Always

Late

Tina heaved a momentous sigh as she pulled herself off her desk chair, forcing herself to ignore the now vacant seats at her desk. Rees biscuit tin half open from the last one he pilfered before the previous evening and Abis spare hair tie lay discarded on her desk. Achilles had gone over to help some of the other American Aurors so she had been sat most of the day at an empty cluster of desks when she hadn't been interrogating (which had taken up most of the day.) Most of the acolytes had refused to talk, Rosier was still unconscious and Abernathy was suddenly tongueless again but they had time to pull stories out of each of them. A few weeks of Azkaban always loosened tongues, according to Theseus, so she was pinning hopes on that alone. Now mobile she walked towards Theseus' office, stretching each and every crick in her neck and spine. After the Aurors had left everyone at cliff cottage still sat around the table heckling one another they had apparated to what could only be defined as chaos. The holding cells were full, the press were trying to break in and they were down four Aurors. Thankfully soon after they arrived any foreign Aurors still mobile followed but that hadn't stopped the work from being constant. She was certain Theseus hadn't sat down for five hours and not a single auror stopped for lunch so all in all the exhaustion was tangible. Yet tomorrow the acolytes could join Grindelwald in Azkaban so Tina dragged herself into Theseus' office to say goodnight before joining the droves heading to the lifts.

As she stepped in she saw the state of the man and gave him a weak smile. He had ink splatters all over his face, his hair looked more akin to Newt's usual bird's nest and his shirt looked like he had spilt some coffee down it at some point during the day.
"Good evening Goldstein" Theseus sighed as he looked up from some fancy parchment
"I think we can drop the formalities sir" Tina joked hollowly and he let out an answering chuckle.
"Quite right Teenie" She narrowed her eyes at him as he sunk back in his chair to cover his face with his hand.
"Don't push it Theo" He chuckled again and asked
"Merlin's beard, what time is it?"
"Like, almost nine" He fumbled with his pocket and pulled out his watch and nodded in agreement before waving his wand and arranging his paperwork into neat piles. He gave a quick glance before standing up from his chair and walking over to her. He gestured for her to exit the office and then followed her out into the empty office floor.
"At least everyone has gone home now. I did say earlier that now everyone's been profiled we don't need to rush back tomorrow. I did say that, right?" His voice was grated with exhaustion but he still had a weak flicker of that usual Theseus spice.
"You did. Then you ordered everyone to have a tea break"
"That's it! Then I almost broke Abernathy's sneaky, backstabbing face"
"You're spending too much time with us 'yanks'" Tina commented dryly as she entered the lift, Theseus still following steadily behind her.
"Yes well, despite initial greetings-" He looked pointedly at her as they began to descend "You're all more than tolerable"

The statement hung between them as the lift drew to a close and as the doors opened, Theseus continued.
"I hope you managed alright without a wand"
"I don't like being unprotected but I ain't really got a choice. If we get everyone locked away I might get out at a normal time and go to Diagon Alley with Newt." Theseus nodded thoughtfully, running a tired hand down his face.
"Now, I'll apparate you home then I might just catch Cepheus' first wake up of the night"
They walked to the apparition area then disappeared with a crack to reappear in the alley outside their home.
"See you tomorrow Goldstein"
Then she was alone in the darkening alley, still warm from the day but the sun starting to sink beyond the horizon of tall buildings caused the shadows to elongate and warp. She had never been a fan of side along apparition and had lost her footing on arrival to step into something rather sticky emanating from a dumpster.
Isn't this just great
Shaking herself off slightly she strode towards the front door and opened it with a soft click. The hallway was dark save for the light emanating from the living room and as she pulled off her boots and shrugged off her coat she noticed a distinct quiet over the house.