DISCLAIMER: The World of Warcraft, Azeroth, Outland, trolls, elves, Forsaken, etc. do not belong to me, and I make no profit from writing this story. Original characters, however, are my creations, but I couldn't give less of a damn about them being stolen.

Author's Note: I'm only going to post these first three chapters for now; if I get enough reviews, I'll post the rest; probably one chapter every three days or so. Definitely rated a hard "M" for later chapters (chapter 7 and beyond, if you must know...)

The One Where Cortona Gets the Hell Out of Undercity

Primly perched on an edge of the dock, a blood elf jiggled her foot nervously.

Her auburn hair was in disarray, her olive skin prickled with goose bumps, and she shook with shivers, despite the fact that the air was relatively warm and calm for an early fall day in Tirisfal. While she would usually conjure some fire to warm herself by, her hands were currently occupied. Tucked firmly into the inside pockets of her traveling cloak, her clammy fingers gripped a dagger and a small packet of papers.

Why is the zeppelin taking so long? What's the holdup? She released the dagger for a moment, just long enough to check her bag for her reagents. Good, the feathers were still there. Teetering on the edge of a zeppelin dock was not usually advised, but she had to be ready to jump at the slightest sign of trouble - and without those feathers, that trip down would be a lot faster than Cortona's ability to teleport.

She trembled with chills; Cortona DeVasari hadn't felt this kind of cold-to-the-bone since she left the Storm Peaks - but these shivers weren't brought on by icy winds. The source of Cortona's chills came directly from the crisp stack of papers clutched in her white-knuckled hand.

Traitors, all of them, she fumed. It had been fourteen months of her life, but the time she spent observing – well, spying on - the Royal Apothecary Society had finally paid off, and her worst fears were confirmed: Lady Sylvannas, and nearly the entire Forsaken population were planning to wipe out as much of the living population as they could, regardless of faction. Of course, this had been suspected for ages, but no one had ever been able to gather any hard evidence to disprove the rumors – until Cortona was hired.

Cortona DeVasari was unusually tall and clumsy for a blood elf, so she had adapted over many years to be very aware of her surroundings, and she also gained the ability to be absolutely overlooked. Not invisible, she wasn't a rogue; she was simply a nondescript, lithe mage who clung to the wall, kept her nose in a book, and tried not to step on any toes.

Amazingly, it was these very qualities that singled her out two years ago, when Vol'Jin himself propositioned her with the spying job. She had briefly taken over as alchemy instructor in Vengeance Landing in the Howling Fjord, but most of her job consisted of lurking in the shadows and keeping an eye on arguments in case they got out of control (which they usually did). One day, after dispelling a fight that ended with no less than three Forsaken and two orcs turned into frozen sheep, a troll nearly as unnoticeable as Cortona slipped her a letter of proposal, and left the inn. Upon reading the note, Cortona was astonished to find that the troll it came from was Vol'Jin. The job proposed was supposed to just be a simple observation stint in the Royal Apothecary Society – Cortona was an expert alchemist, and the recent controversies with the Forsaken forced the Royal Apothecary Society to take on non-Undead members if they wished to remain within the Horde. So far, the Society had only taken on blood elves, and Cortona didn't have any major ties to Orgrimmar that would make them suspect her. Cortona would be working with them, but sending in notes of their activities to non-Forsaken intelligence officers in the Horde.

While Cortona witnessed unspeakable atrocities being committed to various beings in the name of science, technically nothing extraordinary or completely out of line was taking place. But she always sensed that there was something happening that she wasn't being let in on; supplies that were bought and then seemingly disappeared, acrid fumes leaking out from behind apparent walls, captive test experiments whose bodies were never sent out for burning.

Then, one day, someone slipped up. A research assistant distractedly handed Cortona a pile of papers, asking that they be delivered to a doctor whose name Cortona had never heard. The assistant was either that preoccupied, or Cortona had gained more trust than she realized – after all, she was completely forgettable, unlike the other boisterous blood elves. She did what she had been doing to all of the transmissions she had handled before – used some very precise fire magic to sear off the bottom of the wax seal across the papers without singeing the papers themselves.

Opening up the first of the papers, she expected to see the kind of notes she usually saw – "Tests 478318-478363 unsuccessful, more specimens needed", "Zangarmarsh Herbology List," or even the occasional "Ask so-and-so if they're available tonight. Don't tell them my jaw fell off again."

Stuck to a thick, nice paper letter was a small note that read "SIGN AND DELIVER BEFORE TOMORROW," which wasn't unusual. What was out of the ordinary was the content of the parchment letter; it was what Cortona had been afraid of discovering for over a year:

Most Gracious Lady Sylvanas,

We have used the extra time you so generously allotted us in a most fruitful manner – Formula 49651C has proved consistently successful on every form of sentient being tested.

Points of dispersion in Thunder Bluff, Darnassus, the Deeprun Tram, and the Exodar are ready for immediate distribution. Additional time may be needed on Silvermoon City and Orgrimmar, as recent reconstruction efforts have significantly altered the walls of both cities, and we are unsure of Formula 49651's stability through teleportation via the crystal to Silvermoon. Optional points of dispersion are still being established in Booty Bay, Dalaran, and Gilneas.

We are still waiting for confirmation from Lord Varimathras as to a dispersion point in Shattrath.

Your faithful servants,

Master Apothecary Faranell

X _

It took every ounce of self-control Cortona had to not immediately run, screaming, from Undercity. Knowing she wouldn't be able to leave discreetly if she took all of her belongings, she instead chose her largest, heaviest traveling cloak and bag to pack as full as she could. Walking quickly and with a purpose, she answered the only two inquiries she received with a vague "Someone contaminated the moonwell water again, off to Ashenvale…" no one questioned her – retrieving moonwell water was not a desirable job.

And so there she sat, leaning precariously far forward on the zeppelin tower platform, anxiously anticipating its arrival.

"Folks, the 'ol zepp should be here any minute now, please clear the loading dock so the departures can get off. That includes you, sweetcheeks." A goblin shouted in Cortona's direction.

Sure enough, the zeppelin came bursting through Tirisfal's perpetually cloudy sky, slowly lining up with the platform. A whole rabble of orcs, trolls, and tauren filed off the zeppelin; Cortona only wished she could warn them discreetly of the eminent danger, but that wasn't an option. As soon as the last troll slowly ambled off, she darted on to the zeppelin, choosing to lean right against the rail, ready to jump at the first sign of trouble.

Fortunately, the zeppelin was packed; someone would have a hard time trying to find her on here, let alone kill her without people noticing. As soon as the zeppelin started drifting away from the platform, Cortona allowed herself to exhale for what felt like the first time since she read that fateful letter.

She had to get her plan together; fortunately, it wasn't much of a walk to Orgrimmar, but that didn't mean it wasn't risky. Running was an option, but Cortona figured that the less attention she drew to herself, the better. Perhaps she could get a guard to escort her; after all, she would have to pass through some fairly shady sections of the city to get to the intelligence agency. Could word of her betrayal even traveled faster than her? Probably. The only reason Cortona hadn't teleported was out of risk of teleporting herself right on top a knife in her back – she had ported enough members of the Royal Apothecary Society to Orgrimmar that they knew exactly where her particular portal signature dumped out. It was going to be risky, not to mention the reaction from the orcs once they heard about this-

CRACK!