Kaz gasped for air.

"Kaz, it's just a nightmare."

He was struggling to breath, being pulled under, the freezing water steeling his strength. He could feel soft, clammy rotting flesh surrounded him, pushing him further down. His body trembled as he fought for every breath.

"Kaz, you need to wake up!"

He thought he heard someone calling him, but all he could see was Jordie's dead eyes staring back at him as he slowly felt himself drowning. Jordie was his only connection to the world, and he was gone. No one would ever miss him or call for him again. He was alone in the world. He started to let himself sink into the depths of oblivion as the world had nothing more to offer him.

Inej was frustrated. Kaz wasn't hearing her, and she was losing him to whatever terrors was keeping him trapped. She could see that his breaths were becoming shallower and weaker, his nightmares and injuries slowly draining him. This was not how the story of Kaz Brekker was supposed to end, not in a dark and grimy basement. She needed him to fight, to remember who he was. She decided to change her approach.

"Dirtyhands, snap out of it now!" she yelled harshly, trying her best to imitate Per Haskell, Kaz's former boss.

Dirtyhands… The name shook something loose in Kaz. The reality he was seeing couldn't be real. He was Dirtyhands, bastard of the Barrel, not Kaz Rietveld. He couldn't be drowning in the ocean with Jordie. That had been Kaz Rietveld, and that person had died that night, but Dirtyhands had been born. Dirtyhands had clawed his way up from the darkest depths, brick by brick. He had survived, and now something was trying to take him out again, but Dirtyhands was stronger than Kaz Rietveld had been, he would fight, and he would survive, for vengeance if nothing else.

He used his new clarity to focus on himself, taking stock of his body. He felt weightless, almost like swaying in the water, and it was impossible for him to take proper breaths. He also noted his arms and shoulders were hurting badly, like something was forcefully gripping and pulling at them. He blinked his eyes open. With his head hanging down he could see the floor, his own legs slightly folded under him, touching the ground, but not holding his weight. He forced his head upwards, feeling the muscles and tendons in his back and shoulders scream as he moved. His arms were stretched out over him. and shackles were fastened on his wrists, a chain holding him up.

The memories of the last events came flooding back, helping him make sense of his new situation. Keller must have removed him from the cell and strung him up to trap him. He straightened his legs, making them take the weight off of his arms that had gone numb from the strain. Despite the pins and needles he was feeling, the release of the weight gave his arms and back a welcome release, and it allowed him to stretch his chest and neck muscles, making his breathing somewhat easier.

It was still hard to draw a full breath into his lungs, his windpipe feeling obstructed. He guessed his neck was bruised and slightly swollen from the earlier strangling, and that it was the main cause of his breathing issues. The feeling reminded him of that horrible night, and was probably why his mind had drifted there. He banished the memories, and focused on taking as deep and long breaths as his bruised air pipe would allow, giving his body and muscles much needed oxygen.

He noticed his hands were bare, gloves probably removed when they put the chains around his wrists. He turned his head slightly to inspect the bullet wound in his left shoulder. Someone had removed his thick wool coat and west, leaving him in just his shirt. The clothes were tossed in a pile on the ground, the lock pick in his jacket out of reach.

The shirt had originally been cream white, but the left side was now dark and slick with blood from the bullet wound. He had the same warm, sticky feeling on the back of his shoulder, and guessed the situation was the same there. As he was inspecting his shoulder, he caught movement in his side eye, causing him to whip his head around, prepared for another fight, but instead his eyes found Inej looking at him from behind the cell bars.

Inej was glad that Kaz was back, the anger and fight from earlier having returned. What she didn't like was how some of that very same anger was directed at her. She had disobeyed. She hadn't run when ordered too. She would whether it, not regretting her choice to stay with him. She looked defiantly back at him. He wasn't the only one allowed to protect a friend and fellow crow.

Kaz found his anger was quickly tempered by the warm feeling he felt at seeing Inej, and not being alone. She was trapped, but seemingly unharmed. "Are you…" he started, but ended up in a painful coughing fit because of the way his voice grated at his bruised airways.

Inej still understood what he was asking. Kaz had been like a broken record of late, always checking in on her. It felt nice at first, but it was starting to rub at her nerves as she was the one that needed to worry about him, not the other way around, but she knew he would keep asking till she gave in.

"I'm fine, nothings changed except your new gunshot wound and bruises," she sighed.

She considered asking him how he was doing, but thought better of it as she knew he would just deflect the question or lie to her. She would instead find her answer by looking for the small tells she had memorized, like the set of his face, the sound of his voice, the way he held himself or other small things. She knew he could hide even those tells if he really wanted to, but most of the time he didn't bother as few knew to look for them.

Both their attention was called by the opening of the cellar hatch.

Mr. Keller walked down the stairs, using Kaz's cane as he walked. Keller positioned himself in front of Kaz, but at a safe distance, hands busy twirling the cane. "I see that you are awake and kicking. That's good".

Inej and Kaz scowled at him, but neither responded.

Keller shook his head in disapproval. "Still so silent. If I hadn't known better, I would almost start believing you two were mutes. Maybe I should have taken that Jesper-guy instead, he seems like a livelier chap, but I do wonder if it would have elicited the same response as you," he said while staring knowingly at Inej. Inej's eyes flickered to Kaz, seeking his comforting presence.

"I'll admit, I thought the two of you made for an odd pairing. The lithe, graceful, god-fearing, and I might add beautiful, dark brown girl, and the broken, angular, demon Dirtyhands. But after your performance yesterday I saw that there is still a beating heart hidden under your dark crow feathers. You, Mr. Brekker, are becoming a more and more interesting marvel to study. At first, I was only curious to study you for your mind, curious about its workings, to learn how it was able to commit elaborate crimes. But now..." Keller paused, looking Kaz up and down appraisingly. "Now, I've learned that there is so much more to you then just brains, all thanks to Miss Ghafa here. And to think I would have missed all of this if Miss Ghafa had played along in our first chat, and been released in the church. But not to worry, Mr. Brekker, I won't hurt her, and I will release her as soon as I've finished my study. And thanks to your little show yesterday, I think I now have the right leverage to make her comply to my wishes," Keller said proudly.

Inej and Kaz shared a quick look, neither liking the sound of Keller's plan, but both remained silent, hoping Keller would reveal as much as possible while he was in a talking mood.

Keller collected the fine-looking chair, and positioned it a few meters in front of Kaz, cage in the background. He sat down on the chair, resting the cane in his lap, letting his hands slide over the cane, exploring the intricate head of the cane.

"Yesterday, I would have said 6 thugs was a bit of an overkill for this job. I had originally just planed on hiring 2-3, but they all insisted on coming along, apparently all holding quite the grudge against you. I guess you must have wronged a lot of people as Dirtyhands, and such things tend to come back to haunt you," he chided Kaz, while shaking his head, a smile of amusement on his face. "Such reasons are why I generally try to stay out of that kind of business, rather hiring others to do my dirty work. It allows me to keep my hands clean, and to keep my business open. But for high stake targets, I tend to dabble a bit myself, too fun to try my wits against supposedly smart people, like you yourself. Except for your trickster tricks this morning, you have been a bit trumped up thus far, but you still have time to dazzle me with your brains like you once did, so we'll see"

Keller seemed to believe that they had met before, but for some reason Kaz could not remember his face. Keller was old, well into his 60's from what he could tell. He had a gut and fine dandy clothes, clearly a member of higher society. The name itself did not ring familiar, but he could have used an alias. This man could have been new to the city, lived here earlier or he could have just visited sometime long ago. Keller hadn't revealed much of his history or his goal except that he liked to study people and how their minds worked. As for what he did with people after his study was finished, Keller hadn't revealed, but Kaz doubted he just released them as he would have been found out fast. People disappeared all the time, and if they were poor enough, no one cared to investigate it. Someone could kidnap, kill and dispose of them and none would be the wiser.

As Kaz didn't' respond, Keller continued. "Did you know that I had to work quite hard to find anyone willing to help me take you down? Most people I asked either laughed at me or said I was crazy to go after the bastard of the Barrel. They said I was signing my own death warrant. The only help I could find was a group of dumb thugs who lived on the outskirts of Ketterdam, not enough brain cells among them to make one decent plan, let alone execute them. Thankfully this group was more than eager for the job. And after your show this morning, I now understand why I had so few takers, and why they said I had to be stupid to challenge you. If I hadn't known better, I would say your whole cripple bit was just an act to fool people, but you do have some issues, don't you?" he said as he let head of the cane swing into Kaz's bad leg.

Kaz saw it coming, making sure all his weight was carried by his other leg, and positioning his hurt leg in such a way that the impact would be minimal. The pain still shot up his body at the impact, and made him grind his teeth, hands fisting as he fought the pain.

Apparently satisfied, Keller drowned on. "Yes, there is an injury there, but you really have mastered the art of the trick, using it to your advantage. Like this cane for instance.," he said while holding up the cane to his own eye level.

"Here I thought I was being nice to allow a cripple to have his much-needed walking cane for mobility, when in fact it was all a ruse to bring in a lethal weapon. I looked your cane over. It has been made to work as a well-balanced weapon that could crush, rip and harm in the right hands. If I am not mistaken it is also fabricator-enhanced, able to deal out and withstand more damage than it legally should. Seeing you wield it this morning to take out 4 big men would normally be a show I would delight in, but it was ruined by how close you came to slipping away. Seeing that I only have two men left, one I'm not sure will survive the night, I had to take precautions, hence why you are no longer allowed your cane, and why you are chained up. But enough about the past. Let's move on to our task of the day – the study of the Wraith!".

"Don't touch her!" Kaz growled menacingly, tearing at his chains.

Keller chuckled at him. "Finaly a response, but it won't change what is coming. You just hang tight for a moment while I get my remaining men to help me".

Keller got up and walked up the stairs, the cane left behind on the chair, just out of Kaz's reach.