Okay, since so many reviews were about this and not even my story, I'll tell you. This isn't a M/A or a M/L, it isn't a Max/anybody! In case you failed to notice, Max is not the central character in this story, Alec is. Okay, just needed to get that off my chest. And a side note. This portion of my story and the next deal with rape. No one gets raped, but it's talked about.
"So how does it feel to be a message board?"
Alec shrugged. "I can only hope it pays better than minimum wage." He sat down on his couch. Leaning foreword, he rested his head in his hands, letting the weight of everything sink in.
Wil came up behind the couch and placed her hands on his shoulders. Instinctively, she began to kneed his muscular shoulders and back, working the tension out of it.
Alec immediately relaxed into her touch and let out a long breath. "Did you take massaging 101 at Manticore or are you just a natural?"
She smiled. "Just a natural." She continued her ministrations in an easy silence. Not being able to help herself, Wil hugged him.
He smiled. "For being so quick to bruise someone, you sure do hug a lot. Now why is that?"
She moved around the couch to sit beside him. "I guess it's because we were never allowed to at Manticore. I'm just making up for lost time."
"You know, Manticore never let us have sex either," he said suggestively.
She hit him playfully. "That's cute." Wil looked out the window and realized how late it was. "I should really get going. Rift is going to be worried." She stood to leave but Alec snatched her wrist.
"Why don't you stay? I mean, sleeping on a cot in the control room isn't exactly ideal and with all that's going on I'm kinda ... and it's been so long since I've seen you," he rushed.
Head tilted, Wil considered his words. "Okay, I'll stay." She unzipped her coat, removed it and dropped it on the table. Tucking one leg underneath herself, she sat facing Alec.
"Wil," he spoke quietly as his hand reached out to her. Gently, his fingers touched her chest a few inches below her neck.
Her eyes fell to his hand and she saw a black rune tarnishing her tan skin. Her fearful eyes met his. "Alec?" She didn't need to voice her question, he already understood.
"It's okay, Wil. We'll show Logan and Max in the morning. He'll tell us what it means." She nodded slowly. He smiled slightly. "It probably stands for 'The Hottie'," he tried to cheer her up. He was rewarded with her musical laughter. "What do you say we call it a night? With these disappearing tattoos and a wasted Rift, I think we could both use a little rest."
She nodded again. "That sounds good. I can take the couch..."
"What if..." he faltered. Shaking his head, he started over. "What if we slept like we use to? I know it's been a long time and that was when we were kids but-"
She intertwined her fingers with his. "I'd like that."
Still holding hands, they made their way to his bedroom. They removed their shoes and Alec removed his jacket. He pulled back the covers and slipped into the bed, Wil right behind him. They faced each other and Alec wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. Wil slid one arm underneath him and rested the other on top of his arm. She ducked her head under his chin.
Wil couldn't believe how comfortable, how familiar it felt to be surrounded by him. She always felt that no one could touch her while she laid in his arms, not even Manticore.
"I remember the last time we did this," she spoke whimsically. "It was the night
before they split us up."
Alec smiled at the memory. "You crawled into my bed that night and didn't say a word. You didn't need to, not after how many times you had done it before. You just hugged me and didn't let go for anything."
"You were my safe place. And don't for a second try to say that you didn't need that comfort as much as I did."
Alec kissed her forehead. "I think I needed it more."
Wil woke to find her face level with Alec's. His even breathing tickled her face. He was still asleep. She took the rare opportunity to study him without him knowing it. Gazing at his sleeping form, she realized just how stunning he was. Sure, every knew he was gorgeous, Manticore made all Xs that way. But, when he slept, it was different. The worries of their new life of seclusion and being hunted didn't disturb his face. His skin looked like velvet and Wil imagined it felt that way, too. And his unreasonably long eyelashes rested softly on that velvet skin.
His hair looked recently cut. Wil figured he had grown it out to cover his barcode, but then cut it once they had be trapped in Terminal City. No point in trying to cover your barcode anymore, not when everyone else around you had one, too.
She longed to run her fingers through the soft strands of his hair or along his cheek, but dared not to. Most Xs slept light, Alec being probably one of the lighter ones. What would she do if Alec woke to find her doing those things? How would she explain that it was because she still loved him?
"Alec," she said softly so as not to startle him.
His eyes slowly opened focusing on Wil's face. *She's here.* Alec thought. *It wasn't a dream!* He smiled. "Hey."
Her smile matched his. "Hey yourself. We should probably get up and show Max and Logan my rune."
He groaned. "Do we have to? Let's just stay here and sleep." He pulled her closer leaving no space between them except the breath between their lips.
"Yes, we do," she responded pushing away from him a bit. "I don't know about you," she poked the tip of his nose, "but I want to figure out what our runes mean." Disentangling herself from him, she got out of the bed and put her shoes on. "I think the rune on my chest looks a lot like the one on your back."
He sighed. "Could be. I suppose we could check." Climbing out of the bed, he stood in front of her. With his back to her, he lifted his shirt.
"Oh," she gasped loudly.
"What?" He peered over his shoulder trying to see his back.
She touched a spot on his lower back. "You've got a huge, disgusting mole right here."
"What?!" He panicked. "No I don't!"
She laughed. "Okay, okay. Just kidding. The runes already faded." She pulled his shirt down. "Is the one on your chest still there?"
He peeked into his shirt. "Yep. Hey, you think it might turn the ladies on?" he glanced at her.
She frowned. "That depends. Would my foot up your ass turn you on?"
His eyebrows rose. "What if I said yes?"
An exasperated sigh left her. "Let's just go," she said pushing him out of the bedroom.
"Guess what, Logan," Alec said as he and Wil came up to Logan.
Logan looked up from his computer. "You've got more runes?"
"Close, but no transgenic." Wil stood beside Alec. "Wil does."
"Let's see it," Logan ordered.
"Gee, Logan, I didn't realize you were so demanding," Wil commented. She zipped down her coat enough to uncover the marking.
Logan's brow furrowed. "That looks a lot like one of the runes on Alec's back."
"That's what I thought," Wil said glancing at Alec.
Opening a few files and documents, Logan scrolled through the images on the screen until he found the desired one. "It is the same symbol as one of the ones on Alec's back."
"Which symbol?" Wil asked.
"The Lover."
Wil's eyes shifted left, then right, then rested on Logan. "You mean *I'm* The Lover?"
Logan nodded. "That would be my guess."
"What about my rune? What does it mean?" Alec broke in.
Logan hesitated momentarily wondering how best to put it, then told him. "It stands for The Destroyer."
Alec frowned. "That doesn't sound good." He looked to Logan's computer screen. "So what does that mean?"
Logan's face darkened. "Unfortunately, I was able to find that out." He found the correct file and explained. "There's an ancient Minoan prophecy about this time of change, The One, The Destroyer and The Lover. 'The Destroyer shall bring about change over the world by laying waste to the impure. Only with the merging of The Lover and The Destroyer will the truth be seen. The death of The One will deliver the helpless, but order of death of all the impurities is necessary. Order shall be shown upon the merging of The Lover and The Destroyer." Logan looked at the two transgenics who stood there speechless. "It just goes on from there talking about the merging of The Lover and The Destroyer, the death of The One by The Destroyer and that the death of the impurities must happen in an order."
"Right," was all Alec could say.
"Does Max know about this?" Wil asked. Logan nodded again. "What should we do?"
"For now, just keep checking for new runes and keep me-"
"Logan," Max's loud booming voice interrupted him. She reached them quickly. "Look," she pointed to her forehead. Can you guess what was on her forehead?
"Hmm," Logan turned to the screen. "Just what I thought, it's another number." He looked at Max. "One."
"Well, that would only figure being that Max is the one," Alec replied. A thought occurred to him. "Let's go check on Rift," he spoke to Wil. "What if he has runes, too?"
Alec started to walk away, but Wil made him stop. "Alec, I think I'm to stay here and learn more about us." Her eyes went to where his rune was as if she could see it through his shirt. She smirked. "Maybe it will give us some clue as to why you're such a smart ass."
He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'll catch you later."
Using Manticore stealth, Alec crept up behind Rift. The unsuspecting transgenic continued to stare over the wasted land that was Terminal City. On top of a building seemed a natural place for a genetically engineered super soldier to hang out at, Alec was only too glad that Rift stood far enough away from the edge for what he had planned.
The necessary distance having been reached, Alec delivered a swift but silent kick straight to Rift's ass.
"God damnit!" Rift yelled. He turned quickly and glared at Alec. "Do you really want your entrails dangling from this building?"
Innocently, Alec held up his hands. "Just testing your ability to anticipate surprise attacks, which is not exactly up to par." He dropped his hands. "Old age catching up with you?"
Rift smiled sarcastically. "Oh yeah. I got a hernia and my arthritis is killing me." He turned back around to face the scenery again. "This crazy 'War on Transgenics' is catching up with me. We traveled so far to escape persecution only to be hold up in this prison." He shook his head. "Hardly seems worth the trip." He glanced at Alec. "At least we're fighting with our family."
Alec smiled sadly at that. "Yeah, we've got each other."
They went back to staring over their new home.
"Hey," Rift said after a moment. "Did Logan figure out what that thing on your chest means?"
Alec nodded without looking at Rift. "It stands for The Destroyer. Apparently, I'm supposed to rid the world of those with impurities or something like that. And Wil has a rune, too."
Rift snapped his head to Alec. "What?"
"It's a few inches below her neck in the middle of her chest. It stands for The Lover." A single rain drop landed on Alec's shoe. "This prophecy that Logan found said that the truth would be known with the merging of The Lover and The Destroyer."
"You can't have sex with her," Rift spoke sternly.
The younger transgenic's jaw dropped. "What?! Who says I'm going to have sex with Wil?"
Rift looked at him incredulously. "What do you really think a merging between you two would be? A handshake? Alec," he regarded his friend seriously, "if you want to have sex with her because you love her, that's one thing. But you have to do everything in your power not to have sex with her to fulfill a prophecy."
Alec raised is hands again, only this time in true innocence. "I'm *not* going to have sex with her to fulfill a prophecy!"
"When Manticore had all X5s doing the breeding program, it almost killed her inside," he spoke quietly. "She's just like us; not some mindless soldier who'd do anything in order to complete their mission, but a rebel who has feelings. She always had feelings for you. She loves you." He ignored Alec's shocked look. "I know you've seen it in her eyes." Rift faced away from Alec. "They paired her with 598. For the life of her, she didn't want to go throw with the mission. She loved you and she didn't want to let you down.
"But 598, he was a true blue soldier, he made her go through with it. He didn't physically force her, but he threatened to tell the guards if she didn't comply. You know they would have thrown in her in psy-ops or worse, and she did too. So she laid there and let him complete the mission. She was lucky enough to hide the tears from Manticore in the morning."
A heavy silence draped over them. Fury raged within Alec. Fury at Manticore, at 598 and Fate for keeping him from protecting her.
"Sorry to dump this on you, man, but what happened to her is horrible and if you guys ended up having sex and she found out it was because some prophecy had foretold it and not because you loved her..." He shook his head. "She'd never be able to handle that."
Alec nodded slowly. "Thanks, man. I'm glad you told me." Alec started walking away but Rift called after him.
"Did this prophecy say anything about Max?"
Alec grinned over his shoulder. "Apparently, I'm supposed to kill her."
Rift laughed. "How many times have you wanted to do that?"
Alec just turned around. "Too many to count."
"So how does it feel to be a message board?"
Alec shrugged. "I can only hope it pays better than minimum wage." He sat down on his couch. Leaning foreword, he rested his head in his hands, letting the weight of everything sink in.
Wil came up behind the couch and placed her hands on his shoulders. Instinctively, she began to kneed his muscular shoulders and back, working the tension out of it.
Alec immediately relaxed into her touch and let out a long breath. "Did you take massaging 101 at Manticore or are you just a natural?"
She smiled. "Just a natural." She continued her ministrations in an easy silence. Not being able to help herself, Wil hugged him.
He smiled. "For being so quick to bruise someone, you sure do hug a lot. Now why is that?"
She moved around the couch to sit beside him. "I guess it's because we were never allowed to at Manticore. I'm just making up for lost time."
"You know, Manticore never let us have sex either," he said suggestively.
She hit him playfully. "That's cute." Wil looked out the window and realized how late it was. "I should really get going. Rift is going to be worried." She stood to leave but Alec snatched her wrist.
"Why don't you stay? I mean, sleeping on a cot in the control room isn't exactly ideal and with all that's going on I'm kinda ... and it's been so long since I've seen you," he rushed.
Head tilted, Wil considered his words. "Okay, I'll stay." She unzipped her coat, removed it and dropped it on the table. Tucking one leg underneath herself, she sat facing Alec.
"Wil," he spoke quietly as his hand reached out to her. Gently, his fingers touched her chest a few inches below her neck.
Her eyes fell to his hand and she saw a black rune tarnishing her tan skin. Her fearful eyes met his. "Alec?" She didn't need to voice her question, he already understood.
"It's okay, Wil. We'll show Logan and Max in the morning. He'll tell us what it means." She nodded slowly. He smiled slightly. "It probably stands for 'The Hottie'," he tried to cheer her up. He was rewarded with her musical laughter. "What do you say we call it a night? With these disappearing tattoos and a wasted Rift, I think we could both use a little rest."
She nodded again. "That sounds good. I can take the couch..."
"What if..." he faltered. Shaking his head, he started over. "What if we slept like we use to? I know it's been a long time and that was when we were kids but-"
She intertwined her fingers with his. "I'd like that."
Still holding hands, they made their way to his bedroom. They removed their shoes and Alec removed his jacket. He pulled back the covers and slipped into the bed, Wil right behind him. They faced each other and Alec wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. Wil slid one arm underneath him and rested the other on top of his arm. She ducked her head under his chin.
Wil couldn't believe how comfortable, how familiar it felt to be surrounded by him. She always felt that no one could touch her while she laid in his arms, not even Manticore.
"I remember the last time we did this," she spoke whimsically. "It was the night
before they split us up."
Alec smiled at the memory. "You crawled into my bed that night and didn't say a word. You didn't need to, not after how many times you had done it before. You just hugged me and didn't let go for anything."
"You were my safe place. And don't for a second try to say that you didn't need that comfort as much as I did."
Alec kissed her forehead. "I think I needed it more."
Wil woke to find her face level with Alec's. His even breathing tickled her face. He was still asleep. She took the rare opportunity to study him without him knowing it. Gazing at his sleeping form, she realized just how stunning he was. Sure, every knew he was gorgeous, Manticore made all Xs that way. But, when he slept, it was different. The worries of their new life of seclusion and being hunted didn't disturb his face. His skin looked like velvet and Wil imagined it felt that way, too. And his unreasonably long eyelashes rested softly on that velvet skin.
His hair looked recently cut. Wil figured he had grown it out to cover his barcode, but then cut it once they had be trapped in Terminal City. No point in trying to cover your barcode anymore, not when everyone else around you had one, too.
She longed to run her fingers through the soft strands of his hair or along his cheek, but dared not to. Most Xs slept light, Alec being probably one of the lighter ones. What would she do if Alec woke to find her doing those things? How would she explain that it was because she still loved him?
"Alec," she said softly so as not to startle him.
His eyes slowly opened focusing on Wil's face. *She's here.* Alec thought. *It wasn't a dream!* He smiled. "Hey."
Her smile matched his. "Hey yourself. We should probably get up and show Max and Logan my rune."
He groaned. "Do we have to? Let's just stay here and sleep." He pulled her closer leaving no space between them except the breath between their lips.
"Yes, we do," she responded pushing away from him a bit. "I don't know about you," she poked the tip of his nose, "but I want to figure out what our runes mean." Disentangling herself from him, she got out of the bed and put her shoes on. "I think the rune on my chest looks a lot like the one on your back."
He sighed. "Could be. I suppose we could check." Climbing out of the bed, he stood in front of her. With his back to her, he lifted his shirt.
"Oh," she gasped loudly.
"What?" He peered over his shoulder trying to see his back.
She touched a spot on his lower back. "You've got a huge, disgusting mole right here."
"What?!" He panicked. "No I don't!"
She laughed. "Okay, okay. Just kidding. The runes already faded." She pulled his shirt down. "Is the one on your chest still there?"
He peeked into his shirt. "Yep. Hey, you think it might turn the ladies on?" he glanced at her.
She frowned. "That depends. Would my foot up your ass turn you on?"
His eyebrows rose. "What if I said yes?"
An exasperated sigh left her. "Let's just go," she said pushing him out of the bedroom.
"Guess what, Logan," Alec said as he and Wil came up to Logan.
Logan looked up from his computer. "You've got more runes?"
"Close, but no transgenic." Wil stood beside Alec. "Wil does."
"Let's see it," Logan ordered.
"Gee, Logan, I didn't realize you were so demanding," Wil commented. She zipped down her coat enough to uncover the marking.
Logan's brow furrowed. "That looks a lot like one of the runes on Alec's back."
"That's what I thought," Wil said glancing at Alec.
Opening a few files and documents, Logan scrolled through the images on the screen until he found the desired one. "It is the same symbol as one of the ones on Alec's back."
"Which symbol?" Wil asked.
"The Lover."
Wil's eyes shifted left, then right, then rested on Logan. "You mean *I'm* The Lover?"
Logan nodded. "That would be my guess."
"What about my rune? What does it mean?" Alec broke in.
Logan hesitated momentarily wondering how best to put it, then told him. "It stands for The Destroyer."
Alec frowned. "That doesn't sound good." He looked to Logan's computer screen. "So what does that mean?"
Logan's face darkened. "Unfortunately, I was able to find that out." He found the correct file and explained. "There's an ancient Minoan prophecy about this time of change, The One, The Destroyer and The Lover. 'The Destroyer shall bring about change over the world by laying waste to the impure. Only with the merging of The Lover and The Destroyer will the truth be seen. The death of The One will deliver the helpless, but order of death of all the impurities is necessary. Order shall be shown upon the merging of The Lover and The Destroyer." Logan looked at the two transgenics who stood there speechless. "It just goes on from there talking about the merging of The Lover and The Destroyer, the death of The One by The Destroyer and that the death of the impurities must happen in an order."
"Right," was all Alec could say.
"Does Max know about this?" Wil asked. Logan nodded again. "What should we do?"
"For now, just keep checking for new runes and keep me-"
"Logan," Max's loud booming voice interrupted him. She reached them quickly. "Look," she pointed to her forehead. Can you guess what was on her forehead?
"Hmm," Logan turned to the screen. "Just what I thought, it's another number." He looked at Max. "One."
"Well, that would only figure being that Max is the one," Alec replied. A thought occurred to him. "Let's go check on Rift," he spoke to Wil. "What if he has runes, too?"
Alec started to walk away, but Wil made him stop. "Alec, I think I'm to stay here and learn more about us." Her eyes went to where his rune was as if she could see it through his shirt. She smirked. "Maybe it will give us some clue as to why you're such a smart ass."
He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'll catch you later."
Using Manticore stealth, Alec crept up behind Rift. The unsuspecting transgenic continued to stare over the wasted land that was Terminal City. On top of a building seemed a natural place for a genetically engineered super soldier to hang out at, Alec was only too glad that Rift stood far enough away from the edge for what he had planned.
The necessary distance having been reached, Alec delivered a swift but silent kick straight to Rift's ass.
"God damnit!" Rift yelled. He turned quickly and glared at Alec. "Do you really want your entrails dangling from this building?"
Innocently, Alec held up his hands. "Just testing your ability to anticipate surprise attacks, which is not exactly up to par." He dropped his hands. "Old age catching up with you?"
Rift smiled sarcastically. "Oh yeah. I got a hernia and my arthritis is killing me." He turned back around to face the scenery again. "This crazy 'War on Transgenics' is catching up with me. We traveled so far to escape persecution only to be hold up in this prison." He shook his head. "Hardly seems worth the trip." He glanced at Alec. "At least we're fighting with our family."
Alec smiled sadly at that. "Yeah, we've got each other."
They went back to staring over their new home.
"Hey," Rift said after a moment. "Did Logan figure out what that thing on your chest means?"
Alec nodded without looking at Rift. "It stands for The Destroyer. Apparently, I'm supposed to rid the world of those with impurities or something like that. And Wil has a rune, too."
Rift snapped his head to Alec. "What?"
"It's a few inches below her neck in the middle of her chest. It stands for The Lover." A single rain drop landed on Alec's shoe. "This prophecy that Logan found said that the truth would be known with the merging of The Lover and The Destroyer."
"You can't have sex with her," Rift spoke sternly.
The younger transgenic's jaw dropped. "What?! Who says I'm going to have sex with Wil?"
Rift looked at him incredulously. "What do you really think a merging between you two would be? A handshake? Alec," he regarded his friend seriously, "if you want to have sex with her because you love her, that's one thing. But you have to do everything in your power not to have sex with her to fulfill a prophecy."
Alec raised is hands again, only this time in true innocence. "I'm *not* going to have sex with her to fulfill a prophecy!"
"When Manticore had all X5s doing the breeding program, it almost killed her inside," he spoke quietly. "She's just like us; not some mindless soldier who'd do anything in order to complete their mission, but a rebel who has feelings. She always had feelings for you. She loves you." He ignored Alec's shocked look. "I know you've seen it in her eyes." Rift faced away from Alec. "They paired her with 598. For the life of her, she didn't want to go throw with the mission. She loved you and she didn't want to let you down.
"But 598, he was a true blue soldier, he made her go through with it. He didn't physically force her, but he threatened to tell the guards if she didn't comply. You know they would have thrown in her in psy-ops or worse, and she did too. So she laid there and let him complete the mission. She was lucky enough to hide the tears from Manticore in the morning."
A heavy silence draped over them. Fury raged within Alec. Fury at Manticore, at 598 and Fate for keeping him from protecting her.
"Sorry to dump this on you, man, but what happened to her is horrible and if you guys ended up having sex and she found out it was because some prophecy had foretold it and not because you loved her..." He shook his head. "She'd never be able to handle that."
Alec nodded slowly. "Thanks, man. I'm glad you told me." Alec started walking away but Rift called after him.
"Did this prophecy say anything about Max?"
Alec grinned over his shoulder. "Apparently, I'm supposed to kill her."
Rift laughed. "How many times have you wanted to do that?"
Alec just turned around. "Too many to count."