A tightly woven kakashi mask fitted on his face, allowing only the tiniest peaks of his silhouette; of his sharp, green eyes. He took a moment to stare down onto the frail piece of the league. Her quivering body reminded him of poochyena rolling in its powerlessness.

"Mm."

annalise henderson.

So their records were right. This was the region's ex-head ranger.

He took a step forward, face stilled in its cloak of stoicism.

Shadows carved his face, baring the fangs of possibilities left unknown, and his expressions offered no dispute to the ideas one might conjure for themself.

Questions bubbled in his head, but most were of the useless variety - mainly because interrogation efforts had been left to jayden cross and mint frost .

He had already played his part in this game.

Still.

"What are you thinking about?"

annalise henderson

Memories of his conversation with Nikolaj Volosenkov came to mind; together, emerged with memories of that forsaken phone call, of his conversation with August Gallagher that cold night, of his painstaking realizations among petalburg's gravesite with Elisabeth Fiorelli , of the distraught that twisted inside as he curled into illeana reyes 's lap. The memories swirled into a coalescence of dripping emotions.

Emotions that were kept barred behind lock and key.

"Several."

His stare doesn't stray.

"What else?"

annalise henderson

"Yes."

Curiosity allured him closer until the steel beams prevented any further moment. So, instead, he leaned a hand against it. Cold to the touch, the metal bit into his skin.

"You lost."

In more ways than one.

"Why worry about that now?"

annalise henderson

He shrugged, apathtic to her admission.

If there was something to siphon from her, jayden cross and mint frost would find it. And, if there wasn't, he'd be the one to dispose of their problem.

"Hm."

But, there had been something curious about what she'd spoken to him. Something that drew his hand to his back pocket. The blinding light of his phone screen smiled back at him, and after a few swipes and nods, an answer was found.

"Your friends haven't reached out yet," he noted before clicking his phone close, "maybe they forgot." 

annalise henderson

"Sure."

It wasn't like Felix to stray around a hostage, much less participate in conversation with them. But, the more he stared down at her, shaken and waning behind the solid bars of her confinement, the more he felt something twitching deep inside himself.

Something familiar.

And deeply infuriating.

"How long are you willing to wait?"

annalise henderson

"You don't."

His agreeance to the fact is solidified by the crumble of gravel beneath his shoe. It rolled loudly under his sole, a grating sound to interrupt the all-encompassing silence that surrounded them.

For a minute, he just stands there, like a scarecrow overlooking its crops. Shadows extend from his touch, looming beasts to which licked the traces of the prisoner's skin.

Then, a beat later, he left. Not leaving another word behind.

Until a week later.

When he returned, it is not without the similar thud of his heavy footsteps bouncing down the staircase's steps, a similar echo to his first appearance down below.

He stopped at the bars, just as before.

"..."

annalise henderson