Hello, hello! I'm back with a big-ass first chapter. Seriously, it took me 6 hours to finish this chapter, 3 of which were just procrastinating because I really did want to write but my creative juices just weren't flowing enough. I don't really have much to say about this chapter, excluding that I'm actually really proud of it! It took a long time! Anyways, I know this is a Jily story, and I haven't gotten anywhere near the Jily part, but I put in some Wolfstar to feed y'all. Hopefully you won't kill me. Disclaimers below, and enjoy!
Disclaimer 1: I don't own the Harry Potter franchise, or any of its characters. I only own my OCs. We all know HP was written by our lord and savior, Emma Watson.
Disclaimer 2: This fic is based off of the movie Bang Bang!, and I have taken some dialogues from it as well. Check that movie out, if you will.
Chapter 1: Jailbreak
XXX Correctional Center, maximum security prison, Delhi, India
December 17, 20xx
"Name and identification?"
"Colonel Sirius Orion Black, 5th regiment, assigned extradition of a British prisoner from India."
The high-tech glass doors in front behind the security gate slid open, admitting four government cars: two from the British Embassy in India, and two Indian military vehicles. Sirius Black, seated in the foremost Embassy car yawned and stretched his feet out, placing two perfectly polished shoes on the dashboard. He heard a sound of discontent from behind him and leaned over lazily to send a mocking grin to the passenger in the back seat.
"Problem, Moony?"
"That's Commander Remus Lupin to you, Colonel." Remus shifted in his seat again and sent another disgruntled look Sirius's way.
"Oh, come on, Moony," groaned Sirius. "The only people in this godforsaken oven of a car are you, me, and Arnold Schwarzenegger over here." He pointed at the driver, who indeed seemed like a character straight out of Terminator. He had on a crisp, black suit, with polished shoes and tinted, sparkling sunglasses to match. His face was clean shaven, as was his bald, glimmering head, which seemed to be the only feature distinguishing him from an actual Terminator. Sirius said he found it unsettling.
"He's not from our regiment, Colonel. You are expected to maintain a sense of diplomacy and discipline at all times, no matter who you are around." Remus looked at the driver's reflection in the mirror. The Terminator stared at the road ahead menacingly, making no notice of Remus's attempts to convey an apologetic smile. Sirius, however, noticed, and scoffed.
"Moony, watch."
"Commander Lupin, Colonel."
Ignoring him, Sirius took his finger and dug it into the driver's shoulder. It bounced right back off of the man's linen clothed arm, and the Colonel let out a breathy laugh. He poked "Arnold" again and again, pausing a few seconds before each poke to see if he could elicit a reaction from the stoic person. Every time, the driver kept his watch ahead, following the two cars ahead of him and keeping a watch on the second Embassy car behind him. Lupin watched his junior officer warily, waiting for the driver to perhaps swat Sirius away, or call his superiors on them and have them removed from the operation on account of what he would identify as, had he been in the driver's position, "inappropriate conduct".
However, Sirius sighed and gave up his mini mission of getting some emotional reaction from the Embassy worker, twisting back around to face his Commander.
"Nothing. Nada. He's like a robot. I told you my Terminator theory was correct."
Remus opened his mouth to respond, but the car screeched to a halt before he could get any words out. Sirius glanced out of his window and seemed to realize where they had arrived. He grinned flashily at Remus, then whipped out a pair of what he called his "Bond specs", aviator sunglasses that he had kept with him since his first military deployment, at the mere rank of Officer Black. His previously nonchalant persona seemed to fall away as he stepped out of the car; the moment the door closed, Remus could tell he was now Colonel Sirius Orion Black, 5th regiment, reporting for duty. He smirked to himself and followed Sirius out of the car.
"Colonel Black," said a voice, stepping out of one of the Indian military vehicles. He, too, had on a military uniform and aviator glasses, the only difference between him and Sirius being his Indian army uniform and cap in green and brown, while Sirius was dressed in black.
"It's like a fraternity with sunglasses," muttered the Commander.
The man noticed Remus in step behind Sirius and stuck out a hand. "Commander Lupin," he greeted, and Remus took his hand. The three men faced each other. "Lieutenant Viren Nanda," said Sirius, at which Remus let a small bout of surprise graze over his face. He hadn't expected much from Sirius on this trip, but the fact that he at least knew the officer in front of him gave Remus some much-needed relief. Sirius, the ever-observant people reader, as Remus called him, took notice of his surprise and cleared his throat, a hint of offense in the action. Remus really couldn't hold back a smirk. He should have.
Viren Nanda must have noticed the exchange occurring between the two, and cleared his throat a little too loudly, resulting in the security detail and the other officers around them to stare. He gestured to two big glass doors, which seemed to have been hidden from anyone immediately entering the premises, and inside stood yet another man in clad-black, an identification card hanging from his neck. They walked in, and the man came forward to meet them and shake their hands. The Lieutenant continued, "This is Agent Ranveer Nanda. He is the CBI agent who happened to catch your guy." Remus glanced between the two men. "Brothers?" Sirius asked, and Remus held back yet another smile as his Colonel had, once again, spoken Remus's mind. Agent Nanda and Lieutenant Nanda shared a tight-lipped grimace, which turned out to be more like a sneer. "Cousins," said Lieutenant Nanda, "twice removed and by marriage at that. Nanda is quite a common name in India."
"Ah," said Sirius. He hadn't meant to offend the Indian extradition officers who held one of the most dangerous criminals in the world in their facility, and he certainly had tried to make friends with them. They were a little too serious for his taste. 'Then again,' he thought, 'I thought Moony was like that, and he turned out to be quite the man'.
Remus stepped forward. "I hear you have a gift for our country?" The men's faces hardened, and all 4 officers fell into step to walk through the facility.
"How was he caught?"
"Indira Gandhi International Airport. He was trying to get on a flight to Dubai with fake papers, and one of the customs officers caught him. It's strange to me, considering how one of the world's most dangerous criminals-one who's escaped forces from the FBI, CIA, and almost every intelligence agency in the world-was caught because he messed up his ID papers.
"Tom Riddle Jr.," said Remus. "Britain's most-wanted criminal. We've been tracking him down for 5 years now. What was he doing in Delhi, anyways?"
"There's a private island on the Russian coast," continued Agent Nanda. "We heard chatter that he was here to try to buy it from a seller who was based in Delhi."
"I guess there's no recession in the business of terrorism," said Sirius bitterly. Remus glanced over at him. He had been skeptical of whether he wanted Sirius on the extradition committee; over the last few years, he had become too emotionally attached and involved with the Tom Riddle case for Remus to be able to warrant his involvement in the investigation.
After all, Riddle was the reason Sirius was an orphan.
He lived with his adoptive parents and his brother, and he loved them more than anything else in the world. Loss, however, does things to a person. There was a hole in Sirius's heart, a hole where his real family had been, before they were killed ruthlessly by the very criminal they were here to extradite to the UK. Needless to say, Remus had been a little worried about letting Sirius come here.
They were standing in the elevator solemnly, when Sirius's All-Star ringtone rang through the space and echoed off the walls. The Nanda officers both let out coughs, likely to hide their laughter, and Remus inwardly groaned. Sirius, slightly pink in the face, but grinning nonetheless, slid his phone out of his pocket and answered.
"Mum?"
"Sirius, dear?"
"Yes, mum?
"Have you arrived?" Sirius frowned.
"Yeah, we have. Hey, mum, I'll have to call you back."
"Everything is OK, right? Is Remus doing well?"
"We're all good."
"You have your sweater on? I read that it's terribly cold down there this time of year."
Sirius scrambled to turn his phone off speaker. The Nandas were downright red now, not even trying to conceal their laughter after hearing the conversation between mother and son. Remus couldn't hold in his amusement either, letting out a little snort. Sirius glared at him before returning to his call.
"Oh my god, yes, I'm wearing it."
"Don't lie to me you silly boy, I know you're not."
Sirius smiled warmly. "How'd you know that, you old hag?" he said teasingly.
"What have you and your brother ever done that I haven't found out about? Ok, listen, James was saying-"
The elevator dinged, and the doors started to open. Sirius cupped his hand to the speaker. "Listen mum, I'll call you back, all right? Bye."
The men got off the elevator, and Agent Nanda stepped ahead to lead them down the floor to a door. At the door, there was a keypad and two scanners; Ranveer punched in a 4-digit code into the keypad and pressed his thumb to the first scanner. He then stepped forward and pointed his left eye into the second scanner, allowing it to scan his eye before the light turned green and the door started to open. He turned around to face Sirius and Remus, then shook both their hands. Viren Nanda did the same, and both Nandas retreated back down the hall, leaving just Sirius and Remus.
"Padfoot—" Remus started.
"Oh, now you want to drop the formalities, Commander?" Remus could hear the strained tone in Sirius's voice, despite knowing that it was a joke to relieve the tension in the air. "Let's go in together, Sirius," he said softly. Sirius grabbed Remus's hand and pressed his lips to it. "We agreed on this, Moony," he whispered back. "You have to let me face that bastard. One last time before we throw him in jail forever. Please." Remus softened, and stepped froward to kiss Sirius lightly. Sirius's hands briefly rested on Remus's chest, before he stepped back and smiled. Remus followed the path the Nandas had walked and waited for Sirius outside the door.
He couldn't shake the look of anger he had seen on his boyfriend's face after he had turned around.
The room itself seemed to be a high-tech security room refashioned into a jail. It was detailed with glowing, blue lights, and in the center, there was a pentagonal jail cell with 5 guards stationed around it. On the left side of the jail, two guards sat in La-Z-Boy chairs, a box of half-eaten pizza on the table in front of them while they monitored the massive security system in front of them.
"You'd think for such a high-profile criminal, the security would be a little tighter," grumbled Sirius.
He approached the jail cell, and the guard stationed in front of the cell pressed his thumb to the keypad, opening the jail and allowing Sirius to step inside. His anger flared as he saw Tom Riddle Jr sprawled on the floor before him, another box of pizza at his side and a half-eaten slice of said pizza in his hand. He was focused on a program playing on the small television mounted at the top of the cell. He noticed Sirius glowering over him, and an eerie expression crossed his features. His snake-like eyes narrowed until his glowing red irises could barely be seen, and his mouth stretched into a wide, unsettling smile. He was basically sneering at Sirius.
"Colonel Black," Riddle drawled, and Sirius shuddered at the chill that washed over him with the words. He tilted his head ever so slightly. "Welcome."
"I'd salute you, Colonel, but I have a delectable slice of pizza in my hand, and what can I say? I'm a little tired today. Would you like a slice? They make their pizza quite differently here, and I must say I've grown quite fond of the Delhi cuisine." He slid the box towards Sirius's feet.
Sirius shook his head, smiling down at Riddle. "Go ahead," he said. "Once we get back to London, you'll go straight from your pizza to your execution. Maybe for your last meal, they'll give you some pizza." He held up his fingers and crossed them, placing them over his chest. "Extra cheese."
Riddle let out a cold laugh, clicking his tongue. "This isn't your little town playground, Colonel. This is Delhi, the big shots' territory. Tell me, how many high-profile criminals exactly have you taken from this country, much less extradited to London? Absolutely zero."
"There's a new extradition treaty being prepared at the moment between the UK and India. Pretty soon, we'll take you back to London, where you can plead your innocence in the courts with your hands tied together." Sirius sneered.
Riddle's smile faded, morphing into what he attempted to be an innocent frown.
"Then what?" He ripped a piece of bread from his pizza slice and tossed it in the air. "This, this is for the public prosecutor." Another piece. "This is for the judge." Another piece. "And this is for the police and the citizenry." He rose from his spot, his previously pitiful figure rising into a tall and slender man, moving with grace and fluidity in every step he took. Sidling up to Sirius, he continued, "Your beloved London is a city of beggars. A city of cheapskates, and you're too blind to see it. Down in the streets, away from your nobilities and luxuries, there's a lower class, slaving around with empty bowls in their hands. Begging, searching, hunching for a grain of food or a coin with which to buy a fraction of fruit."
Sirius felt blood spring from his palms. Looking down, he saw his fists clenched, knuckles white, nails digging so hard into his hand they had cut right through the flesh. His toes had curled, and it was taking all his effort not to swing his fist right into Riddle's perfect, horrifying face.
"And you, and all your politicians, nobles, wealthy class, waving around your white handkerchiefs and dancing your privileged asses around in a market of corruption." Riddle was directly in the Colonel's face now, his cool breath fluttering Sirius's eyelashes.
"What are you, Colonel? A cheapskate like them, or a suck-up who wags his tail like a dog at every command they give?"
A crack sounded across the room. Sirius stood, white-faced with horror, his hand turning red after letting his perseverance go to hell and slapping the son of a bitch across the face. A welt was blooming on Riddle's face, and blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth. He chuckled, wiping it away and turning back to Sirius.
Outside the room, Remus waited anxiously for Sirius to step out of the door, indicating that his conversation with Riddle was over and Remus could come in take him with them. He noticed movement outside the window, and walked over, looking down out of the building. They must have been at least 15 stories above ground, because he felt like he was looking down into a green abyss.
He saw nothing below the window, so he looked up. There was a row of workers cleaning the windows, with their hard caps and suits' chain lines preventing them from falling down the window. Remus stared at them, eyes narrowing in suspicion; he shook his head after a few seconds of observation. He was much too tired, and he really needed this extradition trip to be over so he could go home with Sirius and get some rest.
He seriously must have been out of his head, because he was sure he had seen . . .
The sound of breaking glass snapped him out of his reverie, and he glanced around in panic, pulling out his revolver and running around the hall. There, in a pool of blood, lay Lieutenant Nanda, and barely a few feet away lay Agent Nanda. Remus ran to the Lieutenant and crouched beside him, hurriedly trying to wipe away the blood coming out of his mouth and talking to him.
"Lieutenant! Stay with me, come on now. What happened? Did you get shot? Where did they go?"
With a tremendous amount of effort, the Lieutenant lifted his hand and pointed in the opposite direction and gargled, "Riddle . . . escape . . .". His hand dropped to the floor, and the light went out of his eyes as his head rolled over. Remus closed his eyes, wiping his sweat from his brow and stalking away in the direction the Lieutenant had pointed to. He saw the door to the jail room open, eyes widening in a panic as he thought, 'Sirius!' Before he could make it to the door, however, a sharp pain hit his shoulder, and he staggered and fell to the ground in pain. Touching his fingers to his wound, they came away with blood, and his vision had stared to go blurry; a stout figure with what looked like a gun stepped over him into the room.
"Sirius . . ." croaked Remus, before the pain caught up to him and he blacked out.
The door was blown off its hinges, and Sirius whipped around. There was a pack of men marching through the now hole in the wall, and the leader shot the two guards in front of the jail while his men took care of the other guards.
Sirius's eyes narrowed in slight recognition of the lead man, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He didn't have time to reflect on the identity of the stranger, however, as he had now cut off the main guard's thumb and pressed it to the scanner, opening the jail cell and coming inside. The man handed his gun to Riddle, and then circled around Sirius, sizing him up and showing an ugly smile, obviously recognizing Sirius.
Riddle spread his arms and threw back his head. "Welcome," he said loudly, "to the Tom Riddle Show!" He held the gun to Sirius's forehead.
"Any last wishes?" He, too, copied his comrade and circled Sirius with the gun revolving around his head. "Perhaps, some pizza with extra cheese?"
"It's a shame you don't have much time to choose. The countdown to your death has begun."
Sirius stared back defiantly, a fire starting to burn in his eyes. There was a small smile growing on his face, and he pressed his forehead into the gun's barrel. "Those who fight for their country; those who sacrifice their lives for their nation's pride and security; those who willingly step into danger to defend their nation's honor; their countdowns begin the moment they step up to fight. You've taken many lives, Riddle; but look into these eyes." His grey eyes glowed with ferocity. They would've outshined the brightest light on the planet.
"They do not have a desire for death, nor a fear of it. Only pride." His grin was taking over his face, a creepy stare of noncompliance right into Death's face. "And soon enough, you will be staring at your own death in these eyes. Pull the trigger, Riddle. And thus, your countdown will begin."
Frustration was festering in Riddle. He pulled the trigger, shooting right into Sirius's abdomen. The stranger caught Sirius under the arms and held him up, his hot breath in Sirius's ear. At that moment, he realized who the stranger was. "Pettigrew," he snarled. "I haven't seen you since secondary."
Peter Pettigrew's breathing grew faster in Sirius's ear. "I am terribly sorry, Sirius. But you always knew how I was. Cut from the same cloth, you and me. The only difference is, I always knew when to pounce on opportunity. And you? You were held back by your puny little morals." He spat out the word like it was poison. "Son of a bitch," growled Sirius.
For the second time that day, an All-Star ringtone started playing and echoing throughout the room. Sirius's cell phone had fallen out of his pocket, and Riddle picked it up to reveal the screen display.
MUM Calling.
"Would you like to talk to your mother one last time, Colonel?"
Riddle threw the phone on to the ground, and Pettigrew released Sirius on to the floor. The impact from being thrown caused the call to automatically connect, and his mum's voice came from the speaker.
"Hello, Sirius? I was just saying that—"
Gunshot. Gunshot.
Sirius screamed in pain; two bullets were lodged in his thigh. His mum's voice became frantic, and he could hear her rushing around the house, screaming for James or his dad.
"Sirius?! SIRIUS! PLEASE, TALK TO ME! SIRIUS! SIRIUS, I CAN'T HEAR YOU, PLEASE! ARE YOU ALL RIGHT!"
Pettigrew and Riddle walked towards the exit, alcohol dripping from Pettigrew's flask on to the floor and drenching Sirius considerably. His mum continued to scream from his phone, and he kept crawling with his good leg towards his phone.
"JAMES! JAMES, YOUR BROTHER, HE'S—"
They were out of the jail, and Pettigrew dropped the flask. Riddle shot it and set it on fire; the flames followed the alcohol path that Pettigrew had created, making their way to Sirius. His mum was sobbing uncontrollably now, and she had started screaming for his father.
"FLEAMONT, IT'S SIRIUS, HE- "
Call ended.
The helicopter poised at the top of the building had begun to fly away, Riddle and Pettigrew safe in its quarters. Riddle cleaned his gun, turning towards Pettigrew.
"Have you heard of this new extradition treaty, Wormtail?"
"Yes, sir," stuttered Peter. "It's bad news. None of our men will be safe anywhere; we need to stop it as soon as possible."
"Even better, Wormtail: this treaty won't happen at all."
"Sir?"
"New wounds must be reopened. Bitter relationships must resurface. History must repeat itself." At Peter's blank stare, Riddle stared him down. "The Black Orlov Diamond. Surely, being a History major, you must've heard of it?"
Peter's stutter seemed to worsen. "THE Black Orlov Diamond, sir? T-That's practically impo-impossible to steal sir, the se-security and t-the—"
"Make it possible, Wormtail. And the thief MUST be Indian. British-Indian, for all I care. It's all about perception. We need to increase tensions between Britain and India before this treaty can happen. Surely within a country with a population of 1 billion people, there is at least one person who can do this. Find them."
It seems like rainy, dark nights are the best environments for people to slide through. Sure enough, our thief, black hoodie, cap, and mask, slips through the crowd, fumbling with something excitedly in his hand. He moves like fluid, effortlessly gliding around people and working his way past the buildings before anyone can even notice the diamond is gone.
He turns into an alleyway, and rests against the wall; whatever he was fumbling with in his hand, he seems to have solved. He holds up a Rubix cube, its color stickers peeled off and replaced with various shades of grey, making it all the harder to solve.
The solved cube rests in his hands, and he presses a hidden button at the top. A pedestal rises from within the cube, resting on it a glittering, black diamond. After reaffirming the diamond's location, the thief presses it back into his cube, continuing on through the alleyway. All that is noticed is a glint of light reflected off a pair of glasses and shining, determined hazel eyes.
Ok, ok, again, I promise Jily is COMING! Next chapter, we might see more of James as a character, and I'm deciding whether I should have them meet in the next chapter or not. I have some time to decide though. Reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated! Hope you liked it!
-Niha