A/N: Last Saturday, folks, my Uncle Bob passed away. So I hope you will understand why I didn't post last week.

We were told it was very peaceful and something of a blessing, if death can ever be called that. I have my doubts. But we were told they were increasing his morphine every day, so he was in a great deal of pain.

But that's all I really have to say.

Chapter Thirty-Three: Control- Part Two

"Black!"

Orion practically cringed coming down the hall. He hadn't even gotten to his desk yet after returning to the Department after the battle and already Bale was screaming his name down the corridor.

Well, that hadn't taken half as long as he thought it would.

Orion sighed, and with backward glance at the worried expression of his partner, trudged off to his superior's office.

Seated behind his desk, Orin Bale looked as angry as Orion had ever seen the man.

"Have you completely lost your mind!?" The man shouted at him before Orion was even in his seat.

"I don't think so." Orion answered calmly, slowly lowering himself into the chair.

"Then explain it to me, Black." Bale pressed on. "Explain to me how five of my top agents all reported not an hour ago that they saw you help a Deatheater, currently in your custody, escape. Explain that to me! Please!"

Orion sat for a moment in silence. The best thing he could do was let Bale calm down a little first. He had known of the possibility of this confrontation. Therefore, thankfully, he had had time to prepare for it. Hopefully he had prepared well enough that Bale would believe him.

"The Deatheater was Katlin Griss." Orion replied in a formal tone.

Bale stood leaning over his desk, staring down at the man before him. He blinked at him a few times, then closed his eyes as he shook his head.

"This just keeps getting better." He stated. "You had Voldemort's top Elite agent in your hands, and not only did you let her go, you helped her escape."

"Bale, I can explain." Orion offered in a calm, reasonable tone.

"Merlin's Beard, I hope so!" Bale stated firmly, settling back in his chair. "Because if you don't tell me the best story I've heard all year in the next five seconds, so help me, I'll drag you all the way to Azkaban myself."

"This year," Orion started, "how many Deatheater attacks did we stop? A dozen? More?"

"What's the point?" Bale asked, his fingers steepled in front of him as he fixed a hard stare on his agent.

"The point is the reason we were able to stop all of those attacks."

"Which has 'what' to do with any of this?"

"The reason we stopped those attacks was because Griss was the one who told me about them." Orion looked up at the man looming over him. "She's been my informant, Orin."

Bale froze where he was.

"She's what?" He asked quietly after a few moments.

"Katlin Griss has been passing information to me for the past year."

Katlin had always told Orion early on in their relationship that their appearing to trade information for the affair would benefit them one day. Katlin had been forced to use her cover early on to deflect Johnathan's attacks on her. Now it was his turn to make use of the carefully arranged lie and hope it held up.

"Why didn't you report any of this activity?" Bale asked.

Orion paused for a moment. "Because one of the things Griss told me was there was a spy in the Department."

Bale was on his feet again. "Who!?"

"I never found out." Orion replied without so much as flinching at his superior's outburst. "But I couldn't bloody well risk them finding out that she was the person passing on the Deatheaters information to us. They would have killed her and we would have lost the best informant we've ever had."

"And she was doing this because.....?"

"That's a bit of a longer story." Orion replied.

"I have all day to listen to it. I'm sure it'll prove fascinating."

"Orin, the point is she helped us. And I think for our part we should protect her a bit better. That's why I did what I did. I saw her in the battle and I got her out of there. Griss doesn't usually fight in common skirmishes. She's a spy. An Assassin. She doesn't fight well in large battles. Now, she's done a lot for us at a great risk to herself. And I don't think we can afford to lose her."

Bale sat back in his chair. "Before I decide what effort the Department of Mysteries is going to undertake to protect an Elite Deatheater, I want to know why Katlin Griss turned informant for us."

Orion sighed quietly, but didn't bother to keep a small, smug grin off his face for Bale's benefit. "Because I'm sleeping with her."

Bale sat for a full minute in silence before speaking again. "Pardon?" He asked in a tone that suggested Orion had just made some rather mundane comment that he didn't quite catch.

"I'm sleeping with her, Orin. Sex for secrets."

Bale shook his head. "I'm sorry. You're telling me......trying to tell me that Katlin Griss, my personal winner in the category for Deatheater I'd most like to spend an evening with, is passing Voldemort's secrets to us so she can sleep with you, because she can't get it anywhere else?"

"Not the way she wants it."

"Pardon?"

"The woman has some rather.......usual tastes, Orin. I'm willing to carter to them."

"How very duty-bound of you."

"I get the job done. She's satisfied. We get information."

Bale sat with his fingers resting against the bridge of his nose for several minutes.

"I want you to report for a de-briefing." Bale finally said. "If those boys clear you we'll discuss seeing what protection we can give your little...'informant'."

Orion got to his feet in as causal a manner as he could manage and left the room. In the hall he thought he was nearly going to collapse. Fooling Bale hadn't been easy. And he knew he hadn't succeeded completely. If he had, he wouldn't be being sent to the de-briefers. No. Bale had smelled something he didn't like. Others in the Department claimed the man could tell you what was under the dust-jacket of a book. He was just that good at reading people. Thankfully, the boys in de-briefing weren't quite as good. But fooling them as well would be no easy task. And if he got by them, Bale would consider whatever he had sensed not worth the trouble to go digging for.

Orion was back in Bale's office three hours later. He knew he had barely skirted through the de-briefing. But every slip he had managed to cover on the second try, explaining it off as being tired and having just come from a battle. A lie the de-briefers seemed satisfied with. That, and his record, had gotten him through. Now he once again faced his superior, who was sitting behind his desk reading over the report from the de-briefing.

"Well," Bale said finally as he laid the parchment down on his desk and leaned back in his chair, "it would seem we now need to look into how to protect your informant, Black."

Orion left his superior's office with one thought on his mind. Charly had been right. He had to get this out of his system. He was starting to make mistakes. Dangerous mistakes. It was his hatred. His hatred for the Deatheaters. For Voldemort. For anyone who had a part in taking Katlin away from him.

He had to get this out of his system.

Returning home, Orion sat for several hours on the sofa before a small, glowing fire. There had to be a way to deal with this.

Suddenly a small smile crept over his face.

Getting up Orion headed for the foyer. Grabbing a dark cloak out of the closet there he headed for the door.

"Come on, Bo. We're going for a walk."

Like a large, black bird of prey, the rush of dark material descended on the man from above. The material gently wrapped itself about him like the black cloak he already wore, and just as quickly dissolved about him.

Tonight would be a night the Deatheaters would remember for a long time to come.

He would see to it.

Q&A

Silverfox: Boy has a short memory. What can I say?

All right. All right. I'll accept that you didn't actually ask to see Snape. The record stands.

Bo is just an interesting character. There's no other way to put it. An almost unimaginably powerful force.....trapped in the mind of a child. The potential there is....interesting. But he is still immensely fun to work with.

My father dislikes acronyms to the point a wise person does not use them in front of him. This makes it a bit more difficult for me as that I spend 8 hours a day, five days a week in the presence of people who practically can't talk in anything BUT acronyms. (Computer people are funny that way.)

Dumbledore helping Katlin seemed to throw most people for some reason. I looked at this way; regardless of Voldemort's power or lack thereof, Dumbledore was simply looking at it as helping a person who came to him. Also, who is to say that helping Katlin without any request for pay back won't benefit him in the future. Think about that one, folks. Dumbledore is no fool.

Sailor Sol: Again, keep in mind the man got himself into his own problem. he couldn't simply accept what part of herself Katlin was willing to give him. Which was substantial as it was.

Because you're talking to a person with a Master's in Psychology, lets just not do the personalities thing, OK?

Yeah.....he had a 'wonderful personality'. We all know what THAT means!

20F? (Looks out window where it is sunny and 61F.) Ha!

Having her meet and fall in love with Orion all over again would just be too simple, Dear. IF I went that way, you must know there would have to be a twist. But we'll have to wait and see.

shakducky: Yup. Our boy has a lot of balls in the air right now.

Yes, indeed, should they meet up, I would think that 'why did you let me go' would be high on Katlin's list of questions. And as you saw in this chapter, he covered quite well.

How dangerous could Bo be in the wrong hands if he has the mind of a child? Children can be easily manipulated, Dear. And the next chapter will show just how dangerous he can be, even if the hands he is in are those of a friend.

nessie: How can there actually be six people who choose that particular name?

Just making my point, Dear. The woman was distraught.

Stopping from writing your essay to review my story? I'm honored. I hope you got a good.........I mean super grade.

All reviews are as of 02082004.