A/N: here's chapter 29. Enjoy, people.

"Alex, just tell us what's going on!" Jax exclaimed desperately. "Whatever it is, we can help you—"

"No you can't," he snapped. "This is something I need to do by myself."

"Jax." Harry laid a heavy hand on his shoulder with a kind smile. "Remember what we talked about? Not everyone stays the same after so many years."

Iris crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "Something's wrong."

Jax stared at her. "Ya think?"

"Wait a second." Lisa raised a hand, cutting Iris' scathing remark off.

She crossed the room and tugged on the collar of Alex's jacket. Alex flinched, pure terror in his eyes, as Lisa pulled out a tiny black chip connected with a wire that ran down his chest and disappeared somewhere in his sleeve.

How long has that been on? Iris sucked in a sharp breath and felt a flush crawl up the back of her neck as she thought back to her bickering with Alex in the alleyway. She was so stupid for not considering the possibility of a listening device.

"Stay silent won't help you, young man," Lisa said in a loud, clear voice while motioning to David.

He nodded and slammed his hands on the metal table, mimicking the sound of a body slammed against the ground. David glared meaningfully at Alex, who simply looked puzzled.

Jax sighed and slapped him over the head.

"Oh ow!" Alex exclaimed, rubbing the sore spot. "What the hell?— oh!" Realisation dawned on his face and he continued making pained groans and spluttering.

To add to the false torture effect, Lisa continuously asked question which Alex answered- falsely, Irish assumed, based on the subtle shift in his demeanour.

She hated how she still knew him so well. Hated how she could read every single one of his micro-expressions, and how her heart still hurt at the sight of his wounds. Even after all these years. Even after everything he'd done. It still hurt. It shouldn't hurt.

Lisa disappeared for a few moments- possibly to discard of the microphone, or maybe to escape the stifling tension. She returned with a glass of water and she handed it to Iris with a reassuring smile. "You okay?"

Iris felt like breaking down. How many people had asked her that question ever since her mother died? She wanted to curl up and cry. Shut out the world and just forget it all.

What point did it make, anyways? Her mother was gone. Finding her murderer wasn't going to do anything. It wasn't going to bring her back.

Iris remembered reading about some religious- or was it ancient?- cultures that claimed the souls of those who were murdered would wander the earth, forever at unrest, until justice was delivered.

Iris's own relationship with religion was complicated, but she couldn't bear the chance- no matter how small- that her mother could be suffering in the afterlife. She had been through enough alive, and deserved a rest in death.

Squaring her shoulders, she imagined Elise standing right beside her and levelled her gaze at Alex. "Who killed my mother?"

Alex lowered his head and his eyes fluttered shut. "Ask Mi Cha about it." His voice was strained- pained, even, like the words took a physical effort to break free.

"Why can't you tell me?"

"I just can't."

"That's a pretty shitty excuse." Jax's grey eyes were dull, as if the life had been snapped out of them, and he hunched over. He scuffed the toe of his shoe against the pristine, white floors. "I thought... I thought you'd changed."

"Traitors don't change," Iris responded, ignoring how Alex flinched. "Now, if you'll all excuse me."

She pushed open the door, not daring to meet Harry's concerned gaze, and saw the West-Brown boys pressed up against the wall with glasses in their hands and ears. They froze, like a young deer caught in a pair of headlights.

"Is- uh- is everything okay?" Brandon cleared his throat, subtly trying to shove the glass behind his back and taking a deliberate step away from his brothers. "We were worried."

Why does everyone keep asking me that? "Everything will be fine. Now, I have a favour to ask."

"Done," Elijah said immediately.

You don't even know what it is. Iris bit back a snarky response, recollecting how, when she was younger, Elijah was always the one who'd step up to take responsibility and help the others.

A fragmented memory briefly blurred her vision: she was four years old, and had just smashed a rather precious vase by mistake. Elijah had found her crying over the broken pieces and had pulled her away, later taking all the blame when confronted by their parents. He'd gotten into a lot of trouble, but never once crumbled under the pressure. She remembered going to his room and absolutely bawling into his shoulder, but he'd simply gripped her shoulder and said I've got you until she'd stopped crying.

"I'd like it if you guys were there when I question Mia." Iris looked straight at Elijah, privately hoping only he would agree. "I don't think her brother will respond favourably to me, and I don't have a particular desire to knock him out."

"I'll do it for you." Damien raised his hand and started rolling up his sleeves.

"Calm down." Elijah pushed him back, rolling his eyes. "Yes, Riss— sorry, Iris, we would be happy to."

"Iris, we need to talk." Jax tugged on her sleeve in desperation. He whispered, "Look, I didn't tell Harry about the text, like you asked, but things are getting out of hand. I think we should—"

Iris wrenched her hand free with a snarl. "Do what you want, I don't care." She walked towards the guest room, ignoring his gaze burning a hole in her back.

In truth, she didn't know why she was upset with Jax. Perhaps it could be because she knew he still believed Alex was their friend. Or it could be because she was just angry at everyone right now- at the world, in fact, for taking away her mother. For throwing her on the streets. For forcing her to grow up too quickly.

She was just angry.

But it didn't matter what her personal feelings were. Iris gripped them in a tight ball and shoved it deep down until the pain and fear were a dull numb at the back of her mind.

She took three deep breaths and glanced at Elijah flanking her left, who gave a subtle nod of encouragement, and pushed open the guest room door.

Eun Woo leaped from the chair, arms stretched out to form a protective stance in front of Mi Cha. She clicked her tongue against her teeth and shoved him to the side, speaking in rapid-fire Korean.

"Hey." Iris waved awkwardly. "Didn't think I'd see you before class tomorrow, Mi Cha."

"Please, call me Mia." She ran a hand through her frizzled dark hair with an incredulous chuckle. "Can't believe you are the one I've been looking for."

"You've been looking for me?"

"Of course! Your mother, Elise, was a wonderful woman. She would- she would give me food whenever she saw me—"

Iris cut her off. "I don't need to hear how great of a woman she is— was. I already know. You have to tell me who murdered her."

"Only if you can guarantee her protection," Eun Woo spoke up with a glare.

"Done," Iris said immediately. "Now tell me."

Mia took a deep breath. "On the day she was murdered, I was walking by her home— your home. It was very early and I'd— actually, I don't want to get into that right now. I just had to return something to Elise when I heard raised voices. I heard a name. Meredith. Elise was telling her to leave- saying she didn't have it."

"What?"

"I don't know. The front door was open, so I stupidly thought I could slip in and leave the item. I saw- I saw Elise suddenly collapse and then woman injected her with something. There were two or three others with her. They dragged Elise's body over to the bottom of the stairs and staged it to—" Mia broke off with a pained choke, squeezing her brother's hand.

"What did this woman look like?" Brandon spoke up, his voice strangely hoarse. Iris was glad he asked. She didn't think she could utter a single word without breaking down.

"Brown hair, quite tall, but I don't know much else. I couldn't see much that day. But one of the, uh, one of the lackey's spotted me. They gave chase and I barely managed to get away but I must've been seen because I was told I needed to go into hiding by some agency until this whole situation blew over. Then I could give a testimony."

"So why were you at school then?" Damien asked. "Not exactly subtle."

Mia looked shrugged. "The people looking after me wanted to give me as normal of a life as possible, and that it would raise too many questions if I suddenly dropped off the grid. So they planted two of their agents with me at school- that's Charlotte and Jay."

Iris' eyes widened. "Woah, really?"

"Oh yes." Mia nodded. "Charlotte's actually two years older, but was blessed with a childish face and incredible skills with makeup. Jay is a year older, and he's protecting me as part of this training."

"What about Aiden?"

"Oh he knows nothing. But he seemed like a nice guy so we allowed him as part of our group."

It's impossible that he knows nothing, considering how his parents work for David. Iris chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. "Contact the people at this agency and let them know you'll be transferring to a safe house within the city. I know some people- who owe me a lot of favours- who can protect you. Let's break for now and reconvene in the morning. I'll get David to ring the school and tell them we won't be in."

"Okay." Mia nodded, her eyes glassy. "By the way, Iris, I'm sorry for your loss."

The dull ache returned and a mechanical smile stretched Iris' lips. "Thank you, I am too."

She didn't quite remember walking back to her room, or sitting down on the bed. All she could feel was a crushing sense of loneliness as the walls of the room slowly grew closer and closer and closer—

A gentle hand rested on her shoulder and she leaned into a warm embrace. Silent sobs wracked Iris' body and Elijah drew his arms tighter around her, patting her back comfortingly.

"I've got you," he whispered. "I've got you."

***************

Wholesome moment to end with before the next chapter 🥰

I hope you guys liked it!

Stay safe and thanks for reading :)