I came, I saw, I kicked some ass
Natalie was on edge. True, she was nearly always on edge-- it was part of what made her a good Auror-- but ever since the Vaisey trial, she’d felt particularly so. Part of her would grudgingly admit that it was because of Penelope; over the two months she’d been saddled with witness-sitting, she’d grown to respect her charge. Hell, she might have even called her a friend.
But now she was powerless. She couldn’t protect her anymore, and if Vaisey decided to have her axed, Natalie could do nothing to stop him. Not that she thought he would, what with her being so close to popping out his spawn, but still. She didn't like him, and she sure as hell didn't trust him.
It made her want to kill someone.
Her decided lack of assignment since then was also adding to her heightened edge. Kingsley hadn’t sent a case her way in weeks, and Finchy was being extra evasive. He was hardly in his office, spending most of his time with the willowy Swiss women flitting around the Ministry.
Fuck him. If he didn’t want to offer an explanation for his absence, then that was his issue. Obviously, their years as partners meant less to him than she’d originally thought.
She needed someone to beat the shite out of.
“Sutton,” she called across the sparring mat, lips twitching when he glanced up. She nodded at the empty space between them and said, “Let’s go.”
He was chatting with a small group of Aurors, but the call of his name had Sutton glancing over his shoulder. When he saw who it was, he smirked and headed toward the mats. “Anytime, princess.”
“That what your wife calls you?” Natalie tossed at him, shucking her sweatshirt as she joined him on the mats. Sutton was a bastard-- a bastard who had delusions of superiority. It gave Natalie no greater thrill than to knock him flat on his arse.
“I know you’re curious about what goes on in my bedroom, but I still don’t want you, darling,” Sutton said, smirk curling his lips as he sauntered out onto the mat, shoulders rolling as he loosened. When his fellow Auror nodded at him, he nodded back and then they began - and she wasted no time as she charged him.
Sutton side-stepped her first attack and gave her a push to make her stumble with her momentum. When she turned back at him, he smirked and settled into position. “Come on, babe, let’s see it.”
Natalie hated him at that moment. He was good-- and the bastard bloody well knew it.
She had just made the move to lung when he lashed out at her. She threw up her arm, blocking against his sudden strike, and with a whirl around the side, she struck out with her elbow, the bone connecting squarely with his jaw. Before he could counter her strike, she jumped back out of arm’s reach, fists at the ready.
Ryan nudged his sister with his elbow. “Hey Rosie, I think McDonald’s going to take the shite out of Sutton today,” he murmured to his sister.
Rose glanced toward the mats just in time to see Auror McDonald land a blow that took the wind out of Sutton. A sudden smile curled Rose’s lips as he stumbled back. “Good. He deserves to be taken down a notch. Or five,” she said, “bastard’s good, but he’s not Merlin’s gift to the MLE.” Even better was that he was being had by a woman.
“That would be me,” Ryan agreed, a grin splitting his features when his sister rolled her eyes.
Green eyes tracked back toward the fight though, and Ryan’s focus narrowed as he watched the two Aurors circle each other and trade several more blows. Sutton didn’t look half so cocky as he had when the match had started and McDonald looked ready to gut him. He hadn’t ever sparred with the blonde, but he had a healthy respect for her. She was bloodthirsty.
Rose silently cheered when McDonald dodged Sutton’s next attack, and nearly did cheer aloud when she began to go on the offensive, landing blow after blow. She hadn’t ever spoken to the elder Auror, but Rose had always admired McDonald from afar. She was fierce, and Rose had seen her best several men twice her size. She’d seen her lose, too, but it only ever seemed to make the blonde all the more aggressive in round two.
So caught up in the fight, Rose actually did let out a whoop when Sutton went down and surrendered several moments later.
“Think you could tone down the estrogen solidarity, sis?”
“Oh, shut up. You don’t like Sutton either.”
Ryan just grinned and slung his arm around his sister’s neck. “Come on, my little groupie. Let’s go congratulate the victor of today’s epic battle.”
“I’m not a groupie,” Rose grumbled, though she let Ryan lead her toward the small group of Aurors and Hit Wizards around McDonald.
“Nice,” Ryan said with a nod toward the blonde as he tossed a towel at her.
“Yeah, Sutton was totally due to have his arse handed to him,” Rose added with a grin.
“Thanks.” Natalie accepted the towel with a nod, wiping the perspiration from her forehead and the bit of blood that trickled from her split lip. Even though she’d ‘won’ their sparring match, Sutton had still landed a few choice blows, one of which had broken the skin of her lip. It didn’t hurt, it was just annoying. Apparently, bleeding all over the training room was a violation of several health and safety codes.
Sutton made some snide comment about getting lucky, and Natalie scowled, flipping him two fingers as she turned her back on him. Bastard.
She’d seen the Zellers around the MLE, but she’d never interacted with them before. They were both a few years younger, and the Hit Wizards’ offices were on a separate corridor from the Aurors. They were good, the both of them, and she had a healthy dose of respect for any other woman in their line of work.
“Smug arse had it coming, yeah?” she asked, eyes cutting over to the surly Auror, then back to the Zellers. Her lips twitched.
“Oh, yes,” Rose agreed, “I’ve been trying to do that for what seems forever, but I haven’t been able to get the drop on him yet and he’s such a …” Rose frowned, but her expression seemed to get her dismay with the elder male Auror across and Ryan dropped his arm over her shoulders.
“Maggot? Jackwagon? Fuckwit?” Ryan volunteered, grinning down at his sister.
“The latter,” Natalie affirmed with a nod, giving Ryan and Rosie a grin. “You’ll get him soon enough, and then he’ll go crying into his tea like the ponce he is.”
She could tolerate Sutton. Sometimes. They’d been on a joint case once, tracking down a dark wizard though Wales, and he’d stepped in front of a Slashing Hex meant for her. They’d caught the bastard, and Sutton had spent nearly three weeks at St. Mungo’s.
The bastard also hadn’t stopped reminding her that he’d saved her life; an exaggeration, of course, but whatever gratitude she’d felt had quickly evaporated after the third mention of the incident.
“Hopefully sooner than later,” Rose said, grinning at the blonde Auror. She’d always admired Natalie, but they hadn’t ever really had reason to interact. They were in different divisions and this was one of the few times she’d caught sight of the elder Auror in the training room. “He wiped the floor with my face last I sparred with him.”
“Well, that’s what you get for being the size of a house elf,” Ryan said reasonably.
Rose shot him a look before poking him in the side where she knew it tickled. When he slithered away from her, she raised a brow at him. “And that’s what you get for being a ponce.”
“Size isn’t everything,” Natalie pointed out, quirking a brow at Ryan. “Sutton’s got at least two stone on me, and that doesn’t stop him from crying to the missus when I nick him in the solar plexus.”
“Not everything, but it doesn’t hurt,” Ryan countered, grin curling his lips.
“Unfortunately a large head messes with one’s balance,” Rose retorted. A flick at his ear was too fast for him to stop and she gave him a smug grin when he missed her retreat and his reflexive swipe only caught air.
The blonde couldn’t help but snicker at the siblings’ antics. “Alright then, big boy. Next time, it’s you and me on the mats.” She always enjoyed sparing with new partners. It gave her the opportunity to be surprised-- a rarity when she sparred with the same Aurors time and time again.
She’d seen Zeller Junior on the mats before. He wasn’t bad for one of the younger hit wizards; he still had a ways to go, but given time, he’d be good. So would his sister.
"I can never say no to a beautiful woman who wants to beat the shite out of me," Ryan said, grin slightly crooked as his dark eyes lifted to the elder Auror.
For her part, Rose just rolled her eyes. Her little brother would flirt with a rock if it'd give him the time of day. He was incorrigible.
Still, sparring with Natalie would be fantastic practice and after watching the blonde, Rose wouldn't mind soaking up a few of the woman's moves herself. "Maybe after you hand his ass to him, we can toss around too?"
“Don’t forget dangerous. Or deadly. Both apply,” Natalie reminded him with a smirk, challenge clearly written in her brown eyes. He was tall, with a good three or four inches on her, and pretty fit to boot. She might have to see just how well he handled a challenge off the mat as well.
Attention turned to his sister, she gave a friendly nod. “After I’ve dispatched Casanova here, we can certainly show the boys around here how to have a proper throw down. They might want to take notes, even.”
“They’ll want to take more than notes,” Ryan said, brows waggling.
Rose scowled this time, but before she could cuff him, a gruff shout of “Zellers!” pierced the chatter of the room.
The humor - and in Rose’s case, irritation - that had permeated the siblings immediately disappeared as their features shuttered and their mouths thinned.
It was time to get back to work. If they were lucky, they’d be pounding the pavement after their latest, rather slippery target.
Ryan only nodded briefly at Natalie and Rose quickly thanked the Auror for her time before both were striding across the mats toward their superior.
Natalie watched them go, brown eyes flickering only briefly on Ryan’s arse before she grabbed her bag and hitched it up over her shoulder. Kingsley wouldn’t miss her if she buggered off early, and a long hot bath and take-away sushi sounded like heaven.
Alone again. As always.
Summary: Natalie works off some frustration and gets to know the Zeller siblings.
But now she was powerless. She couldn’t protect her anymore, and if Vaisey decided to have her axed, Natalie could do nothing to stop him. Not that she thought he would, what with her being so close to popping out his spawn, but still. She didn't like him, and she sure as hell didn't trust him.
It made her want to kill someone.
Her decided lack of assignment since then was also adding to her heightened edge. Kingsley hadn’t sent a case her way in weeks, and Finchy was being extra evasive. He was hardly in his office, spending most of his time with the willowy Swiss women flitting around the Ministry.
Fuck him. If he didn’t want to offer an explanation for his absence, then that was his issue. Obviously, their years as partners meant less to him than she’d originally thought.
She needed someone to beat the shite out of.
“Sutton,” she called across the sparring mat, lips twitching when he glanced up. She nodded at the empty space between them and said, “Let’s go.”
He was chatting with a small group of Aurors, but the call of his name had Sutton glancing over his shoulder. When he saw who it was, he smirked and headed toward the mats. “Anytime, princess.”
“That what your wife calls you?” Natalie tossed at him, shucking her sweatshirt as she joined him on the mats. Sutton was a bastard-- a bastard who had delusions of superiority. It gave Natalie no greater thrill than to knock him flat on his arse.
“I know you’re curious about what goes on in my bedroom, but I still don’t want you, darling,” Sutton said, smirk curling his lips as he sauntered out onto the mat, shoulders rolling as he loosened. When his fellow Auror nodded at him, he nodded back and then they began - and she wasted no time as she charged him.
Sutton side-stepped her first attack and gave her a push to make her stumble with her momentum. When she turned back at him, he smirked and settled into position. “Come on, babe, let’s see it.”
Natalie hated him at that moment. He was good-- and the bastard bloody well knew it.
She had just made the move to lung when he lashed out at her. She threw up her arm, blocking against his sudden strike, and with a whirl around the side, she struck out with her elbow, the bone connecting squarely with his jaw. Before he could counter her strike, she jumped back out of arm’s reach, fists at the ready.
Ryan nudged his sister with his elbow. “Hey Rosie, I think McDonald’s going to take the shite out of Sutton today,” he murmured to his sister.
Rose glanced toward the mats just in time to see Auror McDonald land a blow that took the wind out of Sutton. A sudden smile curled Rose’s lips as he stumbled back. “Good. He deserves to be taken down a notch. Or five,” she said, “bastard’s good, but he’s not Merlin’s gift to the MLE.” Even better was that he was being had by a woman.
“That would be me,” Ryan agreed, a grin splitting his features when his sister rolled her eyes.
Green eyes tracked back toward the fight though, and Ryan’s focus narrowed as he watched the two Aurors circle each other and trade several more blows. Sutton didn’t look half so cocky as he had when the match had started and McDonald looked ready to gut him. He hadn’t ever sparred with the blonde, but he had a healthy respect for her. She was bloodthirsty.
Rose silently cheered when McDonald dodged Sutton’s next attack, and nearly did cheer aloud when she began to go on the offensive, landing blow after blow. She hadn’t ever spoken to the elder Auror, but Rose had always admired McDonald from afar. She was fierce, and Rose had seen her best several men twice her size. She’d seen her lose, too, but it only ever seemed to make the blonde all the more aggressive in round two.
So caught up in the fight, Rose actually did let out a whoop when Sutton went down and surrendered several moments later.
“Think you could tone down the estrogen solidarity, sis?”
“Oh, shut up. You don’t like Sutton either.”
Ryan just grinned and slung his arm around his sister’s neck. “Come on, my little groupie. Let’s go congratulate the victor of today’s epic battle.”
“I’m not a groupie,” Rose grumbled, though she let Ryan lead her toward the small group of Aurors and Hit Wizards around McDonald.
“Nice,” Ryan said with a nod toward the blonde as he tossed a towel at her.
“Yeah, Sutton was totally due to have his arse handed to him,” Rose added with a grin.
“Thanks.” Natalie accepted the towel with a nod, wiping the perspiration from her forehead and the bit of blood that trickled from her split lip. Even though she’d ‘won’ their sparring match, Sutton had still landed a few choice blows, one of which had broken the skin of her lip. It didn’t hurt, it was just annoying. Apparently, bleeding all over the training room was a violation of several health and safety codes.
Sutton made some snide comment about getting lucky, and Natalie scowled, flipping him two fingers as she turned her back on him. Bastard.
She’d seen the Zellers around the MLE, but she’d never interacted with them before. They were both a few years younger, and the Hit Wizards’ offices were on a separate corridor from the Aurors. They were good, the both of them, and she had a healthy dose of respect for any other woman in their line of work.
“Smug arse had it coming, yeah?” she asked, eyes cutting over to the surly Auror, then back to the Zellers. Her lips twitched.
“Oh, yes,” Rose agreed, “I’ve been trying to do that for what seems forever, but I haven’t been able to get the drop on him yet and he’s such a …” Rose frowned, but her expression seemed to get her dismay with the elder male Auror across and Ryan dropped his arm over her shoulders.
“Maggot? Jackwagon? Fuckwit?” Ryan volunteered, grinning down at his sister.
“The latter,” Natalie affirmed with a nod, giving Ryan and Rosie a grin. “You’ll get him soon enough, and then he’ll go crying into his tea like the ponce he is.”
She could tolerate Sutton. Sometimes. They’d been on a joint case once, tracking down a dark wizard though Wales, and he’d stepped in front of a Slashing Hex meant for her. They’d caught the bastard, and Sutton had spent nearly three weeks at St. Mungo’s.
The bastard also hadn’t stopped reminding her that he’d saved her life; an exaggeration, of course, but whatever gratitude she’d felt had quickly evaporated after the third mention of the incident.
“Hopefully sooner than later,” Rose said, grinning at the blonde Auror. She’d always admired Natalie, but they hadn’t ever really had reason to interact. They were in different divisions and this was one of the few times she’d caught sight of the elder Auror in the training room. “He wiped the floor with my face last I sparred with him.”
“Well, that’s what you get for being the size of a house elf,” Ryan said reasonably.
Rose shot him a look before poking him in the side where she knew it tickled. When he slithered away from her, she raised a brow at him. “And that’s what you get for being a ponce.”
“Size isn’t everything,” Natalie pointed out, quirking a brow at Ryan. “Sutton’s got at least two stone on me, and that doesn’t stop him from crying to the missus when I nick him in the solar plexus.”
“Not everything, but it doesn’t hurt,” Ryan countered, grin curling his lips.
“Unfortunately a large head messes with one’s balance,” Rose retorted. A flick at his ear was too fast for him to stop and she gave him a smug grin when he missed her retreat and his reflexive swipe only caught air.
The blonde couldn’t help but snicker at the siblings’ antics. “Alright then, big boy. Next time, it’s you and me on the mats.” She always enjoyed sparing with new partners. It gave her the opportunity to be surprised-- a rarity when she sparred with the same Aurors time and time again.
She’d seen Zeller Junior on the mats before. He wasn’t bad for one of the younger hit wizards; he still had a ways to go, but given time, he’d be good. So would his sister.
"I can never say no to a beautiful woman who wants to beat the shite out of me," Ryan said, grin slightly crooked as his dark eyes lifted to the elder Auror.
For her part, Rose just rolled her eyes. Her little brother would flirt with a rock if it'd give him the time of day. He was incorrigible.
Still, sparring with Natalie would be fantastic practice and after watching the blonde, Rose wouldn't mind soaking up a few of the woman's moves herself. "Maybe after you hand his ass to him, we can toss around too?"
“Don’t forget dangerous. Or deadly. Both apply,” Natalie reminded him with a smirk, challenge clearly written in her brown eyes. He was tall, with a good three or four inches on her, and pretty fit to boot. She might have to see just how well he handled a challenge off the mat as well.
Attention turned to his sister, she gave a friendly nod. “After I’ve dispatched Casanova here, we can certainly show the boys around here how to have a proper throw down. They might want to take notes, even.”
“They’ll want to take more than notes,” Ryan said, brows waggling.
Rose scowled this time, but before she could cuff him, a gruff shout of “Zellers!” pierced the chatter of the room.
The humor - and in Rose’s case, irritation - that had permeated the siblings immediately disappeared as their features shuttered and their mouths thinned.
It was time to get back to work. If they were lucky, they’d be pounding the pavement after their latest, rather slippery target.
Ryan only nodded briefly at Natalie and Rose quickly thanked the Auror for her time before both were striding across the mats toward their superior.
Natalie watched them go, brown eyes flickering only briefly on Ryan’s arse before she grabbed her bag and hitched it up over her shoulder. Kingsley wouldn’t miss her if she buggered off early, and a long hot bath and take-away sushi sounded like heaven.
Alone again. As always.
Summary: Natalie works off some frustration and gets to know the Zeller siblings.