Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them...Continued.

27: An Infestation

NEWT
      Newt's head spun as he ran, holding tight to Tina. Finally, they stopped to get on the elevator, and he stood her up between him and Queenie, wiped her nose with hankercheif, and revived her.
Tina gasped.
"Wha-what? Newt? Queenie? Cara, what's going on? Where are the rogues?" Tina breathed, all in a rush.
"Tina," Newt said, as calmly as he could, given the circumstances. "We broke in, stunned and bound the rogues, and took you. Are you all right?"
"I'm...I-yeah. I'm fine." Tina shook her head, as if clearing it. "Cara...c'mon. Let's go get the other Aurors and--"
"Don't you think you should stay with your sister and your suitor, Tina?" Cara said, looking her over nervously.
"He's not my suitor!" Tina turned red, strightening. Newt looked at his feet and pressed his lips together, his cheeks warm. He couldn't deny something he wished were true, especially if it had a chance of *coming* true. Queenie saved them.
"He's just a friend visiting from Britain," she said.
"Well, no matter what he is, shouldn't Tina stay with you guys?" said Cara, shoving her wand in her pocket and straightening her hat.
"I'll be fine," Tina said gruffly, standing and dusting herself off. Newt wasn't so sure about that. Her nose had started to bleed again, and she was swaying on her feet, pale as a ghost.
"What did they do to you?" Newt demanded, anger rising. He was fairly sure that the man hadn't just punched her. What else had he done? What about the woman; had she thought that hurting Tina would be a fun time, too?
"I'm fine," Tina said, more forcefully. Newt noted that she didn't answer his question; that fact made him even angrier. Now he was sure that whatever these people had done to her, Tina was too embarrassed to talk about it. Maybe that man had done something unspeakable....Newt's blood boiled.
"Okay, Tina. Let's go," Cara said, though she didn't look happy about it.
"Hey, Cara!" Queenie called her back as Tina walked swiftly to another Auror's office. "Make sure Tina's behind a few people whenever you go back to that room."
"Planned on it," Cara said, tilting her hat and dashing off.
"Newt," Queenie said gently, turning to him. "They just jinxed her and cut her, is all. She'll be all right. The man only hit her; nothing worse, thank God. The woman cut her neck."
   Newt's anger ebbed away somewhat, relief rushing in to fill its place. "Oh," he sighed. "I thought he might have...done something."
Queenie nodded. "Tina didn't say what happened because she doesn't like feeling weak. She was embarrassed that we had to rescue her."
"She's not weak, though! You're both some of the strongest, independent woman I know," Newt said. "You've both been through so much, the two of you have; how can a woman like Tina be anything but strong?"
Smiling slightly as they walked to Tina's office, Queenie said, "Newt, Teen really is strong. She just doesn't have a high opinion of herself when it comes to strength. She knows she's independent, very reliable and kind, but....she just doubts her strength constantly. There's no room for weakness on her agenda."
"Oh," Newt said, still thinking it was irrational of Tina to think that way.
"Women are irrational, Newt," Queenie laughed. "But we all doubt ourselves. It's only human."
"Yes," Newt agreed, leaving it at that. They sat in Tina's office; Queenie reclining behind her sister's desk, and Newt resting on the fold-up chair in front of the desk.
"Queenie!" Said a man, walking in. "Have you registered his wand yet?"
"Oh, no sir," Queenie said. "My sister got in a bit of trouble, sir. I had to help her escape."
"Ah," Abernathy said, as if it all made perfect sense to him. "Yes. Anyway, would you come down and do your paperwork? Mr. Scamander's wand needs to be registered, too, you know."
     Newt had a feeling something was off about this guy. Then, he thought back to what Cara had explained to them while they were looking for Tina: she had noticed people acting weird, especially superiors. Abernathy was head of the Wand Permit Office, so there was a chance that he could be being impersonated.
"Please, sir," Newt smiled and met his eyes, trying to distract him while he pulled his wand out slowly and carefully. "We're just...waiting. For Tina to come back. We need to make sure she's okay."
"Ah, the Auror?" Abernathy said. "Yeah. I heard about her."
"We haven't notified anyone yet," Queenie frowned, exchanging a look with Newt. She knew what he was thinking.
"News travels fast," Abernathy said casually, waving his hand in dismissal. "Anyway, I'll wait with you."
"Er, sir...I'm sure you have very important matters to attend to," Queenie said. "We'll only be a few minutes."
"It's no trouble," he said breezily. Newt silently positioned his wand.
"*Homonum revelio,*" he said under his breath. Sure enough, dread filled Newt as the man bubbled like melting wax, becoming a different person altogether.
"This is a full on infestation," Queenie muttered under her breath as Newt bound the rogue before he finished transforming.
"That's right, pretty lady," the man sneered with a thick British accent. "If I were you, I'd quit my MACUSA job right away and face the inevitable. Almost everyone is being impersonated, and soon you Americans will be completely overthrown in your own country. It all starts with that upstart Auror, Goldstein."
    Anger boiled withing Newt's veins, coursing through his thoughts, moddling his logic. Newt had never punched anyone in the face in his life, but he couldn't help himself. He bowed his fist back and slammed it into the man's jaw with a satisfying crunch and no regrets. The man groaned; Queenie squeaked as he spat blood and teeth on the floor.
"Newt!" She said incredulously, looking both impressed and surprised.
"Come on," Newt decided, his voice steely. "We need to find Tina, notify someone, and get out of here. We can't trust anyone, Queenie. Maybe not even Tina; ask her a personal question when we find her, all right? Let's go."
   Queenie pressed her lips together and nodded, following Newt out the door of Tina's office, leaving the rogue to bleed from the new holes in his mouth.