Disclaimer: Don't own them. Maybe in my next life.
She Said Yes
*****
As per usual, the large-mouthed male was the first to break the silence. "Sooo, what's new with you Maxie?"
"Shut up Alec," her tone left no room for argument.
In all fairness, he did try to shut up. But even with all the severe Manticore training, the silence spanned for only three seconds. Okay, maybe four.
"So what is the judge and jury's verdict?" He slipped into one of his happy-go-lucky poses. Even with just the two of them perched on the Space Needle, Alec felt a definite tension. Not one of those tensions where you're afraid you'll let the wrong comment slip and Max might 'accidentally nudge' you off the edge. No, her reply could leave more permanent scars. Of course, Alec being the master of all things 'Denial', easily shrugged off the anxiety. He leaned back, stretching out his legs and holding himself up with his forearms.
Max turned slowly, one minute her profile was reflecting the dusky city lights and the next, her cheerless pupils focused solely on him. Alec reminded himself to breathe, but didn't realize why he needed to. She stared at him, then some vague spot behind him, concentrated deep in thought. By the time her eyes penetrated him again, they were glistening with unshed tears. Max leaned forward imperceptibly, trying to read his mind. What did he think about their present situation?
Alec tried not to let his uneasiness show. The eyes were the windows to the soul, and Max left her barricade at home tonight. And damn his eyes, their doors just wouldn't slam shut. Tonight, there was no way to completely lock away emotion. His eyes looked more like jail cells then even a dirty window. The emotions, words wanted to come out. But he'd be damned before he said them. Let her talk first.
Max shoulder raised high, then sunk like the Titanic on the exhale. She felt defeated, but somewhere deep inside a tiny candle furtively lit itself.
"Is this going to be a problem for you?" She asked in a tiny voice, her eyes still boring into him. She might as well have yelled it, for the way Alec jumped. He seemed caught off guard, like he had been distracted with his own thoughts. He should be, these were some serious matters to be dealing with.
"Yeah," he leapt back into his old nature. He pretended to concentrate deeply, "I haven't had too much success with the ladies recently anyway, and it's only 18 months, right?" He 'came' to his conclusion. "I asked anyway. I mean if we didn't who we be around to beat me in line? Cindy? She'd kill me with her anti-male preaching within a week." That seemed to earn a small twist of Max's lips.
Another small silence ensued. They were treading on thawing ice here. No turning back now.
They both seemed to silently agree on the subject. Everything would work out for the best. Their love-hate relationship could survive in close capacity, couldn't it? Only 18 months, but they would both be counting down the days.
"You're not much of a romantic are you, Alec?"
"Sure," he quipped. "I am a die-hard romantic. I do the "French Kiss" Meg Ryan marathon, complete with chocolate truffles, and a box of lotion Kleenex." Max, much to Alec's astonishment, giggled. He shot her his trademark, if not more sincere, smile. "My thing is I just don't do it on days that end in 'y'."
Another muffled giggle. Max let two relieved tears flow down her cheeks before she quickly swiped them away. Unfortunately, it wasn't fast enough for Alec to miss the action. His heart softened a bit watching her haphazardly compose herself. He couldn't resist and tipped her chin up. "Well?" He asked softly.
"Yeah, Alec. I'll marry you."
"Gee, Max. Don't sound so excited," he drawled with a trace of relief.
"Shut up, Alec."
*****
....EARLIER....
"Could this life get any worse, O.C.?" Max whined, throwing her face into one of her boo's pillows.
O.C. in her chronic nothing-fazes-me mode, calmly sat down next to a distraught Max sprawled across her bed and began stroking her hair.
"You want somethin' suga'?"
Max, like a petulant child, shook her head and buried herself deeper into her new pillow/handkerchief. Max felt a sudden pang of nostalgia. It felt just like old times. Max would have some problem, collapse over at her girl's place and just 'weep' out the moment. It was back in the time when only Manticore wanted her; there was no White, Familiars, or virus. Not even Logan. Just Max and her sage.
The sage spoke again, "Lay it on me girl."
Something must have hit the girl hard. Max showed up on her doorstep, soaked to the bone. The girl even left the safety of Terminal City. She looked like a drowned...cat. It was hard to tell where the rain rivulets ended and the tears began. O.C. quickly wrapped her wet hair in a towel, for she had just stepped out of the shower. After throwing on some PJ's she floated over to Max's side, sinking into her analytical shrink mode. Some day the girl would have to start paying her.
She reached for her coffee while Max pulled herself from her gulf of one of her favorite pillows. Hmmm, how delicious, a lovely snot and tear mixture. Oh well, O.C. wouldn't deny her 'sister' anything. That pillow had supported her through many a Diamond fits; it only makes sense that it should carry Max through a Logan sulk. She could just wash the cushion later. Only this time, the sage met a conundrum even she couldn't rationalize away.
"Alec asked me to marry him," Max sniffed.
Naturally, O.C. shot out her coffee like it was venom. Even the patient even had to laugh at the picture. It was if the infallible politician had been caught in a toppling lie. On national television. Right before elections. Wiping off the semi-warm mist on her face, she sat up and looked straight at her confidant, waiting for a more vocal reaction.
"You're playing me boo."
"No joke."
"Damn, that's some serious..." she broke off, thinking of any possible scenario where her normally lackadaisical friend would come up with such a weighty question. "Are you sure he was serious, honey?" She stroked her girl's limp arm. Another deep exhale, another weak nod. "But why?"
"It's the only way."
An incredulous O.C. snorted, "For what?"
"Haven't you heard the news?" Off of her friend's blank look, Max continued. "They are finally, after like five years, willing to cope with the fact that we are real, and we aren't going away. But they don't want us so close together. They are splitting us up. Can't you see O.C.? The only way to get out of a couple square mile plot was to agree to their terms. Some will stay in Seattle; the others are assigned to leave.
"Alec and I signed the agreement last week. The lists came in today. Dix, Mole, Josh, Luke, even Alec are staying in Seattle. Me? I get to head towards San Diego. Can you believe that?" Another wave of sobs washed over Max. Original Cindy, always a quick support, lightly threw her arms around Max, coaxing her head into the crook of her shoulder.
"It can't be all that bad boo. You could visit..."
"But it wouldn't be the same? Can't you see? This is my home. After fifteen years on the lamb, trying to find...whatever, this is my HOME." To accent her point, she threw one balled fist onto the bed, causing it to jerk. Her shoulders began to bounce again. Pulling away from O.C., she buried her face in her lap and began to rock back and forth spasmodically.
The sage's face was tense, trying to conjure up some advice. But at times like these, the best advice was the silent type. So she crawled behind her friend's back, gingerly placed herself behind Max, and positioned her legs on either side of her. Next, she pulled Max from her huddled position and spooned her up against her chest. Max had never broken down quite like this before, even with the first virus attack, her boo always seemed to have grasped onto some thin line of hope. This time it seems the wind had caught the thread and blew it away.
A sudden memory of her mother flew into O.C.'s scattered brain. Leaning around a still sobbing sister, she laid her dark hand on a battered brush. Grasping it like a lifeline, she quickly propped her body back and began running it through Max's muddled mane. Somewhere out of the deep musings of O.C.'s mind, a song began to play. Soon she was humming, using the brush's strokes to help keep time. They sat there for a short eternity, crying and combing.
Years later, Max shifted her body. She slipped from the bed, kneeling before her sharp-witted savior. Two sets of brown eyes lifted and locked. There is a certain intimacy in a best friend, more like a soul mate. Deeper than blood, and more satisfying than lovers, was where two bosom buddies met in moments like this.
"So," O.C. began, sliding to the floor next to Max, taking her calloused hands in her manicured ones. "How does Alec poppin' the big M-word, fit into all this? I've heard the sob stories of completely fine women moonin' over a shiftless man because he hasn't popped the question after some serious relationship time. And here the boy ya'll love to hate asks for your hand? You're jumpin' from A to D on me girl, and Original Cindy needs the B and C."
Max chuckled with some real humor, before jumping back to the more serious task at hand. "I already told you this is my home O.C. People gonna hafta drag me out of this place." Original Cindy smiled at the thought, no matter how realistic it may have been. "But I can't start a ruckus, reflecting bad on all my people now can I? And then there is Logan..." she trailed off. Original Cindy had seen the movie too many times to need a synopsis. "I don't know where I sit with him. Before when I said 'It's not like that' it wasn't because I didn't want it to be. Now after so long of not being with him, I don't know where we stand." The sage nodded, back into her guru way. "And now the only way I can stay in Seattle is to be..."she swallowed hard. "Married."
"Okay, O.C.'s got that. But why would Alec pop the question, why not Logan? I could even see you with Joshua before you with you're boy."
Max shook her head, she just felt to old for this drama at the moment. "I have to be married for 18 months. No more, no less. In that time I could prove myself an upstanding citizen who wouldn't cause trouble..." she was cut off back a scoff soon silenced. She continued as if the phrase was never broken. "...And I could get a divorce. From there on out, I could stick around no problem. I think they don't want me here to lead another 'revolt' or something. But even without the cure for the virus, do you honestly think Logan would let me go after 18 months?" At her pointed look, O.C. turned away.
"I don't think so either. There is so much tension between us, and it sure ain't sparks that are flyin'. You know how weak I am; I would hand over myself, not get the divorce, and suffocate. Maybe if I stayed around, and the virus got cured, we could start up again. But right now? It's just to thorny."
"But with our boy," Original Cindy concluded, "You could divorce, and not feel like you cut off his legs." She shot a quick apologetic look to Max for the paralysis remark, but she seemed too preoccupied to have noticed.
Max snapped. "Like that," she retorted in a 'Mexican Mama' accent.
Smiles on both faces soon dissolved into giggles, which pealed into hysterics. When the laughter died down, and eyes were wiped, both women hauled themselves from the floor and strolled to the kitchen, unbelievably lighter.
Silent minutes with suggestive smiles passed quickly. They made themselves a quick and tasteless dinner, which preceded a warm shower for Max. Refreshed, Max stepped into some of her best friends less showy outfits, which seemed to be few and far between.
"O.C., do you own any clothes with don't make you look like a total prostitute?" Max called out.
"What can a girl say? 'I like big butts and I cannot lie...'" Another round of laughter ensued.
*****
It took Max another two hours and twenty-seven minutes exactly to make the executive decision. It never ceased to amaze her how an engine purring between her thighs could clear a troubled head. Making a sharp turn toward the Space Needle, Max blazed down an abandoned street.
*****
Alec was already perched when she reached the top. He must have been sitting there the entire afternoon, his matted hair proof of the unyielding storm a few hours ago. She, lacking her usual feline grace, flopped down within a few feet of Alec, earning herself a semi-grin. After two greeting nods, they fell into a less than comfortable silence which seemed to last an eternity.
As per usual, the large-mouthed male was the first to break the silence...
What d'ya think? I won't ask for reviews, I don't deserve them. I can't count the number of awesome stories I read and refused to review due to laziness. My apologies to Kerr, Valjean, Fergus80, and Pari106. Ya'll write some awesome stories and I am a bum. (If anyone reviews any of their stuff, convey my apologies. If you don't even read their stuff, you should be ashamed. They have some of the best DA fanfic I have ever read.)
I probably won't get the next part up until next weekend. Sorry.
She Said Yes
*****
As per usual, the large-mouthed male was the first to break the silence. "Sooo, what's new with you Maxie?"
"Shut up Alec," her tone left no room for argument.
In all fairness, he did try to shut up. But even with all the severe Manticore training, the silence spanned for only three seconds. Okay, maybe four.
"So what is the judge and jury's verdict?" He slipped into one of his happy-go-lucky poses. Even with just the two of them perched on the Space Needle, Alec felt a definite tension. Not one of those tensions where you're afraid you'll let the wrong comment slip and Max might 'accidentally nudge' you off the edge. No, her reply could leave more permanent scars. Of course, Alec being the master of all things 'Denial', easily shrugged off the anxiety. He leaned back, stretching out his legs and holding himself up with his forearms.
Max turned slowly, one minute her profile was reflecting the dusky city lights and the next, her cheerless pupils focused solely on him. Alec reminded himself to breathe, but didn't realize why he needed to. She stared at him, then some vague spot behind him, concentrated deep in thought. By the time her eyes penetrated him again, they were glistening with unshed tears. Max leaned forward imperceptibly, trying to read his mind. What did he think about their present situation?
Alec tried not to let his uneasiness show. The eyes were the windows to the soul, and Max left her barricade at home tonight. And damn his eyes, their doors just wouldn't slam shut. Tonight, there was no way to completely lock away emotion. His eyes looked more like jail cells then even a dirty window. The emotions, words wanted to come out. But he'd be damned before he said them. Let her talk first.
Max shoulder raised high, then sunk like the Titanic on the exhale. She felt defeated, but somewhere deep inside a tiny candle furtively lit itself.
"Is this going to be a problem for you?" She asked in a tiny voice, her eyes still boring into him. She might as well have yelled it, for the way Alec jumped. He seemed caught off guard, like he had been distracted with his own thoughts. He should be, these were some serious matters to be dealing with.
"Yeah," he leapt back into his old nature. He pretended to concentrate deeply, "I haven't had too much success with the ladies recently anyway, and it's only 18 months, right?" He 'came' to his conclusion. "I asked anyway. I mean if we didn't who we be around to beat me in line? Cindy? She'd kill me with her anti-male preaching within a week." That seemed to earn a small twist of Max's lips.
Another small silence ensued. They were treading on thawing ice here. No turning back now.
They both seemed to silently agree on the subject. Everything would work out for the best. Their love-hate relationship could survive in close capacity, couldn't it? Only 18 months, but they would both be counting down the days.
"You're not much of a romantic are you, Alec?"
"Sure," he quipped. "I am a die-hard romantic. I do the "French Kiss" Meg Ryan marathon, complete with chocolate truffles, and a box of lotion Kleenex." Max, much to Alec's astonishment, giggled. He shot her his trademark, if not more sincere, smile. "My thing is I just don't do it on days that end in 'y'."
Another muffled giggle. Max let two relieved tears flow down her cheeks before she quickly swiped them away. Unfortunately, it wasn't fast enough for Alec to miss the action. His heart softened a bit watching her haphazardly compose herself. He couldn't resist and tipped her chin up. "Well?" He asked softly.
"Yeah, Alec. I'll marry you."
"Gee, Max. Don't sound so excited," he drawled with a trace of relief.
"Shut up, Alec."
*****
....EARLIER....
"Could this life get any worse, O.C.?" Max whined, throwing her face into one of her boo's pillows.
O.C. in her chronic nothing-fazes-me mode, calmly sat down next to a distraught Max sprawled across her bed and began stroking her hair.
"You want somethin' suga'?"
Max, like a petulant child, shook her head and buried herself deeper into her new pillow/handkerchief. Max felt a sudden pang of nostalgia. It felt just like old times. Max would have some problem, collapse over at her girl's place and just 'weep' out the moment. It was back in the time when only Manticore wanted her; there was no White, Familiars, or virus. Not even Logan. Just Max and her sage.
The sage spoke again, "Lay it on me girl."
Something must have hit the girl hard. Max showed up on her doorstep, soaked to the bone. The girl even left the safety of Terminal City. She looked like a drowned...cat. It was hard to tell where the rain rivulets ended and the tears began. O.C. quickly wrapped her wet hair in a towel, for she had just stepped out of the shower. After throwing on some PJ's she floated over to Max's side, sinking into her analytical shrink mode. Some day the girl would have to start paying her.
She reached for her coffee while Max pulled herself from her gulf of one of her favorite pillows. Hmmm, how delicious, a lovely snot and tear mixture. Oh well, O.C. wouldn't deny her 'sister' anything. That pillow had supported her through many a Diamond fits; it only makes sense that it should carry Max through a Logan sulk. She could just wash the cushion later. Only this time, the sage met a conundrum even she couldn't rationalize away.
"Alec asked me to marry him," Max sniffed.
Naturally, O.C. shot out her coffee like it was venom. Even the patient even had to laugh at the picture. It was if the infallible politician had been caught in a toppling lie. On national television. Right before elections. Wiping off the semi-warm mist on her face, she sat up and looked straight at her confidant, waiting for a more vocal reaction.
"You're playing me boo."
"No joke."
"Damn, that's some serious..." she broke off, thinking of any possible scenario where her normally lackadaisical friend would come up with such a weighty question. "Are you sure he was serious, honey?" She stroked her girl's limp arm. Another deep exhale, another weak nod. "But why?"
"It's the only way."
An incredulous O.C. snorted, "For what?"
"Haven't you heard the news?" Off of her friend's blank look, Max continued. "They are finally, after like five years, willing to cope with the fact that we are real, and we aren't going away. But they don't want us so close together. They are splitting us up. Can't you see O.C.? The only way to get out of a couple square mile plot was to agree to their terms. Some will stay in Seattle; the others are assigned to leave.
"Alec and I signed the agreement last week. The lists came in today. Dix, Mole, Josh, Luke, even Alec are staying in Seattle. Me? I get to head towards San Diego. Can you believe that?" Another wave of sobs washed over Max. Original Cindy, always a quick support, lightly threw her arms around Max, coaxing her head into the crook of her shoulder.
"It can't be all that bad boo. You could visit..."
"But it wouldn't be the same? Can't you see? This is my home. After fifteen years on the lamb, trying to find...whatever, this is my HOME." To accent her point, she threw one balled fist onto the bed, causing it to jerk. Her shoulders began to bounce again. Pulling away from O.C., she buried her face in her lap and began to rock back and forth spasmodically.
The sage's face was tense, trying to conjure up some advice. But at times like these, the best advice was the silent type. So she crawled behind her friend's back, gingerly placed herself behind Max, and positioned her legs on either side of her. Next, she pulled Max from her huddled position and spooned her up against her chest. Max had never broken down quite like this before, even with the first virus attack, her boo always seemed to have grasped onto some thin line of hope. This time it seems the wind had caught the thread and blew it away.
A sudden memory of her mother flew into O.C.'s scattered brain. Leaning around a still sobbing sister, she laid her dark hand on a battered brush. Grasping it like a lifeline, she quickly propped her body back and began running it through Max's muddled mane. Somewhere out of the deep musings of O.C.'s mind, a song began to play. Soon she was humming, using the brush's strokes to help keep time. They sat there for a short eternity, crying and combing.
Years later, Max shifted her body. She slipped from the bed, kneeling before her sharp-witted savior. Two sets of brown eyes lifted and locked. There is a certain intimacy in a best friend, more like a soul mate. Deeper than blood, and more satisfying than lovers, was where two bosom buddies met in moments like this.
"So," O.C. began, sliding to the floor next to Max, taking her calloused hands in her manicured ones. "How does Alec poppin' the big M-word, fit into all this? I've heard the sob stories of completely fine women moonin' over a shiftless man because he hasn't popped the question after some serious relationship time. And here the boy ya'll love to hate asks for your hand? You're jumpin' from A to D on me girl, and Original Cindy needs the B and C."
Max chuckled with some real humor, before jumping back to the more serious task at hand. "I already told you this is my home O.C. People gonna hafta drag me out of this place." Original Cindy smiled at the thought, no matter how realistic it may have been. "But I can't start a ruckus, reflecting bad on all my people now can I? And then there is Logan..." she trailed off. Original Cindy had seen the movie too many times to need a synopsis. "I don't know where I sit with him. Before when I said 'It's not like that' it wasn't because I didn't want it to be. Now after so long of not being with him, I don't know where we stand." The sage nodded, back into her guru way. "And now the only way I can stay in Seattle is to be..."she swallowed hard. "Married."
"Okay, O.C.'s got that. But why would Alec pop the question, why not Logan? I could even see you with Joshua before you with you're boy."
Max shook her head, she just felt to old for this drama at the moment. "I have to be married for 18 months. No more, no less. In that time I could prove myself an upstanding citizen who wouldn't cause trouble..." she was cut off back a scoff soon silenced. She continued as if the phrase was never broken. "...And I could get a divorce. From there on out, I could stick around no problem. I think they don't want me here to lead another 'revolt' or something. But even without the cure for the virus, do you honestly think Logan would let me go after 18 months?" At her pointed look, O.C. turned away.
"I don't think so either. There is so much tension between us, and it sure ain't sparks that are flyin'. You know how weak I am; I would hand over myself, not get the divorce, and suffocate. Maybe if I stayed around, and the virus got cured, we could start up again. But right now? It's just to thorny."
"But with our boy," Original Cindy concluded, "You could divorce, and not feel like you cut off his legs." She shot a quick apologetic look to Max for the paralysis remark, but she seemed too preoccupied to have noticed.
Max snapped. "Like that," she retorted in a 'Mexican Mama' accent.
Smiles on both faces soon dissolved into giggles, which pealed into hysterics. When the laughter died down, and eyes were wiped, both women hauled themselves from the floor and strolled to the kitchen, unbelievably lighter.
Silent minutes with suggestive smiles passed quickly. They made themselves a quick and tasteless dinner, which preceded a warm shower for Max. Refreshed, Max stepped into some of her best friends less showy outfits, which seemed to be few and far between.
"O.C., do you own any clothes with don't make you look like a total prostitute?" Max called out.
"What can a girl say? 'I like big butts and I cannot lie...'" Another round of laughter ensued.
*****
It took Max another two hours and twenty-seven minutes exactly to make the executive decision. It never ceased to amaze her how an engine purring between her thighs could clear a troubled head. Making a sharp turn toward the Space Needle, Max blazed down an abandoned street.
*****
Alec was already perched when she reached the top. He must have been sitting there the entire afternoon, his matted hair proof of the unyielding storm a few hours ago. She, lacking her usual feline grace, flopped down within a few feet of Alec, earning herself a semi-grin. After two greeting nods, they fell into a less than comfortable silence which seemed to last an eternity.
As per usual, the large-mouthed male was the first to break the silence...
What d'ya think? I won't ask for reviews, I don't deserve them. I can't count the number of awesome stories I read and refused to review due to laziness. My apologies to Kerr, Valjean, Fergus80, and Pari106. Ya'll write some awesome stories and I am a bum. (If anyone reviews any of their stuff, convey my apologies. If you don't even read their stuff, you should be ashamed. They have some of the best DA fanfic I have ever read.)
I probably won't get the next part up until next weekend. Sorry.