Chapter Text
“My brother works for you, then?”
Kinn’s face twists into a complicated expression, and Ché can tell that Kinn's attempting to tread lightly. The last ten minutes have proven that Kinn's efficient when it comes to keeping a tight-lip on his information.
Ché doesn’t take offense to it. It’s not the first time he’s been left in the dark.
So he levels his gaze with Kinn respectfully, and goes for a different approach. Ché is viscerally aware of the healing bullet wound that’s dug into Kinn’s shoulder. He tries not to think of Porsche, just in the next hospital room, coming down from so much anesthetic that he’d barely recognized Ché.
Ché tries to keep his voice even, but he doesn’t know if he can hide the edge.
“Kim says you take care of your people,” Ché says lightly, gauging Kinn’s response.
Kinn blinks at that, but he doesn't seem surprised by Ché’s apparent insight. He nods slowly, as if weighing his words before speaking them.
“I do.”
"And my brother," Ché adds, "he's one of your people, too?”
Ché catches the way Kinn's jaw momentarily clenches, and it’s enough to clue Ché in that Kinn isn't exactly pleased about being asked to explain himself.
Ché waits.
"Porsche is one of my people, yes," Kinn finally answers, voice carefully neutral. It sounds rehearsed, like the words have been scripted for this exact conversation.
It sets off immediate warning bells, but strangely enough, Kinn doesn't seem to be lying. Not outright, anyway. Ché briefly wonders what he's missing in all of this.
Ché catches sight of Kinn's hands, the way they're twisting together in his lap, his knuckles turning white. Ché not doing much better; the skin of his own palm is creased from where his fingernails are unconsciously digging in, but Ché ignores the sting.
Ché lets the silence stretch on between them until it's uncomfortable. The reedy beeping of Kinn’s heart monitor goes on long enough that Ché barely registers it.
Ché has no idea what to make of any of this. All the tension from the last few weeks remains strumming just under his skin, but Ché forces an exhale.
There’s plenty of history that Ché still needs to know—how did his brother get tied up with the likes of a mafia family? Did his brother have a choice? Does Porsche have something he hangs over Kinn's head?
How did they end up lost in a forest?
But, Ché knows that posing these questions will lead nowhere, especially to someone like Kinn, so Ché cuts his losses.
If he can’t force answers out of Kinn or Porsche, he'll just ask Kim instead.