Disclaimer: It's not mine.
Summary: Alec's interest on another girl drives Max crazy. Can she accept the reason for her jealousy?.
A/N: Special thanks to my beta, secretly beautiful. I owe you big time.
Rose: As always, thanks for all of your reviews and I loved the card =). There isn't a lot of talking in this one, but I put some hints for future chapters in there.
Lakergirl: I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you keep liking them. I have mayor plot developments planned for the next three. Something to do with the guesses you made on your review, although I'm not telling you which one yet.
Cloudburst: I think Max was shocked too by her reaction. But she wasn't going to loose to Danielle, so she just acted without thinking. Although I have to say, kissing Alec doesn't take much thinking. I mean, come on, what is there to think about? He is gorgeous, and that smirk........ I'm getting sidetracked here. So anyway, thanks a lot for the encouragement.
Cesar Salata: Sorry to break it to you, but there are too many stories out there with Alec being the jealous guy and suffering because of Max, I guess now it's Max's turn. At least, that's how my story goes. If you don't like it, you should probably check some of the others I mentioned. And about A/D drama, I watch the news thank you very much, but I will still have some angst on this fic. Again, it's the way I like it, so I'm sorry if there is enough drama in your life by now because you are getting some more. And for the record, not everyone knows where my country is, so I just thought I'll play it safe. I don't know every country in the world, I don't expect everyone to know mine.
CHAPTER 8: BALANCE
The four X5s arrived at an abandoned factory in the outskirts of Seattle. Well, not really abandoned anymore if you considered the amounts of well armed soldiers at the two entrances. They were trying to hide from view, but come on, no one, not a human or familiar can hide their location from the expert eyes of an X5. Even less when we are talking about four of them.
They were hiding in the woods, next to their bikes. A good spot considering they had an excellent view of the building and at the same time, could easily hide from view thanks to the trees that surrounded them. Max and Alec were going through the plans of the old factory. Dix had sent them the plans to a laptop they had managed to "borrow" on their way to the facility. They were still looking at them when Danielle and Biggs arrived from their field inspection, both from opposite sides.
"Ok. We have four well armed familiars on the back door. We are talking AK 47s, Glocks, the usual "armed for the apocalypse" gear. I even saw some grenades on one of them. I do not consider the back entrance a viable entering spot." Her green eyes locked directly into his hazel ones during the debriefing. She was in complete soldier mode, her face showed no emotions.
"Same thing at the front. I think White is expecting us and is taking no risks whatsoever. I saw five men at the front door, and two more doing rounds at the right side of the facility."
Biggs was acting just like Danielle. Their faces blank and their looks with a strange fire burning inside them. Looking at them screamed efficiency and at the same time belonging. She looked over to Alec, he was speaking, issuing orders, but Max couldn't hear him, she could do nothing but stare at him. The same blank face and fire shown in his eyes as well. For the first time since the fall of Manticore, Max truly asked herself how life had been for those left behind in ´09, fully grasped what it meant for them. She had been on rescue missions with Alec before, but he was never like this. She guessed she was finally having a glimpse of 494, and yet Alec was still there. It was like they had found a balance between the soldier and themselves. They could switch one off and on again like it was the most normal thing in the world. To her surprise this realization did not frighten, anger or horrify her. This realization made her respect them even more.
She was taken back to the real world when Alec moved back to the computer.
"This is what I'm talking about. Here...." He signaled a spot on the screen, and then another. "..... and here. As I see it, we can't have a direct confrontation. These are the safest entrance points. This way they won't know we are there till the last possible moment. That gives us one minute to rescue the Xs and get the hell out before we have to actually fight for our lives."
"I agree. But you do realize we don't stand a chance if they find us before we reach the cell?" Biggs gave Alec a look. He wasn't sure about the mission, too many things could go wrong, but he trusted his team. They had gotten out of far worse situations, they could do this.
"That's why we can't afford to mess up". Alec gave him back a reassuring smirk.
"Can we get back to the mission? These bonding moments between you two are really cute, but I don't have all night. I would like to get some sleep before having to cope with you two snoring in the morning meeting. And don't tell me you don't snore. Ask Mole, we all hear you every morning." They both looked at her. Danielle was trying to maintain her tough chick attitude, but a grin escaped her lips. They were back to normal. Teasing each other like if they weren't going to risk their lives in mere seconds. Max couldn't help but join, and with a loose attitude she made her own comment.
"Ok, children. Breaks over, let's go back to work"
"You two are going to be really mean moms, you know that?" Biggs comment and frown sent everybody laughing their eyes out. Max was happy they let her in. She felt like part of the group now and for some reason, she felt good about it. But they had to get back to work and concentrate on what they were doing if they were to survive. The laughs subsided and they got back to the planning.
"Biggs and Danielle will take the roof and I can't believe I'm saying this, but Max and I are taking the sewers. What is it about you Max? Why do I always end up in the sewers when I'm around you?"
"Afraid you are going to ruin your handsome face with all that filth, pretty boy?"
"So you DO think I'm handsome after all. Don't blame yourself, how could you possibly resist falling for a fine specimen like me?"
"Shut up!"
"Ok, so while Max works on her denial......" He grinned while avoiding the attack she was directing to his head. Then he was all business again. "....... We have ten minutes to enter the facility undetected. Once inside, Max and I take care of the Xs, you two are back up and will act as a diversion if needed. We must be out as soon as possible. From the moment they realized we are in, it will take the soldiers outside one minute to get to the cells. The heat scanner shows three agents more inside. Add those three to the ones outside and we are talking about hell on earth. So try not to get caught, all right? Assuming we are alive by then, Biggs and Danielle will cover our exit while we get the Xs back here. We won't wait for you, you know what to do. We'll see each other back at TC in two hours tops."
"What do you mean? We are not leaving them behind." Max had let him issue the orders up until then. He had this commanding aura she had never before seen in him. For the first time since she met him, she realized he knew exactly what he was doing and let him do his thing. But this was too much; she wasn't going to stay silent while he discussed leaving transgenics behind. Not with all those familiars there.
"Relax Max, we know what to do. This isn't our first mission together. We know how to handle this threat. We'll be ok. In fact, I'm sure we'll beat you to TC." Danielle was the one speaking. And for some reason her words reassured her. Of course she hated the fact that she seemed to be the only one out of place on that team, she felt like an amateur among professionals, but it also left her with a reassuring feeling that they knew what they were capable of and exactly what to do to get them all back in one piece.
"Ok. But if you need help, we are coming back for you."
"Max...." Now it was Alec who started speaking, ready to give her a lecture of the fact that they weren't kids, they were after all genetically engineered soldiers with almost twenty years of training on them. But she beat him to it. She understood, but she was worried all the same. This wasn't a walk in the park, this was a dangerous mission in which they were highly outnumbered.
"Alec! We will come back for them."
"Sure." He decided to concede her this, they didn't have time to argue right now. And it's not like he intended to keep his word or anything, there was a reason his fingers were crossed behind his back. It's not that he wanted to leave his friends behind, it was the fact that if they came back for them they would all get killed, no doubt about that. There wasn't enough time. Anyway, he was sure it wouldn't come to that, his friends knew exactly how to make their way out of the worst case scenarios. He'd seen them before and had complete trust in their skills.
He sent a look to Danielle who was about to argue, and she understood. She remained there waiting for orders.
Alec looked at Biggs and back to Danielle, he was trying to convince himself this wouldn't be the last time he saw either of them. After getting reassured by their looks, he let out a breath he never realized he was holding and issued his order. "Ok team, you have your assignments, make me proud."
"Yes sir!" And with that Biggs and Danielle were gone, leaving behind a very puzzled Max.
Alec started his own way to their destination, leaving Max to follow him.
----------------------------------------------------------
Biggs and Danielle had made their way to the facility undetected. They were now hiding just outside the building, waiting for the perfect opportunity to jump their way to the roof.
"Well, I would say our plan is working, don't you think?" Biggs spoke while hiding behind some bushes by Danielle's side.
"I wouldn't go that far, we are still outside, remember?"
"I'm talking about Max and Alec, getting them together. Any of this rings a bell?"
"Yeah, sorry. I was a little distracted with actually paying attention to the guards to understand what you meant." She send him a recriminatory look that soon changed into a grin, before facing the facility again. "Of course it's working. I planned the whole thing, remember?"
"Right, sorry I doubted you. I don't know what I was thinking about....." His tone clearly showed he didn't mean what he had just said. "....... Yeah, right. Like you were expecting Max to do THAT."
"Ok, I accept it. I never thought Max would actually kiss him, more like tell him what she felt over the phone or something. But I DID know they felt something for each other, and I was right one hundred percent."
"Ok, ok. You are the man, or woman. Happy now?"
"Yes, very." She faced him for a second showing a huge grin on her face, then got her attention back to the guards.
"Although, I have to say I thought I never see the day when you would do something like this. I mean, you of all people."
Her smirk changed into a confused look, but she never took her eyes away from the building. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, I thought you liked Alec"
"I do, he is my friend. Why? You think paring him up with Max is some kind of punishment? I accept she gets on my nerves sometimes with the whole normalcy obsession and her distaste of guns when it goes beyond good judgment, but she is ok, she is a good girl."
"That's not what I'm talking about. I'm saying I thought there was something going on between Alec and you."
"And here we go again. I told you there wasn't, isn't nor never will be anything between us. Not in the way you think, at least. We are friends and partners, that's all."
"Ok, ok. Don't freak out on me. I get it. It's just the way you used to look at each other back at Manticore...... I don't know. I don't understand why you let him go. I used to think it was just a matter of time. That somehow you two would find a way of being together, even with Manticore and all."
She glared at him, but the mask was on in a heart beat. A smirk on her face that never reached her eyes. "Are you jealous? I know I used to flirt with Alec back at Manticore, but I never thought it would bother you so much."
"Very funny. I'm serious." But no matter how much he tried to stop himself, his eyes grew dark for a second. Her words hit too close to home for his liking.
"Me too. Don't look for things that ain't there, Biggs."
Before he could answer her, she spoke again.
"Now! Go!"
They blurred the rest of the way to the building. When they reached it, Biggs helped Danielle jump with his hands so she could reach the roof. Then it was Biggs's turn to jump and Danielle catch him and helped him up. Once in the roof, they cut the glass and jumped in undetected. They scanned the area and headed for the cells.
-----------------------------------------------
"So what's all that ´sir` thing about?"
Max finally catch up with Alec after getting over her initial shock. They were now in the sewers, making their way to their destination, the Xs.
"I was in charge of the missions when they partnered us up."
"So you were a CO?" Disbelief written all over her face and voice.
"Not quite. The CO routine worked when you were out with the rest of your unit. But the solo missions were a whole different story. The field agents usually went solo on their missions. They were in charge of it, except for a handler you had to report to regularly. The thing is sometimes the mission parameters required some extra help, but it was still an undercover operation that didn't require a unit. The units were used for a more direct confrontation. It was during this undercover missions that they partner up operatives that had the skills needed for the success of the mission and worked well together. It didn't necessarily include members of the same unit, but you still needed some kind of order. Someone who would have the last word, someone to be responsible for the outcome. I wasn't CO, I was in charge of individual missions."
"Still, I never pictured you as the leading type."
"Well, you've never seen me lead before. I mean, when I'm not with them, I'm the Alec you know and love." A grin accompanied the last part. "But seriously, you don't think I spent my whole life in Psy Ops, do you? I mean, I wasn't a screw up, no matter how much you think I am."
"I learned that a long time ago, Alec."
He turned around and faced her for the first time in the conversation. His face showed his shock at her words. She felt bad when she saw it, and decided to reassure him.
"I mean, you hide it very well don't get me wrong, but you are not a screw up. You hide yourself behind that ´I only care about myself` façade, but you are always there when you are needed. Well, Alec, you don't fool me any more."
He turned back again and continued his way through the sewers.
"So I think this means you won't threaten to kick my ass any more."
"I wouldn't go that far. But I can promise I won't hurt you, much."
"Fine by me. We should shake on it. Or maybe.......". He stopped and turned back to face her, a huge smirk on his face. "........ we should kiss on it." She wasn't expecting him to stop so she almost collided with him, stopping herself (only thanks to her revved up reflexes), mere inches from his face. They stayed that way for a long time and then started to lean into each other, closer and closer. The memory of the kiss they shared just a couple of hours before, burned on both their minds. But just when they were about to close the final gap, a voice was heard above them.
"Sorry to break this lovely moment, but we are kind of in a tight schedule here."
-----------------------------------------------
"Where are they, they should be here by now?"
"Chill, Biggs. Give them a second, they'll be here."
"But we don't have time. Maybe we should get the Xs ourselves, gain some time."
"We have to stay here and keep an eye on everything. We took care of the guards inside, but remember the ones on the outside? If we change the plan now, we are all screwed, you know that."
"I know, but what if something happened? What if they got caught?"
"If the familiars had them, I can assure you those guards wouldn't be there or as calm."
"Ok, but something happened, they shouldn't be this late."
"Fine, you go look for them, I'll keep an eye on the guards."
Biggs made his way to the spot were they were supposed to exit the sewers and raised the manhole cover. The image he was faced with wasn't exactly what he was expecting.
"Sorry to break this lovely moment, but we are kind of in a tight schedule here."
Alec and Max looked up to the image of a very pissed Biggs. Alec misunderstood the reason for Biggs's mood, thinking it had something to do with Alec almost kissing ´his girl`. The truth was Biggs was a little pissed off about the fact this two had him worried for no reason other than their hormones.
The two busted transgenics made their way up to the facility without a word. Once inside, Biggs headed for his spot, while Alec and Max took care of their part.
Summary: Alec's interest on another girl drives Max crazy. Can she accept the reason for her jealousy?.
A/N: Special thanks to my beta, secretly beautiful. I owe you big time.
Rose: As always, thanks for all of your reviews and I loved the card =). There isn't a lot of talking in this one, but I put some hints for future chapters in there.
Lakergirl: I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you keep liking them. I have mayor plot developments planned for the next three. Something to do with the guesses you made on your review, although I'm not telling you which one yet.
Cloudburst: I think Max was shocked too by her reaction. But she wasn't going to loose to Danielle, so she just acted without thinking. Although I have to say, kissing Alec doesn't take much thinking. I mean, come on, what is there to think about? He is gorgeous, and that smirk........ I'm getting sidetracked here. So anyway, thanks a lot for the encouragement.
Cesar Salata: Sorry to break it to you, but there are too many stories out there with Alec being the jealous guy and suffering because of Max, I guess now it's Max's turn. At least, that's how my story goes. If you don't like it, you should probably check some of the others I mentioned. And about A/D drama, I watch the news thank you very much, but I will still have some angst on this fic. Again, it's the way I like it, so I'm sorry if there is enough drama in your life by now because you are getting some more. And for the record, not everyone knows where my country is, so I just thought I'll play it safe. I don't know every country in the world, I don't expect everyone to know mine.
CHAPTER 8: BALANCE
The four X5s arrived at an abandoned factory in the outskirts of Seattle. Well, not really abandoned anymore if you considered the amounts of well armed soldiers at the two entrances. They were trying to hide from view, but come on, no one, not a human or familiar can hide their location from the expert eyes of an X5. Even less when we are talking about four of them.
They were hiding in the woods, next to their bikes. A good spot considering they had an excellent view of the building and at the same time, could easily hide from view thanks to the trees that surrounded them. Max and Alec were going through the plans of the old factory. Dix had sent them the plans to a laptop they had managed to "borrow" on their way to the facility. They were still looking at them when Danielle and Biggs arrived from their field inspection, both from opposite sides.
"Ok. We have four well armed familiars on the back door. We are talking AK 47s, Glocks, the usual "armed for the apocalypse" gear. I even saw some grenades on one of them. I do not consider the back entrance a viable entering spot." Her green eyes locked directly into his hazel ones during the debriefing. She was in complete soldier mode, her face showed no emotions.
"Same thing at the front. I think White is expecting us and is taking no risks whatsoever. I saw five men at the front door, and two more doing rounds at the right side of the facility."
Biggs was acting just like Danielle. Their faces blank and their looks with a strange fire burning inside them. Looking at them screamed efficiency and at the same time belonging. She looked over to Alec, he was speaking, issuing orders, but Max couldn't hear him, she could do nothing but stare at him. The same blank face and fire shown in his eyes as well. For the first time since the fall of Manticore, Max truly asked herself how life had been for those left behind in ´09, fully grasped what it meant for them. She had been on rescue missions with Alec before, but he was never like this. She guessed she was finally having a glimpse of 494, and yet Alec was still there. It was like they had found a balance between the soldier and themselves. They could switch one off and on again like it was the most normal thing in the world. To her surprise this realization did not frighten, anger or horrify her. This realization made her respect them even more.
She was taken back to the real world when Alec moved back to the computer.
"This is what I'm talking about. Here...." He signaled a spot on the screen, and then another. "..... and here. As I see it, we can't have a direct confrontation. These are the safest entrance points. This way they won't know we are there till the last possible moment. That gives us one minute to rescue the Xs and get the hell out before we have to actually fight for our lives."
"I agree. But you do realize we don't stand a chance if they find us before we reach the cell?" Biggs gave Alec a look. He wasn't sure about the mission, too many things could go wrong, but he trusted his team. They had gotten out of far worse situations, they could do this.
"That's why we can't afford to mess up". Alec gave him back a reassuring smirk.
"Can we get back to the mission? These bonding moments between you two are really cute, but I don't have all night. I would like to get some sleep before having to cope with you two snoring in the morning meeting. And don't tell me you don't snore. Ask Mole, we all hear you every morning." They both looked at her. Danielle was trying to maintain her tough chick attitude, but a grin escaped her lips. They were back to normal. Teasing each other like if they weren't going to risk their lives in mere seconds. Max couldn't help but join, and with a loose attitude she made her own comment.
"Ok, children. Breaks over, let's go back to work"
"You two are going to be really mean moms, you know that?" Biggs comment and frown sent everybody laughing their eyes out. Max was happy they let her in. She felt like part of the group now and for some reason, she felt good about it. But they had to get back to work and concentrate on what they were doing if they were to survive. The laughs subsided and they got back to the planning.
"Biggs and Danielle will take the roof and I can't believe I'm saying this, but Max and I are taking the sewers. What is it about you Max? Why do I always end up in the sewers when I'm around you?"
"Afraid you are going to ruin your handsome face with all that filth, pretty boy?"
"So you DO think I'm handsome after all. Don't blame yourself, how could you possibly resist falling for a fine specimen like me?"
"Shut up!"
"Ok, so while Max works on her denial......" He grinned while avoiding the attack she was directing to his head. Then he was all business again. "....... We have ten minutes to enter the facility undetected. Once inside, Max and I take care of the Xs, you two are back up and will act as a diversion if needed. We must be out as soon as possible. From the moment they realized we are in, it will take the soldiers outside one minute to get to the cells. The heat scanner shows three agents more inside. Add those three to the ones outside and we are talking about hell on earth. So try not to get caught, all right? Assuming we are alive by then, Biggs and Danielle will cover our exit while we get the Xs back here. We won't wait for you, you know what to do. We'll see each other back at TC in two hours tops."
"What do you mean? We are not leaving them behind." Max had let him issue the orders up until then. He had this commanding aura she had never before seen in him. For the first time since she met him, she realized he knew exactly what he was doing and let him do his thing. But this was too much; she wasn't going to stay silent while he discussed leaving transgenics behind. Not with all those familiars there.
"Relax Max, we know what to do. This isn't our first mission together. We know how to handle this threat. We'll be ok. In fact, I'm sure we'll beat you to TC." Danielle was the one speaking. And for some reason her words reassured her. Of course she hated the fact that she seemed to be the only one out of place on that team, she felt like an amateur among professionals, but it also left her with a reassuring feeling that they knew what they were capable of and exactly what to do to get them all back in one piece.
"Ok. But if you need help, we are coming back for you."
"Max...." Now it was Alec who started speaking, ready to give her a lecture of the fact that they weren't kids, they were after all genetically engineered soldiers with almost twenty years of training on them. But she beat him to it. She understood, but she was worried all the same. This wasn't a walk in the park, this was a dangerous mission in which they were highly outnumbered.
"Alec! We will come back for them."
"Sure." He decided to concede her this, they didn't have time to argue right now. And it's not like he intended to keep his word or anything, there was a reason his fingers were crossed behind his back. It's not that he wanted to leave his friends behind, it was the fact that if they came back for them they would all get killed, no doubt about that. There wasn't enough time. Anyway, he was sure it wouldn't come to that, his friends knew exactly how to make their way out of the worst case scenarios. He'd seen them before and had complete trust in their skills.
He sent a look to Danielle who was about to argue, and she understood. She remained there waiting for orders.
Alec looked at Biggs and back to Danielle, he was trying to convince himself this wouldn't be the last time he saw either of them. After getting reassured by their looks, he let out a breath he never realized he was holding and issued his order. "Ok team, you have your assignments, make me proud."
"Yes sir!" And with that Biggs and Danielle were gone, leaving behind a very puzzled Max.
Alec started his own way to their destination, leaving Max to follow him.
----------------------------------------------------------
Biggs and Danielle had made their way to the facility undetected. They were now hiding just outside the building, waiting for the perfect opportunity to jump their way to the roof.
"Well, I would say our plan is working, don't you think?" Biggs spoke while hiding behind some bushes by Danielle's side.
"I wouldn't go that far, we are still outside, remember?"
"I'm talking about Max and Alec, getting them together. Any of this rings a bell?"
"Yeah, sorry. I was a little distracted with actually paying attention to the guards to understand what you meant." She send him a recriminatory look that soon changed into a grin, before facing the facility again. "Of course it's working. I planned the whole thing, remember?"
"Right, sorry I doubted you. I don't know what I was thinking about....." His tone clearly showed he didn't mean what he had just said. "....... Yeah, right. Like you were expecting Max to do THAT."
"Ok, I accept it. I never thought Max would actually kiss him, more like tell him what she felt over the phone or something. But I DID know they felt something for each other, and I was right one hundred percent."
"Ok, ok. You are the man, or woman. Happy now?"
"Yes, very." She faced him for a second showing a huge grin on her face, then got her attention back to the guards.
"Although, I have to say I thought I never see the day when you would do something like this. I mean, you of all people."
Her smirk changed into a confused look, but she never took her eyes away from the building. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, I thought you liked Alec"
"I do, he is my friend. Why? You think paring him up with Max is some kind of punishment? I accept she gets on my nerves sometimes with the whole normalcy obsession and her distaste of guns when it goes beyond good judgment, but she is ok, she is a good girl."
"That's not what I'm talking about. I'm saying I thought there was something going on between Alec and you."
"And here we go again. I told you there wasn't, isn't nor never will be anything between us. Not in the way you think, at least. We are friends and partners, that's all."
"Ok, ok. Don't freak out on me. I get it. It's just the way you used to look at each other back at Manticore...... I don't know. I don't understand why you let him go. I used to think it was just a matter of time. That somehow you two would find a way of being together, even with Manticore and all."
She glared at him, but the mask was on in a heart beat. A smirk on her face that never reached her eyes. "Are you jealous? I know I used to flirt with Alec back at Manticore, but I never thought it would bother you so much."
"Very funny. I'm serious." But no matter how much he tried to stop himself, his eyes grew dark for a second. Her words hit too close to home for his liking.
"Me too. Don't look for things that ain't there, Biggs."
Before he could answer her, she spoke again.
"Now! Go!"
They blurred the rest of the way to the building. When they reached it, Biggs helped Danielle jump with his hands so she could reach the roof. Then it was Biggs's turn to jump and Danielle catch him and helped him up. Once in the roof, they cut the glass and jumped in undetected. They scanned the area and headed for the cells.
-----------------------------------------------
"So what's all that ´sir` thing about?"
Max finally catch up with Alec after getting over her initial shock. They were now in the sewers, making their way to their destination, the Xs.
"I was in charge of the missions when they partnered us up."
"So you were a CO?" Disbelief written all over her face and voice.
"Not quite. The CO routine worked when you were out with the rest of your unit. But the solo missions were a whole different story. The field agents usually went solo on their missions. They were in charge of it, except for a handler you had to report to regularly. The thing is sometimes the mission parameters required some extra help, but it was still an undercover operation that didn't require a unit. The units were used for a more direct confrontation. It was during this undercover missions that they partner up operatives that had the skills needed for the success of the mission and worked well together. It didn't necessarily include members of the same unit, but you still needed some kind of order. Someone who would have the last word, someone to be responsible for the outcome. I wasn't CO, I was in charge of individual missions."
"Still, I never pictured you as the leading type."
"Well, you've never seen me lead before. I mean, when I'm not with them, I'm the Alec you know and love." A grin accompanied the last part. "But seriously, you don't think I spent my whole life in Psy Ops, do you? I mean, I wasn't a screw up, no matter how much you think I am."
"I learned that a long time ago, Alec."
He turned around and faced her for the first time in the conversation. His face showed his shock at her words. She felt bad when she saw it, and decided to reassure him.
"I mean, you hide it very well don't get me wrong, but you are not a screw up. You hide yourself behind that ´I only care about myself` façade, but you are always there when you are needed. Well, Alec, you don't fool me any more."
He turned back again and continued his way through the sewers.
"So I think this means you won't threaten to kick my ass any more."
"I wouldn't go that far. But I can promise I won't hurt you, much."
"Fine by me. We should shake on it. Or maybe.......". He stopped and turned back to face her, a huge smirk on his face. "........ we should kiss on it." She wasn't expecting him to stop so she almost collided with him, stopping herself (only thanks to her revved up reflexes), mere inches from his face. They stayed that way for a long time and then started to lean into each other, closer and closer. The memory of the kiss they shared just a couple of hours before, burned on both their minds. But just when they were about to close the final gap, a voice was heard above them.
"Sorry to break this lovely moment, but we are kind of in a tight schedule here."
-----------------------------------------------
"Where are they, they should be here by now?"
"Chill, Biggs. Give them a second, they'll be here."
"But we don't have time. Maybe we should get the Xs ourselves, gain some time."
"We have to stay here and keep an eye on everything. We took care of the guards inside, but remember the ones on the outside? If we change the plan now, we are all screwed, you know that."
"I know, but what if something happened? What if they got caught?"
"If the familiars had them, I can assure you those guards wouldn't be there or as calm."
"Ok, but something happened, they shouldn't be this late."
"Fine, you go look for them, I'll keep an eye on the guards."
Biggs made his way to the spot were they were supposed to exit the sewers and raised the manhole cover. The image he was faced with wasn't exactly what he was expecting.
"Sorry to break this lovely moment, but we are kind of in a tight schedule here."
Alec and Max looked up to the image of a very pissed Biggs. Alec misunderstood the reason for Biggs's mood, thinking it had something to do with Alec almost kissing ´his girl`. The truth was Biggs was a little pissed off about the fact this two had him worried for no reason other than their hormones.
The two busted transgenics made their way up to the facility without a word. Once inside, Biggs headed for his spot, while Alec and Max took care of their part.