Chapter Three
AN: at one time this was spell checked but my puter flipped and I'm too
tired to fix it now.
Compromise
When Max came back from her ride she wasn't alone.
And Asha had to admit that so far this Zack was the best one of the lot. Sure he had a chip on his shoulder the size of Taiwan but at least he seemed content to use all his resources. And he didn't have any problem with placing her into the resource category. After that he seemed to ignore her completely. Which was a definite plus, with Max's sharp glances and Alec's idiocy making Logan's place increasingly uncomfortable
As soon as this was over it would be nice to go back to any semblance of normalcy. Zack seemed to realize this and kept to himself mostly. Though it was clear who was in charge. Zack may have issued all the orders, but Max had him wrapped around her finger.
Max seemed to do that quite easily actually. With men especially. She even had Bling following her every whim. She only ever had problems with Alec, but even Alec seemed to respect her enough to eventually do what she asked. Unlike with Asha. Alec seemed to do anything but listen to what she suggested. Ever the super human. Always reminding her that he could crush her with his pinky.
Which was old the first time he suggest it.
Currently she was busy keeping up on Eye's Only infomation. Reading Logan's tip line to be precise.
"What are you doing that for?" Alec asked coming up behind her at the computer.
"Because despite the soap opera drama occuring with us, there are still other people out there who need a voice." she gritted her teeth, grinding them in an ageless bad habbit.
Alec placed his hands on the back of her chair and she couldn't help but tense as his fingers grazed the back of her shirt. The cotton seemed too thin as his warmth invaded her space. Despite his definate assness, he still had this obnoxious habit of sending that familar wave of heat through her when he was this close.
Which Asha found more then slightly unfair. Especially seeing as how he seemed to pick up on it and use it to his every advantage, whereas she had no such power over him. Decidedly unfair.
Deciding to ignore his presence she clicked on the next message, sending the whole system into a serious of blips before the screen totally blacked out.
"Shit." Asha moaned.
Alec chuckled, leaning close to her ear.
"Shoulda scanned that one before opening it. Bet it had a tracer on it too."
Oh he was to hilarious. Spinning the chair around she shoved him away as she stood up.
Alec blinked in shock and fell a step behind, only to grin and approach her again.
"Not my fault you screwed up." he chuckled, enjoying the sight of her frustration. She sneered at him and shoved him back again. He pushed her back into the chair, sending it wheeling into the computer table a foot away, before he trapped her in the seat by placing his arms on the chair on either side of her. Leaning in so his nose almost touched hers he continued. "You should really learn to control that temper of yours. It's gonna get you into more then a little bit of trouble." He hinted with his eyes exactly what kind of trouble he meant and she looked suprised.
Like she didn't realize that for a norm she was definately in the top ten percent.
He was too preoccupied with his suddenly less then virtuous thoughts about her to notice her suprise turn to determination. So when she brought her knee to his groin he was anything but prepared.
"Bitch." he swore backing away in pain.
Standing up she shoved him further from her as he recovered from her knee.
"If you hadn't come in here with the purpose of bugging the shit out of me then this wouldn't have happened. You're just lucky Logan has a backup system. I might not have been so nice." she smirked.
He backed her into a wall. Placing himself against her so she couldn't use her knees as effectively he tried to regain some dignity.
"I didn't do anything but ask you a question Asha. It's not my fault my presence excites you." He smiled in her face.
"Your presence does anything BUT excite me." she sneered. "Annoy the hell out of me, yes. Make me consider violence, yes. But excite me...." she laughed bitterly, her voice growing in volume. "Excite me..." she enunciated in a loud and squeaky voice. "In your freakishly sick dreams!" She almost shrieked.
Pushing him away with her finger she backed him away from her with the look in her eye.
"You are a bastard. And I would never....NEVER...even think about you if you didn't keep breathing down my neck. YOU...do anything but EXCITE me!"
Alec found his back against the wall and her enraged form in front of him. Suddenly he didn't like the odds of coming out of this unscathed. In fact she was pretty damn intimidating for a norm. And this kind of rage was anything but attractive. He found it made him more then uneasy.
"Look Asha I..." he started, trying to soothe her overworked nerves. "...we're all a little tense here and..."
"TENSE!" she shouted interupting him. "Right cause that's a damn good excuse to be an ass to someone you don't even know." she nodded mocking him. "Perfectly good excuse to take your frustrations out on someone just trying to help. Hell, don't know why I didn't think of it sooner."
"Asha I..." she interupted his sheepish speech again with one finger pressed to his chest enunciating her speech.
"YOU do not know me. YOU have no right to torment my exsistance just because you think it's FUN. I have enough hell on my shoulders without having to put up with YOU."
"You wouldn't know hell honey. Not if it kicked you in the ass." he couldn't help but remark. She grabbed his collar and yanked his face inches from hers.
"At least you always had a roof over your head and you didn't have to do anything for that. You always had food to eat. You were taken care of." she whispered with venom then pushed him away to reach in her pocket and throw some change at his feet.
"That is ALL I have in the world. And unlike you I have responsibilities. People depend on me. You can't even begin to comprehend what I am going through. And I don't have anyone to run away to. There is NO ONE who will fix my problems." she gestured wildly with her hands. " You can just run to your baby sister and she'll make it all better for you." her finger dug into his chest before she turned her back and stalked to the other side of the room.
"Logan is the only one I can depend on. And he is missing. People will probably die because I don't have money to pay some crooked cop. And unlike you there is only one way I can get my money. I'm running out of time for that as well. So don't you DARE give me any crap on how hard it is to be you."
He found his tongue twisted in his mouth and his heart ache for her hurt. A new experience for him. But he was powerless to stop her exasperated sigh as she stormed out of the penthouse. Instead he followed her.
She lived in a dump. He wasn't suprised.
He watched from an abandoned building across the street with his enhanced vision.
She lived in a hollowed out church, stained glass windows broken out in more places then one. Walls had been thrown up, some made from sheets, others from scrap found lying around. His eyes watched as she knocked on a cardboard box and duct tape wall.
She entered through a hole in the wall with a ratty blanket tacked over it. Dropped something in a coffee can and offered the crippled man inside a hug before she checked a bandage on his arm.
"...and you should keep yourself covered better. It's chilly out there. We can't have you getting a cold on top of it all too." her voice teased. The old man smiled and kissed her cheek.
"Such a sweet girl. In my day girls your age didn't have to worry about half as much. They were all out having fun. They certainly didn't have old men like me to take care of. If I were younger I'd take you off the streets, give you a nice place to live, with running water and heating." Asha smiled as she tucked another blanket around the old man.
"Ah Daniel. Let's run away tonight. Who cares about age anyway?" She chuckled and he smiled. "Besides I caught Jen spying on you the other day. I think she might just steal you away from me." She pretended to pout.
The old man's eyes lit up at her comment and Alec could tell he had feelings for this Jen.
"Ah she's just an old fart. Now you on the other hand." The old man playfully patted Asha's rear as she walked past him to grab another blanket. Asha played back, jumping away from his hand.
Alec noted the fact that it had been way too long since he'd touched another woman and that Asha had a fairly nice rear. His mind quickly went to a place it shouldn't have and he scolded himself for his urge to make Asha play with him.
Getting her all worked up did things to him that he would be a fool to act on. She wasn't just any girl. She'd expect more from him and he hated to admit that he wouldn't be able to just walk away when it was finished. Somehow she'd sunken her claws in him... at least enough to rule out fooling around.
Which was a damn shame.
Because it seemed to be on his mind more and more lately. And the curve of her hips, the sway in her step, were more then inviting and definately not helping the matter.
Asha smiled and slid out of the room with a quick goodbye. He watched her stop in another room, hold a crying baby as it's mother attended to two dirty toddlers that had been hanging on her shirt. The baby stopped crying and the mother smiled gratefully as the sleeping infant was placed on an old mattress next to it's siblings.
He waited as she visited a few more families. Attending to needs they couldn't fulfill or just offering a kind word.
Alec knew that she was into the whole Eyes Only protecting the underdog thing. He'd known she was with the S1W and wasn't afraid to go to extremes to protect said underdog. But it was the first time he'd seen her in action. With her it really was more then a job. And something about the way she went about it warmed a part of him long cold.
Maybe that was why he'd waited until Daniel was asleep to slip a twenty into the beat up old coffee can.
-----------
Asha noted that the next few days seemed to move without incident. Of course that may have been due to the fact that she'd managed to avoid being caught alone with Alec. Seeing as how he seemed to be the root of all her problems, avoiding him seemed to be the best possible solution.
But in typical Alec fashion he had different ideas and managed to corner her on the third day of their estrangement.
"Look Asha, I'm sorry." He offered placing a hand on her shoulder as she turned to rush out of the kitchen. She'd only wanted a drink of water, not to be cornered by smartass. Conversation with the jerk was far beyond the last thing on her to do list.
"Alec just forget it ok. It's over. We get Logan back and we don't ever have to see each other again. That simple. It's obvious you don't like me and I don't like you." He tried to hide a small smile. Asha rolled her eyes. "What now?" she demanded.
"Nothing. Continue." he commented only digging himself deeper.
"No it's not nothing. It's some smartass remark, I'm sure, so just get it out already."
Alec's face grew serious has he pulled her to him so he could whisper in her ear.
"For not liking each other we sure are getting good at knowing how to make the other squirm." he noted at her stiffened figure. "I'm sorry I'm such an ass. But I'd really like to start over."
"Right." she pushed away violently and sent him an angry glare as payback for the way he made her heart jump a little when he rubbed his hand across the exposed skin of her lower back. "Didn't we try that already?" She hated that she couldn't just hate him.
That there was something about him that made her want to be the one he talked to. Made her like the way his hand felt on her skin. That didn't think twice before laughing at his comments.
"I promise to leave you alone if you promise to stop avoiding me." He smiled and she felt her resolve start to melt. He was such a freaking pig. Shallow, idiotic, and more trouble then he was worth.
"Fine, though I don't see how that's going to work. Get out of my way." she demanded and he stepped aside.
"By the way, I enjoy your company when you're not plotting my death." he tossed over his shoulder and heard her freeze momentarily before she rushed out of the room.
Compromise
When Max came back from her ride she wasn't alone.
And Asha had to admit that so far this Zack was the best one of the lot. Sure he had a chip on his shoulder the size of Taiwan but at least he seemed content to use all his resources. And he didn't have any problem with placing her into the resource category. After that he seemed to ignore her completely. Which was a definite plus, with Max's sharp glances and Alec's idiocy making Logan's place increasingly uncomfortable
As soon as this was over it would be nice to go back to any semblance of normalcy. Zack seemed to realize this and kept to himself mostly. Though it was clear who was in charge. Zack may have issued all the orders, but Max had him wrapped around her finger.
Max seemed to do that quite easily actually. With men especially. She even had Bling following her every whim. She only ever had problems with Alec, but even Alec seemed to respect her enough to eventually do what she asked. Unlike with Asha. Alec seemed to do anything but listen to what she suggested. Ever the super human. Always reminding her that he could crush her with his pinky.
Which was old the first time he suggest it.
Currently she was busy keeping up on Eye's Only infomation. Reading Logan's tip line to be precise.
"What are you doing that for?" Alec asked coming up behind her at the computer.
"Because despite the soap opera drama occuring with us, there are still other people out there who need a voice." she gritted her teeth, grinding them in an ageless bad habbit.
Alec placed his hands on the back of her chair and she couldn't help but tense as his fingers grazed the back of her shirt. The cotton seemed too thin as his warmth invaded her space. Despite his definate assness, he still had this obnoxious habit of sending that familar wave of heat through her when he was this close.
Which Asha found more then slightly unfair. Especially seeing as how he seemed to pick up on it and use it to his every advantage, whereas she had no such power over him. Decidedly unfair.
Deciding to ignore his presence she clicked on the next message, sending the whole system into a serious of blips before the screen totally blacked out.
"Shit." Asha moaned.
Alec chuckled, leaning close to her ear.
"Shoulda scanned that one before opening it. Bet it had a tracer on it too."
Oh he was to hilarious. Spinning the chair around she shoved him away as she stood up.
Alec blinked in shock and fell a step behind, only to grin and approach her again.
"Not my fault you screwed up." he chuckled, enjoying the sight of her frustration. She sneered at him and shoved him back again. He pushed her back into the chair, sending it wheeling into the computer table a foot away, before he trapped her in the seat by placing his arms on the chair on either side of her. Leaning in so his nose almost touched hers he continued. "You should really learn to control that temper of yours. It's gonna get you into more then a little bit of trouble." He hinted with his eyes exactly what kind of trouble he meant and she looked suprised.
Like she didn't realize that for a norm she was definately in the top ten percent.
He was too preoccupied with his suddenly less then virtuous thoughts about her to notice her suprise turn to determination. So when she brought her knee to his groin he was anything but prepared.
"Bitch." he swore backing away in pain.
Standing up she shoved him further from her as he recovered from her knee.
"If you hadn't come in here with the purpose of bugging the shit out of me then this wouldn't have happened. You're just lucky Logan has a backup system. I might not have been so nice." she smirked.
He backed her into a wall. Placing himself against her so she couldn't use her knees as effectively he tried to regain some dignity.
"I didn't do anything but ask you a question Asha. It's not my fault my presence excites you." He smiled in her face.
"Your presence does anything BUT excite me." she sneered. "Annoy the hell out of me, yes. Make me consider violence, yes. But excite me...." she laughed bitterly, her voice growing in volume. "Excite me..." she enunciated in a loud and squeaky voice. "In your freakishly sick dreams!" She almost shrieked.
Pushing him away with her finger she backed him away from her with the look in her eye.
"You are a bastard. And I would never....NEVER...even think about you if you didn't keep breathing down my neck. YOU...do anything but EXCITE me!"
Alec found his back against the wall and her enraged form in front of him. Suddenly he didn't like the odds of coming out of this unscathed. In fact she was pretty damn intimidating for a norm. And this kind of rage was anything but attractive. He found it made him more then uneasy.
"Look Asha I..." he started, trying to soothe her overworked nerves. "...we're all a little tense here and..."
"TENSE!" she shouted interupting him. "Right cause that's a damn good excuse to be an ass to someone you don't even know." she nodded mocking him. "Perfectly good excuse to take your frustrations out on someone just trying to help. Hell, don't know why I didn't think of it sooner."
"Asha I..." she interupted his sheepish speech again with one finger pressed to his chest enunciating her speech.
"YOU do not know me. YOU have no right to torment my exsistance just because you think it's FUN. I have enough hell on my shoulders without having to put up with YOU."
"You wouldn't know hell honey. Not if it kicked you in the ass." he couldn't help but remark. She grabbed his collar and yanked his face inches from hers.
"At least you always had a roof over your head and you didn't have to do anything for that. You always had food to eat. You were taken care of." she whispered with venom then pushed him away to reach in her pocket and throw some change at his feet.
"That is ALL I have in the world. And unlike you I have responsibilities. People depend on me. You can't even begin to comprehend what I am going through. And I don't have anyone to run away to. There is NO ONE who will fix my problems." she gestured wildly with her hands. " You can just run to your baby sister and she'll make it all better for you." her finger dug into his chest before she turned her back and stalked to the other side of the room.
"Logan is the only one I can depend on. And he is missing. People will probably die because I don't have money to pay some crooked cop. And unlike you there is only one way I can get my money. I'm running out of time for that as well. So don't you DARE give me any crap on how hard it is to be you."
He found his tongue twisted in his mouth and his heart ache for her hurt. A new experience for him. But he was powerless to stop her exasperated sigh as she stormed out of the penthouse. Instead he followed her.
She lived in a dump. He wasn't suprised.
He watched from an abandoned building across the street with his enhanced vision.
She lived in a hollowed out church, stained glass windows broken out in more places then one. Walls had been thrown up, some made from sheets, others from scrap found lying around. His eyes watched as she knocked on a cardboard box and duct tape wall.
She entered through a hole in the wall with a ratty blanket tacked over it. Dropped something in a coffee can and offered the crippled man inside a hug before she checked a bandage on his arm.
"...and you should keep yourself covered better. It's chilly out there. We can't have you getting a cold on top of it all too." her voice teased. The old man smiled and kissed her cheek.
"Such a sweet girl. In my day girls your age didn't have to worry about half as much. They were all out having fun. They certainly didn't have old men like me to take care of. If I were younger I'd take you off the streets, give you a nice place to live, with running water and heating." Asha smiled as she tucked another blanket around the old man.
"Ah Daniel. Let's run away tonight. Who cares about age anyway?" She chuckled and he smiled. "Besides I caught Jen spying on you the other day. I think she might just steal you away from me." She pretended to pout.
The old man's eyes lit up at her comment and Alec could tell he had feelings for this Jen.
"Ah she's just an old fart. Now you on the other hand." The old man playfully patted Asha's rear as she walked past him to grab another blanket. Asha played back, jumping away from his hand.
Alec noted the fact that it had been way too long since he'd touched another woman and that Asha had a fairly nice rear. His mind quickly went to a place it shouldn't have and he scolded himself for his urge to make Asha play with him.
Getting her all worked up did things to him that he would be a fool to act on. She wasn't just any girl. She'd expect more from him and he hated to admit that he wouldn't be able to just walk away when it was finished. Somehow she'd sunken her claws in him... at least enough to rule out fooling around.
Which was a damn shame.
Because it seemed to be on his mind more and more lately. And the curve of her hips, the sway in her step, were more then inviting and definately not helping the matter.
Asha smiled and slid out of the room with a quick goodbye. He watched her stop in another room, hold a crying baby as it's mother attended to two dirty toddlers that had been hanging on her shirt. The baby stopped crying and the mother smiled gratefully as the sleeping infant was placed on an old mattress next to it's siblings.
He waited as she visited a few more families. Attending to needs they couldn't fulfill or just offering a kind word.
Alec knew that she was into the whole Eyes Only protecting the underdog thing. He'd known she was with the S1W and wasn't afraid to go to extremes to protect said underdog. But it was the first time he'd seen her in action. With her it really was more then a job. And something about the way she went about it warmed a part of him long cold.
Maybe that was why he'd waited until Daniel was asleep to slip a twenty into the beat up old coffee can.
-----------
Asha noted that the next few days seemed to move without incident. Of course that may have been due to the fact that she'd managed to avoid being caught alone with Alec. Seeing as how he seemed to be the root of all her problems, avoiding him seemed to be the best possible solution.
But in typical Alec fashion he had different ideas and managed to corner her on the third day of their estrangement.
"Look Asha, I'm sorry." He offered placing a hand on her shoulder as she turned to rush out of the kitchen. She'd only wanted a drink of water, not to be cornered by smartass. Conversation with the jerk was far beyond the last thing on her to do list.
"Alec just forget it ok. It's over. We get Logan back and we don't ever have to see each other again. That simple. It's obvious you don't like me and I don't like you." He tried to hide a small smile. Asha rolled her eyes. "What now?" she demanded.
"Nothing. Continue." he commented only digging himself deeper.
"No it's not nothing. It's some smartass remark, I'm sure, so just get it out already."
Alec's face grew serious has he pulled her to him so he could whisper in her ear.
"For not liking each other we sure are getting good at knowing how to make the other squirm." he noted at her stiffened figure. "I'm sorry I'm such an ass. But I'd really like to start over."
"Right." she pushed away violently and sent him an angry glare as payback for the way he made her heart jump a little when he rubbed his hand across the exposed skin of her lower back. "Didn't we try that already?" She hated that she couldn't just hate him.
That there was something about him that made her want to be the one he talked to. Made her like the way his hand felt on her skin. That didn't think twice before laughing at his comments.
"I promise to leave you alone if you promise to stop avoiding me." He smiled and she felt her resolve start to melt. He was such a freaking pig. Shallow, idiotic, and more trouble then he was worth.
"Fine, though I don't see how that's going to work. Get out of my way." she demanded and he stepped aside.
"By the way, I enjoy your company when you're not plotting my death." he tossed over his shoulder and heard her freeze momentarily before she rushed out of the room.