Lorelei flinched violently, while the others merely stared at him.

Rose, eloquently, broke the silence. "You're shitting me. You're Harry fucking Potter?"

Harry's eyes sparked again. "No, actually. I'm just this uber fan who idolizes him so much that I tracked down Voldemort so he could throw the killing curse at me so my scar would be authentic, see?" He flashed them both his scar and a winning, albeit slightly insane smile.

She reached towards him, then, pulling him down next to them.

"What happened to you?" She asked, horrified. He turned towards her, his grin firmly in place. She noticed that his eyes were entirely cold.

"Nothing, nothing to worry about." Harry gave her a sly wink. "Must be going now, yes..."

Without a word, he leapt up, rocking away on the balls of his feet, and began laboriously walking away from them.

Gabriel immediately turned towards Rose.

"Situation?" She closed her eyes, listening to what her healing-inclined mind told her. Her eyes napped open. "Those fucking, goddamned pieces of shit!" She snarled now, her mouth feral.

Julius tentatively reached for her, and she sagged against his comforting hands.

"Who?" He asked, concerned and curious for her answer. Rose just shook her head in anger.

"Who." It wasn't a question. Something had disturbed her, deeply, and Gabriel wasn't a patient man.

"I don't know. I don't fucking know what kind of MONSTER could do that." Her teeth were chattering in rage, hands clenched. "Could do what to him, dammit?" None of those in that faction of the PS were patient, really.

She sighed, but her eyes still burned. "That's just it, I'm not entirely sure. Because he's wearing a reus rex collar." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lorelei stiffen, but the three others stared at her, awaiting an explanation.

"It was originally used on slaves, if that gives you a fucking indication of what it's used for. The collar demands complete obedience. And I mean complete. The collared cannot so much a breathe unless he is allowed to. Fuck, his damned thoughts are controlled! He will believe whatever he is allowed to believed..." She trailed off, considering something, before shaking her head and continuing. "It's worse, though. So much worse. His entire magical core is suppressed."

Rose saw that the men didn't understand the significance of that. She clenched her fists again.

"You don't understand this significance.. Imagine something that is with you, something more sacred than blood, than soul, than anything. It comforts and heals. It calms and repairs. And now imagine something touching that, defiling it, binding it.. Fuck, I can't even imagine that shit."

Gabriel gave a slow, emotionless nod. She was new to this organization.. He wouldn't tell her, not yet.

The twins were equally emotionless. "Why can't you tell us what's wrong with him?" Their voices were a calming medley on her frayed nerves.

"The collar won't let me. If I tried to do anything, even help him, it would just cause him pain. Complete and utter pain."

Gabriel sighed and stood up. "I'm getting bored of this stupid place. What's the appeal of sitting and doing nothing amidst wasteful young humans? It's ridiculous." He moved to the doors, the others following him, Rose frowning. Before she could speak, he cut her off.

"Why should we care? Why should we do anything? He's our enemy, Rose. He's against an ally. And we've seen worse, you know this." She shook her head anyway, opening her mouth to argue his point. It was Mercy who cut her off this time. "Rose, love, you know he's right. This isn't our business. Leave him alone."

She turned towards Lorelei.

"And I guess you think that too? That he's not worth our fucking time? You haven't been saying jack shit."

"I've seen him before. In a dream." Lorelei's quiet words immediately had Gabriel's attention as they stepped out into the rain. "What of?"

She smiled at him slightly. "It wasn't anything important, I don't think. I don't even remember. But there was another. And he was flying with great, black wings."

They continued walking in silence. For all they had seen, they were still unnerved. But at what they did not know.

They did, however, realize the effects when they reached the car they had piled themselves in.

For a moment, they stared at the door.

"Where the fuck are the keys?" Rose asked, pissed off, the twins laughed, immediately offering to strip search her, should she have lost them there.. She politely accepted their request. Sighing, Gabriel turned back towards the mall, staring at it with revulsion.

"I suppose I'm going to be the one who has to walk back into that.. thing." He didn't wait for a reply before striding back inside.

The keys were sitting on the table. He made to spin around after he had grabbed them, but something caught his eye.

Harry Potter was standing not five feet away, staring at him.

People passed between them, but his eyes did not waver. He reached out his thin, shaking arm, and beckoned to Gabriel. The water dripped off of his fingers, dripping blood on the flood.

'..Blood? But it had been water a second ago..'Somehow, Gabriel could not think farther than that. Harry's teeth were bared in a vicious smile. He coughed, more blood flying from his mouth. Shadowed wings flared behind him. He beckoned again. In the distance, Gabriel heard a bell toll. The noise stripped his bones. He blinked. And, just like that, Harry, the shadows, and the blood were gone. The noise of the masses resumed, but Gabriel did not move, staring where Harry had once been. He walked over. Only he hadn't been there, really. The ground was bone dry.

He shook his head, frowning. Something had happened.

Harry Potter was worth investigating.

AN: It's short. Fucking deal with it.

I'm quite tired today, and I'm hoping that by channeling my dementia into this story, I can possibly preserve my relationship.

So yes, I'm going to attempt to write again.

This chapter is short, because I am tired.

But they will not all be.

Cheerio.