"I can't say I blame him though, Rider. He's-what can I say...uh-he's a genuinely good person. I mean, is there blood on his hands?-"
Ben sucked in a sharp breath.
"-yeah. More than a little, honestly. But his heart's in the right place."
The blond nodded, taking a moment of silent contemplation before his composure cracked.
The choke backed chortle dissolved into unrestrained peels of laughter.
"Jesus. Do people really purposefully say things like that? That sounded so much worse than it already was in my head." He sobered up, wiping away the lingering tears of mirth with a sardonic little smirk.
"Anyway. Like I was saying. The poor bastard's just couldn't deal with it in the end."
"With what…?"
"Emotions. Guilt. Sentiment-." He ticked off on his fingers, hitting a sour note on the last.
"Like a human being?" Ben gritted out.
"Like someone who could afford to care." Casimir tossed right back.
"And he couldn't. And he knew he couldn't but he did anyway and that just fucked with everything."
"So what? So he made a mistake and magicked you up as an escape?"
"Don't get it twisted. He made a choice and he couldn't handle it. He 'magicked' me as a means to an end. An end that needed to be met at all costs."
"End being…?"
"Something you don't need to know about. Just be happy you're alive and go on with your day."
"You and I know bloody well that that just can't happen. Especially now. So just save us all the time and talk." The spy hissed.
They were running out of time.
"No. I don't think I will."
"There's absolutely no reason for this to be as difficult as you're making it! You're not even real. You've got nothing to lose!"
Running out of time and very close to just losing it.
"Not real, huh?" Rough fingers grasped tightly around the watch face, staring the spy square in the eye.
And then he pulled, eliciting a pained hiss as the small barbs scraped against the scabbing wound, bringing up tiny bubbles of blood.
"I'm pretty real. Think real thoughts, cause real pain. Cause we're connected and all that. So, no. I actually have a lot to lose. And like I said before, not dying is something we see pretty eye to eye on."
"Then do it for self preservation! There are armed agents on their way over right now who know you're suspect for murder. Of the deputy head of MI5. Who's to say you're going to be safe?"
Casimir scoffed.
"They're secret service, not mercenaries. What are they gonna do? Put a bag over my head and frog march me to 5? And then what? Put me on trial? Terrifying. Really."
"Put you on trial for murder. Do you just genuinely not comprehend the gravity of your situation?"
The blond rolled his eyes.
"Look. I don't know if Rider ever told you, but the last couple of months have been pretty shit, yeah? And after you've gotten as far as he's gotten in terms of whatever the hell the last four months have been, there's only so far getting arrested ranks in terms of deterrent. There are much scarier things out there."
"Wait. Wait, wait."
"Nothing much I can do otherwise, is there…"
Ben completely ignored the snide remark, mentally back tracking.
"You were the means to an end, whatever the 'end' was. But you said Alex didn't bring you around out of guilt. That he made a choice too. What was his choice? I assume it wasn't as severe as whatever you did…?"
Casimir paused, contemplating a long moment before breaking out into a wolfish grin sending chills down Ben's spine.
A simultaneous right and wrong answer.
"Astute. But the real question is-" he leaned forward, giving the table a light knock.
"The question is whether you're really ready to know. Do you think you can handle the truth?"
That had the spy thrown for a loop.
Was it a game…?
Was he being serious?
Was there something so awfully terrible that Ben was just better off not knowing? It was definitely a possibility in his line of work…
But there was no time to think about things like that.
"Yes. Now spit it out!"
"Your mistake then." he plopped heavily back into his seat, eyes sparkling with glee.
"He chose sentiment over his assignment, sentiment being you."
He nodded to Ben.
"But he still had a job to get done and he got backed into a corner with no way out, which is where I come in. The means to an end. Albeit probably helped just a tiny bit by whatever it was they were lacing in the coke."
Gregorovich had been truthful about that after all…
"I got the job done, and you ended up not dying. But that still leaves the fact that he'd bartered with someone else."
Ben blanched as realization slowly trickled into his conscious.
"Someone else…?!" he managed to hiss.
"Which means that you're tied to this whether you like it or not, Daniels. It's the price of living."
Oh…
"Tied really closely, actually. Closer than you probably think, anyway. But for what it's worth, he really really didn't want to do it. Beat himself pretty hard over it, and he hasn't really slept since. But from what he's told me, it was really really really important that he kept you safe."
"Who…?" He almost didn't want to know. Wanted to just get up and leave and pretend he hasn't heard anything so far.
But this was important.
He needed to know, and he couldn't be sure there would be another chance later on..
So he needed to hear it. He needed to know.
"Who took my place?!"
"Aliona. Or Allie, for short. Bought yea high-" he held up his hand as high as the chains would let him.
"Twenty-four twenty-five. Brunette. Worked-"
"Stop. Stop talking."
Casmiri cut himself off, holding his hands up in mock surrender.
But the self-assured smirk just gave everything away.
He was right.
"Aliona as in Aliona Krostnikaya? The one One they found like two weeks ago outside 5?"
"Yup."
"That was you?!"
"Technically. Yeah." He nodded grimly.
"I'm pretty sure the other one that got murdered, deputy head or something like that. This is what he took to the independent affairs group. At least, I think."
Ben sat gobsmacked, mind reeling painful fast. It was just so much to take in…
And it couldn't be true. Casimir had to be lying. It just didn't make sense!
It didn't seem right.
But the logical part of Ben's brain knew, Casimir had no reason to lie about any of this.
He said so himself. Not dying was something both he and Alex could agree upon.
So to confess to murder. There had to be a reason as to why.
"So you did kill Feaux!"
"I never said that." The blond snarked back.
"I said he probably saw what happened."
"But you do know who it was!"
"I do, actually. Veeery interesting turn of events, not going to lie, I wasn't even expecting it. Not in the shape he was in."
He licked his lips with a small grin of amusement and a dark glint in his eye.
"Who knew Rider had it in him?"