ALEC

He felt his hands tighten on his weapon as an eerie creak sounded from the hinges on the door, he didn't doubt himself, they were in the right place. This was the location he had scouted earlier that morning from the outside, and this was the address attached to the message he had received, along with the number 113. This wasn't a trap. It wasn't some trick. But there was a twinge of unease creeping into his mind as he slipped first into the room. It was too quiet.

Entering, the room was larger than expected. But that was mainly due to the walls that had half caved in on themselves, connecting into other rooms with the same problem. It was hard to believe a building like this was still here. Alec took a steady breath. There was no sign of what he was looking for.

"Kishan?" he called out the name as the Captain and the bounty hunter followed him through the entrance behind him. No answer.

That wasn't a good sign.

He tried again. "Kishan—" but he stopped almost as soon as the name left his mouth, body tensing as he heard a faint echo of a click on metal. That really wasn't a good sign. "Shit!" he cursed as he managed to shove the Captain and Maize behind the nearest cover, dodging the bullet that whizzed past and ebbed itself in the wall behind. He then heard another click.

"West, get down!" a familiar voice shouted before he was tugged to the ground by the collar of his shirt, missing as another shot was fired. "You idiot, don't just stand there waiting to get hit!" the bounty hunter exclaimed at him. She had saved him.

"Hey I wasn't—" he retorted defensively before he cut off again, realizing something. The bullets had stopped, it was quiet again.

"West?" A new voice called curiously. "Is that you?"

Alec suddenly didn't know whether to let out a sigh of relief or a curse of irritation.

"Yeah, it's me, you damn psychopath! Were you planning to ask the same question before or after you killed me?!"

The detective rose to his feet, crossing his arms as he stared ahead.

"Long time no see, Kishan."

Just then a tall man—who looked in his early thirties, five or so years older than Alec himself—with touseled black hair and calculating dark eyes stepped out from the shadows, sending the detective an amused smirk. "Well as I live and breathe, you made it. How've you been lately?" he asked casually.

Alec scoffed. "I'd be better if you hadn't tried to blow my head off just now."

Kishan winced slightly and slipped his handgun back into the waistband of his jeans. "Oops. Sorry about that, paranoia's been getting to me," he replied sheepishly.

Alec's eyes narrowed somewhat at the statement, reminding him why he was here in the first place. Kishan had called him here for a reason, he was in some kind of trouble—though his message had refused to elaborate any further than it was bad. It was then, for the first time, that Alec realized how tired and worn out his old friend really looked—as if he'd had a rough couple of days.

"You asked me to meet you here, you said you were in some kind of trouble..." Alec began.

"I know," Kishan sighed, running a hand through his hair before his gaze suddenly flickered past Alec. "I see...you also brought friends."

Alec was suddenly reminded of the two other figures standing behind him. No doubt they were waiting for answers as to what was going on. Well they would have to wait a little longer.

"You told me to bring someone I trusted to help," he answered calmly. "You remember the Captain, right?"

Kishan looked past him and nodded. "Right, nice to see you again, sir. It's been a few years," he acknowledged Riggis before his gaze shifted a little left curiously. "And the woman sending the death glares through her eyes...she your girlfriend or something?"

Alec nearly choked on air.

"No," he deadpanned.

"Not in a million years," Maize crossed her arms, looking even more hostile.

"She's just someone who decided to tag along. Don't worry about her," Alec told him, without so much as a glance at Maize. He didn't need to look over at her to know that she was glaring at him spitefully.

The captain clearing his throat loudly, drawing all their attentions. "As nice as this little reunion is," Riggis began, "someone needs to explain why we are all here and why, Detective, you made this out to be such a serious matter. I assume it wasn't just to catch up with an old friend."

Truth be told...Alec didn't know very much about the situation, certainly not enough to feel confident explaining. That's when Kishan stepped forward.

"I contacted him, sir," he spoke up, meeting the Captain's eyes steadily. "I was in trouble and needed help...and West was the only person I knew who lived in the city."

"What kind of help do you mean by that?" Riggis asked.

Kishan sighed wearily and ran a hand through his hair, looking at the floor. "Because I'm being hunted."

No one spoke. Silence hung in the air like a thick curtain, draping them in a mixture of shock and confusion at his statement alone. This, by far, hadn't been what Alec was expecting to hear. He threw a glance at the Captain, who's eyes held the same note of puzzlement that he himself felt, and then over at Maize—her expression was completely blank.

Kishan trailed over their faces before he bowed his head slightly and released a low humourless chuckle. "I guess I should start my explanation from the beginning." His facade hid the note of hesitation behind his eyes, and he shared a look with Alec, as if looking for the 'go-ahead' of reassurance. "I messed up...I messed up bad," was how he began. "I was on assignment back in LA with my partner, undercover work for the bureau, infiltrating a crime gang."

"You're FBI then," Maize stated, her eyes regarding him intensely.

"I was," he replied quietly. "It was supposed to be a simple job, two months tops. Get in, gather intel, get out. But, things didn't go quite as planned. It was my fault, I'm sure. I made a rookie mistake, got my cover blown. I don't even know how I managed to get out of there without a bullet in my back...and, I guess, you could say I've just been running since."

"How did you end up in Brooklyn?" The Captain asked. "You're superiors in the bureau...if you were able to make it out alive, why didn't you go straight back to them?"

Kishan lowered his gaze. "Because, it's not as simple as that anymore. For one, they're dead. And two, I can't go back."

"Explain," Alec told him.

"Well...this mission, like any other cover opp, was known to a select circle. Only two others in the bureau knew about our mission, and that was one of our special analysts and a high member of the directors' board—the rest of the agency were meant to think we went rogue, so that if the gang we were sent to infiltrate decided to do any digging into our backstories, they would think we really were two ex-agents. However, coincidentally, two days after my cover was blown, the two of them were reported dead in a car accident before I could get back to them, the other driver obviously nowhere in sight. A hit and run..." Kishan clenched his fist slightly. "The only people who knew of my innocence are dead. And now I've got both the FBI and the criminal gang on my back trying to track me down."

"Shit..." Alec crossed his arms.

"Yep. And I'm not stupid enough to try and go back and prove my innocence—as far as the rest of the bureau knows, all the shit I did undercover was all my doing. I'd be arrested on sight. And if that were to happen, it wouldn't take long before the gang sent one of their members to take me out," he said.

The room was quiet for a moment, processing the entirety of his story.

"So...your next best idea after fleeing the city was to immediately seek out a cop?" Maize questioned, straightforward without a thought, a hint of skepticism in her voice that she didn't bother to hide. "That doesn't exactly seem like the smartest decision to me."

Kishan regarded her solidly, eye unwavering as he met her intense stare head-on. "True..." he began slowly, almost as if he felt the need to pick his words carefully around her. "But I didn't have any other choice," he stated.

"That so?"

"What can I say? West and I go way back, all the way back to our days at the academy. I owe a lot to him to be honest—not many people would blatantly give up a position offer from the FBI just so his friend could get it."

Maize seemed a little surprised by his statement, though she did well not to let it show.

"That's how I knew he was the only one who would believe me at this point," Kishan finished.

Alec listened, feeling a little sheepish from the way his friend made him out to sound. He recalled that time briefly, he had been regarded well at the academy from the start. 'Naturally gifted' they had said, though none of them ever actually paused to see how hard he really worked for it. What he hadn't known at the time was there was a member from the bureau taking an interest in the young cadets to see who might be worth recruiting. Alec and Kishan were both easily two of the best, and it showed through instantly. But there was only one opening.

Alec was considered first, and they had explained the offer to him openly. But he knew Kishan had always dreamed of being an agent...the choice had been easy. He turned it down.

I didn't think he ever knew though...He had no idea how Kishan had found out about it—he guessed they must have told him.

The Captain finally decided to speak up after so long remaining silent and listening to the facts. There seemed to be something on his mind, though he looked hesitant to ask. Alec soon found out why.

"Kishan, you mentioned that you had a partner..." Riggis began. "If I may ask, what happened to them?"

Kishan was alert at the sound of the Captain's voice, but his eyes seemed to darken by the end of the question as he looked to the ground, expression filled with pain that he seemed to be fighting. "...gone," he murmured. "When...when we tried to get out...Hill didn't make it."

The Captain lowered his head in condolence. "I'm sorry...Alec, a word." Alec followed as he was beckoned outside the room. The captain had his hands crossed in front of him as he stared at the detective. "I take it you understand the complexity of the situation," he stated. Kishan was an FBI fugitive, innocent or not.

Alec gave an unwavering nod of his head. "I'm prepared to take full responsibility to do whatever it takes to get this cleared up," he stated.

"I figured as much," the Captain replied, showing a faint hint of a smile. "I think I know what needs to happen, but, we will need to be cautious about how we proceed...this isn't just like any other case."

"Right."

The Captain stayed outside the room, deep in thought, and Alec thought it would be best to give him a bit of space as he chose to return back inside the room—stopping in front of something interesting. Maize and Kishan were conversing, calmly, despite Maize's previous mistrustful demeanour.

That's...surprising, Alec thought. To say the least.

"So, can I trust you?" Kishan was asking her, trying to keep his tone light and easy.

"You shouldn't, honestly. Being too quick to trust someone you just met is a dangerous gamble, especially with your current situation."

"But?"

"But, your case is compelling—and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little interested in rising to the challenge..." Maize said with a slight smirk. Kishan's eyes brightened with a tad of humour.

"Well then, if that's the case bounty hunter, I think we've reached an understanding..." he said, holding out his hand to shake. Surprisingly, she did.

"How did you know I was a bounty hunter?" she asked, lips twisting slightly up in a curious smile. Kishan smirked and sent Alec a sideways look, knowing he had been standing there the whole time.

"Believe me, I could just tell."

"We should get going," a fourth voice cut in. Their heads turned to the Captain as he said this, Alec in particular, sharing a look with his Chief before it was returned pointedly to Kishan. "I will need you to explain a few things to fill in some gaps, but that can wait. For now, we should get out of here...Not to question your choice in venue, Kishan Karan, but I would much rather we all leave than stay in this abandoned, possibly unstable, structure a moment more," he stated with a hint of humour.

Kishan smiled, shrugged, and raised his hands up at his sides. "As you said, it's abandoned. And give me some credit, I'm not that idiotic. I made sure to check the stability of this place before camping out here for a week."

"Wait you've been here a week?" Alec asked with surprise. "Why wait so long? Why didn't you find me sooner?"

Kishan shrugged. "I had to track you down first, it took time—NY is a big city, in case you didn't notice. And between staying off the radar of the gang and the bureau, it was a little harder than usual..."

Alright, yeah, that makes sense.

"That's right...there's one thing you didn't clarify on yet," the Captain perked up. "You never mentioned the name of the gang you infiltrated."

"It was supposed to be top secret..." Kishan said, scratching the back of his neck. "But what the hell, no point in keeping it a secret now, right? You might find this a bit of a shock, but the organization I was put undercover in was an outside link to a Russian syndicate in the states. They call themselves Zmeya..."

Alec stiffened then. He had heard about Zmeya, quite recently in fact. "That's the group related to the Venomite case I just wrapped up. I was told the supply came from them."

"Sounds about right for them," Kishan replied. "They've got a lot of power around the country. Not a fun group if I'm being honest."

Zmeya. Alec remembered doing a bit of research on their group when it appeared in his case. The Russian word for snake.

Suddenly someone let out a light chuckle. He snapped his gaze over where Maize stood, crossing her arms as the bounty hunter wore a sardonic smirk. "This just keeps getting better and better doesn't it."