Chapter 2. Never Leaving
The meeting had gone as smoothly as it could have. The foreigners had been asked questions as to why they were here and why they were involved. Tina explained how she went rogue on her mission to kill Credence, admitting that she was planning to do everything in her power to bring Credence back to America and reunite him with his sister Modesty, who had proven to be a witch and was now enrolled in her first year of Ilvermorny. At thirteen, Modesty should have been in her second year, but due to missing her first year, she was kept back. Tina had filled in and became a mother to her during the months since first finding her. Jacob explained his connections to Tina, with his being a muggle and all. Nagini and Kama didn’t have much to say, therefore leaving plenty of time for the Minister to scold Newt about leaving the country.
“Honestly, Scamander, why can you not just cooperate?” Fawley sighed, shaking his head and looking up to the ceiling, praying for something up there to sort out all of his problems.
Newt, being thoroughly tired of people telling him what he could and couldn’t do, and tired from the long few days of trying to find Tina and Queenie, resorted to his sarcastic self which only made an appearance to those closest to him.”I really don’t know, maybe I’ll ask myself.”
“Newt-” Florence started, rolling her eyes so hard that she thought they could have fallen out.
“No! I’m getting sick of this!” He huffed, raising his arms and letting them fall back onto his tights with a smack. “What was it that I did that was so bad? Yes, my creatures escaped and caused a little bit of a disturbance, but A) they have not been tamed and they have their own minds just as we do, B) if they had not of escaped, I would have not met Tina and therefore CATCH FUCKING GRINDELWALD! LETA AND YOUR AURORS DIED FOR YOU!” He shouted at the Minister and for a second it took Florence and Theseus back to the time Newt shouted at their old commander to not send out some of the men unless they wanted to end the war on a loss. They watched as he stood from his chair and forcefully opened the door to storm out, letting it close loudly behind him.
“I will go and talk to him,” Tina muttered, quietly making her own way out while Theseus buried his head in his hands and Florence glared butcher knives at Fawley.
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“Newt! Newt!” Tina called, running down the corridor to reach the messy-haired man who marched ahead of her. He came to a stop and she watched him take a deep breath before turning around to talk to her. “Talk to me,” she begged, standing in his personal space which he wasn’t as uncomfortable with as he normally would have been. The night in Paris, in the cemetery, had altered something between them. She was so cold to him when he first found her, cold like the sun. You would think that, wouldn't you, the sun can't be cold. But like ice, you can't hold it even when you want to. You flinch away when you do. Eventually, the ice thaws and you can hold it in the palm of your hand, and you can feel this unknown warms seeping into you. Now, she had thawed without him needing to help thaw her.
“I’m sorry, Tina. They have been pissing me off this past year by not letting me come and see you.” He told her, searching her eyes for something to tell him that she understood. “I’m just so tired of it all and everything that happened tonight, to you, to Leta. I just want to take you all home, give you some dinner and make sure you are all comfortable. Possibly just have you to myself in my basement. There is a little nook that I made for myself when I first moved in. It is just full of books, pillows and blankets. I just want to see you and talk to you like normal people would.” He had a solemn look in his eyes as he brushed back her hair behind her ear.
“Come here,” she whispered, pulling him into her arms and settling into the crook of his neck, holding him tight as he reciprocated. “I am here now, and it might not have been the way we planned, but I'm are here.” She sniffed a little and his hand came up to the back of her head to cradle her closer, pressing a kiss to her dark, short hair that had begun to curl. "But remember, nothing is normal. What is normal, if not just a silly concept silly people came up with."
“I’m not leaving you this time,” it was a small whisper, almost unheard, but heard at the loudest volume at the same time. "I'm not letting anyone else leave."
“You don’t have a choice, that's what we where reminded of tonight. It will be me leaving next, with Jacob.” she sighed, pulling back and resting her hands around his neck while his went to her waist. They didn't question anything and neither did the spirits wandering around them.
“Don’t leave. Stay here.” he pleaded, his eyes filling up with tears at the thought of the two of them being separated yet again with no logical explanation.
“I have to Newt. Madame President will want to see me, I have my apartment to pay rent to, Modesty will be coming home soon for Christmas. I can’t leave.” she mumbled, wiping the tears from his cheeks.
“You never did tell me about Modesty.” his sniffed, returning the gesture of wiping her tears.
“I didn’t know what you would think. Not many people like single mothers. And while technically she is not mine, it does look like I have a child from a one night stand or something.”
“I wouldn’t have minded. Not one bit. That is what I love about you, Tina, you are not scared of the consequences of your actions when you know that it is for the good. How about you bring her over here, she can go to Hogwarts, or even stay at Ilvermorny and come here for the holidays. I won’t let you go to America by yourself.” He held her close again as she began to cry, her shoulders bouncing at the power of her sobs.
“I can’t bring her into this, Newt. She has already suffered so much.” she whimpered.
“I know, love, but she is already involved. I don't want to use her, but we might need her to get Credence back. She will be safe with us. I promise with every bit of my heart.” he pulled her closed to her.
“Alright. I will write to her and MACUSA. See if we can go and get her. Jacob will need to go and sort out his bakery anyway.”
This was something new, this sudden intimacy born out of a common and shared grief. It shouldn't have taken something so traumatic to finally make the two of them handle each other in such a matter. But at least they were finally together.
“Everything alright now?” The pulled apart at the sound of Florence's voice and found her walking towards them with the Theseus close behind. Her bright hair was still in rats tails and blowing behind her along with her dress, but her face had changed from the tired softness from before into a serious stone.
“Kind of,” they replied together, hands slipping away from each other like tectonic plates.
“Good. Newt? The Minister has agreed to drop your travel ban. Theseus will discuss what is going to happen from now on once we can all deal with it. Meanwhile, take everyone home with you and settle down for the night. We won’t be active against Grindelwald for a while. We will meet at your house in the morning, we have a certain professor to visit.” Florence told him, her auror personality making an appearance to deliver the news. She gave a quick nod to Theseus and began walking to her office.
“What are you two going to do now?” Newt called after them, hand in hand with Tina.
“We have paperwork to finish from another case. We will call in the morning,” she replied, opening the door for Theseus who slipped in. “Goodnight all. Just keep an eye out,” she told them, slipping in through the door herself.
"Florence?" Her head popped back out at the sound of Newt's voice calling her back. "Tá tú sábháilte cúlú." She gave a single nod before disappearing as Leta did. New squeezed Tina’s hand and told everyone to follow him to the fireplaces to floo home.
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“God, it's been too long of a day.” Florence huffed, collapsing into the nearest chair by the door, rubbing her face with her hands. She immediately jumped back up when she realised that she sat on Theseus’ lap. True, they had been close for so many years, but it was a different kind of closeness. They didn’t see each other as pretend siblings, but not just as friends either. There had been several occasions where they had woken up tangled in each other’s limbs after one too many drinks. That had stopped just over four years ago after they said that they were work colleagues and couldn't continue. Scarring was the more subtle word to use to describe the healing process afterwards. It had been slightly awkward ever since, especially whenever they were left alone, scared that without any guardians they would be at each other in a matter of seconds. “Sorry! I-I didn’t realise that you had sat down there.” she stuttered, sitting in the chair behind her desk that was a safe distance away.
“E-ehm it's ok,” Theseus replied, straightening his soot-covered tie.
That sat in silence for a few minutes, individually going through the past twenty-four hours. “You should go home Theseus, Jane will be worried sick,” Florence mumbled as she shifted through the paperwork on her desk. Theseus had started seeing a Jane Marlow a few months ago, and from what she could tell it was going well.
“N-no, no I should help you.” He started but was interrupted.
“Just go home Theseus. I don’t mind doing it myself.” She didn’t meet his eye and started working on the first file.
He watched her for a moment. "Flo you can't work after zoning out like that in the Minister's office. Go home or let me help you." He didn't get a response and so he left, leaving her office, lingering at the door for a second when he didn’t get a goodbye. He knew he should have been wanting to get home to his partner, and part of him did, but a larger part of him wanted to collect Florence in his arms and hold her tight after watching what she went through tonight. Oh, everything had to be fucked up didn't it. Couldn't just be simple.
He sighed as he unlocked the door to his partner’s flat, having chosen to walk home to give him time to think. He heard Jane, a young blonde of thirty-four, shuffle from their bedroom and into the hallway to greet him.
“Theseus? Is that you?” she called.
“Yes, it’s me,” he called back, not even taking his coat off, just standing at the door, He'd have to end it tonight.
“How did it go. The raid,” she asked. She had a soft accent that seemed to go to be true. Florence had a little kick to her voice with didn't send him into fantasy. Florence's voice grounded him while Jane's didn't.
“Shit. He is coming after me and the others who were involved. I can’t keep you safe anymore Jane.” He whispered, holding her hands in his. This wasn’t what he was planning to say tonight, but he knew that he couldn’t stay with Jane any longer. It wasn’t fair for her to not have his whole heart.
“What are you talking about Theseus?” she asked, her brows furrowed and her teeth worrying at her lips.
“I'm saying that, right now, I am leaving you in order to keep you safe. Grindelwald is after me and I cannot drag you into this. And you are going to abide by this. You are going to meet a man who has your heart fully and is never going to leave you. I leave you too often, Jane, I’m so sorry.” he kissed her hairline and wiped the tears that had fallen onto her cheeks.
“I understand. Thank you Theseus,” she whispered, drawing him into a tight embrace before pulling away and returning to her room. He watched her go, then turned around to walk out the door.
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Florence had not even had the chance to finish the first sheet of paperwork before the Minister walked by her office and forced her to go home. She quickly packed up and flooed to her flat in Camden, where not even five minutes later the doorbell rang. She checked the watch on her wrist: two in the morning. Who would be knocking at her door at two in the morning? She drew her wand with the Stunning curse at her lips. She unlocked the door to find Theseus there.
“Fucking hell, Thee! You scared the living daylights out of me! What are you doing here?” she asked, pushing him in through the door and locking it.
“I left Jane, it's too dangerous to stay with her. Have nowhere to go.” He mumbled, falling onto the navy blue, velvet couch beneath the window of the fourth-floor window of the Georgian-house-turned-flats.
“You have Newt’s place, your place, your parents. Why come to mine, I have nowhere for you to sleep.” she told him, switching on the lamp beside his head to wake him up after he started to nod off from exhaustion. He reached up and pulled her by the waist so that they were both lying on the navy blue couch, her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms tight around her waist and his legs knotted around her own. She gasped as she fell and tried to sit herself up, but the bloody man was too strong. “Theseus, you know we can't do this.”She mumbled into the fabric of his suit, cursing herself for how good it felt after four years to be wrapped up in his arms again.
“Just for tonight, Flo. Nobody has to know.” Morpheus had arrived quickly and had sent Theseus to sleep before turning on Florence, allowing her to have the first full night's sleep since she was twenty.