Return to New York

Mission

It was August. Tina realized that three days into the month. She was working, having finally convinced Achilles to go back to his own office. 

August, she thought, leaning back in her chair. Two months since Grindelwald escaped . . . and since Newt's last letter came.

She hated herself for thinking of that but she couldn't help it. She missed receiving a letter from him every day, even though she never read them. She still missed them after having seen that Leta had written something in at least one of them.

Henson appeared in the doorway to her office, knocking on the door. She looked up at him, a vacant expression on her face.

"President Picquery would like to see you," he said.

"Now?" 

"Yes, right away."

Tina sighed and got to her feet. She ran a hand over her hair, trying to smooth it down. Henson led her through the halls of MACUSA, up to the President's office.

"Ah, there you are, Miss Goldstein," Picquery said. "Take a seat."

Tina did and waited for the President to speak.

"We need you for a mission," she said.

Tina held back a sigh. Missions meant spending weeks away from the city . . . with Achilles. She didn't mind spending time with Achilles, they were still dating, but spending that much time with him was more than exhausting. Missions with him were also difficult because he had trouble focusing. He was always trying to get Tina to talk to him when they should have been doing research.

Suddenly, Tina became suspicious. 

"Wait a minute," she said. "If you're assigning me a mission, why are you doing it this way? Why aren't you doing it in a meeting with other Aurors present? And anyway, why isn't Ac-- Tolliver here?"

"Because this is a very important mission that only you can do," Picquery explained. "We're sending you to Paris."

"Paris!" Tina explained. She didn't understand. "Why do I need to go to Paris? Don't they have their own Aurors there?"

"Yes, they do, but this matter concerns us as well and you are the only one who we can trust to do this."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"We need you to track down the Obscurial."

Tina stared at President Picquery. "What Obscurial?" she managed.

"The one who nearly destroyed New York last December. You're the only one he trusts."

Tina winced. She didn't like thinking about that December because it just reminded her of Newt. But she still didn't understand. Credence was dead. She had seen him die.

"Will all due respect," she started slowly. "Credence is dead. You ordered him to be killed."

"He didn't die," Picquery said. "Somehow, he survived. He joined a circus that was touring America. Perhaps you remember it? They were in New York for about two weeks."

"I think I remember hearing something about it. I never went though," Tina replied.

"Yes, well, they will be performing in Paris in September."

Tina frowned slightly. "It's only August. Do you expect me to leave right away?"

"You'll be leaving in about a week and a half, on the fourteenth. You'll be taking a ship to London where you'll spend one night before going on to France."

"Well, what am I supposed to be doing there before the circus comes?"

"Research," Picquery replied. "There are rumors about his identity and we need you to find out who he really is."

Tina nodded slowly. This would be a chance to get away from New York. Away from Achilles, from Queenie and Jacob, from everything that hurt. Besides, she had never left the country before so this would be a first. "Okay, I'll go."

"Excellent. We'll begin making arrangments. You should start preparing to leave."

"How long will I be gone?" Tina asked.

"As long as it takes you to find the boy."

A/N: Short but I've got nothing else. Anyway, someone's going to Paris! We're starting to make some progress! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please vote and comment.

I'm gonna start working on the next chapter. We'll see if I can get it up soon. I might not be able to finish it before I have to go to church and I need to eat breakfast so it might not be up until the afternoon.

Have a good day!

Bye!

Written January 26, 2019.