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The smoke of Ketterdam's underbelly always had a way of lingering in the air, like the city itself refused to let go of its secrets. The low murmur of the Dregs' hideout hummed around them, a constant reminder of the tension that always buzzed in the walls, in the shadows. Kaz Brekker sat behind his desk, fingers drumming lightly on the edge, his eyes scanning the papers before him, but his mind—his mind was elsewhere.

Ella Volgere sat across from him, perched on the edge of a chair, her fingers interlaced in her lap. She wasn't in a hurry, not now. There was no rush in her presence, never any pressure to fill the silence. She was just there, her existence as natural as the dim flicker of candlelight in the corner.

The silence stretched on, comfortable yet dense. Kaz let it hang between them, savoring the quiet. The others were out on their tasks—Jesper, Inej, and the rest—leaving them alone in the space that felt both too small and too large at the same time.

Finally, Kaz broke the silence, his voice soft, but steady, a rhythm only he could keep. "You've been quiet."

Ella didn't shift. She never did. Instead, she let her gaze wander, tracing the lines of the map pinned to the wall, her mind half on it, half on the man before her. "I've been thinking."

Kaz didn't look up from the papers but could hear the weight in her words. She was always thinking, always observing. "About what?"

Ella paused before answering, her voice carefully measured. "About how we got here. This—" She gestured vaguely toward the room, the Dregs, the mess of plans and schemes. "It's a machine, isn't it? A machine that doesn't stop. And we all just keep turning the gears."

Kaz's lips twitched, but only for a second. He wasn't smiling—Kaz didn't smile. But he did appreciate the analogy. "You think too much," he said, the words wrapped in a note of something like amusement, though his eyes remained distant, unreadable.

"I think because it's the only thing I know how to do." Ella's voice was calm, but there was something there—an undercurrent of something deeper. The words hung in the air, not challenging, but quietly insistent.

Kaz leaned back in his chair, the leather creaking under his weight. His fingers stopped drumming on the desk, but he didn't respond immediately. He wasn't sure what he expected from her—only that she always had a way of saying the things he didn't want to hear, the things he didn't want to admit.

"You're right about one thing," he said after a long pause. "This place—this crew, this mess—we keep it running. Not because it's right, but because it's necessary." His voice was as cold as the city outside, but there was something buried there, something that only a few could ever find.

Ella nodded slowly, her gaze flickering to him for a moment before returning to the map. She was still thinking. "And Pekka Rollins?" She said his name like it was a bitter taste on her tongue.

Kaz's hand tensed ever so slightly on the edge of his desk, his expression not shifting. "Rollins is a problem," he said. "A big one."

"Not a problem you want to deal with yourself." Ella's words were simple, almost casual, but the observation hit closer to the bone than Kaz cared to admit.

Kaz didn't answer right away. Ella had a way of seeing right through him, of knowing what he wasn't saying. But there were things he couldn't say, things that he couldn't allow anyone else to know. Not even her.

Instead, he pushed forward. "The Crow Club—" He said the words as though they were some kind of inevitable burden. "The place is a mess. We've got competition, we've got corrupt officers, and we've got Rollins trying to carve up every piece of the city he can."

Ella tilted her head, and for a second, Kaz thought she was about to say something sharp, something that would cut through the tension between them. But instead, she spoke softly, her voice almost a whisper. "And yet, you keep going. We all keep going."

Kaz couldn't help the small, bitter laugh that escaped him. "What else is there to do?" He leaned forward, the weight of his words hanging between them. "You think I like this? You think I want to keep living in a city that takes everything from you, breaks you into pieces and expects you to pick them up and keep going? No. But we don't get to choose. Not anymore."

The words, raw and unexpected, left him feeling exposed, and for the briefest moment, he hated himself for showing any kind of weakness. He hadn't meant to say any of it—not to her, not to anyone. But Ella... Ella had a way of forcing things out of him, of making him feel things he had no intention of feeling.

Ella's gaze softened, though she didn't look at him with pity—Ella didn't pity people. But there was something in the way she watched him, something that felt like understanding. "We don't get to choose," she repeated quietly. "But maybe we can still make something of what we have."

Kaz looked away, his gaze drifting to the window, his mind far from the present. He could feel her watching him, could feel the pull of her presence like a weight on his chest. He didn't need her sympathy. He didn't need anyone's pity. But there was something about the way she said those words, something that made him wonder, just for a second, if it were possible.

He turned back to her, his voice colder now, more calculated. "We'll deal with Rollins. And we'll take the Crow Club back. That's the plan. The rest... doesn't matter."

Ella didn't respond immediately. Instead, she stood, crossing the room slowly, her steps light and measured. Kaz watched her, the quiet rhythm of her movements familiar and unnerving at the same time.

"You think it's just business," she said softly, pausing by the door.

Kaz's brow furrowed, a flicker of frustration flashing in his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Ella didn't turn around. "You always make it about business, Kaz. But it's never just business, is it? Not for you. Not for any of us."

Kaz's jaw tightened, but he didn't answer. She was right in a way, but he would never admit it. Not out loud.

"Maybe one day, you'll realize that," she added quietly, before slipping out of the room.

Kaz remained seated at his desk, his mind swirling with a thousand thoughts. But beneath it all, there was one question that gnawed at him, one thought that he couldn't shake.

Was she right? Was it ever just business for him?

And as the silence settled back over the room, Kaz couldn't help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, it was starting to become something else altogether.