A/N: I'm a bad, bad person for not putting this up sooner, as it's been finished for quite some time now. Hit me, throw things, whatever you need to do. Oh, and if you can find it within your heart to forgive me, you might want to leave a review to persuade me to get the next chapter up faster than I did this one. It's written too; it's just a matter of spell-checking it and putting it in correct format. So people, show me the love! You know you want to! Also, if you think Logan's theory on Max coming back to life doesn't fit with something seen on the show, it's just a theory. I'm not saying he's right and I'm not saying he's wrong, 'cause I'm still working out some theories myself.
Disclaimer: Not mine...blah blah blah...Dark Angel belongs to James Cameron, Charles Eglee, and Fox, blah blah blah...do we understand each other?
Chapter Fourteen
_______________________________________________________________
Bullets
Streets
Seattle, Wa., September 14th, 2021
Undulating shadows shifted and elongated to caress her shapely figure; ebony fog
clinging to each supple curve. Alec felt his eyes stray inevitably to her crouching body,
to linger over the silken profile of her face, his fingers crying out in memory of that satin
flesh whispering beneath them. His gaze darted to her full lips, the sumptuous, seductive
flesh edged in the silver brilliance of the moon.
"Quit looking at me." she hissed.
His jaw tightened. "Fine, Your Highness. Sorry I dared to do somethin' without
your permission."
"I can't believe I let you come with me."
"Let me come with you? Just little tag-along Alec, huh?" he whispered back,
darting his gaze to the ground far below. "Well, gee, Max, sorry to be such a bother. I
mean, I wouldn't want to hinder your efforts in any way. Maybe I should just jump off
the building, so you can watch my unworthy ass splatter all over the streets below."
"At least it would provide a distraction." she returned.
*Alec loves me? Yeah right. Sorry, OC, but I think you made a bad call on this
one. The only thing the stupid jackass loves about me is his ability to annoy me.*
"You know, it would be nice if you'd learn to appreciate me a little more, since I
*am* out here helping you and all."
"Shut up! Just shut up. If I have to be stuck listening to you yap the whole time,
I'll push your ass over the side myself."
"What good would that do you? Then your full body shield wouldn't be around
to stop any bullets the cops decide to send our way."
"I can take care of myself, thank you." she snapped tightly, clenching one hand to
a white-knuckled fist. "I don't need you to try and play the knight in shining armor part."
"Yeah, because you're the professional at dodging bullets, right, Max? Just like
the recent episode down in the sewers, when you dodged that bullet so well that you
brought yourself right back into its path again."
"Shut up!"
"And of course, that other time in Jam Pony when White and his trigger-happy
apes would have pumped you full of lead if a certain someone hadn't-"
"Shut. Up!" Max ground out between clenched teeth. She thrust a hand out to
clench the front of his jacket, slender fingers spasming to claws against rough material.
His eyes widened slightly as she lunged close to him, their faces mere inches apart.
"We're splitting up."
"Max-"
"We are *splitting up*. Get it? This is the break-and-go-off-on-your-own part of
the mission, *honey*."
"It will take longer to find this guy if we split up. Why can't we just-"
She flashed him a disgusted look. "We can't because you're an annoying asshole
who's getting on my nerves and your very presence is making my skin crawl.
Understand?"
"Your skin is probably crawling because you haven't washed it and its infested
with lice. Shouldn't blame bad hygiene on me, Max."
She pushed him away and rose, scowling. "Don't do anything stupid."
He smirked and crossed his arms. "From talking about how you'd like to push my
ass off the side of the building to warning me to be careful. Your concern touches me."
"You're touched in the head!" she snapped. "I didn't say 'Be careful' I said
'Don't do anything stupid.' I don't want the cops knowing there are two transgenics
lurking in the shadows, and if you haven't forgotten, they still know what I look like."
"So this is all about protecting your own ass? What happened to all that
do-gooder, save-fellow-man shit Logan's been feeding you?"
"Fuck off." Max whispered, and blurred into the darkness.
"Love you too, sweetheart." he murmured, a touch of bitterness thrumming his
vocal cords.
She climbed silently, clinging gracefully to the side of the building as she
descended, hands and feet groping automatically for firm hold in the brick. A light
breeze rippled over her body as she approached ground level, lifting the dark curtain of
hair as a silken banner.
The chill of night pressed close, like an eager lover, thrusting fingers of ice all
through her. She shivered lightly and burrowed deeper into her jacket, its bloodstained
exterior grisly but adequate in warding out the unwelcome cold.
Above, faraway stars gleamed as forgotten diamonds in the barren wasteland of
ebony sky.
She tilted her head to contemplate them, still working her way steadily
downward, muscles trembling slightly with the stress of holding her weight up. The
minute flashes of silver quivering above somehow seemed to
calm her tumultuous thoughts, to slightly ease the feelings of hostility bubbling within
her chest.
His face drifted before her, and her gaze sought once more the brief flame of
emotion within hazel orbs, her mind seeking to identify it.
*Hurt.* a voice whispered from the deepest recesses of her mind. *You hurt him.*
"Fuck off." She heard her voice whisper harshly once more, and squeezed her
eyes shut for a moment. "Be careful. Don't get yourself killed." she'd longed to say,
and instead, this, such a cold and callous remark, had slipped from between her lips
before she could stop it.
*I didn't mean it.* Max thought. *I'm sorry, Alec. I didn't mean it.*
Her boots merged with pavement in a soft thud. Releasing the wall, Max dropped
soundlessly to shining blacktop and crouched, scanning pacing shadows for sign of life.
Nothing.
Letting out a slow breath of relief, she straightened, her ears catching the soft
footsteps of a nearby sector cop. She pressed herself hard into the wall, listening. His
restless pacing spoke of boredom and fatigue, and no accompanying voices rose to chide
him for paying less-than-stellar attention to his surroundings.
*No problem.*
Blurring, she rounded the building opposite him, melding as one with the night.
Her lithe body dissipated into the surrounding night, swallowed hungrily by
prowling darkness, but not before she snuck a quick glance over one shoulder, at the
muscular figure crouched on the building's roof.
* * *
The grating weighed heavily against hands slick with perspiration.
He peered apprehensively down into blackness, a lump crusting his throat as the
putrid stench of the sewers curled to embrace his waiting figure. He knew the sewers had
become Transgenic Central, the safest place for the freaks to hide, but recent memories
froze his body to the spot. The scent of blood still clung thick to the air; whether a smell
conjured by his overactive mind or real, Alec couldn't be sure, but its presence taunted
him all the same.
With a grunt, he slammed the cover back into place, images of a bloodied, lifeless
Max haunting him.
*Shit.* he thought, exhaling shakily.
He couldn't venture back down into the depths beneath the city, not so soon
after...
*Stupid bitch.* The thought came without the malice he'd intended. *Why the hell
do you make me care? I don't want to, dammit! I want to go on watching my own back
and not worrying about anyone else.*
Alec thrust both hands into jacket pockets and started briskly off, moving with the
lightness of a cat stalking prey. He sensed life nearby; smelled the warmth of body heat.
A car hissed past, lifting a veil of water from the roadway, spattering his lean
figure with droplets of cold liquid.
"Jerk." he muttered beneath his breath, forcing thoughts of Max aside, tensing in
anticipation as the warmth grew nearer.
The soft thunk of boots on cement, further augmented by his enhanced senses,
transcended the far-off blare of angry horns. Alec blurred to the safety of a nearby alley,
and waited tensely as the footsteps drifted quietly past.
*"Don't take anyone out unless you absolutely have to. Got it?"* Max's orders as
they'd headed out. He'd felt obliged to argue in keeping with the
let's-bitch-at-one-another-as-much-as-we-possibly-can spirit of the evening, but there had
never really been any defiance. He wasn't too keen on attracting unwanted attention
either; to himself or to Max. Especially to Max, after what had happened only yesterday.
*Three strikes and you're out.* he thought grimly, picking his way carefully back
into the open. *Be careful, dammit, would you Max?*
The scowl creasing hard features eased slightly as the door to his office thrust
aside to welcome the figure of a man. His fingers stilled against the paper he'd been
reading only moments before. "Yes, Otto?"
"Sir, we received this footage from a hoverdrone passing over Sector 3 about a
minute ago." He slipped a glossy photograph across the desk to White.
White perused the grainy quality of the picture eagerly, immediately recognising
the features of the man depicted. "494." he growled, a scowl tightening his lips once
more. "Good work, Otto."
"Thank you, sir."
White's fingers drifted to the pistol belted at his right hip, hand caressing chill
metal in an almost loving gesture. "Get a team together. Now. It's time to bring in a
little bargaining material for 452."
*Snake blood.*
The thought had come to him nearly two hours before, an answer to the
ever-elusive reason as to what had really happened down in the sewers yesterday. Max
dying from a severe gunshot, and then coming back to the world just like that...He didn't
deny his vast relief at not losing her, but nothing about the situation made sense. There
had been no 'sibling' to offer his heart in an effort to save Max, only a distraught Alec
and no medical equipment to speak of.
*Snake blood.* The two words skittered briefly through Logan's mind again, and he
spun to his computer, fingers dancing over the keyboard. The snake blood Max absorbed
from that knife wound when White and his familiars captured her...It was possible that
there was some sort of antibody in there that had saved her. But if the snake blood had
brought her back to life, that meant White and his creepy followers were walking around
pumped full of that shit...essentially invincible.
*Not good. Not good at all.*
He reached for the phone beside him, a growing feeling of unease hollowing his
stomach, and, thumbing the 'on' button, dialled swiftly.
He'd appeared out of nowhere, surprising the shit out of her. One moment found
her creeping slowly through desecrated ruins of a once remarkable skyscraper, its
magnificence levelled by the Pulse, and the next she found herself suddenly face to face
with a startled-looking cop. He paused, shocked by the abrupt appearance of this
dark-haired young woman before him. His fingers tightened around the machine gun he
clutched, flesh shimmering bone-white in the darkness.
"Hey-"
Max's fist caught him on the jaw, thrusting him backwards, the weapon slipping
from his fingers and thudding softly to the rubble beneath their feet. He staggered
against a nearby wall, crying out, before a violent blow from her boot dropped him like a
rock.
"Stupid bastard." she whispered softly, crouching to unclip the radio dangling
from his belt.
She ground it beneath one foot, the audible crunch drawing a wince from her.
Moonlight shimmered between minute cracks and ragged holes adorning the
exterior of the building, the illumination waning as it sought entrance and found only
solid cement. Outside, the faraway screech of tires on slick pavement assaulted her ears.
*Someone's in a hurry.* she thought, shrugging lightly and moving on deeper into
the building's ruins. Rubble shifted and cracked beneath her feet, protesting against this
disturbance. She walked lightly, alert, eyes darting to each shadow, perusing its depths.
*I just want to catch this guy and get back to Logan's.* Something about this night
held a lingering sense of danger. A growing sense of disconcertment uncoiled within her
gut which she couldn't seem to shake.
*Alec.* His name trickled briefly through her mind. *That idiot better be ok. I'll
kick his ass if he's gotten himself caught.* She wouldn't put it past him; Alec and trouble
just naturally seemed to go together. *But I've already lost Joshua...I can't lost him too.*
she thought, fresh tears stinging her eyelids.
Bile seared the inside of her throat; Max felt her stomach heave, alive with
disturbed stomach acids. *I shouldn't have just left him. God knows what he's managed
to do by now.* Pausing, she shook her head fiercely, clearing his image from her mind.
*What the hell am I doing, worrying about him like some kind of goddamned mother hen?
Alec can take care of himself.*
*Oh shit.*
The gun barrel lashed him across the jaw, with enough force to stagger him
sideways. He recovered quickly, thrusting a vicious sidekick into the cop's gut, doubling
the man over with a gasp of rapidly expelled air.
His fingers probed the blossoming patch of dark as the cop recovered, a frown
tugging his full lips.
"You know, I'm really getting sick of people smacking me around." Alec
muttered, and slammed a hard fist into the side of the man's head, putting him down for
good.
Rainwater and fresh gore leapt thick into the air as the cop slumped at Alec's feet,
gun skittering across the pavement.
*"Don't take anyone out unless you absolutely have to. Got it?"* Her voice
reverberated throughout his head.
"He started it." Alec said aloud, absently caressing the knuckles of his right hand.
*And now I've got a bruise the size of fucking Texas on my chin, and it's not like anyone's
going to kiss it better. Especially not Max, considering she's the source of half my
bruises. Ok, more like 3/4 of them.*
The shrill, dissonant cry of his cell phone suddenly rent the air. Alec fumbled for
it with fingers grown slightly stiff with cold, another little frown curving his lips when he
recognised Logan's number.
*Probably calling to tell Max to 'Be careful.'*
"Logan, how nice to hear from you, pal. I was just thinking to myself how much I
missed the sound of your voice."
"Alec, where's Max?"
*Psychic. I'm freakin' psychic.*
"Dunno, buddy."
Static popped and crackled between them for a moment. Then, Logan's voice
intervened once more, slightly incredulous and a lot agitated. "What do you mean
'dunno'? Isn't she with you?"
"Nah. Queen Max commanded that we split up. Couldn't handle herself around
me-probably afraid she'd jump me and we wouldn't be able to go about our job. I know
we just broke up and all, but it's obvious to anyone how much the woman still wants
me." Alec replied, his voice radiating a lightness he didn't feel.
"Do you know where she went?"
"Not a clue. She could be halfway to California now for all I know."
"You guys don't have a rendezvous point or something?"
"Ah...no. Guess she was just planning to hook up back at your place and compare
notes there. Listen, Logan, much as I love your witty conversation, this isn't exactly
helping to catch the psycho freak running around eating women-maybe even little kids.
Think about the people of Seattle, Log-you're their crusader or somethin' aren't you? So
shouldn't you be hanging up right about now so I can-"
"I really need to talk to Max."
Alec felt the muscles in his jaw tightening in irritation. "Look, I said I don't
know where she is. You're just going to have to wai-"
The agitated squeal of rubber on blacktop screamed through the night. His head
whipped up to glimpse a white van swerve across the empty lanes of traffic, toward the
sidewalk where he stood.
"Fuck!" he yelled, and blurred to escape being flattened beneath the tires.
"Alec. Alec!"
His back thrust hard against a brick wall, eyes widening as the doors to the
vehicle thrust open and several men in black combat gear poured out, guns surging to
target him.
*What the hell is this?*
"494. How nice to see you again."
"Alec! Alec, answer me!" Logan yelled into the receiver.
A pained grunt, and the thud of a body against cement rippled over their connection.
"Alec!"
A shot exploded his ears, ringing painfully loud.
The line went dead in his hand, erupting in meaningless static.
A/N 2: Another cliffhanger! Hee! I'm so evil.
Disclaimer: Not mine...blah blah blah...Dark Angel belongs to James Cameron, Charles Eglee, and Fox, blah blah blah...do we understand each other?
Chapter Fourteen
_______________________________________________________________
Bullets
Streets
Seattle, Wa., September 14th, 2021
Undulating shadows shifted and elongated to caress her shapely figure; ebony fog
clinging to each supple curve. Alec felt his eyes stray inevitably to her crouching body,
to linger over the silken profile of her face, his fingers crying out in memory of that satin
flesh whispering beneath them. His gaze darted to her full lips, the sumptuous, seductive
flesh edged in the silver brilliance of the moon.
"Quit looking at me." she hissed.
His jaw tightened. "Fine, Your Highness. Sorry I dared to do somethin' without
your permission."
"I can't believe I let you come with me."
"Let me come with you? Just little tag-along Alec, huh?" he whispered back,
darting his gaze to the ground far below. "Well, gee, Max, sorry to be such a bother. I
mean, I wouldn't want to hinder your efforts in any way. Maybe I should just jump off
the building, so you can watch my unworthy ass splatter all over the streets below."
"At least it would provide a distraction." she returned.
*Alec loves me? Yeah right. Sorry, OC, but I think you made a bad call on this
one. The only thing the stupid jackass loves about me is his ability to annoy me.*
"You know, it would be nice if you'd learn to appreciate me a little more, since I
*am* out here helping you and all."
"Shut up! Just shut up. If I have to be stuck listening to you yap the whole time,
I'll push your ass over the side myself."
"What good would that do you? Then your full body shield wouldn't be around
to stop any bullets the cops decide to send our way."
"I can take care of myself, thank you." she snapped tightly, clenching one hand to
a white-knuckled fist. "I don't need you to try and play the knight in shining armor part."
"Yeah, because you're the professional at dodging bullets, right, Max? Just like
the recent episode down in the sewers, when you dodged that bullet so well that you
brought yourself right back into its path again."
"Shut up!"
"And of course, that other time in Jam Pony when White and his trigger-happy
apes would have pumped you full of lead if a certain someone hadn't-"
"Shut. Up!" Max ground out between clenched teeth. She thrust a hand out to
clench the front of his jacket, slender fingers spasming to claws against rough material.
His eyes widened slightly as she lunged close to him, their faces mere inches apart.
"We're splitting up."
"Max-"
"We are *splitting up*. Get it? This is the break-and-go-off-on-your-own part of
the mission, *honey*."
"It will take longer to find this guy if we split up. Why can't we just-"
She flashed him a disgusted look. "We can't because you're an annoying asshole
who's getting on my nerves and your very presence is making my skin crawl.
Understand?"
"Your skin is probably crawling because you haven't washed it and its infested
with lice. Shouldn't blame bad hygiene on me, Max."
She pushed him away and rose, scowling. "Don't do anything stupid."
He smirked and crossed his arms. "From talking about how you'd like to push my
ass off the side of the building to warning me to be careful. Your concern touches me."
"You're touched in the head!" she snapped. "I didn't say 'Be careful' I said
'Don't do anything stupid.' I don't want the cops knowing there are two transgenics
lurking in the shadows, and if you haven't forgotten, they still know what I look like."
"So this is all about protecting your own ass? What happened to all that
do-gooder, save-fellow-man shit Logan's been feeding you?"
"Fuck off." Max whispered, and blurred into the darkness.
"Love you too, sweetheart." he murmured, a touch of bitterness thrumming his
vocal cords.
She climbed silently, clinging gracefully to the side of the building as she
descended, hands and feet groping automatically for firm hold in the brick. A light
breeze rippled over her body as she approached ground level, lifting the dark curtain of
hair as a silken banner.
The chill of night pressed close, like an eager lover, thrusting fingers of ice all
through her. She shivered lightly and burrowed deeper into her jacket, its bloodstained
exterior grisly but adequate in warding out the unwelcome cold.
Above, faraway stars gleamed as forgotten diamonds in the barren wasteland of
ebony sky.
She tilted her head to contemplate them, still working her way steadily
downward, muscles trembling slightly with the stress of holding her weight up. The
minute flashes of silver quivering above somehow seemed to
calm her tumultuous thoughts, to slightly ease the feelings of hostility bubbling within
her chest.
His face drifted before her, and her gaze sought once more the brief flame of
emotion within hazel orbs, her mind seeking to identify it.
*Hurt.* a voice whispered from the deepest recesses of her mind. *You hurt him.*
"Fuck off." She heard her voice whisper harshly once more, and squeezed her
eyes shut for a moment. "Be careful. Don't get yourself killed." she'd longed to say,
and instead, this, such a cold and callous remark, had slipped from between her lips
before she could stop it.
*I didn't mean it.* Max thought. *I'm sorry, Alec. I didn't mean it.*
Her boots merged with pavement in a soft thud. Releasing the wall, Max dropped
soundlessly to shining blacktop and crouched, scanning pacing shadows for sign of life.
Nothing.
Letting out a slow breath of relief, she straightened, her ears catching the soft
footsteps of a nearby sector cop. She pressed herself hard into the wall, listening. His
restless pacing spoke of boredom and fatigue, and no accompanying voices rose to chide
him for paying less-than-stellar attention to his surroundings.
*No problem.*
Blurring, she rounded the building opposite him, melding as one with the night.
Her lithe body dissipated into the surrounding night, swallowed hungrily by
prowling darkness, but not before she snuck a quick glance over one shoulder, at the
muscular figure crouched on the building's roof.
* * *
The grating weighed heavily against hands slick with perspiration.
He peered apprehensively down into blackness, a lump crusting his throat as the
putrid stench of the sewers curled to embrace his waiting figure. He knew the sewers had
become Transgenic Central, the safest place for the freaks to hide, but recent memories
froze his body to the spot. The scent of blood still clung thick to the air; whether a smell
conjured by his overactive mind or real, Alec couldn't be sure, but its presence taunted
him all the same.
With a grunt, he slammed the cover back into place, images of a bloodied, lifeless
Max haunting him.
*Shit.* he thought, exhaling shakily.
He couldn't venture back down into the depths beneath the city, not so soon
after...
*Stupid bitch.* The thought came without the malice he'd intended. *Why the hell
do you make me care? I don't want to, dammit! I want to go on watching my own back
and not worrying about anyone else.*
Alec thrust both hands into jacket pockets and started briskly off, moving with the
lightness of a cat stalking prey. He sensed life nearby; smelled the warmth of body heat.
A car hissed past, lifting a veil of water from the roadway, spattering his lean
figure with droplets of cold liquid.
"Jerk." he muttered beneath his breath, forcing thoughts of Max aside, tensing in
anticipation as the warmth grew nearer.
The soft thunk of boots on cement, further augmented by his enhanced senses,
transcended the far-off blare of angry horns. Alec blurred to the safety of a nearby alley,
and waited tensely as the footsteps drifted quietly past.
*"Don't take anyone out unless you absolutely have to. Got it?"* Max's orders as
they'd headed out. He'd felt obliged to argue in keeping with the
let's-bitch-at-one-another-as-much-as-we-possibly-can spirit of the evening, but there had
never really been any defiance. He wasn't too keen on attracting unwanted attention
either; to himself or to Max. Especially to Max, after what had happened only yesterday.
*Three strikes and you're out.* he thought grimly, picking his way carefully back
into the open. *Be careful, dammit, would you Max?*
The scowl creasing hard features eased slightly as the door to his office thrust
aside to welcome the figure of a man. His fingers stilled against the paper he'd been
reading only moments before. "Yes, Otto?"
"Sir, we received this footage from a hoverdrone passing over Sector 3 about a
minute ago." He slipped a glossy photograph across the desk to White.
White perused the grainy quality of the picture eagerly, immediately recognising
the features of the man depicted. "494." he growled, a scowl tightening his lips once
more. "Good work, Otto."
"Thank you, sir."
White's fingers drifted to the pistol belted at his right hip, hand caressing chill
metal in an almost loving gesture. "Get a team together. Now. It's time to bring in a
little bargaining material for 452."
*Snake blood.*
The thought had come to him nearly two hours before, an answer to the
ever-elusive reason as to what had really happened down in the sewers yesterday. Max
dying from a severe gunshot, and then coming back to the world just like that...He didn't
deny his vast relief at not losing her, but nothing about the situation made sense. There
had been no 'sibling' to offer his heart in an effort to save Max, only a distraught Alec
and no medical equipment to speak of.
*Snake blood.* The two words skittered briefly through Logan's mind again, and he
spun to his computer, fingers dancing over the keyboard. The snake blood Max absorbed
from that knife wound when White and his familiars captured her...It was possible that
there was some sort of antibody in there that had saved her. But if the snake blood had
brought her back to life, that meant White and his creepy followers were walking around
pumped full of that shit...essentially invincible.
*Not good. Not good at all.*
He reached for the phone beside him, a growing feeling of unease hollowing his
stomach, and, thumbing the 'on' button, dialled swiftly.
He'd appeared out of nowhere, surprising the shit out of her. One moment found
her creeping slowly through desecrated ruins of a once remarkable skyscraper, its
magnificence levelled by the Pulse, and the next she found herself suddenly face to face
with a startled-looking cop. He paused, shocked by the abrupt appearance of this
dark-haired young woman before him. His fingers tightened around the machine gun he
clutched, flesh shimmering bone-white in the darkness.
"Hey-"
Max's fist caught him on the jaw, thrusting him backwards, the weapon slipping
from his fingers and thudding softly to the rubble beneath their feet. He staggered
against a nearby wall, crying out, before a violent blow from her boot dropped him like a
rock.
"Stupid bastard." she whispered softly, crouching to unclip the radio dangling
from his belt.
She ground it beneath one foot, the audible crunch drawing a wince from her.
Moonlight shimmered between minute cracks and ragged holes adorning the
exterior of the building, the illumination waning as it sought entrance and found only
solid cement. Outside, the faraway screech of tires on slick pavement assaulted her ears.
*Someone's in a hurry.* she thought, shrugging lightly and moving on deeper into
the building's ruins. Rubble shifted and cracked beneath her feet, protesting against this
disturbance. She walked lightly, alert, eyes darting to each shadow, perusing its depths.
*I just want to catch this guy and get back to Logan's.* Something about this night
held a lingering sense of danger. A growing sense of disconcertment uncoiled within her
gut which she couldn't seem to shake.
*Alec.* His name trickled briefly through her mind. *That idiot better be ok. I'll
kick his ass if he's gotten himself caught.* She wouldn't put it past him; Alec and trouble
just naturally seemed to go together. *But I've already lost Joshua...I can't lost him too.*
she thought, fresh tears stinging her eyelids.
Bile seared the inside of her throat; Max felt her stomach heave, alive with
disturbed stomach acids. *I shouldn't have just left him. God knows what he's managed
to do by now.* Pausing, she shook her head fiercely, clearing his image from her mind.
*What the hell am I doing, worrying about him like some kind of goddamned mother hen?
Alec can take care of himself.*
*Oh shit.*
The gun barrel lashed him across the jaw, with enough force to stagger him
sideways. He recovered quickly, thrusting a vicious sidekick into the cop's gut, doubling
the man over with a gasp of rapidly expelled air.
His fingers probed the blossoming patch of dark as the cop recovered, a frown
tugging his full lips.
"You know, I'm really getting sick of people smacking me around." Alec
muttered, and slammed a hard fist into the side of the man's head, putting him down for
good.
Rainwater and fresh gore leapt thick into the air as the cop slumped at Alec's feet,
gun skittering across the pavement.
*"Don't take anyone out unless you absolutely have to. Got it?"* Her voice
reverberated throughout his head.
"He started it." Alec said aloud, absently caressing the knuckles of his right hand.
*And now I've got a bruise the size of fucking Texas on my chin, and it's not like anyone's
going to kiss it better. Especially not Max, considering she's the source of half my
bruises. Ok, more like 3/4 of them.*
The shrill, dissonant cry of his cell phone suddenly rent the air. Alec fumbled for
it with fingers grown slightly stiff with cold, another little frown curving his lips when he
recognised Logan's number.
*Probably calling to tell Max to 'Be careful.'*
"Logan, how nice to hear from you, pal. I was just thinking to myself how much I
missed the sound of your voice."
"Alec, where's Max?"
*Psychic. I'm freakin' psychic.*
"Dunno, buddy."
Static popped and crackled between them for a moment. Then, Logan's voice
intervened once more, slightly incredulous and a lot agitated. "What do you mean
'dunno'? Isn't she with you?"
"Nah. Queen Max commanded that we split up. Couldn't handle herself around
me-probably afraid she'd jump me and we wouldn't be able to go about our job. I know
we just broke up and all, but it's obvious to anyone how much the woman still wants
me." Alec replied, his voice radiating a lightness he didn't feel.
"Do you know where she went?"
"Not a clue. She could be halfway to California now for all I know."
"You guys don't have a rendezvous point or something?"
"Ah...no. Guess she was just planning to hook up back at your place and compare
notes there. Listen, Logan, much as I love your witty conversation, this isn't exactly
helping to catch the psycho freak running around eating women-maybe even little kids.
Think about the people of Seattle, Log-you're their crusader or somethin' aren't you? So
shouldn't you be hanging up right about now so I can-"
"I really need to talk to Max."
Alec felt the muscles in his jaw tightening in irritation. "Look, I said I don't
know where she is. You're just going to have to wai-"
The agitated squeal of rubber on blacktop screamed through the night. His head
whipped up to glimpse a white van swerve across the empty lanes of traffic, toward the
sidewalk where he stood.
"Fuck!" he yelled, and blurred to escape being flattened beneath the tires.
"Alec. Alec!"
His back thrust hard against a brick wall, eyes widening as the doors to the
vehicle thrust open and several men in black combat gear poured out, guns surging to
target him.
*What the hell is this?*
"494. How nice to see you again."
"Alec! Alec, answer me!" Logan yelled into the receiver.
A pained grunt, and the thud of a body against cement rippled over their connection.
"Alec!"
A shot exploded his ears, ringing painfully loud.
The line went dead in his hand, erupting in meaningless static.
A/N 2: Another cliffhanger! Hee! I'm so evil.