The Love of a Crow - Wesper/Crows Fanfiction/AU

26. Inej

"Thank Ghezen you have finally come to your senses you big oaf. We should have a party to celebrate; a Waffle Party! I wonder if Jesper finally took my advice and asked him out..." Nina babbled as she dragged Inej to the door. "Come on, Nej, we have to go get them!"

Inej laughed as she was yanked; the Crows would be back in one place again! All her worries and fears would lessen if she was able to watch over the people she loved. And as she left she could have sworn Kaz was thinking the same thing as he smiled.

Kaz:

"So, what did you two get up to?' Nina asked slyly as the Crows lounged in various positions around the Crow Room that Wylan had made a sorry attempt to clean up. The boy was back at work now, and Kaz had to admit he had resilience, but Wylan froze as Nina interrogated him.

"What do you mean?" He asked nervously.

"Oh come on, you can't tell me you just sat around building bombs for weeks!"

Wylan looked helplessly at Jesper. The latter grinned and shrugged his loose shoulders.

"Oh, the usual. What do you and Matthias do when you're alone?" He stated. It wasn't a question.

The room erupted into chaos. Matthias spat out half his drink on an unexpecting Wylan, who was too busy whacking Jesper with a pillow and trying to hide his beetroot-red face. Jesper merely smiled that devilish smile again and whispered something only Wylan could hear. Inej and Nina were too busy laughing to notice.

"That wasn't... we didn't... Jesper, I swear to Ghezen-" Wylan stuttered angrily.

"Relax, Wylan, I believe you. Besides, unless all you two were doing was reading some written Fjerden play then I'm sure that couldn't be further from the truth." Nina rolled her eyes as Matthias glared at her, and the others laughed.

Kaz tried not to gag. The very idea of Jesper and Wylan, of Matthias and Nina... it was sickening. How could they be so care-free with each other? So easy and able-minded to touch one's skin, to hug one close, to kiss one's lips. If he didn't know any better, Kaz might consider himself jealous. Still, the feeling was bittersweet.

His Crows were happy. They were thriving in the dingy dung-house he called home. And besides; it was good to see that Jesper had finally moved on. Though Wylan denied it firmly, it was clear that one glance between each other showed they were head over heels, as a drunken poet might say. How long would it last? Would it face the harsh Barrel storms and gunfire and come out victorious? Or would it all come crashing back down? Kaz could protect them, but he couldn't protect this. They would have to face that battle alone.

You know, you seem to be quite the romantic today, Brekker, an annoying voice in his head pestered. I wonder how deep your envy for these people goes.

Kaz shook his head, trying to dislodge Inej's voice. It was always there, even when she was far across the city, and Kaz knew it was a part of her that would never go silent, that would beat and bang and sooth his head like the unimaginable force of the sea. It was a comfort.

She was looking at him now. Inej. As if the words were coming directly from her mind and were being transferred across. Kaz wouldn't be surprised; his Wraith was a woman of many talents.

"Kaz? Kaz! Come on demjin, we were asking what your plan was for Scales now." Matthias broke Kaz's thoughts.

The plan was like pulling shards of glass from the ground in the dark; one wrong move and they could find themselves stabbed. Though Scales had been taken down a few pegs by his scrape with the Dime Lions, an injured animal was all the more deadly than a sane one.

All the Crows had been trying to root out any remaining Dregs spies, and they seemed to be getting somewhere, but with every spy caught, there were two other possible suspects. And they all had their eyes on one prize.

Wylan did his best to act oblivious to the dozen people wanting him dead, but Kaz could tell that he hadn't been sleeping, nor could he be in a room by himself anymore. If he had it his way Kaz would have had him shipped back to the safe house they day the found the first spy, but that would never end well with the others, and he didn't even know if he could trust people like Anika or Pim anymore.

"The more we leave Scales to his own devices, the more powerful he gets. We need to take him out at the heart of his operation, and that means taking out his money." Kaz said. Without looking at Wylan, he added; "We need to take out Van Eck."

"No!" Wylan jumped up. "No, no, Kaz, you can't do that. I won't let you. He's still... he's still my father, and-"

"Wylan, do us all a favour and don't interrupt me!" Kaz growled, whilst Wylan just looked confused. "I don't mean to kill Van Eck, I meant to just stop him supplying Scales."

"Oh." Wylan whispered sheepishly, as the others tried to contain their laughter. Still, Wylan's words bothered Kaz. If it came down to it, he would like nothing better then to sink his cane into Van Eck's chest and watch the man writhe in a pool of blood. But Wylan would have him spared? Why? Kaz couldn't quite grasp the concept, and it seemed neither could Jesper, as the words seemed to bother him as well.

"So how do we take out Van Eck without him realising?" Matthias asked.

"We have to get him to realise that Scales isn't worth his time or his money. We have to make Scales screw up bad enough it will affect everything he has worked for. If Van Eck is smart, he'll pull out at the first sign of trouble; a Merchant can't be caught doing something remotely involved in gang activity without it reflecting badly. If we push hard enough, Scales will be left penniless. All we have to figure out is where his main base of operations is; every good gang has one." Kaz explained.

Nina groaned. "Can't we just have one day off?"

Kaz rolled his eyes. "You have done nothing for the past three weeks, Zenik."

"That is not true! Just yesterday I was scouting the area for potential waffle houses!"

The arguments continued until everyone grew too tired to care or judge the best joint to buy waffles at. Slowly they retired to bed, bidding each other goodnight like everything was... normal. Like they were regular friends merely meeting up to discuss the weather. Not partners in crime that maimed and killed. But, in a way, that only made them stronger. They had seen death, had been deep into its hungry jaws, and had pulled each other back out. Who needed friends when you had Crows? 

A/N: Yay! The band got back together! I am so excited for the next chapter, it's really quite sad, and I probably need to get out more, but oh well! Bye!