𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐎𝐍𝐄 — cut your losses

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 𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊 by the time Aleksa and Kaz managed to find themselves at the fountain and rendezvous with both Jesper and inej. Jesper seemed as chipper as usual as he danced his fingers along the handles of his pistols for comfort, clearly his own fight had gone rather well.

 Inej, however, was leaning the majority of her weight against the brick wall, blood seeping through her shirt and staining the skin of her fingertips. Aleksa had surged forth the moment she caught sight of the blood, crouching ever so slightly as she pried Inej's hand away from her wound.

 "What happened?" Aleksa muttered softly as she scanned the injury whilst Jesper curled his arm around the Wraith's waist to keep her steady.

 "The Inferni..." Inej's swallow was audible to them all, "She's dead."

 Aleksa peered up at her friend and whilst she felt that sliver of sympathy for the Inferni, it was easily overwhelmed by the relief that Inej was alive. She stood from her crouch, eyes meeting Inej's, "You won't be able to manage a horse... We need to stitch that up."

 Jesper groaned and readjusted his grip; he could easily watch with glee as his shining bullets carved through flesh and bone, yet the thought of a blood-stained needle weaving through skin was enough for his stomach to flip. He was glad that Aleksa had steady enough hands to do the task; she never did shy away from stitching any of them up, nor soaking their knuckles with the sting of alcohol.

 Aleksa joined Inej's side, her own arm slipping behind the Wraith to assist Jesper; she had no care if droplets of blood-stained her sleeves or trailed to her boots. As the Shadow Summoner glanced back at Kaz, his attention had departed from his Crows and landed on the extravagant carriage that had been left behind by the Darkling and his Grisha.

 The carriage was made of sleek ebony wood, each curve lined with a smattering of gold paint that glinted in the sunlight.

 Kaz flicked his muddy eyes back to them, "That's a pretty nice ride."

 From where they stood, mere metres away from the luxurious ride, they could all easily see the top of a person's head. Unkempt hair stuck up, darting to and fro as the head lightly bobbed. Aleksa knew that the person inside was likely a Grisha if they had been chosen to accompany her brother... yet Aleksander wasn't foolish, he wouldn't have left a Heartrender behind, nor an Etherialnik.

 Aleksa nodded to the carriage just as the person inside shifted, allowing her a perfect view of the Garish purple kefta he wore, "He's probably a Fabrikator, we won't have much trouble," The grip she had on Inej tightened as she addressed Jesper, "Go on, I've got her."

 Jesper was hesitant to let go and only followed through once Inej had settled her weight on Aleksa, offering him a nod to proceed. The sharpshooter scurried around the carriage whilst Kaz waited on the other side, cane ready to be swung.

 Aleksa shouldn't have found the following moments to be as funny as she did for her stomach still twisted and turned as she replayed the night over and over in her head. The look of utter disdain on Alexander's face, his tone when he'd spoken to Kaz.

 Aleksa never underestimated the Bastard of the Barrel and his bag of magic tricks that had somehow kept him alive for so damn long, but even she couldn't see how a flash bomb would have saved his neck from the cut. That moment has surely been pivotal.

 Aleksa had secured her side, and shown her own brother that she was willing to side herself with the ones who had stolen his Sun Summoner away; he now knew that she was the fourth member of their crew. She hadn't looked back as they ran through the shadows — she could only imagine the look that would have painted her brother's dark features.

 His scream of her name had been enough to shake her knees and force her heart to thud within her chest. Would he extend the same punishment to her; the cut? Would he go that far? Aleksa didn't believe that Aleksander would harm her in such a manner, after all, like calls to like.

 He had uttered the phrase around her like a mantra. They were one and the same; Grisha shunned for their ancestors' actions. They would never be accepted into the world as people; only as a reminder of the scar that ran along the map. But it was more than that.

 They were powerful. No Inferni, no Squallor or Heartrender would ever possess the power and control that ran through the Morozova bloodline. They would forever be the only ones of their kind, leaving everybody behind in the dust.

 A loud THWACK rang through the air, finally bringing Aleksa back to the present. Kaz had his cane clutched within his leather-bound fingers as he stared at the poor Fabrikator that had slumped headfirst into the mud.

 Jesper climbed through the carriage, shoes almost slipping in the sloshing mud as he held a book up for the Crows to peer at. He scoffed, "He threw a book at me."

 "Even a stranger knows that your pretty head is empty, how very telling, Jesper." Aleksa chimed, grinning as she felt Inej's shoulders shake against her.

 Jesper would have usually argued with Aleksa until the sun set once more, however as they all caught sight of Inej's wince, he simply slapped his cheeks, "Who needs brains when you look this good?"

 A beat passed, and when nobody made a move to either enter the carriage or comment on Jesper's declaration, the sharpshooter sulked and trailed back inside the carriage, planting his boney behind on one of the seats.

 Kaz exhaled through his nose, shaking his head at Jesper before he turned back to the Shadow and the Wraith. Neither of their eyes were on him, Aleksa had leaned closer to Inej, uttering soft words as she slowly stepped forwards.

 Inej had gritted her teeth, eyes clamped shut as she followed Aleksa's directions and took step after step, gradually making their way closer to the carriage. Kaz waited for them both to climb inside, assisted by Jesper even despite the childish frown on his lips, and once everybody was settled, he followed after them.

 The old barn that the Crows had deemed shelter for the night was nothing less than... grimy. The wood had been eaten away by rot from the heavy downfall of autumn. Straw and hay lined the floor, and though the ground was primarily made of stern concrete, plants and weeds slipped through the cracks and sought out the sun that spilt through the holes in the roof.

 There were stacks of old crates that likely held fruits and vegetables that had been grown around the barn, ready to be sold in the market. All they held now were crumbs and a single dead beetle that Aleksa had scowled at.

 Aleksa and Jesper hobbled through the doorway with Inej sandwiched between them. The Wraith tried her best to stand upon her own two feet, yet the blood she had lost made her head swim with clouds, her vision doused with black spots. The ache of the open wound flared with every movement.

 She collapsed onto a pile of hay with a groan as Aleksa dropped to her knees and began to free her wound from the fabric she wore. Blood covered Aleksa's hands and from the size of the hole that marred Inej's stomach, there was absolutely no way they could leave it unattended any longer.

 The sound of clattering knives and jingling coins played behind her, yet the Summoner spared little attention to Kaz as he sorted through their remaining weapons and funds.

 "Jesper," Aleksa called out, hand still firmly placed against Inej's stomach in the hopes she'd prevent further blood loss, "Pass me Inej's bag, I'll have to stitch this."

 "I can do it —" Inej tried as she pushed against the ground with her palms, only to be soothed back down.

 "No you can't, you're blinking at me like a drunk and your hands are shaking." She sounded like a stern mother at that moment and the thought almost made Aleksa cringe. Yet as Inej blew out a pained breath, she rounded on Jesper with an arm outstretched and fingers wriggling, "Gimmie."

 When the bag was firmly within her grip, Aleksa withdrew the twine and pointed needle that Inej tended to keep with her; ironically enough, the needle was actually meant for Aleksa and when she'd trail into the Slat with blood seeping from her knuckles. Inej would often tut and drag the Grisha into her room, dousing her scrapes with kravas before stitching them closed.

 Aleksa prided herself on having steady hands; they were a product of the years spent training beneath her brother, each slap of the wrist had been a reminder to keep her fingers still and her breathing completely silent.

 The twine slipped through the hole of the needle with ease, and Aleksa tied a small knot before bringing the tip of the needle to Inej's skin. She heard Jesper gag,

 "Mother of Saints." The sharpshooter muttered as he fanned himself with his hand.

 Kaz, who had remained utterly silent as he watched Aleksa's fingers work away with the needle, cleared his throat, "How long until she can travel."

 The girls answered at once, "Not long."

 Aleksa swatted Inej's hand away from the wound and proceeded with her stitching. The blood on her fingertips made it a tough job as the small sliver of metal threatened to slip from her hold.

 "Where?" Aleksa added, sparing a second to meet Kaz's eyes. He looked away.

 The Bastard of the Barrel had run out of ideas. They had little coin left to line their pockets and fill their guts; and whilst they might have been able to rely on Aleksa to charm an entire bar into giving them what they needed, he didn't want to. His hands tightened at the mere thought.

 Kaz was known for his elaborate plans, his incessant ability to weasel his way out of anything, but that was gone. Alina Starkov, the girl who would ensure that they could return to Ketterdam without a worry was gone. She wasn't there to set the Fold ablaze and offer safe travel. She wasn't there to be bartered for stacks of Kruge. They were done.

 Aleksa wanted to round on the boy, perhaps offer words with a teasing edge to make him see sense. To make him come up with something, anything. They had all done so much and come so far, only to turn back worse off than they ever had been.

 She had battled with her own fear and delved through the Fold, she had looked her own brother in the eye as she turned her back on him in favour of helping Kaz escape. They had fought and schemed until their eyes had slipped shut, and now there was nothing else they could do.

 So for all of the arguing Aleksa wanted to invoke, there was no point. Kaz was right, as usual.

 Kaz continued on as he avoided each of their gazes. Whilst they were unfamiliar with him giving up, he was unfamiliar with admitting defeat, "Between our dwindling funds, lack of time and —" He paused to offer Inej a pointed look, one in which she turned away from, "Conflicting interests. It's time we cut our losses."

 He didn't wait for a response from any of them, and as he slipped from the barn, he refused to meet their eyes. He had put everything on the line for this heist and yet he was to return with nothing, and to nothing. He couldn't imagine the reaction he'd get from Aleksa if she knew what he'd truly put on the line. He dreaded to think.

 Aleksa watched him go, her lips tugging down as he disappeared out the door, leaving the Summoner, Sharpshooter and the Wraith in a bleak and unsettling silence.

 Jesper gagged again when Aleksa continued to suture Inej's wound and even Inej had to comment, "You can watch a bullet tear through a man, but a needle's too much?"

 Jesper held his fist to his lips, biting at the skin of a calloused finger, "Yeah, well, thing is, a bullet is BAM; in and out. That..." He pointed at the needle smothered with blood and almost folded in half, "That's just..."

 He never did finish his sentence, only groaned as he struggled to keep the contents of his stomach inside of him rather than spilling it on the floor in front of him. His hands were shoved into his pockets, picking away at a stray thread, "So... Where'd you learn to do that?"

 Aleksa's answer was short and clipped as her eyes narrowed on the wound that was steadily being sealed, "Inej taught me."

 "And where did —"

 "— The Menagerie." Inej supplied. Her eyes slipped shut as she spoke the name of the place that had become her very own personal hell. A Hell that she couldn't return to.

 Jesper, ever the boy to see the good in everything, shrugged, "Okay, but why would you..." He clocked on. His brows pinched together and he mentally kicked himself in the leg, "Oh... That's dark."

 "Which is why I can't go back."

 Aleksa wanted to beg her friend to stay, to return home with them. But even if Aleksa saw the dull and decrepit streets of the Barrel as her home, she knew that Inej did not. The Suli girl who had become a killer saw them as nothing but a reminder of the home that had been stolen from her.

 Ketterdam had robbed Inej Ghafa of her family, her home, innocence and safety... So how could Aleksa possibly ask the Wraith to return? She loved Inej; the girl was stubborn, motherly, but mostly she was kind. She had accepted Aleksa within a heartbeat and from the moment Aleksa had been deemed a crow, they had been inseparable.

 But Aleksa couldn't be selfish and drag Inej back; for even Aleksa knew what was waiting for her.

 "You know," Jesper began, allowing the twitch of unease he felt to diminish. He couldn't watch her leave either, "I'm sure if you told Kaz, he'd do something. I mean... Aleksa looks about ready to murder Heleen herself."

 Aleksa knotted the twine, fingers sliding here and there as blood seeped down them. Inej would be fine, she'd need rest and time to recover, but the wound wouldn't hinder her too much once her spotty vision vanished.

 The Shadow Summoner sniffed and easily caught the rag Jesper had tossed her way. She scrubbed her fingers, watching as the red slowly turned into pink on her stained hands. Her eyes flicked up, cerulean filled with malice, "You could give me the word, Inej. I would do it."

 "I know you would. But I don't want you to." Inej's throat was steadily tightening, "Jesper. I can't go back."

 So it was out in the air, Inej would not be returning with them. Aleksa wanted to scream, to march back to Ketterdam herself and burn down that blasted brothel with Heleen tucked away inside, screaming as the flames devoured her. But oh, kind Inej.

 Though maybe it wasn't kindness that spurred Inej to halt Aleksa's plans. For as kind and compassionate as Inej Ghafa was, nobody could deny the vehement spark of hatred that glistened within her dark iris' whenever Heleen was mentioned. So maybe the Wraith was merely waiting out time until she could get her own revenge.

 It didn't matter, not really. If it was Inej's last day or night with them, they wouldn't waste it by speaking of Heleen or the Menagerie.

 Jesper cleared the lump in his throat, eyes darting to Inej's as the Wraith rose her brows at him, "I was... I was going to tell you to trust Kaz and that neither he nor Aleksa would let you go back... But..." He trailed off, hands on his hips as his voice trailed from his lips far softer than either of them had ever heard it, "But I don't have the right to tell you what you should do with your shot at freedom."

 There were tears within the Wraiths eyes, clinging to those beautifully dark lashes as she tried to steady the beating of her heart. Her hand closed around Aleksa's, ignoring the blood that still clung to her skin, "The both of you make this a lot harder, you know."

 "Obviously." Aleksa whispered before sucking in a sharp breath as Jesper gently planted a hand on her shoulder, thumb rubbing at the thin fabric of her shirt, "We're delightful."

 Night had fallen around the bleak barn; the wood creaked with every little breeze, and the door whined on its hinges as it swayed back and forth, struggling to keep upright at all.

 Jesper had disappeared to survey their surroundings, though that was likely an excuse to keep his itching fingers on his pistols. He always did become rather trigger-happy when away from the tables.

 Kaz remained alone by the fire that crackled outside the barn, crow-head clutched in his hands as he stared the flames down as though he'd find some silly prophecy within the billowing embers... not that he'd believe the prophecy, of course.

 Aleksa had stayed glued to Inej's side, willing to dote on her friend as she rested and regained her breath. Inej however, couldn't stop her fidgeting. Back at the tavern, before the Darkling and his motley crew of assorted Grisha had arrived to hunt them down... Kaz had let something slip, something that the Wraith was certain Aleksa knew nothing about.

 Sweat had beaded on Inej's forehead and those pesky little hairs that hated to be tamed were slick against her skin. The moonlight crept through the holes in the roof, washing her in a ghostly glow, yet somehow as she stared at Aleksa, she could only see a Grisha glowing beneath a spotlight.

 "Aleksa?" Inej muttered softly, though her lips hiked higher as Aleksa snapped her attention away from a mindlessly surveying a flower that had pushed its way through the concrete, dancing beneath the moonlight "I need to tell you something."

 Aleksa looked akin to a deer before its hunter. Those were words that scarcely brought anyone a sliver of comfort, if anything, she was used to dishing such a phrase out to others before making them weep as she told them she held no affection towards them.

 "Alright." Aleksa finally spoke, "But please don't tell me you're in love with me, that would be really, really awkward."

 "I'm not in love with you, I swear."

 A beat passed as Aleksa narrowed her cerulean gaze that only shone further in the dark, "Now, I'm aware that I told you not to be in love with me, yet I'm still a little bit wounded."

 "You'll get over it. Now shut up." Inej waited as she listened to the whistle of the wind whipping around the barn. The crackling of the fire and the smell of light smoke were almost comforting. When she was certain Aleksa wouldn't interrupt, she spilled, "Back at the tavern, Kaz said something about... About Heleen getting his shares of the Crow Club."

 "What?" Aleksa hadn't even thought before she'd spoken. Her brows had furrowed, coming together in a line, looking utterly bewildered.

 She couldn't think of a single reason that Kaz Brekker would willingly give his shares of the damned club to anyone, least of all Heleen. Why hadn't he told her? Why didn't he say something instead of accidentally spilling such news to Inej?

 The Crow Club was Kaz's pride and joy, even if he didn't own the damned place. He had taken years to build the club into something recognisable and successful; Per Haskell might have owned the dwelling, he might flaunt his success and rave about the Crow clubs growth, but everybody knew that Kaz Brekker was behind its success. Every gang, every Crow and every Pidgeon knew that the Crow Club was only standing because of him, the Bastard of the Barrel.

 So why? His meagre fifteen percent had never been enough for Kaz, he'd always wanted more, enough to buy the place out from Haskell and finally call it his own, and now suddenly Heleen was in the running to take what little he posessed?

 Aleksa couldn't understand it; she had thought she'd known Kaz better than anybody, but maybe she didn't.

 Aleksa rose to her feet, fingers grappling out to pluck the woollen coat she'd borrowed from Kaz. It breezed around her, hems gliding over her calves whilst the cuffs of her sleeves covered her knuckles, "I'm going to talk to him."

 Inej only smiled.

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DATE: 14/12/2022

:･ﾟ★ oof, kaz is in trouble ;) anyway, the next chapter is kinda cute? obviously aleksa talks to kaz, rather than inej (and don't worry, unlike 90% of kaz fics, i didn't just give aleksa inej's lines lmao)

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