Evidence (Sean, Daniel, openish)

[Rutger Kilborn]

Rutger still felt that odd twinge of regret when he left Alana in the Auror office and went down the hall to the Magical Law Enforcement office. There wasn't any logical reason why he should feel strange about leaving her there, except that he... well, he missed her. Which was silly, because she was only in the other room, and he'd see her later.

He was still feeling a bit off when he entered the MLE office and looked around. He had no idea where he was supposed to find Daniel and Sean, especially if they were not in the office at the moment.

After a moment of hesitation, he looked around and found Sean's desk. Pulling up a chair, he sat down, then reached into his robe pocket to pull out the plastic bag containing Kryshna's abandoned weapon. He hoped Sean or Daniel would be able to help him research the weapon. Any little bit of information he could find about Kryshna would be helpful in tracking her down.

[Sean Leviner]

Sean was half way through his second cup of coffee when he came up from the cafeteria and into the office. Lately, these days, he barely knew where Daniel was. The kidnapping of Danica had suddenly turned into a full time case now that they had leads, ideas... that on top of his day to day work, and the case with Rutger and Alana, Sean just wasn't sleeping.

But there was another reason he was sucking back caffeine, too. The caffeine, for whatever strange reason, helped with the visions. So did the lack of sleep, if he was being honest. And right now, those were helping him more than anything else in both of his cases.

When he wandered back into the MLE office and towards his desk, he caught sight of a familiar person- one of the Aurors they were working with. He immediately looked around for Alana, his partner, but didn't see her. "Rutger," he greeted with a short nod of his head. "Is everything all right?"

[Rutger Kilborn]

Rutger looked up from the weapon, which he had been turning over and over in his hands, and turned his gaze on Sean. Of the two Leviner brothers, he felt a little more comfortable with Sean than with Daniel. He always rather suspected that Daniel didn't like him much. Maybe Sean didn't, either, but he covered it better.

"Oh, yes... Nothing's wrong. Alana is going out to lunch with the other Aurors, and I thought I'd get some work done."

He placed the weapon on Sean's desk, right in front of the boy. "Kryshna left this at the crime scene. You found some good information about the symbol, and I thought we should see if we can find anything on this. I don't know if it will help us figure out her next victims, but it couldn't hurt."

[Sean Leviner]

Sean regarded the man for a moment, not yet looking at the weapon. He almost asked why Rutger wasn't going to lunch as well, but he always sort of got the vibe that the Auror sitting at his desk wasn't much of a people person. More... behind the scenes. Getting work done. He could respect that. Sean wasn't often social, either.

Finally, his eyes trailed down to the weapon, then over his shoulder to the door. No one else was around, really. Not close by anyway. He pulled up a second chair, sitting in front of his text, and pulled out a quill and parchment.

"There are symbols on the hilt... I'm sure you saw them. I wonder if they're connected with the symbol she leaves?" He fell into the work easily, drawing each of the symbols he saw, as well as the relative shape of the blade. Using his quill, he turned the blade over, copying any additional symbols.

"Dan and I will look into these," he murmured, eyes trailing back up to Rutger, still not having touched the thing. He would save that for another time. But he couldn't keep hiding this ability, either. Now that he was working more and more without Daniel, there wasn't anyone there to watch out for him who knew what was going on. "Can I keep this until Dan gets a chance to look at it?"

He hesitated again, not thinking in his sleep deprived state that what if she were about to attack again, and he missed it because he was waiting?

He licked his lips, unsure what was making him reach out like this. "Rutger... can I trust you with something? No one else in the Ministry knows except Daniel, and I would need you to swear you'll not tell a soul."

[Rutger Kilborn]

Rutger watched quietly as Sean copied down the symbols. He'd had the same thoughts, of course, that the markings on the hilt were somehow connected to the symbol she left at each crime scene. The weapon itself seemed ceremonial, or traditional in nature, probably connected to the cult Kryshna belonged to.

He was about to comment on this when Sean's demeanor seemed to change. Rutger tore his gaze from the weapon and looked back up at Sean as he spoke.

Can I trust you with something? Rutger hesitated for a moment with the question. It was mainly the use of the word trust that gave him pause. He was not a man who trusted easily, and in fact, Alana was really the only person in his life that he could honestly say he trusted completely. But Sean wasn't looking for complete trust. He had a secret, and he wanted to share it. And before he even responded, Rutger had a feeling that he knew what it was. He remembered how Sean had suddenly, inexplicably, known that Kryshna was just upstairs, right down to the very room she was in.

He nodded slowly. "I won't tell a soul."

[Sean Leviner]

Sean nodded. It wasn't quite "Yes, you can trust me" but he was still promising not to tell anyone. That's all Sean needed.

"I wasn't aware that she left any evidence behind... but I wish I had known sooner. I... may be able to tell where she is. Or... something like that. I have this... ability, Rutger. How do you think I knew she was at the hotel?" It was as close as he was going to get to admitting what it was he was gifted (cursed) with. Rutger was smart enough to figure it out. "I'm serious, though, when I say that no one else knows. The Ministry has not been made aware."

He nodded, then, and looked down at the blade, setting the parchment aside. "Here goes nothing?" He even managed to quirk a smile here before he heard shuffling, and looked over his shoulder to see his brother coming over. "'Ey, Dan, come here."

[Daniel Leviner]

Daniel had been trying to do his best for Victoria. Sure, he liked to get on her nerves sometimes but she was shadowing him. He had to make sure that while he was getting on her nerves, he was also teaching her the things that she needed to know about the MLE. He had told Victoria to go on her lunch break and that would resume whatever afterward. For once, Daniel wasn't hungry and he wanted to speak to his brother with out anyone else around just to ask him how things were going.

Just as Daniel was walking to Sean's desk, he noticed Rutger sitting at the desk as well. Something told him something was going on and just as Sean told him to come over, Daniel continued to walk over. "Hey Sean, Rutger. What's going on?"

[Rutger Kilborn]

It was as Rutger suspected. The boy had the powers of a Seer. He wondered if that was why Sean sometimes seemed to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. Although his power could be useful in a case like this, Rutger could sense that Sean rather wished he didn't have the ability, so he didn't smile or show any excitement--not that he would have, anyway. Instead he nodded simply.

"I thought there was something there... I didn't have time to question it at the time. All I knew was, if you were right, we needed to get up there. I can understand why you would want to keep this quiet, though. It would be too easy to abuse this kind of power."

His breath caught as Sean reached for the weapon. If he could see where Kryshna was, or where she would attack next.... they could catch her. It would be over, and no one else would have to die by her hand.

As Daniel approached, however, Rutger felt awkward again. He imagined Sean was more comfortable with his brother there, and Rutger suddenly felt like Alana should be there with him. Why did it suddenly feel as though he couldn't do anything without her?

"Kryshna left this at the crime scene," he said, nodding at the weapon. "Sean was going to.... examine it."

[Daniel Leviner]

Daniel knew that no one else knew about Sean's gift, or curse, depending on the way it was looked at. He was iffy about other people knowing about it, mainly because if the wrong people found out about it, well Sean could end up in some kind of trouble. Daniel was more concerned with protecting his brother than anything. If it came down to it, he would take the killing curse for him.

As Rutger paused for a moment, Daniel raised his eyebrows. He wasn't stupid. The only way that Sean was going to examine it, other than looking at the blade itself was to touch it. There was a questionable look on his face, wondering if Sean said anything.

"Oh," he said looking back toward Sean, then looking down at the weapon. He stepped a little closer to his brother to get a better look at the blade. He noticed that Sean had already copied symbols down, so that left only one other option to 'examine' the blade.

[Rutger Kilborn]

Rutger caught the look on Daniel's face as he looked at him. And he couldn't blame him. If people knew about the gift Sean possessed, it could open him up to a lot of pressure on both sides. The ministry would try to exploit him, and so might the so-called death eaters. He would probably also face ridicule and discrimination from skeptics. Rutger could understand why Sean and his brother would want to keep this information quiet, and he meant to keep his promise not to tell anyone.

"Sean has told me of his ability," Rutger said simply. "And I have given my word... I will not tell anyone about it. But if he is willing to use his ability to help find Kryshna, I am grateful."

[Daniel Leviner]

His eyes went from the drawings that Sean had copied to Rutger. Daniel was fairly surprised that Sean had actually said anything. His expression was blank but then he looked back to Sean. It was probably the protection that he felt over his younger brother that made him want to go back and not let Sean say anything to Rutger. Although, Sean wouldn't have just told anyone. Sean knew what could happen, yet he told Rutger about it.

Sighing, Daniel scratched the back of his neck. "It better stay like that," Daniel said once Rutger finished speaking. He didn't exactly trust all that easy, but he knew what he had to do. If Sean trusted Rutger, well Daniel didn't see why he couldn't let up just a little. "We'll do what we can, especially with these symbols." He looked around the office then back to Sean. "Are you sure," he asked looking to his little brother. He knew that the visions Sean got from touching things caused him pain, physically and emotionally. Daniel wished there was something he could do in order to help ease what Sean was going through.

[Sean Leviner]

Sean watched the short interaction between his brother and Rutger, and the nodded at Daniel. "Yeah, I know," he said, addressing a comment that clearly hadn't been said outloud by either of them. "It's okay, though. Trust me," he added a little cryptically. He didn't trust a lot of people with what he could do, but he was starting to realize that he needed more people on his side than just Daniel. People were finally starting to question him, how he found things out, and he was running out of lies. Running out of reasons for people to leave him alone while he "researched" something.

"I'm sure. This would be a wasted oppertunity." He glanced at Rutger. "No one... not even Alana."

That was all he said before he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, hand hovering just over the blade before he set it down, making contact,

Whether it was the intensity of the vision itself, or the lack of sleep and pure caffeine pumping through his veins, or some mixture of all of it, Sean was hit immidiately and he gasped.

He saw Kryshna and a man with her- clearly someone on her side. He couldn't make out where they were right away. Was that...?

He forced his hand away from the blade, eyes still closed and head down as the familiar headache throbbed almost unbearably and he tried to focus and recall the images in his head.

"The weapon is part of a set," he said, the words ground through clenched teeth, just wanting to say something to keep either of them from questioning him right away. He was still waiting for the ground to settle under his feet. Merlin, he felt like he was going to be sick.

[Rutger Kilborn]

Rutger was honestly not thrilled with the idea of keeping secrets from Alana. She was his partner, his right hand, and it felt odd to consider leaving her out of the loop, especially since he trusted her so completely himself. But he supposed she didn't really need to know how they got the information, only that they had. And Rutger could understand why he wanted to limit the number of people who knew about his secret. The more people were in on it, the greater the chance of it slipping out. So he nodded solemnly, holding up one hand in a silent pledge. Then he watched silently as Sean reached out to touch the weapon.

It was painful to watch, and he could only imagine what Sean was seeing and feeling in that moment. Rutger's eyes shot up to Daniel, hoping he knew something that could help his brother.

[Daniel Leviner]

Daniel watched as Sean reached over the blade. He knew the pain after Sean touching it was going to be painful and he was usually hesitant about Sean touching something. Once Sean was concentrated on the object, he knew what would happen next. There was pain on Daniel's face as he saw Sean's hand move away from the blade. He moved directly beside his brother and put his hands on Sean's shoulders. There wasn't really anything Daniel could do in order to help ease Sean's pain.

His hands squeezed Sean's shoulder, just to let him know he was there. Every time Sean had a vision, Daniel squeezed his shoulder, not really realizing it. He knew better than to bombard Sean with questions and he was thankful that Rutger wasn't firing off questions.

They were going to have to find a way to help Sean with the visions he had but Daniel wasn't going to mention it to him again. They had spoken about it before, but nothing was really done at the time. There were very few people that Daniel actually trusted, so he was iffy about any one knowing anything. Things were starting to become difficult where their investigating was concerned because people wanted to question, Daniel knew that, but he would help Sean as much as he could.

"Take a deep breath," he said in a whisper to his brother. Sean was the only person, other than their father, that he really trusted with his life. If Sean wasn't there, Daniel knew for sure that he would go insane. Sean was the only thing that kept Daniel in check, even if they didn't really realize it. Daniel would be fairly reckless if Sean wasn't there. Knowing this, Daniel was pretty protective of him. Plus, Sean was his younger brother and his best friend.

"The weapon is part of a set," Daniel repeated after a long moment of silence in attempt to bring Sean back from his vision.

[Sean Leviner]

Daniel was always there- always there to pull him back. It was an interesting thing for Sean, but even when the vision was over, he could lose himself in trying to pull back the images. Usually, what he saw happened so fast and so erratically that he couldn't make much of it while it was happening. He needed to focus when it was over.

And Merlin, it hurt. His head would be throbbing until he found some potion for it, but he'd deal with that later.

When his sight seemed to come back and the light in the office wasn't so harsh, he looked to Daniel and nodded slowly, keeping his eyes away from Rutger. He didn't want to see the man's reaction to what just happened.

"She has the other one... and there's a man with her. He's young... an accomplice? Just hold on..."

There was more, he just couldn't get a good grasp on where the two were.

And then, suddenly, it hit him. "They're outside Hogwarts."

[Daniel Leviner]

Daniel was willing to give Sean all the time he needed, even though he could feel a little impatient sometimes. He knew there was no way he could rush Sean to give any sort of answers.

"A young man?" Great, so there were two of them. Granted the young man could have just been there to make sure she got to where she needed to go, but Daniel wasn't really thinking along those lines.

Daniel felt his heart drop when Sean said that they were outside Hogwarts. Those innocent children. What was the goal of killing children? "Hogwarts," Daniel repeated. "Bloody hell." He looked to Rutger. They were going to have to do something. If they weren't already outside Hogwarts, they would be soon. "We've got to get to the school."

[Rutger Kilborn]

If Sean had looked in Rutger's direction, however, he would have found that Rutger wasn't looking at him at all. As soon as Daniel moved to help Sean, Rutger looked away and began to discreetly busy himself by jotting down a few notes on a blank piece of parchment. Although he wasn't usually good with people, a part of him understood better than he would ever admit how it felt to have strangers staring at him like he was some kind of freak of nature. He wouldn't want to put Sean or anyone else in that kind of position.

"We knew she had a partner," Rutger mused aloud, scribbling down a few notes. "There was no other way she could have got out of there after that Stunning spell hit her. She also had another person with her when she tried to kill me a few months ago, although I suspect her current partner is someone new."

At the mention of Hogwarts, however, Rutger dropped his quill. Yes, they had to stop her before she hurt anyone else... but they also needed to be smart about this.

"Wait," he told Daniel, who looked ready to charge out the door at that very moment. "She won't attack now. It's broad daylight. She's a vampire... she'll want the cover of darkness. Besides, if my understanding is correct, Hogwarts will be heavily guarded. She'll need to sneak in... probably with help. She can't very well just walk in there. If we go over there now, we could blow everything... she might find out that we're there and change her plans. We need to trap her there."

He stood up now, becoming excited. After five years... he was so close. They were going to catch her... they had to catch her this time.

Pacing, he began to think aloud, as if he had completely forgotten the two brothers sitting just a few feet away. "She won't be attacking the children, I'm sure of it. She didn't seem to know what to do with the child at the last scene, and she's never attacked children before. She'll be looking for an adult, or maybe two. Maybe we can...."

He stopped abruptly and looked at the brothers. "Do we knew of anyone at Hogwarts who might be a likely target? Perhaps Professor Dumbledore can help us? We could set a trap, and catch her before she can harm anyone."

[Daniel Leviner]

Bloody vampires. Daniel never liked them. Kryshna was making sure that Daniel would never change his mind. He did want to rush out and go to the school, but Rutger stopped him. They had to come up with some kind of plan. Daniel's mind was racing with possibilities of who it could be.

"There could be a few professors on her list, according to a few people Victoria and I found in a few newspapers." Daniel made sure to do a little more in depth research about what professors were possible targets. After all, Hogwarts was the place that all the children went to in order to become better wizards, evil or good.

"We'll just sort of have to go there and figure it out. I think Dumbledore would be open to helping us, although we have to make sure that no one else really finds out about it. After all, we don't really know who we can trust and who we can't, other than Dumbledore and his judgment."

[Sean Leviner]

Sean was quiet, listening to the two talk about what Kryshna could really be planning. He didn't weigh in yet, head in his hands. When Rutger stood up, he took the oppertunity to reach across the desk and open the drawer on the left that usually had his headache potions.

Empty.

"Merlin's beard," he muttered, getting to his feet and leaving the two of them. The space this gave him, and the quiet he had for just a couple minutes gave him more time to think over what he had seen. He invaded a conversation... he just needed to figure out what they had been saying.

He went to Daniel's desk, which also proved empty, and sighed, leaving the office entirely. He didn't care what they were talking about or planning.

After finally getting his hands on a potion and downing it like someone might down a shot of firewhiskey, he came back, looking relatively more put together.

He interrupted whatever they were saying. "They're Death Eaters. The targets are death eaters. Whoever her partner is said that the targets once 'worked for the Master and betrayed him.' And they're planning to attack tonight." As if to punctuate these words, he dropped five bottles of headache potion on his desk, looking between his brother and Rutger.

[Rutger Kilborn]

Rutger hadn't noticed when Sean left the room. If he had realized that he was looking for headache potion, however, he could have offered up some of his own. Because he didn't get much sleep, he frequently suffered from headaches, so he carried a potion with him most of the time. But of course, Sean didn't know any of this, and Rutger was too caught up in the idea of finally catching Kryshna that he did not notice Sean's trouble.

But when Sean spoke again, Rutger turned sharply toward him. "Former Death Eaters," he repeated. "It fits the pattern... they betrayed Lord Voldemort. This narrows things down considerably..... surely Professor Dumbledore can tell us if any of his professors were Death Eaters."

His eyes took on a somewhat fanatical gleam. "Tonight.... we'll have her tonight. We have to act quickly, though... I understand you can't apparate into the school, and I don't want to walk in the front door. I don't want to call attention to ourselves. Is there a link to the floo network we can take?"

He glanced at the door, almost unconsciously searching for Alana. It felt wrong to do this without her here. But she would surely be back in time to help them set the trap that night.

Then, as if thinking of Alana reminded him to be more considerate of others, he turned to Sean. "Thank you for doing this. I know it wasn't easy, and I am sorry you had to go through that."