"Maze?"
Trixie's shaky voice echoed through Maze's phone, bringing Maze's attention directly to the small human's voice instead of the bounty she was currently hired to find. The bounty's body was lying against the wall of a hotel room, writhing in pain. Maze turned around, knife in hand. "Trix? What is it?"
"It's-" Trixie sniffled. "-Mrs. Lebrille." Maze groaned audibly at the mention of Trixie's snobby, stuck-up teacher.
"What'd she do now?" Maze asked calmly.
"We were reading a story about monsters and stuff," Another sniffle. "And I said that all monsters aren't bad and that I had a friend who's a demon and that she's super nice." Maze smiled a bit at Trixie's words. "And then she said that she wanted to talk to my mom and that I'm making things up to get attention. I dunno what to do, Maze." Trixie's voice cracked, and Maze's grip on her knife tightened.
Nobody made her small human cry.
"I'll be there in an hour."
Maze hung up the phone before Trixie could say anything else, turning around to face her bounty who was still lying on the ground. She pointed her knife at him, her eyes shimmering with anger. "I'll deal with you later. Stay put." Of course, this guy wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, what with all the damage she did. Still, she made sure that he was unconscious before she snuck out of the hotel room, locking the door.
Maze was at Trixie's school within 45 minutes. When traffic rules didn't apply to you, it was amazing how quickly you could get places.
She slammed her car door, walking to the main gate of the school. She was highly aware of the two knives that she had hidden in her boots as she made her way to the office.
She probably wouldn't need them, but just in case.
"Parent-teacher conference for Beatrice Espinoza." Maze said bluntly, addressing the woman who sat in a large desk. The woman nodded shakily, pressing a few buttons on her laptop before gesturing towards one of the classrooms wordlessly. Maze nodded as a form of thanks, walking briskly to the classroom.
She opened the door. Immediately, she saw her small human sitting at one of the desks, glassy-eyed and tear-stained, and the stoic face of Mrs. Lebrille. Both of their heads snapped towards Maze when she entered the classroom. Maze directed a small nod and a smirk towards Trixie, who responded with a toothy grin. Mrs. Lebrille cleared her throat. "Excuse me, are you Mrs. Decker?"
"It's Detective Decker, and no. Family friend." Maze sat in the desk next to Trixie's.
"I apologize, but parent-teacher conferences are designed to only be between parent and—" Mrs. Lebrille was interrupted by Maze's glare. Mrs. Lebrille cleared her throat awkwardly and nodded. "Well, I called this meeting because I wanted to speak to an adult about Ms. Espinoza's, shall we say, imagination."
"Uh-huh." Maze responded dryly.
Mrs. Lebrille swallowed. "See, she has a tendency to tell these stories in class—they prove to be extreme distractions to the other students. Even today, she told this story of how she befriended a demon, of all things." It took everything inside of Maze not to snarl at her disbelief. "I worry that Ms. Espinoza is purposely doing this so that she can garner the attention of the other students, maybe due to a lack of attention at home."
Maze put up a finger. "Let me stop you there. I don't know what you're insinuating, but let me make one thing clear. This kid—" Maze then pointed at Trixie. "—is a good student. For you to say that she's being a distraction to the other brats is only showing me that you clearly don't know how to do your job." Mrs. Lebrille scoffed, but Maze continued. "Maybe you should spend more time controlling the rest of your students rather than pick on the one kid who actually has a brain in this class."
Trixie grinned widely as she sat in her seat, and Mrs. Lebrille appeared dumbfounded. Maze glanced at Trixie and gestured with her head for Trixie to leave the room for a minute. The small human did so, giving one last glare to Mrs. Lebrille before opening the door and stepping out into the hallway.
Maze's attention was directed back at the open-mouthed Mrs. Lebrille. She got up from the desk, taking a step closer to the stuck-up teacher. "Also, a piece of advice? This kid has a lot of people who have her back, so I'd recommend you shut your judgmental mouth before you try shutting her 'stories' down. You know, before the demon decides she doesn't want to play so nicely."
Maze felt half of her face fall away, revealing the skeletal burns that she had only shown Trixie once, long ago. She grinned as Mrs. Lebrille's face paled in horror, her eyes widening. "Oh my word," she stuttered. Maze resumed her human form, winked at the teacher, and walked out, leaving Mrs. Lebrille behind as she shook in fear.
Outside in the hallway, Trixie was sitting on one of the benches, waiting for Maze to leave the classroom. Once Trixie spotted her, she smiled again. Maze smirked and held out her hand. "I don't think she's going to be bothering you anymore."
Trixie took her hand and squeezed it, getting up from the bench. "Thanks, Maze."
"No problem, small human."
And later, when Chloe would come to ask Maze why Trixie's English teacher called home with such a positive report regarding Trixie's grades, Maze and Trixie would exchange knowing glances as they sat in the kitchen together.
Trixie needed a rescue, and Maze was more than happy to provide it.
As long as it included knives.