It had been a long and arduous process but Berkeley had finally gotten most of the cataloguing done. Probably over thinking every detail and making her lists much longer than they actually had to be but in such a situation she didn't want to make the mistake of leaving anything out. Thankfully she had the help of the new Auror trainee Tarelin who was a good boy and did as he was told. The pair had managed to make several lists that included but weren't limited to who had been threatened, what each Auror had received as a threat, what objects or photographs were attached to each threat, who had been threatened, what their relationship to said auror was and their last know whereabouts.

Berkeley was able to fill in most of the blanks that needed to be filled and even stayed a little later moving from the interrogation room Tarelin and her had been working in, to her own desk to clean up her notes so they could be officially filed. As she she was filling in the list of those threatened, their relationships to the Aurors and their last known whereabouts her quill hovered over the threat sent out to Jonas and realized that there was one or two blanks that she was unable to fill.

With a humph her petite fingers opened a drawer in her desk and sifted through perfectly filed papers and realized that she simply didn't have the answers. Well that just wouldn't do. She rubbed at her eyes finally realizing how long she had been at it. She couldn't believe she had missed these details earlier. She had simply written - wife, muggle, and had moved on. That wasn't thorough at all and would have to be rectified.

She got to her feet smoothed a rumple out of her pencil line skirt and marched over to Trevelyan's cubicle. She gave a soft rap on the siding and peered her head inside, her platinum locks falling over her shoulder and hanging in loose ringlets, "Mister Trevelyan? Could I bother you for a moment?"

It had been a long, trying, exhausting day, and even though it was well after any sane hour for supper, it wasn't over yet.  Adon had gone to check some legal code, which usually meant he had about an hour to relax.  As direct and matter-of-fact as his partner usually was, the Israeli devolved into a childlike state of glee every time he had an excuse to dive into the ancient tomes of Ministry law.

Jonas was sitting at his desk, eyes shut and fingers steepled, pressing tightly against the bridge of his nose.  If he'd been any less tired, the sudden rap would have been enough to startle him.  As it was, he merely opened his eyes, lifting his head as he peered at the speaker.

One of his colleagues was standing there, very politely addressing him.  Something Cavanaugh -- she had the look of a Cavanaugh, even if she was mousier than the Auror clan that he remembered.  There had been a whole batch of them, ranging anywhere from ten to thirty years older than him, and it had seemed as if the career had run in the family.  This one was younger, quieter, and seemed to have more of an inclination for paperwork.  He hadn't interacted with her much yet, aside from friendly nods while passing in the hallways and her holding out the werewolf picture earlier that day.

That brought him back to the moment with a start.  This Cavanaugh -- whatever her first name was, however young she might look -- had been targeted by Macduff like all the rest of them.  The werewolf had seen fit to send her a photograph of a werewolf, though she hadn't revealed her note that morning.  From what Jonas had seen, the threats had been pretty on target; Macduff had certainly done his research well.  Whatever Cavanaugh's story was, clearly werewolves played a part in it.

"Yeah.  Auror Cavanaugh, innit?" he asked, awkwardly shifting in the chair as he attempted to stretch out his bad leg in front of him.  "Take a chair.  Just Trevelyan's fine -- or Jonas, if you want to be less formal."  He flashed her a quick, tired smile as he bent to rub his knee.  "Reckon we've got a good number of years that we're going to be working together.  Might as well not waste time on formalities."

"I'd prefer Trevelyan if it's all the same to you sir." She spoke softly and didn't move until he told her to take the chair opposite him that she could only assume had been occupied by his partner for the majority of the day. She meant no disrespect for him and hadn't meant to be curt but he was her elder and while he may have been gone for a long time she still considered him to be her superior. Perhaps with time she would warm up to him enough to call him by his given name but for now etiquette dictated that she call him by his surname. He was allowed to call her whatever he liked, Merlin only knew the others did - a good majority using names like kiddo in regards to her.

She sat stock still in the chair legs together and crossed at the ankle with her back as straight as the chair it was leaning against. In her lap she held a manila file folder that had been neatly labeled - MacDuff Threats. She opened the folder revealing just how much work she had put into the task he had given her all those hours ago and took out a single photograph, the one of Anna.

She placed it gently on the desk in front of him and rose her ice blue eyes to look into his own, "Forgive me sir if I'm being too forward but I pride myself in being thorough. I've been filing all the threats as asked, cataloguing them and making a list of all of the love ones that have been threatened. Unfortunately with your . . . absence I was unable to obtain certain information that I believe will help us determine why MacDuff chose to make such appalling threats to us all."

She closed the folder and placed a single finger next to the photograph making sure she had touched all the items in their investigation as little as possible, "More specifically sir, I was unable to obtain any information about her."

Auror Cavanaugh, still absent of a first name, politely took a seat and opened the folder she'd brought with her.  Jonas's throat caught at the sight of the picture again, but he let out a slow breath, raising his eyebrows as he kept his expression calm.  The mail delivery that morning had left all of them on edge, but as Adon had said, a threat was only a threat.  Macduff could say whatever he liked and take whatever photographs he wanted.  Taking action on his words would be much more difficult.

It was impossible to stop the automatic twinge of relief that accompanied Cavanaugh's statement that information about Anna wasn't in his file.  Jonas knew he owed Adon and Tamis for that.  Even though it was protocol, the idea of the Ministry keeping tabs on his family still put him on edge.  The information might be readily available in the Muggle world -- and even in parts of the magical one, since both Tawse and Macduff were clearly aware of his wife and kids -- but knowing that the magical government didn't have their information was somewhat reassuring.  At least if it all went to hell again, there was a chance they'd be safe.

Of course, thanks to Macduff, that was going to need to change.

"You want information about her?" he asked, his forehead creasing.  The request made perfectly logical sense, and there was no reasonable excuse to deny it, save for the sinking feeling in his stomach.  His personal life -- all of their personal lives -- had suddenly become a part of the investigation, and it wasn't as if the Ministry were about to suddenly change its mind after eleven years and come after him again.  "Well, she's me -- ah," he said, a sudden lost look coming over his face.  "Well, we're not -- we aren't...-- I mean, well, we live together.  And we were -- we didn't..."

After the stress of the day, putting the complications of his personal life into words was too much for him.  Jonas cut himself off, swallowing as he briefly rubbed a hand over his face.  This wasn't helping.  He could spend all evening trying to define Anna, and it wouldn't necessarily tell Cavanaugh what she needed to know.  If he tried to encompass it all, the explanation would be all over the map.

"I -- what did you want to know?" he asked helplessly, giving the other Auror a pleading look.  "Not really that important to know much, is it?"

Berkeley suddenly found herself taken aback, a sensation she wasn't all that fond of. His sudden sputtering and nervous twitches were making her feel uneasy. She had thought that this would be a simple enough question. She needed information on the woman MacDuff had threatened to 'mate with'. She had assumed that she was someone close to Trevelyan and had even written 'wife' in her initial notes. However it was obvious by the pleading in his eyes that things weren't as simple as Berkeley had wanted them to be. There was obvious tension between Trevelyan and whoever this woman actually was and frankly Berkeley didn't need to know nor did she care to know what it was all about.

She sighed, ran her hands over her skirt in a feint of straightening it while she mentally regrouped. This whole situation suddenly made her wish she had done more research on Trevelyan himself. She felt awkward and unprepared both were feelings she was not accustomed to. For those that had known her long enough, the look on her fact at that moment spoke volumes of how quickly and precisely the gears in her head were churning. If it had been any quieter in the office he probably would have been able to hear them.

"Sir," She paused for a moment trying a tactic she wasn't entirely familiar with but one that might help her get to where she needed to be, "Jonas, I understand that you want to protect her, whatever relationship you may currently or previously have had. It's obvious that she's important enough to you that MacDuff would see her fit to go after." She cleared her throat softly, "All I need to know is her name, her relationship to you - past or present - and her last known whereabouts."

"As you instructed we've compiled this list so we know how serious this threat is and so we can protect those whom have been threatened from any danger real or imagined. I have reason to believe that MacDuff will go through on his word and I don't want to find her on the casualty list all because we didn't know anything about her."

Merlin I hope this works.

Apparently, losing his composure was all it took to get on a first name basis with Auror Cavanaugh.  Jonas grimaced, ducking his head to give himself a moment to process.

Yes, it was serious.  Yes, they needed to know who was on the list so that they could take appropriate precautions.  Cavanaugh lost no time in turning his own words against him, but the phrases seemed much harsher when they were voiced by someone else.  Jonas gave a quick shake of his head, doing his best to focus on what she'd listed as essential.  Name.  Relationship.  Last known whereabouts.  Simple answers like those, he could manage.

"Her name's Anna," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose.  At the very least, the gesture made it impossible to make eye contact.  "Anh Nguyen.  She's -- we were married.  We've got a home together in Hammersmith," he added, keeping his voice even as he attempted to smoothly transition from past to present tense.  "It's late enough that she's probably there now.  I gave her a ring a bit ago, and she was alright."

He took a deep breath, forcing words like casualty list from his mind.  As far as he knew, Anna wasn't in any danger.  Macduff had to be collecting his intelligence for weeks.  The photograph could have even been taken before they'd amped up the precautions; the werewolf had obviously known about his family even before he'd confronted Jonas and Pratt in the pub.  Dwelling on it, worrying over it, wasn't going to help.  He needed to keep his head in the game and his mind at the Ministry, no matter how much he might desperately prefer to be at home with his family.

"Look, Cavanaugh," he started, forcing himself to look back at the younger Auror.  Jonas managed a tight, hopefully reassuring smile.  "I appreciate you being thorough, but I think me family's as safe as they can be," he said quietly.  "Adon and his brother have been helping us set up protection spells on the house.  We bit the bullet and pulled the kids out of school a couple of weeks ago.  I don't think there's much more we can do, short of moving into a fortress and tossing away the key."

While Jonas was pinching the bridge of his nose to give him a convenient excuse not to look the younger Auror in the eye Berkeley had her head bowed, her hand wrapped around a compact looking self inking quill jotting down all the information he was giving her. She wasn't particularly interested in making eye contact at the moment either. She had always tried to keep as professional as she could. In the six years she had been part of the corps she had never gotten close to any of the other Aurors, had refused to meet up after patrol for drinks and had only ever made discreet appearances during rare official events like Christmas parties. She had been striving for others to take her serious ever since her first day at the Academy, she couldn't afford to jeopardize that by getting too friendly.

Thankfully he was willing to give her all the information she needed without any fuss. She had been worried when he began stammering. It had been a long day and she was far beyond exhausted to start interrogating one of her own, especially a superior officer. After writing down what he had said she found herself sympathetic to the older man. She understood now why he had initially been reluctant with her. If she had been in a relationship herself that had fallen apart at some point in time she couldn't imagine herself wanting to divulge that sort of information to anyone else. She figured she'd have to find some way to thank him for being open with her.

When he spoke her name she snapped her ice blue eyes up to meet his own. Her face was almost expressionless and when he was done speaking all he received was a nod, "You've done more than enough to ensure your family's safety. Thankfully it will be one less thing for the rest of us to do." She stood and once again straightened her skirt. She hesitated for a moment feeling as if there was still something left unsaid between the two of them.

The assessment was hard, clinical, and suddenly impersonal.  Jonas's throat caught at the words.  He hadn't done more than enough to ensure his family's safety: the protection spells, the sudden precautions, had come years too late, and if anyone from the WBA really wanted to hurt Anna or the children solely because of their relationship to him, there was little he could do to prevent it.  If he'd really wanted to protect them, he wouldn't have come back.  As Adon had once pointed out, he could have lived off even the Muggle grid.  Probably could have changed his name.  Or left any hint of ever having a family behind, so that when he did come back to the Ministry, there was no one there for Macduff to threaten.

But after a few protective wards and a handful of reasonable precautions, Auror Cavanaugh was apparently prepared to absolve him of any complicity.  That was all anyone could do, and it was important not because he'd fought to do it -- even if it was the magical equivalent of sticking his thumb in a hole in the dam and hoping the entire river wouldn't overflow -- but because it was now one less thing for the other Aurors to worry about.  They could cross him off their list, move on to other potential victims -- assessing, weighing the risks, and making impersonal judgement calls.

That was the Ministry he remembered, and it wasn't one he liked.  Go along to get along.  Take the most plausible route.  Macduff had made it personal, and while they needed to let go of the emotion to do their jobs professionally, they couldn't afford to let go of it entirely.

"What, and that's it, then?"  The words came out harder than he'd meant them to.  Jonas clenched his jaw, forced himself to breath as he leveled a look at the younger Auror.  This wasn't her fault, he reminded himself through gritted teeth.  She was doing her job exactly as he'd suggested, and he hadn't exactly been forthcoming.  But that was the whole problem.  People weren't.  And if they treated this like a business affair, they were going to miss something entirely.

"You know, you've got a bit to work on with your bedside manner," he informed the blonde woman tightly.  "I haven't done more than enough; if I had, they wouldn't be at risk.  That's what you tell a bloke when you're reassuring relatives of a victim, and you'd better do it with a damned good smile even then, or he's not going to bloody well believe you.  Last I heard," he said testily, "we were all Aurors here.  And I think we all know the risks well enough to presume that none of us have done nearly enough."

Berkeley held the file folder to her lap and leveled her ice blue eyes onto the older Auror. Her expression was still just as porcelain as her skin and just as cold. Inside she felt sick and wanted to tell him that she hadn't meant to offend but on the outside that would never do. She needed to stay as impersonal and distant as she always had. This was her job and she was damn good at it. She wasn't going to get anywhere going soft six years in even if it was her own blood and the blood of all her colleagues that was being threatened.

She took a long leveling breath before responding, her voice quiet yet easily heard and just as calm and emotionless as her expression, "You're right Trevelyan we are all Aurors and as Aurors we know that every day we put those red robes on we put our lives and the lives of everyone we hold dear on the line. If this sick bastard really wants to hurt us, really stick it to us there's nothing we can do short of killing him that will stop him from doing so." She adjusted her stance slightly, the only hint that she was uncomfortable being under his scrutiny, "I apologize that I'm not all sunshine and rainbows but that's just not me. I could smile and pat your back telling you that you've done a great job keeping them safe but that would be the lie."

"We're dealing with a werewolf that has been known to walk in his fur in daylight, he will murder just because he can. He's not going to stop coming after us, stop playing with us until he's completely satisfied. We can only hope that there is someone out there higher up on the food chain and keeping him on a leash otherwise we may as well kiss our loved ones goodbye and use all the manpower we can get to slaughter this bastard cause we all know he's not going to hesitate if he gets the chance to do the same thing to us."

She paused for just a moment, "Still want me to smile?"