Alec swore softly to himself as he lurked in the dank, odorous alley in Sector 4. Instead of here he could be comfortably ensconced At Crash, drinking some beer, playing foosball and finding himself a companion for later tonight. Instead he was standing here watching a cold bitch who had made it clear she wanted nothing to do with him. He didn't know what was wrong with him lately. Hanging around Max and her shining knight Logan too much. If Asha wanted to get herself killed it was none of his business and she had made it clear she didn't want his help. So he should just pick himself up and get himself out of here. He had decided to do exactly that when his enhanced hearing picked up the sound of voices at the entrance to the alley. One was Asha and another was a male voice.
But then he picked up another sound, the soft click of a gun being cocked. Focusing his night vision on the source of the sound he spotted a steelhead sighting on Asha and her companion from a spot closer to the alley entrance than he was. In a blur he moved and quickly took out the sniper with an arm around his neck. The man struggled and Alec wasted no time. With a quick snap his neck was broken and Alec let the body drop to the ground. Alerted by the sound of the falling body Asha's companion quickly fled leaving her to turn and enter the alleyway.
"Who's there?" she called out making Alec swear to himself in frustration at her naivete.
Deciding to teach her a lesson he melted into the shadows letting her stumble across the body of the dead steelhead. As she leaned down with a shocked intake of breath he came up behind her and with a quick motion captured her and spun her around to face him, holding her arms pinned against her body.
"Who? … What….Alec? What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded.
"Saving your life. I told you these creeps were dangerous." She wiggled in his grip trying to break free to no avail.
"How do you know this guy was going to do anything? Maybe he was just passing through," she shot back at him. "Now let me go." Alec ignored her demand and snapped back at her.
"Oh yeah. And just decided on a little impromptu target practice while he was at it. Do you have to work at being so naïve or is it a natural gift you have?"
"Why you …" she spluttered. "I know exactly what I'm doing." Her eyes flashed fire at him. "Let me go and I'll show you, you arrogant jerk." Alec easily retained his grip on her but he was suddenly all too aware of the feel of her body against his as she struggled to free herself. 'Damnation' he thought 'don't go there, Alec. This is one ice-cold bitch and you don't need that kind of involvement' Unfortunately his body had a mind of its own and he realized Asha had also become aware of that fact. She had stopped struggling and was staring up at him.
"Don't even think of…: her words were stopped as he bent down and captured her mouth in a brutal kiss. Her hands were pinned to her sides by his and he pulled her hard against him as he explored her mouth. She tried to pull her head away at first but as he refused to stop her struggles ceased and her lips softened under his. Alec continued to kiss her and ran his tongue across her lips looking for entrance. At first she stubbornly refused but finally she gave in and parted her lips. That was all he needed and in seconds his tongue was plundering her mouth and she was responding. Dimly he realized that he had released her arms to run his hands over her back. Instead of pulling away her arms had come up and she was running her long fingers through his hair and around the back of his neck. For long minutes the kiss continued until finally he pulled back and gave her a cocky grin.
"So what exactly were you going to show me?" He asked her and he could have sworn she growled deep in her throat and her arm came back as she launched herself at him. He easily caught her hand before it could make contact with his face and he held her wrist in an iron grip. "Play nice now or daddy spanks" He grinned at her fury.
She suddenly calmed and her words dripped ice. "So what? You proved you're stronger than I am? Big man huh?" He refused to be baited and just continued to smile at her.
"Baby, you loved it and don't pretend you didn't. I'd love to continue but dirty alleys aren't my choice of accommodation for the fine art of love making, sweetheart." Asha just continued to glare at him as he pulled her along to where he had stashed the motorcycle he had recently acquired. Reaching it he released her and climbed on. As she continued to stand there he calmly asked.
"Are you coming or do you prefer to wait here for that psycho's friends to come and find him and you? No difference to me but I'm out of here."
"You are a total bastard you know." She observed as she climbed on behind him, reluctantly placing her arms around his waist. He just laughed as he gunned the motor and took off, reveling in the feeling of speed, action and a warm woman holding tight to him. She directed him to her place and as they pulled up she quickly climbed off expecting him to follow. Surprisingly he just sat on the bike regarding her knowingly.
"I'd ask you in ….but." she observed acidly. He laughed and leaning over planted a fast hard kiss on her lips
"I prefer my women warm and willing not cold blooded bitches who think they're in love with another man. If you ever wake up and realize he isn't for you give me a call." With that he was gone leaving her standing there dumfounded. Letting out a string of curses she kicked the curb and then cursed further as she felt the pain through her boots. Turning she limped up the stairs to her building entrance, trying hard to forget the taste of his lips and the feel of his hard body pressed against hers. Trying to forget the last words he had flung at her and the hard truth contained in them. As she let herself into her apartment tears rolled slowly down her cheeks, for who or what she wasn't sure.
*****
After what seemed an eternity Sebastian and his doctor returned to where Max was sitting on the bed with Logan in the chair next to it. The two turned and anxiously waited for the verdict. Sebastian smiled and nodded to the doctor.
"It appears that Dr. Mendoza's idea worked. The only virus we're finding in your system now, Max is the new one we created." At Max's gasp he cautioned "We can't be 100% sure but I would say the treatment was successful."
"How sure are you?" Max's eyes narrowed.
"99.9999% which is about the best you can ever do." Max frowned. The doctor hastened to continue "Just in case we were also able to engineer an antigen to the original virus. If Logan should become re-infected we can administer it before his life is in danger." Max relaxed and Logan realized he had been holding his breath.
"That's it then." he said. "Thanks Sebastian, thanks doctor."
"What are you doing?" the doctor asked as Logan rose to leave motioning to Max to come with him. "Don't you want to test things out here?" Logan looked at him.
"You say you're sure it worked and if it didn't the antigen will work?" The doctor nodded. "Max and I haven't had a hell of a lot of privacy to figure things out. I think it's about time we did so no offense doc, but we'll take the antigen with us and work the rest of this out on our own." The doctor started to protest but was stopped by a nod from Sebastian who had expected something of the sort. At another nod he handed a kit containing the antigen to Logan who placed it in his pocket as he looked at Max.
"Are you ready to go?" She nodded slowly, eyes locked to his. Still avoiding touching the two turned and left the room leaving Sebastian smiling and the doctor still looking on in some surprise. Outside Logan turned to Max and said softly in his husky voice,
"Come home with me, Max." She looked at him struck by his use of the word home and the meaning in his words. This wasn't just an invitation to dinner and chess, this was more. Accepting meant a commitment to Logan that was almost frightening in what it would entail. She started to hedge but instead found herself nodding at him as she softly said,
"I've been waiting forever for you to invite me." Their eyes met and they smiled as they climbed into his car and headed for his apartment, still not touching.
