The man zoned out, tuning out the sound of Theo’s voice as he let his thoughts run wild, considering every single thing that just might have been suspicious. What would Theo do if he did find out? The leader didn't seem like a cruel man but he had no way of knowing what he'd do if he found a cop in his gang.

"You three, with me, now."

He was pulled back out of his head when he heard the leader's voice closer to him and he looked around quickly to confirm that he didn’t mean any other three people apart from him, Alleya and Taurus.

He got to his feet, his worry growing even stronger now as he followed the leader towards his room. When he felt Alleya crash into his back he stumbled forward a step and glared back at her before realizing that it was someone who’d tried to trip her as he saw the other member doing their best to contain their own laughter and he instead glared at that person, muttering a quiet, “Grow up,” under his own breath.

Niké glanced up at Theo who was telling Alleya off for someone else tripping her and he had to hold back from scoffing, it wasn't her fault but he didn't say that, he didn't feel like defending her this time, he'd done enough of that yesterday and since she wasn't in danger, he didn't feel the need to.

Along with Taurus and Alleya, he followed their leader into the man's room, leaning his back against a wall and crossing his arms a bit defensively, prepared to lie in order to save his own ass.

Alleya and Taurus, he could understand why they were there, they had had a fight and Theo probably just wanted to make sure that it wouldn't happen again. But why he was there, he had no clue, he hadn't done anything, he hadn't fought with anyone, he'd gone along with the morning patrol to scavenge, he had behaved himself! The only reason he could think of was that the leader was suspicious of him and he couldn't understand how or why as he hadn't done anything that hr himself though could be suspicious.

He watched and listened as Alleya went off about how she was sorry in a panicked tone. The woman really had no chill, she was extremely intense no matter what mood she seemed to be in. It had to be exhausting to be her.

"I want you three to scout local areas for a new location. I can't risk sending any of the night guards, we need them here for protection. Taurus will be the leader of the group since he is most familiar with street life."

Niké’s whole body relaxed when Theo revealed why he’d called them with him. His earlier worry disappearing in an instant, he was still safe and the man had no clue about who he actually was.

He did raise an eyebrow at the last sentence though, he didn't really have any clue about Taurus’s past experience but he did find it amusing that Theo would say something like that when he didn't really have any information about Niké’s past. The grey-haired man had spent four whole years mostly on the streets before getting arrested a final time and deciding to change his life around. He stayed quiet though, it didn't matter to him and he definitely wasn't interested in leading any group, as long as he was able to keep his true identity hidden then he was happy.

Those four years had been quite different from how things were now though, he couldn't say that he regretted them, even if a lot of bad things had happened during those years. However during that time he'd been free, free to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. He and his gang of friends had gotten up to so much shit and he missed that, every day had been exciting, he'd never known what they were getting up to, they had all just taken life as it had come.

There was nothing wrong with the way Theo ran his gang, but it was different, much more organized and more like a family in a way that he'd never expected. It wasn't what he'd imagined and while it was far from what he was used to in the past, it was still very similar in some ways.

The man’s pale gaze met Alleya’s for a few seconds as she stared back and forth between him and Taurus with a stunned expression. He stayed quiet for only a few seconds, hating when people stared at him, it always made him uncomfortable for some reason.

“Quit staring at me, I haven't said or done anything,” he muttered, his body language once again becoming more tense and defensive. It was probably the lack of sleep that made him more on edge today, normally he would probably have kept quiet and looked away but today he felt more cautious and nervous than what he otherwise would about nearly everything.

"Taurus and Alleya, you may go and get ready. Niké will join you shortly."

Once again, worry filled the man. He was starting to doubt if he would be able to do this mission, it was already causing him a lot of stress but being gone for three days would probably give him enough time to calm himself and sort all his thoughts out properly, he hoped so at least.

When he felt Alleya’s hand brush against his, Niké quickly pulled his hand back. The touchy woman probably thought the same as him, that he was in trouble.

Once again, the man crossed his arms defensively, as he met the leader's gaze. The other male wore a serious expression, not showing any hint of any other emotion.

"What did I do last night? Before I woke up."

The question was not what he'd expected and he was surprised that he wasn't asking Alleya, she'd been the one who'd refused to leave his side, Niké had practically had to force her out of the room. He didn't mind the question though, in fact he was relieved.

“You’d start whimpering and trash around a bit, nothing out of the ordinary really, given what had happened to you, you did take quite the beating after all,” he told the man, he was smart enough to know that it wasn't what the man was asking about though. He wanted to know if he'd said anything and since there was no reason for Niké to lie, he wouldn't.

“You also said someone's name,” Niké glanced over at the picture on the leader's desk, “Flynn. You said you loved her.” He turned his gaze back to the leader, “She must have been important to you.”

The grey-haired man paused for a second, thinking back to last night, so much had happened in such a short time that it was almost hard to remember.

“Oh right, your father. You went on about him too, yelling for him to stop torturing you…” Niké went quiet as his gaze drifted a bit, he didn't say anything about the fact that the man had started crying or that he had had to comfort him in order for him to calm down.

If he'd noticed one thing then that was that the leader wanted to appear strong in front of his gang, someone having heard about not just one but two things that he doubted many people knew about and that seemed to have had quite the effect on who Theo had become, at least that's what Niké guessed, was probably hard enough for the man without hearing those details.

Niké watched in silence at how the man reacted, now understanding why he had asked him and not Alleya. He watched the strong leader crumble into a broken man within seconds. He felt bad for the man, if it was as he suspected, Flynn had been someone he loved dearly and who was now gone, most likely dead and his dad had been an abuser.

This was wrong.

He couldn't convince himself otherwise anymore, what he was doing was wrong. They were all just people with rocky pasts trying to survive together and here he was in the middle of everything, trying to find a reason to have them all arrested.

"Now you know that I'm just a piss poor excuse for a leader."

Niké looked at the man who was now sitting on his bed and looking down at the floor. With a sigh, the grey-haired man moved and sat down on one of the chairs, dragging out the time a little to figure out what to say. He didn't want to end up in a similar situation with Theo as he had with Alleya the night before.

“We all have stuff from the past that haunts us, you can't just erase your past but you can learn to live with it,” Niké started, his blue gaze pointed at the wall as he carefully chose his words, “What you have to remember is that your past doesn't define you, it shapes you but it doesn't define you.”

The man fell silent for a few moments, the words coming from his mouth didn’t feel like his own, it sounded much more like something that Dion would say. His brother had always been better at comforting people, he'd always know the exact right things to say.

“You choose the type of person that you want to be, your past doesn't determine that for you. So no, you're not just a piss poor excuse for a leader, not unless you don't let yourself become that,” he finally said, keeping his eyes on the wall as he waited for the leader’s reply.

Niké’s gaze fell to the floor, watching the rock that Theo was kicking back and forth. He felt bad for the man, having had to suffer so much in his still relatively short life, he wasn't much older than himself after all. The more he heard the man say, the more the guilt inside him grew, it was to the point where he wanted to confess right on the spot but he couldn't do that.

"We were extra careful but it still happened. When she found out the news, she was excited but I was upset and angry. I-I think I caused her to carry too much stress. She stopped eating and her body couldn't..."

It didn't take more than just a few seconds for him to figure out what Theo was talking about. No wonder the man didn't seem too affected by the beating, it had to be nothing compared to that…

“I’m sorry you had to go through that…” the man's words were quiet, not much louder than a whisper, he didn't want to risk saying the wrong thing but he also had no clue on how to comfort the leader, “It's not your fault though… It's no one's fault, sometimes the world is just cruel and unfair.”

Niké bit his lower lip a little, he knew that those words likely weren't of any comfort, Theo blamed himself for the death of not only his lover but also their child, it didn't matter what he said because in the end it was all just words and words never brought anyone back to life so how would they help anyone feel better?

Both he and Dion never knew their fathers, they had both taken off before their births. Theo had been young, it was no wonder that he'd reacted with anger when he'd found out but he wasn't to blame for Flynn’s death and by the sound of it, he hadn't left her despite being upset and angry.

“As long as you didn't leave her then you're a better person than most,” he mumbled. Growing up Niké had always wished that he'd had his dad around, or at least a dad, someone who'd helped his mom with bringing in money, who'd been their to help raise him instead of Dion, who had only been two years older, having to raise him practically on his own, someone who would have just been there for all of them.