A/N - Thanks for reviews. It was only going to be a standalone story but
you've encouraged me to continue! You should probably know that in my world
Biggs doesn't die 'cause I like him too much to let him. So there. He'll be
in the next chapter a lot more.
Chapter 2 - Back at Logan's
Back at Logan's, the air was still strained between the two transgenics after Biggs' outburst. Alec wandered around the apartment pretending to examine the various pricey knick-knacks that Logan had scattered around the place. *Musta hardly been space to move that wheelchair of his around in here before he started selling them off to finance Eyes Only* Alec thought meanly.
"What took you guys so long? You were supposed to be back a half-hour ago" questioned Logan.
"Whats the matter Logan were you worried about us?" mocked Alec. "Surely you weren't afraid that your all-powerful 'Be careful' wouldn't be enough to see us safe through the mission.Ouch!!!" He broke off as Max's fist connected with his shoulder. Directing an injured look at her he flopped down into his customary chair in the corner and stared moodily at his feet.
"We would have been back earlier, Logan, but we ran into an unexpected delay" said Max, directing a sour look in Alec's direction.
*Wait for it, here it comes* thought Alec. *This is the part where she explains how everything was all my fault. I swear, give her enough time, she'd come up with an elaborate story about how I, while still in a test- tube, single-handedly engineered the death of Princess Diana for my own nefarious purposes."
"Genius here forgot to pick up the extra cables." Max stated baldly.
*Okay. So that was kinda my bad. But I still have a point though* Alec thought defensively to himself.
"So where's Biggs?" asked Logan. "Thought he was going with you on this mission".
Max and Alec eyed each other warily. "Yeah, he had to take off. Things to do, people to see." Alec's voice died away and both he and Max suddenly found Logan's highly polished hardwood floor intensely interesting.
"That's weird.." said Logan, referring to something in the papers that he had been flicking through since Max had handed them to him.
Two pairs of eyes flicked up to him in a panic. "What's weird? Why would you say thats weird? Seems normal to me. Regular in fact" babbled Alec. "I mean, okay, he was acting a little strange but you know that's Biggs for ya, plus he's been under a lot of pressure recently, feeling the strain of being a transgenic, and all his other issues." *STOP TALKING YOU IDIOT* he yelled to himself.
"What kind of issues? Does he need our help?" asked Max in quick concern, her fellow-transgenic-in-trouble-radar on full alert.
Alec looked from Max to Logan and then back to Max again as they both stared expectantly at him, Logan curiously and Max with a worried expression. Alec's mind began to race * Quick, think fast, Alec. Get yourself out of this mess, Open mouth. Say something. Anything. Anything at all..* "Yeah, yeah, well, you see, Biggs has issues. Problems. Personal problems. The truth of it is, he like, uh, has this crush on you, Max. Yep, you're all he talks about these days. Its pathetic really". *Except that!!. Why did I say that??? God, Biggs is going to kill me in the most horrible way possible*
Max stared at him blankly. "Biggs has a crush on me" she said slowly. "Yeah, right".
*Yep he'll strangle me for definite - with that speciality lockhold that made him famous at Manticore* Alec thought ruefully. *If I'm lucky, he'll make it quick for old time's sake* Yet still his mouth opened and words continued to come out.."He does!! I mean why else would he say all that stuff?" said Alec, completely unable to stop himself digging in deeper. He lowered his voice and said meaningfully "You know, that stuff he was saying about you and me?"
Logan who had lost interest - just another Manticorian that had the hots for his girl, after all - looked up again at this and his eyes narrowed suspiciously "What was he saying about you and Max?"
"Crazy talk. That's what I'm saying. Crazy with jealousy talk", Alec gestured emphatically to make his point. *Or then again, he might decide to run you over a few times with your own motorcycle* mused Alec inside.
Max wrinkled her nose in disbelief. "I really don't think Biggs thinks of me like that, Alec" she said dismissively.
"He does!"
"Well, I haven't noticed."
Alec's eyes narrowed and he gripped Max by the upper arm and turned to Logan "Excuse us for a minute Logan. We'll be continuing this talk in your bedroom. We'd do it in the hall or the dining room but lets face it you live in a place with few doors." With that, he pulled Max into Logan's tastefully designed beige bedroom and shut the door behind him. Max, so unused to being manhandled by Alec, actually went quietly. Once in the room, Alec let go of Max's arm but remained close to her as he fumed "So YOU didn't notice anything. Well, you wouldn't, would you Max? Nope, you just ride around on your motorcycle wrapped up in your little Maxie world, flipping your hair, wholly oblivious to other people's thoughts and feelings."
"Hey." shrieked Max defensively.
Alec continued his rant, "Theres this poor guy just out of Manticore, doing absolutely fine on his own by the way, running a few scams to get by, learning about life on the outside.and there YOU are, always there, always around with your missions and your morals and your cherry flavoured lip gloss and cherry flavoured gum."
"What on earth are you talking about, you jackass?" yelled Max.
"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. Its just, it makes a person wonder - that is it made Biggs wonder to me, the other night, if you would actually taste like cherry thats all." Alec's gaze dropped to her lips.
"Oh" said Max. As retorts go it wasn't the best but Alec staring at her lips as if he was deciding whether or not to find out if they tasted like cherry was having a distracting effect on her.
"Guys, we really do have more important things to be talking about" a dry as dust voice came from the doorway. The transgenic pair jumped as they finally realised the door had opened and Logan's wheelchair was there with the man himself sitting watching them suspiciously. "There's just not enough here for me to make a connection between Ciccona and Martinez" he continued.
"Who?" Alec played dumb. He knew exactly who the other man was talking about but he just felt like annoying him. After all, he had interrupted a rather interesting moment.
Logan sighed. "Francisco Ciccona, the owner of the nightclub you just broke into.ringing a bell yet? And Jorge Martinez, the sure thing for the next Mayor of Seattle - unless of course, we stop it." With that, he turned his wheelchair with a dramatic flourish and headed back for his computer bench.
"Right, right, its all coming back to me now, Logan. On a side point, I've never understood why you don't attach some sort of cape to that thing, so that when you make a heroic point like that last one it can float out behind you as you head off to save the good people of Seattle - at your computer" Alec wise-cracked. He then dodged out of habit to escape the Don't-be-mean to-Logan-blow that would usually be heading for his shoulder at this point. It didn't come.
Instead Max was saying: "So you need more to go on".
Logan, looking mildly disappointed at not seeing Alec get beaten on, said "Yes. Max, I suggest you go undercover in the nightclub tomorrow night and hook up with Ciccona. Martinez generally arrives around 11 for a poker game that goes on in the back room. We'll hook you up with a wire, with any luck they'll let something slip at the game. At the very least you should be able to plant a bug on Ciccona or Martinez that will let us hear what they say to each other when they're alone".
"Sounds like a plan. Catch you later." The front door of the apartment slammed shut as Max left and a silence descended over the room.
Logan swivelled round in his chair again to face Alec and there was a long pause before he spoke, "That's quite a torch Biggs is carrying for Max there".
"Yeah, well you know how these things can happen."
"Its nice he has you to confide in though, someone to share his feelings with"
"Yeah well, we're friends, buddies if you will" *Or at least you were before you screwed him over* Alec reminded himself.
"You know its funny, I don't actually know Biggs all that well but on the limited acquaintance we do have, he didn't seem to be someone you'd expect to be harbouring all these tortured emotions" commented Logan.
"Still waters run deep, Logan." *Time for a change of subject* thought Alec. "So, got any food I can eat? I like."
"Given that your tastes run heavily to artificial flavourings and colours, no, I have no food you'd like" Logan stated. He continued "Another funny thing is that last time we were at Crash, Biggs spent most of the night trying to convince Original Cindy that he was a viable alternative to a lesbian lifestyle . Don't you think that's a strange strategy? Trying to hit it with your crush's best friend and roommate?"
"Hey, I like Biggs, but I never said he was smart". Alec decided the best strategy was to go on the offensive "Whats the matter Logan? Threatened by a little transgenic competition? Well, don't blame you. Rock hard muscles, quick reflexes, endless stamina - yep, we've got a lot to offer a girl, I mean Biggs, Biggs has a lot to offer a girl, that is, Max."
"I think I can deal, thank you, Alec. And I'm not threatened by Biggs" Logan said drily. He swivelled his wheelchair round to face his computer once more and added a parting shot "But I'm starting to think you've got rather an unhealthy interest in him."
The events of the last twenty minutes had left Alec feeling a little shell- shocked and he left too demoralised to even attempt to have the last word. Outside Logan's apartment, he closed the door behind him and leant against it, running his hand through his hair distractedly. He was not looking forward to explaining this little episode to Biggs.
Chapter 2 - Back at Logan's
Back at Logan's, the air was still strained between the two transgenics after Biggs' outburst. Alec wandered around the apartment pretending to examine the various pricey knick-knacks that Logan had scattered around the place. *Musta hardly been space to move that wheelchair of his around in here before he started selling them off to finance Eyes Only* Alec thought meanly.
"What took you guys so long? You were supposed to be back a half-hour ago" questioned Logan.
"Whats the matter Logan were you worried about us?" mocked Alec. "Surely you weren't afraid that your all-powerful 'Be careful' wouldn't be enough to see us safe through the mission.Ouch!!!" He broke off as Max's fist connected with his shoulder. Directing an injured look at her he flopped down into his customary chair in the corner and stared moodily at his feet.
"We would have been back earlier, Logan, but we ran into an unexpected delay" said Max, directing a sour look in Alec's direction.
*Wait for it, here it comes* thought Alec. *This is the part where she explains how everything was all my fault. I swear, give her enough time, she'd come up with an elaborate story about how I, while still in a test- tube, single-handedly engineered the death of Princess Diana for my own nefarious purposes."
"Genius here forgot to pick up the extra cables." Max stated baldly.
*Okay. So that was kinda my bad. But I still have a point though* Alec thought defensively to himself.
"So where's Biggs?" asked Logan. "Thought he was going with you on this mission".
Max and Alec eyed each other warily. "Yeah, he had to take off. Things to do, people to see." Alec's voice died away and both he and Max suddenly found Logan's highly polished hardwood floor intensely interesting.
"That's weird.." said Logan, referring to something in the papers that he had been flicking through since Max had handed them to him.
Two pairs of eyes flicked up to him in a panic. "What's weird? Why would you say thats weird? Seems normal to me. Regular in fact" babbled Alec. "I mean, okay, he was acting a little strange but you know that's Biggs for ya, plus he's been under a lot of pressure recently, feeling the strain of being a transgenic, and all his other issues." *STOP TALKING YOU IDIOT* he yelled to himself.
"What kind of issues? Does he need our help?" asked Max in quick concern, her fellow-transgenic-in-trouble-radar on full alert.
Alec looked from Max to Logan and then back to Max again as they both stared expectantly at him, Logan curiously and Max with a worried expression. Alec's mind began to race * Quick, think fast, Alec. Get yourself out of this mess, Open mouth. Say something. Anything. Anything at all..* "Yeah, yeah, well, you see, Biggs has issues. Problems. Personal problems. The truth of it is, he like, uh, has this crush on you, Max. Yep, you're all he talks about these days. Its pathetic really". *Except that!!. Why did I say that??? God, Biggs is going to kill me in the most horrible way possible*
Max stared at him blankly. "Biggs has a crush on me" she said slowly. "Yeah, right".
*Yep he'll strangle me for definite - with that speciality lockhold that made him famous at Manticore* Alec thought ruefully. *If I'm lucky, he'll make it quick for old time's sake* Yet still his mouth opened and words continued to come out.."He does!! I mean why else would he say all that stuff?" said Alec, completely unable to stop himself digging in deeper. He lowered his voice and said meaningfully "You know, that stuff he was saying about you and me?"
Logan who had lost interest - just another Manticorian that had the hots for his girl, after all - looked up again at this and his eyes narrowed suspiciously "What was he saying about you and Max?"
"Crazy talk. That's what I'm saying. Crazy with jealousy talk", Alec gestured emphatically to make his point. *Or then again, he might decide to run you over a few times with your own motorcycle* mused Alec inside.
Max wrinkled her nose in disbelief. "I really don't think Biggs thinks of me like that, Alec" she said dismissively.
"He does!"
"Well, I haven't noticed."
Alec's eyes narrowed and he gripped Max by the upper arm and turned to Logan "Excuse us for a minute Logan. We'll be continuing this talk in your bedroom. We'd do it in the hall or the dining room but lets face it you live in a place with few doors." With that, he pulled Max into Logan's tastefully designed beige bedroom and shut the door behind him. Max, so unused to being manhandled by Alec, actually went quietly. Once in the room, Alec let go of Max's arm but remained close to her as he fumed "So YOU didn't notice anything. Well, you wouldn't, would you Max? Nope, you just ride around on your motorcycle wrapped up in your little Maxie world, flipping your hair, wholly oblivious to other people's thoughts and feelings."
"Hey." shrieked Max defensively.
Alec continued his rant, "Theres this poor guy just out of Manticore, doing absolutely fine on his own by the way, running a few scams to get by, learning about life on the outside.and there YOU are, always there, always around with your missions and your morals and your cherry flavoured lip gloss and cherry flavoured gum."
"What on earth are you talking about, you jackass?" yelled Max.
"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. Its just, it makes a person wonder - that is it made Biggs wonder to me, the other night, if you would actually taste like cherry thats all." Alec's gaze dropped to her lips.
"Oh" said Max. As retorts go it wasn't the best but Alec staring at her lips as if he was deciding whether or not to find out if they tasted like cherry was having a distracting effect on her.
"Guys, we really do have more important things to be talking about" a dry as dust voice came from the doorway. The transgenic pair jumped as they finally realised the door had opened and Logan's wheelchair was there with the man himself sitting watching them suspiciously. "There's just not enough here for me to make a connection between Ciccona and Martinez" he continued.
"Who?" Alec played dumb. He knew exactly who the other man was talking about but he just felt like annoying him. After all, he had interrupted a rather interesting moment.
Logan sighed. "Francisco Ciccona, the owner of the nightclub you just broke into.ringing a bell yet? And Jorge Martinez, the sure thing for the next Mayor of Seattle - unless of course, we stop it." With that, he turned his wheelchair with a dramatic flourish and headed back for his computer bench.
"Right, right, its all coming back to me now, Logan. On a side point, I've never understood why you don't attach some sort of cape to that thing, so that when you make a heroic point like that last one it can float out behind you as you head off to save the good people of Seattle - at your computer" Alec wise-cracked. He then dodged out of habit to escape the Don't-be-mean to-Logan-blow that would usually be heading for his shoulder at this point. It didn't come.
Instead Max was saying: "So you need more to go on".
Logan, looking mildly disappointed at not seeing Alec get beaten on, said "Yes. Max, I suggest you go undercover in the nightclub tomorrow night and hook up with Ciccona. Martinez generally arrives around 11 for a poker game that goes on in the back room. We'll hook you up with a wire, with any luck they'll let something slip at the game. At the very least you should be able to plant a bug on Ciccona or Martinez that will let us hear what they say to each other when they're alone".
"Sounds like a plan. Catch you later." The front door of the apartment slammed shut as Max left and a silence descended over the room.
Logan swivelled round in his chair again to face Alec and there was a long pause before he spoke, "That's quite a torch Biggs is carrying for Max there".
"Yeah, well you know how these things can happen."
"Its nice he has you to confide in though, someone to share his feelings with"
"Yeah well, we're friends, buddies if you will" *Or at least you were before you screwed him over* Alec reminded himself.
"You know its funny, I don't actually know Biggs all that well but on the limited acquaintance we do have, he didn't seem to be someone you'd expect to be harbouring all these tortured emotions" commented Logan.
"Still waters run deep, Logan." *Time for a change of subject* thought Alec. "So, got any food I can eat? I like."
"Given that your tastes run heavily to artificial flavourings and colours, no, I have no food you'd like" Logan stated. He continued "Another funny thing is that last time we were at Crash, Biggs spent most of the night trying to convince Original Cindy that he was a viable alternative to a lesbian lifestyle . Don't you think that's a strange strategy? Trying to hit it with your crush's best friend and roommate?"
"Hey, I like Biggs, but I never said he was smart". Alec decided the best strategy was to go on the offensive "Whats the matter Logan? Threatened by a little transgenic competition? Well, don't blame you. Rock hard muscles, quick reflexes, endless stamina - yep, we've got a lot to offer a girl, I mean Biggs, Biggs has a lot to offer a girl, that is, Max."
"I think I can deal, thank you, Alec. And I'm not threatened by Biggs" Logan said drily. He swivelled his wheelchair round to face his computer once more and added a parting shot "But I'm starting to think you've got rather an unhealthy interest in him."
The events of the last twenty minutes had left Alec feeling a little shell- shocked and he left too demoralised to even attempt to have the last word. Outside Logan's apartment, he closed the door behind him and leant against it, running his hand through his hair distractedly. He was not looking forward to explaining this little episode to Biggs.