A/N - updates will be infrequent for next month or so; besides holidays, daughter was in the backseat of an Uber that was pancaked when the driver attempted a u turn from the right lane! The other two passengers also were hurt - injured vertebrae, whiplash, glass cuts, etc. So am involved with lots of medical tests, insurance claims, and personal injury lawyers. Luckily, she escaped serious injury, but she's wearing a neck brace for 4 weeks and had a CT scan and mri because of concussion (her 4th, which is not great...) and bad headaches that have not yet abated (2 weeks post-accident). She came home from school 3 weeks early and is on bed rest regime.

Thankfully, she will be okay, and I am glad she wore her seatbelt in the backseat. The passenger on the other side of the car didn't, and was most seriously hurt of the passengers, despite not being on the side where the impact occurred. She was thrown half out the window, her body and head shattering the glass. She just got out of hospital a few days ago, and needs a 2nd surgery on her shoulder and had something like 40 stitches on her scalp and forehead. She too, thankfully, will eventually be fine, but it was very traumatic. They are all young (undergrads) and none of them had experienced anything like this before. The driver tried the wide uturn from the wrong lane, without signaling. And was hit when travelling about 40 mph. When he got hit in the left side by an suv in the left lane, the uber was spun across the median into the incoming traffic, and a second impact in the back from another car caused most of the whiplash injuries.

Unfortunately, The Uber driver was badly hurt, the SUV hitting the driver's side door. His airbags probably saved his life, but he still suffered broken bones along his left side (elbow, wrist, and arm is the rumor, and some sort of serious hip or lower back injury) and is still in the hospital as far as I am aware. They were all in the ER together the night at the hospital when the crash occurred (about 1am).

The pictures of the scene were horrific. The Uber was totaled, the driver side door completely caved in at least a foot and the trunk (where the 2nd car hit) looked like an accordion.

Anyway, at least no fatalities, thank the powers that be.


Previously:

Stowing her wand in its holster, Hermione gestured with her chin towards the bracelet. "That is now a voice activated emergency portkey. If we tell you to bail-out - or there is trouble that we can't handle - you call out the words "Hotel Home' and you will be transported here to this room. If that happens, you need to leave and go back to your apartment, just in case MACUSA shows up after tracing the portkey. If they are watching, and decide to investigate, you will have anywhere from two to five minutes to get out of here, so don't tarry. Do you understand?"

Bella nodded jerkily, the speed at which this was happening suddenly overwhelming her. Hermione held her wrists, looking into her eyes. "Okay, Bella?"

"Yes, yes, I'm okay. Hotel Home, got it."

Hermione's eyes roamed Bella's face for another few seconds, before she nodded, satisfied at whatever she saw there. "Do you have your wand?" Hermione asked her.

"No," Bella admitted, suddenly ashamed she hadn't brought it. "It's in my apartment, across the street."

"Okay, first stop is there. Let's go get it, but quickly. We are on a time crunch." As they swept from the room, and got into the empty elevator, Hermione turned back to her. "A friendly piece of advice? In the future, since I know Harry got you the invisible holster, you should carry your wand with you whenever you can. And certainly ALWAYS carry it when you know you are going to see Harry. He is sort of a trouble magnet."

As they walked out of the lobby, Bella giggled at the phrase Hermione just used. Bella looked at Harry, who chuckled with her - Bella had told him about her being called 'a Danger Magnet.'

Hermione looked between the two with raised eyebrows, aware they'd just shared a private joke, but didn't press for details.

Less than five minutes later, after retrieving Bella's wand, the trio made their first of several apparation jump directly from Bella's apartment, disappearing with a small POP. They would soon be arriving in Puente Antiguo, where the local time was 1:30 PM.


Chapter 15

Puente Antiguo Shield Site

A tall, dark-haired man, dressed elegantly in suit and trousers and carrying a distinctive cane, walked arrogantly through the Shield base security as if he owned the place. He was confident in his course, steering himself deeper into the facility, his magical senses detecting both the presence of his foolish 'brother' and the wondrous Mjolnir, which he had always coveted for himself.

When he reached his target, he tightened his magic around himself, further fading from the sight of mortal eyes and senses. He listened to the conversation in the small interrogation room with a smirk, the veiled threats made by a man called 'Coulson' towards an unresponsive Thor made him chuckle.

Peeking into the room, Loki smiled more widely: his 'brother' - his arrogant, foolish, self-entitled brother - looked completely and utterly defeated.

It was delicious.

When Coulson finally walked out, Loki stepped inside, he rehearsed the words he planned to use to strike at his brother's very soul, relishing in the joy he would feel as he brought news of their father's 'death'.

Ah, how glorious a day it was! His plans had worked out marvelously, indeed. His brother had gifted him a wondrous chance to take the throne, and once he engineered the destruction of the Frost Giants - and in destroying the bifrost, marooning Thor on Midgard forever - the Asgardian people would welcome their new King; and Odin himself - should he ever wake from his unexpected Odinsleep - would see the glory that Loki has wrought, and have no choice but to accede to his people's wishes and confirm Loki as King of Asgard.


At that very moment that Loki left his wreck of a brother behind, Harry, Hermione, and Bella arrived with a soft pop about five miles from the SHIELD site, blinking their eyes against the bright, afternoon sun and dry desert winds.

Bella stumbled, catching herself on Harry's arm, taking a deep breath as she stood up straight, her eyes traversing the familiar desert landscape she'd had so missed when she moved away from Phoenix.

Even as Bella felt the nostalgia of the desert and removed her coat to tie around her waist, Hermione was already casting; she whispered soft Latin words, her wand waving around like she was conducting for an invisible orchestra. Little colored bars and shapes and runes danced on the air in front of her, completely meaningless to Bella but obviously decipherable to Hermione, who frowned deep in thought as she tallied the results from her scans.

"Let me take that," Harry offered, opening his bag and gesturing for Bella to put the coat inside. She watched as the large jacket disappeared into the expanded bag, making her once again shake her head in amazement at what magic could do.

Hermione meanwhile turned in a complete circle, her wand never slowing. Finally, she turned to her companions. "The source of where the magical reading came from is about two kilometers to the east," she announced, pointing to her left. "However, the residue has faded sharply, so whatever happened there was a short term event." She looked to the right, her eyes squinting. "There are several strong readings about three kilometers in that direction, which I would guess is where the SHIELD base is."

Hermione chewed her lip, clearly not finished. "There is something else...a very strong magical signature that..its'...it's not any kind of magic I've seen before. It's on a totally different wavelength, I don't understand it..."

She trailed off, and Bella watched as Hermione and Harry looked at each other, before quickly discussing what it could mean and if they should proceed.

Finally, Harry took over, his words decisive. "We go to the Shield site, all of us under disillusionment charms." Harry turned to Bella. "The charm will give you sort of a chameleon effect that will cover you. However, it's not perfect," he warned. "If you are moving, or close to someone, they might see a distortion moving through the air. So you stay still, and low, and don't speak unless it's a dire emergency. If I want you to portkey out and cannot talk myself, I will tap you twice - two hard pokes. That's your signal to bail. Okay?"

Bella blinked several times, surprised at how quickly Harry took on the role of command, and how he spoke like it was a given that he would be obeyed.

It was quite distracting - in a good way - if she was being honest.

Nodding a bit jerkily, Bella agreed. "Yes, of course." Harry's eyes roamed her face for a moment, before nodding himself, and Bella felt the seriousness of the situation sinking in. This was no game; they were approaching a secret military base in disguise, and she suspected that they would not take kindly to an invasion of their base. In fact, this might be one of those 'shoot first and ask questions later' kind of situations that you watched on TV and then scoffed at the stupidity of the characters who would attempt such a ludicrous break-in.

Her cheerful thoughts were interrupted by Harry. "I'm going to apparate us closer, and then we will all fly in. Hermione brought a broom, and Bella you will fly with me."

Bella gulped. "Fly?"

Harry nodded. "I don't know if they have sensors on the ground, why risk it? I got in undetected by flying low and slow last time, so we will go the same way."

After one more apparition, Hermione pulled a broom from her bag at the same time Harry did, and they mounted the brooms. Bella sat behind Harry, clutching him tightly as they lifted off, little whirlpools of dust and sand floating about in their wake.

As they moved inexorably closer towards danger, Bella took a deep breath, thinking about how, not even an hour ago, she and Harry were about to move their relationship quite a bit further. Now, they were disguised by Harry's magic and were about to sneak into a highly restricted and undoubtedly heavily guarded base that might or might not have aliens and mystical artifacts on hand.

Shaking her head, half in amusement and half in fear, Bella could only think of one thing: what a date this was turning out be!


Even as Harry and company moved towards the base, Loki, his business finished, walked away from it and out into the dry desert, his powerful strides taking him towards the BiFrost site, where he would have Heimdall bring him back to Asgard and his plots would move towards completion.


When the trio were less than a kilometer from the base - just two rises between them and their target - Hermione suddenly hissed out a warning.

"Wait!" Waving her wand with one hand while the other gripped the broom, she moved directly alongside Harry and spoke just loud enough to be heard. "I'm picking up really strong magic, but again, it's reading like nothing I've ever seen before."

"What do you think it is?" Harry asked, hovering near her. He could not see her because of the disillusionment charm, but he could spot the telltale distortion in the air if he looked carefully. Only Bella seemed to be able to see through the charms without difficulty.

"I don't know, I've never seen readings like this before," Hermione answered. "It is completely different to the kind of magic we do."

"Is it something MACUSA could be using? Or...could it be related to the Hammer?"

"I don't know."

Bella - whose arms were wrapped around Harry's middle and her body pressed against Harry's back - listened while he and Hermione debated their sensor readings. She lifted her head from its comfortable position between his shoulders, her eyes trailing across the open desert, it's familiarity to her homes in California and Arizona bringing a feeling of nostalgia to her. It was comforting to her, the browns and the greys, the sky overhead an endless blue, the slight whorls of the dustdevils that stirred with the breeze...

Bella blinked, as she thought she saw a man cresting the dune that led towards the base. When the 'mirage' didn't vanish, she realized he was actually there, and heading at an almost right angle to their current position, away from the road and walking out towards the deep desert.

He seemed to be moving quickly, judging by how fast he was passing the small plants and shrubs that could be made out through the hazy heat shimmer off the desert floor; Bella doubted she could even run that fast, and he looked like was just taking a stroll.

He was maybe a hundred yards away now, his whole form very hazy with the heat rising up; thankfully, the man didn't seem to be able to see through their magic charm. He would pass them to the left, and presumably keep walking out to the desert, though she had no idea what he hoped to find out there.

How bizarre!

Even as Bella leaned forward to alert Harry, the strange man suddenly stopped; the action came as a complete surprise to Bella, making her gasp, which had the effect of Harry and Hermione immediately stopping their debate and becoming alert.

The man, meanwhile, had lowered his head, turning it to the left and right. Bella saw that he had a cane in his hand that seemed to shimmer; and then suddenly it - along with his clothing - changed, the haze dropping away. The cane became a long golden staff, which he held at arm's length, butt planted into the sand, and his clothing looked more like a green and black cape or robe of some sort, and she thought he was wearing a helmet, though it was hard at this distance to see detail.

And then, he raised his head, and turned his body to face the trio, and Bella felt herself go suddenly cold.

"Harry!" she hissed, suddenly panicking. "Go down, go down! The man! I think he sees us!"

"What man, Bella?" Hermione demanded, her voice low and steely.

"Look there!" Bella answered, pointing at the stranger; but then, realizing she was disillusioned and invisible to Hermione, she cursed under her breath, trying to remember how to describe an objects relative position to oneself. After a brief moment, she whispered in a rush. "He's maybe a hundred yards away, to your left, at your 10 o'clock! 300 degrees on a compass!"

Bella felt Harry shift the broom which slowly turned on its axis, orienting on the man's position.

Even as Bella stared at the stranger, Harry whispered to her. "Bella, I don't see anyone there." His voice was tense, despite him apparently not seeing anything, and his guard was up: he was learning to trust her strange abilities.

Hermione, meanwhile, waved her wand in the direction Bella indicated. Sure enough, the strange readings she had been detecting earlier were coming from that direction. "Harry, I think...he might be disillusioned like us. But Bella must be able to see through it..."

"Harry!" Bella whispered, cutting Hermione off. "He's looking right at us, he's raising a staff!" Bella added on in warning.

Cursing, Harry suddenly accelerated forward and down, hissing at Hermione to drop and land. Bella gasped, almost losing her balance and falling backwards off the broom. She tightened her grip around Harry's waist, her stomach still roiling from the sudden acceleration; and then she felt the floor of the desert just touching the tips of her toes, and she let out a shaky breath, glad to be down.

A moment later, they scrambled off the brooms, three wands pointed towards the direction Bella pointed. "Bella, what is he doing?" Harry whispered, tense and alert.

Now that they lost their vantage point by dropping to ground level, Bella could only see the top of the man's head now because of the dunes; but she could see him approaching, the top of his helmet growing steadily closer. In just the past few seconds he seemed like he had already halved the distance, and as he walked over a small dune more of his head and upper torso became clear.

"He's coming this way," Bella said, trying to remain calm. "He's...I think he's smiling, he either sees us or senses us, I'm sure of it." Her right hand was sweaty, the wand feeling very unsteady in her hand as she concentrated on keeping her breathing under control. The air felt very heavy, almost alive with menace, and she had enough experience now with dangerous beings that she knew in her gut that they were facing someone powerful.

Harry cursed, sensing a strong magical aura emanating from just over the rise, pressing against his own. The magics touched, almost tasting each other, and Harry felt, deep in his core, the strength of the other man. He quickly turned to the faint distortions of Hermione and Bella, and reapplied the invisibility charm with as much power as he could, hoping that would defeat the intruder's senses if things went sour.

A tense moment passed as the trio waited, and soon they all heard the crunch of sand under heavy boots coming from just beyond the next rise, getting steadily louder. Harry and Hermione spread out, each preparing themselves for action, their reflexes honed by years of facing danger. Hermione prepared several nasty containment spells, while Harry let his magic aura flare to it's maximum, powering himself up as he prepared to cut loose. He suspected - based on what Hermione had said about the strange magical readings and the fact they were dealing with possible alien artifacts - that this guy very well might not be friendly. Thankfully, though, unlike his recent battles in the streets of London, there were no buildings or bystanders here to worry about, save for Bella and Hermione who he would keep behind him.

Harry cast several traps at the ground just in front of him, able to be triggered at a key word. He had learned several hard lessons during the last decade about the dangers of letting an enemy get the first shot in, and he would not risk his friends. If it became necessary, Harry would strike first with whatever force he needed to put this guy down.

Bella watched the man crest the last rise, though Harry and Hermione still saw nothing and, save for the crunching of the sand, would not even know someone approached; but then, there was a sudden ripple in the air - almost like waves moving on a still pool - and Hermione and Harry gasped as they saw a tall, strangely garbed man suddenly appear about forty feet from them.

Bella, meanwhile, had watched the man approach, her wary eyes gathering details. When he finally stopped walking and shimmered again - to the gasps of Harry and Hermione, who she guessed could now see him - she catalogued what she saw. He was tall - maybe six and a half feet - and lean, though his wide shoulders and narrow waist spoke of a strong, sculpted physique. His pale face was incredibly handsome - almost supernaturally so - with inky black hair that blew lightly around his shoulders, framing high cheekbones and a perfectly sculpted nose and jaw, topped with startling green eyes just a shade lighter than Harry's and that sparkled with curiosity.

When his smile grew wider, she gasped, surprised at the effect it had on her. Bella had known beautiful people, better than most; and this man could easily have fit in among them.

She finally tore her eyes away from his face and penetrating gaze, taking in the rest of him. He was dressed in very strange green and black robes, looking almost regal in fit and finish. On his head, he had a strange helmet with two large curving horns, like those on a ram; only, they were bigger, longer, almost like an elephant's tusks. She idly wondered how he held his head up with their weight.

She saw that he was holding a long, golden staff, curved at the top. It too looked fancy, the kind of thing a court scribe might carry, or an Archbishop. In fact, everything about this man was regal, powerful...and Bella felt a strange urge to look down at the ground that she could not understand. It was almost as if he was exerting some sort of pressure on her to submit, and she had to push to force the feeling away.

Even as she did so, the man's eyes widened for just a brief moment, and his small smirk turned into a wide smile, his eyes seeming to sparkle even more. He began to approach again, walking fearlessly, his gait rapid and graceful. The staff was carried easily, despite it being as tall as he was, held casually like it was a walking stick.

When he was about twenty feet away, Harry decided the stranger could obviously see them - or at least sense them - and he did not wish to be encumbered in case he needed to move quickly. He pulled his cloak free, facing the intruder with his wand in his fist, pointed towards the man's feet.

"Who are you," Harry demanded. He didn't waste any time on pleasantries; if this man could sense them through their charms, then he was obviously a powerful magic user, and his strange garb was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. Harry's magical senses were pinging, warning of danger, and the feel of foreign magic washing against his own aura made him very edgy.

For the first time since he'd approached them, Bella thought she saw the man's confident grin falter; it was just for a fraction of a second, but she was sure she was right; and then his smirk returned, as he looked at Harry with keen interest.

The man chuckled, the sound almost mocking to Bella's ears, and then started walking forward again, though at a much slower pace. Harry raised his wand when he was perhaps fifteen feet away. "No closer," he warned, and the man thankfully stopped, his smirk firmly in place, his manner completely unbothered by the wand pointing at him and the threatening stance Harry had taken.

Bella shifted uncomfortably, feeling almost like they were in an old western standoff right before the shooting started. For a moment both sides stood unmoving, until the silence was finally broken by the stranger. "A Seid-man," he said in a clear, cultured voice, his accent sounding to Bella like an English nobleman. "I knew such still resided in Midgard, but I did not expect to find any in inhospitable climes like these." And then he turned his head and looked at Hermione and Bella. "And two Seid-Kona as well," he mused. "How unexpected."

Bella thought he frowned for a moment when he looked directly at her, and she felt that pressure again; but, having fought it off before, it was much easier to push back. And this time, she was quite certain she saw a flicker in his eyes when she did.

Harry didn't speak for a moment, and the group fell silent again. The man seemed willing to wait him out, despite the wand pointed at him, so Harry repeated his earlier query, though with less tension in his voice despite his guard remaining up. "Again, who are you?"

The man chuckled. "Ah, I do not think you have authority here to demand names, Sorcerer." Another small laugh. "From what I could see at yonder base," and he nodded his head to the direction he had come from,"your kind were not involved in the machinations and plots they play at there." He chuckled again, a dark and unfriendly sound. "I suspect that you trespass here without invitation, though I think your toils might be for naught if you seek to gain what I suspect." And he again smirked at them, seeming amused in his word play and giving them no indication whatsoever that he felt threatened by the wand pointed at him.

Hermione, meanwhile, had never stopped her magical scans, her wand moving in slow circles near her hip. She had realized earlier that the strange magic she'd detected was definitely coming from this man.

Her eidetic memory was flashing warnings at her...there was something in his dress, in the way he spoke...she just needed to put the puzzle pieces together.

"And what if we are trespassing?" Harry finally said, realizing that trying to bluff this man was probably pointless. "Certainly, you are trespassing too. I don't think the American government employs anyone who dresses like they just walked off the stage of the local drama club."

Bella had to bite her lip from laughing at Harry's little quip, and had to also wonder at his temerity in possibly angering this unknown stranger. Thankfully - not least for the very tremulous hold she had on maintaining a calm facade - the stranger didn't take offense and laughed at Harry's retort. "You would be correct, Sorcerer. I am merely...a bearer of tidings. A messenger of sorts, if you will, for a brotherly farewell." He chuckled again, as if amused at his own wit. "In fact, my business here has concluded, and I was just returning to my...conveyance home."

Hermione finally broke her silence as the lightbulb flicked in her head. "Your conveyance home, you say?" She looked at him shrewdly. "Will you be traveling particularly far?" Her tone was more of an accusation than a question, and it was not missed by the stranger.

Genuine laughter met her pronouncement. "Ah, the Seid-Kona speaks. 'Tis a pity that I cannot see your undistorted form, your intellect seems far sharper than your rather dull companion, whom I grow bored with. Mayhap you will drop your disguise, and I may see if your appearance matches your wit, dear Lady?"

Despite the danger Hermione sensed from the man, she could not help the light blush that rose to her cheeks. She, like Bella, thought the man was devastatingly handsome. But she also had a very strong suspicion that this man was an alien - in fact, she had a sneaking suspicion on who he might be - and she had no idea if this was his true appearance or was just an illusion.

Before she could answer, the man turned to look at Bella. "Does the other Sorceress speak? Or has she been stricken dumb by the tiresome drivel of your male companion?"

Despite knowing they were being baited and she should keep her mouth shut, Bella answered him, angered on Harry's behalf. "No, I can speak, stranger. And I know discourtesy when I hear it."

The man's eyes widened in surprise, and he threw back his head and laughed, the sound rich and melodic. "Ah, you ladies are both far too intriguing to spend time with a dolt such as this rude Sorcerer you travel with. Mayhap if I return to this realm I shall seek you both out for more...pleasurable pursuits." His grin turned into a mocking leer.

And then Bella felt the pressure again, much stronger than before. It was like something was pressing her down, almost forcing her knees to bend, prostrating herself before this stranger. She shook her head and grunted as she pushed back against this foreign pressure, realizing that Harry and Hermione must have felt it as well as she saw Harry struggle to keep his wand arm raised and Hermione's hiss as she fell to her knees.

Even as Bella gathered her strength to force the man's power away, Harry reacted to the stranger's attack; he hissed out the trigger word for one of his traps, "explodere!"; the magical mine blew, and the ground in front of the stranger erupted. Rocks and flame and dust obscured everything in front of them, accompanied by a grunt of pain and dismay from the stranger as the rock shrapnel ripped into him.

As Bella blinked rapidly, trying to clear her eyes and fight the ringing in her ears, she saw Hermione casting, a sharp twist of her wand that caused a wind to rise, forcing the hazy dust and debris to clear away as her magical breeze swept through. Meanwhile, Harry crouched low, tracking the figure of the man as he stumbled back, his face twisted in an angry rictus, the front of his robes blackened and scorched.

The stranger waved his staff, causing a shimmer to appear over him. And then both Harry and Hermione hissed as multiple copies of the man seemed to suddenly coalesce, surrounding them in a wide semicircle. His deep, angry voice suddenly was echoing through the desert around them, impossible to pinpoint, like it was coming from several places at once.

"You dare attack my person, Sorcerer? You are fortunate that I do not kill you where you stand and take your women, you insolent mortal fool!"

Bella watched, eyes wide, as the man moved rapidly to the side, his staff raised in his right hand and a long, vicious looking dagger suddenly appearing in his left. Where he had been standing, a vague, shimmering outline of himself could be seen, clearly an illusion of some sort.

But of more immediate concern was that Hermione and Harry seemed to be facing one of the illusions, completely oblivious to the real threat of the man closing in from the left, dagger raised high to strike in Harry's neck.

Bella screamed out. "Harry! He's tricked you! He's to your left side!"

And even as Harry pivoted instantly and cast a shield in the same motion, causing the knife to skid along it's silvery surface, Bella felt her own power rise up, cascading down her arm and out through her wand. She threw it with all her might towards the stranger, a whirlpool of raw, unrestrained and unformed magic that sprang forward eagerly, sending a shimmering heat radiating from her arm through her body, energizing her senses and body, priming her for action.

However, unlike the wizards she'd faced in London, the stranger was fast, and he sensed her barrage. He twisted his staff around in a blur, forming a shimmering, near-translucent blue dome that covered his body. When Bella's energy pulse hit the shield, there was a bright, glittering light, with arcing lines of electricity shooting in all directions; they traveled for several feet before sputtering out, filling the air with the smell of ozone and thin streaks of yellow and white burning plasma that looked like sparklers on the fourth of July.

"Impressive," the man said, retreating back and away from Harry, his eyes staying locked on Bella. He was waving his stick in fluid motion; more of his shimmering illusions sprang up, dozens of them now, causing Harry and Hermione to cast spells at them uselessly; ropes and red lights flew from their wands, rippling through the air; explosions rocked the ground beneath the illusions, wide fireballs incinerated them. Each time one was hit, it would wink out from existence. Unfortunately, new ones immediately formed whenever this happened, frustrating Harry and forcing Hermione to begin casting power-sapping homo-revelium spells that had a very narrow field of action.

Meanwhile, the real man circled back around towards Bella, and she was the only one who could see him. She threw another blast towards him, but his shield again repelled it. When he was perhaps thirty feet away, he waved his staff in a tight arc, and Bella felt a sudden peeling sensation on her skin. Even as she gasped, she watched as the stranger's eyes suddenly locked with hers, deep emerald green on golden brown; she knew then that he had somehow cancelled her concealment spell, and could fully see her now.

She suddenly felt very exposed, and held her wand up and out in front of her, knowing she was hopelessly outclassed. She had less than a month's training, and she was far, far out of her league right now.

The stranger's eyes were calculating as he looked her over, and she shivered at the greedy look she saw there. His smile was in no way friendly, and she felt a strange twisting sensation in her gut. "We shall meet again, Seid-Kona," he intoned with deadly promise.

When he twisted his staff a final time, Bella jumped as all the illusions suddenly faded. The man turned to face Harry, still protected in his faint blue shield. His sneer was back full force. "Charming as this little gathering has been, I have errands to attend to, and thus must be off." His eyes suddenly seemed to harden and his voice turned colder. "I shall not forget this insult, Sorcerer." The threat hung in the air for a moment before he spoke again, his irreverent humor returned. "For now, though, I shall leave you to do as you will. Perhaps you shall cause my brother some additional troubles."

Chuckling, the man shimmered again, vanishing from Hermione and Harry's eyes. Bella, however, saw him turn and face her again for a long second; and then - with another wave of his staff - a thick dust storm sprang up, obscuring everything and making Bella cough and choke as she tried to wipe the grit from her eyes.

It took Harry and Hermione several long seconds to clear the sandstorm away; when they finally did, the man was gone.


Thirty minutes later, after retreating and waiting to see if anyone came to investigate, they held a brief debate on what to do. They eventually decided that they would make one more attempt at infiltrating the base, though Harry was on edge. He wouldn't admit it, but the stranger had really unnerved him; had Bella not been with him, the stranger might have stabbed him with that wicked looking knife, and though his magic seemed at least on par with the stranger, he needed to study up on spells to defeat illusionary magic.

He had a feeling they would meet again.

Harry had tried to argue that Bella should return to Washington, but his reasons sounded hollow. She'd saved him from injury - or worse - and all three of them knew it.

So, after flying back to the base, Harry and Bella huddled near some tumbleweed on a nearby crest, their concealment spells reapplied. Hermione was under the cloak, getting her sensor readings from the Hammer. They'd decided that the cloak was better than the charm at disguising them - it produced almost no distortion - and it made the most sense for Hermione to go alone, get her readings, and then they'd go home.

Bella sat huddled against a large rock, sand and grit in her hair, watching the camp for any indication that Hermione had been spotted. So far, there was nothing, and the adrenaline rush and subsequent crash she had after their brief battle had faded; frankly, she was a bit bored and desperately wanted a shower. When she mentioned that to Harry, he quietly laughed, telling her she might be more cut out for secret missions than he had first thought if she could admit to how boring they could sometimes be.

More time passed, and she whisper-asked Harry how long he thought Hermione would be. He grumbled a reply that was not heartening: "knowing Hermione as I do, if there is anything interesting there, she might be quite a while..."

Harry, meanwhile, scanned the camp with his omnioculars. Despite his quip, he was also getting impatient; he knew the longer Hermione took, the higher the chances she would get detected. He just hoped she wasn't fool enough to actually descend into the building: he really didn't want to have to bust her out if they somehow caught her. The Minister would have his hide, if that happened.

A few more minutes passed by, when a group of men caught his attention. They stepped out from one of the doors of the long, twisting corridors that led to the central enclosure and moved towards an old beige van that they had watched drive in about twenty minutes ago.

Harry zeroed in the omnioculars on the group, and suddenly sat straighter: he recognized the man being escorted out, the brawny blonde guy who fought his way through the camp and tried to lift the hammer the night Harry snuck in.

An older, balding man in civilian dress had a grip on the blonde's upper arm, and led him to the van. Phil Coulson - who Harry recognized immediately - stepped out of the complex's door, and chatted very briefly with the civilian. A minute later, the van and its occupants drove off, dust following them as they vanished up the road into the desert, leaving a thoughtful Harry who watched them go.

Right on their trail, Harry thought he spotted a disturbance in the air. Sure enough, a few seconds later, Hermione whispered to them. "Okay, let's go. I got a lot of scans done. There's no more I can do."

They flew off, and soon vanished with a soft pop.

They had a lot of data to decode. There was trouble coming; they knew it in their gut.


A/N - let me know what you think!