It was rare to see Jace Archwood out of his tower- literally, the merlIN owlery tower was his domain and his alone. When he emerged, skulking about the corridors in search for coffee or snacks, there was always one or more new hire who was taken aback by the presence of this wild mountain man. Yet with Archwood overseeing all incoming and outgoing messages, the organization ran like a well oiled machine. And if the man’s sole requests were to a) be left alone and b) no seriously leave him alone, no one was going to argue with that.
So it was a singularly unusual day when Jace combed his hair, put on his best tshirt (no holes) and jeans (clean) in order to meander his way down into the central intelligence office.
“Oh—” If Raleigh was surprised, she quickly recovered. “Jace honey, what can I do for you? Haircut?”
“Figured this was important,” he explained in his taciturn way. She took the envelope he handed to her, the back emblazoned with the ministry seal. There had been little good news coming from the Ministry of late, with a new Minister at the helm and a series of increasingly oppressive laws being shuffled slyly into place. This letter was no exception. “Oh.” She said flatly when she reached the end. “Oh, well. Yes. .. Shit.” She looked up, prepared to release a veritable tidal wave of questions upon the correspondence analyst- and found he had already slipped away. As far as Jace Archwood was concerned, he’d done his job, intelligence could take care of the rest. … And considering the fact that he still had nightmares about the last time Raleigh had attacked his head with a pair of scissors, there was no way in hell he was sticking around, thank you very much.
“How did you find me, Ryther.” Professor Aldrichgate’s voice was weary— and irritated.
“I’m in the business of intelligence, Professor, and you’re quite intelligent- couldn’t exactly let you slip by, could I?” Raleigh smiled, all charm, even as she put out a hand to keep Orrick from reaching for his hip flask. He shook her off.
“I already told you, I’m not working for the ministry, I’m not working for the council, and I’m definitely not working for merlIN. Had enough of G-Men to last me my whole life, thanks.” He muttered around his bottle, his words taking on a slight slur as he slumped in his chair, set to ignore her, set to enjoy the next hour and a half of his high. Her next words, however, sobered him right back up.
“We have a particularly difficult problem, Professor, one which requires your specific attention. Do you remember Samuel Chamberlain?”
“I could swear I’ve seen that girl before,” Damian shook his head, as if to clear it of the cobwebs obstructing his memory. “Raleigh- what do you know about her?”
“Her? New hire, graduate of Hogwarts class of ‘04, muggle parents, not dating anyone special. I can ask Rider for her file..” Raleigh answered, leaning over the railing to get a better look at the departing intern. “I’d never even heard of her until she was hired.”
”You? You never heard of someone? That’s not a tiny bit suspicious?”
Donoven Ender smiled grimly as he made his way down the hallways of merlIN HQ. He pulled at a forelock of his now blonde hair- it was taking on a pinkish hue. Time for another dose of pollyjuice, it would appear, although he figured he had better find a new body to inhabit- that is, if that insufferable Ryther was going to start getting nosy. It was too bad, he had struck up sort of a comradeship with the blonde 30something year old in his basement. True- she couldn’t exactly talk right now, but she made a great listener.
“So what’s this fucking nonsense here, kitten, they got you working bitch detail? Cause I can think of a hundred better uses for those hands, some of which you’re already aware of—” The only thing redder than Harrison Rider’s face was his Sanrio clipboard, and it was with a thankful bow of the head that he dashed from the room when Heath excused him.
Atticus looked his once-housemate over and rolled his eyes, his tone abrasive. “Where’s the big guy? Scarface? Thought I was getting hired to do a JOB, here.”
“Yeah, but Raleigh thought maybe you’re the kind of guy that not everyone needs to know is here. Kind of- the guy no one needs to know you were ever here.” Heath explained bluntly. Atticus shrugged, a feral grin playing across his features. This job was sounding better and better, and if Rider was working it, then, well..
“Save your breath, Heath, I get it. No one knows I’m here, no one knows what I’ll be doing, and should I kick the bucket—”
“It’ll be a small service, attendance of nobody, correct.” Damian completed with a wry smirk. “Glad we’re on the same page.”
“Well then, guess we ought to get down to the details-“ Atticus was interrupted by a yell of pure glee- a familiar, painfully familiar sound, giving him only the chance to hiss out a hurried “fuck—” before Kiril body slammed into him. Followed by Tal. Followed by Farley.
Heath observed the dog pile at his feet with disinterest, shrugging finally, and walking away. To hell with secrecy then, and to hell with breaking that up— way above his pay grade.
“So that’s, um, well that’s basically that..” Harrison Rider, administrative assistant extraordinaire, lowered his clipboard and surveyed the expressions of the people around him. His news was grave. Their faces graver- except for one, Shae McFarlane. Her face had the expression of a kid on Christmas morning- she was Ralphie, and he had just given her the Red Ryder BB gun.
“We can’t get in there, we’ll be completely fucking outnumbered.” Julius Pendleton said in his guttural tone, his jaw working to conceal the anger that was building- which quickly melted when Faith placed a hand at his arm to calm him.
“We don’t have a choice, Julius. Brooke knows everything—”
“Hell YES we have a choice!” Shae burst out, grinning as she stepped into the light. Her heart was racing, her eyes lit up with an almost manic glee. This, this, was what she had been waiting months for in this boring hole they called headquarters. To get outside again, to see the sky again— “No wizard can get in there, true, but I’d like to see a fortress that can keep out a dragon— one of my dragons. I say we find the bitch— and we light her up.”
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