A/N: heyyyyyy guys. yep, its been like two-ish months. turns out working full time, training for season and taking a full load of summer courses just for fun all while trying to see friends that are about to move away is actually really not a good idea. anyway, im back babey! hopefully i will stay back, but who knows

Kaz watched as she studied the man with a careful and calculated precision that came from years of watching his back. Inej tossed her dagger in the air, the blade catching in the narrow beam of light streaming in through the thin gaps in the rough wooden walls of the small shack that was serving as their interrogation room. She caught the knife in her hand without even a spare glance towards it, all of her attention fixed on the man before her.

"You know something," Inej said at last. "Something I would like very much to hear."

The man didn't respond, a smirk stretched across his fleshy face. Whatever damage Inej had done to him out on the sea clearly hadn't convinced him of just how lethal she could be.

"What is it you wish to know, little girl?" the slaver asked.

It was only when Inej's eyes flashed over to him that Kaz realized his hand was clenched around the head of his cane as though he was about to hit the man with it. He relaxed his grip, but the pounding of blood stayed in his ears as Inej looked back to the man.

"Someone you kidnapped. It was several years ago now. A Suli boy, twelve years old. Where is he now?" she asked, her voice measured and careful.

"I deal in indentures," the man said through a greasy smile. "I have no business in kidnappings."

"Let's not say things we don't mean," Inej said, tossing her blade into the air. As she caught it, she said, "You shouldn't test the Saints' patience. Or mine, for that matter."

The man leaned forward against his bonds. "I deal in indentures," he repeated, the same smirk still on his face.

In a flash of silver, the man was slammed backwards into the wall as Inej's knife caught his shirt collar and pinned it to the wood behind him. She stood quite still, barely having moved. Kaz watched her from the shadows.

"Where is he?" Inej demanded.

The man's smirk was gone. "A hundred boys like that have passed through my ship over the years. A thousand," he said.

"Strain yourself," Inej said. "You stole him from his family's tent. A group of acrobats. You took his sister as well."

Her voice wavered just slightly, but Kaz noticed. He shifted towards the edge of the shadows, drawing a quick, nervous glance from the slaver still pinned to the wall by Inej's blade.

"I told you," the man said. He was definitely scared now, a thin sheen of sweat beginning to bead on his forehead. "I deal in indentures."

A second blade thudded against the wood. Inej had moved so quickly Kaz had barely tracked the flick of her wrist as she sent the knife flying, slicing a gash in the man's ear before lodging in the wall, deep enough that it could have killed the slaver had she aimed a few inches to the left. Blood began to flow down the side of the man's neck.

"I'll ask you again," Inej said. "Where is he?"

The man swallowed nervously. "There's no telling. A Suli boy would have gone to the Southern Colonies, or to Novi Zem to work the fields if he was strong enough. They can go anywhere from there, all over the world, across the ocean, anywhere."

"There has to be something else," Inej said.

The man shook his head frantically. "I don't know. You can try my contacts at the auctions, they keep the records. I don't remember the captives, they're just pay-offs to me. There's no way I can-"

A bang rang through the shack. Inej whipped around to face Kaz as the slaver slumped forward, dead. Outside, they could hear the dock workers' shouts of surprise as the gunshot echoed through the docks.

Kaz calmly tucked the gun back into its holster at his side, his finger trembling slightly from the rush of anger coursing through him. He didn't usually deal with something so obvious, but he had wanted that man dead as fast as possible.

"Why did you do that?" Inej stared at him, her eyes following the thin whorl of smoke coming from the holstered gun at his side. "Why did you kill him?"

He had no answer for her, at least, not one he was willing to give.

Inej stormed from the shack, the door swinging roughly on its uneven hinges. Kaz sighed as he surveyed the slaver, blood still pooling from the bullethole between his eyes. He had a body to take care of and an argument coming that he would definitely want to avoid.

She was waiting for him when he came back to the Slat. He knew before he pushed open the door that he would find her inside, ready to remind him of just how stupid he had been today. The man didn't know anything else that they couldn't find by going through the few records on board his ship, but Kaz had cost her the payout for catching a slaver and taken her chance to repay the man for what he had done to her,

He stepped into the drafty room to find her in her usual spot on the windowsill, already looking towards him. He stopped in his tracks as she stared at him.

"I asked for your help," Inej started.

"Inej-"

"Don't talk over me," Inej said quietly, "I asked for your help and you were out of line."

Kaz shifted his jaw as he tried to fight the flush of shame that was making its way across his face.

"I needed that man, criminal he may be, for information. Even if he couldn't give me that, he would've given me a few thousand kurge and a sliver of the retribution the Saints have been saving for me. He wasn't your kill. This wasn't a job, this wasn't self defense, this was murder, Kaz, as much as he deserved it."

"I know," he said.

"Then why?" Inej demanded. "You never do anything without thinking, why is this, the one time you act without thought?"

He only shook his head.

The only sound was the dull clamour of the Slat below them and the gentle hush of the wind against the roof.

Inej slid off the windowsill and crossed the room to him. "No, I deserve an answer at least!" she shouted. "Why did you kill the one man who might know what happened to my family?"

Again, he didn't answer.

"Why?" she shouted. "I needed you to be there and you killed him! You know we could have used him to contact buyers, other slavers, something! Why did you do it?"

"Because I love you!" The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. Inej froze, her eyes locked onto his.

"He hurt you," Kaz said shakily. "He ruined your life, your brother's life."

"Kaz, I-"

"Inej," Kaz said. "I-I'm sorry. I'll pay you whatever he would have earned. The Dregs, anyone you want, is at your disposal. We'll find him. I promise you, I will find your brother."

He stood there, heart pounding in his chest, watching her as she looked back at him with tears in her eyes. Inej nodded slightly before turning her back on him and crossing the room, back to the window.

She was leaving. He should have known better. He should have been smarter than to come out with the worst and truest explanation for his actions, should have known better than to expect her to want to be loved by him of all people.

His breath caught in his throat as she swung one knee up onto the windowsill, reaching out for the handle of the open window. The pale moonlight shone down on her, her thick palit of dark hair gleaming like silk in the soft glow. Kaz looked down, looked towards his desk. Beautiful as she was, watching her leave would very well tear his heart straight from his chest. He forced himself to study the papers littering his desk, only looking up when he heard the soft thud of the window closing that meant she had gone.

But she hadn't gone. Just reached out to close the window.

"It's very cold in here, you know," she said as his eyes found hers.

Kaz held his breath, trying to hold in everything he wanted to tell her.

"Kaz," she studied him for a second before saying," I love you, too."