(1940-03-10) The Wolf, Bo Peep & Lost Sheep
Details for The Wolf, Bo Peep & Lost Sheep
Summary: After her unsettling interview with a certain werewolf, Rena wants to locate her coworkers and have a talk with them. She only manages to find Kat in the training room.
Date: 1940/03/10
Location: Training Room - Ministry of Magic
Plot: The Warehouse
Related: Interview with a Werewolf
Characters
RenaKatherine

Despite the common joke that one can often find numerous Aurors loafing about in places like the Leaky Cauldron, there are times when one simply can't find them. Rena wanted to speak to Katherine, Graham and Hugh, following her interview with one of the Werewolves they arrested during the warehouse raid; but, of the three of them, she hasn't managed to locate one solitary Auror. The Ministry seems to be empty of them, today. Right about now, she feels like Little Bo Peep in search of lost sheep.
As a last resort, the young woman makes her way to the training room - a place that she knows both Graham and Katherine frequent. Poking her head in through the heavy door, Rena's gaze passes over the area and she thinks that she sees Kat from afar. Nothing for it, she heads inside. Tugging the hem of her suit jacket straight, she heads in the other woman's general direction. "Kat?"

Kat, standing at one of the middle lanes of the target range, casts one last spell at a dummy that, judging by the whisps of smoke coming from it, has been the target of the Auror's spells for a while now before turning to face the voice calling her name. "Well, hello there Auror Lee. How can I help you today?" As she speaks she puts her wand away into one of the pockets of the grey robe she's wearing over her bright blue polka-dot dress then leans a hip against the shelf at the end of the lane.

The little redhead doesn't like ruining people's day by being cross with them, but really, something has to be said… Judging by the serious expression on Rena's face, she has something important, and a little grim to say.
"I wanted to follow up with you after the raid." She answers, matter-of-factly, offering only a very faint smile in greeting. Unfortunately, she doesn't seem to know exactly where to begin, and she struggles momentarily for words. "Look…" Rena tries, "You and I don't often see eye to eye on anything in this job. But, the fact is, we share the same job and work space; and I think everyone does well if they're on the level with each other."
Already, Rena feels as though she's failing to get her point across well. Standing up straight, she takes a breath and says: "That raid could not 'ave been more badly botched if a bunch of trainees were sent in. It weren't my doing. I'm the youngest 'round. It's not my place to take the lead - but for God's sake, when are the rest of you going to take the job more seriously?"

Katherine switches from leaning her hip against the shelf to fully sitting back on it. Crossing her feet at the ankles and bracing her hands to either side of her body on the shelf behind her she takes a moment to think this over before nodding and giving Rena her almost trademark smirk, if only at half wattage. "Well, you are right, we each have our own way of approaching the job. In the end, its results that count, right? But, lets look at it in a little more detail. What exactly is bothering you about what happened?"

Rena simply gapes at Katherine in a way that says she is clearly mind-boggled by the other woman's response. Her expression says it all, but she voices her thoughts, regardless: "You're 'avin' a giraffe!" She exclaims, her cockney bleeding through, profusely.
"What part of blasting the door open seemed a good idea? We 'ad a bloody warrant to search the place. Since when does it seem a good idea to start destroying property you're supposed to be searching?" Rena asks, clearly upset. "One: You might destroy key evidence. Two: You're leaving the Ministry open to valid complaint. Three: It's be'avior like that that leaves the public looking at M.L.E. employees with rightful contempt." Pausing to let this sink in, she places her hands on her hips before adding: "It's not just THAT night. It's been many cases over the last year. Not one bloomin' part of training I received taught such reckless, careless be'avior."

Katherine chuckles and gives Rena a little bit of a shrug, "Maybe its the time I spent on the wrong side of the track but if I hear something I consider a threat I attack first. And I realize its not the best approach for every situation. And so do our superiors. Have you ever noticed that I rarely get an assignment where tact and diplomacy is expected? Or, looking at it from another angle, have you noticed how I typically get cases where a… for lack of a better word, where a thug might be needed?" Raising her hands she puts her hair up in a quick bun as she continues to speak, "But I'm happy with who I am. And I'm happy that we have people like you around, that compliment my skill set. And for the record, I only blew off the lock. Couldn't even tell you who demolished the door itself." Putting her hands back on the shelf she shrugs one more time, "But I agree with you, its not the tack to take on every case. In this one, we were about to be attacked by werewolves so hitting first was probably the smartest thing to do."

"We didn't bloody need to be attacked by werewolves!" Rena exclaims, her filled with exasperation. Raising her hands to both sides of her head in a gesture of dismay, she would pull her hair… were it not so perfectly set in pin curls and all. "We 'eard the wolves and we should've retreated to a safe place to regroup and rethink our tactics. But no! Blast our way in and attack them."
Burying her face into her hands briefly, the redhead tries to regain a little equilibrium before continuing. Lowering her hands slowly, she breathes a faint sigh: "I won't even get into the morals and ethics of the situation. I'm well aware of the fact that next to no-one feels the way I do about werewolves. It's beside the point. But the fact of the matter is that those people were there because it were an off the record safe-'ouse." She places great emphasis on the word 'People.' "As Mister Jagger pointed out when I interviewed 'im, we were mislead. I don't actually know where we got our information from about the place, but it were a false lead. All that trouble, and Mister Urquart nearly dying for absolutely nothing. That's why Aurors should be more careful when approaching a job. We're NONE of us any good to the Ministry or the public we serve and protect if we're dead!"
It isn't anger flashing in Rena's dark eyes, now. It's something else entirely. Hard as it may be to believe, she really does care about the people she works with and doesn't want any of them to die - irrational as that desire may be.

Katherine sighs, "Rena, at heart I'm something I cannot be in our society. A soldier, a warrior. I think in term of defense and attack. I see what you're getting at, I really do. But that's where /you/ come in." Pushing off the shelf she lets her smirk turn into a full smile as she says, "Next time, forget you're the young one and consider yourself the social expert. Speak up when you think something wrong is going on. /Before/ the spells start flying since when they do then people like me take over. And that usually means someone is going to end up either incapacitated (hopefully) or dead."

Therein lies the rub… A leader is not something that Rena ever wants to be. And yet, she always seems to be taking charge of situations, yelling: Follow me! Life is funny that way.
Shrinking back slightly, the little redhead looks away and rubs her arm with her hand self-consciously: "I ain't no social expert - I'm from Wapping! I'm an ex-showgirl from Burlesque theatres…" She doesn't say it, but she thinks to herself: There's nothing special about me.
"Still," she speaks again, coming out of her sudden retreat into her shell gradually, "As you say, I ought to speak up more. I just…" Here, she pauses and gives a helpless shrug, "I don't want anybody else to get hurt - not without good cause. Sometimes I don't think I'm cut out for this job at all."

Still smiling Kat reaches out to give Rena's upper arm a quick friendly rub. "I think you're the closest we have right now to a social expert." With a chuckle she adds, "Graham's fairly close too but you're better. And you might not think you are not but a lot of other people think you are. /Especially/ because you're bringing a skill set that we need, badly. That's why you're already a full Auror and I'm still an Initiate, even if I'm treated like a full Auror half the time." The last sentence she accompanies with a wink, a clear reminder to the younger woman that she is very much the superior officer in the room.

Sometimes, Rena does forget that despite her young age, she is technically a superior to anyone else who is not a fully fledged Auror. She works so hard not to let it go to her head that she completely forgets from time to time.
Smiling wanly at Katherine, Rena offers a quiet: "Thanks," still not feeling quite deserving of such high praise. "I make a lot of mistakes, though. I just try to never make the same mistake twice." Clearly, modest as she is, she does appreciate Kat's words, deeply.
Seemingly remembering something, Rena remarks quickly: "Speaking of making mistakes twice - I promised Mister Jagger that I would get the word 'round that the ware'ouse is definitely not to be disturbed. It's a safe place for Werewolves to lock themselves in, poor things. Apparently, the owners - whoever they are - know about it, and let them since they get free security guards out of the deal."

Katherine nods, "Point taken. And by the way, you're not the only one that sees them as people. They're just dangerously sick people." Apparently she's not quite as socially inept as she pretends to be. With another wink she starts turning back to the aisle she was practicing her spell casting in, wand coming back out of her robe's pocket. "If you ever want to practice your dueling let me know. Its a good skill to keep sharp and I don't see you practicing nearly enough."

Dangerously sick is a good way to describe Werewolves. Now, Rena has one particular dangerously sick individual less than pleased to have encountered her twice. Third time's the charm, as the old saying goes. She tries not to think about what may happen if she tempts fate a third time if her path crosses with Pete once more.
"Yea, I know," Rena admits to her utter lack of dueling practice, scuffing her foot at the floor momentarily. "I'll 'ave to work on that sometime. I know it's important."
Parting ways with Katherine, Rena pauses long enough to say: "Thanks for understanding about all that and 'aving it out." It's better to clear the air about things than let them fester, after all. Now, she just has to play Little Bo Peep a bit longer and find the other two lost sheep for a chat.

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