Unofficial Portkey Archive

Prince of The Dark Triangle

Details, descriptions, items and characters of the Harry Potter series are the sole property of J.K.Rowling, et al and used only within the context of this story and my not be otherwise reprinted, sold, or used for any other purpose. Original characters and plot are mine and my not be used in any other {for profit} form without permission…

Chapter 10

Byron Humbolt arrived at the Morrison fifteen minutes early as he did every day. At 2:00 a.m. he sat in the kitchen and ate his ham and Swiss on rye, a bag of corn chips and a bottle of water then went back on the clock at 2:15.

When shift change came around he realized was a bit hungrier than usual so he decided to go to the little diner down the street for a spot of breakfast. He found himself in the little café at least three times a week.

Leslie Fisher worked there. She was an early twenty-something cutie he would love to go out with but he knew she had a boyfriend who played in a band that she was completely mad about so he was content to just make pleasant conversation with her. It was better than going home to an empty flat.

He had thought about getting a cat once but the landlord, and old grouchy bastard, put the nix on that real quick.

"Bloody cats piss all over everything…No cats!"

He punched out and headed for the front entrance as usual. When he came out he paused to take in the crush of people all zipping this way and that going to work and school in a hurry. It was going to be a rather pleasant day it seemed.

Well, that's something I guess. Maybe I'll go to Hyde Park this afternoon…

As he came down the steps and turned to blend in with the rush something caught his attention out of the far left corner of his eye.

When he looked up he noticed something very strange.

Coming out of the sky at an angle toward the front of the bank across the street were five billowing black streams of smoke.

The first things that struck him was that they were some kind of air-to-ground ordinance like missiles or something but as he continued to watch his rather well-trained observation took over and he reconsidered before he dove for the sidewalk like an idiot.

The…whatever the hell they were…were moving too slowly to be rocket propelled or engine-driven missiles and the smoke…The smoke, while billowing out behind whatever it was seemed to dissipate just behind the object.

If it was some kind of burning propellant or an engine burning fuel the smoke wouldn't disappear like that…would it? The other thing that struck him as odd was the fact that there was no noise associated with these things and when he looked around he seemed to be one of the very few who even noticed these things at all! Of course everyone seemed to be on their cell phones or sending texts or surfing the web as they walked past.

Really freakin' bizarre!

Seconds later the five black smoking things landed in front of the entrance to the bank across the street. As soon as the smoke cleared the shapes of five human-looking men made a bee-line to the front entrance of the unopened bank. They were all dressed in black clothing from head to toe and had some kind of strange masks over their faces. The masks looked like the kind fencers used in sword fighting but not quite as bulky.

He instantly recognized a standard 2 by 2 cover while the odd man out headed for the door in the middle of the formation.

Byron was already moving. He tried to cut straight through the rush but found the going difficult so he ran with the flow and ended up a half block down to the right of the front of the building across the street.

When he finally managed to make the curb he darted straight across dodging cars, buses and taxis all honking and tapping their breaks so not to run over the idiot playing a real live human version of the old video game Frogger.

Just as he was about to step up onto the curb on the other side he heard the sound of screeching tires. A taxi would have cut his legs right out from under him but he vaulted the car just in time to slide across a corner of the hood. As he was landing he pulled his Sig 226 from his holster and racked the slide to chamber a round, his thumb automatically clicking the safety on.

First rule of law enforcement side arm safety…never keep the hammer down on a loaded round!

He had been taught by some old school veterans so he was inclined to listen.

Apparently the cabby had seen the gun so he just hit the gas and cleared out.

Byron was completely focused on the front of the bank. It absolutely amazed him no-one else seemed to notice what the hell was going on. These guys were clearly trying to get into the bank before it was open for some reason so that in itself constituted B&E.

When he cleared the majority of the passing pedestrians he squatted down into a standard low ready position and took his pistol up in a two handed grip like he was trained to do and took aim at center mass on the perp at the door keeping both eyes open using his peripheral vision to keep tabs on the other four.

Make yourself as small a target as possible…

What he had not counted on was what happened next…and it blew out just about every fuse in his logical mind…

"Put your weapons on the ground, place your hands in the air where I can see them, lay down with arms stretched out in front of you NOW! DO IT NOW!"

He kept talking repeating the instructions, yelling commands to try and disorient them and or scare them into compliance but it didn't work. He also kept moving, creeping closer to the front of the bank trying not to give them a static target but a sudden and rather foolish thought ran through his mind as he was trying to get them to surrender…

One of me…five of them…no cover! Well done asshole! Like shooting at a freakin' lame duck on a pond!

He clicked his safety off and slipped the tip of his finger into the trigger guard of his semi-automatic. He started to sweat. He was still yelling commands.

He suddenly noticed none of them seemed to be carrying weapons that he could see. They all had short lengths of some kind of stick in their hands.

When the man in the center at the door turned slightly something very strange happened. He seemed to flick the short stick at him. In the next second a flash of what appeared to be green light was headed right for his chest.

Before Byron could react a hand grabbed the right shoulder of his uniform shirt and dumped him on his back in one swift and powerful pull.

He watched as the jet of green light shot up and off to the left as if deflected by an invisible shield.

Suddenly he was looking up at her!

"Stay down!" she yelled and turned her attention back toward the front of the bank.

She was holding her own stick. He watched as she flipped her stick out in front of her and a crack sounded followed immediately by a jet of red light that hit where one of the black clad figures was standing. When the light hit him he was thrown back against the marble façade of the bank and crumpled into a heap.

In the next second all hell broke loose as jets of different color light started flying in every direction.

Others seemed to have appeared on his side of the fray and they began battling with the four remaining black clad bad guys…or who he thought were the bad guys anyway. His mind was becoming a bit overwhelmed by it all.

He couldn't seem to take his eyes off of the woman. She was wearing a dark gray tight fitting turtle-neck sweater and blue jeans that fit her perfect body like a second skin. She looked angry and very determined.

What the hell are you doing you idiot! You're in the middle of a freakin' GUN FIGHT!"

…but it really wasn't…there were no guns! Just strange sticks that emitted a strange light that sounded like electric currants short circuiting or shorting out. The hissing and popping and cracking was loud.

"Get him out of here NOW!" she yelled at someone just as the concrete inches from his left shoulder exploded peppering his body with what felt like shrapnel. He knew what that felt like all too well.

"We're not leaving you," someone screamed above the din of the fracas.

"Damn it!" she yelled.

The next thing Byron knew a paper box slid directly in front of him an instant before it exploded. Hundreds of pages of the London Times were blown into the air like confetti but the pages seemed to catch fire and wink out of existence all at once.

Ok…this shit is way beyond freaky now!

It was time to do something…

He lifted up just enough to see the guy still standing in the doorway of the bank. Apparently this guy was pretty good with his stick thing because he was deflecting almost everything they were throwing at him while returning his own fire. Byron lifted his pistol and took aim on the guy's center mass, positioning the front dot sight right in the saddle of the rear dove tail…

Deflect this asshole!

POP! POP!

He double tapped the perp and put two shots right in his chest. The guy dumped right were he stood and didn't move but when Byron went to target the next guy he realized the slide had locked back on his pistol.

It locked out! Why? The magazine is full! 13 rounds of 40 caliber hollow-point death! What-the-hell!

Before he could react the concrete and what was left of the paper box seemed to erupt around him. He had to move but before he could he felt a sudden strange wave of something come over him and he was frozen where he sat.

He saw a figure step in front of him, then another. They were both battling with the three remaining thugs furiously when another one of them was hit. He spun in a circle but stayed on his feet. He kept fighting.

When Byron's eyes slid to his right he saw, almost like it was in slow motion, a green jet of light hit the women somewhere near her left shoulder glancing off at an angle toward the sky but it had thrown her backwards off her feet and she lay unmoving.

In a flash three more were in front of her protecting her. It was then something shifted inside him.

A sudden and blinding rage swept through him unlike anything he had ever felt before.

I couldn't save her! My fucking gun jammed! I COULDN"T SAVE HER! NOOO!"

He felt a rush of heat that started somewhere near his navel and spread outward to cover his whole body. He watched through eyes tinged with a red haze as another one of the black clad goons went behind one of the huge marble pillars at the bank entrance.

Byron's body seemed to vibrate with raw power and he suddenly realized he wanted all those bastards to fucking die!

>^..^<

Tobias deflected as many of the curses as he could trying to give his other team members a chance to finish this confrontation. It seemed like they had been going at it for at least an hour but he knew it had only been a few minutes.

These guys were not going without a fight so they had to proceed with caution. The Director told them they needed to try and take at least one alive if possible but it wasn't looking good.

When the Muggle capped off the guy at the door the other C.D.T. thugs freaked and started just throwing random curses everywhere. They were spending so much time just protecting the Muggle pedestrians they were having a hard time returning fire.

When he saw the Director go down that was it!

Play time is OVER!

He and two others apparated to cover Hermione while Saphron and Marcus covered the Muggle. In the next moment one of the strangest things he had ever seen happened and that's saying something for a Wizard!

A vehicle parked at the curb behind them started to shake and shudder. It then lifted off its wheels about 4 feet in the air and began spinning slowly as it started moving toward the front of the bank building.

In the next half-second it was headed straight for Saphron and Marcus. He screamed for them to get down.

When the two turned they had just enough time to throw themselves flat on the sidewalk as the car skimmed right over the top of them and the now petrified Muggle. They didn't want him shooting at the wrong side.

When the car passed it picked up speed and slammed top first into two of the remaining thugs and crushed them like ants into the side of the bank building, part of the car bending like liquid around one of the big marble pillars next to the entrance.

The sound of bending and warping metal and other parts of the car exploding off it in all directions was sickening. They couldn't even see the two blokes behind it.

The last thug standing, the one his team had winged dropped his wand and surrendered after seeing what happened to the other two.

The question in Tobias' mind was how! He knew none of his people were responsible but when he looked at the trussed up Muggle he knew. The bloke had blacked out. His eyelids were fluttering and he was practically vibrating like he was having a seizure.

Several things happened at once then. The Ministry decided to make an appearance at last and the Director sat up with the help of a very worried-looking Brandy. She looked a little woozy but she was alive!

As Hermione lay on the sidewalk dazed and very sore her mind went over what had just happened to cause her to be looking up at the blue early morning London sky. She closed her eyes.

Right before she was hit with the curse she had glanced back at the Muggle to see if he was ok. It was then she saw him take aim at the black clad figure standing at the door. It was as if everything slowed down like in a Muggle movie.

She watched him raise his gun, bits of concrete and paper box exploding all around him but he seemed to be completely oblivious. His focus was on his target, laser-like in his concentration. She watched a drop of sweat drip off the end of his nose. It was almost like he was a machine set in motion by the violence. His eyes were hooded and dark with eyebrows pinched slightly together, his teeth were clenched and the look on his face was…was…deadly!

His forearms were a ripple of corded and taut muscle and as he pulled the trigger twice in rapid-fire succession he didn't even flinch.

For some bizarre reason she thought that the sexiest damned thing she had ever seen in her life. She couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from him, then in the next second…

OUCHY!

When Kingsley came toward him Tobias was more interested in his boss.

"Took you long enough!" Tobias threw at him as he made his way over to Hermione still sitting on the sidewalk holding her left shoulder grimacing in pain.

"What are you on about we got here in 15 seconds!" Kingsley looked at Tobias a little affronted.

Tobias took a deep breath and tried to reign in his ire. He was barking at the wrong guy and he knew it.

"Sorry Commander," he apologized, "Just a bit out of sorts at the moment. Please forgive me."

"Not to worry," Kingsley said looking around, "Looks like you had your bloody hands full. Is she…" he gestured to Hermione who was still on the ground but Medi-Wizards were now tending to her.

"I think she'll be ok," Tobias nodded feeling very relieved, "Took a curse in the left shoulder," he gave the Commander a significant look, "That warded body amour you had the Department of Mysteries develop is the best damned thing since the wand Commander!"

Kingsley smiled.

"I'll pass the word along. I'm just glad it works."

Tobias knelt next to his boss looking concerned.

"How you feeling," he asked.

"Like I've been trampled by a stampeding herd of mountain trolls," she quipped, "Any more silly questions?"

"No boss," he chuckled.

"How's are Muggle doing?" she asked trying to turn to see him.

"What! I don't give a damn about that barmy Muggle…"

"Tobias!" She stated in a stern reprimand, "You and all the others are on my very naughty list right now so don't push it mister!"

He knew she was angry no-one followed her direct order to get the Muggle to safety and he knew there would be hell to pay but at the moment, seeing the stormy look in her very much alive eyes, he didn't really care. He'd take the ass chewing gladly.

Over the next half-hour the Muggle authorities showed up and got briefed on the altercation. They were glad it was Clark and Bitterman again. Some of the other Muggle detectives were complete jerks. At least Clark and Bitterman were willing to work with them the way the Ratified Statute of Secrecy mandated.

After all, as Kingsley pointed out, the S.O.U probably saved a lot of Muggle lives today and the Muggle detectives agreed.

They discovered the apparent leader of the C.D.T. crew was none other that Mulciber, an old Death Eater. Kingsley and Hermione both were glad that one could be taken off the Most Wanted list but it didn't make them feel any better that the Clan of the Dark Triangle was gaining in strength and popularity among the nastiest of the dark wizard types.

"Whose idea was it to use the car as a cricket bat?" Clark asked.

"One of their curses went horribly astray Detective," Tobias said with a grin, "I'd say it backfired just a bit."

Clark just lifted an eyebrow and nodded making notes on his pad.

Since no Muggles were harmed the Authorities allowed the Ministry to detain the surviving C.D.T. thug but the Oblivators were going to be logging some serious overtime.

"Do you want us to transport the Muggle Hermione?" Kingsley asked.

"No Commander," she said looking down at the man still unconscious. Tobias told her what he suspected about the car and she was a little more than intrigued by this man now, "With your permission I'd like to take him back to the S.O.U. compound with us. I have some questions for him."

"Are you sure that's wise Director?" he asked, "I though he knew nothing about our world?"

"Well to be honest I don't think it would be much more disconcerting then waking up at St. Mungo's or in a holding cell at Azkaban. He's seen my face before so it might make the transition a little easier for him."

"Very well," Kingsley relented, "I can find no reason to object but do be careful won't you?"

"Commander," Hermione rolled her eyes smirking, "He's a Muggle!"

Kingsley smiled as he turned to take the prisoner back to the Ministry when Hermione stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder.

"By the way," she said as she stepped up on her tip toes and placed a gentle kiss on Kingsley's cheek.

Kingsley's eyes went wide looking at her touching his cheek where she kissed him.

"What on earth was that for?"

"You saved my life today," she hitched the collar of her turtleneck sweater down just far enough to see the silvery material of her magically improved flack jacket. Kinsley placed a hand gently on her shoulder.

"And no-one is more relieved about that than I Hermione," he said, "I don't even want to contemplate the damage it would cause to loose you young lady. You are an inspiration."

"Thank you Kingsley," she whispered laying a hand on his cheek, "That means so very much coming from you."

The bond between them had been forged in the fires of two wars. He'd been through three so there was no other she respected more. He was one of the very few left who knew what she had gone through since she had entered the magical world at the age of eleven. There was no-one she respected, admired and trusted more than this man.

"If I could pay you the highest compliment Ms. Granger it would be to tell you that if a man had the ability to design his own child I could think of no other I would wish to emulate more."

They held one another in a tight embrace for a long moment.

"Well," Kingsley said sniffling a little, "I best get my prisoner into detention. Send me a report at your convenience Director. I'm sure the tosspots in the Wizengamot will want all the gory details so they can subversively leak it all to the Daily Prophet," he waved without looking back.

"I'm going to have a debriefing when we get back so you'll have that report first thing in the morning if any of my people are in condition to write that is!" She huffed folding her arms across her chest tightly.

Kingsley turned and looked back at her in surprise.

"Disobeyed a direct order from the Director," her lips pursed.

"Eee gad!" Kingsley took as step back, "Should I start accepting resumes for replacements or planning funerals?"

She chuckled.

"I don't think so but they'll wish this armor didn't work so well when I'm through with them!"

"Indeed," he grinned, "Well just do me a favor and transfigure the bodies into furniture or something. Save me a mountain of paperwork!"

Hermione burst out laughing but it didn't last. She was pissed at her people at the moment and she had some asses to start chewing on right and proper.

While Hermione was talking to Kingsley Tobias gathered the team together.

"Now listen all of you," he said with a heavy sigh, "The Director's going to be plenty sore at us for disobeying her order to clear the Muggle out and you know she's going to come down on us hard so here's what we're gonna do…"

He started whispering his plan. Some started giggling and laughing while some of the others swatted at them to keep quiet. When they broke huddle they all had very down trodden and sorrowful faces.

When Hermione joined her team the faces didn't even put a dent in the Ice Queen's frozen demeanor.

She ordered two of her staff to escort the Muggle back to the compound and place him in confinement. She then sent for a Healer and his assistant from St. Mungo's, one that handled most all their medical needs and pressed him into service to check the Muggle over carefully and to leave his assistant for a few days until the Muggle was back to full health.

After she saw to the Muggle's comfort she called her team to the Situation Room for an arse chewing/debriefing before she started writing her report.

When she blew into the room like a raging tsunami she was completely unprepared for what she saw…

All the members of the team were wearing huge cone shaped hats like gnomes would wear and across the front of each was the word DUNCE in bright glowing and blinking red letters. They had transfigured all their seats into high chairs like infants use but large enough for adults.

At the vary same instant they all said…

"We're sorry Madam Director for disobeying your direct order. We promise it will never happen again. Please don't punish us PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!" Then they all stuck their bottom lips out like they were pouting.

Hermione burst out laughing so hard she had tears coming out of her eyes. After a moment she couldn't breathe. The picture was just too damned funny for words and her ire simply evaporated.

When she finally regained control of herself she stomped her foot like she did when she was a child.

"You took the Mickey right out of a perfectly well deserved butt-chewing! I should curse the lot of you!"

But she was smiling and laughing when she said it.

After they set things back in order and had their debriefing and after all the intel was gathered and organized Hermione leaned out over the table for a moment.

"Listen to me each and every one of you," she said seriously making eye contact with all of them, "I know the reason behind not following my order and no-one is more thankful for having people who care about me more than I but when I give you an order from this day forward you will follow it immediately and without question, is that perfectly clear?"

She waited until every one of them acknowledged her request. She took a deep breath and sighed.

"There is no question in my mind that I can trust you all to do what's right," she added a bit sadly. She was tired and still very sore from her ordeal and she wanted to rest, "but I have seen things and been through things that would give you all screaming nightmares so please, I do not take giving orders lightly and would never even think of putting any of you in harms way needlessly but when you've experienced the things I have and lived through the horrors of my past then you can question my reasons and motives."

"We have one hell of a fight ahead of us and I need to be certain I can count on you to follow through. I know many of you see this infraction as a little thing, perhaps trivial in nature and maybe you're right…but little things turn into gaping wounds if left untended and I will not let this until fall apart or decay from within, is that understood?"

Everyone nodded, faces looking very sober now.

"I care very deeply for all of you," she said, "To me you are my family now and loosing even one of you would…" she stopped almost choking.

She took a deep breath to gather her wits.

"The greatest and most precious gift you can give me is to come out on the other side of this nightmare healthy, whole and alive and being the horrible taskmaster and annoying harpy that I am I expect nothing less!" She snapped her head in a fervent nod, "So there," she stuck her tongue out at all of them, "I got to chew your butts anyway! Ha!"

Everyone burst out laughing, some of the girls still had tears streaming down their cheeks but couldn't help but crack up seeing their serious fearless leader sticking her tongue out at them.

As the day came to a close Hermione found herself neck deep in a steaming hot bathtub full of soothing scented bath oils and bubbles. She simply let herself drift away in and out of consciousness until she looked like a human raisin.

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