Thief For Hire || Newt Scamander x Reader

8

AN: This is a shameless self-promo of my new story Love Me Dead. It's a new fanfiction I'm working on where you - yes, you, the reader - get to request certain characters, stories and plots. If you want to know more about that, check it out on my page!

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_____, although having little to no memory about who she was, had one thing programmed into her muscle memory: how to get around Manhattan.

She walked the streets filled with people, businessmen commuting around the city on foot. It wasn't uncommon to see men in suits filling the streets, all going somewhere and not paying attention to the people around them. It was easy to be invisible in New York. Right about now, _____ wished more than anything that she was invisible. She had been trying her best for the past hour to walk quickly enough and with enough people to shake Newt off of her back so he would stop following her, but she had no such luck.

How was he so good at navigating busy streets? She thought to herself, sneaking a glance back. Then she answered her own question in her head. He has a Londoner accent. Of course he would. She's always wanted to go to London.

She couldn't remember if she ever had or not.

She thought about taking the subway and never getting off. Going down there, getting on a car and never getting off. Maybe pick a number and wait, see where fate took her. She felt lost, she had no memories, and she barely knew who she was. She didn't know what to do anymore. She only had one thing left: the three strangers who took her in and the clothes who took her in.

At one point, she stopped in her tracks and looked back. For a split second, Newt made eye contact with her before looking away. She wants to pretend you're not here, Newt thought to himself. So just make yourself unnoticeable. Shouldn't be that hard, right?

_____ sighed. He looked slightly upset to be ignored, and she kind of felt bad for him. On one hand, he's the reason she lost her memories. On the other, it's not as if he did it on purpose. However, still... the question remains...

_____ walked back and pulled Newt aside out of the way of foot traffic, pulling him into a small corner of a large building. "Listen, I need to ask you something."

A hundred thoughts went through Newt's head, the most concerning was the possibility of her wanting clarification about the note she found in her pocket. The one that revealed the name of a curse and caused her to increase her ever-growing curiosity about what his case contained. "What is it?" he asked, worry outlining his voice.

"Why do you and your friends insist on keeping me with you?" She asked. "I mean, I'm really not your problem. I'm sure you feel about what happened, but honestly, I'm not your responsibility. I'm an adult, I shouldn't have to be watched like a hawk like this!"

Newt wanted to let of a sigh of relief, but he needed to think of an answer that made sense and kept her with them. "_____, I know this is frustrating, but we're not burdening ourselves. You're not a problem. I came to New York to visit Tina and Queenie, and right now, they're at work. If you weren't here, I'd be bored out of my mind," he wasn't trying to joke, but saw how it could, and bit his lip. "I do feel bad about what happened... but that isn't the only reason I'm helping you. I genuinely want to help you regain your memories to know you're going back to a place that's safe. Aren't you the least bit curious as to why someone you know is trying to hire you to steal my case?"

"Hire?" _____ asked. "I'm not a thief for hire, that letter definitely wasn't one between an employer and an employee!" She put her head in her hands. Something about that letter kept bothering her. Mostly, the singular line of memory that came with it.

Please don't be angry with me.

Newt looked at her with sympathetic eyes. She obviously didn't want to take the case if she was being threatened with a curse. She said right from the beginning that she didn't think she was the type of person who would rob anyone. "Listen, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insinuate that you were one. I'm just as confused as you are."

"You have no idea what I'm going through!" _____ suddenly shouted at him. Not because she was angry with him, more because she was frustrated, confused, and she just wanted it to over. Newt could tell that much. He didn't know how to read people very well, but ever since he started studying beasts more, he learned that people are a lot like beasts: you can read basic emotions if you pay close enough attention. _____ continued to speak. "It's like you're reaching in the dark for the most basic of objects. You're trapped in a dark room with all your belongings in it and you're reaching in the dark, hoping to find something you know is there, but you can't find it. I just... I wish..."

As she put her head in her hands, she began to tear up. Newt took a step towards her and gently reached a hand out and rested it on her shoulder. She looked up and their eyes met. "Don't worry, _____. It'll be alright. We'll get through it."

As _____ nodded, her mind went blank. Something came over her. Something Newt said was triggering another memory, and she could feel herself reaching for it. As his words played over and over in her head, she could feel herself get dizzy and Newt held her to support her. "_____? Are you alright?" He asked, but it didn't reach her ears. His words from before were playing over and over until she managed to recover a single line of dialogue from before. This time, however, she wasn't the one saying it.

"Don't worry, _____, it'll be alright. Are you losing too much blood?"

The voice was so clear in her head. It was a man's voice. Calm but malicious, and it almost had an air of hubris around it. A voice that didn't care about others, yet pretended to, and it gave off a fake sense of comforting. Nothing like when Newt said "don't worry."

She began to steady, rejoining Newt and paying attention again. "Are you alright?" he asked her, looking at her. For a moment, they made eye contact, and Newt could tell one thing: she was scared. "Did you just remember something?"

Suddenly, it felt like Newt was too close to her. She wanted, needed, air. She took a step back from him. "I'm fine. I just need, I need space." She turned away from Newt and went into the first direction she saw where she could be alone: a small alley space between two buildings. It was well-lit, and you could see a clothes line connecting from one building to another. She walked away from him and into the alley, hoping to find some solace there.

"_____, wait-"

Newt was cut off and _____ stopped dead in her tracks when suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a line of flames came out of a corner in the alley.