Chapter 17

The German annoyed her.

This shouldn't have been surprising in the grand scheme of things given that she couldn't remember the last time she met another human that didn't annoy her. But despite that, it bared repeating in her mind.

The German annoyed her.

It wasn't anything in particular about him. Except for maybe the hair. And the outfit. And the look. And the annoyingly bright shoes. And the fact that he was German. Or the way he held himself. Or the general arrogance. And did she mention that he was German?

Unlike Karim, who had at least picked up on her distaste for conversation and wore black and white trainers, the German had no such qualms. He started chatting well before they'd left the village.

She'd insisted on staying. Despite the German arguing that there was no reason for them to linger in the village. She'd knelt down next to one of the more coherent looking women and started trying to clear the fog out of her mind.

"She's far too gone for you to help," Jochen said from behind her. Gina ignored him. Well, if by ignored she meant debated vanishing the wall he leaned on so he fell on his ass. At least she figured that his gender precluded him from ever understanding their trauma. It took her a few hours, but she made some progress.

A few of the women were lost. There was nothing left inside their heads. Whatever the boy had done to them has resulted in the total destruction of their psyche. The closest comparison she could make in her mind was to victims of the Dementor's Kiss.

But a handful of them could recover. Some of them may even make full recoveries if they'd make it into a functioning magical hospital and spent a few days with proper healers. But she knew they weren't going to get that luxury.

Gina might have even been able to help them more if she'd been able to spend a couple of weeks with them. But the way the German glared at her while she worked led her to believe he wasn't going to allow that. Although that just made her want to see him try to force her to leave. She doubted he'd be quite so personable after she was done with him.

Still, she made some progress with some of them. Enough that they were able to stand on their own, dress, and feed themselves. It wouldn't be the easiest of going from there, but she knew their minds would clear some with each passing day. And, eventually, they might be able to have something that resembled a normal life. Assuming their damaged psyche and the incoming trauma didn't drive them insane.

It wasn't much of a promising outcome but it was better than where they were the day before. And, well, that was about all she could do at the moment.

She walked through the town, peering into the various homes. Some had people cowering inside, as if hoping to be ignored. It was, she thought, likely their safest choice of action given the boy's powers.

From what she could tell it worked for about half of the village. She wondered what the survivors would do about the women. But each possibility she thought of was somehow worse than the last and she knew if she focused on it too much.

She turned sharply, deciding to walk down a different street and hoping that Jochen was so preoccupied in whatever damnable thing he was doing about that he wouldn't follow. It worked for all of six steps but he caught up with her.

A flashing spot of light raced across the walls of one of the buildings. It was no larger than a Sickle but drew her attention. As she turned to face it, it raced away from her, staying always to her left.

She signed in annoyance at herself. It was nothing more than the reflection off the face of the damned watch Priya had given her. She wasn't much for jewelry. Even in her past life she'd seldom worn anything more than her engagement and wedding rings.

The watch did bring an interesting thought to the front of her mind. The Healer had told her how it functioned. And, to her credit, she'd almost paid attention during the explanation. She understood enough of how to use it. But Priya had continued to prattle on after the basics and she'd found herself far more interested in figuring out just how Harry had created the damn things rather than the random features it had.

But it brought up an interesting solution to her problem. She could hit one damn button on the thing and Harry Potter would be there. She brought her right hand over to her left wrist but she hesitated.

She didn't want Harry Potter to be there. And they'd said it was supposed to be an emergency button and not a random beck and call. And she doubted Harry would find some mentally damaged women to be an emergency situation. And the last thing she wanted to deal with was him being annoyed. Because that would make him even harder to deal with than he normally was.

And it would have made her entire trip here useless. Because once Harry Potter showed up, well, that would undoubtedly spook the German. And she'd have to kill him before he could ask any questions. Which would get rid of the only thing she had that resembled a lead. And, despite her general disinterest in all of this, the last thing she wanted was for Harry and Priya to think she was worthless or unhelpful.

Although she wasn't sure why. This wasn't her fight and none of it was her problem. She had no real interest in helping them. Except for the fact that when Priya told her she thought she could be helpful she'd felt an annoying urge to actually help the other woman. To prove that she was everything that Priya thought.

Well, aside from the mass-murdering psychopath. She could leave that bit out. She found herself wondering if those labels had a shelf life. Like, she hadn't really killed anyone since, well, she didn't remember. Would it have been Umbridge? Someone random at the ministry? She hadn't tracked the fight that well. She hadn't meant to off any of them during the engagement, but she wasn't pulling her punches either. Of course, the only one who didn't get out of that fight was her.

She let her hand slip away from the watch as she continued down the street. There was little reason to stay. She knew she was just stalling. She wasn't quite sure why though. She had no real reason to stall. In fact, getting answers would get her out of Iran quicker. And then she could continue on with whatever she felt like doing. Even if she hadn't figured that out yet.

Jochen, for his part, waited until they were out of the town, back into the mountains, before asking about her actions.

"Why did you bother with all of that?" he asked.

"Why not?" she countered. She still didn't want much to do with the German. Even though her instincts told her that she should appear more trustworthy and interested to get him to put his guard down. She figured that she'd done enough presenting herself as a standoffish pill so she may as well keep that charade up. She chuckled to herself at the thought that it was a charade.

"Their lives are ruined anyway," he said.

"Be careful with your tongue," she spat. Jochen raised his brows at her.

"You see where they are. You see what they are. You have to know what will become of them. Why waste your energy?" Jochen asked.

"If you can help, you should help," Gina shrugged. She couldn't think of a better excuse to get him to shut up.

"That's just it. You're not helping. You're just giving them enough lucidity to realize how pointless it all is. They'll be ostracized or killed. And there's nothing you can do to prevent it," Jochen said.

"Or they won't be," Gina said. "You don't know how people process trauma. You don't know how resilient a human can be. You do not know the future."

"And you don't know how cruel and heartless the world can be. You don't know the misery it can dish out," Jochen spat. Emily laughed. She actually doubled over and laughed. Jochen stared at her, looking shocked.

"You don't want to compare trauma," she said when she managed to compose herself. Jochen raised his brows at her.

"So confident?" he countered.

"I know, intimately, what they went through. And I know that it doesn't need to define them. And that they can recover. If you want to harp on about how being raped is the end of their everything then I'll chop yours off and shove it up your own ass," Emily spat back. She let too much fury into her words. Magic swirled around her, surrounding her and flaring off of her. Jochen's eyes widened and he took a step away from her.

She recognized his expression. She'd seen it on the faces of her own victims and her own Death Eaters before. He'd had the realization that she was perfectly capable of doing exactly what she'd threatened. And that she would do it, if necessary.

"We've started out on the wrong foot, haven't we?" he asked.

"You wandered into my camp, used me as bait, and criticized me for helping rape victims," Gina countered, clipping her words as she spoke as harsh as she could manage. It made him flinch, so it worked.

"I apologized for that," he said. She figured he must have only been referring to the first two as he'd said nothing resembling an apology about her more recent actions. And even his weak excuses for an apology for earlier was better classified as an excuse.

"No you didn't."

"Yes I did!"

"No. You made an offhand comment with no actual empathy hoping it would excuse your actions. It's the male version of an apology. You only did it because I'm intriguing. You wouldn't have cared if I was stuck there as long as you got your stupid backpack. There's no substance to it. It means nothing," she said. He frowned and stared at her, his eyes narrowing. Part of her knew she was being too bitchy. But she also wanted to see just how far she could push him.

She could sense there was something more going on here. Something that she hadn't quite noticed. But his interest in her didn't feel on the level. So she figured she'd push and see if he had a breaking point. He obviously wanted to show her something. And the more dismissive and disinterested she seemed, the more important he must have thought she was.

"Well, what can I do to make it up to you?" he asked.

"Nothing," she snapped.

"There has to be something," he said.

"You could have helped," she said. "You chose to do nothing."

"There was nothing I could do," he countered, sounding exasperated by the entire conversation.

"But you could have still tried," she said. He rolled his eyes and she instinctively remembered just how obnoxious men could be.

"No point," he said. He looked like he wanted to defend himself some more but she didn't want to hear him so she cut him off.

"Incompetence is not a good quality," she said. Which caused his mouth to snap shut.

"I'm not incompetent," he said.

"Your actions here contradict that statement," she said. "And your words back up your actions."

"A little harsh, don't you think?" he asked.

"No."

"I'm beginning to see why the Iranian Muggle was so dour," Jochen said. "I can only imagine being your companion is quite unpleasant."

"He was not my companion," Gina scoffed, picking up on the German's tone.

"Mountain guide then," Jochen said, rolling his eyes. "And we do not live in an era where a woman needs to be ashamed of casual sex."

"I'm not that kind of woman," Gina said. "And your opinion doesn't seem to take into account raped Iranians."

"My opinion is not the same as your average townsperson," Jochen said. "We do not have the same upbringing."

"Either did we," Gina scoffed.

"Tell me about yours," Jochen said. "Perhaps we're not as dissimilar as you think."

"We are nothing alike," Gina said.

"Well I grew up in Hamburg. My mother died when I was five. She was a witch. My father was a Squib who ignored magic. I think he hoped I'd be like him. But I wasn't. He started drinking more and more after my mother died. He'd beat me when I annoyed him. Which was often. Durmstrang was a respite but the summers would get progressively worse. I moved to Berlin with some friends after graduating and I haven't seen him since," Jochen said.

"That sounds just awful," Gina said sarcastically. She wasn't in the mood to play up childhood trauma even if she had him beat.

Oh no, she scoffed to herself, you lost your mommy and daddy was a mean drunk. How could anything be any worse than that!

She frowned as they walked out of the town, seeing little reason to badger him about his life. It felt petty of her. But she had very little interest in listening to him. Not that she'd get a choice in the matter. She let him lead down the path.

"It wasn't great," he said. "Your parents?"

"Loving and supportive," she lied. But that was the cover story she'd been working with. She doubted that Jochen would have had the time to investigate Gina Darnell but she knew sticking to one story would make it easier in the long run.

"You don't strike me as someone who had a happy childhood," Jochen said.

"Not all of our trauma comes from the same place," Gina said.

"You already implied what yours was," Jochen countered.

"And you assumed it was from my parents? That's a rather dark route to travel down to start," Gina said.

"You don't have that high of an opinion of them. Especially not for someone who calls them 'loving and supportive' in casual conversation," Jochen said.

"It's rude to poke around in other people's heads," Gina said. It gave her some pause. She hadn't noticed him trying. That was a shock to her. She should have felt that the moment he looked her way.

But she hadn't. That wasn't a great sign. She wasn't defending herself all that much. And he'd be less covert if he found anything important. No, he couldn't have gotten into her mind. He wouldn't be standing here with her had he. She must have let something slip out when she thought about his trauma and he'd capitalized on it. A stray thought he tried to extrapolate into more.

"I didn't have to try that hard, you may as well have been shouting it," he said, trying to sound competent and skillful. It didn't work.

"Excuses. Be careful. Maybe I'll let you in. I doubt you'd like what you find," she said.

"I'm a big boy," he said. "Now about your parents."

"I loved them," she said, letting some emotion slip into her voice. She almost believed it herself. She could picture her fake parents in her head, she let a smiling imagining of them hugging her at a birthday party fill her mind, wondering if enough of it strayed out for him to see. "But I did not love that they ate themselves to death."

"A trait you didn't see to pick up," Jochen said.

"Quite the opposite," she said, noting that she hadn't eaten much in her time with him. Perhaps an aversion to food would be an easy enough flaw to work into her routine for the moment. Something to give just a little bit credibility to her being. "And probably still inherited from them."

"An interesting thought," Jochen said. "Reversing the vice because of their example. More often gluttony leads to more gluttony."

"Psychiatrist and mountain trekker?" Gina teased.

"We all have our hobbies," Jochen shrugged.

"And that makes you an expert?" Gina responded.

"I wouldn't go that far." Jochen looked over his shoulder at her, an annoyingly wide smile plastered across his face. Which, really, only made her think that he would go exactly that far.

"Where are we going, anyway?" she asked, sparing the village one last glance over her shoulder. Part of her half expected to see Karim's body somewhere on the side of the road. It didn't seem too long ago where, if she'd been in Jochen's shoes, that would have been her solution for the same problem.

She made a mental note to look into it when she returned to England. Or, at least, to make Harry look into it when she got back to England. He needed something to do. He had too much free time anyway.

And, despite his annoying, well, everything, he was right in that the man had provided her a service. One that, frankly, she probably hadn't deserved. And the least she could do was help him out, even if anonymously. Well, that and she wouldn't let the German win anything. Even if that was donations to mountain climbers.

"Deeper into the mountains. It's not a bad little trek but it will take a half day," Jochen said.

"Why don't we apparate?" she asked.

"The area is warded against it. I can key you in from the ground. But I can't key you into it while apparating. So unless you want to risk exploding, we're walking," Jochen said.

It wasn't quite the right thing for him to say. Because, frankly, she would risk exploding. For one she figured she knew the wards they were using. And because she knew them she knew their weaknesses and could find a way around them. Part of her instantly wanted to try to defeat whomever it was that set them up. Purely to spite the German.

But that seemed like a thoroughly insane idea. Even if failure would get her completely out of the situation she was currently in. Of course it would have the effect of making her look like an idiot. And she did not want to look like an idiot.

"Make sense," she said. She only spoke to prevent Jochen from continuing to talk. It didn't work. But at the very least she tuned him out. A stray thought started to form in her head. One that was rapidly leading to more questions.

If they were only a half day walk from the village, then why hadn't they done something sooner?

Perhaps that wasn't quite the right question, but it stuck out in her head. She'd hidden in secluded places before. And she knew the benefit of being relatively near a village. It made supplies easier to find. Even Karkaroff had done it while he'd hidden, ineffectively, from her wrath.

But there was something almost comforting about being able to pop into a town and buy food. And an almost intoxicating feeling about being accepted by a new group of people, of starting to blend into their lives. It made one feel considerably more human when they were hiding.

It had the added danger of increasing the chances of being recognized. And the new townspeople would often turn on you if anyone came asking about suspicious figures. You could be accepted at their businesses and even a mild curiosity. But it would take far longer than that to become one of them. And she'd never encountered a group that wasn't willing to rat out the newest member.

Of course, that might have said more about the groups she encountered than anything.

She found it odd, though, that they'd set up so close to an area where something so clearly wrong was going on and, as best as she could tell, they'd ignored it.

She knew she was judging with incomplete information, though. There were countless factors that she didn't know. Like how many of them they were, if they were with the German ministry like he was or if there was something going on, or even how long they'd been there.

Hell, it could even get more complicated than that. For all she knew they were doing something involving research on that specific town. Perhaps investigating it for some reason or another.

The abused women had ruined any perspective she could have had on it. And she might have ruined any sort of investigation they were doing. But she didn't care. She did what she could to help those women and she'd do it again.

Part of her knew she'd still be doing it if she hadn't agreed to try to investigate this area for Priya. She wondered if Priya would understand the delay. The woman seemed level-headed and honest enough. She would have encouraged her, Emily thought.

Harry, she assumed, would have had an attitude more similar to Jochen. She didn't think he'd have been as dismissive as Jochen had been. Or at least he'd have been smart enough to keep his mouth shut while she worked.

And, from what she'd learned of him from both being in his head and some passive observing, she thought Harry would have helped. He might not have ardently believed in her cause, or what she was doing, or even thought there was a chance of success. Those decisions wouldn't have factored into his actions.

No, like her, he didn't like being idle. He wouldn't have stood around and watched with an annoyed expression, constantly checking his watch as Jochen had. Harry might have been bored, and he might have thought it useless. But he would have helped. Because he had that in him.

The world would be better off if more people were like Harry Potter. As much as that annoyed her.

Either way she trudged after Jochen, keeping a respectable distance between the two of them. She let him get a couple of steps ahead of her before matching his pace. Her hope was that if she was lagging every so slightly behind that he would stop talking.

He talked louder.

She wondered if she'd get some type of award for not murdering him. It had to be worth at least a third class Order of Merlin. Maybe even second if she presented her case well enough. Which wouldn't be that hard. Except for the fact that her best course to do so would need him as a witness.

Maybe she could make sure he turned into a ghost? No, too much effort with banishing it after and the slightest possibility of being haunted for all eternity by a chatty Kraut did not sit well in her head.

She knew she was being unfair. And that each passing moment, or word, was only serving to make her more irritated at the entire situation. And the more annoyed she got the shittier she'd be.

And, assuming he wasn't living alone in a cave like some twisted mongrel person, she was close to being introduced to a group of people who might serve to help her on her quest. So she should at least attempt to be personable.

The clip-on charm hadn't failed her so far. Although she'd only really used it briefly and directed it at someone who was trying to sleep with her. She doubted she could put all of the results directly on her own charm.

She sighed, wondering if she should undo the top button on her blouse before she arrived at, well, wherever the hell they were going. Given that her first attempt at asking had been so unsuccessful she had no real interest in trying again. Which, granted, didn't prevent the German from prattling on.

She took a moment to tune herself back into his incessant conversation. He was talking about specific trails in the area, and which ones were the best for differing things. It was, to her increasing annoyance, an interesting conversation.

While she didn't care at all about which ones were the best for a quick workout. Or which ones offered the best endurance fitness. Or which ones were the most technically difficult. Or, most interesting of the bunch, which ones had the best views for the sunrise or the sunset.

She made a mental note to check those out if she had the time. It had been far too long since she'd enjoyed some natural splendor. A few of the vistas she'd seen had been pretty enough for her to stop for a moment. And she could think of far worse things than spending a morning or an evening enjoying a view.

Unfortunately, Jochen seemed able to tell that she was interested in this topic so he continued that way. Which led to a lot of rather irritating comments about her lack of proper footwear or training or clothing or that she shouldn't go out alone on the trails. The misogynistic nature of it irritated her. Even if she wasn't wearing proper shoes or clothing and had no experience in hiking trails.

Then again, she'd fought in a war in a muddy death field. What had the German done in his life? Been annoying?

She took a breath to calm herself. It didn't work so she tried again. And again. Until she felt like a literal fish out of water gasping for air. It must have sounded as strange as it felt as Jochen turned to look over his shoulder at her. She kept her pace without exaggerating her breathing any more until she deemed it an appropriate time to interrupt him.

"Are we almost there?" she asked, feeling like a petulant child.

"An hour or so unless you pick up the pace," Jochen said. She caught his annoyance and gave him a glare that would have been far more effective if he'd been looking at her. The petty part of her wanted to slow down. But the hungry part of her found his comment annoying and sped up.

She passed him on the path, earning a chuckle for her efforts, before he sped up as well. Which had the added benefit of finally getting him to shut up. She kept up with him, doing her best to hide her progressively more labored breathing, for the remaining forty minutes of the trek.

Finally he started to slow his pace until he came to a halt. He guided her behind a large rock and through a small crevasse. He hadn't needed to, she was able to sense the magic well before they'd arrived. She'd done her best to not beeline straight for it, and instead followed in his footsteps.

She doubted there were any magical landmines around but given his general caution she figured she was better safe than sorry. It took a few minutes of navigating but they finally came to a clear rockface in the wall. It shimmered ever so slightly as she looked at it.

Honestly, she was less than impressed. The color was off, the sheen was noticeable in the sun, and it was too smooth to be real. Whoever had done it was either mediocre at magic or hadn't cared if it was noticed. She would have done a much better job. It took her far more effort than she would admit to not make some corrections.

Perhaps she would if she thought they warranted it. But for now they were on their own. And it was probably more than a little rude to be their guest and have her first impression be redoing their work to make it passable.

Either way he took out his wand and peered at her for a moment as she examined the wall.

"May I?" he asked. She hadn't expected him to ask for permission. He hadn't seemed the type. She turned and looked at him, pressing her lips together. She'd never quite gotten over her aversion to having people do things to her body. And while casting a simple spell to key to the defenses on their hideout was almost certainly an innocent venture it still gave her pause.

"Can you show me how to do it?" she asked. "Most keys are just a pattern that the magic recognizes. If you know the motions it's almost always easy."

"Yes it is, but it won't matter. Someone already keyed has to do the first one. An extra layer of security," Jochen said.

"I see," Gina frowned. An extra layer of security it was. But it was also an initial layer of control. In theory if the person decided to remove the keying the wards would react with extreme hostility toward the violating presence.

It could be an advantage, though, as well. Sometimes, depending on how they keyed the defenses, death could cancel every charm the person used. In theory, if something came to a fight, taking out a few combatants could cause utter chaos.

But they'd have to be stupid to not think about that when it came to a secret hideout. Then again, they'd done some shoddy workmanship with the visual charms, perhaps their quality of work extended to all of it. That wouldn't be a thought she'd pin her life on, though.

"Once I do it I can show you how. I can't guarantee it will work but if you want to redo it then while mine is still active it might register properly after I undo mine?" he speculated. She thought about it for a moment, thinking that perhaps their workmanship was that poor if he thought that would work.

"No it's fine," Gina said after putting on a show of thinking about it for a few moments. "I'm being too cautious. If you were going to attempt to harm me you'd have done it already."

It was the truth, too, she figured. He had no reason to get her this far unless he wanted her there and likely unharmed. And from what she'd seen of him there was no real reason to think he could possibly be a threat to her.

"It's understandable," Jochen said. He started a deliberate series of wand movements. She observed them as he cast the elongated spell. It was easy to follow. She thought she'd have been able to mimic it if she had to. Either way she started to feel the tingle of magic around her. "You don't know me and the entire thing is a fair bit shady."

"Yes, it is," Gina admitted, fighting the urge to shiver as the magic surrounded her. When she turned to face the wall it had shifted to a large wooden door. Jochen put his wand away and waved his left hand at the door. It started to open at an almost agonizingly slow pace, a pained creaking accompanying the movements.

Another detriment, she thought. It wouldn't be that hard to make a much more efficient, and quality, home.

"Welcome back, Jochen," a woman's voice said from inside the cave system turned hideout. "Who's the new addition?"

"Hello Anna," Jochen said. "This is Gina. An English expat working for a Japanese paper. She's investigating the magical disturbances in Iran."

"I see," the new woman said. She was in her mid thirties with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. Her hair could have used a wash, Gina thought, and she could have stood to lose a stone or two, but she had a motherly face, even if her eyes were wary as she stared at Gina. "And what did she find?"

"Well, she found the village and took care of the little problem with the mind controlling rapist," Jochen said.

"Did she?" Anna looked surprised. Jochen nodded and gestured for Gina to enter the large door. She did, walking inside the caves.

They were pristine, which surprised her. The entire interior looked too perfect to be naturally occurring. Magic had obviously helped flatten the floors and walls and create a system of rooms. Floating candles lit the halls. It was almost uncomfortably warm, even after the outdoor walk to get there. She was acutely aware of her blouse sticking to her skin.

"She did," Jochen said. "Obliterated him, actually. And spent a few hours trying to cure the women."

"Any luck?" Anna asked, raising her brows to look at the thinner woman.

"Some," Gina shrugged.

"Will we be able to get supplies from the town again?" Anna asked.

"I think so," Jochen said.

"That will save some effort on apparating," Anna nodded.

"Their stores didn't look great. We shouldn't ask for too much on the next supply runs," Jochen said.

"I'll tell the boss. We can get more from the continent," Anna said.

"At the expense of more people. Is the boss not back yet?"

"Not yet. A couple more days."

"Damn. I think he'll find Gina very interesting," Jochen said.

"Really? She doesn't look like much."

"I'm right here," Gina scoffed.

"She has a surprising amount of power in a small package," Jochen said. Gina felt herself blush at the compliment. It was annoying because, well, she didn't care at all about his opinion and it made her feel even warmer than the rather stuffy cave system did.

It was another mark against her new friends in terms of quality spells. She could have created an air conditioning system in the caves without much effort. A nice, albeit artificial, cool breeze wasn't even remotely difficult. She half wondered if they'd notice it. She could already feel the sweat forming on her skin. And she could see a similar sheen on both Anna and Jochen.

It made her long for a shower.

"Well, you can't always judge a book by its cover," Anna said.

"Excuse me?" Gina countered. Jochen nodded his agreement. Although she wasn't sure which of them he was agreeing with.

"Oh I mean nothing by it. Thin little thing like you wearing Louis Vuitton shoes trekking in Iran? I'm sorry but that does not scream someone interested in magical prowess," Anna said. She managed to look apologetic as she insulted her.

"We all have our vices," Gina replied, trying to be as curt as possible. To her annoyance the other woman only smiled at her.

"Don't we though? I prefer Gucci," she said.

"Too Christmasy," Gina said.

"That's why I like it!"

"Fair enough."

"Come now," Anna said, turning and walking further into the cave. Gina watched her walk for a moment, watching the exaggerated sway of her hips for longer than she should have. "I suspect you're hungry after hiking back here from the village."

"I could eat," Gina admitted. She realized where her eyes were lingering and pulled them away as confusion washed through her. "But I'd really like a shower. It's quite warm in here."

"Is it?" Anna asked. "I hadn't noticed. Maybe you're just flush from the exercise?"

"Maybe," Gina said, thinking that had little to do with it.

"We can get you set up in a room first, if you like," Anna said.

"I would. Jochen didn't tell me what it was you did here," Gina said. It wasn't the most subtle way she could dig for information, but it didn't feel like too out of place of a comment.

"Just some magical research. There's no reason to go over it all tonight when you're tired. We're done for the day anyway, it can wait until morning," the woman smiled brightly at her.

"It's all so secretive," Gina said, trying her best to sound flustered.

"It's far less interesting than it seems," Anna admitted. Gina tugged at her damp blouse, pulling it off of her skin in annoyance. "And it's awfully dry too."

"That often winds up the case, doesn't it," Gina joked.

"It seems that way," Anna said. "How are you at cooking?"

"I'm English?" she said, figuring another joke was the easiest way out of the question.

"That's disappointing. With the boss gone none of us are any good. It's led to some dreary mealtimes. I believe today is noodles and canned red sauce."

"Not even some chicken thrown on top?"

"No but there is a teeny bit of parmesan left. We might be able to scrape together a charcuterie board with some of the remaining meats," Anna tried to sound perky.

"Well, I can manage better than that," Gina frowned. The thought of becoming the chef was not appealing to her at all.

"Not tonight. But I'm sure some help would be appreciated tomorrow evening. Rudolph does some very good eggs but that is all he can manage," Anna said as they turned down a side hallway.

"I like eggs," Gina said, unsure of what else to say.

"Thankfully we're well supplied there," Anna said. She turned down another hallway. Every bit of the cave was still completely pristine. She noticed rooms lining each side of the hall, staggered slightly as they walked. They were uniform. A desk, a small bed, a chest for belongings and nothing else. Something else stuck out to her as well.

"No doors?" Gina asked.

"No need. We're all friends here," Anna answered.

"What about privacy?" Gina said.

"Have you seen many people milling around?" Anna countered. She hadn't. But she counted fifteen rooms by the time they reached the end of the hallway. She could feel the magical power waiting at the end of the hallway. Someone more attuned with the system could have added rooms in a hurry if need be.

"Fair enough," Gina said. But it felt like an excuse to her. It was early evening. She suspected that everyone was gathered somewhere.

"This is you, then, Gina," Anna said, gesturing to the door. Gina nodded and took out her small bag. She didn't bother enlarging it as she tossed it onto the bed and peered around the small room. It reminded her of Azkaban more than she wanted to admit.

"Thanks," she said.

"I'll leave you alone for now. Showers are back down the hallway, left at the junction. Cafeteria is right. Come join us when you're ready and I'll introduce you to everyone. Although I suspect Jochen will have told them your life story by the time you join us. He is quite the gossip," Anna teased.

"He does like to talk," Gina said. Anna nodded at her and spun around to leave. Gina watched her go, again finding it oddly difficult to turn her eyes away.

She must have been nervous. She'd always been cautious and didn't like new people particularly much. The thought of meeting a new group of them sent a fresh wave of anxiety through her.

She paced around the room. It took six steps to get from wall to wall. Something in the back of her head was screaming at her. But she couldn't quite fathom what was going on. Everything felt on the level. She assumed her own paranoia was bleeding into her thoughts.

A shower would wash it all away. Showers always helped calm her. She conjured a towel and a set of fresh clothing as she left the small bedroom. She didn't notice how flushed she looked in the small mirror hanging on the wall.

Gina chewed on her bottom lip as her thoughts shifted to the alluring sensation of warm water sliding all over every inch of her body, heating her already warm core as the dust and grim of the last few days left her.

Her mind focused on the sensation of scrubbing it all away, of washing every inch of herself. She barely noticed the extra spring in her step as she careened down the hallway toward her goal.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading and reviewing I do appreciate all of the feedback and support I receive. If you'd like to support me more I am available on PAT RE ON at TE7writes. There are currently two additional chapters of CTS + 2 chapters of my next fanfic available there. Thanks again!