A/N: And there's another chapter. I hope you will like it :)

Disclaimer: I don't own them.

Chapter 7

Nicholas looked at the two as they walked away. He knew that just a couple of punches wasn't enough for a convincing cover. He knew there would be some more fighting. Still sitting on the dusty floor, he rested his head against the wall. Danny… How on earth did you get here? The past two weeks (was it two weeks already? Christ…) weren't easy for Inspector Angel. The Met officers had practically begged him into this, making him pretend to be a cousin of their officer who had already been working in the gang, which itself was a risky move. Nicholas was supposed to figure out what the gang's contacts in the Met were. He was here essentially on a mole hunt. Dammit, he thought. I'm a police officer, not a secret agent. And now Danny shows up, like something from another life. From the life where Nicholas knew who he was and how to act. He wanted to get back to that life. Well, maybe, with some luck, I will.

It was quiet, which in the past days was also unusual to Angel. He heard a car start outside and sighed in relief. He knew whose car it was. He heard someone come up to him and opened his eyes to see "Tim" (though his real name was actually Montgomery, or just Monty to friends), who smiled at him a bit apologetically.

"Ready?" Monty asked, and Nicholas stood up, preparing himself for a lot of pain. After a short nod, the two started a fight, in which neither of them tried to block the other's hits — they both had to look convincing.

As they staggered back into the hideout, covered in blood and bruises and wincing in pain at every step they took, they realized that the others had seen Danny leave. Now the entire gang was in there. Nicholas prayed to whatever he could pray to for them not to follow Danny, trying to see whether anyone was missing.

"So what happened?" the leader asked, not hiding his anger. "How did you two let him go?"

"This fucker didn't let me do what I was supposed to," Nicholas had to stick to the plan, even though he hated himself right now. "Attacked from behind, I didn't even know what happened".

"Tim?" the senior turned his gaze to the other undercover officer. "Explain yourself".

"Didn't want Shaun to have all the fun," Shaun was Nicholas' cover name in here. For some reason, at the Met they had said it "suited" him. "But that guy turned out strong," Monty went on, showing his fresh injuries.

"And you didn't let your own cousin pass his initiation?" the senior's tone was cold as ice. Indeed, Nicholas felt his insides freeze at those words. The senior took out his gun and pointed it at the poor guy, who started shaking quite visibly. "I'd like you to apologize for your fuckup. You've let all of us down".

Montgomery swallowed.

"I'm sorry".

"And now apologize to your cousin".

Nicholas felt shiver down his own spine when he saw his fellow's eyes. There was doom in them.

"I'm sorry, Shaun…" his voice was immediately followed by the gunshot.

"Looks like you don't have a cousin anymore, Shaun," the senior commented, hiding his gun. "And now we have to move out from here, since that fat wanker could have called the cops… so at least they'll find something for their entertainment," he nodded at the body on the floor.

Nicholas just stood there frozen, fighting back the tears.

"Move it, if you don't want to join Tim there," the senior barked at him. Nicholas nodded, snapping out of his shock.

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They were in another basement. Everyone was asleep, but Nicholas knew that any unusual noise would make them all spring back onto their feet. He just sat there and listened to the monotonous dripping of water somewhere near. He felt guilt squashing him, like a boulder on his shoulders. It was much worse than when he had killed a crack-head. At least then it was the only way to save the entire squad. But here… they should have made a better plan. A plan that didn't involve one of them getting the other killed. The more Angel thought about it, the heavier the boulder felt. And the further normality seemed to be. And meeting Danny was probably just a dream… Except that Monty was now dead because of it.

The Inspector rubbed his eyes with force. Focus.

Montgomery had managed to discover their connections to other organizations. At least that part of the job was done. Nicholas sighed. How he could find the mole in here was beyond him. He couldn't just ask the senior, obviously.

One of the guys started snoring, which made Angel jump. He buried his face in his hands. You are losing it, Nicholas…

And then he had an idea. It was a crazy idea, but he most likely was, indeed, insane, so it kind of made sense. Besides, everyone in that place was crazy. And knowing how paranoid the senior was about their "Partner", as he called it, the idea could actually work…