A/N: Actually, as far as my orchids go, you should see my collection!

And as always,

Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Go back and read the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before the one before this one.

CHAPTER FORTY B: ADDING TO THE MIX

Orion was the first in the cage to hear the sounds coming down the corridor towards them. At first it was just obscure sounds. But eventually they became louder and Orion could distinctly hear a woman giggling as the sound grew closer to them. As he stood at the bars, Katlin came stumbling into the room, a large, burly looking man practically on top of her as he stumbled against her.

"Now, what did you want to come down here for, Connie?" He asked, backing her up to a large stone pillar that helped support the chamber ceiling.

Katlin never once turned around or paid those in the cell any notice at all as she fixed her violent eyes on the man before her.

"Because it's more private down here then upstairs." She purred at him, two arms caressing their way over his arms. "Don't you agree?"

The man seemed all too ready to agree with her when he suddenly noticed the four captives in the cage.

"Here! Who are they?"

Katlin grabbed the man by the sides of his head and focused his attention back on her.

"What does it matter?" She asked in a slightly irritated voice. "I thought you wanted to be alone with me?"

"Well, we're hardly alone." The man stated, looking over the four in the cage again. "Here! One of them's a little kid. We can't be doing things like this in front of a little kid."

Katlin turned the man back to her again with a sigh of exasperation. Merlin's Beard, the man had the attention span of an ox!

"Once more." She asked in her low purr. "What would you rather be doing? Discussing four prisoners," she asked with a seductive smile, "or discussing some of those wonderful plans you said you had in mind for me?"

The man took one last look at the four prisoners, then turned back to Katlin. A lustful smile came over his face as he stared down at her. "Well, maybe its about time the kid learned a thing or two."

Arabella quickly slapped a hand over Harry's eyes as the man grabbed Katlin in his arms and backed her up forcefully against the pillar behind her.

Harry let out a small, exacerbated sigh, but did nothing to remove his godmother's hand. From the sounds alone, he was getting more of an education than he wanted.

Katlin quickly had both arms wrapped about the man under his shirt, her hands rapidly searching for what she needed. No easy task when the man was trying his level best to get his hands on as many parts of her body as he could reach.

All of this Orion watched through the bars past narrowed eyes. He never said a word or made a single move. But the mounting tension was almost a physical thing surrounding him.

Standing at the bars in front of him, Voldemort watched the scene with a certain interest. He had to admire Katlin's single-mindedness, but he was likely closer to cursing the man into non-existence than Orion was.

But only moments after the man had started making grabs at her, Katlin freed one hand and held it behind her next to the pillar, well in sight of the two men at the cage bars.

In her hand lay a large, brass key.

Voldemort pulled out the wand and summoned the object. It slid slowly to the edge of her fingers, then suddenly fell out of her hand and landed on the dirt floor, refusing to move further. Voldemort murmured a soft curse. The dampening wards around the cage had made it difficult enough to summon his Elite, and only his tie to her, stronger than any of his other followers, had allowed him to make the connection. But apparently they were plenty strong enough to shield any outside object from his magical summons.

Pulling her head to the side, Katlin look over her shoulder and down at the floor. Seeing the key laying in the dirt, she sighed quietly. Maneuvering her foot a bit, she gave it a solid kick and sent it flying into the bars of the cage with a loud clank.

The man instantly reacted to the noise, looking up from his current position of having his face buried in Katlin's current, ample chest.

"Here!" He exclaimed, looking around her. "What was that?"

"Nothing you need to list within your current realm of worries." Katlin said in a very hard, very dangerous tone.

"Katlin!" Orion called from the cage even as Voldemort was grabbing the key off the floor. "Don't kill him!"

Katlin turned back to Orion, who was still standing at the bars of the cage nearest her. She already had her hands wrapped about the collar of the man's shirt while he gave her a very surprised look.

"I'm not going to kill him." She replied, turning suddenly to the man as she dragged him down until he was face to face with her. "I'm just going to hurt him a lot." She hissed at him between clenched teeth.

The man made some small sound as Katlin half backed, half dragged him through the opening to the dungeon.

Katlin returned by the time the four were out of the cell, dragging the unconscious man behind her.

"Well, you couldn't have hurt him much." Orion observed as she dragged him over to where the woman's body had been concealed behind a small outcropping of wall. "You weren't gone that long."

"I didn't believe you wanted to wait while I took care of the little crettin properly." She replied formally enough, dropping the man in a heap to the floor.

Still holding the other woman's wand, Voldemort looked over the situation. "It's best if we kill them both." He stated matter-of-factly. "That way they can't report what they may have heard."

But Arabella stepped forward quickly.

"No!"

Voldemort gave her an irritated look. "Why not?"

"This wizard seems to take it very personally how we treat his people." Arabella pointed out, turning to Voldemort. "If we kill two of his people, there's no telling how he'll retaliate."

Voldemort tapped the wand against the palm of his hand. "Well, since he already seems irritated enough at us to send his guards out with orders to kill us, perhaps I should make it for something really worth his while?"

Arabella grabbed the wand as Voldemort directed at the woman's unconscious body.

"Or maybe he'll start being a bit more selective." She stated quickly.

Voldemort frowned at her. "Explain."

"Haven't you noticed anything about these attacks?" She ask. "Each time they were more aggressive. The first trap we were able to get out of. The second not so much so. And each time Becca appeared right before or right after to warn us off again. Where is she this time? She hasn't made her usual appearance."

"Maybe she's grown bored with us."

"Or maybe this time we're not being given a reprieve based on how this wizard sees us. Maybe he's decided we're all just cold-blooded killers who can't be reasoned with. So perhaps it's time we send him a different message."

"Which would be?"

"That we don't kill if we can avoid it."

"Then what do you suggest we do with them?" Voldemort ask, his frown deepening. "Ask them to kindly keep their mouths shut?"

"Leave them in the cage and lock the door. A good memory charm could take them days to undo. By then we may be back at Hogwarts."

"She has a good point." Katlin stated, coming up to the group. "There's no use in making trouble if you don't have to. If you would like, I can take them back to the lair with me. Hold them there. If this wizard is so interested in his peoples well-being, they may make useful hostages."

"I don't think his interest will extend to hostages." Arabella replied.

Katlin turned to her. "Why not?"

"If we take them, he may retaliate for that. I say it's best to leave them. Show this wizard we aren't all bent on..." But she stopped as she turned to Voldemort.

"Killing?" He asked.

Arabella stared back at him for a moment. "It does seem to be your answer to all life's little problems." She finally answered.

Voldemort stared at her for a moment, then shifted his attention back to Katlin. "Despite Arabella's reasoning, I have to agree with her on leaving these two here, Katlin. And I need you here for the moment, not back at the lair."

"For what purpose?"

"I need information on this wizard. We also need our wands back and whatever else they took from us. Mr. Black can give you a list. And one person, trained for such matters, will stand a better chance of retrieving our stolen property then all of us stumbling about this place. We'll continue on. You can catch up to us later, or I can bring you to us if you're in danger."

"But if we leave the other two here," Harry put in quickly, "and they eventually find them, they'll know Katlin isn't that woman."

Katlin turned to him, not one ounce of warmth in her stare. "I can shift my appearance quickly enough, if that's what you're worried about, Mr. Potter." She stated empirically. "If they find her before I'm done, I'll just become someone else. So don't worry about me. I know how to keep myself safe."

Harry stared back at her, thinking he caught just the barest trace of a smile before being herded out of the room by Arabella.

Voldemort step up to his Elite. "If there is trouble, call, and I will summon you to us. Don't try to apparate on your own. The magic in this corridor is not what you are use to."

Katlin nodded slightly to him, watching him follow Lupin, Harry and Arabella out of the doorway. She then turned a warm smile to Orion as he stepped up to her, laying a hand on her cheek. Without a word he pulled her into a deep kiss, releasing her a few seconds later and following the others without looking back. But he stopped long enough at the man's body to deliver a well placed kick that rewarded him with a slight moan from the man.

Orion leaned down to him.

"That was my wife you were pawing like a piece of meat, dog." He whispered to him. "And I did not appreciate it."

The man moaned again as Orion stood back up and hurried after the others, leaving Katlin to sort out the two captives.

Q&A

MasterLupin:

hmm. Is the wizard in the North Dumbeldore? Is the wizard in the North in some way interacting with Dumbeldore? It seems that Katlin will use some ninja skills to bail them out of jail.

WOW! Someone's been staying up late at night formulating theories again!

Mind you, it's absolutely, positively, unquestionably wrong. But I like it!

Actually Dear, nice piece of guesswork, but no, the wizard in the north is not Dumbledore. The wizard actually does have his own personality and is a separate person or persons all together.

Is he interacting with Dumbledore? No Dear, accept to keep a minor eye on Dumbledore's activities. The person the wizard is most interested in is currently a member of our little band of adventurers.

Ninja skills? Ummm..., not quite. Just good old basic kneecap breaking. Katlin takes a great deal of exception to being pawed by other men. She is, after all, now a married woman and mother. And Thomas, her oldest, would likely have beaten the snotties out of this man faster than his father. He's very protective of his Mum.

Makes a mother proud, don't it?

Silverfox:

I'd never evenconsider the possibility that you'd do anything in your story just to appease a character's fan club, my dear. You're far too good for that.
Talon's control over Voldemort by sacrificing Bo: Step one, let Voldemort believe that the bogart is extreemely powerful. Step two, wait until Voldemort posesses Bo. Step three, declare Voldegart a member of the family so he can continue to house the power. Step four, command power to control Voldemort for you. The only thing you lose is your loveable hyper three year old bogart ...
That's interesting. From your earlier answers I very much go the impression that Talon did in fact hate the power for what it did to his father. Then again the power on its own and Bo might not be entirely the same thing to him, I suppose. Anyway, getting control of the Dark Lord might well be worth the loss of one Bo even, if you don't hate him.
"Talon's relationship to the boggart, and how he treats him, is based very solidly on Talon's belief that the only way Bo is harmless is to keep him on a tight leash. You can't do that with something you are intimately involved with. ... He feels Orion treats Bo far too much like a playmate. And that should Orion one day have to make some very hard choices regarding Bo or the safety of the community at large, Orion won't be able to make the right choice, fearing losing his friend." And couldn't the same be said of Voldemort? Could it be that sacrificing Bo to get control of Voldemort would be just such a hard choice?
"Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity." You said it.

The fan club thing was just a thought. And if I were to try and appease anyone's, it would be Lupin's. I mean, Sirius' has sort of disbanded for the obvious reasons.

Well, good in theory. The problem is, I won't say for sure that such a radical change wouldn't invalidate Talon's control over the 'Power'. I simply haven't fleshed the character out enough to guarantee that as a 'yes' or 'no' thing. Interesting thought though. Could make a good story plot.

(PAR runs off to make notes.)

OK. Back now.

Anyway, I'll have to put some thought into that.

But in the end I would have to say the family would think long and hard about letting anything happen to Bo. They really do like him pretty much the way he is.

BINGO! Yes, Dear. Two totally different things here. And actually, to say Talon hates the 'Power', you would have to use the past tense. 'Hated'. And he did hate it. With a vengeance. However, with age comes a certain wisdom, I suppose. Something that was never entirely spelled out in the stories or the review Q&A's. But as he grew up, Talon came to realize that the 'Power' wasn't entirely to blame. Each host is warned about what using the 'Power' could result in. The choice to use it, therefore, was their's. And so is the responsibility for the consequences. Now, knowing that doesn't automatically make everything all right. But it does take the edge off one's anger a little. After all, keep in mind that the 'Power' is 'just visiting' in our realm (so to speak) and really doesn't have a lot of knowledge about it's current home. It's a non-corporal entity suddenly given a corporeal body. It's bound to be a bit confusing for it. So it just does the best it can with the help of it's host. And to be honest, the 'Power', as you'll see in later stories, is somewhat (and I use that word with firm intentions) ignorant of what it does to it's host when he draws off of it. But in the end, Talon is a lot more tolerant of Bo than he is of the 'Power', respectively speaking. To him, they are two separate entities. He has nothing against the boggart. He just feels that since it now houses the 'Power', it needs to be kept on a very short leash. Talon can see the potential for absolute disaster here, where as at times, Orion can not.

All I'm saying, is that in the future, yes, Orion is going to have to make some very hard choices concerning his friend. Would he sacrifice Bo to gain control of Voldemort? I would have to, at this time, say 'no'. Because Orion would not see it as a fair trade.

You have to understand the difference between Orion and his father here. Talon sees Bo as a tool. Something he controls and uses as little as possible. But when he does use it, the 'Power' answers only to him. Would Talon sacrifice Bo to gain control of Voldemort? Without a second thought. To him it would be just trading in one annoyance for another. So what's the diff?

Orion see Bo as sort of an extension of himself. He's a friend, a companion, a slightly naive younger sibling, a good ear to bend, a teacher, mentor, occasional family pet, and all around multi-purpose fan club. All in all, Orion doesn't see Bo as something to be 'used', but more as someone who'll be there whenever he needs him, doing what he asks without question.

And it is these fundamental differences in how each sees the boggart that are the main relationship problems between father and son. But in the end, the final word will always be Talon's.

CelticHeiressFiona:

Awesome chapter! And Orion! Pure genius! I love him. He is so awesome! And of course your clever. It's beyond clever! It's absolutely brilliant! I love it!

You're very good for my ego, Dear. I'm so glad you're enjoying the story and you take the time each chapter to let me know. Even my ego, happy and content though it is, can stand a little stroking now and then.

All reviews are as of 02/11/2007.

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