It hadn’t seemed like a big deal, but apparently it was. Ashley had done this a hundred times before. He always worked alone, unless he was working with Indiana or Cheyenne, but he had never thought it would be such a big deal to go after something alone. He had been in England for like teo years now, fighting little beats, pest managing, and meeting interesting people. The American ministry had given him full license to travel anywhere and do nearly anything up to this point, and while he had always been an “independent contractor†for the American Ministry, that wouldn’t fly here under the Union Jack. As an American, he was already at a disadvantage. His coworkers thought he was cocky and incompetent already, and he’d barely been there a day.
He had taken down a lethifold by himself. He ought to be a hero. Of course, that was not what the British Ministry thought. They thought he ought to be more of a team player, giving into their jurisdiction and letting them handle their own messes. Still, a person was nearly hurt, and he saved her single-handedly. This said, it wasn’t the cleanest rescue. She was naked and scared in her apartment, while he made her drop her towel to make sure it wasn’t the beast hiding—it wasn’t—but he found the thing and killed it. It ended up being a mess of paperwork thought, and the American Ministry had enough of Ashley pulling strings and riding free doing as he pleased. He supposed he knew getting paid to do whatever he wanted wouldn’t last forever, but he never thought a probationary transfer was in the cards. Especially not one where he was being watched over by not just an auror, but a scored one at that. He had heard of Roslyn, of some of the things she had been in trouble for. It was a mixed match, two troublemakers watching one-another, but he still felt he got the short end of the stick.
He had never been given a proper assignment before. He always just read the newspapers and found clues, found beasts lurking where they didn’t belong and “took care†of them. Indiana would preferred if Ashley took care of them in a less final way, but Ashley didn’t particularly care for beasts. He cared for people, and that was the big difference between them. Indiana cared too much about procedure. Sure, if it was safe to relocate, sure. However, certain beasts were pests—lethifolds particularly were “dark creatures†more akin to dementors than creatures with the ability to be docile—and he was willing to take them out whenever he could.
He looked up at Hayes as she introduced herself, with a charming and easygoing g smile. At least she was pretty. Last thing he wanted was to be holed up with a cop lady who wasn’t even attractive AND wasn’t fun or funny. He had a feeling she was going to be a hard-ass. “Morigan. Ashley Morigan. You can call me Ash, I know, weird name. You should see my brother’s.†He teased. She was all business, so he made a point to be as easygoing and ladi back as possible, partly to annoy her but partly to play contrast to the stick lodged in her rear. Maybe it would make her more comfortable…. Or maybe it would just annoy her, and at this point either seemed good. He was a little bitter that they gave him a babysitter in the first place.
“Oooh, so we’re getting put on assignment are we? Great. Sounds like paperwork will follow.†His least favorite part.
