Chapter Two
Cumbersome and Heavy

"You're quiet and you can clearly scale walls, judging by your act last night. We will continue working on your lock picking in the evening. Have you fought before?"

"No, Helene had people to go after anyone who wouldn't pay." He appreciated that she did not choose to bore him with tales of minor scraps.

"You'll train with Roeder, he is another spider, but not mine exclusively." As she would be, whether Haskell realized or not. "He'll teach you to fight and to run."

"I know how to run."

"He'll teach you to fight and to run. We start with the basics and build from there."

"Will you be there?"

He paused as they reached the courtyard where Roeder was waiting, did she think he would be spoon feeding her?

"I do not have time to babysit you. I will be back in the evening to begin our training; Roeder will tell me how you've progressed. Listen to him, learn from him, do better than him."

Roeder had stepped forward with a nod to Kaz, he introduced himself to Inej but her eyes had stayed on his.

"You're leaving me here?"

"Roeder will not bring you harm, to do so would be to disrespect me." He nodded at Roeder and left, ignoring the look of betrayal she gave him. Better that she got used to being left alone now before she became dependent.

Despite his words, he situated himself towards the window during his first meeting, watching as Roeder moved back and allowed Inej to begin doing flips. Ah, acrobatic training, that explained being light on her feet. Any training was important as it would help her learn quicker.

Satisfied she would be capable he moved up and exited the Slat with one of the Dregs, a man had been late to pay Haskell, Kaz needed to ensure it wouldn't happen again.

It was wishful thinking that he could trust his dredges to do their damned job.

He still had blood on his cheek as he gripped his crows head tightly.

"You lost her?"

Roeder had a black eye, laughable that he had taught her to punch only minutes before apparently. Perhaps he sensed he was moments away from receiving a cracked cheekbone as well as he spoke quickly and kept a distance from Kaz's desk.

"I was correcting her stance, she hit me and ran, was gone before I could stop her."

Kaz ran a gloved hand down his face, frustrated.

"You're off. Leave."

"Boss! I didn't do anything to her!"

"Which is why you're not on the floor right now. You're off. Leave, now."

Roeder couldn't resist muttering under his voice, "Good luck getting anyone to teach her without human contact."

Kaz ran a gloved hand through his hair in frustration, good luck indeed.

He never checked her room; she hadn't been here long enough to rely on it to be a safe haven. If she had truly once been an acrobat then she would be up high.

Kaz cursed the saints as he shut the door behind the stairs and pushed his coat up further against the harsh wind blowing past the roof. She must have heard him, yet she didn't move from her perch at the ledge of the roof, the wind blowing past her as if she was see-through, unmoving.

He waited until he was seated, with great effort, next to her before speaking.

"I did say we would be doing lock picking training in the evening."

Whatever she expected him to say it hadn't been that she looked at him in shock and he took advantage of her attention to toss the bundle he had been holding to his chest to her. He had grabbed it after dismissing Roeder, putting the small package together quickly.

He watched as she opened it to reveal a series of different padlocks and to her clear surprise, a sandwich.

"I will not be responsible for feeding you, I expect every person in this Slat to be capable of going and finding their own food. You're no use to me starving on a roof all day."

"I thought that you would…"

"Your indenture is being paid off, you have a contract with Haskell you thought wrong."

She ate quickly and he took out his lock picking tools.

"The lock on your chest was simple, some pins are harder to set, some require different tools, you need to master all of this."

They sat in the night for over an hour as he taught her the sounds to hear for and the tensions to feel for when it was too loud to rely on clicks alone. If he admired her quick learning, he did not say anything, compliments from Kaz were as likely as a friendly grin from Pekka Rollins.

Finally, he picked up the locks, packed away his tools and stood up to leave her.

"Kaz, I can't train to fight, Roeder did nothing wrong, but I can't do it." She was standing with her hands fisted by her sides.

He was sure the words came out tenser than usual, his voice raspier as the ache in his leg reminded him that it was getting late. "I will see you tomorrow in my office, from now on you will be training with me."

She scoffed, "With you? It's not the person who is the problem it is me. Do you truly think that will make any difference?"

"Yes."

His desk was pushed against the wall, his seat shoved in the corner, the carpet rolled up. They could have done this in the yard, but he would rather be away from the eyes of the dredges, he was already giving Inej more attention than he had given the others.

"Redecorating boss?" Jesper stood by the door, his clothes leaving a bright imprint in Kaz's eyes. The sharpshooter knew nothing of subtlety.

"We're going on a job tomorrow, you and the new spider. Be at the door by ten bells."

"The new one? Well, aren't I lucky, I'll wear my best hat."

Jesper would be much more tolerable if he would stop trying to be funny, Kaz thought shrewdly.

"Don't be late this time."

"For you Boss? I'll be early." Jasper left with a cheerful whistle, Kaz would bet the Slat on his being late.

Inej was approaching moments after Jesper had left, she had snuck up on him once, but he was determined to not have it happen again, listening to the softest of sounds, the changes in the air.

"Shut the door behind you." He moved to the furthest wall as he gave the instruction.

His office door had no lock, he had taken it off in the morning, if this was to work, he needed her to not feel caged in, there could be no similarities to Heleen's.

"If you have any wounds left over from the Menagerie, now would be the time to speak up."

She said nothing, Kaz sighed, pressing the top of the crow's head to his brows.

"There are many people in the Barrel that you need to hide your weaknesses from, that list does not include me. I won't have you further injured, your choice."

There was a pause and then she spoke, "There are stitches by my right rib cage." Her hand gestured to the area, and he made note of it, if his teeth clenched at the thought of what had happened, that was his business.

"Show me your stance."

She went into the position Roeder had taught her, Kaz could see where she was wrong, could see where Roeder must have tried to correct her. The end of his cane swung out and tapped firmly against her left leg. She pulled it in quickly and looked at him, her dark eyes flashing with a moment of anger, but not fear.

The anger he could work with.

"You're already light on your feet, you need to anticipate what your opponent is going to do before they do it." He was up now, walking along the edge of the room, his cane flew out again, against her left shoulder. She yanked herself back a second too late.

"Anticipate. And stop guarding your wound, if they know you're hurt they will target it, you need to show no fear."

He moved again, aiming for her knee, she was on the other side before it made contact. Good.

Her arm moved away from her rib and she faced him, jaw set in determination. He moved quickly and swept the cane behind her knees, knocking her down to the ground.

"Get up, roll the moment you hit the ground and get back up. Never stay on your back."

Inej rolled to the side and was up in an instant.

They continued for the better half of the day, stopping only to eat. Kaz barked his instructions and Inej followed them, questioning what she didn't understand. She never touched him, and he was within a canes distance at all times.

"Enough." He brushed his hair back, pushing away the sweat beading on his forehead.

"I can go again." She insisted, his cane had only met its marks a few times in the last while, her eyes seemed to crave the challenge of going a round without a mark. But he could see the strain as she moved and he needed her functioning for tomorrow, he recognized the signs of fatigue from the wound, recognized it in his own self.

"You are coming with me on a job tomorrow, Jesper is on the floor, he will brief you on the details."

"How will I know who he is?"

"The one who looks like he belongs in a circus." Was Kaz's reply.

"So, I'm ready?"

Kaz snorted, "Consider it on the field training."

Her eyes flashed with disappointment as if she had expected praise as if she expected to be ready after a day of training, even if it was with the leader of the dredges. Leader in the eyes of his man, if not in name.

He turned back to move his desk to its original position, she was gone when he looked back.

Season two of Shadow and Bones is confirmed! I am so excited! Expect weekly updates on this fanfiction.

ThisMayFlower