La Paz del Mundo

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

August 3, 2005

3:47 pm

Adonis quickened his pace as he strode towards the couple, dodging running children and stray deck chairs as he went. Benny went after him and grabbed his arm, trying to hold him back.

"Ben, lemme go! That's them I know it is!"

"Adonis, Adonis, listen to me!" He spun him around. Hermione saw that Adonis looked like a lost little boy. Benny spoke firmly but quietly. "Adonis, I know it's them. You know it's them. But if we rush, we scare them off, and they won't come back. And then, Victoria will have both our asses. Now, I don't know about you, but I really, really don't want that. Besides, they're gone already."

So they had. The only thing that could make their table look any more vacant could be tumbleweed blowing across it.

Aeneas grumbled. "How the fuck do they do that?"

Benny grinned. "Now we really know it's her. There's a reason the captains called her Kate the Cat in the training program. Let's head out; we need to have a look around this island. Everyone back up to the room. We'll wait for Chris and Jarrod, then get in the car and drive around the island. There's a beach on the northern side of the island... La Playa El Agua... it looks pretty, and all work and no play makes us dull people." He was packing up their stuff as he spoke. "We can get some swimming done there, seeing as how we accomplished nothing of the sort here."

Everyone but Dani grabbed their stuff and headed to the elevator. Dani sat and watched her beau as he packed everything. His nervous energy was only evident to her well trained eyes.

"Baby, what's wrong?"

His shoulders dropped, he looked down, and sighed. "What if we've found them, Dani, but they don't want to come back?"

"They'll want to come back. They have to. If they refuse to leave, Victoria will haul her ass down here and make them come back."

Benny turned to face his girlfriend with tears in his eyes. He pulled her close. "God, baby, how much you trust. Do you think that if even Victoria came down, she'd be able to take Kate back against her will? She might drag Matt back, but never Kate. It's completely up to her. But God, I pray she comes back. Do you know how much paper work she has to file ALL THE DAMN TIME?! I'd go nuts if I had to do that all the time... hell, I'm losing it now!"

Dani chuckled. "She'll come back, baby. I know she will." She spun Benny around to face her. "Have you ever known Kate to just up and leave her loved ones, no matter the reason?"

Benny looked thoughtful.

"That time doesn't count, Ben. Her reasons that time was justifiable. But do you think she'd really trust her parents watching her pets for an extended period of time, let alone her very expensive, very tricked out apartment? C'mon, she'll be back."

"Hope and pray. Hope and pray."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

10:57 pm

Señor Frog's

Baby, you're all that I want

When you're lying here in my arms

I'm finding it hard to believe

We're in heaven

And love is all that I need

And I found it there in your heart

It isn't too hard to see (to see)

We're in heaven (Heaven)

The restaurant/club was dimly lit, with the music blasting and strobes going. Harry nursed his Corona looking over an upstairs balcony. Natalia and Jorge where down in the restaurant, eating what looked like fajitas and tacos, and jumping up on the table to dance at the slightest prompting of the waiters. He could tell that they were both already dead drunk. Lauren joined him with her margarita.

"Well, if that is them, they know better than to start shit like that on assignment."

Harry smiled. "You saw them at Grad Night at Hogwarts. Did they really look like they cared about protocol there?"

"Touché. Hey, Jarrod."

Jarrod had come up behind them. "Hey. Lauren, let's hit the floor; might as well get close to them, see what they're saying." He took her hand. "Shall we?"

Harry watched them head down the stairs and get close on the dance floor. Jarrod turned Lauren around and backed her up until she was pressed against him. They gyrated to the music while taking care not to spill their drinks.

"If I hadn't known better, I'd say Chris was gonna join Adonis on the porch tonight." Shannon smiled as she looked down. "Ron went to get drinks. Anything new?"

"Other than them almost shagging on the dance floor, nothing. Not a goddamn thing. Have you seen Hermione?"

"Yeah. There she is." Shannon waved Hermione over.

"Why'd you call me over, Shannon? Is something the matter?"

"Harry just asked for you."

"Care to dance, love?"

"Always." Harry beamed and grabbed her hand. Hermione was fun to dance with, and one of the better dancers he had ever met. Not even Cho or Ginny had danced half as well... of course Ginny had been just a friend... that might have been part of it. Harry couldn't stop the little voice in the back of his head. Maybe if she HAD been more than just your friend, she wouldn't be with Draco Malfoy, God knows where.

"Harry! Harry! HARRY!"

He snapped around to look at Hermione. "What is it, love?"

"They're leaving. And so are we."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The car ride back to the condo was completely silent. No one even dared to look out the window, much less at each other; Benny was so tense Harry could see how white his knuckles were from the backseat. None of them knew how to approach Kate and Matt; after seeing the pair dancing, they gave up on calling them Natalia and Jorge; no way did two pairs of strangers dance exactly a like. Lauren spoke up first.

"How in the FUCK are we gonna confront them on this shit? I mean, do we just go up and be like, 'Dammit, we know it's you guys, so drop the act and tell us why the fuck you're hiding'???"

Jarrod's voice came out as a low growl. "Lauren, stop swearing."

"Why the hell should I? Your mouth is dirty than the goddamn Chicago River."

Chris turned around and smacker her upside the head. "And this ain't Def Comedy Jam. Shut yo' damn mouth if you gonna swear."

"Just everyone shut the FUCK up! Goddamn!" There was instant silence. Shannon had just sworn. Twice. "And we gotta go to church tomorrow too..."

Benny said his first words during the ride. "Church?"

"Yeah, Benny, you know, the place we go to on Sunday mornings? You know, the whole being Catholic thing? Jesus Christ; you're the one who spent eight years at a Catholic school too."

"I know what church is; and it's called a mass. The church is the place." Hermione could have sworn that she saw Shannon stick her tongue out at him. Benny continued. "Oh, on a side note, can someone remind me of Kate's Sunday schedule?"

"Damn... Benny actually has a brain!"

"Shut up, Jarrod. But thank you."

Hermione was confused. "Jarrod, explain to the rest of us."

"Kate always went to 10:45 mass at home. She didn't get the chance to in England, and was mad as hell, especially at Christmas and Easter. She hates to miss church. All we have to do is find a church close enough, the nearest mass to 10 that they have, and go."

"But do you really think she'd be that stupid? She's gonna know that you know her schedule, right? And if she doesn't want to be found, she's not going to be at a 10 o'clock mass."

"You're reasoning's right, Hermione," Benny said, looking at her in the rearview mirror. "But when you do what Kate and the rest of us do, sometimes, you see religion as your only salvation. You think that if you believe hard and long enough, you're in. I had stopped going to Church after eighth grade, until my first mission. I said more Hail Maries in that one week than I had in my life before; and I still pray now and then. I don't go to church the way Kate does, but I do get it. It's a good way to cope with having to kill another human being; even if it is only to defend yourself."

Hermione nodded; even if she wasn't religious, it made perfect sense.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

August 4, 2005

9:30 am

Nikola was pissed. She was pissed, and hung over to boot. They had spent last night out at the club, drinking and dancing. But, they also had to stay up all night, drinking coffee and playing cards, just to make sure they hadn't missed Kate and Matt. Not to mention the Cleansing Charms that they had used in place of showers. Nikola hated those. Nothing could ever compare with the clean feeling you got from a shower. She felt down right nasty sitting in the front room, sweating in her sundress as she played cards with Dani, Benny, and Aeneas.

Harry stood at the door, waiting to see when and if Kate and Matt would leave their room. They had all heard the shower running about an hour ago. Harry leaned closer to the door; he could almost hear voices... yes there were voices.

"They're leaving."

Nikola threw down her cards. "Thank God. I'm sick of playing Bullshit."

Benny just nodded. "Give them a minute. Harry, are they using the stairs, or the elevator?"

"Elevator's down again; they have to use the stairs."

"Perfect. Let's go; it'll be easier to space ourselves from them on the stairs."

They all practically flew out the door. Benny left last, shutting and locking the door behind them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

10:24 am

Iglesia del Cristo del Buen Viaje

They had taken seats in the back of the church, about six pews behind Kate and Matt. It was smaller on the inside than it had appeared, sitting across from an old fort in the city of Pampatar. Dani looked at Kate, thinking that her dress may have been a bit indecent for a religious service; but since when would her best friend have worried about a thing like that? Dani took her observations through out the mass, noticing that Kate was wearing her hair up, not down like usual, and that Matt always had an arm around her, or was touching her in some way. In fact, he seemed even more protective than usual. And Kate was positively glowing.

Dani's only thought on the subject was, "The tropic air must be doing her some good; even if she does come back as a sunburned white girl when she's finally out of disguise." With that, she turned her attention back to the mass, turning to those around her and softly saying, "La paz" for the Sign of Peace.

But Benny had been noticing the same things Dani had with a different frame of mind. He was searching for a ring on either of Kate's hands; and hoping to dear God for Matt's sake that he was treating her right. Benny decided then and there that making their move after mass would be a mistake. He would give Matt a chance to see how he was treating her; they would tail them some more, and pounce tomorrow.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Margaritaville Resturant

Approx. 12 hrs later

"Benny, give me the car keys."

"Harry, I'm fine. I'm not drunk. And even if I am, I'll be sober by the time we drive back to the condo."

"Benny, give me the damn keys. We've been her for two and a half hours watching them, and you've had at least five beers. You are not driving."

"Potter, you're lucky I follow orders."

"No, I'm lucky that you're too drunk off your ass to beat me to a pulp."

"Tru' dat."

Harry rolled his eyes. When Benny got drunk, he got plastered. 'When it rains, it pours.' Harry thought. He picked up his own Corona and took a sip, watching Kate and Matt.

They were seated in a corner booth, apparently cuddling over their dessert. It was almost sickening; they had eyes only for each other, and the waiters fussed over them, bringing them complementary dishes from the kitchen, even playing the music they wanted. Though, Harry reasoned, it may have been because the place had been empty when they walked in. At one point, they had even been dancing in front of their table, much to the delight of the restaurants patrons.

Hermione hit Harry's shoulder; they were leaving, and he had nearly missed it while lost in his thoughts. He made a mental note to get him self a pensieve when they got back to Chicago.

They all hopped into the car (magically expanded, of course, a nice piece of sorcery pulled off by Hermione). It was a quick ride back to the condo, barely ten minutes. Harry pulled up in front of the main entrance instead of parking the car right away.

"Everybody out. I'll park the car on my own."

Hermione looked puzzled. "Harry, why didn't you just park the car...?"

Harry didn't mean to, but he must have sounded angry when he replied. The truth of the matter was, he wasn't even sure why he hadn't just parked. "Because I didn't feel like it, 'Mione. Now, every one OUT!"

They all stumbled out of the car; all twelve of them would be feeling it in the morning, Harry could tell just by the way his companions were walking. He pulled away from the curb and found a parking space. He got out, and made his way towards the stairs, only to find that the elevator had been repaired. He quickly hopped on, and hit the "13" button.

He quickly got to his floor, got off the elevator, and headed to the condo. As he neared it, he looked at the door next to his own. He felt the same urge to go knock on the door as he had felt in the parking lot. With out a second thought, Harry went over and gave the neighboring door a quick rap. Kate and Matt should have just gotten in; no way could they be asleep, unless they had passed out immediately upon entry, which, given their current state probably wasn't completely impossible...

But Kate, or, "Natalia", rather, answered the door, her up-do coming undone and dress rumpled, wine glass in hand, as thought she had been goofing off and drinking with Matt.

'Not to far from the truth, Potter,'' Harry thought.

"¿Puedo ayudarle?" Can I help you...

Harry was suddenly at a loss for words. He struggled to say something, anything to prevent him from looking the fool. To his surprise, "Natalia" gave him a warm smile and wrapped a dainty hand around his shirt collar.

It took him a moment to register that she had switched to English when she next spoke.

"Jesus, Potter, close your mouth. We've been expecting you."

And with that, she pulled him into the room with a smile, while all Harry's shocked brain could recognize was his own last name.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*