Colonello was pissed, and it had everything to do with the fact Lal hadn't come back after the meeting. She would have called if she was going to be late!

If Lal Mirch gave her word, then it was golden. She never lied, she preferred the blunt truth. So for her not to call and be missing... something had to happen.

And then he got a call that had him packing his bags and hers charting a plane to England.

He'd have to thank whoever this "Skull-sama" was.


In England...

Renato hadn't thought twice about drugging Lal. She was too useful and they needed her knowledge base on the target. That and she was already familiar with the terrain.

Except... he started having doubts when he saw the look on her face. She was completely terrified of something.

He didn't even notice Skull hurriedly calling someone, or the brief conversation.

All too soon Lal's face cleared and there was something in her eyes that made Renato want to run like hell and not look back.

"Who drugged me?" she growled.

Without fail, almost every single one of them pointed at the Sun.

He didn't have a chance to explain. Lal was on him in a heart beat, and she was doing her best to cave his head in, while swearing loud profanities.

It was clear she was beyond pissed.

There was a silent audience as Lal beat the living shit out of Renato for his stunt. She hated England. There was now a groaning mess of a Sun on the floor.

"...Remind me never to piss you off," said Viper.

"Oh, that wasn't me pissed off. You'd know if I was beyond pissed off. This was me 'explaining' to him how much I hate being drugged and then carted around like some piece of baggage to a country I detest," said Lal far too calmly. She didn't even look at the blood on her fists.

"Are you going to bail on us now that we're here?" asked Verde, pushing up his glasses.

"I'll give you any intel you want... but it might be outdated. I don't know or care about the movers or player in power, though considering how things were when I was last here I doubt anything really changed. Just don't expect me to go anywhere near the major centers or near the goblins."

"I can handle the goblins," said Viper.

Once they were sure Lal wasn't about to go postal on them as well, they started making plans. Finding out the woman's past was a good way to anticipate her possible movements or at least eliminate areas she would go to.

"Who should go to Surrey?" asked Fon. With Renato healing from the asskicking Lal gave him, he opted to take control.

Lal glanced at them all, before picking a few to do the most damage.

"If we want to be discreet, then Verde and possibly Viper should go under disguise. However if I were you I'd investigate the house that Potter's residence was thoroughly. Don't dismiss a single door no matter how ridiculous."

Verde was smart, and he'd be able to hack any computer records...not to mention thorough. Viper was sharp eyed and would be able to find things most people wouldn't bother seeing.

The Lightning and Mist departed using Lal's small amount of information. It wouldn't take too long for them to find out the horrifying truth and relay it back to the others.

God she hated England.


Verde was absolutely disgusted with the place, and Viper would be glad to leave.

This place reeked of fake normality. And when they reached the house from the records, he felt like burning it down on principle.

Viper almost did burn it down when they managed to get into the home. Two seconds after they came in, the woman who lived there started screaming about "freaks". Likely because Viper had dropped her illusion in favor of hiding what they were actually doing. Besides, the horse face twit was rather informative for all her shrieking.

It was only because of Lal's strong order that they check every door that they found something so disgusting that they had to refrain from killing the woman.

Inside the boot cupboard under the stairs was a 'room'. Or the mockery of one. Verde cursed and Viper looked murderous.

Suddenly a lot of things made sense. Why there were no photos other than a very obese blond child with weak blue eyes. Why the woman had started shrieking at Viper the second she dropped her disguise.

Why Lal had told them to check every door, no matter how ridiculous it sounded.

Viper didn't even think twice. She ripped out the information from the woman's mind without any mercy and then left the bitch a vegetable. She didn't deserve the mercy of dying.

Potter had saved them, and this was her childhood home. A home where she had clearly been abused and neglected in for a very long time.

They turned the house over, and the multiple locks and cat flap made Viper want to gouge the woman's throat out. She was that pissed.

They finished up quickly and went straight to their temporary base.

Lal was out getting food, and the others were waiting for them.

Fon didn't even wait when he saw the look on their faces.

"What happened?"

Viper started swearing in multiple languages, beyond pissed and ready to kill someone. Skull, Renato and Fon stared.

"Potter was abused," said Verde, though it was clear he was beyond angry and wanting someone to...experiment... on.

They froze.

"What," said Renato.

"Her 'room', if you want to call it that, was a small cupboard under the stairs. They must have moved her when the letters first came, to avoid the scandal of what the wizards would do to them. There were no less than ten locks and a cat flap on the door. There wasn't even a single indication she lived there, except that was the address in the school records. More to the point there were multiple complaints from the school nurse about injuries caused by the family that were never investigated properly," said Viper with a snarl.

Fon and Renato stilled.

"And that woman who raised her... it's a miracle she was even functional! They practically turned her into their live in slave! They belittled her and her parents her entire life, until someone told her the truth!" ranted Viper.

"So we can cross Surrey off the list," said Lal bluntly.

Not that she hadn't already known that.

"What did you get?"

"Sheppard's pie, fish and chips and some tea. Fon, feel free to get the kettle started," said Lal.

"Eating out is a waste of money," said Viper, her mood very dark.

"Well unless you want to buy enough groceries to last six people a week, I suggest you get used to it," deadpanned Lal.

There was a sudden knock on the door. Renato was already pulling out his gun.

Except Lal was looking at her watch with suspicion.

"What is it?" asked Fon.

"That damn idiot! When the hell did he put a tracker on me?!"

"For the record, it was always there, they just gave me the other half of it!" said a voice in Italian.

Lal stormed to the door, threw it open, and then gut checked the blond on the other side.

"Nice to see you too, captain," groaned Colonello.

"What the hell are you doing here you idiot?" she growled.

Colonello was winded, but unfazed.

"You didn't call after the meeting, and then someone sent me a text saying you were heading to England. Everyone knows you hate that place, so I knew something was wrong. Greg cleared it with our superiors and said that this officially counted as your overdue vacation," said Colonello.

"Overdue vacation my ass!" she said angrily.

"Who the hell is this?" demanded Renato.

"My idiot partner," said Lal growling.

Colonello grinned and gave a loose salute.

"The name's Colonello, kora!" he said grinning.

Renato glared at him.

"Since he's your student, you get to deal with him. Fon can keep an eye on you both," said Renato crossly. "And since her childhood home is a bust..."

"Who are you looking for anyway?" asked Colonello.

"The magical savior of England," said Lal annoyed.

"Didn't she disappear off the grid over eight years ago?" asked Colonello.

"How do you know about that?" demanded Lal.

"It's in our required history lessons. We have to know the 'who's who' of both the underworld and the magical one. There's a ton of speculation on where she is, since she's so famous and the fact she disappeared without a trace," said Colonello.

"In any case, since Surrey is a bust where should we look next?" asked Renato.

"We could try the Weasleys," said Viper. "Potter was a known associate with them."

"Where do they live?"

"You'd be better off trying the joke shop in Diagon, if it hasn't closed," said Lal bluntly.

"Joke shop?" Renato perked up.

"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes is still one of the best selling shops for prank items. Rumor has it Potter owns half the shop," said Viper.

"Potter gave her Triwizard winnings to them, from what I've heard," said Lal.

She didn't know she owned half the shop. Figures they forgot to tell her that.

"I'll go to the joke shop. Someone should try their home address just in case," said Renato.

"I'll be getting this idiot up to speed and holding down the base," said Lal immediately.

She had little doubt they would have wards on her magical signature to alert them if she stepped foot in the shop, and she still remembered that damn clock.

Renato gave her an annoyed look.

"You and that idiot are going to the Weasley home. Viper and Verde already did their investigating and need time to cool off," said Renato.

Oh hell no.

"Need I remind you that I'm the only source of information close to Potter that you have?" she snarled.

"And so far all you've done is reveal she had a less than happy childhood," said Renato. "Not to mention you dragged an unknown into this mid-mission!"

"I didn't even want to come here! Hell, I don't even need the money from these stupid things!" said Lal.

"How old is your family line?" asked Viper immediately. If Lal was a half blood and didn't need the money, then she must be from an old lineage.

"I have no idea, just that it's from one of the 'noble' houses that had a lot of cash that was never used. I'm the last of my line and I have no intention of sticking around," said Lal flatly. Viper perked up at that. "And I made a point of converting over half of what I had into gold bullion and then investing it, so now I have enough cash to retire now and live off of it without actually dipping into the rest of it."

Still this was going to suck, she just knew it.


It was exactly how she remembered it, even if she wished she could have stayed away.

"Wow! It's really weird!" said Colonello laughing.

Thank god she had the sense to hide her true self behind as many charms as she could, and hadn't used that damn name since. Starting over in the military had it's perks... including the fact that they provided basic necessities like food, water, and lodging. She had little need of anything else, and it meant she had more than enough money to live off of without having to bring the goblins in. And that they were coming at night, when everyone was asleep.

"Keep your voice down, idiot!" she said, kicking him. He hopped a bit before he looked at her oddly.

"I thought we were coming to ask questions?"

"The Weasleys were one of Potter's strongest supporters in the war. You really think they haven't tried to find her yet? Odds are they have no idea where she is, and I know for a fact they won't just lead perfect strangers to her. However, we can get in and examine the clock and get out," said Lal.

Colonello looked at her oddly.

Not much was really known about Lal Mirch before she joined COMSUBIN almost eight...years...ago.

Colonello looked at Lal, hard.

There were a few rare pictures of Potter after the war, since she disappeared so abruptly and completely.

The PTSD. The hatred of coming to England. The long process of acclimating her to his Flames so that she didn't have a panic attack. Her hatred of hospitals, and healers in general. The way she had an instinctive ability to lead and train rookies into fighters. Her insane pain tolerance.

All of the little pieces started sliding into together to paint a much bigger picture. If he was right, then Lal would be able to waltz past the wards on the place and would leave something behind.

He was really hoping he was wrong though. Because if his suspicions were correct then it was pretty damn obvious Lal knew exactly where Potter was... and they would never find her. She had suffered enough.

Seeing Lal walk into the house, pretend (and now that he was watching he could tell she was only giving the weird clock a cursory glance) to look at the spells on the thing, before giving the living room a half assed once over. She paused before they left... and left a bouquet of flowers, the number exactly matching the hands on that weird clock. It was tied with a ribbon that had orange, blue, purple and indigo all mixed together, with orange and blue being the dominant colors... and a cheerful little rain cloud with the cloud being purple and the rain being blue.

That cinched it. Especially since the flowers were lilacs and lilies.

It didn't surprise him in the least that she gave a completely true report...without telling them anything.