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

28: Too Much for One Day

TINA
     Cara led the way as Tina followed her, their wands held at arm's length. Tina's head spun and her vision was blurry, but she walked briskly down the hallway. Those rogues should have known better than to mess with her.
     But...she hadn't gotten herself out of that one. Tina should have used her wits, her training, her experience to escape; but instead she was knocked out and was rescued by her little sister and the man she had feelings for. How embarrassing was that?
     This was her chance for vengence; her chance to redeem herself. True, Tina had learned that anger and revenge were childish, but this was too far. It was beyond personal. She at least wanted to punch the man in the face. While no one was looking, of course.
"C'mon, Teen," Cara said. She led her to execution room five, which didn't have the silver potion of the last execution room she could remember. Instead, it was a simple, white, concrete dias with a metal chair fixated onto it. The chair had smears of fresh blood on the back, which she knew was hers. When the woman had cut the gag off her, she'd "accidentally" sliced into Tina's flesh at the back of her neck. She'd stopped the bleeding when no one was looking, but the cut was still there, throbbing.
    On the floor were the rogues, bound and stunned. Before Cara could stop her, she rushed forward, and unstunned the man, pressing her wand into his temple.
"Tell me how many of you are here, NOW!" she demanded with so much force she made Cara flinch.
"Why? So you can extricate us? I don't think so!" The man growled. Tina groaned in frustration and kicked him in the nose before she stunned him again.
"We'll get some Veritiserum," Tina said savagely. "Then we'll question them, for real."
"Tina," Cara said gently. "Let's grab these two, take them to the proper cells, notify someone, and we can get you home. You wouldn't be acting so rashly if you hadn't lost all that blood."
"I know, I know," Tina said wearily. "But it doesn't matter now. But.....as long as you can lock them up and get them interrogated, I'll go home. Promise me that?"
"I swear," Cara said. "Piece of cake, really. I don't need help. See you later."
  Tina sighed, beginning to wonder why she had even come in the first place. "I'll notify someone," she said weakly as she left.
     This was serious. The president was missing. The head of the Auror office was gone. No one could be trusted; who knew how many of Grindelwald's followers had infiltrated MACUSA?
     So what could they do? Tina felt helpless. Who would she notify? Would she have to do the Revealing Charm on who she was confiding in before she even started talking to make sure she could trust them?
    Coming around the corner on her floor, she knocked into Newt. She stumbled backward, but he steadied her. His face was harder and darker than she'd ever seen it.
"We have to go," he said. "Queenie and I found someone and made sure they were who they said they were before we notified them. Let's go." He grabbed her hand and pulled her after them, though he let go quickly. Part of Tina wanted to grab his hand again, but she didn't. She just grabbed her wand and pointed it ahead as she walked briskly, her head clouding. It was hard to focus with her thoughts so fuzzy, and her face so hot.
   Before she had processed everything had just happened, they were already at the corner of the alley outside MACUSA, ready to Disapparate. A man came running around the corner, and wiped his mouth, pointing a wand at Newt. He was being chased by Aurors, dodging jinx after jinx and hex after hex. He fired at Newt, who ducked and deflected the spell before Tina could react.
"Protego!" Newt shouted. "Relashio!"
    Ropes wrapped around a pole as the rogue leaped to the left. He shot another curse at Newt, this time hitting him. Newt crumpled. Tina revived him as Queenie aimed hexes at the man, who was dodging them with impressive agility. Once Newt got back on his feet,  however, he fixed the man with a look of pure rage. Or at least, Tina guessed that was what it was. It looked more like slight irritation, but that was the maddest Tina had ever seen Newt.
"Expelliarmus!" Newt screamed, and this time, it hit the rogue, whose wand went flying out of his hand. Amazingly, the man wasn't fazed much; he ran at Newt, dodging all the jinxes Tina aimed at him. He pulled back his fist and aimed for Newt's jaw, but Newt was one step ahead. He knocked the rogue out cold. The Aurors bound him and gathered him up, some thanking Newt, others ignoring him completely. He seemed okay with that; his face was red and he wouldn't meet her eyes.
"Second time today, Newt!" Queenie said, impressed.
"What?" Tina asked.
"It's nothing," Newt muttered, taking her hand again and walking to the corner of the alley. Queenie grabbed her shoulder, and they turned, disappearing on the spot.
∆∆∆∆∆∆∆
LATER
"Thanks," Tina said dully. Newt had handed her a mug of tea and a bowl of soup.
"Sure," Newt said, still refusing to meet her eyes, even for a second. He sat across from her at the table, locking his case. He'd just come up the stairs from feeding his creatures. Queenie had made a pot of soup and some tea; Newt got some for everyone, ladling soup into bowls and pouring tea into mugs.
"What did Queenie mean earlier?" Tina asked. " When she said 'second time today'?"
"Oh," Newt looked at his soup uncomfortably. "That man...he said some pretty nasty stuff about MACUSA, and their plans, and...well, you. I hit him before that, too. I just...I'm not sure what to think of myself at the moment."
   He buried his face in his tea mug.
"You did what you had to," Tina said quietly. "That's always been the way of Aurors. Do what you have to."
Newt nodded. "Now, how are you feeling?"
"I'm fine, Newt, really," Tina said. "Lost a little blood, is all." Queenie sat down with them.
"Yeah, the color's coming back to your face," Queenie said, eating a piece of bread. "I think I'll take advantage of this day off."
"Are you going to the bakery?" Newt asked. Queenie nodded.
"Ah," he said. "Well, I do need a suit. I think I'll go to that store my occamy and demiguise were in a few months ago."
"Macy's," Tina said. "I need a pair of shoes. Though, with all this stuff happening...who knows if the gala is even still on?"
"How long do you think it will take MACUSA to get back on its feet?" Newt asked.
"Not long," Tina guessed. "We need to give everyone Veratiserum, ask where they're hiding the President and everyone else."
"Maybe you'll even find out where they're hiding Graves," Queenie suggested. Tina hadn't thought of that before; the idea satisfied her. Bringing an end to that case was high on every Auror's agenda; Graves was a much better Head Auror than Caussy, not to mention the
"That would be great," she said. "In any case, we might as well go shopping, Newt. You'll need a suit, anyway."
"All right," Newt agreed. The left side of his hair reflected the firelight like thin threads of gold; on the right side, however, the gray drizzle of New York was reflected, so it looked more like strands of silver. Both eyes glinted gold on the left and silver on the right, as though they couldn't choose which was better; the cool freshness of the rain or the warm coziness of the fire.
    Tina finished her soup and stared at the fire, watching as the logs crackled and shifted. When Queenie finished, she washed the dishes quickly and left after a quick good-bye.
"I think I should check your back again," Tina said, standing. "Before we go shopping."
Newt hesitated. "Well....one more time couldn't hurt, I'm sure." He unbuttoned his shirt and she inspected his burn scars; shiny, baby pink swathes of skin covering most of his back and left arm. Tina washed and spread a thin layer of ointment on the scars before she rebandaged him. His skin wasn't hot and feverish, but rather warm and soft. Taking that as a good sign, she wrapped clean bandages sround him again and said, "I think the scars should fade. Mostly, at least."
"That's good," Newt said. He didn't sound too concerned. "I'll get my coat and wait for you by the door, all right?"
"Okay," Tina said. As he walked out, she called to him. "Newt....thanks. For saving me from those rogues."
"Thanks for doctoring my back," Newt smiled gently from the doorway, pausing and turning his face halfway to her before walking out completely.
    Tina faced the mirror in her room. Her face was still a little pale and her hair was a wreck, but other than that she seemed fine. After brushing her hair and pulling her coat around her, she met Newt at the front door, took his hand, and Disapparated.
    They appeared outside, in an alley behind Macy's. Tina didn't let go of Newt's hand, but he didn't seem to mind. His fingers were warm in her cool  ones, rough in her smooth ones. It was a nice opposition.
     When they walked in, however, they had to let go. Tina headed for the shoes; after a while, she'd chosen a nice pair of silvery sandals. Newt was still trying on suits when she went to check on him.
"What color do you want?" Tina asked him.
"I don't know....black? Dark grey? Dark blue?"
"I don't know...dark grey would look best with your coat," Tina said.
"Yes," Newt said distantly, smoothing the pinstriped sleeve of the suit he had on currently.
     Finally, after two more suits, Newt settled for a deep grey suit with a white silk hankercheif and bowtie.
"It looks great," Tina said when they left, Newt swinging the paper bag back and forth.
"I like your shoes, as well," Newt returned. Tina blushed, which to her seemed stupid; they were only shoes. The day seemed somewhat wrong to her; afer everything that had happened that morning, shopping was too normal to imagine. But here they were.
    The drizzle was back now, slowly and steadily getting harder as they walked through the park. The bare trees provided little protection for the rain. Suddenly, a wave of sheets of rain became visible, rolling toward them in the wind. Newt quickly took his coat off and held it above both their heads like a canopy, and they huddled together as they ran, the cold rain pelting the coat and splashing up their shoes.
    Finally, they reached a shop with an extended canopy. They were both laughing, drying themselves with their wands. It was a while before Tina realized that Newt's arm was still around her waist, and she was still clinging to his back with one arm. She had a sudden impulse to let go, but decided against it.
"Newt," she said quietly, rain punctuating her voice.
    He paused in the middle of siphoning water from his hair to look down at her. The gray of the rain glazed streets was reflected in his kind eyes, and his hair was ruffled, still sprinkled with rain droplets. He was still smiling halfway. She pulled him down and stood taller, ready to kiss him, but someone opened the door of the shop they were in front of, making them turn and break apart. Tina bit her lip in frustration.
"It's not a problem," Newt cleared his throat, drying her hair with a warm burst of air from his wand.
"Yeah, I guess," Tina muttered. Newt made it seem like they were talking about the rain, but she guessed that wasn't quite what he meant.
"We should probably go inside somewhere," Newt suggested. "To the bakery?"
"Yeah," Tina said, trying not to sound glum. "It's right down the block."
     They left, running through the frigid, rain soaked streets of New York.