The Sharps hit the building soon after. The place almost descended in to chaos, but the strike teams show of force left everyone shellshocked and unable to run away. When MASKS arrived the Sharps, except two teams who stayed to protect Nelly, left with the targets she had named. The Sharps left a few drones to fly around and take pictures of as many attendees as possible, so that if some people did manage to escape through the ones they had paid off, there would be some sort of evidence that they had been there.
Nelly gave the whiskered guard and sir Begetton to the team outside and stayed in the office to study what clues were to be found. A medic from Sharp was giving help to the cat eared woman.
"She needs to go to the hospital after this, small wonder she is still alive." The Medic said continuing in giving the first aid he could. Nelly looked at the ragged creature, broken and beaten and decided fate had spoken for her.
"We must be fated, seeing you appear before me again after what happened downstairs." Nelly said softly to the woman, but she didn't react very much in her drugged state. Nonetheless Nelly continued on. "I'll see to it personally that you'll be taken care of at my place."
"If you so wish sir." Cat eared girl said and started unbuttoning her dress.
"No." Nelly said gently holding the thin wrists with as little force she could. "You should probably knock her out if you can" Nelly whispered to the medic so that the traumatized girl couldn't hear. The medic nodded and ripped open a small sterile container with needle and knockout juice. Nelly held on to the girls hands, until her eyes glossed over and she sunk to the couch, breathing slowly.
"Find anything?" Nelly asked Kabek who was going through the cabinets.
"Nothing substantial, just lists of products sold, but its who bought and sold is only with numbers" Kabek said.
"They probably change the numbers every time too," Nelly said and fished out the number they had been given at the entrance. She crumpled it up, annoyed. She touched the screen a bit too hard, it flared to life, but simultaneously threw up a warning about the usage of force.
She waded through some documents here and there, but again most of it was useless. There was a folder that was labeled 'B2B' and she jumped in. There were only a few different products in there, but they all had faces and reasons for sale. What jumped out at Nelly was a familiar face and her heart ached in so many different ways. Lalage like all the other special wares had their own subfolders. Nelly double tapped on one of the videos and regretted it immediately, yet she couldn't stop watching until Kabek physically turned her away from it.
"They, they…" Nelly said and had to hold back the bile now that her mind wrapped around what she had seen.
"Yes they did. It says here Oracle approved the sale and Beggar bought it." Kabek said and closed the screen. Nelly took a few minutes to gather herself. Her mind crossed back to the soulless look on Lalage back at the castle, it wasn't just a defeated soulless, but a more literal there was no person there anymore.
"Theres nothing of her left. They made her more machine than meat, how could they do that?" Nelly said, having failed to gather herself. Lalage didn't seem to be a guilty party anymore, wasn't it just Nelly herself who failed. Wasn't it she who sold Lalage. Nelly never visited, never made sure she was okay. She held on to the table for support, breathing heavy and quick.
Kabek put his hand on her shoulder, Nelly had no power or will to reject him. He didn't stop there, he got closer and wrapped his arms around her. A bit surprised at his further touch, but let it be, as it was comfortable and warm. It made it all a bit simpler, it was okay to be weak now. Someone could hold her. He just stood there, holding her, not saying a word. The first time and the best time to be silent.
Her top lip started to twitch, her body remembered. It told her, drink and it will all go away. Quench and you will not suffer. Nelly turned around, but did not dare to look Kabek in his eyes. What if they were too soft and she couldn't… Nelly got on her toes, released her teeth and put them to his neck. She felt the neck pulse under her, bidding her to taste, but she held.
"You told me I was yours, you are allowed to." Kabek said, and the second she got permission her teeth sunk in. This time the experience wasn't as strong as her first time. It felt calming, and she felt oh so powerful, as Kabek held her up by her lower back—making it easier to feed.
"Nelly are you okay, I heard the call for the medic unit." Paco said and froze at the entrance. Nelly opened her eyes, blushed, but couldn't stop what she had started. Neither the embrace nor the flow of blood. Only when a soft moan escaped Kabek's lips was she able to rip herself free. Drops of blood, running down Kabek's muscular chest.
Paco looked at her, with eyes more like broken ceramic than their usual oak. Now she knew for sure, without a doubt Paco had feelings for her. He bowed once, a longer bow than usual. And when he finally straightened, he was stoic and emotionless.
He took command of the unit again naturally. The only positive thing that could be said from the whole situation, was that at least Kabek hadn't made any of his trademark quips. Nelly could only watch from the side as things were packed down and she joined the Sharps that was going to take the traumatized girl to the Arbore hospital.
As the shuttle door closed before her, she lamented her indecisiveness. Nelly wasn't sure was it the blood, and the warm fuzz generated by it, that kept the thoughts of Lalage at bay or was it the broken eyes of Paco that bothered her too much.