A/N: Okay, so I know I said I had this chapter already written, but that turned out not to be entirely true. I completely rewrote the ending because I decided the original was too uneventful, and I felt like trying to be little more original. So that's the reason why you've had to wait so long for an update. The best apology I can offer is the new ending…

Bed-Buddies After All

As Max woke slowly she realised that she really didn't want to. She was warm and safe and content. All her bones felt heavy and relaxed, a feeling she was not often familiar with. As she cracked her eyes open she was greeted by the sight of a strong looking, stubble covered jaw and chin; and she immediately realised who she was sprawled across.

As she took in Alec's peaceful face and bed ruffled hair, Max couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. She couldn't ever remember him looking this adorable – and she knew that was saying something. It wasn't often that she got to study him without that smirk carefully plastered across his handsome face.

For the first time in…well, as long as she could remember, she felt at peace. As she cast her eyes around her room Max realised it was morning, which meant that after she had fallen asleep in Alec's arms she must have slept soundlessly throughout the rest of the night. And although that annoying voice had reappeared in the back of her head and was telling her that she really needed to get back to work, she ignored it. She couldn't bear to remove herself from the safety of his arms; and besides, after everything Alec had done for her last night the least she could do for him in return was let him sleep a bit longer – right?

As Max lay her head back on Alec's chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart, she suddenly became aware of their exact position. She had been so warm and content that she'd not immediately noticed - it was hard to tell where she ended and he began. They fit so perfectly together like two pieces of the same puzzle that it felt as though they had been made to lie like this - and as far as Max knew that might just as easily have been true.

She lay still and carefully focussed her attention on cataloguing their sleeping arrangement from top to bottom. She was now fully aware that her entire front was pressed firmly down the length of Alec's side, and she could feel where his right arm was wrapped securely around her slight waist keeping her anchored to his side, his hand resting on her bare hip where she t-shirt rode up. That was when she realised her arm was slung across his chest, and that at some point during the night it had found its way under his shirt. His skin suddenly felt hot where her bare arm came into contact with his smooth muscles.

As Max's attention drifted lower she realised that her position became even more compromising. One of her legs was thrown over one of Alec's, causing them to become intimately entwined. His legs were strongly muscled and sprinkled lightly in hair, and Max swore that she could feel where every one of those hairs brushed her smooth leg.

Alec found himself dragged into consciousness the moment he felt Max wake up, but he was so content that he just wanted to lie where he was a bit longer before they had to go back to the real Max and Alec. To be truthful he wanted to stay right here forever. It just felt so natural to wake up with Max in his arms. But most pressing on his mind was Max's state of mind after her nightmare, and just as importantly, her reaction to waking up with him in her bed. Alec knew that some things had changed between them, but he also knew that some things hadn't, and he wasn't entirely convinced that they were passed the violence yet. So as Alec lay there and tried not to think about what he was going to do if Max did freaked out, he became aware of her warm fingers tracing idle patterns on his bare chest.

He knew Max was definitely awake, so why hadn't she removed herself from him? He really hadn't pegged Max as a cuddler, yet here she was lying pressed up against him with her hand still up his shirt. Alec felt her shift ever so slightly closer to him, and he unconsciously tightened his hold on her, enjoying the way her bare leg slid against his. It was only then that he became aware of exactly how intimately they were entwined – and in Alec's book there was only one other position they could be in that would be more intimate. And what was strange, like 'twilight zone' strange, was that Max hadn't even batted an eyelid. In fact if Alec didn't know any better he would have thought they woke up like this every morning.

As he looked down at her he could see that there was colour back in her cheeks, and her worry lines were surprisingly absent from her forehead. He could feel that all her limbs were loose and relaxed against him, and as he looked across his chest he cold see his shirt moving as the hand beneath it continued to run lightly over his muscles.

He slowly began to mimic the pattern with the hand that lay on her hip. He felt her fingers falter slightly as she glanced down at his hand and then tilted her chin up to look at him.

As Max met Alec's gaze she was unprepared for the tenderness she saw, and it made her smile.

"Morning."

"Morning," he replied, his voice deep and gravely from sleep. Max gave a little chuckle of surprise; to which he raised a questioning eyebrow.

"You sound different in the morning."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Good or bad?"

"Neither, just…different. Deeper. Rougher," she replied, laying her head back on his chest, and resuming the idle patterns on his skin. She suddenly gave another louder chuckle. "You mean to tell me that out of the dozens of women you bed on a daily basis, none of them ever told you that?" she questioned sceptically.

"Well firstly, you know that I don't do that anymore. I have hung up my spurs. This cowboy does not tame beauties anymore," Alec said with a smirk, although when he looked down at the beauty sprawled across him, he knew that wasn't entirely true.

"Nice analogy," Max muttered dryly.

"And you accuse me of having no self-restraint," he replied in a hurt tone. "I totally just resisted the very obvious and crass 'cowboy and riding' pun."

Max couldn't help but chuckle at his obvious inability to resist; but at the same time she couldn't help but to acknowledge the truthfulness of his words. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen him do anything more than look sideways at a woman – she hadn't seen him out trawling for bimbo's since well before the events of J.P.

"And the second?"

"And secondly, even when I did have…er, my spurs on… I never woke up next to any of them," Alec said softly, and there was some emotion behind his words that Max didn't understand.

"What? Are you telling me you kicked them outta your bed straight… after?" Maxed asked slightly taken aback; before suddenly frowning. "Coz that's kinda…well, rude. "

"No! Jeez Max, do you have a low opinion of me or what!" Alec complained dryly. "I've just never felt comfortable enough with someone to wake up beside them before," Alec admitted quietly. "You have to truly trust a person to let your guard down enough to sleep beside them, and then allow them to see who you truly are in the harsh light of day. To be honest, I've never felt like that about anyone…or been that brave." He confessed softly. Max could only nod; she thought she knew all to well what he meant.

"But you know what Maxie? As the days pass the more I think I want that. To have someone who knows and understands me, and to be able to wake up beside her unafraid."

Max scrutinised his words carefully, not sure which meaning she was supposed to garner from that remark. And she found that she was suddenly gripped with curiosity. "Did you wake up afraid this morning?"

As soon as the words were out of her mouth Max wanted to snatch them back. She was still unsure how Alec felt about her, and her question had just laid her own feelings barer than she had intended. Not that she was entirely sure of her own feelings – not at all – all she knew was that they were much more positive than they ever had been. But she didn't want Alec falling into this just because she was there and passed the time till he found someone more interesting – she wasn't prepared to be anyone's bed-warmer.

Alec was taken aback by Max's uncharacteristic willingness to open such a discussion, and it brought a pleased smile to his face. He was also thrilled that the first thing she'd thought about after his comment was how she fitted into it - how he felt about waking up next to her.

"I could never be afraid to wake up next to you Max," Alec said honestly as he placed a kiss to the top of her head, "you know more about me than anyone."

"That's not true," Max argued. "You never tell me anything about anything. It feels like you never existed before I met you and Manticore went down."

"That's because I didn't." And Alec meant it, he hadn't existed until he'd met Max. "I don't like to remember the person I was back then, and what he did. I've been trying to erase him."

"We all did things no person should ever have to do Alec, but you have to know that I would never judge you for that. I know that's not who you are."

The deafening silence that stretched out into eternity made Max realise that he didn't trust her not to judge, and that knowledge hurt like nothing else ever had.

Max propped herself up on an elbow and loomed over him. "Alec I'd never judge you for something you were made to do at that place. I know you would never have done any of those evil things by choice, because you are a good person." Max noticed that while Alec listened to her, he did it with a carefully blank expression.

"Look Max," Alec said as he tried to prop himself up on an elbow too, which he found difficult seeing as Max still had one of his thighs pinned by one of hers, and she was leaning over him, giving him no room to move, "it's no big deal. I don't talk about it with anyone."

"Yes it is," she argued, giving his shoulder a shove to push him back down onto the bed, "you don't trust me, and that's a big deal!"

"No it's not," he replied soothingly, trying to pacify her, as once again he tried to prop an elbow under himself. "I just don't like to talk about it. It has nothing to do with you, Max."

"The Hell it doesn't!" Max replied hotly, as she gave his shoulder another hard shove, knocking it out from underneath him before promptly throwing a leg over and sitting astride him.

"Now listen and listen good, 'cause this is a one time only performance," she command as she placed her hands on either side of his head, her hair curtaining around them as she stared determinedly into his eyes. "We are going to sort this out once and for all!

"Max.." Alec began, sensing a Max rant looming.

"Shut it!" Max hissed; and Alec thought that maybe he should.

"I know I gave you a hard time about Manticore from the very first moment I met you and I'm sorry okay, I'm sorry! I know I shouldn't have, but I was locked up in that place..." Alec felt the shiver that passed through her body and into his, "...and you came waltzing into my cell all Captain America, with the saluting and the stony face, and the willingness to procreate for your country and I admit it! I judged you for it! I hated Manitcore, and if you were gonna stand there in that cell and try and defend it to me then you were the enemy too, even though I should have seen you weren't, I didn't. I thought you were a Manticore automaton just like all the others, and I held it against you for far longer than I ever should have - long after we got out - even after I knew deep down that wasn't who you were I held it against you because- -

"Max," Alec interrupted, trying to get her to stop.

"Let me finish," she said stubbornly, barely pausing to draw breath as she kept going.

"I was confused okay, and I took it out on you – not that that is an excuse, I'm not trying to make it an excuse, I just want you to understand why," Max said quickly, anxious that he understand. "I was desperately trying to convince myself I was in love with a man I wasn't, and as usual things were disintegrating around me, and there you were," Max rambled, her words starting to run together like rain droplets on the hood of a car. "You were in the thick of it…of all that trouble, and it was easier to blame you for all of it than it was for me to look at why I needed to blame you. I wasn't even willing to admit to myself that I was attracted to the identical twin of the brother I'd murdered – cause that's just sooo wrong on sooo many levels," Max muttered to herself, before drawing in another deep breath to relaunching into her rant at full steam.

"Max, you don't ha - -" Alec tried to interrupt again. He knew what she was trying to say and he didn't need to hear her say it; he knew this was difficult for her. But the more he listened to her the more he realised that it was a good thing he did know what she was trying to say, because frankly she sucked at apologies. Thankfully for her he was an easy going kinda guy. Maybe he should let her continue, because clearly she could use the practice…

Max clamped a hand over his mouth and leaned in closer to pin him with one of her legendary glares. "I know you find it challenging and all, but for once will you shut up and stop interrupting," she groused, giving him a peeved look.

Max didn't wait for an answer before she ploughed ahead, although she did notice that Alec had gone slack underneath her, suggesting he was finally going to listen to whatever she had to say.

"You were so far from the ideal I had in my head of what I wanted. I wanted normal, and safe, and uncomplicated and predictable, and you're none of that. You were unknown, unpredictable, scary as Hell and from Manticore - and that place was everything that I was trying to get away from. And the more that I felt myself being drawn to you like a swimmer out to sea, the more I fought the current. Because I could see that you would have the power to suck me out and draw me under, and I knew that I would be in danger of drowning - and I knew that I couldn't come back from that. I knew that I wouldn't be okay again if I allowed that to happen."

"So I was irrational and bitchy, cause as long as you weren't too close I was safe, as long as you never looked twice at me I wasn't in any danger, and I could keep preten - -"

Suddenly Max felt the room spin as Alec suddenly rolled, taking her with him and pinning her underneath him. She watched as he looked heatedly into her eyes for a split second before grasping the hand that was still clamped over his mouth and removing it, before swooping down and replacing it with her lips.

Max barely had the mental capacity to note that his kiss was bolder, more demanding than last time, like he knew that this was what they both wanted and he wasn't prepared to waste time giving her the opportunity to deny it. But it wouldn't have mattered even if he had. Max had no intention of fighting this – the thought never even crossed her haze filled mind. All she could concentrate on was his delicious weight pressing her into the mattress below, and the demands his lips were making on her own; and she complied. With a breathy gasp she submitted and gave his mouth the entrance it was so persistently demanding.

As Alec deepened the kiss and his tongue slid over hers, making her shiver, she felt him slow with purpose. His lips were still hot and demanding on hers, but his tongue was stroking over hers lazily, almost like he couldn't go any faster whilst still concentrating on tasting her - because that's what it felt like to Max. She wasn't being kissed, she was being sampled. Tasted. Consumed.

It felt like he was desperately trying to imprint her taste right onto his indelible memory, just in case he ever needed to identify her this way again. And as Max felt his hand wander down to stroke her flank lazily, her fog induced brain was diligently working on a strategy to make that a reality.

As Alec felt Max's tongue tangle with his own he said a silent prayer of thanks. He knew as he had pinned her to the bed and kissed her, that Max was either going to respond positively, or she was gonna freak out - because kisses on stools and kisses whilst pinned to a bed were vastly different concepts.

He knew he had promised himself that he was going to do this right, that he wasn't going to scare or overwhelm her. But Alec was also not a planner. And he didn't follow a rule book. He just wasn't one of those guys who mapped out a romantic offensive and then strategically implemented each manoeuvre with military precision in order to get the girl. He was much more the sort of guy that liked to sail along by the seat of his pants. He preferred to be spontaneous and just let the moment take him. He didn't analyse or over-think things; if it felt right in that moment he just went with it. Simple. And at that moment in time he had felt like pinning Max to her bed and kissing her like she'd never been kissed before. Let no one accuse him of not being a man of action…

Max was starting to wonder if Alec was ever intending on coming back up for air, because she was rapidly running out; and in the back of her mind she knew that Lydecker would be soooo disappointed in her – if only he had found a training method more like this one, she would have made sure she was the star pupil.

And then just as she had thought it he pulled his lips away from hers, and she cursed herself. As Max opened her eyes to stare into Alec's she was surprised to see how dark they were, and as she gazed into their muddied depths she saw the same desire she was sure was reflected in her own. She liked the fact that she wasn't the only one that appeared to be affected.

As Alec searched Max's face for her reaction he was immensely pleased with what he saw. He noted that her cheeks were flushed, her lips were swollen from his assault, and he could feel her chest heaving against his own - but it was her eyes that had him mesmerised. They were heavy lidded and hooded, and he could clearly see the desire swirling within them as it started to ebb; but what was most noticeable was the iridescent sparkle that shone from within, and he thought that this must be what she looked like when she was happy.

As she lay under him and absorbed his intense stare, Max realised that Alec was waiting for her reaction again. She cleared her throat carefully, making sure it had recovered enough to allow her to speak without embarrassing herself, before she asked the only question her brain - which was still lost in an Alec induced coma - could come up with.

"What was that for?"

He was so absorbed with just looking at her, that Alec almost missed her breathy question.

"Looked like you were suffering from a bad case of verbal diarrhoea. Thought I'd help you out." His voice was deep and rumbling, and Max felt the vibrations through his chest.

She gave him an amused lopsided grin. "By putting you tongue down my throat?"

Alec shrugged nonchalantly. "It worked didn't it?"

"I suppose, but I doubt it's the method recommended by experts," she teased.

"I was developing my own technique," he grinned. "Gonna patent it too. I'll make a killing."

"That you would," Max agreed with a breathy laugh.

A dark preditory look spread across Alec's face as he studied her hungrily. "But I think there are still some kinks," he said, licking his lips, clearly thinking about kissing her again.

"Nope, don't think so," Max said lightly. "Felt fine to me."

"Ah, but you see every new method needs to be thoroughly scientifically tested to ensure it's empirically sound, and I haven't conducted the required number of scientific experiments yet. I think we'll have to give it a few more goes," he said wickedly, a naughty glint in his eye.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Max accused with a smile.

"Oh, you have no idea," he muttered huskily as he bent his head to capture her lips again, but Max dodged him, much to Alec's chagrin.

"So what are you going to call it?"

"Huh?' Alec was still trying to work out how, after that very legendary kiss, she was still able to resist him.

"This new technique. If you patent it, it's gonna need a name," Max pointed out logically.

"How about… 'Alec's Acclaimed and Absolutely Amazingly Awesome Articulation Inhibitor'? Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" he said with a knowing smirk.

"Are you serious?"

"What?"

"That?" Max said, looking at him like she suspected their kiss had restricted his air supply to long and he was now certifiably insane. "That's what you're gonna call it!?"

"What, I don't see a problem. I think it's a very appropriate and functional name."

"Functional? Are you kidding? The 'Alec's Acclaimed and Absolutely Amazingly Aweso - -"

"Ah, I see your symptoms have returned," Alec purred, as he swooped and caught her still moving lips with his. He kissed her thoroughly again before coming up for air, his breathing laboured and uneven. "Told you it was functional," he murmured, his voice low and dark, making Max shiver. "But it still requires further empirical testing," he mumbled against her swollen lips, this time not removing them long enough to allow Max to regain her sanity, before leaning in to conduct further research.

A/N: Okay, this was for all of you who were nice enough to review last chapter even though it lacked 'action'. And for those of you who threatened violence - please accept this bribe ;D