Disclaimer: I don't own. For the last (second last, really) time.
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Shea sat in a chair beside Harry's bed, her head bowed, her hands folded in her lap, her slender form wrapped in a thin white blouse and a long black skirt that made her look like mournful. Her eyes were on Harry, but they were unseeing, as if she was looking into some distant past the others could gaze.
"It is good that you are all here." She murmured, "Then I will only have to explain this once."
She was silent for a long while, finally she narrated in an emotionless voice, "We did not took this task unto ourselves. We received orders for this, from MSS, the Chinese secret service, and the M16, the British one. We couldn't refuse them. Ray works for MSS, and we own M16 a favour. We couldn't refuse their cause either. So we took their words and devised a plan to go about it."
She was again silent, as if pondering how to phrase her words. Then she continued, "We didn't necessarily lie to you, Harry, but we never told you the truth. We kept our real plan to ourselves. You can say we had a hidden agenda. You can say it was a treacherous one too. What we told you, we told Voltaire and Voldemort as well, albeit indirectly. They knew we hacked into their system; we left hints for them to see. We knew they set up microphone in our hotel room, and we let them hear what we wanted them to know. We wanted them and you to think that our plan is as simple as getting down there and sabotage a few computers."
"That night, when we entered the secret room with the elevator, only you and I are there. I knew you heard Kai speaking, but that was not real. It was merely an illusion I conjured up. When you stepped in the elevator, when you see everyone there, it was also a mere illusion. Even I was not in there. I stayed behind outside the elevator. It was so dark, so you didn't see any of it but what I wanted you to see. Voldemort and Voltaire saw the same thing you did, and they were fooled easily enough."
"You fooled Voldemort with an illusion?" Hermione couldn't help asking, "He is a master of ligilimency. He couldn't be easily fooled with a mind trick."
Harry saw a slightly bitter smile on the girl's face as she replied, "Well, then it would seem I am better than him at that. But we considered that, and it is one of the reasons why Harry was down there. Voldemort's entire mind was bent on him, and he was real enough. Voldemort would be too distracted to notice that the others were not real."
"One of the reasons, is that right?" Dumbledore asked calmly, though his voice was cold, "Then what are the other reasons you decide to let Harry go down there instead of creating another illusion?"
"Another reason is to serve as a link." Shea replied smoothly, "The bracelet I gave you, Harry," Here her glance swept to Harry's wrist and lingered on the silver band that was still there for a second before she continued, "It allows me to sense the scene around it with a diameter of ten meters. That's how I can see everything, and project the right illusion at the right time."
"Why couldn't you go down there yourself?" Ron asked accusingly, "You just want someone else taking the risk!"
Another bitter smile was on the girl's face, and she replied quietly, "That was part of the reason, I guess. I suggested of going down there myself, but my teammates would not agree. They said it would be more effective if it was Harry."
She drew a breath and continued, "While you were down there, we destroyed their entire building above. We also shut down the computer system. However, we only wanted to seal them in there. We never anticipated the flood. It came just as a surprise to us. The rest... You know of the rest." She stopped; there was a strain in her voice that threatened to break it.
Harry asked hesitantly, "Voldemort was about to kill me, then it seemed I just suddenly vanished from his sight... Was that you?"
Shea nodded mutely.
"And when Ray came down to look for me." Harry asked again, "None of you knew of it, right?"
There was more distress in her voice as she replied, "No, we didn't know he would do something like that, not until too late. Kai was very upset."
Harry felt anger surging in him. He did not like the sound of it at all. "Then why didn't he just leave me there?" He asked heatedly, "Why didn't he just let me die with those two down there like all of you?"
"It's Ray. He is always prepared for sacrifices." Shea said that lightly, and did not show her pain. Yet her light tone angered Harry even more.
Harry breathed, and said as calmly as he could, "Answer me one more question. Why didn't the MSS and the M16 do this themselves? Why did they give the task to you people?"
Shea answered smoothly, "Because Voltaire and Voldemort have almost impregnable defences around their little fortress. If they tried to use blunt force, it may end in their victory, but with many deaths. We have the means to achieve the same at a much lower price."
It is at this exact point Harry exploded. "So you decided to use me as a bait, without my knowledge, to achieve this? You were ready to sacrifice my life simply because that is what you consider 'a much lower price'? I thought you were my friends! I thought you took me as a teammate! No, that's not it, is it? I was only that little worm that you place on the hook to fish out your real price!"
"Harry, I am..."She said, still smoothly and calmly.
"Apology is not going to work now." Harry shouted, "Do not apologize, because I will never forgive you. Not after all these."
Shea leaped up so abruptly as she was stung. Her eyes were burning with gold fire as she stared down at Harry. She held herself in such a way that displayed her anger, pity and indifferent all at once.
"I did not come here to apologize." She said in a low yet clear voice, "I never intended to apologize. I hold no such feelings. Maybe I had doubted at the beginning, I had doubted the justice of my actions, but no longer. I wouldn't have it any other way. Compared to the alternatives, you life would be a low price to pay. For all the others that could have been sacrificed in your place, they are all infinitely more valuable than you, Harry Potter."
All the others in the room stared at her, wide-eyed and angry, shocked beyond belief at such a statement.
"Now, girl." Mrs. Weasley hissed, "If you have nothing other than cruel words, I suggest you leave this second."
"I will finish what I have to say first!" The girl said coldly, her golden eyes glinting, "Listen to me carefully, Harry Potter. What have you suffered through this whole task? Only a few hours of fright, and maybe some injured pride. Regardless of what we intended, this is the end result. You escaped unscathed. And do you know what we suffered? Sleepless nights, night after night, of fright, of doubt and fear, and guilt. And now Ray...he may never to wake up again. Any second now, he can just leave this world. More fright, more doubt, more waiting..."
For the first time she sounded despaired. Tears rolled in her golden eyes, threatening to roll down her cheeks. All the calm and cool had left her; she covered her face with her hand and sobbed quietly.
"Ray...he is not..." Harry asked uncertainly. This was the first time the thought entered his mind. It left a sickening feeling in his stomach. There is no way Ray could have lived, not when the killing curse basically exploded on him.
"No, he is not dead yet." Shea snapped, "But he is not far from it. And do you know why? On the first night when we finished the plan, I would not agree, because I thought it was not right. And to reassure me, Ray said 'I will swear to you then that I will try everything I can to keep him safe, and if he shall die because of our actions, I will pay for it with my own life.' I forced this unto him. It is my fault entirely! And I couldn't even see it fast enough..."
She turned and stormed out of the room, almost fleeing. They could hear her light footsteps hurried down the hall and vanished. Harry slumped back on his back with a sigh, looking dejected.
"I guess there is no point to go visit him now." He said bitterly.
"Harry, dear." Mrs. Weasley, "Don't let her get to you. You have got too much on your mind. Just forget it all.
Harry sighed and said smoothly, "I guess there is sense in her words."
"No, Harry." Dumbledore spoke in a firm voice, "One does not simply label people with a price. Do not let your mind dwell on that. What happened has happened, it is past now. Do not brood on that matter. We will disturb you no longer. Have some rest, Harry."
With that he stood up, and left the room, the others followed him closely. Just before he shut the door, he turned and looked at Harry. The boy caught something in the old man's eyes. Was it relief? Compassion? Or perhaps pity or joy? Harry couldn't say. But there was very little point in knowing.
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Kai pushed the door open ever so quietly and discreetly. He stepped into the room without noise. It was a blank room with nothing but a bed in it, and a window on the opposite wall. Ray was lying on the bed, with various instruments connected to him. His face was deathly pale, without the least sign of life. The tall Asian woman with green eyes was standing beside him, looking down with an expressionless face. Kai stood silent for a while, wondering if he should say something in greeting to the woman. But at last he decided against it, for he didn't know the woman's name.
Almost as if detecting his thoughts, the woman muttered quietly, "Willow."
"What?" Kai asked distractedly, caught off guard.
"Willow." She said, "That is my name."
Kai didn't answer. He couldn't think of anything to say anyway. This was hardly a time for small talks. Silence settled between them, hung there with the feel of death. Finally Willow broke the silence.
"Strange. Extraordinary. Almost inhumane." She murmured softly, her eyes focused on the heart rate monitor, "That you can define something so complex as life with a line."
Kai let his own gaze wander to the small screen, and saw with a stabbing pain that the line is making only small leaps with irregular distances between them. Willow stared at it before straightening her back and pulled her look away. She turned slowly.
"I must leave now. One with an employment like mine does not leave the superiors waiting." She said, "I must report to them."
Kai turned his mahogany eyes towards her and asked steadily, "And what will you tell them?"
"I will tell them that the task is done, at a considerable price." Willow answered firmly, with an almost untraceable streak of pain in her eyes, "And that we will need to erase all information on file #702."
"He is not dead yet!" Kai shouted, suddenly angry.
"I am as grieved as you, Kai Hiwatari." She said slowly, "But we must register the reality. He is not going to live, and you know it."
This struck Kai like lightning. Thunder rolled in his ears, threatening to render him unconscious. Willow said no more and left noiselessly. After what seemed like the eternity, Kai finally awoke with a start. He dropped to his knees, like one that is too tired to fight any longer.
"God, please listen to me." He muttered, "I need a miracle. Please give me a miracle."
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AN: Hope you had fun reading. And also hope everything is clear to you now! As for Ray, I am so sorry, you have some more time to wait... Muahahahahaha! I am evil! Joking really. Anyway. Don't forget to REVIEW! You feed back is always loved and appreciated!
`~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shea sat in a chair beside Harry's bed, her head bowed, her hands folded in her lap, her slender form wrapped in a thin white blouse and a long black skirt that made her look like mournful. Her eyes were on Harry, but they were unseeing, as if she was looking into some distant past the others could gaze.
"It is good that you are all here." She murmured, "Then I will only have to explain this once."
She was silent for a long while, finally she narrated in an emotionless voice, "We did not took this task unto ourselves. We received orders for this, from MSS, the Chinese secret service, and the M16, the British one. We couldn't refuse them. Ray works for MSS, and we own M16 a favour. We couldn't refuse their cause either. So we took their words and devised a plan to go about it."
She was again silent, as if pondering how to phrase her words. Then she continued, "We didn't necessarily lie to you, Harry, but we never told you the truth. We kept our real plan to ourselves. You can say we had a hidden agenda. You can say it was a treacherous one too. What we told you, we told Voltaire and Voldemort as well, albeit indirectly. They knew we hacked into their system; we left hints for them to see. We knew they set up microphone in our hotel room, and we let them hear what we wanted them to know. We wanted them and you to think that our plan is as simple as getting down there and sabotage a few computers."
"That night, when we entered the secret room with the elevator, only you and I are there. I knew you heard Kai speaking, but that was not real. It was merely an illusion I conjured up. When you stepped in the elevator, when you see everyone there, it was also a mere illusion. Even I was not in there. I stayed behind outside the elevator. It was so dark, so you didn't see any of it but what I wanted you to see. Voldemort and Voltaire saw the same thing you did, and they were fooled easily enough."
"You fooled Voldemort with an illusion?" Hermione couldn't help asking, "He is a master of ligilimency. He couldn't be easily fooled with a mind trick."
Harry saw a slightly bitter smile on the girl's face as she replied, "Well, then it would seem I am better than him at that. But we considered that, and it is one of the reasons why Harry was down there. Voldemort's entire mind was bent on him, and he was real enough. Voldemort would be too distracted to notice that the others were not real."
"One of the reasons, is that right?" Dumbledore asked calmly, though his voice was cold, "Then what are the other reasons you decide to let Harry go down there instead of creating another illusion?"
"Another reason is to serve as a link." Shea replied smoothly, "The bracelet I gave you, Harry," Here her glance swept to Harry's wrist and lingered on the silver band that was still there for a second before she continued, "It allows me to sense the scene around it with a diameter of ten meters. That's how I can see everything, and project the right illusion at the right time."
"Why couldn't you go down there yourself?" Ron asked accusingly, "You just want someone else taking the risk!"
Another bitter smile was on the girl's face, and she replied quietly, "That was part of the reason, I guess. I suggested of going down there myself, but my teammates would not agree. They said it would be more effective if it was Harry."
She drew a breath and continued, "While you were down there, we destroyed their entire building above. We also shut down the computer system. However, we only wanted to seal them in there. We never anticipated the flood. It came just as a surprise to us. The rest... You know of the rest." She stopped; there was a strain in her voice that threatened to break it.
Harry asked hesitantly, "Voldemort was about to kill me, then it seemed I just suddenly vanished from his sight... Was that you?"
Shea nodded mutely.
"And when Ray came down to look for me." Harry asked again, "None of you knew of it, right?"
There was more distress in her voice as she replied, "No, we didn't know he would do something like that, not until too late. Kai was very upset."
Harry felt anger surging in him. He did not like the sound of it at all. "Then why didn't he just leave me there?" He asked heatedly, "Why didn't he just let me die with those two down there like all of you?"
"It's Ray. He is always prepared for sacrifices." Shea said that lightly, and did not show her pain. Yet her light tone angered Harry even more.
Harry breathed, and said as calmly as he could, "Answer me one more question. Why didn't the MSS and the M16 do this themselves? Why did they give the task to you people?"
Shea answered smoothly, "Because Voltaire and Voldemort have almost impregnable defences around their little fortress. If they tried to use blunt force, it may end in their victory, but with many deaths. We have the means to achieve the same at a much lower price."
It is at this exact point Harry exploded. "So you decided to use me as a bait, without my knowledge, to achieve this? You were ready to sacrifice my life simply because that is what you consider 'a much lower price'? I thought you were my friends! I thought you took me as a teammate! No, that's not it, is it? I was only that little worm that you place on the hook to fish out your real price!"
"Harry, I am..."She said, still smoothly and calmly.
"Apology is not going to work now." Harry shouted, "Do not apologize, because I will never forgive you. Not after all these."
Shea leaped up so abruptly as she was stung. Her eyes were burning with gold fire as she stared down at Harry. She held herself in such a way that displayed her anger, pity and indifferent all at once.
"I did not come here to apologize." She said in a low yet clear voice, "I never intended to apologize. I hold no such feelings. Maybe I had doubted at the beginning, I had doubted the justice of my actions, but no longer. I wouldn't have it any other way. Compared to the alternatives, you life would be a low price to pay. For all the others that could have been sacrificed in your place, they are all infinitely more valuable than you, Harry Potter."
All the others in the room stared at her, wide-eyed and angry, shocked beyond belief at such a statement.
"Now, girl." Mrs. Weasley hissed, "If you have nothing other than cruel words, I suggest you leave this second."
"I will finish what I have to say first!" The girl said coldly, her golden eyes glinting, "Listen to me carefully, Harry Potter. What have you suffered through this whole task? Only a few hours of fright, and maybe some injured pride. Regardless of what we intended, this is the end result. You escaped unscathed. And do you know what we suffered? Sleepless nights, night after night, of fright, of doubt and fear, and guilt. And now Ray...he may never to wake up again. Any second now, he can just leave this world. More fright, more doubt, more waiting..."
For the first time she sounded despaired. Tears rolled in her golden eyes, threatening to roll down her cheeks. All the calm and cool had left her; she covered her face with her hand and sobbed quietly.
"Ray...he is not..." Harry asked uncertainly. This was the first time the thought entered his mind. It left a sickening feeling in his stomach. There is no way Ray could have lived, not when the killing curse basically exploded on him.
"No, he is not dead yet." Shea snapped, "But he is not far from it. And do you know why? On the first night when we finished the plan, I would not agree, because I thought it was not right. And to reassure me, Ray said 'I will swear to you then that I will try everything I can to keep him safe, and if he shall die because of our actions, I will pay for it with my own life.' I forced this unto him. It is my fault entirely! And I couldn't even see it fast enough..."
She turned and stormed out of the room, almost fleeing. They could hear her light footsteps hurried down the hall and vanished. Harry slumped back on his back with a sigh, looking dejected.
"I guess there is no point to go visit him now." He said bitterly.
"Harry, dear." Mrs. Weasley, "Don't let her get to you. You have got too much on your mind. Just forget it all.
Harry sighed and said smoothly, "I guess there is sense in her words."
"No, Harry." Dumbledore spoke in a firm voice, "One does not simply label people with a price. Do not let your mind dwell on that. What happened has happened, it is past now. Do not brood on that matter. We will disturb you no longer. Have some rest, Harry."
With that he stood up, and left the room, the others followed him closely. Just before he shut the door, he turned and looked at Harry. The boy caught something in the old man's eyes. Was it relief? Compassion? Or perhaps pity or joy? Harry couldn't say. But there was very little point in knowing.
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Kai pushed the door open ever so quietly and discreetly. He stepped into the room without noise. It was a blank room with nothing but a bed in it, and a window on the opposite wall. Ray was lying on the bed, with various instruments connected to him. His face was deathly pale, without the least sign of life. The tall Asian woman with green eyes was standing beside him, looking down with an expressionless face. Kai stood silent for a while, wondering if he should say something in greeting to the woman. But at last he decided against it, for he didn't know the woman's name.
Almost as if detecting his thoughts, the woman muttered quietly, "Willow."
"What?" Kai asked distractedly, caught off guard.
"Willow." She said, "That is my name."
Kai didn't answer. He couldn't think of anything to say anyway. This was hardly a time for small talks. Silence settled between them, hung there with the feel of death. Finally Willow broke the silence.
"Strange. Extraordinary. Almost inhumane." She murmured softly, her eyes focused on the heart rate monitor, "That you can define something so complex as life with a line."
Kai let his own gaze wander to the small screen, and saw with a stabbing pain that the line is making only small leaps with irregular distances between them. Willow stared at it before straightening her back and pulled her look away. She turned slowly.
"I must leave now. One with an employment like mine does not leave the superiors waiting." She said, "I must report to them."
Kai turned his mahogany eyes towards her and asked steadily, "And what will you tell them?"
"I will tell them that the task is done, at a considerable price." Willow answered firmly, with an almost untraceable streak of pain in her eyes, "And that we will need to erase all information on file #702."
"He is not dead yet!" Kai shouted, suddenly angry.
"I am as grieved as you, Kai Hiwatari." She said slowly, "But we must register the reality. He is not going to live, and you know it."
This struck Kai like lightning. Thunder rolled in his ears, threatening to render him unconscious. Willow said no more and left noiselessly. After what seemed like the eternity, Kai finally awoke with a start. He dropped to his knees, like one that is too tired to fight any longer.
"God, please listen to me." He muttered, "I need a miracle. Please give me a miracle."
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AN: Hope you had fun reading. And also hope everything is clear to you now! As for Ray, I am so sorry, you have some more time to wait... Muahahahahaha! I am evil! Joking really. Anyway. Don't forget to REVIEW! You feed back is always loved and appreciated!
