Six of crows imagines

You are done for

It was quiet when Jesper slipped through the door to Kaz's attic office. He had been used to being greeted by your chipper voice even before his hands reached the doorknob but today it was dead silent and you weren't here.

"Where's Y/N?" Jesper asked immediately, looking at Kaz for an answer. It was odd. You were usually early, much earlier than Jesper ever was.

"Don't ask," Inej said under her breath, eyeing Kaz who sat brooding behind his desk.

It was probably a good idea, thought Jesper, considering how Kaz was glaring at the clock like it was cheating at one of his open tables.

"She's probably on her way," Jesper said. "You know how the streets get clogged up at these hours." The attempt to lighten the mood was met with total silence. Jesper slumped down onto the fruit crater beside Inej. "Is he scheming? Or am I just paranoid?"

Inej shrugged.

Kaz wasn't scheming. He was worried. It was way past the eighth bell, even Jesper was here and you were nowhere to be found. Where the hell could you be? What could be holding you up at 8 on a Wednesday night? Apart from being kidnapped, tortured and murdered? asked the little voice in his head. Nothing.

Kaz tried not to but when it came to you, he was always worried. You were still in the process of becoming a crow and so technically you weren't under the Dregs' protection. To be honest, he hesitated to make you one because he knew in doing so, he would be putting you in more danger than before.

He knew you could handle it, yes. It wasn't that you didn't know how to use a gun like Jesper or a dagger like Inej. You were great at hand-to-hand combat, better than all of them actually. But he couldn't shake that fear in the back of his mind every time you showed up a little later than usual.

Kaz hid it well but every time he heard your cheerful greetings to him, to Inej, to Jesper, to whoever you saw first, he would let a sigh slip his lips. He would never admit it but it made his heart flutter too. And he didn't like that part one bit.

Today, though, something felt different. You were much later than you had ever been, much later to blame the busy streets. Something happened to you. And while the mere thoughts were enough to bring him physical pain, he had to be prepared. And right now, Kaz was prepared for a search and rescue operation.

"We have to find her," he said suddenly. "Something's definitely wrong."

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It took less than a glance before all three were out of Kaz's office and onto the dark, damp alleyways of the Barrel.

You lived with your family not too far away from the Crow Club, just across the West Stave. Your house was on the southern border of the district, away from the pleasure houses but not far enough from the traffickers. When your little brick house came into view, Kaz felt the suffocating regret of not clearing out his office for your family. You would have hated the idea but he should have done it anyway.

Inej joined them silently, feather-light steps that could have passed as falling leaves but Kaz knew them too well by now.

"Did you tell her to meet us at the eighth bell?" asked Inej, pulling down her hood.

Kaz nodded.

"Are you sure? You could have forgotten to mention it was in the evening," added Jesper. "She could have thought it was eight in the morning."

Kaz glared, "When have we ever met up at eight in the morning?"

"I saw a light from the window," Inej continued, gesturing to the small window on the side of the house. There was a light coming from the living room. Part of him felt a rush of relief, wanting to believe that you were safe and just forgot but realistically, that was too good to be true.