The Ties That Bind

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"Thank you," Maxim said simply, truthfully grateful because he knew it would get whatever tech was tasked with breaking into it a break, and it would look good for her that she gave it up willingly.

While she made her confession he only listened, taking it in for a moment and letting the information settle rather than reacting immediately. ". . . I see." He said finally, slow but not hesitant. "And this friend of yours. Was he also fooled into being there?" There were only so many people he could 'rescue'. If her friend was a criminal, she was going to have to accept that he was going to be on a list of people that were meant to be arrested.
 
She wasn't entirely sure how to answer that, hesitating for a brief moment before finally shaking her head a little. "No, not fooled at least, pressured perhaps."

"He's the one who approached me, recruited me into the pack." She said quietly, her tone hard to read since she had conflicting feelings about him.

Since Alex would be found out soon anyway, or was possibly already known, she told him the rest. "His name is Alex, he's Farkas's nephew."
 
Maxim was confused at first, wondering why she would want to be in contact with the person who had gotten her involved with Farkas in the first place, but it only got worse with every sentence she spoke. He wasn't really sure how she could consider the man a friend, given he would likely also be out for her blood now, whether he was compelled by someone else or not.

When she finished with her friend's lineage, Maxim pulled a soft, hissing breath through his teeth, an almost regretful sound in his throat. "That's a hard ask, Madeline," he said, sympathetic but unwilling to lie to her. "There's no chance in hell the agency would allow you two to continue being in contact, not unless they want you to lure him into a trap. Compelled or not, given his proximity to Farkas, there's nothing we can do for him unless he's willing to turn around and testify against his own family."

His own pack. Maxim didn't think it was likely that Alex would be willing to turn on anyone at all, not with the amount of backlash he would face, and how alone it would make him afterwards. Beyond that, Maxim was already sticking his neck out for just Madeline, someone unrelated to Farkas by blood with a relatively low profile relation to his drug smuggling business. He had a lot of leeway, as far as individual cases went, but he couldn't reach that far.
 
She was slumped a little in her seat, her chin propped on her hand as she leaned her arm against the car door, looking out the window to avoid looking at him.

"I understand that, I never really expected to be able too, I guess I just wanted to... explain, apologise, give him a chance to..." She suddenly fell silent, realising she been about to admit possibly giving him a warning so he could try and run.

"It doesn't matter, just... when you arrest him..." She knew he would end up in that position sooner rather than later, if his plans succeed that was. "Don't kill him, if you don't absoluetly have too."

She was being rather vulnerable, her tone making it clear she understood this might not be something he could do. "Please."
 
Maxim glanced briefly at her, sympathetic but with his hands tied, and for a moment was silent as he drove. "I have no intention of killing anyone," he said gently, despite the voice in his head that said Yet. But if someone had to die, it would likely not be this Alex. Farkas himself was the man that human justice would find hard to touch. If that moment came, and it was decided that wolf justice would be allowed to rule, then it may become Maxim's job as the man's equal in their hierarchy to take him down. Until that moment, it was always the plan to bring criminals to prison, not to death.

Finally, with a thought in mind that he was letting his sympathy give her too much leeway, he sighed. "I'll do what I can to keep him from harm." He said, wondering to himself just how many of those who were hurting, with questionably legal pasts that he would take under his wing. "You can write him a letter. I'll have to give it a once-over, but no one else will have to look at it." If she didn't put her name on it, or give a return address, it would be fine. They didn't have the warrants to be screening anyone's mail, and if only Alex knew it was from her then no one would be the wiser. Even so, he was sure Oscar would ask him if he was sticking his neck out too far for her, even though they both knew he couldn't stop himself.
 
She glanced at his face for a moment, her expression unreadable. Despite his gentle tone, she didn't entirely believe him, something about his tone maybe.

Her neutral expression collapsed into one of genuine shock for a moment, she quickly recoverd, as she searched for any sign of deceit is his voice or expression.

She didn't find any, and for a moment she just silently pondered his offer. Why would he do that? She'd thought he was helping her just to have an informant, an edge to get rid of Farkas and the poison he was flooding the streets with.

Offering to let her send this letter didn't make sense though, it could jeopardise his career, it left her feeling very confused. "I'll.... think about it." "I don't.... I don't want to get you in any trouble."

 
Maxim was quiet, letting Madeline study him as she wished and keeping focused on the road, only glancing at her once or twice and letting her come to her own decision. What she did decide was oddly . . . thoughtful. He was already aware that she didn't like to take things from anyone, given the way she denied Simon's attempts at going things for her, but worrying about his job, which was his own responsibility and no one else's, was more than he had expected.

"I appreciate that." He said with a small but honest enough smile. "Take your time." The longer she waited, the less closely she would likely be watched.

He let her think all of it over as they drove, until they eventually reached the H.E.D. building and could park after going through a security checkpoint to get into the lot. "We won't be too long." Maxim said as he got out of the car, silently inviting her along with him. "I'll have you wait at the desk Simon was using yesterday while I go speak with a couple of people, then we can get going." There were other agents around to keep an eye on her, but no one she really needed to speak to.
 
She did think it over a little, but she doubted she'd be able to make a decision anytime soon. Whatever his motives, Maxim and his pack, for the most part, had been kind to her and she didn't want to risk him getting in trouble because of her.

Besides that she wasn't sure if she wanted to write to Alex at all, her feelings for him were very complicated. He had cared and looked out for her, but he'd also put her in that danger to begin with.

What would she even say? If Maxim was going to read it, she doubted he'd let her give him the heads up. Though really she was sure he'd already be suspicious, perhaps she could at least try and convince him to go quietly.

Maybe it would just help give her some kind of closure, shaking her head a little she decided to just focus on the days activities for now.

She followed him out of the car, wondering who he had to speak too and what if anything she might be doing. "Alright, are they your superiors?" She asked curiously.
 
Maxim nodded a little as they made their way to the building, pulling a keycard from his wallet to get them past any security devices inside. "Yes and no. I'll need to report to my superiors to let them know what I'll be doing, and to those who are . . . record keepers, I suppose you could call them, who will log what cases I'm working or what locations I'll be in. Keeping track of things."

If an agent went missing it was better to have somewhere to start looking, and despite having a decent amount of influence and flexibility it wasn't as if he had no oversight. He couldn't spend his day goofing off while getting paid, after all.

"If Mercer is in I'll have you sit in the lab with him." he said, thinking a familiar face would be better than just occupying a desk in an unknown office with who knew how many strangers around looking at her. "Just don't mess with his keyboards, he's very touchy about that."
 
She seemed interested in how his job worked, since it seemed like he held a fair amount of power and freedom. She also wondered how many other agents were on the case, since she doubted Maxim was handling it all himself.

For a moment she wasn't sure who he was talking about, but then she smiled a little and nodded. "As tempting as that sounds," She said with a hint of amusement, "I'm sure I can restrain myself."
 
"I mean it," Maxim said with a little huff, but there was clearly amusement in his voice, "he's very sensitive about the equipment in there. Got eyes in the back of his head, too."

He took her to the nearest elevator, riding up to the second floor and walking a practiced path past where he had left her with Simon the day before, down a couple of hallways until they reached a room filled with different kinds of computers and devices that could be attached to them. Mercer, the smaller fox shifter from the van Maxim had once held her in, was indeed inside fiddling with cables beneath a desk when they approached.

Maxim paused at the door, considering the man's position and possible distraction, then just knocked and came in. "Mercer. Busy?"

It earned him a small pause in the young man's searching hands, and an exasperated eyebrow raise, but no real annoyance. "No, I always enjoy lying on my back on floors that don't get cleaned often enough. What can I do for you?"

Maxim bit back a chuckle at the sarcasm, rather than encourage the man, and just stepped aside to let Madeline in. "Keep an eye on our friend for me?"

He blinked at her from where he lay half tangled in cables, as if he hadn't expected to ever see her again and had just noticed her, and did his best to shrug. "Only if you don't touch anything."

"Pinky promise."
 
She was noticing more and more that Maxim had a sense of humour, which she was glad to see since she could be pretty impish from time to time.

It was a side of herself that didn't see the light of day much anymore, though the more she let down her guard, the more it peeked through.

She stood just in the doorway behind Maxim, glancing at the other agent curiously, he certainly seemed to have his hands full at the moment.

Once Maxim moved aside, she stepped in and nodded to Mercer. She blinked a little in surprise at his childish request, smiling in amusement as she extended her pinky to hook with his.

"I hereby pinky promise and solemnly swear that I shan't touch a single thing." She said seriously but with a teasing undertone, a playful smirk on her face.
 
When Maxim had sworn he would pinky promise in jest, he hadn't actually expected Madeline to approach the other agent to actually give one. It had him biting back laughter behind her back so she wouldn't think he was mocking her, and earned him a scathing look from the shifter half under his desk in response.

Still, after a moment Mercer did crack a slight smile and actually reach out to give her the requested pinky promise. "Oh, fine." He said begrudgingly. "Have a seat and try not to laugh if I electrocute myself."

"Yikes." Maxim said with a little huff that could have been annoyance just as easily as laughter, and shook his head as he turned to go back out the door. "All right, kids, play nice while I'm away. I won't be long."
 
Her smirk widened as she sat down in a nearby empty chair, "hmm I'm afraid I can't make any promises about that." She teased lightly, glancing around his lab with curiosity.

She nodded at Maxim as he turned to leave, her attention drawn back to Mercer once he was gone. "So, what exactly are you doing?" She asked in an attempt to make conversation.
 
Mercer heaved a purposefully loud sigh as Madeline settled in, as if he could not be less convinced of her innocence and was already looking forward to fixing things afterwards. But he remembered her from the van the day before, and she hadn't been so bad then.

"Ah, a cable shorted out." He said when she asked, still fiddling with wires and ties as he talked. "I'm in the process of untying it from all the others so I can get it out of here and get a new one swapped in. No one talks about the negative side of proper cable management."
 
She leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms, perhaps as an extra assurance to him that she wouldn't touch anything. She knew his equipment must be expensive, and he seemed to be the type to have his own particular style of organisation.

She was a little amused that he seemed to think his stuff was so exciting, that she'd be unable to stop herself from messing with it.

"That sounds like a pain." She was curious what his role was, "do you spend most of your time in here?"
 
"A big pain." Mercer agreed with a nod, focusing back on finagling one cable out from the others without completely ruining his organizational system. The only thing that would have made it worse was if he had used zip ties and not velcro straps to keep everything tied together.

"This is my own personal cave, most days," he said when she asked. "It's not really glamorous, but I've got a better eye for technology than that meathead you're wandering around with." He gave her a little wink at that, a faint smile on his face at joking behind Maxim's back. It was, possibly, two jokes in one considering he was wearing glasses, though they were only slightly red-tinted lenses to keep all the artificial lighting and bright screens from giving him a headache. "Sometimes I go out with the van to make sure surveillance and communication systems are functioning for bigger operations, but mostly I'm just here."
 
She made a soft sound of laughter at his joke, a little smile of amusement on her face. Though he gave off a grumpy sarcastic genius vibe, she decided she liked Mercer, he seemed like a good guy and had a pretty good sense of humour.

His job sounded interesting, and a lot less dangerous then Maxim's. "So what do you do mostly?" She glanced at the computers, "like digital forensics?"
 
"Mm, something like that." Mercer said as finally freed the cable and carefully sat up from under the desk to avoid hitting his head, idly fixing the glasses he'd let fall out of place while he worked. "I do the more tech intensive jobs that require a bit of clearance - retrieve building plans, set up online surveillance, use facial recognition software, occasionally operate long distance drones." He shrugged, unsure how many of the varied tasks he carried out would sound less like gibberish.

"Basically the meatheads tell me what they want to happen and I make it happen." He got up to toss the cable in the trash, retrieving a new one and preparing himself for the tedious effort of lying down and doing the same process in reverse. "They want 20-way communication with no interference, I set it up. They want alerts that trigger if someone uses the wrong phrases online, I get it done." He gave a soft grunt at the effort of crawling back under the desk, and gave a soft chuckle as he set to work. "Beats doing what they're doing. I'd take sitting behind a screen every day if my other options included occasionally getting into a fistfight with a bruin."
 
She'd offer to help but she doubted he'd accept, it would probably just make him more paranoid that she was going to mess with his stuff.

His work sounded interesting, it also seemed pretty vital for the other agents, which she guessed made him pretty important around here.

She smiled in amusement at that, he didn't exactly seemed the fighting type. "It definitely seems like the safer option."
 
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