Chapter 34

"I'm sure there was a better way to do this," Caid said, breathing slowly through his nose. He was staring at the still unconscious woman tied to the chair in front of him, her dusty blonde hair soaked with blood.

"Yeaaaaah," Shan drawled, turning to look at Wen, "how's your concussion, by the way?"

"Not concussed," Wen glared, his legs shaking as he sat down across from his captive, "and if both of you hadn't failed, I wouldn't have resorted to this."

Caid looked away somewhat guiltily, while Shan sputtered, "You didn't even tell me what to do!"

A rustling sound pulled everyone's attention away. The captive was waking up. After blinking a few times, she caught sight of Wen and immediately hardened her gaze. 

A moment of tense silence later and Wen spoke up, "I…apologize for," he waved his hand around vaguely, "this."

Wen wasn't dumb enough to bring his target back to the Green Sea's base, especially because he wasn't planning on killing her if she was cooperative. He had brought her to a close location, one he used fairly frequently. It wasn't as comfortable as his own office, but the room they were in had several nice chairs and lush carpeting. It wasn't the room typically used for interrogations (as apparent from the lack of bloodstains on said carpeting) but Wen had a feeling it would do just fine. Something told him it was a better idea to have his captive tied in a comfortable chair than strung up in a cold basement. There were different ways of getting information, after all.

The woman lifted an eyebrow at Wen's half-hearted apology but otherwise remained stoic. 

"We aren't going to hurt you!" Shan said, a bit too cheerily than the situation warranted.

"As long as you cooperate," Wen quickly added. 

At that, the woman gazed at Wen with a bored expression. 

"Good idea," Caid mumbled, "threaten what is apparently a full-fledged Shadow. I'm sure that will get you real far."

That was a fair point. It was inconceivable to think a group of highly skilled assassins wouldn't be trained to withstand torture at being caught. Wen didn't often make assumptions, but at this point, it was fairly safe to say she was one of the Shadows. 

Wen switched tactics. "We know who you meet up with, and we know what you are telling him."

The woman's expression changed. It was quick, but something close to fear flickered on her face, before becoming closed off again.

That was interesting. Wen had done plenty of interrogations, and he knew how to tell when someone was scared for their own safety. Something about the way the woman had looked was a different type of vulnerable. 

"We won't hurt him," Wen said, "as long as we get what we need. We are looking for someone, and I think you can help."

Caid's eyes widened in surprise at the switch of tactics. Wen was smart, clever even, when the situation called for it, but he still tended to do things head-on. 

The woman across from them made no response, which was to be expected. Wen felt his stomach begin to sink. Not responding to the first few questions of an interrogation was normal, it never bothered Wen. He was usually patient, willing to spend as many hours as needed because success was always imminent. 

This was different. This was a different opponent, one who might actually be impossible to get information out of no matter the method. 

Wen immediately shook the thought from his head. Not impossible. There was always a way. Always. He would do things differently. He would figure this out, and get what he needed. The alternative was too bleak to even consider. 

He had to be strategic. He had seen the look in her eyes when he mentioned the man he knew she was meeting up with. It was quick, but he had seen it all the same. Scared, and vulnerable. Like something in the world was on the precipice of shattering. 

Something in his chest squeezed when he thought of it. 

"My name is Wen." The words surprised him even as they came out of his mouth. His tone was too soft for this situation.

Finally, the woman spoke, "I know who you are."

Unsurprising, given his reputation. 

"I'm looking for someone. I will do anything to find him. Help me, and I won't have to resort to…alternate methods." He couldn't help adding the threat at the end, it was instinct. Still, it came out weak. 

The woman looked up at him, managing to look bored despite the blood now seeping into her shirt.

Wen motioned to Caid, who brought forward a small picture of Day, showing it to the woman. 

She glanced at it briefly, at first with no recognition. After a moment, her eyes changed. "That's…" she shook herself out of it and looked back at Wen. 

"You know him?" Wen asked, something starting to pulse rapidly in his chest.

The woman didn't respond, only looking at Wen discerningly, as if trying to solve a puzzle.

"He's important," Wen was suddenly upset at how often he found himself having to say this. Day was so, so important. Why did he have to beg for his safety? Day deserved to be safe, and happy, and warm, and fed. Always. Why did he have to convince every person of this? It was the most important thing, shouldn't everyone get this? It was beginning to become infuriating. 

The woman looked harder at Wen.

"Boss!" Wen flinched as one of his men swung open the door, interrupting his progress. Anger must have been apparent on his face because the man quickly tried to explain himself. "There's an old guy outside demanding to see you, he's taken out like six of our men. We're um, working on neutralizing him, but it's uh, not going great."

"Don't bother," Wen's anger faded at once, "invite him in."

Wen glanced back at the woman, letting himself settle into the silence between them. Within a few moments, the door opened back up, and the man from the tunnels appeared, escorted by a group of frazzled guards.

The man glanced briefly at Wen, before seeming to notice the woman tied to the chair. His jaw set in anger, and he turned back to Wen. "You have made a mistake," he said coldly, "you should have walked away. You don't have that luxury anymore."

"So cool," Shan murmured under his breath, loud enough for Caid to hear and roll his eyes. 

"Relax," Wen said, "I'm not going to hurt her. No need to get so upset."

The man's face grew stormier, and he began to step forward before a voice rang out and dissipated the tension.

"Tov." The woman spoke clearly, and instantly the man stopped and looked at her. "It's okay. Untie me please."

The man stepped forward, and Wen began to object before the woman shot him an annoyed look. "Untie me, and then we can talk."

Wen waved his hand and allowed it. It probably wasn't a good idea, but nothing lately was. 

Once untied and situated more comfortably, the woman turned to Wen. "Clara," she said as an introduction. Immediately the man shot her a concerned look, but she waved it off, "and I'm assuming you already know Tov."

Tov stood close to Clara, hovering, ignoring the empty chair Caid brought to him.

Wen waited for Clara to say more, but when she didn't, he motioned back to the picture he had shown before. "You know him?"

"You don't have to tell him anything," Tov began, but Clara brushed him off. 

"Yes." The woman paused. "Not well. But…enough." 

"We should go. Now." Tov looked at her pleadingly.

"Tov," Clara closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. "That's…him."

Tov paused and looked back at the picture. "You don't mean…?"

Clara nodded "He looks different and it's been years but I think so." Gently, she added, "I told you, things are going to change. For the better, I think."

"Better doesn't mean safe."

"No," she agreed, looking back at Wen carefully, "but I think it might be worth it." 

Wen wasn't following the conversation. He pulled his way back into it, asking again, "You do know him?"

Clara sighed and leaned her head back into the chair. "Whatever he is to you, I hope he's worth it."

"He is."

Clara huffed at the answer and then sat up straighter. "I did know him," she began, "sort of. I knew of him. But all of us did." She tilted her head in thought, "What name did you call him?"

"Day."

"Day," Clara repeated, before smiling softly. "Day. I like that. It suits him."

Wen waited. Finally, Clara continued, "We all knew Day. He was the best there's been in a long time. Even those of us who didn't pay attention to that sort of thing knew when he went missing." 

A lump grew in Wen's throat. 

"I heard he was being tracked down. I felt quite bad for him, really. But that was years ago. It's been a long time, and he wasn't found. But it's always a matter of time. They never stop looking."

"They do sometimes," Tov corrected, leaning onto Clara's chair, "if you're better than this Day kid."

"No," Clara said, a hint of a smile on her face, "they stop looking if you have a wife smart enough to fake your assassination herself."

Tov shrugged and went back to watching Wen suspiciously. 

Caid leaned into Wen's side, speaking low, "I did tell you, Boss. Looks like he was part of them."

"So?" Wen snapped, "what difference does it make?"

It did, truthfully, make a pretty big difference. But Wen figured this was one of those things that could be dealt with after the fact. Once he found Day, he would ask the man himself.

"All of this is redundant," Tov spoke, "if he was found, he's dead by now anyways."

Wen began to object, but Clara cut him off, looking at Tov. "I'm not so sure. Don't you think they would want to make an example of him?"

Tov seemed to consider this, before coldly looking back at Wen. "In that case, you really should wish he was dead, for his own sake. The alternative is much, much worse."