A/N: Please check out "Ooh Baby". It's MA and I'm sure you'll like it. Please give me feedback everyone!
Max woke up with a smile on her face despite the fact that she had only had an hour of sleep. She felt a sense of satisfaction when she thought about all that she had accomplished with Darcy and Risa the night before.
Not quite top of the line yet, but definitely improving. I learn so much faster when it's not Trainer Hilt's monotonous voice droning on.
She had felt so good that she wasn't quite so angry at Alec anymore.
Especially when I'll be able to kick his ass really soon.
She hadn't completely forgotten about it though, and she intended to let him know that.
A smile graced her lips as she stood up to take a quick shower before roll call and then after that they would be off.
Alec lay in his bed, thinking about the only person he had been able to think about for the past few days.
Max.
He hated the way she got under his skin, made him get out of control. When he was around her every rational thought left his mind and he acted without thinking, sometimes just teasing her, but sometimes doing things that were so incredibly stupid and mean that he regretted them the moment he had done them. He hated the way that she confused him, about her feelings and about his own. He hated how his heart started to pound at the sight of her and how a smile of hers turned him to jelly. He hated all these things because they put him off-balance, and that was one thing he couldn't afford to be.
Soldier my ass, he thought. I can't even handle a girl.
He had an hour before they would be off on the mission, and he had to make things right with her before then.
He grumbled as he got out of his bed.
Why do I get the feeling that I'll have to do something humiliating to get back on her good side?
"I'm getting closer, I know it," Logan muttered to himself.
"Getting closer to what?" Asha asked, letting herself into his penthouse.
"To Manticore's location," Logan answered. I bet Max is just waiting for me to get her out.
"Don't you think you should rest a little?" Asha asked. "You look completely worn out Logan. Did you get any sleep last night?"
"I need to find Max," he said and he heard her sigh. "She's not dead Asha. I just know she isn't."
"Whatever you say," Asha replied tiredly.
God, doesn't he think about anything than Manticore and Max? Everything points to her being dead.
"I'm going to save her Asha. Manticore isn't going to win," Logan said. I miss you Max, and I know you miss me just as much. We'll be together again soon, don't worry.
I haven't thought about Logan in such a long time, Max thought. I don't even know if I feel the same way about him anymore. Max stopped in her tracks. What the hell am I thinking? I love Logan. I always have.
Have, as in past tense, a nagging voice at the back of her mind said. Think about it. Have you ever really loved Logan?
Max was so caught up in her thoughts that she walked right into someone. She would've fallen on her ass if that someone hadn't grabbed her wrist. She looked up, saw a pair of hazel eyes, and nearly groaned.
Isn't it bad enough that I see him in my mind all the time? She thought. No, he has to be everywhere I go too, just to confuse me even more.
"Max, we need to talk," Alec said. "Please. I'm sorry about what I said the other day. It was completely out of line."
Max looked stunned. Did he just admit that he did something wrong?
What the hell? Did I just admit that I did something wrong? If I didn't know better, I'd say she was gifted with telecoercion and messing with my mind.
"Max?" Alec asked. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry isn't good enough," Max said, a bit of her anger coming back. He's not going to get off the hook with just that.
"Then what is?" he asked. "Look, we need to resolve this before the mission so that things don't get screwed up."
A wave of hurt passed through Max. "And here I was thinking that you actually did care about my feelings. But you don't. It's just because of the mission that you're apologizing, isn't it? You're C.O., and if this gets screwed up because of tensions it'll be pinned on you."
"That's not true," Alec said, shaking his head. "I really didn't mean it."
"Ain't regrets a bitch?" she said. In the back of her mind she vaguely registered the rest of their unit encircling them, watching.
She turned to leave but he caught her arm once more. This time though, she wasn't having any of it. She wrenched her arm from his grip and pushed him to the ground, and then she got up and rested a foot on his chest so that he couldn't move.
"On second thought," Max mused, "there is a way to redeem yourself."
Alec, unlike Max, was very aware of the amused looks their unit was passing around.
"What?" he asked, knowing full well that his dignity was going to be taking a one-way trip away in a few moments.
Max grinned dangerously. "Say I'm the best," she said simply.
Alec looked at her incredulously.
The woman can change moods in a nanosecond.
"What?" he asked.
"Say I'm the best," Max stated again. Alec was beginning to get uncomfortable as he heard the snickers around them.
Alec opened his mouth. It was a simple task, yet why was it so hard?
"Your inflated ego won't let you say it, 494?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.
"You're acting childishly 452," Alec said and Max laughed.
"Maybe, but you're not moving until you say it," she said. Alec tried to karate chop her leg but she smacked his hand away.
"I'm waiting," she sing-songed.
Alec clenched his teeth and finally grit it out. "You're… the best. Now move your damn leg."
Max grinned and stepped off of him. "That wasn't so hard," she said. "You're forgiven."
Alec sat up and massaged his chest as she walked away.
"You're so whipped, man," 510 laughed.
A fist greeted his face as Alec walked away.
"It was just a joke buddy," he said through a bloody nose. He looked up and saw Mina standing a way off, smirking slightly.
"Nurse?" he called to her. "I need some… personal treatment."
She walked up to him. "Sure." She decked him and he lay on the floor once again.
"At the rate this is going, we're going to be best friends," he said to the floor.
"I can't wait until we get there!" Risa said excitedly.
"You have so much energy you could light up all of America," 528 said.
"But wouldn't that be a good thing?" Justine said. "Then we'd never have to worry about brownouts."
The whole lot of them burst out laughing at that.
They were riding in the back of a van, not afraid to converse as the old bat who was driving was practically deaf and probably wouldn't have cared what they were saying anyway. The only thing they had to worry about with her was if she was going to run them off the road.
Max had a faraway look in her eyes. The mission was in Seattle, where her whole life had been before she had been recaptured. She knew Renfro had sent their unit in intentionally; it was another test of hers. Would Max succumb to the desire of returning to her old life, or would she be strong enough to stay away?
Max looked around the van at the laughing transgenics. They had become just as much her family as Original Cindy, Sketchy, Herbal, Kendra and Logan. If there was a time when she had to choose between them, she didn't know what she would do.
And people say having lots of family is a good thing, she thought. It only creates problems.
The only way she would leave Manticore was if they would all escape with her. Although she knew that none of them actually wanted to stay at Manticore, she knew that escape was a foreign concept to the majority of them.
"452?" Prue asked. "You in there?"
"Yeah," she said, snapping to attention. "I'm fine, I'm just thinking about something."
"I know you have a certain obsession with me, 452, and I'm flattered, really I am," Alec said. "Still, thinking so much about me is healthy only to a certain extent. I wouldn't mind if you took a break once in a while."
"Please," Max said rolling her eyes. "We're in a van full of X5s. Who says I'm thinking about you?"
Alec frowned for a moment, then relaxed. "Nah. I mean, who can resist my cute face?" He pouted and Max couldn't help it. She laughed.
Alec's face relaxed into a smile. Mission accomplished.
Paige picked up some I.D. badges in a box beside her. "It's kind of nice that we get to choose our names for this mission. All we have to do is put them on these."
369 frowned. "What does it matter what our names are?"
"Well, didn't you ever want to have a name that could be, you know, just yours? One that people can actually acknowledge you by?" Justine asked shyly.
215 shrugged. "It would be kind of cool I guess. But isn't that insubordination?"
"Oh please," Lila said. "After all the hell we've gone through, a name isn't going to do anything."
"I'm game," 273 said. The others nodded and Paige brought out her language knowledge again.
"I already know what my name is going to be," 323 said with a grin. "Richie."
"Figures, with his obsession with money," Nala said. "After Alec, he's probably got the most deals running with the guards."
"I want to be Travis," 329 said. "I've always liked that name."
"Hunter," 215 said. "I've always been good at following tracks."
"You should be Fox," Mina said to 528. "You're as sly as one at least."
"I'm going to be… Biggs," 510 said with a grin towards Mina. "Don't think I have to explain that one.
"Now, what could represent trouble?" Risa said, looking at 925.
"We could name him troll," 420 offered and 925 glared at him.
"You're always making trouble, so it's kind of like hexing people," Paige said. "How about we call you Hex?" 925 laughed in agreement.
They continued throwing names around, some glaring at others for their outlandish suggestions. 369 soon became Kyle because it meant handsome, 048 became Peter because it meant rock and nothing ever seemed to faze him, 420 became Miles because it meant soldier, 426 became Andrew for strong and 273 became Thomas which meant twin.
"Alright," Fox cheered. "We don't have to use those stupid designations anymore. At least not together."
"Hey guys," Thomas said. "ETA's an hour."
Max's stomach churned. "Great," she gulped. "Just great."
As they entered Seattle, Max spied the great Space Needle, her haven when she needed a place to sort out her thoughts.
I definitely need to now. About my unit, my friends, Logan and… Alec.
She couldn't put it off any longer. She had finally admitted to herself, albeit grudgingly, that there was something about Alec that unsettled but excited her. Not that she'd let the cocky, smart-aleck transgenic know that.
"We'll be at the Sheraton hotel in 5 minutes," the driver said in a bored and nasal tone. "Gather your equipment. There are 5 bedrooms booked for you. Split yourselves up accordingly. Conference starts in 2 hours. Director Renfro says that – "
"Failure is not an option," they all chorused, before they burst out into fits of laughter.
"Yes, and to – "
"Not disappoint her. Manticore is depending on us to make sure that it will remain a covert operation," they all said in unison.
"Very good."
They all got out of the van and stretched their tired and sore muscles. They walked into the lobby and Kyle whistled.
"It makes the Pulse seem like a baby burp," he said.
Hex grinned. "It's the perfect opportunity to – "
"Don't even think about it," Alec warned. He grinned. "At least let's get the mission over and done with before we wreak havoc on the poor, unsuspecting residents of the hotel."
"We need to discuss the rooming arrangements," Biggs said. He put an arm around Mina's shoulder. "Wanna share?"
She gave him a glare and pushed him away.
"Come on, 839, we're both adults. I think we can share."
She laughed and he pulled her down for a kiss.
"Hey, Mina," Biggs said. "What's with all the spacing out?"
She ignored him and he felt a twinge of hurt.
What the hell is wrong with her?
"Kyle, Fox, Miles and Thomas," Max said, taking charge. "You can have one room. "Peter, Biggs, Alec and Hex in another. Justine, Lila, Darcy, Mina and I will take another one. Paige, Prue, Samantha, Risa and Nala in the fourth. Travis, Hunter, Richie and Andrew in the last. Is everyone okay with that?"
Everyone nodded and Alec went to go check in. After he returned, he gave everyone their card keys and they went off in separate ways.
Max combed through her hair one last time before she put the brush down.
"Damn girl, you're gonna steal the hearts of all them men out there!" Darcy said, checking over her appearance. Max felt a small pang in her heart for Original Cindy once again, and stood up. She wore a silk beige pantsuit that was professional enough, but at the same time showed of her curves. Her shoulder-length hair was straightened and Max had put on just a small amount of make-up to accentuate her exotic face.
"You guys ready?" she asked them. "Conference is gonna start in 10."
The other four wore similar outfits. Darcy in a black, professional dress, Mina in a white pant suit, Justine in a black pant suit and Lila in a wooly, grey, professional dress.
"We are bombs on heels," Mina said and the rest of them giggled.
"Shall we?" Lila said, walking out the door.
"You're even sexier as a journalist," Alec muttered in her ear, making her jump about a foot.
She hit him on the shoulder. "You scared the hell out of me, Alec," she said.
She heard O.C.'s voice in her head. Think boo. Did him appearing out of nowhere scare you, or was it what he said?
Alec didn't answer her, he just grinned. That grin made her ribcage pound so she moved away from him.
Get your head in the game soldier, she thought. No distractions or slip-ups. If I do, it's hello Psy Ops.
She saw one of the scientists they were supposed to investigate and went up to him, tapping behind her ear twice to turn off her com. She didn't want any of her friends to hear what she was going to ask; so far no one except Alec knew and that was how she would like it to stay.
"Hello Dr. Kino," Max said, smiling as she approached him. "Max Guevara, Biotech Frontiers. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you as well," Dr. Kino said. "How do you do?"
"I've been wondering about something for a long time," Max said. "You know how when you try to re-sequence nucleotides you always end up with one stray entron? Have you ever thought about using plasmids to transfect the new base-pair vectors directly into the codon sequence so that that won't happen? I mean, one small bad entron can ruin everything."
"That is a fascinating theory," Dr. Kino said. "No, I haven't thought about it, but that's very interesting."
Max opened her mouth to speak but the intercom interrupted her.
"Would everyone please proceed to the conference room and take your seats?"
"Maybe we can talk a little later at the party," Dr. Kino said.
"Yes, that would be great. Thanks," Max said, and with a little bow of the head, he left.
"Why were you asking him that?" Alec asked, coming up behind her again. "We're supposed to be interrogating the subjects in a sneaky manner, not having boring old science talk."
"Is your tracking device on me set on stalker?" she asked him irritably.
Alec looked affronted. "I'm not a stalker."
"You're there every time I turn around," she said to him, and as she turned around to go into the conference room, he blurred in front of her.
She narrowed her eyes. "Oh. Very funny."
"Glad you think so," Alec said, walking in with her.
"Those two have got it so bad for each other," Lila said as she walked toward the conference room with Hunter, Travis and Prue, all four of them watching Max's and Alec's antics. "It's hilarious to watch them. Funnier yet, they don't even realize it."
"Or don't want to," Prue interjected.
"Please don't start with that whole psyche stuff," Lila said. "When you start analyzing people, you never stop talking."
Hunter rolled his eyes. "You're one to talk, no pun intended."
"Oh, shut up," Prue said.
"I'm defending you!" Hunter said.
"She doesn't need to be defended, she can do that well enough on her own," Lila said.
"What do you mean by that?" Prue asked.
"Stop bickering, children, and behave like the adults you're pretending to be," Travis said.
Travis grinned at their glares.
"What?" he said, shrugging innocently. It was a well-known fact that Travis loved to argue.
"Like you can chastise us," Hunter said.
"You argue even more than we do!" Lila said.
"They probably put some touchy animal in his DNA," Prue mused.
"Oh, stop it with that psyche crap!" Hunter said.
"I'm not touchy!" Travis defended.
"You guys are all idiots," Justine said, passing by them. Theyall fellsilent. Justine had always been kind-spirited and had never uttered a bad word in her life, despite the fact that all of them basically were as sarcastic as it got. To hear her call them idiots was just shocking.
They all started giggling slightly when they realized how childish they were being.
"She's right. We are idiots," Lila concluded.
"I'm not an idiot!" Prue and Travis said simultaneously and their squabble started all over again.
The conference passed rather quickly. For most of them it was extremely boring, considering that they knew practically everything the scientists were explaining. Risa and Hex, who always needed action, dozed off a few times only to be awoken by one of the others.
"Pay attention," Nala said, pinching Hex as he started to snore.
"What?" he mumbled. "Dr. Boring and crew aren't giving us any information, so why should I bother paying attention?"
"Miles was right," Nala said. "We should have named you Troll." That got his attention so he straightened up with another grumble and managed to stay awake the rest of the conference.
"Freedom," Richie said, stretching his arms as they walked out. "I think that came close to as boring as Trainer Linden. In arts and culture I can barely keep my eyes open."
"That's because you have the attention span of a gnat," Samantha said. "I found it pretty cool."
"Yeah, but you're abnormal," he said.
"In case you haven't noticed, we're all abnormal, stupid," Darcy said.
"I'm not stupid, I have a genius IQ," Richie said.
"It doesn't show," she replied.
"I can't wait until this party," Fox said. "There's quite a few pretty ladies here. Who knew scientists could be so hot?"
"Please," Paige said, tossing her hair. "Half of them are over 35."
Fox shrugged. "I'm a mature guy."
They all looked at him with disbelief and he held his hands up.
"Alright, alright. Jeez."
"Promise you'll save a dance for me?" Alec asked Max as she walked back to her room to change.
"Yeah, right," Max said.
"Oh, come on. Please?"
She made the mistake of looking at him. His eyes were widened in the cutest way and she rolled her eyes.
"Alright, smart-ass. Fine," she said, giving in.
I must be getting soft. It took him all of 5 seconds to convince me. Damn Max, how come you can't resist one guy?
She looked at him again and he was grinning at her. She felt her cheeks flush slightly and her face start to burn.
He's so cute. No, wait, I just not did think that. Oh God, what's wrong with me.
"I'll meet you at the entrance to the party room," he said, finally detaching himself from her. He gave her a small wink and then he was gone.
Blue Lady, help me if I'm going to do something I regret.
Max smacked her lips as she put on some lip gloss, then, finally, finished, she waited for the others.
Her hair was piled up on top of her head in a messy bun with tendrils hanging loose here and there, framing her face. She wore a crimson strapless dress, hugging her body tightly, showing off just the right amount of skin. The dress almost touched the floor and had a slit running up the side to about mid-thigh. She wore red sandal heels, and she had put some glitter all over her upper-chest area. She had some small, light silver bangles on her wrists and her face was made-up lightly.
Mina had on a yellow dress that came around her knees with small ruffles at the end, gold strappy sandals on her feet. Her long hair seemed like spun gold and it was let down, not in its usual high ponytail.
Darcy, the beautiful Arabian, was decked out in a black, floor-length dress made of silk. She looked the complete opposite of Mina: where Mina was the goddess of the day, Darcy looked like the goddess of the night.
Lila wore a spandex, emerald green mini dress that accentuated her olive eyes and her flaming red hair, where shy, quiet, conservative Justine surprised them all with a very revealing, white halter dress.
"I've never worn something like this before," she said excitedly. "I just thought I'd give it a try."
"You should experiment more often, girl!" Max said. "You look fantastic!"
Mina looked at a clock. "We gotta go or we'll be late."
They grabbed their bags and headed out the door and down the stairs.
Alec talked with Biggs at the bottom of the stairs, outside the party room, when his jaw dropped open. Biggs followed his gaze and he made a gasping sound.
5 goddesses walked down the stairs, and every eye was on them. Men who were waiting for their own escorts ogled at the women, who confidently walked down the stairs, all grinning as they knew people were watching.
"Holy," was all that Alec said when Max came up to him. He wasn't capable of anything else.
"I was right. You are Venus in disguise," Biggs said to Mina. She punched his arm with unrestrained force and he cringed. "Let's go in. And you had better not be looking at my ass."
Max blushed as Alec looked her over, finally having the sense to close his mouth.
"You like?" she asked and finally she got a reaction.
"Are you kidding? This is probably every guy's wet dream," he said.
She smacked him on the shoulder.
"Great. Thanks for telling me I look like a hooker," she said.
"No, you look beautiful," Alec said seriously. She felt her face heat up again and she tugged on his arm to go inside.
"We need to find one of the scientists," she said.
"First you owe me a dance," Alec said. He took her arm to the middle of the dance floor and pulled her close. She was reluctant at first but finally she let all of her defenses down.
What about Logan? Some faraway part of her mind asked.
What about him? she thought. She turned off her thoughts and surrendered herself wholly to the dance.
They swayed slowly from side to side with her head on his chest. Nothing had ever felt more right. She was sure that if he hadn't had his arms wrapped around her to hold her up, she would have fallen.
"Our C.O.'s in lo-ove," Risa sing-songed. She giggled as Paige rolled her eyes but even she couldn't help agreeing.
"Better yet, with our SIC," Paige said. She frowned as she saw a burly guy standing in a corner with no expression on his face, doing absolutely nothing. She looked around the room and saw more of them.
"Hey. Are those guys supposed to be security or what?" she asked Risa. Risa followed her gaze, and the normally up-beat transgenic looked concerned.
"I don't know, but I get this bad feeling," she said.
"Yeah," Paige said worriedly. "That's what bothers me."
"Wanna dance?" Biggs asked Mina for the 3rd time.
"We're here on a mission, not to have fun," Mina replied, scanning the room for one of the scientists. She spotted one over by the drinks table.
"Max and Alec aren't exactly adhering to those rules," he pointed out.
"That's Max and Alec," she said.
"I don't get it," Biggs said. "What do you have against me?"
Mina noticed hurt in his voice and she looked at him.
"Biggs," she said, softening her voice. "I don't have anything against you. It's… something that happened a long time ago. Something that I can't let happen again."
"What?" he asked, genuinely interested. "Tell me."
Mina bit her lip.
Don't let him in. If you do, you'll lose him too.
"I – I can't," she said. "I'm sorry."
Before Biggs could utter another word, she was heading for one of the scientists.
He was watching her. She could feel it. She lifted her head from his chest.
"What?" she asked softly. He didn't answer, just kept staring at her. "Alec?"
Their eyes were locked onto each other's and everything faded around them. They bent their heads forward, and their lips met in a whisper of a kiss.
A/N: Okay, I've gone cross-eyed. 17 pages! Can you believe it? My eyes and wrists hurt. LOL Feedback please! I need something to soothe my pain. I've been writing for 7 hours straight and I need to update my other stories. Ugh, I'm dizzy.
Thanks to my wonderful, fantastic reviewers –
calistra – Thanks! LOL Sorry I made you feel ancient, wasn't my intention.
Alana84 – Thanks!
elle6778 – Thanks! Glad you liked the talking is a sign of intelligence line. LOL In sixth grade, I used it on my teacher when he told me I talked too much. That shut him up. LOL
w1cked angel – Thanks! The thing with Alec not wanting Max to become the best isn't exactly because he dislikes her, (far from it), but because he feels slightly threatened by her. I know you might think that it doesn't make sense for now, but it will be explained later on in the fic. Alec has to stay the best in fear of consequences that will later be explained. Hope that answers your question!
latinapotterfan – Thanks!
Iridescent Twilight – Thanks!
Mystic Fayth – Thanks! More MA action is coming up. The mission couldn't be written in just one chapter. A) Because I would die of exhaustion. I'm so cross-eyed right now. LOL And B) Because I wanted to leave a tantalizing cliffhanger. LOL
Katydid49659 – Thanks! Great to have a new reviewer!
Kelzaa – Thanks! There might be a showdown sometime near the end, but it won't be like you expect. Hehehe. I'm not giving it away. And as Max says, although I have a pretty sketchy idea of what's gonna happen, I'm making it up as I go along.
Kim – Thanks! Awesome to have a new reviewer! LOL Glad that you liked the guy behaviour at the table. I just had to put that in somewhere.
meri24 – Thanks!
L80bug – Thanks! Yes, I am a Charmed fan. But the funny thing? I wasn't even thinking about that when I named them. I was looking through a baby names book, (which is how I knew all the meanings) and I just picked them out. Later I realized what they were. LOL
lady marauder – Thanks! So happy to have a new reviewer!
shygirl1 – Thanks!
Cora – Thanks!
Lotamoxie – Thanks!
bella1812 – Thanks!
