The Alpha Fights
"Well well well, who let you inside the gates?"
It was Mole that said it, but he knew everyone else in the room was thinking it. But that didn't matter, because today, Logan had a purpose. It had been four weeks since Zack had showed up in his apartment and he had promised him to keep an eye out on Max. Which he had been doing, with the exception that he hadn't actually seen her. Logan had tried to visit her the week after Zack had visited, but just as he had said, the city was on a complete lockdown. It wasn't obvious to anyone who was watching, but it was obvious to him when they instantly denied him access to the gates. Then he waited and watched from his apartment, looking for anything on the news about the transgenics locking themselves inside Terminal City, but there was nothing. No one knew what was going on.
He had then tried to reach Zack, but realized belatedly that he had no way of contacting the nomadic X5. He had simply said that he would be out of Seattle for a week, and Logan assumed that when he returned he would know. Zack would have wanted an update one his sister, wouldn't he?
However, that no longer mattered. As a member of Seattle's high society, Logan was constantly invited to galas and events hosted by the richer people in the city. He used to decline them all the time, either because he didn't have anyone to go with, or because he didn't have the desire to go and would rather work on his Eyes Only cases. But this morning he had received an invitation to attend a gala hosted by the Mayor. It was meant to bring attention to the Transgenic Bill, which was being reviewed in Congress. The Mayor wanted to raise support for their resident transgenics, and what better way to do it than with a giant, black tie event hosted in their honor?
And what better way to get close to Max again than to invite her, and be by her side for the entire night?
"Where's Max?" Logan asked, ignoring Mole's barb. Command seemed empty, especially when looking for anyone who wasn't an anomalie. It seemed as though the X Series were almost no where to be seen, but then from behind Mole sprung Gem, her baby on her hip.
"Logan!" she said, trying to untangle her baby's fist from her hair. "What brings you here so early?"
"Early? It's just after noon." Logan said. He shook his head, wanting to stay on track. "It doesn't matter, I'm here to see Max. Is she around?"
"She'll be out soon." Mole said, grunting at the end and gnawing on the cigar that resided in the corner of his mouth.
"From where?" Logan asked, instantly frustrated with the transhuman and his round about answers. He did not want to be distracted again.
"Cat nap."
Logan scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. This was getting ridiculous. First off, noon on a Monday was considered early, and now Max was taking cat naps. She had shark in her genetic cocktail, she didn't to sleep, let alone have a 'cat nap'.
"Look," he began, trying to keep calm. "Just tell me where she is, and I'll head in that direction."
He saw the look Mole and Gem exchanged. It wasn't short or subtle, they stared at each other for almost a full minute, then Mole grunted again, turned, and left the building.
Gem smiled, bounced her baby into a more comfortable position on her hip, and started walking. Logan followed.
"You do know it's Monday, right?" she asked, looking over her child's head at Logan. He knew he was scowling, but he couldn't help it. "I'm just asking because its not exactly the best time to be visiting Max right now."
"Why not?" he asked, hating to admit it, but his curiosity was peaked. They started going up the stairs towards the offices above the command center.
"Mole wasn't lying when he said she was taking a cat nap." Gem laughed, and Logan became confused. He was about to ask if she was pulling his leg, but she continued talking before he could. "I'm sure you know that most of the X Series have cat based DNA for the majority of our talents, like our agility and balance. Well, we had an incident about a month ago, and Mole came up with the theory that we should try and build a stronger sense of community within the city. So, we have certain programs that run for certain types of transgenics."
Logan stopped walking for a moment, his mind turning quickly. "You're being serious?" he asked, Gem beside him smiling. They were nearing a set of stairs at the end of the hall he had never seen before. The door was slightly ajar, and the stairway was dark. He assumed it was new to him because he never made a habit of going further than Max's office.
"Of course!" Gem replied, her smile warm and welcoming. He actually felt like he wasn't being laughed at or ridiculed. "We've had a couple of cold versus hot nights in the gymnasium for some of the temperature specific transhumans, as well as hearing competitions for the canines. We even have a couple of X4's who have found their way here, and they compete with the X8's using big puzzles that Joshua and some of the X7's made. Most of the X4's are Psy-Ops units, and have a hive mind similar to the X8's, so it's really fun to watch."
"And then the X5's," he began, doubting his words at first even though all of Gem's facts pointed to this conclusion. After all, they were made with the specific genetics of several large cats. "Have cat naps."
Gem's smile got bigger, and then she moved forward and nudged the door open with her toe. Her baby giggled and clapped her hands, clearly recognizing the hallway they were about to enter.
"You got it!" she said, bouncing her baby again. "We have two sites for the naps, and they last an hour. We've hooked up large flood lights that emit UV rays, and even have a few solar panels to help power them. That way when the sun comes out, we can collect some energy to use for the hour that we nap for. It's actually a really nice set up."
"And it's up there?" he asked, referring to the dark stairwell. He didn't understand why it made him uneasy, but it did.
"Sure is. We added some padding to the floors, and took the light bulbs out of the stairwell, but it's just a few steps. Go ahead, the timer will be turning the lights off soon anyways."
"You're not coming up?" he asked, suddenly not wanting to go up the stairs. He didn't understand the trepidation he was feeling at all. His heart felt like it was fluttering, and his face and neck suddenly felt hot. Was the building getting warmer?
"Oh no," she laughed again, using her other hand to pinch her baby's nose. The little one squealed and laughed, grabbing onto her mother's hand. "If I take her up there she'll attach herself to Max and I wont be getting her back until dinner." Gem nudged the door with her foot again, and Logan knew she was trying to get him to go up there on his own. Was it a test? Did he have to prove that he belonged here, that he belonged with Max?
"I'll let her know you said 'Hi', then." he said, moving towards the stairs. He took the first step, his heart beating rapidly. Then he took the second, then the third. His heart started to slow when he reached the landing, the turn in the stairs showing him the hallway above was lit dimly. He was up and before a door within moments. This door, too, was ajar, and from within he couldn't hear a thing. Slowly, he pushed the door open another inch, and then another after that. The opening revealed a large room, almost the size of the command center below. Most of the room was dark, the only lighting being focused in the center of the room, over a giant pile of bodies.
For a moment, Logan panicked. There were bodies, haphazardly piled upon each other, most in just their underwear, and for a moment they all looked dead. Then, the outer ring of lights shut off, and the people on the rim of the pile started to move. Knees bent, backs arched, and slowly, a layer unraveled themselves from each other and peeled away. The group of people slowly moved to the back of the room, where auxiliary lights shone on groups of shoes and shirts, and began to dress themselves. They stretched and spoke softly to each other, to the point where Logan could hear voices but not understand the words. More lights shut off, and another layer got up and got dressed. A lot of them stretched on their way to the back of the room, while some of the younger kids, probably X6's and X7's, raced, pushed, and poked each other on their way to their clothes. After the third row of lights shut off, Logan began to recognize some of the X5's in the middle of the group, especially the person everyone seemed to be lying around.
Alec was in the middle of it all, Dalton's back curled against his left side, directly visible to Logan from the door way. He could see a mass of dark hair spread out on his bare chest, and Logan scoffed to himself. Community building, and he still finds some woman to lie all over him.There was even another woman, this one with bright blonde hair, laying over one of his legs. Logan really wanted to go over there and wake him up in a not so polite way, but the fourth row of lights shut off, the ones right above Alec, and then all of the other lights in the room turned on.
All of the other transgenics had left through the doors on the other side of the room, and now he was alone with Alec, an X6, and two females. Taking a deep breath, he tried not to get angry.
Maybe Gem didn't know she wasn't up here, he thought, watching as Dalton rolled away from Alec, got up, and jumped over the three in the middle. He didn't even look at Logan as he dressed and bounced out of the other doors. She probably left when she realized Alec was using this to get another girl into his bed.
Logan held his breath when the blonde suddenly sat up, her back towards him.
"It gets so cold!" she said, rolling her shoulders. Something muffled came from the brunette beside her that made her laugh uproariously, but Logan missed it. "You're the one that has to get back to work! I can laze around here for another three hours before anyone comes looking for me."
"Don't tease her too much, Zor," Alec said, his eyes still closed. He reached up and ruffled the brunette's hair. "I've been told that dress shopping can be very stressful."
"By who?" the blonde asked, getting up and walking over to her own pile of clothes. She sat before it and threw on her shirt, then laid back on the floor again. "You're right Max, it's still so much warmer if you don't move."
Logan heard a strangled, almost gurgling choking sound, and when the three transgenic's heads turned slowly towards him, he realized the noise was coming from him.
"Logan!" Alec called, voice loud and overly cheery in the echoing room. Max's face was against his chest, her eyes wide. "Nice of you to join us! Shame you missed the nap, it was so relaxing."
"Shut up, Alec." Logan said, the venom in his voice was palpable.
"You were just an hour late!" Alec continued, not bothering to move or lower his voice. Logan felt his left eye start to twitch. "I understand why you're grumpy, you definitely missed out on this nap."
"Shut up, Alec."
"We were thinking about laying here for another five minutes, since Max is having a hard day, but now that you're here-"
With every word that Alec said, Logan felt his blood pressure rise. He was almost in a state of seeing red when Max laid her hand on his chest, and Alec finally shut up. From where he was standing, he could see Alec's hand snake up her back and tug on her hair, but her eyes stayed on the floor at his own feet. After a moment they both rose, Alec went to their pile of clothes and threw her a shirt, his, and then left with the blonde. Max threw on the shirt and covered herself. It was huge on her.
"Hey." she said, looking at him. The world almost stopped spinning. He felt his heart slow, the red ran from his vision, and then all he could see was her. He'd even pretend that the shirt she was wearing wasn't Alec's. Maybe one day it would be one of his own.
"Hey." he replied, feeling like they were on familiar ground. They had started here over two years ago, and in those two years they had been closer and further apart at the same time. He knew this was his chance to start over, to finally get off on the right foot with her. "There's an event coming up," he began, completely drawn into her big brown eyes. "The mayors hosting it to bring more positive attention to the transgenic cause."
"I know," she said, her mouth tilting up in the barest of smiles. "Joshua is so excited to go."
It took a moment for Logan to understand what she had said, but when it clicked, it clicked.
"Joshua?" he said, the moment crashing around his shoulders. "Why would he be excited about it?"
"We're bringing him," Max said, her smile increasing. "Alec and I got an invite and were allowed a plus one, and since it's really not something Mole should ever be invited to if we don't want people to think we're all gun toting, chain smoking assholes, we're going to bring Joshua."
Her smile was full blown now, laughing at her own barb at her ill tempered third in command and probably her excitement for Joshua finally being allowed out into the real world, but his had disintegrated. He was no longer happy or excited to see her, and in all reality, he really wanted to walk away and forget this conversation had ever happened.
"You're coming too, right?" she asked, not aware of the shift of his mood. He wanted to say no, he wanted to whine and complain and tell her to be his date, to allow him the honor of escorting her to the ball, but Logan was a gentleman. He was not raised to debase himself in the face of adversity, he was raised to over come it with dignity.
"Of course," he said brightly, or as brightly as he could. He hoped Max didn't notice his change in attitude. "I just wanted to make sure you knew it was happening."
"It is pretty short notice." she agreed, moving over to her pile of clothes. Logan followed.
"You're having trouble finding a dress?" he asked, trying to keep the conversation going. If he couldn't ask her to the gala, he was going to get in as much time with her as he could now. She scoffed and told him about the pain of trying to pick a fabric, a color, and then a shape. They had multiple people within the walls of Terminal City who could sew and wanted to make her a dress, but they all seemed to be dominate personality types and would not get along. Logan let her talk as she dressed and led them downstairs, enjoying the sound of her voice. It was like silk against his ears, and he knew that he had to get her back and away from Alec.
When they returned to command, Mole was in instantly in her face, puffing smoke and demanding to know where she got off calling him a "chain smoking jackass", to which she replied that that wasn't what she said and smacked Alec across the back of his head. Logan let her walk away, already coming up with another strategy. If he couldn't have her this instant, it was okay. After all, they hadn't started out super close when they first met either.
Maybe that's whats wrong, he thought, watching her walk over to Dix and get the perimeter report from the past hour. I'm trying to move too fast, she moved to Gem now, the transgenic baby squealing in delight. We just have to move slowly, like the first time.
Alec came over to stand beside him, watching Max over his shoulder, and it made Logan smirk. He knew what he was doing wrong now, and with that knowledge he had the advantage over the X5. Alec was a constant annoyance in Max's life, and she was forced to be around him all of the time, where as Max had loved him before, and he knew that she could, and would, love him again. He only needed to take his time.
Logan liked winning, and Alec didn't stand a chance.
Oh Logan, you're so crazy. Who thinks he's going to win Max? Anyone? Let me know what you think.
-K