A/N: This is a standalone. It has nothing to do with Running Out of Days. As usual, please R&R. Tell me what you think. Thanks! Also, the next chapter of Running Out of Days should be up soon, for those of you who are wondering. I just have to change the format and get it posted.
Timeline: This story takes place after She Ain't Heavy.
Disclaimer: Nope, sorry, don't own them. Although I should be able to claim ownership, since there's no show anymore. :( How am I supposed to get my Alec fix? Oh well. Anyway, Dark Angel belongs to James Cameron, Fox, and Charles Eglee. Lucky bastards.
All In A Day's Work
Streets
Seattle, Wa., December 7th, 2021
The tang of adrenaline danced thick on his lips. He surged through darkness,
through rippling shadows, pushing his body to its physical limits. Behind him, his
sensitive ears perceived the thud of pursuing feet, the metallic click of guns readying to
shoot.
*Shit.* Alec thought as he came up against a solid brick wall, realizing too late that
he'd backed himself into an alley. *I'm not getting out of here.*
Sounds swirled louder, harsher, ripping at his tender eardrums. He grimaced and
spun, frantic eyes assessing the darkened alley, searching for a possible exit.
The footsteps pounded closer.
He squeezed his eyes shut, swallowed aside the bile coating his throat. It burned
a slow, torturous path back to his stomach.
"Come out with your hands up! No sudden moves!" a voice ordered.
He sensed their body heat at his back, the warmth swelling to embrace his body.
Their breaths twined as one to mist the frigid air in a cloud of white, testament to the
cold of the night.
A slight smirk tugged at his full lips. *Right. Sorry boys, but you know us damn
transgenic rogues-never obeying orders.*
He blurred, and leapt for the top of a garbage dumpster shoved to one wall of the
alley.
The night erupted in gunfire.
His apartment sang with the echoing clink of their wineglasses. Max smiled
gently, and looked down, into the swirling carmine depths of her beverage.
Logan contemplated her silently, loosely gripping the delicate stem of his own
glass in strong fingers. He touched its rim to his lips without looking away. The wine
tingled pleasantly against the warmth of his mouth.
"I hope this works out." he said quietly.
"I know. Me too. I mean, it's been so long..." She shrugged. "Kinda' funny to
think that if Alec managed to get the information, we might be able to touch in the next
twenty-four hours. Minus the whole you dying part, of course."
"Yeah." Logan whispered, a pensive look crossing his face. His gaze dropped to
the wineglass, then slowly flickered back to her face. "Max, are you sure..." He paused,
and drew a deep breath. "Are you sure this is what you want?"
"What do you mean?" she asked, genuinely confused.
"You and Alec-"
"Logan, I told you that was just a coverstory. I didn't want to keep worrying
about killing you one day, and I needed to push you away. And Alec just happened to
sort of...be there." She searched his eyes intensely. "I'm sorry for lying to you, but it
was the only way I could think of."
He shook his head. "That's not what I meant. I want this to happen, if for
nothing more than I'm tired of not being able to touch you, of having to be so careful.
But I'm talking about a relationship, Max. Do you want a relationship, do you want to be
with me? Or do you want to be with him?" Logan said bluntly.
She blinked, surprised. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yes you do, Max. I've seen the way you've started looking at him lately.
You've stopped thinking of him as the pain in the ass always screwing up, always
hanging around. I'm not blind."
Max swallowed, stunned that he'd had the audacity to confront her like this. And
stunned at these accusations he was plying her with. Her mouth tightened in a frown.
"What the hell do you mean, 'the way I've started looking at him?' What's that supposed
to mean, huh?"
"Alec."
"I know *who* you're talking about. But I can't understand where the hell all this
shit is suddenly coming from!" She set her glass down on his coffee table, and crossed
both arms over her chest. "Logan, it's *Alec*. You think I yell at him, threaten to kick his
ass all the time, because I enjoy his company?" Her voice creshendoed as disbelief
worked its way into her tone.
"Max, you're confused. You don't think you're supposed to have feelings for
him, so you're keeping him at arms-length, trying to keep anything from happening. You
think you're supposed to be in love with me. That's not the way love works, Max. If you
feel like you have to be with someone, it's not real." He sighed. "*We're* not real."
"Logan, this is ridiculous. If this is some kind of joke-"
"Look at me." he begged.
She did so, reluctantly, and squeezed her eyes shut at the shimmering wall of pain
lurking in the deep cerulean of his gaze. "Logan-"
"Max, I still love you. I think a part of me always will. But I'm not going to hold
you back." He swallowed with great difficulty, his voice catching. "Don't do this to
yourself. If you love Alec, if you want to be with Alec, don't waste your time trying to
fight it. Remember us? Remember how we danced around each other for a year, both
too scared to admit our feelings? And we lost the chance." he whispered. "Don't do
that to yourself again, Max."
"I *don't*-" she began vehemently, but he raised a hand to stop her.
"Tell me the truth, Max. Do you love him?"
Her lips pursed to speak, and suddenly she found what she'd been about to say
fading to oblivion before it could even be voiced. The silence stretched on, taut with
concealed emotions. Her fluttering lashes eclipsed twin pools of mahogany for a
moment.
"Tell me, Max."
She coached her features to blankness, spun, and grabbed up her jacket from
where it lay across the armrest of the couch.
"I'm leaving." she said, and a moment later, the door slammed behind her.
The wineglass tumbled from slack fingers to the carpet, the stain spreading as a
dark pool of blood over clean fibers.
He sighed, and reached to stroke away the headache throbbing just behind his
eyes.
That had been all the answer he needed.
* * *
Pain exploded through every nerve, and for a moment he faltered. The ground
swayed dizzily below, until Alec gritted his teeth and thrust upward, groping for the
building's roof.
He felt the bullet's searing touch as it plowed through one shoulder and exited,
tearing muscle.
"Shit." he ground out between clenched teeth.
Below, the sector cops milled wildly about, firing their weapons, yelling for
backup into headpieces. Their shouts transcended even the ricochet of bullets,
penetrating the stillness and serenity of a once peaceful night. In the distance, the shrill
whine of sirens joined the cacophony of sound.
*Max is going to kill me.* he thought grimly. *If they don't first.*
Muscles bunching powerfully, Alec heaved himself up and over the lip of the
building to land, sprawling, on the temporary sanctuary of its roof. He lay, trembling,
gathering his breath.
Then, wincing, he sprang to his feet, and blurred the short distance to the end of
the rooftop.
A spray of rounds peppered the ebony sky. The shots had been wild ones, taken
at nothing more than a brief glimpse of undulating shadows, but a stray caught him in the
left calf.
"Shit!" he yelled, and went down on hands and knees, the momentum of his
superior transgenic speed carrying him perilously close to the edge of the building.
His blood spread in a meandering pool beneath him.
Alec grasped for the wound, white-faced and panting. He reached his free hand
for the right jacket pocket, fingers trembling against a folded sheaf of papers tucked
snugly within supple leather.
*Thank God. Max might forgive me for dyin', but she'd never forgive me if I lost
the information to the cure for the virus.*
He struggled to his feet once more, and, assessing the distance between this roof
and its neighboring one, danced back a few steps.
The cops, apparently catching a glimpse of him, took up their shooting once
more, at the same moment he blurred to the edge of the rooftop, and leapt into open
space.
Max heard their shouts, and the unmistakable sound of guns even over the
rumbling purr of her bike. Her hand smashed down hard on the brake, sending the Ninja
into a long skid over glistening pavement.
*What the hell?*
The sounds, magnified within her perceptive ears, swelled painfully loud. She
resisted the urge to clap both hands over her ears, and instead thrust the bike's front tire
in the direction of the shooting.
Through silver moonlight and the hazy fog of her exhaust, she glimpsed the
indistinct figure of a man sprinting across a nearby rooftop. No, not merely sprinting.
*Blurring.* A feat accomplished only by Max and those of her kind.
She knew instantly who it was causing such a disturbance, and cursed him
violently beneath her breath, hands tightening involuntarily over the handles.
*That idiot. That goddamn idiot! He's going to get himself killed.*
Max watched for a moment, breathless in her fear, as he launched himself across
the distance separating two buildings. He landed safely, and she allowed the trapped air
to whoosh in a breathy sigh from lungs tight with anxiety. But in the next second, Alec
faltered, and she cursed again.
*Dammit, he's hurt. He must have been hit.*
She whipped her bike around, and gunned the engine, its growl ascending into the
night sky. Then, with a squeal of protest, the Ninja surged forward, straight into the thick
of the fighting. She rounded a curve in the road, ducking low to keep out of sight of
Alec's assailants, dark hair whipping as a silken banner behind her.
The Ninja jerked to a hard stop at the foot of the building he'd jumped to, and
Max peered upward.
Moonlight glittered on a hard, muscular body.
"Alec!" she screamed with all her might.
His name rent the air in a desperate cry, penetrating the fog of pain he found
himself slowly spiraling into.
*Max?* Alec thought dimly, sensing something familiar about the voice. He
stumbled forward a few steps as the gunfire slackened, raking the darkness with wide
eyes.
A figure astride a motorcycle stared back at him from the ground, a lithe figure
clothed in typical black leather jacket and low-rise jeans, dark hair tumbling across softly
rounded shoulders.
"Max!" he yelled back, stepping to the edge of the roof. The world swam
treacherously before him, blurring before his eyes. He squinted to focus on her, and
agony roared through his temples.
She cupped slender hands to full lips. "Jump!"
And he did, hesitating only a moment before plunging straight down, jacket
billowing around him.
His legs buckled with the impact, and he bit back a scream at the blinding stab of
pain that flared white-hot in his injured leg. He gasped and went to both knees.
She thrust her arms out to catch him.
"Get on!" she hissed in his ear, and shoved him toward the back of the bike.
He grasped for her waist, swung a leg over the Ninja's seat, and lowered himself
gingerly.
The bike roared into the night to the resounding thunder of gunfire.
* * *
"You almost got your stupid ass killed."
"All in a day's work." Alec replied, shrugging. "Weren't worried about me, were
you, Maxie?" A smirk curled his lips.
"If I hadn't shown up, they'd have handed your ass back to you on a platter!"
Max snapped, ignoring his question. "What the hell were you thinking?"
"Hey, I was doing a favor for my pals. Remember, Max? You and Logan were
the ones who sent me out to get the information for the cure to the virus, and me, being
the generous, wonderful kinda' guy I am, decided what the hell? I'm not doing anything
important. But then again, nothing's as important as finding the cure to the virus so Max
and Logan can go at each other like a couple of rabbits and make baby Eyes-Onlys.
Maybe you'll remember that it was me who got you two back together and have the grace
to invite me to the wedding."
"Shut up."
He worked the papers loose from his jacket pocket, grimacing as the move jarred
his shoulder wound. A fresh stain of crimson blossomed against the front of his jacket.
"You're bleeding." she said, as though she'd just noticed.
"Oh, wow. You noticed. How nice of you to remember that there is a world
beside you and Logan." he replied sarcastically.
Max scowled. "What the hell is your problem?"
"Well, it might partly be due to the fact that I'm bleedin' to a slow and painful
death on your nice clean carpet while you stand here and bitch at me."
*Might also be due to the fact that this ruins any chance of me ever having a shot
at you. But hey, it's not like that was ever going to happen in the first place, even with
Logan out of the picture.* Alec thought bitterly. He thrust the papers roughly into her
grasp, and ran a hand briskly through his hair to hide quivering fingers.
"This is it? This is the information the scientist needs to make an antidote?" she
asked, face softening.
Alec shrugged again. "It's the formula. Up to the scientist to figure out if it will
work or not."
She lifted her eyes to his, and her throat constricted in a painful swallow. "Alec-"
"You're welcome." he said brusquely, pocketing both hands.
"Yeah. Um...thanks."
"I've got to be goin', Max. Thanks for saving my ass. Again." He forced a
lightness he didn't feel into his voice. "After all, wouldn't want the ladies of Seattle to
be deprived of my perfection."
"Max, I still love you. I think a part of me always will. But I'm not going to hold
you back. Don't do this to yourself. If you love Alec, if you want to be with Alec, don't
waste your time trying to fight it. Remember us? Remember how we danced around
each other for a year, both too scared to admit our feelings? And we lost the chance."
Logan's words resounded within her ears as Alec turned to leave, limping slightly.
"Alec, wait!"
He halted mid-stride, and spun to look at her, cocking both eyebrows. "Forgot
somethin', Max?"
She squeezed her eyes shut. *Tell him.*
"Max? You ok?" Alec prompted gently, and she blinked her eyes slowly open to
find his concerned face peering down at her.
He touched her arm lightly with a strong hand. "Max?"
"Logan and I...we're through." Max said shakily.
Alec's brow rippled into lines of confusion. "I thought you told him the break-up
was for his own safety. You know, that me and you was just an excuse."
"I did. But he...Alec, when I saw you up on that building with the cops shooting
at you, I was scared. I thought...I thought I was going to lose you. And maybe I didn't
realize it before, maybe I still don't act like it, but I don't want to lose you." she
whispered, unable to meet his intense gaze.
He grasped her chin, and lifted her face to his. "What does this have to do with
Logan and you bein' through?" he asked quietly, swallowing against the lump crusting
his throat. "You trying to tell me something, Max?" His heart took up a thundering
march in his chest.
"Alec-" "After all, wouldn't want the ladies of Seattle to be deprived of my
perfection." His cocky voice whispered from the deepest recesses of her mind. And in a
single moment, Max's courage rushed from her body in a defeated exhale. *What the hell
was I thinking? Alec doesn't want me-sure, he'll use me for a night, then leave me. Just
like he's done to a hundred other stupid women.*
She jerked from his hold. "Nothing. Never mind."
"Max, tell me."
"I said, never mind. It doesn't mean anything. Just forget what I said."
He squeezed his eyes shut. *Idiot. Allowin' yourself to get your hopes up. What
the hell were you thinking?*
"Fine."
His fingers closed hard around the doorknob.
"I love you." The whisper wafted gently against his ears, so quiet that even his
genetically enhanced hearing barely caught it. But he heard it, and tensed, spinning to
face her.
"What did you say?"
She wore the frightened look of a deer caught in glaring headlights. The words
had just slipped out, seemingly with a mind of their own. She hadn't been able to rein
them in, and now they couldn't be taken back.
His eyes caught and held her own, rooting her to the spot with the power of his
gaze. Slowly, lethargically, his hand released the knob.
Max backed up a step as he closed in, heart pounding. She summoned her voice.
"Just get out of here, Alec. I mean it, now. Leave." she snapped.
"No." he whispered hoarsely, and blurred to her.
Her fingers released the papers she clutched as his arms came roughly around her,
and Max found herself crushed suddenly against the hardness of his chest. His lips
sought hers, soft and warm, desperation in his kiss. It lasted only a moment before he
pulled away and looked her straight in the eye. "Did you mean that?"
"Yeah. I guess."
" 'Yeah. I guess.?' Don't you know how to make a guy feel special, Max." he
snorted, his breath fanning her cheekbones.
She scowled. "Fine! Yes, I meant it. Happy?"
He broke into a real grin this time, not the conceited smirk usually gracing his
beautiful features, but a genuine smile. A new light danced in his eyes.
Max felt his mouth on hers once more, and slipped her hands around to his neck,
stroking the hair there, holding him tightly as he shivered. The kiss exploded between
them; heat and passion twining as one with the melding of their lips. He cupped her
cheek gently in one hand, caressing satin flesh with light, feathery strokes of his thumb.
She felt his tongue gently stroke her full lips, and parted her mouth to allow him access.
He tasted her thoroughly, clutching her securely, his touch gentle.
They broke apart after a moment, but still he didn't release her, trailing kisses all
along the length of her jawbone, his breath rippling over her in the softest of sighs.
"Knew you'd come around, Max. After all, what woman can resist me?"
Timeline: This story takes place after She Ain't Heavy.
Disclaimer: Nope, sorry, don't own them. Although I should be able to claim ownership, since there's no show anymore. :( How am I supposed to get my Alec fix? Oh well. Anyway, Dark Angel belongs to James Cameron, Fox, and Charles Eglee. Lucky bastards.
All In A Day's Work
Streets
Seattle, Wa., December 7th, 2021
The tang of adrenaline danced thick on his lips. He surged through darkness,
through rippling shadows, pushing his body to its physical limits. Behind him, his
sensitive ears perceived the thud of pursuing feet, the metallic click of guns readying to
shoot.
*Shit.* Alec thought as he came up against a solid brick wall, realizing too late that
he'd backed himself into an alley. *I'm not getting out of here.*
Sounds swirled louder, harsher, ripping at his tender eardrums. He grimaced and
spun, frantic eyes assessing the darkened alley, searching for a possible exit.
The footsteps pounded closer.
He squeezed his eyes shut, swallowed aside the bile coating his throat. It burned
a slow, torturous path back to his stomach.
"Come out with your hands up! No sudden moves!" a voice ordered.
He sensed their body heat at his back, the warmth swelling to embrace his body.
Their breaths twined as one to mist the frigid air in a cloud of white, testament to the
cold of the night.
A slight smirk tugged at his full lips. *Right. Sorry boys, but you know us damn
transgenic rogues-never obeying orders.*
He blurred, and leapt for the top of a garbage dumpster shoved to one wall of the
alley.
The night erupted in gunfire.
His apartment sang with the echoing clink of their wineglasses. Max smiled
gently, and looked down, into the swirling carmine depths of her beverage.
Logan contemplated her silently, loosely gripping the delicate stem of his own
glass in strong fingers. He touched its rim to his lips without looking away. The wine
tingled pleasantly against the warmth of his mouth.
"I hope this works out." he said quietly.
"I know. Me too. I mean, it's been so long..." She shrugged. "Kinda' funny to
think that if Alec managed to get the information, we might be able to touch in the next
twenty-four hours. Minus the whole you dying part, of course."
"Yeah." Logan whispered, a pensive look crossing his face. His gaze dropped to
the wineglass, then slowly flickered back to her face. "Max, are you sure..." He paused,
and drew a deep breath. "Are you sure this is what you want?"
"What do you mean?" she asked, genuinely confused.
"You and Alec-"
"Logan, I told you that was just a coverstory. I didn't want to keep worrying
about killing you one day, and I needed to push you away. And Alec just happened to
sort of...be there." She searched his eyes intensely. "I'm sorry for lying to you, but it
was the only way I could think of."
He shook his head. "That's not what I meant. I want this to happen, if for
nothing more than I'm tired of not being able to touch you, of having to be so careful.
But I'm talking about a relationship, Max. Do you want a relationship, do you want to be
with me? Or do you want to be with him?" Logan said bluntly.
She blinked, surprised. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yes you do, Max. I've seen the way you've started looking at him lately.
You've stopped thinking of him as the pain in the ass always screwing up, always
hanging around. I'm not blind."
Max swallowed, stunned that he'd had the audacity to confront her like this. And
stunned at these accusations he was plying her with. Her mouth tightened in a frown.
"What the hell do you mean, 'the way I've started looking at him?' What's that supposed
to mean, huh?"
"Alec."
"I know *who* you're talking about. But I can't understand where the hell all this
shit is suddenly coming from!" She set her glass down on his coffee table, and crossed
both arms over her chest. "Logan, it's *Alec*. You think I yell at him, threaten to kick his
ass all the time, because I enjoy his company?" Her voice creshendoed as disbelief
worked its way into her tone.
"Max, you're confused. You don't think you're supposed to have feelings for
him, so you're keeping him at arms-length, trying to keep anything from happening. You
think you're supposed to be in love with me. That's not the way love works, Max. If you
feel like you have to be with someone, it's not real." He sighed. "*We're* not real."
"Logan, this is ridiculous. If this is some kind of joke-"
"Look at me." he begged.
She did so, reluctantly, and squeezed her eyes shut at the shimmering wall of pain
lurking in the deep cerulean of his gaze. "Logan-"
"Max, I still love you. I think a part of me always will. But I'm not going to hold
you back." He swallowed with great difficulty, his voice catching. "Don't do this to
yourself. If you love Alec, if you want to be with Alec, don't waste your time trying to
fight it. Remember us? Remember how we danced around each other for a year, both
too scared to admit our feelings? And we lost the chance." he whispered. "Don't do
that to yourself again, Max."
"I *don't*-" she began vehemently, but he raised a hand to stop her.
"Tell me the truth, Max. Do you love him?"
Her lips pursed to speak, and suddenly she found what she'd been about to say
fading to oblivion before it could even be voiced. The silence stretched on, taut with
concealed emotions. Her fluttering lashes eclipsed twin pools of mahogany for a
moment.
"Tell me, Max."
She coached her features to blankness, spun, and grabbed up her jacket from
where it lay across the armrest of the couch.
"I'm leaving." she said, and a moment later, the door slammed behind her.
The wineglass tumbled from slack fingers to the carpet, the stain spreading as a
dark pool of blood over clean fibers.
He sighed, and reached to stroke away the headache throbbing just behind his
eyes.
That had been all the answer he needed.
* * *
Pain exploded through every nerve, and for a moment he faltered. The ground
swayed dizzily below, until Alec gritted his teeth and thrust upward, groping for the
building's roof.
He felt the bullet's searing touch as it plowed through one shoulder and exited,
tearing muscle.
"Shit." he ground out between clenched teeth.
Below, the sector cops milled wildly about, firing their weapons, yelling for
backup into headpieces. Their shouts transcended even the ricochet of bullets,
penetrating the stillness and serenity of a once peaceful night. In the distance, the shrill
whine of sirens joined the cacophony of sound.
*Max is going to kill me.* he thought grimly. *If they don't first.*
Muscles bunching powerfully, Alec heaved himself up and over the lip of the
building to land, sprawling, on the temporary sanctuary of its roof. He lay, trembling,
gathering his breath.
Then, wincing, he sprang to his feet, and blurred the short distance to the end of
the rooftop.
A spray of rounds peppered the ebony sky. The shots had been wild ones, taken
at nothing more than a brief glimpse of undulating shadows, but a stray caught him in the
left calf.
"Shit!" he yelled, and went down on hands and knees, the momentum of his
superior transgenic speed carrying him perilously close to the edge of the building.
His blood spread in a meandering pool beneath him.
Alec grasped for the wound, white-faced and panting. He reached his free hand
for the right jacket pocket, fingers trembling against a folded sheaf of papers tucked
snugly within supple leather.
*Thank God. Max might forgive me for dyin', but she'd never forgive me if I lost
the information to the cure for the virus.*
He struggled to his feet once more, and, assessing the distance between this roof
and its neighboring one, danced back a few steps.
The cops, apparently catching a glimpse of him, took up their shooting once
more, at the same moment he blurred to the edge of the rooftop, and leapt into open
space.
Max heard their shouts, and the unmistakable sound of guns even over the
rumbling purr of her bike. Her hand smashed down hard on the brake, sending the Ninja
into a long skid over glistening pavement.
*What the hell?*
The sounds, magnified within her perceptive ears, swelled painfully loud. She
resisted the urge to clap both hands over her ears, and instead thrust the bike's front tire
in the direction of the shooting.
Through silver moonlight and the hazy fog of her exhaust, she glimpsed the
indistinct figure of a man sprinting across a nearby rooftop. No, not merely sprinting.
*Blurring.* A feat accomplished only by Max and those of her kind.
She knew instantly who it was causing such a disturbance, and cursed him
violently beneath her breath, hands tightening involuntarily over the handles.
*That idiot. That goddamn idiot! He's going to get himself killed.*
Max watched for a moment, breathless in her fear, as he launched himself across
the distance separating two buildings. He landed safely, and she allowed the trapped air
to whoosh in a breathy sigh from lungs tight with anxiety. But in the next second, Alec
faltered, and she cursed again.
*Dammit, he's hurt. He must have been hit.*
She whipped her bike around, and gunned the engine, its growl ascending into the
night sky. Then, with a squeal of protest, the Ninja surged forward, straight into the thick
of the fighting. She rounded a curve in the road, ducking low to keep out of sight of
Alec's assailants, dark hair whipping as a silken banner behind her.
The Ninja jerked to a hard stop at the foot of the building he'd jumped to, and
Max peered upward.
Moonlight glittered on a hard, muscular body.
"Alec!" she screamed with all her might.
His name rent the air in a desperate cry, penetrating the fog of pain he found
himself slowly spiraling into.
*Max?* Alec thought dimly, sensing something familiar about the voice. He
stumbled forward a few steps as the gunfire slackened, raking the darkness with wide
eyes.
A figure astride a motorcycle stared back at him from the ground, a lithe figure
clothed in typical black leather jacket and low-rise jeans, dark hair tumbling across softly
rounded shoulders.
"Max!" he yelled back, stepping to the edge of the roof. The world swam
treacherously before him, blurring before his eyes. He squinted to focus on her, and
agony roared through his temples.
She cupped slender hands to full lips. "Jump!"
And he did, hesitating only a moment before plunging straight down, jacket
billowing around him.
His legs buckled with the impact, and he bit back a scream at the blinding stab of
pain that flared white-hot in his injured leg. He gasped and went to both knees.
She thrust her arms out to catch him.
"Get on!" she hissed in his ear, and shoved him toward the back of the bike.
He grasped for her waist, swung a leg over the Ninja's seat, and lowered himself
gingerly.
The bike roared into the night to the resounding thunder of gunfire.
* * *
"You almost got your stupid ass killed."
"All in a day's work." Alec replied, shrugging. "Weren't worried about me, were
you, Maxie?" A smirk curled his lips.
"If I hadn't shown up, they'd have handed your ass back to you on a platter!"
Max snapped, ignoring his question. "What the hell were you thinking?"
"Hey, I was doing a favor for my pals. Remember, Max? You and Logan were
the ones who sent me out to get the information for the cure to the virus, and me, being
the generous, wonderful kinda' guy I am, decided what the hell? I'm not doing anything
important. But then again, nothing's as important as finding the cure to the virus so Max
and Logan can go at each other like a couple of rabbits and make baby Eyes-Onlys.
Maybe you'll remember that it was me who got you two back together and have the grace
to invite me to the wedding."
"Shut up."
He worked the papers loose from his jacket pocket, grimacing as the move jarred
his shoulder wound. A fresh stain of crimson blossomed against the front of his jacket.
"You're bleeding." she said, as though she'd just noticed.
"Oh, wow. You noticed. How nice of you to remember that there is a world
beside you and Logan." he replied sarcastically.
Max scowled. "What the hell is your problem?"
"Well, it might partly be due to the fact that I'm bleedin' to a slow and painful
death on your nice clean carpet while you stand here and bitch at me."
*Might also be due to the fact that this ruins any chance of me ever having a shot
at you. But hey, it's not like that was ever going to happen in the first place, even with
Logan out of the picture.* Alec thought bitterly. He thrust the papers roughly into her
grasp, and ran a hand briskly through his hair to hide quivering fingers.
"This is it? This is the information the scientist needs to make an antidote?" she
asked, face softening.
Alec shrugged again. "It's the formula. Up to the scientist to figure out if it will
work or not."
She lifted her eyes to his, and her throat constricted in a painful swallow. "Alec-"
"You're welcome." he said brusquely, pocketing both hands.
"Yeah. Um...thanks."
"I've got to be goin', Max. Thanks for saving my ass. Again." He forced a
lightness he didn't feel into his voice. "After all, wouldn't want the ladies of Seattle to
be deprived of my perfection."
"Max, I still love you. I think a part of me always will. But I'm not going to hold
you back. Don't do this to yourself. If you love Alec, if you want to be with Alec, don't
waste your time trying to fight it. Remember us? Remember how we danced around
each other for a year, both too scared to admit our feelings? And we lost the chance."
Logan's words resounded within her ears as Alec turned to leave, limping slightly.
"Alec, wait!"
He halted mid-stride, and spun to look at her, cocking both eyebrows. "Forgot
somethin', Max?"
She squeezed her eyes shut. *Tell him.*
"Max? You ok?" Alec prompted gently, and she blinked her eyes slowly open to
find his concerned face peering down at her.
He touched her arm lightly with a strong hand. "Max?"
"Logan and I...we're through." Max said shakily.
Alec's brow rippled into lines of confusion. "I thought you told him the break-up
was for his own safety. You know, that me and you was just an excuse."
"I did. But he...Alec, when I saw you up on that building with the cops shooting
at you, I was scared. I thought...I thought I was going to lose you. And maybe I didn't
realize it before, maybe I still don't act like it, but I don't want to lose you." she
whispered, unable to meet his intense gaze.
He grasped her chin, and lifted her face to his. "What does this have to do with
Logan and you bein' through?" he asked quietly, swallowing against the lump crusting
his throat. "You trying to tell me something, Max?" His heart took up a thundering
march in his chest.
"Alec-" "After all, wouldn't want the ladies of Seattle to be deprived of my
perfection." His cocky voice whispered from the deepest recesses of her mind. And in a
single moment, Max's courage rushed from her body in a defeated exhale. *What the hell
was I thinking? Alec doesn't want me-sure, he'll use me for a night, then leave me. Just
like he's done to a hundred other stupid women.*
She jerked from his hold. "Nothing. Never mind."
"Max, tell me."
"I said, never mind. It doesn't mean anything. Just forget what I said."
He squeezed his eyes shut. *Idiot. Allowin' yourself to get your hopes up. What
the hell were you thinking?*
"Fine."
His fingers closed hard around the doorknob.
"I love you." The whisper wafted gently against his ears, so quiet that even his
genetically enhanced hearing barely caught it. But he heard it, and tensed, spinning to
face her.
"What did you say?"
She wore the frightened look of a deer caught in glaring headlights. The words
had just slipped out, seemingly with a mind of their own. She hadn't been able to rein
them in, and now they couldn't be taken back.
His eyes caught and held her own, rooting her to the spot with the power of his
gaze. Slowly, lethargically, his hand released the knob.
Max backed up a step as he closed in, heart pounding. She summoned her voice.
"Just get out of here, Alec. I mean it, now. Leave." she snapped.
"No." he whispered hoarsely, and blurred to her.
Her fingers released the papers she clutched as his arms came roughly around her,
and Max found herself crushed suddenly against the hardness of his chest. His lips
sought hers, soft and warm, desperation in his kiss. It lasted only a moment before he
pulled away and looked her straight in the eye. "Did you mean that?"
"Yeah. I guess."
" 'Yeah. I guess.?' Don't you know how to make a guy feel special, Max." he
snorted, his breath fanning her cheekbones.
She scowled. "Fine! Yes, I meant it. Happy?"
He broke into a real grin this time, not the conceited smirk usually gracing his
beautiful features, but a genuine smile. A new light danced in his eyes.
Max felt his mouth on hers once more, and slipped her hands around to his neck,
stroking the hair there, holding him tightly as he shivered. The kiss exploded between
them; heat and passion twining as one with the melding of their lips. He cupped her
cheek gently in one hand, caressing satin flesh with light, feathery strokes of his thumb.
She felt his tongue gently stroke her full lips, and parted her mouth to allow him access.
He tasted her thoroughly, clutching her securely, his touch gentle.
They broke apart after a moment, but still he didn't release her, trailing kisses all
along the length of her jawbone, his breath rippling over her in the softest of sighs.
"Knew you'd come around, Max. After all, what woman can resist me?"