Alec pouted, whined and flounced his limbs about. "But I don't like Logaaaaannn. He's so stuffy and boring and he's rude to me. Prolly has cooties. Why do we have to go see him? Can't we just go play? Please Maxie? Pleeeeaaaaseeee?"
Max was trying to ignore him, which was kind of hard to do when he was tugging on her jacket sleeve. Not to mention the way the elderly lady sharing the elevator with them kept staring.
Max grit her teeth and hissed loud enough for Alec's ears alone, "Rip my jacket and I'm gonna rip off your arm and beat you with it. Now, shut up!" Alec jerked his arm back to his side and eyed her warily. She turned to the old woman and flashed her the most artful smile ever contrived. It was a mixture of slight embarrassment, girlish innocence, nervous apology, and youthful glow.
"He's just a little slow." She shrugged her slender shoulders.
Alec's voice rose with childish indignation. "I am not! I'm faster'n you! I get blurry better than anyone else I know!"
The woman nodded at Max in understanding as she offered Alec an indulgent smile and a gentle pat on the shoulder with one wrinkled hand. "I'm sure you are, dear."
Alec beamed back at her with bright eyes and a big smile. The white haired woman's heart melted on the spot. Alec sniffed at the tiny hand still resting on his shoulder. She brought her hand to her heart with a mild exclamation. He leaned closer to her and sniffed again. His smile widened with delight.
"You don't smell bad at all." He pointed at the oversized purse that hung from the small senior's shoulder. "Do you have any candy in there? 'Cause I heard that old ladies are supposed to always have candy."
Max tried to step on his foot, but he saw it coming and managed to move out of the line of fire. She settled for elbowing him in the ribs.
"Alec!" she hissed.
"Ow! What?!"
Max's face was starting to hurt from the smile she was trying to keep steady, and the enamel on her teeth was practically grinding away. The old lady caught on quick and waved a dismissive hand through the air.
"Never you mind, dear," she said to Max. "He's just curious. And that's just fine. My grandchildren are the same way. And, as a matter of fact," she reached into her cavernous bag, "it just so happens that I do have some butterscotch with me."
Alec snatched up the offered piece, immediately unwrapping it and popping it in his mouth before Max could say anything. The old woman smiled indulgently at him and then turned to Max.
"How about you, dear? Would you like a sweet?"
Max shrugged her shoulders and took a piece. Food was food after all. The elevator chimed, signaling its arrival at the woman's floor. She toddled out and then turned to look at the two transgenics over her shoulder. Her eyes were mere slits as she favored them with a gentle smile.
"Now, what do you say?"
As the elevator doors closed two voices muffled by butterscotch pieces chorused, "Thank you."
The remainder of the ride up to Logan's floor was silent except for the sound of content crunching. Sucking on hard candies took more patience than either of the transgenics could muster.
During their walk down the hall toward Logan's, Max stole glances out of the corner of her eye at the tall man-child striding beside her. Max had to admit to herself that, given his mental/emotional transformation, Alec had been behaving pretty well for most of the day. Then again, he'd spent most of his time with people he usually hung out with.
But sharing the same space with Logan would be the real test. Alec and her not-boyfriend had never quite gotten along. Who knew how baby-Alec would respond to the older man. A coil of anxiety unraveled in the pit of her stomach. Max stopped in her tracks, halting the other X5 as well.
"Alec, could you do me a favor?"
"Yes," he responded without hesitation. Max was a little taken aback by the amount of trust that he kept putting in her.
She cleared her throat and continued, "Be nice to Logan."
"I'm always nice." Max folded her arms over her chest and gave him a look. He met her eyes unflinchingly. After a few moments, Max sighed and dropped her arms to her sides.
"Just be nicer, okay?"
He nodded. "Okay Maxie."
They entered Logan's apartment and found him at his usual station in front of his computers.
Max gave her customary greeting. "Hey."
Logan didn't turn around. "I've been paging you for over an hour."
Alec rolled his eyes at Logan's response, but remained quiet. He walked over to a chair and plopped himself down. He peeked at Max to make sure that she'd noticed his good behavior. She gave him a slight nod of approval, and he smiled. She turned her attention to Logan's back.
"I had to pick Alec up from the babysitter's."
Logan swiveled around in his desk chair to face Max. "I really hope that wasn't some gentle euphemism for Alec's latest sexual conquest."
Max scrunched her face in disgust. "Ew! Logan that's disgusting!"
At the same time, Alec clapped his hands over his ears and began chanting, "I'm not listening! I'm not listening!!"
Max raised her voice above the din. "Alec!" He lowered his hands immediately and looked up at her. She continued in a softer tone, "Please stop yelling."
"Okay, Maxie."
Logan ignored their gently familiar exchange caught up as he was in what he was sure were his own uniquely acute powers of observation. He squinted his eyes behind his glasses and studied Alec. "What happened to your hair?" Alec opened his mouth to answer, but Max cut him off.
"Long story. What did you need?"
"Information retrieval." Logan sat back and steepled his fingers together. "I'm trying to run a background check on a scientist in whose developments I'm extremely interested, but I keep running into an incredibly hack-proof security system." He sighed dramatically. "It's insurmountable, even for me."
Alec hid his face in his hands to keep Logan from seeing his eyes roll. Max caught his movement out of the corner of her eye. With an air of determination, she turned to face Logan squarely in an attempt to give him her full attention as he continued speaking.
"Anyway, one of my informants has, uh," Logan paused and pushed his glasses up on his nose, "well, informed me that there is a hardcopy of the file. Can you believe it?" He chuckled. "It's locked in a vault in a high-security building downtown. I was hoping you could swoop in and pick it up."
Max nodded tersely. "Fine. Will do. Alec stays here."
"What?!" A simultaneous shout from the guys, the word came to her ears in stereo surround sound.
Max put her hands on her hips and directed her comments at Logan. "In case you hadn't noticed, Alec isn't quite himself, and I can't do this job if I have to keep looking over my shoulder to watch him."
"Maxie, it's just a simple B&E," Alec protested. "I won't get into trouble." Max dismissed his declarations with a vague wave of her hand.
"Quiet Alec. The grown-ups are talking." Alec crossed his arms over his chest and slumped down in his chair.
Logan chuckled. "He seems to be behaving normally to me." Max fixed him with a harsh glare in response. It reminded him of the looks she gave him whenever he said something off-color about Joshua. He cleared his throat. "Max, come on. I really don't think it's necessary for him to stay here."
Max raised an eyebrow. "Really?" He must have missed the warning in her voice because he continued on with his explanation.
"Besides, I have some really complicated programs and sensitive Eyes Only work to do this evening. Alec will just be a distraction."
"Huh. That is so interesting. Let me tell you what I had planned for tonight. I was going to go home, have a long, hot, bubble bath, and then do absolutely nothing. Unfortunately, because my life sucks, that's not gonna happen. And since my life sucks, why should yours be any different?"
"Uh…"
"Is this information retrieval important to you?"
"Well, yes…"
"And do you want this retrieval to go down covert-like and without a hitch?"
"Of course I –"
"Then it looks like you're gonna have some company tonight. Understand?"
Logan pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose before answering, "I think you've made yourself clear."
"Good." Max turned her back to him and strode the few steps toward Alec.
"Maxie," the other transgenic whispered only loud enough for her ears. "I really don't wanna stay here with Bogie Logie. I wanna go with you and watch your back."
"Well you can't. You're going to stay here and behave until I get back. Got it?" Alec stared at the tops of his shoes, his full bottom lip jutting out in a sullen pout. Max raised his head with a hand beneath his chin and made him meet her eyes. "Did you hear me, Alec?"
He let out a tremendous sigh, pout still in place, and responded with monumental reluctance, "Yes Maxie, I heard you." At the sight of the dejected puppy dog look in Alec's normally playful eyes, Max caved a little. She dropped her hand from his face and shrugged her shoulders.
"Look, if you're good, maybe I'll take you out for pizza and beer when I get back."
Alec looked at her with childlike scrutiny. He tilted his head to the side, thrust out his jaw and narrowed his eyes. "And ice cream too?"
Max laughed in spite of herself. "Yeah sure, ice cream too." The instant change that came over Alec was breathtaking. To Max it seemed as if her whole world brightened with the power of that one smile from Alec. It was as if nothing could ever go wrong if he'd just keep smiling that way. Max reached up a hand and mussed his multi-colored locks.
"Alright kid, I'll be back in a little while."
Alec puffed out his chest and did his very best impression of Schwarzenegger, "'I'll be back.' Maxie the Terminator!"
Max suppressed the urge to smile, instead rolling her eyes. With her keen peripheral vision, she caught the most disturbing look on Logan's face. It made her stop mid-turn and just blink at him. His eyes were smoldering with jealousy and resentment. And there was something else, something hiding, barely checked beneath the surface. Something Max couldn't name, but which set off primal warnings deep inside her.
Though she didn't notice it, Max shifted until she faced Logan squarely with Alec shielded behind her body. Once Logan's view of Alec was broken, the troubling look was replaced with the expression of pensive concern he usually shined her way. He swiveled in his chair to face the computer panel once again.
Max shook herself to resettle the hairs standing on the back of her neck. Maybe I imagined it. She threw her thumb over her shoulder and said out loud, "I'll be back for him after I'm done."
"Fine. And Max, it's a federally operated building. The security will be top notch so just…"
From the couch, Alec mimicked Logan with a singsong voice, "Be careful!"
A giggle escaped from Max before she could lock it down. Must be the sugar. She slapped an indifferent expression on her face as Logan turned around. He looked shocked and dismayed. Nothing out of the ordinary. Max shrugged and said, "Don't encourage him." With that, she walked out the door.
TBC
A/N: Hey y'all. The delay was only partially my fault this time! Really! My computer went fritzy and was down for weeks until I could get my techie pal over to check it out. Couple that with my difficulty writing Logan without demonizing him, and you've got the ridiculous amount of time that's passed between updates. Sorry! Anyway, the next chapter is all about baby-Alec trapped in a penthouse with stuffy Logan. It's going to be a bitch to write, I'm sure. But, I hope it will come out the way I need it to. Thanks for sticking with this story guys. The reviews are worth every agonizing moment I have to spend with Logan. :) Cheers! ~Fli