Nov 6, ‘81: Amnesia: Thadkins Flat: Pheddie/Kabs

[Edgar Bones]

Fabian's magic and their words were hardly - ah - having a calming effect. Kyra had that old look in her eye, curious and half believing; Phoebe's tears, though, were making him want to cry ones of his own, those not due to the spray. He didn't want to scare her, but was there any way to reveal that the past she remembered was a lie without causing more than a fair bit of fright? Her words came fast, though, accusing them of lying, throwing out names he didn't know, thinking it was a joke, having proof...He let Kyra and Fabian speak as Phoebe left, the compress over his eyes as he laid back. That is, until his mate gave a helping hand. 

"Would've come with a plan if we'd known it'd go like this," Ed returned quietly a mite too harshly, although he was glad to breathe freely again - at least in respect to the pepper spray, his chest was still tight from the stress of this turn of events. "Thanks." He gave his eyes what he hoped was the last wipe they'd need, and Edgar looked up apprehensively at Phoebe's return, not sure what exactly she'd hoped to find, or if she'd found it.

He saw her in, frankly, distress. Good news for us? For maybe this wasn't as helpless as Ed thought it may be. A quick look to Fabian confirmed that his mate felt the same excitement bubbling up within his own blood, and while he wasn't keen on causing Phoebe any more strife, this may very well be a gets worse before it gets better scenario. Hold on, Pheebs. Because Kyra was ripping through the diary Phoebe had brought out, affirming that he and Fabian were mentioned - Just need to prove we didn't alter the diaries? - and in doing so, found something that may just be the key...While hearing his lovestruck teenage self bemoaning being away from his girl wasn't high on his list of wants for the day, Edgar would take it - if it meant Phoebe remembered. His partner was laughing at the impression, but Ed couldn't keep his eyes off of the woman newly brought to tears. You remember, Phoebe. You have to, somehow, else why would this affect you so much? Before he could untangle his tongue again, Fabian was giving them shite and he shot him a glare. I know that, you wanker - she doesn't.

Edgar colored behind his beard at his best mate's addition to the already embarrassing moment, looking over Phoebe again to see how she was taking...everything. Not much was left to chance, seeing as the woman was telling Fabian off. Deciding against pressing the current debate explicitly - it was not done, not nearly, and it would circle back - Ed cleared his throat and resisted the strong urge to pull her into his arms, something that used to have magic of its own in staying her tears and worries. Instead, he reached for a box of tissues on an end table nearby and passed it to Phoebe without a word, but with an honest look of sympathy.

"I can't imagine how disorienting this must be for you," he said after a short time, green eyes fighting to stay with hers. Please stick with us though, I know you can believe. Edgar leaned forward, hands clasped, forearms resting on his legs, and went on gingerly with something that had been needling at him. If his thinking was correct, he and Fabian had been replaced in their memories - confirmation of modification rather than erasure, which would make the recovery process easier. Easy as anything having to do with memory can be made. And while it stung, to say the least, that Phoebe thought she'd fallen in love with someone else, someone who didn't even exist, instead of him... "Earlier you mentioned Nick and Caleb. Who are they?"

[Phoebe Bones]

“Beyond fucked,” Phoebe agreed, pacing around their leaving room as her best friend read through the diary. It was baffling to think that her words on those pages mentioned Edgar and Fabian, instead of Nick and Caleb. At Kyra’s tease, Phoebe shot her the glare. The one usually reserved for Caleb or Nick when they’d managed to get under her skin - the glare that could kill - according to them. She’d had a wonderful time at that dance, it had been her first date with Nick. Or with Edgar, seeing as that’s what your diary says. This was all so confusing, her memories conflicting with what she’d read in that diary. As Kyra turned the pages something fell to the ground, and Phoebe watched curiously as her best friend picked the envelope from the floor. There was no stopping the tears that flowed as she heard the words, her heart aching as she listened. She had been missing Nick for years now, her only connection to him the diaries and letters she had kept. Letters? When would he have written you a letter? No, she knew there were letters exchanged, it was how she has kept in touch with her long distance boyfriend. Nick went to our school, none of this makes sense.

Before she could make sense of it, Fabian was opening his mouth and the fire she felt in her soul was quickly escaping her. “Why don’t you shove it Fabs, you git.” Snapping at him through her tears, something about it seemed to natural. Like the four of them had spent years together with Fabian giving her and Edgar a hard time. And Edgar, looking at her made her heart hurt and sing at the same time. She accepted the box of tissues from them, cradling them as she used one to wipe at her eyes. This was all too much, and she wanted these two men that were causing her this pain out of her apartment. She set the box down on coffee table, dropping down onto the couch as she met Edgar’s eyes once he spoke again. Disorienting was one way to put it. It was like her entire life has been upturned, and yet nothing obvious had actually changed. Every memory she brought up of Nick, he was there. But now that she was looking at them closely they all seemed too perfect. How could she so perfectly remember the details of her first dance when she could barely remember what she’d had for breakfast two days ago?

“Nick is-was my boyfriend. For six years,” she answered him quietly, wringing her hands as she looked between her best friend and the two men in their house. “Nick and I started dating when we were fifteen, both him and Caleb went to our secondary school. I asked him to that dance, and we were inseparable after that. He…” she trailed off, the oddities in her memories now more glaringly obvious than ever. She had summers worth of memories, but not a single one while they were still in school together that she could pull from her thoughts. “He left me a while ago, joined up with MI6 - said it was too dangerous for us to be together. As for Caleb…” Phoebe trailed off, eyes finding Kyra’s. The floors all yours, Kiki.

[Kyra Thatcher]

Left alone with the two men as Phoebe rummaged in her room, Kyra kept her distance but was absolutely colored intrigued at the blunt response. Proper wizards. I'll be damned. As if to illuminate the point, Fabian Prewett took his wand to his friend, seemingly assisting his recovery. At Phoebe's return and the bewildering kerfuffle that followed, while Kyra was rather absorbed in the reading, she couldn't help but notice a few things. Phoebe was a waterfall, even after that shooting dagger glare thrown her way. Edgar looked like he was restraining himself from going to her. And Fabian...why's his laugh making you smile this much? She continued flipping through the diary as the conversation turned, resisting shouting out each time a Bones family member was mentioned or something about "the twins" popped up. Because this was a story she knew perhaps too well: Nick and Caleb, Phoebe and Kyra. One set of star-crossed lovers, one set of stubbornly resistant ones. But reflections on their relationships felt too dreamy - not in an everything is perfect sort of way, but as Edgar had described. The colors were too bright, voices were garbled, they simply didn't fit with her other recollections. And when Phoebe trailed off, letting her take the reins again, she had to jump in. And not first with her part of the story, but with something she'd found.

"Pheebs, look." Kyra came over to where her friend sat, trying to be kind to Phoebe's turmoil through her own personal excitement. She leaned over the couch around the other woman and held an old photo out in front of her. "This isn't Nick. I'd bet anything it's...it's you, Edgar." She eyed the bloke opposite them shrewdly, desperate to note some familiarity, and left the photo in Phoebe's lap to give her shoulders a comforting squeeze. "I know this is bonkers. But - I don't think they're here to fool us. You know things don't make sense when we look back. Seven years - you said it'd been seven years since you've seen us." She quickly looked up to find Fabian, staring him in the eye as she went on rapidly, still holding on to her friend for and as support. "Nick and Caleb left for MI6 then. Seven years ago, just up and left, haven't seen hide nor hair since. He and I were on-and-off for ages before then," she said dismissively. "He was tight with Nick, the four of us spent an unhealthy amount of time together - things happen. But you know all about that." 

Kyra couldn't help her smirk at Fabian, even though this was the most boggling of nights in existence. For if her thinking was correct, however unbelievable it seemed, Caleb and Nick weren't Caleb and Nick. They were the strangers before them, strangers who claimed to know them, who'd shown they did. Meaning that what was in her and Phoebe's heads wasn't right - a terrifying concept, but Kyra found herself thrilled at it all the same. Magic is real. It's been used on us. We could know these two, get our memories back, know what's really happened... "Memory charms," she continued abruptly, looking between the men. "You said we've been hit by them, that you can take them away. Pheebs, we have to know the truth of our own lives. Can you - I dunno - how do we - "

She let out a bewildered laugh and left her post from behind the couch, talking herself through her thoughts as she came towards them. "I want to have you swear on something important that you won't hurt us if we let you try, but I don't know you well enough to know what would be a legitimate swear, but once you do what needs doing then I will." All at once, Kyra knew she should be more cautious, logical, about this - but while she'd first been fearful of the intruders, the longer she spent with them, the more comfortable she felt herself becoming. They could have a spell on you now, and you wouldn't even know it. But all her life, she'd felt that there was more to the world than what was accounted for by most. She'd felt that magic had to exist, that some of her theories had to be true. Even if she'd never get a chance to prove them, she held on to them stringently. But she looked the pair over wonderingly, unable to stop from smiling, because Kyra hadn't thought something magical would ever happen to her. "This is enough to drive someone utterly mad, you know."

[Fabian Prewett]

They probably should have come up with a plan of some sort, instead of just showing up. It had been years, and Fabian hadn’t really thought through the possible consequences of just showing up on their doorstep. He certainly hadn’t expected Pheebs to pepper spray Edgar, even if he was now finding it amusing. Phoebe was soon back, and the truth was slowly seeping out of the journal. It was hard not to tease them, the words escaping him before he’d really had a chance to think about the effect they would have. It was natural, teasing Phoebe and Edgar for being so sweet together it was nauseating. Even as Phoebe snapped at him, he was laughing and feeling hopeful. Because she’d called him Fabs without his prompting, telling him off like she had so many times before. He knew he shouldn’t be so giddy, not when Phoebe was this upset. We’re going to get through this Eddie, she remembers you. She has to.

He felt like he was hovering, but there wasn’t much else to do as Phoebe clued them into exactly who Nick was. He sounded a lot like a replacement of Edgar, which was a good sign. As far as he knew, there was no way to recover lost memories. But altered ones? That was something that they could work with. Kyra was jumping into the conversation, showing Phoebe a picture as she leaned over the couch. He shifted anxiously, hoping that this was another good sign for them. After Phoebe looked at the picture, more tears in her eyes, she passed it over to Edgar, and Fabian glanced at it as Kyra spoke to him, nodding to her words. The last time they had seen each other was seven years ago, it was convenient that this Nick and Caleb had disappeared around the same time.

And Caleb? It sounded a lot like that was who had replaced him in Kyra’s memories. It was hard not to smile as she smirked at him, his own heart aching to just pull her into his arms. He had missed her, every single part of her. Her theories, her laugh, her teasing. He watched her carefully, well aware now of just how confusing everything had to seem to them. Because it was Edgar in that picture, it was them that had been replaced in their memories. And the two women were just starting to make sense of it all. It took everything he had not to reach out to her, but his mind was racing with thoughts. What could he swear on that she would find acceptable? There had to be something, some memory that she still had that would work. “I know it’s a lot,” he spoke, fidgeting with his wand as he looked between them. “But we aren’t here to cause you any harm. And I’m sorry for the hurt that us just showing up caused, that was my sh*t idea.”

He bit his lip, mind still going. If they’d altered their memories back to when they were kids, anything he said would just be something she had done with Caleb. “Do you remember when we started dating when you were in University? It was just a few months, but in that time I bought a motorcycle just to impress you. Loved it - and I still have it. I’d swear on that bike I’m telling you the truth.”

[Edgar Bones]

Phoebe sent the glare to Kyra, called Fabs Fabs, was crying as if she didn't know why, and he was tempted to say to hell with it and set her memory straight then and there. He couldn't, he wouldn't, but he was growing desperate to fix this. She has to want it fixed. You can't force it. Her story about Nick and herself was theirs, and while he knew it was irrational, Ed found he quite hated the man in her memory for replacing him. Objectively, this made the possibility of memory retrieval more believable, and he tried to focus on that. Kyra was prompted to speak of this Caleb, likely a Fabian replacement, but before she did, she was putting another piece of evidence into Phoebe's hands. He took it from her, fingers brushing sending a tangled web of conflict through him, and he nodded at the photograph. That fateful first date had set the next years of their lives into motion and, quite possibly, more than that. For while he liked to think that he would've fought on the side of good in this war regardless of personal attachments, Ed hadn't been able to even think of living with himself if he allowed that evil to persist in the world that Phoebe lived in. Kyra confirmed her take on her history and he was caught up in partial amusement at her excitement. If anyone would come around to the idea of magic, to the possibility of what he and Fabian asserted, it was her.

And he was glad for his companion for that. 

With how hard Phoebe was taking this, he didn't know how hopeful he should be for them.

Stomach twisting as he thought, Ed nevertheless snorted in acknowledgment of this being entirely Fabian's fault, and patted his arm at his attempt. From the look in Kyra's eye, she was ready to take the chance. Will you let her, Pheebs? While the others spoke, he leaned towards her to give his side. "You and I were together from that dance, through secondary. Even though everyone thought we were mad since I went to a boarding school and you were in Barking, we knew we could do it. We had our letters, we had our holidays, and when we graduated we moved in together. This dinky little flat in London, but it was like Buckingham Palace to us," he reminisced, a soft laugh leaving him. It was the only place that'd been theirs, the last place he'd truly felt at home. Being in the field or on the run for the majority of this in-between, settling down anywhere hadn't been possible. And now that it was? She has a home. She's probably happy - was, until you showed up. "We were happy, thought it'd be us until the end, but I'd - I'd kept magic from you for years. When I told you about it, the war that put non-magic people like you in danger, how I wanted to fight in it...I'd broken your trust, irreparably, and things ended between us. Fabian and I, we've been in that war ever since. It's just ended, our side won, and..." I was foolish enough to not see this as a possibility, not in seven years of thinking this day over. Edgar sighed and rose, feeling in his gut what he had to do next and hating it. He wanted to push her, to make her believe that this was the truth - but acceptance had to come from her. And could he really expect her to be open to that today? What's that saying? "If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. If they don't, they never were."

"Phoebe," he said quietly, sitting on the couch beside her, careful to keep from touching, "if you want me to go, I'll go. I didn't come here to cause you this distress, I...I wanted to see you, to tell you that it's over, that you're safe from that evil. And to thank you. We may've been separated, but you've...you've been with me, here." Ed put a fist to his chest, struggling for composure. None of this was how he'd imagined their reunion. And what if she never came around, even if Kyra did? This could truly be their final meeting, and it was all he could do to keep going, albeit haltingly. "You kept my heart from turning cold when it would've been easier, far easier, to let that happen." Some of the other captains, some of the agents, they detached their hearts from their realities. Losing that part of themselves made what they had to do easier to stomach. But he knew that if he was to have a life after all was said and done - and he would survive, and the war would end - he'd need to keep himself whole. As whole as possible, anyway. He set the old photograph on the coffee table, taking a moment to steel himself before returning his attention to her. Please, Phoebe, he thought in desperation. Don't let this be how it ends. "I can leave a way to reach me. If you - if you have questions, if you want to try retrieving your memories, if you need - if you need anything, I will be here in a heartbeat. All I ask is that you think on what we've told you, on what you've seen."

[Phoebe Bones]

Phoebe took the picture Kyra handed her, tears filling her eyes once more as she looked at. Because she remembered having this picture taken, she remembered how she’d felt like she was falling in love that night at the dance. And this picture was just what she remembered, except for the fact it wasn’t a young Nick - but what had to be a young Edgar. She passed the picture over to Edgar, hoping that maybe he’d recognize it as well. But what if he does, what then? But Kyra was right, as much as Phoebe wasn’t ready to admit it. Because things didn’t make sense when she thought about the memories she had. Everything was so perfect, and she’d thought she just remembered if because of how much she missed Nick. She’d compared every guy she had ever dated to those memories, and no one had measured up. Except now she was so caught up in watching Edgar, that she had hardly paid attention to the words Kyra had been saying about Caleb.

She was desperate to recognize something about him, from the way he held the photo in his hands to the nod he was giving her after he looked at it. If he was really telling the truth, she would remember him. She wouldn’t have let her memories be altered without fighting - that much she was sure of. There had to be something that she could remember, something they hadn’t taken from her besides an old diary and an old picture. She barely heard Fabian apologizing, too wrapped in watching the way Edgar moved and laughed. Because there was nothing jogging her memory, nothing except her sudden doubt that her memories were wrong. Could she trust this people just because her fifteen year old self had written about them? Edgar was leaning towards her, pulling her from her thoughts with his words.

Because what he was saying was true, she could see it in her mind. She could remember that dance, she could remember going down the street to his mother’s house to give her letters to him. Having family dinners with Imogen and Greg. The dinky flat that had been their home. But she didn’t remember learning about magic, she didn’t remember ending things because of a very big and apparently very hidden life. What she could remember was a dog, one that she hadn’t kept when she’d split from Nick. Except she didn’t remember Nick taking the dog, now that she was truly thinking about it. But there was no time for these thoughts, as Edgar was coming to sit next to her on the couch. She wanted him to be close, and yet at the same time she didn’t want him near her. Her emotions were everywhere, and it was maddening.

Tears were stinging in her eyes once more as he spoke, and she grabbed a tissue to wipe them away as she tried to grasp everything that had happened. His words meant so much to her, which she didn’t fully understand. You know him. Somewhere deep down, you know he’s right. She looked up to where Fabian and Kyra were speaking for a moment, before she returned her gaze to him. “I don’t want you to leave,” she whispered, reaching out for his hands. Touching him felt like...well, magic. Like she was finally where she was supposed to be. “I just, this is a lot. This is asking me to think that someone has been messing around in my head and that’s terrifying. I don’t want to believe that something like that could even happen. I feel so...so violated. I’ve always thought I could trust what I remember but now….” she trailed off, looking to the ground. “Now I just don’t know anymore.”

Looking back up to him, she blinked the tears from her eyes she she thought, and a sigh escaped her before she continued. “I want to remember the truth. Whatever that is.”

[Kyra Thatcher]

Working hard to keep her mind from swirling in loop-de-loops about the dilemma she and Pheebs were presently stuck in, Kyra watched with a strange sort of pride as this Fabian thought hard to come up with an answer she'd believe. He wanted her to come around, to trust in his and Edgar's story, and while she'd tried to keep them out…This could still be a scam. You could've been right to be scared.

But I don't think it is. Someone random wouldn't just barge in and make this much of an effort. If this was the truth, then Caleb had never existed. Everything she'd shared with him, everything they had been - it wasn't lost, but with the restoration of memory it would be...reimagined. It was too much for her to comprehend, really, and while that in and of itself was frightening in a way...it was also delightful. The world was big and full of mystery that they weren’t meant to fully understand, with nature and government and individuals concealing the truth, and here was an offer to have it. "It was a really sh*t idea," Kyra affirmed with a laugh, encouraging him to go on. "But if you are who I think you are, then I know you usually have better ones." She and Caleb had spent much of their summers together in their later teen years, causing chaos around the neighborhood before retreating in victory to lay under the stars, exchanging their takes on the world and making nebulous plans for their future. And in university, after she'd taught him to drive, most of those good ideas centered around his motorcycle…

"Oh, I remember. I loved that bike," she confirmed, light eyes aglow with promise. Kyra wanted to accept then and there, give him the go-ahead to work his magic, but she didn’t want to move forward without her best friend. What if she won't go for it? She turned on her heel with a beaming smile to check in only to see Phoebe almost getting cozy with Eddie. ...she will.

Hold on - Eddie? Where did that come from?

Her girl was still tearful, perhaps thinking of the loss, the violation, that this revelation meant - but Kyra didn't think the negatives would hold her back. Pheebs was tenacious, her livelihood was about proving the truth, and while this was properly uncharted territory for them, it wasn't something they could let pass them by. "What're you thinking, babe?" Nodding towards the hall, she continued, "Conference?"

[Fabian Prewett]

It was hard not to smile at Kyra’s tease to him, her words made it seem like she was coming around to the idea that things in her mind weren’t exactly how they seemed. She might not remember him in her mind, but the stories she could tell were still theirs. Countless nights of staying up late, making plans to be something more than just friends. Playing tricks on their best friends, pretending to be disgusted when Phoebe and Edgar were being nauseatingly cute. As long as he could find something in his mind to prove that he was who he said he was, surely Kyra would let him work his magic on her memories. There had to be some memory, somewhere in her mind that whoever had altered their memories had missed. And they had plenty of memories on that motorcycle, the two of them cruising around London and raising hell. Not to mention the longer road trips, when they’d find old windy country roads and take a picnic to someplace neither of them had ever been. Those were the memories he was counting on her remembering, and his face lit up as she confirmed that yes, yes she did remember that motorbike.

But she was soon turning to Phoebe, the two of them needing to be on the same page. He found a seat next to Edgar on the couch, twisting his wand in his fingers he watched the girls go down the hall to chat. “We’ve got this mate, don’t worry. She’s coming around.” He doubted Kyra would go for this alone, the two girls as close as sisters. But surely if Phoebe was believing their story, she’d have to let them correct her memories. Fabian picked up the picture of the his two friends from the table, smiling at the memory of that night. He’d had a blast with Kyra at that dance, even if a good part of it was spent spying on their friends. And yet he hadn’t kept things going like Eddie had, something he still regretted. Especially now that they were trying to convince the girls that they weren’t complete strangers. He looked up quickly as Phoebe and Kyra came back into the room, nudging Edgar gently.

Phoebe was giving them the go ahead, and he had to contain his excitement as he got up from the couch. But as he stepped around their coffee table, it occurred to him that him that perhaps this bit of magic was out of his expertise. Sure, he’d done fine on memory charms during school, but this was...complex. Years worth of memories that needed to be restored, would they be able to pull it off? “Uh, so Edgar - what spell are you thinking here?”

[Edgar Bones]

"I don't want you to leave."

Ed instinctively gripped the familiar hands that reached towards him, grateful beyond telling that Phoebe not only wasn't turning him away, but was showing such trust in him in both words and action. His eyes locked onto hers as she shared the inner workings of her mind, and his heart went out to her painfully. He could only imagine how world-shaking the revelation was, and it was an incredibly disconcerting, invasive one. While he could repair her damaged memories, while he could try to help her come to peace with the shock, the first would be a whole lot easier than the second. Which was saying something, truly, for even Albus admitted that such reversals were difficult. Phoebe's gaze fell to their feet and he gave her hands some reassuring pressure, hoping to bring her back to him in all ways. And when she did? The indecision that had been clouding her dark eyes had hardened into resolve, and his heart picked up speed as she affirmed that she was ready. "We'll fix this, Pheebs," he assured her earnestly, "get to the bottom of it together. I swear." I'm not going to let you down. Not again. Because this didn't end with the women regaining their truths - he, and likely the rest of them, wouldn't be able to stop digging until they determined why an Obliviator had had to intervene.

He chanced a small smile and released one of her hands, freeing up his own to rather gingerly thumb at her under-eye's to rid them of their tearful streaks. Their moment was interrupted by Kyra - not the first time, and hopefully not the last - and he realized he shouldn't have been as surprised as he was for it. The pair of women would be in or out of this together, as they'd been for so many important decisions. He gave a nod of understanding and watched them go with nerves mounting again, wand returning to his ready hand. As Fabian joined him, looking positively chuffed with palpable excitement, Edgar couldn't help but laugh in relief.

"Yeah - yeah, she is. Now that she's not scared of two strange men breaking into her apartment," he went on quietly but pointedly, although he did hope they'd all be able to laugh about that soon, "just that someone's been messing around in her head. Looked like things were going pretty smoothly already, eh? No more threats?"

Before long, Phoebe and Kyra returned, and he beamed as Pheebs gave the okay. Fabian was fast to his feet, but just as quick to look back to him for direction. "Oh, you want my help with the plan now?" Chuckling, Edgar rose and stood before Phoebe. "Just follow my lead. Roddy taught me how when I brought Dearborn to him. Remember when the kid went full Welsh on us?" Since the bloke was fluent in a few languages and he'd overheard him and Jones going back-and-forth in it before, it had taken a fair bit of time for Ed to realize that the jokester wasn't fooling around, but had "forgotten" his English. That's what'll happen when they try out charms on each other. To his memory, that'd been when Peasegood hadn't yet quit the Ministry, still had hopes of becoming an Obliviator while working for the Order.

"All right. Phoebe, Kyra - find something in here to focus your attention on to stay in the present, okay?" The process would only be more difficult if they tried looking through their memories before the charm was reversed. He raised his wand and spoke the charm that would allow them access, trying to disconnect from the pressure of the moment. "Fabs, we're feeling for the instigating event. The charm leaves a mark, a ripple, like scar tissue, and it'll be lifted from there..." It was an odd thing to feel for and to do - to have the connection, to root around their memory when they were correcting someone else doing the same - but he followed the bread crumbs around to a winter night... "December, after a show," he said decisively. While worried for what lifting the charm would reveal of that night - during wartime, he doubted it was a fun magical mixup - it had to be done. Once Fabian had found the marker, Ed spoke the secondary charm. He let his wand arm fall, heart in his throat. Would it work? Would they remember? What would she think, feel, to see him now?

[Phoebe Bones]

It was strange how this stranger sitting across from her made her feel. She’d wanted to kiss him the second she’d seen him on the sidewalk, something that baffled her less now that she knew her mind had been messed with. To accept that what they were saying was true was mad, she knew that. But there was so much proof that what they were saying was true, she couldn’t deny it. Edgar’s reassurance to her was sweet, and she knew he meant it. They would figure this out together - Just like everything else we’ve figured out together, right? We can do this. She’d spent so many years missing her other half, and as Edgar wiped away her tears she couldn’t help but feel like she was complete. Before she could get too lost in her thoughts, Kyra was interrupting them, and Phoebe gave a nod as she stood. “Yeah, conference,” she said, giving Edgar’s hands a squeeze before she followed her friend into the hallway.

Once they were out of sight of the boys, Phoebe gave a long sigh and wiped at the remaining tears under her eyes, letting out a strained laughed. “Who would have thought this was how today would end up?” On a normal Friday night they’d be at least one glass of wine deep, music playing through the apartment as Phoebe tried to decide on an outfit and they laughed over work stories. Oh, what a story she’d have to tell her coworkers on Monday - after all, it wasn’t every day that your ex boyfriend showed up on your doorstep. Although, there were certainly parts of this story she wouldn’t be sharing, that was for sure. “I know this sounds crazy but I want to let them at least try,” she said. Once she got Kyra’s agreement, she locked arms with her best friend and returned to the living room where the two boys were patiently waiting for them.

“Okay, let’s do this,” Phoebe stated, giving them both a smile. Fabian was quick to his feet, although he didn’t seem to know exactly what he needed to do based on his question. She laughed as Edgar teased him, finally feeling like this whole situation was normal. And she wanted to know the story of this Dearborn and him going full Welsh, but those would be questions for later. For now, Edgar was asking her to focus on this moment, and Phoebe nodded to his instructions. It felt weird, standing there while he held a piece of wood near her head - Who would have thought magic wands were how magic worked - but she did her best to focus on him. It didn’t take him long to apparently find the issue, and while her mind wanted to think back on the last time she’d been to a show in December, she forced herself to focus on Edgar.

When he was done, arm falling to his side, Phoebe thought back on that night in December. Her and Kyra had gone to see a show, everything had been normal until after. They’d been in a group that was approached by two woman with wands and - Phoebe shook her head, not wanting to remember the details of that night anymore. “We were attacked,” she said softly, looking over to Kyra. “I can’t believe we’ve seen magic before.” A different kind of magic than the innocent spells they’d seen in the apartment today. Phoebe looked back to Edgar, good memories flooding her mind as she smiled. Because yes, she remembered the day they signed the lease for that apartment. The first time he’d told her that he loved her. Without thinking, she pulled him into a kiss, laughing after she pulled away. “Oh Edgar, I’ve been waiting so long for you to come back to me.”

[Kyra Thatcher]

A moment away from the intruders-turned-guests was needed, Kyra felt, although was leaving them in the living room really granting Phoebe and herself any privacy? What was the extent of their magic? Could they hear them, influence their decisions, even now? It was all so muddling, but Kyra laughed with her best friend regardless. "Not me. Liz is gonna kill us for not meeting her, but...we've got to sort this out." Plans with her sister would be rescheduled, they'd catch her up on the night's surprises and, if all went well with the memory retrieval, they'd have that victory to sort out too. For how far did these memory charms go, anyway? Liz hadn't ever questioned her stories about Caleb, but if Fabian and Edgar were correct then Caleb had never existed, so if she spoke of the bloke with someone who should know him, were they affected by the charm and… "It is crazy, all of this," Kyra agreed, giving the other woman a grin, "but I think it's the truth."

The pair locked arms and returned, and Kyra had to laugh at the response they received. Fabian jumped off of the seat as if he'd been pricked by a poker hot from the fire, without knowing the spell to perform. Thankfully Edgar seemed to know the trick, and Kyra moved to grip Phoebe's hand tightly in her own as they faced the wizards. Once they were done, she and Pheebs could know the truths of their pasts, and their future…was truly theirs to create. "Doing a great job of instilling confidence," she teased Fabian quietly before they began, heart thundering in her chest. At Edgar's instruction, she zeroed in on Fabian's ear, feeling like she was at an eye exam - but it was better than looking right at the wand in her space, for that would do nothing to keep her from being distracted. The most strange and detached feeling overcame her as he got to work, as though she was anesthetized but not to the point of sleep, and it took her a few moments to realize that he'd finished. Her awareness crept back as Phoebe spoke, and she turned to lock eyes with her friend; the curtain over the real "instigating event" had been yanked back, and she saw, too clearly, the witches. She heard their taunts, felt the burn of curses and the devastating realization of helplessness. A night in-and-out of consciousness, discussions happening above her in a daze as cloaked wizards brought on that same detached feeling, the Bones, Prewett, and Weasley family names said…

She was altogether still processing that night - with a lifetime to comb through, this was going to be a project - when Phoebe's attention moved away from her. She followed her friend's look to see Edgar Bones, and her heart lurched when she saw the pair of them come together. How they should be. How could you forget Edgar?

    It's not just him you've forgotten.

There was a world of magic, and she felt in her bones if she dug through her memories well enough, she'd find that she knew more of it from experience than any of her books could've taught her. And that was thrilling, so much so that she could hardly wait to start digging. But just as important as that world were the people, the relationships, the futures, she'd lost to it. Not anymore. Bits and pieces of those final weeks - learning of the secret lives of Ed and the twins through Phoebe, arguing and arguing and arguing all over about what to do, Pheebs deciding it was for the best to not see him anymore, the rest of them realizing that space for all was needed for the time being - came back as she looked to Fabian. By the time the dust had settled back then, it'd been impossible to look the blokes up. It was like they'd been scrubbed off the map, and she'd had to move on with Pheebs...

A smile, despite the disorientation, despite the sourness of old memories, grew on her face as she looked across to Fabian. For all the struggles and confusion, the hurt and despair - he'd been a dear friend and more in their youth. Gave up hope on seeing you again a long time ago. Before she quite knew what she was doing, Kyra took the few steps needed to get close enough to wrap her arms around him. "For the record, yeah, I'm still that mad at you, you bloody pillock," she whispered with affection, harkening back to the doorstep greeting gone awry. "You don't just go disappearing on people you care about. I take it you know better now, don't you?"