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liberty-barnes · 3 years

Text

My Everything

Kaz Brekker x Reader

Request: I was wondering if you could do something with Kaz and the reader as a sister to Aleksander, and that they are fighting in the fold when Zoya and Alina get them out that the reader jumps off the ship to kill the darkling so that he won't escape, and everyone is sad and standing and waiting, and then she comes limping out from the fold. (If you can, I would love it if she, Alina, and Mal were best friends from before.)

Warnings: mentions of Kaz’s touch aversion, fight scenes (aww my first fight scenes!), description of murder, minor spoilers for SoC (mainly Inej’s knives and that one secret we learn about Jesper), language

Word Count: 4.3k words

Estimated Reading Time: 17 minutes

A/N: I’m gonna be honest, this deserved to be a series and I’m very sad to not have the energy to make it into one but to make up for that, I turned it into a proper one-shot cause screw my sleepover’s rules, I made them anyway, I’ll break them if I want to.

Masterlist | Miah’s Comeback Sleepover

You pawed at the shackles bounding your wrists. You knew you were on a skiff, you could feel its movement. You knew that your brother was somewhere on the upper deck since you could hear his voice, powerful and commanding even this far away. You hated it.

Yet even after decades upon decades spent dealing with the consequences of his foolish actions, you still couldn’t find a way to best him. You had ignored your mother’s requests to train harder, be stronger, prepare yourself for when the time came for you two to battle it out in the most rudimentary way of all. Deep down, you knew she was right, but that didn’t sway your decision.

Instead, while your brother moved his way up the ranks until he commanded an army, you hid out in little villages, away from most civilisation. You found a place, stole an amplifier that would allow you to heal and tailor yourself if need be, worked whatever job you could, then left before you could get too attached, disappearing into the shadows, as was your place.

How foolish of you, to believe that you could hide out forever.

You waited until no noise came from above you to melt away from the shadows surrounding you. That was one good thing about being a Shadow Summoner: no one could see you if you didn’t want to be seen.

You didn’t know where you docked exactly. The sailors were Shu, travelling to this place, instead of returning, as you were accustomed to. For once, you had no bearings in this new place.

You left the boat and walked the streets, paying close attention to the people and places. A word here, a flash of money there, and you were once again in full control of your destiny.

You slinked away from the many gambling halls, houses of pleasure, and other such idiotic places and went further into the shadows. Your home. The further you went, the safer you felt, although something told you you shouldn’t.

You looked up at the rooftops from your peripheral. A girl. Impressively soundless, most likely invisible to any other person. It reminded you of a cat you used to have when you were younger, happier, and naive. She used the shadows in her favour. Unfortunately for her, you were the shadows.

You weighed your options and turned onto an empty street, stopping and crouching down as if to tie your shoe. Above you, the girl stopped and observed.

“Hello, little cat.”

You said, in perfect kerch. If you live this long, you learn to pick up a few languages. The girl stilled, and you turned towards her.

“Come on, hop on down, I’m not gonna hurt you or anything.”

She seemed to hesitate for a second but eventually did, landing soundlessly on her feet. Your heightened vision allowed you to see her perfectly. She was Suli.

“That was impressive. I suppose most people don’t even notice you’re there, much less call you out on it.”

Her eyes widened, most likely surprised to hear her mother tongue spoken back at her.

“You’re Suli?”

You shook your head.

“Ravkan. Close enough. Mind telling me why you were following me?”

She shifted on her feet. Apparently, once you took away her greatest strength, she had a hard time bouncing back. It was understandable. You wanted to fix it.

“My boss has me stake out everyone that he deems necessary. One of those is newcomers that don’t fit the usual pattern. You came into my sights.”

You nodded.

“Understood. Lead the way, I wanna have a talk with that boss of yours.”

Now, you’d give anything to be back on the streets of Ketterdam.

You cursed yourself as your fingers yet again failed to touch. All you needed was one measly touch of your hands to activate the magic, get it flowing, then you could get out of here. Your movements were still sluggish from the brief Heartrender-induced coma. You suspected that Aleksander wanted you to be at the centre of his victory, so close, yet unable to stop him. Not for the first time, you cursed yourself for your actions.

A letter was waiting for you on top of your bed. You briefly wondered if one of the Dregs had mistakenly put it there since you had no one to send letters to you, but once you got closer you knew it wasn’t a mistake.

“No…”

You gasped out, staring at your name, proudly scrawled in your mother’s handwriting.

This can’t be possible. No one knows where you are.

Hurried words, some stood out, need you here, not much time, imminent disaster.

You made your way up the stairs and to Kaz’s office.

Need you here.

Need you here need you here need you here.

“Come in.”

You closed the door behind you and Kaz immediately abandoned his plans, most likely expecting another night of healing. Although you were powerful, healing was an acquired gift, not a born one. It’d take a few more sessions to fully rid him of his touch aversion. Although you’d managed to stop him from recoiling at your touch, others were still a challenge.

He noted your posture and a frown crossed his face.

“What’s wrong?”

“I have to leave.”

The way his face dropped haunted you all the way out of the Slat, to the boat, through the Fold, into the Little Palace, in the woods when you were trying to keep Alina and Mal safe, during you and your brother’s first showdown, and was still with you now, bound in some skiff to witness your brother’s cruel plan come to fruition.

“(Y/n)?”

You snapped your head towards the voice, eyes filling with newfound hope at the sight of your newest friend.

“Mal!”

He rushed towards you, looking for anything he could use to break your bonds while you inspected him for injuries. Aleksander could take away the amplifier, but your Healer instincts were not something you could just shake off.

“How did you end up here?”

He looked at you as if it was obvious.

“I couldn’t let Alina face him alone. Even less when I saw them drag you here. Unconscious, nonetheless. I would’ve come by sooner but I had to make sure no one would come to look down here.”

You nodded. What Mal and Alina had wasn’t something you could break. Wherever he goes, she goes, and vice-versa. There’s no doubt in your mind they’d follow each other to the grave without a second thought.

“Ugh, I can’t get these off!”

You made your way to the pair, soundless as ever. They were hiding from Aleksander and his Grisha, but you knew they would be caught.

“Don’t panic, it’s just me.”

Mal turned around, surely ready for a fight, but Alina stopped him.

“Mal, it’s okay, she’s a friend.”

You quickly assessed your surroundings, figuring out the best path to get away from the search party.

“Over here, come on, we have to hurry.”

They followed you, eager to get out of danger, and within minutes you had them safely stowed away and out of your brother’s reach.

You reached for Alina.

“Come, let me heal you.”

It still surprised you how she trusted you so easily, even after knowing the man Aleksander was. The man you were related to. You supposed your mother had a hand in that.

Once she was fully recovered, you turned to Mal.

“I know you don’t know me, and you have no reason to trust me, but if you allowed me I’d like to take care of those cuts of yours, get you back into peak condition.”

He looked towards his friend.

“If Alina trusts you, then so do I.”

It was that simple.

“I can.”

You thought you were hallucinating. Kaz? On the East side of the Fold? Not possible.

Yet, when you lifted your head, there he was: in flesh, bones, and leather gloves. You almost sobbed.

“Kaz…”

He pushed Mal away with his cane, then knelt behind you, cradling your bound wrists with gentle hands. You couldn’t see him work, as your hands were behind your back, but you could feel the shift of his wrists, the heat emanating from him, his breath on your neck.

One barely-there brush of his arm against your fingertips and your hands were free. You turned around and he brought his hand to your face, inspecting it for any injuries that might have occurred. Fortunately, your brother had been kind enough to allow a Healer to tend to you after your fight.

“What are you doing here?”

“We came here on a job. Get Alina, get a million kruge. It didn’t go so well.”

You laughed wetly, throat tight from holding back tears.

“I’m really glad you’re okay, and I’m happy to see you but I wish you weren’t here.”

Another voice piped up.

“You know, it’s really unfair that he gets all the sentimental reunion shit and we don’t even get a hug. Like come on, are we not friends?”

You rose on unsteady feet and brought Jesper into your arms, repeating the action with Inej right after. How you’d missed them.

A scuffle broke out from above you and you knew that you had to act now. You were going to stop your brother. Once and for all, like you should have done all those years ago.

Kaz squeezed your hand as you repeated the familiar words.

“No mourners.”

“No funerals.”

“(Y/n)!”

Your mother’s voice rang out as you stared at the door outside her bedroom. Soldiers stood, Aleksander was widely outnumbered.

“I have to help him.”

She shook her head.

“No. You have to stop him. He’s about to do something terrible.”

But you couldn’t. You couldn’t just leave him to die. He was your big brother, your family. You couldn’t leave him. With a flick of your wrist, the shadows had risen to hold their feet to the ground. Destabilising them. Scaring them. You thought you had evened the odds.

Turns out the scales had started to tip in Aleksander’s favour long ago, and the sudden surge of Grisha power in the air was all he needed.

In a split second, he’d siphoned the little bit of your power that was in those shadow traps. It looked so insignificant given how much you had. But a little power goes a long way. It went long enough for him to create the Fold.

Your mother begged you to stop him, fight him, put an end to what would ruin millions of lives. You felt fear take hold of you, shame, doubt. You knew you’d never be good enough for that. Brave enough.

When he came back inside looking for Baghra, you were gone, hidden in the shadows like the coward you were. Hidden in the shadows like you’d remain from then on.

It all happened so fast. Too fast. One minute you were fighting, Alina was setting herself free, Aleksander went overboard, you rescued Mal. You saw your brother disappear into the shadows but he was still there, fighting them, and he’d win. These shadows were a part of him. He’d created them. They’d obey their creator. They wouldn’t harm him. They couldn’t harm him. But you could.

Zoya got the sails to work again, propelling the skiff out of the Fold just as you jumped out, drowning out your friends’ voices. You saw them all get out safely. That’s good. You took a determined step forward.

You stood face to face with your brother. Alina and Mal were further North, still trying to locate the stag. You stayed behind. You had to protect them. You had to fight him, make up for all the suffering you could have prevented.

“(Y/n). So you did return.”

He rose his hand up to stop his men from moving.

“This needs to end, Aleksander, you’ve caused enough suffering as is.”

He scoffed.

“Suffering? Only to our enemies. They wanted us shackled, weak, dead. I’m doing this for the good of our people, why won’t you understand that?”

You rose a brow.

“That sounds a lot like what the Fjerda say before they burn Grisha at the pyre instead of learning to live in harmony.”

His eyes lit up in anger.

“Do not compare me to those beasts. I am a living Saint, the saviour of our kind!”

You let a tear fall from your eyes, finally seeing just how far gone your brother was. But this wasn’t him. Your brother was dead. He died along with Luda all those centuries ago. This was the Darkling, the Black Hester. Aleksander was dead.

“You are no saviour.”

Shadows formed around you just as they did around him.

“Fine, make me your villain.”

It was a gruesome fight. Shadow against shadow, punch against punch, blade against blade. You had the same power, but not the same strength. He had a purpose, a will, a goal that had festered for over a century. You were slower, less trained, mourning the brother you just realised you lost.

It was a lost cause from the very beginning.

He plunged his blade into your gut. You thought it fitting, that you’d spent so long hiding in the shadows only for them to be the reason for your demise.

The amplifier, the one thing that gave you power, that allowed you to heal instead of destroying as your family seemed to constantly do, was pulled from your body and you felt yourself weaken, hitting the snow with a dull thud.

The last thing you registered was a Healer tending to your wounds before your pulse was dropped and you were welcomed by the unforgiving helplessness of unconsciousness.

“Come to join me, little sister? Finally came to your senses?”

You stood in front of him, nothing but twenty feet of air between you. You felt the darkness everywhere. In the ground, in the dust floating, in the creatures flying around. This was pure darkness. You were in your element, but so was he.

“You know I’m not, Darkling.”

“It’s Aleksander, call me by my name.”

You shook your head.

“Aleksander died along with his lover. You are not my brother. You’re an abomination, and I’ll rid the world of you if it’s my last action on this Earth.”

He drew his hands in front of him and a blade formed.

“As you wish. If you’re no longer my sister, I’ll have no qualms about killing you.”

You evaded expertly as he swung down his blade. He was expecting an easy fight, and yet he’d have anything but. He saw you as the defenceless little girl he had to protect in his youth, the coward that ran out on her family, the unworthy opponent he bested once already.

But that was not you anymore. You’d changed, quickly and drastically. You had a goal now, a single-minded type of focus: beat him, end him, undo your wrongdoings.

You channelled all your knowledge, your instincts. The years spent defending yourself against soldiers with bows and arrows, the days evading Fjerdans, Examiners, and any of the like, the months spent fighting for and beside the Dregs. You were a different person.

In that moment, you weren’t (Y/n), you were the personification of his doom, you were karma coming back for retribution, you were the wrecking ball that would destroy everything he’d created.

He relied too much on his blade, you didn’t make that same mistake. With a flick, shadows encompassed his feet, as you had once done for his enemies. Your shadows, uncontrollable to him. He swung his blade down to cut them off, but you kicked it away. Punching him in the face felt better than you’d imagined.

Drawing your own shadows was complicated here, where everything was his creation. They could be easily destroyed by a momentary loss of focus. He thought that was a slip-up. He was terribly wrong.

He brought his knee up to hurt you but you caught it, dropping to the floor with practised ease and watching him fly over you, hitting the ground with a groan. And then it was hit. After hit. After hit. A block here and there, but they got rarer the more you moved along. His body sagged on the floor, face beaten beyond recognition, body drained of all its energy from the previous fight and now this one.

You formed a dagger, just as your brother had taught you all those years ago. Fitting that he'd be the one teaching you the skill that would kill him.

“Goodbye, Darkling.”

You plunged the dagger into his heart, watching the light fade from his eyes. His body started to sag and fade, turning to shadows and being absorbed into your being. He might have been a Shadow Summoner, but he was also an Amplifier. His body’s power went to the one that killed him. When his body was gone, now forever a part of you, you allowed yourself to lay back down.

With him dead, the Fold was no longer able to expand. It had no creator to draw its power from, it was at a standstill, waiting to either fade or be blown away. The Darkling was powerful, you’d expect it to take a few more centuries to fade on its own. But that wouldn’t be a problem. Alina would destroy it.

You looked down at your arms, the black magic of the Amplifier not yet settled within you. In a sense, it was comforting. Aleksander had been an Amplifier long before his soul had rotten. It felt like having a part of him with you forever.

You closed your eyes, body weak, and let yourself sink further into the dirt.

You thought of what you’d be living behind. Alina. Mal. Inej. Jesper. The Dregs. Your little room in the Slat. That cat that always came around begging for food.

Kaz.

Oh, Kaz…

You’d never gotten to say goodbye. It was a split-second decision to jump off that skiff. You’d never said goodbye to him. Worked through the remainder of his touch aversion.

Would he be mad? Would he mourn you? Would he cry?

You’d never seen him cry before, but surely this was a good reason to.

You’d never get to kiss him.

You’d gotten so close too.

But all that hard work was in vain now.

“Alright, do you wanna try now?”

He opened his eyes and nodded. You’ve done a lot of progress over the last few weeks. From taking off his gloves when you were in the room, to touching your bare hand with his, to laying on the bed, side by side.

It was a daily job, first getting through those walls enough that he didn’t recoil at your touch for the sole purpose of healing his leg. It was a weakness he didn’t like to have. Now that his leg was fully healed up, you could focus entirely on him.

At first, you felt hurt that he still insisted on carrying his cane around everywhere, until you noticed it was more for deceit and practicality’s sake than for actual necessity.

You laid on the bed beside him, as you’ve done multiple times. You always make sure to let him make the first move, let him have control. He needed control and you were more than happy to give up some of it.

He started by moving his hand towards yours and linking your pinkie, breathing for a moment and sighing in relief when no feeling of nausea arose.

You hadn’t done much, really, it was all him. Your work involved calling up the memories and offering him better coping mechanisms but he had to accept those mechanisms and put them in place. He was the one that made peace with Jordie’s death and what he had to do to survive. He did all the heavy lifting, your only job was to keep him sane while he processed those emotions, and then help him get reacquainted with touch.

He took a deep breath, holding it in his lungs. You’d seen that expression before. It was the expression he wore when he was about to take a gamble, get into a fight, jump off some building to escape whatever hole he’d fallen into. A deep breath before that sudden leap of faith, if he even had any.

He quickly pulled you to his chest, hugging you tightly with an arm around your shoulder and another around your waist.

A second passed. Then two. Three. He let out the breath he was holding and sighed.

“All good?”

“All good.”

You smiled and hugged him back, taking in the unique scent that could belong to no one but him. His body safely cocooned yours and you let yourself relax. The day had been long, healing much needed and tailoring required for a job. You started to feel the heavy toll of exhaustion weighing you down and fought against the drooping of your lashes. But you were fighting a losing battle.

When you woke up the next morning, Kaz was still in bed with you. You could feel his eyes on your face, hands caressing your cheeks, bodies still pressed up against one another. When your eyelids fluttered open, he didn’t look away.

His eyes were gorgeous, you hadn’t actually noticed that before. Up until now, they were just blue. How foolish you had been to think that such beautiful things could be categorised as “just” anything. They were the diamonds in Queens’ necklaces, they were the sky in late Fjerdan winter, they were the water you’d travelled on to get here. They were a perfect mirror to him.

No part of Kaz Brekker should ever be described as “just” anything because Kaz Brekker was everything.

Carefully, he leaned in. This was nothing like yesterday, no sudden movement to test a theory, find out if he was ready, if the treatment was working. He was doing this because he wanted to. Because he wanted to kiss you.

You felt his breath on your lips and gently closed your eyes. His mouth barely brushed yours, no more than wind on a cold day, when a knock suddenly reverberated and he was jumping away to sit at his desk, sparing you one last glance as you straightened yourself up before inviting in whoever it was.

“Get us back in there, Squaller, I am not leaving her behind!”

Zoya shook her head while behind him, Alina wept in Mal’s arms.

“If she jumped out, she’s as good as gone. The Fold is ruthless, and she has to deal with the Darkling as well. She couldn’t have survived.”

He shook his head in blatant refusal.

“No. No, you don’t know (Y/n). She wouldn’t die, she wouldn’t die! She’s alive and she needs us to go looking for her!”

Jesper paced back and forth, examining the skiff, most likely trying to figure out if he could manipulate the material of it enough that they’d be on the move. But skiffs weren’t made to be worked by Fabrikators, they were made to be worked by Squallers.

Inej was oddly silent. Clutching a knife to her chest, one of the two new ones she’d bought for her thigh holsters. The one on the right thigh was named Sankta Alina, the left one, the one she held now, was still unnamed.

He paced. This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening. Not now. Not when he had yet to tell her he-

Tell her he…

Not when I haven’t told her I love her.

He thought and forced himself to really think those words. To think them over, and over, and over again, so that when he saw her again, they’d be the first ones tumbling out of his lips.

Before I miss you.

Before I thought you died.

Before I’m glad you’re alive.

“Oh, Sankta (Y/n).”

Inej whispered, and pointed at the Fold, where they’d come out of what felt like hours ago. A figure in a black outfit stumbled out. He knew that outfit. He knew that figure. He’d know her even when he didn’t know himself. When the rest of the world was a blank slate and he didn’t recognise the man staring back at him in the mirror, he’d know her, and he’d know he loved her.

He jumped off the skiff, cane, hat, everything left behind and sprinted towards her. Faster, he thought, you’re moving too slow, get to her faster.

He was a mere sixty feet from her when she lifted her head, saw him, and smiled. She stopped then, knowing he’d come to her, knowing he’d save her, knowing he’d hold her up when she couldn’t hold herself, protect her and heal her like she’d done him.

He pulled her into his arms as soon as she was close enough to. His grip was unyielding, strong, desperate. He pulled away just enough to look into her eyes.

“I love you.”

His voice didn’t waver, despite the tears. It didn’t break, there was no tell that he was lying because for once in his life, he wasn’t. For once, he was telling the truth, the purest, most honest truth, with no regards for how bad that could end.

“I love you, too.”

But of course, it wouldn’t end badly, because this is (Y/n) we’re talking about. Soft, gentle (Y/n) that could heal him with a look and destroy anyone with a flick of her hand. She was hard, she was dangerous, she was powerful, she should be feared, she was his equal, she was his love, she was his life, she was his everything.

When they finally kissed, it felt like coming home.

Are you guys as soft as I am right now? Cause I just read this over and I am in a pile of tears, so either my sleep deprivation has finally caught up to me or this is genuinely the best thing I’ve ever written.

Anyway, if you liked it don’t forget to like/reblog/comment/send me an ask or dm ranting about it, I really love hearing from you guys.

-Love, Miah <3

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

Taglists: (if your name is striked through it means for some reason tumblr wouldn’t let me tag you)

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@adriannajackson123 @evermoreholland @inlovewithmobtom @andycanbeemotional @officiallyunofficialperson @lost-in-the-stars03 @jeezkiddo @a-singleboat @parkersbliss @highlydisfunctional1 @inthecornerchair @harishaanne @anjalika03 @peterspideyy @lozzypoz321 @mendes-marvel @sovereignparker @sofyluv17 @dracoswhore007

SHADOW AND BONE

@thegirlwiththeimpala @olkathechaoticfox @iloveinej

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crowsmybeloveds · 3 years

Text

Shadow and Bone Series: Chapter Two

In Cold Blood

Pairing: Jesper Fahey x Reader

Summary: The Crows continue to visit Y/N at the Emerald Palace, and make some interesting developments.

Word Count: 4.8k

Warnings: Implied suicide (don’t take it too seriously hint hint); abuse; Pekka Rollins; again canon typical violence/slave stuff (this time it’s described more, but again nothing graphic); the Menagerie;

A/N: Thank you so much if you liked the first chapter!!! This one is a little longer and I promise the end isn’t as bad as it might seem.

Masterlist

~~~~~~~~~

Jesper Fahey liked to do his own thing. Sure, as a member of the Dregs he had to listen to his boss and go on jobs, but he loved his free time in between. Hence, he often avoided going on little arends for Kaz at all costs. It would be a waste of his time.

Jesper Fahey was now talking to Kaz. Volunteering for an arend. For the fourth time this week.

Kaz, Inej, and Jesper had been visiting the girl in the basement regularly since their first meeting with her. Kaz chalked it up to business, the girl and her potions were powerful assets, but the other two would admit they had found a new friend.

There were rules to these visits. First, only go during the day. Even if it seemed counterintuitive to sneak there in the broad daylight, Y/N insisted she would be unavailable in the night, as that was when her “work” was done. Also, if you are there, you must hide well behind the crates, and remain armed. You were lucky every time you made it out of there alive.

It was a daunting task, but Jesper was always up for it.

“You’re going to go there again?” Kaz asked him, eyebrows raised, “You know it’s Inej’s turn, correct?”

“Yes, and I also don’t care,” Jesper answered, “Also, she probably has things to see, people to do, and whatnot. I, on the other hand, have my whole day cleared. And I couldn’t deprive the lovely basement girl of this face.” He smiled, pointing to himself, “I mean, come on.”

Kaz stared at him, seeing through his antics in a minute. Jesper had taken a liking to the girl. What will happen the day he visits to find she’s not there anymore? Kaz thought. His hopes are too high.

“Fine, Jesper,” He agreed, “but be careful not to draw attention.” He scrunched his nose. “Do your best not to dawdle.”

“Right, I’m off then!” Jesper exclaimed as he clapped his hands together and ran off.

“I’m going tomorrow!” Kaz shouted after him.

The sharpshooter knew his boss was suspicious of his actions, but in all honesty he didn’t care. Normally he would have thought there wasn’t much spending time with her could do, as she had told him many of the same things over and over. That must have meant she had told him all that she knew. But Jesper was not going for information, he was going to be with her. He liked to think they were friends.

Jesper was often distracted. Whether he saw a pretty person to flirt with or a table to gamble at, he always found a way to not be doing whatever he was supposed to. Everything around him was so appealing and stimulating, especially in the Barrel. Even so, he sped down the streets without a single double take or second thought as he headed to the Emerald Palace. He really wanted to see her. So bad it was addicting. At first he thought that maybe the girl was drugging him, seeing as that is her particular expertise, but soon he realized that he just liked her. She was funny, and she laughed at all his jokes. She was also so intriguing. So powerful yet rendered powerless. He was enchanted, but he knew something was missing. It seemed it wasn’t her fault. He wanted to help.

That day when he arrived at the window (after making sure no one could see him, of course) Jesper saw Y/N sitting against the wall with her legs hugged to her chest. He called her name softly, and waited for her to reply. She didn’t reply, or even move. Against his better judgement, he shouted louder, risking being discovered by one of Pekka’s crew. He didn’t care. He banged the windows. Praying she would say something. Or turn her head. Or nod. Anything. She didn’t. A single tear rolled down her face.

Y/N had been sitting there for three hours. There wasn’t much to be said about what had happened. Only that she did not remember, whether her loss of memory was intentional or not. It was an off day, that’s all.

Jesper was panicking. He had no idea how to get her to wake up. That is, if she was asleep. Truthfully, he did not know what was wrong with her or what to do. Unfortunately, his noise making had roused a different group of people. Jesper had to run down the alley as he heard shouts coming his direction. He ran the rest of the way home, still in shock. He was not haunted by his near escape with the Dime Lions, but the look on the girl’s face. What had they done to her?

“And she didn’t move at all?” Inej asked. Jesper had just explained to her what happened after he showed up to her room at the Slat. She hadn’t appreciated being woken up from one of her rare naps, but she didn’t complain when she saw the look on his face.

“Not that I could see,” he replied, shaking his head, “Inej, I swear she could hear me.”

Inej did not know what to say. This kind of behavior was not usual for Jesper. He had his normal amount of energy, but it was not often it was all directed to one place: worry. It was odd that something upset him and he did not distract from it by going to gamble or making a joke.

“I just, if it were you I’d understand, but who could ignore me?” he said, “Going unnoticed is not a Jesper talent.”

There it was.

“You’re deflecting” She called him out, “It’s not funny. We should tell Kaz.”

“That's not funny,” Jesper replied, “what is Kaz gonna do? Tell us to stop talking to her?”

Inej sighed. It’s possible that he would advise that. But he also wouldn’t just let Pekka Rollins keep his most dangerous weapon. Especially not when she didn’t seem to have much loyalty. She had told Inej so many times. The girls had a bond due to the Menagerie, and Y/N told her much about her past and present. She explained different chemicals she had made and plans she had heard to Kaz. But with Inej, she explained how she felt about them.

Y/N hated every second in that basement. She had told Inej as much. Repeatedly. But she was rather scatterbrained. She repeated herself often and forgot things that she had already been told. She would forget what day it was and what she had done the night before. Inej had experience with trauma and sleep deprivation enough to shrug this off. She didn’t want to cause her friend anguish by questioning it.

The incident Jesper was describing made her think that maybe she should. Y/N was smart. Hell, she was a self taught Grisha fabrikator. So good, she could kill people from miles away. How could she be so forgetful? Someone so scientifically gifted must have a better mind than that. Someone must have been messing with it.

After some convincing to Jesper that Kaz would not kill or give up on Y/N, the pair made their way to their boss’s office.

“I was waiting for this to happen,” was Kaz’s response.

“What, that’s it?” Jesper raised his voice, “You have nothing else to say?”

Kaz glared at him from his desk. “I don’t know that you thought through your attachment to her, Jesper. You should never have assumed she was on our side.”

Jesper stared bullets at his boss in front of them. They seriously weren’t going to help her at all? She needed to get out of there, he knew that for certain. If it wasn’t because he cared about her then it should be because she is an asset. A good investment. Saints, he hated calling her that.

He didn’t say any of this, however, and instead started to walk out of the office. Just before he was out the door, he heard Brekker speak up.

“I’ll go and see her tomorrow.”

When Kaz Brekker reached the girl’s window, he gave it exactly seven taps with his cane, with a very specific beat. It was a signal he had made with Y/N so that she knew to open the window and talk to him without him having to raise his voice.

The girl turned toward the window at the sound. She set down the bottle she was currently working on and walked over. Kaz started speaking as soon as it was opened.

“How long have they been drugging you?”

Y/N scoffed, “Hello to you, too!”

“How long?”

“Um, never?” She replied, getting confused. “They don’t drug me with anything. I’d notice. That’s kind of my job description.”

Kaz looked to the side, thinking. The only way to explain her odd behavior, forgetfulness, and calmness in her position was that she was being manipulated. And because she was constantly making poisons and “potions” for Pekka, it made sense that she was being given her own drugs without her knowledge. He had thought this since he’d met her. She had to be on some sort of relaxers when he first saw her. Why else would she have so willingly opened the window for strangers?

“Why did you ignore Jesper when he was here yesterday?” He asked, hoping to get the information from her in a more roundabout way.

“I didn’t?” Y/N asked, “Inej was here yesterday, she got those vials of knockout gas you asked for.”

Kaz squinted at her, “Y/N, that was two days ago.”

She shook her head, “No, no, because I was working on those just yesterday and I just finished them when she stopped by. I haven’t seen Jesper in a couple of days, Kaz. Are you feeling ok?”

Kaz wasn’t sure how to react to this. She had missed the whole day? He was sure things like this had been going on this whole time, but never in the month since they began speaking with her has she forgotten a whole day. She had to have taken something.

“Are you self medicating?”

“No! Why- what are you talking about? What is going on?”

“Y/N, Jesper came here yesterday and you were sitting in that corner near catatonic. You wouldn’t speak or even move.” Kaz informed her.

“He must not have shouted loud enough, I was probably asleep.”

“You normally sleep with your eyes open?” He is tone was sharp. “Jesper said you were crying.”

She didn’t respond. She was shocked out of her mind. It was possible Kaz was lying to her to get some sort of information out of her, but it didn’t seem that way. He looked uneasy, the kind of unease that comes from not knowing something. He was a very smart man, and when something did not make sense to him he got nervous. So, this must have actually happened. And if she could not remember it, something was terribly wrong.

“I’m sorry, Kaz. I just don’t remember.”

“Fine. Then I need you to stop eating the food they give you. I’ll have Inej stop by with something to eat during the day.” Kaz paused, thinking. “And I would like to get you out of here, and have you join the Dregs. I just have to figure out how.”

“No, Kaz. I can’t leave.”

“Why? You have loyalties to Pekka Rollins?” He asked, anger clear in his voice.

Do I? She thought. While she knew his treatment of her was unfair, she wondered whether or not she still cared about him. In her time at the Emerald Palace, Pekka had told her many things about how he was the only one who would ever care for her. He claimed that he had saved her from the Menagerie, and he was taking care of her because he loved her. He also said that he would help her find her sister, often claiming that the potions Y/N was making was helping him follow leads about her.

When he started bringing men down into Y/N’s room, she was only a teenager. The first man that had ever touched her in that room also told her information about upcoming trips, which Pekka used to choose the perfect time to rob his house. Y/N felt disgusting in her skin ever since, but Pekka reassured her. I’m sorry , canary. I’ll protect you. Those men are not like me. While any sane person would call giving her food and shelter supplying her basic needs, Pekka called it courtesy. A gift because he loved her. A gift that could be taken away. He let men take advantage of her just so she could get him information, and then called it love. And she believed him. Until one day.

A man had come down into her room, which was usual for her on any given night. However, this man started out rough and stayed that way for the rest of his visit. She had tried her best with past men to get as much information as she could through simple flirting and drugging, but he was not there for small talk. For a brief moment, she considered saying no. In the moment following, she remembered what happened the other times she had done so.

She didn’t get any of the information she had been asked to draw from the man. Pekka was livid. The argument following had been explosive and painful. Not just emotionally.

“This isn’t love.” She tried to say it in a firm voice, but it came out broken and weak.

“How could you possibly know?” Pekka replied.

“Because you don’t deny it.” She said, summoning the strength to look up at him. “The men who come down here sometimes mention their wives. They might not be the pinnacle of married men, but I know they would never do this. This is bad for me.”

“Oh, is it so bad for you?” He raised his voice. “And who is going to treat you better, hm? Who out there would possibly care about you like I do?”

She turned her back to him. She sniffled as she cleaned up her worktable, silently hoping he would just leave.

He grabbed her arm, whipping her around to face him. “I don’t care if you hate me. You will stay here because of Anais. You will stay because you need me.”

The memory was scarring.

Kaz watched as Y/N got lost in her own thoughts. His voice startled her out of her memories. “Y/N, do you have loyalties to him?”

“My sister, Anais.” She breathed. “He is helping me find my sister.”

“Is that all?”

She shook her head. “You don’t understand. I need to find her. Have you ever had any siblings?”

Kaz paused for a moment. The comment seemed to toy with him. “No.”

“Then you don’t get it. I want to be with people I belong with. To figure out where I’m from.” She sighed. “Pekka is helping me with that.”

“And he has proven that he is actually doing so?”

“He said that he knew she was involved with the slavers who took me away. He is getting in with them to try and figure out where they took her.”

“Y/N, I don’t think he is actually doing that.” Kaz said, shaking his head. “This is your reason for staying?”

“And I have nowhere else to go!”

Kaz took a deep breath. He had decided what he was going to do for the girl since the day he met her. She was an asset. With her power he could complete jobs and gain kruge with record speed. Not to mention, if Kaz had her on his side, Pekka didn’t. The sweet taste of revenge covered his tongue just at the thought.

“I have an offer,” he began, “You come with me. Not now, but soon. I’ll come everyday to ask questions and we’ll plan your escape. In the meantime, you gather your things discreetly and try to find as much dirt on Rollins as you can.”

“But my sister -“

“If you are a part of the Dregs, you will help when asked, but the rest of your time is yours. Look for your sister, gamble your money away, take up baking, — I don’t care. You’ll be free.”

The offer was good. Great, actually. So why was she hesitating? Was Pekka’s manipulation really enough to make her turn away an opportunity like this? I don’t know.

And what about Kaz? Could she really trust him? The man wanted her for her powers, too. How was he different from Pekka? In her limited experience, he wasn’t. I should stay.

But Jesper. In the short while she had known him, Jesper had become her favorite part of being alive. And Inej, who was the kindest soul she had ever encountered. If they were with Kaz, he couldn’t be the demon he tried to be. At least not like Pekka. I should go. I should have gone a long time ago.

“Deal.”

In the weeks following, Kaz came every day to discuss every aspect of the Emerald Palace with her, in the hopes that he could get her out. Getting her out of the building would be simple, but keeping her from being hunted by the Dime Lions for the rest of her days would be complicated. The plan would have to be completely airtight, so Kaz needed time.

A few days later, Jesper was at the window speaking with her. The other members of the dregs would often visit along with Kaz and stay to talk to her, or they might come in his place. Today, after describing her entire tailoring process to Kaz, Y/N was speaking to Jesper about music.

“It’s like this huge golden machine made by Fabrikators, right?” Y/N smiled as she excitedly spoke. “And you take this small disc, place it on the machine and put the needle on it, and then music comes out!”

Jesper grinned at her. He loved the way she looked when she was excited about something. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen one before.”

“Well, it’s wonderful,” she sighed, “Not to mention there’s thousands of the disc things, and each one is a different song. I wish more people had them than just the rich men who can afford it. I mean I wish I could have one.”

The two had been known to discuss things that had nothing to do with her escape, which Kaz had scolded them for plenty of times. But they enjoyed talking to each other, and they often got distracted. Odd topics of discussion were bound to happen whether they liked it or not. However, when Jesper realized that they had strayed from their original reason for speaking, he redirected the conversation.

“So, you get tailored nearly everyday?”

“Well, whenever anyone comes to see me. Only Pekka knows what I really look like. And you and your friends. Maybe it's a security thing.” She told him, thinking as she spoke. “Also, if anyone sees me who isn’t supposed to, I’m meant to drug them so they forget. Pekka really just does not want anyone knowing I’m here. Some bastard might try to steal me away.”

Jesper smirked at her. “I cannot imagine who would ever do something like that.”

Visits were going relatively well. Kaz had nearly enough information to finalize his plan for her escape, so he visited less and less. Y/N was becoming a solid member of the Crows even though she had so little time with them. She matched Jesper’s humor, built trust with Inej, and had a shared anger for Pekka with Kaz.

Today was Inej’s day to go visit Y/N, and she was running rather late. She knew the girl had mentioned not to visit after the sun went down, but Inej had been busy all day and could only find time to make it to the window after dark. When she got there, however, she realized why Y/N had made the warning.

When she looked through the window, she noticed that Y/N was not alone. When she looked closer, she realized Y/N was with Pekka Rollins. Luckily, Inej was the Wraith, she could watch what happened next without being seen.

“I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to eat your dinner,” She heard Rollins speak first, in the most condescending tone she had ever heard. “Not after I worked so hard to get your favorite.”

Y/N sat on her cot, avoiding eye contact. “Not hungry.”

Rollins grabbed her by the jaw roughly, forcing her to look at him. Inej noticed tears shining in Y/N’s eyes. “Not hungry, hm? We both know that’s not true.” He laughed, with a terrifying lack of humor behind it. “Why are you lying to me, canary?”

The girl shook her head as the tears fell down her face.

“Your tears will do you no good.” Rollins snarled. “Do not forget what you are.” He paused, raising a brow. “What are you?”

The girl sniffled and didn’t respond.

“What are you?” He shouted and raised his voice this time, causing her to shake.

“A canary.” She whispered out.

“Good, and if I give you a song...”

He raised her chin higher, prompting her to finish his words. “I sing it.” The words fell from her lips like something rehearsed, but unbearably painful.

He gave a tight lipped smile. “Right. Don’t forget it again.” He sat down next to her and handed her the plate she had sat on the table beside her. “Now you eat and I’ll tell you about the man who is coming here tonight.”

Inej felt like she was going to throw up as she travelled the rooftops of Ketterdam back to the Crow Club. She knew Y/N was being mistreated at the Emerald Palace, but seeing it take place was something entirely apart.

As she walked in the doors of the club she felt a presence beside her. She looked over to see Jesper walking with her. He must have been guarding the door. He was waiting to ask a question.

“Yes, Jesper, I went to see her.” Inej spoke to him, her voice rough.

“And?”

“And Pekka Rollins was there.”

Jesper stopped in his tracks. “Saints, is she ok? Are you?”

“I’m fine,” Inej assured, “But I’m not sure about Y/N. He is anything but gentle with her. And he forced her to eat the dinner he gave her. I don’t think she’s gonna be able to avoid the drugs they give her anymore. If only she could remember to take an antidote before her mind goes.”

“Shit, we need to get her out of there, soon.”

The pair once again went to Kaz to discuss the girl, only to find him at his desk, writing furiously with two bottles in front of him.

“Kaz, Inej -“ Jesper was cut off.

“She told me how she’s been killing all those people.” Kaz stared at the bottle in front of him, observing it scientifically.

Inej and Jesper looked at each other before looking back at their boss. What was he on about?

“I don’t understand.” Inej had a confused look on her face as she tried her best to make eye contact with Kaz. She wanted to try and read him like she knew she could, but right now the man in front of her was like a blank page.

“Y/N. She gives them a liquid of her own design, but it isn’t poisonous,” He kept his eyes trained on his work, “At least not until she makes it poisonous. She can give someone poison hours in advance but it kills them right at the perfect moment. Right when she can get away. And, once they are dead, she can change it back to something nontoxic. It’s flawless: not a single trace is left.”

“Great, boss,” Jesper said, growing impatient. “Can we talk about why we are here?”

Kaz frowned, “What, because you want to get Y/N out sooner? She’s in a terrible situation?”

“Exactly,” Inej pleaded.

“If I tried to save everyone in the Barrel I’d be broke by dawn.” Kaz said, looking back at his work. Inej and Jesper stood there in shock. “If you don’t have anything else to say…”

Inej placed a hand up to keep Jesper from exploding. “Kaz, you told us that you would help her escape.”

“I needed information, Wraith, you wouldn’t help me if I told the truth.”

Jesper spoke up, “So you lied to us? And what did you tell her?”

“Nothing. She’s prepared to leave the Emerald Palace tonight.” Kaz tsked. “I doubt she’ll make it two feet out the building without our help. Solves all of my problems.”

Without another word, Inej slipped out of the room, leaving the boys to fight. Through the walls, she heard muffled shouting.

“How could you? You act like you have nothing you believe in but really you are so terrible that you’ve made yourself your own Saint!” Jespers voice was desperate, filled with rage. The betrayal he felt was clear even though he was muffled. He sniffed. “Put too much faith in that saint and he’ll kill your friends.”

Inej cringed, hating the harsh truths her friend was sending toward her boss. She had always known partnership with Kaz would mean conflict, but it also meant freedom. She and Jesper often commented on their cold-hearted boss. “We are both too good for him.” Jesper would laugh as he said it, but now it seemed to be a reason to leave. But where would they go? When it came to Kaz Brekker, no one was better, and no one was worse.

One thing was for certain, Inej was not going to let her friend die. She had just pulled Y/N up from the grave, and she’d be damned if she let Kaz Brekker push her back in. If he was so certain the girl would be dead by tomorrow, she’d get to her before then. She didn’t have time for Kaz’s lectures and Jesper’s shouting. There was a life at stake. She begged the Saints to help her, but deep down she knew that this was up to her and her knives. If Inej couldn’t save Y/N, the Wraith would.

When she reached the Emerald Palace, a nauseous feeling spread throughout her stomach. She willed her hands to stop shaking, but the tremor remained. She reached the window after carefully checking her surroundings and gasped at what she saw. Nothing remained in Y/N’s room but a white letter and dark ash, both standing out against the gray stone floor. Inej frowned in confusion. So, she is gone. Where could she be?

Y/N was a smart girl, she could be out of Ketterdam by now. However, she had barely had any human contact and had been drugged and manipulated for years. If she was not already found by Pekka Rollins, she could have already been killed on the street. But no one knew who she was, and only Pekka and the Crows knew what she truly looked like. She had become one huge question.

Suddenly, Inej remembered something.. Specifically, a conversation she had with Y/N not long ago.

Inej, this might be the worst thing I’ve ever made. She had said, a fire in her eyes.

Then why are you smiling? Inej replied.

Look! Y/N had pulled a thin glass bottle of a swirling liquid and a small flower out from behind her back. She then poured a drop of the bottle on the flower, which disintegrated into a pile of ash within seconds.

Saints. Inej was amazed.

Wild, huh? Footsteps came from the stairwell in the corner of the room. Shit. Inej, go. Inej hesitated. Go! He’ll see you!

Now, looking at the large pile of ash on the floor of the room, Inej realized what had happened.

“Saints,” She whispered, tears forming in her eyes. “She’s drunk it.”

She heard footsteps approaching in the alley, and immediately grabbed two of her knives, ready to protect herself.

“Easy,” Jesper appeared, holding his hands out toward her. “It’s just me.”

Inej lowered her knives as she stared back at him. “We’re too late, Jes. She’s gone.”

He laughed, nervous. “No, she wouldn’t.” He lowered himself down to the window. “No.”

Inej stood up and looked up at the stars, praying to any Saint that she could think of that she wasn’t dead. That her friend was out there somewhere. Alive. “Jesper, we need to get out of here.”

“But,” Jesper paused, his voice weak. “She was just here.”

“She’s not anymore.” Inej looked at him with pity. She could tell how much the girl had meant to him. “I’m sorry.”

“She was just here.” He repeated, voice cracks littering his words.

Inej grabbed his hand, forcing him out of this frozen state. “I know, Jes. I’m sorry.”

#jesper fahey x reader #jesper fahey fanfic #jesper fahey imagine #shadow and bone fanfiction #shadow and bone x reader #six of crows imagine #six of crows x reader #jesper fahey x you

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in-my-feels-probably · 3 years

Text

INEFFABLE - Kaz Brekker

Chapter Twelve

If you would like to read this on Wattpad, it’s on there as well, my @ is in_my_feels_probably and there’s a few visuals and better descriptions and stuff on there. otherwise, enjoy, let me know what you think, and you can check out my masterlist for updates and more. don’t forget to read the prologue, it’s important to the story!

INEFFABLE – Kaz Brekker

ineffable (adj.) too great to be expressed in words, utterly indescribable; too sacred to speak of.

Chapter Twelve

Elham was seated next to Jesper, across from Kaz, and Inej soon followed, landing next to her. Kaz was making it a point to avoid looking at Elham, not that she minded, considering the events of the past few minutes. Instead, he was facing Jesper.

“If we don’t move soon, the Black General will be on top of us. We can’t waste any more time looking for the girl.”

Jesper sighed. “We’re really gonna leave empty handed then?”

Elham nodded. “We don’t have much of a choice, do we? Alina would never let us catch up to her, and I’m not facing the Darkling again if I don’t have to. I say we come up with a plan, and quickly. Let’s get out of here while we still have a slight advantage.”

Suddenly, a loud explosion came from outside where the carriage was parked. The Crows flinched, turning their heads to the door. Elham moved to stand, but Jesper stuck his arm out, blocking her from investigating.

“Our alarm.”

Kaz quickly spit out orders. “Split up. Much easier to take a Grisha one on one than a whole squad of them. Rendezvous at the fountain. Elham, follow me, we don’t know if they found out about you coming back to the palace.”

She nodded, and they filed out the door, scanning outside for threats. They came face to face with the Darkling’s most trusted Grisha, staring straight back at them.

The Inferni, the sister to the man Elham had killed, eyed her, before turning her gaze to Inej. Elham knew what it meant. Elham had killed someone she loved, and she was about to return the favor.

Elham moved to block Inej, but Kaz put his cane out in front of her. He murmured to her, before shouting at the rest of the Crows.

“She’s got it, she’ll be fine. Move!”

The Crows darted out in different directions, a Grisha hot on each of their trails. Elham led the way in front of Kaz, a small flame pooling in her palms as she ducked down alleys, doing her best to set a pace Kaz could keep up with. But she could hear the uneven steps and the click of his cane begin to falter. He was slowing down.

“Saints. Shit, shit, shit.” “Calm down and be quiet, keep going. We’re fine.”

Elham shakily nodded, turning down another alley, one that was better lit. She let the flame lessen in her palms, now only dancing across her fingertips. She had slowed enough for Kaz to now walk in stride beside her.

Now that they were more visible to enemies, Kaz took the lead, slightly shielding her from whatever could be in front of them. Elham noticed this and rolled her eyes. The thought was sweet, she would have even blushed if she let herself think about it long enough. But only one of them was Grisha, and her power would do them a lot better against an attack than Kaz hobbling with his cane would.

Slightly out of breath, eyes wildly looking around, they rounded a corner. Kaz walked a few paces, before stopping completely. Confused, Elham moved to stand next to him, ready to question him, when the words died on her tongue. Her breath had hitched, her stance became rigid.

The Darkling was stepping out of the shadows, coming up the end of the path.

He was no more than ten or fifteen feet away, and getting closer every second, but Elham couldn’t get her feet to move back. Instead, she stepped closer to Kaz, letting the flames in her palms grow.

The Darkling smirked. “I knew it was you. Hello, Elham. I didn’t recognize you at first, you’ve grown so much. You’ve gotten better with your powers, I see. Have you come to join me again?”

Elham felt like the breath was knocked from her longs. She tried her best to make herself sound strong, but it didn’t sound so convincing. Still, her voice was laced with venom.

“Never.”

The Darkling only chuckled. “Oh, but you will. In time. I’ll have you by my side again.”

She shook her head in defiance. “No, I won’t follow you. Ever. What do you want from us?”

His smirk fell from his face, as if he had just remembered why he had come. “I know you kidnapped my Sun Summoner. And now you’re going to tell me where you stashed her.”

Kaz finally spoke up, noticing Elham’s hands shaking. He hated watching her, powerless against the Darkling. She always walked around with such surety around an enemy, it was one of the first things he noticed about her when he met her. It had been only a few days since she had first seen the Darkling again, and he had reduced her to tremors and fear. It made Kaz’s blood boil. He couldn’t protect her the first time. But the Saints couldn’t stop him from protecting her this time.

He grabbed her by her jacket sleeve, slowly pulling her with him, backing them up. “We didn't take her. She fled on her own.”

The Darkling stopped his advance, head cocking to the side. It was silent for a moment. His eyes grew dark. “Where is she? I won’t ask you again.”

Kaz didn’t waver, his voice as steady as ever. “I don’t know. It was pretty clear she wasn’t interested in being a captive anymore. Just like Elham. You won’t have her, either.”

The Darkling’s face grew cold.

“The Summoner is probably halfway to Novyi Zem by now.”

Darkness pooled around the Darkling, inching its way towards Elham and Kaz. Elham sucked in a deep breath, and she turned to Kaz, who’s eyes were wide. She felt movement by her waist, and noticed as Kaz slowly pulled something from his pocket. She glanced down at it, noticing it was a little bag.

Before she could decipher what was in it, The Darkling was advancing. “I’ll get my Sun Summoner, and I’ll get my Inferni.”

He raised his hands together, and Elham panicked, getting ready to raise her hands in retaliation, or to push Kaz out of the way, anything to get them clear. The Darkling was performing the Cut, and it was aimed right for Kaz.

“You should have stayed in Ketterdam, Mr. Brekker.”

Before the Darkling could send the Cut to them, Kaz lifted his cane, and slammed the bag onto the barrel next to him. Light erupted, blinding the Darkling, cutting through the darkness he had pulled around him. The sound was like an explosion, right in Elham’s ear.

Elham was struggling to see, disoriented, and before she could regain her vision, she felt a gloved hand grabbing hers, tugging her swiftly in the direction behind them.

She knew it was Kaz, and immediately let him guide her away from the Darkling, rubbing at her eyes, squinting at the reappearing buildings in her sight.

It was only a few moments before she could see again, and she had let go of Kaz’s hand, knowing he was uncomfortable. She could see the tension relax in his form. He guided her back to the meeting point at the well.

She followed close behind. “Thank you.”

He turned to look over his shoulder at her, and nodded. “You saved my life. I don’t like owing debts. Figured I’d return the favor.”

She scoffed, but there was no malice behind it. She could hear the humour in his voice, and she chuckled. He led her around the corner, and Jesper was waiting at the well. Inej hadn’t made it back yet.

---

It had been a while of waiting, and Elham was beginning to worry.

“I should have gone with her, that Inferni was right behind her, and she was angry. I’m the one who killed her brother, it should have been me she was after.”

Jesper laid a hand on her shoulder. “It’s alright, love, I’m sure she’s fine. She’s tougher than all of us. She probably just got caught up on the way.”

Elham had no time to respond. Inej had jumped off the top of the wall down to them, landing with a grunt. Elham turned around, immediately knowing she was hurt. She was always so quiet and light footed around them, you never could hear her land.

“Inej! Are you alright?”

She was grabbing at her side, and Elham could see blood through her fingers. Jesper immediately offered her an arm, letting her lean against him to stabilize herself. Elham hurried to her other side, grabbing her hand, and she used her hip to prop Inej up straighter so she wasn’t carrying so much of her weight.

Inej was breathing heavily, struggling. “The Inferni, she’s dead.”

Kaz nodded, but his face was pained. All of the Crows were a mess, some were hurt, the mission had failed, and they were still in danger on top of it all.

Elham sent him as reassuring of a smile as she could. “Hey, it’s ok, we’re all alright. We’ve got Inej, we can go now. We’re gonna figure this out together.”

His jaw was still clenched, but he met her eyes and managed a nod.

Jesper piped in. “Well, she can’t manage a horse. Not even riding double. We’ll have to come up with another plan.”

Kaz turned around, scanning, before landing on the Darkling’s carriage. “That’s a pretty nice ride.”

Jesper was smiling. “Yes, indeed it is.”

Elham let out an exasperated laugh. “Saints, might as well. Just one more thing to add to the list of things the Darkling will kill us for. Of course, not me though, I’m still considered useful. Sorry about the rest of you.”

Kaz rolled his eyes, headed for the Carriage. The Crows followed, supporting Inej as best they could. Jesper passed Inej off to Elham, who held up as much of her weight as she could, trying to be gentle.

Jesper walked around to the doors of the carriage, flinging them open. “Oh! Hello.”

Inside, a Grisha Elham later recognized as David, the Darkling’s favorite Durast, sat, reading a book.

He scrambled out of the carriage, quickly glancing around. Kaz stood ready, immediately striking the head of his cane across David’s face, sending him to the ground, out cold.

Jesper hopped out of the carriage, holding one of David’s books, before tossing it. “He threw a book at me.”

Kaz nodded at the Crows to get in, and Elham slowly walked Inej over to the carriage, where Jesper helped get her in and settled. Once everyone was settled, they were off again, anxious to get away from the Darkling and his Grisha, and to get somewhere they could patch themselves up.

---

A/N - we're getting so close to the stuff i'm excited to write in, there's only two more episodes worth of content, potentially an epilogue. i hope you all enjoyed this chapter, let me know. it's a little short, sorry, the next one's should be longer. thanks for the support!

#wattpad #kaz brekker x reader #kaz brekker #grishaverse #shadow and bone #six of crows imagine #six of crows #in my feels probably #ineffable #x reader #oc #inferni

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kanchelsis · 4 years

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Hello! I've been reading your thoughts on the kos and I find them to be interesting. How do you feel about Zoya's character development? Do you think it was rushed or fitting? Also, what are your thoughts on Zoyalai?

hi anon!!

i'll try my best to explain. i'd like to establish that this is no way an attack on people who like zoya, a fictional character is just a fictional character and we vibe with what we vibe with. these are just my personal thoughts and shouldn't be taken as anything else.

when i first heard zoya was going to be a pov character in kos, i was actually excited. i quite liked her in tgt because i have a soft spot for characters that have mean exteriors to hide compassion. as much as i liked nikolina at the time, i was looking forward to seeing what kind of dynamic zoyalai would have especially after her comments about him in the trilogy.

instead... the way zoya is treated in the narrative really annoyed me. the fact that the story would stop to lavish praise on her didn't do her any favours. like, it wouldn't even matter if i liked her character anyway, this is a surefire way to irritate me and bardugo just seems desperate to make the reader think zoya's great. i think she did this with mal as well, and he's my least favourite character in the whole grishaverse.

one of the biggest themes in tgt is how power corrupts people with even the best intentions. the concept of merzost and the consequences of using it is one of my fave plot points! so when zoya was personally chosen by the saints and all the dragon amplifier stuff went down and the narrative started hitting home the point that she's the best grisha evah... yikes. i love how in ck inej has the part about 'invisible girls' that gets used to critique the trope of the chosen one, only for zoya to literally become the embodiment of that trope in kos. what is the point of making characters like the darkling who are corrupted by their power despite good intentions, while zoya can be ridiculously overpowered and it's fine? i hope this gets addressed in rule of wolves, but i doubt it - given how bardugo treats zoya, it seems likelier that it will be justified because zoya's ~badass~ enough to wield it with benevolence.

this is more personal than any of my other points but, but i don't like the #girlboss trope in fiction. instead of giving zoya meaningful character development and letting her have weaknesses to overcome, she gets put into this box labelled 'strong female character' and it annoys me so much. i think if zoya was allowed to have weaknesses and failings and humanising moments beyond a needlessly tragic backstory, i'd like her a lot more.

sometimes i wish i didn't like zoya from the get-go, because then at least i'd feel better about it. but in my opinion, there's no bad quite like wasted potential bad.

so yeah, as for zoyalai? it's a no from me. i don't think they had much chemistry besides pointless banter. like zoya, i'll forever mourn what could've been with these two while being salty about what bardugo actually wrote. i'm still surprised that zoya made those comments about nikolai in tgt and is suddenly all lovey dovey for him in kos. i'm guessing bardugo wants us to forget about that.

i know i said this at the start, but i'm saying it again because some zoya/zoyalai stans can be, uh... passionate, to say the least. this is just my opinion, not facts. i know it's a trend in fandom these days to dictate what characters people can and cannot like, but that's not what i'm trying to do here. please don't take this in bad faith. i think i have most toxic people blocked, but i'll tag this with anti tags just as a precaution.

sorry this is late, anon. have a lovely day 💕

#tempest text #long post #grishaverse #shadow and bone #zoya nazyalensky #anti zoya nazyalensky #anti zoyalai #tgt #king of scars #anti kos

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southslates · 3 years

Text

something wicked this way comes

@grishaversebigbang - it’s been so awesome bringing this six of crows harry potter inspired AU to life!

materialki: @violetfolgi, @spirilium [here], @forgetyourtroubleshappyday, @margot-arts [here], @art-by-me19, @purns-art

summary: Kaz and Inej meet as Hogwarts first years and become fast acquaintances and allies and then something more. A story about falling in love. Slytherin house isn't ready for these two.

ao3 link

prologue (the hogwarts express, year one!) below the cut!:

Inej was always early. She’d slipped into the first open compartment she’d found in the Hogwarts Express, cosying up to the window. She couldn’t stop anyone else from joining her— by the time the late stragglers arrived at the train, she’d probably have to share the room with someone else.

She sighed at that thought, but decided to sit in silence and stare out the window in solitude for as long as she could. Inej could see the entirety of platform 9¾ from where she was. Her own parents had dropped her off almost half an hour ago, and hadn’t been able to stay. She didn’t blame them; she understood the timeliness required of their profession, and they’d cried over her enough before they left.

With a quick crack of static, the speaker above her head started to blare. “The train will be leaving in ten minutes,” it said. “We will not stay back for stragglers.”

It was the families of the first years who seemed to be holding up the platform, but Inej saw them slowly start towards the train too. The corridor outside her closed door started up a racket, and she winced. She just wasn’t a fan of loud noise, or of too many people.

“Ay, you think this one’s free?” she heard, and then the door to her compartment was pushed open. She expected to see a few loud-mouthed fourth years, perhaps even a sixth or seventh year who would force her to leave her blissfully open cabin and walk into the unknown. Instead, she turned her slight head to see a boy who couldn’t be more than a year older than her.

“It’s full,” he said behind him. His voice was a bit raspy but still pre-pubescent, nothing like anything Inej had heard before.

“Damn it.” Noise dissipated from the corridor, and Inej looked away from the strange boy, tugging her luggage closer to her and staring out the window once more. The platform was empty of children, full of crying parents; almost. She could make out a few stragglers just now coming through the pillar which marked the platform as an in-between.

“Five minutes,” the speaker rang.

Inej heard the compartment door slide shut. When she looked to the left again, she saw the boy seated across from her, glaring forward at nothing. She didn’t know what to say to him, so she said nothing, just pulled herself up onto her knees on the seat. A minute or two passed, and the silence switched from slightly uncomfortable to something fitting. Inej was a bit grateful. If she had to sit with someone, at least it wasn’t someone who wanted to make her uncomfortable.

As the platform grew stagnant, she turned the slightest bit to face the boy, letting her hair fall in front of her face. He was staring straight ahead at the empty seat in front of her, his dark hair falling into his coffee-colored eyes, his mouth in a thin line. He had the chubby cheeks of childhood, the ones she shared, but they looked almost hollow— perhaps they’d look sharp when he grew older. He was wearing a set of wizarding robes, one meant for children— Inej was too, but his were tailored well, and made of a silky fabric she couldn’t name.

There was a plain black bag at his side that was deceivingly simple; it was made out of a shiny material, too, and rather clean. Inej wondered if he was a member of one of the ancient wizarding families— that seemed likely, though she couldn’t be sure. She scrunched her eyes together and thought she could make out something stitched into the bag’s handle. K. Rotvold?

“You’re staring,” the boy said, and Inej looked up. She didn’t know how long he’d been watching her trace him. She didn’t say anything. “Who are you?”

“Inej Ghafa,” she whispered after a moment. Her name wouldn’t mean much to anyone— it was her father’s, and it was her mother who was the family wizard. Her father was a muggle; the descendant of squibs, but a muggle nonetheless.

He nodded and then stared at her, his eyebrows drawn, as though he was doing calculations on her face. He said nothing, so Inej was forced to ask. “And you?”

“Kaz. Kaz Brekker,” he said curtly, his voice rough, like salt. Perhaps that was just puberty. It was an odd sound.

Inej was sure the name on his bag was not Brekker, but she didn’t want to bring that up. She and Kaz met eyes and then both quickly nodded their heads at each other. Then she turned her face back to the window.

Their quiet existence was interrupted not even a moment later. “The Hogwarts Express is now leaving,” said the announcer. At that moment something suddenly pressed against the compartment door and a girl burst through it, tugging a boy behind her.

She was tall, far taller than Kaz and Inej and even the boy behind her, and breathing heavily, but smiling. “Told you we’d make it, Jesper!”

The dark-skinned boy, Jesper, let go of her hand and ran it through his hair. “I don’t even know you.”

“We’re friends now,” she turned to him and closed the door behind them just as the train set off, slowly starting to speed out. In a split-second, Kaz scooted down to sit right across from Inej as Jesper fell into the seat next to him and the girl sat down next to Inej. They both clutched their bags tightly to each other.

Inej internally groaned at the intrusion, and when she looked up Kaz was making eye contact with her. His face was stalwart, but she almost felt as though he would be rolling his eyes if he was capable of it. This boy was already an enigma to her.

“Hi!” the girl on her side said, green eyes shining, bag clutched to her chest. Inej turned to her and gave her a small smile, putting her feet back onto the ground. “I’m Nina! I’m a first year.”

“Hello,” Inej intonated.

“I’m Jesper, and I’m a first year too,” the boy across from Nina smiled. Then the four of them fell into an awkward silence.

“I’m Inej,” Inej said. “And this is Kaz. We’re both first years.” At least, she assumed Kaz was.

“Nice to meet you!” Nina said, bending forward to Kaz, as though to shake his hand. He leaned back into his seat and glared at her. “Wow. No need to be like that.”

“Sorry for bursting into your compartment,” Jesper said. “We didn’t mean to interrupt anything.”

“You weren’t—” Inej blushed. “Nothing, there’s no problem.”

“Great!” Nina said. “I’m so excited to get to Hogwarts. I’ve been practicing magic for a bit but going to the school will be so cool. I want to be a—”

“How’ve you been practicing magic?” Kaz asked, suddenly sitting up.

“I’m—” she almost blushed. “I’m part veela, actually, and I was mostly raised at the Little Palace. You must have heard of it—”

“I have,” Kaz interrupted again. “Veela,” he murmurs, almost as if to himself. “You must know your way around a wand.”

“We work more with specific types of magic,” Nina said. “I specialized in blood magic, mostly for healing. But I’m not very good at it— hopefully it’ll be better with a wand.”

“You’re a heartrender,” Kaz said, seeming a bit taken aback. Nina scrunched her brows.

“You know about the orders? Are you—”

“I like reading,” he said simply.

Nina nodded slowly and leaned back. “What house do you want to get sorted into?” she asked.

Jesper spoke first. “I’m not sure. Don’t really think I’m meant for Slytherin or Ravenclaw, though.”

“How did you two run into each other?” Inej asked quietly.

Jesper started laughing. “We were both running late outside the station and came in together.”

“Are you also grisha?” Kaz asked suddenly.

Jesper seemed a bit shocked, but quickly shook his head. “Nopes,” he popped. He nodded to Inej. “What house do you think you’ll get sorted into?”

“I don’t know,” Inej shook her head, letting more of her hair fall into her face. “I don’t really know much about Hogwarts. I wasn’t supposed to come here.”

“Oh,” Jesper said, then leaned in to look at her. “Were you supposed to go to Karmana?”

“Sort of,” Inej said. “My family travels a lot. We were in England when the letters came, so I got sent here.”

“Cool!” Jesper said. “Well, I’m glad we got to meet you. Now we can all be friends.”

“Excuse me?” Kaz said. Jesper turned to him with a bright grin, refusing to falter as he was met with a stalwart glare. Nobody replied to him; Nina asked Inej if she’d bought her robes, and from where, and if she was looking forward to sharing a dorm.

Nina was loud and boisterous, and Jesper was funny and constantly in motion, and Kaz was quiet and mean— he’d taken to glaring at Jesper as the boy tried to talk to him about brooms. They were a strange group, the four of them, but even Kaz didn’t grumble as they sat, together, in the boats that would take them to see their first real glimpse of the castle.

#something wicked this way comes #kanej #kanej fic #kaz brekker #inej ghafa #six of crows #shadow and bone #soc fic #gvbb21 #gvbbfic41 #dee writes

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writewithurheart · 3 years

Text

Hearts of Kyber

a/n: Hello lovely readers!! I’ve been working on this work for the last couple months (and especially the last couple days). It has been an absolute pleasure working with these amazing artists who are astounding. I hope you love what we’ve put together!!

Corporalki: @kazandthecrows

Materialki: @anubem (art link) @generalstarkov (art link) @pijoshi (art link) @mitdemadlerimherzen (art link | art link 2) @erandraws (art link) @nannadoodles (art link)

Summary: When an Imperial pilot defects, the Rebellion sends its best spies to find out what he knows. They discover the existence of a planet-destroying weapon known as the Death Star and a scientist who holds the secrets to its only weaknesses. Guided by the pilot, Wylan, and a former storm trooper, Matthias, Kaz Brekker leads a team to uncover the secret that can save the Rebellion before it’s crushed for good.

A Grishaverse Rogue One AU for the Grishaverse Big Bang 2021

Read on AO3 or below the cut

Part I

Inej barely remembers those early days with her family living in the heart of a city. She gets flashes of memories - playing with dolls, toddling after her father, parties full of boring adults who couldn’t care less about her. What she thinks of when she remembers her family is what came after: the travelling band of performers they joined. It’s there that she felt comfortable. The troupe was her family: they encouraged her, taught her tricks of the trade, and were the ones who trained her as an acrobat. They travelled from system to system, performing in cities and small villages alike, on hot planets and cold. She had careful rules to follow about her interactions whenever they landed.

Despite all the restrictions, she remembers feeling carefree. The caravan was her domain and she was empress. The day her life changed was just like any other. She remembers her mother running a hand over her hair, whispering that they were going down into town. Her sleepy head full of cotton can’t remember her exact words, just the feeling of warmth, the comfort of routine. Only recently - on her eighth birthday - had she earned the right to sleep in instead of joining her parents’ customary outing.

Sometimes in her waking hours, she forgets that happened years ago and in her half-waking state she thinks she can still hear her mother’s soothing whisper and her father patting her hand as he tucks her treasured stuffed bear under the blankets of her bed so she has company.

Inej’s eyes fly open as the harsh lights of simulated daylight jolt her unrelentingly from her sleep into the cold reality of her life.

She rolls up to a seated position and runs her arm over her sleepy face. She makes no effort to make herself presentable and glares at her arm with the repulsive peacock feather tattoo. It’s been eight years since that morning when her whole life burned around her, her whole extended family vanished in the blink of an eye and she was sold into the slave markets of the Hutts before she was even aware what that meant.

“Inej Ghafa, the mistress will see you now,” a mechanical voice says over the speaker hidden in her room. Luxurious drapes and curtains cover the mechanical aspects of the room, but can’t hide the prison-like nature of a room without windows in a pleasure house. This has always been Inej’s cage.

Of course, to the Empire, this isn’t slavery. She has an indenture that she’s working off, this was a choice she made. Inej stands. The words are bullshit. It’s a pretty story told by those who believe themselves to be above such terrible things just because they use different words. Inej is old enough to know what happens in the different rooms of the pleasure house she currently calls home, but still too young to be expected to participate fully. But she knows her days are numbered.

Girls in this trade grow up quickly. She’s still a tease, only suffering a a groping hand here, a leer there, the occasional bit of voyeurism which makes her skin prickle and means she can never feel comfortable in any room, including her own.

Inej dresses with practiced movements in the ridiculous trappings Madam Helene requires. There are far too many bells on the outfit, too many dangling bits that can tangle for it to really be the exotic outfit Helene claims the clients want. She hates the way the silk feels against her skin when it used to mean the soothing comfort of performance attire.

For now, her role is to just be an ornamentation for the pleasure house, but madame makes sure she knows what could happen the moment she steps a toe out of line. She’s not above selling Inej off before her time, the cost of which would do nothing to lower the exorbitant cost of her supposed indenture.

Inej keeps her head down and walks quickly to the main room. In the early hours, there are few patrons who might be looking for a companion, but Inej has learned to keep her head down in any case. She’s short and skinny - underdeveloped to most tastes - so aren’t many interested in her and the ones that are she should avoid with even more care.

There’s a boy in the room with Helene: a boy with a familiar cane. Inej is so surprised to see him that she forgets to look away meekly when his dark eyes meet hers. She tilts her head in curiosity. Last she saw, he was slipping out of a back hallway which she knew allowed Helene to eavesdrop on clients as they spent the night with girls, or that she offered to well-paying customers who took pleasure from that sort of thing.

He looks just as cold as he did that night, but she vividly remembers the surprise in his eyes when she spoke from over his shoulder. He wasn’t a regular customer at the brothel but he was on good terms with a couple members of the staff and she’d seen him exchange kruge for information on more than one occasion. Last she saw him, she’d offered him help.

“Ah, there’s my little Suli Lioness.” Madam Helene smiles benevolently, but her perfume chokes Inej as she wraps an arm around her. “Inej, do you know who this is?”

“They call him Dirtyhands,” she answers, voice proper and meek as Helene likes. All the other girls have told her not to ask questions any time she tries to find out more. She can’t help but wonder if offering herself to him was a mistake, but she knows this place will kill her if she doesn’t find a way out.

“Hmm…,” Madame hums. She turns to the boy with a set face and Inej’s chest tightens in apprehension. “I’m afraid your offer will not be accepted, Mr. Brekker. Inej is precious to me.” Her bejeweled fingers dig into Inej’s shoulder. “I couldn’t possibly part with her.”

The boy raises an impeccable eyebrow. “I was under the impression our negotiations were finalized.”

Helene releases an exaggerated sigh. “Oh, you silly boy. Did you know the Empire has offered quite the reward for you?”

Inej tenses. She knows that Madame is fickle in her alliances, but she’s never openly invited storm troopers into her house: they don’t pay well.

“You’d better run, little boy, if you want to get out of here before they can grab you.”

Two doors into the main room slide open with a whoosh of air to reveal armored bodies with blasters levelled at the boy. Inej’s quick eyes note that the door closest to Brekker has no guard, instead being left clear if he wants to escape. If she were him, she would be running but instead he looks bored as he stares back at Madame. He lifts his wrist to check his time piece, an old fashioned analog device that hasn’t been used in decades.

There’s a pulse of static followed by a volley of blaster shots. Inej jerks down out of the way but is shocked to see that none of the shots were aimed at them.

“You should have taken the money, Helene,” the boy shaking space dust from his jacket. “We could have continued this lucrative partnership.”

Madame pales and looks around at the rumpled crew of men who are all standing around. Most have holstered their guns, but a tall dark-skinned man walks up to them and gestures Helene back away from Inej. Madame drops her grip as if she can’t get her distance fast enough. She turns to the boy.

“Please! You have to understand, the troopers would have killed me if I didn’t.”

The boy looks at her impassively before shrugging. “Per Haskell is still willing to buy out her indenture. I’m sure we can agree on a more reasonable price.”

Inej snorts. She can’t help it. They’re literally haggling over the price of her indenture after not killing one another. Frankly, it’s ridiculous. The boy looks over at her. Although his face is a mask which reveals no secrets, Inej sees a hint of amusement lurking in his dark eyes before he focuses again on Madame Helene.

“Congratulations,” the dark-skinned man who shooed Madame Helene away says, leaning down to her, even as his eyes stay on the boy and madam. “You’re being rescued.”

She looks around at the rag tag group she’s now willing to bet are Rebellion spies and wonders if this will actually be any better. Beyond them, she spots a couple of Helene’s girls with their bloodshot eyes, thin skin and haunted looks. It’s enough to remind her that is it. This is what she wants: a chance to save her father and get revenge on the Empire which has caused her so much pain.

Inej straightens as much as she can. It looks like she’s joining the rebellion.

...

Three years later…

“You ever wonder if Kaz is actually a demon?” Jesper asks speculatively. He points his blaster to the sky and stares down the barrel. It’s in the best possible order he can make it. The sights are calibrated, the lazer refined and the trigger pull smooth. He couldn’t ask for a better weapon.

Other than it’s partner, which is still in his holster and also freshly taken care of.

“You’re supposed to be watching his back, Jesper,” the Wraith’s voice reminds him, tinged with annoyance.

“Yeah, yeah,” he mutters, rolling over so he can look over the side of the building to where Kaz is meeting with his contact. “You know, I’m still not sure why all three of us need to be here for one pilot.”

“If you want, we can always switch positions,” Inej offers. “You can play get-away pilot.”

Jesper snorts as he lines up his sight again. “Yeah, right. That’s all yours, spider. Besides we needed the sniper position here, remember?”

There’s a long suffering sigh over the radio and Jesper grins. Through the scope his eyes bounce to Kaz. He can’t see his face, but Jesper knows he’s got that stone face of annoyance, which, as it turns out, is not so different from his normal ambivalent face except that it includes the slight twitching of the vein at his temple.

Inej claims he’s seeing things, that it’s all in Jesper’s head. According to her, Kaz’s tell has to do with his eyes or some other sappy thing like that because they’re both secretly in love with each other. Jesper thinks they’re both idiots and he likes to think that one day, if he makes a bad enough joke or an inappropriate enough comment, that vein on Kaz’s temple is going to burst.

He thinks it's good to have goals like that. It makes the dirty work they do for the Rebellion more palatable.

“I still think it would be better to have me on the ground,” Inej grumbles. “You know I’m no good at the piloting stuff.”

“You’re the one who wanted to come. If I recall, Per Haskell offered you leave and instead you came here.” Jesper notices the stiffening of Kaz’s shoulders. His informant is still calm, if a little jumpy-looking, so he knows that’s not the source of the tension. His eyes scan the street and see nothing alarming.

Jesper hasn’t asked but he knows there’s something going on here that they’re not sharing. Inej has been wound tight since they started to hear rumors of an Imperial weapon strong enough to take out a planet. While it was still just a rumor, Kaz and Inej were chasing the thread down with a vengeance. It’s what brought them back to this city world where they had found Inej three years ago.

Now if only his sneaky little cohorts would share the secret with him. That would be great.

Jesper grumbles to himself. Like that would ever happen. He looks through the scope of his rifle. The tell tale of white of stormtrooper armor catches his eye and Jesper focuses on the location. The odd trooper presence in a city like this isn’t necessarily something to make note of. It happens on occasion, but this is a pair and he can spot another pair making their way in what looks to his eyes like search patterns.

“Heads up, Kaz. We might have company.” Jesper says as he keeps an eye on the soldiers. “Moving in pairs. Looks like a search pattern.”

They’re too far away to hear the words that are spoken, but Jesper can guess what it is from here: “Hey! You there!”

He watches as Kaz drags their contact into an alley as the storm troopers converge from two directions.

“I’ve lost sight of you, Kaz.” Jesper sights the troopers through his scope and taps a finger against the trigger. Killing troopers brings more attention than Kaz likes. They work in secret. “Exit strategy?”

Through Kaz’s comm he hears the panicked pleas of Kaz’s contact swiftly silenced by a laser bolt. He grimaces at the additional body count as Kaz’s gravelly voice comes over the comm.

“I’ve got it. Jesper, join Inej. Meet me at the rendezvous point.”

He takes one last look at the troopers closing in on the alley and then stands. If Kaz needed help, he would ask. The man had a thousand and one plans. There’s no way he didn’t account for a way out of this trap. It sounds like he’s probably climbing, a feat considering his bum leg from when he landed on it wrong a couple years back and it never healed properly.

“You know, for once I’d like one of these missions to go smoothly,” Jesper mutters under his breath as he hightails it back to the ship. He stows his blaster and keeps it from sight as he moves through the crowds. Seedy cities have been a second home to him for years, since he left the Imperial flight academy, if he’s being honest. He liked the anonymity the city gave him. It always felt better than the emptiness of the moisture farm he grew up on. He hates the heat and the sand.

Oh, God, the sand.

He walks aboard the ship with the swagger of a drunk who won big at the betting table. He nods jovially to those he passes. There are a couple glances down to the pistols at his waist, but that’s normal on a large port like this one. Intergalactic travel to major cities has always been fraught with trouble and this one isn’t especially savory. They don’t have the clearance for savory.

Inej sits on the ramp of the ship, sprawled out across it like a cat. She opens her eyes as he arrives and stretches. “Ready to go?”

“Shouldn’t the get away pilot be ready to run?” Jesper teases as they walk up into the ship and Inej diverts to the cockpit, starting the take off procedure.

“I spent the last hour bemoaning my terrible coworker who insists on gambling at each port and always staggers back drunk, occasionally with unexpected company. I’ve already got tower clearance to leave. And taking off won’t set any red flags with the Empire so we’re clear.”

Jesper drops into the copilot chair as Inej goes through engine checks. “You did all that?”

“You’re not the only one capable of sweet talking people, Fahey.” She shoots him a look and he chuckles.

“I remember when your first attempt to blend in. Didn’t you end up stabbing someone?”

Inej scowls at the memory. “And no one has tried to grab my body since then without a threat of a knife point.”

Jesper chuckles. “Fair enough.” He shifts as they fly high enough to leave the atmosphere and then drop back down, drifting through the carefully mapped out empty space of blind spots that allow them to drift down to the meeting point. Despite it taking them almost no time to get there, Kaz is already sitting against a crate on the roof of a run down building, cane held out in front of him with his hands crossed on top.

Jesper moves back toward the loading bay and opens the doors. He leans against the side of the doorway as the ship turns to face Kaz. “Hiya, honey. Miss me?”

As always Kaz rolls his eyes at Jesper’s attitude as he climbs the ramp. “We’re clean. Any trouble at the port?”

“Nope,” Inej reports from the cockpit. “Just a couple nosy traders looking for a good time. Sent them after Jesper.”

“Har har,” he shoots back as the ramp closes with a firm whoosh of pressure stabilizing. He turns to Kaz who has dropped onto the bench and closed his eyes. His lame foot is extended slightly in front of him, a tell that it’s aching from the exercise of escaping the troopers. Jesper can also see where his blaster sticks out from under his jacket, the clip of the holster no longer in place. He definitely used it. “Did you get the intel?”

Kaz nods.

“Where are we headed?” Inej asks. From the body of the shuttle, Jesper sees her hand hover over the hyperspeed settings, preparing to change the destination of their jump.

“The pilot is on Jedha.”

They both freeze and you could hear a pin drop in the shuttle. Jesper glances at Inej and sees the same worry painted in the lines of her face. “Are you sure?”

Kaz finally opens his eyes and leans forward. “It’s been confirmed. That’s the second source and this one claims to have actually seen the pilot.”

“But he’s a defector, why would he go there?” Jesper asks.

“Jedha’s not a stronghold for the Empire, but they do trade there.” Kaz answers, as if that explains the reasoning.

“But it’s a Shu stronghold. They’re cut off. We haven’t had contact in years.” Jesper glances at Inej in the cockpit. “Nina was there when the communications shut down. She wasn’t able to get out and no one’s been able to go in.”

Kaz rams a gloved hand over the top of his cane. “That isn’t strictly true.”

Inej whips around. “What?”

He sighs. “We have a way onto the planet. The problem will be finding the defector and getting him to talk to us.”

“And getting off planet again,” Jesper cuts in. “Or have you forgotten how the Shu seize whoever and whatever they want? There’s a reason we don’t have an outpost there.”

Kaz stares at him with those cold, blank eyes and then turns toward Inej. “Set the course.”

For a long moment, Inej doesn’t move. Her fingers tap against the control as she gazes at Kaz with an inscrutable expression on her face for a moment before she turns back to the controls and the ship lurches into hyperspace.

Jesper crosses his arms as he faces Kaz from across the ship. “You knew we were headed to Jedha.”

Kaz stares back at him for a moment and then closes his eyes. He leans back against the side of the ship. Jesper wishes he was surprised about the lack of communication.

He sits down next to Kaz. “This way on to Jedha...does it have anything to do with Nina?”

Kaz cracks open an eye. He looks Jesper over and shuts them again. “She was able to get one message out since the Shu shut down. The last message that got out - the one that opened a path - the agent was lost. Haven’t heard anything since.”

“Nina?”

“Under orders to lay low.”

“Are we taking her out with us?”

Kaz’s hands tighten on the head of his cane. “We’ll see.”

...

There was something happening. Nina looks around the marketplace covertly as she examines the fruit in the stall in front of her. It’s the same bland, slightly bruised fruit that they always have. Two years on this desert planet and she’s still not used to the blandness of the food. She’s missing the lush variety of Aldaraan and the sweets she used to eat by the bushel. There’s no sweets here in Jedha, especially not in the mostly abandoned temple.

She exchanges a coin for two shrivelled pieces of fruit and a smile with the vendor. She slips off the main thoroughfare and into the archway that leads into the dilapidated temple. Like most of Jedha, it’s covered in a fine layer of sand and dust, and shows the wear and tear of years of war.

She tosses a piece of fruit to the tall and skulking shadow that leans against the archway. Matthias catches the fruit of the air. He pulls a wickedly long knife from behind his back and cuts the fruit into meticulous pieces, eating with precise movements to stop the juice from creating a sticky mess.

Nina is far less careful. She bites into the fruit and does her best to stop the overripe fruit from spilling juice down her chin. It’s a messy process and her fingers will end up coated in sugary sweetness. It’s her little act of rebellion that makes Matthias shake his head in her direction, when his eyes aren’t sweeping the plaza.

“There’s something in the wind,” he says as he slowly eats another slice of his fruit. Nina’s is almost gone. She’s sad for that.

“Rumors.” Nina glances at the gangsters on the corner of the street with their strange metal suits. They’re looking antsy, searching the street. “There’s not much chatter. Something about an Imperial pilot. Broke through the Shu blockade.”

Matthias’s eyes drift back across the crowds of people. Nina rearranges her robe and leans against her staff. Two years posing as acolytes of the temple and proselytizing about Sankts has her accustomed to her character. No one bothers with a monk spouting ideas of an old religion they no longer believe in.

“The Empire is still confined to their kyber shipments,” Matthias observes. He casually cuts the seeds from his fruit. “Their shuttle routes haven’t been altered. The Shu though.” His eyes dart to their locations around the square. “They’re looking for someone.”

“A defector,” Nina says.

Matthias finally looks over at her in surprise. “Yours or mine?”

“Does it matter?” she asks. “Either way, we need to find them before anyone else.”

“Do we?” Matthias grumbles and slips his knife back into the sheath hidden somewhere on his person. “It’s not like anyone’s come to get us in the last two years.”

Nina rolls her eyes. They’ve had this argument before. “Come now, druskelle. Where’s that attitude of dedication to the Empire?”

He snorts. “It died two years ago.” One of the Shu guards moves and Matthias’s attention strays. “Think it’s important enough that they’ll risk their peace with the Shu?”

Beneath the question is the unspoken one that neither of them have put words to, but they both know is lingering in the back of their minds: Is this defector more important than they are? Nina’s last mission was to get a contact off Jedha to the Rebellion. Matthias had saved her from capture by the Shu and they hadn’t been able to risk an attempt to leave Jedha since then. The Empire had some sort of deal with the Shu that allowed them access to the Kyber mines but that was it.

“Perhaps it’s time we went to collect tithes, Brother Helvar,” Nina announces. She pulls up the hood of her robes and leans on her staff as she walks out from the temple. Matthias follows behind her with grumbled complaints under his breath. The occupants of the city are familiar with their dynamic, although they’re sure to vary the times they depart the temple. Routines are too predictable.

Matthias doesn’t speak even as Nina stops to talk with every friendly face she sees. For the first year, he had complained at every moment, even as she explained to him the importance of blending in, of becoming part of the populace. Now he even lets the children climb on him when she stops to share a story about the saints.

“They’re jumpy,” Lin shares with Nina in whispered tones, her eyes darting around the square even though there don’t appear to be guards around right now. “Jan said he saw stormtroopers preparing to enter the city.”

Nina performs a blessing on an elderly man. “Any idea what they’re looking for?”

“A pilot.” Lin shifts her daughter around on her hip. “Imperial pilot. You don’t want to get between the troopers and their goal. The Shu are looking for him too. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay out of their way.”

Matthias moves closer. “And the pilot?”

Lin glances at him and then back at Nina. She’s always been more skittish around men. It’s a look Nina’s uncomfortably familiar with and one she knows speaks to a violent past interaction. The way she grips her daughter just a bit closer breaks Nina’s heart.

Nina nods encouragingly.

“Down by the old refractory.” Lin freezes up as soon as the words escape her mouth. Her eyes widen in surprise at what she just divulged. She darts away in a panic, leaving Nina and Matthias to continue to serve the poor with their usual tithes.

By unspoken agreement, Matthias follows Nina’s lead as she takes them on a winding path. The last year and half of long meandering routes work in their favor as Nina leads them with more purpose.

It feels good to have a purpose again. She hasn’t had contact with the Rebellion, but if this is big enough that the Empire is willing to fight the Shu for the interloper, then it’s big enough for the Rebellion to also be looking. The Empire has the strength to use brute force. The Rebellion will send Kaz Brekker. Per Haskell would be an idiot to send anyone else.

As they get closer to their destination, Nina slows her pace and purposefully plays up her monk persona, passing out alms and blessings in equal measure. Matthias moves gruffly in her wake, watching her back in a way that might be suspicious if it hadn’t been his stable characteristic for the last two years. The Shu are used to their dynamic of the devout believer jaded sceptic. They had adopted the personas for safe passage before the Shu blockade and been forced to maintain it since then.

It was useful, despite neither Nina nor Matthias being well versed in espionage.

By the time they reach the old refractory buildings, Nina and Matthias are moving at a crawl, speaking to every person they see. Nina’s eyes scan the faces for one that looks out of place, one that screams uncertainty or distrust.

She gets pointed down a dark alley by one of the urchins after she shares with him one of her precious jojo beans. It’s the closest she can get to her sweets in this city. She glances at Matthias and he nods. His body is intentionally relaxed, ready to move as necessary in response to a threat.

Nina leads the way into the factory, looking around carefully as they move into the space. She breathes in deeply and sinks into the meditative state. The air around her settles, buzzing with the life force of the inhabitants of the city. In a couple of breaths, she narrows it further so she can feel the interior of the building.

Matthias mutters under his breath, something about religious mumbo jumbo and insanity.

Nina turns sideways and opens one eye to glare at Matthias. He rolls his eyes and gestures at her to continue.

Her use of the Force is unrefined, based more in the faith that it will work than on actual knowledge about what she’s doing. It’s an old religion and the order they’re with is still respected even if not believed in. Okay, so maybe respected is pushing it. They’re disregarded as religious fanatics who don’t do much of anything.

She follows the light of the Force through the factory, letting it guide her feet, trusting it to protect her from bumping into any of the clutter. Dimly, she senses Matthias grunt as he moves something out of her path before she hits it or it hits her. She keeps her focus on the life signature that shines like a beacon, coming to a stop once they’re in sight of the huddled mass. She opens her eyes and peers into the gloom.

“We’re here to help you,” Nina says. Her soft voice carries around the large space. She ignores Matthias’s mutter about talking to herself.

“Who...who are you?” A tremulous voice asks. It sounds younger than Nina expected, more uncertain. She thought a defector would be more hardened, more convinced of their path to go against the Empire in such a way.

Nina squats down to look at the hunched over figure. Matthias has one hand hovering over his hidden firearm, the other on a dagger. She’s deep in her meditation of the Force and senses no danger from the huddled figure.

“You’re the pilot, right?” Nina asks instead of answering.

His eyes look her over, lingering on her and Matthias’s matching robes. “You’re priests?”

He inches forward. There’s enough light cast on him that his Imperial uniform catches her eye, answering the question he avoids. She smiles softly at him and holds out her hand. Behind her Matthias shifts, disliking her proximity to perceived danger, if she has to guess.

“Word on the street is you’re a defector. We’re here to help.”

...

Wylan doesn't think he's ever been this cold in his life. Which is bizarre because this is a desert planet. You'd think it would be warm but instead he's found himself huddled in dark corners, scavenging like a rat for scraps for the last couple days while he tries to escape notice from the Shu. Jedha was supposed to be a safe haven for him, somewhere the Empire couldn't touch. The Shu had tried to grab him first, had detained him and demanded answers to their questions about the Empire. His protests that he wanted to defect fell on deaf ears. Then they'd dragged him into a cave with a beast they called Bor Gullet.

It's a blur after that.

He remembers waking in a cell to garbled words, a blurred hologram of his father glaring disdainfully down at him. A comment about the Empire being grateful to the Shu. Wylan doesn't know how he escaped. There's a memory of loud noise, a flash of heat, and dirt. Then it's all dark and cold.

He'd avoided people after that, stuck to shadows, and only ventured out when the emptiness of his stomach threatened to eat him from the inside out.

He doesn't even know how long it's been since he escaped the cell...or was released...he doesn't know.

Then the woman appeared, like an angel out of the darkness and she promises salvation.

Wylan knows enough of his father's games not to immediately trust the gesture. "Who are you?"

“We’re with the Rebellion,” she says with a smile.

The monk behind her rolls his eyes and turns away. They don’t look like any monks he recognises. The only person he’s heard of who truly follows the old religion is the Darkling and Wylan’s not so unfortunate to have ever seen him in person. “You don’t look like Rebels.”

“He’s right. We don’t,” the man tells her.

The woman looks over her shoulder, eyes narrowed in a glare. “Matthias Helvar.” She turns conspiratorially back to Wylan and there’s a friendly glint in her eye that makes him want to trust her. “Once he was the most devout of you all. Rose through the ranks of the Empire almost as high as they come. You want out of the Empire. We can help.”

Wylan’s eyes drift over the man’s features and there’s something that reminds him of the way General Brum’s men carry themselves, the elite of the troopers he’s only seen from a distance. Wylan wants to string words together but they slip away like soap and water.

“Will you come with us?” She prompts, yet again.

He can’t combine the fears and hopes and questions into coherent sense. All he can do is nod in agreement. Whether they harm him or save him, he’ll be dead or caught if he stays here on his own. He needs allies and he’s not in a mental state where he can do much of anything himself.

“Good,” she says. She pulls him forward and manhandles Wylan into a monk’s robe over his tattered pilot’s uniform. “I’m Nina. This is Matthias. We’re going to get you out of here alive. Good?”

Wylan nods. She shoves a basket into his hands and drops additional bits of clutter from the warehouse floor into it.

“We should be heading back,” Matthias rumbles.

“Walk between us,” Nina instructs, pulling the hood of his robe up. Matthias mimics the movement. “Don’t make eye contact. Don’t talk to anyone. Just stay in step with us. We’ll speak for you if it comes to that.”

Wylan has enough sense to nod along. He knows talking will only give away his current state of complete confusion. He can see the looks Nina and Matthias exchange in response to his silence. He’s not so lost that he doesn’t understand what’s going on but the thoughts take too long to reach his lips and disappear like fragrance on a breeze.

The ground is dusty and uneven under Wylan’s feet. It captures his attention as he walks, so different from the metal hallways and corridors he’s used to walking. His feet catch from where they scrape the ground and he tries to tell his body to lift his feet higher, but they don’t seem willing to respond any more than what they do by instinct. When was the last time he walked on anything that wasn’t steel?

He’s so preoccupied by swirls of dirt that he walks right into a wall.

Well, not a wall, but the giant monk - Matthias. He bounces off the man’s back, which feels like the equivalent of walking into a wall. The man doesn’t even move in response to him walking into him at full speed, but Wylan almost falls on his butt, and would if it wasn’t for Nina catching him.

She steps past him to stand next to Matthias. She pushes him further into the shadows behind Matthias as she looks past him to see what’s grabbed his attention. Wylan shuffles sideways and ducks down so he can look around the hulking figures.

The white helmets break through his current haze and Wylan stumbles backwards. The Storm Troopers followed him. He can’t allow himself to be captured, not after he finally escaped that place and his father’s restrictive control.

“Wait!” Nina whispers harshly, but Wylan’s body is moving without his consent. The urge to get away is too strong. It drives him, haltingly, step-after-step through twisting and confusing alleyways. He’s not sure where he’s going except away. If he can get to a port, he’s sure he can fly a ship.

Another flash of white Imperial helmets send him careening in another direction which leads him into a square. The sudden exposure leaves him disoriented and he spins around looking for another exit as a child is ushered into one house and shutters are slammed shut. Wylan gulps. He walks back and turns, running into someone for the second time. This time the person rocks as he crashes into them, but Wylan’s still the one wheeling back.

He blinks at the man, carrying some sort of stick. He looks like he could belong here except that his eyes are too intent. It’s the kind of gaze you couldn’t stand for too long but are also scared to look away from. It takes him a second to notice the tiny girl at his side. She’s looking around, causally flipping a blade in her hand. The other rests on a blaster. Now that he realized that, Wylan notices the man is also armed.

“Wylan Van Eck?” The man asks.

Wylan blinks at him in shock. He’s helpless to do anything but nod. They’re not Empire and they don’t look like the Khergud who grabbed him, so they can’t be that bad. Or at least are likely better than the alternative.

“Right. Time to be off. Let Jesper know we’ve got the package.” The man turns abruptly.

Wylan glances at the girl who steps aside and gestures at him to follow. He hasn’t decided if he will when there are footsteps behind him. He twists back to see who’s following and breathes a little easier when the monks appear. Maybe monks are better than whoever the man is.

Maybe he’s dead anyway.

“Oh good. You’re here.” The man says. “We can all go then.”

Nina smirks from where she’s bent over catching her breath. “Nice to see you too, Kaz. Been ages.”

...

It’s convenient that they were able to find the pilot and Nina in one place. He would have trouble getting Inej and Jesper out of here with just the pilot. They’d had no communication with Nina, no way to get in contact with her once they were in the atmosphere. Kaz takes it in stride and moves back the way they came. The rest will follow and someone will make sure the pilot comes along with them.

It would have been a fantastic escape. In and out with no trouble whatsoever. It would have been too lucky for him, so the storm troopers that come streaming racing around the corner where Nina and her friend emerged are hardly a surprise. The real unlucky bit is that they also appear in the two other access points to the square.

The pilot looks ready to bolt. Nina and the second monk steps forward. Kaz respects the bulk of him and hopes that he’s good in a fight. If it were just him and Inej, they would split up and meet at the rendez-vous. The pilot is going to be the issue.

“Halt. Surrender or you will be terminated.”

Inej pushes Wylan behind her and toward Kaz. The boy curls in on himself. How he ever got up the courage to desert the Empire, Kaz hasn’t a clue. Now they just need to get him out of here with whatever valuable knowledge is worth breaking the standoff with the Shu.

Kaz pushes him into a doorway, out of sight of the blasters. “Stay down.”

The boy whimpers.

Nina steps forward, hands raised in a deceptively helpless gesture. “Calm down. We’re all friends here.”

“Stand down or we will open fire,” the trooper repeats. The entire line readies their weapons. Their blasters might be unreliable and clunky, but with so many firing, they’re bound to hit something.

“You don’t want to shoot us.” Nina tries again.

“That’s what you’ve got?” the second monk asks incredulously.

She glares at him. Kaz watches Inej palm a blade and twirl it effortlessly in one hand. The harsh sunlight glints off the edge of the blade: steel instead of a laser edge many prefer. He knows she likes the way the old fashioned blades feel in her hand. They look like they belong in her grasp.

Nina steps forward again, closer and closer to the troopers. “You’re not going to shoot us.”

“Hand over the pilot.” The trooper says. From across the square, Kaz can hear the gun prep to fire. This isn’t working.

“Yeah. That’s not going to happen,” he drawls from the back of the group. The second monk glares at him, but Kaz just twirls his kane, unbothered. It was going to come down to this anyway. There’s no point holding it off as more backup and fire power arrives to support the troopers.

Shadows fall across the square and Kaz gets his first look at the notorious Khergud soldiers who have kept Jedha independent for the last two years. “Imperial Troopers. You have no authority in our city. The pilot is ours.”

Nina, her monk, and Inej grow tense at the new party. Beside him the pilot starts to mutter under his breath, rocking back and forth.

This actually works to their advantage as the troopers are forced to divert their attention. The Khergud fires directly at the troopers before jumping into the air. The troopers open fire, most on the Khergud, judging them to be the bigger threat.

Inej seizes the moment to dive forward into the fight, taking out two opponents in moments before she’s engaged by one of the Shu soldiers. She moves like an acrobat, twirling through flailing limbs that breeze past her. She’s a force of nature.

Kaz is distracted from his awe by a guard landing a few feet away and leaping for Wylan. He dispatches the soldier with a few whacks of his cane. He crumples under a well-placed hit to the temple.

More troopers race toward the noise. They stop around the corner of an alley, firing from their protective spots and forcing the monk and Kaz to step back to cover. They lob a grenade into the square. Kaz takes two steps forward and hits it back with the metal head of his cane. It soars in a perfect arch back to the troopers, who scramble for cover too late.

The monk nods in acknowledgment and moves to relieve Nina from her two enemies. Inej falls back as she takes out her opponent and the rest are distracted by Nina and the monk. She moves to stand alongside Kaz, stretching out the muscles she just used as she slips her blades back in their many holsters. The explosion rocks the block which takes out one contingent of troopers but they're met with more troopers and Shu, crawling out of the cracks like cockroaches.

A moment later shots arc over their heads, rapid fire, each one hitting its target and leaving the recipients incapacitated.

Kaz relaxes infintestimently. He'd been prepared to dive for cover. His hand twitches toward Inej but he knows she can take care of herself. She doesn’t need him trying to tackle her and throwing off her center of balance.

A figure emerges along the roofline, a rifle resting against his shoulder. “There were an awful lot of explosions for people who were supposed to be blending in.”

“I hope you’ve got an exit plan, Brekker,” Nina says. She diverts to the Imperial pilot after a glance at the monk.

He nods and moves for the alley. “This way.” He glances at Inej and up at the roofline. She nods and follows his tacit directions. Kaz leaves her to do what she does best: cover them from the shadows.

Kaz walks with purpose through the streets. Now that fighting has broken out, it appears that no one is holding back. Shu are fighting stormtroopers, troopers are fighting the Khergud and civilians are running for cover. Jesper’s and Inej’s shadows move with them. The monk - who Kaz Brekker suspects is the Druskelle Nina mentioned before she went dark - leads the charge, with his long legs that eat up the ground in long strides. Nina covers their escape with a simple bo staff.

“Where are we going?” The monk asks as he fires off a round of shots.

“Left!” Jesper shouts as he crashes to the ground on the back of a Khergud soldier. “I don’t know why we ever thought this was going to be a quiet mission. And I still say we need a demolition expert.”

“We’re spies, Jesper,” Kaz growls over the sound of battle.

Jesper shoots him a cocky grin over his shoulder. “But this is so much more fun.”

“There’s something wrong with you,” the monk mutters.

“Kaz.”

He looks sideways, unsurprised to find Inej at his shoulder, silent as always. He follows her gaze upwards and nearly stumbles to a stop. “Jedha doesn’t have a moon.”

Nina and the monk stumble to a stop. Jesper glances up for a moment. “That’s what I wanted to tell you. It appeared out of nowhere. It’s too big to be a ship but moons don’t move.”

“That’s it,” Wylan whispers. The pilot suddenly jolts into motion. “We have to go. Now!”

Kaz is forced into an ungainly run. He tries not to notice Inej hovering at his elbow, keeping pace with him as they race toward the ship. The Imperial pilot is ahead of them all, heedless of laser bolts. Jesper yanks him back by the collar to direct him to the correct ship.

As he reaches the ramp, Kaz starts to hear screams.

“Jesper, get us out of here!” Kaz yells. Inej hits the control to shut the ramp as Jesper guns the engine.

“What do you think I’m doing, Brekker? Buckle up. This ride’s about to get bumpy.”

...

The whole world has turned upside down. Matthias isn’t sure what he’s doing, to be perfectly honest. Staying with Nina was a mutually beneficial proposition. They were stuck on a foreign planet, where the only people they could trust were each other. He’d become accustomed to their partnership and been shocked by how much he relied upon her. Now, looking at this ragtag group - so different from the ordered discipline of the elite Druskelle guard - Matthias is at a loss for how the Resistance has managed to become a thorn in the Empire’s side.

He will admit that they were, like Nina, surprisingly capable and effective. However, he can’t hide how scandalized he is by their lack of any sort of recognizable chain of command. The trio moves like his old unit in that they’re so familiar with each other, they don’t need to shout out commands. But their actions of Jedha display an alarming disregard for a cohesive plan and seem to thrive on the chaos of the moment.

“What was that?!” The boy with the cane asks, turning around to stare at the group before his eyes zero in on the unfortunate pilot.

Matthias hasn’t gotten much from the boy, except that he stepped back from the fighting yet was clearly capable of surviving physical confrontation. Nina and his two companions seemed to defer to him as some sort of leader, which spoke to a sharp mind. Nina called him Kaz, which would indicate one of the high level members of Rebel Intelligence. He’s heard him referenced as a nightmare or a demon, spoken of in whispers and myths more than anything else.

All in all: Matthias expected someone older.

“That was the Death Star,” Wylan whispers. His eyes look haunted.

Matthias frowns. “Impossible.” He starts when five sets of eyes jerk towards him in the silence of hyperspace. He grits his teeth. The word wasn’t supposed to be spoken out loud. “They’re decades away from creating that technology.”

Wylan is shaking his head. “No. They found a scientist. Got him to create what they needed. I...I was able to get away. To warn the Rebellion. It’s a planet killer.”

“A planet killer?” The small girl repeats.

“Is that even possible?” Nina glances at him for confirmation. Matthias has no answer. It was only an idea when he was with the Druskelle last. Brum used to talk about it, but it was never close to a reality. Not then.

“Why don’t you ask Jedha?” Kaz says.

“We don’t know that it destroyed the whole planet,” the small girl points out.

The boy doesn’t look away from where he stares out the window at the white streaks of stars passing in hyperspace. “At the very least, we know it destroyed the city. If the Empire has a weapon like that, we’re left defenseless.”

“That’s why I was sent to find you,” Wylan says. He freezes when all eyes turn to him and he curls in on himself from his spot beside the pilot. Matthias has spent years in Imperial bases and has no idea how this pilot managed to get into the program, let alone became important enough to have access to this top secret project. It seems highly suspect to him.

“Sent?” The boy asks, finally turning so his whole body faces the pilot. Matthias does have to admit he cuts an intimidating figure even as he leans on his cane.

The pilot swallows. “The scientist. I was supposed to get to a contact they had with the Rebellion. There was someone I was supposed to connect with...the Wraith? But I got redirected…” He frowns. The more the pilot seems to search for words, the harder they seem to come.

Matthias has seen this before. “He was captured by the Khergud. They most likely probed his mind using Bor Gullet. That’s how they dealt with any Imperial or Rebel spies they found.” He leans back against the steel hull. It actually feels good to be back in space again after being grounded for so long.

It feels like freedom.

The boy looks at Nina. She nods in confirmation. “It’s true. We only escaped detection because of the temple.”

“Because all she would talk about was the Force,” Matthias mutters. He adjusts his muscles so they’re loose and he can react in an instant if needed. Nina drops into the space beside him, using his shoulder as a pillow as she settles in like a cat that can get comfortable anywhere.

“I saved your life,” she says without opening her eyes.

He grunts and doesn’t let his smile emerge.

“The Wraith,” Kaz repeats, focusing on Wylan again. “What were you supposed to tell them?”

Wylan still looks nervous. “Well, I was supposed to pass on...a message...There’s a way to destroy it. A weakness.”

“A weakness?”

Wylan yanks at his hair. It’s useless to try to force him to remember more in his state. Matthias watches the trio of rebels to see what they’ll do at this obstacle.

“He didn’t tell me,” Wylan whispers, clearly realizing this might not endear him to his rescuers at this point. “I was supposed to...bring someone back. They wanted...they wanted someone to rescue them, and they would share the weakness. I was just supposed to be the messenger. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”

Kaz scowls and glances at the girl who looks at the man in the pilot’s seat, all having some sort of silent conversation. Matthias watches the interaction with interest.

“Where is this base?” Kaz finally moves closer, crouching so he can look Wylan in the eyes.

“Eadu.”

Matthias vaguely recalls the outpost. Far from most of the known universe, it’s one of the Empire’s research bases. There’s not a huge platoon placed there for protection. It’s a secret base, kept out of the way, and by necessity sees few changes in personnel. There were a couple training missions on the planet to diversify the team’s experiences and analyze security procedures.

“We don’t have anyone on Eadu,” the girl notes.

“Because Eadu’s on lockdown. Nothing in or out that isn’t high level.” The boy flying the craft throws over his shoulder. “Out of the flight academy, I only stopped there once because they needed a supply run immediately. They didn’t even let me off the shuttle. To be a pilot there, you’d have to have some pretty impressive clearance.”

Matthias alters his assessment of the crew that got them off Jedha. To get through the Imperial Flight Academy is impressive. The man also demonstrated impressive aim and combat skills. Despite not being highly regimented, they do appear to be a solid team. He glances down at Nina.

“So in order to get the information on the weakness, we have to go to Eadu,” the girl says. She’s twirling a knife in her hands, one with a true steel blade like he hasn’t seen in ages. Her comfort with it is another mark in their favor.

“Jesper’s right. It’s impenetrable. We haven’t managed to get anyone on the inside.” Kaz taps his fingers on the head of his cane.

“So we go.” The girl shrugs. “We redirect. We need to find a way to beat this thing or millions more are going to die.”

“Procedure is to report for further orders. We’ve got the pilot.” Kaz looks at her with a heavy look.

“Matthias can help.” Nina elbows him as she speaks up.

He scowls down at her as everyone turns to stare at him. She didn’t even bother to open her eyes to betray him.

“I’m not a traitor.” Matthias glares at the lot of them.

“You’ll help,” Nina says with a self-assuredness he’s come to hate over the last couple of years. Because as irksome as it is, she’s usually right about these things. They both know it.

“We’re supposed to just trust a stranger on your word?” Jesper asks.

“Get twisted, Fahey. You know my word is good.”

Kaz and the woman - whose name Matthias still doesn’t know - have another silent conversation. She turns to look at him, her eyes speculative. Kaz leans closer to her. “You think you can do this?”

She doesn’t take his eyes from Matthias. Her knives continue the casual twisting in her hand. She shrugs and looks back at the mastermind. “It is our kind of job.”

Kaz nods. “Jesper, alter course. Van Eck, help get him close without being seen. Matthias, you need to tell us everything you know, and quickly.”

“Why should I?”

“Because if you don’t, I’m going to make your life very unpleasant.”

“How do you even know the pilot is right? How do you know there really is a weakness? This could be a trap.” It sounds like the kind of thing Jarl Brum would think up to capture Rebel spies.

“Faith,” Nina says. “This is the right choice.” She finally sits up and stretches.

Matthias rolls his eyes at her religious display. He sighs. “I can tell you what I know. It could still be a trap.”

“The pilot is Wylan Van Eck. He’s on my list of potential informants. He became an Imperial pilot because of familial connections. It’s how he has access to sensitive information. We know they’re working on something on Eadu. If this is what he says, then we need that information.” The girl explains it in an even voice.

“And if there isn’t a secret weakness?”

Kaz and Inej exchange a long look.

“Then we find another way to blow it up,” Jesper supplies.

Matthias isn’t sure he likes the looks of glee on their faces.

“So how do we get in?”

The girl turns to look at Matthias, her dark eyes just the slightest bit terrifying now that he’s actually getting a good chance to size her up. She tends to fade into the background and let her comrades take charge, but definitely is not to be underestimated. He stares at her and then glances at Kaz.

“Inej is a ghost,” Nina says. “She can get in and out without anyone noticing.”

He looks her over, still assessing. This moment, more than any in the last two years of surviving, feels like he’s standing on the edge of a cliff. The last two years he could justify to his superiors: he was surviving a hostile planet, he had to get close to Nina or he would have died, he was trying to learn the secrets of the Rebel scum. This was different. If he does this, he’s helping the Rebel cause. He’s actively going against everything he’s ever learned.

Nina hits him in the shoulder, as if sensing his internal conflict. She twists upright to look at him and raises an eyebrow in challenge.

He can hear her voice in his head, berating him for his strict no-nonsense rules and his consuming hatred for anything that goes against the order of the Empire. There were countless debates as they marched through Jedha, each an intellectual exercise. He can honestly say that he doesn’t believe the Empire is never wrong, but is that enough to make him give up their secrets?

“They murdered everyone in Jedha,” she whispers to him softly. “Lin, Mauri, Katya…” She closes her eyes against the pain.

He wants to wrap her in his arms and pull her close. Nina feels everything so deeply, unable to stop herself from connecting with everyone she meets. He wants to protect from that pain, to comfort her. Those lives lost today. They were innocents. People that should have been protected and instead…

He opens his eyes and nods his agreement to Nina.

She grins, life and joy filling her back up as she bounces around in her seat, the way she gets excited whenever they found something reasonably sweet on Jedha. “Matthias meet Inej. Inej, meet Matthais. He’s a little shy but he knows what’s at stake.”

It’s like shedding a piece of armor or throwing off the last vestiges of who he once was. There’s no turning back now, and he has surprisingly little regret as he opens his eyes and asks the first damning question: “Where do you want to start?”

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