Warning for oral sex and a couple of naughty words. Don't read it if these things offend you.
Title From Nine Inch Nails
I do not own Dark Angel or any of it's characters and I am making no money off this. Don't be hating.
He's not quite sure how it happens. One minute Logan's at his desk, investigating a lead about the further corruption of the mayor's office, the next thing he knows Alec's strolled through his (locked) door and is sprawled across Logan's couch. Just chatting away as if this is a perfectly normal thing and they hang out all the time.
"So, what do you say?" Alec finally stops talking and looks at Logan expectantly.
"Why are you here?" Logan asks, his voice full of frustrated bewilderment, ignoring everything Alec's said since he walked through the door.
"Got bored." Alec replies with a shrug, conveying no sign of offense at Logan's tone.
"And you couldn't think of any one else to bother?" He's being more than a little snappish but Logan thinks he can be forgiven considering Alec's just waltzed right into his apartment at two in the morning.
"Every one went home to either fuck or puke. Gotta tell you man, it kinda sucks having a super constitution. Some times anyway." Alec offers another shrug. "Went Max's but she kicked me out."
"Glad to know I'm your last resort." Logan says wryly, considering following Max's lead.
"But definitely not least." Alec says with his trademark grin. "You know what they say about all work and no play." Logan sighs, considers his options and wheels himself towards his bedroom. "Give me a couple of minutes."
"Atta boy!" Alec says, grin growing wider now he's got his way. "Go put on your bionic legs or whatever." Logan pauses in the door way for moment, thinking about backing out but Alec's not going to take no for an answer and Logan can't be bothered arguing with him. It's going to be a long night.
xxx
"No way." Logan says after taking one look at the place Alec leads him to. All dark corners and soft, crimson lighting. The decor consists of tall, silver poles and half naked girls, most of whom greet Alec by name. The only attempt at atmosphere is a smoke machine at the back of the stage that chokes out thin streams of bluish mist at random intervals.
"Oh come on." Alec says, throwing an arm over Logan's shoulders and ushering him forwards. "Give it a chance, huh?"
They sit themselves down at a low table near the bar. Their table, Logan notes, has pole coming out of it. Alec orders drinks from the waitress' cleavage with a smile and a wink. Handing them each a glass, her eyes trail from Alec to Logan and he gives her an awkward smile, pointedly looking only at her face.
"So, is this the place you took Max to?" Logan says, trying to ignore the amused look on Alec's face and unable to think of anything else to say about strip clubs.
"No." Alec replies, mouth tightening a little. "After the whole locking a transgenic in a tank thing I decided to take my patronage else where."
"Oh." Is all that comes out and Logan can't help feeling a little guilty at his own surprise at Alec taking a moral stand. Even if is boycotting a strip club. "Well, I'm sure they're feeling the loss."
"I know they are." Alec gives a small laugh, his gaze following a curvy brunette, walking by with a calculated sway of her hips. He holds up a folded bill and she comes over, long legs easily stepping up onto their table and wrapping around the pole. Logan shifts uncomfortably, looking more at the contents of his glass than at the girl as she dances with practiced grace, smile both flirtatious and impersonal.
"Don't you wonder why they do it?" He asks after she's gone, Alec's money tucked into the strap of her thong. "Why they have to do this."
"No." Alec says simply, waving at the waitress for a refill.
"You've never even thought about it?" Logan pushes.
"No. But it's not like it takes much thinking about." Alec shrugs. "Every one's broke and stripping's an easy way to make pretty decent money."
"Yeah but is it really worth it? And should we be supporting -" He's cut off by Alec practically forcing a glass to his lips.
"You can't be saving the world twenty-four seven, man. Just shut up and try to relax." Logan manages to swallow the huge mouthful of Jack Daniels without choking, not wincing too obviously as it burns its way down his throat. It's his own fault for picking Alec of all people to have an ethical debate with. Alec just clinks his glass against Logan's empty one and downs it's contents in one fluid motion before calling out to the closest waitress, who is only discernible from the dancers because of the tray she's carrying, skirt so short it might as well not exist and a push up bra masquerading as a top. "Another round over here, sweetheart."
xxx
Logan's pretty sure he's drunk. He's leaning back in his chair half watching a petite girl with long red hair hanging upside down on stage, thighs clenched around the sweat slick pole the only thing stopping her falling on her head. It's actually kind of impressive. The rest of his attention is focused on Alec, who's gone from sitting slightly too close to practically draping himself across Logan like he's a piece of furniture. The conversation, which Logan's admittedly been having trouble keeping up with, has turned to Max. Or more specifically: Logan, Max and ways Alec's thought of for them to have sex. It never occurs to Logan to wonder why Alec's been thinking about him and Max having sex. "Did you think about latex gloves?" Alec asks, one arm flung across Logan's shoulders, the other clutching the half empty glass of whiskey he's waving around for emphasis. He leans in closer still as he talks. "A little bit of lube and you'll at least be able to get some hand action going on."
"No, no, no." Logan says, shaking his head emphatically, gesturing just as madly as Alec, with the arm that isn't trapped between their bodies. "I don't want to be with her like that, it's just so...so -" He flounders, he knows there's a word that perfectly sums up his whole point but he can't for the life of him remember what it is. "It's just not right." Logan finishes lamely, bowing his head in a gesture of defeat as Alec laughs at him.
"God, you're such a girl, it's pathetic. Both of you are. Well, Max actually is a girl but that's not the point." Alec pauses, as if trying to collect his thoughts. Logan takes off his glasses, inspecting them to see if they're what's making the world blurry. Alec seems to remember his point and continues, "You two both act as if it has to be perfect. All or nothing, when you could try for something in between. I got news for you man, perfect ain't gonna happen anytime soon, maybe never. Sometimes, you just gotta settle for what you've got."
Logan thinks about making a joke, asking Alec when he got so profound. He thinks about trying to explain that when it comes to Max, there is no settling. He thinks of a million things he could say but instead he just leans forward, closing the small distance between them before Alec has time to react. Logan kisses him long and hard and deep. The kiss is all teeth and tongue, sucking the breath out of him but Alec's lips are soft, contrasting with the scratch of stubble against Logan's jaw. Alec's fingers clench into the fabric of Logan's shirt, not pulling him closer, not pushing him away, just holding him there.
Alec doesn't let go when Logan breaks the kiss, breath coming fast and shallow. They hold eye contact for a moment, then Alec looks aways, green eyes darting downwards and he lets out a low whistle. "So..." He says, letting it linger in the air between them.
"Yeah..." Logan replies, not sure what else to say and not quite able to think because every thing's still a little out of focus. His left arm's still trapped by his side and because of the way Logan twisted to kiss him Alec's right arm is wedged behind Logan's back. Logan's glass sits alone and empty on the table, Alec's is gripped so tightly in his hand Logan's surprised it hasn't shattered. Alec clears his throat, downs the remainder of his drink and gestures towards the door with his chin.
"Wanna get out of here?" Logan just nods.
xxx
Alec's fingers are still fisted in Logan's shirt when they stumble out into the alley behind the club, although now it's for the purpose of holding him up. Logan doesn't protest, because while he's fairly confident in his ability to stand on two feet his legs feel heavy when he lifts them and there's no way he's going to be walking straight lines any time soon. The press of Alec against him feels different, lean muscle instead of soft curves, but not at all bad. Logan kisses him again, feels Alec's lips curve and laugh against his mouth. Logan smiles, even though he's not sure what the joke is. "You're a lot more fun when you're pissed." Alec says, lips brushing against Logan's jaw, breath hot in Logan's ear.
"So are you." Logan responds, his hands finding their way to Alec's shoulders, pushing back the leather jacket and exploring the warmth of Alec's skin below the collar of his t-shirt. Alec maneuvers them deeper into shadows of the alley, until Logan's leaning against the wall behind a dumpster, his grip on Logan loosening.
"I'm always fun. You just appreciate it more with a little alcohol in you." Alec's lips are working their way down Logan's neck, kissing, sucking, biting. A moan catches low in Logan's throat and Alec pulls away. He smiles, teeth flashing white, green eyes lit up with amusement. He starts to say something but Logan can think of a million things he'd rather Alec's mouth be doing and roughly pulls him closer and half murmurs, half hisses, "Shut up."
Alec raises an eyebrow, smirk lifting the corners of his lips, "Look at you being all domineering. I should've guessed." The smirk spreads into a smile, cocky and a little challenging, "This what you'd be like with Max?"
Logan's hands close on Alec's neck so tight they're sure to leave bruises. Alec could escape the grip easily if he wanted to, and they both know it, but he just lets himself be jerked forward, so close their noses and foreheads touch, "I said. Shut. Up"
Alec's silent but Logan thinks he can see something like victory in Alec's eyes.
Logan releases him, he's about to apologize but Alec cuts him off before the words can stumble past his lips. "Whatever you say." He quirks an eyebrow suggestively and before Logan's quite sure what's going on Alec's dropped to his knees, nimble fingers at the fly of Logan's jeans. He wants to protest, to point out that some one might see them and is it really sanitary to be doing this here, in a filthy alley beside a dumpster but then Alec's lips brush against the head of his cock and all thought disappears. His fingers find their way into Alec's hair, gripping tight, guiding Alec's mouth back and forth, faster, harder. He loses himself in the feeling of lips and tongue and teeth. Sucking, licking, scraping. Alec's hair, soft in between his fingers, the concrete hard and rough behind him. Night air cold on his face and Alec's mouth warm around his cock. The sensation builds up. A wave rising, picking up speed. Logan's fingers slide through Alec's hair until his hand rests on his neck, just below the base of his skull. Logan's thumb brushes across the black lines of Alec's barcode, tracing them up and down. Alec swallows him whole and the wave breaks.
xxx
He's sitting at a table at Crash. Max is opposite him, sipping a beer and ranting about some jerk who flat out refused to give her a signature on a delivery she'd made that day. Logan nods, tries to say things like "Yeah". and "Huh." and "That bastard." at the appropriate moments. Apparently he's not doing too well because Max is staring at him, head cocked to one side. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Logan's says, wiping a hand over his face. "Just tired. Late night, y'know."
"Anything I should be worried about?" She asks, slipping straight into mission mode.
"No." Maybe he says it a bit too forcefully but while she looks a little concerned she drops it.
Logan's just about relaxed when Alec saunters in, heading straight over when he see them and dropping into the free chair parallel to the metal railing.
"Hey guys," He says casually, reaching for Max's beer and downing half of it.
"Hey!" She snaps, reaching for her glass with one hand and smacking Alec repeatedly on the shoulder with the other.
"Woah! Chill out there." Alec says indignantly, raising his arm in defense and trying to lean out of her reach. "You should be thanking me."
"For what? Making sure my drink's not poisoned?" Max shoots back at him with a glare.
"For talking Normal out of docking you're paycheck for not getting that dude's signature today." Max stops hitting him.
"Oh. Thanks." She says grudgingly. "I woulda beat it out of the guy but the whole area was crawling with Sector police. Don't know what his problem was."
"You're welcome." Alec says as Max gets up and heads towards the bar and calls after her. "Get a jug!" Then it's just the two of them.
"So," Logan begins awkwardly, glancing at Max, standing by the bar talking to Sketchy and then back at Alec. "About last night,"
"Forget it." Alec says straight away, talking over Logan's attempt to continue. "Seriously man, don't worry about it. I'm not gonna tell any one and I highly doubt you are."
"But about what happened with us -" Logan tries again. Alec just shakes his head, his face blank. Defensive.
"It's okay, I get it. I said it myself right?" He leans back and grins. Logan can't help but think it looks forced. Bitter. "Sometimes you just gotta settle."