By Valjean
Don't Ask
Max was gone when Alec woke up the next morning. I've just made the biggest mistake of my life.
He found her in her usual place, Terminal City's command center, with Logan by her side. She glanced at him over her shoulder as he came up the steps, and the look of utter fear in her eyes cut through him like a knife.
"I was just filling Logan in on what we discovered during out little expedition," she said, speaking quickly. "I told him we'd found several good marks for future heists so we can replenish our cash. I imagine that casino alone would bring in a couple of hundred thousand dollars if we hit them just before the armored car comes."
Logan was looking at him for confirmation. "Like she said," Alec replied evenly, trying to decide whether or not to keep playing Max's little game.
Not.
There was a moment of awkward silence that Logan decided to fill. "I was telling Max that I wish she'd let me know beforehand next time you guys decide to go on reconnaissance. I probably could have saved both of you a lot of time and trouble by checking out those places with my sources first."
"That's okay," Alec said flippantly, never taking his eyes off Max, daring her to try and stop him. "Max and I needed a vacation from this place anyway. Fact is, we had a real good time. Didn't we?"
Max glared at him.
"A good time?" Logan said,.
"A real good time," Alec said with a wicked grin.
Max grabbed his shoulder and dragged him down the steps. "What the hell are you doing?" she hissed.
"Max," Alec said through clenched teeth, "people are watching." He smiled broadly at Dix who had stopped what he was doing to stare curiously in their direction.
"Why are you doing this to me?"
Alec pulled her behind a pile of crates. "I told you that things were gonna be different between us and you said that was all right. Now, it looks like all you wanna do is forget the past two days."
"I do want to forget them. As far as I'm concerned, they never happened. You never happened. We never happened."
He'd known this was how it would be -- had known it from the moment he woke up alone in bed with her warmth gone from his arms. She hadn't even left a note, just picked up her clothes and run away. But then Max always did like to run from her problems. Why should this time be any different?
But this time was different. Because this time her problem was going to chase her down, just like he'd chased her down two nights ago in the street.
"Max, you said you had feelings for me."
"Yeah, Alec, I do. I despise you. I loathe you. I hate you. Are those enough feelings for you? Because those are the only ones you'll ever get from me."
Alec looked up at the balcony. Logan was watching them closely. This had gone on long enough. Time to put on a little show for Mr. Cale's benefit, force Max to do what needed to be done, say what needed to be said.
She started to move away and he quickly put his arm out, palm against the wall, blocking her retreat. "You said you were falling in love with me." She tried to move under and he pinned her with his body. The look of anger in her eyes was frightening, and Alec began to have second thoughts.
"If you don't let me go," she said fiercely, "I'm going to seriously hurt you."
"Not until you agree to tell Logan about us."
"Never."
"Then I'll tell him."
"He won't believe you."
"Yes, he will, Max. He'll believe me because deep down inside he knows it's true. Hell, he knew it was true even before I did. Back when you were pretendin' we were a couple just to keep him away? It didn't take much to convince him, did it? Don't you wonder why?"
Max elbowed him in the solar plexus and ducked under his arm. Alec recovered in an instant and grabbed her shoulder. The fist connecting with his nose was more effective.
"Ow! Not the face, Max!"
"Get away from me," she hissed.
Alec backed up a few steps, but she wasn't getting away from him so easily. "Max, I spent hours inside of you last night, making love to you. And you can't deny it felt right. If I were Logan, and you were my girl, I'd want to know if she'd been with someone like that."
"It was my heat!" Max spat. "It didn't matter if it was you, Dante, or a fence post."
That hurt, and accomplished what her physical blows hadn't. He spread his arms wide, indicating she was free to go. Okay, his eyes said. I tried. You win.
Max knew the only way out of this insanity was to concentrate on her work, leading the mutants of Terminal City and insuring their survival. Alec was going to have to be relegated to an afterthought. She'd just keep reminding herself that her time with him could as easily have been with a total stranger. When she was in her right mind he meant nothing to her -- well, maybe not nothing, but at least he wasn't as important as he now seemed to think he was.
"What's going on between you and Alec?" Logan asked, regarding her over the rim of his glasses as he sat at the computer keyboard.
"Nothing," Max said.
"That little display down below a minute ago didn't look like nothing to me."
"Alec's just being an ass as usual."
"What did he say to you to make you hit him?"
"He was mouthing off," Max said, desperately wishing Logan would drop the subject. "I shut him up."
"Do you want me to talk to him?"
"No!" Max hadn't meant the word to come out as a yelp. "I mean, it wouldn't do any good. You know Alec."
Logan sighed heavily, then looked around to make sure Dix wasn't standing too close by. "Max, I once asked you if something was going on between you and Alec and you told me there was, but then a few days ago you told me you'd been lying and had said that just to try and protect me. I believed you because I wanted to."
"Your point?" Max asked tiredly.
"Max, whether or not he admits it to you or even to himself, Alec's in love with you. Any fool can see that. He follows you around like a puppy dog trying to please you in his own twisted way."
"He just feels guilty for all the trouble he's caused me," Max said, beginning to panic again. Logan was getting way too close to the truth. "And he doesn't follow me around. In fact, I'm sure he's got a girlfriend, or more likely lots of girlfriends. He certainly doesn't want a romance with me. Sex maybe, but then Alec would hump anything with an X chromosome and a pulse."
"Methinks the lady doth protest too much," Logan said quietly.
"What?"
"What happened over the past two days, Max?"
"Logan," she said, "please don't ask me that. If you value what we have, then don't ask me."
"Was he good in bed?"
"Logan ... please."
"Of course he was. Or are you going to tell me you closed your eyes and thought about me the whole time, the boyfriend you can't so much as touch let alone make love to. I suppose if you wanted a stand-in, your X5 breeding partner would be the logical choice."
Logan leaned back in his chair, an odd expression on his face. "But what I don't understand is what went wrong? What does Alec the tomcat have his claws in the ceiling about? Does he seriously think you were using him as a substitute for me? Did you tell him last night that you loved him then denied it to his face this morning? What are you doing, Max?"
"Logan ..."
"Who's name were you screaming last night, Max? Mine or his?"
"His," she said weakly as tears streamed down her face. "His."