The meaning of the runes
By Sinful Starlet
Disclaimer: everybody! "Not mine, never will be, wish it was, etc etc"!
Rating: Erm, maybe R for language? Dunno really, it's not that bad, just erring on the side of caution.
Summary: Alternate take on events around and following 'Love Amongst the Runes' - certain aspects of the storylines around that time really bugged me! Basically Max discovers the runes, but they aren't quite as unique as she thought. What do they mean and what will that revelation mean to her and the ones she loves?
Author's note: Chapter seven is here! I've finished the evil uni essays so I've got a little more free time to work on this story. Getting pretty near to the end now, but there's still a way to go. I call this my 'Max has revelation, Alec has confusion, and Logan has foot in mouth' chapter! Hope ya like!
Oh yeah, and just wanted to add - my medical knowledge completely sucks so if I'm inaccurate in any way, that'll be why! *SS*
7
Max walked quickly through the building, checking each door in turn in her search for Alec. She finally found the right one, catching a glimpse of Alec lying on a gurney as one of the other docs (an X6) walked out of the room. "How is he?" she asked, her brow furrowing in concern. "He's fine," the X6, a girl named Flix, said, "wasn't really much for me to do. The wound on his arm had already healed over. Other than that he's got a few bumps and bruises but that's it". "What?" Max questioned, Flix's news not quite ringing true to her, "He can't have healed already. I mean, I know he's X5, but even we don't heal that fast". "Well that's what I thought," Flix said, "hey, you can check yourself if you don't believe me!" Max shook her head, smiling, "That's ok - he alright for visitors then?" "Go ahead," Flix said, pushing the door open again behind her and leaving Max and Alec alone.
Max walked slowly over to the gurney on the opposite side of the room, trying to get a handle on the mess of emotions cluttering up her head at that moment. He didn't look up or say anything as she walked towards him, and once she reached him, she saw that his eyes were actually closed. She stopped for a second, just looking at him. He looked very peaceful - a little too peaceful at that, she thought. "Alec!" she called, a little urgently, shaking his uninjured shoulder. "Geez Max!" Alec said, a little woozily, "Can't a genetically-engineered super soldier get a little sleep every now and then?!" Max almost laughed with her relief, he had just been asleep after all. "Asshole!" she joked, swatting his arm, "I thought there was something seriously wrong with you - well, more wrong than usual!"
"Easy!" Alec joked back, pretending to wince with the 'sting' of her words, "Still recovering here, y'know?" Max rolled her eyes and pulled up a chair next to his bed, "Seriously, Alec - you're alright?" "I'll live," Alec said, slightly taken aback by the concern etched on her face, "What about you?" "Still a little sore," Max answered, honestly, "think I might have cracked a rib - I'll get Flix to have a look later". Alec nodded, hesitating before bringing up the subject she seemed unwilling to, "And Logan?" "I'm sure he's fine," Max said, looking down as she spoke, "I haven't actually checked in with him yet".
Again, Alec was a little surprised by her answer - she had come to see him before Logan? He looked back over to her, about to say something about it, but then he caught the look on her face, "Max, what is it?" Max looked up suddenly, a little ashamed at being caught out, and not knowing how to begin to answer Alec at that point. "I was in real trouble today," she began, each word a difficult admission on its own, "and if you hadn't been there, then I---". "Hey," Alec said, cutting her off, seeing a few tears start to form in her eyes. "You're alright," he said, rolling onto his side and propping himself up on his elbow, taking her hand in his free one, "I know it was rough today, but we got out, Max". "We got back to TC - Gem and her baby are safe, we all are". "Yeah, for now," Max replied, sighing, but not letting go of his hand, "but how long is that gonna last? White isn't just gonna give up".
"I know," Alec said softly, squeezing her hand, "but you'll figure something out - you always do". He hesitated for a few seconds before he spoke again, watching her eyes fall again, "And I'll be here when you do - I'm not going anywhere, Max - whether that's a good thing or not!" Max nodded, managing a smile, but there were definitely tears in her eyes now. When she spoke, her voice was so quiet that even Alec had to strain to hear it, but the words were definitely there, "It is - thank you". Max raised her free hand to their joined hands, lifting them up as she gently touched her lips to the back of his hand. Alec's eyes closed at the contact, so brief, so gentle as to be almost not there, but so significant. His eyes snapped open in an instant though as he heard someone else enter the room. Logan.
*
He was walking a little haltingly, obviously still in pain from the beating he had taken. He stopped though as soon as he saw the position that Max and Alec were in. Alec quickly pulled his hand away from Max, seeing the look of surprise on her face and nodding his head towards Logan to get her to realise that he was there. "Logan," she said, sniffing and quickly wiping her eyes, "what are you doing here?" "I was looking for you," Logan said simply, inclining his head to look past her at Alec, "you alright?" "Fine and dandy," Alec replied, seeing straight through Logan's attempt at casual. "I really need to talk to you, Max," Logan said, turning back to her, "can we go somewhere and--?" He trailed off, leaving the question hanging.
Max paused, looking to Alec before she said anything. "Go," said Alec, nodding to her, still not quite understanding her behaviour - was she asking for his permission? "I'll catch up with you later". Max seemed to weigh this up in her mind, then nodded, standing up and going to follow Logan back out the door, lightly squeezing Alec's hand again as she left. Alec lay back against the gurney as the door closed behind her, trying to rationalise what had just happened. Things had never been this confused between him and Max before. He sighed, seeing her so vulnerable in front of him had been a real shock, and he hated seeing her in so much pain.
*
Max closed the door behind her, falling into step beside Logan, but not knowing what to say to him. She eventually managed to say, "How are you feeling?" letting go of the confusion swirling around inside her at that moment. "Been better," Logan said, smiling, though he could sense that things were far from fine between them right now, "how's Alec?" Max's head snapped up at the question, always jittery when either Alec or Logan asked her about the other, "He's fine - amazingly fine really". (AN. Sorry, just realised what that sounds like! Actually meant it was amazing how fast he had recovered - not the other meaning, although that does definitely apply too! *SS*)
"There's something different about him," Max went on, seeing the look of confusion on Logan's face, "his bullet wound has already healed, and he's stronger than any other X5 I've ever known". "Max--" Logan started, not sure he entirely liked where this conversation was going. Max apparently didn't notice though, in something of a trance with this thought, "Seriously, Logan - I mean, watching him fight today, I've never seen anything like it". She looked up Logan's face then, catching the expression it held before Logan had the chance to even attempt to hide it.
The awkward silence that descended between them lasted several minutes after that. Eventually it was Logan that took the first step. "You know for the longest time, I didn't believe you when you said you were with Alec now". Max suddenly froze, this conversation was suddenly a little too close to home, and definitely something she didn't want to discuss with him. "Logan--" she started, intending to cut him off, but he carried of regardless, just ignoring her. "You always fought so much, I couldn't understand what you could possibly see in him," Logan went on, "but I guess today pretty much kills that theory doesn't it?" "You really do care about him don't you?"
"Yes". The word left Max's mouth before she even realised that she had said it, but she knew at that moment, that it was also the truth. "I never gave him enough credit, Logan," she said, not sure whether she was trying to justify her feelings to Logan or to herself, "because of Ben, or whatever else". "He's not perfect, but he's always there when I need him. And he saved my life today - if he hadn't been there, whether I'm this great saviour or not, I wouldn't have made it". "Max---" Logan cut him, but she wasn't ready for him to cut in just yet. "I don't want you to hate me, Logan - I never meant to hurt you, but you have to know that this is the way it's going to be". "This," she said, opening her arms, gesturing to their surroundings, "this is my life, all of it - and Alec is always going to be a part of that".
"But that doesn't mean you can't be," she said quickly, sensing Logan's dejection deepening by the second, "I can't be with you - but that doesn't mean that I want you out of my life". Logan breathed heavily, taking his one shot at some kind of reconciliation, "You mean you still have feelings for me?" Max cursed under her breath, why was he making her do this? Didn't he understand how confused she was? Couldn't he just accept what she had to give and leave it at that? "I know things are complicated now, with the virus and all," Logan went on, not looking at Max as he spoke, "but that doesn't mean they'll always be". "I never gave up on us," he went on, "but I need to know that you feel the same way".
He looked down at her hands, noticing for the first time, the gloves that she had in fact, pulled on as soon as she had left Alec's room. He took a chance and reached for her left hand, catching it when she made to pull away. She held his hand for all of a second before she pulled away, shaking her head, "This is about more than just the virus, Logan - don't you understand that? I'm not with Alec just because I can touch him without killing him!" Max's last words stung Logan to the core, but he wasn't ready to give up on this just yet, and now he was misguidedly losing his temper.
"You sure?" he questioned, making her look up at him sharply, "I mean I know it's been hard avoiding even the most basic contact between us - maybe your patience ran out a little sooner than mine". Max reeled back like she'd been slapped, and unfortunately for Logan, this was the exact moment when Alec appeared, rounding the corner behind them and coming into view. One look at his face told him enough - Alec had heard every word of what Logan had just said, and he was seriously not impressed. The dull thud of realisation came crashing down on Logan as he took in Max's stricken face - he had let his anger and jealousy push him too far.
"Max--" he started, needing to say something, anything to tell her he was sorry, that he hadn't meant it, but Alec cut him off. "No, I don't think you get to talk to her now - jesus, you really are dense sometimes, Logan!" That threw Logan for a second, dense about what? But before he could even open his mouth to ask what, Max cut him off. "Alec, no," she said, shooting a warning glance at the other man, making him back down, "let's just go home, I think we've all said enough tonight". "Go and see Luke, Logan," she said, her voice no longer angry, just tired, "he'll set you up with somewhere to sleep tonight". Alec hesitated, not sure what he was supposed to do here, before Max walked over to him, reaching for his hand, "Come on - let's go home".
The look on Logan's face was not lost on Alec as they walked away together. He understood in a second what the other man was feeling, though Max was becoming more of a mystery as the day went on. He realised that she was steering them back towards their second 'home', in the abandoned apartment block on the North side of TC, so he just walked beside her, not saying a word, sensing that she wouldn't have known what to say if he'd asked anyway. They walked down the hall until they reached Alec's door, and he started to fumble through his pockets until he found his keys, eventually fitting them into the lock and opening the door. He turned to Max to say goodnight, but found that she wasn't moving. "Max…" he started, before trailing off, not knowing what to say anyway. "Can I come in?" she said, in the smallest voice he had ever heard her use. "Of course," he said, stepping aside to let her pass him.
Right, *ducks to avoid heavy objects being thrown at her* I know, I'm evil cliff-hanger person, but this just seemed like a good point to stop! I'll try and update soon! *SS*