Chapter 1: Tango Down

Tires squealed as the red sedan took another hard turn down the sleepy neighborhood street. The sound of sirens distant but seeming to get closer by the second.

"Why didn't it work, did we not set the timers correctly?" Abdul rasped. His voice sounded strained even to himself and gripped the the wheel tighter as it tried to slip through his sweat soaked hands. He looked around him at the three other strained faces in the car and could practically smell the desperation.

"It doesn't matter now" spat Sulyman, looking out the back window. "The pigs are almost on us and we need a plan. Now!" The other two gave quick jerks of their heads in agreement. Abdul may have started as the leader in their scheme but it was Sulyman whose quick thinking got them away from the initial police cordon.

Abdul glanced at both Sajeel and Khalid, seeing both of them focusing on Sulyman in the passenger seat. Neither spared him so much as glance. He turned his focus back to the road and had to slam his foot down on the brake, while spinning the wheel to make the next turn. As the car straightened out he looked around at all of the houses along the road. Even at the speeds they were traveling he could see they all looked alike. He glanced at Sulyman who, even with his earlier declaration, looked no closer to having an idea of what to do eyes wide in fear.

"We need to lie low and hope they miss us" Abdul said, somehow keeping his voice controlled. His eyes searched ahead and landed on a house they were approaching. "Listen! I need you three to get into that house and grab anyone there. Move them to a single room and make sure not to alert the neighbors." He felt his mind calming as the details of his plan came together. "I'll go hide the car and with any luck we will be able to wait out the search here. If the worst happens we should at least have something to bargain with" he gestured to the car parked out front that looked like it was for a family.

Sulyman nodded, and as the car slid to a stop he jumped out of the passenger seat, motioning Sajeel and Khalid to go around to the back of the house. Adbul watched them move toward the house disappearing into the shadows. He checked the house number, 4, and started driving to the next crossroads glancing at the sign. Adbul would need to remember that it was number 4 Privet Drive where he would meet back up with his associates.

Harry awoke with a start. His mind not fully registering what had woken him, when he heard the sound of glass breaking. He slowly rolled over and quietly crawled to the little grate in his cupboard door. Even with the darkness he could just make out the front entrance. He stifled a gasp as he saw it open, practically silent on the hinges that he oiled just that day. As the door opened a shadow of a man slipped through, slowly closing the door behind him. The sound of more glass breaking from the kitchen warned the young boy that there were more.

He pushed himself back away from the door as he heard low voices speaking to each other. His heart was pounding in his chest. No one ever heard of robbers in Little Whinging. But here they were breaking into the Dursley's home. Harry heard them walking through the first floor, opening doors and looking around, searching for something. Again he chanced looking through the grate, jerking back as two of the figures walked by heading up the stairs. He was trembling now, trying to stop from breathing faster and faster. He clasped clammy hands together as he tried to stay quiet, for he had seen the guns that the men held.

Khalid and Sajeel slowly crept up to the second floor auto-pistols in hand. They saw four doors, with one slightly ajar that was obviously a bathroom. Khalid slid up to the first room on his right and pressed his ear to the door. He held his breath, listening for any sounds and hearing none. He gently grasped the door handling, slowly turning it until there was a soft click. Easing the door open he looked into what appeared to be an empty room. There were toys piled around the floor in messy heaps, most seemingly broken. His eyes quickly scanned the room but saw no one. He nodded to Sajeel who moved up to the next door on the left.

As he leaned in Sajeel could hear loud snoring coming from the room beyond the door. He quickly gestured Khalid over and quietly opened the door. Before the two men were the strangest couple either had ever seen. The man was practically spilling out of the bed due to his immense girth. Yet next to him was a woman who seemed to be his complete opposite. She was tall, gaunt with somewhat equine features. Both gunmen paused for a moment at the threshold before creeping forward on either side of the bed.

Vernon Dursley was having a pleasant dream where he had never met his freakish nephew, and had just been promoted at Grunnings. He felt himself start to wake up noticing someone else was in his and Petunia's room. An angry yell died in his throat when he realized it wasn't his errant nephew that was standing by his bed, but a man he had never seen before. A man that was pointing something at him. Before his sleep addled brain could fully take the situation he was in, he heard a gruff voice bark a command.

"Both of you stay quiet" an accented voice commanded. Vernon glanced quickly at Petunia and could see the color drain from her face. He could only imagine his own stunned features as he started to realize the situation his family was in. He looked back at the man and could see his bloodshot eyes even in the dim light. This man was not afraid to pull the trigger, Vernon thought, his throat going dry.

"Now.. now see here" he whispered, as he pushed himself up. He stopped abruptly as the cold metal was pressed against his forehead.

"I said shut up!" the main said, pressing the gun barrel even harder against Vernon's skin. "I want you both out of here and down stairs now!"

"But Dudy-" whimpered Petunia before the other gunman shoved her forward.

"Shut up, damn you!" said the man as he grabbed her shoulder. Khalid looked over at Sajeel and nodded at the door across the hall. "Go check the last room, I bet their child is over there" He gestured with his pistol at Vernon, while shoving Petunia along in front of him.

Adbul crept through the backyards of the houses until he reached Number 4. It had taken him over 20 minutes to get back from dumping the car. The sound of sirens were still in the distance, with the faint sound of a helicopter patrolling the night sky. He glanced at the building and could just make out the figure of Sajeel at the back door, weapon in hand. Adbul whistled quietly and saw Sajeel snap his head up in his direction.

"It's me" he hissed at Sajeel. "What is the situation?"

He quickly walked through the door, with Sajeel closing it behind him. "We have three people here in the main room on the first floor," Sajeel quickly explained. "We have them bound and it doesn't seem like anyone knows that we are here. A man, woman, and a child." He trailed off looking at Abdul for direction.

Abdul glanced around the room he found himself in, seeing what looked like the house's kitchen. He approached the ice chest opening it and quickly assessed the food contained within. Grunting in satisfaction his eyes swept over to Sajeel who was slumping against the counter, his adrenaline rush from escaping already leaving him. Abdul felt himself already starting to slow down, but he knew they needed to solidify their immediate situation. He walked into the room where his other two associates and the restrained family were.

"Ok", he sighed. "We most likely need to stay here for a bit." He waved at the kitchen, "they have plenty of provisions for us in the meantime and it doesn't seem like the police know where we went." He glanced up at Sajeel and Khalid, "why don't you two go rest upstairs while Sulyman and I watch over things.

Both of the men glanced at each other and with a shrug trudged up the stairs to go find a place to settle in. Abdul dropped into a chair, ignoring the Dursleys in the corner and his eyes met Sulyman's. "Well," he said, "that could have gone better, but at least we are out of any immediate danger, now we just need to figure out how to get out of this country."

Harry huddled in his cupboard, again looking out and trying to see what was going on. It had to have been an half an hour since two of the men had gone upstairs. He strained his hearing and could just catch a word or two from the men still in the living room. His breathing had finally steadied when he realized that the strange men didn't know he was in the cupboard under the stairs. He slumped back against the wall wondering what would happen next. He didn't hear any sirens and didn't think the police knew the men were here. As he pulled the ratty blanket back over his legs and tried to get comfortable, he couldn't help but wonder how this was all going to end.

Seamus Cowden looked over to the dark silhouette of the target building once again. Overlord had tracked the hostiles to this building and all indicators showed they were unaware. He looked over himself checking his kit for the 10th time before a low sound had him looking up, and he saw Captain Smith walking over.

"Listen up" the Captain's low voice growled. "These are the bastards that tried to set off a dirty bomb in central London, and all indications are they are armed, fanatical, and extremely dangerous." He nodded in the direction of the house, "from what we can tell it looks like they have taken a family hostage on the first floor. We have seen movement from the first floor main room and the second floor. The plan is to have two teams. Cowden!"

Seamus felt his back straighten involuntarily, "Sir?" he asked.

Smith inclined his head as he continued, "You're leading Team Alpha. You will be entering in through the Northeast second floor window." Smith pulled out a diagram of the building pointing at the second floor plan. "From what we can tell, it looks like two hostiles are in the other two rooms on the second floor. You and your team will clear them out and proceed down to the main objective."

Smith looked over to Pearson, the second team's leader. "Pearson, you and Team Bravo will be outside the main first floor western window and kitchen. Once we have confirmation from Alpha that the second floor is clear we will set for a three way breach and clear. Alpha you should be able to make it down to the entrance and prepare to come in to the main objective from there. Bravo, you will breach in through the window and kitchen."

Smith took a moment to gaze at the faces of each of the men around him. "The main objective is the safety of the family, try and take one of the terrorists alive but don't risk yourselves or the hostages, is that understood?"

A low rumble of "Yes Sir." rolled back to him and he nodded in confirmation. "Excellent, get into position and keep it clean!"

Both of the teams kept to the shadows and away from the street lights. Team Alpha silently made its way to their assigned position, with two members carrying a ladder. Cowden did a quick check of his team and then motioned to the ladder. Stearns and Freeman both eased it up to the window and placed it against the building with only the softest of sounds. They wedged it into the ground, checked its stability, and nodded an affirmative to the last member of their team, Dresdan.

Dresdan scampered up the ladder and quickly worked the lock on the window until a soft click indicated it was unlocked. He pulled out his silenced pistol and slowly eased the window open. Cowden watched him swing his legs into the room and deftly slip inside. He slung his rifle over his shoulder and followed up the ladder. The room was considerably darker then outside and he quickly flipped his low light device over his eyes. Scanning the room he saw Dresdan covering the door and heard the slight scraping sounds of Stearns and Freeman following him into the room.

Cowden pulled out his own silenced pistol and pressed his back up to the wall by the door. Looking over to Dresdan he held up his fingers slowly dropping them one by one. When the last one fell Dresdan eased the door open and Cowden leaned into the hall quickly checking for any hostiles. He pulled back into the room and gestured for his team to come close.

"Ok, the bathroom door is across the hall and opened, it appears that no hostiles are there, but I want Stearns to check as we move up." He looked over at Stearns who nodded in return. "Freeman, Dresdan you both take the door on the right. Stearns and I will take the one on the left. Knives out I want it quiet if we need to terminate the hostiles." A low rasp of steel indicated the team had pulled out their blades. Cowden eased out of the room with the rest of the team following silently behind him, pistol in one hand, knife in the other.

As Alpha Team slowly crept along the hall, Stearns broke off to the bathroom door. It took him only a moment to confirm that no one was present before he was back at Cowden's rear. Cowden and Dresdan reached their respective doors at the same time, stopping to listen to the room beyond. Cowden held up the sign for occupied, glancing over to see Dresdan was doing the same.

Cowden acknowledged the sign before indicating both teams to get ready to breach both rooms. Stearns came up to Cowden and placed his right hand on Cowden's shoulder indicating his readiness. Taking a moment to check that both teams were ready Cowden again counted down and when his final finger dropped he pushed the door open and rushed in.

Khalid had just roused himself from a fitful sleep and was sitting on the edge of the bed mulling over the situation he found himself in. So caught up in his own thoughts he hadn't even thought to turn on the light. Thus he was fully unprepared for his door to fly open and two obviously well trained men to come charging into his room. Not that it would have helped if he had been prepared. In less than a second Cowden had crossed the distance between them and Khalid's weapon had barely started to raise up before his cry of warning died in his throat as 8 inches of cold hard steel jammed themselves up through his jaw and into his brain case.

Cowden clamped his other hand over the hostile's mouth but already knew the target was dead. He kept a hold of the body while checking around the room and saw that Stearns had already finished checking the other corners. Keeping a firm grip he slowly lowered the body onto the bed making as little noise as possible. He took a moment to listen for any disturbances from the room across the hall but could hear nothing. Grunting softly in satisfaction to himself he keyed his mic on.

"Alpha 2 this is Alpha 1 come in." He practically sub-vocalized into his microphone.

He heard a quiet click and then, "Copy Alpha 1, this is Alpha 2 go ahead" Dresdan said.

"We have one hostile KIA, room clear, what's your status? Over." Cowden inquired

It took a moment before he heard Dresdan respond, "One hostile secured, otherwise the room is clear."

Cowden took a moment before handing out instructions, "Ok I want Alpha 4 to stay with the hostile and you to meet us at the top of the stairs." Just as he finished Cowden waved Stearns over to follow him. As they both exited the room they saw Dresdan coming out to meet them. Over his shoulder they could make out a bound and gagged form that was pinned to the ground by Freeman with one hand, his other hand still holding his pistol. As the team moved down the hall together toward the stairs, Cowden reached for his mic to relay the team's status.

Harry started awake, from a restless hour of sleep. He wasn't sure when he had finally drifted off but the pain in his neck told him he hadn't slept in the most comfortable position. As he was looking around his cupboard he heard the stairs softly creek. Curiosity drove him to gently press his face up against his cupboard's grate to see what was going on. The hallway was still very dark and low voices could still be heard coming from the living room. All of a sudden one of the shadows from the stairs seemed to detach itself and move silently to the living room entrance.

The shadow resolved itself into a man who was slowly shuffling along the wall moving as silently as a ghost. Another seemed to melt out of the shadows behind him and then a third. All of them had strange devices covering their eyes and were carrying rifles up and at the ready. The first one stopped for a moment just before the entrance to the living room, making sure to keep out of the weak light flickering out from the door.

Harry was stared at them, eyes wide in fear, not knowing what was going to happen and who these people were. He could just barely hear the low hum of one of them speaking to someone before the person in front started to make quick and fast gestures with his hands. The other two nodded and the second man in line deftly reached up to his vest and pulled out something that was a small cylinder with a handle and metal loop on it.

Harry saw all of the men seem to tense as the leader held up three fingers and quickly counted down. As soon as the last finger dropped the figure holding the cylinder pulled the pin and threw it into the room beyond. All three men turned away from opening and Harry didn't have any time to try and understand what was going on before his world was consumed in a white light and ringing in his ears.

Almost before the flash-bang went off Cowden was in motion. He came around the corner and immediately looked to the left side of the room. In just a moment his mind was able to assess the situation and find the targets in his quadrant. There were 5 people in the room all reeling from the over stimulation of auditory and visual senses caused by the flash-bang. Three of them were bound by the fireplace slumped on the ground. Two men were stumbling back on either side of the room, seemingly having jumped up as soon as the grenade flew into the room. Both were armed but obviously still disorientated.

Even as his mind recognized Bravo Team breaching in through the windows his weapon sights fell across the head of the man in front of him. A single steady squeeze of the trigger sent three rounds into the hostile in front of him with blood and brain matter blossoming and the wall behind him. Before the body even hit the floor Cowden had checked his quadrant and seeing no more threats yelling "Clear!".

More shouts of "Clear!" flowed back from the other members of Alpha and Bravo team as the room was checked for other enemies. The family of three had thrown themselves fully to the ground and were huddling together in fear of the orchestrated chaos around them. Cowden walked over to the man he had dropped seeing the three round burst had left his head a bloody pulp. When he heard Captain Smith over the radio.

"Status report Cowden." barked Smith.

Cowden slowly looked around the room before responding, "Sir. Total of 4 hostiles in the building, 3 KIA and one captured. The hostages are shaken but no injuries from them or any members of the assault teams." He saw that Bravo was already moving to the family and removing their bounds. "Hostages are being attended to now, we are ready for EMS to move in."

The house was soon crawling with people all moving about with a purpose. Cowden was casually leaning against the wall by the staircase when Captain Smith walked in. He sketched a quick salute as the Captain made his way over to him.

"Not bad Seamus," Smith said as he quickly shook Cowden's hand. "Intelligence ID-ed these guys as the same ones who tried to set off that bomb in Central London. It looks like they are part of a new extremist group Al-Muhajiroun who have been trying to make their way into the UK for some time now." His eyes grew cold as he looked over to the living room. "They obviously are very dedicated to their cause and are willing to go to extreme measures to complete their objectives."

"Agreed Sir, I-" Cowden was cut off as he felt and heard a bump against the wall he had been leaning against. He slowly moved back and motioned at the door while quietly drawing his pistol. Smith gave a quick nod drawing his own weapon before reaching up to the handling on the cupboard. With a quick glance and a nod at Cowden he wrenched the door open in a single motion.

Huddled in the back corner of the small space was a child with dark hair, covered in a ratty blanket and wearing clothes that seemed too big for him. As Cowden moved forward he could see the makings of a bed, with what looked like a few keepsakes stuffed in the corner. The boy couldn't have been 4 or 5 years old and the situation looked too established to have been caused by the terrorist.

"Christ.." muttered Smith as he leaned down to look into the small space. "What the hell did we stumble upon here."

Cowden didn't even acknowledge him as he quickly holstered his pistol and got down on his knees to get a better look at the child. Underneath the dark black hair the child looked back at him with frightened green eyes, held in a gaunt underfed face. When Cowden reached out to the boy he jerked back in sudden fright and as his hair sifted the most peculiar scare was displayed on his forehead.

"It's alright child," Seamus uttered in as gentle tones as he could muster. "We got rid of the bad people, it's safe to come out." The child looked at the hand offered to him and slowly reached out and grasped it. Seamus let a gentle smile tug at his lips as he carefully pulled the boy out of the crawl space. As the boy was pulled to his feet, he looked around in wonder at all the bustling activity going on through the house. Cowden guided him over to the main room where the other hostages were still being attended to.

Vernon Dursley was still reeling from the last few hours. Woken up in the middle of the night, bound and gagged in his own home, and then ending up in the middle of a firefight were not high on his list of fun activities. He was only half listening to the official looking woman who was talking to him and Petunia when he noticed The Boy being escorted into the room. Vernon saw red, all the misfortune that his family had just suffered through, all of the abuse and fear seemed to swell up out of him as he surged to his feet, face already turning puce.

"You damn Freak!" he raged, "this has to be all your fault, you and your freakishness must have brought these mad men here! We clothed you, fed you, and took you in after your damn parents went and got themselves killed. And how do you thank us, by hiding away perfectly safe while we could have been killed."

All Harry could do was stare up at Vernon as he screamed down at him, fearfully watching Vernon's meaty hands waving at him. He knew he was done for, there was no way the Dursleys would let him stay here if they even left him alive after the beating he knew was in store. Harry seemed to shrink in on himself and attempted to hide behind the man who had pulled him out of his cupboard. Vernon started to reach toward him, but an iron like grip clamped down on his wrist and his attention was jerked up to the man in front of him.

Seamus Cowden had seen a lot of things in his life that angered him. It came with the job and for the most part he was able to take it in, compartmentalize it, and keep moving. Very few times in his life had he felt such cold contempt and disdain boil up from deep within him, and his hand had moved without conscious thought. After seeing the boy in the cupboard he had hoped he was wrong about what was occuring, but this obese oaf of a man had just confirmed all of his concerns.

"I think it would be good if you stop right there…. Sir…." Cowden growled out through clenched teeth, his Scottish brogue becoming more pronounced. Eyes of cold blue ice seemed to pierce into Vernon's soul and found him wanting, extremely so. Vernon was a large man and was used to being able to impose his will physically on others, but the slight tremor in his knees told him that this would not be one of those instances.

Vernon tried to swallow with a suddenly dry throat and stammered, "Uh-uh-um of course you're right." He tried to pull his hand back, but couldn't move it an inch. Eyes glancing down toward Harry he continued, "It's just the nerves you know? What with all that our family has been through recently." Eyes hardening he looked up at Cowden. "That blasted boy has always been trouble, for the life of us my wife and I don't know what to do with him anymore. Always trying to harass our Dudley, who doesn't do a thing to deserve it. We can only imagine what kind of hooligan he is going to turn into and we have been trying to nip it in the bud."

As Vernon continued on Seamus found his ire growing. This man was trying to write off the abuse the poor boy was suffering, as him deserving it. The utter gall this whale in front of him had to tell such a bold face lie appalled Cowden. This was obviously someone who's second nature was to spit untruths and spin situations to his favor. Seamus finally let go of the offensive appendage and laid a reassuring hand on the gaunt boys shoulder. Again he felt his anger surfacing as the shoulder flinched away for a moment in obvious expectation of physical touch causing him pain.

Completely ignoring Vernon Seamus turned to Captain Smith, "Sir is there a social working around that can start working on this?" He ignored the coloring draining from Vernon's face as he continued. "I think this is going to need an expert's touch to start sorting out this other shit storm we find ourselves in."

Smith took a moment to again survey the room, and gave a half nod. "I think you're right and there should be someone attached to the police force I'll get the process started." Smith turned and started toward the door before looking over his shoulder at Cowden. "It looks like the young man is comfortable enough around you. Why don't you see if you can find him something to eat and look after him for the time being." With a final smirk in Seamus's direction the Captain disappeared through the door.

Just managing to suppress a sigh of frustration Seamus looked down at the young boy next to him. He wasn't very used to interacting with children, his job rarely required such things and it wasn't like it gave him much time to start a family of his own. Coming to a decision he knelt down next to the dark haired boy striking green eyes, completely forgetting about the Dursleys in the room. "So son do ya have a name?"

Harry started, having been completely lost in thought and oblivious to the world around him when Seamus asked him for his name. He looked back at the man in front of him and couldn't help but be in awe of someone who could stand up to Vernon without a thought, among a few other amazing talents that he seemed to possess. In little more than a whisper he said, "I-It's Harry, Harry Potter."

Quick Note:

The initial terrorist group and names were just taken from an extremist group that had started to become active in the 80s in England. I have no idea if an event like this had ever happened or how much of a threat they ever really became so I would ask that no one read into that more than it being a quick wiki with that as one of the first results :). Otherwise hopefully people enjoy the start of this story. I have to be honest and say I'm not sure what the update frequency will be or really how this story will go just with how the world is right now. I remember authors being described as generally having two styles, either having a predefined story-line that they flesh out with details or creating characters and then having the story progress as the author believes those characters would drive it. I definitely fall into the second group and while there is a strong skeleton which to work with in the actual Harry Potter books I really can't say exactly where this is going to go. I have already started on the second chapter but sadly I'm not someone who already has most of the story fully written. Basically if you find this story engaging please bear with me as I try and figure out this whole writing on the fly thing.

-Truth