Author's Note: To the ZeroxMaya shippers: Merry Christmas.

Maya was grateful for Mordecai's jacket even before they were out of eye-shot of the runners. The wind was worse as they ascended the mountain and it stung at her exposed cheeks and bit through the cloth of her pants. The jacket kept her core warm, however, and she was able to keep her blood circulating this warmth by constant movement, ever upwards. Zero led the way, moving easily through the snow and picking the path where it was the thinnest. The siren wondered if he had something in his helmet that helped him navigate the terrain with such surety, or if he'd simply had far more experience than she had. Maya struggled to keep up, her feet slipping on stones when the snow thinned and there was nothing but a thin layer of ice to coat them. She realized that Zero was careful to not step on any exposed surface and so she tried to mimic his steps, watching where he left footprints in the snow and walking close to his. His stride was much longer, however, and she found herself almost having to take two steps for his one.

They stopped, once, and Zero edged off onto a ridge to survey the terrain ahead. The mountain split here, with a ridge branching off to connect to the next mountain in the range. The assassin remained perched there for a long while, kneeling with one hand gently touching the snow, and Maya walked closer, curious as to what he was looking at. Zero snapped his head up and turned his shoulders to regard her, holding up his free hand to indicate she should come no further.

"It's a cornice," he said, "I am not certain it'd hold both of us."

"They why in hell are you on it?" Maya whispered.

He turned back without a reply, staring ahead along the ridge-line. Then he edged back, carefully and Maya realized she was holding her breath until he was safely back on solid footing beside her.

"What were you doing on a snow cornice?" she repeated.

"I did not realize it was one until I was standing on it. But." He gave a slight shrug, a subtle gesture but for him, it was a very intentional one. "It held my weight. So."

"Okay. Whatever. We've got to cross that ridge, don't we?"

"Yes."

"Are we clear?"

The assassin was quiet for a moment and he turned, facing the ridge and putting his back to Maya. The siren stepped up to stand directly beside him, shoulder-to-shoulder, although their height difference made it more like shoulder to ribcage.

"Perhaps. I doubt the data center will have surveillance on this approach, but if they do, there is nothing we will be able to do to protect ourselves. Furthermore, if that snow breaks loose, it could trigger an avalanche."

"It's a narrow ridge."

"Yes."

"So what you're saying," Maya said with a sigh, "Is that we could both die a very quick and ignoble death simply by walking from point A to point B. Sounds great. Let's go."

"Death by suffocation is not a quick death," Zero replied, "I should go first."

Maya hesitated. There was an odd cadence to his words and for a moment, Maya found herself repeating his two phrases and absently counting as she did so. When she was done, she couldn't help but give the assassin a frown of irritation, even though he had moved in front of her and could not see her expression. He had her listening for haikus now, whenever his speech fell even remotely close to the correct number of syllables.

The two progressed out onto the ridge, moving slowly, and Zero walked with a sort of light crouch, putting his feet down with a surety that Maya certainly did not feel. He was far more careful than before now, and his steps were close enough together that Maya could easily walk within his prints. She wondered if this was deliberate, but did not want to waste her breath asking him until they were at the other side. The ridge was wider now that she was on it than it had appeared, but that was not much of a comfort. If she stretched her arms out to either side, her shadow would touch open air on either side. The wind was worse now that they were no longer buffered by the mountain side, and it whipped Maya's hair into a frenzy and stung droplets of ice and snow against her cheeks. She found that her muscles would not relax, which was not surprising. She often felt this tenseness when walking along the edge of some steep drop, or climbing along rooftops or narrow walkways, a sort of unconscious preparation by her body for quick movement in case of a fall. It had saved her before, but Maya knew that this time, there wasn't likely to be a second level or some jutting piece of the structure to grab hold of. There was only a steep line of snow beneath her, and if the side of the ridge came down with her she'd be buried and nothing would save her then.

It was like this for the entire crossing. Maya found that she was trembling by the time they reached the other side, and she collapsed into the snow once she was confident they'd reached safety. She stared numbly at the ridge behind them and was astonished at how short it was – it hadn't' felt that way while she was on it.

"Zero," she said wearily, "We're killing everyone inside that building when the attack starts, right?"

"That is the plan."

"Good. Because I want to take the nice, safe road down on our way out without being shot at."

"How do you intend to help me infiltrate the compound?"

The question was surprising, simply because Zero didn't ask many questions. Maya struggled to her feet and started walking in the direction she assumed the data center was in and Zero quickly followed, easily outdistancing her once more and taking the lead. The assassin seemed more in his element now, Maya thought. Normally he was not so forward and instead let the other three go first, preferring to stay at an ideal range and take his shots at his leisure. He was certainly aggressive and prone to violence, but it was in a detached sort of way, a cold killing with only a base enjoyment of the act. Maya would call him simplistic in this, but something told her that Zero was anything but simplistic. He was simply different – very different – enough so that she understood why some whispered he wasn't actually human.

Maya refused to believe that. She couldn't quite bring herself to.

She wondered if she'd see another side of him here, in this mission. There was the methodical sniper, the fury of when he was unleashed into close combat – a torrent of movement and aggression, and now she wondered what aspect would take hold once they reached the base.

"I'm going to follow your lead," Maya said in response to his question, "You appear to know what you're doing far better than me."

"Good. I do."

It was some time more before they came within sight of the data center. It was perched on a ledge, shielded by the side of the mountain, and there was evidence that the rock had been blasted away to make room for the structure. There was only one approach to it, the road to the front gate, and the rest was sheer cliff. Maya realized that Zero was angling them directly for that cliff. They'd have to climb down into a depression and then back up – a climb of about fifty meters.

"Shit," Maya whispered, coming to a stop, "That's quite a climb."

"We only need go halfway. There's an access vent there on the side."

"They'll have some sort of security on that."

"With luck, it'll be something dangerous. I need a challenge."

And here she was worried she'd be the one to trigger an alarm. Maya blew out a breath and reluctantly followed the assassin off the road and down towards the cliff edge. Getting down wouldn't be as much a problem as getting up, she realized. Her gear included inertia dampeners which would absorb the fall. It was a tossup between those and her shield as to which had saved her life more often. Zero paused on the edge of the cliff, gazing down, and then he hopped lightly off into open air and vanished from sight. Maya followed close behind, watching the earth vanish away beneath her to reveal a slope about twenty meters down. She angled herself feet first and hit it hard, the dampeners taking most of the force but still sending a shiver of a shock up through her legs and into her hips. She skidded on the scree and snow, falling back, and the rest of her fall was more a semi-controlled slide. Maya had to bite back profanities, kicking in attempt to get some purchase, and then the slope evened out and she was able to regain her feet for about thirty seconds before the snow upset her and she went tumbling forwards, aiming head-first for the ground.

Zero caught her. The assassin's arms caught her about the chest, spun her about, and then she was brought up short by impacting into his body. She remained there a moment, her fingers pressed against the cold material of his suit, and his hands were splayed against her back, his helmet tilted so that the edge of it almost touched the top of her head.

"That," Maya said breathlessly, "could have gone better."

Zero didn't reply. He simply let go of her and the two pulled apart, Maya looking away and letting the sting of the wind take the flush out of her cheeks. She was glad no one else was around to see that – although she was hard-pressed to say if it was her ungainly descent or Zero's resulting rescue. Probably both.

The assassin was already walking over to the cliff-side they'd be scaling, a short distance away. He was staying close to the cliff face, she noticed, and every now and then he'd pause and survey the rock. Looking for security cameras or other such devices, she thought. They were so small that they'd be almost invisible to the human eye, but surely as an assassin, Zero had some sort of technology in that helmet to identify them. Maya followed a good distance behind. She didn't want to interfere with his expertise with her own ignorance. By the time she reached the spot directly below the vent, Zero was already climbing. Maya stood there a moment, taking deep, even breaths to steady herself.

"Right," she whispered to herself, "I can do this."

It wasn't like a fall would do anything other than damage her already bruised pride. The siren flexed her hands to work some of the stiffness out, ruing the fact she didn't have gloves that were heated like Mordecai's jacket. Then she tentatively placed one toe on a jutting rock and shoved, lifting herself into the air and her hands clasped on the next handholds. The cold of the stone bit into her exposed flesh and she grit her teeth against the pain and pulled, letting the strength in her arms carry her up as she drew her legs up to search for purchase. She scrambled a moment until the toes of her boot dug in and then she pushed upward again, her knees scraping against stone. Again and again she repeated this process, her mind blank of everything save where she could find her next hand-hold. There was simply no room for any other thought, every part of her was focused on the task at hand. Dimly, she realized she would be an easy target if they were spotted, but there was nothing for it. She had to climb.

Zero helped her up the rest of the way. She stared numbly at his outstretched hand for a moment, then let go of the outcropping and clasped it. Her fingers wrapped around his forearm and his did the same, the grip painfully tight, and he drew her up. She walked along the cliff-face, both hands holding his now, and then she reached the edge of the vent and he gave one last pull and drew her inside onto her knees. The siren remained there, grateful for the feel of solid metal beneath her, catching her breath.

"I seem," she panted, "to recall that this vent was closed."

"Yes," Zero said.

"How?"

"I overrode the controls. Froze the security system as well – it's a pattern-recognition designed to electrocute anything living that tries to get in. It's set to recognize empty space right now, but we should move on quickly."

Maya gave a tight nod and Zero reached past her, dropping the panel down behind her and encasing them inside the vent. She could not see anything in the resulting darkness, and she told Zero this.

"It's straight ahead," Zero replied, "I will tell you if that changes. Keep one hand on the vent wall to guide you."

She heard him moving away and heart hammering, she followed, stretching out one hand to touch the metal side. The vent was too short to stand in, so she continued in a half-crouch, half-crawl, feeling like some sort of insect skittering in the darkness. There were a few turns in the venting and one upwards slope, and each of these Zero warned her in advance. Still, she found herself unnaturally tense from the constant darkness, shivering inwardly at being so helpless. Were it not for Zero's whispered instructions, she'd think herself utterly alone, for the assassin was silent as he moved. It was unnatural, unnerving. She almost wished he'd make some sort of sound so she wouldn't feel so lost in this darkness.

Then, Zero told her to wait, and there was a soft noise of metal on metal. The resulting light almost blinded her. Maya hissed and her eyes squinted up almost shut in reflex. She forced herself to look and she saw a dark shadow slip through the square of light and vanish somewhere below. Maya followed, slipping to her belly and staring out and down. They were in a hallway, somewhere deep inside the data center sub-basement, surrounded by the machinery that maintained the compound. She eased herself out, head-first, and flipped her legs over her head as she fell, landing feet-first in a crouch. It was some redemption from her earlier gracelessness in the snow, but Zero wasn't even looking to appreciate it. He was moving ahead, walking with a strange sort of grace, knees slightly bent, hands out to either side and she saw he had a weapon in one, but it was neither his gun nor a sword. A long knife, not quite the length of her forearm, with a slight curve and a faint blue-green sheen when it caught the scant light just so. Maya had no idea where this weapon came from.

They followed the metal grating of the sub-basement until they reached a wall, and Zero paused then to check around the corner, then he ducked back. He touched Maya's shoulder and held up one finger. She did not like looking at his hands. The fingers only served to remind her that he was something different, and she did not want to believe he was anything but human. It was easier that way. Then Zero pointed, down the hallway, and Maya nodded. One target. She stepped forwards, then side-stepped into the open space. There was a man a short distance down, reading something off the side of one of the box-like machines and making notes on a tablet. Maya pulled her power to herself, feeling the hair on the back of her arms stand on end in response, and made a sharp gesture. The man made to cry out but the phase-lock tightened and he remained frozen there, his arms thrown out to either side, his eyes wide, his mouth frozen in a surprised scream that hadn't had time to make itself heard. Zero was moving past her, running, and he had the knife swept back tight to his arm. She knew what was going to happen, saw exactly how it would go, and yet she stood there and held the phase-lock in place. Zero came up beside the man, stepping into the bounds of her power and she felt his presence – like a physical, tangible thing pressing in close against her chest, and then he brought his arm up and then down. For all his grace, it was still a savage gesture. The man couldn't even convulse – he just hung here as blood bubbled up in his throat and flowed in streams on either side of his lips. Then Maya released the phase-lock and Zero caught the body as it fell, dragging it towards the railing and then heaving it up and over. He followed it, hopping over the rail, and Maya walked over to peer down, watching him. He was dragging it to a dark corner between machines, pausing to search it over for anything useful. He came back carrying both the tablet and a identification pass.

"It should be some time before he's missed," Zero whispered, "Search this. Find schematics of the compound, if you can."

He handed the tablet to her, then pulled a round disk of metal about the thickness of her finger from his belt. It adhered to the back of the tablet and the screen went blank for a minute. An auto-hack. Maya eyed the assassin suspiciously. She knew he was wanted for political assassination and had done more than that, but now she wondered if perhaps he sometimes indulged in more than just cold-blooded killing. Spying, perhaps? A side-job when the killing wasn't challenging enough?

The tablet rebooted and Maya started pulling up folders seemingly at random. Zero was moving ahead, scouting out the rest of the sub-basement, leaving her to look through the hacked tablet. There appeared to be a floor-plan – no doubt used by the maintenance crew, and Maya tagged this one as something valuable, then hurried to catch up with Zero. He paused. There were stairs up ahead, and as she caught up he ducked into an alcove, leading against the wall and she followed suit.

"Yes?" he asked in an undertone.

"Found some stripped-down blueprints of the whole building. We should send this to Mordecai."

Zero peered at the tablet over her shoulder.

"I can tell you already what we need to ," Zero replied.

"Open the gates for them, right?"

"Yes."

"You and Mordecai aren't the only ones with a head for strategy."

"Give me a moment. I can update Mordecai without our communication being intercepted."

Maya frowned. Zero had gone still, the only indication that he was talking to anyone, and Maya wished he at least had the decency to turn his back to her like normal people did when having long-distance, private, conversations. She waited, listening to the hum of electricity around her, the tablet tucked under one arm, until Zero moved again to indicate he was done conversing.

"Tasha's bandits are seven hours out," Zero said, "We need to wait until they catch up."

"Are you serious?" Maya hissed in reply, "How the hell do we kill seven hours!?"

"We hide for the first five hours, then engage in judicious sabotage for the next two."

"They're going to miss that engineer long before then. We need to do something with the body to explain it."

A pause.

"Suicide or accident?"

Maya frowned as she considered this. "Accident," she finally said, "People don't typically slit their own throats."

Zero walked off to accomplish this, presumably leaving Maya to figure out where to hide. She considered the room. The sub-basement was certainly large and it didn't seem to be frequented very often. It was also noisy, which would mask the noises they made, but it would also mask anyone moving about in the area. She suspected Zero would be up to the task of this, however. The only entrance appeared to be the stairs and there were no walkways. This meant... she smiled. It was certainly a better option than the vents.