Disclaimer - If they follow me home, can I keep them? er.. Just one, then? I have a specific one in mind...
A/N: For the NC-17 version, check out http://nunswithpens.hyperboards.com/ Learning of Alec - Chapter 11 - infie
RECAP
(Monday)Alec's legs buckled and Max caught him he went down, lowering him gently to his knees, mirroring his pose so that they were melded from knees to head. She readjusted her grip on him to allow him to burrow against her even more tightly, the noises of his laboured breathing muffled against her neck. He took a deep breath, and as he let it out the racking sobs came with it.
(Tuesday)
Alec awoke curled up with his head cradled in Max's lap and his arms still encircling her waist as she sat propped against the wall, where she had held him all night. He lay still without opening his eyes, content to breathe in her warm, comforting scent. Her left arm rested along his spine, her fingers idly caressing his barcode. She shifted, giving a soft sigh, and his arms tightened reflexively in protest. Her hand stilled momentarily, then resumed its soothing movements against the edge of his hair.
"Alec?"
"Hmmm?"
"Tell me about Biggs?"
Alec twitched in surprise, and turned over so that he could see her face. Her eyes and the tip of her nose were still a little red, but otherwise she seemed to have recovered from the emotional storm of the previous night. Her hair was mussed, and she looked tired as she gazed at him entreatingly. He blinked at her, then shrugged slightly. "Sure." He wiggled until he found a comfortable position, then stared up at the bare bulb hanging from the ceiling.
"He was in my unit at Manticore," he began. He felt Max's body flex slightly under his head as she nodded. "He was assigned as the second in command. We got along great. He was the practical joker of the group." Alec smiled fondly. "He was probably the one I was closest to, until I was taken out of there." He shot her a quick look, and continued hurriedly. "One of my favourite memories is a training mission when we were really young, like maybe seven years old. The objective was a simple night retrieval; penetrate the enemy team's defensive perimeter, recover the merchandise, and return to base. Biggs decided that the mission profile needed a little jazzing up." Alec laughed out loud. "So he treated all the shower soaps and laundy detergents with luminescent dye. We headed out at midnight, and the entire enemy team glowed in the dark like big-assed 'shoot me' targets. The best part was," he gasped for breath between giggles. "They were glowing pink."
Max's lips twitched. "Not a very 'psycho-killer in training' colour."
Alec snorted. "No, no it wasn't. God, Lydecker had a fit. It didn't help that Biggs had also changed out his toothpaste." he snickered again. "The tight-lipped bastard's teeth were pink for a week!"
At that, Max laughed out loud.
"After..." he paused. "After I... left, I didn't see him much. I was released back to the unit a couple of years later, and he was the CO. A good one." he swallowed hard. "The best. He tried to keep me safe, but I bailed as soon as I was cleared for solo duty. He actually threw me a little party to celebrate."
"He sounds like a good friend." Max said softly.
"Yeah." Alec cleared his throat. "So, anyway, we hooked up on missions off and on, and I always looked forward to those assignments. He was good company, and he understood, you know, why I liked to work alone. He saved my ass a bunch of times."
"Oh? A man after my own heart." Max drawled. Alec swatted her leg in gentle reproof.
"The last time was Uzbekistan." Alec's face closed abruptly, and he sat up, hugging his knees to his chest. "Max, how did you know? About the cage?"
Max looked confused. "I'm not sure what you mean... When I was at Manticore, they used to punish me by leaving me in this tiny little box, no room to move, for days at a time. Over and over." she shuddered. "I hated it. I've never liked being locked up, even before. I guess... I figured that I'd be mad if someone stuck me behind bars, so it might work for you."
Alec closed his eyes. "You didn't know." He rose to his feet and started to pace restlessly. "Max, you couldn't have hit on anything more guaranteed to 'get my attention' than a cage."
"Tell me." Alec hesitated and shook his head. "Please?"
Alec gave her a long, pained look, then dropped down to sit beside her, propped against the wall. "Biggs and I were on our fourth mission together. I was assigned to aquire a sample of a genetically engineered supervirus from a man named Ashkovich in Uzbekistan. Biggs was assigned as my backup." Alec rubbed his hand across his mouth and heaved a ragged sigh. "The objective was located in a cave site complex, and I spent a week studying the layout and the guard patterns before I felt ready to head in." His mouth compressed. "It was a trap. The intelligence that was fed to Manticore was planted. By a group desperate to get their hands on a nice, juicy transgenic to dissect." A muscle bunched in his jaw. "Me."
"They caught me by electrifying the duct work, triggered by a heat signature switch." he shook his head at the memory. "Rookie mistake, missing the thermistor probes. In any case, I woke up in a cage. A nice, clean, steel square mesh five by five by four hanging cage. Costeel model 494." Max started. "Oh, believe me, Max, I was not immune to the irony of the situation." he laughed harshly. "I already disliked being locked up. It was used as a punishment tactic back home too often for any of us to be... unaffected. But these guys had tricks that even good old Manticore never came up with. Or, that is, they hadn't yet."
"So there I am, hanging six, maybe seven feet off the ground. Naked. And this guy in a lab coat comes in, introduces himself as Ashkovich, and tells me that they're planning on taking me apart to see how I ticked. I told him to go find himself a fucking watch to play with and let me go." Alec's eyes took on a faraway look. "That's when I found out that the bars were electrified, too." he stopped.
Max touched his shoulder, eyes wide in horror. Alec patted her hand gently and continued. "So, anyway, I was there for about a week before Biggs could obtain clearance to come in after me. He took a slightly more direct route than I had." suddenly he grinned hugely. "He stole a tank, and drove it right through the outbuildings until he found me. God, what a mess he made of that place. He brought the whole damned complex down right around their ears; took it apart brick by brick until he found me. He got me down, got me dressed, and carried me out."
"After he put two rounds in the back of Ashkovich's head." Alec bared his teeth in a fierce, pleased grin.
"Biggs told me that you were his CO." Max commented, after a long silence.
"Only for a while. Biggs took over in '09."
"I don't think he agreed with you there." she smiled at him. "He filled me in one night at Crash, after I made some smartass comment. He told me about how he saw you. Trust me on this one, Alec. You were still his CO."
Alec blinked rapidly, waiting for the fresh wave of grief to subside. "Thanks, Max."
Max leaned over and hugged him, hard. "Any time."
Alec rolled himself into a prone position, shamelessly resting his head in Max's lap again. She chuckled and once again began to stroke his hair with one hand, placing the other on his chest. Alec hummed softly in approval, vibrating her fingers pleasantly. "I'm sorry, Alec. If I had known, I'd have come up with something else."
"S'okay, Max. But, for future reference, I'm not real fond of electricity, either."
Max's fingers paused in his hair, then trailed delicately across his face, ending at his lips. "How about chemistry?" her voice was a husky whisper. "How do you feel about chemistry?"
Alec smiled slowly against her fingers. "Chemisty is OK." he said, his own voice silky. "Biology is better."
Alec grasped her hand and ever so gently took her index finger between his teeth, staring intently into her eyes. He bit her softly, then flicked his tongue against the sensitive tip. Max's eyelids drooped as she reacted to the delicate caress. He then closed his lips around her finger, drawing it into his mouth and running his tongue along the fleshy pads. Max made an inarticulate noise, twisting her body a little, and Alec smelled the scent of arousal begin to seep through her clothes. His own body tightened in response and he growled deep in his throat, sucking another finger between his teeth to give it the same attention as the first.
"Oh!" Max gave an incredibly erotic little moan as he nipped the pad of her thumb. "Yeah, I think biology is definitely the way to go."
Max and Alec get busy.