Diana's first meeting with Harry Potter had been in her very first year as an Obliviator. She had still been shadowing her mentor and he had invited her to come along with him to a consultation with the Boy-Who-Lived and his Auror team. At eighteen, Diana had been slightly awed and extremely humbled to be in the presence of a war hero, and she hadn't spoken much at the meeting.

Seven years later and the shine has definitely worn off - now she has her own legacy, her own admirers, and newly-promoted Department Head Potter seems like just another man overworked by the current crisis. This means Diana isn't in the least bit nervous when he summons her and Undersecretary Weasley to his office to report on their work with Relocation and the Initiative respectively.

Weasley is already present when Diana is let into the office by Potter's secretary, a young man Diana recognizes distantly from school but can't put a name to. Weasley and Potter are chatting comfortably, reminding Diana that they're actually family - both having married into the overly large Weasley clan - and momentarily making her feel left out. But she quickly shrugs off the feeling, confident both will be perfectly professional once the meeting begins.

Sure enough, Weasley straightens up the moment she notices that Diana has arrived, which is only moments after she's actually stepped into the office.

Potter follows the Undersecretary's gaze and smiles. "Good morning Ms. Shafiq, thanks for coming. Let's start right away, I don't want to keep you guys from your work."

Potter is exactly how Diana remembers him - a bit more relaxed and informal that she used to think a war hero ought to be. These days she thinks she understands wanting to keep things casual - Potter is probably tired of hero-worship. Diana can't quite relate, but she certainly can understand it.

Weasley tilts her head to Diana, letting her start, and Diana is happy to do so. The Initiative leader probably has more things to talk about anyway - so far Diana has primarily been preparing for action, but hasn't actually taken any major steps or implemented any drastic decisions. She probably would have if she had sole say, but she's unfortunately beholden not only to Potter, but also to the Wizengamot and lower-level Law Enforcement as well.

But she still has plenty of things to talk about - hopefully she'll get Potter to sign off on a few of her short-term proposals and she can spend this afternoon actually getting things into place to start relocating, instead of just planning.

"The Relocation efforts have produced a number of interesting possibilities, many of which would be done in tandem with Initiative efforts." She reports, back straightening as she does so. "Some of these are rather large-scale and will require a bit more time to work out the details on, but there are a few suggestions I have today that could be up and running within the next week with your approval.

"Foremost among these is a proposal for some of the now-jobless trainers to resume their roles somewhat by teaching Aurors and Hit-Wizards about working within Muggle territory without causing a scene. We may be out in the open now, but the less fear and violence the Muggles see in connection with magic, the easier the integration of our two worlds will be. Most Aurors never receive this sort of training as few of them operate outside of the magical world, and whenever they did Obliviators almost always needed to be called onto the scene to cover their tracks. Setting up this new education system would be simple enough, as it was technically already in place, just on a smaller scale. I believe we can have it up and running by the end of next week if we begin the process of implementing it tomorrow."

Potter looks amused. "Sounds like a plan to me. Send up the forms and I'll have them signed after lunch. I also heard you've been speaking with the Initiative regularly - what's the progress with that?"

Diana glances to Weasley, who again tilts her head for Diana to answer.

She clears . "That work I'd say will take a bit more time - we're seeing if we can set up a system for Muggle and magical law enforcement to educate each other on their respective methods. Landon and Rose are doing some work on that with Muggle Parliament and I believer they're giving the proposal to the Wizengamot this week based on our work last week. Until those two governing bodies agree to try, that particular road is at a stand-still. I also believe a retraining program to give the newly unemployed skills for alternative trades would also be something worth developing, though that would likely result in a longer process than the one-year I currently have for Relocation."

Potter hums an idle acknowledgement. "I can tell Hermione about that, she's probably better suited to extending this stuff more than I am. Audrey, how are things with the Initiative?"

Weasley gives Diana a brief look, and she nods to indicate she's finished speaking. There are a few more thing she could conceivably talk about, but all of that is purely theoretical at this point - she ought to talk with the people who would be involved and ensure they're onboard before brining them up with Potter.

"Overall things are going as smoothly as can be expected." Weasley reports. "We're still in the early stages, but we're getting some solid positive press right now thanks to an initiative by Veena Harris, which is encouraging. That said, I'm highly doubtful that this is merely a one-year job - Mrs. Morgan and I agree that we'll likely need to extend the Initiative for another year at least, and possibly bring in more employees as needed."

Potter frowns. "We don't really have the resources for that at the moment." He points out. "With so many things upended by the Incident-"

"It's a point we can dicuss at length over the course of the year." Weasley interrupts. "I wanted to bring it up now just so it's on the table."

Diana chews slightly on the inside of her lower lip before deciding to clear . "Not to be presumptive," She says politely when the two older wizards look over at her, "But considering there will have been a major budget cut with the hundreds of jobs no longer needed, there probably are enough monetary and human resources to turn the Initiative into a fully functioning Department on it's own. I'm not saying that's what should be done, but in terms of resources I can't imagine there wouldn't be room for one."

Weasley is smiling slightly, and Potter looks resigned.

"Okay, that probably makes sense." He admits. "We'll keep an eye on things, okay? I'm not going to promise more than that this early on in the process. Let's see where things stand in December. If that's all?" He adds, and both Weasley and Diana nod their confirmation. "Great, then I've got a bunch of paperwork to get through. Have a good day."

Diana follows the Undersecretary out of the office and over to the lifts.

"Which floor?" Weasley asks as they both step onto the lift.

"Oh, ninth. I'm getting lunch with my friend Noah, and I might stop by Landon and Rose's desks to see if they need anything extra for their Wizengamot proposal tomorrow."

Undersecretary Weasley hums in acknowledgement. "I must admit," She says after a moment of silence, "I'm glad that despite Potter stealing you away for Relocation, we still get to work with you."

Diana flushes at the unexpected, if subtle, compliment. "Oh, well, thank you. I'm quite glad to be able to as well, you have an excellent team." She manages to sound steady, though her heart beat has picked up substantially. She's normally quite composed, but a compliment from the Senior Undersecretary, a woman renowned for her organization, determination, and exacting eye, is something that Diana isn't ashamed to admit flusters her. It's an honor really.

Weasley smiles. "I hope so." Is all she says before the lift doors slide open and she's off - back to her office and likely hours worth of paperwork. Diana clears and takes a deep breath before striding out after her, deciding to head straight over to Noah's desk instead of dropping in on Landon and Rose.

He's not going to belive the compliment she'd just gotten.

Alex may have been the one to initiate contact, but Edward is the one who actually works toward maintaining an acquaintanceship.

Alex was a bit wary of the attention at first, until he realized that he's probably the only non-magical contact Edward gets during the workday, and the man is probably a bit desperate for it considering how often he's left to babysit the younger Aurors who are probably rude about Edward's work and abilities. After this realization, Alex started reciprocating Edward's attempts to bond.

Today they're going to get lunch together in London, away from all the magic and misery of the office, and Alex is honestly looking forward to it - he swears the Initiative gets worse by the day as Fergus and Mrs. Morgan are getting more and more intent on getting him to specialize, as if he has anything to offer. They just want him out of the others' meetings so they can go ahead and bulldoze through without actually having to think about the Muggles.

He complains about this as they head towards a Muggle café a good ten minute walk away from the Ministry of Magic. He'd just gotten out of a meeting between Fergus and Mr. Lindberg, the Head of the Floo Authority, and they hadn't once talked about the inconvenience the Floo Network could cause Muggles, obviously seeing themselves as magnanimous as they discussed working on people's homes without actually asking permission. Alex has long since stopped trying to bring this up - he never gets anywhere and he's pretty sure the team just hates him even more afterwards.

"I'm just a token non-magical person, and they're pissed that I'm not falling over in gratitude for just being allowed to participate like Kylee and Desmond." He grumbles. "Honestly, if they don't want non-magical input, they shouldn't have hired us."

"Desmond is a Squib as well?" Edward asks curiously, and Alex shakes his head.

"Nah, Muggle like you. So I guess he probably doesn't know any better." He admits. That's probably the sole annoying thing about Edward - he's good at making his points with only a sentence (or in this case a question). "Still, that doesn't excuse Kylee. She knows exactly what witches and wizards are like and she still plays right into their hands."

Edward hums thoughtfully. "That's the woman you work with, correct?"

Alex sighs. "Well, she's the only girl on the Specialist team, though there are some others doing other stuff. Her and Mrs. Morgan are the only other Squibs in the group, and the one Muggle that isn't Desmond just hides in her office all day learning magical law instead of actually giving input."

Edward hums again. "And speaking with Mrs. Morgan wouldn't change that?" He asks curiously, and Alex can't help shooting him a baleful glance. The man grins slightly when he catches the look. "Apologies, my job makes me naturally curious. I also find it fascinating how certain oppressed individuals often find themselves as the oppressors without actually realizing it. I get the sense the Hunters wish for me to serve a similar purpose, though I like to consider myself a bit more adept at noticing such manipulations, not unlike yourself."

Alex feels the corner of his mouth quirk up automatically - a bitter expression rather than a cheerful one - as he nods in agreement. "Unfortunately there's only so much two people can really do when the entire Ministry of Magic is on the other team." He grumbles, and Edward makes a sympathetic sound.

"That's what we have each other for though. And the thing about ugly truths is that they very rarely stay buried. If something is big enough, it always gets unearthed. In my experience." Edward offers, probably in an attempt at comfort though Alex just grimaces.

"They hid their entire world for centuries - keeping their elitist bull hidden won't be all that hard."

Edward just shrugs. "Maybe, maybe not. When people are suddenly put under the microscope after years of succeeding using unchanging methods, facades tend to crack."

Alex doesn't think he totally understands what the heck Edward had just said, but the older man tends to use five words where one would be fine so he just shrugs in response. "Anyway, how's Hunting?" He prompts, knowing that once they order he'll be able to complain again. Edward really doesn't do much for the Hunters (big surprise there) - Alex only asks to be polite. Home never gave him much, but somehow simple dinner manners have been so thoroughly drilled into his brain that they're practically part of his personality at this point.

Edward smirks faintly as the two of them are seated at a corner table, aware of either Alex's lack of understanding or the automatic nature of the question though not calling him out on either. (Or both - Edward certainly might be aware of both.) "Same as ever. Tristan is just about through the criminal psychology book I assigned him last week so I'll have to come up with something else for him soon, but otherwise it's a lot of nothing. As usual."

Alex rolls his eyes. "Honestly, why Investigator Finn asked for you in the first place eludes me - you probably would have at least been able to actually do things with the Initiative, even if it probably would just be the busy work they've saddled Aruna and Desmond with." He grouses. "In the centuries our worlds have been separated magic has never once tried to learn anything from the Muggles. They don't have technology at all, probably think their magic means they couldn't possibly need to learn anything from Muggles. You know there's an Office dedicated to Misuse of Muggle Artifacts? Like, what the hell kind of name is that? 'Artifacts', like they're from some dead or obsolete culture."

"Primordial." Edward suggests. "So magical people see themselves as a higher evolution."

"They definitely act like they are." Alex grumbles. "Despite the fact that half of them couldn't use an electric stove top if you coached them through it. Honestly, where they get off thinking of themselves as so much better than people without magic is beyond me, especially considering the last war. They really have no room to act all high and mighty considering what went on then."

Edward tilts his head curiously. "I've heard about that war every so often around the office, but no one seems to want to talk specifics." It's phrased like a statement, but Alex can see the curiosity, and honestly he doesn't blame Edward. The man's job is to hunt down highly dangerous criminals - being curious about a massive and recent war is only natural for him.

"I don't know much about it either, unfortunately. They study it in Hogwarts, but no magic means it's none of my business I guess." He slouches back in his seat and narrows his eyes at nothing. "It was bad though, I know that much. I wasn't born yet when it ended, but I remember some family friends talking about it with my parents at one point. They stopped when they realized we were eavesdropping, but a lot of people died. Muggleborns, mostly, if I heard correctly."

Edward's eyebrows shoot up seemingly automatically, and though his shock vanishes as quickly as it appeared Alex still spots it.

"Yeah, they were straight up murdering anyone who wasn't magical enough I guess." He says as indifferently as he can manage, though his throat tightens angrily in spite of that. "So yeah, you can see why we aren't actually being listened to."

Edward's expression is mostly schooled, but his lips are pressed into a tight line despite himself. Alex clears his throat awkwardly - this probably isn't the best conversation to be having over lunch now that he thinks about it.

"Anyway, they're talking about starting to rework the Floo Network as early as December. I don't think that's actually feasible, but everyone wants to act like this whole situation is only going to take a year, as if cultures clashing always goes so smoothly."

Edward snorts. "Well you said yourself they don't bother learning anything about the Muggle world - it's not like they'd be aware of colonization and the genocides that resulted from them."

Alex winces. Despite himself he'd still rather this not turn into all-out war, even if he doubts that outcome is actually avoidable - unless the magical world shapes up the rest of them aren't going to be happy being treated like second-class citizens.

"Although, what is the history on that?" Edward asks suddenly, clearly rolling things around in his mind. "From the bits and pieces I overhear, magic used to mingle openly with non-magical folk. Was there oppression then too?"

Alex purses his lips. "There isn't much data recorded from back then." He admits. "And it's not like Hogwarts would actually teach that - I'm pretty sure most students don't even realize there was an overlap in the past. The general thought is that the two worlds have always been divided, and Muggles are somehow the evil oppressors despite, well, the last war proving exactly which group is the ty self-important one."

Edward hums sympathetically. "History is written by the winners as they say." He points out.

Alex slumps further in his seat. "Or in this case by the only people actually allowed to write down the history." He grumbles. "There's apparently a class called Muggle Studies that's supposed to explain Muggle 'culture' as if it's one cohesive mass. Even if it was, everything they teach about it is completely wrong."

A raised eyebrow prompts him to elaborate. "They don't even pronounce 'electricity' correctly, and the teacher is a pureblood. What kind of hiring practice is that, you know? But it's symptomatic of the bigger problem, so I'm not that surprised. I see a lot of it in the office too." Alex shakes his head, shifting in his seat to a more comfortable position. The diner chairs are just the wrong side of uncomfortable, which is oddly comforting - the seats in the Ministry are charmed to be magically comfortable for everyone who sits in them, and the flaws of their current seating arrangement help peel away the constant defensiveness he feels at work.

"The lack of recognition for what non-magical people want." Edward fills in, and Alex nods.

"It's not just Muggle either - Squib treatment is atrocious too. Honestly, the struggle of Squibs to actually get rights I think perfectly shows how close-minded and unwilling magical folk are to acknowledge anyone who they see as lesser."

Edward for the most part stays silent during the lunch, occasionally humming or offering a few words that will set Alex off on another rant. After a week of regular interaction, Edward has already worked out the best ways to get Alex talking, and once the teen is off he's a treasure trove of leads that Edward stores in his mind to be written down and pursued after the work day. At the moment he hasn't been able to do much himself, mostly handing off his discoveries to his two teammates - Jennifer Brown and Kevin Hall, top agents and good friends of his - for them to follow up on, but today's conversation has sparked a new idea.

Alex says that there isn't much written down from the time before the divide between Muggle and magic, but Alex tends to get the details wrong (as Jen and Kevin have discovered). Edward knows that the Ministry houses an entire floor known as the "Archives," which he'd bet his left foot will contain even more information on the exploits and evils of the magical world against the Muggle one. There have been a few things Kevin and Jen have had no luck locating, but if Edward can find an excuse to get into the Archives, without raising suspicion from the ever-vigilant Lopatkina-Paluch, he may be able to fill in the gaps.

Today's lunch is mostly more of the same after the initial reveal of the past overlap, but Edward still counts it as a win as he insists on paying for both of them.

"Consider it my appreciation for the company." He tells the disgruntled teen. "You can pay next time."

That mollifies Alex somewhat - he's headstrong and stubborn in the way that every teen is despite each of them thinking they're somehow unique, which makes him easy to manipulate. Edward might feel bad if he didn't know for a fact that Alex enjoyed their outings immensely, no matter how much the teenager tells himself he's doing it for Edward's benefit. Everyone needs companionship, and people generally prefer companions who agree with them, and Edward can provide Alex with his wanted echo chamber away from his coworkers.

They head back to the Ministry, and Alex's mood sours rapidly as they approach (really, he needs to work on being a professional - there's definitely a reason Alex was so easy to isolate from the rest of the Initiative). Edward doesn't bother with any supportive words - Alex being bitter means Alex sharing more information in the future after all. Instead he just bids him farwell and "good luck" as they exit the lift on the ninth floor.

"Good lunch?" Demelza Robbins asks as he passes her desk, which is piled high with yellowing reports that hadn't been there prior to Edward's departure.

He pauses. "Relatively. What's all this?"

She groans. "Cat was supposed to be on reports duty, but something came up with their babysitter and she had to leave early."

Edward tilts his head, skimming the top of the pile quickly, and then he offers Demelza a smile.

"I happen to be unoccupied at the moment - would you like some help?"

Demelza returns the smile hopefully, and Edward pulls up a chair. With access to these files, he'll have a much easier time coming up with a reason to get down into the Archives later.

While it's far from her first meeting with someone from St. Mungo's, Kylee finds herself particularly nervous when she steps into the office that morning. Up until now, Mungo's had not designated a set representative for Kylee to work with - today she's finally meeting the official person she'll be dealing with for the rest of the Initiative's run.

Mrs. Weasley had mentioned the day before that the consultant is an old friend of hers from the war, so Kylee is somewhat expecting a scarred, worldly war hero (all the Weasley's "friends from the war" are war heroes, it's rather intimidating) who probably served as a medic for the Order of the Phoenix or something.

Instead, when the lift dings open, a woman who seems to be made up entirely of angles and irritation sweeps through, bobbed blonde hair fluttering behind her. Her attitude is so large that it isn't until she's right in front of Kylee that the latter realizes how short the Mungo's consultant actually is, standing only a few centimeters higher than Kylee's mere 160.

"You're Kylee Danson?" The woman asks, and her tone is as no-nonsense as the rest of her.

Kylee nearly jumps to attention on instinct. "Yes ma'am! Um, the meeting room is just over this way." She hurriedly adds, nearly tripping over her own tongue. This woman is exactly the kind of person Kylee aspires to be like someday, but she's also incredibly intimidating.

The consultant looks slightly amused. "Lead the way." She says, and this time her tone is less biting. Kylee takes a few steadying breaths as they walk, certain the other woman can't see them as she's trailing behind Kylee, scanning an eagle eye around the offices.

Once they're in the meeting room, Kylee shuts the door and gestures for the consultant to take her seat first.

"I'm Audrey Caldwell, by the way, Head of the St. Mungo's Research Division." The woman speaks again only once they're both settled down. "Though the Undersecretary tends to call me Python, and considering we'll be working together for a year you can feel free to refer to me as such as well."

Kylee bites back the urge to say that there's no way she'll ever feel comfortable enough to refer to a superior by a nickname. "Dr. Caldwell is alright." She says instead. "And, um, I'm Kylee Danson, as you know."

Dr. Caldwell smiles. "I'm technically a Healer, but considering the two are equivalents I'll accept that." She agrees. "So, I've skimmed through a few of the notes on your past meetings, but I'd like to hear from you directly what you have and what you hope to accomplish in the coming year."

Kylee clears and sits a bit straighter - this is something she'd been expecting. "Of course. As you know-"

Going through the details of the past few meetings - opening research on Muggle and Magical biology, studying a possible expansion of certain potions and mass producing them for a Muggle market - goes by a bit faster than Kylee would have liked, but at least Dr. (Healer?) Caldwell looks impressed at the end of it.

"That lines up with the reports I received." She confirms as Kylee finishes the overview, "I'm guessing you have a background in biology?"

Kylee blinks, startled. Should she be insulted? Embarrassed? Dr. Caldwell's tone is neutral but her lips are quirked up slightly, and Kylee rather feels she's being laughed at. "I did my Undergraduate in Biological Sciences on the Pre-Med track." She replies carefully, and Dr. Caldwell nods thoughtfully.

"I thought so - you speak about it with much more confidence than the two who briefed me. I wanted to send some of my researchers, but the Board insisted that regular Healers would be more than qualified." She scoffs. "It's like asking a nurse to give a detailed explanation on a major surgery - it's not that they can't, but they aren't really trained for it. It's always better when the surgeon gives the explanation." She pauses and then, with a slight smile adds, "At least in my unlearned opinion. That analogy may be a mess, I admit my comprehension of Muggle medical hierarchies are mostly gleaned from the terrible medical dramas my uncle used to watch."

Kylee finds herself smiling as well. "Well, nurses can do a lot more nowadays than they used to." She offers. "They really get nearly equivalent training in terms of the theoretics these days, so they probably could explain that surgery. But in the earliest days of nursing you'd be right. Really, it was the flu pandemic of 1918 that caused the medical field to start treating nurses with anything resembling respect-" She cuts herself off. "But that's not really relevant. I get your point."

Dr. Caldwell laughs. "See, I didn't know that. We should set up a conference for Doctors and Healers to come together and teach each other about the medical histories of the fields - I bet we can learn a lot from it."

Kylee lights up at the idea. "That would be amazing!" She agrees. "It would probably need to be yearly, at least at first, considering there are hundreds of years of advancement on both sides to consider. Do magical doctors even have conferences?" She wonders aloud. It's something she's thought about before, but with none of her family being Healers she's never really learned much about how medicine works in the magical world.

Dr. Caldwell raises her hand in a 'kind of' motion. "We do meet with Healers from around the world sometimes, but never anything as large or as formal as a conference. Usually it's just two teams that happen to be working on the same project swapping notes for a few months until one of them finds something."

Kylee blinks. "A few months? That's it?" She asks incredulously. "It took literal hundreds of years for us to come up with a treatment for TB, and that still can't be totally cured despite decades of research by numerous teams around the world."

Dr. Caldwell shrugs. "I'm not sure what that is, but we do have magic you know. Once Hipworth came out with the Pepperup Potion, we've been able to cure a majority of diseases that pop up pretty quickly by basing potions on his work."

That in and of itself raises a whole host of additional questions and possibilities this new world overlap could bring for science - if Pepperup can be converted for Muggle use, then what could that mean for other lung-based illnesses? Could they eradicate the flu next? Pneumonia?

Kylee voices her thoughts outloud when she realizes she might have been quiet for a bit too long. "I personally have always been interested in studying the biological differences between Muggles and magical folk." She tacks onto the end, feeling oddly comfortable with the admission despite not having known Dr. Caldwell for very long - the woman is fascinating, and the fact she's interested in the same field as Kylee certainly doesn't hurt.

Her confidence isn't betrayed - Dr. Caldwell's eyes light up at the additional comment. "Really? That's fantastic! We don't have many people at Mungo's interested in researching such topics - getting the Healers to agree to even half of what the Research team has been proposing has been an absolute nightmare - so it's great to know there are people out there who can join the team."

For just a moment Kylee's mind stutters to a halt. Join the team? As in, she could work at St. Mungo's? Once again her silence stretches on for just a moment too long, and Dr. Caldwell begins to frown.

"Obviously only if you would want to." She clarifies, "But I've always thought our research was rather severely limited considering we've been using the same techniqes for centuries. New blood and new ideas are sorely needed, and considering your interests I think it could be a good fit. Of course, the focus should be on the Initiative for now." She adds, seeming to startle herself with the declaration. "So why don't we see about clarifying the details on a few of your past proposals?"

Honestly Kylee had kind of forgotten why they were there as well, and she blushes as she lays out her files. "Right, that would be good." She agrees. "So since you're in research, I assume you can-"

The meeting is a lot more fun than Kylee had been expecting - Dr. Caldwell (Python - by the end of the two hours Kylee is at least mentally referring to her as Python) is a mix of professional and passionate, and the initial diversion is far from their only one. Kylee leaves the meeting smiling, and already looking forward to their next one, scheduled in two weeks.

"Well you're looking chipper." Fergus remarks with a grin as she returns to her desk, Python having left after stopping by the leaders' office to talk with Mrs. Weasley. "The meeting went well?"

"Extremely." Kylee agrees. "No offense to your consultants, but I think mine's the best."

Fergus chuckles as he flips through some paperwork. "And you were so nervous this morning." He teases gently, and Kylee rolls her eyes at him equally playfully. "Don't forget to fill out the progress report for the leaders." He adds, holding one out to her, "While it's all fresh in your memory."

"Yes dad." She ribs as she snags it from him, still feeling light and playful. As she works, the lift dings open and Desmond steps out, heading immediately over to them to grab a progress report from Fergus as well.

"You look cheery. Good meeting?" He asks, pausing at Kylee's desk and leaning against it.

"I think Mungo's meetings are going to be my favorites from now on." She confirms. "You look tired though - rough lunch with Professor Roberts?"

Des grimaces. "I wish education was as fun for me as medicine is for you." He confirms. "But the more we meet the more I realize there's no way we'll be solidifying everything for the educational reforms within the year. At this point we're just trying to work out how to set up way to introduce reforms, not actually implement them. One year is definitely not going to be long enough, but I also want to get back to my real job next year."

Kylee and Fergus both mumble agreement. It's something that's crossed Kylee's mind a few times before now, but she definitely agrees with Des - one year is in no way going to be long enough to merge the worlds. But with the echo of Python's offer to "join the team," Kylee doesn't think she wants to stay longer than a year either.

Author's Note: Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and a Cheery Festivus for the Rest of Us! We're not out of the hiatus yet, but this chapter was ready to be dropped and I thought it could be a fun little holiday gift for you all, as thanks for being patient with me! The first official chapter back from the hiatus will be January 3rd, and from there we'll be back on a weekly schedule! Hopefully after next semester wraps up I'll be able to increase to double updates in the summer, like I did for CtF, but worst case this story will conclude on November 21st instead of September 26th (Not including possible epilogue/s, which I admit are not yet hammered out ^^'')! Anyway, happy holidays to everyone, and I'll see you all in the New Year!