iago mulciber will make it work. (patienceiago) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2009-08-16 01:04:00 |
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BARTY vs DORIS It was inevitable the vigilantes would attempt to strike back against the Death Eaters after the death of the Longbottoms and the very public display the Ministry had made of their bodies, and with that in mind, Barty had not been entirely surprised to see the message Gaius had sent over the journals about the rehabilitation centre being infiltrated once again. As far as he was concerned though, it was a foolish, if understandable, move on their part; yes, the Death Eaters might have failed to defend the centre as well as they could have last time, but they would have learned from their mistakes and be better prepared this time -- and he had told Rodolphus back then that he would not fail the next time this happened, and he wasn't about to break that promise now. Thus, it only took mere moments for Barty to put on his mask and Apparate to a spot just outside the centre where one or two others had arrived -- surely more of the faithful would and better come to help soon enough -- before he strode into the building. The first person he noticed was a blonde woman dressed in black, and this time, he wasn't going to waste his time trying to knock her over first -- he aimed his wand at her and shouted, 'Crucio!', preparing himself to be able to hold it without tiring as quickly as usual. Doris wasn't surprised that the Death Eaters had showed up. She wanted to avoid any altercations and just rescue their friends and be done. She had heard the shout in time to jump out of the way before the curse hit her, but it caused her to trip over her own feet and fall flat on her back. The fall winded her but she pushed herself up. As she stood, steadying herself, she pulled something out of her pocket. Tiny explosives she'd be developing. The blasts weren't huge, but they were effective as far as she could tell. Pulling the detonator, she tossed them towards her attacked like she was rolling a pair of dice, and hoped they worked. "Stupefy," she shouted back, just in case. Barty was disappointed that his Cruciatus Curse had missed, but he didn't have time to have a fit over it when a beam of red light was headed straight for him, taking his attention away from whatever it was the girl had thrown onto the floor. He threw up a Shield Charm just in time and was halfway through the wand movements for a Blasting Curse when a sudden explosion near his feet flung him backwards into the nearest wall. It wasn't forceful enough to knock him out, but he was dazed enough to need a few seconds to recover before he pointed his wand at the debris and muttered, 'Oppugno!' to will it to attack her as a distraction. As he got up onto his feet, he also shouted, 'Sectumsempra!' and aimed for her legs. "Glacius!" she reacted, freezing the debris in midair and watching them clatter to the ground and shatter. She was happy that one of her minibombs had detonated properly, but she didn't react to his offense fast enough and she felt her legs slice open just under the knees. The pain alone was enough to make Doris collapse, but from her vantage point on the floor she aimed a silent Incarcerous at his feet, followed by Deprimo, before again trying to push herself up. Conjuring a few bandages she wound them around her legs but knew that they wouldn't really hold up. "Petrificus totalus!" Although the Binding Spell had been silent, Barty was able to notice the ropes coming at his ankles quickly enough to throw a Severing Charm in their direction before they got too close, although his focus on that meant that the force of the Deprimo that followed once again threw him back onto the floor. Not having any time to wave his wand and say an incantation to throw up a shield, he rolled out of the way of the Full Body-Bind, although it came close enough to graze his shoulder as it exploded against the floor; he had never been all that good at dodging spells physically like that. This time, he whipped his wand upwards above the girl and blasted a section of ceiling apart with a Reductor Curse -- and just in case that strategy that had worked so well for the person he had fought last time didn't quite crush her under the weight, he pulled the door to an empty room off its hinges with magic and sent it flying straight for her. Stumbling out of the way of the falling ceiling, it made a clear divide between Doris and her opponent, which she was immensely grateful for, actually. Stopping the door before it could hit her, she sent it flying back at him, before rearranging the debris blocking him from her into a more solid formation- trying to create a physical wall between them so she could have the chance to run away. The blood dripping down her legs made her nervous and skittish, and ready to get out of dodge. Barty's past experience with Marlene when it came to playing ping pong with large flying objects and magic should have had him prepared for the door coming back at him, but as he had been sure it would hit after bringing down the ceiling just before, he hadn't quite expected for it to be thrown back in his direction. Not having time to get down, he cast a quick Reductor Curse to smash it into pieces; several shards of wood stabbed into his arms and legs while his mask thankfully protected his face, and as painful as that was, he wasn't about to let that stop him from carrying out his Lord's will. He threw a Blasting Curse into the sort-of wall between them and then waved his wand over the wood on the floor to Transfigure the shrapnel into metal, followed by a spell to heat them up, and then finally casted Oppugno on them to charm them to attack her. Doris had almost thought she'd be able to get away- but when the heated metal shards dug into her arms and chest, she let out of a scream of pain and frustration. Her adrenaline kept her up, throwing another silent Petrificus Totalus at her attacker. But she didn't trust her aim and couldn't keep fighting. Freezing the debris she had used to block up the hall, she built it up to where a thin wall of ice nearly touched the ceiling. The wall would slow him down if he spell hadn't, which would give her enough time to get away, so she shuffled down the hall, hoping to find one of her fellows instead of another Death Eater. Irresponsible as she was, she began plucking out the pieces of metal as she went, a painful task, and noticed that she'd left a rather clear trail of blood. When she came to the end of the hall, she shot an Aguamenti down the hall, cutting through the thick puddles of blood. By this time in the fight, Barty was getting tired of spells not working as well as he had anticipated -- and to his anger and disappointment, it didn't seem as if the army of faithful servants of the Dark Lord he was expecting to do their duty by arriving to help had come, or they were taking an awfully long time. He had begun focusing his hatred and frustration into casting the Killing Curse -- it still wasn't quite effortless for him just yet -- but in devoting all of his attention into that task, it opened him up to reacting too late to block the Full Body-Bind. The spell's light hit his arm as he tried to side-step it at the last second, but it was enough to lock his body and send him toppling over onto the floor like a statue and crashing painfully onto his back as the wall of debris and ice froze over to trap him. Even with his wand still stuck in place in his hand, he couldn't move his arm to cast a silent Finite incantatem to reverse the Full Body-Bind -- and he could only hope that one of the other Death Eaters (perhaps Gaius, as he still owed him one from last time) would find him soon enough. ---------------------------------------- GAIUS vs STURGIS [placeholder!] ---------------------------------------- DEMETRIUS vs MADLEY & ALOYSIUS Aloysius ran through the rehabilitation centre, trying to avoid the worst of the chaos. He personally wanted to level this place to the ground. This place was an absolute abomination and he was firmly convinced that it was only due to the short period of time Jo had been in here as well as the determination she'd shown afterwards that had enabled him to reverse what had been done to her. He wanted the place destroyed so that couldn't happen to anyone else though he wanted to get whoever was in here out first. As he ran he caught sight of Sam frantically opening doors and he ran over. There was no doubts in his mind what was happening here. Sam was looking for someone he knew. "Who are you looking for?" he demanded, grabbing Sam's arm long enough to get his attention. "What do they look like? I'll help." They had to be here, right? That's what Jo had said. They were here. It was just a matter of finding them. Sam threw open another door. Which happened to be a broom closet. Well that wasn't going to do them any good. It was a good that that by now, he was used to seeing Aloysius around. His nerves felt frayed. He could swear he'd been through half this floor already and there was no sign of any of his family. It set a deep pit of unease in his abdomen. "My family," he answered quickly, trotting to the next door and shoving it open. Healing supplies. Great. "Mum, dad, sister. Mum and dad are both about fifty. Lisa's sixteen. Dad's got dark hair, greenish sort of eyes, mum's blond and blue, Lisa's about five feet even, blond hair and green eyes." All said very quickly as he threw open the last door, which was momentarily promising, but held some old man that was definitely not his father. "Next hallway, take the left side," he gestured and rounded the corner. And nearly got a face-full of spell for his trouble. Bad news. Demetrius hadn't wanted to come out the rehabilitation centre to fight off terrorists, he'd wanted to go to sleep. But he had to be responsible and get back in good favor sooner or later, and this seemed like a good starting point. He had heard voices and lingered around the corner, shooting a blasting hex as one of the people came around the corner. How thick could someone get? Storming an enemy establishment and not even checking around corners before he ran through the halls? Talking- loudly at that- not even trying to hide he was there? This would be way too easy for him to finish. Aloysius nodded and didn't ask any further questions. If Sam's family were here then they needed to get them out. There were no two ways about it. It'd be hypocritical of him in his own eyes if he went the extra yard for Jo and didn't put in the same effort for others. Others would be just as affected if not more affected by what was done here than she was. He swore when the spell flashed past both of them and mentally kicked himself for not paying better attention. No point finding Sam's family just to get killed trying to get them out. He raised his wand and didn't hesitate before casting a Stupefy. Anyone here defending the place would just have to take their chances. They shouldn't be defending a hellhole like this anyway. Well this just wasn't any good. Distracted during fighting. Yeah all right, way to forget all your training. No time now though. Sam quickly protected himself with a shield charm and then fired off an incarcerous and a stunning hex in quickly succession. He pressed himself into a nook with a doorway, glancing over at Aloysius to make sure he was all right. Casting a shield charm and sidestepping the barrage of spells, he fired back with his own Reducto, followed by another Blasting Hex aimed at the ceilings above their heads. Adding another shield charm, as to avoid any falling debris and spells coming his way for the next few minutes, Demetrius wasn't really feeling up to the fight and almost just wanted to abandon it all together. Aloysius had tucked himself out of the way into one of the doorways just in time to avoid the spell that came flying back at he and Sam but he threw up a shield just in case. He saw the blasting hex heading for the ceiling and his first thought was to try and deflect it then a far better, if somewhat more dangerous, idea came to him. "Keep shielding," he said sharply to Sam as he watched the blasting hex hit the ceiling. It was a good hex and did more damage than Aloysius had expected. He didn't let that phase him but pointed his wand at the falling rubble and with a swipe of his wand sent the bulk of it flying towards the Death Eater. The rest fell to the ground around he and Sam and Aloysius' shield had suffered from his attention on his other spell. A couple of chunks of plaster hit his shield and collapsed it, letting the third piece thump into the back of his shoulder. He grunted and swore then quickly threw up the strongest shield he could. Sam, as instructed, kept his attention on his shield charm. It took more concentration than he liked, having to consistently repair it as the debris collided with it on it's way past. It was effective though, keeping him from anything potentially hazardous and as soon as it was all past, he turned his wand back to the Death Eater. "Incarcerous!"> The debris of the ceiling flying at him caught him offguard and most of it hit Demetrius full on- the force of the spell pushing him flat against the farthest wall. He could feel tiny holes opening up in his torso and across his chest but thought nothing of it- he'd been injured worse before. But then the ropes caught just under his knees and caused him to stumble. Stumbling was...not good, and he fell flat on his back into the pile of debris around his feet, his head hitting the wall with a good deal of force. Winded, bleeding and nearly seeing double, he sat up and pointed his wand at the intruders. "Sectumsempra, Expulso, Stupefy, Expelliarmus." Then he groaned. It became more difficult to articulate spells so he focused on cutting the ropes without cutting his legs. A quick "Diffindo," cut through the ropes but also succeeded in leaving a shallow gash on his left ankle. With some difficulty, he pulled himself to his feet. Aloysius was thankful for the shield he'd put up as a couple of spells spattered against it harmlessly. His shoulder was starting to ache horrendously and given it was his right shoulder and therefore his wand arm, that wasn't all that good. He wanted this over and done with so they could get their people and get out. He saw the man start to get up and grimaced. Dammit, didn't these people ever stay down. He pointed his wand at the man, grunting with pain, then snapped, "Incarcerous. Stupefy." Rather fortunately - Sam thought anyway - he avoided and deflected the barrage of spells. The sheer force of them though, sent him stumbling back a couple of steps, nearly tripping over debris and oh god this could so easily turn bad. He caught himself though, before he upended all on his own, and had about raised his wand in order to further incapacitate their attacker. It seemed though, that Aloysius had taken effective care of him and Sam lowered his wand. Well then. Still had half a bloody centre to get through. "Keep looking," he hurried, "They have to be here." ---------------------------------------- IAGO vs ELLE Iago had wasted no time when he arrived at the Rehabilitation Centre; he did not try to regroup with the other Death Eaters who responded to the attack, instead heading directly inside and the twisted, angry sneer on his face was proof enough that he was in no mood to play games with terrorists today. He began to cast locking charms on the doors as he passed to make sure the prisoners -- patients -- were secured in their cells, but as he turned the corner he was faced with a hallway partially full of opened doors and empty cells. He could see a woman halfway down the hall attempting to open another door, and so Iago lifted his wand and pointed it at the woman. "Increbresco!" Elle had to find Gina. She had to. She was flinging open doors left and right, determined that she would find her friend and colleague among the stark walls even though they had already had a memorial service and decided she was gone. It hadn't sat well with Elle though, and somewhere deep down she knew Gina had to be here. She went to fling open another door but spied movement to her right. "Protego!" she cried, her wand flicking up and silvery shield blocking the spell, "Stupefy!" Elle wasn't in the mood to play - she wanted to find Gina and get out of this place; it gave her chills down her spine. The red light of her spell streaked by him as Iago moved out of the way, his shoulder hitting the wall of the hallway (this place was too narrow for a proper fight). He slashed his wand sharply in front of himself, casting a shield charm in preemptive preparation for her next retaliation, before he moved to cast another spell around it. "Obscuro! Sectumsempra!" There was a harsh swipe of Elle's wand and the first spell blasted into the ceiling. This space really was too small. She spun and flattened herself against the wall, but the second spell sliced against her upper arm. She flicked her wand at the ceiling panels above him and with a swift downward motion, brought them down around him. She glared and then aimed her wand at him again, spitting out a conjunctivitis curse. Nothing was going to stop her from retrieving her friend: nothing and no one. Iago took a step backwards as the panels began to fall, and with a sweeping motion of his wand he redirected the debris to fly through the air toward Elle instead, dust from the ceiling falling onto him and stinging his eyes; which only worsened when Elle's spell passed through the panels and took him by surprise. His free hand flew up to rub over his eyes with a growl, and he turned his wand on himself to mutter a quiet "Finite Incantatem" to clear the spell. His eyes watered and still stung from the dust, but at least he was able to keep them open without too much reflex trying to kick in to force him to shut them again. Elle tried to throw up a spell to turn the debris into simple sand, but she had to turn away to keep it from hitting her. Luckily her conjunctivitis curse hit, and she made her way over the debris. She cast a slicing spell at his chest and followed it quickly, "Stupefy!" once again. She curled her lip and aimed her wand, ready to bring down more ceiling panels if need be. The slashing spell ripped across Iago's chest and blood seeped through his robes, and as he staggered back his hand flew out to keep himself from falling, grabbing onto a doorknob. He flung the door open in front of himself to block the stunning spell, then he pointed his wand at the door itself, blasting it away off its hinges and hurtling toward Elle -- and he quickly sent a silent incendio after it, setting the door aflame. Elle deflected the door, but was unable to deflect the fire, flames of red licking at the edges of her robes and setting them ablaze. She shouted, "Furnunculous!" at him, wand brandished, and then set to work on putting out the flames. Her skin was pink from where the flames had touched it, but she didn't have time to worry about it now. All she needed to worry about is that the flames were out. She used her wand to pick up the door and charm it to hover about 4 feet in front of her, using it as a shield as she advanced on Iago. The door still burned and when she felt close enough, she used her wand to attempt to bash the man over the head with it. Iago ducked into the room that was now missing a door, but the spell caught his arm and boils spread over the left side before he could dodge out of the way completely. He tried not to move his arm so as to try and keep the pain at a minimum before he moved back out into the hallway again, the door moving back toward him. His first slashing spell cut the wood but did not break through, and so he tried again -- another cut, much deeper than the last and nearly cracking the door in half as it came down to hit him on the head. He stumbled back several steps as he recovered from the jarring blow, and he pointed his wand at what was left of the door and snarled: "Ignis Infusco!" -- black flames rushed forth, and he took several more steps backward before he sent a blasting spell at the door to destroy the rest of it. "Reducto!" Elle shouted as the pieces came at her, though it did nothing to stop some the shrapnel from flying back and scraping her face. She felt a few pieces of splintered wood impale into her skin. The bulk of the pieces burned with a black flame that she looked at confused for a moment, until her training kicked in to remind her what she was seeing. "Finite Incantatem!" She turned her wand back on the Death Eater and wrinkled her nose as she called out, "Angor!" A beam of orange light streamed down the hall at Iago, making the stark white walls gleam with colour, if just for a moment. Air stopped filling Iago's lungs when he tried to breathe in, and every attempt to gasp did not provide any relief from the slow suffocation. Gritting his teeth together, he steadied his hand as much as he could as he fought for air, relying on his silent spells to break her concentration so he could breathe again. He began sending several silent blasting and slashing spells at Elle; pain shot up his left arm from the boils as he reached out to grab the doorframe next to him to stop himself from collapsing. One of the slashing spells broke her concentration as it ripped across her arm near where the sectumsempra had hit her earlier. She sucked in a sharp breath and looked down at the gash, and for a brief moment she found herself annoyed at just how many scars she was going to have by the time this whole goddamn war was over. If it ever was over. She looked up to see him slip from the doorframe into the room behind him. She stalked forward, wand at the ready, and turned the corner. Without really looking around or throwing up a shield charm, she gathered all her energy and cast "Depulso!" Iago had moved into the room to catch his breath as soon as the spell on him had been broken, using a table to support himself as he recovered. Movement at the doorway put an end to the short reprieve, and he quickly slashed his wand in front of himself with another sectumsempra toward Elle just as she cast a spell of her own -- the spells passed each other in the air and struck Iago in the chest, sending him flying back across the room to the wall opposite of the door. He grabbed onto the window sill to pull himself up off the ground, he wand already pointed back at Elle even as he was standing back up: "Avada Kedavra!" Seriously. The scars Elle was going to have after this was all over was out of control. The sectumsempra sliced across her stomach as she turned trying to avoid it. Superficially, yes, but it was still dark magic across her skin. She saw an opportunity as he pulled himself to standing, and as the first syllable was uttered from his mouth, she shouted, "Reducto!!" and then fell into a forward somersault, his spell singeing the end of her ponytail in a far too close call. A second Killing Curse was on the tip of Iago's tongue before Elle's spell hit him in the chest; this time, there was not an expanse of floor behind him to land on. He was forced back against the low wall and off his feet, smashing into the window, which was not strong enough to hold the weight of the impact; the glass cracked and shattered as he was thrown through, and the two story fall went by in seconds as the ground seemed to rush up to meet him. Elle didn't bother to look out the window - he wasn't up here, and at the moment that was all that mattered. She superficially healed the slash on her stomach and clamped a hand over the slices on her arm and went running down the hall, magically throwing doors open as she went. ---------------------------------------- PETER and STURGIS The Order hadn't been looking for a fight, even though they'd gotten one. All they wanted was to get their stolen members back and free for good, and now that Sturgis had gotten away from Travers, he planned to do just that. He wasn't exactly sure of how they were supposed to tell which people were in which rooms -- if Greyback really WAS being kept at the Centre, Sturgis certainly didn't want to let him out on accident. That nutcase could rot in his padded room for all that Sturgis cared. Sturgis only had to check a few rooms before he came across someone who he did recognise, and he found himself pausing for a moment before moving to help him out. Peter. The person whose fault it was that he'd almost been attacked a few weeks ago; that Patty's cover had been blown and she'd nearly been killed at work. There was a little kid without a mum now because Pettigrew had blabbed. But it hadn't been his fault, necessarily. Brainwashing was a tricky-arse thing, and whether it had been intentional or not, Sturgis hadn't broken into the rehab centre to ponder morals. He was on a rescue mission. Taking a step back from the door, Sturgis pointed his wand and cast a blasting hex at the door to knock it clear off its hinges. "Hey Pete. We're rescuing you." Peter Pettigrew had been staring at the ceiling again, counting the dots. His caramels, the ones James had brought, were nearly all gone and there was nothing left to do until breakfast. He knew he should be trying to sleep, but he wasn't tired at all and so he just kept daydreaming of getting out of the Centre and moving into a flat with James. A flat that wouldn't be attacked by Death Eaters, a flat where they could be contributing members of society. A flat where they didn't have anything to do with the Order at all. It sounded nice. Peter thought-- Whatever it was Peter would have thought next was quickly forgotten when the door to his room was blasted in. He reacted quickly, practically jumping to a sitting position on his bed and as he waited to see who was in the door, he didn't know who he feared it to be most. He heard Sturgis' voice the same time he saw him, and instantly scooted backward on the bed, holding up his hands. "Wait wait wait," he told the Order member. "No-- I'm not-- I'm just here to-- I don't want--" "Hey, don't worry buddy, I`m not going to hurt you or anything," Sturgis promised Peter, putting his wand back into the pocket of his robes and lifting both hands to show that he was serious. He'd always been the twitchy sort, if Sturgis remembered correctly. It'd be really unfortunate if he'd been brainwashed into freaking out even when he just SAW someone who wasn't Travers. "We're getting everybody out of here, come on," he gestured toward the doorway, where other Order members were running by freeing fellow captives from their cells. Peter instinctively reached for his wand but, remembering it wasn't there, lamely crossed his arms instead. "No thanks," he told Sturgis, trying to give him a look that meant he was quite serious about it. "I'm fine here." He was getting closer to being done with his treatment, and once he completed it, he could freely live with James once he got a flat. If he went back with the Order... he'd be a fugitive again. "No you're not," Sturgis replied honestly, sort of disturbed that Peter was at the point where he honestly believed that living inside the four walls that he'd been brought into against his will was better than actually having a life. It was wasting time standing here talking, though, when the Death Eaters that the Order and Albion had managed to usurp for once could be calling for back-up. "Sorry kid, you're coming with us," he said, moving for his wand and stunning Peter all in one fluid bit of motion, quickly casting a cushioning charm just in case he fell on the floor (rather than back onto his bed). The last thing the Order needed was Peter staying here and blabbing more of the Order's secrets. Sturgis moved to Peter's side, tilting his head for a moment as he complicated what the best way to move him would be, and finally slung Pettigrew over one of his shoulders -- holy Merlin, the guy might've been small but he was not light -- before moving toward the exit. ---------------------------------------- DORIS and ABERFORTH Aberforth had heard extensive crashing and banging sounds outside his room - it would have been hard not to - and he was hesitating between going on banging on his door in the hopes someone would hear him and let him out and staying where he was in case the banging on the door drew the attention of one of the defenders who would then decide to use him as a hostage to get whoever was attacking to go away. Given that his brain was workin about ten times slower than normal, he was still pondering those two possibilities when the door to his room suddenly banged open and a man looked in. An expression of frustration crossed the man's face and he disappeared as suddenly as he'd appeared, leaving Abe with an open door to contemplate. He stared at the open door with a fair amount of surprise, blinking rapidly as though the open door would suddenly turn into a closed door if he did that enough. Then it occurred to him that could well happen if this was real when someone official came along and saw it was open and therefore he should take the opportunity he'd been provided and actually get the hell out of here. Presuming he could figure out what to do when he got to the other side of the door. He slowly crawled off his bed, bracing himself against the wall when the room wavered and swayed when he was upright. "This should be interesting," he murmured as he measured the distance to the door. Doris had escaped her attacker with some ease, and thought herself rather lucky in the grand scheme of things. She could have been much worse off. So she started opening doors and lookin for people she was familiar with, leaving every door open in case someone they weren't rescuing might want to make a break for it- if there was any such person in the centre. She didn't know. Rounding a corner, she noticed an already opened door and approached it cautiously (what if a Death Eater was in there hiding? she had to be careful!), her wand at the ready. Her hand ventured to her pocket where she had one last explosive pocketed, and she peaked inside. But what Doris found made her heart pound, but not in the "imminent attack" sort of way. Aberforth! She had found Abe! Grinning like a Cheshire Cat, she entered the room. "Aberforth?" she said, trying to tone down her excitement in case he was brainwashed. In case he was an enemy of some sort. Abe had been staring down at his feet, trying to motivate them to move when he heard someone say his name. He looked up and for a moment he didn't believe what he was seeing. It felt like far too long since he'd seen a friendly face and there had been some part of him that had been bracing itself for never seeing them again. But then it all sank in and he broke out into a broad and slightly ragged smile. "Doris, my dear," he said happily. "Do give an old man a hand. They've been giving me Merlin only knows what kind of potions and I'm not sure I can coordinate my feet well enough to walk without falling flat on my face." He snickered and tapped his nose. "And I'd like to not break this again." "Come on then," she said, still grinning. Travers hadn't gotten to Aberforth, that was reassuring. That meant they could fix whoever he had gotten to- probably at least. Walking over to him and reaching up slightly to wrap an arm around his shoulder, she went to lead him out of the confines of his room. "Glad to see they didn't get frustrated with that death trap of a mind you have and just off you, old man," she joked in a good-natured tone. She was too elated by her discovery to even feign sensitivity in her jokes. "But we've gotta get out of here and fast, the Death Eaters are an unpleasant sort," she said. Abe was glad for the help though he tried to concentrate enough so that he didn't take them both down. "I don't think Gaius Travers likes me very much," he said with a chuckle. "But that's okay, I don't like him very much either. The mediwitches were very nice... though given they were giving me those potions perhaps I shouldn't like them very much either. Never mind, I'll figure it out when I'm sober." He heaved a sigh of relief when they got out of the small room even though it could have been a touch premature. The potions had stopped him from going completely mental at being confined but he hadn't realised that he had still been feeling the agitation anyway, buried deep down. "Lead on, my dear," he said. "Let's get out of here." "Yeah, let's," she agreed, looking around to find their makeshift group of "liberators". ---------------------------------------- ELLE and GINA It was night-time. Gina at least knew that much, now that Travers had finally moved her to a room with an impossibly small window along the top edge. There was some small comfort in at least knowing what time of day it was -- she could at least begin to keep track of how many days had passed since she'd been brought there. Gaius rarely came in any more (she almost didn't blame him after what had happened the first time), and the other healers seemed to have an impeccable talent for bringing her meals in while she was asleep. There wasn't food waiting for Gina when she woke up that night. However, even despite some obvious soundproofing charms that had been performed on the cells of the rehabilitation centre, the walls shook slightly. The glass from her dinner rattled on the table. Rather than get up to investigate though, Gina sat slowly up on her bed, turning to watch the door and wishing she had something to defend herself with should someone come inside. Elle clutched at the slice bleeding thoroughly on her arm, glad she sent the bastard through the window but knowing she was hardly out of the woods yet. Despite the injuries she had sustained, she was still determined to find Gina, or Kate's dad, or Sam's family. She needed to find someone to boost Albion's spirits after the loss of Frank and Alice. She threw open another door with her wand and found the room empty. How many rooms had she found empty? How many rooms had these monsters planned to fill? She came to another room and went to throw it open with her wand. It didn't open. Her eyebrows drew together and she used more complicated magic. Suddenly the door flew open and she peered inside. And as her eyes laid on its occupant, she nearly laughed in joy. A hand went to her face and she grinned widely, "Gina, goddamnit, you're alive!" Gina had armed herself with her pillow (so that she could smother her assailant to death?) when the door crashed open, when her eyes went wide upon seeing who it actually was breaking in. "Elle?" she gaped, dropping the pillow on the floor and jumping up off the bed, half-tempted to run up and dive-tackle her in relief. As soon as she was standing, though, Gina hesitated. She didn't want to let herself get too excited, not when this could be another of their tricks. Maybe this was how they'd try to break her, since leaving her alone obviously wasn't working. "Did people think I wasn't?" Elle knew that there was the possibility Gina wouldn't willingly come with her. That she'd been too far brainwashed to remember what they were fighting for and that this world of stark white walls was nothing but a lie. She thought, for a moment, that her colleague was going to immediately run to her, but there was hesitation - Elle didn't blame her, of course. Who knew what kind of bastardly tricks Gaius Travers had been playing on her. "You'd been gone so long, and we'd not gotten any word," Elle said carefully, not wanting to upset, "We searched. For so long, we searched. I don't think any of us actually believed you were dead, but we didn't know what else to think." She glanced behind her to make sure that no one was coming in or down the hallway behind them, "Gina, we have got to go. If we stay here much longer, we'll both become brain fodder for these bastards." The last thing that Gina would ever have wanted was to subject anyone else to this place. She knew that Elle was right -- while they might have been fine at the moment, Travers would probably be sending the word out for backup. And while Gina was not certain yet as to if this was a trick, if it was only someone polyjuiced or illusioned to look like Elle, she couldn't imagine how the harm that would come to her if she went along with her could possibly be worse than what might happen if she stayed behind. "Is Travers out there anywhere?" Gina asked, moving to peek through the newly open doorway into the hall. She was almost embarrassed with herself by just how nice it was to see something else outside of her room, even if it was simply another part of the clinic. "I owe him an arse kicking." "I haven't seen him," Elle said quickly in return, "but if we come across him, you can have my wand and kick his arse thoroughly." She gave Gina a smile, and while she didn't hesitate, a look of concern flitted across her features, "Are you okay? Relatively, anyway? You seem a lot better than some of the others..." She glanced out the open door and then gestured, "Nevermind, you can answer all that later. We've gotta keep moving." With that, she started down the hall, making sure Gina was with her - never so relieved in her life that her friend and colleague was by her side. ---------------------------------------- MADLEY and TABITHA Sam wasn't exactly sure how he'd gotten so far into the centre without much more than a bruise, but he decided he wasn't going to complain about it. At some point, Aloysius had gone down a different corridor and he was alone again. And nearing the end of one of the last corridors in the whole bloody building. He pressed on. They had to be here, right? Jo had said. Right? Another door. Empty. Next one. Nothing. One more. Locked. Sam hesitated and then flicked his wand. A low snick from the lock met his ears and he shoved the door open. Tabitha had been awake and listening to the ruckus outside for what felt like hours -- not because it had taken the attackers very long to fight each other and penetrate into the inner sanctum of the centre, but because there was a certain time dilation that went along with anticipation, with anxiety. She had no idea who was attacking or why, and the isolation of this place hadn't lent itself to optimism. She wanted to hope but found herself unable. This was what she'd become -- fearful, pessimistic, uncertain. When the door opened, there was no sign of the cheerful and overly enthused little girl that used to harass the law enforcement while her mum was off arguing with the boss. No, Tabitha was standing near her bed, pressed into the wall, eyes open and almost accusatory. She recognised Samuel in a vague, uncomfortable way, but she didn't greet him. Only stared. Her uncertainty was met with initial disappointment. This was the last room. Unless someone else had already found them, they weren't here. He wanted to be angry or sad or anything other than whatever it was that was sitting in his stomach like a brick right now. For a long moment, he could only stare too. Recognition though, hit his brain like a truck - or possibly a small automobile of some sort, travelling at, at least, safe speeds. She looked remarkably like Millicent, he realised. And then further, that he most definitely remembered her from, if nothing else, all those months ago. When things hadn't been so bad. He took a step into the room, glancing quickly behind him before flicking his attention back to her. "Um," he started, grappling around with his brain for her name. "Tabitha," he said finally. "It's Sam. Madley. I used to -- Well, just come on, we'll get you out." She didn't move. Somewhere on the underside of her psyche she was convinced that Travers was going to come around the corner and punish her for failing his little test -- and as much as Tabitha hated him, she didn't want to fail. She wanted to be left alone to eat her sedatives and forget what it was like to socialise and be a part of something great. Something great that was floundering and dying. It was safe in here, in the 'I don't have to acknowledge that the world is going to hell in a handbasket' sense, and she wasn't sure that she wanted to give that up entirely. But something had to give. Deep down, the courage that had earned her a spot in Gryffindor pushed one of her feet out, and she took a step. Just one. "I don't know if I should," she said uneasily, already hating the shape of those words on her lips. They weren't her, but this was what she had been reduced to. It was amazing just how little it took to break a person. Sam wasn't any sort of genius, but it didn't take half of one to see exactly how unsure she was. He frowned slightly and glanced over the bare room. Maybe it shouldn't have come as so much of a surprise. This place was designed to reshape people. "Well," he said slowly. "I suppose you could stay here. Only it looks a bit dreary is all. Gives me the creeps, really. There's a whole big world out there, just waiting for you if you'll go." Sam tried for a smile. "I think you should." The smile was mirrored, though it seemed a shadow of the real emotion -- the sort of smile one might affix if one had never actually seen a smile before. Her lips as quickly dipped back down into discomfort, an emotion she was clearly all too familiar with. "All right," she said finally, listening to the noise coming from what she assumed was down the hall. Tabitha didn't want to do this. She didn't want to be tricked. But she also wanted to get out of this awful place. "Did you find Abe?" She asked suddenly. If she could get to him, then she'd know this was real. That she was going to leave. That Sam wasn't some drug induced hallucination (not that she would have chosen him to hallucinate about anyway). Abe. Right, er. He wasn't actually convinced he knew exactly who she was talking about. Slightly different factions and all that. Although, he distinctly remembered hearing Doris shouting down some corridor or another. Perhaps she'd found him. And so, stomaching any hesitance, Sam nodded. He hoped he wasn't lying. "Doris found him," he said, with some degree of confidence. "Let's go find him." Tabitha, with only a second's hesitation, allowed herself to feel relieved. "Okay," she said, a bit more certainly now. All she had to do was find Aberforth and everything would be fine. She stretched out a hand, moving closer to the door. Sam took a step toward her and held his left hand out to her, adjusting his grip on his wand with his right. Well. At least he'd saved someone. |