Here Without You – Chapter Two

Disclaimer – As much as I wished I owned them, I don't. Simple as that.

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers! You guys are awesome!

Angel-in-Training = You're welcome for the review! Your fic was awesome. And about Alec- I figured the thought of Max being in heat crossed Alec's mind briefly. But since I like my reviewers so much, I'm adding another chapter in Alec's POV. This was mainly meant to be a one-chapter dealio, but I don't mind doing another one.

M/a fan = I'm gonna try and do another longer M/A story, but I should probably wait until I get some of my other fics finished. I don't think it should be *too* long, but I'll be sure and write one. And you mentioned the same thing Angel-in-Training did- this chapter will be about Alec's POV, so you don't have to wait much longer.

Feenian = Thank you for the review! I'm really glad you liked it.

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Alec is sitting at the usual table at Crash. Sketchy is caught up in a motocross race on the familiar television sitting nearby. Original Cindy is trying to hold a conversation with Alec but continues to get distracted by a woman at the pool table.

He keeps thinking about Max. Sure, they never really got along that well. There was always some sort of fighting between them.

'But that just adds to the excitement.'

They still had their good days, nevertheless. When it came down to it, there was something between them. Something that could never be taken away. Not even by Manticore.

They clicked the first time they met.

'Whatever. Well, let's get this over with, huh?'

'What are you doing?'

'We've been paired off. I'm your breeding partner.'

'My what?'

'We're supposed to copulate every night until you get pregnant.'

'That's sick!'

'It's your own fault. If you and your friends hadn't blown up the DNA database, they'd still be whipping up embryos and putting them into surrogates. Take off your clothes.'

'Get out of my cell.'

He still feels the tingle every now and then. The feeling he got when they first made physical contact. He didn't care if that contact was her foot kicking him against the cell door.

'What the hell was that?!'

'The only kind of physical contact you and I are gonna have.'

'You know, this isn't isn't exactly a plum assignment for me either. You spent half your life out there in filth and degradation. I could catch something.'

'Whatever you need to tell yourself. Just as long as we understand each other.'

'Fine. Don't "freak out" on me.'

In a way he was glad nothing happened that day. He wanted his first time with Max to be special. If she knew he was thinking this way she would have thought something went wrong in his head.

She always considers him as the type to get a call girl and rent a cheesy motel room for the night. She never expects him to be the romantic type.

'Maybe I can use this to my advantage…'

He had only recently admitted his feelings for Max to himself. He didn't dare tell anyone else. He always feels attracted to her, and for the longest time he thought it was nothing more than an innocent crush.

Boy was he wrong.

She had changed him in so many ways. After Manticore burned to the ground he got himself a job at JamPony.

Of course he didn't get it to become a hardworking citizen of Seattle. His sole purpose for the move was to get an inside peek of unsuspecting people's houses. He planned on returning to them later and taking what he pleased.

But Max taught him better than that.

The night he caught her stealing that baseball was what sparked things in the first place.

'Alec, what the hell are you doing here?'

'Stealing a baseball. How 'bout you?'

'Trying to get back the money I lost because of you.'

'Yeah, me too. Figured I'd swipe this ball, repay my friend Max...'

'Yeah, right.'

'I'm serious.'

'You wanna pay me back? Get a job. Find out what it's like to live in the real world.'

'I'm sorry, is this what you call your real-world job?'

'This is an extreme situation, which--in case you didn't hear me two seconds ago--is entirely your fault.'

'That's why I want to make things right. I mean, if you hadn't paid that doctor, I'd have been a dead man.'

'Don't remind me.'

'I owe you, Max. Why don't you go on home? I'll finish this up. I'll fence this thing and get you the money tomorrow, huh? What do you say?'

'A, I don't believe you, and B, Sammy Sosa's 756th home-run ball is worth way more than what you owe me.'

He had his own agenda at the time, but he really did mean to pay her back. It wasn't like he actually thought she would believe him. After all, he gave her every reason not to.

He felt awful at the fact that he ruined her only chance to be rid of the retrovirus Manticore instilled in her. He ruined the only chance she had of being able to touch Logan.

He knew she longed for it. He could see it in her eyes back at Manticore. He wished there were some way he could take her mind off all her problems.

"Are you aiight, boo? 'Cause I get the feeling you're not really here."

OC's spoken concerns caused him to start. He had zoned out.

"Yeah. I just…"

"Something's botherin' you. Come on homeboy, you can tell Original Cindy. What's on your mind?"

He puts on one of his famous smirks, hoping to turn this conversation around.

"It's nothin' really. I'm just trying to find a way out of tomorrow's double shifts. What kind of bug does Normal have up his ass now?"

"I hear ya. Normal better get his act together before Original Cindy has to lay the smack down on his sorry ass."

Alec relieves some of the tension in his muscles. His smooth talking got him out of another tight spot.

"I can't believe he didn't see beforehand that his new girl wasn't the type to stick around for long."

"Typical Normal. Can't spot a player when she's right there flaunting her goods in front of him."

As OC goes back to her glass of alcohol, Alec begins to return to his previous train of thought.

He begins to wonder if maybe, just maybe, Max is feeling the same way he is.

After Logan caught the two of them in an embrace, he got the wrong idea. But did Max set him straight on what was what?

No.

Instead she went along with it. She told Logan, whom in the past she thought would turn out to be the man of her dreams, that her and Alec, her tag-along transgenic sidekick from Manticore, were a couple.

His thoughts reel.

'Was there more to that than she was really letting on? Could she possibly be considering taking our friendship to all that she told Logan it was, or more?'

He can't take this anymore. He needs to clear his head.

"I think I'm gonna head home."

He stands, grabbing his coat from the back of his chair.

As he walks down the darkened streets of post pulse Seattle, passing by all the filth and degradation that hovers throughout the once powerful country, there is only one thing on his mind.

Max.

As hard as he tries to shake it off, he can't.

Her eyes are mesmerizing.

Her face is enough to make him quiver and stutter before her.

Her attitude makes her an even bigger turn on.

She doesn't take shit from anyone. If she has something to say, she says it. If someone pisses her off, they're in for a world of hurt.

Everything about her makes him want her even more.

Before he comes back to his senses, he finds that he wandered all the way to her apartment.

He tries the door but it's locked.

'Good thing I snatched myself a spare key.'

He digs through his pockets, searching for the only thing holding him back from her.

An enticing smell reaches his nose.

'No. It couldn't be…'

After fumbling with the lock, he swings the door wide.

Max is standing there.

Alert.

Sweating.

'Maybe she is…'

She looks him up and down, staring at him longingly.

'Quick, say something!'

"Are you all right?"

'That's all you can think of??'

"I'm more than all right, baby."

He is taken aback by her reaction. This isn't like Max.

"What, I don't even get a sarcastic comeback? No, 'What the hell are you doing here, Alec?!' Something's up. I can feel it."

He looks her up and down, not quite sure if his speculations about her were right.

'She's showing all the signs of being…'

She tilts her head a little, making him get this irresistible urge.

"Nothing is 'up.' It's just you and me. Alone."

He fumbles for words, trying to hide his thoughts.

"I see that look in your eyes. It's like- it's like, uh…"

He leaves the words, "You want me, right here, right now," hanging in the air.

She continues to look deeper and deeper into his eyes.

There's that gaze again. He fights every muscle in his body, trying to resist the urge to run forward and grab her up in his arms.

She walks closer.

Closer.

There's that smell again.

It finally clicks in his head. He realizes what the smell means, and what is causing her behavior.

'I was right. She's in heat.'

"Max, are you sure-"

She lunges at him, pinning him to the floor. She showers his face with aggressive kisses.

Normally Alec would be a little shaken up by this kind of behavior from her, but he goes along with it.

He wants to be sure she's not making a mistake first.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Just shut up and kiss me!"

He could feel it now. He could feel how she felt about him. There really was something more to her pretending to be Alec's girlfriend.

Things were finally heading in the right direction.

~~~

A/N: I hope I kinda answered your questions. Leave a review, tell me what you think. I hope to start another M/A fic as soon as I can. Until next time, peace!