Without a Trace

Author's note--Alright, here we go!!! Fasten your seatbelts, ladies and gentlemen, it's going to be a bumpy ride!

First, let me say OMG I can't believe how many reviews! THANK YOU! And I love how you're calling for certain things to happen, and I already have some of them written in (before you asked for them!) *happy dance* That means I'm doing my job as a writer, methinks!

I want to try to explain why the characters are going to make the choices that they do...under pressure--and I think we'd all agree that this is a "pressure" situation--people sometimes act strangely or do things that *might* not have an explanation (but I like to have explanations for everything!) but when they make the stupid decisions, I still hope you find it believable and "realistic" and yes, even frustrating!

Anyway, yes, be warned for the cliffie! (It IS, after all, only Part 1!) I hope you like!
**********


Without a Trace

CLIMAX (Part 1)

Martin, Samantha, Elena, and Jack just stared at Harry for a second as if he had suddenly announced that he was actually a giant bunny rabbit. Harry looked back at them with a mixture of horror and revulsion at what he thought he had just figured out, and he rushed to explain.

“In the video, Narcissa tells the hotel girl that they might be going for a boat ride later. Spaulding also chided her for giving away all of their secrets, all of their CLUES! He talked to Molly and Lily in the park, and Molly said that he told them I might take them to see the fireworks tonight. AND in his letter that he left at the house, he says “I do so wish you could be here for the fireworks.” He has Parker on a boat SO THEY CAN SEE THE FIREWORKS!” Harry practically screamed the last part.

“THE EAST RIVER!” Samantha exclaimed.

“OR LIBERTY STATE PARK!” Martin interjected.

The agents exploded into action again. Jack jumped on his phone, informing the Coast Guard that they would need all available boats, helicopters, and search lights, as well as complete records from everyone who was anywhere near Manhattan on a boat that night, explaining their theory. Samantha called Danny and Vivian to tell them their newest lead. They both dropped what they were doing to get started on coordinating the search with the NYPD that would undoubtedly be in the area. Elena ran to her computer and began printing the information on all of the boat rental companies that had docks along the river.

“Danny agrees with what you said, HJ! He also said that Spaulding had a fireworks screen saver on his computer!” Samantha reported, taking some of the information from Elena and beginning to dial. Harry pushed back his chair and bolted for Jack’s office. An unknown fear took root inside of him; they would never get to Parker in time this way. But Harry had an idea. He ignored the surprised shouts of his team as he burst into Jack’s office, startling both of his daughters to tears. For the first time in his (or their) lives, Harry paid no attention.

“Draco! Come! Now!” he cried, holding out his hand. Draco’s head shot up, and his body obeyed Harry’s command before his mind fully understood it. Ashleigh immediately plopped to the floor and gathered Harry’s girls into her arms, staring after the two men in confusion and watching the rest of the team run after them.

* * * * *

Harry pulled Draco to the elevator. Mercifully, one was waiting.

“Meet us at Battery Park!” he called to the people following them, hitting the ‘close doors’ button just as his team was sliding to a halt to avoid crashing into the steel. They were alone in the elevator.

“Do you have your wand?” Harry bent his head close and breathed in Draco’s ear, knowing that the FBI building had cameras and sensitive microphones. He didn’t so much whisper them as exhaled into Draco’s ear while moving his lips, hoping that the blonde would understand. Draco did.

“No. We agreed to do things the Muggle way while we were here,” Draco replied in the same manner. Harry nodded, not having let go of Draco’s hand.

“I haven’t used magic in six years,” he confessed. “Hold onto your guts.”

Before Draco could contemplate the full significance of Harry’s recommendation, Harry grabbed him in a bear hug, pressing their lips together in a brief, sweet kiss that left Draco gasping, and, wandlessly, Apparated.

They landed in Battery Park, inside the Castle Circle—where eager tourists would buy tickets for the ferry to Liberty and Ellis Islands during the day—but tonight, the Fourth of July, the stone ring was closed to the public, and so they were alone as they appeared with a muted ‘crack’. It was pitch-dark except for the periodic explosion of light and sound—accompanied by the expected and reverent “Ooh” and “Ahh” from the crowd—so even the sound made by their arrival was masked. Draco stared at Harry in stunned silence for a minute; it was hard for him to determine which shocked him more: Harry’s kiss or the fact that the two most powerful wizards in all of Great Britain were both lacking wands like fumbling first-years! Harry gave him no time to contemplate, though, as he grabbed Draco’s shoulder roughly.

“Quick, give me one of your hairs!” Draco reached up and yanked, depositing the requested strand into Harry’s outstretched palm. Closing his eyes, Harry concentrated, summoning his long-forgotten connection to magic. Breathlessly, Draco watched as the pale white hair hovered over Harry’s palm and began to emit a small, intrinsic light, almost as if Harry had cast a miniature Lumos spell.

“Veni filium Draconii,” Harry intoned solemnly, opening his eyes to stare at the single hair. Draco hadn’t heard Latin in a very long time, nor did he understand the incantation. The hair apparently did, though, because it rose above their head height, both men looking up. Then it zipped through the air, heading straight for the docks. Draco and Harry dashed after it, skillfully hopping the fence, much to the surprise of the NYPD officer who was leaning on it, clawing and shoving their way through the crowd that had gathered to watch the fireworks. The officer started to protest, and Harry had pulled his badge as they ran past, screaming “FBI! GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY!”

There was a Coast Guard boat waiting at the docks. The hair sped past it, heading unerringly out into the Upper New York Bay, toward the Statue of Liberty. Harry had no idea how to commandeer the boat and it had been such a long time since Draco had, but luckily, the Coast Guard officers were waiting, although they were surprised at the rate at which the FBI arrived. They jumped onto the boat.

“Follow that firefly!” Harry shouted. Draco ran to the bow, hanging off the railing in a desperate attempt to keep his eye on the glowing ball of light. He barely felt Harry come up behind him. Harry encircled Draco’s waist with his hands, pulling the blonde to himself ever so slightly. He was so panicked that he wasn’t thinking consciously about what he was doing; it just felt natural. It also served to keep Draco from losing his balance and falling off the boat as it skimmed over the waves. They bypassed the barges where the fireworks were being lit. The lit-up hair appeared to be heading for the Statue of Liberty when it took a broad left curve. Harry squinted against the whipping wind and the slight spray of the water to make out a boat floating silently, all lights off, away from the rest of the crowd. He turned back to the driver.

“There! Pull us up alongside it!” He screamed, pointing. The driver nodded swiftly, swinging wide, and as soon as Draco was sure they were going to pass the boat, the driver cut the engine and pulled hard to starboard. The Coast Guard boat responded nimbly; Harry and Draco were already racing for the railing nearest the boat, preparing to jump across.

“This is the Coast Guard,” the bullhorn sounded, startling them. “Turn on your lights and come out on the deck!” A great spotlight suddenly illuminated the deck of the dark boat. Narcissa Malfoy was reclining on one of the couches at the bow of the thirty-foot rental pontoon boat, sitting up in confusion and then horrified shock as she realized what was going on. There was an enclosed area that made up the stern of the boat, and it remained dark, curtains covering every window so that it was impossible to see inside.

In tandem, Harry and Draco leapt from the railing of the Coast Guard boat while it was still about three feet away from the pontoon boat, hurling themselves across the dark water and emptiness to land, stomach-first, on the backs of the couches that lined the edge of the front of the boat. Narcissa quickly got to her feet, only to be knocked backwards. Draco hauled himself over the edge, pulled back, and punched his mother as hard as he could, right in her face, sending her tumbling. Harry scrambled over the couch, letting a smile pass his lips at the muttered “Bitch!” that escaped Draco’s lips as their attention focused on the cabin.

Harry unconsciously reached for his gun, holding it in his wand hand and crossed his left hand, which held a small flashlight that was still darkened, under it, pointing both at the door while moving forward slowly, deliberately staying in front of Draco. For his part, it took all of Draco’s self control not to shove the black-haired FBI agent aside and rush headlong into that cabin to rescue his son. His head knew that was folly, but it didn’t stop his heart from breaking with each agonizing step towards the closed door. They paused for the briefest instant beside the driver’s seat—which was just to the left of the closed cabin door—and Harry whispered back to Draco.

“Listen to me,” he whispered fiercely. “You need to stay behind me. This guy will NOT hesitate to kill Parker—”

“Don’t you think I know that? I’m not daft!” Draco interrupted, whispering just as fiercely.

“And I need the lights to be on so I can see. I can’t hold the gun and the flashlight AND find the light switch at the same time, so you’ve got to find it. Got it? That is your priority. In America, the light switches are usually just inside the door, on the wall, to the left. Don’t just rush in there, Draco—” Draco drew himself up to his full height, which meant that while their hips were the same level, Draco had a slightly longer torso. He only had barely an inch on Harry, but he looked down his nose with such a practiced sneer that Harry felt even shorter in comparison. He cut Harry off with a wave of his hand, demonstrating the elegance and power that was the Lord Malfoy.

“Harry. I. Know. Now. Get. In. There.” Draco hissed through clenched teeth. “Or so help me, wand or no, I will hex you all the way to England and back!” Harry chose not to respond, turning his attention to the door. He nodded, and Draco reached around him, twisted the knob, and pushed the door open. Harry moved in first, clicking the flashlight on and scanning the room as Draco ran his hands over the wall, taking but a second or two to find the switch and throw it on. The scene that Harry had revealed in the spot of his flashlight was exposed as the overhead lights flickered on, and both men saw red. Harry’s finger twitched on the trigger, and it was only his utter control as a wizard and his six years worth of training as an FBI agent that kept him from unloading the magazine.

Graham Spaulding sat on the bed, legs stretched out in front of him, fully dressed with his fly open and his hand down his pants. He was gazing down to his left with a predatory smile. Harry followed his eyes and saw the crown of pale blonde hair that was resting on Spaulding’s thigh. The top of the boy’s head was towards the door, and his body was lying sideways on the bed, partly obscured from view because of the man’s leg. Harry could tell, though, that the little boy was naked, and Spaulding had his left hand on the boy’s hip, stroking the baby-soft skin. The instant before Harry pulled the trigger, barrel pointing directly between Spaulding’s eyes, two things happened.

Graham rapidly became aware of what was going on (the room, with the door shut, was sound-proofed, so he hadn’t heard the commotion outside until the two burst into the unlocked room). He leapt off the bed, grabbing a chunk of the baby-fine hair and dragging the boy with him. He pulled the naked child to his chest, catching him around the waist with his left hand, and placed his right hand on the top of the child’s head in a threatening claw. The second thing that happened was that Draco cried out, lurching forward despite his assertion to remain behind the man with the gun. Harry side-stepped into Draco’s path to block him from attacking the kidnapper, and in doing so, lost the precious second he might have had in which to put a bullet through Graham’s brain without fear of hitting Parker.

“Don’t move!” the madman shrieked, his hand tightening on Parker’s head, producing a wail of pain around the small thumb that was in Parker’s mouth. The little boy was completely naked, tiny wrists bound in front of him with duct tape. Even though it caused his hands to be mashed into his face, Parker had been able to work the tip of his thumb into his mouth, sucking on it for comfort; he wasn’t much more than a baby, really. As Graham manhandled the delicate child, Harry noticed with horror that Parker’s ankles were bound with duct tape as well, but there was also a fresh spot or two of blood on the bed, and a matching puddle was slowly forming on the front of Spaulding’s shirt. Pants still undone, Graham was backing towards the far wall where the door to the stern of the boat was. With every step that Graham took backwards, Harry matched forwards, keeping the gun trained on the man who was holding the child in front of him as a shield.

“Graham—” Harry began but was interrupted by more crazed shrieking.

“Don’t come any closer, Potter! Stay back or I’ll snap his neck!” Harry jumped slightly as claws dug into his back. Draco clutched at the back of Harry’s shirt in anger, not being able to help himself. It was a last attempt by Draco to keep his word and stay behind Harry, since he had just fucked up royally.

“Graham, don’t do this,” Harry tried to reason with him, obviously to no avail. Graham bumped into the door and maneuvered slightly so that it was within easy reach of his right hand. With a menace, he cocked Parker’s head to the side.

“Special Agent Potter,” the calm, stoic expression was back. That was almost more frightening to Harry; to know that the madman lurked beneath the collectedness. “So nice to finally make your acquaintance. And that must be the despairing father clinging to your shoe.” Graham taunted, his mouth stretching in a calculatedly ravenous smirk. “My, my, had I known how beautiful the father was…” he trailed off, implying that Draco, even at twenty-five, could have been a victim of Graham’s instead. The blonde’s Adams apple bobbed.

“Take me,” he offered thickly. “Put down my son, and take me instead, you prick.” Graham chuckled, biding his time until the right moment.

“Put the boy down, Spaulding,” Harry ordered. It was the wrong thing to say, and Graham’s face hardened.

“In your wet dreams, Potter,” he snarled, grabbing a handful of Parker’s hair. The boy yelped and began to struggle. Graham gave him a sharp slap to the side of his head and face. Silent tears streamed down Parker’s face; after only nine hours, he knew that meant not to make a sound. Draco whimpered in his throat, shoving Harry forward, knocking the agent off-balance for a split second, as he tried to get to his son. Harry floundered, taking his eyes off of Spaulding to look at Draco. Graham took advantage of Harry’s momentary incapacitation, and quick as lightning, he wrenched open the door and disappeared out into the cold night with the boy.
**********


Chapter notes:

1. Veni filium Draconii This is Latin for "Find the son of Draco" (formal wording). I did a FUCKTON of research to figure out this phrase! Yes, *sigh* I took Latin in college (one year's worth) but somehow it didn't stick very much. It should be grammatically correct, though, for anyone who DOES know Latin! The spells' names and incantations are largely based on Latin, so I thought this command--in Latin--was especially appropriate.

2. I must credit the idea of using a hair as a tracker to Samayel, from his story "Redeem Me". He used it in one of his chapters, and while I changed it and made it my own, the idea of it came from his story.

Author's note--WOW I can't believe we're here already! I hope you liked this chapter!!! It had a couple of *moments* that I hope were natural and tantalizing, as well as some (hopefully) well-placed magic! One thing I realized early on was that WOaT is about Muggles, and therefore magic in itself wouldn't play as much of a role as if Draco and Harry were back at Hogwarts. However...remember when (at the beginning) HJ's description as an agent was that "his instincts are almost uncanny"? *wink* Can you guess why? Alright, so he didn't use enough magic to qualify as it being called "using magic" with any regularity...but keep in mind that Harry is an accomplished Legilimens and wizard, so I'm not saying he DID use a little bit of magic at times when the suspects were uncooperative...but I wouldn't put it past him, if you get my drift.


WeasleyWench--*grin* Yes....but YOU are EVIL as well for putting me through all of that "misery" with the ending of "For the Best"!!!!! haha One good turn deserves another! And here is your "MORE"!

Jan--Yes, that is what I am coming to realize. When I first started reading on here, I was seriously upset about the waiting for updates and vowed only to read completed fics...boy, did THAT ever change! And I rediscovered my masochistic side that likes to be in angst (and my sadistic side as a writer that loves to put YOU guys in angst!) Thanks!

Night--AUGH YOU ASK MORE QUESTIONS THAT I ANSWER LATER!!!! *can't tell*can't tell*mustn't tell* As for timeline, I have that written down, actually, so if you want, I can type it up and post it as an "extra". (Good thought!) As you can see, Forensics is taking a back burner...Harry didn't give 'em a chance to get Draco's blood, but I don't think he minded (nor do we!) *sigh* And that still leaves my dilemma about Ginny! lol Thanks so much for keeping me on my toes!

Okay, and going back to one of your earlier reviews when you mentioned Glamours and tracking spells...I know that Glamours are used in canon, but Spaulding is not a wizard and Narcissa can't do much magic without a wand, and she doesn't have one. Besides, I personally am not completely comfortable with the idea behind them (I shall have to read more about them before that happens) so I don't think I've used one in a story yet.

Tracking spells...do they have those in the books??? I must give credit where credit is due: the way Harry tracks Parker by using a hair of Draco's is based upon Samayel's "Redeem Me" when Harry uses one of Draco's hairs to find Draco, but then, he just gave the command of "Find him"; whereas I wanted the incantation to be in Latin so as to be closer to an actual spell in the books.


KLS--HAHA WOW! Okay, (oh shit, I didn't think of this before, but now I feel guilty for asking that question! FUCK!) I just realized that me posing that question to YOU, my readers, is reminiscent of a different WOaT episode. It's called "Party Girl" and it's from Season 3. A spoiled rich girl gets kidnapped, and a website is set up with a live video feed (showing her bound to a chair and crying...obviously no longer "Little Miss Perfect") that also allows the viewers to vote whether she lives or dies...and the "die" vote is climbing higher by the minute...

Back to the review: "wrong place, wrong time" I shall have to think on this. Thanks for your opinion!

You are right in that no magic has been used thus far, until now. Like I said before, WOaT in itself has no magic (obviously) so I tried to create a scenario where Harry (in particular) not using magic is plausible. Remember that Draco and Pansy still use magic back at the Manor, but because of their ignorance of the possible existence of the American wizarding world, they decided to live like Muggles in NY and not chance it...so in New York, there is not a lot of magic going on. I wanted to stay as true to WOaT as possible, but as you can see from this chapter, I *had* to throw a little in!

Also, I haven't read the books and have not seen the movies, so I try to stick to as little magic as possible purely because I'm not as familiar with what all IS used in the canon! However, I DO frequently visit the HP Lexicon, but I'm still skeptical sometimes.

It is good for me to know that you noticed that, though, and I hope my reasons for not using magic before this make sense, and I hope that you enjoyed the magic of THIS chapter! Thank you!

Star55--Uh-oh! Another vote against Ginny! haha It's not looking good! You asked for the email, so it's the least I can do! Thanks for your kind words! And you now have your answer to the question in one of your earlier reviews about a kiss!!!! *wink*

Danine--I hate to say this, but good? Tension is exactly what I was going for and everything! Yay! (Sorry, I'm a sadist!) Thanks for reviewing, darling!

Draca--Hopefully I made it up to you with the lack of Draco-ness with their "moments" in this chapter! As far as the forensics go.....okay, that works for me! (Since I'm not sure, that's why I haven't included the actual number of alleles, etc...besides, that's too minor a detail for caring IMO! We have much more important details to worry about, like Harry and Draco!

I did get your email, and I appreciate it! I'll probably be sending a couple more your way soon! (Freakin life trying to take over again!) Thanks for the cookies! *shares with everyone* lol And I'm glad I made you laugh....as I probably just made you scream due to the cliffie.....sorry!

HPDMkawii--YES Draco and Harry will get together! (In the "extra" footage, though, since they wouldn't have gotten together in the actual episode if this had really been on TV!) And we'll find out more about Ginny later...I promise!

xXBrokenDreamsXx--I know how you feel! Spaulding...well, you'll see...*evil grin* Thanks for your review!