Always remember CREAM Chapter 10: Deja Vu, a dark angel fanfic

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Unbelievable isn't it? I'm surprised myself. TWO updates in TWO days… must be a personal record.

Chapter Ten

There comes a time for everyone to feel completely lost. When all they know is that they're stuck in a whirlwind of happenings, that they are right in the middle of something important and greater than anything they've ever been a part of but what that something is, is as secret as the meaning of life.

Max hadn't been exactly forthcoming with details lately when it came to anything to do with this hotel and Gareth or her current mindset and that's exactly how Alec felt. Stuck in the middle, somewhere between her mixed up thoughts and emotions and what she wanted to do. The girl was gonna go off the deep end…

"Literally," he whispered as he watched her dive into the crystalline waters of the pool.

Since those metal doors had opened Alec had been dragged those few steps out to let the elevator return back to the lobby but hadn't moved since. A philosophical trance had swept over him as he watched happenings unfold before him. Bedazzled hazel eyes had watched Max with her back to him divest her clothes down to her underwear and ditch shoes, jeans and shirt upon a lawn chair.

The setting was a little too close to home as a sense of déjà vu swept over him.

Placid waters lapped at the pool's edges, the smooth curves of the sides making it seem surreal. Lit with dimmed lights, the whole atmosphere was amazing as the contrasting transparent blue of the waters melted harmoniously with the indoor oasis of plants and palms. Only two walls of the room were solid the other two and the ceiling, one way glass which Alec noted impressed, was clean enough to see the stars.

Alec's attention had been drawn back to the dark beauty of his current crime partner, his kin, and his friend, his… something. Max was one and a million things to him. Each one starkly different from the other yet so alike in every way.

She'd walked around the edge of the pool in anticlockwise contemplation, each step of her right leg dipping her toe into the water, till she'd reached the deep farthest end of the pool.

When she'd dived, allowing the waters to swallow her, his heart has skipped a beat.

Nothing had ever seemed so pure, so surreal and so existent at the same time. He could see her swimming to the other side, no need for air thanks to her Manticore heritage, and for the first time in several minutes he moved losing his shoes and clothes along the way till he stood, only in boxers at the pool's edge.

As she resurfaced he caught her gaze and Alec watched as she waded over to him till she floated below him staring up into his intense eyes waiting silently.

"The first time I went to buy boxers was just after we'd saved those kids from White for the first time. Up until then I'd gone commando but after seeing that kid shot in the leg I asked myself what I'd have done if I'd been shot, higher up my leg, and you guys had had to take my pants off. Not that I'd care if anyone saw me naked but first impressions count," he spoke softly but his words confused her nonetheless.

Sitting down on the edge Alec let his feet and calves float in the water as he continued, "At first I was gonna buy the ones with little red hearts on them but by that point I'd watched so many cartoons that even I knew only the bad guys who end up getting down-trailed wear those," his words sparked a smile on Max's face and he shrugged grinning at her chuckle, "So when I saw the black jesters I knew I had to buy a pair. They've been my favorite ever since."

"In other words, a tortured smart-ass?" Max asked not teasing but her tone light hearted, speaking the truth and not making light of the situation but drawing a smile out of him in knowing she understood, "Yeah."

Max moved back and Alec slipped into the pool, the tepid water rising to his shoulders whereas on Max's shorter figure it lapped around her neck.

With a quick smile he dipped underwater with the movement of a dolphin, flapping his feet and mirroring the movement of their distant mammal cousin before flipping in the water and returning to the surface a few feet away from her.

Calloused hands slicked his wet hair back off his forehead and his gaze didn't waver off her as she followed suit of his movements diving beneath the surface towards him but as she parted his legs and swam through them a mixture of amusement, surprise and pleasure dawned on his face her movement brushing past parts of him that she'd never been that close to.

Max was none the wiser as she reappeared behind him smiling genuinely as he turned and arched an eyebrow at her, "I haven't done that since last time I was here."

Quiet laughter rippled through him, captivating Max as the muscles of his chest tensed in kind with a spectacle of beauty.

True human beauty.

Max had never seen the true magnificence of a human body until Alec and no matter how her dirty mind twisted that it wasn't at all what she meant. Every emotion he felt, his body mirrored it, nervousness, anger… laughter.

Zack had been bigger than Alec; more filled out and defined, a lion, regal. Krit had been sleek yet powerful, more like Alec in structure and physique but he'd been dark like the panther, the jungle cat. Biggs' shorter and fuller figure had reminded her of a jaguar, quiet but dangerous.

Alec was something different.

True they were made beautiful but that wasn't what had captivated her. At least not completely. She'd never encountered this kind of cat.

At first she'd dubbed him as tiger. Power exuded off of Alec as much as he oozed sex appeal, and he symbolized both with such nonchalance it was almost unnerving yet so endearing at the same time. He was the big catch and he knew it. It hadn't matched later on however. Her brother Zane had been more like a tiger, he'd carried that silent ferocity, the quiet yet unambiguous threat to his enemies. Alec's golden complexion had gotten her thinking one sleepless night as she'd laid awake in bed trying to pinpoint exactly what he reminded her of.

Muscles taught with strength and disguised power, smooth flesh with a deceiving beauty, more so than many big cats, it was defined and persuasive, pronounced in the rusted gold and the dusked lines of its features. But what had won over was one simple fact. Alec didn't roar.

It sounded ridiculous but when he was angry, when he was cold and detached, when he was dangerous Alec didn't roar. He didn't need to. Staring into his eyes when they glinted predatorily Max had seen the mountain cat.

A visible intensity always present in his eyes, hazel flicked with golden rays.

Alec was a puma.

A cougar.

Before she knew what she was doing Max reached up and ran a hand through the slick strands of his hair and ruffled the water out of it until it messily sat upon his head like usual though more pronounced, "Looks better this way."

He smiled then and flicked his eyes upward in a half attempt to get a look at it, "I'll keep that in mind," a thought fell into his mind then as he looked back at her, "You know what song has been stuck in my head since Normal collapsed against my door pissed drunk and I called you up?"

"No," she replied, "But I'll bet you that I have it if Alden kept all my cd's."

Eyebrows rising he nodded silently accepting the bet, "Ever heard of Barenaked ladies?"

A Cheshire grin settled on Max's face as she swam around him, hands settling on his shoulders as she pulled herself up almost in piggyback fashion so she could speak close to his ear, "Chickity China the Chinese Chicken?"

Surprise passed over her features fleetingly when she felt him shiver, he must be cold, she thought, "Yep that's the one."

"Well then I won the bet which means you have to sing along to it for me," she stated laughing reaching over for a remote on the side of the pool and punching a few buttons, "Oh you can't be serious?"

"C'mon pretty boy, show me exactly how fast you can talk!" Max grinned, laughter visible in her eyes.

It's been one week since you looked at me.
Cocked your head to the side
and said I'm angry.

Max grinned as the song started and Alec groaned in disbelief, "Cmon then I'm waiting."

Five days since you laughed at me,
saying get that together
Come back and see me.

A surrendered expression fell on him and clearing his throat began to sing along to the tongue twisting fast paced lyrics of the song that seemed to have been made to tell their story of this trip.

"Three days since the living room.
I realized it's all my fault,
But couldn't tell you.

Yesterday you'd forgiven me
but it'll still be two days
till I say I'm sorry."

Max laughed entertained allowing the water to support her body as she joined in, a silent challenge…

"Hold it now and watch the hoodwink,
as I make you stop think.
You'll think you're looking at Aquaman.
I summon fish to the dish,
although I like the Chalet Swiss.
I like the sushi
Cause it's never touched a frying pan.

Hot like wasabe when I bust rhymes.
Big like Leann Rimes,
because I'm all about value.
Bert Kaempfert's got the mad hits.
You try to match wits,
you try to hold me but I bust through

Gonna make a break and take a fake
I'd like a stinking aching shake
I like vanilla, it's the finest of the flavors
Gotta see the show cause then you'll know
The vertigo is gonna grow
Cause it's so dangerous
You'll have to sign a waiver."

Both almost getting their tongues stuck burst into laughter as the chorus played by itself. Catching his gaze while they listened he shrugged innocently and she laughed again, it was scary how much the song was like Alec and what had happened to them.

Except for one thing, "You know the only difference is that I don't like sushi," and there it was.

How can I help it if I think
You're funny when you're mad
Trying hard not to smile
Though I feel bad I'm the kind of guy
Who laughs at a funeral
Can't understand what I mean?
Well, you soon will
I have a tendency to wear my mind
On my sleeve I have a history
Of taking off my shirt.

Bursting into laughter again at the last line Max shook her head thinking back to Manticore and the way he'd come into the cell but she didn't have time to think about it as Alec had started again.

"It's been one week since you
Looked at me
Threw your arms in the air and said you're crazy

Five days since you tackled me
I've still got the rug burns
On both my knees."

"Oh you big, big baby. Besides we've been through this it was your fault," she defended herself, but the annoyance was fake, she was teasing him.

Max was teasing him. God why did that sound wrong yet so right at the same time?

"It's been three days since the afternoon
You realized it's not my fault
Not a moment too soon.

Yesterday you'd forgiven me
And now I sit back and wait
Till you say you're sorry."

The song settled into a purely instrumental part and Max took the opportunity to splash Alec in an attempt top wipe the smart-aleck grin off his face and banish some of the smugness and teasing look of his expression.

Not at all perturbed however the blonde X5 splashed back as an all out war broke out in the once quiet room. Squealing at the tidal waves hitting her Max gave up trying to wipe the water out of her eyes and dunked beneath the surface instead, swimming towards a yet to notice Alec. Hand grabbing his ankle she dragged him under with her, the surprise on his face making whatever he was going to retaliate with worth it.

Chickity China the Chinese chicken
You have a drumstick
And your brain stops tickin'
Watching X-Files with no lights on
We're dans-la-maison
I hope the Smoking Man's in this one

Like Harrison Ford I'm getting Frantic
Like Sting I'm Tantric
Like Snickers, guaranteed to satisfy
Like Kurasawa I make mad films
Okay I don't make films
But if I did they'd have a samurai

The song sounded muted, far away beneath the water as Alec made a lunge for her, pulling her scrambling form under him as they wrestled, wide grins on their faces completely unaware of anything else except the song, them and the wrestle for dominance.

Gonna get a set of better clubs
Gonna find the kind with tiny nubs just so
My irons aren't always flying
Off the back-swing
Gotta get in tune with Sailor Moon
Cause that cartoon has got
The boom anime babes
That make me think the wrong thing

A very un-Max like shriek turned into a gurgle when she forgot the fact that she was still underwater. Feeling herself tossed out of the water she made to protest but didn't have the time as she fell back down -gravity winning- and sinking into the deep water once again. Alec was upon her in an instant, his hands grasping the slippery flesh of her sides and legs trying to hold her still in vain.

It's been one week since you looked at me
Dropped your arms to your sides
And said I'm sorry

Five days since I laughed at you
And said you just did just what
I thought you were gonna do

The biggest smile she'd ever seen was on his face as he lifted her out of the water but she didn't get to look at it for long as he swung her over his shoulder in the classic fireman hold. Deliberately jumping with her, Max grasped for support to alleviate the feeling of his broad shoulders jamming into her stomach not knowing the effects she was causing with the movements of her hands.

Three days since the living room
We realized we're both to blame
But what could we do?

Yesterday you just smiled at me
Cause it'll still be two days
Till we say we're sorry

It'll still be two days
Till we say we're sorry
Birchmount Stadium home of the Robbie.

Finally out of the pool Max was dropped unceremoniously onto a padded lawn chair, her wet hair in disarray all over her face but a wide toothy grin implanted on her features, "I won."

Sputtering for some way to deny his words she couldn't keep the laughter in for long as she waved at him in playful dismissal, "Bah, humbug."

"C'mon Max admit it. I want to hear the words," he smirked tauntingly, throwing her own words back into her face and by the looks of her miffed yet amused expression she'd realised that little fact.

Ignoring him she did exactly as he'd done changing the subject, "The view is nice isn't it?"

"Max those aren't the words," she chuckled at her own response coming this time from his mouth as a funky feeling of déjà vu swept over them as they continued this half re-enactment of one of their lighter past squabbles.

"Aiight, aiight I admit it. You bet me."

Gesturing with his hand to continue he made Max roll her eyes, "Without cheating," another gesture, "Even though I cheated by trying to tickle you."

"Good girl Maxie," he hassled delivering a rather unappreciated nooggie to her head, "Now scoot over."

Shock registered upon her face and she asked in disbelief, "You expect me to share my chair with you?" the question making Alec hesitate for a moment before he nodded, "Not likely," she protested her hand swatting his head.