*ignores the last update date* Here we are with a new chapter! Hope you enjoy Wales being a badass and some Cadelle family angst.
"We can legally hold a person for seventy-two hours, and we're nearing the twenty-four mark. Considering your dad is ex-military, we figured none of our usual interrogation techniques would work on him," Kyoya sighed, sipping at his coffee as he stared through the one-way glass at the man sitting in the interrogation room.
Caspian McKandless sat in his chair, handcuffed wrists laid over the table, and icy gaze fixed firmly on the glass; though he couldn't see the three men on the other side, it didn't stop the way his eyes seemed to bore straight through their very souls. He had a smug air to him, the barest of smirks curling his lips up.
"What do your normal interrogation techniques include?" Wales asked, dryly, hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket.
"Screaming, bribing with food and water, lots of lawyer politics and deals, solitude…" Ryuga trailed off, and at the look he received from Wales, he shrugged, "Hey, we make sure to stay on the legal side of things, at least where cameras are concerned."
"Mostly," Kyoya commented. "Ryuga tends to get a little rough with people like your dad."
"Pot, meet kettle," Ryuga deadpanned.
"I want to talk to him alone," Wales said, quietly. Over his shoulders, Kyoya and Ryuga exchanged a look, having a silent conversation, "It's not up for debate."
"No, we figured as much," Ryuga turned on his heel and walked over to lock the door to the viewing room.
"Wait one minute," Kyoya stepped into the interview room, leaving the door open. Ryuga stepped up next to Wales, as Kyoya walked over to the camera. He glanced towards the window, and the two men watched as Kyoya shut the camera down.
"You haven't asked me the first question, Detective," Caspian drawled. "Why are you shutting that down?"
"Someone wants to talk to you," Kyoya replied.
Ryuga glanced over at Wales and nodded, once. Wales took his cue and silently made his way to stand in the doorway, feeling a slight thrill of vindication race up his spine when Caspian's eyes clapped on him and the older man's face twisted into rage. As quickly as it came, the look vanished and was replaced by one of indifference.
"Well, well, well, look who it is," Caspian drawled, setting his elbows on the table and perching his chin in the palm of one hand. He let his gaze sweep over Wales's form, "This is a surprise. Come to bail me out, son?"
"Hardly," Wales replied, just as flatly. He took three loping steps into the room, until the table was all that was between him and his father. He eyed the man in front of him, before leaning forward, palms flat on the table, "Where's Luke?"
"Hmm…" Caspian's expression turned into one of mock confusion, "I'm afraid I don't know a Luke." His lips curled into a smirk, eyes glittering, "Now… I know a Lucas. Your brother, of course."
"Where. Is. He." Wales growled, teeth grinding.
"Well, I'm afraid I don't know," Caspian sighed, leaning back in his seat. He crossed his arms, "The last time I saw him was…" He looked thoughtful, turning his gaze to the ceiling as a few beats passed. Then, his expression darkened, and he laughed, deep and low, "Oh, yeah. I remember now. The park. When I passed him off to Doji."
Wales' gaze was fixed on his father, so he didn't see the way Kyoya shared a look with Ryuga, who'd appeared in the doorway to the interview room.
"And where did Doji take him?"
"Oh, now that…" Caspian clicked his tongue, "That I couldn't tell you."
"You will," Wales said, darkly. "If you ever want to see the light of day again, you will tell me every. Last. Detail."
"Will I?"
Wales' temper, which had been simmering from the moment he'd stepped into the room, reached its boiling point. He gripped the edge of the table and shoved it to the side, the crash it made as it collided with the wall ringing in his ears going unheeded as he lunged forward, hands curling into the collar of his father's jacket. Caspian looked startled as Wales yanked him from his chair and slammed him into the wall with a snarl.
"Wales!" Kyoya called, stepping forward, but Ryuga motioned for him to stand down with a shake of his head.
"You're going to tell me everything you know, or so help me, anything you ever did to either Luke or I is going to pale in comparison to the pain I will put you through," Wales growled, satisfaction blooming under his skin at the fear and caution that flickered through his father's eyes.
Caspian swallowed, and cut his eyes over Wales' shoulder, "If I'm going to talk… I want a deal."
"No," Wales hissed through his teeth, spit flying into Caspian's face. "You're going to serve the full sentence for what you did, and I'm going to call on a few of my friends in the feds, to make sure you get the death penalty. And when the time comes for you to meet your maker, I'm going to be there front and center when they stick that needle in your arm, because it's nothing less than you deserve." Wales paused, tilting his head to regard Caspian with a cruel smirk of his own, "That is to say, if you live to see your death day. I've heard all kinds of stories of what other inmates do to people like you, once they know what you're in for."
"… Get me a pen and paper," Caspian said, through gritted teeth. "I'll write down everything you need to know."
Nefertiti answered Chris' phone just seconds after it began to ring, glancing down at her husband and sister-in-law curled up together on the couch as she swept said phone into her hand. She stepped out of the living room, speaking in a low voice, "Nefertiti speaking."
There was a pause, before Kyoya's voice crackled through the line, "Hey, Nef. Is Chris there?"
"Asleep, right now," Nefertiti answered as she stepped into the kitchen. "He's going to have a hell of a kink in his neck from sleeping on the couch, but neither of them have let each other out of their sights since we got home from the hospital."
Kyoya sighed, "Platina said she was making progress too… I can't imagine how much this will set her back."
"Christina's only been seeing your fiancé for a couple of weeks, Yoyo," Nefertiti snorted, as she pulled a wine glass from the cabinet over the sink.
"My name's not—wait, how did you—"
"Christina saw a picture of you two on Platina's desk and the engagement ring. When's the wedding?"
"… In the fall," Kyoya sighed, sounding done with life. "We have not sent out invitations yet, but yes, you and Chris are invited… and yes, Christina too, by extension."
"Great. Let me know the exact date and I'll mark the calendar. Now why'd you call?" Nefertiti asked. She cracked open a bottle of wine and poured some into her glass.
"Ugh, guess I can tell you, since you seem to know anything anyways," Kyoya sighed. "Caspian's talking."
"…"
"…"
"… What the hell did you and Ryuga do to get him to talk?" Nefertiti glanced down at her glass, setting on the counter and half full, before picking the bottle up and pouring it to the top.
"I'm offended, Nefertiti, that you think Ryuga and I did anything," Kyoya drawled. "We let Wales in the room with him for a few minutes."
"… And Caspian didn't come out needing medical attention?"
"All he got was a black eye, a sore back, and, I hope, the scare of a lifetime," Kyoya answered, cheerily.
Nefertiti hadn't even known he could do cheery… She took a deep gulp of her wine.
God, what was her world coming to?
She took another gulp just because she could.
"And you were wanting to tell Chris this, why?" Nefertiti asked, wearily.
"Ah, yeah, so… we kind of got a location on where Caspian and a few of his… associates, for lack of better terms, are holding their… merchandise," The sneer in Kyoya's voice was audible. "And we've already contacted the Feds and a whole bunch of other people who will want their hand in on this because, I'm gonna be honest with you here, looking at everything Caspian's written down, this is far bigger than we had any idea about."
"Again, why did you call Chris?"
"So… we'll need Christina to confirm her captors' identities,"
"… You mean you'll need her to identify them in a line up,"
"… Yep," Kyoya sighed. "When we start dragging in known associates and… frequent… customers… of theirs."
Nefertiti cursed in Arabic, barely managing to switch over to English to hiss, "Kyoya, there's no way Christina's mentally stable enough to—"
Nefertiti jumped half out of her skin as the phone was suddenly plucked from her hand, and she whipped around to see her husband standing behind her. Damn, she hadn't even heard him walk into the kitchen…
"Kyoya, until you get people in handcuffs and in your holding cells, I don't want to hear anything about Christina identifying her captors or the bastards who assaulted her," Chris said, voice dark. "Do I make myself clear?" There was a beat, and Chris's eyes flashed dangerously, "I asked, do I make myself clear."
Nefertiti took a sip of her wine and leaned against the counter behind her. She eyed Chris, calculating how much damage he could do with only one hand if Kyoya continued to push. She decided, probably quite a bit. Kyoya may have been a street kid turned cop, but Chris was a farm boy with martial arts training and a former street kid. She'd put her money down on her husband any day of the week.
And no, she wasn't biased, thank you very much. She just knew her husband that well.
"Good. Keep it that way," Chris said, and pulled the phone away to hang up the call with a vicious press of his thumb to the screen. He set his phone on the counter with a clatter and eyed the glass of wine in Nefertiti's hand.
"No. Pain meds and alcohol do not mix," Nefertiti said, firmly. Chris rolled his eyes in response, but didn't argue, "Where's Christina?"
"Still on the couch, asleep," Chris muttered, leaning over the sink, his free hand pressing into the edge of the counter hard enough that Nefertiti worried he would cut his palm open. "… Things are about to get a lot messier, aren't they?"
"More than likely," Nefertiti reached up to rub her hand soothingly over Chris' back, the blonde's eyes falling shut as she did. "But the good thing is, Christina's got you. And me. And, hell, everyone we know and then some, probably."
"This should have never happened to begin with though," Chris said, softly.
Nefertiti didn't like that tone. Taking a deep breath, she asked, "What do you mean?"
"If I hadn't run off to begin with, all those years ago, she wouldn't have gotten mad and then we wouldn't have fought and then she wouldn't have… she wouldn't have left either…" Chris whispered, voice cracking with emotion.
Nefertiti stared at the side of her husband's face, disbelieving. After a moment, she asked, "You can not seriously think this is all your fault."
"Isn't it? Ow! Hey, what was that for!" Chris reeled back, rubbing his head from where Nefertiti smacked him.
"You are being an absolute idiot," Nefertiti hissed, jabbing a finger into her husband's chest. "Christopher Smith Cadelle, none of this is your fault! I can't believe you would think it is!"
"Then whose is it?! If I hadn't run away, we wouldn't have fought, and she wouldn't have run!"
"It was her choice to run instead of facing reality,"
Chris' eyes narrowed, voice turning cool, "Are you blaming her, now, Nefertiti?"
"One, don't take that tone with me, I'm your wife. Two, I'm not blaming any one except the bastards that hurt Chrissie," Nefertiti bristled. "And you would do well to remember that, and what I'm about to say, too. You two may have fought, and Christina may have run away, but the only reason she ended up being caught up in a trafficking ring is because some sick son of a bitch targeted her. But now she's back, and you need to be there for her, not wallowing in your own self-loathing, you understand me?"
Chris' jaw clenched.
"Hell, you could probably do well with a couple of sessions with Platina too," Nefertiti knocked back the last of her wine and set it in the sink. "Now, I'm going to bed. I'd ask if you are too, but I know you well enough to know that you're not letting Christina out of your sight any time soon. I don't mind that, but so help me Chris, if you start throwing yourself a pity party, I'm kicking your ass back into shape." She fixed him with a look, "And you know me well enough to know I'm not bluffing, so snap yourself out of this funk, and be the man—no, the brother, that Christina needs you to be."
Whew… glad that's finished. For some unknown reason, I struggled with this chapter. Despite the fact that I was eager to write Wales being a badass. Oh well.
I… have no clue when the next update will be, but I do know that Lucas and Nero show back up!
Hope ya'll enjoyed and will leave a review! Until next time, ciao!