The humans backed up, retreating out the door.

Darkness didn’t care that Tim appeared furious. “You should go with them.”

“Don’t threaten me.”

“Call it a friendly warning. The female stays here. I’ll get your answers. You want to know if she was aware of the blackmail and who the male is. I’ll find out my own way.”

Justice nodded. “Darkness will handle this matter.”

Tim gasped. “She’s human, therefore my responsibility. It’s my job to—”

“Follow my orders,” Justice stated. “I understand that you’re angry because you’re looking out for us but Darkness is right. This became a Species matter when the female in question took refuge under this roof.”

“She was kidnapped from Medical,” Tim reminded him.

“Actually,” Midnight countered, “she asked True to hide her. She was pretty out of it but it was clear she wanted his help. Can you kidnap someone who has asked you to move them to another location?”

“No,” Darkness answered. “He hid her inside his apartment.”

“I’m not sure what room he’s keeping her in.” Dagger smiled. “I’d consider that hidden. He was just doing what she requested so it can’t be kidnapping.”

“Goddamn it,” Tim raged. “This isn’t a game. You’re harboring a fugitive from me and my team. I know Species have a blind spot when it comes to anything with a vagina but this bitch managed to rip the NSO off for millions of dollars in a blackmail scheme while New Species suffered. Let me do my job.”

“We’ll handle this, Tim. Why don’t you go review the details of how we learned about Drackwood? That would be very helpful,” Justice suggested.

“Son of a b—”

“Stop,” Justice snarled. “I don’t have a blind spot just because she’s female. I understand you think we’re more likely to believe her because she’s female but do you know what convinces me to allow Species to handle this matter? They care about her. We’re not idiots. Some of them know this female, spent time with her during their captivity, and they vouch for her. That’s what motivates me to walk out the door while she’s upstairs. Go do your job by pulling and reviewing the details of how we found out about Drackwood. You’ll be notified as soon as they learn any new information you can work with. Go.” He pointed to the door. “I’ll remember that you’re so passionate because you care instead of physically tossing you out on your ass for the insult you just spoke.”

Tim stomped outside where his team waited. Justice watched him go, frowning.

“Thank you for backing me up.” Darkness inclined his head in appreciation.

“He’s trying his best to do his job.” Justice paused. “Regulations state that humans are his problem but I disregarded them. Handle this matter. I trust you to keep me in the loop at all times and she’s your responsibility. She’s to go nowhere without a male at her side and to make no outside contact.”

“Understood.”

Justice turned but paused, glancing back. A slow smile curved his lips. “I’m glad to see you getting involved. You’ve been a bit distant.”

“I like True.”

“So do I. You know this could have been avoided if you’d been the one to question her. You’re very thorough.”

“I refuse to torture females.”

The smile faded from Justice’s lips. “I never said you had to. You have a very unique history with skills we lack. I doubt you’d have to resort to physical violence to convince a female to talk.”

Darkness lifted his chin, anger flashing in his eyes. “No.”

“You’re aware of what happened when the task force found that female at Cornas since you admitted to reading all available files on Jeanie Shiver. You wouldn’t have allowed her to be harmed by the team if you’d been on scene.”

“I refuse to leave NSO lands with the recovery teams. You never wish to see me in a combat situation, Justice.” Darkness’ voice lowered to a whisper to make certain it didn’t carry throughout the room. “I’ve seen enough death and they turned me into a killing machine. I’m not sure I could turn if off if I had to do it again.”

Fury cleared his throat. “Midnight? Dagger? Please excuse us.”

The two disappeared down the hallway into the library. Justice broke the silence first.

“I understand your fears but—”

“I’m not afraid. I’m what everyone else fears.” Darkness blew out a frustrated sigh. “Our people keep a wide berth from me.”

“You would have handled the situation with Jeanie Shiver better than Tim’s team did. The humans get too emotional in our defense. They believe we’re still too naïve or softhearted. No one could accuse you of that. Will you at least consider handling any future interrogations with females brought to Homeland? You can hand them off to someone else to deal with if you feel uncomfortable but I’d sleep better at night knowing you were the one in charge of gaining information from them.”

Fury drew Darkness’ attention. “You handled this situation extremely well. Justice is wise and I believe you’re not giving yourself enough credit. You’re not a monster. You’re a survivor who had to do the unthinkable but it also makes you the best one for the job. The humans trained you to gain information from other humans. You understand that females and males are not alike and should be treated different. Tim’s team doesn’t make that distinction. No torture or abuse needs to be applied to females unless they have a military background where they’ve been conditioned to withstand emotional triggers.”