The sounds of Lexa's footsteps echoed in the hallway as she all but stomped from Alec's apartment. She could hear Vin calling after her but was too angry to care. Halfway down the stairs Vin caught up with her. He grabbed her arm and she swung around, her hair flying about her face.
"What do you want Vin?" She demanded.
Vin held his hands up in a non threatening gesture. "Hey I just wanted to make sure you're okay." He said in his deep voice.
"I'm fine." She said and turned.
"Don't take it out on me cause you are upset." He said starting to get angry.
"Upset? Why would I be upset Vin?" Lexa asked in a low voice that Vin knew meant trouble.
"Look-" He started but Lexa cut him off by putting her hand up.
"Maybe I am upset. Hmm now why could that be?" She asked tilting her head to the side as if thinking. "I find out the guy I am seeing doesn't want to sleep with me." she knew this wasn't true but was feeling irrational. "No, that's not it. Maybe it is because two of the people I trusted most in the world betrayed me?" Her head straightened. "Yeah, I think that's it."
She turned once again and started back down the stairs.
"Where are you going?" Vin asked concerned.
"Don't worry Vin. I'm going right home like a good little girl." She said sarcastically. He followed her down but by the time he had reached his bike she had already roared off.
~!~!~!~
Vin reached the apartment to find the door still wide open and Lexa sobbing on the floor. Everything had finally caught up with her. Without a word Vin reached out to help her up and when she stood he held her close. After a moment he pulled her to the couch and sat down bringing her with him.
"He makes me so mad Vin. How can I love someone that makes me this mad? After all that has happened?" Vin shook his head
"I don't know Lexa. I don't know. But I think there was probably more to what we saw in there."
"Yeah right." Vin shook his head again and waited for her sobs to subside.
When they finally did he looked down to find her sleeping. He carried her into her room and shut the door. Then he moved to the set of free weights in the corner and started to work out.
Half an hour later there was a knock at the door. Setting the weights down Vin went to answer it. Swinging the door partially inward revealed Original Cindy standing in the hallway.
~!~!~!
Original Cindy had volunteered to come talk to Vin and Lexa because it had been the general consensus that either Alec or Max would cause a bigger problem than they already had on their hands.
"Hello Original Cindy." Vin said his voice cool.
"Hey boo." she waited for him to invite her in.
"Can a girl come in?" She asked.
He stepped aside and she walked in. She looked at Lexa's closed door.
"I need to talk to the both of you." She said.
Vin said, "I don't think that is such a good idea right now." His eyes also flicked to Lexa's door.
Before OC could insist a loud crash came from Lexa's room. "What was dat?" She asked.
He tilted his head listening to the tinkling of glass. "I figure it was her glass bear." he said.
Original Cindy swallowed. "Okay, Original Cindy will jus' have to tell you then." she paused looking at him hoping for some sign of acceptance. Vin stayed standing as Cindy sat on the couch. "Boo, it wasn't what it looked like last night." Another crash came from Lexa's room. It sounded suspiciously like the jewelry box that Vin had given Lexa for her sixteenth birthday. She was really pissed.
Vin winced but said "Uh-huh." He sat down beside her and tried to look uninterested.
"Really. Alec tried to get out and Max tried to stop him. She had just knocked him down and then Lexa came in. So you see it wasn't what you think it is."
A sound of material ripping echoed through the apartment and Original Cindy was the one who winced this time. "Sounds like Lexa's bed just died." She said dryly.
Vin nodded and stood. "She's really upset. It is probably better that you go. I'll try to explain it to her later."
Original Cindy silently agreed. She had seen upset X5s before. She went to the door and waved as she left.
~!~!~!
Vin looked at Lexa's door and sighed. He went into the bathroom to take a shower. When he finished he went into his room to see Lexa lying on his bed. He grabbed some clothes and went to look at the damage she had caused her room. He shook his head at the scene he saw before him. The bed was turned on its side and the stuffing had been ripped out. All of the figurines she had been given or she had stolen on their many adventures.
He decided to change and sleep on the
couch for tonight. He could help her fix her room tomorrow after he explained
what Original Cindy had told him. He pulled her comforter from the floor
and grabbed her pillow from where it was perched precariously on the windowsill.
Making his way through the darkness of the living room was easy and as
he lay on the couch he wondered how things could have changed so drastically
in such a short time.
~!~!
Lexa woke with a scream stuck in her throat. Another
nightmare. She looked at the clock and it read two fifty three in the morning.
Realizing that Vin had not come to bed she slipped out of the covers and
padded into the living room. Her eyes easily picked out his sleeping form
on the couch. Lexa moved so that she was standing over him and she watched
him sleep.
Moments later she realized he was beginning to stir. She brushed her hand across his forehead to let him know that it was she. He grabbed the hand as she was pulling it back.
" I thought you were sleeping." He said his voice
rough from sleep.
" I had a nightmare." She said yawning. "You go
ahead and take your bed. I don't know if I can sleep."
She yawned again her actions betraying her
words. Vin grabbed the pillow and blanket from the couch, then taking her
hand, he led her into the bedroom. "The bed's big enough." He said simply
and lay down pulling her with him.
They both lay content to listen to each other's breathing, not needing small talk. Soon enough they were both asleep.
~!~!~!~
The next morning Vin had to leave early to go to work but resolved to come home at lunch and talk to Lexa. He looked at her one last time before leaving. She was lying on her side with one arm wrapped around his pillow. Her hair lay about her like a halo. Even asleep he could see she was upset. Her mouth was twisted into a frown.
~!~!~!
Lexa woke and showered and changed quickly. She had decided to go out today and try to forget her problems with Alec. Even thinking his name made her angry. She frowned as she pulled on a pair of black jeans and a leopard print shirt. She quickly put on her boots and grabbed her jacket on her way out the door. She made her way to her bike and revved it up.
She drove to the post office like the bike was meant to be driven, Fast. She parked her bike and pulled the key to the box from her pocket. Inside was a slip for a package that hadn't fit inside. She waited impatiently in line behind a couple that was all over each other. She felt a stab of pain in her heart as she remembered being that way with Alec just a few days ago. She brushed the feeling aside as she gave the slip to the clerk and he returned with a rather large box.
Carrying to her bike and strapping it down she saw
that the return address had the last name Cintron. The guard who had helped
her when she was kidnapped. Hmm. She drove to her apartment as fast as
she could and sprinted up the stairs. Bursting through the door she settled
down on the couch and opened the package. On top of it was a note from
Joel.
Thanks for the warning. A few people have been MIA. Thought you could
use these, I am sure that you will make sure they get to who they belong
to. Be careful.
Joel.
She smiled in relief then looked down into the box.
Inside were what appeared to be medical charts. On top was hers. She flipped
through it quickly and saw standard things, blood type, tests run. She
stopped when she got to what had to have been a picture of her at age eleven.
From there on were mostly reports of tests run on her Alec, and Vin. She
put her record aside and pulled out the others.
The next was Vin's. She casually flipped through
it before putting it aside for him. The next few were Krit's, Syl's, and
Jondy's. She quickly flipped through more, it seemed he had got almost
all of her original unit's records. Zack, Zane and Lena's, were there also.
She put all of those aside and came to the last three records. She felt
tears sting her eyes when she saw they were Ben, Max's and Alec's. She
opened Alec's and saw pictures of him from when they were young. Some showed
him with deep cuts and bruises. Then she came to the section of his Psy-Obs
stays. By the time she was done she was sobbing on the floor.
After half an hour she put some of the records away leaving Vin's on his bed. She gathered Max's and Alec's and put them into a backpack. She thought for a moment then put Ben's in there as well. She went down to her bike and decided to go to Logan's and drop them off. Surely he would give them to them.
!~!~!~
She arrived to see Max standing in the hallway with an expression of complete shock on her face. Curious as to what would make her sister have such a reaction she moved up behind her. As she did Max came alive. Tears streamed down her face and she said with quiet fury "Looks like you found yourself a replacement cat burglar. Don't call me." She turned.
Lexa was not as shocked at the sight she saw. Asha
was standing naked beside Logan who was sitting in his wheelchair also
as exposed. Lexa felt indignant on Max's behalf. She looked to Asha and
said "Remember what I told you would happen?"
Asha's eyes grew wide and she nodded.
"I will be back to collect." Lexa said and turned, leaving the pair to collect themselves. She got into the elevator just as it was about to descend. Max was leaning against the back trying to stop her tears. Lexa looked at her and still felt angry about the night before.
"Hurts when it happens to you doesn't it?" She asked.
"Lexa, nothing happened last night. Alec was trying to leave and I stopped him. End of story." Max said angrily.
"Sure."
"It's true. Alec loves you. Believe it or not." The elevator came to a stop and let them out. Max walked out not looking back.
Lexa considered what she said. Shaking her head,
unable to decide, she climbed onto her bike. Her stomach growled and she
realized that she hadn't eaten in hours. Her fast metabolism also required
her to eat often. She turned towards Sector Six. Pasta sounded good and
she could go to the little Italian restaurant she had seen there.
~!~!~!
Alec had convinced Sketchy to take his afternoon runs so he could try and talk to Lexa. He went back to his apartment so he could shower and change before heading over to her apartment. In the shower he decided he was going to do more than talk to her, he was going to show her that he loved her. He got out quickly, dried off and dressed.
Excited about what he had thought up he grabbed his wallet and headed for the little market in Sector Four. They had all sorts of little shops there. He went into the CD store and the girl behind the counter waved and called out his name. He waved back and went to the classical music section. He found the CD he was looking for then also located a CD that consisted mostly of slow romantic songs. He quickly paid for them then left.
He bought her flowers and candles too. He took the CDs and flowers to his apartment. Half of the candles went around his bed, the other half stayed in his bag. He then drove to Lexa and Vin's apartment.
~!~!
He arrived to find no one home and the door locked. He easily picked the lock and let himself in. He set his backpack beside the door and went to Lexa's room. What he saw there shocked him. The room was torn apart. Apparently Original Cindy didn't get here in time. He thought to himself.
He quickly set about putting the room to rights. He swept up the glass, wood and mattress fluff. He set the ruined mattress outside, vowing to get her a new one. He had just about finished when Lexa got home.
"Hey, you didn't tell me you were coming home for lunch." She called out thinking it was Vin. "You didn't have to clean my room. I would have done it."
Alec stepped out into the living room so that she could see him. Her eyes widened as she saw him. "You were in my room?" she asked angrily.
"It's mostly clean now." He said quietly.
She took a step toward him. He stepped back instinctively. Her face betrayed her hurt but Original Cindy had warned him that she hadn't talked to Lexa personally.
"I need to tell you something." He said to her.
She got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Things never went well after a sentence like that.
"Nothing happened between me and Max. I was trying to leave my apartment." He stepped closer to her. "I was trying to come to you." He slowly reached out and pulled her into his arms. "You are the one I want to be with. Haven't I proved it to you?" He asked. "Not many people would go to a place of nightmares like another Manticore. I went to get you. The one I want."
Lexa recalled the symbol she had seen next to the
Manticore symbol on the records. "Sphinx."
She said pressing her face against his chest trying to block out memories.
"What?" Alec asked pulling away a little so he could see her face.
"Sphinx." It is what the second Manticore was called." She pulled away and went for her backpack that was sitting on the kitchen counter. She opened the bag and pulled the three records from it. Silently she handed him his.
For a moment he was quiet, she watched him stare at his barcode on the label. Then, with shaking hands he opened it. She watched as he flipped through the pages scanning the pictures. His face seemed to close down, showing no emotion. Finally he looked up. "Where did you get this?" He asked. She couldn't tell what was going through his mind.
"The guard that helped me out that night sent them to me." She answered.
"Them." She grabbed his hand and holding it, she led him to the box. "Most of them are here. Mine, Vin's, almost all of my original unit." Alec looked at her steadily.
"All?" he asked. She knew that he was referring to Ben's. She nodded and rose from the floor they had sat on and went to the counter where she had laid Ben's and Max's.
She brought them back and put Max's on the floor. Then she handed him Ben's.
"Have you looked at it?" He asked.
"I glanced at it. Not much."
"Does it-" He broke off, seemingly unsure. She gave him a look of encouragement. "Seem anything like mine?" he asked.
"I don't know. We can look now." She offered. He nodded his head relieved to not have to do this alone.
They sat them on the coffee table and sat on the floor side by side. In the beginning the records looked much the same, childhood vaccines, same scores on field exercises. But when the boys turned seven the differences started. Alec already showed signs of rebellion, nothing big, defiance here and there. Ben on the other hand started showing signs of serious mental illness. The doctor who was in charge of his unit began to worry and no one he told seemed to think the same.
Alec compared pictures side by side. Their wounds while training were similar. They had both torn open the side of their right calves in an escape and evade drill. Alec on an exposed tree root and Ben on a rock he had fallen on trying to dodge a member from the other team. The wounds had been in the exact same places. The days were different though. Two days apart.
Alec pulled up the pant leg of his black cargo pants.
There was no scar thanks to the healing powers of his body but Lexa could
tell he was seeing something else beside his muscular calf.
She pulled him into a hug that he returned with fierce emotion.
"I've missed you." He told her.
"I missed you too."
He looked into her eyes, those strange eyes of hers. Then, careful not to scare her off, he kissed her. He meant it to be only soft and gentle but once he tasted her it seemed he couldn't get enough. He devoured her with his mouth. Just then the door opened and Alec groaned.
Vin walked in and notice Lexa first as she was closest to the door. "Hey Lex, I need to tell you something-" then he noticed Alec. "Which you probably already know. Sorry."
She hopped up. "It's okay big brother." It was the first time she had called him that and his pleasure showed. She handed him his record. "This is your record from home sweet home. I thought the three of us could go through them tonight at dinner so that we could maybe find out why we do the things we do. You know, the heat thing, the food thing. Stuff like that."
"Food thing?" Alec asked.
"Haven't you noticed that we are all always hungry at the same time? Or our food preferences run along the same lines? Sure we have differences here and there but not many."
Alec thought about it. He nodded his head. "Okay we'll do this at dinner." He stood up and grabbed her hand. "C'mon."
She laughed as he pulled her to the door. "Where are we going."
"My apartment."
"Why?"
"Because your room is ruined."
"So?"
"Your bed is ruined." He turned to face her his
eyes dark and hungry. He kissed her fiercely. She responded in kind.
"Mmm." She grabbed her keys. "Invite Max to dinner. She's upset. She caught Logan and Asha-" was all she got out to Vin before Alec closed the door.
Vin smiled at them. He was happy they finally got over that particular hurdle. Then he picked up the phone. He dialed Max's beeper and left their number.
~!~!~!~
Hey, sorry it took so long to get this up. It just came to me
one night though. I am already starting on the next chapter, and depending
on how many reviews I get I will post it by Saturday.