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Jack Carter was a Wizard.He’d ‘come out’, so to speak, to his small family of friends not that long ago and it went so incredibly well that he’d wondered how he’d ever doubted them.Of course, that coming out had been the result of a near tragedy and, even if it had gone south, he wouldn’t have regretted telling any of them.He was standing in Café Diem right now, as a matter of fact, watching them all interacting with others and each other.There was Doug Fargo and Holly Marten teamed up against Zane Donovan in a checkers battle, with Grace Deacon giving them pointers on the side.Grace’s husband and Jack’s best friend, Henry, was reading something on his tablet with Jo Lupo nearby. As if sensing the blond’s gaze, Henry glanced up and smiled warmly as he noted the Marshal’s position near ‘his’ tree. It really covered the protection rune that Jack had put everywhere.Allison Blake was frowning at her phone, with Jim Taggart dozing across from her.While Allison had initiated a break of sorts with Jack, it was mostly to come to terms with his magical ability. Jack was more than alright with it, especially when she had explained that they were all in this together and it wouldn’t be fair of her to have an advantage over the others with knowing more than they did.So far, no one had had any problem, eagerly encouraging him to perform magic whenever he wanted.That, however, hadn’t prevented Jack from worrying that they were really hiding any discomfort in order to keep him happy about how things were going.Though, he probably didn’t need to worry about it, since Jo would have spoken to him by now about it.“Hey, Carter,” Allison broke into his thoughts. “I hate to bother you when you’re drinking from an empty cup, but Dr. Strutger wants you in the lab.”Jack blinked down and smiled sheepishly as he realized she was right and his coffee cup really was empty. “No problem. That’s what I’m here for, after all. Uh, why, exactly?”She shook her head. “I think it’s so you can look after Risky.”Oh, yeah. That Dr. Strutger.Since Global Dynamics was a genius think tank of sorts, it was only logical that geniuses were employed.In this case, however, the age of the geniuses involved in the staff of interns was cause for his presence at GD.Mariska “Risky” Covington was almost eight years old and already she was delved deep into her chosen field. Dr. Strutger hadn’t felt comfortable with a child involved in testing the project, and he would only consent if Sheriff Carter were there, even though there were a bazillion safety measures in place no matter how smart she was.“Alright,” he agreed. “After you.”* **By the time he had entered the lab, donned the appropriate equipment and the test was ready to begin, he was wishing for a second Vinspresso to go.“Sorry this is taking so long,” Risky smiled brightly up at him.“Nah, it’s fine,” he smiled back, remembering when Zoe was that age. “I understand that it needs to be safe.”“Are we sure this test is safe?” Fargo crossed his arms from the door suspiciously.“For the last time, yes!” Strutger scowled.“Carter,” Allison put a hand on Fargo’s arm. “We’ll see you later, alright?”“Okay,” he waved as the door closed behind them. “So, Risky, how did your nickname come about?”“I like heights,” she shrugged.“I don’t,” he wrinkled his nose. “Never have and never will.”“Why not? It’s fun to be above the ground.”Strutger told them to get ready and they moved to stand a good distance away as Strutger pushed the button to start the test.Ten minutes later, the resulting explosion rocked the building.** *
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If it was one thing NCIS Agent Tony DiNozzo knew he was good at, it was his ability to be around people.That was kind of one of the reasons his Boss, Jethro Gibbs, made him go to the emotionally fragile victims first.But that was his ‘Muggle’ job.In the department of Magical Naval Personnel – or MNP -, his job was to help with the Muggles involved with cases and keep them in the loop. He also did some side investigating off the record. He was, however, pretty sure that his Supervisor, Doug Donners, knew that well after an incident some years back that everyone involved agreed to never speak of again.In any case.When other MNP branches needed some help, Tony was usually among the first to be dispatched to those branches whenever he was available.This, of course, was no different.When he got back from Britain after Harry Potter’s birthday, he dropped off Mac Mackenzie and Jimmy Palmer back at the DC branch before escorting Marty Deeks back to the LA office.Before leaving the UK, however, he received the message that he was being dispatched to deal with some Muggles who found themselves in some trouble.Then he was called into someone’s office for a briefing on this little town, which was apparently classified. So, after all the paperwork, he eventually found himself in a black SUV and on the road to Eureka, Oregon.This was where he found himself now.“Are you sure you’re not going to be making me disappear or something?” he couldn’t help feeling a little unnerved at the silence or the forest outside that really did seem to be the perfect place to hide a body. “It’s just… I’m not exactly the right person to… you know. Disappear.”Besides being on the MCRT in NCIS, he had a complicated relationship with said Wizarding celebrity and his two friends that started with ‘marriage’ and ended with ‘bond’. And all the issues that came with that, not the least of which resulting in the fact that Harry could no longer return to his Aunt’s house due to the blood protection wards no longer there.Not that Tony, Ron Weasley or Mi Granger would have let him go back while they were still alive, but I digress.Tony’s green eyes looked around at the passing scenery and managed to spot a sign proclaiming that they had just reached Eureka’s limits.Heaving a sigh, he glanced back down at the file on his lap. Opening it, he found the first picture of the file containing all the major players he was about to meet.Dr. Allison Blake was a pretty woman with a list of accomplishments probably only impressive to people like his friend Abby Scuito or his co-worker Tim McGee, among others. Her chocolate brown eyes seemed to echo the emotions on her face, the light brown Chief Medical Officer of the think tank Global Dynamics not seeming to have much of a poker face to his study. She had two kids, Kevin and Jenna, both of different fathers and Jenna’s was the late Dr. Nathan Stark who died in some sort of accident a few years back.Flipping the page, he came to Dr. Douglas Fargo, the Head of Global Dynamics and a bit of a trouble magnet. From the reports Tony had read, it was kind of likely that Fargo had been behind quite a number of them – strange, though, how it seemed like a complete 180 from his previous reports in something like a year. He was a good guy, though, if a bit squirrely.Dr. Holly Marten was a pretty redhead with brown eyes, too. She transferred in about a year and a half ago, now. She worked with Fargo on some of the projects of the past six months, but usually could be found holed up in her own office working on several of her own projects. A bit too much, Tony ran a critical eye over the skinny scientist.Drs. Grace and Henry Deacon – the latter also being Mayor and a mechanic hobbyist – were a cute African American pair, both some of the top scientists GD has in its impressive arsenal. He was in Eureka for nigh on ever, she came in within the last two years or so and married Henry after something of a whirlwind romance.Head of Security Jo Lupo was a lighter kind of brown than Blake, but she still looked just as pretty. Her Ranger background – along with other military type training – definitely impressed him more than the accomplishments of the scientists. He could actually understand most of it.Zane Donovan was something of a troublemaker, but with real skills and talent that made Tony make a note to never let him and Eames alone in the same room together. He could just imagine that disaster in the making. He would probably get dragged into it, too, just you watch. And he also didn’t want Lee Jordan, the Twins Weasley or Sirius Black around him, either.In any case, Donovan had been a child prodigy of some kind and had been brought in on a consultant basis until something happened and he asked for permanent transfer.Dr. Jim Taggart was an Aussie and in the Animal Studies department, also something of a survivalist, and had his own impressive list. Tony noted the eccentric comments and couldn’t help liking the guy already.And then he came to the last person in the file and the one he was really there for: Sheriff Jack Carter.The blond had an impressive list of accomplishments as former Marshal and Tony felt respect for him grow at some of them. Carter was definitely someone he could relate to in the law enforcement sense and he was actually looking forward to meeting him.If he was honest, he was looking forward to meeting all of themCarter had come out as a Wizard to the group not five months ago and Blake had put the paperwork in after she realized that the seemingly superfluous section of the town personnel roster was actually talking about Magic folk. But better late than never.Evidently, Carter was involved in some sort of accident that he was being dragged out to Eureka to investigate. Why MNP was involved in a US Marshal case was something that Tony hadn’t actually gotten an answer to, yet, since the Marshal Service was supposed to have their own small unit of Wizards to deal with this kind of thing.But that didn’t matter anymore since it was too late to back out now.He looked up again and noted that they were now probably getting close to town where he had been told that he would meet up with Blake and Deacon at the local eatery, Café Diem. From there, they would head out to GD and Tony would get to scope out the situation for himself.About fifteen minutes later, the car began entering the town proper and five minutes after that, Tony was let out in front of the Café, kind of at a loss of what to do with himself as the car left him there.It was a nice place, both the café he stood in front of and the town he could see.If he didn’t know better, he would’ve sworn it was a normal town, but he could see a hovering robot a few blocks down and he turned to watch a lady walk a robotic dog past him.‘Okay…’He looked around again and finally spied Dr. Blake eyeing him from across the street, in front of the Sheriff’s office. Tony put on one of his best smiles and waved, letting her decide to meet him in front of the café. She straightened her spine and squared her shoulders, putting on her game face as she crossed the street to him. “Dr. Blake,” he detached one hand from his backpack and held it out.“Agent DiNozzo?” she had a firm grip as she shook his offered hand. “Thank you for coming out here.”“Nah, that’s okay. So, where’s Deacon?” he looked around again. “I thought he was meeting me here with you.”“Oh, he’s in the café,” she gestured, brown eyes running over him. “There he is.”Tony turned to see Henry Deacon balancing three cups as a rather chubby guy in an apron held the door for him. “Dr. Deacon?”“Ah, yes,” he glanced up with a smile, his hat on backwards and the label on the front of his overalls reading ‘Mayor’. “Agent DiNozzo, correct? Oh, this is Vince. He runs the café.”“So very nice to meet you,” he shook Tony’s hand. “Thank you for helping Sheriff Carter. I mean, I don’t know what happened,” he glanced at Blake and saw her look. “Everyone just said that you were a third party investigator they called in to help investigate the explosion.”“Explosion? What explosion?” he turned to Blake, who held a hand up.“We’ll explain on the way. Henry?”“Ready when you are,” he nodded. “Ah, here,” Deacon picked one of his drinks and Tony was surprised when it was handed to him. “It’s a Vinspresso.”“Well, thank you,” he looked between the older man and the cup before shrugging and taking a sip. He immediately spat it right back out, coughing and wanting the vile taste out of his mouth immediately.“Oh, god, you’re one of those people who like sugar, don’t you?” Vince fluttered around him before turning on his heel. “I’ll be right back!”“Agent DiNozzo, I am so sorry,” Henry immediately took the cup back and stuffed a different one in his hand. “This might taste better.”Taking his word for it, Tony cautiously tried it and relaxed as the sugar hit. Blake and Deacon watched anxiously as he let out a pleased sigh. “More cream,” he noted, clearing his throat.“We should probably note what you’re allergic to,” Blake frowned, taking a small notebook out of her pocket much in the same way he would.“No foods or spices, thankfully,” he sipped more of the good coffee as Vince came out with a fistful of sugar packets.“I won’t forget next time,” the café owner promised.“Thanks, Vince,” Deacon smiled and sent him back in. “Shall we?” he nodded at Blake.Five minutes later, they were on their way to GD, Tony stirring as much sugar in his Vinspresso as possible.“I do apologize,” Henry looked back at him from the passenger seat. “I think I accidently also gave Vince Carter’s usual.”“He and my boss could probably demolish a jumbo sized coffee pot between them,” Tony muttered, tasting it again.He sat in silence for a moment, noting the tension between the two in front, before sighing.“I’m not going to hex anyone for asking what’s on their mind, you know.”“Right,” Blake sighed, hands tightening on the steering wheel. “It’s just… Carter’s really the only Wi-Wizard we’ve had contact with, so.”Tony just about spat his coffee out again. “What? Carter’s not the only one here, is he?”“From what we understand,” Deacon nodded.“That’s not good at all,” Tony frowned. As much as Wizards needed to let magic out, it was also a given that they usually had contact with others in the Muggle world if that was the one they chose to live in. “And you’re sure he’s the only one.”“Agent DiNozzo,” Blake breathed. “Believe us when we say that we have tried. No one’s come forward, so we have to work under the assumption that he’s the only one.”“We’ve been trying to get him to be more open toward others,” Deacon picked up. “But he’s hesitant – and we are, too, frankly – because of his status.”“…” Tony stared blankly for a minute before it registered. “You mean his family status?”“He’s what he called a Muggleborn.”“I know what they are, I just dropped one off at his place not long ago. Well,” he sighed to himself. “That would explain some of his reluctance. They aren’t very welcome in certain parts of the world.”“And, not to be rude or anything but, what exactly would you be?”“Not that it really matters, but I’m Mixed. Or, more accurately, Half. Mom was a Witch. Dad wasn’t. And, look, it’s okay to talk about his status with me,” he smiled slightly. “I get that he must be a really good friend, but I’m only going to need to know these things for official purposes. Their reactions may be different, but I don’t really care one way or the other.”“That’s good to know,” Blake nodded.Giving them a moment, Tony rubbed a hand through his hair. “So, what can you tell me about this… explosion?”“He was overseeing a project test,” Deacon answered. “He, Dr. Strutger and one of our young interns – Risky Covington – were the only ones in the room. Um. Dr. Strutger was the only casualty, believe it or not. Carter and Risky were both knocked out and we think Carter may have put up some shields or something when he realized things were going wrong. That whole corner of the room had almost no damage to it. At all.” The look on his face showed the wonder he found in magic and Tony felt a smile cross his face at that.“Were Carter and the intern alright?” he went on.“Risky had some burns, but mostly on her arms and legs. Carter didn’t really have a scratch on him… from what we’ve been able to tell. She woke up early Sunday morning. He woke up this morning.”“Was there an investigation launched into what caused the explosion?”“Not yet,” Blake answered. “The project involved hazardous materials and the scene won’t really be safe until tomorrow.”“Okay. Is there any footage of incident?”“The camera above the device was still intact when we went in,” Deacon glanced back at him. “The explosion radiated outward and fried the other two cameras. We’re still working on recovering the footage, but I don’t know when that will be.”“I’d like to take a look at it when it’s done and I would also like to talk to … Risky? … and Carter if they feel amenable.”“We will do whatever we can to help you solve this as quickly as possible,” Blake told him in no uncertain terms.“Right…” he noted the defensive tone and tried scaling back. “I’m just asking.”“And we appreciate you doing your job,” Deacon piped up. “But, as you can imagine, we’re all still a little shaken about this coupled with the fact that Carter was affected like he was.”Which is where Tony came in. “Part of my job is to investigate this with you as well as help you deal with the magical side of things. It can’t really be easy for you to deal with this kind of thing.”“Oh, we are,” Deacon smiled genuinely easy. “I guess it’s mostly because we haven’t dealt with another Wizard. Some of us are a little uneasy about having a strange Wizard around.”“I’ll be out of your hair as soon as I can,” he shrugged. “I don’t really anticipate this dragging out for more than a couple days.”“Alright.”They made the rest of the way in silence, Tony having to hide a smile as the two began giving off ‘curious scientist’ vibes right before GD came into view. They found a space to park and Tony got out to stretch, giving a yawn.“Didn’t sleep?” Deacon came around to his side of the car.“Nah, some sort of jet lag, I think. Just got off two weeks in Britain on vacation.”Yeah. Some vacation that was.First he’d – probably permanently – wrecked the relationship between Ginny, Gabby, Ron and their brothers and their mother, the last having used Gabby as a spy to keep the Trio as far from Order – read: adult – business as possible.And then…He swallowed as the guilt swamped him, thinking of the … and …“Agent DiNozzo?”“Huh?” he looked up to see Blake studying him curiously. “I’m fine. So, where’s Carter? I’d like to get his side of the story first.”The look exchanged between them did not go unnoticed.“Is there something wrong?” he glanced from one to the other.Blake bit her lip before turning on her heel.“We’re very worried about Carter,” Deacon explained, herding him along with a hand on his elbow. “So, you can understand when we’re a little short with you.”“Yeah, I get that.”He followed them inside, meeting many people running to and fro – some in lab coats, even – as they went about their day. As busy as they were, however, he felt his neck prickle due to stares and looks tossed his way and knew this would probably be around town by dinner.Had it really only been a few short hours ago that he was saying goodbye to the kids at the start of his trip and being debriefed at the end of it?He was led through the airy atrium/rotunda – which he would fully explore later – and they walked down stairs, corridors and hallways until they reached the medical wing.There, they were met by Donovan and Grace.“Agent DiNozzo,” Grace – he wasn’t going to mix himself up by using her last name – shook his hand and gave him her own once over. “You don’t know how much this means to us to have you help Carter.”“I think I have some idea,” he smiled back.Donovan smirked slightly as they shook hands next. “So, Magic.”“Muggle.”“Touché.”“Here,” Blake directed him down a hall where the private rooms were. She swerved left into a branching hall and went into the third room on the right, Tony glancing back to see the others following.In the room, Fargo and Marten were standing on the bed as they tried reaching this box like container mounted on the wall above them.The room around them was like the aftermath of a tornado or something; the stools tipped over, papers all over the floor, a book was dropped on the floor as well, a medical chart halfway across the room, and various medical equipment were scattered, too, either on the floor or on their side.“What in Merlin’s name happened?” Tony frowned as he took in the scene.“After Carter woke up,” Donovan helpfully supplied, “he kind of… well, panicked.”“And he eventually stuffed himself up there,” Grace pointed at the box above the bed. “We haven’t been able to coax him out since.”Fargo turned to see him and hopped down from the bed to introduce himself, Marten a few steps behind.“Is he going to be alright?” Fargo wanted to know.“I have to actually see him, first.”“Oh, you can climb up and check,” Marten invited.Tony puffed a sigh as he eyed the box and let his pack fall to the floor before heading for one of the stools. Aware of his audience, he took his wand out and magically moved the bed off to the side as he went to stand under the box. Placing the stool on the floor, he made the stool some inches higher for him and got on to investigate the box.He was directly eye level with it when he realized that there was no way someone of Carter’s frame could have fit in a box or similar container that was about the size of a laptop and about six times as deep.And if that hadn’t clued him in to what he was dealing with, the blue eyes staring back at him from the dark interior of the container did.“Mrow.”* **
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Tony stared for a long moment before rubbing his eyes. “He’s a cat.”“A blond domestic shorthair,” Marten specified. “A housecat, uhm, in other words.”“You did a full medical work up?”“Everything we could think of,” Blake sounded kind of helpless as Tony narrowed his eyes again at Carter the cat, who had stuffed himself into the container. “He’s Carter. Just… a cat.”Okay, maybe this was more complicated than he thought.“Alright. Well, I can’t do anything until he comes out… Sheriff Carter?” he looked into the cat’s eyes. “My name is Agent Tony DiNozzo with the MNP and I’ve been assigned to your case.” He shrugged at the questioning noise. “Yeah, I’m a Navy Cop, no, I don’t know why I was sent here except to think that someone else was tied up and I was closer.”“They sent us a Navy Cop?” Donovan sounded as incredulous as Tony probably felt when someone told him about it.“I have no idea why. I just follow the orders. Sheriff, I can’t really do anything until you come out of there and let me have a look at you.”“Mrow.”Tony rubbed his eyes. “I seriously can’t. I need you to actually be in front of me. Come on.”They waited, but he refused to budge.“It’s alright, Carter,” Marten called up. “Agent DiNozzo is half Muggle, too.”“Mrow?”“Is that what you’re worried about?” Tony ducked his head to look back into blue eyes. “Hey, listen. I don’t care about blood status. I understand your reluctance to trust me, but I’m not going to stab you in the back. I know that you don’t know about my personality, but I don’t take offense to that. I can only hope that you can trust me enough to let me help you out. If you don’t like me when all is said and done, you never have to hear from me again and I can get someone else the next time you or your guys need help.”They stared at each other for long moments, blinking occasionally, and Tony could see the indecision linger.“I also work NCIS. Odd for me to be taking a Marshal’s case, but I don’t make the orders. Think you can try to trust me?” he knew that Carter knew that NCIS was a Muggle institution. “I know that you’re wary about other Wizards and Witches and how they’ll take to you and your friends, but I’m not one of them.” Deciding to let him think on that, he turned to the Muggles and shrugged. “Well, I can’t force him to trust me. Wait, you mean to tell me that he’s been in there since he woke up? How long was he out for?”They looked at each other.“Well,” Mayor Deacon spoke, turning back. “The explosion happened the day before last – in the mid to late morning - and it's Tuesday now, so…”Tony stared at him before looking back in Carter’s container. “Sheriff, would you happen to be thirsty at all? Your Muggles must believe you’re some kind of robot which doesn’t need water.”Carter made a noise of agreement.“Oh my gosh,” Marten paled. “Douglas, that must have been what he was making noise at us for! Quick, you get a dish or something and I’ll get the water.”The pair took off, leaving their friends to look guiltily up at Tony.“It’s okay,” Tony shrugged. Carter echoed in a meow, but with a tone that obviously said ‘scientists’.“Sorry, Jack,” Mayor D rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Kind of slipped our minds what with everything else going on.”Marten and Fargo came back, the former carefully handing up the shallow dish to Tony. He placed it as close to the eyes as possible and grinned as quiet laps started coming from the dark confines.“Don’t drink it all at once,” he cautioned. “You’ll get sick. You’ll get something to eat when you come out and not a moment before. I still need to have a look at you.” He climbed down and sighed. “At this point,” he told the others, “it could be anything. It might even have been self-inflicted, his magic compacting him in an effort to protect him from the blast.”“How long will it last?” Donovan wanted to know.“I’m not exactly a Healer, but I can do some spells that can tell me things like that. Most of the time, it can wear off on its own now that he’s awake and aware. Probably not more than a day, at least. Once he understands that the danger has passed, all he’ll need to do is concentrate on being himself again.”“Just like that?” Fargo frowned, pushing his glasses back on top of his nose.“Well, maybe. I still don’t know the overall situation. I’m going to need his statement and the intern’s. Maybe I can help with the investigation, while I’m here.”“We might take you up on that,” Mayor D sighed.“What?” Fargo frowned at him. “Henry, he’s an outsider. An outsider Wizard. I still don’t know if I trust him.”“We don’t have much of a choice, Fargo,” Blake shook her head. “Carter would have been in charge of this investigation if he wasn’t… a cat. Jo is Head of Security and she’s busy dealing with two other projects right now, while – as much as I like Andy – he’s probably not the best person to get on this case. And we still don’t entirely know what happened, besides. I mean,” she frowned slightly. “I can’t think of a reason that the experiment would explode like that. We’ve run as many simulations as we could think of and it still didn’t go up. By all intents and purposes, it shouldn’t have, but it did. Now we have Carter out of commission and an investigator who can help with whatever this is, so we should take him up on his offer. We still need to get Dr. Strutger’s affairs in order and his funeral set up. Just because we can’t get to the equipment until tomorrow, doesn’t mean that we can’t start now. Zane, you’re also busy with the footage we got from one of the cameras. How’s that coming along?”“The program’s running,” he shrugged. “That’s going to take time, too.”“Agent DiNozzo,” Mayor D turned to him. “I’m afraid that we’ll need you in town until tomorrow, at the very least. You’re more than welcome to stay with Grace and myself.”“Actually, I think I’ll need to hang out at Carter’s place,” Tony declined the offer. “I need to do some checking to make sure he’s the only Magic user in town so I don’t get involved in any surprises. Then I’m going to need to scope things out to make sure he can stay there until he’s himself again.”“He could stay with one of us,” Grace told him.“First, what’s your cover story? Second, I think he’d be more comfortable in a place where his magic can anchor. Wizards and Witches give off a natural magic that coats their belongings and it helps tremendously when they need to be surrounded by their things, among other reasons. It may help him relax enough to return to his actual self.”“What do you mean cover story?” Marten crossed her arms, the others mulling it over. “He was injured and is recuperating.”“Yeah, and when someone walks in and finds that Carter is a cat? It’s better for him if he was at home. That way, the secret is kept and he relaxes.”“I guess we didn’t think about it that way,” Mayor D finally nodded. “If you think it best.”“That’s my recommendation,” he shrugged. “I mean, he might feel right at home in other places, but home is where he can let his walls down and be himself. Not that he doesn’t trust you or anything.”“We understand,” Blake nodded.Tony climbed back up on the stool and peeked in at Carter. “All done?” he took the half empty dish out and waited expectantly for some sign that he was ready to come out. After a long moment where they stared at each other again, Tony nodded. “I’ll come back.” Returning to the ground, he sighed. “Could I get my stuff settled at his place? I’d also like to check the wards he put up. Maybe he’ll come out if I’m not here.”“We’ll stay,” Marten volunteered herself and Fargo.“I’ll get to work on that footage,” Donovan made himself scarce and left Blake and the Deacons to take care of him.“You might want to know,” the Mayor rubbed his mouth, “Jack doesn’t exactly live in… a usual house.”“Okay,” he nodded. “Well, I kind of just spent two weeks in a tent alongside the fact that the Magical world is filled with all kinds of living spaces. It’ll be fine. Come on. I’d like to start getting an idea of things before too long."* **Allison rode in the back of Henry’s car with Grace in the passenger seat and DiNozzo in the back next to her.She tried to keep calm about everything that had happened, but this was something that she and Carter’s other friends didn’t have a frame of reference for. In a way, she was glad the Italian Agent was there to try putting things in perspective for them, but she was also still uneasy.Over the past five months or so, they had learned that attitudes toward Muggles and Muggleborns within the Magic community were skewed in either direction with not enough people in the middle. You either loved them or hated them.Allison cut a glance to her seatmate and studied him. From what she understood, he was used to dealing with Muggles on a daily basis, but would that make him ‘pro-Muggle’ or somewhere in the middle? He certainly hadn’t yet treated them like they were idiots, maybe just young students who needed some extra advice.She couldn’t help getting mixed readings from him, though Grace had shrugged and told her to wait and see. On the one hand, she was wary about bringing a strange Magic user in a town of Muggles and one Wizard and that kind of made her dislike him. Then again, he hadn’t really been here long enough to get to know him, yet, and Carter didn’t seem to want him to get away from anyone. The currently feline Sheriff had seemed to take it in good grace, as a matter of fact, so maybe it was alright to loosen up a little in this case.Besides, if they were to ever get Carter some more Magical friends, they would have to start allowing Magic users… well, in.“Uh, Mayor?” DiNozzo’s voice broke through her thoughts. “Where are we going, exactly?”“You can call me Henry,” he invited. “We’re on our way to Jack’s home. It’s a Smart House, sort of like a prototype. He didn’t really have a choice, but now he won’t even think of moving somewhere else. Maybe you’re right on that count. We didn’t really know that he had magic coating everything.”“A lot of people don’t,” he shrugged. “Even Magic folk themselves. It’s something I kind of learned in school and it’s true. Even if they don’t realize it, magic is released subconsciously and people feel relaxed in their space.”Allison let Grace and Henry dominate the conversation with general questions about magic as she mulled over his answers.Soon, however, they reached the Smart House and DiNozzo got his first look at it.“He lives in a bunker? As in, underground?” he let out an amused laugh. “I wouldn’t want Palmer to have a meltdown in that place. Carter must not be claustrophobic, then.”“No, but he has a fear of heights,” Henry shrugged, striding forward to yank the door open. They went down a small flight of stairs and he called out, “SARAH, door.”“Welcome back, Dr. Deacon,” the AI greeted. “And hello, Dr. Blake. How are you today?”“Fine, fine,” Henry nodded. “Ah, SARAH, this is Agent Tony DiNozzo,” he waved at him, Allison having to smile at the look of wonder on his face as he stood in the doorway to look around. “He’s helping us with the failed experiment that Dr. Strutger tried testing.”“Good Morning, Agent DiNozzo. From what I can tell… you yourself are like Sheriff Carter?”“How does the house know I have Magic?” the Italian murmured out of the side of his mouth to Allison.“I don’t know,” she frowned. “SARAH, how can you tell?”
“Sheriff Carter felt different to my sensors when he first started living here and it was only when you all started talking about Magic that I realized why. Agent DiNozzo feels the same, but it’s hard to explain.”
“Really?” Henry blinked at the ceiling. “That’s incredible.”“Maybe it was his natural magic,” DiNozzo mused. “Huh.”“So, you know what happened with Jack,” Henry went on after a minute. “Agent DiNozzo here wants to do some Magical tweaking or something similar and he’s also suggested that Carter will be able to relax more if he was here while recuperating.”“An excellent idea,” she approved. “I am more than prepared to do my part in helping.”“He wants to stay here for a few days to check on whatever Carter put up and to help transition a little, I think. Oh, he’s also going to help us with the investigation.”“I kind of need to know what happened, too, so I can put in my report,” DiNozzo absently added as he investigated the fireplace. “Too small for Floo. Hm.”Grace walked in and got the same greeting from SARAH, though Allison was much more interested in shadowing their Magical guest. It didn’t seem right to let him go through Carter’s things, no matter his reasons for doing so.“Don’t worry, Dr. Blake,” she looked up to see a smile aimed at her from over his shoulder. “I won’t be going into Carter’s room.”“Why not?” Grace asked. “I thought you had to be thorough.”“He probably got his part of the bunker magically defended eight ways to Friday,” he huffed a laugh. “It’s more than likely also keyed to his magic, too, preventing anyone from going in there. I would certainly set off some alarms, make no mistake, and he probably made sure he knew which of you guys were snooping in his room. Harmless stuff, honest. More than likely something to do with your hair or clothes. Then again, I’m not Carter, so…”“Is that what happened to Fargo?” Grace threw her head back and laughed.Allison and Henry exchanged amused looks.Last week, the one who came up with the idea of SARAH had come into GD looking like a porcupine celebrating Breast Cancer Awareness and Carter had just sighed and told him that he kind of deserved it.Now they understood why.“It’s starting to look like it,” Allison smiled at the memory. “That may be why Carter started doing it now, because I don’t remember that before he told us.”“So, SARAH, what do you think?” Henry returned to the question at hand. “Think you could survive two Wizards?”
“I believe so. It can’t be very difficult. I will endeavor to treat Agent DiNozzo like I would Sheriff Carter.”
“And we probably also need to cat proof the house,” Tony muttered to himself. “Uh, SARAH? When we get Carter in here, I want 24/7 surveillance on him until he returns to normal. Except, you know, when he needs the litterbox. Keep track of his location and what he’s up to. Mayor, we also need some cat food. I know it’s Carter in there, but we have to limit what he eats until we have some idea on how much he can handle.”“Henry,” he corrected. “Sounds reasonable. Got that, SARAH?”
“I will do the very best that I can, Sheriff Agent DiNozzo.”
“I don’t need any more nicknames,” he groused. “If he ever manages to come out, we’ll probably release him tonight and maybe get him here soon after.”“Why tonight?” Grace frowned. “You can’t do what you need to do when he gets out?”“You guys have a department for animals, right? If I was one of those scientists and I saw a cat running around…”There were a lot of experiments that Carter could end up in and the three scientists stared at each other in dawning realization.Frankly, it made her feel kind of sick. “I should probably find a carrier.”“He’ll want to leave at night so no one can really see him being carried out.”“Good idea,” Grace nodded, looking kind of pale.The Italian wandered off after that, wand slicing through the air as he muttered to himself, eventually heading upstairs and to the guest room to dump his stuff and presumably ward it the way Carter did his.“This is going to be interesting,” Grace crossed her arms, glancing at Henry and Allison.Allison, for one, silently agreed.* **Tony looked around at the room he claimed for his quarters.Not too over the top – probably due to an interior decorating phase Carter’s kid went through five months or so after moving to the bunker -, but it was deliberately designed to allow the guests to make themselves at home.So, he dug out a framed picture Deeks took of the group before the wedding - and before the rollercoaster he’d been forced into riding – and smiled as he put it on the dresser in front of the bed. The Trio beamed at him with Neville, Ginny and Gabby clustered off to their left, Tony, Palmer and Mac on their right.Next to the picture, he placed a few odds and ends up against the mirror before getting his ‘gold star’ notebook and putting it in his pocket. This was the right case for it, after all.He let his magic do the rest of the work and did some warding before rejoining the three downstairs. “So,” he nodded. “You guys need to wait to explore the scene, correct? I’m going to want to go back to GD to see if Carter’s come out and put some spells on him to see what we’re dealing with. Then I guess I’ll see what you guys turn up and go from there.”“We’ll check in with the others when we get back. Did you want to stop in to see his office?” Mayor (“Henry.”) Deacon suggested. “It’s on the way.”“If you don’t mind.”It couldn’t hurt or anything.“SARAH, door,” Blake called out, striding toward it as it opened. “We should be back with Carter when Agent DiNozzo completes his assessment.”“Until tonight, then, Sheriff Agent DiNozzo,” the AI told him.He sincerely hoped she – it – didn’t make friends with AJ Johnson any time soon. He was still trying to figure out where she got the ‘Professor’ idea from. It was almost laughable to imagine him as a teacher.It would never work.They got back into the car and headed back for town, parking in front of Carter’s office once they got there.“You know, I was kind of expecting Lupo to be lurking around,” he mused, the others following him in.“Jo is Head of GD security, as you probably already know,” Mayor D told him. “She has to oversee other projects besides the incident you’ve been called in for. Once we have something to go on, we will have her join us.”Tony nodded, standing in the middle of the room.It was pretty nice, considering.There was Deputy Andy’s desk kept nice and orderly on his right. The AI was responding to calls and Tony made a note to lasso him later and get some sort of outline for him concerning this investigation.In front of him, Carter’s desk had some papers and objects strewn across the surface and Tony couldn’t help liking the blond, getting the feeling that he truly enjoyed his job.He did some checking with his Magic and nodded as he zeroed in on the protection rune on the window sill. Although, he was going to have to talk to the other Wizard about some loopholes with the wards on the building – like how anyone with an Agency badge could get in without question. He noticed that at the bunker, too.While their fears about repercussions against Carter were unfounded in this case, there were, regrettably, Agency Wizards who were like that.There were some charms in place at Carter’s desk to keep nosy people from snooping, though it was mostly misdirectional spells light enough to be ignored by the conscious mind if one wasn’t looking for it or had no knowledge of magic.He didn’t notice anything out of place, but he did note some bits of paper with handwriting on it. Most likely, Carter made little notes to himself like Tony did.“Everything alright?” Dr. D voiced. She watched him with interest, along with her husband and Blake.“Yeah, yeah,” he assured, waving a hand. “Everything’s coming along. Looks like he got all his bases covered. I can’t disable the spells in place without setting alarms off – something we don’t need right now, in any case -, so there’s that. Doesn’t look like anyone else has been messing around with anything. I think you guys were right, thinking that Carter’s the only one in town. I have yet to pick anything up from anyone else.”He did layer some of his own spells, though, to be sure he would know if anything changed.They spent another ten minutes so he could get his bearings before they left and headed across the street.“We can take a late lunch with us,” Dr. D (“Grace.”) told him as Mayor D and Blake trailed them.“I can’t promise how much I’ll eat,” he shrugged. “My system’s still trying to deal with the time changes. Besides which, it seems to be going past late lunch and into early dinner.”“It won’t be a problem,” she assured, opening the door to Café Diem and heading in.Tony let the other two go in after her before going in after them. He immediately honed in on the rune behind the fake tree right beside the door. “It’s honestly a wonder that no one’s moved it yet,” he commented, reaching out to tweak a branch.“Carter would just move it back,” Mayor D shrugged. “After the last few times it happened, Vince stopped trying.”“Hm.”The café wasn’t such a bad place, really. It kind of reminded him of those retro eateries like the era Dairy Queen came from and what Sonic and Steak & Shake were trying to hold onto.It was also fairly open, which meant that he could easily see the crowd gathered and they could see him. It didn’t take long for glances to start heading his way and he was amused to note that not everyone was very subtle.Mayor D got caught up in a conversation with a few others – the looks on their faces gave him an idea that they were discussing him – as Blake and Dr. D headed for Vince to put in their orders for at least a light snack. He gave a thought to wonder if someone managed to rustle up some food for Carter when he noticed a redhead with a goatee standing nearby, fidgeting with his fingers.“Hi, there,” the scientist startled at being addressed. “Can I help you?”“Oh, hello,” he smiled slightly nervously. “I… I was wondering if Sheriff Carter was doing alright.”“Yeah,” Tony nodded, smile reassuring. “From what I hear, he should be waking up soon.” That was the cover story. Carter was still supposed to be out from the explosion, having thrown himself on top of the intern to save her, and ending up in isolation just to be completely safe. From what Tony understood, the intern was also spending some time in lockdown, too.“That’s good,” he slumped in relief. “I’m Dr. Hern,” they shook hands. “You’re the third party investigator, correct? That was called in to take care of a few things in Carter’s absence?”“Yeah. I don’t exactly know when the investigation will end, though.”“I’m just glad he’s doing alright,” Hern grinned briefly. “I mean, it’s bad enough Dr. Strutger … I don’t know what we would’ve done if Carter was, too.”“You know Carter well, then?”“No, I only moved here about a year ago. Carter has been nothing but nice to me. He’s the first friend I made here. I mostly work in the environmental department, but we run into each other sometimes and he hangs out with me when I don’t feel like being alone. Dr. Strutger is… was a good friend, too,” Hern sighed deeply, crossing his arms. “And I really don’t like saying this, but… I’m glad Carter’s still here. I know that he and Dr. Blake might be going through a rough patch right now, but the town needs him. He’s amazing as a friend and there’s just something about him … I don’t think anyone else could do his job.”Personally, Hern kind of reminded him of Palmer in a way. How there was just something that made him want to be his friend and look out for him. Tony smiled slightly.“Don’t worry. If I need anything, I’ll let you know.”“Oh, could you let Carter know, too?” the man’s eyes were a deeper green than his and Harry’s as they watched him imploringly. “I know he usually goes to the others, but he should remember that there are other friends here, too, who care and worry about him.”“I’ll be sure to pass it on.”Hern nodded and gave him one final smile before leaving the café.As far as concerned friends of patients went, that was one of the best conversations he’d ever had.“Was that Hern?” Dr. D came up to him with a tray of Vinspressos with the other two behind her with lunch/dinner.“Yeah. Sounds like he and Carter are good friends,” Tony observed.“Outside of us, I think so,” Mayor D nodded. “Actually, I think it’s good to get him to socialize. Not everyone in town looks at him like an equal. Ah, Vince is on his way with your before dinner snack. What?” he smiled sheepishly. “We missed lunch by a large margin at this point.”“What does he even serve, anyway?” he wanted to know. He was seeing several types of food just within his line of sight.“Whatever you want,” Blake shrugged. “He can probably make it.”“Well, you didn’t even get my order.”“He said he knew exactly what you wanted,” Mayor D shrugged. “Don’t ask how, I don’t know.”Tony’s cell rang and he answered it to find Agent Doug Donners on the other end.
“Having any luck on your case, DiNozzo?”
“Not yet,” he grimaced. “It’s not as cut and dried as I thought.” He lowered his voice and turned toward the fake tree hiding the protection rune. “He’s a cat.”“Ah. That kind of complicated, huh?” Tony heard his amusement and scowled as Dr. D gave him a Vinspresso.“Yeah, and what of it?”
“Just come back in one piece, clear? I don’t like doing family notifications and I don’t plan on adding that Trio of yours to that list any time soon.”
“Yeah, yeah. Once we get him out of where he managed to hole up, I’ll be able to know more.”
“And it’s not just the Trio, either. There’s also MacKenzie to think about and Deeks and Dumbledore.”
“Of course,” he took a sip of coffee.
“And Palmer.”
Tony started choking, vaguely aware of Vince yelling, “Sugar!” as the man dove back to the counter. “Palmer? You’re stark terrified of Palmer?”
“The man’s a deep well, DiNozzo. And you obviously haven’t seen him when you go off to Magical cases.”
“I still don’t believe it,” he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.“You might one day. Keep me posted on this, Tony,” he didn’t quite hide the concern in his voice and Tony gave a nod.“Right.”“Who was that?” Blake tilted her head as he hung up.“Agency Boss,” he shook his head with a smile. “Long story, but I work in his unit. He was just checking in, is all.”“We should head back,” Mayor D suggested.Vince came up to them and handed Tony the sugar packets he apparently went back for on the to-go box, wishing them all luck in their investigation.Tony opened the box when they got to the car and he felt a huge smile cross his face. “I didn’t think he did cheeseburgers, too.”Dr. D choked on her drink in the driver’s seat as the Mayor and Blake turned to look. “He gave you a cheeseburger?” Dr. D stared at him in the rearview mirror.“Yeah, and it smells delicious,” he felt hungry now and didn’t think anything of their reactions – or the looks they exchanged around him – as he dug in with gusto. All this globetrotting business wasn’t good for the eating schedule.He finished by the time they reached Global’s parking lot and was soon back inside, heading for the infirmary section behind Blake.Donovan, Fargo and Marten were still there, but this time Lupo and Taggart were there, too.“So, this is the Agent I’d heard tell of,” the tall Aussie grinned in welcome. “Thanks for the help, mate.”“No problem,” he smiled back.Marten was still on the stool he had yet to change back to normal, so it was clear that Carter was still in the box above her.“Okay,” he sighed, moving toward her. “Let’s try this again.” They switched places and Tony heaved a sigh before turning back to Carter. “Sheriff, I really need you to come out now. Are you hungry?”Carter made some noises in response.“Okay. You are. So, are you going to come out?”Tony watched as the blue eyes stared back at him before blinking and Carter looked like he was coming out, but something made him stop. “Mrow.” There were a few more noises until Tony realized the now feline was almost panicking.“Okay, okay, stop,” he instructed before slowly sliding his hand in. He felt the brief touch of a moist nose and the tickling sensation of whiskers before he began feeling fur that felt as soft as Mac’s when she was in her Animagus form, if a little rougher. Carter managed to move his hand back to where the wall was and Tony frowned in concentration as his fingers moved along the wall, soon encountering what felt like Carter’s paw. “It’s alright,” he murmured, letting his fingers skim the paw and soon found the problem. “Hey, guys?” he had his face turned to the side in order to reach the wall of the container, so he couldn’t see them all very well from his position. “It feels like there’s something stuck to his paw. Like some sort of metal thing and it’s stuck to the wall, so he can’t get out.”“I don’t know if that is as much of a shock,” Donovan spoke. “He was running all over the place, so he may very well have found something that got stuck to him.”“Let’s look around and see what it is,” Marten suggested.Tony kept trying to keep Carter calm, trying to pull a few times, but the effort was wasted the more Carter felt stuck.“Carter, I need to get some light in there so I know what I’m dealing with. Can you try moving so that I can see the back of this thing?”Tony summoned some faery lights to send in and he watched as Carter shuffled around so that he could see. Carter was a blondish yellow that was similar to his regular hair and was a bit of a big cat. It just made it easier to see the gray band encircling the paw in question – the back, right – and he told the others what he was seeing.“I thought we didn’t keep those in here,” Donovan’s frown was clearly audible as the others stopped moving around.“You’re right,” Blake confirmed. “We don’t. Where did he find them in here?”“What is it?” Tony wanted to know.“Part of a set of restraints. In order to keep from hurting the patient when disoriented, the restraints are magnetized so that the patients aren’t injured or in danger of self-inflicting.”Not that he was dying to try it anytime soon, but – “At least tell me there’s some kind of off switch.”He didn’t need to turn around to understand that the silence behind him didn’t bode well.“You said that you didn’t see any colored dot on it, right?” Donovan checked. “That, well, is something that we’re gonna have to work with.”Scratch that. The off switch was on the side attached to the wall.“It was designed to be removed only by the person who put it on the individual,” Mayor D explained.This was shaping up to be a harder case than he’d thought. “How much trouble would I be in if I broke it?”“How?” Marten frowned. “It’s water resistant – as well as liquid in general.”He tossed a grin at her before leaning his torso into the box as far as he could get. “Carter, stay completely still,” he instructed. “This might sting.”A minute later, Carter was climbing out of the box somewhat sheepishly, hopping lightly onto the floor and promptly hiding under the stool as Tony stepped down with the fried restraint in hand.“What did you do?” Fargo pushed his glasses up his nose as he took it from him.“Magic,” Tony couldn’t help the grin as the shorter man acknowledged walking into that one. “Okay, Sheriff,” he crouched down to see the blond. “I can do my thing here, but only if you listen and try to stay still or I’ll have Marten try holding you down.”“What?” Fargo squawked. “Why does she get to do it?”“She’s closer,” he told him matter of factly.The others inched nearer when he started concentrating on doing his diagnostic on Carter and sat back ten minutes later.“So?” Mayor D (“Henry.”) prompted.“Well… Somehow, he’s now a cat and he’s going to stay that way for the next few days. I can’t exactly get a clear reading because it seems like this happened about the time that the explosion happened and the energy of the experiment is somehow screwing with my spell. It’s kind of odd, though, because he also has something resembling a rudimentary magic block that I can’t exactly distinguish as being a true spell.”“Magic block?” Lupo joined the conversation after hiding in her corner all day.“You mean he can’t use magic?” Taggart’s tone made Tony look up to see the Aussie’s face start to crumple up in distress. “Not ever?”He stared blankly for a moment before mentally whacking himself upside the head and reminding himself that he was dealing with Muggles, who, for all their smarts, still had barely scratched the surface of Magic and all it entailed.“No! No, no, no! I meant it – I – look,” he searched for words. “Pretend that you have a bathtub that you want to drain, right? That is essentially what Carter is, a bathtub, and his magic is the water. Only, you want to drain the tub, but there’s one of those cheap drain plugs preventing you from doing it and the water – or magic – is in danger of overflowing the tub. Okay, granted you aren’t in danger of the house exploding around you in this case, but it’s the same principle.”“So, if I got this right,” Donovan raised a finger. “Carter can’t drain his magic because the plug won’t let him.”“Exactly. It can’t be used. That leaves Carter with no magic to work with and virtually defenseless. The thing is, until the magic block dissolves on its own, he’s stuck like this.”“So, how did it happen?” Mayor D questioned.“Typically, someone else needs to put it on, but there are cases where the Wizard himself can put his own magic behind a block. Although, in this particular case, maybe the explosion… I don’t know, created some sort of energy snapback that resulted in this block. I mean, just because I’ve never heard of it happening doesn’t mean it hasn’t before. This isn’t exactly any ‘situation normal’ I’ve come across…”“So, this is just temporary?” Marten looked concerned. “I mean, he’ll still be Carter when this is over? Magic and all?”“All blocks dissolve eventually. Whether they were cast or self-inflicted, they have to. I was under a rather strong one recently and it took the better part of a year before it weakened enough for me to break it. This one is too weak or something to classify as a true block, but it’s still a block and I would guess about a week or less before Carter starts feeling magic again. Depending on the block, a person’s Magic could feel cooped up and would want to be released as often as possible once the block is gone. If the block is in place long enough and it’s strong enough, the Wizard would probably still be feeling the aftereffects for years. But I don’t expect anything stronger than slight fatigue after being forced to hold the form for even a short time. I wouldn’t worry about it.”That seemed to release some sort of tension in the room and Taggart burst into tears at the constant reassurance that Carter would have no negative effects from this.“It’s alright,” Tony had to feel amusement as the Aussie propped against him, sobbing happily into his camo hankie as Carter – probably feeling like a cad – cautiously approached and started rubbing against his friend’s legs in attempt to comfort him.“I guess it never really occurred to us that Carter could get his magic taken from him,” Lupo looked solemn as she stood nearby, absently patting Taggart on the arm.A shiver ran down his spine at the thought. “No one wants their Magic taken,” he said seriously. “Something like this certainly won’t be permanent, but there are departments in the various Magical Governments that…” he swallowed uneasily. It was never something to take lightly, after all, and even Donners needed a drink after any kind of discussion involving this kind of subject.Mayor D picked up on his uncomfortable vibes and moved the conversation along to some tests they had needed Carter awake for.The feline hopped back up on the bed and circled a few times before settling.Tony took that as his cue to leave, but Carter started making noise before he made it to the door. “What?” he turned back to see panicked wide eyes. “I’m just leaving the room. Don’t worry, I’m going to stay until the investigation ends by sometime tomorrow.” Carter didn’t lose the panicked look until Tony really thought about it. “Oh. You don’t want me to leave town?” he got a nod.“That might be a good idea,” Mayor D pointed out. “You said yourself that Carter’s not going to be able to defend himself if anything should happen.”That brought a thought that hadn’t occurred to Tony before. Just because Eureka was a Muggle place, that didn’t mean that Magical creatures couldn’t be drawn to it. They could even be passing through and not necessarily looking for a home.Carter would probably feel safer if he stuck around until he could do his job again. At least he knew that Tony didn’t mind Muggles if the blond didn’t trust him.“I’ll have to call in,” he shrugged. “Let Donnors know I’m sticking around.”“Do you need to?” Fargo frowned. “I mean, you figured out the problem, right?”“I know that you said that you’ve been studying up on Magic, but I don’t think you quite understand. Carter is the only Wizard in town for miles on miles. If the chance came that something would come in and he couldn’t protect any of you or the town, he wouldn’t take it well. You, this building and this town are his responsibility. Right now, he can’t do his job, so he wants me to stick around to give you guys any magical back up if the event comes up that you need it.”Carter was nodding along and relaxing as he spoke, showing his agreement with every word.“Well,” Dr. D looked thoughtful. “If you think it best, Carter, then we would appreciate the help, Agent DiNozzo.”“Oh, please,” Fargo ‘pshh’ed. “We can handle ourselves, thanks.”“Yes,” Marten agreed, giving Tony a sweet smile. “You don’t have to let us take up any more time than you have to give.”He had about another week of leave, actually, and he’d planned on spending it at home. Not that they needed to know that. “Oh, but – you see – now I kind of have to. It’s a matter of honor and trust,” he recalled an earlier conversation and used it to his advantage. “Carter is putting himself out there by giving me his responsibility and I now have to go through with it if I want him to ever trust another Wizard. But, you know what? That’s alright. I don’t really expect you to understand. It’s like a Wizard thing in addition to being a cop thing.”Lupo smiled in a way that told him she knew what he was getting at. If not get your point by arguing, a little emotional manipulation went a long way.And it looked like it was working.“We-well,” Marten wavered, exchanging a look with Fargo. “If that would help opening him up to other Wizards…”“I guess,” Fargo grumbled.Carter looked like he was trying to stifle a laugh.“But now I wonder if anyone would want to befriend him with that attitude,” he couldn’t resist adding, seeing them stiffen at the implication. “I mean, what Wizard would want to hang around someone if their Muggle friends don’t want them around?”Blake seemed to know he was up to something, so she halted the subject before he went on. “I believe we only really need Tag, Fargo and myself,” she threw him a warning look to behave – though the smile playing around her mouth told him that she had caught on – and ushered the others out. “Come back in two hours or so and we’ll see about getting Carter back home.”They spent a few minutes staring at each other before Mayor D took a step forward.“I need to go out and check a few instruments outside of town. Why don’t you join me, Agent DiNozzo?”Tony tilted his head slightly before shrugging. What could it hurt?Besides which, some Magical creature might want to pass by, so he probably should go out and keep an eye on the Mayor for Carter.“Okay. I’m in. Let’s go.”* **
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Henry wasn’t at all nervous to be spending time with a strange Wizard.He wasn’t uncomfortable with Carter and DiNozzo didn’t seem to want to see them harmed.He thought back to his obvious teasing of Fargo and Holly and saw that there was some truth to his decision to stay. Henry knew all about duty and responsibility, so he understood why DiNozzo would agree to hang out until the block wore off on Carter.It was honorable and Henry felt some degree of respect for the Italian already. He just hoped the younger man was up to the task.The first instrument was halfway between GD and the town proper.Henry parked on the side of the road and grabbed his toolkit before hoofing it for the twenty minutes it took to reach the attached instrument. DiNozzo soon fell into step beside him as they walked.They reached the instrument in silence, Henry doing some commentary as he worked – much like how he would do it with Carter. Hern had asked him to check a few of the instruments while he took care of the others and Henry had agreed, what with what happened and all with Strutger. In fact, Henry thought that the two had been friends after having seen them a few times at the café.He looked up a few times to keep track of the Italian, who seemed to be channeling Carter as he walked a sort of perimeter around the small area with sharp green eyes keeping a lookout for any movement.“You know, I’ve been meaning to ask Carter,” he mused, wrapping up his work. “I know – maybe more than anyone – that there are animals in and around Eureka, but should there be something else to worry about?”“On the Magical side? Well, one can never say for sure,” the Italian shrugged. “This is a Muggle area, but there is the slight presence of magic thanks to Carter, so it could go either way. Some wouldn’t be drawn to this area because of the small Magical presence, but there are others who might. There are even some plants that really don’t care where they put down roots. Even though they need magic to help grow along with the basics, they can get that from the Earth’s natural magic. I can’t really explain to someone who’s never felt it,” he smiled apologetically.“Fair enough,” Henry smiled back.They turned back to the truck and went on to their next location.This particular instrument was free-standing and about thirty minutes from one of the back roads.“Hm,” he looked over the readings. “We might be in the path of a rain shower today.”“When we’re asleep, maybe,” he wasn’t sure he was supposed to hear that, but didn’t think any more of it as he went on.“So, you were under a magic block of your own? How did that come about?”He looked up at the silence and saw a flood of emotions cross his face in rapid succession. He was about to take it back, but DiNozzo heaved a sigh.“You know the Muggle IRS? Well, we have one, too.”“Oh?” he paused in his work. “What is it called, this Magical IRS?”“The Magical IRS.”“… ” He definitely walked into that one. The grin on the Italian’s face brought a sheepish one to his.“Everybody just calls it MIRS, though, to keep them straight. Anyway, put it like this: a MIRS investigation into tax evasion inadvertently resulted in a string of murders, five attempted murder victims – at least -, two cases of mistaken identity that were not my fault and me being pissed at quite a few people including one of the most powerful figures in our world. Among other things.”Henry nodded thoughtfully, but the other must have seen the lost look on his face and shrugged.“It was a case of mistaken identity. It’s a long story from there.”“It certainly sounds like a long story,” he chuckled.They made some small talk as they went, wrapping up this experiment’s readings before heading out to two other ones.By that time, it was about the time to get back to see how Carter was faring so Henry turned them back to GD.When they got in the door, Holly was just about to call Henry and he smiled wryly as he reached into his pocket to extract his ‘Scientist’ nametag.“Henry! Oh, thank goodness! You have to hurry, we have a containment breach and we need all the help we can get! Agent DiNozzo, it’s all hands on deck!” she spied the Italian hovering nearby. “Come on, now!”“Well, Agent,” he grinned as they hurried after the redhead. “Welcome to Eureka.”* ** Taggart stretched as he, Allison and Fargo reached the atrium in search of the rest of their friends.Carter had more or less kicked them out after four hours – by hiding under a table and refusing to come out -, so they had decided a break was in order.Allison was checking her email with a frown when Fargo spied Holly almost skipping toward them with a beaming smile.“Seems like all is well,” Tag smiled at her. “GD hasn’t come down around us, yet.”“Oh, we had it all taken care of,” she waved a hand. “The tests done?”“Yes,” Allison smiled vaguely with a glance up at her. “All ready to move the patient. Hey, has anyone heard from Henry or Agent DiNozzo?”“Yeah,” Fargo frowned. “I was expecting them back a while ago.”“They got back about two hours ago,” Holly informed them. “I roped them into helping with a containment breach and then Henry took off with him for a different emergency. I don’t know what happened after that, but nothing exploded yet, so I’m thinking they took care of it.”Tag nodded and clapped his hands together. “Well, round up the lads. Time to get this expedition on its way.”“We need to go over some things with the Agent,” Allison agreed. “I mean, I know he’s in there, but… I don’t know.”It was good to keep treating the cat like Carter – since Tag knew for fact that he was in there -, but only they knew Carter was even capable of being turned into a cat. He didn’t want the poor bloke to be mistaken for an actual animal. Who knew what could happen to him then.Henry appeared around the corner and glanced up from his tablet with a small smile. “Time to get going already? But you may have to wait,” he stopped in front of them. “We were actually on our way to the showers.”“Huh?” Fargo frowned before they heard faint squelching noises steadily coming closer.“We’re almost there, Agent DiNozzo,” Henry called out with a sympathetic look. “Allison, I’m working on my report as we speak.”“What in the world…?” Tag glanced at Holly, whose eyes widened.“I’ll send you a copy of it,” Henry promised as Tag followed her gaze.The Agent squelched into view, covered head to toe in orange… goop, the slime dripping off slowly but surely.“Henry –”“Oh, it’s, ah, not contagious or dangerous or anything,” he grimaced. “Purely an unfortunate side effect of yet another potential energy overload.”DiNozzo made his way toward them, wrinkling his nose at every step, not that Tag could blame him. He’d been covered in similar manners over his life and still did.“I cannot believe this place exists,” he bared his teeth before squelching on, probably not thinking too hard about what was all over him.“Wait for me,” Henry caught up to him, head bent back over his tablet as the others stared after them.A different kind of squelching sound drew their attention back the other way and to the ground, seeing some sort of device drinking up the spilled sludge. Tag wasn’t sure if it was the Agent’s work or one of theirs, but it did an incredible job as it slid past in search of the next drop.They returned to Carter’s room as Henry squared the Italian away, before the pair joined them again an hour later.“So, everything alright there, Agent DiNozzo?” Zane had to ask as he leaned against the wall. Tag was next to him as he watched the Italian scrub his hair with a towel.“Just don’t expect me to help anymore with your ‘emergencies’,” the scowl was actually kind of cute from under the towel.Carter peeked out from his refuge under the table and made a questioning noise.“Don’t worry,” Henry smiled reassuringly. “Everything’s under control.”“We’re ready to move him,” Holly piped up.“We just need a few answers,” Grace had joined them, too. “Like, is there anything special we need to know or…”“Guys,” DiNozzo heaved a sigh, towel laying across his shoulders. “It’s Carter, but as a cat. Try going to familiar environments so that his natural magic can help him with the block quicker. Just treat him like you normally would, even though he’s a cat.”They all just looked at each other before looking at Carter, who stared back.“If that’s what you suggest,” Allison sounded uncertain.“There’s nothing to it. Look,” Tony crouched down in front of Carter and held an arm out. “See if you can climb up on my shoulder.”Carter looked between him and the offered appendage for a long moment before cautiously leaning forward to sniff. He evidently decided it was alright, because he carefully stepped on the man’s arm and slowly made his shaky way up to drape across his shoulders.DiNozzo slowly stood and held his arms out. “So, he’s a cat. Just treat him like Carter.”“We can’t just walk out with him through the front door, lad,” Tag told him. “Animals have to be in cages or carriers.”That was the wrong thing to say.Carter yowled and jumped off DiNozzo’s shoulder, managing to stuff himself into a corner, swiping at anyone that got close.“Thanks, Taggart,” Holly scowled. “Now we’ll never get him to SARAH.”“Sorry. Just trying to help.”DiNozzo simply heaved a sigh and sat down a distance from Carter, apparently ready to wait him out. “Is it alright if we hang out here for a bit? I’m sure Carter’s probably wanting a snack, too.”Carter started calming after he realized that no one was going to touch him until he was ready. Instead, he sat on his haunches and blinked at the Italian.“What? Hey, I can’t do my job with the scene anyway until maybe tomorrow at the earliest. I have nowhere else to be tonight, so,” he shrugged. “Might as well do something productive.”“Maybe we need to calm him down,” Holly mused. “Where’s the carrier? Maybe he’ll be okay with it if it’s in sight for a little bit.”Tag went over to his stuff in a corner and produced a carrier that he had made to transport other cats. “It’s completely sterilized,” he explained, carefully plopping it down on DiNozzo’s right, Carter being unable to miss it. “You won’t have to worry about other cats, Sheriff.”Carter just wrapped his tail around his paws and glared at it.DiNozzo shrugged. “Looks like we’ll be here a while.”“So, what?” Grace looked around. “We wait until Carter gets in the carrier?”“Nothing else we can do,” Henry shrugged. “It’s Carter’s call.”“We can’t exactly call him ‘Carter,’ though, should we?” Fargo suddenly frowned. “We don’t want anyone to know about his magic.”“I guess we should think about it, huh?” Zane made himself comfortable on the floor where he stood. “A nickname or something.”“I don’t know what’ll fit,” Allison leaned against the wall, arms crossed as she watched Carter.They tossed out suggestions as they waited for Carter to get used to the carrier being around him, but he wasn’t having any of it. He would let out a growl every once in a while and half an hour passed by the time Allison checked the time again.“We aren’t getting anywhere quick,” Jo scowled at the room. “Carter, just get in so we can get moving.”DiNozzo heaved a sigh and turned his gaze on the carrier. It was a light aluminum thing with a cage door and a handle custom made for the bigger cats like Carter. “Huh. Maybe… Is it alright if I fix it?” he looked over at Tag, who shrugged and approved, curious to see what he was going to do. “Okay, Carter. I know that it’s scary right now, so let’s see if this is going to work better for you.”Minutes later, the carrier looked different and more enticing to Carter while the rest of them stared in amazement.The carrier was now completely transparent with a handle and wheels. There were eight holes lining the top for air and there was a ramp that doubled as the door.Inside, there was some kind of cushion to sit or sleep on and Carter didn’t think twice before slowly making his way up the small ramp and into the container, the ramp immediately retracting behind him and flipping up to close the cat inside.“There, see?” DiNozzo beamed. “No prob.”The cushion was evidently filled with some kind of crinkly sounding material and Carter seemed fascinated with it, pawing at it as the other Wizard stood and took hold of the flexible handle on the top.“That’s cool,” Zane studied it and the complete ease Carter displayed inside.“Right, I’ll be taking him, then,” Tag eased the handle away from DiNozzo and started toward the door.“Now wait just a minute!” Fargo went after him. “Why do you get to take him?”“Don’t break him!” Holly scurried after them. “And don’t go so fast! He’ll get motion sickness.”“I’m sorry, but this is amusing for me,” Allison caught DiNozzo’s grin. “It’s still Carter, good Merlin.”“I’m sure we’ll remember that when he saves us again by using some sort of mousie toy,” Jo snorted.Sadly, Allison could picture that all too well. “It's more or less dinner now. It’ll probably be later than this time tomorrow when we’ll be able to get near the equipment Strutger used. And we’ve let his domestic partner stay out of state until the funeral. Ethan left his contact information if you need to talk to him.”Ethan Langer was devastated and inconsolable to hear what happened. Allison couldn’t tell him ‘no’ in good conscience and offered whatever GD resources he required.DiNozzo nodded at her. “I would like to talk to him before I leave, I guess. Unless you want to take care of it.”“Can’t hurt,” Jo shrugged. She didn’t much like talking to the emotional ones. They were reserved for Carter, since he could relate to them better.“So,” Henry slowly led the rest of the group out after the trio in charge of poor Carter. “You’re only here until Carter breaks through the block?”“Looks like. I’d still like to talk to the intern about her version of events before I do anything else. Unless that surviving camera covers that corner.”“Nope,” Zane shook his head as he trailed them. “But it covers enough that we’ll be able to see what happened. We might be able to see something from their direction, but no promises right now. We can’t exactly touch that yet, either.”“Of course.”“How long will Carter be like this, did you say?” Henry ambled along, in no particular rush.“My guess…” he tilted his head from one side to the next. “Let’s see… today is Tuesday… I hope before Thursday since I’d like to spend time at home before I get back to work. I have to get a hold of Donners to explain the new situation.”Allison stuffed her uneasy feelings down and nodded. She didn’t want to be without a Magical user while Carter was indisposed as he was. “I hope we aren’t cutting into your time off.”“Nah. I’m off until Monday, anyway. We’ll see what happens between now and then, though.”They rounded the corner into the atrium and found, too late, that they’d been spotted.“But you can’t take him out of the building without the proper papers going through,” a familiar voice filled the distance and Allison was barely aware of DiNozzo dropping back behind them as she focused on Dr. Sandra Quire.She was in charge of mostly things dealing with procedure – as good as that did anyone – and of course the 5, 5 black haired Canadian caught them before they could get away.Dr. Quire was staring Holly down as the redhead tried to make up some story that would make sense while Fargo, Tag and Carter watched apprehensively from behind.“Dr. Quire,” Allison called out, getting their attention as she moved toward them. “Is there a problem?”“Dr. Blake,” she turned with something that looked like smug triumph on her face. “Dr. Taggart is attempting to make off with one of the experiment animals and I haven’t found the papers he needs to do so, yet.”She saw Henry look at her from the corner of her eye and breathed in practiced ease. “Dr. Quire, thank you for bringing this to my attention.”“Yeah,” DiNozzo suddenly spoke up, making her startle at the realization that she’d forgotten about him. “Thanks for stopping them before I caught them,” he smiled slightly at them as they all turned to him. “I have the paperwork here,” he had a few pages in his hand and offered them to Quire.“And you are?” she cautiously approached to take the papers from him.“Consultant,” he shrugged, hands clasped behind his back. “Name’s Tony. Dr. Taggart, here, called me in when he found a mix of dried cat food that clears up certain stomach problems and my friend in the cart, there, just so happens to have a complex strain of one so he thought we could do a test run, as it were.”“Er, right,” Tag nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, he is. And I did. Little bugger here’s been feelin’ under the weather for ages and today’s been a bit of improvement with the special cat mix. I’m waitin’ to see any long term effects before I find another candidate and start them on it. Gradual thing. Hopin’ to have something for the board in a few months if all goes well.”“Hm,” Quire skimmed the paperwork in her hands before glancing at Fargo for confirmation.“I’m aware of the trial,” he allowed, evidently remembering being Director. “Tony has graciously agreed to the use of his… cat for trial purposes and if all goes well, I think Taggart will be able to send them back to DC with a full bag to catalogue anything that should come up in a few days.”They waited anxiously for some response from her, but she studied the papers and slowly nodded. “Everything’s here,” she eyed them suspiciously before tucking the papers in a pocket. “I’ll just put them into the database, shall I?”“Sorry about that,” DiNozzo smiled sheepishly. “I forgot I’d been holding them until now.”“Not to worry, mate,” Tag gave him a relieved nod. “Forgot to scan the suckers, myself.”They escaped Quire and the rest of the complex without further ado and Allison gratefully slumped against the driver side window as she, Carter and DiNozzo rode with Henry and Jo heading for the bunker.“That was close,” she breathed, shooting a smile at Carter as the cat sat in the now wheel less carrier between her and DiNozzo.“Too close,” Henry puffed out a relieved breath.They drove for a few minutes before Jo broke the silence. “DiNozzo, what exactly did you do?”“Just filing papers,” he shrugged. “She won’t find a loophole, though. If you expect something on that paper, then that is exactly what you will see.”“So, a magic trick.”“Hey, it got us out of there with everything intact, didn’t it?”Allison couldn’t argue with that logic and had to smile slightly at the entire situation as she looked out at the gathering dusk. What a day.“I’m ready for bed,” DiNozzo stretched and yawned to himself.“Oh, Carter,” Henry suddenly remembered. “I hope it’s okay, but Grace wanted to try this recipe and she’s going to meet us at the bunker. She’s gone to the grocery store to get the ingredients.”“In the meantime,” Jo huffed, “we’ll be helping with the small stuff.”“It’s a good idea,” DiNozzo approved, rubbing his face. “It’ll give Carter time to adjust back to the bunker and it’ll help him understand that we’re working together to solve things in his absence.”Carter gave a seemingly confirming mewl and the rest of the ride was spent in silence, though not uncomfortable by any means.They got to the Smart House and the MNP Agent allowed Carter to walk himself down the stairs as Tag, Holly and Fargo pulled up behind them.SARAH opened the door and didn’t miss a beat as it greeted Carter, who immediately started exploring and didn’t pay the others any mind.After getting an ice water with peach spritz, Allison settled into a chair to find DiNozzo scribbling away in his small pocket notebook. “Anything interesting?” she wanted to know.“Nothing’s going to be 100% ready until after tomorrow at best,” he absently answered. “I’m still going to need to see that intern tomorrow and see if anything else comes up.”“After we take the equipment apart,” Fargo added. “I still don’t get how that thing could have just exploded like that. I mean, we’ve already put it through tests a few dozen times.”“I agree,” Holly settled down on the floor with a GD cat toy she picked up earlier. It was a seemingly regular feather on a string kind of toy, but it had built in sensors to detect a cat nearby and to release catnip scents to attract it. Carter didn’t look interested right now, but Allison figured he’d come back to it eventually. “Unless something was knocked loose, I guess. Not sure how.”“Not the first time this has happened,” Jo shrugged. “Things go wrong.”Which seemed to happen with alarming frequency around here, that’s for sure.It didn’t seem at all like just a simple mistake. It could also have been something within the instrument itself, which also seemed likely at first glance.“The equipment was stowed in his lab,” Henry shrugged. “He was the only one who had keys to it. Risky wouldn’t have had the opportunity to be left alone with it if she was even available what with different activities going on and everything.”“Hey,” Jo frowned at him. “I know that kid. She’s a lot smarter than some of the other adults and she knows what not to do.”“I’m not saying Risky had anything to do with it,” Henry reassured. “I’m just saying that Strutger spent a lot of time in his lab in the days leading up to the accident and no one else would’ve been able to step foot in there without his permission.”“So I guess sabotage is out of the question,” Allison sighed on a breathy gust.“I don’t see why,” Jo shrugged. “I don’t know who could have any kind of beef with him.”“He was well liked,” Henry explained to DiNozzo, who looked up with interest. “No one that I know of so far has come forward with any kind of trouble they had.”“What exactly did he do for this experiment?” DiNozzo settled down for the answer.“We don’t exactly have details until Zane gets the equipment,” Allison waved a hand, “but the experiment was partly Risky’s idea. That’s why she was partnered up with Strutger. The experiment was designed to do one of three things; one part of it was to take oil from water damaged in oil spills and come up with a way to separate them to make the water safe again. The second part was to break that separated oil down to elements that could be used for other things, also testing to see if the oil regains purity after separation. It’s a little more complicated than that, of course. The third part is to filter all that water into fresh drinking water. From what we’ve been understanding, it’s the second part that they were experimenting on first.”“With actual, pure oil?” she understood the disbelief in his tone.“As a baseline to see what we can do with a pure sample,” Henry assured. “A control, if you will.”“Oh.”“Maybe there was some sort of chemical reaction to it,” Holly suggested. “Then it went up.”“Wait a minute,” DiNozzo held up a finger. “If it was just – well, I say ‘just’ – oil, then why aren’t we –”“It’s far too complicated,” Fargo flapped his hands. “And there are hazardous – it’s safer to keep our distance for at least a full day longer.”A meow got their attention before they got any further into the discussion and Allison glanced over to see Carter sitting nearby, watching DiNozzo intently as if wanting to ask yet uncertain how to.“Maybe I should have brought the kitty hat, too,” Holly mused, Carter suddenly bristling and flattening his ears. “Oh, no. Not like that. It helps to know what we might have to do for you. It helps when the cats are acting out and the owners don’t understand why.”“We could try something else,” DiNozzo offered, a vertical line suddenly appearing on the floor in front of Carter shortly before a horizontal one appeared next to it. “This is a good way of communicating, too. Horizontal means no and vertical means yes.”Carter sniffed at the lines thoughtfully before licking his nose and hesitantly touched the vertical line.“Yes and no questions, please,” DiNozzo explained.“Reasonable,” Henry nodded. “You can understand us okay, Carter?”‘Yes.’“Do you remember anything from what happened the other day?”Carter tilted his head and slowly swiped his paw from ‘yes’ to ‘no’.“I see,” DiNozzo grinned. “You remember some of it, but not clearly enough.”They asked a few more questions, but Allison noticed Carter’s increased fidgety behavior and called him on it. “Is something wrong?”‘Yes.’“Like what?” Holly frowned.Allison glanced at DiNozzo to see him watching Carter thoughtfully before some sort of light came on.“Oh. Oh… Okay,” he stood. “Where do you want it?”Carter took off upstairs and DiNozzo trotted after him, leaving the others to exchange puzzled looks.“Maybe it’s a magic thing,” Fargo didn’t sound very certain.Whatever it was, the pair of wizards didn’t return until Grace and Zane got back with their spoils.“You did buy that, right?” Jo crossed her arms as she eyed some of the treats Zane extracted from a paper bag.“Why, JoJo,” he looked up with a smirk. “You don’t trust me?”“Not with your history.”“Think we should go up there to find them?” Holly sent an uneasy glance up the stairs. Allison wasn’t sure what she was thinking about what could be happening up there, but she probably had quite the imagination.“I’m sure they’re on their way down now,” Grace started moving her ingredients away from the miscellaneous things she came up with to stuff in the cupboard.“Who’s on their way?” DiNozzo called before appearing on the stairs, Carter carefully climbing down after him.“Holly was worried about whether Carter would have all his fur after leaving him alone with you,” Zane deadpanned.“I’m actually surprised you couldn’t hear him reading me the riot act,” DiNozzo quipped, sliding neatly into a space next to Allison and picking up a potato peeler. “You might also want to find some cat litter for tomorrow.”“That’s what he wanted?” Holly frowned at him. “The bathroom?”“Well, I didn’t see a litter box in that room you had him locked up in.”“Sorry we forgot, mate,” Tag hung his head. “Shoulda remembered all the basics.”“Well, you’re lucky I’m here so I can when you don’t,” DiNozzo used a Summoning spell like Carter sometimes did to send a potato coming toward him.“Yeah,” Allison watched Carter batting at Tag’s shoelaces with a small smile. “We are.”* **
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Dinner passed in a semi-comfortable silence that wasn’t nearly as awkward as Allison had feared with a new Wizard in their midst.DiNozzo certainly seemed to know how to distance himself from the spotlight, enough so that they were constantly forgetting he was there and startling every time he spoke up.Carter was content with his chicken bits in a corner, but Allison noted an ear tilted in their direction at all times. He didn’t seem concerned with anything, so she allowed DiNozzo to his thoughts while thinking that he was also probably analyzing their interactions with each other.Interestingly, though, she noticed the flinch every time one of them spoke up to SARAH and wondered, but didn’t pry.The hour got late and others started trickling home until only Allison was left on the sofa with Carter in the universal ‘cat loaf’ position on the cushion next to her, SARAH having found some sort of butterfly program that he was entranced by. DiNozzo had told them that they could also let Carter be a cat, because sometimes the baser instincts took more of a role when the brain started to rest and it was good that he wasn’t placing undue stress on himself. He didn’t seem to have an answer when Fargo asked somewhat anxiously if that would make the block worse since Carter was the one who put it on himself in the first place.The best the Italian could come up with was that there might be some sort of complication, but Allison had the feeling that he didn’t really know himself. That made her and Henry wonder to themselves if anything like that was rare or just not available knowledge to him personally/generally in his actual profession.Regardless, Allison checked her watch and reluctantly got up to stretch. “I guess I should be getting home, too,” she told Carter and DiNozzo, who was sketching in his corner. Henry had driven her car back with Grace after dropping both Fargo and Holly off and she could leave at any time. “I’ll be back around eight.”“Okay,” DiNozzo gave her a brief smile and wave. “Night.”“Good night,” she collected her things before heading for the door, Carter hopping down off the couch to walk her out. She waited in her car until Carter made his way back inside and shifted gears to drive away.She’d gotten back to her own empty house due to Jenna and Kevin spending time with her family and was lying in bed for over an hour, staring up at the ceiling and not feeling sleepy at all.She was kind of drained as she lay there in the dark.Carter was out for at least a week and they had to now rely on DiNozzo to pick up the slack. Carter was a Marshal and DiNozzo was MNP with a law enforcement background. They probably had different ways of solving a problem and Allison was kind of interested in how different they could be. Maybe if Carter wasn’t Muggleborn or if the Magic World was more accepting toward them, maybe Allison could ask if Carter could work with MNP Agents like the one ‘house sitting’, technically. She didn’t even know if Carter had ever worked with the Muggle police detectives when he was a Marshal or if everything was just turned over to that agency. She was a scientist, not in any way affiliated with law enforcement.Allison tossed and turned for another half hour before getting up with a sigh.This wasn’t working.For lack of anything better to do, she decided to do some work she’d put off until tomorrow and was about to finish answering emails – all three of them in almost an hour – when her phone rang and she dove for it. “Yes? This is Dr. Blake.”
“Yeah, Blake? This is DiNo-”
“Don’t touch anything, I’ll be right there,” she hung up before he could string together his protests and was up and in her car within almost a minute, Allison not thinking twice of showing up in her sleepwear. Hell, there had been at least two times that things had suddenly taken a turn during the night and she or one of the others had shown up in pajamas, bathrobes and miscellaneous other outfits – including, but not limited to, a towel and one memorable occasion involving a hot dog costume.In fact, thoughts flooded her mind as her heart beat in her throat about what the problem could be this time. Images of smoke coming out of multiple surfaces, sparking equipment, computer viruses, even a missile launch – the entire thing had, after all, been Fargo’s idea so it wasn’t too far out of the question – making her drive that much faster and pray that much harder that it was an easy fix.Almost twenty minutes after getting the call, she stood in front of SARAH’s kitchen with a distinctly unamused Agent holding out a mug of –“Please tell me what kind of code I accidently keep triggering,” he scowled at the beer before turning it on her. “And let me know how hard that is, huh? So difficult that you automatically assumed the worst and raced back out here. Good Merlin, is this a glitch of some sort in the system?”“That’s it?” she stared blankly, thoughts completely derailed. “You didn’t want beer?”“Yes… She doesn’t seem to want to give me anything else.”“Oh,” she said faintly, suddenly feeling her face flush at the thoughts she’d entertained on the way here. “That’s … you just tell her you don’t want beer.”“I keep telling her I want hot milk, but she – ”“Oh, is that what you wanted?” he turned a dark look on the ceiling and Allison had to smile at that because it was like he’d been there for weeks instead of less than a day. “I’m sorry. I think there was some misunderstanding.” Allison could almost hear the innocent tone.“‘Misunderstanding?’ Misunderstanding?! No, me ending up at a house four streets over is a misunderstanding. Me drinking the drugged soup instead of someone else is a misunderstanding. Hell, me being sent on the run and being framed for multiple murders is a misunderstanding. But me continually explaining why I want hot milk and you deliberately ignoring me is unwilling to comply.”“Agent,” Allison found a smile tugging at her lips for some reason. “I think it’s safe to say that the problem is solved no matter how it happened to be resolved.”
“Hot milk is not a very effective way to calm yourself enough to sleep, Sheriff Agent DiNozzo. I recommend hot herbal tea, perhaps with a splash of vanilla or spice.”
“NO!” he almost shouted, Allison surprised to see the panic momentarily crossing his face before he hid it very well. She almost thought it was her imagination and the late hour was playing with her. “I mean, that’s okay. But I would still like the milk like I’ve been telling you. I know that Carter is the actual owner of the house, but don’t you have some sort of guest program or something?”Allison decided to make some adjustments while she was there and let her program run for a bit while she accepted the offered milk and perched on the sofa edge next to DiNozzo with a sigh.“Long day, huh?” DiNozzo smiled slightly.“Yeah.”“I know that feeling.”They fell into silence as the minutes ticked by.“You can stay here tonight,” he suddenly spoke. “I mean, you’re going to be tired when that program finishes and it’s late.”Allison sipped her milk thoughtfully. She had already proven to be strangely anxious to let the Wizard alone where anything could happen and she was constantly ready to move to his position for damage control at the slightest doubt that he was doing okay.“I think I should insist,” DiNozzo deadpanned, eyeing her from the side. “In case I start getting beer in my cereal, too.”She couldn’t help snickering at that, knowing Carter’s predilection for eating ‘beer and cereal’ when he was feeling particularly upset. It looked like DiNozzo was kind of the ‘straight up beer’ type.“And I would rather not have to investigate your car accident as part of my ‘Sheriff’ duties when you overturn due to speeding down here.”“Well, if you insist,” she couldn’t argue with that logic. She could actually imagine that scenario and the amusement suddenly faded at the thought that anything could happen to him or her town if his prediction came true and she was out of commission. What if something came up with Carter and she couldn’t do anything?“I thought you would eventually see things my way,” he innocently pulled out a fluffy pillow with an orange fish pattern and nonchalantly handed it to her with a smile that didn’t say ‘innocent’ as opposed to reminding her about Zane Donovan’s ‘hook, line, sinker’ smile.“Okay, okay,” she accepted defeat and took the pillow to put in a corner of the couch, turning to see a blanket set floating after her and settling itself just in time for Carter to hop up and make himself at home on the edge of the blanket.Allison snuck a look at DiNozzo, who wasn’t hiding his smile well at all as he watched from the corner of his eye.“Cats,” he smiled fondly as he directed his attention back to his still warm milk.“I never had one, so I wouldn’t know,” she gave in to pat Carter on the head, her friend leaning into her slightly in response. Releasing a breath, she took herself back to DiNozzo’s side and settled down nearby, taking a sip of her own milk. “But SARAH was right about the tea,” she commented. “It does help a little more than plain milk.”“Thanks, but no,” he didn’t look up as he shook his head. “Last time I took tea advice from someone named ‘Sarah’, I ended up in the ER after her husband accidently put what he thought was sugar in it. Thanks to him, I now know what powdered laundry detergent tastes like.”She winced in sympathy and silently agreed that that was a traumatic experience if nothing else. “Are you still friends?” she wanted to know.The silence was telling.“Oh. I… I’m sorry.” Guess it didn’t have a happy ending.“Not because of that,” he eventually spoke. “She… died and … I … lost touch with her husband after the funeral.”“I am so sorry,” she risked putting a hand on his shoulder as he hunched inwards and thought of her own grief with Nathan. Of course, DiNozzo hadn’t been in love or planning to marry his own Sarah, but she could sense a similar pain in his voice and some sort of maternal instinct wanted to wrap him up in a hug to dull it. “You must have been close.”“Not as close as I was to… her husband. And his best friend. Sarah died, one fell apart and the other stepped up like I wish like hell I could have been able to.”Guilt creeped into him and Allison scooted closer to wrap an arm around his shoulders. “It’s not your fault,” she leaned against him. “You might have felt too guilty about that to really get back in touch with them, but circumstances don’t wait for anyone whether they’re magic or not. I don’t blame Carter or Fargo with what happened to Nathan and I’m sure no one who knows you can blame you for not being available to be the friend you think you could have been.”“And that’s kind of the problem,” he huffed a desperate laugh. “He did know me and … and… ”Allison put her cup down on the floor before dragging her in an awkward kind of hug, feeling the mother in her rise and shushing him as he buried his face in her collar, not exactly crying, but still shaking with long held on grief that needed an outlet.A weight pressed against her side and she glanced down to see Carter watching sadly before moving closer against the Italian and starting a purr that made her smile to know that even now he was trying to cheer someone up in the best way he knew how.Long moments later, he pulled back with a sniff, swiping at his eyes and yawning.“I think it’s time for bed, Agent,” she smiled slightly.“Thanks,” he gave her a genuine smile that Allison returned, knowing that this little break was between her, him and Carter, none of them about to say a word. “You know,” he shrugged. “That’s actually how I ended up at NCIS, what made my decision. And wouldn’t you know it, a few years later, I met another Sarah, but she’s more of a nickname girl, so it’s easier. Hell, I don’t know if a lot of our co-workers at the MNP even remember she has a real name. And once I got over that, she’s one of my closest friends.”“And does she know about her predecessor?”“No and, Merlin willing, she never will. That’s not a part of the past that you can just bring up easily.”“No, I don’t suppose it would be.”SARAH let them know it was past midnight and getting past that quickly, and they eventually agreed to bed after sitting in contemplative silence for a long time.Allison snuggled down in her corner with Carter curled up at the blanket edge as DiNozzo double checked things before heading upstairs. “Night, Agent DiNozzo.”She heard a snort. “After crying on you, I think you can call me ‘Tony’ for now.”“Night, Tony,” she smiled slightly before closing her eyes and letting sleep drown out everything else.* **
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Her dark, quiet world was interrupted countless hours later by an odd rumbly type of noise in her right ear.She jerked slightly and swiped a hand over her ear, settling back down into sleep with a sigh.That rumbly noise came back a few minutes later and she swiped again with a frown. Eventually, she rolled onto her side to press her ear into her pillow in the hopes that the noise would get the hint and leave her alone.It seemed to have worked and she let herself drift a little longer until the noise came back, this time in her left ear.She rubbed it irritably and finally moved onto her back with a sigh, slitting her brown eyes open and finding blue staring down at her in bemusement.They stared at each other for a long moment before everything came back to her and she heaved a heavy sigh as she rubbed her eyes.A meow had her smile slightly and she let her arms lay at her sides to focus on breathing and to keep the panic from bubbling over.“It’ll be okay, Carter,” she turned her head to smile reassuringly at him. “Agent… Tony will fix this. We just need to believe that he can. He knows more than literally anyone else in Eureka right now. A specialist, if you think about it. And, chances are, if he doesn’t know, he has connections who do. So don’t worry about it. We can’t worry about it. This is all just some … some regular, run of the mill, Eureka accident. Just another day, right? Right.”A questioning trill had her quieting her ramble and there was something about Carter’s body language that had her watching him silently for several moments before she realized he kept glancing over to the other end of the couch. Curiosity let her eyes slide that way, her head moving to see what was so interesting, and she blinked at the unconscious figure of Tony DiNozzo completely buried under a blanket and pillows.“I thought he went upstairs,” she mused. “Probably had a nightmare and came back down.” She had spent many a late hour at GD when she would turn the corner and find Carter hanging out with one scientist or another, simply joking or keeping someone company as a sounding board despite knowing absolutely nothing about the subject.She had once complained to Nathan about Carter’s stubbornness in not allowing building security to do their jobs, but Nathan – of all people – didn’t breathe a condescending word like she’d half suspected he would. Instead, he’d simply tilted his head to the side, narrowed his dark green eyes at her and flicked them over to where Carter had been stationed at Vincent’s bar at the time.‘What do you think,’ he mused in a casual tone, ‘he thinks about late at night? When the day’s excitement peters out and it’s just him?’Allison hadn’t been sure what he was getting at, but had been willing to play along. ‘Sports, probably. Why?’Nathan stayed quiet for long moments before heaving a sigh. ‘As much as you know what I think of him, it gets difficult to remember that he isn’t just a normal person with average intelligence. That there is a moment sometimes where he looks a certain way or uses a certain tone that reminds me that he is a normal person with average intelligence who has a past. And yes, we all do, but Carter… may have more reason than most to fear the quiet shadows dogging him. Have you hacked into his files from the Marshal’s Service?’‘No, why?’Nathan’s gaze had turned distant as a wry smile crossed his lips. ‘I don’t recommend reading it before bed. Or you’ll start seeing the demons, too.’Up to that point, Allison had actually thought about digging deeper into Carter pre-Eureka, but that effectively put a stop to that line of thinking – especially since Nathan understood what kept the blond out at all hours when he should have been sleeping and conserving his energy for later.And it was something that Nathan had never told her in detail.But, even so, she began suspecting enough to keep her distance when Carter was caught unawares or was not at his best and she rightly supposed that NCIS/MNP Agents had their own class of demons and shadows to fear.This particular shadow, however, probably had a familiar name not helped at all by the fact that the house they were in now shared it.“I think we should let him sleep for a little longer. He’d been traveling all day yesterday and the day before that, so he must be exhausted. And you know, I think I will, too. It’s still kind of … alright, maybe not,” she looked at her watch. “But we had quite the experience yesterday, so I’ll take a couple more hours, okay? Wake me up again then.”She rolled over and actually did manage to get to sleep when Carter purred in her ear again some time later.“This is going to be a habit with you, isn’t it?” Allison smiled slightly as she turned to pet Carter’s head. He allowed it, but she saw the time and sighed. “Well, better get up,” she commented, leaning up on her elbows to see Tony still stretched out on his stomach. “We better get him up, too. I think he wanted to talk to Risky later today. Oh, and we can finally move on with the investigation,” she remembered. She couldn’t wait, but she also couldn’t dog Tony’s every step on account of her own workload.Still, she was ready to get up and it was time for breakfast.Carter made a questioning noise and she tossed him a small smile. “It’s okay. I’m just trying to figure out how to wake him up without turning colors or something. We’ll stop at Vincent’s on the way to Global unless he has other plans.”The first step to doing that, however, was waking Tony up, but how to go about doing that?She eyed him thoughtfully until Carter made his way to the back of the couch nearest the Italian. “That’s an idea,” she watched him. “Can you climb on top of him?” she got comfortable and grinned at his dubious look.After glancing between her and the still snoozing Agent, Carter released something similar to a sigh before licking his nose and gathering his courage. Balancing on all four paws, he slowly followed the back of the couch. It had to have been magically enhanced since it usually didn’t have a back like that, but whatever. Allison tilted her head as he so very carefully put a paw on the Agent’s back and put some weight on it before suddenly backing off, eyes wide and dark as his tail curled back over his body, fur bristled.When nothing happened, however, he calmed and sat for a moment before going back and returning his paw on the softly rising back, this time not hesitating to put some weight forward. Carter made his slow way until he was gingerly standing on him, stopping as if ‘what next?’ hadn’t occurred to him earlier.“Purr on him,” she suggested. “You can’t get him to hear you, right? So, start up something he can feel just as well.”He arranged himself in his ‘cat loaf’ position and closed his eyes. She wasn’t able to hear him from that distance, but he started purring enough to be felt. A few minutes later, Tony started shifting and that was evidently the signal to move since Carter’s ears perked up as his eyes opened and he was off the other Wizard and across the bunker in a streak of blondish yellow.Allison grinned as Tony raised his head out of both pillows and squinted at her. “Good Morning!” she chirped, swinging her legs off the sofa and stretching from top to bottom. “I need to stop off at my house. You wanted to talk to Risky, right? Maybe after lunch.”Tony just stared at her blankly.“That jetlag must’ve hit you good, huh? SARAH,” she smiled sympathetically at his flinch. “Some dark roast, please.”
“Certainly, Dr. Blake.”
By the time Tony came back downstairs ready to go, Allison had everything cleaned up, ‘House Blend #4’ ready and was at the kitchen island sipping apple juice.“Okay,” Tony sipped the coffee and swished it around in his mouth thoughtfully before going back for more creamer, Allison sheepishly realizing she’d fixed it the way Carter would have. “What’s on schedule for today?”“Well, there’s breakfast at Café Diem and I think we can talk to Risky before she gets released after lunch. Tonight, we’ll look into the equipment and start running tests to see if we can piece something together of what happened.”“Okay, sounds good.”Carter hopped up on the kitchen island as they were finishing their drinks and meowed at them.“We’ll be just fine, Carter,” Allison reached out to ruffle his ears. “Tony’s one of the good guys.”Carter bobbed his head before turning expectantly to Tony and gave another meow, a worried look on his face. Well, it sounded like he was worried at any rate.“I’ll keep an eye out for them,” Tony promised.Carter turned a look on Allison and meowed again.“And we’ll make sure he stays in one piece,” she assured, somehow able to understand the worry. Whereas Carter was an old hand at working through Eureka’s daily – potentially world ending – problems, Tony was the newest addition and didn’t know the ropes as well as Carter did.“Remember,” Tony reminded the current feline. “Don’t panic or it might get worse. Enjoy being a cat for a few days and we’ll see where we are then.”“Oh,” Allison remembered the email Henry and Fargo sent that morning. “Carter, Fargo, Henry and Taggart will be dropping by after breakfast. Fargo and Taggart want to try out a program for you to test. I know you’re not actually a cat, but maybe you can see some sort of problem that they can’t.”Carter seemed curious and rather interested in it and agreed readily, but cautiously, before Allison led Tony out of the bunker.It was a relatively silent trip to town, but it wasn’t uncomfortable by any means. Maybe last night had broken some sort of ice between the two of them, because Allison didn’t feel as intimidated as she had yesterday.For his part, Tony was sprawled in her passenger seat much the same way Carter would be had it just been a relatively normal day. Then again, Allison hadn’t been able to read him that well yesterday, either, but he had this air about him that she was more at ease with.Allison parked in front of Café Diem and greeted familiar faces as they moved inside. About the middle of the large dining space sat Henry and Grace with Zane’s things, but Zane wasn’t actually visible.Vince was already hard at work behind the bar and caught her eye with a nod before scurrying out of sight as they made their way to the table.“Good morning,” she greeted Henry and Grace, who both looked up from their tables and smiled back.“Did you get to sleep okay?” Grace wanted to know.“Yeah. But I had to get back to the bunker for a small issue that was simple to resolve. At that time, however, it was already late and I ended up on the couch.”“So did I,” Tony muttered, dropping down next to her. Allison simply nodded and looked around.“Where’s Zane?”“Had to run down the street for an emergency consult,” Henry explained. “If nothing blows up, he’ll be back in about twenty minutes.”“And if something does?” Tony raised a brow.Henry thought for a moment before shrugging. “About five.”“Uh huh…”Allison watched Tony out of the corner of her eye as he looked around in a similar-but-not-quite manner that Carter had when even in a familiar place. Like they were threat assessing a crowd that wasn’t quite concealing threats in the way they were used to.The instincts Carter possessed obviously went across Agencies and Allison frowned at the slight surprise she felt. She really shouldn’t be if she thought about it. Jo had a similar way, but she’d been in Eureka long enough to have adjusted her military instincts accordingly.It was something Carter appeared to also adjust for, but not to the same degree and Allison wondered if it was because of his law enforcement background, his Magical background (especially blood status) or if it was simply a combination of those things and more. Tony wasn’t exactly Muggleborn, but the MNP office he worked part time for had to have at least something like the Marshal’s right?Allison was interested in how Tony would react – if Carter would have done differently and how – and couldn’t help watching him. She noted Henry and Grace doing the same and wondered who else was watching him.“Here you are,” Vince appeared with their breakfasts on trays. “For Doctors Deacon and Blake, ham and cheese omelets with honey battered toast, hash browns and delicious sausage patties seasoned to preferred taste. For Mayor Deacon, a hearty sausage omelet with creamy cheese sauce and two blueberry whole grain pancakes with banana syrup. Finally, for Agent DiNozzo, the Sheriff’s Special. Enjoy.”“I didn’t know Carter had breakfast named after him,” Henry mused as Vince took off for another customer and a waitress came around with the coffee things.Allison looked over at Tony’s breakfast and couldn’t help blinking in surprise at the familiar spread. With a small bowl of cinnamon cream of wheat, jam on toast (raspberry and blueberry apiece), bacon chunks in cheesy scrambled eggs and three banana-strawberry pancakes drowning in strawberry syrup, the ‘Sheriff’s Special’ looked an awful lot like something Carter would eat on a bad day.“Huh,” Tony tilted his head slightly. “And a chocolate donut for dessert.”Scratch that.It was something Carter would eat on a bad day.“… I guess I look kind of skinny, huh?” Tony’s tone matched his bemused look and he shrugged as he went for the cream of wheat first.Allison met Henry and Grace’s surprised looks and shrugged at them.Both also recognized Tony eating one of Carter’s usuals, but she didn’t know exactly why. Vince usually complained about Carter’s simple fares and actually doing it without Carter there was odd, but not too concerning. Vince did what he wanted, after all. Allison turned to her own breakfast and they were around ten minutes in before Tony suddenly glanced up. “Dr. Hern! Just the man I wanted to see.”Allison followed his sharp gaze to see the redhead standing nearby about to find a seat.His brown eyes glanced around before replying, “Huh?”“Come on over and have a seat,” Tony beckoned him to a chair next to he and Henry. “Donovan’s doing damage control, so he won’t mind. Just a few questions, you understand. Standard Operating Procedure.”Hern looked uncertainly at Allison, who smiled encouragingly, and hesitantly scurried over to sit in Zane’s empty seat.Once Vince had again come and gone, Tony took a deliberate sip of his Vinspresso and savored the flavor before turning an innocent look on the doctor that he wasn’t sure what to do with. “So. Doctor Hern. Tell me a little about yourself and how you know Sheriff Carter.”Allison was interested to see where he was taking this, even if it really was just a usual thing to any investigation.Hern let out a breath and shrugged as he fiddled with an empty creamer cup. “O-okay. Um, let me see. I’ve been here in Eureka about two years now in the climate department. Oh, that’s a branch related to meteorological and atmospherical types of divisions,” he clarified, seeing a notebook at Tony’s elbow that Allison had sworn wasn’t there a moment ago. “I’m not sure how to explain…”“That’s fine. I want to know about your relationship with Carter. How did you two run into each other?”“Oh, um, I met Carter when I accidently spilled my tea all over him. I was at Global and I like to drink tea when I’m nervous, you know? I’d just got done with a meeting and – and I got nervous, so I made tea and – he was just there! I didn’t even know anyone was behind me, so I spilled the thing all over him –”“Which explains the pollen that followed him around for a week,” Henry chuckled.“What pollen?” Hern and Tony frowned at him.“Of course. Hern, you put an experimental burn salve on him,” Allison shook her head. “I was a bad formula that basically magnetized the pollen to a person even through clothes. We found out that it was linked to the burn salve that you must have put on him after you spilled the tea.”“I wondered what happened,” Hern sighed. “I had no problems with it.”“We’ll try explaining later,” Grace waved him off.“So, it was the result of an accident,” Tony went on with a nod. He scribbled in his notebook in what looked like some kind of shorthand known only to him. “And you began to be friendly with him,” he prompted.“How could I not? It’s Carter, really,” Hern tilted his head with a smile. “It’s actually sort of difficult to not like him in some way.”Zane came back about five minutes later to find Hern in his seat and chatting to mostly Tony as he steered the conversation.“Well, I’m still alive,” he deadpanned as he dropped down on Allison’s free side. “Rumors of my death have been exaggerated.”“I’ll say,” Hern snorted into his coffee. “You’ve filled out 924-B enough times. And those are the times that I know of.”“What’s that?” Tony didn’t look up from his scribbling.“We’ll tell you later,” Zane assured.“Did you need anything else?” Hern asked Tony. “Or was there more?”“Uh, yeah, actually. One last thing,” Tony flipped back a few pages.“Carter’s well liked, correct? No hard feelings?”“Why would you ask something like that?” Grace frowned before Hern could answer. “It’s not like this was a targeted attack or anything.”“I guess,” Tony shrugged noncommittedly. “But I have to ask. I’m also going to ask if anyone has a bone to pick with either Risky the intern or Strutger.”“No, no,” Hern shook his head. “None of them had any reason for someone to hate them. Risky’s a good kid, you know? But I don’t really know her all that well. She’s an only child in a single parent home. Her mom works part time both at GD and here in town. Strutger’s partner is a guy, but that hasn’t caused problems for them at all. We don’t really care about who you like to be personal with around here. At least I don’t. Or…” he glanced at the rest of the table questioningly.“No one at this table does, either,” Henry answered firmly for them all.Allison agreed wholeheartedly. She herself had had some of her own bi-sexual encounters before her first husband entered her life and she’d yet to decide if being straight was going to last. Oh, she still had her relationship with Carter, of course, but many of her colleagues shared her opinions that sexuality wasn’t something they could scientifically pin down with accuracy and it was all up to the individual, anyway. Why waste valuable money and resources on something that didn’t hurt anything to begin with?Tony’s green eyes flicked over Hern’s face and Allison got the distinct impression that he was cataloging something she couldn’t fathom. “And Carter? Anyone have issues with him besides being the local law?”“If there was any problem, it would probably be his low IQ, but having him around is more likely to have someone show off than feel threatened or something,” Hern continued. “We’re all a bunch of show-offs at heart.”Tony seemed finished after a few clarifications, but even if he didn’t, the beeping of Hern’s alarm on his pager would have finished the impromptu interview. The redhead made a hasty exit from the diner and left the rest of the table to turn to Tony, who scribbled a few things more before putting his notebook away and returning to breakfast.“Did you really need to ask him those questions?” Grace tilted her head as she watched him.“A LEO is involved,” he shrugged a shoulder. “SOP as far as I’m concerned. In addition,” he glanced up with a frown. “You said that Carter is the only one like me here, but you don’t know that 100%. I’m not saying this wasn’t an accident, but it doesn’t have to be intentional. The smallest thing could’ve reacted with the experiment and that would literally have been all she wrote.” He spread his hands, “You just wouldn’t know it. So, in the time between now and lunch – and the interview with Risky -, I’m going to hang around town to set up a few… things. I don’t want to say ‘traps’, but … if there’s any other Magical in town, we’ll probably find them. You guys tried to find some?”“Well, Carter wasn’t exactly sure how,” Zane frowned. “And I’m not sure he really wanted to, at that. He’s kind of shied away from wanting another in town, although we couldn’t exactly avoid your arrival…”“It’s not healthy for Carter to be so isolated,” Grace explained their biggest concern. “The problem is that he doesn’t seem to really mind it. There have been… you know, ‘regular’ studies conducted by people like us that have documented adverse effects on individuals who are not close to members of their groups.”“I think part of the issue is the fact that he’s… common born,” Henry added. “It’s a big obstacle that we can’t get him around.”“Okay, well,” Tony sighed and shrugged. “As much as I appreciate your concerns about my group, forcing the issue isn’t the way to go. And you’re right about his family line. My world doesn’t look favorably on people like him and I expect you’ll keep getting pushback on that front. His experiences give him well founded hesitation and, you know, that may well apply to anyone else in town who may know about Carter. Well, maybe not him specifically, but they might know another’s presence and they’re hesitant to connect with him because they don’t know his blood status.“In layman’s terms, my world is as divided as yours is about race, except for the fact that mine doesn’t care so much about your looks as it does about blood. There are Pure black family lines that go all the way back to Colonial America and are some of the most respected lines in my world. Bi-racial? No problem so long as they are at least on their way to being a Pure pairing if one’s not already. Asian? We’ll accept common born on occasion if our skillset has recent presence in their family because skills do skip generations. In that case, one wouldn’t truly be a commoner, but it may be a lesser degree than Pure. We haven’t quite come up with a satisfactory explanation for that. You wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at someone and that may be why Carter hasn’t made the effort to reach out. He’s happier not knowing and that’s a defensive mechanism he’s been conditioned to have.“On the other hand, you know, he’s not as isolated as you might think. In town, yeah, but outside Eureka, there are closer ‘special’ centers he can visit if not Seattle. The bunker has his signature all over it, so he’s got that. You’re right, though, about having someone else in town for him. I’m going to wander around to dispense… markers to see if anything comes up, but I’m not exactly expecting much in terms of a lead in the internal investigation. If I do find someone, I can’t guarantee they had anything to do with the accident, but you would still be able to find a solution to your isolation problem.”“Forgive me for saying this,” Henry eyed him, “but you don’t look very confident in finding anyone like you and Carter.”“Well, simply put, I’m not. Most of us… like to keep to ourselves. Oh, there could be some of us interested in the sciences you like to study, but you won’t find many. This also explains why no one’s gone to any of you in lieu of Carter. You’re all ‘common’ and you wouldn’t believe it if some random guy or girl told you something that should be impossible. They might not know that you know, so I think you guys should – here,” he tore a piece of paper from his notebook and had Allison, Grace, Zane and Henry scribble a few things before stuffing it into a pocket. “I’ll take care of that,” he assured, “and we’ll see what comes up.”There was probably a few more components involved – possibly also including proximity alarms or… something similar to GD’s protocols and routines – for all she knew, so Allison didn’t ask.“So, Zane,” Grace sat back with her coffee. “Dr. Suenos was looking for you a couple hours ago.”“Yeah,” he shook his head. “I’m gonna go see him at his place in a couple hours. He wanted to test out some new sleep cocktail he’s bringing from the lab. I know we’re supposed to conduct most experiments in the lab,” he held up a hand, “but it’s just to test out the after effects of the cocktail. See if I have any dreams or what not. Take a survey or something. Too bad Carter’s not available or he’d be drafted, too.”“Shared dreaming?” Tony raised a brow with a wary look on his face that Allison couldn’t read.“Pretty much. There are headsets or something so we could compare or contrast notes. See if we drift into or out of each other’s dreams.”“I read the proposal,” Allison assured. Seeing Tony’s look, she explained, “It may be used in therapy exercises. Those who are unable to talk about things – or refuse to – can simply be hooked up to someone who can only get impressions in order to help somehow.”“Huh,” Tony nodded after a minute. “You know, I think I’m interested in it. Where can I find you later?” he asked Zane.Allison made a note to herself to get a hold of his medical records when she got back to Global in order to head off any allergic reactions and finished her breakfast.It was eventually decided that Henry wasn’t going through with his visit to the bunker, after all, but was instead going to hang around with Tony to guide him around as Grace headed home and Zane… took off to wherever he went sometimes.Allison left for Global content with the knowledge that Tony was in good hands. She found Jo Lupo upon walking into Global, the younger female immediately changing course to meet her halfway. “Good morning,” Allison greeted. “Everything okay?”“We just missed another incident,” she rubbed her temple. “Hern and four others are shutting their experiments down until further notice. I know, I know, they don’t exactly have volatile components, but it’s a precaution until we figure out what happened.”“So, what did happen?” Allison crossed his arms.“All I know is that alarms started going off in one of the labs before someone called security. First impressions say it was a different experiment that got out of control again, but someone should be on their way to Fargo with a report in about an hour if you want to clear your schedule.”Fargo would more than likely call her and Henry in later anyway, so she nodded. “Henry and Agent DiNozzo are exploring town for significant skillsets we might have missed the first time,” she explained their friend’s absence. “I can’t say when he’ll be back, but Zane’s going to take our Agent over to Suenos’ house for a drug/dream test run.”“I’ll keep the radio on,’ she didn’t bat an eye at any of it as she promised to have an ear out for calls to emergency services. Allison would more than likely be called first, but still.“I have some research to do,” Allison excused herself to head to her office. Tony’s medical records were relatively easy to request once she’d gone through the DoD. It helped tremendously that he was a Muggle Federal Agent, so the records would get there within the hour.In the meantime, she absently started a search for potential recruits with Magical skills to add to town should Tony’s prediction be correct and was actually amazed to find three confirmed Magicals in the science field. None of them were very useful to Global or Eureka, but their Muggle fields of study were well represented and perhaps one or all would be interested in visiting?She tagged each of their files for potential visitor credentials and blinked at how much time had passed. Stretching, Allison decided to find some coffee while she waited for Tony’s medical files and she would make her way to Fargo’s office while she was out. The preliminary report should be in by now on that almost disaster from earlier.First, though, her journey took her down the hall to the only occupied isolation room left in the infirmary.Directly following the lab explosion that brought Tony to Eureka, Allison, Jo, Henry and almost a dozen others had forced their way into the room. After having found what was left of Strutger, they’d gone onto the far left corner of the room where a makeshift shield had been erected and it was a good thing Allison and Henry had been the first ones to find the unconscious pair because they knew about magic. Doing so allowed them to use their authority to manage the unexpected situation and they managed to hide Carter until they could get him to an isolation room while everyone else fixated on Risky and the investigation.They’d had Taggart put Carter through a standard animal exam – much as they all hated to do it – because Carter was for all intents and purposes now a cat. He’d woken up the morning of Tony’s arrival yesterday and Risky had had to be treated for the more severe burns on her lower extremities in addition to the burns on her hands and arms and small bits of shrapnel they’d also had had to treat Carter for.Luckily, Risky had responded well to treatments and was rapidly healing to the point where Allison just needed to keep her one more night before giving her one last exam and releasing her.She certainly seemed to be well on the mend, the almost eight year old giggling over something Allison couldn’t make out with her nine year old best friend, Trixie Armen, as Allison watched them from the door. Risky’s mother and Trixie’s parents weren’t around just yet, so Allison made sure to clear her throat loudly enough to catch their attention before entering. She noted Trixie immediately hiding what she’d been holding from her gaze before she approached and she would have questioned what it was if she hadn’t caught sight of Risky’s obviously newly painted nails. Allison vaguely recalled some study about nail polish and shrugged it off.“Good morning,” she put on an easy cheery smile as she came closer. “How’ve you been feeling today?”“Very good,” Risky beamed, even with most of her legs still wrapped in bandages and a smaller blocky one on her cheek. “I’m ready to go now!”“Mm, not yet,” she smiled at their pouting. “But, I might release you tomorrow morning.”“Really?” Trixie grinned, her brown eyes sparkling just like her friend’s identical brown. Trixie’s brown hand immediately grabbed Risky’s lightly tanned one and their fingers tangled in excitement. “Promise?”“Yup. Today will be taking care of some last minute tests and treatments and then you’ll do your stretches – which you will keep doing twice a day at least, until next week’s check-up – and then you’ll be good to go.”“She’s going to stay with me tomorrow,” Trixie confided in her. “Her mama’s going to be staying late.”“Skype and paperwork,” Risky nodded. “Plus more Skype.”“Okay,” Allison filed that away for later. “Trixie, I’m going to need to see your parents today if possible.”“I’ll tell them, but I don’t think you’ll see them until before dinner,” she tilted her head.Risky was an only child in a single parent household, so it wasn’t unusual for her and Trixie to have sleepovers. And Trix was an only child, too, so they got along very well.Allison checked Risky’s charts and her vitals and coaxed her into walking around the room with Trixie being her crutch. “You’ll still be doing physical therapy until the next check-up, too,” Allison watched her shaky legs. It was still a large improvement over barely standing almost two days after waking up. “You’ll still be running and jumping by September, but you can’t over do it.”“I’ll make sure she doesn’t,” Trixie vowed as they made their way back to the bed.Risky let her fuss over the blankets and pillows before hesitantly calling her attention. “Um, Dr. Blake?” the excitement and vitality dulled a little as their brown eyes connected. “Uh… I know that Dr. S is… is… gone,” she swallowed thickly, her brown eyes bright. “But how’s Sheriff Carter? Is he gonna be okay? I don’t want anything bad to happen to him, really.”“I wouldn’t worry about Sheriff Carter, if I were you,” Allison smiled widely. “He’s going to make a full recovery,” she grinned at Trixie’s cheer and Risky’s relief as she sunk back against the pillows behind her.“That’s so good to hear,” Risky wiped her eyes from any moisture. “Can I see him? I’d like to talk to him, if that’s okay.”“How bad was he hurt?” Trix’s expression was solemn, too, as she asked.“Oh, he’s not up for visitors just yet,” she hurried to explain. “He took a good knock to the head and we’ve only just started narrowing down which treatment to try on him first. The rest is coming along and if all goes well, I expect him to be back on his feet by the time you come in for your appointment next week.” She sincerely hoped Tony was right about that. “Here in a few days,” she went on, “he might – might – be interested in visitors, but I don’t want to commit to that just yet.”And since there were quite a few experimental treatments to be considered – with the fact that Carter had ‘agreed’ to try one -, neither girl needed explanation beyond making sure that Carter understood what he’d signed up for and could back out at any time.“Dr. Blake?” Risky frowned down at her blankets. “What happened?”“The investigation is still ongoing, but we’ll have a better idea later tonight. There’s a third part investigator that we’ve had to bring in to help with the investigation due to a new directive from our superiors when Sheriff Carter is involved like this and, if that’s okay, he’d like to ask you a few questions after lunch.”“Okay,” Risky looked uncertain, but Allison and Henry had come up with Tony’s cover story before he arrived and no one would question it. They honestly had no reason to. “Can you ask Mom to be there, too?”“Of course,” she readily agreed. “We’ll know more by tonight. I can’t promise that we’ll get a report that soon, but at least we’ll know more than we do right now.”“Okay,” the friends agreed.She left them to their own devices and made her way to see Fargo. He, Holly and Hern clustered around Holly’s tablet and all of them glancing up to see her enter Fargo’s office. “Is that the report from earlier? Jo said to come see you.”“We were just about to call, actually,” Fargo glanced back down at his own tablet with a frown. “Uh, a number of experiments will be offline for at least the next week due to maintenance and housekeeping.”“We’re mostly for the sector to have clear air after the carbon monoxide leak,” Holly added. “We can’t tell where it actually came from, yet, because the hazmat crews are busy ferrying sensitive equipment out of different labs.”“And now my experiment’s down for two weeks,” Hern grumbled. “Someone didn’t contain their experiment fumes.”“Do we have some idea where the leak might have come from?” Allison accepted Fargo’s tablet to look over it for herself.“Well, based on the affected locations,” Holly twisted her mouth, “I would say… downstairs from the areas in question. We’re checking all possible access points and I’m certain we’ll find it tomorrow.”Because the hazmat crews needed breaks and updates and Allison was aware of everything else. There wasn’t much for her to do besides ask her staff for medical updates on everyone and the admitted patients and the crews. “How much was leaked?”“Enough to set off just about everything,” Hern rubbed his eyes. “The only things not set off were the alarms set at catastrophic levels.”“What kind of experiment would generate that much,” Holly shrugged helplessly, “I don’t know.”“It might not be just one, though,” Fargo frowned. “Could be two or three.”“Maybe it was a good thing I was with you, Dr. Blake,” Hern heaved a sigh. “Or I’d probably be in the hospital right now.”“Agent DiNozzo deserves that credit,” Allison shook her head.“Oh, you think he knew something was going to happen?” Holly perked up. It wasn’t outside the realm of possibility, but Allison didn’t know enough about Magic to say for sure.“Huh, yeah, right,” Hern rolled his eyes. “Unless he’s the one who created the leak, he couldn’t possibly be omniscient.”“You’re right, of course,” Allison let out a bit of a laugh, having jumped in to head off Holly’s bristling. “Not possible,” she gave her two friends a pointed look and a ‘zip it’ gesture before clearing her expression when Hern looked back at her.“Well, I can’t do anything today,” he huffed. “I’ll start going through what I have and give the report to Fargo later tomorrow morning.”“No rush,” Fargo waved a hand. “Tomorrow afternoon’s fine. Get the data you have now, go over it, find me at Café Diem tonight to discuss, then report it. We’re still looking over the accident that happened with Strutger’s project.”“I can’t believe how easy I forgot about that,” Hern tsked at himself. “If Carter’s awake, tell him I’d like to visit when he gets the chance.”“Probably next week,” she told him what she told Risky and Trix. “It’s one of the experimental treatments and we’re constantly monitoring him.”“Constantly,” Fargo echoed. “Can’t change any variable for at least the next three days.”“Oh, uh, we’ll pass your well wishes along after lunch,” Holly hurried to add.“You think he’ll want a card?” Hern suddenly looked thoughtful.Allison watched Fargo and Holly exchange looks before glancing at her and she agreed. “I don’t see why not. Oh, could you also do me a favor and get a thank you card for Agent DiNozzo?”“That’s a great idea!” Holly beamed at him. “We’ll leave the cards in your capable hands, but remember: no glitter, no neon, no dull. Be creative. You have three hours, go.”“You don’t have three hours,” Allison corrected. “Focus on your data and get Carter’s card if you have time tomorrow. We won’t need Agent DiNozzo’s card until he leaves.”“Which could be tomorrow,” Holly added.“I should also get something for Risky. Oh, and Ethan. Isn’t he supposed to get here just in time for the funeral?”Oh no. That’s right.The funeral was scheduled for tomorrow around lunchtime and the whole town was going to turn out. While Strutger was well liked, he wasn’t exactly popular. He had friends who were, though, and those friends had friends who would show up for support. Ethan himself had a wide circle of friends and both shared a mutual circle.Allison, Henry, Grace, Zane, Jo, Taggart, Fargo and Holly were expected to put in an appearance – as well as Carter.Crap, she forgot all about that.Hern didn’t notice the three identical wide eyed looks as he immediately started planning and barely remembered to say goodbye before he drifted out of the room and to locations unknown.“Crap,” Fargo wiped a hand down his face, his glasses knocked askew by the action. “I forgot about that. How could I forget about that? That’s the sole reason we’re even in this mess!”“It’s alright,” Allison raised a hand at him. “We remember now and Ethan’s going to be flying in tomorrow. What we need to do is to make sure he’s surrounded by support and he doesn’t need to worry about a single thing.”“Right,” Fargo gave a sharp nod. “I’ll check to make sure the arrangements are going well.”“And remember,” Holly told them. “Vince is going to host the wake for a lot of people. Ethan’s going home after the funeral with his friends and they’ll eat the take out there. And it’s going to be around breakfast/lunch, so maybe not a lot of people will stay.”Allison agreed. The general somber mood of a post-funeral Eureka was tempered by a sense of urgency with several kinds of deadlines looming. It might very well be a ghost town at Café Diem with a lot of people rushing for one reason or another.Part of her was actually very glad about that, having made the foolish decision after Nathan’s … funeral service to stay at Café Diem. She’d had no idea the target that she’d had painted on her back and guessed a part of her hadn’t wanted to be alone after it all, but that part was quickly satisfied and coaxed into being locked up in her office with her for the next few days after.On the other hand, she kind of resented the fact that there was even a body to mourn. But Allison had the practice of shushing that thought and returned it to a corner of her mind.“And Risky asked to go yesterday,” Allison recalled. “We should probably all go as a group, but I’m not sure what to do about Carter.”“He can video tape it or something,” Holly tilted her head. “Livestream it to SARAH like we do to GD for those who can’t make it.”“We can ask, but I think livestream is the way to go,” she decided. “Carter will want to be as close as possible to the event.” Their blond friend insisted on being present to each and every funeral the town held and not for the first time did Allison wonder what he was atoning for. He was going to be crushed about this, but he couldn’t leave the bunker for anything as Tony had advised. Not being well versed in the ways of Magic made almost all of them wary of going against him for fear of repercussions that could leave Carter vulnerable for a lot longer. Tony could only take so much time off from his actual job to help them and Allison didn’t like the idea of being stuck with a different Magical – one without Tony’s patience and understanding.“Or we could get Carter there on some made up excuse,” Holly – being of the ‘almost all’ – pointed out. “Like a therapy cat for Risky. No one needs to know.”“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Fargo negated. “I mean,” he glanced between the two of them. “When the inevitable happens and we start running back to Global, Carter’s going to get involved and then something happens and when it does Carter and DiNozzo will be made. And then word will spread about Magic, drawing scary Wizards and we’ll probably never remember anything after that. Or even that Carter trusted us with it in the first place.”And it was sound advice coming from him, something he couldn’t normally claim. Maybe being entrusted with the secret did wonders for him.Speaking of Tony, the medical files she’d requested should be in by now. Allison left Fargo and Holly to their discussion and made her way to get the coffee she’d come for.The files were certainly there when she got back and she checked the time as she settled in to at least skim the files.… or she planned to skim before her eyes caught ‘Y. pestis’ and the mouthful of coffee she just took almost ended up on her monitor screen.She was almost late in meeting Tony and Zane at Café Diem, but she wasn’t entirely sure they cared after finally getting there to see them at the bar.“What happened?” Allison eyed the both of them as they sat with their heads on the bar surface.“They’ve been like that for a half hour already,” Vince shrugged as he moved around behind the bar, the lunch crowd slowly beginning to trickle in. “No idea.”“I’m never going to sleep ever again,” Tony sounded kind of hysterical as he rolled his head to the side to look at her out of the corner of his eye.Funny. She could say the same thing after reading that horror novel of a medical file. How was he still alive after half of that?And never mind the stuff before NCIS.Well, Allison now had half a mind to consider giving Tony a position in Carter and Andy’s office, which would solve their lone Magical problem. He certainly had the kind of experience that would beautifully complement Carter’s.“Suenos is going to undergo a review concerning false advertising,” Zane sounded more petulant than hysterical, thought that could be due to Zane’s daily exposure to ‘Eureka’s brand of crazy’ – Carter’s words.“What false advertising?” Allison wanted to know as she decided the bar was just as good a place as any to eat. She slid onto the barstool on Tony’s other side as Vince slid three Vinspressos in front of them.“That jackass told us specifically that he was testing that cocktail and our reactions to it, both awake and asleep. He didn’t tell us he was giving us a freaking nightmare.”“I think you guys are overreacting,” Vince sang out as he moved past with plates ready for other customers.“Do not underestimate Suenos and his dreaming,” Zane snapped as he thumped his head once on the bar top. “Something you should know after this long here.”“Maybe,” Allison smiled slightly at them. “But it could hardly be a nightmare.”“So says you,” Tony lifted his head and rubbed his eyes. “And never mind the dinosaurs.”“That before or after the ninjas?” Zane groaned.“I don’t remember. I was too busy running from the scorpions. Damn, I hate scorpions.”Allison was suddenly unsure that they were kidding and remembered that Suenos was notorious for doing possibly similar things and she remembered well the dream sharing fiasco in the last timeline. Tony and Zane more than likely did have the nightmare they were complaining about, but at least they’d done it together.They did eventually get around to lunch and Allison couldn’t help thinking there was something wrong as they waited for their orders. There couldn’t be, though, because there didn’t seem to be any issue in the café itself. But something insisted that something didn’t add up and she didn’t know what it was until Zane suddenly looked up and around.“Hey,” he frowned. “We’re at the bar.”“I noticed, yes,” Tony quipped, toying with a sugar packet.“I mean, we – me and Doc – don’t usually have seats at the bar with Carter.”“Because he doesn’t put his back to the door,” Allison suddenly remembered, which was the reason she’d felt something wrong. In the rare event that Carter did eat at the bar, he would never turn his back to the door or the rest of the room.And, yet, Tony had.“I don’t, either, but maybe it’s because he’s former Marshal. He certainly prepared for the possibility,” Tony nodded at a picture framed on the wall. “Saw that this morning.”“That picture’s always been there,” Zane and Allison followed his gaze.“Not a picture to me,” he sipped his coffee.“What do you call it, then?”“Enchanted,” he murmured, eyes never leaving it. “It’s a picture to you, but a mirror to me.”“Really?” Allison eyed it.“Anyone with my kind of badge can see it,” he went on. “You can’t. Mine lets me see these things – something else I’m going to have to let Carter know about. He’s making it easy.”“Is that bad?”“It can be for the wrong person,” it suddenly looked like he was tracking someone and he leaned closer to Allison. “Want evidence? There a lady in green stripes behind Donovan and speaking with Quire. See her?”And sure enough, there was a lady in green stripes behind Zane who was talking to Quire.“Incredible,” Allison shook her head.“Welcome to my world,” Tony winked.Their discussion was cut short when Vince came back with their lunch. “Here you go,” he held out a plate. “Zane’s brisket sandwich with salty seasoned fries in the shoestring style,” Vince’s nose wrinkled at the last part making his thoughts clear on the matter. “Dr. Blake’s beautiful cod on quinoa mixed long rice. Steamed broccoli on the side. And for our newest guest,” he took the food from a passing waiter with a flourish. “The juicy Sheriff’s Special. Bon appetit!”“Alright,” Tony blinked with a bemused smile. “I wanted ravioli and salad, but… Cheeseburger and fries works, too.”For her and Zane’s part, both of them stared after Vince in puzzled silence. For as long as Allison had known Carter, Vince had always complained about his simple tastes with his constant requests for cheeseburgers and fries among others.But as soon as Tony shows up, Vince is not only silent on the simple tastes he usually complained about, but he also willingly served it without question. Even when it wasn’t even ordered!This was the second cheeseburger she saw him give Tony and she still couldn’t believe it.“What?” Tony looked up from drowning his fries in ketchup – another big Vince no-no. If you did get fries, you ate it with either the house sauce or something not ketchup. House Rules.And Vince jus plopped the ketchup bottle down in front of them without a second thought.“Seriously, what? What’s the looks for?”“We don’t normally see Vince do certain foods without a fight. It just threw us for a loop,” Zane scratched the back of his head.Tony didn’t seem to know how to respond, but just shrugged it off to eat his lunch.After half of their plates were empty, Allison sat her coffee down with a soul deep sigh. “Zane, you’re going to be at the funeral tomorrow?”Tony choking on his own sip of coffee forestalled any response as Vince dove for the nearest table yelling, “Sugar!”After assuring Vince that Tony wasn’t going to expire from lack of sugar in his coffee, Allison watched him head for the sidewalk patio section to check on those customers before she turned her attention to Tony. The Wizard had a hand covering his eyes as he breathed. “Everything okay?”“Yeah,” he rubbed his forehead before shooting a worrying smile at her. “Just… a funeral?”“For Strutger,” Zane nodded. “Ethan’s going to be here tomorrow.”“Better to just do it right away instead of waiting,” Allison shrugged a shoulder. “Plus it’s already a week now. But you might have to wait to talk to him, though.”“Believe me, I know,” Tony empathetically assured. “I thought you guys already buried him.”“Ethan couldn’t get away,” Allison explained. “He’s been presenting overseas and only just got the green light to come back. Are you sure you’re okay?”“Yeah, just… something happened before I came here and… I’m still trying to come back from it.”“Bad?” Zane guessed.“Yeah, yeah, it was. And you honestly wouldn’t believe me if I told you any of it.”“We probably wouldn’t,” Allison didn’t have a doubt in her mind of that being the case. “The entire town could show up, so I’m not sure what you’re going to do.”“Yeah,” Tony sighed again before shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t know, either.”“Well,” she eventually glanced around. “Risky’s expecting you to show up after lunch.”“I remember,” he assured. “An intern from Tesla, right? The school?”“Smart as a whip,” Zane confirmed. “She’s not into showing it, but any kid that goes to that school is smart as hell.”Allison wouldn’t have said it that way, but she wholeheartedly agreed.She just forgot one little detail.* **
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After the day he’d already had – he was most certainly never seeing Jurassic Park again for a long time -, Tony was very much certain that all he really needed was a nice, quiet interview with a teenager before heading back to Carter and the bunker for a nice long drink of the preferably alcoholic kind.(Because he most definitely hadn’t been joking about not sleeping again after that fiasco. With dinosaurs, the ninjas and what may have actually been Dementors for all he knew. Eames was the one who did this kind of thing for a living, not him.)Instead, what he found wasn’t a teenager, but a –“Kid.”“Sorry?” Allison smiled absently at him, her chocolate eyes flicking back to where a little girl reclined in bed with her mother talking to her in low tones.“That,” he nodded at them before turning a glare on Allison, who didn’t seem to get it, “is a kid. As in, under ten.”“I’m aware.”“You have kids under ten helping in dangerous experiments?”“Not all of them are dangerous. But yes,” she told him. “Risky is currently seven years old and a genius in her own right. Genius knows no age or bounds.”Well, he could’ve told her that. He knew Sherlock Holmes, after all… which he really didn’t want to think about right now.“She may be young, but she knows what’s going on,” Allison assured him with an absent squeeze to his arm. “You don’t really need to sugarcoat things with her.” She was walking toward them before he could respond and Tony had no choice but to follow as she called out to get their attention.“Natalie, I’m so glad you could be here,” she beamed at them in her understated way. “Natalie, Risky, this is Agent DiNozzo who has been called in to help the investigation into the accident. Risky, he would like to ask you a few questions about what happened.”“Alright,” Risky looked uncertain and kind of scared as she straightened, but she was determined to take whatever punishment they decided to give her. Tony was strongly reminded of AJ Johnson in that way. Hagrid had also told him that the Trio was actually much the same in their First and Second Years when they found themselves in over their heads.So, with that in mind - metaphorically speaking - Risky was either a particularly smart Gryffindor or an oddly brave Ravenclaw, but Tony somehow knew she could do well in either Hogwarts House. At least, those two were the ones to come to mind first. She could end up in Slytherin or even Hufflepuff, but perhaps AJ’s House would be too laid back and mellow for her ‘Risky’ moniker.“But couldn’t Global do something else?” Dr. Natalie Covington couldn’t help being rightfully suspicious. “I mean, he’s never shown up for any other investigation.”“It’s a new order from Dr. Blake’s superiors,” Risky explained, to his surprise. “Agent DiNozzo is here because Sheriff Carter was involved and they’ll probably talk to him when his experimental treatment balances out. I’m not going through any of it and Dr. – Dr. Strutger’s partner is too upset to talk and Agent has to give his boss something, so I’m the only one who even knows anything. It’s okay, Mom. I’ll talk to him and see what happens.”That actually gave him an idea.“And it’s not just my people,” he added with a bright, rueful look. “Ms. Lupo is letting me handle this interview in the spirit of co-operation and Dr. Blake – of course – will also need a report for her records. And Dr. Fargo. And whoever else needs it. I am confident that they’ll get the reports to the people in charge further up the ladder.”“That makes sense,” Natalie thought it over. “Ms. Lupo must be up to her elbows in other duties and Dr. Fargo is close with Dr. Blake.”He blinked at that, for some reason completely forgetting Fargo was in charge. It kind of made him want to chuckle. Fargo in charge? Seriously? Ha! Allison seemed more the ‘in charge’ type of person. “Exactly right. The two of you are more than welcome to stay and hear this story out if you’d like.”“That’s okay,” Allison answered for Natalie. “We were just going to be out in the hall, monitoring you from the camera,” she nodded up at the black object Tony himself had clocked as surveillance. “Risky, you just shout and we’ll be here, okay?”“Okay, Dr. Blake. I’ll be fine, Mom,” she reassured the older brunette as Allison coaxed her up and out of the room. Soon, it was just the two of them and Tony gave them enough time to set up shop down the hall before starting.“Okay, Risky,” he got out his ‘gold star’ notebook and a pen as he sat in the empty seat next to the bed. “I wasn’t exactly expecting… someone of your… well, age to be going to high school, but I will expect you to give me the best answers you can, alright?” (Though he would later understand that Tesla wasn’t just a high school, but an entire school complex catering to all of Eureka’s children.)“Yes, sir,” she nodded, her chin still steady despite the evident urge to flinch.“Call me Tony,” he invited, mentally cursing his boss’ easy way with kids. How did Gibbs do it? Uh, dumb question. Probably a father thing that he would never understand. But maybe her similarity to AJ would help in this case. AJ seemed to like him well enough, if not a bit shyly, so he thought about interacting with Gaby Delacour and AJ and her friends. “So, I have to ask. Risky?”“My nickname,” she smiled slightly. “My real name is Mariska, but I like heights and adventure and taking risks. Maybe not always in my work, but in my downtime.”“Nothing wrong with being ready for excitement,” he assured. “Though I might see too much of it on certain days. I usually work with the Navy, you see, but my bosses loaned me out over here since I was already visiting with a colleague after our UK trip and was just transitioning to being back in the States.”“But Sheriff Carter was a Marshal, not in the Navy,” she frowned to herself.“Someone owed a favor to somebody else,” he shrugged. “It happens.”“Oh,” she accepted. “So, you want to know about what happened, right?”“Pretty much, yeah,” no beating around the bush with this one. “Okay, Risky. So. Prior to the accident, when was the last time you were with the experiment?”“Um,” she thought back. “The day before. I’m the intern, so it’s my responsibility to make sure everything was ready for the first true trial run. I stopped in after my extra school classes that I like to take during summer and before going home to do homework to quadruple check everything I’ve been doing for the past month. I checked the calculations that I was responsible for and then I went to check the equipment.”“And what would that entail, if you don’t mind my asking?”“Double checking that all the smaller components worked the way they’re supposed to, everything’s screwed in tight, checking the rubber caps in certain places –”“Rubber caps?” Tony looked up in interest.“Yeah,” she seemed more confident in her element. “My project had to have rubber caps in certain places because of the electricity that was at work to make it possible. That’s the only thing that makes sense,” her tone quieted and she frowned down at her fingers as they tangled in her blankets. “I didn’t do something I should have.”“Hey, now,” Tony frowned, absently reaching over to cover both of her hands with one of his. “Accidents don’t care what age or how smart you are. The others don’t even know that’s what actually happened. It could’ve been something entirely different or something that Strutger did himself.”“But it was my job,” she shook her head, gaze fixed on their hands. “My responsibility.”“That may be, but interns usually have someone following their every move, right? That means you couldn’t possibly have been the only one to visit the lab that day or the last to leave. And I imagine Strutger was the one responsible for the rest of the calculations?”“Yeah. Dr. Hern would help sometimes, like Zane Donovan when he was stuck. I don’t think they ever came into the lab, though.”“So, maybe it was one of them,” Tony pointed out. “It can’t only be your fault if there’s more than one of you. You know?”“Maybe. I don’t think I was the only one in who visited the lab that day, but I think the caps failed somehow,” she insisted.“We’ll see what the investigation turns up, okay? No need turning in the ‘two weeks’ now,” he joked.“I don’t actually work here, yet,” she told him.“Yeah, yet,” he stressed. “You’ll work here one day.” He let that sink in before heaving a sigh. “So, while you suspect the rubber caps, I still need to know your side of events that day. What’s the first thing you did when you woke up?”That definitely worked to get her talking, Gibbs usually letting the kids talk about their day to the best of their abilities. While not usually one to interview kids, Tony was pleased to know that she was definitely relaxing around him now that she could dominate the conversation. When someone relaxed, they started talking. And when they started talking, they started dropping information.Tony was sure that Gibbs probably would have had Abby or McGee in the room to catch what Tony wasn’t getting with all this geek jargon, but Risky eventually got around to leaving for her project.“… and Mom dropped my off so she could help an offsite lab, but she’s done that before so I knew exactly what to do and where to go. I met Sheriff Carter in the rotunda and we walked down to the lab together. I like Sheriff Carter. He talked to my class before summer about what to do in a fire emergency at the school. We talk about it every semester and I remember every word.” She paused before glancing shyly down at her fingers.“I know people don’t really talk him seriously because he’s got a low IQ, but I don’t mind. I know that kids my age aren’t taken seriously outside of Eureka, either, so I think I can relate. He’s interesting, though. Um…” she glanced hesitantly at the camera before beckoning him closer. “I don’t have a dad anymore,” she whispered. “And sometimes I like to think he was like Sheriff Carter even though I don’t know him that well. I remember the Fourth of July picnic just outside of town at our school science display field. For yearly projects, you know. I got to eat next to him and he told me about his daughter Zoe and how she always wanted to go camping when she was my age. Except,” she frowned, “I’ve never been camping. Or ever roasted a hot dog or marshmallows.”“You will,” Tony remembered a kid who’d stumbled across him at the Quidditch World Cup and his reactions to hot dogs and how that same kid and his friends all slept around him for two weeks this past summer. “I bet Carter will take you when he gets his marching orders.”“I don’t know. You think he will?” she asked almost hopefully. “But Trix is coming, too.”Ah, the deal breaker. “I’m sure Trix will want to go, too. Did you notice if Carter was feeling okay when you met him at Global?”Her brow furrowed as she thought back. “No…” she said slowly. “His behavior was consistent with the behavior I’ve observed in him before… He did seem kind of nervous, but I think it’s because I was a little kid to him and he was probably thinking that Zoe could be in my place. A lot of the other kids say the same thing when Sheriff Carter sees them working. We’ve just come to accept that not everyone is used to it.”Tony wordlessly agreed. But that was probably the smoking gun, as it were, in terms of why Carter would have been using magic in the first place. Risky reminded him of his daughter and that would have brought the instincts out in him to protect her at any cost. The explosion would then have created the ‘snapback’ effect, blowing Carter’s shields back in on him and turning him into a cat.So, that was that problem solved.He couldn’t quite leave yet, though, because Carter was still out and they still needed a Magical around. He might be able to leave the day after tomorrow, when Carter might very well be able to turn back or Tony was confident in leaving the Muggles with adequate protection. Carter already laid the groundwork down for him, so all he really needed to do was to build on that.Risky then walked Tony through their journey to the lab, their arrival and finally when things started going wrong.“A light started flashing,” she recalled, “before an alarm began sounding and then Sheriff Carter was carrying me to the farthest corner from the experiment while Dr. Strutger tried to shut it down. Sheriff Carter told me to stay behind him as he tried talking him into getting away from it and I was really scared,” she crossed her arms at the memory. “I think I remember Dr. S saying something about not shutting down, but that’s when the explosion hit and I blacked out. Is Sheriff Carter really okay?” she implored him with big scared brown eyes. “It was really bad and everything from the knees down were burned more than arms, but he’s a lot bigger than I am so he’d had to take the brunt of it, right?”“Of course, he’s alright. Saw him sleeping just this morning in his own bed. In another room, of course,” he tacked on since Allison had told him the cover story. “Here. I even have a picture of him,” he’d always believed in props to back up the story, so he’d spent the morning with the Mayor (“Henry.”) coming up with this trick between setting the ‘traps’.Tony reached into his inner pocket and extracted a photo square. Deacon had helped him make it so no questions would be asked to really visit and Tony hadn’t yet wanted to announce to unknown Magicals that Carter was out of service at the moment so he’d prepared for that, too. The photo depicted Carter smiling sleepily from his hospital bed with a bandage around his head and fading bruises around his face.“He was still mostly out of it, though,” he added as Risky drank the image in.“He’s okay,” Risky murmured to herself as Tony watched her sink back in her bed. “He’s okay,” she repeated as tears started coming down her face and Tony knew the interview was over. “He’s okay,” she started sobbing right before Allison brought her mother back. “He’s okay,” she hugged the picture as her mother climbed up beside her and she cried into her side as she cried harder.Tony joined Allison by the door as Natalie started making comforting noises and they both wordlessly left them alone.“To be honest,” Allison eventually spoke as they slowly made their way down the corridor. “I don’t think I was expecting that.”“The picture or the reaction to it?”“Both. Was that a trick of yours?”“Yeah, well, I couldn’t exactly share his picture as a cat, now, could I? And why was her reaction surprising?” he wanted to know. “You heard her. She likes him, she’s slightly attached to him, she’s still a kid who woke up to find a mentor dead and the other hidden in secrets that convinced her he was on his own deathbed. No one was allowing her or anyone else to let her visit, which made it all worse. If you were in her position and no one was willing to tell you a damn thing, you’d start thinking it, too, even though you’re older than her.”“I can’t believe we didn’t think of it before,” she blew out a breath before rubbing her eyes. “All this time she thought Carter was worse off than he really was.”“Sometimes, it’s hard for adults to remember that kids aren’t as emotionally stable as adults are. Even those smarter than adults.”“You know, Tony,” she huffed a laugh, “I bet Carter would’ve reminded us about Risky, even going to see her himself. You two are more alike than I could have ever expected.”“Is that good?”“Depends,” she smiled slightly. “Eureka’s gone easy on you so far. How much do you think you can handle?”“Something tells me neither one of us wants to know.”After a quick snack and a check in with Lupo about a different near disaster a few scientists in the general vicinity were still grumbling over, Tony left Allison to fly back into town. Something told him she wasn’t used to seeing broomsticks in action and Risky did say something about Carter not liking heights.Same with Mi, honestly. She didn’t like flying, either.Tony did, weaving in and out of the trees with ease. He did notice that Carter definitely had stuff up coming to and from Global. He also saw a few Magical plants that Palmer had drilled into him, but they only became a problem when they were under threat so he flew on.With him and his broom under cover, Tony decided to venture back to the bunker and landed next to Carter’s Jeep some minutes later.“Hello, Sheriff Agent DiNozzo,” SARAH greeted as he let himself in. “How has your day been?”“Time will tell,” he sighed, Carter coming out of his corner to greet him. “Hey, Carter. I just finished up with Risky.” He used his wand to check him over, the block still there. “Evidently, your Muggles forgot she was still a kid and didn’t think to give her a picture to show you’re still alive.”“Poor thing,” Carter agreed with his house as his whiskers drooped slightly.“Yeah. She was sobbing her heart out when I left, something she’s been carrying around for a while.” He left his broom by the stairs and took a seat on the sofa, Carter climbing up next to him and turning blue eyes on him. “I did find out that you still could have used Magic without being aware of it since Risky probably reminded you of your own kid. That make sense?”He got a meow in response and nodded.“Yeah, well. Only to parents, huh?” Sometimes, he thought about Harry’s mother Lily and wondered if his mother liked him, too, somewhere inside. He’d been in the car, too, after all, and he’d blacked out so he wouldn’t know what her magic would’ve done if it had done anything at all. Maybe that had started that block on him and his magic somehow strengthened that for whatever reason.But even with the block on him, he’d still been able to predict the weather and that could have just been explained away with natural magic that couldn’t be affected by a block. It wasn’t impossible, after all. Some things just couldn’t be blocked.“If it’s alright with you, Sheriff Agent,” the bunker broke into his thoughts. “Dr. Taggart will be helping Dr. Grace Deacon in the kitchen tonight with Sheriff Carter’s homemade treats. There are some recipes that they need his advice on.”“I guess I’ll be eating dinner in town, then,” he mused. “Maybe then we’ll be able to get some more information into the accident and I’ll plan some things accordingly. I think you’ll be changing back soon, though, so that’s good. Oh, Carter, I want to ask if it was okay for me to add onto your wards around everybody. As you know, that will mean that I’ll also know the general wards you have up and about town, the ones I don’t quite know just by being here and walking around. Any hidden wards will still be hidden, but I’ll be able to monitor them, too, without knowing what they are right now.”Carter was agreeing to the plan before he stopped speaking and it took the better part of the afternoon in order to full transfer ‘ownership’ of Carter’s wards to Tony because of the block still on him and Tony was frankly amazed at the amount he took on.“Do you seriously need all these?”The put upon look he received told him that wasn’t even the half of it.“Ok-ay… I’ll go on your obviously superior experience and make sure they’re all up to date. The ones I can fix, anyway.” Certain wards weren’t to be messed with, but general ones could be. “I’ll get to town now so I can fix some of them the way I want them to be,” and he intended to do just that until he stood up and swayed.“On the other hand,” he slowly sat back down. “I think I can hang out a little more before I trust my flying abilities again.”* **
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One thing Jo Lupo couldn’t stand was having three investigations going on at once.In addition to the one that took Carter out of commission, there was the one that almost took a whole lot more out of commission and the one that not only almost took them all out of commission, but also almost left a crater where Global would have been.Carter was right.The scientists were idiots.Good thing Marten and Fargo were able to override the damn tripped program or none of them would be here now.And Jo not only liked living, she wanted to see more of Magic and she wouldn’t be able to do that dead.Another reason that jackass of a haughty scientist was getting ‘accidently’ shot later.She couldn’t do that now, however, too busy plugging her target full of holes.While she would’ve loved having a gun range in the office back in the old timeline, she adored having her personal gun range just a few corners right from her desk.(That reminded her. If DiNozzo was going to be around, he should come out and kill a few targets so she could get a feel for his style.)Carter would sometimes use it, too, but he couldn’t get away for long. Last time he was there, though, he showed her how easy it was to stop bullets exactly in their tracks before sending them back at her in the form of black pom-pom balls. She could tell he enjoyed it and honestly wondered how often he got to let loose like that. Probably not often, which was a shame. You can do some cool, badass things with Magic.Jo finished her last target of the night before taking care of her firearm and bringing the ear protection to rest around her neck. She checked the time to see that she had just enough time to shower and head to Café Diem to meet the others for dinner. DiNozzo was joining them after Tag and Grace pretty much kicked him out to use the kitchen for cat food/treat recipes they’d been compiling since Carter became a cat.She took care of the paper targets and her equipment before heading to the locker room also attached to her office. Hell, she could probably live in her office if she wanted. But, then, she needed a space where she didn’t have to deal with idiot scientists who thought they knew everything about everything.Almost thirty minutes later, Jo was making her way to the car lot when she spied Marten and Donovan ambling that way, too, with her on the phone and him on his tablet.Jo let Donovan catch sight of her as he occasionally glanced up and waited for him to catch up, leaving Marten to stop and focus on her conversation.“What’s going on?” Jo immediately asked.“That Damn Project,” his put upon look and long suffering tone fit her feelings to a complete ‘T’.“Great,” she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Who’s going?”“Well, since I’m part of the investigation… Holly and Fargo are going and they’ve got Tag to go with them. That’s who Holly’s talking to.”Which would leave those three without even Carter to get them out of whatever trouble they could find out in the woods tonight. “Better sign me up, too,” she reluctantly sighed. “Though I can’t say I’ll be coming back tonight.”Grace, Allison and Henry had their own things to do and would be helping Zane. DiNozzo would be doing his own magic thing and Andy was still getting called out. Two of her security team were helping him around on four hour shifts and she might as well look in on them to spread the word about going back to Eureka’s most famous experiment to see what was wrong with it this time.“Try not to shoot Tag,” Zane tried on of his ‘punch him or kiss him’ smirks before shrugging. “Or not. No loss to me.”“Okay,” Holly came up to them with a sigh. “Douglas is already at Café Diem and Jim will meet us there in a couple hours. I’m not certain where we’ll be, but it doesn’t actually take an hour to get to town from the bunker, but it’s also not that short of a drive, either.”“JoJo, here, has graciously volunteered to go with you,” Zane tilted his head at her.“I’m not leaving Taggart as your only source of protection,” she flatly refused. No telling what might happen to them should he run off or something.“Alright,” Holly agreed. “Jo, Jim, Douglas and myself will be going to check on a project no one really seems to know what to do with. Fine.”Because that’s basically what it actually amounted to in a nutshell.“I was heading to dinner,” Jo jerked a thumb toward her parking space outside the door.“Yeah, us, too,” Zane shrugged. “Not like something actually happens or anything to it if we don’t fix it right away.”“You can eat with us,” Marten invited. “I mean, we’ll all be going to the same place anyway.”“Sure,” she didn’t really care all that much. “You can ride with me since Donovan’s coming right back here after.”She blinked like she wasn’t expecting the invitation and maybe she really hadn’t been.Jo wasn’t usually what one would call ‘social’ and she didn’t much socialize with Grace or Marten for one very significant reason, even though Grace acted like they’d been friends for years. At least, that’s what she’d told Jo after Henry told her that they weren’t actually from this timeline.She still never really trusted Marten, but Carter did, apparently, so she had to deal.“Donovan, you can come, too, I guess,” she gave his puppy eyes a flat look. “But you’re on your own coming back.”“No problem. I’ll just come back with Allison,” and Jo had every right to believe it. She’d be coming back, too, in order to check on the overnight patients from the carbon monoxide leak and little Risky who was getting out tomorrow.Then Allison, Henry and Grace would wait for them all to come back so they could all get the results at once. DiNozzo would more than likely be there, too, after taking care of whatever magical issues he needed to straighten out. So she assumed, anyway. Jo didn’t know what a block actually entailed and she wasn’t around Carter 24/7 even in the last timeline so who was to say DiNozzo didn’t actually have work to do?“Let’s get going, then,” Jo sighed.They piled into her car and were on their way to dinner.Upon arriving at the café, Jo noticed quite a few more diners on the outside patio than she was used to.“I guess that’s what happens when a bunch of experiments are shut down,” Zane followed her gaze to the packed area. “They’re not able to work right now as their equipment is being dismantled and cleaned one at a time.”Marten reached the door first and opened it for them. “You can’t be too careful with carbon monoxide,” she trailed them inside. “I mean, who knows what interference it could cause to the experiment…” she trailed off once she caught sight of the rest of their friends and Jo would have asked what was wrong if she wasn’t staring at the same thing.“Okay,” DiNozzo caught them staring as he sat between Henry and Fargo, keeping his eyes on the door and the room around him. “Now I know something’s up. What? I’ve been getting those looks since I got this plate. Now, what’s wrong with it?”“… is that spaghetti?” Donovan sounded as incredulous as Jo felt.“Very good spaghetti,” he corrected. “What’s your point?”As long as Jo had known Vince in two timelines, he never served spaghetti without doing it his way. ‘His way’ being handmade noodles with special sauce and seasoned meat and no less than three garnishes on the side. And that was if he was feeling generous enough to make such a simple dish.This was not Vince’s usual method.Sure, the noodles were a bit flat, but it was hidden under heaping sauce and what looked very much like regular hamburger meat…In fact, the dish looked very much like something Carter would be eating right now if he wasn’t a cat.Jo slowly turned to look at Allison, who was sitting in front of Fargo, and found her just as lost.“Oh… kay…” Zane dropped into the chair across from DiNozzo and Jo watched Marten slide in next to Fargo on his other side before finding a seat next to Allison and in front of Henry.“Guys,” DiNozzo glared. “Cough it up. I already have an inferiority complex you’re not helping.”“How can you have an inferiority complex?” Marten leaned over Fargo to frown at him. “You don’t really have one.”“Well, of course he does,” Fargo rolled his eyes like this should’ve been obvious to her. “We’re smarter than he is. Well, not quite in a lot of matters, obviously, but everyone here is at least twenty IQ points higher than he is.”DiNozzo slowly turned to glare at him. “Modest much?”“I am, yes, thanks for noticing.”Jo promised him a whack upside the head and she made sure to let him know it with the look on her face.“JoJo,” Donovan slid her a sharp smile. “Do DiNozzo a favor and push Mr. Modest down a ravine while you’re out.”“There’s nothing wrong with a low number,” Marten thought she was being comforting and supportive. “I mean, Carter has one and he’s the only reason we haven’t become a crater yet.”“And what am I?” Jo had to put in with her own glower. “Invisible? Carter hasn’t been here, so that job has fallen to me. Nothing against DiNozzo, but I know how this town works and –”“I’m sure Fargo didn’t mean to be a jerk,” Henry broke in like the mediator he was.“He mostly suffers from Foot in Mouth,” Allison added with a look that made Fargo quail.“I know how hard you work, Jo,” Henry went on, “and I can barely begin to imagine your side of the story, Agent DiNozzo.”“Well, I can, at any rate,” Allison smiled warmly at the Wizard. “And while you may not have genius level IQ, your medical records speak for themselves.”“I figured you read it,” DiNozzo gave her a wry smile. “Since you keep giving me the runaround about me helping with that carbon monoxide leak. The only thing I can pretty much understand and you won’t have me near it. Especially since you apparently need science degrees and doctorates to do an investigation I was supposed to help on in the first place.”Jo and the others turned a look on Allison, who shrugged.“D/P C,” she smiled apologetically. “He can tell you if he really wants you to know.”“The leak should be observable by tomorrow at the earliest,” Marten easily entered the conversation. “That’s going to mean we’ll be able to check on things and you’ll be more than welcome to join us, then.”“I might just do that,” DiNozzo glanced at Jo, who shrugged.“I could be running all over, so you probably should. If not Carter, I guess I’ll make do with you.”“At least act like you’ve got confidence in him,” Marten scolded.“She doesn’t need to,” DiNozzo corrected. “I’m a new element that hasn’t been tested and you don’t have that experience with me.” It looked like he wanted to continue, but frowned and closed his mouth without saying anything.Jo was about to demand what he was about to say, but Henry nodded.“Carter would be just as cautious.”“Former Marshals don’t do well with poachers on their turf,” DiNozzo deadpanned. “Nor former Marines.”“Well, you’ll be on your own until we get back,” Fargo evidently shook off his former faux pas. “We have to figure out what’s wrong with That Project this time.”Henry and Allison nodded in complete understanding and only DiNozzo looked confused, so Henry wasted no time to explain.“You know that we all – or most – have experiments that are on for a variety of time periods and some even going into years. There’s this one particular experiment that’s been going for at least eight years now, but that’s pretty much all anyone knows about it. No one even knows what it’s being used for. Or who it belongs to. All we know is that the scientist in charge left instructions and we’ve all been following ever since.”It was more complicated than that, but DiNozzo didn’t need to know that. When they first started living in this new timeline, they’d believed that most things would stay the same and – for the most part – they did. And then the first alarm went off about a month later.Jo remembered that one well, she and Carter being geared up and ready for damn near anything. Grace had been read in at that point and had easily cleared it all up, only in a way that brought more questions.For all intents and purposes, the experiment had absolutely no purpose – and yet there it was and the list of instructions left by some scientist no one could remember ever having been part of Eureka or Global Dynamics. Hell, they’d even asked Dr. Noah Drummer, but the blank look on the man’s face told them all they needed to know.Tag – for various reasons, starting with 'Santa' and ending with 'Claus' – was skeptical about Drummer’s lack of knowledge, but everyone else believed him completely with no evidence to suggest otherwise.Jo, Carter, Allison, Henry, Grace, Fargo, Charles Grant and Donovan had gone over each and every possible candidate to name as experiment owner, but they literally had nothing. Or less than nothing, as Carter would have said.But they learned that the experiment more or less appeared at least eight years ago and there didn’t seem to be any reason for it to be out in the middle of freaking nowhere.Except… there was obviously a reason it was there or it wouldn’t be… you know, there.But whatever it was, no one in town or on the Global roster knew anything about it or how it came to be.Regardless, they were all stuck with going out every two or three months to check it on a rotating schedule when the alarms would go out.“And none of you know more than that?” DiNozzo frowned at them in turn.“We’re just as clueless now as we were then,” Allison didn’t seem to know how else to respond. “No one had ever actually noticed much of anything going around that the alarms keep responding to. Every third and fourth visit, something gets tweaked or replaced so we know that it’s doing something. We just don’t know what.”“And we’ve looked for its data,” Marten chipped in. “But it must be streaming to the scientist directly, since we haven’t found any.”“We don’t even know if it’s measuring anything,” Donovan picked up. “The damn thing is a complete mystery.”“You’re not going alone, are you?” Allison frowned.“No,” Marten assured. “We’ll have Jo, Tag, Douglas and myself.”“Actually,” DiNozzo’s brow furrowed. “I think I’m intrigued. And there’s nothing to actually do in my case at least until midnight when the team gets their results in. Nothing’s tripped certain things, other things need time to settle and I’m just done for the night, to name a few reasons. Besides, I’m honestly not sure that Lupo won’t push someone off a steep ledge.”She vaguely agreed to that one, but the fact that a Wizard who wasn’t Carter was offering to go almost had her rubbing her hands with glee. Every time Carter was coaxed into doing magic, it always felt like he was holding something back. She had a strong suspicion that the Italian wouldn’t, though, but anything was better than nothing.“Are you certain you’ll be able to make it?” Henry eyed the Wizard. “I know Grace and I barely managed to get you in the truck because you were half conscious.”“I was not,” he protested. “Just tired. I did a bit of work that drained me, is all. How far out is this project?”“Damn sight closer than the farthest lab,” Jo told him. “That one’s at least a day trip and you would still need the camping gear.”“That reminds me,” Henry frowned. “I need to look at the list to see who was assigned out there.”“Some low level people,” Fargo waved a dismissive hand. “And that’s more that they needed the space. There wasn’t really any urgent need to have that kind of space, so I let the ones go for it that had any interest. Maybe that will change next year.”“You could say that it’s rentable labs as opposed to permanent ones,” Allison explained to DiNozzo. “Every January, we start to gather anyone interested and announce slots in April.”He thought it over before tilting his head. “I see. If it’s alright with Lupo, here, I’d like to go with you tonight.”“Fine by me,” she nodded. “We’re waiting for Taggart, anyway.”The nut of an Aussie arrived about twenty minutes later, ready to take out a small army with the extra tranq darts on his vest.“Alright now, mate?” Tag eyed DiNozzo. “Looked peaky when I last saw you.”“Don’t you start,” he grumbled.They finished up and Tag climbed into his tank as Jo, Marten, Fargo and DiNozzo piled into her own car and both vehicles immediately started down the street.“It’s at least an hour’s drive and maybe up to two hours in walking time,” Jo followed Tag as she spoke to the Wizard next to her riding shotgun.“Okay,” he responded.Most of the drive was in silence with murmurs from the two in the back about the activity log Marten pulled up on her tablet. Every scientist who went to check the Project always made an entry in the Log to track who did what at a certain time. Part of the reason was to find some kind of pattern to what the alarms were being set off for. Hell, half the time, they near took the thing apart trying to figure out the problem. And almost half that time, nothing was wrong.Jo never liked going out to check it with the scientists who drew the short straw that visit. It always seemed like something was watching from the shadows, waiting to pounce on her or attack and that always made her jumpy and alert. Usually, it was her, one of her security boys or Andy. Carter was considered Essential Personnel and couldn’t actually take the time off to go babysit both scientists and experiment and Bad Things tended to happen without him around town.Jo sincerely hoped their luck held while DiNozzo was with them, but she still took her military grade radio half expecting the town to be on the brink of disaster again in an hour. Nothing against Andy, of course, but DiNozzo had a better chance to stop things from happening. In retrospect, of course, learning of Carter’s magic explained so much about his abilities as Sheriff.There was a six car makeshift dirt ‘lot’ in a small clearing that Jo followed Tag into and both parked on opposite sides. She got out and didn’t wait for the others to follow as she headed to the trunk to get the first aid kit; her four knives and three firearms; three walkies for her, Tag and DiNozzo; and finally dragged out the flashlights and headlamps.Standard Project gear.“You know,” DiNozzo remarked nearby, “I honestly can’t be sure all that’s overkill.”“Probably,” she agreed. “But this unknown piece of junk is still unpredictable.”“Ready when you are, Jo,” Tag appeared at her shoulder with his tranq gun in hand and night vision goggles on his head.“Alright. Marten, Fargo, headlamps,” she handed one to each. “DiNozzo, Taggart, radios,” she gave one to Taggart and turned to hand one to the Wizard, only to blink at the lights surrounding him.“Don’t tell me Carter doesn’t show you what he can do,” the Italian glanced at her look.“Not all the time,” Jo held the walkie out. “No flashlight for you, then.”“Nah, save your batteries,” he waved a hand, taking the offered radio. “I can at least get you there and back.”Jo tilted her head before hoping her excitement didn’t show as she acquiesced. “Very well. We’ll be using the magic lights on the way,” she announced. She knew Carter could do the same charm, but he was more used to the ‘Muggle Way’ and had to be reminded that magic even existed.“Aye,” Tag agreed easily. “Then I’ll scout ahead.”“We’ll be right behind you,” Jo waved him off.“Okay,” Marten spoke up as Tag disappeared into the woods with his night vision goggles. “Agent DiNozzo, why don’t you go first?”“No, I take point,” Jo shook her head. “He’s at our six.”“I’ll take that,” he nodded.“Which means Marten and Fargo will be between the two of us,” Jo gave the pair a pointed look.“I’ll set us each up with three lights,” DiNozzo moved the lights around with his wand. “At least two will light the path so we don’t end up tail over tea kettle.”“Go,” Jo watched three lights settle around each of them before moving toward the oft traveled path. Just as promised, three of the small lights obediently followed, two hovering around her legs and close to the ground while their fellow trailed at face level.For twenty minutes, her group trooped through the forest, senses alert in the silence of the night.Marten and Fargo were as quiet as they could be, Fargo at least realizing that hindering the protection detail would be entirely counterproductive if he didn’t shut his maw.Tag radioed in from ahead, but it was just an uneventful update like they’d agreed on the first trip.The lights fanned out a bit in the meantime, which was definitely a good thing to her mind. The sphere of sight got a little bigger and further in almost all directions.“Lupo,” she heard from a number of yards behind her. “I have a question.”“Go on,” she granted, all other senses alert.“What happened to the animals?”That made her falter slightly.“What do you mean?” Marten asked.“No animal sounds,” DiNozzo’s unease made the small hairs on the back of her own neck begin to rise.“It’s always been like that,” Fargo dismissed, startling around with a yelp as Jo whirled around on him.“What do you mean ‘it’s always been like that’?” she demanded to know, the group halting in their tracks.“We – well, yeah,” he shrugged. “Why do you think Taggart’s always wandering off? He’s the one who studies animal behavior and stuff, right? You forget I was in the first group with him a couple years ago. He said himself that the animals show a marked increase of agitation and anxiety in this area.”“Why didn’t anyone make me aware of this?” Jo hissed. “This is critical need-to-know information.”“I don’t see what the big deal is,” he countered with a creased brow. “Animals avoid this place altogether and –”“Did it never occur to you to question why that is?” Jo pointed a finger at him. “There could very well be something very dangerous on the loose around here that the animals are aware of –”“Tag seems more curious than scared!”“I don’t think he even knows what ‘scared’ feels like!”“Hey!” DiNozzo stepped between them as Marten tugged Fargo a few steps away from Jo’s glower. “Lupo, I get you’re upset,” he soothed, “but now you know. The bad thing is you can’t actually do anything about it.”He was right, she knew it, but her professional pride still wanted to do violently unprofessional things to both Fargo and Taggart for not even thinking to let her know something like that. And it wasn’t like she could’ve known about it, not usually doing the night shift herself.“All we can really do,” he went on, “is keep our eyes open and not wander too far from the help others can bring.”“Don’t hold your breath for those two to charge to the rescue,” she grumbled, letting him use a hand on her arm to steer her back to walking. “Or Taggart, really, as he tends to make things worse.”“Which basically means that the security detail falls to the two of us,” DiNozzo pointed out. “And, look, I know that Carter is your fall back, but I’ll watch your six if you watch mine.”Jo was, at that moment, reminded of a conversation she had with Carter not that long after he told them of his magic.It had been just the two of them wandering town like the old timeline when Jo had been his deputy and she missed that. Not like she would actually say it, but still.The two of them had wandered around and Carter had told her that the others had expressed concern about his isolation from other Magicals and Carter had his own concerns. ‘Not many Wizards are willing to work with Muggles,’ he’d told her. ‘So if any do come to Eureka, just try not to antagonize them, okay?’So far, with DiNozzo, that concern was unfounded. He was completely willing to work with them – with her – and she didn’t want to throw his olive branch back in his face when it could have easily been so very different. Plus, it would really give her a feel for when she had to work with other Magicals after DiNozzo. She was simply under no illusion that every Magical was like him, but she was grateful for the easy practice.“Okay,” she agreed easily enough. “But you’re not Carter.”“I’m not a lot of people,” he sighed, something telling Jo there was most definitely a story there. “But I hope I can get at least halfway to standard.”“Jo?” Marten and Fargo had trailed the two of them since they started walking again. “We would both like to apologize for keeping this information from you. We still don’t exactly understand why you’re upset, but we’re both still sorry.”“I honestly believe you,” DiNozzo’s firm grip on her arm told her to keep walking so he could handle this. “You don’t understand where she’s coming from because you haven’t been in her position. You don’t know what it’s like to go into a situation blind or had something kept from you that would almost kill you. Keep that in mind the next time, huh? We can’t protect you if we don’t know as much as possible.”Suitably chastised, Marten fell silent, but they were obviously trying to make enough noise to tell their position from behind them. Jo could hear them brushing against undergrowth as they followed.“I’m guessing it’s happened to you,” Jo observed. It wasn’t a question because there wasn’t a doubt with the almost bitter tone she heard from him.“Yeah,” DiNozzo confirmed, saying nothing else.Jo’s radio squawked. “I’m at the location,” Tag reported in. “All clear.”“Stay there,” she picked up speed. “We’re not far out.”Since the landscape in and around Eureka was hilly or mountainous, it came as no surprise to crest a small hill to get to their target location and it was as they were cresting that small hill that Jo found the most immediate problem.“Damn,” she blew out a breath and raised Tag over the radio. “The lights are all out.”“What?” Fargo surveyed the darkness beyond their little cloud of lights. “How? My group replaced half of them last month!”“All of them are out,” Tag confirmed.“I thought they were supposed to last until the next Ice Age,” Fargo threw his hands up.“Which hasn’t actually been proven, yet, because we aren’t even in one right now,” Marten pointed out. “Although some would argue otherwise.”“How many lights are we talking?” DiNozzo followed her as Jo and Fargo started forward at a quicker pace thanks to the small lights he provided.“Enough to start seeing a faint light,” Jo answered.She didn’t know who started putting the lights up, but those lights were a key source to the night groups, who didn’t have to haul floodlights up every time. The bulbs were also used at Global and had gone up to five years without a blowout. So far.For some completely unknown reason, however, the bulbs out here didn’t even last one.All the lights were hooked up to a network of solar panels as an environmentally friendlier option than batteries, but the strangest thing was that whatever was happening to everything else was leaving the solar panels alone.Everything else under the canopy had been replaced at least twice a year, but not the solar panels. Those had to be replaced due to wiring or other natural causes. Nothing else.On the other hand, there was a first time for everything.“Maybe we should’ve brought Hern with us,” Fargo heaved a sigh as Jo made for the nearest solar panel. “He would know backwards and forwards what the problem is with the light network.”“Could it be an individual piece?” DiNozzo suggested. “It works the same way as Christmas lights. One bulb blows out the rest of the string.”“We have safeguards against that,” Marten told him. “One individual piece wouldn’t take everything out. We need to check the panels and bulbs. If nothing turns up, then we’ll have to check the wiring.”“And the lights go out all the way to the project’s location,” Fargo came up next to Jo as she found the string she needed.The string was military grade – designed and built to withstand everything nature could come up with -, but was also regularly inspected every time they needed to haul the panels down from their artificial frames. One tug brought a panel down on a metal arm that one had to lock by hand to keep from straightening again.“Okay,” Jo turned a flashlight on. “I don’t know about you, but this one looks fine.”It looked dark under her gaze, the cells usually a brighter blue in the sunlight.“Maybe something’s going on inside it,” she mused. “Check the panels and bulbs. We’ll leave the rest to someone else.”DiNozzo went with Marten to split the load while she and Fargo worked on the rest.When they all reunited around the project sometime later, not a one of them could tell what happened.“It has to be the wiring,” Marten kept muttering to herself. “No other explanation for it.”“And how does that shut off the whole network?” Fargo kept contradicting.For her part, though, Jo didn’t really care what was wrong with the lights. She’d been getting progressively more paranoid with each passing moment and just wanted to get this all over with.“DiNozzo, can you light this place up? Tag, I want you on the perimeter while we do a full systems check,” she ordered.“You got it,” the Magical agreed as Tag voiced his own acknowledgment before getting sent off with a couple ball lights just in case.By the time Fargo and Marten turned their attention to the project itself, the small clearing they were in was full of little lights. Three of them had stuck themselves to Marten’s hair after she braided it and Jo had to smile at the sight. If nothing else, at least she’ll now be able to track the redhead.DiNozzo had clumped a mass of lights that were now suspended over the pair as they hooked a tablet up to one of the free outlets on the six and a half foot high experiment. It was going to take at least a half hour to run the preliminary check, but Jo had light and a source of reliable back up so she couldn’t actually complain about much.Any lights not grouped together freely roamed the area and Jo found at least four of them shadowing her at one point. Others were paired up in groups of two or more, but they were mostly upper level. They floated nearest the canopy line and Jo nodded approvingly. The singles floated in and around the space from their fellows to the ground.It was most definitely a quiet night as Jo and her Magical counterpart walked the perimeter of the clearing. Distant crashes through the trees would give away Tag’s position every so often. Sometimes, Jo would pass the Wizard to see a look she’d seen on Carter a few times. In a way, it was like having Carter back, but DiNozzo was still an unknown that hadn’t quite been tested to her satisfaction. And she didn’t quite mean that in a Eureka protector way.Based on personal experience, Jo had always believed that you could get a handle on someone based on their reactions under stress. In the time since the Italian’s arrival, he’d prevented a few blowups, yes, but not with Jo there. If it was something different than Eureka, maybe Jo would feel differently, but science still went over her head half the time and both she and Carter lamented a lack of ‘real’ crimes to investigate like a shooting or robbery that led to a shootout or even a juicy murder to get their attention.Instead, they got what basically amounted to a babysitting job – keeping an eye on the scientists, assert authority when needed, give them punishment when they did something wrong, investigate or mediate arguments, getting calls when someone stole someone else’s toy…Just once, she and Carter wished they had an actual case to solve.“All clear at my end,” DiNozzo drifted toward her as she settled against a tree to take advantage of the visibility he provided.“Nothing here, either,” she acknowledged.They stood side by side as they watched over the pair at the project for long moments.“You guys aren’t used to staying a babysitter, huh?” he suddenly mused. “All of this science makes you feel like you’re stuck in elementary school science when you’re more used to action and dodging bullets.”Jo turned a look on him that she was certain gave her surprise away. “How do you figure?”“Carter,” he said simply. “There are charms he learned from other sources for his Magical work that’s all over Eureka. I went to investigate some of them and found evidence of stagnation. Especially closer to the heart of town. This happens when someone allows his charms to fade and that tells me that Carter only pays attention to them when they’re too faded to be any good. He’s got charms around the bunker’s perimeter that are solid and constantly updated. Even Café Diem has its protection because Carter frequents it and other places more than others. Upon first getting this assignment, he explored town much in the same way that he had as a Marshal. Now that science is usually the culprit, there’s no reason to be on constant alert anymore. And from what I read in your file, you’re itching for something, too.”“You’re pretty good for a Wizard,” she neither confirmed nor denied.“I also work NCIS.”“NCIS?” she frowned. “What? Like the Navy?”“Exactly like the Navy. Major Crimes Response Team, Senior Field Agent.”“What office?”“DC.”Jo tilted her head and crossed her arms in near disbelief. “You work NCIS. As a Wizard.”“Which is how I got involved with Magical Naval Personnel, yeah. What’s that look for? It’s not that unusual to have a Magical in Muggle jobs. The Marshal Service isn’t known for its Magical members, either.”Jo knew that – especially after reading ‘A Magical’s Guide to the Muggle Marshals Service’ -, but DiNozzo just didn’t come across as anyone who spent days in and days out with Muggles constantly underfoot.“I’ve been around Muggles all my life,” he sighed at whatever look she had on her face. “That’s why I was called out here to help you guys until Carter gets back to his version of Situation Normal. My ability to talk to you guys as equals and not somebody inferior to myself. Plus, I have a Muggleborn I’m trying to nudge into the friendly side of the Magical world and somebody figured I could help Carter relax with my varied friends and co-workers.”“I see,” Jo nodded thoughtfully. “Well, I’m glad somebody was sent out here with the right credentials or we’d have sent your tail right back.”“I’d have let you,” he wrinkled his nose. “And that’s how I know that you and Carter want to get your hands on a case that doesn’t have to do with things you don’t have much hope of fully understanding. I’m basically in the same boat right now.”“Yeah,” she gave him a once over. “I guess you are.”She turned back to Fargo and Marten as they continued their analysis and sighed. Jo didn’t know why she was surprised at the revelation, something that she had a feeling the others knew and didn’t say anything, but she was. Maybe it would’ve been more apparent had she had more exposure to how others would treat Muggles like her, but she’d pretty much based DiNozzo on Carter and found them similar in a lot of ways.Maybe the difference would become clear when dealing with other Magicals, but DiNozzo was like Carter in his dealings with Muggles. But in retrospect, that ease around Muggles probably should’ve been the first tip off that he was used to them. Carter certainly was.A crash off to their left told her that Tag hadn’t yet fallen down a ravine or was otherwise preoccupied, but Marten eventually stood before making her way over to them and Jo decided to hold off on calling Tag for an update.“Well,” Marten held her hands out to either side. “As far as we can tell, the lights are the only thing wrong. Nothing else.”“The lights set off the alarms?” Jo was more bemused than puzzled. “I thought the network didn’t do that.”“They don’t,” she shrugged helplessly. “Or they’re not supposed to. Someone could have done something without logging it because, well, Eureka. All we have to do is log it ourselves and see what comes from that. Other than the lights, there’s absolutely nothing wrong.”“I would’ve logged it,” DiNozzo didn’t approve of the sloppiness. As a Fed, he probably would’ve been more detailed than even Jo.“I’m not discounting the possibility that it was accidentally left out because things happen all the time that are unintentional. I can’t say that’s not what happened in this case because it very well could have been.”‘Unintentional’ could describe a rough third of everything Jo’d been through since signing on as Eureka's Deputy, so it was plausible.“Someone else will have to come back and fix it with daylight. Let’s pack it in. Taggart, we’re packing up, over.”“Yeah, what’s up with saying ‘over’ all the time?”She ignored DiNozzo’s question as he drifted off to collect his scattered lights and she waited to hear back from Taggart.“Taggart,” she tried again, “time to head back to HQ. Someone should be waiting with results by now. So let’s get a move on, over.”Silence. No answer.“Taggart, report back. Over.”Still nothing.“That’s an order, Taggart.”Not even her lack of ‘over’ got a response.After several failed attempts to raise him on the radio, Jo stood glaring into the darkness in the direction of the last place she heard a crash with her jaw clenched. “Taggart, you better still have your radio on you when I find you. Over.”“I can’t believe the alarms went off over the lights,” Fargo shook his head in disgust as DiNozzo herded him and Marten back to Jo’s side. “They’re supposed to be completely autonomous on a completely independent circuit.”“Yeah, ‘supposed to be’,” Marten agreed. “It doesn’t stay that way sometimes.”“We waiting on Taggart?” DiNozzo glanced around as the original four groups of three lights swirled around their legs.“If he doesn’t respond in ten minutes, I’m leaving,” Jo growled. “He can make his own way back.”“Fair enough,” Marten agreed without batting an eyelash. She’d definitely gotten used to the quirks of Eureka’s citizens if the lack of reaction was any indication.Fargo shrugged. “Let’s go, then. As Director of GD, I can’t be away for too long without at least twenty four hours’ notice in advance.”The three of them were a few steps out of the clearing before Jo realized they were down a Wizard and turned back to wave him along.DiNozzo simply stared at them in a kind of shock, like he couldn’t believe what he was witnessing. “You’re just going to leave him out here?”“It’s Taggart,” she shrugged. “He’ll find a way. He’s been all over these woods for years.”“And he’s not dead, yet,” Fargo added.DiNozzo looked from them to the woods around him and shrugged. “This could be that time, for all you know,” he scratched the back of his head. “The one where he doesn’t come back.”While that would actually make her life a bit easier, that wasn’t something she should probably tell the guy. “He’s disappeared before. You get used to it after a while.”He still seemed unwilling to take her word for it and she just gusted a sigh.“You really want to stay and look for him?” she rubbed her eyes.“Kinda, yeah. Problem?”“I think we maybe should,” Marten spoke after a moment, her voice low as she leaned closer. “Carter would’ve just left him, too, but Agent DiNozzo probably feels responsible for all of us, so just think of how he would feel if one of Carter’s friends got hurt on his watch.”Jo tipped her head back with a groan, but couldn’t argue the point. It was definitely something she hadn’t thought about and she probably should have. Those similarities to Carter ran deep and DiNozzo would definitely feel responsible for Taggart even though he wouldn’t need to. Carter felt responsible for every death in town or at the scattered labs both on site and off.Jo did, too, but not the way Carter did.“Fine,” she threw her hands up. “We’ll look for him,” she stomped back to the Wizard with a glare. “But two to one odds say he went back to his tank for something.”“I don’t think so,” he fidgeted with a shake of his head. “He would’ve answered.”“Unless he lost the radio somewhere,” Jo muttered. “But fine. Whatever. Pick a direction and let’s get this over with.”DiNozzo used that locator charm that Carter used on a frequent basis and led them to the left of the project.They walked deeper into the woods with the small lights lighting the way with DiNozzo leading and Jo on their six. She kept an eye out on their surroundings and reminded herself to write a note to tell the crazy Aussie to curb his disappearing tendencies while Carter was still out of action. The last thing she needed was DiNozzo blaming himself for something out of his control and he was similar enough to Carter for Jo to predict this hypothetical scenario. The only problem was that no one knew him well enough to head that off at the pass like they would Carter. Even then, though, Jo had known the blond for years, but only what he wanted to share.She understood the way you didn’t touch him when he was asleep the same way he did her and how she came up swinging just as easily.“Maybe he did double back,” Marten spoke after ten long minutes of following DiNozzo.They were in the middle of nowhere by now, the canopy dark above them as it blocked out the half clear night sky.“I doubt it,” DiNozzo shook his head as he kept going, glancing between the wand on his palm and the ground. “It leads further in.”“But how far could he be?” Fargo impatiently huffed. “It’s almost midnight by now.”“It’s just past ten,” DiNozzo flippantly corrected. “It’ll be midnight by the time we get back to town.”“Which is why we should really head back now,” Marten sighed. “It’s past an hour back to the car and almost two going back to Global Dynamics and I want to know how Dr. Strutger’s project went up in his face so we can prepare for your departure.”“By the time I leave,” DiNozzo glanced back, “Carter will be Carter again and not Marshal.”“You named his cat form?” Fargo sputtered. “Marshal?”“Well, ‘Sheriff’ would get odd looks, ‘Carter’ would get you a new white jacket with long arms and I’m not about to call him ‘Jack’ when I don’t even know him. Plus, he’s kind of registered as Marshal, so…”“But you named him!”“What’s the big deal? He could be Carter’s cat for all anyone else knows. Besides, it’s good to have him be Marshal, instead of Sheriff, because I’ll get mixed up somehow and probably out him to three states the way my luck’s run lately.”“Of Muggles, I’m thinking,” Jo deadpanned. “I’d say the Magicals already wouldn’t care.”“Depends on the type of Magical, actually. One type wouldn’t care, while the other… less said there, the better. Hello… what’s this?”Jo brought her gaze back to the fore to see the gazes directed a little more left of their position and it took her a moment to realize that there was a single light drifting toward them at waist height.“And there you are,” she waved a hand at it. “Tag lost his radio again and managed to get himself un-lost. Now let’s go back.”“No, wait,” he halted her as she started turning. “It’s flashing.”Jo whirled back around to find the approaching light indeed flashing.“Is that bad?” Marten looked back at Jo with a furrowed brow.“It’s not exactly good,” DiNozzo sighed before pointing his wand at it and muttering something that had the single light freezing and drifting back in the direction it had come from. “Come on,” he immediately started following it and Jo all but hauled Fargo and Marten after him.The light led them on for roughly five minutes before just coming to a stop for seemingly no reason.“Taggart!” Jo hollered. “Come out here so we can get moving!”She dragged Fargo and Marten up to where DiNozzo stood over the light, but Jo didn’t immediately see anything.“I don’t see him,” Fargo put his hands on his hips as he looked around.“That’s not why we stopped,” DiNozzo murmured. “That sign right there, on that skinny tree,” he directed their attention to the tree on their right.Jo immediately went to look it over:
‘Warning: No Trespassing Beyond This Point’
“Why would there be a sign out here?” Marten questioned. “No one’s said that there was anything around here.”“Or Tag hasn’t,” Jo waved a hand. “Then again, I’m not surprised since he’s not someone who uses a flashlight.” You missed things with those goggles on all the time. Or Tag did, anyway.It was no surprise to her that he completely missed it.DiNozzo sent the light ball further and it completely surprised Jo to round a group of trees after it to find –“Since when has that been here?” Fargo exclaimed, the smaller man stopping in his tracks slightly behind her. “A fence?”And it certainly was a fence. A chain link one.Out in the middle of nowhere.“Has anyone ever come this far?” Marten had to ask.“Not usually,” Jo told her. “But who knows about Tag.”The fence was ten feet high with thick chain links that made it nigh impossible to cut.“But no one has anything out here to need a fence for,” Fargo sounded exasperated.DiNozzo approached the fence as Jo looked around for Taggart and the lights drifted through the fence holes to hover on the other side. “He’s on the other side, alright,” he concluded as the others joined him there.“How could you be sure?” Marten wanted to know.“You sound sure,” Fargo frowned. “Oh,” he perked up. “Is it a Magic thing?”“Not quite,” DiNozzo was definitely amused at them. “More of a radio thing.”“Radio thing? How’s that any different from a Magic thing?”“See that?” DiNozzo pointed to the other side of the fence. “That’s the difference. Unless there’s another fence hopper running around with a black radio, which just so happened to get knocked loose on the landing.”“… damn,” Jo easily found the fallen radio on the other side of the fence. “Now what?”“We go after him,” DiNozzo sighed.“And how do you suggest we do that?” Fargo waved a hand at the fence. “We can’t cut through this stuff.”“We don’t have to,” he shrugged before rummaging in his pockets and extracting a broomstick a quarter of the size Jo actually knew them to be. “Carter ever take you up?”“You’re not suggesting we get on that thing!” Fargo didn’t look half as intrigued as Marten appeared to be.“Well,” DiNozzo shrugged. “It’s either I fly you over or you climb yourself. You have until my second trip to pick up Marten to give me your answer. Come on, Lupo, you first.”Jo was sure the excitement was obvious as she carefully approached. Never in her wildest imaginations had she thought she’d ever get to ride on a broomstick – certainly not in Eureka. And not with Carter’s aversion to heights and flying.Now, here she was; coming up behind a Wizard and wrapping her arms around his waist as the broomstick waited for her to settle. “Okay,” she breathed, feeling an absolute thrill as they gently kicked off and she was suddenly in the air.DiNozzo hovered above the ground so she could get used to the sensation – except she didn’t think she’d ever get used to it nor did she want to because that would mean it was wearing off for her – before beginning to ascend.“Be careful!” Jo saw Marten and Fargo watching anxiously from the ground as she rose higher.“Alright back there?” DiNozzo questioned over his shoulder.“There’s not even a term for it,” she felt them rising and watched the top of the fence get closer. “I wonder if we can get Carter to take small trips like this,” she grinned giddily to herself at the thought. “It’s kind of a shame I can’t see what this baby can really do,” she could definitely enjoy broomsticks.“Don’t be so quick to discount the possibility,” he advised. “The block on Carter isn’t done, yet, and I have at least two days left. So who knows what’ll happen in a day’s time.”“Yeah,” they reached the top and effortlessly glided over to make a quicker descent, landing next to the fallen radio. “Keep the broom handy so we can get out of here unless Tag found another way out.”By the time DiNozzo had dropped Marten off, Jo had a hunch that Tag was further into the unknown part of this forest. After DiNozzo brought Fargo over, he sent the lights in a more scattered fashion as they moved along.“He can’t be too far, now,” Marten noted before calling out. “Dr. Taggart? Are you out there?”“Taggart!” Fargo echoed. “You should’ve waited for us! We don’t know what this place even is!”“And you have no idea?” Jo wanted some information that no one seemed to have.“No,” Fargo shook his head and shrugged. “There’s no record of anything. There shouldn’t be anything.”“So what are we looking at, here?” DiNozzo frowned as he kept an eye on their surroundings. “An illegal experiment?”“Actually,” Marten was quick to correct, “I’ve been thinking and I’m not exactly sure of this, but you know that experiment back there?” she pointed somewhere behind them. “Well, no one knows very much about it or why it’s even there. So, you know, maybe this is a bigger part that we didn’t realize was there.”“I’m going to have to get Zane to help me go through the records,” Fargo didn’t sound happy about the coming paperwork, but Jo was ecstatic about that. If scientists were busy with research and paperwork, they weren’t busy blowing stuff up. And Fargo was definitely Problem Scientist Number One in her book.DiNozzo cast another locator spell and picked up speed until he was almost jogging, the others almost running after him considering the fact that he was currently the tallest one of the group.“Taggart!” he yelled before changing direction and going left. “He’s over here!” he called back.Jo wasn’t sure how he could possibly tell, but she wasn’t Magic so she had to trust his judgement.The four of them ran for long minutes before they were faced with a smaller fence that wasn’t as high as the first.“Curiouser and curiouser,” DiNozzo eyed it before calling Taggart again.“You know,” Fargo panted, “we can keep calling, but… I don’t think he’s going to –”“Shh!” he scowled. He was obviously trying to listen.Jo and the other two strained their own hearing, but couldn’t hear anything.DiNozzo then started walking along the fence, a whistled tune drifting from his pursed mouth.Jo got what he was doing and told both civilians to stay and listen while she took the other length of the fence and started whistling, too.She stayed along the fence and stopped whistling every few notes to listen, but she eventually reached a fence corner of some kind. Looking down the length of the new stretch of fence, she couldn’t offhand tell how far along it went or when she’d reach the next corner.Before she could think more about it, however, she flinched at the sound of something being launched into the air right before a red color washed over her after the firework exploded overhead.It had come from behind, so she turned right back around and double timed it back to where she’d left Fargo and Marten. The tension she ran with almost instantly evaporated when she found DiNozzo back with the scientists, obvious now as to where the firework came from.“There, see?” he pointed at her as soon as she got within view. “There’s one.”Both of them were definitely relieved to see her.“You could’ve just went after me,” she told the three of them. “I found a corner of the fence I want to keep walking.”“We could have,” DiNozzo agreed, “but that would just keep us from finding Taggart. Sending up a flare would get you both running here to see what happened or assess the situation. I didn’t do it earlier because I couldn’t be sure he’d be able to see it and I wasn’t sure he’d be able to respond somehow, especially since it’s now confirmed about the fences.”“Keep this off the log book,” Jo sternly ordered Fargo and Marten. “The last thing I need is a bunch of eggheads roaming off the known path until I can get a better feel for this place.”“Only fair,” Fargo scowled. “Payback for not logging the light connection. Which could have been an accident, but I have my doubts.”“We don’t even know if Taggart is still close,” Marten sighed.“Don’t we?” DiNozzo smirked, tilting his head. “Listen.”Almost immediately after falling silent, Jo could faintly begin to hear crashes in the undergrowth that were quickly coming closer. Sure enough, Taggart came into view about five minutes later.“Where is it!” his goggles were still over his eyes as he brandished his tranq gun, looking wildly around. “Where is the bastard!”“No danger,” the Wizard assured. “Just a missing Aussie.”“Although,” Jo glared at the sheepish idiot. “That could mean the same thing.”“Got a mite carried away, there,” he grimaced. “Why didn’t you call instead of alerting everything for miles?”“That would imply you had your radio,” Jo dangled it in front of her by the strap.“Bollocks,” Tag hung his head after registering that it was, in fact, his radio.“Well,” Fargo clapped his hands together. “Now that Taggart’s been found, we can get back to the car.”“There’s a bit more exploring to be done, though,” Tag frowned at him. “Haven’t yet made it across the ravine.”“What ravine?” Fargo and Marten chorused.“The one I was about to cross,” he jerked a thumb behind him.“You should’ve come back or at least reported in,” Jo scolded, “as soon as you hit the first fence.”“Well,” Marten spread her hands. “Nothing to be done about it now, right, Agent DiNozzo?” she turned to him and did a double-take when she found him ducking under the fence so he could join the Aussie on the other side. “What are you doing?”Jo didn’t pay any attention to her as she herself followed the Italian through the hole he’d enlarged in the fence. “You two coming or what?” she smirked as she stood next to DiNozzo, the two smaller members of the group watching the three of them with wide eyes.“Or they can stay here and we’ll be the ones have a grand adventure,” DiNozzo shrugged. “Their loss.”“Well,” Tag glanced at him uncertainly, not sure if he was kidding. “It’s this way.”Jo caught up to him to slap the radio in his palm and she noted DiNozzo’s slow meander after them before Marten was scrambling through the fence after them. Of course, once she joined them, Fargo practically dove through the fence, too. “Wait for me!”Jo glanced back at DiNozzo as he ambled after them all and couldn’t help grinning at the smug look he leveled at the pair’s backs. He’d done that on purpose.“So where is this ravine?” Fargo eventually demanded to know, pushing his glasses up his nose and crossing his arms.“Bit further now,” Tag assured as they tromped on.Jo heaved a sigh as she trailed the scientists and DiNozzo followed behind her as the small lights drifted around them. This was just wasting time, but then she had nothing else to do as the explosion investigation was either already over or quickly heading that way.But they’d already been pouring over all relevant calculations by the time Jo had left for dinner in town, until all they needed to do now was look over the equipment. They certainly didn’t need her for that.She was honestly making the most of her time now, following the ever present mystery of the every more mysterious Project and it just got even more mysterious after two fences.“The ravine’s up here,” Tag suddenly spoke minutes later, “but there’s a bit of a staircase, first.”“Of course there is,” Jo groaned.A few turns later, and they most certainly did come across a rather large ravine. It was a strange thing to see as they stood on the edge.Tag had been right about a staircase, a long one that led down to a platform connected to some sort of walkway spanning the ravine, but that was all they could see from their vantage point.“Alright, DiNozzo,” Fargo put on that Director of GD tone that made Jo sorely want to shoot him. “You first.”“Nope,” Jo immediately negated. “Taggart goes first and DiNozzo last so he can haul our asses back up at the first sign of collapse.”“I can go first,” Marten countered. “I’m lighter. Agent,” she turned to their bemused audience. “Can you keep an eye on me?”“Done,” green eyes glanced at Jo with a raised brow before he took his broom back out and kicked off.“Well,” Marten blinked after a moment. “I meant from here, but… I guess that works?”“Go on, then,” Tag waved her along. “The lad’ll be waiting.”Jo watched DiNozzo circle above them with his three lights and nodded to herself before turning to see Marten carefully make her way to the metal staircase and hesitate. One of the lights drifted up to her and slightly past so it illuminated the steps in front of her.Fargo went to the stairs next, waiting until she reached to bottom for his own journey to start. Marten took her time, though, testing each step before putting her weight on it.“Taggart,” Jo glanced at him. “You’re going to have to test the weight, too.”“Aye,” he nodded, moving to line up behind Fargo.DiNozzo flew closer to the stairs with his wand out and at the ready. Jo couldn’t help watching him and the picture he made in the air, one light slightly above him as the other two seemed to be at home on either end of the broomstick.Marten eventually reached the platform as Jo debated asking DiNozzo for a ride – she would normally just say ‘to hell with it’ and ask anyway, but she didn’t know any ‘flight etiquette’ if there was one and didn’t want to insult anyone just in case – and Fargo made his way down next with his own little light. His journey went a bit quicker since he didn’t seem at all confident about the stairs’ ability to hold him or DiNozzo’s ability to catch him, Jo couldn’t tell which, and Taggart started going down, too.“Everything alright down there? Over,” her radio crackled.She waved in response as DiNozzo sunk down further than where he’d been stationed in case Taggart dropped due to his heavier frame.Jo let her eyes drift down to the platform where Marten and Fargo were and she had to do a double-take at what they were clustered around.“DiNozzo,” she blinked as she almost barked into the radio, “can you see where those two are on the platform? Over.”“I got eyes on them. Over,” he added as an afterthought.“That project looks damn familiar. Can you confirm? Over.” She watched him move from where he’d been stalking Tag in order to dip down and almost buzz the engrossed pair.
“Affirmative. The project on the platform looks like a twin to the last one. Over.”
Jo tilted her head thoughtfully.As far as she knew, they were only aware of one project attached to the alarm network, but if there were a second… It would certainly go a long way to explaining a hell of a lot. Especially if both projects had been hooked up to the network. In which case, there explained the seemingly inane alarms that didn’t have an origin from the first project.And that begged the question: Why the hell were they so far apart? Why not tell them of this one?Something about all of this just didn’t add up.Tag made it to the other two and that meant Jo was the last person.DiNozzo floated back up to her and studied her as she raised a questioning brow. “I got your six,” he eventually decided on, though she wondered if he’d been thinking of something else.Glancing down the stairs with the lights around her legs, she blew out a breath and nodded. “Here I go,” she took the first step and the small cloud of lights followed like ducklings.The steps could easily have been able to support maybe three people abreast, but the whole structure seemed slightly unsound with peeling paint showing rusty spots on both the steps and the hand railings on both sides.Almost to confirm her uneasy observations, the stair step she was on seemed to shake slightly and she was up on the lowest bar of the hand rail nearest her before she registered moving.“What happened?” DiNozzo shouted from his mid-air perch. “Are you okay?”“I – yeah,” she yelled back. “I thought the thing moved, is all.”“Here, maybe you should get on the broom,” he sounded uncertain and alert at the same time.“No, I’ll finish,” she refused. “I started this. It’s okay. Just… be ready to catch me. Just in case.”“Hold on,” he started looking around the stair case. “Stay right there for a few minutes while I stabilize what I can.” He flew off before she could find a response and she found herself staring into the darkness all around her.The railing she was clinging to faced out as it and the stairs slightly curved away from the side of the ravine. The clouds had been rolling in since before dinner and she couldn’t quite tell if it was going to rain or not, but she had pocket ponchos for each of them if it came down to it, so that wouldn’t be a problem.Without the moon that had disappeared sometime between the project and the second fence, it was claustrophobically dark outside the cloud of lights still around her. And glancing down into the ravine showed just as much nothing as looking up did.Jo wasn’t afraid of heights or the dark, but her eyes still tracked to where DiNozzo flitted around near the top of the stairs. Vertigo was definitely something to think about without something to focus on. The Wizard was actually kind of… enchanting? No pun intended. Maybe not the right word, though. He was a good distraction, anyway, Jo being unable to take her eyes off him when he wasn’t ducking out of sight under the stairs.“Everything alright up there, Jo?” Tag asked on the radio.“Fine, over,” she responded, not bothering to elaborate.“Alright, Lupo,” she twisted around to see him under the stairs she’d just come down. “Slowly make your way down. If I say stop, I want you back on the railing, clear?”“Crystal,” she agreed. She waited a beat before returning to the stairs and resuming her descent with DiNozzo following under her. She was fairly certain that he was just as relieved as she was to reach the rest of the group, but he flew away before she could say anything.“I’m going to work on the stairs a little more. Over,” the radio echoed from Tag, too. “And I’m also going to check out your location so stay there, okay? Over.”“Copy. We’ll wait for you. Check in every ten. Over.”“Affirmative.” The radio went silent as Jo made her way to the identical project she was used to back in the clearing.“It’s unbelievable,” Marten was shaking her head in disbelief. “Exactly identical.”“But why is this here?” Fargo wanted to know. He was still looking over the tablet hooked up to it. “Why not have them closer together?”“Any chance that’s the one setting off alarms?” Jo eyed Tag’s position against the railing, not liking the weight he was putting on it. She checked DiNozzo’s position, but didn’t bother him from his self-appointed task. She knew better after Carter almost blew something up while doing his Magic Stuff – Donovan’s scientific term – and he'd refused to speak to them for almost 48 hours.After that, Carter forgot to be mad with them in the face of the weekly crisis, but Jo certainly remembered.“Honestly?” Marten sounded completely overwhelmed. “I can’t rule that out. A lot of this particular project is dead and I don’t know if there’s a third project or more like this. I don’t know for sure that this is the ultimate suspect until we start fixing it and who knows how long that’ll take. I was thinking we could bring one part at a time on every trip the group of us take and see if anything makes a difference.”“Taggart,” Fargo called. “Think you can find the way back out here?”“Not a problem,” the Aussie called back agreeably. “Got the path in my head, I do.” Jo was fairly certain he would’ve winked, but he still had the night vision on.She was also fairly certain she doubted he could find his way back without Carter doing some… Magic Stuff. She remembered well what happened this past April and how he’d more or less ‘come out’.“I don’t want anyone else to know about this,” Jo told them. “That would be a nightmare waiting to happen, especially since we don’t know enough about this area. As much as I’d like to get Carter out here, I don’t know if he’s going to be allowed to stay for more than three hours at a time.”She’d rather also have DiNozzo on hand for future explorations, but, short of affecting a temporary reassignment, he had two jobs to go back to. She still wanted his contact info on record so they could haul his ass back to town in case something like this happened again.DiNozzo broke her musing by reporting in and the clock ticked ever so slowly toward midnight as the pair of scientists did what they could to fix as much as they could with what they had.Eventually, Fargo and Marten began making packing up noises as Jo and Taggart kept tabs on their eyes in the sky and their surroundings respectively.“Okay,” Marten straightened to face them. “Let’s cross the ravine and see if there’s any other projects around here.”“DiNozzo still has to get the walkway stabilized,” Jo negated.“Why?” she put her fists on her hips with a challenging look on her face. “It hasn’t collapsed yet and it probably won’t. We’ll just have to be careful about crossing.” She didn’t wait for a response, returning to Fargo for her small backpack and telling him she was going on ahead.Gritting her teeth, Jo’s brown eyes tracked to Tag as he made his first steps on the walkway and blew out an aggravated breath as Fargo scrambled after him and Marten. The redhead was already shadowing the Aussie and not for the first time Jo cursed the stubborn – stubborn – urg! There was no word that she could come up with.Jo was forced to follow after the light cloud drifted after the other three and she was well after them by the time she took the radio and spoke, “DiNozzo, we’re on the walkway, over.”
“What! What part of ‘stay where you are until I’ve given the all clear’ did you Muggles not get?!”
“Well, it’s Marten. Stick around long enough and you’ll understand.”
“Understanding plenty right now about that one.”
“Exactly, so you should know that with Marten, there’s not much you can actually –”Her foot should have hit the grate instead of suddenly hitting air.Jo didn’t think she’d have to pay attention to where she was going, so she’d been looking around her instead of up ahead. And she regretted that now as she dropped like a stone into the ravine after her friends, a scream coming from one of them as they tumbled into darkness for what seemed like hours.Complete darkness was all she could see as she fell down, down, down.There was no way to tell up from down and all she could really do was wait for the landing.She always knew she would leave this world and she always hoped it would be an exciting end, so she was mostly content with how this was going to end. Her only regrets were concerning Carter, DiNozzo and Donovan, but she hoped the Wizards wouldn’t blame themselves for something that wasn’t their fault. And that Carter wouldn’t blame DiNozzo for Marten’s bullheaded mistake.Well, he knew what Marten was like.And now they would have to find Global a new Director.And Global would, eventually, but it wouldn’t be tonight.It took Jo a wild moment before she realized the incredible: she was fairly certain that she was beginning to slow down the longer she fell. To the point where she thought she was facing one direction over the other a few seconds longer each time.Not too long after that, she definitely felt her momentum begin to slow – like on a roller coaster at the end of an exciting ride -, enough so that when she finally did land, it was almost as if it had been from a slightly higher place instead of thousands of feet up.Jo struggled to sit up from where she laid flat on her back after a long moment and scowled at the soft mass of … whatever it was she landed on to get her bearings.Up ahead of her, she heard what could only be the others and stuffed the relief down to growl menacingly, “And now we know what happens when we disobey a Wizard’s orders. Right, Marten?”“I do!” Fargo’s high, panicked voice answered her instead.Good. Maybe he’ll rethink blindly following his object of affection in the future.“We’re still alive, aren’t we?” Marten sounded kind of shaky despite her words. “We still would be, even if Agent DiNozzo had given the all clear.”“Except we’d still be on the walkway instead of lying on … this,” Jo took what felt like a root in hand. It could be a vine, the skinny thing long and thick.“And I again point out that we are alive,” she sounded more stable, making Jo more pissed off.“You owe DiNozzo – and Carter, for that matter – an apology.”“I most certainly do not. And why Carter, too?”“Because,” she grit her teeth together as she unconsciously flexed her hands - and squeezed the root/vine in her hand. “Ever since Carter decided to trust us with his biggest secret, you’ve acted more like a bitch than you normally do with him! It’s like you can’t stand it when someone so – so dumb compared to you tells you to do something and you can’t stand it when he ends up right!”“That’s not true!” Marten protested. “I have tremendous respect for both Sheriff Carter and Agent DiNozzo –”“And yet,” Jo raised a finger of the hand not gripping the vine and pointed it in the other female’s general direction. “And yet, you consistently toss that trust and respect back in their faces. Ever since we found out, you keep disregarding Carter’s advice to the point where you’re now an even bigger threat than Fargo is! Every non-GD related incident over the past couple years have been your fault somehow and it’s only increased since Magic got involved. How insecure are you that you need to roll over every damn piece of advice given to you by someone like Carter, huh? You might be smart in the science sense, that there’s not much room in there for the common sense you’re sorely more in need of!”There was no response from any of them and she belatedly realized her strangling grip on the vine that had somehow managed to twine around her wrist. Heaving a sigh, she used her free hand to click her radio. “DiNozzo, come in. Over.”“Oh, thank Merlin!” a surge of – possibly – irrational guilt surged over her at the stark relief in his voice. “Where did you guys end up? I can’t see any of you.”And no wonder without the lights.“Any chance you could light this area?” Tag came through the radio as well. “Lost my goggles and I seem to be rather tangled in this mess of vines. Strange though,” he mused. “Rather thick for this region.”Jo couldn’t say one way or another, except that it seemed like they fell into a whole mess of vines as she confirmed that a vine was now wrapped around an ankle. “Some light would be good, yeah.”“Okay,” DiNozzo responded. “I’m sending out balls of light in different colors. Tell me which color you see.”By the time a yellow light drifted by, Fargo and Marten also reported getting tangled up in the vines and both were unable to get loose. Tag did, too, which made Jo promise teasing in the future until she realized that the vines around her wrist and ankle were now joined by three more; one each around both legs and another somehow around her waist.“You are absolutely certain it’s yellow?” DiNozzo radioed, her attention split between the light above and the vines below. “Okay, be there soon.”“No hurry. Over,” Jo tried kicking the vines, but it seemed that every move wrapped the vines tighter.“Jo!” Fargo called uncertainly. “I can’t get out of these vines.”“I can’t, either,” though she was trying. “Like these things are getting even more tight.”“Aye,” Tag sounded just as baffled on the other side of the scientist pair. “It – well, it’s like every move wraps ‘em tighter.”Jo was starting to feel uncomfortable as she tried to get a feel for all the vines around her to try to get out and she hated the feeling of being restrained. Frustration mounted and she kicked out again, her eyes widening as the vine around her waist tightened and she felt another vine wrap around her free arm.She tried to remember her breathing exercises, but that was before another vine looped around her hips and that kicked the ‘fight or flight’ into gear.Jo Lupo didn’t do any kind of bondage of any sort even before she joined the military and it had gotten worse as a direct result. And this was putting her in a bad place that only Carter knew about after that unfortunate incident in the second year of the original timeline, but no one else could begin to imagine. The last thing she truly needed was a flashback and hurt somebody, but her mind slowly but surely forgot all of her surroundings as a vine wrapped around her neck.She couldn’t get it off due to her arms now restrained and the ropes keeping her confined got tighter and tighter and the rope around her neck got tighter and tighter and that damn bastard’s mocking tone from behind that damn torture device got more amused as he said –“LUPO! FREEZE!”Her vision jerked back to a light lowering just above her and away from the midday slats on the wall of a long buried building deep in her past. The incredibly loud voice that ordered all cessation of movement bellowed again.“ALL OF YOU NEED TO FREEZE BEFORE YOU DIE!”Jo was panting to get air in lungs slowly beginning to creak under the vines around her upper torso. If the air could get through her restricted throat, first.“YOU CANNOT STRUGGLE WITH THIS. THE MORE YOU DO, THE TIGHTER THE VINES BECOME. IT’S A DEVIL’S SNARE AND THE ONLY WAY TO BEAT IT IS TO RELAX. IT WILL SUFFOCATE YOUR ASSES UNLESS YOU DO WHAT I SAY. LUPO,” she focused on the moving group of lights as DiNozzo hovered high above them. “LISTEN TO ME. I NEED YOU TO COME BACK AND USE YOUR BREATHING METHODS. THE MORE YOU RELAX, THE LOOSER THE VINES WILL BECOME. STAY WITH ME, LUPO. LISTEN TO MY VOICE AND DO WHAT I TELL YOU.”Every breath she tried to take stuttered in her throat at the reminder that there was something around her throat and. It wasn’t. Moving.“LUPO!” her attention snapped back to the figure hovering a good distance above her. “LISTEN TO ME AND DO WHAT I TELL YOU! TAKE A BREATH EVERY TIME YOU HEAR THE WORD ‘CLUE’. YOU WILL HOLD IT UNTIL YOU HEAR ‘SOLVED’. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR? CLUE.”It was a struggle, but she got as much air as she could drag in before holding it. Every time she heard ‘SOLVED’, she released it and every ‘CLUE’ brought it back. There was absolutely no need to think, just follow her orders like she was supposed to. If she didn’t think, she didn’t panic.Several cycles of ‘clue’/ ‘solved’ later, Jo found her thoughts clearing to the here and now. Which currently consisted of being wrapped in vines as a Wizard talked her out of a panic attack.“WITH US NOW?” the loud words still had a warmth infused in them and she found herself responding to them with a slight nod that didn’t set the vines off again. “GOOD. NOW, EVERYONE, STARTING WITH YOUR RIGHT LEG, BREATHE CALMLY AND THAT WILL ALLOW YOU TO RELAX THE LIMB. ONCE YOU DO THAT, I WILL BE ABLE TO EXTRACT YOU. THE FIRST PERSON WHO RELAXES ENOUGH TO PULL FREE GETS THE FIRST FLIGHT OUT.”Jo took his instructions to heart and immediately did what he asked, clearing her mind and focusing on things that calmed her. For whatever reason, that included Donovan and his smirk/smile that usually got under her skin – had ever since they met in the original timeline – and still made her feel fond especially after a long, crazy week.That obviously made her think of relaxing - what she would do to shake off the crazy week put behind her – and she could slowly feel herself relaxing in a distant way until the vines started to loosen slowly but surely all over her body. It was just as DiNozzo said, relax your body and vines loosened their hold.What she wasn’t expecting, however, was to experience a moment of falling and the slightly hard surface she landed on.Jo was pretty sure her eyes were opened, but the place she was in had no discernable light source. The first thing she noticed, though, was the smell of decaying plant material riding on stale air. It made her plug her nose and fumble for her flashlight before she could stand and not trip on anything.Other than the smell, the thing that caught her interest was the long corridor she found herself in.A thump from behind told her that someone had followed her down and was vaguely surprised that Marten was the one she found struggling up from the old plant growth surrounding them.“Any idea where we are?” her eyes caught branching doors and almost immediately headed for the first on the right.“No,” she heard the click of Marten’s headlight as she opened the door into an empty room. “Strange, though. It… looks like a lab complex, doesn’t it?”And the strange part was… it really did.At least, the ones Jo was familiar with. “This room’s kind of small. Storage room or office?”“Hall storage,” she decided. “One on each end of the hall.”Jo heard another thump and an Aussie sounding yelp. “Tag, do you know of any labs out here?” she called out.“Not off-hand, no,” he called back, Jo’s radio crackling.“Lupo, I’m gonna have to knock Fargo out,” DiNozzo reported in. “Over.”“Please and thank you. Over,” Jo absently answered back.She was vaguely aware of Tag tromping in behind them with his own flashlight and heard his low whistle. “Definitely seems like a lab complex, innit?”It was empty, possibly having never been used as a hall storage room. If that’s what it was designed for, anyway.Jo walked back out to the main corridor just in time to hear Fargo fall into the complex – if that’s really what it was. She flicked her flashlight at his unmoving figure and moved across the hall to a slightly bigger room.From what she understood, off-site labs didn’t need to use every room all the time. Maybe there’s a few rooms in this particular complex that were used, but that still didn’t answer the question of what the project(s) could have been.“You knocked me out!” Fargo’s raised voice drew her out of the similarly empty room to see DiNozzo hauling him up by the arm.“I kind of had to or you’d have suffocated,” the Wizard scowled at him.“Well, yeah, because I had like a noose around my neck!”“I told you to relax. This thing is called a Devil’s Snare,” he pointed up at the plant above them. “The harder you struggle, the quicker you suffocate. It’s a Magical plant.” (a.)“So what’s it doing here?” Marten stood next to Jo with a frown. “And you said you would fly us out. You didn’t say anything about going underground.”“Honestly? I have no idea. Magical plants don’t always stay in Magical areas. It’s completely logical to think it came here by itself somehow. Naturally.”“But you don’t think so,” Jo stated.“No, I don’t,” DiNozzo frowned as he turned his wand overhead to study the plant with the lighted tip. “Unless someone deliberately put this thing here, you shouldn’t have gone under. And… what is this place? A lab complex? This was put here on purpose. Now, whether the one who did it had Magic is a different story entirely. See the past growth here on the floor? And the size of it tells me it’s been a good decade plus since it was put here.”“But why?” Jo turned and flashed her light down the unexplored corridor.“To hide something,” DiNozzo said simply. “Something you want to keep hidden, from seeing the light of day.”“A pretty big something,” Jo began walking down the corridor, the group drifting their way after her.“Surely not this complex,” Tag balked. “It’s completely empty.”“Maybe not completely,” Jo corrected, brown eyes sweeping the shadows around them. “If DiNozzo’s right, something must have been down here to actually hide. Maybe it’s still here.”“Is it dangerous?” Fargo worried.“I don’t know, Fargo,” Jo sighed in exasperation. “Does anyone see any indication that there’s a second level?”They passed empty room after empty room, but nothing truly jumped out at them – literally or otherwise. There were thirteen rooms in all, each branching off the main corridor in various sizes, and still nothing indicated what the complex was for nor what secrets it might still hold.“Where could it be hiding?” Marten looked back down the hall with a frown. “Unless they moved it, but…”“I wonder if the others know anything about this place,” Fargo scratched the back of his head. “We could make this Carter’s hideaway. He can use this for all his Magical needs.”“That’s an idea,” Marten approved. “We can set up a Potions room and a Herbology greenhouse and even a small research library for anything relevant.”“We still have to secure the area,” Jo reminded. “Don’t make plans, yet. We all need to sweep this area and clean this place up. And we actually need to get Carter out here.”“I agree with all of you, though,” DiNozzo tilted his head with a small smile. “Lupo’s right. Check the place out, then you can move in. The rest of you are right, too. Carter can definitely use this space to his advantage. I just wish I knew who set all this up.”“Are there any Magical spells or charms we need to worry about?” Jo suddenly realized the Snare’s planter could have very well had Magic.“No. A completely blank slate. Either they never actually had Magic themselves, they died or it’s been so long since the wards were refreshed that someone’s forgotten about them entirely.”“What would make someone like you completely forget?” Tag had to ask.“Extreme Circumstances,” he frowned. “Or maybe he was reassigned completely by surprise and decided to just let it go.”That seemed more likely to her. If he/she/they had Magic. “Could be more than one,” Jo pointed out from her place just inside the last empty room. “Odds are, one of them could have had Magic.”“Yeah, but it’s all conjecture and theory until we actually dig up some information.”“I would have expected at least a little bit of leftover debris,” Marten pointed out. “Like papers or something to tell us who was here.”“Yeah,” Fargo scratched the back of his head. “But, on the other hand, if someone had advanced warning enough to plan material removal…”And there certainly was ‘material removal’ in evidence because only dust remained after DiNozzo used some sort of air freshening charm.The light scent of apples drifted after her as she stepped back inside the room she’d just come out of. It definitely looked like a room to launch experiments in, but nothing on this corridor struck her as equipped to deal with exploding types of experiments. And the complex itself looked old enough to be from the 1950s, if that. Maybe mid-60s, early 70s. Still way before her time.She’d have thought it just fell into disuse if it wasn’t for the homicidal mess of vines at the entrance. “DiNozzo? Are we sure that Snare didn’t come over here by itself?”“After the way you came in? I don’t think so. Nothing gave way up there on the ravine bridge from what I remember and it seemed almost like it was designed to dump unsuspecting travelers into the ravine. That’s not by accident.”“Maybe it’s a natural process,” Marten added her two cents. “I mean, it could be seen as some kind of experiment gone rogue or something and not Magical and someone probably figured that out. Agent DiNozzo pretty much said so himself. The Snare plant can be used to hide things and maybe that’s why it’s here. To hide something. Maybe information.”“Aye, sounds very plausible,” Tag wandered after Jo. “Explains the lack of true experiment protocols. No blast door. No hazardous material storage or dump… could very well be an information storage, but the budget could’ve dried up. And this place was left to sit.”DiNozzo leaned against the open door-jamb and shrugged. “Each of us could make a case either way, but if we’re going to find anything out about this place, it won’t be on this trip. Time to figure out how to get out and head back to town.”“We’ll keep this off the record for now,” Jo came back to stand next to him, Marten and Fargo on his other side and Tag behind her. “Sometime, we’ll need to explore with Carter at hand so he can set up charms and other things as we go along. Once we’ve figured this place in the clear, we’ll slowly turn this into a Magic base so he can come here in secret."“I think Carter would prefer to stay close to town,” DiNozzo eyed her, “but we can always use other methods of transport in a hurry. We’ll talk it over with him in a few days. Hopefully, he’ll be able to change back in that time. But now, time to find the way out so we can figure out what’s going to happen in the event of the initial explosion that brought me here.”“Point,” Jo conceded. “One mystery at a time.”“And the funeral’s tomorrow,” Taggart added. “Best get a good night in.”“I’ll go, too,” DiNozzo decided. “Especially since Carter’s not gonna be sprung anytime soon.”“I’ll spread the word to the rest of our team,” Jo nodded. “Now, how do you propose we get out of here?”“The old ‘dye’ trick,” he immediately responded. “In gas form. And if that fails, I can always use a portkey or something.”“What would you use?” Fargo wanted to know.“Whatever I want. I can definitely get out if I need to, which reminds me. Any of you Apparate before? No?”“Carter’s done, though,” Jo recalled. “I’m curious, but not enough to try it.”“He can do Side Along, which I can definitely do, but let’s do the dye trick first before we start with Plans C – S.”They returned to the place they came in to double check no other way out was hiding around the plant and DiNozzo directed them to one side of the hall before he took his wand and started emitting a neon pink gas from the end of it.“A gaseous dye,” he explained as he went along behind the plant’s debris. “It’s going to settle and everywhere a gap forms is where we need to focus our attentions. Going dark is the best way to see it, so I’ll take a flashlight and you guys can follow in the dark.”Jo herded the other three into a corner of the hall as DiNozzo swept his wand all over the place, his borrowed Muggle light the only thing that really stood between them and complete darkness. He even made sure to get the ceiling and the floor in addition to the walls. Just as ordered, they waited for the dye to settle before deeming it safe to move.It was certainly an experience to walk in complete darkness with only the neon glow of the dye as the only source of light. DiNozzo moved slow in order to be sure he got every place available, which made him at least a room ahead by the time the group started walking after him.The coverage was pretty consistent, but Jo spied suspiciously placed drips and short streaks that looked an awful lot like Morse Code. A glance at the Wizard down the hall caught him deliberately looking away from her. This one was definitely a joker, she decided after translating one particular grouping with a wry grin.“Anything?” DiNozzo called from midway down the hall a little later.“Lame jokes count?” Jo smirked.“What? Where?” Fargo frowned, peering closer at the dye colored walls. “I don’t see anything.”“You’re not supposed to. Anything on your end?”“Less than nothing,” DiNozzo absently clicked his light off, as evidenced by the sudden lack of non-pink light. “But we’re not even at the end of the – hello, what have we here?”“What?!” Fargo darted out, Marten and Taggart immediately following.“What?” Jo wasn’t the claustrophobic type, but she gladly followed after them because she was more than ready to get out.“Jo!” Marten sounded just as relieved as she felt. “There’s a way out!”“Of course there’s a way out,” she flippantly responded, but didn’t hide her eyes moving to where the dye…Outlined a door.“Thank God,” Fargo voiced her thoughts exactly.It was in a stretch of wall between rooms 7 and 8 on the left side of the hall and an outline was clearly visible of a door in the wall.“Let’s open it, then,” Tag slung his tranq gun on his shoulder and rubbed his hands together.“No handle,” Fargo pointed out.“Don’t need one,” DiNozzo pressed back against the wall next to the outline and shone the flashlight at the outline at an angle.Jo didn’t see an exit for that light. “It slides,” she hurried to DiNozzo’s side and dug her fingers into where the door met the wall. “I can’t push this myself.”It took some doing, but she and DiNozzo managed to pry the door open enough to slip through.“I could’ve helped,” Fargo pouted at them.“And found something to use to blow us all sky high,” Jo scowled. “Taggart on our six, I’ll go with DiNozzo on point and the two of you will stay behind us or I will ‘mistake’ you for a threat and shoot. And as I’d rather not waste my precious bullets on your ass, I’m counting on him to hold me back from attacking. Are. We. Clear?”“She’s joking,” Marten assured DiNozzo. “She wouldn’t really.”“Yeah, that face? I don’t think so.”“You’d think right,” Jo grunted. “Let’s get out of here.”DiNozzo released his small lights ahead and Jo was elected to go first so the Wizard could have the element of surprise should something be waiting. "Looks like we go down,” Jo called back from where she found herself at the top of metal stairs immediately after slipping through the door.“Noted,” DiNozzo responded. “Be careful.”Jo grabbed the hand rails and slowly made her way down creaky stairs until she hit a hard uneven floor roughly hewn from the mountain. “Watch your step,” she called back. “Uneven floor down here.”She waited until DiNozzo made his way down before following the lights down a hall. She couldn’t see the end of it, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. She couldn’t see anything beyond the lights, anyway.“See anything up there?” Marten called from somewhere behind DiNozzo.“Too dark,” he answered instead. “Lupo, I’m going to send lights up ahead. Hold on a sec.”There were suddenly more lights around Jo than there used to be and she stopped so the cloud could cut itself in half, one part staying with the group and the other drifting ahead. Jo waited to see how far the lights would end up. And waited. And waited.“That… is a long distance,” she heard the almost dazed tone in DiNozzo’s voice as the lights simply kept going, her mouth slightly hanging open.“What’s going on up there?” Tag called ahead.“We got a long way to go,” Jo resigned herself to the trek and resumed walking forward.They walked for an unknown amount of time after the lights until they rounded a corner and Jo got the distinct impression that they were going up on a gradual incline.“Do you see the way out?” Fargo called behind them as Jo and DiNozzo practically ran after the lights.“I have a good feeling,” Jo called back and she most certainly didn’t slow once she realized why the cloud of lights stopped up ahead. “There it is!”They reached the now obvious door and, with all of them working together, managed to get the rusted thing open.“Fresh air!” Fargo cheered as they piled out into the night.“Where are we?” Marten queried as they all looked around, breathing in the clear air.“On the other side of the ravine,” DiNozzo immediately answered. “I left that light up there when I dove after all of you,” he pointed, bringing Jo’s attention to something slightly around the nearest set of trees.Jo stood next to him and saw a faint spot moving in a sideways motion over the ravine walkway that seemed currently split in half. “We’re definitely on the other side,” she acknowledged. “Hey, geeks! This way.”In almost no time, they found their way to the other end of the ravine walkway and found the entire thing split down the middle.“This might be a long walk on the way back,” Tag deadpanned.“DiNozzo,” Jo rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Mind giving us a lift back?”“There may be a different way back,” Marten suggested. “I mean, if you think about it, it looks like some kind of trail goes back into the woods. I mean, from a different way than our path, so –”“No,” Jo sternly raised a finger. “Any further exploring will not be done tonight. Tonight, you are getting on that broomstick so DiNozzo can haul your ass back to the stairs and you will be staying on those stairs where I will find you. No running off or we will leave you here tonight and, in the morning, we are going to a funeral after which we might launch an S/R. Do you get me?”“Crystal,” Marten nodded, submitting to her for now.“DiNozzo, whenever you’re ready.”By the time Jo made the flight, Marten, Fargo and Tag were inching their way up the steps and she was dropped off on the platform nearby.“I’ll guide you guys back to the fences,” DiNozzo told her. “Look for the yellow lights.”She gave a nod and watched him lift into the sky before making her way after the others to relay the orders. Once they got to the top of the stairs, they found a golden light waiting for them and even more at 20 – 30 foot intervals leading back to the interior fence.Now that they had a guiding light, as it were, it was easy to navigate the way back to the hole in the fence and Jo watched it close up to its original state before continuing the rest of the way to the outer fence. Once there, however, they were surprised to find DiNozzo waiting for them with a perturbed look on his face.“What happened?” she demanded, coming up to him.“Definitely seems like some kind of search party is being mounted,” he told them. “A whole lot of lights down by the car lot.”“We didn’t tell anyone where we were going,” Marten waved a hand. “And they must’ve thought we needed some sort of evacuation or assistance.”“Crap,” Jo shook her head. “Can you do that hole in the fence like you did the last one? We can’t afford your and Carter’s secret getting out should someone find us flying in the air. And we better get out our flashlights for the same reason.”That was how it looked when they ran into Henry and Allison heading a search party halfway back to the car, just a regular group of people walking around with flashlights. Nothing special here, move along.“Where have you been?” Allison demanded as the groups came to a halt.“Need to know,” Jo smiled slightly. “What’s going on?”“We tried reaching all of you several times with no response,” Henry picked up. “And that’s after we realized that no one’s seen any of you for over two plus hours.”“Well, we’ve just been here,” DiNozzo shrugged, no sign of Magic at all. It was actually kind of unnerving when Jo thought about it.The whole town pretty much knew about Carter’s IQ of 111, but now that Jo knew about Magic, she couldn’t help suspecting that maybe that number was a little lower than it should be sometimes. No one with a completely average IQ could be performing Magic one second and the next acting deliberately like a fool to throw people off. Jo had half a mind to make him take another test, but she couldn’t make him do it against his will and he might well still hide his actual talents.And if DiNozzo’s capabilities and Magical file thus far and especially Carter were any indication – and she looked the blond up as far as her clearance allowed -, damn. It just made her more curious about other law enforcement officers and other Feds and how many of them were hiding Magic from the rest of the world.(Truth told, she was honestly impressed with Carter’s file and with both Magicals’ own files to draw inspiration from once she took a better look at DiNozzo’s Muggle file, she could probably start with high closure/conviction rates and go from there.)(They’d been sent DiNozzo’s Magical file and from what they’d been able to understand, he was certainly a seasoned Wizard if ever there was one. That had definitely put their minds at ease to know someone who was able to do something was being sent to them.)“We’ll still need to check all of you over at the portable infirmary we have set up,” Allison eyed each of them, but they were all fine.Jo borrowed a radio from one of her team members with the attempted search party and gave the fall back order herself. “False alarm,” she explained. “We got distracted with the surrounding area. Heading back to nerve center now.”“Did you get those results back?” DiNozzo asked as they made their way to the lot.“Yes, we did,” Allison didn’t sound happy about it as they followed the Search and Rescue party.“So, what was it?” Marten questioned. “Calculations?”“Ah, no,” Henry shook his head. “It was the rubber caps. Too thin.”“Rubber caps?” echoed DiNozzo, stopping so suddenly Fargo ran into his back. “No.”“Yes,” Allison stopped to look at him, something passing between their locked gazes. “We’ve got this locked down until we figure out how to spin this, but it is not going to be easy.”“Care to share with the class?” Jo crossed her arms and nodded the others not read in on Magic to keep going as Fargo, Marten, Tag and Henry stopped to watch Allison and DiNozzo exchange looks.“It was a tragic accident,” Henry shrugged. “Nothing to share.”“This is going to kill her,” DiNozzo rubbed his eyes.“Who?” Taggart asked.“Risky,” Allison gusted a sigh. “She was in charge of roughly half the calculations and the small things. Like the rubber caps.”Jo flinched as that sunk in.She’d seen Risky Covington around town, of course, but she didn’t know the seven year old well. A nice kid, usually hanging around her nine year old bestie Trix.The way DiNozzo and Allison were reacting made Jo suspect that the kid wasn’t going to take this well. And what kid would, with her IQ level? She'd inadvertently caused an accident that got someone killed before she was even old enough to date or start thinking of boys. And this was going to follow her the rest of her life.“Bugger,” Taggart heaved his own wary sigh.“We will, of course, be giving her full access to any therapy she needs,” Henry spoke quietly after a long moment.“Poor Risky,” Marten sorrowfully shook her head. “Causing a major explosion like that at the start of her career.”But Jo had to wonder if she would still even have one after this.No one could find a response, so they resumed their trek back to the cars where Allison would check them all over and they would get some sleep in time to wake up for the funeral.But knowing what caused the explosion made Jo not want anything to do with Risky on the chance that someone would wait until after the funeral to tell the kid. Jo just knew she would end up giving something away, so she resolved to put as much distance between them as possible…She just hoped that tomorrow was going to be an easy day.Everyone was going to need it.* **
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Zane Donovan was a troublemaker, but that didn’t mean he was heartless.After finding out that the wrong caps were installed by young Risky, he started coming up with a list of things he could do to make things just a little more bearable for her. He knew Carter would do the same in his place, but the Sheriff wasn’t even human right now so Zane felt that it fell on him to do this.That was why he pretty much spent the night at Global due to his partial insomnia, first when Jo’s group overshot their time limit, then due to the fact that a kid made a tragic mistake. One that she would always remember for the rest of her life.It was also why he was dressed and ready to go by the time Allison and Fargo picked him up on the way to the bunker since DiNozzo had evidently decided to join the event.“Not shaping up to be a very good day,” he noted the grey clouds as he slid into the back seat.“No,” Allison’s lips were pressed tight together as Fargo fiddled with his tabled. “I’m still debating on when I should tell Risky her role in all this, but I haven’t told her mother yet, either.”“Well, I don’t envy you any of that.”“I’m going to be there, too,” Fargo pointed out. “I am Director, after all.”Yeah, but he wasn’t a parent. Allison was. She would more than likely find the best way to break it gently – as someone could with this news.“Taggart and Holly are already at the cemetery to make sure everything’s set up,” Allison explained after a few beats. “The rest of us will head there as a group. We’ll be meeting Henry, Jo and Grace at the bunker.”Zane could see Jo and Henry’s cars next to the jeep when they pulled up to the bunker.The three of them leant against the cars obviously waiting for them and Zane slid out as the groups converged into one.“I haven’t found anything about that abandoned complex,” Fargo started with Jo before Zane broke him off.“What? What abandoned complex?” he frowned, glancing at Allison to see her own frown.“That’s where we ended up last night,” Jo shrugged. “Taggart wandered off while Fargo and Marten were checking the project. We went after him and found two fences before we hit a ravine platform and walkway, the former housing a direct twin to the project in the clearing. After Marten almost killed us all, we found ourselves in an abandoned thirteen lab complex and none of us have any idea what it was used for considering that there was literally nothing but dust left.”“There’s a second Project?” Zane frowned. This was news.“And a lab complex?” Grace crossed her arms.“And maybe more than that,” Fargo pushed his glasses back up his nose. “But by the time we got out of there, it was too late to explore much else.”“Marten certainly wanted to,” Jo muttered.“Now, hold on a minute,” Henry rubbed his mouth. “There’s nothing in any records to indicate something that far from town.”“When was the last time you checked the records, exactly?” Zane raised a brow. “Before your time hopping? I ran through records going back to Grant’s time when I got here to be sure of what I was getting into. Bad news, I didn’t find anything, either, so that’s a dead end. If you can find a name, that’d be great.”“And you expect us to pull this information out of thin air?” Fargo tossed his hands up. “Well,” he blinked, “I mean, Agent DiNozzo… might, but even he needs something to go on, right?”“Donovan’s got a point, though,” Jo looked pained to admit. “Everything in this timeline doesn’t apply to what we knew of our old one. That means we have to go back and familiarize ourselves with this new Eureka.”“But we went over the files just to figure out who that project belongs to,” Henry pointed out.“Well, we’ll just have to go over them again,” Jo sighed. “Those and the town plans. There’s got to be something. I mean, there’s no way that that complex or the personnel of that complex could have simply been wiped out of existence. Someone somewhere knows something and we are going to find out what they know. It’ll take time, but it’ll happen.”Fargo gave her a suspicious side-eye before raising a finger. “Or… we can ask Agent DiNozzo to pluck the information out of thin air?”“We need to get going anyway,” Allison interrupted Jo’s attempt to throttle Fargo, who squeaked and dove behind Grace. “Let’s go.”They got inside the bunker and greeted SARAH as she opened the door for them, only for them to stop in surprise at the large yellow tent in the middle of the living room.Well, Zane was pretty sure it was a tent. It looked like one, after all. But he was also sure it was owned by a Wizard, so…“Agent DiNozzo?” Fargo called, slowly approaching the tent. “Uh, hello?”“Agent?” Henry followed, brown eyes curiously running over the tent. “It’s time to head to the funeral now.”They waited, but got no answer.“You think he can hear us from in there?” Grace wanted to know. “He might not. There are spells that soundproof things both ways, after all.”They exchanged looks with each other before Zane shrugged. “Good point,” he moved to the tent entrance and opened a flap.“What’re you doing?!” Fargo swatted at him. “It’s called ‘booby trap’, idiot. Are you trying to get us all killed?”“It might not work on Muggles,” he shrugged. “And besides, Grace has a good point. He might not be able to hear us, so we should check it out. Besides, if he didn’t want intruders, he shouldn’t have just left this out in the first place for curious Muggles to poke their noses in.”“Mrow,” Zane stuck his head in the tent at the feline noise to find Carter sat in front of the entrance, his big blue eyes watching in what seemed like amusement. “Mrow,” he said again before waving a paw and going off to the left.“What?” Jo was standing closer when Zane looked back at the others.“Carter says it’s okay,” he wasted no time in walking inside the tent and blinked at the small corridor he found himself in. “That’s neat,” he mused, glancing down both sides to see Carter sitting on the left side and watching him curiously. “Let me check this way,” he went right.“Hey!” Fargo squawked. “What are you doing? Get back here!”Zane ignored him and found a large empty space to the right of the door. Well, not completely empty. There were three sleeping bags tucked against the wall on the left near another flap and a peek in there showed three toilet stalls and a shower.“Huh,” he nodded to himself. There was nothing else of interest, so he made his way out of the space to see Jo and Allison waiting for him in the hallway. “This place is pretty neat. There’s a bathroom back there,” he jerked a thumb over his shoulder.“I guess you didn’t follow Carter,” Allison glanced at the feline still watching them. “Is it alright for us to go in there, Carter?” Allison asked him.Carter bobbed his head and led the way in.“There you have it,” Jo shrugged. “Henry, Grace? It’s safe to come in.”“I guess it’s safe enough,” they heard Henry before they both walked in.Zane ambled after Carter and blinked at the actual room he found himself in. There were armchairs, sofas and what looked like beanbags scattered around tables of different sizes and shapes. Further back was a sort of kitchen area with a long table to seat a group comfortably.“Cozy,” Jo commented, a slightly impressed look on her face.“Just imagine what it would be like to live here for a week,” Allison was more emotionally open and the wonder and excitement she felt glittered in her brown eyes.“I can see it,” Henry agreed, a small smile on his lips as he glanced around. Grace looked around in similar wonder to Allison as Fargo managed to finally stumble in.“Whoa,” his brown eyes widened. “Check this place out.”“I wonder if we can get Agent DiNozzo to let us spend the night in here,” Grace looked around the beanbags as Zane let himself drop into one.“Just one?” Allison grinned. “I’d like to spend a couple weeks in here.”“Maybe we can get Carter on a camping trip,” Jo tilted her head. “Set up a Magical tent…”“I can let him borrow this one since you guys seem so attached,” the amused voice had Fargo leaping further into the sitting area with a yelp.“It was all Zane’s fault!” the squirrely scientist immediately threw him under the bus, pointing an accusing finger at him under DiNozzo’s raised brow. “He blackmailed me into it!”“Not exactly hard,” Jo drawled, Zane smirking at him before honing in on the Wizard leaning against the hall entrance.“Sweet set-up you got here,” he leaned back in his beanbag.“Thanks. I like it, too,” he gave the tent ceiling a fond look. “That’s why I use this one the most. I figured I’d shore up the damage I did until the underlying layers stabilized enough to fix it. It’s complicated unless you’ve actually done it, but doing it now saves me a lot of time and effort later.”“We aren’t messing something up, are we?” Henry frowned, all of them not thinking of that in the face of the bunker’s new feature.“Don’t worry about it,” he waved a hand. “If I didn’t want anyone around, you’d never be able to find it.”And he sounded confident enough that Zane had no trouble believing him.“So, you’re not going to kill us?” Fargo peered around the sofa he’d taken refuge behind.“Not today, Fargo. One funeral at a time,” he smiled tightly. “Speaking of which, we need to get going,” he straightened and revealed the wand in his hand. He checked something and – Zane reckoned – did some work with a few hand gestures. “That’ll do until I get back. So, shall we…?" the smile froze on his face as he looked around at them. “And I’m guessing Carter didn’t do much magic around you guys, huh?”“He did,” Jo corrected.“He totally did,” Fargo added.“Not really,” Zane shrugged. “I think he’s scared to.”“Well, judging by that reaction, I can’t imagine why,” DiNozzo eyed the looks aimed in his direction.A low meow had them looking at the hunched ball of fur under one of the smaller tables.“What’s wrong, Carter?” Grace came closer and knelt almost next to him. Zane didn’t know what look was on the cat’s face, but Grace made a noise. “Oh, Carter, no,” she looked up with wide eyes. “No, why would you ever be scared of us?”“Seriously?” Fargo ducked down to look at him. “You mean you’re scared of showing your true colors? You never think twice about doing stuff, so why start now?”Another miserable noise had Allison kneeling next to Grace. “How could you ever think we would discourage you from doing something so natural, Carter? This – you being a cat, the humongous tent we’re in right now – is who you are. Well, okay, maybe not being a cat, but it’s part of the world you come from. Do not ever feel that you can’t be yourself around us.”“Actually,” DiNozzo had to interrupt. “I get his point. Not that I think you’ll take him to Global to run tests,” he raised a pacifying hand at their sharp looks. “Though he won’t have any trouble breaking out and making sure you never find him again,” he muttered to himself before turning back to them. “I do get his point, though. Let me ask you: has he told anyone else besides his kid? Before you, I mean?”“Henry?” Zane rolled his head toward him. “You’re his closest friend.”“I got the feeling he didn’t,” Henry shook his head. “Why?”“And before you, he kept the magic secret from everyone. That means that he knows in theory that he can use magic with you guys, but it’s different in practice. What you’ve got to understand is that the both of us are part of this ultra-classified, ‘you find out your memories get wiped’ kind of world. And Carter doesn’t interact with Knowledgeable Muggles like yourselves at all, so of course it’s an entirely new switch for him. You know? You can’t throw out all this conditioning of ‘keep it from the Muggles’ overnight. He doesn’t want to … scare you off, because it is most certainly overwhelming, even for us sometimes, and nothing you can dream up or create in the lab will prepare you for it. No matter how much you want it. So…“Carter knows that he’s got people he can trust, but it’ll take some time before he can fully come out of that Magical shell he’s lived in all his life. The most you can do is to gently remind him once in awhile and spend time with him to get him more comfortable to the idea that you’re not going anywhere even around Magic.”“And we can do that,” Henry promised solemnly. “Alright, Carter? So when you get back to being human, expect to be hanging out with us a whole hell of a lot.”“Yeah,” Fargo nodded. “We won’t lock either one of you at Global just to run tests on your Magic. You’re not just anyone, you know. You’re Carter.”“It will be okay, Carter,” Grace smiled warmly. “And I don’t know if I’ve said this before, but thank you. You brought us into your world of Magic just like you were brought into our world of Science. It is your right to practice in your field, and you can just think of us as the lab techs following your lead to the letter. Right, everyone?”“Yeah,” Zane nodded. Something about the idea of Carter being afraid to be himself even around him didn’t sit well for some reason.“Jack, if you need anything, I want you to know that we will do our best to accommodate you,” Allison spoke straight to him. “We’ll help however you need us to.”Zane watched Carter slink out from under the table to rub against the nearest pair of legs before moving on to the next. He made a careful circuit of the room, even rubbing against Zane, before coming to stand in front of the other Wizard and meowing.DiNozzo winked in response before bringing the current time into existence by a digital clock on the nearest wall. “Probably time to get moving. Hey, Carter. Mind keeping an eye on the tent?”“All of my cameras are also available to watch your tent as well, Sheriff Agent,” SARAH chimed in.“Thanks, SARAH,” Tony sighed. “You can help Carter.”
“Certainly.”
“Well, look at you,” Zane smirked up at him. “Living the Eureka Smart House life.”“After we agreed to Guinness after 8, no salads for dinner, bathrooms mean privacy and I am not actually Carter, yeah. But at least you guys know now that I can hear in or out of here,” he gave them a cheeky grin.“There is that,” Allison agreed, smiling back.They did have to get moving, so they left the tent after a lint roller attack – DiNozzo sending a fond look at the yellow tent - and then the bunker before piling into Allison and Henry’s cars. Jo would come back later for hers.Zane was honestly amazed when they arrived at the cemetery to find multi-passenger cars lining every available space, which told of Strutger’s popularity. Or a combination of his and Ethan’s.“Let’s get this over with,” Allison sighed as they headed for the big crowded space surrounding a single coffin.Zane found himself next to DiNozzo, who seemed in his own little world. “You okay?” he checked. While Carter was relatively familiar, he wasn’t sure what this particular Wizard would do if disturbed when lost in his head.“It’s just not fair,” he muttered. “It wasn’t like this during … the last one I went to.”“Oh? When was that?”“Week ago,” he said shortly.“Ah. Friend of yours?”He was silent so long Zane thought he wouldn’t get an answer, but a look at his profile showed a small smile stealing across his lips.“Yeah, you could say that. Not even half as much as people showed up then,” he seemed almost mad at that.“Well, maybe that means something or maybe it doesn’t,” Zane scanned the crowd as they got closer. “Either way, Ethan’s popular in his own right, so maybe it’s not so surprising. Half the town’s in love with the guy, after all.”“I just hope neither one ends up a fraud,” Zane had the feeling that he wasn’t supposed to hear that and couldn’t help feeling bells going off. Not alarm bells, but it was those bells that said something caught your attention and you can’t remember why that was. Had to be something recent, though. That much he knew.They found themselves almost on the very edges of the crowd and Zane could see Ethan in front, not quite breaking down just yet – which is what Zane had expected. It could be because of Risky as she and her girl Trix stood slightly across from Ethan, hands clasped tightly together.“Does Ethan know Risky?” DiNozzo suddenly asked, obviously picking the three out from their slightly raised position.“Well, yeah. Technically, Risky and Strutger were partners and she was over at their place a lot. Ethan and Risky would bake desserts three times a week and Trix would invite Ethan to little get-togethers she and Risky would cook up. Strutger would ‘escort’ him sometimes and that extra ‘out of hours’ time they spent with Risky makes Carter’s presence at the test make more sense. Strutger couldn’t watch both her and their experiment, so he got the one person in town guaranteed to keep her safe. I mean, Carter’s protectiveness over Zoe is well known – and every other kid.”“And Risky’s reaction to Carter’s picture makes me wonder how he’s feeling about all this and his inability to spend some time with her,” DiNozzo sighed as Henry finally made his way to the front. “She told me she likes him and she’s a good kid that doesn’t want to see him hurt, but after what we found out…”“Yeah,” Zane could only nod. When she found out, this was going to kill that poor kid. As the service started, however, Zane noticed that Risky wasn’t as emotionally upset as Ethan slowly became and couldn’t help wondering why it bothered him so much. She should have been curled into Trix and sobbing her heart out, not standing almost robotically with her unseeing eyes locked on the casket as a few tears rolled down her cheeks.“Hey,” he slightly nudged the silent Wizard beside him. “If Risky spent so much time with Strutger, why do you think she’s not crying so hard?”“I’m not sure one affects the other,” he mused after a thoughtful silence. “It’s just like you said. They were technically partners, so I wonder if Risky’s extra time wasn’t so much willing as it was her thinking she had to get along with her partner and she might as well join his lover in an activity he enjoyed.”“You might have a point there,” Zane frowned in thought. “I saw Ethan in town with Vincent a couple times trying to come up with recipes for Risky and most of the ones they came up with catered to little girls. And Ethan comes from a background where little girls usually baked with an adult, so it makes sense that Ethan would take her under his wing.”“And she just went along with it, probably to make him feel important or something,” he sighed. “I’m suddenly questioning how emotionally invested she is in all this. Although, something tells me it would be a whole different story should Strutger and Carter be the ones we’re burying. She was near hysterical when she saw Carter’s picture because she thought he was worse off and everyone didn’t want to tell her to spare her feelings. I’m thinking Carter has her emotions more than Strutger and Ethan do.”He could be right, Zane reflected. If those work/play visits with her lab partner were supposed to be obligatory and she felt that she had to do them and all they entailed, it went a long way to explaining her lack of reaction. Hell, maybe she didn’t really like them that much but was too nice to refuse. Maybe she just gave the impression that she enjoyed the baking and those tea party things with them when she just wanted to get her work done. Appeasing the adults seemed the best way to do that and Zane had to give her kudos for not giving her true thoughts away.Well, maybe not entirely, he amended as he eyed Trix.Now that he thought about it, there was not a doubt in his mind that she had to be helping Risky seem like a typical little girl so that they could be happy with her. Because maybe she was a bit too mature and wanted to be sure she acted the way they expected, so she called in her best friend who knew a little bit more about being a girl her age.Huh.He never would’ve guessed, really.Henry went on and a few people said some nice things and that was that.The crowd almost immediately dispersed after Henry said his final statements and Zane and DiNozzo allowed everyone to pass them by on the way back to their cars. It would be gridlocked for a while as everyone got out, so it was probably best to let everyone else go first.“Let’s meet up with the others,” DiNozzo suggested and they both managed to find them soon enough around the coffin as everyone lingering gathered around Ethan.“I can’t really say I liked him all that much compared to everyone else,” Fargo was saying, “but that was actually a nice service, Henry.”“Thanks, Fargo,” he graciously accepted the praise. “But it’s still not easy to lose a person despite it being an accident.”“Or maybe because it was an accident,” Grace pointed out.“Didn’t much like the bugger, either,” Taggart had his own arms crossed, “but I had to pay respect where it was due. Say what you will about his constant complaints about my work and the like, but he did some good when all was said and done.”“Mayor Deacon,” Risky’s mother Natalie stepped out of the crowd with a solemn smile on her face. “It was beautiful as always.”“He has a knack for it,” Allison smiled slightly. “How’s Risky doing?”“Well, suffice to say, I don’t think Agent DiNozzo’s getting his picture back,” she sent him an apologetic look.“It’s already hers,” he assured.“It’s just… I mean, I knew that Risky thought well of Sheriff Carter, but to be scared for him is something I admit I hadn’t considered.”“Risky’s a good kid,” Allison reached out to squeeze her arm. “I’m just sorry that she had to go through something like this.”“Uh, if you have the time later,” Henry rubbed his mouth. “I think Allison and myself have some information you need to know about.”“Of course. I’ll email you when I’m taking my break,” she promised.“That will be more than fine,” he told her before Zane noticed the frown on DiNozzo’s face.“Something wrong?” he quietly wanted to know.“Maybe,” he tilted his head before shrugging. “It’s… probably nothing.”He might have pushed for something more, but Ethan suddenly crashed into Henry for a giant hug. “Mayor,” he leaned back with a shuddering sigh, tears flowing down his face and a hankie clasped in a hand. “I can’t thank you enough for your kind words. I just… I can’t think of anything right now. Oh, you must be the Third Party investigator,” he caught sight of DiNozzo. “Thank you so much for all your hard work. And make sure Dr. Hern’s going to be alright, too, okay? He lost his best friend… well, they may as well have been best friends. And please keep everyone updated on the Sheriff, please,” he turned to Allison. “Risky simply thinks the world of him and she’s been so upset at being kept from him.”“Of course,” Allison agreed.“I’ll pass any updates to Risky,” Natalie also promised, “but I honestly had no idea that she even knew he existed.”“Oh, she knew, alright,” Ethan’s chuckle was both watery and fond. “Hard not to when you end up turning a baking session into story-time. That’s why I kept using the baking excuse. Oh, I knew Risky didn’t think much of us as adults in general, never did in a typical little girl way, so I thought their project would go smoother if she was at least friendly with us. I found out quite by accident that she listened when Sheriff Carter was brought up and I used that to my advantage. Whatever I could find out from Vincent about Carter is what I told Risky and… well, I don’t want to pry, but…” he glanced at Natalie. “I always thought Risky had a bad case of hero worship until one of Trix’s tea parties.“I’d just come back from the bathroom when I overheard the two of them talking about Trix’s uncle and how he did amazing things in the military. Not unusual with Trix, but then the topic shifted to Carter and I noticed how Risky’s tone changed almost immediately. She dominated the conversation to an astonishing degree and it was actually alarming to hear that degree of adoration in her voice. I was going to say something,” he hastily continued at their looks, “but I wanted to think it over, so I went to Café Diem and that’s when the last piece of the puzzle clicked into place. Some of the Tesla students were trading stories about the adults in their lives and some of them had the same adoring tone that Risky had when talking about Carter.”“Oh,” Natalie wasn’t sure how to react to that and neither was the rest of them.“And then Risky found out that Carter was going to be there for all the trials and the actual testing and she was floating on air for weeks,” Ethan’s smile was fond. “I think that's why this came as such a shock for the both of us,” he sighed. “Risky wanted this to go well so she could have a chance to spend some time with… her idol, I guess. And she spent so much time getting ready for success that I can’t imagine how she must really feel about all this,” he waved a hand back at the coffin and those who waited for him to come back. “She expected Carter’s attention following such a good trial run and she was prepared to explain everything for him. She even asked some of the local ‘Norms’ to look over her explanations to ensure they understood it before she could try it on Carter. She thinks the absolute world of him and this must have hurt more than her pride. Carter’s still in isolation, right? I would expect some heavy groveling if I were him.”“We’ll warn him,” Holly promised. “I mean, let him know.”“I honestly had no idea,” Natalie shook her head. “Why didn’t she ever say anything? I’m sure we could have invited the Sheriff and Dr. Blake over for dinner.”DiNozzo’s sudden coughing fit had Allison suddenly materializing right next to him.“You shouldn’t have stayed out all night with your lungs,” she chided before pressing a hand to his forehead. “It gets chilly at night out here, and it’s lunchtime, anyway. We’ll see you later, Ethan. Natalie, we’ll see you and Risky later.”“Wait,” Fargo frowned at her. “What’s wrong with his lungs?”“Respiratory issues,” DiNozzo smoothly broke off whatever Allison was about to say.“And those issues aren’t going to get any better without some warm tea and honey,” she smoothly followed his lead and changed what she was about to say. “I should have suggested it last night before bed,” she muttered to herself before beginning to tow him back to the cars.“And they’re my ride, so I’ll see you guys at lunch,” Zane took off after them. They were just joining the flow of traffic in the car when Zane had to note, “Convenient cough.”“Yeah,” DiNozzo rode shotgun in front because of his long legs as Zane sat behind Allison. “But I’m not entirely sure that Allison would’ve been all that welcome to dinner.”“She’s great with kids,” Zane pointed out.“Yeah, not the problem. It’s the fact that she would’ve been there at all. I think that might be why Risky had never said anything.”“Explain,” he frowned.“Well, up until you found out about his magic, Carter and Allison were more or less exclusive, right?”“And I decided that Magic was bigger than just me,” she jumped in, “so I decided to back off for our friends to know everything I do at the same time.”“I’m pretty sure everyone thinks you’re always close to getting back together,” Zane shrugged.“I know, but Magic is still an unknown to me and it affects you, Jo, Fargo, Holly, Tag, Henry and Grace and not just me. It’s best that we all go through this together and I’d like to show Carter that I am prepared to be his friend first in all this. Being his friend helps me better understand him as a Magical person and allows me to step back to absorb better. I can get the time and space I wouldn’t get without making it seem like I can’t handle it or him. And we’ve talked about it before all this happened. He completely understands that I’ll need more to go on in that aspect and that we’ll revisit the conversation in a couple more years if all goes well.”Which puts her on neutral ground and unbiased.“And I’m not arguing that,” DiNozzo bobbed his head, “but I’m also not sure everyone in town thinks you’re just friends, either. Maybe I’m crazy, but - dollars to donuts - Risky still wouldn’t want you there.”“Wait,” Zane sat back in his seat. “You think Risky saying something would get her to spend more time with Carter, which would make Allison jealous? Even if it’s not Natalie he’d be spending time with?”“Or,” Allison frowned thoughtfully, “maybe Carter might think he should try dating her mother since Risky’s so adoring of him.”“And how would you take that?” Zane wanted to know, because Carter so totally would think something like that.“Depends on who came up with the idea,” she shrugged. “It’s not unusual for a child coming from a single parent home to want his or her parent to like an adult they attach themselves to. I’m not sure Natalie would go along with it, though. But she and Carter could try for Risky’s sake.”“I’m not sure Risky understands that a father figure doesn’t actually have to be her father,” DiNozzo observed. “She’s still a kid despite her IQ level.”“When Carter gets back,” Allison vowed, “she’ll be able to spend as much time with him that she’s able to get. As much as she wants.”“What happened to her dad?” Zane quietly asked.“Car accident,” Allison shook her head. “She was barely old enough to remember him. They moved to town not a year later for a fresh start. My God, Carter must remind her of her father,” she realized. “At least from her early memories and what her mother must have told her.”“I wonder what he’ll think of all this,” Zane sighed, rubbing his eyes. There was Zoe, Kevin and Jenna and who knew what they would think of Risky being more or less adopted into the family.“Let’s take it one thing at a time,” Allison eventually spoke as they made their way to Café Diem.“Who figured out about the rubber caps?” DiNozzo asked as Allison parked.“Me and Henry after the investigation team,” Zane frowned. “Why?”“No reason,” he shook his head, but Zane couldn’t see his face.They got inside Diem to find a crowd already gathered in a quiet, solemn mass, but they found a free table in the back and Zane claimed it before letting Allison and DiNozzo slide in first.The others eventually arrived and trickled over, Vincent knowing exactly what to make for them. Zane noted the lack of consulting with DiNozzo for his.“So, I guess you’ll just be here for vacation, more or less,” Jo idly commented to DiNozzo. “Now that the reports are going to be written up.”“I’ll need a copy of everyone’s reports just so we’ve got all our bases covered,” DiNozzo informed them. “Er, in layman’s terms. Just the barest details on the experiment and what happened. And, uh, start writing it after dinner, okay?”“Any particular reason why?” Henry asked, a glint of interest in his eyes.“Protocol,” he shrugged. “That and Donners called this morning,” he made a face. “There’s been an incident and I’ve been summarily banned from HQ due to my respiratory issues.”“Oh, that reminds me,” Allison called for Vincent, who wasted no time in teleporting over to them. “Some of your most soothing throat teas for Agent DiNozzo. He had a bit of a cough earlier and he was out all last night, so…”“I will have my very best tea ready in two shakes,” he immediately darted off.“Take your time,” DiNozzo waved a hand. “Don’t rush.”“We’ll have them written by dinner, then,” Holly promised, getting back on topic.“Or you can start by dinner. Makes no difference to me. I’m still going to have to send them by… Post tomorrow. Not tonight as I’ve been threat – er, told very strongly. And it’s Thursday today, so I’ll hopefully be out of your hair by Saturday afternoon at the latest.”“We’ll miss you, mate,” Tag held a hand out, one that the Italian gladly clasped. “It’s,” he sniffed, “it’s been a ride with you, lad.”“He’s not leaving, yet, Taggart,” Allison sighed.“Better get all the blubbering out of the way first, that’s the key,” he took his hand back and wiped at his eyes.Vince came back a few minutes later with a steaming cup of tea in hand. “Try this and see if you like it,” he sat the cup down in front of the Wizard and they all watched him take a sip, Vince anxiously wringing his hands as he waited for the verdict.“Not bad,” DiNozzo finally decided. “I’ll finish this one, but I’m partial to vanilla,” he offered.“The finest vanilla bits are at your command, my good sir,” Vince promised as he bowed before checking on their food.“What’s it really taste like?” Grace raised a brow.“It really tastes good,” he insisted. “It’s just that I have this friend who likes making vanilla tea and I got used to it. But this one’s not bad, either.”Their food and the rest of the drink orders came out before Vince decided to focus on his other customers, leaving DiNozzo with cheesy scrambled eggs, a small side plate of chips and half a ham sandwich.Exactly something that Carter would’ve had.“I’m beginning to detect a pattern,” Henry looked over the meal with something akin to amusement.“Yeah,” Jo agreed. “Why is Vincent giving DiNozzo food that Carter would order?”“Well, Carter’s got good taste, I’m starting to find,” the Wizard smiled slightly. “Especially with food.”“How ‘bout the rest of us?” Allison smiled teasingly, probably fishing for compliments. She was genuinely curious, though, and Zane was, too, if he thought about it. “Does Carter have good taste?”“I think,” the Wizard answered slowly. “He’s got a knack for building a team. And some of you are an acquired taste, but you grow on a person. Which might explain why no one’s shot you yet.”“I’ll take it,” Zane nodded as he sipped his iced latte.“And Allison?” Fargo questioned. “I mean, she’s hot.”“She is,” Holly agreed, not seeing anything wrong with telling the truth.“Oh, uh,” DiNozzo shrugged. “I… didn’t notice.”“You’re joking,” the table chorused in disbelief.“How could you not notice Allison?” Grace flapped a hand at him. “Shoot, if I swung that way, you can bet Carter would have competition. Nothing against Henry, of course,” she added as an afterthought.“No offense taken,” Henry smiled agreeably.“No, no,” DiNozzo shook his head. “It’s … I’m… in a relationship right now and we’re really just beginning the dating stage… and … well…”“Say no more,” Allison squeezed his arm with a smile. “I’m honest enough with myself – I like to think – to be disappointed at not being told that Carter has good taste where I’m concerned, but I understand why.”“You must really like them if you want to keep your eyes away from other people,” Jo tilted her head.“It’s technically their first relationship, so I want to be sure this goes well,” DiNozzo sounded almost shy. “Especially for future relationships they might decide to have.”“And I’m sure you’ll set the standard ‘they’ will always measure everyone else against,” Allison predicted.“I really hope so,” he ducked his head.Zane couldn’t help noticing the lack of specific pronouns and hid his smirk with his breakfast burrito. DiNozzo didn’t really peg him as in the closet – or gay at all -, but you just didn’t know about people anymore.(Or Zane didn’t know the fact that ‘they’ actually meant ‘they’ as in plural, being two boys and one girl.)Their ‘brunch’ continued and some people came up to thank DiNozzo for all he’d done in helping with Carter and being so understanding about their quirky town and for all the other things to make him feel like he’d actually made a difference.“Not like I actually did anything,” he complained after one such display of gratitude. “All I managed to do was get reported to and almost get killed a couple times and that wasn’t even related to the relevant investigation at all. I was locked out of it.”“That’s mostly what happens,” Henry acknowledged. “Especially when it comes to non-scientists coming in.”“Yup,” Jo nodded. “And files and experience mean nothing to this town when it comes to people like you or me. Or Carter, really.”Vince eventually made a reappearance to put DiNozzo’s new tea in front of him. “Can I get anyone anything else?” he glanced around.“ A ‘spresso to go,” the Wizard decided. “I need the caffeine.”“Which will be waiting for your signal,” Vince assured before darting back off.“You do look tired, if you don’t mind my saying so,” Henry said from his seat in front of Zane.“Rough night,” he shrugged.“So, what’s everyone’s plans for today?” Grace wanted to know, effectively changing the subject.“Thought I’d walk the town,” DiNozzo tilted his head at Henry. “To see if anything changed since yesterday.”“I’ll go with you,” Zane volunteered. “Need to swing by a few places myself.”“Best I head to Day Trip,” Taggart added. “Someone reported strange things going on with the animals in the area.”“Day Trip?” Zane whistled. “That’s about two hours out of town and at least a two day walk.”“Not all the way, mind,” he raised a hand. “Just in the first hour along the trail.”“Come again?” DiNozzo did a double take.“Lab space,” Fargo waved a hand. “Raffle’s underway. Long story.”“Oh, that reminds me,” Holly snapped her fingers. “I’ve gotten reports of energy spikes in the large lab, er, End Goal and that shouldn’t be possible.”“It’s probably just a maintenance crew,” Fargo waved a dismissive hand. “I sent one out some days ago and they must’ve been waylaid. Most likely nothing.”Holly thought about it a moment before conceding the point.“And I think you should double check,” DiNozzo twirled his fork on his empty plate. “That’s what I would do.”“Yeah, but you’re not in charge,” Fargo retorted. “And you’re not the boss of me. Because I am.”“I could double check for you,” he deadpanned, completely serious. “Save you the effort and probably cause some chaos and mayhem while I’m at it.”“You wouldn’t dare,” Fargo narrowed his eyes.“Maybe not intentionally, anyway. My skills don’t exactly get on with science, as I’m sure you might understand,” he raised a challenging brow.“I’ll double check,” Allison interrupted Fargo’s sputtering. “And I’ll let you know what I find.”“Thank you,” DiNozzo rubbed his eyes before frowning. “Is there some kind of… thing around here?”“And what ‘thing’ could that be?” Zane raised a brow.“I don’t know. Maybe… I want to say some storage space for Carter’s things?”“Not in the bunker?” Grace frowned.“No, Carter keeps… things up to date there, but… something’s failing.”“Is it dangerous?” Allison demanded to know, suddenly tense.“No, no,” he hastily assured. “Not that complex. If it was dangerous, it wouldn’t be up… unless… it’s some sort of shield… I don’t know.”“You could go to the storage facility,” Holly suggested. “I mean, if what you’re looking for isn’t at the Bunker, it might be there.”“And I’ll be happy to take you there,” Zane smirked before a thought crossed his mind. “That didn’t come out right.”“You just want him all to yourself!” Fargo pointed an accusing finger at him. “You got jealous of what happened last night, so now you’re hoping to get some adventure yourself!”“Well, yeah,” Zane shrugged. “You had him last night and left me out of the fun. What’s wrong with spending some one on one with him? … that still didn’t come out right.”“Well, if I start hearing about me cheating on one of you with the other, there will be consequences,” DiNozzo idly threatened.“Yeah,” JoJo growled. “Me.”“I’m convinced,” Zane conceded. If he wanted to see JoJo outside work hours, then he wasn’t going to make it sound like he was digging someone already taken anyway.But…He couldn’t help the once over his green/blue eyes gave the Italian.“I’m guessing JoJo wouldn’t like sharing. Sorry, pal,” he shrugged.“I take it back,” Jo rolled her brown eyes. “You can have him.”“He’ll probably be begging you to take him back after a while,” DiNozzo said almost bitterly.“Hey,” he frowned. “You’ve got all good traits. Any guy – or girl – would be lucky to have you.”“Don’t put yourself down like that, Agent DiNozzo,” Holly added, earnestly imploring. “I mean, Zane’s right. You can be seen as quite the catch.”“Yeah, I think it might be time to get going,” the Wizard almost dumped Zane on the floor, he couldn’t escape fast enough. “Vince!”“Well, I mean, he is,” Holly shrugged as they watched him go in puzzled silence. “Not that I speak for myself, of course.”“I guess he’s nice to look at,” Fargo shrugged uncertainly. “But he’s not my type.”“It’s obviously a sore subject,” Allison sighed, draining her coffee. “I think we should just let this one go. Zane, don’t bother him about it, okay? He’s not Carter, so he won’t react the same way.”“Done,” he gave her a small smile before jogging over to where DiNozzo was waiting for him by Carter’s tree. “Ready to get going? How are we going to do this?”Green eyes studied him warily as if he was waiting for the topic to make a reappearance, but Zane was as good as his word and wouldn’t push a sensitive issue that probably had a big story behind it.The last thing Zane wanted to do was alienate another Wizard when Carter had confessed that Muggles like them weren’t looked favorably on in his world. DiNozzo never made any of them feel inferior and that went a long way for him.“Well, come on,” he cajoled. “If it’s true and something’s about to go down, we should probably check it out.”“Okay,” he nodded, still wary and kind of defensive as he sipped his coffee and led the way out.They walked in mostly silence, though Zane could see the Wizard going distant every time they started approaching certain spots. Those must’ve been the ‘Wizard traps’ Henry said they’d put up earlier. In the hour since they left Café Diem, Zane noted three of them evenly spaced out.“Anything yet?” he idly wanted to know.“No,” he frowned almost to himself.“And this is bad?” Zane frowned in response.“Hm? Oh, no… I’m just not picking up on recent activity. I set these things so that they detect active… ‘ability’, but I’m not getting a thing. Kind of strange and unusual for Carter to be the only one. There would at least be one or two others.”“Huh,” he nodded. “Okay. Well, the storage facility is maybe another hour plus from here if you feel like taking a walk.”DiNozzo didn’t exactly look like he heard as he still frowned to himself, but obediently followed Zane as he started walking ahead. It would usually just take about an hour or so to get there by car, but Zane had walked these streets for a long time and knew ways to get them there. He just made sure to check back on him in case he decided to stop in front of oncoming traffic or something.“So,” he put his hands in his pockets as he waited for the Wizard to catch up to him. “Liking it here, so far?”“Uh, yeah. Not a bad place to live.”“No, it’s not.”Not even with the time-traveling group being so completely different to what he knew about them before. Not like Zane could actually say anything about it to the new guy, anyway. Only he and Grace truly knew the entire story outside the group – and ‘Charles’ Grant in absentia -, but the unspoken rule he and Grace agreed on was that the secret went no further.Besides which, Carter had already been freaked when Zane had had to fill out Knowledgeable Muggle paperwork – all of them did. Carter hid from no one his anxiety for the month following, dropping by to check they were still there and not having been visited by the Agency in charge of Magical America. He could only imagine Carter’s panic at the idea that an Agent was coming to straighten things out and would effectively be alone with ‘his Muggles.’Once said Agent was once more next to him, Zane leaned a little closer. “Um, I had to fill out paperwork about knowing about your abilities,” he lowered his voice. “And Carter was on edge for more than a month after. Exactly how dangerous is this knowledge?”DiNozzo heaved a sigh before scrubbing a hand through his hair. “It didn’t used to be like this,” he began as they kept walking. “There was a time that there was no ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality. Up until the turn of the 17th Century, we were mostly friends, but that began to change. Witch hunts and your people using ours for selfish reasons is why this division came to be. And a lot of us would happily forget your existence if it weren’t for all these rules about what we can and cannot do around you. America is trying to change that with the KM designation like yourself, but the traditions and secrecy are too ingrained, like what I said earlier. Those of us with KMs will need to apply for, basically, a passport so that the International Community will know that you are off limits and any attack will be paramount to an attack on the Agency.“I can’t be certain that Carter is aware that not every single one of us is ready to make you or your memories disappear, but seeing as he came from your side originally, it makes his paranoia and reluctance that much more understandable.”“So, if we do something that you see as an attack on you,” Zane thought it over, “we’ll pretty much end up redacted and our clearance revoked.” (a)“Sounds about right, yeah.”And that was a scary thought.It made Carter’s coming out that much more meaningful and he could’ve gotten them all in serious trouble had it been anywhere else.The others were definitely gonna need to be read in on this as soon as Zane got back to Global and they gathered in Fargo’s office.“But Carter ‘came from our side’,” Zane repeated thoughtfully. “What difference would that make?”“A difference,” he didn’t bother with details. Zane couldn’t be sure if that was because it was bad or if him being unable to fully understand was the main reason.Zane had nothing to really go on, but suspected that it was kind of both.Carter had made it sound like he was being almost hated sometimes, but maybe it was an overreaction more than actual fact. Fear did things to people and made them act out of character, whether the danger was real or imagined. More than likely, it was both and yet… every imagined fear had some grain of truth in it.It all came back to not actually being an active member of Carter’s world. As Zane himself had said, ‘it gets lost in translation.’Luckily, Zane led DiNozzo down more shortcuts than long scenic routes, so they soon got to Eureka’s Residential Overflow Storage Facility. Everyone had one whether they used it or not and the large complex was broken down by street, then family.“I see,” DiNozzo nodded when he explained the layout. “And everyone, even if they don’t need it, has to have a spot.”“Yup. Oh, that reminds me. I should probably do some troubleshooting while I’m here,” he frowned. “There was an issue with the doors and someone almost suffocated in their airtight room.”No one had been able to really get to that, but Zane figured he should look into it now that he was here.“Come on,” he absently waved. “This way.”It was a complex of about 20 buildings, four stories high, all 3,000 plus citizens of Eureka trusting things to the facility. Most were GD employees, though some interns would be put on rotation every two months. In each of the 20 buildings, whole spaces were dedicated to individual families – if they chose to use them. Depending on the size of the household; singles and pairs not yet with children were assigned smaller spaces, but even they could fit things into their actual house.“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever noticed Carter using this place,” he mused, going up to Catch All Eight. It was for those who didn’t live in a typical neighborhood like Carter and Zoe had. There were actually a surprising number of the Catch Alls, which led to their own building.Zane and DiNozzo walked up to the building and Zane got them in. There was both a set of stairs and a bank of elevators that serviced the four stories. “Up the stairs to the second floor,” Zane directed, going to the stairs almost to the side of the entrance doors. It was two short flights before they reached the second floor landing and stepped out into the hall full of named doors. “Carter’s storage is on the left. I’m going to head to the computer bank on the fourth floor, so don’t go off and leave me to explain how I lost you to the others.”“Wouldn’t dream of it,” DiNozzo nodded before they both went their separate ways.Zane soon came upon the central computer bank that Eight ran on. Everything from the temperature and humidity to the overhead lights were controlled there using GD grade software that Zane checked on once in awhile. He was familiar with the system, so he had no trouble pulling up the incident report filed under ‘Hern’.About this time last week – almost three hours before dinner and at least a day before Carter’s accident -, Hern had gone to retrieve an old scrapbook he’d intended to show Carter and found that he couldn’t get back out. Carter had been the one to find that something was even wrong. Zane had been in the middle of paperwork when it happened, but he’d heard and read the report of Carter having agreed to look over the book before dinner. When Hern hadn’t come back, however, Carter had taken Andy and went looking for him. Fargo got involved after that and the consensus was that the nearest lab space created some kind of power surge that locked building Eight down.Zane had been preoccupied with the aftermath of Carter’s accident to really do much, but now that he was here, he might as well check how badly the rest of the system fared.One by one, he checked through every possible program linked to the computer bank and, one by one, he saw each of them doing okay.Huh.Now wasn’t that just the strangest thing.That power surge should’ve done something somewhere, but he wasn’t finding it at that moment. Maybe he had to isolate the door locking program and troubleshoot that one on its own since that was the one that caused the most trouble and almost suffocated someone.By the time he patched the door program up from the holes that the power surge must’ve caused, a solid two hours had passed and there was certainly the passage of ten more minutes that threatened to add an additional half hour to the clock.“There,” he straightened his back with a wince at the cracks and a sigh as bones slid back to where they belonged. “That should do it.”None of the other buildings had been affected, but a team had systematically been checking every building around Eight. He left a digital note about what he’d done for the team to find and made his way back down to the second floor to collect his Wizard guest and head back to town.“Agent DiNozzo,” he almost sang as he walked into Carter’s storage space with a spring in his step. “Did you find what you were looking for? Agent DiNozzo?” he frowned as he came almost to a stop in the middle of the space.Carter most certainly used his space, Zane confirmed as he glanced around at the boxes hiding who knew what from prying eyes. And boxes were honestly all he could account for. No brown haired Wizard anywhere as far as the eye could see.“Uh, Agent DiNozzo? he called a little louder. “You in here?”But it was just him. No one else.Zane didn’t panic, though. He’d been keeping an eye on any visitors while he was upstairs, but no one had come in since they arrived. Not to their building, anyway, and Zane would’ve been notified if the Agent had left the building.Maybe he’d wandered out to another room. It was possible since Zane had taken a moment to put him on the shortlist of people who had access to the floor and the Sheriff’s space in particular.At least, he hoped that was the case.He’d had to temporarily take the elevators off-line, so Zane had hopefully not accidently gotten him stuck in one.Just to be sure, Zane headed out to the hall and systematically started knocking on every door and pushing the elevator buttons until he was absolutely certain that DiNozzo wasn’t anywhere else on the floor.Okay. Now what?Zane slowly made his way back to Carter’s space and frowned at the empty room he still found himself in. Maybe he’d gone out looking for him.Again, possible. Maybe the Wizard even checked up on him while he was busy just to be sure he was still up there. He just wouldn’t have gone out or Zane would’ve noticed.“DiNozzo? Tony?” he called again. “Hey, where’d you –”“Ready yet?” he did not squeak at the voice that suddenly spoke from behind him in the formerly empty room. “Thought I was going to have to come up there to get you.”“Oh, nah,” he shook off his surprise as he turned to see the Wizard leaning against a corner he swore was empty a minute ago. “Where’d you run off to, anyway?”“Around,” he shrugged, Zane’s eyes being drawn to the box he held under one arm. “Sorry if I scared you.”“No, you didn’t,” he denied before nodding at the box. “Whatcha got there?”“Something I didn’t actually expect from straight laced Sheriff Carter,” a glitter of amusement beamed in his green eyes. “I’ll tell you, it was quite honestly a crazy surprise.”“A Magic thing, isn’t it?” he guessed. “Will I understand it?”“I’ll tell you one thing, Donovan. The fact that Carter is now a cat is no longer that shocking. Especially with what I know now.”“Which would be?”“This,” DiNozzo tapped the box. “Imagine my surprise when I find cat supplies right where that charm was fading. I shored it up, by the way, and it should hold until Carter can take care of it in a few days.”“Cat supplies?” Zane echoed with a frown.The Wizard reached into the box and extracted –“Is that a pink boa?” he took in the fluffy neck covering as DiNozzo wiggled it at him.“Yup. There’s catnip and cat toys and even a scratching post in here.”“He doesn’t even have a cat… I think.”“He doesn’t need to have one. Did you read anything on Transfiguration, yet?”“Henry’s got all Carter’s Transfiguration books, but he’s not even halfway through Second Year, yet.”“Well, in the advanced books, there’s a subject that you all might want to read up on. And it’s relevant to what’s going on now.”“I don’t get it,” Zane shook his head.“There is a type of Magical,” he explained, still grinning in amusement, “that can do incredible things. One of these things is the hard won ability to shapeshift at will.”“That’s awesome,” Zane nodded, “but still not seeing the relation, here.”“Think about it. Carter has all this cat stuff despite not having a cat. But he’s a cat now, so he can use all this stuff now.”“Wait,” Zane frowned as he thought and connected the dots. “Wait, so… you mean that Carter’s… what? A shapeshifter?”“Well, we call them Animagi. They change into one specific animal and no two are ever alike. Except one case, but we’re still working on sorting that out. But yeah. I think Carter’s an Animagus. An animal shifter who can shift into a cat. I always wondered why he had to be a cat and not anything else. Carter’s magic condensed him into the form he was most familiar with and - dollars to donuts - he’s unregistered.”“You have to register when you become one of these Animagi?” Zane tilted his head.“Well, let me rephrase. It is expected of you to register, but it’s a dangerous, difficult process of actually being capable of shifting that you would have to formally declare your intent to learn and you become a Registered Animagi.”“Uh huh,” Zane felt the smile growing on his face. “And if you didn’t formally declare your intent?”“You could still do it, but it’s illegal to be Unregistered. Unless, of course, you are a Magical involved in shady business and then you might not actually decide to register. Sometimes, it’s probably for the best that you don’t register or you will not end up in a good place. So, yeah, it’s technically illegal to stay unregistered, but Magical countries like to keep aces up their sleeves so it gets kind of grey sometimes. There are cases, however, where a Wizard might end up Animagus in an unwilling fashion, like by accident. Typically in a really bad situation and all these factors align in the right place at the right time.“Not a lot of cases, mind, but I couldn’t help wondering about Carter’s cat form. On the one hand, the blast could have caused him to be an accidental Animagus, but, then again, you could still end up as an animal and still not be Animagus material. One of my co-workers at the MNP office got turned into a bird by accident my first year there and he’s still not an Animagus, legal or otherwise. So, you know. Knowing Carter is unregistered is actually a relief, because that means he’ll know how to switch back after the block wears off. One less thing to worry about.”“So Carter’s not completely by the book,” Zane felt both respect and giddy at knowing Carter wasn’t too much different than he was. And while he wouldn’t claim to know anything of what he went through pre-Eureka in either timeline, he imagined the skill to be very useful indeed in the Muggle world.But DiNozzo now knew about Carter’s ability.“And you’ll confront him about this?” his brow furrowed. “Dude, Carter’s gonna bolt when he finds out that you know.”“So? Not like I’ll be reporting him, after all,” he shrugged. “And don’t worry. I have a way to calm those fears.”“Yeah? What’s that?”“Four paws and a black coat,” he cryptically answered. The wink and the relaxed way he talked about it, however, made Zane begin suspecting that hauling Carter’s ass in for being Unregistered would very likely be a hypocritical move on his part. Which meant that Carter had absolutely nothing to worry about in the least and Zane felt the tension in his shoulders ease.“Alright, then,” DiNozzo shrunk the box and put it in his pocket. “Did you get everything fixed up there?”“Uh, yeah. A few holes patched up, nothing I couldn’t handle. How about yours? Clear that up?”“Within minutes. I think I’m ready for another meal at this point.”“I am, too,” he nodded. “Let’s go.”They were just ambling their way from the facility when DiNozzo loosed a thoughtful sigh. “Far be it for me to stick my nose into your science,” he frowned, “but something just doesn’t make sense.”“Yeah? How’s that?” he tilted his head questioningly.“You said it was the rubber caps, right? And that’s what Risky told me that she was in charge of. Things like that. You guys checked the calculations, right? All of them?”“Looked over them myself and I found nothing wrong. Everything looked good right up until the damn thing went up. Yes, dealing with oil is dangerous, but we had protocols in place to separate the oil components and the rest of it. The caps should have been another layer, but something obviously went wrong because these were too thin and even if the caps failed, the thing still wouldn’t have gone up like that.”“So, it was something else,” DiNozzo concluded.“No, it was the caps that started the chain reaction.”“I don’t think so.”Zane stopped walking at the tone and frowned at him. “What do you mean?”He frowned to himself before amending, “I think the caps did it, but don’t tell me you didn’t tear that thing down to the damn bolts.”“Well, we didn’t. The caps were the culprit, which caused the chain reaction. If they had held, you wouldn’t be here right now and Carter would be calling me to take care of something at the spa or something.”“You guys have a spa?” he shook his head to focus. “Never mind that. Take the damn experiment apart and then explain to me what happened.”“We already figured it out, dude. Let it go.”“No, see, I don’t think you did. It wasn’t Risky’s fault, it couldn’t be.”“But she’s a kid and kids make mistakes. You’re very much aware of this, yes? Hell, even adults make mistakes.”“And normally, you’d be right. But think about what Ethan said earlier. Risky adores Carter. She would never put him in danger, which means that she would want everything to be perfect. And people who want everything to be perfect turn into OCD perfectionists. Now take the damn thing apart and tell me what went wrong.”“What do you have against this whole thing?” Zane threw up his hands in exasperation. “It was an accident –”“But it can’t be an accident, don’t you see? Risky is aware of what Carter means to this town. She had enough warning to know that he was going to be there that day and would have triple checked everything she could get her hands on. She was prepared enough to have effectively started a teaching session should the thing have gone well. And I think she was betting on that. Risky wanted Carter to be proud of her, so she covered all her bases to make damn sure he would. I don’t understand how she could’ve missed the caps. What if she didn’t?”“You know what you’re saying, right?” Zane crossed his arms with a deep frown. “Sabotage.”“Exactly!” he threw up his hands as if saying ‘Hallelujah! His eyes have been opened at last.’“All this because Risky pretty much worships the ground Carter walks on? She was excited and made a mistake! That’s all there is to it.”“No, it’s not. She also told me that the shutdown failed when Strutger tried shutting it off. She was behind Carter, though, so she didn’t see him do it.”“So what?” he shrugged. “Sometimes, the primary ones shut down all the time. That’s why there’s back-ups and…” he trailed off as a thought occurred to him.“What?” DiNozzo eyed him. “I know that look.”“There’s a computer/control console in front of the project. We found Strutger behind it.”“I’m sensing this going somewhere…” he made a ‘continue’ motion with an arm.“All three of them should’ve died instead of just Strutger, but magic helped save two of them. Strutger was close enough to die once the explosion happened, but he was face up,” Zane realized as he thought back over the details he had gone over in the course of investigating. “There were two ways to shut down the project. First is a key and button that only Strutger had and only he could use. That’s the primary shutdown. If that failed, then he should’ve gone for the second option code on the wall and to the side of the project.”“But he was found behind the console,” DiNozzo watched him. “On his back. If he’d tried running, he would’ve been face down or at least all the way across the room. If the blast caught him unaware and he was to the side, there’s no way he could’ve been found face up behind the console.”“Unless… no,” he rocked back on his heels. “The procedure said two ways, Strutger chose that lab for that reason. You said Risky adores Carter, so… is it possible that Risky could have incorporated something that Carter said on a whim? Ethan said he told Risky everything he could about Carter and there was something Carter said about two months ago now about – oh my god,” his eyes widened.That explained everything!“I have to tear that damned thing apart!”“So I was right,” DiNozzo mused.“I – I have to go back and check, but if he tried and – face up – I have to get back to GD. Come on.”Zane led him down every shortcut back to Café Diem he could think of, both taking the trip back at a run that had them crashing through the doors roughly an hour later.“Well, there you two are,” Vince came over with a cup holder full of Vinspresso and sugar packets. “Deputy Andy called to see if I could keep an eye out for you. You’re being summoned to the Spa.”“What? Vincent, I’m kind of in the middle of something right now,” Zane scowled, trying to get his breath back. “We’re heading back to Global –”“Jo’s on her way here right now to pick you boys up,” he went on. “They need your hacking skills, pronto.”“What would I even hack?”“I don’t have details, but Jo was insistent,” Vince shrugged before flitting off at the bell.Zane dropped his head back with a groan before taking his phone out with every intention of calling someone to take care of Strutger’s project until a hand clamped down on his before he could try. “The hell?” he scowled at DiNozzo.“Tell me you weren’t going to call someone to take care of your job,” something in his green eyes stopped Zane’s comeback cold. “Donovan, the first thing you need to understand,” he stepped closer, “is that you trust your team to have your back. To work on your hunches when there’s nothing else available. But above all else, Zane,” he held his gaze, “either you get a teammate to do it or do it yourself. No outsiders.”“Oh,” he winced. “Thanks for reminding me,” he nonchalantly nodded and messed around with his phone before pocketing it again. He understood the message about keeping it only between the two of them for now until he could get there himself to check it out. Someone could overhear and realize they were on to them.And thoughts of that could lead to thoughts of who he could trust with this.The group who knew about Magic were the only other ones he could think to talk to about this and he couldn’t tell anyone else on the chance that someone else would tell the wrong person.And after what he realized earlier, it was most definitely a concern. Because DiNozzo had been right.And if Zane’s suspicion panned out, this was no longer an accident.Something that only three people knew about at this moment: himself, DiNozzo and whoever did it.Well, three people as of right now, anyway.“Do you have any idea where I’ve been looking for you?” and there was sweet JoJo’s familiar growl. DiNozzo picked up the coffee and turned to watch her approach. “You both need to get in the car so we can head out. Well, I guess DiNozzo can come if he wants, but I don’t have time for decisions, so the two of you are coming with me like it or not.”“Yes, ma’am,” DiNozzo subserviently took the dismissal and Zane was left to be the target of Jo’s narrowed gaze.“Suck up,” he rolled his eyes.“Hey, DiNozzo knows how to follow direct orders unlike someone else I should mention, so don’t be pissy that I like him better right now. Now let’s go, mister,” he winced at the grip on his elbow that steered him out the door.The three of them piled into Jo’s car before they were on their way in no time.Zane simply sighed, resigned to wait for food, and turned to see DiNozzo flicking his eyes at Jo in a meaningful manner. Once the Wizard had his attention, he cleared his throat.“Actually, Lupo, I was just telling Zane, here, that we need to have a get together in Fargo’s office. Preferably later tonight after he’s crossed a few ‘t’s, dotted a few ‘i’s and loosened some bolts.”“Which will totally be done in time for the meeting,” Zane got the message.Jo seemed aware of a message being transmitted, but wasn’t sure what kind. She simply nodded and would hopefully pass the word along to the others.They got to the Spa and Jo led them down one trail and up another several times before they got to the Building.It was the only one on the Spa compound, so everyone knew it and it didn’t need to be named. Inside, whole spaces were dedicated to soothing climes created artificially for those high-strung enough to immerse themselves completely in comforting sounds. Everything from nighttime on the back porch to thunderstorms were contained on the ground floor.The first floor had indoor meditation rooms for those who didn’t have time to wander around looking for the outdoor stations. The second floor also had exercise/activity rooms that were carefully supervised after the Ping Pong Incident that had happened before Carter had come clean about his Magic and Zane remembered that Carter had been jumping at every little thing for the next week.Slanting a glance at DiNozzo as they headed to the third floor, Zane couldn’t help thinking about it before shuffling a little closer and lowering his voice. “Ping pong,” he mused.“What about it?” DiNozzo frowned.“Before Carter told us, there was an incident with the ping pong balls. Any reason that he was jumpy for a week after?”“Ah,” he winced, confirming that theory. “I was hoping he didn’t know about Utah. It’s a long story that’ll probably make you jumpy, too. Think of a regular ping pong ball, okay? Now think of a ping pong ball that is sentient and self-propelling.”“Damn,” Jo flinched. “What the hell kind of torture is that?” because both she and Zane were filling in blanks.“Either punishment or hazing,” he heaved a deep sigh. “It’s different for me in Missouri.”“So, it’s a usual thing?” Zane balked.“Everyone has to go through it as part of Agent duties,” he didn’t go into detail. “Even Carter had to go through it.”The third and fourth floors were for holographic exhibits geared toward quiet groups, but there were also individual spaces for quiet time. Although none of them had ever actually seen Carter at the holographic areas – an incident mirrored in his original timeline making it necessary for his access to the Spa despite the unexplained haunted looks on Jo, Fargo, Henry and Allison’s faces -, Zane had recently begun to wonder if having magic canceled out the need for Carter to use half of the available amenities.It was on the fourth floor that Allison, Henry and Fargo waited on for them and Henry explained the problem as they moved down the small corridor.“The individual spaces are completely off-line,” he shrugged. “And it’s not just up here. Something happened to the program and it appears similar to what happened at the storage facility last week. All the individual spaces throughout the building are unable to open and all of them are occupied.”“We need to get half of them out because those programs in use won’t be active for much longer,” Allison shook her head. “And there are at least five cases of extreme claustrophobia on the line if we don’t figure out how to keep the programs running before we get them out.”“Are these spaces airtight?” DiNozzo questioned, loping behind them as they went.“Uh, no,” Henry shook his head. “Not as such, but the air being processed as part of the whole experience shuts off when the program does.”“Which means the rooms are airtight.”“Pretty much,” Fargo nodded.“We have three non-claustrophobics already nearing the end of their program cycles,” Allison continued, “but the programs – and air – shuts off before the doors are supposed to open. They aren’t able to be open and it’s worrying enough, but the indoor saunas in the basement all run on the same circuit and I’m beginning to get concerned about them.”“And you need me to override,” Zane understood. “I guess you can’t really get anyone else to do it?”“Everyone else is either involved in very sensitive projects or completely unavailable,” Fargo negated.“And by ‘unavailable’, I’m guessing you mean trapped in this place,” DiNozzo hit the nail on the head, something that Zane hadn’t actually thought of.“Right,” he sighed, moving to the far end of the corridor that housed the programs on the floor. “That means I’m going to have to go through everything individually – possibly manually – and hope I don’t mess something up.”“As soon as we start getting others out, we’ll send help your way,” Henry promised.Zane was going to deal with that, but the others were in the meantime going to see what they could do on their end in getting the doors open as he worked on extending the hour long programs. That was his first priority.If he kept things going, then no one would start panicking or run out of air.He kept thoughts of food to a minimum, however, as he worked at the notoriously difficult to hack programs.“How’s it going?” DiNozzo poked his head in the room sometime later, Zane glancing up before shaking his head.“Not well,” he sighed. “But it’d be better if I had one of those protein bars that keep you full forever,” he even heard his stomach growl.“Sounds like lembas.”“Huh?”“Nothing. Hold tight. Be back.”Zane refocused on the programs, but it didn’t much seem like he would be any help. He did enjoy a challenge, though.He’d yet to back down from one and he wasn’t about to start now.* **
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Tony heaved a sigh as he climbed down the stairs in search of sustenance.After he and Zane sussed out a few problems with the initial discoveries of the investigation, he’d been so ready to get back to Global and then his gut might actually start to calm down after it started rolling on the way to Diem after the service earlier.Everything that Ethan had told them about Risky’s regard for Carter had initially made him suspect a simple rookie mistake couldn’t have happened the way the initial investigation dug up.If Risky really was genius level IQ, then she would know that Carter couldn’t be in any danger or there would be serious hell to pay. Because Carter was most certainly a town treasure and Tony wasn’t liking the suspicion he was getting that should Risky have been the only survivor…It didn’t matter her age. Emotions would run very high and Risky would have been Ground Zero for them. It was a small town, after all, and hurting Carter was the last thing that Tony felt that Risky wanted to do.To make sure he would have been as safe as she could make him, Risky would have made sure she had the right rubber caps installed on the project. In fact, she would have hoarded twice the right number of caps to be absolutely sure they were the right ones.She would also have been territorial about them, making sure that she - and only she - was the one to touch them.But she couldn’t have been in that lab 24/7 like Strutger could.And that told Tony quite a bit right there. Especially with whatever realization that Zane had had that brought him to the same conclusion.It was a hunch that Tony himself would have followed up on, but he wasn’t actually in charge nor would he understand any of it anyway with his lack of a science degree.But there were a few things he could understand, like checking out the supply of rubber caps in storage at Global. And talking to Risky again about the last time she ran the process with the caps in place wouldn’t go amiss, either.Right now, though, he had some food to find for Zane and himself near the basement elevator bank under the ground floor. It was pretty much all he was able to do right now with Allison, Mayor D, Zane and Fargo dealing with the doors and such. He wasn’t sure what Lupo was doing after she split from the group on arrival, but the light tracking charm he’d put on them back at the bunker put her out on the grounds.Tony found the refreshments and wrinkled his nose at the protein bars despite the rate they were being snatched up by others.There is no way these small things were capable of holding enough for a person to go hours without other kinds of food.No.Way.The Italian in him was frankly horrified and kept him from even going near those things. Instead, there were fruits and trail mixes and beverages that drew his attention more thoroughly. He grabbed one of the small paper bags on offer and put something of everything – except the protein bars – in to take back upstairs for the others.He didn’t care if the others ate already, there was always room for dessert.He was debating the kinds of fortified water drinks available and who would most likely enjoy what, when he was almost ran into by someone who’d been in the Sauna area further down the hall.“You’re Agent DiNozzo, right?” he asked, completely beside himself. “You have to help us!”“I’ll do what I can,” he was following without a second thought as the man led him away from the refreshment stand and toward the steam room areas where a definite fuss was going on.The one room he was led into had a half swimming pool and a smaller cooling one for those who left the steam room and wanted to cool down. It was the same room that automatically drew his attention, or, more accurately, the crowd around the door as they tried to get in.“We can’t get them out,” the guy hurriedly explained. “There’s four people in there and they can’t shut the steamer off.”That room was visibly filling with steam and that was never a good sign. Half the door was glass and a hand appeared from the depths of the steam as Tony watched. “We need to get them out,” he wiped his mouth with his hand as his thoughts raced with ideas. Allison said something about the sauna rooms being on the same circuit as the individual spaces upstairs and that’s what he latched onto.“Uh, listen,” he tapped the silently panicking man on the shoulder. “All of the doors run on the same kind of circuit, right?”“What? Yes. That’s the individual doors and certain group doors, but it’ll take too long to separate these doors from the same circuit without stopping the elevators and we just don’t have that much time!”Elevators? All doors were on a network of some kind that linked them to the elevators?Green eyes immediately began scanning the room, but he didn’t find what he was looking for there.He raced back into the hall and immediately found the target, Tony wasting no time in striding down the hall and activating it before racing back to see if it worked.“Crap,” he saw the door still shut. This time, he was beginning to hear others from other rooms and the overall tone was getting frantic. “Hey,” he tapped the guy’s shoulder again. “You said there was some sort of heater, right?”“The floor right below us. I know the standard ‘hot rock’ set up, but there are those set up outside in more natural environments. In here, steam is powered by artificial means, though the process is still natural. There is only a limited amount of steam it can generate before it’s shut down, but from the amount of steam building up, I honestly don’t know what happened to the fail-safes. There’s a lever down there that needs to be pulled or the steam will just keep building.”“What’re we waiting around here for, then?” he prodded the smaller man to the basement stairs as the alarms continued to sound throughout the Building and they were soon ducking into a room with steam filled tubes and various levers running the entire length of the space.The tubes seemed to be coming from the wall, but Tony didn’t really want to know. His attention instead turned to their surroundings as his companion let out a satisfied noise and left his side.Tony found the small maintenance area with honest to Merlin tools and dove for the crowbar.“Agent DiNozzo! Some help?”“Just a second,” he did some fast magic before racing back to the struggling scientist doing battle with what looked like several levers at once.“These damn things are all the way open!” he panicked, tugging uselessly at one black handle. “These aren’t supposed to be all the way open! What do we do!”“Hey, hey,” he pulled him away and tapped his temple for attention. “Look at me,” Tony could see genuine panic on his face and his breathing coming in pants. “I need you to focus on me, okay? Now,” he pulled on his best Agent DiNozzo face in order to foster calm in the civilian. “You need to go back upstairs and take this with you,” he handed him the crowbar. “Break the doors open while I take care of this, alright? Can I trust you to go at your job with everything you’ve got? People are probably passed out by now, so you do not stop for anything or anyone.”“Right,” he nodded jerkily, clasping the magically enforced crowbar like a lifeline. “Break open the doors and don’t stop.”“Now, go,” he pushed the scientist in the right direction and watched him take off before turning his attention to the tubes of steam.The black handled levers he tried weren’t going to budge. The strangest thing was that it really felt as if the suckers were welded in that position, which meant that trying to fix the problem wasn’t going to fly.He growled in frustration before returning to the maintenance area and dug around for something to use. If the fail-safes weren’t going to work, then he had his own fail-safe to fall back on.He went back to the tubes and started hitting at them with everything he had. It took some doing, but the room very slowly began to fill with steam escaping the tubes via the holes Tony made. That also meant the temperature was rising and there came a point where he couldn’t stand it anymore despite his rolled shirt sleeves and he had to get out to breathe.Tony escaped to the stairs and gratefully sat down on one of the steps so he could rest before he could safely use a cooling charm to go back in. He’d been preoccupied and pressed for time earlier, but he was going to remedy that.Unfortunately, his hearing caught voices coming down before he could stand again. Allison called out before she appeared and saw him lounging on the steps below.“Hey, Doc,” he smiled slightly, waving a hand. “S’up?”She just stopped and seemed to slump in relief. “There you are. Henry!” she turned to call behind her. “Fargo! I found him.”Tony heaved himself up as she joined him, no doubt taking in his sweaty, disheveled appearance. “How’s it looking up there?” he pointed upwards.“Empty, actually,” she answered with a smile.“Tony,” Mayor D clattered down the steps a moment later. “That was some quick thinking with the fire alarm. It helped Zane a lot in isolating… never mind.”“Yeah, but the sauna rooms had to be done differently,” Tony glanced at the bag he’d put next to the stairs earlier and summoned a blueberry flavored drink. “How’d that work out, by the way?” he cracked the bottle open to take a sip.“We’ve got medical personnel checking them out a safe distance from the building and making sure everyone’s alright,” Allison told him. “That crowbar worked amazingly well against the glass and Dr. Reynolds had to be dragged out of the building since he was going at it with single-minded determination.”“He got all the doors open,” the Mayor added. “Cracking the glass helped to get the steam out of the rooms and to help cool people down. But it was still difficult to see enough in order to get people out until you started closing the levers down here.”“Yeah,” Fargo grinned excitedly as he finally joined them. “Did you work your Magic knowhow to get the levers moving?”“… okay, we’ll go with that,” he held up the hammer he’d been using, making Allison and Deacon laugh.“It was definitely a good thing we got you assigned to us,” the former patted his arm. “You and Carter are definitely of a similar kind.”“I’ll say,” Fargo shook his head. “You pulled a Carter.”There was nothing else to do until the steamer ran out of steam (“And that’s the strangest part,” Mayor D waved a hand. “It shouldn’t have been at full capacity this late in the day.”), so Tony collected his forgotten snacks only long enough to drop an apple into three pairs of hands before herding them back upstairs. They found Zane in the back of the crowd outside, fiddling with a tablet and he looked up at them with a huge grin.“DiNozzo, I have no idea what you did, but I now have full control.”Tony glanced over at where all the medical personnel gathered and shook his head. “All in a day’s work, my good man,” he sighed. “I pulled the fire alarm because the doors all run on an elevator circuit network and there are places that shut all electrical things down as a fail-safe once the fire alarm’s been activated. I hoped to make that happen in the sauna rooms, but when that obviously didn’t work, I had to use conventional means.”“I’ll say,” Fargo crunched on his apple as he held up the hammer in question.“Oh, yeah, here,” Tony tossed Zane a packet of trail mix. “So we can get some real food after this.”“Does anyone have any idea where Jo is?” the Mayor looked around. “I would’ve been absolutely certain she would’ve come around to see what the fuss was about.”Tony wasn’t sure if Carter told them about tracking charms and using some on them, so he kept quiet as his eyes flicked in the direction he knew she was in.“JoJo’ll probably be sauntering up soon,” Zane didn’t look at all worried.Frankly, Tony was sure the Head of GD Security would’ve shot anyone else who called her that. Possibly, Zane would, too.“Oh, you might want to check those levers,” Tony ran a hand through his hair with a sigh of relief at the cooling charm he used to cool himself a little more. “Seemed like they were melted in one position.”“Hopefully by tonight,” Fargo frowned. “I’ll check it out myself.”Tony was found by Reynolds, the smaller man babbling and riding an adrenalin rush, and was pestered about getting looked at until Allison broke in to remind the Doctor of her own profession.“He just needs something cold,” she assured, sighing as Reynolds immediately took off in search of it. “Tony, I think you’ve just won someone over.”“Suck up,” Fargo frowned after him.“Hey, I’m gonna see if I can find Lupo,” Tony looked mournfully at his empty bottle. “And figure out what to do with this.”“Oh, any recycle container will do,” Mayor ‘Henry’ D advised.“I’ll find one,” he assured, making sure to walk in the opposite direction of her location as he fiddled with his empty bottle. One small scale model of the GD logo placed at a popular walking trail’s entrance later, Tony whistled his way along a trail that cut through a place that would make Palmer feel right at home.The flowers were really pretty both to his eyes and his nose and there were other plants he was fairly certain were hybrids and other non-flowering plants that gave off wonderful scents. There were a few trails that crisscrossed the meditation garden, but he just couldn’t help the shiver he felt at the thought of going further in. His mouth was beginning to dry the more he stood stock still on the very edges of the garden, his legs not wanting to move any further than he’d already journeyed.‘Okay,’ he swiped his damp palms on his pants with a large gulp. ‘Maybe I’ll just circle around and just so happen to run into Lupo.’ He decided to cut through the bushes to get to an outer trail without venturing into the garden any more than he had to.While he wasn’t certain what was keeping him outside the garden, he couldn’t help wondering if that was how Harry felt when he thought of a maze after what happened in Fourth Year. Tony didn’t know how he could stand it; Tony himself wasn’t the one who’d gone through it and he still had a second hand panic attack over the idea as if he had.That kid was more special than a lot of people gave him credit for.Tony was just moving through some non-scented bushes when his ear caught a noise he wasn’t quite expecting from a garden… unless bushes in Eureka were prone to machine gun sobbing.The sound was coming from a decent grouping of bushes some feet away and he carefully crept his way over to see what was going on. As soon as he did, though, the sobbing sounded familiar and it didn’t take long for him to realize why.“Risky?” he frowned, his brow furrowing as the sound suddenly cut off. “Risky, are you okay?” he lowered down onto his knees and crawled around until a flash of light purple caught his eye, the light purple of Risky’s jacket from the funeral coming to mind. “Hey,” he gentled his tone as he crept around a bush to see wide brown eyes staring at him. “Everything alright?”Tears kept spilling down her cheeks as she’d clapped both hands over her mouth to stifle any sounds from her crying, but she nodded unconvincingly.“See, I don’t think you are,” he settled down a few feet away. “Want to tell me what happened?”Risky stared at him in horrified silence before he started hearing light whimpers and tears started rolling back down her face. She garbled something and he tilted his head.“Say again?”She gulped and whispered a little louder, “Are – are you putting me in – in jail?” her eyes scrunched at the corners and noises escaped her hands as he rubbed his own eyes.“Now why would I want to put you in jail?” he wanted to know.“It’s all my fault!” she almost shrieked the last word before beginning to sob again in earnest. “It’s all my fault,” she sobbed.Marten. Was. Dead.Really.What the hell part of ‘don’t start writing reports until dinner’ did she not get? This was exactly the reason why he told them to wait!Tony heaved a deep sigh and scrubbed his hands over his face. “Risky, no. No, this is not your fault.”“Yes, it is!” she managed, but that was as far as words were going to go.Tony felt his heart break a little and helplessly watched her for a moment before inching closer. “Risky, come here,” he coaxed, the almost eight year old scrunching back and curling even more into herself in misery.After a few minutes of trying to coax her, he carefully stretched forward to draw her closer and eventually managed to get her in his lap. Once he got her settled, she latched onto him and buried her head in his chest, her small body shaking as Tony tried remembering what Gibbs would do and eventually elected to perform a light calming charm on her. He was careful, though, pushing calmness into her the way he would with traumatized kids he encountered in his Magical career. He’d even used it on some of the Hogwarts First Years when they were homesick even more after Christmas, but that had been nowhere near as satisfying as having full use of his magic now. The Trio had been slightly worried about him and thought him – as Agent – depressed until he was revealed to be the black dog and admitted to trying Magic even with the block in place.“You didn’t do anything wrong,” he slid a finger up and down her back and she slowly began responding to his efforts as he began to scale it back, Risky slowly tapering off into sniffles and hiccups. “Shh, it’s alright,” he didn’t realize his rocking movement until he glanced up to see the surrounding bushes swaying from side to side. “You’ll be okay.”“You can’t promise that,” the smaller voice hitched. “I br- broke rules and – and – Carter’s – Carter’s hurt be – because of m- me.”“No, sweetheart,” he shook his head. “Not because of you.”“But – but that’s what Sh- Shasta said,” she sat more or less upright against his bracing arm. “She said the report said it was all my fault. And that I was – was going to jail be – because I got Sheriff Carter put in the hospital.”Marten was worse than dead when Tony got his hands on her, that – that overachiever!“And how did Shasta find out?” he felt an eye start twitching.“I don’t know, but her older cousin wo- works at Global,” she wiped her eyes. “She could’ve just said that, though,” she sniffled, “because she could have hacked it.”Oh, he was sure.“And the report said it was my fault, so it was,” she concluded miserably.“Yeah, but who believes the preliminary stuff?” he shrugged. “There could’ve been some sort of new development that hasn’t made its way in the final report.”“What could someone have possibly found that would change anything?” her skepticism was actually kind of adorable.“A few things,” he stayed vague.“And it won’t matter anyway if I’m in jail,” she scowled to herself. “Shasta was right about me being a Norm who can’t do anything right –”“Hey,” he cut her off, tone sharp enough to raise her head with wide eyes. “You listen to me, Risky Covington. Now, I don’t know exactly what a Norm is, but I know an insult when I hear it and that’s definitely an insult. It’s not something you need to be agreeing with, because that would give them even more leverage they don’t deserve. It’ll become a self-fulfilling prophecy if you lower yourself to that level – especially if you think you can’t do anything right.”And Merlin knew he wasn’t completely talking to her on that.He was already having issues that made him thankful to have Magic and the support it gave him.“So stop thinking about that. Not cool.”She just stared and he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.“Look,” he hit on an idea, “Sheriff Carter isn’t your level of genius, is he?”“Um… uh-uh,” she shook her head, glancing down then back up at him. “Sheriff Carter’s a Normal person,” she smiled shyly, her crying giving way in the face of her idol. “Everyone has to explain everything to him.”“And you don’t think that’s… boring, having to explain?”“No,” she shook her head again, her short French braid barely moving. “I find that it helps talking things out.”“Yes, it does,” he thought about the opening and took it. “So, I have to confess about being ‘normal’, too. Want to talk things out with me? Because I have a theory that it wasn’t your fault about the explosion.”She looked ready to confess her imaginary guilt again, but she thought better of it and shrugged. “So talk, then.”“First thing, the rubber caps. Did you pick them up right before you began testing?”“No,” she shook her head. “It was after I found out that Sheriff Carter was going to be there. I wanted to be sure they were the right ones and that we had plenty, so I got three times what we needed weeks before. I always checked them before leaving the lab.”“How many were in stock?”“Well, we got a new shipment in the night before because Dr. St- Strutger always made sure to check the inventory list, but I already had them and he knew that.”Which meant that he never double checked her work and just assumed the caps were correctly done. And that anyone could’ve slipped in and changed a few caps without anyone being the wiser.Crap.He hated it when he was right.“And you don’t know how many is in Inventory now?”“Only from what the list said.”“Okay. Now, you said yesterday that Strutger tried shutting the thing off when it became clear that things were going south. Walk me through how you would’ve turned off the project.”“Well, first, he had to go to the primary shutdown –”“No, I asked what you would have done.”“Followed procedure, of course,” her eyes drifted away from him. “One of the two shutdowns.”There was something Zane had realized about the shutdown and it was obvious that there was something she wasn’t saying. And he had a good suspicion about what that something was.“Risky,” he gave her a slight knowing smile. “There’s something you did, didn’t you? Something outside of procedure and Carter and Strutger knew it.”“You can’t tell anyone!” she immediately blurted. “It’s a complete secret and Dr. Hern will so get in trouble!”“Hern?” he raised a brow. “What’s he got to do with anything?”She gusted a sigh and rubbed her eyes again, accepting the hankie Tony absently gave her. “Huh?” she took a good look after using it. “Where’d you get this?”“Well, a friend forgot he borrowed it from someone until we got back from our trip to the UK,” Tony remembered Palmer unpacking in his office and AJ Johnson’s clean handkerchief falling onto the floor from somewhere. Tony had been thinking of sending it back, but that was evidently going to have to wait. “Back to Hern. Why do you think he’d get in trouble?”“Well,” she sniffled a bit and cast her eyes down. “Ethan tells me about Sheriff Carter, but I can tell Ethan thinks he’s pretty… well. Like… he’s adorable, but not like in the ‘grown up’ way. Mostly, I think Ethan talks about him like a pet or something,” she frowned. “Anyway, Sheriff Carter is friends with Doctors Hern and – and Strutger, but Sheriff Carter was talking to Zane Donovan and said something like… ‘If only every project had a secret ‘off-button’ like Hern joked, my life would be a whole lot easier.’ And… And that’s where I got the idea from. I told Dr. Strutger about it and I think he was amused by it, but he helped me do it. Please don’t tell anyone,” she begged him, watery brown eyes wide and begging.There had been a third failsafe.And if Zane suspected was true, then – “You would’ve gone directly to your failsafe, would you?” Tony felt that dawning realization he got when he found the last piece of the main puzzle, but this particular realization was overshadowed by the sickening horror at the fact that if Strutger was found facing up behind the console instead of plastered along the back wall…He’d gone for the secret failsafe.And that meant the official shutdowns failed.“Risky, we are going to talk to Donovan and Mayor Deacon,” Tony wasn’t happy about his revelation like he usually would. This had been no accident – the explosion that had caused Carter’s magic to force him into his Animagus form for Merlin only knew how long, had killed a brilliant scientist, had made it look like Risky would take the fall if she survived.That was all kinds of screwed up, especially given the fact that she probably would have been blamed without question had he not gotten involved. One shutdown failure wouldn’t have really made that much of a difference, but the ones that everyone knew about going down?Tony couldn’t imagine what Strutger must’ve been thinking when he waited for each shutdown to work. When had he started to realize that it was time to utilize the secret shutdown? But by that time, it was already too late.“What?” she panicked, clutching his shirt. “Why?”“Zane needs to write his report on the results and knowing about the secret failsafe will change things.”“But what could it possibly change?”The status from ‘accident’ to ‘murder’, for one.“I don’t know, but things. Come on, up,” he steadied on his own legs before pulling her up. “But we can’t tell Zane or the Mayor in a crowd. Know the way back to the Building?”“No,” she looked around, a hand slipping into his as she tucked against his side. “I just started running after Mom turned her back. She was here to talk to one of her lab techs and I think she’s still there.”“She’s probably looking for you right now,” Tony shook his head. “There was an incident and the fire alarms went off. I’m out here looking for Ms. Lupo. Didn’t see her, did you?”“No,” she looked down bashfully.“I didn’t think so, but didn’t want to leave any witness unasked,” he shrugged.Tony carefully shifted their search in a random direction and started calling for Lupo as they went. He didn’t want to let on that he knew exactly where she was or there would be questions from the smart kid striding next to him. She appeared to be listening for Lupo’s answering call, so she didn’t make much noise.They eventually got around to where he’d pegged her location, but still didn’t give Risky an indication of his knowledge.“Hey, Lupo!” he called again. “Anything?”“Not yet.”Which didn’t make much sense because Lupo should at least have been within sight at this point. The pair found themselves in a slightly cleared area, something Tony vaguely noted before a sharp tug from Risky stopped him from falling down a pipe.“Now, why the hell would they just put this here and not give a guy some warning?” he puffed a frustrated sigh as he glared down at the pipe in front of them.“There’s usually a grate, though,” she frowned at it thoughtfully.“What’s it for, anyway?”“Part of the Rain Catcher system that’s all over Eureka. Oh, er, it’s a system of tunnels that allow rainwater to collect and it’s where recycled bathwater from the Spa goes for treatment before it’s allowed back. Uh, it’s also how water from Lake Archimedes gets siphoned into the system and treated that way.”Okay, that was kind of impressive.“And you said there’s usually a grate covering the entrance,” he crouched closer to study it.“Yeah, GD and its associating properties is very high maintenance. I’m not surprised that someone would miss this one, though,” she mused. “It’s not near any of the paths, but I think Dr. Hern knows about this one because I’ve heard him when he comes over to visit Ethan and Dr. Strutger about how Spa Rain Catcher pipes need more visibility because maintenance keeps forgetting to check the grate quality and it’s only a matter of time before someone steps… and falls… through…” the dawning realization had her almost diving headfirst into the Pipe. “Ms. Lupo!” she shouted as Tony hurriedly grabbed the back of her clothes. “Are you down there? It’s Risky!”“I’m here!” Tony used a free hand to rub his forehead in relief as her reply filtered up to them. “Are you alone?”“No. Agent DiNozzo is here, too.”“Risky,” he drew her back. “I’m gonna see if I can get down there.”“It won’t be easy to get back up this way,” she warned him. “There’s a – a service ladder somewhere around here, but I only heard about it so I don’t know where it is. Ms. Lupo?” she called back down the pipe. “How deep is the water level?”“Roughly ankle deep and rising.”“Oh, that - That’s not good,” Risky looked up at him with wide eyes. “That means that the system’s going to start it’s thrice daily flush toward the town and that’s where the treatment’s going to start.”“Well, can’t someone delay it remotely?” Tony didn’t need a PhD to fill in the blanks. If Lupo didn’t get out right now, then she would be caught in a driving current and she would either drown or something treatment related would happen and Carter would never forgive him if he didn’t do something.“I don’t know,” Risky looked fearful now as they both glanced back down. “Ms. Lupo is one of Sheriff Carter’s friends.”“Get back to the Building and see if Zane Donovan is still outside and then get him to try stopping this before it starts up. Hopefully, someone’s still there since Lupo’s the one who drove us here in the first place.”“Okay, I’ll be right back!” she was gone before he could tell her that they most likely wouldn’t stay in one place. Shaking his head, Tony lowered down onto his stomach and called down to Lupo.“Hey, Lupo. I’m coming down. Any lights down there?”“Absolutely negative. It’s pitch dark.”“Okay,” he sighed, checking around him before sliding his wand into his hand. “Ball of lights coming down. Like last night, remember?” he sent the lights down in a trickling fashion and carefully began his slow descent into the pipe after modifying his shoes.It was a straight shot down into the pipe until he found a bend in the pipe going left about ten feet down. Once he cleared the bend, it leveled out into an opening and Tony breathed in relief as he popped his head out of the pipe to see Lupo resting on the right.“About time you got down here,” she watched him climb down to her. “Wasn’t sure what I was going to do if you didn’t follow those tracking charms.”“Ah, Carter told you,” Tony nodded.“No, Carter let me read the Charms books first and it was only when Risky said that you were with her that I wondered. You got it on all of us?”“Since the tent at the bunker and the rest at Diem,” he lit his wand and moved closer to her to check her out. “Injured?”“Ankle,” she heaved a sigh.“And?”“Nothing else,” she denied.“Yeah, that’s not what I’m seeing,” Tony’s sharp gaze caught the piece of grate sticking out of her left leg. Didn’t look very big, but he wasn’t going to touch it due to the fact that it was metal and any attempt to fix it could end up causing more problems. And the small ledge they were both on wasn’t going to last all the way out of this mess.“We can’t stay here,” Lupo inspected her injury and shrugged. “This entire area will get flushed as soon as the water level reaches the inside of the pipe. And we can’t get out up there due o preventive measures. Bombs or experiments,” she clarified. “Should the flush start, everything gets swept along the pipe system. That bend in there,” she waved a hand back inside the pipe they’d come in from, “gets turned into a barrier once the water level begins to rise like it’s doing now. That way, nothing will be able to get in or out, including explosives. They have the potential to rip the town from the inside out.”“Got it,” Tony eyed the water level and knelt down on Lupo’s injured side. Her left leg had the piece of grate sticking out between the ankle and knee and she could have tried walking on it if it hadn’t been for her ankle. He eased her shoe off and looked at it, moving her ankle around and finding it to be a bad strain that she wasn’t going anywhere on. “Risky said there was a service ladder around here.”“I don’t know,” she shook her head. “Never had to be down here before.”“Great. Process of elimination, then,” but first things first. Tony made her ankle immovable and doused it with a light cooling charm before modifying his own clothes. “Okay,” he heaved a sigh. “Now, slide up to the edge here and I’ll have to give you a piggyback ride as far as we can go.”It looked like she was about to argue, but he used that moment to step off the ledge and watched the water close over his ankle. Luckily, his pants were now modified and his shoes were now stuck to them in order to give him a pair of waist high waders.“Alright,” she caved with a heavy sigh, gingerly making her way forward to sit on the ledge.He bent down and waited until her arms locked around his neck before catching her legs above the knees and standing upright. “Right or left?” he looked both ways before deciding, “Right.”“Fine,” she tightened her arms and legs around him as he took the first steps, wand lit and clutched in one hand as the rest of the lights drifted ahead.Tony had used a lightening charm so he didn’t have to lug her entire weight, but she wasn’t actually all that heavy in retrospect. The water rose by half an inch by the time Lupo decided to speak up again.“About those tracking charms. Did you have any on us last night? And I ask in the name of curiosity,” she added before he could answer.“No,” he admitted, thought he’d been kicking himself for it ever since.“Why not?”“Didn’t think I needed to,” he answered shortly. And what had happened?He not only temporarily lost Carter’s Muggles, but he also near lost them for good. And his mistake had Lupo halfway to a flashback before he even got there.If he’d been even one minute later, he would’ve had to make a horrible announcement to not only the other Muggles of their tight knit group, but to Carter himself.Forget what happened with Curly Top – he was having nightmares of last night for the rest of the summer. Maybe even longer.If he was honest, he would say that he was more upset with the fact that he’d almost taken Carter’s trust and almost tossed the ashes back in the Muggleborn’s face. That was just not acceptable to not only his pride, but also to the fact that a Muggleborn with trust issues against what was supposed to be his own kind had gone out on a limb to trust him with his Muggles.And Tony was duty bound to oblige to take over Carter’s protector role over his town besides – something Tony just couldn’t bring himself to ignore. At any cost.He was going to do better and if that started with sneaky tracking charms and putting himself in the line of fire with them in order to ensure their survival, so be it.“I’m sorry,” Lupo said around a half inch of water later. “I just wanted to let you know.”“Thanks,” he couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face, “but it’s not really you I’m waiting to hear from.”“And you’re probably going to be waiting on that for a few years at least,” she deadpanned.“I believe it,” he huffed a sigh as he walked. “Marten certainly needs some kind of wake up call, doesn’t she?”“I think so. Just hope that doesn’t include casualties.”“ Yeah, I’m upset enough as it is with her right now for starting on that report I told her to wait on. Risky knows – or thinks she knows – that she’s to blame for what happened even though it wasn’t her fault.”“Didn’t take it well, then,” Lupo released a sigh. “Poor kid.”“And it gets worse. Donovan and I recently figured out that this couldn’t have been accidental.”“What? You mean this was deliberate?” her limbs tightened momentarily. “Sabotage? Why?”“I honestly couldn’t tell you that. All I can think of right now is the fact that whoever did it was targeting either Carter or Strutger, but I don’t know why and I can’t ask around or word’ll get back to the one behind this and they’ll disappear.”“And what about your proof?” she demanded, her anger clear as a bell.“Donovan said that he was found behind the control console – something that wouldn’t happen had he started running or stayed at the secondary failsafe. As it turns out, Risky had gone with one of Carter’s suggestions and had a secret third failsafe installed. No one but she and Strutger really knew about it and that’s what Strutger was trying to activate when it blew up.”“Someone not only put in the wrong caps, but they disabled the two shutdowns?”“Basically, yeah. I’m going to double check that inventory when we get back to Global.”“And you have to help with that carbon monoxide leak from yesterday. It’s supposedly clear by now, but we’ll see.”“But after I get some food,” Tony insisted. “I was dragged from the prospect of food just so I could come out here and Donovan didn’t get anything, either. He’s going to take another look into what happened, but I don’t know about procedure around here.”“Fargo will take action once Allison says so, don’t ask why. The important thing is that Zane will get to the bottom of it while I’m stuck in observation, Andy’s stuck being Deputy and you’re getting a taste of Eureka Crazy.”“Oh, joy,” Tony didn’t know if he was looking forward to that.“I should be up by tomorrow,” she mused, “thanks to Global’s advanced medical tech. Right now, I can’t tell if it’s the grate bar still stuck in my leg or my ankle that’s really giving me the bigger issue just yet.”“Soon, Muggle tech will be advanced enough that there won’t be a difference between Magic and Muggle. That’s a fact.”“Tell me about it. All the same to me.”The water was a third of the way up to his knee by the time they came to a fork in the road.“Now what?” Tony looked down the left way.“We don’t have a lot of time left,” Lupo reminded him. “The Flush will start in an hour, but the water will fill up before then.”“And you don’t have some kind of radio or something?” Tony went left after a silent debate.“Like you and your tracking charms, I didn’t think I would need it,” he wasn’t sure if she was exasperated at their circumstances or disgusted with her oversight.“We all know that feeling. At NCIS, we have the unofficial rule system my team uses and one of the rules is that you never assume. Funny how I end up forgetting that when I’m on a Magical job like this. Then again, this town and your group in particular seem to embody the rule in its entirety anyway, so…”“It’s definitely a good rule to have,” she spoke up in the ensuing silence. “But on the other hand, Eureka is one of those places where sometimes what you see is what you get. And I don’t blame you for last night because you don’t know what’s going to happen with these geeks and never mind there being a Devil’s Snare.”“Yeah, that’s the thing that threw me for an absolute loop. Perfect conditions for it, too, up here. I stand by my belief that it was put there on purpose to hide those labs, but I honestly have no idea why the complex would’ve been hidden in the first place.”“I haven’t been here long enough to remember any of that stuff even off-record, but I can’t help thinking that maybe someone’s been using it for illegal experiments of the Muggle kind and they just so happened to figure out how things worked.”Also a plausible explanation, but… “Doubt we’ll find anything now.”“Well, all I can say of Eureka is that you never know. And we definitely never will if we drown.”“Don’t have to tell me, sister,” he had personal reasons for not drowning yet, but hopefully the Order didn’t decide to off him instead of playing with his memories. At least he had magical friends who would investigate if he ended up DOA by ‘accident’ in pursuit of a case. “Right now, walking aimlessly is probably the best thing I can come up with. Or I can use a few breathing charms,” he offered, but there was one that he and Eames were playing with that was kind of exhausting and he didn’t want to take the risk with Lupo.“Save that as a last resort,” she advised. “First priority is to get us out before we drown.”She could be uncomfortable with the idea if Carter never talked about it. Then again, there were just some things that a Muggle had to experience with the Magical that he or she was most comfortable with.And speaking of Carter…“I’m gonna head for the Bunker if I ever get out of Global,” he told her. “I’ve come across information regarding his situation that I think he’ll be interested in knowing. Besides almost being a target… unless he actually was. I’m gonna need to tell him that, too, by the way.”“He’d want to know,” Lupo agreed. “If I was a target, I would, too.”“You guys are more than welcome to have dinner with us, too, if all of you are interested. Carter misses all of you.”“Yeah, well,” Lupo sounded like she was hiding a smile. “Can’t say we don’t, either. Say, it’s Thursday today. Any chance he’ll change back tomorrow?”“I’ll take another look tonight,” he promised. “I would think that he’ll be able to,” but then he’d just found out the man was Animagus, so having a block on you in your animal form was going to take some actual magic to break through. The block was weak, though, so it’ll probably not take as long as Tony had to wait in order to break it.They waded on, no maintenance anything in sight.Tony knew they were heading away from the others, but there had to be some exit somewhere around here they could use to get out. The water was steadily rising, though, which made things a bit more urgent despite Tony knowing he could get them to breathe underwater.“Okay, I don’t think this is working anymore,” Lupo started getting antsy as the water kept rising. “I think things are going to Flush pretty soon,” she added. “Is the current getting stronger?”“Not quite yet, but there’s definitely beginning to be a slight tug on my legs going back toward Global.”“Which means that we’re facing the direction all that water will be coming from,” Lupo groaned.And that meant ‘tsunami’, but ever since the Trio’s Fourth Year, he kept feeling a prickle at the back of his awareness despite not knowing why.The tug wasn’t that strong yet, which meant that the current was originating at the Spa and got stronger the closer you were to it. And all that water was going to come rushing toward them before Tony could react.“I don’t know if we’ll find a way out in time,” Lupo started moving as if she were looking into the shadows not scattered by the floating lights beside them.“Uh, I’m suddenly not sure we’ll be able to get out, period,” Tony suddenly hit on a thought as the water began to creep to his knees and the current’s tug got that little bit more insistent. “You said that all branching pipes will be blocked, right? What makes you think we’ll be getting out of here even if we did find a service ladder?”“Why does it always take someone else to point these things out?” she suddenly groaned. “You’d think I would know by now.”“There, there. Happens to the best of us,” Tony glanced down to see her feet almost touching the water as her left foot almost dangled there. The dirty water couldn’t get into her open wound or infection would simply add onto their problems.“I don’t think anything’s going to help us right now,” Lupo decided. “You could be right about not being able to get out regardless of whether we find a service tunnel around the next five corners or not, so why bother us walking any further?”“Yeah,” Tony couldn’t argue as he halted the lights and made a complete circle. Absolutely no sign of anything that could help get them out of this mess and the current felt like it was getting stronger even despite moving away from the Spa. “I guess there’s always another plan.”“Yeah,” Lupo agreed. “There’s always another plan. In Magical terms, I know about Apparating, DiNozzo. And I’m pretty certain that any Federal Magical like yourself can do it. I haven’t done it, but I know Carter can and I guess I’m ready when you are.”“Apparating?” Tony blinked. “Well… yeah, I guess… It’s not for just fun, you know… unless your name is Fred or George Weasley, but I digress. Except you just don’t really do it with someone on your back. I’ve done it solo and Side Along, but not piggyback if there’s even such a thing.”“Well, you’ll have to do it now,” she told him in no uncertain terms. “I can’t put my leg all the way in the water and you’re taller than I am. Plus, if you put me down now, the current will more than likely take us both out.”Which is why Tony had been very slowly scaling back the lightening charms so that their combined weight could provide some stability. And she was right.Piggyback was the only possible way to get them out of this. The only thing was that he’d never actually done it before and didn’t know of anyone who’d actually did it successfully.“Has to be now, DiNozzo,” Lupo urged, becoming a very good octopus.“Yeah,” he swallowed as best he could with her tightened grip. “But, look. This is a dangerous attempt and you need to hold tight as still as you can,” he scurried over to the pipe wall and directed his attention to getting rid of his lights as he crowded as close to the wall as he could without having either one of them in contact with it. This was to keep directly out of the current, but it wouldn’t be long before a whole lot of water rushed down the pipe toward them and the current took care of the rest.“Okay,” he swallowed again, thoughts unable to be nudged away from all the ways this could end badly. “Don’t move,” he warned. “And don’t say anything. I need to concentrate.”“We don’t have all day,” she tightened her grip even more and settled in as he found a better hold on her and extinguished his wand light.He cleared his mind and brought a single image forward.He knew how to do this alone and he breathed slowly in and out to gather himself before he slowly began moving like he’d been taught so long ago now.He had his eyes closed as he moved around and around and around until he reached that point inside himself and instinct took over.The echo of the sharp crack followed him as he was squeezed into a tunnel and the next thing he knew, he was on all fours with his head buried in the spot that Risky had just been sobbing her heart out in. The identical sounds of another nearby doing the same thing simply made his stomach more queasy and he ducked down again into the bushes.Eventually, dry heaves were all he could find and he collapsed back onto his elbows, dropping his head back to stare at the puffy clouds above them.“God,” Lupo collapsed half on top of him. “Is that what it feels like? All the time?”“You get used to it,” Tony swallowed roughly. “Always the first time. And then you start getting used to Side Along and I think you eventually get used to Piggyback… I just did a successful Piggyback Apparition,” he realized. “Imagine. Oh,” he started grinning. “Oh, is Curly Top gonna be pissed that he wasn’t the first Piggyback traveler,” he started chuckling. “All – all this time, Sher- Sherlock always said that he was gonna be the first and he had it all planned out.” Lupo started chuckling, too, as he collapsed fully on his back. “All planned out right down to the outfits we’d both be wearing when it finally happened. Probably even planned the case it would happen on.”Tony couldn’t breathe, he was laughing so hard.There’d been a conversation in a seedy motel room with Eames in the early days after Sherlock had found out about the two of them and there was alcohol involved of different kinds – how else had Tony known to bow out of the drinking while Black, Lupin and the others went on? – and the conversation turned to Apparating.In the way that drunks did, Sherlock had solemnly vowed to plan their first Piggyback Apparition ‘even right down to the color socks’ and they’d made a three way promise that Tony vaguely remembered and both Sherlock and Eames never gave any indication that they remembered.Right up until a puzzled Sherlock had told him that he’d recently unearthed two sets of clothes fitting him and Eames right down to size and dimension and two of his own and had asked him if he’d deleted something he shouldn’t have.(“Eames, I’m under the growing suspicion that I’ve deleted something important. Do you know what it is?”
“How the bloody hell should I know? Ask Tony.”
“I have. His unnecessary display of great amusement is the reason I’m calling you. If Tony knows, so should you.”)Ah, those were the days.“Tony?” he blinked to see Allison standing a few bushes away with a concerned look on her face as the Mayor appeared over her shoulder. “Are you two alright?”He stared at them, wondering why they were so blurry until a hand on his wrist made him blink his vision clear enough to see Lupo smiling kind of strangely at him. “What?”“Nothing,” she shook her head before giving Allison a look. “My leg has metal in it and my ankle will tip me over if I walk.”“Oh, yeah,” he winced. “Sorry I dropped you.”“Did you? I don’t remember that detail very clearly if I’m honest,” she grimaced and Tony recognized that look.“Here,” he offered a Muggle candy square. “I always keep a stash on me just in case. It helps with the taste in your mouth.”Allison and the Mayor took that as their cue to approach and Allison gave Lupo’s injuries a critical eye before helping her up as Tony found his own balance.“Risky told us that you two were in the Rain Catcher system,” Mayor D explained. “Zane’s still trying to figure out how to pause it, but it looks like we don’t need to anymore. Everyone else in our group went to look for service entrances and other pipe openings. The ladders wouldn’t have worked – ”“Yeah, had a feeling it wouldn’t,” Tony sighed before popping a butterscotch in his mouth. He hadn’t exactly expected to find one of the orange discs in his candy stash, but sometimes he got mixed bags and… whatever. “Lupo gonna make it?”“Well, the metal is the only concern that I have,” Allison admitted.“To Global, then,” Tony nodded and crouched down. Lupo got the message and she was soon riding piggyback again as Tony followed Allison and the Mayor, both of whom knowing their way around better than he did.They got back to the Building where a couple more medics were on standby and Tony let them loose on Lupo with her permission before finding himself sitting next to Zane with a thermometer in his mouth.“Relax,” Allison smiled slightly at his glare. “This is just precaution. At least until we get to Global where I can run tests on the both of you before you do anything else.”“There will be grilled cheesy goodness in it for you,” Zane further tempted with a sly grin and the remains of Tony’s paper bag of snacks littered around him.“Sold,” he agreed around the thermometer.About two hours later, stuffing himself full of said grilled cheesy goodness – some of it with deli meat -, it occurred to him that telling Allison about his intent to check out that carbon monoxide leak probably wouldn’t go over well.Zane had split shortly after arrival with a meaningful look and a wink as he and Lupo were herded to the infirmary. She’d refused crutches and wheelchair and insisted that she could walk just fine until Tony obediently offered to carry her and she more or less pounced.Thinking of Lupo made Tony glance up from his plate to look around the Global cafeteria space.She was most likely still in the infirmary under Allison’s watchful eye, but Zane, Marten and Fargo were off doing other things like doing a more thorough investigation on Strutger’s accident and cleaning things up at the Spa.Which reminded him.“Mayor,” Tony rubbed his eyes as the Mayor and Grace paused in their conversation to give him their full attention. “I’m going to need to ask the group to a meeting in the Director’s office for a status update on things. And you can tell Marten I’m coming after her with a rusty spoon for writing a report now and getting hacked for it.”“Yes, Risky did let on that much,” he smiled wryly. “We’ll all have a chat with her tonight, you have my word.”“And I don’t suppose you know anything about the carbon monoxide leak, do you?” he had to ask.“I know the team investigating will be going in two hours from now,” Grace told him. “More as a precaution to be sure every sign of it has been sucked out of the areas in question.”“Okay,” Tony shrugged. “I’ll wait for them, then.”Clearly, these two had never dealt with any kind of undercover personnel. And that was a damn shame because he really wanted to see Carter at work.No one had that kind of record just by being the village idiot.On the other hand, he mused as he left the cafeteria space and ambled down hallways that had Carter’s magic writ on the walls in helpful directions.On the other hand, the fact that probably no one else in town knew about how smart – how clever – Carter could really be might very well be an undercover act in itself.Tony wondered how the town would find out about him and half hoped he was there to see their faces at the realization that their ‘village idiot’ just pulled the metaphorical wool over their eyes. Had been pulling it over their eyes for years.Tony was smiling to himself at the thought as he made his way to the infirmary to check on Lupo, who was on a course of antibiotics and a kind of ankle treatment that made Magic almost look like child’s play.Almost.“Hey,” Tony smiled slightly once he’d caught her attention. “Eat yet?”“Another hour,” she thought it over. “Drugs not making me hungry just yet.”“Hm,” he nodded. Some of the drugs he could take had a similar effect on him, too. “I’m going to stick around before heading to the bunker. Then I’ll come back for dinner after the meeting we’ll be having with Fargo.”“I thought so,” she shrugged. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that she’d find a way to be there.“Okay, well, just wanted to see how you were doing,” he rocked back on his heels with a smile. “See if I left anything at the Spa by accident,” he tacked on, because surely she must know about Splinching if she knew about Apparating.“Everything right where they’re supposed to be,” she assured. “Good job on that.”“All in a day’s work,” he bobbed his head slightly. “Well, I’d better get exploring before I’m missed.” He was almost ten steps from the bed when she called him back. “Something wrong?” he raised his brows at her questioningly.For possibly the first time since he’d met her, she seemed uncomfortable. Her mouth kept moving, but it seemed that she couldn’t quite get it out. Lupo finally sighed and rubbed a temple and shook her head. “I’m sorry,” she finally rasped.“For?”“Back there,” she swallowed, “after you got us out, you said something about ‘Sherlock’ and ‘case’. And then I remembered that you’d just been to the UK and… the timing’s … pretty close…” she trailed off, watching him with almost intense brown eyes.“…oh. Oh – okay. Did you want me to elaborate?”“No,” she shook her head. “Just know that, for what it’s worth… I’m sorry. He must’ve been a very good friend.”“One of a small number,” he smiled sadly. “I can’t afford to lose any more.”“I get it. About having a small number of friends,” Lupo shrugged, glancing away before turning back to him. “That pretty much includes all of ‘our’ group plus one other if you could call him a friend. I know what it’s like to have them… and I know what it’s like to lose them. But not one of them as famous as … Holmes was. And I can only imagine how you must’ve felt when it happened. How you must feel even now or… whenever someone makes a throwaway comment about him. I’ve known good men that either never made it home or couldn’t handle what came after.”A range of emotion crossed her face and she turned her gaze down to her hands as they played with each other. “And I know that sometimes,” she sighed a shaky breath, “sometimes, you think about them and you can’t help but wonder if… if only you could’ve known in time. If – if you could’ve just… stopped them somehow. You… you just never know anymore when you look at a friend that’s been through a lot. Every time you look at them, you can’t help but wonder if maybe one day you’ll be hearing about the bullet they ate and then it’ll just… it’ll just start all over again. It’s… it’s just hard, sometimes, to remember that not every bullet reaches a military target. That there are civilians out there who might not be – have ever – gone into combat, but the PTSD and the depression and the Survivor’s Guilt is just as strong. And sometimes, they can’t fight it, either.“It… it’s just so ironic that Eureka has so much to its name, you know? But no matter how much you want something just… just gone, it’ll never happen. Eureka will not ever find the one cure that matters. And I know it sounds callous that I don’t think Cancer really matters in the grand scheme of things, but that’s already well on its way to being cured. You can get treatment that actually works when you’ve got Cancer, but it’s so hard to deal with something you can’t even see until it’s sometimes just too late. And all the rest of us just feels so helpless watching and th-there’s just not a damned thing any of us can do about it.”Silence fell over them like a blanket as she finished or simply ran out of words.And the sad part was, he completely agreed with her. Yes, Cancer was horrible, but depression…“Yeah,” he couldn’t find any response to that.“So, I’m sorry,” she repeated, breathing out a sigh.“Thanks,” he nodded, staring down at his shoes for a long moment. “I… thanks.”“Don’t get stuck in that cycle, okay?” she bit her lip. “It never helps.”“I’ll try,” he smiled blandly. “But, if you don’t mind my asking…”“No civilians for me,” she answered the question he wasn’t sure how to finish. “Mostly veterans. Carter,” she smiled slightly, “he, uh, had a Marshal eat a bullet some years back. He didn’t say too much about it, but… I got the feeling he got a front row seat.”Watson had had a front row seat, too.If for no other reason, he was it. Any kind of guilt and shame Tony felt was because of him. Him and Eames. And Hudson and Lestrade and the Trio. That was all on him.“Should I be hearing about this from someone not Carter?” he asked instead to dispel the gloomy melancholy that had settled over them.“Too late,” she shrugged, uncaring. “Not like you can take it back, anyway.”“Maybe not,” he agreed, not bothering to remind her of memory charms.She didn’t seem to want to say anything else, so he gave one final nod and left her to her thoughts as he made his way to the carbon contaminated areas.Using every trick he could think of, he wandered around milling scientists without them ever realizing his presence among them.Luckily, all the signs of an isolated area was a lack of foot traffic on that part of the floor. The leak had been isolated and contained to only roughly six or seven rooms and there were about three rooms downstairs that the gas could’ve come from. Tony had listened to the updates last night before they were all taken off back to town for some warm foodstuffs.Evidently, the three labs under Tony’s location could very well have had a leak with the fumes, but neither of the scientists down there had realized they’d left their equipment on that long. All of them had had to refile lost paperwork and had thought they would be right back.Honestly, did they leave their highly unnecessary state of the art kitchen appliances on at home when they left the house?Those labs downstairs were now off limits until Monday thanks to the gas/fumes that had built up and were now being… whatever GD called gas clean up. Unfortunately, that also meant that a majority of things in those three labs were going in the trash – or ‘bin’ as Eames would say. Luckily, the blueprints and calculations were all on the computer, so nothing truly important had been lost.Tony checked the time and decided to just take a look at the more diluted labs on the floor he was on. He’d be able to check out the real scenes of interest once the team of investigators arrived since Sunday morning was the earliest that anyone without Magic could get to the ones downstairs.Lucky for him, he had Magic and could use breathing charms to move around without needing Hazmat gear.As long as he resisted touching everything in his sight, no one would know he’d been snooping around.The first two labs showed nothing of concern, but the third had been marked as having a slightly higher level than all the rest and that had been explained away by something in the ventilation system having been moved or shifted due to recent maintenance. It also explained how the carbon monoxide only affected this particular group of labs as opposed to the rest of the floor.From what Tony understood, the equipment in these labs started going nuts once the monoxide got to a certain level. By some stroke of luck, none of the people in these labs were in residence at the time. A third of them had been at additional labs off-site, a different third had been immersed in their lives and the last third had been either on an emergency trip to Portland, in the infirmary for a stomach bug, embroiled in a heated debate in the research library or eating breakfast with Tony himself at Café Diem.Good Merlin, someone powerful had to be watching over this town and this complex and Tony had to wonder how much longer they could keep it up before something inevitably slipped through the cracks. From what Tony had seen so far, these were good people doing extraordinary things and he didn’t want to see any of them hurt.Or someone definitely had to be watching over Hern, since he was the only one who’d only stepped out to get some coffee before Tony had hijacked him into breakfast.An icy chill creeped down his spine at the thought that Hern could’ve died had Tony not made him stay in town.Puffing a slight sigh into his breathing charm, Tony made a circuit around the room and couldn’t help comparing it to a few of the rooms he’d noted back at the secret lab complex.Actually…It was more or less identical to two of said labs and he was in the center of this one when a thought occurred to him and his eyes caught sight of a small bookshelf pushed into a corner. He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes as he overlaid the current image with a memory from one of the labs and moved toward the bookcase to examine it further.That further study prompted him to go back to the other labs he’d already checked out and then onto the rest, the true realization of how close Hern or anyone else had come to dying upsetting the sandwiches he’d had for a relatively late lunch.‘Unbelievable,’ he shook his head as he moved further away just in time for a team of investigators in gas masks to show up. ‘Absolutely unbelievable.’Not knowing what else to do with himself, he decided to check out the downstairs labs.He got a call around two hours later, making him blink at the time lapse and huffed a sigh as he answered to find SARAH recalling him back due to something Carter was refusing to let her in on.‘Okay,’ he hung up and made his way out of the lab areas. ‘I’ll let everyone know my findings soon enough. Not like they’re all here in one place, anyway.’* **
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Henry yawned as he stretched himself out.The day’s excitement was taking its toll on his energy resources, but it was also likely that the restless night didn’t help, either.If he was honest, though, it really started last night when Jo's group missed check in and scenarios relentlessly hounded his every step.He remembered calling Grace to tell her the others were now missing as he and Allison readied to join search parties because hell only knew what was out there and what had kept Jo or Taggart – or DiNozzo, for that matter – from reporting in. And once they’d actually got on the trail, he’d had no idea how tense he’d been until he spied each and every single one of them looking – for all intents and purposes – like a group of friends on a hiking trip. Then they told both he and Allison about a secret lab complex and, yeah, Henry was curious, but he was more concerned with making absolute certain that everyone was okay.The adrenalin hadn’t left him and he remembered the lab complex and he started getting curious because they’d gone through all kinds of records when they first came to this timeline and the first alarms began to sound about the Project.Then Henry’s merry band of time hoppers got together to try figuring out if there’d been a project that far out in the old timeline, but Henry, Fargo and Allison either didn’t know much on the off-site quarter or were just unaware of it. It could’ve been the DoD’s efforts, but that was assuming that there was even anything in the other timeline to even remember in the first place.The clueless group now had it in this timeline, but even the long-time residents like Vincent had no idea who had been out there – more likely he wouldn’t know about the lab complex, either – and Vincent knew everything.The lab complex had been completely empty of people and things, but that didn’t stop Henry from thinking about it and dreaming of it between thoughts of Strutger’s funeral. When he did dream, though, it was with the complex in mind and hidden fears about having to bury more of the friends he couldn’t lose and one he had no right to lose as DiNozzo wasn’t even his friend to begin with. He had other friends, though, and Henry knew in his heart of hearts that he would accept whatever blame and punishment they gave him. Grace had had to wake him after he’d finally dropped off and then it was to the bunker.The yellow tent set up in Carter’s living room had definitely kept his attention until the service and he was grateful for the unexpected distraction. Having something else to think about in the face of such misery was definitely a heaven sent gift and he had a lot to think about after brunch in regards to Tony and Carter’s revelations that Henry had honestly never thought of before. When he was told by Carter himself about Magic, he wasn’t quite certain what to think other than it being unhealthy for Carter to go so long without performing his natural abilities. Trying to get him to accept the opportunity each of their group represented in that, had been incredibly difficult and a lot of the conflict that Henry could now understand after this morning seemed to stem from the conditioning that Carter had grown up with.It was just… hard to accept for both sides that it would definitely take a lot more time before Carter would be as comfortable in his Muggle audience as DiNozzo appeared to be. His line of thinking definitely worked near parallel to the blond’s, anyway, if earlier today was any indication. Henry would honestly never have thought to pull the fire alarm, but it had helped tremendously as it enabled Zane to find a loophole and extort it even more.And then the Wizard disappeared to find Jo, only to send Risky careening back to them babbling about Jo in the Rain Catcher system. Well, when she wasn’t trying to kidnap Zane because she had to tell him a big secret that no one else could know.Henry didn’t know what she told him or what happened after that, because Allison had gone to find the access point Jo found in the hopes that they could use that to find a service entrance.Not like it would help, but it would at least have been something, right?What they ended up finding was a small scale plastic model of the GD logo (“Has that always been there?”) and two half hysterical adults on the outskirts of Garden Four.Jo refused to talk and DiNozzo was in his own world, so Henry didn’t see either one until DiNozzo joined them in the cafeteria.So, here he was a number of hours later, beginning a rough draft on the investigation report like the Italian had asked for. Said Wizard hadn’t actually been seen since he talked with Jo almost a half hour after Henry and Grace saw him last. Whatever the two had been talking about had Jo in a slightly kind of melancholy mood that no one could figure out and she wasn’t going to give away an obviously private conversation.“Hey, Henry,” Allison’s greeting had him looking up from his musing mid-stretch. “Heard from Tony, yet? I mean Agent DiNozzo?”“No,” he checked the time. “I don’t even know if he’s still in the building.”“Jo said we were going to have a meeting in Fargo’s office and that he’d be there, so I guess it’s too soon to call in a search party,” Allison smiled almost tiredly.“How’d all the sauna patients make out?” he sat in his chair again and tilted his head at her.“Well, Hern’s the only one we currently have still left. And that’s for observation since he’s the one who was passed out the longest. Agent DiNozzo has a heck of a sense of timing,” she shook her head.“And Hern has bad luck,” Henry couldn’t help tacking on with a wry chuckle.“You’re telling me,” Allison shrugged helplessly. “What is this, number four, now?”“Probably,” he shrugged uncaringly.Sometimes, people had that kind of luck around here. Look at Fargo, after all, the one who either ended up a victim or the cause of the weekly disaster.More than likely, Hern just drew this month’s short straw and it would be passed along to some other poor soul maybe in another week’s time.In Eureka, you really just had to learn to roll with the punches.“When’s the meeting?” Henry drew his thoughts elsewhere from Hern and his luck.“In a little over an hour,” she dropped into the chair next to him with a deep sigh. “How’re you holding up, by the way?”“Fine, things considered,” Henry smiled slightly. “Agent DiNozzo was certainly a good choice as far as similarities to Carter go.”“The fire alarm,” Allison nodded. “Carter will be proud.”“I’m not so sure,” he mused thoughtfully. “I mean, DiNozzo and Carter are basically cut from the same cloth, but they have similar lines of thinking. Now, if one of us,” he waved a hand between the two of them, “or someone else thought to pull the fire alarm, it’s very possible that Carter would probably break down into tears of joy.”“Which will possibly also be when something happens in town that’s actually up his alley without our help,” Allison couldn’t help grinning at the thought.Her smile evoked one of his in response and somehow the two of them were laughing at almost nothing for an amount of time he didn’t care to measure. It just felt so good to just be the Henry and Allison that used to be close friends in the last timeline before things got tangled between them. And it was that thought that hit Henry the hardest as they sat back, Allison watching him thoughtfully as the smile faded from his lips.“I’m sorry,” he locked their gazes. “I haven’t been the best friend I used to be. And I’m sorry for that.”“I think I’m sorry, too,” she frowned. “It’s just been one thing after another, hasn’t it? Neither one of us ever just decided to ask the other for… for coffee or something and just talk like we used to.”“Maybe we should start again,” Henry suggested. “But I’m still sorry for everything I’ve done.”“I’ve just been sitting here and now I realize that I miss you, Henry,” Allison’s smile was sad this time. “I know you have Carter as your best friend and everything, but I… when did the two of us… just decide that we weren’t friends?”“I don’t know,” Henry felt a similar sadness, “but I think it’s high time we fixed it, don’t you?”“Yeah,” she said after a moment with a brighter expression. “We won’t be able to show Carter that we can support him in finding new friends if we can’t be friends ourselves.”“I’m suddenly glad you’re friends with Jack right now, after he dropped that bombshell on us,” he told her.“Well, it wasn’t only a selfless matter,” she kind of shyly confessed. “If all of us were more or less the same to Carter, then he wouldn’t only have me for support that I might not be able to give. Except, I really don’t want Carter to get the wrong idea,” she shrugged helplessly. “All of us need to be close to him and each other if any of this is going to work. He needs us to be there for him and I felt that it wouldn’t be fair to me or the rest of you if I was the only one there for him. We’ve been friends for years and been through so much and… I think a part of me realized that. And then… I looked at all of you and realized that… besides Grace and Tag and Holly, I couldn’t see what you were thinking. Or Fargo or Jo and I used to. What kind of support are we going to be to Carter when we aren’t even a support for each other? I miss it, Henry,” her sad brown eyes bored into his. “And I miss Fargo and Jo and how we used to have something. I miss all of you. And… I want that back. I want my friends back. You and Jo and Fargo. Carter makes keeping friends look just so damn easy,” she wiped at her eyes with a laugh.“He does, doesn’t he?” Henry leaned forward and let his hands dangle between his knees. “I understand what you’re saying, Allison, and I agree with you. I do admit to wondering what your reasoning was for taking a step back, but it makes sense. Carter needs all of us because it affects all of us and not having the back up and support from people like himself is stopping you from getting close again. Once you think that you’ve both reached a state of equilibrium on solid ground, then you’ll feel comfortable being close again. Plus, you just found out Carter’s biggest secret. And you have to come to terms with that. I mean, Grace did after we told her, remember?” And there was a part of him that completely understood now in a way that he hadn’t before.“We are just so out of our depth on this one, Henry,” Allison sighed, sinking further back in her chair.“I know, and we’re going to need all the help understanding that we can get,” he nodded.They lapsed into a comfortable silence before Allison shifted. “Do you think Tony would want to keep in touch?” she asked suddenly.Or maybe… not so suddenly.“I don’t know,” he tilted his head thoughtfully. “We could ask him,” he suddenly saw the time. “We’ll ask him now. It’s time to get to Fargo’s office, anyway.”The two of them made their way out of the empty lab after Henry saved the report to finish later and Henry couldn’t help the smile on his face every time he caught Allison’s eye, her smile echoing back the hopefulness of a renewed friendship.“There you two are!” Fargo looked up at their entrance. “Now, we’re just waiting for Zane and Taggart.”Jo had evidently gotten out of the infirmary on her own, their Head of Security already in a seat around the long table with a pair of crutches propped up behind her against the wall. Grace glanced up with a smile from next to her as Holly sat across from them, nose buried in her tablet.Henry and Allison barely settled by the time Taggart rushed in.“Aye, sorry, I’m late,” he collapsed at the end of the table. “Bagged myself a stray out on the way in. Lookin’ for an ID chip as we speak, but not to worry. Once we find his family, I’ll set him on his way,” the Aussie winked from under his camo face paint. “Waiting for Donovan and DiNozzo, then, are we?”“Zane should be coming shortly,” Jo supplied. “SARAH said she’d send DiNozzo along when he got back in. I don’t know where he went,” she told Henry’s curious glance. “She only said he stepped out and would be right back after dealing with a problem that Carter was fussing about.”And considering the fact that DiNozzo had yet to call any of them in a panic about catastrophic failure of some sort, Henry was going to believe it to be a Magical matter until such a time that some sort of catastrophic failure was confirmed.“Think we should try calling again?” Fargo furrowed his brow as he set the office into privacy mode.“We’ll have to give him the highlights,” Holly shook her head. “We can’t exactly wait much longer if we want this meeting before dinner or people will start asking questions.”“You mean questions like how Risky and the whole of town found out that she basically killed somebody?” Jo glowered at her. “And don’t act all innocent like you didn’t write that report around lunch time.”“Risky hacked it?” Grace blinked.“One of the other kids got the information and told her and other people,” she said shortly.“How’re you feeling, Jo?” Henry remembered to ask.“Well enough,” came her predictable answer.The next few minutes passed without seeing any sign of their missing two and Holly eventually heaved a sigh.“Alright, then,” she sat back in her chair and laced their fingers together. “I’m going to call this meeting to order and the other two can get the highlights when they get here. So, first order of business is the Building’s operating system with the doors. If all of you remember from the Storage Power Surge, Dr. Hern was locked in his storage space. There was a similar power malfunction exactly two hours before Jo and the other two arrived that affected both the meditation spaces and the sauna rooms. I looked into it as per Dr. Reynolds’ statement to Deputy Andy and Agent DiNozzo’s own observations. It most definitely appears as though the levers controlling the steam have been welded to the complete 'open' position, however, that looks like a complete accident due to a maintenance issue and an apparent breakdown in communications. There was a cleaning scheduled for three specific rooms, but the missive received mistakenly had all of them at the incorrect time.”“And the Building’s closed for tomorrow as the problems are fixed,” Fargo added. “Especially with the Agent smashing the pipes to bits.”So, that was one order of business.“Taggart,” Allison turned to him. “You said you went to Day Trip?”“Oh, aye,” he frowned. “Didn’t go all the way there and back, mind, but some of my animals were tracked avoiding that area. Found mobile animal repellant cones all up and down the first two hours of the trail placed two miles apart. Don’t know if there are cones all the way up.”“And that’s not all,” Holly shook her head. “I’ve gotten recordings of energy readings coming from the End Goal.”“Probably cleaners and stuff,” Fargo dismissed.“Oh, I highly doubt that,” Taggart shot down. “No one else up there but meself. No vehicles, nothing.”That was strange.There were living quarters at what was called ‘End Goal’ at the end of ‘Day Trip’, but at least two vehicles were required in the parking lot while someone was there. No one wanted to be dropped off there – especially alone because who knew what would happen -, preferring to drive themselves to the lot and back.But no other vehicle other than Tag’s Tank? Very strange.“Well, maybe someone’s testing something?” Grace suggested.“I would know about it,” Fargo shot her down. “I’m the one that approves this stuff. No one has any right to be out there aside from maintenance crews who should’ve already cleaned everything as End Goal was being vacated. There should be no one or thing out there right now.”“Well, there clearly is because these readings have to be coming from somewhere,” Holly pointed out. “Seriously. And I think we need to check it out.”“You mean actually going out there,” Fargo frowned at her.“Yes, Douglas, that’s generally what it means.”“I’ll go with you two,” Jo puffed a sigh. “My leg should be ready by lunch tomorrow, right, Allison?”“Well, tomorrow’s Friday and Kevin and Jenna might be coming back next weekend if Mom doesn’t want them longer. I honestly don’t have much to do right now. Ideally, you should wait until dinner tomorrow, but we’re still going to have to walk a long way to even think of getting to a campsite.”“You’re planning to go, too?” Grace turned to her.“Sure,” she lifted a shoulder. “I’m going to have to come anyway to keep an eye on Jo’s leg.”“I’m still waiting for a few parts to arrive,” Grace lit up. “I’ll be completely free tomorrow and this weekend.”“Hey,” Fargo raised a finger, “think we can get Agent DiNozzo to come with us?”“And bring his tent?” Henry raised a knowing brow. “Actually,” he thought about it. “I’d like to spend the weekend on a Magical camping trip. If we can convince him to join us, I’ll come along.”“That’s great,” Fargo beamed. “Camping trip! All in!”“All in where?” Zane finally walked in and Henry was about to say something when he took another look at the young genius.Zane looked… jittery. And tired, leading Henry to believe that he’d overdosed on caffeine. Something about him was off and it could very well be the almost grim look in his usually sparkling blue-green eyes.“And where have you been?” Fargo demanded to know, crossing his arms.“Zane, are you alright?” Allison sat up straighter.“No. No, I’m not,” he shook his head. “I just spent hours trying to prove him wrong.”“Prove who wrong?”“DiNozzo. He got me thinking about the explosion and I went over every little thing and… I couldn’t do it. There’s no way it was an accident.”“What?” Allison said sharply as Henry straightened.“It can’t be,” Zane tossed his hands up before letting them flop back down against his sides. “And I can prove it,” he rummaged inside a pocket before drawing out a folded paper that ended up being some rough blueprints. “At the funeral, Ethan said how Risky adores Carter.”“We were there,” Henry nodded, remembering how sweet it was that she idolized his friend and kind of sad that she didn’t have anyone else to latch onto like that.“Yeah, well, I took DiNozzo to Storage and coming back to Café Diem, he brought something up that got me thinking. He said that Risky basically fell over herself trying to make this perfect for Carter. Which meant that she’d be constantly second guessing herself and double checking everything all the time, something that he said was what gave him the idea. If Risky did her job like DiNozzo said she should have, then no way would those thin caps have been put on by mistake. And if she truly believed that the thick caps were on, then I have to give her the benefit of the doubt. But that’s not the only thing,” he gestured to the now flattened paper. “Risky came up to me at the Building on the Spa complex and explained how we found Strutger’s remains where we found them.”“Not plastered to the back wall,” Henry tugged on his bottom lip absently as he studied the half drawn pictures.“Exactly. See these blueprints? It details the parts that were the most damaged from the blast.”Henry nodded. Roughly half the entire thing had been blown apart. That they even found the caps at all was something of a miracle.“What are we supposed to be looking at?” Jo leaned forward to eye the images.“This one right here,” Zane stretched forward to tap a particular part of the project that Henry had overlooked.“What about it?” Holly frowned. “It’s just another part, right?”And what else could it be? The diagram showed an ‘H’ kind of part that turned into a handle when pulled. It came straight out and then it had to be pushed down, pushed in almost all the way, turned so that the ‘H’ was now ‘I’, tugged back out, pushed all the way up and then pushed all the way in at an angle.Henry shrugged as the others studied it.“And this is… bad?” Fargo uncertainly ventured, flicking a lost look around the table.“This,” Zane tapped the picture, “is what Strutger was trying to do when the sucker blew up. He had to because the primary and backup fail-safes failed.”“A third failsafe?” Grace looked up with wide eyes. “But there was only supposed to be two.”“Yeah, supposed to be. Right up until Carter complained that Hern was the only scientist to have an actual manual back up. Risky caught wind of it and was determined to show Carter that she had one, too.”“Which would make Carter give her some sort of recognition,” Henry sat back as his stomach dropped.This entire project had been Risky manipulating things in order to show off to Carter, someone she considered an idol. His attention was all she wanted and, in order to get it, this test had to go off without a hitch.“Oh my god,” Allison had a hand over her mouth as she came to her own conclusions. “Someone sabotaged the experiment.”“And that’s not all of it, either,” Zane sighed.“Oh god, there’s more,” Fargo put his head down on his arms as they crossed on the table.“Yeah. DiNozzo recommended I check the inventory list of caps and it said that there should’ve been a brand new shipment that came in. I went down to Inventory to actually check with my own two eyes and this is what I found,” he dug into a pants pocket and placed a small handful of black caps on the blueprint draft. “Go on. See what’s wrong with them.”Henry’s hand closed around the nearest one before he even registered Zane’s demand and almost right away, he knew these were not the right ones that should be on GD grounds.“These can’t be right,” Holly took the words right out of his mouth. “These are inferior to what standard caps are supposed to be. It… it’s squishy and not firm.”It was hard to explain, but Henry completely understood.Standard GD rubber caps had to be a certain thickness all the way around. No part of it should yield as his hand squeezed it because a typical standard cap felt like squeezing a rock made of rubber. Like a heavy duty truck tire.The cap in Henry’s hand, however, didn’t have that stability in a way that only became clear when you had one in either hand to compare how one felt to the other. This one had a give to it that shouldn’t have been there. And a closer look showed a thinner rim on the inferior cap than the uniform thickness all over – something that the standard caps had.Would Risky had known to look for a difference? Was she even aware those differences even existed?“How did these get in here?” Allison demanded to know, her old Director of GD voice coming out in a slow burning fury. “They never should have gotten through the door.”No one had an answer for her.None.“The entire drawer is full of them,” Zane quietly continued. “I couldn’t find the standard ones.”Which meant that this was the wrong shipment somewhere.“We have to pull them all!” Fargo’s head shot up in horror. “People are going to use the wrong caps and blow us all up!”“Don’t touch them!” Jo suddenly growled, her own brown eyes crackling in fury. “If DiNozzo’s right like I think he is, then we can’t say anything. Someone wanted someone in that lab dead and they were willing to make collateral damage in order to do it. The sabotage happened in a way that stinks of careful planning and patience and hearing about any change to the system will tip them off and they’ll spook.”“But we can’t just leave these things out for just anyone to use,” Tag shook his head.“We’ll think of something, but we won’t have anything thick enough for them to even use right now.”“Or we could keep an eye on the caps,” Tag suddenly looked up with a grin. “I’ve long been waiting to try a little something with my rodents and this seems like the perfect opportunity while you lot go gallivanting off on your Magic camping trip.”“Zane’s coming with us,” Jo immediately ordered.“Yeah,” Fargo nodded. “Magic tent and everything.”“At least he’ll stay out of trouble with us,” Jo went on. “And he won’t be in danger of tipping someone off.”“Taggart,” Henry watched him. “You’ll volunteer to keep an eye on things?”“Aye,” he tapped the side of his nose with a wink. “No one’ll suspect a bloody thing. And that way, I’ll be able to spread the word that all rubber cap experiments are temporarily off the docket.”“Oh, I can make a program that will kick people out of the cap drawers,” Holly offered, a somewhat malicious grin on her face. “It’ll make people a little frustrated when they won’t be able to override it until we get back.”“And I’ll be able to catch the crooks red-handed should they try to switch things back,” Taggart agreed.“You think they will?” Henry frowned.“They wouldn’t dare have someone mistakenly blow someone else up,” Grace scowled. “And they would have had to do something with the right shipment.”“They might very well try to switch it back to make it look like it was a silly mistake on Risky’s part,” Henry shrugged. “To try covering their tracks.”“That’s what I would do,” Jo muttered.“But why?” Grace leaned back in her chair and rubbed her forehead. “Why would someone do this? Who would want Carter, Strutger or Risky dead?”“Maybe they didn’t care who the original target was,” Jo pointed out. “Someone in that lab was the target and the other two were supposed to be collateral. It would be a different story if Carter didn’t have Magic, because then we’d be looking at three bodies instead of one dead scientist, one injured kid and one stuck cat.”“Then Agent DiNozzo wouldn’t be here,” Henry frowned. “And we most certainly wouldn’t be sitting here now, talking about a targeted murder instead of a tragic accident.”Which…Which was a suddenly sobering realization.If Carter never had Magic and never turned into a cat, then Agent DiNozzo wouldn’t have come. Wouldn’t have been the driving force in giving Zane the nudge he’d needed in order to come to the right conclusions.“Oh,” Holly came to the same thought. “Oh, I am definitely finding him a thank you card.”“And I think I’m owing him dinner,” Zane nodded, having obviously had the time to absorb that thought as well.“And speaking of dinner,” Fargo suddenly clapped his hands, “I’m starved. Anyone else?”“Well, considering the fact that we just found out that an accident has now become a murder, no,” Allison still fumed.“We can’t just not show up,” Grace shook her head. “Jo said that we can’t tip anyone off or act differently or someone will get suspicious.”“DiNozzo would say the same,” Zane agreed. “We have to act normally. Even with the funeral having been just this morning.”“Has it really only been this morning?” Henry was surprised. “It feels longer.”“Oh, by the way,” Zane suddenly frowned. “Anyone hear from DiNozzo? He… kind of missed his own meeting, after all.”“No,” Grace shrugged. “I haven’t heard from him.”“Not since before he talked to Jo,” Henry added.“It could be a Magical matter that ran over,” Allison mused, standing and pushing her chair back in to stand behind it.“I’d have thought he’d call,” Fargo frowned. “Think we should try finding him? Maybe he got lost or something.”“He found me in the Infirmary easily enough,” Jo stood and effortlessly swung up on to her crutches with the ease of long practice.“Plus, he’s a grown Wizard,” Holly stood, too. “He can do things.”“Well,” Allison shook her head. “I still think we should visit the bunker to see if he’s alright.”“Aye,” Taggart nodded, himself heading for the door. “And I’ll take a look-see at the Sheriff to make sure he got away from that brute of a beast. It’s where I found the stray and… Zane?” he stopped with a furrowed brow. “You alright, lad?”Henry turned to see the color slowly drain from the young man’s face as he stared at the Aussie. “Zane?”Zane swallowed as he looked faint and swallowed again before managing, “What… kind of dog?”“How’d you know it was a dog?” Taggart frowned. “I never identified the stray and you weren’t here, besides.”“… crap.”
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Henry had to shake his head at the whole thing as he and Grace headed for the bunker to meet up for lunch the next day.“Shape shifters,” he chuckled. “Can you imagine.”“The correct term for a singular Shifter is Ani-may-gus,” Grace jokingly corrected. “For plural, we use the term Ani-mah-gee.”“Yeah,” he shrugged as they drove down the street. He couldn’t believe that there were Magicals like that in the world. And more than that, he knew two of them.After Zane had run out of Fargo’s office like he had to diffuse a potential ‘Eureka = Crater’ crisis, the rest had run after him to find him in Taggart’s territory fluttering over a large black dog that was completely drugged to the gills.It was only after they managed to calm him down that his gibberish had slowly began making sense and put in the right context. Henry had read through the Transfiguration book in question before the explosion and had run home to get it as everyone else broke the unconscious Italian out of the pound, as it were, and all of them reunited at the bunker.Carter had taken one look at them and abandoned his furry pink boa to make demanding meows at them as they settled the dog on a pile of pillows that Holly and Fargo dashed around gathering. It only took one look at Taggart’s sorry expression that Carter understood and, as a result, refused to let him anywhere near the dog Animagus the rest of the night.Henry had watched his friend alternate between hissing at the one responsible, running back over to fuss and try waking the dog, running to rub anxiously against everyone else’s legs, run back over to make sure DiNozzo was still breathing, climb on top of him to purr for a few minutes, run back over to meow anxiously at Allison as she tried her best to calm him down, hiss at Tag, et cetera, et cetera.It had actually been rather amusing to watch despite being worried himself and Jo showed Taggart no sympathy as she watched Carter hiss at him again.‘You brought this on yourself,’ she’d coolly told him as Grace took over the kitchen. All of them knew he had serious groveling to do to gain both Wizards’ trust back.Once Taggart was called out to take care of an actual emergency, Carter settled down to worriedly stare at the other Wizard with only a few relocations as he couldn’t seem to make up his mind to sit on top or nearby. He wouldn’t eat anything they tried to coax him away with and Jo and Allison had volunteered to spend the night so Carter wouldn’t worry alone.Henry and Grace had left the book for the others to study at their own pace and went home.After tinkering in the Garage for most of the mornin, they decided that lunch was in order, but couldn’t decide if they wanted Café Diem or homemade. The others in the group had unanimously agreed to check on DiNozzo at the bunker to make sure he was alright and to go over the plan in relative privacy.They had to get ready for the Day Trip to check out the energy readings because no one was supposed to be out there right now. Holly had probably been up half the night with Zane and Fargo trying to write a program to keep the Inventory drawers shut and Taggart had to get his rodents ready to let loose.Before dinner, Henry, Grace, Jo, Allison, Zane, Fargo, Holly and DiNozzo would start Day Trip and it kind of depended on Jo as to how far they went the first handful of hours. It depended on the amount of time they would have left tomorrow to get to the lab space to figure out what was going on and then get back to the tent if they left it in one spot. It was Friday, so that could put their arrival in town somewhere on Sunday.“You think all the stress last night set Carter back a few days?” Grace suddenly frowned.“I honestly don’t pretend to know about how Magic blocks are supposed to function, but hopefully Agent DiNozzo’s changed back so we can ask him.”They arrived at the Bunker and Henry stuck his head inside first once they were let in.“Anybody home?” he noted activity in the kitchen right before Carter wandered into view with his furry pink boa wrapped around him with one end in a bow around his neck and the other end trailing on the ground as he went. “Hey, Jack.”His friend came over to them to rub against their legs a few times before making his way back inside and heading for the kitchen.“That’s a good sign, right?” Grace watched him go and stepped in herself. “Allison? Jo?”“Kitchen,” Jo called back.Henry walked in as he heard an almost pained groan coming from the living room. “Agent,” he felt a relieved smile stretch his face as he spied the Italian as himself again, crumpled in a corner of Carter’s now multicolored couch. “Glad you’re feeling better.”“Not so loud,” he screwed his face up as he ran a finger back and forth across his forehead.“How many darts did you end up with?” Henry obliged, lowering his voice as he got closer.“Two,” he grumbled softly, making Henry wince.Carter could barely handle one and was almost completely useless for twenty four hours after that, so “How are you still not comatose?”“Well,” his own voice was soft. “It goes a little faster if I’m hit as my counterpart. It depends on the size of the Animal you shift into. Those like Carter and other small animals wouldn’t b able to take two like Agent or Padfoot would. Although,” the finger moving across his forehead softened its pressure, “I’d rather Moony took four despite me going down on two.”“Agent, Padfoot and Moony?” Grace softly questioned as she eased down next to DiNozzo.“Well, I shouldn’t be telling you this, but I have other Unregistered friends and Padfoot’s one of them. This goes no further than the four of us,” he pried an eye open to glare them into acquiescence, but Henry thought it would’ve been more effective at full strength.“You got it,” Grace promised as Henry nodded, both looking up in surprise at the soft piano notes coming from the ceiling.“Morse Code,” DiNozzo tiredly explained. “Using piano. It’s actually pretty cool. Anyway, Moony’s too… eh… to get into right now and Agent’s me as a dog. Usually, it helps if there’s a nickname attached to an Animagus, but you can go without, too. But as for Carter, I kind of already have him registered in your records as ‘Marshal’ and it might help to start seeing him as ‘Marshal’ as opposed to ‘Carter’, if you get me.”“That’s actually a good idea,” Henry mused, leaning against the back of the couch. “I never thought about it, really.”“Yeah, well, now that we know Carter can change on a whim, you’ll be seeing Marshal again after I leave here.”“Oh, that reminds me,” Grace raised a finger. “He was upset last night, so would this interfere with him changing back?”DiNozzo was silent for long moments as his closed eyes tightened in thought. “It really shouldn’t because being a cat comes with a kind of different personality in addition to his usual self. Now that I know he’s Unregistered, it’s more clear that his Magic is used to his cat form and is used to keeping him there, but that… I honestly don’t know if I’m supposed to actually call it a block at this point,” he sounded kind of baffled. “I’ve just been calling it that lately because I don’t know what else to call it. It’s not a… a true block the way I know it, it’s just something that’s preventing Carter from changing back. It’s making his Magic hold the form and preventing him from using Magic altogether as a result. And, yes, it’s possible to do Magic, but not much if you’ve never tried it before as your Alter. I don’t know. And the more I think about it, the more I can’t help feeling that there’s something else there that I should be aware of. I just can’t pin it down since I’m not as familiar with traumatic blocks of energy snapback as you all probably think I am.”“Well, if the footage is going to help any,” Henry shrugged, “Zane’s almost halfway confident we’ll be able to watch it in a few days.”“Possibly, yeah.”“What is it you think you’re missing, though?” Grace asked.“Well, it’s not quite something tangible, but my gut feeling’s latched onto it so time will tell if anything comes up. Oh, and about your clothes…”“What about them?” Henry idly glanced down and did a double take as he realized that his African inspired outfit was now entirely different.“There’s a reason I don’t feel comfortable with Muggle drugs,” DiNozzo smiled wryly as an eye once again slit open.“Yeah,” Henry looked up from his Easter themed clothing at Jo’s voice as she made her way over, leaning on a walking stick reminiscent of a slightly drooping sunflower petrified in dark wood. It was actually a complement to her bright – almost pastel – clothes. “At least the magic isn’t flying things around anymore, so that’s progress.”“I guess you lose control over your Magic, then,” Grace now had streaks of neon blue creeping into her hair as her jeans morphed into a skirt almost matching Henry’s outfit.“And I got a double dose of tranq, so it’s really just starting to settle,” DiNozzo heaved a sigh as he moved his hand down to his eyes. “How many colors did I change Carter?”“The solids had been history long before the polka dots,” Jo unhelpfully answered as she moved toward them on her almost healed ankle.“Which tells me less than nothing.”“Well, he’s still alive right now, so don’t worry. Any idea when he’s getting back to normal?”“It’s been a week,” Henry pointed out, shrugging at his new clothes and returning to the topic at hand.“Yeah, I know,” the Italian absently held a hand out for a glass of milk that drifted from the kitchen. “If he can’t find a way to change tonight, I’ll take another look after I get back from this camping trip I’m being drafted on.”“Magic tent,” Jo didn’t sound sorry at all.“Allison told me about it,” DiNozzo told them. “And the meeting last night. Pretty clever, dropping information about everyone leaving town suspiciously close together. Especially when they might be needed most.”“In our simulated issues and not real ones, I hope,” Henry added.“I can help with that,” he looked thoughtful.“Everyone else is on their way so we can get lunch,” Grace explained. “Agent, what were your plans today before we leave?”“That would be telling, I think,” he suddenly had a planning glint in his eyes. “I’m on short time thanks to those two darts, so I need to focus on that.”“Anything we need to bring besides food?” Grace wanted to know.“Just yourselves. Oh and clothes, any sleeping equipment you need, meds… You’re Asthmatic,” he absently told Henry. “Bring all the inhalers you’ve got. I’ve already got Allison stockpiling medical supplies.”“She’s upstairs,” Jo tapped her stick. “DiNozzo, how long will it take you to get everything in order?”“Less than four hours. No more than three.”“Then we’ll leave at three. We’ll take two cars and go as far as we can before night falls.”“Ah, we’ll more or less get there by nightfall tomorrow,” he predicted. “The ‘end goal’ from what I understand.”“I don’t know about that,” Jo flicked a glance down at her ankle.“It does seem a bit optimistic,” Grace gave her an apologetic look as Henry moved around the couch to make sure her ankle was healing the way it needed to. None of them paid attention to the Wizard in their midst, so they didn’t see the cryptic smile that crossed his lips before he wiped it as he struggled upwards.“I should probably start of that list,” he eventually got his legs steady before heading to the kitchen, footsteps leaving splotches of color in his wake.“You should’ve seen the bunker an hour after he got up,” Jo smirked slightly. “Everything not nailed down was airborne and everything that was began changing color.”“How’d Carter take it?” Henry knew very well that their friend didn’t do heights.“Well, the three of us ended up two miles down the street when DiNozzo tried to put everything down and he’s not exactly sure how that happened, but it was quite the interesting morning.”“I’ll bet,” he grinned.“It was probably home to Carter,” Grace suddenly sounded sad. “A reminder of a bigger world than the one the rest of us live in. You think he misses being around Magic? I bet having Agent DiNozzo here reminds him of some good times.”All this time they wanted Carter to have another Magical in town for his own health and safety and they never actually asked him how he felt about it?“I’m suddenly not sure I deserve to be his friend,” he groaned into his hands while Grace and Jo laughed over him.“Carter’s cool with having him here,” Jo assured. “DiNozzo also said that Carter would’ve thrown him out a long time ago if he wasn’t. Allison asked him if he was interested in staying in contact after leaving and he said Carter was more than welcome to visit.”“Agent DiNozzo get scared off?” Grace wanted to know with a grin.“Mm. I got more the feeling that a non-Eureka vacation was being offered, since he also knows what we’re like.”“Probably for the best,” Henry sighed as he stood and stretched. “I seem to recall Carter threatening to either quit or commit mass murder a few weeks ago. Agent can talk him out of it.”“Or help,” Jo shrugged. “Maybe I should ask if I’d be welcome to visit, too.”The three wandered into the kitchen for some strong coffee and Henry noted DiNozzo and Carter perusing something on a blank wall. “What exactly are you looking at?” he had to ask.“Shopping list,” DiNozzo muttered, reaching forward to scribble on the wall with a finger. A noise from Carter had him nodding. “Good point. Magenta or sea foam?”Henry had to snort as he caught Jo and Grace exchanging looks. Henry got his coffee right before Allison came down and almost spat it right back out as he took in her red streaked hair and peppermint candy-esque clothing.“There you are,” she didn’t seem at all phased by her clothes – or the candy cane clips in her hair – as she spied them. “Tony, Carter, we’ll be right back.”DiNozzo waved an absent hand as he started what looked to Henry like a game of Hang Man with Carter and Allison led them to the bathroom.“Okay,” she put a hand to her temple. “Zane’s meeting us at Café Diem because he wanted a few tries with the program Holly and Fargo came up with. It’s looking good, but it needs to be completely airtight. No one is allowed to go into that section, but we can’t actually come out and said it because, like Jo said about the whole operation in jeopardy if word got to the wrong ears.”“We’re also going to need to pack,” Jo added. “I don’t exactly need to tell everyone what to bring, but definitely sleeping gear. Sleeping bags if you’ve got them.”“We’ve got spares,” Grace offered. “We’ll bring pillows, too.”Henry sipped his coffee as talk turned to food and what everyone planned to eat. Jo would’ve been perfectly happy with MREs and the protein bars designed to keep the tummy happy for hours. Thought he doubted Agent would eat it, considering the lack of the latter when Zane looked through that paper bag yesterday.Henry and Jo had taken up residence in front of a wall to companionably share the screen so they didn’t have to fight over what to read and Henry was mentally snickering at one science article by the time SARAH chimed in to tell them that Holly was at the door.“Oh, good. You’re here,” she spied Grace and Henry as the AI let her in. “Zane and Douglas are meeting us at Diem as they look over a few things. We’re definitely making this thing airtight. Oh, good morning, Sheriff Carter,” she broke off as Carter came to rub against her legs, his furry boa now a lime green that made it look like he now had a snake wrapped around him. Holly pet him a few times almost uncertainly before he went off upstairs only to come back down a few minutes later with one of his older toys in his mouth. “I can play a little later, okay? We were just on our way now.”“Wait,” Henry frowned, suddenly realizing who was missing. “What about Taggart?”“Oh, he got here before I did. I think he’s still outside showing Agent DiNozzo how to use the tranq… oh,” the realization washed over all of them that maybe Taggart showing the person he’d just used the tranq gun on, how to use said tranq gun, probably wasn’t the best idea.Jo and Carter eventually stopped laughing – at least, Henry thought that’s what the coughing/hacking noises were – after Holly ducked outside to find both men gone and a dart on the ground, all of them reaching the same conclusion at the same time. Henry had the strong suspicion that Jo and both Wizards were probably never going to let the Aussie ever live this down.They caught up to Tony about two miles away, in a moment where Tag had temporarily managed to give him the slip, and coaxed him into relinquishing the gun to Jo, who also had to be coaxed into taking it away.“I almost had him,” he scowled as they made their way back to the bunker entrance, Jo being sympathetic as she walked next to him.“There’ll be a next time,” she promised.Henry wisely kept silent from ahead of them. There were, after all, three darts left and better to be safe than sorry.DiNozzo managed to wrangle his Magic under control so that their clothing managed to return to the original outfits they’d come in with – though Henry did notice a candy cane hairclip still in Allison’s hair – and they eventually made their way to lunch, Tag waiting until they were gone before taking the roundabout way to town.Henry noted Ethan on the outdoor patio as the group approached the café, but Ethan spotted them before they could get to the door.“Good Afternoon, Mayor and friends,” he smiled wanly, but the smile did touch his eyes. Not as strongly as it would have before, of course, but it was there.“Hey, Ethan,” Allison smiled back, moving closer. “How’re you holding up?”“I think I’m mostly… numb,” Henry, Grace, Jo and Agent also moving closer as Holly made her way inside Diem. “I got a lot of the crying out of the way already, so…” Ethan shrugged helplessly. “It helps to have others like Hern around and Sandra hasn’t really left my side,” he added. “She’s a doll, really.”“Dr. Quire,” Henry said in an aside when he saw the frown on Agent’s face.“I guess she’s just as rattled as a lot of us are,” Ethan went on, “and the mother hen has come out in force. It’s kind of a shame that she didn’t really spend all that much time with… with Al when he was – was still with us,” his voice hitched slightly. “But Al was with me, Risky, work, Hern or Carter. The last two were quite possibly his closest friends if I’m honest. Yeah, everyone could say they liked Al, but Hern and Carter knew things that weren’t common knowledge.”“Oh?” Agent leaned against the table curiously. “Like what?”Ethan opened his mouth to answer, only for him to furrow his brow and close it again on a frown. “I’m drawing a heavy blank right now,” he smiled self-deprecatingly. “Give me a couple hours and I’ll get back to you.”Vince blustered out of the café with a notepad and a large grin. “Excellent lunch weather,” he commented. “You’ll be joining Ethan this afternoon before leaving town?”“I guess,” Agent shrugged, finding a chair and sitting down at Ethan’s table. “Nothing else to really do right now, anyway.”“Especially with Jo’s ankle still healing,” Grace added. “Oh, don’t worry,” she saw his face. “Jo’ll be just fine in a matter of hours.”Vincent took everyone’s orders – except Agent’s, much to his consternation – and left them to enjoy the pretty afternoon.“Now that I think about it,” Allison frowned, “I haven’t seen Dr. Quire since the funeral.”“She said she had urgent business to take care of last night and I haven’t really heard from her since,” Ethan shrugged as the group settled around him.Henry watched Agent from the table right next to them and smiled slightly. “Something interesting in the sky?”“Hm?” green eyes came down to meet his expectant look before shrugging. “Gonna be a pretty night tonight. And I bet shooting stars look incredible out here.”“They do, actually,” Ethan smiled sadly. “Al… sometimes, when he had Risky over for dinner, the three of us would go out on the clear nights to the back yard and lay there counting shooting stars and naming the constellations,” he suddenly gave a watery sniff as he wiped his eyes. “And I always told Risky that we would have dinner after the test and invite Carter and… obviously that didn’t happen. God, I can’t even imagine what she must be going through right now, ya know? What with … Al gone now and Carter recuperating and knowing that you were the one that…” he trailed off with a furrowed brow as something occurred to him. “Henry,” his eyes flicked to him and narrowed. “Risky loves Carter almost more than she does Trixie. And Risky would never let Trix go into a bad situation if she could help it.”Henry stared, in near shock. How was it that other people kept figuring this out for themselves? “I… well… that is to say –”“Whatever you’re thinking,” Agent spoke up with a threatening glare. “You tell. No. One. Clear? Part of the ongoing investigation.”A burst of different emotions flittered across Ethan’s face too quickly for Henry to catch, but eventually settled on disbelief and shock. “You… you mean… that – that was intentional?!” he hissed.“Keep to. Your. Self.” Agent bared his teeth in an edged grin.“But – oh, god, does Carter know?” his eyes saucered. “How’d he take it? Did you tell him? Damn, forget what Risky must be feeling, Carter must still be in shock.”“I imagine so,” Allison nodded, slanting a frown at Henry and Grace under her eyelashes.“I mean, it’s not easy to come to terms with knowing one of your friends has ended up being collateral damage as a result of an attempt on your life and – ”“Wait,” Jo frowned, raising a hand. “You think Carter was a target?”“And why not?” he wanted to know. “He used to be a Marshal, right? It’s got to be someone from his past, right? Don’t you watch cop shows on television? It’s always someone from the past.”“We’re still looking into it,” Agent smoothly assured and thank goodness he did as Henry, Grace and Allison exchanged baffled looks. At least, though, Ethan didn’t think offhand that his partner had been the target… if he had been.He did have a point, though; either of the men in that lab that day had been the target and it was probably best to keep Carter’s past in mind.Agent caught Henry’s eye and shrugged before shaking his head.So, he wasn’t completely sure, but he doubted it.But that still didn’t make this any easier. Carter could have died and Strutger had and right now they had no leads except whoever switched the standard caps. Taggart was going to be in charge of watching to see who might be in a hurry to switch the inventory caps back and Harry spied the Aussie finally creeping his way to the café with a wary eye on the Wizard. Luckily, Vince provided distraction as he came back out with lunch orders.“Huh,” Ethan smiled bemusedly at the Agent’s lunch. “I thought Vince didn’t do cheeseburgers.”“I used to think so, too,” Henry shook his head and started eating.Once they finished, Agent ran across the street to catch Andy while Ethan, Henry and the girls watched.“I’m glad he’s here,” Ethan looked down at his coffee with a small smile. “You guys are relaxed around him, I can tell.”“Is he relaxed around us?” Grace questioned with a tilt of her head.“Given time, I think,” he thought about it. “Maybe when he interacts more with Carter and Agent DiNozzo doesn’t feel like he’s poaching on his territory.”“What makes you think he’s not already best friends with him?” Henry had to ask.“No time. The treatments that Dr. Blake has Carter on must be incredibly draining on him and he needs to get better, which won’t happen if he’s constantly surrounded by people. I mean, isn’t that why I’ve been seeing all of you out and about? You’re all giving him time to heal and rest. I’m confident he’ll be back out and running around town with Agent DiNozzo before dinner tonight.”“That’s a little optimistic,” Allison shook her head. “But you’re right. That’s actually why we scheduled trips out of town until maybe tomorrow. Or Sunday, to be more reasonable.”“That reminds me, now that you said something,” Ethan played idly with his spoon, dragging it through the leftover mashed potatoes and gravy. “Dr. Reynolds wanted Carter to check out some kind of lab experiment at End Goal because there’s not supposed to be anyone out there.”“How do you know?” Henry frowned.“I overheard Dr. Reynolds complaining about messed up readings yesterday. I don’t know if you know this, but Reynolds and Hern have that environmental study about storms in this area, right? At least two of their instruments are out that way, but one sits on the very top of the mountain.”“That’s the one that’s been going on a few years, right?” Grace straightened.“That’s right. Normally, other projects wouldn’t bother it, but then again Reynolds would have some sort of shield up and running to keep interference away. And that’s if he gets advanced warning about what’s going on out there.”“Yeah, we noticed all those readings, too,” Allison frowned. “And Reynolds didn’t think to report the suspicious activity or investigate himself?”“He wouldn’t have been able to get in,” Ethan revealed that little nugget of information with a shrug. “Director Fargo was explicitly clear about what would happen should someone try taking the spaces provided via illegal means, so he made it so that he, Carter or Deputy Andy could get in and only them. Due to some sort of glitch several months ago, only Carter can now get into the complex. At least until Sandra’s friends figure out what’s wrong with it. That’s why Reynolds needs Carter to get better soon, so he can go check on the instrument himself. He’s got a code to plug into it, so…”“Only a code, right?”“Oh, yeah… or so I hear, anyway. He might need a DNA/retina thing, for all I know.”The code part was easy to get around and Henry was confident that Zane could bypass any specific test they needed to pass, so he didn’t panic. And if Zane couldn’t, Agent could one way or another – as evidenced by his frying one of the magnetic handcuffs a few day previously.There were three checkpoints they would need to deal with in the last three hours of the journey and, if Henry remembered correctly, those needed a code and fingerprint scan. Something Zane was also able to take care of if Ethan’s information was good and only Carter was able to get in.Hopefully, they wouldn’t need to destroy anything if they could help it. They already had to come up with an explanation about how the cuff fried.“And when will Carter be ready to rejoin civilisation again?” Ethan repeated.“We’ll see when we get back from the weekend,” Allison volunteered no other explanation or details. “Dr. Hern should be ready for release then, too.”“Dr. Reynolds will be very glad,” Ethan seemed incapable of keeping a small smirk to himself, but Henry seemed to be missing the actual joke there. Not that it bothered him.Eventually, though, Ethan had to leave and Holly, Fargo and Zane joined the rest of them outside.“Where’s Agent DiNozzo?” Holly looked around.“With Andy,” Henry shrugged. “At least, he was twenty minutes ago.”“Zane,” Allison crossed her arms as she sat back in her chair. “Will you be able to bypass security scans to get in? Carter’s the only one who can pass by the checkpoints and Reynolds has something we need to check on, but the code isn’t the only thing that can access it.”“You got it,” the young genius immediately lit up with a grin.“Why am I not surprised at how quick that answer was?” Jo snorted. “Should be right up your alley.”“So, we’re doing this?” Fargo grinned around at them.“As far as I know,” Henry smiled back, his own spark of excitement zinging through his lower abdomen. It had been such a long time since he’d looked forward to anything like this trip and the best part was their new Magical friend going along for the… well, trail. He never actually went camping with Carter before they all found out about his magic, but – after seeing the tent in the bunker’s living room – he kind of couldn’t help being glad. If he had, Carter wouldn’t have used Magic because Henry hadn’t known at the time and Henry now couldn’t help feeling kind of… guilty?Guilty that he was only interested in mundane things now like camping because magic was involved. What exactly did that say about him?“There’s Agent DiNozzo,” Holly pointed over Henry’s shoulder, prompting him to follow her finger to see the Wizard grumbling to himself as he loped toward them.“Everything alright?” he noted the other’s scowl once he got close enough.“The hell it is,” Agent complained, waving his phone in the air. “Two weeks! Two weeks I’m in Britain and what happens? Absolutely nothing. Zip. And then I’m not even back in the States a week before things descend into hell! What kind of crap sense does that make?!”“A lot,” Jo’s long suffering tone was matched by Allison and Fargo nodding in agreement.“I wouldn’t worry,” Holly told the fuming Magical. “That happens around here all the time.”“Murphy’s Law has strange timing,” Henry sagely added.“Yeah, well, Murphy’s Law can – jump off a bridge,” he was clearly about to say something else before his gaze caught behind them. “Hello,” he cleared his expression startlingly quickly as he addressed someone. “I don’t think we’ve met.”Henry turned again to see young Trixie Armen glaring at all of them from behind her glasses, arms crossed and a foot tapping in a way that Henry noted in her mother when the scientist was agitated.“Hey, Trix,” Zane raised a hand in greeting, which was promptly ignored.“It’s not Risky’s fault,” she mulishly told them. “It’s not. She’d never hurt Sheriff Carter and that’s fact.”“Yes, we know,” Henry nodded, raising a hand. “We are looking at every possible angle and I assure you, we understand at least a little bit of what’s happening.”“And what would that be?” she challenged.“Er,” he looked at Allison, who glanced between them and lowered herself down to Trixie’s level.“Trixie,” she waited until she had the little girl’s attention. “Risky’s off the hook right now, okay? I promise. She’s not in trouble and we are going to be sure to keep it that way, but you and Risky need to trust us to do our jobs. Can you both do that?” she lightly jostled her and nodded at her agreement.“And with that settled,” Zane nodded, “time to get to work.”“Yeah, meet me at the bunker in probably two hours,” Agent told them. “Bring everything you need and I’ll take care of the rest.” He immediately started off down the street, leaving them staring after him.“Okay,” Henry said to his back before shrugging at the others. “In two hours, I guess we’ll see what happens next.”“What’re you guys gonna do?” Trixie looked more interested now, than upset. “Can I help? I can, you know.”“Keep an eye on Taggart,” Jo suggested. “He’s probably gonna need help keeping up with those mice someone let loose in the inventory room.”“Okay, we’ll do that,” she agreed. “Are they dangerous?”“Nah,” Grace waved a hand. “There’s just a good number of them running around. Make sure they don’t eat anything they’re not supposed to.”“Yeah,” Jo snorted. “I wouldn’t put it past anything to suddenly reactivate and blow Global sky high.”* **
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Henry didn’t know what Agent was up to, but the group minus Taggart reconvened in front of the bunker at least two hours later.“Okay,” Agent clapped his hands. “Here’s what’s gonna happen. Everyone’s going to put their stuff in the tent. That way, we’ll be able to make better time with everyone free,” he glanced at Jo’s walking stick.“Less weight,” Zane shrugged. His sleeping bag joined the other pile of sleeping gear outside the yellow tent as it stood steps from the bunker.The carry-on bags were stowed in two trunks as Agent moved their things into the sleeping room and dismantled the tent. Then they were off with Jo, Henry, Grace and Holly in one car while Agent, Allison, Zane and Fargo took the other.It was almost two hours later when they got to the ten car lot at the beginning of the Day Trip walking trail. Henry remembered a similar location in the last time line, though that had been a smaller place and a shorter walk, but this place overpowered that to the nth degree.“Are you sure you’ll be alright, Tony?” Allison eyed him in concern as he hefted the backpack on and headed for the dirt start.“I’m sorry you looked at that file,” he scowled, NCIS cap backwards as the rest of the group followed him. “Now I’ll never be rid of you!” “What was in what file?” Fargo nosed, his floppy hat stuck securely on his head as he donned some sun cream on his face.“No dice,” he told him flatly. “Doc/Patient.”Henry had to smile as he and Grace walked ahead of Jo as she brought up the rear of the group. “It looks like everyone’s getting along very well with you, Agent DiNozzo,” he spoke as he glanced up at the clear blue sky.“Yeah, about that,” the Agent walked backwards in order to point a finger at him. “How’s about everyone call me Tony? Since we’re now supposed to be friends and all, right?”“Alright, Tony,” Grace rolled his name in her mouth as if tasting it. “I think we can do that.”“It’ll be a change from calling Carter by his last name all the time,” Holly pointed out.“And while that may be the case,” Tony acknowledged, “there’s a nicer ring to ‘Carter’ than there is to ‘DiNozzo’. ‘Carter’ just rolls off the tongue and mine is a mouthful.”“No, it’s not,” Allison had to disagree. She was like that.“I think I see his point,” Zane’s sunglasses never turned from the trail ahead. “Carter. DiNozzo. Carter. DiNozzo.”“I rest my case.”Henry was barely aware of the transition between the dirt part of the path and the paved part as they went, but he knew there would be scattered stair steps for the next hour or so as they moved up elevations. “We had to pave because the scientists who come out here have to haul equipment back and forth,” he explained.“And they get little hand carts, too,” Fargo added. “Well, not ‘little’, exactly, but everyone gets at least three carts to help haul all their stuff out to End Goal. They can make multiple trips to and from the cars over a period of several days.”“Is this really called ‘End Goal’ and ‘Day Trip’?” Tony had to ask.“Well, there’s not really another name for either one,” Grace shrugged. “Not officially. We had to call them something, after all.”“You have to walk all day,” Henry added. “At least a day’s walk if you start in the morning with a little bit with you.”“Yeah, and if you’re motivated,” Fargo pointed out. “It’s really two days. I find it easier to split up the walking.”“It helps to have the End Goal in mind,” Allison waved a hand. “Just keep walking.”“Sounds like good exercise,” Tony mused.“It’s designed to be. Oh, and speaking of exercise, we’ll need to rest every couple of miles since we’re not really used to walking all day.”Plus, Jo was still healing despite their technological advances at Global and her body needed to rest a little longer.Not like Jo herself was showing strain, Henry looked up ahead to see her powering on with her walking stick and dark hat.“You know,” Grace commented a few minutes later, “it’s just like a walking holiday if you think about it. Just a group of friends hanging out for a few days.”“I don’t think we’ve all come out at once,” Holly realized.“You’re right,” Henry smiled slightly. “It’s always been a few of us for one reason or another.” There was one memorable occasion that involved alligators and flying umbrellas. No Magic involved, of course, just typical Eureka.“Well, we’re not actually all out at once,” Zane pointed out. “Carter and Taggart aren’t here.”“Tag was here yesterday,” Jo recalled, having waited for them to catch up to her. “He said there are animal repellants around the trail.”“Mobile ones,” Fargo nodded. “Probably when the maintenance crew was out here and just didn’t remember to pick them up again. We’ll have to get those on the way back. But I don’t mind those so much. I feel safer with them out.”“Yeah, except for the fact that it’s not time to set them out yet,” Holly frowned."Hey, Agent," Henry scratched the back of his head. "Do you think Carter has some of his own animal repelling things in stock?""Wouldn't surprise me," he shrugged. "He hasn't told you that he could change into a cat at will."“Maybe it’s not all that surprising considering what you’ve told us so far about Carter and his handicap about secrecy,” Allison pointed out. “Makes me wonder what else we need to know that he’s being prevented from revealing.”“Give him some time and I bet you’ll find out,” Tony advised. “That’s all you can really do.”“The weather’s certainly good for it,” Zane put in.“Yeah, it is,” Henry tilted his head back to look at the sky, the clear blue without a dash of cloud.They continued walking, taking their time partly for Jo and partly for themselves as they got their walking in. Henry, at least, wasn’t quite that unused to being up on his feet all the time nor was he a stranger to walking at least most of the day. Not with somewhere like Eureka where disaster could be averted if one moved fast enough.As a matter of fact, not being in any kind of hurry made this trip that much more enjoyable. They had absolutely nothing else to do but make small talk as they made their way to their destination or fall into a comfortable silence if no one wanted to talk. “I think I like traveling in a group,” Zane eventually mused as they climbed yet another group of steps before the next art of the trail leveled out.“I do, too,” Allison smiled slightly. “Makes you feel not as alone in the world.”They came up to the first seating/picnic area and Fargo dropped onto a bench with a sigh, bending down to rub his ankles. “With all the running I do around GD,” he groused, “you’d think I’d last longer.”Henry couldn’t help the small smile before noticing Tony’s frown. “You okay, Agent?”“Yeah,” he was looking around. “Are we slowly climbing up?”“So, you noticed,” he quirked a grin. “Yes, as a matter of fact. This whole area is basically a set of mountains – or at least really tall hills – and it’s been incorporated into this long, winding trail.”“You guys don’t mess around with exercise, huh?” he obviously noticed the recurring theme.“Now you’ve got it.”They started off again five minutes later, Allison explaining the layout of the trail in terms of camping, picnic and resting sites. The resting sites were more numerous every hour or so, with some attached to picnic areas.The group stopped at the first camping site so Tony could get a sense for it. At least three tents could fit in one site if there were more than two groups. And usually, there would be tent stations when the scientists started moving in. But since there wasn’t anyone going in or out, they’d make do with Tony’s large yellow tent.Another hour saw them slowly making their way further up and Henry honestly couldn’t wait until they reached the top of this particular mountain. It was probably his favorite highlight of the trip. And there was a part of him that wanted to impress the Wizard, though Magic had to pale in comparison to what any GD experiment could accomplish.“It’s just so peaceful out here,” Grace sighed as they followed Jo as she carried on in the lead.“It’s perfect weather, too,” Henry agreed, looking around at the beautiful shades of green all around them. And there were splashes of color provided by local flowers and some they’d managed to get adapted to the area.And the sky was just the most dazzling shades of blue Henry could recall seeing in a long time.“It’s gonna be a clear night tonight,” Tony glanced up. “Bet you’d be able to see the stars for miles in every direction.”“You really can,” Grace assured him, “but I wouldn’t count your galaxies just yet. It could get cloudy tonight, after all.”“It won’t,” and there was something in the Agent’s tone that made Henry believe it.“Sun’s gotta go down first,” Zane reminded them with his own sunglasses over his eyes. “And that’ll happen whether we get to the top of this thing or not.”“Top of what?” Tony wanted to know.“It’s slightly bigger than a hill,” Holly explained as she sped up a little. “But it’s nowhere near as big as a mountain. On the other hand, you could probably also call a hill a really old mountain and a mountain a really young hill. Something like that. Come on, you’ll see. Just at least twenty minutes more at the least.”They all picked up the pace to get to where Day Trip actually began for Henry and it always made the long trip worth it to round a copse of trees to find himself looking down into a kind of valley with the trail disappearing into the forest. They would have to cross another ‘old mountain’ before reaching End goal, but they’d be able to do that tomorrow. No true rush to get it done tonight.“Isn’t just so pretty?” Holly leaned against the lookout railing as the others came into view. “Especially during sunrise or set and meteor showers are always just so pretty out here.”They really were, Henry could definitely attest to that.“I believe it,” Tony nodded, a small smile playing around his mouth. “It’s always a treat to see the stars from the mountains.”“Been to a lot of mountains, then?” Zane raised a brow.“Fair few,” he vaguely answered, though no one was requesting details. Henry wondered if he would give them any if they asked.“Come on,” Jo spoke up after long minutes. “I’d like to get the tent set up before nightfall.”Henry nodded as Allison took the lead this time, automatically heading for the long-stepped staircase set up against the side of their perch.“Normally, there aren’t steps going down, you know, just a trail heading downhill,” Tony commented as he followed them.“And normally there aren’t multi-billions’ worth of equipment and supplies to be ferried around in all kinds of weather,” Fargo countered.“Plus, it’s good cardio on the way back,” Grace added. “Exercise and healthy living all the way, that’s us.”They managed to pick the trail up again at the bottom of the stairs and were on their way again. Henry noted the lengthening shadows as they walked and knew they would have to call it a night very soon.“The sun’ll be setting soon,” Tony echoed his thoughts, “but we can still walk as far as we can tonight.”“Probably at least another hour,” Jo put in. “Once the sun sets, we stop.”“There’s a camping site at least an hour from here,” Holly added, “less if we go faster.”“I could keep walking,” Zane shrugged. “Makes me not care.”“And you probably wouldn’t,” Tony agreed, “but I have pot roast that I need to check on and I can’t leave it too long or it’ll not taste as good. Plus, I have vegetables I also need to fix up, so you can scout ahead and know that dinner’ll be waiting for you to come back.”“Pot roast?” Allison glanced back.“In the tent. Unless, of course, all of you want to keep walking. In which case, I’ll set up and wait for you to get back.”“I can help,” Grace immediately volunteered.“I’m not too bad with a peeler,” Henry offered, seeing the plan for what it was. “And I’m sure Jo would like a perimeter set up before it gets too dark and Allison can check her leg and ankle?”“Oh, I think we’ve got some of those new sensors we can play with,” Holly recalled. “I brought some because they’re ready to be tested and I thought this would be a good practice before installing them around here just in time for the winter projects to be brought out.”“I can help with those,” Fargo raised a hand. “I have to double check some things on them, anyway.”“I guess I can start with a perimeter and check out ideal locations for those sensors,” Jo mused speculatively. “Plus, if Allison wouldn’t mind checking my leg…”“Of course not,” Allison assured. “I need to take another look at the field kit, myself.”“I can’t believe all of you,” Zane twisted his mouth up in disgust. “You’re all smart – almost all genius level -, the top in your fields, and you’re allowing yourselves to be bribed with pot roast.”“Well, not just pot roast,” Fargo told him. “I mean… it’s … it’s, you know… magic, too.”“… I guess I could double check the sensor bypass.” Henry had to hide a laugh at Zane’s quick capitulation and the smug air Tony began giving off. Oh, Henry was certain he didn’t want to have Jo tax her recently healed ankle and the perimeter was a very good distraction, but Tony’s immediate end goal was met. They most certainly could have gone on a few more miles, but having a chance to witness the Magic that Carter was still skittish to reveal and the chance freely offered? No contest.They reached the camping site an hour later, the sun just barely an hour above the horizon and Tony had the tent up almost no time later.“Sleeping stuff on the right,” he directed before heading to the left and the kitchen area Henry remembered from the other day.“Are we all sleeping in one room?” Holly wanted to know, calling after him.“I have an idea about that actually,” his answer drifted back, “but that’ll be later.”Exchanging shrugs with the others, Henry went to deposit the bag he brought along next to the things he dropped off earlier that afternoon.He made his way to the sitting area where it looked like Tony had set up peeling stations for potatoes and carrots. “How fast do you need things peeled?” he rolled up his thin sleeves.“Hold that thought!” Tony called from his fussing in the kitchen.The others trickled out after a few minutes with science equipment in hand and Henry only noticed the candles as the interior darkened and a few sparked to life.“No electricity?” Fargo frowned. “We have outlets and stuff,” he offered as Tony came back out.“This tent isn’t meant for electricity outside what’s already been accomplished. I mean, we have lamps that run on magic, but it’s probably not a good idea to use them even if I did have any on hand,” he grimaced. “There was recently what you would call a ‘power surge’ and I’m still kind of fixing the damage. In the meantime, you’re more than welcome to use flashlights, headlamps and lanterns if you brought them. Plus the lights, so, we’re set.”“Light the rest of the candles,” Jo told him before making her way back to their stuff in the other room.“We’ve got lanterns,” Holly assured. “End Goal is completely shut down right now to save energy costs until the next scientists arrive and to also have a clean slate for any programs that need to come in with the next waves.”“That’s why there shouldn’t be energy readings emitting from that area,” Grace explained. “Hence, why we’re here to investigate. But don’t worry, we’ve set up wi-fi hotspots at all camping sites so we’re set for now.”“And now that we have lanterns, we can get to work,” Jo added, bringing four of them with her.“Before everyone goes their separate ways,” Tony surveyed them with a serious look that made them all pay attention. “I understand that there is a health kink in this town, and I am more than happy to balance meals out, but I cannot have anyone wasting time and energy making an argument about the menu. Not everyone is going to like things, I understand that, but at least try to cooperate with me, here. Everyone deserves a ‘cheat weekend’ of some kind, so make this one that weekend, okay?”“We understand,” Allison nodded. “I’m certain we can let the ‘health kink’ slide for a couple days. Or at least not follow it so rigidly.”“Yeah, I guess I can be alright with it, within reason,” Fargo sniffed. “But Jo doesn’t eat doughnuts.”“… I have bagels,” Tony offered.“More than fine,” Jo accepted. “I’ll eat bagels.”Once everyone agreed to that – including asking about using said kitchen after SARAH had texted them about Italians and their main domestic habitat -, Henry and Grace got to work peeling potatoes and carrots as everyone got to work on their tasks.Henry settled on a light blue chair and noted lit candles inching their way closer as faerie lights drifted over to settle almost curiously around him. It amused him slightly to spy one of them every so often come closer to watch him peel potatoes before another one inevitably dragged it back to safety.“I’m heading out,” Jo announced, some of the lights making their way over to her.“We’re ready,” Fargo and Holly packed up their sensors and joined her at the hall entrance.“DiNozzo, you put up the babysitting charms, yet?”“Already done,” he absently responded, fiddling with something in the cupboard. “Have fun out there.”“Babysitting charms?” Fargo frowned as he and Holly followed Jo. “What does that mean?”Henry didn’t hear the answer, so he glanced up at Tony to see him shrug at the looks the remainder of the group was giving him.“Just added a few things to what Carter already had up, nothing too invasive.”He suddenly couldn’t help wondering if some of the things surrounding Carter were truly quirks or a result of whatever charms Carter had had on them. And on that note, was it something Wizards usually did with Muggle friends or did they get the extra special treatment simply because they were from Eureka?“What was that look of realization?” Tony brought Henry’s attention back to him. “Looked like you just figured something out, was all.”“Well… I’m beginning to look back on the past number of years with Carter and starting to wonder how much of certain incidents were the result of whatever spells he put on us.”“Yeah,” he nodded sympathetically. “Now that you know of Magic, you start to learn more and learning more makes you begin to wonder about when Magic was used before you knew about it.”“I’ve been wondering that, myself,” Allison agreed. “Glad it’s not just me.”Tony and Allison soon took over cutting the peeled vegetables and Henry wandered into the kitchen to see if he could do anything else. Zane at the long table, however, caught his attention.“Zane?” he asked the young genius. “Everything okay?”“Huh? Oh, yeah,” he scratched his head with a frown. “I’m just looking at the reports on that carbon leak.”“And what did they find?” Henry pulled up a stool so he could look at the screen, too.“Nothing,” Zane waved his other hand. “Absolutely nothing.”“They couldn’t find anything at all?” he took the tablet and scrolled through the report.‘Nothing’ was basically what the findings suggested, but the carbon monoxide had to have come from the investigated labs and experiments. It couldn’t have come from anywhere else, it wasn’t possible.“What are we puzzling over?” Grace made her way over to wrap her arms around Henry’s shoulders and peek at the screen over them.“That carbon leak the other day. They couldn’t find any part that was faulty anywhere and the end conclusions suggests that wherever it did come from, it wasn’t from where it should – by all rights – have come from.”“But if it didn’t come from the level directly below,” Grace frowned, “then it wouldn’t have gone to those labs.”“What wouldn’t have?” Allison took a seat directly across from them, wiping her hands on a bright orange kitchen towel.“The carbon investigation team couldn’t see where it could’ve come from,” Zane shook his head, completely at a loss. “It had to be from directly below because that’s basically the only place it could’ve been introduced to the ventilation system. I just don’t understand it.”“There are no other access points the carbon could’ve come from?” Tony left the cooking alone to join them in the conversation.“None,” Henry confirmed. “The gas wasn’t found in a broad stretch of hallway, just localized to a section of labs.”“And was there any way something blocked fumes from getting spread out?”“None. There was nothing found in the ventilation system.”“And could it be possible to track where the fumes spread out or the track it must’ve come from? Like a black light kind of thing with bodily fluids?”Henry glanced up at him. “Well…” he frowned thoughtfully. “I can’t be exactly sure if we have anything to that effect…”“Maybe we can jury rig something,” Zane picked up. “I mean, we’ve got prototypes and experiments we can repurpose or something, but we’d have to go through the list…”“So you can’t do it,” Tony raised a brow.“I didn’t say that,” he raised a finger. “Just give me at least a couple hours and we’ll figure something out.”“Hern might be a big help,” he suggested. “Sounds like something he would jump at the chance for.”“I’d rather not bother him for at least twelve more hours,” Allison vetoed. “He’s still getting over having been trapped in the sauna room yesterday.”“Hern was trapped in one of the sauna rooms?” Tony frowned.“Well, he would’ve been working in his lab if it wasn’t still affected by the carbon leak.”Henry shrugged as Tony looked at him and frowned deeper. “And after being locked in the storage facility, he’s taken to eating outside of Global.”“Wait a minute!” Tony started in surprise. “You mean Hern’s been locked up twice and could’ve almost died a third time?”“He could’ve died in the same room,” Grace corrected. “And that storage room is air tight – especially with a power surge. But he’d have definitely suffocated had he not left his experiment running while he made the trip to Café Diem where he was roped into breakfast with us.”“Not a lucky guy, huh?” Zane spread his hands.“I’m not sure what luck has to do with the fact that Hern’s almost died. Three times, even,” Henry could see this was bothering Tony and called his attention.“It’s not unusual in Eureka, Agent, so I wouldn’t put much stock in it. Fargo’s been at the center of roughly 75% of every incident of Eureka’s accident reports.”“He’s right, you know,” Grace nodded, twisting to sit on a chair on Henry’s other side. “It’s really hard to believe, but it’s true.”Tony didn’t seem convinced despite their continued reassurance. “I don’t buy it,” he shook his head, refusing their explanations. “Multiple near deaths so close together?”“That’s Eureka,” Zane sighed wryly. “Sometimes, I’m almost dead four times in 24 hours.”“There you go,” Henry waved a hand. As far as he was concerned, that was that. Yes, it was regrettable that Hern was put in at least two situations where he could’ve been seriously hurt, but that was the price they paid for living in Eureka.“Could I ask what lab Hern had?” Tony persisted.Allison told him the number and green eyes went distant in a way Henry had seen on Carter’s face, most of Café Diem recognizing the look and fondly calling it ‘Downloading New Files’. The percentage depending on a variety of factors. It looked like Tony was at least at 60%, but his mind appeared to work differently than Carter’s on a different level.“What?” Zane watched Tony and leaned forward with interest. “What is it?”“When we get back to GD,” he shook his head, “I want all of you to show me his lab. Because I have a feeling you might need to check it out. Donovan, go ahead on Operation Black Light, but no one outside our group knows about it.”“I hear that,” he nodded, accepting the task.“It had to have come from those labs,” Henry sighed again. “Maybe Operation Black Light can help shed some light on this. No pun intended.”“Though I’d still like eyes on Hern,” Tony scowled.“But there’s nothing wrong,” Grace insisted. “And even if there was, who would want him seriously injured?”“I don’t know,” Tony shrugged. “And I don’t know why, but maybe Strutger wasn’t the only target.”“We better figure out why anyone would have wanted Strutger dead before we decide there’s some sort of… I don’t know, overarching conspiracy,” Allison stopped the discussion before anyone could add anything else. “Can we agree on this?”Tony scowled and wisely quieted.“Thank you for your concern, though,” Henry mollified.“Yeah,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m gonna see if I can track the others,” he suddenly moved to the door. “Allison, let me know on that rice and pot roast. I’ll be back soon.”Henry wasn’t sure if they hurt the Agent’s feelings or not, but he still felt sorry about it as he watched the other disappear out of sight.“I don’t know,” Zane shrugged. “I get where he’s coming from, but this is Eureka where anything can happen. And I get that he was right about Strutger and Risky not being responsible, but…”Henry shrugged back. It was Eureka, all right.“Can I look through the rest of this?” Henry asked Zane, waving down at the tablet.“I guess,” he scratched the top of his head as he ducked it down. “I looked through the reports that Taggart’s been sending and everything’s been going pretty well. Risky and Trix are a big help in ‘tracking’ the mice and no one’s bothered to check it out. Andy’s answered a handful of calls, but things have been quiet and I’m beginning to suspect that people are toeing the line because Carter’s not around to pull their asses out of the fire. And speaking of Carter,” he tapped the table next to Henry’s hand with a finger. “SARAH just reported in some kind of … trespasser alert about three miles down the fence line. I asked her to pull up what footage she could about the events surrounding Tony’s being used for tranq practice, but I keep getting glitches for some reason. And I know that Fargo’s the number one person to go to about the Bunker, but something about it makes me want to fix it for myself. Try to reach my own challenge, if you will.”That, and Fargo would probably gloat about his expertise and annoy enough people to get ‘accidently’ locked in somewhere – possibly by Zane himself.As Henry looked over the relevant emails, however, he couldn’t help remembering Tony’s insistence that maybe Hern’s accidents weren’t accidents, but a malicious attempt to hurt him.And it had to be just a run of the mill, Eureka-style manifestation of bad luck. That’s all, but why would anyone want to hurt Hern? And who would want to kill Strutger, anyway? Even to the point where Risky and Carter were seen as acceptable collateral damage.But no. What happened to Hern was completely unrelated to what happened to Strutger. If, in fact, something was even going on – which it wasn’t.Zane eventually took his tablet back as Allison and Grace returned to watching dinner and Henry went back to the sitting area with his own tablet to settle amidst the lights still settled around the place he’d claimed earlier.Jo, Fargo, Holly and Tony came back some time later, after the sun went down, and Tony left Allison in charge of the still cooking dinner after showing Grace how to get salad ingredients from the fridge/cooler.“Did something happen while we were gone?” Fargo suddenly asked a few minutes after Tony took off to see to his own perimeter and Jo stationed herself outside the tent to keep an eye out for ‘red flames of distress’. The Director was settled with his own cloud of lights a few seats from Henry, making it easy for the latter to blink up at the former.“What do you mean?”“Well,” he shrugged self-consciously. “I mean, he seemed preoccupied with something, is all.”“Nothing, really,” Henry couldn’t help smiling slightly at Fargo’s observation. He’d long suspected the younger man of sussing Carter out on a daily basis to check the blond’s mood over the years. When Carter seemed relaxed, Fargo knew he could get away with a little more. If the blond wasn’t smiling and joking around, Fargo didn’t push. “It was just something he thought unusual.”“About what?” he shifted slightly.“Hern, really. We got the carbon report back and the team couldn’t find out the source of the carbon. Yeah, we know it could only have come from the level directly below, but no one’s been able to figure out how any of those experiments leaked carbon. It looked like everything’s sealed tight, so no help there. We’ll try coming up with some sort of visual carbon detector and investigate when we come back. As for Hern, he’s been in two potentially fatal incidents and would’ve been caught in the carbon leak had Agent not asked him to breakfast. And Agent doesn’t quite understand what it means to be in Eureka.”Fargo tilted his head with a thoughtful, “Huh,” and turned his attention back to his tablet without further comment.Henry nodded and looked over his own screen as he held it over the floor, elbows on his knees. His position allowed him to be the first to notice some of the light balls detach from their places around the sitting area and make their way to the small hallway.“Now, where do they think they’re goin’?” Zane questioned, Henry looking up from the ball lights to see him watching the same lights.“Should we corral them to keep them here?” Grace asked, having seen two of her own join the parade.Slowly, one by one, the lights began to trickle in earnest toward the entrance and Henry joined Zane to check out where they were going.They were led to the tent entrance and Zane stepped out first before Henry followed, both watching the ball lights begin to drift upwards into the clear night sky. After that was anyone’s guess, the lights appearing to spread out as they drifted. Henry tried following one’s path, but he blinked and it had gone.“What are they doing?” Grace questioned, stepping out after them with Holly on her heels. “Where are they going?”“And where’s Jo?” Holly added, searching around. “She said she’d be out here, right? Jo?” she called. That was a good thought, Grace looking around for her, too.Henry kept looking up, trying to see if he could find any of the escaped lights, when something moved on his left. It was just on the corner of his eye, but it was definitely there. Something certainly moved, and yet the still night didn’t.He couldn’t see it – whatever it was -, so he just shrugged and chalked it up to nothing – maybe even a flying animal since they’d gotten rid of some of the animal repellants on the way here and it wasn’t unusual for some flyers to be seen regardless of the repellants being present.“Hey, hey, who,” Zane suddenly pointed. “Did you see that?”“See what?” Holly looked up, following his finger to the sky.“Something moved,” he told her, eyes scouring the area. “I know something moved, I saw it.”“I thought it was just me,” Henry frowned.“I don’t think Jo’s out here,” Grace chimed in, having went around the tent to be sure. “But I don’t know where else she could’ve gone.”“There it is!” Holly suddenly gasped, pointing in an entirely different direction of the sky that Zane had pointed out. “I saw it!”“But what is it?” Zane wanted to know.Henry still couldn’t see what they were seeing, but Grace looked up and frowned.“There’s some of the lights,” she pointed and Henry followed her finger to see several of the missing lights gather together.“What’re they doin’?” Zane put his hands on his hips as they watched the lights appear to mill around in a cloud and Henry could see them start to make random designs and shapes – even a mini-solar system at one point – before they started breaking off into rings of various sizes.Henry, Grace, Holly and Zane watched silently as the rings moved around in the sky with no set rhyme or reason and Henry was vaguely aware of more lights slowly leaving the tent to join their fellows, but he had no idea just how many until then.“What are those lights up to?” Henry turned to see Fargo squinting up at the cloud of lights with his hands on his hips. “I was in the middle of something before they all just left!”Allison stepped out, too, just as lost. “All of them left,” she repeated, turning her own gaze up as more rings formed with the incoming lights.“Is Tony doing this?” Grace asked from Henry’s left, a wonder-filled laugh in her voice.It was a valid question, but Henry couldn’t be sure. Tony could have ‘programmed’ the lights to make random designs in the sky, but that didn’t explain why he would do it or where he went.“It’s really kind of pretty,” Holly admired as the rings stared moving again, Henry getting a laugh startled out of him as the rings formed an atom complete with orbiting electrons.“Hey,” Zane called up at them, “that’s pretty neat. Now, do Saturn!”“Zane,” Allison sighed.“What? Look, they’re even doing it!”So they were, Henry nodded. A relative approximation, of course, but still impressive.A few moments later, enough time for Holly to get into an argument with herself about moon identification (“How could that be Dione? That looks nothing like it! But, now, that one looks like Pandora, but that can’t be because that one’s Phoebe. Urg!”), the rings began to arrange themselves in what looked like target rings.“Now what?” Fargo tsked.“Did you see that?” Allison frowned. “It was right there,” she pointed slightly.“We’ve been seeing it, too,” Henry tracked his gaze around, but didn’t see it, either.A few minutes of fruitless searching later, Henry started hearing what sounded an awful lot like –“Is anyone else hearing a drumroll?” Fargo sounded as bemused as Henry felt, because it was an actual drumroll that appeared to have no logical origin.It echoed all around them and built to a crescendo as Henry found his gaze drawn to the three targets overhead, the rings arranged in a diagonal line. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but he couldn’t tear his gaze from the line of targets.After another moment, Holly made a noise. “Look! They’re on the broomstick!”“Oh, yeah,” Fargo confirmed. “I forgot about that.”“You forgot that there’s a broomstick of the flying type?” Zane sounded incredulous.Henry’s interest was caught now, finally seeing what had to be Tony and Jo darting through the sky on a broomstick that Tony had to have brought with him. Their destination became clear when the drumroll reached a crescendo with a tap of a cymbal as the pair hit the first target. It was a straight shot down the line as Tony hit the second and third targets, raining glitter down on them as he cleared the final ring.“That’s cool,” Grace clapped as they distantly heard Jo whooping in delight.Now that Henry understood what this was all about, something inside relaxed knowing this was all just to get them out of the tent to see what Magic could do at its most basic. “That is,” he nodded, seeing Tony come in to land on the trail almost in front of them.“Did you see that?” Jo hopped off with a whoop. “Did you. See. That?”“Now, I want to go up there,” Zane told Tony as he followed with his broom slung against his shoulder.“I was just about to suggest that,” he told them. “If anyone wants to try out the broom, now’s as good a time as any.”“I had more than enough the other night,” Fargo shook his head. “So, you guys have fun while I get back to my project.”“You can have some of the lights back,” Tony offered. “Marten? How ‘bout you?”“Now?” she glanced at the others.“After Allison, of course,” he turned to her. “You’ve got at least ten minutes if you like. Then you can head back to the kitchen.”“I call dibs after,” Zane raised a hand.“And I’ll go after him,” Grace added. “Henry?”“I’ll go last,” he offered. “After Holly.”“I’ll be going last,” Jo corrected.“Just don’t start any fights,” Tony waved a dismissive hand at her.“How about your own work, though?” Henry recalled. “Did you get that done? Your perimeter?”“I’ve done all I can for the moment, but I’ll take another look in a few hours. Allison? You up for it or not?”“Seeing as I might not get another chance?” Allison eyed the offered broom before shrugging. “Might as well, I guess.”“Don’t worry, we’ll go as slow as you need to,” Tony promised, swinging a leg over it and waiting for her to get on behind him.“You’ll be fine,” Jo assured as she approached. “You won’t be able to fly off,” she added with a scowl that made Henry smile slightly.“And if you want to, as I told Lupo over there,” Tony heaved a sigh, “then you’ll have to wait until Carter regains control so he can change back. Then he can be in charge of catching you when I flip you off the broom. Having another Magical there would help me, so I’m not the one all the strain comes from. If we were running for our lives and I had to do it myself, I would because I was trained to do it, but we’re not and I’d rather not endanger someone else’s Muggles if I don’t need to.”“Fine,” Jo rolled her eyes. “I’ll wait here, then.”Allison climbed on the broom and wrapped her arms around Tony before he gently kicked off to hover a few inches off the ground. They glided along to get Allison more comfortable before starting to climb higher and Henry watched with the others as they flew around for a few minutes before Allison decided she’d had enough.“So, how was it?” Grace wanted to know as Tony and Zane kicked off.“Incredible,” Allison was all smiles. “But best administered in small doses.”“I bet,” Henry chuckled at her grin. “Fargo went in with his lighted following and they’re still there.”“I better check on dinner,” she all but skipped back inside the tent as the rest of the group waited for their turn on the broom.Grace went up after Zane’s ten minutes (“But that’s nowhere near Jo’s time!” “I’ll have to get back to you once the others get back in the tent.”) and Holly timidly went next. That left Henry and Jo outside as the others trickled back to their seats in the tent, though Zane went to use the bathroom.“Quite extraordinary, isn’t it?” Henry glanced at Jo as they leaned –lightly – on opposite sides of the tent entrance. “Magic.”“The possibilities are endless,” she stared up with a dreamy smile on her face. “The problem is that Carter’s scared to use it around us. But, you know, I was thinking,” she glanced over at him. “Carter needs to get used to us around Magic, right? So, we’ll start small. Maybe do some ‘party tricks’ once every couple days or something at the bunker, then every couple months we go outside and have him do some kind of obstacle course or something else bigger until he gets comfortable enough. And DiNozzo might be right, too,” she grimaced. “Us drawing too much attention to his Magic will just make him self-conscious and want to clam up. I propose we don’t pounce on the guy for every feat of Magic we see from him all the time.”“I see,” he nodded, hand to his mouth. “I get what you’re saying and I think it’s doable and I agree. Maybe start small and work our way up. I wouldn’t have to be big or anything if he doesn’t want it to be, but the ‘party trick’ idea will definitely get him thinking about showing us his Magic on a bigger scale. Don’t know why this didn’t occur to me bef- he told you, didn’t he? Tony.”“Pretty much,” she nodded. “Not in so many words, of course, but yeah.”The Italian certainly had a different kind of experience and viewpoint to bring to the table.“Well, you’re both right,” he acknowledged. Tony had brought their attention to the fact that Risky would be constantly checking both the caps and their third failsafe to ensure Carter’s safety. He also saved key Global personnel at the Spa with his quick thinking. It came, then, as no surprise that he should also give them some tips on getting Carter to open up his Magic to them.Henry couldn’t be exactly sure if Carter would have come to the same conclusions in Tony’s place, but didn’t think it mattered if he just let it go at that.Once Holly was dropped off, Tony looked at him with a questioning brow and Jo urged him on. “Might not ever get another chance,” she told him.Hard pressed to find an excuse after everyone else had done it, Henry gamely moved forward and climbed on behind the Wizard. Like with everyone else, they kicked off before hovering a few inches off the ground.It was quite an experience to be on a broom, completely independent of walls and motors and the night around them completely unobscured.“Incredible,” he breathed as they began a slow climb. “How far up can we go?”“How far up you want?” the other called back with an audible grin in his voice.Up they rose, high above the canopy and higher.“Go forward,” Henry directed and they were moving as they rose even higher. They were high above the ground and he fancied the thought that they were within the stars themselves. The trees below resembled a carpet, or a rippling surface of water as the stars spread out above. Henry caught a shooting star in a view that superseded every telescope Global Dynamics possessed.“Just to let you know,” Tony broke into his thoughts, “I’m starting to get hungry and Lupo and Donovan are still waiting.”“Just over the ridge,” he promised. He stopped them about three minutes later. “That’s where we end up by this time tomorrow, I think,” he braved waving a hand at the distant horizon. “There’s a mountain we converted to lab space out there. And it’s a shame that no one’s out there even if I could see that far. I believe that lights could be seen from here.”“A mountain, huh?”“We’ll have to cross a ravine, first,” he added.“Another one?” he groaned. “I don’t know how much more I can stand.”“At least this one’s not hiding a Devil’s Snare or a hidden lab complex,” Henry didn’t think. He had to smile, though, at the reluctant agreement. In the original timeline, they’d explored the bottom, but that probably was the same in this one. On the other hand, he was fairly sure there wasn’t a mysterious project in the original timeline, either.One way to find out, he supposed.“I’m not sure if that makes me feel better,” he muttered. “I get the feeling you Muggles can find trouble anywhere.”“Then you’re starting to understand Eureka,” he chuckled. “My condolences.”They had such a walk ahead of them tomorrow, so they better rest up while they could.Tony must’ve had the same thought, because he suddenly said, “In the kitchen, I want you to find a pack in the cupboard. It’s not food, but just stand in front of it and say, ‘First Aid Kit.’ Once you do that, pick out the light blue kit and reach for the orange warming packs. There should also be a brown pack in that same kit, so I want you to take the brown pack and boil it. When I get back, I’ll take care of the rest, but it needs some time to boil and I’d rather it be ready when I get in.”“I’ll do that,” he promised as another shooting star shot across the sky in front of them.“And leave the kit out, would you? There’s a few things I need out of that, too.”They stayed up there for a few more minutes before they had to go back. The flight was a bit quicker this time and Henry had to let out his own whoop of enjoyment.“We’ll have to do that again before you leave,” he grinned as they landed in front of Jo and Zane as they waited.“I’m sure we’ll find a minute,” Tony assured before Henry made way for Zane to get back on. “And you guys can eat without us.”“But save some for us,” Jo added.“Don’t be long, then,” Henry told them.He headed back in and settled back in his chair, smiling slightly as a cloud of lights broke off of various larger groups to settle around him.Fargo was frowning at his screen and didn’t seem to notice anything, but everyone else at least had looked up at him.He waited a few minutes before heading to the kitchen and following Tony’s instructions to the absolute letter, garnering Allison’s curiosity in the process.“What do you think all those other First Aid kits are?” she wondered as he extracted the light blue one from a veritable painter’s palate of colors.“This one says ‘For Travel’,” he offered.Allison tilted her head to the side consideringly, before cautiously taking out a pink on. It read ‘Camping at Sporting Events.’They looked at each other before looking back at the differently colored cases.“That must be an interesting life,” she mused.“If Jack were more of a Magical Agent,” Henry posited, “maybe he would have something similar.”“Think he has some of these hiding and just never got the chance to use them?”“Add that question to the list, too,” he had to laugh as he thought of all the questions they were collecting in preparation for Carter to be able to answer them.Allison returned the kit to its spot and closed the door for a moment, then opening it again to see the foodstuffs returned to their places.Zane, Jo and Tony came back in time to hear Allison declare dinner ready and everyone stopped what they were doing to eat.Henry sat down with curious anticipation as Tony dished up plates and sent them drifting to the table as Grace took drink orders. Allison divvied up the side salad she’d busied herself with while everyone was in flight and the whole group was shortly settling in.“Would it be alright if I said a few words?” Henry asked.“By all means,” Tony allowed and they all obediently bowed their heads as Henry said one of his non-denominational blessings:“All of us here would like to give thanks for the blessings before us tonight and for the company of family and friends with which to share them.”They were silent for a moment and Henry was about to pick up his fork when Tony quietly added, “May your wards stay strong and your charms stay true and your wand never waver.”Henry appreciated the addition and nodded before they started eating.“Oh,” Grace immediately groaned as his eyes fell closed.“This is delicious,” Holly gushed.The food was perfectly seasoned, cooked and done. The meat fell apart on his tongue and the vegetables were just as good.“You know,” Allison eventually frowned as they finished the main course – Jo and Zane going for seconds – and moved on to sides. “I’ve helped Grace with this recipe so many times, so why…”“Yeah,” Grace frowned. “It tastes different when we do it. Why is that?”Henry and the others turned to look at the Magical, who shrugged.“Italian?” he offered with a boyish smile.They looked at each other.“I want to be Italian,” Fargo pouted.“Makes sense,” Zane shrugged.“I think there’s some sort of magic involved,” Grace raised a playful brow.“And I can neither confirm nor deny,” Tony played back, sitting back in his chair. “Anyone want apple slices for dessert while your poultices are working?”“We’re being spoiled,” Grace sighed as they settled back into their seating area places with poultices on their critical points before they really began hurting. No Drip’s Caramel Dip floated between them with apple slices sticking out of it for their snacking pleasure.Henry hummed as he glanced over to see Jo lighting up with a grin as she no doubt heard a ping in the altered ear piece Tony had tinkered with. Evidently, it was connected to the wards that were put up and Tony had parked himself close to the hall so he could do things that would make their matching earpieces go off.Jo had brought up the concern that she – as a Muggle – was at a disadvantage when Tony would be the first one out the door to confront any threats that might show up. Tony had coaxed – read: ‘stolen’ – two earpieces from their stash of tech and managed to easily slip his own Magic into the workings without damaging either device. It was rather ingenious if Henry thought about it.The earpieces were obviously working if their grins were anything to go by and Henry felt a measure of safely fill him as he watched Tony set something off and Jo nod minutes later. They would be well protected tonight.An hour passed and they were beginning to see yawns going more as the day began catching up with them.Henry had given up work in order to appreciate the silence and lack of emergency calls as he watched the others and his gaze caught on Jo as she frowned and straightened, hand going to her earpiece.“DiNozzo,” she called to the Magical in the kitchen area. “Are you hearing this?”“What?” Fargo squawked, head popping up from his screen like a meerkat as the others became more aware. “What’s going on? What do you hear?”“A sort of… swishing sound?” her tone was uncertain.“That about sums it up,” Tony called back. “As long as it’s only a swishing sound you hear, it’s fine.”“I don’t get it,” Zane told him.“It’s a … signal to me about what else is sneaking around out there,” Tony explained, rummaging around in the cupboard from the sound of it. Henry’s back was to the kitchen, so he couldn’t be sure.“Lupo knows the sounds of a Magical or Muggle intruder, but then there’s the many creatures that can wander close. The swishing sound is a low level threat within a mile from our immediate area. If we start hearing loose rocks falling, it’s a little more concerning. What you do not want to hear, however, is the sound of a smoke detector going off. I set it up so that the sound will come from outside the earpieces in order for everyone to hear it. Muggles can’t see Magic Creatures, but there are ways around that. When you hear the smoke detector going off, I want you to get down and stay down while I go see what the threat is and take appropriate action.”“What if it’s something you can’t handle?” Grace frowned as Tony walked closer to Henry’s spot.“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, but I just wanted to show you this,” he walked into Henry’s line of sight carrying a lime green First Aid kit. The words ‘In Case of Smoke Detector’ were emblazoned in orange. “I’ve got everything covered in this Kit. There is even a portkey wired directly to the Hogwarts infirmary should I or someone else – like Carter – need it. There’s also a panic button that will sound in my cousin Peter Burke’s office and he’ll be bringing reinforcements, so I’d hit the ground just in case spells start flying. Oh, and, uh…” he gave a shrug, “if it ends up not looking good, there’s also a letter addressed to Peter that I update every year. See that he gets it?”“Of course,” Allison assured.“I’ll give it to him personally,” Jo vowed.“Hey, hey,” Zane held up his hands. “Like the man said, cross that bridge when we come to it. Not before.”“Yeah,” Holly frowned. “We don’t even know how this trip is going to end. There are so many possibilities, variables and factors.”“But, at least, we’ll know what to do in that event,” Henry couldn’t help adding. “I’m sure we can figure out things from there.”He hoped so, anyway.Sure, they had Carter’s school materials, but Magic was the missing factor in their group. Tony had it and would instinctively know what to do, but the rest of them would only have their ‘Muggle’ instincts to use. There was quite a disparaging distance between their understanding and Tony and Carter’s understanding and all they could do was hope for the best.The look Tony gave him was understanding enough and critical enough that Henry knew he was thinking the exact same thing.It was probably a Magical thing that they knew when they were being lied to and Henry shrugged.“I guess it’s time for bed,” Allison announced, getting up from her seat and heading for the sleeping room.“Oh, uh, I hope you don’t mind,” Tony’s voice stopped her in her tracks and everyone gave Tony their undivided attention. “I took the liberty of setting everyone’s sleepwear up for another round of ‘show and tell’, so if you would bring them here before you get changed –”Zane was already racing down the hall before he finished and Allison was taking off after him.“It’s not a race!” Jo hollered as she, Fargo and Holly raced after them.Henry chuckled as Grace hurried by and got up to amble after his friends.He heard the exclamations before he reached the sleeping space door and ducked through to see everyone showing everyone else their now off-white sleeping material and blank sleeping bags.“What is he up to?” Grace wondered with a laugh as she held up her blank sleepwear.Henry, too, found a blank set of his usually colorful clothes.“Alright, Agent DiNozzo!” Holly had quickly ducked to change in the bathroom before racing out in her blank shirt and bottoms. Fargo and Zane changed just as quick and Henry decided to wait to change in case he missed something.Jo, Grace and Allison also brought their clothing and all reconvened in the sitting area.“Okay!” Tony came back from the kitchen with a clap of his hands. “Looks like a few of us are really, really into ‘show and tell’. Can I have a volunteer?”“Me!” Fargo raised his hand and started waving it.“No, me!” Holly jumped up and down with her own hand in the air.“Why should you go first? I’m the Director!”“Why should that make-”“Mayor Deacon!” Tony grinned at his jolt of surprise. “Thanks for your enthusiastic volunteering!”“What!” Fargo scowled. “He didn’t even-”“Lay your sleep gear on any surface if you’re not wearing it already and we’ll get started.”Jo, Grace and Allison did the same and moved to join the group around Henry and Tony as they stood over Henry’s armchair.Tony thoughtfully studied the laid out items draped over each chair arm. “Have anything against owls, by chance? I know you’re a proud African descendant…”“By all means,” Henry waved him on. Personally, he was pleased at reminding the Magicals in his life about a symbol standing for wisdom and possibly even more. Sometimes, he and Jack even joked about Henry being his Familiar, of sorts.Tony nodded and waved his wand over the sleeping pants, first. A few green dots appeared at the knees and began to grow and spread until green covered three quarters of the pants. A line of brown appeared on the right side and extended even up to the neck. It took a moment to recognize a pair of bushes hiding the base of a tree as a branch extended at the waist. A hole appeared in the trunk of the tree and a horned owl sauntered out onto the branch. It seemed to know there was an audience and stared at them for a long moment before turning its head three-quarters of the way around. ‘Hoot.’“There’s sound effects?” Allison grinned at another ‘hoot’ as it turned to stare at her.“Optional, of course,” Tony shrugged. “Every once in a while, very small children – through no fault of their own – can slip through wards designed to keep them inside. The theory is that some can unconsciously manipulate the wards in search of adventure and some just don’t register at certain times. Those are very young Magic cores with not enough true strength to be caught, yet. Once they might hit the age of at least four, if not earlier or a little later, then they’ll be able to be penned in and their roaming days are over. Not all children can do it, mind, but certainly a few every month triggers a panicked search.”“This coming from experience?” Zane wanted to know.Tony thought about it. “Not in the ‘panicked adult’ sense… but not in the ‘escape artist’ sense, either. I don’t think. Back when I was a cop, sometimes I would get an emergency Magical alert to be on the lookout for a Magic kid, but I didn’t really get into Magical cases until NCIS and the MNP. It always helps to have Magic connections in Muggle places. Anyway, once you get in your sleeping bag, it’ll then transfer onto it. You’ll all see when it happens. Dr. D, you’re next.”“You do know you can call me either Grace or Dr. Monroe,” she pointed out. “I usually go by Monroe instead of Deacon.”“Figured that, but I, uh, have a bit of a love/hate relationship with another Dr. Monroe who’s been asking for it and if I don’t have to want to drink bleach every time I tack ‘Doctor’ on ‘Monroe’, I won’t shoot his ass the first thing when I see him again. So, really, you’re keeping him out of the hospital and me out of trouble.”“Whelp,” Zane gently patted Grace on the back, “I guess it’s Dr. Deacon for another week.”“I guess I can live with that,” she gave Henry a bemused smile and a shrug.“This guy an ass?” Jo questioned the Italian.“That’s one way to put it,” he smiled dryly. “Grace? If you would?”She spread her own things out and a giraffe was soon placidly grazing on a copse of trees as a stream meandered its way around the waist of the sleep shirt.“It actually looks kind of cute,” Holly peered at it in fascination.“I guess,” Fargo wrinkled his nose slightly, coming closer to peer at it. He tilted his head slightly and reached a finger to poke at it. The giraffe stopped its perusal to watch his finger.Almost quicker than Henry could make sense of what he was seeing, the giraffe craned its long neck and a long black tongue flicked at the finger that was quickly pulled back with a yelp.“Hey!” Fargo quickly scrubbed his hand on his pants. “Stay on your side!”Henry looked back to see what looked like a small heart blink in and out of existence beside the giraffe’s head as it appeared to watch Fargo.“Looks like Fargo’s got a new friend,” Grace snickered as she no doubt saw the same thing.“How sweet,” Jo smirked.“Oh,” Holly remembered. “What about me? Well, I’m wearing my clothes…”“You, Donovan and Fargo can stand in the middle here,” Tony moved and the other three surrounded him as Henry and the girls watched from the side.“Any suggestions?” Tony glanced at them.“Yeah,” Jo’s smirk widened a little. “Always thought Zane looked good in stripes.”“Ha. Ha,” said genius shot her an unamused look.Tony thought about it before holding out a hand for Holly to get in front of him. “You like Astronomy?”“Duh,” she rolled her eyes. “What kind of question is that?”“Obviously a silly one,” he rolled his own before touching his wand to the collar of her shirt and Henry watched a black splotch begin to grow from there. He did the same to Fargo, then Zane and moved to Jo and Allison as his work finished.Holly ended up with an almost identical replica of the sky outside – complete with falling stars -, Fargo ended up with an animated Global Dynamics logo, Zane had lines of code circling all over him, Jo had her unit symbol on camo colors and Allison had a list of plants and their pictures, which were being watered by a watering can.“Palmer would fuss about some those plants,” Tony mused. “Those are just some of the more common ones I can remember. Agent, not Healer.”“Huh,” Zane watched lines of code circle his ankle with a smile.“What?” Grace wanted to know.“This says ‘Eureka or Bust’,” he translated.“Marten’s back says it, too,” Jo pointed out, a hand holding the redhead in place as a finger sketched out a pattern of stars placed in Morse Code.“Well, I’m beat,” Tony let out a yawn. “You guys have a good night, okay?”“The guys are sleeping out here,” Holly told him.“Oh, yeah. That’s right. Grab your sleeping bags, then, and one last trip to the head.”The ball lights split into two groups as the humans did.By the time Henry settled down for the night in the approximate location his chair had vacated, the lights had arranged themselves near the ceiling in a working model of the Solar System.Fargo had settled in the vacated space he’d sat in earlier and Zane wasn’t far away as Tony settled near the hall, a few lights illuminating the hall to reveal Jo directly on the other end.The lights dimmed as they fell asleep one by one and the last thought Henry remembered was wishing Carter was with them instead of being stuck at the bunker.* ** *
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
A crash had Grace blinking sleepily at the tent’s wall she’d curled into.Loosening a yawn, she stretched and noted that everyone else around her had been woken by the noise, too.“What was that?” Holly sat up with a sleepy frown.“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “Jo’s gone, though.”Allison sat up with her own yawn. “What time is it?”“About nine,” Holly looked at her watch. “We’ll just get something on the go.”“We’ll eat something bigger for lunch,” Grace sighed before yawning again. They need to get going before they wasted too much time.The poultices Tony had given them had worked wonders and Grace didn’t feel a thing as she got up with another yawn and a stretch. ‘Magic’, she shook her head in silent wonder.“I wonder if we can make poultices like these,” Allison agreed as she moved next to her, having caught her expression aimed at her legs as she moved them.“And in the meantime,” Holly hopped in place, “we can supply all the camping stations with the ones we’ve already got.”It was already part of the packing checklist, but Grace figured it wouldn’t hurt to supply extra ones.They got dressed and used the facilities to do their morning rituals and Grace was saying hello to the giraffe on her sleeping bag when she heard what sounded like a war cry.“What was that?” Holly frowned at the exit, the noise coming from what sounded like the sitting room.“What was what?” Allison finished in the bathroom and came out just as another cry sounded.“That,” Grace raised a finger as an odd chittering sound drifted to them. “And that. What on earth is that?”“Is it something to be worried about?” Holly wondered, the three of them exchanging looks before they started moving to the door. “Hey, the sitting area’s blocked off,” she got a good look at the hall before Grace and Allison got there.It was, indeed, Grace confirmed. By a white canvas-like sheet stretching from wall to wall across the hall. The sheet was located between the sitting room and the tent entrance, like it was keeping something contained.Something that chittered again.“Fargo!” they heard Jo yell through the canvas blocking them. “Chase it this way!”“I’m trying!” he yelled back.“You won’t hurt it!” Tony called above a series of crashes.“Taggart will find out about this,” Zane told him from what sounded like directly in front of the barrier.“I’m actually surprised to find this sucker,” Tony mused. “Didn’t he say something about keeping animals away from the trail?”“That’s right,” Allison crossed her arms with a thoughtful frown. “Taggart did say there were still traps along the path. I think Hern was also trying to figure out where they all came from.”“But Hern’s not part of Animal Studies,” Holly pointed out.“He also helps with a variety of environmental studies. Animals are an integral part of that.”“FARGO!” Jo’s shout drew their attention again.
“I’m trying! It just won’t –”
CRASH
“Hey!”
“You’ve almost got it!” Henry cheered.Holy approached the canvas and poked at it. “Solid and sturdy,” she noted.“Toward the canvas!” Tony yelled.“Holly, maybe we should move back,” Grace plucked her sleeve as footsteps got closer at a run.The chittering sound got louder, too, Grace, Holly and Allison backing up just in time for something to slam into the canvas.The solid and sturdy canvas immediately tore away from the top of the tent as the… thing found itself trapped, the canvas collapsing in on itself and the thing that hit it.“Success!” Fargo crowed, the Director now visible with the others now that the canvas blocking them from sight was gone. All of them were still in pajamas, but were also now sporting what looked like butterfly nets.“That thing,” Zane panted, running a hand through his already messy hair, “needs to switch to decaf.”“Looks like we missed the excitement,” Grace watched Tony immediately pounce on the confined thing that seemed to constantly be on the move.“So, is Post usually that exciting?” Henry twirled the butterfly net in his hands with a grin.“No, just this one,” Tony huffed, pressing a hand down and swiping it from left to right. Grace didn’t see exactly what he did, but he soon stood with a closed cloth pouch in hand. The rest of the canvas melted into the tent floor and wall before Grace could blink. Tony went back to the sitting area with the moving, chittering pouch in hand.“What was that about?” Allison frowned at Zane.“A literal crash course in Owl Post,” he seemed tired, but he still had a slightly maniac grin on his face.“You know, Carter said something about owls delivering the mail,” Henry shrugged. “Never got the chance to see it first-hand.”“That was an owl?” Grace snuck under his arm for a good morning hug. “Seemed more like a heat seeking missile or something.”“An over-caffeinated owl,” Zane corrected. “With ADHD.”“Owls can’t have mental problems,” Fargo rolled his eyes.“Says who? We don’t know otherwise.”“You need to get dressed,” Holly told them. “We should leave soon.”“Yeah,” Zane sighed. “Just when it was really getting interesting.”Jo and the boys headed for their things as Grace and Allison moved on to the sitting area where Tony was cleaning up, Holly trailing them.Bean bags were scattered all over as tables were slowly righting themselves under Tony’s instruction.The cause of the chaos was tethered to the table somehow and Grace saw that the canvas pouch had now become a net, indeed revealing a small owl with something on its leg.“Seems like a lot of work to catch one little owl,” Allison watched it try biting at the canvas with almost cheerful sounding noises.“Other ones, yes,” Tony repaired a cup and saucer with a single flick of his wrist. “This particular one, however, is not a usual little owl. One of my friends was given Pig, here, as a gift and has been a pest ever since. This is far from unusual for it. Another friend has a snow white owl and I rather think I’d prefer her than Psycho, here. I thought I wouldn’t be available for an owl to even track.”“Maybe Carter did something,” Holly shrugged. “I can’t think of anything else that could get past the Electromagnetic Shield.”“The ultimate Muggle version of a concealment charm,” Tony huffed a laugh. “I don’t know if it was Carter, Magic or just Pig being small and fast enough to somehow get around it.”Chirping brought Grace closer to the owl, who caught sight of her and actually settled as she approached.“Pig is kind of cute,” she noted, grinning as the small owl tilted its head at her.“Why ‘Pig’?” Allison asked as Holly joined Grace in watching the owl.“His owner’s sister,” Tony answered. “Ron couldn’t change it.”“Hi, there, Pig,” Holly smiled at it. “You’re a very nice little owl, aren’t you?”The mix of gray and brown feathers puffed up in response with an almost shy sounding ‘hoot’.“So,” Tony finished cleaning up from the excitement of the morning. “What time were we planning to leave?”“Maybe in the next hour,” Allison sat at the table closer to the kitchen.“Nothing too heavy, then? Alright, we’ve got toast and breakfast burritos. Let me just make those up.”“Aren’t you going to read the message Pig brought you?” Grace questioned.“In a bit. Let him calm down a little.”Food began coming out of the kitchen as Jo appeared, dressed and ready to go.“We’ve got a long walk ahead of us,” she gave the netted owl a glance as she settled nearby.“Not quite so long,” Tony quipped, sending a small bowl of water and a saucer with bacon pieces to the owl that immediately started eating regardless of the net around it. In fact, if Grace wasn’t mistaken, the net was allowing Pig to eat without worrying about getting strangled. “You’ve got Magic on this trip, remember?”“What are you thinking?” Grace took a sip of coffee that landed in front of her. She put some more sugar from the dish already on the table before taking another sip, nodding in approval.“Well, since last night was fun, I thought I’d add to that.”“But you can’t just fly all of us one by one,” Holly pointed out. “That will take a long time.”“Not one by one,” he shook his head. “I’ve got three small sled-type cars and I can fly one of you behind me on the broom. That cuts down on things significantly.”“Last night was pretty fun,” Grace beamed as she remembered the feeling of being weightless in mid-air.“So, we’ll be flying?” Zane walked in to hear. He was definitely enamored with flying, if the sparkle in his eyes were any indication.“Yup. Probably get there around sunset, though,” Tony predicted.“We have to walk in,” Holly told him as the others trickled over to eat. “There’s a few check-in posts that we need to clear and the actual entrance is kind of at the base of the mountain. We have to get in through the basement since it’s the only way in or out.”“And how long would we have to walk in?” Tony finally sat down with his own plate and coffee.“Well,” Fargo thoughtfully crunched on a strip of bacon as he considered it. “It’s going to be an hour with check in… and an hour to actually get to the door, more or less. Plus, we’ve got to get into the actual building itself, so… we’re looking at upwards of three hours.”“Do we know where in the mountain those readings are coming from?” Jo slathered jam on her toast when she couldn’t find a bagel.“Vaguely,” Zane shrugged. “Nothing concrete until we actually get closer to the place. In the meantime, I made a program to override the scans we’ll encounter during and after the check-ins. We’ll see how well it works when we actually try it out.”“And while we’re there,” Fargo scowled, “we need to figure out how to fix that glitch. I can’t figure out what kind of glitch would lock me out of a lab space, but leave a door open for Carter. I’m the Director! I’m supposed to have full access to everything connected to Global.”“I can think of a couple reasons why a glitch would keep you out,” Jo deadpanned. “It’s kind of sad that scientists will trust a law officer before their boss.”Grace had to hide her amusement as the Director squawked in outraged response. While she wouldn’t have put things like that, she did know that there were scientists who disliked Fargo for reasons other than being Director and boss. There’d always been an air of distrust among the scientists of Eureka when it came to experiments and data. And there was especially an air of distrust and suspicion around Fargo.When Grace had first come to Eureka, she’d been surprised at that and had asked around. Usually, answers were either relating to button pushing tendencies, Fargo’s paranoia, general possessiveness or the fact that Fargo just didn’t give out much confidence to other people.Later, of course, she understood as she got to know the man and part of that was just the fact that he could rub people the wrong way.Something Carter could definitely attest to after two timelines of dealing with him and the chaos he left in his wake.“Tony,” Allison suddenly looked up from her oatmeal with a frown. “What are you going to do with the tent?”“Leave it. I already have food made up for everyone and I can… call the tent if I need to. I’m not sure what we’ll do about sleep, but you said there were living quarters on-site and I’m hoping we can use those if the problem turns out to be worse than we thought.”“You kidding?” Zane smiled with lazy confidence. “Dude, you have almost all the best team Eureka has when problems come up.”“What ‘almost all’?” Fargo turned on him.“One, Carter’s not here. Two, Taggart’s not here, either. That is what makes the team any problem’s worst nightmare.”“Sometimes,” Jo raised a hand, “Tag is useful, I’ll give him that.”“Sometimes, Tag causes the problem of the week first,” Fargo complained.Grace wondered if Fargo sometimes took pride in his troublemaking moniker and felt put out that someone else got to ‘push the button’ first.“We’ve got Agent here,” Henry pointed out. “Maybe we won’t need Carter this once.”“Thanks for trusting me,” Tony sighed. “Can’t make promises, but I’ll do my best to bring you guys home. In the meantime,” he pointed a rolled up paper at Fargo, “remember to do your best to bring me back. I’m pretty sure Carter would shoot me if something happens to you, but I’m also sure he’ll shoot you if anything happens to me.”“Why’re you worried?” Fargo demanded to know. “You’re the one with Magic.”“But Magic’s not infallible,” Grace answered instead. “Just like Science isn’t infallible. Things go wrong, remember? Like what happened to Strutger.”“Yeah, but that’s already proven to be sabotage. Who would want to is anyone’s guess.”“And we can’t dig into anything yet unless we want to give something else away,” Tony shot Holly a sharply pointed look. “Which means that nothing goes outside of the eight of us and Taggart. Nothing. Meaning that any thoughts of sabotage do not reach anyone else. If we need to read someone in, then we find a place to do that after vetting them. If someone approaches you, tell me before you do anything. I mean that. This has now turned into a homicide and that’s something I definitely have experience in. As such, I’m now the one calling the shots.”“Agreed,” Henry nodded.“So, let’s go over what we know before we get distracted,” Jo suggested. Hearing no objections, she started, “Alright. We know that Risky was set up and that someone switched the caps that she installed with inferior ones. We just don’t know why.”“The Sauna steamer was tampered with,” Fargo added. “Levers welded shut.”“Okay, why?” Tony tapped the paper on the table. “Why would someone want to weld the fail-safe levers open?”“Well, I looked into what you said about Hern and found that there’s been a definite pattern of incidents involving him. And he was in a Sauna room when everything happened,” Fargo shrugged. “And it’s not unusual for him to use the steam rooms. Plus, the funeral happened earlier that same day. He went to the Spa to relax. Everyone knew he was going to be there.”“But again, why would someone want to hurt him?” Allison asked, obviously trying to wrack her thoughts.“No one, that’s who,” Zane waved a hand. “Remember: Eureka Luck.”“Airtight storage facility room,” Tony ticked off on his fingers, “carbon monoxide leak, steamer room malfunction – and those are the ones I know about.”“Plus,” Fargo tacked on, “at least two of those things were the result of a program glitch. Or what someone wants us to think as a glitch. And I know Eureka Luck - believe me -, but… I dunno. Seems suspicious.”“Look, whatever,” Zane waved them off. “You’re both paranoid.”“All the same,” Jo looked thoughtful. “I’ll let someone know to keep an eye out for Hern.”“Andy or SARAH,” Fargo insisted. “I already sent a message to SARAH, who’s looking back through things involving Hern. One of them can keep tabs on him.”“I just don’t understand any of this,” Grace gestured with her fork. “Strutger was set up to die in a sabotaged experiment that killed him and almost Risky and Carter. Are Hern’s accidents connected? I don’t know why Strutger and Hern would be targeted in the first place. No one outright hates them enough to want them dead or would want Carter or Risky harmed.”“Exactly,” Zane pointed at her. “Where’s the motivation? I’ll tell you: there is none.”“Only because there has to be something we aren’t seeing,” Tony pointed out.“Or there’s nothing to see,” Holly shrugged, “but someone messed up the Spa doors. Who would do that and why?”“Hern,” Tony answered. “The question is: why is he now a target?”“Assuming, for the sake of argument, you’re right,” Henry chimed in, “Hern is on someone’s hit list. The problem with that is that no one hates him period.”“Look,” Allison broke in, “ unless you’re suggesting that Ethan killed Strutger and wants to off Hern because of some ridiculous misconception that the both of them were having an affair…”“Well, that’s ridiculous,” Holly snorted. “Ethan and Strutger had eyes only for each other – even I could see that – and Hern’s not gay, besides.”Tony’s choking had Grace turning a raised eyebrow on him as he raised a hand. “Wasn’t gonna say anything,” he got out.“Hern’s not gay,” Fargo frowned. “He can’t be gay… can he?”“If he is or not,” Allison sighed in frustration, “he and Strutger were just friends.”“Besides,” Tony idly commented. “I’m pretty sure Strutger was trying to set him up with someone more his type.”“And how do you think?” Fargo narrowed his eyes.“Just a hunch. Nothing more,” Tony shrugged again before unrolling the paper in his hand and a ‘hoot’ brought Grace’s attention back to the owl.“Tony,” she frowned, glancing between owl and Wizard. “Where did you get that paper?”“Pig,” he smiled cryptically.Grace thought about asking how he got the paper if he’d never touched the owl, but decided that Magic created more questions than answers that she wasn’t going to understand right now. Instead, she went the safer route: “What does it say?”Tony’s green eyes moved over the missive and he seemed to read it a few times. “MNP office being treated for pests,” he rolled his eyes, “and me ordered to take a couple days… oh, and it looks like I’ve got a meeting with Vance when I get back. Wonderful,” he sighed. “What’s he want this time? Let’s see… nope, no details there… Mm hm. Got it. Nothing too surprising. I think I’ll send a message off to Seattle, though. When we get back and Carter’s still a cat, we’re going to need reinforcements.”“Well, the block is going to have to break on its own, right?” Henry frowned, looking up from scraping the scrambled egg that had fallen from his burrito.“Yeah, but if he can’t change back, we’ll have to figure out what he did. I’m almost positive something like this has happened to someone else, but can’t think off the top of my head. I think he might be able to do it himself, but sometimes having a back-up plan works. And don’t worry, filling out the KM paperwork won’t erase your memories. It’s good to have some interaction with Magical departments so that people start knowing what you look like.”After the time they spent together, Tony was definitely starting to get a handle on them. And their memories about Magic were definitely a concern for them.“Is the Knowledgeable Muggle paperwork through already?” Henry asked with interest.“For Government projects and assets like you, yes. If you were a civilian group with ties to the Government, I think it would take a little longer since you wouldn’t be Top Priority. Sometimes, KMs would go at least a year before the paperwork actually goes through and I’ve suspected for a long while now that it was deliberate. In a year, maybe a KM would decide to not want to stay a KM in the interactive sense. Depending on what happens in that year, and the Muggle in question, his or her memories won’t be touched. If it’s for everyone’s good, then they won’t remember even knowing anything in the first place.”“But Carter said our memories might be in danger because he’s Muggleborn,” Jo pointed out.“And being Muggleborn would put your paperwork at the very end of the line, not out of it completely. But, again, you work for the Government and that means Top Priority over anything else. I’m definitely having that talk with him when this whole thing is over,” he mumbled, rubbing his face with his hands. “He’s been working on assumptions for a surprisingly long time now.”“And what kind of assumptions are those?” Allison wanted to know.“Potentially bad ones. Assumptions that could prevent him from getting help when he really needs it. Anyway, we better start thinking about moving if we want to get there today.”“I’ll let SARAH know to contact me with a full report tonight,” Fargo spoke. “We’ll see just how bad this thing with Hern is.”“Assuming there is one,” Zane scoffed.“But there’s still questions about Strutger that don’t make sense,” Grace tapped her fingers as she cleaned her plate.“And they still won’t make sense until we get more information,” Tony nodded. “But let’s focus on this series of readings that shouldn’t be in a place this far out of town and currently out of season.”Everything else was going to have to keep until they figured the readings out and, with this group’s track record, Grace predicted that things would be figured out in short order so they could get back to town and figure out who wanted Strutger, Hern, Risky and Carter dead. The latter two being collateral damage, of course.They finished breakfast, Tony sent Pig off with a message to Seattle – the small enthusiastic courier flitting around the ceiling for a time before eventually finding the exit – and all had reconvened in the sitting area to head out.“Tent’s staying here for now,” Tony waved his wand around. “Concealment’s in place. If we end up working through the night, we’ll just come back here and lay low for a couple hours before going back to the cars. Everyone ready?”“We’re not going to fly right away, though, are we?” Holly frowned as they stood in a circle.“Nah. I was thinking we walk a couple hours then fly until… when did you want to eat lunch? Near one? Walk a little after that, then fly again.”“You said someone was going to have to be on the broom with you,” Jo sighed. “Since I was first last night, Donovan can have the first flight this morning.”“That’s very considerate, JoJo,” Zane smiled slightly.Sometimes, Grace knew Zane liked needling Jo and getting a reaction, but other times Grace couldn’t be sure he wasn’t actually genuine.“But I can’t promise speed,” Tony gestured them out ahead of him. “Just like I can’t promise much in the way of height. I’ve got the rest of the group to keep an eye on.”“Understood,” Jo looked put out, but didn’t argue.“If we’re lucky, though,” he added, “maybe later tonight we’ll be able to sneak off for some exciting flight maneuvers.”“That’s what I’m hoping for,” she grinned widely.“And how the two of you goes first is up to you. Unless the Mayor wants to do a vote on who goes first?” a questioning brow was raised at him.“That’s up to them,” Henry shrugged, a hand moving from his pocket to entwine with one of Grace’s as they moved away from the tent.Grace squeezed his hand and glanced back at the tent, doing a double take when she realized the tent was gone.“Pretty amazing, isn’t it?” Allison did the same. “Makes me wonder what else this Magical has up his sleeves,” she added as they fell into step, the others moving ahead with Tony and Jo continually checking back on them.“And what about Carter?” Grace wanted to know as the three of them wandered after the others.“I, for one, would like to see a little more Magic from him,” Henry bluntly answered. “But I understand that he’s still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he can do Magic around us. If you think about it, it is a lot to think about and consider. Hopefully, Tony will be able to kind of nudge him with all the Magic he’s done around us so far.”“I just can’t believe,” she shook her head, “that Carter doesn’t think we’ll accept him because of this. For as long as I’ve known him, he’s never been afraid to be himself. And I think a lot of people like that about him. Scientists are a suspicious and paranoid lot around here and having someone around who isn’t afraid to be himself – what you see is pretty much what you get – will get him trust that isn’t easily given to anyone else.”“And as far as everyone else knows,” Allison waved a hand in gesture, “what happened to Strutger was an accident that was pinned on Risky and it’s a miracle she’s even alive for it to be pinned on in the first place. And if Carter didn’t have Magic, we’d have had a triple funeral.”“Well, I’m glad he did,” Grace shivered at the thought. “Has anyone decided who was going to tell Zoe?”While Allison had let Zoe know that there had been an incident regarding her father, ‘Codename Sparkle’ was now in effect. Carter had told them that Zoe had come up with the name back when she was still learning about his Magic and had commented on the lack of ‘sparkle’ he had when he used it.Once Grace had come to terms with Henry and the others being from another timeline, they all sat down to talk and one of the things that had come to the table was telling Zoe about anything that should happen to her father. Both timelines had been in agreement that Allison, Henry, Jo and Zane would be the ones to tell Zoe should the unthinkable happen, but Allison and Henry had taken over Codename Sparkle.The young Carter had grilled Allison about the visiting Magical and, as far as Grace knew, Allison had given Tony flying colors with interest. Zoe couldn’t be here for school/friend/club kinds of reasons, but Grace expected to see her hanging around in the weeks to come before she had to go back to Harvard for the new semester.“In the event that Carter joined Strutger,” Henry shrugged, “I think both Allison and I would’ve told her.”“Jo doesn’t want to have people think that she cares about Carter,” Allison explained, “and Zane would be just as affected. Thank goodness for Magic, right?” she smiled slightly.“Definitely,” she squeezed Henry’s hand, entwining their fingers and getting a bright grin in response.It was honestly an act of Magic in and of itself to have Henry again. The one she’d married the first time and this second one were now indistinguishable from each other, except for the fact that this Henry had closer ties with Carter, Allison, Fargo and Jo after their time hopping adventure.While a lot of things were identical in both timelines, Grace couldn’t help thinking that there was just something… more that connected the five of them and made their friendships stronger as a result.She accepted and respected it, but Carter had the tendency to show up at the house so often even before Magic got involved that Grace was almost expecting rumors about the friends to begin circulating. Frankly, she couldn’t picture it herself the way they so easily fell into a ‘Student – Teacher’ relationship at times, but then again she was an inside source.And while the group did their best to incorporate her, Zane and Holly… Grace couldn’t imagine having that strong of a bond. Not yet, anyway.But, then, she and Holly had been recent arrivals before Magic and still didn’t quite know where they really stood in the group. And she didn’t know about Holly, but Grace couldn’t wait to find out for sure one way or another.“I think we’d better pick up the pace,” Henry noted, Grace following his gaze to see Tony waiting as the others disappeared from view.“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Allison exchanged smiles with them before beginning to walk a little faster.Once the group was more or less caught up, the time seeped to slip past as Grace eventually left Henry’s side to walk with Allison as Tony fell back to walk with Henry. That left Jo barely in the lead with Zane, Holly and Fargo almost racing each other.Grace was so focused on walking that she was surprised to see Jo stop and turn toward them, having called the others back to her like a mother running herd over small children.“Is it that time, already?” Tony mused as they came together.“Donovan’s got the first turn,” Jo crossed her arms.“Right,” Tony took three objects from his pockets and put one on the ground. It looked like a child’s toy, an old-fashioned wooden toy with two openings and no wheels. “Watch your step,” Tony absently reminded as he moved to place the other two equal distances from the first.As soon as he moved away, the object that he’d put on the ground began to grow in size until it reached about waist high and revealed a double seated, almost rectangular, vehicle that awaited passengers.“Is this safe?” Fargo poked at a different one with suspicion.“It can be,” Jo scowled at him as she claimed a backseat for herself. “Come on, Allison.”Grace noted the lowered step and carefully climbed into the front, sinking back into the padded bench with a slight smile. “It’s actually very comfortable,” she told Henry as he settled into the seat behind her.“It is, isn’t it?” he puffed a wondering laugh.“Everybody in?” Tony checked each seat with a wand in one hand and his broom in the other, Zane waiting at the front of the line. “Okay. It’s going to be a lowered speed, but we’ll get at least parallel to the canopy as you get used to it. Then we’ll go a little faster.”“Let’s get going, then!” Holly told him from the middle car where she sat in the seat behind Fargo.“Everyone comfortable?” Tony deliberately walked around each vessel a few times, mostly for show. He winked at Grace as complaints drifted toward them, making Henry chuckled and Grace smile in amusement. “Alright, then. Please keep your arms and legs inside the car at all times. You might feel a tilt, but rest assured that you cannot fall out. If you find yourself upside down for any reason, just ride it out.”“Upside down?” Fargo parroted. “I thought you were going to be taking it easy!”“I am,” he deadpanned, “by warning you. Donovan, ready?”“Past ready,” he grinned as he and Tony climbed on the broomstick.Grace leaned forward as excitement filled her.“Enjoyed last night, did you?” Henry asked as she all but rubbed her hands together in glee as Tony kicked off to hover a few inches off the ground.“Surprisingly, yeah,” her grin widened as the cars slowly rose to join them.“Everyone good so far?” Tony turned the broom to check on them and nodded. “Alright, last chance to back out.”“You’re supposed to say that before we start flying,” Holly corrected.“Exactly,” he grinned. “Okay, here we go.”Grace felt her pulse jump as they started moving. On either side, the trees became blurs as they rose in height as the found a nice cruising speed that reminded her of a roller coaster.Up ahead, Tony and Zane rose a bit higher than the rest of them as they hit the canopy line and Fargo let out a whoop from his seat in front of Holly.The air definitely felt nice as it rushed past Grace. Glancing around, she marveled at how high they must be, the sky running clear and unobstructed above them. Idly, she wondered if Tony could be talked into a night trip back.Last night was definitely one of her favorite memories as she recalled Tony flying her through the stars in companionable silence. As for right now, however, she much preferred having something other than air to catch her should she fall. She felt more secure with an actual floor under her regardless of what was under that.Even as Grace saw the others begin to tilt to the left as they followed a curve.Tony was someone who didn’t want to be responsible for running Carter back into his shell and he was an honorable person, besides, so Grace knew deep inside that they were completely safe with him.At least when it came to Magic, anyway. He and Jo were the only ones they could count on for protection, but the rest of them were more than capable when it came to Science. More than once since knowing Carter, Grace gave serious thought to how the blond felt when it came right down to it. Sure, he was probably the sole reason that Eureka wasn’t a crater right now, but what did he do when there was nothing else for him to do? When everyone thought they could handle it until they couldn’t?Carter had been a talented Marshal before coming here and what did he have to show for it now? Ridiculed for his IQ level and ‘Norm’ ways. On top of being demoted from Marshal to glorified babysitter in a distressingly short amount of time.She felt kind of sorry for him, but helpless to actually do anything about it right now.A sudden tilt to the right brought her back to the present, the sticking charms pretty much the only things keeping her glued to her seat and not crashing into the sides of the car.“Careful!” Fargo yelled.Up ahead, Tony and Zane tilted upside down in a few corkscrew maneuvers as they rose slightly above the rest of them. What couldn’t have been a minute later, those two slowed and Grace expected to slow down with them, but the cars just kept going on the path. She blinked as her car easily slid under them and an opportunistic curve allowed a glance back to see them behind Henry.That was a neat trick!Now, Jo and Allison led the line – but it wasn’t so much longer when their car slanted upwards and over in a large loop that had them upside down, Grace’s hand coming up to wave as they passed overhead. The cheer Jo let out obviously paralleled Allison’s excitement and delight as she waved back at Grace with a beaming smile.Holly and Fargo did the same a series of curves later and Grace had a clear view of the landscape ahead as they settled back behind Jo and Allison.Having a clear view of the front, Grace noted how fast they were approaching the first mountain. After getting past that, they would reach the second mountain with the End Goal beyond that. And when they finished sorting that number of problems out, then they could fly back at night and with a higher altitude.Soon enough, Grace felt the car begin tilting up just like the last two and she was suddenly looking down – up? – at the path a long way down, pointy treetops bordering it. Then Tony and Zane were looking up as they went up side down to look at her right side up overhead. The others waved as Grace and Henry passed and Grace couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of her once they settled at the back of the line, once again right side up.“That was fun!” she glanced back at Henry to see an identical grin.“I don’t think he’s done, yet,” he pointed out. “At least, I hope not!”They did the ‘loop de loop’ leapfrog once more before they started slowing down and sinking back down above the path between the trees.“Aww,” she slumped in disappointment as they approached one of the picnic areas.“Looks like the trip is on hold,” Henry sounded just as disappointed.They landed without so much as either a sound or anything stronger than a light jolt. When Grace moved to get out, however, she was stuck.“Nobody panic,” Tony landed the broom with the ease of long practice next to her. “There’s something I need you to do before you can stand. Now, I want the one in the front seat to reach down with their left hand. You should feel a looped ribbon somewhere halfway between the seat and the floor.”“Is it going to bite?” Fargo immediately held his hands a good few inches above the car.Grace glanced down with curiosity and slowly lowered her hand just like Tony instructed.“I’m debating how to answer that question, actually,” Tony mused, Zane huffing a laugh as he leaned against Henry’s side of the car.Grace moved her hand and almost jumped out of her skin as the back of her hand brushed something slightly rough. She grabbed a hold of what she recognized as a looped ribbon – exactly how Tony described – and gave a slight tug. The loop was in her hand as she pulled it up and she was suddenly staring at a cloth bag.“Grace found one,” Zane called out.“You mean this?” Allison twisted as she held up the same bag, but with a differently colored ribbon.“That’s the one,” Tony nodded. “Fargo, waiting on you.”It took a few moments, but he soon held his up with triumph.“Those in the back, do the same with your right hand and meet the rest of us at the table.”Grace felt the sticking charms release her and she was stepping out in no time, taking a number of steps to regain her land legs as Henry found his own bag.They made their way to the others and Grace saw Zane with an identical cloth bag sitting in front of him.“Everyone enjoy the ride?” Tony smirked slightly as he settled on Holly’s other side.“Very much so,” Allison sat across from Grace as Henry sat across from Tony.“Good, good. I hope Carter can get over his fear of heights long enough to give you guys a treat now and then. Be a shame if he couldn’t.”“Is Magic the reason why he can’t fly?” Holly asked. “I just recently started wondering if his being Magic played a role in that.”Tony pursed his lips thoughtfully as his head tipped to the side. “I think he didn’t much like heights in school, but I’m more inclined to believe it happened during his time in the Marshal’s.”“Oh,” Fargo perked up. “How could you tell? Like a Magic thing, as in ‘crystal ball’?”“No, like a reading thing, as in ‘file’.”“You walked into that one,” Zane hooted as the others laughed at Fargo’s sheepish look.“So, you read Carter’s file?” Jo asked as they allowed the laughter to fade.“Not cover to cover,” Tony placed a red cloth bag in front of himself and tapped it with a finger. “But there was a note that there was an incident some years in and he pretty much gave up his broom after that. We can only speculate at this point, but it’s safe to say that’s where it really started.”“And what happened during that incident?” Grace questioned.“Well, Carter’s the only one who knows all the details, but I can say for certain that the helicopter ride didn’t help. You might need to get him drunk, though. In the meantime, I thought this would be interesting to you,” he directed their attention to the cloth bags that each had in front of them. “Now, you all notice the different ribbons you have. Remember that color. Got it memorized? Good. Pass the bag to the left. We’re doing this clockwise until everyone has had each bag and it ends up back in the original hands.”Everyone handed their bag off to the left and Tony opened his new one, urging the others to do the same.“And what are we going to get from this?” Henry wanted to know.“Pull the first thing you feel and find out,” Tony shrugged, reaching a few fingers in and extracting a water bottle flavored in blueberry.Grace looked at the bag she had and opened it, reaching in and pulling out the first thing that met her hand.“Kettle Cooked! Yes!” Zane cheered, making her look up. He held up a familiar blue bag and a look around the table had Grace’s mouth dropping a little more.Jo had a container of carrot sticks, Fargo had a chocolate bar, Holly had an apple, Allison and Henry a sandwich half each and Grace’s astonished gaze fell on Tony, who smiled back.“That’s incredible,” she looked down at her own bag of chips and shook her head.“That’s Magic,” he smiled. “Everyone, make sure they have two bags of chips, a fruit, a vegetable, two halves, a drink and some dessert. You might not eat it, but at least you’ll have it if you want something later.”“Thank you,” she told him sincerely.“Wizards have to eat, too,” he dismissed.They were quiet as they ate and all of it was delicious. She saved the celery, though, for later, having snagged a butterscotch flavored pudding from the red bag.The group would be walking once they’d had a chance to sit and digest and then they would take the flying cars again until about 5.30 or so, when they’d have to start walking again. But that would not be on an empty stomach.“We have places for the trash,” Henry told Tony as they finished up.“I was expecting that,” he nodded.“How?” Fargo crunched on his carrot sticks.“… how do I put this… almost drowning in the Rain Catcher system… the whole Spa thing in general was a flashing red light. Plus, the trash cans I can see around us right now.”“Then I guess you know how to throw things out,” Holly told him primly.Tony shrugged as they started cleaning up and made their way to the different trash receptacles scattered around the cluster of picnic tables and the bathrooms set up on the other side of the trail.Grace and Allison headed for the Ladies’ side and Grace finished first, washing her hands before telling Allison that she would be right outside the door.Grace stood on one side of the door and saw the others clustered around the furthest grouping of receptacles. She wondered what they were focused on and saw Tony detach to head for the bathrooms.“Hey,” she waved at him. “What’s going on over there?”“Found another repellant,” he answered when he got close enough. “Looks recent.”“How can there be a recent repellant?” she frowned. “It’s not time to set them out, yet, and everyone else carries mobile repellants that are taken with them.”“Fargo’s going to start a witch hunt when we get back,” Tony was just as clueless. “I’m not getting involved with any of it.”“Should you joke about witch hunts?” she wanted to know.“Why shouldn’t I?” he raised a brow. “Not every Witch died, you know. At the same time, not every supposed Witch was guilty of actually doing anything. Honestly, I’m not entirely sure I’m joking about it, anyway. Fargo seems to think that his being Director means that he’s supposed to know everyone’s business and isn’t taking this slight of his authority well. I think the Mayor is trying to talk him and Lupo out of rounding up a posse.”Which sounded just like Fargo. Jo would probably do it for no specific reason, but Fargo would want to make some sort of example out of someone.“Probably a good idea,” she sighed. “I think I’ll go over once Allison’s done.”“Okay, well, I’m gonna see if there’s a second one of those repellants here,” Tony moved off into the trees around her. “If Fargo’s going to make an example of someone, I think he’ll need a few more repellants to stoke the fire.”“Carter would’ve made him see how ridiculous he’s being and find a way to stop him,” Grace couldn’t resist pointing out.“And if you want to get in his way, that’s on you,” he quirked a smile. “I’d rather not end this trip in the hospital, if you get me.”“Coward,” she playfully wrinkled her nose at him.“Seen through, again,” he lamented with a quirked grin, moving out of sight as Allison stepped out with a yawn.“What’s so interesting over there?” Allison noted the cluster.“Another animal repellant,” Grace told her as they headed over to see for themselves.“We’ll need to let Taggart know,” she shook her head. “Where’s Tony?”“Said he’s making sure there’s not a second one. I think Henry told him about the second anchor past the bathrooms.”“Can you believe this?!” Fargo turned and saw them. He was furious, slight frame vibrating with anger. “I’m supposed to sign off on these kinds of things and I didn’t see anything about these!”Grace shrugged helplessly as her brown eyes glimpsed the conical shape anchored onto the concrete platform.Designed to last for 30 days, three long strips held enough repellant juice to keep the path secure. Each strip was segmented into three inch squares and were located at the three, six and nine o’clock positions around the cone. Between each strip, the fluid from each three inch square was automatically pierced on the side by and inner mechanism and the fluid would drip slowly into a shallow trough running down to a collection tray that ran along the cone’s base.The fluid would begin its thirty days as an almost vanilla color, transitioning to a light pastel green, then a soy milk brown and would end up dark brown as sun exposure allowed.Taggart had told Jo before the group left that the repellant cones had been in use since at least last week. The eight squares on this cone confirmed it.“And you can bet someone’s going to hear about this!” Fargo ranted.“Do we know when we got a batch in?” Allison wanted to know.“I’m gonna shoot an email for Taggart to check into that,” Zane scratched the back of his head. “See if he has some idea. I think he should, since he went looking for some of these things the day before yesterday.”“And see who ordered it!” Fargo pointed at him. “No one should be out here! And the maintenance crew doesn’t set these out this early! There should be nothing going on and nothing I don’t know about or signed off on! This is – this is mutiny!”“Fargo, calm down,” Allison told him. “No one is trying to take over your position, but this is a concern. Everything should’ve come to you first and… frankly, it’s a little alarming that you didn’t know about this, either. We’ll definitely launch an investigation and a review into this.”“Just hope there’s not multiple cones at one side,” Jo shook her head. “DiNozzo went to look.”“Yeah, he passed by,” Grace nodded.They weren’t leaving without him, so they waited for the Wizard to come back.They waited two minutes, then four. Eight. Ten.“What’s he doing over there?” Fargo demanded to know. “It doesn’t take fifteen minutes to find one of these! Not exactly, you know, subtle,” he waved at the almost waist high cone.“Unless you gave him the wrong directions,” Jo smirked at him.“That would do it,” Zane agreed.“How could I give him bad directions? It’s not hard to find the thing. All I said was to walk a few meters past the bathrooms.”“Or, maybe, he found something interesting,” Henry suggested.They waited a few more minutes before Grace spied the missing Italian thoughtfully ambling out of the trees.“There he is,” Holly pointed. “Agent DiNozzo!” she waved.“Find any more over there?” Henry wanted to know once he joined them.“Now, before anyone – possibly literally – shoots the messenger,” he began, hands raised.“There’s a second one?” Fargo jumped in. “These things aren’t cheap, you know –”“No, no. Not another one. But, uh, I did find that someone apparently didn’t know what the ‘recycle’ sign means and –”“Someone dumped their trash in the woods?” Grace finished in disbelief.“Well, I wouldn’t exactly put it – yeah. Yeah, they did.”“What the frack,” Fargo couldn’t get much else out after that, he was so angry.“How stupid can you be!” Holly burst out.“Everyone in Eureka knows that the town is environmentally friendly,” Allison crossed her arms. “We live Green, as much as we can.”“Someone’s going down,” Fargo railed.“Okay, okay,” Tony called for calm. “Now, before anyone starts ordering someone’s execution –”“That’s just silly,” Holly interrupted. “Now, why would we want to kill someone over litter?”“People have died for less,” he sagely responded.“But what would give you that impression?”Tony flicked a pointed look at Jo and Fargo, the latter looking like he was seriously considering it. “In any case,” he went on, “the debris back there is all I found. No other things like that cone, over there.” “So, what’re you waiting for?” Holly snapped. “Use your Magic to move that stuff over here!”“What makes you think I didn’t already?” he smiled, waving a hand.Grace looked behind him to see a lazy line of trash drifting toward them. Her nose wrinkled as she saw different aluminum cans, plastics and other things pass by. “How hard is it to go to the trash bank and get rid of this stuff?” she shook her head in disgust. “Honestly. Some of these things don’t look like they’re from Eureka, too. Even if it was, not everything we make is entirely biodegradable. Those things are meant to keep going back into the recycling programs for reuse as the original form or as something else.”“You can be sure I’ll be having words with all the department heads about this, because it’s obviously someone from their departments,” Fargo vowed. “Henry, you better tell Vince that litter was found and we’re analyzing the DNA as we speak! Maybe that’ll smoke them out if they know we’re out for blood.”“I’m not sure we’ll need DNA,” Jo crossed her arms, head tilted thoughtfully as she watched the trash be guided into the correct areas. “Those power, granola and protein bars all seem to me like I’ve seen them before.”“Then we’ll definitely have them booked by dinner tomorrow!” Fargo looked cheered at the thought.“I can’t exactly remember if it was just one person or multiple, but I’ve definitely seen those wrappers before,” Jo glanced around at them. “Recently.”“How long would you say they were out here, Tony?” Allison frowned over at him.“Probably whoever installed the cones,” he decided. “maybe not more than two weeks, I’d say.”“It’s not maintenance,” Holly shook her head, red hair in a braid. “I don’t think they’ve much switched out in the last year and a half.”“Who’s on the maintenance crew?” Tony asked, guiding the rest of the garbage into the right slots.“There’s at least five,” Henry recalled. “I’m sure we can figure out who exactly is on it and if they eat any of those bars. Sometimes, the group has about eight on a rotating shift of about a week at a time, but none of the shifts should have started already.”“Which means no one should’ve been out here since last month,” Zane scratched the back of his head, just as puzzled.They couldn’t do anything beyond making note of this, but Fargo was definitely ready to breathe fire if the look on his face was any indication. He noted things down in his pocket tablet before allowing the trip to continue.They couldn’t be flying just yet, which was just as well. Grace needed to stretch her legs before falling asleep, though she figured it wouldn’t be very comfortable as they flew. And they needed to at least walk the last three hours or so, passing all the check points on the way.“Come on,” Jo waved from the front of the line. “The faster we go, the sooner we get there.”“Aww, worried we’ll get lost, JoJo?” Zane cooed.“The civilians, yes. You, not so much.”“You love me and you know it. I bet you’ll miss me as soon as I’m out of sight,” he predicted.“Right now, Carter’s the only one I miss because he would be the only one I would take with me. Conveniently, he’s also the only one who can actually get in without hacking anything, so that’s another point in his favor.”Grace tuned them out as she and the others followed them away from the rest area. Jo would eventually run ahead to scout the trail and would wait for them to join her before moving on.“Tony,” Allison got his attention as he wandered nearby. “I hope you don’t mind my asking, but how exactly did you getting tranquilized come about?”“Yeah,” Fargo frowned at him, earlier ire momentarily doused. “You would’ve had to have been outside for Taggart to dart you.”“I was,” Tony nodded. “I left Global because SARAH said Carter came back from a trip outside looking kind of worried and thought I could check things out. I can shapeshift into a large black dog – as you already saw – and had a conversation with Carter about you guys.”“You could talk to him?” Holly was interested like the rest of them.“In a manner of speaking, yes. I admit, I was wary of talking to him like that, because the guy struck me as a person who would report me, but he’s in the same boat and that made it easier for me to approach him. Once we got formal introductions out of the way – and I talked him out from under the sofa -, he said that he really missed you guys, too. There were a few things he was too late to warn me about,” he glanced pointedly at Holly, “but other things were welcome advice. Anyway, he was out and about and noticed signs of someone hanging around about three miles from the entrance. The bunker doesn’t have any sensors in that area, so I went out with him as ‘Agent’ to see if I could pick up the same signs.”“Did you?” Grace frowned.“Yeah, but I needed a better feel for the area. I sent Carter back inside to keep me from picking him out by accident and hung around to see what I could pick up. I know SARAH said that you couldn’t climb the fence on the perimeter, but I found some prints in the dirt on the other side that makes me wonder if someone wanted to climb it. Nothing said they tried to, but it was curious. I went from end to end and around the perimeter, but that was the only spot that had footprints. I was toying with the idea about going on the other side to check, but I was hit with darts before I knew it.”“I can get sensors out there,” Fargo volunteered. “Might be dangerous people or something up to no good.”“Or I can set my own. Carter has a light one up, which doesn’t tell much. I’ll finish my investigation, either way.”“I guess it’s too early to ask why anyone would want to stand near the bunker’s perimeter fence,” Grace sighed.“But it’s still something to think about,” Henry shrugged.Only the latest in a number, it seemed. Hopefully, this particular issue would be resolved quickly so they could get back to town and follow up on some of these questions.The group concentrated on walking for now, wanting to shorten the trip as much as they could.They jogged a little more than they did yesterday, Tony and Jo easily keeping up, and Grace didn’t really fancy herself as a long distance runner, but she and Allison were more or less side by side. Her friend was most certainly more equipped to handle jogging, but Grace tried keeping up with her as much as she could.They made good time, if Grace was any judge, when Tony decided that it was time to get flying again.“Oh, Agent?” Holly suddenly turned to him as they decided to make one last bathroom break before getting back in the flying cars. “What about dinner?”“Well, I thought we’d do sandwiches again while we do the check-ins and that would hold us over a little longer,” he shrugged.“Sounds good,” Zane stretched nearby as they approached the bathrooms again. “We made good enough time to deserve a break while the program runs. It’ll take the longest amount of time at the first one.”“And it’ll still be light when we get there,” Allison noted the time. “We don’t actually have to stay all three hours if we hurry a little bit. It’s mostly to let people know that the Day Trip is just about over and you can relax a little.”“Enjoy the world around you,” Henry added. “And it really is a place to do so.”“I guess none of you are going for the first time,” Tony quipped.“Not really, no,” Grace smiled slightly. “We’ve all been there at least twice.”“Some more than others,” Fargo added, being one of the group who went at least every other month for one reason or another.“Fargo,” Jo twisted around to look at him from where she’d settled at the front of the group. “You were there about two months ago or something, right? To inspect things there and back as people started coming from the labs for the off-season?”“Yeah, which is when I found out that only Carter was allowed to get us in. And Taggart went with us to check on the cones and whatever things he wanted to check out.”“And no one bothered to fix the glitch because the lab space wasn’t going to be used,” Holly added. “Carter went with the maintenance crews to let them in and I think he stayed to make sure everything went well, but I wasn’t in the country at the time.”“Of course, he stayed,” Grace confirmed. “Carter is one of those people who won’t let anyone fall behind on his watch. He makes sure everyone gets home safely.”“And I can only imagine what he must be feeling right now,” Henry sighed as they got to the bathroom.“I’m sure he’s not worried about you, per se,” Tony told him. “Lupo’s more than enough deterent to keep everything in line. It’s more my presence here that he’s a little more wary of.”“But you’re not the type to manipulate Muggles,” Henry pointed out. “Not that I’ve seen.”“Well, that and me somehow getting you put in danger. It’s not a paranoid concern.”“Are there others who would?” Allison paused before heading to the Ladies’ room.The entire group stopped to watch him think for a moment.“Not intentionally,” he finally decided on.Grace got the feeling that he wasn’t saying everything, but he ducked into the other door before anyone could really question him further.Everyone used the bathroom before coming back out to find their flying cars ready for them.The flight to the next stop – the first check-in point – ran pretty much the same as the first flight, except that Tony had ‘programmed’ the cars to leapfrog to the front instead of looping to the back.“That was fun, too,” Zane commented from behind Allison when they landed, Jo having had a turn flying on the broom.“It was,” Henry spoke from the sea behind Grace as they finally landed.“Now, onto business!” Fargo announced, carefully stepping out of the car and onto the ground. “The first check-in is about a half hour from here.”Tony took care of the cars as Jo led the line further on the path.Ever since they had left Tony’s yellow tent, they had been slowly climbing uphill the whole time. No surprise there, since this was a mountainous area and the slight incline the trail took on showed that.“You’ll be able to see End Goal up here at the first check-in,” Grace told Tony as he fell into step beside her. Henry and Allison were up ahead with Holly and Fargo. Zane and Jo were in the lead. “After that, it’s downhill from there.’“The path curves, right?” he checked.“Yup. No stairs here for the trolleys and wagons.”“Golf carts?” he asked.“Sometimes, I think. For large groups or a lot of equipment. Of course, we couldn’t do golf carts this time, because it would’ve drawn attention to our trip.”“You know, I was wondering how many knew we were out here.”“Everyone but maybe Ethan, Risky, Trix and Taggart have no idea we’re even out here. We’re out of town, but some of us had to take a trip to Portland and Seattle and I think you’ve been hijacked by your superiors to Seattle and Allison, Jo and Fargo went with you. A surprise, of course, but everyone is supposed to be due back by Monday at the latest.”“Why the cover, exactly?” he wanted to know.“Well, Taggart needed to keep an eye on inventory without us around. And you know Risky’s project was sabotaged because you’re the one who turned us into that direction. Out here, we are as free to investigate as it’s possible to without constantly looking over our shoulders.”“I thought we were out here so you guys could figure out what was left on in the Middle of Nowhere and I just had the shiny new stuff you wanted to try out.”“More or less,” she grinned. “Just testing to see if you were paying attention.”“And we told Ethan that we wanted to let Carter get better,” Allison overheard, “which is why we’re all out of town.”“Convenient all of you are out at once,” Tony drawled.“You can believe what you want about Eureka Luck,” she smiled sagely, “but sometimes it’s real.”“I guess I’ll take your word for it,” he sighed, obviously knowing that he’d lose this argument.“We’re getting close,” Grace assured, seeing the curve that opened up a spectacular view of their End Goal and the little bit longer they had before reaching it. “The first check-in is just up here and the first view is beautiful.”They were at the curve before they knew it, Grace giving the Agent a slight smile as his eyes locked on the mountain and grew in size.They would continue curving to the right until the second check-in and then go left through the forest until they reached the third before making it to a stable footbridge that spawned the moat-like ravine at the base of the mountain.The mountain itself was nothing to sneeze at, either.It rose high into the sky, the antenna from Reynolds’ experiment data recorder just barely visible from this angle amidst the bushes and trees growing along the top. Global Dynamics had gutted the inside of the mountain, turning the debris into the footbridge, and one side of the mountain had been carved out to allow natural light to stream in through flawless windows set in large panels.The three checkpoints also used material from the gutted mountain and Grace looked away from the jaw dropping sight to see the others waiting for them at the picnic site built around the first check-in.“Too bad we just can’t watch the sunset from here,” Zane was already fiddling with a tablet to check his program and get it ready.“I guess we need the program, then?” she made her way over to claim the seat next to Henry, who immediately put his arm around her.“Yeah,” Zane glanced up. “The keypad is also a fingerprint scanner.“Well, that’s something you prepared for, right? So, not a problem.”“Not as easy as we thought,” Fargo corrected. “See, I knew this would happen, but I’m not as yet entirely sure that everything’s back to normal. I don’t remember if someone had been out here to fix the glitch or not, so I don’t know what it’s like now.”“And this is a problem?”“Normally, no,” Holly shook her head, “but we need to do some checking with this to see what – if anything - had been done to it and then change Zane’s program to work on it that way. It’ll probably take about an hour to do that in order to avoid setting off some alarm somewhere and it might take half that if we need to recalibrate every checkpoint.”“Tony,” Allison called to the Wizard still staring out at the site where Grace had left him. “Can you give us that bag of snacks? I’d like to eat something while we wait.”“Huh?” he sounded dazed as he called back. “Oh, yeah. Sure.”Grace watched him stare at the mountain for a few minutes more before dutifully fishing a bag from his pocket and joining them. “Pretty, isn’t it?” Grace smiled.“I’d love to get a sketch done,” he nodded, tossing the bag to Jo, who caught it with the skill that Grace had come to expect from her.“We have the time,” Henry assured him. “By all means, sketch to your heart’s content.”“You can sketch from the other points, too,” Fargo added. “You can even see this one from the next.”“Right. Oh, hey, before we move out,” Tony suddenly lit up at a thought, “would it be okay if I took a picture of all of you? So Carter can see what a great time we had and not start running away with his paranoid imagination.”“Aww,” Grace couldn’t help cooing. “You have a good heart, Tony.”“Not really. Remember how being transformed into Agent got me shot with the tranq gun? Well, I talked to Carter before that and d’you know the first thing he asked me was? ‘Have you threatened to drown any of them in the lake, yet?’”“What?” Fargo’s demand had Grace glancing over to see Jo looking away.“Nothing,” she airily replied, giving Grace a raised eyebrow that spoke her thoughts.Grace couldn’t hide the amused grin before returning her full attention to Tony. “So, would you like that picture now or wait?”“Maybe about now, if that’s okay,” he posited. “The light’s still good.”“Give me a minute,” Zane told them, nose buried in his program to override the check-in.“Take your time,” Tony waved at him. “I was thinking we could get in some personal shots first.”“I’ll go first!” Fargo volunteered, jumping up from the bench and striding over to where the curve was, the mountain in the background.“I have a feeling this is going to take a while,” Tony said in an aside for Grace and Henry to hear before taking a camera out from somewhere and making his way to Fargo.Zane tinkered with the program before hooking it up to the checkpoint as Grace and the others posed for pictures using the mountain lab space as the back drop.“Come on, Donovan,” Jo called some time later. “We’re gonna do a group picture with everyone and I’d hate to have Carter worry about DiNozzo pushing you off a cliff.”“You mean me allowing you to push him off a cliff,” Tony corrected, not looking up as he messed around with his camera.“That’s what I said,” Jo deadpanned.“Alright,” Zane initiated the first part of the program before loping over to join them. “Where do you want me?” he flashed Jo a half-lidded look loaded with innuendo.Jo returned an unimpressed, crossed arm look before turning to Tony. “DiNozzo, do me a favor. Go back around the curve, close your eyes, cover your ears and count to five.”Tony glanced up, saw the look on her face and shrugged. “Okay,” he turned.“Tony, get back here,” Allison ordered. “Jo, play nice.”“How do you know that’s what she wanted to do?” Zane raised a brow at her.Allison just gave him a look.“… point. Alright, DiNozzo, let’s get this over with.”Tony arranged them with Zane as far from the steep edge as possible and Jo as far from him without going over the edge herself. “You guys are a picture,” he checked them in the viewfinder. “The scene is gorgeous.”“And all we need is a banner saying –”“‘Wish you were here’?” Jo finished Fargo’s sentence. “Already covered.” “Okay, in three,” Tony counted down. “Two… One… Big smiles!”Grace did wish Carter was there with them, nothing against Tony, because she honestly wanted to get to talk to him. She called him a friend, but he was closer to her husband than he probably ever would be to her and she felt the sudden urge to change that.“Fair warning, Grace,” Tony gave her a sharp look over the camera, knocking her from her thoughts. “If you start crying, it’ll set me off.”“No, no, I’m fine,” she wiped her eyes. “Sorry, just… thinking about Carter.”“We all are,” Jo reached over to squeeze her arm with understanding dark eyes as Henry hugged her tight. “Hopefully, he’ll be able to change back before we return.”“Believe you me,” Tony told them as Allison turned for her own hug, “when Carter is able to change back, I’m hugging the stuffing out of him.”“Why?” Fargo wanted to know. “He’s not your friend.”“No, but Muggle-sitting is nerve wracking in general. Muggle-sitting you guys, on the other hand…”“Just can’t wait to give us back, huh?” Zane smiled in genuine amusement.“Hopefully before something happens to you that I won’t be able to do anything about.”“Ah, we’ll be fine. You more than prove that every time we turn around.”“For how much longer?”“Take the picture,” Jo told him. “I’m not sure your banner’s gonna stay still for much longer.”“Tell me about it. Alright. Last time. Big smiles in three – two – one!”The shutter clicked and everyone relaxed.“What about you, Agent?” Holly spoke up. “You should get in the picture, too.”“Yeah!” Fargo agreed. “Show Carter how happy you are to be here!”“Are you kidding? I can’t wait to get out.”“Tony,” Allison was slightly amused as she gave him a look.“Alright, alright. Tell you one thing. I’m never taking a Muggle house for granted ever again.”“What’s wrong with SARAH?” Fargo challenged, crossing his arms.“Just not really used to a house that can argue back. Magical mirrors can, though,” Tony kept his camera hovering in place as he joined the group and all of them gave their brightest grins at the camera as the shutter clicked.“Hooray!” Grace cheered. “We’re done!”“I still think a banner wouldn’t have gone amiss,” Fargo scowled as he headed back to the table.“Think we should tell him?” Jo glanced at Tony, who shook his head.“Nah, it’ll keep.”“Tell him what?” Zane frowned.Jo and Tony simply pointed up, Grace following their fingers with her eyes and laughing when she saw an actual banner that had attached itself to the branches above their heads.‘Wish you were here!’ had been painted on or something as the banner gently floated in a non-existent breeze.“Think I can get away with telling him it was edited in?” Tony asked as he ambled over to his hovering camera.“50/50,” Jo shrugged as she and Holly trailed Fargo.Allison followed Tony and Grace absently reached for Henry’s hand as they shadowed her. Now that they were far enough from the banner to actually see it, Grace could see little bits of confetti streaming along the edges.Tony fiddled with the camera as she, Henry and Allison watched, Grace noticing Zane standing with relaxed body language. His hands were in his pockets as the End Goal stood behind his right shoulder and Grace couldn’t help the smile that crossed her face.Zane was a bit of a troublemaker and a prankster and had a bit of attitude, but one just couldn’t help liking him nonetheless. He certainly seemed to fit in with the group that Grace found herself looking in on sometimes, but those times were the results of things beyond their control. That’s why she tried not to mind it very much, but…Jo gave a whistle at them and held up the string bag. “Snack time!”“Is it forfeit if we don’t race over there?” Zane suddenly called back.“Yours, yes. And I think I saw a certain caramel –”Zane was already racing for the bag, having a well-known soft spot for caramel.“And here I was, thinking you all ran on coffee and chocolate,” Tony tilted his head.“Always coffee,” Allison confirmed with a smile. “Chocolate is optional.”“For you, maybe,” Henry deadpanned. “Chocolate is part of the food pyramid in my life.”“Sometimes, some black tea hits the spot,” Grace sighed, thinking of vanilla chai. She could run for hours on that alone. Well, Vince’s blend, anyway.“After subsisting on tea for the better part of a month,” Tony shook his head, “I will happily drown in coffee.”That started a conversation about coffee as they rejoined the others, who chimed in with their own opinions or statistics, and that lasted through snack time as Zane’s program ran.Eventually, Grace tossed her trash and visited the small bathroom before wandering out to see the others in the process of cleaning up, themselves. Tony was snapping pictures of seemingly random things as Zane busied himself with his program and she made her way over to see Tony taking pictures of the checkpoint.“You’re wasting memory,” Holly told him, having also noticed.“I’ll delete all of it. I just wanted to note the protection runes in the area.”“Protection runes?” Jo followed her as Grace reached the boys.“Carter’s doing, no doubt,” Zane mused, pausing his work to glance up.“Yup,” Tony moved over to the little wall surrounding the checkpoint and tapped on one of the small brinks. “He’s layered quite a bit over the years.”Grace wasn’t sure if she should ask, but Fargo did.“What could we possibly need protection for, all the way out here?” he spread his arms.“Creatures, mostly,” Tony snapped a picture of the rune he pointed out. “Preventing certain spells to be used. And some of these are seasonal or depend on environmental conditions, like during a dry spell. I think we caught some just as they turn dormant for the season, actually. He’s got quite a few things covered,” he seemed impressed.“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Jo snorted. “We need all the help we can get.”Everyone gathered around as Zane put some finishing touches on his program and ran it so they could go on to the next checkpoint.“And we are… in,” he grinned as they were greenlit to proceed.“Good work,” Henry praised.“Thank you, thank you,” he waved as if to an adoring crowd. “I know I’m incredible.”Grace shook her head at him before catching sight of Tony looking around with a frown as he stood slightly behind them. “Tony? Is something wrong?”“Anybody hear that?” he turned the frown on them.“What?” Jo went alert, dark eyes glancing around.“That ‘snick’. Sounded like a ‘snick’.”“Was it a low ‘snick’ or a high ‘snick’?” Fargo asked.“I don’t know. Wasn’t able to get a lock on it.”“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Holly waved a dismissive hand. “You probably heard the checkpoint sending off a signal to the others to let the building know we’re here.”“But I’ve never heard a ‘snick’ before,” Jo pointed out.“Well, maybe you’ve never stood in the right place,” Henry suggested with a shrug. “Or it may have been something that Carter did that only other Magicals can hear.”“And you don’t have Tony’s hearing,” Allison added. “So, maybe the only reason you don’t know about it is because you haven’t been listening. It could have always been there and no one said anything about it.”“How good is your hearing?” Jo questioned the Magical.“Pretty good if he heard a ‘snick’,” Fargo told her. “I’ve never heard any such thing.”“It could be a Magical thing, like Allison said,” Holly speculated. "Oh, maybe a Magical Radar or something!”“Think Carter would’ve heard a ‘snick’?” Fargo wondered.“Well, we’re all still alive, so I think it’s harmless,” Zane put in his two cents as he packed his equipment.“Did anyone ask your opinion?” Jo crossed her arms.“I thought it was an open conversation. I didn’t know I needed your permission.”Grace shook her head at them and helped Allison make sure the area was clean.The group soon left the rest area and checkpoint behind to make their way to the next one.On the way, though, Grace found Tony ambling next to her with a thoughtful frown on his face. “Worried about your ‘snick’?” she asked.“I’m trying to make heads or tails of that relationship,” he gave a nod at where Jo and Zane walked near the front of the group.“I see,” she smiled slightly. “I’m surprised you didn’t notice before, but, then, I guess you’ve been busy enough, huh?”“That, and this helps make it even more confusing,” he showed her his camera and the device’s screen.It was a picture of Zane, after the group pictures, the genius standing in a relaxed posture she remembered seeing not long ago. The expression on his face, however, made Grace pause.He was looking off to the right, the direction Grace remembered the picnic site to be, his expression soft, genuine, with softened eyes appearing to be focused on something out of frame. His body language was open and approachable, like Tony had caught him unaware.“What is he so focused on?” she wondered.“Three guesses who,” Tony gave her the answer without saying for certain.“Tony, Grace!” they looked up to see the group having stopped to wait for them – Allison waving. “Everything okay?”“Yeah,” Tony waved back. “All fine here.”Both started walking again and the group moved forward with questioning looks that both Tony and Grace shrugged off. Now was really not the place or time to get into relationships and Jo and Zane were a complicated one as it was. Maybe when Carter returned to normal, Grace would approach Zane about it. Someday.They reached the next point almost in less time than Grace would’ve been expecting, but End Goal was in sight and they all clung to the journey’s end. Tony pointed out even more runes around the next point and again heard the ‘snick’ that no one else did, even though Henry had been standing right next to him.After that, they headed for the third and final point mere steps from the footbridge. It was one of Grace’s favorite views as they made their way toward the mountain jutting high into the sky above them.“Now, that’s definitely a picture,” Tony commented from behind her and Allison, both turning to see Tony’s camera pointing up at the mountain.Further ahead of them, Zane was hooking his tablet up to the checkpoint as Jo and the others waited nearby.Tony finished taking pictures of the mountain and talked Grace and Allison into letting him take one of them in front of the view. “Perfect,” he told them. “I’d like another group shot, if it’s alright with you.”“It’s nearing sunset,” she noted as they joined the others.“Hopefully, it won’t take until sunrise to find the source of these energy readings,” Fargo sighed, squinting in the sun’s general direction.“We’ve got light,” Tony told him. “I won’t let you fall into the ravine. Lupo, on the other hand…”“Stop terrorizing poor Fargo,” Allison told them, a slight smile on her face despite her words.“Yeah,” the Director piped up. “What’d I ever do to you?”“I’ve got a list that’s ten pages long and counting,” Jo deadpanned. “I can even email it to you as a report. Oh, those incident reports are on file, too.”“What about me?” Zane glanced up, more curious than put out that Fargo had a list and he didn’t.Jo thought for a minute before shrugging. “I have to check. You don’t usually put Eureka in a crisis situation very often.”“Something tells me she wouldn’t give second thought to tossing you off the bridge if you did,” Tony smiled slightly.“Unfortunately for the rest of us, though,” Jo went on, “Fargo is Head of Global Dynamics and we aren’t in a position to get a new one, yet.”Grace couldn’t help thinking of her long held suspicions that Jo was only holding back because Fargo was important. If they’d stayed in their original timeline, thought, Jo may have broken his arm – by accident – a long time ago.Zane gave them the greenlight not long after their group picture, Tony noting yet more runes and a third ‘snick’.“Anything could make that noise, though,” Holly pointed out as they got ready to cross the first bit of bridge. “It could even be the runes themselves, pinpointing a new Magical presence.”Tony looked thoughtful at that more than anything else. “You could be onto something there,” he admitted.“I’ll take point,” Jo announced. “DiNozzo on our six.”“You got it,” Tony didn’t point out that it hadn’t changed from the last handful of walking hours as they got into position.“Oh, Agent DiNozzo,” Holly remembered. “Once we get in, feel free to use those lights. It’ll be dark in the mountain once the sun sets and we took a lot of power offline once the season ended. I don’t know about the generators, but I guess they should be our first priority.”“How long can you hold the light spell?” Henry questioned.“Hours if I need to,” Tony answered. “It’s not much of a drain at all.”Grace moved to stand next to Jo as she looked over the edge of the bridge. “Can you put some lights down there?” she wanted to know.Tony sent some ball lights over the rail and the group moved on either side to watch them go down into the ravine.And down. And down.And down.“I sincerely hope,” Tony stared, “that this walkway isn’t going to dump us because I’m not sure there’s a bottom.”“You’re telling me,” Zane whistled as they lights kept going down. Not more than a minute later, the lights disappeared altogether.“Alright,” Fargo pried himself from the rail and stood directly in the middle of the path between the rails. “I’m ready,” he looked kind of pale and Grace couldn’t say for sure that they ever measured how deep the ravine really was as she glanced to see the others with suddenly unnerved looks on their faces.“You know,” Henry leaned back with a thoughtful expression. “Maybe Carter knew how deep it is – or did the same thing – because we always thought there was a bottom.”“Carter’s scared of heights,” Tony snorted as they got into position, “so I doubt he’d be hanging over the rail like that.”“Yeah,” Fargo nodded. “All he would care about would be the fact that it’s not solid ground, so he would just make a run for it.”Grace wanted to run for it, too, and heaven knew the bridge could hold them at a run and several more tons besides, but Jo was determined to be the first to face any danger they might run across.The true distance under them had Jo establishing a quick clip that no one could argue with as they reached the middle in almost no time. The walkway under them was sturdy enough , but there were new parts that she could see.“That’s probably part of the maintenance crew’s work,” Grace pointed out as she sensed Tony at her elbow.He hummed in response as he matched their steps, the walkway wide enough for one more on either side of them, as they followed everyone else. They made it to the safety of the mountain’s base as the sun began to set.“Agent DiNozzo,” Holly turned to him expectantly as they came upon the final obstacle. “Lights?”“Right,” he soon had dozens of ball lights around them just in time for Zane to finish hacking into the retinal/fingerprint/code scanner. “You guys do it overkill, don’t you?” he mused.“Extra security,” Fargo told him. “Carter’s the only one who can get in until we fix that glitch, so we have to hack in, remember?”“Well, unless there’s thousands of tons’ worth of gold and gems and the like in there to attract a Dragon like someone else I could mention…”“I would think the dragon could just break through the glass panels,” Henry mused, “but they’re meant to withstand a nuclear blast – or a super wildfire - , so it would be interesting to actually test with a dragon.”“But it’s not quite the mountain that’s in danger of being stolen,” Fargo pointed out, “it’s the stuff inside it. You know, like data and materials. That kind of stuff.”“You’ll have to come back to Eureka to really grasp the security measures,” Jo flatly advised. “And why they’re needed in place to begin with. Half the problems we face every week is because egos get ahead of common sense. That’s why only Carter, Fargo and Deputy Andy are allowed complete access to the mountain lab. Especially Carter, who really has no need to go snooping besides pure curiosity.”“And Carter is the only one who can get in,” Zane added, a grin crossing his face as he beat the last block in their way. “This isn’t a checkpoint, per se, but this is more the alarm system that opens the front door.”“And the door is now open,” Holly grinned, waving them on a little further ahead to where the paved path continued. “Nothing can stop us, now.”They followed the path into a group of trees that grew all over the mountain and found the automatic gate-door already open for them.“It’s a little claustrophobic,” Grace explained as Tony once again walked with her, the group finally making their way inside, “and since it’s such a large space, it takes a while to get anywhere.”“Which means we’ll be here at least half the night,” Allison said from in front of them.“Alright,” Jo spoke as they came to the door opener from the inside. The lights that usually came on about now weren’t online, so they had to rely on Tony’s lights to see. “Anything else on those readings?”“Let me look,” Holly took out her tablet just as everyone suddenly remembered –“No signal,” Allison blew out a breath. “One of the security features designed to keep unauthorized people from getting in without notice.”“… you bring new levels to the term ‘overkill’,” Tony sighed.“Glad to see you getting the hang of it, Agent DiNozzo,” Holly smiled brightly at him in the mostly dark space.“Plus, the mountain itself,” Henry pointed upwards at the ceiling above them. “The composition also does wonders for keeping all but the most basic radio signals from reaching this far from the outside. It prevents attempts to lock people in this place when an emergency is happening, like… the carbon monoxide leak at Global.”“I don’t recall hearing about what they found,” Tony frowned at him. “The report on that investigation? I mean, I only know what I saw, so –”“You went down there by yourself?!” Allison whirled around to stare incredulously at him. “After having been in the Rain Catcher system?”“Look, Blake, I get that you’re worried about my lungs and all, but I assure you: Magic can do things you’re not able to imagine. I was perfectly safe the entire time – short of the building coming down on my head –”“It’s alright, we believe you,” Henry waved a pacifying hand at them. “We made it this far with you and we wouldn’t have if we didn’t trust you to know what you were doing. Allison just likes to worry about people and your lungs have made you Patient One in her book.”Grace nodded. “But the report didn’t find anything of note,” she went on to add, “so I’m not surprised you might’ve forgot about it.”“Nothing?” Tony frowned at her, tilting his head. “Huh.”“What ‘huh’?” Fargo immediately pounced. “I know that ‘huh’. You found something?”“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “The bunker called before I could take a better look at it.”“So, you did find something!”“What kind of ‘it’ are we talkin’?” Zane wanted to know, rocking back on his heels.“Uh, well, there was a black thing attached to one of the downstairs projects, but I didn’t have the time to get closer. It looked like that project was attached to another that didn’t get connected right or something.”“Nothing should have been connected or attached at all,” Holly negated. “And never mind ‘a black thing’. How big was it?”“Not very. Maybe it was little, from what I saw of it. A flap was kinda… open, it looked to me. Then again, I don’t have a Science Doctorate, so…”“No one put that in any report,” Fargo narrowed his eyes. “All they said was an unidentifiable leak somewhere.”Not that Grace usually read into things or anything, but that sounded awfully suspicious to her. “Why wouldn’t someone write it into the report?”“Unless they didn’t see it,” Tony shrugged with his hands before letting them fall against his sides. “Wouldn’t know how they’d miss it, though, considering how pretty damn obvious it was.”“Or somebody moved in after you left,” Fargo snapped his fingers. “To cover their tracks about trying to kill Hern!”“Douglas, you can’t honestly believe Agent DiNozzo’s ridiculous claim,” Holy huffed in exasperation.“But you heard the man before! All this stuff happening to Hern and suddenly ‘a black thing’ disappears in the time between his snooping and the team’s arrival? It’s suspicious, that’s all I’m saying.”“Suspicious or not,” Jo raised a hand, stopping any other response. “We can’t do anything from all the way out here. Let’s get a location for these readings, investigate so we can get out of here, then head back to town and deal with that piece of evidence. And DiNozzo can check Carter out to see if he’s back to normal, yet. Everyone agree?”“You’re right,” Holly nodded. “One thing at a time.”The group made sure the door was closed behind them to prevent any inconsistent data points before moving further into the mountain via a long tunnel.Grace had been out here before, this was far from her first trip into the mountain, so she wasn’t surprised to find a large empty space with stairs at either end of the floor. “One set goes down even deeper into the sublevels,” she explained to Tony, “and the other takes you up into the lab spaces proper.”“And this should be where we start getting a signal,” Holly moved toward the stairs going up. “Because this floor is a safety measure in and of itself,” she went on, “nothing can easily interfere with each other from upstairs or down.”“I see,” Tony nodded.Holly stood at the bottom of the stairs and took her tablet out. “Um,” she consulted the screen, “it looks like a faint signal is coming from up there,” she pointed. “But what’s really strange about it is that the signal that I’m picking up can’t – well, shouldn’t – be strong enough to register on different sensors at Global. I don’t know about the project Drs. Reynolds and Hern were working on, but I’m seeing a different low-level type at mid-distance. It’s probably up even further than this.”“So, we go up,” Jo stated. “I better go first.”“Who’s even going to be out here?” Fargo scoffed, moving toward Holly first. “Carter’s the only one who can get in, anyway, so we’re safe in here.”“If you say so,” Jo rolled her eyes.“I do say so. And because I’m Director, I’m making it an order,” he smiled airily.“Alright,” her expression told the rest of them her thoughts. “It’ll give the rest of us some warning when you get attacked.”For once, that didn’t seem to bother him. He and Holly started climbing and the others slowly made their way after them.The stairs curved, twisted and turned between floors, the steps wide and long enough for a person pulling a single trolley or a pair of them along. In the absence of trolleys, they could comfortably walk side by side in pairs. Fargo and Holly seemed to be almost racing each other up while the rest of them slowly followed.“If you go down this hallway, Agent DiNozzo,” Holly stopped and pointed down a hall right next to her. “You can see one of the living quarters.”“We can wait while you check it out,” Grace offered, “or we can go ahead.”“You can wait,” Tony reached Holly and went down the hall, disappearing from view a moment later.“How long is this gonna take?” Fargo crossed his arms as he waited some steps above the gathered group below him.“As long as he needs,” Henry shrugged, leaning back against the handrail lining the wall. The small lights Tony left with them drifted around their legs and some of them seemed to land on some of the steps to wait, almost as if they were tired, too.Grace wasn’t sure how long they waited, but it seemed like no time at all until Tony was sneezing his way back.“Allergies?” Jo raised a brow at him.“Something like that,” he blew his nose in a pocket hankie he’d gotten out and waved Fargo on ahead.“There’s no dust in here, though,” Allison told him as they resumed their climb. “We made sure of that.”“Yeah, yeah. I get it. Damn project sabotaging dust, right?”“I see you’re getting the hand of things, Tony,” Grace grinned.“No details, please,” he gave another sneeze.They were another two floors up when Tony had another sneezing fit.“You shouldn’t be sneezing,” Zane frowned as they stopped again. “There’s nothing to break into a sneezing fit over.”“Well, there clearly is or I wouldn’t be sneezing,” Tony gave him a scowl.“You have a sensitive nose,” Allison shrugged. “We have different cleaning solutions we use to clean things and it could be residue that’s affecting you. I’m sorry you don’t have a source of fresh air to help you.”“The cleaning solutions don’t leave any residual scents unless it’s a recent application,” Holly shook her head. “There shouldn’t be anything left.”“How recently?” Tony frowned as Fargo started moving them again.“At least a week. No more than that plus a few days.”“Smells nice, too,” Henry mused. “I was here with Carter and Taggart the last time to make sure the vacancy was coming along. Maintenance was cleaning out places as people were leaving them and there was this nice scent that smelled kind of like lemon or orange.”“Smells like different scents on top of each other,” Tony shook his head. “Mostly lemon undertones and orange and cardamom – Fargo, get your ass the hell back here!”“Now what?” the aggrieved scientist sighed as they called a halt, throwing his hands up and letting them fall back against his sides.“What?” Jo turned with a frown at Tony, who raised a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. “What is it?”“I just had a thought, Fargo,” green eyes opened to give him a scathing look. “When we first heard about strange readings out here, you said you sent a maintenance crew out here and maybe they were behind it. We sure as hell found the stuff they left along the way, right? Which led us to discover a big cone full of animal repellent that shouldn’t be set out, yet. So, let me ask you this: What does Maintenance actually do?”Holly raised a hand, but Tony kept staring at Fargo until the Director finally caved.“The Maintenance crew keeps the trail clear, the different camping/ picnic/ bathroom sites up to standard, even make sure the bridge out there still has boards and stuff. They don’t take care of everything, obviously, but they pass along word to others who have special concentrations around the trail.”“And inside?” Tony prompted.“Like we were just saying about cleaning up after people, among repair work at certain locations all over the mountain. Both in and out.”“So, why did the maintenance crew want to come out here, anyway?”“I don’t know,” he mocked, “maintenance crew stuff? They’re dedicated workers?”“Would they have been able to gain access in here?”“Not without Carter. Why all the questions, anyway?”“Because you said that it could’ve been Maintenance. How the hell would they have gotten in?”“They wouldn’t have. Only Carter can get in, remember? We had to break in, ourselves.”“And I’m beginning to think differently. You don’t smell that?”Grace frowned as she focused on her nose, barely noticing everyone else doing the same.Allison moved closer to Tony, who nudged her toward the open hallway. Her brown eyes narrowed for a long moment before widening. “Oh my god, he’s right,” she looked around at them.“I’m smelling a very, very faint trace of lemon that shouldn’t be there,” Jo reported.The realization hit them all at the same time.“Shit,” Zane’s blue eyes went just as wide.Grace exchanged looks with Henry, who just as quickly realized the implications, as she herself began smelling a hint of orange she would have overlooked had she not been concentrating for it.The Global grade cleaning solutions used in the mountain – as they had just told Tony – were more or less engineered to leave no trace of scent up to a week after application. Which meant…“How the hell did they get in here?” Tony faced Fargo again, who seemed kind of paler than usual at the realization. “What were they doing in here?”“I… I don’t know,” he almost whimpered at the realization of truth. “I… I don’t know! They told me that there was some work that still needed to be done and I said ‘okay’ and –”“You didn’t even ask!” Jo was suddenly in front of him, hands fisting in his color. “Fargo! Andy couldn’t get in and you can’t get in and Carter was no way going to get in with four legs and a tail and you didn’t think to ask what the hell they were coming out here for!”“B-but I thought they-they’d stay outside!” he stuttered. “Since Carter is the only one who can get in, I thought it would be okay!”“Was,” Tony quietly corrected. Grace saw a sobering realization cross his face. “Cleaning must’ve happened at least a week ago. Which means Carter isn’t actually the only one who can get in here. And I want names as soon as we get back, Fargo. Understand? I want to know who was out here and why and how they got into this place without Carter. Right now, though, Lupo is coming with me to check this out while the rest of you go find that energy reading.”“Do you need to?” Holly frowned at him.“Yes, I do. Maintenance was supposed to clean this place out already, so why break out the cleaning stuff now?” both he and Jo were gone before anyone could argue.“Maybe we’ll find something,” Zane quietly spoke into the silence that followed. “Something has to be making those readings, right?”Without a word, all of the remaining group of them immediately started climbing again.Grace, for one, couldn’t believe they’d completely missed it. For all their lab smarts and science degrees, it still took a ‘Norm’ to open their eyes.Even a Magical ‘Norm.’Now that they had been drawn to the discrepancies, Grace thought about everything they found up to now. Things such as the animal repellants all over the trail, in addition to the trash they’d found at their picnic site.No one employed by Global would have been so sloppy, but that now brought questions of who had been on the maintenance crew that Fargo sent out. If he hadn’t thought to check them out, he could’ve sent anybody out and who knew what they got up to. And that still didn’t answer the question of the animal repellants discarded along the trail.Especially the cones. Those suggested a bigger project, but Grace couldn’t recall seeing any signs of a big project as they went along. Mobile repellants had always done the trick before, so why take the big ones out?None of this was making any kind of sense to her, but nothing about it felt good as she raced the others up the stairs.And that wasn’t taking into account the fact that – if Tony was right – the maintenance crew had somehow gotten into a restricted place that only Carter was able to access.That had to have set all kinds of alarm bells ringing for Tony, but Grace didn’t have his training to start understanding what those bells meant. She only really had a feeling in her stomach that something was going to go down and that same feeling was telling her to double-time it out of danger, but she’d overridden the feeling before and now was no different.She wasn’t sure what she would be able to do, but she had to be there to try. And she knew that Henry and all the others wouldn’t leave until they figured things out the way they always did. That hadn’t stopped her in the past and it had no influence on her right at this second, either.They finally got to the place where the outside light would’ve begun streaming in had it been daylight. The windows sat completely dark in response to the darkness outside as Holly led them off the end of the stone-hewn steps and onto the steel grated floor it opened out to.The stairs no longer went up in one long flight, but now fragmented into different ones that bisected entire floors before moving location.Grace followed Holly and the others a few feet to the next staircase that went up two floors before it ended and they had to make their way to the far left of the floor to keep going up. She was barely aware of the ball lights that kept easy pace with them as they left the fourth staircase and pulled up short to avoid running into Allison as Holly slammed on the brakes.“Here!” the younger female dove into a lab that the others wasted no time following her in to. “In here!”In the otherwise empty room of tables and drawers, what looked like an old fashioned computer tower stood on a table in the middle of the room. A light blinking slowly on the side told them it was on ‘sleep’ mode.“That?” Fargo said incredulously. “That is what’s been sending out a reading?”“Not by itself,” Zane immediately hooked up a tablet to one of the ports and his fingers started flying across the screen. “It’s either hooked up to some kind of amplifier on the outside or piggybacking on Reynolds’ project. Which would explain how those readings have been screwed up.”“Can we turn it off?” Allison frowned.“No,” Zane consulted the screen. “It’s on a timed deactivation. You know, if it’s not deactivated within a couple hours of activation, there’s no hope for it. Short of blowing it to kingdom come, we are completely locked out.”“It’s not impossible, though, right?” Holly frowned. “You can sneak in and do something about it.”“It’s going to take more than a couple hours, but I’d rather not do it right here,” he gave a slightly nervous glance around. “I think it’s safe to say that there’s something going on and I don’t want to be here when it hits the fan.”“I’m glad I’m not the only one,” Grace admitted.“So, what’re we waiting for!” Fargo looked around at them. “Let’s pack it up and get the hell out of Dodge!”“Not that easy. Eureka, remember?” Zane glanced at him. “Which you should, because you’re the one who demanded failsafes in case theft was involved.”It took a long moment for recognition to hit, but hit it did and Grace covered her eyes when it did.Within the last two years, security measures and anti-theft security had made it necessary for all computer based devices coming in or out of End Goal to include a mandatory line of code. That code acted as a marker that could be logged as having been taken out or kept in provided the device was shut down.If a device wasn’t completely shut down during regular season hours when the security measures were in full operation, that device would shut down with a lock that prevented the user from using it in the mountain for at least a week.And if it was taken out without being shut down…“Can you shut it down?” Holly all but plastered against Zane’s arm to look over his shoulder at the screen.“Uh, a better question,” Fargo raised a hand, just as apprehensive as the rest of them. “What happens if it shuts down?”The computer tower had been on ‘sleep’ when they got here and there was a very good suspicion that the maintenance crew had somehow managed to get in without Carter’s authorization, which did not bode well.“I suggest we don’t find out,” Allison glanced at Grace. “Zane, the outgoing measures are operational, aren’t they.” It wasn’t a question.“Yes, they are,” Zane raked fingers through his hair. “Thanks, Fargo,” he said sarcastically.“And how was I supposed to know this was going to happen?” he returned, tossing his hands out. “It was supposed to prevent things from being taken – and that’s why we never turn anything off for more than an hour at a time!”In order to prevent a computer from being turned into a 'bomb', that tagged line of code acted as a beacon for the checkpoints to track. If the primary security system didn’t catch it, the checkpoints would and automatic shutdown would be implemented.Nothing would be wiped, but the shutdown would be reversed if and only if Fargo gave the devices a series of preprogrammed codes in his office at Global. And only his office at Global.“We can’t risk shutting this thing down,” Henry voiced. “We don’t know what’s on the tower or what switch it will flip if it does shut down.”“But I still can’t get in to turn anything off,” Zane shook his head. “I’m not going to be able to do anything without a base encryption program and a lot of help from SARAH if we want to find out what’s on here before this time next year.”“You can’t do it any faster?” Fargo squeezed in on Zane’s other side.“For all I know, there’s some sort of kill switch designed to wipe the whole thing with one wrong keystroke and hell only knows what that would do!”“Okay,” Allison broke in. “We need options.”“We can’t risk shutting it down,” Henry added, “which is what needs to happen. We don’t know what it’s been programmed to do and we don’t know what code to put into it even if we managed to get it back to town.”“Which is part of the reason I’ll need SARAH,” Zane kept doing something on the tablet screen as Holly and Fargo kept watch. “I can upload the database and have her comb through a hell of a lot faster than I can manually. We just need a way in.”“What about Magic?” Grace suggested. “Didn’t Jo say something about that back before the explosion?”“Yeah, yeah!” Fargo snapped his fingers and pointed at her, blue eyes lit up. “Preliminary testing, but all we have to do is keep it from leaving through the front door and passing the checkpoints.”“But we can’t disable the security measures or an alarm will sound back at GD,” Holly pointed out. “And according to everyone else, we’re not supposed to be here.”“Who would’ve come investigate the readings, then?”“A group including Carter,” Allison shrugged, “since he used to be the only one who could get in. Assuming Tony’s right and the maintenance crew got in to plant this,” she waved toward the tower, “and God only knows what else.”“Regardless,” Holly picked up, “we can’t be found here, which will happen if security is shut down.”“Which leaves Magic as the only true option,” Henry nodded at Grace. “Zane can figure out how to cover our tracks once we get clear.”“That’s the easy way,” Zane agreed. “Something SARAH can also help me with.”“So, we get Tony up here and get him to take this thing back to the bunker,” Grace summarized, slightly relaxing at the logical option available. If there was anything logical about magic, anyway.They had a plan of attack and then they could get out an none of them would come back without Carter and half of Global’s army of employees to go over every inch of this place. And while everyone was doing that, Grace would lead a review into every maintenance worker on every shift they had.“Not foolproof, but I’ll take it,” Henry seemed just as cautiously relieved.“Are you able to put it back to sleep?” Holly questioned Zane.“No,” he answered. “Being locked out will generally prevent that.”“Where are they?” Fargo suddenly looked around. “They should’ve met us by now. I mean, it doesn’t take that long to investigate cleaned rooms or anything.”“They can investigate as much as they want,” Zane told him flatly. “We need intel to figure out what the maintenance crew has been doing.”“And whatever it is,” Allison added, putting a hand on her hip, “it’s big enough to need animal repellant cones.”“I know all that,” Fargo argued, “but I mean they could just take a quick peek and get a general idea about it. Then tell us a guess. You know, it is astounding the things you can get from a general foray, right, Henry?”“And, normally, I would agree,” he nodded, “but this would fall under Jo and Tony’s jurisdiction and I’m staying out of it.”“Being curious is different than an actual investigation,” Allison pointed out, more than likely as frustrated and helpless as Grace herself was feeling. Honestly, the both had just come along for the fun of travel – and Grace had most certainly had fun.But when it came right down to it, Grace hadn’t really needed to be there and she was kind rethinking that decision now.All she could do was stand there and think in circles – none of which was actually doing them any good.The rest of them, at least, had some actual reason to be present.“I have to admit,” she shrugged helplessly, “I’m not entirely sure why I’m here.”“I don’t know why I’m here, either,” Henry smiled slightly, reaching out to squeeze her hand. “Though, I don’t think now is a good time for deep, philosophical discussions.”Grace blinked at him for a moment before she got it and whacked him on the arm with a snort and a roll of her eyes. “Cute.”“I try,” he grinned.“I’m going to find those two and demand answers,” Fargo drew himself up and strode to the door purposefully, only stopping at the hand rail. Grace followed him and looked out at the windows looming before and above them. The sun was gone, but there was still a quickly vanishing thin line of color she could still barely discern.A few ball lights drifted around her legs as she and Fargo stood on the walkway, but they couldn’t see beyond their glow.“Jo?” she called into the emptiness. “Tony?”They listened, but nothing answered back.“You don’t think they’re in trouble, do you?” Fargo sounded uncertain as they looked at each other. “This place is supposed to be abandoned and empty right now, but…”The maintenance crew had been in here doing who knew what – and that wasn’t taking into account anything that could’ve snuck in, like a Magical creature that Tony was talking about last night. Grace knew that their animal repellants did a wonderful job keeping animals away, but that didn’t mean something couldn’t have come in before the repellants took effect.“I’m not entirely sure how anything could’ve gotten in,” he seemed to read her mind in that way that they all would do sometimes. It spoke of a synchronicity that developed from long experience in uncertain situations like this. Grace and Holly were recent additions to the group – and Zane, technically -, but they found themselves sliding right into it with little difficulty.It was both really comforting to know she didn’t have to speak and slightly eerie when she witnessed it from the outside – sometimes, both at once -, but she’d never experienced the like before Eureka and – heaven willing – there wouldn’t be an after.“Do you see them, yet?” Allison joined them with her own little lights.“No,” Grace sighed.“Maybe they found one of those homicidal vine plants like the last time,” Fargo didn’t seem to register Allison’s presence as he stared as hard as he could into the darkness below.“And last time,” Allison followed his gaze, “you guys found a secret lab complex. I doubt there’s a lab complex out here. Carter would’ve said something.”“Would he have, though?” Fargo frowned. “I mean, maybe he would keep it secret. Like the whole Magic thing.”“I don’t know where he would’ve seen it,” Grace negated. “The lab space goes very deep underground, so it wouldn’t be there. And I don’t know if it would be under the walkway, because Carter’s not into heights and I’m pretty sure that would count. Although, from what you and the others have said, I’m not sure Carter would’ve known about the secret complex, either. I have a feeling it’s going to be difficult just getting him on a broom for even a little bit until we can find some other entrance that doesn’t involve a Devil’s Snare.”“I’m holding off a visit for that reason,” Allison agreed.“I don’t know why you want to go,” Fargo told her. “That place was completely empty. The only reason I want to go back out there is because there’s more to look at out there, but we couldn’t go farther because we missed check in. But we do have ‘first explorer’ group dibs.”Which was why it hadn’t been reported or anything.Grace knew that word getting out would be more trouble than it was worth – especially if any other magical things still waited for discovery - , but there was also the need to be the one to make the discovery contained in unexplored areas.Grace kind of felt possessive of the place, too, despite never having been out there. “I’d like to do some exploring, too. Besides,” she added, “if Carter’s going to turn the place into his own secret lab complex, the rest of us should at least be somewhat familiar with it.”“Familiar with what?” Henry wanted to know as he stood at the door.“The secret labs we found,” Fargo told him. “I still don’t know why you want to go. Still empty.”“Hey,” they suddenly heard Zane from inside. “The lights are leaving.”Grace watched a light cloud drift past Henry and out to where she, Allison and Fargo stood at the rail, the other lights immediately getting absorbed into the group as it parked itself beyond the rail and over the abyss.“Now what?” Fargo wanted to know as Zane and Holly joined them, just as curious.They watched the cloud hover and Grace thought it looked kind of pretty before her attention was caught by a blinking light that slowly floated to the cloud from below them.“What’s that?” Zane pointed at another one that appeared slightly after the first.“I think that’s them coming up,” Henry moved as another two joined their friends in quick succession.“But why the light show?” Zane bent slightly over the rail to see where Jo and Tony were. “I don’t see them.”Three more blinking lights joined the already sizable cloud before Holly thought to ask, “Why are those flashing like that?”“To tell the new ones apart?” Fargo shrugged.“Why, though?”Almost as if in answer to her questions, another group of blinking lights appeared and the cloud suddenly became an arrow marking their location with a blinking outline.“Okay…” Fargo glanced around. “What’s going on?”“Broom incoming!” Zane called out, pointing down and drawing their attention to the other cloud of lights rising with two figures on broomstick among them.It was Tony and Jo on the broom, Grace confirmed to herself, and she watched as Tony easily rose past the blinking arrow and over the rail to land effortlessly on the walkway beside them.“Alright, geeks,” Jo almost face-planted onto the floor as she scrambled off the broom. “Time to pack it in.”“Did you find anything?” Henry asked Tony as Jo dove into the lab, Fargo and Holly going after her.“Uh, yeah,” Tony’s lights clustered around them and kind of washed the group all in a light that made Tony look kind of pale. “Yeah, you could say that. How long will it take for you guys to get moving?”“Well, that’s kind of a problem,” Allison shook her head. “We found the source of the energy readings, but can’t turn it off because Zane’s locked out of it and we need SARAH to help.”“But we kind of need to leave now,” Tony checked his watch. “And please don’t turn it off.”“We have to,” Zane negated. “The security systems demand it and anything could happen if we don’t, starting with a virus uploaded to sensitive computer banks.”“Yeah, and ending with the mountain blowing sky high with us in it.”“Dude, that’s not funny.”“You have no idea how not funny that is,” Tony’s tone was serious as Jo came back out.“The computer tower can’t be shut down,” she grimly reported. “Bad things could happen if it isn’t.”“And one thing definitely will if it is,” he dislodged some lights that settled in his hair as he ran his fingers through it.“Hey!” Fargo snapped his fingers as he peered out from the door. “What’s going on?”Tony and Jo looked at each other.“I’m really not going to like the answer to this,” Zane groaned, “but what did you guys find?”“Enough explosives to do serious damage to the mountain’s infrastructure,” Jo sighed. “And that’s only the stuff we found. Who knows what every level has hiding that we don’t have time to find.”“What are you talking about?” Fargo frowned at her, not worried in the least. “Of course, we have time! Don’t worry, we’ll disconnect the timer like we always manage to do and then we’ll go back to the real problem.”“Not this time,” Jo told them as Holly appeared next to Fargo. “The timer and fuse can’t be disabled – because the timer had always been separate from the actual fuse.”“It’s not entirely proven,” Tony added, “but we think the checkpoints actually triggered the timer and we can’t stop it, because it’s on some kind of radio frequency that’s been pre-programmed.”“Everything’s already been triggered,” Jo nodded at him, “and I think it’s on an electrical trigger that’s already been activated. There’s any number of electrical detonators that could’ve been used and I think we found out where the transmitters were aimed at.”“Which would be the computer tower,” Tony nodded.Suddenly, Grace started to understand.“Wait,” she raised a hand. “You’re both saying that these – evidently – high powered explosives are connected to the computer tower, which is basically a transmitting station for the checkpoints?”“As far as we can tell,” Tony confirmed. “And from the sounds of it, we might need to find a way to keep those transmitters running.”“Then use the radio frequency you just told us about,” Holly shrugged. “We’ll tap into it and stop it before everything explodes.”“Aside from the fact that we don’t know what the frequency is actually there for,” Jo shot her down, “we can’t rule out the possibility that the frequency is booby trapped. We aren’t going to be able to stop this in time, not in this situation.”“But we always have!” Fargo pointed out. “And we’ll do it again.”“Is there any chance we can just leave the tower, then?” Zane threw his hands up.“Evidence, remember?” Allison sighed. “Especially now.”“We can get Agent to do something, then,” Fargo turned expectantly to the Wizard as the others did the same.“No,” he flat-out told them.“And why not?” Holly challenged. “Our lives are in danger, remember? And you told Carter that you would take care of us.”“Besides the legitimate possibility that (a) I accidently manage to kill a lot of people, (b) out Magic to the globe, (c) out Eureka to the globe, (d) get stripped of –”“Yes, yes, besides all that,” she waved dismissively at him.“I can’t,” he answered simply.“Just like that?” Fargo frowned. “Carter wouldn’t take that for an answer.”“Yeah, well, since he’s the actual reason I can’t, he gets no say,” Tony countered.“What do you mean he’s the reason?”“The protection runes,” Grace was hit with realization.They hadn’t gotten to that subject – partly because they had to finish the rest of it before thinking about something that complicated -, but Carter did say that runes were very useful in protecting areas and that he appeared to use them more than wards.What little they did know, however, came from practical experience with them and that wasn’t much.“Exactly,” Tony smiled wryly. “Carter’s preventing me from moving anything with magic. That means the explosives stay.”On some level, Grace knew that they probably needed to start panicking and running, but they’d gone through worse odds and lived to almost die another day.The others had gone through this longer than she had and they weren’t very worried – Allison herself having pulled a ‘Hail Mary’ a few times to save the day, even -, but Jo was still realistic and Tony was getting downright jittery. He, at least, was the new variable in their group, so he was understandably filled with adrenalin and baffled at their lack of… care, probably.“But we need the computer tower, we’re just not sure what might happen,” Allison glanced around at them.“We can’t shut it off because it’ll apparently blow us all sky high that much quicker,” Henry lifted a shoulder, “but we have to, because of the security measures. Those will automatically turn it off, anyway, and that’s something we need to avoid.”“It won’t stop the explosion if we keep it on,” Jo told him, “because it’s already on a timer we can’t do anything about. And even if DiNozzo could do something with it, it’s not gonna do a damn lick of good because it’s gonna be big enough to notice wherever it ends up. It’s some of that experimental crap that almost blew everybody up not too long ago.”“But we overrode that program,” Fargo recalled. “Wait, there weren’t any explosives involved,” he frowned.“There were, just not these experimental explosives,” she explained. “Those were regular electrical detonators hooked up to regular explosives.”“Really?” Tony frowned thoughtfully. “Curious.”“And when was this incident?” Henry looked like he was trying to remember something.“Carter hadn’t been turned into a cat, yet,” Jo remembered. “Couldn’t have been more than a week before that.”Harry thought about it for a long moment before realization hit and he visibly paled. “That’s, uh, I remember that,” he swallowed. “We need to get going. How long do we have?”“Not long enough to clear the blast radius, even at a dead run.”“So, what do we do?” Holly shrugged.“Wait just a second!” Fargo scowled at Tony, who was eyeing the windows speculatively. “What do you mean you can’t move anything with Magic? We saw you flying Jo!”“He meant ‘Apparating’, idiot,” Jo rolled her eyes. “Carter doesn’t fly, anyway, and he could always put a tracer spell on someone’s ass as they fly off.”Grace glanced at Tony, who eyed his broom thoughtfully before looking back out the windows with a calculating gaze. “I guess it’s up to you, Tony,” she told him bemusedly.“Well, we’re all dead, regardless,” Zane shrugged.“No one asked you, Donovan,” Fargo scowled. “Keep that to yourself.”“You believe us, now?” Jo raised a brow.“Not going to be as easy as I’d like,” Tony muttered to himself before speaking up. “How do you all feel about roller coasters?”“Oh,” Holly lit up. “I love roller coasters.”“I’m gonna regret asking this, I know it,” Zane eyed him warily, “but why do you want to know?”* **
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“When Carter told me about Magic,” Henry mused from the seat behind her, “I have to admit, I didn’t quite think of where that would lead me.”“I’m trying to keep from thinking of anything, right now,” Grace had her eyes closed, because if she kept them closed, then she didn’t have to think about where they were right now.“You were alright with flying earlier,” he pointed out.“Yeah, flying. Not hovering on a thin rail thousands of feet in the air,” she gulped, screwing her eyes shut tighter as her hands fisted on the interior handholds of the flying cars they’d used earlier. “At this point, I think I’ll take my chances with the explosives.”Was this what started to put Carter off of flying? A Magical incident from his childhood? She could certainly see how that would’ve done it.She was also never looking at heights the same way again.Distant noises from in front told her that Tony was giving it all he had to break the large window panels as she and Henry’s car stayed perched on their rail.Below them, Allison and Jo were probably watching him as Holly and Fargo sat in their own car below the girls. Zane was still trying to get into the computer tower as Tony kept trying to break the same windows Grace was cursing for being pretty much unbreakable transparent steel.Her Italian was rusty, but Tony seemed to be of a similar mind and – if she wasn’t mistaken – was currently hurling abuse about its parentage as he delivered blow after blow.Well, she thought that’s what he was saying, having no honest idea, but one could generally tell when someone was cursing in their mother language.His desperation was getting more and more obvious and that made her nervous in response.She absently slit an eye open and the sight of Tony unleashing another volley of power reminded her of a fly hitting a window in a bid for escape.She suddenly felt sorry for flies in a kindred spirit kind of way and would probably remember this the next time she found a fly in the house. “Henry?”“Hm?”“Think Taggart has some sort of fly trap to attract flies and keep them alive so we could release them somewhere out of town?”“We could ask.”“I’m not sure I’ll have the heart to kill any for the next month.”“You know, I had the same thought,” her husband admitted.“At least, we’re on the same page,” she smiled weakly.Thinking of flies made her wonder if flies knew about the hopeless attempts at escape and she had a sudden image of Tony as… maybe not quite a fly, but maybe a dog.One that had no idea that he’d walked – flew? – into a trap until it was too late.Too late to escape, backtrack, something.The question was: a trap for what? And what was coming, skulking in the shadows and gaining on the unsuspecting Tony?It made Grace want to keep him from it – strange as that sounded -, but would he know that she was an ally to him and not to the danger watching him?“Looks like he had an idea,” Henry broke into her thoughts and she turned her gaze to see the lights around Tony as he fiddled with something closer to the window glass.“I hope it works,” Henry went on. “We only have one shot at this and failure is not an option.”“He really takes his duty to Carter seriously, doesn’t he?” Grace remembered the layers of wordless charms they’d watched him use on both them and the car before they perched on the rail and were left to wait.He hummed, but Grace had a slight feeling that something was bothering him about that. She was too afraid of tipping them or she would’ve turned to look at him to ask about it.She watched Tony fly around close to the glass and she wasn’t sure how long he was at it before he sent a pair of lights to them. The other two cars also received a pair and Tony did some fancy flying before coming in for a landing to pick up Zane, disappearing from sight.“Hard to imagine Carter doing this,” Grace finally spoke after nothing else happened. “Not just flying, I mean, but Magic.”“This is truly the first real time that we’ve been aware of Magic saving our lives,” he agreed. “Jack wouldn’t be so overt. Not like the first time.”“And we understand why. Now. We’ll have to tell him that when we see him.”“I wonder if he’s changed back, yet,” Henry mused. “Tony said he would have by now.”“What do you think Tony would have to do if he isn’t changed back, yet?”“I guess we’ll see if he has to.”“How much longer are we going to have to wait?” Grace changed the subject after it came to a natural conclusion. “Why didn’t Tony and Jo tell us?”“I think it’s to keep us from jumping into things too soon,” he suggested. “Like Fargo and Holly.”“I guess so. Tony did do some fancy looking moves when he was putting those spells on us and when he was flying around. I wonder how much of that was needed and how much was just showing off.”“Or maybe he was trying to look as ridiculous as possible to make things seem a little less tense?”Grace appreciated the effort, but she was tense enough to startle violently with a shriek at the blare of an air horn.“What on earth was that?!” she whipped around in a vain attempt to locate the source.“Good Evening, Ladies and Gentlemen,” Tony’s voice boomed throughout the mountain a moment later. “Welcome to the Fire Ball, a fast-paced, high-speed explosion of a ride. I would like to remind all of you to keep your extremities, hands and feet inside the car at all times and to remain seated until the ride has come to a total and complete stop. We hope you enjoy the ride in three… two… one! Bon Voyage!”The rail below her shuddered violently enough that the car was slowly tipping forward and she barely registered the two cars ahead – below? – tipping at the same time as they started falling, a scream tearing from Grace’s throat as air rushed around them on the way down.Time both sped up and slowed down as they went sliding down in a seemingly controlled fall before the car slid onto some invisible rail and they were racing upward on a curve behind the other two cars, screams filling the air as they went. They twisted one way, then the other way, upside down, right side up and Grace thought she heard glass shattering before they were suddenly passing through where the windows used to be .Things started leveling out and Grace hoped her stomach settled as Tony was flying above them with Zane no doubt hanging on for dear life on the broom behind him. They all seemed to be headed for the first checkpoint and would either land there or gain altitude after that point, but now that the ride was over she just wanted solid unmoving ground.Tony raced on ahead with Zane and Grace concentrated on breathing – the air getting torn out of her in another scream as the world suddenly started spinning with a hard jolt.Her eyes slammed shut as they twisted and twirled and she wasn’t sure where ‘up’ was, anymore, and she was never ever, ever - ever ever - , riding a roller coaster again if she survived this.It was definitely a good thing they’d eaten some time before, because her stomach was turning so violently that she wasn’t sure she’d be keeping anything down.Eventually, just when she thought she couldn’t stand it a moment more, the ride came to a gentle, coasting stop.It took a few minutes more before Grace was convinced that the ride was well and truly over, feeling relatively confident enough to slit open an eye to see the clear night sky threating to swallow them up without a trace.“Well,” Henry spoke from behind her. “I think I’m put off roller coasters for a long time.”“Yeah,” she sagged back against her seat and swallowed a few more times. “Like forever.”The car – bless its enchanted soul – didn’t move as they sat there among the stars, getting themselves and their stomachs back in place.“What happened, anyway?” Grace frowned as she thought back. “We’d flown out of the windows and were headed for the first checkpoint and then… it… something happened.”“I think whatever it was flew us higher than I thought,” Henry looked around. “We’re definitely high up, aren’t we?”“I don’t see anyone else around,” she frowned, not feeling brave enough to even think about looking over the sides of the car lest her stomach decide to take the opening. She didn’t think Tony’s charms would let her, anyway, being unable to really move anywhere. “What do we do now?”“I’m not sure there’s anything we can actually do in this instance.”They hovered there for a long moment before Grace looked off to the right and spied another car gently moving toward them, two lights floating overhead and making her remember their own pair.“Henry,” she glanced over her shoulder with a frown. “Where’d the lights go?”“I was about to ask you the same thing. Looks like Holly and Fargo are coming this way.”It was, indeed, the both of them, looking rather ill and green.“The hell was that?” Fargo demanded to know as soon as they got close.“We’re not sure,” Grace shook her head. “Have you seen our lights? They disappeared.”“I think Agent DiNozzo called them over to him,” Holly explained. “We’d lost these two, ourselves. They came over and we started moving and then we found you guys. We’re not sure where the others ended up.”“Jo and DiNozzo could’ve at least warned us that was coming,” Fargo complained.“I’m not sure how it would made a difference,” Henry entered the conversation. “It would’ve happened regardless – whatever it was.”“It’s common courtesy,” he pointed out.Grace almost snorted at the irony of that – especially considering who it was coming from.“On the other hand, though,” Holly frowned thoughtfully, “didn’t one of them say that there was also some kind of experimental thing with the explosives? Maybe they didn’t know about that last part.”“Maybe,” Henry sounded doubtful. “I don’t remember hearing anything about a secondary shockwave.”“Maybe it’s because it’s experimental,” Holly pointed out. “It could’ve changed by then.”“It could have, but I sincerely doubt that.”Not too much longer, Holly discovered the last car gliding toward them with its own pair of lights. “That must be Allison and Jo,” she raised a hand. “Over here! Allison! Jo!”“Oh, thank god,” Allison’s voice drifted toward them and they saw the figure in the front seat wave at them frantically. “I can’t twist around fully enough. Jo doesn’t sound good and she’s stopped answering me!”Once they got closer, Grace could see the second figure bent over in her seat. “Jo? Are you feeling alright?”“She hasn’t jumped out or anything,” Fargo assured Allison, who seemed to relax a little at that.“Jo?” Grace tried again as the other car stopped in front of them. “Jo? What’s wrong?”“Besides us almost dying?” Fargo frowned at her. “Honestly, we could’ve stopped it if we had the chance to see the explosives.”“No,” Jo choked out, Grace realizing she’d buried her face in her hands. “No, you couldn’t have.”“Hello, it’s us,” Fargo waved her off with a ‘pfft’ noise. “We would’ve found a way.”“Damn it, Fargo,” Jo raised her head to reveal red-rimmed eyes and a face paled by the glow given off by their four lights. “We would’ve died regardless, don’t you see? We got out of the mountain, heading for the first checkpoint. That jolt at the end? That could’ve only been from a secondary explosion. I think we were flying, at least, over the bridge. Those new planks,” her eyes widened. “There must’ve been explosives hidden on the – oh my god,” she paled even further and bent back over.“Now, wait,” Henry was probably holding up a finger, but Grace couldn’t see him as she tried thinking back. “Jo, there is no reason to believe that there was any other location for those explosives. I mean, Carter could’ve done something, could that have been it? And it’s probably just some coincidence that there were new planks.”“Why would there be explosives, anyway?” Fargo frowned, as if just now - after all of this - realizing the anomaly.“I … don’t know,” Holly glanced around at them with her own frown. “There’s nothing I can think of to need explosives.”“I do,” Jo lowered her hands and glared at all of them. “Someone wanted our asses blown sky high! And they would’ve done it, too, if Magic hadn’t existed.”“Why would someone want to kill us?” Allison – like Grace – was struggling with the theory.How in the world did a trip to check on energy readings take such an explosive turn?And why?“You think I know that right now?” Jo threw her hands up. “I don’t know! I was just almost killed, okay? Can I at least deal with that, right this second?”“Have any of you seen Tony or Zane?” Allison questioned.“No,” Henry answered.“Us, either,” Holly agreed. “The last time I saw them was before the jolt.”“They were above us, weren’t they?”“I’m positive,” she confirmed. “I don’t know what happened to your lights, either.”Grace watched Jo scrub her face and heave a heavy sigh. She sincerely believed that this was a deliberate attempt on their lives, but why? Fargo couldn’t honestly be right with his typical paranoia about his being someone’s target, could he?Ever since he’d become Director – even slightly before -, it had been one almost hysterical theory after another and he’d be insufferable after this if it turned out he was right.“Who did you get this upset?” she had to ask him.“What – me? You mean it’s because of me?” he sputtered.“It’s really all just conjecture at this point,” Henry broke in. “We don’t really know anything –”“We know enough,” Jo snapped. “Regardless of Fargo’s paranoia –”“And when it happens to be true,” Fargo broke in, “it won’t be as funny!”“Whatever! We were this close to being ashes – ”“Stop!” Holly waved her hands around. “Alright? We don’t know if Douglas was any kind of target and Jo needs to calm down.”“I need to calm down? Paranoid Director Nitwit over there doesn’t understand how shock works, so I can’t –”“How can you be in shock?” Fargo wanted to know. “You were in the military.”“Yeah, and in the Rangers, wasn’t it?” Holly added.“Shock doesn’t give a damn,” Jo scowled.“There’s our lights, Grace,” Henry managed to tap her left shoulder and she turned her head to see the missing lights slowly ambling toward them.“We started moving after ours came back,” Holly watched, too.“Think they know where Tony and Zane are?” Allison frowned.Grace was sure she wasn’t the only one who followed the lights with their eyes as the other four started to fall in line with the pair and her stomach lurched when the cars slowly followed.“I don’t know if I like flying, anymore,” Holly admitted.“Still like roller coasters?” Henry asked, Grace afraid to open her mouth as her stomach turned.“Yeah. At least those stop and I can get off at the end.”“If Carter had an experience like this in his past,” Allison mused, “it’s no wonder he doesn’t like heights now.”They floated gently into the night and saw a cloud of lights before seeing their missing friends.While Tony watched them approach with an unreadable expression, Zane didn’t seem to notice as he was preoccupied with something below.“Everyone still alive?” Tony drily wanted to know as the lights surrounded them.“Barely,” Fargo crossed his arms with narrowed eyes. “Some warning would’ve been nice.”“DiNozzo,” Jo shook her head. “We assumed only the mountain had explosives.”“Yes, we did,” he nodded. “But we just saw a small fraction and didn’t look much further than that. It just didn’t really occur to me that it would go much further than that. I think it’s safe to say that I found out what that ‘snick’ was that I heard at each checkpoint.”“They were probably meant to go off all at the same time,” Jo grimly added.“You can’t honestly believe that,” Fargo frowned at him. “I mean, no one could honestly want me dead that much, right?”“Fargo,” Tony huffed a sigh, “I believe that no one wanted you dead, specifically.”“Yeah? H-how do you figure that no one specifically wanted to blow our asses up?”“If that’s what really happened,” Allison decided to be the voice of reason as she pressed a temple. “We don’t know why there were explosives in the first place.”“Again, to blow our asses up,” Fargo reiterated.“It wouldn’t have mattered if we were here or not,” Tony interrupted. “But realize for a second who out of our group would have gotten past the checkpoints without breaking into them.”“Me,” Fargo paled in realization.“No,” Henry slowly corrected. “Not you.. but… he’s… he’s not here…”“Very good, Mayor,” Tony nodded. “You’re on it.”“Oh my god,” Allison’s tone held such horror that Grace looked over in alarm to see her friend paling. “It’s not us they wanted to blow up – it’s Carter! He’s the only one who should’ve been able to get in out of everyone in Eureka.”“And the computer glitch that Ethan told us about ensured it,” Henry’s tone was just as horrified.But – but wait.From what Grace had been understanding about all of this, Carter had been the only one able to access the mountain for months so this wasn’t a recent development.This couldn’t be recent, right?The animal repellant cones were at least a week old, so that’s …It was only probably a week for – for all this… right?For some reason, it was getting hard to think.“Why would anyone want to blow Carter’s ass up?” Fargo was saying. “I’m a much juicier target.”“Fargo,” Jo growled, “now’s not the time to debate who’s the better target!”Grace finally zeroed in on Zane as the young genius seemed to cling to Tony’s middle, his face seemingly buried in his shoulder and their presence not gaining his attention in the slightest. “Is Zane okay?”“Yeah, physically,” Tony shook his head. “Other than that, it’s going to take at least a good night’s sleep. He’s in shock right now.”“How can he be in shock?” Fargo scoffed. “What is there to be in shock about?”Instead of voicing an answer, Tony raised a hand and created a fist in front of him. He moved his fist in a horizontal – orbital? – circle and Grace felt her stomach drop as the car’s nose tilted forward before the entire car turned around.The night before them was no longer dark, the entire horizon lit with an orange glow as flames shot into the sky.They’d probably ended up too high and far away to really notice anything – and Grace had had no intention of looking down after that extreme roller coaster ride so she couldn’t be absolutely sure that she could’ve seen it earlier.The explosives had sparked a fire that started consuming everything in sight.From their viewpoint, they could see a completely unrecognizable landscape that just a few hours ago was a relatively rolling landscape with trees and a trail and mountains.Now, it was fire and destruction and what looked disturbingly like a crater in the very center of the raging inferno. Smoke was barely visible as it rose into the dark sky and there wasn’t a hint of breeze to clear the smoke to see what else the explosives had done.Grace’s brown eyes stared, thoughts not at all responding to her, and it took a long moment to recognize the trail snaking below them. This part of the trail was part of what they walked after landing in the cars and hoofing it from there.It was amazing, the distance one traveled when unaware of it.Being above the walking trail brought into view just what kind of distance a person was capable of traveling – even in the space of a weekend.From that point, the first checkpoint would’ve come up at least in another hour, but the first checkpoint was engulfed in fire and honestly didn’t look like a checkpoint from here.Then again, what did after a fire’s ravage?She was unable to see the other two checkpoints because there wasn’t only smoke obscuring the view, but there was also the drastically changed landscape to contend with.It looked more devastated than Grace had expected – though she’d only seen pictures of an inferno’s aftermath. For some reason, though, something just wasn’t quite adding up.And if she didn’t know any better, she would’ve said that it looked like a meteorite had more or less slammed into the area.It kind of looked like it, actually, right down to the crater-like hole.But the fires should leave a landscape that looked like an avalanche hit, right?‘No, they shouldn’t,’ a very small voice inside her shakily confirmed. 'A bomb, maybe, but not an avalanche.’An avalanche triggering bomb?That would take a lot of energy.No one would be able to outrun the blast or resulting avalanche – well, not without Magic, anyway.Why, if Tony hadn’t been there, Grace and the others probably wouldn’t still be breathing right now.If Carter hadn’t been involved in an explosion that turned him into a cat, then they probably wouldn’t have had a reason to really suspect anything.If Tony hadn’t been so open – had been more like Carter and more reclusive and closed off – about his Magic, then they probably would’ve have basically peer-pressured Tony into this trip.If Carter hadn’t had Magic, then Tony would have come and…Grace kept staring at the crater-like hole.Why did she keep staring at it? She wasn’t able to look away and there was something… something niggling at the back of her mind.About the crater.Hole.It just, for some reason, wasn’t coming to her the way it normally would.This probably should concern her more than it was now, but she just couldn’t think of tearing her attention from the sight before her.The longer she stared, the stronger that niggling became and she still couldn’t quite figure out why it bothered her so much.She was so preoccupied with it that she forgot the others were with her, Henry’s hand tight on her arm despite her lack of response. Allison could’ve said something, but Grace couldn’t recall having heard her.Tony and Zane and Holly and Jo were completely silent, though.But Fargo… Fargo still seemed to have some kind of presence of mind that allowed him to speak, making Grace jump slightly.“Um,” he started, but didn’t follow up on that.Grace could hear the fire sounds from their distance and barely heard Fargo’s, “Uh,” especially when he let that one go, too.She couldn’t tear her gaze from the devastation as that niggling got stronger the more she stared.Finally, Fargo spoke uncertainly again, “Hey, guys?”It was at that moment that Grace suddenly realized –“Where’s the mountain?”*Grace never registered the car taking her away from the fiery destruction, the passage of time or the landing.She would never be able to remember anything after that – none of them would.Her thoughts had stopped and her mind was shut down and there was a gentle hand coaxing her up on unsteady legs. There was also a soothing voice giving her praise and instructions that she was so very grateful for.She was deposited on a soft nest and left alone, but she wasn’t quite alone as another hand found hers and squeezed almost desperately. Her hand squeezed back just as hard as the voice returned with someone else who dropped down next to her.She wasn’t sure how many times the voice came and went, but the voice eventually stayed as it moved slightly farther away. She couldn’t concentrate, but the voice didn’t seem to want her to.After what seemed like hours, something warm was put into her free hand and it didn’t take much to have a sip when the rim touched her mouth. It felt good when a tingling warmth spread through her and she sunk into it, letting the world around her dissolve into darkness.* **
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
His arm was heavy.He frowned and absently tried to move it, but to no avail.Awareness slowly began to trickle in and Zane pried an eye open to see the pillow his face was buried in.Turning slightly to inspect his arm, short brown hair didn’t give him much more information.He was on his stomach, but he couldn’t remember off-hand how he’d gotten there.Hadn’t he just been flying on a broomstick?Where was he?Turning his head to the other side had him blinking blankly before he recognized their yellow tent’s inside.No matter how hard he tried to think, however, he couldn’t remember walking through the tent entrance.What happened?Turning back to the weight on his arm, further study of the short brown hair didn’t reveal much until Zane managed to lever himself up to see Allison as the culprit.The rest of their friends were beyond her.Allison was on Zane’s arm, her back to him as her hands clutched one of Grace’s. One of Henry’s arms was wrapped around Grace and the other had been taken over as a pillow for Fargo as he was connected to Jo, Holly sprawled over the other woman.Zane stared as he leaned on his elbow, no memory coming forth to explain all of this, and eventually rolled onto his back with a quiet groan as he failed to remember.“Finally awake, huh?” Zane’s head popped back up to see Tony sprawled on a two seat sofa in front of them, a cup in hand and the rumpled appearance leading the question:“How long have you been watching us sleep?”“It was around five o’clock the last I checked,” he shrugged. He didn’t look much like he’d slept, tired green eyes giving him away.Zane nodded slightly and relaxed back into the pillows he was on. There was a blanket thrown over both him and Allison and some study of the blanket gave him the realization that it was a very large blanket that was wrapped around the both of them like a burrito, leaving enough room to keep them comfortably distant from each other.And yet, Zane had woken up with Allison on his arm and that distance gone. Maybe it hadn’t been there to begin with when they’d gone to sleep.Everyone was clustered together, touching in some way, and not spread out around the room.They were all probably sharing their own burrito blankets.Returning his attention to his own blanket-mate, Zane watched Allison’s back as she breathed.As far as platonic bed partners went, he supposed she wasn’t bad.She didn’t hog the blankets to herself or unnecessarily crowd him, but this was only the first – possibly the last – time he and Allison would be in the same sleeping space. If Zane had to choose, though, he would pick Jo, who would stay over every once in a while and sleep on the floor half the time.He’d lost count of the times he’d found a knife brandished at him and, not for the first time, wondered what Other Timeline Zane had had to go through with her.Of course, then, he’d find a weight on his back and a knife at his throat and three months with Jo avoiding being alone with him or meeting his gaze and wouldn’t have to wonder very hard.Still, for some reason, he felt safe with Jo despite the occasional threat to his life and he had the sudden urge to see Jo sleeping nearby, maybe get close enough without actually touching her.Movement over Allison and Grace’s shoulders drew his thoughts back as Henry began waking up.“There’s coffee if you’re ready,” Tony spoke.“I could use some, yeah,” Zane nodded.It took him an oddly long time to feel confident enough to stand and slowly make his way to the table where hot coffee awaited them in steaming cups with cream and sugar in the center of the table. The cream was in a small handled cup that was cool to the touch and he dripped some into a free cup with a spoon resting on a folded napkin next to it.Caffeine was soaking into his blood when Henry dropped into the seat next to him with a heavy sigh. “Morning,” he offered.“Good Morning,” Henry quirked a smile and took his own cup.They sat and sipped for silent moments. From Zane’s seat, he could hear rustling as more of the others started moving around and Holly stumbled up to them a few moments later.She said something about chickens and dumped sugar into her coffee as Fargo made his way toward them.Shortly after, Grace and Allison quietly appeared to claim free cups and Zane was fairly up and aware by the time Jo and Tony joined them.“Everyone feeling okay?” the Magical studied them all with a critical eye.“It’s taking a little longer for me to wake up,” Henry dutifully reported.“Me, too,” Zane agreed.“Yeah, sorry about that,” Tony nodded. “It’s a pretty powerful sleeping draught – even with just a couple drops.”“You drugged us?” Fargo frowned at him suspiciously.“I felt that it was the right action to take. You were all pretty shaken up.”Zane tilted his head as he thought back, snatches of memory trickling through the thinning fog. “The lab space,” he frowned. “Explosives?”“A whole hell of a lot,” Tony confirmed. “More than Lupo or myself had anticipated and it was enough to not only spark a wildfire, but also pretty much level the area from the core of the mountain to the first checkpoint. It’s all gone.”Oh, that’s right.Now that Zane had time from the event, he was detached enough to think about it.After following the three cars out the windows of the mountain, Zane had been enjoying the ride as Tony had begun flying ahead and he’d thought it was another catastrophe averted.Well, not entirely, of course, but they had the computer tower and the burning discovery made him itch to get started on it. Zane had figured Eureka could rebuild anything that was destroyed, but then the both of them were almost tossed out of the sky on the second shockwave and Zane had felt actual fear that this was it.He probably did more harm than good, clinging to Tony like that, but the Italian hadn’t given any indication of added difficulty as he fought to control the broom without dropping either one of them.He’d panicked and probably at least cracked one of the poor guy’s ribs in his panic, but they’d eventually levelled out and he was able to breathe.Until he got his bearings and saw first-hand the devastation they’d just narrowly avoided being part of.“Hey!” Tony’s voice helped stuff the rising panic back down. “Eyes on me.”Zane obediently locked his gaze on green and didn’t realize the others doing the same.“Alright. So, the mountain’s… incapacitated and we’re all alive. Now that we’ve established that we’re all alive, we have a series of next actions.”“I’ll say we do!” Fargo suddenly yelped. “There’s a wildfire approaching the tent and we’re just sitting here!”“And we need to get back to town!” Holly hurriedly stood. “Oh, someone’s bound to have noticed what happened and we’re not even supposed to be here!”“Yeah, about that…” Tony winced, but Zane suddenly didn’t want to be near the place he could have –“Where’s the fire?” Jo almost fell from her stool. “How fast is it?”“How long have we been asleep?” Allison suddenly questioned as Zane and Jo raced for the tent flap to pinpoint the fire’s location and he barely missed slamming into Jo as she stopped suddenly at the entrance.“The hell?”“What!” Zane barely heard Fargo demand as Zane stared out over Jo’s head at –Carter’s living room.He remembered the last time Tony’s yellow tent was in the bunker and Zane realized that they were back in the same spot.“Hey,” Holly spoke from his shoulder as the others followed. “How did we end up back in the Smart House?”Carter wandered into view with a stuffed green mouse in his mouth and practically lit up at the sight of them, immediately running over with a joyful noise as Zane stepped out of the tent.“We’re okay, Carter,” Jo told the cat as he started rubbing against her legs.“Tony, you did something,” Henry spoke, his tone filled with certainty as the rest of them turned to the Wizard with wonder.“Yup,” he watched their reactions somewhat sheepishly and shrugged. “Magic.”“… and one day, I will stop walking into that,” Henry laughed almost disbelievingly.“You really can do anything with Magic, can’t you?” Fargo said wonderingly.“Within reason, but basically and theoretically. Um, anyway, I picked up the cars on the way out and not a moment too soon,” he grimaced. “The cavalry was on their way by the time we got in. No one’s going to connect anything with us, but brush up on your acting skills. Oh, as you can see, Carter hasn’t changed back yet and I’m probably going to have to contact Seattle for more ideas. I would like to watch the video footage if you can get that, Zane. I don’t know what I’m doing, but maybe there’s something on the footage that will get me in the right direction.”“Yeah, I’ll need to check on that after I hook up the tower,” he nodded.“I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” Holly told Tony. “It could be something that dissolves on its own.”“But I can’t actually be on leave indefinitely,” he argued.“Something we most definitely are aware of,” Allison absently scratched Carter’s ears as she looked up at Tony. “If it comes out that this will take care of itself, then you are more than welcome to suggest the help of someone else. Maybe you can come back to visit when all is said and done.”“Yeah, maybe. Look, besides Carter, there’s also Hern that I’m concerned about. I told all of you that I don’t believe his accidents were accidental and I’m seriously wondering about Carter, here, after last night.”“SARAH?” Allison glanced up at the ceiling.“Good morning, Dr. Blake,” it answered.“Good morning,” she smiled slightly. “I was wondering if anything’s happened to Dr. Hern since the incident at the Spa.”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“Where is he now?”
“I’m not sure. As you know, I’m not actually hooked up to the Global network, so I’m unable to monitor employees coming and going. I can, however, ask Deputy Andy.”
“I’ll meet up with him in town, actually,” Tony piped up. “Before we left, I asked him to check on Hern every hour to be absolutely sure and I think there’s a spreadsheet involved, now.”“So, you basically convinced yourself that Hern was a target long before you ever said anything to us,” Zane crossed his arms.“Not entirely convinced, no. A hunch, mostly.”“That reminds me,” Fargo straightened slightly. “I have to get to my office. There’s something I looked into about that and emailed myself.”“And if Tony’s right about Hern,” Henry frowned, “then we need to look into the carbon leak.”“And that maintenance crew,” Jo scowled, dark eyes glittering with purpose. “Fargo, I want the personnel files. I still can’t think of where I’d seen that wrapper, but I’ll probably figure that out if I’ve got pictures in front of me.”“Where did you put that computer tower?” Zane asked Tony. “I’ll get it hooked up now and see if SARAH can help break into it.”“I would be delighted to assist, Zane,” the AI agreed.“I was counting on that.”“My bag’s by the stairs,” Tony told him. “Let’s at least eat something before we head off in other directions. I’ll whip something up in no time.”“Good idea,” Grace nodded, “and we’ll check the perimeter sensors while we wait. I remember you said something about someone hanging around the fence. And Zane got a notice from SARAH, but he said he hasn’t had luck with the feeds closer to here. Maybe we can see if there’s a camera out that way.”Zane had half an ear on them as he moved to get the bag, Carter following after him in that curious way cats had. Tony was telling them about having checked on his own sensors as Zane sat on the stairs with the bag, Carter next to him.“Did you find anything?” Allison was asking.“Yeah. Whoever’s been running around here has been back at least eight times since we’ve been gone. Well, someone has. No way to know if it’s the same person.”Zane finally managed to dig out the computer tower and set it on the floor in front of him with a shake of his head. “Magic,” he told Carter. “Unbelievable. Well, you already know that, but it’s nuts. This tower has to be at least three pounds, but the bag doesn’t feel any heavier than a regular half empty backpack. And I can’t even see the bottom of this thing,” he peered inside with a frown. He glanced at the watching feline, “It’s alright if I stick my hand in, right?”Carter bobbed his head and moved closer as Zane carefully reached in and felt around to see if he could reach the bottom.Instead, his fingers found a smooth surface and a box corner.“Hey, Tony? I don’t know if you know this, but there’s a box in here, too,” he called to the Wizard as the older man was floating cups to the bunker kitchen.“Oh, yeah. Take that out, would you? I was going to have you guys take a look at it.”It took a moment, but Zane finally extracted the box from the bag – and, boy, was that probably an odd sight to see as his arms disappeared into the depths – and pulled it out.Once he got a good look at it, he froze.“Where did you get this?” he was suddenly in the kitchen with the five pound box in hand.“Found it in one of the rooms with explosives. Why?” Tony glanced at it as he whipped up scrambled eggs. Hash browns were already in the oven as bacon fried.“You found that?” Jo was suddenly at Zane’s elbow. “In the mountain?”“And I see I was right to take it,” the Italian quipped as the box got everyone else’s attention.“That’s a shipment box for Global Dynamics,” Holly confirmed, looking around at them.“What’s in it?” Allison demanded to know.“I have a suspicion,” Henry found a knife and slit the box open when Zane put it on the kitchen island.Inside, the flaps pulled away, were rows of familiar little black caps.“I wondered what happened to the right shipment,” Henry nodded and took one. “These are the caps that should’ve been in Inventory.”“Someone switched them and tried blowing us up along with it?” Fargo frowned. “Why?”“To get rid of evidence,” Tony grimly stated. “Especially that close to explosives. The mountain imploding like that would’ve crushed anything that didn’t burn. Hey,” he blinked as he got a good look at the one in Henry’s hand. “That’s the one I found at Global. Those black things I saw in the cordoned off labs.”“So, Risky did have the right caps,” Henry sighed, handing it to him. “I wondered what happened to the ones she put there. They were used to create the carbon leak by propping something open, perhaps.”“And no one would’ve asked questions if those were tossed into a burner,” Allison added, that part of the puzzle now slipping into place. “All someone would have had to do was say they were contaminated. Damn it.”“it’s a good thing you snuck in there, then,” Grace told Tony. “We wouldn’t have had eyewitness testimony otherwise.”“Maybe the caps are still there somewhere,” Holly suggested. “I mean, it could be that someone – whoever took the caps – stashed them somewhere in the labs themselves to be discarded later when it wouldn’t be suspicious.”“Then that’ll be something you can look into,” Allison told her. “The area should be safe by now.”“Direct your attention to the ventilation,” Tony added. “With what’s been going on so far, someone should check that maintenance work.”“Think it’s by the same crew that almost took us out?” Jo glanced over sharply.“Maybe. We need to go over those maintenance personnel files. Cross-reference them with the ones scheduled with the ventilation work.”“Done,” she nodded. “I’ll check them at Global.”“And, Marten, check Hern’s lab. That one’s got double ventilation access.”“Really?” Fargo blinked. “Just like some of the labs we found at the secret complex?”“Yup. Same places, too.”Zane frowned at that. “Double ventilation access?”“Hold on,” Fargo tilted his head. “I think … I think I approved that at least a couple months ago. Maybe? It was emailed…”“Is that unusual?” Tony questioned.“Not with email,” Allison shook her head. “I mean, it is usual, but the scientist would at least check in with Fargo about available labs.”“It all checked out, though,” Fargo pointed out. “I’m not sure a lot of people knew that particular lab had a double pipe. I’m not even sure Hern really knew about that.”“But he requested it, anyway,” Holly shrugged. “Honestly, I’m not sure it would’ve mattered to him one way or another. He just wanted a lab.”“But I think there’s a record of all the double ventilation access labs,” Fargo scrunched his brows together in thought. “I’ll have to check.”“Fargo, Holly and Jo will have to go to Global, then,” Allison looked around at them. “Holly, you and Taggart will need to check the labs and ventilation in that part. Zane, you’ll have to try getting into the computer tower we brought back with SARAH helping. I’ll drive Tony into town so he can check up with Andy, Fargo will be forwarding files to Jo while Grace and Henry…”“Will go with you,” Henry suggested. “To make the out-of-town stories stick.”“Pretend we met in town or something,” Grace nodded.“To keep our cover,” Tony smiled slightly in approval. “Alright, we all know our tasks, then. Let’s have breakfast and take off, huh?”Zane hooked the tower up to the bunker before grabbing a plate for himself and joining the rest of them back in the tent.“You all know we don’t have to eat in here, right?” Tony asked as they retook their seats and started eating.“We know,” Jo said shortly, “but we were kind of cheated out of the last few meals in here.”Zane and the others nodded and Tony kept quiet after that.Eventually, Zane was left with the tower, the bunker, the now feline Carter and the racing of his own thoughts.It took at least a hard hour before SARAH could even get a sense of what was contained inside the stubborn thing.“I’m not entirely certain of this, Zane,” it spoke, “but I’m detecting at least three separate video files.”“But no viruses?”
“Not as of yet, but it will take more time.”
“Yeah,” he frowned at his tablet and set it down to rub his face. “I know.”He needed to remember patience, but that just wasn’t something he did.Although, now that he thought about it, he needed to check on the camera footage from above the destroyed experiment and that was still stuck in his own office at Global.Heaving a heavy sigh, he rubbed at his temples and couldn’t resist the smile as Carter rubbed against his ankles. “I’m good,” he reached down to scratch offered ears. “I’m going to have to see if Allison, Henry or Grace feel like a trip to Global.”He ended up calling Henry, who agreed to drive him in.“But it’s going to be another hour,” he warned. “I have to drop by the Garage before I get back to the bunker.”“I’ll be waiting outside,” he assured.They hung up and Zane scratched his head as he addressed the ceiling.“Until Henry gets here, I’m going to leave the tower hooked up to see what shakes loose. And I think I have a program to send you from Global. I’ll leave the instructions in there, too.”“I will follow every instruction to the letter,” the AI assured.“I’m counting on it.”* **Allison shook her head in disbelief as she and Tony approached town, Henry and the others following in the cars they had ‘left town’ in a couple days ago.“Unbelievable,” she voiced with a slight laugh. “You moved an entire tent and two cars all without waking us up?”“Well, you were drugged, too, so…”“I know we wouldn’t have noticed, anyway, but I woke up at the bunker, and not back on the trail, still in the tent with nothing out of place! It’s – it’s incredible.”“And is that… bad?” he ventured.“What? No, of course not! It’s just…” she reached for words. “You and Carter… all you really have to do is think about it and do it. No meetings, no budget, no red tape. I mean, for the rest of us, there are just so many things to get through just to start setting things up for an experiment and the two of you just cut through all of that. And I will be honest: I’m torn between jealousy and relief because you can do Magic on the spot and I’m sure that it succeeds where Science fails, which works in our favor when things go wrong.“I mean, I know why Science is so restricted and scrutinized, but I would adore having just a little bit of the freedom that you have while not necessarily having Magic myself. And from what little about Magic I already know, there is actually a Science to it – just like there’s a magic to Science. Science is something I know well, which is why I understand that Carter is reluctant to show us because it’s alike in so many ways and he thinks we can’t handle that. Science can be just as terrifying as Magic and I think I’m truly beginning to understand what it felt like for him at the beginning of his time here. Science is our world the way Magic is the both of yours and it’s all incredible. More than incredible.”She knew she was probably rambling, but there was an understanding that was swamping her that she needed to at least begin to explain. She would probably find words later, but Magic was just a kind of Science that had transcended every possible belief imaginable and she was torn between Magic being impossible from an academic standpoint and seriously wondering if Magic was something that Science had the potential to become in a few centuries. Maybe sooner.A completely organic kind of science that you couldn’t choose even if you wanted to and suddenly Carter’s magic block became a horrifying prospect.“My god, you said you’d been under a block, too?” she felt ill. “I can’t imagine how terrifying that must have been for you. I’ve had nightmares about not being able to be in Science or Medical, but it was all real for you and Carter’s going through the same thing, right now.”“Not quite the same thing,” Tony hastily reassured as Allison parked and turned the car off. “In my case, the block was well-defined and absolute and it took me a lot longer to break it. Plus, I was fortunate enough to get to a Magical place for the duration of it. In Carter’s case, I’m running another diagnostic spell because he has to have been able to break it by now and I can’t understand why he hasn’t. Because he’s Unregistered and acclimatized to Muggle life – even in Eureka -, I would’ve thought him not changing on a fairly regular basis was a factor, but he’s assured me otherwise. I kind of have to leave soon, but I don’t want to just leave him like this. I’m not even sure if I can,” he frowned. “There’s just something about this whole thing that I feel like I’m missing. Something I’m just not seeing.”Sounded like a scientist trying to figure out why the equipment wasn’t working the way everything said it would.Allison knew how frustrating that was, wracking her brain to try to understand what she missed. And it was even more frustrating when it was always the smallest, most obvious variable that ended up getting overlooked.She took her seatbelt off and found Ethan racing down the sidewalk toward them as she got out.“Dr. Blake!” he almost slammed into her side of the car as Henry pulled in on the other side. “Oh, thank goodness, you’re alright!” the unexpected hug was tight with relief and she barely started to hug back before Ethan remembered who she was and took a hasty step back. “Mayor Deacon!” he spied Henry as he, Grace and Holly got out of the car. Fargo had gone ahead with Jo to find Taggart and head for his own office.“Ethan,” Henry rounded Allison’s car to join the conversation."Oh, thank god, you're all okay and alive!" Ethan looked near tears as he beamed at them all. “I was so certain that I was going to have to face Carter and tell him what happened to you, because I couldn’t reach you and Dr. Taggart couldn’t reach you and we spent all night working on what to tell him.”“You know about the explosion, then,” Tony nodded to himself.“Not right away. I was here in town when Reynolds got an alert on his pager that his and Hern’s project had stopped working. I didn’t think anything of it until two or three hours later when reports started streaming in about an explosion out at End Goal and, I’m telling you, my heart stopped. There are teams still out there combating the fire, but the devastation…” he shook his head. “What happened out there? How far did you get?”“We’re still running an investigation,” Tony answered. “Rest assured, however, that we are looking into those very questions.”“Oh, we – uh, we got pretty far,” Holly told Ethan. “Barely missed all of it. What?” Tony slowly turned to look at her. “It’s not a secret to him that we were out there.”“I guess I can’t ask you if you know what sparked everything,” Ethan sheepishly scratched the back of his head.“Probably not,” Tony answered glibly. “It’s not a good time to deal with PTSD. We were just here to touch base in case anyone was wondering.”“Well, you guys better get to Global,” Ethan told them. “Reynolds will be wanting to reach you guys and I think Hern might be there, too.”“I have to track Andy down,” Tony shook his head.“You’ll probably be waiting a little longer. I just saw him off on a call and I think he’s got a couple more.”“I’ll see if he left anything at the office, then.”“I guess I’ll ride with you, Allison,” Grace told her. “There’s probably a few things with my department that I should get on with.”“Fargo should be there, now,” Alison sighed. “Henry, you were going to stay here, right? Holly, you’ll come with us, too. Tony, we’ll see you shortly.”“I should get back to the café,” Ethan frowned down the street in a slightly fond exasperation. “Some of the others get jumpy when I disappear.”“Right,” Henry sighed. “I’ll see the rest of you later, then.”Allison, Holly and Grace got back in Allison’s car and left the boys to go their separate ways.Upon arriving at Global Dynamics, Grace made off for her department as Allison went with Holly to go back to the labs involved in the carbon leak.Taggart was already there with a face mask around his neck. “Good to see all of you out of that situation,” he told them once they met him outside Hern’s lab.“Trust me, Taggart,” Allison shook her head. “No one is more glad than we are. Did you, Risky or Trix find anything?”“Negative, but the girls are still down there to be certain. Haven’t caught all the rodents, after all,” he winked. “No one’s come along for caps,” he added. “Nothing off about that, you understand. Weekend and all. Besides, these labs shut down. And we’ve had a few of the remote cameras keeping their eyes just as concentrated.”“Did you bring what I asked?” Holly didn’t wait for an answer before taking the offered case and starting to set their robot up.They’d had to scrap ‘Operation Black Light’ once they found the shipment of correct caps in Tony’s bag.“Aye. It should all be in there,” he confirmed. “So, how will this work out, then?”“Let’s get this grate off,” Allison pointed to the more obvious grate on the wall.“The second one is behind that small dresser,” Holly glanced to the side of the room with said piece of furniture. “Looks like it’s hidden, too, but I’m sure someone would’ve found it eventually.”Allison and Taggart managed to get the grate off as Holly finished her set-up. The small animal-like robot was set on the edge and Holly brought up the camera feed as she sent it down the pipe.“I don’t see anything,” Allison said after tense minutes, watching over Holly’s shoulder.“Yeah, I’m moving it to the repaired area, now.”Taggart watched from over the redhead’s other shoulder as the small bot made its way around the corner. “I’m not certain we’ll find anything,” he commented.The bot arrived at where the maintenance crew had recorded the repairs, but there was nothing to be found – suspicious or otherwise.“Was there anything done at all?” Allison crossed her arms.“Well, it wouldn’t surprise me if somebody lied,” Holly huffed a sigh as the camera panned around. “All that would need to happen is the same crew coming to ‘fix’ things and no would be the wiser. And no one would have thought to check anything out.”“And the investigating team,” Allison realized. “They may have had something to do with the clean-up.”“But what would they have done with the evidence?” Taggart questioned. “Couldn’t be far with it, can they?”“I don’t see what they would’ve done with it,” Holly frowned at the empty screen. “Pull back?”“Do it,” Allison agreed, not sure what else to do. She turned away to pace when Holly made a noise that caught her attention. “What?”“I can’t get it back out the way it got in,” she frowned, hands fluttering over the controls.“Looks there like it’s being prevented from coming back,” Taggart pointed out, Allison coming back to confirm what they were saying.It did, in fact, look as if the bot was hitting some kind of barrier, but it shouldn’t have had any trouble coming back.“Maybe there really was some legitimate maintenance and someone used that to their nefarious advantage,” Taggart supposed.“But there shouldn’t still be a barrier up,” Allison narrowed her eyes. “See if you can get it to the second access point and we’ll retrieve it from there.”“Alright,” Holly agreed and they watched the bot turn back around to continue forward.It moved along at a steady pace as they watched the camera and it eventually turned into a long corridor that ended in a curve. An opening to the side led back to Hern’s lab and Holly directed the bot toward that branching opening. It approached and something toward the curve immediately caught Allison’s eye.“What’s that?” Taggart saw the same thing, Holly immediately commanding the bot to continue forward.It got closer to the object in question and recognition hit Allison like a punch to the stomach.“That’s an air filter,” Holly’s eyes were wide when Allison glanced at her. “The ones designed to keep target chemicals out.”“Or in,” Allison felt sick.While Global had state-of-the-art containment units, there were cases – and experiments – that required some sort of air filtration to keep a certain chemical or other gaseous matter from interfering with other delicate equipment or experiments.It was a larger version of the smaller filter designed for asthmatic personnel like Henry and was more easily customizable.“This explains how it was only a few labs instead of everyone in the building,” Taggart was serious as he caught Allison’s eye, the same thought running through their minds.“Hern was the target,” Holly looked at Allison with a similar look on her own face. “Agent DiNozzo was right.”“We need to find Hern,” Allison had her phone out, finger ready to call Jo, when a call came in from Henry. “Is everything alright?” she all but barked.
“I’m with Zane and we’re on our way to Global, but he hasn’t found anything, yet.”
Holly’s text alert went off and she presented to Allison so that she could read the message from Fargo requesting a meeting in his office.“Alright. Fargo wants us in his office. We’re going to finish up here and find Grace. Then we’ll all meet you there.”“And Jo?” Zane questioned.Allison rejected it, “No. I need her to focus on those files and the ones responsible for this. We just found hard evidence that someone falsified the investigation report, including the maintenance that had been done in this area.”
“Got it. We’ll see you guys in Fargo’s office.”
Allison hung up and turned to see Holly and Taggart’s eyes widen at something on the screen. “What?” she demanded to know, immediately moving back over Holly’s shoulder.The bot’s lights were on as it faced the back of the dresser from the vent behind it.The five missing caps were unmistakable as they laid directly in the beams.* **Tony fought back a frustrated growl as he looked over Andy’s ‘spreadsheet’, not seeing anything that could explain any of this.Strutger was dead, Risky had been injured, Carter was a cat, Hern had almost died several times and - to top it all off – last night almost ended it for him and the Muggles he’d been sent to help.The Muggles that Wizard-shy Muggleborn Carter had readily trusted him – him – with had almost died on his watch and Tony wanted the ones responsible.Unfortunately, Andy’s information didn’t help as much as Tony wanted it to.Hern had been in the company of friends or at a secondary kind of lab shared with a few others and there hadn’t been another attempt on his life that Tony could see.There hadn’t been anything else to go on since they’d left and Tony couldn’t help the prickling of unease that gave him.“I’m missing something,” he tugged at his hair. “Hell if I know what it is, but I’m missing something.”It was right on the tip of his tongue, the edge of his thoughts, but it kept eluding him.Something had to be connecting Strutger’s death to Carter and Hern’s own near death experiences. Then there was the nightmare of last night.That had been designed to kill Carter – the only one who could get through the security – without hope of survival even if he had caught on.Someone wanted three men dead and almost killed several others to do it.But why?Out of the three, only Carter was truly the one with enemies due to his past.Tony – and Lupo, he suspected – could understand that scenario, but who the hell would want them dead so much that they would destroy a mountain?There was something that his mind was trying to tell him, but he just couldn’t understand.He shot to his feet in a fit of frustration and he stalked from the Sheriff’s Office to wander around in the hopes that something would shake loose.If he stayed in one place, his magic might start to get interested and he couldn’t have that.He was striding down the street, when his name being called had him turning to see Ethan jogging to catch up with him. “Did you need something?”“Have you heard from Hern at all?” he walked to a stop in front of him with a frown. “Reynolds has been trying to find him for the last hour, because he never called to tell him that he wouldn’t be able to make their meeting to go over their lost project’s last streams of data.”Tony’s attention was caught as something began to dawn on him and he absently grabbed the man’s collar to tow him back to Carter’s office. “When was the last time anyone saw or heard from him?”“Uh, I think Andy saw him at least an hour before you guys showed up in town. Why?”“What kind of call is Andy on, now?”“Well, we can call, but he left on a few calls, so I’m not sure… I mean, I guess we can use the GPS tracker, but Dr. Marten or Donovan could, I’m sure.”“We need to find Andy and Hern,” Tony rubbed his mouth as they moved. He also needed to get a hold of the others. The end of this was in sight, his gut was churning in confirmation.Before they could actually reach Carter’s office, however, another voice got his attention and he bit back the growl as he turned to meet the newest obstacle.“Reverend!” Ethan greeted in surprise. “Hello!”“Reverend,” Tony attempted a warm smile as he tried to figure out the presence of a Reverend in a scientific town like Eureka. “How can we help you?” he really wanted to get moving, but stuffed it down to give her his undivided attention.“Agent DiNozzo?” she held out a hand for a shake. “I know we haven’t had a chance to meet and I wanted to remedy that.”“Ma’am, I would love to have a sit down and chat with you over coffee, but I’m Catholic and sort of on a schedule –”“I understand,” she smiled slightly, “but I didn’t seek you out for that purpose. Not today.”Tony caught the tone in her voice and stilled as his eyes took in her stiff posture and hard dark eyes.“… okay?” Ethan uncertainly prompted.“A situation has recently come to my attention that I believe you need to be made aware of.”Tony exchanged a glance with Ethan before turning every scrap of his attention to the Spiritual Leader in front of him.“Then by all means,” he invited. “Make me aware of it.”* **
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* **She’d found the bastards.The evidence on the group of eight didn’t merit a more in-depth investigation, because the evidence was telling her own gut that these were the men she wanted on silver platters.Two of them were explosives experts, two of them were engineers. Those four were her prime targets for her near death experience last night, because they could easily bring down a mountain twice the size of the one they’d reduced to rubble. They knew where to place the explosives for maximum effect and devastation.At least one of the remaining four had the skills to cover the others’ tracks – and all four of them knew things that matched up perfectly with all the incidents that had almost killed Hern.She knew the who, when, how and where, but the ‘why’ wasn’t easily as found.Why did they go after Strutger, Hern and Carter? What did they ever do to deserve this kind of hatred?Why had she, Risky and a number of others almost died?Jo didn’t know about the others, but she was pissed when someone wanted to kill her friends – and was even more so when she herself was almost caught in the crossfire – and she wanted answers.She was worked up with fury as she gathered her things so she could track them all down, when her door opened.“Lupo,” DiNozzo was serious, sharp and furious enough that Jo could feel a slight pulsing she automatically registered as Magic. “Have you heard from the others since you got here?”“No. And I’m about to track some targets down. Want in?”“We have a different problem. I figured out what the hell’s been happening around here, but Hern’s been MIA for longer than I feel comfortable with. Andy was called out on fake emergencies to get him away from Hern, but I can’t get a hold of anyone to confirm a hell of a lot and no one’s answering their phones to tell me if Hern’s with them.”All anger and fury immediately turned to concern and urgency at that revelation. “All of their phones are going to voicemail?”“Yeah. I got here and went to Fargo’s office, but it was empty and completely shut down. Something happened.”She dove for her own phone and started calling her guys to see if their group was still in the building, but every record indicated that Fargo, Marten, Allison, Taggart, Donovan and Grace were all still in the building. Henry probably was, too, but he technically didn’t have an office at Global. Hern hadn’t checked out, either.“Donovan’s here?” Jo frowned down at her phone. “I thought he was at the Bunker.”“Yeah, me and Ethan were trying to call the Bunker, too, but I don’t know what Donovan’s having it do, so it’s not answering, either.”“What about your Magic? Anything?”“I wasn’t sure who I needed to look for, so I went looking the Muggle way first. I was hoping someone would be left to help me navigate this place, because Carter’s marks on the wall can only help so much since he’s not even allowed into half the damn building.”“Right,” she nodded. “Come on. Let’s go topside and let it work.”“I’ll go, you meet me in the parking lot when you’ve got your stuff together.”He disappeared with a pop and Jo was getting ready to go when her door opened again.“Ms. Lupo! Ms. Lupo!” Risky stumbled her way in. “Dr. Taggart’s gone! He never came back and we waited for hours, but he didn’t come back and he’s not in his office or Director Fargo’s office and –”“I’m on it,” she broke into the flood of words before remembering to smile. “Risky,” she went down on one knee to be level to her, “I need you to go back to Trix in case he comes back, okay? I will get the both of you if I find him. Do not go with anyone else. Do you understand?”Her brown eyes were wide as she nodded quickly and raced out of the office, leaving Jo to grab her favorite guns and extra ammo as she strapped on a vest.DiNozzo met her at the edges of the parking lot and he had his broomstick in hand.“Did you find them?” she wasted no time handing him the gun Carter usually preferred, which should also be like the one he himself used since it was usually a type that cops, Detectives and Federal Agents used.DiNozzo’s fingers explored it immediately, no doubt feeling the relief that this was a gun he could understand.“Yeah,” he stowed it and his wand appeared in his hand. “They’re on the other side of the lake.”“It’s all forest in that area,” Jo frowned as she thought about it.“Hop on,” he told her. “I’ll fly us over.”“Land us on the shores and we’ll go from there.”“Got it.”He waved his wand over them for a few seconds before they were slicing through the air. Jo found no enjoyment over this flight, however, her mind focused on the situation and all the unknowns they had no answers to.Her training quieted her thoughts as they approached and DiNozzo landed them gently within the trees, almost obscuring the rippling waters of Lake Archimedes.“Saw some cars some distance away,” DiNozzo confirmed what she thought she’d seen. “They’re definitely here, alright.”“From what I saw,” Jo frowned, “someone was there to keep an eye on anyone who might be nosy enough to poke around.”“Or our arrival,” DiNozzo added.“Did they see us?”“No. Which means that we have the advantage, but we’ll still need to be careful.”“What direction?”They slunk off in the opposite direction from the cars, following where the wand led as quietly as both could travel. Long silent minutes passed as they moved through the trees and ground based flora, the wand’s direction leading them deeper into the trees as they circled the Lake to avoid detection.“How’re we gonna play this?” Jo spoke almost into her taller companion’s ear.“We’ll split up when we get closer, maybe we’ll be able to corral them.”“Look,” she stopped him as a thought occurred to her. “There may very well be casualties when this is done. But if you’re able, take hostages. I wouldn’t be terribly sad if there isn’t, but if you can. All I need is one hostage.”“Got it. Keep going.”They made it to half-way across the lake when the wand started gradually shifting deeper into the trees and away from the water.“Split up here?” Jo suggested, keeping her eyes watching all around them.DiNozzo consulted his tracking spells before nodding. “About a half hour more, but we’ll split up soon enough. Here, hold still while I put a couple things on you. We won’t be able to really see each other, but I won’t be far until we get closer.”“Right,” she nodded her consent and screwed her eyes shut. She barely held back a yelp when the wand rapped her on the head and what felt like a raw egg slithered down the back of her neck.“Good to go,” she opened her eyes to glare at him – only to find him gone. “DiNozzo?”“Still here. Eerie, isn’t it? Come on, this way.”She followed the sounds he made until he stopped.“Okay,” he sounded off to the left. “They should be around here somewhere, so I’ll go left.”“I’ll go right,” she agreed. “Good luck.”“Honor and pleasure,” she heard before he was either silent or already on his way. She nodded in silent agreement before returning to the mission at hand.She crept silently along until she noticed a ribbon tied to a tree and went toward it. Beyond that, she found the missing group being held on their knees with guns trained on them.Hern was on his knees, too, an unfamiliar goon holding him in place with a hand on the back of his neck as the other hand held a gun on him. Allison, Henry, Grace, Taggart, Marten, Fargo and Donovan were lined up behind him in the same position.In front of the whole group, a vaguely familiar man took his time as he paced from one end of the line to the other.Her sharp brown eyes definitely caught on the snack-type bar he was halfway through – and the wrapper he was eating it from.It was the same wrapper they’d retrieved from the Day Trip trail and it was still familiar, but she wasn’t sure that’s where she’d seen it. She was only familiar with him because she was the Head of Security – fat lot of good that did – and she was supposed to be at least sight familiar with everyone.Which meant that this son of a bitch was Global affiliated.She just couldn’t remember who he was or what his story could possibly be.As for the other goons, she could identify at least three as part of the group she’d zeroed in on and had been about to track down before DiNozzo had shown up at her office door. Five were still unaccounted for, but she couldn’t worry about that right now.She was fairly certain that no one was able to see her – and who only knew where DiNozzo had parked himself -, so she set up her gun using little noise and no extra movements.Jo was worried about all the bullets aimed at her Civilians, which meant that she couldn’t hit a bad guy without one of her people earning a bullet for her trouble.There was a slight itching in her ear that slowly stared up and she rubbed it against her shoulder without thought, eyes taking everything in as she worked through scenarios that seemed unworkable.Her ear itched again and she rubbed it against her shoulder again until she started hearing a faint buzzing like there was something in it. Her finger touched her ear and she started in surprise as her finger encountered an ear piece. She took it out to confirm that it was, indeed, an ear piece before returning it to her ear and hesitantly asking, “DiNozzo?”“Hey,” the voice was soft, but crystal clear as if he was whispering into her ear from right next to her. “Got visual?”“Affirmative,” her response was just as soft. “You?”
“Affirmative. How you want to play this?”
“I don’t know. Nothing I’ve come up with so far is going to end well.”There was a silence in her ear before he hesitantly answered, “I’ve come up with something, but I’m not actually sure that I won’t get in trouble somehow. Or that you guys won’t start second guessing me or Carter, for that matter.”“You’ve got something,” she pounced on that. “Details.” He gave as much information as he could and she could see a number of things they could tweak about it.Overall, it was doable and a lot more than what she thought they had ten minutes ago.“So, what’s the problem?” she frowned.“Seriously?” he was probably frowning, too. “All of that was at least acceptable to you? Well, I know that you’re probably already shifting things, but –”“Let’s do it.”“You are absolutely sure?” he checked. “Especially the part concerning your friends?” The answer was true with everything she had: “Yes. Absolutely. One hundred percent.”Because his suggestion was something that she herself would have done without second thought or regards to their feeling had she had Magic or some other way of achieving the same result.In the early days, in the original Timeline, she and Carter had disagreed on a number of things. Once it became clear who their go-to Civilians were, however, - and even more-so when they became something approaching friends with them (including the late Stark despite the both of them sometimes wanting to push him down a steep ravine), she and Carter had made a pact of sorts about this kind of scenario.Their Civilians were to be protected by any means necessary, but Carter had always been hesitant – reluctant? – to wholeheartedly agree and she found out why some weeks later.But that was all before they found out what Carter had been hiding from them and – ever since – a small niggling would sometimes surface to question if Carter had ever thought about erasing her memories before she knew.About this exact scenario happening before they found out and if he’d had Magical plans in place to erase their memories or alter them to keep the Secret.That was no longer applicable since they now knew, but she still thought about it.Without Magic, though, she would still understand why if they were to keep from experiencing certain things. Now that she had a Wizard completely removed from their group, she didn’t need to worry about Carter’s hang-ups over ethics or consent.DiNozzo even gave her the perfect solution, so why shouldn’t she take it?“I’ll take the heat,” Jo told him. “Tell them it was my idea.”It was a long minute before he agreed. “I guess it technically is your idea.”“That works. Now, come on. We’ve got some work to do and I want this cleaned up by dinner. Your move or mine?”* **
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* **Grace woke up in the Global infirmary with no memory of what happened beyond her world blacking out in the trees near the shores of Lake Archimedes.Hern, Henry, Allison, Taggart, Zane, Holly and Fargo woke up with similar blanks in their memories.No one would tell them what happened, but a majority had been unaware of exact details.The only sources of true information had been absent for at least three hours as they tried to work out what happened.All of them remembered Fargo having sent some of them a text message to meet in his office, but Fargo hadn’t sent it. He’d been completely baffled when the group had streamed in and the door had shut behind them, locking despite every over-ride they could come up with.Something had happened and Grace had felt sleepy and not herself minutes later.She and the others had been escorted into cars that drove them to the lake, where they became more aware of their situation as their wrists were secured with zip ties.Despite every attempt, no one would tell them who they were or why they were doing it and Fargo had said something about villains always doing long unnecessary soliloquies to their hostages.Evidently, however, the guy in charge only wanted to explain it all once, but none of the group knew who they were waiting for.Then they all blacked out and woke up far removed from their last remembered location.But the more Grace thought about it, the more she doubted that they’d blacked out by themselves.When Tony and Jo finally did show up, they had a story about an experiment that had gone nuts and Hern had bought every word.As for the rest of them, there was a very strong suspicion that Hern didn’t need to hear, seemingly confirmed by the unreadable looks on both Tony and Jo’s faces as they sold their story to people who bought it just as easily.When they had all been released, it was around dinner and they couldn’t corner Tony or Jo since word had spread about their ordeal and the town was worried about their top denizens.So, like the good town officials/Global Authority/friends/neighbors that they were, they gamely showed up and let Vince fawn over them and the town reassure themselves of their safety and Grace just couldn’t help noticing some scientists and other assorted people giving Jo and Tony nods.“Something happened,” Fargo told them as they sat in their corner booth as Tony and Jo headed across the street to check in with Andy. “Something happened and I’m pretty sure it starts with ‘Ma’ and ends with ‘gic’.”“You know,” Henry sighed, shaking his head. “It is incredible how … complete … ‘it’ is. I can’t remember a thing.”“Do we want to?” Zane softly questioned.Grace looked at him to see a contemplative expression on his face.“What do you mean?” Holly frowned. “I mean, I guess I can understand why Carter was so hesitant now. Even if it was by accident, we are incredibly vulnerable to … ‘it’ and… and this was intentional. I can only imagine what else can be done if a lower person had half a mind to it. I mean, Carter has ‘it’ and he can manipulate us without us being any the wiser about it.”“But he hasn’t,” Allison firmly shook her head, her jaw set. “After everything he’s been put through in this town by so many people, he hasn’t done anything. He could’ve stopped Fargo, but I don’t honestly know if ‘it’ can.”“Or ‘it’ maybe made him cause trouble somewhere else,” Holly countered.“Um, Fargo is here and could put himself down,” he raised a hand. “But I completely side with Allison in this,” he turned serious. “He could’ve been the one to reset the first Timeline instead of Dr. Stark, but he didn’t. The Secret is so ingrained in him that he froze when Dr. Stark shut the door. He couldn’t knock the both of us out, because he didn’t want to betray our trust even if that would save our lives. I guess that’s why he didn’t decide to alter our memories, even if he did do ‘it’ in front of us.”Grace had never met Dr. Nathan Stark, but she’d heard stories and she knew Jack Carter.If Carter had had the chance to save Stark, he would have.But not if it meant betraying their trust even despite them never having been the wiser. He also stuck to keeping the Secret, afraid of the consequences from both the Magical World and his own friends themselves.Grace couldn’t imagine what he must’ve been feeling, the wrenching grief mixed with devastating guilt and the knowledge that he could’ve done something. But he simply hadn’t been able to bring himself to do it.And it absolutely broke her heart.He must have felt so alone – Zoe not completely understanding, being Muggle herself -, with no one allowed to know. Not even his closest friends.“I… I guess,” Holly looked solemn, “but Agent DiNozzo –”“I honestly think the lad didn’t decide to make us all pass out on his own,” Taggart pointed at her. “At least, not easily. Jo knows what happened – was likely involved – and the lad’s been careful about touching the lot of us since, so my reckoning is that she gave him the okay.”“And she was right to do it,” Zane told them, complete faith in his voice and shining from his eyes. “I get that it’s against our will and without consent, but I also know that Jo wouldn’t have agreed to let him do it if it hadn’t been for our own good. DiNozzo wouldn’t have just done it, regardless of whether we cared or not, because he’s doing this for Carter and he knows that Carter’s basically using him as a kind of yardstick to measure other Magicals against and the man just doesn’t strike me as someone who’d toss that back in anyone’s face.”“That’s true,” Henry nodded, “but maybe we also need to look at Jo’s motivation. If I was in her place in that situation, I would probably have knocked us out, too. She has a military background and Tony solves murders for a living. How would we have handled… whatever happened?”Grace wasn’t sure she wanted to know what happened, but it was still unnerving to know that something had happened while she’d been unaware.And maybe it would bother her for the rest of her life, she would probably have nightmares and wake up screaming on some nights, but maybe it was for the best.Of them all, Jo, Tony and Carter were the only ones who could handle some kind of action and the rest of them were Civilians.Even Taggart.What would they have done?How would they have reacted?Should they have stayed awake?Could they have handled that?Grace had no good answer.None of the others could answer, either, the group falling silent.“But,” Fargo eventually felt compelled to point out, “one day, they won’t be able to stop us from … from staying awake. I mean,” he pushed his glasses up his nose, “for all intents and purposes, we dodged a bullet. Possibly literally, even, but it might happen one day and we’ll have to possibly be involved. So… yeah.”“Hopefully, it won’t come to that,” Allison reached over to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder. “But if it does, the best case scenario is that we’re together to witness and participate.”“Oh, and we can be our own support group with meetings,” Holly almost lit up at the prospect. “I’ve never really been in a support group, before.”“Sure,” Grace smiled slightly. “Why not? I’ll make cookies.”“Oatmeal?” Holly grinned.“What?” Zane frowned. “Hell no! It’ll be chocolate chip cookies.”“Snickerdoodles,” Taggart frowned in return.Tony and Jo came back in the middle of the argument and Tony asked, “So, what did we miss?”“We’re evidently debating cookies for our support group meetings,” Henry sounded amused as he drank his coffee.“What support group meetings? What support group and why weren’t we invited?”“We first need to actually establish one and review your application,” Allison deadpanned.“Speaking of establishing things,” Tony suddenly turned serious, the change cutting the cookie argument as everyone turned to him. “We have a few things to discuss. How do we feel about going back to Fargo’s office?”Once back behind the safety of Fargo’s office walls deep in the heart of Global Dynamics, the group settled at the conference table.“Okay,” Fargo addressed Jo and Tony, the only ones who knew the full story. “What do you guys have to report?”“First, let me make this clear,” Jo leaned forward and looked each of them in the eye. “It was my idea and I gave DiNozzo the okay.”No one asked what she meant.“We get that, but,” Fargo raised a hand. “Was… was, um, somebody… uh.”“There was one unavoidable fatality, yes,” Tony leaned back, not giving anything more, his green eyes not inviting any more questions.“Noted,” Allison responded after a long moment, the former Director coming out. “What did you find out?”Tony and Jo exchanged long looks before Tony nodded and said, “We’ve been busy and the only thing we still can’t figure out is why Carter hasn’t changed back, yet. Everything else… We understand as it pertains to what our experiences have involved, including Hern and ourselves.”“I found the ones responsible for the Day Trip explosion,” Jo continued. “At least one is from out of state, which we’d already figured. That one was behind the Spa glitch and the storage facility. The others welded the levers and reprogrammed the steamer and was even behind the deteriorating grate that dropped me into the Rain Catcher system. Everything that has ever happened to Hern and Carter – starting from the explosion in Strutger’s lab – was due to this group of bigots.”“Bigots,” Zane echoed with a tilted head. “So, that’s the who, I guess, but not the why.”“They were also behind the carbon leak,” Holly added. “We found some stuff before our kidnapping.”“Yeah, Andy found that in the lab,” Tony nodded. “Alright, so. From the beginning. This all started about five months ago when some… observers, shall we say, noticed that Blake and Carter had ‘taken a break’ in order to get to know each other a little better.”“What does that have to do with anything?” Fargo frowned. “People break up all the time. Not that they actually broke up or anything.”“Well, from the outside,” Tony shrugged, “it looked like a break up. Me and Lupo talked to people in town and there seems to be some very apparent theories about it. A fifth of them thinks it’s because of the IQ thing, but they already thought the relationship was doomed from the start. Another fifth seems to think the relationship was already moving kind of fast and figured this back step was inevitable. The debate continues there if they end up working out regardless. Then there are the two-fifths that believe the late Dr. Stark is still – perhaps even indirectly – an issue influencing one or the other. That group has some people with ideas that make me wonder what the hell kind of love triangle that ended up being. Anyway, the last fifth decided that it was a few or combination of factors and that it kind of wasn’t their business, but they like gossip so it’s all kind of interesting to them as far as that goes.“Unfortunately, Hern and Strutger had realized that Carter was kind of at loose ends and decided to be his ‘cheer team’ or something to that effect. Now, whether they actually believed the relationship was gone and thought they were picking up the pieces, I don’t know. Regardless, the three became friends and that hadn’t gone completely unnoticed. Ethan had thought it sweet that Strutger was such a good friend to ‘poor Carter’ and he brought that to Quire’s attention. She has always had a crush on Ethan and that was slowly tipping over into obsession – as evidenced by the worrying décor that the Reverend’s friend Diana stumbled into when looking for Quire. It did not help that her first full name is Alessandra.”“Oh my god,” Allison brought a hand up to her face. “Strutger’s first name was Alessandro.”“She thought that was a sign and called her cousin to complain about this ‘completely obvious’ affair that the evil Dr. Strutger was inflicting upon her poor Ethan. And, as you can imagine, things went downhill from there.”Grace stared, unable to completely wrap her mind around what she was hearing. “Wait. So… so, Strutger died … Risky and Carter and Hern and over fifty other people – including us had almost died – and several billions of dollars’ worth of Global property and experiments destroyed … all because some- someone thought Carter was gay?”“… pretty much. If it’s any consolation, the people we talked to who didn’t think Carter was broken hearted over Stark pretty much laughed in our faces.”“Even those that did,” Jo added. “But everyone else doesn’t think Carter is gay or ever has been.”“Of course he isn’t,” Holly scoffed. “He is so straight to the point that I sincerely doubt that he’s even aware of men as an option.”“But still,” Fargo didn’t seem to know what to do with the information, either. “Having your life be in danger because someone thought one of your friends was gay is kind of stupid. Why would someone want to kill anyone because of being gay? That’s stupid.”“That depends on what you would call ‘stupid’,” Jo deadpanned. “You did, after all, want to take a hit out on someone for spilling coffee on your tie last month.”“Well, yeah,” he frowned at her as if it was a completely normal thing to think about. “I’m the Director and the only one allowed to spill coffee on myself is me.”“It was a drop the size of a dime –”“Anyway,” Tony shut that argument down, “the ones we caught are now in the hands of several federal agencies because it turns out that all of them have slipped through without consequences for prior incidents – including armed robbery and murder. These guys are going away for a long time, though I think Quire is going to a psychiatric hospital and her clearance revoked. Ethan may decide to transfer out, but I think he’d like to talk to Allison about that first.”Grace sat back in her chair in disbelief.Of all the ridiculous reasons to die! And she herself had been in the crosshairs because someone had wanted to lure Carter into a fire trap. “That’s who we were waiting for, isn’t it?” she groaned. “Carter.”“Yup,” Tony nodded. “Except he’s still a cat, so…”“Zane,” Jo called his attention. “SARAH cracked the tower we brought back and revealed that there was footage of Quire switching out Risky’s rubber caps prior to the explosion.”“She was the key, because she was basically the perfect insider who knew everything about Global operations,” Tony put in.“She is also where I remember the bar wrapper,” Jo added. “She adores those things. That, coupled with the rest of the footage, was damning evidence. No one is coming back out of prison for decades, though, I’m not going to complain if they get the death penalty so it’s no longer entirely our problem.”“So,” Holly frowned, “that’s that?”“That’s that,” Tony nodded. “Except for Carter. But we took everything we found – even what you guys dug up – and we have a solid case against all of the ones still alive.”“Do we want to know what the poor soul did?” Taggart finally spoke, no trace of sympathy on his face.“No,” Jo leveled a steady gaze on him.“And I think I heard enough about that,” Allison pressed a temple before shaking her head. “What a mess.”The group of them sat in silence for long minutes, not sure what to do or say now that everything had come out, until Zane’s email alert went off.“Sorry,” he ducked his head to check, probably not even realizing he gave voice to the unnecessary apology. “Oh, hey,” he blinked up at the rest of them. “The footage from above Risky’s experiment has mostly been put back together.”“That’s probably why the footage evidence was slated to burn,” Henry mused, his cheek resting in a palm. “They knew that we had methods of retrieving footage even when it was deleted. Except at End Goal. They wanted it gone and blowing it up completely was the only option.”“Can we see that footage?” Jo questioned as Zane fired off an answer.“We’ll have to go downstairs,” he agreed, pushing his chair back and standing. “Come on.”The lab Zane led them to was able to double as a conference room for team or multi-party projects. Well, it wasn’t a lab in a true sense, because it was only to be used for simulative-type displays and prototype progress as the project went on.As a result, the high definition video display was what Zane brought up.“This place is interesting,” Tony looked around.“It’s a conference room/lab, but not meant for the real experiments,” Holly explained. “We can use a conference room with all of a lab’s resources. And there are other rooms designated as such Lab-Con Rooms all over Global, so it’s just a matter of preference, really.”“And we can prevent Nuclear War after too many people decided they needed the same room at the same time,” Jo cut a look at Fargo.“Believe me,” Allison shook her head with a slight smile. “If Carter hadn’t called in with that emergency when he did, nuclear war would’ve been the least of our problems.”“I’m actually afraid to ask what would’ve been worse,” Tony quipped as he settled into a cushioned seat.The others joined him as Zane got on the room’s tablet and uploaded the file in question.“Okay,” Zane glanced over to see their attention on the projection screen. “Here we go.”Grace looked to the screen and saw an image of Strutger’s lab, Risky and Strutger busily checking everything in preparation for Carter’s arrival and their first test run.It was both eerie and heartbreaking to watch, knowing what was to come.Knowing that Strutger was never walking out of there.On screen, Risky fairly vibrated with excitement as her ‘partner’ looked on indulgently.Ten minutes before they were slated to begin, Risky made herself calm down and make herself presentable in her cutely professional outfit before moving out of the lab to get Carter.He showed up and the three of them went over safety measures – much to Carter’s impressed delight, though maybe it was because he was a father and remembered Zoe when she was little – before they started the project up.At first, it looked like things were going to be alright.Carter was obviously asking questions – obvious despite the sight only footage – that she was studiously answering, sure that she was answering in a manner that he would understand.Then a light started blinking and the atmosphere went from calm, confident and relaxed to alarmed and confused.Grace didn’t want to watch this, but she couldn’t look away as Carter herded Risky to the back left and out of frame. She felt sick as Strutger tried shut down after shut down and there was a moment of crystal clear realization that Carter was no doubt seeing before Strutger went for the secret failsafe.The screen captured the blast and went static, a single second surfacing of smoke and a second wave of energy crashing toward the camera before the screen went black.The room was completely silent.“Well,” Henry voiced from behind her after long moments. “I… I guess –”“Play that back,” Tony demanded, Grace turning in surprise to see him riveted on the blank screen. “That last image. Play it back.”“Okay,” Zane fiddled with the table and the last frame came back on screen.Grace was barely aware of the others watching as she saw Tony scrutinize the still frame with slowly dawning realization on his face – almost like a stubborn puzzle piece had righted itself and suddenly clicked into the right place.Maybe even a place he hadn’t realized was left.“I’ll be damned,” Tony slowly sat back in wonder. “I will be damned. Huh!” a slowly growing smile turned manic as he sat there before he was suddenly out of his seat and pacing in circles around them. “I have to go,” he suddenly stopped. “I have to – to go.”“Where?” Allison sounded as alarmed as they felt.“Seattle. I’ll be back later. It’s – I – ha!” he beamed at all of them. “I’ve been looking at all of this backwards!” he raced out of the room and left them staring after him.“What… what just happened?” Fargo uncertainly asked, looking around.“Sounded like a break through,” Zane offered with a shrug.“Of what?”“Dunno. We might find out later.”“Think we’ll understand it?” Henry wanted to know.“I hope so,” Grace sent him a bemused smile. “It sounded interesting.”* **
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The next morning, Henry got a message to meet in Fargo’s office from the number Tony had been assigned while in town helping them.“I guess we’ll find out what he realized last night,” Grace mused, having gotten the same message.When they arrived at Fargo’s office, Allison and Jo were already there.“Where’s Fargo?” he frowned.“On a coffee run,” Jo kept glancing at the closed door with curiosity.“Tony came back from Seattle,” Allison sipped on her own coffee with a thoughtful look. “And he brought a friend. They’re doing something in there, but we’re kind of afraid to disrupt them in case it’s important.”“Probably the right call,” Grace smiled slightly. “Are you doing okay?”“Yeah, I’m fine,” her smile was dim in response as Henry remembered the bombshell revelation that everything they had been experiencing for the past week had pretty much started when Jack and Allison had stepped back from their relationship.“Don’t beat yourself up too much about it,” Grace advised, reaching out to touch her arm. “Who’s to say it wouldn’t have happened eventually for a different reason?”“I keep thinking that it wouldn’t have happened if it hadn’t been for Magic,” she sighed.“It wouldn't have happened at all if people weren’t hypocritical asses,” Jo corrected. “It turns out that a third of them had affairs with men despite their stupid philosophy and that the group of them as a whole were or had been cheating on wives and girlfriends – not necessarily with guys at all. DiNozzo said it was a classic case of ‘I can do this, you can’t’ and the homophobia was … I still have a headache trying to make sense of all of this.”“Humans can be hypocritical,” Henry sighed. “The problem is that most of them can’t really understand that or don’t want to believe they are somehow less than they truly think they are. The best thing to do is to strive to be the ones to follow our own preachings first.”“I guess you would know,” Grace agreed.Taggart showed up a moment later and Zane a few minutes after him. Holly and Fargo arrived a few minutes after they did with coffee for the group.“Still not ready?” Fargo eyed the closed door.“Should be, very soon,” Jo answered. “Unless we’re waiting for someone else.”They sipped their coffee in comfortable silence until the office door opened and Tony poked his head out.“Hey. It’s safe to come in now,” he waved them in.Henry let Jo, Grace and Allison go first, ambling in behind them and spying a young woman spinning around in Fargo’s desk chair. She noted their arrival and stopped so suddenly she almost dumped herself on the floor.“Are they the Muggles?” she lit up with such delight that Henry couldn’t help but like her a little bit already.“Yup, these are them,” Tony ushered Taggart in before closing the door. “Everyone, meet Wednesday. She works in the Seattle Agency and graciously agreed to join us today.”She grinned widely at them, light eyes sparkling as she shyly twirled a finger into the fuchsia colored strip decorating the left side of her otherwise dark brown hair. Henry was struck by how young she looked, not able to see her much older than Zane or Jo.“Hello!” Wednesday bounced up and fairly raced around the group, her grip surprisingly gentle as Henry found his arm being pumped in a handshake. “Tony told me a little about yourselves, so I think I have some idea. You’re the Mayor, right? Oh! You’re going to be in for a treat!” the whirlwind moved on and left Henry to stare after her in bemusement.“Yeah,” Tony was right next to him with a dry smile. “I’m kind of hoping she and Abby don’t meet up. She kind of reminds me of Tonks, too.”Henry nodded like he knew who ‘Abby’ and ‘Tonks’ were, noting, “She’s friendly.”“I thought Carter would like her. She seems to have at least heard of his Marshal accomplishments and was willing to be his … well, I guess ‘Magical Contact’ would be the term.”Tony had somehow managed to find a slightly permanent – entirely workable – solution to their lone Magical problem.“It certainly looks like you’ve wrapped everything up here,” Henry observed, moving to the conference table and finding a sealed box sitting in the middle of it.“I hope so. Hey, Wednesday,” Tony got her attention. “What did I tell you about these Muggles in particular?”“Treat them like they’re made of glass,” she dutifully recited.“… close enough,” Tony rubbed his eyes. “Now, remember: Carter is Muggleborn.”“Oh, I got this,” she waved him off. “I have Muggleborn friends and we’re tight like triple pretzels. Or the Muggle Olympic Game ring logo,” she frowned.“Well,” Zane deadpanned from the chair he lounged in. “I’m convinced.”“I haven’t actually met Muggles before,” she almost shyly confided. “So, if I need to do something or not do something, I’m, uh, kind of depending on you guys to set me straight.”“Yeah, her superiors are hoping the novelty is going to wear off so she can start doing some Liaison training,” Tony explained.“Oh, I already have a job,” she assured, “but I figured I’d help the Liaison unit since they’re kind of hiring right now.”“Maybe Tony should transfer,” Henry suggested.“Yeah, which would solve our problems,” Allison sighed, “but DC is still his home office.”“I don’t know if that would be such a good idea, anyway,” Tony added. “Too much paperwork would be involved and I’d be ready for bed when something happens. Besides that, I probably have, like thirty more years on my contract.”“You’re joking,” Fargo stared.“I wish I was.”“Huh,” Wednesday tilted her head at Tony almost thoughtfully. “I thought contracts didn’t last more than eight years apiece – at least half that before you can think about asking for a transfer or something. Well, I don’t know. Your office probably works differently than mine does.”“I’m sure it does,” Holly interrupted. “Offices differ from one place to the other. Now, I don’t mean to be rude, but what are we doing here, exactly?”“That’s the question, isn’t it?” Tony smiled cryptically. “Ten minutes,” he told Wednesday.“Excellent,” she clapped her hands.Tony dragged the box toward him and opened it with a hum. “Let’s see…” he rummaged inside. “What are we going to do…”“Oh, the Kaleidoscope!” Wednesday bounced. “That’s my favorite!”“I was hoping you’d say that,” he absently handed her a white tube over his shoulder. “Hang on to that, but do not shake it yet.”“I know,” she rolled her eyes. “I’m not a complete Rookie.”“Let’s see, what else, what else... Not the Snow Globe, because that really might turn on half the experiments in the building… Not that, either, or every experiment and piece of equipment from here to the Bunker will turn off at once – sure as hell not that one or everything will turn on. How do we feel about sheep? Nah. Hmm…”Henry was just as intrigued as everyone else, Tony trailing off to mutter to himself.“Don’t forget this one,” Wednesday peeked over Tony’s shoulder to point into the box.“Yeah, I know. Hey, what about…” both stared at something before sharing a look. “Nope.”“Double nope,” she agreed.“Well, come on,” Fargo scowled. “Don’t just keep us in the dark!”“I hope you guys didn’t eat anything big,” Tony told them.“Which tells us nothing.”“Sure it does,” Wednesday grinned. “It tells you not to eat large meals with Magicals around.”“I thought that went without saying,” Zane grimaced, probably remembering their night ride at End Goal.“How long are we expecting to be here?” Allison checked her wrist watch with a frown. “Risky’s supposed to show up for her appointment soon.”“Excellent,” Tony gave them another cryptic smile.“Oh, it’s almost time,” Wednesday almost squealed, rocking on her heels.“I can’t help thinking we should be a little worried,” Grace leaned over to murmur into Henry’s ear.He couldn’t help but agree.Wednesday got bouncier as the unknown deadline got closer, Tony rescuing the white tube before it started shaking with the force of her excitement.Henry was both curious and slightly apprehensive at the white tube if Tony didn’t want it set off accidently.Eventually, there was a knock on the door and Henry almost leapt out of his skin at the firecrackers Wednesday shot into the air.“She’s here! She’s here!” she shrieked, giggling manically and jumping up and down.“Settle down, settle,” Tony ordered, the spark of anticipation in his own green eyes. “Allison, let our guest in, please.”“Right,” she exchanged looks with the others and went to the door. “Hello,” she opened it with a smile before blinking. “Trix?”“Dr. Blake!” the young girl was obviously surprised to see her, in turn. “Are you here to give your report, too?”“Report? Um, no,” she turned to look back at them.“Trix, right?” Tony made his way to Allison’s side. “Please come in. We’ve been waiting for you.”“What?” Holly frowned. “No, we haven’t.”“Yes, Dr. Marten, we have,” Tony ushered Allison and Trix back to them, his Magic closing the door behind him. “Have a seat, everyone.” Once all of them found a seat, Tony gave Wednesday a glance before refocusing his attention to the group as a whole. “Now, then,” he clapped his hands. “I’m sure all of you are wondering why I’ve gathered you all here today.”“An explanation would be nice,” Holly agreed.“Right. So, before we get down to business, I thought we’d have a bit of fun,” he held up the white tube. “Have you ever seen a kaleidoscope?”Henry had a bad feeling he knew where this was going.“You twist the end of a tube and you’ll see beautiful designs made from random see-through objects and mirrors when held up to the light,” Grace answered almost uncertainly.“Exactly. I have in my hands one such tube. Right now, it is white. Soon, however, it will be blue with green rectangle shapes in my hand of purple and red stripes with my new pal Wednesday,” she waved from the side. “However, it stops when the green butterflies appear.”Before anyone could ask, he shook the tube and suddenly they were no longer in Fargo’s office.“Oh, he did not,” Jo voiced as Henry looked around.The room they found themselves in was filled with pillows of all shapes, sizes and colors.“Dr. Blake?” Trix sounded as uncertain as they felt. “What… what’s going on?”“Um… I’m – I’m not sure, sweetie.”They were all in different clothing – long sleeved tops and pocket less bottoms – in two or more colors mirroring the pillows around them.“Bugger,” Taggart realized what they were in for as Tony spoke again.“This is a game we like to call Kaleidoscope,” his grin made Henry very nervous. “Think of the spin cycle on a washing machine. Wednesday and myself have made absolutely certain that you will not be harmed thanks to the cushions on the walls and the pillows in the room with us. Remember, green butterflies must appear when you’ve had enough and all of it will stop.”“And how are we supposed to create butterflies?” Fargo demanded.“I’m sure one of you will figure it out. Unfortunately, however, I cannot stop until those butterflies show up, so telling me to stop won’t actually make me stop.”Henry was honestly beginning to regret ever finding out about Magic if this was what ‘Knowledgeable Muggles’ had to go through.But why was Trix being forced into this, too?“We’ll go easy,” Tony assured as the room slowly started tipping to the right.Henry found himself almost running as Tony twisted the end of the tube. In fact, Tony seemed to be the only thing not moving as they all moved into different positions.Well, he reasoned, Tony did have the controlling device. It was only logical that the device stayed in stationary hands. No one wanted to see what would happen if it broke.The room tilted one way, then the other, their cushioned surroundings keeping everyone safe as pillows fell around them.Wednesday looked like she was having the time of her life, jumping around and yelling cheerfully as she leapt and fell with the movements they were forced into.“How can you like this?!” Fargo shouted at her.“Why not?” she shouted back. “It’s fun – like flying!”“Never again,” Henry barely heard Grace mutter as they suddenly fell straight down.“Hey!” Fargo yelled as they barely settled before they were flying to the right. “Easy! Geniuses, here!”To Henry’s personal relief, they weren’t tossed around with speed. It seemed like Tony didn’t want them that dizzy and sick, but Henry still didn’t know why Tony was doing this.Poor Trix was almost completely beside herself, confused beyond reason as to why she was even being put through this spin cycle and Henry was just as baffled despite knowing a little more.Which brought up a different question: Why involve Trix at all?Apparently, Tony got a little bored with being the one with all the power in his hands, because he whistled at Wednesday and easily tossed it at her mid-jump. “And then hand it off to Donovan in a few minutes. We’re mixing it up.”“Roger!” she jumped up high and twisted the end of the tube so that the room did a full spin before she landed back down.Luckily for Henry, though, it went by quick enough so that it simply felt like falling for a few seconds before he landed right back where he was.“Just don’t be too quick,” Tony belatedly reminded her from the mound of pillows he got buried into.“Don’t worry about it!” she yelled. “You’re in good hands!”She twisted a little faster than Tony had and Henry was honestly about to take the tube away from her when it was time for her to give it up. She passed it to Zane, who went as slow as he possibly could, before he passed it to Henry.Henry had the warning that he was next, was even in the position to catch it, but for some reason Zane missed him.Henry watched it fly over his head and dove after it, the floor going out from under him as the tube twisted remotely and took everyone for a spin.“Donovan,” Jo growled. “Wait til I get my hands on you!”“What? I thought it was a clear shot! I don’t know how I missed him.”After that was a blur as the tube spun and they tried locating it under raining pillows and each other, all of them catching sight of it but unable to grab it.At some point, Trix yelled that she’d spotted it and Henry joined the cheers as he watched her dive for it almost in slow motion as the room went spinning, spinning –The wind gushed out of him as he landed on his back, the soft surface he’d come to expect suddenly giving way to hard floor.Zane groaned on his left, “Please tell me she caught it.”“Is it tomorrow, yet?” Allison breathed on his right.He knew the feeling, his own stomach still on ‘spin’.“Ow,” Fargo complained. “Some warning would’ve been nice!”Wednesday bounced to her feet with a whoop. “I love Kaleidoscope!”“I’m glad you do,” Tony told her as he lay face down. “There’s a reason it’s the last resort.”“Why’d you do it, then?” Zane propped himself up on an elbow.“Couldn’t think of another way to do it.”“Do what?” Holly frowned, standing and dusting herself off. “What was the purpose of this entire exercise?”“Now, you’re onto us!” Wednesday beamed, clasping her hands together and bouncing on her toes.“Trix?” Grace stumbled upright, Henry following a few moments later. “Are you alright, sweetie?”There was no answer, Henry turning to see Allison next to the young genius, both pairs of brown eyes locked on the tube Trix held.“Okay, let’s put that down now,” Zane reached a hand toward them in panic, Allison holding up a finger without looking away.“Oh, don’t worry,” Wednesday hummed. “It’s finished now. Once it’s done, you can’t automatically reset it without wiping potions.”Wiping potions?As in sanitizing solutions?But why would –Green butterflies.He stared.“It’s not white anymore!” Fargo blurted, pointing accusingly at the tube.“No, it’s not,” Tony confirmed with a wide grin, cross-legged on the floor. “But just to be absolutely certain, open it.”Trix slowly turned to stare at him before shakily twisting the top off –and almost dropping it when a cloud of butterflies erupted from within.“Holy crap!” Zane yelped, one almost hitting him in the face and making him scramble out of the line of fire.Butterflies in every shade of green fluttered around and it was quite the sight to see some of them attach to the wall, wings flickering like leaves in the wind.“Tony,” he was suddenly hit with a thought, slowly turning to see the Agent standing and rubbing his hands together with such satisfaction as he watched the spectacle.“Mayor,” he returned, not looking at him.“What exactly does that tube do?”“Confirms hunches.”“And validates breakthroughs?”Tony slowly turned with a smile.Henry was floored, mouth working soundlessly as he finally caught on.“Henry?” Grace touched his arm. “What is it?”“I – Trix – what – how did you come to that conclusion after watching footage of Risky?” he sputtered.“As I said,” Tony shrugged. “Hunch.”“Can you share with the rest of us, please?” Fargo scowled.“Not just yet. We’re waiting on one more person.”“Dr. Blake?” Trix sounded as lost as she looked, glancing uncertainly at the older scientist. “What’s going on? Wh- where did the butterflies come from? Are – are they actual butterflies?”“They are!” Wednesday nodded enthusiastically. “You just woke them up.”“Let me get this right. All of those,” Holly pointed at the green shimmering cloud now covering one side of the room, “came from that,” before moving her finger to the tube in question.“And you chose that to have a problem with,” Tony tilted his head at her, “after this past week.”“Well, yeah,” Fargo shrugged. “Hello. Scientist.”A hesitant knock on the door caught everyone’s attention, Tony catching Zane’s attention. “Why don’t you let our last visitor in?”“Sure,” he lifted a shoulder, loping to the door and swinging it open. “Hey, Risky. Little early, aren’t you? And … in the wrong place?” he glanced over his shoulder to frown at Allison.“I … I was told to come here first,” came a timid response so completely out of character for the little girl who slid inside. Her brown eyes were downcast and she rubbed her red nose on her sleeve, her hand clutching a piece of paper.“Risky? What happened? What’s wrong?” Trix immediately went to her best friend’s side, tube forgotten in her hand.“Agent DiNozzo knows,” she turned a sorrowful gaze on her, holding the paper out. “He said he wanted to talk to me and Dr. Blake. Agent DiNozzo, I’m sorry!” she looked up at him beseechingly. “I know it was wrong, but I couldn’t help it.”“That’s alright, Risky,” Tony smiled back at her, triumph badly hidden on his face. “You’re not actually in trouble, but I did need to speak to you – and Trix.”“Then why are we here?” Fargo narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms.“Because this affects you, too,” Tony held out a hand for the paper. “Now that we have all gathered, I would like to take this opportunity to let you all in on a little secret. Dr. Blake,” he smiled and held the paper out to her. “If you please.”She glanced between him, the paper, the girls and the rest of the room watching curiously. “Alright,” she slowly took it and looked it over. “Dr. Fargo and Dr. Blake,” she dutifully read aloud. “I am very sorry that I’ve been bothering Sheriff Carter’s house. I’ve been worried about him and – ”“That’s not on the paper!” Risky immediately blurted.“So you’re the one who sicc’d Tag on poor Agent!” Holly accused, putting hands on hips.“You let a big dog in the same area as a small cat?” she frowned back, mirroring her. “The cat could’ve been hurt!”“Agent could’ve been – ”“Girls,” Allison broke them up. “Risky, what did you read on this paper?”“That Agent DiNozzo knew I was standing at the fence and that he wanted to ask me last minute questions about Carter. He … he even hung it up in the same spot I go to.”“That’s right,” Tony nodded. “Ms. Lupo, what do you see on the paper?”Jo peeked from behind Allison. “Fargo holding a death ray.”“Really?” said Director perked up. “Let me see!” he scurried over and blinked in confusion. “How do you get me with a death ray from a picture of a giraffe?”“What are you talking about? There’s no giraffe.”“There is when Director Fargo looks at it,” Tony commented. “Just like Ms. Lupo sees him with a death ray. Like Dr. Blake is seeing words instead of pictures – words that Risky doesn’t remember reading. The paper is made to look different to other people and Risky was the one that made that possible. Trix, if you don’t my asking, when did it start?”She blinked up at him with a frown. “I don’t understand.”“Sure, you do. It started with your nails, right? Changing the colors of them?”Trix stared at him for long silent moments, her eyes widening in response.“You taught Risky how to do it, didn’t you? And Risky, in turn, has started changing colors on other things – like the leaves of the bushes closest to the fence. I noticed when I was out there earlier that several leaves were either red, black or with pink stripes. And I know it wasn’t Carter doing it.”Risky had fallen silent, too.“Risky, why don’t we all take a seat and you can tell me what really happened on the day of the lab explosion?”“But we have the footage,” Holly pointed out. “You saw it yourself and raced out of the room like your tail was on fire.”“I know, but I have some new things to add to all this.”The girls were silent as they clambered into chairs at the conference table with the group, some electing to stand.Wednesday stood next to Tony, who took a seat across from Risky and Trix as they clutched hands.“The evidence has been reviewed,” he said gently. “You were not at fault for the explosion. Someone just made it seem like it was.”She slumped onto the table with a deep sigh. “Thank goodness. It wasn’t my fault.”“No, it wasn’t. But I need to know exactly what you were thinking once Carter got you backed into the corner.”“I don’t know what you want her to say,” Allison shook her head next to him. “I’d have a hard time thinking after all that.”“You were scared, right? What were you thinking of?”The room fell silent as Risky bit her lip.“I … I was thinking that … I didn’t want to be there anymore. I wanted to be at home. With Toby.”“Toby. And is this a person or …”“Toby is her stuffed toy cat,” Trix supplied. “He kind of looks like Sheriff Carter in his uniform.”“And I was really scared,” Risky nodded. “So I held tight to Carter and thought of Toby.”“Then what happened?” Tony coaxed, leaning forward in anticipation.“Then the explosion happened and Toby was all I could think about.”The room hung in silence for a long moment before Tony leaned back in his chair with a sigh. “There it is,” he nodded. “Textbook example, wouldn’t you say?” he tilted his head to ask Wednesday.“A fierce welling of emotion in an extreme circumstance,” she nodded in agreement. “Truly textbook.”“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Risky frowned. “What does it matter?”“It matters because I now know what I’ve just spent the past week trying to figure out. Tell me, when playing your color game, did that feel different or similar to what you felt before blacking out?”“How do you know about that?” Trix straightened. “No one else does.”“And no one else can do it, right?” he grinned before rubbing his fingers together and streaking them through his hair.Both girls gasped when black and gold appeared in his brown strands.“No way!” Trix tried to kick herself back, but her legs weren’t long enough for the effect to work.“How did you know what to do?” Risky yelled, pulling herself even closer to see.“Just like you did,” Tony beamed a conspiratorial grin. “Magic.”“Magic?” Zane echoed with a frown. “Them?”“Exactly. If you recall the last second of the video, we all saw the wave of energy heading towards the camera – not away from it like in a usual Spell Snapback. Then the more I thought about it, the more it made sense that the Snapback happened as a result of something behind his shields blasting forward, catching him in the middle between that energy and the explosion. And Risky was the only one behind him to expand that energy.”“But kids can’t do Magic!” Fargo sputtered. “Not so young, anyway.”“Sure they can. Except usually it’s harmless bouts of Accidental Magic. In this case, it got extreme enough that an Adult Magical was affected and placed in such a vulnerable position. And the fact that she actually created a block by accident is extraordinary enough on its own to call in someone from the Agency.”“And that’s why Carter hasn’t changed back?” Jo frowned. “Because of Risky?”“Frankly, yes. But I needed to make sure there was Magic involved, hence the butterflies – who only wake in the presence of a raw Magical core like those in Advanced Muggleborns. Trix has Magic, too, or nothing would’ve stopped the spinning.”“Butterflies?” Risky frowned before her gaze locked on a butterfly perching on the back of Jo’s chair.“But we tried finding other Magicals before,” Henry finally pointed out.“Yes, but back then I hadn’t realized there was a chance that kids could be manifesting so early out here. I would’ve done some things a lot differently had I known it was a possibility.”It was no wonder Tony hadn’t been able to figure it out!His investigative instincts had probably been telling him the answer, but he couldn’t make the puzzle make sense enough to understand how that answer had been reached.Risky being an undetected Magical had been the very puzzle piece he’d been looking for and once he knew that, the rest had fallen into place.“So the whole spinning room thing was to suss out Trixie’s capability of Magic,” Holly frowned.“And once you had that answer, you knew you were right about Risky,” Grace sighed.“I have to tell you, Tony,” Henry shook his head laughing. “That was truly incredible Detective work.”“Thank you,” he ducked his head almost shyly.“What happens now?” Trix wanted to know. “I mean, if we have Magic like you say we do…”“I’m actually surprised you’re both okay with this,” Allison mused. “Do you believe in Magic?”“I … I know it’s not … quite Science,” Risky looked down at her hands. “But something outside Science. And it doesn’t really make sense, but I know it’s there.”“So you had the evidence and now you have a place to put it,” Zane nodded. Henry was fairly sure his blue eyes had just incidentally skimmed over Jo’s position before she groaned.“Great. Just great,” she rubbed her eyes. “As if regular trouble making geniuses weren’t enough, they have Magic, too.”“Sorry, Ms. Lupo,” Risky smiled sheepishly.“I’ll get over it.”“And that’s why I’m here to help!” Wednesday thrust a hand into the air.“Easy there, Abby Junior,” Tony held up a finger. “You won’t be able to do much of anything right now, but you can help the girls where you can.”“And how do you suggest this happen?” Henry sat back.“Tutoring,” he immediately responded. “I might have someone lined up, as a matter of fact.”“It’s good to give them the basics before we start training them up,” Wednesday explained. “I don’t have an actual teaching license or the training for it, but I can at least help figure out what’s going on.”“That’s great,” Grace gave her a smile. “But what about Carter? We should at least figure that out before moving forward.”“Carter’s not leaving!” Risky balked.“What!” Fargo and Holly squawked.“Everybody calm down,” Tony immediately started waving his arms. “No one is going anywhere! But now that we’re on the subject – and now that I know how to fix it -, let’s finally put this case to bed.”“And how are we going to do that?” Jo asked, tilting her head.Tony smiled brightly before half-turning the chair in the direction of Fargo’s desk. “Marshal, why don’t you come on out and join us?”A slight whirring noise caught their attention and Henry had to laugh as a familiar ramp appeared from behind the desk, Carter the cat easily loping into view.They had been in this office for a long time and no one thought to look behind the desk?“Where did the carrier come from?” Fargo looked around. “I swear it wasn’t there when I walked in.”“How do we know that?” Grace shrugged.They watched Carter make it halfway across the room before sitting on his haunches and giving them a meow.“Risky?” Tony stood and waved a hand. “Come on.”“That’s Carter?” Trix knelt on her chair to see over the table as Tony walked her wide eyed best friend away from them. “Wow, he really does look like Toby!”Henry was vaguely aware of everyone crowding around the table as he watched Tony steer Risky into position, Carter moving in response until they could see the right side of him.“Meow,” Carter voiced, Risky watching with wide eyes as Tony knelt behind her to whisper into her ear.It took her a few minutes of uncertainty before nodding and holding her hands palm down over the Cat Animagus, breathing deep before closing her eyes.Tony was obviously whispering instructions to her as she scrunched her brows together and held still.Henry held his breath as she slit an eye open and turned to look at Tony, who nodded. She returned to position, eyes closed and hands out.For long minutes, they watched with bated breath as Risky did her best to concentrate with Tony at her shoulder giving her instructions and encouragement.For long minutes, nothing happened.And then.Slowly, but surely.Marshal began to blur, seeming to stretch and morph in slow motion until –The breath rushed out of Henry’s lungs as the long missed figure of Jack Carter was finally revealed, on one knee with his head down to keep Risky’s fingers buried in his short blond hair.She let out a shuddering breath, small body heaving with effort as she flexed her fingers and slowly blinked her eyes open just as Jack slowly lifted his head.They stared at each other, blue on brown, Risky slowly lowering her hands as her eyes widened and began to fill with tears.Her mouth wordlessly shaped his name – once, twice - , tears flowing down her cheeks as she began sobbing, her arms thrown around his neck to hide her face in his shoulder.Henry felt his own eyes mist as he turned away from the scene, the others just as moved as they did the same.“That’s sweet,” Wednesday murmured, hand over heart as she sighed. “I’m glad everything turned out okay.”“Believe me,” Allison laugh-cried, wiping the tears off her own cheeks. “No one's more happy than we are.”“Oh, I dunno,” Tony quietly joined them, hands in his pockets with his own watery smile. “I’m pretty happy about it.”“So you can get home?” Jo blinked back her own tears.“So I can leave knowing you’re all in good hands with someone who won’t let the town blow up just because someone panicked at a glitch and forgot to turn the computer on and off.”“We would never,” Fargo declared, giving a watery sniff.Henry refused to look at Allison, both of them remembering well the time Fargo did that exact thing.In both timelines.“He has your number,” Jo was badly hiding a smile as she reached a finger to poke the man.“He sure does,” Henry nodded. “Let me guess, Tony. Magic?”“SARAH. She was very accommodating with her records.”“Well, what do you know,” he gave a laugh. “I was right.”And to most people, Science was Magic.To those like Tony, however, Magic was a Science.Still.He glanced over his shoulder at the still sobbing little girl now wrapped up in his best friend’s arms.There were others in the middle, where one extreme met the other and lines blurred until they were indistinguishable.Where one couldn’t quite tell if something was Magic or if something was Science.But at the end of the day, it ultimately didn’t matter.His friend was with them – as himself - and they were all alive with a deeper understanding of him.Whatever forces he had to thank for the past week - be it Science, Magic or something not quite either -, he was truly grateful.“We’re all together again,” Taggart sniffled into his camouflage handkerchief next to him.“Yes,” Henry let the relief and happiness fill him, closing his eyes to truly savor the moment. “We’re all back together again.”* **
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* **The wind felt really good on his skin, the bark of a tree rough against his back as he rested against it.The rustling leaves overhead sounded the way it should, though he still expected to hear it with a crystal clear surround sound quality with a twitch of an ear.Had it only been this morning when he could feel the wind in his whiskers? The ruffle of his fur?He blew out a breath with a sigh before opening his eyes to see the yellow tent through the darkening tree line.Jack Carter had never been so happy to not be a cat – don’t get him wrong.But … there had been something almost freeing in a way that being human generally wasn’t.Especially since he’d been unable to Shift back.It was quite the experience, he found, having to go days at a time under Marshal’s fur and whiskers. He was sure DiNozzo wouldn’t have a problem with it, Shifting from one form to another without batting an eye.While he did feel slightly jealous, he did know that he’d fallen out of practice with the exercise and made a mental note to start scheduling Marshal Time once he’d had his fill of being a responsible adult.He was actually still somewhat bemused to find himself landed with a nickname at all, never having given it much thought.It had always been his Shift, no name needed.But now having a name for him was an odd relief Jack didn’t realize he wanted.Just one more thing to thank the Italian for.Blue eyes shifted upward, a broom briefly appearing over the tent before a pair of flying sleigh cars tilted upside down after it.Zane, Holly, Tag and Allison sounded like they were having the time of their lives – yells, shouts and laughter carried on the breeze to where he stood.It was good to have them being so relaxed and carefree around Magic, especially knowing how vulnerable they could be – and had been without Jack there.He knew that something had happened that necessitated his friends being knocked out, but both Jo and DiNozzo weren’t talking and Jack’s curiosity hadn’t really kicked in enough to push the matter.There was, after all, the unfortunate connection between cats and curiosity.Best not to push his luck.He honestly had no idea of how many lives he had left.Giving a reminiscently feline stretch, he yawned as he finally left the shelter of the trees for the tent he’d spent the better part of two hours putting up.With being back in his human form and once more in possession of his Magic, DiNozzo had tasked him with the tent to see what the rudimentary block did to him. He was proud that he’d managed the relatively simple task with only Magic in less than five hours.While he’d been preoccupied, the Eureka crew had spread word far and wide that some sensitive stuff was going down in a small place outside of town and intruders risked slashed funding and fried circuit boards.And Jack had been thankful for it, the promise of a secure place for Magic and the distraction of an audience hell bound and determined to be supportive.Especially an audience who’d had a no holds barred Magical Resource without supervision.He could only imagine what they’d learned over the past week since none of them had so far confronted him about it – which was unnerving in and of itself since he knew how confrontational most of them could be.He wasn’t sure how to act around them, the Statute of Secrecy long ingrained in him.Having DiNozzo at hand was infinitely easier, but these were Jack’s Muggles and they couldn’t be dragging the brunet into all their problems.He would have to overcome his reluctance at some point – which seemed silly due to what they’d already been exposed to -, but he supposed he could ease into it.“Oh, Carter,” Grace met him at the tent flaps. “Good, I was just about to find you. I don’t think Tony realizes how not Muggle friendly this place is,” she smiled sheepishly. “Can you help me in the kitchen?”“Oh, uh, sure,” he nodded, hyperaware of passing Jo and Fargo as they gave the impression of being absorbed in their devices, half-filled cups still steaming at their elbows.To their credit, they let him pass unmolested and he breathed a sigh of relief as he reached the waiting food prep area.Grace had done what she could for dinner, but she’d been right that the tent was set up for Magicals. It probably wasn’t easy for the cooks of the group, knowing that their hands were tied.Grace directed him on what she wanted done and he hesitantly put his Magic to work, flushing every time she thanked him.“You don’t have to keep saying that,” he finally shifted uncomfortably. “Really. I – I don’t mind.”“Yes, you do,” she gently pointed out. “And that’s okay. But this is who you are and it’s not okay to hide all the time. We all understand. We’re taught to be patient. We just want you to know that we are here and we are not going anywhere. So get used to it. I think you’re the one who brought this group together somehow and I’m not saying you shot yourself in the foot with this, but…”“That’s exactly what you’re getting at,” he couldn’t help the smile stretching across his face.Technically, he’d let himself get attached even knowing that this could happen, that they could find out.Still.“No promises,” he ducked his head.“No problem,” she lifted a shoulder before smiling mischievously. “Besides, we now have Tony and Wednesday to show us the ropes, so it looks like you just might be off the hook.”“Yeah, right,” he snorted. “Have you been to Eureka?”“Oh, god, don’t start,” the hair on the back of his neck stood straight up at Jo’s groan from behind him. “I swear the ability to keep decades-long grudges is a requirement for living here.”“I … wouldn’t say that …” Jack kept his cool as he turned to glance at her, not wanting to think about how long she’d been standing there.“Have you been to Eureka?”“Alright!” Fargo’s cheer drowned any response Jack could have possibly made. “Everything checks out, glitches have been fixed and everything is now back up and running the way it should be. Case closed!”“Good work, Fargo,” Jo reluctantly voiced the compliment. “Maybe we’ll be able to eat dinner in peace before something else blows up.”Jack wouldn’t put it past Eureka.Especially with the past week’s excitement.It had started with the explosion at Strutger’s lab and just kept going.DiNozzo had to be beside himself with relief that he was now off the hook. Jack wasn’t sure how much more the man could take, the Italian Magical having almost hyperventilated himself into passing out after the Day Trip explosion with all the things that could’ve gone wrong.That had probably been the moment when Jack had tentatively realized that he could trust someone else with his friends. And it had been a massive weight off his shoulders, but now he was just glad to be looking after his own Muggles again.“Thanks to Carter, dinner’s right on time,” Grace grinned. “The girls are stopping by, right?”And, boy, hadn’t that been an interesting conversation.After Allison had whisked him away for one test after another, Risky and Trix’s parents were told about the existence of Magic – and that their daughters had it.They all trooped down to Medical for the parents to see for themselves that Carter had effectively been hiding in plain sight since the explosion, the information barely starting to sink in by that point.While he wanted to keep himself secret for a long time, he outed himself as Magic for the girls’ sakes and to give them credence because it really was difficult for fully grown adults to believe after being convinced otherwise.DiNozzo had had to send him off for Magical Decompression soon after, but there were helpful booklets and pamphlets to go through. The parents had been left under the care of another Knowledgeable Muggle off-site while the girls were taken for registration.Jack couldn’t help wincing at all the paperwork everyone was going to have to go through.The girls were coming directly from registration to have dinner with them before heading home, a send-off for DiNozzo planned at Diem in the late morning.Meanwhile, Jack, DiNozzo and the crew would be spending the night for the last time in the Italian’s yellow tent.“That’s the plan,” Jo grunted. “Bet DiNozzo’s ready to see the backs of us, huh?”“Well, we do have his information on file in case we need to drag him back here.”“I hope we don’t,” Jack sighed. “I don’t want to be stuck in Shift again for a long time.”“Us, either,” Grace wholeheartedly agreed. “As interesting as it was interacting with you as a cat, it’s good to have you back.”“Not as good as I feel to be back.”“I can imagine.”Fargo came to join them and they stood for a moment before he cleared his throat. “so. Um. I … I hate to feel like I’m talking behind Allison’s back, but…”Jack blew out a breath.Yeah.Allison.They all knew her – and what kind of person she was.As soon as DiNozzo relayed the whole sordid tale to him last night, Jack knew Allison would take this to heart. It was the guaranteed constant across IQ lines – guilt and responsibility.Being medical personnel and a mother, she took it double fold.Asking for a step back had been a reasonable reaction, but neither in their wildest dreams had they anticipated such an absurd assumption to it.Some friendships truly were friendships and it was still kind of surreal to realize that Jack had lost one friend since all his concern was on one of the friends he had left – one who thought herself guilty for taking that friend away.It wasn’t her fault that someone had looked at a situation and took something completely different away. People did that.It was infuriating as all hell, but people would believe what they wanted without looking at all the angles.Had anyone asked Jack if he was interested in guys?Not that he was, but he could’ve been!The world would be so much better if people didn’t automatically jump to conclusions.Well…Normally, when people made assumptions, it didn’t usually create such chaos – and that was mostly due to the fact that normally those who made assumptions didn’t live in Eureka.“Hey,” Grace shook her head helplessly, lifting her hands up before letting them drop back down. “I had a talk with her earlier, but it’s gonna take time. We all know that.”“Doesn’t stop making me feel bad, though,” Jo sighed.It didn’t guarantee that Allison would ever forgive herself, much in the way that Jack still felt responsible for Nathan’s loss all these years later.That was probably the hardest pill to swallow, knowing that someone you cared about would keep blaming themselves even if it was one hundred percent not their fault.“She does know we’re here for her, too, right?” Fargo fidgeted. “We’re not just in this for Carter. We’re a team who supports each other. Mostly.”“I don’t see why we can’t keep reminding her about it,” Grace shrugged, almost happy about the fact that she had an excuse to keep pestering.“Hope you’re still willing after ten years,” Jack told her.“Hey, whatever it takes – however long it takes.”It took him a moment to realize the promise he’d inadvertently made.The implication that they’d still have their memories of Magic in ten years.“Hey, Carter,” Jo called his attention, one of the faerie lights floating around the ceiling dropping down to land on her hair scrunchie. “When DiNozzo has enough flying, he’s going to take me around the perimeter.”“I’ll go, too,” he automatically agreed, a lingering unease gripping him about letting Jo go off alone with another Magical.It didn’t matter if said Magical had already been alone with each of them several times over. Reflexes were hard to break.Jo simply nodded before turning to head back to her seat.“So, when is Henry getting here with the girls?” Grace checked, turning back to take stock of anything else that needed doing.“Shouldn’t be long now,” Jack noted. “We’ll probably run into them at the perimeter.”Roughly twenty minutes later, as it turned full dark outside, Zane stumbled in still breathless with delight as Tag bounced in ahead of Allison and Holly.“Had fun, I take it?” Jack grinned as he watched.“Still can’t figure out how you don’t do flying,” Holly snorted, eyes bright and hair ruffled.“That’s a long story,” he easily answered, before zeroing in on the Italian that sauntered in with a stretch.“I think I actually could squeeze in one last flight in the morning,” the brunet mused, obviously answering someone before he registered Jack’s eyes on him.The atmosphere changed.“Ahh,” he suddenly stopped in his tracks. “That’s right. Extenuating circumstances and all,” he murmured before adopting a careful smile. “Never did get around to formal introductions, did we? You must be Sheriff Carter,” he held out a hand. “Agent Anthony DiNozzo, Jr. I was called in to assist.”“Agent DiNozzo,” Jack nodded in turn, hesitantly reaching out his hand to clasp the other. “Thank you for the assist. Got confirmation that things should be settling back to Eureka Normal.”“I’m both elated and concerned,” the quip startled a smile out of him as they shook and released each other.Jack took a careful breath and studied the other who tried looking harmless and friendly.Jack was fully aware that Italians couldn’t be harmless if they tried, but everything was telling him that this Italian wasn’t a threat to him or his Muggles.“I’ve got a perimeter set up,” DiNozzo offered, still and unwilling to move. “I’m going to walk Ms. Lupo out and I’ll suggest you come along.”Jack simply nodded, accepting him and his actions and they both slowly relaxed.“… the hell was that,” Donovan broke the silence.Jack turned to see the group looking between them with bewildered expressions.“SOP,” DiNozzo explained. “Government LEO edition.”“Oh – kaaaay…”Jack couldn’t help the grin on his face at Jo’s rolled eyes, his former Deputy knowing how important it was to meet another LEO using a script to base interactions off of.“Let’s go, you two,” she all but ordered, moving through the others as they exchanged bemused looks. “I’m getting hungry.”“Knowledgeable Muggles first,” DiNozzo quipped, sweeping his arm out. “You did have them fill out all the paperwork, right?” he asked as an aside as Jack feel into step with him like they’d been doing it for years.“Yup,” and boy had Jack had fun with that, able to finally turn the tables on his friends. “Why? Was it not all given to you in the files?”“I wasn’t given everything in the files. I had Wednesday do some digging since she’s now the official go-to and she’ll be sharing her findings with the both of us tomorrow, before we pack up.”“Something tip you off?” he frowned.“Just covering all the bases.”“Something going on?” Jo voiced as they made their way out of the tent and into the trees, lights appearing around their legs.“Just checking up on some paperwork,” DiNozzo answered. “I wanted Wednesday to make sure things were dotted and crossed in the appropriate areas.”She adjusted speed until she was walking between them. “What, you think some papers got ‘lost’?”“Hard to say sometimes, but it’s also good for Wednesday to keep these things in mind going forward. Not everyone is overjoyed to include Muggles in our lives,” he said darkly.“You’re a Muggle Liaison officer at the DC MNP branch, right?” Jack glanced at the other. “They pull you to the Agency Unit?”DiNozzo was part of the Magical Armed Forces support system – structured much like in the Muggle world – and no doubt others within the broader Agency had access to his files, interested in harvesting the excellent personnel for themselves.“Yeah. Donnors is resisting all attempts to have me transferred over to the Agency directly.”“That a bad thing?” Jo questioned, eyes never leaving the path ahead.“I … don’t know much,” Jack admitted, catching the Italian’s eye over her head. “The Liaisons I’ve had contact with in the past … didn’t seem like they were talking to adults, let’s say.”“I’m sure,” DiNozzo snorted. “Agency Liaisons are book-trained and believe that shit. Well, most of them. The ones I’m grouped with are lightyears better than anyone the Agency can come up with. Very few want anything to do with Muggles and their world and it shows.”“And the Muggles born with Magic?”Jo knew the anti-Muggle sentiment because she was the only one he talked to about it when he could scrape up the courage to. But there were still certain things about Muggles that you just couldn’t confide to one.“There is improvement in the attitudes,” DiNozzo allowed, “but not currently enough to do a damn bit of difference. Legally, there are reforms and protections, but socially and informally … well. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you.”Jo made a noise before slowing even further until she stopped completely, Jack turning to see her watching DiNozzo intently. “And the … half Muggles?”Something in her tone had him glancing quickly at DiNozzo, just in time to see a slow smile appear on his face and Jack did not care for it.The man wasn’t one of his, but …He was a decent Liaison, anyway, someone Muggle Trustworthy.Not once had Jack been led to believe otherwise, despite his own misgivings or because of them.And from what Jack had dug up so far, he was a solid Magical that any department would count themselves lucky to have.But.But he couldn’t help remembering a small article in a local Magic paper that came out from the Netherlands a week before the explosion.How tragic a triple drowning had been, the victims officially having come from a long line of Magic.Unofficially …The three were good enough swimmers that one could read between the lines – especially when one could recognize certain words and terms written all over the article.Jo knew enough about multi-racial Muggles to get the gist of the ‘other side’, her drawn expression and tight lips confirming it. “We’ll get you transferred here if we have to,” she fiercely vowed.“Appreciate the offer, but I’ll be fine,” DiNozzo politely dismissed, eyes not leaving hers. “Now, Mayor and the girls will be wanting dinner, so we should be on our way.”Jack and Jo watched him walk away for a few minutes before she turned to him with grim determination. “I want you and Wednesday to keep an eye on things. If attitudes start changing, I want his ass pulled to Global.”DiNozzo wasn’t one of his, but Jo was and seemed to have already staked a claim on him that she was willing to activate if push came to shove.As of yet, there was nothing to suggest Jack be opposed to it, but he most definitely would be digging more into the Italian before letting him uproot to other climes.Giving her a nod, they both caught back up to the brunet and let the silence settle as they traveled, the tent long gone from sight in no time at all.It wasn’t a bad silence, so Jack just let himself soak in their surroundings as he and Jo were led further around the perimeter.There was still a slight breeze that brushed against the leaves above to create a rustling of the canopy. DiNozzo’s lights brushed against their legs as they skittered around to light the way.The light from Jo’s scrunchie eventually drifted down her ponytail until it was hanging from the tip, giving off the image of a drop of light perpetually on the very edge of dropping to the ground.“Hey, DiNozzo,” Jo broke the silence. “Think you could lift me up that tree?” she pointed at one with dubious looking branches. “Just to get a bird’s eye view of the surroundings.”“Sure,” he agreed. “Carter?”“You don’t need my permission,” he noted. “Just hers.”“You heard the man,” Jo nodded. “How do we do this?”“You look like you can climb,” DiNozzo eyed her lean figure. “Okay. How’s about this?”He aimed his wand and they watched the skinny branches broaden, strengthen and grow until even Jack could feel comfortable putting his weight on them.Technically, though, the branches could have stayed skinny and not visibly strong, but maybe that was more for Jo’s benefit and the hard to break habit of taking care of Muggles in their own world on their own terms.They watched her move to the tree and inspect the branches before starting her climb, lights following her progress until they could barely see her.“It really is a gorgeous view,” DiNozzo mused, moving closer to peer up through the canopy.“Yeah, I don’t think so. I’m more than happy down here.”Jack wasn’t sure what area to keep more scrutiny on, the other’s location, their surroundings or the spot where Jo disappeared. He was still somewhat wary about being all by himself with a Magical who didn’t identify as another Muggleborn, especially one who had access to his Muggles.DiNozzo hadn’t given him reason to doubt him, but it was always better to be safe than sorry.A whistle overhead broke the possible tension Jack was experiencing even though the Italian didn’t seem at all bothered so it was probably just him.He turned just in time to see Jo reappear and stop abruptly when several branches suddenly disappeared, leaving her stranded halfway up.“Oops,” the Italian drawled. “Sorry. Meant to aim lower.”Jo looked like she was considering making the leap, so Jack shrugged and conjured a small platform for her to hop onto. “I’ll lower you closer to the ground so you can jump. Neither of us are considered Healers.”“Oh, I dunno,” DiNozzo mused. “That kind of looks like fun.”Another platform appeared next to his as Jo jumped. It was slightly higher and Jo looked back at them for a moment before moving to that one.“We’ve got a few minutes, after all. I say we let her have some fun while she’s up there.”Jack watched as a ring of lights formed before another platform, Jo doing an easy dive through. DiNozzo led her through the next platforms before Jack extended a branch between one jump and the next.Jo cleared it with ease as he knew she would, catching the branch and using it to swing the rest of the way.A grin stretched across his face as he put the next one a little higher, Jo’s whoop of delight drifting down to them as they put her through her paces.“This is good exercise for you,” DiNozzo commented a few minutes later.Jack grinned widely back as Jo had to use some quick thinking acrobatics for the next round.“What?”“… you seem like you’re having just as much fun as she is,” he stuck his hands in his pockets as Jack laughed at Jo’s egging on.“You’re not wrong!”He most certainly wasn’t. Jack couldn’t remember the last time he had so much fun – and in the presence of another Magical, no less!He felt that gaze on him as he put Jo through her paces, his former Deputy making no secret of her enjoyment as her whooping shouts echoed around them.It was one of the best nights he’d had in a long time.Eventually, however, Jo made her way down from the obstacle course and they found themselves so much further from the tent than they’d thought.“That was a ride!” she beamed, out of breath but no doubt ready to go again should Jack give her the signal.“Glad you enjoyed it,” DiNozzo clapped. “Mayor and the girls should be rounding the corner soon, anyway.”Almost as soon as he finished speaking, they heard the sound of running footsteps.“Are you sure it was this way?” Jack recognized Trix’s voice coming closer.“Yeah!” Risky answered, Henry shouting for them to wait for him until it sounded like all three were racing each other toward them.“Hit the brakes!” DiNozzo shouted in warning before the other trio barreled around the corner.And there they were.Trix slowed to a stop, her backpack adjusting with her movements. “Sheriff Carter!”Henry’s face lit up with the widest grin Jack had seen on him in months right before a weight slammed into him.Jack slightly rocked back as arms squeezed around him, immediately folding into himself and around the shaking girl as a muffled sob reached his ear.“I’m sorry,” she cried into his shirt, Jack helpless to do anything other than squeeze her tight. “I’m so, so sorry.”“It’s alright, it’s alright,” he soothed, patting the back of her head as she clung with a ferocity that broke his heart. “I’m alright. We’re okay. Shhh.”He had done the same for Zoe when she was that age, normally as a result of bad dreams instead of the horrific trauma Risky was now saddled with for the rest of her life.A life that had almost been cut short if not for his Magic.All in all, he couldn’t regret how this entire experience had played out if they were both still alive for her to feel so guilty about her role in it.He didn’t know how long they stayed like that, him scrunched around her and her grip unyielding as she poured out what seemed like every emotion she’d bottled up for more than a week into his clothing, and he would’ve kept them there if it hadn’t been for a bright pink hankie being held out to him in his line of sight.He glanced up to see DiNozzo’s slight smile before realizing the wet feeling on his face meant that he’d been shedding tears, too. He nodded his thanks before wiping his cheeks with the offering and pulling away slightly to offer it to Risky.“Sounds like that needed to come out,” he gave a watery laugh as she pried a hand away to take it. “But you really don’t need to apologize. I already forgave you a long time ago.”Risky wiped her eyes and blew her nose, but took a little longer to detach from him. "I'm still sorry," she whispered."You have no reason to be sorry," he reiterated just as quietly, but no less fiercely. He was going to have to work on this with her. It was a bad situation she had managed to find herself in, a less than ideal circumstance to be discovered as Magic, but they were going to have to be careful with practicals for a while. It was only natural that she be reluctant to use her Magic after what happened."Yeah," she heaved a sigh. They listened to Trix as she chattered on about their exciting adventures since they last saw each other before Jack finally nudged her."Thank you, by the way.""For what?" she wiped her eyes again, tilting her head curiously."For turning me into a cat. If you hadn't done that, I don't know if we'd still be here tonight. And Agent DiNozzo wouldn't have been able to help put it all together if he hadn't been here, too."Because when it came down to it, nothing would have happened the way it had happened without her Magic counteracting his."I'm not sure you should be thanking me, but I guess you're welcome.""I hate to break up the moment," Jo lingered just in their space. "But we need to get going.""And word on the street says dinner's just waiting on us," DiNozzo pointed out."Good, because I'm hungry," Trix announced."Me, too," Risky gave a last sniff before nodding."We have dessert ready for you, too," Henry grinned at their delight. "I hear there might be some cookies.""Snickerdoodle?" Trix looked hopefully around at them."Chocolate dipped shortbread, here I come!" Risky cheered."Not if I get there first, kid," Jo smirked."Now them's fightin' words if I ever heard," DiNozzo proclaimed. "Carter, think that's a worthy prize for ... mmm, a tree top race?"Several pairs of eyes widened before darting upward and, sure enough, found some lights anchoring themselves to the underside of a suspended bridge criss-crossing above them."So cool," Jo's voice was full of wonder before excitement took over and she beamed in that not often witnessed, take-no-prisoners pleasure that made it clear how much she was loving it. "Let's go, ladies!""Sheriff Carter?" his eyes dropped back down to see Risky's tilted head. "Why do you look like you never saw Magic before if you have it?"For the first time in a long time, he didn't know what to say."You see, Risky," DiNozzo crouched down with a smile. "The thing about Magic? It should never stop being a surprise. It should never stop being a wonder. That's a basic Life Rule that too many take for granted. Like Science. I bet you'd turn in your lab coat if Science ever stopped being fun and exciting for you, right? There's always a moment before your brain kicks in, when you just stare at the scene in front of you and nothing else matters. Hold onto that moment. Enjoy Science when you can. Enjoy Magic when you can. Remember that, because it will be easy to forget as life takes you down one path and onto another. Let this be your first piece of Magical advice even if you never hear from me again, okay? Sheriff Carter will agree with me, even though he doesn't understand Science. Mayor Deacon will agree with me, even though he does. No matter what side of the curtain you find yourself on, don't let the magic slip away.""And that's the best piece of advice anyone will ever give you," Henry quietly agreed. "Magic or Muggle."Jo nodded as silence fell between them, though she didn't add anything."Well," Jack eventually spoke. "I think we need to get going. If we want those cookies," he added, lightening when Trix and Risky exchanged grins."You heard the man!" Jo told them. "Let's go!""But how do we even - wait for us!" Trix scrambled after the other two as Jo took off, her backpack bouncing against her back with every step."Ah, youth," Henry shook his head as they watched the girls follow Jo up a tree, their pounding footsteps soon heard overhead and fading quickly."So, Jack," Henry started as they ambled their way back to the tent. "I see you were given a clean bill of health."Oh. That's right. He hadn't seen Henry since shortly after he turned back.“Yup,” he spread his arms out to display his lack of serious injury. “Cleared and ready to handle the next thing Eureka decides to throw our way.”“Probably won’t be long before that happens,” Henry looked him over to make sure.“I’m counting on it.”“And Tony, here, will probably appreciate being on the sidelines,” he added with a grin.“If I wasn’t going home tomorrow,” he pointed out. “You know what they say about only sleeping when you’re dead.”“Right,” Henry nodded, a slight frown on his face. “Seems kind of … abrupt.”“Why would it be? I solved Carter’s problem, he’s back and I’m no longer needed here.”“No, I don’t suppose you are.”“What?” Jack tilted his head. “You didn’t think he’d stay for long, did you?”Henry was silent for a long time.Maybe he had.Jack got it, he did.After the week they’d had and the bonding they’d done, it was easy to forget that they weren’t meant to have DiNozzo for much longer than the length of Jack’s case. And they all liked him, so it was easy to bury the future goodbyes in favor of enjoying the time they did have.They all got attached too easily and had a habit of brushing off the hurts when it came down to it. No matter what Jack had gone through, his group had gone through more with DiNozzo in such a short amount of time.Of course they would be attached – and Jack didn’t blame them.People usually formed attachments during high stress situations, especially when the only one available to help them was an outsider Magical.Of course they would forget that their outsider had a limited timeframe, since they’d barely had time to remember to sit down over the past week with everything else going on around them.No matter how else he felt, he did feel sorry that the Italian had to leave so soon without another adventure to wrap everything up, but maybe anticlimactic was for the best.And, besides.It wasn’t like Jack was absolutely paranoid enough to keep anyone from further contact with the guy.After all, if he could trust the other with - …...…“Wait a second,” Jack whirled around on the Italian. “You let me suspend her in mid-air on my own?!”“Well, yeah,” he shrugged. “Get you back in the rhythm of it. I was right there, anyway, and you didn’t even falter once you took over. I knew she was in good hands.” He sputtered, horrified and slightly impressed with how easily he’d been made to use cooped up Magic to create an obstacle course for Jo. “I could have dropped her!”“And I would have caught her if you had, but you didn’t so I wouldn’t worry.”“It’s the principle of the matter! Come back here!”* **
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
All in all, dinner was a success.Not that it came as a surprise.Jack suspected the lack of rapidfire questions came only from the uncertainty of what words to even use. He doubted they even knew what ideas they could ask about, there was so much to think and consider.Plus, the food was amazing so everyone had barely looked up from their plates until only scraps remained."So!" Grace beamed over them all once a variety of cookies settled in front of them across the tent's sitting area. "What do you think about Magic so far?""We can't wait to get started!" Risky answered. "There's so many things we can learn!""I think I'm jealous," Zane huffed a sigh, lazily munching on a sugar cookie. "You can learn to do all these cool things.""I'm glad there's only a few of us able to do it," Jo retorted, breaking pieces of oatmeal cookie and dropping them in her mouth every once in a while. "Less trouble for me to deal with.""Ah, c'mon, JoJo. Don't you wish you could, though?""There are some benefits," she allowed, "but I'm content to leave it to the professionals."“Sheriff Carter?” Trix suddenly spoke.“Hm?” he glanced up at her frown.“You can do Magic, right? And yet you’re doing clean up by hand.”“Ah,” Henry immediately jumped in. “That would mostly be due to his history with the Statute of Secrecy, which I'm sure you'll be learning about soon. And he’s employed by the Federal Government – most of whom do not know about Magic. So, he’s been understandably reluctant to perform magic where we can see him and it’s only been over the last week that we’ve finally started to break down that barrier with him. He still has that mindset and it’s not at all as easy to break as you might think it is.”“Right,” Jack agreed, deciding it was too early to get into Blood Status and all the trials and tribulations that came with being Muggleborn. Let the girls enjoy the wonder for a while before the reality intruded. “Habit.”"Not a bad idea to stay grounded, though," DiNozzo pointed out. "The ability to play both sides just opens even more doors for opportunity.""What kind of opportunity?" Holly wanted to know.Jack felt no guilt leaving them to it, moving around the furniture with his armload and dropping everything next to the sink.He heaved a deep sigh and got to work, filling the sink and letting his thoughts wander as he got to work.Laughter and excited chatter cut through his bubble of silence and he glanced over his shoulder to see DiNozzo at the table, absently scribbling on a random piece of paper as he kept track of the others. The brunet had no doubt left the conversation to the others so that Carter's friends could steer the excited young Witches, sharing in the excitement without feeling left out.And it didn't escape his notice that the other had firmly put himself in the blond's line of sight where all it took to see him was a second's glimpse over his shoulder.Here, in this space, DiNozzo had made sure that Jack didn't see him as an outsider - a threat - and just the fact that the other was even attempting to put him at ease said a lot about him. This was a safe space for all of them, non-judgmental and accepting. As far as magical places went, it was a welcome novelty he'd seldom found at his benefit. And it was one he hadn't made an effort to create, which made this tent even more special.Another burst of laughter drew his attention to the rest of the tent's inhabitants and he couldn't help the smile that cracked his face as he turned back to the dishes, a cascade of positive emotions flooding through him.Now that his friends knew more about Magic and what he himself had to go through, relief was overpowering everything else. Knowing they still accepted him was a huge weight off his shoulders, a slight excitement churning in his stomach with the added realization that he had two young Magicals under his wing, now.Granted, they were both girls, but Magic.He wasn’t alone anymore!And with the added security of Tony and now Wednesday - and who knew who else would come in the future -, he felt like he could take on the world.He wasn’t alone, he had Magical support, and the concept was novel and – and awesome.He could breathe knowing his two worlds were slowly but surely weaving themselves closer together and that was all he’d ever wanted.He still couldn’t shake the Statute, though, but everyone was going to be in this for the long haul with the patience and dedication they usually used with Science.… which kind of made him feel more like a Science experiment looking at it that way, but whatever.The sheer delight of his changed circumstances made his Magic tingle under his skin and he waved a hand at the dishes with a grin.A sound of wonder made him half-turn, Risky and Trix watching the dishes with identical wide eyes as Zane watched over their heads.“But – you didn’t – ,” Trix lost her train of thought as a line of spoons did a flyby in perfect single file.“How are you doing that without your wand?” Risky managed, a giddy grin on her face as a clean and dry plate held itself up for her inspection.“Wandless Magic,” Zane offered. “Not all Magic needs a wand.”“Can we learn how to do that, too?” one echoed after the other as their gazes finally landed back around on Jack, already wanting to dive right into their new world.“In time,” Jack smiled widely at them. “You have a lot of other things to learn, first.”“Like what?” Trix wanted to know.“Well, once you start learning how to fly on a broomstick –”“You mean we get to fly on a broomstick?!”“But I thought that was just Halloween stories about Witches!”“And we still haven’t got around to Owl Post,” Tony added rom the table with a grin.“Owls? As in actual owls? We get one?”“Before or after we get wands? Oh! Can we get to shift into animals, too?”“I don’t know, that looked like it hurt.”“But think of how fun it could be! We can follow Dr. Taggart on his field missions and we can help Sheriff Carter when he’s a cat and –”“And get stuck as our animal. Remember, it was you that got him stuck as a cat in the first place!”“Well, I didn’t know how Magic worked when I did and we actually have a name for it now so whatever! And if I hadn’t turned Sheriff Carter into a cat, we wouldn’t be where we are today! Besides, if there’s not a way to prevent being stuck as our Shift animal, then we’ll just have to be the first ones to find it!”“We don’t even know how to Shift in the first place. It might be really hard and complicated.”“Like that’s ever stopped anyone before.”Jack could already tell he was going to have his hands full with these two, Jo's wry smile flashing over to him with agreement.He couldn’t wait to get started.“I see we’re bonding over the basics,” Grace drawled as she stepped up to the tea pot."To say the least," Jo noted. "I'm not sure how I feel about Magical eggheads, but I won't be the only one on the clock.""No, you won't," the Italian agreed. "Not if you play your cards right in the weeks ahead.""That's a tall order from this crew. The deck is likely to end up scattered to the four winds by the end of the week.""As I said."A section of music suddenly cut through and Trix startled slightly."Oh," she dug into her pocket for her phone. "That's Mom. We have to take some readings before we head home.""It is getting to be that time," Grace sighed."But this has been so much fun," Risky wrinkled her nose. "I don't want it to end now.""It's not the end," Allison shook her head. "It's the beginning of the next chapter of your lives. There will always be that initial excitement running in the back of your mind with every first introduction to anything. And you're going to look back on this and feel so incredibly lucky that it happened to you the way it did, because not everyone will have been fortunate enough to experience it like you.""I'd like to point out that we weren't fortunate enough to experience it like them, either," Fargo raised a hand. He had a good point. "Well, you have to admit, it was still fun," Grace lifted a shoulder."And with any luck at all," DiNozzo stood and stretched. "The fun will only continue from here on out. I'll take you back."“What they mean is, the Sheriff’s not going anywhere,” Holly assured the girls, “and Magic’s not going anywhere, either. So, the next thing to think about is if you can balance Science and Magic, right? You might have to wait on Magic, but Science is always there for you in the meantime."“But we’d like to start on Magic as soon as you can find the time,” Trix earnestly added, Risky nodding in enthusiastic agreement."All in due time," Henry sipped on his tea, with the wisdom and experience that crossed Muggle and Magical lines. "All in due time."** It was getting late.Carter still couldn’t get over the ear pieces Tony rigged up, a comforting silence in his ear that he knew Jo was listening to near the kitchen. Maybe he’d start coming up with ideas around Muggle tech, because Merlin knew he could easily get his hands on it.“Where’s Agent DiNozzo?” Allison suddenly looked around. "He hasn't come back, yet, from dropping off the girls. "“Doing a perimeter flight,” Jo answered from her sprawl, astonishing Carter yet again that they could discuss Magic like it was literally just something they witnessed on the regular. Like this was part of their normal lives.Like it was just another day.A welling of emotion rose up in his throat and he took a drink of cool water to force it back down, though Henry noticed the motion from the corner of his eye and spared him a warm smile.Maybe to everyone else, it was just another day.The town had been threatened like usual, lives endangered like usual, the problem solved like usual, they were spending time in a Magical tent - like it was a usual occurrence.To think Carter had thought he wouldn’t ever get to have this.It probably wouldn’t sink in for a while yet.“Think we should check to make sure the lad’s alright?” Tag questioned from his pile of books on Magical Creatures, the fluffy camouflage blanket draped over his head and shoulders giving the illusion that he himself was a Creature at rest.“He’s fine,” Holly waved an unconcerned hand. “If he’s managed to keep us all alive thus far, he can certainly handle himself.”“Maybe we should be sure,” Allison shifted uncomfortably, her eyes moving to the hallway. “We have to return him tomorrow, you know. In one piece.”Well, she wasn’t wrong. If it made her feel better …“I guess there’s no harm in taking a quick look outside,” Jack agreeably levered himself up and gave a stretch. “C’mon. I’ll go with you.”She wasted no time in standing and almost bolting out of the main room, into the small hallway branching off it. Jack ambled after her, doing a cursory check of the others still absorbed in their own worlds as he went.They left the tent behind and wandered from the entrance, still safe within the clearing that held it. The clear night sparkled both above and around them, faerie lights letting themselves drift in the breeze and giving the illusion that some of the stars had come to play on Earth.Tony’s work. It probably wouldn’t be long until the Italian came back if he’d left the lights on.Jack breathed in, feeling a slight disconnect as he noted the absence of both whiskers and a heightened, nuanced sense of smell. He hadn’t Shifted in a while, but old memories made him smile as they resurfaced.Next to him, Allison also breathed in, turning her head up to watch the stars. The lights floating around them gave her an otherworldly air, Jack tilting his head slightly to watch her and burn this moment into his memories along with the rest of this incredible day.“I’m sorry,” her quiet words drifted to him, though Jack didn’t know who or what she was apologizing to. “I’m sorry for … a lot of things.”“I know,” he answered just as quietly. He wasn’t going to tell her it was okay, because she had to come to that conclusion on her own, but he wasn’t going to let her think she was alone.He understood.Allison was honestly just like the rest of them. All of them genius level, running their fields of passion, but there was one thing that united them across IQ lines:Guilt.Responsibility.An overwhelming sense of both that no one could talk them out of.An inner absolution that only they could find.They accepted comfort to a degree, but it would always be in the back of their minds as time passed.Jack had first-hand experience of that, Nathan Stark a constant reminder even years later.He supposed this would be Allison’s version, Strutger standing in for Stark due to things beyond her control that had been sparked by the most innocent of intentions.Like Henry.Like Zane.Like Jo, but Carter wasn’t sure he wanted to know that story.Even like Stark when he’d still been alive.Each and every one of them had something they regretted more than anything else and only they themselves could bring peace to their inner storm.Still, it helped to know that someone was there, too. At least for the silent company.Jack didn’t even know what he could say right now. He didn’t lay blame on her shoulders.He couldn’t.“I’m sorry,” she repeated, heaving a sigh. “Sorry for not seeing all the variables, sorry for not being the kind of friend I should be, sorry for … I’m sorry for your loss,” she suddenly realized. “He was your friend, too.”“Not the first I’ve lost,” he murmured in response. “Won’t be the last.”And wasn’t that the kicker.Survivor’s Guilt was an old friend, too, his Magic just as unable to keep it at bay as the strongest of Muggles.Just another thing he had to come to terms with at some unexpected point in the future, something else to pile on.A way of life that all of them had to live with.“I’m sorry you couldn’t attend the funeral,” she quietly continued. “We did end up taping it.”He knew the procedure, grieve first and closure later. He was lucky in that he didn’t have to push them both back as often anymore.“I’ll ask for it later,” he did promise that. He would watch it with SARAH, curled up as Marshal in a blanket nest, purring to himself as a form of self-comfort, then SARAH would call up one of the others so he could purr on them and it would take time.He would talk with Risky and Ethan and Hern and it would take time.Because everything took time.“We’re all here for you,” she told him, holding his gaze. “In case you want to talk.”“Thank you,” he nodded slowly.They stood there as minutes ticked by and a movement in the tree line drew his eye to the incoming lights guiding the meandering figure making his way to them.“You didn’t fly?” Allison called out once Tony got close.“Nah,” he yawned. “Figured I should quit before I end up off the broom one way or another. Might be time to turn in for me, I think. Carter, you should probably think about doing the same. It’s especially been a long week for you.”“I don’t feel tired,” he protested, Allison straightening beside him at the reminder. “Really.”“You’re going to as soon as you lay down,” Tony warned. “One second you’ll be explaining Quidditch to Lupo and the next, that’s all she wrote.”“Sports, right?” she smiled at their nods. “Do you play, Agent?”“Eh. Not bad as a Seeker,” he gave a modest shrug.“I’m glad I never got into it,” Jack wrinkled his nose. “Staying in the air is as far as I can go. Then you have everything else flying toward you and around you.”“You poor, Grounded soul.”“I’ll live.”The three of them made their way back into the tent, the others looking up at their arrival.“There you are, lad!” Tag beamed, quickly stuffing a stray leaf into his book to mark his place. “Thought we’d have to call out the cavalry!”“Not going down without a fight, yet,” Tony yawned again, dropping into a chair. “Might fall asleep first, though.”“I hear you,” Zane rubbed his eyes. “Time to wrap this up and relax for the first time since the first explosion.”“Until the next,” Henry raised his tea cup in a toast, amused smile curling his lips.“Don’t tempt the universe,” Tony scowled, pointing a threatening finger. “I’m warning you.”“You won’t be here long enough to get involved in the next adventure,” Grace pointed out from the table.“Plus, I think we got it from here,” Jo assured. “Now that we have Carter back, we can handle the next alarm ourselves again.”“My sympathies,” Tony drawled.“It is good to have you back, Sheriff,” Tag swept him into yet another rib crunching hug. “We were all worried about you.”“It seemed like you were in good hands the whole time,” Jack shot a smile at the Italian in the corner. “Actually, I was just thinking that next time I need a vacation, I can just Shift back again and hide out.”“Hopefully the town won’t fall to pieces,” Tony deadpanned, “if it doesn’t blow up first.”“I’d take offense to that if I didn’t live here,” Henry chuckled. “Jack does seem to have a talent for seeing the forest for the trees.”“One of a kind, our mate,” Tag smiled with a watery sniff.“Ah, I don’t know about that,” Jack reached up to squeeze a shoulder.“So modest, too,” Grace smiled slightly."You know it."They did a chain of yawns before Jack shook his head. "That's it. All of us to bed. It's too late and we still don't know what awaits us tomorrow.""Right. Early to bed, early to rise and all," Henry nodded, but didn't move. "Sure," Zane agreed.Jack blinked around when no one made any move to get up.“But before we do anything else,” Holly cleared her throat, glancing at Fargo. “Take a seat at the table. We ... have business to discuss.”“Oh?” Tony raised a brow as if playing along. “And what sort of business would this be?”Once settled at the table, the Muggles all looked at each other.“What?” Jack frowned, the lack of noise putting his hackles up.Allison pressed her lips together before eventually producing a manila folder and setting it on the table in front of her.“Technically, this wasn’t actually our idea,” she opened, “but Risky made a very good point and I think we’re all a little upset that we didn’t think about it ourselves.”Jack’s brows furrowed as he looked around at everyone, who stared back almost apprehensively. “… yes?”Fargo swallowed before reaching for the folder and sliding it forward. “Here. Tell us … what you think.”Looking from one side of the table to the other – with no help from Tony’s odd expression -, Jack let his gaze fall on the folder in front of him.The word APPROVED was stamped right on the front cover in green ink.Curious now, he opened the folder and realized it was several pages thick, the first proclaiming, CLEARANCE LEVEL 13.And the page after that …Well.His mind blanked.It was a formal, typed Project Application – one that had been approved by Director Douglas Fargo himself.
Status: APPROVED
Project Name: MUGGLEBORN ADVISEMENT GROUP – INCLUDING CIVILIANS (M.A.G.I.C)
Purpose: To provide guidance to specific, highly vetted individuals regarding Special Talents and correct use thereof. Utilizing available pre-existing materials, the Project aims to allow those with Special Talents and knowledge of them to gather and share data for the benefit of said individuals for further study and practical use.
Project Lead: Sheriff Jonathon ‘Jack’ Carter
In Association with: Ms. Wednesday Chatham and Agent Anthony ‘Tony’ DiNozzo, Jr.;
Global Dynamics.
The section of approved personnel was blank aside from Jack and Wednesday.The following pages were Project Personnel Applications, written and signed by each and every one of his friends.The last two were Internship Applications signed by Risky Covington and Trixie Armen.Oh.God.He was having trouble swallowing as his vision blurred.Never in a million years had he …Jack Carter wasn’t a Scientist, but by Merlin he knew exactly what he was looking at.Full and total control of information.The ability to rescind clearance to anyone who became a threat.And his friends –Even knowing as much as they did, they were willing to go through the application process like they weren’t already in charge of multiple projects themselves at any given time.Even Fargo was applying for the very Project he approved – and he was The Director of Global Dynamics.These people, the Genius Level IQs who had control issues – who couldn’t stand not knowing things – and had no problems speaking their minds with varying levels of social awareness.The ones among the best of their fields, with several published papers, books and other world changing accomplishments under their belts.They were sat before him today, solemn and nervous as if they were the very Interns they used to be – hoping with everything that they would be picked for their Project of choice.What …What could he say to that?He was …God, ‘overwhelmed’ wasn’t even remotely the right word for what he was feeling.“I think we broke him.”“Fargo.”“What? Look at him! Normally, he would be making some kind of –”“Just give him a minute. It’s a lot to process.”“How is this a lot to process?”“Look, Fargo, we get that you deal with this all day every day –”“I think I’ve forgotten,” Henry’s quiet words brought Fargo, Jo and Zane to a halt.“Forgotten what, Henry?” Tag asked.“What it’s like to passionately want a Project with everything you have and asking every deity out there to make it happen. And then – by a ridiculous alignment of incredibly timed factors – you get it.”Was that really what Scientists felt?For probably the very first time, he could confidently say that he could wholeheartedly relate.“You know, that makes a lot of sense,” Tony mused. “I’ve noticed you guys really throw your hearts into things.”“We really do,” Allison agreed.“It explains a lot, actually.”“Like what?”“ … like all the incident reports Andy’s collected in the last two hours alone.”“Alright, so we might need to balance passion with sense.”“I’m just saying.”“Wait a second,” Fargo squinted suspiciously. “How did you know about Andy’s activities?”“… Magic.”The deadpan delivery had them all laughing, Jack wiping his eyes as he chuckled.“So that’s gonna be a thing,” Zane snickered.“Guess so,” Jack agreed.“Well?” Holly perked up. “What do you think, Carter?”“I think,” he mused nonchalantly as he tapped the folder back to order. “I have some applications to review and some cross-referencing to get done.”They cheered, Tony clapping and setting off glitter sparks.“When should we expect to be called in for interviews?” Fargo questioned once they calmed, absently brushing glitter from his glasses.“Not for at least two weeks. I spent the last week as a cat, remember? I’m so behind. Jo, though, is an automatic shoe-in.”“What! Let me see that application!”“My eyes only, remember?” he grinned, keeping it away from Fargo’s demanding hand and complaints of favoritism.But the stunned look on Jo’s face was totally worth it.As was the approving look on Tony’s.Jo had more than earned a place with his Project, both of them sorely missing the camaraderie they had as Sheriff and Deputy and that feeling of ‘partner’ who had the other’s back.And while he technically didn’t need another Magical’s approval, well.It wasn’t such a bad thing to have.* **