Page 10 of Witch's Promise

Gabe managed a wry smile. "You could say that. Turns out writing reports isn't quite as exciting as chasing down magical arsonists. Who knew?"

Lily snorted, not looking up from her tablet. "Speak for yourself. Some of us find paperwork thrilling."

"And some of us worry about you, Lily," Gabe retorted, earning a playful glare from her.

Alex cleared his throat, drawing their attention back to the matter at hand. "Good work yesterday, Gabe. Leading the team, bringing Hall in without any civilian casualties. I’m proud of you."

Gabe blinked, caught off guard by the unexpected praise. A warm feeling blossomed in his chest, momentarily pushing back the ever-present cloud of self-doubt. "I... thanks, boss. Just doing my job."

Alex nodded, his expression softening for a moment before snapping back to its usual stern professionalism. "Well, keep it up. We've got a situation here that's going to need all hands on deck."

Gabe stepped closer to the mirror, studying their suspect. Grant Hall looked young. Younger than Gabe had expected, given the amount of destruction he'd caused. He couldn't havebeen more than twenty-five, with a mop of unruly brown hair and dark circles under his eyes that rivaled Gabe's own.

"What's the story?" Gabe asked, his brow furrowing. "This connected to the Order somehow?"

Alex shook his head. "No, thankfully. This is something else entirely."

"Turns out our firebug here had no idea he even had magic until yesterday," Lily chimed in, her fingers dancing across her tablet as she pulled up Hall's file. "According to his statement, he woke up feeling 'weird,' went to work like normal, and then boom - literally. Nearly burned down half of Fifth Avenue before he realized what was happening."

Gabe felt a pang of sympathy for the young man. He remembered all too well the fear and confusion of his own powers manifesting. At least he'd had his family to help him through it. According to the file Lily was displaying, Hall was...

"Foster kid," Gabe murmured, the pieces clicking into place. "No family listed. Shit."

"Exactly," Alex said grimly. "No support system, no one to turn to when his world suddenly turned upside down. It's a miracle he didn't do more damage, honestly."

Gabe watched as Emma continued her work on the other side of the glass. Her magic shimmered in the air around Hall, a soothing blue glow that seemed to be calming the young man. His shoulders, which had been hunched up around his ears, slowly began to relax.

"So what's the plan?" Gabe asked, already running through possibilities in his mind. "We can't exactly throw him in a normal jail, not with untrained magic like that. It'd be a disaster waiting to happen."

Alex's expression turned thoughtful. "You're right. We've been discussing options, and we think the best course of action is to bring him in."

Gabe raised an eyebrow, a sense of trepidation creeping up his spine. "Bring him in? You mean..."

"We want to help him," Lily explained. "Train him, teach him to control his newfound abilities. It's not just for his sake, but for the safety of everyone around him."

For a moment, Gabe was sure he'd misheard. Take in an untrained magic user? The risks were enormous. But as he looked at Grant Hall through the glass, saw the fear and confusion etched into every line of the young man's face, Gabe felt something shift inside him.

He remembered what it was like to be scared of your own power, to feel like a danger to everyone around you.

"What about the people he hurt?" Gabe asked, grasping at straws. "The property damage alone must be-"

"Already taken care of," Lily interjected. "We've spoken to everyone affected by the incident. Once they understood the situation, they agreed not to press charges. Turns out people can be pretty understanding when you explain that the kid who torched their shop was actually a scared, newly-awakened magic user with no control over his powers."

Gabe let out a long breath, running a hand through his hair. "And you're sure about this? Taking him in, training him? It's not exactly standard procedure."

Alex's expression softened slightly. "Nothing about our job is standard procedure, Gabe. We adapt, we improvise, we do what needs to be done to protect both the magical and non-magical communities. Right now, what needs to be done is giving this kid a chance to understand and control his abilities before he hurts himself or someone else."

Gabe nodded slowly, his resolve solidifying. "Alright. I get it. But it's going to take a lot of work, a lot of resources-"

"We know," Alex assured him. "This is a priority for all of us. We can't afford to have untrained magic users running around causing havoc, no matter how unintentional it might be."

As if on cue, Emma emerged from the interrogation room, looking tired but satisfied. "He's calm now," she reported. "I've placed a temporary dampening spell on him, but it won't last long. We need a more permanent solution."

Alex turned to Gabe. "Would you mind talking to him? Explain the situation, see if he's willing to work with us. You've got experience with this kind of raw, elemental magic. It might help him to hear from someone who understands what he's going through."

"Sure," Gabe heard himself say. "I'll talk to him."

Alex nodded approvingly. "Good. Take it slow, Gabe. This kid's been through hell in the last twenty-four hours. The last thing we need is to scare him off."

---