A/N: Again, thanks for the great reviews! You guys are encouraging me to keep writing. I'll try to keep posting chapters pretty frequently; the next one is already in the works. Hope you like this one; as always, please R&R
Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own them. Shocker, huh?
Chapter Seven
___________________________________________________________________________
Dark Nights
Streets
Seattle Wa., September 9th, 2021
Blood foamed thick to the opening of the wound, reflected in the gleaming
madness of his eyes. He flicked a tongue to the ragged flesh, writhing it within the dark
pool of liquid, a moan of pleasure parting crimson lips.
The moon drifted overhead with the lightness of a passing spirit, illuminating his
grisly work in all its horror. Hard, sleek muscles undulated beneath loose jeans and the
shredded remnants of a leather jacket. Dark hair, mussed by the clawing desperation of
her fingernails, shaded the tell-tale marks of the barcode tattooed across the back of his
neck.
He made short work of her luscious figure, and lifted her body into his arms as he
finished.
His eyes penetrated the surrounding shadows.
Nothing.
Blurring, he crossed the street to a nearby sewage grating, and thrust it aside with
the ease of a child flinging a doll in anger.
The woman's body tumbled with the crunch of bone to the cement below the city,
and the grating scraped undetected back into place.
* * *
His heart froze to a sphere of ice only a moment after he'd stepped inside.
He realized she'd moved on, and he was happy for her...well, not happy,
precisely-it wasn't as though he'd gone about singing for joy and clicking his heels-but
he'd come to terms with the painful fact. But this...this was too much.
They slept on, undisturbed by his quiet entrance, the only movement that of Max
shifting lightly in Alec's arms. Her hands rested tucked beneath her stomach, against the
warm expanse of his hard abdomen, her slender, perfect body molded all along Alec's in
a way that probed tears to Logan eyes.
He blinked rapidly, backing away, his shoulders thrusting with a quiet thunk into
the door behind him.
Alec's strong, toned arms tightened around the sleeping form cradled to him. He
sighed, and leaned gently into her warmth.
Unconsciously, she nuzzled her face into his heat, the slightest of smiles curving
her full lips.
Logan squeezed his eyes shut, sagging limply against the solid wood at his back.
*I almost thought I was ready to let her go. What Asha was saying...it made sense.
But this...I don't want to see this. I can't handle seeing him touch her when I can't.*
The rustle of bedsheets drew his eyes slowly open.
Max, inhaling deeply, turned herself carefully in Alec's embrace. Her movement
failed to go undetected by the male X-5, and he woke to her scent teasing his nostrils.
For a moment, Alec peered into the depths of her brown gaze, swallowing around the
lump crusting his throat. It took a moment for him to regain his voice.
He flashed her a smile. "Sleep good?"
And then his eyes fell on the stricken man hovering against the closed door.
Apparently Max had noticed their unexpected visitor at the same moment,
because she tore violently from his grip and fumbled, panicked, with the blankets
covering them.
Alec withdrew his limbs from hers, and she used the opportunity to launch herself
from the bed and halfway across the room.
"Logan...I didn't know..I didn't realize you were here." she whispered, eyes
wide.
"Didn't seem like you did." he replied, voice cool as he struggled to rein in his
warring emotions.
Alec cleared his throat. "Have a good roll in the sack, sweetie?"
Max, aghast, whipped around to glare at him. "What?" she hissed.
He smirked. "You heard what I said. Was it as good for you as it was for me?"
He turned his gaze to Logan. "Good thing you didn't stop by just a little earlier; couldn't
keep a decent conversation in this house with all the noise we were making. That's why
we were taking a little nap; needed a rest after all that physical activity."
Max's face darkened ominously.
Logan glanced between them, pain in his eyes. He scratched uncomfortably at the
shade of stubble coating his chin. "Max, you don't have to-"
"Alec, darling, I'd like a word with you." She glanced at Logan. "*Alone.*"
"Just a word? Or a few? Although you weren't really saying that much while we
were...well, you know. But I hadn't realized you'd become so religious. That's what you
were screamin' over and over again, wasn't it? Oh, God?"
Logan grasped for the doorknob. "I just stopped by with some food. And a
change of clothes for Max." he said, not entirely sure Max even noticed that he spoke.
She was peering intensely at Alec, who regarded her calmly.
"Fine." she bit off.
He opened the door, turned to look back at her once more, and fled.
She waited, listening hard as his footsteps clattered over the rough floor, until she
heard the sound of the front door opening. Then, furious, she whirled on Alec.
"You asshole!"
He stared coldly at her. "That was what you wanted me to do, wasn't it? Pretend
to like you? Put on a show when Logan's around? Just doin' as Her Royal Highness
commanded."
"I did *not* command you to tell Logan that we're having sex! What the hell were
you thinking?" she snapped, pacing rapidly.
He swallowed and looked away. "What are you so mad about, Max? Isn't this
what you want? To push him away? Just tryin' to help out."
"Why did you do that? One minute you're a fairly decent human being, and the
next you morph into asshole mode. What the hell is your problem?"
*Maybe I'm tired of playing your little bitch. Maybe I'm tired of having you look
at me like I might be more than a worthless piece of shit, only to push me away as soon
as Logan waltzes into the picture.* he thought bitterly.
"What is your problem?" she demanded when he failed to answer.
He shrugged. "I don't think I'm the one with the problem. You're the one going
postal just because I told your ex 'not-like-that' boyfriend that we had sex, which, I might
point out, *you* already told him."
"I did not!" Max hissed, stalking closer to him.
"What's the matter? You don't like the thought of having sex with me? Or you just don't like me
talking about it in front of your boo hoo-I-can't-touch-him-the-world-is-coming-to-an-end
boy toy?"
"Shut up! Just shut the hell up!"
He sighed and briefly closed his eyes, her voice grating upon tender ears. "So
now what, Max? You kick my ass, chase distraught little Logan down, explain
everything and we all get a happy ending, right?"
"The kicking your ass part sounds good right about now." She raised her hand
now, with every intention of striking him, closing in on his bed. Murder surged in her
gaze.
"Hittin' an injured man, Max. How low are you going to sink?"
"Pretty damn low; starting with that dick of yours."
Her hand blurred to meet him now, but his fingers whisked out to seize her wrist,
trapping the slender palm in an iron grip. Her vicious struggling disturbed his wounds,
twisting his face in a grimace of pain, but he clung grimly.
"Let me go!" she hissed, wrenching with all her might at the same moment he
yanked her toward him.
The force sprawled her over his chest, driving the breath from his lungs in a short
gasp and trembling the bed beneath their entwined bodies.
She scrambled upright, and found herself straddling him in a severely intimate
position. "What the hell are you doing? You planned that!"
"Right." he panted beneath her. "I made you attack me as part of a master plan
to get you to sit on me."
Her hips thrust the tautness of his abdomen as she tried to untangle herself,
rending a small groan from his lips.
He grabbed her shoulders, and pulled her into him before she could escape, until
no space lay between bodies grown slick with perspiration. She found it immensely
difficult to pull of a decent glare with only inches between their faces.
"Keep your damn paws to yourself!"
Alec circled both arms around her, ceasing her thrashing as he stared her directly
in the eyes.
"Let me go, dammit!"
"Not until you promise I won't be losin' any of my boys."
"I'm not promising anything, you prick." she spat between gritted teeth.
"Then I'm not letting you go."
He ground her body more firmly against him, fingers clawing the soft cotton of
her shirt. His breath came more ragged now, encouraged by the nearness of those full,
tempting lips. Heat seared his practically naked body, and he took a moment to be
thankful for the boxers still adorning his...lower region.
"Max-"
A tentative knock erupted at the door.
Startled, he loosened his grip just as Joshua poked his head cautiously in.
"Heard shouting." He looked confused. "Max and Alec...getting busy?"
"No!" Max yelled vehemently, tearing herself away from him. She dropped with
a thud to the floor.
Alec eased himself upright, ignoring the pain flaming to life in his shoulder.
"Nah, Josh. Just playin' around."
Max shot him an angry glare before flouncing into the living room. A moment
later, the front door slammed shut with a brutality that jarred the bed Alec lay on.
Joshua raised both eyebrows at his friend.
Alec sighed. "Don't worry about it, buddy. Just her time of the month."
* * *
She'd only stopped for a moment, just to replenish the gas supply in her baby
before heading north-as far from Seattle as she could get-when he struck.
A dark figure that surged out of nowhere, lips curled in a feral grin, palms curving
to hard fists as he emerged from the shadows. He lunged for her at the same moment she
reached to shut off the pump.
"Hey!" Max protested, blurring out of his path, her leg snapping around in a
vicious roundkick that smashed his body against the pavement.
He rose, spitting blood, nose streaming crimson.
She backed away, eyeing him warily, bringing up her own hands now into
fighting position.
He threw a fierce right, following its path with a spinning kick to the head that
caught her off guard. His right foot cracked against her cheekbone, staggering her
backward.
*Who the hell is this guy?*
He certainly wasn't a norm; not with his swiftness and the power of that kick.
*Familiar?* she thought, sparing a brief glance at the shadows for a lurking White.
The glance cost her. The young man plunged a fist into her eye, lifting her body
into the air and crashing it heavily into the gas pump beside her Ninja. She gasped with
the agony, rolling as she hit the ground, springing back up as he came at her again.
They traded a flurry of blows, too quickly for the human eye to follow. He threw
a sidekick at her gut; Max blocked and shoved him into the cement barricade separating
gas pumps.
She cringed at the crack of bone.
He bowed his head for a moment, regaining his breath, and she glimpsed the
tattoo on the back of his neck, a series of thick ebony lines that ran cold the very blood
pumping through her veins.
*Holy shit.*
"Ah! Easy there, big guy."
"Alec hurt?"
"Nah; I just felt like sayin' that. Good stress-reliever." he replied sarcastically,
edging from the gentle fingers probing his shoulder with disturbing uncertainty.
"Max not here to change bandage, so Joshua need to do it." the nomalie said
firmly.
*Like I hadn't noticed her Highness' dramatic exit.* Alec thought wryly, squirming
once more, the flesh of his bare chest tightening in the coolness permeating the old
house. He gritted his teeth as Joshua stripped away another section of gauze. *Max did
this on purpose, just to torture me. I wouldn't put somethin' like that past her.*
The fact that he now resided before his precious boob tube did nothing to bolster
his lagging mood. He'd donned a loose-fitting pair of jeans-moving carefully and
laboriously; pain was not something he endured well-not long after Max had stormed off
into the night and coaxed himself into the living room on the notion of zoning for a few
hours in front of bad TV. Joshua, it seemed, had other plans. Seeing his medium-fella's
bandages thoroughly soaked, he'd taken it upon himself to play nursemaid.
"Ow!" Alec hissed as crimson-saturated gauze gouged out a nice piece of his
flesh.
"Joshua sorry."
"It's ok. Not your fault pal. Guess I should have known better than throwin' myself
in front of a bunch of trigger-happy guys with guns."
"Did it to save Max."
"Sure. But she doesn't exactly seem to appreciate my efforts."
"Max appreciate." Joshua replied quietly.
Alec snorted. "Right. If it had been Logan, she'd have gotten all weepy-eyed,
praisin' the man to the skies about how he'd saved her worthless hide. Me? I get a pat
on the head and an 'Oh gee, Alec, that was nice of you.' If I'm lucky."
Joshua's brow puckered in thought for a moment as he contemplated the
untouched roll of gauze awaiting skillful-in this case, not-so-skillful-hands. He snatched
it in both large hands, brought it to his nose, and took a cautious sniff.
"Alec jealous?" he asked innocently, setting to unraveling this foreign object.
"Of Logan? Hell no!"
"Alec not jealous." Joshua confirmed, cocking his head quizzically to one side.
"Nope. Not a jealous bone in my perfect body."
"Why not?"
Alec looked at his friend, a bit startled by the abruptness of the question. "Why
should I be jealous, Josh?"
"Because Alec care about Max."
Alec looked strangely at his canine friend. "Sure...I mean, me and Max, we've
sorta' become friends these past few weeks. If she was in trouble, I'd help her out, but
just because of that doesn't mean-"
"Alec reopened wound. Almost healed, and now bleeding again." the nomalie
observed, interrupting Alec's argument.
Alec glanced down at the hole in his body. "The one on my leg's healin' just
fine; this one just got a little agitated from mine and Max's...wrestling match."
Joshua worked silently for a moment, brow wrinkled in thought.
"Joshua sorry." he said finally, quietly.
Alec raised both brows. "For what, pal?"
"Hurt Alec. Alec only trying to help Joshua, and Joshua turn away, ask for Max.
Alec Joshua's friend too." He turned mournful eyes to the X-5. "Joshua just so confused
and angry about Annie...not understand why she have to die."
Alec patted him clumsily on one broad shoulder. "Yeah, pal. I know how you
feel. Everyone's dealin' with problems right now; Max hurtin' over her breakup with
Logan, you dealin' with Annie's death, Logan losin' the woman he loves. And me-well
I'm just the happy-go-lucky sociopath." He faked a smile. *Yeah right.* a voice echoed
deep within his mind.
"Max angry and confused too."
"What's Max confused about? Situation seems pretty clear to me-she can't touch
Logan because of the virus bitch so she's miserable. Nothin' to be confused about." His
face tensed in another grimace of pain. "Ow." Joshua apologized, resuming his task
more carefully.
"Max confused because she falling in love with someone else. Not want to
accept feelings, so get angry instead."
"What are you talking about?" Alec demanded, heart freezing within his chest.
"Joshua watch-see things others not see. And Max falling in love with someone
else-feelings changing. Been happening for a while now, but Max too stubborn to see.
Joshua see."
"Who?" Alec whispered, a slick of bile coating the interior of his throat. He
swallowed.
The front door exploded open suddenly, startling the two and prompting Alec to
his feet, a good length of gauze dangling from his freshly opened wound.
"Fuck, Max! What the hell happened?" Alec murmured, eyes growing wide at
the side of her cruelly marked face, the blossoming patches of dark evidence to her recent fight.
"It's worse than it looks." She gave him a grim look. "We have a problem."
Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own them. Shocker, huh?
Chapter Seven
___________________________________________________________________________
Dark Nights
Streets
Seattle Wa., September 9th, 2021
Blood foamed thick to the opening of the wound, reflected in the gleaming
madness of his eyes. He flicked a tongue to the ragged flesh, writhing it within the dark
pool of liquid, a moan of pleasure parting crimson lips.
The moon drifted overhead with the lightness of a passing spirit, illuminating his
grisly work in all its horror. Hard, sleek muscles undulated beneath loose jeans and the
shredded remnants of a leather jacket. Dark hair, mussed by the clawing desperation of
her fingernails, shaded the tell-tale marks of the barcode tattooed across the back of his
neck.
He made short work of her luscious figure, and lifted her body into his arms as he
finished.
His eyes penetrated the surrounding shadows.
Nothing.
Blurring, he crossed the street to a nearby sewage grating, and thrust it aside with
the ease of a child flinging a doll in anger.
The woman's body tumbled with the crunch of bone to the cement below the city,
and the grating scraped undetected back into place.
* * *
His heart froze to a sphere of ice only a moment after he'd stepped inside.
He realized she'd moved on, and he was happy for her...well, not happy,
precisely-it wasn't as though he'd gone about singing for joy and clicking his heels-but
he'd come to terms with the painful fact. But this...this was too much.
They slept on, undisturbed by his quiet entrance, the only movement that of Max
shifting lightly in Alec's arms. Her hands rested tucked beneath her stomach, against the
warm expanse of his hard abdomen, her slender, perfect body molded all along Alec's in
a way that probed tears to Logan eyes.
He blinked rapidly, backing away, his shoulders thrusting with a quiet thunk into
the door behind him.
Alec's strong, toned arms tightened around the sleeping form cradled to him. He
sighed, and leaned gently into her warmth.
Unconsciously, she nuzzled her face into his heat, the slightest of smiles curving
her full lips.
Logan squeezed his eyes shut, sagging limply against the solid wood at his back.
*I almost thought I was ready to let her go. What Asha was saying...it made sense.
But this...I don't want to see this. I can't handle seeing him touch her when I can't.*
The rustle of bedsheets drew his eyes slowly open.
Max, inhaling deeply, turned herself carefully in Alec's embrace. Her movement
failed to go undetected by the male X-5, and he woke to her scent teasing his nostrils.
For a moment, Alec peered into the depths of her brown gaze, swallowing around the
lump crusting his throat. It took a moment for him to regain his voice.
He flashed her a smile. "Sleep good?"
And then his eyes fell on the stricken man hovering against the closed door.
Apparently Max had noticed their unexpected visitor at the same moment,
because she tore violently from his grip and fumbled, panicked, with the blankets
covering them.
Alec withdrew his limbs from hers, and she used the opportunity to launch herself
from the bed and halfway across the room.
"Logan...I didn't know..I didn't realize you were here." she whispered, eyes
wide.
"Didn't seem like you did." he replied, voice cool as he struggled to rein in his
warring emotions.
Alec cleared his throat. "Have a good roll in the sack, sweetie?"
Max, aghast, whipped around to glare at him. "What?" she hissed.
He smirked. "You heard what I said. Was it as good for you as it was for me?"
He turned his gaze to Logan. "Good thing you didn't stop by just a little earlier; couldn't
keep a decent conversation in this house with all the noise we were making. That's why
we were taking a little nap; needed a rest after all that physical activity."
Max's face darkened ominously.
Logan glanced between them, pain in his eyes. He scratched uncomfortably at the
shade of stubble coating his chin. "Max, you don't have to-"
"Alec, darling, I'd like a word with you." She glanced at Logan. "*Alone.*"
"Just a word? Or a few? Although you weren't really saying that much while we
were...well, you know. But I hadn't realized you'd become so religious. That's what you
were screamin' over and over again, wasn't it? Oh, God?"
Logan grasped for the doorknob. "I just stopped by with some food. And a
change of clothes for Max." he said, not entirely sure Max even noticed that he spoke.
She was peering intensely at Alec, who regarded her calmly.
"Fine." she bit off.
He opened the door, turned to look back at her once more, and fled.
She waited, listening hard as his footsteps clattered over the rough floor, until she
heard the sound of the front door opening. Then, furious, she whirled on Alec.
"You asshole!"
He stared coldly at her. "That was what you wanted me to do, wasn't it? Pretend
to like you? Put on a show when Logan's around? Just doin' as Her Royal Highness
commanded."
"I did *not* command you to tell Logan that we're having sex! What the hell were
you thinking?" she snapped, pacing rapidly.
He swallowed and looked away. "What are you so mad about, Max? Isn't this
what you want? To push him away? Just tryin' to help out."
"Why did you do that? One minute you're a fairly decent human being, and the
next you morph into asshole mode. What the hell is your problem?"
*Maybe I'm tired of playing your little bitch. Maybe I'm tired of having you look
at me like I might be more than a worthless piece of shit, only to push me away as soon
as Logan waltzes into the picture.* he thought bitterly.
"What is your problem?" she demanded when he failed to answer.
He shrugged. "I don't think I'm the one with the problem. You're the one going
postal just because I told your ex 'not-like-that' boyfriend that we had sex, which, I might
point out, *you* already told him."
"I did not!" Max hissed, stalking closer to him.
"What's the matter? You don't like the thought of having sex with me? Or you just don't like me
talking about it in front of your boo hoo-I-can't-touch-him-the-world-is-coming-to-an-end
boy toy?"
"Shut up! Just shut the hell up!"
He sighed and briefly closed his eyes, her voice grating upon tender ears. "So
now what, Max? You kick my ass, chase distraught little Logan down, explain
everything and we all get a happy ending, right?"
"The kicking your ass part sounds good right about now." She raised her hand
now, with every intention of striking him, closing in on his bed. Murder surged in her
gaze.
"Hittin' an injured man, Max. How low are you going to sink?"
"Pretty damn low; starting with that dick of yours."
Her hand blurred to meet him now, but his fingers whisked out to seize her wrist,
trapping the slender palm in an iron grip. Her vicious struggling disturbed his wounds,
twisting his face in a grimace of pain, but he clung grimly.
"Let me go!" she hissed, wrenching with all her might at the same moment he
yanked her toward him.
The force sprawled her over his chest, driving the breath from his lungs in a short
gasp and trembling the bed beneath their entwined bodies.
She scrambled upright, and found herself straddling him in a severely intimate
position. "What the hell are you doing? You planned that!"
"Right." he panted beneath her. "I made you attack me as part of a master plan
to get you to sit on me."
Her hips thrust the tautness of his abdomen as she tried to untangle herself,
rending a small groan from his lips.
He grabbed her shoulders, and pulled her into him before she could escape, until
no space lay between bodies grown slick with perspiration. She found it immensely
difficult to pull of a decent glare with only inches between their faces.
"Keep your damn paws to yourself!"
Alec circled both arms around her, ceasing her thrashing as he stared her directly
in the eyes.
"Let me go, dammit!"
"Not until you promise I won't be losin' any of my boys."
"I'm not promising anything, you prick." she spat between gritted teeth.
"Then I'm not letting you go."
He ground her body more firmly against him, fingers clawing the soft cotton of
her shirt. His breath came more ragged now, encouraged by the nearness of those full,
tempting lips. Heat seared his practically naked body, and he took a moment to be
thankful for the boxers still adorning his...lower region.
"Max-"
A tentative knock erupted at the door.
Startled, he loosened his grip just as Joshua poked his head cautiously in.
"Heard shouting." He looked confused. "Max and Alec...getting busy?"
"No!" Max yelled vehemently, tearing herself away from him. She dropped with
a thud to the floor.
Alec eased himself upright, ignoring the pain flaming to life in his shoulder.
"Nah, Josh. Just playin' around."
Max shot him an angry glare before flouncing into the living room. A moment
later, the front door slammed shut with a brutality that jarred the bed Alec lay on.
Joshua raised both eyebrows at his friend.
Alec sighed. "Don't worry about it, buddy. Just her time of the month."
* * *
She'd only stopped for a moment, just to replenish the gas supply in her baby
before heading north-as far from Seattle as she could get-when he struck.
A dark figure that surged out of nowhere, lips curled in a feral grin, palms curving
to hard fists as he emerged from the shadows. He lunged for her at the same moment she
reached to shut off the pump.
"Hey!" Max protested, blurring out of his path, her leg snapping around in a
vicious roundkick that smashed his body against the pavement.
He rose, spitting blood, nose streaming crimson.
She backed away, eyeing him warily, bringing up her own hands now into
fighting position.
He threw a fierce right, following its path with a spinning kick to the head that
caught her off guard. His right foot cracked against her cheekbone, staggering her
backward.
*Who the hell is this guy?*
He certainly wasn't a norm; not with his swiftness and the power of that kick.
*Familiar?* she thought, sparing a brief glance at the shadows for a lurking White.
The glance cost her. The young man plunged a fist into her eye, lifting her body
into the air and crashing it heavily into the gas pump beside her Ninja. She gasped with
the agony, rolling as she hit the ground, springing back up as he came at her again.
They traded a flurry of blows, too quickly for the human eye to follow. He threw
a sidekick at her gut; Max blocked and shoved him into the cement barricade separating
gas pumps.
She cringed at the crack of bone.
He bowed his head for a moment, regaining his breath, and she glimpsed the
tattoo on the back of his neck, a series of thick ebony lines that ran cold the very blood
pumping through her veins.
*Holy shit.*
"Ah! Easy there, big guy."
"Alec hurt?"
"Nah; I just felt like sayin' that. Good stress-reliever." he replied sarcastically,
edging from the gentle fingers probing his shoulder with disturbing uncertainty.
"Max not here to change bandage, so Joshua need to do it." the nomalie said
firmly.
*Like I hadn't noticed her Highness' dramatic exit.* Alec thought wryly, squirming
once more, the flesh of his bare chest tightening in the coolness permeating the old
house. He gritted his teeth as Joshua stripped away another section of gauze. *Max did
this on purpose, just to torture me. I wouldn't put somethin' like that past her.*
The fact that he now resided before his precious boob tube did nothing to bolster
his lagging mood. He'd donned a loose-fitting pair of jeans-moving carefully and
laboriously; pain was not something he endured well-not long after Max had stormed off
into the night and coaxed himself into the living room on the notion of zoning for a few
hours in front of bad TV. Joshua, it seemed, had other plans. Seeing his medium-fella's
bandages thoroughly soaked, he'd taken it upon himself to play nursemaid.
"Ow!" Alec hissed as crimson-saturated gauze gouged out a nice piece of his
flesh.
"Joshua sorry."
"It's ok. Not your fault pal. Guess I should have known better than throwin' myself
in front of a bunch of trigger-happy guys with guns."
"Did it to save Max."
"Sure. But she doesn't exactly seem to appreciate my efforts."
"Max appreciate." Joshua replied quietly.
Alec snorted. "Right. If it had been Logan, she'd have gotten all weepy-eyed,
praisin' the man to the skies about how he'd saved her worthless hide. Me? I get a pat
on the head and an 'Oh gee, Alec, that was nice of you.' If I'm lucky."
Joshua's brow puckered in thought for a moment as he contemplated the
untouched roll of gauze awaiting skillful-in this case, not-so-skillful-hands. He snatched
it in both large hands, brought it to his nose, and took a cautious sniff.
"Alec jealous?" he asked innocently, setting to unraveling this foreign object.
"Of Logan? Hell no!"
"Alec not jealous." Joshua confirmed, cocking his head quizzically to one side.
"Nope. Not a jealous bone in my perfect body."
"Why not?"
Alec looked at his friend, a bit startled by the abruptness of the question. "Why
should I be jealous, Josh?"
"Because Alec care about Max."
Alec looked strangely at his canine friend. "Sure...I mean, me and Max, we've
sorta' become friends these past few weeks. If she was in trouble, I'd help her out, but
just because of that doesn't mean-"
"Alec reopened wound. Almost healed, and now bleeding again." the nomalie
observed, interrupting Alec's argument.
Alec glanced down at the hole in his body. "The one on my leg's healin' just
fine; this one just got a little agitated from mine and Max's...wrestling match."
Joshua worked silently for a moment, brow wrinkled in thought.
"Joshua sorry." he said finally, quietly.
Alec raised both brows. "For what, pal?"
"Hurt Alec. Alec only trying to help Joshua, and Joshua turn away, ask for Max.
Alec Joshua's friend too." He turned mournful eyes to the X-5. "Joshua just so confused
and angry about Annie...not understand why she have to die."
Alec patted him clumsily on one broad shoulder. "Yeah, pal. I know how you
feel. Everyone's dealin' with problems right now; Max hurtin' over her breakup with
Logan, you dealin' with Annie's death, Logan losin' the woman he loves. And me-well
I'm just the happy-go-lucky sociopath." He faked a smile. *Yeah right.* a voice echoed
deep within his mind.
"Max angry and confused too."
"What's Max confused about? Situation seems pretty clear to me-she can't touch
Logan because of the virus bitch so she's miserable. Nothin' to be confused about." His
face tensed in another grimace of pain. "Ow." Joshua apologized, resuming his task
more carefully.
"Max confused because she falling in love with someone else. Not want to
accept feelings, so get angry instead."
"What are you talking about?" Alec demanded, heart freezing within his chest.
"Joshua watch-see things others not see. And Max falling in love with someone
else-feelings changing. Been happening for a while now, but Max too stubborn to see.
Joshua see."
"Who?" Alec whispered, a slick of bile coating the interior of his throat. He
swallowed.
The front door exploded open suddenly, startling the two and prompting Alec to
his feet, a good length of gauze dangling from his freshly opened wound.
"Fuck, Max! What the hell happened?" Alec murmured, eyes growing wide at
the side of her cruelly marked face, the blossoming patches of dark evidence to her recent fight.
"It's worse than it looks." She gave him a grim look. "We have a problem."