Disclaimer: Nup, still don't own it
A/N: Ok, sorry for the wait! Here it is, the long awaited next chapter. The story's almost over, just a few more chapters to go, as long as my imagination doesn't get carried away.
Chapter 11: Dinner served with Revelations
The smell of tomato and onion hit them as they reached the floor of the building which held Bree's apartment. The second thing to hit them was the sound of laughter and various voices. It became clear, as they neared the apartment, that Syl, Ash, Joshua and Dalton were inside, as well as Bree. They walked in without knocking and saw everyone was already seated around a table. They also saw Mole there, minus his usual cigar, and couldn't figure out which one surprised them more. Bree was at the head of the table, pouring sauce over plates of spaghetti as they pulled out two empty chairs.
'Thought you'd keep us all waiting, did ya? Typical Alec – thinks the world waits only for him.' Bree said laughing and everyone joined in. Alec put a hand over his heart, put a hurt look on his face and said 'Bree, your words, like a knife to my heart.'
'Yeah, I'm sure, cause you sound oh so sincere.' There was a knock on the door, and everyone turned to look, wondering who it could be. That was when Max noticed that there were still two empty chairs at the other end of the table. 'Come in' Bree called as she finished with the sauce. To Max's surprise Biggs and Cece walked in. She hadn't seen them much since the whole thing with Jam Pony, and was glad to see them, but very confused. Bree noted the confused looks and shrugged, saying 'I know about Biggs from Alec, he constantly talked about their mission together, while we were on ours, and then I met him and Cece the other day at Med, and we started talking, so…'
She was interrupted as the door opened once again, this time revealing Jo, who walked in. 'Oh, hey Jo. There's dinner for all three of you on the counter, in the containers. Jo's my roommate.' She announced to the room at large. 'And since she and Vash are gonna be in Med all night and Krit's still stuck in there, I made them all dinner. Tell you what though, I think I ran out of food tonight, it's a good thing I brought all this stuff with me from my old place, it's a good thing I had stock piled pasta.' She laughed, as she sat down at the end of the table. Jo came back out of the kitchen then, carrying three containers of pasta and three bottles of water. She waved to them, and they waved back, Bree calling 'See ya Jo.'
Once everyone was settled in at the table, Bree said 'tuck in' and none of them needed to be told twice.
Bree sat at the head of the table, watching her guests, no her family, as they bantered with each other. She had known some for years, others only two days, but it felt safe, it felt like home, which was a feeling she had never really known before. She smiled to herself.
'Care to share your secret with the class, Bree?' Alec voice broke into her thoughts and she looked at him, and saw he was grinning cheekily at her, that mischievous look in his eyes, like he knew exactly what she was thinking. And he probably does, he knows me better then anyone. What would I do without him?
'Never you mind. I think I'm gonna get started on these dishes' she said, standing up and starting to stack the dishes simultaneously. Max, Syl and Dalton all stood up to help, but she waved them back down with her hand. 'No no no, you're my guests, sit, relax. Alec can help me' she added, her own grin forming as his slid from his face, but he stood up obediently and started stacking dishes.
'Now how come it takes me three times as long to get him to do something like fold the towels, but he jumps up to help you?' Max inquired her voice full of laughter.
'He knows what'll happen to him if he says no to me. He learnt that lesson a long time ago, didn't you Alec?' Bree asked, putting false innocence into her voice and batting her eyelashes at him before she turned and carried the dishes into the kitchen. Alec glared at her back and said 'Or maybe I just like annoying you, Maxie.'
'Oh, I definitely believe that.' Biggs said, and the table broke out in laughter again. Alec followed Bree into the small kitchen with the remaining dishes and they went to work, falling into the all too familiar routine with an easy rhythm. They were silent for a minute until Alec noticed Bree was studying him.
'What?' he asked, but she continued to study him. How well I know that face, she thought, the subtle differences between the real Alec and Manticore's 494. I can read him, I can get an answer from him if I want, no matter how determined he is not to give me one. But how can I get the answer to this particular question? Subtle or direct? That's always the million dollar question with Alec. People always try subtle, but it rarely works with him, he's too smart. I think situation calls for direct, definitely direct.
'How long?' she asked. He looked down at her, puzzled.
'How long what?'
'How long have you been in love with Max?' she asked, lowering her voice to a whisper. She saw his eyes widen with surprise, before his well used Manticore mask slipped into place. If there's one thing I truly hate in this world, it's that bloody Manticore mask! I would pay a million bucks to anyone if I never had to see someone use that stupid mask! Makes everything ten times as hard. But don't worry Alec; I'm not going to give up that easy.
'I don't know what you're talking about.' He said, trying, and failing, to sound innocent.
'Oh don't pull that crap with me, you never could play the innocent well, it's just not in you nature. No evading the truth with me, Alec, you know it won't work. Tell me, how long.' She held his gaze, unwavering in her determination, daring him to deny it again. He gave the softest of sighs, a sign of defeat.
'Honestly? I don't know. I think I realised it, well, accepted it, about a month ago. But it started long before that. I just ignored it, just like they taught us to. Anyway, what's it to you pipsqueak?' he asked, nudging her slightly with his elbow, using his usual manner of avoiding serious conversations. She simply raised an eyebrow at him.
'Pipsqueak? And I was simply curious. Wonder if Max has accepted it yet, although she is even more stubborn then you, if that's possible.'
'Accepted what Bree?'
'That she's in love with you too.' When he started to rebuke that, she cut him off saying 'I'm a woman, we can tell these things about each other. Don't argue with me, it will get you absolutely no where.' Alec couldn't think of anything to say to this, and he just stared at her. When did she grow up? I mean, she was mature beyond her years when I first met her, but this… this is why I love her. And I guess this why I could never say no to her. This is why I need to protect her, she's my sister. This is what Max is always going on about when she talks about her family. Bree's my family. It had hit him a few days ago, when she'd first arrived in TC, and he'd finally understood what Max had been talking about, what she meant by her brothers and sisters. Bree's my family, and family look out for each other. Well, if she's looking out for me, I can return the favour, so…
'What about you and Dalton, huh? I noticed the puppy-dog eyes he was giving you all through dinner, and you didn't seem to mind them. In fact, if you asked me, you seemed to be enjoying it…' he trailed off and she hit him over the head. 'OW!' he said loudly.
'What's going on in there you two? Do you need supervision?' Max's voice came sailing through the door.
''No, I just figured out why you're always hitting Alec over the head. It's very good for shutting him up.' Bree replied, and they heard Max laugh. Then they heard someone knocking on the door, and Bree went to answer it. She opened the door and found herself face to face with Original Cindy.
'Luke told me my girl was here?' Cindy said, as Bree stepped aside to let her in.
'Cindy? What are you doing her?' Max asked as she ran over to hug her best friend.
'Uh, hi Cindy. Sorry, I forgot you were coming tonight.' Joshua's voice said sheepishly from behind them. Max turned to him, surprised.
'You organised this?' She asked. He nodded his head as Cindy said 'He told me my girl needed a good talkin to and I'm here to deliver. Hey Biggs, Cece. Mole, Dalton and, uh, I don't know you two.' Cindy said, looking at Syl and Ash.
'Oh, sorry, this is Syl, fellow '09er and this is Ash, we picked him up yesterday.' Max explained.
'Well, it's nice to meet you. Where's ya boy? I know he gotta be around here somewhere…'
'Hey Cindy.' Alec's voice came through the door of the kitchen. 'Doing the dishes, although somebody is supposed to be in here helping me.' He reminded, and Bree sighed as she walked back in to help.
'It's not enough I cooked for you, is it? I think Manticore babied you too much.' They heard her saying, and heard Alec's laugh in return.
'Well, on that note, we should get going.' Biggs said, as he and Cece stood up to leave. 'Thanks for dinner, Bree, it was great.' He called to her, not daring to go into the kitchen.
'No problem, see you later. ALEC!' they heard yell before the kitchen went silent. Biggs and Cece left, followed shortly by Joshua and Mole, who also called out their thanks to Bree.
'Boo, looks like Alec gonna be a while, so how bout me and you go chill at your place, talk?' Cindy said.
'Sounds great. What're you up to tonight Syl?' she asked her sister.
'Nothing. Krit's still in Med, so I'm all alone.' She answered, putting on a southern accent to sound like a damsel in distress.
'Not anymore, you're coming with us. Gem find you a place to stay, Ash?' she asked the X5.
'Yeah, with another X5, Ky. Actually, I'm supposed to be helping him with something, so I should go. Bye Alec, thanks Bree' he called, and he left. Dalton stood up.
'I'm gonna go, too. Bye Alec, Bree.' He called and he raced out of there at full speed. The three women looked at each other and laughed.
'Well, let's go.' Syl said. Max walked over to the kitchen, stuck her head in and noticed the way Bree and Alec stood, leaning close as if conspiring to do something. She cleared her throat, and Alec visibly jumped, while Bree simply grinned.
'We're gonna take off too, head back to our place for some girly time.' Max said.
'Does that mean I can't come home tonight?' Alec asked with a grin.
'No, it just means that when you decide to come home, you need to make your presence known, don't just barge into the place like you normally do.' Max said, glaring at him. She turned to Bree. 'Thanks for dinner, it was great.'
'Any time. Have a good time' she said, before Max and the others left.
The three women walked through the door into Max and Alec's apartment and two made noises of surprise. There was a large dent in the wall, and a broken table next to the door.
'Uh, Max, what happened in here?' Syl asked. Max paused, glanced briefly at the table and the wall, as she shrugged out of her jacket, and turned to face her sister and Cindy.
'Oh, uh, Logan needed a little sense knocked into him, that's all.' She said as if this explained everything. She walked into the kitchen, throwing her jacket onto the bench as she walked towards the fridge, then took three bottles of beer out of the fridge and came back out to find Cindy filling Syl in on the whole Logan situation.
'…and Manticore put the virus in her so she couldn't touch him, and then she told Logan that Alec was her new boy and I don't really know what happened here.' Cindy finished up, and they both turned expectantly at Max.
'What? Fine, Alec found the cure, so I didn't kill Logan when he kissed me. But I told him it was over, then he came to see me about it earlier and I told him it was over. Then he laughed at me and Alec and I snapped, and Alec had to stop me from hurting him and that's what we had to discuss earlier, cause he was confused. Then, well, one thing led to another and we kissed, and Logan walked in and saw us, and he jumped to conclusions, as per usual, and said something about Alec forcing himself on me and we both jumped on him. Then we told him to leave, no biggie.' She added, seeing their faces.
'No biggie? You been waiting for this cure for a year, now you got it, but you're kissing hot boy instead and you say no biggie?' Cindy asked, hand on hips.
'Yeah, so what?' Max said shrugging her shoulders.
'Well, it sounds like everyone was expecting you to be kissing Logan, not Alec. Max, are you in love with Alec?' Syl asked, deciding not to beat around the bush with this one. Maxie always was good at ignoring her emotions, denying her feelings. Well, if she's gonna hide, then I'm gonna go seek.
'No!' Max answered quickly. Too quickly, and she mentally slapped her forehead.
'Huh, you answered that pretty quickly, didn't she Cindy?' Syl asked, a sly smile forming on her lips.
'Yeah, too quickly for my liking.' Cindy replied, a similar smile on her face. Max groaned. Sometimes it was simply better to admit defeat.
'Fine, I love him. There, happy? I said it!' Max said loudly, a grumpy, yet defeated look on her face.
Syl and Cindy looked at each other and burst out laughing. 'I knew it' was all Cindy could say.
'Yeah, I picked up on it about… two seconds after seeing them together.' Syl said, once she had stopped laughing.
'God, am I that obvious?' Max asked. This only brought on more laughter.
'Honey, you both that obvious.' Cindy informed her.
'Both? What are you talking about?' Max asked, confused.
'Duh! Alec's in love with you too, boo. Has been for a while now, though I don't think he knew it. Why you think he stuck around you all this time? Certainly ain't cause of the royal treatment you was giving him, that's for sure.' Cindy said, shaking her head in a pitying way, trying not to laugh again.
'That doesn't mean he's in love with me, though. Just that he's… I don't know, a little strange.' Max said defensively.
'Max, I think all of TC, except you, knows that he's in love with you. It's written all over his face, girl. All over yours, too.' Syl told her, as she crossed her arms, and looked at her with a very smug look on her face.
' Yeah, well, you and Ash looked pretty cosy tonight.' Max said, changing the subject, and laughing when the smug look faded from Syl's face. Cindy and Syl looked at each other, and decided to let her get away with it.
'Yeah, well, I like Ash. He's nice, smart, oh and the fact that he looks perfect doesn't hurt either. There, now, that wasn't so hard for me to admit, was it?' Syl said to Max, who simply looked at her, lost in her own thoughts. Could Alec really be in love with me? Is that why he's stuck around all this time? A million questions were racing through her mind, but one thought stood out. When Alec gets home, we need to talk.
Alec turned a corner and almost walked straight into Biggs, who held out an arm to stop him.
'Hey, man. What's up?' Biggs said, and Alec's eyes flicked up to look at him, confused.
'What? What are you doing here?' Alec asked puzzled, and looked around. Hang on, this isn't my apartment block, is it? What the…? How did I end up over here? I left Bree's and… then what? Huh, interesting.
'Uh, I live here. What are you doing here, man? You live that way, remember?' Biggs said, pointing back the way Alec had come from. 'What happened? You fight with Max again?'
'Max?' Alec repeated, look at Biggs. That seemed to snap him out of it. 'No, no, I was talking to Bree. She said something…' he trailed off, once again lost in thought. Biggs stared at him for a minute and then prompted him.
'She said something about…?' About you? About Max?' Alec nodded to both, and Biggs smiled. 'What, did she point out how you two are clearly in love with each other? You know, you love her, she loves you.' Again, Alec nodded to both, then his head snapped up as the last part registered. He glared at Biggs.
'What? Not you too, man. Did everyone find some weed and start smoking it without me or something? Or did you all just simultaneously walk headfirst into a brick wall?'
'Ha ha, you're so funny man. Alec, we're just stating the facts, they're right there in front of us every day. It was actually very amusing at first, although I think it's been long enough man. Why do you think Joshua asked Cindy to come tonight?' Biggs asked, then he gave him a pat on the shoulder and walked away laughing at the look on his face.
Great, first Bree, now Biggs. All of TC is going mad. Max, in love with me? That's insane, she's supposed to be in love with Logan… although, she did beat on him today, twice, and she keeps kissing me. Why isn't she with Logan? Cause she doesn't love him any more, that's obvious. But that doesn't mean that she loves me. Maybe she's in heat, that would explain the kissing. But then she should have tried to jump me, and every other guy in TC, and all the guys would be all over her. Ah, none of this makes any sense, I've got to talk to Max, set this straight. Yeah we need to talk, and we need to talk now. With that decided he turned around and walked off in the direction he had come from, heading for his apartment. The look on his face told people he meant business, and no one tried to stop him. He walked through the door of their apartment and said 'Max, we need to talk. Now.'
A/N: Ok, there ya go! Hope you all enjoyed it, and I hope you think it was worth the wait. I promise the next wait will be much shorter. I've finally figured out how to finish the next chapter, now I just gotta actually write it. And I have two days at home ahead of me, so it should be easy. And as always, please review! If you've got any tips, please tell me! They're always welcome!