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Once Kaz decided that they understood the plan well enough, he dismissed the meeting, and started to walk towards her. Every other person in the room left with a new pep in their step, having gotten a mission directly from the boss. When Kaz stopped in front of Inej and gave her a questioning look.

She looked right back at him and asked "What?"

"Was that okay? Do you think I was too harsh? Too Lenient?" Kaz asked her worriedly.

Inej shook her head slightly and gave him a soft smile. Leaning up she whispered into his ear,"It was perfect." Kaz chuckled quietly and kissed her softly on the forehead. He then smiled when he heard her beautiful giggle ring through the air.

Pulling away from her, he raised an eyebrow and motioned towards the door. "Should we go explain to our friends what we're gonna do?"

Inej just shook her head and said,"Yeah right. You're gonna keep it to yourself and surprise us in the worst setting to do so. And Wylan is going to cry because he gets scared, then Jesper is going to try to shoot you. Ultimately you will wrestle the gun away, We're all going to calm down, and then go get waffles."

"Wise words, still we better go explain who the kids are." Kaz said and started to walk to the door. Inej giggled again and Kaz felt her fall in step behind him.

He opened the door and stopped short when he saw what was happening in the room. Virgil, Damian, Wylan, and Jesper were in the middle of the room surrounded by adult dreg members and they seemed to be having a competition. Virgil was on Jesper's shoulders and Damian was on Wylan's.

They seemed to be playing chicken but without the water. The adult dregs were placed close enough to the dueling people that if one fell off they could easily catch them before they hit the floor. Kaz and Inej chuckled and both leaned against the wall, waiting for the contest to be over.

The contest went on for another couple of minutes until Kaz saw Damian make contact with Virgil's chest and Virgil toppled backwards. All the adults rushed to catch the small child and it just happened to be Jack's sister, Victoria, who caught the young one.

Most people would have thought it was a fair push and that it was a great win. But Kaz was not most people. And he had a keen eye, so he saw the slight moment when Virgil paused in his defense of Damian and left his chest open wide enough for Damian to push through.

Kaz thought about why Virgil had intentionally lost and came to the conclusion that Virgil didn't want to risk the other dregs not catching his brother. Victoria set Virgil on the ground carefully and the game ended. Knowing that this would probably be the best opportunity to butt in before they got started again, Kaz cleared his throat.

He suddenly had the entire room's attention. Damian who stopped celebrating his victory slowly climbed off of Wylan's shoulders and dropped down to the floor. Kaz smiled at Damian letting him know it was okay.

"Does anyone wanna know where the kids came from?" Kaz asked smirking at the people gathered around the room. He got multiple affirmative answers, and Virgil and Damian who raced over to Kaz when he motioned for them to. Virgill pulled on Kaz's sleeve and Kaz crouched down to get on his level.

Virgil whispered,"Can I ask Wylan for more Juice?"

Kaz smiled softly and said,"I can get you more juice if you want."

"You can, I just thought you were going to be busy with telling them about us." Virgil responded.

Kaz nodded and headed over to the bar pouring apple juice into a plastic cup and handing it to the small youngster and headed back to the wall he had been leading on previously.

Virgil was right behind him sipping his juice and looking out at the crowd. Damian glanced at Virgil's cup and Virgil handed it over to him. Damian whispered a thank you and settled down onto the floor, with Virgil following close behind. Kaz smiled at them before looking back up at his gang.

"They are kids. Pekka Rollins had Damian be his personal runner, but we all know how long that that usually lasts. So we talked to them, and Inej and I decided to take them here. I'm going to Take care of them, and they are under my protection. That's all you need to know."

Everyone nodded and went back to what they were doing before the chicken match had started. Wylan and Jesper moved over to where Kaz and Inej were standing and Virgil and Damian who were sitting on the floor at their feet.

"So they're yours?" Jesper asked as soon as he was within speaking distance of them. Kaz looked down at the kids and shook his head.

"No, they belong to themselves. I'm simply gonna take care of them for as long as they're in Ketterdam. However long that may be." Kaz told him. Jesper nodded and the conversation was dropped.

😂