Having been captured by the association, he's interrogated by Cheadle.

A\N: As I was writing Chapter 179, before I posted Chapter 177 (I can't believe I forgot to do it before hand) I realised I put nuisance… instead of nuance. I dun fudged up. It should be fixed before posting this chapter.

The rattling of chains echoed around the hallways; the man's head hung low. To think he'd have made such a rookie mistake, to leave behind incriminating data that will lead back to him… he should've been more careful.

Vastorie was being led to his accuser… it's time he found out what he left behind, that lead back to him.

As the doors swung open, he was met with a single pair of furious eyes. She had made her first mistake, at least in his eyes. Unless, the other Zodiacs were in hiding, waiting for him to make another mistake, he should access the situation carefully.

The man was manhandled, forced into the lone chair, the force almost knocking him out of his seat.

Whistling, he looked at the Nen user who threw him into the chair, taking in the flow of aura. He was much better trained than Howard, the flow way more refined than that man.

The rippling muscles under that shirt weren't for show, they were a testament to his training. He wonders who'd win… the man… or his husband.

He suddenly felt sick at the thought of comparing the two, chest hurting from the memories that followed the musing. He was comparing a stranger, with a man he once respected…

Loved…

Turning away, he hid the internal struggle, a sly smirk escaping his lips "I must say… call me next time, I wouldn't mind being manhandled by you again…" He gave them a suggestive wink, only to be shut down seconds later.

Cheadle's voice was cold, cutting right through the humour, straight into the tension she felt towards the man "Leave us…"

"But why…" Vastorie whined, "I wouldn't mind being manhandled by those men again… especially, the one in the white shirt."

The men gave a nod, leaving through the same door he entered through.

Before either of them could close the door behind them, Vastorie made a 'call me' gesture to the man. Although the man showed no signs of attraction, the faint blush before he was able to close the door, meant he was successful with his teasing.

Cheadle however, was less than impressed with the situation. It was only the two of them Vastorie… and the chairwoman forced to play a game of cat and mouse, each other prodding for more information than the other.

Vastorie spoke first, "I'm as kinky as the next fellow… but must the chains remain on?"

When he moved his hand, gesturing for the chairwoman to remove them, Cheadle's tone was harsh "Shut… up…"

Vastorie shrugged, body slouching forward as the chains dangled closer to the floor, "No foreplay, I assume…"

"Senator Kevin Goldwin… I can't believe you have, the audacity to target a Senator of all people… The V6 has been breathing down my neck, thanks to your actions. They wanted the culprit captured…"

"Yes, it's such a sad day for the Senator… he'll be missed by his family, those who-"

"Cut the crap! I know it was you that killed him… my question is why…? Why would you make such a reckless move?"

Vastorie leaned back into the chair, arms now crossed "What makes you believe it was me? It could've been a hit piece on the Senator… a shady deal he made, excreta…" He picked at his fingers, pretending to not care anymore, "excreta."

Cheadle grabbed a single photo, throwing it at the man.

Vastorie leaned down, picking the photo up to flip it over. His expression remained neutral. It wasn't a photo of him committing the crime, but rather… the Senator with his father. Seems like Cheadle also has a way of finding these kinds of incriminating evidence.

Maybe Kurapika had a way to find the clue, but it doesn't necessarily mean he was caught red-handed, pulling the head off the Senator. This was only a photo of the Senator, making what looks to be a kind of deal with his father "You think I killed the Senator… because he's linked to my father, knowing such an action, would infuriate Victor…"

Throwing the photo back on the chairwoman's desk, he scoffed at her idea. It was such a lazy way to connect the dots… she could've done a much better job if she only looked more into the situation.

"No, something has changed. I know… that you know where that man is… the fact you always seem to know where he is at all times infuriates me." She slammed a fist on her table, "I agreed with Kurapika to not press you for that information… but killing a Senator, no matter the deeds he has committed, is I repeat… a reckless action."

"So… you have no evidence pinning me to the crime, yet you accuse me of it? Can I go now, ma'am?"

"No…" The woman sighed, "Even if you won't admit to it… I know it's you. I want to know what changed? Why did you kill a man linked to your father?"

"If you think it's me… why don't you, tell me why I… did it?" The man pressed a finger to his head, mocking her. He wanted her to try to get in his head for once, to try playing mind games with him "Why don't you tell me why I would commit such a heinous crime? As a Chairwoman of the Hunter's Association… A Hunter must be able to hunt the predator…"

"You won't admit to your guilt… fine then. Victor must have done something that resulted in you throwing a tantrum. Whether he killed a friend, targeted a family member… I don't know. But this latest stunt has made me believe you're incapable of acting rationally… I want your phone and any data you retain of your father!"

"I'd advise against my phone… lots of recorded videos of my hubby and me in very scandalous positions." He offered a teasing smile at the woman, "it'll make a Senator being caught being unfaithful, so vanilla… in comparison."

"I don't care… hand them over!"

Vastorie smiled to himself, chuckling at the absurdity of the situation. Cheadle had no way to pin the crime on him, yet she acted like she knew it was him that did the deed. Sure, he was the one that killed the Senator… but it was to make an example of his father.

He not only targeted his son at some stage… but his friends too. Mikkel was the straw that broke the camel's back. But at least now, his family and friends were safe, due to his actions.

They won't be targeted… and he could still find a way to kill his father without any heavy risks.

But now Cheadle has him in this position, it'll be much harder to focus on capturing and killing his father with minimum risks. She threatened that… "Counteroffer. You unbind the chains and I walk out the front door with zero resources wasted on trying to keep me locked up in a cell. What you say?"

"Oh, you will be kept in a cell… and I'll personally deal with that man myself."

"You and what army… exactly? The Hunter's association will lose… well, Hunters, trying to take that man down. He's not someone you can sneak up on and shank him. You need a well thought out plan, to take him down. Or… would you like to repeat what happened to Netero…" He offered in a cruel dark tone.

"We all loved that man… EVERY member of the Zodiacs loved him."

"Yet, you want to throw his ideals in the trash for what… control over a situation you can't even begin to process. Victor, isn't prey you can just… stab in the back and be done with it. He's like a cockroach. No matter how many times you smite him… he's going to get back up."

"Everyone can die…"

"Not him it would seem…"

"What makes you believe that?"

"His journal… Adam Von Delkofer… these are simple clues, that tell us he's not a man that can be killed with a simple snap of his neck."

"Adam's internal organs were non-functioning… but remained intact, unlike the rest of his body. You what… think Victor is immortal because of that."

"Hmm…" The man humoured the woman, "Try to think, I know… big request here, to think of it this way. How exactly… do you think these creatures get in contact with these people? They don't appear out of thin air. Nor are they Nen creatures… they didn't disappear after the hosts' death. They're living… breathing creatures, from the Dark Continent. Victor… is the hivemind to these creatures. If he has thousands… no, hundreds of thousands in his body… a simple cut… will be like nothing to him. If a single creature can keep organs intact after third-degree burns… he, may as well be immortal. Adam's blood boiling, was probably the act that killed it… so it's safe to say that these creatures aren't immortal, but something they excrete into the host, that makes them not only raving mad lunatics… but also… impossible to kill."

Cheadle held a palm to her hand, while what Vastorie was saying could hold some lingering truths, even he didn't have all the facts on his father. Victor's immortality was just as elusive to his son, as the man was to her.

She, however, won't give up… there's a way to kill Victor, because Adam, who also inhabited the creature had died with the creature still in his body "Then we'll get Nen users to burn him to a crisp."

"Unless you can nuke him from orbit, he'll kill everyone before they can give him a suntan."

"Drown him!"

"What is wrong with you… to think you're a triple star Disease Hunter… and your second thought is, to drown him?" The man scoffed at the idea, the thought of drowning his father in the middle of the ocean "what if the creatures decided to escape his body…? You'll start a pandemic of unproportionate consequences… we don't know if they can even live outside of bodies… given that we've only found them when the host is dead."

"I'll have you know we'd do it in a controlled environment where wait…" Cheadle paused, the last piece of Vastorie's information sinking in "Them…? We've only found-" The woman paused for a second time, "You know the whereabouts of the body of another host… don't you?"

"Sure… they're dead, along with the creature. Head snapped cleanly in the opposite direction. However, there were signs of him recovering from such a wound. I made sure to sever his head… you can't heal what you have lost."

"The creature?"

"If it wasn't dead after the head was ripped off… it was certainly dead then."

Cheadle's right eye twitched, frustrated after hearing the news only then. For how long was Vastorie aware of the second host? When if ever, did he plan to inform her of the news "Did you make sure?!"

"Did I…" The man looked at the woman confused, "Are you an idiot?! Nah, I left it alive in the body… OF COURSE NOT I made sure that even if ripping the head off didn't kill it, I cremated his body. I'm leaving nothing to chance with these bastards…"

"We need to find one of these creatures alive, to find a way to track it…"

"Like as I stated earlier… you're a Disease Hunter… start acting like one. The moment you find a host, you should kill them. Haven't zombie movies taught you anything…? Even if you can capture one of the creatures, somehow, Victor found Adam before any of us could make a move… with the second, he didn't act… because he ran the risk of running into me. We made a deal… he broke the deal… so he gets to live with the consequences."

Cheadle smirked at the confession, "The consequences was the Senator's death. Removing him, removed a key figure in a position of power… just like you killed Hinrick… am I correct?"

Vastorie offered a sly smirk in response, "Not without evidence… you can't pin the murder on me. Are we done?" The man adjusted his arms slightly, the chains now falling to the floor.

The woman frowned in response, "You removed them…"

"A magician never reveals his secrets…" Shifting his posture, his sly expression grew "nor his kinks."

"If you run now… I'll label you as a wanted criminal. Even without evidence, I'll make sure you are found and convicted for your crime!"

The sly smirk faltered, eyes darkening at the result of their discussion, "I wonder how Netero would've reacted to your assessment… if he were still alive."

"Why don't you tell me…" Cheadle grew frustrated with the man before him, "Seeing as your ability allows you to see and talk to him."

Vastorie tilted his head slightly to the right, eyes glazing over the ghostly figure. Netero was sitting comfortably, constantly playing with his beard. He said nothing on the matter, given that he knew the rules of his ability.

Vastorie's eyes turned to Cheadle, "Silence… because he knows how my ability works, unlike you."

Netero laughed childishly, the act making him smile, "and now he's laughing…"

The chairwoman growled at the situation, "Then I'll take away your Licence."

The man's expression remained neutral, a single finger being held out "Once a Hunter has a license, that license cannot be revoked for any reason… or will I be an exception to that rule."

Cheadle frowned, "While it's true I can't revoke it… I can still take it away, meaning you'll be unable to use it."

"That is true…" The man offered a sly smile, "but you'll have to kill me for it."

"There's also the rule about murder… A Hunter can be prosecuted after repeated acts of murder without justification… especially, if they attack a person with political authority."

"Seeing as you can't pin that murder on me… the threat won't work so much on me." He sighed once, eyes meeting the Chairwomen's "However…" Grabbing his phone, he threw it at Cheadle's face.

Cheadle reached out, grasping the phone in her hand, but she made one mistake. Her head snapped towards the open window, eyes once more meeting Vastorie's.

"Good luck unlocking that… and good luck capturing me again. I won't be caught so easily, next time."

Cheadle tried to reach out, to grab the man's hand before he could escape. But he was already falling outside the window, smirking from the quick change of circumstances. She moved back to her table, sending a brief but important message through the system "I want Vastorie found, alive! He is now considered a Rank S threat!"

"~"

Vastorie's careful eyes watched every passer-by, checking to see if anyone had an unnatural flow of aura. The last thing he needed, was to be in the presence of someone who not only knew what he looked like, but he had no idea what they looked like.

When the phone connected, he waited for a response "Hey you've reached Annex, who am I talking to?"

"Code Incognito."

He waited for a few minutes, "The… phone is tapped, so only static, what's going on Vastorie?"

The man sighed "I need a remote transfer of all my data on my current phone to a new one, for one."

"What…?! Those phones are impossible to hack! They'd have to be really, skilled… were you hacked by another Nen user?" The man paused, "I wonder how he bypassed my alarm system…"

"None of that sort. A previous task landed me in some hot water, so I had to use my phone as a distraction to escape. Anyways, I need that remote transfer. I'll let you know when I'll need the phone, including where to send it. For the moment… I'll be going off the radar."

"What about Victor…? How am I supposed to send updates to you?"

"As long as you know where he is, I'll trust your discretion."

"Alright… I'll transfer all of your data to my server, then upload it to a new phone as soon as I'm done with your son's."

"Good… they are safe, correct?"

"Nothing abnormal coming from Victor's position, and Alluka, as well as her brother's, Killua's phone, have been silent. It seems like the hacker who tapped their phone earlier, is struggling to get back onto the system."

"Good…" Vastorie looked towards the main street, "Make sure it continues to be that way. Oh, after the transfer… I'll need you to do some small tasks for me."

"Sure…"

"Change the password on the old phone to Cheadle Yorkshire's Birthday, I'll let you snoop for those details for fun. Also… I'd like it if you leave a photo of a man running away from a crowd… with the caption… Let's be a little cheeky here. Catch me if you can, Cheadle… can you do that for me?"

Annex sighed, "She's the current chairwoman of the Hunter's Association… isn't she."

"Yup…"

"You pissed off, one of the most powerful figures in this world…"

"Yup…"

The man's expression fell from Vastorie's casual responses, "If she asks me to hack my own, phones… or I swear, demand I create a backdoor, just for her… I am going to tell her… to get fucked. I don't care how powerful she is, I make no exceptions when it comes to my stuff."

"Please don't… she has access to 'information' you're not even savvy to. Although, you do have a right to deny that request. I suggest you act more… tactfully… when dealing with her."

The man sighed at the news, "Although most information about her will be hidden behind closed doors, I'll still use what I can gather about her, to make her realise I'm not someone she can play games with…"

The older man hummed at the information, wondering if it's a game Annex should even play. At the end of the day, he can do or deny anything he doesn't like… but when it comes to Cheadle, he's better off denying all requests, than playing scare tactic games with her.

Only those skilled enough to taunt her, like Pariston, or those who are skilled enough to vanish without a trace, like Ging, are better off playing those types of games with her, "I'd advise you to not taunt her… simply deny her request, then shut her out. Do not let her find you… she is a strong Hunter, not someone a person like you could beat in terms of battle… or a game of chess. Only those deranged enough to not care of consequences will do well against her…"

Vastorie looked over his shoulder, spotting a figure looking in his direction, "Speaking of which, it's time I make my escape. I'll contact you once I surface properly…"

"Wait-"

"Until then, continue protecting my son from the sidelines…" With that, the man hung up the phone, giving his watcher a wide smirk. Taking a step back, he disappeared into the crowded streets, moving towards becoming incognito, to the eyes seeking him out.

A\N: So… I wrote a one-shot story involving Killua and Daniel, which I might post later today. The thing is… as I was writing it, I thought of so many ideas, as well as heavy revisions for it, that I wouldn't mind exploring.

Not in this story lolz. It wouldn't make sense…

The story is about Alien Killua and human Daniel, Killua being forced to assimilate and act as human as possible, without throwing red flags. So, a bit of comedy and a mix of anatomy difference that would be further explored.

It's definitely… going to be a slow burn, but not as long, as this story. I can't picture it being this long. I don't know if there will be smut, it'll make sense to include it given well… it came from an idea for smut. But dunno… might write an introduction to the plot later and post it some time next month. I'll see how I go…