She flinched. He had just sat down. Had he realized she was attempting to think of him? Was he a Legilimens?

She realized she needed to respond, or she was going to look like a really rude woman. "Hi," she said in barely more than a whisper. She wasn't sure about this guy at all.

Okay then. This chick was weird.

He had to lean in slightly as she whispered to him. Why was she whispering? It wasn't like they were having a top secret conversation or anything. Unless she was trying to make sure that someone didn't notice her.

He gave a quick glance around the room and saw that no, there was no one else interested in her. So that wasn't it.

"What's wrong?" He was asking this more because he wanted to know why she was being weird than from any concern for her.

What a question. How could Ken even begin to sum up everything that was wrong? She decided on a simple answer. "First day back at work in a long time, that's all. I feel pretty...weird," she finished lamely.

Was he keeping tabs on her?

Simple answer: Yes, he was.

Leo's eyes were furious right now. He didn't care if that idiot wouldn't leave Marina alone. He didn't have to. But Marina would leave him. Even if she hadn't listened to sense so far, she should now.

Would now.

"Marina."

There was nothing hurried about his gait, no concern in his calm features. He came to a casual halt before her table, shot the girl he had seen Drago chat up earlier a mildly bored look, and then let his gaze come to a halt on her.

"I thought you were smarter," he said coolly. "I thought those memories would rip the curtain you've donned in front of your eyes. I can't believe you're still around-" This worthless excuse of a man. The only thing I've ever seen him do is chat up women. Surely you aren't still that stupid?

He broke the eye contact and held something out. The envelope was brown, of a rough texture. "Perhaps you should open this," he said coldly.

Marina was startled out of what had, surprisingly, been a rather peaceful conversation - surprising because 'peaceful' was the last word she could allot, to a conversation with Dragon. On an average basis, that is - when she saw him. Leonardo Bristol.

She had no doubt that he was making for her. She tensed, very slightly, though not enough for anyone to notice; and, when he had come to a stop in front of her, her face was calm, completely devoid of any expression or emotion, save the iciness in her eyes. Which was enough, to be honest.

More than enough.

"Whether or not I am stupid is not for you to gauge, Mr. Bristol," she said, calmly. Unlike him, she felt no need to hide her words. None at all. "Contrary to what you think, you are the last person who would understand what goes on in my heart." Especially now. Even if he had somewhat understood before, he could not understand, now. Certainly, he did not think she was some little girl who needed to be babied? She could take care of herself. She knew who to associate with, who not to associate with, and who to associate with without actually doing so.

"Excuse me?" What new trick was he was up to? Marina accepted the envelope with a gloved hand but, the moment she had done so, something flickered in her eyes. Surely, that was not the scent of --

She ripped open the brown paper and out fell, as she had half-expected, half-dreaded, a single piece of parchment. Familiar. So very familiar. The crest was there, in the top right. Raised, with gilded edges she could trace out in her sleep. Her heartbeat quickened, ice and anger flooded her, and yet she could not stop her fingers from lifting the parchment, her chilly, blue eyes from sifting through it in a vague, far-off, very far-off way.

"I'm going to report you to Law Enforcement for this," she said with a calmness that stunned her, as she somehow found the presence of mind to immediately vanish the letter, and rise to her feet - and then, all of a sudden, all of a very sudden, her restraint broke, absolutely and completely and exactly as she didn't want it to, not ever. "Get out, Leo," she spat corrosively, tears travelling down her cheeks.

Crying?

Marina Effron, crying?

She wiped the tears away, all at once, and looked at Drago and Blair through suddenly dry, but hauntingly icy eyes. Which had, if that were even possible, turned a shade darker, a shade icier. "Excuse me," she said quietly. "I apologize at having to cut this conversation short, but I think there is somewhere I need to be."

Drago smiled softly as the girls talked. Not really having much to say at that point, he merely listened. He could always say something if it came up of interest. Some part of it made him think about doing some travel. After all, it was easy for wizards to travel these days. Or perhaps he could take a week and head back to the encampment. He was certain that Dr. Boring would like to know how he was doing, all things considered. He wasn't able to keep up that pleasant line of thinking before...

Well, they had managed to have some peace and quiet. And now Leo just had to interrupt. For goodness sakes... He and Slade had their 'father knows best' complexes, but was it really necessary in this case? And in the cafeteria?

What in the world?! What had Leo done that would warrant her to report him... and why was he stupid enough to present it in the middle of the Ministry cafeteria?! And then... Marina was crying. The room could have turned dark of Drago's anger as he looked down, hair covering his face and fists clenched. How dare he? How dare he make Marina cry?!

He stood and turned nearly black eyes to Leo, as though every evil deed he had ever committed were within them. "Do you feel big now? To come into such a public place, interrupt an innocent conversation, and hurt another person?" Then, he did something he normally would not do, simply out of paranoia: He turned his back on the other man. He shifted around so that he could look to Marina without even glancing at the other man. The man likely wouldn't be stupid enough to attack Drago, and even if he did Drago didn't care.

His expression turned from dark to concerned, though it was still clear he was upset with Leo. "Marina," he started softly, "Are you alright?" He wouldn't ask what it was, and particularly not here. He wouldn't dare invade, knowing her and how she tended to be a private person. He wished desperately there was something he could do, however... He wished staying away from her would do something, help somehow, but his being away wasn't likely to keep Leo from bothering her. He wasn't even sure why he was suddenly so protective of her, but he knew he hated to see her hurt.

Marina turned a deep blue gaze towards Drago. "I'm perfectly fine," she said, quietly. Fine. The word sounded hollow, like a lie that the liar does not bother to even try to conceal. So much had been building up, in the workplace and outside of it, and she had feared it would come to a point that she would not be able to handle - this was probably it. Why the hell had she not kept the tears back? Yes, she had managed to get an almost immediate hold on them, but crying ... how weak.

How very weak of her.

"I'm sorry I pulled you into all of this." She looked up at Drago, briefly. This was it, then, she decided. Time to either report Leo, or switch departments. Though she knew neither of those two steps would keep him away. If that could not work, she decided, she wasn't going to see Drago again. Never again. But would that keep Leo away? Was he tracing her? In the name of Venus, how the hell had she let her guard down, this much? Marina's eyes darkened, whether with anger or inward sorrow, she had no idea. She had no idea about anything, right now.

Muffins, muffins, muffins....Shep thought, walking into the cafeteria. It wasn't exactly full...Food! Shep thought gleefully. Just what he'd been craving all morning. He selected a red apple and a few pastries and...dang it the muffins weren't labeled. So how was he supposed to know which one to get the lady in the cubicle next to him?

Sigh. Time for process of elimination...K well he could eliminate the ones without seeds. That was about half. He could eliminate the one with blueberries in it. That left him with still 4 different kinds of muffins. Crap.

Briony walked into the Ministry Cafeteria leisurely and took a seat at one of the tables. She looked around at the other employees for a second before opening up a folder she carried and flipped through the big stack of papers. Sighing, she ran a hand through her blond hair and looked down at her watch.

1:45pm

Ugh. She got to lunch late once more. Briony opened up the bag she always carried with her and pulled out a peach, taking a bite of it, then taking a pen and starting to write notes on the papers.

Shrugging, Shep grabbed a plate and took one of each, whistling, he headed back up to Level 5.

Food. The smell of food welcomed Lucas home. Well the Ministry. He was still in the Ministry, not home, but he was in his country again so it was kinda home...to him. Anyway, he walked into the Cafeteria with a smile on his face. Right so, food bag. Check, of course he had it, it was in his hand after all. He scanned the room quickly and spotted a woman sitting on her own. Oh sigh, poor her, maybe Lucas could cheer her up? Hehe. He walked over to her and put a more of a smile on his face. "Helloo," he said happily in his annoying half American half English accent. Well it wasn't half, it was more American but anyway. "Mind if I accompany you?" Wink wink.

As Briony scribbled random notes on the paper she was looking over, she heard a voice greeting her. She looked up and saw a man standing there. The embarrassing part? She was midway in taking a bite of her peach so her mouth was hanging open. Blushing, she closed her mouth. "Hello," she replied with a friendly smile. When he asked if he could join her she answered, "Of course," in her French accent, and gestured to the chair in front of her.

Hehe, the woman had a bit of peach in her mouth. Lucas chuckled at her. "Maybe you looked up at the wrong time?" he asked grinning. He nodded at her and then smiled back. Cool, wait did he hear a slight accent there? Maybe. "Thanks," he spoke happily and sat down on a chair and placed his bag onto the table. But he had one question to ask before he ate. He wasn't going to talk with his mouth full! He didn't do that. Nope, at all. "So what department are you in?" he asked her.

The woman nodded and looked down at her papers as she did so. Urgh. Stupid blushing. "That's what I figured," she stated, taking her eyes off the work and watching as he took a seat. She glanced around once more and turned her attention back to the man as he asked her what department she worked in. "Oh Transportation. The Portykey office to be more exact," Briony said to him, carefully observing him. "How about you?" she asked, not remembering if she had seen him around or not. "I'm Briony Whitehall by the way," she grinned, then bit down slightly on her lower lip.

Lucas nodded back and chuckled at her when she spoke again. Hehe of course! "Transportation. Really?" he was slightly shocked, that was totally cool so he'd met two people from his department now. Okay he was more shocked, but why should he actually be shocked. Well it was obvious that they were going to work together. "Me too, but I've just moved back here. Maybe it's obvious from my slight American accent," he said then muttered to himself, "darn those 5 years, I hope it doesn't take 5 years to get my English accent back!" he hated his accent right now. Okay, now back to the woman, who just said that her name was Briony Whitehall. "Lucas Saywer," he spoke back matching her grin then noticing that she was biting on her lower lip. Why?

Her expression changed to one of very surprised as he said he worked there too. "I take it you're a new employee here then?" she question, thinking back to almost two years ago when she first arrived at the Ministry. She chuckled at his complaining. "I figured you had come from America. You're originally from England though right?" He said he wanted his British accent back. Luckily her french would stay with her forever. "It's a pleasure to meet you Lucas," Briony smiled, only being civil. First introductions were so awkward.

"Yeah I am," Lucas nodded and answered Briony. Damn! She heard that? Well he did hear her chuckle so yes. So he laughed. "You heard that didn't you, I have to either speak very quietly to myself without looking weird or just think it," he thought for a moment before answering himself, "yep, I think I just have to think it then." He didn't want to look weird, although Briony would probably think that he was right now. "It was definitely was obvious. Yep, born and bred in England, I moved to America after I finished Hogwarts. So speaking of accents and all this, what about yours because I just can't put my finger on it but French possibly?" He was terrible with accents and geography so he was probably wrong. "You too Briony, I look forward working with you," he returned the smile back.

"That's alright," she assured him, with another laugh and shrug. "I speak to myself when I'm alone too." Sometimes very loudly and it scared her poor puppy Milo. Well he wasn't exactly a puppy anymore was he? "I'm from France and yes it's a French accent," she replied in a direct tone. "I moved to America actually a year or two after graduating. I lived in New York and Massachusetts." She remembered back to living there as well with her young niece Thalia. "It seems working is all I do these days," Briony sighed heavily and a frown met her lips.

Lucas laughed too. He was such in a good mood today. He couldn't help it though. "Really? I think that was just once for me," maybe it was, he didn't go counting how many times he had talked to himself, well if he did it would be a small number. "Cool, France must be a nice place," it probably was too. Wherever it was, Europe. Well where in Europe? "I lived there for five and the accent decided to stick," he shrugged although it annoyed him. "Oh New York and Massachusetts! I stayed in Wisconsin," he knew where that was thankfully, "with my cousins actually," he added. Ah, he had an idea, he was going to turn that frown upside down. "Hmm, maybe you've got to live a little. Take your mind of work and spend some time with me," he slightly wiggled his eyebrows and he had a smile playing at his lips.

"Uh huh." He stared at her blankly. But he had to admit that despite himself he was rather interested to hear what she had to say to him. "And why were you not at work?" This girl had managed to get his curiosity, and that didn't happen every day. He was usually too self-absorbed to care.

Kenedie got the feeling that this guy was intrigued by her, and she didn't know what to think of that. Before the ordeal, she probably would have been flattered. She would have giggled about it later with Lima, someone she had yet to regain touch with since her two year absence. She wasn't sure what she should tell him and what would be too much.

"You didn't hear about me?" she said, honestly feeling surprised by this. She had figured everyone would know the story. She figured everyone would talk about it. Maybe not...

He raised his brow and leaned in closer so that she could tell him her story. It had better be interesting, or he would leave. So she had better choose her words carefully while telling him. "No, I'm new here. So tell me."

If Ken wanted, she could just not say anything about it. She could talk to this guy nonchalantly, saying that her grandmother died and she had to look after her grandfather for quite some time. He might do some investigating, but Ken really doubted she was important enough for that. He would probably forget this conversation as soon as it was over.

Still, something deep inside of her wanted to talk about this, and maybe a perfect stranger was the person to talk to. He wouldn't have any insight into her life.

Feeling ridiculous, she said in barely more than a whisper, "My little brother and I were kidnapped and imprisoned for almost two years."

"You're the lucky one. I go kind of insane when I'm overly stressed and start talking to myself," she smiled. Why was she even telling some of the strangest things she did to a guy she had barely met? Ehh...must be a good sign then. "It is really nice. Not my favorite place in the world but you have to be there during the right season," Briony told him. Just being back in that country made her think of her mum and sister. She played with the ring on her ring finger on her left hand. "Wisconsin? I never made it too far over in the midwest. Just in the New England states," she said with a slight shrug. A smile formed once more on her lips as he said she should spend more time with him. "I'd very much like to take you up on that offer."

O_________O

Okay, this officially had his attention. He had never met anyone that had been kidnapped before, and he really wanted to know what happened. He wasn't even that concerned about her if he was being honest with himself. He was more curious than anything.

"What happened?"