Judecca
By: odainath

Author's notes: Dante's Divine Comedy has always fascinated me and the instant Connie said 'condemned by Dante' I have wanted to write this. It's incredibly melodramatic and over-the-top so please forgive me.

Enjoy and please review.

Disclaimer: I do not own Spooks; it is the property of Kudos and the BBC. All quotes are taken from 'The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri' translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Summary: She was always going into the ninth circle.

i. But the cause tell me why thou dost not shun
The here descending down into this centre,
From the vast place thou burnest to return to.'

The report that will never get filed will say that she 'died instantly' and 'wouldn't have felt a thing.'

Wrong.

The flames engulf her body, the searing heat burning her skin until Connie knows she will soon be pieces in the wind, but for now there is this... this sheer agony. Connie screams and screams, though doubts that anyone hears as she is lifted off the ground, and flung away from the explosion. Ros and Lucas are around the corner, safe behind a wall, and she wonders if she passes them on this journey to... well, she doesn't know where. The pain is subsiding and she feels whole. Connie opens her eyes to find herself walking through a forest, her body in tact, her skin unblemished. She looks down at her hand, which no longer shows the signs of age, and is once again youthful.

Connie flinches as a lion, a leopard, and she-wolf loom out from the darkness, their teeth gleaming against the darkness. She wants to run, but finds that her feet don't obey her thoughts, and she continues forward until she comes to a stop between the three beasts.

"Connie James."

She can only nod as the she-wolf and leopard and Lion flank both sides of her, and together the four walk onward. They don't look at her any further and Connie wants to ask them what is going on, but her words die in her throat as there is a blinding flash of light. She is surrounded by flames, and she finally realises what is happening.

The nine circles of hell.

The people surrounding her look innocent and she remembers this is the place for pagans, for infidels, for those who don't believe in Christianity and who were not baptised.

Odd to think that splash of water on her forehead when she was a mere baby will ensure that she goes straight through this place of limbo.

-o-

ii. Thus I descended out of the first circle
Down to the second, that less space begirds,
And so much greater dole, that goads to wailing.

There standeth Minos horribly, and snarls;
Examines the transgressions at the entrance;
Judges, and sends according as he girds him

The leopard, lion and she-wolf have left her now, and Connie walks alone toward Minos who towers above, his tail flicking to-and-fro. He is the guardian of the true hell, of the Inferno, and she waits as he approaches, circling slowly, muscles lithe as he moves like a serpent. She flinches as his tail wraps tightly around her waist, and inwardly counts.

Two - Lust
Three– Gluttony
Four– Avarince
Five – Wrath
Six – Heresy
Seven – Violence
Eight – Fraud
Nine – Treason.

Connie's breath constricts and she gasps for air as Minos looks into her eyes, her blue irises reflected in his red eyes which speak of flame. He tilts his head to the side as he leans forward until they are a mere six inches apart. This close she can see the... humanity and recognises people from her life; Harry fighting the valiant fight; Lucas overcoming eight years of Russian hell, and finally Ros, who will almost certainly follow her into hell.

"Connie James."

Minos' voice is soft, almost seductive, yet terrifying and Connie waits as he contemplates his decision.

"A traitor, but where to place you now?"

Connie stays silent as Minos ponders.

"Caina would be apt," he says aloud, "you betrayed your kin and yet... yet you are more evil than that. Antenora, for those who betray their country... Ptolomaea perhaps... Judecca... yes, Judecca."

Her eyes widen; Judecca is for the worst of traitors, for those who betrayed their benefactors...

Harry.

Connie closes her eyes as she feels ice surround her, moving up her body, past her neck and shoulders, above her chin. The tears that fall down her face freeze, sealing her eyes shut, denying her even that simple comfort. The ice continues to rise until she is finally encased; her mouth ajar, her hands splayed outward, never to be fully at rest.

Poetic, really.

Author's notes: I did warn that it would be melodramatic.

Please review,

Odainath