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On the conference room side of the department you'll find the work areas for MLE workers in the Security, MLES and Auror divisions. They are in and out all the time and truthfully most of them don't spend more than a few hours at their desks unless they have paperwork to do of course. However, the heads of each division may decide to have a meeting with their team from time to time, and if its not formal enough to require the conference room, likely they'll just use the tables pushed together along the middle of the room. Likewise if a member of the public comes to speak with a Law Enforcer, if it doesn't require use of an interrogation room, or is more of an informal meeting, they'll probably just hang out in here.

During a major crime investigation, this side of the department is buzzing with talk. Right here is where the magic happens, except when, you know, the magic is happening err... out there somewhere.Around the walls you will see moving posters of the most wanted criminals of the Wizarding world, as they are caught they are magically marked with a red X.

Every Auror, Hit Wizard and MLES Officer has their own desk here. It's slightly different for the Security employees. The Head of Security, the Event Security Liaison Officers, and the Internal Investigations Liasons have their own permanent desks, while the Ministry Sentinels, Security Officers and Wand Weighers work between this office and the Security post in the atrium, and do not have a personal desk of their own.

I wouldn't go and be nosy at some of these desks, some of the old hands are a bit paranoid and there are plenty of charms and wards in place to prevent snooping.

You are here.

When everyone started to split up and explore the rest of level two, Jake headed for the auror, security and MLES desks. On the one hand, it was him doing his job and investigating, and on the other... well, HIS desk was here, see? He wanted to see what the damage was.

This area was just as chewed up and dusty as the other parts of the level he'd seen so far, and a quick non-verbal casting of 'sperevelio' revealed that there was indeed no magic here either. Jake had half a mind to call back to the others and let them know they might want to put the magical protection back on thier desks before remembering the perspective of the situation. The priority here was investigating.

So that's what Jake did. He carefully made his way through the desks, keeping his 'eyes peeled' as Emily had instructed. Some desks were more chewed-looking than others, and Jake crouched down by a particularly gnarled looking surface to get a better look at the marks, nudging his glasses up his nose again with the back of his hand as he did so.

Already knowing what to expect, Josh walked in the work area and yeah...he was not surprised by the sight. He looked around a bit, before fixing his eyes on the dude who seemed to be investigating something on the floor. Or looking for something? Maybe. "Hey." the Auror said as he walked past some desks to get to his own. It was clawed, bitten and...stuff.

Eh...it didn't matter. His desk had always been messy anyway and the marks could be a new style of decoration for the working desk. Not to mention he was no a "sit at a desk to work" kind of person and not to forget the fact that his drawers had really disgusting food that had been gone off long ago. Maybe the creature or creatures found and consumed them. He hoped so because he still was not willing to clean them up.

Not wanting to check the drawers, he focused his attention back on the dude, now kind of being able to see his face...which looked oddly familiar.

Of course he looked familiar as he was another MLE worked and there was no doubt the Auror had seen him before yet...he had this feeling that that was a different kind of familiar...like there had been more than just being colleagues.

Josh simply stared at him with his dark brown eyes and his muscular, tall figure moved to stand right in front of the dude. "Do i know you?"

There wasn't really much that he could glean from looking here. The marks were just the same as in the reception, and all over the place. Nothing new, really.

Jake vaguely registered hearing a colleague enter and greet him, and he mumbled a quick "Hi," in response, but continued staring. Was he doing it right? His job? Was he Hit-Wizarding correctly?

Probably not. Jake gave a tiny little sigh to himself and made the decision to go check out his desk. But before he could straighten up, his coworker was right there in front of him, asking questions. Jake only stayed where he was for a moment, still crouched on the floor, before he too stood and drew himself up to his full height of 6'2". That was better; he didn't feel so penned in now. Jake eyed the man with something akin to suspicion, not quite sure if he recognised him or not.

"I don't know," Jake said finally, regarding the man carefully. Maybe wizarding university? But no... no he'd remember that. "Maybe... Hogwarts?" As in, he could have known him from there. Merlin knew Jake had had a bit of a reputation at school, and they did seem like a similar age.

Or... maybe...

A sudden thought struck Jake, and he just sort of... looked. Could it possibly be... no. It couldn't. Not here.

Josh was able to get a better sight of the man's face when he finally stood up. And ah...look at that! Someone as tall as he was. Unable to help it, this made Josh grin a tiny bit. Did Simon know this dude? Well...now he thought, if he didn't, he was supposed to get to know him.

And since he could have a better look of the dude's face, the Auror was now sure with no doubt that he looked familiar yet it was not the colleague at work kind of familiar. Josh blinked, still staring at the man's face as he replied to him.

Hogwarts? Perhaps.

Then there was a slight change of expression on the dude's face and that gave Josh the idea that perhaps he had recognised him too...which was very interesting. The best way to make sure if they had met before was, of course, revealing names to each other. That is...if he could remember his name and vice versa.

"My name is Joshua Carter." he said.

.................................

Jake knew that name. It took him a second or two to work out why it sounded so familiar, but he soon got there.

Josh.

Josh Carter.

Jake tried to keep his expression passive again, but he wasn't able to control the widening, and then narrowing, of his eyes. He gave Josh a steady look, wondering if this other man would remember their specific history once he had his name.

Only one thing for it.

"Jake," he said evenly in reply. "Jake Upstead."

Yeah, he was Joshua Carter.

And after quite a short time he had uttered his name, Josh could realise the slight change of expression on the dude's face. It looked like he had recognised his name which made Josh curious to know where did this fellow MLE worker knew his name from or where they had met before. It could very well be Hogwarts as he had stated before. He was yet to find out.

Then the man revealed his name. As soon as he heard it together with the last name, Josh felt like something 'clicked' in his brain. That name definitely sound very familiar. Had to be Hogwarts, he was sure of it and...

...and then he thought he remembered. The Auror tilted his head to the side a tiny bit and a single word escaped his mouth before he could think of it or anything else. This was his first reaction to remembering him. "Stutters?"

Except that he was not stuttering anymore.

The moment he entered their office, Jackson immediately noticed the two men talking to each other. From their mannerism, it looked like they were sizing up each other. Not that it was any of his concern. He was here to do a job. Jackson groaned when he saw how much in disarray the office was. The furniture was in shambles and falling apart. There were gnaw marks everywhere!!

The Chizpurfle really had a field day here!! But not for long. Not if Jackson had his way. He twirled the spray bottle between his fingers as he made his way over to his desk....well it would be his desk, once they finally had this pest infestation under control and some form of normalcy return to this place.

"Hey you can run but you can't hide from what's coming on the other side," Jackson whispered as he peered under the desk. "Come out, come out wherever you are," he whispered a taunt, as he tapped on the wood. "I know you're hiding in here somewhere."

Jackson got on his knees and crawled under. Knowing that Chizpurfles were also attracted to muggle electrical equipment, he began looking for electrical wires. Locating the wires he followed them, crawling out from under one desk and going under another, until he found a gnawed off section. He tsked loudly, his eyes screwed up in disgust, angrily shaking his head.

"You cheezy Chizpurfles. You will be exterminated. Exterminate...exterminate," Jackson muttered as he squeezed the grip on the spray bottle and sprayed the pesticide into the tiny corners underneath the afflicted desk.

....and as expected a handful of Chizpurfles appeared from out of their hiding place and crawled towards him, their teeny, weeny fangs clicking. Bad mistake. Jackson took them out with a couple of sprays of the pesticide.

"You will be deleted. Exterminate...exterminate" Jackson snarled at pesky bugs, spraying as he crawled even further under the desk. Target acquired!!

There was a pause, in which the details of the circumstances of that nickname, as well as a dozens of other school memories, came flooding back. Jake simply raised one of his eyebrows and opened his mouth to answer............ before there came an interuption in the form of an... exterminator? Well... okay then.

The new person in the office was enough to attract Jake's attention for a good few minutes, as he was kind of... bizarre. The blond simply blinked in the bloke's direction, watching his antics, before remembering that Joshua Carter was right in front of him.

Okay, where was he? ........... Ah. Yeah. Stutters.

"To you, yes," Jake finally answered, making it clear that it was not a nickname he had ever enjoyed.

He eyed Josh up and down, taking him in properly now. Nine years. Wow.

"Maybe we should get out of here while he... exterminates." And have a chat. Elsewhere. Yes.

When Stutters Jake seemed to be distracted, Josh also looked towards whatever took his attention only to see this Jackson dude being...an exterminator with a spray in his hand. It looked like the dude had declared a war against the creatures he was "exterminating" and he had no mercy. Josh raised his eyebrows as he watched Jackson's "call for battle". Even though he looked like he had sacrificed a tiny bit of his sanity for the battle, at least he was focused well on his work.

Josh looked back at Jake when he finally spoke. To him. He had been Stutters to him. At that moment Josh felt a mixture of different feelings. None of them felt pleasant. Did he really have to pick on someone who had a tiny bit of flaw? What had he being doing that for again? He couldn't remember Jake directly intending to harm him.

'I am sorry that i was an obnoxious attention seeker.' he wanted to say yet before he could start with it, Jake suggested getting out and away from the battle of Exterminator Jackson and his poor enemies. "Yeah. We don't know, with the state he is in, if he might or might not try to exterminate us as well." After giving him a small nod, Josh slowly left the room.

With each spray from the bottle, dozens upon dozens of chizpurfles keeled over and twitched their tiny clawed legs. But only for a short time as the solution in those bottles of yours is quite potent!

IT'S WORKING IT'S WORKING! BYE BYE CHIZPURFLES!

With the chizpurfle infestation taken care of and the recovery of the ministry well underway with the repairs finishing up, Simon opted for heading up to the main offices when he came into work for the day. A place that was certainly quiet thanks to the relocation of Josh, the YATIs and a couple of hit wizards to Hogwarts to oversee security measures. Hopefully they all weren't getting into too much trouble and or hijinxs while they were away.

In fact he seemed to be the only one in at the moment which was fine by him. Itgave him the chance to have a moment or two to himself. And no trouble. For his part, Simon was glad to have not heard further on the gossip rag that had decided to smear trash about him. Albeit unnamed. That left him to enter the room and head to his desk, taking off the reinstated enchantments before setting down his bag upon the surface and taking a seat.

Now what files could they deal with? Could the get back to work work?

The chizpurfles were gone! And the Ministry was safe once again! Or some what. There were still a few things that needed to be cleaned up but Legend thought that the placed looked alright. To him the Ministry was basically back to its shiny glory. And charms were back in place and everything.

Stepping off the lift the blond weaved his way around the office till he reached his desk. It was still early so few people had shown up but he was alright with that. Plus the YATI's were away so they wouldn't be showing up either. The place seemed unnatural when it was quiet but it was kind of nice to not be met with noise in the morning. "Simon! Morning!" Legend smiled.

He looked up at the notice of another person in the office, the door tending to be a dead giveaway of someone coming and going despite how quiet one might try to be. Simon taking note of his fellow auror, the young man he was still inwardly cautious off but outwardly seemed not bothered by. Legend had been behaving since he had returned from his training mission so he got some portion of trust from him.

Giving him the benefit of the doubt...for now.

"Good Morning," he returned, his hand reaching to grab a folder that he had spotted left on his desk. Flipping through it to see if anything resided there.

Legend had almost expected a bit of tension between him and Simon when he had just returned but the other man didn't look bothered. Though a few times Simon's body language did say otherwise, but Legend tried not to look not that too much. "What what are you up to today?"

Legend eyed some folder on his own desk, and quickly flipped them open.

Aurors, she needed them.

With a file containing a single letter tucked under her arm, Emily strode across the work floor to the Auror cubicles. There were things to be done and with the winter break fast approaching she wanted it done a month ago. "Just the two I was looking for," she said, announcing her arrival. Any two would have done, but Bennett and Chosen were as good as any.

"I need you two to go and question the Owl Post staff regarding the death threats that were sent through them to the Ministers office, Hogwarts and the Daily Prophet. See what you can get from them..." Emily held the file containing the letter out, for whoever was quickest to take it first. She didn't need to remind them it was evidence in an on-going investigation right? So they best keep it in one piece.

Okay. There was no remark or trick, they were doing good...right? Simon could only hope they could actually continue that way, not really wanting to have to watch his back with his coworkers like he did the bad guys. "Probably continue the only real thing we have...going over what needs to be fixed or replaced," he answered with a slight face. That's all they had been doing lately and with the downfall of the memories and evidence it sent them back on cases.

However as Emily appeared in the office it didn't seem like that would be the case. Questioning...death threats. Now that was actual auror work, even if it was the two of them. Simon got up and moved to take the file being offered from the woman's hand, nodding as he listened to her orders. "That we will do..." the auror answered, opening it to scan the letter before glancing at his would-be partner.

He was game too...yes?

Well there was other work, but basically Simon was right. The clean up and restoration of evidence took a lot of time and people. Legend was going to respond when Emily walked into the room. Awww. Bosslady looking for him? She shouldn't have.

Death threats sent to the Ministry...Hogwarts...and the Daily Prophet? Following Simon, Legend stood up. He didn't make a grab for the sleeve though. Obviously he would end up looking at it, so what was the point of fighting for it. Slipping his hands into his pockets he nodded. "We'll make sure to find out everything they know." Legend paused before a smile took over his lips. "And I'll make sure Simon behaves as well." KIDDING. He was only kidding.

The space was looking better than it had when they re-entered.... so she'd call that a success for the time being, but there was no denying there was still work to be done. But they had bigger fish to fry, priorities and all that jazz.

Bennett's swift acceptance of the task didn't surprise her, he was usually on the ball with things, full of yes's and no need to be wrangled or pushed into things. And then there was Chosen... ahhhh Chosen. She wouldn't say so out loud, but it was good to have him back in the office again, a bit of cheek was always appreciated so long as it wasn't directed at her. There would be people-putting-into-places if there were the case. "I don't doubt that for a second," she replied, pleased enough knowing they were good to go. She smirked slightly at making sure Bennett behaved himself... yeah... "Just don't let him question the Propheters on the way."

Make sure he behaves?!

Simon should have known it wouldn't last. That Chosen always had to make some remark, usually to his detriment. And there was the back-up from Emily and the dig involving Daily Prophet reporters. Maybe he should let the likes of Jorge be in danger from crazy people who obviously hated quidditch. Or dear Mariel the head of Games and Sports who was also threatened. He after all couldn't be near her if she was in trouble on his watch.

"Amusing..." he said fighting the urge to roll his eyes as he handed over the file to Legend for him to look at. He had been doing so well, NOT hearing about the Prophet for a few days. Now he was just gonna grab what he needed from his desk and head out. If they wanted to continue they could do so when he was out of earshot. "If there's nothing else...we'll be going."

"Come on mate, that was at least grade B material."

And LOOK Emily found it funny.

As for the Propheters, Legend raised a brow. But he wouldn't ask considering the fact that Simon now appeared less than excited at his joke. Clapping Simon on the back before, Legend accepted the sleeve. He read it over quickly once. Then a second time, this time slower just to make sure he had gotten everything. As much as he actually DISLIKED Quidditch....obviously something had to be done. Students couldn't be threatened, and if they gave into this demand the next thing they'd want to stop would be the whole Quidditch league, and then his own sister would be in danger. So yeah. Legend was here to save the day!

Along with his partner Simon who did not like jokes too much clearly.

"I think we're set." Yeah Em? Set? Yeah? If not it was too late. Legend was already on his way out the office.

Amusing, indeed it was. Mostly for her at his expense, but that was a minor detail in the grand scheme of things.

With the two Aurors bonding over the death threat, Emily figured she could get back to her own list of errands and could effectively leave them to it. "Go, go... don't let me keep you waiting." She had zero interest in standing around and wasting time, and had nothing further to say, so with an encouraging nod at the two men, she too left the Auror cubicles... back to the confines of her office, or not.

Grade B material or not, Simon wasn't biting. He's rather not be reminded of certain past events and Emily had gone and brought it up again. Bad enough the threat involved Mariel anyway as it was her department effected the most, a fact which he hoped his boss remembered before sending him off to her later on if needed. At least the other man hadn't pushed for information on the private joke that he had missed in his absence.

For now the Owl Post was their target...their objective. They weren't the one's threatening them. And with Legend already moving and Emily's final dismissal and following, the auror headed out as well. Time to see about these people so dismayed about quidditch.

The meeting was over, as was her coffee... which was a shame, but alas, there was work to be done regardless.

Meandering over to the Security desks, a folder tucked neatly under her arm, Emily paused to address those present. Who was going to be the eager beaver wanting to demonstrate their professionalism and working knowledge of security? Hhhmmm?

"Which of you are up for a trip to Games and Sports with me?" she asked ambiguously. She'd said enough about it in the meeting, of course, so they ought to be up-to-speed with that.

Quick quick, best not keep the Department Head waiting.

Navigating the maze that was the MLE department with Evelyn in toe, eventually they reached the right destination. Though Simon was sure that technically the woman was familiar with the area given the times she visited her husband. The guiding was a technicality in some respects. She was vested as an unspeakable after all and trusted by this security worker. Not to mention he was going in the same direction.

Reaching the door, the auror opened it once more, the man falling into his usual chivalric traits. Good for them both, Josh was indeed inside so the search was over. For Evelyn at least. "One husband..." he teased as he entered behind her.