Chapter 10

Dimitri grimaced as the police officers shoved him into the holding cell, bracing himself as he hit the hard floor. They didn't show the slightest bit of remorse as they turned and walked away without an explanation. From the few minutes he had met Inspector Chelmey, he could tell this wasn't his handiwork. As stern and strict as the inspector was, he did have a strong sense of justice and would at least be polite enough not to shove him into the ground.

Much to his chagrin, it was not the inspector who appeared at the cell, but an intelligent-looking woman with dark hair wearing a white turtleneck and jeans. He cringed. That kind of uniform wasn't allowed in the Scotland Yard.

"Interpol. I'm Detective Kim and I presume you are Dr. Allen." Her tone was smart and no nonsense. She almost scared him.

"Call me Dimitri."

"I'm afraid I can't. It isn't professional behavior. If you haven't noticed, you're in a bit of trouble."

"I noticed." He heaved himself onto the bench.

"You have a bounty on your head issued by the Prime Minister himself."

…

Clive winced as Yun pulled him over the rubble, limping all the way. Somehow it was just occurring to him that he'd left the almost deaf professor alone, but at least he had Katarina with him. Speaking of her, she'd be angry if he ever saw her again.

"What's going on in there?" He hissed, confused on why there were people yelling and laughing inside.

"That would be my family." The small martial artist replied, squeezing between a crack and into the casino.

He took a deep breath and managed to slip through the crack only to land on his bad leg. He bit his lip, trying to ignore the searing pain that struck him through his entire body. Slowly, he managed to look up at the people staring at him.

Towards the middle of the room, a man whose hair was the color of charcoal and his eyes the color of fallen ash tended the fire. His eyes brightened in the very slightest when he saw Yun, but she didn't show any indication of noticing. Beside him was a girl of maybe 16 with pink, braided hair and tattoos running down her arms who in turn was sitting next to a boy who could be a little bit younger and seemed to be her brother. Pacing the floor, a dark-skinned man seemed too agitated to even bother noticing Clive. Far away from the fire, there was another girl who sat alone.

"This is Clive Dove. I don't think he needs an explanation." Yun said in a clear tone that made it obvious to them who was the real leader. "Now introduce yourselves."

The man by the fire was the first one to stand. His voice was harsh like scraping metal, making it obvious how much he disliked him. "Obsidian. Cab Obsidian."

The girl was just as pointed in her introduction. In that way, she reminded him of Katarina. "I'm Demis Marseille and this is my younger brother, Julien."

Clive looked around at the other two who stayed silent for the most part. The intolerance they showed towards him was deserved, but he couldn't help but wish he'd brought at least the professor along with him.

"I know it doesn't mean much, but-"

"It doesn't." Demis interrupted, much to his annoyance.

"But, I'm sorry. The fact that I didn't leave my room since I got out of prison should be evidence of that."

She glared at him for a moment before she averted her gaze to stare at the burning embers. Now that Clive got a better look, he realized that a good portion of the casino's roof had been blown off. That was a shame. Out of all the buildings in his underground London, this one happened to be his favorite.

"So what are you going to do to help?" Cab asked, nudging the coals with a stick.

"I have no idea."

…

Katarina woke up to the suffocating smell of smoke and the crackling of fire. She had to be dreaming. There was no way someone could start a fire when it was so windy. Windy enough that she was surprised she hadn't blown off the roof yet.

Yet sure enough, when she opened her eyes, flames were slowly beginning to gobble up the roof.

"You have to be kidding me." She muttered as she moved to her feet, looking for a way out. The roof was already starting to cave in under her feet.

The next roof wasn't too far away, but the building was three stories high. Definitely not good for someone with a crippling fear of heights. However, Katarina could either stay as the building collapsed in on itself or risk falling to her death. She'd rather risk death than have it be a guarantee.

"One…"

Flames started to flicker closer and closer to her, beckoning for her to fall into its fiery clutches. No, not today. There was still something out there. A future worth living for. People worth living for.

"Two…"

The roof was starting to collapse under her feet. Her heartbeat quickened, but she kept her breath steady and stayed calm. No use getting cold feet now.

"Three!" She jumped over to the other side, just as the building caved in.

Unfortunately for her, the flames moved to the next building, chomping it up its stinging jaws. A terrified squeak escaped her lips as she ran from roof to roof, trying to run from the fire that pursued her.

She shrieked as she slipped, rolling of the roof right into what looked like a giant Dumpster. Maybe if she was lucky, Clive decided not to fill them. Unfortunately, people did live in there, so she wasn't quite as lucky as she would've hoped.

On the bright side, she could have landed elsewhere and died. On the other hand, she now stunk even worse than Clive who still hadn't taken a shower.

But at least she was alive.

a/n: feat. Afiction and Sora Kim's OCs.