Detective Alexander took a deep breath as the door closed behind her surprise visitor. She sifted her fingers through her blond hair and checked her reflection in the bathroom mirrors. Besides looking a little pale and on edge there was no indication of the confrontation in the women's bathroom.

She idly wondered if it was a good idea to hand over her apartment keys to Maximum Ride of all people but then shrugged. There wasn't any reason she could think of for Max to want to get into her apartment for Dylan. if it was to plant bugs, well, that wouldn't turn out very well since she was hardly ever home and if it was to look for some sort of evidence or sign that she was onto something it would be a waste of time. Besides, neither of those reasons would explain why Max had shown up in the first place. And with her son. It was pretty obvious that if Dylan Walker wanted to get into her apartment, whether it was to plant something, steal it or anything otherwise he could have done it without bringing his precious girlfriend into it.

Still, she didn't trust Maximum. Just because the woman had shown up begging for help that she might not even need doesn't mean she has to be best friends with her. It does mean, however, - on the off chance that Max was telling the truth – that she actually might have a shot at putting that son of a gun and half the Walker family in jail before the new year. A small smile crept onto her face at the prospect. She'd been the head of the investigation into the Walker family for long enough to dream of the day she'd get to see his face when he realised it was all over.

Her fingers picked out the list Max had insisted contained the names of every dirty cop in New York. Her pace quickened as she read it over. She knew half of the names on that list. She'd known them for years. Hell, she'd graduated with a handful of them! She saw them everyday, had coffee with them after work, knew their wives and children and she was supposed to believe that they had given in to Dylan's influence? A lump gathered in her throat. How could you say no to a man like him? If they'd been approached they would have to say yes, there was no option. There were families and lives at stake if they didn't. How many of them reported to him? How many kept tabs on the investigation to make sure it never got far enough to convict?

Shaking her head she decided it would be best if she didn't tell any of her co-workers – no matter how well she knew them – about Maximum Ride's sudden appearance.

She stuffed the list back in her pocket and pulled out her phone, dialling the one person she knew without a doubt she could trust and – of course – wasn't on the list.

xXx

She was exhausted by the time she shuffled into the elevator hours later. Wearily she trudged down the hall to her door but it wasn't thrown open and the apartment wasn't ransacked. In fact everything was normal – well, except for the woman sitting on her couch and the child colouring in a picture of a bear on her carpet.

Max looked up from Rixon and instantly rose to her feet. Spread out on the table was a pile of papers, some pictures, lists of numbers and a few evidence bags.

Natalia stood stiffly in the doorway while Max ushered Rixon into the spare room with his colouring book and bag of toys.

As Max clicked the room door closed Natalia picked up one of the papers, eyes running down the printed transactions to various accounts. "How long did it take you to get all of this?" She asked, trying to keep the awe out of her tone. She'd never seen so much evidence of Dylan Walker's day to day life since she started the case.

A couple of the bags held things from cold cases, traced back to the Walkers but that never got it past the first stages due to lack of evidence.

She recognised a pistol used in a shoot out three years ago, a bloodstained shirt from a drug deal gone wrong only a month ago and a beaten up handgun she could pin to at least nine murders.

"Six months." Max said, her tone formal and her stance defensive.

Natalia wanted to start dancing in joy. She had him. There was no way he could get away with so much pointing towards him.

Biting back a massive grin and a laugh that bubbled up in her throat she nodded. "You'll leave tomorrow. A safe house has been set up and I've called in a few favours from some friends of mine to keep an eye on you two."
Max raised an eyebrow and Natalia waved it off, "Don't worry. None if them are on your list."

Hiding her relief Max sat back down on the couch and pulled out a thick wad of paper and held it out for Natalia's inspection. "My testimony. Take you're pick. I'll testify at any of the trials you want but just in case, it's all here. Oh, and it's backed up with admissions I've recorded and so on." She gestured to the CD peeking out from under a pile of photos.

"I'll handle everything from here on. You'll just get the court dates and I'll see you there."

"Brilliant. I'm going to get some rest. What time must we be ready?" Max asked already halfway to the bedroom door.

"As early as you can." Natalia advised.

xXx

Natalia called in sick the next day, she said she wanted to make sure we got off safely and I wasn't about to argue.

By eight the next morning I had showered, packed up Rix's things and made three cups of coffee. Natalia was still asleep so I wasn't expecting anyone to show up for at least another hour so I made a quick breakfast for Rix and went to wake him up. It was as I was leaning down to shake his shoulder that I head the front door click.

I froze, my breath halting.

I hadn't heard Natalia get up, nor had I heard a knock on the door.

Quietly putting Rix's cereal down on the bedside table I slipped the small hand gun I kept for emergencies from my bag.

I could hear boots on the tiles in the kitchen as I peeked out the door to check that Natalia's door was still closed and a second later the shower started. So it wasn't Natalia. Images of Dylan, Zack or one of their lapdogs leaped through my mind and I bit my lip hard.

My heart pounding I listened to the footsteps approach the room and when they stopped in front of the door I shouldered it open as hard as I could, using the momentum to launch forward, kick the intruder in the stomach and force him to the floor.

I aimed the gun at the mop of longish black hair, pressing the metal against the back of his head. "Ever heard of knocking?" I hiss, finger ready to pull the trigger if he tries anything.

"Mamma?" A groggy voice filters through and I tense.

"Rixon get back in that room." I snap sternly, eyes flicking to find my baby leaning against the doorway with one fist rubbing his sleepy eyes.

My momentary lapse of concentration however is as long as the intruder needs to spin round, rip the gun from my hand and throw it across the room. I aim a kick at his head but he dodges it easily causing me to lose balance.

He elbows the back of my knee and I hit the floor with a thud, the breath knocked out of me. Rixon's scared face is what makes me lash out at the man who grabs hold of my hands and forces them above my head.

I try and kick him but he just sits on my thighs so I can't move.

"Stop struggling." He growls impatiently and I glare up at him. "I'm not going to hurt you!" He insists, pushing my wrists against the floor harder when I try and flip over.

Taking both my wrists in one hand his other hand goes to the pocket of his black leather jacket.

No! I yell at myself and manage to yank a wrist free to flash to his pocket before he reaches it.

My hand closes around cool metal and surge of triumph floods through me as I pull out…keys? Keys with a picture of a young Natalia dressed as Bonnie and a young black haired boy with midnight eyes dressed as Clyde.

"What the hell? Fang, get the hell off my witness!" Natalia shrieks making both of us jump.

My head whips over to find Natalia with a toothbrush in hand, a fluffy towel wrapped around her and her blond hair a tangled mess with a furious and confused expression on her face.

The guy lets me go and stands up, holding out a hand to help me up. I glare at him and ignore it, taking a few steps backward towards the spare room where Rix is fighting back tears.

I pick him up, and rock from side to side to calm him down while Natalia throws up her hands. "Seriously Fang, could you be more stupid? And why the hell do you still have the keys I gave you in college?" It doesn't come out nearly as chastising as I'm guessing she planned because she ends up shaking her head, a smile appearing on her face.

"Missed you too, Talia." The guy, Fang, smiles at Natalia.

She shakes her head and points to him, "Max, this is Nickolas Dente. Fang, this is –"

"I think I know who it is, Talia." Fang notes making Natalia and I roll our eyes.

"Right, well if you could give me ten minutes then we can actually get a move on." She disappears into her bedroom once again, slamming the door behind her.

Ten minutes later I'm clipping Rixon into a car seat while Fang puts the small amount of belonging we have into the boot of the black mustang.

Natalia has her phone pressed to her ear and is snapping impatiently at the person on the other end. With a huff and ends the call and shoves the phone into the pocket of her jeans.

"Is everything set?" She asks Fang who nods, "Good."
Fang climbs into the car and I'm about to climb into the car when Natalia stops me. "You can trust these people, they'll keep you and Rixon safe."

"Thanks."

Alright. what dya fink? Explenations as to why exactly the detective just handed over the keys to her home and not the usual first meeting.

Good? Bad? IDK.

Review? Please? Please? PUH-LEEEEAAASE?

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