Part 2

My face flushed and I awkwardly asked what he meant by that.

"We need to find out why a male is in heat." Logan replied heatedly.

'A male'? It was Alec… oh he meant the fact Alec shouldn't even be in heat.

"Maybe you're wrong Logan… maybe he isn't in heat… maybe he's right, that he's actually sick – the bullet shot, maybe they infected him." I was grasping at straws, but I felt I was still showing more logic that Logan.

Logan gave me his 'I know more than you do' look…

I sat down, but I was hoping Logan would do a 'short version', he knew Manticore products didn't like to wait. "Tell me everything you know about Alec. So I can figure out why you think a male in heat is worse than White."

"First tell me about how you met Alec at Manticore."

"Why?"

His patience seemed more lacking than mine did. "Max…"

"Okay, okay… we were partnered."

"Partnered." He repeated. I nodded and he continued. "As in…"

Alec was in trouble, this was no time to play silly games, I'll just show Logan how mature I am by speaking about this grown up like. "Sex Logan, we were breeding partners."

The wind seemed knocked out of him and for a minute it was knocked out of me as well. Alec and I had a connection that Manticore had made, Logan had assumed, and I was being to realise.

It was uncomfortable, but Logan was as ever the grown-up one. "I thought there had to have been a program of sorts… Max… you have tiger DNA, so does Alec… Asha took a sample for me when he got shot."

"Why did you do that?" He knew 'that' was many - not telling me, taking the sample in the first place… the list was so long - I would see what he thought I meant.

"Because I wanted to find out as much as possible about him, so I could predict Alec…"

"Predictions would be a waste of time on Alec." I muttered and rolled further into the couch. "Just tell me Logan - everything you've found out."

"Zack had lion DNA… and came into heat…"

Too fast. "What?"

"When Zack was in the hospital, about to become Adam, he went into heat… only problem was he-"

"Felt confused because there wasn't a transgenic lady-lion…" It was beginning to make more sense. When I was in heat, I was chaotic; confused because I didn't have a destination… tangled because Alec wasn't around… my exact match… "Well I guess Adam will just put it down to hormones…" I nodded in defeat… I could tell what was coming next…

"Alec knows you're his perfect counterpart… he understood, and ran away from you Max…" Alec my 'perfect'… he ran away… from me, his equal… my heart felt pained.

Logan stood and went over to the window. "God knows why he didn't warn you." I could think of a billion reasons, but most of those sadden me.

"Why is White less of a threat than Alec?"

"Because Alec doesn't inspire confidence. Because Alec has found his 'mate'… if you were put in the same situation we could handle it, but Alec… he'll only think of himself…" Logan said this like he was stating the obvious. I thought he was wrong.

"He ran away Logan…" Introducing Lady Logic.

"Where did he ran to though Max?"

No… he wouldn't run to her…

******

"Asha."

Jerking from surprise I saw Alec at my door.

"I need your help."

"Your arm…"

"No." he replied abruptly, rubbing his eyebrow his tone softened. "It's fine… I need you to um,… tie me up."

This has got to be one of the strangest lines I had ever heard. I raised my eyebrow; he was going to have to do a lot better than that.

"Not like that…" For a moment he grinned, and I was about to whack him over the head, but his face became very serious. "For um protection. I'm going to be ah uncontrollable for a couple of days, and I don't what to ur… hurt anyone." My eyebrows must have raised further because he continued hastily. "Please Asha… hide me, tie me, and keep your lips shut about me until I figure out what I should do." He said this despairingly… like he already knew what he should do but it would hurt to do it.

I looked over this desolate boy with new eyes. This was serious… "You're not in trouble are you? You're not planning on leaving Seattle are you?"

Alec's attention was drawn back to me quickly and he looked like I had hit the nail on the head. "Plans… plans should be carried out… it's only the weak that let others influence them." He momentarily shook his head and looked me dead in the eye. "I'm not in trouble… but I will be if you don't help me."

*****

Alec hated asking for help… from anybody… Manticore had taught him that trait well. Seattle had taught him that, the programming they do doesn't let you develop individually… you are a drone, and Seattle showed him this, by showing difference… and Max had shown him Seattle.

Max.

Everytime he thought about her his fingers would tingle, he couldn't think about her, however he didn't what to think about leaving Seattle either.

It was home… because it held Max. Another bolt of electricity flashed through his body… he tried to ignore it, but ended up almost savouring it.

Max was his home… his mind needed to think about her, and his body yearned to touch her.

Alec told himself it was because he was 'in heat' that he was feeling this way towards her, but he ending up just groaning in desire and feeling sorry for himself. He had known this would eventually happen, he was angry at himself, why did he ever think he could control this, work up the courage to tell Max so they could solve it, together, naked… A bolt of lust hit him hard and the restraints held fast. Asha had tied up someone before; he grinned and then lapsed back into confusion. Why wasn't Max here? Beside him… with him…

He should have left the country as soon as Manticore had been destroyed. But he had followed Max, and had found Logan, and with that all his hopes destroyed along with Manticore. He tried to think about the Gill-Couple that he had helped saved, but only thought more about the 'couple' side of things…

Alec squeezed his eyes shut and tried not to think about how underneath that sadomasochistic leather and that tough-girl image, his other half was soft.