Escape

Matt followed Jack down the hallway. He couldn't help but look at the bewitched windows, he loved those things. He would occasionally catch a glance at his reflection and it would catch him off guard. He sighed heavily when they reached her office and he walked in slowly. He looked back at her as she entered herself and shut the door behind her. "My name's Matthew, but call me Matt; everyone does." he told her as he looked around her office. The sound and smell of the brewing coffee made his mouth water. "Right, green itch? You get kidnapped once and the whole world passes by in seconds." he sighed as he plopped into a chair in front of her desk. It was a comfortable chair, at least he hoped.

"Alright, I'm assuming you'll want to know what I was doing in the alley then?" he asked her rubbing his eyes. "I'll save you some trouble and tell you that I can't remember much between getting there and getting out." He absentmindedly reached into his pocket to pull out his wand. He liked to twirl it when he was deep in thought. Only to remember that he was dressed in rags and he had no idea where is wand was. "Oh come on." he muttered to himself. "I hope the emergency return I charmed on her works." He then realized he wasn't dressed well and began to blush. "I don't suppose you keep a robe or something in here?" he asked her grinning sheepishly.

He introduced himself and she recorded it carefully in her mind, closing the door behind her. He took a seat across from her desk and she went over to her little refreshment corner. She poured him a nice mug of coffee and set it on the desk in front of him. She opened her little fridge and pulled out a box of cookies and tossed them onto the desktop. People were typically hungry, and the Girl Guides cookies were sort of a vice of Jack's. Then again, who didn't have a weakness for them.

She nodded at his inquiry. "No cure yet. Don't worry, I haven't got it." He mentioned kidnapping and her eyebrows knitted together and she opened her mouth to ask more of it. However, he seemed to sense the inevitable, oncoming inquiry and filled in what he knew- which was relatively nothing. He asked for a robe and she nodded, moving to a closet and grabbed a work robe for working with dragons. She threw it to him and said, "So, what is your plan? You want to report them? I could call in the Head of Law Enforcement in a jiff."

Matt's eyes nearly pooped out of his head when the cookies came out. As soon as they were within arms reach he had them and was devouring them. Added with the coffee he couldn't ask for a better meal. When he had eaten a few cookies and had the robe on he began to think about it. "Thanks, by the way." he told her. "For saving my life, and everything..." He couldn't help but grin a bit. "It's not everyday you get to save a Lestrange's life." he smiled at her. "No need to panic, I'm the Black Sheep of the family...not evil." he added quickly. When she began to talk he racked his brain for answers. WHO had taken him, and why? "That's the thing, I can't remember..." he told her quietly. He looked crestfallen.

"Not that I'd let the law enforcement get a chance to look into it before me." he added. "I prefer not to get outside parties involved with my own matters. My name scares people off, that's why I rarely tell it to people." he leaned back in the chair and took another sip of the coffee. He had forgotten how wonderful it tasted, and it wasn't even that bitter. "Good coffee..." he said to her. "I'll need you to keep everything that happened tonight to yourself then. Can you do that for me? At least for now." he asked her.

Jack let him have a go at the chilled cookies while she headed back into the fridge to crack herself open a cola- ah, what couldn't soda do? After he withdrew his hand, she snagged a cookie and headed back to her desk to settle down n her chair. At his thank you, she responded casually, "No problem" as though she saved people's lives every day. Not every day... she had paperwork to do in between.

"No panic," she said levelly, drinking from her soda. "There's far more names that would send me into a flurry." A few of those names floatend vacanly into her mind, but before they left too big an impression on her expression, she looked up at Matt and said curtly, "Not that anyone should be afraid of a name, right? That's half of the battle, right there."

She nodded as he said he could not remember. He continued on to say he preferred his discretion in his personal matters and she said, "Of course." He requested for her to keep it between them and she said, "That is my policy here. And Edwin, the Healer, is well briefed on that too. Trust me, you were brought to the right place if you want a secret to be kept."

Matt liked this girl, she was calm and cool. But she was young, very young. Probably fresh out of Hogwarts. How on earth had she managed to gain a position of this authority in such short time. That was a mystery, it made her seem almost attractive. Matt loved a good mystery, but he snapped out of it. Although it had been a long while since he'd been in a relationship. His mind was drifting off into places that ought not to be drifted into. He realized he was staring blankly at this point and snapped out of his train of thought. Right, now what? That was the question at hand.

"Thank you, Jack!" he told her smiling. "I've been gone a while I don't know where to go after this." He looked around and nibbled on a cookie. "I suppose home might be a good idea. A good shower and some fresh clothes." he said to her. He hoped she would interject and mention coffee or something. He had never realized how alone he was right now. Sure, he had Jess and Khaat but that was about it. And with the new face he'd have to convince them that it was him and that was something he wasn't looking forward too.

He sighed heavily and leaned back in the chair, still nibbling on the same cookie. "I don't get it. Why would they want me?" he was speaking more to himself. He did that quite a lot nowadays. He was his only company he didn't absolutely loathe in that lair. He had become one of his best friends. And he wasn't quite sure who he could trust. But there was definitely something about Jack that made her come across as something trustworthy. He had changed down there, he just didn't know how yet.

He thanked her and she shrugged, drinking from her soda. He wondered aloud what he was to do and she said, "I'm probably going to be here late anyway, since I'm here I have paperwork to sift through. You can hang out until you've got a plan or arrangements." If things fell through with his plans, Jack's home was like an inn as of late, mostly with out of work werewolves. In any case, Jack was always prepared for company. One kidnapped, disoriented man with a new face would not put her under too much strain.

He brought up his own home and Jack nodded. "No place like it." She spotted a misplaced file on her desk and sighed, scooping it up and shoving it away in one of her drawers. Suddenly, Matt expressed his confusion over his situation. Jack shrugged. "It's a weird environment you are in, Matt. Times are strange and uncertain. There's mot much of an explanation for anything."

Matt was still deep in thought as Jack spoke. He caught bits and pieces of what she said but really didn't pay too much head to it. He really didn't feel like going home, if he still had one. He had been gone a very long time and he doubted his apartment was still his. He could chill at Grimmauld Place until he found a new place. He hoped all his stuff was okay. His wand was in his home, that was what he cared about most. Suddenly, he felt heat coming from his pocket. His eyes widened but Jack didn't notice, he felt his pocket and his wand was in there. It kept all his strength of making a noise or any notice that it had happened but he managed not to give anything away. What the hell had just happened.

He was having one of the most bizarre days of his life. He then realize he was staring at Jack. "Sorry, uh, thanks. I just need to get myself together then I'll be on my way." he told her. He wondered if everything was connected, but he shook that thought. No way, way too complex for a simple man like him. He sighed and rubbed his forehead. Summer was definitely on it's way, which meant he could enjoy the beach. The thought of the beach and sunlight brought a smile to him. And to brighten up the situation he decided to make actual conversation with Jack. "So, summer's on it's way. Are you a summer girl Jack?" he asked her.

Matt had taken a brief respite from devouring the cookies she had set out, and Jack took the opportunity to lean forward and grab a cookie for herself. She took a bite and thanked the day she had wandered down muggle London and had been solicited by the guides to surrender her muggle petty cash in exchange for their delectable, addicting cookies. Best waste of money, ever.

Matt suddenly looked up at her and she swallowed her cookie, saying, “You okay?” He excused himself but offered no explanation. He told her he was fine and she nodded. He suddenly changed the subject and she shrugged. “I don’t know. I used to be during my Hogwarts years- I’d travel from the day we left Hogwarts until September 1st. Being Head of a Department means no summer vacation though.”

Matt scoffed at her words. "Being head of department means you make your own hours." he said to her. "You run the place, you could give yourself three months of vacation if need be. Surely you have someone who could hold down the fort while you're away?" he took another cookie. The cookies were really good, and now that he had the slightest bit of nutrition in him he was returning back to his normal self. He munched on the cookie and then it came to him, he needed a job.

But he couldn't run a department at the ministry. He was barely qualified to be a worker drone in this department. His expertise lay in the medical field and charms. Maybe charms teacher? Or a mental healer at St. Mungos, they'd probably be looking for work. But he wanted to get himself in order before he thought about getting a new job. His old one was probably long gone, not that he remembered what it was.

Jack smirked and said, "I wish it worked that way. You still have the higher-ups to deal with. And, of course, I do care about my job. Do you realize what would happen if I took a week off, just a week? I guarantee that the greater London area would be plunged into relative chaos." Perhaps she was pumping up her job a bit, but she did keep the werewolves at bay.

She shook her head at his words. "Not really. I have a crack team on interns that are brilliant but the whole lot of them are hermits. It's bad enough getting them to come in for work as it is."