Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.

Challenges Listed at the Bottom

Word Count: 2100

Hogwarts, Assignment 7: Gardening, Task 1: Write about caring for someone.

Warning: Mafia!AU / Violence / Gun-Violence / Knife Violence / Character Death

Capable of Anything (Even Love)

The silence was eerie. Tom wasn't used to it, especially these days. Harry was a naturally noisy person, even when he wasn't particularly doing anything, that coming home to such silence was decidedly strange.

Of course, finding the living room ransacked was even stranger, and he stopped in the doorway for a long moment, eyeing the mess in front of him. Dressers had been overturned, the sofa cushions were ruined, the stuffing all over the floor like fallen clouds. Tables were smashed until they resembled bits of old wood scattered across the now stained carpet—if that was actually Harry's blood, there would be hell to pay—and glass shards littered the floor.

Whatever had happened here, it had been chaotic. Harry had clearly put up a good fight against his kidnappers. For Tom knew exactly who and why, he just didn't know how.

Thankful that he was, in fact, quite level headed, Tom snapped his phone from his pocket and rang the second speed dial.

"Sir?"

"Harry has been kidnapped," Tom said, words tense and quick. "I want him found, and I want to know which of you idiots let it happen."

"Yes, Sir. I'll send Rabastan to the flat immediately and start looking at the CCTV."

"Do it quickly, Lucius, my patience is not to be tested today."

Tom ended the call before Lucius could reply and started looking around. Slowly, he walked from room to room. The bedroom and bathroom were untouched, as was the study, which meant Harry was the only target.

Not that Tom kept anything important at the flat—besides Harry, that is. But his enemies weren't to know that.

Returning to the living room, Tom was about to call Lucius again to find out what the hold-up was when Rabastan stumbled into the room. He was panting, having clearly run from wherever he was, but Tom didn't have time for panting.

He wanted answers.

"It was the shift change," Rabastan forced out. "Grindelwald's people must have been watching the place for weeks to figure out the shift change on the surveillance. There's about fifteen minutes in which the security is… weaker than it should be."

"Unacceptable," Tom snapped. "Who on earth made the schedule so predictable? And has Harry been found yet?"

"We believe we know where he is," Rabastan replied immediately. Tom realised he hadn't answered the first question, but he could come back to that later, when he had Harry back in his arms.

"Is there a team retrieving him?"

Rabastan shook his head. "There's a team prepared, Sir. We just need to know if you intend to go with them."

Tom's eyes narrowed and then he nodded. "Get someone in here to clean the place up. I want it spotless by the time I return home. Harry doesn't need any reminders."

"Yes, Sir."

…

Tom wasn't afraid. He knew he was stronger than Grindelwald, that his own people could take out the others with ease. Before this, Grindelwald had been an annoyance, but not enough of one for Tom to particularly care about getting rid of him.

That was, of course, different now.

So, Tom wasn't afraid of what Grindelwald could do to him. He was, however, perhaps a touch worried about what the man would do to Harry in an attempt to get to Tom.

It wasn't an unsound idea, unfortunately, and Tom knew it had been inevitable that one day, someone would go after Harry when they couldn't touch Tom personally.

He'd been overconfident in his ability to protect his love; it was an oversight that wouldn't happen again.

The car pulled up close to the warehouse they believed Harry was being held in, and Tom climbed out of the car.

Two of his men—Rosier and Mulciber—were waiting for them.

Tom glanced their way, and Rosier nodded. "They're here."

That was all Tom needed to know. He led the way forward towards the door, uninterested in making plans for entry—or any more talking at all, actually. He had a knife up his sleeve, and a gun on his hip, and his rage was fuelling him to keep his steps even and unaffected even as his insides rolled.

His men walked behind him, following his lead. They were all armed to the teeth, and had been instructed to take out anyone they came across that wasn't Harry. Tom was done playing nice.

…

Leaving the sounds of gunshots, shouting and fighting behind him, Tom stepped into the main area of the warehouse. It was empty except for two people, one standing, one seated.

Harry was tied to the chair with coarse looking rope, and even from the doorway, Tom could see the way it was cutting into his skin. There were a few cuts on him, and his face was bruised.

Tom narrowed his eyes at the man standing behind him. He wore a half mask, though it did nothing to hide his identity, and he was holding a silver knife to Harry's neck.

"A little dramatic, no?" Tom asked, gesturing to the room.

Grindelwald smirked, and it grated at Tom. "Ah, men like us, we like a little drama," the man replied, waving his free hand airily. "Besides, I thought you might like to admire my newest acquisition in an open space."

Tom glanced at Harry. He could see that the younger man was afraid, but he still seemed quite relaxed as he stared at Tom.

"Are you okay?" Tom asked, his voice softening slightly as he addressed Harry.

"I'll live," Harry replied with a small smile. The knife at his neck brushed against the flesh when he spoke, and he winced slightly.

"That's the question, isn't it?" Grindelwald said, patting Harry on the head. "Because unless Riddle gives me what I want, dear boy, you won't live at all."

"And rather than speak to me man to man, like respectable businessmen, you chose instead to abduct my lover," Tom said, head tilting slightly. "I'm not entirely certain why you thought that would entice me to make a deal."

"I knew it," Grindelwald said, shaking his head. "You won't even converse with me to save his life. You're not capable of love, are you, Riddle? I don't know why you're attempting to keep up the pretence."

Tom arched an eyebrow. "I'm capable of anything."

"So I've heard. Dear Albus, you know, he does so like to reminisce."

Tom inwardly chafed at the mention of his once mentor. Albus Dumbledore had been the biggest disappointment of Tom's life. He'd once thought him great, but it had all turned out to be a tower of lies that had tumbled to the ground when Tom was fifteen.

That had been when Tom had struck out on his own. He couldn't say he was mad about it now, of course, given the success he'd had, but it still rankled to hear the old man's name.

"I'm not entirely sure what you're hoping to accomplish here, Gellert," Tom said, bored with the back and forth and disliking the knife that seemed to be getting closer to Harry's neck with every minute that passed. "Simplify it for me. What is it that you want?"

"I want London, of course," Grindelwald said. "Your organisation sweeps the length and breadth of the country. Surely you can spare little old London for me?"

"And if I say no?"

"We find out exactly how sharp my knife is."

Tom nodded thoughtfully before he brought his gun up in one smooth move and pressed his finger to the trigger. The bullet struck exactly where Tom was intending, hitting Grindelwald's shoulder. The knife fell from his hand, nicking Harry's neck as it did.

"I'm okay," Harry assured Tom, as he approached with quick steps. "Deal with him."

Tom nodded and stepped around the chair to look down at Grindelwald, who'd fallen to the floor, clutching at his shoulder. Tom kicked his side, and then put his foot on the bullet-hit shoulder, over Grindelwald's hand.

"Did you really intend to kill my Harry?" he asked, voice low and fierce in the echoing warehouse.

"No, no of course—"

"Tell me the truth!" Tom demanded, pressing his foot down. Grindelwald cried out in pain, and he nodded.

"Yes, yes, I was planning to kill him," he admitted, voice urgent as he tried to escape the punishment of Tom's foot on his wound.

Tom nodded. "Unfortunately for you, I don't hold a grudge. I just kill the people who wrong me. It saves time, you see, to get rid of the vile scum that think they can hurt one of the few things that actually matter to me."

"Riddle, please," Grindelwald begged. "I'll leave forever, I'll—"

"You'll bleed out on this warehouse floor, and I'll leave your body here to go rotten. Then perhaps, the outside will match the inside. You chose the wrong one to mess with, Gellert, and that was your mistake."

Tom lifted his gun for a second time, and aimed it right at Grindelwald's chest. "Look away, Harry. You don't need to see this."

The gun fired, the sound echoing around the room, and Tom turned his attention to the ropes tying Harry to the chair. Using the knife from up his sleeve, Tom freed Harry from the bindings, and then stroked a hand down his face.

"Are you okay?"

"I just want to go home, Tom."

…

The sun was setting when Tom carried Harry from the warehouse to the waiting car. He set Harry carefully on the backseat and closed the door, before he rounded the car and climbed in on the other side.

"Do you require medical attention?" Tom asked softly. "Are there any injuries I cannot see?"

"Just bruises, I think," Harry replied quietly. "Nothing feels broken. Pain meds wouldn't hurt, though."

"I'll have some waiting for us at home," Tom assured him. The car started, and Tom pulled Harry close, so he was pressed into Tom's side, Tom's arm securely around his shoulders.

"Sorry the flat was such a mess," Harry said, his face pressed against Tom's shirt. "I just wanted to make sure you knew I'd been taken, that I hadn't just left willingly."

Tom smiled into Harry's hair. "Good boy," he murmured. "I knew as soon as I got home."

"It's a tragedy the couch got ruined though," Harry mourned. "I loved that couch."

"Then I'll make sure the replacement is exactly the same," Tom promised. "You were magnificent, Harry."

…

Harry tried to flop onto the bed when Tom helped him into the bedroom, but Tom held him upright.

"Take your clothes off. Right now," he said, a touch of an order in his tone. "I need to make sure you're okay."

Harry wrinkled his nose, but nodded wearily. Tom helped him strip, and when he saw the amount of bruises on his Harry, he felt a blast of fury shake him to the very core.

Had he known how bad it would be, he would have made Grindelwald suffer rather than just shoot him.

"It's fine, I'm fine," Harry said, clearly reading the emotions on Tom's face.

Shaking his head in disbelief, Tom helped Harry sit down on the edge of the bed, and then called Lucius into the room. "Fetch Narcissa," he ordered. "I want her to look Harry over, and make sure there's nothing… untoward."

"Tom, I'm fine," Harry replied clearly exhausted even as he forced the tiredness away to assure Tom of his health.

"I… need to make sure," Tom admitted, as Lucius left the room. "This is my fault, and I—"

"Hey," Harry said, reaching out to cup Tom's cheek. "I knew who and what you were when we got together. It was inevitable that this would happen one day. Bruises suck, but they heal. I knew you'd come and get me."

"I'll always come and get you, Harry," Tom promised. "And I'll do my best to ensure this doesn't happen again."

Harry just nodded, his eyes drooping. "Come and cuddle with me until Narcissa gets here, please. The nightmares will come, and I always feel safer in your arms."

Tom simply nodded and helped Harry properly onto the bed, until he was propped up on a mountain of cushions to ensure his comfort as he rested. Tom lay along the side of the bed beside him, stroking a hand through Harry's hair.

"He was wrong, you know?" Tom murmured, pressing the gentlest of kisses against Harry's shoulder. "I can love. I do love you."

Harry smiled softly, and without even bothering to open his eyes, he replied, "I know."

Written for:

Gotta Catch Em All: 1. Eerie

Written In The Stars: 5. Level Headed

Showtime: 16. Simplify

Film Festival: 16. Kidnapping

Elizabeth's Empire: 27. Knife

Sophie's Smut Bucket: 2. Flesh

Throwback: 21. Mafia/Gangster!AU

Artist Appreciation: 17. Forever

Buttons: P1: HarryTom

TV Spree: 9. Grudge

Halloween Bingo: 03. Afraid

Guess The Name: 15. Leatherface: Mafia!AU

Costume Party: The Joker: Make Up: Chaotic

Trick or Treat: Tonks House: Untoward / Trick: "Take your clothes off. Right now."

Drive In Horror Movies: 2. Crime

Hogwarts Cafe: 5. Autumn Spiced Toddy: Sunset

Monster Mash Up: 3. Alien: Abduct / 5. Poltergeist: "They're here." / 7. Zombie: Rotten /12. Mothman: Tragedy / 15. Dragon: Magnificent / 19. Hell Hound: "Good boy." / 20. Swamp Thing: Vile.

Apple Bobbing: 5. Inevitable

Haunted House: Search the Bathroom: Urgent

Potion Making: Veritaserum: "Tell me the truth!" / Forced / Disbelief

Horror Scavenger Hunt: Write a story including someone wearing a mask.

Pumpkin Carving: Step 3: Worried

Hot Air Balloon: 1. Grudge

Spooky Playlist: 9. "I'm capable of anything."

Til Death Do Us Part: 17. Character A comes home to find the house ransacked and Character B gone. A random note has been left on the table.

The Spooky Express: 3. Specter Street: Dramatic

Moony's Neon Cafe: Genre: 15. Crime

365: 285. Crime

Fantastic Beasts: 116. Lambton Worm: A Kidnapping