Chapter Eight: Alive and Not Alone
Donna roared as she slammed into the woman who'd just sent something – a spell? – at Sergeant Parker, taking her down as hard as possible; the woman's wail of outrage was particularly satisfying as was the thud as they hit the ground.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ed launch at the other woman, taking her down just as hard with a look on his face that Donna couldn't even describe: pain, fierce determination, outrage of his own, and more.
"Daniel!" the woman under Donna wailed, her voice shrill and cracking. "No, I have to save Daniel; let me go, you miserable Muggle!"
"You're not going anywhere, lady," Donna growled, pushing herself up enough to flip her captive over; she reached for her cuffs and slapped them in place, restraining her own fury and anger at the subject's rising wails and pleas.
"No, you can't," the woman cried, shrinking in on herself. "Daniel needs me, my son needs me…you can't give me back to those blood traitors who took Daniel away from me."
"Lady, you attacked a cop in the middle of a police station; you're going to prison," Donna snarled, hauling her captive up and looking over at a pale Team One. Ed had his own target cuffed and under control, but anguish marked his face as he stared past Donna. Slowly, Donna turned and saw the pile of rubble where there had been a wall…a wall that Parker had been standing against when her captive hurled that…that…that spell…at him. No one survived having half a wall dropped on them…no one. And the little boy…the little boy who'd inadvertently allowed Donna to find out about magic…he was gone, too.
"What the heck happened here?" her Sergeant demanded from the doorway, shock radiating in his voice and stance. With the room half destroyed and two subjects in custody, Donna cringed; at least her team hadn't seen the actual light/spell/thing…she hoped.
The constable opened her mouth to answer; the woman in her grasp jerked away and brought up both hands, a stick of wood pointing at Donna's chest at point blank range. Belatedly, Donna realized her mistake: she'd cuffed the subject's hands in front of her instead of behind her. Madness twisted the woman's once lovely features into a mask of feral rage. "Diffindo!"
A light-green jet of light erupted from the stick; Donna twisted to avoid it, but knew she couldn't. She cringed in anticipation; the light froze right in front of her chest, just froze. After a second, the light evaporated.
"What…?" Donna whispered, eyes wide in shock. The constable's gaze snapped up to the subject and she froze, her jaw dropping. The subject was outlined in golden light, but it wasn't hers…she was struggling against the light with all her might – unsuccessfully.
And now that Donna was looking, the entire room was beginning to glow gold; even the dust in the air began to glitter with golden light. Without thinking, Donna turned back towards the pile of rubble and gasped. Slowly, ever so slowly, gold was outlining each piece of rubble, every pebble and chuck of wall, all the insulation and wiring, even a water pipe that the spell had torn asunder.
More footsteps came from outside the briefing room, but Donna didn't even look. She did hear a man whisper, in a breathless, awestruck tone, "What is this magic?"
Golden light spread over the entire pile, filling in the outlines until the whole wall was a mass of gold. For a breath, nothing happened. Then the pieces rose, fitting back into the wall and the ceiling, the rips, tears, and cracks knitting together and vanishing. Bit by bit, chunk by chuck, the wall reformed, as if the spell had never hit it, as if the day's events had never happened. And as the debris rose and fit back into place, a golden sphere was revealed, with two figures inside.
"Greg!" Relief and joy rang in the word voiced, appropriately enough, by Ed Lane.
It was Parker and, in front of him, the animal Donna had so briefly glimpsed stood firm, his wings outspread and a fierce look on the eagle head of the creature.
"Wild Mage," the other woman hissed, shock and revulsion in her voice. "You are raising a Wild Mage?"
"Remind me," Wordy spat angrily, "Who came into our Headquarters and tried to kidnap a kid just 'cause of who his parents were? Oh, that's right…you did that and now you're throwing a tantrum 'cause he's got Wild Magic?"
"What are you, nuts?" Jules demanded, picking up as Wordy drew breath. "Can't have it both ways, can you?" There was a definite air of 'serves you right' taunting in Jules' tone.
"Maria," Donna's…well…the gryphon's captive…cried. "Maria, help me. We have to save Daniel. We can't let these Muggles hurt my son."
"Wild Mage," Maria breathed, staring at the gryphon. "He's a Wild Mage and you still want him, Helen? He'll never submit to you, he'll never stop fighting you, and suppressing his magic will only kill him; I should have seen it when the Suppression Potions made him ill, but I assumed it was merely that atrocious Muggle car accident. Such a pity you took my advice and stopped the Suppression Potions…perhaps you could have gotten rid of the little monster."
The gryphon screeched in outrage, answering one of Donna's many, many questions. Yes, he could hear them through that golden bubble thing. Parker, on his hands and knees, still hadn't moved; Donna suspected he was in shock.
"No," Helen wailed, "Please, Maria, don't abandon me, don't let them take Daniel away from me again. You can't, you promised."
"I never promised to accept a Wild Mage as a member of our family, Helen! Let them have the little half-breed mongrel! They'll turn on magic soon enough and then we can have our revenge on those Auror blood traitors."
The chill in Maria's voice made Donna shiver; her scorn and hatred towards a little boy made the constable bristle in outrage. "We won't," Donna growled, beating everyone else in the room to the punch. "It'll be a cold day in he…" Donna's eyes darted sideways at the curious little gryphon and she hastily rephrased, "…in a very warm place before I turn on a kid for something he can't help."
The sounds of agreement were overlaid by a very smug rumble from the gryphon; the golden bubble around him and Parker pulled back, fading away to nothing in mere moments. The mythical animal strode forward, his wings folding against his back as he moved; Donna blinked, was it just her imagination or was he getting bigger?
By the time the gryphon reached Helen, still restrained by faint golden bonds, Donna knew it wasn't her imagination; the gryphon had gone from cat-sized to standing almost as tall as Donna's chest, as large as a full grown male lion. The speeded up growing had been even more obvious as the fur and feathers grew out and gained detail that the younger versions simply hadn't had room for. How the young gryphon had been able to fly, Donna wasn't quite sure, even though she'd seen it.
Helen swallowed as the gryphon calmly eyed her from less than half a meter away, his expression, under the eagle's fixed eyes and beak, disdainful. Then the gryphon whirled, his tail smacking Helen in the chest as he turned; if that wasn't deliberate, Donna would turn in her badge and gun. The gryphon paced over to the still kneeling Parker, trilling softly to the stocky Sergeant. As Parker finally shifted, finally looked up, the gryphon blurred, ignoring the gasps and exclamations from Team Three.
Sapphire met brown, then sapphire looked down. "I'm sorry I scared you, Uncle Greg," the young man whispered, oblivious to the fact that everyone in the room could hear him. Parker pulled his nephew down into his grasp, hugging him so tightly that after a second, the teen gasped out, "Air, please."
Parker loosened his grip enough for the teenager to breath, but only just. "Next time, mio nipote," Parker murmured, "Forget the stupid car and bail out, okay?"
"Yes, sir," the brunet acknowledged. "And, um, I, kinda…um, transformedrightinfrontofDonna."
Humor sparked in Parker's eyes. "Say that again, Lance."
Lance ducked his head as his uncle let him go. Rubbing the back of his neck, he confessed, "I transformed right in front of Donna."
Parker looked up from his nephew, for the first time realizing that Team Three was in the briefing room. Brown eyes met Donna's and the Sergeant tilted his head, arching one brow in silent question.
"Winnie tried to call in backup, but they couldn't make it," Donna reported. "She was going to try to decoy the subjects long enough for you guys to get to your weapons, but I called my team instead. Then the little guy took off like a bat out of you-know-where." And you know the rest.
The Sergeant inclined his head, though a faint grimace crossed his face; with Lance's help, he staggered up, leaning heavily on the young man as one leg refused to support his weight. Parker moved forward, his nephew supporting him as he advanced on the still-trapped Helen. "Tell me," Parker inquired, his voice level, "Do you still believe mio nipote is your son?"
Helen's eyes flickered between Parker's stony expression and Lance's leashed fury. "Daniel," she whimpered, "Please, Daniel. Mummy loves you, Mummy just wanted to protect you…"
"Shut up," Lance growled, cutting her off. Gold glinted in his eyes, making them glitter as they shifted between their usual sapphire and solid gold. "I'm not your son and you had no right to come in here and attack my family." When Helen made to speak, Lance's free hand slashed down, magic flaring around him. "Don't interrupt," the teen snarled. "You're going back to jail and the stunt your sister pulled is going to cost both of you, that I promise you. Just be thankful my uncle is still alive or I would have called a blood feud between our two families, understand?" A smirk and Lance idly waved his hand. "You may speak now."
"You think your family will follow a Wild Mage?" Maria sneered before a gawping Helen could reply. "When my sister and I are free, we will make sure the Division of Mysteries is fully informed of your charming little secret, whelp."
"You actually think you're going anywhere except to prison?" Sam questioned incredulously. "You attacked our entire team and tried to kill our Sergeant and you think you're going to get let off with a warning and a slap on the wrist?"
"Why shouldn't she think that?" an unknown male remarked, stepping into the briefing room. Donna stiffened, but the man didn't look hostile, just sad. "Most purebloods would think that, Auror Braddock; as far as they're concerned, it's their Merlin-given right to trample all over anyone they see as lesser." His gaze shifted to the two sisters, anger and a touch of smugness replacing the sadness. "Congratulations, Ladies Smith; you've just accomplished – in under an hour – what Sergeant Parker spent weeks trying to do."
"And that is?" Donna asked curiously when the sisters just glared at the newcomer.
A broad smirk. "Introducing magic to another SRU team." As Team Three blinked and traded astonished looks, the mystery man turned to Lance. "It's good to see you back to your usual age, Heir Calvin."
The young man cocked his head to the side, his hair falling into his eyes. "How 'bout you just call me Lance, Auror Simmons," he countered with a bright grin. "And it's good to be back to my usual age." Impish blue eyes peeked at Parker, who looked to be bracing himself. Past the Sergeant, Team One looked just as wary, sparking Donna's interest. "Uncle Greg?"
"Yes?"
"Did I miss my birthday party?"
~ Fin
Author note: Annnd cut! I hope everyone enjoyed the latest installment to my Magical Flashpoint series. Any and all reviews are much treasured and I try to respond to each signed review.
In addition to begging for reviews...our next story, "Broken Dawn," will be kicking off November 2nd, 2018, right here in the main Flashpoint archive. Also, please check out this year's Halloween special, which will be going up the evening of October 31st, 2018, once again, right here in the main Flashpoint archive. Happy Halloween all!