Silence hung in the air during dinner that night. When ______ and Newt had returned that day, ______ just wanted to be alone for a while. Newt respected her wishes and Queenie had suggested a bath, and while ______ was in the bathroom, Newt filled Queenie in on what had happened. It was nice to get another opinion, and since Queenie had time off work while MACUSA dealt with their private cases, she was at home a lot of the time. Once Queenie knew what had happened, she told Tina in private as soon as she got home. Everyone knew the events of earlier that day, and no one wanted to say anything.

However, the silence was killing Queenie. She hated awkward dinners. She didn't want to bring up the alley at dinner, and she couldn't talk about MACUSA around ______, so she started a conversation about the only thing she could think of.

"______," she began, looking towards her with a smile. "I've heard from Newt that the two of you have gone sight-seeing a few places around New York, and that you've been showing him around. Do you know if you've lived here long?"

Newt shot a look at Tina, and Tina could tell that Queenie and Newt never had a conversation like that. Classic Queenie, Tina thought. Always getting into people's heads. She gave Newt an apologetic look when ______ began to speak. "I think I have, at least in Manhattan. I don't know much about Brooklyn or Queens, but I knew plenty of good places to go in Manhattan..." she trailed off, and another thought popped into her head. "I think I've spent a good amount of time over in Staten Island too, but I'm not sure. I just thought about it now."

"We went to Battery Park the other day," Newt tried joining in the conversation before Queenie resorted to searching around in his head for another subject. "It was a lovely place."

"I still can't believe this is his second time in New York," ______ smiled, talking to Tina and Queenie while shooting a teasing look Newt's way. "You'd think he's never been here before; there's so much he hasn't seen. I still don't know which part of Central Part he's been in, because all he remembers is a zoo and a frozen lake, and Central Park is so big I don't remember either of those things."

"I've never been to most of Central Park either," Tina admitted. "I live here, and I have no excuse for that. I just haven't taken the time to go there."

"You should," ______ told her, half-smile on her face thinking about it. "It's a beautiful park with all the trees, and the lake, too. It's a nice place to visit if you need to clear your head." ______ stood up, grabbing her now-empty plate. "I can do the dishes tonight," she proposed. "I feel bad when you do them all the time, Queenie."

Queenie stood up at the same time, her plate empty as well. "It doesn't take me very long," she told ______, taking her plate from her. "Besides, I kind of like doing the dishes. Cleaning gives me a sense of peace." She went around the table, grabbing everyone's empty plates and cups. In reality, she just used magic the second ______ was out of the room, but ______ didn't need to know that.

After dinner, everyone went their separate ways. ______ headed towards her and Newt's shared room to prepare for bed, Newt went to take a shower before getting changed, Queenie went to work on a dress in the living room, and Tina was pouring over the papers for MACUSA's new cases in the dining room once the table was clear.

MACUSA had been suddenly flooded with tons of missing persons cases involving wizards, and the part that got MACUSA worried is that at least two of them were Aurors. She could only find one connection between all of them, but it was a chilling one to her: they all had separate jobs as private investigators. MACUSA didn't think very much of it, tons of their workers acted as private investigators in their own time, but it made Tina think. That was the only connection between all of them, and she wasn't ready to let it drop. Their expertise ranged from amateur to expert, and Tina needed to find out if there was another connection that might reveal if they were all beginning to follow the same case.

Needless to say, her past few days were exhausting chases from lead to lead, dead-end to dead-end. No one wanted to talk about dead PIs.

Meanwhile, all ______ wanted to do was get some sleep. Ever since what had happened earlier, she felt on edge, as if she had to keep looking over her shoulder. She felt silly feeling like she had to check everything even as she was safe indoors, but she was put-off and on edge thanks to all of the posters in the alley.

______, I found you. ______, you can't run forever.

She was laying in bed when Newt walked into the room, and she sat up quickly. She flinched back, and Newt took a step back, her sudden movement surprising him. "It's just me," he reassured her, and her posture returned to normal.

"Sorry," she told him, laying back down, but still facing him. "You just surprised me."

Newt sat down on his bed, looking over at her. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked her. When they had returned earlier, after her bath, she insisted that she was fine and didn't want to talk about what had happened. However, it was obvious that she didn't mean what she said.

She hesitated for a moment. It would be so easy to just insist she was fine, she was just tired, but why? Why push him away when he wanted to help, why refuse to tell him anything when he was doing his best to understand? "To be honest, I'm not sure," she admitted. "After today, I don't know how to feel. I'm not sure I even wanted to go looking for answers about who I was anymore."

Newt resisted the urge to reach towards her and comfort her. Seeing her like this hurt him, and he just wanted to understand her better to know who she was. He felt like he shouldn't try to do anything that could be interpreted as romantic advances until she knows who she is. After all, if he made her uncomfortable and lost her trust, he had no idea what he would do. Being around her felt natural at this point, and if she didn't want to be around him, that would feel worse.

So, no matter what, he told himself that whatever he was feeling had to be kept private. He still wasn't sure what he was feeling exactly, anyways, so he saw it as an opportunity to evaluate his feelings towards her.

"I... know that these past few days have been hard, and I can't imagine what it's been like for you," Newt began, trying his best to look at her and keep her attention. "I didn't know you before all of this, so I can't tell you who you were, but I know who you are now. No matter what happened before, you don't have to think about it too much. You're not sure what happened, but I know that who you are now is important."

She shrugged. "It seems like no matter what, looking for it or not, my past is beginning to catch up with me. I can't help but think that it's not a good thing anymore. Maybe I shouldn't try to figure out who I used to be at all."

Newt shook his head. "I wouldn't say that. You deserve to have your life back, don't let others ruin that for you."

______ smiled at him. "Thank you, Newt. I think I'm going to try to get some sleep," she turned around, her back facing away from him, and Newt suddenly felt like he was doing something wrong. Even as he tried to pick his words carefully and his actions, something felt off. He hated the fact he had to keep magic from her as per Tina's rule, especially when she seems to have a history with it. Who knows how many memories just one spell could bring back? They were unnecessarily limiting her.

They couldn't keep it from her forever. If she got her memories back like they'd hope, she would remember magic, it was just a matter of time.

-

It was a beautiful house. He had picked it out because he knew she would love the aesthetic, and maybe then, she'd agree to move in with her. Maybe she'd agree to ditch her roommates in Manhattan and finally move out there with him. ­­­______ didn't know that was the reason he picked it; she just knew that it was beautiful.

Another thing she thought was beautiful was the china set she was currently using to make and serve lemonade. ______ was filling beautiful china cups with lemonade. He was sitting in the backyard; she had just made lunch. She just forgot the drinks inside.

She came back outside holding a tray, and that's when she got a good look at the man outside. He was tall, had dark brown hair that fell flat and was styled neatly. His eyes were bright blue, yet looking at them, it was as if there were no emotions behind them. "______, you're using the nice cup set," he pointed out, grabbing a cup carefully.

"I thought I should," ______ responded with a light smile, grabbing a cup as well. "It's a nice day outside, you just finished getting settled. I figured it was something worth using nice china for."

He just shrugged, and then took a sip of the lemonade before spitting it back in the cup. "This isn't very sweet," he remarked, putting the cup down. "You never make it right."

"I'm sorry," ______ responded, putting down her glass carefully. "I tried to make it like you described, but I... please don't shout again."

He just smiled at her. "I won't. Take it back inside."

______ went silent for moment, then just grabbed the tray again, grabbing her cup and his. She went to stand up again, but her dress caught on the chair. She tripped, and the cups fell off the tray. Smashing on the ground. She yelped a little bit and turned to the man again. "I'm sorry," she began as the man started to stand up. "I didn't mean to, I just-"

"I can fix it," he told her, not worried about the broken glass on the ground, he started walking towards her. "But you need to learn to be more careful. I thought you had learned to be more careful with my things after last time."

"Please, no, don't-"

She was cut off as she was shoved to the ground, onto the broken class. She cried out and looked up at him, and he just grabbed her by the sleeve of her dress and started to raise a fist. "Maybe this time, you'll remember."

-

"No!" ______ shouted. She had woken up suddenly, sitting up covered in sweat, breathing heavily. She looked around the room, trying to get a feel for her surroundings. It was only a dream, she thought, but she still couldn't shake the horrible feeling.

Newt woke up the second he heard her shout and sat up, turning on the light. He stood up from his bed, going over to her. "Are you alright?" he asked. "I heard you shout something."

______ looked over at Newt. "I'm sorry to wake you, it was only a dream," she told him. "At least, I think it was only a dream."

Newt gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"

______ just stood for a moment, thinking about the dream. She usually had such horrible luck when she tried to remember dreams, but this dream was vivid. In fact, it was a little too vivid, and something felt off about it. Every detail was clear, the emotions felt real, and everything felt just a little too...

... familiar.

"I think... I think it was a memory," she admitted, and Newt sat down at the foot of her bed, listening intently and encouraging her to go on. "It wasn't anything too telling of who I was. It was a man and I, having lunch, but he got angry with me. I knocked something valuable over and broke it, and next thing I knew, he was shoving me to the ground, he raised a fist, and I woke up right before..." she trailed off.

Newt wasn't sure what to say at first, and she thought back on the dream, she was upset. Just hearing about the dream made Newt feel sick, he couldn't imagine actually experiencing it. Newt reached out to her, grabbing her hand and grabbing her attention. "You're safe here, I promise," he assured her. "Whoever that was, they're not here."

______ looked at him with worry clear in her eyes. "What if he was the one who put up all those papers? What if he found me before I can even fully remember who he is? I think there's a reason I was running from him. I had to be running from him, there's no other reason he would tell me I can't run forever."

"I don't understand why he would want to rob me," Newt admitted. "Nothing is adding up. He planned it carefully, why would he want to rob me? Where do I come into this?"

"I have no idea," she curled up into a ball, letting go of Newt's hand. "I don't know what to think."

Newt moved closer to her. "I promise you, no matter what, I'll be here. Right next to you. Whoever he is, and whatever he's done, he won't do it again. Not while I'm around."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" ______ asked. "I don't understand."

Newt decided to take a chance and began to tell her the honest truth. "It started out as an obligation. I felt horrible for what happened, and I felt like I had an obligation to help you after how you lost your memory. Now... it's different. ______, there's something special about you. You're kind, and despite everything that's happened to you, you're not bitter at me or at anyone else. You're a wonderful woman and I..." Newt trailed off, reaching for the right word. "I want to help you now. It's not an obligation I feel, I just want you to be happy. You deserve it."

______ uncurled from a ball and took Newt's hand for a moment, smiling at him. "I can't thank you enough, Newt. You're special, too."

Newt checked his watch: it was one in the morning. ______ let out a yawn and let go of his hand again. "I think I'm going to try to get back to sleep. Thank you, again, for checking on me. It helped a lot, I don't think I would've gone back to sleep after that if you didn't help calm me down."

"Of course," Newt moved back towards his bed and turned off the light. "Goodnight, ______."