MAIZE

She was relieved to be out of those clothes. More suitably comfortable in the loose black pants and the same colour tank top that let her feel the air on her shoulders. The skin of her forearms prickled with the cold touch of the metal banister she leaned forward on as she stared out over the balcony. The cool night air blew the strands of hair that had fallen untied from her ponytail, now resting loosely at either side of her face. She found it calming.

The view of the colourful lights—though different from that of Brooklyn—was soothing to look. It was calm, easing, a steady to hold onto as she relaxed her mind. Maize had always loved to watch the city at night. No matter where she was.

The balcony was just another attachment to the suite, and it was the one thing Maize didn't mind taking advantage of. Especially tonight.

The sound of the sliding screen door behind her as it was slowly pulled open brought her to attention as she heard the person turn and close it shut again, softly as though not to disturb the peace. In a flash, the dark sweater that had been hanging over the banister beside her elbow was retrieved and her arms swiftly threaded through the sleeves.

Standing in the dark, alone, it hadn't mattered much, but now, her shoulders were covered—as was the scar that marked her left. She was just glad the balcony was too poorly lit for the sudden action to have drawn any attention as the footsteps behind her closed the distance.

"Can I join you?" Alec's voice asked gently from behind her.

Maize didn't trust herself to speak at that moment, so she gave an absent nod of her head instead. It wasn't surprising that he had come to find her. A part of her had been expecting it. Yet she didn't know if that meant she had wanted him to come or not.

Alec wordlessly moved at her side, leaning forward on the banister as she was so that they were practically elbow to elbow. But their skin didn't meet. He didn't speak. Though Maize could feel his eyes shifting over to glance at her more than a few times in the minutes they spent standing in easing silence. It wasn't awkward, necessarily, but there was a sense of tension in the air that the silence would have to be broken at some point.

Alec was the one to do it.

"Was it the asking you to dance?" He asked quietly, staring ahead at the view.

"Excuse me?"

"Or was it because of what I did before?"

Maize watched him, studying his solemn expression. "What are you going on about, West?" she murmured, though her tone lacked its normal bite.

"I'm asking what I did to make you leave," Alec said. His tone held no anger, confusion, or bitterness. His voice lacked any emotion at all—save for a hint of regret. "I know we have our playfully bantering moments, but it's all in good fun. I realize your feelings don't go past that, and that's fine...I guess I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry for trying to push it."

Maize was quiet for a moment, taking in the meaning of his words. "West...you have nothing to apologize for...I don't know why you..."

He looked up to meet her eye. "That's not why you left?"

Maize blinked once, before she suddenly shook her head and let out a small laugh. "You know, for such a great detective, you're pretty dense," she told him. "You give yourself too much credit—the reason I left had nothing to do with you."

Alec straightened. "Really?"

"Really."

Alec paused and studied her face again. "What was it then?" He asked a little more cautiously before he smiled teasingly, "Don't tell me it's because you felt inferior to my outstanding performance as your dance partner."

Maize rolled her eyes. "Again, I think you give yourself too much credit."

"I don't hear you denying it."

"I do deny it."

Alec chuckled quietly. "So, what did make you leave like that...I was honestly a little worried..."

"Aw, Detective West, is this your way of saying you care?" Maize asked slowly, a bit of teasing in her smile.

He smirked slightly, "I thought I made that clear when I threatened to beat up that sleaze-bag from before."

She paused. "Oh, and here I thought that was just a show of macho bravado."

Alec thought about it for a moment and shrugged, "That too."

"It was nothing, West, really."

He gave her a soft look, "I don't believe that."

Maize held his gaze, refusing to look away in a show that he was right not to, but also not sure what to say. Should she try to explain? Would someone like him even understand?

No.

But that didn't stop her from slipping a little. "Back there, I thought I saw something that wasn't really there...it was a stupid little thing but...I don't know, I guess it just brought back a few old memories that I didn't want to relive..."

Alec had an empathetic look on his face. "From the look on your face now and before, I'm guessing they weren't the warm and fuzzy kind..."

Maize shook her head a little as she looked down at her hands. "Far from it."

"...Need to talk about it?"

"What are you a detective and a therapist now?" She questioned, getting a bit of her snappy tone back now that she was returning to normal.

Alec smirked. "I can be a man of many talents," he said humorously.

"You really are so full of yourself," Maize sighed with a roll of her eyes.

"I will pretend like I didn't hear that..."

"I can say it again if you had trouble hearing—"

"No I think I'm good," Alec retorted with a flat look, though his eyes still twinkled with humour before he ran a hand through his hair and released a breath. "Well, anyway, it's getting late, you should sleep...I'll head back down and make sure that friend of yours didn't get Kishan too drunk at the bar. Last I saw, that's where they were heading."

"If that's the case then maybe checking up on them isn't such a bad idea..." Maize answered with a laugh.

Alec shook his head, "Thought so. Catch you later."

He left after that, sliding the door shut behind him with a click so that Maize was once again alone in the open night. She once again relaxed into the quiet ease, only now, she felt a slight sense of loneliness that hadn't been there before. What was wrong with her?

That damn Alec fucking West, that's what.

Maize sighed. She wouldn't deny it—at least not to herself—that Alec was more attractive than the average male, much more...Physical attraction was inevitable from the start, only before, she thought him too much of an asshole to really consider it.

Until he showed her a different side of him that's was. He showed her that he wasn't the kind of guy he thought, that he was more rational than she previously gave him credit for, and he genuinely seemed to care about her. His confession from before still rang fresh in her mind.

A few damn kind words and she had nearly gone undone inside...actually considered, for a moment, that she could open up about her past. Even if it was only for a moment.

And that was a dangerous thing. Not only for her, but for him as well.

Whatever he thought and whatever she felt, nothing would ever happen between them—anything he might perceive about her was mislead.

Maize couldn't let herself forget that he was a cop, someone who's job was to serve and protect the innocent. To put away the bad guys who have done wrong in this world. Bad thing. Unforgivable things. He strived for justice, Maize knew him long enough to know that.

And the truth was, Maize had never been one of the 'good guys'.

* * *

Z

"That was risky...what you did tonight."

He smiled, looking out towards the lights that dangled from palm trees.

Music played from inside, a live band. He had always liked music, it was nice. He remembered as a child, it had been a rare occurrence to hear such a thing—either playing from a radio that carried outside from an open window, or a passing character with sounds emanating from swinging earbuds. He was a different being than he had been back then.

He sat in the back of a limousine, the driver absent for the time being. A black cell phone rested on the armrest, playing the current call on speaker.

"Maybe. But, it changes nothing," he said leisurely.

"And if she recognized you?" Silan inquired. From her tone of voice, he could picture the irresolute look of doubt on her face.

"Oh she did..." he responded. "I know she did."

There was silence on the other end.

"Don't think too much, stuck to your field and I'll stick to mine. We'll see where the game goes from here..." he chuckled.

He had already made his move. And when it came to play, he would be watching.