Maya yawned into the book she was reading, lack of sleep clearly catching up to her while the other teachers talked amongst themselves about upcoming school events.

"Another long night?" she was greeted by a warm rub on the back followed by Mrs. Miller taking a seat across from her at the table in the small staff break room.

Maya smiled at the older woman whom she was currently an assistant to in their small elementary school in East LS. "Kinda. I had to fill in for someone last minute so any plans I had of a well-deserved rest were tossed out the window."

"Oh sweetie, you deserve some time off," the older woman patted Maya's hand.

As great as that sounded, that was a luxury she couldn't quite afford. If she could, she wouldn't be working two jobs just to stay afloat. Being a teacher's assistant wasn't exactly the most lucrative job in the world. Especially in these parts of town that weren't all that wealthy to begin with and especially with most of the kids being minorities and/or considered at risk. Why would the city want to spend money on kids that would probably end up in the streets given their backgrounds, right?

It frustrated her to no end but that's why she wouldn't give this job up for anything in the world. Having grown up in some very poor parts herself, she knew and understood what a guiding figure could do for such kids. And perhaps that's why she was so drawn to Mrs. Miller when she first applied for the position. The woman's genuine passion for teaching and overall welfare of the kids inspired her to no end because it reminded her of teachers she had looked up to growing up in the ol' migrant labor camps. She knew just as much as Maya that these kids deserved a fair chance and that they were in no way bound to being products of their environment.

"Some time off seems a little too unrealistic, but perhaps we can start tomorrow," Maya tried to stifle another incoming yawn as she rubbed her eyes behind her glasses.

"Ah, yes! Isn't it exciting!" Mrs. Miller beamed with joy and excitement for the next day.

The school would be having a Law Enforcement Day in which personnel from the LSPD and Fire Departments would come in and talk to the kids about safety, the importance of school, etc. They would then give them small tours of their vehicles and just overall have an interactive experience with the kids. Maya was also a little excited, not because it would be a minimum day and she could go home early, but rather for the interaction and relationship building these kids could have with the officers and firemen. Considering the ever so gang presence, she was sure a lot of these kids lived in gang neighborhoods, knew gangsters, or were even related to some whether they be in prison or not. She hoped that by the end of the day the kids could walk out with a positive or at least more friendly view of their law enforcement.

"Hey Mrs. Miller," another teacher sitting at the neighboring table spoke up, "What's this about FIB agents? Are they also going to come?"

Mrs. Miller's face lit up once more. "Yes! It was just finalized this morning and it seems we will also have some agents coming in, a celebrity among them," she clasped her hands in excitement.

"Steve Haines."

Mrs. Miller nodded.

This was her first time hearing about any FIB agents so Maya could only watch as the teacher, Mr. Estrada, groaned, saying something about a publicity stunt while Mrs. Miller playfully scolded him.

"Hush now, he's a good boy."

The break room then split into those excited and not so excited for their supposed special guest while Maya was left confused on the sudden divide.

"He's going to talk to our class Maya," Mrs. Miller beamed.

"I don't even know who he is," Maya replied honestly. Was the fuss because of one guy or the overall visiting FIB agents? Mrs. Miller wasted no time in explaining who Steve Haines was: FIB agent for nearly twenty years, highly decorated, and host of a criminal reality TV show.

"And, might I add, son to a very good friend of mine," she smiled.

"Ahh, so is that how you managed to get him to come?" the realization hitting and confirmed by the older woman's nod. She had asked his mother. Well that was certainly one way to wrangle someone in. She still didn't know who he was but despite that she was feeling a little more excited for the next day.

Well the next day came and as her luck would have it, she was running late. She had an eye doctor appointment early in the morning that by no means would have interfered with her schedule but as the fates would have it, traffic.

"Of all the days for it to congest like this," she sighed, tossing her phone to the passenger seat after sending Mrs. Miler a quick text. She had hoped to see the little presentations of sorts by the officers but was now hoping to catch anything at all before the day moved out into the playground. By some miracle, traffic was at a standstill for five minutes before it cleared up and she caught greens all the way. That could have actually been way worse. She was only a few minutes late and wasted no time reaching the classroom. She quietly snuck in just as Mrs. Miller finished introducing their guests. Maya took a seat at the small table near the back of the class, giving a small smile and wave to some of the kids that noticed her come in while also completely unaware of the eye across the room she had just caught.

"Hello and good morning kids, my name is Steven Haines…"

Ahhh so that was Steve Haines. Wow he was really attractive and had this charm about him as he spoke to the kids; their full attention on him. She honestly didn't know what to expect. She had meant to look up his show to get an idea of who their special guest was, but she had simply forgotten to do so. Their other guests consisted of two police officers and two firemen, one of which had given her a small smile while the officers were up to talk. Ooo he was cute too.

Once the officers were finished, next came the firemen. She knew for a fact that the kids were really excited about the firemen especially considering they were going to get to tour the fire truck but also get to try on their equipment, with some help of course. Once they were done, next came the small Q and A with the five standing tall in the front of the classroom. The questions were simple: Is your work hard? Do you get tired? Do you get vacation? Do you have families? Do you like your job? Simple enough. But then came that one question from that one kid who just had a knack for asking such things: 'Have you ever killed people? Because my brother said…'

Oh Beto why, he was doing so good too.

There was a near hesitancy from the policemen to answer until it was Mr. Haines who spoke up.

"We do some things that we're not proud of, but we do what we have to do to ensure the safety of you kids, your families and loved ones, and everyone else around you."

Oh wow that was actually very professional. She glanced over at the young troublemaker and assumed he was content with that answer considering he hadn't said anything else. She then glanced up at Mr. Haines only for their eyes to meet.

"Well if that's all the questions we've got for our guests, how about we move the fun outside?" Mrs. Miller brought the attention back over to herself, earning an excited 'yeah' from the kids and happy nods from the firemen and policemen about to show off their vehicles. "Ms. Romo, mind escorting the kids out?" she asked Maya.

"Of course," Maya nodded, instructing the excited kids to line up single file before leading them out while Mrs. Miller followed behind the group with their guests. Once they were out, they were split into two groups. Maya and her group would first go to the fire truck and Mrs. Miller's would take the police car before switching. Tiny faces were beaming as they joined up with another class at one of the fire trucks. Lots of oos and ahs as the firemen shot water out from the front of the truck, did a demonstration with one of the hoses, and extended out the giant ladder on top among other things. Over at the patrol cars the kids got to go in and out of one, looking at all the tech up front, turn on the flashing lights, and meet the police K9.

After the tours the kids were free to go play for the rest of the day which was almost about an hour, at noon. The offer was thrown out though that if they wanted to get more hands on like try to hold the hose, or actually control the water, or try on the equipment, they were more than welcome to. In the meantime, Maya was on yard duty keeping an eye on the rampant second and third graders when she was approached from behind.

"Hey there."

She turned at the familiar voice. "Hi!" her face lit up, recognizing him to be the one Steve Haines.

"I noticed you in Mrs. Miller's classroom and I'm afraid we never got to introduce ourselves. Steven Haines, pleasure to meet you," he held out his hand with a rather charming smile.

"Oh no no please, the pleasure is all mine," she shook his hand. "I'm Maya, or in these parts, Ms. Romo," she motioned to the children.

"Maya Romo," he repeated with a slow nod as they took a step back from each other, the richness of his voice made her name flow out of his mouth in sultry syllables.

"So tell me Steven," she looked up at his taller form, his blue eyes attentive to her every move, "What brings a very busy man such as yourself to this little school on this end of town?"

He chuckled, crossing his arms. "I'm never too busy to come down and talk to a bunch of kids about what it takes to be a great FIB agent."

At this she smiled to herself, her eyes roaming the field of playing children. The kids seemed to have been mesmerized by him when he spoke, and she was sure a few of them would be going home wanting to be FIB agents in the future. Standing side by side, they made light conversation, embracing the small talk on topics ranging from the current event to the nightmare that was Los Santos traffic. It wasn't until a little boy ran up to her that their conversation was brought to a halt. Apparently one of his friends had fallen and scraped their knee. She excused herself from Steve, but he followed nonetheless as she quickly headed off.

"Sweetie what happened?" Maya knelt beside the little girl who had a few stray tears lining her cheeks. She had definitely scraped her knee and it appeared as though the palms of her hands as well, probably from trying to break her fall. She asked the little girl if she could stand, well already knowing the answer. As she went to pick the kid up, Steve stepped in.

"Here, allow me," he carefully and effortlessly scooped up the little girl.

Maya couldn't deny that that was probably one of the cutest fucking things she had ever seen. Motioning for him to follow, she led them into the nurse's office where the little girl opted to stay for the remainder of the day. It was really only about fifteen minutes left. When they stepped back outside, it was his turn to be approached, not by a kid but rather one of his fellow FIB agents. If she had been more attentive, she would have noticed the not so pleasant look Steve threw the other agent's way. He regrettably excused himself and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little bummed out. But oh well, he was the government agent after all.

Noon came in a flash and with that, the end of her day. It was the last day of the school quarter which aside from an early release day meant teachers' meeting. Since she wasn't a teacher, she was free to go. With her bag slung over her shoulder and phone in hand, she was absentmindedly scrolling as she made her way through the empty hallway. Rounding the corner into the parking lot, she nearly bumped into someone who she assumed to be one of the custodians but was actually someone else entirely.

"Ah, Steven, hi," she stepped back, a little surprised to see him still here but also a little flustered that she nearly ran into him by not paying attention. When he smiled at her, jesus christ, she felt like a schoolgirl running into her crush. God he was so hot.

"Maya, hey. I was hoping to see you again. Sorry about earlier, didn't mean to run off like that."

She shook her head and waved her hand dismissively. He had nothing to apologize for. Him being who he was, she was surprised he hadn't taken off right after talking to the class.

"I was hoping to see more of you actually…"

Wait, was he about to…

"… if you're free later tonight."

Damn was he fast. But who was she kidding, she was already screaming yes. The only problem… she wasn't free. With a sigh, she regrettably told him she wasn't available at that time since she had other commitments to attend to but that she was currently available seeing as how she had just gotten off work. But he was a busy guy, he was probably heading back to his-

"That works too."

Maya did her best to hide her excitement, playing it off as a relief. When he invited her for a cup of coffee, then it actually was genuine relief. She could more than go for the cup of coffee she couldn't get in the morning.

If she would have known that this is what would start her ride with Steven Haines, she would have gotten that coffee in the morning and missed the presentations. Their little impromptu lunch was pleasant and very enjoyable and as a result they began seeing each other again, and again, and again. There was no mistaking they had hit it off almost immediately, their attraction to one another very palpable. This fact further supported by the sparks felt when they first kissed on the second 'date'.

There had been a lot of flirting and teasing over a few games of pool at a near empty billiards bar late at night. Their ongoing back and forth eventually boiled over when he missed his 'lucky shot' and ended up causing the eight-ball to sink too early. They both stared in small silence at the pocket it had fallen in when she slowly started to grin.

"Not a single word," he pointed a finger at her across the table as he started to empty out the pockets.

She shook her head and waved him off. Slowly turning around to not face him, she took a sip from her water bottle while supporting herself with the stick propped on the table. Really though, she was trying not to laugh. 'Watch and learn' he had said. Oh she was definitely doing both. She didn't hear him come around the table until he was right behind her.

"So you're having fun at my expense huh," he crossed his arms, amusement clearly shining in his blue eyes as he stared at the delight reflected off of her darker ones.

She shook her head again, facing him now. "I was just hoping for a better show. You know, the one you promised me," she gently patted his cheek, her fingers lingering ever so slightly as he stepped closer. "Maybe next game you can actually teach me something," she was really trying but she couldn't help the cheeky grin.

He couldn't help himself either as he closed the gap between them and captured her lips. Almost immediately it felt as if something 'clicked' and it took every sense of willpower for them to break away from each other as the seconds passed, finally doing so with the lingering feelings of small pecks on the lips.

"C'mon Steven," Maya slowly stepped back, stick at hand, "Best three out of five. I lead by-" with the biggest smile she flashed up deuces.

With a chuckle, he nodded as they restarted and continued their game as best they could with the newly present 'distractions' in the form of each other.