TITLE: When Heroes Fall
PART: 1/?
RATING: R
PAIRING: Max/Alec!!! With slight L/A
DISCLAIMER: The characters belong to JC, Fox etc etc etc
AN: This is very loosely based on the Buffy ep. Normal Again which has to be the 2nd or 3rd greatest ep. of all time!!! (The other 2 being Fool 4 Love and Something Blue (guess who's a Spuffy fan lol))
AN2: Sorry 4 the lack of updates! Read the note on my profile for a longer apology.
~~~
Hold your head highDon't look down
I'm by your side
Won't back down
You wanted a hero tonight
Well I'm not made of steel
I'm not made of steel
But your secret's safe with me
~Made of Steel~ Our Lady Peace~
~~~
Alec pulled up in front of a run-down bar and shut off the engine. He sat there for several minutes watching people enter and exit the bar with steady regularity. He had exchanged the car several times since Seattle but had not had time for a pit stop. His stomach was knotted with the knawing pangs of hunger and a dull ache was beginning in his bladder. He would go in there, eat, wash up, and be on his way. Another nameless face in a nameless bar in Nowhere, USA.
~~~
Max swiped her washcloth over an abandoned table, stealing a quick glance at the door where Gavin stood, not so subtly keeping watch. A nightmare had left her particularly rattled that morning and the handsome redhead had found it necessary to hover more than usual.
"Don't you have something more constructive to do with your Friday night?" she hissed, going out of her way to pass by him.
"No," Gavin replied honestly.
"Well I suggest you find something before I call the cops and report my roommate turned stalker," she snapped, flicking the towel in his face.
"You're forgetting that I'm your ride home Princess," Gavin drawled, leaning back against the doorframe, regarding her with a smile.
"I'm sure some gorgeous young cop would be more than happy to escort me home," she said, swinging the towel over her shoulder and flouncing back to the bar.
"Yeah to the home I pay 75 percent of the rent for," Gavin called.
Max shot her hand back to flick him off before calling over her shoulder, "5 minutes Gavin. You're not out of here in 5 minutes I'm picking up the phone."
~~~
Alec stepped into the bar, barely missing colliding with a bulky redhead standing next to the door. He side stepped the man and slid into an empty seat.
A blonde waitress was next to him in a second, brandishing a menu and smiling widely, "Can I get you something to drink?"
"Maybe," he replied, smiling flirtatiously, "But first could you direct me to the bathroom, it's been a really long trip."
The girl ducked her head, probably to hide a blush, "Behind the bar, third door from the left."
Alec nodded his thanks as he started towards the door indicated by the waitress who was turned on by a discussion of his urinary tract. He reached for the knob when he was nearly knocked over for the second time that night by a petite brunette. He glared at the girl as she brushed by, her hair curtaining her face as she passed, preventing him from getting a good look at her and vice-versa. He let out a loud sigh and entered the grimy little bathroom.
~~~
Max exited the bathroom, a chill suddenly shooting through her, the feeling she had heard described as someone walking over your grave setting her nerves on edge. She shrugged off the feeling as and check to see if Gavin had abandoned his post. Seeing he hadn't, Max tapped on an imaginary watch mouthing "2 minutes." Gavin smiled tolerantly, knowing her threat was an idle one.
Max wandered aimlessly around the bar, using the brief lull to retreat into herself, mulling over her situation and life in general.
She would often try to revive that world she was suppressing with medication and counseling. She would grasp onto vague memories, small fragments of conversations and events but most of it was lost in a drug-addled haze. Max could feel the curious glances from her coworkers. Could hear them whispering about her, a favorite item of gossip.
Max had been an untouchable, Max was a fucking hero. Callie was a nutcase, a slut who lost herself in meaningless sex and whose friends went home and laughed at her behind her back.
She ran her hands agitatedly through her hair, brushing away thoughts her therapist would call "destructive" as she tried to focus on reality.
~~~
Alec returned to his seat and took time to organize his thoughts before the waitress came over. Took the time to cover an unexplainable tension that seized him, with his normal unaffected mask.
He turned nonchalantly and took in the presence by the door. The man was eyeing Alec suspiciously and didn't bother to turn away when eye contact was made. Alec averted his eyes as the tension transformed into a jumpy paranoia.
As a transgenic it was advisable to always be on your guard, the people trying to catch you always were.
In a time when the transgenic barcode was a death warrant and public lynchings were not only accepted but encouraged behavior, your ability to sense danger determined your lifespan.
The blonde waitress sauntered over with an exaggerated swing of her hips, her eyes gleaming in a way that was a little disconcerting.
"You ready?" she asked, smiling brightly. Alec returned the smile as he placed his order.
"Hey," he said, catching her wrist as she turned to leave. She spun around staring at him expectantly. Alec contemplated staying for the night but reminded himself that he was on a schedule. "That guy," he continued, "by the door. Does he serve a purpose or is he purely ornamental?" The girl was visibly disappointed but she turned to follow his eyes.
"Oh," she said the smile returning, "That's just Gavin. He's muscle for one of the girls here. Real weirdo, that one," she muttered, rolling her eyes.
"Who?" Alec asked, confused.
"Callie," the girl clarified, "Real antisocial and a total spaz. She had like a nervous breakdown once before," she added in a conspiratorial whisper. Alec nodded knowingly and thanked the waitress profusely. He turn again to see Gavin looking elsewhere and he felt a hint of relief. Maybe he would get through this night without incident after all.
~~~
Max hoisted herself up onto her usual seat on the counter, having checked on all her tables and harassed Gavin some more. The tingling at the base of her neck hadn't stopped and she began to wonder if this was the beginning of an attack.
She turned to Boss and coerced him into buying her a drink. She knocked back the shot knowing it would take hundreds more before the numbness would set in. She had an abnormally high tolerance for alcohol but the act of drinking had it's own calming effect.
She caught a brunette at the other end of the bar blatantly staring at her and she waved her fingers in a seductive little wave. She had often wondered why she was such an object of interest when many of the other girls were taller blonder and flirtier. Gavin had explained that there was something tantalizingly mysterious about her. A shattered innocence that guys couldn't help but follow.
Max saw the guy gather his things, ready to approach her so she quickly darted off to make another round of her tables. She wasn't in the mood tonight.
She forced herself to appear especially interested in a newly vacated table as she swiped a washcloth over the chair. Then she noticed the keys lying abandoned on the cracked tile floor.
"Shit," she cursed, snatching up the keys and dashing out the door.
"Hey!" she called seeing a lone figure making his way through the parking lot, "Sir! I think you dropped-." Her voice died immediately upon seeing the face in front of her.
In retrospect she had known who it was long before he turned around. That self-assured swagger that oozed sexuality could almost be copyrighted and that soft, sexily tosseled blonde hair was not a common trait to come across. But it was the confirmation that came with seeing that face that rendered her speechless.
Looking into those bluer than blue eyes with their fuck-authority gleam, which masked an inner loneliness, after so long, quite literally took her breath away.
~~~
Alec's heart had broken several times before. Now it was just someone stomping on the shattered pieces. A near physical sensation of pain wracked through him as he was faced with what he saw to be a ghost.
In different circumstances he would've termed it as fate. But being the product of science Alec knew there was no such thing. There were just a lot of fucked up coincidences.
She was smaller than he remembered but not much had changed. Her delicate features and tragic soulful eyes were taking on a panicked glaze and the tough exterior she was sporting was quickly breaking down, leaving her broken spirit exposed and raw.
When he finally spoke his voice was a choked gasp, "Max?"
~~~
The pair stood in perfect silence staring at each other for several emotionally charged seconds before a sound startled them to life. Gavin, having seen Max's hasty exit, decided to follow, not wanting to leave her to herself when she was obviously so shaken by something. He saw her almost immediately, and right away sensed the almost static charge around her and the lean blonde man she was facing. A sudden flurry of movement startled him and a quick succession of events which led to Max getting pinned to the wall of the bar happened faster than his eye could follow.
Alec slammed Max violently against the wall, his forearm digging into her throat as he held her in place. Max's terrified stare was morphing into the heated glare that he had been so familiar with. The look that had been so frequently directed his way. "You're dead!" he ground out, punctuating each word with an angry shake. Both of their breathing was coming in ragged gasps and Max knew that if she wasn't out of his grasp soon they would be fucking or fighting. There was a very thin line between love and hate. And of course it was never good to kiss a figment of your imagination.
Gavin sprinted towards the couple hoping to save Max from whoever her mysterious attacker was. Max's mental state was dangerously unstable and she was physically very weak. He came to a sudden halt when he saw her legs kick out, sending what looked to be a strong young man reeling backwards. Meek, nervous Callie was stalking over to the man in a manner that was damn near erotic. He could almost feel the emotions whipping around the two of them. The heat was woven with disbelief, surprise, but most of all a good deal of complete and utter terror was radiating from both parties.
Max felt the tightness in her throat, the constricting of her windpipes, and the spasmodic thudding of her heart as she walked up to Alec, who was sprawled on his back on the dirty pavement. Callie would have been in the middle of a panic attack at this point but hearing that name again, the one she missed so dearly gave her the strength to suppress the symptoms.
"You are not real," she said bluntly, "This isn't real, you aren't real, it wasn't, it isn't, and it never will be real."
"You're dead," Alec repeated, ignoring her rambling as he struggled to his feet, "I went to your fucking funeral!" his voice cracked on the last word and it sounded for all the world like he was about to cry. But Alec didn't cry. Neither did Max. Soldiers didn't cry.
Max suddenly stopped walking and began to back up until she was pressed up against the wall. She was tired of fighting it. He wasn't going away. She had taken her medication, gone to her therapy sessions, done everything she was supposed to but he was here. And he wasn't leaving. "This is not happening, this is not happening, this is not happening, this is not happening," she chanted softly, sinking to the ground when she felt the wall firmly behind her. Her hands began to tremble as she brought them up to cover her ears, "This is not happening!"
Alec watched Max's attitude take a complete 180 as she dissolved from that girl he remembered so well into a nervous wreck, rocking back and forth and talking to herself. The man he had noticed earlier, Gavin, charged at him, knocking him to the ground; he was too shocked to resist.
"Callie!" Gavin said abandoning Alec to cradle the frightened girl in front of him to his chest, "Come on gorgeous, fight this! I know you can."
Alec's eyes widened as he watched Max, the evil bitch monster from Seattle who had made his life living hell, struggling to breathe.
"I'm gonna go get her pills," Gavin informed him, stroking Max's hair gently, "You so much as touch her and I will break every fucking bone in your body." Alec nodded dazedly, unable to take in exactly what was happening here. The whirlwind course of events had left him baffled and confused, ignorant as how to act or respond.
Max could feel Gavin pulling away and could sense Alec staring at her, staring with two very real eyes. This was all very real, Gavin was seeing him too, something was a lie. She just couldn't figure out what. So she did the only thing she could do. Run.
She could hear Gavin calling after her, but she ignored it, focusing on getting her legs to move like she remembered they could, feeling the weakness that had kept her incapacitated for so long, fading away as her feet beat against the pavement. The sounds around her became white noise, the static you hear on a broken T.V, and colors converged as she blurred, racing down streets and through empty lots, just running.
She kept going for hours. Ignoring the burning in her muscles and the tightness of her lungs, if only she could go forever. Then she would never worry about what was real. It was just her and that was all she needed. But she knew she had to stop. And soon.
Miles later she turned into an alley keeping up her pace until she reached the wall. She slid boneless to the ground, suddenly aware that it was raining. Rather appropriate when you think about it.
It was now that her scraped and bloody feet began to throb, it was now that her strained muscles began to tremble and her vision began to blur and tilt from lack of oxygen. It was now that she noticed her pursuer.
She watched Alec turn the corner and enter the alley, his eyes on her face, pausing, afraid that if he went any further he would spook her. The pain on his face was probably a mirror image of hers and Max had never felt so connected with an individual in her entire life. Suddenly it didn't matter if he was real. He was back. She attempted to get to her feet but found the action virtually impossible.
She saw Alec tense, preparing to chase her again. When he realized that wasn't her intent he relaxed and came closer. Max could feel her dams breaking and she extended her arms hoping Alec would understand what she meant.
Alec watched the tears start to trickle down Max's cheeks, converging with the rainwater to drip off her chin. He saw her small frame begin to shake and it wasn't long before heart-wrenchingly loud sobs were tearing through her. Alec dropped to his knees in front of her, wrapping his arms around her in a comforting embrace. It wasn't until Max's own arms reached up to return the hug that he realized he was crying as well. Both clinging to something they thought they had lost as they both indulged in a long overdue release of pain.
~~~
TBC!!!! Hopefully soon!
~~~