Alec's eyes snapped open at a noisy knocking on the door; he groaned, put a pillow over his face, trying to go back to sleep. The pounding came again, louder. He fell out of bed and stumbled toward the door, yawning loudly and rubbing at his eyes as the knock came once more.
"It's four in the morning!" he yelled, pulling the door open. "What could possibly-" Alec stopped as he caught sigh of Max standing in the doorway.
"Sorry," she said. He saw her take in his tousled hair wryly and pass her eyes for a moment over his bare chest before shaking her head and forcing herself to meet his eyes. He grinned at her, leaning against the doorframe. She smiled. "Let's go."
"Where?" he asked, confused. She looked momentarily exasperated.
"Weren't you listening to anything Logan had to say to us yesterday?"
"Oh..." Alec hesitated. "Well, no." She rolled her eyes but smiled at him, entering the apartment.
"Get dressed, nothing bright. I'll explain on the way." She fell onto his sofa and he sighed, closing the front door and heading for his bedroom.
"Fine," he said before shutting the door. He smiled at her. "But this better be good." He saw her grin at him before he closed the door and turned to his dresser, grabbing some black clothes. He pulled them on and went back into the living room, grabbing his jacket. She stood and they went downstairs to her motorcycle. He hesitated slightly before climbing on behind her and putting his arms around her, wondering how she would react, but to his surprise she simply relaxed into his embrace as she gunned the engine and roared down the quiet Seattle street.
Apparently Logan's little meeting the day before had been about some job he wanted Max to do for him, and he'd wanted Alec to go along for her safety.
"Wouldn't he want me not to come now that he thinks you're in heat?" Alec yelled over the roaring wind, chuckling slightly at the irony of it. He felt Max shrug.
"I convinced him it would be still be safer for me if you came, and I told him I could resist you. He believed me." She sounded almost embarrassed; it had already been proven that she in fact couldn't resist him, as much as she may have claimed to hate him before that night. Alec breathed in the scent of her hair and said nothing, but secretly he was touched that she'd gone to all that trouble just to spend time with him.
"So we go in, steal the thing, and get out," Max told him as they headed up to a large factory. Alec grinned at her, nodded.
"Just like old times, huh?" he asked; she smiled at him. "What does he need this computer thing for, anyway?"
"How should I know? Some Eyes Only thing."
"He really enjoys that?" Alec asked. "Saving the world?" Max smiled.
"I used to ask the same thing," she said. Her smile faded slightly and she sighed.
"Are you going to tell him?" he asked gently, reading her mind.
"I have to," she snapped as they neared the factory. She glanced at him. "Sorry."
"We could leave Seattle," he said. "You wouldn't have to talk to him anymore, have that hanging over your head." It amazed him as much as it obviously did her that he was even proposing this. "We could make a new start somewhere else. California, Vegas. Anywhere you want to go." Max laughed at him, disappointing him. He'd been serious there for a moment.
"You sound like Zack," she said, and looked instantly sorry. He cringed, glanced away. She stopped walking. "Are we going to be able to concentrate?" she asked, gesturing toward the building. When she said 'we' he knew that she meant 'you.' "I don't want to go in unless we do this right." Alec glared sideways at her and started back toward the factory.
"Don't worry about me," he said. "Come on."
"Fine," she said sharply, falling into step beside him, this time not talking at all. He felt the tension crackling between them like waves and stifled a sigh.
"Max," he said. She glanced over at him. He hesitated, then barrelled on, "Look, I-" But before he could continue, there was a shout from the factory and several soldiers emerged from the building.
"What the hell?" Max yelled as Alec pulled a gun out of his jacket, both of them going into fight mode. They separated, Max taking several of the men down with punches and kicks, Alec doing the same, using the gun for the more unattainable ones.
"This thing we're trying to steal better be good!" Alec yelled over the clamour.
"No wonder Logan wanted you to come along!" Max answered. "He could have at least said something about their security!" She threw the last man down and Alec rejoined her. She looked at him. "This is weird. Logan didn't say anything about this. He said we might have to take out a couple of perimeter guys." They looked around them; twenty men laid in various stages of injury around the yard.
"Come on," Alec said. "Let's get this over with." Max nodded and they continued up toward the factory, this time much more cautiously, Alec's gun drawn. He cursed as more soldiers emerged from the building, heading straight for them, firing weapons. He and Max took cover behind a nearby tree, glad for the darkness of the night around them.
"Is this thing really worth it?" he asked; Max shrugged.
"We're here, we might as well."
"Yeah," he said dryly, rolling his eyes. He jerked out from behind the tree and fired, hitting one of the men twice in the shoulder. He kept coming. "Uh, problem," Alec announced.
"What?"
"Watch," he said; they both looked around the tree and Alec fired at the same man again, this time hitting him twice in the stomach and once in the other shoulder. Again, he didn't seem to be affected.
"Familiars?" Alec asked; Max looked grim. "Come on," he said. "Let's leave. This is obviously bigger than we thought. We should regroup."
"No, we should do this now," Max said. Alec frowned at her.
"Why are you acting so weird?"
"Come on," she said; he shrugged, sighed, followed her into the yard, firing more pointless shots against the Familiars. They separated again, surrounding the men, splitting them off from each other, weakening them. Max fought with two of them, beating them down, trying to best them though she knew from past experience it was practically impossible. One of them brought out a gun, fired. Agony exploded in her shoulder and bloomed down her arm. She managed to throw a good punch with her other hand before she went down. The Familiar stood over her.
"Pain is a figment of the mind," he said, preparing to shoot her in the head.
"Block this out," Alec said, his own gun suddenly against the Familiar's temple. He fired and the man went down, dead. Alec reached for Max, a bullet skimming by his head as he helped her up.
"Behind you!" she cried; he whirled and fired a shot at another approaching Familiar. He ignored it and reached Alec, grappling with him. Alec swept a leg behind the other man's, throwing him to the ground, and shot down at him, landing a bullet in his head as well.
"Hey Max," Alec said, turning. "I figured out how to kill-" He stopped talking as he saw her, on the ground again. The remaining Familiars had gone- for backup? Where? He ran to her, dropping his gun to the ground as he reached her.
"Oh, God," he said, seeing blood seeping from a wound high in her chest, a bullet having gone straight through her throat and out the other side. There was a blow to the side of her head, just above her temple; her hair was dark and wet with blood. He took her cold, shaking hand in his. She was gasping for breath, like a fish.
"Alec." Her voice came out as a painful, high-pitched sound; she could barely speak. "I can't see."
"Shshsh." He pulled her close, turning his head away so his tears wouldn't fall on her face. He tried not to sob out loud. "It's just dark, that's all," he whispered. "It's just dark."
"Alec," she whispered into his chest; he stared down at her eyes, unseeing, the blood pouring from her throat and head. He held her more tightly in his arms, stood up with her. Blood soaked his hand where he cradled her head.
"I'm going to get you to a hospital," he said softly. "Come on, let's go."
"Alec," she gasped, grabbed his arm. He stood there, gazing down at her.
"Max," he said.
"I really didn't regret it," she told him, smiling through her pain, staring just past his shoulder. He forced himself to smile back, bent his head and kissed her lips, soft, lightly. A weak sob escaped her throat and Alec quickly pulled her closer to him, like a child.
"I'm getting you to a hospital," he said again. "Just hold on." He looked at her beautiful face, her eyes closed. "Max?" He raised a shaky hand to her neck. "Max!" Nothing. No pulse, no breath, the blood pouring from her throat still warm against his hand. "Max!" he yelled, not caring if anyone heard him now, not caring if they tortured him, killed him. "Max!" He dropped to his knees, tears streaming down his cheeks; she fell out of his arms a little but he held on to her more tightly. "Max!" He lowered his head into her hair, inhaled her herbal shampoo and the scent of pain. "Max..." he whispered, his tears mixing with the blood matted in her hair. "Max."
Alec shot straight up in bed, sweating. He was momentarily disoriented,
then he realized what was happening. A dream. It was a dream. Thank God!
He ran a hand through his damp hair and let out a long, slow breath, his eyes
widened in the darkness of his bedroom.
"Oh my God," he whispered disbelievingly into the quiet of his apartment. "I'm in love with Max."