"Here's the
report I promised," Joanne yawned, dropping a thick file onto Sirius' desk.
"That was
fast," Sirius mumbled before looking up.
"Shit, Annie, when was the last time you slept?"
"Last time
I was here," she whispered, sitting on the edge of the desk. "Anyway, I was able to break the code. We already knew that the killer was wizard
and male. From that," she motioned
towards the file, "we also know that he is English, rich and
well-educated. From the language
patterns and word use, I'd say he went to school beyond the regular seven
years. He's also English, this confirms
it, again through language patters. If
you can't tell, our killer is male; that is from the analysis of
handwriting. The lines are much too
angular and harsh to be from a female.
He's left-handed as well, from the slanting of the writing. Our killer is also loaded. Someone who is just getting by or even
comfortable does not spend that much money on paper. Finally, the coding itself.
He didn't just code it. He
translated it into Russian, coded it and then put the code into French. With Zarya's help in languages," Joanne
leaned down and flipped to one of the last pages in the file, "our next target
is Gracie-Lynne McDonnough. She's
originally from Ohio, transferred to Hogwarts her fifth year. Dated all the Quidditch captains, most
popular girl in the entire school, fits every piece in the victim profile. She's already being watched, I'd venture to
guess."
"Annie,"
Sirius sighed, "come here." Sirius
reached out and pulled her onto his lap.
"I admire your dedication, but you won't do us any good dead from lack
of sleep. Aside from the fact we could
have another dead Mary Sue soon, why did you rush this?"
"I want
this case done with, Siri." Joanne
dropped her head onto his shoulder and sighed, "I just want it done."
"Why?"
"I'm tired
of it all. The around the world
apparating, falling off cliffs, being shot at with those damned Muggle guns,
getting beat up by stupid ass thug wannabes.
I want out."
Sirius
tipped her chin up, "This is rather sudden."
"No, I've
been playing with it for a while," Joanne shook her head slightly. "I'm just tired."
"You need
sleep," Sirius said sternly.
"I need
you," Joanne whispered, running her hand along the side of his face.
"Then have
me you shall," Sirius smiled, bringing her face closer to his. Joanne moaned as he tugged on her lower lip
with his teeth. Her hands made their
way into his thick hair, clasping his mouth to hers. Sirius' tongue was thrusting in and out of her mouth, turning her
thoughts distinctly carnal. She was
vaguely aware of her top being untucked and a hand running up underneath
it. She moaned again and began pulling
at his robe, wanting him to move her out of his office and into the bedroom.
"Sirius
Black!"
Joanne
pulled away as the voice in the hallway continued yelling, coming closer to the
office. Sirius was trying to catch his
breath as the door opened slightly.
Joanne realized her wand was on the other side of the room, preventing
her from apparating out of there. She
slid down off his lap and hid herself under the desk just as the footsteps were
heard coming into the room.
"Sirius
Black, I have been waiting all week to learn what your Angels have
discovered. So far all I have been
given is drivel that any detective could dig up and at a much lower price. I hope you have some information for me
now."
"Madam
Delacort, as you can see, I have just received a very thick file from my
Angel. I haven't had the time to read
it as yet." Sirius opened his mouth to
continue but gasped. "It.is.quite…"
"Is
something wrong, Mr. Black?" the interloper asked severely.
"Oh
gods… No… Everything is… Just
bloody lovely," Sirius sighed. "I would
have…contacted you…later."
"You look
ill, Black. You're sweating. If you are any indication of what I have
purchased, then your Angels are going to be a great disappointment."
"Not my
Angels. Charlie's," Sirius inhaled
deeply.
Delacort
narrowed her eyes at Sirius and leaned across the table. "Something is off here. I expect information soon. And it better be worth the small fortune I
am paying you. Goodbye."
"Oh
gods! Joanne, oh bloody hell!" Sirius pushed himself away from the desk.
"Sorry, I
was hungry," Joanne smiled after wiping her mouth with the back of her
hand. "I'm not done either. Come back here."
"Angel. They dare call you an Angel," Sirius laughed
as he pulled her against him.
"My Angel?"
Joanne whispered against his lips.
"Mine,"
Sirius nipped her lower lip, "and I'm very possessive."
"Just
remember how I like my crossbow and you'll be fine," she smiled wickedly. "Let's go to bed, shall we?"
"Joanne? Are you there? Joey?"
"Now
what?" They turned to see Jacki's face
in the fire.
"Figured
you would be here. Hi ya Sirius," Jacki
smirked.
"Hello,
Jacki. Why are you in my fireplace?"
"Actually,
just my face is if you want to get technical.
And I'm not here for you, unlike Joey.
Oh, and Sirius, you may want to fix your pants."
"What do
you want, Jacki? And breathe a word
about this to anyone and I'll tell…" Joanne said menacingly.
"Hey! I'm sexy not stupid. We need you, Joey. Colleen, Zarya and Gabi got themselves arrested. Again.
We need our resident solicitor."
"What did
they do this time?" Sirius growled.
"Barroom
brawl. Apparently, some tall, male and
handsome who was already attached. Add
beer, tequila and mudslides into the mix and my how our Angels have fallen."
"Where are
they?" Joanne sighed.
"Austin,
Texas, the sheriff's office. Can you
get here quick, it's not looking too good.
Zarya's in a real fine mood."
"She hates
being locked up," Joanne stated. "I'll
be there in a half an hour. Do not, I
repeat do not, let them talk to anyone.
Especially Colleen. Let her know
that flirting with Texas police, describing what she can do with chocolate and
caramel, will not help the situation.
They'll add solicitation to the mix."
"Will do,
Joey. We owe you one," Jacki called
before her face disappeared.
"I can't
believe this," Joanne yelled. "I just
wanted some bloody time with you. I'm
going to kill them. Kill them slowly
and painfully."
"Hey,"
Sirius pulled her back up against him, "you've got a half hour to get to
them." Lowering them to the floor, Sirius
rolled on top of her, "Now, where were we?"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Which
three?"
"Those
three," Joanne pointed to Gabi, Zarya and Colleen. "Come on ladies, you are free to go."
"Did you
get our wands back?" Zarya whispered.
"Yes, wait
until we are outside," Joanne turned back to the officer. "Sorry for the misunderstanding officer."
"No, it is
our fault, Ms. Wilding. Our sincerest
apologizes for the mistake."
Joanne
nodded and then pushed the other Angels out the door. Just outside the door, Joanne stopped. "Oh shit. What did this
guy look like in the bar?"
"Handsome
and male," Gabi smiled. "What else do
you need to know?"
"Accent?"
"No, none."
"You're in
Texas, but no accent." Joanne looked
around quickly, "We've been set up.
Cover now!" It was too late,
blinding flashes of white and yellow light came blazing from an opposite
rooftop. The girls dove for cover,
Colleen shouting counter curses and hexes in the direction the light was coming
from.
"Joanne!"
Gabi screamed "Zarya, we need you!"
Zarya
crawled over from where she had rolled to, Colleen providing cover. "We need to get her out of here. I can't do anything proper here. Gabi, call in the containment squad."
"Already
done. Can you apparate with her?" Gabi
asked, but even before she finished, Zarya and the unconscious Joanne were
gone.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Where is
she?" Sirius roared, as he ran tearing into the hospital.
"She's in
with the doctors, Sirius," Jacki said quietly.
"Zarya is doing her thing."
"How the
hell did we miss this?" Sirius snarled.
"Nothing
pointed to it happening," Debbi protested.
"There is no way we could have known."
"We need to
call Charlie. He needs to know," Gabi
whispered. "He's going to be mad."
"It wasn't
our faults," Zarya stated as she appeared from behind swinging doors. "Jo's been an Angel since the beginning and
even she didn't pick up on it in time."
Sirius spun
around, "Are you blaming her?"
"No. This could have happened to any of us. It's a hazard of the job. She's not dead; it was a chilling
curse. They are warming her up in
there," Zarya explained as another doctor came out from behind the doors.
"This her
family, Dr. Jade?"
"We
are. How is she?" Macabre asked, Emily
and Klover behind her.
"They're
both fine," the doctor confirmed, smiling in Colleen's direction. After a few moments of flirting, he looked
at Sirius. "Are you Siri?"
"Yes."
"She was
asking for you. You can go on back."
"Thank
you," Sirius brushed past the doctor and began to walk through the double doors
before stopping and turning back to the doctor, who was getting to know
Colleen. "Did you say they?"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What else
do you need?" Jacki asked, looking up the stairs where Sirius stood, holding a
blanket covered Joanne. "We moved all
of her stuff, her research, files, computer, right down to her glasses, into
your room."
"That's
it," Sirius stated flatly.
"What about
clothes?" Brandie asked.
"She's not
going to be needing any," Colleen drawled, grinning. "Just the way Siri likes her."
"Colleen,"
Sirius warned. "She's recuperating."
"And
pregnant," Gabi smirked. "P R E G N A N
T."
"Otherwise
known as knocked up," Zarya added, laughing.
"A bun in
the oven," Macabre continued, eyes twinkling.
"With
child," Jacki added in a pseudo- Southern drawl.
"Eating for
two," Klover suggested causing the other girls to look at her. "What?
You guys took all the good ones!" she said defensively.
"Will you
all stop?" Sirius growled.
"Oh, Sirius
stop," Jacki ordered. "It's yours, you
don't have to worry about that."
"She's only
been with you, Sirius, for the last year," Colleen said softly. "We'd know otherwise."
"Joey talks
in her sleep," Zarya laughed. "But I am
sure you know that," she teased.
"I'm taking
her upstairs," Sirius mumbled, glad with what the Angels were saying. It wasn't as if he doubted it was his, but
it was nice to hear it verified.
"Sirius,"
Joanne whispered, waking up. "Sirius?"
"Ssh, go
back to sleep," Sirius replied, his voice equally soft.
"Where am
I?"
"Dragon
Fire, home," Sirius answered, entering his bedroom. "My room."
"Won't
Charlie find out for sure now?" Joanne asked her voice tinged with anxiety.
Lowering
her onto the bed, he sat next to her.
"He already knows."
Joanne gasped,
"What? Oh gods, I got you fired."
"I'm not
fired," Sirius said trying to calm her.
"Neither are you, but you are being taken out of the field."
"Why?"
Joanne questioned. "Because I screwed
up?"
"You didn't
screw up. No one did. Like Zarya said at the hospital, it wasn't
your fault or any of you girls," he took a deep breath before continuing. "The reason you are out of the field… Charlie saw your medical file."
"What?" she
shrieked in fright.
"No, you
aren't dying," Sirius responded, attempting to get her to lie back down. "It's…
They ran a blood test. You are
pregnant."
Joanne
paled. "What?" she asked, astonished.
"About six
weeks according to Zarya and the other doctor," Sirius said soothingly.
"Really?"
Joanne asked, not quite believing it.
"A baby. Sirius," she whispered,
her eyes filling with tears.
"You really
didn't know?"
"No. I was tired, but I was working hard. I wasn't sick or fainting or anything like
that. I didn't even realize I'd
skipped…" Joanne blushed. Her eyes
suddenly widened, "It's yours. You have
to know… This is your baby."
Sirius
nodded, "I know."
"No,"
Joanne shook her head, "I have to be sure you know. There hasn't been anyone else.
Ever since… Even when it was
just sex, it was you. Just you."
"Joanne…"
Sirius started, wanting her to know that he trusted her, he believed her.
"We can
check," she continued on. "There is a
spell, I'm sure you know it, it is in all the books. Do it…"
"There is
no need, Annie."
"Just do
it. So there is never any reason for
you to doubt," she pled.
"Where is
this coming from? Fine," Sirius grabbed
his wand and then tried to remember the paternity spell they all learned in
their seventh year at Hogwarts. Pulling
the words from the back of his mind, he mumbled the incantation, holding his
wand over her. A bright blue light
surrounded her abdomen for a moment and then faded away.
"Only the
father's words can produce it," Joanne whispered happily.
"I
know. The blue light means it is a
boy," Sirius said awed.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So what
now, Sirius?"
"Colleen,
based on the information Joanne provided us," the girls flipped through the
copies they were given earlier, "we need to get someone on Gracie-Lynne. Gabi, you'll be heading to Bath and taking
up the cover of Gretchen Moore, her new next door neighbor. Your contact there will be David Summers,
he's a Ministry official, and will smooth your transition."
"I'm going
by myself," Gabi asked, a bit excited to see what this David looked like.
"No,"
Sirius sighed, knowing exactly what the little Angel was thinking. "You'll be accompanied by our newest
Angel. She'll be around later today,
she'll be a field agent replacing Joanne."
"What do
you mean replacing?" Jacki asked, her eyes narrowing and her fingers
reflexively tightening around the handle of her ever-present ax.
"Jacki, we
are going to welcome her, not hack her into tiny pieces," Sirius
admonished. "Joanne can't be out in the
field in her condition, we need someone to take on her role."
"She's
still an angel right?" Zarya asked concerned.
"Damn
straight I am," Joanne laughed entering the room. "I'll be doing my thing from here, and bailing you guys out of
whatever jails you might find yourselves.
But that is it."
"For
now? Right?"
"No, once
the baby comes I'm not going back out.
But, look, I want you to welcome this Felicia, OK. And," she said looking around the room, "get
this guy. He's a sick bastard whoever
he is. If he doesn't get Gracie-Lynne
he is going to go after someone else.
This guy lives for the taste of blood."
"You mean,
he… he…" Emily stammered, her face scrunched up in disgust.
"Enjoys
them after they are dead. Yes. The families had covered that up, it took
Zarya opening the medical records to discover it," Sirius finished, smiling at
Zarya.
"What about
the rest of us? What are we doing?"
Macabre asked, hoping for something good.
"Ya mean
who are we doing?" Klover laughed.
Joanne, who
was now sitting on Sirius' desk, laughed, "I know who I'm doing, I don't know
about the rest of you."
Sirius
groaned, "Will you all please?" The
phone rang on his desk and he reached to pick it up. "Hello, Charlie. Yes,
thank you again. We're both very
happy. Boy, figured that out the other
night. Yes, they are all here, save
Felicia, she'll be joining us later correct.
I'll put you on speaker."
Charlie's
deep melodious voice came through the little box on Sirius' desk. "Hello Angels!"
The girls
all leaned forward, closer to the voice, chorusing, "Hi Charlie!"
"My Angels,
here are your assignments. Colleen and
Zarya to London. Scout the clubs for
our guy. We still don't know how he
picks his victims from the hundreds of Mary Sues in the community. Perhaps someone knows something.
"Macabre
and Klover to New York City. We've
found one girl who may have escaped.
She's an agent for one of the football teams over there. Name is Carleen Mendleson. Find her, she may have valuable
information.
"Emily and
Brandie, Charlie wants you guys to investigate the attack in Texas. Find out who did it, whether it was our guy
or someone else. Get him but don't kill
him, he's worth more to us alive.
"Jacki, you
too are going undercover. You're going
to try and draw his attention. You'll
be heading to London as well, replacing the assistant to the Minister of
Magic. It's high profile and with your
assumed identity of Jaime Marie Lewis, you'll be the Mary Sue to outshine all
Mary Sues. Do whatever you can to get
yourself noticed, within the law of course.
We want him to come after you, and Joanne and I will be keeping tabs on
you from here. Once he comes after you,
we'll be ready and waiting. Good luck
my Angels, I fear you might need it."