Chapter Nine
Cass claimed she was feeling ill the next morning, citing an upset stomach and chills.
"Go to a doctor," Talon grumbled at her, obviously doubting the veracity of her claim.
"I'm sure it will go away," Cass sighed. Dramatically, Kat noted with a roll of her eyes.
Kat wasn't against playing hookey every once in a while; especially in the wake of her mother's death, she'd skipped school for days at a time. It's good for my health, she used to tell her Father, who would frown disapprovingly after learning from the school that she had skipped class. For the first year, he'd let it slide, knowing it helped her cope. After a year, though, he took her aside and scolded her. She still skipped every now and then, but not as often. Cassiopeia, though, never skipped school, even when she was sick. Something was up.
"We should be sticking together," Kat said quietly, catching her sister's eye and giving her a pointed look. "Now isn't the time to be faking sick."
Cass rolled onto her stomach on her bed and waved dismissively. "I'm not feeling well," she repeated. Upon noticing Kat's skeptical look, she added, "Honest."
Kat crossed her arms and quirked a brow until Cass sighed and pulled herself into a sitting position. "Kat, will you just trust me?"
There was an earnestness in her sister's green eyes, and as Kat searched them, she was again reminded that she hardly knew her sister anymore. If Cass wanted to lie to Kat, she could fool Katarina into going along with just about anything. Katarina thought she could tell when her sister was telling the truth and when she was lying, that she could spot the difference... But she'd been training under LeBlanc, a master of deception and lies. Who knew if Cass was being honest? Kat wasn't sure she could tell anymore.
But she was family. They'd made it this far together; they wouldn't make it any further if they couldn't trust one another. So Kat relented. "Fine," she said. "Be careful."
Cass smiled. "I always am," she replied. If Kat and Talon detected a hint of cockiness in their sister's voice, they said nothing of it.
Talon frowned at Kat, who shrugged and led the way downstairs, where Garen and Lux were waiting for them.
"Cass isn't feeling great," Kat said, explaining her sister's absence.
"She might have a stomach bug or some shit like that."
"Oh, no!" Lux said, her bright smile falling into a slight frown. "I hope she feels better soon."
Garen nodded. "I'll make her some chicken noodle soup tonight. There are some cans of broth in the pantry, if she can stomach it. Remind her to drink plenty of fluids and stay hydrated," he said seriously. The corner of Kat's mouth turned upwards at his concern.
"I'll let her know," she said, and when her eyes met Garen's he grinned. Kat felt her pulse quicken, and she felt as if the air grew charged as she continued to gaze into those cerulean eyes, as if—
"We should leave soon," Talon said, interrupting her thoughts, and she blinked, breaking the spell that had fallen between her and Garen. She noticed Talon giving her an odd look, and she felt her face grow heated.
"You're right!" Garen said, glancing at his watch. "It's already seven twenty! I hadn't noticed." And so the group made their way to Garen's car.
The entire ride to school, Kat forced herself to stare out of the window and ignore Garen in the driver's seat. If he noticed her behavior, he didn't say anything and, blessedly, he didn't address her directly the entire ride. So he probably noticed, Kat thought as they pulled into the parking lot and Garen backed into an open spot.
Garen cleared his throat as he turned off the ignition and pocketed his keys. "We're here!" he announced as everyone gathered their backpacks.
"Sure are!" Lux chirped from the backseat. Actually chirped—likea goddamned bird, or something. What the hell. As was becoming a common occurrence, Kat marvelled at Lux's ability to appear so happy at seven forty five in the fucking morning. It was truly abhorrent.
As she watched Lux hop out of the car and practically bounce towards the school building, with Talon trailing along beside her, Kat became acutely aware of a prickling sensation on the back of her neck. She spun around, reflexes from years as an assassin kicking in, eyes roaming for who was watching her—only to be met with those familiar, startling blue eyes.
Kat swallowed. She definitely, definitely wasn't ready to talk one-on-one with Garen right now. Not after their almost-kiss from the night before. Not after her revelation last night that she was way in over her head, not after her heart had decided it would pound a thousand times a minute when he smiled at her. No, she definitely was not ready to speak with him alone.
Pretending not to notice Garen opening his mouth to speak, Kat said in a rush, "See you in class," before shrugging her backpack onto her shoulder and bolting towards the school.
Cass waited for half an hour before getting out of bed and heading down the hallways until she reached Lux's room. She performed a quick scan of the door, double checking for anything that would reveal that she had entered; any paper slotted into the hinges, or pencil lead. But there was nothing. Really, Cass was disappointed in Lux; for all her supposed genius and thoroughness when it came to technology, she was still just as stupid as most people when it came to protecting her privacy.
Cass reached into her hair and plucked out a pin, and within seconds, she had picked the lock on Lux's door. It swung open at Cassiopeia's touch, and the young woman stepped inside, sparing nary a glance around the room; she had been inside just two days ago and had inspected the room for cameras or recording devices, and she'd found none. And that was still the case today, it seemed. It was disheartening, really; did the Crownguards really think themselves so safe within their own home, just because of the cameras outside? How stupid. Cass would have to tell Lux to step up their security, once all this was over.
That thought gave Cassiopeia pause. Once all this was over... would she really be in a position to offer Lux advice about stepping up the house security? Would Lux even trust her?
It doesn't matter, Cass thought, making her way to the blonde girl's computer and turning it on. She had a job to do.
Cass reached into her pocket and withdrew a small device, and connected it to Lux's computer. Immediately, Lux's computer began to hum louder, letting out a whir, and then it settled just as quickly. The screen went dark before lighting up again, and then Cass' phone vibrated.
She opened it without glancing at the number; she knew who she was expecting.
"Oh, her protection is very strong," the voice on the other end said. It was a woman, with a light soprano voice. Through the phone, her words were slightly distorted and metallic, which made Cass wonder about the reception wherever the other woman was.
"Is that going to be a problem, Orianna?" Cassiopeia asked, and the woman on the other end laughed.
"Not really. It's just... this is very exciting. I haven't had a real challenge in a long time..." A few moments passed before she chirped a quick, "Done!"
And with that, the monitor blinked twice, and then Lux's desktop loaded. Almost immediately, various files began to open themselves, and Cass watched with intrigue as the files began to be uploaded to an unknown source.
"Oh, she encrypted all of this," the woman said, sounding slightly deflated.
Cass huffed. "Please tell me you can still access whatever's in those files."
"Oh, yes. I can," Orianna said, but her voice was less enthusiastic than it had been earlier.
"But?" Cass prompted.
"But it's tedious. I don't like doing it," Orianna explained as the last of Lux's files were uploaded.
"Are we done, then?" Cassiopeia asked, and Orianna made a soft hum of confirmation.
"Unless you have her cell. That would be ideal."
Cass gave a quick once-over of the room, on the off-chance that she had missed noticing a phone when she first entered the room. Unsurprisingly, she found none; it would have been incredibly lucky for Lux to forget her phone on the one day that it could be hacked easily.
"No phone, unfortunately," Cass answered.
"Then yes. That is all."
The line went dead, and Cass let out an annoyed sigh. "Goodbye to you, as well," she grumbled. Orianna had never been particularly polite; in fact the first time they had met, Cassiopeia had thought the girl downright rude after she'd called Cassiopeia dull. Cassiopeia was many things, but dull was not one of them. They'd met on a mission, many years ago; Noxus employed a variety of hackers, but Cassiopeia had been impressed by Orianna's work. She'd kept in contact. And after last night, she'd called in a favor from the girl.
"I want to know everything there is to know about the Crownguards," she'd said simply. Orianna understood what that would entail. And so, here they were, with Cass laying the groundwork upon which Orianna could build her surveillance.
She pocketed her phone and glanced around the room once more, this time taking careful stock of all of Lux's things. When she had been here before, she had been focused on Lux's person, watching carefully for every reaction and emotion that crossed the blonde's face. This time, she was able to observe how spartan the girl's room was.
It was extremely atypical for a girl of Lux's age and means to have few possessions or decorations, and yet Cass found that this was the case. For the most part, the walls were bare, save for two framed pictures of Lux and Garen hanging from the walls. The first picture seemed to be a recent one, and the other was taken when they were clearly several years younger. There were only slight touches of personality here and there to be seen throughout the room—several stickers of stars on Lux's computer (were those the ones Talon had bought?), a bookshelf filled to the brim with texts, and a teddy bear placed atop the neatly made bed.
Upon closer inspection, the bookshelf was filled with textbooks and advanced mathematics and science texts, as well as books on computer science and programming. There didn't seem to be any fiction books. Cass had known that Lux was a genius, but as she paged through one of the mathematics books and closed the book with a bewildered shake of her head, she realized that she had underestimated Lux's intellect.
That gave Cass pause. If Lux was studying such advanced subjects in her spare time, why was she still in high school? Clearly, given the wear on the books, she had mastered the material, and had progressed far past the level of high school classes. And yet, she and Lux shared an AP biology class. Certainly, Lux demonstrated intelligence beyond her years, earning perfect grades on every exam, but she had never shown any signs that she was this far ahead of her peers.
Narrowing her eyes in suspicion, Cass made sure everything in Lux's bedroom was as it had been when she had entered. Then, she exited the room and closed the door quietly behind her before making her way down the hallway towards Garen's room.
Like Lux, Garen had locked the door to his room, but he had no other security measures in place. Cass was disappointed, really, as she used the same hairpin as before to unlock his door and step inside.
She looked around his room, just as she had done for Lux, and noted with interest that he, too, had a sparse living space. Really, the only object of note within his room was the baseball bat that was in the corner. Cassiopeia hefted it into the air with a grunt, surprised by its weight. She had known that Garen had played football, but she hasn't known that he played baseball. The bat was well worn from use, and there was no dust gathered on it. Either he had used it recently, or he kept it well taken care of. Cass replaced the bat and made her way to the bookcase, which didn't hold half as many books as Lux's. Garen certainly had... interesting taste in literature, Cass noted, wrinkling her nose at the worn copy of The Art of War. Katarina and Cassiopeia had both loathed the text, despite their father's insistence that they would appreciate the knowledge later in life. Cass replaced the book upon Garen's shelf and left the room, locking it behind her.
She was alone in the house. Cassiopeia had taken note of the maids' schedules, the gardeners' routines; none of them were here, yet. She had woken up early enough to hear Mr. and Mrs. Crownguard leave for work at six am sharp, and she knew from a bit of research that both worked late hours and oftentimes left the city for work related ventures. Neither of them would be home any time soon. Until Garen and Lux returned home with Cass's siblings, Cassiopeia had free reign of the house—and she intended to take full advantage of it.
Cassiopeia took note of the time on her phone. She only had a limited window of opportunity. The maid would be in within the hour, and the gardeners would begin their work in thirty five minutes. She would have to work fast, then.
She made her way silently down the halls until she reached the master bedroom of the Crownguard parents. Unlike their children, however, they had taken an extra precaution besides locking their door. Wedged between the door and the doorframe was a single, small piece of paper which fluttered to the ground as Cassiopeia swung the door open. She picked it up and replaced it as she entered the room.
It seemed, for all intents and purposes, normal. It was a large room, with bookcases on the far end, and a vanity near the master bathroom. There were nightstands on either end of the bed, and two lamps to offer light in the night. There was a cupboard along one wall, beside a tall lampstand, and it was to this cupboard that Cassiopeia went. She opened it and wrinkled her nose at the smell of mothballs that assaulted her.
Why was it that old people always insisted on smelling like mothballs? It was revolting, Cassiopeia thought as she reached into her pocket and withdrew a small device. She rummaged through the back of the cupboard, past the coats, and hung it neatly against the wall in the back corner, where it was shrouded in shadows. Unless one knew to look for it, the eye would pass over it without a second glance. A smile found its way onto Cassiopeia's face as she closed the cupboard and made her exit, being sure to replace the paper and lock the door on her way out.
When she returned to her room, she rummaged through her bags and retrieved a small box with an earpiece, and she set it into her purse. And just like that, her work for the morning was done.
With a yawn, Cassiopeia tucked herself into bed. Because of her late night, she was exhausted, and sleep came to her easily. She drifted off, a small smile on her lips.
When Cass awoke, it was to the ring of the doorbell. She shook herself quickly and made her way downstairs in time to see a delivery man heading back into his truck just as the maid was closing the door. In her arms, the maid held a small, nondescript package.
Cassiopeia offered the woman a smile. "Ana, good morning," Cassiopeia greeted, and the maid, a middle-aged woman whom Cassiopeia had charmed on her second day at the Crownguard household, smiled.
"Good mornin', sweetheart," Ana said. "Why aren't ya at school?"
Cassiopeia quickly reigned a pained scowl. "I'm feeling a little under the weather today," she explained. "I woke up feeling terrible. It's mostly passed."
Ana frowned with concern, and placed a hand on Cassiopeia's forehead. "Ya feel a little warm. Might be a slight fever."
Cassiopeia shrugged. "It might be," she lied. Then she nodded towards the package in Ana's arms. "Whose is that?"
Ana adjusted the package in her arms before replying, "Luxanna's. The post man said it was for her, special."
Intriguing... "What is it?" Cassiopeia asked, nodding towards the package the maid held.
The woman shrugged. "I don't know, Miss. But I'm gonna take it upstairs to her room, for when she gets back to school."
"I'm certain she'll appreciate that. You're too good to her, Ana—to all of us," Cassiopeia said with a wide smile. The maid blushed slightly and muttered a quiet thanks before hurrying upstairs.
Ten minutes. That was how long Cassiopeia had to wait for Ana to begin to vacuum the downstairs areas. The loud task meant Ana wouldn't notice Cassiopeia snooping around. With ease, Cassiopeia entered Lux's room again, with a small box cutter and packing tape. With precise movements, she opened the box. Inside, she found a small, nondescript, disposable cell phone.
Well, well, well. Either little Luxanna had fancied herself it was time to upgrade her phone, or there was some other reason she required a disposable phone. And since she had a state-of-the-art phone, it certainly wasn't the former.
Cassiopeia quickly retrieved her own phone from her pocket and dialed Orianna, a smirk growing on her lips.
After the first ring, Orianna picked up, but Cassiopeia didn't give her any time to speak. She got straight to the point of her call.
"It's me. You said you wanted a phone? I found one."
Garen could have sworn that he and Katarina would have kissed last night if they hadn't been interrupted. Except, in the back of his mind, he wondered if that was actually true. And since he was doubting himself, he most certainly could not swear it to be true. He had his doubts.
Doubts such as, did Katarina even like him? Did Katarina even want to date a young man like Garen, who she likely saw as a studious, rule-abiding rich boy. And what would she think, if they actually did find themselves in a relationship, when she discovered that he moonlighted as a vigilante—that his entire family was involved in Demacia and its activities. And if the rumors were true, which he very much doubted, but he had to consider—if they were true, would a Noxian ever seriously date a Demacian?
And, quite honestly, the same questions could be turned on him, and Garen wasn't sure that he could provide honest, satisfactory answers to them. There was only one question he knew the answer to with absolute certainty: he absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt, liked Katarina DuCouteau.
And it was this fact that frightened Garen. A man of many talents, he was; skilled in the art of dueling, hand-to-hand combat, tactical maneuvers. But when it came to love—no, not love, he quickly corrected, for it was far too early, the emotions far too young to call it love—when it came to liking someone, Garen was a complete novice. Of course he had developed crushes on girls before; when he was twelve he had picked roses from his garden and delivered them to one of his first crushes. And he had received several confessions, especially during his time on the football team, though he had turned all of the young girls down. The most experience Garen had with dating was reading about it in books.
And to even think of dating Katarina? To not only think about it, but to want to date her, want to date her so desperately that it made his chest feel as if it were constricting with every breath he took? That frightened him.
This girl, this young woman, had somehow passed all of his defenses, had somehow worked her way into his thoughts, his heart. They hadn't even really known each other for that long. They'd known of one another since freshman year, but they'd never interacted; the most Garen had thought of her before their project was thinking that she had beautiful hair, and that the rumors of her being a Noxian sounded wild and far-fetched.
Admittedly, perhaps terming his attitude towards these new feelings as being frightened was incorrect. Perhaps intimidated was the correct descriptor for it. But the fact of the matter was that Garen liked Katarina enough to want to date her, and he was not particularly thrilled about that fact.
At the heart of it, perhaps, was that Garen didn't want Katarina to reject him. It was the fear of losing her friendship, her companionship, which made him wary of asking her out. If she said no, and they remained friends, then Garen knew he would be grateful to continue being in her presence and interacting with her. But if she were to reject him, and then avoid him? His heart constricted at the very thought. And besides, the rational part of him reasoned, who was he to put her in the uncomfortable position of having to say yes or no to him? He wasn't going to force her to make that decision. No.
It was better, he reasoned, to just avoid that sort of situation.
Which meant that, as they sat across from one another in Mr. Blitzcrank's class, Garen needed to stop getting distracted any time Katarina shifted, or threw her hair over her shoulder, or—oh, no, smirked after catching his eye.
"That book too boring?" Katarina teased after Garen had very obviously pretended to be distracted by the book in his hands. The book he hadn't been able to focus on for longer than a minute or two.
"Oh, no, it's very fascinating," Garen lied.
"'Customary Practices and Cultural Expectations within Shakespeare's Works,'" Kat read, her nose scrunching in distaste. "Fascinating?" Her tone indicated that she didn't believe him for a second.
Garen sighed. "It's... a tough subject," he admitted. And it was. The material was dense, the text clearly written for a scholastic audience more along the lines of college graduate students and professors, rather than high school students.
"Sounds like shit," Kat said, and Garen couldn't help the sharp exhale of laughter that left him in response.
"I wouldn't phrase it quite like that," Garen replied. "Annoying, tedious, frustrating..."
"All words you definitely want to use to describe the book you have to read," Kat said, rolling her eyes.
"Of course," Garen said, playing along. "It wouldn't be a challenge, otherwise."
"Oh, so you're looking for a challenge?" Kat asked, and the way she quirked a brow at him made his heart stop for a moment.
Before he could reply, the bell rang, and Kat was hoisting her bag over her shoulder and standing before he even registered that school was over. Katarina, being Katarina, was usually halfway out the door at this point. But today was different. After slinging her backpack over her shoulder, she moved to stand by his desk, crossed her arms, and tilted her head slightly. It took Garen a breath too long to realize she was waiting for him.
By the time he'd gathered his things and stood, Kat's patience must have worn thin, because she huffed and grabbed his hand to practically drag him out of the school building. Garen found that her hand in his was warm, and when she let go to unlock her locker, he reluctantly watched as she gathered her things.
Garen held back a sigh before gathering his own belongings from his locker, and the two made their way outside, where their siblings, sans Cassiopeia, were waiting for them. The drive home was filled with Lux's usual chatter about school events and drama, but unlike usual, Garen found it hard to pay attention to his sister's words. Instead, his mind kept drifting to the moment Kat had held his hand. How perfectly their fingers had fit together, how warm the sensation of her palm had been, how smooth her skin was. He glanced towards Kat now, who sat beside him in the passenger seat, and the way the light caught on her hair almost made him slam into the car in front of them. Almost. He avoided any accidents, and managed to play it off as having been startled by some of the gossip Lux had just shared. Even so, he felt the side of his head burning, and knew without having to look that Kat was watching him curiously.
When they got home, they split off; Garen and Lux cited having to do their homework as the reason for leaving the DuCouteaus. Garen hadn't wanted to leave Katarina's side, but he did have homework he needed to complete. With all of the shenanigans recently, he'd fallen behind on some of his reading, so he intended to catch up and take diligent notes. He spent the next hour and a half doing just that, and was even pleased to note that he'd read faster than he'd anticipated. He was going to take a break and see if Talon and Lux were playing video games downstairs—but then the door to his room opened.
Garen stood swiftly and turned to see Lux closing the door behind her and locking it, a frown on her face. In her hand, she carried a familiar phone. It took Garen a moment to place it—it was the phone he and Jarvan had found at the raid on the Noxian hideout, when they had tested out the new equipment.
"Lux, what's—?" he began, but then she held the phone out to him.
"Listen," she said, and then she pressed a button, and a recorded message played. The voice was distorted and sounded metallic and rough. It was impossible to identify the speaker; all that was clear was that it was a male's voice, though he supposed even that could have been untrue.
"If you're hearing this, then that means you got the phone. I know you're Demacian." At that; Garen started, and he gave Lux a questioning glance. But she was still staring intently at the phone, and as the message continued, Garen realized why.
"I hid the phone hoping you'd find it. I don't have a lot of time to explain. You'll just have to take me at my word. You're honorable people. I know you'll listen. I've compiled a list of every Noxian leader and their involvement in Noxus, and every Noxian hideout. I'm willing to make a deal—I want full amnesty for my family, and in return, I'll give you the list. Demacians never break a promise. I'll hold you to that.
"I've hidden the list at the downtown library, in the basement. Look for the book on this city's history.
"I can't emphasize this enough: you need that list. Without it, you stand no chance of ever taking down Noxus' high command. So don't let anyone else get it."
Silence followed those words. Garen waited, desperately wanting to know more, but the phone was not forthcoming. It seemed that was all there was to the message.
"Who was that?" Garen asked, and Lux frowned.
"I don't know," she admitted. "I just got the phone from Heimerdinger today. I was looking through it and found this. It was hidden. Took a while for me to find it. Whoever hid it knew we would find it, though."
Garen's frown deepened as he thought back on what the message had said. "What do you think? Do you think he's telling the truth?"
Lux shrugged. "I doubt it. It's more likely to be a trap."
Garen crossed his arms. "I agree. But this information... if it is true, it would mean we would be able to shut down Noxus completely, from the top down."
"If it's true, then the courts would have a field day with the members of High Command," Lux agreed, but the cautious frown on her lips only deepened. "If it's true, then there's something else going on, here. Why would this man betray his fellow Noxians? What's the motivation, there? And who is he? Why didn't he contact us directly?"
Garen shook his head. "I don't know," he acknowledged. "But I do know that we have a duty to let Demacia know about this information."
Lux snorted. "You realize I could have found this message the day you and Jarvan found this phone?"
Garen sighed. "Lux, I know you're upset about the way the higher ups handled the situation—"
"I'm upset that they don't respect me. Or you. Or Shyvana, or Quinn, or—or anyone who doesn't have the last name, "Lightshield"."
Garen rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "I... understand your feelings, Lux. They frustrate me, too." And he knew they weren't just talking about Demacian higher ups, now. "They've done nothing to earn our respect. But we have a higher calling, and if saving people's lives and taking down Noxus means we have to listen to them and ignore the way they treat us, then I'm willing to suffer it."
Lux huffed and avoided looking him in the eye. As he watched his sister, her arms crossed, the light blush of anger coloring her cheeks, and her frown that set a wrinkle on her brow, he realized she was growing up. And though he'd always known this, logically, he'd never realized how close to becoming an adult she was. She didn't need his protection, anymore. Perhaps she never had.
"Fine," Lux relented. "But tell Jarvan first, let him ask about it. Otherwise you know they won't even consider going to check this out, since it's probably a trap."
Garen nodded, and pulled out his cell. He had a call to make.
Talon frowned as he stared at the image on his laptop screen. He zoomed in, then took a screenshot and emailed the image to himself and his siblings.
"What the fuck?" Kat asked a few moments later from her perch on the bed, and Talon knew she'd received the picture.
"The plates," Talon said. "Do you recognize them?" He'd finally managed to get a clear shot of the license plate number. The next step was to find out to whom it belonged.
Kat snorted and returned her phone to her pocket. "No," she answered, "I don't go around memorizing that kinda shit."
Talon hummed in response. "I don't either. I can run them through a database, see if anything comes up."
Kat shrugged. "I don't know what that means. But if it might work, do it."
Talon began to do just that as the door opened, and Cass entered. She closed it behind her, then crossed her arms and leaned against the door. Given the timing, she'd probably received the image he'd sent, too. And her next words confirmed this to be so.
"I recognize them," she stated simply.
He blinked. It took him the span of three seconds to finally formulate a coherent response.
"What?" he asked.
"The plates. I recognize them."
Instantly, Kat was on her feet, her red hair like a seething fire that mirrored the one in her eyes. Talon had only seen Kat this angry on a handful of occasions.
"The plates," Kat said. "Whose are they?"
Cass sniffed. "Leblanc's."
The silence that spanned between them felt like a bottomless chasm which they'd been suddenly thrown into. It seemed like the silence would never end. But it did, suddenly and with enough force to send Talon reeling with emotions. Anger. Hatred. Disgust.
Katarina cursed and Talon scowled. He should have known, he thought to himself, that a snake like Leblanc would be behind this.
"I'll kill her," Kat seethed, her hand unconsciously seeking out the small dagger hidden at her hip.
Though Talon agreed wholeheartedly with Katarina, Cassiopeia didn't seem to share that sentiment. Cass shook her head.
"No. No, none of us are going to be killing anybody. Unfortunately."
Kat's hands curled into fists, and her eyes narrowed. "She took our father. She might have killed him." At that, Kat's eyes flashed. "I will kill her. You can't stop me."
"You can't," Cass said. Talon stood.
"Why not?" Talon asked. "We know she's behind this. If we kill her, we end it all."
"No, you don't," Cass said. "You cut off one head, and three more appear. Even if you could reach her and manage to kill her, that won't stop the Black Rose. She won't tell you what she did with Dad, and good luck finding anything out on your own once you've gone and killed her. Noxus will continue its operations as if nothing's changed. And that's the crux of it—nothing will change."
Talon shook his head. "If we find him, that's enough for me."
"She won't talk. She won't give up any information, even under torture," Cass argued. "You won't be able to find him."
"So we follow her, find where she hid dad, rescue him, and then kill her," Kat said. "The details aren't important."
"Of course the details are important. They're the most important! You don't understand her. You don't know what's going on, that this is so much bigger than a kidnapping." Cass ran a hand through her hair and rolled her eyes. It struck Talon that he hadn't seen her run her hand through her hair since she was a child. Once she'd adopted more refined and sophisticated mannerisms, she had left the gesture behind, along with the rest of her childhood. For her to be so frustrated that she would do it now...
"What do you mean?" Talon asked. His eyes met Cassiopeia's, and in her gaze he saw a kind of searching desperation. It was a look he'd only seen on the streets, where kids starved and lived under cardboard boxes. A look that meant they'd go to any means just to survive. He'd worn that look every day until he had been taken in by the DuCouteau family. Never had he expected to see one of his sisters wear it. "Cass. What's up?"
Cass let out a hiss of air. "Do you two trust me?"
Kat narrowed her eyes. "What are you asking that for?" she asked.
"Just answer me, Kat, or so help me I'll—"
"All right, all right, Jesus," Kat grumbled. "Yes. It's hard, sometimes, but yes. I trust you."
Cassiopeia looked at Talon, gaze unblinking and unwavering. He nodded. "With my life."
Cass slumped against the door just a little—a move so uncharacteristic of her that Talon wasn't sure what to do, what to say. So instead, he waited and listened.
"I... made an agreement."
Kat shifted her weight and put her hands on her hips. "An agreement," she repeated. "With who?"
Cassiopeia's hesitation was only evident in the beat that passed. But then she spoke, and Talon was shocked by her answer.
"The FBI."
Well. Whatever he'd been expecting, that certainly wasn't it.
"What the fuck?" Kat said, her voice low. Her hands were still on her hips, but her eyes were no longer narrowed. She looked just as shocked as Talon felt, if not more.
Cassiopeia stood straighter. "We're in a rather tight spot," she said.
"You don't say," Talon responded. Cass gave him an exasperated glance.
"Our enemies' enemies are our allies. We've discussed this."
"The FBI is a wild card," Talon pointed out.
"It's our best option. Our only option, really," Cass said. "We've been searching for Father for a week now, with no results. In fact, we might even be attracting the wrong kind of attention with our efforts. We need help. And the FBI is willing to offer it."
Katarina was still scowling, and Talon couldn't blame her. They had zero reason to trust the FBI, who would just as soon turn on them and throw them into prison, leaving their father to god knows what sort of fate the Black Rose had in store for him.
"What do they want in return?" Kat asked, her voice a low whisper that was almost threatening.
"Our cooperation," Cass replied, her voice just as cool as Kat's. Talon narrowed his eyes. She was being vague. Cass was only vague when she didn't want to tell the whole truth. Kat seemed to notice this as well.
"With what?" she asked.
Cassiopeia hesitated. And Talon knew—this was why she had been nervous earlier. Her nerves weren't about their reaction to finding out she'd gone behind their backs and worked out some sort of agreement with the FBI. It was this—whatever it was she was about to tell them, this was what she was afraid they would get angry about. He braced himself; whatever his sister was about to say, it wasn't going to be good.
"They want us to cooperate with them and assist in their effort to dismantle Noxus completely."
A/N: It has been a while. Oops. This chapter was just a pain to write, cuz it's all setup and no action. But the upcoming chapters are gonna be pretty intense. Anyway. Happy Holidays, everyone. Special thanks to AmericanSuave for reminding me this fic existed and for helping with ideas!
