Title: Doesn't Really Matter
A/N: Thanks to Kieryn and JT for all the excellent beta work they did, and trust me, it was a lot!
He was going to do it.
Lately, things between him and Max had progressed beyond friendly. To make sense of all this, he'd spent last night talking with Cindy about the emotions and feelings that had been baffling him for so long.
In the past, he never thought that he could have romantic feelings for Max. Yes, he had felt love before, but what he and Max had was unusual. What he felt around Max was different then what he had felt when with Rachel. With Rachel, it had been more of a surfacing of emotions he had never known or understood before. With Max, however, it was strange. When he was with Max, he would take every opportunity possible to accidentally touch her, breathe in her scent or make a comment that he knew would anger her. He could tell that Max was doing the same to him. This meant that chances were, she felt the same way; but both were just too scared to take action upon it.
Unlike Max, Alec was a true soldier that was not about to let a girl continue to perplex him like this. No, he needed clarity, and for someone to tell him what to do. So, he had gone to the only person that he could confide in. Hell, if Cindy was capable of making sense of Max's screwed up life, then she, of course, should be able to attempt to sort out his.
What was her advice? To tell Max right out. Max would never be the one to initiate things between the two. And while he was slightly worried about having it all thrown back in his face, Cindy's reassuring had words pushed him on.
Now it was two days later.
Originally, Alec had given himself a day to sort out and gather his thoughts. He didn't need or want to make a complete ass of himself when the carefully constructed walls to his heart were about to come down; thus leaving him vulnerable to the one person who could truly do damage to it. When everything was composed to his liking, he went out in search for her.
Unfortunately, she was nowhere to be found, and as more and more time passed, he became increasingly worried. He had tried Crash, her place, work and he had even called Logan. Of course Mister Eyes Only had been to busy to answer his calls. The two of them were probably off somewhere together saving the world. That's the one thing he never understood about their relationship. Didn't she see that he was only using her?
At first he assumed he had once again done something to piss her off, in fact, he could almost imagine her over at Logan's, the two of them sipping Pre-Pulse something or other, while Max regaled the wheeled wonder with another hilarious story of Alec the screw up. But when he had asked Cindy, and she hadn't heard from her 'Boo' either, that's when he began to worry. It wasn't like Max not to let Cindy know what was up. Him, sure. She'd go off and get married without so much as a glance in his direction, but this was Cindy. She made sure to know where Max was the majority of the time, always worried that she'd be picked up by White and his Familiar nut jobs. If she didn't know, then something big most have come up all of a sudden, and usually, it was Logan who got her involved in 'something big'.
The man had no real concern for her safety. The only thing he really seemed to care about was his precious EO missions. Alright, this wasn't helping. All the bitching about Logan put him no closer to finding Max. Now he was really starting to get worried.
Hoping that wherever she had been hold up all day she'd still manage to make it to Crash, Alec retired to the dismal hang-out late that night. Right away he spotted Sketch, and while making his way across the dance floor to him, he caught sight of Asha towards the far end of the bar, sitting with some loser. Ah well, I guess he could let Sketchy hold on to one more paycheck.
Coming up behind the cropped blonde, she was visibly startled when he made his presence known.
"Am I interrupting something?"
Turning around on her stool, Asha came face to face with someone she had dutifully been trying to avoid ever since a few weeks ago, not that she didn't mind all the jealous glances being tossed in her direction, but she wasn't really in the mood for his gloating. Nervously rubbing the back of neck as she spoke, Asha started in with him. "No of course not. Alec this is Kevin, Kevin this is Alec."
Shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his leather jacket, Alec greeted the man uncomfortably, "Hey."
Only getting a nod and a grunt in return from Kevin, he tried to continue on with what he had come here for. Asha apparently sensing what this meeting was about, she jumped in before he could.
"Listen Alec, about the last time we were here…"
'Yeah right Asha, you aren't that pretty.'
"Asha, as much as I'd love to sit here and discuss history with you, I'm looking for Max. I haven't seen her or heard from her in over twenty four hours. Now as much as my body is enjoying the vacation from her little physical assaults, I'm starting to get worried about what Logan's gotten her into this week. You by any chance heard from either of them?"
"For the record Alec, Max got herself into this mess by herself. Logan's been trying to help her out. He isn't evil incarnate you know."
"Wait, wait a second. What trouble?" When she just kind of started at him he pressed further, "Asha, if Max is in trouble you need to tell me. I know Logan probably thinks he can handle this himself, but I don't really think we need to be playing show-off when it's concerning Max's life!" Now he was pissed. Why the hell were ordinaries so damn difficult?
"Since when the hell did you become so damned concerned about Max's safety? If memory serves me correct…"
"Max, Asha! What happened??" He was now grabbing onto her shoulders, shaking her slightly. Realizing that he might be hurting her, he quickly let go and took a deep breath. "I need to know what happened."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For the love of Christ! Did Logan actually think he could get Max out past the CDC and White??? As he made his way to Harbor Lights Hospital, he became more and more pissed off and worried about what was happening and what could have been avoided if Logan could only hop off of his high horse and clue him in every once in awhile. Now Max had been shot and quarantined?? He had obviously had enough time to call Asha. You think he would've appreciated a little help from a genetically engineered super-soldier. It's not like he was trained for situations like this or anything. If she was hurt badly, he'd pay.
Pulling up in front of to the dilapidated building, he took notice of all the news vans and official looking vehicles. Something big was definitely going on here. Parking his bike behind a dumpster in the back of the building, Alec used the darkness to his advantage and blended in with the night. Staying close to the outside walls, he made his way towards the front of the building. When he heard voices coming from just ahead of where he laid cloaked in shadows. His advanced hearing went into full alert. There were a couple of doctors smoking cigarettes, just past the police guarded perimeter of the building.
"CDC's gonna bring her in for testing. Guess it's some advanced form of something that they've never seen before. She's been moved to the third floor, up to the containment area. To think we used to use to do that for chicken pox and the like."
"Christ, and to think we almost didn't catch it. Bet we'll get some good coverage for this one, maybe a couple of grants or something. Where the hell would someone contract a virus like that though?"
"These days? Who knows?"
Well, this was just great. The CDC was going to take Max apart, and somehow he doubted they were going to wait for natural causes to claim her. So, where the hell did Logan fit into all of this? As soon as he had asked the question, he spotted the beat up Aztec out of the corner of his eye, and Logan was inside, typing away on his computer no doubt. What's he going to do, send them an e-mail asking them not to cut up Max? Scanning the crowd, he saw something a little to Logan's left that made his heart almost skip a beat. White and his goons sitting in a dark sedan watching the building. He knew he should go and warn Logan, but they were too close to him to risk the exposure. Max's safety depended on the fact that no one knew he was here.
Sneaking back around to where he had come from, he grabbed hold of the rain pipe outside of the building and climbed his way to the third floor, looking for any window open. Finding one, he grabbed hold of the ledge and swung himself in.
Upon entering the building, he found it almost completely deserted. Peeking out the door of the room, he caught a glimpse of movement down the hall to his right. Silently making his way to the other end of the hall, he kept to the sides, checking all the rooms as he passed them for signs of Max. He had almost gone the entire length when he came upon the nurses' station. There were two women still working, no doubt in order to keep Max sedated and shackled up. One seemed busy at her computer terminal, the other, on the listening end of a phone conversation.
"Fe nes' tol."
Well, this just kept getting crappier and crappier. Ducking below the station, Alec crouched along the cold linoleum floor, praying that his boots wouldn't squeak giving his position away. He had to get to Max before those Familiar breeding whackos did. Hell, there were only two rooms left; clearly he had made the wrong decision by going left. Pausing outside of the last door, he heard struggled movements inside and when he nudged the door open with his hand, he saw her. Strapped to a gurney, trying to pull free from her leather restraints, Max was alive, and she was pissed.
"Pssst…Max…"
"Alec? I never thought I'd be so happy to see you! How the hell did you know I was here?"
Running over to her bedside, he quickly undid the belts around her wrists and ankles.
"It's a long story. Hadn't heard from you in a few days, my bruises started to heal-over, anyways I missed ya."
Despite her current situation, Max found it in herself to smile up at him. He was as intent as he undid the last clasp on her ankle, freeing her, and grabbing her hands as she slid off of the bed. It was a good thing he had kept that grip too, because as soon as she was on her feet she stumbled. Even transgenic blood needed time to replenish itself after a gunshot to the stomach.
"Actually I needed to talk to you about something kind of important, and when I went looking for you, I couldn't seem to find ya. But anyways, are you okay to get walk or should I carry you," he asked, eyes dancing with amusement.
"I think I can handle myself. But I appreciate the offer just the same. You know a way out of here?"
Moving over to the door to check for the Familiar, Alec caught a glimpse of a woman in white moving swiftly down the hallway. "Well, I'd say the same way I came in, but it looks as if we've got company. I'm thinking out the window and down is going to be our safest bet. You okay to climb a little?"
Taking stock of his heightened sense of awareness as he quickly assessed their current situation, Max gave a slight nod. "Let me just grab my jacket." Going over to the table where Logan had left her things, Max quickly threw on her boots and jacket before joining Alec over at the window.
Pushing himself out onto the ledge, he reached for her hand, holding her and reassuring her that he would be there if she needed the help. As they both stood out on the ledge, Alec motioned to an adjacent roof connected to the building. It was only two stories below them, but now as he took in Max's pained expression and the fact that she was squeezing his hand almost painfully, he doubted whether or not she would be able to make the jump without injuring herself further.
"Alright Max, I'm gonna jump down first, then you. Okay?"
Tucking in the hairs that had gone astray with the wind, Max nodded her approval and reluctantly let go of his hand. The tingling sensation she had been experiencing left almost immediately as she did so.
Taking her face in his hands, he looked into her chocolate depths as he spoke. "Just let me get down there first and then I can soften your landing. Trust me, once you hit my body it'll seem like second nature to you, okay?"
Looking away as she let out a stifled laugh, Max suddenly realized how much he was willing to sacrifice for her. He must have seen White outside, but he's still here, jumping from windows and actually asking her to cause him some pain. Something had changed between the two of them recently. He wasn't the same pain in the ass he used to be, and it had scared her at first, but more and more she found herself welcoming these new feelings she had cultivated towards Alec.
"Max, you with me? I need you to concentrate. Once we're done here I'll get you home and we'll let you rest, but right now I need you to pay attention." His words quickly pulled her from her thoughts.
Noticing that she was embarrassed at being caught daydreaming Alec smiled at her as he prepared to push off from the ledge. "Just remember…hit Alec. Shouldn't be too hard for ya." And with that he was gone. A few seconds afterwards, after he had landed and made sure he was ready; he motioned for her to follow. Everything was happening so quickly, that neither of them had noticed the nurse come into the room. She ran towards the window grabbing for Max, screaming for her to get back inside before she hurt herself. Just as she was about to grab hold of Max's jacket, the ever elusive transgenic jumped from the ledge. When the nurse peered out from the window, she saw the two of them huddled together on the roof below. She knew that if she didn't alert White she would be as good as dead.
Meanwhile, Alec grasped onto Max as she regained her composure. Smoothing her hair back and doing a quick check for any new injuries she might have received with the fall, Alec thanked an almighty power that she had not gotten any worse.
Max, her head buried in the crook of his neck, clutched Alec's shoulders while she tried to steady herself against a sudden onslaught of dizziness. He had caught her just like he had promised he would. He never broke his promises. "Max, I'm going to get you out of here. Just hang in there." He felt her nod against his shoulder, and took comfort in the fact that she hadn't let go of him yet. She obviously trusted him with her life. This simple fact alone meant so much to him right now. It almost made everything he had wanted to say seem insignificant. Maybe this could be enough for now, until he was sure she wouldn't reject him. Pushing his thoughts aside for the moment, Alec tightened his hold around Max and leapt from the edge of the building. Landing safely on the ground, he readjusted her weight, not even thinking of putting her down. She may want to act like she wasn't injured, but he knew better. He was going to get her out of here in one piece.
Turning towards the direction where he had parked his bike, Alec came face to face with the last person he had wanted to see.
"494. I'm shocked."
"Really, is it because you think I'm supposed to be dead or because you realize that I'm not going to let you have her?"
"Actually 494, you're doing me a favor. The CDC wasn't going to let me get anywhere near her; they wanted her for their own purposes. It was taking a hell of a lot of trouble trying to get your girlfriend out of their paws but now you've gone and done it for me. So nice of you. Now hand her over." And with that he produced a gun from the waist of his pants and waved it right of Alec's face.
He could feel Max trying to get free, she wanted to fight her way out of here bullet hole or not, but he wouldn't let her. Tightening his grip on her even more, he bent his head to where he could whisper into her ear, all the while keeping his eyes locked on White. "Max, I'm not going to let you fight right now. You're hurt. I'm going to take care of him."
His warm breath on her now rapidly cooling skin sent shivers down her spine, making her feel even weaker than before. And he definitely wasn't going to let go either, the grip he had on her was almost painful. He was trying to make a point.
'Easier said than done' he thought. There was no way he could fight White while he was carrying Max, and he couldn't just put her down and deal with him either. Looking around for a possible escape route, Alec clutched Max closer to his body, nuzzling his face into her hair. He had done it again, gone and screwed everything up. He had wanted to save her from these horrible people, and now they were both probably going to die.
"Ames! Ames! She escaped! She's gone!" All of a sudden from behind White, the nurse from the third floor came running into the parking lot, waving her arms wildly, obviously not noticing the two transgenics, shrouded in the dark. At the sound of his name, Ames spun on his heel, leaving himself completely open to Alec's onslaught of roundhouse kicks. Knocking him directly into the nurse, Alec and Max fled from the scene, leaving the two in a tangled mess of limbs. Making a quick dash towards where he had left his bike, Alec quickly found the ride and tossed himself and Max onto the seat.
"Just hold on Max, we're almost home."
"Thank you Alec." As soon as he felt her arms tighten around his waist, and her face settle into his shoulder, he gunned the engine, letting it roar into the night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They had made it back to her place in record time. With a quick but detailed explanation to OC, he had gotten her changed and tucked into her bed. While changing the dressings that were bloodied and dirtied below her pajamas, Alec was tender as he moved his hands across her delicate skin. Alec was completely oblivious to her gaze as he continued on with his care-taking. There was so much she wanted to say to him, to ask him, but for some reason she found herself holding back. This didn't seem to be the place or the time. There was something that was just so comfortable about right now and right here, something that didn't deserve to be broken. She would tell him in time how he made her feel and how she wanted to be with him more than anything in the world.
Brushing away the hairs that had come loose from her ponytail, Alec cradled her face in his hands and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. Pulling back to see what could only be described as gratitude etched across her delicate features, Alec knew that what he had to say could wait another day. For now, she was safe, and he had had enough excitement for one night.
"So, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"
"What?"
"Back at the hospital, you said you had wanted to ask me something. Ask me what?"
Suppressing a slight chuckle as she seemed to voice his thoughts, he looked her straight in the eyes and smiled, "Tomorrow. It doesn't really matter right now Max."
And with that, she smiled at him. A part of him knew she could read him like an open book, hell she was probably the only person who could. And another, bigger part of him knew that she felt the same way he did. In fact it was that knowledge that would allow him to hold back his feelings for another night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was later, after making sure that Max was asleep and under Cindy's care for the night, that Alec left, promising to come by before work the next morning.
As he pushed open the makeshift door to Max's apartment building, he saw the beat-up Aztec skidding to a stop in front of him. An infuriated Logan jumped from the vehicle as fast as his mechanical legs would allow and ran up to intercept the departing transgenic.
With a smirk on his face and the knowledge that it had been he who had saved Max, and not this man, Alec calmly stood his ground, waiting for the explosion to hit.
"Where the hell is she?"
"Upstairs and asleep, so I wouldn't bother her if I were you."
"I appreciate the advice Alec, but I think I'd rather see for myself that you didn't screw this up."
'Oh…so he wanted to play, huh?'
"Wait. Let me get this straight, I find out on my own that she's in trouble, then rescue her without your incompetent help, and I'm the screw-up? That's a pretty messed up way to look at things Logan."
"I was handling it Alec."
"How? How were you handling it? Cause as far as I could tell, you were just sitting there waiting for things to happen, when you knew damn well that I would've been more than capable of helping her. But you're so damn blind when it comes to her. All you see is your in-house cat-burglar."
"Max means a lot more to me than she could ever mean to you. You don't care about her, and she sure as hell doesn't care about you. You're a burden. Nothing more. If she didn't feel so bad about letting you out, she wouldn't tolerate you sticking around so much."
"You just keep telling yourself that Logan. But you know what? The minute you do something to piss her off, or hurt her, I'll be there, burden or not. I'll be there to make sure you can never hurt her again. She's more than just some hot chick that can steal stuff and take out a couple of bad guys. But, I have a feeling that by the time you realize that, it'll be too late."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Watch your back when it comes to her. That's all."
And with that he left. Walked right past a dumbfounded Logan, making sure to brush the older man's shoulder hard enough to make him wince in pain. It didn't matter what Logan thought. The way she had responded to him today left him with no doubt in his mind that there was something more between them, something that they needed to explore together. And they would. Max was already coming around, and taking solace in this knowledge, he would wait all the time in the world.
A/N…so once again, much thanks to my Betas….cause otherwise this could've been disastrous! Drop me a review if you liked, hated it, or are indifferent. I appreciate it all.