When the Walls Come Tumbling Down (Christian)

[Diana Ward]

Diana was well accustomed to their usual method of reassurance and relaxation, but she understood his lack of energy. She was rather grateful he wasn't annoyed or upset by her unusual behavior. But when he said their son's newly acquired name she felt a warmth spreading throughout her.

He could hurt her in ways neither of them had ever dreamed. Diana had given up on being happy long ago, now that she had opened herself up to it there was a happiness to lose. She didn't think she would survive it.

"I know." she said kissing his temple, "It was a silly dream." she acknowledged.

"Besides, I'd come back and haunt you for eternity, just out of spite."

[Christian Ward]

Christian chuckled. He knew that Diana would most definitely figure out how to stick around after passing on, just to mess with him. But he didn't particularly want to think of Diana as being gone whether or not they were joking.

"Alright," he said as he stood up, Diana being forced off his lap though he still held her. "I'm going back to bed. If you don't want to join me, then I'll just have to summon you later when I'm well rested so I can defile you." He smacked her on the rear as he made his way out of the kitchen, too tired to think of the mess of dishes he was leaving on the table.

[Diana Ward]

Diana used a charm to clear off and store any uneaten food - which would definitely be consumed at a later time - then set the dishes to cleaning themselves.

She might not have wanted to return to a less than blissful slumber, but she wouldn't mind laying down next to him.

And yet despite the terror of her dream, the warm cocoon of their bed lulled her into a deep slumber.

When she next woke it was morning, almost eleven.

[Christian Ward]

Christian had been up for hours, locking himself away in his office as he dealt with problems not uncommon in his industry. Barclay had just left after Christian laid into him.

Apparently the Wangs, who owned a Chinese restaurant in Hogsmeade, had decided that they didn't need to pay what they claimed was an "obscene amount of money for very little protection". Their till had been robbed at wandpoint while Christian was on his fateful cruise with Diana and no one thought it important to notify him. Barclay was in charge of the Hogsmeade clients and it was his job to keep them happy. It was Davies' job to keep them scared. Only one man had failed at his duties and Barclay left with his hypothetical tail between his legs and lot less blood to pump through his veins.

Christian cleaned up in the downstairs bathroom as best he could before going upstairs to change his clothes. He would need to speak to the Wangs personally to incentivise them to continue working with Christian. Diana was still sleeping when he entered the room but he heard her stirring as he removed his bloodied shirt and threw it into the hamper in the wardrobe.

"I have to go out for a bit," he told her, peering out of the closet to see her. 

[Diana Ward]

She lifted her head reluctantly from the pillow. She didn't see the bloodied shirt, but she grinned at a shirtless Christian.

"Shame." she sighed, her eyes eating him up as they usually did. "How ever might I occupy myself." she moaned in a faux wistfulness.

She didn't know the specifics of his business, she didn't ask. Maybe she should have considering they were married and were about to have their second child, but there were too many other things on her plate. Things that she needed to take care of sooner rather than later.

[Christian Ward]

"I'm sure you'll figure something out," he said with a smirk. He pulled a green button down from the hanger and threw it on, fastening the buttons as he came fully into the bedroom. He undid his pants just enough to smoothly tuck in his shirt, then fastened them again before Diana could convince him to take them off entirely.

He leaned over the bed and kissed her. "I'm not sure when I'll be back. You'll have to manage your own lunch."

"There are some catalogs downstairs you should look at," he said mysteriously as he grabbed his coat and headed toward the door. He had gathered some catalogs for baby furniture. He had dog-eared a crib he thought she would like.

[Diana Ward]

Diana just opened her mouth to indeed convince him to take his clothes off entirely and pouted as he read her intentions and prevented her from doing so.

When he kissed her pout she smiled again. She couldn't have him all the time, and was frankly surprised they had lasted this long without killing each other or arguing. It seemed almost impossible, but they were managing the whole marriage and domestic bliss thing quite well.

"Mmm." she replied not really hearing him about the catalogs. There were times when she simply would stare at him. He was one of God's favors to women on earth, and he belonged to her. The thought often made her smile.

[Christian Ward]

He pulled his coat on as he headed down the stairs. Once outside, he disapparated from the porch, headed to Hogsmeade.

[Diana Ward]

Diana got out of bed and began to clean up. It was surprising how much work she could get done without Christian to distract her. Lately it had been one of two things, either she worked herself to the bone or she slept.

Today she had the energy so she proceeded to begin laundry, tidy the bedroom, charm the dishes, take out the trash, and put everything in order.

She was just finishing up when Derek arrived at the door. She grinned and let him in. He appeared grim and anxious.

“Well isn’t this a nice surprise.”

“Diana, we need to talk. Is Christian home?” he asked, his voice hardening slightly when he said Christian’s name.

Diana frowned, “No, he had a meeting or some other…is everything alright?”

“No. It really isn’t…I think you should sit down.”

“I’m not fragile, tell me what’s going on.” she demanded.

So he did. Burke revealed everything he had come to discover about Christian and his men who were watching Copperbottom.

“He’s known for weeks Diana. Not only Copperbottom’s location, but his habits, his routines. He could have taken the man out long ago. It was his men who took down my asset.”

“I don’t understand, if he knew where Bingsley was, then he would have told me. We would have taken care of it already. He’s helped us take down so many of the remaining board members, why would he lie about this one?” Diana asked honestly confused.

“Diana…there’s something else you should know. About how I know Christian, or where I know him anyway.”

She looked up at Derek, she was curious now but the idea that Christian wasn’t who she thought he was still hadn’t sunk in. She was giving him the benefit of the doubt, that there was some reason he hadn’t come to her with his intel.

“He’s a death eater Diana.”

“A what?”

“A dark wizard.”

“That’s nonsense. He runs a security something or other, and yes he’s skilled with a wand, but he’s not a criminal…and even if he were…so am I technically.”

“His goes beyond the technical Diana. He’s a hit wizard. A good one. The best.”

Something stirred in the back of her mind and she began to feel the familiar panic setting in. She tamped it down with memories of Christian helping her, loving her, caring for her and their child.

“Okay…okay, just wait. I don’t know what’s going on here. I need…I need answers.” She said looking around though she knew she wasn’t going to get the answers she needed in their living room. Finally she looked up at Derek, “and I know just where to get them.”

[Christian Ward]

Christian could have explained everything. He had his reasons why he was keeping tabs on Copperbottom without Diana's or Derek's knowledge. He was thinking only of Diana's safety. If Diana trusted him she would have realized that, but she was too damaged to fully trust him. She had always had her suspicions of him based almost exclusively on his actions as a stupid, lust-filled boy mixed with the treachery of her father and his business partners.

Christian was a bad guy, but he loved Diana and their family. If only he had been home to explain himself.

If only Burke hadn't figured it out.

[Diana Ward]

Diana's first stop was a safehouse. She didn't know what she was getting into, despite Derek's detailed description, and she wanted to be prepared - or perhaps she was merely preparing for the truth, whatever it was.

Once fully armed with dark magical objects, her wand, a spare, knives, and a few other weapons - which caused Derek's brows to rise in admiration and perhaps a little fear - she was ready to face Copperbottom.

Getting to his hideout was considerably easier than the other ones which caused Diana to be even more suspicious of what she would find. It didn't take them long however before they were ambushed.

[Christian Ward]

After Derek's asset had been taken out by Christian's team, a new order had been put in place. Unless the mystery assassin showed up, his men would act as reconnaissance only, using stronger cloaking spells to keep their whereabouts hidden. If the assassin did show his face, the order was to capture and incapacitate. Christian wanted to interrogate their competition.

As Diana and Derek were ambushed by Copperbottom's security team, Christian's men played witness. They called Christian straight away. 

"There's a couple here, sir. The wizard is a Burke, we don't recognize the witch."

Christian was instantly enraged and terrified simultaneously. He wasn't so much worried about Diana and Derek being attacked, they were more than capable. But Diana carried Christian's child into battle with her. And the biggest factor in Christian's terror was that Diana would spoil his plans, triggering a new assassin to be hired to come after her. And considering the wretched luck they'd had finding their current mystery assassin, Christian wasn't too keen on the idea of this man getting the contract.

He had to think quickly. "Watch Copperbottom. I'm on my way." Christian stuffed the magicked mirror into his pocket hurriedly and tried to connect with Diana via their wedding rings as he left Hogsmeade.

[Diana Ward]

Diana was bloody. There was blood on her face, in her hair, on her clothes and she could even taste a bitter metal taste in her mouth. The more men Copperbottom sent, the more men fell.

She was tired, but in no way close to stopping. Her pregnancy had taken a toll on her reflexes, but her fear and worry over what Christian was hiding pushed her beyond any weakness.

Derek on the other hand was exhausted. While he could hold his own offensively, and often took the offensive role, but when he was with Diana and Christian the pair often left no room for any other offense so once again he focused his energy on keeping them safe while she focused on defeating their foes.

One by one they fell in a mass of bloody bodies, finally they made it into the building. Derek took the lead having retrieved the blueprints and knowing where Copperbottom would be.

The door was bolted and there was no help for it but to blast it open with a spell. Before the smoke could clear hexes were flying back and forth until Diana heard the grunt of the last man falling.

A predatory smile fell to her lips. In this light she truly was a different kind of species. She was a hunter, a predator, an animal, and she was at the top of the food chain.

Diana surveyed her damage. Five men were on the floor in various positions, obviously dead and unnaturally posed.

Immediately Diana's head turned as she heard a noise beneath the desk in the center of the room.

"I've been waiting a long time for this Bingsley."

[Christian Ward]

There was no answer from Diana and his heart sank as appeared outside the building near where a group of his men were stationed. "Where is she?" he hollered at one of the men. Christian received a brief rundown of the numbers Diana and Derek had put down on their way to Copperbottom. If he wasn't terrified beyond belief that she would kill Copperbottom and set in motion a chain of events that would cause even more chaos in their life, he might have been impressed. As it were, Christian was stone faced.

He forged ahead into the compound, passing scores of bodies as he turned down the halls. His wand was drawn, ready. At the opposite end of the long corridor was a door that had been blasted open. Christian sprinted down the hall, praying his wife had not done something stupid like getting herself or their son killed.

[Diana Ward]

In the end he didn't beg for his life. He gloated.

"Alright Crawford. You win." his voice was thin and bitter, but there was a trace of something else: satisfaction.

That small tone both irritated and intrigued Diana. He had information crucial to Diana's future, and while she had a 'gun' on the dealer, Bingsley was still playing with an ace up his sleeve.

She came around the desk to see him. He sat casually one knee upward with his arm resting against it. His aloofness set her on edge.

"Get up." she barked her wand trained on him as Derek kept watch.

He began to move, "Slowly." she corrected.

As he got to his feet he dusted himself off and looked around his office that had been utterly destroyed. He sighed.

"I suppose it was only a matter of time."

"You sound as though you've made peace with the idea."

"Well after Hadelman, Sanchez, O'Grady, and Ling all turned up dead within the last three months, a man as smart as I am can figure it out."

She smiled, though it was more a baring of her teeth than any actual enjoyment. Her head tilted, “You started it.”

“I did no such thing. I was dragged into it.” He snarled finally showing emotion.

Her brow furrowed and lip curled, “I don’t have time for your excuses-“

“No,” he laughed, “You don’t. Ward might have failed, but after you kill me he’ll be the least of your problems. The bounty on your head will reach higher peaks than even you could stave off. One of them will get lucky, that too is only a matter of time.”

Diana didn’t hear anything past ‘Ward’. Her entire body stiffened and her face went pale.

“What did you say?!” Derek asked turning from his guard position and coming further into the room to face Copperbottom.

“And you with her! When you least expect it, the mail man, the person next to you in the grocery store, when you order your bloody tea! You’ll never know another night’s sleep!”

Derek slammed into him to keep him from ranting and pinned him against the wall.

“What about Ward?!” Derek demanded while Diana watched in a stupor.

“Oh? Have you heard of him? He doesn’t quite live up to his reputation, if he had this one would have been dead already. It was bloody stupid hiring him in the first place instead of putting a bounty out. That’s what you get for trying to save a –“

Derek backed away and turned toward Diana she was looking at the floor, when she looked back up at him the dead look in her eyes was terrifying.

[Christian Ward]

He should have known. Copperbottom liked to talk. He was the type of person who thought he was a genius and enjoyed hearing his own voice. Christian should have prepared for that, but he hadn't planned for Diana to find out from anyone other than himself. And certainly not like this. 

The man's voice carried down the hall, threatening to undermine the strength and unity Christian and Diana had built. Christian barged into the room, his wand instantly aimed at Copperbottom. The green light shot from the end of his wand and hit the frail looking man smack in the center of his forehead, but it was too late. His secret had been set loose and Diana had something new and terrifying in her eye.

"Let me explain," he said hurriedly, his wand arm dropping to his side.

[Diana Ward]

It seemed as though her entire life passed within those few moments, now she was merely watching through some sort of haze. This wasn't her life. This wasn't happening. She couldn't have been so bloody stupid to have not only not detect Christian's true intentions, but to have gone as far as to marry the bastard.

The bolt of green that flew across the room snapped Diana into action.

Her gaze shifted from Burke - who had jumped back to avoid the green bolt of death - to Christian, who was now asking to explain.

Diana didn't think, she just reacted. Normal women when finding out something devastating from their significant others may have thrown things, began cursing, crying, throwing feeble hits that were easily subdued. Diana was anything but normal.

Her shock wore down to a grim line of determination as she threw out her first hex, then another. Painful and dangerous hexes one right after the other without a breath in between.

Derek was stunned at first, then leaped into action, "Diana! Stop!"

But she wouldn't, she couldn't stop, if she stopped it all became real. The betrayal. The feelings. The pain.

[Christian Ward]

Christian blocked and deflected each hex skillfully, but sent nothing back in return. He was pushed back with the force of her rage as curse after curse came toward him. His voice rose to be heard over noise, trying desperately to make her understand.

"I had no intention," he managed before he was cut short to shield from a hex. "Not after you told me about Alyx. The second I agreed," again his feet shuffled backward as he deflected a thunderous red curse. "I was in it for our daughter. I needed her." His back hit the wall.

"I needed you, Diana! F*cking stop and listen to me!"

[Diana Ward]

Each hex was a chess move. Each word fell on deaf ears. She had no intention of hearing him. She was blinded by every smile, deaf from every vow of love, and numb from every beautiful touch he had given her. She couldn't handle it.

Initially her curses were wild and varied, but as each hex flew so did her anger. She knew that if she were to survive Christian's betrayal she had to let it all go, to turn off her emotions and become the cold blooded killer she had been before he walked into her life again. No this was still different, this was worse. She had never been this cold before.

Her moves became more precise and without him hexing in return it was only too easy to get close to him.

"I needed you, Diana! F*cking stop and listen to me!"

She stopped immediately just as one knife was thrown and embedded itself in Christian's shoulder. The next knife was held in position but Diana was frozen to the spot.

She couldn't comprehend why she had stopped moving or why now she was hearing his words and excuses. She heard them. She listened to his words against her will, but they didn't sway her.

[Christian Ward]

In his panic Christian had forgotten about his ability to compel Diana to do as he pleased. Physically. Christian couldn't compel her to understand or forgive him. He had to try on his own, and she had to want to really hear what he was saying. It was lucky then that he was so quick to anger and ordered her about naturally as only one knife had struck him thus far. 

The blade pierced his flesh, breaking through his right shoulder and pinning him to the wall. He was unable to hold his wand any longer and it dropped to the floor with a clatter. With his good arm he reached for the knife and wrapped his hand around the handle.

"I promised I would help you defeat these men, that I would ensure our daughter was safe." With one forceful tug Christian pulled the blade from his shoulder. His shirt instantly darkened as blood poured out of the wound. It didn't deter him.

"In the process I fell for you, Diana. I f*cking love you. You're my wife. You're carrying my son. I would never do anything to harm you!" He released the bloodied knife and it fell to the ground. He had no other weapons. Diana might have been compelled to stop her actions against him, but Burke certainly wasn't. Christian, however, was fixated solely on Diana.