Disclaimer: Nope, last time I looked in a mirror I wasn't James Cameron or anyone else lucky enough to own Dark Angel.
Summary: Sequel to "Then it comes to be." The cult loonies are gone but the transgenics have other problems to deal with, not to mention a whole civilization to build. M/A
Rating: R because of occasional violence and sex.
A/N: The NC-17 version of this story is posted at http://nunswithpens.hyperboards.com/.
WARNING: This is the R-rated version of this chapter. Smut has been deleted from this version of the chapter. To get all the details about what really happened in the office, check out NWP!! J
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"Hey boss," Jazz called from the doorway of HQ. "I got that, um, supply list you wanted."
Alec caught Max's eye and jerked his head in the direction of his office, indicating she should join him and Jazz.
"It's ready?" Alec asked the mechanic as soon as the three of them were alone. He rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
"Yeah. Sorry for the delay." Jazz pulled a tiny bugging device out of her pocket.
"Who we gonna bug?" Max asked excitedly.
"Lydecker's phone," Alec answered with a grin.
"Hey, this is more than just a bug," Jazz said indignantly. "This baby includes a mic, a locator, AND if Deck says something we don't like, we can use it to short-circuit the phone and disconnect the call. That's why it took me so long to get the parts together."
"Cool," Max said.
"Lesson number one, never turn your back on your enemy." The three X-5s exchanged grins.
"I want it in place tonight," Alec ordered.
"No problem," Jazz said and left with a cheerful wave.
Max closed the door behind Jazz and leaned against it, a mischievous look in her eyes.
Alec looked at her with one eyebrow cocked and grinned. "You still here?"
"Maybe I have something to report to my CO too" she said innocently.
"Oh, really." He looked at her empty hands. "So where's the report?"
Max playfully brushed one finger across her lips and licked the tip of it with her tongue. Alec stepped closer, his eyes locked on her mouth. He grinned wickedly. "Well let's have it then."
Alec bent his head and kissed her deeply, his tongue sliding into her mouth to tangle with hers. He placed his hands on her waist under her shirt and then slowly slid his hands up her body to cup her breasts. Max shivered in delight at his touch and bit his lower lip. He growled and pinned her body between him and the door. His hips ground against hers and she could feel him pressing against her, already hard.
----*----
Max collapsed against his chest and tried to catch her breath. He wrapped his arms around her and held her still, not wanting her to move yet.
"I definitely need to 'report' to you more often" she said with a soft laugh. She stayed on his lap until their heart rates returned to normal, and then reluctantly got to her feet. Alec sighed in disappointment when she stood up.
"Hey, I gotta get dressed before someone barges in here wanting to talk to our intrepid leader," she said as she bent down to retrieve her clothes from the floor. Alec suppressed the urge to slap her bare bottom. Max straightened up quickly and glared at him through narrowed eyes as if she knew what thoughts had flashed through his mind.
"What?" he asked innocently. "I didn't do anything."
She shoved her legs into her pants. "You're finally learning."
He flashed her a cocky grin and buttoned up his jeans. "Self-preservation. Knowing your aim, you'd probably smack me on the bullet hole and I don't feel like bleeding right now."
Max stuck her tongue out at him and then knelt to do up her boots. "I gotta go see Original Cindy. I'll be back in an hour."
"What? Not a smart idea." His heart thudded in his chest at the thought of Max alone in the city, exposed and vulnerable to a retaliatory attack.
"Excuse me? What the hell's that supposed to mean?"
He ignored the warning in her tone. "Max, you were kidnapped two days ago, remember? The mercenaries may be looking for payback and you're the obvious target. They know who you are, and what you look like."
"So? Alec, I am NOT gonna hide in here like some scared little girl. I can take care of myself."
Alec snorted. He grabbed his jacket and patted the pockets to make sure he had his keys and his cell.
"What do you think you're doing?" She watched him through narrowed eyes.
"What does it look like? I'm going with you."
"No, you're not." She glared at him with her hands on her hips. He glared back, his arms crossed over his chest. Their eyes locked.
Alec broke eye contact with a sigh and ran his hand through his hair. He knew he was over-reacting. Worse, he was acting just like Logan. "Sorry. Momentary fit of insanity. It won't happen again. Say hi to OC for me."
Max's anger faded when she caught sight of the fear lurking in the back of Alec's eyes. She curled one hand behind his neck and brought his head down to meet her kiss. His laid his hands lightly on her hips and he touched his forehead to hers.
"I can look after myself. Most of the time. And I'll only be gone an hour."
He nodded. "But if you're not back in one hour, I'm coming after you. And then I'm gonna kick YOUR ass."
Her lips curved into a smile. "Deal."
----*----
"Hey, handsome. How's my suga?" asked a familiar voice.
Alec looked up in surprise from the supply lists he was working on at the conference table. His feet dropped from the table to the floor with a thump as he craned his neck to look over at the door.
Original Cindy, Sketchy, and Normal walked into HQ. Max was a step behind them, a huge smile on her face. Alec grinned and sauntered across the room to join them. OC gave him a big hug. He and Sketchy did some complicated handshake, and Normal lightly punched his golden boy on the arm.
"Boo said one night wouldn't kill us," OC explained with a shrug. "And I gotta make sure you're treating my girl right."
Sketchy cocked his head and looked at Alec's shoulder. "Dude, you get shot again?"
Normal looked at Alec in alarm. Alec shrugged. "No big deal. We heal fast."
"So how many times you been shot?" Sketchy asked.
"Dunno. I've lost count."
"Just give him the bottle moron," Normal said gruffly.
"Oh yeah. Here, we got you this. Sort of like a housewarming present." Sketchy pulled a 40 oz bottle of scotch out of his bag. Alec rolled his eyes and laughed.
Max pinned Lydecker with her gaze when she noticed him watching from the shadows. She stepped closer and lowered her voice. "What, you never thought we could have normal friends who wouldn't be freaked out by the truth? Who'd actually accept us for who we are? You don't know us. We aren't what you think we are."
She turned her back on him and joined OC. The two girls withdrew a short way from the guys so they could discuss 'girlie' things in private.
"Thanks for the scoop, dude," Sketchy said excitedly to Alec. "My editors totally flipped over the story about how you guys saved that senator's kid."
"Yeah, well, assassination wasn't the only thing we were trained for," Alec said with a shrug.
Normal glanced around the room in curiosity. His eyes lit up when he saw Gem walk into HQ with her baby.
"Hey," Gem said and smiled shyly at Normal. "Somebody wanted to say hi." She placed the baby into Normal's eager arms. He held her up so he could get a good look at her. She was growing fast; like all X-series babies she was advanced for her age.
"Well hello there precious," Normal said with a silly grin on his face. Hope cooed and grabbed at his nose. He kissed her outstretched hand as she batted at his face.
"I wanted to name her after you, but Normal didn't seem like the right name for a freak."
"You're not a freak, are you sweetheart," he cooed. "No, you're just perfect." He turned his head to look at Gem. "Hope is the perfect name for this little one."
Gem smiled. "She likes you. I can tell cuz she's not crying."
Normal shrugged. "I'm a people person."
"Drinks are on me," Alec called out, signalling to everyone in the room except Lydecker.
"You got a bar here? Cool. Does it have a pool table?" Sketchy asked eagerly.
OC rolled her eyes. "Fool. When you gonna get it through your thick-ass skull you can't beat a transgenic at pool?"
Sketchy shrugged. "Some of that skill's gotta rub off on me eventually. Karma."
Alec slapped him on the back. "Don't deprive the man of his dream, OC. Cuz I could always use the extra cash."
"Just give the man a donation and save yourself the humiliation," OC advised Sketch, who just ignored her.
"Hey Luke, Dix, c'mon," Alec called out. "You too." Dix hurried over to join them. Luke followed more slowly, his head ducked to hide his proud smile at the invitation to hang with his CO. Alec led the way to the bar. His wrapped his arm around Max's shoulders and she slid hers around his waist.
Normal and Gem brought up the rear. He jiggled Hope up and down as they walked, and the baby gurgled in pleasure. He glanced over at Gem and saw her stifle a yawn.
"You look tired."
She shrugged. "She's a handful. And child care wasn't part of basic training."
"Where's the baby's father? He should be helping you," Normal said, bothered by the thought of Gem struggling to take care of an extremely active baby all by herself.
"I dunno. I was hoping he'd be here," she gestured at TC, "but he's not. Which means he's probably dead."
"Gem, I'm sorry," Normal said awkwardly.
She looked up at him. "It's not what you think. We weren't in love, or anything. We were assigned to be breeding partners, that's all," she said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.
Normal looked at her in confusion. "You were ASSIGNED to be BREEDING PARTNERS?"
Gem nodded. "Last year, Max blew up the DNA lab at Manticore. That's how she got re-captured. So the only way to make more freaks was to pair us off and breed us."
Normal shook his head in disbelief. He'd always assumed Gem had gotten pregnant on the outside, not as part of some sick experiment. "They made you…" He trailed off, unsure about the direction the conversation was going in.
"Yep. Every night until I got pregnant. Actually, that's how Max and Alec met. They were assigned."
"Huh," Normal said and glanced at the pair. He looked back at Hope. She cooed at him and grabbed at his glasses. "What would've happened to her?"
Gem stroked the back of Hope's head. "They wouldn't have let me carry her to term. She would've been implanted in a surrogate, and raised as just another X-series soldier. I never would've known which one she was."
Normal felt a sudden wrenching pity. If Gem weren't living in the middle of a toxic waste dump, she never would have known her own child. Guilt and anger flooded through him. He was ashamed that humans could treat any living creature this way in the name of science and national security. He felt physically ill.
He handed Hope back to Gem and cleared his throat. "You need toys for her," he said gruffly, looking straight ahead. "Educational ones, to keep her busy. And books. It's important to read to kids. I'll get the best I can find and send them to you."
Gem opened her mouth to protest but stopped when she saw the determined look on Normal's face. She stood on tiptoe and kissed Normal on the cheek. "Thank you," she said simply.
Normal smiled at her as she walked away, humming softly to Hope. He looked over at where the others were waiting for him to catch up. He felt his face blush bright red with embarrassment. He scowled and braced himself for the comments he was sure would come.
Max's lips twitched and there was an evil glimmer in her eyes. She was sorely tempted to make several bitchy comments after all the abuse she'd taken from Normal through the years. Alec pinched her arm and shook one finger at her. "Play nice, Maxie," he whispered.
Max rolled her eyes, but she bit her tongue and looked away.
Alec led the way through the door of the run-down warehouse they'd converted into a bar. The room was mostly filled with Xs, both 5's and 6's, although there were a couple of tables of freaks in the far corner. There was a grey area between the two groups where a few Xs and freaks mingled, but mostly the transgenics kept to their own kind. Old habits were still deeply engrained.
Alec glanced around the cavernous room and flashed everyone a good-natured grin. They all unconsciously straightened their spines slightly when he looked their way. He headed for the bar. It was manned by an albino Arctic soldier. His ragged hair stood up in tufts all over his head.
"Hey boss," the albino said cheerfully. He snaked out an arm and grabbed a bottle of scotch off the shelves that lined the wall behind him.
"Frost, say hello to Original Cindy, Sketchy, and Normal."
Frost nodded politely at each of them in turn. He poured Alec's drink first and then a couple of pitchers of beer for the rest.
They made their way to an empty table in the back. Normal and Sketchy looked around curiously, trying not to stare when they spotted the freaks in the corner.
"Welcome to Freak Nation," Alec said and raised his glass in a toast.
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A/N: Please review! And like I said at the top, go to NWP for the NC-17 version of this chapter. J