MAIZE

Before Maize could argue with him further or to tell him to let her go instead, the detective was gone and Maize lost sight of him.

However, she could still hear as the sound of shouting filling the air a distance away, getting farther from them now. Alec was already working to lead them away.

"That...reckless...idiot...!" Kishan wheezed through teeth clenched tight in pain. His bleeding still had not let up, Maize saw, and it wasn't getting any better.

Dammit. She was stuck. She wanted to go after West—for being an idiot and to make sure he didn't get himself killed—but what he had said was true, Kishan was going to bleed out at this rate. Dammit! Maize mentally cursed the word again as she shut her eyes in frustration, torn between the decision. She then chose looked at it objectively, regardless of personal tactile. The bounty Hunter side of her told her to focus on the main thing here; the job. She made a choice.

"Come on, Kishan." Maize's eyes were hard as she took his uninjured arm and pulled him along.

"What? We can't leave him like that! He's good with a gun—don't tell him I admitted that—but not that good that he can take on that many at once!" Kishan exclaimed angrily. "Are you really okay leaving like this?!"

"No, I'm not," Maize answered stiffly as they kept moving purposefully. "But he said he'd meet us there—and not once since I've known him, has he ever failed to do something he said he would," she stated.

Kishan gave her a slight glance but did not say anything more as they continued on. Maize forced herself to keep her mind set in finding the safe house, and not to look back behind her.

Don't prove me wrong, West.

* * *

ALEC

Nearly thirty minutes had passed.

Alec was breathing hard as he fought to catch his breath.

That actually went much quicker than I thought it would, Alec thought to himself as he glanced down at the scene behind him. The forms of several cartel members lay in a trail on the ground, leading a path that ended at the detective's standing form.

Each one of them had come at him, and so, he'd taken each one down with either a bullet or a hit. They weren't dead, yet. Those that had been shot were bleeding and would need medical attention, but that would be for the local authorities to deal with when they issued for their arrest. Whenever they actually decided to show up, Alec thought to himself.

At first, he hadn't doubted that he would be able to take on this many at once, so to say. But damn had he been lucky. Aside from a dull throb in his side from a boot he had received and a slight cut under his left eye from a hit he hadn't managed to block—he had made it out fairly unharmed.

Only, perhaps he had contemplated his victory a little too soon.

Just as he thought he had gotten to means to fully catch his breath, his body was jacked to attention as the flash of a silver bullet whizzed right past his eye. He jumped out of the way just in time as two more followed.

More street gang members. Coming in from the left, and there were a lot of them—over a dozen from the looks as it. Either they had regrouped with backup to add to their numbers, or Alec hadn't taken out quite as many as he had thought.

In his defence, he hadn't really been counting.

The members approached. It seemed, after seeing their members down and his as the prime suspect, they were more seething with their intent to kill.

Shit, he thought.

And to make matters worse, he realized his gun chamber was empty. He had spent the last of his rounds finishing off the guys before.

He took it back; he was not lucky at all.

With no other choice—but to stay and get shot—he made a break for it as the sound of bullets shooting into the wall behind him filled his ears. He felt the vibration from the bullets as they ricoched off the ground at his feet.

Either these guys were just terrible shots, or they weren't trying to kill him just yet. Though the thought didn't instill him with all that much more assurance. They definitely still wanted to hurt him.

Alec gritted his teeth in alarm as he felt the scrape of a bullet tear through the right shoulder sleeve of his top, however he didn't feel any pain. The shot must have just missed his skin. Once again, not a comforting thought.

That was close, too fucking close.

And it seemed his luck only got worse from there.

The next alley he turned down had something that made him halt abruptly. More members of the cartel were waiting for him there, standing as an obstruction in his path. He had, quite literally, taken a turn for the worse. And could definitely bet that each of them was armed.

Alec didn't have to glance back to know that the footsteps behind him was the sound of the other half of the gang, the ones who had been chasing him. They quickly cut off his exit, leaving him trapped on both sides.

Fuck, Alec mentally cursed. His luck had most definitely run out.

"Looks like you're out of options," one of the members on the side facing him called, his voice draughty and clipped with hispanic tongue.

Alec immediately recognized him, easily. The man who had been barking out all the orders—the one who had lead the initial charge on the casino in the first place.

That made him the ringleader, did it not? In Alec's mind it did.

The detective didn't answer right away, but instead decided to flash a narrowed glance over his shoulder. The ones behind him hadn't moved, they held their position, blocking him in. He was trapped, that was undebatable. But Alec guessed they wouldn't move unless he tried to run, or unless their 'boss' gave them an order to. Which he hadn't done yet. He stood at the front of the first group, smiling like a man who had nothing to lose—not with all his backup behind him.

Alec stood tall, but defensive. His face was stoic and expressionless as he silently tried to think of a way he could get out of the situation he landed himself in. He had made a bet with Maize—and he didn't plan to lose.

His current situation sucked, that was a fact. But he wouldn't let anybody but himself tell him when he was completely 'out' of options...

"So, got anything to say or has the cat got your tongue?" The gang leader taunted loudly, venomous amusement dripping from his tone as he smirked at Alec then at his men.

Alec's face didn't portray anything but a cold look. However he waited a beat before closing his eyes and letting out a slight sigh. "I'll admit," he started dryly as he threaded a hand through his hair, "this was not how I thought this night would go."

The gang leader gritted his teeth at Alec's collected display, seemingly unperturbed by the threat they presented.

"That so?" he muttered loudly before he forced a chuckle. "Well, things didn't run a smoothly as I had planned on my end either...starting with that little disappearing act you and your friends pulled," he said with a sneer and a hint of irritation. "And now it seems the three of you have all split up? Just my fuckin' luck. And here I thought this job wasn't going to be any trouble..."

Alec stiffened slightly as the barrel of the man's riffle was aimed at him from a distance.

"See thing is, american, me and my boys don't get paid until after we turn in the three of ya together. So, why don't ya tell me where those friends of your ran off to?"

"No idea," Alec shrugged. "As you said yourself, we split up."

"I don't like that answer...and I don't think that's the truth either." The gang leader narrowed his eyes. "So, I'll try askin' one more time, and if ya want to stay alive, even if it's just for a bit longer, I suggest you just tell me the truth and make the night easier on everyone—Mostly."

"Tempting offer," Alec muttered sarcastically, before he grinned slightly. "But I have no idea where they went."

The gang leader furrowed his expression, "Wrong answer."

Alec had definitely ticked him off.

The man then turned to the closest man behind him and nodded to the riffle in his arms and gave a simple order, "Kill him."

Shit!

Alec didn't have time to react before a shot was fired.

His eyes widened, but he didn't feel any pain.

Alec blinked once and watched, dumbstruck, as the man about to shoot him fell to the ground with a bullet hole in his chest. Dead. Instantly, the two nearest to him followed and fell down to the ground as well.

That's when Alec registered the gunshots.

The rest of the gang members began panicking, and Alec was momentarily forgotten as the ringleader began whipping his head around and ordering his men to find out where the shots had come from.

Three more men cried out and fell, and the rest began aiming their guns in different directions.

Alec caught a flash of something in the corner of his eye and glanced up to the roof beside them. Something was there. Someone. He could see them now, there, crouched on the top of the building, was a figure in a motorcycle helmet. Alec could tell it was a woman, the black leather bike suit she wore was tight around her figure. In her hands was an AK-47 attack riffle.

Oh shit! Alec immediately moved to press his back against the wall under the shooter just as she opened fire, raining out a hail of bullets over the gang members. He had no idea if this person was trying to help him, or just deliberately aiming for the guys with guns first. But he wasn't going to stand out in the open and risk finding out the hard way.

The cartel members began shooting back—including the ringleader—but the mystery shooter had the advantage point above them, and the more rapid assualt weapon.

Alec spotted a disgarded gun on the floor and took it, checking the chamber before he ducked down on one knee and began taking out some of the members while they were distracted from above. It was risky, he had no cover. But if the person above was also trying to take out the cartel members, then he'd use the help to his advantage and deal with finding out whether they were friend or foe after he was out of this current mess.

Slowly, beings sure to stay out of the way of the gunfire while also providing his own when needed, Alec inched his way closer to the other end of the alley, the way he had first come, and when some of the gang members tried to stop him, he took them out quickly. He put the sounds of the yelling and shooting behind him as he turned the corner and began quickly leaving the scene behind.

Then the shots ceased. The yelling and cries stopped.

Alert, Alec turned quickly behind him to glance back over his shoulder and see if it meant he was once again being followed, there was nothing there. But as the detective turned back, he caught a flash of black land right in front of him from above. His gun aimed as an instant reflex. He took a startled step back and regarded the figure. It was the shooter, the one who had saved him—or that was how he saw it until now. He took a defensive stance and narrowed his eyes suspiciously, seeing his reflection look back at him through the glass of the woman's helmet.

She spoke quickly, urgently, insistent. "I can help you." The voice was slightly muffled by the large headgear, but Alec could understand loud and clear. He stared forward, eyes narrowed in doubt as he contemplated whether to accept or not—it could be another trap. However, he didn't get very much time to think about it.

The men that the both of them had left in the alley, the ones still left alive, were coming after them once more. And they sounded beyond pissed.

Christ, these guys just don't give up do they! Alec thought with irritation. He looked back, and then glanced at the woman.

"You have two choices. Come and live. Stay and die. Pick one!" She ordered urgently.

There wasn't enough time.

Alec lowered his weapon, a sign of agreement. And having no other choice, he followed the masked stranger as she took off. She seemed to know exactly where she was going, and she was light on her feet, leading them down streets without a moment of hesitation. That was both alleviating and unnerving, if this was a trap, she was leading him right into it. However if she proved anything, it was the fact that she was no friend to the cartel members.

It wasn't long before they ran into another round of trouble.

Alec could see just from a quick study of their movements, the stranger was well trained in combat—nothing like he had seen Maize do—but she could hold her own against the three that stood in their way. The first two gang members were taken out quickly, without the use of the firearms she seemed to have discarded back on the roof. Alec handled the last one, but he was nearing exhaustion. He was beginning to feel the effects of the pursuit, of the adrenaline rush, and the general racing of his heart catching up to him. But he did his best to ignore it. His face showed nothing.

Tonight has really been one big pain in my—

"Caught ya!"

Alec suddenly whipped around, too late, as he once again set his eyes on the gang leader, who had a pistol aimed at his chest a few meters away. The man's finger tightened on the trigger and Alec shot his gun up—but he knew he would be too later before the ringleader pulled the trigger. He wouldn't be able to get out of the way in time.

Suddenly the helmeted woman appeared behind the man and knocked his arm to the side, disarming his shot as the weapon flew from his grasp. He tried to grab for her, but she ducked out of his way and exploded upward in an abrupt motion, and landed an uppercut to his stomach, followed by an elbow to his jaw. And when he was down on one knee, she finished with a sidekick to the face.

He'll definitely feel that in the morning...

After several moments of silence, it felt like they were finally in the clear—no one else was coming after them. They had all been taken out, including the leader himself.

"That was the last of them."

Alec didn't look directly at the unidentified stranger as she spoke. His eyes were narrowed as they stood an arms length away from him, taking a single step closer.

"We should get back to your comrades."

In a flash Alec reacted. He slammed them back into the wall behind them and pinned them back with his forearm, keeping them there. He could feel the tension in their body, but they didn't resist. Almost as if they had expected this—which only fuelled his suspicion.

Get back to my comrades, huh?

"So, was this some kind of elaborate trick you had planned out? Get me to trust you by 'saving' me from those guys back there?" He inquired, his voice low in a barely contained growl of anger. So I'd lead you back to the others, the message was implied in his voice.

"I don't know what you are talking about," the stranger in the helmet responded evenly.

Alec applied more pressure under their throat with his forearm. "Nice try," he smirked. "Don't think I didn't notice that you carried the exact same ammo as the guys trying to kill us," he stated tensely, glaring into the eyes of the woman through the one-sided reflective shield of her headgear, knowing she was staring right back.

"The gang I just helped you take out used street weapons, unmarked and random for each," she stated.

"I'm not talking about them."

A pause. "You think I work for the other gang?" she asked inquiringly, and Alec could picture an eyebrow raising by the tone of her voice. The fact that she seemed to know exactly who he was talking about was enough.

"I don't just think," he replied tersely, eyes glaring like ice as he asked demandingly, "Why did you help me?"

"You are the friend of Kishan Karan, correct? The one he said he would go to if he ever needed help?"

Alec clenched his jaw. How did they know that? "Who are you?" he demanded.

Slowly, the woman raised her hands in the air to show that she was unarmed, and then cautiously, she brought her hands under her chin and undid the clip of her helmet, pulling it off her head. A thick cascade of dark hair tumbled out and rested at an even length around her shoulders. She regarded him through dark blue eyes.

"My name is Maria Hill..." she said. "I'm Kishan's partner."

So, be honest...did anybody see that coming? :)

Hope you enjoyed!