Pitter Patter
by pari106
Disclaimer, etc. found in part I.
Chapter Four…
Five
Alec counted the times he'd walked up to the stoop of Max's building and had turned around. Five.
"You're a fucking idiot," he muttered to himself with a shake of the head. He was an idiot. A fucking
*sentimental* idiot. But, damned, if he didn't give it a sixth try.
This time he actually went in. Then he shook his head and cursed again.
452 had turned him into an idiot. A basketcase. She'd messed with his mind since the day they'd met,
screwing around with everything he ever thought was true. Screwing around with all his principles. His
mission and himself had been the only two things that he'd cared about since the time he was about ten
years old, and he liked it that way. Max had screwed around with that, too. She'd given Alec a…dare he
even say it? A *conscience. Just couldn't get more screwed up than that.
She'd haunted him. At first, he'd told himself that little spark of morality she'd made him feel, that little
nudge of guilt the day he'd left Seattle…he'd told himself all of that was just a fluke. He was shook up
from almost dying, there was a fucking bomb in his brain, after all… That's all that had been. But still
she'd haunted him…
He'd tried losing himself in the eyes of other women since he'd left. Blue eyes, green eyes…they all
turned dark brown when he looked at them. He couldn't look at anyone, anything, anymore without seeing
Max. Seeing those big, almond-shaped eyes… Even if he could, Max would still be there on his mind.
She had been ever since that wild night at Manticore. The first night he'd ever felt passion, real passion for
someone he'd thought had felt it back for him. The *real* him…even if he didn't yet know who that was.
All his previous experiences with women had been under false pretenses. He'd slept with them using the
name and motive Manticore had given him…or he'd picked them up with some arbitrary designation he'd
pulled out of the air, just to give them something to call him, something normal. Something he wouldn't
even remember the next morning…he hardly remembered the women much longer than that, anyhow.
But Max… Max had used the name *she'd* given him. That seemed different, somehow. To Alec, the
fact that it did was just another sign of how screwed up she'd made him. She made a lot of things seem
different. Not just the name she'd given him, or that night they'd spent together… She made him feel
different.
He wasn't the same person anymore. He didn't even know who he was. He wasn't the type to risk his
neck for a bunch of green X6s too stupid to keep their heads down… But he'd done just that… for Max.
He wasn't the type to wear out his welcome in any one place. The last time he'd been to Seattle, White had
nearly had him. Yet here he was…for Max.
He wasn't the type to work his ass off…trying to find some doctor…just so that the woman he had a thing
for could kick it with somebody else…
And, yet again… here he was.
An idiot. Billions of dollars worth of R&D laid to waste by a pair of big, brown eyes and a bad attitude.
Alec started looking for Max's apartment…
So intent on his purpose, and lost in thought, that he didn't even see the woman walking towards him,
down the stairwell, with her bike. And the woman…Max…was so blinded by tears she didn't see him
either. Until they crashed into one another. And then Max began to tumble down the stairs…
by pari106
Disclaimer, etc. found in part I.
Chapter Four…
Five
Alec counted the times he'd walked up to the stoop of Max's building and had turned around. Five.
"You're a fucking idiot," he muttered to himself with a shake of the head. He was an idiot. A fucking
*sentimental* idiot. But, damned, if he didn't give it a sixth try.
This time he actually went in. Then he shook his head and cursed again.
452 had turned him into an idiot. A basketcase. She'd messed with his mind since the day they'd met,
screwing around with everything he ever thought was true. Screwing around with all his principles. His
mission and himself had been the only two things that he'd cared about since the time he was about ten
years old, and he liked it that way. Max had screwed around with that, too. She'd given Alec a…dare he
even say it? A *conscience. Just couldn't get more screwed up than that.
She'd haunted him. At first, he'd told himself that little spark of morality she'd made him feel, that little
nudge of guilt the day he'd left Seattle…he'd told himself all of that was just a fluke. He was shook up
from almost dying, there was a fucking bomb in his brain, after all… That's all that had been. But still
she'd haunted him…
He'd tried losing himself in the eyes of other women since he'd left. Blue eyes, green eyes…they all
turned dark brown when he looked at them. He couldn't look at anyone, anything, anymore without seeing
Max. Seeing those big, almond-shaped eyes… Even if he could, Max would still be there on his mind.
She had been ever since that wild night at Manticore. The first night he'd ever felt passion, real passion for
someone he'd thought had felt it back for him. The *real* him…even if he didn't yet know who that was.
All his previous experiences with women had been under false pretenses. He'd slept with them using the
name and motive Manticore had given him…or he'd picked them up with some arbitrary designation he'd
pulled out of the air, just to give them something to call him, something normal. Something he wouldn't
even remember the next morning…he hardly remembered the women much longer than that, anyhow.
But Max… Max had used the name *she'd* given him. That seemed different, somehow. To Alec, the
fact that it did was just another sign of how screwed up she'd made him. She made a lot of things seem
different. Not just the name she'd given him, or that night they'd spent together… She made him feel
different.
He wasn't the same person anymore. He didn't even know who he was. He wasn't the type to risk his
neck for a bunch of green X6s too stupid to keep their heads down… But he'd done just that… for Max.
He wasn't the type to wear out his welcome in any one place. The last time he'd been to Seattle, White had
nearly had him. Yet here he was…for Max.
He wasn't the type to work his ass off…trying to find some doctor…just so that the woman he had a thing
for could kick it with somebody else…
And, yet again… here he was.
An idiot. Billions of dollars worth of R&D laid to waste by a pair of big, brown eyes and a bad attitude.
Alec started looking for Max's apartment…
So intent on his purpose, and lost in thought, that he didn't even see the woman walking towards him,
down the stairwell, with her bike. And the woman…Max…was so blinded by tears she didn't see him
either. Until they crashed into one another. And then Max began to tumble down the stairs…