Disclaimer: Still not mine. Just borrowing.

Whew. I had a one shot started and couldn't get it to work, and a longer story started and it didn't cooperate either, but this one managed to fall into the fluffy Christmas story realm, so it apparently didn't mind being written at this time of year. Still, the chapters are pretty short, and I'll get them posted before the big day.


Max spotted Alec almost as soon as she entered Crash. He'd been MIA for more than two weeks and now there he was like nothing was wrong. He was leaning on the bar, relaxed, glass in hand, like the rest of the Transgenics weren't holed up in Terminal City, like they weren't all being hunted like rabid dogs by White and every other idiot in Seattle since their Jam Pony jobs had all very publicly gone down the toilet with the hostage mess, and like she and Alec weren't both going to have to leave before anyone recognized them and put two and two together.

Max stalked toward him and punched his arm, making him spill some of his scotch.

"Hey!" He flicked the spilled booze off his hand, then thought better of it and sucked the rest away.

"Where have you been?" she demanded. The first few days, she hadn't thought too much of it. She'd been a little worried when she'd tried to get hold of him and couldn't, but there hadn't been any rumors about a freak getting caught, or anything on the news. After that, she'd started worrying about White and his cult buddies. She'd checked out his place in TC, and then broken into his old apartment in town, but nothing had been out of place. She'd finally set Logan looking while she'd prowled around uselessly trying to find him.

"Aw," he grinned, "you were worried. I'm touched."

She punched his arm again, not pulling it, and he rocked back. "Ok, ok," he said placatingly. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything to you, but I had a good reason."

"Tell that to Joshua," she snapped. "He keeps howling and stress-painting." She poked a finger into his chest, making sure to hit a good pressure point. "We've had to take shifts to keep him from going out to look for you. He could have been caught and killed. Did you even think about that?"

Alec looked genuinely contrite, but he raised his hands. "Max, I told him!"

"What?"

"I told him I had something to do and I might be a while, but that I'd be back!"

Max rolled her eyes. "It's Joshua! He probably thought that meant you'd be back after dinner!"

"I…" His shoulders sagged, and Max realized he looked tired. Transgenics shouldn't look tired. "I'll talk to him. I'll go see him as soon as I'm done here."

"You do that," she said, but now she was worried again. Alec was usually all happy go lucky and carefree and I-laugh-in-the-face-of-danger.

"I will, Max. I woulda called, but there was… I couldn't."

He did sound apologetic. She still wanted to kick him for scaring them all, but she backed down a bit. "So where'd you go?"

Instead of answering, Alec leaned down and picked up something on the side opposite Max. He brought it up and placed it in front of her. It was a small metal case that would fit in her hand.

"What is it?"

"Merry Christmas, Max."

She gave him a look that she hoped told him he was an idiot. "It's barely July, you moron."

"Way to look a gift horse in the mouth."

"I have no idea what that means."

Alec sniffed. "Well, one of us didn't pay attention in Common Verbal Usage. Never ceases to amaze me why they were so hot to get you back. Nothing but trouble since the day I met you."

"Zip it. What is this?"

"Just open it."

Max popped open the clasp. Nestled inside was a vial of clear liquid in a sealed, unmarked bottle, the kind meant for dispensing medicine with a syringe. Alec reached into his jacket pocket and handed her a set of folded papers as well.

"What is this?"

"A cure for Logan. The papers give the specifics. Doses and all that."

"A cure?" She didn't care if there was awe in her voice. It was too good to be true. She carefully closed the lid on the foam-lined case to protect its precious cargo.

"So they tell me." He shrugged as if it were nothing. "It's a series of vaccinations. He has to have a shot a month for six months. By the end of the inoculations, the virus shouldn't bother him anymore."

"It's that easy?"

"Easy, she says." Alec chuffed in disbelief, looking down. "If only you knew what it took…"

Max finally tore her eyes away from the case and the papers to look at Alec. "What happened?"

Alec ran a hand through his hair, a bit of frustration showing on top of the exhaustion. "Nothing," he said and sighed. "Doesn't matter."

She really looked at him, unease settling in for good this time. "Maybe it does matter. I've spent the past two weeks trying to track you down, thinking… we thought…"

Max didn't want to remember what she'd thought or how scared she'd been, not that she'd really shown it, or would admit it to anyone. She'd been certain he was dead or captured and it had surprised her how much that idea bothered her. It had been surprising enough how many times she had reached for a phone to call him, or gone to ask for his help, before she realized he wasn't around.

Unaware of how badly shaken she'd been by the thought of losing him, Alec shrugged. "Don't worry about me, Maxie. I've got nine lives."

"Yeah, but you've already used sixteen."

He smirked. "Possible." Alec looked at her sideways, his expression turning serious again. He didn't look serious all that often, and Max had learned to pay attention when it happened. "Ya know…" He visibly decided against saying whatever it was. He trailed off and picked up his drink, draining it.

"Know what?"

"It's… you and Logan…"

"What about us?" she asked, irritation resurfacing. She hated when Alec brought up her relationship. He wasn't exactly one of their cheerleaders.

"I'd like to say I got the cure because I'm a great guy and I wanted you to be happy, but…"

"But?"

"Max, I did it because the virus is a problem for all of us. You guys have to be careful all the time and so do we that we don't bump you and knock you into him, or to help Logan when you guys mess up. It pulls our attention and our resources away from where it needs to be."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"It's not that you don't know it." He shook his head. "I've said it before. Virus or no virus, we're a danger to them. And there's more separating you two than that. Our paths, our goals are different. It's not bad, necessarily, just different."

"And like I've said before, me and Logan are none of your business."

"So I got you a cure," he said, his tone flat. "Because I know you won't do what really needs to be done. I could take that danger out of the way at least. The rest I'll leave to you."

"Thanks for that," she said sarcastically, but she felt the weight of the metal case containing the cure in her hand. She took a breath to calm herself and said, "Really. Thank you, Alec."

He stood and threw some money down on the bar. "No problem," he said, and slapped a smile on his face.

Max didn't believe it for a second. Getting the cure had definitely been a problem.

"I'm gonna head out and talk to Josh." He gestured toward the case. "You'd better get that to Logan. You follow the directions and he should be immune to the virus by the end of the year."

"Six months," Max said, that feeling of awe returning, and, with it, anticipation. She could hardly wait. She had to get to Logan's. She had to tell him.

"Six months," he repeated. He stepped into her space and leaned forward. Max stood stock still as Alec placed a feather light kiss on her cheek. He stepped back and winked. "You'll have a very merry Christmas this year."

Before she could answer or even move, Alec turned and bolted up the stairs out of Crash.

Max followed, but by the time she reached the door he was already out of sight. She held the metal case and papers close, then headed for Logan's.


So here we go… Let's see if we can't get these two crazy kids together by Christmas. Thanks for reading!