A/N: Yes, yes, I know it's short. But you were warned.
And I know it ends a bit abruptly. Call it Author's prerogative. I sort of like the ending.
And since the chapter is short, I'll keep things consistent and make the Author's Notes short as well.
As always....,
Enjoy.
Disclaimer: Oh, yeah! Prove it! Pfffffft!!!!!
Chapter Fifteen: Wolf In The Fold
True to his word, Charly didn't say a word about the whole incident in the pub to anyone, including Bale. But it rapidly became his favorite topic of conversation, lighting into Orion about it whenever the chance presented itself. And if the chance didn't present itself often enough, Charly was more than willing to make time for it. Soon it became apparent to most of the other Aurors in the Department that there was trouble between Orion and his partner as that while he was always careful never to use names, Charly was les selective about the tone of his voice.
But if Charly thought any of his tirades at his partner were having any effect, he would have been sorely disappointed. All Charly's constant attacks against Katlin accomplished was to bring Orion to her defense that much stronger. Another point that was causing considerable tension between the two. Charly was always quick to point out that, as soon as Orion began defending her, that in his opinion, Orion had made his choice between the two of them.
For his part, Orion tried as often as he could to defuse Charly whenever he got started. He tried to point out that there wasn't any 'choice' to be made. Charly was his friend, his co-worker, and his partner. Katlin was what she was in his life and the two were completely separate matters.
But Charly steadfastly refused to see the Orion's point. And so the tension continued to grow between the two unchecked.
And so it was, several days after the meeting at the pub, that Orion apparated into his foyer with a loud sigh. The day had ended with another row with Charly and he wasn't in the mood for much of anything else. But as soon as he settled in, the warning alarms around the house went off.
But for Orion, the alarms going off were anything but something to be frowned on. He responded to the warning alarms of someone attempting to apparate into the house with his usual happy anticipation. Only one person had the ability to get close enough to set off the alarms.
As soon as the person apparated into the front foyer, Orion wrapped her tightly in his arms and captured her mouth in a heated, but loving, kiss.
"Hello, Love." He stated with a smile. "How was your day?"
But the smile on his face quickly died away as Katlin pulled back, an anxious expression on her face.
"We need to talk." She stated simply, brushing past him towards the front room.
Orion sighed and followed dutifully after her.
"Problems, Love?" He asked as she turned to face him.
"Orion, you have a spy."
"I have lots of spies, Sweetheart. You'll have to be a bit more specific which one."
"How about the one that's passing information to the Deatheaters."
Orion quickly raised his hand into the air. "Oh, that would be me. No need to worry. I know about that one."
Katlin gave him an irritated look. "Really? Then let me asked you, are you also passing information directly to Voldemort?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I went to Voldemort with the information you gave me the other night. About the raid the Deatheaters planned that the Unspeakables knew about. I had waited a few days to say anything so it didn't look so suspicious who the information had come from."
Orion knew well what information Katlin was alluding to. He had given it to her to help pacify Voldemort and continue to solidify their cover. The attack was one he himself had set up, and reveling it to Katlin caused no more problems than that it insured there would be no meeting between the two groups that night. In Orion's opinion, it was one night everyone would go home not necessarily happy, but alive.
"So you told Voldemort? So what?"
"Orion, I didn't tell him anything. He already knew."
Orion fell silent.
"He knew about it, Orion." Katlin repeated. "I was given word that same morning that I was planning on telling him to call off the operation."
Orion fell heavily into a chair by the fireplace. "So the source was trusted."
Katlin walked over to him and slipped down on the chair's arm as she wrapped a long, slim arm about his neck. "Completely."
Orion sighed loudly as he stared at the fireplace.
"This isn't good." Katlin stated.
"That raid was top secret. Katlin. Only a very select group of people even knew about it. All of them Unspeakables. And only people I told" Orion paused as he shifted his eyes up to her. "Did Voldemort tell you who the information came from?"
Katlin paused, then shook her head.
"He's guarding this source." Orion reasoned out quickly.
"Very closely. Even Johnathan claims not to know who the informant is."
Orion sat deep in thought for a few moments, then shook his head. "There are several possibilities. And not one of them I like."
"Which would be?"
"Katlin, only Unspeakables knew about that operation. And only a select group of them. All people....people I would trust with my life."
"I would find some new people."
But Orion appeared not to have heard her as he sat staring intently at the fireplace. "Something is very wrong." He stated almost absentmindedly. "First the informant in Austria......."
"Orion, will you let that go!" Katlin stated in exasperation. "Have you simply NEVER had a mission go wrong? If I were you I would worry a lot more about a spy in my ranks than a dead informant."
Orion turned his eyes to her. "And yet I can't help but think the two are connected."
"Connected? Orion, the two are miles apart."
"No, they're not." Orion stated solemnly, turning his attention back to the fire place.
"How so?"
"Only Unspeakables knew about both."
Katlin took in the news silently. It was true enough that the Deatheaters hadn't known about his meeting with the informant in Austria. If they had she wouldn't have been sent there just as a currier but as an assassin. And now the Deatheaters suddenly seemed aware of a secret ambush planned on them during an operation.......Katlin's mind suddenly turned to something else. Something she had completely missed before.
"Orion," she asked slowly, turning to him, "how did the Unspeakables learn of the raid?"
Orion seemed to shake himself out of his own thoughts. "Hmmm?"
"How did the Unspeakables learn about the raid we were planning?"
"Katlin, that's 'business'."
"Listen to me, Orion." She stated, her voice now as hard as her stare. "Your people learned about a top secret raid planned by the Deatheaters. Voldemort learned about a secret ambush planned by the Unspeakables. Don't you find that a little coincidental?"
Orion narrowed his eyes slightly as he worked the information over in his mind. "But that doesn't make sense." He replied. "If we both have spies, why keep telling each other our secrets? Is someone that interested in keeping the playing field level?"
"It seems more to me that someone is trying their level best to play us against each other."
"But 'why'? What's being gained here?"
Katlin thought for a moment. "A third party." She said softly.
Orion looked up at her. "A what?"
"A third party." She said. "If you have a game where there are three teams, what's the best way to win?"
Orion stared up at her for a moment. "Get two of them to fight."
"And what's the best way to make sure they do the most damage to each other?"
Orion nodded slightly as he followed her train of thought. "Keep the playing field level."
Katlin got up from her perch. "I have to go talk to Voldemort."
Q&A
ENEMIES
nessie: I at least honor peoples requests. If you don't wish to be addressed by a number, I won't.
Why smack poor Charly? He was, after all the one being lied to. All in all, I thought he handle things fairly well. I mean, no one died.
Three days without updates? Man, I would love that. My favorites usually don't update for weeks at a time!
sweets: So I did! Where was my mind?
Actually, I think it was your e-mail that messed me up and got you missed. Because I answered the e-mail, I thought about it as a review and got confused. Nothing new for PAR. She's old, after all.
Anyway, congratulations on getting the job. However, whereas the perks may be nice, I don't think I could deal with the 'kids' part too well. PAR does not like little children. They are annoying.
Well, you got the package, so I know that arrived safely. Glad you liked it. There was actually some serious bidding for those banners. Team members wanted them something fierce. But heck, I shelled out $421.00 for one of the banners hanging in the panel rooms, so pffffft. What's a few dollars more, I say.
I was so sure I answered this review.
Anyway, back to the answers I never gave apparently.
Katlin wasn't hiding Orion at the meeting. By the time she confronted Johnathan, Orion was long gone. That was all part of her doing. She explained to him that she needed to have her wits about her when she confronted the others, and she wouldn't be able to do that if she was worrying about where he was and if anyone detected him. So she made him leave.
As for playing with fire, the girl has an out and out conflagration going at this point. (Ummmm, 'really large fire', for those of you who don't want to dig out your dictionaries.)
As for who I am or am not killing off, you'll just have to wait and see.
Sailor Sol: Actually, quite a few people let me know that that scene did not play out as they expected. Most of my friends felt the scene should have been a lot more confrontations. A lot more 'violent'. That there should have been more yelling and screaming and spell firing. However, I would like to point out they were in a public place, trying to eavesdrop on another meeting. getting upset and screaming and yelling wasn't going to get them anything but a lot of unwanted attention.
Also, poor Charly was in a bit of a state of shock. He knew Orion was seeing someone, but never imagined in his widest dreams his partner would be snogging in a closet with Voldemort's top agent. He was really walking on eggshells the entire time, trying to sort things out as well as protect himself and his partner as he saw needing to be done.
True. Orion has very little to be pissed at Charly about right now. As he sees things, he is the only one betraying their relationship. He has no idea that Charly is working with Treaks at this point.
Yeah. Movies beat classes any day.
Semmel: PC's are sooooo temperamental.
You're very welcome. So glad you like the star.
So sorry, Dear. Wherever did I get the idea you were just 'good'?
'Saucy'? I like that. How bad can it be to be called 'saucy'?
*Sits reading review, shaking head* Man, you are the best at finding this stuff! But look at it this way, Orion was categorically busted at that point, and he saw it as a perfect opportunity to come clean to his partner. Orion had hated from day one of seeing Katlin that he was lying to Charly about it. Opportunity knocked. He answered. And for a change in all of this, it was with the truth.
But now, you don't want to go spreading the truth around too much. Basically, well constructed lies work for everyone else, and Orion and Katlin have their covers down pretty well. But Orion just wanted to come clean to Charly.
Bring into trouble. Get into trouble. Means pretty much the same thing to me. But then, I like things said differently for a change. Breaks up the monotony.
Abysmal English? Dear, at least you can speak a second language. PAR knows some Spanish, Dutch, German, French, and a bit of Chinese. But I am hardly fluent in any of them. Stand up and thumb your nose at arrogant Americans, who think there's only one language on the earth.
Then go get yourself a high paying job as an interpreter. We pay really good since we're to arrogant to learn any other languages.
Silverfox: Thankfully, someone saw this chapter for what it was. It was meant to be very tongue-in-cheek. I knew that everyone was looking for a real blow out scene when Charly finally met Katlin. But as I always say, these stories are written ahead of time. So I knew it wasn't going to be what people were expecting. So glad you liked it just the same.
You will absolutely love this boggart by the end of the story. Bo is without question currently the cutest secondary character I have ever created. He has so much personality.
FEVER
Mella deRanged: Thank you.
THE BONDS THAT TIE
Acacia Jules: Oh, yes. PAR is well acquainted with Tolkien's well thought out and structured languages. But then, the man was extremely intelligent.
Thank you for a lovely review, Dear. I don't mind people at all reading my stories and not reviewing them. I have Enhanced Statistics, so I know somewhere out there people are reading these things. But it's very nice to hear from someone who tells me they have been a reader for some time and just wanted to let me know. I love those reviews as much as the others.
By the way, folks. I browse Muggle.Net from time to time (Loved the poll where most prople hated Gary Oldman as Sirius Black) and some of the comments there got me thinking one day. In GoF, Sirius told Harry, if you want to know what a man is about, look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.
Now look at how Sirius treated his house elf. Sure, he was a slimy, treacherous little traitor. But might he have been anything else if Sirius didn't kick him all over the house? Really, Sirius, people who live in glass houses......!
All reviews are as of 08312003.
Man! September! Where did the summer go?