With The Wolves [Claire]

[finn kylie nottingham]

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Divulging confidential information about a pending case to the press. What a hell of a rule that was to break for Claire Slater. The press seemed to be her rise and fall, and her career waxed and waned depending on how much she was involved with it. The irony of it all had had Finn laughing hysterically when her source in the Ministry auror office told her. And now it all made sense why she was lashing out at Finn the way she was. Pairing her with the cause of her punishment was an absolutely outstanding move by the higher-ups. It made Finn feel better about herself and what she had done too; Slater probably still disliked her for the way she handled the building collapse, but it was mostly her embarrassment for making such a rookie mistake and getting caught for it that was making her grouchy.

Finn’s solution to it? She brought coffee and bagels (or something that looked like a bagel, she wasn’t going to argue semantics with a Londoner on what a bagel should or should not look like), and arrived at ten to eight, just to appease Slater. That was a whole twenty-five minutes earlier than either of them was supposed to be there, but then at least they would have time to go over the mission again. Both coffee cups jammed snuggly into their cardboard holder with all the extras, in case Slater liked those sorts of things, in a spare slot, Finn waited dumbly at their meeting location.

This was the best peace offering she could bring to the table without being in New York City. If their location was switched, she’d probably be going for a slice of pizza by now. Early morning grease really got the body jump-started. Twisting her wrist around as much as she could without dumping both coffees onto the ground, Finn tutted at her watch, still reading 7:51AM. Maybe she should have made Slater sweat it out on her own for a few minutes. That would have been funnier to watch in the long run…

Claire Evangeline Slater ● 348 ● Slipping Away by The Ghost Inside

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[Claire Evangeline Slater]

n e v e r   e n o u g h .

CLAIRE HAD BARELY SLEPT A WINK ALL NIGHT. Tossing and turning as she dreaded the morning to come. Working with Finn Nottingham felt like a particular kind of torture, and it hadn't even begun. Though she wasn't a badly trained auror, she was cocky. Claire didn't like the idea of working with a loose canon. The possibility of it back firing felt too high. Plus, border patrol was for the lowest of the low. That's where they put the liabilities and the idiots. Somewhere they couldn't break anything.

Claire was not that person. She had a travel mug full of black coffee. Letting it burn her tongue as she forced sip after sip down. The floo network ruining the sleek cut of her silvery blonde hair and dusting the ends of her coat with ash as she marched towards their meeting point with five minutes to spare. The fact that she hadn't slept had made her pitifully early, but Claire did not anticipate seeing Finn until it at least five after 8. It was with this keen assurance that she turned the corner with an unhurried expression, stopping short at the flaming red head that greeted her smugly.

Shock widened her eyes, her plastic travel mug clattering in to her chest and spilling a droplet from the lid down the front of her coat. She batted at it angrily, huffing at the audacity of her brash appearance. "I said 8." She grumbled, rubbing her hand on her thigh as she flexed tight fingers on her mug. "You don't need to show off." Her critical eye scanned her from head to toe, eyeing the bag in her hand with increased suspicion. She hadn't taken Finn for the type to overachieve. She'd always given off a rather blase air. It made Claire tense instinctively. "Don't tell me you're excited for border patrol." She added with nostril flaring sarcasm. 

finn kylie nottingham

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[finn kylie nottingham]

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Someone clearly wasn’t a morning person. Finn could’ve sworn that she saw steam rising from her partner’s head as they made eye contact from a distance, though that could have been from one of the coffees she was holding too. Slater definitely thought she was making a mockery of the whole thing, and while Finn admittedly got there early to make a point, she was far past school-age pettiness – at least most of the time. It really depended now on how much it really got under her new coworker’s skin. Once it became a detriment to their working conditions, then Finn would stop. Until then, she was going to do things her way and be the stereotypical stubborn New Yorker she had grown up as.

“The line at the coffee shop was shorter than usual,” Finn lied, not even batting an eye as her gaze flicked down to see Slater’s own mug in her hand. She should have expected that but always found it better to be safe than sorry. Now she had two cups of coffee to her name. And twice the bagel-things. The extra cup was going to be necessary in keeping her mouth shut as they did their job, because Slater seemed to want to make everything about feelings now. “You know, I actually am,” Finn said cheerfully. “I’ve been doing desk work for months now, and this beats doing stake-outs all night.” In all her time in London, she still didn’t know the actual borders of the magical community. That was about to change, and would serve as a clearer picture on what she was working with.

That and the last time she had done any sort of patrolling had been right out of the training school, and that only lasted for a year and a half. Nothing beat getting back to the basics, especially since she had been rusty from her time off. “You’re the lead on this one because of home rule though, so I’m at your disposal,” Finn stated, finally deciding to start drinking one of her lukewarm coffees. Maybe it was best that Slater didn’t have the other one now…

Claire Evangeline Slater ● 358 ● Better Man by Rosie Carney

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[Claire Evangeline Slater]

n e v e r   e n o u g h .

WITH A DISBELIEVING SCOFF, CLAIRE SAID NO more on the subject of Finn's prompt appearance. It would only put more attention on the whole ordeal. She'd already made up her mind about Finn, and there was very little in that moment that would convince her otherwise. It was a petty display, nothing else made sense to her. Finn was already making this competitive. In reality, it was Claire determined to make a competition of it all. She couldn't stand the idea of being bested by Finn Nottingham.

"Oh, you just would." Claire sneered, her eyes narrowed. "Can't even let me be miserable about this." She slapped at the droplet on her chest again, swiping at nothing as she moved around Finn and down the hallway. "You might have been doing desk work." She called over her shoulder, voice terse and as stiff as her posture. "But I was doing actual auror work before this." She thought about the Purifiers and everything she should be doing to thwart them, but she was stuck on the border for her brother's big mouth.

With a short, irritating laugh, Claire took another gulp from her coffee. Burning every taste bud as she did. "I'm on lead every time." Claire declared arrogantly, her steps wide as she tried to overtake Finn towards sign off. As if even walking alongside her required some kind of comeuppance. "In fact, just consider us..." Claire kissed her teeth, thinking about what she was going to say carefully. "Two individuals who happen to be going to the same place." Claire slowed her steps to look at Finn expectantly, to make her point very clear. "I'll do my job, you just... don't blow anything up." She smiled shortly before beginning her walking jog once again. 

finn kylie nottingham

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[finn kylie nottingham]

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Finn hid her smile behind her coffee cup as she took another sip. Slater was beyond interesting to be around. She clearly let her high-target kill get to her head and now thought that she was an indispensable auror on the force. The higher-ups definitely let the girl off with more than a slap on the wrist, and seemingly did nothing to correct her attitude. If she had been in the New York City unit, the guys there would have laughed her right off to one of the sleepy, southern cities to work. That sort of personality didn’t mesh will normally with others, and Finn was starting to wonder if there was a reason that the two of them had been placed together. Obviously her own shortcomings had been a little more drastic in nature than what Slater did (and Finn found it hilarious that this was all because of her accident), but the thing the girl needed the most was to be retrained. This sort of head butting with other aurors was going to make them hate her, and probably sacrificed in intense duels. The Purifiers surely wanted her head too.

“I was too,” Finn piped up after draining one of the coffees and tossing it in the trash, immediately starting on the next one. “New York is way more demanding than here. These Purifier guys are just copying Chimera’s Claw. And they aren’t doing a great job of it either.” The latter managed to put Ilvermorny out of order for going on two whole years, which was pretty impressive. What had these so called Purifiers done? Blown up a couple dozen foreign students, for what? Whatever their statement was, it wasn’t strong, and it was pretty easy to see that things were going to start unraveling soon. The escaped Azkaban convicts were more dangerous in her opinion.

Slater probably didn’t really understand what she was in the middle of though. All she had done was whack a figurehead. Even though Finn had left Ouroboros, at least she had made the most of her time in London before starting work again. She knew where her allegiances were, and MACUSA was basically going to let her do whatever she wanted with very little oversight. Slater was still bound by the Ministry. That was scarier than anything else with terrorists and convicts running every which way.

“Shouldn’t be too hard. I doubt I have a strong enough spell to take down an entire magical barrier,” she laughed. As if that could happen. The border may have allowed a lot of things in, but it stopped a lot more from leaking out. She could take patrol around it seriously. “If you hate doing actual, normal auror work, why are you even one in the first place? Seems like you sort of hate the job,” Finn asked as she took a bite of one of the pastries she had bought. It had a bitter taste to it, and she was sort of disappointed in it, but also too hungry to just not eat it. “With your drive, you could probably do anything you wanted. I wish I was that way. I couldn’t even escape for a year before they dragged me back into it.” She shrugged and took another bite, dropping enough crumbs that it warranted her to have to brush off the front of her jacket.

Claire Evangeline Slater ● 564 ● Crier tout bas by Coeur de Pirate

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[Claire Evangeline Slater]

n e v e r   e n o u g h .

QUIRKING HER BROWS, CLAIRE DIDN'T SAY A word, but her face spoke volumes. Finn may well have been an incredibly gifted auror, but Claire had already made up her mind. Finn was the person that had put her on border patrol. That made her Enemy No. 1, at that current moment. Which maybe wasn't fair, but Claire couldn't help herself. Plus, Finn's thick American accent paired with her superiority complex about American wizarding crime just made Claire defensive and mad.

"Well, you're not in New York anymore, are you?" She sniped, a stiff smirk on her face. "By all means, go back if they'll have you." She sipped her coffee and sneered at her over the rim. Maybe the kind of work Finn had left was more intense, but Claire had seen a lot of death. Had seen first hand the damage the Purifier's had done. They'd taken Casey from her. To listen to Finn trivialise it so easily made Claire fume.

"I don't hate doing 'normal auror work'." Claire interjected angrily, her shoulders pulling up around her ears as Finn took a messy bite out of her sugary pastry. "I hate doing border patrol, there's a difference." Claire felt her defences rise, the notion that she 'hated' her job making her incredibly uncomfortable. Grey hated being an auror, not Claire. She was exactly where she was supposed to be... Finn had not right to assume.

"I want to catch actual criminals, not chase after a horde of international pests who try to skip the wards." Claire explained furiously, her eyes following the tumble of crumbs that went from Finn's open mouth to the front of her shirt. She grimaced in disgust. "If you hate the job so much, why are you even doing it in the first place?" Claire mimicked with a sneer, sighing heavily before she added. "Please finish what you're eating before you answer." She grumbled, shaking her head as she walked a few steps ahead, pulling Finn from her eye view. 

finn kylie nottingham

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[finn kylie nottingham]

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As if she wanted to go back to New York to work. The reason she had left in the first place was because she had gotten tired of the monotony and constant drive to work like crazy. That had been all fine and dandy the first few years, but by the time she left, she was burned out. Without a break anywhere in there, Finn had been worried that she would work herself to death. “Nah. I like it here. I’ll probably retire again once all of the convicts are re-captured,” she mused. She liked the idea of only being brought on when she was absolutely needed. From the sound of it, Claire had probably only just recently gotten past the ‘normal auror work’ that she despised so much, and being sent back down only reignited those old feelings. It had been years since Finn had been required to do such easy work, so she actually enjoyed it. That and this wasn’t her country, so there were plenty of things to see and do that she still hadn’t gotten around to since her arrival.

Finn nodded in agreement to the first half of Claire’s explanation, because she definitely saw it the same way. More crumbs fell down her face during this, and she did her best balancing act to catch it, but failed to do so. She was going to answer immediately, but the other woman’s warning to finishing chewing first made her pause. What was the difference? There would be crumbs regardless of when she answered. That was one of the main problems with trying to eat pastries and walking at the same time. Finn thought she had perfected it back home, since that was the only way to eat in the city. Apparently that didn’t hold over as well with the British.

“Didn’t say I hated it,” Finn responded after swallowing the food and then taking a gulp of her coffee. She let out a deep sigh, knowing that she was about to draw more ire from Claire, before continuing, “I feel obligated to help. Retrieving these convicts, the really dangerous ones, is actually a challenge. These witches and wizards are far more than pests, as you put it. If they were, your government would have handled it on their own.” And that was basically it. The Ministry that she had watched dissolve, rebuild, and then dissolve again over the last year was not in the position to handle international crises like they used to be able to. “I’m not saying that you wouldn’t be able to stop them, because I think you’re more than capable, but a lot of good people would probably die before this finished. At least with international help, that won’t happen as often.” At least, she hoped it turned out that way. It had been six months and barely any headway had been made, aside from Finn’s own stupid stunt. If it had solely been the Ministry handling this, would they have given up by now?

Claire Evangeline Slater ● 503 ● Fall Vibes by LoFi Waiter

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[Claire Evangeline Slater]

n e v e r   e n o u g h .

A PETTY PART OF CLAIRE HAD HOPED FINN HAD the balls to agree. That she'd realise her awful mistake and leave, but she didn't have that kind of luck. And it was a childish thought to begin with. She frowned instead, a crease between her brows so deep she was starting to retain it when she relaxed. "Oh, goody for you!" Claire grumbled, thinking of all the ways she might like to wrangle every last convict up if it meant getting rid of Finn. Then again, that was a difficult task if she were stuck at a desk.

The thoughtful arrogance of her slurping coffee, and the chewing pastry, irked Claire beyond reason. She was, perhaps, taking out her annoyance on Finn. Blaming her for a mistake that she had made, but it was difficult to pin the blame on herself. Finn was so unfazed, so blasé about the whole ordeal that it was difficult not to hate her. She would have had a lot more time for her if she'd been as equally upset about the reassignment as Claire had been.

"They're not going to let me apprehend anybody." Claire snapped, feeling like Finn was missing the point. "We're bonafide paper pushers, they're giving us the slog." She flicked her hair and sighed, shaking her head as she looked away. In a perfect world, she would agree with Finn. The convicts were high priority, but it wasn't Claire who would get the call to bring them in. "I'm in the punishment box, they're not going green light that for me." And then she smirked slightly, casting Finn a pitying look. "And you're stuck with me."

Claire had to pause at Finn's brash honesty. She hadn't expected her to even consider Claire as any more than a corporate faker and yet. Suddenly, a frisson of guilt bit Claire and she straightened slightly, her smirk falling from her face in to a flat surprise. "A lot of good people already have." Claire mumbled, turning her face away. She felt her frustration mount, her lack of control a constant burden she bore heavily on her shoulders. Claire had never liked feeling out of control, it's why she'd let her parents choose her career. "I'm not saying international help isn't worthwhile." Claire mumbled, feeling at a sudden stalemate. "I'm saying I don't want to be there to shake their hand off the boat." 

finn kylie nottingham

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[finn kylie nottingham]

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This girl was such a negative Nancy! Finn was pretty sure she had seen almost every sort of personality there was out there, but the Slater girl reached a whole new level of pessimism. It one-hundred percent had to do with the gloomy weather that was every present over London, and Finn was ready to die on that hill if questioned. There was no such thing as a permanent position in law enforcement unless you really screwed up. Accidentally leaking the name of an injured auror from a non-sanctioned arrest attempt was literally the silliest thing to be punished over. In Finn’s opinion, this was whole thing was being done to Claire to make her realize that she wasn’t an exception to the rules. That happened with Aurors that got too cocky. And it kept them from overstepping their bounds and getting themselves killed in combat. Finn had been benched plenty of times. She was still learning how the Ministry aurors did things, but MACUSA was fairly forgiving as long as she did her time and understood why she was in trouble. In this instance, bringing down an entire building on herself and almost killing a member of the royal family was pretty serious. A lot more than giving up a name was.

“Yeah…with that attitude, they’ll definitely let me out first. If not, I’ll just quit again,” Finn laughed, before taking another sip of her coffee. “What can they do about it? I accomplished a lot more working on my own when I got here than I have through this bureaucratic mess.” If only Ouroboros had worked out for her in the end, she probably wouldn’t have taken the offer to rejoin. But that was neither here nor there. In the end, the odds of some of these escaped convicts joining up with the group she had been hunting down with Ouroboros was pretty high. One way or another she was going to find them and bring them down. It was all time based. If she had to spend a couple months doing border patrol with a cranky Claire or filling out paperwork for rookie beat patrol, she would. It wasn’t the end of the world for either of them.

Maybe bringing up deceased comrades wasn’t the best thing to do. With the way things had been lately, there was always the chance. But she knew that both of them understood that. They were in the wrong career if they didn’t want to die. “Well, I don’t think this will last long. They can’t bench you forever. You took out Rousseau. That’s more than I’ve done in my career. No one wants me in a leadership position these days,” she laughed again. That would definitely be asking for trouble, as her thoughts on being a leader meant aggressive sleuthing and undercover work, most of which was not feasible by the current Ministry aurors. Apparently subterfuge wasn’t as welcome of a skill here as it was in New York City.

Claire Evangeline Slater ● 500 ● Get Back by The Beatles

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[Claire Evangeline Slater]

n e v e r   e n o u g h .

CLAIRE COULDN'T DECIDE WHAT SHE DISLIKED more. Nottingham's MACUSA informality, or her utter refusal to be upset by their reassignment. Perhaps a mixture of both, but it made for a toxic blend. Lifting Claire's hackles as she scowled openly at Finn. Unable to share her blasé attitude, no matter if she felt the need to try. It wouldn't change her position.

"I'm starting to see the the draw." She retorted in answer to Finn's claim about her solo success. Claire had considered it before. The shackle of Ministry red tape making her increasingly restless. This time, she had handed them the shackles with her own mistake and her brother's betrayal. She knew that Finn had been a part of the Order split, had been there when it had happened. But, they didn't agree then and they still wouldn't. Claire was fairly sure of that.

Turning her head slightly, Claire tried not to let her accomplishments buoy her. Cheeks stiff to stop a smile, satisfied smile. Rousseau had been her biggest accomplishment, but time was passing rapidly and she couldn't rely on it to fix everything. "Yes, well...." She shrugged her shoulders, drawing in a sharp breath. "Suppose I'll just have to find another to remind them." Claire said drily, taking another sip of her coffee as she cast a cautious side-eye at her new partner. It was becoming exhausting, meeting her endless enthusiasm with her disapproval. "Come on, let's see what forms they've got for us to sign then." And then she marched a step ahead of Finn, pulling herself out of ear shot. She could do this, she reminded herself. Like Finn had said, they couldn't keep her on border patrol forever.

finn kylie nottingham

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[finn kylie nottingham]

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Treading the line of killing Slater with kindness and being perfectly amicable with silence was a difficult thing to do. Finn liked talking. A lot. She wasn’t at chatterbox levels like some were but she definitely had a habit of oversharing and overstepping her boundaries. There was something appealing about pushing her new coworker’s buttons though. It was enjoyable to try and chip away at her stony personality, especially after hearing so much about her accomplishments from Ouroboros members and other Aurors. Hell, even the newspapers had been blasting her with praises for a while there. Finn didn’t know if this was Slater’s normal demeanor (obviously extenuated by everything that had led to their abrupt team-up) or if the fame had gone to her head a bit. She could see that happening. There were a few young MACUSA Aurors back when she had started out that a similar thing had happened to. One big bag of a criminal and they thought they were hot shit. Judging the girl before really knowing her or how she operated wouldn’t be a good look though. So far she was thinking it was more of the former than the latter, but it would take time to get a real good read on her.

All Finn could do was shrug when it came to working on her own. That wasn’t in a professional capacity, of course, and there were other problems that came with her brief bout of vigilantism. The quickness of help and resources that came with being an official law enforcer far outweighed running around in the dead of night trying to catch wrongdoers. Even if her partner was Claire Slater. If anything, that had the propensity to make things more interesting than they ever had been before. She was positive that some of the criminals out there had a bone to pick with her British counterpart, and that only invited action to happen more often than it normally would.

“I’m sure you’ll get some action now that I’m with you. Like moths to flames,” Finn commented as she sipped on her coffee again. Except that she was the moth, and was perpetually drawn towards trouble whenever it decided to pop up. Just going about her normal daily routine had brought her the building incident. That said a lot, in her opinion. She wanted to blab on about more of that, but Claire seemed to find it more interesting to get paperwork done, so she took another long sip and silently followed her new work buddy.

[End?]

Claire Evangeline Slater ● 423 ● Friday I'm In Love by Phoebe Bridgers

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