Leaving London

Set

Two police cars stop in front of Faust's. Their sirens are the only thing breaking the night's silence. Amos hides again in a nearby alley, letting the shadows consume him. I was going to simply use him as a vessel, but his resilience is fascinating. He really thinks he can save his family, huh?

I will.

What's that? You're talking to me? What happened with ignoring me? C'mon, it's funnier when you're in denial!

I'm not your toy.

I laugh in his head. "Why, that's precisely what you are. Careful, the control will be mine the moment I get bored."

He swallows, eyes still on the cars. When and the last person has entered the building, he steps out of the dark.

"I can't believe the House of Life is letting the police get involved." He murmurs.

"We're not." We turn to face the newcomer. Michel Desjardins is leaning on the hood of a Bentley, looking right in his eyes, as if trying to spot me. Yeah, I'm here, what's up?

"What's this then?" Amos gestures at the police cars.

"The kids are not a part of this world. As far as they know, their father died in a terrorist attempt."

Amos stares at him, frozen in shock. "So it's the House that came up with this idiocy?"

"We were thinking about something related to gas leaks, the usual. But the kids need a reason to let their father go."

"And ruining their memories of him is the way to go?"

"Seems so." Michel shakes his head. "Look, we both know you shouldn't be here. Just go back to Brooklyn and I'll close my eyes this time, okay?"

"I can't leave Sadie and Carter."

"Yeah, how would we kill them if they're in London?"

No! My job here is to keep them safe and I will!

"Oh, so you think you're stronger than me?"

I'll have to be.

Michel rubs the corner of his eyes. "Just go home, Amos. It's not worth it."

"He was my brother."

It's quiet for a long moment. It's like I'm watching a telenevola. Finally, Desjardins closes his eyes and nods.

"The House of Life will check on the 21st nome in 48 hours. Not a second earlier, but also not a second later. Got it?"

Amos nods. We watch Desjardins get in the car and drive off.

I'm getting myself in too much trouble for this.

The shouts coming from inside were so clear, that putting a scrying spell on the door was unnecessary. It was, however, fun to use Amos's energy for it. The wood turned transparent, giving us a fool view of the scene.

"We can charge you." The inspector says. "We can and we will-"

We will take it from here, thank you very much. I reach out with my mind, finding the inspector's consciousness, and take hold of it. He freezes.

Robert frowns. "Inspector?"

After some thought, we decide to take the route of Amos's initial plan.

"Yes…" The Inspector reaches in his pocket and takes out an American passport, that has just appeared there out of nowhere, and throws it at Horus's host. "You're being deported. You're to leave the country within twenty-four hours. If we need to question you further, you'll be contacted through the FBI."

The other officers are eyeing each other, as if to ask 'Has he gone crazy?'.

A policewoman decides to speak up. "Sir? Are you sure- "

"Quiet, Linley. The two of you may go." Williams gestures with his hand and both officers leave. Amos hides behind the door as they do so. Once the door is closed and they're both out of sight, he looks through the door again.

Carter shoots a confused look at the inspector. "Hold on. My father's disappeared and you want me to leave the country?"

"Your father is either dead or a fugitive, son." Answers the inspector. "Deportation is the kindest option. It's already been arranged."

"With whom?" asks Robert. "Who authorized this?"

"With…" I stop when I realize what I'm about to say.

Yup. Can't let the police know they're with me.

"You have any idea what to say then? You really want to save those kids? Then go ahead. Get them out of trouble. The control of the Inspector is yours. C'mon. What's your better idea?"

Williams blinks twice before continuing. "With the proper authorities."

"Really?"

The inspector turns to face Sadie. "You, too, miss."

Right, almost had forgotten about her. Eh. Nevertheless, she looks devastated.

"You're deporting me? I live here!"

"You're an American citizen. And under the circumstances, it's best for you to return home."

"Where am I supposed to go?"

Catherine finally decides to speak up, her voice trembling. "Inspector, this isn't fair. I can't believe - "

Neither could the inspector. In fact, both holding up the scrying door and controlling Inspector Williams, is making Amos lose control. We have to get this over with quickly. After all, there are other things I'm going to need my toy for after his noble mission is over. And so the inspector cuts off whatever Catherine was about to say.

"I'll give you some time to say good-bye. I… I must be going."

By the time the door is back to its normal solid self, the inspector has made it to the door. He opens it, walks right past Amos, and gets lost into the night. Amos comes into the house and closes the door. When he turns to face the room, Robert and Catherine are already on their feet.

"You." Growls Robert. This is bound to be one hell of a night. "I should've known. If I was younger, I would beat you to a pulp."

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Faust." Amos says. I focus on Carter and Sadie. We've got to deal with this. "It's time we had a talk."

Amos sits on a sofa, pours some tea and takes one of those horrible looking biscuits. Is he trying to torture me out of him? Man, whatever food poisoning this brings us will be yours, and yours only. My senses pick up on Robert behind us, but Amos speaks up before I can do anything about it.

"Please, sit down." And so they do. Robert sits down next to Amos with a disgusted sigh. Time to observe. Isis, awful. And Horus. Of all the gods. I grunt, taking control of the body.

"Terrible timing." I say. "But there's no other way. They'll have to come with me."

Sadie crosses her arms. "Excuse me? I'm not going anywhere with some strange man with biscuits on his face!"

Do they really not remembering him? My momentary confusion is exactly what Amos's been waiting for, as he takes back the control.

"I'm no stranger, Sadie." He says with those disgusting love and care in his voice. Blah. "Don't you remember?"

She looks at Carter, but he seems as confused as she is.

"No Amos," chimes in Catherine. Her voice is trembling. "You can't take Sadie. We had an agreement."

"Julius broke that agreement tonight. You know you can't care for Sadie anymore. Not after what's happened. Their only chance is to come with me."

Carter raises an eyebrow. "Why should we go anywhere with you? You almost got in a fight with Dad!"

It's then that we notice the bag in Carter's lap.

"I see you kept your father's bag." Notes Amos. "That's good. You'll need it. As for getting into fights, Julius and I did that quite a lot. If you didn't notice, Carter, I was trying to stop him from doing something rash. If he'd listened to me, we wouldn't be in this situation."

"You blame him, don't you? Of course you do. You're angry at your brother. You're mad at him. It's always you who cleans up after him, always you who makes sure everything is okay. And where did this take you? Fixing another one of his mistakes. Watching after his kids while yours is spending Christmas without you? Yeah, I know about her. You really think your stupid shield would be strong enough to block the memories off?"

The horror that takes over his mind is exactly what I need to take control.

"You and your superstitions! I told you we want none of it." Yells Robert.

I point to the back patio. Out there, the Thames is flowing freely, as beautiful as every other river in the world.

"Superstition, is it?" I ask. "And yet you found a place to live on the east bank of the river."

Robert fumes. "That was Ruby's idea. Thought it would protect us. But she was wrong about many things, wasn't she? She trusted Julius and you, for one!"

Julius and Ruby's wedding must've been fun with this one around. I finish the tea and look at Catherine, knowing I'll have better of a chance to reason with her.

"Mrs. Faust, you know what's begun. The police are the least of your worries."

I try to push her mind, but for someone who doesn't even think about magic, her defenses are good. She swallows, realizing what's happened. "You changed that inspector's mind. You made him deport Sadie."

"It was that or see the children arrested."

"Hang on," says Sadie. "You changed Inspector William's mind? How?"

I shrug. Magic. "It's not permanent." Could've been. But I've been in the mortal world for merely a couple of hours. My powers are still settling in. "In fact we should get to New York in the next hour or so before Inspector Williams begins to wonder why he let you go."

Carter laughs. "You can't get to New York from London in an hour. Not even the fastest plane-"

"No, not a plane." Amos is back in control halfway through the sentence. Guess I'll have to puppet him from a distance as soon as I can, or this constant whiplash won't let me fight. He turns back to Catherine. "Mrs. Faust, Carter and Sadie have only one safe option. You know that. They'll come to the mansion in Brooklyn. I can protect them there."

"You've got a mansion in Brooklyn." Says Carter.

An amused smile plays on Amos's lips. "The family mansion. You'll be safe there."

"Bullshit."

"But our dad-"

"Is a goner already."

Amos lets out a small sigh, stopping back the tears before they've had a chance to come. "Is beyond your help for now. I'm sorry, Carter. I'll explain later, but Julius would want you to be safe. For that, we must move quickly. I'm afraid I'm all you've left."

"Poor kids, that's how low the bar is already." He glares at me internally. ''What, am I wrong?"

Carter nods. Sadie, on the other hand, looks ready to fight. Not yet, though. Not yet.

"Well, Carter can do what he wants. But I live here. And I'm not going off with some stranger, am I? Gramps, surely…"

Neither of her grandparents dare look at her. Instead, Robert looks at Amos. "You can get them out of the country?"

Amos stands up. He walks up to the patio, looking up at the river. His mind empties, his focus fully on the chant that fills the headspace. As he's chanting, I take the wheel.

"The police will be back soon." I say. "Tell them anything you like. They won't find us."

"You're going to kidnap us?" asks Sadie, stunned. "Do you believe this?"

"How do you plan to get to New York in an hour?" asks Carter, ignoring his sister. "You said, not a plane."

"No." Amos gets a hold of the right hand. He traces the glass with his finger, leaving a glowing blue hieroglyph on it. The spell is complete, the boat is coming.

"A boat" blurts out the Kane girl all of a sudden.

I look at her over the top of the glasses. I thought the children were raised magicless.

"How did you-"

She speaks quickly, almost as if to cover up. "I mean that last bit looks like a boat. But that can't be what you mean. That's ridiculous."

I smirk mentally. Isis, dear sister, you ain't fooling nobody. I just hope I'm onto her before she's onto me.

"Look!" calls out Carter. Sadie joins us at the patio doors. An Egyptian reed boat is docked down at the quayside. Amos's animated trench coat is standing at the tiller.

"We're going in that to Brooklyn?" asks Carter.

I nod. "We'd better get started."

Sadie turns to look at her grandmother pleadingly. "Gran, please!"

Catherine wipes away a tear. Mortals are so emotional. "It's for the best, my dear. You should take Muffin."

"Ah, yes. We can't forget the cat." I say. How could we leave without Bast? For a moment, I feel like there might be the slightest of chance to get her on my side. We worked together on the Sun Barque, after all. Then I remember she had oated to protect the little Kanes. Amongst many other things, Bast is loyal. A quality I always admire. Unfortunately, now this is playing against me.

The cat, that is now Bast's host, runs down the starirs and jumps right in Sadie's arms. The girl turns back at us, just as Amos takes a hold of the control.

"Who are you" she asks. "We can't just go off with some stranger."

Amos smiles as I mentally gag at the words that are about to come out of the mouth.

"I'm not a stranger. I'm family."

Sadie blniks a couple of times, the House's memory spell loosening up.

"Uncle Amos?" she asks hazily.

Another smile. I'm gonna have to really dig in his mind to break him. He loves those kids way too much.

"That's right, Sadie. I'm Julius's brother. Now come along. We have a long way to go."

They follow him down to the boat. I'd love to stay and have some fun, but above all else I have work to do. Surely, they're already waiting for me. They better be. As the boat slips in Duat, I detach from Amos. As they take a left towards Brooklyn, I take a right. See you doon. See you in Arizona.