Extended Family

Chapter 47: Revaluation

Takes place around the same time as last chapter, Forty-Six

"What am I going to do with you?" Amelia sighed.

Tonks tried to sit up from the bed, an attempt at being at attention.  "If I can explain myself Ma'am-"

"Oh that won't be necessary.  I know what happened."

"Respectfully, you might not know everything."

Amelia glared at her, making Tonks go still.  "Fair.  Let me say what I think happened and at the end you can correct me.  You spend months working the case, doing a good job.  You found out the players in the game: the smugglers, the ones making the deals in between.  You even figured out the buyers and the organizers."

"Yes Ma'am," Tonks said, "correct so far."

"Good," Amelia said dryly.  "Then you set up a sting and plan it out with three teams.  It's almost textbook how you do it.  Except when you launch the sting, there's less than a third of what was anticipated.  You bag who you got though, realizing it was all mooks and expendables.  Even that would be a considerable achievement.  But that wasn't enough."

"Right, well, you see-"

"So since the sting was so neatly foiled, you figured that there was a mole."  Amelia spoke louder, overriding Tonks.  "So you did a quick investigation and discovered that there was a mole: Fields.  And lo and behold, Fields was already dismissed from the sting operation.  You grabbed all the Aurors you could, hunted him down, and found him and all the players and the contraband."

"Yeah, and well, we did try to take them in without a fight-"

"But there was a fight!  A giant clusterfuck of a fight in the middle of a manor full of contraband and criminals that didn't want to be taken at all!  By the time the dust cleared and the spells stopped, we have a handful of dead criminals, a bunch more injured and arrested, and a bunch of injured Aurors including yourself!"

Amelia leaned over Tonks who shrank back into the bed, her hair turning dark blue.  "The fact that no one on our side died is what's saving you right now.  Though one came close and from your hand."

"I was pissed," Tonks mumbled.  "And he wasn't on our side."

"Did you have to castrate Fields?"

"He wasn't using them," Tonks retorted.  "Besides, it was a mistake.  He was running away and I missed."

Amelia snorted.  "So, did I miss anything?"

Tonks shook her head, mute.

Amelia sighed.  "Again, you're lucky everyone is going to recover to regular status, nothing permanent was done.  Aside from your brain not always functioning."

"That was a pre-existing condition," Tonks muttered.

"Don't I know it," Amelia drawled.  "Well, officially, the operation was an acceptable success and you will be rewarded for your efforts.  Unofficially, that was damn fool thing to do and you were fucking lucky.  Do I make myself clear?"

Tonks nodded.  "I'm being punished, aren't I?"

"Yup."  Amelia handed over a case to Tonks who opened it.