Disclaimer: Not mine, blah, blah, blah.
A/N: Some people asked to have Alec beat Logan in BtS. As much as the idea appealed to me, I'd like to think Alec is way smoother than that.
A/N2: Thanks to all the people who reviewed my stories. This is dedicated to all the lovely Nuns and Monk. And to Infie, for checking this out and making it better.
A/N3: ok, I completely forgot to post this. My deepest apologies.
Back to business
By Maia.
Alec waltzed inside Jam Pony, smiling in passing to a petite blonde leaning against Normal's counter. *She's cute* he thought, only to immediately forget about her as he moved to his locker. Max, OC and Sketchy were standing nearby, chatting. He glanced at his watch and smirked. He put on a panicked expression. "Oh, no! Is everything okay? What happened?"
He saw Max's demeanor instantly change to concern, her eyes scanning the surroundings. Sketchy and OC looked at him questioningly.
"What? What's wrong?" Max asked.
"Well, that's what I'd like to know." He looked at her seriously and then said accusingly "You're here on time!"
He jumped back barely in time to avoid her fist meeting his shoulder. He smiled smugly, watching her every move, only to feel a punch on his other shoulder. He looked around to face a smiling OC.
"You deserved that" she said, shrugging. He looked at her with puppy dog eyes. "Stop that, you know you did."
"Here I am, seriously concerned for the well being of our fellow co-worker and this is what I get in return?" he was sporting his best hurt-face now.
"When you are done with the acting, maybe my friend and I can actually continue with the conversation we were having before you interrupted…" Max said, hands on hips.
"Oh, by all means, My Lady. Far be it from me to disrupt the dialogue of such fair damsels." He even bowed before her.
OC was laughing now and Sketchy had his usual goofy smile in place. Max shot him a venomous look, before tossing her hair over her shoulder and turning her back on him to face OC.
"And she tells me about drama," he muttered under his breath, which only made Sketchy grin and Max's back stiffen. He cautiously moved a couple of steps farther away from her.
"So, anyway. I'm gonna need a really serious looking hairdo. Think you can do it?" Max asked OC.
Alec looked at Sketchy, who explained. "Max is going to some rich people party with Logan."
"Oh, I see" Alec said, nodding and moving so she would see him, but still three feet away from her. He looked her up and down, his hand rubbing his chin thoughtfully
"Yeah, I think with… oh, I don't know … ten, twelve hours you could actually make her pass as something more than a beggar right out of the street." Max took a step towards him. He was looking around for the fastest escape route, when Normal's 'Hot run to Sector Nine' was heard. He sprinted to the counter and grabbed the package before the others could blink. As he was leaving, he bowed again, smirking at Max's furious face across the room.
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Max was wearing a stunning red dress. It really was. It was sexy, and tight, showing off her striking cleavage, floating around her like a dream, and it was… red. Really, she knew red looked good on her, but it would have been nice to wear a different color. How often did she go to this sort of event? And now the only two gala gowns she had were both… red.
Okay, so Logan had meant well, but… but… Oh, well, not like she was going to wear it any other time… She sighed and forced a smile as she noticed Logan turning to look at her.
"You look ravishing in red."
She groaned internally, but thanked him sweetly. He turned back to his conversation with some Technology Tycoon. Max excused herself and started walking to where they were serving the drinks, asking for a Margarita. She was about to turn back to Logan's side when she heard a familiar voice whispering by her ear.
"My, my, bored already?"
She turned swiftly around to find Alec's face only inches away from hers. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Nice to see you too, Maxie." he replied. Max just glared.
"You know, I've got to hand it to OC, she can really work miracles." he continued, looking her up and down and laughing when she had to stop her attempt at hitting him, because the dress was way too low-cut for such sudden movements. He tsked and then moved aside to allow Max to see the blond girl that had been at Jam Pony earlier. "Max Guevara, Tish Cavannagh. Tish, this is Max. Tish invited me to this affair, her father is the host." he drawled pointedly.
Max, who had previously only nodded at the other girl, suddenly extended her hand. "A pleasure to meet you!"
Alec smirked over the blonde's head. He gave Max an aren't-you-glad-I-came look. Since Tish was still looking at her, she had to suppress a comeback and just keep smiling brightly.
"So, are you interested in the environmental issues too?" the petite young woman asked Max politely.
"Oh, yes, of course. But actually my fiancé is the expert. Why don't I introduce the two of you?" Max grabbed the other girl by the elbow to drag her to where Logan was across the room.
The progress was rather slow, as they were interrupted every couple of steps by Tish's acquaintances wanting to have a word with her.
Alec chuckled at Max's frustration.
He'd spotted her the minute he'd entered the room. She immediately caught his attention. She was wearing make-up, beautifully applied so it brought out her lush lips and made her eyes more mysterious. And the hair! He'd never seen her hair actually 'done' before. It was fastened on the top of her head, but soft curls fell randomly around her face. A swift glance told him the dress was gorgeous. It was low cut; it had to be. That thought snapped him back to the task at hand. Of course it had to be!
Alec was really reluctant at the idea of touching Logan in any way, even repulsed one might say. But right now he felt an uncontrollable urge to put his hands around the older man's neck and squeeze slowly but firmly. He'd felt that way all afternoon.
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Flashback – at Jam PonyAlec looked carefully around before dropping on the seat besides OC, who seemed to be lost in thought.
"Hey, Cindy! The Evil Witch gone?"
OC tried to look stern but failed miserably. "She went home to get herself ready for tonight's big event"
"Oh, yeah! What's that all about?" He tried to sound just curious and not desperate to know. He thought he pulled it off.
"Dunno. Some big-shot's having a party of some sort." she shrugged.
"And what does Logan want to get from him?" at OC's look he added, "Come on, why would Logan want to take our tomboy friend to an elegant soiree? I mean, I know she'll probably behave and all, but you and I know that is not her thing." Then he finished, more to himself than for Cindy "Then again, that guy's so blind, he might actually think she'll like it..." .
"Amen, boy" OC nodded, having heard the last part, but said "You were right on the first one though. Apparently the guy throwing the party has some interesting new technology that the mighty Eyes Only needs."
"And why do they have to go to this party? Why couldn't we steal it some other time?"
OC smiled at his use of the word 'we', but he wasn't looking.
"Well, apparently they need to distract the guy, cuz he never leaves his office, an' they need to get in there to get past the security system, or something. M'girl's supposed to get that part of the job done."
"Oh, is she?" OC watched fascinated as Alec's eyes became harder.
"Here's directions to the party." she handed him a piece of paper.
He looked up at her worried eyes and smiled. "You are great, Cindy! And don't worry. I'll take care of it." With that he walked out of Jam Pony.
end flashback
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Alec watched Tish with a little guilt. He had recognized the address on OC's paper from his first delivery of the day, and then remembered the blonde Normal had been talking to right before that. He had walked back inside and asked his boss about her. Then he had looked her up with some lame excuse about notifying her the package had been delivered. He had used a couple of his lines and smiles and got himself a date for the affair.
On second thought maybe he shouldn't feel guilty. Ordinaries were so predictable...
And speaking of the ordinary... His eyes turned into a dark brownish shade as they finally caught sight of Logan, but he smiled charmingly, "Hey, Logan, buddy." He watched the other guy's horrified look at seeing him there with savage amusement.
Alec shook his head in reproach. "Gentlemen, looks like my friend here has forgotten his manners. Alexander McDowell." he said, "And this lovely young lady is Miss Tish Cavannagh. You all know her, I presume?" He shook the hands of the other men. "Logan, my friend, do close your mouth." He looked back at the rest of the group. "Don't know what is up with him today. He's usually such a gentleman..."
Max frowned at Alec. He had looked at her when he said the last word, but she couldn't decipher what he meant by it. She decided that whatever it was, she had to glare at him. Just for good measure.
Alec shook his head imperceptibly, disappointed, and looked at one of the others, a short heavy man that was asking him "Are you in the environmental business, Mr. McDowell?"
"Oh yes, certainly. I'm quite an expert on sewage systems, but I'm very interested in the final treatments of wastewater as well." He didn't miss the smile on Max's lips at his mention of the sewers and he winked at her, provoking a coughing fit from Max as she tried to conceal a giggle. He was about to smile when he caught Logan's disapproving stare directed at Max. What the hell was wrong with the guy? Didn't he like to see her smile?
"Oh, yes…" the short guy was saying. "Mr. Cale here was telling us how his companies are very interested in using the new technologies for their effluents."
"Was he now? Strange how they would wait until now to be interested in this, since the latest developments on this field were made sometime before the pulse." He smiled, not taking his eyes of Logan. "So, what were you interested in?"
"I was thinking along the lines of activated sludge, actually." Logan said, feeling more comfortable now. He didn't know what was wrong with Alec, but then again the transgenic was such a jerk, he never knew what he would come up with. But he'd gotten himself into dangerous waters now. He actually thought he could intimidate EO? He could already see Alec's frown of concentration as he tried to come up with something to say. He probably thought sludge was something you could eat. *Good luck, loser.*
"Huh!… That's odd…" was what came out of the X5's mouth. "I thought your companies were in the high-tech business. Computers and stuff…"
"Yes, they are." Logan was smiling smugly.
"So, correct me if I'm wrong, but the objective of an Activated Sludge process is to remove soluble organics from a wastewater stream." He looked at Max and Tish, as if to explain to them. "You see, the process converts all this removed material into a microbial suspension that can settle easily. There have been a great number of variants developed since the original experiments by Arden and Locket, back in 1914. They're intended to suit particular circumstances, such as plug-flow or complete-mix activated sludge, extended aeration, oxidation ditch systems, sequencing batch reactors, just to mention a few of them." He turned back to look at Logan. "But I sincerely doubt there is a way any activated sludge facility can treat non-biodegradable effluents, like the ones coming from your industries…"
So, the punk had read a stupid magazine and thought he could get away with some name tossing. "And what would you suggest, Alec?" Logan asked sarcastically.
*Big mistake* Alec smiled maliciously. "Well, you could begin with a steam stripper -at low pH for removing sulfides and then at high pH for ammonia removal, followed by a segregation of spent caustic, which would reduce posterior treatment costs. Then I would suggest…"
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"You just had to do that!" Max was reproaching him. They'd moved into the balcony after Logan had made a run for the bathroom, in an attempt to escape from the situation Alec had put him in.
"What?" he asked innocently.
"You just had to make Logan look bad."
"Hate to break it to ya, Max, but he managed to do that all on his own."
"You…, you…" she growled, not having anything to say because, let's face it, Alec was right. She tried to keep the I'm-gonna-kick-your-ass face in place, but started giggling uncontrollably. "Oh. My. God. The look on his face…" She tried to turn serious again "You didn't have to be such a show-off!"
"Me? Poor, old, ignorant Alec? I'd never even dream about doing such a despicable thing."
"You are insufferable."
"Yes I am." he smiled. "Besides, I got what you guys wanted, didn't I? Tish just went to get her father to introduce us."
She nodded, biting her lip, all the playfulness gone. "Yeah, that's right."
He watched her straighten her back and smooth an imaginary wrinkle in her dress. "Oh no, missy. Why the hell do you think I put up with all those creeps? I'm going to do the distracting. You make sure your wonder-boy gets whatever he needs real fast."
Max looked at him, wide-eyed. He was about to make a comment on her expression when he was interrupted by Tish at the door.
"There you are! Come on, I managed to drag Daddy out into the party. Come meet him."
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Max found Logan as he was leaving the bathroom and motioned for him to follow her as she climbed the stairs. She saw a bulky-looking guy standing by the door they wanted to get to, so she approached him with a lost expression and asked, "Do you know where I could find the Ladies Room?" She connected her fist with the guy's nose as he looked down to smile at her. "Never mind, I think I can find it on my own"
She looked behind her and made a gesture for Logan to come in. She dragged the body inside the room and closed the door while Logan, already on the computer, was working on finding god-knows-what.
Her mind wandered as she waited for him to finish. And she was not surprised when it came to rest on a mischievous X5. It tended to do that quite often as of late.
He'd come to help her out! She was not surprised at that, she'd come to realize he'd always get her back. It was just that… somehow he'd known it was the seducing-the-bad-guy part that was bothering her. And he'd covered it for her. Even when she knew he would have enjoyed the hacking into the intricate system a lot more.
He truly was a great friend. So much more to him than met the eye… Not that that was something to disregard.
He looked so different in that tuxedo. It brought out the muscles in his arms and legs and his strong shoulders. He looked both elegant and dangerous. But most of all, he looked like he belonged, as if he had been born in this atmosphere of wealth and power.
She had stolen a glance at him while climbing the stairs. He had been smiling that charming smile of his while shaking the hand of a man in his fifties that had the look of someone who took himself, and the world too seriously. In the couple of seconds it took her to reach the top of the stairs the usually stern man had already erupted in a burst of laughter. Max understood the effect he had on women, she wasn't blind! But that old dinosaur? How did he do that?
She sighed.
"Ready!" Logan said happily.
*Woo-hoo, it only took you like 20 minutes!* She was startled by her own thought. Since when was she not in awe of Logan's computer skills?
*Since you saw a certain hazel-eyed monster do some real hacking.* She immediately felt guilty. That wasn't fair. Logan was, after all, just an ordinary.
*Just an ordinary?*
*Uh-oh*
As they moved into the hallway, she firmly decided to put the entire line of thought at the back of her mind. Way back.
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Max, Logan and Alec were standing by Logan's Aztek on the parking lot at the back of the manor.
"So Logan, sorry about that. I just needed to get their attention." Alec said, his tone totally denying any regret, but that went completely unnoticed by Logan.
"Yes, Alec. I realized what you were doing right away, and so I played along."
Alec couldn't believe the guy's nerve and he looked down to hide his amused smile. A smile that grew bigger as he saw Max's WHO-ARE-YOU? look directed at her ex-... whatever.
Really, how could he stay mad at Logan? It was obvious the guy had some serious problems.
A glance at Max's taunting dress reminded him how he could. "Yeah, I knew you'd get it tiger!"
The sarcasm was again wasted on the older man.
Alec watched him walk around the car to get into the driver's seat and then turned to look at Max, fully expecting a long tirade about what a jerk he was, when he was rendered speechless by the most unthinkable, unimaginable occurrence.
He stood there frozen long after the battered old car had been out of sight.
Max had thrown her arms around him, hugging him tightly and had whispered a soft 'thank you' by his ear.
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Jam Pony – the next day.
"Hey suga', how'd it go last night?" OC asked him. He smiled back.
"Fine, just fine OC."
"Glad to hear that."
"Wait, last night? Where did you go last night?" Sketchy asked confused.
"He crashed a party and stole some jewelry from the host." Max said from behind them.
Alec glanced back to look at her "You know it wasn't just the jewelry!" he jested and then turned back to Sketchy "Yeah, Sketch, and you should have seen Max's dress! Sweet, sweet sight my man…"
Alec smiled when he felt Max's hand hitting his head. Yep. Everything was back as it should be.
"So, tell us all about it, man" Sketchy said.
"Well, it really brought out her…" he raised his hands in front of his chest with a mischievous glint "…eyes"
A loud thud, followed by laughing voices could be heard from behind the lockers as Normal started the day with "Bip, bip, bip".
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