Ch89. Infiltration

Natasha was sneaking through the forest shrubbery, getting closer to her target's house while marveling at how the rune Tom gave her blended her magical signature into the wards without setting them off.

Really, Tom always came up with such ridiculous things...

As much as it peeved her, she really loved how he fussed about her. It was in times like these she could clearly see he worried for her. In a way, it was a clear sign that Tom loved her and it made Natasha's heart melt with joy.

She could see Tom wasn't happy about sending her on this task, especially not alone, and it was both fondly irritating and annoyingly flattering to her. He was much less worried when he told her to fight these kids at the Quidditch World Cup.

Then again, he didn't really have time to be worried about her then so maybe that was the reason why his worrywart personality didn't fully activate?

Natasha was inwardly rejoicing that finally, Tom had a task for her. Something that only she could do for him. Yes, it was an unpleasant one. Infiltration and... well, she could imagine what would follow... but it was the very first time Tom actually asked her to do something for him.

He was always so hesitant about solving problems in ways she excelled at. Always trying to find a way that would spare her from having to dirty her hands. She did many terrible things in her service to SHIELD, things much worse than what Tom most likely intended to do here so she wasn't about to complain about him being heavy-handed.

The deal between them might have used many fancy words but at its base, it was very simple. She was Tom's personal assassin. That was it.

And yet... she never served that purpose. It was both relieving and infuriating.

She longed for a peaceful life for so long... and yet now that she had it, all she wanted was more conflict so she could be useful to Tom. It was really hypocritical of her.

That's why now that Tom's hand was forced, Natasha was actually happy. She had every intention to give it her best and prove that Tom can rely on her more.

Finally, Natasha got close enough to the house and raised her head as she looked up, her gaze landing on a closed window on the second floor. Sighing to herself, her course was set. It was a much better entrance point than her other options.

She really didn't feel like playing Santa Claus nor did she have much of an opportunity to cause a commotion right now. The windows on the first floor were out of the question simply because everyone in the house seemed to be located on the first floor.

So the window on the second floor it wa-

Natasha's thoughts suddenly halted as a person came out of the house. It was a bored-looking Auror and she quickly realized he was patrolling the perimeter. The poor guy seemed sleepy and really irritated to be here as he held his hand up, using it as a replacement for a torch light as he looked around.

'Or maybe I can be a bit bolder?' Natasha thought, her eyes gleaming.

The Auror was... passable. Despite visibly being bored and sleepy, he did everything as he should have. He didn't cut his patrol short by using shortcuts and he stuck to places with enough visibility and little obstacles so ambushing him would be hard.

The man was obviously on guard and wouldn't be dropping it anytime soon.

Natasha could respect that and he was most likely chosen for this infernal guard duty exactly because of his responsible nature.

Not that it would help him. The wizards made a fatal flaw. The patrolling guy was alone.

After the man passed her hiding place and his back was turned to her while he was slowly walking away, Natasha exited the shrubbery, which obviously made enough sound for the man to notice and abruptly turn around...

But Natasha already used her Widow's Bite, her favorite gadget that was sadly quickly becoming obsolete and useless, to fire a small arc of electricity at him, intending to knock him out.

Much to her surprise, the wizard actually did react in time. Whether by instinct or experience, he started casting a Protego the second he realized something was wrong and he was just in time for his shielding spell to block Natasha's Widow's Bite.

Unfortunately for him, Natasha was no novice and used the time she bought by her attack to get closer. The man finally finished turning around and barely got enough time to rejoice he blocked the sneak attack when his wand was kicked out of his hand before his head snapped to the side as his chin experienced Natasha's swift right hook.

Chin was a very good spot for quick one-hit knock-outs and Natasha knew exactly how to hit it to the best effect. The Auror's consciousness was out before he even realized what happened, his body falling onto the ground.

Natasha quickly caught it before dragging it closer to the shrubbery as she silently lowered it onto the ground in order to generate as little noise as possible and make him at least somewhat hidden.

Then, to finish it off, she cast a sleeping spell on the man.

The spell was nothing extraordinary. In fact, magicians used it to put their kids to sleep for a few hours. Anybody with a strong enough body or magic could easily resist it... but Natasha opted to learn it because it was extremely easy and while the magicians deemed it useless, she had lived most of her life among mundane people. She knew it could be useful at certain times such as now.

The wizards were not exactly physically powerful and their magic was not enough to completely resist the spell either. Since Auror was an adult wizard with average mid-rank reserves, Natasha surmised the spell would keep him asleep for maybe two to three hours.

And that was enough time for what they came to do here.

Natasha then used the light-bending ring Tom gave her to cast an illusion on herself, her body taking the shape and look of the man she had just knocked out. Picking up the man's wand, her disguise was finished and her demeanor changed to mirror the Auror as she continued on his patrol, slowly making her round around the house.

It took her ten more minutes to fully circle the house, and she deemed it enough time to further map the place and make sure the air was clear of any unpleasant surprises hiding around.

After all, checking the terrain while she still could was always a good thing to do.

She walked up the porch stairs and knocked on the door, causing another Auror who was on door duty, a tall black-skinned man, to open them almost immediately.

The man blinked at her in confusion, but there was no suspicion in his gaze. The second her face disguised as his colleague and more importantly, the man's wand in her hand, he took what he saw at face value.

"What is it, Connor? You found something unusual?" The man asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Natasha instantly realized that Connor's patrolling shift probably did not end yet, hence the confusion. She didn't know the black man's name so conversation was not an option and fortunately, there was once again, only one Auror stationed at the door duty so...

Natasha's hand swiftly swished through the air, hitting the black-skinned Auror's chin so quickly he only managed to get a short, "Eh?" out as his head snapped slightly to the side and Natasha caught his tall unconscious body before it could hit the ground, gently lowering it onto the nearby chair.

She cast the sleeping spell on the man once again and closed the door behind herself, her lips slightly curving up into a small smirk.

These wizards had magic and wards... yet their security measures were still so primitive. Natasha felt a bit underwhelmed. Infiltrating a mundane military base was much harder than this.

These people certainly didn't expect to be attacked tonight and they relied too heavily on their alarm wards. Without Tom's rune, this could have been an almost impossible task, yet...

With just a bit of caution, this mission was shaping up to be quite the walk in the park.

Shaking her head in exasperation and admittedly, a bit of dissatisfaction, her form shifted to resemble the black-skinned man she had just knocked out as she advanced further into the house. She still had a job to finish.