A/N: hate to do this to you guys, but I've rewritten chapter 1+2. BUT, you
don't have to reread them. The main ideas are practically the same. I'll
clue you in on the changes in chapter 3 with what I've changed so you can
just continue reading.
A big thank you to those of you who reviewed my old chapters:)
Soz for the confusion!
Jennyfer
Chapter 1
Her hair was so . . . different.
What else could she say? It was cut for all the right reasons- it was practical; she did not have time to care for it; her hair was out of the way. Then why was doubt forming in the pit of her stomach?
"Boo? Lemme see. It can never be beyond the repair of OC here."
Gnawing at her lip, Max looked from the cuttings on the ground to the door, the only thought registering:
Help!
Why was it, that when faced with a hundred armed men, she was calm, but cut her hair and the face in the mirror was that of a whimpering sod?
"It's not locked!"
Max watched her friends' expression as OC took in the new hair-do and the pool of brown locks on the ground.
OC smiled- smiling was good, wasn't it? Max thought desperately.
"I love it. Though. . ." OC took up the scissors, squinted her eyes and cut several clips of hair from behind. "There."
"Ready for Crash then?"
****
Draining his cup, Alec slammed it onto the table. "Sorry man, but it's your round again."
Grumbling good-naturedly, Sketchy accepted the pitcher and headed off to the bar.
Leaning back in his chair, Alec scanned the crowds of Crash for a potential lay- too short, he subconsciously commented. Too drunk . . . get the girl a shower . . . ever heard of implants?
Disappointed at finding nothing to his taste, Alec did another once over and hazel eyes met chocolate.
Max looks nervous, Alec noted while returning her faint smile. Disappearing momentarily behind the crowd, mischievous eyes followed her invisible path.
Damn, Alec thought in appreciation as Max reappeared, eyes wandering up honey colored legs accentuated by a black halter and skirt. "Looking for a lay tonight? Cos' I am."
Feeling a sharp smack to the back of the head for the 'alec' compliment, he heard Max snap: "Save your turn-on lines for the sluts across the room."
"Come on Max, they're not sluts."
"What are they then?"
"Fuck buddies."
"Alec!"
"Crown jewel polishers, then."
Glancing at Max, expecting another slap, he relaxed seeing a reluctant smile forming. Then an arm lashed out, catching him off guard- damn her!
"One day you'll get your just deserts."
"Mm- sounds tasty. Is it vanilla or chocolate? Chocolate I hope!"
Max slammed her fist down on the table to shut Alec up, causing the glasses to jump.
****
Ah, my knight in shining armor! Max thought, seeing OC wander in. Shifting over, OC slid into the seat Max had made room for.
"Boos', I don't remember the last time you chilled at Crash."
"Yeah- I don't recognize the regulars any more," Max complained, eyes sifting through the crowds of strangers.
"Hell, if the regulars were regulars, I wouldn't be seeing that fine specimen of ass."
"Help yourself."
"Don't mind if I do."
Max smiled as OC disappeared into the crowd. It had been too long since seeing OC hook up. It was fun to analysis OC's latest taste in girls.
The brunette laughing with OC looked cool- and also familiar.
Studying the brunette for a moment, Max's thoughts were interrupted.
****
"Penny for your thoughts?"
"You expecting change?"
Alec chuckled, watching Max look offended by the mere fact that he was talking. Mouthing opening to launch an 'alec' attack on his favorite victim, Max got in first.
"What the hell are you doing here? You're on tonight's command shift!"
Seeing that Max was ready to box his head in, Alec answered in a rush. "I've got tomorrows shift."
Shutting-up for the time being to allow Max to relax, Alec took-up his surveying of the willing female population of Crash.
Spotting Logan in the crowd- mistaking him for a girl, Alec joked- walking in their direction, he glanced at Max, and would have bet anything- even his crown jewels- that Max had smiled the smile she reserved for White. Just for a split second.
"What have you done to your hair?"
Looking away from his circuit of the opposite sex, Alec glanced questioningly at Max's hair. Surprised he had not noticed it before, he gave an un-'alec' contaminated comment. "Looks good, Max."
****
"Shut-up, Alec," Max snapped, angry as the burning fires of hell that would soon be snapping at Alec's behind if he did not watch it. So her hair sucked? That did not warrant the sarcastic comment from the dick-head. "No comments from the peanut gallery."
"Beers' on the menu again!" Sketchy said, sloshing beer over the table as he put the pitcher down.
"God, I've been waiting all day for this," Max said, reaching for the pitcher.
"Max- what have you done to your hair?"
Looking back up to Logan, Max sighed. "I- I fell asleep chewing gum and the bitch got stuck in my hair."
"Oh, but you're going to grow it back?"
"Course. Don't- ah- you like it?"
"I just think it's an awful lot like Asha's hair, and well, I thought you were more an individual than someone who copied other people," Logan stammered.
Max's eyes widened slightly and teeth crunched. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm meeting someone."
"Asha?"
"It's not what you think!"
"What am I thinking then?" Dick-face. Four-eyes. Ass. Hole. Fucker.
"That- that . . ."
"Logan, isn't that your date over there?" Alec interjected, pointing to a blonde at the other end of the room.
"Oh, yeah, well, I'll leave you guys," Logan said before scurrying off.
****
Alec watched Logan disappear into the crowds, pitying the guy- really he did, getting on the wrong side of Max's temper and everything. But Logan deserved whatever Max threw at him.
"Have a drink Max. Cool down." Pouring Max a drink, he looked up in time to see Sketchy disappear into the crowds. Lucky fuck-wit.
"What you need, is a good lay," Alec said, raising a suggestive eyebrow.
"Maybe," Max responded and began to chug down the beer.
Shocked, Alec nearly fell out his chair.
****
Beer flew out of Max's nose seeing Alec's reaction to her half-serious reply. Exploding into laughter, she felt herself start to relax.
"Gee, thanks Max. My one night out in weeks- and you ruin my chances of getting laid by spraying me with snot!"
Max could only respond with another wave of laughter.
"You think this is funny?" Alec asked through clenched teeth.
With than, Max watched through blurry eyes as Alec snatched his coat and made for the door, and was instantly silenced by seeing the back of Alec's head.
Guilt racked Max's frame. What had she done? The one night out of TC in weeks and Logan had unconsciously ruined it. So turning around and ruining Alec's one night out was right? No. It was plain babyish.
Motioning to OC that she was leaving, Max took the steps three at a time and propelled herself down the street in the direction of a dark figure.
"Alec, wait!"
Seeing the figure hunch further over and quicken his pace, Max ran to intercept him.
"What the hell, Alec-" Max began, spinning the dark figure around by the shoulder. "Oh, sorry," Max muttered, seeing the brunette OC had been talking to earlier.
The brunette looked at her and took off down the street.
"Shit!"
Gripping her short hair at the scalp, Max desperately scanned the area. She did not know why, suddenly, an apology felt necessary for her behavior.
If anything, he should be apologizing to her! Alec was the one who always got her angry, causing the bitch to come out. It was *his* fucking fault!
Spotting a dark figure in the shadow beside her. "I wanted to apologize," Max said angrily to the shadow. "But if you want to hide in the shadows and finish the night off as bigger ass than you started the night as, no skin off my nose."
"I thought I told you to get lost," Alec said before stepping out of the shadows.
"Well, actually, you didn't- you just asked if I found it funny."
Max blinked and her eyes went wide.
"You alright, Max?" Max heard Alec ask in the back of her mind, but she was feeling too disturbed to answer, only one thought went through her mind:
I sounded like Alec there.
Granted, anyone could have said it, but she had said it in a distinctly 'Alec' tone.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Max heard herself say, not even understanding the words she was saying.
Had she spent too much time around him? Was she turning into Alec? Was she taking pages out of his book instead of what should have been the other way around?
Max waited for the sickening feeling in her stomach to appear, but it did not. Strangely enough, the thought was not disturbing. What was happening to her?
Psych-ops! She needed psych-ops, Max thought desperately.
"Houston to Max. Come in Max," Alec half-teased, slapping Max's cheeks lightly.
Shaking her head slightly, she continued as if nothing had happened. "I never knew Alec and his legendary ass got put off by a little spilt beer.
"If you're trying to help, you're not," Alec said harshly, but a sheepish grin spread across his face. "Besides, I spilled beer down my pants."
Looking down at Alec's pants, Max chuckled- beer stained the crotch of his pants!
Alec glared at Max for a moment before chuckling himself. Slumping onto the curb, Max plopping down next to him. They silently shared a bottle of whiskey that materialized from Alec's pocket.
"What do you miss most about our old life?" Max asked softly, finally breaking the silence.
"Which one?"
Smiling grimly, Max nodded. There was life at Manitcore, at Seattle and now TC: all startling different, but yet all alike. Fighting for survival and a future topped life's agenda in each.
"You know something," Max said after taking a swing of the whisky. "We're never actually in the future. We're always in the past."
"Really?" Alec asked, humoring Max.
"Yeah," Max said slowly. "Like just now, you're thinking about what I just said- which is in the past."
Alec blinked, considering what Max had said. Chuckling, he leaned back on his elbows comfortably and shook his head.
Silence reigned as they passed the bottle on and off between them, and Max did not even like whiskey! But the shock of the comfortable silence they had reached numbed her taste buds. It was like all those times when Alec had been an ass had not happened. Maybe TC and the transgenics had changed him.
Heck, it's changed me too, Max thought.
Transgenics and TC were her life now. It shaped the way she made decisions. Before, with only herself, decisions revolved around the word 'I'. Now, the monosyllable did not even register.
And Max liked it that way. The way transgenics relied on her, giving life a purpose other than the horrific 'I' word.
Sighing, knowing how true it was, Max relaxed back on her elbows alongside Alec, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted.
"You're different from the rest of them," Alec said, breaking the silence.
Max chuckled. "In that I'm probably the only one crazy enough to be sitting on the sidewalk drinking with you."
Alec smiled. "Well that and . . ."
Their eyes met for a split second and Alec's voice caught at what was before him. He stared into its dark depths, nearly losing himself. Well, he thought while mentally shrugging, I knew it was going to happen at some point.
A big thank you to those of you who reviewed my old chapters:)
Soz for the confusion!
Jennyfer
Chapter 1
Her hair was so . . . different.
What else could she say? It was cut for all the right reasons- it was practical; she did not have time to care for it; her hair was out of the way. Then why was doubt forming in the pit of her stomach?
"Boo? Lemme see. It can never be beyond the repair of OC here."
Gnawing at her lip, Max looked from the cuttings on the ground to the door, the only thought registering:
Help!
Why was it, that when faced with a hundred armed men, she was calm, but cut her hair and the face in the mirror was that of a whimpering sod?
"It's not locked!"
Max watched her friends' expression as OC took in the new hair-do and the pool of brown locks on the ground.
OC smiled- smiling was good, wasn't it? Max thought desperately.
"I love it. Though. . ." OC took up the scissors, squinted her eyes and cut several clips of hair from behind. "There."
"Ready for Crash then?"
****
Draining his cup, Alec slammed it onto the table. "Sorry man, but it's your round again."
Grumbling good-naturedly, Sketchy accepted the pitcher and headed off to the bar.
Leaning back in his chair, Alec scanned the crowds of Crash for a potential lay- too short, he subconsciously commented. Too drunk . . . get the girl a shower . . . ever heard of implants?
Disappointed at finding nothing to his taste, Alec did another once over and hazel eyes met chocolate.
Max looks nervous, Alec noted while returning her faint smile. Disappearing momentarily behind the crowd, mischievous eyes followed her invisible path.
Damn, Alec thought in appreciation as Max reappeared, eyes wandering up honey colored legs accentuated by a black halter and skirt. "Looking for a lay tonight? Cos' I am."
Feeling a sharp smack to the back of the head for the 'alec' compliment, he heard Max snap: "Save your turn-on lines for the sluts across the room."
"Come on Max, they're not sluts."
"What are they then?"
"Fuck buddies."
"Alec!"
"Crown jewel polishers, then."
Glancing at Max, expecting another slap, he relaxed seeing a reluctant smile forming. Then an arm lashed out, catching him off guard- damn her!
"One day you'll get your just deserts."
"Mm- sounds tasty. Is it vanilla or chocolate? Chocolate I hope!"
Max slammed her fist down on the table to shut Alec up, causing the glasses to jump.
****
Ah, my knight in shining armor! Max thought, seeing OC wander in. Shifting over, OC slid into the seat Max had made room for.
"Boos', I don't remember the last time you chilled at Crash."
"Yeah- I don't recognize the regulars any more," Max complained, eyes sifting through the crowds of strangers.
"Hell, if the regulars were regulars, I wouldn't be seeing that fine specimen of ass."
"Help yourself."
"Don't mind if I do."
Max smiled as OC disappeared into the crowd. It had been too long since seeing OC hook up. It was fun to analysis OC's latest taste in girls.
The brunette laughing with OC looked cool- and also familiar.
Studying the brunette for a moment, Max's thoughts were interrupted.
****
"Penny for your thoughts?"
"You expecting change?"
Alec chuckled, watching Max look offended by the mere fact that he was talking. Mouthing opening to launch an 'alec' attack on his favorite victim, Max got in first.
"What the hell are you doing here? You're on tonight's command shift!"
Seeing that Max was ready to box his head in, Alec answered in a rush. "I've got tomorrows shift."
Shutting-up for the time being to allow Max to relax, Alec took-up his surveying of the willing female population of Crash.
Spotting Logan in the crowd- mistaking him for a girl, Alec joked- walking in their direction, he glanced at Max, and would have bet anything- even his crown jewels- that Max had smiled the smile she reserved for White. Just for a split second.
"What have you done to your hair?"
Looking away from his circuit of the opposite sex, Alec glanced questioningly at Max's hair. Surprised he had not noticed it before, he gave an un-'alec' contaminated comment. "Looks good, Max."
****
"Shut-up, Alec," Max snapped, angry as the burning fires of hell that would soon be snapping at Alec's behind if he did not watch it. So her hair sucked? That did not warrant the sarcastic comment from the dick-head. "No comments from the peanut gallery."
"Beers' on the menu again!" Sketchy said, sloshing beer over the table as he put the pitcher down.
"God, I've been waiting all day for this," Max said, reaching for the pitcher.
"Max- what have you done to your hair?"
Looking back up to Logan, Max sighed. "I- I fell asleep chewing gum and the bitch got stuck in my hair."
"Oh, but you're going to grow it back?"
"Course. Don't- ah- you like it?"
"I just think it's an awful lot like Asha's hair, and well, I thought you were more an individual than someone who copied other people," Logan stammered.
Max's eyes widened slightly and teeth crunched. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm meeting someone."
"Asha?"
"It's not what you think!"
"What am I thinking then?" Dick-face. Four-eyes. Ass. Hole. Fucker.
"That- that . . ."
"Logan, isn't that your date over there?" Alec interjected, pointing to a blonde at the other end of the room.
"Oh, yeah, well, I'll leave you guys," Logan said before scurrying off.
****
Alec watched Logan disappear into the crowds, pitying the guy- really he did, getting on the wrong side of Max's temper and everything. But Logan deserved whatever Max threw at him.
"Have a drink Max. Cool down." Pouring Max a drink, he looked up in time to see Sketchy disappear into the crowds. Lucky fuck-wit.
"What you need, is a good lay," Alec said, raising a suggestive eyebrow.
"Maybe," Max responded and began to chug down the beer.
Shocked, Alec nearly fell out his chair.
****
Beer flew out of Max's nose seeing Alec's reaction to her half-serious reply. Exploding into laughter, she felt herself start to relax.
"Gee, thanks Max. My one night out in weeks- and you ruin my chances of getting laid by spraying me with snot!"
Max could only respond with another wave of laughter.
"You think this is funny?" Alec asked through clenched teeth.
With than, Max watched through blurry eyes as Alec snatched his coat and made for the door, and was instantly silenced by seeing the back of Alec's head.
Guilt racked Max's frame. What had she done? The one night out of TC in weeks and Logan had unconsciously ruined it. So turning around and ruining Alec's one night out was right? No. It was plain babyish.
Motioning to OC that she was leaving, Max took the steps three at a time and propelled herself down the street in the direction of a dark figure.
"Alec, wait!"
Seeing the figure hunch further over and quicken his pace, Max ran to intercept him.
"What the hell, Alec-" Max began, spinning the dark figure around by the shoulder. "Oh, sorry," Max muttered, seeing the brunette OC had been talking to earlier.
The brunette looked at her and took off down the street.
"Shit!"
Gripping her short hair at the scalp, Max desperately scanned the area. She did not know why, suddenly, an apology felt necessary for her behavior.
If anything, he should be apologizing to her! Alec was the one who always got her angry, causing the bitch to come out. It was *his* fucking fault!
Spotting a dark figure in the shadow beside her. "I wanted to apologize," Max said angrily to the shadow. "But if you want to hide in the shadows and finish the night off as bigger ass than you started the night as, no skin off my nose."
"I thought I told you to get lost," Alec said before stepping out of the shadows.
"Well, actually, you didn't- you just asked if I found it funny."
Max blinked and her eyes went wide.
"You alright, Max?" Max heard Alec ask in the back of her mind, but she was feeling too disturbed to answer, only one thought went through her mind:
I sounded like Alec there.
Granted, anyone could have said it, but she had said it in a distinctly 'Alec' tone.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Max heard herself say, not even understanding the words she was saying.
Had she spent too much time around him? Was she turning into Alec? Was she taking pages out of his book instead of what should have been the other way around?
Max waited for the sickening feeling in her stomach to appear, but it did not. Strangely enough, the thought was not disturbing. What was happening to her?
Psych-ops! She needed psych-ops, Max thought desperately.
"Houston to Max. Come in Max," Alec half-teased, slapping Max's cheeks lightly.
Shaking her head slightly, she continued as if nothing had happened. "I never knew Alec and his legendary ass got put off by a little spilt beer.
"If you're trying to help, you're not," Alec said harshly, but a sheepish grin spread across his face. "Besides, I spilled beer down my pants."
Looking down at Alec's pants, Max chuckled- beer stained the crotch of his pants!
Alec glared at Max for a moment before chuckling himself. Slumping onto the curb, Max plopping down next to him. They silently shared a bottle of whiskey that materialized from Alec's pocket.
"What do you miss most about our old life?" Max asked softly, finally breaking the silence.
"Which one?"
Smiling grimly, Max nodded. There was life at Manitcore, at Seattle and now TC: all startling different, but yet all alike. Fighting for survival and a future topped life's agenda in each.
"You know something," Max said after taking a swing of the whisky. "We're never actually in the future. We're always in the past."
"Really?" Alec asked, humoring Max.
"Yeah," Max said slowly. "Like just now, you're thinking about what I just said- which is in the past."
Alec blinked, considering what Max had said. Chuckling, he leaned back on his elbows comfortably and shook his head.
Silence reigned as they passed the bottle on and off between them, and Max did not even like whiskey! But the shock of the comfortable silence they had reached numbed her taste buds. It was like all those times when Alec had been an ass had not happened. Maybe TC and the transgenics had changed him.
Heck, it's changed me too, Max thought.
Transgenics and TC were her life now. It shaped the way she made decisions. Before, with only herself, decisions revolved around the word 'I'. Now, the monosyllable did not even register.
And Max liked it that way. The way transgenics relied on her, giving life a purpose other than the horrific 'I' word.
Sighing, knowing how true it was, Max relaxed back on her elbows alongside Alec, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted.
"You're different from the rest of them," Alec said, breaking the silence.
Max chuckled. "In that I'm probably the only one crazy enough to be sitting on the sidewalk drinking with you."
Alec smiled. "Well that and . . ."
Their eyes met for a split second and Alec's voice caught at what was before him. He stared into its dark depths, nearly losing himself. Well, he thought while mentally shrugging, I knew it was going to happen at some point.