“Any updates to the situation, Goldstein?” Percival asked the dark haired alpha who was waiting for him by the door to the old and rusty boat hangar.
They had previously believed the building to be empty and abandoned, and Percival guessed it therefore made sense for it to be a good hiding spot for the poachers they were currently tracking down.
Good thing the aurors in his department were thorough though, and that Goldstein, the auror in front of him, was no exception.
She was fairly new to the job, but quite hard working and exactly the type of colleague Percival appreciated having in his department.
“No further updates. Weiss and Yowley are still in their positions, sir.” Goldstein shook her head and answered curtly though she was looking at him rather nervously while saying so.
The unsure look on her face remained as a beat in silence passed between them.
Percival sighed, wishing that the other woman could ask her question already.
If there was one thing he could have hoped to get more from the alpha it was the courage for her to ask her colleagues more questions without hesitating.
“Yes? Out with it, Goldstein. I can’t read your mind, remember?”
The alpha in front of him coughed a little embarrassedly at that before hurrying to voice the question in her mind.
“Sorry, sir. It’s just that I wondered what we would do with the beasts afterwards. Like what if some of them get set free in the chaos?”
“Then we just retreat and try to contain the area until the beast division arrives. In the worst case scenario we put them out, understood?”
His colleague nodded, the nervous look on her face finally disappearing as she replied back. Her shoulders relaxed.
“Understood.”
“Good. Now let’s go inside.”
Rusty and old, the hangar on the inside wasn’t looking that much different from its’ outside had it not been for the fact that the furthest corner away from them was stacked high with cages upon cages with what seemed to be serpentine like creatures.
The creatures made a stark contrast against the gray prison cages with their turquoise skin and purple wings. Although it unfortunately seemed like many of them were not in a good condition.
“Occamies,” Goldstein whispered helpfully in his ear, making Percival jolt a little from their close proximity.
“Yes, I can see that, Goldstein. Thank you,” Percival answered, trying his best to not sound sarcastic.
He had in fact recognised the beasts in question straight away, but that hadn’t been what had caught his attention right from the beginning.
No, that must have been the lithe and cloaked figure currently trying to free some of them by carefully casting different unlocking spells on the cages.
It seemed like the man, Pervival assumed, tried to do so without upsetting the beasts too much.
And strangely enough it seemed to be working as none of them seemed to even be hissing.
“Weird. I have never seen a gentle poacher before,” Percival thought stunned before crouching further behind the boxes in front of them. He then motioned quietly for his colleague to do the same.
“I know, little ones. I’m sorry this happened to you. Now, if you can come with me in my case; I can promise you that you’ll be taken care of well.”
“A British accent,” Percival thought to himself.
How curious. The poacher was most likely a foreigner then.
Percival motioned again with his fingers although this time towards the strange figure while looking at the auror beside him.
He sent his colleague a long look to which she nodded.
Despite the strange sight in front of him they still had a job to do.
Their first priority was afterall to apprehend and then secure.
Who knows, maybe some poachers just had it in them to be more gentle than what most of them usually were.
Either way, questions could be asked afterwards.
There was no point pondering too much about the strangeness of the situation as Percival doubted it would help them any further.
Instead they needed to focus on what they actully came here for.
Unfortunately for them though in their line of work things didn’t always go that smoothly and organized.
Because something must have alerted the poacher, making him swiftly use his wand skillfully to shove almost all of the cages with the occamies into his case, before clasping the latches shut with a click.
Percival who recognized the movements of a man about to escape quickly stepped forward to cast a stunning spell towards the figure, only to find said spell be met with a counter curse effortlessly.
“Well, well, well. Look who we have here,” the figure said as he finally faced them, a sheepish grin painted on his face.
He was too small to be an alpha so Percival naturally assumed he must be a beta, a rather pretty one at that by the looks of it.
His upper face was covered by a blue Gnaga mask with reddish curls loosely falling over them and Percival had to snort a little at the bizarre situation before collecting himself together.
Definitely a poacher then judging by the man’s attitude.
Percival felt the grip on the wand tighten, and motioned with his head for Goldstein to stand a little further from beside him.
It was likely they had to duel the man.
“Come to torture some more beasts then?,” The voice asked him, tone a bit snarky, and Percival found himself a little surprised.
Torture?
“I don’t torture beasts, I just capture criminals,” He bantered back, not able to resist himself before casting another curse that was again also countered smoothly.
Sparks flashed around them.
However, Percival could tell that the other man was not as skilled as him with the way he was holding himself so he didn’t worry about it too much. He didn’t think entertaining the man for a while would do any harm.
He would probably tire out soon either way though and that would make capturing him easier and less dangerous.
Maybe he even would slip out something that would be useful for them later too while at it.
Although, he couldn’t deny the fact that his course of action also partly had to do with the fact that he was intrigued by the stranger in front of him.
He threw away one of the spells the poacher had cast easily with another counter spell before pausing to speak to him.
“What makes you think I or anyone else from Macusa at all torture beasts though, criminal ?”
The stranger huffed out a small laugh.
“Are you kidding me?” He asked, crossing his arms across his chest as if Percival had just gravely offended him and his entire bloodline.
“No?” Percival replied, feeling quite confused. He truly didn’t know the reason for the man’s assumption.
“Hmm..”
The stranger looked at him a bit suspiciously, but luckily still chose to explain.
“You in Macusa are notorious for being vile against beasts. Have you all forgotten about the incident with Kneeander and the sasquatches already?”
Percival winced a little at that.
The man had a point. The incident with the Sasquatch rebellion had indeed been a fiasco to put it mildly.
Still, he had liked to assume they had gotten better.
“That was one time,” Percival argued back lamely. He didn’t know why he felt the need to defend hims-, no, Macusa like this to the stranger.
He did not have to prove anything to this man, intriguing or not. He was after all a criminal for goodness sake, Percival had to remind himself.
Still..
“And also they went out of line first, or have you forgotten that?” In the line of his vision he could see Goldstein look at him a bit unimpressively, but he was way too deep into the argument to stop now.
“That was because you started taking down too much of their habitat.” The poacher replied calmly, but coolly back before starting to raise his wand again.
The alpha tensed, before relaxing a little.
“Fine by me. Let’s just finish this already,” he eventually thought to himself, preparing to catch the poacher once and for all.
The poacher did have a point, but still it wasn’t right for him to assume that everyone in Macusa liked to be cruel against beasts.
Also, at the end of the day poaching was still a breach of the wizarding law. Percival was just doing his job.
He had not however expected for the poacher to suddenly whip out something egg shaped from his pocket.
“Darn,” Percival thought, limbs freezing a little as the stranger sent him a blinding smile.
“I see our time’s up. Until next time, director. ” The man in front of him then threw the egg at him with a smooth motion.
“Sir!,” Goldstein shouted panickedly and before Percival had the time to warn her she had cast a levitation spell on the flying item.
“Goldstein, caref-” The rest of the sentence Percival had meant to say disappeared in a loud explosion like sound.
He threw a quick shield around him and his colleague before grabbing Goldstein’s shoulders and forcing them both to lie on the ground.
Dust flew all around them, making the two aurors cough, but luckily the explosion seemed otherwise to be harmless.
However, Percival didn’t need to see in order to understand that the poacher had already escaped.
“Great..”
He let out a tired sigh as he rubbed his eyes, standing begrudgingly up from the ground.
This was going to be a headache to explain to the president he thought, moving to check if his colleague was alright.
“Sir!” Yowley’s loud voice resonated in the hangar and Percival heard quick footsteps as his other colleague ran towards him.
Percival sent him a frown as he ran towards him.
“The poacher escaped. Did you and Weiss get him?”
He had almost forgotten the positions his other two aurors had been standing (Seriously, what was wrong with him today?!) so he felt a tiny spark of hope build in him at the sight of the senior auror running towards them.
Yowley looked rather surprised at the question and Percival imagined it was probably because he was wondering how the director could have gotten a poacher to get away like that.
It was, after all, Percival's first time failing to capture such a low-level target.
“Yeah, we have him.”
“Wait, you managed to catch him? Good job, Yowley!” Goldstein exclaimed excitedly, sending a bright grin to the other man.
Yowley blushed a little before answering a little shyly.
“Uhm, yeah. Or, I mean he was already apprehended when we came here, but-”
“He was already apprehended?”
The weird feeling about the situation Percival had felt in the beginning of the operation had now officially come back again.
He moved to stand next to Yowley who looked at him a bit nervously. He looked confused.
“I can show you?”
“That would be best, I think,” Percival agreed, following the other man in a fast pace of steps.
He was pretty sure that there was only supposed to be one poacher according to the report they had gotten, so he couldn’t shake off the troubled feeling he was feeling.
Sure, sometimes mistakes were made, but not by his team. They had never done so before.
He had a suspicion about what had happened though.
And sure enough; the tied up poacher looking up at him dazedly was not the same poacher that he had met before.
He definitely fit the description they had gotten in the report though.
“Finally!” The tied up man exclaimed when he saw Percival. He looked rather out of it and was that slime on his face? Percival wasn’t too sure if he wanted to know.
The poacher definitely seemed out of it. That was for certain.
“Finally?” Goldstein repeated behind him confusedly and Percival couldn’t agree more with her reaction.
It was after all not very common for most criminals to be relieved when they were being apprehended.
“Just anyone but him!” The poacher shortly replied before refusing to elaborate any more, confirming the uneasy feeling Percival had been feeling.
Because if this man was the poacher they had been looking for.. Who had the other person been? And what had his deal been?
—-------------
“The blue fairy?” Percival looked at his friend to see if she was joking.
Seraphina’s expression though remained the same poker faced expression she had been wearing since the beginning of the debrief.
“He’s a so-called vigilante who steals beasts from poachers,” She elaborated, sipping on her tea calmly as she observed Percival’s reaction.
“A vigilante? Still a criminal though, no?”
“It seems like he has good intentions though. We have good sources documenting that creatures end up rehabilitated in suitable habitats and so far he hasn’t gotten in Macusa’s way other than withholding some evidence.” Seraphina shrugged, not looking bothered at all.
“But.. evidence can be quite important in conviction matters, no?” Percival argued back, wondering why she was acting so calmly about the whole thing.
Seraphina was a good president and very thorough with all matters. Letting something like this slide to the side seemed a bit odd to Percival.
“There’s always plenty of evidence on the scene. You don’t have to worry about that,” The female alpha put down her teacup with a clink, fixing her gaze on Percival intently.
“The blue fairy is meticulous like that. He makes sure we have something to use and takes care of the beasts himself so we don’t have to. Besides, thanks to him, the capture rate of poachers has gone up by quite the notch.”
“So, you won’t do anything?” Percival questioned, strangely feeling a bit sad about the thought of not seeing the other man again.
It was hard to explain, but something about the vigilante made him want to see him again.
Percival felt almost like drawn to him for some reason.
“It’s not a priority for now so to say.”
“I see,” Percival answered, letting out a sigh.
It couldn’t be helped then.
“Although, if you do stumble upon him.. Say by; coincidence.. Now that’s another story given that he is indeed breaking the law, good intentions or not,” Seraphina said, sending him a small smile.
It seemed like she wanted to say something more, but decided against it last minute.
“Anyways, I trust you not to get distracted like that again, director.”
Percival felt his cheeks heating up a little.
“Of course, madam president,” He answered before clearing his throat a little.
It seemed like the president had noticed his little intriguement towards the vigilante after all.
“Oh and also.. I almost forgot; I have a delivery for you. It had to be processed first in customs due to the content so the postal service apologizes for the delay.”
“A delivery?” Percival raised an eyebrow at her.
“I wasn’t expecting anything though. Does it say who it’s from?”
Seraphina waved her wand in answer and soon enough a brown, tight bound box floated towards him.
It was rather small in size and had a handwritten note at the top of it.
“A small present just for you.. Regards, the blue fairy?” Percival looked up at the director suspiciously, box still clasped carefully in his hands.
A criminal whom he had encountered and failed to capture had sent him a package? That wasn’t usually a good sign in Percival’s line of business.
Still, he assumed it was safe to open as the blue fairy didn’t seem like a violent type of person, and also mostly because it already had been processed by the customs department.
“Let me guess you already know what this is, don’t you?” He guessed, eyeing his superior with a wary look.
“I wonder,” Picquery simply replied, smiling mysteriously back at him in answer while starting to steer him towards the door with one hand.
“Oh, would you look at the time? My board meeting starts soon.” They reached the door and with a final nudge; Percival found himself standing back in the department hallways again.
“Mada-”
The door shut with a click, his friend disappearing with it.
“Okay, that was weird,” he thought, letting out a small sigh before starting to walk back towards his office again.
It wasn’t before he opened the package that he understood her strange behavior and as he stared down at the dried up remains of Sasquatch poop; he swore he could hear her cackling laughter in the background.
It was at that moment Percival made a promise to himself to catch the Blue fairy no matter what.
—-------------
A band was playing softly in the background while the guests mingled around the spacious ballroom Macusa had chosen to use for their annual christmas party.
“Wait, so you have been chasing this so-called vigilante around in your free time for what? Almost two months now? And you still haven’t been able to catch him?”
Theseus burst out in laughter at the glare his friend gave him in answer.
“Now, that’s hilarious. The mighty director, defeated by a low level vigilante of all people,” His friend said, wiping a tear away from one of his eyes.
“It’s not funny!” Percival huffed out, reaching out for another flute of champagne as one of the waiters passed by.
He was pretty sure he was going to need more alcohol in order to endure the endless teasing the British auror would continue to give him for the rest of the evening.
He hadn’t expected anything else though from catching up with the other auror.
Theseus was currently working on a case with Macusa regarding the involvement of illegal smuggling between America and England. He had therefore decided to live temporarily in New york for a while.
Although, despite living in the same city they still didn’t see each other as often as they were both rather preoccupied with their respective jobs.
An occasional quick lunch together in the Macusa cafeteria was often the best they could do.
Not that it mattered though because Percival and Theseus made their friendship work despite the little time they would spend with each other in real life.
“How did you let him get away all these times? Are you sure the two of you are not playing around?” Theseus raised an eyebrow at his friend, a smirk starting to grow on his lips.
“Don’t tell me these meetings actually are secret romantic rendezvous! Is the chasing actually just a part of the forep-.” Percival clamped a hand shut on his friend’s mouth, feeling the back of his neck getting a little warm.
A couple of the closest standing guests sent them a curious look.
Percival smiled politely at them for a moment before turning to face his friend again.
“Okay, so I might have gotten a bit intrigued-,” he started to whisper defeatedly.
“Infatuated, you mean,” Theseus coughed, interrupting him before adding other similar descriptive words just to tease him.
“Besotted, in love, completely head over heels, enam-”
“Like I said, intrigued with him. But…” Percival paused, trying to think of what he had been about to say again.
“But?” Theseus grinned.
“But he is a criminal!”
“Yes, that’s it! How could I have forgotten..,” Percival thought to himself, mentally facepalming at how he had momentarily forgotten such an important fact.
To be fair though the blue fairy in general made Percival get quite.. distracted which also perhaps explained all of the mishaps he have had when encountering said vigilante.
He felt himself redden at the mere thought of these so-called mishaps. Merlin, had it been embarrassing..
Percival had done all sorts of embarrassing acts in front of his beta nemesis ranging from stumbling and breaking his wand to forgetting how to spell a simple petrificus totalus.
He swallowed thickly, trying to will the image of the concerned blue fairy asking him if he was alright after having slipped and fallen into a pile of boxes the last time they had encountered each other.
He had never felt so embarrassed before.
Theseus put a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head slightly.
“You’ll figure it out eventually, old pal. And when you do; I expect to be asked to be your best man.”
Theseus chuckled as Percival attempted to throw his napkin at him, dodging easily to avoid it.
“Until next time then. I have to go find my brother now. Who knows what he has been up to..”
Percival shook his head fondly as he watched his friend leave his field of vision.
He hated to admit it, but Theseus may have been onto something.
He couldn’t help it though. The blue fairy just made Percival feel so out of it.
He felt his stomach tighten with something he quite couldn’t describe every time he saw that bright grin belonging to said man.
The alpha sighed, moving his feet to carry him towards the door to the gardens. He needed some fresh air.
He couldn’t deny it, could he? He was in love, and with a criminal of all people.
Well, okay. Not really a criminal Percival’s mind helpfully supplied. Just a vigilante with a huge passion for beasts and their justice.
Someone who could easily banter with him, challenge his opinions and care for him just the same.
Someone who still took the time to ask if he was okay with that soft look in his eyes despite the situation they found themselves in.
Someone..
Percival rubbed his eyes tiredly before walking further down some of the shape trimmed trees. He decided to take a break from his thoughts and observe the garden instead.
Hopefully, it could clear his mind a little.
The gardens were, after all, beautiful, lit up by dozens of streetlights which made it possible to admire the different kinds of plants that were there.
Percival found himself fascinated by the place and had in fact taken to inspect some of the apple trees when he first saw him.
Standing hunched down behind a tree was a lithe figure, speaking softly to something, no someone, that was gently cradled in their arms.
“A demiguise,” Percival eventually managed to conclude.
It seemed like the hours of peering over different beastaries had finally paid off.
Not that he had done so in order to impress a certain someone. Nope, it had totally been work related. Totally!
“Shhhh, it’s okay. I have you now, beautiful.”
Percival gasped. It was like he had been hit by a sudden sense of deja vu.
He froze up for a moment, inspecting the sight in front of him, stunned. He almost couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“In you go, little one,” The stranger murmured as he gently lowered the creature into the case he was carrying.
“Hope Thee doesn’t kill me for this..” The figure mumbled, brushing off dirt from the luxurious satin pants he was currently wearing.
Thee.
Percival quickly moved behind one of the trees as soon as the figure stood up and started to walk towards the ball room, passing the tree the alpha had hidden behind, completely unaware of the figure hiding there.
“Thee?” He whispered to himself, in disbelief.
He sighed.
“Mercy lewis, help me,” Percival eventually mumbled out when he had finally processed all of the new information.
He was pretty sure he just met the blue fairy, the love of his life, who also happened to be his best friend’s omega brother.
—-------------
“Huh? Would you look at that? The mighty director does have a gentle side to him after all. Who would have thought that,” The teasing voice Percival had gotten so familiar with said, surprising him ever so slightly.
He startled, dropping some of the blankets he had been arranging carefully so as to make a nest for the small bowtruckles that had just been rescued from one of the traffickers he had been hunting.
He blushed.
A beat of silence passed between them.
Percival bit his lip a little, pondering on the best way to go about this.
“What is it? Are you sick?” Newt crouched down to look at the alpha better, placing the back of his hand against his forehead to check for a temperature.
“It’s not normal for you to be quiet like this?”
Percival just simply took his hand and before Newt had the time to react simply said the words, “I know who you are. Really are, I mean.”
Newt’s eyes widened a little in shock, his body posture screaming flight. Although before he had the chance Percival had taken his hand, shaking his head lightly.
“I won’t tell on you, Newt. Don’t worry about that, doll,” Percival said, intertwining their hands together gently, the pet name flowing easily out of his mouth before he had the time to think about it.
He swallowed thickly before continuing, carefully eyeing the other man’s reaction while doing so.
“I care too much about you to do so.” Newt’s eyes softened, his shoulders going lax.
Percival therefore felt safe in removing Newt’s blue mask, hand softly brushing his hair while untying the bow at the back of his head.
He paused for a moment though so as to ask the omega if he was alright with it silently.
“You can take it off. No point in denying it, I guess..,” the younger man mumbled, a pretty flush coming to sight as Percival finally removed the other person’s mask.
“There you are,” Percival smiled as Newt’s whole face came into view.
He was indeed quite pretty. Although the freckles added a rather cute touch to him.
“You’re beautiful.”
This time it was Newt’s turn to blush.
“Stop that,” He mumbled, weakly hitting Percival with his free hand.
He averted his eyes shyly.
Percival smirked.
“You used to be so confident. What happened to it,” He teased.
“I-it was because of the mask! It made me feel like another person. More outgoing, I guess.”
Percival hummed. He guessed it made sense. Come to think of it, he had felt that the blue fairy had looked familiar at first, but the personality between Newt and the blue fairy had just been so different that the thought of them being the same person hadn’t even occurred to him.
Besides, he had only met Newt once as himself before meeting the blue fairy and that had been almost a decade ago.
It was no wonder the omega looked so different from then.
In fact if it hadn’t been Newt uttering Theseus' nickname that time in the gardens then he probably wouldn’t have been able to puzzle the pieces as quickly as he had done.
“He’s quite the rascal, always the troublemaker, my younger brother. Mother worries he’s too adventurous. She thinks he won’t ever settle down with a nice alpha,” Theseus had tsked at his friend when he had first mentioned that he had a younger brother.
Both Britain and America were progressive by that point, but both Theseus and Percival came from prestigious old pureblood families and that meant different expectations were laid out for them, traditional secondary gender roles being one of them which brought Percival back to the matter at hand. Or kind of anyways.
Percival sighed, not knowing quite sure how to take this up with the omega.
He just wanted to court the other man already, but at the moment there were other more pressing matters to solve.
“Here,” He said, carefully handing over the four remaining bowtruckles that had been rescued from a poacher earlier that night to Newt.
“I want to say.. I think what you do is admirable..” He started carefully to say, letting the words roll over his tongue slowly.
Newt’s smile dimmed. His shoulders slumped a little as he carefully started to place the creatures in his case.
“But?” He smiled bitterly, making Percival already regret bringing the topic up despite the necessity of it.
“You think it’s too much of a dangerous job for an omega? Am I right?”
Percival let out another sigh before tilting his head ever so slightly.
“It’s actually more about this being dangerous for all people in general, regardless of their secondary gender, Newt,” He replied softly, trying to think of a way to calm the ever so more upset growing omega in front of him.
“Sure,” The omega snorted, clearly not believing a word of what the alpha was saying.
“Sweetheart, no. Let me explain. What you’re doing can put you in so much danger! Not just eventually with Macusa, but also with the poachers themselves.”
The omega refused to look at him and Percival felt a twinge of pain tug inside of him.
“I’m doing this for the creatures, Percival. I’m fine with me dying for them as long as I get to rescue as many as I can! You know this is the best way for an omega like me to take action!”
“You’re going to get yourself killed!” Percival felt his voice rising and quickly took a few breaths in order to calm himself down.
“You’re going to get yourself killed,” He repeated, this time more quietly.
Newt finally looked at him, eyes misty as he sent a sad smile to him.
“What about your family? Do you not think they’ll care if you die carelessly like this?”
Newt bit his lips and Percival could see he had touched a sore point.
“Now, you’re being a little unfair. I-I’m doing this for the greater good.”
Percival felt the anger rise in him. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He knew Newt was selfless, but there was also a fine line between being selfless and just plain stupid.
Newt had been lucky so far, but Percival knew from experience that luck sometimes wasn’t enough.
“Do you not care about me? About us?” He whispered finally.
Newt seemed to tense up at that.
“Of course, I would like to explore us.. I feel it too, you know; the connection.”
He cleared his throat, pausing his talk a little to think before continuing.
“But, like I said; I’m doing this for the creatures and the great-”
“You know what.” Percival interrupted cooly, anger having reached the top of his head.
“I think you’re doing this for yourself more than anything else. There are other ways to go about this, but you refuse to even listen.” Percival stared calmly at Newt, stomach twisting at the look of hurt starting to show on Newt’s face.
“If you want to be a martyr then go be one, but don’t count on me to stand by as you get yourself killed,” Percival cooly said before adding on “Say, does Theseus know about this little side job of yours?”
Percival really didn’t want to bring Newt’s family into this as he imagined the reactions that would come from that and the freedom Newt would lose, but if that was what it took for the omega to be kept safe then he was willing to do it.
The hurt look on Newt’s face finally disappeared, but only to be replaced with an angry one.
“Don’t you dare go tell Thee, Percival! You promised you wouldn’t tell on me!”
“Who knows; I might just do that. Someone needs to talk you back to your senses. Now, I said I wouldn’t tell on you or arrest you, but I’m definitely not going to watch you go kill off yourself either!”
Newt looked at him angrily, lips quivering a little as he just stared at him.
“You know what, Percy. I was just starting to think that not all Macusa people were the same, seeing this however; I see that I was right with what I thought from the beginning.”
With that he apparated away. Leaving Percival in the empty storage place by himself.
Strangely, he wasn’t feeling angry anymore. Just empty and tired.
—-------------
Newt was still simmering with anger when he made his way into the abandoned wine cellar several days later.
He couldn’t believe Percival of all people had asked him to stop doing what he was doing.
Newt loved being the blue fairy after all. It gave him a sense of purpose which otherwise seemed impossible to get with the position he was in.
Most people expected omegas like him to just parade around in their stiff, high collars, dangling off an alpha’s arm.
He loved his family and was more than grateful for all of the opportunities he had been given in life by them, but realistically he knew that they would never consent to him working and definitely not with beasts of all things as they still believed in many of the traditional values.
How could Percival ask him to consider other options when there weren’t any?
An omega’s family still got to decide certain matters for them. Luckily, not as many as before, but unfortunately, work was one of them.
Newt huffed out angrily, moving stealthily to check his surroundings.
The cellar was empty, but he could vaguely hear the low sound of something shuffling around and clanging onto something metal like.
He didn’t need to think too hard in order to guess what the sound was coming from and hurried down the stairs in order to reach the cages and the nifflers trapped inside of them quickly.
“Oh, poor little ones..,” he whispered, eyes taking in the sight of the weak and malnourished creatures in front of them.
“I’ll get you out of here in no time,” He smiled, watching as some of niffler seemed to perk up at that.
One in particular though seemed to have quite the reaction, squeaking non-stop at the man in front of him.
“I know, I know. I’ll hurry. Just st-” Newt didn’t get to finish his sentence as he felt the cold feeling of a stunning spell wash over him.
Shock engulfed him. He had been so distracted by his thoughts that he had let his guard down and now he was suffering the consequences of it.
“Maybe, Percival had been right,” Newt thought bitterly to himself. It did indeed seem like his luck had finally run out.
He heard a spine-chilling chuckle of laughter get closer from behind him, making his insides twist in fear.
“If it isn’t the infamous blue fairy,” A woman’s voice called out and Newt felt himself being levitated into a sitting position facing her.
She was dressed in a dark red cloak and her pheromones screamed both danger and alpha, a combination Newt would have hoped to avoid his whole life.
She smiled cooly at him, walking slowly towards him, heels clicking against the ceramic floor as she moved forwards.
If Newt hadn’t been petrified he probably would have swallowed thickly because the situation was not looking good for him, not at all.
He felt tears starting to gather in his eyes behind the mask.
Theseus was going to kill him! His mother and father too would be angry too that their stupid youngest son had been finished off like this as well.
Then there was Percival.
Newt felt regret fill inside of him at the thought of the older alpha.
If he only had listened to him then he wouldn’t have been facing a dangerous situation like this.
He just hoped that both him and his family as well as his creatures would be able to move on.
Although, Newt wanted to live. Desperately so!
He regretted not listening to the so-called options Percival had been talking to.
He regretted not being able to explore the clear feelings they had for each other as well.
Why did he have to be so stubborn back then?! It really wasn’t like him.
Most of all though, he regretted having an argument with the man as his last interaction with him.
It was too late to regret all of that now though.
He tried the best he could to focus his eyes somewhere else as the poacher finally reached him.
She smirked before saying, “Not so brave now, huh? I’ll get a pretty penny for finishing you off, hun.”
She sniffed the air, freezing up a little. Her face twisted.
“It is a bit regretful that you’re an omega though, but oh well.. Probably should have stuck to your kind’s regular duties instead of playing hero, gorgeous.”
She raised her wand and Newt thought that that was it when a white stunning spell sent her flying across the room and crashing into some of the barrels that had been stacked inside of the cellar in a far away corner.
Newt stared forwards at the sight in front of him in disbelief.
Soon after he felt a tingling feeling of a counter spell surrounding him, releasing him from the shackles of the stunning spell he had been hit by.
Quick footsteps, the sound of someone running, made him carefully look up.
He had recognized the feeling of his savior’s magic. Still, he didn’t want to hope. He wasn’t sure if he could handle being wrong..
“Newt! Are you okay? Did she hurt you?” The familiar face of Percival Graves stared down at him worriedly.
He crouched down to inspect the omega for any injuries when he was met with no answer.
“Come on, doll. Where did she hurt you?” His warm hands cradled Newt’s face gently, his warm brown eyes staring intensely into his face.
“I’m sorry. You were right. I should have considered other options,” Newt said, voice trembling.
“I’m sorry too, Newt. I shouldn’t have been so harsh on you, worried or not,” Percival said, wrapping his arms around the smaller man.
Newt inhaled the scent of the man’s pheromones. Along with the scent of his cologne it smelled safe, like home. Warm and comforting.
The omega buried his face deeper into the alpha’s embrace, finally letting the tears fall.
“I know we haven’t even formally entered a courtship, but I think I’m in love with you, Percival Graves,” He whispered, finally daring to look up at the man again.
The alpha smiled.
“I am in love with you too, Newt. I think I’ve been in love with you since the day we met and had that argument with each other.”
Newt chuckled, sniffing away the last of his tears.
“Thanks,” he muttered, leaning in to press a sweet kiss on Percival’s slightly stubbled cheek.
“You’re welcome, doll. Now, let’s get you out of here, shall we?” Percival moved to stand up, arms now loosely wrapped around the omega.
“I’ve called the aurors to come take care of this mess. I know you want to help these nifflers right away too, but I’ve asked the beast department to take good care of them until you feel well enough to help them, okay?”
Newt bit his lips, showing down the protests he had been about to voice. He nodded. He may not be able to trust Macusa just yet, but at least he could trust Percival.
“Okay..”
Percival smiled, placing a soft kiss on Newt’s forehead.
“Thanks, sweetheart. Now let’s get you home-”
“No!” Newt interrupted, panic seeping into him.
He wasn’t quite ready to face his family just yet and more importantly; leave the comfort of Percval’s embrace.
Percival chuckled, looking at Newt fondly.
“Then my home?”
Newt nodded.
Soon after felt himself get whisked away in the motions of a side-along apparation.
Percival’s home was empty when they arrived, which Newt was grateful for.
“Would you perhaps like some hot cocoa? Or maybe even tea? I know you br-Mmph!”
Newt kissed him on the mouth chastely, wrapping his hands around the older man’s face so as to do so more easily.
He sighed in content as he felt the other man’s lips start to move against his as well, smiling into the kiss.
He paused to break the kiss a little, tracing one of his hands adoringly at the side of the man’s face.
The alpha looked at him fondly, placing another kiss on the top of his head before saying, “Newt Scamander, what should I do with you? You may be reckless and sometimes stubborn-”
Newt rolled his eyes playfully at that, only to shriek a little when the alpha started to place kisses down his neck.
“-,but you’re caring, justice driven and good willed. And for those reasons I’m so crazy about you.”
From that moment on Newt knew; he had to make Percival Graves his husband. Because if there was one person he could fully trust, love and depend on; it was him.
—-------------
“Someone is certainly in a good mood today,” Seraphina Picquery smiled at her subordinate as she watched him enter her office while whistling.
“I’m always in a good mood. You know that, madam president,” Percival grinned back, placing a stack of documents on her personal desk with a slight thump.
Picquery hummed.
“I see. So it has nothing to do with the fact that the omega husband of yours finally agreed to take out an earlier maternity leave?”
Percival sighed fondly at the other.
“There’s no hiding things from you is there? But, Yes, Newt finally agreed to take out his leave 2 weeks before he is due.” Percival shook his head, looking a bit exasperated.
“Even with the backup from his department it proved to still be a bit unsafe for him to handle dragons of all things; so close to birth.”
Seraphina smiled at him sympathetically.
“Well, after all the years Newt has been working here; I think it’s safe to say that he has earned his rest for a bit and something tells me he will end up taking out his full leave once the baby arrives.”
Percival nodded in agreement at that.
Macusa had gone through so many changes the last five years thanks to Newt’s involvement and Percival was always happy to hear others brag about his husband.
Sure, it had been difficult in the beginning. Especially with Newt’s family, but they had settled down pretty fast after hearing that Percival would be working practically almost next to him. It helped that the aurors in Newt’s department had become rather skilled as well.
The stigma though was another thing, but that was also where being a cold and reputable head of department helped kick in.
“How does it feel then? You’re about to become a father? Gosh, that’s weird to say. Feels like it was yesterday you marched up to my office demanding a trace and a pardon for the blue fairy.”
Percival coughed a bit embarassedly.
“Yeah, you sure had fun bringing up that story at my wedding, didn’t you? I mean, it was a watered down version given Newt’s family doesn’t know all the details, but still..”
Picquery chuckled, raising her hands as to pretend to appease him.
“All in good fun, director. Oh, and before I forget I have to ask you; did you finally decide on a name for the baby? You were having a girl right?”
“Alice,” Percival answered curtly, scratching his chin a little while averting his eyes.
“Huh. Named after a shade of blue? Who would have thought? Seems like the director of magical security indeed is a sucker for his spouse,” Seraphina laughed out as Percival glared at her in exasperation.
Although his lips slightly pulled up a little for a moment.
“Well, if you’re finished teasing me for the day I’d like to leave now. I have an injured niffler that surely will help Newt stay in bedrest for a while longer,” Percival said, raising his hand in a slight wave before turning to leave the office.
It sure was a good thing he was only working a half-day today as he was looking forward to leave. He had a husband to go home to after all.