City Of Spies - A Six Of Crows Fanfiction

Jesper

"Focus."

It was the impossible task Jesper had spent an hour already failing at. Just focus, easier said than done, and apparently not very easy to say either.

Sylvia could hardly speak Kerch and her dense accent made her tasks even harder to follow.

When they had first met, Jesper saw her as a young girl, his age give our take some. A bit strange, but not in a way that made Jesper weary but instead very curious. He quickly figured out that she wasn't going to be easy with him, and she didnt seem to care about his lack of knowledge and experience. To her, he was a brand new toy to play with. Now, he wanted to slap Nina for bringing this demon her.

And a demon she was.

"I told you, I dont know how, this doesnt make sense-"

"Focus," she snapped once again, arms crossed over her chest in defiance.

Perhaps that was the only Kerch word she knew.

"Jesper," a voice came from behind, and they both turned to see Inej step into the courtyard, hair once again down around her shoulders. When she reached them she stopped and sighed. "Kaz is up to something."

"When is he not?" Jesper mumbled. Sylvia didnt seem to fully understand. If she did, she definitely didnt care.

"No, not like that. This is different. He's...he's up to something and I dont know what."

"You're the wraith, you know everything."

"Exactly."

-

Jesper knew Inej was right when Wylan started disappearing.

In all fairness, he was very clever about it, giving excuses of going to the pastry shop down the road and, indeed, coming back with pastries. He had even admitted to leaving to see Kaz, but never explained why and could be gone for hours.

However, it was the night that Wylan came home with black smudges on his hands and cheek that Jesper knew for sure that something was going on. Jesper knew exactly what was on his hands; gunpowder.

He watched Wylan move through the kitchen with ease, almost relaxed. Wylan hadn't been relaxed in months.

"Your mom is in bed already. She didn't eat much but she seemed okay," Jesper said from his position.

Wylan hardly glanced to him, and just nodded.

"How are you?" Jesper continued, stepping just a couple feet behind.

"Fine," Wylan murmered turning to face Jesper. "Tired, I guess."

There was a brief moment of silence before Jesper reached up to wipe the dark smudge on Wylans cheek.

"Why are you covered in gunpowder?"

His words weren't accusatory or harsh, but Wylan still shrank, a habit Jesper hated seeing.

"I um...was just doing a favor for Kaz. Just a small project."

"Nothing is just a small project for Kaz." This was certainly true, Kaz didn't work on small scales very often. He liked putting on a show. "What is he planning?"

"Just be patient Jesper, hes going to need you anyway. It's only a matter of time before he explains to you himself."

"But-"

"Can we just go to bed please?"

That face was impossible to resist, and Wylan knew it. Jesper hated himself for giving in, brushing away his thoughts and pulling Wylan into his arms.

"Fine. But you explain tomorrow."

-

It turned out Wylan really wasn't kidding. The next morning when Jesper wandered into the kitchen, Kaz was already there, sitting at the table, seemingly reading something.

"Who let you in?" Jesper mumbled, somewhat perplexed.

Kaz just raised a brow as if saying, really, have you met me?

"Are you to blame for my missing boyfriend?" Jesper continued, quickly losing patience. He wanted answers. Kaz, of course, provided none.

"Is Inej here? Nina?"

"I- They went out last night. I dont know where they are now. Probably upstairs, I guess."

"Good. I'll meet you all at the harbor in an hour."

Just like that, Kaz stood, and Jesper suddenly realized he wasn't carrying a cane. Before he could ask about it, Kaz was gone.

"Dick."

-

If was a miracle that they all got to the docks on time. Wylan was exhausted, Nina and Inej slightly hungover, and Jesper losing his patience.

As for Kaz, he looked as if he knew how the end the world with a single breath.

It was exciting and terrifying all at once.

"We don't look like a team anymore," Kaz noted, glancing over each of them.

"We never did to begin with," Jeser countered. Sure, Kaz and Inej used to both wear black but now Inej wore a teal vest over awell fitting white shirt. Very much outside of her color pallet. Wylan looked as soft as he was and Nina defined herself in her Kefta. As for Jesper, he always stood out in a crowd. He couldn't help it.

"Kaz, darling," Nina interrupted, "I love you, but why are we here?" 

Kaz smiled. It was terrifying.

"Well, I'm glad you asked. Nina dear, do you see that ship over there, the big one?"

They all looked, and quickly knew exactly what Kaz was talking about. It was the biggest ship in the harbor. Solid black and built to terrify, it was hard not to begin to worry.

"The man that owns that ship is named Elias Storm. I'm going to end his career, and possibly his life, and most importantly, I'm going to steal something from him. Sounds like fun, no?"

A silence hung in the air for a brief moment before Inej sighed and spoke.  "I should have stayed in bed."

"I thought you were done ending careers," Jesper spoke, looking to Kaz.

"I wont be done till I'm dead," he said plainly. "You're all here, so let's have some fun, shall we?"

-authors note-
I do not have a particular schedule for uploads at this current moment but you can expect to see one at least once a week

Thanks for the support and votes. This started as just a way to get myself to write but I'm glad people are enjoying it.

Stay jazzy -claire