22 Moons- Hunt For The Stolen Child (6th Night, 3rd Trail)

--- Jon ---

“The fuck ‘s going on with the lights?” A nearby Dealer asked, using his phone as a flashlight.

“No idea.” Another admitted. “Probably blew a breaker or some shit, just need someone to go out and reset the thing.”

“That something you can do?” A third man -one notably bigger than the other two- asked with some curiosity.

“It’s just flipping a bunch of switches until the lights kick on.”

“So are you going to go and… do that?” The third pressed in confusion.

“Someone else ‘ll take care of it.” The lazy dealer waved away the responsibility.

“Lazy fucker.” The first scoffed with a laugh.

(Well, at the very least that works in my favor.) Jon thought to himself as creeped through the shadows, purposely avoiding the beams of light being cast around by the various phones of the dealers.

Unlike the previous warehouse he cleared out this one was filled with almost three times as many Dealers, having apparently been left on high alert after both his actions at said warehouse as well as whatever pressure the police had been applying the last few days.

(If they were smart they’d slow things down, and thin out their operations rather than bunkering down like this.) It was a waste of manpower that could be spent elsewhere, especially since he was pretty sure some of these guards were hired muscle from the Mad Dogs. (Either way, I’m glad I talked Pix into ensnaring as many people as she can.)

The illusions probably wouldn’t hold as long as he’d prefer, but at the very least the number of guards he had to sneak past had been significantly reduced, and he was much less worried about being seen on his way out of the warehouse.

(Shame, we had to use Ramirez as bait to gather all of them though.) He’d been hoping on being able to do something to Ms. Valentine’s abusive ex, but from the looks of it he’d have to wait until he was leaving if he was going to get an opportunity to do anything to the man.

Unfortunately the majority of the men who’d shown no interest in whatever fight Pix had instigated, were also the ones who’d decided to stick with whatever groups they were already a part of. And while confident in his own skills, he also knew he lacked the skills necessary to take down multiple targets at once -(something else I’ll have to work on)- which meant he wasn’t able to thin the herd as much as he wanted in case something happened.

(Probably for the best since I don’t have Pix to make sure I don’t cripple anyone.)

As was he was finding it significantly more difficult to silently choke out the man in his arms, than if he’d simply knocked them out with a solid blow to the back of the head, and even then he might be causing a fair amount of larynx damage with all of the man’s struggling.

“This would be easier for both of us if you just went to sleep.” He told the man, after all (playing dead would be much better for getting the upper hand. As well as far less damaging than all of this pointless struggling.) “Really you’re only hurting yourself here.” He was starting to get worried about how self-destructive this behaviour was.

Eventually after another minute of struggling, the Dealer’s efforts slowly began to taper off until he went limp.

(On this front Corrupted are definitely the easier enemy.) He decided, hiding the Dealer’s body on one of the nearby shelves.

He much preferred dealing with the malicious monstrosities, to regular people when it came to stealth tactics. (I mean, with them it’s a quick stab and they're down quietly, but with humans it just takes so long to knock them out without hurting them.)

The fact that Pix’s healing let him expedite the process was something he wasn’t ever going to take for granted again. (In fact when I’m baking the Valentines’ a celebration cake, I’m going to bake her her own thank you cake.)

(Wait, I’m distracting myself again.) He’d gotten bad about doing that during his more drawn out conflicts, not wanting to think about everything he was doing in said conflicts, and how he’d let himself degenerate to the point where blood and violence were the only solutions on hand and-

He shook his head with a growl, forcing the existential dread back into the darkness of his mind as something else took its place. (I need to stay focused, at least until I get Kenneth out of here.)

With his task once more confirmed he checked his mental map before taking the turn that would lead him up to the second floor of the warehouse, before traversing up the stairs as silently as he could up the metal steps.

(Just a little further.) He told himself, knowing the second floor walkways were just about empty given how thanks to the fact that they had so many guards on duty, very few of them were actually taking the job seriously despite the alert from their higher ups. Instead choosing to cluster together in groups on the first floor to try and stave off their boredom.

Well save the three Dealers that were playing around by shining their phones on the guards below as if it were a spotlight.

Shaking his head at the behaviour he used the walkways to cover the last bit of distance between himself and the office, before pausing.

He knew that Kenneth was more than likely in this room, but at the same time he also knew that it was fully possible that the toddler wasn’t alone in said room.

Which is why instead of just rushing into the room, he opened it as slowly and cautiously as possible, a throwing knife ready in hand just in case he had to take a quick shot at whatever Dealer stood between him and Kenneth.

Seeing that the room was empty, he couldn’t help but frown even as he slid his knife back into its holster. (Where’s Kenneth?)

Knowing that he was more or less alone, he clicked on his Tracking Light and slowly went over the room for any trace of the missing toddler.

His eyes drifted to a nearby table with paper, crayons, and a sippy cup before moving on to the blanket and pillow tugged off of the couch, and finally landing on the chair that had been pushed away from the office’s main desk.

“Kenneth.” He called making his way to the desk.

Once behind it he pushed the chair further back before crouching down and finding a cowering little blanket bundled up.

“It’s okay little one, there’s nothing to be afraid of.” He tried to assure the child with as gentle a voice as he could manage.

He reached out with one hand and the bundle flinched away, causing a pang to rip through his heart.

Realizing how intimidating he must be with his helmet on, he slid it off and shifted the light so that Kenneth could see his face. “Hey now, there’s no need for that little guy. It’s me Jon, you remember me?”

The bundle shifted until part of Kenneth’s face could be seen. “Jon?”

He gave the toddler a soft smile. “Hey, little guy it’s been a while, huh?”

“Jon!” Kenneth cried before tackling him.

“It’ll be alright soon enough, Kenneth.” He promised, wrapping an arm around the crying child. “I’m here to take you to your mommy, would you like that?”

Kenneth nodded. “Uh-huh. I-is m-mommy okay?”

“She cut herself real bad,” He admitted, not quite sure how much Kenneth had seen when his father took him. “But she’s going to be just fine, just as soon as she sees you.”

“R-really?”

“Uh-huh. You know how when you’re hurt and you’ve got a boo-boo, but your mommy kisses it, and it feels all better?” He asked, getting a nod from the toddler. “It’s just like that. As soon as you’re with your mommy she’ll be all better.”

“Can we go to my mommy?” Kenneth asked tearfully. “I want her to feel better.”

“Of course.” He nodded.

“But daddy said that-”

“I’ll just have to have a talk with your daddy then.” He cut the child off, using all of his power to keep any of his sudden rage from touching Kenneth in any way.

“O-okay.” Kenneth sniffed, burying his face into Jon’s side.

He picked Kenneth up and put the toddler on his hip, before actually looking around the room and finding himself unable to keep a frown off of his face as he realized the other contents of the room. Namely the fair amount of money and drugs the Dealers had left sitting around the office, (with a child!)

After leashing his… issues with the room’s contents, he began considering what to do with all of it. He was fully aware that the smart decision was to leave the money and the drugs, grab Kenneth, and get as far away from the Dealer Warehouse as physically possible.

But at the same time he also knew that Ms. Valentine was going to be in a tough spot financially due to both her hospitalization and the fact that she’d be out of work until she’d fully healed. So even if he didn’t need the money, it would still go a long way to helping Ms. Valentine, a way that would go even further if he took the drugs as well.

While he himself couldn’t do much with them, he knew that both De Sade and quartermaster Rogers likely had contacts that could make use of the supply. Sure they’d each demand their own kind of tithe or favor in exchange, but he was sure whatever he’d be left with would be at least equal to the amount of money sitting in the room.

Of course, leaving the drugs would give the police evidence of what the Dealers were doing in the Warehouse so long as they hit before said gang moved out after this little assault. And he was sure the presence of all this cash could further expedite things if he left it here as well.

(Then again I could just burn it all.) He thought bitterly, since he was fairly certain that would make a more than suitable exit distraction for the Dealers even if it would wreck a fair portion of whatever case the police tried to make against this warehouse.

“Jon?” Kenneth asked, reminding him just how long he’d been standing there without moving.

“It’s alright little one.” He promised, holding the child just a little closer. “I’ll make sure you get back to your mommy, I just need to figure something out real quick.”