Gears Slowly Grinding.

[Evil Doer]

It was late, but just barely past midnight, as Embry stalked the empty streets of London. This was his favorite time of night to be out and about. He enjoyed the quiet, the peace, the lonesomeness. Crowds, hustles, and bustles were not his cup of tea.

Taking long, slow strides he found himself at a corner, looking down a dimly lit back street. He could see the bright red phone booth - one single lamp flickering on the building wall beside it. It was charming... and fitting. It wouldn't be long before that light was no longer needed, before that phone booth was removed and forgotten.

He turned his eyes away for a moment as he heard voices in the distance. A pair of drunks stumbled by on a main street, shouting profanities and laughing like the fools they were. As his gaze returned to the phone booth he found he was just in time to watch a tall young woman step out of it. A smirk spread across his lips and he pulled his wand. With a flourish and a whip of it he sent a bolt of red speeding for her, "Stupefy!"

[fallon grimwood]

Saying that it had been a long day at the Ministry was the understatement of the year. It had been long, drawn out, tedious... she had a terrible migraine and now all she wanted to do was go home and sleep. Thankfully Vivianne was with her father this week so she hadn't missed dinner and tucking her daughter into bed. She would have been furious if that was the case.

As the street came into view outside the little red phone booth Fallon yawned and rubbed her eyes. She opened the door and stepped out into the cool night air, taking a deep breath and enjoying how much fresher it felt than the stuffy office air.

Fallon started across the street, but a flash of red in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She had never been so thankful for wandless magic in her life as she muttered "Protego!' and a wall of protection shot up around her, the spell hitting it and making a frightful noise before fading. Immediately she pulled her wand from inside her jacket and turned toward the shadows at the end of the street where the spell originated. Just because she didn't need her wand didn't mean she didn't like to have it. It was helpful in case she became disoriented, it made sure her magic could easily find an outlet and be somewhat reliable even when she, perhaps, could not.

She said nothing as she stared into the night, her eyes locking on to a dark figure on the corner. She wasn't sure if she should cast a spell or not. Whoever it was was prepared and would surely put up protection as she had. In the end she deemed it wise to send out a spell, if nothing else it might give the impression she was not thinking things through. So with a tiny flick of her wand she sent a leg-locking spell toward the attacker and keeping her eyes in their direction, backed away across the street in the direction she had previously been going.

[Evil Doer]

Embry chuckled and was tempted to clap as the young witch blocked his attack. Wandless magic was a rare thing to come by and she was so young. He had chosen a good target though apparently. If she could do wandless magic it was unlikely he would kill her easily and he didn't want to kill her yet, just send a warning to the dear Minister and the Wizarding World.

She sent a spell back at him and he blocked it with ease, tutting at her. Maybe she wasn't as smart as he thought. A simple leg-locking jinx when he was clearly prepared? She wasn't thinking things through. Perhaps she was just tired from a long day at work. It was late and no doubt the Deputy Ministress had been there since early morning.

He approached her slowly, a wicked grin plastered to his handsome face. "Good evening Deputy Ministress, how are you on this fine night? Flustered? Tired? Frightened?" He chuckled and pointed his wand at her, "They overwork you, don't they? Do you ever get a moment's rest? Allow me to try and help you with that."

With a slash of his wand he silently sent 'sectumsempra' at her torso. "I'll be nice... I won't hurt that pretty little face of yours much, I promise."

[fallon grimwood]

Fallon watched him approach calmly. He spoke as if they were friends or at least acquaintances, mentioning how she was overworked and whatnot. She wrinkled her nose at him in distaste and continued backing away, but since she wasn't look where she was going her movements were slower than his. She didn't dare turn her back to him though.

"I'd leave if I were you. We're right outside the Ministry, what makes you think that at any sign of danger hundreds of aurors won't rise up and arrest you?" Was she scared? Yes. For all the shows of confidence she put on for Aeson and the public when it came down to it doubt ate away at her and not only that but she knew even if she was good there was always a chance he was better. Not just that but even if she was better than him it only took one tiny mistake and she could still die no matter her level of skill.

She had a daughter to worry about, to raise. She didn't want Vivianne growing up without a mother. Even though she admitted that Aeson was a good father and his family and her own would raise Vivianne well, growing up without a mother could still be damaging. Not to mention Fallon didn't want to miss out on her daughter's life.

So when he slashed his wand she tried to put up a shield again, but she wasn't fast enough and the spell hit her dead on the abdomen, cutting a deep gash from just under her right breast down over her stomach to her left side. She stumbled backwards and hit the curb, landing on her backside and cringing. It hurt like hell and had completely ruined her jacket and shirt. Slowly she reached a hand up and touched the wound gingerly, hissing in pain and pulling it back to see the blood covering it. It was a nauseating sight.

Her eyes traveled back to Mr. Collins and she raised her wand, pointing it at him defiantly and firmly saying, "Lacarnum inflamarae!" Hoping setting his robes on fire would distract him enough she immediately jumped up, ignoring the pain in her abdomen, and rushed down the street and into an alleyway heading for the more populated street on the other end.

[Evil Doer]

Embry couldn't help but chuckle. "Oh, I'm not worried. It's late, hardly anyone is in there I'm sure." She was such a young witch and her methods of fighting mirrored it. Embry thought it was wonderful honestly. Yes, older witches and wizards were often more calm and calculated in their defense and attacks, but young wizards and witches kept things interesting. You never knew what they might come up with for spells and the things they said were always amusing.

So when the Deputy Ministress set his robes on fire Embry was very surprised at first, definitely not seeing that one coming. He smiled though and shed his robes to the street, stomping out the flames with his foot as he watched her run off down an alley way for the main thoroughfare where there could be people to 'protect' her. Leaving his extinguished robes on the pavement he hurried to peek down the alleyway and then disapparated to the other end of it, blocking her path.

"Hey now, that was not very nice. I quite liked those robes a lot." He said, a grin still plastered on his lips. "Little witchling, I think you should be punished for that. Crucio!" Obviously Embry was not above using the Unforgivable Curses. He was 'evil' as everyone loved to label him and he had already used the Killing Curse numerous times to kill Armand Felchorn, an annoying old shop keeper, and various other people who got in his way. After using the Killing Curse, what was a few Cruciatus Curses thrown about here and there?

He kept his wand trained on the Deputy Ministress and gave a wicked laugh as he watched her struggle and listened to her hiss in pain, clearly trying her best to ignore it, to play it cool. She was clearly very strong, but not strong enough. "Crucio!" He spat again, renewing the initial pain of the curse and moving closer to not only hex her but kick her while she was down, crumpled up on the ground. "What's the matter, Miss Grimwood, don't want to play with me anymore?"

[fallon grimwood]

As if the gash wasn't enough, the man decided to torture her too. As he spat the word Crucio she felt an agonizing pain radiate through her body until it enveloped her. Her knees buckled and she felt to the ground. It hurt so much tears pooled in her eyes and she wanted to scream, but she bit down on her lip harshly, refusing to give him the pleasure.

Again, he cursed her and this time she could not help but cry out a little. It hurt like hell! On top of that, he even had the nerve to kick her while she was down. When she could move voluntarily she would give him his comeuppance. Unfortunately, right now all she could do was writhe and roll around, as if that would stop or soothe the pain. It did neither.

"What's the matter, Miss Grimwood, don't want to play with me anymore?"

"Bastard," was all she was able to grunt, teeth clenched so tightly the Jaws of Life could not pry them apart. She did her best to reach for her wand which had fallen from her grasp when she had first been hit with Crucio; however, the tears in her eyes blurred her vision and the pain was making it hard to think. She could not see well enough to find her wand, groping in the direction she thought it was, but feeling nothing but damp, dirty alley pavement. Only one thought ran through her head besides "Merlin this hurts like bitch!" and "Fuck, so much pain!" and that was "Fight, you have a daughter to get back to!".

The longer she felt pain though, the less likely it seemed to her she'd ever see her daughter again. With the last of her effort she shut her eyes tight and pictured anywhere but where she was. Logically, the first place to pop into her head was St. Mungo's. The next thing she knew she felt the world shift and the damp ground beneath her turned smooth and icy cold. She didn't manage to open her eyes and see where she was before she fell unconcious, her last thought fading into black. 'Please let Vivi be safe...'