. The water felt wonderful and smelled like vanila and oranges. Lin had taken Bree's muddy clothes to the laundry. Bree had let her hair down so it reached past her shoulders. Lin and Sen were trying to pick twigs and leaves out of it. Lin acted rather nervous around Bree, as did the other workers, though theywere equally curious, peeking around corners when they thought Bree wasn't looking. Sen on the other hand was just curious and didn't seem to know why her coworkers were acting the way they did.
Bree felt an especially hard tug.
"Oops." Sen said, holding a twig with purple strands of hair knotted around it. Lin looked terrified at what Sen had done. Bree sighed and examined her hair. The mud was gone but some twigs and leaves had become tangles in it.
"Bit of a lost cause." she told Lin and Sen. "Might as well get rid of the excess." She pulled off a clump of magenta, much to Lin's surprise. Bree wonder if spirits had ever heard of hair extensions.
"Are you sure that's okay?" Lin asked. Bree shrugged.
"I would have had to change it soon anyway. I never keep one appearance for long." she answered.
"Why not?" Sen questioned as she started to pull off more purple strands.
"Why shouldn't I? One face get's boring." Bree replied.
"I guess..." Sen said uncertainly. She and Lin worked in silence until all that was left was her natural hair which reached an inch past her chin. Bree, having already been prepared to change her appearance when nessesary, pulled a dye remover out of her inventory and returned her hair to it's natural color before leaving the bath. She'd been given a yukata to wear in the bath house. It was simple blue garment, but it served it's purpose.
The room Bree had been given was rather empty save for her now clean clothing folded neatly and placed by the door. That soon changed when trays of tradtional foods were brought in for Bree to eat. As Bree was digging in there was a commotion in the hallway. The door slid open revealing an old woman in a blue dress. She had the bigger head the anyone in the bath house. Behind her, workers were trying to peek into the room.
"So this is our esteemed guest." The woman stated. Bree finished the last bite of sushi she was holding, and wasn't it odd how raw fish was so much more appealing when she let her animagus form bleed through, even if it was somewhat bland.
"And who might you be?" Bree questioned.
"I'm Yubaba, the owner of this bath house." the woman answered. "It's been a hundred years since one of your kind has visited and while he was able to pay there is no evidence that you will be able to."
"Well, that depends entirely on you." Bree replied.
"What do you mean?" Yubaba asked.
"What do you accept as payment here?" Bree countered. "It's not like Yuko's shop is it? Because that would be highly inconvient.
Yubaba had gone stiff at when Bree brought up Yuko.
"No. Nothing like that." she replied tensely. "Just gold."
"Good. I can do that." Bree replied. She pulled a bag out of her inventory and fished around in it.
"Paper, paper, plastic, ah! Wait, no, sickles, getting close... There!" she pulled out a handful galleons and shoved it into Yubaba's hands before pulling out a second handful and giving that to Yubaba as well. The bag vanished.
"Goblin money?" Yubaba questioned.
"I like to travel so I make sure to have the local currency. Even if it means carrying all of them at once." Bree replied.
"You do a lot of shopping in the human world then?" Yubaba questioned. Bree picked up a pair of chopsticks and began playing with them.
"Humans are interesting, say the right words, ask the right questions, and that's all it takes for their little minds to..." Bree snapped the chopsticks in her hand.
"Maybe you're not so different from the other one." Yubaba muttered.
Yubaba had left the room, Bree had finished eating, and the dishes had been cleared. Lin and Sen were setting up a futon while Bree sat off to the side, staring at her cheshire cat barrettes. She really didn't need them anymore, so there was no reason to keep them or the rest of her disguise, it was just more stuff to take up space. The clothing she could part with, but she had gotten rather attached to the barettes, it would be a shame to just throw them out.
"Sen, come here." Bree requested. The girl look apprehensive, but she complied. Once Sen was in front of her, Bree grabbed the girl by the shoulders and turned her around. Her hair was already in a ponytail so Bree attached the barrette to her hair tie.
"There we go." Bree declared. Sen turned around while reaching up to feel her hair.
"What did you..." she trailed off when she felt the barrette.
Bree held out the other barrette to Lin, fully expecting the woman to take it. After a moment of hesitation, she did. That matter settled, Bree dismissed Lin and Sen and went to bed.
Spirits were the most active at night so while Bree had gone to bed quite late by human standards, for spirits it was still early. That's why the bath house and the shopping district across the bridge were completely shut down the next morning, everyone was sleeping. Bree, sprawled out in her futon, was somewhere between wakeing up and falling asleep.
A shadow could be seen moving around on the balcony through shoji door. The door slid open and then closed after something entered the room. Bree rolled over and felt something breathing on her face. She opened her eyes and found a gray cat with black stripes and yellow eyes staring down at her. It was the cat she had followed the day before.
"Hello, it's nice to finally meet you." It said, grinning from ear to ear.
Bree sat up.
"You!" she hissed.
"Me." the cat replied as it shifted into the form of a man in his thirties. His black hair was tied back in a low ponytail. He was wearing a white shirt, a blue waistcoat with a pocket watch tucked away, black trousers, knee high boots, a grey frock coat, and a top hat. He might have looked like a Victorian gentleman if it weren't for the overall scruffy and faded appearance of his clothing, his five o'clock shadow, his yellow cat-like eyes, and his sharp toothed grin.
"You passed the test." He exclaimed. "Well, mostly, you got out of the woods at least, but you didn't quite let go in the way I wanted you to."
Bree got to her feet, adjusting her yukata a bit as she did so.
"You looked like me." she stated, glaring at the man.
"Just an illusion." he replied. "But I suppose you haven't learned much about those since they've been pretty much outlawed back home."
"I know of them." Bree responded.
"But you don't know how to use them, that other one is learning, but she isn't like you. You've made it through the thin places intact..." His grin faultered a bit as he circled Bree, examining every inch of her. "Well, mostly intact, but you only lost what you gave up." He grabbed her by the chin and looked her in the eye.
"But you are a very special one. I was just an ordinary cat until I went mad, but you! You started out mad!" he exclaimed. "That's never happened before."
Bree pulled away from him.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"To help you." the man answered. "To teach you, and you've already passed the first test, even if you didn't let go of the thing I wanted you to let go of, but that's okay, everyone has trouble letting go."
"You keep saying that!" Bree snapped. "What exactly am I supposed to be letting go of?"
"You let go of your stress, of your desire to get out of the woods when you decided that all you really wanted was a bath." the man explained. "Finding a thing place is just about impossible when you're actively looking for one, it's much easier just to wander through one by accident, but that's not really practical when you want to go somewhere. What I've found is that the best way to find a thin place is to make one, and you do that by letting go."
"Letting go of what?" Bree pressed.
"Reality." the man replied.
"Reality?" Bree repeated skeptically.
"Let go of everything you think you know about reality and it's easy. Those stories about a cheshire cat being able to reappear there and disappear here-" he said a he vanished from sight. "It's as easy as slipping through the fabric of reality." he finished, appearing behind Bree. She whirled around.
"Just let go of reality, think of where you want to go, and you're there." he told her.
"That's dangerous." Bree pointed out.
"All fun things are." the man replied.
"Getting stuck in the void won't be fun." Bree stated. "And that's what's on the other side of the fabric of reality."
"Yes and no." the man answered. "The void is the space between realities. What I travel through is more like the space between spaces and sometimes when I'm feeling adventurous, the space between events."
"What do you mean events?" Bree questioned.
"Imagine time, not as a line, but as a bunch of swimming pools. All you have to do is climb out of one and go for a swim in another. Except not, because swimming pools aren't constantly in flux." the man responded. "Maybe it would be easier to just show you. We'll start with the space between spaces. Keep an eye out between steps. You'll see something interesting."
He grabbed Bree and dragged her along for one step. It was dark, the wind was blowing and there were thousands of light glittering below them, reflecting off the steel and glass buildings.
"We're on a building." Bree stated numbly.
"We're on the roof of Lexcorp building in Metropolis." the man agreed. "Did you see it?"
"See what?" Bree asked. The man sighed.
"Pay attention this time." he pulled her forward again, right off the building. They landed in the soft sand of a tropical beach. Waves crashed against the shore. The moon was bright, but not full and stars filled the sky. A star flickered and went out. It went unnoticed.
"Did you see it?" the man asked.
"I don't know, there was just darkness and-and fireflies?" Bree answered. The man looked pleased.
"You are going to be brilliant." he stated.
"What am I supposed to call you anyway?" Bree asked.
"Call me Carrol, wait no, that's a girl's name. Don't call me that I'm not girl... well I wasn't this morning." He looked down the front of his pants. "Still male!How about Chess? No, that's not really creative enough. Cyrus, I like the way that sounds."
"Okay then Cyrus, now what?" Bree inquired.
"Well, that depends on you." Cyrus answered. He has stopped grinning. "The price is going to catch up to you soon, no matter how much you run you can't get away from it. It might even kill you and that would really spoil my fun."
"Thanks so much for your concern." Bree stated dryly. Cyrus shrugged.
"You're the most interesting thing I've come across in a while and I'd really like for you to stay alive, but what can you do?" he replied. He grinned again. "So now the question is, where do you want to be when it catches up? Keeping in mind that the place you choose might be the last place you ever go."
"I don't know." Bree stated quietly. Cyrus appeared next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"There must be something you want to do, some fun you want to have. You missed Halloween you know, you were too busy running. So where do you want to go?" he asked.
"I guess Thanksgiving is coming up." Bree muttered. "I haven't had one of those since we moved to England. It would be nice to celebrate with family but-"
"Done!" Cyrus exclaimed, pulling Bree forward. For a brief moment there was darkness, total silence and lights like fireflies and then there was a nighttime jewelry store robbery that was being thwarted the Flash and his sidekick. Cyrus pushed Bree who slipped on a patch of ice and crashed into Captain Cold.
"Merry Thanksgiving, here's your present!" Cyrus shouted at a rather bewilldered Flash and Kid Flash before vanishing.
"That is not how Thanksgiving works!" Bree exclaimed as she worked to detangle herself from Captain Cold.
"What just happened?" Kid Flash asked, staring at the spot Cyrus had vanished from as if it might hold the answer. It didn't.
After being interview by the Central City police Bree was sent to the hospital after smoothing a few things out with the State Department. It wasn't that they didn't believe that she had been transported half around the globe, they delt with the Flash on a daily basis after all, they just wanted to make sure the trip hadn't caused any injuries. Bree understood their concern, there was no telling how Cyrus's power actually worked, or what the "space between spaces" actually was, so she put up with it.
What irritated her was the fact that the hospital staff refused to release her once they found out she was seventeen. They didn't believe her when she said she was legally an adult since she couldn't produce any proof. Well not without accessing her inventory, but she really didn't feel like being labeled a meta-human. So she was stuck in the hospital waiting for the only blood relative that lived in central city: Thirty-five year old Barry Allen.
Barry had short blond hair, green eyes, and was always late. The police had taken Bree in at around ten in the evening and had sent her to the hospital about and hour an a half later. Barry got to the hospital at one in the morning. That's when Bree found out that there was a second reason that the hospital staff wanted a relative to come get her.
"I do not have an eating disorder." Bree told Barry once they were both in his car.
"You are underweight." he pointed out.
"By five pounds." Bree replied. "I mean, I know I lost twenty or so without really noticing, but I was on the go alot and I bought clothes instead of packing a suitcase and there's no set standard for sizes so I didn't really notice that I was buying smaller clothes and why won't this damn yukata stay put!" Bree hastily readusted her yukata.
"Stupid thing keeps slipping. I didn't mind so much in the bath house, but I think Captain Cold kind of liked that I fell on him, until the Flash decked him, and Kid Flash kept staring." Bree complained.
Barry looked like he wanted to slam his head into the steering wheel.
"I'm sure Iris won't mind lending you some clothes until we can get you some new ones." he stated. The was an uncomfortable silence.
"I know this was kind of sudden..." Bree began awkwardly. "Once I get some new clothes I can get out of your hair before Thanksgiving since you probably have plans and... yeah." She stared out the window, frowning. When had it become so diffecult to talk to her own family?
"Don't be ridiculous. We'd love to have you." Barry responded. Bree turned away from the window, smiling a little.
"You sure you'll have enough food? I mean, there's a reason you and Wally aren't allowed in the eating contest." she replied.
"Hey, we won that!" Barry protested good naturedly.
"They ran out of pie." Bree reminded him.
"Well, it was good pie." Barry defended.
"The pie's always good." Bree stated.
"Yeah, you should have been there this year." Barry said.
"I was busy." Bree replied, the smile leaving her face.
"Your parents made it." Barry told her.
"Did they?" Bree said.
"They said you were staying in England to go to a friend's wedding and that they had moved back to California, but you were going to stay with relatives from your Dad's side and finish school. But you were in Japan before you were transported here so that last part wasn't true." Barry stated. Bree didn't say anything.
"Bree, what's going on?" Barry asked, his voice laced with concern. Bree was silent for a moment.
"I don't think they knew they weren't telling the truth. The old headmaster was murdered and I really didn't want to go back since the new headmaster was the... chemistry professor and we didn't really get along." she finally said.
"So you ran away." Barry said.
"I didn't run!" Bree snapped, before calming down a little. "I mean I did but not from school. Anyway, I'm legally an adult so I really don't have to go if I don't want to."
"You're seventeen." Barry replied.
"I know." Bree answered.
"So then you must have been emancipated." Barry pressed.
"That's not what happened." Bree whispered.
"Then why don't you tell me what did happen?" Barry asked. Bree didn't reply. Barry sighed and pulled over so he could look at Bree when he talked to her.
"Look, we're family alright? That's why when Wes called I agreed to give you a place to stay if you needed it, even though he didn't say what was going on. I want to help you." he said.
"You can't." Bree stated.
"I have connections-in law enforcement. I'm a forensic scientist and I work with the police. I can help, if you'll let me." Barry stated, stumbling over his words a bit. Tears started to form in Bree's eyes. Barry was always so god-damn nice all the time, and he really did care about his family and would do anything to help them. And that was exactly why she couldn't tell him anything.
Barry put a hand on her shoulder. "Alright, I won't push you anymore. You don't have to tell me anything, I just want you to know that I'm there for you, and Wally and Iris are there for you too. If you want to talk, we'll listen, okay?" he said.
"Okay." Bree answered.
The next morning, Bree was in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal. Barry's wife, Iris West-Allen, had alreadly left She worked at a local news station and had to get up early for the morning news. Iris's nephew Wally, who lived with the couple for reason's that no one talked about, was falling asleep in his cereal. Correction, he was drowning in his cereal. Bree quickly pulled him out and took a moment to stare as he blinked dazedly. Wally was sixteen, having had a birthday earlier in the month. He had red hair, green eyes, and freckles, traits that apparently ran in the west family since Iris had them too. He also looked completely ridiculous with milk and cereal dripping down his face.
"I need a camera." Bree stated. Wally grabbed a napkin and began wiping milk off his face.
"No you do not." he said.
"But your face just now would have made such a great Christmas photo." Bree replied, laughing.
"It's not funny." Wally stated as he got up from the table and took his bowl to the sink.
"Where's Barry? Doesn't he have to work today?" Bree questioned.
"He's probably sleeping in since he had to go get you last night. I'll go get him up." Wally answered. He left the kitchen and came back a few minutes later. Barry stumbled in and poured himself a bowl of cereal.
"Uh, Uncle Barry?" Wally began.
"Yeah Wally?" Barry replied tiredly.
"You're only wearing boxers." Wally stated. Barry stared uncomprehendingly at Wally.
"Hi Barry." Bree said, waving to catch her sleep deprived cousin's attention. Barry blinked.
"Right. I forgot you were here." he stated. "I'll just go put on pants and other clothes now."
"You do that." Bree replied as Barry rushed out of the room, tripping a bit.
"Sorry, usually does that when he's too tired to put on his pajama's." Wally said.
When Barry came back to the kitchem Wally had already left for school.
"Sorry about that." he told Bree.
"It's not as bad as when certain people who shall remained unamed have to much to drink at the family reunion." she replied. Barry winced.
"Yeah, I think Wally was scarred for life that one year cousin Rufus forgot what a strip mall was." he said.
"So are you working today?" Bree asked.
"Yeah, but they'll understand if I'm a little late since I had to get pick my cousion from the hospital after she was abducted by a meta-human last night." Barry replied.
"I guess they're used to weird stuff happening with the Flash living here and all." Bree commented.
"Right." Barry answered. "So Iris and I will be working for most of the day and Wally has an after school club that he goes to, so you'll be alone for awhile.
"I'm a big girl Barry. I can take care of myself." Bree stated dryly.
"I know. I'm just a little concerned about that Cyrus guy showing up and taking you again." Barry explained.
"I'll be fine." Bree assured him. He still seemed concerned, but left for work anyway. Bree went out shopping for new clothes. Normal everyday clothes. Jeans, blue t-shirt, black hoodie, and a pair of fingerless gloves because the last thing she needed was for someone to see the words carved into her hand, it had been hard enough to hide it from the hospital, but they had been too concerned about her weight to notice her hands.
When she was done she returned to the Allen household. She had gotten so used to pretending to be somone else that it just felt wrong walking around as herself. She turned the T.V. on when it was time for the news, just because she knew Iris would be on. The robbery Bree had interuppted was mentioned, but Bree's name was left out since she was a "minor." There weren't any stories that particularly interested Bree until a murder was mentioned. The latest in a series of nationwide killings of gand members. The only thing tying the victims together was a tattoo of a skull with a snake coming out of it's mouth.
Bree turned of the T.V. and began doing research on the family computer. The Death Eater Wes had killed in Washington had been found, but so had many others, mostly in coastal and border cities. Places were one might enter the country, a few had gotten further in before being killed. Cause of Death was usually a shotgun wound. Bree normally wouldn't have supected hunters, they usually burned the body of anything they killed, but Olivia had made a plan with her friends to find Death Eaters before they found Bree and it seemed they were doing pretty well. Bree assumed that they were leaving the bodies unburt to send a message.
Researching the murder of Death Eaters led Bree to other stories. Other murders that police were having trouble with. Families attacked for no reason, random slayings, and cold blooded torture. The police couldn't make sense of it and even the FBI was finding it diffecult, but had started writing things down. Date, location, cause of death, details of the case. Then she looked for similar story's overseas. Then she cross referenced everything with her own movements and a horrific picture emerged. It was harder to tell in countries were death was par the course, but it seemed that eveywhere Bree went, people died. Everytime she got away, people died. Everytime the Death Eater's lost track of her, people died. Somtimes entire familes, sometimes random teenage girls that bore a passing resemblence to Bree Louise Smith. The killing were not quick, they were not clean, and they were not painless, and they were all Bree's fault.
The Death Eater's were venting their frustrations on random people. Everything they wanted to do to Bree they did to whoever was unlucky enough to cross their path. Bree had been able to make sure everyone she cared about would be safe from the Death Eaters, she hadn't cared about the rest of the world. At least not until she had actually looked at the rest of the world and seen burned out houses and shattered lives. What was she supposed to do, go back to Yuko's and take on the pain of the entire human race? That would break her. She couldn't just give up and let them catch her, not with how hard she had fought to stay free, especially since she now had a clear picture of what they would do to her once they got her. They would break her, put her back together, and break her again. She didn't know what to do, so she just cried.
Bree hadn't celebrated Thanksgiving since she was eleven when she had moved to England, so she felt a little awkward helping Iris in the kitchen on the fourth Thursday of the month. It didn't help that she hadn't been sleeping well for the two days she had been there. She passed it off as jet lag, but the truth was that she had been having nightmares ever since she found out about the trail of death she was leaving behind. It didn't help help that, despite what Barry had said in the car, he, Iris, and Wally just weren't there during the day. Barry and Iris had to work and Wally had school and his club which left Bree alone most of the day. She hadn't realy felt like going out and exploring the city, she hadn't wanted to do anything.
Thankfully, Barry and Iris didn't invite too many people over for the holiday. It was just an older couple they were friends with, Jay and Joan Garrick, and two of Wally's friends who didn't have anyone to celebrate with, Conner kent and Megan Morse.
Megan had red hair and brown eyes and looked familar to Bree, although she couldn't quite remember where she had seen the younger girl before. Conner also struck Bree as being somwhat familar. He had black hair, blue eyes, and was quiet, which was fine since everyone else made up for it.
During the meal itself Barry and Wally talked animatedly with their guests, though any attempts at engaugeing Bree or Conner in conversation was met with short answers. Barry kept slipping extra food onto Bree's plate when she wasn't looking, though she did figure it was him since he was sitting next to her and had expressed concern that she wasn't eating enough.
"So, Bree, Wally says you've been traveling all over." Megan stated, pulling Bree's attention away from Wally who was on his fourth serving of turkey.
"Uh, yeah I have." she answered.
"That must be so exciting! What countries have you been to?" Megan asked. Everyone else had stopped talking, apparently wanting to here the answer.
"Well, there was France, a few places in Africa, um... Germany, Italy, Japan, Australia and a few island in the Carribbean." Bree replied.
"That must have been so much fun!" Megan exclaimed. "Did you see all sorts of animals? What kind of food did you try?"
"I saw some lions and a herd of wild elephants in Africa. As for food, I tried some sushi in Japan, but this trip really hasn't been about the food for me." Bree answered. She was pretty sure she heard Barry mutter somthing, whatever it was it made Iris kick him.
"Well, why did you decide to travel?" Megan asked,
"I didn't really." Bree stated, looking down at her plate of food. "It was my Aunt's idea. Things at school got kind of, well, bad, since the old headmaster died and Aunt Lisa thought that traveling would be a better learning experience for me."
Bree felt uncomfortable lying like that, even if it wasn't exactly a lie, more like a twisted truth. She didn't like lying, she prefered telling truths she knew wouldn't be believed or distracting someone away from the topic. Barry sensed her discomfort and changed the subject.
"So, uh, who's you favorite hero?" he asked. Bree stared incredulously for a moment. As if she couldn't believe that was the best he could come up with.
"Batman." she says finally. It isn't the truth, but the Doctor isn't very well known even if he is a hero.
"What! Come on, Flash is way better then him!" Wally exclaimed. "Batman doesn't even have a superpower!"
"I admire his intelligence, ingenuity, and his ability to scare people by existing." Bree replied.
"You need to go to the Flash museum and see just how awesome he is." Wally grumbled. Barry looked rather amused by the whole thing.
"I got the day off Saturday, we could go then." he stated.
"Sounds good." Bree replied. The conversation drifted off into other topics, but Bree didn't really pay attention. She could only think about how the food was a bit bland, which was odd since she had helped make it so she knew that it shouldn't have been bland. Lately everything she ate was a little on the bland side, even things that were really salty like potato chips. She wondered if there was something wrong with her.
After dinner Bree slipped out the door. It was early in the afternoon since Thanksgiving dinner had actually been served at two in the afternoon since it was such a large meal. A football game had been put on the T.V. and Bree assumed everyone would be in the living room. Wally certainly wasn't going anywhere, not with the way he was complaining about having eaten to much.
Bree sighed and sat down on the front steps. Maybe she should just leave now, before the Death Eaters showed up. She could head to Gotham where horrific murders where practically the norm. That wouldn't stop the price from catching up with her though and Cyrus had warned it that it would be coming soon. She brought her knees up to her chest, folded her arms, and hid her face.
It would be better if she left. Safer for everyone if she did. Barry, Wally, and Iris would be fine, but their guests and neighbors wouldn't be if Death Eaters showed up. Bree got up, pulled her hood up, and started walking.
"Where are you going?" someone asked as Bree took her first steps away from the house. Bree stopped and turned around. Connor was standing in front of the door. Bree hadn't even noticed him come out.
"I just needed some air. Thought I'd go for a walk." she answered.
"It's loud in there." Conner stated.
"Yeah." Bree agreed, "Do you want to walk with me?"
Conner shrugged. "Sure." he said.
Bree had been hoping he'd say no. The started walking down the block in silence. It was awkward and Bree really had no idea what to do.
"So um, Wally said you guys were in some sort of club?" she said.
"Yeah." Conner replied.
"So, do you like it?" Bree asked.
"It's okay." Conner answered. Bree sighed.
"So, how did you meet Wally?" she asked since Wally was the only thing they had in common.
Conner didn't answer for a moment.
"He saved me." he finally answered. Suprise was evident on Bree's face.
"You know, you kind of remind me of Wally." She told him.
Conner looked skeptical.
"Yeah, I know. You can't tell now but when I first met him he didn't talk much. Though with him it was because he was terrified little kid. You're just kind of a broody teenager." Bree explained.
"Why was Wally scared?" Conner asked. Bree frowned.
"I can't, well I could, but it's one of those things no one really talks about so I don't really know for sure but..." she trailed off.
"What do you know?" Conner asked.
"For a long time I was one of the youngest in the family so when Barry brought Wally to the family reunion for the first time I was the first kid he introduce Wally to since I was the closest in age." Bree answered. "I thought he was weird. He was quiet and shy. He would flinch if somone raised their voice too much or moved to quickly and he didn't really know how to play. My dad is a psychology professor. He has a lot of books in his home office. I skimmed thourgh some of them awhile back, I didn't really understand most of it, too many big words and unfamiliar terms, but there were bits that I did get and- and it really doesn't matter anymore. Wally is happy now, what happened in the past, happened in the past."
"I guess." Conner muttered.
"Hey a swing-set!" Bree chirped as they passed an empty playground.
"Let's go!" she exclaimed, grinning as she pulled Conner toward the swings.
Bree began swinging back and forth until she noticed that Conner was just sitting in the swig next to her's. She stopped.
"Don't you want to swing?" she asked.
"...I don't know how." Conner stated.
"I'll teach you." Bree said, sliding out of the swing and getting behind Conner.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm going to get you started." Bree explained. "Hold onto the chains so you don't fall. I'll let you know when you need to move your legs."
It didn't take long for Conner to get the hang of it and Bree was able to return to her own swing. It was nice just to have fun and forget, even if it was only for a little while.
"That was fun!" Bree said happily. Conner made a noncommittal sound in response, but Bree was pretty sur she had seen him smiling on the swings.
They had wandered over to one of the busier streets and Bree saw something out of the corner of her eye when they became to cross.
"Something wrong?" Conner asked when he nocticed her distraction.
"I just thought I saw-" Bree answer was cut short by the sound of squealing tires. She only had a second to register the shock on Conner's face before something collided with her. The price had finally caught up, even if the Death Eaters hadn't.
Alice had celebrated Thanksgiving at the American Insitute. The school served traditional favorites, not just the turkey and mashed potatoes, since tradition varied from state to state. As well as turkey cooked according to various regional recipes there was crab and ham. There were many kind of stuffing and dressing, which was like stuffing but without having been stuffed into a turkey. There was gumbo from New Orleans and a few asian dishes that were popular in Hawaii.
The Insitute was many times larger than Hogwarts and was the largest of the Greater North American Schools. There were four others, all located in National Parks. The Oldest of the schools was located in Acadia National Park, but had been downsized after the Fire of 1947. The others were located in Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and North Carolina, and Redwood National Park in California. In addition to the schools there were the Lesser North American Schools that were mostly for young children to young to go away to the Greater Schools or those who felt they lived to far away from the Greater Schools and opperated more like a typical public schools rather than magical ones. The Lesser Schools were especially popular for older children in the parts of Alaska were life revolved around prepareing for winter and surviving winter.
Anyway, the two Thanksgivings that Alice had actually celebrated were rather lavish. This Thanksgiving would not be. Megumi had given her the day off from her studies. Alice was doing well with type one illusions, but after having her practice with feeder fish for a bit Megumi decided that she would never be able to use type two illusions correctly. Alice's magic was "sticky" which was fine for type one illusions where you wanted to effect an area, but for type two where you to slip your magic into a person brain and change their perceptions that way it was impractical. Alice's magic keep sticking to the tiny blood vessel in the fishes brains, tearing them and killing the fish, so the focus went back to type one illusions and fighting.
Even though she was glad to have a break, Alice hadn't been looking forward to the holiday. She had no one to celebrate it with. Well, that wasn't nessesarrily true. There were two people who she was pretty sure wouldn't be doing anything either.
It hadn't been that hard to get Roy and Harvey out of their apartments and down to the diner where they all ordered the turkey dinner. Roy was once again putting himself between and Alice and her bodyguards again. This time the two guards were actually in the diner, eating their own Thanksgiving dinner. Roy kept shooting suspicious glances at them. Overall, it was a nice dinner, and Alice was begining to think that maybe she had friends.
I've been planning on introducing Cyrus for awhile now. He's been following Bree since Colombia.
