Estelle had specifically requested the Christmas Eve shift in the offices. It's probably blasphemy for her to be using her work space like this, but it's not like she's missing anything - she's literally just waiting for a call about Yurina that's probably not going to come. She does have one ear tuned to the Floo call system in case something does happen, but the rest of her focus is on cleaning up and rearranging the offices.

Tonight is the culmination of the past month of planning - after this she'll either be back on speaking terms with her boyfriend, or single. After how exhausting all this has been she honestly isn't sure she'll be willing to accept the second option. But Des is worth it, and she'll respect whatever he chooses.

She studies the office with a critical eye as she uses her wand to push desks and chairs to the edges of the room - leaving access to the Floo open of course - wanting it to be cleared out but not wanting it to look messy either. This is supposed to be charming, and Des likes things to be in order.

She swaps a few things around before deciding the desks look fine and won't fall over, and then she turns to the newly cleared space in the middle of the room. She flicks her wand to light up the fireplace - the Floo will work fine even if there's a fire in it after all - and then grabs the basket she'd brought with her.

Isaac had given her far too knowing a look when he'd seen the basket - he hadn't seen her dress, her coat covered her up well -, and Estelle is wondering who exactly spilled the beans on her plan tonight. Isaac Harrison is not observant enough to have figured out her plans without being tipped off.

She's blaming Miles until proven wrong. Still, he hopefully didn't say anything to Desmond - this will only work as a surprise (according to Pup and his weirdly comprehensive knowledge of romcom tropes) and Estelle has put in too much for it to get screwed up by one of her co-conspirators on the last step.

She'd shrunk most of what was in the basket in order to make sure there was room for the wrapped radio, which she didn't want to mess with after successfully charming it to receive all radio channels in England. Any further magic could ruin the delicate balance she'd managed to create.

She sets the gift off to the side, on the one desk she's left out, and then pulls out a blanket that she spreads over the center of the room. She then systematically grows all the food she'd packed and spreads it out over the blanket, leaving the wine inside the basket and setting it to the side. She also had brought a small plastic tree, and she sets it up on the desk behind the basket, magically decorating it with unmelting snowflakes and glittering fairy lights.

She takes a step back and eyes the spread critically, and then, deciding that it's good enough, looks over at the clock. Thirty minutes until the time she'd asked Desmond to arrive at, which means she probably has fifteen left. She takes a steadying breath, looks at the blanket again, and then settles on the floor to wait, grabbing the present and hiding it back in the basket below the wine. There. She's not going to fuss any further or she'll drive herself crazy. She taps her foot idly, staring at the clock and wondering if she should go ahead and do some paperwork while she's waiting. She won't get very far, but it at least would kill some time and is arguably a better use of her time than the alternatives.

So she stands back up and rifles through one of the filing cabinets shoved up against the wall in search of the files she'd put away when she first arrived and began setting things up. She ends up finding everything except for what she was looking for, because of course, when she hears the lift ping behind her and she spins, her heart picking up.

She subconsciously smooths her hair and tugs her dress in hopes it's straight, turning with a bright smile only to immediately begin frowning when she sees who it is.

Finn looks around in clear amusement. "Working hard I hope Estelle?" He asks, moving towards his office and waving his wand to clear away the chairs stacked in front of the door.

"Of course." She says, well aware of how red she's turning. Of all the people to walk in on this, why did it have to be her boss? "Did you forget something sir?"

Finn chuckles as he unlocks his office. "Not quite. I was reviewing a few files that I'd brought home with me and wanted to compare one to something I filed away early last week." He vanishes into his office, leaving Estelle standing awkwardly in the main room, hoping that for once in his life Desmond will be on time instead of early.

Finn reappears a few minutes later looking pleased. "I remembered correctly." He says idly to Estelle as he heads back for the lift. As they're waiting for it to arrive, he glances over at her and gives her a knowing grin. "Have fun tonight Ms. Kuhara, but remember to keep an ear on the Floo."

"Of course sir." She confirms quickly. "Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas." He echoes as the lifts arrives and whisks him back out of the Ministry, leaving Estelle alone once again in the offices. She checks the clock, assuming she probably only has a few minutes until her arranged meeting time with Des arrives, and then has to double check. It's now ten minutes after when she'd asked Desmond to be here.

He's late. Something in her stomach twists ever so slightly, and she slowly walks over to the one remaining desk and sits down, debating if she should go ahead and pull out the wine to start a pity party. Not very becoming, but she thinks the situation warrants it. Desmond always says "if you're early you're on time, if you're on time you're late, and if you're late don't even bother showing up" and he lives by those rules. So the fact he's running late, even if only by a few minutes, isn't a great sign for his coming at all.

Estelle sighs and decides to wait a bit longer. Things are weird with them right now - with the world right now really - so it's not inconceivable that Desmond just overthought himself into a small panic and lost track of time.

He'll be here. Celine said he'd be here, and Celine seems trustworthy enough. Miles likes her, at least, as does Veena which is a good sign that she's an upright character-

Estelle catches herself, and nearly laughs. She's acting like Desmond, overthinking and stressing about things outside of her control. Shaking her head, she pushes back up out of the chair. If he doesn't come then he doesn't come, and she has her answer. In the meantime she can do some work.

The lift dings again some time later, and Estelle looks at the clock before she dares to look at the doors. Thirty minutes past. At least she's working this time, so if it's Fiona here to get files Estelle will look busy.

"Oh. Wow, um. This looks nice."

Estelle lets out a slow breath and finally looks at the newcomer. "You're late." She says, not bothering to hide her irritation. "What happened to 'if you're on time you're late'?"

Desmond shifts sheepishly. He looks good, wearing a red long-sleeved shirt and pressed slacks under his usual winter coat. "Sorry. My brother yelled at me over it, if you can believe it, and he really went off. We lost track of time."

Estelle finds herself smiling despite herself. "Winston or Shepherd?" She asks, though she can guess. Desmond's relationships with his brothers are tense at best, but he does get along better with his younger brother moreso than his older, so Winston is more likely to feel comfortable yelling.

Desmond confirms her suspicions a moment later. "Winston. Shepherd is actually working tonight so. Winston really likes you by the way."

Estelle laughs. "Well I really like you, so I'm glad to have familial approval."

Desmond blushes, but he's still standing awkwardly in front of the lifts, obviously unsure about what to do from here. Estelle's momentary levity fades. Right. Romance. She can do this - Pup has helped her prep all week.

"Can I take your coat? I put warming charms over everything that needed it, so the food should still be good." She says, standing gracefully from her chair and striding across the room, smiling warmly at her boyfriend.

Desmond looks a bit spooked, but he does take off his coat and let her levitate it to hang on one of the moved chairs, so she counts it as a win.

They sit down on the blanket, and Estelle summons the wine over. A big thing Pup had encouraged was using her magic comfortably - if she acts weird about it, Desmond will feel weird about it, and Estelle agrees. Now that she doesn't need to hide her magic, she's definitely going to be using it. If Desmond can't handle that, then. Well. She'll think about it if it happens.

"Tell me when." She says, popping the cork manually and tilting the bottle to spill into Desmond's glass.

He takes a rather large glass, which definitely says he's nervous, and Estelle frowns slightly and pours herself a small amount before placing the bottle back on the desk where it won't be knocked over. "So how has your week been? I'm guessing your brothers are home for the holidays?"

Desmond hesitates, but nods. "Yeah, we're all staying with our parents for the week. It's weird being back in my old room, but it's not all bad."

"It sounds like you're talking to your brothers more?" She prompts. Small talk is far from her forte, but she needs to make tonight all about Desmond so he feels appreciated.

He shrugs, still more tense than Estelle likes, and takes a swig of his wine before replying. "I guess? We always had issues because of, you know, them being magical and me not. They had their own little club, and it feels a bit late for them to be inviting me into it. But they are trying. Shepherd is the one who told me about the Initiative. Lied a bit about the Hogwarts rivalries." He adds, making a face, and Estelle laughs.

"Gryffindor and Slytherin, right? We still don't get on with each other, but it's not nearly as bad as it used to be. The last war changed a lot of people's views on allowing that sort of ideological separation to fester from such a young age. So Slytherins talk to other Houses a lot more than they used to, and other Houses talk back. But the Gryffindor Slytherin rivalry goes back to the school's founding, so we're always going to be a little bit at each other's throats." She grins as she recalls Quidditch matches, and then blinks and realizes how long she's been talking. Focus on Des. Right. "But um, speaking of, how are things going with Hogwarts? I don't get to hear much about the Initiative's movements outside of what Miles and Veena say at the monthly press conferences."

Desmond shrugs, grimacing. "Slowly. Professor Roberts is great, but pretty stuck in tradition." He hesitates, then adds, "Though I guess I sort of am too. I keep getting ahead of myself which makes the whole thing kind of frustrating when it doesn't move as fast as I want it to."

Estelle hums - he's at least relaxing slightly now, so maybe Pup's movie advice is working. "That's understandable though. What are you working on right now?"

Conversation isn't the smoothest it's ever been between them, but it's there at least, which is a major improvement over the past month of avoidance. Estelle tries to keep the conversation on Desmond, and he for the most part allows her to do so, but she knows he's going to call her out eventually. Neither one of them is good at just letting things lie, and with each new question the ice between them thaws a little bit more, and the true problems begin to resurface.

Estelle ends up being the one to break. "Okay, I can't do this anymore. I hate small talk." She groans, and Desmond startles her by laughing (though he looks surprised at himself as well when he stops).

"I know you do - I was kind of surprised you made it this long." He says after a long moment. "So what is all this about? Romantic fire side picnics? This isn't your usual date idea."

Estelle sighs. "I was trying to be romantic." She grumbles. "Miles and Pup helped some. Obviously even with that I'm not great at it."

Desmond just stares at her for a long moment, and Estelle can practically see the gears whirling in his head as he processes her admittance. "Romance?" He finally says, and she gives a tired laugh.

"I don't know if you've noticed Des, but you haven't been talking to me. And I miss you. This is me, trying messy emotional nonsense to try and, I don't know." She shakes her head. "I love you. That hasn't changed. I haven't changed. And I know you're going to need time to process that, but you can't really process anything if you're refusing to even look at me."

Desmond's mouth had opened partway through her little rant, but Estelle pushes forward until she's finished. He can have his say after she's had hers. And to his credit he backs down, waiting until she sags back against the blanket before taking another breath.

"Why were you at Karaoke Network that night?"

Estelle blinks. "The what? Seriously Des, of anything you coud have said, that was pretty bad. I think even I could have pulled out something a little more emotionally consistent."

He shakes his head. "No I mean... I've been trying to figure it out. How you were there that night. Outside the bar."

It takes her a moment to follow his logic, and she sighs when she realizes what he's talking about. "Seriously Des? I was getting drinks with my old Auror team, seeing how things were going with them. There's a wizarding bar not too far from where you were - it was luck that I ended up being in the right place at the right time, and I'm glad I was. You'd never survive a bar fight." It's teasing, and honestly she feels it's warranted. All this fuss, apparently over a very simple misunderstanding. It's almost comedic how well that fits into Pup's ridiculous romcom narrative.

Desmond blinks at her, processing again, and Estelle lets him. She's feeling much better about whether or not she'll be single by night's end now. Finally he shakes his head.

"Coincidence. It was just a coincidence?"

"I'll take you to the bar I was at, if you like. Introduce you to my old team too, though I should warn you that Jesse flirts with everything on two legs and will definitely try to challenge you for me because he's a mysoginistic pig who still thinks women are men's property to be passed around." She makes a face, and Desmond raises an eyebrow.

"Why exactly did you get drinks with these people? They sound awful."

"Sierra's not so bad, and I think it was supposed to just be the two of us. Jesse invited himself, as he does." She chuckles. "Honestly it mostly reminded me that the Hunters are infinitely better than my old Auror team, and I sincerely hope I'm assigned somewhere else when I get back to regular work next year."

"Assuming it is that soon - what are the chances that Yurina shows up this year after twenty years of silence?"

"High." Estelle says immediately. It's a question that's been tossed around more than a few times by Hunters and everyday Aurors alike, but the logical answer is obvious. "The fact a move has been made indicates a willingness to move that hasn't been present in the past two decades - whatever she's been planning it's ready, and she's not the type to sit back and not take credit. We still don't know the game plan, but we're relatively certain it's going to kick into high gear in the coming year. That's why we need to find her before she can activate the next part of whatever all this is. The Incident alone has caused major unbalance in both worlds - how much worse could she make things if she's allowed to continue on unchecked?"

The conversation from there is familiar territory, but now Estelle doesn't have to dance around the details of her work, and as she'd always expected Desmond offers some fantastic insights that she wouldn't have thought up on her own. All the tension has fully drained, and they enjoy their Christmas Eve meal like nothing had changed in the first place.

She laughs a few hours later, when they're putting away the dishes so they can just lie down on the blanket and talk some more (they have a lot of catching up to do). Desmond looks over at her with a quirked eyebrow.

"Something funny?"

She shakes her head, still grinning. "I should have just listened to Cat in the first place." She says, but doesn't elaborate. As she puts the plates away her hand hits the wrapped gift still hidden inside the basket. "Oh! Hey, Des, I actually got you a Christmas gift. I can't believe I forgot, it's pretty awesome."

Desmond raises an eyebrow. He's relaxed back on the blanket, hands crossed behind his head lazily and one leg bent up while the other stretches down to where it nearly touches the office floor, and Estelle takes a moment to appreciate the sight before pulling out the present and carrying it over to him, sitting down and placing the gift onto his stomach. He levers himself awkwardly to a sitting position and turns it over a few times until she nudges him.

"Oh come on, just open it. You're not going to guess anyway." She adds confidently.

He raises an eyebrow. "Okay, so it's magical." He shoots back, and she laughs.

"You'll see - open it."

He looks a bit confused as he peels back the wrapping paper to reveal the normal-looking radio. After several long moments turning it over in his hands he finally looks up at her.

"Okay, I give up. What's the twist?"

She grins and leans over to flick it on.

"-was Celestina Warbeck's Christmas classic 'Holiday Charms'! Up next a request from Dennis Creevey, this is 'Flight of the Harpies' by the Weird Sisters!"

"Ooh I love this band. Their bassist just became a dad last year, the family pictures are adorable." Estelle enthuses ad Desmond listens intently to the song.

"...This is a magical radio station." He realizes after a moment, and Estelle beams at him.

"It gets Muggle stations too, but yeah, that's the Wizarding Wireless Network. I thought it would be cool for you to be able to tune into both worlds easily. Also, if you're interested, the top Morning Show Host for the WWN is willing to show us how the magic happens at the Network HQ - literally." She grins. "Though she also wants to maybe have us sit down for an interview about our situation if we're up for it." She's a bit nervous to see how Desmond will feel about the request, but to her relief he smiles almost immediately.

"This is amazing Estelle! I'm fine doing the interview - I doubt we're the only couple experiencing some shockwaves from all this."

Estelle beams at him. "Awesome! And Celine was hoping for a sound bite too if that's fine."

"Obviously, it's Celine. She's part of the reason I came tonight honestly, I wouldn't dream of not telling her how all this ended."

Estelle smiles and steps up so she's nearly pressed up against him and tilts her head up to give him a sly smile.

"I'd say it ended rather well overall, wouldn't you?"

He's leaning over to kiss her when a bang sounds from the Floo and Estelle immediately jerks away and rushes over.

"This is the British Ministry Hunter Division, Estelle Kuhara speaking." She says immediately as she answers the call.

 A frazzled young wizard appears in the flames. "Oh good, I got the right place. Can you take a message? We might have found something."

Estelle glances apologetically at Desmond as she summons parchment and a self-inking quill, and he waves her off.

Estelle lets out a sharp breath and nods to the American wizard. Most likely this is just another false alarm, but they'll treat it as seriously as they ever do. At least it didn't come through until after her successful night with Desmond, even if it did stop the fun part.

Aruna is spending Christmas with her mother, and while it's definitely better than being in her own empty apartment Aruna is still keenly aware of the gaping hole where her fiancé should be. He should be helping put up the tree, be dancing her around the living room to terrible Christmas music, be insistently offering to help her mother with the cooking despite the fact that Jayshriee Nair doesn't let anyone in her kitchen and really Christopher should know that after four years but he keeps trying, every year.

Aruna doesn't quite realize she's crying until she feels her mother brush a thumb across her cheek.

"I know dear, I know." She sighs, and Aruna lets herself be pulled into a side hug as the two women sit on Jayshriee's couch and watch the snow falling through the window. She hates this. It's Christmas, and she's supposed to be enjoying time with her mother, and honestly she thought she'd be able to this year. Work has been going well - she hasn't had to leave early since she started attending Wizengamot hearings, and her meetings with both Willow and the Hunters have been incredibly productive - so she thought she'd been ready to face the holidays this year.

She is being proven terribly wrong on that assumption. All day she's felt disconnected from her body, floating through the motions of the celebration but not really processing any of it. She knows she's hovering above a dissociative attack - her therapist has explained them to her and assured her they're entirely normal, though that was a while ago and she hasn't really seen her therapist as often these days - but she so far has managed to stave it off. Now, with dinner baking in the oven and the gifts all unwrapped and piled under the tree there's nothing left to keep her tethered, and she's losing her grip rapidly.

"How are things with... oh what's her name, Hazel? The lawyer. She has a tree name, I remember that."

Her mother's comment catches Aruna off-guard, and it takes a moment for her to process it enough to answer.

"Willow?" She says, still too scrambled to manage more than that, but the question is a lifeline, and she grabs for it.

Her mother smiles. "That's right, Willow. See, I knew it was a tree. How are things going with her? I know you two were just starting a new project idea when the break started, but I can't remember the details. Remind me?"

Aruna takes a few deep breaths, and then nods. "Well, we want to try and start compiling a list of similar or identical laws between the two worlds. We're hoping we can develop a new set of basic laws for all lawyers from both sides to know. We can worry about the divergent laws after that."

"Sounds like fun?" Her mother says, her tone not matching the comment, and Aruna gives a thin smile.

"It's tedious mostly, but it's pretty important, and sometimes it's funny what rules appear in both worlds but from entirely different contexts. Did you know it's illegal to handle a salmon suspiciously in the magical world as well? And they have no idea how it ended up on the law books either. Brits of all magical abilities seem to have a problem with salmon."

Her mother laughs even though Aruna hadn't told the story with much enthusiasm, and it draws another watery smile from Aruna as she pulls herself a little bit further down.

"Of course, I suppose it could be the same incident that got those rules on the books." Her mother observes. "If we don't know what caused the ruling in the first place!"

Aruna hums. "Possible, but doubtful - the magical law went into effect about a decade before the British one did." She explains. "So it was probably separate incidents. Though I suppose the same people could have been involved, considering people do tend to live longer than ten years."

Something in her gut twists and she feels herself start to drift again, but her mother once again throws a lifeline.

"Certainly a possibility. I assume there are some obvious similarities - unless the magical world has a different definition of theft and murder than we do."

Aruna blinks, slowly sliding back into her skin as her brain lights up at the new topic. "Actually, it's less cut-and-dry than you might think." She says as she roots back into her body, mind whirling even as it begins processing how bone-tired she suddenly is. "Just like there are different kinds of murder for us - first versus second degree obviously but there's a lot more nuance to it - the magical world has something similar, only theirs are based around the kinds of spells used since apparently intent matters when using magic, so the kind of spell that caused the damage says a lot already about what the defendant was attempting. It's actually more cut-and-dry than our murder trials, especially with Verasiterum."

She lets herself talk, detailing the many smaller projects she's pursuing (no luck yet on getting Verasiterum for Muggle trials) and interesting cases she had seen (a woman did her husband's job for him using Polyjuice potion due to his having suffered severe brain trauma and her not wanting to have to try and get another job herself after being a housewife for thirty years). It's grounding, but she's still tired and is glad when the oven pinging interrupts her continued rambling.

"Oop! Time to eat." Her mother says, offering Aruna a hand up from the couch. "Could you turn on BBC for me dear? I want to see if there's any movement on Brexit yet. Honestly, this is just a year of political messes, isn't it?"

"2018 is definitely historic." Aruna agrees, grabbing the remote and flipping on the cable. The channel is set to Hallmark, and Aruna has to chuckle as she flips over to the news. No one would ever accuse her mother of being a romantic, but she eats up Hallmark originals like they're bread and she's lost in the desert. Her amusement fades as the sound comes in and fills the room. Behind her, her mother stops plating the turkey and stares at the screen as well, processing the unexpected report in front of them.

"...Again, we just recieved word that the Whiddy Island Disaster in 1979, long attributed to structural failure of the oil tanker Betelgeuse, was the result of a deliberate attack by magical people. Fifty people lost their lives to that tragic explosion and one other to the recovery operation, and after years of pointed fingers and unanswered questions it's almost a relief to know what really happened that night."

"Indeed Eva, though it's discouraging to know that this was hidden from us by the newly revealed magical world. How many other attacks like this one have gone unsolved due to magical involvement and coverup? If we hadn't learned this now would they have ever told us at all? This really makes you wonder what else they're hiding."

Aruna feels her mother pull the remote out of her slack grip and turn off the television, but the announcer's final words echo through her mind.

What else are they hiding?

Edward had heard about the report through his Apple Newsfeed about twenty minutes after the story broke, and he was absolutely thrilled. Obviously Jennifer had changed her mind about the timing, and he'd say she absolutely nailed it - everyone is home right now, so pretty much everyone already knows. News crews are flocking to Betelgeuse memorials to provide a dramatic backdrop for their ongoing coverage, and many are already hunting down other unsolved (or questionably solved) disasters in search of other magical interference.

Edward is starting to think that this first blow may be the only one they need - the magical world is further off balance than he'd expected, and the Muggle world a lot more perceptive and proactive than he's used to. All to say, he's in an excellent mood when he reports in to his bosses the morning after Christmas to reveal the rest of their game plan.

Jennifer and Kevin flank him as he exits the elevator and strides down the hall to his superiors' office. It's almost strange being back in the police department, seeing his old colleagues and reporting to his bosses - he's almost gotten used to the more laid-back, disorganized feeling of the Hunters' shared office space and it makes him all the more eager to wrap up this job and get back to his actual work.

He knocks twice, crisp and precise, and is called in a moment later. Kevin and Jennifer step to the sides to allow him to speak for the group - after all, he's the agent planted inside of the Initiative so he's the unspoken leader of the operation.

"Quite an explosive Christmas." His boss observe dryly, an Edward gives him an apologetic smile.

"We felt the timing would be perfect - the more people who are at home, the more who will see the report. The Initiative is also on holiday break at the moment so they have a lot less time to coordinate a story - we're forcing them to be more honest this way, if they want to release an immediate response."

His boss nods, gesturing for him to continue.

Edward smiles slightly. "The Whiddy Island Disaster isn't even the worst thing we found. We're going to give the magical world some time to come forward with the truth, but if there's nothing by February we intend to release more details on past atrocities - several serial killers that were never caught were from the magical world."

"Were they persecuted?" Jennifer interrupts, sounding horrified. Right, he'd given those files to Kevin - he knew Jennifer might not have the constitution to handle that information gracefully. She's always been more about solving puzzles than getting into the more gruesome aspects of their job.

"They were. Put away in the Azkaban prison, which seems to be the solution for every wrongdoing in the wizarding world." His smile turns bitter. "Though based on the number of breakouts in its final years, I'm not sure how effective that prison really was. I was planning to investigate it further in the New Year."

His boss nods and takes down a few notes. Edward waits patiently for him to look up again before continuing his report.

"I'm scheduled to take a shift for the Hunters this afternoon, so I'll know more about the details on the magical response to all this most likely by tonight. I did recieve a Patronus messenger from Mr. Lopatkina-Paluch this morning that the Initiative is preparing a special Press Conference to be held on the thirty-first, and a full one a few days later."

His boss frowns. "What's the difference between the two?" He questions, and Edward grimaces.

"Who's invited." He replies flatly. "Which already shows they're going to attempt a cover up. I'd be willing to bet the only reporters present at that first meeting will be ones sympathetic to the magical cause."

His boss nods gravely. "I would wager the same. Keep an eye on it Edward - if possible, get inside. I want to know their response as quickly as possible. Is there anything else you'd like to share? Updates on the Hunters, perhaps?"

Edward shakes his head. "There isn't much to share, sir. The Hunters are at a stand still as always. The American Magical Ministry, or whatever it's called, did reach out two days ago with a possible citing at the White House, but it's far from the only time this woman has supposedly been seen with a public figure and nothing has panned out so far. I'll of course update you immediately if that changes."

He waits for his boss to flip through a few pages of files (not that there's anything in them that Edward hasn't already touched on - this is more a showing of power than anything else) and then nods when he's dismissed. Jennifer and Kevin follow him out, having stood silent and at the ready on either side of the door through the entire exchange.

They don't exchange any words until they're nearly a block away from the Metropolitan Police building, at which point Edward drops back to walk in between his teammates and shoots them both a broad smile.

"Well, I think this is all going quite well." He declares, and Kevin chuckles.

"I suppose that's a word for it. I'll look forward to hearing what they have to say in that press conference." He says.

Jennifer is being oddly quiet - normally she's the most chipper of them, especially when a job is going well - so Edward nudges her lightly.

"Hey, that was an awesome story to drop." He says encouragingly. "I know that you're less that thrilled about all this, but it's to keep everyone-"

"What do you mean?" She interrupts, frowning and finally looking straight at him. "I didn't drop the story. I assumed you had gone ahead with it since you're so caught up in this weird anti-magic crusade you're on."

Edward freezes, mind stuttering as it tries to course correct with this new information. "You didn't... Kevin?" He turns back around to find their other teammate already shaking his head firmly.

"Not my job." He says firmly. "You know I stay in my lane with task assignment. Honestly I'd thought the same as Jen, that you'd gone ahead and released some document."

They've stopped walking now and Edward's mind is a whirling, chaotic mass of something that he'll deny to his last breath is panic. "I didn't release anything - I wanted to let Jen do it so we would all be comfortable with our pace."

Jennifer shifts, brow furrowing with worry. "But if none of us released that information..."

"Then who did?"

Author's Note: Dun dun DUHN xD I don't really think this is too big a cliffhanger honestly, but I'm pretty darn psyched to finally be at this point all the same! We've got one chapter left in the introductory section of this story, and then we dive into Phase 2~ I'm also successfully building a nice little buffer right now, so assuming that continues we may be able to make up the hiatus chapters within the next couple of months!