Egypt looked up expecting to see another one of her employees. She smiled big when she saw Alexa. "Well this is certainly a nice distraction." She said standing up and giving her friend a hug. She motioned toward her big yellow couch for the to sit and talk. "So what brings you down to level eight?" She asked her. She knew her and Warren had been going through a rough patch. She didn't think Alexa was the type to lean on her girlfriends for support.

Alexa's mood lifted considerable at Egypt's reaction to her visit, her eyes almost lit up when she hugged her, "Hello hun" She said in the embrace.
Walking over to the couch Alexa looked around the office, "Purely a congratulatory visit Madame. Look at this place, you fit right in behind that desk. Congratulation!" She said, a large smile at her lips.

She looked at her,"Well thank you so much." She beamed. She rather thought every one thought she was crazy to leave the cushy job of judge to help scrub the Ministry. "I like it down here, but I do miss being you guys" She said honestly. "How is everything upstairs?" She asked.

"I'm just suprised that you chose to come down here, but then again, everything has to be done" She smiled softly and nodded.
"I miss you up there! It was nice to think that there was someone on that floor who was a friend and a woman" She explained honestly.
"A little slow at the moment. We're working on a case, so it's mostly paperwork and other nuances." She said softly, "Nothing like a extravaganza that happened last week" She said, inwardly rolling her eyes.

"Well in South Africa I started out as just a clerk in the Transportation office. Every job has the same level of respect. We are responsible for helping the magical community run smoothly." She told her. "Its nice down here, not as quiet as the judge's chambers but I like it."

She looked at Alexa, she didn't know the woman considered her a friend. She just thought she put up with her because Nathan and Warren were good friends. Egypt didn't mind she was still friendly to her, and she hoped that they could be friends, but Alexa never made a move to be friends other than the occasion wave and brief conversation. "Oh yes I heard snippets about that case. And Nathan got his watch stolen." She said with a giggle. "Oh that man of mine."

"Someone has ascended the steps of the ministry. Exactly, every job has it's value and should hold the same amount of respect instead of looking down on each and every department-it has it's own value and serves the people in it's own way. At least you like it, it's much more busy but there's a easy going air down here upstairs I guess because we were all Law Enforcement there's something uneasy up there" Alexa shrugged slightly, thinking about it.

Alexa tried to read Egypt, she seemed suprised that she'd called her a friend and not just because Nathan and Warren were friends. That hurt. Alexa wasn't close to anyone, she rarely revealed to anyone. Nathan was extremely easy-going and so was Egypt.
"We should have lunch some time we never really get to chat" Alexa offered, the bit her lip, hoping she was approaching this the right way. Maybe she needed to change...
Alexa laughed uneasily, "Yes that was...one hell of a case" She muttered, still thinking about Egypt.

"Yeah level two just has an air of seriousness about it." She commented. "Its nice to come to work and not stress out over a case."

She looked at Alexa. "Oh yes lunch would be really nice." She said honestly. "No we don't the boys are usually doing all the chatting," She said crossing her legs at the knee to get more comfortable. "They really do get along great though." She was almost done with all of her work so it was nice to just relax in the middle of the work day. "Yes I remember that Flooing case. I think that was the first one I started working on when I got here. Nathan wanted to let him go." She said remembering that first day when she looked up and Nathan was standing at the end of her desk. He took her breathe away.

Alexa continued, passionately. "Going to bed with a head full of crime and death isn't the greatest way to end a day"

Alexa laughed, "Excellent, honestly I'm not usually very sociable at work. But it's nice to sit down and relax with someone who's in the Ministry" She said with a small shrug. "I'm starting to forget all the different cases, they're starting to all feel the same. " She admitted, chewing slightly on her lip

"Tell me about it." Egypt said. Holding someone's life in your hands was no picnic either. having to send people to Azkaban was always hard for her, and she didn't relish having to do that ever again.

She looked, she had never heard Alexa laugh before. It was a strange thing, but Egypt was glad to hear it. Maybe that icy exterior around Alexa was starting to crack a little bit. "Well I like to be relaxed whatever I am doing. Stress kills you know." She pointed out. "Yeah people to burnout quickly in the Auror department. People put up with the training longer than the job." She said.

Nodding solemly she recalled all the gruesome details of Russia and Germany. Taking a deep breath she looked up.
"The training can never get you prepared for the mental strain. Sometimes you have to stop and think that a human could do that to another human or endanger the lives of so many" She shuddered and nodded.

She nodded. "That is so true. The mental strain is what gets most people. Sometime we are so cruel to one another, when sometimes all you have to do is smile at someone to brighten up their day." She said smiling.

Alexa smiled meekly and nodded. "Sometimes all anybody needs is a smile or some laughter." She nodded in appreciation, "Thank you Egypt"

She looked at Alexa, "For what?" She asked with a smile.

She looked straight at Egypt. "For being there." She said softly and then smiled. She changed the topic entirely, "How are the children?" She asked quickly

She looked at Alexa, "Always." She promised. Smiled at Alexa asked about the children. "Well Paris got her Hogwarts letter, so she is excited about that. Willow's wand ceremony was nice. Her wand is 14 inches. We are expecting big things from her and Lucas got into a peewee Quidditch league. The twins are tearing up anything and everything in their path." She said with a smile. It was hard to believe in the span of ten years her and Nathan had produced 5 perfect children. She looked at Alexa, "I will be glad when you and Warren have some children for me to ask about." She said pointedly.

Alexa reached out and squeezed her hand gratefully, "Thankyou" She murmured. She listened with a smile as she heard about the children.
"I'm amazed. 10 years. Your very efficient Egypt, children , marriage and a husband. You don't beat around the bush, love?" She said, with a small laugh.
Then giggled, "We'll see. I might need you to persuade Warren about that as well" She smiled and chewed her lip, "Sometime in the future...but most definetely. I've always loved children" She said, smiling broadly.

She blushed at Alexa's comment. "Well I do try love," She said as she laughed. It was amazing that her and Nathan had kept their wits about them with all the children running this way and that way, and Paris constantly blowing up everything in her path and Lucas flying and crashing all over the place. Willow and the twins seemed to be the tamest of all their children. "A husband and 5 children take a lot of love and patience, and a lot of burn cream and a quick wand," She told her with a wink.

"Oh I can just see little Warrens running about the place picking up cars with one arm," She said with a giggle. Warren was just too big and massive for words. He would seem out of place if he weren't a Auror. "Oh don't worry about it love. They are pushovers when they love you." She told her with a twinkle in her eye.

"Well they're blessed they have you." She said, smiling.
Alexa laughed, the thought itself brightening her smile, "And tired Alexa's running after them" She said, chuckling. She looked at Egypt and smiled, "Then it's lucky we all found our perfect man" She said, her eyes alight

"I am blessed I have them. They are my life," She said with a sparkle in her eye. She lived for her family, even if Pairs keeps blowing up the garden with whatever it was she did out there.

"I find a summoning charm is a mother's best tool," She told her with a wink. "It is indeed lucky. I am happy for you and Warren. And I better be godmother to at least one of the Lexarren babies."

Alexa smiled, amazed by Egypt's devotion. Laughing she imagined the scene, with a smirk. "I'll remember that" Alexa said, nodding. Laughing as she went on, "Lexarren? I will have to tell him that" She nodded and smiled, "Most definetely!" She said, winking.

She giggled at the name she had come up with for Alexa and Warren's baby. "Oh I would love to see Warren's face when you mention children," Egypt said with a smirk on her face. "But I am so glad the two of you have patched things up. Things were a bit frosty on level two," Egypt admitted to her.

Alexa grimaced, "I think I'll leave that topic for a rainy day" She said, smiling slightly. "Frosty....oh. Well...I guess I have to take the blame..I was hardly in the right" She said, bitterly.

"Fair enough," She said with a wink. She grew serious. "Well we all sometimes make mistakes love. Just pick yourself up and dust off and try to make the same mistake twice. That is all any of us can do." She said with a shrug. "What happened, if you don't mind me asking. If I am overstepping please tell me." She asked gently.

Alexa nodded slowly, exhaling she winced a little. Talking about herself wasn't her favourite subject but 'what happened' would be a twenty year novel still in it's first pages. Biting her lip, she started, "We've known each other since Hogwarts. He was captain I was captain. I had a crush on him in my first year....and so did the entire school. One of my best friends was obsessed with him, the first thing she saw in the morning was his face on her dresser. Anyway...Tina..that was her name, there was a fiasco I guess at the ministry. Warren's father didn't want his son in quidditch so he asked a bludger to finish his career for him. Or at least that's the way I take it, Warren then joined the auror ranks....as did I. I took leave, and went to Russia. I had just wanted to get away from it all. The constant paperwork mainly. In Russia, everything was a lot more hands on."

She took a deep breath, "Warren was there, much to my distaste. I guess I'd harboured a love/hate relationship with him, trying to deny that I liked him." She stopped, as that sounded extremely corny but she went on feeling somehow lighter. "Anyway. I guess you could say we had a relationship. But I woke up one morning next to an empty bed" She bit her lip, almost piercing through, "That was the first time. The second was in England. When we both came back. Same idea I guess. I fell in love....but Warren. I don't know. He keeps telling me to move past the past.....but." She hesitated, "I like to know that everything behind me makes me who I am. If I just let go...what's the point of the future if I have no past. I am nothing, no character, no history. I'm but a page..blank....empty" She stopped, feeling the emotions build.

"Anyway..and then Germany ofcourse. Three times..I was left. Not to play the victim. I was extremely unpleasant everytime I saw him, cold, distant. I tried to.." She rolled her eyes in annoyance, "Protect myself, but my heart had other ideas. "Three times, I fell in love....three times I broke my own heart. Ridiculous..but that's the way my life works. Then we both came back....much to my suprise he was working here. I'd gone on temporary hiatus. Travelling, visiting relatives, catching up with everything I'd missed.....but I was missing something which I didn't realise until I saw him again. Funny how life does that too you. And it started again.....I...fell in love" Alexa looked away, taking a deep breath she began, "I never knew if he loved me...Warren was never much of a three words man. But I guess I wasn't as warm as I could've been. I am cold and distant....but that is me, or at least the way people view me. I guess I never realised I was an ice maiden, so it was a joint effort honestly. " She sighed.

"And then the Minister's Wedding happened....and I don't know. I thought everything was perfect. I was with the man I loved....I was pretty sure he loved me and life was sublime. I never saw the anxious presence in his eyes....which I always pick up" She rolled her eyes. This was getting her nowhere. "I never understood....nieve till my dying day" She said, sourly.
"Anyway....I didn't want to burden you...but that's it. My life of love in a nutshell" Bitterness creeping into her tone.

Egypt sat and listened to Alexa recap her entire history with Warren. she had no idea they had such a long history. Like Alexa said she wasn't one to talk about herself and Egypt had never asked Warren either. Nathan knew all this stuff already she thought. She couldn't imagine getting your heart broken by the same man over and over again. Nathan had almost broken Egypt's heart when they had first met, and that almost killed her. Her and Nathan got together and they never looked back. It was never a question if they were going to spend their lives together. They both knew they were.

"Alexa you are a amazing woman to be able to put yourself back together again after being broken. You are one of the strongest women I have ever met in my life, and it is truly an honor for me to be counted as one of your friends" She said reaching out to grasp Alexa's hand. "I want you to know that you will always, always have a friend in me." She told her with a warm smile. Maybe she could defrost the ice maiden a little bit. She leaned over and gently took Alexa into her arms for a hug. That girl was all muscles! She could crush Egypt just as well as Warren could.