Alexander
by Thomas Mc


Chapter 11 : Introductions

Robert looked up as Alexandra came into the hospital room. "Is everything OK?" He asked.

"Oh, ah, Yea. I just wanted to be sure everything was in order. How's mom?" She tried to deflect her father's curiosity.

"The nurse was just here and said she was doing great." The relief on his face was palpable.

For a while, father and daughter sat there in silence then Alexandra began telling him about their shopping trip. She told him a humorous story about a little child that loudly blurted out something that thoroughly embarrassed his mother in the middle of the crowded department store. This brought out a tale from her father about a time when she had done something similar to her mother. They had again become quiet when they heard Kate groan. They were instantly alert as they stood on either side of the bed looking down at her face.

Kate opened her eyes and looked at them both. "Robert, Alexa . . . Oooo." She grimaced as she shifted. "My chest hurts." She looked around taking in the hospital room and the torn neck of her daughter's shirt. She reached up and touched her cheek. "Alexa, are you alright?"

Robert took Kate's other hand in his as Alexandra replied. "I'm fine mom." Robert pulled her other hand up and kissed it as Alexandra continued. "The doctor said I just lost a couple of layers of skin off the back of my neck."

Robert spoke up. "I am so glad you're OK, Kate. I was frantic when I heard you had been stabbed." He kissed her hand again as he stroked her forehead with his other hand.

The room door opened and Doctor Peterson entered. "Ah, good, you're awake." He approached the bed and checked the screens on the wall above the bed. "Everything looks good Ms. Holt. Fortunately, the wound was not too deep and the damage was easily repaired. The knife was deflected by a rib and didn't even penetrate far enough to reach the lung. The blood loss was due to a nicked vein. We'll keep you here overnight just to make sure there are no complications." He touched her shoulder. "You can go home tomorrow morning. I'll stop by later to check in on you." He smiled at them and left.

Kate looked up at her daughter then frowned shaking her head. "I had the most bizarre dream. I must have . . ."

Alexandra opened her mouth to stop her mother from saying any more when she was interrupted by the signaling of Robert's phone. "Damn it!" He glanced at it. Good lord, what now." He demanded in exasperation. "Give me a moment." He snapped it open.

"Yea, what do you want?" . . .

"You must be joking. My wife and daughter were just mugged." . . .

"I don't have time for this; can't you handle it?" . . .

"Oh, Hell! Hold on." . . .

"There's some kind of stupid health department crisis at the restaurant. Alexa, Kate, will you both be OK if I leave for a couple of hours?" His face was turning red from agitation. "I'll stay right here if you need me."

Kate spoke up. "Robert we'll be fine. The doctor said it was just a minor injury. You go take care of your restaurant." She smiled. "I don't want us to lose such a great source of good food. You wouldn't want to try surviving on my cooking."

With something halfway between a snort and a laugh he shook his head then, half smiling at her comment, he returned his attention to his phone. "OK, I'll be there in twenty minutes and this had better be good." He snapped the phone shut. "I'll be back as soon as I can." He left quickly grumbling about incompetent people in positions of power.

For a while, Kate and Alexandra just looked at each other. Each was deep in her own thoughts and trying to gage the others possible reactions. They were interrupted when a nurse came in to check the monitors and give Kate a pill. Alexandra was wondering what was going through her mother's mind about Alexander. Kate was trying to determine how much of what she thought she remembered was real.

Finally, Kate broke the silence. "Alexa . . . how much . . . what . . ." She shook her head and took a deep breath. "How much of that was real." She seemed uncertain as she paused to consider. "Was that really your Alexander?"

Alexandra took her mother's hand. "It was real, mother." She squeezed her mother's hand. "That was Alexander . . . I told you that his appearance was a bit unusual." She looked down at her mother's hand. "He is . . ."

They were interrupted by the opening of the room's door. They both looked over to see Doctor Peterson enter the room. He took in their expressions, raised his eyebrows and quietly asked, "Alexander?"

Kate looked at him in startled surprise. Her mouth opened but nothing came out then it snapped shut.

Alexandra spoke up. "Mother was asking if she had been hallucinating." Kate glanced over at her daughter in surprise.

Doctor Peterson spoke. "Well your hallucination wants to know if it is OK for him to visit." Kate looked back over at him still too flustered to speak.

"Mom?" Her daughter asked as Kate again looked at her.

Kate looked at her daughter and opened her mouth twice with no result. The third time she managed to get out. "I, uh . . . guess, umm." She paused then with a shrug; she glanced back at the doctor "OK?" Her mind was spinning. It had been real?

To both women's surprise, he went to the window and opened it. "They say it's OK." He called out then stepped back.

Alexander swung down into the room in an incredibly graceful maneuver. "Thanks, Doctor." He remarked. Alexandra sprinted over to his side and into his embrace. Kate just stared. It had been real!

After a quick kiss, they both faced Kate and the creature / Alexander spoke. "I just wanted to see that you were OK." He paused a moment. "And get to know you better. We didn't really have much time earlier." That voice was real too!

Alexandra could now feel that something was a bit off about Alexander. She looked up at him. "Alex, is there something wrong?" She paused. "I feel . . . worry, from you." She shrugged. "Is there something bothering you?"

Alexander tightened his arm around her shoulders. "You can feel that, huh?" At her nod he continued. "Aunt Clarissa was Below a little while ago. "There seems to be a serious terrorist threat against that UN conference next week. She wants all of the helpers and contacts to be on the lookout for some type of bomb that they plan to set off during it. It's definitely got her very worried."

"Oh, Alex, that's terrible." She looked over at her mother then back. "Is there any way that I can help?"

"I don't think so." He shook his head. "I left before she had finished. I wanted to get back here."

The room door opened and a woman entered looking down at a clipboard full of papers. Alexandra gasped and stepped in front of Alexander, vainly trying to shield him from the stranger. Kate looked from the woman to Alexander and back at the woman. "Mrs. Holt, I . . ." The new woman looked up from her clipboard, stopped dead in her tracks and stared at Alexander in surprise. Her eyes opened wide then she smiled. "Alexander, what are you doing here?"

Now Kate and Alexandra both looked at the woman in surprise.

"I came to visit my future mother-in-law." Alexander responded calmly.

"Is that so?" She glanced over at Doctor Peterson who nodded. Then she looked more closely at Alexandra. "So, this is the creature hunter that captured her creature." She chuckled. "I heard about you when I was visiting Below two weeks ago." She held out her hand. "My name is Carolyn Peterson." She nodded towards the doctor. "Harold is my husband. We're both close friends of Alexander's parents."

Alexandra took her hand. "Ah, pleased to meet you." She paused. "My name is Alexandra."

Carolyn grinned. "So I heard. Could get a bit confusing later on." She chuckled. She then turned to Kate. "I work in administration. I thought I would bring your admissions paperwork up here and get that out of the way. Do you have insurance or should I charge it off to the foundation?"

"Foundation?" Kate asked confused.

"The Wells-Chandler Foundation." Carolyn replied.

"Oh." Kate replied. "No, I have coverage through my husband's company."

The paperwork was quickly finished during which Kate couldn't stop staring at Alexander and her daughter standing with their arms around each other's waists. After the paperwork was dealt with they talked for a couple of hours just getting acquainted. Alexander and Alexandra told about how they first met in the park and about the first time she, Grandfather and Aunt Susan met his parents. Doctor Peterson explained what they knew about Alexander's biology and genetics. They also talked a bit about the link they shared. One thing Kate could not deny was the passion she saw in the way Alexander and her daughter looked at each other.

After a while Kate was surprised to discover that she was quickly becoming accustomed to Alexander's appearance. There was something so very soothing and, to be perfectly blunt, so sexy about his voice that she could not hear it and still be afraid of him.

Carolyn was talking about Alexander's naming day when Alexandra got a stricken look on her face and became frantic until she discovered that all of the packages from their shopping trip had somehow made it up to the hospital room. A kind passerby had offered to help her carry them when she was walking to the hospital. She had no idea how they had gotten up to her mother's hospital room. She then rooted through them until she found what she wanted and pulled out a small package. She looked at Alexander smiling brightly. "Happy birthday, Alex." She told him as she handed it to him.

Grinning like a kid, Alexander eagerly opened the package. Inside was a very nice looking pocketknife. It was about four inches long with a handle made of a translucent blue material. On one side was a raised silver lion fully extended in mid pounce. On the other side was the name 'Alexander' in silver letters embedded in the blue material. The lion emblem was also etched into both sides of the main blade. The other blade on that side was a pair of scissors. On the other side, where there should have been two more blades, was one very thick blade. When he opened it, the thick blade was really just a blunt strip with rounded edges and corners and the etched lion on both sides.

As Alexander examined it in puzzlement, Alexandra commented. "Good for tapping on pipes." The light of understanding came up in his eyes as a smile of delight spread across his face. "Press the lion symbol." She instructed him. When he complied, the handle lit up with a soft blue glow. He pressed it again and a bright beam of light came from one end of the handle. Alexander's smile widened exposing his fangs. He pressed the lion again and the lights went out.

"I love it, Alex. It's perfect." He put his arms around her and kissed her. "Thank you, love." He kissed her again.

"You're welcome, Alex." She responded with another kiss. Then they were again aware of the rest of the room.

After everyone had admired the gift, they got back to talking about families. By the time the subject of Alexandra's father came up Kate had fully accepted the situation and told them that she would help them bring Robert into the picture. They all got a good laugh when Alexandra repeated Aunt Susan and Grandfather Norman's suggestions for telling him.

A little before midnight Robert called Alexandra to ask how his wife was doing and to tell them that he was on his way back to the hospital. Alexander left by the window and headed Below. Harold and Carolyn both also left. By the time Robert returned to the room, he found his wife still awake talking to his daughter.

"Did you get your problem straightened out, Robert?" Kate asked.

He shook his head. "Only partially. Some idiot filed a report with the health department claiming to have seen a rusted old food refrigerator in our kitchen. I told them that what the report described was a freezer, not a refrigerator, and we don't even use that type of freezer. They insisted on inspecting every inch of my restaurant anyway." He shook his head. "Nobody's used those in decades. They don't even make them anymore." He sat down in the chair in a huff. "Bureaucrats!"

"Don't let it worry you, Dear. You always run a spotless kitchen." Kate told him soothingly.

"Why are you still awake so late?" He asked her.

"Oh, just talking with Alexa." She yawned. "Getting to know my daughter better. Talking about her plans for the future."

"Well it is pretty late." He glanced up at the clock. "It's well after midnight and Alexa has classes tomorrow. Why don't we get out of here and let you get some sleep." He stood up. "I'll take Alexa home. You need to rest."

By the time he had dropped Alexandra home and returned, Kate was sound asleep. He stared down at his sleeping wife and thought about how close he had come to losing her. He gently brushed her hair back from her closed eyes. He had heard enough about what happened to know that he owed someone a tremendous load of gratitude if he ever learned who the Good Samaritan, that stopped the assault on his wife and daughter, was. Robert settled himself into the chair next to her bed. He soon fell asleep, glad that his family was safe.

~ o ~

Alexandra lay in her bed for a while just thinking. Her mother now knew everything; and had accepted Alex a lot more easily than she had hoped. Saving their lives certainly had gone a long way to helping that situation. Now all she had to do was figure out a way to introduce her father to Alex. That would be a lot trickier and she didn't think it likely that she could count on another life and death situation to ease that particular introduction.

She became aware of Alex projecting his love to her. He had started doing that every night lately. Sort of the equivalent of a long distance goodnight kiss. She returned the emotion and snuggled into the covers. Let tomorrow take care of itself. Tonight she was loved, her family was safe and she was happy.

~ o ~

Though Clarissa had not told those involved in the search what type of bomb that freezer contained, all of the Chandler-Wells males at that meeting knew how serious the situation really was. There was no way she could hide her feelings from them. After the main meeting, she had filled them in and they were all now aware how important it was to keep it secret.

Clarissa cuddled in tight against her husband for comfort. What she had learned today about the possible bomb threat that now hung over the city had her scared half to death. All she could think about was the fact that her friends and family were all in terrible danger and she could not warn them. Tomorrow the loose network of helpers, friends, tunnel dwellers and other contacts would begin the impossible task of searching the entire city for a particular freezer that might be a very big bomb. She didn't finally fall asleep until after two in the morning.

Continued in Part 12


'Beauty and the Beast' and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.