"Jax! You should have my phone number!" Harrie called out, running back out of the bedroom, right out of the house, and right into him. "If we're gonna do this."
Jax grinned and just nearly caught her, reaching out his hands to curl around her shoulders. "That'd be helpful, you think?"
Harrie stuck her tongue out at him, enjoying being held this way but unwilling to admit it out loud. "Unless you want to be contacted by a giant, silver buck?"
"The newest prospect is vegetarian. I'm sure he'd appreciate that," Jax teased even as he drew out his phone, stepping back and giving her space.
Harrie snorted. "Yeah, I'm sure. Give him a heart attack but yeah. Sure."
Jax laughed at her look, giving her a curious look over. "Is that what that glowy deer is for?"
"It can pass messages," Harrie confirmed, watching as he flipped it open, scrolled through options for contacts. She listed off her number to him, running a hand through her hair unconsciously. "Its main purpose is to scare off dark creatures, like dementors."
Jax lifted an eyebrow. Harrie shook her head. "You don't want to know. Besides, I don't think there are any dementors in America. MACUSA outlawed them several years ago."
"Outlawed? That mean there are laws? And MACUSA?" Jax asked, his eyes nearly lighting up at the new information.
Harrie grinned thoughtfully. "Yeah. There are laws. MACUSA is the Magical Congress of the USA. It's the governing body here."
"Chibs mentioned something about MACUSA when you two talked yesterday," Jax said, withdrawing his hands and pulling his kutte off the hook on the wall next to them. "Your job with them?"
"It's with the local branch of it," Harrie explained, nodding in answer. "I'll explain later."
Jax nodded back and typed something into his phone, smirking and making Harrie a little suspicious. She pulled out her own phone and saw it buzz with a new text from an unknown number. She glanced down at it and then snorted. "You're hilarious."
So much for world domination?
"I try," Jax remarked, smirking and lazily drawing a salute as he turned and walked to the door. Harrie laughed quietly and entered in Jax's information into her phone, filling out the contact list a little more. It was a short list, numbering five people, all in the wizarding world, well… except for her cousin.
As soon as Jax left, Harrie made a beeline for the shower, pulling her things from her trunk and looking around the small bathroom. The lone window in the room let in the mid afternoon sun, letting it shine through the blinds. She grinned, closed the door behind her and undressed, seeing Jax's things spread out around the sink. She left her own things in the corner opposite his, leaving them be for the time being.
There was a pile of wet towels and dirty clothes in the corner of the bathroom, making Harrie's nose wrinkle. She poked her head out, having seen the washer and dryer in the utility room down the hall. She waved a hand over the pile, using just the slightest bit of magic, the barest pulse, and sending the dirty things flying out of the bathroom. She didn't even wait to see if they made it to their destination before turning on the water in the shower.
She had used charms to clean herself up for the past couple of days but now… just seeing the water warm and sending steam onto the glass walls of the stall sent eager goosebumps up her skin. Harrie stepped in once it was warm enough and let out a loud sigh as the water cascaded over her body, muttering a charm under her breath.
Music began to play around her, soft, classical, and she leaned her forehead against the wall for a minute or two, just breathing.
When the music switched to some kind of pop music a couple of minutes later, she snorted and began to wash herself. "I'm pretty sure I didn't switch the music myself."
"My avatar isn't going to listen to just classical music. Bah, that's boring."
Harrie rolled her eyes and finished conditioning her hair, washing it out and shutting off the water. "You'd think that since I'm the Master of Death, that Death would… you know… listen to me."
"I'm you, dearest Master. We are one and the same."
"Yeah, but I don't know who this…" Harrie paused and listened to the music some more. "Taylor Swift is."
"You haven't even gone clubbing since you went on your so called vacation. You should go."
Harrie huffed out a surprised laugh as she pushed open the door of the shower stall, staring right at Death itself. It sat there, on the back of the toilet, cloaked in black and tall, sitting like it had nowhere better to be. Death reached out a skeletal hand towards her and a large towel appeared in its bony palm, hanging over a finger. Harrie sighed in amusement but took it anyway, wrapping it around her form. She didn't particularly give a shit about Death seeing her naked, seeing as Death was her. Or would be her? Or something. At least she knew Death wouldn't say anything to anyone.
"I have business to tend to. Why are you here anyway?"
"You're not answering the wand's call," Death remarked, its low voice gravelly. Death never had a hint of gender to its voice but if Harrie really listened, listened properly, she could make out an older woman's voice. Her voice.
"I am," Harrie muttered, drying herself off and wrapping the towel around her. It was warm, like Death had prewarmed the towel for her in that instant. "I'm here, aren't I? The elder wand drew me here. Our wand. Besides, when did that become a thing?"
Death rumbled lightly and stood up, swinging its legs off the toilet to stand in front of her. "You saw a spirit, did you not?"
Harrie scowled and then swore under her breath as she gathered fresh clothes, turning her back to Death for the moment. "I did. You said I should come here. Is it for that spirit? Are we… meddling here in SAMCRO's business? Because I don't want to meddle."
"If you stay Jackson Teller's roommate, yes, you will be meddling," Death said, floating around to face her, drawing up a skeletal hand and brushing ghostly fingers against her cheek.
Harrie took a step back and threw up her hands in exasperation. Her magical core was almost purring at having Death this close to her and she didn't know if it was kinky or not but she didn't care. She'd made friends with Death at the ripe old age of 17.
"Besides, it is not like we dislike meddling," Death teased, making Harrie shiver as it raised its voice. "You know very well that you are curious."
"Fine. Yes, I'm curious. I don't see spirits that often. Are you… Do I end up staying?" Harrie finally asked, tilting her head. "Actually, don't answer that. I don't want to know."
Death let out its own equivalent of a laugh, high pitched and rumbly, and then vanished.
Harrie scowled again and tightened her hold on her power before dressing, pulling on a pair of shorts and a light red t-shirt, and brushing her hair out. She cleaned up her mess, glancing at the only one towel bar, and shrugging before waving her hand over it. One towel bar became two, the metal copying itself and the second one moving and planting itself into the wall right next to the first one. She draped her towel over that one and walked out of the bathroom, padding out into the kitchen.
She eyed that newspaper again but pulled out her phone first, dialing the number that she had saved yesterday.
It rang a few times as she opened up the newspaper, turning the pages until she found the ads section. The phone call connected a minute later and she pulled back from the paper for now.
"Hello? Who is this?"
"This is Director Haynes. Who is this?"
Harrie nodded even though the guy couldn't see her. "This is Agent Potter of MI-6. I have information on one of your agents that you might be interested in."
Haynes was silent for a moment before Harrie heard him yell for someone in his office. She could hear someone typing away on a computer and then Haynes' breath hitched in quiet surprise.
"And what gives you the authority to tell us about one of our agents? You are MI-6."
"I'm in California. It's Agent Joshua Kohn."
"Kohn… Kohn… That name does not seem familiar," Haynes remarked.
Harrie let out a hum of consideration, her gaze stopping on one of the ads in the classified section. It was for office space in a small storefront, right next to a barber shop. The noise sounded muffled for the next few minutes, maybe Haynes getting his employees to track down information about Kohn.
When Haynes spoke next, he sounded suspicious, his voice low. "Agent Kohn works from the Chicago office. His file says he's on leave for vacation."
"I'd recheck that information. He's here in Charming, California under false pretenses," Harrie remarked idly, reaching out for a pen that was sitting on the table and circling the ad. She made a note to ask Jax about downtown Charming, see what was what here. And probably fill him in on her new job too. Or maybe… she could check two things off the list at the same time. See what that spirit was doing at the clubhouse and meet the other Sons too. "Using his badge to stalk a woman."
"Thank you for the information, Agent." Abrupt and solid. Harrie grinned, knowing that Haynes had just come around to listening to her. Maybe he had found enough info on her that he was taking what she had said under serious review.
"You're welcome."
Harrie tucked her phone away, dropping it on the table, and propping her hip against it. "Check that off the list. Now…"
Now she had to get that fireplace in the living room connected to the floo network and then contact the Head of Magical Law Enforcement in New York. The talk with Death had put her on edge but it wasn't like the being had said there was a threat. Or an apocalypse on the horizon.
Harrie idly glanced around the kitchen, seeing a few empty beer bottles stacked next to the sink, and ignored them for now. She'd gotten lunch while flying back from Sacramento but dinner… She walked right over to the refrigerator and pulled it open, entirely not surprised that it didn't contain anything remotely food like. Beer and a carton of milk that once she took a sniff of, stunk to the high heavens. She sighed and then called Kreacher.
The quiet crack announced the house elf's arrival and Kreacher looked up at her, his eyes a little old. "Mistress?"
She took a moment to answer and in that space, Kreacher's nose wrinkled in dismay as he looked into the open fridge.
"This is to be Mistress Harrie's new home?" Kreacher questioned, disbelief in his eyes and voice.
Harrie snorted at Kreacher's disapproving tone. "I took a job here, Kreacher. I need somewhere to stay that's local. And I like Jax."
Kreacher stared up at her, blinked once then twice. "I shall stock the fridge and fetch your trunks that you left behind."
"Thanks. Don't let anyone see you," Harrie said, tilting her head at the thought. "I haven't told Jax about house elves yet."
Kreacher sniffed dramatically and vanished.
Harrie smiled faintly and then apparated to Sacramento, checking in with her new boss and getting information about the floo network. By the time she got back to Charming and her new home, the refrigerator was stocked up, with her things on one side and Jax's on the other. The kitchen was clean, sparkling so, no beer bottles out, no trash, no faint stain that she could sense had been blood. Blood that had been cleaned out with bleach.
Her nose wrinkled at the thought, faint worry curling in her gut, before she set it aside. She propped her hip against the counter, looking out over the living room. The floo network official was due to arrive in a few minutes so in the meantime, she would go over the many file boxes that she'd grabbed. Or at least the ones she had yet to skim over.
Jax steered his bike into Tara's driveway, her arms around his waist, parking at the edge of it and turning the engine off. Having Tara behind him on his bike was… definitely different than having Harrie there. Harrie was warm and open, her green eyes bright with amusement. Tara was less so, closed off and secretive, having asked for a ride home after her shift at the hospital. This Tara was different from the woman that had left Charming 10 years ago, running hot and then cold a minute later.
He waited for her to get off and then glanced behind them nonchalantly, spotting that silver car parked a few houses down from them. It had followed them from the hospital and he hadn't been able to get a good look at the driver but… It couldn't be the Mayans. They'd be on bikes. So why… Besides, the Mayans knew better than to come right into Charming.
"Appreciate the lift," Tara remarked, her eyes flickering between Jax and the street behind them and then back as she unbuckled the helmet.
"No problem," Jax replied, shrugging and stepping towards Tara's porch. "There something wrong with the Cutlass?"
Tara shook her head, her shoulders curled, straying away from his touch. "It's at the hospital."
"Still not running right?" Jax questioned, shifting his weight between feet as he looked at her.
"It's running okay," Tara said, her attention clearly elsewhere, clutching her shoulder bag with a white knuckled grip.
"This worry I'm getting here? Have anything to do with the car that's been following us?" Jax asked, lifting an eyebrow, wondering what kind of reaction his words would get.
Tara stiffened and sucked in a breath, her gaze going right to the street. When she spotted the car and the driver, her eyes went wide and she began to back up, heading for her door. Jax's heart skipped a beat at the way she looked, very clear fear in her eyes, and followed her, glad of his kutte and his knife on his belt.
"Tara. The hell's going on?"
Tara pulled her keys out of her pocket and gripped them tightly in her fingers as Jax stopped in front of her. She swallowed and then sighed. "That ATF agent that's been looking into you guys? I think he's here for me."
Jax blinked and took a step to close the distance between them, his heart pounding in his chest. "What do you mean?"
"I was with him in Chicago. It got violent. I tried to end it; he started stalking me," Tara admitted, taking a shuddering breath.
Jax scowled and turned away, dropping his hand down to grip his knife. He passed his bike and stalked right over to the car that had followed them, to the ATF agent that was threatening Tara.
"Jax! Don't! He's dangerous!" Tara yelled after him from the porch.
The fear in her voice just made him more determined to threaten Agent Kohn. He turned around to gesture to Tara's door before heading over to her stalker's car. "Get inside and lock the door."
He strolled right over to the silver vehicle and the guy that was just getting out of it. Jax smirked at the man, pulled his knife out from the holster and stabbed it right into the car's radiator, hearing it hiss and sputter. Fluids shot out from it and his smirk widened as the other man stood in front of him, leaving his sunglasses on.
"Vandalism. Deadly weapon. That's six months in county, asshole," Kohn threatened. Jax knew Kohn was glaring at him through his shades. The man practically radiated hostility now, trying to be intimidating, all puffed out government agent.
"Violating a restraining order? You'll be in the cell next to me," Jax retorted, peering into the man's eyes without blinking. "They teach you how to suck a dick in ATF school?"
Kohn's mouth twitched, putting his hands on his belt. "Badass biker."
The words and Kohn's voice were unimpressed, unintimidated, and Jax took an extra step towards him, sheathing his knife.
"You guys gave it your best shot. You got nothing on SAMCRO. And you harassing Tara? That ends here. Or next time it won't be your piece of shit car I'm draining fluid from," Jax remarked, shrugging at Kohn's annoyed expression.
"You threatening a federal agent?" Kohn questioned, something dangerous in his voice. Jax had faced worse than Kohn before, the Mayans and Clay… Tig to name a few. "You and that bitch of a woman both. She your new girl? You've clearly rubbed off on her."
Jax blinked, taken aback. "Which girl?"
Kohn snorted and finally slipped his shades off, arching an eyebrow. "I was just visiting Tara at the hospital when she interrupted us. The bitch ordered me away like she was my boss."
Kohn's eyes darkened as he spoke and his voice wavered only a little bit, his tone laced with ugly intent. "I wonder if she has any outstanding warrants. Perhaps I can arrange for the local PD to check into that."
Jax scowled, knowing exactly what Kohn was talking about. Harrie hadn't told him about seeing Kohn at the hospital but neither had Tara, though he hadn't asked. "The fuck were you doing at the hospital?"
"Oh, Dr Knowles asked me to visit her there," Kohn said, his mouth curling up in a sneer.
"We both know you're full of bullshit," Jax retorted, anger roiling through him at the thought of Kohn going after Harrie. "Go away. That's my last warning."
He turned away, giving Kohn his back, and walked back to Tara's door, knocking on it after a minute. The door opened within seconds and Tara let him in, glancing at him anxiously, like she expected to see blood on his kutte or bruised knuckles.
"Was Kohn at the hospital?" Jax asked, crossing his arms and looking at Tara, as she looked between him and the door.
Tara sighed and turned away, pacing back and forth in the living room. "Yes, okay, he was watching Abel a couple of times."
"Fuck. Why the hell didn't you tell me, Tara?" Jax scowled again at the thought. "Kohn said that Harrie was there too. What'd she do?"
Tara grimaced and stopped pacing to glare at him. Her eyes were bright with annoyance, with a kind of muted fear. "Jax! We're not together anymore! I'm not going to tell you what goes on in my day to day life now!"
Jax stared at Tara. "If he was watching Abel, it is my business! He's my kid, Tara! Kohn's dangerous! What did he say to Harrie?"
Tara huffed out an exasperated noise before scowling. "She threatened him. Said to get the fuck out of the NICU. Reminds me of you actually except for the English accent."
"Threatened him? He didn't…"
"She figured out he wasn't here for SAMCRO," Tara murmured, glancing at him warily.
Jax stared at her and rocked back on the heels of his feet, his heart beating like a rabbit in his chest. The look in Kohn's eyes as he spoke of Harrie, of Tara, worried him. What if Jax had drawn Harrie into something she couldn't handle? Jax didn't know what Harrie had said to Kohn or to Stahl, didn't know… "Fuck!"
David Hale turned to look at the hallway behind him, watching as Jax Teller walked right into the Charming police department with not a care in the world. He sighed, his mouth turning up in a slight scowl as the other officers ignored Jax, preferring to look the other way at a Son. Jax walked in like he owned the place, not giving a shit that there were police officers around the station. Like SAMCRO wasn't under investigation for gun running.
"You gotta rein in your ATF boyfriend," Jax ordered, coming to a stop in front of Hale.
Hale crossed his arms and shrugged, glancing down at the files in his hands. And remembering the phone call that their office had just received a half an hour ago. "Agent Kohn isn't on my payroll. I don't keep tabs."
"Yeah, well, maybe you should," Jax argued. "He's not here for SAMCRO, Hale. He's here for Tara."
Hale blinked and then glanced down at the papers. "What the hell do you mean?"
"He was stalking her in Chicago. This guy is nuts," Jax retorted. "He's gonna hurt her or someone else!"
Hale cleared his throat. "Then well, it's good that he's been ordered back to Chicago."
Jax looked at him disbelievingly, suspicion in his blue eyes, his chin jutted out in anger.
"We just received a call from the Chicago ATF office," Hale offered calmly, gesturing to the papers on his desk. "Kohn's in a lot of trouble. He's due back to their office."
"He's gonna do something," Jax countered, glaring at him.
"Hale? Let's go, hotshot!"
Hale and Jax both turned to see Chief Unser walking by them, clearly about to head out of the station.
Unser glanced at Jax before focusing on Hale, speaking loudly, clearly for Jax's benefit. "Water and Power just dug up some old bones out on 44."
"Be there in a minute," Hale called back, watching as his boss left through the hallway.
"Kohn is my problem," Hale spoke through gritted teeth, turning back to Jax. "I will handle it."
Jax just watched him, challenge sharpening his glare. "You better, man, or I'm gonna."