MAIZE

I can't believe I allowed her to talk me into this, Maize thought with a mental huff of reluctance as she walking through the main hall of the casino.

Soon after she and Cassandra had finished with their little 'chat', the manipulative casino owner had left Maize to herself after being made aware from one of her employees that she was needed elsewhere. But Maize knew it was more or less just an excuse to get out of the way so that Maize would 'feel free' to begin working on the new task she was set out to do.

Apparently—according to Cassandra's lookouts that was—the person she wanted Maize to snuff out was a gentleman, in his mid-thirties or so, with a taste for Italian blue suits, who had been winning a 'little too much' for Cassandra's liking. Accordingly, managing to walk away with nearly 100 000 dollars a night, each night, for the past week.

It didn't matter how much skill you had at the poker table. No one was that lucky.

All Maize had to do was find him, get a little information out of him about who he was, and possibly ruin his night. No big deal.

But it didn't mean she was happy about it.

Maize scoured the hall of poker tables in front of her. If the man was said to be cheating the cards, this was the best place to start looking.

She strode along, trailing her eyes over each of the tables like she was just any other woman, looking for a 'lucky' table to join. Guessing, there were about fifty different tables in the grand hall total, ones that differed from poker, roulette, and a variety of other games that the suit uniformed employees of the casino, of Cassandra, operated. A lot of them were occupied, more than Maize would have thought. Briefly, she wondered how difficult it was going to be to find one man—given just an estimation of his age and the fact that this was where he was most likely to be. Until something particular caught her eye from across the direction she was standing, and she remembered one more little detail she had been told.

A taste for Italian blue suits.

Maize felt a smile slip across her lips as she subtly rerouted her direction, making her way over with soundless steps. Heels were uncomfortable and could be a bitch to fight in—in Maize's experience. But, with enough practice, one could adapt to the light footwear to detract from making a sound until they were right upon their intended target. Take her for example.

His back faced her and he remained oblivious to her approach behind him. And from there, Maize watched, like a curious observer looking to play, and watched his game.

The estimate of his age seemed accurate enough from what Maize could tell. His hair was black and styled back so that the longer ends touched up around the height of his neck. His skin was dark almond, tanned, but not withered in a way that said he was the kind of guy who spent his days sitting by the beach. The suit was made to flatter him, but it was clear he was made of a more slender build.

When Maize watched him play his cards, over and over, she realized that her previous deduction was correct—no one was that lucky. And from the way he wore his sly grin, showing pearly white teeth, he knew it too.

Maize decided it was time to make her presence known as she walked up and slipped into the seat beside him, crossing one leg over the other casually as she folded her elbows over the edge of the table.

"You seem to have quite the winning streak," she flattered, startling him at the sudden sound of her voice.

The man blinked in surprise she sat down, not having realized he had been being watched these past few minutes. But, as soon as he caught sight of her, his surprise was forgotten as his gaze studying her up and down. He took his time. And Maize had to resist the urge to show how disgusted she felt as a slow smirking grin made its way onto his face, his gaze following her curves as his eyes rested on the exposed side of her leg through the open slit in her dress.

"What can I say, it seems I just keep getting lucky tonight..." he chortled as he looked back at her face. "What's your name gorgeous?"

"Sasha." She let the low flow off her lips easily, adding a smile for effect.

"How beautiful," he responded, showing a flash of white teeth. They were sitting close enough that he let a hand subtly brushed over and grazed across her exposed knee, the newfound yearning glint never leaving his eyes.

Maize fought hard not to recoil at his touch.

Don't punch him, don't punch him...

"What do I call you...?" Maize inquired coyly, leaving him to hopefully bite the lure and fill in the blank. But something flickered in his eyes and instead, he dodged around it.

"Oh sweetheart, you don't need to worry about that," he laughed it off.

"Why is that?" She subtly pressed. "Don't tell me it's because you're shy?" She inquired teasingly, hoping to pry enough to get him to say.

He laughed instead, "You amuse me."

"That so?" She answered, keeping up the flirty smile as she mentally cursed that he dodged the question. If he was an overly careful man, asking the same question too many times might tip him off. Great, now what?

"So, gorgeous," he chuckled, grinning at her, "are you here with anyone tonight?"

Get him to open up over a little time...

Maize was about to answer that she came alone tonight. But then she was cut off.

"She is actually."

Both of their gazes turned back in surprise to the new voice now at Maize's left.

Alec had a hard masked expression on his face as he stood there, left side leaned against the edge of the table leisurely as the detective's gaze went past Maize to narrow his eyes at the man across. He had also switched out of his previous clothing, he wore black tux pants and a white button-up dress shirt that was well-fitting as it clung to his toned build, most likely the parts of a suit he had found in the closet of their room. He didn't wear a blazer or a tie, by choice, Maize was sure. But somehow that managed to make him look more enigmatically tempting.

Needless to say, the view wasn't bad—But that was beside the point.

Where did he come from all of a sudden and why is he here now?! Maize shot the detective a glare to demand to know what the hell he thought he was doing, but he either didn't see, or did, and chose to ignore her.

The other man at the table cleared his throat awkwardly, looking oddly between the two of them. "Oh, I didn't...realize you were here with someone." He studied Alec cautiously, looking a little struck back by the glare being shot at him as turned to Maize, "Boyfriend, I assume?"

"Yeah, no," Maize scoffed at the same time Alec replied with a simple "yes."

That caused more confusion—mostly for Maize.

Stupid Alec fucking West, Maize cursed. What was he trying to accomplish here?

"I'm sorry, he's delusional," Maize said as she shot Alec a warning look when the other man couldn't see, a silently clear message to go away.

It didn't work.

"I don't think I'm the delusional one here," Alec countered with a frown, flashing a inquiring look between her and the other guy in the blue—who began to look a tad bit suspicious.

Maize played off Alec's comment with a slight chuckle, as if the whole thing was some amusing joke. While at the same time using her heel to kick Alec's shine under the table. She was at least satisfied when he winced slightly.

She leaned over and hissed in his ear when the other man was looking the other way, "What are you doing?"

"Why don't you tell me?" He returned, muttering low to match her tone.

Maize pushed down the strong urge to strangle him right there. Why did he have to come in and interrupt everything? Instead, she turned her head away quickly, which resulted in him getting smacked in the face with her ponytail.

If he wasn't going to leave then she would just pretend he wasn't there.

Easier said then done.

The dismissive action towards Alec did not go unnoticed by the dark haired man, and he seemed to make a decision about something as he looked once more between Alec's glare and Maize refusal to acknowledge him. "Well, since neither of you seem to agree on what you are, or aren't—" The man, seeming to regain some confidence, sent a sly smirk at Alec, who only narrowed his eyes further, "—what do you say you come along and be mine for the night, Sasha?" He questioned suggestively, his hand now stroking high up her knee to her thigh.

At the gesture, Maize swore she heard Alec let out a growl of sorts under his breath. But the other man either didn't notice or didn't care as he rose from his seat, lifting Maize's hand and pulling her with him. Then his shoulder was grabbed roughly as he tried to turn away. The man even winced at the pressure which was being applied under Alec's steel grip.

The detective looked furious behind the cold gaze of his eyes. "Not so fast, pal. Before you go anywhere with her...I think I need to have a little talk with 'Sasha' over here..." Alec intercepted, his eyes gleaming with enough threat that the other didn't protest as Alec suddenly pulled Maize away.

She didn't want to protest and make a scene, but she wasn't to fond of being dragging around either. And she let him know by making it as difficult as she could to keep his grip on her without attracting any curious attention.

When they were a far enough distance away with no one else around them, Alec finally stopped dragging her and spun around, glaring accusingly.

"Ok, now what the hell was that?" He demanded, referring to the whole charade that just went down with him, her, and the stranger.

Maize ripped her wrist from his grasp—which he didn't realize he still had until she did so—and gapped at him incredulously. "What do you mean? I should be asking you that for screwing up my cover! What was all that crap about being my boyfriend, huh? Or dragging me away when I had him right where I wanted him!"

"You mean about to take you away so you could sleep with him?" Alec shot back accusingly.

Maize curse him out, "No! You idiot! That wasn't what—"

"Oh really? That's exactly what it looked like to me," he said.

"Will you shut up and listen for one god damned second? It wasn't like that!"

Alec stared at her, "Then what the hell were you doing with him?"

"Working," Maize replied bluntly as she took a breath to calm herself and her frustrated irritation. "I was trying to get information."

A look of disbelief flashed across Alec's face—though oddly enough, he looked somewhat relieved.

"What the hell, Maize?" He asked, though he seemed to have calmed down a bit. "You're working a job inside a job? You realize we're in the middle of a mission—or maybe you hadn't noticed?" He said sarcastically.

Maize rolled her eyes, "I'm just doing it as a favour to Cassandra—acting as her secret interrogator so that I find out what she wants to know about this guys and who he is. Apparently he's been stealing money from the casino through cheats, and he's definitely a card counter. A good one. She wants to know who he is so she can kick him out."

"But why would she ask y—"

"Look it doesn't matter alright? It's just a little cash in for letting us stay at her place without charge—or maybe you hadn't noticed?" She threw the words back at him.

Alec ran a hand through his hair in exasperation as he grumbled under his breath in annoyance. "This really isn't the time for 'cash ins'," he stated pointedly.

"That so? Well then maybe you should quit interrupting and let me get back to it! It might actually get done faster that way."

Alec huffed at her use of sarcasm, muttering what Maize was sure, where not nice words under his breath before finally seeming to sigh in defeat. He looked back at her, "What is it exactly you need from that guy?"

"Easiest thing would be a name," Maize answered, crossing her arms as she glared back in the direction of the table. "But the bastard seemed to want to avoid telling me."

"Fine, wait here."

"What?"

Maize snapped her attention back up, but the detective was already walking off.

Thirty seconds later he came back.

"There, guy's name is Jack Martinez. Happy now?"

Maize blinked, "How did you..."

"Get a name so fast? Easy. I asked."

Maize frowned, "So did I, genius. Something tells me I was more appealing to him than you, but even then, he sidestepped giving an answer."

Alec looked thoughtful for a moment before he replied, "I very persuasively asked him."

Maize stopped, knowing what that was code for. "You threatened him," she deadpanned.

Alec shrugged nonchalantly and looked away. "I might have thrown in a little warning or two...to persuade him."

At least he wasn't denying it.

A slow smile of disbelief made it's way across her face as the curiosity pressed her. "What did you say?"

"Nothing much," Alec replied as he shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned a shoulder against the wall leisurely, looking down at her, "just that if he didn't give me his name and ever tried to touch you again, I'd do something unkind—like knock those perky white teeth in."

Maize laugh lightly. Alec's definition of 'persuasion' and the amusement it brought her made up for his previous interruption of her work, she decided.

Maize smiled, "Well, either way, I'll make sure not to waste my time and just use that approach the next time," she concluded, only half jokingly.

But something else also nagged in the back of her mind, something she currently wasn't heeding to address; namely, how pissed off and protective Alec had gotten that he added staying away from her as a part of his warning. She didn't realize he cared that much. Though, admittedly, it was a little fun to see him get mad.

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Alec then said. "The little seducing act you put on seemed to be working just fine—given a little more time I'm sure it would have worked..."

"You're the one who interrupted my time," Maize deadpanned accusingly. "Remember?"

"Oh...well, my bad."

He didn't sound at all sorry.

Maize merely rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Anyway," she began again, carrying on to the conversation. "Where did you leave Kishan before you came to bother me?" She asked, knowing full well that the man wouldn't slow himself to be left stuck in the room by himself while Alec went out to look for her.

Alec looked back and shrugged, "He should be hanging out by the bar. But, didn't you say you needed to give that name to the casino owner, now that you have it?" he asked.

"I'll look for her later," Maize answered.

But, turned out, that wasn't necessary. There, sitting at the bar, was Cassandra, right next to Kishan himself. They seemed to be getting into an amusing conversation, and didn't really pay any kind as the other two approached.

"Are they...flirting?" Alec murmured to Maize, sounding almost appalled by the idea as they saw Kishan and Cassandra laugh with one another.

"They're definitely getting along..." Maize observed in agreement.

"Hey you two, glad you came to join us!" Cassandra smiled greetings once she spotted them coming. Kishan sent a cheeky grin over at them as well, seeming amused at seeing Ec and Maize together.

While Alec and Kishan exchanged a few jabs, Cassandra looked at Maize inquiringly. She knew what the woman was wondering; had she managed to get the job done yet?

"Jack Martinez," Maize told her quietly. It was all she needed to say for the casino owner to smile.

"Perfect."

"Huh, what's that?" Kishan asked with a confused look.

Cassandra brushed her hand across his forearms in a reassuring gesture, "Nothing...just a little problem in my casino. I'll get my boys on it..." she smiled with a look of satisfaction as she took a leisurely sip of her glass. "Now, seeing how that has now been dealt with...who likes to dance?" She asked with a hint of mischief in her tone.

Alec blinked, "Uh, what?" He looked completely confused by her question.

"Come on, testy one, what do you say? You all should try living a little..." she smiled. Then without warning, she rose from her chair and took Kishan by the arm, leading him through the crowd until he was out of sight.

For a moment, Maize thought Cassandra had left them to themselves. But then the woman returned and began to beckon the both of them along with her, saying something about how they were at one of the most prestigious casinos in Mexico City and needed to lighten up a little to take the edge off. Before Maize even had the chance to argue with her, they were already standing in a large hall where live music played from the musician band in the corner.

The tile floor under their feet had switched from white to solids black, and the walls around them were darker, giving the large space a more luscious feel as the soft Spanish song played. It was like a ballroom of sorts, with it's own dramatic flare that's was. People around them were moving and dancing with their partners to the rhythm the band created.

Maize stood still. Why did Cassandra have to bring them here? Maize wasn't a dancer by any means. And she was definitely not in the mood to pretend.

The casino owner had already gone off with Kishan as Maize caught flashes of both of them within the crowd, waltzing together.

That's when Maize realized how close she and the detective were standing, side by side, but unmoving.

"This is...a little awkward," Alec muttered after a few moments, being the one out of the two of them to address the fact that they were the only ones standing in the middle of the dance floor.

"It is," Maize admitted sheepishly, feeling strangely self conscious in the unfamiliar type atmosphere.

She and Alec lapsed into silence again. And it was a few more moments before one of them finally broke it.

"Do you want to dance?"

The question caught her off guard as she looked up to meet Alec's eyes staring back at her. He offered his hand out in an inviting gesture. Maize hesitated. But then she nodded, taking his hand with a small smile.

The first thing she was aware of was the gentle caress of Alec's hand around her waist as he held her own hand with his other. She thought it might feel uncomfortable, being so close while neither of them were doing it to be teasing. But she found, it wasn't as bad as she would have thought. Despite the fact that Maize had never danced—with or without a partner—in her life, and was at a lose of what she was supposed to do.

"Feeling ok there, Maizey?" Alec asked.

"Fine, why?"

"Your face is a little flushed."

Maize shot him a glare as he sent her a knowing grin in return.

Stupid Alec fucking West, she thought.

Alec continued to lead her with the rhythm—having probably already come to the realization that she had no idea what she was doing. He guided her and she moved with him, synchronizing to each other's steps. Maize only stumbled once.

More notably, she was surprised by how natural the detective seemed to be when it came to leading her in the dance. She questioned him about it, out of curiosity and a twinge of jealousy. He answered with a wink and went on to explain how this wasn't the first time he had been to a ballroom like this, and how it had involved some terrible stakeout case he had been working a few years prior. Nevertheless it was an interesting story to hear.

As they continued on, Maize got the hang of it more and more. Now it was a less follow-the-leader as it was a synchronized pattern that they moved to. He would spin her and she would allow herself to twirl, and then sync right back into step with him without faltering. She even found herself beginning to enjoy it, oblivious to the fact that she had been smiling genuinely for the past few minutes straight. It didn't go unnoticed by the detective though.

All was going well, well enough that Maize felt confident enough to let her focus drift from her concentration. She gazed over Alec's shoulder at the gathering of people that had grown over the past few minutes, in search of perhaps catching a glimpse of Kishan and Cassandra. What she caught though, was something completely different.

A glimpse that made her body unconsciously stiffen. Though the shifting of dark tuxedos and shimmering dresses, Maize thought she saw something—the familiar face of someone she once knew.

Blue eyes, two of them, one slightly paler than the other surfaced in her mind. Just like all her other flashbacks of lost memories.

And then just like that it was gone. Along with the face of the person from her line of sight.

She was left with a cold ache in the pit of her stomach. She had seen him just now.

No, wait—that wasn't right. Why her mind was playing tricks on her was more the question she said she should be asking herself. That's all it was, that's all they ever were. Just flashes of visions from her own head. All in the past. Better left forgotten.

Yet even as she told herself this, she still felt the chill of fear that had been brought on by the recollection. These were all just haunts from her own mind, and she supposed it should have been expected. Coming to the casino, recalling old deeds...she had been being up too many memories. And she now realized, she was an idiot to have thought she could walk back into a piece of the past without repercussions from the rest. It was her own fault.

You couldn't crack open a door to the dark and not expect at least a few shadows to escape through.

Maize felt disconnected from her surroundings as movements didn't even sink with her anymore, like she wasn't quite in her own body. And she felt like she could hear someone calling her name but her mind didn't register it.

"Maizey? Maize? Ember? Hello?!"

It was the rough jolt she received from suddenly being shaken awake that finally brought her back to her senses. Her eyes snapped around wildly for a moment before resting on Alec. He was looking at her with concern.

"Maize, are you ok?" He asked, looking at her face.

That's when she realized her hands were shaking.

"I'm fine," she replied, a little too harshly.

Alec's expression furrowed deeper, obviously not so quick to believe her.

"I'm fine," she said again, willing it to sound convincing. But she knew she had to get out of there. "The crowd...I just...I think I need some breathing room."

Alec looked like he was about to say something, but whatever it was, Maize didn't stick around for the chance to hear it. Quickly pulling away from the detective, she kept her gaze forward as she turned away and hurriedly began heading the other direction. She felt Alec's questioning eyes on her back all the way to the end of the room until she finally escaped from his line of sight as she left.