Chapter Text
”Everyone meet our insurance: Wylan Van Eck”
The room was quiet as Kaz said it. Every small movement felt loud and Wylan stiffened. He felt the moment everyone realized, and didn’t even need to look at them, to know they were looking at him. He didn’t know what they were expecting of him at that moment, and quite frankly didn’t care. All he could focus on was Kaz as he leaned back into his chair like he owned space itself - and everyone in it. That faint curl of a smirk played upon his lips. He felt Jesper stiffen beside him and he removed the arm he had placed around Wylan's shoulders, leaving Wylan cold in its absence. Jespers fingers went still against his revolver and for once, he made no smart remark. Silence filled the entire room and Wylan knew, they were all waiting for him.
“You knew?” Wylan asked, leaning forward, forcing the words to come out even and steadily. He could not afford to crack now. Not here, not in front of them. He kept his attention on Kaz, knowing very well that if he looked at the others, looked at Jesper, he would surely falter.
“Of course, I knew” Kaz replied, that faint smirk replaced by a smug grin. “Did you really think you could keep your little secret?” he tilted his head slightly, studying Wylan's reaction. He was expecting Wylan to blow, waiting for an explosion, a mistake. Wylan wouldn’t give it to him
“I -“ Wylan faltered, breath catching in his throat. He knew he had to tread carefully but he could already feel his composure falling. He let his head fall to the ground, shaking it as he thought about what to say next. Kaz beat him to it. “Nobody keeps secrets from me, little merchling” he leaned forward over the table, the movement slow, controlled - predatory. His eyes were locked on Wylan.
Wylan felt Jesper shift, and risked a quick look at him. He looked like he wanted to say something, like the words were right there, but he held them back, letting the scene before him play out for a little while longer
“how?” Wylan asked, expression darkening slightly. He kept his head high, gaze locking on Kaz again. He had to pull himself together to get to the bottom of this, had to focus on the task at hand. He saw Kaz' gaze flicker to Inej. It was brief - he would have missed it if he hadn’t paid attention, but he had and understanding hit him immediately. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Inej dropping her head to the floor, a guilty expression on her face. His stomach dropped. Of course, it was Inej. Inej knew everything, she was a spider, hired to know everyone’s secrets.
“you-“ Wylan started as he rose from his seat beside Jesper, taking a step toward Inej. The words were sharp with realization. It wasn’t the fact that she knew who he really was, he should have seen that one coming. It was the fact that she hadn’t told him. She had told Kaz, but not him.
“She is my spider, what did you expect?” Kaz cut him off before he could address her and the words settled heavily in the room. He heard Jesper exhale quietly through his nose beside him. He hadn’t known either. Wylan felt the world around him spinning. He chanced another look at Jesper and wished he hadn’t. The look on Jesper's face was one of pure betrayal. Not only had Wylan not told him who he was, but his best friend hadn’t told him either. He was used to Kaz not trusting him with information, though that was frustrating too, but for Inej, for Wylan, to keep something this big from him? That was what hurt the most.
Instead of looking back at Kaz, Wylan looked to ground. His head was spinning with information, and it almost made him sick. The pieces of Kaz’s plan were settling into place and Wylan knew it wasn’t going to work. His father could not give less of a damn about him, but apparently Kaz hadn’t known that. For once, Kaz didn’t have all the information he needed, and it was going to bring them all straight to their deaths. Realization hit him like a brick to a wall. He nodded once and took a deep steadying breath before looking up, determination filling his expression. He hid his emotions away, and locked them behind something bigger, something stronger.
“It won’t work” Wylan said, his voice steady. he looked at Kaz, bracing himself for the conversation to come. Kaz looked unimpressed, the ghost of a grin still littering his face. “And why is that?”
“It won’t work” Wylan repeated, determination hardening on his expression, but he didn’t elaborate. He couldn’t. not here, not like this. He just needed Kaz to trust him.
Kaz let out a quiet breath, growing tired of the situation already. “he’s been begging you to come home for months merchling, why shouldn’t it work?”
Wylan blinked. “wha -“ he cut himself off. Why would Kaz think that? What did Kaz think he knew? He couldn’t know about his father’s attempt on his life, then he would already know that his plan wouldn’t work. He couldn’t have spoken to his father, because he would deny Wylan even existed. How had they figured out who he was anyway? They hadn’t known of him until years after he appeared in the barrel. The only evidence of his tying to the Van Eck name was the letters he had hidden back in his old flat.
He hadn’t meant for it to come out, but he couldn’t stop his mouth from letting the syllables out in a quiet mumble “The letters.” They had read his letters. Wylan had been so sure that those papers had been blank, he hadn’t even bothered opening one to look. His mind was racing with this new information, missing pieces suddenly appearing and falling into place
“you’ve read my letters” he said louder now, meaning for the others to hear it. He saw Jespers head snap up as he said it, frowning slightly as the information bounced about in his head. Jesper hadn’t said anything throughout the entire conversation, which was unlike him in so many ways, but now you could see the wheels spinning in his head, processing. Realizing that this was so much bigger than what Kaz thought
“of course I read them” Kaz said easily, confidence settling back into him as he though he had gained the upper hand.
“you-“ Wylan's hands clenched at his sides “it won’t work, this is a suicide mission!” his voice sharpened with anger, emotions bubbling up and out of the pit he had tried to bury them in. he still wasn’t elaborating, he couldn’t, but he knew that if he didn’t wipe that smug look off of Kaz’ face, they would all end up dead.
“Why wouldn’t it work?” Kaz shot back, his patience clearing thinning too.
“Because Kaz - my father is an even more heartless man than you” Wylan knew it was a low blow, but it needed to be. He refused to let the others die because of him and his fucked up parental situation, but he also couldn’t tell a room full of people his greatest weakness. He saw, out of the corner of his eye, Jesper lean forward whispering something under his breath, too low for anyone to hear. He saw the gears in his mind shift into place as the final piece fell connected, but Wylan couldn’t afford to focus on that now
“He wants you to come home” Kaz insisted, still clinging onto his version of the truth.
“no, he doesn’t” Wylan’s voice broke, anger filling it along with something else. A deep hurt had cut itself into his expression and his control finally slipped. He couldn’t shield it anymore. Before anyone could respond, he turned and walked out of the room. He couldn’t let the others see him break and he knew that if he stayed a minute longer in that room, he’d shatter
“Wylan!”
Jesper was on his feet instantly, the name leaving his lips before he could think better of it. He wanted nothing more at that moment than to go after his boyfriend and help him trough what was clearly going to be a hard night, but there was something he needed to do first. He took a step after him, and then stopped, gaze flickering to Kaz.
“Kaz” his voice was low, controlled and yet you could still hear the anger underneath, waiting to be let out. He started toward the desk, slowly, directing the anger toward someone who deserved it. “You don’t have the full story”
Kaz eyes narrowed slightly
“those letters - “ Jesper began but stopped himself before he revealed too much. Wylan had clearly been holding back from telling Kaz that he couldn’t read, so would he really be any better than Kaz, if he went ahead and told Wylan’s secret for him? Wasn’t that what Kaz had just done? He swallowed it down, forcing himself to choose the next words very carefully.
“Van Eck was taunting him” he said instead, giving everything and nothing away at the same time.
Kaz frowned, trying to put the now two broken stories together into one whole “how is telling your son you love him and want him to come back taunting?”
Jesper let out a humorless laugh “you always think you know everything, don’t you Kaz?” He was getting frustrated and he could feel himself beginning to slip
“because I do” Kaz replied, leaning in over the table, that smug look returning with full force, and that’s when it hit Jesper.
“Not this time” for once, he had something Kaz didn’t. He had the information Kaz needed and he was not going to give it up without a fight. He hated himself for enjoying the situation, but he just couldn’t stop himself. Jesper had never been one to back down from a fight. he leaned in, closing the distance between himself and Kaz, voice dropping low so only Kaz would hear what he said next
“I’ve seen the scars that litter his body” he whispered, anger treading trough every word. “Felt them beneath my fingers. Kissed them till they disappeared beneath the evidence of my love”
Kaz’s expression changed, very subtly - yet unmistakable. The smug look he had been wearing since he revealed who Wylan was had finally disappeared, replaced with something sharper. The wheels in his head were spinning, putting it all together, but he was missing pieces. Pieces he knew Jesper had.
“you know something, don’t you Jes” kaz pressed, trying to get Jesper to reveal the last missing piece. He was getting angry, but he knew he needed to not get ahead of himself, if he wanted any chance at making Jesper talk.
“I- “ Jesper started - the truth was right there, ready for him, waiting for him - but he stopped. Not his secret to tell. He needed to be better. He leaned back, putting some much-needed space between them.
“He doesn’t like talking about his past” he said instead, trying to redirect the conversation from the clearly missing piece of information. And it was true; Wylan didn’t like talking about anything that happened before the barrel. Every time Jesper had asked about his parents, his childhood, the life he lived before, he had only gotten what he assumed to be half truths and shrugs, and then Wylan would change the subject. He had never asked about the scars, figuring that they were partly at blame, and not wanting to push Wylan into distancing himself again.
“I'm not talking about that” kaz snapped. He knew what Jesper was trying to do and he was having none of it.
“it-“ Jesper was getting frustrated too, and he ran a hand trough his curls trying to distract himself from the conflict in his mind. Wylan desvered someone he could trust, someone who could help him trough hard times and be there for him when his mind began playing its little tricks. Jesper wanted to be that someone so bad, but his old habits were hard to ignore. He had been trying to win kaz’ trust for so long, had thrown everything away to show him that he mattered too. But it had never worked, and now there was Wylan. Sweet, witty, charming Wylan who wasn’t afraid to stand up for what he believed was right. Jesper needed to be better, for Wylan
“It isn’t my secret to tell” His arms crossed over his chest.
Kaz tilted his head slightly at that.
“Oh really? You already revealed one of the merchlings dirty little secrets, what’s holding you back this time?”
Jesper flinched slightly. Realizations hit him immediately, and with it came anger. His jaw tightened and this time, when he spoke, the anger didn’t stay contained “If you ever even think about using it against him” Jesper said, leaning in close again. His voice was low and dangerous “I will make sure you regret it in ways even you can’t plan for”
Kaz eyes flashed.
“go ahead”
that was it. Jesper's restraint snapped as his fist connected with kaz’s face, the sound of cracked bone vibrating trough the room.
“Boys!” Nina’s voice cut in sharply from her spot beside Inej. She hadn’t said anything through the entire conversation, she didn’t know Wylan or Ketterdam well enough to understand what the big deal was - She had heard Wylans heartbeat quicken the moment Jan was mentioned but hadn’t thought much of it, till Kaz told them he was his son. She felt bad for Wylan, nobody should be that scared of their own parents, but she didn’t feel it was her place to do anything. Not until the fight had begun anyway.
“Enough!” she snapped, moving in to stop the two from ripping each other to shreds.
Jesper froze. He was breathing hard, but his heartbeat was beginning to slow, the reality of what he’d done hitting all at once. He took a step back and ran a hand over his face, anger dissipating.
“I’m gonna go find Wylan” he muttered, already turning toward the door. He didn’t wait for a response, just walked right out.