Just to give you guys a time frame within the show, this takes place after Borrowed Time, so transgenics are still mainly a rumour in Seattle, albeit a growing one. Please R and R. Enjoy!



Blood Lust



The Harsh Light of Day




Max strolled into Jam Pony Monday morning only ten minutes late instead of her usual twenty. Original Cindy had once asked how she, Max Guevera, a genetically engineered soldier who needed no sleep and therefore did not 'sleep in', could manage to be late for work every single day when she could simply leave at the same time as Cindy. Max shrugged it off with the excuse that she wasn't a morning person. Cindy shot back that she just liked to piss off Normal. She was probably right.

Speak of the devil. Normal popped up from behind his desk, arms laden down with packages of all shapes and sizes. He squinted at her through his glasses and then scowled. "Well, well. Look who finally decided to regal us with her presence. You know, Missy Miss, most people who want to keep their jobs actually show up on time."

Max shot a cutting glance his way. "You know, Normal, most people pull their head out of their a-"

"Maxie!" Alec cut her off, throwing an arm around her shoulder and steering her away from Normal's desk. "Really Max," he chided her in his best pre-school teacher voice as she violently shrugged off his arm. "You should learn how to play well with others. Otherwise you're never gonna have any friends. And people without any friends are known as 'losers'."

"Gee, thanks for the life lesson of the day, Alec. And you're really somebody to be taking people lessons from." Max shot back at him as she opened her locker and rummaged around for some of her gear.

"Hey, whaddya mean by that?" Alec asked with a hurt expression. "I get along great with people. I have terrific people skills. Sketch," he hit a passing Sketchy lightly on the arm to get his attention. "Do you think I'm a people person?"

"People person?" Sketchy mumbled around a mouthful of apple. "Man, I've never seen anybody get along with people so well. And," he added slyly, sharing a grin with Alec, "I think all the ladies of Seattle can attest to that."

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Max said, rolling her eyes at their caveman attitudes. "Getting a girl into bed doesn't mean you have good people skills. In your two cases, it doesn't even have anything to do with you. It means one of three things: a) she's drunk, b) she's stupid or c) she's desperate. Take your pick."

Alec merely snorted at her as Sketchy tried to throw his apple core in a nearby garbage. Sketchy, being Sketchy, missed and as he was retrieving it, replied over his shoulder to Max. "See, Max, you just don't know what you're talking about. I have seen my bro here in action and let me tell you, he is smooth. Take that girl on Saturday at Lazarus," Sketchy turned to Alec. "Five minutes after meeting you, she was all over you on the dance floor. And to discredit your theory, Max, she wasn't drunk and from the very stunning looks of her, I wouldn't exactly call her desperate."

"Yeah, well that still leaves stupid, Sketch." Max said with a smirk as she slammed her locker shut and nodded a greeting to Original Cindy as she came up. "Hey O.C., what's up?"

"Not much, boo. See you managed to drag your fine little ass in here this morning. And only ten minutes late too. Normal probably went into shock when he saw you walk through the door," Original Cindy shook her head, tight brown ringlets bouncing around her head.

"Nah," Max smiled at her best friend. "He just busted my ass as soon as I walked in, same as always. I swear to God, something nasty crawled up his butt and died."

"Shugah," Cindy said as she took out her backpack, "that thing's been up in that hole since the day he was born. And what were y'all talkin' bout? I heard somethin' bout my boo havin' a theory? Since when did you start comin' up with those, girl?"

"Since Alec and Sketchy here decided to display what morons they are and brag about how doing the dirty dance with some ditz means they've got good people skills."

"Hell, all that means is they got some good beer!" Original Cindy and Max laughed together.

"For real, guys, you should've seen this chick, she was all over Alec like he was some pre-Pulse rock star or some shit," Sketchy said. "Which reminds me, man," he turned to Alec once more, "You haven't told me how she was. I mean," he lowered his voice conspiratorially, "Was she as good as she looked?"

"You guys are disgusting," Max informed him.

O.C. nodded, then noticed Alec was suddenly very interested in a spot on the floor. She put two and two together quickly, then smiled slyly. "Wait a second. Hot Girl didn't end up givin' you an all access pass, did she? She left you standin' all by your lonesome out in the cold, huh?"

Alec shrugged defensively, hands in his pocket. "She had an emergency, couldn't stick around."

Max raised her eyebrows, "If the girl decided to bail maybe she's not as stupid as I thought."

Alec shot her a nasty look. "Why don't we talk about something other than my love life? Say Max, how's yours?"

O.C. shook her head at his stupidity as Max snarled, "Bite me," immediately seeing red. Dammit, why did he have to be such an asshole all the time?

"I'd love to," Alec leered back, content to get a rise out of her. Sure, it was alright for her to poke fun at every body else, but get in a little jab about her and Roller Boy's lack of loving and you are such an oh-so-terrible person.

Max might have chosen to respond with a well-aimed blow to his most precious body part, but just then Sketchy tugged on Alec's arm, drawing all of their attention to him. "Alec, isn't that. . .?"

Alec turned and looked over at the counter where Normal was talking to some blonde girl. He stared at her for a second before she looked away from Normal and he saw her profile. A look of complete surprise came over his face.

"Yeah, yeah, that is her!" Sketchy said, getting a closer look. "Man, what are the odds! Looks like the fates decided to send you a second chance, buddy."

"Fool, what are you talkin' bout? Second chance at what?" O.C. put her hands on her hips and pursed her lips, giving Sketchy her best 'start-makin'-some-sense-or-else-I'm-gonna-put-the-smack-down-on-your-ass' look.

Sketchy nodded over his shoulder at the girl who was currently filling out some kind of form. "A second chance at catching the one that got away. That's the girl from the club."

Max and OC stared past Sketchy, watching the new comer with interest. "Damn," Original Cindy sighed, getting a good look at her figure. "Why is it all the fine looking ladies gotta be playing hard ball?"

Just then the girl shook hands with Normal and turned around. She was about to walk off in the opposite direction when she saw Alec. She looked completely shocked for a second; then, with a look that was suspiciously similar to resignation, she began to walk towards him.

* * * *

Alex sighed as she exited the building, throwing a half-hearted glare at the door. She couldn't really blame them for not hiring her. After the Pulse, it was pretty much the same story in every city she'd been to: too many people, too few jobs. Still, it didn't make rejection any sweeter. And it sure as hell didn't pay the rent on the little hole she and Brian had managed to find.

She pulled a folded up scrap of newspaper from her pocket along with a red pen. Gripping the pen in her teeth she pulled the cap off and, using the side of the building for support, proceeded to cross off another of the ads in the help wanted section she'd circled off at breakfast that morning. So far, not so good. At least Brian had found a job down at the docks, doing some manual labour. Alex could've gone for some of that too, but there was one tiny difference between her and her Watcher that stood in the way: Brian was a young, well built male while Alex looked as she couldn't shift a couch on her own, much less spend the entire day moving heavy merchandise.

A few cities ago, when cash was especially tight, Alex had casually mentioned giving a prospective employer a sample of her surprising strength to show him she could get the job down. The way Brian had reacted you would've thought she'd suggested giving him a neon pink flyer stating 'SLAYER- SUPERNATURAL BEING CREATED TO KILL MONSTERS YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BELIEVE DON"T EXIST!' After that blow-out Alex had resigned herself to long searches for less demanding work.

The only easy way to pick up some quick cash these days for her gender was stripping and while Alex enjoyed getting it on as much as the next girl, she definitely had too much self-respect to prance around half naked in front of a bunch of hormonally challenged apes.

'Plus,' Alex reflected as she ran her finger down the column to the next ad, 'Working nights just wouldn't fit into my strict schedule of exercise, dieting and killing things.' Her finger stopped at the second to last place left to apply. Pulling the paper closer, muttering about news papers deliberately writing things in incredibly small print to annoy people she read the short ad. 'Jam Pony Bike Messenger Service. Apply at front desk. Ask for Normal.' Except for an address, that was it.

'Normal?' Alex laughed to herself as she folded the paper back up and placed it in her jacket pocket. 'Jeez, his parents must've hated him.'

Alex glanced both ways, then sprinted across the street, holding up an eloquent finger to some asshole in an old Chevy that was tearing down the street like it was the goddamn Indianapolis 500 or something. Once on the other side she started out for the address mentioned in the ad, keeping an eye out for the right street to turn down. Even though she hadn't even been in Seattle for a week yet, she knew her way around. Every time they got to a new city Alex made it a point to study a map of the roads and if possible the sewer systems, not to mention take little scouting trips during the day. She found that knowing what street led where was a great help when chasing down a demon and was even more helpful when running from one.

She passed a couple of guys chatting on the corner and one looked up to smile appreciatively at her. She smiled back, meeting his big brown eyes only to flash back to a pair of green-blue ones. 'Christ!' she groaned inwardly, 'Get over it Alex! It isn't like you've never seen a good looking guy before.'

'True enough, but never one that good looking,' another treacherous little voice in her head rejoined and with a small smile Alex had to agree. Alec had been the ultimate specimen of male perfection. She'd never known they came that perfect. She felt a shiver run down her back as she remember the feel of his big hands caressing her body and goose bumps appeared on her arms as she recalled the heat that had been present between the two of them. She hadn't felt that kind of electricity with someone since. . . well, ever. And now, two days later, she still couldn't keep the image of his perfect face or the feel of his breath on her skin out of her head. She'd even thought about him while patrolling on Sunday night. She just couldn't stop, even while berating herself for allowing him to become a distraction that could cost her a life-saving edge in her nightly fights. He was like those chips in that old commercial. One taste just wasn't enough.

Alex mentally grabbed herself and gave herself a good shake. 'He's a guy, nothing more!' They would've used each other for one night, hell for one hour, and then they would have been on their merry ways. She could find dozens of other good-looking guys in Seattle that would trip all over themselves to give her what she wanted. Exasperated with her preoccupation with a man she'd spent ten minutes with, Alex decided that it was all just pent up desire and promised herself she'd go out tonight and jump the first decent guy she came across. Once she got a little bit of action, she'd totally forget about Mr. Alec and his gorgeous lips.

Finding Jam Pony was pretty easy. Alex didn't even bother checking the building number, she just followed all the kids on bikes. It was a pretty big building, with a picture of a bike messenger over an open door way. Following a couple of employees in who were discussing a tabloid with some dog-man on the cover, she found herself in a huge, spartanly-decorated room filled with lockers, bikes and benches, not to mention people. She found the front desk directly to her right. Behind it was one of the geekiest looking men she'd ever seen.

"Hey, hey, hey! This is a work place, not a cheap motel. You two want to do that, get a room," he shouted to a couple kissing hello across the room. The two threw him dirty looks before moving on and Alex heard him mutter something about 'disrespectful cockroaches' as he adjusted his glasses.

"Excuse me?" Alex said, placing her hands on the counter top. "I'm here to see someone named . . . Normal about a job ad in the newspaper?"

"No jobs here," the man replied impatiently, not even looking up from the paper he was writing on. "Ad's old, don't need any more of you rug rats running around infecting this place with your loose morals."

"Oh," Alex said. Deciding that begging wasn't going to get her anywhere, she went for a different approach. "Well, I can see you have a thriving business to attend to here, so I'd just like to thank you for your time, sir, and then I'll get be on my way," she said in her most professional voice and extended her hand to block his view of his page.

Normal looked up, staring at her hand as if he'd never seen one before. "Well, well, one of you kids actually has some manners," he said in a wondrous tone as he took her hand. "What did you say your name was?"

She gave him her best smile. "My name's Alexandra Harrison. Most people call me Alex, but I think Alexandra sounds more respectful, don't you."

"Yes I do Alexandra," Normal replied, shuffling through some papers quickly. He found the one he wanted and handed it to her. "I might be able to use someone who knows how to conduct herself properly in a place of work. Maybe some of these louts would learn something from you. We start at nine in the morning, last run's exactly at seven. I expect my employees to be on time and respectful and I won't tolerate any slacking off."

"Believe me, that won't be a problem, Mr. . .?" she trailed off, waiting for him to fill in the blank. Surely he didn't actually go by the name Normal.

"Just call me Normal, Alexandra, no need for last names here. You got a bike?" he asked, adjusting his glasses.

"No-"

"Not a problem," Normal replied, pointing over her shoulder as she filled in the form quickly. "Bike racks over there, you can use a company bike until you can afford to buy one yourself. But you break it, you bought it."

"Understood," Alex nodded, pleased at having scored a paying job. "I can start as soon as you'd like."

"Good, good, enthusiasm, I like that," Normal said brusquely. "I'll have a sector pass for you tomorrow. For today you can accompany one of the others on their runs. A tip: find a guy named Alec, he's the best of the lot around here. And don't forget to get a signature for each package."

And with that Normal turned away, already yelling at some guy just coming through the door. When he'd mentioned the name Alec she couldn't help tensing a little bit, which only served to irritate her. 'Honestly,' she thought as she turned around, 'I just can't get away from that guy.'

And that's when she saw him.

For a second she remained frozen in shock, eyes locked with his. There was a flash of recognition in his eyes, which was something of a relief. It was nice to know he wasn't the only one that had made an impression. It occurred to her that she probably looked like an idiot, standing there with her mouth gaping open like a codfish and she snapped it shut.

It felt as if they were picking up exactly where they'd left off in the club. A rush of desire hit her full force as she stared at him in his black tee shirt and jean jacket. She hadn't thought it possible, but he looked even better in regular lighting. Then she remembered what exactly her experience with him had been and she blushed.

Alex didn't mind having a fling with an unknown guy, but she'd always made it a point to make sure they were exactly that: an UNKNOWN guy. As in someone with absolutely no connection to any other aspect of her life. Going down that path led to attachments and relationships and places she simply did not have the luxury of exploring. And now it turned out that a guy she'd gotten hot and heavy with was going to be her new co-worker. Wonderful.

It was too late to sneak away. He'd obviously seen her before she'd seen him, so all she could do was go over and lay down the rules so he didn't get the wrong idea. Resigning herself to the fact that now she most definitely was not going to be able to forget him, she made her way towards him. He walked over to meet her halfway, moving apart from the little group he'd been standing with.

* * * *

Alec moved away from the others to greet Alex, eyes taking in the way her shirt dipped in the front. He was seriously considering breaking the promise he'd made to himself to not get involved with co-workers ever since that ugly incident with Little Suki and that other chick. He couldn't even remember her name, she'd quit since then, so there was no reason to remember it. He'd told himself that all the grief wasn't worth the tail when he could get it hassle-free somewhere else, but as he watched Alex walk towards him he thought that that particular piece of tail would definitely be worth the trouble.

He plastered an easy smile on his face as he greeted her, "Alex, what're you doing here? Didn't think I'd ever see you again."

"Hey Alec." She replied with a smile, but kept her distance. "I just got a job here."

"A job? Normal hired you?" Alec answered, surprised. "Usually he's super-strict about hiring."

She raised an eyebrow at him icily. "Are you saying I don't meet with the 'company standards'?"

"Oh no!" Alec answered quickly, holding up his hands defensively. "I just meant he usually interrogates everyone for at least fifteen minutes. I doubt you were up there for five."

She grinned at him, "You'd be surprised what you can get when you ask for it the right way."

Alec grinned back, about to shoot off a totally inappropriate comment in the work place when he noticed the rest of his gang hadn't moved on. Instead they were still hanging around the lockers, apparently all interested in tasks that would keep them within eavesdropping range. He shook his head slightly at them, not really minding. Of course, if he'd known what was going to come out of her mouth next, he might have felt differently.

"Listen, Alec," she started. "About Saturday night. . ."

"It was nice," Alec said when she hesitated. "It's too bad you had to leave."

"Yeah," she muttered, taking a deep breath. "Listen, I had a great time too. It was fun. But I'm really not looking for anything, just so you know. I didn't think I'd ever see you again, but now that we're working together I really think it would be a good idea if we were just friends."

Behind him Alec heard a snort of laughter that sounded suspiciously like Max. He himself was somewhat in shock. 'Just be friends'? That was supposed to be his line! He was the dumper, never the dumpee!

Flabbergasted, but without any other option, Alec decided it was best to accede with grace. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. You know, office romance and everything. Never works out."

"Exactly," she smiled easily, inwardly relieved that he was going along with her and at the same time a little disappointed that he didn't argue. "So, um, Normal said something about finding someone to show me the ropes?"

"Girl, I got you covered," Original Cindy butted into the conversation, leading a grinning Max and Sketchy over. "My name's Original Cindy, this here's my girl Max and that thang over there is known as Sketchy."

"Hey," Alex nodded a greeting back to them. "Alex."

"Couldn't help hearin' you need a little guidance through your first day in this hell hole. Well, Original Cindy's a long time survivor of Normal's abuse. What say you come on your runs with me and then afterwards we can all meet at Crash for drinks so you can get to know the rest of us."

"Sounds great," Alex agreed, already warming up to the dark girl's straight forward attitude.

"Yeah, perfect," Alec sighed, still smarting from the second ego blow she'd dealt him since they'd met.

"Oh, wait," Alex said, remembering Brian was expecting her tonight. "I forgot, I told my room mate I'd go out with him tonight. We're both new in town, so we thought we'd take a look around."

"That's cool," Max said, noting the flash of instinctive jealousy in Alec's eyes when Alex mentioned 'him'. "Why don't you bring him along? We'd all love to meet him."

Alex nodded in agreement, eager to have a small taste of normalcy before heading out for nightly patrol. She was sure Brian would be alright with it.

"Then it's a plan," OC said brightly, taking Alex's arm. "Now let's go get you a ride."