5: Rose

Yesterday, upon the stair,

I met a man who wasn't there.

He wasn't there again today

I wish, I wish he'd go away.

- Hughes Mearns, "Antigonish"

"He's erased his own memory. What we wanted to know is gone. I'm not sure that it matters, though, if even he doesn't remember it now." Rose shook her head slowly, looked up at the pacing Tootietootie. "He and the alternate Alex had some sort of relationship, but if he no longer remembers it..."

"The memories may be gone, but the emotional ties may remain, isn't that the case?" Tootietootie stopped in his pacing, leaned one hand against the overstuffed chair that Rose's clients normally sat in.

Rose took a breath and let it out, shrugging a little as she did. "It's possible, even common in some cases. Of course, whatever feelings he has may or may not transfer to this Alex - and Lexie - and, even if they do, without the associated memories, he might not realize that they're indicative of anything. Without knowing more about the lost memories, it's difficult to tell."

Tootietootie thumped the arm of the chair lightly, scowling. "This is not acceptable."

"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way, Chancellor, but there's not really anything I can do about it. If he used the spell I suspect he did, memory restoration is likely to be impossible."

"You'll try it anyway. We need to know."

Rose stood up then, dropping her notepad onto her desk. "No," she said flatly. "The likelihood of damage is too great." She folded her arms, said, "I won't do it."

"Then they'll no longer be your clients. Both the Russo boys." Tootietootie stepped closer, drawing up to his full height, which unfortunately was only an inch or so more than Rose's.

"No," she repeated, shaking her head. "You won't do that. If you try, I'll go to Crumbs. I'll tell him everything."

"You won't do that," Tootietootie said softly, and Rose smirked.

"I'm afraid your hold over me isn't as strong as you think," she said. "And these boys - they're not your playthings. Your concerns about what they might be able to do shouldn't -"

Tootietootie lifted a hand, and Rose's speech was cut off as she was suddenly slammed into the wall, tossed into it as if a wrecking ball had hit her. She pulled out her own wand, but Tootietootie waved his hand contemptuously and it ripped from her grasp, flew across the room. "Do you think I'm playing?" The voice changed in mid-sentence, and Rose's eyes grew wide as Tootietootie's face melted away, replaced by another.

"You... you're not Tootietootie..."

He stepped forward, crouched down in front of Rose, then smiled, an easy, awful smile that drove her to crawl away from him. Moving backwards, she raised her hand and opened her mouth for a spell, but the man stood quickly and kicked her in the stomach, driving the wind out of her, then kicked her twice more. Then he crouched again, putting a hand on Rose's head as he did, spoke a word, and Rose went limp, unconscious.

The man turned her head with his hand, looked at her for a moment, then stood back up and walked across the room, picked up Rose's wand and held out. "You don't mind if I use this, do you?" he asked, then paused a moment, nodded.

"Silence is consent," he said cheerfully, then held out the wand toward her. Rose drifted up into the air, over to her couch, then onto it, laid on it as if she were merely napping. Walking to her, he used the wand again, this time to slide the chair he'd been sitting in before closer to the couch. Sitting in it, he reached out and adjusted the position of Rose's head with his right hand, then held her wand to her forehead with his left.

"I hate memory work," he muttered, then shook his head. "But killing her now would be too suspicious... and I may still have use for her." Gently, he smoothed a stray lock of hair aside with the tip of his wand, then began to work.