Settling

Sawyer listened to it all, reaching a hand out to catch his pipe between his thumb and middle fingers, bringing the neck of it to his lips, where it rested between them. He inhaled, and he felt a warm, relaxing sensation spread throughout his body. This was the way he combated stress. This, his radio, some company. Too bad his company was bringing him unfortunate tidings.

He did not know any of those James listed as having potential sounded like they were worth the risk. Besides, he could never know exactly what that risk was until he gauged it for himself. sawyer trusted James' opinion, but this was more than either one of them could figure out on their own. They'd need to pool the wisdom of them both, with maybe a tip or two from Teddy, before they would know what to do for sure.

He plucked the pipe from his lips and set it down on the ashtray, still thinking as he looked at his cousin. "I'll come to the next meeting. It's been awhile. Perhaps we can talk Teddy into coming too, get the Troublesome Trio on the case. Then we can start doing something helpful."

((You find anyone interested in creating Teddy? ...erm, somebody with good roleplaying skills, I mean?))

James laughed.

"Oh, Matthew and the more traditional crew will love that!" he shouted, "I can't wait to see the look on their faces when you, me, and Teddy waltz into the next meeting!"

"...Louis will be pleased, though," he added as an afterthought.

James threw back another shot of whiskey, giving himself a mental note to buy Sawyer a new bottle. He always felt guilty about drinking all his boos. After four shots, James began to feel pleasantly warm, and like nothing could upset him. A tiny flicker of worry entered James' mind, as he realized that he had been on the drink more often than usual, but he waved it off. He was always sober when it counted.

"What about on your end?" James asked, "What's the word at the Ministry?"

Sawyer even felt a look of mischief and pleasure unfold on his face. Of the three of them, he was the most conventional, but he was so extreme and cutthroat in his methods that he was sure to shock wherever he went. With James' determination, and Teddy being the lovable oddball he was, they would definitely leave an impression.

"Louis is always pleased with us," Sawyer grumbled. "He's always been a bit clingy." Sawyer grinned.

He let out a sigh, stretching out in his armchair as he cracked his back and knuckles in the movement. James words made the air leave his lungs, letting out a sigh. "Well, I'm not sure yet. I've just started settling there, and everything's crazy. And with Nemo and Khaat gone, it'll be worse. I don't want to spread rumors... but Jack was covering up a lot of information on some really dangerous creatures and beings."

James raised an eyebrow, straightening right up in his seat.

"Oh, really?" he asked, barely able to contain his excitement, "Are these creatures that are still out in large, laying fear and waste to the wizarding world of today?"

James watched Sawyer eagerly. It's been awhile since he was able to go into a dangerous battle against a beast where there was no moral constrictions, no second-guessing himself, and no feeling guilty.

James reacted quite differently than Sawyer had hoped for, though it was certainly not out of character of James to simply see the potential for adventure that his words held. And it was incredibly like Sawyer to briefly ruin James' fun with reality.

"Unfortunately, that means there are some weighty crimes to be levelled against Jack. Though, with her roommate as the Head of Law Enforcement, she'll probably get off without a warning." He sighed. "And it's hard to get my work started with all of these hidden files. I can't even get names yet. There's a bunch of spells to undo."

((lol, guess the words 'covering up' didn't register until Sawyer pointed it out. XD ))

"Oh...right," James said, finally registering what it really meant for Jack to cover up dangerous creatures, "but why in the world would she want to cover up dangerous creatures?"

James frowned, a bit puzzled.

"For me, it's not a problem that she'll get away with it, but it's more of a problem as to why. Jack has always struck me as responsible in her duties. Have you mentioned these files to her? Asked about them at all?"

((It's okay. The Potters are pretty hot-headed anyway. They get ahead of themselves))

James deflated a bit and Sawyer smiled. The Potters, the whole lot of them, had always had what he loved to tease as 'selective hearing.' If you listed a horde of problems with a situation, but mentioned one tiny possibility for adventure, they were all gun-ho to get into the thick of the situation. Some habits died hard.

James continued on and Sawyer felt his own agitation build, forcing him out of his chair as he paced the area in front of James. "That's just it. It's out of character. She makes the interns fill out detailed sheets anytime they went in the habitat center to feed the animals or clean, but real dangerous creatures were allowed to run free. And one of them is a murderer. That's the only information I've been able to get from the files. And her team is unhelpful. They are completely loyal to her, they won't help me a bit. One of them, Beatrice, told me, and I quote, 'You wouldn't understand, cowboy. You'd piss yourself if you realized what she protected you from. She'll handle it.'" He sighed.

"Exactly what kind of creatures are we talking about here?" James asked, latching onto this new mystery, "I just can't imagine her putting anyone in danger, especially with that habit she has of blaming any death on herself....and this is supposedly protecting you from something."

James was now on the edge of his seat, seconds away from rising to his feet and pacing. He jangled one leg up and down excitedly, unable to sit still when his mind was burning with questions.

"Do you have any information at all...or any guesses? Perhaps I could weasel some information out of her after Quidditch practice..."

Sawyer's fists clenched and he shook his arms out. "That's just it! I don't know! The files were unreadable! I open them, and their gibberish! She used about a dozen different transfiguration spells on the words and papers and I've been trying to undo each one, but it's all guesswork."

He sighed. "Guesses? Well... I'm pretty sure there's a werewolf file or too, but those aren't as sensitive. There's one file... It's a spirit file. It's thick, and it nearly took off my hand when I first found it. The papers were all shredded. I had to arrange each piece by hand. And there has to be at least thirty spells on it. I'm still working on it." He sighed again, his hands rising to his head. "Whatever is in there is still at large and more dangerous than the whole department on its own can handle."

James shook his head, completely overwhelmed by this new information. How could Jack be keeping something so dangerous under wraps? He just couldn't see her putting the lives of others at risk, but from what he was gleaning from Sawyer, that seemed to be exactly what she was doing.

"Spirit?" James echoed, stroking his chin thoughtfully, "I wonder what sort of spirit it could be...normal ghosts are unable to cause serious harm, so I can't see that being something worth hiding. There are always Poltergeists, of course, which can be extremely dangerous if the fancy strikes them. I know that Peeves was mainly a prankster, but even he did things which could have seriously maimed or even killed a student. I was often relieved that the teachers were there to keep him from causing serious damage.

There are Dementors, of course, but being controlled by the Ministry...I just can't imagine her being able to keep that a secret. Banshees and Gytrash just don't seem like something that someone would want to be keeping secret or protecting either. I suppose there are always Demons, but I can't imagine Jack being insane enough to be holding up a deal with one of their lot.

I dunno, mate. The spirit thing has me more worried than anything about a werewolf. I can see Jack trying to protect a werewolf from persecution, but spirits. They can be tricky."