Chapter 3

"Okay. Here it is," Zapp said to Klaus as both of them stood in front of an old apartment building.

"Are you sure?" his boss asked him. The white-haired man clicked his tongue.

"I wouldn't say so if I wasn't," he said, pulling out a cigar. "You gotta have some faith in me…" He placed the cigar in his mouth and lit it. "So, how do you wanna do this? Do we sneak in or-" He cut his sentence short when he noticed his boss was already walking up to the building.

"Hey! Don't just ignore me!" Zapp yelled. He then sighed and began to follow his boss into the building. There was no stopping Klaus now, all Zapp could do now was stand back and watch the show his boss was about to put on.

Unfortunately, when they entered the apartment building, they were unable to find any thugs that were still alive. "Dammit! The rest must've escaped while we were in the bringing Leo to the hospital," Zapp guessed. "Sorry, Boss. Looks like we lost our lead…"

Both Klaus and Zapp heard a thud from somewhere inside the building. When they went to check it, they saw one of the thugs. He had a diagonal slash wound on his chest, and was supporting himself by having one of his hands on the wall.

"Heh, looks like we got lucky," Zapp said. The Lowlife noticed them, and his eyes grew wide.

"Y-you! You're…" the thug said before he lost his balance and fell. Klaus went up to the man, bent down and propped him up against the wall.

"Oh, crap… You're that idiot who attacked me near the stairs!" Zapp said. He let out a laugh. "I can't believe you just got left here! Did they think you were dead or something?"

"I believe you know something important to us," Klaus said. "Please, tell us."

"Why… Why should I tell you anything!?" The thug asked in anger, not bothering to look up at the large man holding him. "Your 'friend' cut me up!"

"Don't start talking and I'll do something much worse that just cutting you up," Zapp threatened. Klaus raised his hand, signalling the white-haired man to stay silent.

"This is a very urgent matter and we need all the help we can get," he said. "So please, tell us what you know." The injured man looked up at Klaus.

"Were you not listening, you id-" the thug stopped talking mid-sentence and let out a small whimper. "o-okay, you wanna kn-know about the Human trafficking thing, right? I'll talk. Just … Please don't hurt me…" he said in a rather pathetic tone.

"Thank you. I'm grateful for it," Klaus said.

"What the hell!? I injured you. Why aren't you scared of me!?" Zapp asked the thug in frustration. "You know what? Fuck this. I'm out. I'm late for a date with Stephanie, anyway. Have fun." With that, the white-haired man turned and left.

"I… I don't know much, since I haven't been with them long. B-but, every month, we go to an alleyway few blocks away from here during the night a-and uhh, 'd-do business' there."

"Do you know the time of the next meeting?" Klaus asked.

"T…tonight, I think," the thug said. "L-look, that's all I know. L-like I said before, I'm… I'm pretty new to this whole thing."

"I see… thank you for this. The information you have given to me is invaluable," Klaus said before he stood up. "I'll call you an ambulance. it's the least I can do for you."

"N-No…. Don't bother. I don't want to be in debt for the rest of my life," the thug said.

"I will pay for your expenses," Klaus informed.

"Then I'll just end up owing you," the thug said. "I-I know a guy who can patch me up. I'll try to find him."

"Are you sure?" the beast of a man asked. "That wound seems rather deep."

"Yeah I'm… I'm sure," the thug said. "Just, get outta here, already."

"Very well. Goodbye," Klaus replied. He didn't feel right just leaving the man, but if he was unwilling to accept help there was not much Klaus could do. Besides, there were more important matters to deal with. The information he received, while not as much as he hoped, was a huge step forward.

After he left the apartment building he walked up to Gilbert, who was sitting in the driver's seat of his heavily armed car. "Ah, Klaus, You're back," he said. "Zapp left a short while ago. Did you get what you wanted?"

"Yes, I did," Klaus answered as he entered the back seat of the car. "Hopefully this can be properly dealt with within the week."

"Excellent," Gilbert said in response. "Where to next?"

"First, the HQ. I want to discuss the information with the others and set up a plan," Klaus said.

"And after that, back to the hospital?" the butler suggested, causing Klaus to look at him in confusion. "I've been by your side for years now, and you're not exactly the most… mysterious person. Your worry for the young Leonard is practically plastered across your face. "

Klaus didn't respond. He didn't really know how to. It was true that he was extremely worried for Leonard's well-being, especially when he was in such a fragile state.

"I understand it's in your nature, but I suggest you try not to worry too much," Gilbert said. "While Leonard constantly finds himself in the center of disaster, he always comes out relatively unscathed. I'm certain he'll make a quick and full recovery."

"I can only hope you're right," Klaus said. In silence, Gilbert started the car and began to drive back to the Libra Headquarters.

Again, Thanks so much for all the people that favorited and followed this story, I'm honestly really surprised. I'm sorry this took so long, I've been busy with other stuff.