[TW] Arundel Castle - Take Care Of Your Own || Laurence Family

Trigger Warning
This thread explores mature themes, including strong depictions of violence, murder, and implied abuse of a minor. Please read at your discretion.

Sunday, July 31, 1921
Julia's sitting room
2:18 PM

Pop.

The light walls of the Cavendish bathroom gave way to towering cherry trees. The orchard, the closest point, and the shortest distance. Maddox had had to release his rage before making the apparition trip over, not wanting to risk a splinching for either himself or the little girl who'd had more than enough. But with his feet once again on solid ground, he found it all flooded back, hot...scorching...the kind of anger that burned through his core, manifesting physically through his tightening muscles and his narrowing airways.

It wasn't the time for such displays. Maddox had seen the way Kate flinched when he'd first looked at her and didn't want to give her the impression she was in anything resembling trouble. That meant forcing his body from its heightened state.

Maddox crouched before the little girl, offering her a piggyback ride into the castle. Try as he did to come down from the adrenaline that dizzied him, he knew he wouldn't have the patience for her shorter, slower strides while every inch of him threatened to combust. Kathryn didn't protest--she never did. It wasn't something the man had ever considered before, but that day, it made his blood boil. Not at her, but at the man who'd recognised it and thought to take advantage of the girl's docile, overly compliant nature.

His pace was brisk as he took them through the library, pausing only once to adjust her when he felt her slipping. Her heart hammered against his back, frantic despite her stillness. Kathryn's arms were wrapped tightly around his neck, squeezing in, but he never told her to ease up.

He barely noticed.

Maddox had fallen into a singular mind. He would get her safely to her room, then he would find Julia--wherever she happened to be--and take things from there. What mattered first was getting the little girl to a place where she felt safe.

Out the library's inner door, he entered the corridor and made a beeline for the suite of rooms he'd become familiar with; the one Julia shared with her children.

He entered the reception room, stalking past the woman lounging by the window. In his rush, Maddox didn't see her. Blue eyes locked on the door that led into the room connecting Kathryn's bedroom to the rest of the suite. They were back early. Nearly an hour earlier than she would've expected, but even that wasn't soon enough. She should never have been there. Cavendish should never have had the chance.

His mind released him from its trance when his view became engulfed in soft shades of pastel pink. Maddox slid the girl from his back before turning to face her. "You're alright," he told her quietly, his tone resembling a promise. "You're home, you're safe."

Maddox placed a hand gently on her back, nudging her toward her chest of drawers. "I know you've got a Sunday dress in there somewhere. Get cleaned up. Ice cream's usually at 3, yeah?"

"No! Bad Vander!

Adira stood, a whole force of a girl at two and a half, tiny hands on her hips and her face scrunched up so indignantly it resembled her mother's. Julia watched with amusement over the top of her book, as Evander slowly lowered himself into the exact miniature chair Adira had been marching toward, plopping down with a pleased little hum.

She turned a page. Order, she knew, was always the first casualty. Apparently, Evander was experimenting with consequences today. Her eyes skimmed the words of Jane Austen, Mr. Bennet's sarcasm jumping off the page with a wit that made her smile, even as a shriek of frustration exploded out of Adira as she launched herself at the little boy.

Cloth doll in hand, the girl whacked Evander, over and over, simultaneously trying to pull him out of the chair with all the might she possessed. "My chair! Miiiine!"

Evander roared with laughter as he pushed back against her, determined to keep the spot she obviously wanted. "Mean Adi! My chair!" Julia sighed, setting the book down in her lap, watching the two little gremlins in their latest battle - the seventh one in the past hour - and was close to deciding it was nap time, when the door to her sitting room suddenly swung open unannounced.

Maddox rushed past her without a word, carrying Kathryn on his back and disappeared into the family room without so much as a glance. The toddlers in their distracted fury hadn't noticed him either, and with a quick snap of her fingers Fidèle appeared with a light bow. "Please take the children to the nursery Fidèle. Now." The elf nodded swiftly, and turned. Without missing a beat he snatched up both children by the hands and disappeared with an immediate pop - the only other sound being Evander's protest of "nooooo" before it was silenced instantly with their apparation.

Julia tossed her book to the side and moved quickly through the doors into the family room and then Kate's at the far end.

"You're home, you're safe."

"Maddox?" Julia asked, concern lacing her voice as she stood in the doorway, consternation wrinkling her brows. They were home an hour early. What did he mean she was safe? Had she not been? Her eyes drifted quickly to her daughter, pale-faced with a vagueness in her eyes that wasn't normally there.

"What's going on?"

Both Maddox and Kathryn turned at the sound of Julia’s words.

Like the little girl's bedroom, she was another anchor point against the turbulence that plagued him. How long had she been there? Had he passed her on the way in? The walk over from the orchard was little more than a blur now. The bathroom floated by in slow motion, every little detail jumping out at him. The faucet that wasn’t fully shut off, the scent that lingered, the rug that had shifted from its place. He could recount them all with exacting clarity. Maddox remembered the way Kate shook, and the desperation with which she’d tried to reform her bun.

But the sitting room? The lavishly decorated corridors? They hadn’t registered. The woman may as well have apparated in with how sudden her entrance had been…how jarring.

"What's going on?"

His gaze fell as Kathryn’s rose. He could see it again, the terror hidden inside those clear blue orbs. In her silence, she fretted, drawing onto herself again the shame that shouldn’t belong to her and the fear that she was seconds from further trouble. She froze in place, seeming to brace for the moment he would utter the words. His instructions had been discarded by her brain as it fell into its static once more.

He nudged her again, just as gentle as before but with a bit more insistence.

“Go on,” he said, offering her a reassuring smile. “We shouldn’t be late. Your mother’s been looking forward to the afternoon down in the village. She’s been watching the clock since you left, if you’ll believe it.”

As Kate turned to continue on her way to the chest of drawers, Maddox took Julia by the arm, tugging her from the room.

“We’ll be over in the sitting room when you’re ready, love. Come find us when you’re done.”

She nodded.

Carefully, he closed the door behind them before wordlessly taking Julia back to the sitting room. In there, he closed the door to the family room then the one that led out to the corridor. It was Arundel Castle and everyone there was family but the impulse was just that, an impulse. It was automatic for the man to begin closing ranks, wanting to protect Kathryn in every way he could.

“I need you sitting.” he said, on his way back from the corridor door. “And after…after, I need you to not try to stop me.”

Maddox gestured her toward the armchair that still carried her scent, the one in which a book had been hastily abandoned.

“Kate won’t be returning for anymore play dates—not there, not with those people.” Perhaps not with anyone unless they could convince the little girl she was safe to be left with others and even then, they would need time, he knew. They would need time to convince themselves that not everyone was waiting in the wing to hurt her. ”Julia…that sick fuck…” Suddenly, his words were failing him. The rage he’d managed to keep at bay crept up on him swiftly, giving him no warning or time to adjust. It buzzed beneath his skin, loud and chaotic.

He could see him again, wide grey eyes filled with panic at the thought he’d been caught, the undue relief when what should appear was only a harmless black cat that heralded his impending end.

“I don’t have the full story, I could barely get her to breathe…but he did something to her, and he’s going to pay for it.”

“We shouldn’t be late. Your mother’s been looking forward to the afternoon down in the village. She’s been watching the clock since you left, if you’ll believe it.”

Julia forced a small smile, nodding her daughter to the chest of drawers in agreement, even as her heart began to thunder behind her sternum. Something was wrong - very wrong - made all the more clear when Maddox took her arm and led her from the room and closed the door behind them. Fucking hell. Julia wasn't someone who cursed often, but right now, on the verge of her composure, as her eyes never left Maddox, she felt like releasing all of them and demanding he tell her what was going on.

She didn't. She remained composed, even as Maddox ushered her back to the chair she'd just been sitting in. She mustered her calm, even as a hurricane raged inside of her, anticipating whatever was coming next.

“And after…after, I need you to not try to stop me.”

She didn't answer. Didn't react. Throughout her life, Julia had been met with plenty of devastating news. She understood how to absorb it in the first moments the shock washed over her. Understood how to process it with grace under fire, and let it fuel whatever her next moves were. She'd survived them all.

Nothing could have prepared her for this.

”Julia…that sick fuck…”

Her body went rigid, her breath stalled and her lungs seized as she stared at him. Stoicism didn't fail her, but her eyes did. They widened, softened, pleading. Begging Maddox not to say what she feared was coming next. Her heart tightened so painfully that she felt she might collapse, but she forced herself to listen quietly, unmoving, even as her vision went dizzy and Maddox's face muddled into a haze of strange colors.

“I don’t have the full story, I could barely get her to breathe…but he did something to her, and he’s going to pay for it.”

She swallowed hard as a strange buzzing shot through the room, drowning out all other sound as Julia swayed in her chair. Her hands gripped the velvet arms, fingers digging in so tightly that her knuckles went white. Someone...someone had hurt her child. He'd touched her. He'd violated her.

"You're sure?" she heard herself ask, barely above a whisper, closing her eyes tightly to try and shake the horrific images that suddenly played before her eyes. Her baby. Her sweet baby. Kathryn was so innocent, so compliant, so unwilling to defy. It was a horrific realization that it had made her daughter vulnerable - a target for someone who wouldn't see her as a human being but...

God.

She had to compose herself. "We need James in here. He needs to know what's going on." She stood, her hands shaking, but she balled them into fists to steady herself. "You can tell us both what you saw." She snapped her fingers as the elf reappeared. "His Grace, please. Tell him its an emergency."

Taking in her expression, Maddox felt his anger creep up a notch. The truth of the moment revealed itself in those terrified honey brown eyes that reminded him how deep this wound would go. Kathryn, obviously, but her mother, too. The woman who loved her more than life itself and who had only been trying to get her out more, to make her friends. This would cut her, too—differently, but it would hurt. Gerard Cavendish had brought pain to the Laurence household, and he’d never stopped for a second to wonder whether it was the wisest thing he could do.

Maddox watched her try to steady herself but he knew her too well. The man could see the way she crumbled on the inside, even as her exterior remained one of breeding, poise and practiced composure.

A lifetime of refinement and it frayed at the edges with news like this.

"You're sure?"

Was he sure?

He wished he wasn’t. Maddox wished it was only a suspicion, a baseless one with as many reasons it couldn’t be true. He hadn’t watched her carefully enough. How could he have known that something as innocuous as a quick trip to the bathroom would end in such disaster? Yet he should’ve been watching all the same. When the minutes ticked by and the little girl returned, it should’ve set off alarm bells immediately.

If no one else, Kathryn Elise was a creature of habit. The deviations in her routine were as minuscule as to be nearly non-existent. She went to the bathroom at precisely the same times daily and allowed herself no more than three and a half minutes.

Four minutes, then seven, he’d begun to wonder, but it wasn’t until the fifteenth minute that the man roused himself, filled with curiosity when he should have been drowning in concern. Maddox had wanted to give her space but instead had given her into the hands of a predator with his inaction.

So, was he sure?

“Uncomfortably sure. Before I even entered—“

"We need James in here. He needs to know what's going on."

James. He nodded. Maddox was willing to handle this in the way that made her most comfortable. If that included her brother, the man had no reason to protest. He would hold on to the story then, unsure he would’ve had the stomach to repeat it once he’d gotten it out.

"Lady Julia and Mister Barlowe would like to see His Grace in Lady Julia's reception room. Says its an emergency, she does."

The house elf's voice broke the peace of the garden where the little family sat with their picnic. Amelia had set the whole little thing up, insisting he was so busy lately that they needed time together to reconnect and spend time with Claire. He hadn't argued of course. With everything going on at the Ministry and the dozens of quiet meetings he had each week, family time had regrettably fallen by the wayside, becoming less of a priority.

James looked up from his lunch, as Amelia paused the stirring of her tea, their daughter Claire babbling happily between them, slapping her hands up and down on her plate of bite-sized fruit, chicken and bread. The man held the house elf's eyes, ensuring he'd heard correctly. Julia and Maddox Barlowe? He knew Maddox's son was having a playdate with Adira today, but what emergency that could have possibly constituted that involved them both - and him - was lost on him.

"Did they say what?" James asked while Fidèle shook his head slightly in apology, "No sir. Only urgent." James glanced back at his wife, sorry to have to duck out of yet another meal with her. "Go then," Amelia said gently but with obvious resignation, nodding him on with agreement. He leaned over as he stood, dropping a kiss on her forehead and flicking his index finger playfully beneath Claire's chin. "I'm sorry love. Make it up to you."

Amelia nodded with a small smile, turning her attention to their daughter.

James dismissed Fidèle with a polite wave of his hand as he strode out of the gardens and back towards the castle. Once inside, he made his way quickly to Julia's rooms, not bothering to announce himself before entering. They were expecting him.

He sighed, shoving his hands into his pants pocket as he looked back and forth between the two expectantly, noting the distress on both their faces. He'd met Maddox several times now between playdates with for his son, birthday parties and having him for dinner a few times over the years. He was Julia's closest friend, so it wasn't unusual to see him here. It was unusual that they'd both need to speak to him. "What is it?" he asked evenly, waiting for whatever it was that had constituted an 'emergency' and pulled him from lunch with his family.

His sister simply moved her gaze to Maddox and nodded, urging him on.

The man spoke clearly, evenly, but his tone was full of the sort of rage that James easily recognized. As the events that had transpired fell over the room in hushed tones so as not to alarm his sweet niece that waited beyond her bedroom door, James felt ice crawl slowly along his veins. It creeped, little by little, freezing and hardening into something sharp and merciless behind his ribs.

By the time Maddox finished, James was no longer thinking of gardens or tera or his daughter's sticky fingers. He was thinking in lines and consequences, in names and calculations. His jaw set, the easy warmth drained clean from his expression, replaced by the stillness that meant decisions had already been made. Whatever peace had existed at lunch was gone.

Cavendish had hurt his niece. He had dared to violate her innocence, dared to put his hands on a little girl he had no right even speaking to. He had hurt Kathryn, one of their children, and as his eyes flicked briefly to his sister, his heart broke at the horror etched across her features.

"We'll handle this," he said quietly, reassuring his sister, his voice cold and devoid of the usual charm it held. He turned to Maddox with a slight nod, understanding that by the man's demeanor, he didn't intend to be invited, and was already going to handle it with or without James. A good man. He'd remember it.

"Call Benji from camp. He needs to understand how we handle this sort of business." It wasn't up for discussion.

She could feel the world around her fading away as Maddox explained what he had walked in on, how he had found her sweet daughter, and what that disgusting pig had done to her. She would tear him limb from limb herself, feral, screaming, raining dark hell upon the creature until there was nothing left of him but an unrecognizable pulp.

This world was horrific, and once again it had chosen one of her children as its victim. As though they hadn't been through enough. As though they hadn't been born into abuse and neglect and horrors that most couldn't even imagine. Somehow, the evils of the world kept her finding her son and daughter, and the guilt that caused her, knowing that again, she hadn't been able to protect them was overwhelming. "Fuck," she hissed, turning away from both men as tears welled in her eyes, her composure finally faltering.

It had been the worst year by far. Months of devastation after devastation. So much heartache and horror and regret, Julia felt she might collapse under the weight of all of it. All she could think about was her daughter, waiting two rooms away, grappling in silence of what had just happened to her.

"We'll handle this."

James's voice was like ice, and it stirred something in Julia. It awoke the same tepid chill that had existed within her the night Edward had died, and the day Benji had nearly bled out in Syria. She turned her gaze to Maddox, her eyes holding questions she would never dare request of him. He'd said not to stop him, and she wouldn't. She reached out, slipping her hand in his to thank him with a light squeeze, lost for words. He cared about her daughter, just as she cared about Evander, and he was going to avenge her - not for Julia, but for Kathryn. There was nothing more the woman could have asked for.

"Call Benji from camp. He needs to understand how we handle this sort of business."

She agreed. He was old enough now, a young man that needed to understand how the Laurences worked and what happened to those who preyed on their family - especially the most vulnerable of them. As the men turned to leave together, Julia stopped them for a moment, her voice low, even and empty of all emotion.

"Make sure his wife understands this is what happens to those who harm our children."

They could send the message however they deemed appropriate.

Maddox was quickly losing his patience with this waiting game. The room fell into suffocating silence after the elf’s disappearance, the man acutely aware of the passage of time and the hot blood that coursed through his veins. Lethargic as others often found him, he was a man of action. His energy levels didn’t derail the personal sense of duty and justice that had governed his life for as long as he could remember.

The world was full of scum and Maddox had never had qualms about removing them. Typically, it was poachers, who thought they had a right to the massacre and exploitation of innocent—often endangered—creatures. He could certainly make an exception for those who saw children in the same light. The chilling thought had crossed his mind that this could have been Morgan. Morgan, trembling in a bathroom, eyes wide with terror, limbs rigid…so confused and afraid.

Kathryn wasn’t Morgan, but he’d grown to love that little girl fiercely.

In some ways, this went beyond Kathryn. While the Laurences narrowed in on the slight against one of their own, Maddox was of a more general mind. Terrible as the girls who attended the play date were, they were every bit as innocent. If Gerard felt bold enough to do that to a little girl he’d only known for half a summer, then the man was under no illusions that any of them were saved.

Not every creature could be rehabilitated. Sometimes, the only thing to be done was putting them down.

James arrived.

With a brief glance at the clock hung on the wall to get his bearings on the time they had left, he relayed to them the events of the earlier afternoon and the state he’d found Kathryn in. Neither needed to have anything spelled out for them. In as much as Maddox had gotten there too late to prevent it, the image of what had transpired was clear and haunting. James’s entire demeanor shifted. Often relaxed and charming, there was a tenseness within the man that mirrored his own. When their gazes met, a silent understanding passed between them, a guarantee they were in this together, whatever this next thing was.

Julia’s hand slipped into his and he gave her a reassuring squeeze. He would never be able to undo the damage but he would do what he could to make it right.

Maddox nodded his agreement when her brother promised they would handle in, in truth, not needing such a promise in the first place. Whether they had planned to be involved or not, his mind was already made.

"Call Benji from camp. He needs to understand how we handle this sort of business."

Benji?

He looked between the pair of them, hesitating for the first time since he’d arrived. Maddox wasn’t naive to the shadier dealings of the Laurences despite the wide gap in what he did know, but…what did the boy have to do with any of this? What he had in mind wasn’t anything for a child to witness—that was what he still was, regardless of whatever beliefs the siblings held. It also increased the logistical complications.

There window was closing.

"Make sure his wife understands this is what happens to those who harm our children."

“We don’t have much time,” he said, needing them to understand while they planned their family operation. Maddox had always been one for simplicity, never having needed a message passed along or a mark to be left but understanding the drive all the same. ”They’ll have noticed she’s missing by now and will be scrambling to find her before your arrival at 3. Now’s our window.” Not later after they grabbed the boy Maddox wasn’t sure had any business being there. The paperwork to have him out for the afternoon or however long alone would consume some of their precious time.

Benji was theirs to raise and educate as they saw fit and he wouldn’t be trying to wedge himself in, but there was no need to lose the man who was currently sitting on a silver platter.

“We’ll take him in the confusion. I assume his wife has put him on the search. You can grab anyone you’d like after that.”

But they needed to be quick.

Another pause. Another moment of hesitation. Tracking poachers had taught him strategy and the importance of laying effective traps.

“Someone needs to pick up Kathryn—-not you,” he said, releasing Julia’s hand to join James by the door. “She needs that ice cream at 3.” Maddox was under no illusion that Kathryn was chomping at the bit for the frozen treat, but everyone gathered likely understood that with the ground beneath the little girl having shifted, she would need the predictability of her Sunday schedule while they got things sorted.

“Edith or Amelia, it doesn’t really matter who. His wife will be too busy trying to keep them distracted to notice his absence. Have them take her after, if you’d like or leave her there.”

Subtle infiltration.

“Let’s move.”

“We don’t have much time. They’ll have noticed she’s missing by now and will be scrambling to find her before your arrival at 3. Now’s our window.”

James hesitated, not liking the idea of his nephew being kept out of this one - especially knowing the boy and how protective and vengeful he was when it came to his little sister. But their window of opportunity was already narrowing, as Maddox had pointed out.

There would be other opportunities to rope Benji in, and he could be told of what had happened at a later time. "Very well," James said, understanding time was pressing and while it hadn't been up for negotiation, there also wasn't time for back and forth. Not when they had a deviant to catch.

James had taken a fair amount of lives during his adult life - his own brother being one of them. The day Edward had put his hands on Julia and used an Unforgiveable on her, was the day he lost the privilege of being considered family. Aside from him, there were others. Shady rivals and politicians mostly - but like Cavendish there had been a fair amount of predators as well. Men who beat on women and children or worse. He was no vigilante of course. James always had a reason for doing what he did.

“We’ll take him in the confusion. I assume his wife has put him on the search. You can grab anyone you’d like after that.”

"No, you're right. Once we have him we take care of it. No need to draw things out," James agreed, and turned to Julia. "Make sure it's Edith. Send her now - ensure she understands what's happening, but she’s to play ignorant. Follow behind us about fifteen minutes, with Kathryn. Edge of the property. Ensure Edith is the one who finds her.”

He nodded at Maddox, leading the way out the door.

---

A Short Time Later
The Woods Just Outside the Cavendish Estate

James was quiet as they moved swiftly through the trees, coming up on the back-end of the property that wedged up against low hedges and a large pond. His eyes scoured the area, listening as several calls for Kathryn's name carried on the breeze. By now Edith would be inside, the picture of poised ice asking after her niece's whereabouts. His hand tightened slightly around his wand as he leaned against a tree, tapping the tip of it lightly on his leg.

The man understood urgency, but he also understood subtlety and biding one's time for the perfect opportunity. It would do them no favors to rush in and grab the man out in the open - not if they didn't want to have to obliviate everyone in the surrounding area.

James's eyes narrowed, as he indicated with his wand, leaning slightly towards Maddox. "There." Cavendish was rushing toward the tree line, shouting for the girl, panic written all over his face. James smirked slightly to himself. He'd be panicked for an entirely different reason very shortly.

"Can you lure him?" James asked lowly, taking a step back further out of view. "He knows her cat." The man was searching through the hedges now, even trying to scour the pond water. "I'll come up from behind and disarm him, you transfigure back and knock him out, and I'll apparate us to the clearing."

He looked to Maddox as he slipped quietly behind the trees, twirling his wand between his fingers in anticipation.

“There.”

Ah, so it was. The men had divided their gazes, wanting to cover as much of the grounds to avoid missing the moment the man might hurry by. There he was, shooting out from the garden and heading toward the trees. Much seemed to have changed in the time he’d taken Kathryn and left. Gerard no longer wore the confidence of a man whole felt above reproach. There must have been some part of him that made the logical leap from what he’d done to the reality that now unravelled.

“Kathryn? Kathryn!” he called, approaching the line of trees. “Enough of these games, girl,” he continued impatiently, that impatience masking his gripping anxieties, “your aunt is here to collect you!”

Inside his pocket, his thumb brushed against the silk of the glove he’d borrowed when they explained to Kate they would be needing her help. Maddox had promised not a single stain when he returned it. Not wanting to don new gloves before her shower but unwilling to go without wearing a pair, she offered him one from her drawer instead. He’d take care of it. For now, it served a purpose.

James was right, Gerard did know she was followed around by a cat. It was the same black cat that had looked up at him with judging blue eyes when he’d first opened the bathroom door.

It wouldn’t be too hard for him to make the connection.

While James slinked back behind the tree, the man let the magic flow through him, twisting and changing him until he was once again the grumpy cat that had followed the little girl around during her time on the estate. He’d removed the glove from his pocket before he did and now picked it up with his mouth before silently padding his way closer to the bushes the man searched. On the way, he dropped the glove, letting it sit by the damp soul at the lake’s edge.

Meow.

“You,” the man said, breathing deep with relief. Where he saw the cat, he expected to see the girl. “Where’s Kathryn?”

Meow.

Maddox turned and headed in the direction of the glove, plopping himself down next to it despite the unpleasant wetness against his fur. Gerard approached, following closely but his steps slowed when he caught sight of the now soaked article of clothing. His brows knitted together as he stooped to get a closer look. He picked it up, already coming to his own conclusions. His daughter didn’t wear gloves, none of the other girls did. Kathryn had been the one one.

“…This is…”

Blue eyes shifted from the man to the figure walking up behind him, steps silenced, determination clear. Gerard cast his gaze out toward the water, his eyes scanning the surface desperately for any further signs of the little girl.

The oblivious fool.

It wasn't that James enjoyed the hunt. Rather, he had always found this sort of thing rather distasteful and preferred diplomacy over violence. James had always been a man of his words. Even as a young boy he'd been precocious and the little clown of his family. It was how he made friends and allies, preferring to never make an enemy if he didn't need to.

But when diplomacy failed, or when the object of his scorn left him with no other choice, he moved with certainty, and with the full weight of his will.

He waited, silently, as Maddox transfigured, doing his part to capture the man's attention. His mind drifted momentarily to his niece as Cavendish's voice grew closer. The sick fuck. How many other little girls had he hurt? Surely Katie wasn't the first if he felt bold enough to harm her. He'd done it and gotten away with it before - likely several times. There were other children out there somewhere - who perhaps didn't have the force of a family behind them like Kate did. It made James sick to his stomach to think of it. Not just of his niece, terrified and alone in that bathroom, but of the others as well.

He would never touch another child again.

“You. Where’s Kathryn?”

James steadied himself as the soft pads from the cat's paws shifted through the leaves and brush of the forest floor, leading Cavendish closer to where James awaited him. A meow. Stooping down.

“…This is…”

As Cavendish turned back toward the pond, James moved with quick precision, wand raised, venom flashing in his eyes as he silent-cast twice in rapid succession. The first sent the man's wand flying from his hand, the second, an accio, summoning it to James. He shoved it into his pocket and leaned forward, catching Cavendish just as Maddox transfigured and stupified him.

“Quickly,” James said, reaching for Maddox’s sleeve as he shifted their weight and hoisted the man higher between them. “Grab his feet.”

A soft pop sounded behind them. James turned just long enough to catch Julia’s gaze and give a brief nod before the three of them vanished from the woods.

The sequence of events flowed swiftly, the men complementing each other’s movements like a well oiled machine. James was on Gerard in a flash, snatching and keeping the man’s wand for himself. The moment he turned, Maddox was back on two feet, returning to human form and casting a quick, decisive “stupefy” to render him incapacitated. As he slumped forward onto James, Maddox reclaimed the glove from his hand, tucking it back into his pocket for safe keeping.

“Quickly. Grab his feet.”

He did as James instructed, wanting to be off the premises as soon as possible. The longer they lingered, the greater the chance of them being discovered. Maddox didn’t doubt that Edith and Gretchen could put on a show but it was no reason to get complacent. They already had Gerard, he was unconscious, any business they had there could be concluded.

Pop.

---

A non-descript field, away from anyone’s business
2:42 PM

So this was it.

Maddox gave himself a moment to settle after the apparition trip, finding there was always a thread of lightheadedness he had to contend with. He wouldn’t go as far as to say this particular magic didn’t agree with him but rather his constitution didn’t always allow it to be as smooth as it could be for others. It wasn’t anything he couldn’t push through and certainly nothing that would linger more than a moment, but it was always there, after each trip, to ensure he never forgot.

The urgency of their actions wasn’t lost on him, but the man couldn’t help the small look around that he took.

The field.

That was it, all the description it had ever been given when Julia told him of her own harrowing experience there. The place the Laurences conducted some of their most private business matters. Surrounded by densely crowded trees, no sounds of civilization that his sensitive ears could detect in any direction. There was only the gentle hum of nature permeating the clearing. Birds chirped in the nearby canopies, unaware of the retribution at hand. The leaves rustled softly with each passing breeze. The insects were less frequent, quieter, but present. Silent witnesses to the crime that must be done.

The isolation was deafening, heavy. Maddox’s mind drifted to the souls that had been there in the past but had never left. Had they known it was their last stop? How many of them had been there?

He supposed it didn’t matter, not really. What the Laurences and their associates got up to was for them to know. His only tether was the little girl with those watery blue eyes who had looked up at him as if she expected him to make the world less scary again. When he’d found her, her silent plea had rung loudly. She was hoping he could return sense where the world had scattered it.

He would, and the first step in doing that was ensuring that the next time she looked at him, he could promise her with all certainty that the monster would never have another chance to hurt her or anyone else.

Maddox turned to the man who’d been allowed to topple to the ground when they arrived. He’d hit the ground harshly, the thud disrupting the serenity of the afternoon. With a flick of his wand, he undid the spell and watched the man slowly stir.

“Get up,” he instructed, giving Gerard a firm kick to the gut.

The man wheezed and sputtered. It took him a moment to shake the lingering effects of the spell. He was dazed as he tried to understand the scene he awoke to and it made his movements slow. He looked between the two. Seconds later, clarity found him. Gerard scrambled to his feet, quickly shuffling away from them both while his hands searched his person frantically for the wand he no longer possessed.

“Wha—-what’s the meaning of this?” he demanded, his hands continuing their futile search. “Have you lost your minds?”

His field of view widened. Prying his eyes from the pair of men, he cast sharp greys on the towering trees that stretched in all directions. Not his trees, not his field. He didn’t have the first clue about where he was and recognised only one of the men. Laurence. James.

“What’re you doing…? Where am I?”

A Short Time Later
The Woods Just Outside the Cavendish Estate

Pop!

Julia held tightly to her daughter's hand as they arrived in the darkened woods outside the Cavendish estate, just in time to see James and Maddox take hold of the sick creature shortly to be dispatched. She returned James's nod just as they apparated away, and she knelt down to hold Kathryn's gaze again. The girl had frozen, her entire body stiff as soon as they'd arrived and Julia felt it intimately. Her baby was terrified, and the woman would give anything to fix it, to take it all away.

The guilt was overwhelming, and Julia couldn't help but feel that she had failed her child. That she had put her in harm's way. And now they had to do this.

She knew, on some level, that the only one to blame was Gerard Cavendish, but it didn't take away the fault she felt taking hold.

"Okay my sweet girl," she whispered, running her hands through Kate's hair to tousle it slightly, "We'll fix it right away, I promise." She could hear Edith in the distance, shouting about finding her niece herself and raining hell down upon the household if anything had happened to her. Julia took a deep breath. "I'm going to stand here, behind this big tree, while you stand here in the opening. I'll hold your hand just until Aunt Edith sees you. I'll let go, and then she'll take you. I'll see you back at the castle in ten minutes, I promise you."

She waited for her girl to nod or offer something of understanding, but Kathryn was still and unmoving, staring at her with large blue eyes. "I know," Julia said softly, "It'll be over quickly." She ducked behind the large tree, never releasing Kate's hand, letting her thumb brush gently back and forth across the top of it. She listened for Edith's footsteps, her voice getting closer with every passing second.

"Kathryn, thank Merlin."

Edith should have been an actress. Julia dropped Kate's hand instantly as Edith rushed forward, picking up her niece and taking her into her arms. The two women caught eyes, a silent agreement of what came next, as Edith turned and hurried back towards the tree-line with the little girl.

"Don't you worry, sweet girl," Julia heard Edith murmur to Kate, "We've all got you. We won't let anyone hurt you ever again."

Julia's eyes filled with tears. Relief. Sorrow. Anger. Gratitude.

The Laurences were many things. They had chased away two of the kids she loved the most. But in moments like these, she was so grateful for the family she had. For the way they rallied around her daughter and loved her without question. For being the sort of family that took care of their own.

And she was grateful to have a friend like Maddox, who cared so deeply for her child, that he'd take this sort of risk to avenge her and protect any other child that creep would have come across.

Julia wiped at her eyes, as she gave a flick of her wand.

Pop.

Kathryn Elise was petrified.

She recognised the line of trees that she and the other girls had played by. She recognised the estate, looming and ominous across the lawn. She'd just been there, not an hour earlier. They were back. Mr. Maddox, Uncle James and her mother had said they needed her help. They'd said they only needed her to be a little, tiny bit brave and that everything would be alright when it was over. They'd taken a pair of her gloves and kept her in the dress they'd said she could take off. Now, her mother wanted to mess up her hair--the hair Mr. Maddox had helped her fit back in place when her own fingers fumbled too much to get it done.

She didn't know why they had to go back, only that from the moment they arrived, every muscle inside her seized. Her small fingers wrapped themselves around her mother in a vice-like grip, the little girl clinging as if she was her lifeline or floating debris at sea.

He could come back. This was his house. So long as they were on the property, Laura's father could appear from behind any rock or tree. The thought was enough to send her spiralling, unable to think of anything but the pale blue and white striped wallpaper and the sickeningly strong scent of soap and potpourri. Kate pressed into her mother's side, shrinking away from the very implicatioon of danger. They'd all said she was safe, but then...she'd been home when they said it.

"Okay my sweet girl. We'll fix it right away, I promise."

She didn't reply.

All her attention was turned inward, trying to keep herself together against all the variables she'd been met with in the course of one harrowing afternoon. To be dishevelled on purpose...strands flying. It was all she could think about. How many had been tousseled? What portion of her bun now needed fixing? Her free hand automatically rose to feel it out. It was only with the greatest of self-restraint that she kept her fingers from deftly smoothing them back into place.

She had to breathe.

It was important to breathe. Three o'clock; she only needed to wait for then.

"I'm going to stand here, behind this big tree, while you stand here in the opening. I'll hold your hand just until Aunt Edith sees you. I'll let go, and then she'll take you. I'll see you back at the castle in ten minutes, I promise you."

Silence.

She was trying to be brave, truly. Kathryn had never been the sort to run, not when it came to chasing games and not when it came to danger. Her body was very certain in how it handled chaos and disaster. It shut down. Nerve by nerve, muscle by muscle, the girl froze, locked into place until the storm could be weathered.

Did her mother need reassurance that she was fine? Was that it? Did she need to make sure no one had to worry about her? She would...if only she could feel her lips.

"I know. It'll be over quickly."

It certainly was quick. One minute, she was clinging toher mother's hand, and the next she was being scooped up into the arms of her aunt, who acted as if they hadn't just seen each other not 15 minutes ago in the castle. Kathryn let herself be pulled into the woman's arms with neither fuss nor fanfare. The little girl went limp in Edith's arms, not at all placated by words she suspected were meant to be sweet and reassuring.

Mrs. Cavendish wasn't far behind, quickly closing the distance. The woman cupped Kathryn's face with both hands, gently scolding her for having 'run off and worried them so'. She never replied.

Kate only stared, her silence her shield against the cacophony of the world shewanted to hide from.

A non-descript field, away from anyone’s business
2:42 PM

James had stood in this clearing many times. He could still see all of them. Brown eyes, green, blue, some blacker than night. Some red and moist, others dilated with terror, even fewer calm and serene. He'd never forgotten a face. Never misplaced a name. As he dropped Cavendish to the ground with a rough thud, he took inventory of them all. Ghosts that haunted this foggy clearing, their screams and pleas still reverberating through the forest that surrounded them.

Some were buried here, beneath their feet. Others dumped where their families would find them and committed back to the earth in various cemeteries. All had deserved what they had coming to them - all but one.

His eyes scanned their surroundings briefly as Maddox gave their prey a swift kick in the gut. The area was warded heavily, but James always took the time to ensure that nothing and no one had broken their way through.

He could still remember his first time here at the tender age of eleven, just before he was sent off to Beauxbatons. He'd been made to stand quietly alongside his brother and watch as his father and uncles doled out retribution to a man whom had betrayed the family by selling information on the Laurence children's movements to would-be traffickers. It was then that the precocious jokester had been tempered and began to truly understand the way of the world and those that jeopardized the family's safety and power.

James was a man who was raised in a moral system; not emotional, not improvising. He believed in rules. He believed in consequences. This place existed because the world required it. It was a place where foundational sins made atonement.

“Wha—-what’s the meaning of this? Have you lost your minds?”

"On the contrary," James said casually, his voice cool and calm as he shrugged his leather suspenders from his shoulders to allow him easier movement. "I think our minds are quite clear." He never liked to go for his wand first. Those that James brought here often met the business-end of his fist long before the magic kicked in.

“What’re you doing…? Where am I?”

"You are in what we call 'the clearing', sir," James answered as he unbuttoned his cuffs. "If your surroundings didn't give it away." He rolled up his sleeves, taking his time to really let the man absorb his words and come to terms with what - surely - he was realizing was taking place.

Perhaps he should make it clear.

Without warning, James stepped forward and swung on him, his fist slamming against the side of Cavendish's fist breaking the skin around his cheekbone and sending a spot of blood gushing down his cheek. Cavendish shouted in pain, as he stumbled backwards, cursing the men in a flurry of colorful language. James straightened, shaking his fist out a bit, his eyes growing darker as Cavendish looked back and forth in horror between him and Maddox.

"I-I don't know what you think has happened, but surely, we can t-talk about this."

James smirked, a small puff of air leaving his lips. He turned slightly, catching Maddox's gaze. "Maddox, was there something you wanted to discuss with him?"

They always had questions, didn't they?

Tedious.

Maddox watched Cavendish stumble to his feet, stuttering and sputtering while he tried to make sense of his new reality. His confusion would be laughable were it not insulting. How quickly he'd forgotten his transgressions, how easily he'd convinced himself of his infallible impunity. The man was startled, surely, but those terrified eyes lacked the 'knowing' necessary to assure him that Cavendish knew why they'd brought him there. A man used to being on the wrong side of others couldn't always pinpoint the hole that caused his ship to sink.

Maddox could only imagine how busy he must be.

He caught the movement at the corner of his eyes, angling enough to see James roll up his sleeves. His lips fell into an automatic grimace, several of his muscles tightening with memory. He was no stranger to a brawl, despite his preference for avoiding the sort. The man was no stranger to taking matters into more personal hands. It had never been something he enjoyed, but as the gravity of the situation bore down on that clearing, he realised the choice had been removed from his hands.

Cavendish had put in his order, he'd given his specifications, and now he awaited delivery of the justice he'd invited onto himself.

Maddox undid his watch, slipping it into his pocket while James explained their current location to the man who wouldn't be in any need of it soon. He'd lost enough of them to know the gold band better served him away from the violence.

A punch to right the man. It staggered him and left him reeling once more.

"I-I don't know what you think has happened, but surely, we can t-talk about this."

"Maddox, was there something you wanted to discuss with him?"

It was incredible. Maddox had always marvelled at the way distasteful and despicable men could commit such heinous acts, then turn around and look their comeuppances in the face like clueless lambs to the slaughter. They were no different than dangerous creatures caught in a net, thrashing about with mournful cries as if they hadn't just incinerated an entire village. The beasts couldn't help their nature, and it had always managed to strike a chord inside him.

Cavenish knew better. He chose not to do better. By all metrics, he was worse than even the foulest creature.

"No," came his simple reply. There was nothing to discuss. All the argument he'd needed was there in the eyes of a 9-year-old who would need far more help understanding than Cavendish deserved.

He took a step forward, and Gerard jumped back, sticking out both hands defensively before him.

"Easy!" he insisted, not sure where his eyes should land and which man posed the greater threat. He defaulted his attention to James, believing that their shared history might make him the more reasonable of the two. With Maddox, he didn't know him and thus didn't know where to begin bargaining. "Let's settle this like men. Tell me what this is about, and I--I can--is this about the deal down in Devon? I had no idea the suppliers would back out. You have to believe me!"

Cautiously, he sidled closer to James.

"Let me make this right. I can pen an owl when we get back, have this all sorted before dinner. Names! You want names? My den, back at the estate. I can help you get to the people you really want."

Kathryn wasn't even a blip on his radar. What he'd done to her had been so insignificant, so carefully tucked away within the realm of things that wouldn't cause him sleep, that the man rattled on about business deals across the country instead.

Seeing the blood on his cheek, Maddox thought better of grabbing him before he, too, rolled up his sleeves. It was always messy work when this was the road taken.

When Gerard turned fully to James, Maddox looped his elbow at his throat from behind. He pressed his knee in, causing the other man's to buckle before wrangling him back to the ground.

"Kathryn." One word, the only one needed for the colour to drain from Cavendish's face. "You remember." It wasn't a question. The recognition was clear in his widening grey eyes. He drove his fist into his face while the man struggled against him, once, twice, until his hand became slippery from the sea of crimson and Gerard's nose gave off a subtle squelching crack.

He got up, yanking the man onto his knees. Cavendish's shoulders rose and fell with great effort, the man finally seeming to realise the danger he was in.

"Please," he wheezed.

Maddox took him firmly by the face. "I'm sure she'd have said the same, were she inclined to speak. Would you have listened? Would it have changed your mind?" He shoved him away, the man barely able to stay upright. Maddox looked back to James.

His clearing, his rules.

"No."

Good. Neither did James. They could make this quick.

There was nothing to discuss. There would be no negotiating, despite the urgency in Cavendish's voice. It was what many of them did. Try to talk their way out of the natural consequences of their actions, hoping for mercy when they showed none of it themselves.

What mercy had Gerard Cavendish showed Kathryn when he locked her in that bathroom? What mercy had he bestowed upon the silent child who stared up at him with confused, terrified blue eyes. How much consideration had he given her innocence? How much thought had he given to the healing and processing she would need to navigate because of his selfishness?

Men like Cavendish were irredeemable. There was no saving them. There were no second-chances. Predators who targeted children were soulless, without empathy or even the ability to recognize the pain they caused. They were like dogs that had tasted blood. There was no going back, and the only answer was to put them down and relieve the world of their presence.

"Let me make this right. I can pen an owl when we get back, have this all sorted before dinner. Names! You want names? My den, back at the estate. I can help you get to the people you really want."

James stared, his eyes cold and devoid of anything that would give the man hope that there was another way out for him. He didn't answer, remaining stoic in the face of the man that attempted to bargain for his life. Pathetic. He couldn't even accept his judgement like a man.

Kathryn's face flashed through James's mind, pale, eyes wide betraying the fear and anxiety behind them.

Maddox wrapped his arm around the man, taking him to the ground. "Kathryn. You remember."

The hits came one after another, the man's nose cracking under the impact of Maddox's fist. The man's face became a mess of wet crimson, the subtle scent of iron filling the air. Brown eyes watched as he was yanked back to his knees. He begged. One simple word.

"I'm sure she'd have said the same, were she inclined to speak. Would you have listened? Would it have changed your mind?"

"Of course it wouldn't," James answered for him, drawing his wand from his pocket and taking a few steps before squatting down in front of Cavendish. He paused a moment, forcing the man to look him in the eye, letting the silence fill the air around them.

"James..."

They always said his name like he owed them something. James spun his wand between his thumb and index finger as he studied the man for a moment. "It's a depraved thing, isn’t it,” James said softly, almost conversational. He pressed the tip of his wand into Cavendish's throat as the man whimpered. “How quickly men like you discover empathy the moment the knife is pointed the other way.”

He stood quickly, his face hardening with disgust as he laid a swift kick into the man's chest sending him sprawling backwards. He coughed, attempting to catch his breath as James flicked his wand. "Expulso."

The man flew backwards through the air, in a flash of blue light, slamming into a nearby tree with a sickening crunch, enough to disable him with the pain that surely now flowed through him. Cavendish let out a strained groan, sliding from the trunk, and into a heap on the ground. His chest moved up and down erratically, straining for the air that was knocked out of him.

The man didn't deserve a painless death. But he wasn't one for dragging things out, and James preferred the least amount of mess as possible. He nodded to Maddox, giving him the option to finish things. Otherwise he would, and they could finally be done with this filth.

Their priority could turn to ensuring Kathryn's well-being.

James had the right of it. Men like Cavendish only ever seemed to remember empathy when they were in desperate need of it. Where was this concern for Kathryn? Where were the pleas for mercy? Gerard had been the only one wielding power, and he'd done so without a moment's hesitation. He hadn't cared for the way the little girl trembled from the shock that had crippled her in place. His concerns had been singular; himself. When he saw the empty corridor, he wasn't suddenly filled with grief over what he'd done but the confidence that he'd gotten away with it.

The fickle hands of fate had had other plans. They aligned just right, causing the right person to find him and the right people to take on the case.

The ministry? A trial? Hearsay would only get them so far, and even then, it was his word against Gerard's. His incomplete words. Maddox could only report what he'd seen, and while he didn't need much to paint a clear picture, that wasn't how the law worked. Kathryn would need to speak to claim her justice, and he wouldn't let them continue ripping through her over something that was as easily solved on their own--easier, much easier. There was no need for her to fall under the scrutiny of law enforcers when both he and James were already so competent at dispatching their problem.

Maddox stepped back, allowing his company some room as he straightened.

Down Cavendish went again, this time courtesy of a well-placed kick to his sternum. It knocked the wind out of him, making him slow to rise, clumsy. A part of him, however minuscule, wished Kathryn had been there to see. It had nothing to do with wanting to pass on violent tendencies or the idea that this was how problems were solved, but to show the little girl that the monster she'd been made to fear was weak--weaker than her. He blubbered in desperation, begging and bargaining. Those were things he felt certain Kathryn hadn't done.

Maddox wanted her to see she had nothing to fear from the likes of him and that she never would again.

But this was no place for a little girl, and it wasn't worth the new nightmares that might plague her in its wake.

BOOM!

Despite, the unpleasant volume of the explosion, Maddox found himself satisfied with the outcome; Cavendish slammed against the bark of the tree with his brain scrambled, though...not scrambled enough for his tastes.

Maddox acknowledged James's nod by drawing his wand. It was time for this little song and dance to come to an end. Violence for the sake of violence wasn't the goal. There point had already been made and there would be no further lessons learned where he was going.

It was time.

As Maddox walked by James, he cast a quick impervius on the man before casting one on himself.

He crouched before the fallen man, giving him a final once over. Gerard opened his mouth to make a final plea and Maddox stuck his and inside.

"Confringo."

Different men sought justice in different ways. Some were the type to maintain faith in the justice system and the laws that bound them to a "fair trial". James saw plenty of them. Having sat on the Wizengamot for over a year now, he'd watched the bureaucracy of it all. Witnesses - often unreliable. Evidence - usually circumstantial. And then the opinions of his peers, most of whom had no business sitting as a corner store clerk, much less on a prestigious body of interpretation and judgement.

James saw the usefulness of a court when it suited him. In this case, it didn't.

He didn't fancy his sister and niece being dragged through interrogations, traumatizing Katie all over again with incessant questions that she was unlikely to answer anyway. The Laurences knew how to take care of their own, and with that, how to handle justice in their own way. Those in their circles were well-aware of it, even if they could provide no evidence to prove it, and it had served the family well for the most part.

Cavendish had underestimated them, and what they were willing to do to protect their children. It was lucky that Maddox had been there to witness it for himself. Who knew if Kathryn would have eventually been able to tell her mother what had happened to her, and for that, James would be eternally grateful to the man.

The man who apparently loved the child as much as her family did. It spurned questions within him that were better left asked at another time.

A quick impervius on them both, and James could infer where this was going. He tucked his wand back into his pocket, slinging his suspenders back over his shoulders, watching silently. However Maddox chose to dispatch Cavendish was good enough for James.

The sound that came was loud, squelching, the crunch of bone crushing in on itself. The man didn't blink, thankful for the shield that had protected him from the spray of remains and matter. He took a few steps until he was side-by-side with Maddox again, looking over what was left of Cavendish with a satisfied gaze.

"You should head back. I'm sure my sister and Kate are anxiously waiting on you." He brought a hand to Maddox's shoulder for a grateful slap. "I'll take care of the mess and make sure his body's placed where it can be found." Somewhere near the Cavendish estate - not the woods - but perhaps in a nearby bog where it could be surmised that creatures had had its way with the man. Grindylows maybe. How horrid.

"Thank you," James said quietly, understanding that Maddox had done this for Kathryn, but he was grateful all the same. "We won't forget it."