Title: Discovering Her Destiny : Tempting the Fates

Disclaimer: If I owned Alec, do you think that I'd give him to Max?

Summary: The Fates weave the threads that lead people to their destiny. They've led Max astray before, but perhaps this time she's found her soulmate.

Pairings: Max and Alec. If any two people were destined/designed to be together, it would be them.

Setting: 2022

Spoilers: Anything and Everything from both the show's seasons can pop up somewhere.

Chapter 13: Newlywed Lovebirds...

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Above Terminal City, the sky was a hazy mixture of gold, red and orange specks. The perfect sunset to drive off into. All Max and Alec wanted was to escape the madness of the day and set off for their new life together. The idea of a reception just did not hold any appeal anymore. They almost succeeded in slipping away unnoticed when a forbidding arm halted them.

"Oh no, you don't! There's still plenty more action, Lovebirds. You can't fly away yet!"

She motioned towards her handiwork.

"So...you like?"

Max and Alec stood in awe of Jondy's genius. They gazed upon her latest masterpiece of planning and were spellbound by the scene before them. In the two hours that had passed since Max and Alec had left the church for the less romantic Registry Office, Jondy and her helpers had been busy. The dining hall had been set up almost as beautifully and as fragrantly as the church had been.

"We like - lots. Thanks so much, Jo!" replied Alec, giving her a hug.

"Anyone ever tell you what a brilliant sister you are?" asked Max as she pulled Jondy into a hug as well.

"All the time, baby sister." laughed Jondy. Max laughed too as she pulled away.

"Really, Jo. Thank you. We really appreciate it. You know we love you right? And you can visit us all the time."

"I'll hold you to that, Maxie. I intend on visiting my little nieces and nephews often, so..."

"Whoa...Alec and I have just got married. Kids aren't even in the picture yet!"

"Oh, I don't know about that, Sis. Once you're on your honeymoon, I'm guessing that kids are going to enter the picture even sooner than you'd expect!"

Max scowled and then realised something.

"You know what Alec's planned for our honeymoon?"

She noticed Jondy's hesitation and Alec's desperate signalling to her to not say anything. She glared at him and then turned back to Jondy.

"Jondy, the best sister in the world. You love me, right?"

"Of course I do."

"Then, you wouldn't mind telling me what Alec's got hidden up his sleeve, would you?"

"Why don't you ask him?"

"He won't tell me!" she whined. She turned to Alec with a pleading look.

"Nope. No you don't, little Heart. You're not getting a word out of any of us. It's a surprise, Max. The operative word in the term being 'surprise'."

Max pouted in indignation and a chuckling Jondy cut between them and put her arms around both their shoulders. Then she steered them inside the reception hall.

"Now, now, dears. No more squabbles. I understand that this whole marriage deal is incredibly hard work, but I'd appreciate it if the marital disputes are put on hold until AFTER the reception.

Much groaning and complaining followed.

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Jondy turned to give the arriving crowd a welcoming smile. Asha made her way over to her.

"Jondy, this is fantastic! When I get married, consider yourself hired."

Jo gave her a good natured grin.

"Did you ask Logan first?"

Asha blushed and proudly displayed her left hand - complete with a new diamond ring.

"He proposed last night. Candlelight dinner, dancing, down on one knee, the works!"

"About time too."

"Yeah, I'd given up on him. And then he decided to surprise me! I was so stunned!"

"And happy?"

"Thrilled!"

Jondy gave Asha a huge hug. The two had become quite good friends during the time that they had got to know eachother.

"Asha, I'm so glad for you! I'd be honored to be your wedding planner. Just set the date!"

Asha gushed her thanks and then left in search of her new fiancèe. Sketchy picked up a microphone and joined Jondy at the front of the hall.

"Testing. Testing. Ladies and gentlemen. It is our great honor to present..."

"Mr and Mrs Alec Brady!" announced both Sketchy and Jondy in perfectly timed unison. It was painfully obvious that Jondy had made him rehearse his lines endlessly to achieve absolute perfection. Max and Alec made their entrance to a round of applause. Alec wondered how Jondy survived the stress of the wedding, the ordeal of meeting her 'dead' brother, setting up a perfect reception and still look like she could take on Manticore's finest whilst still keeping every tendril of perfectly curled hair in position. At the moment, she was supervising the waiters who were pouring wine in the glasses of the guests who had also been seated.

"Your sister's amazing, Max," he commented as he held out his glass to be filled.

"Yeah, she is, isn't she?" Max smiled fondly. She was so glad that everything was finally right:

She and Alec were finally married. Normal had shown up again with a shameful face and admitted that he had been under the influence of Aspirin and Soda. He profusely apologised to Alec and then made a hasty retreat after offering them back their jobs. Zack and Alec had reached some sort of unspoken truce and although Zack couldn't bring himself to stay for the reception, he had given her a light kiss on the cheek and wished her well. Brin said that he had gone to the Space Needle to clear his head. In contrast to their coldness that afternoon, her other siblings had become friendly and gushing towards their baby sister. She believed that the change in attitude was due to Zack's approval and forgiveness. And now, surrounded by her family and friends and husband, Max found herself gloriously happy.

Alec smiled at the look of contentment on her face, and then leant down to kiss her: a long ,slow, deep kiss that defined perfection. For him anyway. Max's eyes popped open, flushing due to the whistles and the calls for more from their temporarily forgotten audience. It appeared that the Freaks had a fine appreciation for romance. Alec, being the show-off that he was, grinned wolfishly and complied. Before Max could raise a single protest, he had captured her mouth once more. More applause followed.

Sketchy, who had been chatting with Cindy, remarked.

"Somewhere in the world, I know that there's a girl for me."

"Hiding, no doubt!" quipped OC.

"Hey!" he exclaimed in indignation. OC had to laugh.

"Just kidding, Boo."

"Good. Gotta go, OC. Everybody's got their drink. That's my cue."

"Jondy's been whipping you into shape, huh?"

"Yeah. Believe it or not, I think she's beaten some class into me. The Sketchmeister is no more!"

BELCH

"Uhh...no worries there Boo. You're still the same."

"Thank God."

"Good luck!"

Sketchy stood and walked to the front, so that all could see him. After all the times he'd been exposed to the transhumans, he no longer felt afraid of them but had accepted them to be normal blokes whom he could call his friends. Joshua adored him, and Sketchy had to admit that he was fond of the Big Fella too. He tapped his glass lightly for silence. He took a deep breath to calm his jitters.

"Ladies and gents. I would like to propose a toast. These two people whose love you've all come to celebrate, are two of my best friends. Max, you've been around for years. OC and I watched you arrive late on the first day of work...and every day after that. We've watched you give Normal more hassle and grey hairs than the rest of us put together. We've watched you make out with Normal, which was probably the scariest experience for all of us. I, personally am still trying to repress. We've experienced you dying...only to return in tip-top form and flash your...nice scar in the middle of Jam Pony. But most importantly, we've watched you change from a totally lovable bitch to somebody who's just totally lovable and a kick-ass leader! And OC and I are going to miss you like crazy at work. 'Coz without you Max, Jam Pony just won't be the same."

Max honestly was about to start tearing up. It was such a sweet speech - coming from Sketchy, no less, and although he revealed some incidents that she would have preferred to keep under wraps, she loved his words all the more because it wasn't the speech that had been approved by Jondy. He'd come up with everything on the spot, and it all came from the heart. If Jondy was fuming, she wasn't letting it on.

"Alec, you walked in one day and you nabbed yourself a job. Man, you came, you saw and you conquered. Max hated your guts and you still stuck around. And now look at you. You've gotten yourself hitched to your numero uno enemy. That calls for some respect! Just don't forget us, aiight? You're still our bud! Just because you tamed the shrew...just kidding Max...don't forget us single people who are still in the bachelorhood. 'Coz we're never gonna forget you."

He raised his glass, and everybody followed suit. Although she had made the exception to Joshua's famous hotdogs - which were proudly offered to everyone - Jondy had been forcing some Logan-like culture onto everybody in TC.

"To Max and Alec. May the two of you have a long and happy life together. Try not to kill eachother, and may you have a long and happy life together."

As everybody clinked their glasses together, Jondy stood in anticipation of her own speech.

"I'm just going to give the newlyweds some short and simple advice: When you're wrong, say you're sorry. When you're right, hush up! On the days you don't like eachother, remember that you love eachother."

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THE END...

To find out how the marriage life turned out... To find out if their love story was a 'Happily Ever After'... To find out if the soap opera type drama is REALLY over...

there's a sequel in the works! Ch 1 already up...Final Destination

Please, please, please review! If you like /love/ hate this story - I'm all ears.