Rabastan Lestrange, The Life And Times Of A Dark Wizard,
Chapter 19, A Brand New Life
The news of the Dark Lord's death was a shock. Though it was now expected to a degree, it was a shock. He had been larger than life for so long. "Are you certain," Rabastan found himself asking rather dumbly.
The gray coated man who'd burst in with the news nodded. "Yep. Sure as shit." The gray coated man turned out to be another Black Ops agent. According to their new boss, there were only a few of them even with the Lestranges now on board, which was no surprise. It was somehow easier to dwell on their sudden new existence as Black Ops operatives than the Dark Lord's death. For some reason, the Dark Lord's Death was harder to take in and process. A glance at Rod and Bella's shocked faces said more clearly than words that they felt the same. "Before I put you to work, I shall need to train you in disguises." The old man was speaking to them again and the other Black Ops agent was leaving, his news delivered. He hadn't seemed surprised to see the Lestranges, so either he had no idea who they were, which was unlikely as their faces had been splattered over the news papers more than once, or he was simply trained not to show shit in way of emotions or recognition. That was likely it, Rabastan decided. As Black Ops agents now, the three of them would need to learn to apply the same blank faces to most things they encountered in their new line of work.
"Do we begin these assignments you spoke of earlier right away, or are we allowed to rest at home for a few days and...adjust to things first," Bellatrix asked. This was the first time she'd spoken since they'd received the news of The Dark Lord's death, and her tone was nearly blank.
Their elderly yet bad ass boss's eyes narrowed and he gave a harsh chuckle. "I never thought I'd hear a Lestrange whining like a baby for a few days to recoup," he scoffed. "I'd love to give you a few days to lick your wounds, but we can't have Voldemort's foreign followers sinking too far into the woodwork. You get to work right away, clean up house for me, then you can have a few weeks off. For now it's off to Sweden then Turkey for you three." Rather than protesting, Bella simply nodded. Their boss gave Rod and Rabastan a glance, clearly waiting to see if either man would protest and when neither did, he continued. "Very good then. When you return from assignment I will find you when your next is to begin. Until then you may rest. Now we can move on to disguises. Before you head out, I will hook you into our business account which you will use to cover any expenses. Expenses range from anything from materials for your disguises to food and a place to stay on assignment." So far this all felt pretty fucking unreal. For that reason, it was easy for Rabastan to just go with it. "The disguises that you will use won't be magical ones, because we shall have you moving in circles where you don't want to be traced or noticed. In such cases, the less magic you use in your basic appearance the better. As such you will simply be changing minor things about yourself. You won't dress as one would expect the Lestranges to dress, for example. You can wear oversized dark glasses to hide your faces." Nodding at Bella he added,"You could do something as simple as braiding your hair to change it's general appearance. That wild hair of yours is what people expect. Restraining it in a tight braid or coiling it up on your head will alter your appearance far more than you might assume." Nodding at Rabastan he continued. "And you. Putting on clothes with a bit of padding in the arms and shoulders to give you even a third of the bulk your brother has, will change much about your general appearance. People see what they expect to see, so if you present yourself differently, they shall not see you. It's as simple as that. If necessary you can all get into things like darkening your skin to look more tan with cosmetics but such would only be necessary if we send you on assignments where you shall be required to fit into a foreign land at least upon first or second glance. There are some assignments where we want you to move unnoticed as a native, without dropping a hint that anyone from the U.K was there. Other countries don't take it kindly when we send our best and brightest in to kill threats to national security without leaving it to them," he explained dryly. And so it was that the three Lestranges left the country on Black Ops assignment that very day. And so began the next twenty years of their lives. At first they tread very carefully so as not to stupidly error and thus end back up in Azkaban. Eventually they fell into a practiced rhythm, though. The work actually suited them, fitting nicely around their skill sets. Just as they had when Death Eaters, they had to commit their killings or acts of spying under cover. They didn't see Regulus again until they returned to London. They were away in Sweden and Turkey, hunting down Voldemort's followers for nearly two months. When they returned, they did so at midnight, waking a baffled then overjoyed Corvus Lestrange under cover of darkness so that no busy bodies who could've been watching from a near by manor could notice their arrival. The fact that Bella wasn't dead and his sons were no longer prisoners in Azkaban brought tears to the eyes of the elder Lestrange. So rare was the sight that the three younger Lestranges found themselves moist eyed as well when they embraced him. Of course questions followed as they sat in the kitchen with Corvus and Jackdaw, having late night cups of tea. Questions that the three could not yet fully answer. After all, they had no idea how the Black Ops agent had connected with Regulus or even why Regulus had stayed away for so long. As their new boss hadn't offered that information, the three considered it prudent to wait and allow Regulus to explain for himself. As they sipped their tea, they divulged everything they new, thus adding the curious minds of Corvus and Jackdaw to the three of theirs when it came to matters involving Regulus.
"Remember, you believe Bella to be dead and Rab and me to be rotting in Azkaban, or our new Boss will likely kill us all," Rodolphus told his father and the Lestrange family house elf. As he spoke, he met both their gazes with a hard unwavering one of his own until Corvus and Jackdaw nodded their understanding.
"When is your next assignment," Corvus asked a bit numbly.
Rodolphus shrugged. "Don't know. The old man said he'd find us when he was ready for us again. He is aware that we're here so it shouldn't be difficult."
Something told Rabastan that their boss would be able to find them even if he had no idea where they were staying. That was alright, because he didn't mind this new job at all. He, Rod and Bella still got to indulge in the torturing and killing they loved. So what if it was to extract information for the government and put problem citizens out of everyone's misery rather than fighting the good fight against Muggles. It beat Azkaban hands fucking down! For now, though, he would enjoy his time off. He would allow himself to relish the safe, cozy, secure feeling of being back in his childhood home again with his father and Jackey.