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A smile slowly appears on Kiki’s face, growing more with each kiss. “You’re making it more difficult to get out of bed.” She points out, rolling her eyes at his ‘dark and mysterious’ comment. He’s not wrong, but lord, this man’s ego.

“Nero’s place isn’t very far from here, by the way.” Kiki tells Avery, remembering when she had taken the demon by the miniature mansion to pick up their cats. She captures Avery’s lips this time.

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Nero chuckles, shaking their head even though Caden can’t see them. “Der Dämon kam, um mich auf die ärgerlichste Art und Weise zu warnen, dass wir bei der Suche nach dem Ursprung der Chimäre ziemlich viele Leichen zu beklagen haben.” They sigh and run a hand through their hair. Just thinking of how long it took for Crowley to finally reveal that.

“Er wollte nicht näher darauf eingehen. Ich habe allerdings erst die Hälfte des Materials hier durch, also müssen Sie Avery nicht hierher schicken, zumindest nicht sofort.” Nero picks up the ledger they’d been working on and reads it closely, making sure that there are no mistakes in it so far. “Außerdem muss ich sowieso nicht zu Mittag essen.”

---

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“Nic? It happened again…”

The head nurse’s head whips up to look at Jane, his brows knitting together. “… What exactly happened ‘again’?” Nic stands up from his stool and stretches before hitting the submit button on the computer, having just finished up the shift schedule for the next month. Since coming back to work this week, he’d gotten quite the number of compliments on his new accessory; the sleeve tattoo impressing most of the staff.

Jane returns his look with a flat expression, clearly ready to be done with the day already and not at all amused by Nic’s lack of knowledge. “The trauma team somehow ‘lost’ another patient.”

Nic doesn’t look up as he starts double checking some of the patient charts through the computer, making sure his nurses were using correct procedures. “It’s not like they can save everyone.” The hospital had seen it’s fair share of assault victims the past couple of weeks and not all of them could be saved.

“Jesus, Nic, I mean they literally lost the patient. Like poof, the dude’s gone.”

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”Maybe, but when Caden tells me to do something it generally means now,” he said and rolled the pair of them over.

Avery hovered over top of Kimiko, grinning down at her. ”So unless you want to tell Caden no, we should get up.”

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Caden frowned. Since when was Crowley concerned with the body count? Unless it was causing others to ask questions, in which case, who and why?

”Interessant. Ich frage mich, was ihn so beunruhigt.” Caden stood up and headed for the kitchen once more. Cassi was packing up, so it would be time for them to leave soon.

”Bist du sicher? Wenn Sie möchten, kann ich ihn schicken, damit er die Dinge im Auge behält,” he offered.

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Surprised, Kiki can’t hide her blush in Avery’s chest this time as she looks up at him. Her eyes easily dart to his grin and she bites her lip, a little lost in thought as she admired how handsome her wolf is. Her blush deepens. Her wolf? She swallows before licking her dry lips as she tries to think of something clever to say.

“Damn you.” Kiki mutters with a small pout. “You’re the worst.” She reaches up to grab his face and kisses him fully on his lips.

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“Was auch immer es ist, ich will damit nichts zu tun haben.” Nero say simply with a pit forming in their stomach from the stress of not knowing. They glance at the closed door of their office as they hear their front door open, followed by footsteps.

Nero goes to the further corner of the room, making the phone and the hand holding it face the wall, out of sight from anyone walking by. “Meine kleinen Dämonen kommen langsam von den Besorgungen zurück, auf die ich sie geschickt habe. Es wäre zu auffällig, wenn Avery auf mich warten würde, um zu gehen. Ich kann ihn einfach anrufen, wenn ich fertig bin.” They say softly into the phone, looking sidelong to keep an eye on the door.

“Oder wenn Sie bis dahin fertig sind, können wir das Mittagessen mit dem Abendessen nachholen.” Nero lets out a little sigh of relief when one of the demons who doesn’t speak German walks by the door, carrying something to another room.

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“People don’t just disappear Jane.” Nic says offhandedly before pausing as realization sets in. Since he was only skimming the patient charts to pass a little time, he stops and finally looks his best friend in the eye. “What’s the operating team saying? That the patient vanished into thin air?” He tries to keep his tone light, as if he believes this is just a prank, but the hair on the back of his neck stands on end.

Jane doesn’t hesitate to start telling Nic more details, visibly confused how two different teams had a patient disappear in the middle of a surgery. The more information she gave to Nic, the more sure he became that this is something supernatural. When Jane gets distracted by one of the new residents, Nic pulls out his phone and sends a quick text to Cass. He keeps it light, not wanting to distract her from her redcaps.

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”Then why are you kissing me?” Avery asked, his lips still on Kimiko’s while he spoke. He kissed her again, quickly losing the battle of needing to listen to Caden.

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”Okay, mein kleiner Kobold. Ich sage dir Bescheid, dass ich Cass nicht mehr helfen kann, aber sag Avery bitte Bescheid, wenn du ihn brauchst.”

Caden really didn’t like leaving Nero without backup while Crowley was poking around and spreading cryptic messages. He had to trust Nero would be on alert for anything suspicious and call him or Avery if they needed help.

Cassiopeia tucked everything into her bag, including some extra knives. She looked at Caden and tapped her wrist before she headed to the front door. Her phone dinged, and she grabbed it. Cassi immediately put it on silent before reading Nic’s message.

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“Are you complaining?” Kiki counters, smirking against Avery’s lips kissing him for a few moments longer before releasing his face and laying her head back on the bed. Now properly flushed, she still can’t help but bite her lip as she looks up at Avery again. “Can you stop being so bloody attractive? You’re making this hard.”

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Nero glances at the door as another demon passes by. “Ich schaffe das schon, die Krähe ist weg und ich kann das schnell erledigen. Ich möchte es heute beenden, ohne dass die Kinder nach einem Werwolf fragen.” Nero sighs and pinches the bridge of their nose, recognizing that they’re letting themselves get irritated because of one conversation.

“Ich verspreche, dass ich vorsichtig sein werde und mich bei Bedarf an einen von euch wenden werde. Ich liebe dich.” Nero says the last part softly.

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Nic starts combing through the surveillance footage from the operating rooms for the dates of the disappearances when he feels his phone buzz. The message gets a chuckle out of him and he smiles, pausing the footage.

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Avery continued to hold himself above Kimiko, even after she laid her head back on the pillows. His eyes flickered to her lips the instant she bit her bottom lip. He could see her teeth indent her lip where that old scar sat from her biting her lip over and over again.

”Ya, I’m the one making this hard,” Avery said, his voice markedly more gruff.

His phone buzzed then, which forced Avery’s attention away from his real prize. He reached over to the nightstand and grabbed his phone. Caden’s text message made Avery grin, and he set his phone back.

”Looks like I don’t have to go to work just yet. Good news for us,” Avery said.

Rather than kiss Kimiko again, Avery decided he wanted to hear her laugh. He sat back, pinning her to the bed, and ran his hands down her sides. He grinned before he started to tickle Kimiko’s sides, looking for a spot she was most ticklish. He was hoping it was more than just her feet.

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Caden didn’t like the tension in Nero’s voice, but there wasn’t much more he could do for them at this point aside from blowing off Cassi.

”Ich liebe dich auch. Ich rufe dich an, wenn ich kann,” he said before hanging up the phone. Caden sent a quick message to Avery, letting them know Nero would reach out when they needed a ride.

He set his phone away and smiled at Cass. ”Ready?”

”Are you sure you want to do this? I can handle it on my own.”

”And risk an earful from Nic? No thank you. Everything is fine. I have to let go every once in a while.”

Cassi patted Caden’s arm before she led them out the door. She locked up and got into the car before she pulled out her phone.

---

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Kiki watches Avery with curiosity, not sure what he had meant, as he grabs his phone. When he grins again, Kiki perks up before grinning back at this update. “And I don’t have to punch-” His hands run down her sides and she squirms as her face flushes again. “What are you-” She isn’t able to finish her sentence as Avery starts tickling her instead.

“Ach! Hey!” Kiki peals with laughter as she squirms even more, flailing her arms in an effort to grab Avery’s wrists.

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Nero lets themselves smile for a moment before they take a deep breath and shoves their phone back into their pockets. It’s good timing since the demon that speaks German just entered the office with a thick book in his hands. “Did you have any issues?” The imp asks as the book is set down on their desk.

“No one’s noticing with us sneaking these things out one by one.” Ryan answers with a bored tone.

Nero pats his cheek, having to stand on their tip toes to reach the gangly fellow. “Excellent work Bryan. Keep it up until my office in Hell is empty, please. If Crowley asks, tell him to take it up with me.”

“My name’s not… yeah okay.” The demon sighs loudly before leaving the office.

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Nic phone buzzes again just as he finds the footage of one of the missing patients. The camera for the operating rooms is in a corner high up and not the best quality. They’re mostly a safety measure to prevent unseemly behavior. There are some people who love to take advantage of someone at their most vulnerable…

The footage shows the team working hard to save the patients life, lot of hands trying to stop bleeding a find the bullet lodged in the ribcage, then the patient’s just vanishes. Nic pauses the video, going back a few frames to make sure he didn’t blink and miss something, but it’s the same. Nic grabs one of his random flash drives and downloads the video onto it, careful to keep an eye out for Jane or anyone else who would ask him questions. Once done, he shoves the drive in his shirt pocket and stands up to walk around and check on patients before he finally checks the message from Cass. Eyebrows raised, he grins and excitedly types out a replay.



Yeah, he’s going to keep this to himself for now. A doctor grabs his attention and he slips the phone back in his pocket before rushing over to help.

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The sound of Kimiko's laughter is like the first rays of sunshine. It warmed Avery to his very core, sending gooseflesh across his skin from the contrasting sensations of cold to warm.

He stopped tickling her but only to plant a kiss on her lips. His hands moved away from her sides, one extended to hold himself up while the other brushed across her stomach.

Between the tickling and Kimiko's squirming, her shirt had shifted slightly and Avery was taking full advantage.

He broke off the kiss, following his instincts as much as his own desires, and shifted his weight back. He didn't stop or think to look at Kimiko before he pressed a kiss to her stomach. The soft, warm flesh caused Avery to sigh. He turned his head to brush his nose and cheek from the right side of her bellybutton to her hip. He placed another kiss on her side before he angled back across her stomach and up to her ribcage.

Avery couldn't get over how soft her skin was. His mind raced with how delicate and perfect it felt to him. It reminded him of the softness of her fur. His mind continued to spin with thoughts about how other parts of her body might feel, and Avery had to pull back after he had unconsciously pushed Kimiko's shirt up further in his quest to leave a trail of kisses along her body.

His lips brushed across the lower half of Kimiko's sternum, just below her breasts. He pulled back, shifted his weight off her, and sat beside her on the bed in a way that hid the lower half of his body.

He was feeling properly flushed and rubbed his warm cheeks and neck. He didn't know what to say. Part of him wanted Kimiko to tell him to keep going, but another part wanted food.

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She offered, not wanting to unload on him while he was at work, but also so she could concentrate on the hunt.

Caden started driving, following their suspicions to the more run down and abandoned places of Chicago.

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Nero starts working through the rest of their collection rather easily, able to use the peons for some of the more weird but not valuable things. Every so often, one of them would go to Hell and bring back another valuable artificial to leave in Nero’s office. It’s a slow process as Nero is trying to avoid detection - they don’t need anyone to take notice that they’re emptying their vault of goodies.

By the time Nero finishes with the collection that’s already inside the house, they send the demons away with tasks to keep them busy. They had successfully brought most of the daemonic books that Nero had stashed away in Hell. Once the house is empty of other demons, Nero snaps a picture of the stacks of books on their desk and sends a message to Caden with the image attached.

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Nic grabs one of the snacks Cass had packed for him the day before from the fridge, glad that no one had stolen it. There’s some downtime in the emergency room and he takes advantage but going through the surveillance footage some more, wondering if he can find the other patient who just vanished.

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Caden drove to an abandoned seaport in Chicago. The buildings were mostly run-down, with some signs of homeless people living in them, but there was no one around currently.

Cassiopeia opened up her door and got out. She sniffed the air before wrinkling her nose and closed the car door. "They're here. Can you smell all the blood?"

Caden nodded, running a hand down the front of his green sweater. The strong scent of iron floated in the air, mixed with rotted fish, sewage and the sea.

"They're a long way from home," Caden noted, scanning the area for any signs of life or magic. He had a strong affinity for tracking down strong and trace magics. If the Redcaps had killed or transformed recently, Caden would be able to find them.

Cassi shrugged and joined Caden at the front of his car. "Aren't we all?" She double-checked that her phone was on silent before she strapped her backpack to her back. "We best start looking."

In the case file, the redcap population had grown to a staggering amount. Normally, Redcaps hunted solo and rarely gathered in groups. They were violent creatures and often fought each other for territory or simply because it was in their nature. However, they were being spotted in groups of three or more and were stalking humans and other supernatural creatures. Sometimes, they made their kill; other times, the police force drove them off, but their numbers kept increasing, which was why Costa finally called Cassiopeia in.

Cass had dealt with the Redcaps in Scotland time and time again. She had formed a shaky alliance with them to keep people safe, but it had been rocky at best. It was more of a, 'I'll send people your way if they are criminals and deserve to die'. The Redcaps likely loved Cassi at one point, but the relationship had fallen when she finally left that place.

After that, Cassi had only seen Redcaps during the world wars. The bloodthirsty gnomes lived off death, violence, and hatred. The wars had been a party to them.

So, for the Redcaps to be gathered in Chicago, there had to be some significant event occurring.

Cassiopeia and Caden wandered outside the buildings, peering in and looking around until they found a promising one. Cassi stepped inside first, guarding their front while Caden guarded their backs. Unfortunately, Cassi was looking straight ahead and up, rather than down.

She took a step forward and felt something tighten around her ankle. Freezing, she looked down and groaned. Caden joined her, looking down and smirking.

"Really Cassi? You're getting rusty in your old age."

Cassi flipped Caden the bird, along with a few choice Gaelic words. Caden just grinned and laughed when Cassi got pulled and flipped upside down. The rope around her ankle held her about ten feet off the ground. Caden slipped his hands into his pockets and looked up at her.

"And you told Nic you would be fine on your own," Caden said with a shake of his head and a click of his tongue.

"Would you just shut up and get me down from here?"

Caden chuckled and scanned the room. In the distance, he could hear chanting and metal boots clanging. The hair on the back of his neck started to crawl. He shifted his eyes to be able to see into the shadows of the building.

Cassiopeia wiggled around in the air, trying to get a better view of what was coming, but the rope was uncooperative, as was the dragon who left her to hang there.

One, then two, three, six, nine Redcaps walked into the room, sticking to their pattern of going in threes. They circled Caden and Cassi, their long, pointed teeth showing as they grinned madly at their captives. Each cap on their head looked wet and heavy, soaked with the blood of their most recent kills.

"Aegnor? You're still alive?" Cassi had finally managed to get herself rotated enough to take in all the redcaps. She didn't recognize any of them except one who remained in the shadows.

The dwarf grinned and stepped into the light, allowing Caden to get a better look at them. One half of the dwarf's face was mangled, which was a new addition to their already vicious looking nature.

"Aye. Fhathast beò, uamhasach tha fios agam." The Redcap chuckled eerily, and Cassi's skin crawled. She was shocked to see the old gnome from Scotland. Redcaps didn't have a long life expectancy, but here was Aegnor. Over two hundred years old.

"Dè tha thu a' dèanamh an seo?" Cassi demanded.

"Airson an fhuil, gu dearbh. Tha mòran strì ann am baile-mòr nan creutairean," Aegnor stated. The rest of the redcaps let out noises of pleasure and cheers. Cassi shuddered from the sounds and looked at Caden.

"A’ strì nach eil a’ cur dragh sam bith air a’ chaip dhearg agad," Caden declared. Aegnor turned their focus to Caden and grinned.

"Fear dragon. Is fhada bhon a tha sinn air a bhith air raon-catha."

Caden held Aegnor's gaze, which had the redcap grinning further before chuckling. They looked up at Cassi and sniffed the air.

"Bha thu a’ bleith o chionn ghoirid. Bha fuil dhraoidheil an-còmhnaidh na b’ fheàrr dhuinn. Dè mu dheidhinn blas?"

Cassi glared at the little goblin for a moment before her eyes widened. Of course. Magic. When redcaps killed a magical creature and soaked their cap in the blood of that kill, their hat was temporarily imbued with whatever magic that creature had. And Chicago was full of potential.

"Tha Chicago air a dhìon leam fhìn agus a 'bhana-bhuidseach stoirme. Tha thu air a dhol thairis air do fhàilte, a shìthiche," Caden informed them.

The redcap merely grinned and looked at his fellow companions. "Chì sinn." The red caps attacked.

"Caden! Cassi yelled, still stuck in the rope.

"A little busy, Cass. You have knives, do you not?"

Cassiopeia threw one of those iron knives into a Redcap that launched itself at Caden. It fell back onto the ground with a loud thud that didn't match its size. Iron wasn't enough to kill Redcaps, but it could stun them.

Cassi started to curse in Gaelic as she worked to see herself out of the rope. Meanwhile, Caden did his best to keep the Redcaps from getting to Cass or biting him. They kicked at Caden with their metal boots and snapped their fangs at him. It wasn't an easy task, and Caden wished his ability to expel fire as a dragon had extended to when he was a human, but he didn't have that ability.

A Redcap got past Caden and launched themselves at Cassi. She grunted and dropped her knife while she fought with the thing. She whispered words in Latin, and the Redcap started to scream. Cassi dropped the thing before it caught on fire. It would run around, screaming for help before eventually dying.

Cassi went back to cutting the rope, but whatever it was made of, it was not budging. Cassi screamed in frustration. She dangled there, looking back at the fight. She flipped her knife around and launched it, but Caden had shifted just before it could hit the Redcap. The knife embedded itself into Caden's shoulder, and Cassi gasped.

"I'm sorry!

Caden grunted and threw the Redcap before he reached for the knife in his shoulder. He pulled it out, and blood started to drip down Caden's back, creating a frenzy among the Redcaps.

"I think you did that on purpose," Caden declared, backing away from the seven remaining redcaps.

"Not like you didn't deserve it," Cassi muttered, staring at the creatures that continued to circle them.

As the Redcaps advanced again, Aegnor stopped and bent down. He removed his cap and ran it along the ground. Caden's eyes narrowed, and his hands shifted into talons.

"Cassi..."

"I'm working on it! She grabbed her backpack and found the vials of poppyseed dust that she had ground earlier with some other poisonous herbs. "Back up and cover your face," she ordered Caden.

The wind came to her quickly. Cassi uncorked her bottles, and the powder fell out. The wind quickly gathered it and wrapped around the redcaps. One by one, the Redcaps fell into a deep sleep. All except Aegnor, who had gained the strength and resistance to magic like Caden had thanks to the blood they added to their cap.

"Dè spòrs. Nam biodh fios agam gur ann mar seo a bhiodh e, cha bhithinn a-riamh air co-bhanntachd a chruthachadh riut air raon a’ bhlàir," they said before attacking.

Caden glared at the Redcap before they charged. Caden roared and shifted. He shrunk in size, becoming a mirror image of Aegnor. Aegnor paused, briefly confused by the change in Caden's appearance, giving Caden just enough time to tackle the Redcap to the ground.

Cassi hung in the air, unable to assist since the two creatures moved so quickly. She had already hit Caden once; she didn't need to do that again.

Caden tangled with the Redcap, shoving and clawing until Caden got thrown across the room. He blew through a wall before finally stopping. Dazed, he shook his head before standing up and charged back into the building.

Meanwhile, Aegnor looked up at Cassiopeia. It was difficult to get to her when she was suspended, so he cut the rope. Cassiopeia slammed into the ground before she rolled over, a knife already in her hand.

Aegnor looked at the storm witch with a grin. "Tha e air a bhith o chionn fhada, Banrigh nan speur. Am bu chòir dhomh boghadh fhathast?"

Cassi glared at the bloodthirsty creature. "Chan eil mi air a bhith na Banrigh bhon a dh’ fhàg mi Alba."

"Plàigh air an fhearann, tha mi cinnteach ach aon a bheir mi brath," he said before attacking Cassi.

Cassi threw her knife at the charging Redcap, but he easily flicked the weapon away and continued to charge her. Cassiopeia kept her limbs loose, and when Aegnor neared, she whirled herself around him so she was behind him rather than in front. The wind returned to her, and her eyes cracked with lightning energy.

Caden made it back into the room, standing in front of Aegnor but retaining his Redcap shape.

"I'll let you choose, Aegnor, for old times sake. Death... or a return to Scotland?" Aegnor grinned at Cassi's offer.

"'air ain't no choice," he said before he ran at Cassi. Cassi's eyes flared a brilliant blue before lightning shot from the sky, breaking a hole into the roof of the building and hitting Aegnor. Concrete exploded, and Cassi turned to cover her face. Looking back, she saw a shattered hole in the ground with nothing but red scrapes of Aegnor's red cap.

Cassi knelt, as did Caden, after he shifted back to normal. Together, they bowed their heads and said a death prayer for Aegnor. Afterwards, Cassi and Caden cut their palms and spread their blood onto the ground.

Despite the dwarf's attempts to kill them and others, Aegnor was a fierce comrade at one point and aided Caden and Cassi in fighting for others.

Cassiopeia sighed, stood, and gathered up her knives. Caden rummaged through Cassiopeia's bag for a strip of cloth to wrap her hand. Instead, he found a bandage he could use.

"What about you?" Cassi asked, sheathing her knives. Caden gave her a look.

"I'm already healed, Cass." He grabbed her hand and cleaned it before wrapping it. She would be healed by the morning, but keeping the wound covered until then was better.

"Well...That was fun. Now what?"

Cassiopeia smirked sadly and shook her head. "How about something to eat, for old-time's sake? Or am I too young for you now?"

Caden laughed and wrapped an arm around Cassi's shoulder. "Ha ha. Very funny," he said, but his eyes danced with humour as the two of them walked from the building.

---

Lunch and two bottles of wine later, Cassi had Caden drop her off at the police station. She had a report to file with Costa, and although Caden should also be there, Cassi could see Caden's mind was divided. So, with a hug and a kiss and a promise to call tomorrow, Cassi dismissed Caden from babysitting her.

Caden sat in his car, looking over Nero's message again, when a bit of inspiration hit him. He smiled and drove over to Nero's house, but he parked a couple of streets over. Caden shifted into a gangly white, twenty-something year old that Nero might likely overlook. His clothes changed as well. He no longer wore a green sweater but a cream turtle neck with black jeans and black-rimmed glasses.

Caden made his way to Nero's front door and quickly charged in, looking hazard and frantic. He ran from room to room while he called out for Nero.

"Mr Nero! Mr Nero!!! There's a problem!"

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Nero hears the door open again and straightens, their expression furrowed in confusion as they stop their organization of items. “Was soll der Scheiß?” They mutter under their breath as they pull one of their flat knives out again. Their demons weren’t supposed to come back to the house today until the sun had set, and there is still sunlight outside.

“Okay, wer zum Teufel sind Sie und wie sind Sie hier reingekommen?” Nero says as a gangly human enters the room yelling ‘Mister Nero!’ before sighing as they realize they’re speaking German to someone who probably doesn’t understand.

“Kid, where the fuck are your parents?”

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What felt like years later, Nic has finally found all the footage of the operating room occurrences; three in total in the last week. What if there’s more? Whenever he has a free moment, he’s combing through hospital records to see if any other patients have recently disappeared from the hospital and then cross-referencing with friends from other hospitals.

It’s nowhere near as illegal and dangerous as when he had gotten information regarding the chimera attacks. It seemed the police haven’t noticed the pattern yet, so the files aren’t being watched for now. Nic takes notes in his pocket notepad that he had ‘borrowed’ from one of the doctors, trying to keep track of the information he’s finding on top of doing his work.

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Caden had the foresight to keep looking concerned and scared when Nero held a knife. He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing before he opened his mouth to speak again.

”Please Mister Nero, the King of Hell… he sent me. He sent me with a message. Please.” Caden pushed the glasses up his nose. They had slid down because of his frantic movements. He looked at Nero, ready to start begging on his knees if he needed to.

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Once Cassi was finished debriefing Costa, she still had time to kill before Nic got off work. She wanted to surprise him, but it would be a few more hours before he was done. She jumped on the bus and looked out the window, thinking about what she could do when she saw a clothing store she liked. Perfect, a little retail therapy. Cassi got off at the next stop and started her little shopping spree.

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Nero narrows their eyes at the gangly thing, an eyebrow raised before they run a hand down their face with a loud sigh. “Look, I’m trying really hard not to kill, so if I were you, I’d spill the beans before my knife slips out of my hand.”

With a tilt of their head, they lazily stare at the kid as they spin and flip their knife between their fingers. Even though they seem relatively relaxed and unbothered, the hair on the back of their neck stands on end. Even though they don’t recognize the person in their room, he feels fairly familiar.

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Taking his last break, Nic grabs the last snack left from Cass. He takes a picture of the empty lunchbox and a selfie of him pouting, sending both to Cass. He knows that if she was with Caden, that she was plenty safe, but he can’t help but worry a little with no messages from her.

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Caden’s eyes flicker to the knife as Nero effortlessly twirls it. It takes everything in Caden to look afraid rather than turned on.

”He said that the dragon man loves you…” Caden shifted back into his normal self and grinned down at Nero. ”And he’d like to take you for supper.”

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Cassi’s phone buzzes while she is in the book store, and she shifts her bags over to her left hand before pulling her phone out. She sees the message from Nic and mentally curses herself for not texting him.



She sends Nic the message along with a picture of her two clothing bags with the bookstore in the background.

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Nero watches, still perplexed by this person as they approach and talk about dragons. Nero stops the spinning, holding the small dagger between their fore and middle finger and ready to strike before realization dawns on them just as the gangly teen shifts into Caden. The knife falls out of their hand and to the ground as they start to laugh loudly, holding their stomach.

“Ich hätte dich fast erstochen, du Verrückter!” They say between laughs as they catch their breath.

Nero laugh subsides into soft chuckles as they straighten and look up at their dragon. “I wish I could shift like you, think of all the possible pranking I could do.” They stand on their tiptoes and wrap their arms around Caden’s neck with a smile as they shake their head, still amused by his joke.

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Nic grins when she texts back, just about finished with his snack. He tries to zoom in on the background of her photo and gets excited to see she’s at one of his favorite stores. It’s where he goes when he wants something other than medical texts or journals.



The bookstore is one of Chicago’s oldest bookstores and it’s three floors of books. Nic has to limit himself whenever he goes because he can easily walk out of there with all his money spent.

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Caden grinned, wrapping his arms around Nero in return. ”Wouldn’t be the first time today,” he said and kissed Nero. ”Your knife spinning was very intimidating, by the way. Do you do that often when you are ordering people around?”

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Cassi laughed, shaking her head when Nic figured out where she was.



Now that Cassi knows it’s one of Nic’s favourite places, she starts to look more diligently for books he might like as well as ones for her.

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Nero happily kisses Caden back, a smile still on their lips before Caden pulls away. Their smile is replaced by a cocky smirk. “I usually do it if I want to appear more deadly… Wait, you were stabbed??” Nero pulls their arms back, checking their love for wounds.

“Did Cassi stab you?” Honestly, Nero wouldn’t be surprised if she had while the two had talked. Even though they know Caden heals quickly, they can’t help but be a little worried.

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Nic can hardly contain his smile at this happy coincidence. When his family had first moved to Chicago, the young boy would spend hours in there with his parents. It’s where his love of reading first began. As he got older and started visiting after school, it was at Myopic that he discovered his photographic memory.

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”Mmm, well, I’m sure it has that intended effect. Unfortunately for me, I found it way more of a turn-on,” Caden said, running his hands down their body.

Caden chuckled and pulled Nero back in after they started scanning him. ”I’m already healed. Although, I’ll need a new sweater. And yes, it was Cass. It happened while we were fighting the Redcaps. She said it was an accident but I have my suspicions. How about you? I was worried about you,” Caden mumbled, his lips finding their way to Nero’s neck.

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She picked up a book on Japanese culture and flipped through it before she decided to get it.



She resumed her tour through the book store, finding a couple more fiction reads for herself before she started looking for something for Nic.

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“Of course you did.” Nero says with a laugh before Caden stops their search of him for wounds. They nearly threaten Cassi’s life out loud, but stop themselves. Even joking about it feels wrong with the tension between the two.

As Caden kisses their neck, they sigh happily, the ever-present shiver crawling up their spine from the action. Nero wraps their arms around Caden again, holding him close. “I’m much better now that you’re here.” They tell Caden honestly, letting their eyes close they continue to relax with each passing moment.

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Just as Cass asks how work is, Nic’s pager goes off, which he’s slightly grateful for at the moment. He doesn’t want to lie and just tell her it’s going well. He’s going to let her know what’s going on, but when he can be next to her instead of making her worry for the next couple of hours.



Nic dashes back to the emergency room just as EMTs start rolling in gurneys. Apparently there’d been a car accident involving three cars and of course all of them full of passengers. Nic stretches his neck and rolls his shoulders before he starts helping move people onto beds and taking note of vitals from the first responders.

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Caden moved his trail of kisses up Nero’s neck to their ear. ”Good,” he whispered into their ear before nipping it. ”When do your little minions come back?”

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Cassi slipped her phone away, knowing Nic wouldn’t be replying to her for a while. She finished her assault on the bookstore, finding a book on Scottish folklore that she felt Nic might enjoy before she exited the store and continued with her spree.

As she walked, she heard sirens and paused. Cassi turned her head and watched an ambulance speed by. She watched it until it disappeared around a corner and wondered if it was going to Chicago Med.

Someone brushed past Cassi, knocking her out of her thoughts. Taking a breath, she headed up the street. With Nic still heavy on her mind, she picked the next clothing store with purpose and intention. She poked around, sorting through all the different colours and fabrics for something bold but safe. She didn’t want to give the man a heart-attack the first time he saw Cassi in lingerie, but Cassi was often eventful and left a statement in the bedroom. She was sure it would be no different with Nic. Whenever they got to that point.