A/N: Thank you Lyla for informing me that Sector 5 is actually where Max lives… I know it's obscure but I'm real nit-picky, so I went back and changed it at the end of the last chapter to Sector 8. No problems with 8, right?
Friction
Chapter 11: Adrenaline
"This is all your fault," Max hissed, not bothering to glance at Alec as she spoke, both crouched in the shadows, backs against the wall.
"My fault?" he replied incredulously. "How's that?"
They kept their voices low, for the cavernous building had been designed in such a way that even the smallest noises were magnified and carried through the entire interior. And the fact that White and his men were presently scouring this very building for the pair of transgenics was more than enough reason to maintain an air of caution.
"You stopped to tie your shoe," she answered. "We would never have been spotted if you didn't stop."
"Oh please," he scoffed. "Me stopping to tie my shoelace only sped up the inevitable. It was your damn shortcut that did us in."
Voices sounded from directly below the railing on which they were crouched, and both froze into abrupt silence. Max held her breath, staring tensely down at her feet and beyond, the grated surface of the ledge allowing her to watch the action below. Of course, if she could see them below, that meant they could see above. Fortunately, it never occurred to the men to glance up. She couldn't understand why—she had pulled the ol' falling from the ceiling routine enough times already that they should have clued in that 'up' was not always safe. White's boys may have been brighter than your average sector cop, but not by much.
"Come on," one of the men instructed upon receiving an all clear from his partner, and they moved on.
"My shortcut was fine," she returned as they resumed creeping in the direction opposite to the one in which the men had disappeared. "Or at least it would have been fine if you hadn't stopped. Besides, you're the one who turned into this stupid warehouse, where we are now trapped." She paused again as she heard movement nearby.
Just a stray cat, she realized in relief, watching as the blurred ball of fur leapt from a length of railing close by to a pile of boxes below.
Unfortunately, someone's mental processes were not quite as fast as hers, as a hail of bullets was suddenly let out at the orange mass that flew through the air. It seemed that luck was on Mr. Kitty's side today. A startled screech was heard from the animal, but other than the possible psychological damage, it came out unharmed from the attack, landing shortly and sprinting out the sole unguarded exit as fast as felinely possible.
When the shots rang out, Max felt herself falling to the surface of the narrow ledge, back hitting the metal grate as Alec's weight landed atop her. The instant before she fell though, a bullet whizzed by her ear.
"They tried to shoot that cat!" she whispered indignantly, the absurdity of the comment momentarily lost on her. What could she say—the feline DNA in her gave her a certain sense of camaraderie with all creatures possessing an occasional tendency to purr and attack a ball of yarn.
"And they almost shot you by accident," Alec returned harshly. "You have to be more careful!"
Max turned her head abruptly, entirely prepared to snap back some remark about the unpredictability of stray bullets, but the thought died in her head as she found herself looking up into his face. Their noses were almost touching, and he was staring right back at her with frighteningly intense green eyes. It would almost have been uncomfortable—and, in a way, it was—but for the fact that she was suddenly incapable of forming a complete, cohesive thought.
If she had been capable of logical thought, she wouldn't have let her gaze stray down to his mouth. Not just because of what that sight did to her, but also because of the obvious effect the gesture had on Alec as well.
When her eyes returned to his, it was clear they were both on the same wavelength. Hesitant, and unsure of where to go next—but on the same wavelength.
Alec spoke first, "Ma—" But it was Max who made the first move.
That was as far as he got in whatever he'd planned to say, because suddenly she was kissing him. She was kissing him. And she was just as surprised as he was, maybe even a little more.
Oh god, he's never gonna let me live this down, was her first thought. Of course, when he started kissing back, his tongue slipping past her lips, that thought was quickly replaced by a new one. Oh god, don't let him stop.
Since when had she attained this newfound faith?
He didn't stop. Instead, he fisted one hand in her hair, angling her head slightly to allow him better access to her mouth. The other one went to the curve of her hip, tracing the length up, slowly, to her waist. In fact, everything he was doing was slow, slow and hard. Funny, she'd never had that combination before. Up until now, she hadn't even known it was possible.
But it was possible. Very, very… possible.
Max felt him slip past the hem of her shirt, hot fingers brushing even hotter flesh. He pulled back slightly, his tongue tracing her lower lip, and as she arched up into his touch, she let out a half-frustrated, half-satisfied moan.
The full implications of what she'd done didn't hit her until her sensitive hearing, which seemed even more so at the moment, picked up a voice.
"Did you hear that?"
It was a whisper, a very tentative one, hardly enough for a normal human to hear from more than a few short feet away. But it was enough to make both transgenics stiffen immediately. Alec drew away from her mouth, his darkened eyes widening slightly as he stared down into her own.
"Fuck!" his lips formed the word, though no sound escaped his mouth.
Just what I was thinking, Max thought, though she thrust it aside immediately. It was wrong, wrong, wrong. Not just because of the timing and circumstances, but because this was Alec. She was not supposed to feel this way about Alec! It wasn't right! And it also wasn't right how many times she had keep reminding herself it 'wasn't right' to have such thoughts about him… but she'd have to deal with that later.
"Up there!"
Right now, they were both far too busy jumping to their feet and trying to escape the fresh new hail of bullets that sailed their way. The whole evading part was made especially difficult by the fact that they had only two directions to go on the ledge—left or right. And having people shooting at them from both sides made either option a little grim.
Then Max had a little burst of inspiration, one that would hopefully redeem her for the momentary slip-up just a few second earlier. She gestured to Alec quickly, indicating for him to follow, and dove over the edge.
Learn a little something from the kitty-cat. She headed for the very pile of boxes the feline had landed on, and though her greater weight caused them to cave in, the cardboard still protected her from the long fall. As she rolled off, and onto her knees, Alec landed just a bit to her right, on fresh batch of boxes.
Another bullet whirred by, far too close to her head, as Max made a dash for the exit with Alec at her heels. White's angry voice rang out behind them, "Shoot to stun, you morons, not to kill!" She wondered briefly if those instructions applied to her and Alec both, or if she was just privileged by the slight consideration. Arrogant prick probably just wants to rub his victory in my face for a while.
When they reached the sunlight outside, Max began to turn left to head for her ninja, but found her arm gripped in Alec's hand. "No, this way," he instructed, heading in the opposite direction.
She didn't argue, but she couldn't help but dole out, "If anything happens to my bike in the meantime, you won't have to worry about White and his crew."
Alec didn't look at her as he led through a series of twists and turns, so many that soon she was lost herself, giving her the slight hope that their pursuers would be as well. "Sometimes I wish you were a 'normal' human."
"Why's that?" she asked, startled despite their situation.
"Because normal humans can't really run and talk at the same time."
Usually, she would have hit him for such a comment, or barring that, at least returned it with a reprimand or some sort of insult. This time however, she said, "So you like your women pretty, dumb, and quiet." The moment the words were out of her mouth, she felt like hitting herself. There were so many connotations with the 'your women' part—what was she thinking? But, surprising her, he didn't remark on that part.
"Oh no, not quiet," she saw him grin, "Just when they make the noise, it's not talking I have in mind."
After a while, they slowed until finally they were down to a walk. "Looks like we lost them," Alec observed. Max nodded her head in agreement.
They continued walking, trying to gauge how far they were from the warehouse and where it was safe for them to keep going. "We should probably give Logan a call, see if he's got anything for us on Joshua's location." They both tensed up a little at the mention of Logan's name. "Listen," Max continued after a moment, "about what happened back there…"
"It was nothing," Alec interrupted hastily.
"Right," she nodded. "Just adrenaline—making us confuse what we were feeling at the time. Adrenaline makes people do crazy things." Yeah right, keep telling yourself that… and you still won't believe it.
"Uh-huh, just our signals getting all crossed and messed up. It was the situation, and the circumstances."
She frowned at him, a slightly puzzled expression. "Aren't you being a bit redundant? Situation and circumstances mean the same thing—"
"Max…"
She stopped. Okay, maybe now was the best time to get into that.
"Anyway," he continued, shrugging a little as if trying to ease the mood with the casual gesture, "the important thing to remember is that it will never happen again."
Max quickly agreed. "Never again."
They both stared straight ahead as they walked, neither daring to meet the other's eyes. "Never," he echoed.
"Never," she said, nodding as she spoke.
There was a slight pause, a silence between them, leading her to believe that the conversation had ended. Then, in the very edge of her peripheral vision, she saw Alec turn slightly, sneaking a glance at her. "Never?"
Max stopped walking. She looked at him abruptly, her incredulous gaze locking with his somewhat startled one, and he stumbled back a step as if unbalanced by the move. The expression on his face—the hopeful, curious, cautious, slightly dreading expression—made her consider, just momentarily, changing her mind. No, not never, she wanted to say. Hell, maybe even soon—like, right now. But like she'd told herself earlier, it wasn't right. This was Alec.
So instead she replied, emphatically, "Never."
There was the briefest hesitation, and then all those emotions disappeared from his face, his expression returning to its usual unreadable state. He nodded quickly a sense of finality in the gesture. "Right. Never."
TBC
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