“Excuse me ma’am, but who are you?” The lady at the desk asks.

The woman smiles before casually putting her arms behind her back. She was out of place in this professional office setting. Black jeans with white stars on the back pockets, a plain brown hoodie, with a cream colored turtle neck. Not to mention her black and gold fashion hat wasn’t really professional.

“Tell Mr. Xavier that his lawyer is here.”

The secretary deadpans, clearly not buying it. “Ma’am, if you don’t have any business here, then I’m going to have to ask you to—”

The phone rings and she picks it up. “Mr. Withers?” She sounds confused.

“Send her up,” He orders before hanging up the phone.

The stunned secretary looks at the woman before hesitantly handing her a visitors pass. She takes the pass, a mischievous expression on her face before heading towards the elevator. She makes it to the top and walks to the door at the end of the hallway. She swings the door open before proudly walking inside.

“I see you got my little message,” Keldri says as she plops down in a seat that was in front of the desk.

“I have the unfortunate pleasure of being connected to you. So yes, I got your message. Try not to be a weirdo next time,” Xavier responds, never taking his eyes off his computer.

Keldri scoffs, resting her elbows on his desk. “It was inside joke. I was trying to keep good on the words that I parted to you.”

Xavier glances at Keldri for a few minutes before going back to typing. He clicks his mouse a few times before leaning back in his seat and sighing. “Why are you here, doll?” He asked the question already knowing the answer.

“To annoy you,” Keldri responds with a cheeky grin. Just as Xavier suspected.

Xavier rolls his eyes, turning his body to face her. “I have a meeting I need to attend in an hour. I also need that hour to prepare. So, unless you have something worth my time, your surprise visit is about to come to a sudden end.”

Keldri huffs, annoyed by the fact that he wasn’t playing along. “Fine, fine. Can’t you at least entertain my shenanigans for a little bit? I do in fact have something worth your time.”

Xavier studies her carefully, his brow quirked as Keldri takes out her laptop and opens it. She then poses him a question. “Remember that event Rania and Aiden infiltrated? Ximena Quintana was one of the guests there and someone in the Abyss was targeting her.”

Keldri looks up from her computer, glancing at Xavier as he nods his head. “Yes, I remember. The attempted kidnapping seemed bizarre. We suspected there was more going on. I presume you found out some more information?”

“I most certainly did.”

The laptop is then turned around, now facing him. And he’s greeted with blueprints for a prototype weapon. He pulls the laptop closer, using the touch pad to scroll through the different files on Keldri’s device.

“What…am I looking at?” He asks rhetorically. He knew what it was. But didn’t know what it was for. Xavier looks at the blueprint with a skeptical view as he examines each blueprint. Despite the different shapes and versions, there was one thing that they all had in common. They were small. Hilariously small. Smaller than a standard revolver or pistol.

“Did you catch it?”

The question pulls Xavier out of his head.

He glances at her before looking back at the computer screen. “Yes. Entropic equations for a weapon are a bit unusual. You’re clearly trying to get me to find the connection between the blue prints and the interior designer’s kidnapping. But I don’t understand what I’m supposed to take away from this.”

“Exactly, which is why you need to come with me to interview these Abyss kidnappers that the district police arrested,” Keldri concludes as she sits on the desk and crosses her legs. “Because I don’t know what they wanted with her either.”

X stares at her, half of him wanting to kick her out of his office, and the other half wondering whether or not she was on to something. The blueprints didn’t have anything to do with the woman’s kidnapping. On the surface. However, there were a few possibilities. However, all of this had a very low chance of leading them to Artemis.

“What makes you even think they’re related?”

Keldri looks at Xavier before using her mouse to go to another tab. On this tab was the statement that law enforcement took from Ximena. “Look at line 107. She admits that the kidnappers wanted her to build a lab for them. And they also indicated, that there are other people on a list that they also intended to kidnap. Furthermore, I got the blueprint from Ira. Rumor has it that one of crime units in the Abyss have turned one of their drug labs into a weapons manufacturing lab. I was going over all of this with Ben who managed to get the police files for me. We asked Ira to look at her statement and tell us his thoughts. He said that it was possible that they were connected.”

“So you think running off on a wild goose chase is the answer?” He questions, cocking his head to the side challenging her. There was nothing he hated more than having his time wasted. But, the information she’d given him just now was valuable. There were just a few other things he needed confirmed.

Keldri’s lips twitch slightly in annoyance. She wanted him to go with her to figure this out. Not only would this help them work together as a team, it would also allow her to find out more about him.

“It’s not a wild goose chase if you have a lead,” She retorts, crossing her arms. “Mind you, we still don’t know what Artemis wants. This might be as good of a chance as we get to find out anything.”

Keldri wasn’t sure if he’d take the bait. He was only ever interested in anything that was related to Artemis. Of course, he’d given his assistance in other matters, but that was only after she pressed for his help.

Xavier stares at Keldri, who was also staring back. Even he had to admit that this girl was relentless. And probably had too much time on her hands despite being in college. He closes his eyes before rubbing his temple. Agreeing with her was a bad idea. He knew it. He had more important matters to deal with. But he himself was on to something. This would be the only way to get it.

“Fine.”

Immediately Keldri’s face lights up and pumps her fist in the air excitedly. “Yes! I knew I could convince—”

“On the condition that you tell me what you really want.”

And there went her dignity. She freezes for a moment, side eyeing Xavier. She grumbles something under her breath before she begins talking. “I want to know more about how our powers work. And there’s only so much I can do on my own because our abilities are intertwined. Your biggest concern was whether you’d even want to put up with me, let alone if we could work together. This situation will prove whether or not we can.”

Silence follows after her statement. Xavier’s eyes never leave hers. He was good at keeping things to himself. But every time he tried to keep to himself, she sniffed it out. She was perceptive. More than he realized.

“…I never said we couldn’t work together,” He answers smoothly, wondering what her response would be.

Keldri shrugged. She then stretches before giving him an answer. “You didn’t have to. I can tell you’re hesitant to trust me. But the reason why you haven’t completely shut me out is because I intrigue you.”

She then gives him one of her cheeky grins. Her most charming one of course. She then nonchalantly adds “And there are other reasons that I can’t yet decipher.”

Xavier is silent, schooling his facial expression. “You piss me off.”

Keldri snickers, crossing her legs and pulling her arms behind her back, as she leans forward a bit. “And yet here I am.”

Xavier scoffs, leaning back in his chair. He could feel his annoyance simmer more, knowing that her previous statements were the truth. One minute she’s quietly observing everything, never offering a word of opinion. Then the next minutes she’s brainstorming with you, questioning you and pushing you to your limit. And for him, it was refreshing. Although he’d never admit out loud.

“Your personality bothers me. Now get out,” He replies before directing his attention back to his computer. He still had that meeting to prepare for.

The woman just grins, clearly amused by his annoyance. “Meet me in the Lapis District at midnight. We have a jail to break into.”