FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 34: Cougar Attack

Nathanial had woke up the next morning, early again, and went over to Geoff's to spend some quality time with him. He'd just got home when he noticed his brothers and father were up and searching around the house for something. He walked out of his room, confused, and stopped Garret, "Hey, Dad, what're you guys doing?" Garret obviously had woken up not long ago, he was just wearing a pair of tight briefs and his fur was sticking up at odd angles.

Garret gave a bit of a start and spun around, "Where the hells did you go!? We've been looking for you for almost ten minutes! Micah went to talk to you and you weren't in your room, or any where else in the basement. Your phone and clothes were all here, so we didn't think you'd left. So, where were you?" His voice had dropped to just slightly louder than conversational by the end, but he was still angry.

Nathanial felt a little sorry, but he still felt confused, "I was over at Geoff's. I didn't even think I'd need to bring my phone, and since I was going over to, um, see him, I didn't get dressed. Sorry if I worried you guys."

Garret hit the intercom, "Guys, he's down here." He let the button go, "Didn't get dressed? You walked over to his house naked? Your keys were here and all the doors were locked, including the back door, so how the hells did you get there?"

Nathanial blushed, "Uh, no, I didn't walk. I opened a portal, of course." He was feeling a little annoyed, "If your so curious, I woke up with a huge hard on, opened a portal, woke my boyfriend up by giving him a blow job, got him hard again by rimming him..."

Garret snarled and shouted, "Enough! I don't want to hear about your sexual escapades! You're grounded!"

Nathanial didn't catch his dogs in time and one of them slipped through the planar barrier and into the basement. It was his 'hound', he really needed to name them, this one at the very least showed up enough that he deserved it. "Stay, um, Snow." He was playing Final Fantasy XIII, and it was the first name that popped in his head, "He's pissing me off, not threatening me."

That got Garret's attention, he looked around the basement a bit nervously, "Who're you talking to, now, boy?"

Nathanial took a deep breath and tried to remain calm, "My hound, the alpha of my pack, I think. He's the biggest, at least, and the one that shows up the most often. He's showing up uninvited a lot, like now. And, no, I'm not grounded. I didn't do anything dangerous, and while I'm tolerating you, I don't acknowledge your authority over me or my brothers, yet. You're still on probation, Garret. If you want, we can negotiate a set of rules and the punishments for breaking them later."

"Proba...!" Garret cut himself off with difficulty. He was quivering in fury, but trying very hard to restrain himself. It actually made it easier for Nathanial to keep calm, on the outside at least. Garret lowered his voice, "You've got to be fucking with me! Probation, and negotiate the rules for my house?!"

Or not. Nathanial's temper flared and he hissed, "Yes, probation! Do you think I'd honestly let you waltz in here after being gone for most of our lives, all of Micah's life, and trust you? Trust you in any fashion, let alone in being a fair and competent father?! Not bloody likely. I don't answer to you, Garret. Out of courtesy, I'll leave a note if I go over to Geoff's like this, again, which is more than likely." He spun to Snow, who was pacing and growling, "Shut up, Snow! I can handle this! I told you, there's no threat." Snow seemed to glare at him but lay down and kept quiet as he stared at Garret. "Now, I'm going to fix you breakfast, I've already had a quick shower with Geoff, so I'll get that done while the pups get ready. Then I'm going over to Geoff's to work out before school." His next words dripped with sarcasm, "If that meet's with your approval."

Garret seemed unable to talk, he just snarled and stormed upstairs, pushing past Micah and Nicholas. They were crouched on the stairs, obviously scared as they had listened to the argument. Nathanial glanced back at Snow and noticed that his eyes hadn't moved. He hadn't been watching Garret after all, he was watching Nathanial's brothers. Nathanial felt a shiver of fear out of concern for his little brothers, but it was consumed by blinding rage. Snow seemed to notice it right away and quickly slipped back into the darkness and his home. Nathanial was tempted to chase him down, but his rational mind began to retake control; Snow was just watching them, not threatening them. Nathanial just stood there and took slow, deep breaths. Eventually Nicholas crept down the stairs and poked his head into the basement, "Um, Nats? Ah, Nathanial, sir, I, um, just need the washroom, okay?"

Nathanial sighed, "I'm not mad at you Nicholas," he raised his voice slightly as Nicholas dashed past him into the washroom, "Or you, Micah. He had some valid points, he just worded them poorly. And pushed it too far. I'll apologize to him later. I'm sorry for scaring you two, we shouldn't fight like that around you, and we shouldn't drag you into it, even peripherally. Micah, since Garret's awake you can stay here until you leave for school, if you want. I'll fix you breakfast when I make Garret's. What do you two want for lunch? There are enough leftovers, if you want those."

Nicholas flushed the toilet, "I'll have the leftovers. I like working out with them, but it'd be a lot easier if we had a gym here."

"Yeah, I like working out with them, too, but it's too many people trying to work out in a small area. They only planned on two people working out at once, not four. You can try talking to Dad, he works out a lot, too. He might like having a gym here, since he's around more often. There are several rooms that could easily be converted, especially the store room in the basement. We could even make it big enough that our friends could come over to work out in the mornings."

Nicholas nodded, "Speaking of friends, I'll be late getting home this afternoon. A bunch of us are going to go hang out at that diner by my school for an hour or so." He wandered over to his room and began to get dressed.

Nathanial felt a little surprised, Nicholas mentioned some people from school on occasion, not nearly as often as previous years, but he'd never thought much of him having friends. He always seemed happy just hanging around here. "Oh, sure. Not a problem. Just let someone know where you are. Geoff has soccer practice after school, so I don't have Kung Fu, but I may go train a little. I could use it, just to try to keep up with them. What are you going to do Mike? You're old enough to be left alone for an hour or so, I won't be any later than five. I won't have my phone on me, though. You can call Dad or the office at the Kwoon, if there's a problem."

Micah looked a little disappointed but smiled, "I'll think of something. I might go talk to granddad or wander around. I can go play at the park, too. Oh! I know! I'll go see that bookstore again! Then I can catch the bus back with you!"

"Downtown? By yourself? Come on, Micah, I can't let you go that far by yourself!" Nathanial felt worried, but couldn't think of a valid reason not to let him. If anyone did something Micah didn't like a simple Charm would solve the problem. He was also less likely to run into a Hunter downtown than on the route home from school. "Well, not today. We'll go over the bus routes when I get home and make sure you know the way. Then you can get the bus and meet up with us at the Mumford terminal; we can go the rest of the way together and we can bring you home after. I should be able to check in on you easily enough if you stay in the downtown core. I think. Just remember that if someone is causing problems, a subtle Charm should keep you safe, but use magic only if there's trouble."

Nicholas poked his head out of his room and frowned, "You never let me go that far from home when I was his age."

Nathanial just smiled, "I never let me go that far when I was your age, Nick. Mom would have killed me if any of us went that far away. I trust you guys, and both of you are better at Charms than I am, which is the easiest and safest way to protect yourself. As long as I know where you are going, and what you're doing, I can be convinced to let you go. Just don't be surprised if I worry about you." He walked over and wrapped his arm around Nick, "I love you guys; I want to make sure you're happy and safe."

Nicholas blushed a bit, "Yeah, yeah. Weren't you going to make breakfast?"

"Oh, yeah! Right." He began to run upstairs.

"Oy!" Nick yelled after him, "Naked boy! Put some clothes on before Dad gets mad again!"

Nathanial stopped and blushed furiously, 'Nick had to remind me to put clothes on? Gods!' He pulled over his boxers from his room as he climbed up the stairs, pulling them on just before he went into the kitchen.

He had made coffee for Garret, using the best beans in the house, and a pile of French toast. He was just slicing up an orange for Micah and a grapefruit for Garret when his dad came into the kitchen. He had showered and dressed in one of his business suits. Garret didn't say anything, but just sat down at the table. Nathanial began tidying up as he sent Garret's breakfast over to him. "I'm sorry, Dad. I went too far. I understand your position, and I agree, generally, with what you said. I should have left a note. I've just never had anywhere to go before; I'm not used to people not automatically knowing where I am. That's probably something you're going to have to get used to, too. We'll want to know what you're doing, and when we can expect you, just as much as you'll want to know that about us. That's part of being a family."

Garret glowered at him, but seemed a little pacified and surprised, "That's fair. I didn't think about it applying to me, but I can see your point. It sounds like a hassle, though."

Nathanial grinned and walked around the table to clap his father on the shoulder, "It is. No one ever said being a dad was easy. Believe me, I know." He leaned over and gave his father's muzzle a small lick. "I hope you find it worthwhile, even if I argue with you at times." He had set enough food aside for his brothers' lunches and found he had enough for another serving, "I assumed you'd be eating out for lunch, but do you want me to make something for you? There's enough leftovers for you, and some fresh fruit to take for a snack. Or I can make some sandwiches."

Garret seemed surprised, again, "You really are a much better housewife than Lily was. I'd love the leftovers, you're a great cook."

Nathanial opened his mouth to say something teasing, along the lines of 'If I'm your housewife, when do I get to go to bed with you?' but thought he'd caused enough problems already. He changed it to, "I did all of the cooking. Lily never put any effort into maintaining this place. I'm placing the grocery order today, do you want me to add anything?"

"Grocery order?"

Nathanial paused, uncertain as to what Garret was questioning, "Yes? I normally place the order on Tuesday."

Garret shook his head, "I get that, but who goes to get it? Lily isn't around to go grocery shopping and you never asked me."

Nathanial burst out laughing, "Lily? Grocery shopping!? How absolutely plebeian! You'd never have caught her in a grocery store! No, I write out a list and e-mail it to a company in town. They fill it out and bring the groceries to the house. I pay it with my credit card."

Garret looked shocked, "Credit card!? Lily gave you a credit card!?"

Nathanial smiled, "Yeah. She wasn't going to sully her paws with things like organizing the repairs on the house, ordering groceries, buying clothes for us, or anything else like that. I even have a chequing account so I can write cheques for the pool company and the maids. They don't clean the downstairs, but they do the rest of the house. Please, you knew her better than that." The last was said with a smile, so Garret would know it was meant to be teasing.

Garret shook his head, "I should've known better. Hera help me. You sound more responsible than I was when I was, well, older than you are. I can't believe I had you when I was twenty; you're much more mature than I was then." Nathanial glanced down at his puppy fluff and blushed, embarrassed, but Garret didn't notice, "I finally feel like I'm ready for kids, and they're almost already grown."

Nathanial stood behind Garret's chair and reached down to hug him, pushing his head against Garret's. He noticed his father tensed a moment before relaxing, "Almost is not completely, Dad. You can make up for some of that lost time. Just take it slow for a bit so we can figure each other out and we can make this work for all of us." He let Garret go and sat down beside him, eating an orange. Micah and Nicholas came up and sat down. Nathanial moved Micah's breakfast over to him and gave Nicholas an orange to tide him over till they ate at Geoff's. "Not just work, but be something to be proud of, Dad. I know that you'll be as proud of Nicholas and Micah as I am, once you really get to know them." The two pups stopped eating and looked down, blushing. Nathanial could tell they were pleased, though.

Garret smiled, "I'd be surprised if I wasn't. You did a great job, Nathanial, better than I could have." Nathanial blushed. "But, I was wondering, you said you made a portal to go to Geoff's? I didn't see you go past me to get into your room."

Nathanial blinked in surprise, "No. I just opened it right into my bedroom, like usual. I'll get dressed, Nick, then we can head out." *Nick, if you want to ask him about building a gym, now seems to be a good time.* He stood up and started to walk to the stairs.

Garret held up a paw, "Wait a second. That's why I was surprised. I have firstpaw experience with your skill with portals, but, as I explained before, the basement's warded against people using magic to enter it."

Nathanial looked back over his shoulder at his dad, smiling, "Yeah, I know. I break lots of magical rules. But, seriously, I'm so used to the wards around the basement, now, that I can work around them without even noticing. They don't hinder my ESP, my portals, or anything else. Even my Shadow Mastiffs can walk in and out of the basement without my help, somehow." He paused, to see if Garret was going to ask anything else, but he just waved Nathanial away.

Nathanial was walking into homeroom when Ms. Paul stopped him, "Nathanial, the principal wants to talk to you."

The four of them paused in the doorway, Nathanial felt his stomach sink, "U-um, did she say why?"

Ms. Paul looked a little sympathetic but just said, "Go, Nathanial. Mrs. Davis will probably tell you, herself. Come on, you three, you're blocking the door, sit down. He's a big boy, if he can stand up to Mr. Harper, he can handle himself." She seemed to really enjoy the rumour about Nathanial throwing Mr. Harper around his classroom, even if she didn't really believe it. Geoff clapped Nathanial on the shoulder and went to sit down. They'd talked about it and decided to keep their relationship secret, for now. Geoff didn't want word to get back to his Clan before he was ready. There were several Spirits from the Halifax Clan in this school, and even if there wasn't they figured word would spread. Nicholas had already heard the rumours at his school about Geoff raping Nathanial and Nathanial beating up one of the teachers. Nathanial nodded to Ms. Paul and turned around to head down to the office.

He walked into the office and nodded to Ahmed, the secretary. "Mr. G-Gomeche? I'm here t-to see Mrs. Davis?"

Ahmed gave no indication that he heard or saw Nathanial, other than pressing the intercom, "Mrs. Davis, Nathanial Marks is here."

"Send him in." Ahmed glanced at Nathanial to make sure he heard the principal. Nathanial nodded and nervously made his way to her office. He walked up to her open door and stood beside it for a moment, shaking. He reached up to knock on the frame when she saw him. "Come in, Mr. Marks, have a seat." She seemed a little surprised, maybe even concerned, at how nervous he looked. "Sit, sit. I just have some questions, you aren't in trouble." Nathanial heard a loud 'yet' at the end of the sentence.

"Y-yes, ma'am." He sat down, his put his book bag on his lap and hugged it close, wishing it was Geoff, or even Liam. Hells, Faelen would've been a big comfort, though Faelen had such a solid and calming presence he might be even more comforting than the other two, in some ways.

Mrs. Davis watched him for a moment before shaking her head, "I doubt anything I say will calm you down, so let's just get started. You two left before I got my answers the other day, I can't even figure out why I let you go. I must've been more upset at Joseph's... outburst than I thought. I still don't buy the 'secret order' and demon thing. But I have new questions. First, I somehow forgot about you attacking Joseph, well, about someone attacking Joseph in his classroom. I'm pretty sure there was a video catching it, but it's mysteriously vanished from the security logs. I forgot the attack happened until I heard the rumours about it yesterday, even now I can only recall fuzzy details. Most curious, wouldn't you say, Mr. Marks?"

Nathanial's stomach managed to sink even further, "W-what attack, ma'am? I h-haven't heard any rumours about me or someone else hurting Mr. Harper. I only remember you sh-showing us the video of the cafeteria." He was shaking hard enough that his teeth began chattering. He could hear the faint sound of his Shadow Mastiffs sniffing around the shadows in the room. He put part of his mind to work at keeping them away.

Mrs. Davis stared at him closely, her fingertips pressed together in front of her muzzle. "I know I'm not the most matronly woman in the world, but I've never had anyone be so visibly terrified of me before. I know it isn't because you're scared of authority figures, at least not entirely. You know something, pup, and I'm going to find out what it is. How did Joseph get thrown against that door hard enough to bend the latch and damage the frame? A small amount of damage, but visible if you look closely. Neither Mr. Smith or you have the muscle mass to do that. I doubt either of you could hold him up, let alone throw him any distance. How did the video vanish from the computer records? That Agent, Jay something, didn't have the passwords to delete it, or the means to wipe all traces of it from the system. Why couldn't I remember it, and only remember snippets of it now? That isn't something anyone could normally forget. I want answers, and I'm going to get them."

Nathanial was shaking so hard he didn't think he could answer, even if he was willing to. He hadn't felt so scared since the last time he'd been brought up to the second floor of his house by Lily, well not counting the Succubus, but that wasn't natural. He couldn't take his eyes away from Mrs. Davis' brilliant gold eyes. Mrs. Davis intercom crackled, and Ahmed announced, "Mrs. Davis, Agent Arrie is here to see you." Nathanial felt like he was going to faint with relief.

Mrs. Davis hissed in annoyance, "Send the agent in." She released the button, "I will talk to you again, soon, Mr. Marks. You can be sure of that. Now, get to class."

Nathanial struggled to stand up, but his legs just wouldn't respond. Mrs. Davis stood up with a sigh and walked around her desk to help him up. Nathanial saw her reach for him and squeaked, his throat too tight to yelp properly. He jerked back and knocked the chair over, falling into a heap on the floor as Arrie walked in. The stern Doberman saw a terrified Nathanial laying on the floor with the angry Cougar standing over him, paw extended. Nathanial was almost grateful it was Arrie and not Ella here. Ella probably wouldn't be as calm as Arrie was. She merely gave a menacing growl as she snapped, "What is going on here!? Mrs. Davis, we do not tolerate child abuse! Protocol dictates you are to be detained for questioning and possible disciplinary actions. And you are given responsibility for our pups? Unbelievable! Now, turn around and place your paws on the wall." Mrs. Davis was understandably flabbergasted.

Nathanial managed to calm down, slightly, "A-a-agent." He shook his head when Arrie looked down at him, and held up a paw. Agent Arrie helped him to his hindpaws, and gave him his book bag. "Th-thanks. She w-was just going to help me up, she d-didn't hurt me. She was asking me about Mr. Harper, she thinks I-I attacked him in his classroom. She doesn't b-believe me."

The muscles in Agent Arrie's neck relaxed a bit, and Nathanial could feel a powerful Charm type spell being cast through a badge in Arrie's jacket pocket, "Indeed. That is unusual, we have copies of all of the security tapes for the day, and we don't have any indication such an attack occurred. Now, Mr. Marks, you look like you need to see the school nurse, or the counsellor. However, that is your principal's decision."

Mrs. Davis had recovered from her shock and was looking at Agent Arrie suspiciously, "Who are you, Agent? I want to see your ID."

Nathanial could feel Arrie tense up again, apparently Agents don't get asked for ID. She didn't give any visible indication that she was surprised, "Here, see for yourself." She pulled out the badge and showed it to the principal. Nathanial could feel the Charm magic flare in the badge, "Everything is in order."

_ "_Everything is in order. How can I help you, Agent Arrie?" Mrs. Davis' eyes were vacant and her voice was... off. Agent Arrie took her sunglasses off and stared into Mrs. Davis'.

"Send this student back to class." Agent Arrie looked like she was under a bit of strain, she was using a lot of magic to alter more of Mrs. Davis' memories.

"Go back to class Mr. Marks." Nathanial glanced up at Arrie, she just kept focused on Mrs. Davis as she waved him off. Nathanial stumbled out of the office and down the hall to the main office.

Ahmed glanced up as Nathanial steadied himself against the wall, "Nathanial! Are you all right?" Nathanial nodded. "Sorry, a silly question, and a lie for an answer." Ahmed stood up from the desk and walked over, his hooves clacking on the tile. He helped Nathanial to a chair, "Now sit there for a minute while I call the nurse."

Nathanial shook his head, "N-no. I'll be fine. I just need to calm down."

Ahmed gave him a stern look, and pressed his fingers against Nathanial's neck as he looked at the clock. Nathanial gave a startled 'meep' and pulled away. "Calm down, pup, I was just taking your pulse. I really think you need to see the nurse, even that second I had my fingers there told me your heart rate seems dangerously high, and so does your blood pressure."

Nathanial shook his head, "I'm fine. Really. I want to go to class, I-I find the nurse's office... uncomfortable, like a hospital. The classroom is nicer. I just need to relax. Please?"

Ahmed's face stayed calm, but Nathanial could tell he was trying not to glare. He was probably worried he'd scare him even more. "Fine. When you're ready head on to class. You have five more minutes of homeroom, so you may as well just head on to first period. If you want to go to the nurse's office at any point, just go. Tell the teacher they can talk to me if there's a problem."

"Y-yes, sir." Ahmed just shook his head and went back to his desk. Nathanial sighed and closed his eyes, leaning his head back. How did Arrie know what was going on? He knew better than to think it was a coincidence. He sent his senses into the principal's office; he ignored the two women and looked for any magic. It took a few seconds, but he found another scrying spell, like the one Ella had used to find him in the forest when he went looking for Micah. Such an elegant spell and so hard to detect if he wasn't looking for it. He bet it'd be impossible for most Mages to find, even if they were looking for a scrying spell.

Nathanial had already studied this spell before, he could probably duplicate it if he was in that odd heightened state he sometimes went into, but its scanning radius was a lot more limited than his ESP, even if it had a longer range. He decided to ignore it for the moment and looked in on Arrie and Mrs. Davis. Arrie was still 'modifying' Mrs. Davis and it made Nathanial's stomach churn. He could see why Jay worked with a delicate touch when he was here, even if it seemed his principal managed to get around it, eventually. Arrie was not being delicate, and Mrs. Davis looked like she was in pain from the damage she was suffering. If Arrie didn't stop soon, or switch to a lighter touch, Mrs. Davis could really be hurt. He reacted without thinking, and called out to her, *Arrie! Please stop! You're going to really damage her. She's already going to be in a lot of pain, please, stop!*

Arrie stopped in her work, for a second, *Nathanial? Where are you? This spell is supposed to be line of sight, only.* Her 'voice' became stern, *Don't tell me this is another of your illegally modified spells. Jay may have gotten you off with the last one, but he isn't here to provide another loophole for you to wiggle out of. I'm following the policies for this situation to the letter, so stay out of this.*

Nathanial recoiled as if slapped, he thought he got along with all three of the Agents. *B-but doesn't your policy say not to hurt people and to keep our presence secret? If she suffers obvious brain damage while she's with you, won't that raise even more questions? Questions that can only be answered with magic?*

*No. If I can't fix her without causing damage, she'll suffer an unfortunate stroke. If she survives, any brain damage can be easily explained by that.*

Nathanial was horrified, *No! You can't do that! She didn't do anything wrong, she doesn't deserve to die or worse! I-I can't... no, please, just stop.*

Arrie snarled, *This is your fault. We're working around the clock, with barely enough time to sleep, to fix the mess you made. If you think you're so special, you fix your own mess.*

*Y-yes, ma'am.* Nathanial stood up and walked toward the principal's office, ignoring Ahmed's questions. His mind sought out Liam, he was still in home room waiting for the bell to ring, *Liam, please, I need your help. Arrie is really hurting Mrs. Davis, she's ripping apart her mind, and threatening to intentionally cause a stroke if her carelessness causes brain damage. I don't know what to do, but Arrie offered to give me a chance to try.*

Liam sat up with a jolt, and cursed. The class looked at him, "My apologies, a muscle spasm." Faelen looked at him closely, but said nothing. *I have had much experience in... extracting information, not so much in altering memories. That was in the life of Takahashi Yoishi, I have only some access to that life; it is one I have not focused on, like Li or Lowell. I do not think I could be of help, even if I had full access to the skills of that life. I can repair some of the damage, and break down any altered memories, I believe, but not create them. I am sorry.*

Nathanial sighed as he entered the principal's office, *Thanks, anyway, Liam. Can you call Jay? Arrie's gone too far. Mrs. Davis is...* He shuddered. The Cougar was sprawled in her chair, foam falling from her mouth as bits of blood dripped from her nose and eyes. Her eyes were rolled back in her head, showing the whites. He heard Liam cursing, he must have accidentally sent the image of what he saw. He saw Liam pull out his phone as the bell rang. He felt Ahmed grab his shoulder just as the Horse saw his boss. Ahmed's grip tightened for a second before he let go and staggered back. He felt Arrie about to cast a spell, so he reactivated his mother's medallion and raised the anti-magic field, making sure it didn't extend as far as Mrs. Davis. There was no telling how the sudden disruption to that much spell work would affect her. It might fix her right up or kill her. Arrie gasped and stared around in horror. Nathanial released the field and turned to Ahmed, "Sleep." He raised his paws over the Horses wide, brown eyes, and delicately drained enough of his energy to put him to sleep. He lowered Ahmed to the floor with his magic, as he held onto Ahmed's energy. He'd return it when he was done, and tell the Horse that he merely passed out. "Arrie, you told me I could fix this, so stay back and let me."

Arrie stared at him in disbelief, "What did you do? How did you do... whatever it was you did?"

Nathanial's eyes were full of scorn as he gave her a silent snarl, "Like I'd tell you after what you were doing to Mrs. Davis? Look at her!" Arrie's phone rang. Nathanial turned to Mrs. Davis and began examining the tangle of magic lines.

"What is it, Jay? I'm here dealing with your incompetence. Mrs. Davis was interrogating that pup, and he looked close to cracking, or a heart attack."

Nathanial 'looked' through the phone, Jay was lying in bed, obviously just waking up, *Jay. I'll open a portal for you, if you want to see what she's done to an innocent woman. It-it's unconscionable. I don't know if she can be saved.*

"Nathanial?" Jay sounded surprised, as he spoke out loud, "Yes, open it up." Nathanial opened the portal to Jay's apartment. The Jackal climbed out of bed and cast a spell to dress himself in his work clothes. He strode through the portal and looked at Mrs. Davis, "Arrie! Did you even pay attention when we were taught how to alter memories? This is the text book example of what not to do!"

"Silence, Jay. Directive three of the procedure manual explicitly states that we are not to argue or criticize another agent's work while in the field. A report will be filed."

"Give it a rest, would you? Only Nathanial is here. And I can write a report on you for exactly the same thing. Dealing with my incompetence, eh? Fine, let Ella deal with our respective infractions. Call her while I try to save this lady's mind." Jay turned to Nathanial and Mrs. Davis, "Step aside, pup." Nathanial was so close to finding the weak points in the tangled web.

"I've got it, Jay, just one more second." Jay looked like he was about to protest but instead just fiddled with his glasses. Nathanial could feel a spell activate, but he was too focused to pay it any mind. He found it, the weak points he needed. He gently slid a few spikes of magic between the lines of spell work until he reached his targets. He moved the spikes into place and let them go; they briefly removed the magic 'knots' and the spells slowly unravelled and dissipated. Nathanial put his paws onto the desk, and relaxed for a second, "I've removed the magic on her, now a Healer can treat the damage to her mind. Well, hmm." He had a thought. He examined where the magic was, and he could 'feel' the effects of it, even after it'd gone. The magic he was used to using was good for removing things, he should be able to use its mirror to add things. He pondered for a minute, and then two as Jay kicked Arrie out into the hall as she argued with Ella over the phone. Jay said nothing further, he just sat and watched Nathanial. Nathanial reached a decision, 'Well, I've scolded Geoff for being to timid to experiment with his powers. I'm just as guilty as he is, I probably have even less idea of what I can and cannot do. So, if I can call on Dark things and use their type of magic, why not Light?' He could feel his dogs start to panic, but he hadn't relaxed the part of his mind that was keeping them back. He wasn't feeling too charitable with them, either, not after the way Snow had been staring at Micah and Nathanial. He 'reached' in the opposite direction he normally did, and found a little twinkle of light. His mind touched it, and he felt like he'd been burned and blinded. He focused his will and kept in contact, "Please, may I borrow your power? There's a woman here who's been hurt, I need your help to save her." Jay twitched, but said nothing.

The entity paused, appearing to consider, before it answered, *Yes.* He felt that blinding fire move through him, filling him up, and he reached into Mrs. Davis. He followed the lines where the magic had lain and let the healing light move ever so delicately into the damaged tissue. He could feel her recover as he carefully traced dozens of lines at once. Dozens out of hundreds. He didn't know how long he was there, but once he finished he turned to his helper, *Thank you. You saved her.* He felt himself weakening, so he fed Ahmed's energy back into him. The Horse snorted and gasped as he woke up.

The Light entity seemed to be considering, again. He could feel its surprise when he gave away the energy he could have used to keep himself conscious, *I'm surprised you cared, Dark One. Your kind is not known for helping others. Or surviving contact with so much raw Light. You may call on me any time. You intrigue me.*

*I'm in your...* Nathanial passed out.