Chapter One: Swatter Calls

If you read the Author note in the prologue, skip straight to the story; if not, here's your second chance to read the disclaimer, etc.

Author note: spoilers for 01x13: Between Heartbeats. Pretty much the entire episode. And I am using dialogue from the episode. This story is the eighth in the Magical Flashpoint series. It follows "Family Heritage".

Although all original characters belong to me, I do not own Flashpoint, Harry Potter, Narnia, or Merlin.

2 hours earlier

Two teenagers looked up as Team One straggled back into the station. "Another one?" Lance whispered to his sister, surprised. He couldn't remember ever seeing their uncle and his team deal with so many 'crunk' calls.

"Guess so," Alanna replied with a tiny shrug. She held up her latest book, sticking a bookmark in and setting the book down on the table. "Bet you Uncle Greg asks Kira to find out why they're getting so many false calls."

"No bet," Lance retorted. He sighed. "I was hoping we could show them," he admitted wistfully.

"You just want to show off your fishing skills," Alanna jabbed.

Lance sneered at her oblique mention of his animagus form's traits, but opted to ignore her. "Think of a name yet?"

"Mmm, not for me," she confessed. Then she smirked, "But I think Illishar is perfect for you."

"Illishar?"

The book Alanna had been reading was waved under his nose.

"A book? You want to name my form after a book character?"

A pert nose went up. "It's either Illishar or Swiftwing," she informed him primly. When she used that tone, he wasn't going to win and he knew it.

"Fine," Lance snapped. "You can be Flamewings."

Alanna stared at her brother. "But, but," she stuttered, shocked he'd turned her strategy back on her like that.

It was Lance's turn to smirk. "It's only fair," he taunted. "After all, you named mine."

Unfortunately, that was all it took for the siblings to degenerate into squabbling; squabbling that lasted long enough for Uncle Lou to show up and separate them. As Uncle Sam and Aunt Jules came in, the teens pointedly ignored each other, drawing several exasperated looks from the three adults. Magic or no magic, teenagers were teenagers.

Still, Alanna was not about to pass up on finding out what was going on. "Another fake call?" she asked, careful not to even look at her brother. Likewise, Lance pretended he hadn't heard and wasn't listening.

"Yeah," Uncle Lou replied, "We just busted in on an old lady having her tea."

Both kids winced; by now they knew what that sort of thing could do for Team One's public relations. Unable to pretend he wasn't listening anymore, Lance queried, "So what if you get another call?"

"We're gonna figure that out," Uncle Wordy put in, as he, Uncle Spike, and Uncle Ed arrived from the locker rooms. "You two squabbling again?"

"Yeah, they were," Uncle Lou answered for the pair.

"I guess we're all having a long day," Uncle Greg remarked as he arrived, in time to hear Uncle Wordy's question and Uncle Lou's reply. The kids edged their chairs out of the way, still ignoring each other. Their uncle opted, for the moment, to ignore their behavior. Instead he turned to the team, lowering himself into a chair as he spoke. "I know it's been a long ten-day shift. A few more hours. Let's just keep it together, okay?" Moving on, his next topic made two teens prick their ears in interest. "Now, three swatter calls in a day. A little hinky."

"Hinky?" Uncle Wordy echoed from his standing position at the foot of the table. With a touch of indignation, he went on. "Boss, it's starting to feel personal." Grumbles of agreement came from the rest of the team arrayed around the table.

"I hear you," Uncle Greg sighed. "Kira's trying to do some digging around, see if she can find a connection, but in the meantime, what do we do if we get another call? Any suggestions?" He looked around at his team, gaze intent.

Uncle Ed spoke up at once from his seat near Uncle Wordy. "If a real call comes in, we split up. We don't want to be jammed up in the wrong end of the city chasing our tails, right?"

"That's good: splinter unit," Uncle Greg agreed. "Splinter unit for anything unconfirmed. Wordy, you're in charge of that." Uncle Wordy nodded acknowledgement. "The two of you ride along if it smells like another prank; the rest of us…" Uncle Greg considered a moment. "Let's stay here on standby. Hit the gym, do target practice. Do something. Let's get it out."

"All right," Uncle Wordy part-cheered. The team dispersed, leaving Uncle Greg with the kids.

He gave them a disappointed look. "You two have been squabbling for days. What's up?"

They both squirmed under his gaze, neither meeting his eyes.

Uncle Greg sighed. "Okay, whatever it is; it's over. No more squabbling about it unless you want to lose some privileges. And for the record, staying here while we're on shift is a privilege."

"Yes, Uncle Greg," Lance acknowledged quietly. Alanna merely nodded, still not looking up.

When there was no further comment, their uncle gave them another warning look, then turned to his paperwork.

Ed trailed Wordy and Lou as they gave each other a good natured jostling over the idea of parking lot hoops. He was about to add his two cents to the banter when his phone rang. He dug the phone out, checked the caller ID, and took the call. "Hey, Clark, how you doing, buddy?" His son was near frantic, almost babbling. "Look…" Ed tried to break in. "Look, slow down, slow down." Clark slowed down, but still made little sense. "Just…no, just start from the beginning. Clark?" With a deep breath, Clark did as he was told, starting from the beginning. By the time he was done, Ed's blood was boiling.

With a hasty farewell to his son, Ed returned to the briefing room. "Boss, I just got off the phone with Clark," he announced, his boss looking up as he spoke. Two curious pairs of eyes swiveled from their respective books to the two men.

"What happened?"

Still angry, Ed's beginning made about as much sense as his son's initial babbling. "Some guy came up to him on the street, started talking junk about me, about how this is war. Don't blame him, blame me."

With a calming gesture, Greg waved his team leader to a seat. "Eddie, sit down. Sit down." Once Ed was sitting and looked a bit calmer, Greg asked, "Is Clark okay?"

"He's okay," Ed confirmed, grateful for that.

"I'm sure it's nothing," Greg remarked thoughtfully, "But why don't you go anyway?"

"You sure? I was gonna ask…"

"Yeah, we're covered," Greg reassured the other, "It's slow. You're going on vacation." With a pause, a grin, and a wink, he added, "You are going on vacation, right?" In the background, Alanna giggled.

Ed gave both teens a brief smirk. "I'm going on vacation, yeah."

"So, go see your son," the Boss ordered, "Get out of town before the traffic hits."

"All right, be safe," Ed countered as he rose. "I'll see you."

"All right, have fun," Greg called at his departing back.

Author note: All right, after working a few kinks out, I think the poll is up and running. I went, put the poll together, then wandered off and came back a few days later to notice that there was a 'no' under profile, as in, 'No, this poll is not showing on your profile'. So, now it is.

I would very much appreciate any/all responses to the poll because I am, as of yet, undecided on where to put the next story, since it will include characters from the Harry Potter fandom. You can also provide your opinions in a review or a PM. I'm not picky, I just want the feedback. The poll will be open until April 4th, 2017, which is when the next story will kick off.

One final note...the next story will not be the only time that the Magical Flashpoint 'verse does actual crossovers, rather than just me borrowing ideas and concepts.

If the ultimate response to the poll is to keep all stories, regardless of crossover or not, in the main Flashpoint archive, that's what I'll do.

On the flip side, if I put the next story in the Flashpoint/Harry Potter crossover archive, then all other actual crossover stories will be in the crossover archive. If the latter, then I solemnly swear to do my best to include in my final chapter Author's note the location of the next story if it's a crossover.

For example, "ABC will be in the Flashpoint/Harry Potter archive".

I hope I haven't confused anyone, but if I have, please PM me and I'll do my best to explain in more detail, but I don't want to make this note too long...I've heard lengthy Author's notes can get me in trouble.