ALEC

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded, completely baffled by the sudden appearance of the dark-clad stranger standing before him.

How the guy managed to sneak up and enter the house without any of them noticing was beyond him, but it immediately put Alec on the defence as the gun in his belt came out as a reflex and he focused a newfound furrowed gaze at the unknown person.

Without the table to create a separating distance between them, the stranger probably would have stood eye to eye with Alec, if not just a hint lower. Though more on the slender side at first look, beneath the thin black rolled up long-sleeve shirt he wore, Alec could tell the man was well built. Lean but sturdy, and the way he stood alone told you he wasn't one to break easily under a push or a shove, quite the opposite. His hands came out of the pockets of his dark cargo-pants, and Alec noticed the black leather fingerless gloves he wore as those hands clenched into tight fists at his sides.

"Who the hell are you?!" the opposer shot back instantly, taking a stance opposite to him and regarding him coldly. Despite the threatening glare on Alec's face and the gun he held tight in one hand, the language of the stranger read he was unfazed by such a thing, as if it wasn't even there. Coal-black hair swept just above his eye-line as teeth clenched and his head bowed slightly forward, not in a submissive manner but in a way that reminded Alec of a predator prepared to launch itself at its target. His gaze locked directly on with eyes the colour of steel, eyes that held an unmistakable combination of mistrust, stupor, and strangely, bewilderment, all masked behind an accusative glare.

Alec didn't know who this guy was, but something was off. If they were under attack, it wouldn't make sense why he was asking who they were. But Alec's mind wasn't working correctly at the moment, he wasn't thinking as straight as he should have been. All he knew was there was a suspiciously outlaw looking man that he had found sneaking through the halls as he came inside.

"I asked first, pal," Alec shot a look that promised danger. "And last I checked, I'm not the one staring down the wrong end of the barrel here."

He noted how the stranger's gaze reflexively glanced at his weapon, even if only for a split second before flickering back to him.

Then the steel-eyed stranger did something unexpected for a man in his current predicament; he shoved his hands back into his pockets, closed his eyes, and let out a tired sigh—the perfect image of relaxed and irritated, as if this was all just some inconvenience to him as he muttered, "Well, ain't this an interesting way to finish my day.." Sarcasm radiated off of each syllable and his shoulders went slightly lax with lack of energy.

"How about you answer the question before I decide to shoot you out of impatience," Alec responded. In his experience, the threat to shoot someone even if you knew you weren't really going to was always a good way to get reluctant people to start talking. But in this case however, something about this stranger made him wish he was being one hundred percent serious.

The guy shot him a look of pure steely annoyance. Rattled by the threat or not, the promise of trouble following if he didn't answer was still there.

"Alright fine..." the stranger gritted. "I'm the guy who fucking lives here," he growled, obvious accusation and irritation at being threatened and interrogated in his own home radiating through his words. "Now who the hell are you and what the fuck are you doing in my house?" he demanded in return.

"Yeah...I think now is as good a time as any to intervene..." Maize interrupted as she walked hastily into the room.

"You know this guy?" Alec questioned immediately as he shot a skeptically doubtful look at the stranger.

"Like I said, I'm the guy who lives here!" The stranger returned loudly, but Alec pretended not to hear him, focusing on Maize instead.

"You can calm down, West," Maize began to say before Alec found himself distracted as he stared at something behind her. He wasn't expecting her to be followed in by something—and a very large something at that. Alec felt the

"Holy shit that's a big dog!" he exclaimed all of a sudden, cutting Maize off as his attention diverted from his previous target to the more threatening hunched over canine that saw him and immediately began snarling with a rumble equivalent to that of a mountain lion, teeth bared. His shoulders immediately tensed.

He was never one to be scared of dogs before.

He couldn't say the same now.

He knew better than to take a step back from the threatening animal, to do so would be showing weakness, and to show weakness would be like giving the dog the green card to launch into attack mode. Then he heard jeering laughter off to the side, from the only person in the room it could be.

"That's my partner you're talking about there," the stranger said, flashing an almost wolfish grin in amusement. "And, he's growling at you like that because you're holding his owner at gunpoint. So," he began with a new edge in his voice now that he knew he had the upper hand, "if you don't take that thing off me this fucking second, I have no problem letting him bite your arm off until you do."

"Cut the threats, Ryder," Maize murmured with a sigh of exasperation as she flashed the canine owner a look. Immediately the sinister look in his eyes dimmed as he raised an eyebrow at her, almost in a questioning manner wondering why she had to ruin his fun.

Who?

Alec didn't miss the note of familiarity in her voice as she spoke to him.

He watched as the menacing demeanour surrounding the steel-eyed stranger—Ryder—faded at once, seeming to disappear within the blink of an eye as his shoulders instantly deflated and he let out a sigh, looking like a kid getting told he couldn't have candy before dinner.

With obvious reluctance, Ryder pouted and made a dismissive hand wave at his dog. "Fine. Kota, rest easy."

With that command, the growling ceased and the large canine sat up straight again, appearing innocent compared to the ferocity that had been there a few seconds before.

"Alec...you can lower your gun..." Maize said with a tone of insistence and annoyance that he hadn't already done so.

Alec was hesitant, but under Maize's hardening state he had no choice. Slowly, he lowered his arm, muttering a 'fine' under his breath as he holstered it back into his belt. Though he made sure to keep aware of the now relaxed canine as he turned his gaze to watch the smug grin that appeared on this Ryder's face. The strange guy flashed a glance—almost jestingly—at him before with a turn of his head his attention was focused on Maize.

As his gaze fell onto her, something in his steel-like eyes hardened slightly.

Alec narrowed his eyes, not liking that look. He straightened slightly, suddenly angling his body more towards the canine owner, so that if for whatever reason he made a move towards Maize, Alec would be there to intercept before that happened. He tended and his hands clenched involuntarily as Ryder inhaled a breath, but all he did was speak.

"Long time no see," Ryder muttered, staring at Maize. Despite his previous immature display, a touch of his odd-founded good-humour seemed to have gone away the instant she met his eyes.

"Miss me?" she asked, though her voice lacked that of her usual tease.

Alec didn't miss the look she got in her eyes either. The expression that passed across her face didn't seem shocked by the house owner's sudden change in demeanour at all, instead, she was unfazed, accepting even, as if she had expected such a reaction to her being there.

Alec noted how steel-eyes narrowed his eyes a fraction at the casual question, but he didn't respond, choosing instead to remain silent with fists clenched tightly in his pockets—clear from the strain against the cargo fabric at each of his sides. But if Maize noticed, she didn't comment on it.

She instead turned to Alec. "This is Ryder," she introduced as she nodded to said person.

Ryder gave Alec a none-too-friendly flat look. Obviously, he had not forgotten the fact that Alec had more or less threatened to shoot him not a few minutes ago—out of impatience, as his reasoning went.

Admittedly, not the best as far as first impressions go...but surely there was worse.

"Yes, like I said, the guy who lives here," the man stated with a sarcastic snort before he turned to look at the bounty hunter. "And Maize, while it is nice...ish to see you after two years of absolute nada, I'm gonna have to ask what the actual fuck you're doing here now and why there are three other complete strangers loundering around my premises—one who, oh so kindly, greeting me with a gun the moment I stepped into my own house."

"Oh...You could tell the others were here already?" Maize questioned, though she sounded more abashed than actually surprised. Something told Alec she hadn't wanted the house owner to find out about that right away.

Ryder was quick to roll his eyes and scoff. "Of course I could. Freaking four different tracks of boot prints left on my floor on the way in—which, thanks for cleaning up by the way," he remarked with sarcasm.

"You're certainly observant," Alec noted out loud, his tone saying he meant it as anything but a compliment. "Who are you? And I'm not just talking about your name."

"Like I'd tell you, cop," Ryder responded with a touch of venom coating the last word. Alec blinked at the realization that the man somehow knew he was law enforcement, and in response to his flash of suspicion and surprise, Ryder added, "Yeah, I can tell."

Alec crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall behind him, studying the man with a recollecting look on his face. "I saw the sniper rifle upfront. It's military, isn't it?" He questioned, though he already knew the answer. "So, does that mean you were in the army?"

Ryder immediately scoffed and growled loudly. "Not on my nine-lives."

"Nine-lives huh?" Alec repeated with a roll of his eyes. "That still doesn't answer my question. Who are you?"

"I don't have to answer to you..." Ryder growled, taking a step forward and Alec's muscles clenched in preparation for a fight.

He wasn't one to begin a break unless someone really had it coming, it went against his code of keeping the peace. But, if some asshole wanted to start a fight with him, he had no problem obliging. He rather liked the idea of getting to kick this guy's ass.

"Ryder," Maize intervened, sensing trouble was inevitable if she let the conversation continue. She put a hand on his shoulder and the guy stopped is progressing as he looked over his shoulder and saw the rare meaningful look that had Alec at a loss for words. "We need to talk," she insisted quietly.

"Yeah...I think we do," Ryder snapped back, though with not as much ferocity as before.

Something in Alec's stomach churned at their obvious familiarity. Just how close were these two?

Sure, he knew nothing about the strange and rather dark canine owner, but Maize wouldn't have shown up to some random acquaintance's house for help—she was smarter than that. And he knew she didn't rely on others easily.

Obviously, there was some history here that he was not privy to.

He felt the heat of Maize's state watching him from the side. One glance over and he knew she wanted to say something, but she wasn't quite sure how, though it didn't make much difference because he still got the hint.

Whatever she wanted to talk to Ryder about, she wanted to talk about alone.

It was much like when they had first arrived at the Serpent's Den Casino, the feeling was the same. Maize hadn't felt comfortable talking in front of them then either.

Somehow she knew these people with these strange trades. A casino owner was one thing, but some suspicious guy and his dog who lived isolated in the mountains?

How she even knew these people was baffling to him. But he wasn't stupid dammit. He knew her behaviour went beyond just not liking people knowing her business—she was hiding something from her past that she did not want anyone to find out. He had seen first hand the anxiety keeping her secret had brought down on her, though she hid it well. The haunted look she got, her obvious restraint to talk about it.

But if she didn't want to talk about it, then that was her choice. He knew she must have had a good reason.

Hell, the only reason he was so curious about it in the first place was because of the inner desire within him that naturally sought answers to the questions he didn't know, otherwise this wouldn't be such a pressing issue for him and he would ignore it like any other normal person.

It was just that as he learned more and more about the bounty hunter, he wondered more and more about what made her into her.

Those eyes, the same eyes watching him now, were always guarded, even when they didn't appear so.

He simply wanted to know why.

Alec passed his glance between Ryder and Maize, resting his gaze on her for a moment before he made a decision, though he didn't like it. Internally letting out a sigh of reluctance, he kept his outer expression impassive as he stood straight off the wall and uncrossed his arms.

"I'll do you a favour and go. Besides, I suppose someone should tell the others beforehand that your friend is back so that they don't try to shoot him immediately," he remarked dryly.

Maize rolled her eyes but looked slightly relieved, while Ryder shot him an unamused look.

"Appreciated," he responded sarcastically. "You know, seeing how this is my house."

Happy to have you back Ryder (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ * * * Unrelated Holiday note: Q. to characters:

Me: So...what do you guys want for Christmas?

Maize said: new knives—half my old ones were left in different people...

Alec said: a warrant that says I can legally kick this annoying Riley guy's ass...

Ryder said: these damn people out of my house (；一_一)

Me: ...okay...ಠ_ಠ...I'll, uh, see what I can do

Anyway, happy holidays everyone! Have a nice break and stay safe!