bonus chapter (woh) ─── little vipers
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𝕸alkus and Jordie Brekker were well known around the Barrel. Wherever they walked, children were pulled from their path, men took their caps from their head and women bowed their heads.
In the past, that had bothered the pair, but they had soon got over it. They only needed each other and the rest of the vipers anyway, not caring for the opinions of others. It was one of the first lessons that their mother taught them. Stasiaj Yahontov had never wanted either of her boys to feel upset or pressured because of the status of their parents.
Malkus, who had grown up in the height of Kaz Brekker and Stasiaj Yahontov's take over of the Barrel, had been used to the stares that he had gotten. Jordie, on the other hand, had often come home from school close to tears, wondering why none of the other children wanted to play with him and the teachers seemed scared of him.
Stasiaj had introduced him to toffee, pulled him into her arms and pressed kisses to his cheeks until the tears faded and told him that his father and her were feared, but that he'd always have a home with the Vipers and the Crows.
"Jordie. Stop sulking." The teenager looked up, a scowl crossing his face as Malkus appeared in the doorway with a trouble making grin plastered across his face. "It doesn't look good on you."
"Shut up." Malkus laughed, shaking his curly hair out. "What are you even doing here?"
"I've got to get something for Da." Malkus replied, shaking a package. "You know, cause I have a job."
"I don't understand why Da won't let me help."
"Cause he doesn't want you doing illegal things." Malkus shrugged, before grinning. "It's not a big deal."
"Yes, it is." Jordie muttered.
"I'll see you for dinner. Da and I might be late, we've got a meeting. Tell ma."
"Will do." Jordie waved him off, scribbling down the last notes for his homework before disappearing to go and find his mother. Trailing down the stairs, he watched as Celia led someone from the house, before hurrying down. "Is Ma in? Can I go talk to her?"
"She's free but she has a meeting in half an hour." Jordie nodded, before knocking on the study door and entering. His mother sat in her chair, reading through notes ahead of her next meeting.
"Ma." Stasiaj looked up, her painted lips curling into a smile as she stood. She was, as per normal, dressed in a long gown though this was in red, rubies in her ears and hair.
"My little boy." Jordie felt a smile grow on his face, accepting his mother's embrace as she ran her fingers through his hair and pulled back to smile at him. "I didn't hear you get back from school."
"You were in a meeting."
"You could have interrupted. I wouldn't have minded." Stasiaj grinned, before taking the lid off of a pot next to her so Jordie could snatch a toffee from it. "How was school?"
"Fine. I didn't speak to anyone, no one spoke to me and all my work is done." Stasiaj seemed to wince at that, before smiling sympathetically. "I wanted to talk to you."
"What about?" Stasiaj sat back down at her desk, tilting her head as she watched him. Jordie took a deep breath, before kissing his teeth and nodding.
"Ma, I want to finally get involved in the business."
"No."
"What? You haven't even heard me out yet." Jordie protested, looking at his mother incredulously.
"I don't need to. It's not happening."
"Why not?"
"You're my son. I don't want you involved in it and neither does your father."
"Malkus is involved." Jordie pointed out, folding his arms and cocking an eyebrow. "He's also your son as is Ivarn and Celia and all the other vipers."
"That's different."
"No, it's not."
"Yes, it is." Stasiaj watched him, her eyebrow cocked and Jordie felt a chill go down his spine. Even if he was getting the lesser version of his mother's famed glare, he hated it. Jordie pitied the poor fools who ever took the full brunt of her glare and cold tone, though he responded to this with a glare of his own. "They grew up in it."
"So have I."
"No, Jordie, you have not." Stasiaj shook her head again. "I found Malkus when he was born, out on the street, I took him and raised him with Ivarn and some of the other vipers. They collected information for me. They were little spies for me. They've killed, stolen, beaten and blackmailed for me."
"I can do that."
"Most of them aren't vipers anymore." Stasiaj snapped back. "Out of the thirty who were originally with me, only three still work in the same business. Most of them went to university and got out of this life when they were eighteen, though they keep in contact. The only ones who stayed were Malkus, Ivarn and Celia and only Malkus does anything similar to what he used to do when he was a Viper."
"I want to do this though."
"Jordie..." Stasiaj sighed, before shaking her head. "You've been hearing the glorified version of the tales from when the others were Vipers and Crows. It wasn't fun and games like it was made out to be when you were younger. People were hurt and killed. Gods know that I've been stabbed multiple times, almost kidnapped by a vengeful trader, found out that I was kidnapped from my home, nearly drowned in a shipwreck, almost sold into prostitution, betrayed, shot at and almost died. I do not want that happening to you."
"But ma..." Jordie leant back. "I can't keep having people avoid me like the plague when I've done nothing wrong. If they're going to avoid me, I at least want them to have a valid reason to do that. I don't want to keep walking up to people and having them back off because they fear me even though I've done nothing."
"I never wanted that for you in the first place, but you becoming a Viper is not going to help with that." Stasiaj sent him a small smile. "It'll pass. They'll see that you're a good and kind boy. You're everything that your father and I dreamed to be."
"But I want to be like you guys. I can help." Jordie protested. "My memory is just like yours, I can read through documents, I can memorise things and I wouldn't get in the way!"
"Jordie." Stasiaj shook her head. "It's still a no."
His shoulders slumped, a pout forming on his face but Stasiaj held firm. She'd dealt with a lot of puppy eyes in her life time and had resisted all of them.
"I just want to help."
"You do. By not being in the business." Stasiaj stood up as the door opened and Celia peered in. "Are the next people here?"
"Yes." Celia nodded, sending Jordie a smile as Stasiaj headed to her son's side. Jordie stood up, intent on just walking out, but Stasiaj caught him and pulled him back into her arms.
"You'll always be a Viper and a Crow, but I can't run the risk of you getting hurt." Stasiaj soothed, rocking him gently from side to side. "It almost happened once and it nearly killed both me and your father. Malkus saved you, thank the gods, but I'm not having my little boy in danger."
"I'm not little."
"You'll always be little to me." Stasiaj corrected, before pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I love you, little viper, so much."
Jordie hesitated, before nodding his head.
"I love you too." Stasiaj smiled, before pressing another kiss to his head and opening the door. Jordie walked out first, stopping on the staircase to watch his mother interact with the person. He watched her cold demeanour, small smirk and harsh glare, before turning away.
As he headed up the stairs, he held onto the fangs and piece of paper in his pocket. He hated resorting to this, but he had to prove himself. Jordie had always felt left out in his family, as nearly everyone else had been alive and present for the Ice Court heist or were part of the Dregs or one of Stasiaj's informants and he was the only one who wasn't.
He just needed them to see that he could do it as well.
Sneaking into Malkus' room was easy, as the other man always left it unlocked, and finding his spare guns was even easier. Taking one from it's place, he slid it into a holster, remembering his father's lessons on how to shoot a gun, before grabbing his coat and sliding it over the top.
"Celia, I'm going out!" Jordie called to the girl. "Going down to the markets before dinner. Malkus said he and Da might be late."
"I'll tell Stasiaj." Celia smiled, waving him off as Jordie slipped out of the house and began the familiar walk to the Barrel, turning the address over and over again in his head. His mother had mentioned that she needed information from them on the Merchant Council's recent plans and he could do that. It would be simple.
He took the long way to get to the port, so that he'd miss the Crow Club and his father and brother's usual haunts. Jordie took a deep breath, before mimicking his mother's cold face for negotiations and heading to the address that he needed to get to.
"Who have we got here?" Jordie turned at the call, looking at the two security guards in front of him with a cool glare. "You lost, boy?"
"I'm here on behalf of Snake." Jordie used his mother's nickname, watching as the men paled in colour and nodded. "I need to speak to your boss."
"I-"
"She doesn't appreciate tardiness. Be glad that I'm here instead of her." Jordie snapped, turning the glare onto the guard. "If she has to come down here because you make me late, then she won't be impressed and you don't want to see her angry."
"Of course. Right away." The man stumbled over his words, before opening the door. "Through here."
Jordie nodded, following after the security guard and into the room. They walked through the interior, before another door was opened and a wave of cigar smoke washed over him. His eyes watered, but he blinked them back, cautiously looking around.
It was full of businessmen and, what seemed to be, prostitutes which caused Jordie to scrunch his nose briefly. His mother and father had shut these sorts of clubs years ago, so to have one up and running was not good. Quickly, he began to take mental notes of who was in there, fitting them to names and storing them to his memory.
He was good at this.
"In here, mister..." Jordie cocked an eyebrow, not wanting to give his name so settling on a glare instead. "In here, Mister."
Jordie nodded, stepping into the room and setting his eyes on the boss. He kept his face straight and glare cold. In and out. He could do this.
"Ah, I thought that the great Snake herself would grace me with her presence."
"She has a lot of matters to attend." Jordie shot back in return. "She sent me in her place."
"You must be a trusted Viper then." The man leered forwards, rings covering his fat fingers. "Can I offer you something to drink?"
"No. This is a quick visit." Jordie shook his head, barely managing to keep the fear from his face. "She wants the information on the Merchant council's newest plans now. You have a mole on the inside, she wants the news."
"Why would I give her that?"
"Because if not, she will learn all about your den out there and that would be very bad for you and your business." Jordie smiled, mimicking his mother. "You wouldn't want that now, would you?"
The owner froze, looking at Jordie with narrowed eyes, before placing some papers onto the desk.
"There's no need for that to be made known to her, boy." He smiled, and Jordie's smirk turned to a sneer. He snatched the papers from the desk, hoping that the man couldn't see his hands trembling. Once Jordie had arrived, he had wished that he hadn't gone. It was all a lot more nerve wracking that he had first thought. "That's your information."
Jordie hummed, flicking through it quickly and memorising it as he did, before standing and nodding.
"I'll let her know that you cooperated."
"Boss!" The door burst open, the security guard reappearing. "That's Jordie Brekker. Snake's kid."
Jordie froze, his cover blown as he felt fear race through him. The boss turned, looking Jordie up and down with a wide grin.
"The little prince of the Barrel, out doing his mother's work. You shouldn't have come boy." Jordie pulled the gun from his pocket, pointing it at the man's head despite the fear growing inside of him.
So maybe he might have overestimated how easy this would actually be.
"If I don't walk out of here, my mother will come and kill you herself." Jordie warned, but he could hear his voice start to tremble.
"Your mother probably doesn't even know that you're here." The boss grinned as a gun cocked behind his ear, a barrel placed against his head.
Jordie really should have listened to his mother.
"Take him outside." The boss turned to the man behind him, as Jordie took another deep breath. "Show our unexpected guest what happens to people who try to trick me."
Jordie tried to shoot the man, but a strong arm wrapped around his neck before he could, cutting his airway as the pistol was thrown from his hands. Jordie choked, clawing at the arm on his neck that dragged him out of the office and down the stairs.
They emerged outside, and Jordie was thrown to the ground, his head cracking as it hit the cobbled stone. He went to get up, but his arms were kicked out from beneath him, smacking his head against the ground a second time. All of his father's training went straight out of the window, nothing coming into his mind about how to fight back against this.
"Little runt." He was rolled over, a fist crashing into his cheek as he let out a cry of pain. Jordie struggled, pulling his arms up to try and cover his face as tears welled in his eye. The fist came crashing down again as Jordie wished, more than anything, that he'd listened to his mother and not gone looking for trouble.
He'd only wanted to prove to them that he could be like them. He had only wanted to be like his parents.
"Come on. You need to clean those wounds." Jordie began to struggle again as strong arms lifted him from the floor, dragging him across the cobble stones before grabbing the back of his hair and pushing his head down. As soon as Jordie's face touched the salt water, he let out a cry of pain trying to rear back.
Water rushed down his throat as the man pulled him back up and Jordie tried to choke the salt out. He could only manage a few deep breaths before his head was back underwater, this time for longer.
"Get off!" He cried, trying to push back as he spat more water from his mouth. The man chuckled, pushing his head down again as Jordie tried to get more air into his lungs but there was only water around him. Just water.
When he came out of the water, he could barely manage breathing as his limbs trembled.
"Oh shit." Jordie paused at that, before feeling his body being pushed and then he hit the water. Jordie tried to struggle upwards, he really did, but his limbs felt so heavy and he was so sleepy. His clothes pulled him down, dragging him to the depths of the port harbour as he finally succumbed to the darkness.
Above him, Malkus had tackled the man to the floor. The call had gone out as soon as Celia had told Stasiaj that Jordie had left. She had figured it out, found two of her fangs and some information missing and had called Kaz and Malkus, telling them where to go. The Crows had all been sent out to look for the missing boy.
Malkus had arrived first at the scene, tackling the man to the floor and punching him as hard as he could. All he could see was red. The man had been pushing Jordie's head underwater and that was his little brother. He wasn't going to let that stand.
"Malkus, where's Jordie?" Kaz called, somehow pushing past the blood rushing through Malkus' ears. The boy looked up, before his eyes fell on the water and panic flooded through him.
"Water!" Kaz's eyes went wide, all the blood draining from his face, before he threw his coat and cane to the ground and dove into the water. Malkus went pale, knowing Kaz's trauma, before turning back to the man and slamming his head into the ground as hard as he could. "Come on, Jordie."
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"Of all the stupid and irresponsible things to do," Stasiaj shook her head. "I should have kept him with me or told Celia not to let him go. What was I thinking?"
"It's not on you." Kaz muttered. He had been unusually quiet as they waited for Jordie to wake up. The doctor had already been around, gotten Jordie conscious enough to expel the rest of the water from his lungs, and cleaned the cuts and bruises on his face. He told them to let the boy sleep, leaving Stasiaj, Kaz and Malkus to wait.
Malkus had hurried off soon after, intent of finding out who the man worked for and to investigate the address leaving Jordie's parents to worry.
"Kaz..." The man looked up, hair damp from the quick bath that he'd taken. He was in dry clothes, twisting his wedding ring around his finger. "Good day or bad day?"
"I'm not really sure." Kaz replied as Stasiaj hesitated.
"Can I?" He nodded at her request, holding his hand out for Stasiaj to wrap her hand through. She sank to the ground by his feet, clutching onto his hand like a lifeline as Kaz ran his fingers over her wedding band instead of his own. "I will kill them all."
"We will kill them." Kaz corrected, sighing as he rolled his shoulders.
"Are you alright?" The man hesitated as Stasiaj sent him a look, before reaching up to brush his dark hair from his face. "You're thinking. What is it?"
"It was like watching Jordie..." Kaz shook his head. "It was like watching him die all over again. I pulled him from the water and he was so cold and almost dead and all I could think about was holding onto Jordie's body and floating to shore all those years ago. I thought that I was..."
He didn't finish his sentence, trailing off and shaking his head.
"Malkus had to force me away. He's the one who got the water out of Jordie's lungs and got him breathing again. I couldn't even save our son."
Stasiaj stopped running her hands through his hair, bringing his head down until it rested on her own.
"You saved him. You got him from the water." She reminded gently, leaning into his side as she felt the tremors wrack through his body. He was pushing it down, trying to accept the comfort that Stasiaj provided. "You did save him."
They sat together, clinging onto each other before springing apart as Jordie began to cough and splutter.
"Jordie." Stasiaj was on her feet in an instance, rushing to her son's side as Kaz followed.
"Where..." Jordie trailed off at his mother's face, his shoulders sinking. "I'm so sorry. I wanted to help. I thought I could and I just wanted to show you that I-"
He didn't finish his sentence as Stasiaj flung her arms around the boy's neck, clinging onto him tightly and pressing a kiss to his hair. Jordie felt tears well in his eyes, wincing at the pain in his face and throat.
"My little boy." She cooed. "My brave little boy."
"I'm sorry." He wrapped his arms around her, before catching sight of his father's face over her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Da."
Stasiaj pulled back, seeing Kaz's unimpressed face. He brushed past her, before leaning down and resting his forehead against his son's.
"Don't you ever, ever, do that to me again, Jordie Brekker." Kaz muttered, sounding somewhat choked up. "I thought you were dead."
"I'm sorry." Jordie repeated again, as Kaz sank down next to him and ran a tired hand through his hair. Stasiaj took a seat on her son's other side, running her hands through Jordie's hair and sighing in relief. She had thought, when they brought him back, that the gods had taken away her little boy.
They sat there in silence for a moment, before Jordie turned to look up at his mother.
"He's running an illegal brothel in the basement of his club behind a fake clock veneer and the reason he has information on the Merchant council is because most of them were in there, as well as the Dean of the university and a couple of senior lawyers." Stasiaj and Kaz shared a look, before turning to glance down at their son with matching annoyed glares. "Just thought you should know."
"Jordie, you're injured at the moment so I'm going to hold off," Stasiaj muttered, her tone cold. "But when you're well again, I am going to ground you for all eternity for giving me a heart attack and grey hairs."
"We'll do a raid on the club tomorrow." Kaz muttered to Stasiaj.
"Great, I'm coming. I want to stick a fang so far up that pretentious prick's ass that he'll be choking on metal for weeks. How dare he even think that he could hurt my little boy>"
"I want to come." Jordie spoke up. "Please."
Stasiaj looked like she wanted to start yelling, but Kaz shook his head with a laugh.
"Come on, Snake, you knew it was going to happen sooner or later. Malkus and Ivarn have already done it, so Jordie was next." Kaz sent her a grin as Stasiaj was reminded of Malkus running to Kaz's side to smack some sense into him, and Ivarn rushing to her side to stab the would be assassin. "Let him come."
"He's not joining the business, Crow Man." Stasiaj glared back.
"Course not, Princess." Kaz sent her another teasing grin, before looking down at Jordie. "Your mother's word is still gold and she's said no. So, if you come tomorrow, that's the one and only thing."
"Alright." Jordie felt a small grin form on his face.
"That's it." Stasiaj hissed, before shaking her head. "Rietvelds."
"You're wrong. This is all Yahontov genes." Kaz sent her a wink, before ruffling his son's hair. Stasiaj watched the two of them, before shaking her head as a smile finally formed on her face.
"No, I think it's Brekker genes."
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Hiya,
I know it's been a while but have the faceclaims for older Malkus and Jordie. Malkus is played by Jack Rowan and Jordie is played by Tyler Young. This was actually one of my favourite to write, and I just love the Brekker family so much.
Let me know what you think,
Love Li xx