ALEC

After a bit more consideration about the next course of action to take, the Captain told them he would need a set 24 hours to put whatever plan he had in mind to work, in light of what Kishan had told them. Having to be cautious of both the federal bureau and a powerful crime gang—it wouldn't be a sinch, that was for sure. Until then, however, he made it clear that Kishan shouldn't be allowed to stay the night in the roughed up hotel—which is why Alec had said he could lay low at his place.

They were driving down fourth echo's street after Alec had returned briefly to the precinct to pick up his car. During the drive, Alec noticed how Kishan began picking at his old unwashed clothing uncomfortably.

"I think I could use a fresh pair of clothes," he chuckled, trying to keep his tone light. "These are over a week old."

"Sure, you can take care of all that stuff when we get to my place," Alec assured. Kishan gave a nod of thanks before casting a look around at the moving street outside.

"So, where do you live anyway?" he piped up curiously. "I noticed it wasn't in the NYPD database when I was trying to track you down..."

"You hacked into the NYPD?" Alec deadpanned.

"No...I just—logged into their servers...without clearance..."

"That's hacking," Alec rolled his eyes, Kishan always was crafty, and slick about it when he wanted to be.

Kishan shrugged in response. "I had to start somewhere..."

Alec couldn't hold back a chuckle. "You haven't changed much have you?"

"Other than the whole currently running for my life thing—no not really."

Alec rolled his eyes at Kishan's sarcastic remark, but the mood turned serious as he stared straight ahead. "Listen, we're going to help get you out of this, get your name cleared, one way or another."

"Huh, I knew I came to you for a reason," Kishan joked, once again keeping the mood light. "So...tell me, what with that bounty hunter, hmm?"

Alec's smile faded into irritation. "Maize? What about her?"

"What's her story? She seems interesting."

"Why the interest?"

Kishan shook his head quickly and smiled. "No interest, just, curiosity...you two friends?"

"Nope."

Kishan closed his eyes. "That explains a bit. She doesn't seem to like you very much..."

Alec bit down on his jaw and resisted the urge to scoff out loud. "Believe me, the feeling is mutual." Kishan laughed at the bitterness in Alec's tone. "Anyway, we're here. Get your ass out of my car and follow me."

"Someone's in a mood," Kishan laughed as he got out. "Seems like you haven't changed much either."

They walked up to the apartment, Kishan following on Alec's tail. It was his job to watch over Kishan alone for now, the Captain had returned to the precinct, still needing to do his job as the primary figure of authority, and the bounty hunter had disappeared shortly after—Alec didn't care where.

They took the elevator up to the third floor, Kishan's hood up to disguise his face from the cameras. Alec wasn't sure whether the FBI or Zmeya gang were aware that Kishan had fled LA—it all depended on how intently they were looking for him. But neither of them felt like risking Kishan's face showing up on a camera and getting pinged by either party. Alec lead the way towards his apartment and pulled out his keys to unlock the door.

"Jeez, I can't see a damn thing in here," Kishan muttered from his back as they walked in. "Why is it so dark in here?"

I could have sworn I left the blinds open.

"Hold on I got it," Alec said, reaching for the light switch. As soon as they flickered on, Alec nearly jumped back in surprise, muttering curses. He almost had a freaking heart-attack at the sight of Maize in his apartment, calmly lounged in one of his chairs. From the yelp of surprise and the slight thud of something smacking the closed door behind them, it seemed Kishan's reaction wasn't that much different.

The bounty hunter was unfazed. Nor did she pay any attention to them as she turned another page of the magazine in her hands. "Took you boys long enough to get here," she stated with an amused smirk.

"Where the hell did you come from?!" Alec exclaimed loudly. "And more importantly, how did you get in?!"

Maize shrugged and kept reading her magazine. "You wouldn't want to know."

Alec crossed his arms. "Actually, I would!"

"Well...I don't want to tell you."

Alec let out an aggravated sound in the back of his throat and pinched the bridge of his nose. And here he thought they were done with her for the day. Clearly, no longer the case.

"Does she have a key or something?" Kishan questioned with confusion, having regained himself from the initial shock the sight of the bounty hunter had been.

"No," Alec responded with an accusing glare set on the seemingly oblivious Maize—or maybe she was just purposefully choosing to ignore him. He sighed. "Alright Maize, glad you decided to grace us with your presence and all—"

"Yeah you're welcome," she replied, flipping another page.

It was like she was purposefully missing his sarcasm. The detective closed his eyes in frustration, trying to hold back his rising aggravation with the bounty hunter. "—But, I don't see any reason for you to be here so why don't you do me a favour and leave. Like right now," he said, gesturing towards the door behind him.

Maize huffed from her seat and finally tilted her head up to meet his narrowed gaze. "Don't worry, I will, as soon as I get the information I need." Her gaze then moved past him to Kishan, who looked back in surprise. "So, how about it, FBI?

"What the hell are you talking about now, Maizey?" Alec groaned.

"I told you not to call me that, idiot," she said, glaring at him. "And I'm talking about any information your buddy over here can give me on that gang."

"Me?" Kishan asked with obvious confusion.

"Well who else? You're the only one in the room who's spent weeks undercover in Zmeya...and you can't possibly tell me you didn't gather at least a sufficient amount of intel from that time?"

"Why do you care about that?" Alec questioned.

Maize shrugged. "That intel could prove to be very useful to me in the future, especially if I run into jobs that involve them."

So she wanted extra info on the gang for her bounty hunting. Alec resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Was she ever not thinking about her next job?

Kishan regarded her. "Listen, uh, do I call you Maizey too?" he asked uncertainly.

Maize's stare was like sharp steel. "Only if you want to lose a limb."

Kishan held his hands up in immediate surrender. "Yeah, ok, that's a definite no..." he rambled. "Anyway, listen, I can't just give you all the intel I gathered. I'm sorry but it's just not that simple."

"Sure it is. You tell me everything you know, I can leave, and you two get the rest of the afternoon bounty hunter free," she stated as if it was as simple as just that.

"Tch, as great as that last part sounds—" Alec was cut off by a dry look from Maize. Kishan intervened.

"Have you thought about why the gang is after me?" Kishan questioned, and neither answered. "They want me silenced because I know too much for their liking and they want me taken out—plus they don't take kindly to people who double-cross them. Why do you think they made it so I couldn't go back to the bureau? If I told you what I knew and they somehow found out, there'd be a permanent target on your back as well." Kishan seemed to try being as reasonable as he could, but the bounty hunter didn't seem to care in the slightest, as if his words carried to weight to her at all.

"As if that makes a difference to me. Target or not, my mind hasn't changed."

"Well, I'm sorry, but for me the answer is no," Kishan concluded. "Even if I did decide to tell you, it would be going against my mission's protocol. In a tough bind at the moment or not, I still couldn't either way. Understand?"

Maize was silent for a moment, staring pointedly into his finalized eyes before she finally seemed to give in. "Fine," she murmured, standing up. "I'll learn what I want another way."

"...well, while I don't strongly don't advise that either...you do you," Kishan responded with a—almost relieved—smile.

Great. Let's just get this over with already, Alec mentally sighed. "There you go, Maize," he stated. "Now, if you don't have any more business here, I suggest you leave—before I decide I want to arrest you for breaking an entry."

Maize only flashed him a sly smile as she walked past him and leaning up towards his face. "I'd like to see you try, Detective, I really would..." He narrowed his eyes at her as she sent him one last taunting look and left.

"Uh, bye Maize!" Kishan called after her as the door closed.

"Make sure to lock it," Alec muttered bitterly as he gave a tired sigh and walked over to his fridge, pulling out two bottles of water and tossing one to Kishan, who was still glancing at the door as if he half expected Maize to appear there out of nowhere again. Alec sighed. "Don't worry too much about her, that's just the regular, normal Maize Ember that I have the 'pleasure' of dealing with pretty much on a daily basis."

Kishan laughed at his sarcastic tone. "She seems alright—besides the scaring the crap out of me part," he continued to laugh. "Now if you don't mind, can I use your shower to get cleaned up? I'm exhausted and feel like a trainwreck that decided to go the extra mile and plummet down a cliff."

Alec chuckled at that. "Do whatever you want, couch pulls out into an extra bed. I just got to make a few calls for work," he said, already pulling out his phone. After all, the craziness of the day had come quite unexpectedly.

Ain't Maize just great? ;)