"indulging enmity" tom/alecto
Title: Indulging Enmity (022. Enemies)
Characters/Pairing: Alecto Carrow, Tom Marvolo, Augustus Rookwood, Rodolphus Lestrange, Bellatrix Black; Tom/Alecto
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1094
Summary: The battlefield is the perfect place for revenge.
A/N: Founders AU -- after school.
Disclaimer: JKR is God, I just fool around a bit. Characterisations used are as close to those of their respective writers in Founders as I could get at 3am. If I slaughtered them, I am very very sorry >.>
Sat against the wall of what had been a corner shop, with an elbow resting on one knee and her chin cradled in her palm, Alecto waited patiently. Beneath her cracked mask, warm liquid still trickled down the side of her face, but she would not feels the aches until the tide of adrenaline had ebbed. Which was just as well, nothing could take the edge off this small victory.
The street was a mess. What had begun as an organised raid had quickly descended into chaos. It had not taken long for the wolves to decide that this particular venture was not for them - naturally, those that stayed had to be put down. Just in case. Any and all attempts at defence from the wizarding population of the town had ended badly; fires, falling buildings, the deaths of minors. Nothing spectacularly out of the ordinary. Nevertheless, the day’s escapades were brought to a rather abrupt end by a rogue curse that buried Alecto’s accomplices under an inconvenient amount of rubble.
When the cavalry asked her if she believed there were any survivors, she merely shrugged. Did they honestly think she cared enough to check? They were mostly all Disposables anyway. The number of those who would be missed didn’t breach one hand. Either way, once she received her summons she stayed just long enough to make a fairly important suggestion before Disapparating: “I’d hurry with that if I were you; Bellatrix is under there.”
“There are rumours circulating… Something about Belladonna having been crushed by a Pixie,” Augustus remarked idly, watching her rub at the makeshift dressing on her shoulder. It was only a mild burn, but it itched more than any childhood hex ever could.
“Oh?” Alecto feigned interest, “Those are serious allegations.” Though she was finding it hard to take the situation seriously at all, and with only Rookwood present, it showed. She regretted nothing, except perhaps telling them all to get a move on. Then again, had she not done so, Lestrange would not have been called in to see the Dark Lord before her and her current settings might be quite different.
“But, of course, you only keep His bed warm, what would you know about it?” The infuriating grin that had made itself a nigh-permanent feature on Augustus’ face only broadened as the doors they waited beside swung open and a considerably vexed Rodolphus stepped out. Returning his passing glare with a smile, Alecto waited less than a beat after she was called before crossing the threshold and closing the doors behind her. Her head remained bowed, but she did not yet trust herself enough to say anything. While she could keep her face fairly impassive, any words that passed her teeth would be smug.
“Bellatrix is alive. Barely, but she will recover.” The tone did not feel engineered, but it didn’t have to be. Lord though he was, Tom did not need an eyewitness’ account of the events to know who was responsible, nor did he need to play mind games. She was tip-toeing around potential eggshells. “If you’d not disclosed her location, she would be dead.”
Alecto chose not to react to that choice of words. Instead, she said nothing, head tilting in a manner that did not claim innocence as much as feign pride in having apparently saved the wretch’s life. She still had yet to figure out just why she had done such. Circe knew it was not from the kindness of her heart and certainly not because it was deserved. Those were not thoughts she was about to voice, however, and the room remained silent while, with an inaudible sigh, Tom tried to rub the tension from his temples. The enmity between the two women would always be there, but they could not sabotage raids - however disposable the others were - to gain victories over each other. Not while they were both still valuable. Regardless, the gaze he levelled at her left little room to skirt away from giving him answers.
“We’re at war,” she said at length, shifting slightly, “Collateral damage is unavoidable.”
“What happened?” The point where questions began to feel like full inquisitions had already passed, but this was the first question Tom had asked. The trait was something to be respected until it was directed at her. Now it was just awkward. He didn’t have to implicate her in anything; she knew full well he was letting her do that part herself.
“They were all caught under the falling rubble,” Alecto replied, eyes conveniently moving away from his face while her attention sought something else to focus on other than the unnerving quiet that she knew she was going to have to fill with at least one correction. “Probably more like a falling building.” Of which there had been several, in all fairness.
“The whole building fell,” Tom began, stepping towards her. Her mind rejected the fact that, at that particular moment, this was in no way comforting and instead gave in to the urge to flinch from his hand as it hovered at her shoulder. “But you remain relatively unscathed. How?”
“I have sense enough not to stand directly under a blatantly unstable structure,” she answered, meeting his eye again. This was tedious. She could not wear obedience as a mask. Eyebrows raising, Alecto allowed herself a ghost of a smile. “And running away from the flying bricks and mortar was always an option.” A sensible one to take, at that. After a few more moments of unwelcome silence, she sighed - the closest anyone would get to an admission that maybe she should have acted in a different manner - and lifted her chin to look up at him properly. “What would you have me do? Whatever penance I pay, you know I will regret nothing. Do what you will, but I cannot and will not be sorry.”
He held her gaze for a beat before reaching into her outer-robes for her handkerchief, one hand going to her jaw to stop her from pulling away. Yes, she had had her fun, but the streak of red from her hairline to her jaw was not fake blood strategically placed by housemates. “No more ‘accidents’, Alecto.”
She managed to curb her mock disappointment, aided by the remembrance of an injury she barely noticed she’d had to begin with. Tom was only drawing her attention to the ache. She plucked the bloodied thing from his fingers the moment he was done and promptly Vanished it. “And if they’re genuine?”
“That would be unfortunate.”
Characters/Pairing: Alecto Carrow, Tom Marvolo, Augustus Rookwood, Rodolphus Lestrange, Bellatrix Black; Tom/Alecto
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1094
Summary: The battlefield is the perfect place for revenge.
A/N: Founders AU -- after school.
Disclaimer: JKR is God, I just fool around a bit. Characterisations used are as close to those of their respective writers in Founders as I could get at 3am. If I slaughtered them, I am very very sorry >.>
Sat against the wall of what had been a corner shop, with an elbow resting on one knee and her chin cradled in her palm, Alecto waited patiently. Beneath her cracked mask, warm liquid still trickled down the side of her face, but she would not feels the aches until the tide of adrenaline had ebbed. Which was just as well, nothing could take the edge off this small victory.
The street was a mess. What had begun as an organised raid had quickly descended into chaos. It had not taken long for the wolves to decide that this particular venture was not for them - naturally, those that stayed had to be put down. Just in case. Any and all attempts at defence from the wizarding population of the town had ended badly; fires, falling buildings, the deaths of minors. Nothing spectacularly out of the ordinary. Nevertheless, the day’s escapades were brought to a rather abrupt end by a rogue curse that buried Alecto’s accomplices under an inconvenient amount of rubble.
When the cavalry asked her if she believed there were any survivors, she merely shrugged. Did they honestly think she cared enough to check? They were mostly all Disposables anyway. The number of those who would be missed didn’t breach one hand. Either way, once she received her summons she stayed just long enough to make a fairly important suggestion before Disapparating: “I’d hurry with that if I were you; Bellatrix is under there.”
“There are rumours circulating… Something about Belladonna having been crushed by a Pixie,” Augustus remarked idly, watching her rub at the makeshift dressing on her shoulder. It was only a mild burn, but it itched more than any childhood hex ever could.
“Oh?” Alecto feigned interest, “Those are serious allegations.” Though she was finding it hard to take the situation seriously at all, and with only Rookwood present, it showed. She regretted nothing, except perhaps telling them all to get a move on. Then again, had she not done so, Lestrange would not have been called in to see the Dark Lord before her and her current settings might be quite different.
“But, of course, you only keep His bed warm, what would you know about it?” The infuriating grin that had made itself a nigh-permanent feature on Augustus’ face only broadened as the doors they waited beside swung open and a considerably vexed Rodolphus stepped out. Returning his passing glare with a smile, Alecto waited less than a beat after she was called before crossing the threshold and closing the doors behind her. Her head remained bowed, but she did not yet trust herself enough to say anything. While she could keep her face fairly impassive, any words that passed her teeth would be smug.
“Bellatrix is alive. Barely, but she will recover.” The tone did not feel engineered, but it didn’t have to be. Lord though he was, Tom did not need an eyewitness’ account of the events to know who was responsible, nor did he need to play mind games. She was tip-toeing around potential eggshells. “If you’d not disclosed her location, she would be dead.”
Alecto chose not to react to that choice of words. Instead, she said nothing, head tilting in a manner that did not claim innocence as much as feign pride in having apparently saved the wretch’s life. She still had yet to figure out just why she had done such. Circe knew it was not from the kindness of her heart and certainly not because it was deserved. Those were not thoughts she was about to voice, however, and the room remained silent while, with an inaudible sigh, Tom tried to rub the tension from his temples. The enmity between the two women would always be there, but they could not sabotage raids - however disposable the others were - to gain victories over each other. Not while they were both still valuable. Regardless, the gaze he levelled at her left little room to skirt away from giving him answers.
“We’re at war,” she said at length, shifting slightly, “Collateral damage is unavoidable.”
“What happened?” The point where questions began to feel like full inquisitions had already passed, but this was the first question Tom had asked. The trait was something to be respected until it was directed at her. Now it was just awkward. He didn’t have to implicate her in anything; she knew full well he was letting her do that part herself.
“They were all caught under the falling rubble,” Alecto replied, eyes conveniently moving away from his face while her attention sought something else to focus on other than the unnerving quiet that she knew she was going to have to fill with at least one correction. “Probably more like a falling building.” Of which there had been several, in all fairness.
“The whole building fell,” Tom began, stepping towards her. Her mind rejected the fact that, at that particular moment, this was in no way comforting and instead gave in to the urge to flinch from his hand as it hovered at her shoulder. “But you remain relatively unscathed. How?”
“I have sense enough not to stand directly under a blatantly unstable structure,” she answered, meeting his eye again. This was tedious. She could not wear obedience as a mask. Eyebrows raising, Alecto allowed herself a ghost of a smile. “And running away from the flying bricks and mortar was always an option.” A sensible one to take, at that. After a few more moments of unwelcome silence, she sighed - the closest anyone would get to an admission that maybe she should have acted in a different manner - and lifted her chin to look up at him properly. “What would you have me do? Whatever penance I pay, you know I will regret nothing. Do what you will, but I cannot and will not be sorry.”
He held her gaze for a beat before reaching into her outer-robes for her handkerchief, one hand going to her jaw to stop her from pulling away. Yes, she had had her fun, but the streak of red from her hairline to her jaw was not fake blood strategically placed by housemates. “No more ‘accidents’, Alecto.”
She managed to curb her mock disappointment, aided by the remembrance of an injury she barely noticed she’d had to begin with. Tom was only drawing her attention to the ache. She plucked the bloodied thing from his fingers the moment he was done and promptly Vanished it. “And if they’re genuine?”
“That would be unfortunate.”