Hours appeared to pass by slower, as if time was forcing itself to just stop, struggling under the multiple desires to reach a palpable conclusion, see deeds done one way or another. It wanted to halt, leave a bit of room for some good to happen, for some happiness to trickle through. Yet there has never been an event where time just stood still, be it painful and filled with regrets, or joyful and ringing with laughter, time in itself always moved and waited for no one.
Constantine's men crawled back to their holes after the diversion created, however it still felt as if all eyes were searching, everyone waiting for the right moment to strike again. However Moody knew that until they were certain Talia was not in fact dead, all their attempts would be met with silence.
It was just a repeat of when he was gathering forces, all the while slipping from under their noses.
Inside the safe house, spirits were burning out their last shred of patience, the pair almost reaching a breaking point. After three days of silence, Tonks under the concealment of her powers managed to make contact, Moody's message being delivered loud and clear, to stay hidden.
"Is he mad?" Talia immediately retaliated as if Tonks had a device on her ensuring Moody could hear the conversation or she held all the reasons behind his intentions to keep the pair hidden "This is not a plan, this is just cowering and running away." She ignored Talbott's dramatic eye roll, whishing she would have not looked at him at that very moment.
"We can't do anything rash, we need to come up with something solid and truly significant Talia." His deep voice reverberated inside the living room, Tonks stepping in as well.
"He's right, we can't risk anyone seeing you or him." She had hoped the small pout or her big eyes with somehow sway the wild animal inside her friends' chest.
And Talia knew that well, as far as Talbott was concerned, the knew she could not risk for her father's men to find him once more "I need to talk to Moody directly." Was all she offered before leaving the room. Her mind was already made up, a plan in full motion. She knew what needed to be done and she would not allow for her lover to be a part of it.
It took Moody an entire week to safely travel to the safe house, by which point Talbott and Talia were no longer able to even stand together in the same room for more than a few minutes. She had used her time wisely, grinding him down, using his own weaknesses against him. He still blamed himself for her stepping in front of him to take the blade, still keeping a distance of his own, thing that Talia further abused. She gave him mixed signals, confusing his ripe mind to the point where he could not tell what was fake and what was a real reaction from her.
They started fighting, especially when she related her plan to him, the same thing happening as she started speaking to Moody "I can't keep hiding, you won't draw them out unless they see me alive, that was the entire reason behind the attack. For them to prove that my heart is indeed fit."
Talbott scoffed before Moody even opened his mouth to speak "Yes, offer yourself up, what could go wrong?" crossing his hands over his chest he leveled Talia with a glare.
Ignoring him entirely, she kept a trained eye on Moody waiting for his input "I can't say I don't agree with Winger, despite his emotional display. If played wrong, if one mistake is made, you're caught and Constantine gets his wish." He could read it on her face, how her mind was already made up "And if your father succeeds in becoming immortal or prolonging his life far more than anyone?" pointing a finger at her chest he tried to break down some of her determination "This is bigger than you." Nothing, no reactions betrayed her so Moody pushed further "And if they decide to use him again?" he pointed over to Talbott.
"Call him my father one more time and you might need another replacement eye." Still not looking over Talbott him, she forced the following words out, as calmly as possible "I don't need him in this mission, he is a moot point, a hindrance if anything."
Upon hearing her words Talbott pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against, leaving the room to go busy himself with something, anything to ensure he would not see her face "Bloody unbelievable."
Watching through the corner of her eye, Talia leaned in releasing a heavy sigh, hand coiling in Moody's jacket "You made me a promise." Blinking a couple of times he kept reading into how her teeth gritted together, eyes looking as if ready to burst into tears "Keep him away, let me go out there, you won't catch them otherwise." Pushing him slightly, she got up pacing the room.
"You'd best be careful with those threats unless you want to meet the ground young lady. He isn't my only priority." He whispered the last part out, still honoring the secret conversation they had, however Talia appeared to be ignoring his words entirely, instead focusing on the countless scenarios running through her mind "What if Snape can get in contact with him?"
She shook her head at the question asked, hands running through her hair, pushing it back and away from her face "We can't, he already risked so much by coming to Diagon alley that day." Glancing over at Moody she hesitated slightly before speaking again "Besides, school already started, he has other business to take care of, people who need him there as an active member. Also, he's much safer at Hogwarts." Despite the name not being spoken out loud, Moody knew the person she was referring to.
He glanced at the kitchen door, mechanical eye picking up on what Talbott was doing "Are you certain you're making the right decision with him?" while one eye was paying attention to his recruit leaning against the counter, holding his head in the palm of his hands, the other eye witnessed Talia struggling with herself before she spoke low, barely above a whisper.
"I'd rather he hates me now than die because of me." Taking a shuddered breath in, she bit her lower lip tears threatening to escape "Believe me, it's killing me, but it's the only way."
He allowed her a few moments to gather her wits, leaving Talbott to his own doing as he started moving once more around the kitchen.
"Keep telling yourself that." A dose of shock struck Talia upon hearing his words, yet she just inhaled slowly, calming down her nerves a fraction. Reaching inside her pocket, she pulled out an address "What's this?"
"It used to be my safe house." Cocking her brow she tried her best to suppress a smirk from forming on her lips "Trust me, I am well prepared if I ever need to run." Handing the paper to Moody she smiled bitterly "I'll be there, alone. As for him…"
"What about me?" she almost jumped upon hearing Talbott's voice "You really want to go through with exposing yourself?" placing down a tray he brought in with coffee, he turned on his heels, ignoring Moody altogether.
"It's the only way to get them to come out."
"And if we lose sight of you? What then Talia?" refusing to look him in the eyes only served to fuel his anger further "Tell me Talia, what then?" his hands gripped her arms tightly, forcing her to look up at him.
"This has nothing to do with you. They will kill you just to watch me suffer, they would have killed you in Knockturn alley if I hadn't stepped in." there it was, the same flash of raw pain shinning in his eyes at the very memory of losing her "I am to blame for all of this."
He shook her as if trying to make her see reason, Moody getting up to force some distance between them "Being a survivor is nothing to be ashamed of." He spat out, almost ready to swat his trainer's hand away before seeing reason, tone dropping, yet his eyes refused to repress his emotions "You're not alone in this. Plus you don't even know the limitations of your body right now, what you can and can't do."
Placing an open palm in front of her face she cocked a brow "I'm apparently not going to die unless my heart is taken out so how about we test that theory. What would actually happen if I was to cast the killing curse on myself?" her eyes traveled to Moody just to not look at Talbott. She knew very well she was being cruel, viciously tearing inside him with sharp venomous words "Can't send me to Azkaban for performing the spell on myself, there's no law relating to that."
"Really starting to regret letting you join." She knew well enough if she pushed it further, things could go from bad to worse in just a few seconds. Watching her lower her hand, he also loosened the grip on his staff "Good call, now listen up, both of you."
He had exhausted all options before even agreeing to it. Moody was well aware of her desire to finally see her father back behind bars, the threat annihilated or at least diminished for some time. As wrong as the plan sounded, they needed her as bait, after all she was the main pawn in her father's ritual or else it would be all for nothing.
"You will both be fallowed, kept an eye on, but you will be going separately."
Protest immediately left Talbott's lips "You really are mad, how is…"
Smacking him against the leg with his staff, Talbott gritted his teeth hissing in pain "That's a bloody order Winger, don't tell me you intend to disobey another one of them!" looking to the side he just shook his head "Good."
Talbott was no fool, he knew well enough his trainer was keeping tabs on him and his performance. While his first disobedience was glossed over in a sense due to recent events, there was no way he would overlook his attitude a second time. He was walking a thin line, one more wrong move and all his years of hard work would be tossed out the door alongside himself. There would be no other chance for him to become an Auror, not if Alastor Moody's feedback was in the balance.
"Anything else I need to know?" the question was addressed to Talia, which immediately received a nod.
"About the ritual." While she did not know the place required for it, she knew it had to be done in similar fashion to the first one. They needed a thunderstorm, heart taken out on the first lighting strike "So don't be late, it's autumn after all, plenty of rain to go around."
Talbott closed his eyes, slowly taking a deep breath, mind wandering for a few seconds before forcing himself back in the moment before him. For just a moment he refused to see the bitterness masked by sheer determination in Talia's eyes.
He allowed himself to drift back to when he was learning to become an Animagus, his mother explaining the process and steps needed to be taken. He hated the taste of that Mandrake leaf in his mouth for an entire mouth, he figured he could never get rid of it once the process was complete. However he busied his mind, swearing to eat all the sweets he could get his little hands on once done. The incantation he learned by heart since it needed reciting daily, Amato Animo Animato Animagus.
Even now, his lips moved at the very memory of it, the rough translation alive in his mind "My love brings me life, I am obliged to become an animal wizard." His nose wrinkled at that, Amato means "to love" but also "I am obligated to", Animo Animato, both different conjugations of the same word "animate", and of course Animagus.
Despite there not being a need for the word love in the incantation, he still believed it to have made its mark, after all, there was like a second heart beat inside his chest when his wand touched it during the incantation.
And then the potion drinking, during a thunder storm, the very memory of it making his eyes fly open.
"I'll see you two soon, wait for my signal, I need a bit of time to get everything ready." A collective nod followed from the pair before Moody took his leave, Talia walking him to the door.
Despite it being closed and locked, she remained staring at it, lost in her own thoughts. It felt like her mind was screaming at her with every rational possible thought, everything hammering against her skull "I know I was born to die." She spoke softly without turning to look at Talbott "But I want to fight, in my own way. I don't have the same principals and morals as you do and I can't pretend that I am all good." Looking over her shoulder, she offered him a small smile "But you are."
"I'm not." He refused to leave the spot he had claimed as his own inside the small living room, however she did, taking a cup of coffee from the tray, smelling it to ensure there was no sugar in "If Constantine manages..."
"Then just tear his heart out, that seems to work." She alone cringed at her words, despite the thought crossing her head multiple times on different occasions and days. It would have been a fitting end after all that he had done, however she had seen enough blood to last her a lifetime.
"Why are you doing this? And don't bloody have the audacity to lie to me." His tone was grave and she gave him all the credit for his anger, she understood it "And if you dare say it's to save me I swear I'll…"
"What? You'll do what?" the cup in her hands hit the table a tad to hard, coffee spilling "So what if it's for you, would you hold it against me if I want you to live a normal life?" this was her breaking point, her not being able to keep up with the charade.
"Normal?" his hands clenched to fists, teeth showing from between full lips "Voldermort is trying to make a comeback and you dare speak to me about normal? If you die would that help me? Fucks sake Talia!" she could feel those sunset eyes burning through her while at the same time freezing all her words in her throat for a while.
"You don't need to be caught up in the middle of this mess, you don't deserve it." Once more he countered, throwing the same words she had spoken back at her, Talia forgetting what normal breathing felt like inside her lungs. Her hands rose, drawing close together in front of her face as if she was begging him to see reason, her reason "Believe me, I want both of us to live through this, but I can't promise, I don't hold that power."
"Then run!"
With that single line anger flashed in her eyes, darkening her orbs "You run, you go. I refused to do that again."
Talbott leveled her with an unimpressed expression "Never." Within a couple of steps, the space between them was closed, resumed to nothingness as he pulled her flush against his chest, hands taking hold of her face, lips claiming hers in the most demanding way he had ever been "Never." He whispered over and over again between kissed.
Pushing him away slightly, they both appeared to be out of breath "Then don't ask me to do it." Accepting her lips once more, a single thought refused to quiet down.
Talia Hayes was still running away…away from him.