Original Cindy did a double take when the door to her apartment slammed open and in marched a dirty and disheveled Max dragging an equally messy Alec by one sleeve of his jean jacket. Neither looked too worse for wear, but Max had a face like a storm cloud and Alec didn't look all that happy himself. He was protesting as Max led him into the living room.
"Maxie," he whined, "you don't have to pull so hard."
"Quiet Alec!" She shoved him down onto the couch and pointed a stern finger at him. "Stay."
"Meanie," he muttered under his breath. Max chose to be the bigger…transgenic and not respond to Alec's last comment.
OC finally found her voice. "What happened to y'all?"
Max held up a hand as she headed toward her bedroom. "Don't ask."
As the bedroom door slammed shut OC turned her attention back to the hazel eyed transgenic sulking on the couch. "Sugah, you feelin' aight? You keep pouting like that you're gonna be trippin' over your lip."
Alec turned his pitiful gaze on her and then took a deep breath. "Max yelled at me. But I didn't see the truck coming. It wasn't my fault! Well…maybe it was because I should have looked both ways, but she didn't have to smack me! And then she dragged me all the way to our bikes and made me get on. We didn't deliver any more packages at all. I told her that I was hungry, but she wouldn't stop. She said we had to come straight here because she couldn't take it anymore. I'm not sure what it is, but she seemed pretty mad about it. So, now we're here. And I'm still hungry." He took another breath. "Can I eat now?"
OC's eyes bulged and she took two backward steps away from what she thought was a transgenic on speed before yelling out to her roommate. "Max!"
Max was in the middle of changing into clean clothes for the third time that day when OC burst into her room. The pretty, toffee-skinned girl had one hand on her hip while the other gesticulated wildly toward the living room.
"What the hell is goin' on wit' yo' boy?"
"He's not my boy…although he is more boy than ever. As for what's going on with him, it's nothing but the usual whacked out craziness that passes for my everyday messed up life."
"Would you quit comin' with the cryptic and bring the real." OC crossed her arms over her chest.
"Alec's been dosed with a drug that turned him into a little boy. Sort of."
"For real?"
Max sighed and pulled on her jacket. "For really real. Taking him on runs this morning was a disaster. He got himself into even more trouble than usual, so of course I had to pull his butt out of the fire…again." She threw her hands up. "I just can't take it anymore."
OC arched an eyebrow. "So I heard."
"I hate to ask, but could you please watch him for me for a little while, Cindy?"
"Uh-uh. Original Cindy don't know nothin' 'bout babysittin' no supersoldiers."
"Cindy, please! I'll be back at lunch, I promise. I've just gotta finish these runs." She stepped forward and grabbed OC's shoulders. "Please. I'm begging you."
"Whoa, whoa, stop. Don't you know beggin' ain't good for a girl's pores?" Max's eyes widened and her hand flew to her cheek.
"Really?"
OC rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fine. I'll watch him. But," she raised a finger, halting Max's celebration, "You'd better get back soon. I've got my whole afternoon planned and it don't include keepin' an eye on no pretty boys."
She was enveloped in a strong hug from Max. "Thanks Cindy." Just as suddenly, Max released her and swiftly headed out of the room.
"Max, I'm still hungry," Alec called out as she practically ran past him in her haste to leave the scene.
"OC's got you covered," she said over her shoulder as she breezed through the front door and was gone.
Alec bellowed at the top of his lungs, "Original Cindy!" She came into the living room with her hands firmly planted on her hips.
"Pipe down boy! This ain't no parade ground."
He grinned up at her. "Okay," he said in a hushed voice. "Food please." He nodded. "Lots."
She glanced from Alec to the door through which Max had escaped and back again. With a hand over her eyes, she mumbled, "What have I gotten myself into?"
Alec looked at her excitedly. "Do you have any pork rinds?"
*******
The sounds of cartoon Thundercats fighting rolled on in the background as OC stood in her bedroom humming an old song, the words long since forgotten.
She had discovered that both the adult and child versions of Alec loved television. But, while the Alec she was used to had a major jones for music videos, his younger self couldn't get enough of cartoons. An hour earlier, she'd left him in front of the television with a bag of popcorn and strict instructions not to get any greasy kernels on the couch. He'd been laughing so hard for so long she was sure that he was going to crack a rib.
Having the television as a babysitter had left her free to do other things. Her fingers mechanically folded the pile of fresh laundry covering her bed while her mind contemplated the lovely assets of her latest lickety boo. She was presently focusing on silky smooth, rosy flesh and the way her lover moaned in the silence of night.
Silence.
OC's head snapped up in alarm. He's been quiet for way too long.
She peaked her head around her bedroom curtain. The living room was empty. Light was shining from beneath the closed bathroom door and Cindy could've sworn she heard a baritone giggle. As she approached, several more giggles confirmed her suspicions. She stopped and banged on the plywood door.
"Alec! I'm coming in there so your lil' soldier best seek cover." With that, she pushed her way in. And was met with total chaos.
There was water all over the floor. Alec was standing in a particularly deep puddle at the base of the toilet bowl. A neon blue glow emanated from the bowl itself, along with sounds of continuous sloshing and clanking. Alec looked at her, his large hazel eyes sparkling with childlike delight.
"Look Cindy!" He pointed at the cell phone submerged in the toilet. "It swirls and swirls but it doesn't go down!"
"Boy!"
The state of the bathroom – from the yards of unraveled toilet tissue covering the floor and stuck on the walls and mirror to the stealth aircraft, forts, and armada made of cotton swabs on display in the tub – made it glaringly clear just exactly what the man-child smiling down on her had been up to.
"Have you lost your ever-loving lil' transgenic mind?" His answering expression was full of absolute bewildered innocence – which only served to exasperate the woman further. "That's it! Original Cindy can't take it no more!" She reached up, twisted Alec's ear in a death grip, and hauled him out of the bathroom by it.
"Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!"
"Lil' transgenic chile…workin' a girl's last damn nerve." She dragged a chair over to face a corner of the living room and tossed Alec down onto it.
"Don't you move from that chair, or Original Cindy will put the smackdown on your little transgenic backside. Understand?"
Alec lifted a hand to the assaulted ear and rubbed it gingerly. "Yes, ma'am."
*******
Less than a half hour later, Max returned to find Alec sitting in the corner facing the wall. OC was in the middle of hauling an oversized garbage bag stuffed full of sopping wet paper products out of the bathroom. An old scarf held her curls back from her face and yellow plastic gloves covered her arms to the elbows. She dropped the bag in the kitchen near where Max stood.
"Your boy thought it'd be fun to watch the bathroom explode," she offered by way of explanation.
Max sighed and her body seemed to droop with frustration. "He didn't."
"He most certainly did." OC began removing the gloves. "Needless to say, you owe a girl. Big time."
Max put on a contrite expression. "I'm buying at Crash tomorrow night."
"Humph. Well, that might be a start." OC glanced at Alec still sitting in the corner. "But just a start," she mumbled.
"All right you big baby," Max called out to him. "Let's go."
"But," he spoke to the wall, "OC told me not to move."
"Well, now it's time to move." Max walked over and grabbed him around the arm, lifting him from the chair and hauling him toward the door.
"Wait!" He dug in his heels, exerting his considerable strength and pulling Max up short. It was enough to shock Max into loosening her grip. Alec shook off her hand and went over to where OC stood. He hung his head, hands clasped behind his back, and looked at her through lowered lashes. "I'm sorry, Original Cindy, for making a mess in the bathroom that you had to clean up."
OC's eyes instantly softened. She patted his cheek. "It's all good, Baby Boo. Original Cindy still loves you." Alec surprised both women then by throwing his arms around her in a huge bear hug.
"I love you too, Cindy." The words were muffled because his face was pressed into her shoulder, but both OC and Max heard them clearly. Paralyzed by sheer astonishment, OC stood rigid in his arms for a moment before relaxing into his embrace and patting him awkwardly on the back. She peered over his shoulder at her roommate. What had started as an expression of shock on Max's face was soon chased away by amusement, which was followed closely by longing rising to jealousy, before her usual mask of nonchalant indifference locked all else away.
"Come on, Alec," she said in something of a forced tone. "Say goodbye." Alec did as he was told and then preceded her outside. Max closed the door behind them, leaving a speculative OC standing alone in the kitchen.
TBC
A/N: Thanks again for the reviews guys! Many of them had me laughing. Sorry this chapter is so short. It and the next chapter are just sort of cute little moments that I want Alec to have with some of my favorite characters before I lead him into the slightly more angst-y part of this story. Basically – and this is for those of you who want to see 'normal' Alec again – this first story of my planned trilogy is the light, warm, fuzzy-fuzzies part that I must get out of my system before I move on to the darker two thirds of the series. [insert maniacal laughter here.] Smoochies! ~Fli