After some time passed, Alexi dejectedly slumped down along the wall of the prison cell and gave a deep sigh. In the wake of all these surprising new developments, he had to stop and regroup. He could try and figure out the connections and details later. Right now the main objective was finding a way out of the prison cell. As he sat rubbing his temples, he heard some shuffling from his companion and saw her rise to check if the coast was clear. The lawmage craned her neck around the corner between the bars and reached behind her ear.

"Ana... what are you doing?" he asked in exasperation.

"Getting us out of here," she replied quietly as she produced a hairpin from her golden locks. She bent the edge slightly and stuck it in the padlock of the cell.

Alexi stopped and joined her, watching in surprise as she continued to work quickly, "You can pick locks?"

"I can do a lot of things," she answered as she fiddled with the lock, "I did some time with the Wojeks remember? If it means stopping the bad guys, they don't always get so hung up on proper procedure and protocol like some other people."

"We're going to talk about that later," Alexi reminded her as he took over the job of keeping watch. "Any luck yet?"

The lock jiggled and rattled about for a minute as Anastasia did her best to pick it. Finally, the two officers heard a click and Ana smiled proudly as she slipped the lock free from the bars. "Aha! We're in business. I've still got it."

Alexi gave his partner a quiet nod and stepped out of the cell, "Good work Ana. Now come on. Let's find another way out of here."

He grabbed a torch from the wall and led the way down the dark passageway. Many of the other cells were empty and despite the relative quiet, it didn't help their nerves as they made their way through the desolate and foreboding place. It was a far cry from the clean, well-lit and sterile areas where the Azorius kept their prisoners in detention spheres. In a way, it was almost ironic that it was now the officers who were on the run and trying to keep from being detained themselves. As they continued on, Ana looked around, "There seems to always be secondary back channels and exits in the buildings of the Orzhov. I imagine we should be running into one soon."

She stopped and gripped her partner's arm as she pointed and hissed to an approaching torch light round a corner, "Alexi, look! There's a guard coming down the other end of the hallway."

Alexi nodded and tossed their torch in one of the empty cells before pulling Ana into the darkness of the adjacent one, "All right. That'll be our way out of here. Stay close."

They hid in the darkness of a corner waiting for a pair of Orzhov guards to come walking down the hall. The armored warriors stopped and turned in surprise when they saw a burning torch laying the in the middle of one of the cells. As they paused and focused their attention on the odd sight, they didn't see Alexi and Ana sneak out of the shadows from the adjoining cell and hit them from behind. Alexi grabbed a small mace from the side belt string of a jailor and brought it around to crack against the soldier's head. Meanwhile, Ana kicked out the other's legs from behind and restrained both the Orzhov guards with a wave of her arm and some effort of her law magic.

The two partners exchanged a quick smile and nod before they dragged the guards into an empty cell and took their armor. Having donned the disguises of the Orzhov, the two locked the doors of the cell and put on the steel helmets which obscured their faces. If anything, it would offer a little more anonymity and help with their escape. They picked up the torch and the guards' weapons before making their way further and trying to find where the jailors had come from.
Eventually, they came to a stone stairwell leading up to a small guardhouse posted a block away from the basilica. As they opened the doors and stepped out from the underground passage, one of the sergeants stopped and gave a curious look, "That was fast. Have you made your rounds already?"

Ana nodded quietly in reply while Alexi took advantage of the muffled voice his helmet provided. "We'll go back in a minute. I wasn't feeling well and needed some air."

The sergeant raised an eyebrow before giving a shrug and shaking his head, "All right then. Hurry up and be quick about it. I expect you back in a few minutes. Is that understood? And take those cloaks with you. It's raining outside."

Ana nodded again while swiping and pair of dark cloaks and pushing Alexi out the door of the guardhouse into the open streets of the city. To their relief, night had fallen over Ravnica which would help make their escape easier under cover of darkness. Unfortunately, they also found there was a light misting rain which was hanging in the air making everything damp and wet. The two quickly walked away for a block or two before picking up the pace and jogging several more. Eventually, they came to a broken down wagon in an empty alleyway and stopped to strip off the heavy Orzhov armor.

After catching their breath and leaving the armor on the wagon, they wrapped themselves up in their cloaks and continued to hurry across the alleys and sidestreets in a zig zag pattern to throw off anyone who might have spotted them. Unfortunately, there weren't many people out and about so mixing into a crowd of commoners was not going to be an option. Ana panted as they hurried down the cobblestone streets, "It's going to take us forever to get back across the district by foot and there aren't any more carriages coming through at this hour."

Alexi grimaced. Even though they had to do whatever they could to reach the relative safety of the Azorius precinct station, she was right. It was not going to be easy traveling such a far distance by foot overnight. There were bound to be plenty of other dangers lurking in the darkness of Ravnica; thieves, muggers, Rakdos cultists, just to name a few. The Arrester nodded grimly and turned to his partner, "Okay... let's go a little further and find a safe place to hole up for the night. Now doubt the Orzhov might start getting suspicious and will try to find us to collect."

Ana gulped and nodded in agreement before they continued on their way through the darkness and light rain. As the relative quiet of late night fell over the Tenth District, Alexi and Ana quickly made their way down some alleys and side streets until they came to a small nondescript inn in a seedier area of the city district. It wasn't much in the way of offering comfort, but it was a welcome refuge from the cold of the evening and the light misting drizzle that had been falling outside. Right now, they knew that hired mercenaries of the Orzhov or perhaps even those of Judge Vandis had likely been dispatched to prowl the streets and look for the escapees.

In a run down slum like this, it was the perfect place to lay low for a while mixed in with poor laborers and other guildless people from the streets. As they entered the inn, the two officers made sure to keep their shabby cloaks pulled close so that their distinct clothes would not give away their alignment with the Azorius Senate. The last thing they needed was to draw more undue attention or to make more enemies here. Alexi dug into the stolen coin purse of an Orzhov guard and placed a silver coin on the front desk of the inn. He was given a key to one of the rooms for the night for no questions asked.

The two walked down a dingy wood paneled hallway until they came to their room. It was a simple chamber for the night with a small table, a chair, and a lumpy bed. After closing the shutters and locking the door, Alexi lit a few more candles and hung up his cloak to dry, "Well... it's not much, but we should be safe here for now."

"It's kinda odd," Ana remarked as she hung her cloak and sat down on the bed, "I feel like a wanted criminal now."

"By Judge Vandis's estimation, you are," Alexi remarked as he used the desk to block the door before sitting down in the chair to keep a vigil, "Why don't you get some rest right now. I'll keep watch."

Ana looked to him in the candle light and gave a quiet nod before laying down on her side. A companionable quiet settled over the room and he glanced over seeing his partner still looking at him quietly. She quietly rolled her sleeve back exposing her Boros Legion tattoo and sat up, "Alexi... I'm sorry I wasn't completely upfront with you before. I kinda owe you some explanations of everything from back in the dungeon."

"I think you do," he answered calmly as he crossed his arms.

Ana nodded and sighed, "You were right to think that there was something a little different about me when we started working this case together. But I wasn't lying when I said I wasn't a spy. I admit, I originally belonged to the Boros when I was younger. I had spent some time with the Wojeks before changing over to serve the Azorius."

"That's a heck of a jump," Alexi remarked cautiously.

"Is it?" Ana asked, "We're both concerned with the same end goal... with law and order. We just have different ways of approaching it."

"Except you guys tend to be a little more prone to just enacting vigilante justice for yourselves when it suits you... to act as judge, jury, and executioner in the heat of battle with a criminal," Alexi pointed out.

"And that's exactly why I left the Wojeks," Ana admitted quietly, "It's not like I completely disagreed with their mentality. Sometimes when the system is broken, you have to do something about it if no one else will... to do what's right over what's technically legal."

"I take it the Boros weren't as moderate or understanding?" Alexi guessed.

Ana sighed, "I didn't always see eye to eye with my peers on those issues, no. With nowhere else to go, I thought it might be a bit of a stretch to offer my talents to the Azorius, and Judge Acastus seemed to think I could be useful in some way."

"That old judge seems to see the good in everyone. So he sent you to work with me?" Alexi snorted with a mildly sardonic laugh, "Why would he do that? As some kind of joke? Or a punishment?"

"Maybe he saw something in you too," Ana answered back firmly, "He knew you were a great Arrester and could help teach me to be a better member of the guild... or that maybe I'd be able to teach you something too."

"Teach me? Teach me what?" Alexi asked curiously.

"I don't know... maybe to push yourself and challenge the rules when you need to? Look around you Alexi. A high ranking member of the guild has turned on us and is threatening to corrupt the entire district if he takes power. We've tried doing things by the rules up to now, but there's no guarantee it will be enough either. We might have to take some initiative for ourselves and do whatever has to be done to restore the rule of law."

Alexi grimaced and looked away pondering her words, "To think... I might have to break some laws to uphold the law. Ironic, isn't it?"

"I never said I was completely happy with it either," Ana admitted sympathetically, "We'll have to play this very carefully, but hopefully we can get some help when we make it back to the precinct tomorrow morning."

He gave a reluctant sigh but nodded in quiet consent. Ana sat quietly for a moment before speaking again, "Now that I've been honest, I'd like you to answer a question honestly for me."

Alexi looked to her quietly and waited until she asked, "Why have you insisted on working alone all this time until now? What happened to your last partner?"

"That's two questions," he pointed out but Ana silenced him with a hard frown until he relented, "I... I've just gotten used to working cases alone. It's just an easier quicker way to get things done."

"Are you saying I've been a burden on you?" Ana challenged him, "That I've been slowing you down?"

"No. Of course not," he answered quickly, "I just mean it's tough..."

"Being responsible for someone else?" she supplied, "Did something happen to your old partner and you feel responsible?"

"You certainly ask a lot of questions," he muttered petulantly. She remained silent and kept her gaze on him prompting him to continue. He eventually sighed and spoke again with reluctance.
"I had been working with a partner, a fellow Arrester named Niko Stolorz. He was a good officer. Smart, tough, and a good guy on top of that."

"I'm guessing you guys were really good friends then?" Ana prodded.

Alexi gave a faint smile before continuing, "One day we were raiding a Rakdos revue which was tied to the deaths of several local people. It was a violent gang and we had backup from some Boros Wojeks. Unfortunately, I was younger, dumber, and more eager to make a mark for myself in the Arrester corps. I disobeyed an order to hold my position and tried to go after some of the thrill killers. Turned out it was a distraction move and it left my partner open to danger. I wound up getting punished for my actions but Niko... well, he really paid for it, with his life... all because I didn't do things by the book and tried to do what I thought was right in taking initiative."

Ana nodded quiet and gave a sympathetic look, "Alexi... I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. The past is the past. There's nothing we can do about it but learn from the mistakes," he said stoically, "I swore I wouldn't make that same mistake by breaking the rules and letting another partner... another friend suffer because of my failures."

Ana looked at him in the candlelight and gave a quiet smile, "I'll be honest Alexi. We haven't been working together long, but I'm growing a little fond of you too. You're a good man."

"Ana... don't be an idiot. What are you talking about?" he said with a little huff.

She spoke again, "Whether you're aware of it or not, I appreciate what you're trying to do... to protect me and yourself from getting hurt. But you don't have to. I'm a tough girl and I know the risks. We're in this pretty deep and we have to know we can trust each other. If it puts your mind at ease, I feel the same way toward you too."

Alexi nodded in silent assent while Ana gave a thoughtful look, "If we're going to put things right and stop Vandis, we're going to have to get used to facing truths and maybe doing some things that we're both uncomfortable with."

"Maybe you're right..." he agreed quietly as he got up and walked over to the bed. To Ana's surprise he lay down on his half of the bed and made sure to keep a space between them.

"Alexi? I... what are you doing?"

"Getting used to something I'm uncomfortable with... putting a little trust in a new friend," he said quietly as he closed his eyes and folded his hands over his chest so as not to suggest any impropriety between them. "Best get some rest Deputy Radic."

Ana stared at him for a moment before giving a quiet smile and laying down shoulder to shoulder with him. "Thank you Alexi."

As the rain continued to fall outside, the two partners lay like that trying to get some much needed rest and enjoying the momentary respite from the dangers and betrayals going on all around them.

The next morning, the two officers left the inn and hopped a carriage back to the other side of the district. They were relieved to return to the familiar looking Azorius precinct building and they hurried up the steps. As they passed the crowded hallways and wove their way around marble pillars, they quickly advanced until they reached the office of Captain Pualski. Although they were technically safe here, the two investigators knew that they were likely still in danger if the corrupt Judge Vandis had spies or operatives within the precinct building. They had to report this to someone they trusted and Captain Pulaski was one such person.

They barged right past his secretary and entered his office startling him as he sat busily doing paperwork behind his desk. He looked up in shock to see the two officers who were looking out of sorts. "Arrester Lazlo? Deputy Radic? What's going on? What are you doing here and why aren't you in full uniform?"

"We can explain sir, but we're going to need you to just listen to us. We're afraid the whole district could be in danger," Alexi said quickly while Ana shut the door and locked it. "Please!"

Captain Pulaski eyed them for a moment before giving a nod and gesturing for them to sit, "All right you two... let's have it."