Well.
This was just great.
He just signed the death warrants unintentionally for two people who weren't even given a trial, and one of them is a criminal just by association. That's just one of the many things he hated about the magical government system: if there's even the slightest hint that the evidence is concrete, they do away with the standard justice system and go full on punishment.
America was currently being escorted out of the MACUSA HQ alongside a portly man, who he suspected was the no-maj Graves had mentioned, by a thin man in a suit named Sam. Sam was slightly shorter than America who was weighing his own options. He could very well escape, and even if Sam had been taller or buffer than him, he had the physical strength he'd had since he was a child. Then there was the fact he'd heal right up even if the wounds were magical-based, and they technically couldn't kill him. But then of course they were surrounded by witches and wizards who were all probably trained in dueling or immobilization spells. He didn't know if they could, he never really stuck around his own magic community all that much to get to know the people here as well as he did for the non-magical community. There was also the no-maj next to him he'd have to worry about.
Screw it, he needed to get to those people!
Thankfully, for Sam, America was saved the trouble when a girl with hair that looked like gold approached as soon as they exited the elevator. "Hey, Sam."
"Hey, Queenie."
"They need ya downstairs. I'll obliviate this guy and get the other one outta here."
"You ain't qualified."
"Hey, Sam." Queenie said, this time in a more serious tone. "Does Cecily know you've been seeing Ruby?"
Sam's face seemed to pale at this as he glanced over at a girl they were passing who gave Sam a smile. "How did you…?"
"Let me obliviate and escort these guys and she'll never hear about it from me." He slowed down and his grip on America's shoulder loosened. Queenie took Sam's place between America and the no-maj.
The no-maj looked confused as he eyed Queenie, who he seemed to know. "What're you doing?"
"Hush." She said softly enough so only the two of them could hear. "Teen's in trouble and I'm tryin' to listen. Jacob, where's Newt's case?"
"Graves took it." America answered for Jacob, glancing around to make sure no one else noticed them.
"Okay, come on." She said, directing them away from the door the moment Sam wasn't looking.
"Wait, you're not gonna obliviate me?" Jacob asked.
"Or get me out of here?" America followed.
"Of course not. You're one of us now, and as for you, Mr. Jones, you don't really want to leave until you help."
"How did she…?"
"I can read minds."
America knew he'd need to be careful around her. If she found out who he was, what he was… Then he'd be in a lot of trouble.
They went back into the elevator toward the offices, trying to act like they belonged there. Luckily, no one seemed to be occupying this area of the hall. Queenie took out her wand and pointed it at the lock for Graves's office.
"Alohamora." The doorknob flashed but there wasn't even a sign that the lock had even shifted beyond that. "Aberto." Again, no luck. She seemed exasperated. "He would know some fancy spell to lock his office."
"I can try to kick it in." Jacob suggested.
"But what if someone hears?" Queenie frowned. She seemed to be getting more and more anxious.
"Can I have your wand? I want to try something." America asked. Oh, he was probably going to kick himself for this later on, but lives were at stake and when in Rome…
"Don't you have- Never mind, here." She said, giving it to him.
America pointed it at the lock. He was always good at picking them and England and another had taught him a thing or two back before he started to get an aversion to magic. He concentrated and flicked the wand, causing the tip to glow and there to be a distinct CLICK sound. He handed Queenie back her wand as she rushed in, grabbing the briefcase and wands before making her way out.
"This way!" Queenie began to run, and the two men followed suit, neither knowing where they were going anyway. How this woman managed to move so quickly in heels without tripping or twisting her ankle, America would never know.
They made their way down into the lower levels when they almost actually ran into the two people they were trying to rescue.
Queenie looked Tina in the eye and lifted the briefcase, "Get in. You two too."
"What?" America raised eye eyebrow.
She set it down and opened the case, then handed Newt and Tina back their wands before looking at America. "You heard me, Golden Boy, get in."
"Wait! When you get us out, take us to this address." America said, quickly grabbing a pen and a piece of paper from his pocket and scribbling down his apartment building. "If they know where you live, it won't be safe there. Once you get there, use the key in the pot by the door. MACUSA got what they needed to know from me and I don't think they'll come there."
Newt went in first, then Jacob, and then Tina. America gave Queenie one last look before he too descended into the apparently enchanted briefcase. Gosh this was so weird, definitely topping his list of weirdest things to happen to him. He hated magic.
He found himself descending a latter, ending up into a wider, open area that looked like a zoo. There were creatures of all kinds, creatures he would normally pretend not to notice to the point where he genuinely couldn't see them.
"First time seeing these guys?" Newt asked. "You, uh… have the same look Jacob did the other day."
"Not entirely. I used to see guys like these all the time as a kid. Then I just… stopped."
"The President… She said you've seen an Obscurus before." Tina asked.
"Yeah. A long time ago."
"But there hasn't been one reported in America in over a century."
"Because they never died." America stated, choosing to not mention that this happened centuries ago. From what little protocol he could remember, an Obscurus was only formally reported once the victim, usually a small child ten and under, died from it.
"Okay, so then… You're the Obscurial?"
"Was. It was removed by my… older brother." Well, that is what they considered each other to be back then. "We, uh, don't know how he did it exactly, but it hurt. Even if we could replicate it, there's no telling if the victim would survive."
God, he was so out of his element right now. Normally he'd be zipping around and making a joke out of everything. Now though? Well, he might as well have had all the energy zapped out of him. From magic to reliving childhood trauma, of course he wasn't acting like how he normally would.
"Anyway," he decided to change the subject away from himself, "You, uh, wanna clue me in on what 'cha got here?"
"Oh! Right! I'm a Magizoologist." Newt said, deciding to show him around. "I study magical creatures so humankind can better understand them. I also try to preserve creatures that are close to extinction, advocate to stop the killings of them… things like that."
"That… is actually really cool!" America smiled for the first time since that grumpy Blink had whisked him away. "Man, oh man! You're like some hero creating a sanctuary for these guys! Theo would've loved you if he was allowed to know about this wizard stuff!"
Newt seemed bashful at this praise. "I'm only doing what I think is right."
"So, not to pry, but why are you here in New York? Your accent tells me you're British."
"Getting this guy home. I had hoped to be on my way to Arizona, but, well… We got sidetracked." Newt led him into an enclosure that was magically made to look exactly like the Western areas of the country. Inside the enclosure was a large bird with golden feathers. Thunder crackled above them with each flap of its great wings as the bird landed in front of them. "Meet Frank the Thunderbird. He was being trafficked in Egypt. A man named Gupta Muhammad Hassan helped me rescue him."
Oh yeah! Now that he mentioned it, he remembered Egypt sent him a telegram weeks ago saying that he was sending someone his way and that he might need some help. "Oh! You're the guy Eg- uh, Gupta was talking about."
"You know him?"
"Sorta. We're acquaintances due to knowing the same people." In truth, America had been in isolation before the turn of the century. Actually, he was still teetering on that line. Sure, he came out of it to push Spain away and to help some of the others in Europe in the Great War, but other than that, a lot of his contact with them was through telegrams and letters. He could count the times in the last few decades he'd left the country to visit anyone leisurely on his hand. Canada did come to visit, mostly, but…
His thoughts were interrupted by Frank taking an apparent interest in him, nudging him gently with his beak. America put his hands up to pet the sides of his face, his feathers felt like silk. Part of America's body wanted to back up, get away from this creature that defied everything he normally would run from or ignore. But the rest of him? It seemed to recognize that this truly was a creature from his land, and for whatever reason, Frank seemed to sense that connection.
"I've never seen him take to someone so quickly. It took me days to get him to even let me touch him." Newt said, impressed.
"I've always had a way with animals. Guess it translates to guys like Frank."
"You really don't spend much time in the magical world, do you Mr. Jones." Tina said.
"Please, just call me Alfred. And no, I don't. After everything with the Obscurus, I learned that if I ignore magic, I won't attract another one. Of course, that doesn't help when the Prez sends Blink to get me."
"That said, why does she call on you if you want nothing to do with MACUSA?"
"I work with the no-maj government. Even with the Statute of Secrecy, there still needs to be some communication between the governing forces. That's where I come in. 'Course, I'd leave the job if I could." He actually avoided this job in particular on most occasions to the point where other wizards and witches would have to go in undercover.
"You're a strange one, Alfred." Newt said, "But you'll fit right in here."
Queenie's voice came down the ladder. "We're here!"
The four climbed out of the suitcase and into America's apartment.
"Nice place ya got here." Jacob said, looking around the apartment. Well, America considered it an apartment, though it was more like a mix of that and a townhouse. The entrance was by the staircase leading to the second floor with a kitchen on one side and a living space on the other. The top floor meanwhile had a bathroom, a bedroom, and a smaller room that he used as an office but had a pull-out couch for whenever Canada or Tony stayed over. There was also a ladder leading to the roof of the building where he and other tenants in the other living spaces in the building could dry laundry or do whatever. Honestly, his townhouse might as well just be a two-floor apartment.
"Thanks. Luckily, I don't think MACUSA will be popping in if they think I left willingly before the alarm was triggered. We should be safe for now and there's a vantage point on the roof."
"We still need to find his creatures, though." Tina said.
"Yes, we're still missing Dougle, my Demiguise." Newt stated.
"And we also need to regroup. I dunno what a Demiguise is, but there's gonna be a ton of MACUSA guys after you two once they realize you're not in the building. Take it from someone who fought in the Great War and snuck behind enemy lines, we need to be careful." America stated, going to his pantry and taking out bread and some jam and peanut butter. He began to make them all sandwiches, "We'll eat something and head to the roof, then make a battle plan."
Despite their hesitance, the two agreed and soon they were on the roof of the building as they ate their hastily made sandwiches.
Jacob wandered to a pigeon pen America remembered a family kept. "Hey, my grandpa used to breed these guys." The no-maj smiled fondly.
"Mine bred owls. I used to love feeding them." Queenie smiled, following him over.
Man, America thought to himself, could these two be any more obvious? He was sure if France were here, he'd be trying to pair these two together in a not so subtle, maybe borderline perverted way. He turned his attention back to Newt and Tina who were looking over the city.
"Graves always insisted the disturbances were caused by a beast." Tina sighed, almost solemnly. "We need to catch all of your creatures so he can't keep using them as a scapegoat."
"A Demiguise is invisible to the naked eye though."
"Invisible?"
"Yes." Newt nodded, "Most of the time. He does, um…."
Alfred raised an eyebrow, "How the hell do you catch-"
"With immense difficulty."
"I can imagine. Normally all the magical creatures are invisible to me when I'm ignoring magic." America sighed.
"…Yeah, how do you do that?" Tina asked.
"I dunno, just do." America shrugged. "Anyway, how are we gonna find this Demi-whatever? New York's a big place."
"…I have a contact who might be able to help. Gnarlak, an informant of mine from when I was an Auror. He used to trade in magical creatures on the side." Tina said.
"He wouldn't happen to have an interest in paw prints, would he?" Newt asked, hopeful.
"He's interested in anything he can sell."
Tina led the group through various alleyways, all of them keeping an eye out for anyone who might be an Auror. Finally, they came to a set of stairs leading to what seemed to be a dead end with a picture of a woman looking into a mirror painted onto the bricks. Upon closer inspection, America could see that the woman's face in the mirror was moving ever so slightly.
Tina and Queenie took out their wands and used their magic to transform their clothes into fancier dresses and the guys came to the realization there must be a dress code. Newt used his own wand to materialize a small bow tie that matched his jacket. Jacob, meanwhile, seemed to be all right, having worn the nicest outfit and tie he owned when he went to the bank the day before, and America… Well, his dress shirt, slacks, button down vest, and trench coat with a matching fedora will have to do. He did make sure the buttons by the collar were buttoned, though.
Tina knocked on the wall in a sequence and a hatch opened to reveal a pair of eyes. He seemed to recognize Tina and Queenie and let them in, the bricks pushing each other aside to create a doorway. As soon as the group walked in, they closed back the way they came.
They had agreed to what they'd do before leaving America's home; Tina and Newt would handle Gnarlak, Queenie would stay with Jacob to try to keep him out of trouble, and America would sit at a table near where Tina and Newt were in case they needed backup.
America pushed the brim of his hat down to cover his face as best he could. The last thing he needed was for a MACUSA employee to walk in and recognize him; they'd have to find another safe house otherwise.
America did his best to listen in when a business-looking goblin walked in and sat with his two new friends. But he couldn't help looking around.
It was set up like a speakeasy and the lighting was dim, creating a mysterious atmosphere. It would have been weird to see a place like this given how the wizarding government for the United States didn't ban alcohol, unlike their no-maj counterpart. But the Statute of Secrecy was in effect, so he surmised that the joint probably had been open long before prohibition. America himself hadn't agreed to the law, heck he usually spent his Friday nights at one of the speakeasies throughout the city, but those in his government were adamant this was for the best.
"You're not having him." America was snapped out of his thoughts by Newt's defensive voice.
Gnarlak seemed to feign disappointment and moved to get up, "Good luck getting back alive, Mr. Scamander, what with the whole of MACUSA on your back."
"All right." Newt said, and he began to try to reason with what looked like a sentient stem or twig. America frowned as he heard the creature squeak as if begging Newt not to trade him. Newt tried to ignore the squeaks and have him to the goblin.
"Something invisible's been wreaking havoc around 5th avenue. You may want to check out Macy's Department Store. Might have what you're looking for." Gnarlak turned his attention from the small creature to Newt.
"One last thing." Newt said, wiping away some tears. "There's a Mr. Graves who works at MCUSA. I was wondering what you knew of his background."
"You ask a lot of questions, Mr. Scamander. That can get you killed." The tone in Gnarlak's voice made America feel on edge. It was a threat from a mobster.
"MCUSA's coming!" someone shouted and at once, the other patrons and workers began to disapparate and scramble to finish their drinks.
"You tipped them off?!" Tina accused.
The posters on the wall shifted, turning to wanted posters of Newt and Tina. Gnarlak chuckled, showing a mouth full of small, sharp teeth. Aurors began to appear and arrest whichever patron they happened to be closest to.
"Sorry, Mr. Gnarlak." Jacob said before punching him square in the face, causing him to tumble back. America stuck his leg out and Gnarlak tripped, falling and hitting his head against a table.
Newt rushed over to reclaim his creature, and Jacob took a swing of gigglewater, letting out a high-pitched laugh as the group disapparated away.
A/N: Here's the next chapter! Hope you guys enjoyed it.