With You Chapter Five
Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: Okay, the plot is touched on in this chapter, so within the next couple of chapters everything starts moving faster. And just as a warning, this chapter is not Logan friendly! Any Roller Boy lovers out there, this isn't for you. Other than that, enjoy! And so sorry about the late update, it took a while to get back in the swing of things. I promise I won't let it happen again! Or at least I'll try!!
***
Joshua leads Kay and Luke through the dark streets of Terminal City. The only light is that of the fires burning in specific areas around just about every corner.
"What do you think of the city?" Joshua asks, trying to make small talk.
"It's not the posh likes of the uptown area we were in earlier today, but it'll do," Luke answers, gazing around, taking in every last detail of the surroundings.
They turn a corner, coming up on a large apartment building looming up about a block away.
They walk the rest of the way in silence. Joshua turns to them as they reach their destination.
"Here we are."
Luke and Kay strain their necks to see the top of the building where a few X5s are stationed as sentries.
"Tight security around this place," Kay says, smiling at Joshua.
"Have to. Upstairs people try to get in and drive us out. Guards at every building and ordinaries at the gates. Waiting."
"We can take them on if they try anything, right Kay?" Luke grins.
"Of course we can! They don't stand a chance against a city full of genetically empowered beings."
"They don't, but White does," Joshua says, turning to the two young X6s, his face sullen and serious.
"Who is White?"
***
"Sir, our new recruit has arrived."
"Excellent," a man with a serious complexion replies.
"Do you want me send him in?"
"Bring him up in about five minutes."
"Yes, sir."
The man turns to his messenger just before he leaves the room.
"And Otto?"
"Sir?"
"Don't let him out of your sight. Not for a single second, you hear me?"
"Yes, sir, loud and clear."
Otto exits the room and a phone on a disorganized desk rings. The man picks up the phone, "White."
***
Max sits in the still darkness of her bedroom. The silence has overtaken her. All she can think about is Alec.
'What is wrong with me? So I almost kissed the guy, big deal. It's not like it meant anything. Or did it?'
She wracks her brain, searching for anything to fill the void besides Alec.
'Logan. That's it, just think about Logan. Those glasses that make him look all intellectual. The fact that Alec looks so damn fine without them. Oh God, here I go again.'
She lies back on her soft pillow, willing the depths of sleep to take her in. She tries focusing on Logan one more time.
'Logan has such talents. He can do things with a computer that rival that of even Manticore's techies. But his tan, or lack thereof, is nothing compared to Alec's rippling, defined, muscular tone… I wonder what Alec is doing right now… Damn it, I need to get out of here!'
She bolts upright, getting to her feet and grabbing her coat. She pauses before opening the door, checking to be sure that Alec was actually in his room and not watching television again.
When she is sure he isn't in the next room, she quietly opens the door. Glancing around one last time, she sneaks through the living room to the front door. She looks back at Alec's door, a million thoughts racing through her mind at once.
After fighting the sudden urge to rip his door off the hinges in an attempt to see him, she enters the hallway, silently closing the door to her newest obsession.
She stares at the door, her mind almost a complete blank. When she turns around she accidentally bumps into Joshua leading Kay and Luke through the corridor.
"Sorry, Big Fella." She looks at Kay and Luke before saying, "Let me guess, Mole dumped his job you tonight?"
"I don't mind. Kay and Luke are friends." He grins from ear to ear.
"Is that so?"
"Yes, ma'am," Kay replies, forgetting about the first thing she and Luke learned upon their arrival.
"You can call me Max. Any friend of Joshua's is a friend of mine."
"Thank you, Max." It sounds a bit forced coming from Luke's mouth, but Max is sure that it will sink in within a few days. Alec can't stand it when he is called 'sir,' so there is no worry in her mind that they will be getting some practice with what has become so common with her.
"You look exhausted, there's a room just down the hall that is vacant."
"Follow me," Joshua grabs their hands to lead them the remainder of the way with a swift, "Later, Max," as they round the corner.
Max contemplates what to do next now that she made it out of her apartment unseen by Alec. Before she realizes what she is doing, she is knocking on the door of Syl and Jondy's new place.
"Hey Max, we were just talking about you!" Jondy exclaims as she pulls Max inside and closes the door with a quick nudge of her foot.
"Do I dare ask why I'm the subject of the evening?" Max quips, glad to be back with her fellow siblings.
"I think you know why," Jondy adds, trying to make it as obvious as possible as to what they were talking about.
"I'm not following here. Can you fill me in?"
Jondy motions for Max to take a seat as she plops herself down next to Syl of the sofa.
"One word-."
"Alec," Jondy jumps in before Syl can finish her statement.
"Yeah, so what about Alec?" Max isn't quite sure where this conversation is headed, but she sits down in a chair next to the couch anyway.
"You two sure seem to be buddies," Syl says, trying her best to drag this out as long as possible to add to the drama.
Jondy cuts Max off before she can say a single word, "Syl, you know what, why don't you just sit back and let me handle this one? You got all the fun with Aletha, I think it should be my turn now."
"Go right on ahead, sis." Syl winks at Jondy; something Max never would have caught if it weren't for the fact that she is an enhanced fighting machine.
"Wait a minute, are you saying what I think you're saying?" Max hopes it isn't what she thinks. The last thing she needs right now is a reminder that the guy she lives with is the same guy she might be falling for.
"What do you think we're saying?" Jondy is having a great time picking on Max, just like the good old days, only without the drill sergeants and Lydecker breathing down their backs every living second.
"Alec is a great guy and all, he really is once you get to know him, but there is nothing going on between us." Or at least not this very instant.
"Really? Because I think you two have some serious chemistry."
Syl continues to sit back and watch the show unfold as Max begins fidgeting in her seat.
"Come on guys, you don't actually think I would want to get together with Alec, do you?"
Anything to hold them back.
"Well let me just say this, he could be pretty handle when it's that time of the year again," Jondy smirks, winking at Max who has a mix of shock and confusion scribbled on her face.
She never thought about that. If she feels this way around Alec when she's not in heat, God knows what she might end up doing when she is. And since they live in such close quarters it is going to take a lot of will power to keep herself from jumping him the minute he walks out of the shower. Wearing nothing but that sexy blue towel…
"Max?"
She jumps at the interruption from her daydream.
"Huh?"
"Are you all right? You kind of drifted off for a second there," Syl asks, a hint of concern covering up for knowing she was thinking of Alec.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
***
Aletha recovers from the 'Sweet fancy Moses' that she blurted out not five seconds ago with, "Um, hi. I'm Aletha."
She can feel her cheeks scorching as they turn several shades of pink and red.
"Aletha. I like it!" His face contorts into a beautiful smile, causing Aletha to once again begin staring and go a complete blank.
Joey snaps his fingers to get her attention, "You still here?"
"Oh, yeah, sorry about that." She tries to avoid eye contact, worrying she might lead him on to something more complicated, especially now that she needs to resolve her feelings for Ryan.
"I thought I lost you for a second there. Do you want to go to the club with me?"
"I do-."
"Please? I can show you the most exhilarating time of your life." He flashes her a pouty smile and her knees begin to feel as if they will collapse.
"Count me in!"
"Great!"
He extends his arm and escorts her down the hall.
***
Max closes the door to Jondy and Syl's apartment with a slight sigh. She leans against the door, trying to think of anything else that she can do besides facing Alec. She is startled when her pager blares into the silence of the hallway.
Dix with urgent news.
She sprints to the headquarters, almost overjoyed that she doesn't have to head home just yet.
"Dix, what's up?"
She comes to his side on the balcony overlooking the transgenics hard at work trying to keep the city up and running.
"We've got news on Lydecker."
"What kind of news?"
She was more than willing to listen. After all, Lydecker was the one man who helped them try and take down Manticore once and for all.
"One of our guys got wind on the street from an X5 stationed in Colorado. He said Lydecker knows the location of Sandeman, so I thought we should check it out. You know, to see if it's a bogus lead or not."
"It's worth a shot. I've got a lot of questions for this guy."
"You might want to run this by Alec before you make any decisions."
Alec. That would mean talking to him tonight before she could get over what happened.
"Sure, I'll go pass the info along now."
"What info?"
Max and Dix turn on their heels to see Logan, Aletha, and Joey standing below them.
"We've got a lead on Sandeman, I think we should check it out just to be sure," Max states simply, not too thrilled about Logan's surprise visit to TC.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?"
'Here he goes again with that stupid "Be careful" routine.'
"It's not like we have a choice, Logan!"
"I'm just saying-."
"Enough." Aletha steps in, sticking up for her little sister.
"And who might you be?"
'My, my, Logan has developed an attitude problem.'
"Aletha, Max's big sister. Who do you think you are, telling her what to do?"
Max doesn't think twice about letting Aletha rip into Logan. It's about time someone told him who is in charge around here, and it sure as hell isn't him.
"I'm just looking out for her. Someone around here needs to."
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"I just meant that somebody needs to think about her safety! And the way things are being run around here, it doesn't look like there is much of that."
"Oh, and you think you're the one who is capable of looking after Max?"
"Yeah, actually I do!"
"Well let me tell you something, little man! Max's family has been looking after her since we were knee high! Who are you to tell us how to take care of her?"
"Gee, you sure have been doing a good job of that, now haven't you? I guess that's why Max ended up getting shot, more than once!"
Aletha strikes Logan forcefully across the face. Her long, claw-like nails cause four streaks of crimson to appear along the side of his face.
Logan backs down at first, but then gets right in Aletha's face.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" His temper is off the charts, something you don't usually see from the great and powerful Eyes Only.
Joey takes Logan by the arm and throws him to the ground. "Leave. Her. Alone."
Logan looks to Max for support. "Max, are you just going to let them do this?"
Max scowls at him before saying, "I think you should go."
"But Max-."
"Just go!"
Logan climbs back to his feet, brushing the dirt off his plastic-looking trousers. He glares at the assortment of transgenics who have stopped their work to see what the commotion was. Without a backward glance, Logan leaves Terminal City, vowing not to return ever again.
At the sight of his retreating back, work returns to normal. Max goes down to Aletha and Joey, thanking them for dealing with Logan, and takes off for the apartment she shares with Alec to tell him the news about Sandeman.
Running into her home, she sees no sign of Alec so she goes to his bedroom door, straining her ears to catch any sign that he is in there. She can hear some sort of movement and reaches for the doorknob, but nothing can prepare her for what comes next.
She stares in awe at Alec's shirtless, sweating body. He discontinues his workout, surprised to see her in the doorway, let alone the pleased look on her face at the sight of him.
"Yoo-hoo, Max?"
***
SockBrain – Once again, thank you so much for being my beta! The huge Logan bashing part in this chapter was pretty much in your honor :) I promise I'll get started sooner on the next chapter!!
RiotGirl04 – I'm glad you liked it so far! I hope Jondy teasing Syl about Alec was what you were hoping for. And about the tense- I'm just sort of experimenting with this story, it's the first time I've ever done one in this tense, but I'm working on it.
Natasqi – Glad you liked the ending! I kind of have another one with this chapter too. What can I say, Alec working out has to be any girl's dream. Thanks for the review!
Kate88 – Thank you! I'm so glad you liked it. I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations.
RGAP-48 – Well, the third person I mentioned who would make an appearance was sort of brushed upon in this chapter. He should be making his appearance in the next chapter, I hope. And there is going to be more Kay and Luke interaction in the next chapter while they get to know Joshua a little better. Glad you liked it, and thanks for the review!
And I think I probably know the answer to this question, but do you guys want to see more shirtless Alec in future chapters? Because I'll be way more than willing to add that! And since Logan is basically out of the picture now, that leaves more room for MA interaction. Keep the reviews coming, I love to hear what you have to say!
And I hope everyone had a great St. Patrick's Day!