ALEC

He knew he would most likely be going to jail on a life sentence once this was over. Because he was about to commit murder.

Ryker, Rysler—or whatever his name was—was dead. So very dead.

As soon as he found a way to get out of these ropes, the steel-eyes bastard was dead.

It had been over ten minutes since the man and his dog left, and since then Alec had been trying everything he could to untie to ropes around his wrists, knowing he wouldn't be able to get out with his hands bound like that. But it was difficult. Damn near impossible, he would say, with how thick the ropes were.

The only good thing he could see in this situation was the fact that they hadn't been bound behind his back. Doing so in a net like this one might have caused his shoulder to accidentally pop out of itself socket were he to thrash around too much.

Fucking fantastic, he thought to himself.

He needed a plan. Unfortunately, he had never really been the type to stop and come up with one. Instead, he always did the first logical thing that came to mind; he judged the distance between himself and the ground, determined whether or not he would survive the fall, and then found his gun and aimed to shoot out the main rope that held the net suspended.

Only to realize that he had emptied the last of his round when he had been showing off his target skills.

Alec swore to himself. So much for that plan.

Of course, he hadn't expected to be knocked out and trapped in a tree immediately before he could reload his chamber.

That Riley guy was going to pay.

He groaned in aggravation and looked around for another method of getting free. Then he threw his head back against the uncomfortable ropes and tried to think. Did he anything sharp on him? For the first time, he found himself wishing he was like Maize and carried a pair of knives seemingly everywhere he went. All he had now was an empty gun. Pretty useless in the situation.

He turned his head to the side and look at the base of the tree.

Or maybe not...

For the first time since he woke up here, he took the time to actually study the contraception he was in. The thought occurred to him that he didn't just appear there, Riley had have gotten him up there somehow.

He took Ryker for a hunter of sorts, so, this had to be a hunter's trap. Hunter traps relied on mechanisms, even simple ones, which meant there had to be some sort of release lever or something...

The entire trap seemed to be suspended from two main ropes that threaded through a few higher branches, one holding each half of the net up, but then Alec realized that one of them actually went down, behind the tree, finding its end was tied to a trunk further away. And look what was there; a lever.

Alec immediately cursed to himself; just how long had that steel-eyes bastard taken to set this up? Just because he was pissed? The guy was clearly in a messed up mental state.

He judged the distance between himself and the lever. About 50 ft. If he managed to hit the level down, one of the ropes holding it should release. At least that what he hoped.

Only problem was the fact that it was there, and he couldn't exactly walk over and hit it.

He eyed the gun in his hand, maybe not so useless. It was worth a shot.

Having been a football quarterback in high school, one thing he had was a good aim. Granted, a Glock wasn't the same as a football, but they were both throwable were they not? And also, the only option he had.

Alec slid his arm through the ropes and eyes his intended target, praying that he had not forgotten his skill and a whole hell of a lot of luck that this would actually work.

And miraculously, it did.

As the lever was struck, a rope released, and he just barely managed to grab ahold of the ropes to catch himself from falling immediately to the ground as half the net fell open. He hung from a one-armed grip as he looked at the ground.

In all honesty, he was just surprised that that had even worked.

He swung to gain momentum then dropped down and rolled to break his fall as the sting of sticks and rocks dug into his back.

But he was on the ground.

He stood and dusted himself off, looking around.

Great, he thought, now where the hell am I?

* * *

MAIZE

"I cannot believe you lost him," Maize muttered as she and Ryder stood at the base of the empty net tree.

Ryder argued, "I didn't lose him at all, in fact, I was the one who made it so that he couldn't go anywhere in the first place."

"Oh yeah?" She gestured a hand toward the tree. "Then why isn't he here?"

Ryder shrugged, "Maybe he was captured."

"He was captured. That's why we're here," she stated pointedly.

"Not by me!" He shot back. "I'm talking about if he was taken by someone after you guys."

"Don't you dare even suggest that. They couldn't have found us, it's impossible, and it's only been a day—"

"We both know that there are skilled people out there, many who do the impossible and call it nothing," he stated seriously.

Maize was speechless for moment, not sure what to say.

"But I was also kidding. If someone had stumbled upon your detective, I would have noticed their incoming tracks or Kota would have indicated something. In fact, your detective's footprints lead away from here, so he must have figured a way out on his own, though I don't know how the asshole managed that."

Maize sighed with relief. Damn Ryder for putting ideas in her head.

She answered, "I've learned not to underestimate him and his...tactics."

"I said the same thing about you, and yet you still manage to surprise me," he muttered under his breath, but something in his tone indicated that it was not entirely meant to be a compliment.

"Let's just find him and get this over with," she retorted, before she threw her friend a warning look. "I know him well too you know, and he will probably try to kill you for this."

Ryder scoffed without a hint of concern whatsoever. "Maize, I've spent years outrunning you, the bureau, the military, about a dozen assassins, and one angry ex for about as long as I can remember. I'm sure I can handle adding one asshole detective."

* * *

"Can we quit yet?" Ryder questioned for the seventh time since they had begun searching for Alec.

"No," Maize said immediately, like a programmed response.

Ryder groaned. "We've been looking around for almost an hour and I've been up since before 5, I'm tired."

"Then maybe you shouldn't have pulled this stupid stunt of yours," she stated pointedly.

"He shouldn't have pissed me off," he retorted without missing a beat.

They had been walking around for a while, following Kota as he followed whatever scent trail he had picked up on. Because Maize hoped to god that they had been following something for the past 45 minutes.

"I'm pretty sure the guy is lost. Nobody in their right mind walks in this many circles on purpose," Ryder stated.

Maize didn't get a chance to

"For your information, Riley, I'm not lost, I just don't know where the fucking hell I'm going," Alec said as he suddenly appeared behind them. How he got there without any of them noticing was beyond her. Also, Kota had neglected to indicate. The detective's arms were crossed in front of him. Ticked off didn't even begin to cover the look he wore on his face.

"That's the definition of lost," Ryder retorted, though it seemed that he too had been momentarily surprised by Alec's sudden appearance out of nowhere, but he covered it up quickly with a scowl.

Alec's arms were crossed in front of him as he neared and the expression on his face as he stared down Ryder looked intense enough to freeze the very pits of Hell itself.

"Oh, you were right, Maize...he does look like he wants to kill me," Ryder observed pointedly.

Alec bit down on his jaw like he was trying his hardest just to keep from closing the distance and strangling the life out of the other man right then and there. Maize sighed, she knew the feeling. But when Alec went to take a threatening step towards him, she quickly got in between the two and placed a hand on his chest to stop him. Ryder didn't move, but watched with a look of mild interest.

"Out of my way, Maize, I'm about to break my sworn 'never to cause intentional harm' oath," Alec stated pointedly as he continued to move towards Ryder, the man's calmly unfazed expression only seemed to irk the detective further. Maize literally had to dig her toes into the ground to force Alec back, which admittedly wasn't easy. Pushing on his chest was like trying to push a brick wall.

"Cut it out," she demanded. "I don't feel like dealing with any more of your two shenanigans."

"Say that after I've given him a little taste of his own medicine," Alec retorted.

Ryder wasn't paying much attention anymore, and seemed distracted by his own thoughts. He was muttering to himself, "He got out on his own...that's a first..." He didn't seem to care about the threat Alec was currently posing. Which is probably why Kota felt the need to take a stance in front of his master protectively, he did not growl or hunch forward, but he did watch keenly.

Sometimes Maize thought that the canine was possibly smarter than the two with her.

"Oh and if you want to kill me, get in line. I'll write your name down right after Huber Sikovee of the Russian mafia family," Ryder said blatantly. Maize opened her mouth to say something but Ryder quickly shook his head and sighed. "Don't ask."

"Or we could skip to the part where I just shoot you, plain and simple," Alec retorted without missing a beat. "I'd be fast, but I'd be willing to overlook that."

"Gee, for a cop you've got a rather crude humour..." Ryder frowned. "So much for 'law and justice'."

"If you're so all about law and justice I could place you under arrest instead, if it would bid better for you?" Alec stated sarcastically.

"I would actually rather get shot," Ryder muttered. "But, out of morbid curiosity, what would the charges be?"

Alec scoffed, "Where do I start? Abduction and attempted assault are probably top of the list. Course, that's not knowing whatever illegal shit you're actually into."

"You're right, the charges then would be much higher..." Ryder mused.

Maize rolled her eyes and finally snapped. "For god's sake, enough already! Or else I am this close from hanging each of you in a tree myself!"

* * *

If walking the trail through the woods with Ryder had been irksome, walking the trail back with both Ryder and Alec arguing the whole time had been beyond maddening. By that point, Maize had initially given up any attempts to get either one of them to stop, and as long as Kota was there, she knew Alec wouldn't try to lunge for Ryder, no matter how much he looked ready to. She didn't know for sure, but she would say he was still wary of the dog, as most people were after seeing how dangerous he could look. Though to her, he would never be anything but a big sweet teddy bear.

The three of them walked through the front door with Kota padding on ahead of them.

"Ah, great to be back, finally!" Ryder grumbled as rolled his shoulders back nonchalantly. "Great, now where are those other intruders?"

The figure in Ryder's room jerked a black-gloved hand away from the set of drawers they had been searching through when they heard voices on the lower floor. They were back. The person immediately ceased what they were doing and quickly put everything they had taken out back in their original place, exactly as they had been found before.

However the movements were rushed as the person's heart began hammering with the trepidation that someone might walk into the room any minute. They hadn't found exactly what they were looking for; identification and information had been their primal target, but they had come up with neither. Never mind then. They would simply leave it to their employers to do what they could with their own resources.

Within seconds everything was back the way it should be, nothing amiss in the slightest. Until the figure, in their quick movement to make their escape, hit the side of the single dresser in the room. Luckily enough it didn't make much more than a muffled thud, but the rattled jerk of the dresser caused the single picture frame that had gone unnoticed until this point to accidentally tumble towards the floor.

Gloved hands reached out and the figure just managed to swoop down and catch it before the glass could shatter onto the hardwood. They rose steadily, careful not to make a sound. But then there was a frightening dilemma; they hadn't noticed the picture before, meaning they hadn't seen it enough to take note of its previous position.

Their eyes quickly glanced over the picture itself stuck inside the old frame, but they didn't think much of it, it was clearly an old photo. But how to place it back? One false mistake and they were done for.

The voices downstairs were becoming more apparent, and they knew they had to get out of there now.

They made a quick decision; they stood the picture frame up quickly, how they were sure it must have looked. Hopefully, such a small detail would be unnoticeable in the long run.

And then they were gone from the room.

A few minutes later Maize watched as Kishan skipped into the room with a joyous smile.

"So what did I miss? Were you really stuck up in a tree? What was it like?" he questioned Alec as his face contorted in an obvious attempt to keep from laughing. Which irked Alec, clearly, from the fixated glare that had yet to leave his face since they had arrived.

"How would you like to find out?" Alec retorted icily. Kishan stopped laughing.

Ryder then helpfully added, "I could make that happen."

Kishan took a noticeable step back and threw his hands up in immediate surrender. "No, no. I'm good."

Maria walked into the room a few seconds later. "You're back. We were getting worried when it took so long," she said. She then addressed her late entrance. "I was thinking about making something to eat, it's nearly past six and I know most of you probably haven't eaten."

"Oh and I assume that wasn't an attempt to ask me if you could go ahead and rummage around in my kitchen," Ryder stated pointedly.

Kishan answered, "We already did that anyway so what's the point?"

"Yeah, and as I'm aware, you broke something," Ryder accused with a steel glare fixed on the smiling agent.

"It was just a few dishes," he defended.

"A few?" Ryder snapped.

Kishan tried to look sheepish, but the act didn't bode well to hide his lack of guilt whatsoever. "The first one was my bad, but that tray of glasses had no business hanging over the counter like that, where someone could oh so accidentally not notice and knock them down...accidentally."

Ryder stared at Kishan with an expression of anger and bemused exasperation, as if he couldn't quite reason with himself why he was even tolerating the agent to begin with. He closed his eyes and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I hate each and every one of you cops with a passion," he declared sharply.

Kishan tilted his head to the side, unfazed by Ryder's clear display of insult. "And we thank you for being such a gracious host."

Ryder shot him a look and immediately shook his head. "That's it, I'm out," he said as he whipped around on his heel and exited the room.

Maize sighed. The day had been extravagantly tiring.

But just as she thought she might get the chance to head to sleep early, she felt a hand on her shoulder that stopped her from leaving. She turned questioningly to Alec, and suddenly she knew, that chance would be forced to wait.