like cigarette smoke [spencer]

[Jessa Brielle Delaney]

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She was running, she knew to continue fleeing the familiar auror on her trail would be pointless. Spencer would catch up eventually. Instead Jessa slowed, hiding more than moving. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if he found her; in fact, she wanted to be found by him. Like he’d have the heart to turn her in and have her sent to Azkaban. The thought almost made her laugh.

Wand in hand, the brunette dashed out from behind a door, taking care to run only on the balls of her feet to avoid being given away by the sound of her heels clicking against the cement flooring. She may’ve had the disadvantage of being physically weaker than her opponent, but she was clearly more nimble. She hid behind a cluster of large, unopened crates. Abandoned factories were always the best place to carry out some good old torture. Her captives were dead now, useless and unable to supply her with any suitable information. The witch had been about to leave herself when she realised she wasn’t the only living one left in the building.

Jessa had lodged herself between the crates and then wall, peering through a small gap in front of her to keep an eye on her auror buddy.
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[Spencer Bartholomew McKinney]

Spencer wasn’t used to dealing with cases on his own, which might be an explanation as to why this whole thing was just one big, old mess. He was used to having some sort of backup; even if his brother wasn’t available for some reason, he’d normally drag some other auror from the ministry along with him. However, he’d somehow ended up being a lone agent this time – which basically meant that if he wasn’t able to bring this witch down, the failure would be completely on his shoulders. What made this particular witch more annoying was that she’d given him the slip a week or two ago. It was almost a surprise to hear that she was active again so soon – if Spencer had been in her shoes, he’d have stayed under the radar for a little while longer. Then again, he wasn’t exactly known for delving into the realms of criminal activity, so what did he know?

Having already scanned this abandoned factory over, there were obvious signs of human activity; areas where the thick layer of dust had been disturbed, burns on the walls, and a thin layer of trash where there definitely shouldn’t have been any.

And that was without including the dead bodies, but they weren’t exactly usual, either.

There was no doubt that these corpses were originally the witch’s captives, and they had clearly been tortured over and over for—for what? Enjoyment? Information? Either way, it was disgusting, and only fuelled Spencer on in his search for this individual; she couldn’t be allowed to kill any more innocent people – the only safe place for psychopaths like her was Azkaban.

This woman was obviously not idiotic. Her route away from her captives would have been untraceable to the ordinary eye: if it wasn’t for the fact that he was trained for such things, Spencer wouldn’t have noticed the signs himself. And she was quieter than anyone he’d ever had to track down before – there was absolutely no clumsiness here, and if he’d been in a different position… well, Spencer may even have respected her. Nevertheless, it didn’t matter; he had a job to do, and he was starting to believe that he may finally have begun closing in on his target.

Walking cautiously between broken machines and dusty crates, Spencer’s eyes flicked from side to side, searching for any sign of movement. While he didn’t have his wand out, it was within easy reach. This was all part of his plan – he needed to look weak. Or, at least weaker than he actually was – he’d just have to hope that Little Miss Psychotic over here would underestimate him. Muttering under his breath, the brunet continued to search for... well, anything. “C’mon then, bitch, where you hiding?” Honestly, it didn’t matter if his target actually heard him or not – he wasn’t stupid enough to believe that she couldn’t see him from wherever she was nesting.

[Jessa Brielle Delaney]

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Needless to say, Jessa wasn’t particularly impressed with the usual nickname. She was a lot of things, but a bitch wasn’t one of them – unless you were a bitch to her first, but that was a different story. It did nothing to anger or grate on her nerves, it just made her want to be found even more. That was probably the point, to provoke her into coming out into the open. The brunette thought for a few seconds before deciding that she’d let him have this one. She wasn’t about to walk out unprepared though.

“Watch your language, mudblood.” She stepped out from behind the crates, wand pointing towards the auror in case he tried jinxing her. The blood status of the McKinney Brothers was clearly well known and it seemed to be a bit of a sore spot for them, so Jessa was going to jab at it. She was a half-blood; her mother being a witch, and her father a dirty muggle with filthy muggle hands that he could never keep off his own daughter. Her childhood was a nightmare, and adulthood hadn’t turned out to be much better.

Slowly she prowled closer towards the man, footsteps echoing loudly as she approached the wizard. Jessa stopped when she stood a metre or so away, facing him with an amused glint in her eye, though her wand was still trained on his chest. “Come back for seconds, have we, Big Boy?”
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[Spencer Bartholomew McKinney]

Spencer turned so that he was fully facing his target, a light frown of confusion fluttering across his face. It was true that he’d set everything up in a way that could have resulted in this outcome, but… well, he hadn’t actually expected a plan like this to work. Even the most stupid of criminals knew better than to come out unprepared when provoked.

Then again, she hadn’t come out completely unarmed: no, not with that barbed tongue and her wand in hand. Scanning the woman from head to toe, Spencer couldn’t help but note that she was still as pretty as she was the last time they’d met. Despite the fact he knew exactly what crimes she’d committed, he was struggling to see how she would be capable of doing such horrendous things to everyday citizens - he supposed that this was just excellent proof of how looks could be deceiving.

Tutting, he looked down at the floor. In his momentary confusion, it had taken Spencer a little while to absorb the derogatory way in which he had been addressed – and even after all the time he’d had to get used to the term, it clearly still had a bite. Clenching his jaw, the brunet looked back up with narrowed eyes while he allowed the anger to wash over him. He wasn’t going to allow her the satisfaction of just how much that phrase affected him; a reaction was something that she definitely didn’t deserve. “Well, gee, I’m sorry. Maybe if I’d known your name, huh, honey?” He wasn’t normally one for resorting to sarcasm, but… well, desperate times called for desperate measures, and being as good as unarmed in front of the psychopath of the moment was a pretty damn desperate occasion.

Despite himself, Spencer couldn’t help but be impressed by just how calmly she was dealing with everything. Most criminals were at least a little awed in the presence of an auror, and it was almost a little relieving to not have that pressure (having to arrest your biggest fan was always a little depressing, even if they had killed four people). Still, this cool-and-collected thing was almost definitely not an act: it seemed completely natural, which was… inspiring, to say the least.

Raising an eyebrow at the nickname – not one he particularly liked, as his height was a sensitive subject – Spencer stepped forward, bringing them closer together. From this distance, the auror would be able to spring forward into hand-to-hand combat if the situation arose – but he was really hoping it didn’t come to that, since he didn’t want to risk breaking such a pretty face. Casually tucking a hand into his back pocket, he curled his fingers around his wand, purely for defence. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but Spencer was starting to think that combat might not even be necessary here.

“If you get to call me… that, then does that make you a dwarf? In that case, then… yeah, Grumpy. I guess you could say that.”

[Jessa Brielle Delaney]

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She spotted the change in his expression from her harsh choice in words but, well, he’d started it. Jessa didn’t try to taunt the auror with his blood status because he looked like he could really do some serious damage if she pushed him into losing his temper. He was tall and muscular, and obviously an expert in several forms of conflict considering his career. Jessa’s lips curved upwards into a smile. “Nuh-uh, we’ll save that for another day.” There was no way she was telling this guy her name, or anyone else for that matter. That would mean they could access her records and history and that was the last thing she wanted. Somewhere, hidden away, would be the proof – other than the scars littering her body – of the abuse she’d suffered at the hands of her father. The Ministry wasn’t going to find out about her weaknesses, it could be the end of the witch.

As the seconds passed, Jessa was slowly lowering her wand but was more than ready to use it if and when she needed to. He wouldn’t hurt her; if he was going to, he would’ve already. Spencer stepped closer and, after a pause, Jessa copied the action with a challenging smirk upon her face. To meet his gaze, she had to tilt her chin up. Eye contact was crucial in these delicate situations.

Jessa’s brows furrowed and she argued indignantly, “That’s a load of bullshit, sir. I think that a) I’m not short, you’re just a giant, and b) you’re the grumpy one here.” She would’ve poked him in the chest or something, but he looked too on edge for her to risk the touch so she remained close, her eyes never leaving the wizard’s face. From the corner of her eye, she could see his hand move for his back pocket; that had to be where his wand was stored. Jessa remained positive he wouldn’t use it on her.
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[Spencer Bartholomew McKinney]

Even now, Spencer was struggling to see how a woman like this could possibly be accountable for several charges of murder and several other breaches of the law. She didn’t seem to be any different to many young witches – in fact, there were no signs of psychotic behaviour related to her… at all. She had no tics, no speech impediment, no unusual habits that were obvious. It was peculiar; even to the brunet’s trained eye, she simply appeared to be a pretty young lady. Clearly, there was far more to her than initially met the eye.

Of course, it was no business of his to question what actually was going on in her head – and what would it matter, anyway? By the time she was in Azkaban, all of her thoughts and worries would be drained away along with her will… reprimanding himself for drifting away from the task at hand, Spencer regained his straight-backed posture and masked his emotions in a deep frown. He was on a job – by relaxing in front of the enemy, he was giving far too much away. Not to mention the fact that he was likely to get attached if he kept up such a pretence, and that never ended well. “That… is a shame,” he muttered, but had already begun to focus more on the actual task: small talk was hardly important.

As this little young lady stepped closer to him, Spencer had to resist the urge to turn his head away. While the witch was not intimidating in the slightest, the auror couldn’t help but wishing he had the ability to back away from this whole situation. Dammit, he was getting attached already, the pathetic man that he was. His boss was right: he really was too sentimental for his own good. As it was, he was barely able to conceal the sadness that he felt – the last thing he wanted was for this woman to think he was emotional or anything. Smirking half-heartedly in an attempt to continue with this friendly charade, he couldn’t help but add, “Honey, I’m sorry, but… you’re short. Face it.”

Slowly pulling his wand out of his pocket in a manner he hoped wouldn’t come across as aggressive, Spencer kept his arm down by his side – pointing wands everywhere with reckless abandon wouldn’t help the situation at all. Looking down gravely into the witch’s eyes, he did his best to block off all his emotions and to focus on the task at hand. “Now, are you going to be pushed into Azkaban quietly, or am I going to have to force you?”

Playtime was over. He actually had a job to do – and it definitely did not involve becoming sentimental over serial killers. But now… now it was time for Miss Witch to come along quietly and to meet the Dementors with whom she’d be spending the rest of her life.

[Jessa Brielle Delaney]

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Spencer’s demeanour changed suddenly, it looked like he was about to cut to the chase here. She felt a twinge of betrayal for some reason, despite knowing that’s why he’d come after her in the first place. There was still time to escape or change his mind though. Well, or both. Jessa was never going near that damned prison and would sooner die – which gave her an idea.

Purposely, she dropped her wand to the floor with a clatter and held out her arms to the side, an open and easy target. “Kill me.” She ordered, her expression darkening, “I’d rather die than go there. Please.” He wouldn’t do it, that she was almost sure of it and, hey, it didn’t matter if he did. It wasn’t as if she actually had anything left to live for, was it? No reliable family members, no permanent home, no friends, just a steadily growing pile of corpses. Bitterness rose in her, replacing the relaxed, carefree woman she had been playing beforehand.

Staring the auror down intently, Jessa took another step forwards so there were mere inches between them. Suddenly she raised her voice, losing patience, “Go on then, we haven’t got all day!” Jessa wasn’t sure what she was doing but it was nothing more than some not very well thought out plan to keep pushing at this man, to either turn him into a murderer like her or make something of him, a friend, perhaps; an ally. That was all.
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[Spencer Bartholomew McKinney]

It was ridiculous, but Spencer felt guilty for what he’d said. Merlin’s Beard! He was just doing his job, but this girl and her stupid, murderous – well, what even was it, some sort of psychotic charm? Shaking his head slightly, the auror’s posture changed, becoming far more defensive than it had been originally. He wasn’t going to allow himself to be affected by this witch any longer.

Tilting his head to the side, the brunet’s eyes narrowed in confusion. Where was this woman’s logic? Naturally, Spencer had to presume that for some reason, he would have something against killing her, but this wasn’t exactly the case; to him, this lady was just another young witch who wandered down the wrong path a long time ago. This momentary sentimentality wouldn’t stop him from ending the other person’s life – he had done such things before, albeit extremely rarely. Raising his wand arm, he pointed the tip directly at the other’s chest – however, it was not long before he sighed and tucked his wand back into his pocket. Exasperated, he rolled his eyes and did his best not to show how much her display had affected him. “I’m not killing you, Drama Queen. Jeez.”

Perhaps it was the bitterness that he’d seen so clearly in her eyes – a similar emotion to one he often felt himself, mainly due to the fact everyone within his department at the Ministry now outshone him – or maybe it was how desperately she wanted to die, how little her life meant to her. Either way, there was no way he was committing murder that night – in fact, he was already planning some explanation to cover up the fact that he’d spared her life. Sure, it wasn’t the way a professional thought, but half of this career was following your gut, right? And that’s all he was doing – following his gut. It was nothing more complicated than that.

Running a hand through his hair, Spencer sighed again and backed up a few steps, figuring it was probably best to give the woman some space (he was no expert when it came to females, but he was pretty sure the general rule was that when they look like they could both cry or explode, you leave them alone). “I’m gonna presume you don’t wanna tell me what your deal is,” he muttered, “but there’s definitely not gonna be any deaths tonight, okay?” Whether or not this girl was clever enough to infer that this did mean she wasn’t going to Azkaban yet was debatable, but he sure as hell wasn’t saying it out loud. Not yet, anyway.

[/size]

[Jessa Brielle Delaney]

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Her arms fell back down to her sides. Apparently nobody was dying, which had to mean he wouldn’t force her to go off and die a slow death in Azkaban. For that she was partly grateful because, actually, she didn’t want to put all of her work to waste. Hunting down her useless mother proved to be a difficult task. Ever since Jessa had succeeded in overpowering her father and killing him for the shit he’d put her through, her mother had been on the run. While Mrs Delaney hadn’t, strictly speaking, done anything, she’d made no attempts to stop her husband from keeping his hands to himself. Never had she once sought to help Jessa and, for that, she was going down too.

Calmed by the news that nothing too bad was bound to happen, Jessa picked up her wand and looked curiously at Spencer. “So, what happens now, Big Boy?” She tilted her head to the side, unsure of what he was going to do next.
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[Spencer Bartholomew McKinney]

This young woman was rather intriguing, actually; just as quickly as the fight had entered her body, it dissipated. Whether these fiery mood swings were usual for women wasn’t really something Spencer knew the answer to – in fact, the only thing he really knew was that he wanted to know more about this witch, psychotic killer or not. Because the auror wasn’t an idiot… of course he knew that he was hardly safe around a live wire like her. At the same time, part of him doubted that his name was going to be added to the list of murders, and it was that part that decided to stick around in this derelict factory. At least for a little while longer.

“Okay, well, first… you learn my name. It’s not… Big Boy.” Shuddering at the nickname – he’d been called such by far too many drunken witches over the years – he looked inquiringly back at his companion. “It’s Spencer, if you didn’t already know.” Of course, it wouldn’t surprise him if this lady did somehow know his name already: she seemed like the kind of woman who’d do her research on the person who tried to kill her.

Letting his arms hang by his sides, Spencer looked down at the floor and contemplated whether to say the words that hovered on his tongue. “And then… you tell me why the hell you’re killing people. Whatever your reason, I’ll have heard worse.” Reluctantly, he looked back into the brunette’s eyes, spitting out the other words he had to say before he had time to take them back. “Even if you only give me half a reason, I’ll let you go.”

Curse him and that sentimental heart of his. Merlin, Brent was gonna give him hell for this later.

[Jessa Brielle Delaney]

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Jessa had made sure to find out the names and rough backgrounds of the aurors currently working at the ministry. All she’d found out about then was their age, blood status, name and appearance but that was enough to keep herself well away from them (apart from Spencer, obviously). “Oh, I knew.” She shrugged her shoulders, aware of how creepy this would be in any other, normal, situation, “I know everyone in your department, Mr McKinney.” While they were practically introducing themselves, she was tempted to reveal only her first name. She wasn’t going to be the only Jessa around by any means.

She studied him carefully for a few, long moments, something clearly on the tip her tongue until deeming it safe enough information to share with this guy. “I’m Jessa. I urge you not to find the rest of my name, or I might just rip your throat out.” She forced a smile, bordering on the edge of a touchy subject that she wasn’t going to delve any deeper into with anyone. The ministry and muggle police force had been near useless and this guy could hardly do anything to console her. It didn’t matter anymore though, there was nothing left to do. Jessa had done it all herself, as per usual. She merely shrugged her shoulders again in reply, not wanting to share her personal reasons with a stranger.
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[Spencer Bartholomew McKinney]

While Spencer was perfectly aware of the tension that ran through this conversation, he wasn’t able to resist smiling briefly. “Of course you do,” he murmured; no, it didn’t surprise him at all to hear that she’d looked everybody up. After all, she was extremely intelligent – even if she didn’t seem to have any form of moral code. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t kill them, please. I like them.” Pausing a moment, he glanced upward briefly only to add, “Well, most of them, anyway.”

Feeling a little uncomfortable under the woman’s scrutinising gaze, Spencer began to fidget a little – he’d never appreciated being analysed, let alone by someone who was a virtual stranger. Eyes flicking upward in momentary surprise when the witch told him her name, he was unable to resist another fleeting smile. “Jessa… that’s a nice name.” Running through the library of names he had stored in his head, it didn’t take long for him to conclude he’d never heard of anyone with such a name causing any trouble – which meant she’d done an extremely good job of staying under the radar. Despite the fact he had next to no idea who this woman was, he felt somewhat proud of her: anyone who’d committed crimes on her scale and had managed to stay out of the Ministry’s bad books deserved at least a little credit.

“Of course I’ll respect your privacy.” While he would normally leave a conversation at this point and make his way somewhere else, Spencer felt inclined to delve a little deeper before making his departure this time. “But I’m gonna be honest here: you intrigue me, Jessa. You seem different to everyone else I’ve had to… deal with.” And it was true, she did – because rather than being psychotic, she knew what she was doing. She was interesting, and Spencer’d be damned if he was going to leave her alone just yet.

[Jessa Brielle Delaney]

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Despite being faced with a man that could potentially land her in prison for life, Jessa laughed when she was advised not to kill Spencer’s co-workers. “How crazy do you think I am?” She shook her head in amusement, “I promise they’ll only get killed if they get in my way, I think that’s a fair deal, don’t you?” Jessa didn’t regret revealing her name, she didn’t think Spencer was lying when he said he’d respect her privacy and, in return, she relaxed further but was still aware that everything was likely to go topsy-turvy at any moment knowing her luck.

Jessa was ‘intriguing’ to someone, as opposed to ‘mentally unstable’. That was a welcome first. “I’m different because I don’t want to do this, I have to. Simple as that.” Another smile forced, another shrug of her shoulders and Jessa was starting to feel vulnerable even if she had shared barely anything with Spencer. After speaking she finally looked away from him, scared that she’d suddenly start spilling everything if he looked at her a certain way, as impossible as that would really be.
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[Spencer Bartholomew McKinney]

It quickly became evident that asking Jessa questions wasn’t going to add pieces to the puzzle – it was just going to make the whole mystery even denser. Tilting his head to one side, Spencer did his best to analyse what the brunette was saying. He didn’t think she was crazy, not at all – and maybe that was the problem. Maybe if he’d just stuck with his initial opinion… shaking himself, the auror realised he didn’t believe a word of what his mind was telling him. Even if this lady did turn out to be a full-frontal psychopath, he’d still be glad that he’d at least tried to figure out why. “I don’t like to claim that I understand the minds of the violent,” he murmured softly, “but yeah, I’d say that’s pretty damn fair.”

If it wasn’t for the fact that the pair were in a derelict factory, the conversation would have seemed relatively normal. There wasn’t really anything that strange about the whole thing – just a talk between practical strangers, both of whom seemed to be doing their best not to break the ice. Even so, Spencer couldn’t help but feel as if the whole exchange suddenly turned darker. Frowning slightly, the young man tried to decide whether or not he really wanted to find out what that meant. Chuckling quietly, he looked up into Jessa’s eyes for a few moments before he began speaking. “…I’m not gonna analyse that one.”

Rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, Spencer wondered whether the words drifting through his head would be enough to get him hexed – or even worse, if they were enough to piss his companion off (he’d been warned on several occasions that angry women were worse than everything). “But… I believe you, for what it’s worth. If it’s worth anything, I mean.” And jeez, he actually did believe her – was this the way his mind was going? Was he seriously going to start trusting murderers now? Jeez.

[Jessa Brielle Delaney]

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Since when were aurors so sensitive? Not that it was turning out to be a bad thing, in this case. Jessa was possibly even starting to like him, although the feeling was a foreign one to her. There’d only ever been a couple of people in her life that she’d truly felt grateful for, and none of them were around anymore. He wasn’t pushing too much, but he seemed genuinely interested in what she had to see, which was strange. The ministry sure wouldn’t like that, not that they’d necessarily find out. What surprised the brunette more was when Spencer said he believed her. This was almost too good to be true. Since when did people start trusting the murderer?

“Thank you.” Jessa breathed, the shock evident in her voice. Then she realised that it wasn’t a big deal. Someone believed something she’d said for once, Jessa should move on and get over it. “You’re not exactly a typical auror, huh? Besides the macho muscles and good looks.” She stepped closer again, smirking. Jessa was definitely not flirting with the enemy.
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