Getting Out While You Can

Ghost File

Croft's expression was guarded but he opened the drawer next to him, pulling out a ring of keys. He stood up and gestured for us to follow him. Dimitri and I stood and trailed after him. He lead us down a back hall and down a flight of stairs. I had never seen this part of Court before, even when I worked in the archives.

I glanced up at Dimitri with mild concern, but he gave me a reassuring look. Croft unlocked the doors and stepped in, leaving room for us to follow. There were a handful of Guardians sitting at the monitors and they all turned and stood up at attention. Croft muttered something to them and they sat down. A few others eyed Dimitri and me for a few moments, one going as far as to glare at me.

"What is she doing here?"

"Guardian Hathaway is here to help us find a hidden file," Croft said bluntly, crossing his arms over his chest. "Winchester; bring us the CCTV file."

The man sitting directly in front of him nodded and clicked on a few things on his computer before opening a program. It was the same program that I looked through earlier.

"What now?" Winchester asked.

"Open the folder that says Vladimir Square," I piped up, stretching up on my toes so that I could see the screen better. He opened the file and turned his head to look at me.

"Look in the diagnostics folder, there should be another folder called Daphne's Sector."

Croft looked at me when the file showed up on the screen. He nodded and spoke. "Open the folder, go back to the day Her Majesty was attacked. Wind it back to thirty minutes previous."

Winchester did what he asked and blew up the feeds so they covered all of the screens. It made it easier to look at all of them at once. Winchester set the viewing feed to speed up, and I could see Tatiana moving around. I watched her tuck the bag she had packed into the closet.

I noticed a woman step into the frame on the other screen and I pointed. "There."

Winchester pulled that camera up and the cameras that would follow. It was clear that it wasn't me, and when she stepped into the room with Tatiana, everyone else saw her face too.

"Natasha Ozera," Croft said with a grunt, crossing his arms over his chest. "Good work, Hathaway."

"How do we know that she didn't make all of this up," the Guardian who spoke before demanded.

"Because this file was only known by a few people, and she never would have had the clearance or access to this. She was tipped off. I want a copy made, I'll be bringing it to Her Majesty."

We all watched the violence unfold, and I had to say that Tatiana did manage to hold her own. She fought Tasha off pretty well, but a stake is a stake. It's going to hurt like a bitch. It was only a few moments after Tasha had left that I came into frame, no charm. I watched myself take in the scene before finding Tatiana.

Croft turned to me and rested his hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said, "You've been innocent this whole time."

"Told you," I said bluntly before sighing, "I think I deserve a formal apology, but I doubt I'd get it."

Croft scoffed a laugh and nodded. "Probably not, kid."

I shrugged unsurprised. "Just so you know, in case someone decides to try and cover her track, I made copies. Many copies and they're all hidden," I stated, looking at each of the Guardians in the room, letting my eyes linger on the asshat in the corner.

"How many Guardians have access to this room?" I asked Croft quietly.

"Nine," Croft said.

"Then I suggest you start looking into them. Someone was trying to cover this up, and they almost succeeded."

Croft nodded and turned back to Winchester when he handed him a thumb drive. Croft slipped it into his pocket before gesturing to the door. "Let me walk the both of you out."

I nodded and gave a tight smile to Winchester before following Croft out into the hall. Croft locked the door again and led us back up the stairs. I sighed to myself when Dimitri's hand stroked my arm softly as I walked in front of him. I turned and smiled at him.

Croft led us past his office and out a side door, holding it open for us. It led to a small courtyard and I gave him a curious look as he shut the door and faced us.

"You know that Natasha had help," Croft stated.

I nodded and crossed my arms over my chest, the cold air nipping at my arms. Dimitri moved closer to me and I could feel his body heat radiating off of him, but he also blocked the wind.

"How?"

"How do I know that I can trust you?"

"I'd like to think that you could. I wouldn't let them toss you in a cell when you showed up."

I pursed my lips and looked at Dimitri. He nodded his head and rested his hands on my shoulders.

"We should talk in your office."

"We shouldn't. We don't know for sure that nothing is in there," Croft stated stepping closer, crossing his arms over his chest, shoulders hunched against the cold.

"Her Majesty's Guardians were involved. She asked for my help and told me to come during their shift change. They went too early; they knew what was going to happen. She doesn't trust anyone."

"But she trusts you."

I shrugged. "Why not? I'm an outsider now."

"What was she planning?"

"We were going to fake her death. She didn't want this any more than we did. She was hoping that her death would cause enough of a revolt that the government would fall. She had hoped that the society would end up dissolving on itself. No more Moroi society. Just us walking amongst the humans."

"The Moroi would barely survive."

"But we would!" I exclaimed, "We would thrive! There is a way for us to be able to sustain our race on our own! We wouldn't need them! They would learn that they need us way more than we need them."

Croft took in what I said with a calm expression, but his brows were furrowed.

"Tatiana really had it all planned out," he said.

"People were already angry enough. If the society thought a Moroi murdered the Queen to get what they wanted, it would have caused even more outrage. Natasha did exactly that, she tried to kill her to push her own agenda."

I watched Croft nod and sigh. It looked like there was a heavy weight on his chest.

"I will seek out the Queen myself. Once I have her confirm that Natasha was the one, we'll make a formal arrest," Croft said, "I'm very grateful for your help. Both of you."

I nodded and shivered. "You're welcome. Can we get back inside now? I'm freezing!"

Croft smirked and turned to open the door, letting us slip back inside, the door slamming shut with a bang. 

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A bit of a filler chapter, but also kind of important to move the story along.

Let me know what you think!:)