Chương 35: Bk 1 Ch 32: Disgust

"Your sister?" asks Cassie, raising an eyebrow. The girl nods.

"Her name's Sarah, she's a Senior. I, um, I think you, uh, know her?" Cassie thinks for a moment.

"Long brown hair, nose piercing?"

"Yeah."

"Sure, I remember her. Haven't seen her around lately, think the last time she needed anything from me was a couple months ago. What's going on with her?"

"She's… she's missing. I'm… scared her boyfriend has something to do with it. And… I found needles in her room the other day."

"Motherfucker," growls Cassie under her breath. I agree, scowling. If someone's been dealing heroin in my territory, we're gonna have a problem.

"Sorry, not you," she quickly reassures the girl.

"I promise she didn't get that from me. Here, why don't you sit down, tell us the whole story? What's you're name?"

"... Okay. I'm Leslie," she says, hesitantly sitting in the spot we make for her.

"Um… I guess it started when Sarah started dating this guy named Steph. I, um, I don't know where she met him, but he's… older. Like, a lot older. He gives me the creeps, he… says stuff to me too sometimes, even though he's supposed to be dating her. Anyway, um, our parents caught her, uh, smoking pot a couple of months ago, there was a whole big fight about it. They tried to ground her and stuff, but she'd just sneak out, that's when she started spending a lot more time with Steph. She… started changing, too.

Sometimes she'd be, like, really snappy and restless, but other times she'd be really zoned out. Our parents kept trying to punish her, but it didn't really work, it just made her spend less and less time at home." She stops briefly, and Alex puts a comforting hand on her shoulder, then Anja on her other one.

"Um… She started skipping school, too, only a class or two at first, but lately she hasn't been showing up at all. Then, um, just a couple days ago, she asked me to get some stuff out of her room for her so she wouldn't have to go home to get it herself. That's… That's when I found the needles. I… confronted her about it the next day, she tried to blow me off at first, but eventually she confessed she'd been… she'd been doing heroin with Steph. She…

She said things weren't going so good with him anymore either, that he was starting to scare her a little. So I… I managed to convince her to break up with him, come home. She said she would, she just needed to get her stuff from his place. But then she wasn't at school yesterday, and not today either. I'm… I don't wanna tell mom and dad, they're just gonna yell more, and I don't wanna call the cops either, I don't want her to go to jail, so I just… I thought maybe you'd know where she is or something."

She barely mumbles the last part, looking down and not meeting any of our eyes. Cassie lets out a sigh.

"No, I don't know where your sister is, sorry. But maybe we can help you find her, okay?" She glances at me, and I give her a tiny nod.

"You said she's staying with this Steph guy? Do you know where he lives?" Leslie shakes her head.

"I only met him a few times, and never for long, mostly when he was picking her up from school. Um, I know he drives a white Ford Escort, it's kind of old and beat up. She mentioned… Um, I think she said he works at, like, a call center or something? I don't remember the name."

"Was it Venture Data?" asks Tyler.

"Oh! Yeah, I think that's right," says Leslie, nodding.

"What's that?" asks Cassie.

"Telemarketers, basically," says Tyler.

"They've got a reputation for hiring literally anyone, you can just walk in off the street and they'll give you a job. Supposed to be a fucking awful place to work, though."

"Great," says Cassie, nodding.

"What's he look like?" she asks, turning back to Leslie.

"He's, uh… I think he's, like, 28 or 29, maybe? I'm not really sure. He's, um, he's got kinda long hair, like down to his shoulders, dark brown, it's usually kind of messy and greasy. Also a little beard, like a goatee. He's kinda scrawny, I guess? I dunno, I don't really remember anything else."

"Don't worry, that should be plenty. You did good," says Cassie, smiling.

"O-oh. Um, thanks," mumbles Leslie.

"So, um, does that mean… does that mean you think you can find her, then?"

"I think we probably can, yeah," she says, nodding.

"But we gotta do a little planning now. Can you hang out, just in case we need to ask you something else?"

"... Okay. Sure. Thanks."

"Have you eaten lunch yet?" asks Anja, jumping in. Leslie shakes her head.

"Well, how bout if I buy you an icecream bar? Does that sound good?" She nods.

"Awesome. Come on, what's you're favorite flavor?" Anja glances back at me as she leads Leslie away, and I give her a grateful nod. The rest of us scoot closer so we can put our heads together.

"Shit. We need to find this girl ASAP," says Alex bluntly.

"I don't disagree, but why in particular?" I ask. She hesitates.

"If she's lucky, it's just an abusive relationship. That'd be bad enough, but… The other possibility is sex trafficking. Getting girls addicted to heroin so they're easier to control is a real common tactic. And if that's what's going on, there's a risk she'll be taken out of Franklin entirely, to make it even harder for her to run."

"Shit. You might be right," I agree. Tyler hesitates, then looks at me.

"Me and Cassie can leave now, have a look at his job, see if his car's there." I hesitate too. It's the first time he's openly acknowledged that he knows I'm Schwarzschild. Then I nod, my entire demeanor shifting slightly as I settle into that mindset.

"Do it. If he's there, wait for him to leave, then follow him. I want to know where he's getting his heroin from. You have my permission to grab him if you have an opportunity, but be careful. It's possible Surf 'n Turf could be involved, or even the Syndicate." A flicker of something almost like awe passes over his face. Then he nods back.

"Got it."

"Hey, aren't I supposed to be the one giving you orders?" asks Cassie, grinning. Tyler snorts.

"My deepest apologies, mistress."

"Mistress, huh? I think I might like the sound of that." I let my metaphorical mask drop, snickering as they leave.

"Do you think you'll handle this personally?" asks Alex after a moment.

"Depends on what they find. But probably."

"If you do, I want to come with you." I glance at her, then nod.

"Alright. If you're sure."

"I'm sure." Anja comes back with Leslie a couple of minutes later, both of them with icecream sandwiches.

"What, you didn't get any for us?" I ask, grinning.

"I don't like you as you much," Anja deadpans. I clasp my chest in mock pain, but I giggle as well.

"How 'bout it? Wanna be my new best friend, so I can finally dump these jerks?" she asks Leslie. It's enough to at least get her to crack a smile as she unwraps her sandwich. Later, as lunch is ending, Anja leans close to me.

"I know you've probably got everything handled, but if you need anything at all, just shout, alright?"

"I will. You've already helped a lot, though," I reply, glancing over at Leslie. Anja shrugs, looking a little abashed.

"Yeah, well. I know I can't really go charging around in costume with you guys, so it seemed like the least I could do."

"It's more than that. You're good at it," I tell her. I leave it there, not wanting to embarrass her any further. I check in with Cassie and Tyler between classes an hour later. They tell me they're pretty sure they've spotted Steph's car at his job, definitely a piece of good news. He still hasn't come out when school ends, so I tell them to contact me when anything changes. Meanwhile, Alex comes over to my place to wait, putting on something light and silly to pass the time.

A little after 5, I get confirmation that they've spotted Steph, and they're now tailing him. I have Cassie stay on the phone, just in case anything goes wrong. It's easy to tail someone who has no reason to suspect they're being followed, but if Steph is associated with a bigger player, it's likely he'll be a lot more cautious. Fortunately, there's no sign that's the case, and he apparently heads straight home without any detours.

"Alright, we've got his place," says Cassie.

"Looks like an apartment, not a complex or anything, just one building coming off an alley, kinda shitty. He unlocked the door, so I don't think anyone else is home."

"What's the street?" I ask.

"Uh, right around Madison and West 13th," says Cassie. That's right on the eastern edge of our territory, but still much closer to us than to Surf 'n Turf. A good sign.

"Seems pretty quiet. I think we could introduce ourselves without any trouble." I consider for a couple of seconds.

"Alright, do it. Have a look around, but don't overstay your welcome. We'll meet you at Devon's place." Devon's place is one of our unoccupied safehouses, given alphabetical names starting from A to avoid saying any addresses over the phone. Alex and I head out immediately. The safehouse is towards the east end of our territory, a somewhat run-down little house coming off an alley. It doesn't have a garage, but some overgrown blackberry bushes mostly block the driveway from the neighbors' view.

We leave plenty of space for them to park, then I unlock the door and head inside. The first thing I do is dig up a big dark red hoodie and a ski mask for Alex from the safehouse's spare clothes, which she puts on with a little trepidation. Then I transform, and we head to the living room to wait. They show up just a couple minutes later. Cassie and Tyler are both already wearing ski masks as well.

The other figure also has a ski mask on, but backwards so it blocks his vision, and his hands are ducktaped behind him. Muffled sounds come from under the hood as Tyler prods him forwards, none too gently. Cassie comes up and leans close to me so he won't be able to hear.

"Found some heroin, but not nearly enough for him to be a dealer. The girl wasn't there, but we found her backpack and some of her clothes." I nod.

"Well done. Let's see what our friend has to say." Cassie puts him on his knees in front of my chair while Alex stands next to me and Tyler stands behind him, then yanks the hood off. Underneath, Steph has another strip of ducktape over his mouth. He blinks several times at the sudden light, the freezes as what he's seeing registers. After a couple of seconds, he starts frantically shaking his head and making more muffled yells.

"Good evening," I say.

"I'm going to ask you some questions. What happens after that depends on how much I like the answers. Do you understand?" He gives a few jerky nods. I give a nod as well, at Cassie, and she reaches down and rips the ducktape off.

"Ah! Fuck!" yells Steph, then, "Look, please, I don't know shit about shit, I'm just some guy, I don't-""Who do you get your heroin from?" I interrupt him.

"Just- Just some guy, he's no one special either, he's not in West Franklin, I swear I'm not trying to move in on your territory or anything!"

"I don't like that answer very much."

"Okay, his name's Glenn! But he's just a small-time dealer, he doesn't sell anything west of Taylor Street, I swear!"

"And yet somehow your heroin ended up in the hands of one of our customers, all the way over at West Franklin High, a customer who's since disappeared. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"O-Oh, is that all this is about?" he stammers.

"Y-yeah, sure, I- I gave some dope to Sarah, but I wasn't like, selling it or anything, just sharing it, you know? And- And anyway, we broke up, I don't- I don't know where she's at now."

"You still seem to have a surprising number of her things, if you broke up."

"Yeah, she just, uh, left 'em, never came to come get 'em. I was just, you know, holding on to 'em in case she wanted 'em after all." I study him for a few seconds, watching as he sweats and shifts nervously. I may not be a telepath, but I'm neither blind or an idiot.

"Do you know what I did to the last person who tried to lie to my face?" I ask softly. I hope he doesn't actually ask me to tell him; normally, people are too scared to even make the attempt.

"W-what? No, I'm- I'm telling the truth, I swear, I don't where she is, I-" He cuts off with a yell as he floats into the air, flailing around.

"Wait! Wait, shit, please! Okay, okay, I fucking know where she is! I'll- I'll tell you whatever you want if you let me go!"

"You're in no position to be making demands," I reply.

"I haven't liked your answers very much so far. If you want to walk away, I suggest you start changing that."

"Okay, fine! Look, it's- it was all Glenn's idea, okay? I- I was broke, I couldn't afford any dope, so he- he said maybe we could come to, like, an arrangement. I'm just, like, uh, a salesman, I bring in new customers, and he gives me a little dope for free, that's all!" I don't say anything, letting him squirm for a few seconds until he feels compelled to say more.

"Glenn, he- he likes to make arrangements with people, you know, find, uh, find other ways for them to pay for their dope, you know. So I just, like, I figured maybe Sarah could make, like, make an arrangement with him too, you know? Just, like, as a favor. So I- I took her over to his place, and, uh, it seemed like they worked things out, you know?"

"Yes, I believe I do know," I say coldly.

"Exactly how many people does Glenn have 'arrangements' with?"

"A- A few, I guess. I don't- I'm not- Look, he runs everything, I just- I just send some new customers his way every once in a while, that's all, okay?"

"And how many of those customers are young girls?"

"Look, I- I just- A guy's gotta do what he's gotta do, right? I'm just- I'm just trying to make ends meet and shit, okay? I- You wanna know where Glenn's place is? I can tell you where his place is, just- just let me go and I'll give you the address, okay?" I consider him for a few seconds. Then I stand, walk over to where he's still floating in midair, and grab his hand.

"Wait, shit, what're-" He cuts off with a scream as I snap his pinky finger as easily as a twig. I wait until his screams fade into whimpers. Then I say, "Nine fingers left. We'll start there, then move on to toes. After that, I might need to get a little creative." I take hold of his ring finger on the same hand.

"Elm Street!" he screams desperately "1675 Elm Street! Just north of West 16th! That's where he lives, I swear!"

"You're going to lead us there."

"I- I don't-" I bend the finger just a little bit.

"Yeah, yeah, okay! I'll lead you there, sure, no problem!" I keep my grip for a couple of seconds longer, then step back and let him drop to the floor. He lands in a pile, whimpering slightly. I ignore him, pulling out my phone instead, and dial Sarge.

"Yeah?"

"Bring the VIP ride to Devon's place."

"... Understood. Should I invite anyone else?"

"Not necessary."

"Right. I'll be there in ten minutes." For a few seconds, there's silence except for Steph's quiet whimpering.

"You sure you want to do this right now, in daylight?" asks Cassie after a moment.

"Yes," I say.

"I need to throw the police a bone anyway. They can handle the cleanup." Cassie hesitates, then nods.

"Then that's how we'll do it." We settle down to wait. I glance at Alex, slightly worried she'll think I went to far again. I can't see her expression under her mask, but from the way she's staring at Steph and gripping the back of my chair, I'm pretty sure she's actually considering whether I went far enough. Sarge arrives in slightly less than the promised ten minutes, pulling up in a black Land Cruiser with tinted windows.

"Tell him to swap the plates," I instruct Cassie. She nods and goes out to meet him. The license plate holders are custom made, designed to look normal, but actually allowing the plates to be quickly removed and replaced. She comes back in after just a couple of minutes.

"We're good to go."

"Get him up. Middle seat," I tell Tyler.

"I'll take the back." We don't waste any time, piling into the car quickly just in case someone wanders by.

"Boss," Sarge greets me, now also wearing a mask.

"Where we headed?"

"1675 Elm Street," I tell him.

"Our friend here is going to make sure we have the right place."

"Understood," he says.

"We expecting trouble?"

"Not that kind," I reply. He grunts in response. The drive over is mostly quiet. A couple of times, Tyler gives Steph a good elbow to make him stammer out some directions. The address given is in the neutral zone between us and Surf 'n Turf, closer to their side than to ours, but if this Glenn person had even the slightest connection to them, I'm sure Steph would've been shouting about it to try and save himself.

"That's… That's it," he says eventually, pointing at a large and obviously real old house on the corner, the kind that was probably built when this was the edge of town.

"There's, uh, there's parking and a back entrance in the alley around the side."

"How many people inside?" I ask.

"U-uh, it's usually like, maybe three or four guys and five or six girls," he says. Sarge drives into the alley as instructed. There's a bit of a wide spot around back, with three cars already parked in it.

"Just stop here," I tell Sarge. He does, and we start piling out.

"Bring him," I tell Tyler. Just like the alley our safehouse is in, this one is fairly private, with tall fences mostly blocking off the neighbors. It's possible our arrival won't even be noticed, but I'm not real concerned either way. I lead the way, climbing a small set of stairs to the back door and finding it locked. I give it a good whack instead. Wood splinters as it slams inwards, nearly coming off its hinges entirely.

Inside is sort of a livingroom, or maybe a waiting room, with a couple of ratty sofas against the walls and a TV on the far side. It reeks of cigarette smoke, with undertones of various other unpleasant smells. There's two people in the room. The guy stumbles to his feet as I enter, staring in shock. I slam him to the ground with a gravity field before he can do anything else. The girl barely reacts at all, slumped on the couch and glassy-eyed.

She's wearing fishnets, a miniskirt, and a loose tanktop with nothing under it; I'd guess she's around nineteen or twenty, although it's hard to tell with how generally unhealthy she looks.

"Tie him up, and leave Steph here as well," I order.

"Someone keep an eye on them, and check on her. The rest of you search the place."

"What the fuck was that?" comes a shout from further inside the house. After a few seconds, I hear stomping footsteps approach.

"I swear to fuck, Vince, if you put another fucking hole in my wall-" The man who comes through the door looks around fifty, balding and overweight, but also tall and somewhat imposing. He's dressed like he's heard of respectability before but never actually seen it; tan slacks and white button-up shirt, except several buttons are undone, leaving quite a bit of his hairy chest exposed. He's also got a fancy cane with a gold head, one he obviously doesn't need given that he's just carrying it rather than using it.

He cuts off and freezes when he sees me, but he doesn't panic. Instead, after a second, he grunts.

"Well, guess it had to happen sooner or later. You'll be Schwarschild?"

"Correct. Glenn, I assume?"

"Yeah, that's right. Y'know, if you wanted to talk business, you coulda just knocked." Ah. He's under the misconception that I'm here to recruit him. I don't think I care enough to correct him. Instead, I pick him up and toss him across the room, drawing a startled yell.

"Tie him up and leave him with the others."

"Listen here, bitch!" he snaps, pushing himself back to his feet.

"I don't care what kind of fucking big shot you think you are, this is my goddamn house, and I-" I slam him into the wall again, harder.

"Also, gag him." He decides not to protest anymore after that, maybe because I knocked the wind out of him, or maybe because of the gun Sarge sticks in his face. Tyler pulls out a roll of ducktape and starts tying up the others like Steph. Meanwhile, Alex and Cassie follow me further inside. There's no hallway, just a large main room including a kitchen, with a table and a few more sofas stuck haphazardly wherever they'll fit.

In one corner is a double staircase, going both up to the second floor and down to a basement level.

"I'll handle this floor, you search the other two."

"Right," says Cassie. Alex doesn't say anything, practically radiating fury and disgust. She heads down, while Cassie goes up. I move further into the main room, which has multiple doors coming off of it. One of them opens, and a woman comes out. She's a little older than the first, maybe mid twenties, but dressed similarly and similarly unhealthy looking. When she sees me, she gasps and stumbles back.

"Easy," I say, holding up empty hands.

"Not here to hurt you. What's your name?"

"... B-Becca. I'm Becca," she says hesitantly.

"W-what… What are…"

"Your friend Glenn stepped on my toes. I'm here to explain to him why that was a poor decision. Can you tell me how many people are in the house?" She stares for a few more seconds, then nods.

"There's… There's Vince, he's watching the door, I-I guess you probably already found him? And- and I think Maddy was with him. And then, um, Amy's downstairs with… with a client." This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Ah." Well, someone's about to have a very bad day. Just a couple of seconds later, some muffled yelling comes from the stairs, then abruptly cuts off.

"Anyone else?"

"There's… There's a new girl, I don't know her name. She's… upstairs. Um… There's also Linda, but she's out right now, she's… She's the only one of us who gets to leave."

"Understood," I say.

"The girl in the back room, Maddy. She might be overdosing. Can you help her?"

"I… I can try. Glenn… Glenn keeps narcan in his office upstairs, but it's always locked."

"That won't be a problem. Follow me." I turn and head for the stairs, and Becca hesitantly follows after a moment. I find Alex coming up. She's dragging a man with a bloody nose and no pants on by his hair, forcing him to scramble up the stairs on all fours.

"I found him with another girl. He was…"

"I know. Tie him up and leave him with the others. Is she alright?"

"... She's not hurt. I'm gonna go back down and check on her once she's dressed."

"Good." I pass by her, Becca staring with wide eyes as she continues dragging the man into the back room. Upstairs, there's a single small landing with four doors coming off of it. One of them's open, and Cassie comes out.

"Boss, good. This looks like that asshole's bedroom, nothing real interesting. That one's the bathroom. The other two doors are locked. I think someone's in that one," she says, pointing to the door on the left. I nod, and summon my staff. I move to the door on the right first and cut through the lock.

"See if you can find the narcan," I instruct Becky. Then I move to the door on the left and repeat the process, pushing it gently open. Inside is a small, dingy bedroom, the only window boarded up. There's no furniture at all except for a single bare mattress. A girl is sitting on it, pressed into the very corner with her arms around her knees. She looks truly awful, pale and trembling with filthy clothes, but at least she's conscious enough to try and flinch even further back as I enter.

"Sarah?" I ask softly.

"... W-what… How…" she rasps, barely audible.

"It's alright, it's over. You're safe now. How long have you been in here?"

"... Don't know. Long time. Thirsty."

"I got it," says Cassie behind me, heading over to the bathroom. I move into the room and crouch down next to her.

"Did he hurt you?"

"... Hit me," she whispers.

"When I… wouldn't. Then put me in here. Said I could… come out when I was ready to be good." I don't let myself react.

"He won't bother you again," is all I say.

"... Why?" It's a vague question, but I know what she's getting at.

"Because this is my city, and I won't tolerate filth like him in it," I reply coldly. Cassie comes back in with a cup of water.

"Here, this'll help." Sarah takes it with trembling hands and gulps it down desperately.

"Can I… more?"

"In a minute," says Cassie.

"Don't want you to just throw it back up again. Heroin withdrawal, nausea and sweating. You're probably real badly dehydrated right now. Maybe stick to weed from now on, yeah?" Sarah stares for a second.

"... C-Cassie?"

"That's me," says Cassie, pulling off her ski mask and grinning.

"We owe your sister for tipping us off, probably wouldn't have found this fucking place for a lot longer otherwise. She'll be real glad you're okay." Sarah doesn't respond. Instead, she breaks into quiet sobs, although no tears come out. Cassie puts an arm around her shoulders.

"Go head, let it out. It's fine, everything's gonna be fine." After a few seconds, I stand.

"I need to go check on the others. Can you look after her?" I ask quietly. She nods, gesturing me towards the the door while Sarah clings to her. First, I have a look at Glenn's office. Becca is still inside. She's holding a plastic bag with a couple of bottles and syringes in it, but she's frozen, staring at an open drawer of the desk. I come up beside her and look inside, finding a big wrapped lump of black tar heroin, or at least I assume it is; I've never actually seen any before.

"Is that the narcan?" I ask quietly, gesturing. She jumps slightly, then nods.

"Y-yeah, I found it." I close the drawer and gently take her arm.

"Come on, let's go back downstairs." She stares for a few more seconds, then shudders convulsively and turns away, hurrying out of the room. I follow. Back in the main room, I find Alex sitting with another girl, presumably the one who was downstairs, now wearing sweatpants and a baggy T-shirt. The girl gasps and flinches back when she sees me, and Alex quickly moves to reassure her; I leave her to it, instead heading for the back room.

Steph, Glenn, Vince, and the guy with no pants and a bloody nose are all kneeling in a row against one wall, their hands ducktaped behind them. Sarge looms over them, gun in hand. Glenn gives me a glare and makes some muffled noises around the ducktape also covering his mouth. The other three simply cower. Tyler is bending over the girl on the couch, Maddy.

"How is she?" I ask.

"Still breathing, but totally out of it," he replies.

"H-Here, let me," says Becca.

"I've done this before. It's… not the first time she's overdosed." I nod, and Tyler steps back. She pulls a syringe and a vial out of the bag, unscrews one vial, and draws a tiny bit of the liquid into the syringe. With the efficiency of experience, she injects it into Maddy's arm, avoiding the sores.

"She might need more doses, if she doesn't wake up in a few minutes."

"Is it safe to move her?" I ask, not wanting her to wake up in the same room as Glenn.

"Yeah, just make sure she doesn't start choking." I nod and pick her up, carrying her out into the main room and setting her down on one of the couches. Tyler and Becca follow me.

"Keep an eye on her," I tell Becca, and then, "Keep watch out front in case anyone shows up," to Tyler.

"Right," he says. I head back upstairs, briefly check in on Cassie and Sarah, then start properly searching Glenn's office. I obviously leave the heroin, but I do find and take several thousand dollars in cash. What I'm really looking for, though, is information. I find some, a notebook containing a list of customers and a sales log, but nothing about his supplier. Looks like I'll actually need to talk to him, then. I leave the notebook where it is for now and go back downstairs.

In the back room, I approach Glenn and rip the ducktape off his mouth without any preamble.

"Motherfucker!" he yells.

"Alright, you've made you're fucking point, Jesus. You finally ready to fucking talk business now?" I ignore his question.

"Where do you get your heroin?"

"You think I'm fucking stupid?" he asks.

"I'm not gonna let you cut me out." I intensify gravity on him a bit, not enough to crush him, just enough to make him uncomfortable. He grunts.

"You seem to have a misconception. I don't deal in heroin. I'm not asking because I want to use your source myself. I'm asking because I want your source out of my city." He snorts.

"What, you gonna tell me you've… got some kinda fucking… principles or some shit?" he asks between labored breaths.

"Don't fucking… make me laugh. You're… just like me. Just in it… for the money, same as… the rest of us. So drop the… act, and let's talk business already."

"Is that what you tell yourself?" I turn, and find that Alex has followed me into the back room.

"That everyone is just as much of a greedy, parasitic piece of shit as you? Is that how you get to sleep at night?"

"Who the fuck are… you supposed to be?" says Glenn.

"Her pet… gorilla or something?" I consider various ways of shutting him up. Instead, I step back and give Alex a little nod, dropping my gravity field. She immediately steps forwards and grabs him by the neck, hauling him to the middle of the room and tossing him onto the floor.

She puts her boot on his chest and leans down, then says, "If you have even a single scrap of human decency in you, or even a scrap of self fucking preservation, you'll tell us where your heroin comes from, so we can stop this atrocity from happening anywhere else in this city." Glenn coughs out a laugh.

"Sorry, honey, not really into this kind of shit. Know some guys who'd pay top dollar for a round or two, though."

"Do you think this is a fucking joke?" snarls Alex, putting more weight onto him. He grunts, but doesn't crack.

"I think your boss needs me, whatever line of bullshit she's spinning. So you can go through the whole hard sell routine if you want, but we both know you're not actually gonna hurt me."

"... Is that so?" asks Alex softly, in a tone of voice I've never heard out of her before. She takes her foot off him, glances around, then picks up his stupid fancy cane from where it's leaning against the wall. She weighs it for a moment. Then, she swings the head full-force into his stomach like a golf club. He lets out sort of 'ghrk' noise as the wind gets knocked out of him, reflexively curling around himself.

"Last chance. Who do you get your heroin from?"

"Fuck… you," he manages to spit out. The next blow lands on his chest, then on his side as he tries to curl up, then on his back. After a few blows, he starts trying to gasp something out, maybe that he'll tell us what we want. Alex ignores him. The attempts to talk stop after she hits him in the head. The blows don't. I watch with crossed arms and a small, satisfied smile. When I glance over, I find several of the girls peering around the doorway, including Sarah, leaning on Cassie.

They still look frightened, maybe even a little horrified, but none of them look away, either. Meanwhile, Steph is whimpering and has a big dark spot on his pants, and the half-naked guy looks like he might be praying; the third guy just stares dully, probably also on heroin. Even if his cane is stupid looking, it's surprisingly well-made. It takes the better part of two minutes until it finally snaps. By then, Glenn is barely even recognizable as human, his entire head a ruined, bloody mess.

Alex finally steps back, breathing hard. She looks at the broken cane in her hand for a few seconds, then tosses it away. Then, she bolts for the main room, the watching girls stumbling out of her way. Before following, I pause to grab and vanish the pieces of the cane; they'll have her fingerprints on it. I find Alex in the bathroom, bent over the toilet. I close the door to give her some privacy, then rub her back while she heaves a few more times. Eventually, she wipes her mouth and lurches to her feet.

I don't say anything yet, I just give her a hug, and she hugs me back desperately.

"Was it… was it like this for you?" she asks after a few seconds.

"The… first time you killed someone?" I decide to tell her the truth.

"... No. It was always easy for me." She doesn't answer for a little while.

"... I'm sorry. You were trying to get him to talk, and now-""It's fine. We already know the most important part. If he expected me to recruit him, then he didn't already have a backer. He was almost certainly getting his heroin from someone out of town. I was going to kill him anyway, or I would've stopped you." She nods. Before she can think of anything else to say, there's a knock on the door.

"Hey, uh, boss?" says Tyler.

"Chimera just landed out front." Looks like we were noticed, then.

"You should stay here, you're the most likely to be recognized."

"Right," says Alex, nodding hesitantly. I give her hand one more quick squeeze.

"We'll talk more later, okay?"

"... Yeah. Okay." I leave it at that, hurrying out and closing the door behind me. Chimera isn't making any attempt at surprise, probably not wanting to start a fight around an unknown number of civilians. Instead, she bangs on the front door hard enough to make the walls rattle.

"Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in!" A couple of the girls shriek. Cassie quickly moves to reassure them, and I gesture for Tyler to do the same. Then, I walk over and open the door.

"By all means," I say, stepping back and gesturing inwards. Chimera stares at me for a second, then snorts.

"Well, shit, I guess I gotta give you some points for sheer audacity. But you'd still better have a real fucking good explanation for what's going on here." Unlike me, she's got her swords summoned, and she doesn't put them away. I don't show any nervousness.

"Come in and see for yourself. You have good timing; I was about to call the police myself."

"That so? And what exactly-" She cuts off as she steps inside and looks around the room. Sarah is still clinging to Cassie, doing her best to hide behind her. The other girl, Amy I think, is by the doorway, poised to run. Maddy, the girl who was overdosing, is showing enough life to try and press herself into the corner of the couch she's on. Becca is still next to her, holding her hand, but also trying to hide behind Tyler.

"... Tell me this isn't what it looks like," says Chimera after a few seconds.

"If it looks like a heroin den and a slave brothel, then it looks like what it is," I reply flatly. She lets out a sigh and lowers her head for a moment, then lets her swords vanish.

"... Fuck. This is gonna be a bad one, isn't it?"

"One of them was overdosing when we arrived. Another was locked in a room without food or water and suffering from heroin withdrawal, as a punishment for resisting. All of them are going to need medical attention. We also have two… staff, and one client to hand over to the police." Chimera takes a deep breath and lets it out.

"Alright, show me." I nod and lead her towards the back room.

"What about the pimp?"

"He tripped." She follows me through the door, and barks a short laugh when she sees the body.

"I take it that's him? Must've been a real bad fall."

"Quite bad," I agree. She glances over Sarge and the three men cowering against the wall, then dismisses them and focuses on me, crossing her arms.

"Alright. What's your angle here, Space Cadet? Why take the risk of handling this yourself?"

"He abducted one of our customers," I reply.

"That's not something I'll stand for. And I don't allow anyone to deal heroin in my territory, either."

"And that's the only reason? Enforcing your rules, your authority?"

"Did you expect something more?" She considers me for a moment before responding.

"You don't have to pretend not to be disgusted by this. It is disgusting, and you did a good thing here, putting a stop to it. But if you want to make the world a better place, there's better ways to go about it."

"A recruitment pitch?" I ask, slightly amused.

"Isn't it a bit late for that?"

"It is. I won't lie, there's no way ABRA would ever take you at this point. But we know how to prioritize. Some black masks… Well, I won't say they do more good than harm, but they're a real low priority. Such a low priority that we might not ever get around to arresting them. I've been watching you. I know you don't deal in heroin or meth, or human trafficking. You're real careful about who you kill, too. You've got principles. But you've still killed a lot of people. And… Look, I get it.

I've killed people too, and not all of them were black masks. Not all of them were accidents, either. I killed a guy just a few months after I joined the Portland strike team, in circumstances pretty similar to this. Almost got discharged for it, took some work to convince the brass that he was a clear and present danger to his victim. It took me a long time to admit they were right, I didn't actually need to kill that guy, I just did it cause I was pissed."

"For us, killing someone is almost always the easiest way to solve a problem, but it's almost never the best way," she continues.

"I don't know your story, but from what I've seen, I don't think you're just another drug lord. I think you genuinely care about your people, you want what's best for them. But you can't murder your way to a better future. Not even scum like him. Do what you did with those three, instead. Let us handle it. That's our job, and even if we're a long way from perfect at it, it's better than having one single person serve as judge, jury, and executioner." I can't help but smile slightly as I consider how to respond.

"You're wrong," I say after a moment.

"I don't have principles, I have preferences. This does disgust me, yes, but that's not a moral judgement. I didn't shut this place down because it's the right thing to do. I did it for the same reason I wouldn't tolerate cockroaches in my house. And sometimes, killing someone is the best solution. Who do you think will do more to deter other rapists, other heroin dealers? Them? Or him?"

"Why leave them alive, then?"

"You can't send a message without a messenger," I say, shrugging. She nods slowly.

"That line of thinking can take you to some very dangerous places."

"Maybe so. But now I want to ask you something. I want to ask for your word that those girls out there will get treatment, not jail."

"... You know that's not my decision to make."

"I know. And I know that you're going to make sure of it anyway, regardless of whether I'd asked or not. But I think you know that if the system worked as well as you claim, it never even would've been a question in the first place."

"I already admit it's far from perfect. Sometimes people make mistakes. I certainly have. That's why it's so important that we have some system, even an imperfect one, rather than just one person enforcing their will on the world. There's a difference between bending the rules to do the right thing and outright trampling them."

"Is there? When you bend the rules to do the right thing, aren't you claiming that you know better? That your view of what the 'right thing' is matters more than the view of the people who wrote them? And behind that is the implicit threat, the reason why the rules bend for you when they wouldn't for someone else. They'll give you a little bit of what you want to keep you happy, because they know that if you decide to take all of what you want, they can't stop you."

"If that's your philosophy, that the strong can do whatever they want, then what makes you any better than him?"

"The fact that I'm stronger. That's why I have what I want, and he's dead. Everything else is just window dressing, pretty little lies people tell themselves to justify doing what they wanted to do anyway. Call it whatever you like, right and wrong, good and evil. You're the one making the judgement. You choose when to follow the rules and when to break them. So why bother with the pretense at all?" She stares at me in silence for several seconds. Eventually, she laughs a little and shakes her head.

"I've never heard someone argue so hard that they're not a good person before." Again, she's quiet for a moment.

"Space Cadet. Schwarzschild. I think you are a good person, deep down underneath all those layers of cynicism and ruthlessness. And I hope for everyone's sake, including yours, that you never manage to talk yourself out of that." She sighs.

"I need to call this in. Go on, take your people and get out of here. Don't make me regret this." I nod and turn to Sarge, who's been quietly absorbed by our debate.

"Get everyone together and ready to leave."

"Got it," he says, going out to the main room. I doubt it'll take much effort; they've all been listening in on our debate as well. Meanwhile, I crouch down next Steph, who cringes away from me.

"Let me give you a piece of advice. If you have any friends who were involved with this in any way, if you care about them even slightly, I suggest you tell the police everything you know about them. Because if the police don't deal with them, then I will." He nods frantically, apparently too frightened to speak. Behind me, Chimera snorts.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." It ends up taking a couple of minutes to convince Sarah to detach herself from Cassie, but we do ultimately manage to reassure her and the others that Chimera will look after them. I get Alex, and we all leave through the back; Chimera is fortunately on the phone and distracted, giving us only a glance as we pass by. We all pile back into the SUV and head out.

The cops pass by when we're just a couple of blocks away now that Chimera's given the all-clear, but if any of them think we look suspicious, they decide discretion is the better part of valor. We drive back to the safehouse where we left our own cars. Everyone's a little subdued, even Cassie; most of us aren't strangers to violence, but the kind of… pit of misery we all saw in that house is horrifying in a different sort of way.

I give a few short orders, mostly reiterating that anyone who catches any hint of heroin being dealt or girls being prostituted in my territory should kick it up the chain immediately. Then, we all head out, Sarge taking the SUV. I drive back to my place with Alex. We don't say much on the ride over, but she comes up with me, sitting next to me on the sofa.

"How're you doing?" I eventually ask. She sighs and looks away.

"I… I think we need to talk."