Alec never saw her coming.
One moment, he was riding his bike down South Market Street; the next thing he knew, his bike came to an abrupt stop and he went flying. Now, X- 5s can do a lot of things that norms can't, but flying is not one of them. So, naturally, Alec landed rather painfully and ended up sprawled on the sidewalk.
"Oh, no," he heard someone moan. He sat up with a little difficulty and looked around to see who he had run into. A little a ways from him, a young woman was on her knees in front of the boxes she had been carrying, a hand to her forehead. The boxes had opened in mid-flight, and their contents were spilled everywhere.
The presents were scattered all over the sidewalk, some relieved of the decorative paper she had so painstakingly wrapped. Slowly, resignedly, she got to her feet and started picking up the presents. Or what was left of them.
Looking around for any she might have missed, she saw the teddy bear lying in the middle of the road. Without thinking, she ran into the street and picked it up. As she did so, she noticed the teddy bear's head was a little lopsided. She touched it, and it swung off, dangling by only a few threads.
She felt like crying. In less than a second, all her long hours of hard work had been ripped to shreds. Literally. She had picked this teddy out especially for Sola, for whom this Christmas would be the first spent with them. And now look at it.
Suddenly, a loud horn sounded and she was pulled onto the sidewalk just as a truck roared past. Her heart racing from the close encounter, she looked to see who had saved her from an unsuitably melodramatic demise.
Ironically enough, the one who had saved her was the same one who had put her in this position in the first place. He said something, but her head was still spinning. "What?"
"I said, are you okay?"
"Yes. No." She sighed. "I don't know." She looked down at the teddy bear still clutched in her hand, its head upside-down, the eyes looking up at her forlornly. "No. No, definitely not okay." She shook her head. "But if I hang around for much longer, you're going to end up hearing a lot of things you could probably care less about. So thanks for saving my life, and I'll be going now."
"Wait," Alec surprised himself by saying. He gestured to the boxes heaped uncertainly in her arms. "Do you need some help with those?"
"I'd love that, actually," she admitted, a smile touching her lips. "But what about your bike?"
They both turned to look at the bike.that wasn't there. Alec looked around frantically for any sign of it, but it was gone. Someone had stolen it while he was busy elsewhere. Great, just great. He turned back to her. "Well, guess we won't have to worry about that now." He took some of the boxes from her. "Lead the way."
~*~
She was passably pretty. She had fiery copper hair that was forced into a bun, but random curls had escaped, springing from her head in odd places. Her eyes, hidden behind a pair of glasses, were deep blue, the color of the sky on a really nice, sunny day. Freckles dusted her vanilla- colored skin, like someone had mistaken her for a pie and sprinkled cinnamon on her.
They walked in silence until she said, "Oh, by the way, I'm Kaitlin."
"Alec," he replied. "Nice to meet ya."
She smiled. "You, too."
Finally, they reached their destination: a cheerful-looking lavender house with white trimmings, tucked away among all the tall buildings. Kaitlin knocked, or rather, kicked the door with her foot, calling, "Mum, it's me!"
The door opened to reveal a plump, friendly-looking, gray-haired woman. If there was one thing anyone could say, it was that she and the house definitely belonged together. "Kaity, dear, where have you been? I've been worried sick!" she scolded. Then she noticed Alec. "And who's this?"
"Oh, just some bum I picked up on the road. You know me, Mum," Kaitlin joked as she entered the house. She turned to flash a grin at 'Mum' and Alec. "Just kidding. Mum, this is Alec. Alec, Mum. She's very pleased to meet you."
"Nice to meet you," Alec said politely as he edged his way into the house. Yes, even he could be polite when he wanted to be. It was just that he usually didn't want to be.
"Where do you want me to put these?" he asked, looking around. The room he was in was huge, but sparsely furnished. There was a fireplace, and a pine tree decorated with tiny lights and some kind of metallic rope and different colored balls.
"Anywhere's fine," Kaitlin answered, setting her boxes on the floor. She took the lid off one of the boxes and frowned. She sighed and looked up, meeting Mum's gaze. "This is why I was late, Mum." She showed her what was inside the box: presents with half the wrapping torn off, some in more desolate condition than others.
Mum gasped. "What happened?"
Alec spoke up. "It was my fault. I was on my bike, and I didn't see her coming."
Mum raised an eyebrow. So that was how they had met each other.
"Well, I didn't see you coming either," Kaitlin pointed out. "So it's not completely your fault. Not completely," she added with a smile. She sighed again. "Anyway, I guess I better get to re-wrapping these."
"I'll help," Alec offered.
"You don't have to," Kaitlin told him.
"No, I want to," he assured her. He had no idea why he was so insistent to help, but he was, so the rest of him just went with it.
Just then, a little boy stuck his head around the corner. Eventually, the rest of him appeared. "What're those for?" he asked, pointing to the boxes.
"They're our new seats. Like 'em?" Kaitlin teased.
"No, they're not," the little boy said solemnly.
"Really? Then what are they for?" she asked, a smile playing on her lips.
"I think they're for Christmas presents!" And with that, he dived at one of the boxes, but Kaitlin intercepted him and started tickling him. The little boy giggled helplessly, writhing in her grasp, unable to escape.
Once she had successfully diverted him, she finally stopped and said, "Saul, say hi to Alec."
Saul turned his head to look at Alec. Big brown eyes stared up at him. Then he shook his head and buried his face in Kaitlin's shoulder. "He's a little shy," she explained, ruffling his coal black hair affectionately.
"It's okay." Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw something move. But when he turned to look, it was gone. Probably just my imagination. The only problem with that was that he didn't have one.
Kaitlin turned to the older woman. "Mum, do you mind if we use your room? It's the only one with a lock."
"Go right ahead," Mum answered.
"Thanks." Kaitlin was turning to pick up the boxes; she didn't see Mum's knowing smile. "Follow me," she said to Alec, gently detaching Saul. "Saul, honey, why don't you help Mum."
"Bake some more cookies," Mum finished.
Kaitlin smiled gratefully. "Bake some more cookies," she repeated.
"Okay," Saul agreed, letting go of Kaitlin and running to Mum.
"This way," she told Alec, starting up the stairs. He nodded and picked up the rest of the boxes, then followed her.
Once they were upstairs, the wrapping paper dragged out, along with the bows and ribbons, Alec said, "So yeah, um, how do you do this, exactly?"
"Do what? Wrap?" Kaitlin asked.
"Yeah. That."
She smiled. "You don't know how?" Alec shook his head. "It's pretty easy. Just watch." She picked up a Barbie that was lying on the floor. "First, you cut a piece of wrapping paper off the roll." She did so, selecting a bright red and green paper. "Then you fold it on either side, tightly, like this, and tape it down. Then you fold the corners in and over, so that the edges lie smooth. You tape those down, too."
As she spoke, she matched her movements to mirror her words. "Then you turn it over, and you can put some bows or ribbons on it if you want. And that's pretty much it," she concluded.
Alec looked at her, then at the now-wrapped present, then back at her. Finally, he spoke. "So.that's all there is to it, huh?"
They spent the next couple hours wrapping -- or rather, re-wrapping -- presents. All the gifts were salvageable except for one. The teddy bear. Alec didn't know why Kaitlin was so heartbroken over it, but she appeared to be. So he asked.
"Why are you so upset about the teddy bear, if you don't mind me asking?"
"It was for Sola," she said simply. "It's her first Christmas with us, and I wanted her to have something special. Somehow I don't think she's had a whole lot to look forward to." Her tone was thoughtful as she said it.
"Why do you say that?"
She shook her head. "It's nothing. Forget it." She stood up, stretching her legs. "Do you see the tape anywhere?"
"Over here." Alec handed it to her.
"Thanks." She settled back down to work, and the subject was dropped.
At last, they finished. Kaitlin looked around. "It looks like a tornado blew through here."
Alec had to agree. There was wrapping paper everywhere, bows scattered on the floor, and ribbon all over the place. Before long, though, they had it cleaned up, and the boxes stored away until that night, when they would be taken out again and the presents put underneath the tree. Kaitlin called it Christmas Eve.
"What, you've never celebrated Christmas before?" she asked curiously.
Alec shook his head. "No. My family wasn't really big on celebrating stuff." Well, that was true enough.
"Oh."
Just then, someone knocked on the door. "Who is it?" Kaitlin called.
"It's the person whose room you're in," a voice returned amiably. Kaitlin opened the door; Mum was standing there, Saul peeking out from behind her.
"It's snowing pretty heavily," Mum told them. "You're welcome to stay the night," she said to Alec.
He looked at his watch. It was way past seven o'clock. Jam Pony was already closed for the night. While he was making these brilliant observations, Kaitlin went to the window. To her surprise, a sparkling blanket of snow covered the ground and most everything else. It was still coming down heavily, as Mum had said, looking like falling stars in a midnight sky.
"Wonderful," she heard Mum say. "I'm afraid there's not much room, you'd have to sleep on the couch."
"That's fine," she heard Alec reply.
She turned to look at them just as Mum said, "Kaity, dear, would you get some bed linens from the closet?"
"Sure, Mum."
As she crossed the hall to the closet, she ran into Beth. Not literally this time, thank goodness. She smiled at her. "'Lo, Beth."
Beth was a shy fourteen-year-old girl whose mother had died when she was young. No one knew who her father was. Beth had dark hair and serious hazel eyes, which she now turned on Kaitlin. "Hi, Kait."
Her eyes traveled past Kaitlin and widened. Turning, Kaitlin saw Alec standing behind her. She hadn't even known he'd followed her. Biting back a smile, she said only, "Beth, this is Alec. Alec, Beth."
"Hey," he said with a friendly smile.
"H-hi," she stammered, blushing madly.
As soon as Beth left, Kaitlin remarked, smiling, "I think she's a little taken with you."
"What can I say? It's tough being hot," he quipped.
She rolled her eyes. "Has anyone ever told you you're full of yourself?"
"All the time, actually."
"I believe it," she told him as she shut the closet door.
"So, what is this place, exactly?" he asked. "An orphanage or something? A shelter for strays?"
"Something like that," she answered. "Mum takes care of the orphans and runaways that end up on her doorstep. Like me," she added. "There's only five of us now, but there used to be more."
"You?" Somehow it had never occurred to him that she could have been one of the aforementioned strays. "Were you an orphan or a runaway?"
"Both," she answered. "My parents died in a car crash when I was four. Then I was put in a foster home. My foster father was an abusive drunk, so I ran away."
Her voice was nonchalant as she said this, as though it could have been anyone.
"Then Mum found me, and I've been here ever since," she finished. It was a little anticlimactic, but there was really nothing more to say. She met Alec's eyes for a moment, then looked away and started down the stairs.
"Anyway," she continued, "if you're staying, you get to help me put presents out tonight." She grinned. "Don't you feel special?"
"Very," Alec replied dryly.
Just then, a teenage boy appeared in the doorway. He looked about fifteen or sixteen years old, with dirty blonde hair and nondescript gray eyes.
"Hey, Jesse!" Kaitlin greeted him cheerfully.
"Hi, Kait," the boy replied. Seeing Alec, his entire manner changed. The half-smile disappeared completely, leaving a sullen scowl behind. "Who are you?" he asked, none too politely.
"Jesse." Kaitlin warned. "This is Alec. Be nice." The "or else" went unsaid.
For some reason, Jesse reminded Alec of one of the kids he had come across after Manticore burnt down. The one who got shot. What was his name? X6-787. Bullet. Max certainly is a mastermind with names, he thought, sarcastic even in his thoughts. He and Jesse sized each other up, after which a staring contest ensued.
Jesse broke eye contact first, and looked at Kaitlin. Her arms crossed and a frown on her face, she had a look on her face as if to say, "Men." With a final glare at Alec, Jesse brushed past him and headed up the stairs.
As soon as he was out of earshot, Kaitlin said, "Sorry about that. He's a little territorial."
Alec shrugged. "No problem." And it wasn't. He only had to put up with this kid until he left.
They crossed the threshold back into the room they had first entered. Kaitlin dumped her load on the couch and settled down. "There's really not a whole lot to do except wait," she admitted. "You might as well make yourself comfortable. Unless you want something to eat?" She half-rose as she said this, as though it had never occurred to her to be inhospitable and just relax.
"No, no, I'm fine," Alec assured her as he sat down in a nearby chair, a little amused by her eagerness to be of service.
She sank back down onto the couch and curled up. "It's been a long day," she sighed.
"Hey, why don't you take a nap and I'll wake you up later?" he suggested. Not like he had anything better to do than kill time, anyway.
"Sounds good," she murmured, her eyelids fluttering shut. "Wake me up 'bout eleven."
"Okay," he agreed, but she was already asleep.
Norms, he thought, shaking his head. He stood up and crossed over to her. He shook out the blanket she had brought down for him and covered her with it.
He stood there for a moment, watching her sleep. Her face was filled with the innocence that only those asleep can possess. Finally, he returned to the chair he had been sitting in and looked at his watch. Only two hours to go. Great.
~*~
About a half hour before he was supposed to wake Kaitlin up, a small figure appeared in the doorway. It was a little girl, about seven years old. And she had a shaved head. "Let me guess," Alec said. "You're Sola."
She didn't answer, just stood there, watching him.
Alec rolled his eyes. "Another no-talker." His eyes flicked back to Kaitlin to make sure she was asleep, then back to Sola. "So you're from Manticore, huh?"
She still didn't say anything, but she approached him cautiously. She had a shadow of dark hair and chocolate brown doe eyes that seemed too big for her head. She looked strangely familiar.
Then he recognized her, and sighed. "You're X8-452, aren't you?"
He figured she wasn't going to answer, but after a moment or two, she nodded. Alec nodded too, letting his gaze drift. "Figures."
When his eyes returned to the spot where she had been standing, there was nothing there. Alec shook his head, thinking, Not only is she from Manticore, but she's Mini Max.
So it's probably a good thing she doesn't talk.
One moment, he was riding his bike down South Market Street; the next thing he knew, his bike came to an abrupt stop and he went flying. Now, X- 5s can do a lot of things that norms can't, but flying is not one of them. So, naturally, Alec landed rather painfully and ended up sprawled on the sidewalk.
"Oh, no," he heard someone moan. He sat up with a little difficulty and looked around to see who he had run into. A little a ways from him, a young woman was on her knees in front of the boxes she had been carrying, a hand to her forehead. The boxes had opened in mid-flight, and their contents were spilled everywhere.
The presents were scattered all over the sidewalk, some relieved of the decorative paper she had so painstakingly wrapped. Slowly, resignedly, she got to her feet and started picking up the presents. Or what was left of them.
Looking around for any she might have missed, she saw the teddy bear lying in the middle of the road. Without thinking, she ran into the street and picked it up. As she did so, she noticed the teddy bear's head was a little lopsided. She touched it, and it swung off, dangling by only a few threads.
She felt like crying. In less than a second, all her long hours of hard work had been ripped to shreds. Literally. She had picked this teddy out especially for Sola, for whom this Christmas would be the first spent with them. And now look at it.
Suddenly, a loud horn sounded and she was pulled onto the sidewalk just as a truck roared past. Her heart racing from the close encounter, she looked to see who had saved her from an unsuitably melodramatic demise.
Ironically enough, the one who had saved her was the same one who had put her in this position in the first place. He said something, but her head was still spinning. "What?"
"I said, are you okay?"
"Yes. No." She sighed. "I don't know." She looked down at the teddy bear still clutched in her hand, its head upside-down, the eyes looking up at her forlornly. "No. No, definitely not okay." She shook her head. "But if I hang around for much longer, you're going to end up hearing a lot of things you could probably care less about. So thanks for saving my life, and I'll be going now."
"Wait," Alec surprised himself by saying. He gestured to the boxes heaped uncertainly in her arms. "Do you need some help with those?"
"I'd love that, actually," she admitted, a smile touching her lips. "But what about your bike?"
They both turned to look at the bike.that wasn't there. Alec looked around frantically for any sign of it, but it was gone. Someone had stolen it while he was busy elsewhere. Great, just great. He turned back to her. "Well, guess we won't have to worry about that now." He took some of the boxes from her. "Lead the way."
~*~
She was passably pretty. She had fiery copper hair that was forced into a bun, but random curls had escaped, springing from her head in odd places. Her eyes, hidden behind a pair of glasses, were deep blue, the color of the sky on a really nice, sunny day. Freckles dusted her vanilla- colored skin, like someone had mistaken her for a pie and sprinkled cinnamon on her.
They walked in silence until she said, "Oh, by the way, I'm Kaitlin."
"Alec," he replied. "Nice to meet ya."
She smiled. "You, too."
Finally, they reached their destination: a cheerful-looking lavender house with white trimmings, tucked away among all the tall buildings. Kaitlin knocked, or rather, kicked the door with her foot, calling, "Mum, it's me!"
The door opened to reveal a plump, friendly-looking, gray-haired woman. If there was one thing anyone could say, it was that she and the house definitely belonged together. "Kaity, dear, where have you been? I've been worried sick!" she scolded. Then she noticed Alec. "And who's this?"
"Oh, just some bum I picked up on the road. You know me, Mum," Kaitlin joked as she entered the house. She turned to flash a grin at 'Mum' and Alec. "Just kidding. Mum, this is Alec. Alec, Mum. She's very pleased to meet you."
"Nice to meet you," Alec said politely as he edged his way into the house. Yes, even he could be polite when he wanted to be. It was just that he usually didn't want to be.
"Where do you want me to put these?" he asked, looking around. The room he was in was huge, but sparsely furnished. There was a fireplace, and a pine tree decorated with tiny lights and some kind of metallic rope and different colored balls.
"Anywhere's fine," Kaitlin answered, setting her boxes on the floor. She took the lid off one of the boxes and frowned. She sighed and looked up, meeting Mum's gaze. "This is why I was late, Mum." She showed her what was inside the box: presents with half the wrapping torn off, some in more desolate condition than others.
Mum gasped. "What happened?"
Alec spoke up. "It was my fault. I was on my bike, and I didn't see her coming."
Mum raised an eyebrow. So that was how they had met each other.
"Well, I didn't see you coming either," Kaitlin pointed out. "So it's not completely your fault. Not completely," she added with a smile. She sighed again. "Anyway, I guess I better get to re-wrapping these."
"I'll help," Alec offered.
"You don't have to," Kaitlin told him.
"No, I want to," he assured her. He had no idea why he was so insistent to help, but he was, so the rest of him just went with it.
Just then, a little boy stuck his head around the corner. Eventually, the rest of him appeared. "What're those for?" he asked, pointing to the boxes.
"They're our new seats. Like 'em?" Kaitlin teased.
"No, they're not," the little boy said solemnly.
"Really? Then what are they for?" she asked, a smile playing on her lips.
"I think they're for Christmas presents!" And with that, he dived at one of the boxes, but Kaitlin intercepted him and started tickling him. The little boy giggled helplessly, writhing in her grasp, unable to escape.
Once she had successfully diverted him, she finally stopped and said, "Saul, say hi to Alec."
Saul turned his head to look at Alec. Big brown eyes stared up at him. Then he shook his head and buried his face in Kaitlin's shoulder. "He's a little shy," she explained, ruffling his coal black hair affectionately.
"It's okay." Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw something move. But when he turned to look, it was gone. Probably just my imagination. The only problem with that was that he didn't have one.
Kaitlin turned to the older woman. "Mum, do you mind if we use your room? It's the only one with a lock."
"Go right ahead," Mum answered.
"Thanks." Kaitlin was turning to pick up the boxes; she didn't see Mum's knowing smile. "Follow me," she said to Alec, gently detaching Saul. "Saul, honey, why don't you help Mum."
"Bake some more cookies," Mum finished.
Kaitlin smiled gratefully. "Bake some more cookies," she repeated.
"Okay," Saul agreed, letting go of Kaitlin and running to Mum.
"This way," she told Alec, starting up the stairs. He nodded and picked up the rest of the boxes, then followed her.
Once they were upstairs, the wrapping paper dragged out, along with the bows and ribbons, Alec said, "So yeah, um, how do you do this, exactly?"
"Do what? Wrap?" Kaitlin asked.
"Yeah. That."
She smiled. "You don't know how?" Alec shook his head. "It's pretty easy. Just watch." She picked up a Barbie that was lying on the floor. "First, you cut a piece of wrapping paper off the roll." She did so, selecting a bright red and green paper. "Then you fold it on either side, tightly, like this, and tape it down. Then you fold the corners in and over, so that the edges lie smooth. You tape those down, too."
As she spoke, she matched her movements to mirror her words. "Then you turn it over, and you can put some bows or ribbons on it if you want. And that's pretty much it," she concluded.
Alec looked at her, then at the now-wrapped present, then back at her. Finally, he spoke. "So.that's all there is to it, huh?"
They spent the next couple hours wrapping -- or rather, re-wrapping -- presents. All the gifts were salvageable except for one. The teddy bear. Alec didn't know why Kaitlin was so heartbroken over it, but she appeared to be. So he asked.
"Why are you so upset about the teddy bear, if you don't mind me asking?"
"It was for Sola," she said simply. "It's her first Christmas with us, and I wanted her to have something special. Somehow I don't think she's had a whole lot to look forward to." Her tone was thoughtful as she said it.
"Why do you say that?"
She shook her head. "It's nothing. Forget it." She stood up, stretching her legs. "Do you see the tape anywhere?"
"Over here." Alec handed it to her.
"Thanks." She settled back down to work, and the subject was dropped.
At last, they finished. Kaitlin looked around. "It looks like a tornado blew through here."
Alec had to agree. There was wrapping paper everywhere, bows scattered on the floor, and ribbon all over the place. Before long, though, they had it cleaned up, and the boxes stored away until that night, when they would be taken out again and the presents put underneath the tree. Kaitlin called it Christmas Eve.
"What, you've never celebrated Christmas before?" she asked curiously.
Alec shook his head. "No. My family wasn't really big on celebrating stuff." Well, that was true enough.
"Oh."
Just then, someone knocked on the door. "Who is it?" Kaitlin called.
"It's the person whose room you're in," a voice returned amiably. Kaitlin opened the door; Mum was standing there, Saul peeking out from behind her.
"It's snowing pretty heavily," Mum told them. "You're welcome to stay the night," she said to Alec.
He looked at his watch. It was way past seven o'clock. Jam Pony was already closed for the night. While he was making these brilliant observations, Kaitlin went to the window. To her surprise, a sparkling blanket of snow covered the ground and most everything else. It was still coming down heavily, as Mum had said, looking like falling stars in a midnight sky.
"Wonderful," she heard Mum say. "I'm afraid there's not much room, you'd have to sleep on the couch."
"That's fine," she heard Alec reply.
She turned to look at them just as Mum said, "Kaity, dear, would you get some bed linens from the closet?"
"Sure, Mum."
As she crossed the hall to the closet, she ran into Beth. Not literally this time, thank goodness. She smiled at her. "'Lo, Beth."
Beth was a shy fourteen-year-old girl whose mother had died when she was young. No one knew who her father was. Beth had dark hair and serious hazel eyes, which she now turned on Kaitlin. "Hi, Kait."
Her eyes traveled past Kaitlin and widened. Turning, Kaitlin saw Alec standing behind her. She hadn't even known he'd followed her. Biting back a smile, she said only, "Beth, this is Alec. Alec, Beth."
"Hey," he said with a friendly smile.
"H-hi," she stammered, blushing madly.
As soon as Beth left, Kaitlin remarked, smiling, "I think she's a little taken with you."
"What can I say? It's tough being hot," he quipped.
She rolled her eyes. "Has anyone ever told you you're full of yourself?"
"All the time, actually."
"I believe it," she told him as she shut the closet door.
"So, what is this place, exactly?" he asked. "An orphanage or something? A shelter for strays?"
"Something like that," she answered. "Mum takes care of the orphans and runaways that end up on her doorstep. Like me," she added. "There's only five of us now, but there used to be more."
"You?" Somehow it had never occurred to him that she could have been one of the aforementioned strays. "Were you an orphan or a runaway?"
"Both," she answered. "My parents died in a car crash when I was four. Then I was put in a foster home. My foster father was an abusive drunk, so I ran away."
Her voice was nonchalant as she said this, as though it could have been anyone.
"Then Mum found me, and I've been here ever since," she finished. It was a little anticlimactic, but there was really nothing more to say. She met Alec's eyes for a moment, then looked away and started down the stairs.
"Anyway," she continued, "if you're staying, you get to help me put presents out tonight." She grinned. "Don't you feel special?"
"Very," Alec replied dryly.
Just then, a teenage boy appeared in the doorway. He looked about fifteen or sixteen years old, with dirty blonde hair and nondescript gray eyes.
"Hey, Jesse!" Kaitlin greeted him cheerfully.
"Hi, Kait," the boy replied. Seeing Alec, his entire manner changed. The half-smile disappeared completely, leaving a sullen scowl behind. "Who are you?" he asked, none too politely.
"Jesse." Kaitlin warned. "This is Alec. Be nice." The "or else" went unsaid.
For some reason, Jesse reminded Alec of one of the kids he had come across after Manticore burnt down. The one who got shot. What was his name? X6-787. Bullet. Max certainly is a mastermind with names, he thought, sarcastic even in his thoughts. He and Jesse sized each other up, after which a staring contest ensued.
Jesse broke eye contact first, and looked at Kaitlin. Her arms crossed and a frown on her face, she had a look on her face as if to say, "Men." With a final glare at Alec, Jesse brushed past him and headed up the stairs.
As soon as he was out of earshot, Kaitlin said, "Sorry about that. He's a little territorial."
Alec shrugged. "No problem." And it wasn't. He only had to put up with this kid until he left.
They crossed the threshold back into the room they had first entered. Kaitlin dumped her load on the couch and settled down. "There's really not a whole lot to do except wait," she admitted. "You might as well make yourself comfortable. Unless you want something to eat?" She half-rose as she said this, as though it had never occurred to her to be inhospitable and just relax.
"No, no, I'm fine," Alec assured her as he sat down in a nearby chair, a little amused by her eagerness to be of service.
She sank back down onto the couch and curled up. "It's been a long day," she sighed.
"Hey, why don't you take a nap and I'll wake you up later?" he suggested. Not like he had anything better to do than kill time, anyway.
"Sounds good," she murmured, her eyelids fluttering shut. "Wake me up 'bout eleven."
"Okay," he agreed, but she was already asleep.
Norms, he thought, shaking his head. He stood up and crossed over to her. He shook out the blanket she had brought down for him and covered her with it.
He stood there for a moment, watching her sleep. Her face was filled with the innocence that only those asleep can possess. Finally, he returned to the chair he had been sitting in and looked at his watch. Only two hours to go. Great.
~*~
About a half hour before he was supposed to wake Kaitlin up, a small figure appeared in the doorway. It was a little girl, about seven years old. And she had a shaved head. "Let me guess," Alec said. "You're Sola."
She didn't answer, just stood there, watching him.
Alec rolled his eyes. "Another no-talker." His eyes flicked back to Kaitlin to make sure she was asleep, then back to Sola. "So you're from Manticore, huh?"
She still didn't say anything, but she approached him cautiously. She had a shadow of dark hair and chocolate brown doe eyes that seemed too big for her head. She looked strangely familiar.
Then he recognized her, and sighed. "You're X8-452, aren't you?"
He figured she wasn't going to answer, but after a moment or two, she nodded. Alec nodded too, letting his gaze drift. "Figures."
When his eyes returned to the spot where she had been standing, there was nothing there. Alec shook his head, thinking, Not only is she from Manticore, but she's Mini Max.
So it's probably a good thing she doesn't talk.