Estelle officially hates desk duty. She'd never liked it much before, but after being stuck on it for three weeks she can now confidently say she utterly loathes the position. How anyone stays sitting at a desk sifting through papers all day, every day, with no end in sight she'll never understand, especially now that she's experienced it for herself. It's a particularly cruel form of torture so far as she's concerned, and one she hadn't even really earned, which is easily the worst part of it all.

She'd been out on the town with her old Auror team the night of the incident, catching up and telling them about the Hunters. They in turn told her about the new guy who had been assigned to them, as well as the casework they were slowly dying under.

Estelle had decided to walk home when they wrapped up, and ended up entirely by accident noticing Miles and Desmond take their spectacular tumble. It had been funny right up until the angry lush stumbled out of the bar after them, shouting obscenities that rivaled what a sailor could come up with.

At that point Estelle just followed Auror protocol for public altercations, acting more on muscle memory than any actual intent, and she'd resolved the damn thing with no casualties or even injuries. She'd even completely cooperated with the constables afterwards, despite the fact they still don't have protocol for interacting with Muggle law enforcement and she could have totally been in her right to just leave. And what does she get? Desk duty. The worst punishment any field officer could imagine.

No one had even seen her, not really. But every time she's tried to appeal her case to Finn, he's shot her down with the exact same, stupid, reason.

"People are figuring out that there was a third person present, and if you're seen that connection could easily be made. You'll have to lie low until all this calms down, so we don't re-aggravate the situation."

The only bright side is that she's never alone in the office - there's a desk duty rotation everyone else has to follow, so she always has one other Auror to work with each day, plus Noah 'Pup' Thompson, who's a secretary and for some reason chose to have a permanent desk job.

Today's fellow Auror is Catriona Wolff, who Estelle likes well enough, though she'd admit her favorite desk buddies are definitely Tristan and Demelza, who hate desk duty as much as she does and thus are a lot more open to wasting time chatting instead of slogging through endless, useless files.

Cat always stays on task for the most part, though Estelle can sometimes get her talking about her son Nico, which while far from thrilling is still better than trying to decode terrible Auror handwriting.

Pup seems to reflect whoever the other Auror is when it comes to his work ethic - if Estelle and her partner for the day are chatting, he'll chat too, but if the Auror on rotation is focused he'll also buckle down on work. It would be fascinating if it wasn't kind of annoying - desk work might not be quite as horrendous if Estelle had a consistent person to talk with.

And as if all that wasn't plenty, Desmond has gone back to avoiding her. She's pretty sure he thinks she was following him, which is honestly a bit insulting. They've known each other for almost two years - he ought to know she wouldn't do anything like that. She's always respected his space.

All together it's a recipe for going fully stir-crazy, and Estelle thinks today is the day the pressure cooker of her life is ready to boil over. She's only been at work for an hour when her vision starts bluring and her mind refuses to continue focusing on the report in front of her.

Finally, she gives up and slams her head onto the desk. "That's it, I'm done, I don't care about this stupid report, it has nothing to do with anything." She groans into the wood. "I can't do another day of desk duty, I really can't. I'd rather go on a Muggle stake out again. I'm going to explode."

The scratching of quills beside her had stopped when she dropped her head, and now she can see out of the corner of her eye that Cat has put the quill down entirely. "I understand that, but this is work that needs doing, and until Finn clears you it's you doing it." She points out, and that's the main reason Estelle does like Cat - she's eminently reasonable. "Unfortunately we all have to do our time at the bottom of the totem pole."

Estelle sighs and turns her head so she's facing the other Auror, her cheek now pressed to the desk. "I know, I just feel like I'm being punished for something that wasn't even my fault. It wasn't anyone's really, it was just a bunch of ty coincidences piling up at an extremely inopportune time. And now I'm being punished for it."

"As is the entire Initiative." Cat replies, not pointed or accusing, simply stating a fact. "Being public figures, even tangentially, means we deal with more scrutiny and judgement than others. You're known to the officers involved, and they need to see as much as the public does that we're doing our best to keep things civil and fair. If you were out and about with no apparent repercussions then law enforcement may begin to fear that magical officers will be willing to use magic whenever and however they want, regardless of whatever new laws are developed to mitigate the relationship."

Estelle hums thoughtfully, pushing up onto her elbows and curling one hand into the other, resting her chin on top of the clasped fist. It's a good point, and one she hadn't thought of prior to this moment. She still hates desk duty and thinks she's more than served her time, but at least she can understand now why it was necessary in the first place.

"Fair enough." She finally admits. "Still, I'm going to explode if I'm stuck here much longer." She subconciously glances across the room towards Desmond's desk, but he's not currently there. She sighs and puts her head down again, resting her forearms on the table.

"Desmond still isn't talking to you?" Pup guesses hesitantly. He's heard her vent about that a few times in the past weeks, so she's not surprised he picked up where she was looking. He's more observant than some of the other Aurors give him credit for, and Estelle can admit she was one of those people prior to actually having to sit down and work with him constantly. So maybe that's a silver lining.

"Nope. How am I supposed to tell him I wasn't stalking him if he won't answer my texts?" She complains. "Honestly, I love him but this is getting ridiculous - he's not thinking at all, just following pure emotional nonsense."

"Desmond is your boyfriend?" Cat asks, and Estelle looks up enough to nod.

"Nearly a year." She confirms. "Great guy, super smart, but way too into his own head sometimes."

Cat hums thoughtfully. "Well it sounds like face-to-face confrontation is what you'll have to use here." She points out. "If he's trying to avoid you, you have to make sure he literally can't."

Estelle makes a face. "I'm pretty sure that will just scare him off further." She replies. "Desmond doesn't like conflict much."

"If he wants this relationship to work he'll have to learn." Cat returns simply, and Estelle purses her lips. Cat isn't technically wrong, but she still thinks there must be a better way to approach the situation then forcing Desmond into what would probably end up being their first major fight.

"You said he's emotional right? What if you did some grand romantic gesture? That way he'll know you still want to be with him and maybe he'll feel less like you're starting a fight!" Pup pipes up suddenly, sounding rather excited. He blushes when Estelle looks up at him, and she wonders what expression she's making. "It's what they do in the movies, anyway." Pup mumbles, shifting awkwardly in his seat.

Estelle isn't really one for grand romantic gestures generally speaking, but as she turns the idea over in her head she thinks that Pup might have a point - Desmond is particularly emotional right now and she's always been terrible about being sensitive to those sorts of things. Romance is probably just what they need right now.

"So what would that even look like? I never watch those movies, I always thought they were silly."

Pup perks up, and Cat rolls her eyes and goes back to her paperwork. "I mean they totally are - these successful women keep leaving lucrative jobs to move to tiny middle of nowhere towns to be with guys they only just got into a relationship with, which is obviously stupid, but the romance parts always look really sweet. Like, cozy fires, special gifts, self-composed songs, it's all super romantic." He sighs a bit, and Estelle can't help grinning and kicking his shin slightly.

"I thought you said they were silly - it sounds like you rather enjoy them."

He coughs. "Ironically! Any way, the important part is that the suprises are always tailor made for the person getting surprised, so what kind of stuff does Desmond like?"

The planning goes straight through the morning until lunch, at which point Cat heads out, still shaking her head, and a new person jumps into her unoccupied chair, startling both Estelle and Pup.

"Hey guys, what're you doing? I heard you talking and it sounds like you're making a big plan for Desmond and I can help!" Miles Taylor is practically vibrating in the chair, sitting on his knees and hopping up and down slightly, causing the chair to rock. "I'm helping everyone today!"

Estelle laughs. "Hi Miles. Yeah, we're trying to plan a special surprise for Des so I can get him to talk to me about what happened last week. You can totally help if you like."

Miles punches the air happily, which disrupts the delicate balance he'd been in and tips the chair over entirely, spilling him onto the floor. 

"Worth it! Let's do this!" He declares, still flat on the floor and grinning manically.

As Pup laughs, Estelle feels herself relaxing for the first time in weeks. If nothing else, all this is definitely good for her stress levels, which she supposes is another silver lining.

Since the Jack situation, Aruna has noticed that she usually is working with Fiona or Minerva (and occasionally Demelza) during her assigned meeting times with the Hunters. She hates it, but she's also rather relieved because she doesn't have to worry so much around women. Plus, all three are very professional and rarely interrupt her work so she can often pretend like they aren't even there.

The one bright side is that she is getting work done - she's started taking it home with her in the evenings so she can use her laptop to cross-reference certain laws and practices with Muggle events from the same time period and it's reanimated some of her old adoration for this job. She's officially put in a request with her bosses to have a wall plug installed in her office so she can start taking her laptop to work with her as well. For now she's using her phone a lot more, and has even slipped out of her office a few times to borrow Petra's laptop for more in depth research - the younger woman is always happy to relinquish control for however long Aruna needs, though she does try not to take up too much time.

Today she needed the laptop to access some Parliamentary Archives to check on a few parallels she'd spotted in some of the more archaic magical laws, and on her way back towards her office she spots movement on the Hunters' side of the room. A glance over causes her to stumble slightly.

Jack Abbot is walking towards her office.

Aruna can admit she panics a bit, because it's normal to panic when confronted with an attractive man you might like going to your office. What's perhaps a bit more embarrassing is that she spins on her heel and speed walks straight to the lifts just to avoid having to talk to Jack. Luckily for her she does have a legitimate reason to leave the office - hopefully Willow won't mind her dropping by.

She has time on the long lift down to the sub level that houses the Wizengamot to contemplate her actions and thouroughly berate herself for the childish behavior displayed. She hadn't even told her bosses where she was heading, which definitely isn't great, and she's nearing panic for an entirely different reason by the time the lift finally arrives at its final destination.

A middle-aged man glances up from the secretarial desk closest to the lift as she steps off and offers her a smile. "Are you here to observe the trial?" He asks, and Aruna's brain temporarily freezes, for some reason struggling to comprehend the question.

After a moment she reboots, and her brain immediately informs her that actually observing a magical trial would be excellent research and more than justify her rushing out without talking to her bosses.

"Yes, I am. I didn't call ahead though, I'm not sure what the protocol is." She replies apologetically.

The man laughs. "You must be with the Initiative. Willow is on defense today, I'm sure she'll love seeing you in the observation seats." He says, standing up and waving for her to follow him. "Aruna, right? Or Ms. Kandasamy, sorry. Some of my wife's bad habits have rubbed off on me over the years."

Aruna offers him a tight smile, trying to force down the knot that had risen into her guts at the mention of a 'wife'. "Either is fine." She manages. "You are?"

"Fiztwilliam Selwyn, Co-Head of the Wizengamot secretarial committee." He introduces himself. "It's just through this door - seating isn't assigned so you can take any open chair."

She nods politely in thanks and Fitzwilliam (what an odd name) turns to (presumably) head back to his desk. Taking a quick breath, Aruna pushes open the door.

It lets out onto a platform overlooking what appears to be a standard courtroom. A few other people are scattered around the audience, and Aruna awkwardly takes a seat off to the side and by the front guard rail, away from most of the other spectators. She can see Willow below, talking quietly with a woman who must be her client, and a man sitting at a table opposite her who Aruna deduces must be the prosecutor. In front of the two tables rises the one part of the room that is distinctively unfamiliar to Aruna - rows of seats filled with witches and wizards in full robe-and-hat garb like something out of a fairy tale.

That must be the Wizengamot. A glance around reveals no apparent jury, not that Aruna was expecting one. But still, it's one thing to read about court proceeding and another entirely to actually see the differences between the two worlds' justice systems. It's somewhat disorienting - Aruna almost feels at home until she notices the differences.

On the floor Willow has stood up, closely followed by the prosecutor. "The defense is ready your Honor." She declares.

"Prosecution is ready." The man confirms, and Aruna looks up at the Wizengamot again, wondering who they're speaking to. The central chair is empty, as is the chair beside it (based on her studies, those would belong to the Minister and her Senior Undersecretary, both of whom are obviously not available at the moment).

Her question is answered when a woman sitting just to the left of the Undersecretary's chair responds. "You may proceed."

That must be Sarah Poole then, the head Officer of the Wizengamot, often called the Speaker, and the person who steps in if both the Minister and Senior Undersecretary are too busy to oversee a trial.

A younger man hurries over from a side seat that's lower than the other Wizengamot chairs. Aruna frowns at him, wracking her brain for who he is. When he produces a tiny vial, no larger than a shot glass, from his robe she decides he must be the Junior Undersecretary Liam Danforth, who takes notes at these trials and distributes small doses of Verasiterum to the defendants and the witnesses. Willow accepts the vial, uncorks it, and hands it to the defendant, who tosses it back almost defiantly.

Looking at the woman on trial, she doesn't look like a hardened criminal. She's maybe 160 centimeters tall with flat black hair that falls halfway down her back and the sort of frame that could either mean she works out somewhat regularly or indulges in dessert a little too often. Her scowl and slumped posture makes Aruna think it's more likely the latter rather than the former - the woman doesn't look like she has the patience to go to the gym.

Poole nods as Danforth retreats back to his seat. "Defence, you may begin."

Willow stands up and paces around the front of her table, facing up to the Wizengamot as she begins her opening speech.

It's nothing too flashy - honestly it's not so different from what one would hear in a non-magical courtroom - but it's clear, concise, and already rather persuasive, though Aruna gets the sense that the client is almost definitely guilty. Based on her opener, Willow is gunning to prove incompetence and have any sentence commuted on that technicality.

The accusation is one of fraud - namely a forgery on the woman's taxation returns - and it's so utterly mundane that Aruna finds it almost amusing. Even wizards engage in and prosecute tax evasion - who knew? And Willow is taking an approach that Aruna has seen employed in court time and time again.

The Prosecutor stands up as Willow returns to her desk, offering her a nod as they pass. She tilts her head in turn, and Aruna can't keep a smile from creeping across her face at the exchange. So often people assume lawyers on opposite sides of a case must hate each other, and while rivalries certainly crop up, especially in high-stakes cases, the camaraderie the two below are showing is a lot more common in Aruna's experience.

She wonders how the lawyers in her old firm are doing - she hasn't talked to any of them since the accident. She hadn't even thought about them at all until just now, and she wonders if maybe she should text a few of them after work. She has her day off on Sunday - maybe they could get drinks and catch up on life?

While caught in her musings she'd missed the opening statement given by the prosecution, and she shakes her head slightly and fumbles in her bag for a pen and notebook - she'll need to have notes to show the bosses once she gets back after all. Plus it is good study material, and maybe she'll come up with a few more things to ask Willow about afterwards, further justifying her dropping by unannounced and uninvited.

The trial moves about as quickly as Aruna would expect a trial like this one to - the only witnesses are the accountant who caught the error, a taxation specialist, and the defendant herself. Aruana scratches down a reminder to ask Willow if that's standard procedure, since Aruna herself always advises against putting defendants up on the stand whenever possible - nine times out of ten they'll piss off the jury or incriminate themselves regardless of whether or not they're actually guilty. And this defendant does exactly that, admitting she knew exactly what she was doing wrong but decided not to fix it since it seemed like too much work to redo the tax forms.

Aruna makes another note to ask if there's a way to use Verasiterum in Muggle trials as well - it would save them a lot of time and deliberation, that's for sure. The entire trial takes only two hours, and the defendant is sentenced to fourty hours of community service, plus having to pay back her taxes in full. It's a light sentence, but according to Poole since the woman is young and a first-time offender she's being let off lightly this time. More interesting to Aruna is how the deliberation that led to the sentencing was conducted. The entire Wizengamot had written out their verdict and suggested punishment (if they believed the defendant guilty) and Danforth had collected them all, read each, and then handed only one to Sarah, who proceeded to read the conviction.

For someone she'd assumed was primarily a court scribe, the Junior Undersecretary seems to have a lot more power than expected. She'll have to ask Willow about that as well, since there could certainly be something magical involved that she was unaware of. Letting one person choose the verdict and sentence seems a bit unfair in her opinion.

The audience empties out quickly, leaving only Aruna and a man who looks to be in his forties based on the beginning of crow's feet around his eyes and the few flecks of gray scattered through his otherwise dark hair.

On the courtroom floor the defendant has also left, escorted by Danforth out the door, and Willow is talking with the prosecution and Sarah Poole as the rest of the Wizengamot slowly pack up and vacate the court room. Willow looks around uncertainly and spots the man heading down a flight of stairs on the right side of the viewing platform. She hurries after him, unsure of what else to do to get Willow's attention - none of the people below had looked to the viewing platform even once during the trial, and Aruna isn't going to bet on them starting now.

The man walks straight up to the three gathered in the middle of the room and loops an arm over the prosecution's shoulder. His partner, then, and something turns over in Aruna's stomach, though it's not as bad as she expected. Maybe it doesn't hurt as much because they're gay?

"Well, I'm being summoned." The prosecution is joking as Aruna enters earshot. "I'll see you later Willow, and it's a pleasure as always Sarah. Say hi to your brother for me."

"Will do." Poole agrees lightly as the two men peel away and head for the door. The brunette woman spots Aruna, and taps Willow lightly.

Willow turns and smiles when she sees Aruna. "Aruna! Good afternoon, I wasn't expecting to see you today. Did you watch the trial?"

Aruna nods. "Mr. Selwyn let me in. I hope you don't mind me stopping by, I had a few questions."

"And I'm sure you have plenty more now." Willow says with a smile. "I'll see you later Sarah." She adds to Poole, who nod politely, gives Aruna a quick 'nice meeting you' before heading back to her seat to presumably pack up and head out herself.

"My office is just down the hall." Willow explains, shepherding Aruna out a side entrance and into a long hallway lined with several identical doors, each labelled with a bronze placard.

"Does every lawyer have an office here?" Aruna asks, a bit overwhelmed by the length of the hallway and number of doors.

Willow laughs and shakes her head. "No, only the ones directly employed by the Ministry. I guess I'd be the equivalend of a court-appointed lawyer in the Muggle world." Aruna gives her a surprised look, and she shrugs. "I've done some reading of my own since we began working together." She explains. "I'm amazed how much of the terminology remains consistent across magical lines."

"Agreed, the trial was surprisingly similar to ones I observed at my old job." She replies as they reach a door with "Mrs. Kiddell" emblazoned onto the plaque and Willow unlocks it with a tap of her wand. "The Verasiterum was really the biggest difference in terms of proceedings - is there any way we could start using that in Muggle trials?"

Willow hums, closing the door and gesturing to one of the chairs for Aruna to sit. "I don't see why not, but that would be a task for Mungo's rather than the Wizengamot, since we don't actually brew the stuff here. I suppose you could also use private potioneers like we do, but I'm not sure how the current Verasiterum composition would impact Muggle physiology differently. It's very well tested on witches and wizards, but it's never been used on Muggles." She tilts her head, considering. "At least, not in any way that's been rigorously observed and recorded. There were some incidents of it during the wars, but it's not like Deatheaters were taking notes."

Aruna frowns, and Willow must catch it since she adds, "I could ask my friend Jemma if you like - she's a top healer at Mungo's, the equivalent of an emergency room worker in Muggle hospital. She might have some thoughts or more knowledge than I do on the topic. After all, I'm just a lawyer, I don't know much about biology aside from what we learn in Hogwarts."

Aruna nods. "Fair enough." She agrees. Logically she could also bring it up with Kylee back in the Initiative offices and see what the Mungo's consultant thinks, but that would require talking to more people and if Willow can do the same thing then Aruna will stick with that. "I did have a few other procedural questions if that's alright - I know this was unexpected."

Willow settles in her desk chair and smiles. "No trouble at all Aruna, that was my only case for the day and I was just going to prep for my next one which isn't for another week - I've got time."

Still slightly worried - she knows how vital prep is, no matter how prepared a lawyer is there's almost always something more than can be done - Aruna pulls out her notebook and begins working down her list of questions.

"There is no jury system, no." Willow confirms. "I think Minister Granger already had some ideas on implementing one even before the Incident, but it was lower on her list of priorities so I'm not sure on the details of that just yet - maybe you can ask Rose and Landon? They may have a better idea, or at least be able to ask the Minister about it."

Aruna nods, though she doesn't plan to. If it comes up on its own fine, but she still doesn't really fancy talking to the rest of the Initiative if she can avoid it. If she starts instigating contact, they may start thinking they can just barge in on her whenever they like, regardless of whether or not it's relevant to her work, and she just... can't deal with that. She never did, really, but lately unexpected interruptions tend to make working substantially harder than it should be.

She continues asking her questions and noting down Aruna's answers, often pressing for further details so she can create a more complete picture in her mind of the divergences between the two processes.

"And what about the Junior Undersecretary's role? He appeared to have selected the punishment himself without any external advisement?" Aruna is feeling more relaxed than she has in ages when she reaches the end of her inquiries. Being here, asking questions, taking notes in her old advisory notebook, she feels like she fits into her skin again, like she has control of her life and its direction. She assumes it's the familiarity of this routine, tricking her mind into thinking she's back in her old job, working with a client and advising them on what steps would be the most logical ones to take next.

Willow helps of course - Aruna has always felt a bit more comfortable around the other woman, especially recently as their meetings have become a comforting routine.

Now she purses her lips thoughtfully in a familiar gesture - Aruna knows she's selecting her words carefully. "Danforth - the Junior Undersecretary - is a unique case. Generally speaking the JU would provide the Speaker with a selection of suggestions and she would select from among them. In cases overseen by the Minister or the Senior Undersecretary, they would do the same. However Danforth is actually originally trained in law - he was a Wizengamot prosecutor for years before being tapped for Junior Undersecretary this year after the transition of power back in March." She shrugs. "Honestly, how much or little the JU actually does usually depends on their background and the situation they're in. The JU during the last war basically ran the whole Ministry since the Minister was a puppet for Voldemort and the Senior Undersecretary was an incompetent focused on being awful instead of doing her job." A bit of vehemence entered into Willow's voice, and Aruna glances up from her notes. Obviously there's a story there, but she doesn't think she should press.

Willow catches her look and smiles wryly. "Sorry, I worked directly under her for a while. Vile woman. Twenty years later and I obviously still haven't completely gotten over it." She laughs lightly, but there's still strain around her eyes. "Anyway, Danforth is highly competent legally, so he gets more leeway in legal matters. To make a long answer short."

Aruna hums. "I'm not sure there's anything comparable in Muggle justice or politics." She observes, tapping her pen lightly on the corner of her page. "Do you have any texts on how the system was created? It could be interesting to compare why some aspects are so similar, and why some are wildly different."

Willow eyes her with a small smile, and Aruna suddenly feels very self-conscious. Is she being too demanding? She admittedly rarely talks this much with Willow but it really is all fascinating and worth looking into. For the Initiative, of course.

"It's nice seeing you this excited about things - would you like me to bring in a list of court cases for next week when I see you on Saturday? That way you can decide which cases might be of use to your future research and actions within the Initiative and sit in on them."

Aruna hesitates, but ultimately nods. "That sounds quite helpful, thank you Willow."

"Of course, I want to see the Initiative succeed as much as anyone." Willow says dismissively. "Now then, considering you didn't actually come down here to watch that trial, what else can I help you with today?"

Willow blinks - she'd almost forgotten the other files sitting in her bag that were her original excuse to escape the office. "Right, those." She quickly scrambles to pull them out, feeling incredibly embarrassed at having forgotten. "There were just a few more archaic legislations I'd come across-"

She ends up spending the rest of her workday with Willow going over old contracts, looking through Wizengamot legislation decisions for current precedent, and generally feeling a lot more grounded than she has in a while. When five o'clock rolls around and she realizes the time, she can't help breaking out into a smile as she packs up her things.

As she heads back to the lift she spots Edward Clarke from the Hunters coming out of the Archives and gives him a wave, for the first time feeling confident enough to do so. She'd gotten through the entire day without once spacing out or failing a social cue - definitely her best day of work to date. Surely it can only get better from here.

Working out a system to smuggle files out of the Archives turned out to be much easier than Edward had initially thought, and only three weeks after his first venture to the sub-levels of the Ministry Edward has enough information to shut down the entire Integration operation. However, he doesn't quite have enough to fully discredit witches and wizards and prove their malicious intent, so he held off on releasing anything just yet, and he's glad he did - the incident at the end of October has given him an idea, and he's planning to pitch it to his team tonight.

It had been slow coming, but seeing the aftermath of something as silly as a bar fight had got him thinking, and now he's got a solid plan ready to begin execution in the next month. And he's confident it will force the magical world's hand and make them reveal exactly what they're all like.

He leaves work that day feeling quite chipper. Robbins notices, and teases him about a date as they take the lift down.

"Nah, just seeing some friends from my old work." He says easily, not worried about lying since Robbins won't know any better. "I'm sadly stuck in bachelor status."

She laughs, a bit sadly this time. "I feel that. I've never gotten past date six, there's always something weird that pops up. One guy tried explaining the whole religion thing to me since we don't really have that in the wizarding world? He was Muggleborn and super devout. So anyway, I went home and read the book, and you know the whole thing is violent and contradictory? Not to mention awful about women. So I went back to him and told him exactly what I thought. I guess I'm going somewhere called hell now, but considering I'm a witch that was already the case. He's going to hell too, not that you can tell him that."

Edward lets out a startled laugh. "Well if you came after it that sharply no wonder he got upset. People are very defensive about their faith."

Robbins shrugs. "I'm not going to act like a maidservant to a guy just to prove I love him unless he's willing to do the same for me. We'd switch off on alternating Saturdays."

Edward laughs again, shaking his head. "You really are something else Robbins." He observes, and she grins up at him as the lift dings open on the main floor.

"Well thank you kindly Clarke. Have fun with your friends tonight!"

They part ways in the Atrium and Edward heads out the Muggle entrance with a bit of a spring in his step. He has a few hours until he needs to head over to Jennifer's house for their debrief, so he catches a bus home and changes into more comfortable clothes - as much as he honestly loves his suits they can get a little sweaty, and as it's only his teammates he's seeing tonight a standard dress shirt and slacks should be plenty.

He heads out again with a bottle of Chianti at seven o'five sharp, making the walk over to Jennifer's flat in just over twenty minutes and pressing her buzzer three minutes early.

The door buzzes to indicate it's unlocked, and Edward rolls his eyes as he pushes it open and heads up to the fifth floor, where one door is already standing sligtly ajar.

"You know," He says when he pushes it open further and slips off his shoes, "You really should check who's buzzing, even when you're expecting us."

Jennifer Brown waves at him from her kitchen, where she's hovering over the oven, her light brown hair pulled into twin braids that have been stuffed underneath a chef's apron. "You have a very specific buzz Ed, five seconds exactly. Most people are longer or shorter than that."

Edward raises an eyebrow. "Right. Where should I put this?" He asks, holding up the wine when she finally turns to face him, pulling off her glasses so she can clean them.

"Oh, you didn't have to bring anything! I've got the living room set up, I'm only making meatloaf, nothing wine-level fancy. I figured we'd eat and talk shop at the same time, then maybe put on the evening news." Jennifer says, obviously despairing slightly. "I'm wearing sweatpants Edward. I am not wine-ready."

He grins as he takes the bottle across the main entrance and into the area Jennifer has fashioned as her foyer. Edward is pretty sure it was supposed to be an office space or extra bedroom, but Jennifer loves cooking and had spread her kitchen out over the entire open-air area just inside the front door to accommodate her twelve million specialized cooking supplies. She's made the living area comfy enough though, with two massive couches and a flatscreen television surrounding a medium-sized glass-top table that's just the right height to take out unsuspecting shins. He places the wine in the middle of the table, which already has a basket of bread and a cheese platter set out alongside utensils for the meal.

He chuckles at the spread and heads back into the main entry. "Your French side is showing with the cheese." He teases, walking over to lean against the kitchen island, watching Jennifer bustles around grabbing spices and her oven mitts as the over timer counts down the last two minutes. "You're not going rouge on us now, are you?"

"My mother taught me manners and good taste and you Brits won't talk me out of them." She responds primly, pulling on her mitts. "Besides, you're the one who brought a damned Chianti, you have no space to be judging my exquisite tastes."

"I cant judge you for knowing what wine it was just from the back of the label." He shoots back. They banter lightly as she finishes the meatloaf, and once she's done she orders him not to touch anything while she changes.

"You don't have to you know, I'm not dressed up." He points out, and she rolls her eyes.

"I'm not dressing up, I'm literally getting dressed. Why I waste my time on you two I'll never know - you're too highfaluting and Kevin is married now."

"You can keep the sweatpants on then!" He calls as she bounds up the stairs, and gets a two- salute for his trouble, which has him laughing until the buzzer sounds again.

"Hello?" He answers.

" I am late. Hi Ed, let me in." The slightly fuzzy voice of Kevin Hall comes through the line, and Edward presses the button on the side of the intercom to unlock the front door.

A few minutes later Kevin steps in, nearly tripping as he tries to get his shoes off and pulling at the buttons of his heavy winter coat. "Hey Ed, where's Jen?"

"Changing. I'm sure she'll descend and bless us with her presence in a moment." He replies lazily, and Kevin grins.

"Oh good, I'll be the grungiest person here then. I had to change shirts before I left, Oliver is sick. Danielle is high-key stressed about it but it's probably just the flu. We've got an appointment with the pediatrician tomorrow though, just to be safe."

Edward nods awkwardly, unsure as ever how to engage when Kevin starts talking about his son. Sixteen months after the birth and Edward still doesn't understand the appeal of babies, not that it's stopped Kevin from talking about his son despite being well aware of Edward's awkwardness with the topic.

Luckily for him, Jennifer chooses that moment to reappear at the top of the stairs, sans apron and sweatpants and plus a pair of slim jeans, a low-cut burgundy top and gold-trimmed black sweater, accessorized with a golden laurel-leaf necklace and low black heels. She'd pulled her hair out of the braids and let it fall loose around her face, curling against her neck and tumbling down her back.

Edward claps politely as Kevin whistles, and Jennifer struts down the stairs.

"Thank you, thank you, and you're welcome London!" She declares dramatically as she reaches the bottom, striking a pose, before grinning and turning to Edward directly. "Now I'm wine-ready."

Kevin plates the food since he arrived last, and they settle around Jennifer's living room to eat and chat.

"I finished going over those files you gave me last week." Kevin reports. "It's not great, I'll give you that, but it's also from the sixteenth century. I'm pretty sure everyone would have cursed their neighbors with warts if they were able to."

"An entire village though, and with no repercussions? The Statute was already in place at that point, had been for nearly a century." Edward points out. "It's not a great sign for possible future violations as well."

"That's why they have the Obliviators though, isn't it?" Jennifer muses, spinning a pencil between her fingers as she skims over another report. "To replace memories of magic with other things? So when the Statute is broken for whatever reason they can basically restore it?"

"Makes you wonder how often the Obliviators had to be used though." Edward points out, pursing his lips and pushing back memories of shattered glass and hiding in terror behind the crushed passenger seat of his parent's car as people in strange robes talked over their dead bodies with a detached amusement that makes him sick to this day. "I'll see if I can locate any records of that tomorrow - I'm going to the Archives again with Clark."

"You're down there a lot." Kevin frowns. "Doesn't your supervisor get suspicious at all? You said he was pretty much legendary in the Ministry."

Edward scoffs, leaning back and shaking his head. "Turns out that was massively over dramatized - Lopatkina-Paluch isn't nearly as clever or observant as he thinks. Maybe he was at one point, I don't know, but if nothing else I think he's bought into his own mythos. The guy accepts all of my reports without blinking an eye, and it's not like I can go down there without his permission. If he suspected something, he'd just stop sending me."

Jennifer and Kevin exchange a glance that has Edward sitting back up. "Look, I'm being careful, alright? I take actual notes for them too, and I've taken several other Hunters down with me - usually Thompson, I'll admit, but Seo has come once and Demelza three times, and Morgan asked if he could come with tomorrow. The only reason he isn't is because he was tapped for patrol by Harrison."

Kevin hums, though Jennifer still looks doubtful. Edward doesn't pay her disapproving look any mind though as he goes back to his food - Jennifer is very much for the integration of the two worlds, and doesn't approve Edward looking for the dark realities lingering under the surface of the magical world. Kevin at least understands why finding that darkness is important, which is why Kevin is his favorite.

"So come on then, obviously you have more than this." Kevin prompts an hour later, when they've finished reading and organizing the new batch of files Edward had borught with him. "You don't bring the nice wine unless you think there's something to celebrate or want to convince us of something we might not be happy about."

Edward rolls his eyes, kicking at Kevin's legs idly in protest. "It's good news, I only bring wine for good news." He insists, valiantly ignoring the knowing grins his teammates trade. "Seriously though, I had an idea I wanted to run by you both. Specifically, I was thinking about how we planned to put all this information together and release it all at once, but I'm actually not sure that's the best way to go about this."

The other two are no longer swapping amused looks - Jennifer is staring at him with poorly disguised wariness, and Kevin is openly cautious. Edward knew they would react this way though - they've been a team together since their training days, so he knows how to phrase this so they'll both see the merits of his plan.

Though he does feel a bit bad about manipulating them like this, it's for the safety of the entire human race - he's pretty sure they'll forgive him when all this is over.

"I'm thinking that we should piecemeal what information gets leaked." He explains. "This way we can see how they react under pressure. If everything comes out all at once, they'll likely just try to smooth over it like they did with the bar fight."

Jennifer still looks uncertain, but Edward can tell that Kevin has picked up on where he's going with this.

"Think about it." He presses on, "There's no real way we'll find everything now - one, two, ten years down the line worse things might come up and what happens then? The Integration, if it's far enough along, could collapse under the weight of it all. If we challenge them slowly over the course of the year, we can see exactly how serious they are about this. It might even encourage them to be honest about things they might otherwise have tried to keep hidden, which in turn will strengthen the movement." Not that they'll ever come clean - no, the constant pressure will collapse the entire endeavor, Edward has no doubts about that. In addition, you show people reality and they can only deny it for so long - lies always crumble in the end since they're founded on nothing. But his reasoning has merit, and he can see the moment his teammates decide to humor him.

"Fine. I don't like it, but I see your point. Pressure early will mean they'll be better prepared for any later complications." Jennifer allows. "Better we control the flow so they aren't overwhelmed."

Which is far from Edward's plan, but he'll take it. If Jennifer is down to help, then Kevin is as well, and a glance over at him confirms as much. They'll keep the Initiative off-balance until it falls over from the weight of it's own bull, and the magical world's filthy underbelly will be revealed for all to see.

"Excellent. We'll begin in the New Year then?" He suggests, and his teammates nod. "Alright then. Who's up for latenight talk shows?"

He smiles as they settle in for the unwinding part of their evening. Today went absolutely perfectly, and it's only getting better from here.

Author's Note: I GAVE ARUNA A HAPPY POV!!!!!! *Throws Confetti* *Blows party horns* I'm sure this will keep going forever and she'll be fine now! :D All seriousness though, we are seeing the beginning of the healing process :) And also the beginning of the nightmare to come :) Edward stop being a :) xD Fun fact, the placeholder for the first section was "Estelle and the RomCom Squad" and I'm very proud of that because I'm an absolute loser. Anyway I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe, healthy, and sane!