Newtina One-Shots

Achilles' Heel

Newt crossed into his little living room with a mug of steaming tea in each hand and gave one to Tina, who sat on the couch with her legs tucked up under her.
"Tea is such a calming drink," she said after taking a sip. "I usually drink coffee at work, but every once in a while on a rainy Sunday afternoon I'll make some tea and just curl up with a good book--"
"There are some benefits to living in London," Newt said with a little smile as he sat next to her. Tina smiled and shook her head at him. "No, I've enjoyed it here so far. But maybe it's..." she trailed off and looked at Newt. "...not really about the place."
"Well, it is," Newt said, "a better place, than America."
Tina rolled her eyes. They sat in silence for a moment and then she propped one elbow on the back of the couch to face Newt.
"Newt," she began. That got his attention--she wasn't a first-name-basis sort of person. He furrowed his brow expectantly and she went on. "What did you mean, when you said you'd heard I was happy? In the records room?"
Newt scratched his nose and looked down at his tea. "Queenie--told me," he said. "About the auror."
"Achilles?" Tina said, at the same time Newt said, "Achilles Tolliver."
There was a moment's silence. "Yes," Newt said.
Tina frowned and took a sip of her tea. "What did she say?"
"Well, that--you were seeing him," Newt said to her hands. Tina waited until he lifted his gaze again. "What exactly did she say?"
Newt looked at her for a moment, then tore his gaze away as he began to speak. "She told me about that magazine, and I explained the mistake, and she said that, that you saw the magazine, and started seeing him." He glanced back up at Tina and she nodded. "I think she was just trying to say that I--had made an attempt to move on."
A spark of hope fluttered in Newt's chest. "An attempt?" He repeated.
"He took me on one date," Tina said. "We had dinner, and I wanted to dance afterwards. We never got that far." She was silent for a moment and Newt almost whispered, "what happened?"
Tina looked up and took a sip of tea. "He got to talking about work, which isn't usually a good sign, but I suppose in our line of work that's all anyone's talking about anyways." She took another swallow of tea and Newt followed suit, watching her carefully.
"Anyhow, he got to talking about Grindelwald wanting to use Credence and whatnot, and he said we should just play his game."
"What game?" Newt asked.
"Using creatures to fight." Tina laughed a little. "I really didn't want to disagree with him, the night was going so well. I just said there were certainly some creatures more fitted to the task." She sighed. "And he said, well yes, but you could find some use for most of them, and the ones you couldn't you could always--get rid of."
Newt glanced up at her.
"I still didn't want to make a scene. I asked what he meant, even though I knew. He said, they're all such a nuisance, we ought to kill off the ones we can't use."
Newt opened his mouth to speak and Tina shook her head. "That wasn't all. He was worked up at that point. He said, what else are you supposed to with them, keep them like pets, like that Scamander fellow?"
Newt laughed a little. "And what did you say to that?"
Tina shifted in her seat and crossed her legs. "I said he really shouldn't have mentioned that name, and I stood up, and I threw my drink in his face and left." She took a long draught of tea and Newt gazed at her admiringly. Then he stood and crossed over to his record player and set a record on it. Smooth jazz filled the room and he extended a hand to Tina. "I think you're owed a dance," he said. She smiled and set her tea down. He took her hand and they swayed awkwardly for a moment, figuring out each other's movements and slowly sliding into harmony. He spun her out, her skirt twirling around her legs, and she laughed. He hadn't seen her this carefree since the last time he held her hand, when they were escaping from MACUSA. He twirled her back to him and she laid her laughing face in his shoulder. They breathed together, dancing and holding each other until long after the music had stopped.