Fuhgeddaboud Alec
Chapter 3
Empath.
No doubt about it.
Whatever it was that had been going on these last couple of days, it all had to link back to one of Manticore's psychically gifted. It had to. And not one of the minor spoon-bending types, either. No, this was the big time. Yup, the more Alec thought about it, the more he knew; it could be hypnosis, but the most obvious answer, in his mind, was tele-coercion.
He mulled over the thought as he pedaled his bicycle purposefully through the city streets, avoiding puddles from the overnight rain showers. Tele-coercion… it just made sense, rang with some kind of strange inevitability. And wouldn't that just figure, because that type of transgenic was one of the most dangerous, worse even than those psychotic, black-veined Perfect Donor types. Generally narcissistic, always looking for the easy way out of anything they didn't want to do: Most Empaths were like 13 year olds with access to cheat codes in a video game… they'd puff up about their own importance and skill, their superiority, when really they'd done nothing to achieve any of their so called glories.
Alec's face was hard as he maneuvered his bike onto the street to avoid a crowd of people gathered around a bread truck. If his suspicions were true, some self-loving, free-loading psychic wandering around his life wouldn't even be the worst part. No, the worst of it was that tele-coercion was practically impossible to spot.
The favored transgenic of PsyOps, a tele-coercionist had a special gift for putting an idea into your brain then stepping away, blending into the background, and letting you fill in all the missing blanks. In the field, they would have been unstoppable. Only Manticore had never let them into the field. Were probably scared that they could walk away from their handlers too easily. No, the psychics, they'd all been consigned to the basement where they could work on other transgenics in contained safety. They'd proven invaluable in reindoctrination programs. One innocuous little notion, forced into your mind, and all of a sudden you were making up half-cocked reasons for why you were thinking or doing something that would never occur to you otherwise… and it could be as something as small as making nice with Max, or as monumental and unbelievable as kissing her.
Not that kissing Max had been a bad thing. At all. Alec would never admit it out loud, but, if anything, the scene from last night had probably earned a top spot on the highlight reel of his year. With that his thoughts lightened, lifting away from the dark, heavy feelings that Manticore could bring about, focusing now on something much more pleasant.
He smiled slowly, remembering the way her warm mouth had gasped against his. The way her body had first tensed, and then melted, when his tongue had touched hers. Then he cleared his throat, shaking away the memory, because it's not like there would ever be a repeat performance, repressed, uptight ice queen that she was.
…Still, it was hard to maintain his mental image of Max as an ice princess when his pumping blood kept trying to remind him how warm she'd been when she'd pressed herself against him.
Lost in warm, hazy thought, he didn't even notice the car speeding down the filthy street. The blare of the horn brought him back to himself quickly enough and Alec jerked, swerving his bicycle up onto the sidewalk in time to miss the oncoming vehicle. The car sped past him, spraying his legs with puddled, polluted rain water as it went.
"Watch where you're goin'!" He shouted after the car. The vehicle didn't slow or give any indication that its occupants had heard him, but the act of shouting made him feel better anyway. Even if he knew that he'd been the one that was distracted. He almost laughed. Almost. Wasn't it just like him to let Max nearly get him killed… She had a special gift for that and Alec didn't know if he was really up for repeats. Was he really going to go back to the club with her tonight? If it really was one of the PsyOps transgenics running rough shod over their inhibitions, every bone in his body knew that he also needed to be running, only in the opposite direction. Hadn't he suffered enough at their hands?
Alec cut back into an alley and the familiar entrance of Jam Pony loomed before him. Slowing to a stop, he knew it was a moot point; he'd go with her, just like he always did. He might get his memories wiped. He'd probably get shot at. And at the end of it all, he'd get the barest concession to a 'thank you' before Max threw her gray wall of icy disapproval back up and went back to pretending that she hated him. God, what was her problem? You'd think he would have helped her out enough at this point to earn even a slight reprieve.
He lifted himself off of his bike, shoving it into an empty slot in the bicycle rack. He could spend a century trying to figure Max out. Figuring out who the rogue transgenic was would probably be easier and less time-consuming. Less maddening, too. That is, if it was a rogue transgenic. Maybe Max was right, Alec thought as he nodded distractedly at Skye, leaning near the entrance. Maybe they'd just gotten drugged as Max had suggested… Tele-coercion didn't usually cause gaps in remembrance. Unless, of course, it was over-used or if the offending transgenic was trying to scrub themselves from memories… Yeah, somehow he doubted it was drugs. He didn't doubt the mafia could get their hands on some military grade psycho-actives, but what would the motive be? And how would that explain what had happened last night?
No, they had stumbled across a PsyOps transgenic at the club and, like a rabid puppy, it must have tracked them down the next day, following them to Crash.
But what possible kind of kicks could said puppy get out of watching him and Max kiss?
Alec walked into Jam Pony, preoccupied and frowning. Mia was busy not working, smiling at her reflection in a hand mirror that she'd hung up in the dispatch cage, turning her face this way and that way to check her very carefully applied make-up. Now there was a girl that cared way too much about her appearance. Hah, wouldn't it be funny it the soft woman with the little girl's voice was the one wreaking so much havoc in his life? He rolled his eyes at the idea of someone as non-threatening as Mia as the Bad Guy. No, whoever it was they were looking for, they'd either be found at the club that he and Max had been at the other night or at Crash…
Speaking of Max, he glanced around. She was nowhere to be seen; must not have shown up yet. He wondered if she would avoid him again after the strangeness of last night. He wondered if she would make up some kind of ridiculous excuse for kissing him. He wondered if maybe he should avoid her. He really did not want to fight that girl; had been avoiding a full-out brawl for the better part of a year. The idea of PsyOps put him on edge. If Max lashed out at him now, he might be spun enough, and tired enough, to actually try and punch back... or maybe do something much, much worse. He shifted in discomfort as his memory supplied him with the sound of her gasp.
Totally unnecessary, thank you very much, he grumbled at his brain.
Her roiling thoughts had sent her to the safety of her bedroom a little after midnight. Rather than be left alone with the turmoil of her memories, memories of his silken mouth, Max had resigned herself to attempting an hour or two of sleep. She woke up alone, no Alec, which meant her day was already going better than it had yesterday.
But for one long moment after her eyes had opened and focused on the emptiness of her room, Max was incredibly aware of how cold it was in here. Her arm slid across the bed, across the spot that Alec had occupied yesterday. She shivered a bit, and she wasn't sure if it was from the coolness of the sheets or from the memory of his teeth nipping playfully at her neck.
She cleared her throat, flopping to her back, her hands coming in to rub at her suddenly pink face.
"So you awake."
Max craned her neck to look up at the sound of Cindy's voice, breaking the silence. Her friend was leaning against the doorframe, her arms folded across her chest and one eyebrow arched. She was waitin' on answers, that much was obvious. O.C. took in her wide brown eyes and she shook her head.
"Well, Alec ain't here so I guess that's one up from yesterday mornin'."
Max groaned, pulling a pillow from the spot next to her to hide her face beneath it. Her voice was muffled, "Please Cindy, not now."
"Fine, but only because we gotta get to work." Max could hear her friend's annoyed frustration even if she couldn't see Cindy's expression. She clearly wasn't going to let this go. "Don't think we won't be talkin' about this, though."
Max rolled out of bed after Cindy had left, frowning at her dresser. Talk about what? She'd hung out with Alec to let him make up... something... to her and then they'd needed to kiss and make-up about... something else. But when did they ever make-up about anything, much less kiss?! She knew she'd planted one on him to punish him for actin' like she was gross but beyond that she was kind of lost.
Her cheeks colored again. And his use of tongue had been entirely uncalled for. She yanked open her drawers, tossing shirts around, as she resolved herself to finding a way to make him pay that didn't involve any unnecessary touching of body parts.
God, did all she own was black? Where the hell was the rest of her wardrobe? Normal could fire her again for being late, but somewhere deep in the drawer there was a shirt that was not black and she'd take every last minute she needed to find it.
She would have told herself that she wasn't searching for a reason to prolong the inevitable showdown with Alec but even she wasn't so naive as to believe herself.
Alec slunk into Jam Pony following his first run, eyes darting around a little nervously. He half expected a hand to come up and pop him behind the head. Couldn't say for sure if it was Max's hand he expected to do the damage or one from any number of their friends. Some of whom were eyeing him in amusement even now. The place had filled up since he'd darted out in the early morning. Someone even catcalled from the lockers. He hunched his head low into his jacket's collar, his face coloring slightly beneath light freckles.
"Ah, the evils of alcohol." Sketch sidled up to him, shaking his head in mock sympathy. His arm looped around Alec's shoulders. "Man, never thought I'd see you n' Max get messed up and do something dumb. You guys are usually the last ones standin'."
Alec relaxed slightly at the very plausible explanation. Well, not plausible to him obviously, but at least to everyone else.
"Y'know." Sketch paused momentarily. "Come to think of it, how much did you guys drink last night? I remember the pitcher, but-"
"Shots." Alec shrugged, making a little 'meh' face. "Not my wisest decision."
"Man," Sketch said again, shaking his head in sympathy. He pulled his arm away from Alec as the two ambled their way towards his locker. "Well, good thing Logan took off before that happened. God knows what kind of drama that would have caused."
Jesus, Logan. Alec hadn't even thought about Logan. He ignored someone jokingly patting him on the back as he passed by. Ignored even Sketch breaking off at Normal's commanding, "You! Late reprobate, take this package and bip." Max wasn't going to just pop him upside the head, Alec realized in dismay. She was going to murder him. Rather than amusement at her usual brash reactions, Alec found himself scowling in annoyance for a change. And why should he be the one punished for her decision to kiss him? Maybe he should punish her. See how she liked being popped upside the head for a change.
Which is maybe why when Max came in the first thing she noticed was his unshakeable glare. What the hell was that about? Shouldn't she be the one to be pissed at him? What was his problem, anyway. She wouldn't have even had to kiss him if he hadn't opened his fat mouth and acted like a jackass. She was going to go over there and murder him.
Except Sketch, heading out for a run, winked at her as he walked past. "Tequila. Gets me every time, too."
Which is unfortunately what reminded Max that she couldn't murder Alec. Even worse, she actually needed to talk to him, because something was going on. Something sinister level, psycho-active drug type going on. She was about to head over there, one foot lifted in his direction, when a vibration at her belt had her looking down. The familiar numbers slid across her pager. Logan. She looked up and Alec was still glaring. There was practically a black cloud over him.
For the first time in her life, Max called Logan because he was by far the easier thing to deal with.
"Everything okay?" Was his response to her terse 'what's up.' She had to turn away from the lockers cuz Alec looked even more pissy, if that was even possible. His gaze, already thunderous, had darkened by about ten shades as her foot, originally poised to take her to him, had turned instead to the payphone.
"Yeah, just..." She didn't know how to finish that sentence. She could still feel Alec's glare on her back. She glanced over one shoulder and his green eyes were there, waiting. Her head snapped forwards once more. "Nevermind. It's nothing."
Alec, obvious eavesdropper that he was, snorted and finally stood, opening his locker to grab for his pack.
Max, obvious eavesdropper that she was, ignored the sound of his locker slamming open. "I'm at work, Logan, what do you need?"
"Well," He seemed only mildly taken aback. It seemed strange for him to ignore the bite in her voice; he didn't always put up with her grumpiness. There of course could only be one explanation as to why he was just letting it go. "You said you were willing to take another shot at Dougie. Tonight is the night for it. Remember, I got that tip that he should be at the club."
Remember? She wanted to bite out. Transgenic, how could she forget. She would have but she was too annoyed at the realization of why he was putting up with her bitchiness. Logan was alway more than willing to deal with her hot nature when he wanted something from her. Of course he'd be patient when his expose was at stake.
"Bite me." She muttered under her breath, still pretty pissed because of the whole scene at Crash last night. Who did he think he was? And how the hell did he not get that she was annoyed at him? She wasn't as sneaky as she thought though because Logan musta heard her.
"What was that?" His voice was sharp.
Her eyes widened. "Nuthin'... was talking to Alec." And she was talking at Alec because he was suddenly in front of her, leaning against the wall with a totally bland expression on his handsome face.
"Let's hurry it up, Maxie. I got another run to make." He hitched his pack higher on his shoulder.
"Buzz off, Alec. I'm on the phone." She turned away from him, wrapping herself in the phone cord in the process.
Alec snorted. "Cute, princess."
"Max, are you still there?"
There really wasn't much to say. As annoyed at Logan as she'd been last night, she had told him she'd take another half-hearted swipe at the narcoleptic bookkeeper.
"Yeah, I'll hit you up after the club."
Alec's ears perked at that.
"Aren't you going to stop by-"
"Sorry, gotta do my hair. Would hate not to look my best for another man." It shouldn't have come out as a snarl but it did. She carefully unwrapped herself from the phone cord, ignoring Logan's soft "Max-" as she hung up the phone. Well, that was going to cause about ten pages by midnight. Hopefully he'd come correct and offer up an apology this time for offering her up on a plate to gangsters and then acting all holier-than-thou when she didn't get the results he'd wanted. It's not that she couldn't take care of herself; it was more the principle of the thing.
"Do my ears deceive me." Alec batted long brown eyelashes as she turned to face him. "Is Dorothy coming out tonight?"
"Can it." Max scowled. "And why are you all bad moody?"
"Bad mood?" He was all crooked smiles now. "How can I be in a bad mood? You know how I love blondes." His eyes dipped down. "I suppose it's too much to ask that the black dress makes a comeback as well?"
Her arms folded across her red top, as if to protect her breasts from his eyes. But he blinked in surprise as if the red of her shirt was like a cape swirling before a bull, drawing away his attention.
"Max, look at you. I'm so proud." He circled her slowly. "You know, black is just so last season."
"What are you talking about?" Her arms didn't drop, stayed crossed in ire.
"I can count the number of times I haven't seen you in black on one hand." He was in front of her again, waving one hand in front of her face as if in demonstration.
She rolled her eyes, spinning on her heel in an attempt to get away from him. "Who died and made you the fashion police?"
He clucked his tongue. "And no leather gloves? I feel like we've really made in-roads today."
She spun fast towards him and her hand caught him easily enough. He grunted in annoyance but they both knew he could have ducked if he'd wanted to. Maybe he hadn't because his own hand came up and caught her bicep, spinning her once more, and he all but propelled her towards the women's bathroom.
Only two people in the entirety of Jam Pony noticed Alec and Max disappear into the bathroom. One of them was Cindy, just now rollin' in with her take-out, lunch for later, in her hand. She noticed and her mouth twisted, shakin' her head in something like disgust. But she was smart enough to call after the new dispatch, Mia or somethin, as the woman headed towards the bathroom.
"Sugah, you do not want to go in there right now." The woman turned to look at her quizzically but O.C. just offered her a smile. "Trus' me."
O.C. headed towards the back, muttering to herself. "God only knows what you'd see." Probably a fist fight. Maybe some blood. Maybe somethin' worse, like hell freezin' over.
Mia, the only other person who had seen Alec propel Max towards the back, had thought it would be the perfect time to corner them and convince them of her new money making scheme. But judging from the other woman's shake of her head, maybe not. Guess there was only one reason Alec would be pushin' Max into a bathroom.
"Really." Mia huffed. "At work? They could have at least saved it for later." She flounced back to her dispatch cage, cheeks tinged pink, in annoyance. She'd have to find some other time to catch them.
The door swished shut softly behind them and Max pulled her arm out of Alec's warm grasp. "Wanna explain what we're doing in the ladies' room? I thought you had to make a run."
"We're talking," He replied blandly, pretending not to notice the distance that she quickly put between them. "About last night." So much for the run, because he lifted his pack off his shoulder and dropped it next to the door. It was like his way of telling her that there was nothing that was going to get her out of this conversation. Not even the minor detail of work.
Max's face colored in shame. "There's nothing to talk about."
He noticed the color creeping up her neck in a kind of fascination. Hmm, he hadn't even considered bringing that up.
Well, that's not entirely true. He'd thought about it quite a bit. Thought about it most of the night, actually, staring at the ceiling as sleep had refused to come and ease his memory. The memory of her hands curling around his neck, the way in which everything had gone so very quiet as she'd lifted herself to his mouth. Thought about it the entire morning as he'd peddled through quiet city streets, willing his mind to settle. Was thinking about it even know actually.
"Alec," She said warningly, catching the narrowing of his eyes, the fascinating way he bit at his lower lip.
He blinked, shaking out of it. "Jeez, Max, get your mind out of the gutter." His smile lifted the the right side of his mouth. "I know it's been a while and all-"
She groaned, leaning back into a sink. "Jesus, it's like you brought me in here to make it easier for me to hide the body."
He laughed, just a short, quick bark into the sterile white of the bathroom, but it seemed too loud for the small space. He didn't laugh much, not really, so it was always kind of strange to hear it. Usually short, almost always bitter. The boy had issues, for real.
"Spare me your Mama Bear eyes, Max. I actually wanted to talk to you about tonight."
He had been planning on avoiding her. But then she'd come in and she'd avoided him instead, catching his gaze for only a moment before her pager had her rushing for the payphone. The great Logan Cale had commanded her attention once again. And as much as he'd have liked to run out of there, he'd told her last night he'd help her get into the club again. Which meant that at some point today he'd have to talk to her. Blowing off Max didn't usually end well.
Little did he know that Max had very much been hoping that Alec had forgotten about that conversation. "What about tonight?" She said with as straight face as possible.
His bland face told her he wasn't buyin' what she was sellin'. "The club? Dougie? We talked about it last night, remember?"
Right before she kissed him. He was itching to say it, she could tell, but somehow he managed to hold in. God only knows how.
How? Because he knew if he pushed the issue too hard she'd book it out of there so fast he'd get whiplash watching her leave. And then she'd avoid him for weeks, maybe longer. By the time he'd manage to corner her she'd have convinced herself to hate him again and he'd probably have to interrupt a date night just to get her to speak to him. It was easier to just hold his tongue for once and not goad her into escaping.
She eyed him in suspicion. "That's all you wanted to talk about?"
His face was total innocence. "Why? Is there something you wanted to talk about, Max?"
She snorted, glancing away from him. He sauntered closer to her, seemed so silly to hold a conversation from beside the door. She refused to look at him, even as he drew closer.
"So, what time should I pick you up?"
It just kind of crashed out of her, a product of the sudden, paralyzing fear. "Don't worry about it."
He blinked in surprise, "What, you just want to meet me there?"
She finally looked at him and her eyes were too hard to not be under her tight control. "No, I mean don't worry about it. I'll take care of it myself."
"Max-"
"No," Max shook her head, her long hair swaying around her shoulders. "I can do this myself, Alec. I don't need your help."
The annoyance that washed through him was sudden and powerful. Like he was so easy to just push away at the first sign of discomfort. "Oh really? Because last I checked, last night it was you that was asking me for help."
She'd awoken something in him, she realized. Something dangerous. Not anything violent, no, but something playful, something she didn't know how to deal with. When she didn't say anything, unsure of how to continue, that something she didn't know how to deal with started advancing on her.
To hell with his plan to avoid goading her. She'd brought this on herself. "Is this because you kissed me?"
There, it was out there now. Let's see her run from that.
She started to, pushing out of her lean, getting ready to sweep past him. "We're not talking about this, Alec."
But he wouldn't let her, blocking her escape route. His hand came up, not touching her, but a barrier nonetheless. She eyed the five long fingers of his hand. Even from the slight distance that she was from him, she could feel the warmth emanating out of him. Her eyes went back up to his own. She relaxed back into the sink once more, pretending at nonchalance and failing pretty miserably.
His green eyes tried to catch hers. It's not like he'd pushed her back here to torture her. Well, mostly not, anyways. He'd got one good dig in, but he couldn't forget that he'd mostly just cornered her for something more important. "And I'm not saying we have to talk about it. I think we got bigger problems."
She snorted, her eyes refusing to meet his. "Like what."
He sighed in frustration at her obvious avoidance as his hand dropped back to his side. "Like something fuckin' weird is going on, Max, and neither of us knows what."
That was a statement she could get on board with. They'd started to talk about it a little last night before things had gotten, in his words, 'fuckin' weird' again. Alec backed out of his dangerous proximity, settling next to her, against an adjacent sink, instead. His jacket clad bicep was against her shoulder and she pretended not to notice. It was easier to deal with him like this, when he wasn't head-on, but at her side instead.
"Two nights in a row," She mused into the ensuing silence, her eyes tripping across the stalls on the opposite wall.
"If someone is drugging us, why the hell would they come out all the way to Crash just to make us act like idiots in front of our friends?"
Max didn't have an answer for him. None of it made any sense.
He was hesitant to say it, but he supposed as unbelievable as it was it couldn't hurt to put another idea out there. "Back at Manticore..." He fell silent, something dark in him rearing up, claiming his memories.
"Alec?" She recognized that look. It was the look he'd had on his face when Rachel Berrisford had started to haunt him, that night they'd all gone to dinner at Joshua's. Something was up and when Manticore was involved, it was never good.
He cleared his throat. "Back at Manticore, there were these transgenics..." He glanced at her. "In ReDoc."
"ReDoc?"
"Reindoctrination." He clarified. He laughed a little but it was again a laugh that wasn't real, just a broken echo of reality. "Hell, I hardly remember the time I spent in there myself, but some people said there were trannies in the basement, helping out the docs."
"Transgenics helping the doctors?" The idea was frankly repugnant. Max had spent a lot of the last year of her life helping other transgenics. That one of them could work against their own kind rankled something deep within her. "How?"
He tapped at his head, as if way of explanation. "Some kind of psychic ability. Made it easier for the reprogramming to work on you."
Her face twisted. "That's sick."
He shrugged. "Well, it's a possibility for all this weirdness, anyway. Wish I had a better idea: I got locked up there twice and I hardly remember anything, much less other transgenics hanging around." Except for one moment, a flash of white, and soft brown eyes that seemed familiar. Where had he seen those eyes?
The memory eluded him though as a headache reared up to seize his mind. He rubbed at the bridge of his nose. Right before it started bleeding.
Max reared away from him. "Jesus, Alec, your nose is bleeding."
He brought a finger up to his lip, pulling it away to stare at the drops of red in surprise. He glanced up and Max was pulling cheap paper towels from the holder next to one of the sinks, passing them to him. He took them gingerly, dabbing at his face.
"Are you okay?" She asked, proffering another paper towel that he waved off.
"It's a bloody nose, not a bullet wound." He said it so sardonically it made her wonder how many times he'd been shot in his short life. She probably wouldn't have liked the answer so she just shifted in unhappiness as he continued, "Anyway, my point is, if there is something like that out there, something from Manticore's basement, and it's followed us home like a psychotic puppy, I don't think you should be out wandering on your own."
"I can take care of myself." There were no heat in her words. The statement was more habit than anything else. Which is why it didn't surprise him when she added with a sigh that didn't sound nearly forceful enough to be really put out, "I'll meet you there at seven." She glanced at his nose. "If you show up, try not to bleed on me."
He shrugged. "No promises."
They left the bathroom after that, the unanswered question of the kiss still hanging between them. O.C. took one look at the damp red spotted paper towel being held to his face and figured she knew what'd happened. "Damn, girl. Hot Boy don't deserve that much punishment."
Max blinked at her in surprise. Like, was she really so violent that someone could think she'd pop Alec in the face so easily? Well, it was Alec. Cindy's accusatory stare had her avoiding her friend, grabbing for her pack instead of loafing. She so wasn't ready for that conversation.
Mia, for her part, looked at Alec in surprise as he was passing to go on his run.
"Everything okay?" She called after him but he just waved her off. When Max swung by the front to make a grab for packages of her own, Mia grabbed at her arm.
"What happened to Alec?"
Max shrugged. "Nosebleed. No big deal."
Mia chewed at her lip as Max scooped up some packages. She was distracted enough by the surprise of seeing Alec dabbing red away from his lip that Max had already scuttled off before Mia had a chance to to make sure the darker woman wasn't going after Dougie again. Mia had a glorious plan in mind that she'd meant to set in motion today. First, she'd convince Max to give up on helping Eyes Only for this case. After which she would have headed to Logan's place to make him create a fake broadcast to fool Sperrenchino into thinking someone was giving him up to the cops. Dougie wouldn't have a choice but to flip then. After that it would have just been a hop, skip, and a jump to trick Alec, the illustrious Monty Cora, into making her a load of cash so that she could skip town with her narcoleptic lover while Sperrenchino was put behind bars where he belonged.
But Max was already out the door. Alec was long gone. This was not in her plans! She was tempted to stamp her foot in annoyance but just settled for frowning prettily at everyone that passed her by. She was half tempted to walk out for the day but there was still a chance she could get her plans back on track. She resolved to try and get a hold of Max later. If the blood dripping from Alec's nose was any indication... well... she should probably lay off him a while.
The rest of the day was a careful dance for Max and Alec. A tender footed game of avoidance. He swung around her, carefully avoiding touching her as they were passing. Her eyes had swept over him carefully, her long hair just brushing his jacket. It could have been a game had it not felt so dangerous. She wished she would have held onto her resolve and told him not to come with her to the club. But if he was right and there was something out there tracking them, could she be so foolhardy as to rush in without him? As much as she hated to admit it, he was kind of a staple in her life now; the back-up, ever ready to follow her into jobs well after midnight. Unfortunately, as focused as Max was on avoiding Alec, she forgot she was avoiding Cindy as well.
She tossed her bag into her locker after one of her runs, slamming the door closed. And almost jumped in surprise: Cindy was there, leaning behind the door, one eyebrow arched expectantly in almost a mirror image of her lean in the doorway this morning.
"O.C…" Max began with a sigh, relaxing as she turned to her friend.
Cindy pushed out of her lean. "Don't even try and 'O.C.' me, Max. You better come straight with your girl before we have some words."
Max sighed again.
"And don't sigh again, neither." Cindy added, her arms folding across her chest. She fixed Max with a probing stare. "Max, be honest, is something going on wit' you n' Alec?"
"Of course not!" Her cheeks reddened for what Max was sure the one millionth time. It was really beginning to grate on her nerves.
"Now why don't Original Cindy be believing you?"
Probably because her face was red and she looked like she'd just gotten hit by a school bus. "I get it," Max schooled her expression and tried to calm the tell-tale blood trying to rush into her face. "Things have been weird the last couple of nights… but it's just this case I'm working on with Logan. I'm pretty sure we were drugged that night Alec and I fell asleep together."
"That don't explain why you kissed him last night." Cindy replied, all seriousness, with a level, measuring stare to back it up.
She had kissed him, hadn't she? Why had she done that?
"He was being a jerk, acting like the idea of kissing me was some super terrible thing." Max ground out.
Out loud, it sounded like an even flimsier excuse than when it was just in her head. It was still the best thing she'd come up with all morning. She wondered how true Alec's idea about the so-called psychic transgenics could be. If they were real, it would certainly simplify some of the confusion within her.
Cindy must have thought it was pretty lame, too, because the woman's next words just about floored her.
"Max, you ain't trying to use Alec to get back at Logan are you?"
"What?!" How could Cindy even think that? "Of course not!"
"Are you sure?" Cindy frowned right back. "You and Logan have been spewin' drama at each other for weeks now. O.C. could see how tiring that could get; how a girl might think using someone as pretty as Alec-"
"Well don't." Max replied evenly. "It's nothing like that." Cindy didn't know about Ben, Max tried to console herself. If she knew about Ben, she wouldn't have even suggested such an awful idea… but even the memory of Ben's slow smile didn't protect Max from the warmth in her blood when she remembered Alec's tongue stroking hers.
"Good." Cindy didn't totally believe her, she could tell. But what came next was even more surprising. "Because Alec don't deserve that."
Max just paused, denial dying in her throat, because what do you even say to that?
"Don't take a blind person to see that Hot Boy is damaged goods, Max. I don't know what they did to him back at Manticore, but he don't need to be caught up with what you and Logan got. I know we pretty hard on him, but at the end of the day he's still our friend."
Max ignored the 'friend' part, because she didn't always like to acknowledge his gradual acceptance into their lives. She focused instead on O.C.'s first statement. What Manticore did to him? Raised him. Trained him. Killed the woman he'd loved. Wiped the knowledge of it from his memory. And who knows what else in the many years of captivity he'd endured. He'd glanced at her over the glass of whiskey two weeks ago, hard and empty. Think you had it rough? A little training, some maneuvers in the woods? Take it from me, later on it got a whole lot worse. 'Damaged goods' was probably putting it mildly. He hid it so well, could she be blamed for forgetting so easily? Any time she tried to draw it out of him, he just shut her down anyway. He didn't want her help.
…And whose fault is that? Her mind whispered to her. Who built that wall in the first place?
Cindy seemed to take her silence as some kind of admission of guilt. "Just think about that for a while, girl. You know O.C. love you enough to tell you when you need to come correct."
If there was guilt on her face, it wasn't for the reasons Cindy seemed to think. Max sighed, unsure of what else she could say to convince her friend otherwise. What a strange week this was turning out to be. The best she could do, for now, is try to stay out of Jam Pony as much as possible if nothing else than for her own sanity.
More than once, Max noticed Mia trying to get her attention, but she was so busy trying to avoid Alec she never stayed still long enough to get pulled into a conversation. Mia was about fed up, telling herself that she was going to grab the other woman by the arm and shake her if she had to just to get her to hold still. The plan never came to fruition, because Max went straight home after her last run to get ready for the evening.
And stood in front of the mirror for a long time after she'd stepped out of the bath. Had it really been necessary to take the bath? Maybe, because she was running a little tense after the last two days of craziness. What she was searching for in that long mirror she couldn't have said, but whatever it was she didn't find it in the reflection of her morose face, wet straggly hair and blue robe.
Her hair was the easiest part, combed and tucked under the blonde wig that had fascinated Alec so much. The make-up came next. All that was left to take care of was the blue robe. Max paced in front of her closet for a long time. Long enough that even Cindy noticed.
"You got a date with Logan?"
"No," Max scoffed. "He wants me to go after some mobster."
O.C. rolled her eyes because didn't that just figure. "Well, then jus' pick something. It's not like it matters."
Max's hand hesitated over the black dress that she'd worn to the club previously. Before she picked up a golden sequined top instead. O.C. whistled.
"Haven't seen you wear that in a while, boo."
It was a one-shouldered sequined top that when paired with the short skirt bared more of her midriff and her legs than Logan would have probably liked considering who she was going out with. The last time she'd worn it, she and Cindy had been out on the town. It seemed fitting, especially if she and Alec ended up playing poker again tonight. Truth be told, Max just didn't have a lot 'go out clothes' left in her wardrobe. Most of the things she owned were tactical, weren't really made for raw sex appeal. As a cat burglar and then a Eyes Only informant, black was pretty much the main color or lack there-of in her closet. Then there was of course the virus and the few revealing clothes she'd had left were slowly replaced by turtlenecks and jeans, anything that could minimize the amount of skin she exposed to the air.
Honestly, as she was getting dressed, she almost didn't know why she even bothered. Dougie was clearly and totally uninterested. Still, she'd told Logan she would try one more try. But that was it. If tonight was a bust then she was out and no amount of his paging (he'd paged twice already) or his obvious displeasure could convince her otherwise. Logan would just have to deal. She looked again in the mirror, at the blonde stranger there, the stranger that almost looked as if she had a life.
Alec's eyes lit in obvious pleasure as she rounded the corner almost exactly at seven. "I'm just seeing you from all sorts of new angles, Max."
He was on time, of course. He had a bad habit of being punctual the few times that she was hoping he wouldn't show up. And of course he was always late when she was expecting him on time. Good god, he knew all the right buttons to push with her. He seemed oblivious to her frown, leaning against the brick of the building in jeans and a t-shirt, his finger hooked in a belt loop. A blazer was draped over his arm and the shoes were far nicer than the usual ratty boots he tramped around Jam Pony in. The last time they'd been here, she'd thought the jacket top was the clubs, it kind of surprised her that he owned any sort of overcoat that wasn't a leather jacket.
"Don't make this harder than it has to be, Alec." She grunted, prepared to step around him and into the club. His hand hooked into her arm and he drew her back and around the corner, into the alleyway. He seemed troubled as he leaned over her.
Her back against the brick of the building, Max waited as patiently as she could as she looked up at him, all things considered. The all things considered being the fact that it was dark and smoky back here, something unpleasant was tickling at her sensitive nose, and Alec was leaning in too close to her. Someone passing by may have gotten the wrong idea had they glanced in and saw him, one arm braced next to her head, her wide-eyed gaze transfixed on his face.
"Dougie's here." He murmured, for her ears only.
Ah, that was the cause of the secrecy. Jeez, Max, it's not like he was trying to ravish you in a damn alleyway. She rolled her eyes at her own stupid reaction, relaxing a bit.
He wondered at the way she relaxed all of sudden. What, had she thought he'd pulled her back here to fight her or something? "I got here a little early and saw him go in with the usual crowd of, quote-unquote, 'honest businessmen'." He pushed away from her, realizing that being so close to that amount of bronzed skin wasn't doing anything good to the purity of his thoughts. Alec was used to seeing her covered up, head-to-toe. The wig made it easy to forget that this was not his Max, or, more precisely, Logan's Max, the gloomy turtleneck wearing savior of transgenic-kind. This was one of a very few times that he'd actually seen her bare shoulders. And how dumb was it that her bare shoulders could be vaguely arousing when she was usually so hidden. Made it easier to understand why men had used to find an accidental glimpse of an ankle so titillating. As sad as that was. Didn't help that the gold of the shirt, the blonde of the wig, made her skin glow, almost like it had a sheen. The thought of her skin slick with sweat-
He was backing away from her, almost in fear, and Max straightened in annoyance. "Why are you acting like such a spaz?" She leveled him with a look. "Never seen a girl's shoulders before?" Because she'd caught the way his eyes had drifted down, had fixated on the hollow of her throat and the arc of her neck before his eyes had snapped back to her face and he'd, seemingly, realized that this was Max. She'd almost wanted to lash out at him for backing away. It's not that she wanted Alec to think he had a chance of talking her out of this very tight skirt, but that the idea horrified him was almost too much to bear. What about her was so revolting? Sure, they didn't always have the best of relationships-
That was the kicker wasn't it. Max had a power over men, always had. At least the more disreputable type of man. She'd used it to her advantage when she felt safe. When it was a scumbag and she needed something and, what's more, knew she could fight her way out of a room after she'd sashayed her way in. She could use her body to get what she wanted in any situation that wasn't real, didn't have any meaning. Any real boyfriend she'd ever had had, all of that fell apart. She turned into a bumbling idiot. An emotional fogbank. That Alec might fall into the 'real' guy category, that his recoil from her was a little painful; it was not as much a surprise to her as it should have been.
Her expression was sour and Alec wasn't entirely sure where he'd made a misstep. Was she mad that he'd pulled away from her? She was so hard to read sometimes. He opened his mouth but she beat him to it.
"You pull me back here just to tell me that my target is already here? Gee, thanks, but you probably could have told me as we were walking in."
He shook his head, remembering why he'd cornered her in the first place. "No, that's not it." He glanced to the street before saying in a soft voice, "It wasn't just him, Max. Mia was with them."
"Mia?!" Max gaped in surprise. "Jam Pony Mia?"
He nodded curtly before elaborating. "Well, not 'with them' with them. She was kind of hanging on to the background. The bouncer talked to her for a second but then acted like she wasn't even there."
The timing was so perfect. "Oh my god, you think she's our psychotic psychic puppy dog?"
"It makes sense." He frowned. "I don't remember everything from that first night at the club but the very next day she just shows up at Jam Pony? And then that same day you try to mack on me in front of all our friends..."
"Hey!" She protested. "I did not-" But he just fixed her with a knowing look and she fell quiet in annoyance.
She glared at him for a long moment before asking into the silence, "Well, if it is her, how do we safeguard against a psychic?"
"Empath," he corrected. "If she's what I think she is, she can't read our minds, just try to bend us to her warped view of reality." He wiped at his nose, briefly, glancing down. She wondered what he was checking for. Maybe he was worried another nosebleed was coming on.
"And honestly," He continued, his hand dropping away. "I really have no idea. I don't know if it's even possible to protect yourself from an empath."
Max chewed at her lip for a long moment. "Okay," She breathed. "New plan. I'm not saying Mia is the bad guy. I just don't know. But just in case we don't approach her one on one."
Alec nodded in agreement. "If it is her, hopefully it'll be harder for her to manipulate us both."
Max's face twisted in confusion. "But I don't get it. Why would she even care if we came to the club? Why would she follow us to Jam Pony?" It didn't need to be said, what kind of weird kicks would she get out of making Max n Alec make hork worthy passes at each other. Max pretended that the remembrance of Alec's mouth was as distasteful as she tried to tell herself it was.
"Who the hell knows. Maybe she realized we're transgenic and thought it'd be fun to follow us around. Empaths aren't rumored to be especially stable." Alec shrugged in his black t-shirt, lifting his blue blazer and putting it on. He flipped the collar down as it descended around his broad shoulders. She watched in a kind of detached way, watching the play of the tendons in his neck in a purely clinical manner.
"Just what we need," She heard herself say. "Another sociopath running around Seattle."
He stiffened so slightly she almost missed it. "We going to do this or what?"
What the hell was up his ass? It took her a moment to realize that, though she'd been referring to Ames White, he must have thought she'd been talking about him. When they were sniping at each other, she had probably thrown sociopath at him once or twice. God knows Logan seemed to think the same.
She caught up with him and her fingers pressed into his elbow as he was stepping towards the bouncer. She didn't say anything; it was the closest thing to an apology she knew how to give. He glanced down at her briefly, the closest thing he could come to accepting, before flashing a smile at the large bouncer. The man waved Alec in, sparing Max only a cursory glance.
For a Thursday, the club was pretty empty. A few of the men who had 'entertained' her two nights earlier were sitting at the bar, drinking in silence. Dougie was nowhere to be seen and neither was Mia.
"The back, maybe?" She murmured up to him. He nodded, withdrawing his elbow from her hand. His hand came down, resting on the skin of her back as he ushered her through the room. He nodded briefly at the men at the bar, one of whom raised his glass in salute, before gently pushing Max through the nondescript door that led to the gambling area.
She let him propel her softly through the dining room and then through the door, largely because she'd made a huge mistake. This top was too short. His hand was on her skin and it was entirely too distracting considering how little she physically touched the skin of another human being. It was easier to focus in the casino area because she had a job to do. Her eyes scanned the room quickly. There were a few men and women, here and there, but none of them were Dougie or Mia. Her brown eyes settled on the door at the back of this room. She looked up at Alec and he nodded grimly.
There was only one lean man behind the closed doors. And Alec seemed to know him, at least on a cursory level. "Heya Frank."
The man only nodded in response, swishing a toothpick from one side of his mouth to the other, slouched low in his seat.
"You seen Dougie? I wanna talk to him about a hot tip I got on the races."
Thank god Logan wasn't here, Max thought to herself. This whole scenario, minus Alec of course, would have sent him into fits of gangster glee.
The man, Frank, reached up to adjust the holster at his shoulder before thumbing at the back, towards the kitchens. "Saw him making off with that broad. You know, the one the boss don't like?"
Alec frowned. "You remember what her name was."
The man's eyes went unfocused. "Who?"
Alec and Max shared a glance. "Nevermind, bud. I'm just gonna catch up with him if you don't mind."
The man shrugged. "Be my guest, Mr. Monty Cora."
"Remind me to seriously kick your ass later." Max said conversationally as they made their way down the hallway.
"Please, like you'd need a reminder."
Fair enough. The kitchens were likewise slow when Max glanced in, made sense considering how few people were in the dining area tonight. The room that was often used in impromptu poker games was similarly empty, the green felt table forlorn in the darkness.
They were just turning towards each other to talk out their other options when the sound of an engine cutting on had Max and Alec glancing towards the fire exit.
"Shit," She heard him mutter as they sprang towards the door.
They got into the alley in time to watch a black Chevy drive off. Even in the dim lighting of the back street, Max could just make out Mia's profile in the passenger seat.
"You bring your bike?" Alec asked, glancing down at her skirt.
"Taxi," Obviously.
He sighed, almost put upon. "Well, let's go then."
Let's go, of course, meant on the back of Alec's green Bandit. Max didn't even have time to stare at it in misgiving because they couldn't let Dougie and Mia get too far away from them. She slid onto the bike behind him, her arms wrapping around him, the already dangerously short skirt riding well up her thighs. Alec glanced down only once and resolved to not look down again.
The air was cold as it whipped past her skin and she crouched low behind Alec, letting his form take most of the buffeting. She wished she'd worn pants. She really wished she'd worn pants. She wished she was driving. She wished his back wasn't so noticeably warm against her front. She wished- There was no time for wishing because she could see the red taillights as easily as he could and they had a job to do.
"Up there," She called into the wind, pointing at the black car, a little unnecessary considering the fact that he wasn't blind. Alec flipped off the lights, slowing the bike to a reasonable distance. They didn't have much further to travel. After only a few short minutes, the car slowed to a stop at a darkened construction site.
Max sprang from the bike as soon as Alec had rolled to a stop, more to get to Dougie and Mia than to get away from him. Alec had to admire her bulldog like tenacity, he chuckled to himself as followed her into darkness; she just grabbed on to the mission and shook for all she was worth. His eyes glanced appreciatively at her long legs only once and he congratulated himself on staying so focused himself. That was before his eyes caught the pager that she had clipped to the waistband at the back of her skirt and he felt his mood souring. They were here for work. For her untouchable, too perfect to be real boyfriend Logan, bad hair notwithstanding. He cursed his own stupidity and forced his attention back to the task at hand. Mia and Dougie, sitting in the car, seemed oblivious to the world. In all honesty, it seemed like the two were arguing about something. Alec spent some time at the club, sure, but you'd think he'd remember Mia hanging about, he frowned to himself. She clearly was the Empath they were searchin' for.
As good as transgenic hearing was the car muffled some of what they were saying. Had she heard Mia begging him to skip town with her? She needed to be closer. Max picked her way through the construction yard, keeping to piles of building material to shield her from the couple's view. In the back of her mind, she wondered if Alec could see up her skirt. Pants. Next time, pants.
Max crept closer, Alec at her back, and she whispered harshly back to him, "What the hell is she doing with him?"
She sensed Alec shrug more than she saw it. She didn't know if it was her voice that alerted Mia or just a sixth sense, but Mia paused in her conversation, peering around the darkness slowly.
"Get down!" She hissed, and she and Alec crouched low beneath a tall stack of two by fours.
"Our dates sure are romantic," Alec grunted.
"You're telling me," Max scowled, lifting and turning herself slightly to peer over the top of the wood pile. And stopped. Only Dougie was in the car, his head lolled back slightly.
"What?" She wondered aloud. "Where the hell's Mia?"
"Hello there." Her bright voice was garish in the soft silence of the night.
They turned as one to her painted red smile.
"You're right, this is a terrible place for a date." She scrunched her nose cutely at them.
Max straightened, coming to a stand slowly. "I could say the same thing for you and Dougie back there."
"Girl's gotta have some privacy, you know."
Alex snorted and Max shook her head. "Girl? Right. Give it up, Mia. We know what you are."
Kinda.
Mia just blinked large brown orbs at them in response. "Oh? And what am I?"
Max opened her mouth to respond, but Alec came out swinging, literally. His fist crashed through the darkness, ignoring Max's abortive "Alec!" Mia had to slide out of the way of his incoming fist using speed that would never be found in a regular human. And that was really all the proof that Max needed.
"So you are transgenic." Max scowled. Alec pulled back into a ready stance, his narrowed eyes focused on the source of all their difficulties. His attack hadn't been totally unprovoked. He'd done it more as an attempt to incapacitate her before she tried her mojo on them. He hadn't expected that she'd be trained in fighting too... He'd always kind of thought the transgenics that worked in the basement were more labcoat types than fighters, like the one so many weeks ago that'd had the major crush on Max.
"And how would you know what a transgenic is?" Mia patted down her coifed hair carefully, peering at Max in suspicion. Alec's short laugh clued her in pretty effectively. Mia's sharp eyes glanced up and down Max quickly; her slim, athletic build, the beauty of her face.
"You're a transgenic!" Mia exclaimed in dismay. "Well, shoot, I can't believe I didn't figure that out."
"Save it, sister." Alec scowled at her, his hands still in a ready position before him. "What the hell do you want from me and Max?"
"Me?" Mia said innocently. "I just want you two to be happy."
"We're transgenic." Max scowled back. "We don't know what happy is." She felt Alec's eyes slide to her, just for a moment, before refocusing on their target.
"Everyone deserves to be happy. Even you."
"Save it for someone who cares, Mia." Alec grunted.
Her mouth twisted in annoyance. "Well, maybe I just want for everyone to win, then. Me, You, Dougie..."
Max's eyes unfocused as her memories struggled through the suggestion to supply her with a memory that she had forgotten. "You n' Dougie... You n' Dougie! I remember. You were at the club that first night." It came out accusatory, how could it not.
"We're on the same side, Max."
"Tell that to my memories... the memories that you messed with!" Max hissed back. She was tempted to ask her what kinky kicks she got out of making her try to make out with Alec but the click of a safety to her left had her head whipping to the side instead.
Dougie, eyes hooded, knight in shining armor to the rescue, had stumbled out of his stupor well enough to get out of the car and pull a gun on them. "What do you want from Mia?" He demanded, his squint trying to make out their features in the darkness.
She felt Alec's energy coiling behind him, but then so did Mia. And she wasn't about to let him or Max go after the man she loved.
"No, don't hurt him."
The command in her voice, the sheer desperation directed at them, even without eye contact was overpowering. Max's legs weakened, and she felt herself falling. A vague part of her knew that Alec was doing the same. Her knees hit the dirt and all she could see, feel, hear, was Mia.
Mia composed herself carefully, glancing between Dougie who was lowering his gun in surprise, and Max and Alec staring up at her in disorientation.
"You two keep trying to ruin everything." Mia grumped to herself. She didn't have it in herself to do them any harm, though. Part of her was relieved that it hadn't come to fisticuffs. She could handle herself if she needed to, but it wasn't really her. All she wanted was out. Out of the mob, out of Seattle, maybe even out of the U.S.. Just her n' Dougie. She did spare Alec one concerned glance. He'd been in to ReDoc twice and she'd been blasting him off n' on for the last two days. A little more hopefully wouldn't do too much damage.
"I don't buy this 'I'm transgenic, I don't deserve to be happy' nonsense." She scolded their confused faces before repeating in earnest, putting the force of her suggestion behind it. "Everyone deserves to be happy. Even you."
They didn't take to the suggestion very well, surprisingly enough. Alec's eyes narrowed, Max's went distant and lost. Mia sighed in consternation. Why did they have to make everything so difficult?
"Now listen up, dynamic duo." Mia started pacing in front of them. "You want to make this difficult? Fine. You two went to find Dougie for the great Eyes Only but he wasn't interested." She focused on Max for a short moment, stopping before her and peering into her eyes. "Logan will take care of it without your help. I'll see to that. You have to come talk to me tomorrow though."
Max nodded in simple minded agreement. "Logan can handle it. I'll come find you."
Mia lifted her shoulders, rocking back and forth in delight. "Good girl! We'll find a way to make money, yet. There was supposed to be a big fight coming up but with the two of you and your transgenic smarts, I'm thinking maybe cards is in order. I'll just have to have a talk with the club boss."
She focused on Max again. "Make sure you tell Logan you overhead there's going to be a card tournament."
Mia glanced quickly at Alec and sighed. There was no helping it. She drew them both in. "After Dougie brushed you off, you two went for a ride, to get away for a little bit. You two have a strange idea of what a date is, obviously."
Alec was twitching, in obvious rage. He'd always been strong willed, he had never liked her attempts at controlling him. She'd have to find a way to override the anger. Maybe just redirect it into something else. She tapped at her chin thoughtfully. "And you stopped here to talk things out." She smiled in delight, congratulating herself as she added with a wink that was almost suggestive, "And have some alone time."
She leaned down and bopped Max gently on the nose. "Now, don't you forgot, come find me tomorrow. We have some money to make, you two and I."
A breeze wafted across the empty construction site. Max shivered.
The breeze had brought her back to herself and Max blinked wide eyes, embarrassed to find that she'd totally spaced out. It didn't matter much. Alec knew how to take her silence. They could sit here against this woodpile and not say anything and it seemed that was all that was needed. She attempted to shove her skirt down but it was a losing battle. There was no helping the dirt on the back of her thighs from sitting here with her legs drawn up to her body. She blinked in confusion at the dirt on her knees, she didn't remember kneeling, but it musta happened when she'd come to a sitting position. She brushed at her knees distractedly as her thoughts turned to the job.
She sighed. Logan would be pissed, undoubtedly, but it wasn't her fault that Dougie had told her to take a hike. It would have been easy to hitch a ride back to her apartment but what's the point of a dark empty room when you have shark DNA? Alec had offered her a ride through Seattle and it didn't seem like such a bad thing to accept. They had some things they needed to talk out anyway. Seemed like people were always around, they rarely had time to just be alone and figure out their drama.
Alec was wincing, squeezing at the bridge of his nose.
"Everything okay?" She asked.
He shrugged, letting his head fall back into the wood pile at his back. "Peachy." He replied blandly. He looked pained.
He was lying, obviously, but it was his drama, not hers. The construction site was shrouded in darkness but Max could pick out the piles of building materials easily enough. "Why'd we stop here anyway?"
Alec shrugged. "Just followed a car to the closest place, I guess. You n' I always pick the best places for our dates." His head lolled to her and he released the bridge of his nose to smile crookedly at her. "Did you want me to take you home?"
She made a noncommittal noise in the back of her throat. No, not really. What was at home? A cold bed, a silent room. Date? Had he really said that? If this was a date, then good lord in the last six months she'd been on more dates with Alec than she had with Logan.
"Remember that time you lost my baseball?" She asked into the darkness.
Alec's laugh was short but mildly amused which was better than the bitterness he usually hid in there. "Yeah, you going to fight me about something that happened months ago?"
She shrugged. "Just thought you should know that one day I'll probably throw a punch at you for that one."
"Yeah," He chuckled. Neither of them brought up the time she'd lost a chance at the cure for the microbomb at the base of his spine. Damaged goods, Cindy had said, and it was true. As much as he'd tried to hide it, he'd been more broken than usual since Rachel had died and after the last two strange days she didn't know if she wanted to alienate him. Somethin' weird was going on and she didn't think she wanted to go it alone. Plus she'd probably need him at the card tournament tomorrow, the one they'd overhead the goons talking about at the club. His blank face didn't sit well with her though.
"You wanna talk about it?" She asked.
He grunted. Take that as a no.
His eyes darted towards her and surprisingly, he scooted a little closer. Her usual instinct would have been to get the hell away, but she was the one who'd said they'd need alone time, right? Couldn't ditch him when she asked him to come out here. Her temple twinged, just for a moment. Or had he asked? God, everything was so confusing.
He paused a long moment before he admitted. "I loved her."
She looked down, her arms coming up around her knees. "I know."
"She didn't love me."
Max shook her head. "You don't know that, Alec."
He smiled, crooked and sad. "She had a crush on her piano teacher, Simon Lehane." His arm lifted and it was weird but Max leaned into him, under it, and sighed as his arm draped around her, shielding her from the cool air of the night. His laugh was a little broken. "You shoulda seen her face when she realized I was Manticore."
How awful and how different from her own experience with Logan. Logan had spouted something about her being strong, beautiful, as his fingers had pulled down her turtleneck to confirm that she was transgenic. She turned her round face towards him, correcting him gently. "You're not Manticore, Alec."
"Tell that to my conscience."
She twisted her body towards him as if to better convey the message. "You're not."
His eyes dipped quickly, but not so fast that she didn't see his green gaze slide across her mouth. His right hand came up and slid across her jawbone softly, coming to rest lightly on the side of her neck.
"I think there's probably a good reason why we don't spend too much time alone, Max." He offered gently.
It seemed like a strange time to say it, but it tripped over her tongue like someone else had put it there. "Everyone deserves to be happy, Alec. Even us."
He hesitated only for a moment, his eyes catching hers as she caught her breath. God knows when they'd said they needed alone time, there'd been a wink in there somewhere, something a little suggestive. She swallowed as his hand, which had been light, flattened against the side of her neck, his fingers sure against the back of her neck, pressed against the barcode there. His mouth was hot, as hot as she remembered, as it crashed into hers. She gasped into him and his left arm pulled easily, swinging her over, her leg lifting to straddle him easily. His body was firm beneath her fingers as they trailed over the shoulders of that blue blazer and then dug underneath to grasp at his black t-shirt. His hand stayed securely on her neck as his tongue slid against hers but the other trailed down the back of her golden top, to splay hotly there against the soft skin of her lower back.
The buzzing of her pager, hooked on to the back of her skirt, was like a shockwave of adrenaline, cutting through the sudden and urgent desire.
Max broke away, the guilt and surprise rising simultaneously, rising like an overpowering tide.
Alec stared at her in the darkness. "That'll be, what, page number ten?"
She didn't pull it off to check. "Undoubtedly."
She lifted herself off of him gingerly, her mind roiling in confusion. Alec stood more slowly.
"Want me to take you home?"
Max shivered. The air seemed even colder now that his heat had been removed. She nodded quickly because she didn't trust her voice to tell the lie that would take her home and away from him. Cindy would undoubtedly be waiting for her, the question fresh on her lips, why Alec the one bringin you home?
Max didn't have time to figure out what the hell she was going tell Cindy... She was too busy trying to figure out what she was she going to tell Logan. She burrowed tightly into Alec's back as he gunned the Bandit's motor. Wasn't that the question of the century.
