Report

[Gabriel Lowery]

Gabriel left for his office after his initial meeting with Angelique. She was a woman that wanted long explanations, while only short ones did fine with him. He couldn't really complain to her so he just kept it to himself. After all, he did have to work with her.

He set to work on the report himself. It didn't seem that anyone else was going to get to work on it, so it was better if he did it himself. Sighing, he picked up a quill and started to write in his extremely neat handwriting. Gabriel was a fairly fast writer, however his handwriting didn't show that. He wrote in detail. For what he lacked in speaking, he filled with his writing.

Finishing up, Gabriel set his quill down and stood up from his desk and walked briskly back down Angelique's office. Being polite, he knocked on the door.

[Angelique St. Clare]

So far, this had not been one of her better days. Between the angry letters, an argument with the stupid woman in the portkey department, and the lack of progress in the investigation into Katie's death, Angelique was feeling helpless. She wasn't doing any good right now, and nothing was getting accomplished at all. It was frustrating.

She finally had just started work on the report for Vincent when she heard the knock on the door. "Oh, now what?" she mumbled. "Come in!"

[Gabriel Lowery]

Before he opened the door, Gabriel could hear the annoyance in Angelique's voice. He disregarded it and opened her door easily, but politely. Shutting the door behind him, he took a few steps towards her desk, before nodding his head in greeting. "The report you wanted Ms. St. Claire." Gabriel held the paper, with his neat and graceful handwriting, out to her. "I believe you will find all the information from our searches written down."

[Angelique St. Clare]

Angelique looked up, surprised to see him back so soon. She had expected him to be gone a few more hours, at least, if not the rest of the day. But then, given his tendency to talk sparingly, the report was probably very short, with clipped sentences and not nearly enough details.

"Thank you," she said briskly. "Have a seat while I take a quick look at it." She nodded toward the chair in front of her desk while she held out her hand for the report.

[Gabriel Lowery]

Gabriel did as he was asked and took a seat in one of the chairs in front of her desk. He looked over her desk quickly while she looked over his very detailed report. She looked like she was swamped with work, and Gabriel did feel bad for her. With everything going on, maybe he could help ease the work amount just a little.

His eyes drifted back to her and he observed her for a moment while she wasn't looking. He noticed that she seemed to have stress written on her face, but she was still fairly nice looking. Gabriel pushed all thoughts from his mind as Angelique continued to read.

[Angelique St. Clare]

Angelique was pleasantly surprised to see that the report was written in much greater detail than she'd expected. Clearly, he save all of his words for written reports. They were meticulous and descriptive, with every detail included. The grammar was impeccable and every i was dotted and every t was crossed.

"This... is very helpful," Angelique commented at length. "I'm getting a much better picture of the situation. This is nice work, Mr. Lowery." Setting down the report, she looked at him for a moment. She still wasn't quite sure what to make of him, because he played things so close to the vest. But perhaps her initial impression of him had been misguided. "When would be a good time for you to go a revisit the site?"

[Gabriel Lowery]

"Thank you Ms. St. Claire," he replied with a nod of his head. "I was hoping it would help." Naturally, he always made sure that his reports where very detailed for he was a detailed person even he didn't seem to be one in his speech. Gabriel clasped his hands together as he rested his elbows on the arm rests of the chair.

He couldn't help but look back at her. Was she analyzing him? "Whenever you are available and prefer to go Ms. St. Claire. My time is flexible for now."

[Angelique St. Clare]

Angelique finished looking through the report and set it down on her desk. ""OK, great," she said briskly, getting up from her seat. "Why don't we go now? If I don't get out of this office soon, I'm pretty sure I'm going to go crazy. And I mean, like, bouncing off the wall crazy. I seriously never want to see another owl again. So where are we going? Should we apparate there, or do you want me to arrange a portkey? Not that I like dealing with the troll down in the portkey office..." She made a face at the memory of the woman she always seemed to get into arguments with.

[Gabriel Lowery]

"We need to go to England first," he said as she stood. Gabriel was quick to his feet as well. "I think muggles will hear if we apparate there. Portkey will be better so we can get there quietly in an alley. I'll deal with the woman in the portkey office. Don't worry about her." It seemed that Gabriel could be intimidating, and he used that whenever he really needed something and didn't want to really explain himself.

"She won't give you any trouble." He took a step away from his chair.

[Angelique St. Clare]

Angelique was impressed. "Really? You can talk to that woman without an argument? Every single time I've tried to work with her, she's given me a hard time about something. I'm about ready to report her for making up her own rules in the portkey office. One time she tried to tell me I didn't have proper clearance. I had to get the Magical Law Enforcement office involved... and ever since, she's been even worse. I swear she denies me just because she knows it bugs me. Annoying hag."

She moved quickly toward the door. "Come on, let's go. I'm eager to see you at work."

[Gabriel Lowery]

For once, Gabriel cracked a smile. It had been awhile since he had, but it felt good to smile every once in awhile. He opened the door for her and walked out after her. In a way, he thought that the woman was scared of him or something. She seemed to just stare at him.

As they walked down the hall, he walked into the portkey office. The woman behind the counter stopped what she was doing whenever she saw Gabriel. He didn't understand what was going on with her, but he walked right up to the counter with Angelique. "We need a portkey for two to the alleyway in London near the Grover Inn," he said to the point. The woman seemed to stumble over her words, and Gabriel raised an eyebrow. Without a problem, the woman got the portkey ready for them.

He turned to Angelique. "Are you ready?"

[Angelique St. Clare]

"Wow," Angelique said as they walked back out into the hallway. "That was impressive. Do you have some blackmail material against her or something? She just turned to turn into jelly when she saw you. That's like the complete opposite of how she acts when I walk in by myself. She turns into this ice queen and cuts me off before I even finish making my request. I think she gets off on being witholding. But not with you. Maybe she just has it in for me?"

[Gabriel Lowery]

Gabriel let out a small chuckle. That was the first time he had done so in a good while. "I don't do blackmail. She's always been like that." He gave a shrug. "If you need a portkey I'll get it for you. You don't need to be treated coldly." As he said that, he looked directly at her, but then let his gaze drift ahead. He didn't think that Angelique needed to be treated the way people did treat her. After all, she was trying to get everything back on track, and there was so much going on. Maybe he could talk with the woman in the Portkey office in order to keep her from being mean to her.

He opened the door that led them out of the hallway they were in, to another one that led them out of the ministry. Gabriel gestured for her to go first while he held the door open.

[Angelique St. Clare]

"Well, thanks," Angelique said. "I don't know what it is with that woman... we had a battle on my first day here, and ever since she's had it in for me."

She followed him until he held open the door for her. Although Angelique considered herself a modern, independent woman who was more than capable of takign care of herself, she still couldn't help but appreciate when a man held the door open for her. She walked through it and came to stand in the alleyway outside. "Thank you," she said. "You know, in America, men don't hold doors open for women anymore. And sure, we can handle it ourselves and everything, but still, a little gentlemanly behavior is nice every once in a while."

She looked around. "So, where's the portkey?"

[Gabriel Lowery]

"Well, they should learn a bit more manners then," he replied. "A man is supposed to open a door for a woman, and stand when she enters a room. Although I guess I'm a bit old fashioned, and it was no problem." Gabriel realized that was probably the most he really talked about anything other than work. He looked around the alley and noticed a shoe.

"There," he said pointing towards the shoe. Gabriel walked over to the portkey and looked to Angelique, then back down to the portkey. He picked it up, knowing that it would only work if she would touch it as well. "Whenever you're ready."

[Angelique St. Clare]

Angelique made a face. "Ew. Why is it always some nasty, gnarly old man's shoe that looks like a throwback to the 1800s? Why can't it ever be a cute shoe... maybe open-toed with a sling-back and six-inch heel? That one looks like it smells bad and belonged to a bum."

Angelique couldn't help complaining, shoes were one of her passions. It pained her to see the dreadful things that some people put on their feet, and what became of them after being worn for a long time.

Nevertheless, after her little girlish rant, she stepped forward until she was just next to him. "Ew. I don't even want to touch it, but here goes!" She grabbed onto the toe of the shoe, making a face as she did.

[Gabriel Lowery]

Gabriel fought the urge to roll his eyes. "If it were a nice shoe, then just anyone would pick it up," he said matter-of-factly. "If the shoe looks like this, then it is less likely for just anyone to pick it up. Besides, it's actually clean. I wouldn't have picked it up if it wasn't."

He hoped that Angelique wouldn't make comments like that all the time. He knew that if she did, then it would possibly lead to some kind of argument or a lot of eye rolling. However, other than her last comment, Angelique actually seemed to be a pretty nice woman.

As soon as she touched it, everything ran by them and Gabriel closed his eyes as everything was whirling about them. Once they reached their destination, Gabriel landed on his feet with a bit of grace. He had enough experience with a portkey to land on his feet rather than just hitting the ground hard. "Well, here we are," he said brushing himself off.

[Angelique St. Clare]

Angelique, however, landed in a dumpster filled with trash. Luckily, it was all packed in plastic bags, and the trash inside was relatively soft to break her fall. Still, her shoe fell off and her robe was tangled somewhere around her thighs, and something landed on her head. Reaching up, she found it was a banana peel.

"Oh, ew," she said. "Ew, ew, ew, ew! Just my luck. I make one little comment about ugly shoes being used as portkeys and my cosmic karma decides to bite me in the butt. Just typical." She tossed the banana peel aside and quickly adjusted her robes, then went digging through the pile of bags for her lost shoe. "Wanna help me out?" she asked, peering over the side of the dumpster at him.

[Gabriel Lowery]

When he didn't see Angelique beside him, he heard a voice coming from the dumpster. Gabriel just shook his head. He took a few steps near the dumpster and eyed her for a moment. He picked a piece of plastic from her hair and then looked in the dumpster.

Gabriel pulled himself to sit on the side of the dumpster and began moving bags out of the way and finally found her shoe. He held it up for her to see. He jumped down and walked in front of her. "Now, let's get you out of there," he said holding his arms out to her. It had to be her luck that she did land in a dumpster, and naturally felt bad for her.

[Angelique St. Clare]

"Thanks." Angelique took her shoe from him, but it was covered in something slimy. "Oh, ew," she complained. "Apparently I angered the shoe gods or something and they took revenge on my imported Italian pumps." Pulling out her wand, she performed a quick cleaning spell on the shoe, until the fine red patent leather gleamed again. Slipping the shoe back on her foot, she turned to him and grabbed onto his arms, allowing him to pull her out of the dumpster.

"Well, that was pleasant," she grumbled sarcastically. She quickly performed another cleaning spell on herself to get rid of any other muck that remained from the garbage. "OK, that's better. Now... where are we going?"