Archive of Our Own ^beta

The giant brain is gone and Minsc is many ales into the celebration. Perhaps too many ales, but that is of no importance.

Beside him, Jaheira swirls what's left in her tankard, but doesn't drink. 

"Careful, ranger," she says with a tone of gentle gravity, a low hum to her words like she only half-believes the warning. "You don't want to show up shitfaced on your first day with the Guild."

Minsc looks over at her, flushed and smiling easy. They have matched each other drink for drink all evening, but she has a look on her now like she is nearly finished. A shame, because he isn't.

"We are celebrating! The thiefmaster should appreciate such a victory. It is not every day that we defeat brains and dragons." Minsc takes a long, heavy swig to finish his drink and chases it with a belch that the barkeep lifts her tankard to. "And I am not with the Guild, Jaheira. You know this."

"No doubt she will see it that way." Jaheira pushes back on her barstool and steadies herself with a hand on Minsc's shoulder as she stands. 

"Remind the Rashemaar that I warned him," she says to the space between his chin and his shoulder, from which Boo suddenly appears. She blinks slowly, then fixes her gaze onto Minsc. "Do not let her pretty face fool you. Hero or not, Nine-Fingers will kick your ass all the same."

Jaheira pauses, counting on her fingers before she takes a few copper pieces out to slide down the bar. She can't be leaving now, the night is young!

"Oh, I do love it when you call me pretty."

Minsc turns around, but Jaheira only tilts her head. The corner of her mouth pulls into a slight smile.

Nine-Fingers leans against the bar and pushes Jaheira's money back toward her. She winks at the barkeep. "Drinks for those two are on me."

"Another, then! Jaheira, are you sure you want to retire so soon?"

"I am long overdue for a full night of sleep." Over her shoulder, she looks at Nine-Fingers for a brief moment, then turns to give Boo a rough pat on his head. "Goodnight, boys."

"Let me walk you home, Harper. I know it's been a while." Nine-Fingers takes a step back, extending her arm toward the door as she bows at the hips, lowering her head in a mockery of deference. She flashes a less than deferent smile. "Wouldn't want you to get lost in the dark."

"How thoughtful," Jaheira says dryly. She lets Nine-Fingers guide her out anyway, sounding no objection to the press of her hand along the small of her back. "Try to make it home this time at least," she says to Minsc. 

"Boo will guide me," he says, and then finishes the ale left in Jaheira's cup. "You know where to go, yes?"

Boo squeaks back something to the effect of a shrug.

"Jaheira, perhaps you could—" Minsc turns toward her, but she and Nine-Fingers are already gone.

Minsc is not sure of his way to the Guildhall. He stumbles through the city with a hand along the wall to guide him, partially because he doesn't remember the path Jaheira had shown him, and partially because he is wretchedly hungover.

He considers that he probably should have heeded Jaheira's warning, regardless of Nine-Fingers's gift of many free beverages.

Then again, perhaps they're better to start off-kilter. Even handicapped, the Rashemaar always prove formidable allies, and this way Minsc can demonstrate that he is no exception. Boo chirps in his ear. Wrong turn.

"You're late, Stone Lord," says the dwarf beside the door to Nine-Fingers's office. She frowns up at him expectantly, as if awaiting an explanation for his tardiness. Something tells him that she will be less than enthused about the intensity of his celebration and Minsc finds himself grateful for the height difference, should his breath threaten to give him away. He can't remember her name, but he does remember:

"Mindflayer slayer!" He takes her hand between both of his and shakes it vigorously. "It was an honor to fight beside you in the great battle. Please, I am Minsc. The Stone Lord is no longer."

From the other side of the door, a voice calls out: "It won't matter what his name is if he continues to miss his appointments. Get in here, now."

Inside, Nine-Fingers leans back against her desk with her arms crossed. She speaks too quietly for Minsc to understand, and in front of her, Jaheira responds with a headshake, and then a smile. 

"Jaheira, you are here too!"

He notices something odd about her appearance as she turns to face him, though it's difficult to pinpoint. That she looks unrested is nothing new, the heaviness under her eyes as familiar to him as the mole behind Boo's ear. He considers that the oddity simply stems from her unexpected presence. 

"I am just leaving, ranger." She nods at Nine-Fingers, who has yet to acknowledge Minsc. "Don't worry about going easy on him. He can take it."

She looks at him sideways. "I'm sure he can."

Jaheira squeezes Nine-Fingers's arm and then murmurs something that is again too quiet for Minsc to understand, which is just as well because he still can't figure it out. She looks exactly as he expects her to — which is when it clicks. "You are in yesterday's clothes?"

Jaheira drops her hand as Nine-Fingers makes a snorting sound.

The walk to Rivington is decorated with the grave expressions of people the Stone Lord has terrorized. It pains him to see their fear bloom and burst as he passes, but every time he thinks about saying something, he remembers what Nine-Fingers instructed: "You're not the Stone Lord anymore, but that's better shown than told."

They stop at the city orphanage.

Minsc considers warning her that he'll refuse to take part in anything that might scare the children, but as soon as the door opens, they're met with the visible relief of an old, wiry half-elf. She sighs with her whole body at the sight of Nine-Fingers, suddenly eased in a way Minsc had not expected when they first made out to settle this debt.

"Thank the gods," she says, pulling the door back. "When I hadn't heard from you, I thought the bastard had finally..."

Then, she sees Minsc and it's back to terror. 

Her eyes flit back and forth between them as she steps back, and Minsc wonders how long it will be until his goodwill measures more than that of a crime lord.

"It's alright." Nine-Fingers holds her palms out, then pats his arm with the back of her hand. "He's with me."

Minsc does not love the association, but he supposes there are worse ties.

They call her Astele here, and when Minsc tilts his head at the name, she looks at him like he would regret attempting to repeat it elsewhere. 

The children pay her no mind, but the other caretakers smile warmly as they pass and Nine-Fingers responds in kind. The sincerity of her demeanor in this place mostly adds to his general confusion — is she not a supercriminal?

He'll ask Boo about it later, when his companion is not the center attraction of afternoon playtime, and when he is out of earshot of the woman cordially taking tea like she wasn't just threatening violence against the traders down the street.

"Jaheira would be proud of what you've done here," the half-elf tells Nine-Fingers. She still won't look at Minsc for too long at a time, but he supposes this is where the show part of his amends comes into play. He will thank her for the sweet rolls she served them before they leave. Perhaps he can assist with the dishes!

Nine-Fingers finishes the last of her cup, then gives Minsc a strangely playful wink. "We'll bring her around next time," she says, smiling like she cannot help it. "I'm sure she'd love to check on our little renovations."

The half-elf stares at her, open-mouthed and openly confused for a long moment before she exclaims, "Oh! She's alive? I thought…"

"Seems the High Harper was too stubborn for even the Absolute."

"And for Nine-Fingers too," Minsc adds, finally emboldened to speak now that their topic of discussion has shifted so close to home. "This one was very close to having me killed, but Jaheira did not give up on me."

Nine-Fingers hums, her smile dimming slightly. "We owe her more than can be repaid."

"You are friends with Jaheira as well, Minsc?"

"Ah but who else could have shown the Stone Lord the error of his ways?"

Again, Minsc does not love the association, but he'll allow Nine-Fingers that much. He has many things to thank Jaheira for. When he nods at her, it occurs to him that she may be just as grateful to have her back.

"I'm fine, stop fussing," Nine-Fingers says, missing the mark as she tries to swat Lady Croup's hands away. Minsc knows firsthand that she is less than fine, but it could be worse. One of them could be dead.

Croup frowns, then nearly tries again until Nine-Fingers glowers at the attempt. 

"Are you sure?"

Nine-Fingers turns her attention to Minsc. Admittedly, he is also less than fine. He'd lost count of the knives in his back after the first four, though after four the count does not matter if you live through it, and it matters even less if it's in service of those in your charge. 

It is strange to consider Nine-Fingers an ally even now, but he has grown fond of her. He's beginning to understand how she earned Jaheira's trust.

"Help Minsc," she says, tilting her head toward him. "The man saved my life. He deserves to cut in line."

Croup does as instructed, approaching Minsc with an impassivity to her expression that shows little concern toward him. He can work on their friendship next.

As if summoned by his thoughts, Jaheira appears in the doorway, grasping at the frame as she huffs in quick, stuttered breaths. She looks around the room, running the flat of her palm up her forehead and into her hair. Minsc notices her hand come away with sweat and he tries, then fails to contain his excitement at seeing his friend, willing to sprint across the city to see to his safety.

She flinches when she spots Nine-Fingers, then composes herself as she assesses the extent of her injuries. Minsc recognizes the scrutiny in her gaze, the slight frown that usually precedes an admonishment.

"Jaheira!" Minsc nearly stands to greet her, but Croup holds him in place with an unyielding grip. 

"I heard what happened," she says to Minsc, though her eyes never leave Nine-Fingers. After a beat, she directs her frown at him and then blinks, relaxing slightly. She says, "Good to see your reflexes have not suffered in your old age."

He laughs, and then winces. Many somewheres he is bleeding, but he isn't sure which part of his body he's meant to tend to first. He supposes the enthusiasm is not so helpful to Croup, so he wills himself to still.

Jaheira turns her attention back to Nine-Fingers, and Minsc is about to tell her not to bother with such a stubborn creature, but before he can find the words, she has already closed the distance. With an ease that suggests precedent, Jaheira steps into Nine-Fingers's space, presses a hand under her jaw and another against her temple, and murmurs healing magic to very little protest.

"You didn't need come all this way," Nine-Fingers starts half-heartedly, before she trails off and closes her eyes, deflating into Jaheira's grasp. He hears Croup hum thoughtfully.

"I thought the Bhaal problem had been dealt with," Jaheira says, moving her hands to the base of her neck. Nine-Fingers does not push her away.

"You and me both."

From across the room, Jaheira looks him up and down and doesn't seem half as worried (a compliment!) when she asks, "How bad?"

Minsc shrugs. They are still alive and the rest is less important. "Nothing we could not handle."

"See?" Nine-Fingers wraps her hand around Jaheira's wrist, looking up at her with an exhausted sort of satisfaction in the curve of her mouth. "Look at the team we've turned into."

Jaheira had warned him about many things concerning Nine-Fingers.

She has never lost a game of cards and has never been caught cheating, but is known to punish those who accuse her without proof. Her temper can be measured by the speed of her command, the register of it — the slower her pace, the quieter her demand, the hotter her rage. She's a poor cook. Minsc is unsure how she knows this one.

He had not been warned about what might happen should she and Jaheira come to a disagreement, so he and Boo are left to navigate this particular minefield blind.

"Come on, Harper." Nine-Fingers watches Jaheira pace from her cross-legged perch on the desk. He has never been to her sanctuary, with its many nooks and crannies and rats, but Nine-Fingers reclines as if she were at home.

Until Jaheira frowns at her and she stands, but then leans back against the desk when she turns away. 

"You're still rebuilding. Why risk what you have now when my people can handle it just as well?"

"Because it is my responsibility," Jaheira snaps. Minsc detects the pain and pride in her declaration, earnest as the day they stormed the Absolute hideout by themselves. He decides then that he will side with her in all of this, though he is still not certain of the argument. "I owe it to my fallen to see this through."

"The dead are dead Jaheira," Nine-Fingers says. "And this is my city too. Just because my hands are dirty, doesn't make it any less true." She pauses for a long moment, the kind of pause that belies uncertainty. Then, quietly: "Just because you're back, doesn't make it any less mine."

Jaheira regards her thoughtfully, her frown deepening. She sighs, then turns toward him.

"Minsc?"

"You're asking him?"

Jaheira doesn't acknowledge her. "The Harpers can take the rest of the Bhaalists. They have nowhere to go and with Orin gone, they shouldn't be a problem."

Minsc considers the dilemma, finally aware of the stakes involved. He does not like the disquiet in his belly that bodes trouble with either choice. Though he trusts his friend, he does not know if he trusts her people so much anymore. 

Boo chirps at him when he is silent for too long, and Minsc blinks. 

"Nine-Fingers makes a convincing argument. These doppelgangers…" Minsc grimaces when he thinks of all the time he had spent with imposter-Jaheira and her poison-dipped gaze, her pitch-perfect impersonation of the woman he admired above most. He would never have known. "When they get in your head, it is hard to cleanse." He is still working on this, he does not add.

Jaheira looks at him without an attempt to hide her dismay, making a sound at the back of throat between a huff and a scoff and a fuck you. Her mouth parts, then closes and she walks away. In the distance, Minsc thinks he hears her glyphs begin to hum.

"They're not active," Nine-Fingers says with a wave of her hand. She pushes her fingers through her hair, sitting back onto the desk with a sigh. "She likes to do that when she's mad."

Minsc nods, too preoccupied with the fear in his throat to wonder how she knows. 

Minsc is partway up the stairs to Jaheira's house when he notices a flash of movement. 

Around the corner, he sees a shadow of a figure emerge from behind the house and immediately, he thinks: bad guy. They do not seem armed, but a visitor who is not him at this time of night can only be considered suspicious.

Minsc draws his dagger from its sheath and presses back into the wall as the shadow approaches. He closes his eyes, listening as their steps grow closer. The moment he senses movement within his range, Minsc pounces.

Somehow he's the one who ends up on his back.

"Intruder!" Minsc begins to yell, until his mouth is covered by a gloved hand and his attacker's knee presses into his chest.

They are not very large, so it's easy for Minsc to headbutt them—headbutt her, he realizes as she makes a surprised grunting sound—and reverse their positions. He presses his dagger against her throat, but feels the point of one at his side in return. An impasse. 

Minsc takes the moment to try and identify her.

Though masked, the sharpness of the woman's glare rings familiar to him. "Who are you?"

"Take a guess, big guy." Aha! Now this tone hits home. 

"Nine-Fingers?"

"Very astute," she grumbles, and then lets go of her blade. "Get off me."

"Of course!" He gets to his feet and pulls Nine-Fingers up by her wrist, then picks her weapon off the ground and offers it hilt first. "I am sorry. I thought you were a thief." Then, he laughs, because she is!

Nine-Fingers sighs, sheathing her weapon. She is less amused by the situation, and is possibly midway to saying so when she suddenly dips her head, grimacing.

"Astele?"

Jaheira approaches from around the corner. Even in the dark Minsc can see the flush in her cheeks, the sheen on her forehead and he feels a slow wave of shame creep up the back of his neck. He did not mean to frighten her with the ruckus. 

Belatedly, he notices a dark blemish at the crook of her neck, though it's most likely a trick of the shadows.

Jaheira catches his gaze, then pulls her nightrobe tighter. "What's—Minsc?"

"He thought you were being burgled." 

"It is a rational conclusion! She did not leave from the front door." Minsc feels suddenly righteous in his reaction. "It was suspicious."

"Well." Nine-Fingers half shrugs. Unlike Minsc, her gaze still hangs along the part of Jaheira's robe, before she blinks out her stupor and looks up. "He's got me there."

Jaheira frowns at her, and then turns her expression on Minsc. "She wasn't here to steal from me," she says. Before Minsc can ask why she had concealed herself, Jaheira continues: "Now that we're all out here in the cold together, what is it you were here for?"

"Oh, yes!"

Minsc scratches the back of his head, hoping it will jog his memory of the question that had been on his mind just a minute before. As Nine-Fingers turns her attention toward him in the lengthening silence, it occurs to Minsc that he has forgotten.

The one-eyed tiefling girl comes in without so much as a warning from her guards and this alone brings Nine-Fingers to her feet.

It's enough to make Minsc pause mid-sentence. The last time someone (him) had interrupted a closed-door meeting, she had threatened terrible violence (it was not actually so violent, but Boo abhors being bathed). He senses this is not the same.

"What is it?"

She crosses the room without a word and hands Nine-Fingers a sheet of parchment. Though her expression gives little away, Minsc can see the sweat on her neck, the tension in the lift of her shoulders. Her fingers flex into fists at her side and Minsc unintentionally stares at the exchange like he'd be able to see the message this way.

The silence hangs long and heavy in the room as she reads, and Minsc nearly asks if they are done for the day. 

Then, Nine-Fingers starts to run.

"Minsc!"

He follows.

Minsc has never seen Nine-Fingers sprint so quickly. In the growing distance, he can see her weave around the afternoon crowds, pushing through those not quick enough to react and ignoring the curses of others not too fond of the disruption. If she has instructions for him, he doesn't hear, but he understands her urgency well enough.

He loses her by the Blushing Mermaid, and in a moment of panic tries to decide between left and right before he hears a surprised cry, then feels Boo tug his ear in its direction.

When he realizes where they're heading, Minsc runs faster.

The door to Jaheira's house is swung open.

Inside, he sees Nine-Fingers kneeling in front of Tate. Her chest heaves, her mouth parted as she pants, but she doesn't seem like she is ready to rest.

Nine-Fingers refrains from showing any sort of alarm in front of the boy, but he can feel her desperation almost as if it were contagious. She places a hand on Tate's shoulder as he cups his palm around her ear and whispers. He whispers for a long while, and Nine-Fingers encourages him with a kind and quiet patience that she has never reserved for Minsc.

When she stands, finally, she has instructions for him. The words come out broken as Nine-Fingers struggles to catch her breath, but he understands.

Bhaalists.

They lead a small party into the sewers and down a path Minsc didn't know he recognized so clearly until midway through his warning about the slime creatures down the next hall. He makes a comment about having slipped so many times that he has a still-healing bruise on his ass, but it draws no reaction.

Minsc keeps his eyes forward, only on the walkway ahead but the sense memory of the blood he and imposter-Jaheira spilled within these walls seeps into his lungs like a noxious fume, ready to ignite at any hint of friction. 

"Quick and quiet," Nine-Fingers instructs as they approach the temple entrance. She lays her hand on Minsc's shoulder before she continues, digging her nails into him so that her meaning is obvious. 

He looks at Nine-Fingers. 

Minsc doesn't know how this wasn't clear to him before. 

He had noticed at the house too, but now he understands as unmistakably as if she had spoken it.

Minsc recognizes himself in her hard and hateful gaze and suddenly, without a doubt he trusts in her resolve to break those who would harm Jaheira. "When we have her, this place is rubble."

They find Jaheira kneeling on the stone slab at the center of Orin's arena, chained at the wrists and ankles.

She keeps her head bowed, her shoulders slack and unmoving, but as far as he can tell, she is conscious. On either side of her are her blades, bloodied and broken and the sight alone nearly drives him mad.

He almost breaks from the plan so he can get to her before they deal with anyone else, but as if she'd read his mind, Nine-Fingers takes his arm with a grip so painful it snaps him out of his fury. She tugs him roughly toward her.

"Quick and quiet and together, Rashemaar. Anything else will get her killed." She tugs again, tightening her grasp until he looks at her.

He follows her gaze around the rest of the temple and loses count of the cultists surrounding Jaheira: on the stairs, lining the upper walkway. Guarding the doorway to the chamber behind her. He had not even noticed them at first. 

"We take them out first," she says. "Then we get her."

When they've spilled enough blood to sate the murder lord for at least a tenday, Minsc turns his attention to Jaheira.

Nine-Fingers reaches her first and has her shackles unlocked before Minsc can even aim his weapon at the chains. He loosens the draw of his bow and watches silently as Jaheira wraps both arms around Nine-Fingers and collapses against her. The lockpick clatters against stone, and then it's quiet.

"Admirable try, Harper," Nine-Fingers says after a long moment. With an everyday familiarity, she presses her fingers into Jaheira's hair, resting her chin on her head. "We're not letting you disappear into the night this time."

Jaheira makes a soft sound like a cry or a laugh, her shoulders rising and falling in stuttered movements as she keeps herself pressed into Nine-Fingers. He'd walk over and embrace them both if the moment didn't seem so oddly private.

Eventually she pulls away, just enough to be able to turn and look at Minsc. Nine-Fingers relaxes her hold, but does not let go.

"Get me out of here."

The door to Jaheira's bedroom is open a crack.

He doesn't mean to spy, but through it, Minsc sees Nine-Fingers seated beside Jaheira's bed and he sees Jaheira, reaching out to stroke her cheek. It's an idle, intimate sort of motion that flickers some sort of recognition at the back of his head. 

They speak to each other quietly, but Minsc is able to hear part of the conversation. He doesn't quite understand it. 

Nine-Fingers says something like "ten gold," toward which Jaheira narrows her eyes, but responds in the affirmative. "Now is as good a time as any, no?" 

She raises a brow, then cocks her head to the side. "Yes, ranger?"

Nine-Fingers's gaze flicks toward him and her posture straightens, but she doesn't shy away from Jaheira's touch. Instead, she takes Jaheira's hand between both of hers and lowers her hold onto the bed. 

He clears his throat and notices a sudden heat at the tops of his ears, exactly like he has been caught spying. "The children have finished dinner," he says. "We can bring it up to you, if you wish."

"I'm not an invalid. I will join you downstairs."

"Then that'll be my cue," Nine-Fingers says, watching Jaheira with a sly edge to her burgeoning smile. She lifts Jaheira's hand, presses a kiss to her knuckles, and then leans forward to kiss Jaheira's open mouth. 

It is not a long kiss, but the flush in Jaheira's cheeks appears and deepens all the same, warm in a way Minsc has not seen in a long while.

Suddenly, it clicks.

Many things click in Minsc's head. Finally something shifts in his understanding of their many secret meetings and strangely hushed discussions, though he doesn't know where to begin to think of what to say to them. Minsc can't believe he didn't notice this before, and just as suddenly he does believe it, because they are very sneaky!

Nine-Fingers saves him the burden of a response when she grins at him, and then at Jaheira. She holds a hand out toward her, curling and uncurling her fingers.

They do not seem very upset at him for discovering their secret.

"I told you."

Jaheira sighs, then tilts her head at Minsc. "You really didn't know?"

"Truly!"

She shakes her head, then grabs the coin pouch on top of her bedside chest. "You just lost me ten gold."