Cozza's Puppets (ex_animus323) wrote in regulation, @ 2008-07-31 21:46:00 |
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Entry tags: | finn mcgill, ford williams, kadyriath, new moon rising |
Who: Ford Williams, Finn McGill, Kadyriath
What: A scouting mission
Where: Near the Ministry of Magic's street entrance
When: Around quitting time, evening, 31th July
Rating: PG
Status: Closed;Complete
Fred was so over being babied at this point that when Ford said he was running up to the house to take care of some stuff and taking Finn as backup she didn't argue. She even let Ky, her permanent teddy bear, go without a fight. Ford had given some lame excuse for him coming along like him really liking to stick his head out the window of the car when it was going fast. In his defence, it was the first thing he thought of. They weren't going to Stapleford Abbotts, though. They were going to London because Ky had told Ford Monday night that he could probably identify the people who had been doing things to Fred if he saw them. They had staked out the Ministry's phone booth the previous day from eleven in the morning until three in the afternoon but apparently these people didn't go out to lunch so they were trying again and hoping to catch them leaving. Ford prayed they didn't apparate or do that fireplace thing. How would they track them then? The three of them sat at a cafe table a little ways down the street from the Ministry entrance with a clear view of the phonebooth. "Hey I think I see someone," he was obviously hopeful as he said it. People didn't appear often and so far no one was familiar to Ky.
Finn sat up straighter and looked toward the phonebooth. It did seem to be a person, though whether it was one of the ones they were interested in or not remained to be seen. She hoped it was. The waiting was making her restless, especially since the waiting was for something as big as it was. Someone had to pay, and this was a case where the law was wrong and legal methods weren't an option. Eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Sometimes she really did prefer the Old Testament. "Recognize 'em, Ky?" she asked.
By now Ky was beginning to feel useless. He had told Ford he could help but so far they'd come up with nothing. What if some of the people had been the ones to do what they did to Fred but he didn't really remember? He was starting to give up hope until attention was drawn back to the phone booth. He straightened in his seat, leaning forward a bit and peering at the person, trying to make sure he got a good look. It was a woman, serious-looking with her eyebrows furrowed and her lips twisted into a slight frown. He almost jumped up, a ripple of excitement and renewed hope going through him. He knew her. She was one of the ones in Everrett's dream, holding some bloody, shiny instrument. "She's one of them," he said in a hushed whisper, glancing from Ford to Finn then back at the woman. "I remember her."
Ford watched the indicated woman with narrowed eyes. If he was his brother he'd have been growling but Ford had gotten much better at playing human than any of his siblings ever had. "You're sure?" Ford glanced at Finn, then to Ky and back to the woman walking down the street. "Finn, follow her? Get her scent and follow her wherever she's going. If we're lucky she'll lead us somewhere that can lead us to her house. I don't care if she sees you, it's not like she'll know who you are and by time she sees you again..." he shrugged. Then she'd never see Finn ever again after that. Ford's bloodthirsty urge to maim had only gotten worse with the passage of the days, not better. Someone had to pay for what they'd done to his sister.
Finned nodded, jaw clenching tightly as she stood up to follow the woman. She slipped in behind her, close enough to keep up with her easily, but far enough away so that she seemed just like any other pedestrian. She inhaled deeply as she walked, eyes narrowing at the woman's back as Finn sorted out the smells of the city and focused on the woman's scent. Just how had this woman managed to treat a life, a sentient being with a body no different from hers to the eye, like that? Not human. Humans had used that excuse against each other often enough.
Ky had nodded his affirmation, unable to look away from the woman as long as she was in sight. Now that he saw her, bits that he hadn't really grasped before were right there under the surface, the blood on her hands, her coat. There had only been one other with blood on their hands--the other faces he saw he couldn't remember, just these two. Once Finn left, he relaxed back in his seat, kicking his feet slightly like a small child before glancing at Ford. "What's going to happen to them?" he asked quietly, tentatively, as though he was afraid of the answer. And in a way--he was. He wanted them to pay somehow for what they did to Fred, but he wasn't sure just how much was owed.
Ford had tracked the woman until she and Finn had slipped out of sight as well. His eyes lingered on the spot where they were last visible for a while, not moving back to Ky until he spoke. Ford shrugged a little, not sure if the bloke really wanted to know the answer to his question. "Aequitas," was the answer he gave after a long silence. Equity was the justice of action or forbidding action. It was about repaying what you owed a person, not the value to make up for your actions but the actions themselves. They couldn't unhurt Fred, but they could suffer the same hurt. Maybe equity and an eye for an eye wasn't the same thing, but as far as Ford was concerned equity here was just that.
Finn followed the woman until the woman stopped in front of a house. Finn glanced at the name of the street and the number of the house. She'd write it down when she could, but it wouldn't be hard to remember. Barely suppressing the urge to growl, Finn retraced her steps to the cafe. "Got her," she said as she sat down in her seat. She scribbled the address down on a napkin and showed it to Ford. "It's not far." And from the looks of it it wouldn't be too hard to get inside, either.
Ky just nodded, letting the silence settle in. Aequitas didn't tell him too much more than what he thought before but perhaps it was another situation where knowing the answer was worse than not knowing. He turned his attention back to the phonebooth, watching as a couple more people came and went before Finn returned. "I remember one other," he said after a moment.
Glancing at the napkin, Ford nodded with a small, smug smirk on his face. He didn't ask anything about the place yet because he didn't want Ky in this deeper than the kid wanted to be in. He'd save his sensibilities if that's what Ky wanted. Turning his attention to the bloke in question, Ford nodded toward the people filing out of the booth appeared. "See them in there at all?"
Finn tucked the napkin into her pocket and turned her attention back to the booth. She rubbed the back of her neck and tilted her head to one side. She hoped Ky would spot the other one. It would very annoying if that one had happened to not go in to work that day.
Chewing his lip, Ky watched as people walked past, each one drawing his stare and accompanied by a small shake of his head. By the time the other figure did emerge, his lip was red from where his teeth pressed into it. When the man came out though, he started pointing before dropping his hands to his lap. "That one. I'm sure of it," he said with a note of finality. And just being able to point him out made it feel like a small weight was lifted, though it was paired with a slightly uneasy feeling as well.
Instead of speaking Ford just looked at Finn. His eyes flicked to the man Ky had indicated, telling her to follow him. "Thanks, mate. I appreciate it." They had faces. They were people. It was less reassuring than when they'd been abstract enemies. Now that they were people, now that they were definite Ford's mind had gone the only place it had wanted to go for days. He went from worrying about finding them to considering what would hurt the most. What would make them scream loudest.
Finn didn't speak either. She slipped out of her seat and followed the man just as she had followed the woman. She memorized his scent, memorized his build, his step. She wondered just how much it would take to break him. Much less than what they'd thought would break Fred, that was certain. But they had to do it right. Do it carefully. She'd promised the boss man no trails, after all.
"Of course," Ky murmured softly, he kicked his feet again. He no longer had to watch the people but turned his gaze back to Ford. He studied the other for a moment, unable to know what he was thinking. His gaze was filled with unanswered questions but he dropped it quickly enough. "I'd do anything to help Fred."
Ford nodded slowly. "I think we all would, as much as it pains her to realise. There's a reason we don't tell her stuff like that. She gets...tetchy. Even if she understands why. Besides, we're not asking you to do anything more than you've done. There's no reason for you to." If Ky wanted to volunteer then fine, but Ford didn't need blood on everyone's hands.
Finn almost could not believe her good fortune when the man reached his house. Just like the woman's, it wasn't all that far from the Ministry phonebooth. Good news for Finn and Ford, bad for the Unspeakables. They'd probably wish they'd lived somewhere else before it was all over. If they even thought about that. She wrote the address on the napkin and jogged back to the table. "Not far for this one either. They seem to like being close to their work."
Ky chewed his lip again before looking back at Ford and giving his own nod. "Then, I can stay with Fred while you handle the aequitas." He could at least prove a distraction for her, or a comfort while they were off doing whatever it was they needed to. Because there was something telling him not to pursue the answer to his current questions, but to let them stay unknown for now.
"Yeah. Nothing's happening tonight anyway. But it'd be good if you were with her." Fred didn't have the greatest attention span under normal circumstances, Ford doubted she'd notice Finn and his absence if she had Ky, Trent and Nate all there to occupy her attention. "Real workaholics, eh?" Ford raised an eyebrow at Finn. "I can see how rapt it must keep them." What with all the torturing of people.
"Aye. Very hands on, both of 'em." Finn nodded. And there so many things one could do to a hand to cause pain. Same could be said of the rest of the body, too. She took a deep breath. "But yeah, Ky. It'll be good for you to be with her. She'll like having you around," she said, smiling softly at him.
Ky gave a slight smile back, looking more like a kid now than he ever had with them. Before he always had the excitement and energy that made him seem bigger somehow. But right now he sat reserved and concerned and sad--a whole slew of emotions mixed up in one. He kicked his feet out again. "Okay."
"Finn, you're sure you've got those addresses right?" And the scents, but he didn't need to ask her about that. Ford had memorised both people already. He was sure he wouldn't be able to get them out of his head even if he tried to. "We should probably head back down to Mum and Dad's before they wonder where we are and then Fred wonders where her personal teddy bear went." He was going to say human teddy bear out of habit, but that wasn't exactly applicable.
"Aye, I'm sure. And I remember what the houses look like, as well." Finn stretched and ran a hand through her hair. "And we'd better, yes. Can't have Fred missing her teddy bear." She grinned at Ky again and reached out to give his shoulder a squeeze. "Thank you. Both for this and for helping us get Fred back."
Ky shrugged slightly, giving a stronger smile this time around. "There's nothing to thank me for," he murmured. They had Fred back and she was safe now--of course, in the process he had managed to learn things about his boyfriend he would have rather not know but it was too late to do anything about it. He had to look at the good. "And yeah, let's go back. I need more snuggle time."
Ford stood and stretched languidly. Then he dug around in his pocket for his car keys. "I wonder if mum will kill us if we smuggle Fred something solid? Y'know, cut it up into tiny, tiny pieces first and slip it to her when mum's not looking. Eh, no, she'd maim me. Alright you lot, let's get back." He nodded in the direction of the car.
Finn chuckled and stood up. "I like being alive, yeah. But once she's back to solid food we'll get her something extra special to celebrate." She really looked forward to that time, since Fred's food did not look at all appetizing and tended to gross her out a bit if she accidentally saw it. She slid into the car and gave herself a mental pat on the back for what they'd accomplished today.
Ky clamoured into the backseat, ready to put the window down as soon as they started moving. Because while Ford had given the lame excuse--it wasn't entirely untrue. "Something really special," he said with a smile, clicking in his seat belt and turning his face to the open window. "Because she deserves it."