Assassin X

Alex

Alex couldn’t help but feel stunned by his date with Raven. If what had just happened could be considered a date, he wasn’t quite sure. He sat there with his burger getting cold and her chicken practically untouched and tried to figure out what exactly had just happened.

It was clear that she didn’t drink much, if at all because she was downing those martinis as if they were water. No one who was used to drinking martinis would throw back three that way and not expect that they were going to lose control. The way she flew out of her seat, nearly causing it to topple over, and ran out of the pub on shaky legs, she was clearly drunk.

He should have run after her and made sure she got home ok. No girl should be out running the streets drunk, but after everything she’d told him he could barely even think let alone move. Not that she needed help, he was sure, she was a cold-blooded killer, and if anyone ever tried to attack her on the street Alex was certain she would have been able to take care of herself.

But the story she had told him about her life, everything she’d suffered, made her seem so vulnerable. The tears made her seem small and weak. And there was an urge in him to want to take care of her, protect her, the way no one seemed to before.

Alex couldn’t imagine a life where he was alone and had nothing growing up. He’d thought that losing his father so young had been hard but when that happened he had a whole fleet of people that took care of him. He had his mom of course who doted on him, and then Captain who took over like a father would, plus everyone else on the force. He lost only one parent but a whole village had stepped up to raise him.

Raven lost both parents, she lost everything, and was never given anything back. At least nothing that was any good for her. He was puzzled that anyone could treat a child that way; that they could use and abuse her the way the system had. To the point where living on the street was far better than living under a roof.

It wasn’t much of a wonder why she turned out to be what she was. Though that really wasn't an excuse.

And that was another thing, Alex was certain with that amount of emotion and booze running through her, she had been just about to tell him what he needed to hear. From the sounds of her story it sounded like she had been living on the streets until something big happened, and he had an idea it had something to do with what she had become. There was something that had happened to her to get her off the streets and make her a serial killer and by the way she had reacted to her own confession, he had a good idea that the two were related.

He had been close to getting a confession, but still had missed the mark.

There was a little pang of guilt that hit him when he knew that he was going to have to keep prying that information out of her, but that was his job. No matter how pretty she looked or how badly he felt for her, she was what she was. And it was his job to get her information, to learn what she was doing and with who. That’s what Captain needed, that’s what the city needed so that it could be safe again.

So, no matter what he was thinking or feeling about Raven, he had to keep his head on straight and remember that his job wasn’t to take care of her or protect her but to infiltrate her life and take down this ring of murders.

Early the next morning Alex was due back at the station. He was sure Captain was going to be asking about Raven and if he’d gotten anywhere with getting information out of her. Alex had gotten a lot of information but probably not much that was going to be relevant. Still, when Captain came to Alex’s work space and pulled him aside, he knew he had to tell his boss something.

“It’s only been one day but if I know you like I do I can assume you’ve already made contact with the girl?”

Alex nodded. “Yea, I went and got some coffee from her yesterday.” He stopped there, not sure what else to say.

Captain searched Alex’s face for more but when he didn’t give it he knew he would have to push a little harder.

"That’s it? Coffee? Don’t disappoint me Alex, there are lives at stake.”

"No, of course not. We went out last night for dinner.”

Captain’s face of disappointment changed to one of expectation.

"And? How did that go?”

He frowned and looked away from is boss. How much was he supposed to reveal about Raven? He supposed all of it and that was the job and the right thing to do, but there was that odd sense of protection he felt for her.

"Well, she talked a bit about her past, it wasn’t a good one. In and out of foster care, living on the streets. She had a tough upbringing.”

Captain was nodding, waiting for the big piece of information that Alex didn’t really ever get.

"From what I gathered it was when she was living on the street that she turned into this killer. Something happened, something changed, but I’m not sure what it was yet.”

"Alright, well do you think she’ll open up and tell you what it is?”

Alex shrugged. “She’s very closed off, kind of nervous and shy. It was the martinis she was drinking that made her talk. I don’t know if she’ll do that again. It’s weird, you would never think that a girl like this would be a serial killer.”

"I think they say that about most killers. Do you at least know her name that I can look her up in the foster system? Get her files?”

“Um, Raven?” he answered.

“So, that’s a no then. Listen Alex, I know it was only night one but you’re going to have to move fast on this. We need the information before anyone else gets killed. Go see her again, get coffee, get another date, and get what we need so we can get you out of there.”

“Then I guess I’ll go get my coffee,” Alex agreed.

He turned and left the station, knowing that he should be more excited about actually being told to go get coffee while he was supposed to be at work, but he couldn’t get as excited about it as he wanted to. Instead while he walked he realized that he was getting confused. Everything should have been so cut and dry, she was a killer, and he needed to catch her and her group.

But it didn’t seem that simple.

And when he walked into the coffee shop and smelled that sweet smell, he realized that was the same scent that was wafting from her at the pub. It was a comforting smell and he wished he’d realized it the night before when he’d been with her that that was her delicious scent too.

She was standing, as become her usual, behind the counter. He watched her for a moment before she saw him and as was becoming his usual, he realized just how attractive she was. Why did she have to be someone he was going to have to arrest? That just didn’t seem fair.

He took his place at the counter and put on his most charming smile. When she finally looked up from the dessert case she’d been cleaning, her face drained of color and she had a look that bordered on fear and humiliation.

“So, how was your run last night?” he attempted a joke.

Much to Alex’s dismay, she didn’t even crack the tiniest smile.

“Latte?” Her voice was small, scared, and he hated how it sounded.

“Yea, that would be great. Thanks.”

She rang him up and he tried to search for something to say. He handed her his card and their fingers brushed, reminding him of how warm her small her hand had felt under his at the pub.

“Listen, about last night. You don’t need to worry about it. These things happen, first dates are always tough.”

She wouldn’t look at him and handed the card back without a word. He had figured that talking to her would be difficult but he thought she would say something. Apologize? Thank him? Something? If she wouldn’t talk to him then how would he ever get another chance to get what he needed from her?

“I thought maybe we could try again, a do-over. What do you think? I really liked getting to know you last night.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered and turned back to the dessert case where she hid herself.

Alex’s latte was called out and he grabbed it from the barista of the morning. In an attempt to be cute he bent down and tapped on the glass, trying to get her to look at him. But she wouldn’t budge, she wouldn’t look at him at all.

There was nothing left he could do, she wasn’t going to talk to him and he had a feeling that wasn’t going to change any time soon. She didn’t date much, as he well knew, and he was sure she wasn’t planning on dating again. Her one time had been a disaster for her so there was no need for her to change her mind.

But Alex needed her to do just that. If she didn’t change her mind then he was absolutely going to fail and let Captain down. He was so close to getting what he needed to be the hero and he wasn’t going to be able to just let that go. No way. He’d have to keep trying.

For just another second he watched Raven cleaning, her cheeks red in what he knew was embarrassment, and again he was twisted with that mix of attraction and need to arrest her.

He left the coffee shop feeling even farther away from getting what he needed from her. And farther away from being able to separate the issue.

Back at the station Captain only raised a brow in question, not wanting anyone to hear what was going on. Alex was undercover and none of the other officers could know about it. So, all Alex could do was give a quick head shake to let Captain know that he had gotten nothing from Raven. Not even a last name.

He wasn’t sure what else he was going to do and while the other officers flipped through files and conversed, making notes and yelling ideas, Alex took a back seat for the day. He had other things on his mind and couldn’t quite keep up with them that day.

Unable to concentrate, he told Captain he was going on an errand, sure that he would catch the meaning, and went back to the coffee shop. But instead of going back in, he lingered outside and waited for Raven’s shift to be done. It seemed a little creepy and weird but it was all he could think to do, to try and catch her after work and hope that he could walk her home. Maybe she’d talk, maybe she wouldn’t, but maybe he could find out where she lived and he had to assume that information would come in handy.