Newt walked up the steps of the Woolworth building, his stomach in knots. He hoped Tina knew what she was doing.

"You said he lost the wand permit?" Tina said to him as they neared the top.

"Yes, I'm afraid so." He replied in his American accent.

Tina turned to the man guarding the door, he nodded his head and opened the door. They walked in, the usual building morphing into the MACUSA building. Queenie was going to come in later, just so things didn't look suspicious. They walked across the open area, people going the other way towards the door. They had made it just before the lunch hour. Tina leaned in next to him.

"If anyone asks, we're going to get another Wand Permit because you're brother-in-law lost his, okay?"

Newt nodded his head.

They kept walking, not daring to make eye contact with anyone. They reached the elevator, the bell boy just getting ready to leave. He looked up, scowling.

"Goldstein? Right before lunch, on a day you have off? This better be really good." He growled.

"I-I-"

"It's a Wand permit," Newt said. "My brother-in-law needs one. He's visiting from the Netherlands."

Tina turned, surprised.

"We can manage ourselves, you're welcome to go to lunch."

A smirk crept across the goblin's face.

"Well ain't that generous of you?"

He walked out of the elevator.

"Just don't break it."

They got into the elevator. It was fairly large with a glass ceiling. Tina pressed the button for the basement. They started descending.

"You looked at me oddly earlier, did I do something wrong?" Asked Newt, hoping to break the silence.

"No, no you didn't," Tina said quickly. "It's just, I just didn't expect you to speak up, that's all."

Newt smiled slightly. It was true, he rarely intervened like that.

"Oh."

Tina smiled back at him. The elevator came to a stop and the doors opening, revealing a dimly lit area. They stepped out, a chilly draft greeted them.

"Follow me."

Newt followed Tina through the concrete rooms, tables were in corners, papers stacked ceiling high on them, boxes everywhere.

"It's not the cleanest down here, or the most sanitary," she said as they walked by a cluster of cobwebs on a pile of boxes.

"Nobody ever comes down here. It's all mostly storage, you think it wouldn't kill them to clean a bit."

They made it to the back, it cut off to a cement wall. Newt expected it was hidden, but it didn't make much sense since everyone here was a witch or wizard. Tina pulled out her wand and muttered a spell, causing the wall to open, revealing a door.

"How did you find this?" Newt asked, ducking his head under the low doorway.

"That's classified."

Newt smiled.

They walked across the room, filing cabinets were everywhere. It looked like a library, just no books. The room itself wasn't big, it was a cramped, dusty room. Tina stopped at a cabinet, it looked like any other one. She opened it up and rummaged through it.

"Gaber... Gerund... Girlin... Ah, here we go!" Tina said, pulled out a yellow folder, holding it triumphantly.

"Is that it?"

Tina handed it to Newt. He opened it, the first thing he saw was what looked like a small plastic bag with a hair in it along with.

He looked up at Tina.

"They really do have everything in here, don't they?"

Tina chuckled and took back the folder.

"They add to this once a day, just sending paper mice to put the papers in here. They don't bother coming down to review it."

There was a loud POP! from behind them. They both turned and saw Queenie and Jacob, both panting heavily.

"Pat... coming... we need to leave," She breathed, barely getting the words out.

"What? Where is he?" Tina asked.

Queenie stiffened, they all heard footsteps coming from out of the room.

"Hey! Who's in here?!"

They all looked around, panicking. Before anyone could react, however, Pat was already in the doorway.

"Tina?!"

Newt watched Tina whip around at the mention of her name.

"What in the world are you doing in here?"

Tina stood paralyzed. He heard a few stuttered words come out of her mouth. Newt didn't know what to say either.

"L-listen, Pat, I can explain-"

"Tina, why are you down here?" He repeated. There was a hint of fear in his voice if Newt didn't know any better.

"We just needed some information."

"About who?"

There was a long pause, Tina obviously didn't want to say it.

"Grindelwald."

Newt saw Pat tense like a spring, but nobody else seemed to notice.

"What do you want to know?" Pat asked, almost cautiously.

"Anything we can find," replied Tina.

Pat looked around, then back at Tina.

"Listen, I might know a few things but you can't tell a soul, you hear me?"

Tina nodded. Newt looked back at Queenie and Jacob. Jacob was leaned against a cabinet while Queenie was staring at Pat intensely. He looked at her curiously, after a second she noticed Newt. She furrowed her brows, her mouth set in a straight line and shook her head. He was blocking her out.

"I swear."

He motioned for them to follow him. He led them across the room to an empty shelf. He took out his wand and waved it, the cabinet sinking into the ground and an opening in place of where it had been.

"In here, eavesdropping spells are everywhere down here."

They walked in, the room was dark and dusty. It didn't seem like anyone had been there in years, but it was hard to tell seemings he could see anything.

"Lumos," said Pat from behind him.

The room lit, after a second of Newts eyes adjusting the room had shown itself as just an empty room with wood floors and cement walls. Nothing at all compared to the upstairs.

"Okay, so what do you know?" Tina asked.

"A lot of things. What do you want to know?" He replied, his tone deepening a bit. A chill went down Newt's back.

"Would you have any idea where he is?"

"Last he said, he was heading north."

Newt took a moment to process what he said. He saw Pats face turn to a devilish grin as he backed up towards the door.

"Sorry, but we can't have people like you interfering with our plans."

"Look out!" Newt yelled, already knowing what Pat was about to do. He ran at him, ramming into Pat's side, knocking him over.

Newt caught himself as Pat fell with a heavy thud on the wood floors. He pulled out his wand, pointing it at the man laying on the ground below him.

"What are you gonna do? Kill me?" He taunted. Newt kept his position.

Pat stared at him, grinning, an insane look in his eye.

"I don't think so," he said. He moved so quickly Newt barely knew what was happening until a force hit him in the back, sending him forward. His head hit the ground violently, making him go dizzy.

"Cute attempt though."

Pat kneeled down next to his head, peering down at him. Newt breathed heavily, squeezing his eyes shut as the fog in his brain still tried to clear.

Suddenly there was a flash of light, and Pat was thrown across the room, hitting the wall. Newt lifted his head up, Tina was standing across the room, gripping her wand tightly.

"Pat always did seem off to me," Queenie said.

Newt stood up, brushing off his clothes. Thankfully his head didn't hurt much. Usually, he could rebound from simple hits much quicker.

"You good?" Asked Jacob. Newt nodded his head.

Pat lay on the ground motionless, his head lolled to the side. Newt looked closer, to his relief he was still breathing. He wouldn't of expected Tina to kill him.

"I can't believe we were double-crossed in less than two minutes," she said, putting her wand in her coat.

"He was a follower."

"I've known him forever, I just can't believe he would do this."

"Hold up, if he was a follower, who's to say there ain't another on their way?" Jacob mentioned.

"He has a point, it ain't safe here. We should leave," Queenie said.

Tina glanced back at the limp Pat. "What about Pat? There's no way we could turn him in without being asked about being down here."

"You all just go upstairs, I'll handle it," Newt decided.

"What about-?"

"I'll just say I was lost," he ran a hand through his still black hair. Tina gave him a look of disapproval.

"I'll be fine, you can't risk getting in trouble. I'll meet you outside."

She crossed her arms. "Why do I feel like this won't end well?"

Newt smiled, remembering him and her's conversation at the bakery.

"Because you worry too much."

Tina chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"Okay. Meet us outside, but if you don't show in ten minutes we're coming back."

He nodded his head, and with a POP! Tina, Queenie, and Jacob were gone.

…...

"You said he was in the back, is that correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"What were you doing back there?"

Newt sat in a wood chair, not handcuffed, but still being interrogated. His mind a pool of worry wondering if it had been ten minutes yet. The interrogation was taking longer than he had thought.

"I was lost." He lied. "However I had managed to get down there was beyond me."

The man in front of him was dressed in a long black overcoat, flipping through a clipboard. Was the most unnerving was that the man was none other than Percival Graves.

"So you were lost." He scribbled a few notes down on his pad. "Why were you all the way in the back?"

"I heard somebody, so I thought they could tell me what floor I was on."

Graves looked up from the clipboard.

"And that's where you found him?"

"Yes."

He sighed and put the clipboard down on the desk.

"Mr. Scamander, you are definitely a better liar than I gave you credit for."

Newts jaw dropped.

"How did you know?"

"I'm an investigator, looking past disguises is my job."

"Did you know about Pat?"

"Alas, I did not, but rest assured he's locked up."

Newt found it so weird, he had seen Graves so many times before, but it wasn't ever really him. It was Grindelwald in disguise. He never really knew him, but Grindelwald had seemed to mimic his personality fairly well.

"Uh- Mr. Graves, you don't suppose I could be going a little early?"

"What for?"

"Let's just say if I'm not outside soon, things may not end up good."

Graves chuckled.

"I don't see why not. If there's anything you think we should know about, don't hesitate to let us know, okay?"

"Yes, sir."

Newt stood up, wasting no time to Disapparate to the alleyway. He squinted his eyes, looking for Tina, Queenie, and Jacob.

"Newt? Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me"

Tina walked out from the shadows, Queenie and Jacob behind her.

"How did it go?"

"Pretty seamlessly. I was interrogated, but he let me go early."

"Really? Who was it?"

"Graves."

Tina raised her eyebrows

"He knew it was you?"

"Yes."

She chuckled.

"I'm not surprised."

She pulled out a folder from under her coat, "At least we have this."

He stared at the object, surprised.

"I wasn't sure you had it. How did you-?"

She grinned mischievously. "I have my ways"

They Disapparated back to the flat, appearing right into the living room. Newt looked over at Tina, he was anxious to see what was in the folder. Every minute that went by, Grindelwald had more of a chance of doing something horrible. It was a game of cat and mouse, but with a twist. Tina carefully opened the folder in her hands, like a recovered artifact. Newt peered over her shoulder.

"It's all old stuff," she mumbled, sifting through the contents. Newts heart dropped a bit.

"Wait, here's something," she pulled out a piece of paper, it was a map, red ink dots all over it.

"Teenie, it's a map," Queenie said.

"Whoa, whoa, you mean this shows where they've been seeing him?" Asked Jacob

Tina opened the full map, it showed all of America. Red dots starting from Massachusetts cutting through New York and in various places around Michigan and Canada, but it had its fair share of dots randomly placed everywhere else.

"Well, I think we've found a pattern."

Newt looked closer, he felt a pang in his chest as he saw a few dots placed throughout Arizona. Each dot had a little date next to it. The latest ones were near upper Canada, and remarkably in the great plains all at once.

"Sort of."

"What in Merlin's Beard is he doing in Antarctica and Kentucky on the same day?" Newt said, frustrated.

"This could be so much easier if the guy tried sticking to something routined"

Newt put a hand on his chin, thinking of possible causes. What was he trying to do? Send a message? If so, to who? So far nothing they've tried concluding, fit. They had barely anything to work with. He was too unpredictable.

"I think our best bet would be to see what he's doing in Canada," Tina concluded, setting the map down on the table.

"So we're just gonna chase him around America?" Asked Jacob, looking at her incredulously.

She waited a few seconds before replying.

"Yes. It's really the only option we have at this point. If you have any other options let me know," she said. Jacob only half-smiled.

"But, I got a bakery to run. I just can't drop everything and go on some wild goose chase with you guys," he said sadly.

"Don't get me wrong, it sounds like a blast," he turned to Newt. "And I really want you to get your case back, but... I don't think this is an adventure I'm meant to tag along with."

Nobody said anything. It felt too much like when they had said goodbye the first time. It wasn't much of a goodbye this time, but Jacob not coming wouldn't feel the same. Queenie spoke all of their feelings.

"We could work something out. It wouldn't be the same without you, we need you."

He smiled at her, the gloominess still visible.

"Aw, you guys don't need me. Y'all are Witches and Wizards."

Everyone went silent again. Jacob awkwardly put his hands in his pockets.

"Don't think I don't wanna, its just, not my adventure this time around." He shifted, obviously uncomfortable. "Well, this took a depressing turn huh?" He laughed, probably trying to ease the mood.

"We can talk more about it later," Tina said, crossing her arms. Newt silently rejoiced.

"I'm not really sure what we can do at this point." She continued. "All that's left is trying to decide how we're gonna do it all. We can't Apparate that far."

"Floo?" Suggested Newt.

"I don't think so, guys," Queenie said, holding an opened newspaper in her hand.

"I'm liking the newspaper less and less every day," Tina said, shaking her head.

"Floo system was messed with. It's down for who knows how long."

Newt stared in disbelief. Something always had to go wrong.

"Perfect. Just perfect." Tina scowled. "So what are we gonna do? Walk?"

Newt examined the paper for himself. The top headline reading

Floo System Corrupted, Travel Cut Off.

"I have one guess on who's responsible." He said, handing the paper back to Queenie. He looked back at Tina, her face was contorted with a mix of deep thinking and frustration.

"You don't have to help me- if you don't want to." He rubbed his neck. "It's no secret this has been you all more trouble, that wasn't even necessary in the first place."

It felt good to finally say what had been bugging him. He left out how bad he felt because it had been his fault. To his surprise, Tina laughed.

"We're helping Newt, and that's that."

"Are you sure? Even after everything I've done?"

Oh no.

Tina's look of amusement was quickly washed away and replaced by a look of confusion.

"What do you mean 'Everything you've done'?"

"Nothing, I shouldn't have said anything." He said quickly, hoping she'd let it go.

"Yes, you should have. What did you mean? And don't say nothing because we all know something's been bothering you."

Newt didn't say anything. It was so strange having people be so observant of him. He couldn't count how many times people had asked him if he was okay during his stay here. Half the time he claimed he was fine when he probably wasn't. It was sort of sad, really, but he wasn't used to people caring about him.

"Don't you dare say this was your fault."

"This, as in all the pain you've gone through?" Newt said, staring at the floor. Again the blasted memory of her falling on the ground in pain at the docks. The pain she didn't deserve. How many times he made her stay up without sleep, how many times he put her in harm's way, how many times he had made her cry. What her, Queenie and Jacob had gone through, was all because of him.

"I can't handle this no more," blurted Queenie. Newt looked up.

"None of that was you. None! We helped you because you're our friend, we volunteered to do what it took to help you and make you feel at home."

He was at a loss for words, she continued.

"We're more than happy helping you, and we'll do whatever it takes to get the case back, unharmed. Newt, we all love you, and it kills me to think you could blame yourself for any of that." Everyone stared at her outburst. Newt ran the word over in his head. Love. Did they love him? He put the word into the back of his head, he'd think about it later.

"Queenie what were you-?"

"Newt, he.." Queenie glanced over at him as if asking permission to tell her.

She's going to find out eventually He thought to her. He honestly had nothing else to lose at that point.

"..I'll tell you later. First I'm going to start lunch." She said, then quickly moved into the kitchen.

He stared over to her, then felt Tina's stare on him. He glanced over and his suspicions were confirmed. She looked at him with a mix of confusion and sadness. He looked away, loathing the time to come when she would find out, but for now, he just thought for something to do to pass the time. Usually, he would take the opportunity to go into his case, but that wasn't really an option as of then, But he did have one thing.

"I'm going to go check on Pickett real quick." He said, just making it known, but not talking to any of them individually. After a moment of nobody seeming to register what he said, he slipped back upstairs. His refuge. He rounded the corner and was greeted by Picket, who had fallen asleep on the top of a lamp.

"Pickett," He whispered. "Hey, Pickett time to get up."

He watched as the Bowtruckle chirped and turned over like a stubborn child.

"The one time I need you? Really?"

No response.

Newt laughed quietly and sat down on the bed. His brain suddenly reminded him of Queenie's remark from earlier. He had no idea why it stuck out so much to him, it was just a word, but it held a deeper meaning. People never tell him they love him, it's just something that never happens. He shook his head and stood back up, there were more important matters at hand, and figuring out his feelings were not one of them.