Newt felt himself being shaken out of a restless sleep.
"Hey, it's 4:30. You should eat something before you go," Queenie said gently.
Newt yawned. He had spent most of the night putting enchantments on his case to keep it from being damaged or opened in any way. He had fallen asleep in his chair and had slept badly, having been haunted by dreams of the past and of the possible future.
He looked down at his case. What if this doesn't work? What if my creatures get hurt?
What if Tina gets hurt?
"Newt, I'm sure there are other ways we can do this. You don't have to put your creatures in danger. I'm sure we can rescue Tina without giving them your case. You could just leave it here."
"No, Queenie, I can't. I can't risk Tina's life. If I don't do what they ask . . ." Newt shuddered. They'll kill her. He looked up at Queenie and saw the fear in her eyes. Reaching for his case, Newt averted his gaze and stood up. He moved over to the table and set the case on the floor as he sat down.
Queenie set a plate of food in front of Newt. He picked at it but wasn't able to eat anything. Queenie rested her hand on his shoulder and said, "Tina's going to be fine, Newt. She knows how to take care of herself."
Newt stood up suddenly and grabbed Queenie by the shoulders. "I can't let anything happen to her, even if she can take care of herself." He was shaking and tears were streaming down his face. "If anything happens -- anything . . ." Newt broke off. Why can't you tell her? It's not like she doesn't know. "Merlin's Beard. You already know why. Queenie, I love her." His grip loosened and he dropped his head. "I love Tina," he whispered. It was the first time he had ever said it out loud.
Queenie brushed the tears off Newt's face. "I know you love her. Tina knows you love her but you need to tell her. She loves you but she's waiting for you to tell her you love her. You've known each other for over two years and you had both fallen in love with each other before you left. I know both of you are shy but, Newt, you're going to have to tell her you love her. It'll be fine."
Newt let his hands fall to his sides. Fighting back more tears, he wiped his eyes and picked up his case. "I need to go," he mumbled as he turned to the door.
Queenie came and gave him a hug. "Bring my sister back safely," she whispered into his ear. "And don't be afraid to tell her how you feel."
Newt nodded mutely against Queenie's curls. He slipped out of the room, out of the building, across the street, and into a deserted alley where he apparated to Central Park.
Newt shivered. The bench he was sitting on was cold and damp but he didn't care. The only thing he could think about was Tina. I hope she's alright. Please, let her be alright. Don't let anything have happened to her. If anything happens to her -- if she dies . . .
Just then a shadow fell over Newt. He looked up into the face of a young man. The man must have been handsome once but his looks had been ruined by a long scar down the left side of his face. Newt started. "You!" he spat, pulling out his wand.
"Hello, again. Now please, hand over your wand. Unless you don't want to see Miss Goldstein again."
Newt shook with rage but he handed over his wand and gripped the handle of his case. "Why do you want my case? I only have one of your Hippogriffs. You killed the rest of them."
"You destroyed my only way of making money. I just see this as a sort of payback. This is really much bigger than that was," the man sneered.
Grindelwald, Newt realized. I should have known.
The man grabbed Newt roughly by the arm and disapparated. They appeared at the edge of a canyon. The man waved his wand and a bridge appeared. He dragged Newt onto the bridge.
"Why don't you just apparate onto the other side of the cliff?" Newt challenged.
They stopped abruptly. "Because you can't apparate or disapparate on that side of the canyon. This gorge creates a sort of island. Our base is on that island and you can't apparate or disapparate anywhere on the island. Where we're standing now is the last place you could apparate to. There's a line about three feet away from the edge of the cliff all the way around. So don't bother trying to apparate once we've passed that line."
The man pushed Newt forward for a few steps then stopped. He seemed to realize what he had just said. He rounded on Newt and slapped him across the face. "You tricked me into saying that," he spat. "You asked me that so I would tell you about the base."
"How would knowing that I can't escape help me escape?" Newt asked, trying to stay calm.
The man glared at Newt and gave him a rough shove. "Keep moving."
They reached a large stone building. The man led Newt through a maze of dark stone corridors. They emerged into a large, dim room. The first thing Newt saw was Tina. She was slumped in a chair, her chin resting on her chest. Her wrists and ankles were cuffed tightly to the chair. A flash of anger passed through him. He wanted nothing less than to kill whoever had done this to her.
Newt rushed over to the chair. He set his case down and placed his knee on it protectively. He reached up and pushed Tina's hair out of her face. "Tina," he whispered anxiously. The gentle rise and fall of Tina's chest relieved Newt slightly. At least she's still alive. "Tina, please wake up. Please."
"She'll wake up," a voice said from behind him, "but only if you give us what we decided on."
Newt turned to look at the tall man who was casually spinning his wand between his fingers.
"We didn't decide on anything," Newt spat. "You demanded my case."
The man came forward and pointed his wand at Tina. "So you'd rather let her die?"
Newt gripped the handle of his case so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Remember your plan, Newt. Don't react.
With a slight shiver, Newt relaxed his grip and handed the man his case. "Now let her go," he demanded.
"Very well." The man waved his wand and the cuffs vanished. Tina gave a small cough and her eyelids fluttered open. "Newt," she whispered.
"Tina."
"Newt, you shouldn't have come. They work for Grindelwald. They want your case."
"I know, Tina. It's alright. We're leaving."
He helped her stand up.
"Take them out of here, Norton," the tall man spat.
The man with the scar stepped forward and pointed his wand and the pair. "Come on. Let's get you two out of here."
Newt kept a firm hold on Tina to keep her from falling as he followed Norton out of the room. He led them out of the building and across the island. When they reached the canyon. Norton waved his wand and the bridge appeared. "You've got three minutes to get across that bridge," he sneered. "That's plenty of time."
"Can we have our wands back?" Newt asked.
"I suppose," Norton said in a bored drawl. He handed Newt their wands. "Go on."
Newt slipped the wands into his pocket and guided Tina across the bridge. "Can you apparate?" he whispered.
Tina nodded against his shoulder. They reached the end of the bridge and Newt turned back to look for Norton. "Good he's gone. You're not strong enough to apparate by yourself so you'll just have to come with me. We'll wait a bit longer then we'll apparate back across. We'll have to run the last bit. Do you think you can do that?"
Tina nodded. "But why do we have to go back?" she whispered.
"I need to get my case."
"But --"
"We've got about 10 seconds. Get ready to run." Newt hadn't let go of Tina so he apparated straight to where Norton had shown him the line. "Run!"
They ran towards the land but the bridge vanished just before they stepped off it. Newt caught the edge of the cliff with his free hand. They hung there for a few seconds as they caught their breath. Newt turned to Tina. "Uh, I must have miscounted." Tina gave him a weak smile. "Thank Merlin I didn't let go of you. Can you hold on to me? I need to get my wand out."
Tina managed to wrap her arms around Newt's neck. He pulled his wand out of his pocket and cast a spell to levitate Tina onto the top of the cliff. He slipped the wand back into his pocket and reached up to grab the edge of the cliff with his other hand. Pulling himself up, he found Tina kneeling on the ground by him. When he had crawled away from the cliff edge Tina wrapped her arms around him.
"Thank you, Newt," she whispered in his ear.
"You're welcome," Newt whispered back. "But we need to find a place to hide."
He stood up and helped Tina to her feet. They moved in the direction of the base. Newt stopped when they got to a large tree. "We can stay in the tree. Are you alright with that?"
Tina nodded mutely. Newt pulled his wand out and created a platform in the tree. He made a ladder and helped Tina up to the platform. He vanished the ladder and cast several spells to keep them from being seen.
Newt settled against a tree branch. Tina moved closer to him and whispered. "You gave them your case?"
Newt shivered slightly. She hasn't spoken above a whisper since I found her. "Of course I gave them my case but I've enchanted it so that it can't be destroyed or opened. It should be fine. We'll go for it tonight. For now, you need to rest."
He conjured up a glass of water and helped Tina drink it. "Thank you," she murmured.
"Oh, and here's your wand."
Tina took it from him carefully and slipped it into her own pocket. She curled up, rested her head against Newt, and fell asleep. Newt stroked her hair gently. Oh, Tina. How could they do this to you?
Newt shivered as Tina raised her head. The sun had set and the cold air hit where her head had been resting. "I'm cold and I'm hungry," she mumbled.
"Cold I can help," Newt said. "I'm sorry I don't have food." He pulled off his coat and draped it around Tina's shoulders. He reached into the pocket of the coat to pull out his wand but his fingers closed around a small package. He drew it out and looked at it quizzically. He opened it carefully and glanced inside. "Oh, Queenie, you wonderful woman," he said grinning.
"What?" Tina whispered.
"Your wonderful sister must have slipped this into my pocket before I left."
"What is it?"
"Food," Newt laughed. He reached back into his pocket and drew out his wand. He used it to warm up the food and make a small fire to warm them up. They ate the food and Tina curled up against Newt again. He felt, rather than heard, Tina murmur something against his chest.
Oh, Tina. I love you so much. Please stay safe. I wish you could just go home to Queenie. Don't get hurt. I won't let you get hurt.