Kieran’s eyes locked onto Aura’s dark eyes, watching as she slowly unraveled.
 
He felt sorry for her, really.
 
And it wasn’t pitying he felt; in some way, it was similar to how he had been before he was a runner. Scavenging with the other port boys. Looked at as less of a human and more of a pest to be chased off when AA came around.
 
Now, he was the one empowered. And thinking of going back scared the shit out of him.
 
He loosened, somewhat, as he watched Aura run for air. He felt bad, in a strange way, for being so cold—for intimidating him. Which was particularly strange, as he found himself the captor in this situation. It was either empathy or a survival instinct that softened him somewhat, but regardless, he tried to relax. Well, as best he could.
 
[i]”I won’t kill you,”[/i] she said between breaths. He made a sort of scoffing noise without thinking, more so out of incredulousness. It really was that tense of a situation, wasn’t it?
 
He eyed her quizzically, as she explained that this might have been a fun evening under different circumstances. For all of his experience and quick analyzing, he wasn’t able to get much of a read on her here.
 
As she continued, he found himself grimacing at her conflation between running and being an enforcer. It was true, in a way—and similarly, it disgusted him. The longer this went on, the worse he felt. His survival instincts were wearing off and he realized he had walked into a skirmish far more complex than he was giving it credit for. He had assumed a monolith of the rebels; and now he could see that really wasn’t the case.
 
If it was, he’d already be dead by now. The necessary killing of law enforcement to further the cause.
 
But here she was—lifting a pail to him. He drank deeply, as long as she allowed, and thanked her. She sat across from him, and the momentary silence between them was deafening.
 
She explained her position and asked him for advice, and he froze for a moment; considering all of his options.
 
The more he thought, the less he liked how he had started his meeting. Or this evening, for that matter.
 
With Aura—fuck it—he needed at least one person truly in his corner if he was to infiltrate this group. Might as well be as honest as he could be.
 
“If I were you, which I’m not,” Kieran started, thinking aloud, “and I were working with a sort of rebellion, which I’m not even sure if you are or not…and I captured me? Someone with authority in Apex? Shit…”
 
He didn’t finish the thought. He figured she could read his morose expression.
 
“I won’t report you,” Kieran admitted. Truthful. “I mean—you don’t know me, and I could be lying through my teeth, but for what it’s worth, I won’t. And I get the sense that you haven’t killed anyone before…” his voice wavered. A flood of memories hit him and he physically shook his head to try not to go down that path. “And believe me as much as you can, you don’t want to do that.”
 
Kieran sighed and paused—giving him one last out to avoid being honest. But that moment wasn’t very long.

He would give her some [i]very[/i]  good reasons not to trust him.
 
“I’ll come right out with it. I’m here to scout. To find people likely similar to those who had you in the streets tonight. I don’t know much. Some locations. Some names. Del. Gregor. Those sorts of things. I don’t know how well you know these people or how involved you are, but if I can convince AA I helped root out a rebellion, well…” He paused. “Well I’d be out of the docks, that’s for sure.” 

He thought for a moment, then continued. “So, maybe we can build some trust. You know this area; you know the problem people. I figure the fewer instigators there are, the more likely they’ll leave Atlantic well enough alone and life in all of F will be better for everyone. There are more enforcers here than I’ve seen anywhere else in Apex and I think maybe fewer enforcer shootings would help reduce that number.”

He couldn’t read her face, but something told him suggesting taking down the rebellion she was clearly sympathetic towards wasn’t coming across well. Hopefully being honest didn’t fuck him over this time...

“Aura...” he continued. “I’m not pro or anti either side here. My loyalty to Apex only extends to my ability to survive. I’d like to see fewer killings and convince AA I helped do their dirty work, so I’m all ears on any suggestions that’ll lead me to that end. Because if I don’t do this for them...well you may as well shoot me now.”