"Wonder why the party's over soon as I arrive, must've done something in a former life, and I don't really wanna change."

— Novocaine, Maggie Lindemann.

     Plans to rescue Inej from the clutches of Van Eck were well underway and they promised themselves they'd find her no matter how hard it was. The Slat was eerily empty without Inej's soft and barely noticeable presence. In the time she was there, they could hardly tell when she was around, yet, without her there was a gaping silence where she should've been.

Alike right now, Trixie was missing her friend as she paced the streets, cursing Kaz's name as she tried to see if he would hurry up. While the rest of the Crows were going to be inside, they left her outside because it was too risky for her to be there, even in disguise, she'd be recognised. Smeet was a friend of her mother's and he would no doubt know who she was within seconds, he'd seen her at enough business dinners to see through a disguise.

"Took you long enough." Trixie scoffed as she moved to his side, smiling softly at Wylan before glaring at Kaz.

Together the trio headed towards the door and Wylan gaped at them. "Are we just going in through the front door?" He questioned, furrowing his brows.

"Use your eyes instead of running your mouth." Kaz commented, lockpicks already flashing in his gloved hands while Trixie rolled her eyes.

Her eyes were transfixed on the way his fingers moved, barely taking a second to do what he needed. Kaz's hands pressed down on the handle, swinging open the door immediately. Looking inside, they heard the low snarls from his dogs and in any other circumstances Trixie would be willing to go investigate the dogs further, she loved animals so much, but they didn't have time. The gloved handed boy raised a whistle to his lips and blew into it, no sound that a human could hear.

The dogs heard it, morphing instantly from fierce guard dogs, into loveable pets that made a small smile curve on the girl's lips as she looked at it. "Now why can't people be this easily trained?" Kaz murmured as he crouched to oblige the dog with a belly rub, black gloved fingers smoothing the short fur. "Close the door behind you."

"Not fond of animals?" Trixie whispered to the boy, closing the door behind her as she stepped further into the room.

"I like dogs." Wylan replied, looking down at the girl who had just crouched down to run her painted nails across the dogs fur. "Just not when they're the size of bears."

"They're harmless and cute." Trixie shrugged, messing around with the dog for a few seconds, unaware of the quizzical look sent her way by Kaz.

"Let's go. Watch your feet." He called out, stopping the girl from scratching the dog behind its ears. Trixie stood up with a sigh, waving goodbye to the dog as they made their way through the house. As soon as they arrived to the office, Kaz pressed his hands against the door knob, immediately opening. "Not even locked, those hounds have made him lazy."

"Where do we start?" Wylan whispered, looking around the room with a curious rise of his brows.

Kaz pulled a fat ledger from the shelves and turned to face the boy. "First we make sure your father has no new acquisitions under his name." He explained to the two as Trixie began rummaging through various boxes. "Then we search under your stepmother's name, and yours."

"Don't call her that. Alys is barely older than I am." Wylan replied, shivering slightly as he frowned. "And my father won't have kept property in my name."

"You'd be surprised at what a man will do to avoid paying taxes." Kaz replied and the girl merely looked up from the paper in her hand, a brow raised in questioning. His lips upturned as he met her gaze, the girl shook her head before turning back to the papers in her hands.

The trio spent the next hour going through all the files, thankful they'd included three people to get it done faster. At times, Wylan found himself frowning to himself as he stared at the paper in front of him, wishing he could decipher the words in front of him. Trixie noticed this and would quietly whisper what it said and when he turned to look at her she'd busy herself with her own files, acting like it hadn't happened.

"I'm slowing you guys down." Wylan spoke out after a few minutes of squinting at the paper.

"I knew exactly how long this would take." Kaz responded, accepting the file that Trixie handed towards him. "What was your mother's family name?"

"There's nothing in her name."

"Humor me." Kaz shrugged, placing the file back into Trixie's open hands for her to put back.

"Hendriks." Wylan told him as Trixie stood up, walking back to the shelves as she grabbed a file for him to see. Handing it to Kaz, he nodded at her before turning to face the boy again.

"When did she die?" Trixie asked him softly.

"When I was eight." Wylan picked up the pen in front of him again. "My father got worse after she was gone. He wouldn't let me go to her funeral. I don't even know where she's buried. Why do you guys say that, anyway? No mourners, no funerals? Why not just say good luck or be safe?"

"We like to keep our expectations low." Kaz's gloved finger trailed down a column of numbers and stopped. His eyes moved back and forth between the two ledgers, then he snapped the leather covers shut. "Let's go."

"Did you find something?"

"I know where she is." Kaz nodded, pulling himself out of the chair he had been sat in.

Once he and Trixie finished correcting their arrival, leaving no signs that they'd been there, they turned to face Wylan. The boy stared at them with an uneasy expression at their methods. "A proper thief is like a proper poison, merchling." He moved his eyes to the blonde who grinned at the mere mention of poison. "He leaves no trace." Kaz blew the lamp out. "Your father much for charity?"

"No. He tithes to Ghezen, but he says charity robs men of the chance at honest labor." Wylan replied and Trixie scoffed.

"Well, he's been making donations to the Church of Saint Hilde for the last eight years. If you want to pay your respects to your mother, that's probably the place to start." Kaz explained while the boy furrowed his brows.

"What—." Wylan began but was cut off.

"If Nina and Jesper did their jobs right, Smeet will be home soon. We can't be here when he gets back or the whole plan goes to hell. Come on." Kaz ordered the two and jusr as they went to leage the two in front of her stopped and she was slightly confused as to the sudden halt.

Over Kaz's shoulder, Trixie stood up slightly, trying to get a glimpse of why the two had stopped. Only then did she see a little girl standing on the landing, leaning on the neck of one of the massive gray dogs. She had to be about five, her toes barely visible beneath the hem of her flannel nightgown. The boy stepped forwards, closing the door behind him as he left the other two on their own in the darkened office.

They could hear bits and pieces of the conversation and it was odd to see Kaz so normal with a little girl. He was calm and he spoke gently, comforting the girl slightly before he dropped a comment that made Trixie roll her eyes. "Oh, yes. Albert who lives next door and Gertrude on Ammberstraat. I live under their beds and in the backs of the closets." He told the young girl and Wylan squinted through the small gap of the door, wondering what on earth he was doing.

"I knew it." They heard the girl speak out. "Mama said there was nothing there, but I knew it. You don't look like a monster."

"I'll tell you a secret, Hanna. The really bad monsters never look like monsters."

"Did you come to eat me? Da says monsters eat children who don't go to bed when they're told."

"They do normally, but I won't, not tonight, however, only if you do two things for me. First, you must crawl into bed. And second, you must never tell anyone you've seen us, especially your da." Trixie pushed Wylan out of the way so she could look through the gap, watching curiously as Kaz leaned forwards and gave Hanna's braid a playful tug. "Because if you do, I'll slit your mother's throat and then your father's, and then I'll cut out the hearts of all these sweet slobbering hounds. I shall save Duke Silverhaunch for last so that you will know it's all your fault." The little girl's face was as white as the lace on the neck of her nightgown, her eyes wide and bright as new moons. "Do you understand?" She nodded frantically, chin wobbling. "Now, now, no tears. Monsters see tears and it only whets their appetites. Off to bed with you, and take that useless Maestro Spots along too."

The door to the office was pushed open as Trixie's eyes widened, looking at the girl's feared expression. "Why would you say that to her?" Trixie exclaimed, noticing the girl quickly gather herself and head upstairs, terrified to look back at the two. "She's only a little girl."

"We were all just children once." Kaz shrugged and she glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "It was that or snap her neck and make it look like she fell down the stairs, Trixie. I think I showed remarkable restraint." He noticed the girl stood in front of him and his lips curled up ever so slightly. "Move."

"A please wouldn't cost you anything." Trixie scoffed, throwing her arms up as she moved out of the way and allowed him to walk past her, cursing his name with every step she took.

Once they made it out of the house, locking the door behind them, Kaz sent Wylan a weird look as the boy kept looking over his shoulder. "Stop looking around like you think someone's following you." Kaz stopped walking for a second to look at the boy while Trixie snickered. "And stop scurrying. You couldn't look guiltier if you were performing the role of Thief Number Three in a penny play on East Stave. Next time walk normally. Try to look like you belong."

"There isn't going to be a next time." Wylan spoke sternly, mustering any courage he had and Trixie tapped his shoulder comfortingly.

"Of course not." Her response wasn't meant to sound as sarcastic as it did.

"Keep your collar up."

The sound of Matthias' high birdcall sounded from the other end of the street and Trixie moved her eyes to Kaz as he glanced down at his watch, running a hand through his hair, ruffling it wildly. "Right on time."

As soon as they walked around the corner, they slammed directly into Cornelis Smeet and Trixie felt her heart stop as she looked up at the man. Panic set in but it seemed like the trio would manage to escape an awkward conversation with the thanks to Kaz's quick thinking as he took on the role of a clumsy boy. It was odd to see him so respectful and flustered as he reached down to help the man return his wallet. As a thank you for helping him, he was handed a five kruge bill and Trixie found herself struggling to stop herself from laughing at the sight, Kaz Brekker being helpful and rewarded for his kindness.

     As soon as the man had gone into his house and was out of sight, Kaz neatened his hair with his fingers and handed the five kruge to Wylan. "Don't spend it all in one place. Let's move." He spoke and they followed him, heading to go and meet Matthias.

Words~2055.
{edited:no}

Note: i hate this chapter anyways.