The club Jordie entered smelled like any other he had ever set foot in; the smell of alcohol mixed with that of Tabaco and used air. He wondered how you had ended up in a place like this. He had seen the marks in the streets: this was gang territory, and considering the marks had been crows, and this place was literally called The Crow Club, he assumed this was the headquarter of the gang. What were you doing here? Had you joined this gang? Or had he been tricked?

It had taken him several hours until he had eventually stepped foot on deck today. Ever since he had left Ketterdam at thirteen years old, he had refused to take a look at the city, the city that had stolen his brother, had killed Kaz. No, he, Jordie, had killed Kaz. He did not want to see the houses and streets he had once known. Even when you had gotten off the ship about three years ago, Jordie had stayed below deck. He could not stand the sight of the city, which only reminded him of his failure.

But today, the first time since you had left the crew, the Wolfszahn had docked in Ketterdam again. He missed you so much, that he had decided he needed to find out if you were still in the city, and if so, he wanted to see you. Sometimes he even thought he missed you as much as he missed Kaz. The biggest difference was that he still had the chance to meet you again, but his brother was dead.

So as soon as he had found out the Wolfszahn was headed for Ketterdam, he told the Captain that he would try to find you, and since he knew the ship would return only one month later to Ketterdam, he wanted to spend this month in the city.

The Captain, who knew how close Jordie and you had been, allowed him the unusual wish, and nonetheless it had taken him more than two hours after the ship had docked in the harbour until he had convinced himself to climbed up the steep stairs on deck.

He was carrying a heavy bag with clothes and a few souvenirs he had gotten for you over the past years. As soon as he had stepped onto the quay, he headed straight to the Port Captain's office, where you had said you would leave behind your address, should he come looking for you. He almost did not allow himself to hope you had left a message for him, but the man who was on duty immediately knew who he was talking about.

"You're Jojo, then," he had asked, tiny, almost black eyes scrutinizing Jordie from underneath his bushy, dark eyebrows.

Jordie smiled. He had not heard that nickname in years. In the crew everyone called him by his real name. You had been the only one who had always called him Jojo.

"That's me," Jordie had nodded, and taken the little note with the address carefully.

It had taken him almost the whole day until he had figured out that the street you had noted down was deep in the Barrel, and he already had wondered how you had ended up in there, but he could not help but feel uncomfortable as he realised he was in the middle of gang territory.

Now he stood inside the Crow Club, right by its entrance, looking over the crowd that had gathered, gambling away their hard earned money at the tables. He was just about to wonder who he could ask about you, when suddenly a familiar voice sounded over the noise of the chatter.

"Jojo!"

His eyes immediately snapped to the source of the sound, and sure enough, you came running towards him from where you seemed to have been sitting by the bar. You were dressed in a light blue blouse, a dark vest on top, and a pair of blue trousers. Your hair had grown longer since he had last seen you, now falling openly over your shoulders. It was hard to miss that you had grown older. Of course you had, it had been three years since he had last seen you, three years in which you had almost completely gone through puberty. His chest constricted happily as he saw you race through the crowd to get to him. He had missed you, oh, how he had missed you. He had lost one sibling forever, but you, who were like a sister to him, came running towards him now.

He opened his arms, and caught you, as you fell towards him, spinning you around a few times. You had also grown a little, he realised, but he had grown more. He was easily a head taller now, so it was no hard feat to have your feet swing through the air while you buried your nose in the fur of his warm coat. He nuzzled his face into the crook of your neck. You still smelled just like you had used to.

"What are you doing here," you asked, out of breath from laughing when he put you back down on your feet.

You kept your fingers clawed into the fabric of his coat.

"The Wolfszahn came to Ketterdam, so I wanted to visit you. Just as I promised," he grinned down to you.

"I missed you so much," you exclaimed, and wrapped him in another quick hug.

He had barely time to respond with "I missed you, too" before you pulled away again.

"Oh saints, Jojo. You need to meet my friend. He's just over there by the bar. Come on!"

Jordie smiled down on you as you pulled him through the crowd. Even though you were almost ten years older than when he had first met you, you were still your happy, bubbly self.

Not even Ketterdam managed to take that from you, he thought fondly.

He barely noticed you had halted your steps, since he was too preoccupied by wondering how seriously tiny your hands looked holding onto the thick sleeve of his coat by which you had pulled him through the room.

"I need you to meet someone," you spoke to another person. "He was my crewmate on the Wolfszahn for, gosh, over five years, I think. This is Jojo."

Jordie shook his head in amusement. You would forever call him that, Jojo, would you not? But it was a name that was reserved for you and you alone.

"Actually that's just a nickname," he corrected. "My name's Jordie Riet-"

His voice died in his throat when he eventually looked up at who he was talking to.

Storm-blue eyes stared at him as if they had seen a ghost. It did not take Jordie even a split second to recognise that face. A younger version of it haunted his dreams since over eight years ago. Now cheekbones and jaw were more prominent, baby fat had molten away from the face of a boy, and turned it into that of a young man, a young man who looked so much like Jordie did.

It felt like the floor had broken away from underneath Jordie's feet as he stared at the person who had to be his younger brother. There was no other way. This had to be Kaz. Kaz, who Jordie had thought was dead. Kaz, who Jordie had been certain his actions had killed.

Jordie swallowed hard, trying to find words, trying to take a breath. It took him several seconds before he found his voice again, even though it was shaky and sounded ridiculously high in his ears. He did not care. If this really was-

"Kaz?"

He took a small step closer to the young man who still stared at him as if he were a ghost. Kaz's face was drained off all colour, and he was shaking slightly.

"You know each other?"

Jordie barely noticed your curious voice sounding from between him and Kaz. For a moment he had really forgotten you stood there.

"Yes," Jordie nodded, suddenly wishing nothing more than leaping forward, and wrapping his little brother into his arms. He had so much to apologise for, so much to make up for. "He's my-"

"No," Jordie got interrupted. Kaz had jumped up from the bar stool he had been sitting on. His voice was scratchy and deep. If Jordie had not known it had been Kaz who had spoken, he would not have recognised his voice. "You're dead."

Jordie noticed how tall Kaz had grown, almost as tall as himself. He wore a black shirt with a black velvet vest on top, and clearly expensive, black trousers. As Kaz lifted his hand, pointing at Jordie, he noticed that his brother was also wearing black leather gloves. Blood dripped from the one he had stretched out.

"You died!"

The last words sounded accusing, but also insecure, almost scared. Again, more than before, Jordie wanted to wrap Kaz in his arms.

"It's okay, I'm not dead, neither are you. You're alive. Everything will be fine. We'll be a family again," Jordie wanted to tell him, but he had a feeling Kaz would not appreciate these words. Nine year old Kaz might have, but – how old was Kaz now? - seventeen year old Kaz seemed not like the type who would be comforted by such a simple promise.

"Oh saints, Kaz! You're bleeding," you exclaimed worriedly, reaching your hand out towards Kaz's, but did not touch it.

Kaz completely ignored you, ignored Jordie, and stormed past both of you. Jordie turned around, wanting to run after him, but you caught his sleeve.

"Don't," you whispered, your voice displaying the same hurt Jordie felt.

So he watched Kaz almost run towards the door, only then noticing he was limping.

After that encounter both you and Jordie felt shaken up, and not in the mood to stay in The Crow Club much longer. Instead you grabbed Kaz's cane, which he had left behind, leaning against the counter of the bar, and invited Jordie to come to the Slat with you. He followed your invitation gladly. On the way there, you bought fried fish and buttered corn for dinner, which you ate while strolling down the alleyways. Jordie felt jumpy, knowing you were walking right through gang territory, but you seemed completely unbothered.

"Don't worry," you chuckled, when he jumped as two boys came running out of a street, almost bumping into him. "This is Dreg territory. You're safe here. Well, at least as long as you're with me."

Jordie did not dare asking what you meant by that. It was obvious you were not the same, innocent girl anymore who had left the Wolfszahn three years ago.

Soon you reached the house you called the Slat, and lead him up an old staircase to the second floor, where you unlocked the door to a room.

"Come in," you invited, stepping aside to let him inside.

The room was small, a bed pushed to the wall by the door. There were a total of two windows, one looking out over the street below, one leading onto a small roof. On the wall opposite the window that lead out to the street stood a wardrobe, and in the middle of the room an old, worn out, but comfortable looking sofa.

You helped Jordie out of his coat, hat and gloves and hung the coat up in the wardrobe, before gesturing for him to sit down on the sofa, where you joined him right after. It was obvious how many questions you had, even though you had refrained asking them on the way here. But Jordie was sure he had just as many, so he decided to start with the most important part.

"He's my brother."

He heard you suck in a harsh breath, and your eyes widened. It was almost comical how he could see the wheels in your head turn. He had told you about Kaz, just never mentioned his name. You knew Jordie had had a brother, who had died of the Queen's Lady Plague because Jordie had lost all their money, and they had been too poor to afford a medik or medicine. How much had Kaz told you about him?

"Oh saints," you whispered, your eyes skipping left and right, as if you were reading an invisible text in the air written between you two. "Oh my- Jojo..."

Your eyes focused on him again, and he could quite literally see the how puzzle pieces started fitting together in your head.

"Kaz is the brother you thought had died-"

Jordie nodded, one question burning on his tongue more than any other.

"Did he ever talk about me?"

You seemed to think about his question for a moment, doubtlessly recalling every word Kaz had ever said that might have related to Jordie.

"He-" from the way you were hesitating, Jordie knew Kaz had not told you much, if anything at all. "He did tell me he had had a brother, who had been killed by Rollins when he had been a child, but... he never mentioned your name, otherwise I would have told him- No, he didn't say much more than that."

Jordie's heart broke a little at how sorry you looked, as if it had been your fault that Kaz had never told you more about his brother which would have allowed you to make a connection between the two, would have allowed you to comfort the boys with the knowledge that their dead believed brother was alive.

Jordie reached out a hand, and gently placed it on your lower arm. You looked surprised at the action, but then relaxed.

"It's not your fault," he assured you gently. "What... what happened to him?"

Jordie was not sure if he even wanted to know. But Kaz's reaction to seeing him hurt terribly, and he felt, if he knew more of what had happened since the brothers had last been together, he might be able to understand.

"I don't know everything," you admitted, but Jordie shook his head.

"Just tell me what you know," he begged, and you nodded.

"I know that he one day turned up at the Dreg's doorstep, and asked for a job, and worked his way up through the ranks until he became Per Haskell's right hand man."

"Per Haskell?"

"The leader of the Dregs." Jordie nodded, asking you to continue. "He... I don't really know about him, Jojo. Something happened before we met, and now he despises touch. He broke his leg a few months before I joined the Dregs, and it's never healed properly, so now he had a limp. He's like a magician, can break in and out of every safe and cell, can pick any lock you put in front of him... He's the brains behind the Dregs. When there are heists, he's the one to plan them, when the gang needs a new member, be sure he'll be the one to find just the person for the job."

Jordie felt his heart sink with every word you spoke. His little brother had turned into a criminal mastermind, into the right hand of a gang leader. What had happened for him to become so cold and calculating? No, Jordie knew what had happened. Kaz had lost everything he had had, including his brother, and had been forced to survive. And in order to do so he had adapted.

"He basically never talks about his past," you continued, "never lets anyone in, rarely shows any kind of emotions. Probably so he doesn't give his enemies any leverage against him."

"Does he have a lot of those?"

"A lot of what?"

"Enemies."

You chuckled sadly. "He's the Bastard of the Barrel, Dirtyhands. He doesn't shy away from any job, as long as the payment is high enough. Everyone who isn't a member of the Dregs is his enemy."

Jordie shivered. He often had imagined what would have happened to Kaz if he had survived, but never could he have imagined his brother to turn into such a dangerous man.

"And what about you," he eventually asked, after having spent a long time staring at his hands. "How did you end up here?"

Again you chuckled. "I got robbed, just the first day."

Jordie's head snapped up to look at you wide eyed.

"They took everything I had, even the knife the Captain gave me."

Jordie remembered that knife. He had a similar one, but yours had been smaller, small enough for a little girl, like you had been, to handle easily.

"It was Kaz who saved my life," you mumbled, as if you were reliving the moment. "He killed one of these men. In order to save me, he killed someone."

Jordie could hear the sadness in your voice, and could only imagine how scared you must have been in that moment. Honestly, now that he had learnt Kaz was such a high ranking member of a gang as big as the Dregs, it was no surprise he had killed. You did not get so high in the ranks without killing. He really hardly recognised his brother.

"He made me his spy, tasked me with climbing up houses, and listening in on windows, collecting information. That's pretty much all there is."

The way you spoke the last sentence, Jordie guessed there was something you were keeping from him, but he did not press you for any more information.

"Are you safe?"

"As safe as a spy jumping from roof to roof can be," you laughed quietly.

The two of you sat for a while longer, Jordie telling you about his time together with Kaz, until he arrived at telling you about Jakob Hertzoon. While you had listened curiously until then, you furrowed your brows at the end of his story.

"So you lost all your money because of this Hertzoon, and that was why you couldn't afford a medik," you wondered, and Jordie nodded. "Kaz said that his brother died because... Jordie, that man wasn't called Hertzoon. That was Pekka Rollins."

The name vaguely rang a bell in the back of Jordie's mind. "Wait, wasn't that that one gang leader?"

"Still is. Pekka Rollins' the head of the Dime Lions..." you bit your lip. "So that's why Kaz hates him so much."

That little comment lead to Jordie asking all about Pekka Rollins, and the never ending feud Kaz was leading against him. It only surprised Jordie that Rollins still had not found out who Kaz really was. But maybe he had conned so many boys, that Kaz and Jordie had just been unimportant.

It was late in the night when the two of you eventually decided to go to sleep, after Jordie had told you about his plan to stay in Ketterdam for the next month. He had tried suggesting finding a boarding house close by, but you had insisted he should stay in your room for as long as he was in Ketterdam.

"Sharing a room, just like in old times," you had laughed.

You had also tried to get him to sleep in your bed, but Jordie had not budged, and decided on sleeping on the sofa so you could sleep in your own bed. He had lain awake for a while in the dark, his head hurting from everything he had learnt in the past few hours. Not only was his brother alive, but also basically ran a feared gang in Ketterdam. Eventually his eyes grew too heavy, and he succumbed to a dreamless sleep.