Deadly Trust

Summary: Alec is hunting a man he's sure is from Manticore, but Max has her doubts…

Sorry for the delay, folks. Too much on the old plate sometimes… Here we go.

One…

Two…

Chapter Seven


"Phillips, don't!" Alec shouted.

"Three."

Max closed her eyes, waiting for the shot, but instead she heard a grunt followed by the sound of a body falling to the ground. She warily opened her eyes to see Alec standing in front of her, gun in hand aimed at Phillips, and the guard unconscious on the floor. Max looked at the bed where Alec had been restrained and saw one cuff hanging loose, the other still attached to the bed frame.

"You should tell your men to be more careful when they're manhandling a transgenic," Alec said, breathing heavily, his free arm plastered against his injured side. "We can use just about anything to pick a lock."

"I'll be sure to remind them," Phillips answered coldly.

"Catch, Max," Alec said without taking his eyes off of the man opposite.

Max held out her hand and caught the small piece of metal Alec tossed to her. It looked like a metal clasp from one of the men's clothes. Alec had bent it out of shape to make a pick. Knowing now wasn't the time, she quit admiring Alec's resourcefulness and hurried to open the lock on her own cuffs. She then stood and walked toward Alec, rubbing her chafed wrist.

"He'll have a gun on him," Alec said.

Max only nodded and, while Alec covered her, quickly located the gun Phillips was wearing in an ankle holster.

"Why did they send you anyway?" Alec asked. "Surely, they would have known I might have…," Max saw him searching for the right words, "hard feelings toward you."

Phillips simply shrugged, still cool as a cucumber. "They knew you would come after me. They were counting on it. You just caught me before the team could catch up in the alley. They never have believed me about how fast you transgenics are."

"You were a trap?" Alec asked, looking like he'd been sucker-punched.

"Precisely."

Alec shook his head in disbelief. "Walked right into that one, didn't I?"

"I'd have thought you'd learned your lesson," Phillips said. He sounded like a teacher scolding a not particularly bright student, rather than a man who'd tortured and killed children for the sake of science. Max's finger itched to pull the trigger of the gun she'd taken from the man.

"You certainly did your best to beat it into me," Alec replied with a humorless laugh.

"I was doing my job," Phillips said, "my duty to my country. Something you have clearly lost sight of."

Max saw Alec's gun waver, knew the adrenaline rush was passing that was keeping Alec upright, knew they needed to hurry. "Your job made you a murderer."

Phillips simply raised an eyebrow. "You would know, wouldn't you, 494?"

"You bastard," Max couldn't help saying. It was no less than what she'd accused Alec of herself the first time she'd met him, but now she understood far better. Alec, however, had gone deathly, painfully still. Max stepped closer to him and placed a hand against his back, a reminder that he wasn't alone. She was on his side now. Alec took a breath and Max realized he'd been holding it.

"You were so easy to catch," Phillips said and to Max's ears it sounded almost malicious. "Being with 452 has made you sloppy." He glanced toward Max, anger burning brightly in his eyes. It was the first time she'd really seen him lose his careful, unruffled demeanor. Apparently, Alec wasn't the only one with some lingering issues.

"Being with Max is the only reason that you're still breathing," Alec said, freshly incensed. "You should be thanking her."

"She took Manticore from me. She took it from us. It was doing good work that would have helped this country." His gaze traveled back to Alec, genuinely puzzled. "You were a good soldier. Why are you with her?"

"Nobody's with me," Max snapped.

"I'm with Max," Alec said as if she hadn't spoken, "because she took down Manticore. You don't like me. I'm an animal, and you'd kill me as soon as look at me. She might not like me much, but she set me free. Free to be a soldier if I want, free to be a jerk, free to be a hero or a complete loser. Max, gave me the choice."

"This doesn't change anything," Phillips said angrily. "We still need that information whether you like it or not. It's a matter of national security."

"Isn't it always?" Alec smirked. Phillips didn't think much more of Alec's smirk than Max usually did. Right now though, Max thought it was almost endearing.

"I am trying to do my job and keep this country safe, 494," Phillips said sternly.

"I don't like your methods," Alec said just as sternly.

"I don't care."

"See?" Alec asked. "Was that so hard?" The man frowned in confusion. "I told you at the beginning you didn't care."

"494, that information will save lives," Phillips urged. "We need to talk to the ambassador and we can't find him."

"That was the whole point," Alec shot back. "Him not being found. New identity and all that."

"Stop being uncooperative!" the man shouted. "Forget about X5-675, damn you! We need your help!"

"My help?" Alec asked and his tone drew Max's full attention. The bruises on his face were standing out in vivid contrast to his otherwise ashen color. He was shaking with fury and Phillips began to back away, moving toward the open door. He could see his death in Alec's expression. Max didn't know what it was about, but Phillips had made a serious miscalculation bringing up whoever 675 was.

"You must do your duty!" the man ordered, still walking backwards. He nearly tripped over the still unconscious guard, but kept moving. "Be reasonable!"

"Now you want reason?" Alec demanded. Phillips had backed out into the hall and was looking both ways for which held the better chance of survival if he ran. He knew too much about transgenics, though. Despite being injured, Alec would be too fast for him. "After you trap me again? After you threaten to shoot Max? You threaten the woman I love and now you ask for reason?"

A deafening explosion came from down the hall and all three of them jumped in surprise. A second later another blast rocked the building. This time it was close enough that debris flew past the door to the room they were in. Phillips was still standing in the corridor. He was knocked down by the force of the explosion and thrown out of their line of sight.

Max and Alec simply stood for several seconds, shocked into silence. They could hear debris falling out in the hallway and Max waved away the cloud of heavy dust that was sifting in through the door.

Alec carefully stuck his head out into the corridor, looking first one way and then the other. Finally, he stepped in the direction Phillips had been thrown and Max followed him out.

Phillips was on his side where he'd been thrown into a wall and fallen in a crumpled heap at its base, his neck at an unnatural angle. Even as they watched, another chunk of plaster fell away from the wall and settled on top of the dead man.

Alec let the gun drop to his side, just looking down at his fallen enemy. Finally, he cleared his throat. "Well, that was a little more dramatic than I was going for, but it worked out all right."

"Are you ok?" Max asked him carefully. Her mind was spinning, beyond spinning, trying to gather in and process everything Alec had said. And surprisingly Alec didn't even seem to be aware that he'd said anything out of the ordinary.

"Fine," Alec answered, eyes still on Phillips. Max thought he looked like he wanted to give him a kick for good measure. The thought drew her attention to the fact that fresh blood was staining his shirt where he'd been shot.

"We need to get out of here," she urged. "The cops will be on the way."

"MAX!"

They both turned to see Logan hurrying down the hall toward them being followed by of all people, Digger.

"Max, are you all right?" Logan asked.

"I'm fine," she answered. "But Alec…" She felt Alec drape an arm across her shoulders and turned to see that he was closer than she'd expected, his face as pale as a ghost. His arm tightened around her and she instinctively faced him, wrapping her own arms around him. "Alec?"

"Sorry, Maxie," he said, visibly faltering. Max braced herself, taking more of his weight as he began to fade.

"Stay with me, Alec," she ordered.

"Trying." A slight smile crossed his mouth before it too faded away.

"Try harder," she said. "You're heavy."

Logan instinctively started forward to help, but it was a deadly impulse. An accidental brush against her skin and Logan would be toast. "Don't touch him," Max snapped, surprising herself as well as Logan. She'd actually meant to say me, but now that she thought of it, she was feeling about as over-protective as she could get toward Alec. His words were ringing in her ears and she wanted him to be all right so that she could hear them again.

Alec was almost a dead weight and rather than fight it, she followed him down, gently kneeling as he sank to the floor, still held in her arms. Alec's head drooped forward, falling on her shoulder. His lips brushed over her throat, a bare whisper of a kiss, just a touch, and Max gasped at the sensation. Even barely conscious, the man knew how to surprise her.

"Max?" Logan asked, looking at her with an odd expression on his face.

She supposed it really was an odd sight, her hugging a now unconscious Alec. She knew they needed to move, but she didn't want to. For the first time since she'd thrown the pot and Phillips had shot him, Alec's breathing was even and untroubled. She could feel it brushing across her skin, warming her. She felt like she'd been cold for so long.

Max heard a shout and knew the remaining guards were coming. They had to go. She gave Logan a conciliatory, if somewhat strained smile. She'd been rude when he'd come to save her. Not that it was the first time. Probably wasn't the last either. She was just sort of wired to be difficult.

Max heard Digger clear his throat nervously. "Look, whatever issues you guys got goin' on, we gotta scram. Now."

She turned toward Digger, who was standing to one side, his eyes bouncing back and forth between her and Logan. "You wanna help me get him to the car?" She might feel bad that she'd snapped at Logan, but she still couldn't afford to have him that close.

Max gave Logan an apologetic shrug, then stopped at the expression on his face. Logan was looking at her as if seeing a complete stranger and Max instinctively tightened her arms around Alec, mindful of his bruised ribs. Logan would never hurt Alec. She knew that. But for just a second, she knew she'd seen the truth. Logan wished Alec had never been set free. He wished he'd never set foot in Seattle. Logan wished Phillips had better aim.

Digger took Alec's feet and Logan turned, gun in hand, to lead the way out.


The wrap-up tomorrow…