Chapter Text
Grant knew he shouldn't be so close to the house but he needed to confirm the limits of the magic wards protecting the property. Besides, his own magic kept him hidden from whoever that had to pick up Rogers job as guardian dog.
Once he saw her enter the house and close the door he turned to leave. Lingering around was pointless and only increased the risk of being caught. After all he was supposed to report back with his boss.
He murmured a couple of enchantments to scan the area and make sure no one was following him. Once he was sure he was safe he hailed a cab and tried not to roll his eyes when the taxi driver studied him through the rearview mirror the moment he gave the direction to a bar.
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Red wing grill & bar was quite simple in the outside. But in the inside it was either loud rock music or the cheers of people along the commentary of whatever game they were streaming. The cheap beer and the special wings were ok in his opinion but he wasn't there for the special promotion, after all this was only the front.
He ordered a spirit shot. And the moment the shot glass with a white liquid that looked more like mist appeared in front of him he took a deep breath and downed the drink. A grimace appeared on his face and he fought back the shiver that went down his spine.
It seemed a little bit overkill the fact that you needed to drink a special potion to get access to the actual bar but Grant Ward wasn't going to complain just because the effect of the potion made him uncomfortable. He walked towards the hall that lead to the bathrooms and after a quick glance back to make sure no one was empty he walked towards the white wall.
The moment he touched it he was surrounded in mist for a couple of seconds before it cleared. The loud rock was replaced by the soft music played by a live band.
He scanned the room, searching for his boss and classifying the type of creatures inside. Werewolves, vampires, a group of pixies, some witches and wizards, and in the table near the back was a man nursing a glass of whisky. His boss.
He approached the bar and asked for a beer before walking towards the table. Once he was seated a beer appeared in front of him and he took a swing.
“Ward” that was all his boss said as greeting and as order to start with his report.
“There’s been a delay”, he said a little annoyed when he remembered the events of the past month. “Something changed. When I thought the voistrei would summit her in her dreams the connection never happened. And when I tried to break in and release another voistrei I couldn't approach to the house, there is a new magic shield protecting the perimeter”.
“Does she know?” his boss asked and Ward took a swing from his beer, evaluating all the information he gathered during the long hours of surveillance.
“It doesn't seem like it, she keeps going with her routine as always" he hesitated a moment before he added, "But someone else might. Rogers had been trying to capture the sentinel we sent after her last week. He was close one day so I called back the sentinel as a precaution. "
His boss cursed and downed the rest of his whiskey in one go.
"But I have good news" Ward added hastily." I found him, the asset. Apparently he's been living with her since I had seen him come and go from her house a couple of times."
"Really? Who would have thought that after 2 years of hunting him down he'll appear right in front of us"
Ward finished his beer and waited for his new instructions. His boss was quiet for a moment and asked for another drink.
"Have you tested the strength of the shields she placed?"
"Yes I have, multiple times. Last time I tried with a more potent spell, the barrier cracked a little but a couple of minutes later the energy restored and heightened."
"Hmmmm, interesting. Maybe we should try something more potent and destructive"
"But that won't drag the attention of SHIELD?" Ward questioned and his boss glared at him. "Sorry" he said hastily hoping he wouldn't get a curse for contradicting a superior officer.
"We can't waste this opportunity, this is our only chance to take them both at the same time." The other man said and stood up. He threw a couple of bills on the table and looked at Ward. "I'll be in touch."
Ward nodded and started to create a plan.
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It took three days to gather the ingredients for the dark magic he wanted to perform. This was risky but he had orders and he had to follow them. The plan was approved. Their agents inside of SHIELD would take care of any problem this particular curse might cause.
Ward could see the house perfectly from the window from the apartment he broke in. The owners were unconscious on the couch, the tv was on but mutted so they would think they simply fell asleep on the couch.
He drew the diagram in the air, blood red lines appearing with the movement of his fingers while he recited the spell in the forbidden language. Three circles appeared in front of him, with different runes in each level and the ten fire crystals he got started to glow and radiate heat.
He saw the minute shift on the shield, sensing the dark magic near and getting ready to receive the blows of magic.
A smirk appeared on his lips and he started to rotate the runes and the moment his fingers touched the symbol of mars a crack appeared on the magic shield. After the third time he activated the curse the light from the bedroom turned on.
Huh.
Ward wasn’t sure if they could sense the dark magic or the damage to the shield so he increased the intensity of the attacks and took advantage of the crack to launch the cursed fire towards the house.
He saw the courtains burn and a blur of movement. The fire was spreading slower than he expected. Usually the whole house was engulfed in fire in less than a minute but it was spreading slowly through the interior. However the moment it reached whatever that was creating the shield it vanished and the whole house was on fire like he expected from the beginning.
With a wave from his hand the red lines vanished and he picked up the now grayish fire rocks, their energy consumed. Now he needed to go and get his victims from their cage of fire. The flames danced around him without hurting him but something seemed wrong, usually the flames created a path towards the objective but now there wasn’t movement.
The trail reached a doorframe and went down towards a basement but it was empty. The sound of sirens in the distance made him nervous. Time was running out and he searched the entire house but it was empty. He used his magic to leave the house without being seen and waited until the firefighters started to put out the fire to stop the curse.
He lingered.
Hidden among the people that gathered to see what happened. The moment the firefighters said that at the moment there was no victims he left.
His plan had failed and somehow... they escaped.
Fuck!
Now how he was going to explain it to his boss.