Shadow Bender.

Richard looked at the remains of the dummies with a small frown,

"I was thinking about the other type of dummy I can make..." he paused a little before deciding that he could trust Briony, "My brother Calab had a horcrux. I have that horcrux in my possession and I can force his spirit into vessels. Including his reconstructed body."

He frowned a little,

"It's only temporary of course... the body decays rapidly. But..." he narrowed his eyes, "It makes for one hell of an opponent."

Briony frowned softly, she got up groggily from her curled up position on the bed and looked at Richard with a mixture of disdain and slight irritation on her face. Sighing she waved her hand at him deciding that she couldn't be bothered arguing with him, if he wanted to fight with his stupid brother he could do, she was in no fit state to do anything about it.

"If you want to. I'm not in any position to help you if you need it though."

She could sense the sharp edge to her voice and decided that she didn't care. She felt like crap and if Richard would rather fight something that give her a hug to make her feel better then what could Briony do to prevent that? Nothing.

Richard tensed at her words before he felt the energy drain out of his body and he slumped to the floor again, resting his back against the bed. He closed his eyes tight,

"Just great... I want to calm down and the first thing my mind jumps to is killing something..." he held his head in his hands, "What the hell does that say about me?"

Gripping his head tightly he tried to calm himself down,

"What the hell kind of example will I be setting for Annie?" he choked out a half-laugh, "'Sorry dear... daddy's not used to trying to clear his head with hugs and kisses so he's off to reanimate and then re-kill his brother'..."

He groaned and slowly stood back up,

"Jesus Christ... if I get any worse I'll be my father..." he whispered to himself before smiling faintly and held out a hand to Briony, "Is it too late to try and fall asleep hugging?"

Briony raised her eyebrow and sighed slightly, moving from the middle of the bed she made enough space for Richard to fit on, Briony was unsure about falling asleep they were in the middle of a dodgy shack frequented by criminals and vagrants. After Richard had lain down next to her Briony placed her head on his chest and let her arms curl around him one in his hair gently playing with it, the other resting by his leg.

"It will take us both a while to change who we are to fit in with what Annie needs."

She wondered if she should tell Richard what she was planning to do and Briony decided it would be better if he knew sooner rather than later. She must respect him as her...what was he...her partner? Briony softly glanced up into his eyes and said;

"That's why I intend to go after my father next week."

Richard sighed a little and idly played with her hair,

"I guess you're right... neither of us is exactly what you'd call model parents." he chuckled lightly, "Hell, I'm still surprised at how accepting Annie really is. She's seen some of the darkest parts of me... and she doesn't care. She says she loves me anyway. Now I might still not agree that I'm the father she needs... she does. And I think that, in the end, it's the child who decides whether or not the parents have done a good job."

He paused in playing with her hair for a few seconds before looking her square in the eye. Finding the conviction in her eyes, he nodded slightly and resumed playing with her hair,

"I can't stop you. I don't want to stop you, closure will do you good." he smiled faintly, "But I'm going to help you. Not with the killing... that's your fight. I won't even be there to intrude, I'll take care of Annie with the help of Kayla. No... I'll double check the information on his location. I'll make you several emergency portkeys... give you enchanted protections. Anything to make sure that you come out of it with both your closure and your health."

He hugged her lightly, careful not to hurt her,

"I want you to be happy Briony and I don't think you'll be as happy as you could be with your father still out there somewhere." he kissed her lightly on the forehead, "I support you Briony. Just promise me you'll come home safely alright?"

Briony smiled gently, she appreciated everything that Richard was going to do for her but she wouldn't allow him to do any of it, not one thing because Briony needed to do this completely on her own. If she didn't, she would always have that doubt in her mind it was because of someone else that she managed to defeat her father.

"I appreciate it Rich, I really do, but I won't let you help me. In any way. You have to understand, I'll always believe it is because of what you did that I was able to defeat him. I can't have that."

Shaking her head lightly Briony kissed Richard lightly on the lips thinking of all the things that they had done together, what strong motivation they would be for her to come back unharmed. Briony softly wound her hand in Richard's own, liking the way their fingers easily fitted together.

"I'll try my best to come back for you, and for Annie. If not...well...you have Kayla...and my house, you'll be fine on your own."

Richard felt the first tears roll down his cheek and he shook his head quickly before nuzzling his face into the crook of Briony's neck,

"No I won't Briony..." he sniffed a little and looked into her eyes, gently stroking her cheek, "You've changed me Briony Blake, so much so that it scares me. I... I don't think I would be able to live without you anymore. I would survive... if only for Annie's sake, but I would be dead inside."

He kissed her lightly on the lips,

"That's why I'm asking you... please... just let me give you an emergency portkey." he rested their foreheads together and he choked a little, "If not for you then for me Briony... just to make sure that you come back to me no matter what."

Briony felt a tear fall onto her skin and she shivered lightly, she didn't want to make Richard cry but this was the way it was going to be, either she beat her father or she didn't. If she beat him he'd die, if she lost she would die. Briony came to accept this fact ages ago, now Richard must too. Briony was glad she had decided to tell him now, rather than on the day.

"Don't cry my darling. Annie can have all you're love then, and hey, I might not die. I'll probably win...probably."

Her brow furrowed as she thought about the probability of her winning, it seemed 50/50 as both of them had abilities the other didn't and Briony had her age as a vantage point but her father had experience. Briony kissed Richard's lips gently and moved some hair out of his eyes, untucking it from behind his left ear remembering what he had told her from the cave so many weeks ago.

"Would you want to see me like that? Wouldn't you rather me stay where I had fallen...?"

Richard shook his head and smiled sadly,

"No... I'd rather have you back, no matter what." he kissed her gently, "If you fall in battle Briony I want to be able to bury you, or cremate you. I won't have your body left at the mercy of your father and the elements."

He smiled a little more when she tucked his hair behind his ear,

"You remembered..." he whispered, mostly to himself, before he began to play with Briony's hair, "Hell Briony... if you can beat The Tank you can beat your father. If not..."

His eyes darkened,

"Then I will carry on the feud and make him my last kill before settling down to do my best for Annie."

"I don't want you to get hurt because of my family Richard, if I can't kill him please don't risk yourself and Annie to him, please, it's not worth it."

Her cool hand placed itself on his cheek and Briony smiled gently up at him placing a soft kiss, more like a brush of the lips, on Richard's own lips. Briony lay back on his chest and purred happily as he played with her hair, she loved it and even though she was still so sore Briony felt so content right now.

"Oh, and, just in case, burn me. I can't stand the thought of me becoming worm food, ugh."

Briony said this last statement in a jokey sort of way but she was very serious, Briony knew that there was a very real chance she wouldn't be living past next week but for now she focused on Richard, and Annie, with some training thrown in.

"So it's all drink, sex and good times for the next week I'm afraid."

Richard chuckled a little and poked her lightly on the forehead,

"Silly Briony... we're raising a child together, we live in the same house and we love each other." he kissed her gently, "We're partners. So your problems are my problems."

He nodded slightly,

"Good choice." he rested his head against her forehead, "I don't want to know you're decaying... I'd rather know you were disposed of with dignity."

He grinned a little and kissed Briony again,

"Sounds like a good week." he joked lightly.

Briony giggled and gently poked Richard back in the forehead, she loved him so much and she didn't know any way to really show that to him. Kissing his lips gently Briony wound her arms around his neck pulling him closer to her, all of a sudden she remembered something that she was quite interested to ask him about.

"Rich, can you smell people that I've been around?"

Briony's eyebrows knotted together, something had been concerning her for a while now and both Richard and Cobalt seemed to be able to do it. It was something Briony did not like.

"It's just...someone else can and I'm not sure whether I like it."

Richard frowned a little but nodded slowly,

"Yeah, I can smell things a lot of people can't. Mostly I use it in my alchemy... hangs around for a bit after I'm initially finished with it. That's how I knew..." he trailed off a little, "About that."

His frown deepened,

"You've met Cobalt Smith?" he asked, his voice full of concern. He shook his head, "It's not like its constantly on... I have to want to smell better. It's like an on/off switch. And most of the time it's in the off position, I don't like to violate people's privacy like that."

"Can I do anything to stop him smelling me...because it's disgusting. He is disgusting..."

Briony's eyes narrowed when Richard mentioned Smith, she hated that man with a passion, not just for what he had done to Richard but for the disrespect he had shown her and that never sat well with Briony. No longer black her veins had gone back to normal, the pain was subsiding so Briony could successfully get up off the bed and start pacing around the room in anger.

"Such a bastard I've never met!" She growled "What a complete and utter....UGH I just wanted to stab him in the fecking eye and I would have done! If it wasn't in public..."

Briony punched the wall in anger causing a large hole to appear in the plaster, looking at her hand then at Richard she smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head.

"He knew that we've been seeing each other, he even knew...about 'that'" Briony muttered darkly "I swear, one day I'm going to give that guy what he deserves stupid prick."

Richard shrugged a little,

"If there is I haven't found it yet." he frowned a little, "You might try covering your scent. I managed to keep my personal life from him when working with him by eating a clove of garlic a day. Almost ruined by tongue but he gagged repeatedly when he tried to sniff me."

He grinned and moved over to wrap his arms around her and kiss her thoroughly,

"You keep saying things like that and I'll have to ravage you." he teased her as he kissed her again, "If it comes to it... I'll hold that bastard down for what he did to Annie."

Briony smiled gently, she tried to make her anger subside but she couldn't mask it completely, Smith was just someone who irriated her to no end and now he had made that impression upon her it would be damned hard to get rid of. With a sigh Briony smiled into the kiss and wrapped her arms around Rich hugging herself closer to him.

Once again she was mystified by the fact that she had punched a hole in the wall a few seconds before but now she was perfectly calm again. Smirking lightly up at Rich she wound her fingers in his hair, playing with it to calm her down more.

"Saying things like what?" She whispered darkly, voice husky. "Oh of course, we should do it together, an item on our bucket list as it were."

Richard grinned,

"Threatening to kill one of my enemies..." he gave a playful shudder before winking at her, "You should know that's one of my weaknesses."

He kissed her again and ran his fingers through her hair slowly,

"Briony I have almost completed my bucket list." he grinned and kisses her again, "I have one more thing and I can die happy. Killing Cobalt would make it better but I don't need it to tide me over for eternity in hell."

Briony raised her eyebrow, she didn't know that was one of Richard's weaknesses but she didn't think that it would come in that useful anyway, could you imagine Briony bringing up Smith in the middle of having sex? No. That would just turn her right off. His face, actually, disgusted her.

"Oh really? I'm only saying what I think, in my opinion the guy already deserved a death sentence for what he did to poor Annie, then cutting out your knees pushed me over the limit, and on top of that insulting me? Consider him dead."

A angry sneer appeared on her face as if she was looking at Smith himself when she was really just looking at a blank wall, imagining him there. With a sigh Briony tried to calm herself down again but it wasn't working very well, pouting softly she turned to Rich and buried her head in his chest.

"I need to calm down, seriously."

Richard chuckled a little,

"A little angry at him huh Bri?" he shook his head a little, "Yeah he always was one of those people... just one of those guys you want to punch in the face. Repeatedly. And not stop."

He grinned a little and kissed her again, stroking her hair softly,

"I guess we'll both have to take some anger management classes or something." he commented idly before winking, "Or we can burn the energy out having fun, playing with Annie, training and, of course, hot sex."

Briony chuckled softly to Richard and she buried her head in the crook of his neck, breathing her hot breath onto his skin, sighing lightly Briony ran her fingers down Richard's back making small circles there with her cool fingertips. Moving her hand round to the front of him Briony softly moved her fingers making idle shapes with them.

"Hmmmm hot sex, or training...it's a toughie alright?"

She winked playfully, Briony moved her lips to cover Richard's in a soft kiss wrapping her arms around his shoulders and nuzzling her head against his neck once more.

"Let's not talk of fools any more..."

Richard gave her a look of mock concentration,

"Yep... it's a doosie alright." he joked before kissing her with a grin, "Although I think I know what I'll choose."

He laughed a little and nuzzled right back into her neck,

"I hope that doesn't include me. I seem to be the classic love-struck fool." he teased lightly before squeezing her in the hug, "Not that I'd have it any other way."

"It's the training isn't it?"

Briony flung a hand to her forehead and pretended to weep, she of course knew it wouldn't be that and if it was she would be having serious words with Richard. Giggling a little she sat up and looked softly at Richard as he lay on the bed, she reflected for a moment on how much drama her life had taken on in the last few weeks or months and whether it was worth it. Of course it was.

"No, it doesn't include you, I don't think you're a fool, just, in love. One does crazy things for love."

Smiling gently Briony placed a kiss on Richard's lips, looking into his eyes once more.

"There you are again, with you're beautiful eyes."

Richard shook his head and reached out to squeeze her ass,

"Answer your question or do I have to pound the point home?" he teased with a wink, "Training is nothing compared to sharing your company Bri."

He chuckled a little and kissed her lightly,

"I'm a fool, but I'm a nice fool. Or so I'm told." he replied with a wink, "And besides... you're the one with the beautiful eyes. Mine are boring. Yours speak volumes. They hold your passion... your knowledge... your heart and your soul. They're beautiful."

Briony smirked when Richard grabbed her ass and she moved to lay next to him again, her body flush against his own. Her hands wound their way around Richard and she lay her head against his chest once more, listening to his heart beat softly within his chest, Briony looked up at him with tender eyes.

"You think so Rich?"

Grinning sheepishly Briony tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and she smirked deviously again.

"It's totally training."

Richard rolled his eyes even as his arms wrapped around her tightly,

"Alright it's training." he gave her a mock glare, "Happy now?"

He laughed brightly before kissing her again,

"I think I'll get enough of a work-out chasing after you and Annie anyway." he chuckled a little and kissed her again, "You know... important things like that."