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The horizon was a deep shade of red as Ron sped across the Arizona desert, the radio blaring to drown out the sounds of the gravel rumbling underneath the tires of his car. He drummed his thumbs against the steering wheel to the beat of the bass drum, mouthing the words to the song. All he wanted to do was destroy things and forget that today had even happened.
He could see the remembrall glowing in the seat beside him out of the corner of his eye. Of course, he knew he had forgotten something. That was why he was driving to the middle of the desert at five-thirty in the morning in the direction of the sunrise. Ron could still hear Pansy's voice echoing in the back of his mind.
"What do you mean you quit your job? What in Merlin's name made you think it was okay to decide that without talking to me first? We are a team, Ron. You can't just run off and quit your job, expecting me to be completely okay with it."
"I don't know what you want me to say, Pansy. What's done is already done, and there's nothing you can say to make me change my mind. Not that it would matter anyway. There's no way Kingsley will give me back my job."
"What did you say to him? It can't have been that bad. I'm sure he'll…"
"Pansy, I'm not talking about this with you."
"And why the hell not? I'm your wife!"
"Because you won't understand, Pansy. Just drop it already."
"Talk to me, Ron."
"No."
Ron shook his head, pushing the images of their fight out of his head. Pansy would never understand why he chose to leave the job with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement no matter how he decided to explain it to her. After the last case he worked, Ron knew he could never step back into that office and look the other Aurors in the eye.
"Weasley, back off."
"I've got this, Malfoy. Go catch up with the others."
"Weasley, I said stand down."
Ron looked down at Rockwood, crouching at the end of his wand, an odd smirk on his face. Ignoring the scowl, Ron aimed his wand at Rockwood's heart, not that he believed the wizard had one.
"He killed Fred."
"It doesn't matter."
"The death of my brother doesn't matter?"
Ron turned, aiming his wand at Draco.
"Weasley."
"Fuck," Ron grumbled, slamming his hand against the steering wheel. He glanced at the GPS out of the corner of his eye. He was only a few minutes away from the Red Rock valley. Once he was there, he would be able to clear his head of all the voices that were running rampant through his mind. He started to get sick of hearing his mother, his wife, and his former partner's voices echoing through the silence.
Arriving at his destination, Ron put the car in park, grabbed the remembrall from the passenger seat, and roughly pushed the car door open, slamming it behind him. He made his way to the boot and popped the lid. Ron reached in and grabbed his rucksack, and pushed the trunk closed once more. He had a bit of a hike ahead of him, and the sun was just starting to crest the horizon. He needed to make haste.
"What do you mean you quit?"
"As I said, sir. My time with the MLE has been fruitful, but I feel that my life is pulling me in a different direction. My work at the Ministry is done."
"This doesn't have anything to do with Rockwood, does it?"
There was a spark of anger that flared in Ron's eyes that Kingsley noticed. Hanging his head, Kingsley let out a sigh.
"Who told you about Rockwood?'
"It was in Draco's report. He was just doing his job."
"He flipped on his partner," Ron shouted, jumping up from his seat and smacking the chair into Kingsley's desk. "The one thing they drilled into us in our training is that you don't flip on your partner. You always have their back."
"Except when your partner is acting irrationally. Have a seat, Ron."
"I'm done."
Revenge was the one thing on Ron's mind as he hiked to the highest point of the Red Rock. He had heard rumors that Augustus was seen camping out in hopes of finding shelter with a group of Sympathizers said to be a few miles north of here. All he needed was the upper hand, and the Red Rock would give that to him.
He could see his vantage point a few feet in front of him when he felt the remembrall vibrating in his hand. Rolling his eyes, Ron dropped it to the ground and aimed his wand at it. "Reducto," he grumbled, smiling as he watched it explode into a million tiny shards. His smile widened as he pictured the remembrall as Rockwood's head.
A vibration in his pocket caused Ron to let out a heavy sigh. He pulled his mobile out of his pocket and saw Pansy's name flashing across the screen. He let out a groan as he answered. "Hey, Pansy."
"Hey? That's all you have to say to me? Hey? Where the hell are you?" she hissed; Ron could hear her heavy breathing on the other end of the line.
"Sedona," he replied, shoving his wand into his jacket pocket as he looked around at the rocks surrounding him.
"Why are you," she began to ask, pausing as a wash of realization flooded over her. "Fred. Ron, you cannot take out a death eater on your own. Call Draco. Call Kingsley. Get them to get you in contact with someone at the MACUSA, so you don't have to go up against him alone. Especially not when you are only doing this out of revenge for what he did to Fred."
"I have to do this, Pansy," Ron sighed, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. "Someone has to do something."
"Let the right people handle it. Or at least let them help you," Pansy insisted. "I don't want you to get killed."
"I won't get killed. I have a plan," Ron grumbled, carding a hand through his hair as he looked up at the sky. "I'm near his campsite from a higher advantage; I've got the upper hand. I can handle this."
"No, you can't," Pansy quipped. "You quit being an Auror because the job got too hard. You don't like being told what to do, which is why you went rogue, which was the stupidest fucking thing you could have done, but that's an argument for when you get home."
"I'm not leaving," Ron said, his voice cold. "I'll see you when this is over."
"Ron!" Pansy's voice echoed as Ron lowered the device from his ear and hung up. He shoved it into his pocket and stalked towards the edge of the rock, looking down and taking note of the campsite below.
He took a deep breath as he lowered himself to the ground. Ron slipped his wand out of his pocket, wrapping his hand tightly around the base of the wand to watch for signs of movement.
He could feel his mobile vibrating in his jacket pocket. Ron set his wand down for a moment and pulled the jacket off, tossing it to the side. He didn't need the added distraction of his wife trying to talk him out of this. All he wanted was to see Rockwood's blood splattered against the red rock.
Getting himself back into position, Ron heard the scrapping of shoes against the rock behind him. Ron jumped up, spinning around and garnishing his wand. His eyes focused on the man standing across from him.
"Avada kedavra!"