I want you

By Rhasa

Rating: T

Part 1

Disclaimer: Not mine. Eglee and Cameron et al. No money being made, and no infringement intended.

Author's note: I must admit - I am really really lazy. I should add more to this story so that it is more than just dialogue but I just don't have it in me. I think I might be coming down with something….. Anyway, here's a little piece, stand alone (although when I have said that in the past I usually end up writing subsequent chapters if people beg – Today They Won the Battle is up to 19 chapters now and that was meant to be a stand alone)

A bit of background. Alec comes up to Max in the command centre and just launches into the following conversation……

I want you

By Rhasa

"I want you."

Max could 'feel' the words brush against her neck as she stood at the command centre's bank of monitor's. She had heard him approach, but nothing had prepared her for hearing those three little words.

"Alec-" she began as she started to turn towards him.

He reached out and stilled her, forcing her to turn back round, so he couldn't see her face. "I want you," he whispered again.

"Alec, please don't –" she began to implore.

"No. Don't turn around. Just listen. Let me say this. Let me get it out, before I lose my nerve. I want you. I can't deny it any longer. I've tried. Do you know how hard it's been for me to keep my distance? For all this time, I've fought it-"

"Alec-"

"No. Hear me out. For once, just let me do the talking. I think deep down you know how I feel about you. I'm not afraid to admit it, at least not any longer. It hasn't been easy in Terminal City these last few months. I know you've noticed me, noticing you. Those looks you send me-"

"Alec, I don't-"

"It's been hard, with everyone else around, but I sense that you wanted to say things to me, things that you were afraid to say. And I think I know what those things were. So, because you can't say them, for whatever reason, I'll say them for you. I want you. I need you. Come home with me tonight."

Max couldn't control herself any longer, she giggled as she turned around to face him. "You've got to be kidding me," she said as she folded her arms in front of her.

"What?" he asked with a semi hurt look on his face." Too much?" he asked.

Max shook her head slightly while looking down at her feet and back up again. "Way too much. Way way too much," she told him, then smiled slightly. "Is that what you usually use?"

Alec shrugged. "More or less," he told her honestly. "Let's just say it's a variation on a theme."

"The ol' 'can't-live-without-you' theme?" she asked somewhat in disbelief.

"Yeah," he nodded. "That's the one."

Max scoffed.

What?" Alec asked. "Do you think she won't buy it?"

"Gee, what gave it away?" Max said sarcastically. "Of course she won't buy it!"

"Why not? I thought women like that 'you-drive-me-crazy, tortured-soul 'cause-of-my love-for-you' kind of thing. It feeds into that whole Florence Nightingale complex. They wouldn't ever consider going out with us, but because of our affliction they'll make an exception in order to rescue us from our pain."

"Maybe ordinary women are into that sort of stuff, but not X5 females. Tortured souls are nothing special to us. Thanks to Manticore, they're a dime a dozen. I wouldn't give it up altogether yet, pretty boy. I'm sure you have more tricks in your party bag," she told him while turning back to the monitors.

Alec couldn't help the little pout that broke out across his face. Slumping slightly, he shoved his hands into his jean pockets, and asked, "It didn't have the least bit effect on you?"

"Not in the slightest," Max said calmly.

Alec coked his head in defeat. "Well, maybe it will be different on her."

"Alec, it's not just me," Max told him as she turned to face him once more. "No half decent female will buy that line."

"Who says it's a line?"

"You can't be serious," Max chuckled.

"I have deep feelings for Ciara," Alec told her in mock seriousness.

"Since when?" Max accused.

"You don't know everything there is to know about me, Max," he told her.

"No," she admitted. "But your room mate Mole does and he assures me it's nothing serious."

Alec cocked an eyebrow, fascinated by what she had just revealed. "You checking up on me, Maxie?"

"NO!" she cried a little too forcefully, a little too quickly. "It just came up in conversation, that's all."

Suddenly feeling tired of the conversation Alec muttered a 'whatever' in response, then quietly to himself, "This is so embarrassing."

"What? Your speech? Don't beat yourself up about it," Max tried to pep him up.

"No. The fact that I'm coming to you of all people with this… this…." He faltered.

"Dating dilemma?" she tried to clarify for him.

"NO! Well…. Okay, yes. Dating dilemma," he admitted.

"Don't cut yourself up about it," she told him casually.

"It's just that…… well….. I've never had to…. you know….. seek advice before…. I mean when it comes to women, I don't normally need any help. I do just fine. In fact, better than fine," he said with a grin, while remembering past trysts and indiscretions. "Much, much better. I mean I don't mean to boast but," he told her. "Okay I will boast. There was this one time-"

"Easy there, tiger," Max said as she held up her hands to stop the verbal diarrhoea that was about to sprout forth from his mouth. "I don't need, nor do I want, the sordid details."

"Really? Cause I think even you would be impressed."

"No. Trust me. Not necessary," Max assured him. "You don't have to prove anything to me. I know how much it's costing you to come to me with this."

"You do?"

"Yep, and I know you're wondering, just when I was going to throw it in your face. Make fun of you. Embarrass you in front of the team."

"Yeah, I was kinda wondering about that," Alec admitted.

"You don't have to worry," she told him honestly.

"I don't?"

"No."

"Okay…. Now tell exactly why I shouldn't worry about you using this against me somehow?" he asked her suspicious.

Max shrugged. "I feel kinda responsible."

"Really?" Alec asked somewhat bemused. "This I gotta hear."

"I know I don't say it often enough, Alec," she confessed. "Well, maybe I don't say it at all…. The fact is, I know how much being Terminal City's S.I.C has cost you. It hasn't been easy. It's not the life I think you imagined for yourself after Manticore. Sometimes I think it's been hardest on you of all. And I want to thank you, for sticking it out for seeing it through. Since the siege started, you've never baulked, never shied away, never-"

"Spare me," Alec groaned in frustration.

"What?"

"The your-one-in-a-million-thanks-for-all-you've-done-couldn't-do-it-without-you speech," he winced.

"I didn't… I wasn't-" Max tried to explain.

"I didn't ask for it, Max. I wasn't fishin'."

"And I wasn't bitin', Alec. I just wanted you to know that if you really want to pursue Ciara, then you should. You have my blessing."

Alec gritted his teeth and rolled his eyes. "You're blessing? YOUR BLESSING? Now, who's kiddin'?" he asked incredulously.

"What did I say?" Max asked innocently.

"I don't need your blessing, Max," he informed her.

"Of course not. I just meant-"

"I just came to you for advice-"

"I know and I was just trying to-"

Pinning her with a look and a finger, he told her, "You were the one that brought up this whole 'trust' issue. The fact that we've been stuck here goin' on thirteen months, the fact that after all this time you trust me with your life, but you hardly 'know' me at least not really know me. The fact that we could – no that we 'should' - share things about our personal lives with one another, after all that's what friends are for and you now consider me as a friend-"

"Alec, I do consider you as a friend. A good friend. A-"

"Again, spare me, Max. If I had known that your invitation to share was just another way for your to assert yourself over me-"

"What?"

"Yeah, just another way to put me in my place-"

"Alec, I was not trying to put you in your place-"

"But you're giving me your blessing…"

Max thought for a moment. "Okay, that was the wrong thing to say. I'm sorry. I just meant that I want you to be happy. And if asking Ciara out is what's going to make you happy, then I think you should – just…. Just-"

"Just 'what"?

"Just do me and all the women of the world a favour and don't use that particular pick up line," she told him, trying to shift the conversation back to less dangerous ground.

"Why not?"

"Well, for one, it's not really 'you'."

"How would you know?" he challenged her.

"I just have a feeling, that's all. It's not like you to tell a woman straight out that you 'want' them and that you 'can't live without them. You're not that desperate," she said honestly.

"I don't know whether to be flattered or insulted," he replied. "If you haven't noticed, Max, males outnumber females in Terminal City by three to one. Despite what you think there is a time and a place for a 'direct' approach."

"I'm not trying to insult you, Alec. And I am well aware of the gender imbalance in here and what it is doing to 'some' of us, but don't sell yourself short. That little speech you have all rehearsed, makes you sound like a creepy desperado."

"I was going for the Alpha male, taking charge kind of approach."

Max shook her head. "That's not women want. Especially now, in here. X5 females can afford to be choosey."

"Well then tell me, Max. What is it that women want?"

Max thought for a few moments. "Women want…. Well, they want….. a lot of things. Companionship. Friendship, someone who takes the time to understand them. Someone who is interested in knowing what they're thinking, or how they're feeling. Someone they're comfortable talking to."

"You mean, like us." His words were more of a statement than a question.

"Yes," she said automatically, before recovering herself. "WHAT? No! Not like us!"

"Isn't what we have together, everything that you just said?" he asked her.

"Yes. No. I mean sort of. Just not in, you know, 'that' kind of way."

"Why not?"

"What?" she asked, wondering if she was really hearing what she thought she was hearing.

"Why can't it be 'that' kind of way between us?" he asked as he took a step towards her.

She knew he was trying to intimidate her. Payback's a bitch, she thought. He always had to get her back when she insulted him – just like she had before. She felt her cheeks redden both at his words and his closing proximity. "Alec-" she began.

"We're friends, we're more than friends we're companions, we share things. I'm interested in knowing what you're thinking, what you're feeling, as our current conversation indicates. Logan's up in Canada and out of the picture. We're comfortable talking to one another. I'm a good looking guy and you're hot as hel-"

"Alec-"

"Why not, Max?" he whispered in a low tone while allowing his eyes to travel over her body, making no attempt to hide the fact that what he saw he found – appealing.

He was deliberately making her flustered, she was sure of it. Damn him. "Because….. be-because, " she stumbled trying desperately to find words, any words, that would form a coherent argument that favoured the negative.

Taking advantage of her speechlessness, Alec moved closer still. "Max," he growled, " what would you say, if I told you 'I want you'?"

The end

Hmmm what would she say? For that matter what the hell did Asha say in answer to Alec's question at Crash that night? I mean I know she went home with him, but I'm still intrigued as to her response.

I really think Alec, although he portrays himself as a ladies man, still suffers from a lack of self esteem, particularly when it comes down to Max. Would she kick his butt? Or will she succumb to his charms? I wanted to see Alec try the same line on Max, but I put in the first part to add a little twist.

I hope this little piece gave you some brief enjoyment. If it did, the only thing I ask in return is a review. If you have suggestions for a follow up please send them to my yahoo address rhasa underscore aka underscore sarah at yahoo dot com.

Oh and if you liked this one please check out my other works – you might like those too.

Til next time

Sarah