~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Med Center, TC


Lucy turns a little in her sleep, then groans and regrets it when pain shoots up her side. She makes a face, and hears a faint laugh beside her bed. ~Oh, God, please don't let it be the Familiars~ She opens one eye a tiny bit, to see who is there, and the laughing just gets louder. Finally having had enough, and not being able to see properly while pretending to sleep, she opens her eyes.


Beside her bed sits a boy about her age, with dusty blond hair that was kind of longish (A/N– skater-hair...mmmm...hot.) His green eyes sparkled with mischief, and Lucy, though interested at this sudden turn of events, was annoyed by him laughing at her.


"Just what do you think you're laughing at, huh?" she asks, more grateful that the boy's there instead of either someone who wants to kill her or someone who's suspicious of her being evil, than annoyed. He tries to stop laughing, but just starts again, making Lucy smile, a thing which she feared she had forgotten. "You have got to be the worst actress that I've ever seen!!!! That whole 'let's only open part of my eye' thing? So discreet that even the people in the hallway would know you're not sleeping."


He laughs softly again, and pulls out some gauze and a first aid kit from a nearby drawer. "I should probably start doing my job. I have a pretty good feeling that Sandy'll kill me if I slack off. Can you stand up?"


Lucy looks at him, slightly embarrassed, and tries to get up, knowing that she probably won't be able to. She leans on her hands and sits up, cringing in pain. The boy notices the pain masking her features and takes her arm just as soon as the pain hits her, pulling her up gently. "You okay?" he asks.


Lucy, being as stubborn as she is, nods, and continues to try to get up. In vain, of course, because the boy, still holding her arm, puts his other arm under her back and pulls her up carefully.


Lucy looks down at the floor, mortified by the total lack of strength she just showed in front in front of what she assumes is another transgenic. ~There goes the tough-girl act, all in one shot. Damn~ She looks up at him, straight into his amazingly piercing green eyes. They stare at each other just for a moment, but in that moment they both see into each other's minds. He sees loneliness, hurt, and she sees anger, and great power.


In that moment, they also realize how close they are, and the boy immediately, after making sure that Lucy's okay to sit up by herself, grabs the first aid kit. "By the way, I'm Xander." he says, motioning for her to take off her shirt so that he can bandage her side.


"Lucy. What the gentleman you are, not even knowing me five minutes and already telling me to take off my clothes?" she asks lightly, taking off her shirt. Xander tries to hide his happiness at seeing the beautiful girl with her shirt off. "And don't even think of looking at my boobs." Lucy says, cutting off his silent compliments. He laughs a little.


"This may hurt a little." he warns her. "So I'll pour in on three, okay?" he looks up at her, and she

nods. "One..." he says, pouring the antiseptic onto the infected wound. She takes in a sharp breath. Lucy juts her bottom lip out a little in a pout.


"You said that you'd pour on three. Liar." she complains as he wraps her torso with gauze.


"Yeah, but you would have moved away." he says, giving her a knowing smirk. She scoffs a bit, rolling her eyes in a way that reminded Xander of Max.


"First of all, you don't know that. Second of all, even if I would have, that doesn't make you any less of a liar." she says as he secures the gauze and stands up. He hands her the shirt she had shed, and she puts it on, grimacing a bit as she moves. She sit down and leans back on her elbows, both tired and in pain.


"Okay, it's official. Being gutted is really not a good idea." she says lightly. Xander smirks at Lucy, glad that she has a sense of humor, unlike many of the transgenics. She clutches her stomach inconspicously, but he notices it.


"Oh yeah?" he asks, sitting down, too. Lucy nods.

"Uh huh. In a big way. I don't recommend it." she says, studying the bandaged wound. "By the way, nice work on cleaning it up."

"Well, it is kinda my job." he says, admiring his work.


"Yeah, I guess. So, do you like it here?" Lucy asks, wondering how many transgenics are in TC's borders.


"Yeah, it's better than anything out there." he answers. "And Max and Alec do a great job of keeping everyone happy and safe."


"Yeah," Lucy says, summing up the courage to ask a question that she's wanted to for a while, "they really seem to be on the same wavelength. When they were in here before, I could've sworn I was missing out on some sort of silent conversation, like they were talking, but they didn't need to use words. Wow, that sounded stupid."


"No, I totally agree with you on that one. No one else realizes that they both are crazy about each other." he tells her, glad that somebody else realizes how close Max and Alec are.


"I think that they'll eventually come to their senses." Lucy says, smiling slightly at the thought of Max and Alec together. ~They're so perfect for each other, why can't they see it?~


"Let's hope so, otherwise Max will never stop beating him up." he adds, and they both laugh.


"Hey, Max does not, and I repeat NOT, beat me up. I could so take her." Xander and Lucy snap their heads in the direction of the door, where Alec's leaning against the frame. Max pushes him to the side and walks through.


Xander and Lucy look at each other, praying silently that Max and Alec only heard the last part of that sentence.

"You know, I always liked you Xander. And Lucy, you're quickly rising on my favorites list." she tells them, and both of them smile shyly, still embarrassed about being caught talking about the two most powerful people in TC. "Oh, and Alec?" Max turns toward him, remembering something. "I can so kick your ass."


"Nuh uh." he says. A sudden thought hits Alec, and he smiles evilly. "Oh, Xander, I forgot to tell you that you have munchkin duty tonight."


Xander groans, cringing, then immediately starts to object. "Do I have to? They hate me. I think they're planning on eating me!"


Lucy laughs, along with Max. Alec just nods, completely agreeing. "No, I'm with Xan-man on this. They're evil."


"They're not evil, and they are not going to eat you." Max scoffs, then looks at Lucy. "Like I've said before, men are wimps."


"They're always in the corner, plotting. That's all they do- plot, plot, plot, plot, plot to be evil little munchkins. Oh, and they plot to eat people, too." Alec whines, and Lucy rolls her eyes.


"And how many have they eaten, to date?" she asks.


"Well, we can't be sure..." Xander says in a mock-mysterious voice, Alec humming the Twilight Zone theme. Xander takes over the theme song, and Alec says in his best 'Are-You-Afraid-of the Dark' voice, "We'll never know."


Xander scrunches his face in thought. "We should make a list." Alec nods. "You can add me to it-Johnny bit me once."


Max and Lucy stare at each other in disbelief, then start laughing hysterically. Max leans on a nearby table for support, and Lucy lays back on the bed, clutching her stomach. Xander and Alec watch the two girls in wonder. Both of them seem so laden down with responsibility and the suckiness of the world, it's great to see them laughing. Not just laughing, lying on the floor, pee-you-pants, oh-my-god laughing.


Max clings to Alec's shirt so that she doesn't fall to the ground, she's laughing so hard. He wraps his arms around her waist to keep her up, noting how natural being close to her feels. Max stops laughing and looks at Alec, her face softening. "You're not being very nice." he says playfully.


"Yeah," Max says thoughtfully, "but being mean's so much fun." He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, only to receive a light punch in the shoulder.


Xander, who's now sitting on the bed, grabs Lucy's hand and tugs her into a sitting position, being careful not to harm any of her many cuts. She smiles at him, then laughs a little. "So, did Johnny really bite you?"


He puts on a puppydog face and rolls up the sleeve of his gray t-shirt, revealing his well-muscled shoulder. He juts out his bottom lip. "Yeah, right there." he says, pointing to a spot that's still slightly red. "Little bugger drew blood."


"Aw, you poor thing." Lucy teases, patting him on the back in mock-sympathy. She smirks and looks at him, her eyes growing wide, feigning wonder. "You got bit, and I only got stabbed." She bats her eyes in mockery of all of the ditzy girls she'd seen do it. "You want me to kiss it better?"


He smiles, and leans in, wiggling his eyebrows just like Alec had done a moment before. "Well, it couldn't hurt." he says, rubbing the spot where she hit him.


Xander leans in to Lucy, and for a second she thinks that he's going to kiss her. He whispers, "Look at them." Her gaze immediately wanders to Max and Alec, who are still standing with Alec's arms around Max's waist.


"They're so cute." says Max, leaning her head against Alec's chest without even realizing it. "Yeah," Alec says, watching the scene play out between the teenagers.


Suddenly Xander feigns that he's going to get up, and a pout immediately springs to Lucy's lips. It vanishes, however, when Xander quickly spins on his heel and jumps on the bed, tickling her. Tears of laughter run down Lucy's cheek, and Max and Alec watch, bemused, as Lucy tries to stop him. "I-hehe- was just- hahaha...-kidding!" she says through fits of laughter.


"Take it back." Xander says, his eyes twinkling mischievously and his smirk growing by the second. He stops tickling her, and brushes a strand of hair out of her eye.


She leans in, and closes her eyes. To Max and Alec, it looks like she's gonna kiss him. Their faces inches apart, she shakes her head slowly. "Never." she whispers, and he starts tickling her again.


"Mercy! Mercy!" she squeals, trying in vain to push him away. "Ok, I-hehe- take it-Xander, stop it right...hee..now!- back." she says, panting.


"Take what back?" Xander prods, loving this.


"Do I have to?" Lucy whines, and he nods enthusiastically. She points at him. "You, by the way, are liking this way too much." she says as he rolls off of her.


"You deserve it. Now take it back and apologize, or I'll tickle you again." he threatens, wiggling his fingers menacingly. Lucy rolls her eyes.


"Fine...I take back calling you a manwhore and I'm sorry, because I'm sure you are a gentleman." she says, cringing at her words.


Xander's smile covers his face, and he turns to Max and Alec, who quickly separate and stand next to each other, both unhappy at that development. "That was the most rewarding thing I've done all day." Lucy turns to them, too. "That was the most painfully embarrassing thing that I've done all day."


Xander thinks about that for a moment. "What about taking off your shirt for me?" Lucy elbows him in the stomach, turning bright red.


"Whatever happened to doctor-patient confidentiality?" she hisses.


"That went out with the Pulse, and come on, Lucy, you know you liked it." he says, smiling seductively and winking.


"How about hell no, Pretty Boy?" Lucy snaps, but her scowl doesn't reach her eyes. ~She's kinda cute when she's mad~


"Maxie, he's taking my nickname." Alec whines, and Max elbows him in the stomach softly. "What?" he asks, looking confused.


"I have to check on something. Come with me." she says, and they creep out of the room, Xander and Lucy not even stopping their bantering for a goodbye.


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hello, all!!! hope you liked the latest adventures of Alec, Max, Xander, and Lucy. Well, ok, Xander's a new addition, but I think he might be staying. What do you think??? questions, comments, call 1-800-REVIEW-ME-PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Molly Jeane :D