I opened my eyes and, from the angle of the shadows, determined it was sunset. Unsurprisingly, after such a long night, I'd slept the day away. I sighed. At least I'd be able to catch some dinner gossip, find out what was going on. Alex would just have to deal with the late call about payment. 

I looked around and was not surprised to find I was alone. Smells from below suggested dinner was ready and there was significant noise--the Inn got pretty busy around dinnertime, I'd noticed. 

There was a polite knock on the door. 

"Come on in, Sasha, I'm up," I called. 

The door stayed closed. The knock came again, a little slower. 

"No, really, I'm up! Come in!" I insisted. 

The door opened a crack and a voice--not Sasha's, said, "Excuse me, Miss Hero?" It took me a moment to place it, but when I did, my instant reaction was to fall off the bed opposite the door. This caused the door to open fully, and there was a big, green guy in the door. 

"Alex! Hi! Whoa, sorry; didn't realize it was you!" I struggled to right myself, becoming somewhat hopelessly entangled in clothes, sheets, and limbs. 

"I'm sorry to startle you, Hero. I will wait out here until you are ready to receive guests." He began closing the door.

"No, no, I'm fine. Just...oh, alright. Give me a moment to untangle this sheet."

The door closed. 

It's a lucky thing we dwarves are naturally more ruddy than most. It hides the blushes very well, but I could feel the heat in my cheeks and knew what was happening anyway. I chided myself instantly: "You're not a schoolgirl, Hero!" I pulled the sheet off my foot--it had really gotten a good hold on it--and finally separated myself from the bed. A quick look in the mirror saw me grab a ponytail holder and pull my hair back. At least I would look a little put together when I opened that door. I sniffed armpits, shrugged and straightened my clothes, then walked to the door like a princess and opened it with all the appropriate decorum. 

"Alex. Good of you to stop by. Won't you come in?" I took in the picture: he was in his formal attire, I assumed--lots of brocades and filigrees and things--but I had no idea why. Still, he had a lovely jawline, fantastic blue hair cut just so to give him a dashing appearance...and, okay, I'll admit it, his were the longest conversations I'd had with a man since Darius dumped me. 

I was not here to rebound. 

He flashed that smile--that winning grin that, with his eyes, just kind of melted away any hardness you might have, and said, "I assume you are alone? I really shouldn't, then."

I tipped my head to the side. "Wait. Are you following high society rules here? No one-on-one time between men and women alone?"

He coughed slightly. "Well, in my research, I discovered where you came from. I assumed it would be what you were used to."

I was speechless. I'm not sure if it was the depth of his research into me, which was honestly a little terrifying, or that he would go to the trouble of showing such decorum just to make me comfortable. As my brain mulled these over, my mouth finally said, "Ah, yes. Shall we go to the...." and then my brain kicked into gear and realized there wasn't a parlor room. There was, in fact, no where but here where we could have a private conversation. "...Window! At the end of the hall?" I lamely pointed to some square, glass-covered opening that could only be called a window by virtue of you could see through it. 

Alex bowed, and offered to let me go first. I did so, as was the custom. It was, maybe, ten steps. At each door, Alex put his ear to the door to see if we were being eavesdropped. "Clear," he said softly.

"Sasha told me about last night," I whispered. So Brock is...?"

Alex nodded, cutting me off. "Dealt with. Your business with the Kinden clan is concluded." He reached into a pocket inside his coat and pulled out a fat wad of bills. "I assume you can take this currency?"

I unrolled the bills as he handed them to me. Commune credits. Q could work with that. I nodded.

"Good. I hope you don't mind--we just had a number of them and most of our suppliers don't take that currency, but I thought you might be able to use it as you travel through those lands soon."

"Okay, Alex," I said, no longer whispering. "I appreciate you're thorough at your job, and it's a credit, really, but, you're kind of creeping me out with how much you know about me."

It was his turn to blush, and his teal checks turned purple. "Please understand, I don't mean anything threatening by it."

"Well, not anything threatening now. But if I were to say, steal something from your clan...?"

"I'd know where to look for you," he finished, nodding. 

"Creepy." 

"Thorough."

"Not the least bit scary at all."

"In my life, being scary keeps me alive."

"Kind of the opposite, for me."

"I've noticed." And the way he looked at me told me he probably really had. 

"So, you're just here to pay me and off I go?"

"Yes, well, pay you and offer the Master's heartfelt thanks for all you've done--and risked--for us. He hopes the payment adequately compensates you for your troubles."

I counted the amount. If I'd stolen this off him, I'd have called it a great haul. "Yeah, that should cover it."

He coughed again. "We'd like to be friends with the Aunties, Hero. I'm not sure if you're empowered to negotiate for the organization?" He left it a question. 

"I'm not, not really. My job is...very specific. But my Aun"--I caught myself--"tique, who is our leader, has taught me plenty, so let's review what you propose and I'll tell you how likely it is to be accepted."

He grinned and I realized that he probably knew what I'd tried poorly to conceal: Q was my aunt. But he gamely played along. "Very well. We'd like to hire you to deliver shipments along your trade route."

"That's absolutely acceptable," I told him, hoping I had given enough time to make it seem like I'd thought about it. 

"The exact shipment will be determined at the time, of course. Payment on delivery."

I frowned. "Mmm. Half payment on pickup." This was standard practice.

"Very well. Half on pickup. Our contacts might also have material to deliver to us. Same arrangement?"

"Agreed."

"Excellent. Then we would also like to offer free lodgings in Northwatch in exchange for your...refraining from plundering our town."

At "plundering," I had to laugh. "Okay, I'm not pillaging the town."

"I understand you were able to pilfer some rather valuable jewels before I caught you."

"I might've," I hedged. Never admit your guilt.

"The factory needs them, and as you no doubt know, they are rather rare. Replacing them will take a lot of time and effort."

"I'm afraid you're too late, Alex," I said, with actual sorrow. "I fenced them just before you picked me up."

"To your aunt?"

"Yes."

"Good. Then would you be so kind as to call her and we can negotiate their return?"

Well, that's not standard practice, but this wasn't standard negotiation. Besides: money is money. I nodded, fetched by bag and found Q's card. With a press and a thought, her image appeared on it. "Hero. Good evening. And who do you have with you?"

"Antique," I began, signaling the formality, this is Alex of the Kinden clan here in Northwatch. He'd like to negotiate the return of the gems."

Q faced Alex. "Hostage-taking now?"

Alex shifted uncomfortably. "That was not my intent, no. I mean to buy them off you."

I stepped slightly away from Alex. I hadn't though this through, clearly. 

"How much are you talking?"

"A percentage."

"Intriguing. Go on."

"Miss...Antique...my Master would be honored if your organization would partner with us by investing those jewels in exchange for 1% of our gross revenue. We understand that Hero here is your...shall we say, revenue manager...and this strikes my Master as unwise. He makes this proposal in good faith, in the hopes of giving your organization a more firm financial foundation to work from."

My jaw dropped. Antique's jaw dropped. She recovered faster. "That's a handsome arrangement, Mister Alex. I am, of course, a day away, though. if I turn back, it will impact a lot of people down the line."

Again, Alex had an offer. "We do not wish to impact you or others, my lady. Indeed, as we've contacted our associates along your travels, we hear nothing but good things about you. This serves our purposes nicely as we'd like you to carry our cargo."

I spoke up. "It's pretty straightforward."

She was no schoolgirl, either. "I expect some of this is going to people I might not like, and people their governments aren't interested in having to kill?"

Alex was prepared. "Not by intention, my lady. Instead, we are delivering nearly exclusively to governments today. We can assure you your part in our plans will not be "below the table."

Antique thought about this for a long minute. "Okay. Let's start with one box; I only have so much room today. If that works out, we'll increase." 

Alex nodded, pleased. "I like where your head is at. Unfortunately, the shipment we need to send is three boxes. One simply will not do. I am prepared to offer a bonus for the inconvenience, if you can accommodate."

Antique looked at me. She said nothing, but I understood the look. She wanted me to procure additional transportation.

Alex didn't miss it and frowned. "My apologies, I did not specify why we are in such need. Yesterday's...theatrics...destroyed several of our own transports, and, of course, Brock was in charge of our distribution side of things, a job which has now fallen to me. I must insist that you find transports outside of the Kinden holdings."

I noted some prevarication. "So...if I needed to borrow someone else's transport, you're okay with that?"

Alex shook his head. "The town is our holdings, Hero."

Antique spoke up, "Antisocial can arrange this, Hero. Trust her to get something done. Alex, you've got yourself a deal. Let's talk money once Sasha gets that transport arranged. Hero, I'll need you to talk with Antigrav and have her intercept me, get those crystals, and bring them back to you. You deliver them to Alex, collect our payment, and then rendezvous with us as fast as you can." Her image faded and I slipped the card back into my pocket. 

Alex looked very pleased. "I think this will be work out nicely."

"I think you've suddenly gotten a very important promotion. You must be busy trying to pick up the pieces."

"Yes and yes. In fact, I need to go get that shipment ready, though I would love to talk more. Will you please have Antisocial join us at the foundry once the transport is arranged?"

I nodded. 

He turned as if to go, but stopped. Without looking at me, he said, "I'm sorry our initial meeting was so...violent. I understand if you say no, but, if you're willing, I'd like to repay you personally for your help and understanding."

I smiled. My heart was doing backflips. My brain was saying something, but I shut it out. "Are you asking me out on a date, Alex?"

He turned around, his full, green face facing my red one--from about two feet away. "I am."

I put my hands on my hips to give me all the stature I could muster against his bulky frame. "You are aware that I am a thief?"

"Yes--and a security consultant." He grinned, then frowned. "You are aware that I work for an organization that, eh, "breaks" people when they step out of line?"

My brain finally got through, and it said that, in all my years dating--which weren't many, but weren't few--I had been looking for people that my parents would be proud of, people they would set me up with--people that might impress them and make them think, "That Hero, she's done good after all." And they had rejected me because--that class of people can't be seen with thieves. I could never be a thief AND high class, could I? But here was a good man--"good" being subjective and subject to various nuances involving weapons and what "out of line" meant--who accepted me for who I was and what I did. Someone I didn't need to lie to--sometimes, at least. Someone with their own sense of twisted honor like mine. It might be a rebound relationship, and, of course, long-distance, but....

Alex waved a hand in my face. "Hero? You okay?"

I blinked. "Sorry. Lost in thought for a moment."

He pinched his lips, uncertainly. "Thoughts about me?"

"Thoughts about me. And you. And...look, I'm a thief and all, and you're a gangster, and maybe that works out in a twisted way. But I'm not into rough stuff. I don't like violence. I've had...bad experiences." I didn't want to spell it out.

Alex moved forward, gently putting his arms out. "I can be gentle. It's just a side that isn't used much in my line of work. But I'd very much like the opportunity to try it on a more personal level."

And I moved forward, seeking that embrace. As his arms enfolded my entire body, because, again, he was huge compared to me, my arms attempted something of a hug. I felt his warmth, felt a few knives, and felt that ever-present gun pressing into my temple. It was not comfortable. But it was more intimacy than I'd had in a month or more. 

"Okay," I squeezed out as the air was crushed from my lungs. "Okay, let me go." And he did, with a look of concern. 

"Too much?"

"Nah. Just...the gun is very uncomfortable against my head."

"Ah. Um...try the other side?"

We embraced again, and I was pretty sure we both had a dumb smile on her faces, because of course we would--that's required of such stories, isn't it? And this time, he didn't squeeze quite so tight, and I could snuggle into his surprisingly squishy side. And for a moment, my heart and brain agreed with each other that this was good. This was fine. 

After a long moment, I let go, and he did, too, a look of concern and relief on his face. I nodded and he flashed me that winning smile, because he knew he'd won. "Okay, Alex," I said, "You win this time. What do you have in mind?"

Now his eyes grew mischievous. "Have you ever gone spelunking?"

"Spell whose king?"

"Spelunk--cave diving."

"Like, diving into water, but into water in caves?" I was not seeing it. That just sounded unnecessarily dangerous especially for a first date with a person for whom murder appeared to not be a problem. 

"Oh, no. I see you have not. How are you with climbing ropes?"

"No problems there. I have my own grappling hook and gear."

His smile practically exploded. "There's a crystal mine not far from here up in the hills. If you like, I can take you there in the morning and you can collect a memento or two to take with you."

I smiled. It did sound fun, maybe even profitable. "But I was expecting maybe dinner, now, first?"

Alex laughed, and so did I. "Sorry. Of course. Care to join me downstairs?"

"Let me wash up and get dressed properly. I'll be down in a little while."

He bowed, turned, and I was pretty sure he thought he was king of the world, because my heart was definitely somewhere in the clouds. My head, ever the pragmatist, would need more convincing. I closed the door and considered my wardrobe choices. Pity that Sasha and I hadn't had a chance to finish our shopping the other day. I'd make it a point to bring up with Alex. I was pretty sure that, if his new job allowed it, I might be able to wrangle him into some shopping tomorrow, too.

That was my heart talking. My head just said, "Already settled in for marriage, I see."

I pulled the card out, tapped it. Aunt Q popped up. "Yes?" she said, slowly and menacingly drawing the word out.

"Is it okay if I go out on a date tonight, tomorrow, and maybe just get married the day after?"

She was apparently reviewing her books and made a show of checking the schedule. "Well, what do you know? I appear to have you down for "scheduled rest" until you join up with me in a few days. How about that?"

"Thanks, Auntie."

"He seems like a nice man, as underworld types go."

"Well, he was pretty gentle after the initial fright. I think he even saved me from an explosion or two." 

"Oh yes, that's a good sign. I wouldn't dream of dating someone if they hadn't saved my life at least once."

"Hey, I don't have a white knight complex."

"No, you have a "Maybe someone else will repair my relationship with my parents" complex."

"Well...maybe I don't now."

"Maybe."

"Gaa. You're so like Mom."

"Well, we are sisters. I probably rubbed off on her some."

"All the worst bits."

"Hmm. My best parts. Now, do be careful, Hero. Your heart is a butterfly, I know, and bless you for it, but don't do anything stupid, okay?"

"I will try."

"To not?"

"Sure."

We laughed and she waved before cutting the connection. 

Now. What to wear to dinner?