Chapter Seven
Her arms and legs were stiff from waiting for hours on the roof of the warehouse. Earlier, she had scaled the building and slipped in through a broken window. From there, she scouted out an ideal location in the far corner, a set of rafters dark enough to hide her in the shadows, and large enough so that she could situate herself comfortably along their length. And then she waited.
She waited for hours, shifting only slightly and grimacing at the dust that spun into the air at the slightest movement she made. And then, finally, he arrived. Pretty loudly; she was startled by the sound, and her hands went immediately to her daggers. She prepared to ready her throw, but then he moved and another man entered, blocking her from a clear shot at The Might of Demacia. He and his companion made their way inside and began looking around.
If she could isolate him, that would be best; otherwise, she would have to fight the two of them. Kat wasn't built for extended fights; she was suited for quick engagements—finish the kill, and retreat. Having to fight both men for an extended period of time would be disastrous for her. But she knew how they fought—they'd fought before, back at the Westside base, and she knew taking them down wouldn't be easy. If it came to an extended fight, Kat wasn't sure she'd be able to eliminate the Might of Demacia.
So it was a relief when the other Demacian raced out of the warehouse, leaving the bulky young man alone. He moved towards the exit, and Kat had known—it was now, or never. His attention was on the door, on something outside—Talon, probably, she realized—so she had an opening.
Her knife soared through the air. It would have hit the back of his neck, severing his spine and killing him instantly, but at the very last second, he dodged it. Kat had to hand it to him. He was good. Her heartbeat quickened at the thought; she loved a challenge.
She wasn't surprised that he was ready for her, his baseball bat gripped between both hands. Usually, she would scoff at such a weapon before shooting the owner with her gun. But guns made noise, and she had hoped to catch him by surprise with her silent dagger. Thus, her gun was still holstered on her hip, and in the time it would take her to draw it, he would be able to close the distance between them. Kat would lose in a close quarters fight against this burly man; he would brute force his way to victory.
So she would have to rely on her daggers for the time being. If she could put enough distance between them, she would be able to draw her gun and shoot him. Even if the shot didn't kill him, it would be enough to incapacitate him, and that would be all the opportunity Katarina needed to put a dagger between his eyes.
She twirled the daggers in her hands, adrenaline pumping through her veins. She'd lost the element of surprise, so why not have some fun?
She hopped from the rafter and landed quietly on the floor.
"Miss me?" she taunted, and then she leapt, throwing both of her daggers at his exposed side, drawing new ones in one swift motion, honed over years of training.
The man had the sense to dodge by sidestepping the projectiles, but Katarina had already sent more his way, and she raced across the warehouse, a sharp blur of red. Her previous daggers had embedded themselves within the wall, and Kat retrieved them with a deft pull as the man once again dodged the daggers she had sent his way.
He was being passive, and Katarina was just fine with that. She threw another set of knives at him, expecting him to dodge them again. Instead, with a roar, he swung his bat, knocking her daggers off course, and they clattered to the ground, away from him.
"I've got an assassin on me," she heard him say, his voice low and breathless. He was calling backup. "I'll be there soon," he said, and she shivered. Through the mask, his voice was muffled and distorted, and it almost sounded like... No, that was impossible. Kat shut down that line of thinking immediately and readied a knife.
But that slightest hesitation on her part, the lapse in the constant barrage of daggers being sent his way, gave the Might of Demacia enough time to reposition himself, and he drew a tranquilizer gun from his belt.
"Shit," Katarina cursed as he fired, and she dodged to the side. Now she was on the defensive, and he fired two more shots in rapid succession.
Katarina ducked low, minimizing her target area, and rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the darts. In the time it took, he had rushed forward, closing the distance between them with incredible speed. Katarina threw her daggers towards him once more, and he was forced to the side, and Kat increased the distance between them.
It was like a game of cat and mouse. She was starting to wear out, though. He was panting as well, but the longer she kept this up, the less likely she would complete her mission. She needed to act now, she needed to change the tempo of this dance, or else she knew what the outcome would be.
Katarina tossed several blades in his direction and sped forward. As she ran, she produced more blades from her person and threw them at the masked man. He was forced to dodge them all, and the constant onslaught of new daggers caused him to lose focus on her, his attention focused on evading the blades.
She leaped towards him, ducked and rolled, and drew two daggers as she stood quickly. The man had still been trying to find his balance after having to throw himself to the side to dodge her last knife. Now, he was in the perfect position for her to strike.
It was a motion she'd practiced thousands of times, a motion she'd executed hundreds of times. First, she brought her left dagger up—a feint, a distraction. The opponent would bring their arm up to guard against it, an instinctual act. Then, she would spin behind them, and with the dagger in her right hand, she would plunge her blade into the back of her target's neck. Mission accomplished.
Katarina raised her blade and feinted, her feet already preparing to make the spin to position her behind her target.
But instead of trying to defend himself, the man dropped his weapons, let out a roar, and tackled her.
Katarina was knocked to the ground, and he tried to pin her there. She quickly relinquished her hold on her weapons in order to use her hands to free herself from him. He tried to hold her arms in place, but she brought her knees up under her and managed to push most of his weight off as she also elbowed his visor.
He grunted in pain, and Katarina managed to wriggle out from under him. Panting now, Kat rolled out of his reach, picking up two of her fallen blades.
He was already on his feet, though.
Katarina had never faced an opponent like this before. They were equally matched, truly, and despite herself, Katarina felt her heart quicken at the thought.
She spun the blades in her hands. This was it. If she couldn't manage to kill him this time, she wouldn't be able to kill him tonight, period. They were on a schedule.
She would throw five daggers at him in rapid succession, then another five as she moved in. He would dodge them, most certainly—and she would move in for the kill. Quick, clean, efficient. One dagger to the back of his neck, and that would be the end of the Might of Demacia. Kat smirked. Too easy.
She gripped her daggers in anticipation, and she began to move—it was now or never, and she—
"Sinister!"
Katarina turned to the door, fury in her eyes at being interrupted, and beheld her brother running towards her.
"We need to go," he shouted at her, and she scoffed.
"What? I was about to—"
"Now," Talon repeated, his voice dangerously low.
Katarina grit her teeth, her grip on the hilts of her blades tightening. She would have killed him, if Talon hadn't interrupted. She was sure of it. But there was no way Talon would have butted in unless something serious had come up.
She cast one final look towards her opponent, who regarded both of them warily, before nodding.
"Fine," she relented, and she followed Talon out of the building, running at breakneck speed. He led her in a dizzying path of twists and turns along alleys and rooftops, until they finally dropped down from a fire escape to the rendezvous point.
And now, Katarina let out the words that she'd been holding back. "What the fuck, Talon? I almost had him!"
"We're still in the field, Sinister," he said, emphasizing her code name.
"I don't care! What the hell was that?"
Talon sighed, and for the first time, Kat noticed the blood dripping from his arm. Her anger dissipated. Talon never got hurt—he was always too quick.
"They had backup," he admitted. "Lots of it. My target said the police were on their way, as well."
"Wait," Kat said, realization dawning, "you didn't eliminate your target." It wasn't a question.
"No," Talon said. He let out a frustrated sigh. "She saw me coming, somehow. She saw me."
Kat frowned. Talon was renowned for being able to sneak past guards and security cameras alike. For his target to have seen him... It was unprecedented.
"Shit," she said. He nodded in agreement.
"I don't know how, but she saw me coming. She knew exactly where to aim, and the person with her knew where I was hiding. Her guard was strong. I couldn't get past them. We were out of time, with the police coming. So I fell back."
Katarina frowned. "We both failed," she said. Talon was silent; there was nothing to say. They had failed their missions from Leblanc. Who knew what the woman would do, now that they had failed her? They were still under the Crownguards' protection, but that was little comfort to Katarina.
They were silent until a familiar dark vehicle approached. A tall, broad-shouldered man rolled down the window and grunted. "Get in," Darius said, and Kat and Talon climbed into the back of his car.
Darius rolled the window back up and locked the doors. Then he started driving, and it took him a long time before he spoke.
"Did you do it?" he asked.
Katarina couldn't bring herself to look at him. "No," she said roughly.
She expected surprise. Condescension. Not the worried look he gave them.
"Leblanc said you wouldn't. I didn't think..." Darius said, trailing off.
"What do you mean?" Kat asked, her eyes wide.
"The higher ups didn't expect you to kill your targets. I didn't believe them... I've never seen you fail," Darius said, his voice rough. He pulled over on the side of the road, not too far from the Crownguard household. He turned in his seat to regard the DuCouteau siblings. "You need to watch yourselves," he cautioned. "There are rumors going around..."
"What sort of rumors?" Kat asked quickly, her eyes narrowing. Of course rumors were flying around about them. They were staying with the police, their father had mysteriously vanished... Her hands curled into fists, the nails biting into her skin.
Darius narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. He seemed to consider his words before speaking. "Rumors about your allegiances. You're staying with the police chief, you're failing missions... There are whispers that your father was a traitor. That your whole family are traitors."
Katarina had moved before she realized she had even drawn her dagger. It was at Darius' throat before she knew it, and the young man's hand caught her wrist, keeping the blade mere centimeters from his throat. A growing fury boiled in her chest at his words. How dare he accuse her of treachery. How dare they—how dare Nocus accuse her of anything but the fiercest devotion. Since her first mission, she'd done nothing but serve Noxus to the best of her abilities, and she'd lost so much for it. Her scar burned.
A thought crossed her mind, though—if her father had crossed Noxus... Then would she betray Noxus for her family? She didn't know. The fact that her answer wasn't an immediate 'no,' as it should have been for a devoted member of Noxus—that made her all the angier.
"Never," she said, the rage in her a raw fire, scalding her insides, "question my loyalty."
After a few moments, Darius shoved her hand away from his neck, and she withdrew her blade. He rubbed at his throat, his eyes never leaving hers.
"I never said I agreed with them," Darius finally said. "I only meant to warn you. Something's changed in High Command. With your father gone, the atmosphere is different. Unreadable. The balance in power has shifted. Don't be on the wrong side, when the time comes."
Kat narrowed her eyes and twirled the dagger still in her hand. "The wrong side?" she asked.
Darius grunted before turning around and facing the front. He put the car into drive and began moving, but Kat wasn't finished.
"What do you mean, 'the wrong side?' Darius, what the hell are you talking about?"
Darius glanced at her from the rearview mirror, and Katarina was eerily reminded of Leblanc looking at her in the same fashion. "If your father was a traitor, you'll need to prove yourselves. I'd hoped that you two would have accomplished your missions tonight. That would have been enough to prove your loyalty to High Command. Don't screw up next time, if you want to stay in High Command's good graces, is what I'm saying."
It took Katarina a minute to realize he was trying to offer a warning in good faith. That he had no ulterior motives. She knew Darius, of course; having risen through the ranks, from a mere grunt to a junior member of High Command, almost everyone knew of him and his strength. She had met him in high school, had attended the same classes as him before he dropped out to focus fully on his work in the organization. They had never been friends, but she had respected his strength, and he had respected her talents.
Perhaps that was why he was offering this warning. She ought to appreciate it. But all she could think of on the ride home was whether he had been right... Was her father a traitor?
If he was... What did that mean for her and her siblings?
Darius drove them home in silence. Home. Kat scoffed internally at the thought. As if the Crownguard manor and the Crownguards themselves could ever be where she truly belonged. She belonged to the shadows, not to their light.
"Take care of yourselves," Darius said after he pulled up in front of the manor and they began to exit the vehicle. Kat paused.
"You, too," she said. He nodded, and she slipped out of the car, and shut the door behind her. Darius drive off, probably back to headquarters to report on their failure.
Kat sighed and ran a hand through her hair.
"That fucking sucked," she muttered. Beside her, Talon grunted in agreement.
"Let's get inside," he said.
"Anxious to see Lux?" Kat teased, trying to lighten the mood. She couldn't tell for certain through the shadows of the night, but his cheeks might have darkened a shade or two.
"She's not home. Her or Garen. Remember?"
Kat's shoulders slumped, and she realized with a jolt that she was... disappointed. "I forgot," she admitted. Had she... Had she been looking forward to seeing...?
Kat shook her head, banishing such thoughts. They needed to talk to Cass.
Kat was pleasantly surprised to find that the front door was locked. Either the Crownguards didn't always leave it so, as Kat had been led to believe the day before, or Cass had taken it upon herself to lock up the premises for the night. Whatever the case, it was safer this way, and Kat couldn't help but feel relieved. She rang the doorbell, and a few seconds passed before the door swung open, revealing Cassiopeia.
"Welcome back," Cass said, letting Katarina and Talon inside and locking the door behind them. "I see Darius was your escort, tonight." Her nose crinkled; Cass had never liked Darius.
"I prefer him over Leblanc," Kat said. Honestly, she'd prefer anyone over Leblanc, at this rate. After heading to Katarina's bedroom, Kat and Talon relayed the events of that night to Cass, who listened intently, never batting an eye.
"What do you make of them sending us on a mission, knowing we'd fail?" Talon asked. "Why would High Command do that?"
Cass narrowed her eyes in thought. "I'm not sure," she said. "It could be any number of reasons. But from what Darius said... It could be to test our allegiance. To see whether you'll do as you're told, even if you know the only outcome is failure."
"But we didn't know we'd fail," Kat argued, frustration entering her voice. "I almost killed him. I would have killed him, if I'd had just a little more time."
"Hmm... Perhaps there's something else at play, then," Cass said. "If the Black Rose is involved somehow, then perhaps you weren't expected only to fail. Perhaps you were expected to be exposed, as well."
Kat paced by the foot of her bed, arms crossed. If the Black Rose wanted their identities as members of Noxus to be exposed, then if they succeeded, it would have dire consequences. They would lose their place at the Crownguard's, effectively rendering them vulnerable to the Black Rose, Noxus... even the police would be after them, then.
"We haven't even done anything to them," Kat said through clenched teeth. She hated them. She hated the Black Rose. Whoever they were—she and her siblings were innocent of having crossed them. Why was the organization so hellbent on ruining their lives?
"We haven't," Cass agreed, "but clearly Father did something to provoke them. Maybe he has information on their members, or maybe he opposed them, or posed a threat to them somehow... Who's to say, for sure? Father's missing, and the Black Rose won't simply come out and tell us what their intentions are."
Kat let out a sigh of frustration. "Fuck this," she said. She kicked at the bedframe, ignoring the pain that swelled in her foot immediately after the action. "Fuck it," she repeated.
"Eloquent," Cass said drily.
"There has to be something we can do," Talon offered, "some way we can find out what's really going on. Who the Black Rose is, what they wanted from our father... Where they took him."
Kat kicked the bedframe again, this time hissing as her big toe throbbed from the impact.
"You know I'm sitting on this bed," Cass said with disdain. "And pray tell, Talon, if you have any ideas on how to go about finding those answers, do share them with us. Because I would love to hear them."
"We don't need you to patronize us, Cass," Kat said through grit teeth.
"You kicking everything in sight isn't helping, either, dear sister," Cass said, narrowing her eyes.
"Stop arguing," Talon said, "you're just making each other angrier."
Kat opened her mouth to retort, but as she did so, she realized that he was right. She closed her lips and looked away, glaring at the wall.
She felt her scar burn, and something behind her eyes. She closed them and swallowed. "Darius said Dad was a traitor."
"Might have been," Talon corrected.
"What?" Cass asked.
"There are rumors that Dad was a traitor. If he was, then maybe that's why the Black Rose was after him," Kat murmured.
"But… that…" Cass said, trailing off. "It does make sense," she admitted. "It would explain High Command's hostility towards us. It would explain Leblanc's behavior. But it doesn't explain how the Black Rose is connected to this. It doesn't even confirm that their involvement is related."
"It doesn't matter," Kat said, opening her eyes and crossing her arms. She looked at her siblings—really looked.
Cass had shadows under eyes. They were concealed well by makeup during the day, but now, after she had showered and had readied for bed, they were clearly visible. She was worrying at her lip, her eyes misted over by something, as if she were lost in thought.
Talon's jaw was clenched, and his arms were crossed. This wasn't altogether unusual; to others, he always gave a standoffish appearance, his eyes always low and guarded, his hood always up. But there was a tightness to his shoulders that he never had around his family, and the way he ground his teeth told that he was far from composed, despite what it might appear.
This—their father missing, the Black Rose, Noxus—it was taking its toll on them. For a moment, they looked like strangers. She wondered if she looked the same to them.
"What if he was?" Cass asked quietly. "What if he was a traitor?"
Kat thought about it. Then she uncrossed her arms and stood tall, and she felt her siblings' eyes on her. "Then we find out why."
"And then what?" Talon asked. He uncrossed his arms, too, and pushed himself off the wall. His eyes were narrowed, and Kat got the distinct impression that he was assessing her—that if she said the wrong thing, made the wrong choice, that he would lose faith in her. Cass sat up straighter, her own eyes guarded, watching the exchange and waiting.
"I don't know," Kat said. "I don't know anything. I don't know how we're going to find Dad, I don't know how we're going to get him back. I don't know what he did, and I don't know what we will have to do." She took a deep breath, considering her next words. "But I will do whatever it takes to get Dad back, and to protect you two."
It was treason, really. She had just implied that she would go against Noxus if it came to it. And if she'd spoken those words to any other members of Noxus, she would be immediately apprehended, turned in, killed.
But the corners of Talon's lips quirked upwards in a smile. And Cass's shoulders relaxed. Clearly, she hadn't been the only one harboring those sentiments.
"Me, too," Talon said, his voice rough. And there was something in his eyes, a fiery gleam she'd never seen before, and Katarina knew that he meant his words.
They turned to Cass, who quirked a brow.
"I want Dad back just as much as you do," she said. "I have no allegiance to Noxus. The only allegiance I hold is to those who I care about. And I care about my family."
Kat felt her shoulders sag in relief at her sister's words. In a show of tenderness she usually never demonstrated, Kat moved forward and brought her sister into her arms, hugging her tightly. Cass hugged her just as tightly, before gesturing for Talon to join in.
They embraced for what felt like hours, the warmth of one another's arms telling more than words ever could. And then Cass leaned away, ending their hug, and the siblings separated. The room was quiet as the siblings collected themselves.
"So, what now?" Talon asked.
Cass sighed. "I don't know," she admitted. "I'm at a loss, really. We have no leads, and only cryptic, vague threats from any number of parties. There's no... there's no discernible pattern. I can't figure out what they're up to, what we need to do." She was frustrated with herself, clearly; it wasn't often that Cass found herself powerless against others. But the Black Rose had rendered them all powerless.
"We keep up the facade of being perfect little Noxians," Kat said, making a decision. "Hopefully that keeps the Black Rose off our asses for a while. Meanwhile, we keep looking for any clues."
Talon had been silent until this point. "What about Demacia?"
Kat and Cass both turned to look a him. "What about them?" Kat asked, confusion evident in her tone.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," he quoted. "The Demacians would jump at the chance to take down High Command, or any members of Noxus. That could include the Black Rose."
Cass sighed. "We know absolutely nothing about them outside of their name, and a vague idea of what they're after. Nothing substantial enough to definitively connect them to Noxus. The Demacians wouldn't accept us, though, regardless. We're Noxians. Despite the situation in which we find ourselves, we're still their enemies, and we have nothing to offer them in return."
Talon frowned and leaned back against the wall, letting out a sigh. "Damn," he mumbled.
Kat ran her hand through her hair. "What about the police?"
Cass shrugged. "They can't do anything to help us. They're incompetent."
"No, that's not what I meant," Kat said. She hurried to clarify. "We're staying in the police chief's house. Don't you think the Crownguards will start asking questions? Will wonder why we're here? Where our father is?"
Cass frowned. "Yes," she admitted. She shifted, tapping her manicured nails on the bedsheets. "Perhaps we ought to admit that we don't know where our father is. That he's... missing."
"We can't just tell them everything," Talon objected.
"Of course not," Cass agreed. "But we don't need to. Just spin it as if... It's normal for him to vanish for a few days." Cass's eyes widened, and her lower lip jutted out, quivering. Her eyes watered, and she put on an act that was incredibly convincing. "After the robbery, we were afraid to go home on our own, so we had only intended to stay until he returned. Only, it's been a week, and he's not back yet. We're worried. Could you help us find him, please?"
Kat snorted. "Okay, so we tell them," she said. "But what's the point of telling them Dad is missing? They'll investigate us. That could lead to... questions."
Cass shrugged. "Look," she said, "when it's a choice between keeping in the Crownguard's good graces, and being stuck with the Black Rose, I'll take what I can get. The Crownguards will appreciate honesty."
Talon guffawed. "Honesty," he chortled.
"Partial honesty, then. God, why do you two make this so difficult," Cass complained. "They'll ask questions, as Kat suggested. It's easier to tell a half truth than a lie. It will check out with the police. Assuming Lux and Garen remain as open and inviting as they have been, we'll be allowed to stay here for a while yet."
Kat was sorely tempted to kick the bedframe again. But she refrained from doing so, for her sister's benefit. "We shouldn't have to rely on them," she said, glaring at the floor. "We need to figure out what's happening."
"I agree," Talon said.
"And I don't disagree," Cass said. She sighed and ran a hand through her long hair, then twirled a lock at the end. "We have no leads. Let's work on fixing that, first."
"Anything in the family records?" Kat asked, referring to the thick tome Cassiopeia had been reading.
"Nothing," Cass said. "But I'm not even halfway through the book, yet."
Kat nodded. "And there was nothing at any of the safe houses."
Talon cleared his throat. "There might still be something in the security tapes you brought back," he said. He had been reviewing them in his spare time, though Kat suspected that he preferred to play video games with Lux than to sift through all of the footage. "But I haven't found anything, yet."
"Keep looking," Kat said. "There has to be something."
Kat clenched her fist, her fingernails biting into her skin—not quite hard enough to draw blood. They would find their father. No matter what.
"I think it would be best if I just sent this back to you, my dear," Heimerdinger said as he wiped sweat from his brow. He looked towards the screen of his iPad and shook his head, his hair flopping wildly about his head at the motion. "I just don't seem to be able to find anything of import on this device, even when I follow your instructions to the letter."
Lux smiled at her screen. Communicating via email and phone hadn't seemed to help Heimerdinger crack the phone, so she had set up a video call. Despite her efforts, Heimerdinger just seemed clueless when it came to hacking phones.
Not that Lux was complaining. If this meant she would finally be getting the recognition she deserved—that she had earned—then Lux couldn't help but smile wider. "If you think that's the best course of action," she told him, "I'm sure our... mutual acquaintances won't mind."
Heimerdinger snorted. "I don't know why Demacia sent this to me in the first place. I was delighted to design the suits and finally get some data about their success in the field. I didn't need any of these extra favors, though. I'll let them know to relegate any future technology if this sort to you if they want results in any sort of timely fashion."
Lux blinked in surprise. "Thank you," she said after a moment of consideration. "I'd... really appreciate that."
"And I must say, it's quite thrilling to be able to speak with someone of your age about advanced quantum physics. You're an extraordinarily bright young woman. Once you're ready for college, I hope you'll consider my school. I'll offer a full ride, tuition, room and board—I think you'd quite like it, here. And we certainly would love to have you." He grinned at her, and adjusted his glasses. "Well. It's been a pleasure to work with you, Miss Lux," Heimerdinger said. "Now, if you don't mind. I'm not quite sure how to end this call, maybe this button here—no, no, perhaps..."
Lux laughed as the older man fumbled with the technology in his hands. "It's been a pleasure working with you, too," she told him. She ended the call on her end, and then she leaned back in her chair with a contented sigh, a smirk on her lips.
Heimerdinger had acknowledged her skills as being superior to his own in this area. If that didn't convince Demacia to let her handle the hacking side of things from now on, nothing would.
A knock on her door startled her from her thoughts. She closed the application on her device and made her way to the door, opening it to reveal Cassiopeia.
The young woman was leaning against the doorframe, one arm across her stomach, and she was worrying at a nail. When the door opened, the young woman straightened immediately, though the worried frown on her face was still present.
"Cassiopeia," Lux said, uncertainty tainting her voice. "What are you doing up this late?" Lux and Garen had returned from their mission well past midnight, during the wee hours of the morning. It was a school night—Cassiopeia ought to be asleep.
"I couldn't sleep," the brunette admitted. She bit her lip, then asked, "May I come in?"
Lux hesitated. She didn't trust the DuCouteaus, not really. But if they wanted her dead, they'd had ample opportunity to kill her in her sleep. She opened her door wider. "Of course," she said as the older girl brushed past her. "You can sit on the bed. I don't have any other chairs." The only chair in her room was the one at her desk. She took that seat now, and Cassiopeia sat tentatively on the edge of Lux's bed, her movements stiff.
"I wanted... to thank you," Cassiopeia said. "My brother and sister can be a bit... abrasive and ungrateful at times. I don't think we've ever thanked you properly for letting us stay with you, and I just..." She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. This has just been a little bit... overwhelming, for all of us."
"You don't need to apologize," Lux said, and she meant it. She was the one using them, after all. Lux shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She hadn't expected Cassiopeia to get overly emotional, and honestly, Lux wasn't equipped to handle this kind of situation. Lux didn't feel as if she could comfort the young woman in a genuine way when she harbored no true feelings of friendship towards her. So if Lux could steer the conversation away from that... "Why did you want to see me?"
Cassiopeia eyed her, her eyes guarded in a way that made Lux wonder what she was guarding against. Then the other girl blinked, and the spell was broken. "I think... I don't think our father is off on one of his business trips, Lux. I think... I think he might be missing."
Lux was quiet, taking in this new information. "It's been more than a week," she said. "And your dad has been gone this entire time?"
Cassiopeia nodded. "That's not unusual. He goes on business trips often, without telling us. Sometimes he'll be gone for weeks at a time."
Lux frowned. "So what makes you think this time is different?"
Case inhaled deeply, averting her gaze from Lux's intense eyes. Then she exhaled roughly, and reached into her purse. From its depths, she pulled out a black rose.
Lux couldn't help but gasp as she recognized the rose. That's the same kind that Garen found! she thought. She noted the slight narrowing of Cassiopeia's eyes, and she quickly schooled her features. "I—I've never seen a black rose before," she said quickly, hoping the sorry excuse would work.
Cassiopeia gave no indication as to whether it had or not. She outstretched her arm, offering the rose. "Careful. Thorns," the other woman said as Lux gingerly took it from her, turning it over in her hands. The petals were dark, pure black, but preserved somehow. The stem was black.
"Don't tell my brother and sister. I found this at the safe house, the day our father disappeared. I didn't know what it was. I thought... I thought that it might be something left from my father. A gift... I don't know. But... but now, I'm not so sure. Even on his longer trips, Father has always contacted us... he's always let us know that he's okay. This time..." her voice trailed off, breaking at the end, and Lux would have to be blind to miss the way the other girl's eyes gleamed with tears she was obviously fighting to hold back.
Lux's crown deepened as a possibility occurred to her. Whoever was leaving these roses, they were obviously involved in Noxian dealings. If they had kidnapped Marcus DuCouteau...
"I tried to look up anything about black roses, but... I can't find anything useful," Cassiopeia said, swallowing. She swiped at her eyes before letting out a brisk laugh, more of a bark. "I'm sorry. I just... I don't know who else to turn to. The police prisons have been broken into, our father is missing... I don't know who to trust, anymore. Quite frankly, I don't trust you. But Talon does. And I trust my brother." She took a shaky breath. "Lux, if there is anything you can do to help, anything at all, I'm begging you. Please help us find our father."
Lux swallowed, then turned her gaze to the rose in her hands, unable to continue looking at those vibrantly green eyes, those pursed lips, that brow creased with worry and anxiety and desperation. Lux knew she ought to refuse. She ought to say she couldn't help, that there was nothing she could do. Any normal high school girl wouldn't be able to help—and if Lux helped, she knew that, logically, it could cause the DuCouteaus to realize that she wasn't just a regular teenager. The only logical option was to refuse.
But Lux's heart made the decision for her. She'd always been too kind, her brother had told her once. He didn't know that she'd learned it from him.
"Okay," she breathed. "I'll help you." She finally looked up from the black rose and met Cassiopeia's gaze.
Cassiopeia was quiet, stunned, for what seemed like days. But then a smile broke out on her face, and she brightened, and Lux thought she had never seen a smile so light before, so full. Almost unnaturally so.
"Thank you," Cassiopeia said quickly, the words a rush. "Lux, I—I can't tell you how much this means to me."
"Don't worry about it," Lux said, uncomfortable with the gratitude that the other girl was showering upon her. She swiveled around in her chair and opened up a new window, her fingers typing away at her keyboard.
"Let me see what I can find." Her first results didn't turn up anything significant, and her subsequent searches were fruitless, as well. Several minutes had passed, and Lux knew that she wouldn't be finding any results in the... conventional way.
"Well, I can't find anything right now," she admitted to Cassiopeia, who had been sitting ramrod straight on the bed the entire time. "But that doesn't mean anything. I'll keep looking, and if I find anything useful, I'll let you know. And I'll ask my father to help, too."
Cassiopeia nodded tightly. While Lux had been distracted with the search, the brunette must have taken the time to school her features and settle her emotions, for she looked as calm and collected as ever. "Thank you, Lux," Cassiopeia said, her voice barely above a whisper.
The older girl stood and, with enough hesitation for Lux to stop her if she wanted, she pulled the blonde into a brief hug. Then Cassiopeia took her leave, nodding before closing the door silently behind her.
Lux let out a heavy breath she hadn't known she had been holding. Cassiopeia... was intense. But seeing her so distraught, learning of the fear she was holding at bay... Lux was compelled to help. And she wasn't just helping Cassiopeia. No, she was helping Katarina and Talon, too.
Lux felt her cheeks heat at the thought of the young man, and she shook her head to dispel any stray thoughts she might have. She then returned to her computer, where the term "black rose" had yielded nothing of value.
Lux rubbed her hands together before opening a new window. It was time to get to work.
Cassiopeia closed the door behind her, and rolled her eyes at Kat, who was leaning against the wall next to the door.
Kat pushed herself off of the wall and followed her sister down the hall and around the corner, waiting until they were out of earshot of Lux's room before speaking.
"Oscar-worthy performance back there. You even had me convinced that you trusted her," Kat said.
Cass snorted. "I only trust that she's naive and easily manipulated. She fell for my act hook, line, and sinker."
"You're good at putting on the appropriate mask for the occasion. Always have been," Kat said as they walked back to her room.
Cass shrugged. "We all have our respective talents," she said quietly. "But after that exchange, I'm almost certain that Lux is hiding something. That there's more to her than meets the eye."
Kat rolled her eyes. "All I heard was a young girl wanting to do the right thing."
"Making a promise to help, a promise no ordinary young girl could keep," Cass said as they arrived in front of Katarina's room. She opened the door. "Lux and her brother are hiding something. I don't know what it is. I have my suspicions, but I don't want to jump to any conclusions without evidence."
Kat closed the door behind them, and Talon glanced up from his laptop, where he was reviewing the security tapes.
"What's this about Lux hiding something?" he asked.
"Cass is convinced the Crownguards are... up to something?" She looked at her sister, who threw her hands up in the air.
"You two don't /have/ to believe me," Cass crumbled. "I'll prove it."
"The worst Lux is capable of hiding is that she's secretly hiding a stash of candy in her room," Kat laughed.
Talon shrugged. "Don't sell her short. But Garen's the most squeaky clean individual I've met. He's not hiding anything-he has nothing to hide."
"He's honest," Kat added with a nod. /The most honest man I know/, she thought.
Cass rolled her eyes, but didn't further comment on the subject of the Crownguards' integrity. Instead, she said, "We should focus on finding our father. And with Lux involved, the police are sure to follow soon. It'll be difficult, but we need to keep our ties with Noxus hidden while we cooperate with the police."
Kat sighed and rubbed at her temples. "This is going to be a pain in the ass."
Cass laughed—a genuine laugh, a sound that Kat hadn't heard in years.
"Oh, Kat," Cass tittered, "That's the understatement of the century."
That night, sleep evaded Lux the way shadows do light. She rolled her eyes. An apt metaphor, she thought, when it came to the DuCouteau family. Who they were, what they wanted—why they were here. Answers they kept hidden, answers they wanted to stay hidden.
She had agreed to help Cassiopeia in the heat of the moment—when her heart had ached in sympathy, and perhaps something else, something darker. Cassiopeia had spoken with such conviction, such dedication, when it came to her father. What had he done to inspire such loyalty in his children? An image of her own father squirmed its way into her mind, and Lux's glare soured further.
She rolled onto her side, glaring at the moonlight that poured into her room through the window panes, silver and calm. She knew better than to think of her father, not when she wanted to sleep.
Lux closed her eyes and took a breath, counting to ten and repeating the process several times until she was calm enough to not want to scream.
Lux kept her eyes closed and forced her thoughts to turn to what Cassiopeia had spoken of. No... the way she's spoken, the way she'd moved. She didn't trust the young woman, and she didn't trust that Cassiopeia was being honest in any way. Considering the timing of this sudden confession, Lux found it hard to believe that Cassiopeia could even be sincere.
But it had seemed sincere. It had looked sincere, had sounded heartfelt. Lux let out an aggravated sigh and rolled onto her other side. Cassiopeia had appeared desperate and broken. And Lux had been played like a fiddle, following the tune the other young woman had sung. But there had been one moment—one smile—that had seemed too perfect. There had been no flaws in the other girl's performance. And that was why Lux couldn't believe it.
And wasn't it convenient, how Cassiopeia had approached them with news of this black rose on the very same night that Garen had found another one?
It wasn't that Lux didn't believe coincidences like this could happen; there was always the possibility of the impossible. But Lux knew the math behind it—the statistical improbability of it. Lux narrowed her eyes.
If Cassiopeia was trying to play Lux, she was going to have to learn the hard way that when you play with fire, sometimes you get burned.
Lux sat up and made her way to the desk. She booted up her computer and pulled her hair back using a hair tie she'd left on her desk. After she'd entered her password and opened up the appropriate programs, Lux settled into her chair, ready for a long night with little sleep.
She would find out what the DuCouteaus were hiding. No matter how long it took.
A/N: Uh... Hi. Sorry for the long absence. Life stuff happened. Dad got heart surgery, I've been dealing with anxiety, and... just, I've got a lot going on. Also, I'm really busy with school, so as usual, no promises on when the next update will be. I've been sitting on this chapter for a while, now, but I figured that if I didn't publish it now, I never will. So. Yeah.
