Chapter Seven: You've Got Mail

Katlin spent most of her day as she did most days, at the lair. What she had told Orion was very much the way her life was. Her idea of a regular day job was her work as one of Voldemort's Elite. And that took most of her time. Though not where she would like to be, she still carried a position of relative power within the lair. A position that either earned her people's respect, or their fear.

But the day turned out to be one of those that left her wanting for nothing more than to return home for the night. She had been given quarters at the lair. Ones that from time to time she used. But nothing suited her quite like the peace and quiet of her own, private residence.

As was her habit, the first thing she did upon arriving home was to turn on her computer to check what had happened during the day and to check on any new information from her contacts in the muggle world. Usually the information was trivial to her. But she dutifully wrote it all down and would relay it the next day to Voldemort. Happenings in the muggle world seemed important to him.

Katlin sat down heavily in the chair before the small, brightly glowing screen. It had been a long day. Since there had been rumors coming out of the north of a new, powerful wizard who was gaining power, the lair seemed a constant center of activity. But to date Voldemort had held back sending any of his own people to investigate the rumors. Relying for the time on information brought to him by others. Katlin had offered several times to go herself to see what she could find out about the situation. But Voldemort had outright refused any request on those lines. Telling her he didn't feel the circumstances warranted his concern yet. But she felt she heard something very different in his voice. Not a lack of concern, but a growing one. And the situation wasn't as harmless to him as it seemed to others. He was, in fact, keeping his people out of the area as much as possible, calling back several factions in the north and consolidating his own power closer to home.

All in all, Katlin didn't like what was going on, and it worried her. She could feel Voldemort's unrest growing day by day, and it was starting to wear on her. Not so much that he himself was growing concerned over the news they were receiving, but that he was trying to hide the fact from her. He was treating her like a child who needed to be kept shielded from the realities of life. And she didn't much care for it.

Katlin looked over the usual list of e-mails with a bored expression. The majority of them would say many of the same things they had said the day before. Some person trying to take over some other person's company, promises made, alliances formed, bargains talked over, favors exchanged. And in the end, nothing was ever really done. Some of these take-overs she followed for Voldemort went on for months before anything really interesting took place. All in all, it was the most boring part of her day.

But as she scanned the list of e-mails for the day, something caught her eye. She quickly scrolled down to it.

A new listing had appeared among her usual ones. It simply listed the message content as 'O'.

Katlin clicked on the message.

Past her initial surprise, she found she had to read the message twice before it made sense to her. It consisted of a very short text, which listed a date, a time, and a location. The closing of the message was the same as the listing had been. 'O'.

It was the location that told her who the message had come from. 'The foyer' was all it said. The date and time were for six o'clock that night.

Katlin glanced at the time on the computer screen. Five thirty.

Well, he could wait. And it would likely be a good thing, too. Since the longer he waited, the longer he would live.

Orion stood for a half hour in his front foyer waiting for Katlin.

'Women!' He told himself sternly. It was almost a genetic thing it seemed with some of them to be late.

But a bloody half hour!

He was beginning to wonder if she had gotten the message at all when a small popping sound to his right caught his attention.

Before he could even express his annoyance at the delay, Orion found himself slapped hard across the face.

"You lied to me!" Katlin nearly yelled at him.

Orion gingerly rubbed a hand over his cheek. "Good evening to you too, Love." He muttered.

"How dare you!" Katlin stated in a low, dangerous tone. "I trusted you. I believed you. And you lied to me!"

Orion took several steppes back. He may not have known her long, but he knew her well enough to know when it was best to put distance between them. Even if it was only a few precious feet. "Katlin, give me a chance to explain, please."

"Seconds!" She stated in a short, sharp tone. "You have seconds! Not minutes! Seconds!"

Orion stared back at the furious woman standing before him, trying desperately to look apologetic. "All right, yes, I lied to you. But it was for a good cause, Katlin." He began quickly.

"There is no good cause for lying to me!" She snapped back. "What was your purpose the other night? To get into my computer? See what you could learn? What secrets I kept there? What plans?"

"Katlin...."

"So tell me." She cut him off quickly. "Was it worth it? Having to spend the night in that horrid little apartment so you could snoop through my files? Ah, but there was compensation, wasn't there? You got me in the bargain, so it wasn't all bad. Was that it? Sleep with the Deatheater? Distract her? Get her off guard?"

"Katlin, will you listen to me, please?" Orion ask in a low, unthreatening tone.

"I trusted you!" She shot back at him. "I trusted you because I wanted so badly to believe you. To believe you of all people wouldn't do something like this to me."

"Like this?"

Katlin stepped back from him, shaking her head as tears she was fighting back glistened still in her eyes.

Orion paused in confusion. He had expected her to be upset. But certain not as much as she was. But as he thought over what she had said he realized what she was getting at. That most of her relationships with people stemmed from exchanges. Each using the other to gain something. That the closest thing to an honest relationship was likely the one she had with him.

And now she felt he had betrayed her.

And because she had let her guard down, it simply hurt that much more.

"Katlin, it was necessary." He tried to tell her.

"Necessary to lie to me?" She ask, though her voice had fallen to a dismal whisper that was nonetheless still echoing the hurt quite clearly.

"Katlin," he said softly, turning her face gently back to his, "I am sorry. Sometimes I do things that......I don't know. I could have gone about them better. This was one of those times. I was...making a joke."

"A joke." She stated disbelievingly.

"In the Department, part of my job is working with computers. I'm probably more efficient on one than even you are. But I thought....I would surprise you. So when I saw your computer, I distracted you into not turning it off. And when you went to sleep I snuck in the room and got your e-mail address. I swear, I did nothing else. I didn't go into any files. I can even show you how to check to prove I'm telling the truth. All I wanted was your e-mail address."

"Why?" She ask, her voice a little more steady now.

Orion gave her a small smile as he took her hands in his. "You said Voldemort doesn't use computers himself. That he doesn't like them. That you're the one who uses them for him. Now, if we're going to keep...'doing this', as you put it, we need a sure, safe way to communicate, no?"

Katlin looked up at him, a small light of understanding in her eyes.

"The computer is a perfect way. I'm sorry I upset you." He repeated. "I would have explained in my note, but I wasn't sure who else might have access to your computer. So I left the message as cryptic as I could and was going to explain everything to you when you arrived tonight. I didn't mean for it to upset you, Love. I'm sorry."

Katlin paused for a moment, staring at the floor between them. "No one else uses my computer." She said finally in a very small voice. "No one else has access to it. And it is completely secure."

Orion turned her face back to him. "Then we have a perfect means by which to communicate." He replied with a smile. "Owls can be captured. Fires can be tapped. But computers are as foreign to most of our kind as magic is to muggles. It will be perfect."

Katlin's expression softened considerably even as she turned back to the floor. "I'm sorry." She said quietly. "I thought....." But she couldn't find the words to explain.

But Orion had heard them enough that evening to understand. "Love, I would never do that to you." He said gently. "What we have may just be fun and games, but one thing it will never be is something I would use against you. I would never use it to hurt you." A small, leering grin formed on his lips. "Unless you want me to."

Katlin returned his smile. "Maybe later."

"So," he asked, leaning down a bit until he was eye level with her, "am I forgiven.....again?"

Katlin's smile softened a bit. "We'll see." She answered. "But beware. You're rapidly wearing out that escape for your escapades, Mr. Black."

"And when you don't forgive me?"

Katlin gave him a smile this time that left no hint of softness in it. "Then, Mr. Black, you'll find out what happens when I really get angry."