Kaz forced down another cup of coffee and continued scanning the lines on the paper. Eventually, the letters melted together and became a useless blob.

Kaz groaned. He had to keep working. If he didn't, the Dregs would be angry and an angry gang wasn't fun.

When the door was unlocked from the outside, Kaz leaped to his feet, wide awake with a knife in his hand.

Wylan closed the door behind him. There was obviously something wrong with the boy; his face was pale, his hands were shaking, and his sapphire blue eyes were wide with fear and anxiety.

Kaz slid the knife into his pocket and walked around his desk to stand in front of Wylan. "What is it?"

Wylan shook more intensely, but his tears did not fall. He's afraid of you, just like everybody else, a voice whispered. Kaz sighed and said gently, "Wy, come on, talk to me."

Wylan closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, those tears slid down his freckled cheeks. "It's nothing, Kaz. I'm fine."

"You clearly aren't fine if you've wandered into my room in the middle of the night."

Wylan raised his shaky hands and covered his eyes with them. "You're going to laugh at me, though."

Kaz reached out and placed a comforting hand on the boy's back. He led him to the bed in the corner and Wylan sat down, his eyes full of terror.

"Wylan, I won't laugh at you. I promise."

Wylan wiped away his tears and nodded. "I... I had a nightmare."

Kaz sat beside the boy and squeezed his shoulder, pulling the boy closer. "Tell me about it."

The young boy seemed to find comfort in Kaz's slight smile, as he took a deep breath and said, "It was my father."

"What happened?" Kaz asked quietly, pulling the boy's head onto his shoulder. "You can tell me about it."

Wylan shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I just want to get some sleep."

Kaz squeezed the boy's shoulder again. "I'll let you stay in here with me if you tell me what happened."

Wylan glanced up and met Kaz's narrow-eyed gaze. "Well... he used to... he used to..."

He started to sob, his whole back shaking. He nearly fell off of the bed and Kaz turned the redhead towards him. "Hey, hey, calm down. It's alright, Wy. Jan is in jail. He can't hurt you."

Wylan fell against Kaz, pressing his tear-streaked face into Kaz's suit. "He would hit me," he whimpered. "He would lock me in my room. He would take away the things that I loved. He tried to kill me. He wants me dead, Kaz!"

Kaz slowly wrapped his arms around the boy and pulled him closer. "Shh. Everything's okay now, Wy. You're here, with me. And I'll protect you no matter what. You know that, Wy."

Wylan whimpered and Kaz tried not to dig his fingernails into the boy's back as fury clouded his vision. He wanted to watch Jan Van Eck suffer for all the pain he had caused Wylan.

Wylan finally met Kaz's gaze again. "I know that he's locked up but... I'm still afraid."

Kaz nodded. "I understand, Wy. I really do."

Wylan wiped at his tears and dug his fingers into the bed sheets to stop them from shaking. "Thanks, Kaz."

When the boy stood up and started off towards the door, Kaz felt empty. He wanted Wylan to stay.

"Wait."

Wylan glanced back at Kaz. "You don't have to worry, Kaz. I'll be fine."

Kaz followed the boy to the door but blocked the exit. "I thought you were going to stay here. After all, it's dark and it's late. You should... you know, probably just stay here."

Wylan started to giggle. "You want me to stay? Is this the real Kaz Brekker?"

Kaz put an arm around the boy's shoulder and led him back to the bed. "You came to me. I promised you that you could stay here. You're going to stay here, Wylan."

"If I'm staying here, then you're staying right here with me. You aren't working all night, Kaz."

Kaz gave in and nodded. Wylan lifted the blankets as well as his eyebrows. As long as he's happy...

Kaz curled under the black cotton rectangle and smiled at Wylan. The boy rested his head on Kaz's shoulder.

Kaz put a hand on the boy's back. "It'll be okay, Wy."

They fell asleep. When Kaz awoke, Wylan was still there, breathing peacefully.

******

Kaz drove the knife into Van Eck's arm, relishing the screams of the man. "How does that feel?"

Van Eck coughed blood onto the floor. "Please. Please, Kaz, I can make you rich! I'll give you whatever you want!"

"I want you to go back in time and change the way you treated Wylan."

Van Eck glared at him, placing a hand over his bloody arm. "I can't go back in time."

Kaz slapped the man across the face. "Then you can't give me what I want."

"That's all you want, Brekker? For me to have treated that idiot with kindness?"

Kaz forced himself not to kill the man at the word idiot. "Wylan is no idiot. And I wanted Wylan to have a good father. Someone who took care of him and protected him. Not a pitiful scrap like you."

Van Eck's face twisted in an ugly snarl. "Why don't you do that for him?"

Kaz punched the man under the chin and his head snapped back, his neck cracking. "I plan on it."

The demon exited the cage, locked it, and skipped back to the Slat, a goofy grin on his face.

*****

"Why are you acting weird?" Wylan asked, looking up from his plate.

Kaz shrugged. "No reason. Just dealt with some... stuff."

They sat in silence for a while and Wylan was kind of scared. The black haired boy was grinning, his eyes narrowed into vicious slits as if he was angry about something. It was very contradicting.

Wylan reached out with a slow hand and placed it on one of Kaz's shaking fists. "Kaz."

The demon unfurled his fist and took Wylan's hand in his own. "I was upset."

"About?"

Kaz set his plate of food aside and stood up. Wylan did the same, keeping his eyes narrowed at the boy as he waited for an answer.

"Your father. I went to the jail and... gave him some scars that he can look back on and remember your pain."

Wylan's eyes misted over against his own will. He didn't want to cry in front of Dirtyhands again.

His eyes betrayed him and tears rolled down his cheeks and Kaz pulled him into a tight hug.

"Thank you, Kaz. Thank you so much."

Kaz released Wylan and ruffled his curls. "Your welcome, Wy."