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Abe chuckled at Claire's joke, happy to hear that they could still have a bit of fun and laughter even with the grim situation at hand.

Again following in tow behind Claire as she made her way to the car, Abe took one last look at the house over his shoulder, making sure to check the surroundings and of the faces that stood nearby. His eyes canvassed the area, taking note of anything that seemed out of the ordinary, or faces of folk who didn't seem to match the neighborhood.

Once they got into the car and began their drive back, Abe let out a heavy sigh. "If only we could prevent things like this from happening sooner, the world would be so much easier." Still smiling though, making light of the situation, "But I guess we'd both be out of a job then, huh?"

The car ride back seemed much shorter as the two young Aurors entered the Los Angeles headquarters. Abe, scratching his head, his mind still on the case and remembering anything he could about the house, the claw marks, the people in the neighborhood, anything that could help them crack a hole into their work.
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“I think I still have a cord at my desk to connect my phone to the printer. I took a couple dozen photos of the scene that I think would be good to have printed out, just so we don’t have to rely on our memory or whatever Muggle police took. They never focus on what we need them to focus on no matter how hard we try.” Clairesaid, pulling into a spot in front of the office and parking, getting out of the car.

Reaching into her holster, she pulled her wand out and waved it over a small brick in the front of the office to the left of the door, waiting a few seconds as the door seemed to waver a bit, and the door then swung open.

“We should see whether we can get you in the system temporarily in case you need to come and go; this door won’t let anybody in that it doesn’t want to.” It was a weird statement in any other situation than the one they were in; the door worked beautifully.

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"Or I could just always be with you," Abe chuckled. "That way I wouldn't have any problem getting in or out." Again the Auror tried to put his flirt on, he just couldn't help that the witch was cute, extremely cute. Following her inside, the two were greeted by Santana with his cheeky grin.

"Find anything good?"

"Did find out that we're dealing with a XXXXX monster," Abram said sheepishly.

"Can't wait for the bad news then." His senior nodded, still with his grin intact.

"I'll fill you and all in." The auror sighed, "Is Rowan back?"

"She should be in soon," Santana replied. "Come on kid, I'm sure Salt is excited for the news." The handsome, senior Auror turned away and began his trek down the long hall, opposite of where Abram was heading with Claire.

"I'm gonna fill in Salt and I'll meet you back at your desk?" Abram nodded, turning back on his game face. He had plenty of time to flirt with Claire, but he did need to refocus a little and stop playing around.
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Claire blushed lightly as he suggested that being her constant companion would cut down on trying to get him approved to enter the building; it amazed her how he was able to focus (so far!) on a case and on flirting. This was certainly going to be an interesting case no matter what happened.

Abram gave her a heads up that he was going elsewhere for a bit, to update his team, and would meet her back at her desk and she nodded. "That sounds like a plan; I'm going to get some work done with these photos so everybody can have a copy, and see whether or not I can find any other details that might help us, like what exactly this thing is. The children's witness reports should be coming in sooner rather than later."

She went back to her desk and began to do just as she said; downloading all of the photos onto a muggle computer and using basic programs like photoshop to highlight details and zoom in, cross referencing with a creature database as she tried to figure out just what was going on

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"I think there's more to this case than what we're seeing." Abram muttered as he sat across the conference room table from his boss. "There were claw marks, a monster that also uses fire. We're dealing with more than just dark wizards here."

Salt sat still, no emotion in his face. His eyes glared and burned straight at Abram with no real concern at the words that were coming out of his mouth. "We have a lead into the monster. You'll be flying out to Las Vegas, there's a mythical animal dealer there that you need to look into. His name is Irwin Khan. You'll be heading there with your new friend."

Abram was surprised at what orders he was being given. He knew that his boss was smart and always got things done, but Abe didn't know that he would be so far ahead in the case that having actual eyes on the ground weren't really needed at all. "I... Yeah, yes. When am I flying out?"

His commanding officer's eyes darted from Abram to the door with a cheeky smile. "As soon as you're ready. They have a few cars here that can fly and have been modified with an invisibility booster which will help with our discretion."

"Boss, you sure you don't want me to go?" Michael said.

"I need you to check out a lead in Arizona." Salt ordered. "Rowan is flying out to Texas, there was a lead with one of the kids that she needed to check on. I need you to check on that lead then head to Texas to meet with her."

"Got it." The Auror said with a nod.

"You two be careful out there and watch your backs. Like you said kid, we are dealing with more than just dark wizards."
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Claire felt like her head was going to burst even though she hadn't been looking at the photos for very long. Cross referencing with the digital creature database had gotten her absolutely nowhere, since nothing they had on record even came close to matching the size and intensity of the claw marks they had seen on the walls. And even with the claw marks, there was nothing that dealt with fire other than dragons, and there was no way one would have gone undetected, especially by children. They simply didn't have the power to do so.

Giving up on the digital database, she saved the photo files and got up, going into the library for the office. "I need a copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them a transcription of Monster Book because I don't feel like wrestling with the real one, Magical Monsters of North America and Mexicoand if we have Secrets of the Darkest Art, that would be great too."

The library wasn't manned; they had a librarian but she was only there a few days a week and this wasn't one of them. Instead, one merely had to speak their request clearly and wait for a few moments for their order to be delivered. Requesting transcripts took longer, but it was worth it to not have to chase ones research across the office. Within five minutes, a stack of books topped off with a binder clipped stack of papers flew towards her, and she accepted them gratefully, carrying the entire stack back to her desk and starting to look through them to try and find any mention of what they were dealing with.

One chapter in, Walker approached her desk. "You're being sent out on assignment with the new guy from the other branch; while you were gone we picked up a lead in Arizona that you two have been assigned to check out." She tossed a set of seemingly normal keys at Claire, who caught them without thinking.

"We're not flying Muggle style?" Claire asked curiously, putting the keys in her pocket and starting to pack her things up, including the laptop and the books she had pulled.

"That will take too long; besides you'll need a car when you get there. Brant already made hotel reservations for you when you get there; the information is on your phone. Bring a Muggle ID; your partner is getting told now. Leave as soon as you can and report when you get there."

As her boss walked away, Claire packed up what she needed from her desk into a rucksack that she had gotten permission to cast an Undetectable Extension charm on, then went to a locker room at the back of the office. All Aurors were required to keep at least one 'go bag' on hand in case they were stuck in the office or sent out on a case with no time to pack, and with a wave of her wand, her locker popped open and she pulled a duffel bag out, slinging it over her shoulder.

Satisfied that she was ready to go, she walked back out into the main office to try and find Abram so that they could get going.
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"You look prepared and ready," Abram peeped as he saw his partner round the corner with a duffle bag. He flashed her a smile as he lifted his own to-go bag, figuring they were both just filled in on what was happening. "So luckily Las Vegas is only a four hour drive, but since technically we're going to be flying it should be less."

He began leading the way out the building as they wandered up to the parking lot full of cars. Figuring she had the keys, Abram said with a grin, "I think it'd be best if you drive, I'm not sure your department would want to see what my record with flying cars is."

His mind wandered back to what he was filled in with. Salt had mentioned an animal dealer in Las Vegas, an Irwin Khan, but there wasn't much else to go on. Abram was given a small file, but that was it, was his commanding officer really sending him off with nothing to go on? Abram figured he would have been best in Arizona with Santana, or even in Texas with Rowan as it seemed like she was going to need the backup.

As they settled into the car, with Abe popping himself into the front passenger, he opened up the manila folder with a sigh. "So, we're supposed to be looking for some guy named Irwin Khan, but that's all I know... Hopefully you were filled in better than I was."
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Claire was relieved to see that he had at least gotten a folder; she wasn't sure what information she had gotten since she hadn't actually had a moment to look at her phone. "You got a name, at least. All I got was a state." She said, sliding into the driver's seat after stowing their bags in the trunk and locking it before putting the keys into the ignition and turning it to the proper setting for it to be a flying,invisible car, rather than a Muggle road car. They had been testing working with cars that had a push button start, but they hadn't managed to find a way to make it have different settings just yet.

Once they were both settled in and buckled up, Claire started to drive, going around the back of the headquarters just in case before going through the procedure to become airborne and cloaked from Muggle view. Any other witches or wizards could see them, to prevent traffic accidents, but they prevented Muggles from having a conniption fit upon seeing flying cars.

"I have information on my phone, apparently, but texting and driving is bad, and texting while flying is worse. Do you at least have a hotel address I can put into the navigation here? If not I'll unlock my phone for you to look; they reserved a hotel that we should go to first, set up a base camp and figure out what the hell is going on."
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Abram scrambled around for the information that Claire asked for, shifting through his manila folder for whatever he could tell was a hotel name. Three papers in, there was a total of seven, he came to the invoice and receipt of the hotel they would be using as their headquarters and the business card that contained the address.

Typing it in he began reading it out-loud. "Cloud Nine Hotel & Suites." Abe started, before giggling. "Where magic meets euphoria." Thankfully the car that they were using was modern and sleek, so it had the automated gps as long as you could input the address, it would coordinate and take you there.

"About three hours," Abram nodded. "That's not bad at all, shaved off an hour in flying and at least we don't have to deal with traffic." He smiled and began reading the papers he was given from his brief out so Claire could gain some new info too. "So here's a bit more information on our friend Irwin Khan," Abe began as he waved a photo of their mythical animal dealer, "Khan, Irwin; Twenty-two; Five-Eight; From Indonesia, living in Las Vegas; A rising dealer in mythical beasts; Notes in here that he has a thing for blondes. He's also kind of handsome, well maybe really handsome. And young for a dealer too."

Skimming over the notes he began only saying the words that were highlighted. "Last known beast he imported into the states were Swooping Evils." Abram said with a bit of shock. "Wait a minute... Swooping Evils. They have a venom that can erase memories, don't they?"

Scratching his head in a bit of a fit, he began chuckling. "This is why I failed Magizoology 101."
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Claire grimaced as he mentioned the name of the hotel; she had been expecting a motel, or just a basic hotel, but the name he gave her made it sound like they were being sent to a honeymoon getaway. If they got there and this turned out to be a prank, she would be on the warpath. This wasn't the time to deal with a joke. At the very least, she hoped they had two beds, or a bed and a couch.

"I wonder what kind of blonde?" Claire commented dryly, her hair starting to scroll through colors like it was flipping through a catalog before settling on a pretty blonde color, a big change from her normal teal. "You're sort of blonde, I can be whatever blonde he wants.....we cover both genders. That's a little ridiculous to put in a file like this though."

He mentioned Swooping Evils, and her face screwed up a little bit, not liking the name. "I think so, yeah. We can check when we're on the ground; I brought every creature book I could find in the headquarter library and stashed them in the trunk. Whether they do that or not, I hope to god that we don't find out personally.

Paying attention to the sky in front of her, which was thankfully clear with warm weather, Claire started to mull over the case in her mind. There were a lot of details, but they didn't make sense. "Khan is from Indonesia, lives in Vegas....why are we flying to Arizona to a honeymoon resort? Does the file have anything on why we're going to Arizona, and not Vegas? Is he importing there right now, is he on vacation, are there associates?"
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"Good thing then, because my obvious extensive knowledge of mythical beasts will totally come in handy." Abram chuckled. There was a few seconds of silence between the two Aurors before Claire chimed back in, with Abe listening carefully.

"We're heading to Las Vegas," Abram nodded, pointing at the address he plugged into the GPS. "Unless I got the wrong orders, Salt informed me that we're heading to find Khan and to go with that lead and that's also what this folder says. From what I understand there is also a lead in Arizona, but I wasn't tasked with that, another Auror from my unit was."

Abram rubbed his chin, his head fumbling around with all the information that was being thrown at him and that he was reading. Nothing made sense, but he needed to figure out what the reason for them heading to Las Vegas to find Khan really was. Obvious that him being a dealer of mythical creatures had an importance as they just figured there was some sort of monster used in the attack, but what else did Khan know or have to do with it other than seeing the attackers first hand and also providing them with a possible accessory.

With a few silent breaths, Abram did his best to refocus and diffuse his head. "I think I need a drink." He said with a smirk. "You?"
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Claire looked over at the GPS to confirm that he was right, and Walker, once again, hadn't given her all of the information she might need. "Walker told me that we were following a lead they picked up in Arizona. Finding out it's Vegas makes the hotel name make way more sense though." They absolutely needed to get to the hotel and lay out every piece of information they had between them to work up a real sense of what they were doing and what the hell was going on.

Abram mentioned needing a drink and she nodded, laughing a little. "Absolutely. This hotel better have a bar, or be near a bar. It's Vegas, for god's sake. She smiled, leaning back in the seat and trying to make sure she kept her attention on the sky rather than the attractive man next to her. "What say we land, get checked in, and get ourselves food and a drink or three while we try to figure this disaster out?"
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"Yes, let's do that." Abram agreed.

The drive went smoothly as the two entered the lobby of Cloud Nine, the hotel they were booked at. Carrying his bags and a few extra things they packed, Abram led the way to the front desk as they were greeted by a raven haired man with slicked back hair, and a calm and cool smile.

"Welcome to the Cloud Nine Hotel and Suites, I'm Kal. Are you booking or checking in?" The icy cool receptionist said.

"Checking in," Abe said. "We should have two rooms under Abram Fish, F-I-S-H and Claire Hannon, that's with two n's." He turned and gave his partner a wink, confidently and flirtatiously showing that he had knowledge of her file and of her in his mind.

The raven haired man typed away at his computer for a few seconds before nodding and smiling at the pair before him. "Hmm... We actually have you under one room. Your room is 312A, and your two key cards." He slipped two metallic cards across the desk as he went on with their benefits. "Your room has complimentary drinks, already paid for. If you dial 09 that is for room service."

"Are you sure?" Abram said, his flirtatious, cheeky face blushing at the thought of sharing a room with his new partner. "Only one room?"

"That's what my computer tells me."

Abram glanced back at Claire as he swiped at the two metallic room keys, handing one off to his partner. As they walked towards the elevator he nodded with a crooked smile. "Once we get settled in, I'll come back down and talk to Kal about booking another room for myself."
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Claire quirked an eyebrow as the front desk attendant said that they only had one room booked, but it wasn't something worth complaining about at the moment, considering that it wasn't the attendant's fault. Abram was clearly trying to flirt with her, and she wasn't quite sure, but she could have sworn that he was trying to flirt with the attendant as well. She took the card from him and flipped it between her fingers idly as they walked down the hallway, grinning a little at Abram's little blush.

"At least wait until we get to the room; for all we know there's a big bed and a huge couch that we can switch back and forth between." Claire said, putting her card in the door and pushing it open. "At least drinks are free; I have a feeling that we're going to need two or three to even begin to understand this case."

She surveyed the room in front of them, grimacing. It was very clearly a honeymoon quite; she was beginning to feel like this was all a massive joke and there were people in the office foisting them off on each other so that they didn't get in the way. If so, their loss; Claire fully intended to at least take advantage of the free drinks.
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Once in the room with Claire, Abram scoffed at the luxury they were given by the office, which was something almost like a practical joke. "You're right, let's get a few drinks in me and go over these files."

Tossing his bag to the side, Abram spread the files out on one of the tables for Claire to have her once-over. A second after he finished spreading the files he darted off to the fridge that was in their room, reaching for two bottles along with an ice tray and two glass cups. The clinking of the glass and bottles rang as the wizard made his way back to the table, taking a seat as he filled the glasses up with the liquor and a few ice cubes.

"Guessing we start this party?"
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Claire took the glass from him and took a drink, grimacing for a moment as the harshness of the liquor hit, and then mellowed out. With another sip, she pulled her computer out and pulled up the particular files she had been given. Sitting cross legged on the bed with her back against the headboard, she looked over at Abram. "I don't think we can avoid it any longer."

Running a hand through her hair, which was still the blonde it had changed to in response to Khan's file, she opened her charmed back and pulled out the magical creatures textbooks as well, stacking them up on the bed. "What a romantic getaway we have here," She snorted, smiling. "Most of the case files I have are digital; I brought all of the photos I took and everything the office gave me, and all these books. What about you?"
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"Files on files," Abram said, gulping down the dark liquor. "Only given paper copies, you'd think as wizards in the modern age things would be easier, but hell, things just get more complicated when you mix technology and magic."

Taking the rest of the liquor in one sturdy gulp, Abram took a deep exhale as the burn from the brown alcohol made him almost breathe fire. Khan, Khan, Irwin Khan. The name danced around his mind as he began feeling the effects of the alcohol hit him. Abram wasn't the strongest drinker by any means, but he imagined that he could at least stay awake after one drink. The wizard licked his bittersweet lips as he shook off the buzzed, throbbing feeling from his head.

"Need a refill?" He asked his new partner. Abe figured that if he was already buzzed, he might as well continue on with it as they were in Sin City. "I know we shouldn't be drinking on the job, but, it's not like we don't have a spell to cure a small hangover." A chuckle escaped his lips as he began pouring out another half filled glass for himself.

"I imagine Khan having a warehouse somewhere in town where he keeps these animals. I mean, unless he put an extension spell in his bag or something. Not like people haven't done that before."
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"Nobody would ever think of doing such a thing as that." Claire said with a little giggle, picking up her own bag, which had very clearly been extended to be big enough for at least all of the books she had been holding. Knocking the rest of her drink back with a grimace and accepting a refill from him, she started to flip through the few things she had.

"Thankfully when you're doing personnel files, you can do it electronically. Anybody outside the wizarding world sees it and they think we're just creative Dungeons and Dragons player, or insane fantasy writers. That's why I use a Muggle camera, it makes the photos easier to put through software and look at. Works better for me than moving photos." She took another sip of the liquor, making a face.

"Good god, we're not going to be able to finish this bottle without a hangover. What is that stuff, magic liquor?" She bit her lip. "Didn't Scamander have a bag or a box or something like that? That's how he smuggled animals around, he just hid them in a bag? I mean, mine isn't expanded big enough to even fit a person in, but theoretically you should be able to put a series of charms on a bag to make it big enough to house a bunch of illicit creatures in. You'd have to have cages and food and maintenance though; I can't imagine that he's doing this on his own."
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"More people, more problems." Abram joked, lightening the mood. This case was getting to his head, with it pounding and throbbing. Maybe it was the alcohol kicking in, but the man knew his limits, but for some reason he was getting hit harder than usual.

"Yeah, I'm not sure what this drink is..." Abe said, "But I'm feeling it." Gulping down the last bit of his cup that he just poured, the wizard figured it would be his last one for the night. He knew better than to drink on the job, but they were in Las Vegas, it was customary to drink.

The grogginess set in as Abram took a file in his hand, skimming it for any more clues. But the last thing he remembered was a fog overcoming him and then blackness.
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"It's delicious whatever it is." Claire agreed, not used to having a headache this soon into drinking. For all she knew, however, it was a magic liquor instead of a muggle liquor, which tended to be much stronger due to the ability to remove hangovers quickly and painlessly. "Strong as hell though."

She grabbed one of his files with her computer between the two of them so that he could scroll through the photos if he wanted and started to read Khan's file, blinking much more than normal and feeling sleepy. Attributing it to the drive and the lack of sleep the night before, she pushed on, slipping quickly into an all encompassing fog before losing consciousness entirely.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Claire came to, she was sitting against something hard, and her first thought was that she had fallen asleep sitting against the headboard of the bed, reading and drinking too much. Blinking slowly, she opened her eyes, not quite sure why it felt like peeling sandpaper away from her eyeballs, a strange taste of cotton in her mouth that she couldn't quite place.

"Abram?" She rasped, not quite come to yet. Trying to raise her hand to rub her eyes, she realized she couldn't move either hand, something chafing her wrists and preventing her from doing anything. Her head was pounding and screaming, and she blinked one more time, not recognizing the room she was in.

"Abram? Are you in here?"
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