A/N: Flashbacks are in italic.

A gush of chilly wind burst through the cracked window, making a swishing noise. The room, lit by a single candle, went dark momentarily. There was a deep sigh, coming from the thick darkness, before a ray of light came out of the tip of a wand. Blue coat and ginger messy curls, as well as a pair of cold, blue eyes were clearly visible now, as well as the deep frown on man's face.

"I wish you to be cooperative." Newt said, his brows furrowing. The man, sitting on the stool and tied up with ropes, hard enough to leave purple marks on his hand's skin, watched him back, barring his teeth in frustration. Newt cast Silencio on him a moment back, because the man clearly didn't talk about what Newt needed to know. Threats and insults weren't really affecting Newt the way they should, they rather annoyed him more than anything.

He tipped his wand and the light flew off the tip, illuminating the room on its own. Another sigh escaped Newt's lips before he continued "I want you to think carefully of what you're going to say. You see, I'm not quite experienced at using Unforgivable Curses," he paused and a mischievous grin made its way on his face "but it's never too late to learn properly."

The man's eyes widened in horror. He quietly nodded, fear painting his features. Newt's smirk grew wider as his hand moved smoothly in the cold air. The spell fell and the man coughed up a sob. Pathetic. That was the single word which ran through Newt's mind as he was listening to the blabbering man.

"Y-you must be one of Grindelwald's fanatics, right?" At Newt's raised eyebrow, he stuttered more "I-I don't have anything against y-you!"

Newt approached him briskly and dug his wand into the front of man's throat, making him shudder violently and yelp. He growled into his captive's ear "I'm not one of them, you utter piece of shit. And now, try to convince me that you're worth my time."

The man nodded frantically, sobbing all along.

"Answer my question."

The man took a breath, shaking and mumbled out "You can find what you're searching for at Ilvermorny. I-I'm sure the headmaster h-has it."

"Ilvermorny?" Newt's eyes rolled in annoyance. "That's kind of far, don't you think?" His wand dug further and the man winced at the pain. "You're not telling me the whole truth, are you?" There was only silence he got in response and he straightened his back. Taking some steps in the direction of the broken window, he turned to face it. The silence stretched. Newt looked out at the dimly lit street.

"You're not telling me the whole truth, are you?" Percival frowned at him and Newt only gave him a sheepish smile. "Oh, do I want to know the truth to begin with?"

"Come on, Percival." Newt pouted "There's nothing dangerous involved. I swear." He held up his hands, but there was a small smile tugging at his lips and Percival observed it, because now he was smiling as well.

"Your understanding of the word 'dangerous' isn't common, Newt." Percival sighed, approaching him and pulled Newt into an embrace. Newt felt his cheeks grow hot, but relaxed into it. Percival nuzzled his neck and whispered, tickling the freckled skin with his breath "I'm not trying to be overprotective. Mercy Lewis, you're a grown-up man-" This made Newt chuckle and he turned his head in time to catch the serious yet sad look in Percival's eyes. "Just be safe. Please, be safe."

His attention went back to his prisoner who stayed awfully quiet until now. Newt raised his wand, the icy look still in place as his lips murmured almost inaudibly

"Crucio."

The effect was immediate. The man's face twisted in agony and he screamed his lungs out. His body was convulsing violently as the curse kept hitting him, as Newt continued murmuring it out while pointing his wand at him.

"Please! Stop!" The man screamed, his voice hoarse and breathing shallow "Please! I'll tell you everything! Please!" He pleaded while tears ran down the face covered in dirt.

Newt considered his prisoner's words for a moment and stopped. He didn't enjoy to torture, if he was being honest. Putting a firm hand on man's shoulder, Newt felt him shudder and yelp in pain.

"Tell me." Newt said, his eyes flashing dangerously at the sitting man. "Everything you know." Newt let go of man's shoulder and leaned casually on the nearest wall, eyes on the prisoner and wand in hand. "And I promise to release you after."

"Yes." The man replied, fear written all over his face "Yes." He repeated. "I believe that one of the Deathly Hallows is in Ilvermorny's Headmaster's possession at this time." He swallowed thickly before continuing "But very strange rumors go around the dark witches and wizards."

Newt's eyebrow twitched "Continue."

"Grindelwald has the Elder Wand, but he's actually interested in all of the Deathly Hallows." The man took a breath, and continued, his eyes fixing on his lap "Including the Resurrection Stone."

Newt stayed silent. The man's eyes eventually raised and he swallowed. Newt's face was terrifyingly resembling a ghost's, the freckles prominent on the unnaturally pale skin, the dark circles under his eyes, the blue of his eyes - piercing through his very soul.

"Say no more." Those thin lips murmured and the man felt like his head began to spin, making him sick. "Don't worry. Everything will be over before you even realize it." The man heard as his consciousness slipped away, Newt's figure slightly hovering over him.

When the man woke up, there was nothing beside the pain he felt deep in his bones. He didn't know why he felt this numbing pain, or where he was - he couldn't even remember who he was to begin with or what happened to him.

Newt watched silently from the crowd as the muggle police took the man out of the old house and with a playful smile, turned on his heels and vanished through the same crowd.

He never killed anyone, really, even if they deserved it. But instead, he was sure to kill the wizards in them.

Tina's worried face was something Newt was familiar with already for more than a month. He could understand her, she still thought of him as one of her dear friends, someone she should worry about. Especially since the incident.

This was what they called it at MACUSA. The sudden attack of Grindelwald's followers on New York with the intent of shaking MACUSA's aurors, to distract them from their leader. Grindelwald wasn't the one to leave such a chance slip through his fingers, so he did escape from MACUSA's prison cell they held him in, not without killing the guards and aurors who tried to stop him.

MACUSA's workers didn't even have much time to grieve over their lost comrades, friends and loved ones. All of them were drown in work and barely had time to think about their own lives. Newt sincerely felt sorry for giving them more work, but he brushed that thought aside as fast as it came across his mind, because when he thought about it, he wasn't really sorry, at all.

"Newt," Tina leaned in her chair and gave him a small smile, the only one she was capable of at the moment "how are you doing?" she asked carefully, as if trying to not hurt him. Such things weren't able to hurt him, reminding him about that didn't hurt him anymore, not like it should hurt. It wasn't normal, but what was really normal? Newt didn't have the idea of normality anymore. He did and felt things the way he did and that change in him bothered no one really, because he wasn't open about it either.

He eased a breath and lazily raised his eyes to look into Tina's "I'm fine, you shouldn't worry about me. Actually," he shifted and broke the eye-contact, with the same laziness, he looked at the papers invading Tina's desk "I think my well-being is the last thing you should worry about."

Tina's look turned stern, but she didn't start on scolding him. They both didn't have time or strength for an argument, so she let it slip. Newt, on the other hand, took an interest in the documents displayed on some boards behind her back.

"You've got a lot of work lately." He stated flatly, not moving his gaze from the photos of numerous wizards and witches pinned to a map of New York.

"Yeah." Tina replied and rubbed at her eyes. She probably didn't sleep the last three days at all, if the dark circles under her eyes and the amount of coffee left in the tin told about something. "Someone is doing a very good job around the city." She said, sarcasm dripping from her words. "They're kidnapping, torturing and obliviating persons that were suspected of being dark wizards and witches. Like, you know," she leaned back in her seat, stretching her tired legs under the desk "they desperately search for some kind of information only a dark mage would posses."

"And what do you think that is?" Newt asked, his tone and facial expression never changing.

Tina cast him a brief glance before looking back to the board. With a light shrug, she told him "Sincerely? I've got no ideas. But all of these people are somehow, directly or indirectly, related to Grindelwald's followers. I have the feeling that some of them are actually his followers." She balled her hands in fists so hard, that her knuckles turned white. She lost many friends that day as well, so she was just as restless as any other auror at MACUSA. Probably even more than others.

Newt finished his usual evening routine of feeding all of his beasts and couldn't help but smirk at Dougal's worried big eyes as that kept tugging at his coat. He crouched down in front of the demiguise and attempted to pet his head. Dougal closed his eyes and jerked away.

His beasts sensed the change in him, of course they had, it was impossible to not sense or see it. He still cared about them and they still accepted his care, but their bond wasn't the same as it was before. Some of them were terrified of him, and at first, he didn't get why was that. He never treated them badly, always fed and protected them, was their guardian, their loving mother, and anyway, they stepped back. It hurt back then, but now - it didn't. He had just accepted that they won't look at him the way they were looking before, and it didn't really make him feel worse or better.

Newt sighed and stood up, walking back to the his small room, where he used to spend days and nights while writing notes for his book. He glanced around it and his eyes stopped on the book shelf full of different old, tattered books covered in dust. His features softened as he remembered how on that same place, Percival pushed him against the shelf. With the books digging into his back, with that strong body pressed firmly against his, Newt was left with no path to escape. He wasn't sure he wanted to escape though.

Percival was looking at him with so many emotions written all over his face, that Newt wasn't sure which one was prevailing. He wasn't sure until Percival stopped staring at his lips like a hungry beast and closed the small gap between their mouths. Their first kiss was anything but chaste.

Their tongues tangled and teeth were clacking as they kissed fiercely, passionately. Newt gripped Percival by the back of his neck and hooked a leg around his hip. That was a very bold action for him, but he wanted to show to Percival that - yes, he wants it with the same fervor as Percival, and he won't back down. He could feel Percival smirk in their kiss as his hands traveled to Newt's hips and he just ground their clothed crotches together. Slow, teasingly, all while sucking on Newt's tongue. By the time they parted to breathe, Newt was a mess both inside and on outside.

The way Percival's fingers intertwined with his trembling ones, the way he kissed every knuckle on his hand, the way he looked into his eyes - and Newt didn't dare to look away, he couldn't look away - it all said everything for itself. The emotion that prevailed on Percival's face in that moment was undoubtedly affection. This simple realization made Newt's heart beat faster.

Percival pushed a stray strand of his messy ginger hair behind his ear and Newt caught his hand midway when he wanted to withdrew it. Kissing the open palm, Newt nuzzled it and leaned into the touch as it landed on his burning cheek.

"Just a bit longer, Percival." Newt murmured, closing his eyes and focusing on the warm skin of Percival's hand "Touch me just a bit longer."

"Touch me, Percival." Newt's voice came out in a pleading tone as his own hand went up to cup his cheek. "Please, touch me."