Chapter 31: Hive minds
Lexa leaned against Alec and tried to concentrate on the movie but her mind was elsewhere. She wanted to look at the rest of her file. She was anxious to see what their later experiments on the three of them had yielded. She looked at Alec's profile and the light from the movie flickered, illuminating his face. She was a little afraid of the emotions that simply looking at him produced. She already could feel them growing closer.
Unable to get into the plot Lexa decided to get up and get something to drink. Opening the fridge, she pulled the bottle of soda from the shelf. She looked at Alec and Vin sitting on the couch. Alec looked at her and smiled. Returning his smile she blew him a kiss and locked eyes with him for a moment longer. The she looked at Vin and Max. She was curled up against a pillow that was leaning against Vin, not quite cuddling but close enough, this made Lexa happy. As if he could feel her gaze on his Vin looked at her and nodded as if he knew what she was thinking. Then his face turned serious for a moment then turned to concentrate on the movie.
Instinctively she pulled out the milk and three glasses. She poured a glass of milk and filled the other two with soda. She put the cartons away and balanced the three glasses in her hands. She was half way to the couch before she stopped. She looked at the drinks she had poured unconsciously. She had come for a drink for herself and brought three. She shook her head and walked around to the front of the couch her hands shaking.
Vin leaned forward and grabbed the glass of milk from her. "How did you know that I wanted this?" He asked her confused.
"I don't know, you asked for it didn't you?" She said her voice wavering.
"No."
"You had to, why else would I bring it, and milk not soda?" she insisted.
Alec reached up and took the other glass of soda, "This is what I was about to get up and get too." He said slowly, his voice careful.
"Why did I do this?" Lexa asked her composure going.
Alec took the remaining glass from her and pulled her into his lap. The mere touch of his skin started to calm her and he made low hushing noises next to her ear. She relaxed into his embrace for a moment then realized he was purring at her.
She jumped up from his lap and stared at him. "Why are you doing that?" She demanded.
"Doing what?" Alec asked confused. He started to rise from the couch and Vin mirrored the movement, their timing exact.
"You're purring at me! And you two are moving in time like you are going to attack me or something! What is happening to us?" She cried moving backwards.
"Lexa, calm down." Vin's voice rumbled.
"You're doing it too!" She accused.
Vin's face looked shocked. The look on Alec's face had confirmed it.
Max stood and walked to Lexa's side. "Okay everyone, let's just chill for a moment. What has happened that you guys could have changed this much?"
Alec's face colored. "It could be what happened today."
Everyone was quiet for a moment, not wanting to say it aloud.
"That simple act can create a strong bond." Vin said.
"But what about us? We were never like that?" Lexa asked.
"If you think carefully we always seemed to do stuff like this Lexa. Whenever we fought against others or stole things we worked as a team and never needed to talk. It just seems to have gone to another level." He replied.
"This is too much." Lexa said raking her hands through her hair. Max put an arm around her.
"It's late. Why don't you go to sleep? After you rest in the morning we can go through the records a little more and maybe we will find some answers okay?" She said trying to calm her sister.
Lexa nodded, the beginnings of tears coming to her eyes. She walked slowly to her room. Alec stood to follow her but Max held him back.
"She's scared right now. Maybe it's better that you let her have some time to herself."
"I don't want to leave her."
"I understand that. Maybe you should just sleep on the couch though."
Alec nodded reluctantly. Vin went to his room and returned with a pillow and blanket. Handing them to Alec wordlessly he turned and went into his room. He was shaken by tonight's events also.
Max looked from Lexa's door to Alec to Vin's open door and shook her head. She hoped they would be all right. She walked to Vin's doorway and saw him pulling clothes from a drawer. "Uh, I just wanted to say thanks for inviting me to dinner tonight." She ran her hands through her hair nervously. Vin looked at her and smiled.
"Thanks for coming. Sorry about all this." He gestured to the living room.
"It's cool. Everything will be okay. Well, I am going to go." She turned to leave, then turned back. She saw him looking at her. "Bye."
"Bye."
Max walked through the living room and saw Alec arranging his bed on the couch and left. As she walked through the hall she could hear Alec lock the door.
~!~
Lexa changed and crawled into bed, emotionally drained. She turned out the light and could see the living room light turn out under her door. She turned onto her side and fell asleep.
~!~!
Alec tossed and turned on the couch. Finally he lay on his back staring at the ceiling. He longed to go into Lexa's room and slide into bed with her. He imagined that he could still feel her body in his arms as she had been this afternoon. He groaned quietly as he recalled how perfect they had come together. He shifted as his body betrayed his lustful thoughts. He closed his eyes and after quite a while, fell into a deep sleep.
~!~!
Vin changed into a pair of boxers and slid into his bed. He reflected on the time he had spent with Max before Alec and Lexa had arrived. He had almost been carefree. It had been so easy to talk to her, to flirt with her. He was pretty sure she had been flirting with him when she leaned across the counter. He knew she had been pretty serious with that computer geek Logan but he had gone and screwed up and now she was single. Lexa told him the sight had been pretty bad.
In the morning maybe Vin would find a reason to be there when she came to see Lexa. He knew Lexa was supposed to go back to work soon so she would be seeing Max more often. That made Vin smile, he could always go visit his 'little sister' at work, if Max was there it would be just a coincidence right?
Vin shifted onto his side and fell asleep to thoughts of Max in her low cut black shirt.
~!@~!~
Around 3 am
The three of them in their respective beds began to thrash as their dream began.
Somehow they were back at Manticore, in the dreaded uniforms that they hated. They were in line for morning muster. Lexa was in the middle, she was clutching her side, and her hand came away with blood. Vin moved to help her but Lexa was pulled away from behind. Behind her was a tall man with dark hair, he was wearing Manticore issue clothing also. But on the shirt was the symbol of the Sphinx. Lexa had mentioned that the second Manticore was called that.
The soldier had his arm around her throat and a bloodied dagger against her stomach, Alec moved to intercept him and Lexa as they moved closer to him but the soldier had been prepared for that. He and Vin moved to flank him but it startled him and the soldier plunged the dagger into Lexa's stomach and dropped her, running away. Other soldiers followed him but Vin and Alec dropped to their knees at her side. She was gasping and trying to say something but Alec couldn't make it out.
Vin pressed his hands to her wounds and her blood flowed over his hands and he screamed. While he tried to save her life a man in a Captain's uniform watched from a chair in the corner. Lexa kept trying to talk, to tell them to leave her, to leave the place that imprisoned them, to take care of each other. She struggled but couldn't seem to make her voice work. Her vision went black.
~!~!
Lexa sat upright in bed gasping for air. She turned the light on near her bed. Hot tears flowed freely down her face as she brought her knees up to her chest. She heard Vin scream and seconds later his door banged open. Then she heard both his and Alec's footsteps as they hurried to her door. They threw it open to reveal her sitting in bed shaking.
Alec and Vin crossed the room and crawled on the bed with her. Alec's arms encircled her and Vin rubbed her back. They kept in constant contact with her as if they wanted to assure themselves she was okay, that she was real.
"I had this dream" They all started at once. They looked at each other and fell silent.
"Did I die?" Lexa asked quietly.
Vin nodded his head and Alec said "Yeah, we tried to help you but couldn't."
"I had the same dream." Lexa told them.
Vin wiped away her tears and got up. He went to the crate and pulled their charts from it. He walked back to the bed.
"I had this theory. I think they were trying to make us like a hive mind, so that we would be more efficient. More of a hunting team." He said slowly.
Alec nodded. "You know, they did that with a unit of X7s. It makes sense."
Vin opened their records past where they had left off. "See, here it is. The hormones they gave us, it even outlines a hypothetical outcome. Sort of what I said. They even planned for you two to breed when you got older. They were curious about the outcome, something about your DNA."
"What about you? I don't understand, why would they pair us off and not you?" Alec asked.
"What I didn't want to tell you earlier when Max was here was that I was supposed to be paired with another alpha. They said that the damage that could be done while mating would be too much for any lesser soldier. I didn't want to scare Max with that, since she is an alpha and all." He looked at the two of them. "I would appreciate it if you didn't tell her."
"No problem." Alec answered.
"So if you didn't know this until now.. why didn't you date?" Lexa asked.
Vin was quiet a moment. "When we were younger I was with a girl for a while, one night the mood was right, I got carried away and hurt her. After that I didn't trust myself." He didn't go into details and they didn't ask. For a while they just sat there quietly.
Vin stood up and turned off the light. "I am going to go to bed. You two need to also. Sleep good." He kissed Lexa on the forehead and left.
~!~!
As they snuggled down into the covers Lexa and Alec lay awake for awhile. Finally Lexa asked the question that had been on her mind. "Does it bother you that this is all happening?"
Alec shrugged. "I don't know. A while back if you had told me that we would get that close I would have said "yeah right" and stopped seeing you, but it feels right you know?"
Lexa nodded. Her thoughts were troubled. "I'm going back to work in the morning. It's time I got back out there."
"I think it's good for you too." Alec said. He pulled her closer and kissed her softly. He ran kisses along her neck to her collarbone. Kissing her one last time on the lips he said. "Go to sleep now, it will be a long day with Normal bip bip bipping at you."
Lexa smiled and wiggled closer. "Stop that." Alec ordered.
"Why?" She asked mischievously.
"Trust me, if you don't, we won't sleep at all tonight."
She laughed. "Oh all right." She laid her head on his chest and listened to his heart beating while she fell asleep.
Lexa leaned against Alec and tried to concentrate on the movie but her mind was elsewhere. She wanted to look at the rest of her file. She was anxious to see what their later experiments on the three of them had yielded. She looked at Alec's profile and the light from the movie flickered, illuminating his face. She was a little afraid of the emotions that simply looking at him produced. She already could feel them growing closer.
Unable to get into the plot Lexa decided to get up and get something to drink. Opening the fridge, she pulled the bottle of soda from the shelf. She looked at Alec and Vin sitting on the couch. Alec looked at her and smiled. Returning his smile she blew him a kiss and locked eyes with him for a moment longer. The she looked at Vin and Max. She was curled up against a pillow that was leaning against Vin, not quite cuddling but close enough, this made Lexa happy. As if he could feel her gaze on his Vin looked at her and nodded as if he knew what she was thinking. Then his face turned serious for a moment then turned to concentrate on the movie.
Instinctively she pulled out the milk and three glasses. She poured a glass of milk and filled the other two with soda. She put the cartons away and balanced the three glasses in her hands. She was half way to the couch before she stopped. She looked at the drinks she had poured unconsciously. She had come for a drink for herself and brought three. She shook her head and walked around to the front of the couch her hands shaking.
Vin leaned forward and grabbed the glass of milk from her. "How did you know that I wanted this?" He asked her confused.
"I don't know, you asked for it didn't you?" She said her voice wavering.
"No."
"You had to, why else would I bring it, and milk not soda?" she insisted.
Alec reached up and took the other glass of soda, "This is what I was about to get up and get too." He said slowly, his voice careful.
"Why did I do this?" Lexa asked her composure going.
Alec took the remaining glass from her and pulled her into his lap. The mere touch of his skin started to calm her and he made low hushing noises next to her ear. She relaxed into his embrace for a moment then realized he was purring at her.
She jumped up from his lap and stared at him. "Why are you doing that?" She demanded.
"Doing what?" Alec asked confused. He started to rise from the couch and Vin mirrored the movement, their timing exact.
"You're purring at me! And you two are moving in time like you are going to attack me or something! What is happening to us?" She cried moving backwards.
"Lexa, calm down." Vin's voice rumbled.
"You're doing it too!" She accused.
Vin's face looked shocked. The look on Alec's face had confirmed it.
Max stood and walked to Lexa's side. "Okay everyone, let's just chill for a moment. What has happened that you guys could have changed this much?"
Alec's face colored. "It could be what happened today."
Everyone was quiet for a moment, not wanting to say it aloud.
"That simple act can create a strong bond." Vin said.
"But what about us? We were never like that?" Lexa asked.
"If you think carefully we always seemed to do stuff like this Lexa. Whenever we fought against others or stole things we worked as a team and never needed to talk. It just seems to have gone to another level." He replied.
"This is too much." Lexa said raking her hands through her hair. Max put an arm around her.
"It's late. Why don't you go to sleep? After you rest in the morning we can go through the records a little more and maybe we will find some answers okay?" She said trying to calm her sister.
Lexa nodded, the beginnings of tears coming to her eyes. She walked slowly to her room. Alec stood to follow her but Max held him back.
"She's scared right now. Maybe it's better that you let her have some time to herself."
"I don't want to leave her."
"I understand that. Maybe you should just sleep on the couch though."
Alec nodded reluctantly. Vin went to his room and returned with a pillow and blanket. Handing them to Alec wordlessly he turned and went into his room. He was shaken by tonight's events also.
Max looked from Lexa's door to Alec to Vin's open door and shook her head. She hoped they would be all right. She walked to Vin's doorway and saw him pulling clothes from a drawer. "Uh, I just wanted to say thanks for inviting me to dinner tonight." She ran her hands through her hair nervously. Vin looked at her and smiled.
"Thanks for coming. Sorry about all this." He gestured to the living room.
"It's cool. Everything will be okay. Well, I am going to go." She turned to leave, then turned back. She saw him looking at her. "Bye."
"Bye."
Max walked through the living room and saw Alec arranging his bed on the couch and left. As she walked through the hall she could hear Alec lock the door.
~!~
Lexa changed and crawled into bed, emotionally drained. She turned out the light and could see the living room light turn out under her door. She turned onto her side and fell asleep.
~!~!
Alec tossed and turned on the couch. Finally he lay on his back staring at the ceiling. He longed to go into Lexa's room and slide into bed with her. He imagined that he could still feel her body in his arms as she had been this afternoon. He groaned quietly as he recalled how perfect they had come together. He shifted as his body betrayed his lustful thoughts. He closed his eyes and after quite a while, fell into a deep sleep.
~!~!
Vin changed into a pair of boxers and slid into his bed. He reflected on the time he had spent with Max before Alec and Lexa had arrived. He had almost been carefree. It had been so easy to talk to her, to flirt with her. He was pretty sure she had been flirting with him when she leaned across the counter. He knew she had been pretty serious with that computer geek Logan but he had gone and screwed up and now she was single. Lexa told him the sight had been pretty bad.
In the morning maybe Vin would find a reason to be there when she came to see Lexa. He knew Lexa was supposed to go back to work soon so she would be seeing Max more often. That made Vin smile, he could always go visit his 'little sister' at work, if Max was there it would be just a coincidence right?
Vin shifted onto his side and fell asleep to thoughts of Max in her low cut black shirt.
~!@~!~
Around 3 am
The three of them in their respective beds began to thrash as their dream began.
Somehow they were back at Manticore, in the dreaded uniforms that they hated. They were in line for morning muster. Lexa was in the middle, she was clutching her side, and her hand came away with blood. Vin moved to help her but Lexa was pulled away from behind. Behind her was a tall man with dark hair, he was wearing Manticore issue clothing also. But on the shirt was the symbol of the Sphinx. Lexa had mentioned that the second Manticore was called that.
The soldier had his arm around her throat and a bloodied dagger against her stomach, Alec moved to intercept him and Lexa as they moved closer to him but the soldier had been prepared for that. He and Vin moved to flank him but it startled him and the soldier plunged the dagger into Lexa's stomach and dropped her, running away. Other soldiers followed him but Vin and Alec dropped to their knees at her side. She was gasping and trying to say something but Alec couldn't make it out.
Vin pressed his hands to her wounds and her blood flowed over his hands and he screamed. While he tried to save her life a man in a Captain's uniform watched from a chair in the corner. Lexa kept trying to talk, to tell them to leave her, to leave the place that imprisoned them, to take care of each other. She struggled but couldn't seem to make her voice work. Her vision went black.
~!~!
Lexa sat upright in bed gasping for air. She turned the light on near her bed. Hot tears flowed freely down her face as she brought her knees up to her chest. She heard Vin scream and seconds later his door banged open. Then she heard both his and Alec's footsteps as they hurried to her door. They threw it open to reveal her sitting in bed shaking.
Alec and Vin crossed the room and crawled on the bed with her. Alec's arms encircled her and Vin rubbed her back. They kept in constant contact with her as if they wanted to assure themselves she was okay, that she was real.
"I had this dream" They all started at once. They looked at each other and fell silent.
"Did I die?" Lexa asked quietly.
Vin nodded his head and Alec said "Yeah, we tried to help you but couldn't."
"I had the same dream." Lexa told them.
Vin wiped away her tears and got up. He went to the crate and pulled their charts from it. He walked back to the bed.
"I had this theory. I think they were trying to make us like a hive mind, so that we would be more efficient. More of a hunting team." He said slowly.
Alec nodded. "You know, they did that with a unit of X7s. It makes sense."
Vin opened their records past where they had left off. "See, here it is. The hormones they gave us, it even outlines a hypothetical outcome. Sort of what I said. They even planned for you two to breed when you got older. They were curious about the outcome, something about your DNA."
"What about you? I don't understand, why would they pair us off and not you?" Alec asked.
"What I didn't want to tell you earlier when Max was here was that I was supposed to be paired with another alpha. They said that the damage that could be done while mating would be too much for any lesser soldier. I didn't want to scare Max with that, since she is an alpha and all." He looked at the two of them. "I would appreciate it if you didn't tell her."
"No problem." Alec answered.
"So if you didn't know this until now.. why didn't you date?" Lexa asked.
Vin was quiet a moment. "When we were younger I was with a girl for a while, one night the mood was right, I got carried away and hurt her. After that I didn't trust myself." He didn't go into details and they didn't ask. For a while they just sat there quietly.
Vin stood up and turned off the light. "I am going to go to bed. You two need to also. Sleep good." He kissed Lexa on the forehead and left.
~!~!
As they snuggled down into the covers Lexa and Alec lay awake for awhile. Finally Lexa asked the question that had been on her mind. "Does it bother you that this is all happening?"
Alec shrugged. "I don't know. A while back if you had told me that we would get that close I would have said "yeah right" and stopped seeing you, but it feels right you know?"
Lexa nodded. Her thoughts were troubled. "I'm going back to work in the morning. It's time I got back out there."
"I think it's good for you too." Alec said. He pulled her closer and kissed her softly. He ran kisses along her neck to her collarbone. Kissing her one last time on the lips he said. "Go to sleep now, it will be a long day with Normal bip bip bipping at you."
Lexa smiled and wiggled closer. "Stop that." Alec ordered.
"Why?" She asked mischievously.
"Trust me, if you don't, we won't sleep at all tonight."
She laughed. "Oh all right." She laid her head on his chest and listened to his heart beating while she fell asleep.