I know its in as chapter four, but its actually an alternate version of chap. 3 starting from Max and Jondi's conversation in the safe house. I don't know whether I will continue this, or the other one, or either of them, but we'll see. This goes on four two chapters so far.
"When you said there were people you cared about in there, you meant some one in particular, didn't you?" It was a statement, not a question, and Max was annoyed at how well her sister could read her.
"Kinda." She said simply.
"Come on! Details!" Jondi laughed. Max couldn't.
"It's…complicated."
"Boyfriend?"
"No… not for a long time."
"So an ex?"
"More complicated than that."
"You still love him?" Jondi said it very softly, and Maxie hated that she already knew the answer, or part of it at least.
"Yes. I think I always will. But we aren't like that, not any more."
"Why? If you still love him? And don't say 'it's complicated.'" Maxie smiled slightly,
"Lotsa reasons really, but mostly cos I can't touch him."
"He's with someone else?"
"No. I mean literally, I can't touch him. Manticore put this virus in me, targeted to his DNA. I literally can't touch him."
"Oh my god. Maxie, I'm so sorry." Jondi put a comforting hand on Maxie's shoulder.
"I think maybe it's actually for the best. Not the virus, of course, but I only ever bought him pain and problems. Plus he's…" she was lost for words, "I dunno…"
"Oh my god." Jondi exclaimed, cutting Maxie off.
"What?"
"It's a virus?" Maxie nodded. "As in, something inside of you that shouldn't be?" another nod. "Then Max can heal you." After a pause, Maxie turned to her sister.
"You think?"
"I don't see why not. It's worth a try, right?" Maxie nodded, speechless. If they got rid of the virus, then she would have to actually think about her and Logan, and she didn't know what to think. How could they possibly just go back to the way they were before? After everything that had happened… Jondi cut off Maxie's thought with an excited squeal. "Come on, let's go tell Max!"
After explaining the situation to Max, they, plus Alec, headed out to a lab Maxie had found during her previous searches for a cure. Max wanted to see the virus first. The lab was abandoned, but it still had all the right equipment. Looking down a microscope at a sample of Maxie's blood, Max identified the virus.
"Yep, that's it." Confirmed Maxie. "Can you do it?" Max bit his lip,
"I think so. But you have to understand that I've never done this with an engineered illness before. In fact, I've never done it on a transgenic, except Li… Jondi."
"Just do what you can." Maxie pleaded. He nodded and asked her to lie down. As she did as she was told, Maxie realised how scared she was. Over the past year, she'd faced death plenty of times, but now, faced with this strange situation, she was terrified, of what it might do to her, and of what the result might be. Maxie reached out and took Alec's hand, not noticing until a moment later that she had instinctively reached for him, and not Jondi, who was also close by. As Alec whispered,
"It'll be ok." She felt a weird acceptance that it would be. His words made it truth. She lay there, her hand warm in Alec's, and the oddest thought hit her. There was no one she could think of that would make her feel as safe, as relaxed, and as comfortable at this moment as Alec…not even Logan. Still dazed by this thought, Maxie distantly heard Max asking her if she was ready. She nodded automatically, and he began. Max stood over her, his hands held out, palms down, over her heart.
Max's hands began to glow white. Alec could see beads of sweat forming on his brow. He also noticed that Maxie's breath was coming quicker. As the light brightened, Maxie's grip on Alec's hand tightened, and a yell was torn from her. Alec put a hand on her forehead, smoothing back her hair, trying to comfort her.
"Are you done?" he demanded of Max, as Maxie's body began to shake. "I think you should stop." Max kept going. Alec was furious. It pained him to see Maxie like this, but he knew that he could not force Max to stop if Maxie wasn't protesting. Eventually the light faded, and Maxie's body relaxed. All looked at her expectantly. Her eyes fluttered open, to see Alec looking terrified. She smiled.
"It's ok." She whispered. He nodded. "Did it work?" she asked Max.
"I hope so. I can't say for sure, but I felt it. That thing was strong, but I think I got it."
"Let's see." Maxie said, sitting up and rolling up her sleeve.
"Wo, wo." Interrupted Alec. "Do you think you should be taking more blood? You'll need to be strong for tonight." Maxie squeezed his hand, a thank you for caring.
"Alec, I really am ok. A tiny blood sample isn't gonna make me weak." Alec nodded again, and they took the sample.
As Max looked through the microscope, Maxie repeated,
"Did it work?" Max came up slowly, impassively.
"Take a look for yourself" She did, and Alec held his breath.
"Oh my god." She said as she looked at Alec, her face emotionless. His heart sank, but seeing this in his eyes, a grin broke Maxie's features, "It worked!" she shrieked, throwing her arms around him. He hugged her tight, knowing what this meant to her. She then hugged both of the others, planting a kiss on Max's cheek. "Thank you so much!" she squealed.
"Hey there girly!" Jondi laughed, "That space boy is mine! Get off!" Maxie laughed, and let go. Jondi looked at her watch. "We should probably get outta here."
"Yeah." Max agreed. "You guys go ahead, I'll just get my coat." Jondi and Max left, and Maxie picked up her coat from the other side of the room. She grinned at Alec and he smiled back, seeing how happy she was. Maxie hugged him again, and he held her tight.
"I'm so happy for you Max." he said. As she slowly pulled away, Max's hand accidentally brushed Alec cheek, and she froze. She found herself unable to move, held up by Alec's strong arms (she was several inches shorter than him, so this was necessary for a hug) one arm supported on his shoulder, the other hand still cradling his cheek, she just starred into his eyes. Very slowly, as if in a dream, Max kissed him. Barely a touch, but it stirred feelings deep inside her that she had never even imagined. She kissed him again, and he reciprocated, holding her close. When they came apart, Alec stuttered,
"I- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" Max put a finger to his lips, shaking her head.
"Don't be silly. You know it was me. I guess this is just another example of the irony that is my life." She laughed shortly, still holding onto him, as if letting go would make the world fall to pieces. Slightly tentatively, she allowed him to kiss her again. This time it was deeper, and dragged her into a whole knew world of possibilities. It was as if she had been blind her whole life and now she could see. "Alec…" she breathed, the word sounded strange on her lips in that tone. Strange, but right, she thought. A call from the front of the building broke through into their little world,
"Maxie? You coming?" Jondi, Maxie thought. She and Alec came apart, still holding each other though. She gazed into his eyes, gave him a final kiss that was no more than the slightest contact, then broke away, heading for the door. He painfully watched her walk away, swallowed, and followed a moment later.
Back in the safe house, Maxie was apart from the group once more. She was deep in thought, considering those few brief minutes she had spent with Alec. They had not spoken since they'd left the lab. Her mind was ablaze with a thousand questions, half of which she already knew the answers to, but was too scared to even think them. Once again, her sister broke her train of thought.
"What's up Maxie?" she asked, sitting beside her. "It worked, shouldn't you be happy?" Maxie forced a smile.
"Yeah. I am happy. See, smile." Jondi laughed at her sister.
"Come on, I'm you big sis, you gotta tell me stuff." Maxie frowned.
"No-one ever used to go on about me being younger when we were kids. Now everyone calls me 'little sis' and treats me like a child!" Jondi smiled again, but knew this was a cover.
"It's instinctive. You are my little sis. But you're not gonna deflect me that easily. What's up?" Maxie sighed, annoyed again.
"It's…"
"Don't say complicated."
"…hard to explain." Maxie grinned. "It's just, for the first time in over a year, I can be with Logan. But for the first time in a hell of a lot longer than a year, I'm not… I'm not entirely sure if I want to be." Jondi raised her eyebrows, confused.
"I thought you said you loved him?"
"I do. I'm just not sure that I'm in love with him." She glanced at Jondi, and seeing that she was still confused, she continued. "He's gorgeous, he's smart, he loves me. But he can never understand me. He knows what I feel, he knows why; but he doesn't know how I feel. He can never really understand anything I do, because no matter what he's been through, he hasn't… he hasn't… he hasn't felt it. He hasn't been there, y'know, to that level. I love him, but I don't think I could spend my whole life with him in that way. 'An the crappy thing is, I didn't even realise that 'til this afternoon."
"Oh my god." Jondi breathed. "Are you sure? I mean are you really willing to give up Logan for him?" Maxie's head snapped up to face her sister.
"What?" Jondi smiled slightly,
"You know I can read you like a book. That's why you guys took so long, huh? Is this the first time…?"
"Wait, what do you mean?" Maxie wanted to be sure before she said anything incriminating,
"You and Alec." Jondi said simply. Maxie rested her head in her hands.
"I'd never even considered it before, but this afternoon… we kissed. It was just, I dunno, when he held my hand, I felt like nothing could ever hurt me again, because he was there. I felt safer, more welcome than I have ever felt in my life."
"Do you love him?" Jondi asked, utterly serious. Maxie looked up again.
"I don't know." She gasped. Jondi bit her lip, thinking.
"Then I guess the question should be, could you ever love him?" Maxie met Jondi's eyes finally,
"Yes. Yes I could." She breathed. Jondi smiled at her little sister,
"Then all I can say is follow your heart."
"Don't say anything." Maxie blurted, "I just, I'm not ready. Could you not tell Logan about the virus either? It'll give me some time to figure stuff out." Jondi just nodded, then left Maxie alone.
Hours later, after night had fallen, Mole called to Logan over the control room in terminal city.
"Logan, you should really see this." Logan watched the screen, seeing an extraordinary sight. Three motorbikes were ploughing through the crowd outside, without hitting a single person. Protestors, police, and soldiers flew out of the way in front of the bikes, and the bullets hailing down on them from every direction were deflected before they got close.
"Oh my god!" he exclaimed, "Is that Max?"
"Uh-huh, and Alec. Don't know who the other chick and the passengers are though." So they just watched in awe as the bikes easily reached the gates, which sprung open ahead of them and closed behind.
Reaching cover at last, Max dropped the force field and they all whooped and cheered.
"That rocked!" yelled Alec, "Even with you on my bike." He added turning to Michael. He ignored the comment and gave Alec a high five. Even he couldn't say anything bad about that experience. Maxie smiled. That was fun, she thought, remembering the looks on the faces of all onlookers. They all dismounted, seeing a group rushing towards them, some heavily armed.
"It's ok guys." Maxie called out, "It's me and Alec. These guys are friends." Logan came away from the group.
"Max, what was that?!" He asked.
"It's complicated. Oh, and this is my sister." She grinned, "Jondi, this is Logan."
"Jondi?" repeated Logan, knowing how much Max had wanted to find her. "Nice to meet you." He said, shaking her hand, slightly dazed. Maxie smiled at her, then turned to the rest,
"These guys are from out of town, but they know our deal, and they're friends. That's Max, Isabelle, Michael, and this is Jondi, my sister. Make 'em welcome people."