Chapter 19

Gina woke with a start. She shot up in the bed, her eyes flashing around the room as she readied magic to attack whatever being had dared to wake her. When she saw no one in the door she let her eyes scan the entire room.

She was the only one in it.

There wasn't even an unusual amount of noise. At least nothing that should have forced her awake in such an abrupt manner. She continued to look around the room, focusing to make sure she missed nothing, as she let her heart and her breathing slow. She didn't like the thought that something could have surprised her so easily. But it didn't appear that anything had. Whatever had forced her current predicament must have been wholly in her head.

She wasn't sure if that made it better or worse.

Gina let her body collapse back into the pillows. The slight damp sensation of evening sweat disgusted her. She dried everything with a stray thought and let her body sink back into the pillow. She closed her eyes for a moment, wondering if she should attempt to go back to sleep, or if, perhaps, it was time to be productive.

Being productive won. Because closing her eyes made her think of the dreams. And that was an annoyance all by itself.

It wasn't that dreaming of Martin Price was unusual. It happened far more often than anything else her subconscious could come up with. Not that she could really blame it. He had been a rather good looking man.

Although, interestingly, her fantasies seldom involved the Martin she spent her life with. No, in her mind he was still the young soldier, without any sort of limp or physical detriment. She suspected that made her more shallow than she cared to admit.

In her mind they encountered each other in the most random of circumstances. Sometimes they met like normal, in a small English village. He fell for her immediately and would constantly barrage her with comments of how perfect she was, how pretty she was, how talented she was, how everything she did was flawless.

Sometimes they met on the battlefield at Nuremgard. He was always a dashing young man in combat fatigues. He'd worked his way up to Captain, or Major, depending on her mood. He'd be the officer leading a company of their muggle detachment and he'd find himself smitten with the witch who'd somehow turned the awful fish and vegetables into a veritable feast. He'd steal her away from the crowds and praise her cooking, her efforts in the war, and her beauty. She'd let him have her, often in a pile of hay in a barn. After he'd tell her how she was the best he'd ever had, often while picking straw out of her hair.

Other times they'd be pressed together in one of the air raid shelters as the bombs went off above them, shaking the tunnels. Bits of falling debris would keep everyone in the shelter on edge. Often they could hear those around them crying as the world shook. Somehow they'd wind up pressed together, huddled against the mass of people as the tremors continued. He'd wind up holding her, whispering how brave and strong she was. Someow, after her wiggling against him for hours, they'd find a better outlet for their energies, doing all they could to keep quiet and be unnoticed by those around them.

Other times he'd simply be the new Muggle liaison to the Magical world. Her brain never quite came up with a good reason for such a position, but she'd be the one assigned to acclimate him to the new world. She'd show him all of it, every little bit of magical society, every spell she could do and every wonder she could think of. He'd praise her until it felt like it was all he could do. Each compliment shook her to her core. Sometimes she'd even be the virgin she claimed to be.

Those fantasies were all common. They'd accompanied her for decades, through all three of her lives. She was used to the familiarity of them. A part of her even enjoyed them. Even now there was something about his whispered compliments that hit differently than those who came before him. Even the memories often spurred her into all sorts of actions.

Gina sat up on the bed. A quick glance into the mirror showed her nightgown falling off of her shoulder. Martin would have liked that look, she thought. He'd have insisted on making the straps match, though. Sometimes she'd have stopped him. Most times she wouldn't.

She wondered if their activities were normal. Martin commented on them sometimes, but never quite as openly as she would have liked. Part of her still debated if he'd known she was lying to him.

He never asked her about other men. And she didn't feel much of a need to divulge any of her past actions to him. She let her own curiosity win out, though, and asked him for all sorts of details involving his first wife.

His embarrassment at such questions amused her. Which spurred her on because it made teasing him all the more entertaining. He'd turn all red and look nothing like the dashing soldier of her fantasies as she prodded him about his first marital life.

Part of her just liked to be able to talk about it with someone. To have the taboo nature of it pulled back. Even if he was far less receptive than she thought he should be. Still, she had the oddest urge that she needed to be better than the other woman and she wasn't quite sure how to do that without open communication.

It hadn't taken her very long into their marriage to realize that it was much easier to get the information she wanted during the act rather than before or after. Which was stupid to her, as it should have been easier to have an honest conversation while they were otherwise unoccupied, but she wouldn't pretend to understand the male mind.

Had they had more time together she suspected she'd have wormed more out of him. He'd seemed oddly obsessed with her body toward the end of it all, which she didn't understand but appreciated.

Through it all the only thing she'd managed to get him to ask was if she'd kiss another woman for him. He'd said it in such hushed tones she'd struggled to make him repeat it louder for her own amusement. She knew he meant far more than kiss, but it was too much fun to leave that unsaid.

She'd told him she would. It didn't seem like the sort of thing to get excited about. And it wasn't like she hadn't done it before. Although she'd never wanted to do it. But she wanted to be better than Margaret and if using some of her prodigious acting skills was what it took, she could accept that.

He'd let the conversation die after she'd answered the question. She hadn't felt the need to ask about what was going on in his head. She could imagine it easily enough.

Had he been more persistent she'd have done it. She knew that. And she was fairly sure he knew that. It would have likely been more entertaining before her pregnancy but that was neither here nor there.

Gina stopped her fantasies once more, shaking her head and actually getting out of bed. She conjured some clean clothing and peered toward the door of the room. Everything about this facility still felt too open for her.

And it wasn't like she had much of an issue with nudity. For someone her age she thought she was fairly open about her body. It wasn't like half the population didn't look more or less exactly the same as her.

But she still had no real interest in letting people peep on her. Having Wormtail see her naked at the point of her first resurrection was mortifying enough. She half expected he sold the memory to some of her followers.

She stepped into some fresh jeans, shimmying them up her legs and wondering why she felt the need to conform to the current fashion trend as she did so anyway. She tugged on a blouse and spent approximately four seconds making sure her hair looked moderately presentable. She didn't quite achieve the tousled bedroom look she'd seen on so many others in this era. She wondered how long it took them. And struggled to see the point of spending a great deal of time only to make her hair look messier.

Once she was finished she stepped out of the room and started down the halls. She intended to get some exploring in. And to a degree she did. But mostly she wandered toward the cafeteria from the evening before.

She conned herself into believing she wasn't that hungry, and that food could wait. Because, honestly, who couldn't stand to lose a few pounds? She turned down some of the hallways, exploring what appeared to be more bedrooms.

There wasn't much in the way of signs of life as she wandered down the halls. There were some signs of magic. But all that stuck out were the generic spells she'd expect to find on dormitory lodgings. Did it matter if people wanted their generic privacy charms? Did that mean anything to her?

She didn't think so. At least she didn't think it was the type of thing that little miss Potter would have wanted her to look for. She frowned at her own monologue. Not because she was annoyed at her own incorrect grammar. Honestly, she thought butchering the grammar surrounding the potential surname of Harry's paramor was an efficient way to slight her.

No, what gave her pause was the fact that it brought her dreams from the night before back to the forefront of her mind.

It was growing distractingly hard to get it out of her head. And she wasn't sure why it was being so persistent. Normally she didn't spare much thought for her dreams. There were nothing of importance, a mere moment of amusement triggered by her bored subconscious while she slept. There was no reason to think about them for any longer than that. So why was she?

She paced down a couple more of the halls, convinced that she was walking in circles. Or, squares, she supposed that was more accurate as everything seemed to have a ninety degree angle. Except the distances weren't equal. So she was walking in rectangles.

Really? This was what she decided to distract herself with? All because she didn't want to think too hard about a dream? She was being a coward. And Gina Darnell was not a coward. She'd decided that when she created her backstory. Well, when she co-opted her backstory from Priya Patel.

Of course that was what the problem was. Her subconscious could have done worse. But she certainly didn't want to think about the Healer like that.

It had started innocently enough. But didn't they always? If she was being honest she didn't pay attention, or remember, the early parts of dreams well enough to comment. But this one had started with her in bed.

It wasn't as fun as it seemed. She'd been sick. Very sick. Well, she was fine. But sick. Nothing that some soup, a Pepper-Up Potion and twenty hours of sleep wouldn't fix. Except, her husband chided her, she'd been saying that for five days.

Well, the solution was simple enough. She must have screwed up the recipe for the soup.

The potion, he'd corrected her.

No, she'd thought as she curled into the fetal position and tried to fall back asleep, that didn't sound right. She would never mess up a potion. She slept after. Except that she didn't because she followed a concerned Martin Price to the hospital. How he managed to find it, see it, and access it, didn't seem to be a concern for the dreamscape.

But how he did it didn't matter. He found a lime-robed Healer and convinced her to do a house call, because his wife was clearly unwell and had been for an extended period of time. He was wrong, of course, she was fine, which was why she was there. But again, the dreamscape didn't seem to care.

The healer woke her up, which was annoying. Weren't you supposed to let ill people sleep so their bodies could properly fight the sickness? That was what she remembered from the vague lessons on health she'd listened to.

The Healer ignored her protests. She wasn't interested in them. Granted. Gina wasn't even sure that they weren't entirely in her head. Either way, the dream Healer forced a pink potion down her throat and rolled her over on the bed.

Which was annoying, at least until she started massaging her back and shoulders. She didn't remember that being a specific treatment for anything illness related but she was willing to concede, at least in that moment, that she wasn't fully versed in all of the training practices employed by St. Mungo's hospital.

Eventually, the healer rolled her back over. Her hands sliding down Gina's legs, grabbing her ankles and resuming her massage. It was nice. Even if she didn't want to be touched. It continued, up her body. She meant to complain about it, especially as the healer straddled her. But it felt too nice so the words didn't come.

She did manage to turn her gaze to the side. She saw Martin watching the scene. He was relaxing in a chair, his eyes focused on her as the healer's hands traced over her ribs. She turned her attention back to the woman and finally noticed her appearance.

Priya Patel smiled at her. She let her hands slide up her body more as she leaned down over her. Her dark hair tickled against Gina's skin as the Healer also turned her gaze toward Martin.

Be a good girl and kiss her, her husband ordered. Gina glared at him. She didn't want to do that. There was no reason for her to do that. But Martin wasn't talking to her. Priya pressed her lips into Gina's neck, kissing in a small circle, letting each touch of her lips linger for a few moments.

Gina wanted to fight. Her first instinct was always to fight. And whatever potion she'd swallowed was making her feel better. But there was something so relaxing, so gentle, so comforting about the other woman's touch that she decided against it.

And then Harry Potter spoke up.

When he got there was a mystery to her. But there he was, sitting across from Martin, watching the scene with a look of bemused curiosity.

He gave the same command that Martin had. Although she wasn't sure just who he was giving it to. That little detail didn't matter. It wasn't like she was going to obey him. That was stupid. She would never do that.

The fact that she was thinking this while his fiance's lips pressed against her didn't seem to be relevant to her thought. Nor was the fact that she liked it. Enjoyment should always be second to principle. She knew that. She wasn't going to let anything change that. Even if Priya's hands were under her nightgown.

She didn't have enough bearing on time in her own head to notice how long it went on for. Long enough that they're clothing disappeared and long enough that she started to feel the need to return the other woman's affections.

It wasn't until Martin suggested joining them, and Harry agreed, that something shocked her enough to return to the world of the living. She'd like to think it was her own brain rejecting the actions that she so clearly had no interest in. But a small part of her wasn't willing to concede that point.

Either way, she'd thankfully woken up before her dreamself had done anything she'd regret. She wasn't going to debate the how or the why with herself, that seemed like an impressive waste of time.

Then again, she was currently wandering aimlessly down identical looking hallways looking for something out of place. Which probably wouldn't have been difficult, because anything at all appearing in said hallways was going to look out of place.

Still, she didn't think she was currently one to comment on wasting time. As she was far away from being anything that could be considered productive.

What bothered her was the fact that it kept coming right back to the front of her mind. Dreams didn't do that. Sure, they could linger for a bit here or there, or come up as a flash of memory. But as a whole, she almost always forgot about them within minutes of being out of bed.

But now, every time she let her mind slip the least bit off of her task at hand the images, and worse, the feel of it all flooded back to her. That last notion stuck out in her mind. She shouldn't have been able to feel her dreams. Must less have the memory of it flood back with such force.

Her stomach saved her from further complications related to the warmth slowly spreading through her. She continued through the identical halls, willing something to lead her to the cafeteria. It took maybe ten minutes of aimless wandering and turning until she found the familiar hall that housed her bedroom from the night before.

She'd been trying to map the layout in her mind while she walked and by all accounts it didn't make any sense for her to be back where she started. She tried to map it all out in her head once more, to backtrack through her own mind to build a model of it in her brain, but it wasn't making much of a difference.

She shouldn't have been back where she started. But that wasn't too much of a surprise. They'd obviously used magic in either the construction or the remodeling of their cave lair. And magic was capable of all sorts of things when it came to guiding people to or from specific areas. And most of those spells were known for how subtly they worked. Because, frankly, if you were setting it up, there was little reason that you'd want the target to know they were being deceived.

Gina was sure that if she focused on it long enough she could come up with exactly how they'd charmed it. She had a fair amount of experience with similar charms and was sure it wouldn't be too difficult to discern what they'd used. But the question that probed into her mind, aside from why she wasn't climbing back into bed to enjoy herself, was why she cared. Such charms were common in the magical world. Far more common than people seemed to realize. Hell, even St. Mungo's hospital used them to keep patients and visitors away from the staff areas.

She'd never bothered inspecting the magic used at the Ministry but she had a fairly good idea that there would be similar spells in place in that building. They were easy to set up, and frankly, worked very well for the little amount of effort they took. And had the added bonus of doing almost nothing to alert anyone of their presence.

She walked passed her room and continued down the hallway. She figured it would help her if she found out what they were using them for, exactly. But she suspected there was very little nefarious about it. If there was something specific they were trying to hide, well, having the spells in place would lead her where to look. And there were much easier ways to hide a specific object than by merely charming areas to encourage people to leave.

Frankly, that was a poor use of the spell. Guidance was fine but hiding, well, in the end, such charms served as a gigantic sign that something was there. And with enough focus and willpower they were easily enough to override.

So she figured their usage had to be for some common reason. Although she was having difficulty figuring out exactly what that reason was. She figured that the empty feeling emanating from her was distracting her brain from finding an obvious solution though. Food would at least alleviate some of that so she took the path that she knew would lead her to the mess.

No one was there when she arrived. She debated waiting for a few moments to see if anyone else showed up or to just start scavenging for food. Her stomach won out. She walked toward the kitchen annex and started to look for food. There wasn't as much of it as she would have expected. She vaguely recalled them saying the boss of their operation was due back with more soon. Judging by the stocks they had, it had better be within a day or two.

She pulled out a bunch of options as she dug through the stocks. Part of her felt bad about the whole situation. Like she shouldn't just start eating their food. That felt incredibly rude. But she was starving.

She settled on two eggs and a couple of thin slices of bread. She could make due with that. Hell, there were days during rationing when she ate less. Then again, that was usually only on the days she was too lazy to go to the magical grocer and made due with the Muggle one.

She found a frying pan and some utensils and moved over toward the burners. She cracked the eggs and started to scramble them. Once they were about half done she started toasting the bread as well. She let the food cook as she peered around for salt and pepper.

"What are you doing?" a woman asked from the entrance to the cafeteria.

"Making eggs," Gina said, forcing herself to smile. She hated it, but she knew that it would only benefit her to be friendly with these people.

"We were saving those eggs," the woman said.

"I'm sorry I didn't know. Jochen made it seem like the food was more or less fair game. I only took two, there's still over a dozen left," Gina said, figuring apologetic ignorance was the best way through the situation.

"It's fine," the woman said, seeming to soften slightly. "Jochen is too liberal with the food."

"It's Audrey, right?" Gina said. She was drawing a blank on the woman's name, but was pretty sure she got the first letter right.

"Astrid," the woman corrected.

"Oh, right, sorry," Gina frowned.

"It's fine," the woman repeated. She walked over toward the kitchen area and peered down at the eggs. "Didn't you mention last night you were competent at cooking?"

"I mean, I am. But I didn't want to put much effort into breakfast this morning. I was tired," she used the best excuse she could think of. Astrid nodded.

"Jochen again?" she asked.

"What?" Gina blinked in confusion as she resumed scrambling her eggs.

"Jochen can have that effect on people. I'm assuming you had him last night?" Astrid asked. She started to gather up some cooking supplies as she spoke. It took Gina a few moments to figure out what the woman was implying.

"I did not," she said.

"Really?" Astrid managed to look both surprised and impressed. "Most girls don't give him that hard of a time if he's interested."

"I am not interested in that," Gina said. She felt her blush on her cheeks as her face warmed at her own words.

"Really?" Astrid asked, her brows raised.

"Really," Gina affirmed, wondering where this conversation was going.

"Anything else catch your eye?" she asked.

"I've been here for like twelve hours, why does that matter?" Gina asked. She finished her eggs and toast and plated it before gesturing to the food. "Did you want any?"

"No thanks," Astrid said. "And we're very open here."

"The lack of doors on the bedrooms seemed a bit much," Gina countered.

"We're very open here," Astrid repeated with a slight smirk. Gina rolled her eyes and started on her breakfast.

"Yes I gathered that," she said. She peered around the counter, knowing the eggs were missing something.

"Salt is in that cabinet," Astrid said.

"Thanks," Gina said. She retrieved it and applied it liberally to her eggs, making them almost palatable.

Astrid took out the rest of the eggs and a large assortment of vegetables that Gina hadn't noticed and started preparing a meal.

"So, not interested in Jochen then?" Astrid asked again as Gina worked her way for her food. She took a moment to swallow the bite of toast before formulating a response.

"None," she said.

"Do you swing the other way?" she asked. Gina raised her eyebrows and took another bite of eggs.

"Is that an appropriate question?" Gina asked.

"We're very open here," Astrid repeated. Gina couldn't help but wonder if there was some compulsion forcing them to that answer.

"So you've said," Gina commented. She finished her breakfast before Astrid finished cutting the vegetables for whatever she was going to make. She cleaned off her plate and silverware with magic and put them back where she found them.

"And it's nothing to be ashamed of. Sex is sex. There needn't be anything more to it than that. It is a very pleasant way to begin a day, end a day, or even during a small break in the day. Variety is the spice of life, afterall. And, as I said-"

"You're very open here," Gina finished. Astrid smiled at her.

"Yes. Would you be willing to help with breakfast?" she asked.

"Sure," Gina said. She had no interest in doing it and thought she'd be better served by wandering randomly around the cavern. But she knew she needed to ingratiate herself to these people and the easiest way to do it would be to help out here or there.

"There should be some ham in the fridge," she said, nodding toward an icebox underneath one of the counters. "I was planning on omelets."

"I can dice that," Gina said. She walked over toward the refrigerator and rummaged through it. She found the ham readily enough. There wasn't a whole lot of food left inside. "What about those sausages? They'd make a nice side."

"Those are the boss's," Astrid said. "Some type of special meat from Vienna."

"Good thing I didn't fry them up with my eggs," Gina said. She brought the ham back over toward the counter. Astrid took it from her, which annoyed her, and portioned it out. She gave the ham back to Gina and nodded toward the refrigerator. She returned it before starting to dice it into smaller pieces to work well in an omelet.

"Someone waiting for you back in England, then?" she asked. "Your loyalty is admirable if a little silly."

"I live in Japan, actually," Gina said. It was surprising how easily the fake backstory came to mind.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yeah. Moved there after school. I was always fascinated by the culture and I had some interesting job offers there, which seemed like a fun idea at the time," Gina said with a shrug of her shoulders. She finished with the ham and took a couple of onions from Astrid's stack of vegetables and started julienning them. She then spun the remains around and chopped them into little pieces.

"And now you regret it?" Astrid asked.

"Not at all," Gina said. "It was a great decision. I've learned a lot and got a chance to experience the world."

"Except now you're in Iran," Astrid said. "Which is far from Japan and not a spot that western women tend to vacation in."

"I like trekking. There's great trekking in Iran. As long as you're not obnoxious the locals mostly leave you alone. It's not that hard to not become an international incident," Gina shrugged her shoulders.

"Still, seemed like there would be better options closer to Japan," the woman said.

"I've done most of Australia and Nepal," Gina said. "And I prefer Nepal in April or May anyway. Thought about Pakistan or India but wanted something a little more different."

"Makes sense," Astrid answered. She took all of the chopped food and started making a gigantic omelet. Gina noticed that a few of her companions were starting to filter into the cafeteria. They took seats at the tables and chatted quietly while Astrid cooked.

"It really was pretty enjoyable too. Good scenery and trails. It didn't become anything unusual until I hit that strange town," Gina explained. "That was a bit of an eye-opener."

"I bet," Astrid said. She hummed as she made the eggs. She changed the topic when she continued, which only served to make Gina think her cover story was incredibly boring. "So no nice young man waiting for you back in Japan then?"

"Not at the moment," Gina answered.

"Or woman?" Astrid asked.

"Not one of those either," Gina answered. She felt herself blush. She really wanted this conversation to end but wasn't sure how to do so without being incredibly rude. And given that an audience was starting to gather that seemed like a stupid idea.

"That's a shame," the woman said. "You do seem incredibly tense. You could use some physical comfort."

"I guess," Gina said. She looked away from the woman and willed the breakfast to finish.

"I'm an excellent masseuse if you're interested. I could make some free time tonight," she continued as she started to plate the eggs. People seemed to sense that the food was done and were making their way up to the kitchen portion of the room as Astrid divided up the plates.

"I'll keep that in mind," Gina said.

"Are you traumatizing the poor girl?" Jochen asked as he picked up his food.

"Look at her," Astrid scoffed. Gina brushed her hair out of her face and wondered if she looked that bad.

"She's looked a little tense since I met her," Jochen shrugged. "I expect that's just how she looks."

"I can fix that," Astrid said.

"Maybe ease her into it rather than asking if she wants to fuck," Jochen laughed. Astrid glared at him.

"I asked if she wanted a massage."

"Is there a difference with you?"

"Oh go eat your eggs," Astrid said. Gina used his departure as an excuse to leave as well. She intended to get back to exploring the cavern. But Jochen coerced her over to a table with a few others and she found herself roped into the conversation.

It was all inane. There were some questions about who she was and what she did and why she was there. She kept the answers vague, repeating the same story she'd given to Astrid. It wasn't hard to keep track of it all. Especially when she managed one or two word answers most of the time. But it was still a bit obnoxious in general, given that she didn't see much point to the socializing.

Part of her knew that she should be using it to her advantage. She still didn't know what they were attempting here. And asking innocently probing questions would be a very easy way to try to get more information. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. She'd never been the best at simple conversation like that. She assumed that whatever she did end up asking would only send up red flags as to why she was there.

And, honestly, she was starting to question it from their perspective. They'd been, she winced at the thought, nothing but open since she'd arrived. Part of her wondered if it was purely because she was reasonably attractive, given that two of them seemed to be flirting with her already. But another part of her wondered if there was something more nefarious to it. Jochen's interest certainly piqued when she'd put on a minor display of magic. Was there perhaps something obvious she was missing?

She hated that thought. She'd paid attention. She'd watched. She'd observed. She knew if she'd missed anything it hadn't been obvious. And there was no shame in that. But she was better than that. She was better than they were. She should be able to figure this out. She was going to figure this out.

Her first big break came when Jochen finished his breakfast and asked if she wanted to see their work. There were some mutterings from his companions as to whether or not it was a good idea to let her see anything before the Boss returned.

Jochen overruled their concerns and led her out of the room. A few of the others followed, lagging a fair distance behind them as Jochen walked her through the cavern. He didn't say anything as they walked and she felt no real need for conversation either.

He led her to a blank wall that disappeared with a wave of his hand. The magic was exceptionally well hidden, worked in with the climate charms on the cavern. Still, She would have noticed it, she thought, if she'd looked in this hallway.

It led to a series of stairs descending down into a dark cavern. Torches lit as Jochen walked down the stairs. They remained silent as she felt the approaching warmth of magic. It seemed to needle into her head with each step. A calm feeling spread through her as she approached, like the magic was massaging her worries away. She struggled to focus against it.

Eventually the staircase gave way into a darkened room. A small font rested in the middle of it, water bubbling up into the air and falling back down into a canal around it. She examined the structure from afar. It must have provided all of the water to the cavern but she sensed very little special from it.

"Water?" she asked.

"Magical water," Jochen answered.

"Water is water," Gina countered.

"We thought that too until we found this," he said. "It's imbued with something. It feels almost like pure power. We're experimenting with it to see what it can do."

"Showering in it doesn't seem to be the safest way to do said experiments," Gina countered. "And would have been nice to know before I did so."

"Oh it's fine we've been doing it for weeks," Jochen smiled at her. "And we've all grown from it."

"Have you?" she asked, walking up to the font and peering down at where the water pooled out of it. It all seemed to flow toward an underground cistern. She could see magical pipes ringing through the cave. This operation was far more complex than she'd expected.

"Yes. You can feel it once you know what to look for," he said with a smile. "It will help us all become great."

"I think that's enough for now," Anna said from behind them. She walked into the cavern as well and pulled Gina away from the water. She resisted the urge to hex her. This was obviously why they were here, and she knew how to find it. They were suddenly worthless to her. She doubted they knew how expendable they were. Perhaps Jochen did. He'd at least seen her use magic.

"Oh it's fine Anna," Jochen said.

"You should have waited until the Boss returned," Anna repeated the complaint from the others. "But even barring that I'm not going to let her contaminate it before she's at least read our research and notes on it. Come."

"Fine," Gina shrugged. She shrugged her hand out of Anna's grip, slightly perturbed by how nice holding a hand felt. She followed the woman out of the cavern and up to a smaller office area she'd noticed the night before.

The rest of the day passed in what could only be described as unbearable tedium. It only took her a couple of moments to realize that their work, despite their supposed weeks of efforts, was substandard at best. Had Death Eaters accomplished as little as they had in as long as they'd been there she would have had fewer followers.

Still, she did her part of looking like an intrigued student and did her best to bite her tongue at every point where they'd made an obvious error. By lunch she was astonishingly bored. She flipped through their notes, focusing more on trying to put a face to each little bit of handwriting.

The quality of their work declined rapidly after the first week. The notes seemed rushed, the handwriting sloppier. And every few pages seemed to have some sort of refuse stained into them. She wondered just what could make stains like that when she caught Astrid and Jochen giggling as they ran by in the hallway.

The thought made her gag so she quickly paged to something cleaner looking. Their work was largely dissecting what was in the water, trying to figure out how magic got into the water, and a very little bit, at least that they showed her, of debating if they could imbue it with something more powerful.

She'd realized their works were nothing on par with what she'd be able to do well before dinner rolled around. Anna dragged her from the study and back into the cafeteria as she pondered how much more interesting Harry and Priya's research had been by comparison. Granted, she thought she could have done that better as well. But they'd at least accomplished something and formulated a valid theory. What she was reading here was just dull.

Gina didn't offer to help with dinner. She picked at the chicken she was served. It was fine but nothing worth remembering. The rest of them spent the evening drinking and dividing up into breeding pairs. Although she noticed that most of the pairs lacked the necessary equipment for conception.

Astrid stayed near her most of the meal, eyeing her out of the side of her eyes as Gina ate. In the end, she played at being demure and took her up on the offer of a massage. Figuring that, at the very least, it gave her an alibi.

The woman led her from the dining hall and moved her through the hallways until she wound up in a disheveled looking bedroom. She offered her a fluffy white towel and told her to get comfortable as she dug through a chest at the end of the bed. Gina paused but settled on her underwear, wrapping the towel around herself when she finished. The woman had her lay on the bed on her stomach and told her to relax.

Which was stupid, Gina thought, the massage was supposed to relax her. She shouldn't have to do it herself. Still she closed her eyes and did her best to ignore the fact that the woman unhooked her bra and started applying lotion all over her body.

It wasn't bad. But she still didn't quite get the appeal of it. Astrid's touch was too gentle to make her feel much of anything. The woman tried to chat as she worked, but Gina was unresponsive.

After a half hour or so the woman leaned over her, moved her hair out of the way, and kissed her neck. Gina tensed as Astrid whispered for her to roll over. She obeyed, feeling an odd and unusual urge to be a good girl. She kept her eyes closed as the woman worked on her front.

She was thorough. Gina didn't like it. Her hands touched every inch of her upper body, which betrayed her by reacting, by telling her brain she wanted more. Her brain struggled with those impulses, knowing full well that she did not want more.

And then Astrid shifted to her feet, her ankles, and slowly up her calves and thighs. It was painstakingly slow and annoyingly gentle. She wanted the woman to actually apply some pressure. Except for the fact that she did not want to be touched at all.

And then Astrid's hands were back around her ribs, and then her stomach, and then toying with the waist of her panties. A moment later they slipped inside, brushing down over her. And in that moment Gina Darnell died and Emily Price lived.

"No," she said. Astrid didn't respond. She didn't move at all. Emily opened her eyes and stared at the frozen woman. She took her hand and removed it from her underwear. The frozen woman's eyes flickered in fear as she tried to fight against the enchantment.

This had always been her plan. A few privacy charms and the illusion that she was giving in would buy her some unimpeded time in the cavern. She dressed slowly, cursing herself for letting it go as far as it did and watching the woman as she did so.

Her face was blue by the time Emily had her clothing back on. She frowned at that as she made to exit the room. In the past she would have left her to die without issue. The woman had assaulted her and her death meant nothing.

Except she knew that wasn't true. She'd played the willing participant enough. Granted, she'd done the same with the men in her youth. But this still felt different. It didn't take her long to figure out why.

She was the one using the woman. She'd abused her longing and her sexuality in order to get to where she was. The woman probably wouldn't have pressed her had she merely said no. And killing her for that felt petty.

She snapped Priya's silver watch back onto her wrist as she released the binding, Astrid gasped for air as the color returned to her face. She went to say something, to question the woman before her, but a red stunning spell hit her in the chest. She cast a series of privacy charms just in case anyone got curious or, she scoffed, decided to join in, and then she went on her way.

It only took her a few minutes to find the cavern again. The wall was less cooperative than it had been for Jochen, but, well, she took care of it with as little debris as possible and made her way down to the font.

No one was there. But she'd expected that. She examined it from every angle, poking at it with magic and examining every inch of it. She didn't notice much that wasn't in their research. The thought that they may have been right was disappointing to her.

She focused her energy on the font and tried to force it to reveal any magical secrets. Again, nothing of particular importance rose to the surface. She found herself growing annoyed. She had to remind herself that it was okay to not know everything. And she had an advantage.

She took out the charmed notebook and started to sketch the font. She wasn't an artist by any means but she enjoyed putting the pencil to the paper and making the shape appear. She found herself proud that she didn't even have to use magic to do so.

It was when she got to the base that she finally noticed something was wrong. The logistics of how water was getting to the font didn't make any sense. She peered at it for a few moments before shutting the notebook and cursing herself for not noticing it earlier.

And then she sensed the charm that was telling her she shouldn't be noticing it at all. She focused through the impulse and let her mind form a logical pathway for the water. It led to the wall at the far end of the room.

Emily put her hand against the wall half expecting it to be illusionary as she sensed magic behind it. There wasn't any obvious mechanism to open the way. Well, aside from the one she decided to use.

Honestly, she was showing off a bit by making the blasting curse shape exactly that of her own body. But she walked through the opening with a smirk and peered around the room.

It was smaller, a couple of desks in one corner were littered with papers. There was an overly packed bookcase and a few torches on the wall lit the area.

But what drew her attention immediately was the floating pink gem in the center of the room. Power pulsed through it. And as soon as she looked at it she felt the warm sensation of arousal pulse through her, matching the rhythm of the gem.

She nearly stumbled as it hit her, making a mental note to never, under any circumstance, tell Harry Potter what nearly brought her to her knees in the cavern. The assault continued as she tried to walk toward it. She felt betrayed by her body as it reacted to each pulse. Each step grew more difficult as her mind flooded with thoughts of what she should do right there on the cavern floor.

Except, damn it, she was Lord Voldemort and she was not going to be bested by some orgasm-inducing jewel. She steeled herself against it and with a wholly unnecessary shout of anger forced all of those feelings away in a burst of a nullification spell.

The gem winked out as her magic enveloped it. She took a moment to steady herself before she approached the jewel. She didn't touch it. She didn't want to risk direct contact as of yet. She knew she'd have to take it from the cavern. The feel of the magic from it was familiar to her. And with the realization things started to filter into place.

The magic from the gem felt almost exactly like the magic she'd felt in the town. She stared at and watched as water dripped from the ceiling, flashing over the gem, and then turning into a torrent that flooded out into the previous room.

The previous room where they were investigating a font that imbued water with magical properties. Suddenly the actions of the researchers made even more sense to her. Very open indeed, she chuckled. Or very weak minded.

But how did that affect the town? Was the water filtering down into the town? Or had the Muggle somehow gained possession of the gem? Neither thought filled her with much hope. If the font was powerful enough to imbue a Muggle with the magical power from the gem. Well, that was magic she'd never encountered before. And that was something she would certainly need to discuss with Harry and Priya.

"Told you she was clever, Boss," Jochen said from behind her. She spun around, wand drawn, and stared at the German. A door had formed about ten feet away from the one she'd blown into the wall. Jochen stood in the room with her while another blonde man leaned against the doorframe.

Emily's heart stopped. She recognized him immediately. Her blood cooled, any forced arousal from the gem replaced by a sickly empty feeling that she detested more than anything she'd ever encountered.

Fear.

The last time she'd seen the face of the man before her, he'd been drowning her with conjured water.

"And strong," Gellert Grindelwald said with a lazy yawn. "But it still could have waited until morning."

"She's going to take the gem and flee," Jochen said. "And I figured we didn't want that."

"She's not strong enough to remove the gem," Grindelwald said. Emily shifted to put the gem between them, hoping it would buy her some time.

"She took out the Muggle in town without any effort," Jochen said.

"And she disabled Astrid without a trace. Yes, I know. That says more about you than it does her, Jochen," Grindelwald said.

Emily focused on the gem, cursing herself for not thinking to see what it would take to remove it earlier. She should have grabbed it and ran and figured out the rest later.

"She could be a valuable asset," Jochen said. Grindelwald pushed himself from the wall and walked into the room. He looked younger than even when she'd fought him the last time. He shifted around the gem, making it so that she couldn't put both of them between it and her, and peered at her.

"Gina Darnell, you said it was?" he asked Jochen.

"That's what she told me," Jochen said. "She works for a paper in Japan. No doubt investigating those pesky rumors. Her story all checked out. I spoke with her boss."

"Is that why you're here?" Grindelwald said. Magic joined his words, a compulsion to tell the truth searing through her brain.

"More or less," Emily said, not trusting herself with specifics in the moment. She kept her wand in her hand and focused on the gem.

"Well, you've found us," Grindelwald said. "So now you're stuck here. Jochen is correct, you are pretty and clever. Which could be useful. But if not, we can certainly find other uses for your body."

"Gross," Emily said.

"Perhaps if you understood the full capabilities of that font you wouldn't think so," Grindelwald said. He continued to circle her. She knew she only had moments of a defensible position left.

"I doubt it," Emily said.

"So what are you going to do?" he commanded. Again, the magic in his voice compelled her to tell the truth but this time it also filled her with the urge to obey.

Fuck that, she thought. Lord Voldemort doesn't obey anyone. So instead, she answered his question.

"I'm going to take the gem. Then I'm going to kill both of you. And then I'm going to go and find the oldest whisky I can and drink the entire bottle," Emily said. Grindelwald laughed.

"Cheeky girl, I like that. You'll be fun to break," Grindelwald said. "If you do win, Jochen hides a seventy-five year old bottle in his room."

"Hey!" Jochen scoffed.

"Good to know," Emily smiled. She shot her hand out toward the gem, forcing her power toward it and pulling at it with the strongest summoning charm she could manage. For a moment, nothing happened and the Germans just stared at her, amusement flashing in her eyes.

And then it shifted and started toward, moving as if it was navigating through molasses but moving nonetheless her and their expressions changed to fury in an instant.

"Boss!" Jochen yelled. Emily slashed her wand toward him, losing a condensed shockwave toward him. It hit him as he was drawing his wand. She heard his ribs break as he screamed in pain and flew backwards through the doorway. Grindelwald wasn't phased.

"Impressive, girl. But again, it's more his defeat than your victory," Grindelwald said. He drew a wand and leveled it on her.

"That's the same thing," she shrugged. The gem was still making its way toward her.

"I'll give you one last chance to surrender. You do seem powerful. And you did just best my most capable Lieutenant. I reward loyalty and skill," Grindelwald said. "You must know that some young girl has no chance against Gellert Grindelwald."

"Let's find out, Grandpa," Emily said. Grindelwald sighed, seeming disappointed, but she felt his magic rise and then he slashed his wand at her at the same moment she threw another burst of energy toward him.

The room shook and dust kicked up as the spell collided. The force of it knocked Emily back a few feet and threw off her concentration. She heard the pink gem fall, her eyes flashing toward where it should be on the ground. As the dust cleared she saw Grindelwald moved to continue to flank her. She rushed toward the gem as a barrage of spells assaulted her.

She was nearly to it as a version of her own shockwave spread toward her. She threw up a shield and glowered at him. But she didn't have enough time to be put out about it as three, four, five, six, spells hit her shield, shattering it as she spun around to face him once more.

"Impressive but ineffective," he said. He continued to hurl spells at her while he spoke. Emily glared back. She'd never been much of a talker while fighting and saw no reason to change that now.

She countered his spells, picking them out of the air she tried to get to the gem. It wasn't until she slipped up and one nearly broke through her defense that she decided perhaps it was time to focus on Grindelwald.

She answered his onslaughts with her own, not bothering with specific magic as she threw power at him. He shielded and countered as effectively as she did as they circled in the room.

Power continued to rise in him as they fought; she focused against it and threw more and more magic at him as they danced in a circle in the small cavern. She cursed under her breath as her onslaught continued to be ineffective.

She made the first mistake. She let her focus waver as she noticed the gem. He was closer to it than she was so she turned her magic on it, trying to blast it to another part of the gem, and that instant was all it took for a blast of power to knock her off her feet. She got the shield up before his next spell hit, but the force of it pressed her back into the wall of the cavern.

"You seem familiar," he said, pausing for a moment to examine her. He was breathing hard, but then again, so was she. She only glared back at him and his assault resumed in earnest.

They went for ten or so more minutes, a constant barrage of spell battering each other. Nothing she seemed to do did anything to deter him. Not that he was faring much better against her. But he had one annoying advantage she didn't. He had backup.

She could hear voices yelling as they approached. She could sense their magic coming. Grindelwald turned toward the noise, frowning at it. She suspected he didn't want them to see him failing to stop a little girl.

She capitalized on his distraction by throwing a series of shockwaves at him, letting them destroy the room to create more chaos. He responded with a blast of air of his own, pressing her back into the wall as it rushed straight through her shield. She rolled away from another spell and countered a third as Anna led the rest of researchers into the chamber. Grindelwald lowered his wand and peered at them, then back at her.

"You've proven yourself rather capable, Gina Darnell," Grindelwald said. "Killing you would be a waste but you can't hope to prevail against all of us. This is over."

"Not yet," Emily scoffed as she shifted on her feet. She didn't think the added numbers would benefit him as much as he did. But she was stuck in a small cavern and they would be able to swarm her. And all it would take would be one or two distractions and a lucky shot to put her in a position she didn't want to be in. The risk wouldn't have bothered her decades ago. But now it seemed futile. But, then again, he wasn't the only one who had backup.

She reached toward her wrist, the silver watch glinting in the firelight as she pressed the button on the side.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading and reviewing, I do appreciate it. If you'd like to support me further I am available on PAT RE ON at TE7writes. There are two additional chapters of CTS available there as well as the first three chapters of my next Harry/Daphne fic.

Thanks for reading.