So Stay Away From Me (Closed-Ashton)

[Kaydence Morgan]

It had been a month since the battle and yet the days felt like years. With the exception of the rare and quick trip for groceries or to take Luka out for his daily walk, Kaydence had locked herself in her condominium, afraid to make any sort of move for fear of repercussion from anyone. It had never ceased to amaze her how one thing could change the entire course of so many others. How she had expected for life to be somewhat normal since returning to Austria was beyond her. Her life had always been far too dramatic for her to live one that was quiet and simple. Most of the time it was out of her own doing. Others, well, she had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Alzubra Alley at the beginning of last month had been one of those wrong places. The day had started out with so much promise. She and Cammie had met with a reliable source for information on her brother and then had planned on going shopping. It was as simple as that. Unfortunately for Kaydence and her friend, they had been unaware that they were being trailed by her older brother Darren. She knew she should have been more careful in her public acts of defiance, but she never really took the matter into consideration until she came face-to-face with her towering and incredibly pissed off sibling. She had almost forgotten how intimidating he was. Yet as she stood there, trembling with fear and pain as his face was inches away from her, it came back full force as well as the realization that it had only grown after years away. Her brother was a force to be reckoned with and if she had been unaware of it before, she certainly wasn’t now.

Kaydence did her best to not think about that day. It was much easier said than done though. Every time she closed her eyes to go to sleep at night or her thoughts involuntarily drifted off while simply sitting out on her balcony she was reminded of it. The memories were always so vivid. It was like she was still there, trapped in the confines of the war-ravaged bank. She could feel the tightness in her chest from the lack of proper oxygen. Her vision was blurry from the billowing smoke coming from every angle, a result of spell after spell being cast. Worst of all, she could felt every bit of pain again that she had the day. The tight holds her brother had on her arm, the spell that brat Emerald had put on her, the piece of rubble on her leg, it all came back. For the longest time after she had left Austria, Kaydence had nightmares about her family. The number of times she had woken up in cold sweats during the night had dissipated as time wore on, even coming back to her home country hadn’t brought them back in abundance. However, since the Battle, those nightmares were quickly replaced by ones of that day. They were even worse than the ones featuring Darren by himself. They were so bad that she was wondering if she would ever again be able to get a normal night’s sleep. Poor Luka had to suffer her waking up so often at night that the poor thing slept more often since it was constantly keeping an eye on her once she had closed her eyes again. Kaydence did her best to make up for it by buying him extra treats when she went out to the store. Fortunately, the animal still stayed by here. Actually, he never let her leave his sight. Even when she unchained him from his leash to go for a run on the beach, he was never more than ten feet away.

One of the things that bothered her most about her flashbacks was the tingling sensation that would come from her tattoo on her arm. Kaydence was able to put her normal concealment charm on the thing, but she could still feel its heavy presence weighing down her arm. She had yet to get over the fact that she had been the one to call the DeathEaters to battle. That Darren had used her as his puppet and forced that looming presence to stay with her throughout the battle. It had been so long since she had been haunted by her other half, the one controlled solely by that blasted thing on her arm. It had taken control over her, forced her to attack that Ministry official and then kill him. At the time, she had no regrets for it. The Mark tried to convince her that it was worth it. He was just one less fly to swat away. And for awhile she had believed it. Then, several weeks on, as the Mark finally began to weasel its way back into the depths of her soul, the murder stayed on her mind. Kaydence had killed an innocent man. When she was younger, she wouldn’t have cared. She would want to show Darren her power and that she wasn’t afraid to take a life to do it. Now, besides the tattoo, she had no connection with her older brother. She wanted nothing to do with him anymore. Yet the thing had taken over and caused her to mentally morph back into that person. She had no interest in taking sides anymore. She had just wanted her brother to pay for what he had done to her. That look on the man’s face stuck with her. Often, Kaydence had forced herself to sleep by drinking nearly an entire bottle of alcohol to just make it fade even a little. He had been young too. Probably about her age. He still had a full life ahead of him and she had just taken it without a bat of an eyelash.

The other thing that pained her about that day was Ashton. Kaydence’s heart weighed heavily in her chest for him. This had been the longest she hadn’t seen him since the summer began. As much as she hated to admit it to herself, she missed his irritating existence in her life. She missed having something else to worry about than who she was going to meet with about Darren that day. It was strange coming home from walking Luka and not seeing his smug face sitting on her couch waiting for her after he had just broken in through her patio. There was no denying that what Ashton had done for her at Gringotts had caused some very confusing, but clear feelings for him within her. He had saved her life. Kaydence wasn’t sure if it was simply because he was too stubborn to be in debt to her, or for something more, but he had prevented her from being killed by the Ministry official first. Even after he knew what she was, what she used to be. The look on his face after finding out that she had the Dark Mark replayed in her mind over and over. She knew he had every right to be upset. Then again, he hadn’t exposed his self to her either. She was equally as stunned to find out he worked for the Ministry and especially in front of her brother. If Kaydence didn’t have a target on her back before that, she certainly did now. She had gotten rid of her phone the minute she had come back from seeing Golovanov. It was the only way she could resist the temptation to call him and to try and explain things to him. He had no idea about her background, that she wasn’t completely who she thought he was. Plus, she wanted to hear his side of things. Telling her that he was a bloody Auror was far less difficult then her telling him her brother was the Dark Lord for Merlin’s sake.

Kaydence did her absolute best to let her anger towards him outweigh any other possible emotion that could rise. Yet as much as she tried, it was impossible to conceal that there were feelings for him. And that alone was enough to convince her that she needed to get out of this damn country. Not only to give him a chance at survival, but because he knew where she lived. Honestly, she was surprised he hadn’t stopped by to scream at her for being a manipulative bitch. The world knew by know that her brother was the Dark Lord. Though strangely she had yet to see one single person at her door asking her about her sibling. Granted, most people didn’t know where she lived but Ashton did. And who knew? Kaydence wouldn’t put it past him to lock her up in Azkaban because of their blood relation. He had seen her talking to Darren at Gringotts. He had no idea what had been exchanged between the two since the only thing he could really focus on was the tattoo on her arm. Things were not over by a long shot, from both him and Darren. It had taken her a good week or two but finally she came to her senses. She met with someone that Cammie had referred her to, who thankfully was in no way associated with her brother, in the woods of Blackstone Camping Grounds several days ago. He was going to help her flee the country with a new identity. New name, new hair color (again), and new everything. Kaydence was now waiting for him to process the proper documentation and as soon as she got the confirmation she would be on her way. The only thing she’d be taking with her would be Luka. Everything else would be left for Ashton and whoever else to see and think that she had simply vanished.

The days waiting for him to get back to her were maddening. Staring into the black screen of her television, Kaydence was lost in her thoughts. She was so tired of doing this. Not just reliving the awful day, but not feeling like there was any place for her to call home anymore. Luka stirred her from them as he whined and placed his head on her lap. Sighing, she rubbed the dog behind the ears. With any luck, wherever this man was able to send her would be her final destination. She considered her dog to be like her child. She didn’t want to uproot him from place to place just to keep herself safe. Maybe she would be able to be relocated to a quiet cabin in the mountains somewhere. Luka could run all over the place as he pleased and Kaydence wouldn’t have to worry about someone taking him from her or being bothered by anyone. “You’re probably starving,” she said to him, sliding herself out from underneath his head. At the mention of food, Luka’s ears perked up and he rose from his position on the couch. Smiling, she pushed herself from the cushion she had been sitting on and began to make her way towards the kitchen. It was amazing how a dog could make her happier than a human being. As she reached her cabinet, she heard his nails click against the tile of the floor. He never wasted anytime in getting to his food. Opening the door, she grabbed a can of dog food out and then moved to the right to the silverware drawer to get a can opener. Kaydence quickly turned the handle of the opener on the can, knowing Luka was ready to eat from his whining next to her. She dropped the opener to the side as she carefully undid the sharp lid from the can before tossing it in the garbage. Grabbing a dog bowl from the same cabinet she scrunched her nose and she turned the can upside down and watched its contents fall in a rubbery looking mass into the bowl. “Disgusting,” she said to herself, shaking the can to make sure everything was in the bowl. She picked up the bowl once satisfied and set it on the ground next to the dog’s water dish. She barely had time to put the entire thing down before Luka’s nose was already in it.

Laughing, Kaydence went back over to the sink with the dirty dog food can and rinsed it out. She didn’t want the thing stinking up her kitchen more than it already had. Once satisfied, she went back over to Luka and rubbed him on the head, who seemed not to notice as he was devouring the food in front of him. Realizing she had a few minutes to herself she decided to jump in the shower for a few minutes. A hot shower was always able to relax her. Walking over to the patio door, she made sure that both of the locks she had installed were securely fastened. Then she walked down the hallway towards her front door to do the same thing. As soon as that one was locked, Kaydence went to her bedroom and into her bathroom, closing and locking that door behind her as well. Her paranoia had only increased since the battle at Gringotts. Heading towards the shower, she gently pushed back the curtain and bent down. Her hands went to the nozzle and pushed it to the left. Water gushed out of the faucet. She gave it a few seconds before pulling up on the valve and watching the water stop flowing and quickly going to the shower head. Stepping away from the water to give it some more time to heat up Kaydence sighed and grabbed a towel from underneath her bathroom sink, placing it on the rack next to shower so it would be ready for her when she came out. As soon as steam began to cascade over the top bar of the shower she began to undress.

[Ashton Wentworth]

Whenever Ashton had been a child, there was only one TV that he had ever had access too. That television was usually either tuned to the news, or to one of Mama O's soap opera's. Sure, on Saturday mornings those who helped with breakfast got to watch cartoons, but that wasn't very often for Ashton. He hadn't ever really been the helpful type. The only things that he had been patient enough to sit through was the car chases on the news, and the occasional movie night, it if was something fast paced enough for him. He had always loved the car chases, perhaps it was a good part of the reason that he had a muggle drivers license and owned a car. He had also always loved the cop dramas that always followed the news. Looking back on those shows now, he had no idea how muggle cops managed to get anything done. Of course, Auror's had no business using guns, or any of the other methods of torture that the muggles seemed to like using on each other on an almost daily basis. A wand was more than sufficient to contain and take down just about any threat that one is likely to meet. He had a healthy dose of respect for the way that cops did things, he honestly believed that if most of the Auror's didn't have the use of magic on their side, that a lot of cases would go unsolved. It was a crutch, but one Ashton didn't mind using shamelessly. It came in handy in times like this, where he needed charms lifted off of apartment complexes for example.

He could vividly remember the last time that he was in this lobby. Of course it was a long time ago now, he had taken to her balcony instead of the traditional methods to gain the element of surprise. He had been here arguing with her. The constant 'no's that she gave him day in and day out were frustrating at times, and a fun tease at others. That had been one of the bad times, he had grown very upset with her. Of course, he had been really drunk at the time and was wanting to crash in her wonderful bed and she wasn't having it. She shut him down, again, he grew angry, again and not to surprisingly, it had ended with him on his ass, in the middle of the cobbled street being soaked by the rain. Now, the doorman was staring at him with suspicious eyes. At least, he was until Ashton flashed the badge and he instantly stood up taller. He didn't blame the man for not knowing who he was or what he did, it wasn't like he had made a public spectacle of it or anything. Of course, he was willing to bet a fair amount of coin that he was wishing he hadn't ever kicked Ashton to the curb. It was almost enough to make him smile, but the somber nature of his visit didn't put him in a vindictive mood. Crossing to the counter he lifted the badge from where it hung around his neck just to make sure the man was able to see it clearly enough to know that Ashton had clearance to do almost anything he wished. He needed to have the charms from her apartment lifted, there had to be some clause in her contract that would allow him to revoke all of the charms from that apartment without compromising the whole floor. To his immense pleasure, there was. The ministry was going to have to pull the charms anyway to investigate, and hers were registered with the complex. Of course, if he knew Kaydence at all, he would know that she would have at least a dozen others that they didn't even know about, but at least he wouldn't have to face the elevator for even more memories. Now, he could just apparate right to her doorstep, and later, apparate her to the ministry.

He had almost begged Rutherford (not within earshot of Stavros, of course) to let him go on just one assignment alone. Of course, he hadn't given his true reasons, he had just played it off like he needed a small break. After almost an entire month of non-stop grind, and no more time alone than it took to shower and nap (even then it was at his desk) he was fed up. His body and mind were exhausted. He just wanted to stop, he wanted to sleep in his own bed, and he wanted to eat an entire meal. Not the horrible food that they made downstairs, sure it would keep one alive, but only just. He wanted to get laid and he wanted to take a very long shower with a very pretty lady. Just enjoy the finer things in life, was that too much to ask for? Apparently, in the wake of everything that had happened, it was. It didn't help things that Stavros had turned out to actually be some sort of robot that didn't need anything but paperwork and the stupid new badge that never left the man's neck. It was repulsive that Rutherford had forced him to share his office with the dolt. Things were heating up, and dying down in their own respects. Of course, Ashton was currently sporting a set of bruised knuckles on each hand from punching various objects, and one person in his office countless times over the past month, paired with the yellow spots of skin littering various body parts from slowly healing bruises, he was generally in a fowl mood. The healing wenches downstairs had started to refuse to see either one of the boys unless it was something serious, they were sick and tired of patching up bruises every few hours. Of course, they were patching up a lot more of Stavros than they were of him, which was only making it all the worse. Which left Ashton to have to patch them up himself, and very poorly one might add. He had simply wrapped white gauze around each set of knuckles a few times. Fordie had to see that, he had to understand that Ashton was willing to rise to the occasion, but he needed to be allowed to do his job, by himself for a change. Thankfully, the man had agreed on the condition that whoever he found was to be brought straight to the ministry to be questioned on record. He had agreed, but not meant it. The person that he was hunting today needed to answer to him before she answered to the ministry.

Checking her apartment was a long shot, he didn't expect her to be daft enough to still be in the place where she knew that Ashton had to come looking for her, and it would have been much sooner had the ministry not been dealing with such a large shit storm. He and Stavros had spent almost a solid two weeks at the hospital alone. Everybody wanted to put their two cents in, and since all stories had to be checked, and then double checked it was a slow process. Not mention all of the paperwork that had followed (most of which got shoved off on Stavros, for 'practice'), navigating around the healers and the patients sleep schedules. There were just so many people who felt that they were involved. Then there was the visits to Azkaban to attempt to get things out of Isis, who was not co-operating. The raid on Kaydence’s family home, press conferences, damage control, supposed 'Dark Lord' sightings that everybody had to go on, on top of all of the other assignments that they would have been doing before the 'Battle of Gringotts' As they were calling it in the papers. The thing that everybody in the Ministry was attempting to keep out of the papers, was that they had no idea where to start looking for Mr. Darren Morgan. Of course, all of his public life details had been spilled across the front page of every periodical being published. For every step that they took forward to help save their image, they were being shoved two steps backward by the amass of fear created by that stupid mark that had been cast over the remnants of the bank.

His hand rubbed absently over the light purple ring under his eye from lack of sleep. This wasn't going to end well, if she was home, then he was going to have fun attempting to arrest her, and if she wasn't; well, then it was going to be even longer before he was allowed to sleep again. His hand dropped to the fabric of his shirt, balling it within his fist and lifting it to his nose, taking a small sniff. It didn't smell clean, but it didn't smell dirty either. He shouldn't care, but there was some small, distant part of him that still cared what she thought. Dropping the fabric, he lifted his wand out of his pants pocket and gripped it firmly in his hand, took a step back, and kicked the door down. He could hear water running, was she really home? Or did he just kick down the door of whatever new tenant they had gotten to replace her already? He glanced at the door, the hinges had been ripped right out of the wood. A pretty impressive kick for how tired his body felt. He just assumed it was the copious amounts of coffee and instant-energy potions that had become regular fixtures in his office. Hell, in the whole building. They couldn't afford to take days off. Hell, this right here, was the closest to a day off that he had in the foreseeable future. There were tiny cracks in the wood, and he couldn't wait to see her face whenever she saw him, and what he had once again done to her apartment. The way he saw it, was that as soon as she was out of it today, the ministry was going to tear it apart for evidence anyway. A while ago, he might have protested for her sake, but that was before she had not told him about being related to the damned Dark Lord. The fact that it was going to evoke her wrath, was just an added bonus. Ashton held his wand out directly in front of him, waiting for whatever was coming, but the water was still running. Had she not heard him? His heartbeat quickened, and his hands started to become sweaty. Why was so damned nervous? It wasn't an emotion that he suffered often. Luckily, he had only gotten about a step onto the broken door whenever the sound of tiny nails clicking across the floor alerted him to Lump's presence. That sealed it, she had to still be in the apartment. Naked...dripping wet. Shaking the image from his head with some difficulty, he had to focus on the snarling mutt in front of him. The thing's hair was raised on end, it didn't like him before, and now it really hated it. How easy it would be for him to drop the dog here and now, it would even be more satisfying to take out his rage from this past month on the tiny dog's head. But, he didn't.

Lowing his wand to aim at the dog, a muttered a soft word so as not to alert her as to who exactly it was in her apartment, a yellow jet of light flew out and hit the dog on the nose, and it's tiny body crumpled to the ground. He didn't know how long that was going to last, but the lump should be asleep for at least long enough to arrest Kaydence, and have somebody come pick up the thing to hold while she was being questioned. Of course, as soon as the thing stopped barking, the water stopped. He froze. In an awkward limbo of silence. He heard the shower rustle, or was he just imagining her getting out and grabbing for her towel. He stepped into her living room slowly, turned rapidly to gaze in the direction of the hallway. His eyes grazed past the doorway to her balcony, and a twinge of sorrow crossed him. He had to be far more tired than he had originally assumed, he shouldn't be feeling things like this otherwise. He just needed to keep telling himself that, over and over again. He glanced at the couch, and wondered what he would have been doing if the battle had never happened? How many questions would he have been away from getting her to say 'yes' how many other ways would he need to surprise her to convince her that he wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer. Never in his life had he attempted to 'woo' a woman, they had all pretty much just crawled into bed with him, and then walked right back out of his life. Except, of course his wife. No, she had refused to budge from his life, even whenever he had done just about everything in his power to keep her out. She was like a leech in that respect. A manipulative, conniving, stupid witch. At least Georgie had been more or less honest with him about who she was.

He heard the click of her bedroom bathroom's door open and close again. His eyes widened and glanced around the living room, he could just stand there, but that wouldn't be very much fun. Besides, if she came out armed he was going to want to have some sort of element of surprise. Dashing forward he ducked into the hallway bathroom and made sure not to move the door, which was open halfway. He hid behind the door. Of course, if she were to check here first, or even flip on the lights his cover would be blown, but he had a hunch that she was going to go checking for her damned dog first see what had happened. It wouldn't take her long to see him crumpled on the floor, then Ashton could just step out behind her. His heart was pounding in his ears, and he didn't much care for it. It was going to give him away, stupid nerves. Why now of all times? He wiped his palm on his jeans and then grasped onto the wand again. Once he could no longer see her shadow under the door he moved out into the hallway, thankful that she had carpet. He didn't dare breath, lest she hear him. Lifting his wand in both hands, he positioned his feet about shoulder width apart and took her in. She was just in a towel, her long locks dripping onto the backs of her legs as she walked. It was normally a look he would have loved to take advantage of, and in his dry spell this month he just might yet...no, he was here on business. His throat was dry, questions now or later? There were dozens floating into the forefront of his mind at this very moment. Yet, all that came out was the same thing that he had been saying countless times before as he brought people into the Ministry.

“Kaydence Morgan” he started, having to wet his lips and swallow before he could continue. From the back she just looked so damned vulnerable, just like she always did with a hint of fire. He longed to hold her just one more time, he took a step forward, and she spun around to look at him. One look at her face brought back all of the memories that he had been suppressing from the battle. Her talking to Darren, the mark on her arm, the rubble on her leg. The mark was still on her cheek from where that brute had slapped her. He almost raised a hand to touch it, to hold her small face in his hand, but he couldn't. That was over now. Glaring into her eyes he frowned, all the bitterness he had toward her for not telling him that she was a traitor to the wizarding world came to light. “You are requested to submit yourself to custody of this Auror for questioning at the Ministry” he continued, the words falling like weights from his tongue. He knew that she wasn't going to come without a fight, and he wouldn't hesitate to use excessive force if it was needed. She knew that from first hand experience. “It's not really an option.” His voice deepened, becoming like stone to not show the hurt and personal anger. His best option was to get her subdued and restrained so that he could question her and she couldn't do anything about it. He needed to see it again, the mark. To make her not the girl that he cared about, he needed to see it in order to watch her transform into the traitor that she really was, the liar. “You are under arrest for murder, conspiracy,” he took a step closer, not bothering to finish the list of crimes that they had on her sheet at the ministry, he grasped her right forearm and pressed his wand into her flesh, muttering the spell to make her mark show through. He swelled with hurt, and lifted his eyes to hers again “And treason”

[Kaydence Morgan]

Kaydence finished undressing quickly, urgently wanting to get into the shower. In the short time the water had been running, the bathroom had already warmed up significantly. It was almost close enough to be a sauna. Sliding back the curtain near the end of the shower she stepped in. She allowed one hand to go underneath the falling water. It was the perfect temperature. She stepped backwards, releasing a satisfied sigh as the hot water began to cover her. It was amazing how something so simple could provide so much comfort. She allowed the water to rain down on her for a minute or two before bending over to squeeze a bit of shampoo into her hand. Bringing it back up to her head she began to knead the honeysuckle-smelling product into her scalp. Once her head was covered in white foam Kaydence closed her eyes and dipped her head under the water, squeezing out her hair every few seconds to remove the excess soap and water. She repeated the same process with conditioner once her hair was completely free of the shampoo. However, before rinsing, she let the conditioner sink in while she washed her body. It was when she was rinsing out her hair for the second time that she heard a loud bang come from somewhere in her condo. She froze. What the hell could that have been? Luka was the only other breathing entity in her condo. Perhaps he had knocked something over. Yes, that had to be it. He had very nearly knocked over her favorite vase that rested on a decorative end table in her hallway just the other day after he had been running in circles after chasing his tail. There was no need to worry. Kaydence forced herself to finish cleaning out her hair. The reasoning was good enough for her heart, but there was a sinking feeling of paranoia in her heart that it was something else.

As if on cue, the dog’s muffled barking came from beyond the wall. The only thing Luka barked at was thunder when it stormed. Even if she was in the shower, she could usually hear the loud rumble. She heard nothing. Kaydence would have normally stayed in the tiled space until her skin begin to prune, but that nagging feeling in her gut just wouldn’t go away. Turning the handle downwards, she quickly pressed down on the valve to make the water run through the pipes towards the faucet so she wouldn’t be hit with cold before the water fully shut off. She extended her arm out to grab the towel she had placed on the towel rack. Wrapping it securely around her body she stepped out of the shower and onto her bath mat. Without the water running, the eerie quiet had returned. Kaydence listened to see if she could hear anything else but no sound came. Luka wasn’t barking anymore. Slowly, she walked towards her bathroom door. Placing her hands on it she carefully pressed her ear to the door. Silence. She waited, but still nothing came. Closing her eyes, Kaydence prayed her dog would be lying down on the floor of the other side of the door. He always waited for her to finish her shower, as if guarding to protect her modesty. She lifted her head from the door and placed her hand on the door knob. Turning it slowly, she shook briefly as wave of cold air hit her exposed flesh when the door began to open. There was no sound of his metal tags clinking together as he would stand up to let her pass. Opening the door more, a frown formed on her face when she saw that he wasn’t there.

Her eyes instantly went to her bedroom door. It was still halfway open as she had left it. Scanning the bedroom, there was no sign of him anywhere else either. This was beyond strange and unbelievably unnerving. Grasping the edge of the towel that covered her chest Kaydence tiptoed across her bedroom to the wall next to her door. As she did in the bathroom she pressed her body to the wall and listened. Still nothing. No sound of Luka moving. No sound of anything moving. No inclement weather. Swallowing nervously she peered through the exposed space to the darkened hallway. At first everything looked as normal. The vase and table were still standing. No broken pieces of something littered the floor off into the distance. It was when she focused her sight on the floor in front of her that a small gasp left her mouth. She had found Luka. He was lying on the floor a few feet away from her, looking as if he were sleeping. While it was normal dog behavior, it was not the norm for him. Luka never slept in a room that she wasn’t in while he knew where she was. Her eyes widened out of fear. What had happened to him? Kaydence was terrified of the worst. There was nothing next to his body to indicate that he had been knocked out. She had to make sure he was all right. Gripping the towel tighter she moved as quietly as she could out of the door and in direction of the dog. There still no movement from his end.

Kaydence was still walking when a voice came from behind her. ”Kaydence Morgan.” She stopped, petrified. She knew that voice and she knew why her condo had a gloomy feel to it. Her jaw dropped open slightly. Spinning around, she came face-to-face with a very depressing and sickly looking Ashton. He looked horrible. Even with his wand pointed in her direction it looked like it was taking his every ounce of strength to keep it at her level. His clothing was disheveled, his hair somehow messier than usual. If he had the opportunity to fall asleep, he probably wouldn’t have woken up for ages. His appearance was to be expected though. As much as she hated it, his face, along with that brawny mass of idiot Stavros or her brother, was always on the front page of the Timestopper. Kaydence could imagine that his workload had increased with the epic fallout from the Battle of Gringotts. She hoped it did. He deserved it. She hoped his days and nights had been filled with endless amounts of paperwork and questioning. It was better than thinking of him in the company of another woman. She silently cursed to herself at the thought. That was nothing that should matter to her anymore. She was in no way connected to Ashton anymore. Yet the selfish part of her wanted to be the only woman on his thoughts. No one could compare to her. There was such an array of mixed emotions going on in her head that Kaydence wished she could do anything to drown them out. Though there was one that was dominant above all the others. Anger. Anger at Ashton for keeping his job a secret and being the reason why she was no longer able to stay in Austria. Looking further behind him, even more anger that he had broken into her home and demolished her door, exposing her condo to anyone who chose to walk by. Neither compared though to the anger coursing through her veins because of his wand being pointed at her and that her dog was possibly dead behind her.

The look of shock turned to that of hatred. Merlin she wished she had her wand. Kaydence did her best to think of where she put it last but was unsuccessful. All she knew was that it was in here, somewhere. She had gone to Ollivander’s in London the other week to purchase a new one after destroying hers at the battle. She didn’t want to risk the Ministry finding out that she had purchased a new one from in the country. Though she hadn’t been confronted, until now, the death of the Ministry official was still a burden on her mind. One she desperately wished to get rid of. She was so damn vulnerable. Not only because she was wandless but also because the only thing covering her was a damp towel. Why wasn’t she surprised? Ashton seemed the type to take advantage of defenseless women. Looking down at the towel Kaydence rolled her eyes as she realized the one she was wearing was also the one he had worn down to the beach a few months ago. The same one he dirtied in attempts to humiliate her in public. The same one he brought back to her and had taken hours to get the dirt out of. Of course it would be wrapped around her when he decided to pay her a visit. She was tempted to drop the towel then and there but he had lost his privilege of ever seeing her naked again. Plus, she really wasn’t ready for the insults to start flowing so quickly. She was sure he had a snide remark or two on his mind at her current state. Hopefully he would give her enough time to think of an even better one to respond with.

The silence was broken when he finally spoke up. “You are requested to submit yourself to custody of this Auror for questioning at the Ministry.” Kaydence’s heart sunk. Though secretly she knew that it was bound to happen, she had been hoping to be long gone before he ever came searching. She was foolish to remain in Austria so long. She should have fled the minute she returned to her condo. The expression on her face never faltered. She refused to let him see her fear. She would never give him the satisfaction. If it was possible, the glare she was giving him would have burned holes straight through his stupid face. Who the hell did he think he was? Just because he was a Ministry official it didn’t give him the right to break into her home. She had every intention on calling him out for it. She also had every intention on staying right where she was. There was nothing in Ashton’s hands that demanded her presence in the building of the Ministry of Magic. As her eyes moved to the shiny badge on his neck, Kaydence’s thoughts trailed back to the day of the battle when she had first saw it. There was no disbelief this time, but it did bring back an unwanted sadness. ”You are under arrest for murder, conspiracy.” Her eyebrow arched in question as he stepped closer. What was he talking about? There was no possible way they could have found out that she killed one of his own. She hadn’t conspired anything. It had been all Darren’s doing. Darren was the one who summoned those bastards! Not her. She suddenly felt very nauseous as he stepped closer to her. Questioning was one thing. Potentially being arrested with something entirely different.

Any lingering memories of time they had once spent together faded when he began telling her why he was here, but they completely vanished as he grabbed her right arm and pulled it towards him. Kaydence knew what he was doing. And he had no right to be doing it. His wand pressed into her skin, a little too aggressively. A small noise came from her mouth as the spell came from his mouth. He didn’t need to be doing this. For his safety, he needed to get away from her. But he didn’t. ”And treason.” Once the words left his mouth she felt the nerves in her right forearm spasming. She could feel the Mark exposing itself to him. Right away, she felt the demon from within her being called and it slowly making its way up from its hiding place. The Mark did something to her. It was like it caused her to have a damn split personality or something. There was her normal somewhat good self and then the dangerous alter ego. Ashton had been stupid enough to expose himself to the latter. Kaydence could already start feeling its dark forces wanting to take action and it didn’t help that she was pissed enough as it was that he was here. “Let go of me,” she warned, struggling to remove her arm from his grip. She wasn’t sure how, perhaps because of his somewhat weakened state, but she did. Gritting down on her teeth she reared her arm back with all her might and struck him with a solid slap to his face. Before giving him chance to react she pushed with all of her might into his chest, forcing him back a few feet. She brought her marked arm to her chest, using that hand to tighten the towel that was threatening to come loose. As her eyes met his she began breathing heavily. “You are opening something that needs to stay closed,” she warned him, a deadly tone to her voice. “You need to go and come back when you not only have sense, but a fucking warrant.”

Kaydence wasn’t stupid. She knew that any form of law enforcement needed some sort of warrant before entering someone’s property or arresting them while they were in that property. She hoped Ashton didn’t take her for a fool. She was fortunate enough to have decent book smarts. Darren had told her and the crew way back when about dealing with the Ministry’s law enforcement department. She doubted that the rules had changed much since then. Her eyes continued staring daggers in to him. She had to remember where she put that damn wand. If Ashton thought she was leaving without a fight, he had another thing coming. If he wanted to be so bold as to try and reveal her as some blood-thirsty DeathEater, she was going to show him what she had taken from her training. Kaydence hadn’t needed to use her abilities often, but she was a force to be reckoned with when it came to battle. She could hold her own. He had never seen that side of her before and if insisted on seeing it, she’d be more than happy to make him wish he hadn’t. “Get out of here,” she said again. He hadn’t moved an inch. “If you killed my dog, I swear to Merlin that I will make you wish the roles were reversed.”

[Ashton Wentworth]

A large part of him almost wished that he was still back at the Ministry. That same part of him would have benefited from sitting behind his desk; allowing the supple leather of his spinning chair to engulf his body and relax his tired body, to be throwing his quill at the ceiling and flicking more mounds of paperwork at Stavros to fill out. He hadn't been able to complain too much in the paper department because he really was still learning the ropes and there was a ton of forms that needed to be memorized and processes to learn. It was just very lucky he happened to be able to take the burden of It all the one time that there were copious amounts of forms to be filled out. He should have let another Auror handle this, hell, he would have even sent Shawn out to do it had he still been around. He would have liked to mourn his friends death but due to workloads he hadn't been able to yet. He hadn't even been allowed to process his own feelings about hardly anything lately. He had been far too busy to do that, he assumed that once the worst had boiled over (if it ever did) then it would all come crashing down and he would have been forced to confront all of his true emotions on the subject. Then again, putting off dealing with his feelings was something that he did very well.

Seeing Kaydence was hard, seeing her like this was almost harder. He wanted to swallow the personal feelings since he had a job to do, but it was proving to be more difficult than he had originally assumed. He wanted to just picture her as a monster, as nothing more than a liar who didn't respect him enough to really value his company. Perhaps it was why he was rattling off charges that may or may not stick. He could charge her with whatever he wanted, but that didn't mean that it was going to hold up without proper evidence. The treason on the other hand, was unquestionable. She had acted out against the ministry in front of countless witnesses, not to mention she didn't report what a monster her brother was and aided in his capture. She was one of them. The enemy. Whenever that mark slowly brought itself into view, dissolving whatever charms she had put onto herself, and moved only for a moment once exposed to light and air. His grip on her arm tightened, her skin was turning white from the pressure but he couldn't help himself. His jaw set, and he didn't feel as tired anymore. Almost like a second wind, it was good that he had anger on his side. It always seemed to help him function better. Since he had been almost constantly angry for the last month, the one and only benefit from working with Stavros on a 22/7 basis.

He assumed that even if he didn't have so much hate in his body right now he would be looking at her differently. How could he not after what he knew about her now? It was like the little sheltered web that he had been keeping him in was gone now. He had broken loose and day after day, he was learning more and more about her. Her name crossed his desk at least twice a day, since she was their best link into Darren's world, to learn the most about him. He didn't want to have to be confronted with her as often as he was. He felt like he knew more about her than even she did. He had even gone over her school transcripts, the ministry was even attempting to track down all of her old boyfriends to get information. That however, was not going to be something that he was willing to witness. The depth of her lies grew every day and now looking into her face, it was suddenly real to him. “Let go of me,” He could feel her struggling, her slight body attempting to break his grip. His eyes remained glued to her forearm, not even blinking. Even in his tired state he was stronger than she was, even if it wasn't by much. He was on the verge of really harming her arm. It was a final yank on her part that really loosed his grip and broke her arm free. His eyes lifted to her own, matching the anger there. He should have been expecting it, but he hadn't been. The slap across his face forced him to stumble back a step. His vision blurred, small black circles making themselves evident in one eye's vision before floating out of view again. He needed to pop his jaw to make it more comfortable. He put a hand out against the wall to steady himself. This wasn't good. She couldn't get the best of him, what would he say to Rutherford if he came back empty handed?

He had only just rested his hand for balance whenever she shoved him, and he stumbled backwards a few more feet. Not. Good. He grasped onto the door frame of her bathroom to keep from stumbling over entirely. Maybe he could paralyze her and take a nap. What nirvana would that be. His eyes glanced into the open door of her bedroom to that sweet bed, pillows, heavenly mattress. He blinked, she was advancing, no time for memories to come swimming to mind. Who the hell did she think that she was? Slapping a Ministry official like that, not to mention her once almost boyfriend. Then again, it wasn't exactly the first time. He righted himself, and she was talking. Just like always, running that damned self righteous mouth of hers. “You are opening something that needs to stay closed,” He begged to differ. Any hopes of her life staying private were long gone, you can't pick your family but she had chosen her association with him and there her loyalties lied. He shook his head, she was so naive. Her tone was like ice, it was pathetic that he missed her so damned much. “You need to go and come back when you not only have sense, but a fucking warrant.” A fucking warrant? Was she kidding? Of course he wouldn't be here if he didn't have a good reason to. Did she honestly think that he was here for her? That he wanted to look into her face and just be reminded the entire time of the gut wrenching pain that was sitting inside of him?It was amusing that she was inviting him back into her house, but the accusations of him needing a warrant was absurd. That little mark on her arm made her less than human in the eyes of the ministry. His blood was boiling. How dare she accuse him of not being able to do his job through the proper channels. It was absolutely crazy that he was so hurt since they hadn't been together officially at all, and hadn't been sleeping together for longer than a couple of months, but there had been something there hadn't there. Something real that was still making him want to throttle her with every glare that she shot him. Holding his wand as steady as he possibly could he reached around his body to his back pocket to retrieve a crumpled piece of paper. Folded in thirds, the ministry stamp was unmistakeable. He tossed it to the ground by her feet. She was the biological sister of the bloody Dark Lord for Merlin's sake. She couldn't honestly be so daft as to think that she wouldn't be at the very top of their most wanted list right now. She was just lucky that it was him, most of the other Auror's would have just stormed in, in a group or at the very least a pair and marched right in on her in the shower. The likelihood of them bringing her in bare-assed was also likely. They didn't much care for traitors or their modesty. His cheeks burned at the thought of what they might have done to her if it was somebody else who had walked in on her nubile frame in such a vulnerable state.

“Get out of here,” He shook his head. Not going to happen and she knew it. Technically, he wasn't supposed to have any conversation with her other than to list her her rights and charges and take her back into the Ministry but he wasn't going to be able to help himself. He already knew it. He took a cautious step toward her. She wouldn't be able to do too much more slapping before that towel gave way and her pride would prevent her from allowing her to stay nude in front of him for long. Hell, his libido would give him trouble with her naked frame. So, for both of their sakes he really needed to make this quick. He was attempting to treat her professionally, and while that might be to march her into her to order her to get dressed, he wasn't going to risk being nice to her for even a moment. “If you killed my dog, I swear to Merlin that I will make you wish the roles were reversed.” Something inside of him snapped. Perhaps it was his last shred of sanity, or his body giving into the stress and anger. He wasn't sure, but he did know that if that damned dog came up in their conversation again he was going to snap it's neck with his bare hands. His eyes narrowed and he closed the distance between them quickly. His hands grasped her shoulders, pushing her up against the closest wall but away from anything that she could grab and smash against his head. He had lots of experience with woman throwing things at his head and he wasn't in the mood for her trickery. His fingertips dug into the flesh of her shoulders, his face moved close to hers. No doubt she would be able to smell the coffee on his breath, and really see the extent of his lack of sleep and what it had done to his features. “Dammit Kaydence” he said through gritted teeth. “Leave the sodding dog out of this” He pulled her away from the wall and spun her body around, wrenching her arms behind her back with more force than what was needed. He used one hand to hold them there, using the weight of his body to keep her pinned to the wall. He didn't want to have to use magic against her if he didn't have to, but if he needed to he would. She should know that already.

He leaned in close to her face, the sweet smell of her shampoo filled his nostrils. His eyes closed, wishing that they were in a different place and he had her pinned for an entirely different reason. Yet, that wasn't ever going to happen again. While he was fairly certain that he could have forced her, it just wasn't in his nature. Not that. His forehead rested against the wall next to her own face for just a second. “Don't make this more difficult than it already is.” His tone was lower, but not kind. “For both of our sakes” His grip was temporarily loosened, but he didn't think she had it in her to shove his weight off. “Out of all of your secrets. I never imagined that you would have been capable of something like this” It was more for himself than her, holding onto her hands with his one hand, he allowed his wand to train itself onto a spot between her shoulder blades, just in case. Pulling them away from the wall he started to march her into her bedroom to find something to grab for her to wear. He was going to pick the things that didn't match, and looked the least flattering. He wouldn't allow her to get dressed until they were back at the ministry, but he knew that the shabby clothing would infuriate her.

[Kaydence Morgan]

Over and over again Kaydence was mentally cursing herself. How could she have been so stupid? She had plenty of time to leave this damn country. She didn’t have to wait to get new papers from the mystery man. She could have just fled. It hadn’t been difficult for her four years ago, so why had it been this time around? All she needed to have done was pick Luka up, grab a few essentials and then apparate around the world until she found a location best suited for her. From there she could have found someone to change her identity. It would have been so easy. But she hadn’t. Why? So many damn questions and not enough answers. Maybe she was starting to lose her mind. She did have the tendency to be unstable so that wasn’t really too much of a lie. It wasn’t like she had been riding on a high at eluding authorities and her brother. Kaydence hadn’t been prancing around Austria in open view waiting for someone to notice her. She was terrified as it was opening her window to let air in. So it was safe to say that there was no sort of satisfaction from her rebellion. She didn’t consider herself to be completely frightened either. She did go out to walk Luka after all and make trips to the local store for the bare necessities. That did cause her to have some sort of confidence. It just wasn’t enough though. None of the reasons she could think of were logical enough to explain just exactly what she had stayed put. There was nothing for her in this blasted country anymore. Staying here would only cause Kaydence pain, strife and perhaps more significantly, her life.

As the two continued glaring at each other, a possibility did come to Kaydence’s mind. Could she perhaps have stayed here for him? Although he was a pompous asshole more than ninety percent of the time, there was that ten percent. The amount of time she got to see Ashton’s kinder, gentler side was rare, but she was very much aware of its existence. It went without saying that it was also the side that she preferred. Judging by the awful look on his face however, it didn’t seem possible that she would ever see it again. With that, why would she stay around? The last time someone had looked at her with such disdain was when her family decided they wanted nothing more to do with her. It was the worst form of humiliation Kaydence had ever felt and something that she hoped to never have to experience again. Yet here it was again. It didn’t matter that she had no real relation to Ashton. His look of betrayal and hurt was all that was needed to take her back to the memory she wished to suppress above all others. Biting down on her lip it was hard to keep the stone expression on her face. This was not the time to show any sign of weakness. Ashton would jump all over it at first notice and she would be done for. She’d be damned before he got the best of her again. Holding tightly to her towel Kaydence’s eyes shot down to his waist as his free hand began to dig around in his pocket. Her eyes narrowed as he produced a piece of paper. Perhaps he did have that warrant after all. Sure enough, she saw the Ministry seal reflecting back at her. Her heart suddenly felt as heavy as her arm. If there had been any trace of doubt in her mind that if he was here because of other intentions, it was gone.

As Ashton took a step towards her, normally Kaydence would have moved. However, because he had exposed the dark secret on her arm, the other half of her was resilient. She had been trained for this. Hell, half of the encounters she was supposed to have had as a DeathEater were expected to be with Ministry officials. Her DE training had become second nature to her when she was younger. Apparently it hadn’t subsided as she aged. Ashton should be thanking his lucky stars she hadn’t had her wand on her when he had taken her by surprise. He could easily overtake her physically, but her skill with a wand was impeccable. Even though there was that defiance, she didn’t expect him to push her up against her wall. She should have. This wasn’t the first time the two had been in this position. Ashton had a terrible problem with keeping his hands to himself. Before him, Kaydence had never been so grateful to be in a relationship in which a man never laid his hands on her. The force he exerted caused her to wince slightly as her skin made contact with the wall. The texture of the wall was rugged and she could feel her flesh rub against it. Yet another burn caused by him. The thought of the last time he had caused the injury on her back briefly flashed to her mind, causing her anger to only elevate. Her glare was deadly. It pierced through his eyes, disregarding how tired and depressed they looked. There was no pity for him. He had come here for a reason that didn’t warrant such behavior. “Dammit Kaydence. Leave the sodding dog out of this.” What the hell was with him and her dog? She had once tried to pry information out of him as to why he didn’t like animals, but all that resulted was an expletive-filled tirade on the creatures and she had regretted saying anything at all.

Kaydence wanted to push the subject. At possible risk to Luka though, she didn’t. She was in no state to properly defend herself or the dog. Not another moment passed before he grabbed her again and spun her around. This time he used even more strength and the left side of her face hit the wall hard. She nearly cried out in pain as the surface cut into her cheek. She already knew it. The cut that was finally starting to heal, the one caused by her brother, had been reopened and would no doubt leave a discoloring red stain on the white wall. She had never fully been able to grasp why Ashton always felt the need to be so defensive and angry towards her. Patience was something he had never heard of. Even though he had been around her long enough to know how to properly react to her own mood swings, he would never have any of it. He’d always give it right back to her, never attempt to calm her down or walk away from the situation. He was as stubborn and prideful as she was and then some. They were two things that Kaydence hated the most about him. The fact that they had flared up again was like acting a whole gallon of gasoline to the fire lightly lapping at the surface inside of her. She was sure he wasn’t aware of what he had done yet. His face was too close to her exposed side to see it. “Don’t make this more difficult than it already is.” She couldn’t help but to laugh in his face. “For both our sakes.” Now she knew he had lost his mind. She couldn’t begin to fathom how difficult this was for him. He was getting what he wanted for Merlin’s sake! The only reason he had come by himself was to probably boost his ego at getting his sick form of justice for finding out one of her secrets in the way that he had. She had never heard such a damn lie in her entire life. “Clearly you have me confused with someone else.”

“Out of all of your secrets. I never imagined that you would have been capable of something like this.” Kaydence chuckled. “Like I haven’t heard that one before. You’re just mad because you were too bloody stupid to see what was right in front of you, with all you brilliant Auror training.” Of course she had never done anything to make her look suspicious. She figured that Aurors had to have some sort of ability to detect Darren’s followers though. That or she was just really good at being deceptive. The feel of his wand tip in between her shoulders caused a sadistic smirk to form on her face. If he continued to point that thing in her direction, she would not be held responsible for what happened whenever she found hers. The smirk stayed on her face as Ashton pulled her from the wall and began forcing her to the bedroom. “What? You looking to get a quick one in before we head back? Sorry darling, that ship sailed long ago.” Kaydence was sure some snide comment would follow, but she would have no problem ignoring it. “Plus I’m sure your boys wouldn’t be too thrilled hearing that this wasn’t the first time you bedded a DeathEater.” The word sounded so foreign coming from her lips. DeathEater. Once a word that filled her with so much pride was now like poison, infecting her with emotions that words couldn’t even begin to describe. As they stopped in the middle of the bedroom, she pulled her towel closer around her. What now? He’d be stupid to leave her alone even for a minute. If she couldn’t find her wand, she would definitely be capable of finding some other form of defense. Her eyes quickly trailed the room looking for anything that could help her. There was a belt off to the side from pants she had worn the other day but doubted she had the time to dip down and grab it to strangle him with.

She would have to resort to using physical strength. There was enough in her to give her a temporary edge. Maybe just enough to get away and dart back to the living room where she was sure her wand had last been. A maneuver she had been taught during training suddenly came to mind. It had been awhile since she had done it but even she had been impressed with how she had accomplished it. Taking a deep breath, Kaydence spun around quickly and grabbed Ashton’s arm that was holding the wand. Forcing it back towards him, she aimed his wand towards his neck, making sure her free hand was holding the one grasping his wand to have some control over it. Using every ounce of strength she could muster, she pushed him back towards the wall and forced his arm to push the tip of his wand into his neck. There was a crazed look in her eyes. His eyes scanned her face in disbelief. A small part of her felt guilty for what she was doing. She would have preferred for things to be different. The thought of their two naked bodies curled up under the heavenly comforter and body-enveloping mattress of her bed together was hard to shake. He had asked for this though. Gritting her teeth, she dug the wand deeper into his throat. “Are you really going to get more satisfaction out of doing this then just letting me go and forgetting I ever existed?” The old her returned for a second. “You and I both know that I never did anything to insinuate that I meant you harm. I tried to push you away but you wouldn’t have any of it. I kept telling you no, but you kept insisting I say yes.” Kaydence brought her face closer to his. The urge to kiss him was overwhelming. “Stop trying to punish me for something you don’t even know anything about.” She knew her words would provide no comfort for him, but they were things that needed to be said.

Her tone became even softer. “I am begging with you to turn around and walk out. Say you came but I was gone already. You were right when you said you had no idea I was capable of this. This is only a preview. Don’t underestimate me. There are things that need to be kept where they are hidden. Things you can’t even begin to understand. I will tell you what I deem necessary for you to know if you just get out of here Ashton.” The demon within her was getting tired of being in her shadow. Kaydence’s arm began trembling as it pleaded with her to let it do as it pleased. If only he knew how much she was protecting him. “Ashton, please.”

[Ashton Wentworth]

Her bedroom was exactly the same. The same bedding, her closet just slightly ajar holding back her massive wardrobe inside. Her bathroom door was still cracked open, steam still clinging to the edges of the mirrors. Her pillow was dented in the middle and the image of laying her back onto the soft bed instantly came to mind. Slowly sliding the towel from her body and allowing his soft kisses to wander...closing his eyes for longer than he should have he stifled the image quickly. As he led her forward the smell of her shampoo was wafting into his nose, damned women and their smelling good. He hoped that she was hurting, at least a portion of the way that he was hurting. Then again, he didn't really know if she had ever really cared about him to begin with, not really. Frowning, he pushed the tip of his wand even harder into the flesh between her shoulder blades. Upon closer examination, he could see that he was grinding his wand right into a spot that was pink and raw. Great, he had caused her another burn. He had felt so bad after the first one, and yet that same guilty feeling wasn't there now. He almost felt like she deserved it. Like she needed to pay for her actions, at least a little bit. He needed to make sure that she was hurting like he was, even if he had to make her do it physically. That path however, might prove very harmful for the both of them. It was a mental battle that he didn't much like having to deal with, he wanted to scream at her. To confront her for the laughter she had done in his face just moments ago, yet to do so would turn his house call personal and he was afraid that if it did, he wouldn't be able to get professional again.

“Like I haven’t heard that one before. You’re just mad because you were too bloody stupid to see what was right in front of you, with all you brilliant Auror training.” He would have loved to know exactly what situation she had been in to have that statement come up in a conversation before. How he was supposed to deduce that she was a DeathEater was beyond him. Their relationship had been mostly physical. The talking that they did do was all innocent and didn’t ever lead anywhere. It had taken him two weeks to even learn her last name. If there had been some hint at all in the time that they had spent together, he would love for her to bring it up again. He was dying to know. Did she think that he had some sort of spell that would just automatically reveal her? It wasn't like he went around pressing his wand up against every single person that he came in contact with her slept with. It was illegal to invade somebody's privacy so thoroughly without probable cause. “What? You looking to get a quick one in before we head back? Sorry darling, that ship sailed long ago.” He found himself smiling, he guessed it was obvious what was on her mind. “You aren't going to get that lucky” He shook his head to himself. The selfish thought that she had been waiting here for him all this time crossed his mind. The damned thought sunk it's hooks into his mind and wouldn't be shaken loose. He couldn't push it from his mind. If there was the smallest possibility that it was true he would...what? It still didn't change the fact that they were on different sides, that they so obviously wanted different things and that he had to arrest her. It didn't change the fact that she had known all this time that her brother was the damned Dark Lord and she hadn't said a single word about it. It wasn't a matter of him being stubborn and prideful any longer, it was the fact that he didn't know anything about her. There it was, that gnawing in his gut again. For some reason there was that nagging feeling that it didn't really matter that he didn't know anything about her, that there were ways around it. There had been the look of sadness on her face whenever he had thrown the warrant at her, she had almost seemed disappointed. He didn't think it had anything to do with her being arrested or not. Yet....no, that was impossible. Facts were facts and he couldn't afford to get lost in grey matter whenever it came to her.

“Plus I’m sure your boys wouldn’t be too thrilled hearing that this wasn’t the first time you bedded a DeathEater.” He rolled his eyes, that was just silly. Besides, due to Stavros' giant mouth Rutherford was going to find out anyway. He was almost sure of it. The fact that it had stayed secret this long was a wonder. Thinking back, he wondered why Stavros hadn't told anybody yet. No. Focus. She was just attempting to distract him. If he really wanted to bed her again, he would. He wasn't even going in that direction, she should be able to tell that he was guiding them to the closet, she stopped in the middle of the room and turned to look at him. He didn't lower the wand. He could see the hand grasping the towel so tightly, he almost wanted to rip it away just to embarrass her. There was the chance that she wouldn't have been able to catch him off guard like she had if he hadn't seen her face. Her cheek was red, blood was flowing in small bubbles from the now open wound on her cheek. He wanted to touch her, to brush the blood from her face and make it all better. The same cut that he had gone so ballistic about whenever another man had done it to her, he was no better than him. His jaw set, words that would have been detrimental to his cause were bubbling up to the back of his throat. Then she had moved, she had grabbed him faster than he had been able to blink and turned his wand back in on himself. He could feel the tip pressing against his trachea. Obviously he wasn't going to cast a spell on himself, and since he was holding it he was fairly certain that she couldn't use it for her advantage, but he wasn't sure. She could however, use it to crush his throat in. Even if it didn't kill him it would maim him. He didn't move, he allowed her to move him about the room. Wanting to spare his throat from his own wand. He had been so damned foolish. He met the crazed look in her eyes with one of utter rage. She had better kill him, or else he was going to make her regret that. He didn't like anybody getting the better of him. Most of all not a smart mouthed little girl.

“Are you really going to get more satisfaction out of doing this then just letting me go and forgetting I ever existed?” He swallowed, feeling the tip of the wand move against his skin as he did so. He wasn't going to answer her, she didn't deserve it. The only words that were coming to mind anyway was that there was no way that he could ever forget that she had existed. No matter how badly he wanted to. It was only for a second, but there was a flicker of sorrow. He instantly regretted it, but he knew that she had seen it. His eyes scanned her face, wanting to see if she even cared just a little. She had to know that that was what he had been pursuing her so adamantly for, to see how she really felt. She was so damned guarded. Even with all the information he now knew about her, he wondered if she would even care if he told her that he had been in her room not long ago, going through her things. That right now, analysts inside of the ministry were picking apart her life, attempting to gather as much information about her as they possibly could. “You and I both know that I never did anything to insinuate that I meant you harm. I tried to push you away but you wouldn’t have any of it. I kept telling you no, but you kept insisting I say yes.” Just like that, it was gone. The anger had returned. “Oh really Kaydence?” His face full of spite. He spat his words out like a bad taste. “And what do you call blasting me half way across the bank? I think that was pretty harmful!” It didn't make much sense, but he was seeing red. He wanted to grab her by the shoulders, lift her body up against the wall and do very horrible things to her, all in the effort to make himself feel better. He knew it would make her feel pretty good too.

“Stop trying to punish me for something you don’t even know anything about.” He rolled his eyes, he could feel her grip on his wrist loosening, but he didn't move just yet. “Oh poor, pitiful Kaydence” his tone dripping with sarcasm. He was fairly certain that he knew all that he needed to know about her and her DeathEater ways. He didn't feel the need to sit around and allow her to elaborate either. “I am begging with you to turn around and walk out. Say you came but I was gone already. You were right when you said you had no idea I was capable of this. This is only a preview. Don’t underestimate me. There are things that need to be kept where they are hidden. Things you can’t even begin to understand. I will tell you what I deem necessary for you to know if you just get out of here Ashton.” He was interested in knowing exactly what she meant by this just being a preview. If she thought that he was actually being threatened right now, she was wrong. “Ashton, please.” He didn't need her help, or her pathetic sympathies. His eyes set, hurt and belligerent once again. His voice was hardly above a whisper. The last emotion that he was willing to show her, the only admittance of hurt. “It's too late for that” This was it, she was already starting to plead with him. She must know how much trouble she was in, and wanting to pull any card that she could to get out of it. Well, it wasn't going to work that way. They were going to do this on his terms. He rotated his wrist quickly, grasping onto her own and forcing her to break her grasp. Unfortunately, his wand dropped in the process. He brought her arm out and away from her body, forcing her to spin around or risk having her arm broken. Whenever her arm was crossed in front of her chest, and her back was pressed up against his chest he brought his lips down to her ear. He considered whispering, but being this close to her, in even this slightly suggestive pose, his concentration was waning. He settled for breathing against the moist skin of her neck. His grip on her wrist tightened. His spare hand moved to the towel, fingertip just barely tracing the top of the towel and her skin. He grabbed the knot, and let the thing fall to the ground. It wasn't anything that he hadn't seen dozens of times already. He needed her to get dressed, he wasn't about to take her into the Ministry wearing a towel, he didn't want to have to deal with the men looking at her, He didn't even want to think about men looking at her. Ever. Letting her go, he shoved her naked body in the direction of her closet. Watching carefully. “Pick something, anything and let's go” He knew she would know exactly where he was going to be taking her. Bending over, he scooped up his wand and moved closer to her, he wanted to be withing arms reach in case she attempted to do something stupid, like bolt. He made a 'hurry up' sound with his tongue. This was no time for modesty.

[Kaydence Morgan]

Defiance. She had given it to him and he was giving it right back to her. Kaydence knew him enough to know that he would never just let things be. If he had his mind set on something, he stuck with it all the way through. His constant pursuance of her was all the proof she needed of that. This situation was far more serious than a game of cat and mouse though. Both of their lives were on the line. Hers not only because of the Ministry but because of her brother. If Darren found out that she was still in the country he would kill her. Plain and simple. He had given her the warning when he had last seen her and she hadn’t heeded it. Ashton’s was because of his constant need for answers. The more he pushed at her, the angrier she got. He had already revealed her mark. He had been the reason why her mind was being divided into two. He didn’t know it, but with every glare, every comment, every raise in tone just made things worse. Kaydence couldn’t be held responsible for what would happen if he didn’t keep his mouth shut. She was trying to warn him, but he wouldn’t listen. More than one frustrated sigh passed through her lips. Why wouldn’t he just listen to her? There was a part of him that wanted to. She could tell. It had revealed itself when she had mentioned him forgetting her existence. He didn’t want that. It had been hard not to react herself to the pained look in his eyes. She knew that he hadn’t meant for her to see it, but she had. There was still a flicker of doubt in him somewhere. Doubt about everything that he was doing. Perhaps that he understood what she was trying to imply to him. Unfortunately, the look had diminished almost as quickly as it had appeared and was once again replaced by the look of pure ire.

“Oh really Kaydence? And what do you call blasting me half way across the bank? I think that was pretty harmful!” The truth was that Kaydence understood Ashton was not going to grasp her actions at Gringotts that day. There had been a slim bit of optimism that after she had saved him from being DeathEater bait that he would see that she did care about him. That the feelings were there despite insisting that they weren’t. The only reason she had sent him across the bank was to save him. If he would have stayed with her when that Auror was approaching the two of them, then her other half would have killed him. She wanted him to know that she had done it for his safety. That he was one of the only people in her life that she genuinely didn’t wish harm upon, that wasn’t done by herself of course. He never would though. If he had been harboring this animosity, then there was no chance of explanation. Kaydence doubted it’d even be possible for her to even try considering the state that she was in. Ashton was refusing all her attempts at getting him to leave. The last thing she wanted was a repeat of the battle. She wasn’t that kind of person, not anymore. Merlin she wished she could just wring his neck now for him to see how badly she wanted to drop her hold from his arm and dash away before any real damage could be done. Why couldn’t he see any of this? Her heart was so heavy that it felt so close to breaking into a million different pieces. When he had rescued her from the crumbling wall at Gringotts, she knew that she had been placed under lock and key and Ashton was the one who held the key.

Her pleading did nothing. “It’s too late for that.” Kaydence’s eyes closed regretfully. She didn’t want things to end this way. The shit that she had put up with from him was far too much for her to simply kill him and be done with him. She didn’t want to kill him before he realized her true feelings for him. She had put it on display for him to say. So what if she hadn’t come out and said it? She felt like she didn’t need too. Though after the first round of seeing how thick his skull really was she would have been better off driving it into his head with a nail and a hammer. Even then she wondered if he’d be able to fully grasp things. Her eyes shot open. “Fine.” Kaydence began pushing the wand yet even more into his throat when she was caught off guard. Ashton’s hand grabbed her wrist, spinning her around and up against his chest. He had her arm at such an angle that a simple step out of place would have broken it. The pain was maddening. An involuntarily moan of pain came from her lips as it felt like daggers were piercing at her skin. There was nothing she could do to keep his free hand from grabbing the knot that was holding her towel in place. Her eyes widened in fear. Normally, the situation would not be unwelcome. A romp in the sack with Ashton was pleasant. Kaydence was very proud of her body and given the attention and lust that he gave her when he saw it in its natural form she had no problem with letting him see it. Times had changed though. Revealing herself now would have deprived her of privacy she so desperately craved. Nothing made a person feel more vulnerable than being nude in front of someone one wished not to be.

As his grip tightened around his towel Kaydence merely closed her eyes. The unraveling was over in a second but to her it felt like years. The cold air hit her instantly. “Pick something, anything and let's go.” The shove that followed his comment was not nearly as bad as being exposed to him. She felt the sting of hot tears at her eyes. There had only been one other time in which she had felt this way and that had been at the hands of Cillian Doyle. It had now been twice that Ashton had forced the image of the man she wished to forever forget into her mind. A deep-rooted rage erupted. Kaydence could see nothing but red. After the incident at the camping grounds she had sworn to herself that she would never allow that to happen to her again. She was too strong of a person to be victim to such a brutal attack. At least she thought she was. Yes, Ashton hadn’t resorted to such measures but he had taken the source of comfort she had from her damp towel. She had thought that there was nothing worse he could do, but how wrong she was. She wanted to run into the closet, lock the door and crumple to the floor in a crying heap. The rage and disbelief prevented her from doing that. Her steps were cold, calculated and her body shook as she entered her closet. Any ounce of rationality was gone. Ashton wasn’t aware of what he had done but she would offer no explanation. Her memories wouldn’t allow any explanation. The Mark wouldn’t allow her any explanation. Veering to the right Kaydence disappeared from sight long enough to grab a pair of bra and panties and calmly put them on. She reappeared a few seconds later as not to force Ashton to come back in after her.

Grabbing a purple and white plaid shirt from a hanger Kaydence slid her arms through the sleeves and rolled them up before buttoning each button one by one. ”Hurry up!” She ignored him, turning to the left to grab a pair of jeans to put on. Walking towards the door of the closet, she wiggled her feet into a pair of purple heels. If she was going down, she might as well look fashionable. The plan was formulating in her mind as she stepped out and over towards Ashton. She allowed him to lead her out of the bedroom by her arm once he had grabbed it. It had come to her while she was in the closet. Her wand was in a drawer in a decorative table in the hallway. She had placed it there for easy access. It was coming into view. With a solemn look on her face Kaydence turned her head to Ashton. “I hope I never see your face again after this.” And she meant every word, well, to an extent.

[Ashton Wentworth]

He didn't have to be able to see her face to know that she had to be livid. No doubt she was picturing ripping his head off with her. He hated hurting her, and it seemed like he couldn't manage to stop doing it either. Whether it was emotionally or physically, she was just so infuriating. He knew that the pressure that he had been using on her arm would have been the same amount of pressure that he would have needed to use on a full grown man, he could have gone a lot softer on her and gotten the same point across. She had moved away rolling her shoulder, no doubt to get the feeling back in it. He was glad that she was no longer looking at his face, he would have lost his edge if she had been. Remorse and sadness was allowed to show while she was not in the room. He took a step back, bent in half with his hands resting on the tops of his thighs, just above the knee. He needed to catch his breath. He never had imagined that being around her in this context would have been so difficult. He could hear her rustling around in the closet, and he stood again at his full height, leaving his wand at his side for the time being. He had just wanted nothing more to trust her, he had wanted to believe that she was just a girl, just a normal person with her own bundle of issues and things that would keep him from being bored to tears in a conversation with her. Instead he had managed to stumble into bed with the sister of the Dark Lord. She reemerged into his line of sight just long enough to keep him from having to chase her down. He felt that if he was in such a small space with her while she was naked like she was, he wouldn't be able to control himself. He would be able to feel her breathing again, and have no choice but to make some very serious indents into the walls of her closet. From his vantage point he couldn't help but to admire her backside. Under previous circumstances, she would have paraded around like this just to tease him, and then not let him touch her for a long while. He frowned at the thought rather than smile.

He closed his eyes, not able to look at her anymore. He didn't like her being naked like this any more than she liked being naked in front of him. “Hurry up!” He shouted at her, not wanting it to see like he was pleading with her. There was no way that she could be this heartless, it wasn't possible for her to look at him right now and feel nothing. Right? Had he just been so blind in his need to get over Georgie, to have company of the female kind that he had just overlooked every flashing neon light that had been thrown at him? Was it that obvious and he was just that stupid? He didn't think so...yet he had also been foolishly pursuing her no matter what she threw at him without even blinking. He had been so persistent that she could have been honest with him the whole time, that she really hadn't wanted to be with him and he wouldn't have noticed. Was it just arrogance that he had assumed that she really had cared about him in the first place? Just arrogance that had made him believe that he could make anybody want him? He should have known better. He never had been very good at catching subtle hints, not any good at noticing what was in front of him unless it pertained to his work. He tended to just see what he wanted to see. She hadn't ever expressed her feelings, not like he had. He had made countless displays time after time of his affection. He had assumed, that with each little ploy and surprise that he had been inching closer to the yes. Whenever apparently it had just been pushing her away the whole time. He was mentally kicking himself with each passing second that he was here. He should have let somebody else handle it.

She came out of the closet fully dressed, even color coordinated. He rolled his eyes and grasped her by the arm as soon as she was within reach. No doubt he was going to have left a hand print on her. She could take it. He marched her out of the bedroom, kicking the closet door to slam shut as he did. He liked the little shudder than she gave whenever the loud noise startled her. It made him feel better. They were coming into the hallway, and his guard was slipping. His mind was running away from him. “I hope I never see your face again after this.” He stopped them in their tracks, about half way to the living room. He tightened his grip on her arm. Those words hurt. No matter how many times he had uttered them in his life to other people, nobody had ever said them to him before. He wrenched her body to face him, his eyes crazed with an emotion that even he couldn't place. He stared at her, and let go of her with such a force that she was pushed back up against the wall. He was looking at the cut on her face again, not at her eyes. Whenever he did, he wished that he hadn't. She was indifferent, just wanting to get out of there. Something snapped. He pressed his body up against her own, invading all of her personal space. There was no point in attempting to be professional any more. “Do you have any idea what I could do to you right now?” He spat in her face, words shaking as he attempted to control his temper. He was the good guy here, hiding a job in the ministry? That was a respected position, a legal position. He moved his knee to position between her legs, forcing them an inch apart “What I could take from you” he continued. She had seen the monster inside of him a few times now, but not quiet like this. She didn't get to quit him. She hadn't the right. “I could do anything I want, and just pretend I had no idea where you were” He smirked “Nobody would be the wiser” It had a degree of truth to it, of course the door man had known that he had been here. Ashton didn't think that he was good enough at memory spells to keep him from remembering Ashton's presence in the building. Hopefully, she wouldn't connect those dots herself. He brought his face to her, and his resolve shattered just a little. He was too close to her face. How could she even be mad at him? She was the one who had been caught in a lie. With one last shove he took a step back from her, if he didn't he was going to kiss her, no matter how angry he was his body would betray him. “Was anything you told me true?”

[Kaydence Morgan]

As Kaydence had expected, her words were not taken well. It was stupid considering she had seen him lose it before. It had never been as bad as the first weekend they had spent in her condo together. Ashton had been a monster then. A beast had been unleashed that she would have never expected and also one that she had done her best to avoid. She had pushed him often with all the times she said no to his advances. Somehow, she never managed to get that part out again. Oh she had made him angry. So angry that off to the left she was always reminded of the time he punched a hole in her wall, mad over the fact that she refused to accept his request for her to be his. Kaydence felt she had every right though. He had broken into her condo by the balcony for the third time that week. Any person in their right mind would have called the Ministry to report him for stalker tendencies. She never did though. As sick as it was, she liked the chase. She liked being the tease. The trait had ruled her entire teenage years and it was one that she had trouble letting go of. There was no better feeling then knowing that an attractive man wanted her. It was one she could never get sick of, no matter how old she was. Ashton had been no different. The teasing was wonderful. After all of the crap he had put her through in the short time they had known each other, Kaydence considered this her little bit of revenge for all the pain and misery. He wasn’t fond of being told no over and over. She wasn’t fond of being made to feel insignificant every time he had gotten what he wanted out of her. This was her chance to feel somewhat equal.

She preferred for him to see it that way. Merlin forbid if he found out the actual reason why she kept refusing him time and time again. Ashton would never let her hear the end of it. Naturally, he would puff out his chest and tell her he could take care of himself. Also, naturally, Kaydence would laugh in his face. Her brother wasn’t one that could be laughed at. She had no idea what he was up to now or what else about him had changed but she did know that he was dangerous. To her, there was no amount of Ministry training that could prepare him for dealing with Darren. Besides being a proud man, she also knew that he wouldn’t leave her alone ever again if he realized that she had genuine feelings for him. She didn’t know how much more obvious she could make it. Everything that she was doing: the insults, saying no, asking him to leave, it was all to protect him. How could he be so thick not to comprehend that? Kaydence knew she was difficult, but was always baffled how Ashton seemed to go above and beyond that. Any logical person would have understood her motives from the beginning. Ashton’s head was apparently too far up his arse to see anything but what he wanted. Like now. All he saw was a DeathEater. He had no idea that she had left that live long ago. That the mark on her arm was a cruel reminder of her past that she wished to annul. At this point, she didn’t even think he’d take the time to understand. He was too busy with his own pity party that he was oblivious to anything else. Kaydence rolled her eyes at the thought. Seriously, why did she bother? Ashton was too much to deal with. His constant need to feel superior to her in every aspect was downright annoying to say the very least. The one who truly deserved protection was the one who treated her as a person.

With as mad as she was though Kaydence was beginning to feel sorrow. The whole thing was playing out like some romantic tragedy. They were the two lovers who once had feelings for each other. Well, one who still had feelings while the other was too stubborn to see it. His need to let betrayal take over his life affected the way he saw her now regardless of her never actually doing anything hurtful to him besides trying to get him out of her life. Looking at it now this whole thing was just silly. There was no way he could be this mad at her simply because he thought she was a traitor to her country. As usual his ego was getting the best of him. He was mad because he didn’t want his mind to grasp reality. Who cared if Kaydence never made it easy for him? Ashton hadn’t made it any easier! He had known more about her then she had him up until Gringotts. A few weeks before the battle he stopped asking her to come and see him at the suite, randomly showing up at her condominium whenever he damn well felt like it. Whenever she tried to question his reasoning, especially since Luka was here, he’d shut down and go on a good ten minute long tirade about leaving things were they were. This was funny considering how badly he had made it seem that he wanted her to be with him. Kaydence never entered a relationship without knowing as much as she possibly could about her significant other. Why would she have changed things just for him?

He turned her body to face his. The scowl on her face remained. His grip on her arm hurt but not as much as her heart was. The look in his eyes was reminiscent of that night so many months ago. Kaydence couldn’t let herself crumble. She was the victim in all of this. She had to remember that. He couldn’t get away with treating this way forever. As her body went into the wall she closed her eyes tightly. Her monster could be just as bad as his. It was like he was begging to see it now. He didn’t know what she was capable of but she certainly was ready to show him. Her eyes opened just in time for him to press his body against hers once more. Her face contorted into an expression of boredom. This same song and dance was getting trite. “Do you have any idea what I could do to you right now?” She was tired of being threatened. “Do you have any idea what I could do to you right now?” Kaydence could play his own game back if that’s what he really wanted. The feel of his knee between her legs was unexpected, but not nearly as much as the way he wiggled them apart. “What I could take from you?” Now that was drawing the line. Her body began to tremble though from anger or fear she wasn’t really sure. The memories of that awful night in Blackstone began flooding in like waters from a dam collapsing. They were quick but enough to do the job. Kaydence winced. He continued talking but she could hear nothing. His lips were moving but no sound came out. All she could hear was Doyle’s voice in her mind, threatening her with that calm tone he had all night. She could feel his face inch closer to hers and she quickly shut her eyes. The last thing she needed was to stare back into Cillian’s horrifying face.

Suddenly it was like everything came to a stop. Kaydence’s body was pushed against the wall once more. The room was silent, the only sound she could hear was the heavy beating of her heart. It had been a long time since she had been pushed to this level, a level completely past how she felt at Gringotts. She was on the verge of blacking out. She did her best to breathe in and out deeply, but it was no use. It was impossible for her to calm herself down. “Was anything you told me true?” She was already tired of being questioned and she hadn’t even been brought to the Ministry yet. Ashton wouldn’t stop pushing at her buttons. Placing her palms against the wall Kaydence’s mind was once again invaded by the events of the past months. Her meeting with Ashton, their first weekend together, the times she had been stalked afterwards, Gringotts, now, everything. The demon wanted to be unleashed and things had gone past the point of no return. Opening her eyes she stared at him with a look of pure abhorrence. She had never looked at him this way. It was the way she looked when she was ready to advance and take down the enemy. Pushing herself from the wall Kaydence stomped towards him without a word, grabbed him by the shoulders and reared her head back. Without any form of warning she smacked her head against his own as hard as she possible could. Things were spinning but her demon knew exactly what it wanted to do. Her leg lifted, her purple heel roundhouse kicking him in the face. She stumbled slightly after impact, placing her hand to her forehead. She had hit him hard. Her moment of weakness was short lived as her body already started moving back towards Ashton’s staggering frame.

Placing her hands around his neck Kaydence pushed with all of her might the two of them towards her couch. A large decorative vase of flowers shattered into a million pieces as their bodies roughly pushed past it. As his body bent over it she squeezed tighter. She wanted to stop. She could see the color in his face turning to a deep red. But she couldn’t. Her fingernails went into the side of his throat. Bringing her face closer to his she grinned. “I’m going to kill you,” she said in a whisper, a voice not her own. If Ashton hadn’t gotten the hint by now that he had been the one to cause all of this, then she would have no sympathy for him when she finished him.

[Ashton Wentworth]

His eyes scanned her face, holding his breath, waiting for an answer, any kind of answer. She was looking at him like he was the bad guy here. Nothing could have been further from the truth. They did call him the 'Dark' Lord for a reason, and she wouldn't have been a 'Death' Eater had she not been the bad guy. He worked for the ministry, he was an officer of the peace, to uphold the law and all of that junk. He had never harmed a person that didn't deserve it. And he had only taken one life that he knew of. Could she say the same? How many people had she disposed of over the years doing her brothers bidding? She couldn't honestly feel like she is the victim here, like she was the innocent one who was being treated unfairly. If she did, well, that was just a testament to her spoiled rich bitch upbringing. He returned her glare, waiting for her to answer his question. It was the very least that she could do. What she did next, he never would have guessed in a million years. Sure, he did feel badly for what he had just done. He was just wanting to hurt her, to make her share his pain and instead, she was retreating, just getting more angry. Her actions were proof of that. The look that she was giving him was intimidating. He was used to getting dirty looks from women, he could even handle his own whenever they started throwing punches, but he had never been looked at like this before. He could imagine plenty of people had gotten this look from him, but he just knew, that this look of hers had been reserved just for him. Just for this special moment in time. He wanted to brush it off, to just laugh in her face at the silly look that she was giving him. Yet, he was frozen, her eyes had paralyzed him. His arms dropped to the sides, almost dropping his wand but not quiet. The look of hate on her face made him want to apologize, it was apparent that he had crossed a line that he hadn't ever crossed before and yet he knew if he touched her she was going to bite his hand, or whatever appendage off. Then she lunged.

He didn't see her coming until it was too late, he tried to lift his wand, his arm, anything but he wasn't fast enough. He felt his shoulders bend down to her own and her forehead connecting with his own skull. Instantly, dots appeared around his vision. He knew he had a pretty thick skull, and he was able to take a beating from people a lot bigger and stronger than she was, yet this was more shocking than any of the beatings that he had gotten himself into in the last month. He staggered back a step, his arm flying out to catch onto the wall to steady himself. Without even a chance to feel his head to see if he was bleeding, she was moving again, she was a fast little bugger. Her stupid purple heels were flying at his face. His eyes widened, and he was able to move just enough to allow her kick to hit him across the side of the face instead of the eye. He didn't think that the healers would be able to replace an eye if she kicked it out of his head. The impact hurt. A lot. It was the force of her foot, followed by the scraping of her heel against the tender flesh of his face. He knew he was bleeding now. The impact caused his body to spin, this time he had to use both hands to catch his crash into the wall. Only he spun too fast, and his forehead smacked against the wall once again. His vision blurred, he wasn't able to process the pain mixed with the rapid movement at the same time. His brain was threatening to shut down to spare him the physical and emotional turmoil. He tried to stand again, and stumbled backwards, briefly sitting on the small end table in the hallway before standing again, attempting to move forward to subdue her. His stubborn need to win was slowly starting to kick in.

What was it with this girl? He couldn't see straight, but she certainly could. He felt her small, cool hands wrap around his neck. His brow furrowed, he attempted to get a better look at her, to see why she was doing this to him, kicking the crap out of him. He might have laid a hand on her before, but he wouldn't have ever done this to her. It was only reenforcing the thought that she didn't give a damn about him. Never had. They were moving backwards, that much he was sure about, there was more light flooding his eyes. They must be in the living room. He had no choice but to follow her momentum until his body buckled backwards over the couch that he had sat on so many times before today. He couldn't breath, the pain coming from his lower back from being slammed into the couch wasn't helping things either. He could feel something stabbing into the side of his throat. It seemed like not too long ago he had been in this position before, only it had been a strip of gauze around his neck rather than hands. Hands was far more personal. “I’m going to kill you,” It was about time that somebody did. It was a horrible first thought to come to his mind. He was sputtering, gasping for air. He could feel the blood rushing to his face, then dissipating as the oxygen started to leave his blood. Her hands were really starting to crush his wind pipe. He didn't have much longer now. He did manage an almost inaudible “Crazy Bitch” his hand instinctively went to her wrist, hoping to pry it away, he tried to get his fingers in between her hand and his throat, maybe he could break one away and be able to breath again. As much as he didn't want to do any lasting damage, he liked breathing more. He figured if anybody was going to kill him, it might as well be her. It was better than Stavros doing him in anyway.

He couldn't help but think back to the day that they had met for the first time. Down in the gym at the resort that he had called home for so long. They should have both known from that very moment that they were going to be toxic to one another. She had been a little too eager, and he had been so broken that he hadn't much cared. What had she been, really? At first a distraction, no doubt to push the ghostly image of Georgie out of his mind. Even the form of her that was coming up from his subconscious wouldn't sit by and watch him be with somebody else. Then she had been refreshing, or was she just a rebound? He couldn't be sure. He supposed he couldn't count her as a rebound because there had been countless women between Georgie's death and Kaydence. Of course, none of them were important enough to even remember their faces. Somehow, he just knew that no matter how the ended up, Kaydence’s face was going to be stuck in his memory for a very long time from now. If she ever faded away at all. Would she end up plaguing him the way that his late wife had? Would he see images of her wherever he went? What would happen whenever she refused to see him any more. Would that even stop him? Would he just blatantly disregard her interests just like he always had over the past few months? He had warned her, before anything had happened he had warned her that she didn't want to get caught up with the likes of him. She hadn't listened to him either, something just kept bringing them back together time and time again. Only for what? For this to happen? For them to tear at each other until nothing was left? What was the point?

Whenever he had met her, he had formed an opinion of her in his mind. He had figured that she would have been something fun for him to do in between assignments, something to keep him busy on his days off to keep him active. Perhaps even to limit his gym trips to a minimum. Yet, somehow it had snowballed. Never had he assumed that he would have ever developed feelings for her, even less that he was going to have to dive so far into her personal life and that he was going to have to include her in his job. He hadn't wanted to get that involved with her, and yet, here he was. Fighting with her, physically trying to break her down since it didn't seem like he was going to be able to do so mentally. He was almost disgusted by himself for allowing things to get so bad, to spiral out of control so fast. He needed to sort out his thoughts on the matter, get his head on straight. He didn't want to care about her any more, he wanted to just get it over and done with, right? Then why had he gone out of his way to save her in the bank? Why had he defended her against Shawn...he had turned his back on his coworker, and friend for her. Even whenever he knew that she was a DeathEater, there had to be something to that. If he weren't seeing red whenever it came to everything about her he might have been able to realize that no matter what he tried, she wasn't going to be going anywhere. She was going to be a permanent fixture in his brain. As much as she hurt him, she also made him feel better. Something that he certainly wasn't able to say about Georgie by any stretch of the word. He felt comfortable around her, Georgie had been something else. He had needed to defend her, to keep her safe. He needed to save her and he couldn't, which was strange considering he was somebody who really needed to be pulled from the abyss himself. Georgie had been something Physical, something bendy and wonderful at the time. If he had to go back and marry her all over again, he doubted that he would have done it. He almost didn't do it then, he had been almost two hours late to his very own wedding...they had both been so foolish.

He was waiting for something to click in his mind, some reason that he had been pursuing her so blindly. Some reason aside from the thing that resided south of his belt. He knew that there were feelings, but was it just the same obligation as it was with Georgie? Was it the same latch as it would have been had he found somebody else in place of her? He hardly knew anything about her yet he was drawn to her. Hell, for all he knew she had cast some little spell on him. What if she had known who he really was all alone. The thought was frightening, what if she had known that he was an Auror and was looking for somebody in the Ministry to help further her brothers cause. Had she just been toying with him all of this time? What a cruel, cruel joke if she was. He was even waiting for his life to flash before his eyes, some montage of his greatest moments, his wedding, watching Georgie die, killing her father, meeting Kaydence, being in the hospital , anything but nothing came to mind. This wasn't like the last time he had almost died, where he saw the light at the end of the tunnel. This seemed far more final. He managed to get his other hand that wasn't attempting to pry her hand away from his neck, up into her hair. He grabbed as much as he could, and pulled with all of the strength that he had left. She didn't want to let go, that much was obvious, his grip was lessening but he was still pulling. He pulled until it wasn't physically possible for her to hold onto his throat any longer. He let go, and her body crumpled to the vase-strewn floor. He Righted himself enough to be comfortable and started gasping for air. His body turned onto his side and he found himself coughing, still sputtering as his lungs attempted to fill with air. He wasn't sure what she was doing, but he held up his wand anyway, it was just a warning. He couldn't get enough air into his system to cast an effective spell just yet but he hoped she didn't realize that. Crazy woman had almost actually killed him. Just another thing to add to her list of charges. There was no way he would be able to hide the pressure marks, soon to be bruises on his neck before Rutherford would see them. He would have no sympathy for her then.

He staggered off of his position on the couch, coughing every few moments, an intimidated look in his eye. He had no intentions of underestimating her again. He had just assumed that she would have used the same restraint with him that he had used with her, apparently that wasn't the case. A stupid call on his part. He still had so many questions for her, but didn't think that she was going to be reasonable any longer. “Time...Togo” he wheezed, and lifted his wand to chest level.

[Kaydence Morgan]

The voice in the back of Kaydence’s head was growing louder at an alarming rate. It was impossible that Ashton wasn’t doing anything to get her off of him. He was much stronger than she was. Despite having a death grip around his throat and his face changing shades of red so quickly that it was hard to keep up, he should have still been able to knock her off. Normally he should have been. She was having an out of body experience. She had no way of pulling herself off of him. It was like she had finally snapped. A girl in her position could only take so much and in her life she had taken well beyond the norm a girl of her age should have dealt with. Even if Kaydence took the time to sit down with someone and explain everything she had gone through the past five and a half years of her life, she doubted anyone would really be able to understand. All they would be able to do was sit there and nod their head. Kaydence didn’t think there was anyone out there who would really be able to get her. Even if Centara was still in the picture, the two had gone down two completely separate paths. It had been years since they had been friends and she really doubted if they ever connect again. They had both given each other a taste of the events they had gone though, but were so different physically and emotionally. She was too stubborn to admit it but her old friend was far stronger than she was right now. Kaydence was hit with blow after blow and she just took it, allowing it to fester from within, just waiting for that moment to boil over. And now it had.

This was not her. Kaydence wasn’t even sure if this would be her when she was younger. She was cruel and malicious but now the non rational side of her wanted to do nothing more than kill Ashton. He had only attributed to the pain constantly marring her life. Whatever it was that he couldn’t come to grips with himself had been forced upon to her. The mood swings, the anger, the lack of care when it came to putting his hands on her. As she had told him time and time again, she was not an easy person to be with. She dwelled too much on the past to ever function normally in society. She was too afraid of being judged to open herself up to get any sort of help in dealing with the issues that plagued her mind, body and soul. It sickened Kaydence on a daily basis. She wanted to be normal again. She wanted to have a day where she thought nothing other than what she wanted. Shopping, clothes, Luka. Normal things a twenty three year old woman should be thinking about. For awhile, she very nearly had been. Ashton had brought a peace to her life that she hadn’t seen in years. For once, she was focused on him and his irrational behavior on a daily basis more than whether or not her brother knew if she was back in Austria. He had taken a dominating part in her mind that she was not used to. Before him, it had been Maverick for the longest time and then Evan before that. The feeling was so strange that if she spent too much time on it, memories of past events came rushing back to her. She hated that Ashton had that effect on her. It was never supposed to have been anything more than a hook up or two when they needed it.

What had made it change? Kaydence often went back in time to try and put the pieces together, but she could never seem to find them. Was it possible that this was just happening? That the two of them were brought together for no particular reason? If so, the end result would be nothing the two would be able to handle. What if they had been destined to be in each other’s life? Kaydence couldn’t see how. They had gone years with being in the same house at school without knowing the existence of the other. All that resulted in her reflecting was a lot of headaches. Usually ones that couldn’t be tamed without finishing a bottle of rum. She wished she had an answer to why he had such an effect on her. His behavior was repetitive. She knew she could find someone who would have treated her a whole hell of a lot better. He had gotten better with her near the end. She could give him that. Often, it was like he was a whole other person. She couldn’t count the number of times she had come home to compliments and surprises. Her mind briefly went back to time she had come home from a meeting with Demetri and Ashton had been there. At first she was infuriated he had broken into her condo again. As she moved closer she saw the plates out on her coffee table and the boxes of take-out food next to them. Her mouth had dropped open as the smug look on his face grew. “It’s about damn time you showed up. Food’s getting cold.” Without waiting for her to respond he turned forward and grabbed her remote, turning on the television to the very movie that had been playing when he had first come to her condo.

Maybe it was the moments like those that kept him a fierce presence in her head. How he never knew when to stop, even when nights were bad and all she wanted was for him to leave her alone. Even when she got furious with him and demanded to know why he wouldn’t leave her alone. Was this all some sort of sick game to him? Was his pride really so massive that once he got her to say yes he’d laugh in her face and leave her alone? The thought made her hands grip even tighter around his neck. Kaydence had already proven herself to be a fool time and time again. She’d be damned before letting Ashton make her out to be an even bigger one. She gritted her teeth. Her fury was blinding her. The look of pain and confusion in his eyes as he stared back at her wasn’t enough to make her stop. She had been pushed over the edge and she was falling with no sight of ground. His hands were moving all over hers, trying his best to pry them from his neck. She was a tall woman but her hands were tiny. It should have been easy for him to release them unless he was just as weak as he looked. Perhaps the endless hours at the Ministry had really had an effect on him. Kaydence watched as a hand finally left her own and moved towards her. Her hair was entangled within his fingers before she knew was what going out. A small scream left her mouth as he tugged down and she released her grip. She was sensitive about her hair. It was one of her best aspects. The pain was agonizing enough to make her fall to the ground. As she made contact with the ground her hand instantly went to the sore area and did her best to rub at it. It sure felt like he had tugged out a few strands of hair. Merlin help him if she did. If there was any trace of a bald spot on her precious head she was going to take the hair he had pulled and shove it down his throat.

Kaydence could hear him coughing behind her but her eyes were focused on the ground. Her fingers dug into the soft carpet of her living room. All she could see was red. Her hands were moving aimlessly around the floor. She didn’t know what she was searching for but they wouldn’t stop. “Time...Togo.” Not if she had anything about it. Her hands stopped their invisible search and she turned to face him. He looked like such a mess. She couldn’t be too sure but his eyes were full of an emotion she had never seen from them before. Was it intimidation? No, she couldn’t have possibly proven her point to him. Placing her palms on the side of her Kaydence grunted before swinging her leg out and knocking him off of his feet. As he fell to the ground she was on top of him in an instant and her arm automatically reared itself back. Another yell left her mouth as her first collided with his cheek. She could already feel her knuckles swelling. Bringing her fist back she waved it as if it would alleviate the pain. Another memory came back to her. This time they were in her bedroom. After being particularly allured by one of his nights of endless compliments she had pushed him towards her bed and straddled him. Feverish kisses were aimed in every direction. ”So what about now? You gonna be my girl?” Pulling her face away from his shoulder Kaydence bit down on her lip and shook her head. “No. Never,” was all she responded before allowing her lips to trail slowly down his chest.

If these memories kept coming back she was going to lose it even more than she already had. Growling, Kaydence pulled her arm back and socked him in the cheek let again. Grabbing his collar she pulled his head up to hers. “I’ve never been so disgusted with someone in my entire life,” she spat, her fingers tangling themselves in the light fabric of his collar. “I’m going to make you regret the day you ever met me and all the torment you’ve put me through. “ Her face was centimeters away from hers now. “You’ve been so blind.” She doubted he’d understand the true meaning of her words. Not if he had been in the dark for this long.

[Ashton Wentworth]

He hoped to Merlin that she was finished. He was just so tired. Normally, he would have recovered more quickly after almost dying. He had recovered quickly enough after Tristan had almost choked the life out of him. He assumed that if it hadn't of been for the other head injuries, he would have been better shortly after his air supply was returned. Sure, that time there had been healers there just waiting to help but that wasn't the point at all. He had gotten into so many bar fights in his life, he he couldn't handle one tiny little girl, he was in some real trouble. He knew that he was stronger than she was, and he had at least a good sixty pounds on her. Probably a lot more. Why was it that the women in his life always tried to kill him at one point or another? He could remember Georgie throwing countless things directly at his head, including pots full of boiling soup, or blenders that were plugged in and on. His gaze drifted down to the spot on his arm where he still had the scar, even if it was covered currently by his shirt sleeve he knew it was there. While Georgie had never really put hands on him before, Kaydence sure as well didn't have any qualms about it now. He was waiting for her to get up, if she didn't then he would just have to hex her to do his bidding. At the very least charm her into submission so that he could properly apparate the pair of them outside of the ministry. She would have to know that it was over then. He guessed that his depth perception must have been off, because he had thought that there had been a safe distance between the two of them.

Yet, those impossibly long legs managed to shoot out and kick his feet out from underneath them. He fell fast, and he fell hard. He managed to hit his tail bone in the process, knocking the wind out of him. It was almost as bad as the choking. He was at her mercy now, and she certainly took full advantage of it. She was on him in a second. Normally this would have been behavior that he would have encouraged, but since it was followed by her fist balling up and lifting up over her head, he wanted to do nothing than to fling her across the room. He first punch threatened to knock his head clean off his body, at least that's what it felt like. After this, he was going to tell Rutherford he needed a week long vacation, no if's and's or but's. He was getting his arse handed to him by a girl, this was just unacceptable. He had taken punches from all sorts of species, and even the blond idiot hulk himself that he worked with, and yet somehow in his weakened state, this felt the same as all of the others had. Perhaps whenever she had kicked him in the head she had rattled his brains about. The second punch shouldn't have been a surprise to him, but it was, making him more than compliant whenever he felt his head being lifted by the collar of his shirt “I’ve never been so disgusted with someone in my entire life,” could that be true? It certainly sounded true enough. Was that just her anger talking like his usually did? He couldn't be sure, and not just because he couldn't see her properly. Was he right about her just playing with him this whole time? Had she known everything about him and had just been leading him on from the start? If so, she deserved some sort of acting medal for being so excellent. She had played that part to a 'T' “I’m going to make you regret the day you ever met me and all the torment you’ve put me through. “ How could he tell her that he already did? Even though he would hardly call it torment. By his standards, he had been pretty good to her on most parts and in most circumstances.

“You’ve been so blind.” He wanted to understand her meaning, it seemed like there really was one but his brain wasn't functioning properly. He wanted to just pass out. His brain was threatening to let him, too. He just wanted to pass out on her carpet. The same carpet he had been on countless times before, albeit with a lot less clothing. It was soft enough, good enough to take a short nap on..that was all that he needed, to close his eyes. Groaning in pain he forced his body to move, using one elbow her pushed his torso off the ground. Then, surprised at the speed he was able to exude, grabbed the back of her leg thigh as he rolled, forcing her to come with him. It was a move that he preferred to use other times, whenever she was wearing a lot less but this would just have to do. He grasped for her wrists, pinning them above her head. His breathing was heavy, coming out all raspy, and he didn't doubt that his throat was turning a light shade of green or purple by now. Somehow, he managed to move them into a position where she was sitting in front of him. He had his calves wrapped around her own, and his arms were wrapped around hers in almost a bear hug. It wasn't much, and it wasn't something that he should have been doing. His training forbade him from getting this close to a soon to be prisoner at any time. But this was Kaydence, who should have been his Kaydence. He held her there, her body shaking with what he expected to be rage. He inclined his head to her shoulder, threatening to pass out again. He should have eaten something on the way over. Power Bar, anything to keep his energy up. This, wasn't helping in the slightest. She was fighting him, struggling and he was having trouble keeping a hold of her. He tightened his grip on her. His face was right next to her ear. “Calm down Kay” He almost whispered, like he was pleading with her. It was the same time that he had always used whenever he was asking her to commit to him, even a little bit. Right before she would refuse him.

He was waiting for her to tell him now, for her to refuse just like she always did and start struggling anew but it didn't happen. That or he was finally getting the second wind that he had been hoping for and part of his strength was returning. Back in school, he had operated mostly on Booze and sleep. Then, in his life after school he had thrived on good food and fine Whiskey, since returning here it had sadly been mostly sleep and food. He had to keep his energy up to keep up with the likes of her after all. But this past month, he hadn't been able to take part in any of his vices except smoking and even that was hard to do whenever you aren't permitted more breaks than what is needed to go to the bathroom or a vending machine run for the floor. He had been volunteering just so that he could get in his smoke breaks but even that was becoming difficult. He had always needed at least two of his habits to thrive properly, and going this long without any of them was really starting to take it's toll on him. Not that the woman in his arms cared. “I'm going to let you go” He said, not really getting the double meaning. He loosed his grip only a fraction of an inch, his eyes darting instantly to the wand on the floor to the right of him. If she ran for it, he was fairly certain that he could reach it before she could. In fact, he knew that he could. “Please” he started again, starting to move his legs off of her own. Oh, how his body wanted to just collapse. He hoped for the best, that she would understand he really didn't want to fight with her anymore. “Please don't run” He couldn't do anything to help her down the line if she didn't help herself now.

At first, things were going alright. He had let her go and she hadn't moved. Not at first anyway, she made to get up, but it was only to turn and face him. She was sitting on those same heels that had done such ghastly damage to his face. He could only imagine what he must look like right now. His eye was slowly starting to swell shut on the left side where she had been punching him. The other still had the same dark purple bags under it, no doubt aging him a few years. His right cheek had a large gash running the length of his face from her shoe, and his forehead had a good sized goose egg and a light red coloration from where she had headbutted him. He didn't even want to know what his throat felt like, but if how he felt was any inclination, it had to be dark purple, and the perfect outlines of her hands. He should have just apparated them the second he had gotten into the house. Why hadn't he just followed protocol? He met her eyes, almost wondering if she was going to apologize, he thought he was ready to hear it if she did. To accept it for everything. Instead, she took off.

[Kaydence Morgan]

Whenever she thought she had the advantage Ashton went and did something to completely catch her off guard. He was supposed to gain any sort of leverage. Even worse, Kaydence was supposed to be in the zone. She wasn’t in control of herself. Whatever it was that was taking over should have had the edge. Unless she still had some power. That wasn’t possible though, was it? The fact that the real her was screaming at her possessed self couldn’t have be working. She was taking too much time to think about it. While she had been lost in her questioning, Ashton had taken the liberty of pushing himself up and rolling the two of them over, a position she would have normally enjoyed but things were far too serious to remember better times. It had already given her a disadvantage twice now. Grunting underneath his weight Kaydence began to struggle. Her wrists were pinned above her head. It wasn’t the first time for this either. “Trying to get out those last minute fantasies?” she asked, doing her best to provoke him. He ignored it, pushing their bodies in a manner until they were back up against the couch and they were sitting face to face. Their breathing was heavy, nearly in sync. His was much more ragged. The feel of his chest next to hers was eerily comforting considering the rate at which it was moving. Her body was trembling, furious. Every move was pointless. His body was nothing more than dead weight and he had a good number of pounds on her. Sighing out of defeat Kaydence did her best to look away as his head found her shoulder. Memories came back of him being territorial, doing the same move in public when he found a guy to be looking in the wrong direction.

This was getting tougher. She bit down on her lip and closed her eyes. “Calm down Kay.” Using her nickname at a time like this? The trembles got worse. The anger coming back full force. His pleading was useless. Forcing her eyes back open they quickly scanned the area. It didn’t take long for Kaydence to realize that the table holding her recently purchased wand was only a few feet away. So was Ashton’s wand. She wondered if he knew where it had rolled. His attention seemed too focused on keeping her down which was fine. It gave her time to quickly formulate an escape route. Getting to the wand wouldn’t be an issue. She figured she’d have just enough time to kick Ashton’s wand across the floor and open the drawer to get her wand. From there, she’d have no choice but to hex him. A simple stunning spell should do the trick. He was so tired and beaten up as it was. The spell should have had a more powerful impact than normal on him. “I’m going to let you go.” Perfect. “Please.” His legs were beginning to entangle themselves around her. He was making this too easy for her. Kaydence said nothing. Letting him think that she was going to calm down and listen to him was key for her success. “Please don’t run.” His voice sounded like he was giving her a warning. It wasn’t aggressive, but pleading. He may have been right but she figured her chances for getting out of trouble were slim to none. One look at his face would be enough to toss her in Azkaban. No excuses of, “Well he exposed my mark” were going to get her out of this one. She had bought herself a one way ticket to the prison. The Ministry wasn’t taking anything lightly.

Kaydence’s breathing had finally begun to slow down mostly because she needed the rest of her energy to get away from Ashton. He had pulled away from her. As he did, she fought the urge not to gasp. Within a matter of a minute or two, the injuries he had sustained at the hands, and feet, of her had intensified. His neck was several different shades of color. His eye was nearly swollen shut. A large laceration ran down the side of his cheek. One look at it was enough to envision her own reflection, the day after Gringotts when she came back home. Seeing what Darren had done to her for the first time had caused her to break down. She was no better than her brother. Not for doing that at least. Kaydence had to turn her eyes away from his head. The lump on it was sickening. Under normal circumstances she probably would have laughed at the damage she had inflicted. It was probably killing him knowing that a girl was kicking his ass. Well if he thought this was bad he wasn’t going to know what hit him in a matter of seconds. Allowing her gaze to travel back to his she knew he was waiting for her to do something. If she had her way about she would brought his head back to her shoulder and let him fall asleep. She would have held him and ran her fingers through his hair as he slept. When he woke up she would have taken him to her bedroom to tend to his wounds, both the normal way and her way. That’s what she would have done but she was never going to get to do that nor anything similar again. After the Ministry, that would be it. Kaydence would never see Ashton ever again.

Now it was her time to go. Without any notice Kaydence bolted from the ground and in the direction of the wand. She was on all fours crawling as fast as she could. As soon as Ashton’s wand was next to her she picked it up and threw it, without wasting any more time she reached the table and pulled open the drawer. She could hear Ashton grunting behind her, trying to keep up. Her hand searched the drawer, finding the wand shortly. Turning around almost instantly Ashton was right by her. “STUPEFY!” The spell hit him full blast and he was sliding backwards a couple of feet. Her mouth dropped. Her senses were starting to come back, perhaps because of what she had done. He wasn’t moving. Kaydence’s chest was moving up and down at a rapid pace. Was he dead? It looked like he was breathing but not a single limb was twitching. What was she supposed to do? If she wanted to run, she needed to do it now. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t leave him here. This was a test. The demon was seeing how far she would go. It had given her an escape. It was urging her to take it. This was her only chance at freedom. She looked back to the hold where her door had been kicked in and scrunched her brow. There was more proof that she needed to leave. Ashton had never given a damn about her possessions. One look at the discoloration on her living room carpet was evidence of that. All she needed to do was stand up, maybe spit on him, and grab her comatose dog and leave, never to look back at this stupid country again. It was so easy.

Easy for those who didn’t have feeling for the person they had nearly killed. Closing her eyes Kaydence sighed. She was giving herself to him. In more ways than one. Her eyes flickered back open as she cast once last glance towards freedom and then Luka. “He can’t ever fucking say I put the dog before him again,” she said to herself, shaking her head before crawling over to grab his wand. With both wands safely in tow she moved towards Ashton and saw that his eyes were closed. Whether he was acting or being legitimate, she didn’t know but she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of her being awake when she was captured. Sitting on the ground next to him she threw her wand down the hallway, keeping his to her chest. Kaydence looked back to him. She wanted to hug him so damn bad, lay down next to him with her arm draped across his chest and let him wake up and handle it from there. Her pride wouldn’t go that far though. Turning the wand tip to her chest she gave him one final look. “Stupefy.” The spell hit her straight in the stomach. She fell back instantly and did her best to toss Ashton’s wand back to him, making it look like he was the one who had taken her down. The pain was unbearable and becoming too much to bear. Her eyes were heavy, forcing themselves shut so she could see nothing but could hear Ashton beginning to stir near the bottom of her feet. Kaydence had to give in to the sleep. The last thing she remembered was seeing his face slowly floating over hers with a curious expression on his face.

[Ashton Wentworth]

Why did she have to make things so bloody difficult. Would it really have been so awful just to sit with him for a moment longer? Before everything between them was lost forever? It was just his mind running wild with hi again. He needed to convince himself of the fact that there never had been anything to begin with, that he had simply fabricated the whole thing in his mind. It was just what she wanted him to think, she had wanted to think that she had cared for him. That there was something else to whatever it was that they had. That he had been the one convincing her for one last romp, whenever she was just using it to keep his distracted. To use him. Her pulling away now was proof of that. It had to be. He could feel his blood start to boil again. She moved off, the sound of carpet being rustled around as she crawled off across the room was the only thing that he could hear. He attempted to lunge forward and grab hold of her ankle but he wasn't fast enough. She was out of arm's reach now, too far away. He needed to get up, but the wheezing in his chest was getting worse. He couldn't take advantage of her while she was like this. Maybe it was just because he was hurt, but his temper just wasn't flaring up like it ought to of been. He didn't know why but it was just some strange, twisted inner working of the conscious he often doubted that he even had. He never had been able to handle doses of his own medicine. Not ever, he could lash out and hit, admonish others but whenever it was turned around on himself, he didn't know what to do with himself. He had to do whatever it took to make it stop. If she was going to punch him, he needed to contain her. He couldn't explain why exactly but sometimes he just worked that way. No doubt she had to be very confused by his behavior, but it didn't give her an excuse to attack him all she wanted. He managed to get up on his knees grasping for his own wand and she threw it across the room. He never should have let the damned thing go. What he hell was he thinking? His eyes widened, body rigid. He knew it was pointless to make another move, she had the advantage now. Just like she must have known that she always would. Whenever she spun around her quickness of her movement forced the fabric on his shirt to ripple. She was too close. This was going to hurt. He closed his eyes, scrunched up his face and waited for it to come. He waited for her to make good on the promise that she had made to him only moments before. He didn't want to see the green light leave her wand, he didn't want to watch it as it came out of his body. He would have turned around if he could. He didn't want it to end like this.

“STUPEFY!” Only, that wasn't the spell that he was expecting. His eyes snapped open just as the spell hit him all all of the light flew out of his world. His body propelled backward but he didn't feel the impact. He didn't feel anything at all in fact. No more pain in his limbs or torso. His breathing was far more relaxed. It was almost blissful, this forced sleep. If he could have, he would have thanked her. He needed sleep more than she could have possibly known. He didn't care what he looked like, or the position that his body was in, he felt like he was floating. Snuggled up underneath that giant white comforter that she kept on the bed. Head buried beneath mountains of pillows. He couldn't remember a simple stunning spell affecting him like this ever before. It had to be the exhaustion, that was the only explanation for it. He knew in the past that he would have been knocked backward, but he was resilient and could normally shake it off after a moment or two. Plus, once his adrenaline started pumping it only added to his fire. At this point, he didn't care he just wanted to sleep. The world around him no longer had any meaning. He could have stayed like this forever, at the very least a nice week long coma. Of course it wasn't in the cards for him. He didn't know how much time had elapsed but there was a flash of light and he was startled awake. It was followed by something slender hitting him in the face. His body jerked and he sputtered again. Recoiling his body moved him into a sitting position and crab walked backward about a foot before he realized that it was his own wand that had been thrown at him. How the hell was that possible?

It only took one look at Kaydence to see what had happened. Had her spell also backfired and hit her as well? Clambering to the wand that had hit him he looked at it long and hard. It was his own, there was no mistaking that. It even had the same chips in the handle. His eyes darted to the hallway, which had been the last place he could remember seeing her. Her wand lay in the middle of the floor untouched. What in the name of Merlin had he missed? He wanted to put the bits together but the pounding in his head wasn't making it a speedy process. He moved over top of her body with some difficulty and pressed his pointer and middle finger against her neck to make sure that she still had a pulse. She was just crazy enough to do something stupid to keep him from winning. He was fortunate enough to see her eyes flutter closed and stay closed. Moving back off of her his mind was spinning “Damn crazy broad” He muttered to himself before shoving himself to his feet. There was no point in attempting to clean up the mess that she had left in this house it would be swarming with ministry in a couple of hours. She had made things just so damned easy for him. He knew what he needed to do next, he just didn't know why she had made it so easy. She had made such a show of not going down without a fight and then whenever she had a chance to get away...she just, doesn't? It wasn't like her at all. He would just have to find out later in holding.

He crossed to her wand first, and pocketed the thing so that the ministry wouldn't have it to go into custody. He owed her at least that much. Then he went back for her. He picked her up carefully in his arms, holding her sleeping body close to his own, her head falling against his shoulder and started to make his way to the door whenever he ran into something. Looking down he groaned. The stupid damn lump. He couldn't just leave it here, no matter how he wanted to. Moving back to the living room he set down Kaydence on the couch and looked around the room. Then he saw it, the solitary suitcase sitting next to the entrance of the kitchen. Where the hell did she think that she was going to be going? A small animal case was sitting next to it. He couldn't imagine anywhere that she would be going with only one suitcase, she loved her damned wardrobe too much for that. Just more questions to be added to the list he supposed. Grabbing the plastic handle he marched over to where lump was still laying. He wasn't going to get all the supplies for the thing, she could make arrangements for that later. There had to be somebody at the Ministry that was willing to look after this thing for a little while. He picked up the sleeping mutt indelicately and dumped the thing into the kennel and closed the metal gate to secure lump inside. Moving back to Kaydence, he picked her up and draped her over his shoulder. It was the only way to hold them both without dropping them. They were a lot heavier this way, and while his little forced nap had done wonders to make him feel better, he still knew it was going to drain him to get to the Ministry. He carried them down and out of the building, took one last look at the happier memories with the woman over his shoulder, and apparated away.