Chapter Ten: Wrong Becomes Right
Unfortunately, it wasn't quite that simple; Roy had no sooner gotten out of the interview room when he spotted the Customs agent they were working with heading in his direction. The woman wasn't close enough to see what…or rather who…Roy had in his hands, but she was close enough that Roy couldn't duck into the next interview room and pretend he hadn't seen her. And she looked mad; Roy gulped and debated his options. Glancing down at the gryphon, he moved the cub down and to the side. "Grab onto my belt," he hissed.
Puzzled eagle eyes blinked at him, accompanied by a questioning squer-ar?
"Quick, grab onto my belt and get behind me," Roy ordered, eyeing the approaching agent and trying not to panic. "Before anyone sees you like that."
Eagle eyes followed Roy's gaze and narrowed, a low growl emerging from the cub and the gryphon's tail lashing angrily.
"Now," Roy demanded. "She doesn't know about magic…we can't let her see you."
When he said that, he got a startled squeak and the cub finally obeyed; Roy restrained a gulp as those sharp talons hooked onto the belt and lightly scraped against his back. The gryphon carefully scooted to the side until he was nestled at the small of Roy's back. Roy had just enough time to resettle his jacket and paste a smile on for the agent as she came right up to him, scowling.
"Where's the passenger you and your partner dragged off?" the agent barked.
Roy jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the interview room. "Giles has got her in there, but she's not going anywhere," Roy informed the agent crisply. "She managed to get a weapon past security and pulled it on us when we tried to take the kid with her away so we could interview him."
"Interview him?" the Customs Agent inquired, her expression skeptical.
"Yeah," Roy confirmed, pretending not to notice the skepticism. "She gave us one name, he gave us a different one; we're trying to nail down who's telling the truth." He sidestepped as the agent moved towards the second interview room. "Look, we've got it under control; sorry about bailing on your people though."
"I've had training in interviewing children, I can help," the agent offered briskly; Roy blinked at the abrupt about-face in her attitude. "I don't imagine you've run across too many minor witnesses, Detective Lane."
"More than you'd think," Roy countered. Far, far more than he liked, that was for sure. "Look, I appreciate the offer, I really do, but so far, the kid's been more comfortable around me 'n' Giles than any ladies." He shrugged helplessly, leaving out the small detail about Lance actually knowing the two officers and letting the agent draw her own conclusions.
Which she was…in spades. Her eyes narrowed, her jaw tightened, and she looked to be on the cusp of charging into the first interview room to give the – she assumed – abusive mother a piece of her mind. Roy spread his hands, giving another little shrug and praying the agent would buy his hasty story. Against his back, he felt a few little thumps as the gryphon's wings stirred his jacket. Just hang in there, kiddo…just a few minutes more…I hope.
After another minute, the agent stepped back. "All right then. We've finished checking the airplane and we're boarding the passengers. This…person…is under arrest?"
"Absolutely," Roy promised, nodding grimly. "We've got this; sorry we couldn't be more help with your search."
He got a pleasant smile, but he could tell it was more polite than anything else. "Just take care of that woman, Detective Lane." Her eyes flashed, but not at him. "I hate people who think they can hurt children and get away with it."
"I hear you," Roy agreed, borrowing one of Parker's favorite lines. "And we will, you have my word on that." Tiny lion paws found purchase on Roy's back and Roy buried his wince as little claws dug into his back.
As the agent left, Giles emerged from the interview room, looking just as tired as Roy felt. He watched the agent leave, then turned towards Roy as the latter let out a soft hiss of pain. "Roy?"
"He's clinging to my belt; can you get him off?" Roy requested, biting back another hiss of pain. The little gryphon's back paws were digging in harder as the cub struggled to keep from slipping.
Giles blinked, then lifted Roy's jacket out of the way and slid one hand under the gryphon's chest, resting the other hand on the animal's back. "Easy there, let's not make Roy bleed too much, okay?" Roy breathed out in relief as the gryphon's claws retracted, the little animal making a squeak of apology. "Good, that's good," Giles soothed, lifting up carefully. "I've got you; you can let go of Roy's belt now." An anxious cheep met that order, but Giles persisted. "Yep, I've got you, little one. I won't let you fall, but you've got to let go of Roy's belt now."
Roy felt the weight leave his belt and sighed quietly in relief. He twisted around, watching as Lance snuggled up against Giles, innocent blue eagle eyes blinking at him. "That was close," Roy muttered.
Giles nodded, understanding. "She didn't see him?"
Roy shook his head. "We got lucky," he admitted. "That's why I had him on my belt…no time to get him out of sight, but we're good for awhile now…I talked her into thinking he was nervous around women right now." Looking back down at the gryphon cub, he added, "Okay, I still need to call Parker, but what the heck do we tell him? How'd Lance end up as a four-year-old? And how in the blazes do we get him back to sixteen?"
"Better question," Giles mumbled, looking down at the cub. "How come he recognized us and what do we do if he doesn't recognize Parker?"
"Huh?"
Giles looked around, then tugged Roy into the second interview room. Lance was deposited on the table, something the cub didn't appreciate, for he gave a soft hiss, then flitted up and off the table to fly over to Roy. Roy caught the cub, marveling at the light weight and doing his best to ignore the soft, baby animal cuteness radiating from the mythical creature. Lance squrr-ed to himself as he curled up, his tail wrapping around Roy's arm as he snuggled in and rested his head against Roy's chest.
The wizard paced a second, growling something under his breath and looking annoyed. "I found two potions in her carry-on," he announced after a minute or so. "One's a Suppression Potion, the other's a long-lasting De-Aging Potion."
"Are they illegal?" Roy asked, half-hopeful, half-dreading the answer.
The other shook his head. "A Suppression Potion is only illegal if it's used on a Wild Mage…but they're so rare that it's almost a non-issue."
Before he could continue, the gryphon squerr-ed and huddled closer to Roy, his wings fluttering and fluffing in clear alarm; his fur puffed out and Roy yelped as the little animal's talons closed around his fingers a little too hard. Even so, the cop took the hint. "What happens if a Wild Mage takes a Suppression Potion?" he questioned as he worked his fingers free from the gryphon's talons, wincing at the scratches the frightened cub had made.
Giles swallowed hard, his expression turning both fearful and horrified. "If the potion's used too long on a Wild Mage…they die. They can't live with their magic suppressed like that. The stronger they are…the worse it is for them." His gaze fixed on the gryphon. "When he changes back…I need a clump of his hair, so we can figure out how long he was on it."
"And the De-Aging Potion?" Roy questioned, forcing sudden homicidal thoughts away.
"Long lasting, so he's stuck until it runs out," Giles reported glumly. "But that's not the kicker." At Roy's arched brow, he added, "The potion means his memory reverted back to his four-year-old self, too…he shouldn't have been able to recognize us at all, much less know our names."
Roy's eyes went wide and he looked between the huddled cub and his partner. "So, he might not recognize Parker?" A grim nod. The Guns 'n' Gangs cop bit back an assortment of swear words. "Oh, this is so not good," he settled on. "Anything else?" he inquired, rather weakly.
Giles frowned, pulling his wand and waving it over the cub in a diagnostic pattern. He sighed at the results.
"What?" Roy demanded, resisting the sudden urge to pull the little cub closer and comfort him. "What's wrong?"
A shake of the head. "He's still banged up from the accident," Giles reported quietly. "Wizards are tough, but I'd wager that accident caused enough injury that he would have had to go to the hospital regardless…"
"Only she didn't take him," Roy hissed angrily, running one hand over Lance's wings in an attempt to offer some of the comfort he'd been denied since his accident. The detective blinked in surprise as the cub started purring and leaning into the petting.
"No, she didn't," Giles agreed. "Some part of her knows that he isn't her son, so she's covering herself as much as she can…that includes avoiding the hospital…at least that's my guess." He sighed again. "Also got a few memory charms that he's managed to burn through."
Roy didn't have to be an SRU member to guess at what had happened. "She wanted a replacement for her son," he observed coldly, getting a nod from Giles. "So she tried to take his memories away…but why suppress his magic?"
Giles was silent for close to a minute, studying the small gryphon cub still clinging to Roy. In a soft, almost awed voice, he whispered, "Because she was trying to keep him."
It took a second or two, but Roy put the pieces together. "His magic…that's how he recognized us?"
"I'd bet my wand on it," Giles confirmed. "I've never even heard of something like this before…maybe he really is a Wild Mage…"
Awkward and trying not to drop the gryphon cub, Roy dug his phone out. "Okay, ready or not, here we go," he muttered as he hit the speed dial for Ed's phone. As the phone rang, he bounced through a dozen hasty plans and finally settled on an old standby…don't take 'no' for an answer. "Hey, Ed? It's Roy. We need Parker down at the airport."
"For what?" Ed demanded, irritation and anger mixing.
Roy didn't have time for it…not now, anyway. "Look, Ed, we've got a situation and we need Parker's help with it, okay?"
Ed was going to kill his brother, he really was. Bad enough that Greg had just lost another member of his family – this time permanently – but now Roy was demanding that Greg come to the airport to deal with a 'situation'?
"Roy, I don't care what's going on there," Ed spat, "Deal with it yourself!"
A exasperated sigh. "Ed, we need Parker here, as soon as possible." As Ed drew breath for another retort, Roy cut in. "Please, Ed, just, for once in your life, trust me. I promise, it'll be worth it."
The team leader stared from his spot outside the briefing room at his boss, on duty, but so close to breaking that Ed could almost see the cracks beginning to form. "If you're wrong, I'll kill you myself," Ed threatened, without an ounce of playfulness in his voice…this time, he meant it. "If you break him," Ed growled, letting the threat hang.
"I won't." Rock solid confidence in that voice, in Roy's tone.
"Fine," Ed snarled. "We'll be there in an hour." Without waiting for a response, he hung up and stalked into the briefing room.
Dull brown eyes looked up. "What did Roy want?" Greg asked listlessly, his very lack of interest and enthusiasm almost a physical blow to his team leader. Greg was sinking fast and nothing Ed or the rest of the team did seemed to help.
"Us, at the airport, ASAP," Ed summed up.
"No thanks," Greg mumbled, letting himself slump in his seat.
He hated this, hated every bit of it. "Sorry, Greg; Roy wouldn't take 'no' for an answer."
The team leader was careful to ignore the pain that ran across his boss's face, the agony of trying to get back to business as usual when it felt like the world was ending. After a minute or two, Greg pushed himself up, pasting a completely and utterly fake smile on his face. "Okay, Eddie…let's go then."
Why on Earth Roy needed him – and yes, he'd heard almost every word of Ed's hissed conversation with his brother, despite how much he'd been trying to not hear…his 'team sense' being off was starting to affect his control again – was beyond Greg, but he was having a hard time finding a reason to care. Having a hard time finding a reason to care about a lot of things, actually. He cared about Alanna, cared about his team, but beyond that, life seemed to have dried up and disappeared when he wasn't looking. Or maybe it had burned right along with his nephew…yes, that was probably it.
He let Eddie drive; he hadn't driven since his nephew's accident and fully intended to keep avoiding that particular activity for as long as he could manage it. When they reached the airport, he let Eddie take the lead and tried to avoid the memories of the last time he'd been here…when he'd tried his best to talk another grieving father down and when Agent Semple had been stopped by Wilkins…his mind shied away from the memory of another fallen friend.
Despite everything his team was doing, he wasn't getting better and he knew it, but he wasn't sure he cared. The memorial service was scheduled, the manslaughter case against the drunk driver was moving forward…everything seemed to be moving forward except him. His nightmares were haunted by the sight of his car on fire, the phantom screams he couldn't help but imagine as his nephew fought to survive…fought and failed. The image was there every time he closed his eyes, taunting him with his failures, his past, anytime he'd screwed up on a call, and his stupid, foolish decision to let his nephew learn how to drive…if he hadn't, Lance would still be alive…
"Roy, what do you want?" Eddie growled, his stance angry and rigid, indignation only just below the surface.
They'd arrived; Greg looked up, noting the nervous expression on Roy's face, but uninterested in figuring out its cause. He walked up, joining Eddie, but unwilling to add anything to the conversation.
Roy's gaze fell on Greg and Parker stared back, letting the deadness of his expression show. The other man gulped a bit, then turned to lead them further into the Customs office. When neither Greg nor Ed followed, he looked back. "We're borrowing two interview rooms, but we've only got another hour or so before Customs wants them back…they found a shipment of drugs on one of the International flights about twenty minutes ago."
"So take whoever you've got in there out and get them to the station," Ed groused. "What do you need us here for?"
The Guns 'n' Gangs officer stiffened. "Look, just come on, okay?"
A sparkle of interest entered Greg's eyes and he moved forward, following the other man. Roy was hiding something, but what? What was worth hiding at this point? It didn't take long to reach the two rooms and Greg felt his brows go up involuntarily at the female screeching coming from one room. Roy glanced back and Greg tilted his head at the room in silent question. Roy shook his head as the screeching increased in volume; Giles exited the room, looking wrung out.
"Well?" Roy inquired, a wariness under the question.
"She's too busy screaming at me to make any sense," Giles replied, running one hand through his hair with a deep sigh. "I'll have to wait until I can get her back to the Auror Division to do anything more…too much magic use here and I'll trip the Ministry sensors."
"You caught a witch trying to fly on a tech airplane?" Ed asked over Greg's shoulder, sounding incredulous.
Roy and Giles turned, both looking wary and with something lurking in their eyes that Greg couldn't identify. "She had to fly," Giles explained. "Only way she could get away with what she was going to do."
"Which was?" Greg inquired without thinking…he wasn't interested; he wasn't.
"Kidnapping a minor," Roy whispered, wariness growing, but Greg wasn't sure why he was so wary and nervous.
After all, it wasn't like Greg would know the minor child, so why were both men looking as if they were about to do something neither one of them was completely sure of. He looked between them, his dead emotions giving way to a touch of his own nervousness.
"Okay," Ed demanded, crossing his arms. "What's going on?" He glared at the partners, letting his glare do the talking for him…he was done waiting for his brother and Giles to get to the point.
Both men swung to Ed, their expressions cringing in exactly the same way. Another thread of interest skated through Greg. What was making them both cringe like that? After a moment, Giles ran his hand through his hair again. "It's a bit of a long story, but how 'bout we just skip to the end, yes?"
"The end?" Greg asked warily. "And what would the end be?"
He wasn't expecting that their response would be a single glance at each other and then grabbing him, hauling him to the next interview room, and shoving him inside. The door clicked shut behind him and he heard Ed's opening outraged bellow right before his world compressed down to an excited squeak from the table.
On the table, a small brunet gryphon pushed himself up, wings spreading wide and his tail feathers flaring open in excitement. Greg felt his jaw drop as the animal leapt off the table, his wings catching the air and his cheeping filling Greg's ears. His arms came up automatically, catching the joyous gryphon cub and pulling him in close. If he'd had any doubt, it was obliterated by the gold that wrapped around both of them, thrumming in contentment.
It wasn't until the gryphon gave a worried squawk that Greg realized he was crying.
Author note: I hope everyone enjoyed their week. My folks flew back to Chicago on Monday...oh, wait, my mistake - they were supposed to fly home on Monday. Unfortunately, yours truly recommended they take DART (Dallas Mass Transit) to DFW Airport - the Orange Line does go there and my usual station is only 2 stops away from Orange Line's start.
Unfortunately, while the train (and an airport bus) got them to the airport before their flight, Spirit Airlines has a strict 45 min check in policy - as in, if you are not there at least 45 minutes (according to them) before the flight, they will sell your tickets to someone else, charge you $100 to 're-book' on a flight that takes off at 4 AM, and nickel and dime you all the way home - no little cup of water...we only sell bottled water for $2 and coffee for $3.
I feel very bad about the DART advice - they would've been much better off with a taxi, but thankfully, my parents did make it safely home and had more complaints about Spirit and the TSA than my mistake.
