Chapter Six


Lux was seated at a table, leaning her chin on her hand, wishing desperately to be anywhere else but here. But she was stuck; the higher-ups had called her in, and she had to listen to them to about their usual discussions regarding politics and economics and funding, until finally, finally, they got to the topic they'd called her here for.

"Luxanna," Mayor Lightshield said. Beside him sat his son, Jarvan, Garen's best friend, and he looked equally as bored as Lux felt. He shared a pained glance with her before they both turned their attention to his father, who sat at the head of the table. As the leader of Demacia, the mayor was granted the seat at the head. "Do you recall the device you helped my son retrieve from the Westside Noxian hideout?"

No, I'm absolutely incompetent and forgot about the 'device', Lux thought, carefully schooling her features so that none of her annoyance with this issue showed. "Of course, sir," she said.

"You recall that we sent it to Heimerdinger for testing, correct?"

Lux wanted to scowl, but she didn't. "Yes, I do," she replied. Oh, she had told them to just give her the stupid phone that Garen had managed to retrieve. Lux was good with technology; she always had been. Heimerdinger was better, of course, when it came to mechanical or chemical or nuclear engineering (well what did you expect, when he had multiple PHDs and dozens of years of experience on her? When she was as old as him, she expected to have more degrees than that). But when it came to phones, it was more involved than just mechanics or chemicals; it became about software, about programming. Lux knew how to hack into a phone better than anyone alive. Given an hour, max, she could produce any worthwhile info stored in the phone.

And that was what the higher-ups wanted—information they could use against Noxus. Garen and Jarvan hadn't been able to get the briefcase—but they had gotten the phone. It had to have valuable information on it, since it was in the same vault as the briefcase. Contacts, notes, phone numbers—something.

But instead of giving the phone to her, the higher-ups had given it to Heimerdinger. Lux had been furious when she'd found out. Just because Demacia had recently begun collaborating with the old, bearded genius didn't mean that they had to trust the man with everything technology-related. It was a slap in the face to her.

"We've received word from him that he's having some trouble with it," the mayor told her.

Of course he is, she thought, though her face remained carefully neutral.

"We were hoping that you could... share some of your ideas with him, help, ah, guide him through the process."

So they wanted her to tell Heimerdinger how to hack a phone, instead of letting Lux just hack it herself. She felt an intense desire to storm out of the room; she quelled her impulse, though, and instead offered a smile that she couldn't quite force to meet her eyes. "Sure," she said.

The meeting was adjourned, and Lux was finally, finally, dismissed. She couldn't leave the room quickly enough. The place had grown stifling, and Lux wanted nothing more but to walk outside and get a breath of fresh air to cool off.

She heard his footsteps approaching her from behind and recognized them without needing to turn around. They'd known each other since the day she was born, after all.

"Sorry about what happened in there," Jarvan said as he made his way to her side. "I tried to talk my dad into just giving you the damn thing, but... Well, you know how it is."

Lux let out a sigh. "Yeah," she admitted, "I know." Demacia had a lot of politics to deal with, a lot of people to please, and even more people to avoid angering. It was a gang, after all, despite the group's good intentions. Demacia needed to keep its allies, and its new relationship with the Piltoverian government was one of those relationships it needed to strengthen. By giving Heimerdinger this task, it was helping to solidify that connection.

Yes, Lux knew how it was. That didn't mean she had to like it. "It's just... frustrating," she admitted, and Jarvan let out a short chuckle.

"I hear you," he said. Then his smile abated, replaced with a frown. "Lux, is it true that the Crownguards are harboring the DuCouteaus?"

Lux nodded, knowing where this was going. "Yep," she said, bracing herself for the speech she was about to receive.

Jarvan drew a deep breath. "Lux, I know you probably have your reasons, but the DuCouteau family is extremely dangerous. Harboring murderers and thieves—"

"Potential murderers and thieves," Lux interjected, and Jarvan huffed, clearly not appreciative of the interruption.

"Potential, then," he corrected. "Doesn't matter. They're dangerous—you know they're Noxians, even if we don't have enough info to pin them yet."

Lux crossed her arms. "That's why I invited them," she said. Before Jarvan could interrupt, she hurried to continue. "I've been working on Talon DuCouteau for a while now. I've gained his trust, and it's clear that he likes me. Now I have them under our roof, and I have surveillance of them twenty-four seven. We know their movements, their schedules, who they talk to, when they talk. I managed to retrieve some other records from their personal files and I'm sorting through those. It's just a matter of time, now, Jarvan. I'll get something on them."

"You're... spying on them," Jarvan realized.

"Duh," Lux said. "But there's more going on here. They're running from someone—from something. I don't know what yet. But it's related to the police break-in the night before last. Did you read my report?"

Jarvan nodded, a contemplative look crossing his features. "Yeah, I read it. All the higher ups did. Whoever that woman was, she managed to get through all of the station's security, and she didn't show up on the new mask scanners from Heimerdinger."

"Exactly. Whoever we're dealing with is utilizing extremely advanced technology, and it seems as if they're after the DuCouteaus. The question is, why? That's why I invited them to the house, that's why I'm watching them and gaining their trust. I want answers, Jarvan, and as of right now, the DuCouteaus are our only clue."

Jarvan shook his head. "I still don't like it. Any one of them could kill you or Garen in your sleep."

"I'm a light sleeper. So's Garen," Lux said, waving her hand dismissively at Jarvan's words. He needn't be worried. "Besides, if they wanted us dead, they'd have killed us already. The fact that they haven't is telling enough. They need us. We may be watching their every move, and I'm sure they're aware of that, but they're still here. They're still cooperating. Which means they need the safety we provide."

Jarvan made a humming noise in the back of his throat as he considered her words. "So you're saying that... you're positive they won't harm you?"

"Yup!" Lux said. Well, mostly positive; there was always the chance that this was all some elaborate scheme by the Noxians to make them let their guards down, but Lux highly doubted that was the case.

"What if that woman comes after them? The one from the station? What if she cuts all the power to your house just like she did before, and they kill you? Whoever they're running from might come after you. I don't like it, Lux. I can't... I don't want to see you two hurt."

He raised a valid concern, Lux knew. Not a particularly worrying one, but valid. She appreciated the concern on her and Garen's behalf. "Don't worry," Lux said. "I've got a system set up. There's no way that woman can shut down the power in our home."

Jarvan scratched his chin, and for the first time, Lux noticed that his stubble was a little rougher than usual, as if he hadn't shaved properly. She took in his appearance and noted some… interesting details.

"You've got quite the five o' clock shadow," Lux said, uncrossing her arms and nodding towards his stubble. Jarvan's eyes widened and his face turned slightly red.

"I... I know," he mumbled. "I... woke up late."

Lux smiled a shit-eating grin as she watched her friend fidget. "Shyvana keep you up?" she teased, and his blush deepened.

"Lux," he said, and she let out a giggle.

Shyvana was fairly new to Demacia. She'd grown up in a pretty bad part of town, and she'd been working a part-time job at a rock climbing gym since she'd turned old enough to legally work. That's where Jarvan had met her.

About a year ago, Jarvan and Garen had gone on some kind of crazy fitness regime, insisting they needed to work out more than usual in order to get stronger. It had been right after an incident where they'd both nearly died, Lux knew, so that was probably the reason behind it. The new routine they were trying out included rock climbing, and so Jarvan and her brother had gone to the nearest rock climbing gym and started, well, climbing.

Jarvan said it had been love at first sight, though Garen was wont to snort at the statement. Jarvan had gone there every day after that, just to keep interacting with Shyvana. They'd started dating—secretly, of course. But when Shyvana had noticed Jarvan's slippery, odd, sometimes overly cautious behavior when he would go on missions, she'd told him to be honest with her, or else their relationship wouldn't work out.

And he had. He'd told her everything about him, including his involvement with the Demacian vigilante gang. Shyvana had been skeptical at first, but eventually, she asked to join. And she'd proved to be one of the most valuable members Demacia had ever had. She'd learned to fight on the streets, and she brought a ferocity and strength to engagements that was unmatched, and a determination that couldn't be stopped. At some point, the media had started calling her a half dragon on account of her propensity for lighting fires (accidentally, usually). Shyvana had liked it so much, she'd gotten a dragon tattoo along her back, and Jarvan had declared it to be the hottest thing he'd ever seen, no pun intended.

Once Jarvan's father had found out about the relationship, it was too late for him to stop it. Shyvana had become a valued member of Demacia, and Jarvan had made it quite clear that he loved her. So the mayor had relented, and now Jarvan and Shyvana were a happy couple.

Lux had to laugh at the blush that had colored Jarvan's face. "Don't worry, I won't tell," she said with a wink. "But you might want to pull your collar up a little higher."

Jarvan's eyes widened and he frantically did just that, covering up a hickey that had made his late-night activities all too obvious.

"Gah," Jarvan muttered. "Shit. That wasn't showing all through the meeting, was it?"

"I didn't notice it until now," Lux admitted.

"Great," he said with a sigh. Then he frowned. "Lux, just... Promise me that you'll be careful around the DuCouteaus. Don't underestimate them. Okay?"

Jarvan was right—she did need to keep her guard up around them. Just because they were cooperating didn't mean they weren't dangerous. And Lux knew better than to trust them.

Briefly, her mind flashed back to when she had played video games with Talon; laughter, happiness, her brother and his sister sitting comfortably behind them, chatting. Lux had felt safe, then, felt... Almost at home. She blinked, banishing the vision from her mind's eye.

Lux nodded, her eyebrows drawing together. "Okay," she promised.


Cass flipped through the thick tome during lunchtime, and Kat couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Why are you suddenly so interested in the family history?" she asked. Cass had asked Kat for the DuCouteau family records that Kat had locked in the safe in her room, and Kat had provided it for her sister. Kat had looked through the thing once before, when she was younger, at her father's request. He had wanted her to be familiar with the family's prestigious history, to remember the legacy she was born into as preparation for her first mission. It was supposed to be motivating, and it certainly had been; Kat had been enthusiastic and determined to prove herself after looking through and comparing herself to her ancestors.

She'd gone on to botch her first assignment, of course, and she'd lost so much more than just her enthusiasm. Absently, she traced the deep scar that ran across her eye and onto her cheek, the remnant of that disastrous mission.

"I'm not interested in our family history, Kat," Cass said, her eyes never leaving the pages before her. "I'm looking to see if Dad wrote anything in here for us to find."

Kat's mouth formed an 'o' shape, and she wondered why she hadn't thought of that herself. "Shit," she said before taking a bite of her sandwich. "If he did, good fucking luck finding it. That thing's huge." At three and a half inches thick, all handwritten in rather tiny script, it would take days, if not weeks, to read through all of the content.

"I know," Cass sighed, frowning. "Don't talk with your mouth full, it's disgusting."

Kat rolled her eyes and swallowed her food so as not to offend her sister any further with her lack of table manners. "I'd help, but I've got my own reading homework to deal with. Garen insists." She scowled as she glanced at the library book she had placed on the table next to her. She had to read the damn thing for Mr. Blitzcrank's stupid English partner essay with Garen.

"Mm," Cass said, clearly not caring. "That reminds me, Kat. I noticed you've started referring to him as 'Garen' now, as opposed to simply 'Crownguard'."

"We're living with a whole damn family of Crownguards," Kat said, "makes for less confusion."

Cass glanced up from her reading to quirk an eyebrow at Kat, clearly not believing her explanation. Kat felt her cheeks heat up.

"What?" she asked roughly.

"Nothing, nothing," Cass said, but Kat could tell she was lying by the way her lips quirked upwards at the edges.

"Asshole," Kat grumbled, earning a kick to her shin from her sister.

"You have class with Garen later, if I remember correctly," Cass said, her eyes returning to the thick tome in front of her.

Kat nodded before realizing her sister wasn't looking. "Yeah," she said, "English. With Mr. Blitzcrank."

"You know, some people say that Mr. Blitzcrank intentionally pairs people off on the joint essay because he wants them to become friends."

"That's a load of bullcrap," Kat said, rolling her eyes. She crammed the rest of her sandwich into her mouth and swallowed before continuing. "That old man's too prim and proper to come up with something like that." Mr. Blitzcrank was a stickler for the rules; Kat figured it had something to do with his age, or something—she didn't really care. At any rate, that old man was way too orthodox to even consider the thought of pairing students up in order to facilitate friendships.

"If you say so," Cass said with a shrug. Then she hummed. "Did you know that Marie DuCouteau was able to kill a man using only her high heels?"

"Heels hurt like a bitch—doesn't surprise me," Kat intoned as she gathered her trash and stood. She left the table to throw it away. As she was tossing it out, she felt someone's presence behind her, and she turned around to face whoever it was.

"Hi, Kat!" Lux said with a smile as she skipped past her and threw her own trash away into the bin. God, not this girl. "How's your day been?"

"Great," Kat said roughly. She did not have the patience to deal with sweet, bubbly Lux right now; just the thought made her feel as if she was about to develop a headache. "It's been great. Look, I'm about to get ready for my next class, so I'll see you later, okay?" She saw Lux's smile falter at the clear dismissal before she turned around and marched back to the lunch table she'd been sharing with her sister.

"Blondie tried to talk to me. Thinks we're friends, or something," Kat grumbled as she gathered her things and stuffed them into her backpack.

"Careful, now," Cass said as she turned a page of the book, never once having looked up. "She's smarter than you give her credit for."

"I know she's a genius," Kat grumbled, "but if she thinks we're friends, she's as naive as they come."

"Perhaps," Cass said, finally looking up and casting a glance over her shoulder towards the table of friends Lux had returned to. "But I find it hard to believe a girl as intelligent as her is as naive as she lets on."

Kat frowned. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Cass let out a sigh and returned her attention to the book she was reading, not sparing her sister a glance. "What I mean," she said, "is that you ought to be more careful around her. She might know how to put on an act. Who knows—she might have even invited us just to keep tabs on us."

"That's awfully paranoid of you," Kat said, rolling her eyes. "She's Garen's sister. She doesn't have it in her."

Cass shrugged. "Think what you will. Regardless, we can't leave their hospitality. I would advise you to watch what you say in front of them, Kat."

Kat snorted. "Yeah, no shit," she said as she slung her backpack over her shoulder. "I'll see you later."

Cass hummed in way of response, and Kat made her way down the hallways, wondering why Cass was so suspicious of Lux. Kat didn't see anything to be worried about. Lux was smart, but she was also crushing on Talon, so she couldn't be that smart.


Garen tapped his pencil against the desk, realized what he was doing, and forced himself to stop. He felt as if things were... off, today. Strangely, Katarina hadn't needed him to prod her about working. When Mr. Blitzcrank had told the groups to get together and work on their essays, Katarina had immediately pulled out the book she was reading and... started reading.

It was immensely relieving to not have to force Katarina to sit down and study for once. But perhaps her restlessness had just transferred from her to him, because he couldn't focus, and he found on the text in front of him. His eyes kept wandering to her. Why was that?

"Huh," Katarina said, interrupting Garen's thoughts.

"What?" he asked, and watched as she beckoned him closer and pointed to a passage in the book she was reading.

"It says that Romeo and Juliet are only thirteen," she stated.

"What?" he let out in surprise. No, that couldn't be right. "That... that's..."

"Yeah," Katarina said, and she laughed, a soft sound that sent a tingle down Garen's spine. "Can't believe some old perv wrote a play about thirteen year olds having sex. And now it's one of the most famous love stories out there."

Garen felt his face turn a dark shade of red. He wanted to protest, but she was right. "Good lord," he said, "were they really that young?" For such young characters to have gone through so much pining, such conflict, such pain, and eventual suicide... There was no way they could have been that young.

"Yeah, apparently," Katarina said, and she finally glanced up and caught a glimpse of his red face; she smirked. "What's the matter, Garen? Jealous that these kids lost their virginity and you haven't?"

He gasped in shock at the statement, and he was offended... But he felt his face darken in shade even further for the truth of it. "I—I—" he stammered, "That's not—"

Katarina was laughing hysterically before he was able to even form a coherent sentence to respond with.

"Oh my god," she cackled, slapping the desk a few times for good measure, in case he wasn't already embarrassed by her laughter. "You—of course," she managed between choked laughter, and then she lost it again and was unable to compose herself for a full minute. Garen counted, each second making him sink farther into his seat.

Finally, Mr. Blitzcrank made his way across the room from where he had been sitting at his desk, and he stopped in front of them. "I trust you two are working on your project?" he asked.

Kat muffled her giggles behind her hand and nodded, avoiding Garen's gaze. He was sure it was because, if she looked at him again, she would burst out laughing once more.

"Of course, sir," Kat said, though her mirth was still clearly written across her face. "I was just... laughing at the play."

"Oh?" Mr. Blitzcrank asked, and he shifted, crossing his arms. "And what part in particular was so... uproariously funny?"

Kat snorted, and was unable to contain a few giggles. But she composed herself quickly, forcing a frown onto her face that was curled up at the edges, barely holding back a smile. "They're thirteen, sir," she said, "we were just laughing at... the absurdity of it."

Mr. Blitzcrank made a humming sound before nodding. "Rather young for such tragedy to befall them, yes. But such is the way of love, when one is blinded by one's feelings for another."

Garen's emotions had calmed enough at this point that he felt confident his voice would be steady when he spoke, and he wasn't disappointed. "That's a little pessimistic, sir," he said. "They were young, and the world was against them and their feelings for one another. But perhaps, if they had been given a chance, they would have been able to live out happy lives together."

Mr. Blitzcrank nodded thoughtfully, and Kat turned to Garen, giving him an appraising look. "Perhaps," Mr. Blitzcrank said, "but such musings would take us outside of the text, wouldn't it, and into our own world. You would be drawing from personal experiences to reach a conclusion, Mr. Crownguard."

Garen swallowed and hoped he wasn't being that obvious. "Uh... Right," he mumbled.

After that, Mr. Blitzcrank returned to his desk. Garen got the distinct impression that their teacher was still watching them, though when he turned to look, the aging man was looking at his papers and writing something down.

Katarina snorted and let out a few giggles before finally, finally composing herself. "Garen, how the fuck are you still a virgin?"

Garen bristled at the question. "I haven't... I don't believe in casual sex," he grunted.

Katarina quirked a brow. "Okay," she said, "but don't you have a girlfriend?"

"No," Garen said softly, and Katarina went quiet. "I've never dated anyone." He took a deep breath, and then let out a long sigh. "I was very focused on my studies, and then football... I haven't had the time to date anyone."

Kat watched him, and he couldn't read those emerald eyes, couldn't figure out what she was thinking.

"So you've never even kissed anyone?" she finally asked, and Garen let out a sigh. Of course she would tease him about it. He expected her to smirk any minute now, to laugh at him.

"No," he admitted.

"Huh," she managed, "I guess I should have known, with you being all prim and proper and... what was that word again? Knights and stuff?"

"Chivalrous," Garen supplied, remembering their conversation from the other day.

"Right, that," she nodded. "Of course you're the type to stay a virgin till you're married."

Garen blushed, and she let out a short guffaw.

"Or am I wrong about that last bit?" Suddenly she was leaning closer, across the desk, and he caught that distinct scent of cinnamon that she always carried, and her eyes were vibrant, so green, and he knew he could get lost staring into them for too long. "Is there someone you'd fuck before marriage, if they wanted?"

Garen blinked and huffed. "Language, Katarina," he rebuked, hoping she didn't notice the way his words came out in a whoosh of air, the way his voice was pitched slightly lower than normal, the way his palms had suddenly grown sweaty.

She rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair, returning her attention to the book she'd been reading. "God, you're such a goody two-shoes. Makes me sick to my stomach," Kat muttered before she returned to reading.

Garen pouted. He couldn't really argue about being a goody two shoes-it was somethig he prided himself in, actually. But surely he didn't make her sick to her stomach?

And then he realized-she was teasing him. Katarina was teasing him, as she usually did. But, although she'd had the option to continue pestering and teasing him about being a virgin, she'd instead shifted the topic and decided to tease him about something else, something that he wasn't embarrassed about. She'd shifted the topic of their conversation to his personality, something he was proud of. She had recognized his discomfort and been... sympathetic. Very unlike the Katarina who he had known only a week ago.

Garen felt his heart skip a beat at the thought, and he felt himself grow warm in a pleasant way as he opened his own book and began to read, just like the redhead sitting across from him.


She could have teased him. She wanted to tease him. But the way his brows had drawn together, the way his ears were just pure, blazing scarlet... Well, Kat just couldn't bring herself to do it. So she decided to save the teasing for another time, and she pretended to focus on reading.

But for the past few minutes, she hadn't been able to focus on the words on the page at all. She'd been distracted by Garen, again. For some reason, her eyes kept darting towards him—specifically towards his bangs. There was something so... alluring about the way they fell into his eyes. His clear blue eyes narrowed just a little bit as he concentrated on what he was reading, and his lips pressed together in thought.

Kat forced her eyes back to her own book. God, why did she keep doing that? Fucking hormones. She glanced at the clock on the wall, and let out a relieved sigh. Only five minutes till the bell, and then she'd be home free. Well, not home free. Her home was with the Crownguards, now, so it wasn't a safe haven from Garen. But—oh, that wasn't the point. Why the hell were her thoughts so jumbled, anyways?

She shook her head, and in the corner of her eye, she caught Garen shifting in his seat, leaning back and throwing an arm across the back of his chair, and she felt her heart beat just a little too quickly for her liking. Fucking hormones, she thought again as her eyes were drawn to the well, well defined muscles on his arm.

The bell rang, blessedly saving Katarina from having to sit here pretending to read while ogling the young man in front of her. She quickly gathered her things and threw them into her backpack, all too aware of Garen doing the same.

She rushed out of the room before him and walked briskly to her locker, letting out a sigh and running her hand through her long, crimson hair. "Shit," she grumbled as she began gathering the rest of her books from her locker.

"What's wrong?" asked a familiar low voice from behind her, sending a thrill through her entire body, and she jumped, startled, and spun around, slamming her locker shut.

"G-Garen!" she stammered. The fuck? Katarina DuCouteau didn't stammer. She took a deep breath to compose herself and shifted her backpack onto her shoulder, the picture of apathy. "The hell are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "I just followed you. I already had all my things, and we're carpooling, so..." he trailed off, scratching his ear. "I, uhh... I can leave, if you don't want me here," he finished a little sheepishly.

Kat let out a breath and rolled her eyes. What an idiot. "Whatever," she said. She turned and marched to the front of the school, not bothering to glance back and see if he was following. She knew he was.

She met Talon outside, as well as Lux. Talon leaned against the wall in his usual shady spot, his arms crossed, and Lux leaned against the wall next to him, one foot reaching farther out before her than the other. The two were laughing, faces tinged pink, when Kat and Garen found them. Kat pretended to gag at the sight.

"Flirt somewhere else," Kat said, and the two started in surprise, clearly having been too enthralled in their conversation to have noticed their siblings' approach.

"W-we weren't—" Talon stammered. Garen's glare made him quiet quickly, and he shared a glance with Lux, who shrugged.

Kat paid them little heed. She glanced to the side of the school and noticed a familiar, dark car waiting. She moved forward and took her brother by the arm, nodding towards Garen. "We'll be back in a sec," she said before marching towards the car.

Talon protested until he noticed where she was looking; once he'd followed her gaze, he stopped and instead hurried along the path to the vehicle.

The door was unlocked, of course, and Kat and her brother slid easily into the backseat.

Leblanc was waiting for them. She stared at them from the rearview mirror, as she always did, her gaze an unreadable amber that sent a chill down Kat's spine.

When Talon had closed the door behind him, Leblanc locked the doors, and she spoke.

"I see the two of you have gotten rather cozy with the Crownguard children," she said, and Kat could hear the smile in the woman's voice. The smile didn't meet the woman's eyes. Kat remembered Cass's warning about Leblanc from the previous night, and she wondered whether she ought to even tell the truth. She settled for a half-truth; not a lie, per se, but certainly not the truth.

"I wouldn't say 'cozy'," Kat grumbled. "Garen follows me around whether I like it or not."

"Lux is just an acquaintance," Talon stated, and Kat barely refrained from snorting at the blatant lie. Still, Talon had his impassive-mask on; he looked like he didn't give a shit about anything or anyone, least of all Luxanna Crownguard. Kat knew better, though.

Leblanc didn't grace them with a response; instead, she reached over to the passenger seat and retrieved two small Manila envelopes from where they had been sitting, and handed them each to Kat and Talon.

"You have new targets," Leblanc said, getting straight to business. "Katarina, your target is a young man you've encountered once before."

Kat frowned as she opened the envelope, and beheld a description of a Demacian.

"You do remember the young man who shot you, I assume," Leblanc said, and with a pang, Kat made the connection. "He's known as 'The Might of Demacia.' Signature weapon is a baseball bat. He's a ferocious fighter, though you've experienced that firsthand." Leblanc's dig at Kat's previous failure against him wasn't lost on her, and Kat narrowed her eyes.

The Might of Demacia, huh? she thought. She had underestimated him last time, she knew. As she rifled through the documents that Leblanc had provided and skimmed them, she learned of his various accomplishments. He had not only become a figurehead for Demacia, but also a thorn in Noxus' side. He'd thwarted many drug and smuggling operations and singlehandedly taken out dozens of Noxians. And he had done it all without killing a single person.

I won't underestimate you again, Might of Demacia, Kat thought as she closed the file, stuffed it into her backpack, and met Leblanc's eyes. She nodded.

"Talon," Leblanc said, her eyes leaving Kat's and meeting her brother's. "Your target is... a little hard to pin down. But I trust your tracking skills, and your ability to sneak around undetected." Talon opened his own file and scanned the pages wordlessly. "She's known as the Lady of Luminosity. A technical genius who has hacked the FBI and made it look easy; she always leaves a signature after her hacking endeavors—she's cocky. Use that to your advantage. She specializes in sniping, only hitting non-lethal shots."

"So she stays back, away from the action," Talon concluded with a nod. "And when do you want us to kill them?"

Leblanc smiled. "Tonight, 2300 on the dot. The Demacians are planning a raid on one of the smaller outposts, by the docks. Pier 81. It's one of our more profitable rings."

Kat nodded. She'd been there once before, on a routine checkup. That was what High Command called it when somebody wasn't doing their job properly, and they needed Kat to go in and... intimidate them. Katarina was well-known throughout the Noxian ranks for her work as an assassin, and her very presence was often frightening enough to make some of the lower grunts piss themselves. So when High Command wanted a low-ranked officer to do his damn job, they needed to send someone to make him do it, someone who could get the job done easily and without any casualties; killing a member who could prove useful wasn't efficient. It wasn't a job that required the presence of a higher-up, and it was a task beneath them, anyways; thus, High Command relegated the job to either Kat or Talon.

Needless to say, Kat wasn't overly familiar with the place. She'd only snuck inside, put a knife to a man's throat, given a scripted threat, and then casually strolled back outside when the man had agreed to cooperate with Noxus and work harder. She hadn't been back since. She hated the docks.

"I've fed some false info to the Demacians," Leblanc said. "They think they'll find a member of High Command, along with some highly incriminating documents. Needless to say, they'll find neither, and there won't be any traces of Noxus left in the warehouse by the time they arrive.

"They'll send their best, as they usually do. You'll run into your targets, as well as a few other Demacians. Ignore the extras and kill your targets."

"Understood," Kat said.

"How are we supposed to get there?" Talon asked. It was a valid question, and one Kat hadn't thought of. She was used to being able to either drive to ops herself, or else have a superior escort her; but, since the DuCouteaus were staying with the Crownguards, the former wasn't an option, and the latter could draw suspicion.

"Darius will pick you up from the Crownguard manor at 1800. You're to pretend you're going to see a movie with him. He'll retrieve you after the mission's completion at 0100, in the same location that he drops you off, and he'll return you to the Crownguard mansion. Any questions?"

Kat shook her head, and Talon's silence was answer enough.

"Good." Leblanc adjusted her rearview mirror and unlocked the doors. Talon stuffed his file into his backpack, opened the door quickly, and hopped out, but as Kat was just about to follow suit, Leblanc spoke. "Oh, and Kat?"

Kat froze, and she met Leblanc's gaze; for the first time this afternoon, the woman had turned in her seat slightly, and she looked at Kat directly, a small smile on her lips.

"Yeah?" Kat asked, her throat suddenly dry, aware that the door was still open and that Talon was waiting for her outside, probably wondering what the hold up was; she became all too aware of Garen and Lux watching curiously, the open door granting them a direct line of sight onto Leblanc.

"Did you know that a building caught fire in downtown? It was hard to track down, but it seems that the property was in your father's possession. The police are investigating."

Kat forced herself not to flinch or blink, or make any noticeable reaction of any kind; she wouldn't give Leblanc any tell sign of her involvement in the safehouse's demise, or her murder of the men and the Black Rose operative. "What?" she asked, inflecting as much alarm and concern into her voice as she could muster. She hoped the act would fool Leblanc, but Kat had never been as good at putting on a convincing show as Cass.

"Yes. It seems there were some dead bodies found, as well, though the fire burned any recognizable parts of them to ashes. The police are likely looking into dental records."

Leblanc seemed to know an awful lot about the investigation, and seemed awfully fascinated by it. She must be worried for the DuCouteaus—informing them about the details would be a way of helping to keep them safe. On the other hand, if she was somehow involved with the Black Rose, wouldn't she know that the men had been murdered? She could be making up the whole thing just to see if Kat gave any sign that she was involved in their deaths, or if she knew about the organization. Kat wasn't sure what Leblanc was up to, but she remembered what Cass had told her—not to trust Leblanc.

"You don't think...?" Kat said, letting the question trail off, hoping Leblanc would fill in the blank and give her some clue as to what her intentions were.

"That one of them was your father?" Leblanc asked. "No, I don't think so. Your father wasn't the type of man to die in a building fire; he's the type of man who will either die fighting, or die in his sleep, wouldn't you say?" Leblanc narrowed her eyes just a fraction; and the action somehow seemed menacing. Kat swallowed.

"Y-yeah," Kat said.

Leblanc smiled and inclined her head. "It seems your Crownguard friends are getting impatient."

Kat turned to see that Lux was waving at her, and that Garen had his arms crossed and was tapping his foot.

"They aren't my friends," Kat said almost automatically.

"Be sure that they aren't," Leblanc said. "I'll be by tomorrow. See to it that you and your brother aren't captured by the Demacians tonight, will you, dear?"

Kat nodded, bristling internally at being called 'dear' by the woman. She stepped out of the car and closed the door, trying her best not to slam the door shut and failing miserably. Oh, well. So Leblanc knew she was upset—it wasn't as if the woman knew exactly why.

Leblanc drove away, and Kat and her brother made their way to the Crownguard siblings just as Cassiopeia arrived.

"Who was that woman?" Lux asked, waving in the direction where Leblanc's car had been.

Kat shared a quick glance with Talon before speaking. "Math tutor," she lied; Lux had known Leblanc as Cassiopeia's math tutor on the phone—it seemed like a good alias to keep up.

Garen seemed surprised. "You have a math tutor?"

She shrugged. "Yeah," she said.

"I didn't know you needed a math tutor," Lux said in her usual cheery manner. Kat bristled at the veiled insult; coming from a genius, it felt as if the remark was intended to smart, and Kat didn't take kindly to insults.

Kat glared. "I don't," she spat, and she marched past the blonde Crownguard, towards the parking lot. She heard heavy footfalls following her, and she recognized them as belonging to Garen. "What?" she asked, not bothering to look over her shoulder at him.

Garen was quiet for a bit before answering with his own question. "What's wrong?"

Kat's pace slowed enough for Garen to catch up and walk beside her, and she saw on his face the genuine concern she had expected. She considered her words; she couldn't tell him about who Leblanc really was, or why she was upset with her. But that didn't mean she had to outright lie to him, either. Truthfully, Kat wasn't sure that she could. "I don't like that woman," she admitted.

Garen watched her and nodded, and something about the gesture was reassuring; perhaps it was the genuinely honest nature behind it, or perhaps it was just that Kat needed someone to listen, whether they understood or not. "Is she mean?" he asked.

Kat snorted. "Mean doesn't come close," she said as she recalled the torture her sister had described the previous day.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "Have you thought about getting a different tutor?"

"She's a... family friend," Kat said, choosing her words carefully. "Can't do that without insulting people I can't afford to insult."

"I understand," Garen said, and Kat had to refrain from shaking her head; there was no way Garen could understand. "We have family friends like that, too. Well, we don't have to be tutored by them, but Lux and I have endured our fair share of nasty people."

Kat wanted to stop him, to tell him that even the nastiest person he'd met was nowhere near as nasty as anyone in High Command; hell, as a murderer of countless men and a ruthless assassin, maybe she was worse than them, too. But she couldn't tell him any of that, so she just made a soft hum of consideration before beginning to walk again.

After a minute, Kat stopped in front of the parking lot and frowned. She didn't know where Garen had parked the car after he'd dropped the rest of them off in front of the school in the morning.

"The car's this way," Garen said, pointing down one of the rows, and Kat followed him as he navigated through several cars and finally reached the minivan that Garen had driven them to school in. Garen usually drove the truck because he liked it, he'd explained in the morning, but this was the only vehicle the Crownguards owned that would hold all of them.

It was blue, of course; it seemed like the Crownguards were overly fond of that color, though she had to admit that it did bring out their eyes in an agreeable way. It made his gaze more intense, in a manner that drew her in, as if she could stare into his eyes and in their depths find a pathway to his soul. Or something. She needed to stop reading that Shakespeare crap—it was starting to get to her.

Garen unlocked the doors, and without thinking about it, Kat hopped into the passenger seat as he took the driver's seat beside her and started the engine. He let the car idle for a bit and drummed his fingers against the wheel.

"This evening, Lux and I are going to visit our aunt," he said, and Kat wondered why he was telling her this. If he was about to invite her to tag along to see some old lady, he would be very disappointed. She had no interest in meeting any of Garen's relatives, to be quite honest, much less boring, surely stern old women. Besides, it would interfere with her mission. "I'll drop you guys off at home, and then Lux and I will be leaving. So..." Garen's fingers stopped drumming against the wheel. "Please take care of the house while we're gone. I have leftovers in the fridge that you can just microwave. You might also consider setting them in the oven, but I'm not sure how familiar any of you are with cooking—"

"Microwave's fine," Kat said, slightly taken aback. Honestly, Garen's naïveté shouldn't surprise her anymore. Though any same person wouldn't think to leave her and her and her siblings alone in their house, much less trust them to not do anything devious, Garen was apparently never one to expect anything short of exemplary behavior from others. He was way too trusting for his own good. But... "Talon and I won't be home for dinner, though," she said. "We're going out."

Garen's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh," he said, and perhaps she imagined the slight tinge of disappointment coloring his voice. "I didn't realize." He scratched his chin. "What will you two be doing?"

"Movie," she said, repeating the alibi Leblanc had told them to use.

"Oh, I see," Garen said. "You know, I think Lux has a membership. She might be able to get you a discount. Maybe we could all go together tomorrow instead, if you want to use the discount."

Again with the kindness and consideration. It was… odd. Katarina had never met someone before who was so genuinely nice. "Already bought the tickets online," she said, the lie slipping from her tongue as easily as her knives through skin.

"Oh. Maybe next time, then," Garen said, and he seemed a little dejected. His shoulders slumped just a tad, and he let out a barely noticeable sigh, and suddenly Kat heard someone speaking, and it took her a moment to realize it was her.

"Sure," she agreed, "some other time." Wait. Did she actually just agree to that? What the hell, Kat? she thought.

Garen perked up a bit, and a tentative smile grew on his lips. "Maybe this Friday?" he asked.

"Maybe," she said, avoiding giving a definite answer, still confused as to why in the hell she'd even considered it.

"That would make me very happy," Garen said, a full-blown smile on his face—teeth and everything—and then he shifted gears, reversed out of the parking space, and drove around the school to pick the others up.

All the while, Kat's heart pounded a merciless, quick rhythm against her chest.


"Our aunt? You told her we were visiting our aunt?" Lux said before letting out a giggle. "We don't have any aunts."

"They don't know that," Garen countered, frowning. Then he realized she couldn't see his face, so he grunted to give voice to his disapproval of her reaction.

"They might," Lux said, then let out a sigh over the comms. "If they get suspicious, I'll figure out a better excuse than 'visiting our aunt'."

Garen huffed. "It's not that terrible of an excuse," he said. "Family functions are generally accepted as valid excuses, given that it's an obligation by blood and you're directly related to them." Or at least, he'd read that somewhere. Or something like that.

"Family, huh?" Lux said with a laugh, and Garen knew he didn't imagine the cold edge to the sound. "The DuCouteaus have been staying with us for three days, now, and they still haven't seen our parents, and they haven't seen us interact with our parents. Once Mom and Dad get back, they'll see us all together as a 'family/'," she said, the word like venom on her tongue, "and they'll know something's off."

Garen huffed again, but didn't argue. Lux wasn't wrong, he supposed, but it was no use trying to reason with her when she got like this. She was still bitter towards their parents, and Garen couldn't blame her for that—he was, too. They were left in a situation wherein their home was also the home of those who had used them, used her. They tried to avoid their parents whenever possible.

Over the comms, Shyvana, who was with Lux on the top of the adjacent building, yawned.

"Watch duty is boring," Shyvana grumbled. "Give me some Noxians to beat up, already."

"You're stuck with me, Shyv," Lux replied, and Garen could hear the playful edge to her voice. He knew she was still upset by the extra layer of sweetness she added to her tone; she was good at faking being happy, but he knew her better than most. "And that means we get to see all the action, but we're never a part of it. Usually."

Shyvana groaned. "I know, I know."

Garen's interest was piqued. "Why are you on guard duty for Lux, anyway?" Usually, Shyvana—fierce warrior that she was—was to be found on the frontlines, teeth bared and roaring as she charged down foe after foe.

Shyvana let out a bitter laugh. "Jarvan's Dad doesn't like me."

"While that's true," Lux said, "it's because of the fire she started at the last Noxian raid."

"That was an accident," Shyvana said, and Garen could imagine the pout on her lips. "I didn't mean to start that one."

"'That one,' she says," Jarvan's voice laughed over the comms. He'd been silent through most of the exchange, but it seemed this was something he couldn't resist chiming in on. "That implies the others were intentional."

"You're sleeping on the fucking couch all week," Shyvana grumbled.

"It's my house!" he protested.

"Couch," Shyvana repeated forcibly, and if the whine on the other end was any indication, Jarvan wasn't pleased with this turn of events. He should have stayed quiet, Garen thought as he chuckled at the exchange.

"So she's on guard duty, a task which offers minimal opportunity for creating any sort of incendiary action," Lux concluded.

"Translation: I'm being punished, and it sucks," Shyvana said with a huff. Garen could imagine her folding her arms and frowning.

"Hate to break up the fun," said another voice, softer than the others, but firm—Quinn. "But our targets are in the building, now. Clock's ticking."

Garen flexed his fingers around the bat he held, and then tightened his grip on the weapon. He double-checked the tranq's on his person and nodded in satisfaction—everything was in order.

"I'm in position," Jarvan said.

"As am I," Garen said into the comms.

Lux began a countdown. "Three, two, one. Mission start-o!"

"You're a dweeb," Shyvana grumbled, but Garen wasn't paying attention to his sister's response to Shyvana's comment.

Upon the start of their operation, he had immediately sprung into action. He rushed through the alleyway towards the doors of the warehouse, and swung the doors open. He threw himself through the door and then charged inside, tranquilizer poised and ready for a fight. On the other side of the warehouse, if he hadn't run into any opposition, Jarvan would have already made his way to the front entrance. They entered at the same time, from opposite ends of the building.

And there he was—Garen could see Jarvan's frame outlined by the door he had used.

Garen blinked, and his visor adjusted its settings for night vision. Then he blinked again as he surveyed the inside of the warehouse.

"It's empty," he said, his voice echoing hollowly in the large space.

"What?" Lux said, and Garen repeated himself.

"It's empty."

"Maybe there's a hidden room," Jarvan said, and his voice, too, echoed throughout the warehouse. Garen stepped forward and particles of dust spun into the air, visible from the light streaming in through the open doors. It was then that he noticed the layer of dust on the floor; nobody had been here in quite some time.

"Dust," Garen said. "No footprints. Nobody's here."

"Did we hit the wrong place?" Shyvana asked.

"No, this is the right warehouse," Lux said, though Garen could hear the confusion in her voice. "Our instructions said pier 81, and they gave us the address to this warehouse. This is the right place."

Jarvan sighed. "Then the info we got was wrong. Clearly this place hasn't been in use for years—"

"That doesn't make sense, though," Lux said. "I checked—there are supposed to be people employed here, people who work daily. The warehouse is supposed to be full of crates of imported Japanese goods."

Jarvan gestured to the empty space surrounding them. "Well, it's not."

"I can see that," Lux snapped.

"Hey, don't—" Jarvan started, but Garen muted his comms with a sigh. He'd heard enough arguing for one day, and he really wasn't in the mood to hear his sister and his best friend yell at each other for the next five minutes until Lux won the argument. Instead, Garen made his way around the warehouse, trying to find any clues as to where the Noxians had gone.

He found nothing. The warehouse was truly empty. But as he turned to go to Jarvan's side and tell him they should take their leave, he spotted something he'd overlooked.

In the far corner of the room, hidden in the shadows, was something on the floor. Garen approached it warily, and then he bent down to retrieve it.

"Ow," he muttered and dropped it, staring at his thumb, where a small prick of blood began to bloom, the red spreading slowly across his fingertip. This time, Garen picked the flower up more carefully. What was a rose doing here?

Quinn's voice was sharp over the comms, and drew his attention away from the rose. "Guys, we've got company."

"What?" Garen said.

"There's—a man," Quinn said. "He's headed for... He's headed for the rooftop. Lux, Shyvana—"

"I'm ready," Shyvana said. "We'll take care of him."

Jarvan was already out the door of the warehouse. "I'm on my way," he said over the comms.

Garen put the rose in one of the pockets of his suit. The pockets were made to carry objects of varying sizes, so the rose would remain intact.

"I'm on my way," Garen said, and he set off at a trot to follow Jarvan out of the warehouse.

It was the faint whizz of metal flying through the air that saved his life. He had almost reached the door to leave when he heard it. He reacted just in time and threw himself to the side as a dagger embedded itself in the ground. If he'd moved a second later, it would have found the back of his neck.

A shadow fell from the roof, and Garen realized with a start that, whoever this was, they had been hiding there the whole time. He and Jarvan had never looked up at the ceiling. They'd never expected someone to be hiding there.

Garen recognized the smirk on the woman's lips, visible through the ski mask she wore. It was the same woman from their previous mission—the one he had tranq'd.

"Miss me?" she asked, and then Garen knew nothing but the flash of steel.


A/N: Ok, so I lied. Apparently I write a lot when I'm upset. And the election left me upset. Ugh. Anyways, I mean it for real this time when I say I probably won't update till winter break. I do have some stuff written, but not an entire chapter's worth of content.

So, KAT REWORK? ANYONE? YESSSSSS.