By the time Newt and Tina reach Picquery’s office, Theseus is in full flow, pacing the room as he rants. The door is ajar and as they stand outside, they can see and hear everything.
“…without trial! That is extrajudicial murder, Madam President! It is only through my brother's resourcefulness that I have not arrived to identify a corpse!”
“It was an error. We were unaware that….”
“Unaware? Unaware?!” Theseus’s icy voice drops another degree as he cuts off Picquery’s rather lacklustre explanation. “I view the condemnation of my brother to death as substantially more than an error, I assure you; as does the Ministry. Minister Fawley is considering taking the case to the International Confederation. It seems the President of MACUSA is ‘unaware’ of rather a lot of things. One of your best aurors – a decorated war hero - has been missing for three bloody months while Gellert fucking Grindelwald walked around wearing his face and no one noticed a damn thing?!”
Newt and Tina exchange apprehensive looks, but again Newt cannot really bring himself to sympathise with the target of his brother's ire; remembering how she had contemptuously dismissed Tina’s words when she’d first brought him in and then berated her for not having explained herself when the muggle senator was killed.
“Grindelwald is a master of deception. He was convincing…” Picquery begins.
Newt’s eyebrows disappear into his hairline at the string of profanity that follows and Tina’s jaw drops. Frankly, Newt hadn’t even realised that quite that many swear words existed; he’s pretty sure Theseus must have just made some of them up.
He’s never heard his brother swear like this before! He’s glad that his mother isn’t here; despite the fact that Theseus is thirty one, he’s pretty sure his brother would have been on the receiving end of a mouth washing spell.
“Convincing?” Theseus spits now; his face white with rage. “If you think for one second that Percival Graves would have condemned a man at the drop of a hat, that he would have endangered lives or preyed on the vulnerable then you don’t know him at all! He deserves fucking better than you. What are you doing to find him?” There’s something in his tone that Newt can’t quite place.
“Find him?” Picquery repeats, sounding dazed under such a verbal onslaught. “Mr Scamander, he’s been missing for three months. Grindelwald has given nothing away and our searches have come to nothing. Percival Graves was declared presumed dead last week and… where are you going?”
Theseus strides out the door, throwing it angrily open; Newt and Tina have to scramble back quickly to avoid getting hit by it. He pauses in the doorframe, contempt dripping from every fibre of his being.
“To hell with you and your incompetent tinpot amateurs!” he snarls. “I’ll find him my fucking self!”
Newt simply stares for a moment, then collects himself as he watches his brother head for the elevator. He hurries after him, Tina a few steps behind. “Theseus! Thee, wait!”
They join him in the elevator in just before the goblin slides the door closed. Newt realises in alarm that his brother is physically shaking and for a moment, he’s convinced that Theseus has tears in his eyes. His brother blinks sharply and then Newt is not sure whether or not he imagined them.
“What are you going to do now?” he asks in the gentle voice he keeps for the most skittish of his creatures, a calming hand on Theseus’s arm.
Theseus breathes deeply in through his nose, evidently trying to force composure on himself. “I am going to find somewhere to stay,” he says, his voice a little warmer now he’s talking to Newt. “I am going to get all the information I can and I am going to find Percy.”
Percy? Newt is starting to realise that his brother's friendship with Graves must have run far deeper than he'd know.
“Maybe I can help you?” Tina suggests hesitantly, eyeing him like she’s not quite sure what to make of him.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Newt blushes again. “I should have introduced you. Tina, this is my brother, Theseus Scamander. Thee, this Porpentina Goldstein – she’s an auror.”
“So you worked with Percival?” Theseus says flatly, evidently not particularly impressed by someone who managed not to notice that her boss had been replaced by the darkest wizard in the world for three months.
“She was demoted by Picquery,” Newt explains hurriedly, anxious to defend Tina. He’s come to feel very strongly for her and he simply couldn’t bear it if the other most important person in his life didn’t like her. “So she was removed from Mr Graves. It’s only thanks to her I’m not dead really, I could never have captured Grindelwald on my own.”
Theseus’s faces softens then, distress flaring in his eyes at the reminder of what his younger brother has gone through and Newt’s heart aches for him. He’s not seen his brother look so strained since the height of his trauma-induced nightmares after the war. He fights down the urge to hug him in front of the goblin and Tina and promise that everything will be all right.
“All right,” Theseus says quietly. “Thank you.”
When they reach the ground floor, they head out onto the swarming street. Newt and Tina draw their coats closer around them to stave off the winter chill.
“Where are your things?” Newt asks Theseus suddenly, realising that his brother has no overcoat on, no case, no luggage. Not even his usually-present Ravenclaw scarf.
“I’ve been in deep cover in Austria for four months,” Theseus responds distractedly. “Trying to crack Grindelwald’s inner circle. I’d only just got back to England when I got your letter about what had happened over here. I got a Transatlantic Portkey arranged and left the same hour; I didn’t bother waiting around to pack. I’ve got muggle money so the nearest hotel will do.”
“So your brother and Mr Graves were real close, huh?” Tina whispers to Newt as she leads them up Broadway to the nearest hotel.
“You know, I’m not sure,” Newt whispers back. “I know they served together in the war and they’ve kept in touch ever since. I thought they were just penpals, but I rather think they must be closer than I’d realised. I haven't seen him this upset in years, and it's more than just me being sentenced to death!”
Theseus checks in to the first hotel they pass. It’s upmarket and looks fairly swanky but Tina notes clearly money is not object; he pays upfront for week’s stay without batting an eyelid and heads straight up to the room.
It’s a large, well-furnished one, with a table and a couple of chairs as well as all the usual bedroom furniture. Theseus waves Tina and Newt into the chairs and conjures one for himself, taking off his suit jacket as he sits.
Fill Part 2 - Percival/Theseus
“…without trial! That is extrajudicial murder, Madam President! It is only through my brother's resourcefulness that I have not arrived to identify a corpse!”
“It was an error. We were unaware that….”
“Unaware? Unaware?!” Theseus’s icy voice drops another degree as he cuts off Picquery’s rather lacklustre explanation. “I view the condemnation of my brother to death as substantially more than an error, I assure you; as does the Ministry. Minister Fawley is considering taking the case to the International Confederation. It seems the President of MACUSA is ‘unaware’ of rather a lot of things. One of your best aurors – a decorated war hero - has been missing for three bloody months while Gellert fucking Grindelwald walked around wearing his face and no one noticed a damn thing?!”
Newt and Tina exchange apprehensive looks, but again Newt cannot really bring himself to sympathise with the target of his brother's ire; remembering how she had contemptuously dismissed Tina’s words when she’d first brought him in and then berated her for not having explained herself when the muggle senator was killed.
“Grindelwald is a master of deception. He was convincing…” Picquery begins.
Newt’s eyebrows disappear into his hairline at the string of profanity that follows and Tina’s jaw drops. Frankly, Newt hadn’t even realised that quite that many swear words existed; he’s pretty sure Theseus must have just made some of them up.
He’s never heard his brother swear like this before! He’s glad that his mother isn’t here; despite the fact that Theseus is thirty one, he’s pretty sure his brother would have been on the receiving end of a mouth washing spell.
“Convincing?” Theseus spits now; his face white with rage. “If you think for one second that Percival Graves would have condemned a man at the drop of a hat, that he would have endangered lives or preyed on the vulnerable then you don’t know him at all! He deserves fucking better than you. What are you doing to find him?” There’s something in his tone that Newt can’t quite place.
“Find him?” Picquery repeats, sounding dazed under such a verbal onslaught. “Mr Scamander, he’s been missing for three months. Grindelwald has given nothing away and our searches have come to nothing. Percival Graves was declared presumed dead last week and… where are you going?”
Theseus strides out the door, throwing it angrily open; Newt and Tina have to scramble back quickly to avoid getting hit by it. He pauses in the doorframe, contempt dripping from every fibre of his being.
“To hell with you and your incompetent tinpot amateurs!” he snarls. “I’ll find him my fucking self!”
Newt simply stares for a moment, then collects himself as he watches his brother head for the elevator. He hurries after him, Tina a few steps behind. “Theseus! Thee, wait!”
They join him in the elevator in just before the goblin slides the door closed. Newt realises in alarm that his brother is physically shaking and for a moment, he’s convinced that Theseus has tears in his eyes. His brother blinks sharply and then Newt is not sure whether or not he imagined them.
“What are you going to do now?” he asks in the gentle voice he keeps for the most skittish of his creatures, a calming hand on Theseus’s arm.
Theseus breathes deeply in through his nose, evidently trying to force composure on himself. “I am going to find somewhere to stay,” he says, his voice a little warmer now he’s talking to Newt. “I am going to get all the information I can and I am going to find Percy.”
Percy? Newt is starting to realise that his brother's friendship with Graves must have run far deeper than he'd know.
“Maybe I can help you?” Tina suggests hesitantly, eyeing him like she’s not quite sure what to make of him.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Newt blushes again. “I should have introduced you. Tina, this is my brother, Theseus Scamander. Thee, this Porpentina Goldstein – she’s an auror.”
“So you worked with Percival?” Theseus says flatly, evidently not particularly impressed by someone who managed not to notice that her boss had been replaced by the darkest wizard in the world for three months.
“She was demoted by Picquery,” Newt explains hurriedly, anxious to defend Tina. He’s come to feel very strongly for her and he simply couldn’t bear it if the other most important person in his life didn’t like her. “So she was removed from Mr Graves. It’s only thanks to her I’m not dead really, I could never have captured Grindelwald on my own.”
Theseus’s faces softens then, distress flaring in his eyes at the reminder of what his younger brother has gone through and Newt’s heart aches for him. He’s not seen his brother look so strained since the height of his trauma-induced nightmares after the war. He fights down the urge to hug him in front of the goblin and Tina and promise that everything will be all right.
“All right,” Theseus says quietly. “Thank you.”
When they reach the ground floor, they head out onto the swarming street. Newt and Tina draw their coats closer around them to stave off the winter chill.
“Where are your things?” Newt asks Theseus suddenly, realising that his brother has no overcoat on, no case, no luggage. Not even his usually-present Ravenclaw scarf.
“I’ve been in deep cover in Austria for four months,” Theseus responds distractedly. “Trying to crack Grindelwald’s inner circle. I’d only just got back to England when I got your letter about what had happened over here. I got a Transatlantic Portkey arranged and left the same hour; I didn’t bother waiting around to pack. I’ve got muggle money so the nearest hotel will do.”
“So your brother and Mr Graves were real close, huh?” Tina whispers to Newt as she leads them up Broadway to the nearest hotel.
“You know, I’m not sure,” Newt whispers back. “I know they served together in the war and they’ve kept in touch ever since. I thought they were just penpals, but I rather think they must be closer than I’d realised. I haven't seen him this upset in years, and it's more than just me being sentenced to death!”
Theseus checks in to the first hotel they pass. It’s upmarket and looks fairly swanky but Tina notes clearly money is not object; he pays upfront for week’s stay without batting an eyelid and heads straight up to the room.
It’s a large, well-furnished one, with a table and a couple of chairs as well as all the usual bedroom furniture. Theseus waves Tina and Newt into the chairs and conjures one for himself, taking off his suit jacket as he sits.
“Now,” he says gravely. “Tell me everything.”