Changes: Part One - Changing Circumstances
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything in relation to Dark Angel. No money is involved (story of my life).
SUMMARY: Change is inevitable, but with most things from Manticore, change has a whole different meaning. M/A
FEEDBACK: Please send feedback of any kind (praise, flaming, constructive criticism, etc.) to naiya@mauimail.com
NOTES: This is a repost of my first attempt at a non - Xmen fanfiction. Please be patient with me. Any questions see feedback for my email address and I'll answer as best as I can. Archive at will
Manticore forgot to mention a few things to us kids but I guess those were on a 'need to know' basis. Not like they treated us as living breathing beings with minds of our own anyway.
Damn Manticore, damn this rain, damn Alec for being away, and damn me for caring. He's the only one who understands exactly what I'm going through right now. Not only do I have to worry about being something other that human, but add this "mutating" factor in and it seems too much to handle.
But, you won't see me crack. I will NOT crack. I felt my claws slip their sheathes and look down at my hands. A small amount of blood trickled down my hand from the cuticles. I also didn't need a mirror to know that my eyes no longer had any whites but were twin pools of glowing yellow.
Calm, I needed to be calm now. High atop the space needle I tilted my face to the pouring rain with closed eyes. My mind emptied of all thought and I dipped into that place in my mind where nothing can harm me. To the din of white noise I felt everything shift back to normal...
Normal! He's gonna kill me if I don't get to work. With Alec gone we're short-handed by three. Flying down the stairs of the Needle, I moved as if the terrain dictated the placement of hands and feet. At the last turn the exit finally pulled into view. In my haste I accidentally ripped the door off its hinges. Under a small overhang my beloved motorcycle waited patiently.
The sight of her made me smile and relax. Only my 'cycle gave me unfettered freedom. She came to life underneath me and I purred with her. Ever faster, the wind whipped the rain into my face, driving the droplets until they felt like mini daggers but I didn't care. So lost in the feel of freedom I almost forgot about the sector gates and skidded to a halt, inches before smacking into the bumper of a dirt-encrusted car.
One, two...oh crap! Ten cars ahead and my beeper buzzed like a bitch. Quickly I glanced down at the number but it wasn't the pay phone at Jampony. It's the number at Crash: what the hell?
The line wasn't moving so I flipped my backpack to the front and rummaged for my cell phone and a scrambler chip I picked up one day while doing a B&E at the rich sector. Throwing my 'cycle into neutral I assembled the two and dialed the number flashing insistently on my hip.
After two rings I the line clicked as the connection was established. "It's your dollar, speak," I told whoever is on the line before they even have a chance to say 'hello'.
"Max?"
My heart sped up until I could hardly breath around it. His voice rumbled in my ear and it seemed like music from heaven although I'd be damned if I knew why.
"Alec? What the hell are you paging me for? I'm late to work, drenched and still dealing with the shit that's been happening lately without any help from you. So, if you are calling just to harass me, you'll be wasting your breath. Well, speak up. I can hear you breathing..."
"Max, shut up and listen for once," he said and I actually did. "Normal called off work because he doesn't want to pay any sick leave if we continue to deliver in the rain. Now get your ass over to Crash and we can go over some things I learned while I was away."
The line went dead without so much as a goodbye. "Son of a bitch!" I whispered, not half as angry as I made out to be. Curiosity, something that may get me killed one day, floated through my thoughts, filling the time it took to get through the sector check.
By the time I arrived at Crash, Original Cindy and the gang were three quarters through their third pitcher of beer. Alec was the first person to notice me. He had a pair of dark sunglasses on, completely out of place for the dim lighting of Crash but I understood their necessity. Strong emotions seemed to trigger our changes and he needed the cover in case some hot chick got him all riled up.
This time however, he was alone. I watched him knock back the last of his beer and rise to meet me. By now OC yelled a 'hey girl' and Sketchy gave his usual 'Sup'. I turned to them and said, "hey," but I could see Alec out of the corner of my eye.
He moved as if his cat genes were taking over, like he had muscles in places where there shouldn't be. His leather jerkin stretched tight across his generous chest. I could hear it creak in protest to movement over the noise that regularly bombarded Crash and wondered if tales of men smelling a thousand times better in leather were true.
I stopped that train of though so fast I missed OC's comment on Normal's decision and had to ask her to repeat it. I knew that I wasn't anywhere near a heat cycle so, why would the notion of Alec in tight leather anything excite me? What the hell's going on?
"You a'right boo?" OC grabbed my arm and I focused in on her face.
"Yeah, yeah, just cold and thirsty. You got any left for a girl in need," I pointed to her beer and pouted a little. I put on an ironclad mask of nonchalance and settled in next to Cindy about the time Alec reached our table.
"Can I help you," I asked giving him bored eyes.
"You, me talk now," he said in clipped phrases. He radiated anxiety and the baby fine hairs along my spine tingled in response. I wasn't the only one feeling out of sorts.
I knew I shouldn't let his demeanor affect me but my self-control seemed as unpredictable as my thoughts today. "Articulate aren't we," I scoffed and realized that his self-control may be less tenuous than mine. The muscles in his jaw danced and I had a split second to think 'how dangerously handsome he looked'.
Suddenly I am completely lifted off the ground; my shirt balled into his fists. He moved too fast for me to react. 'Great going Max', I chided myself and tried to breath around the pulse in my throat.
Shouts and cheers erupted around us but all I could really hear was the blood rushing in my ears. I finally shook the shock of being attacked, brought both feet up against his chest and kicked outward.
Thanks to genetically enhanced reflexes Alec retained his balance but the force of my blow put some distance between us. Alec tried to hold onto my shirt and shredded it. It was a good thing I decided to go with a sports bra today. With a little shimmy the pieces fell to the floor. Luckily my barcode remained hidden by my hair.
Alec's glasses slipped downward and I watched those blue eyes disappear into glowing yellow orbs. So far I was the only one to notice, I think, and the fury within them touched something inside. I was beyond pissed and knew if I looked into those eyes any longer, I would change too. We had to get somewhere private quickly or people would start to ask questions.
The only place I could think of was the men's bathroom and only because it was the closest. Banking on the assumption that he'd follow me I maneuvered around the crowd and ducked through the bathroom doors. It was empty, thank God. Sure enough, Alec stormed in and locked the doors behind him. His movements became painfully slow, as if he had to concentrate extra hard to do them.
Pent up anger washed over me in a shifting wave taking my eyes and hands with it. I didn't wait for him to turn around. My claws dug into the fabric of his jerkin as I attempted to throw him across the room. He spun on his heel and threw himself into the motion, taking control of the maneuver.
We tumbled to the floor in a jumble of legs and slashing claws, glowing eyes locked onto each other. Somehow I managed to free a hand. Closing my fist tight I drove my knuckles into side of his face, using our momentum to hit as hard as possible. He rolled with the punch and away from me, cradling his cheek. Blood spilled out of the corner of his mouth. His expression was hard to read but his eyes reverted to normal. I think he was confused.
"Alec! What the hell is wrong with you?! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't bust your ass and personally hand you over to White!" Okay I really didn't mean the last part but at the moment I wasn't in complete control of myself.
"Heat," he said through clenched teeth.
"I am NOT in heat," I yelled.
"Not you. Me," he said haltingly and spat blood onto the floor.
Stunned silence lasted a few heartbeats. At first I didn't believe him, but I couldn't deny that he showed all the signs: flushed skin, eyes (when they were normal) dilated, his scent overpowered by musk with an undertone that was entirely his. That would explain the thrill of excitement earlier when I watched him move - pheromones. My mind raced with questions and I had a hard time trying to single one out; I wanted to ask them all at once.
"No Max, stay where you are." He back peddled until his back was pressed firmly against one of the stalls, his voice filled with something close to panic. "I didn't believe the research notes but don't come any closer, please."
It was the please that cooled my anger completely. Alec never said please. Wait a minute, I don't remember moving. "What research notes," I asked to cover my confusion and sat where I stopped. Maybe if we stuck to business things would return to some semblance of normal. After a few deep breaths I shifted back and pulled my knees up to my chest, waiting.
"Not here." He began to rock slightly.
"You asked me here remember," I growled, annoyed more than angry.
He whimpered softly and closed his eyes. "Don't do that," he demanded.
"What?" my voice rumbled with the beginnings of anger.
"That," he growled back.
"What are you talking about?" I snarled, quickly getting tired of this game.
"As if you didn't know. You are purring." His eyes fixated on my mouth and throat. It made me realize he was right.
I was. "Shit Alec! What did you do to me?" I needed to be away from him and now. I may not be in heat but I was reacting to his.
"Don't blame this on me. Manticore made me made us remember? I will tell you what's going on. I thought I could do it today but now that I know the notes are accurate you need to give me a week." He was already up unlocking the doors and halfway out before I realized he had moved.
"One week, your place!" I screamed at him as he left. I didn't get an answer but I really didn't need one. We were going to talk then even if I had to tie him down and beat it out of him.
So deep in thought I didn't realize OC had come in. She touched my cheek to get my attention. "Your boy just flew outta here like a bat outta hell. You gonna break it down for Original Cindy?"
"Yeah boo, just get me home first. And boo..."
"Yeah girl?"
"He's not my boy."
~~~One week later~~~
It was raining, again. Actually it hadn't stopped raining since that day at Crash. For the most part it was a thick sheet of mist but there were times when it pounded into earth. Normal made us go back to work but he sprung for some serious rain gear calling them "investments". If you asked me, it was more like saving his ass.
My last delivery took me by Alec's place so I figured to kill two birds with one stone. I still needed answers and pretty boy had been avoiding me like the Plague, taking every remote delivery so he could to be away. I guess I couldn't really blame him. Going soft? Nah.
I knocked on the door and schooled my features into a polite business face. No one answered. I called it in to Normal. "Yeah, a no show. So can I blaze or what?" I asked impatiently already headed for Alec's floor.
"Yeah, yeah just do it first thing or don't bother coming in," Normal threatened and I smiled.
Wow not much of a fight I must be wearing him down, I thought, and cut the line as I reached Alec's door. "Alec, time's up. Let me in," I called loudly and pounded on the door, no answer déjà vu. Grumbling inwardly, I extracted my pick set to let myself in. These older locks were no challenge at all, I thought absently while I worked with the 5-step tumbler mechanism. I caught the faint click as the last step shifted and shouldered the door open.
Heavy musk scent slammed into me like a physical blow and I nearly tripped over a pile of clothes. Even breathing shallow didn't help. I dropped into a crouch switching to combat mode and welcomed the adrenaline rush that came with shape shifting. Gold light caressed the edges of my vision as they changed to what I began to call my 'cat vision'. Shadows disappeared becoming crystal clear. I could now see temperature differences and track the thermal after images of his footsteps.
He had gone through the entire apartment. Most of the furniture bore claw marks. One of the couch pillows was entirely shredded. Broken plates littered the kitchen floor. His television screen was splattered with dried blood. Concentric spider web cracks radiated from the middle where the blood was at its thickest, like someone had punched it.
"Alec?" I called and followed the fresher footprints to the bathroom. I had a sense of movement and heard the door protest as he leaned against it.
"Max, get the hell out!" His voice was deeper than normal, tight and controlled with a touch of desperation.
"Not until you tell me what you found out!" I shot back and added my weight to the door. His scent thickened suddenly and swirled around me in a heady cloud. Shit!
"You can't be here right now," he insisted, the desperation upped another notch.
"Look, I don't give a damn if you have company. Send her home and get your ass out here! You owe me an explanation."
"Not that it's any of your business, but no one's here. No one's been here." Anger crept into his tone. That I was used to that I could deal with.
"Get off it Alec. Have you seen this place or were you just too wrapped up into who you were doing?" A flash of jealousy caused my heart to skip a beat. Frowning I pushed away from the door fighting to get myself under control. Where it had that come from, I pondered and re-explored the living room.
He was right. I focused into detecting another set of thermal footprints but failed to come up with anything. As I passed the couch a white cotton baby tee peaking out of a blanket draped over the top caught my attention. Both looked very familiar. I picked them up and breathed in deeply. Alec's scent permeated the fibers but there, very faint, was my own.
Curiosity short-circuited the explosion of rage I felt building in my chest. Mix in confusion and desire with a pinch of pure lust and you could come close to what I was feeling. Mind numb, I sat down on the couch clutching the blanket and shirt close to me.
"Max?"
I looked up to see Alec leaning against the kitchen counter as far away from me as he could manage in this room. Seeing him reestablished the fact that I was 'rip you a new one' mad.
"You should have stayed in the bathroom," I said in a deadly calm tone and launched off the couch, blanket and shirt still in hand.
He was ready and caught me midair by the waist, his grip steel tight. There was a brief pause, as if he were debating what to do. In deft, blurred movements he snatched the loose end of the blanket and flipped me up like a flapjack. When he caught me again I was wrapped so tight I could barely breathe. I couldn't unsheathe my claws either. He held me, back to him, with both arms.
The feeling of helpless never sat well with me. I arched backward and used my legs as a counterbalance. He outclassed me in raw strength, solidified his position by tightening his stomach muscles and wrapped his legs around mine. I called him every name I could think of and tried to struggle. Truth was that the feel of his body on mine seemed so right that I found myself wanting to snuggle in further.
"Let me GO!" I screamed and wiggled hard enough to challenge his balance.
"No! You won't hear me out if I do and we'll fight. My apartment has sustained enough casualties, thank you very much." He had adjusted his hold on my arms and rested his chin on my head. It was both annoying and intriguing.
"Fine, start talking and it had better be good or else..." I let the threat die since I could hardly enforce it. He didn't move or speak for a while. Through the blanket I felt his heartbeat slow, his breathing level out. "Hey, you still awake back there?"
No answer; must me my day for those. I gave an experimental wiggle and felt his muscles tighten but it seemed like a reflex response.
"Ask me why this feels right," he said into my hair.
"What?" My mind went blank for a moment as his breath raked across my ear. I could not have said anything out loud could I? Frantically I rewound the last few minutes in my head and confirmed that I hadn't said anything. "How did..."
"Just ask me," he reiterated and almost sounded bored.
"Okay, okay I'm asking."
At the end of the first half-hour my body began to protest being bound for so long. Essentially Alec just finished telling me that his heat was my fault. I almost laughed myself into a fit of hiccups.
"So it boils down to what Alec. Stop dancing around with technical terms and give it to me straight," I growled more for myself than to show annoyance. He had been rubbing his face in my hair the whole time and it was beginning to get distracting.
"And stop doing that. I am not your touchstone."
Amazingly he did as if he hadn't realized what he was doing it. "Manticore re-coded your DNA to trigger our changes when you were recaptured. We were slated to become their search and destroy team, a team who could track and kill without any technical assistance. With our animal appearances the incidents would be tagged as attacks by surrounding wildlife."
I shook my head not wanting to hear this. Yeah, I know I asked but still, the truth usually hurts. "But that means you had to be re-coded at the same time." He nodded against my head.
He released me so suddenly I fell to the ground. "When they sent me in to be your breeding partner, our scents imprinted on each other's sub-consciousness. They wanted an inseparable team for efficiency's sake but didn't want the female to be burdened by young. They encoded a female's heat cycle into my sequence to cancel out yours but I think they miscalculated."
"Miscalculated?"
"It was only supposed to activate if you were in heat yet this started before I came back into town. The only comfort I get from this constant heat was to have something of yours," he hissed and yanked the blanket away from me. "Original Cindy let it slip that you kept this stuff in your locker so I stole them in order to function without thinking of you twenty-four-seven."
"Will it stop?" was the only intelligent thought that came to mind. Everything else bordered on obscene. I had to get out of here fast or I'd start to quicken to his heat again.
"I hope so, Max, I really do," he groaned and bolted to his room. The door slammed in my face before I could follow. "Show yourself out, Max." His voice was thick with anger and tears.
Tears? Big tough-guy Alec doesn't cry. "I'm not leaving, Alec. We need to fix this." I was yelling to get through the door but I couldn't keep anger from tainting my tone. I usually don't like it when things don't make sense, especially after the explanation.
"Suit yourself. I'm going to bed," he yelled back.
"At five in the afternoon?"
"Max, shut up, get out or make yourself at home. I don't give a damn, but for today this conversation is over."
And then there was silence. Tears sprang to my eyes and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why I wanted to cry. Confused and somewhat hurt I picked my way back to the couch, settled in and cried myself to sleep.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything in relation to Dark Angel. No money is involved (story of my life).
SUMMARY: Change is inevitable, but with most things from Manticore, change has a whole different meaning. M/A
FEEDBACK: Please send feedback of any kind (praise, flaming, constructive criticism, etc.) to naiya@mauimail.com
NOTES: This is a repost of my first attempt at a non - Xmen fanfiction. Please be patient with me. Any questions see feedback for my email address and I'll answer as best as I can. Archive at will
Manticore forgot to mention a few things to us kids but I guess those were on a 'need to know' basis. Not like they treated us as living breathing beings with minds of our own anyway.
Damn Manticore, damn this rain, damn Alec for being away, and damn me for caring. He's the only one who understands exactly what I'm going through right now. Not only do I have to worry about being something other that human, but add this "mutating" factor in and it seems too much to handle.
But, you won't see me crack. I will NOT crack. I felt my claws slip their sheathes and look down at my hands. A small amount of blood trickled down my hand from the cuticles. I also didn't need a mirror to know that my eyes no longer had any whites but were twin pools of glowing yellow.
Calm, I needed to be calm now. High atop the space needle I tilted my face to the pouring rain with closed eyes. My mind emptied of all thought and I dipped into that place in my mind where nothing can harm me. To the din of white noise I felt everything shift back to normal...
Normal! He's gonna kill me if I don't get to work. With Alec gone we're short-handed by three. Flying down the stairs of the Needle, I moved as if the terrain dictated the placement of hands and feet. At the last turn the exit finally pulled into view. In my haste I accidentally ripped the door off its hinges. Under a small overhang my beloved motorcycle waited patiently.
The sight of her made me smile and relax. Only my 'cycle gave me unfettered freedom. She came to life underneath me and I purred with her. Ever faster, the wind whipped the rain into my face, driving the droplets until they felt like mini daggers but I didn't care. So lost in the feel of freedom I almost forgot about the sector gates and skidded to a halt, inches before smacking into the bumper of a dirt-encrusted car.
One, two...oh crap! Ten cars ahead and my beeper buzzed like a bitch. Quickly I glanced down at the number but it wasn't the pay phone at Jampony. It's the number at Crash: what the hell?
The line wasn't moving so I flipped my backpack to the front and rummaged for my cell phone and a scrambler chip I picked up one day while doing a B&E at the rich sector. Throwing my 'cycle into neutral I assembled the two and dialed the number flashing insistently on my hip.
After two rings I the line clicked as the connection was established. "It's your dollar, speak," I told whoever is on the line before they even have a chance to say 'hello'.
"Max?"
My heart sped up until I could hardly breath around it. His voice rumbled in my ear and it seemed like music from heaven although I'd be damned if I knew why.
"Alec? What the hell are you paging me for? I'm late to work, drenched and still dealing with the shit that's been happening lately without any help from you. So, if you are calling just to harass me, you'll be wasting your breath. Well, speak up. I can hear you breathing..."
"Max, shut up and listen for once," he said and I actually did. "Normal called off work because he doesn't want to pay any sick leave if we continue to deliver in the rain. Now get your ass over to Crash and we can go over some things I learned while I was away."
The line went dead without so much as a goodbye. "Son of a bitch!" I whispered, not half as angry as I made out to be. Curiosity, something that may get me killed one day, floated through my thoughts, filling the time it took to get through the sector check.
By the time I arrived at Crash, Original Cindy and the gang were three quarters through their third pitcher of beer. Alec was the first person to notice me. He had a pair of dark sunglasses on, completely out of place for the dim lighting of Crash but I understood their necessity. Strong emotions seemed to trigger our changes and he needed the cover in case some hot chick got him all riled up.
This time however, he was alone. I watched him knock back the last of his beer and rise to meet me. By now OC yelled a 'hey girl' and Sketchy gave his usual 'Sup'. I turned to them and said, "hey," but I could see Alec out of the corner of my eye.
He moved as if his cat genes were taking over, like he had muscles in places where there shouldn't be. His leather jerkin stretched tight across his generous chest. I could hear it creak in protest to movement over the noise that regularly bombarded Crash and wondered if tales of men smelling a thousand times better in leather were true.
I stopped that train of though so fast I missed OC's comment on Normal's decision and had to ask her to repeat it. I knew that I wasn't anywhere near a heat cycle so, why would the notion of Alec in tight leather anything excite me? What the hell's going on?
"You a'right boo?" OC grabbed my arm and I focused in on her face.
"Yeah, yeah, just cold and thirsty. You got any left for a girl in need," I pointed to her beer and pouted a little. I put on an ironclad mask of nonchalance and settled in next to Cindy about the time Alec reached our table.
"Can I help you," I asked giving him bored eyes.
"You, me talk now," he said in clipped phrases. He radiated anxiety and the baby fine hairs along my spine tingled in response. I wasn't the only one feeling out of sorts.
I knew I shouldn't let his demeanor affect me but my self-control seemed as unpredictable as my thoughts today. "Articulate aren't we," I scoffed and realized that his self-control may be less tenuous than mine. The muscles in his jaw danced and I had a split second to think 'how dangerously handsome he looked'.
Suddenly I am completely lifted off the ground; my shirt balled into his fists. He moved too fast for me to react. 'Great going Max', I chided myself and tried to breath around the pulse in my throat.
Shouts and cheers erupted around us but all I could really hear was the blood rushing in my ears. I finally shook the shock of being attacked, brought both feet up against his chest and kicked outward.
Thanks to genetically enhanced reflexes Alec retained his balance but the force of my blow put some distance between us. Alec tried to hold onto my shirt and shredded it. It was a good thing I decided to go with a sports bra today. With a little shimmy the pieces fell to the floor. Luckily my barcode remained hidden by my hair.
Alec's glasses slipped downward and I watched those blue eyes disappear into glowing yellow orbs. So far I was the only one to notice, I think, and the fury within them touched something inside. I was beyond pissed and knew if I looked into those eyes any longer, I would change too. We had to get somewhere private quickly or people would start to ask questions.
The only place I could think of was the men's bathroom and only because it was the closest. Banking on the assumption that he'd follow me I maneuvered around the crowd and ducked through the bathroom doors. It was empty, thank God. Sure enough, Alec stormed in and locked the doors behind him. His movements became painfully slow, as if he had to concentrate extra hard to do them.
Pent up anger washed over me in a shifting wave taking my eyes and hands with it. I didn't wait for him to turn around. My claws dug into the fabric of his jerkin as I attempted to throw him across the room. He spun on his heel and threw himself into the motion, taking control of the maneuver.
We tumbled to the floor in a jumble of legs and slashing claws, glowing eyes locked onto each other. Somehow I managed to free a hand. Closing my fist tight I drove my knuckles into side of his face, using our momentum to hit as hard as possible. He rolled with the punch and away from me, cradling his cheek. Blood spilled out of the corner of his mouth. His expression was hard to read but his eyes reverted to normal. I think he was confused.
"Alec! What the hell is wrong with you?! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't bust your ass and personally hand you over to White!" Okay I really didn't mean the last part but at the moment I wasn't in complete control of myself.
"Heat," he said through clenched teeth.
"I am NOT in heat," I yelled.
"Not you. Me," he said haltingly and spat blood onto the floor.
Stunned silence lasted a few heartbeats. At first I didn't believe him, but I couldn't deny that he showed all the signs: flushed skin, eyes (when they were normal) dilated, his scent overpowered by musk with an undertone that was entirely his. That would explain the thrill of excitement earlier when I watched him move - pheromones. My mind raced with questions and I had a hard time trying to single one out; I wanted to ask them all at once.
"No Max, stay where you are." He back peddled until his back was pressed firmly against one of the stalls, his voice filled with something close to panic. "I didn't believe the research notes but don't come any closer, please."
It was the please that cooled my anger completely. Alec never said please. Wait a minute, I don't remember moving. "What research notes," I asked to cover my confusion and sat where I stopped. Maybe if we stuck to business things would return to some semblance of normal. After a few deep breaths I shifted back and pulled my knees up to my chest, waiting.
"Not here." He began to rock slightly.
"You asked me here remember," I growled, annoyed more than angry.
He whimpered softly and closed his eyes. "Don't do that," he demanded.
"What?" my voice rumbled with the beginnings of anger.
"That," he growled back.
"What are you talking about?" I snarled, quickly getting tired of this game.
"As if you didn't know. You are purring." His eyes fixated on my mouth and throat. It made me realize he was right.
I was. "Shit Alec! What did you do to me?" I needed to be away from him and now. I may not be in heat but I was reacting to his.
"Don't blame this on me. Manticore made me made us remember? I will tell you what's going on. I thought I could do it today but now that I know the notes are accurate you need to give me a week." He was already up unlocking the doors and halfway out before I realized he had moved.
"One week, your place!" I screamed at him as he left. I didn't get an answer but I really didn't need one. We were going to talk then even if I had to tie him down and beat it out of him.
So deep in thought I didn't realize OC had come in. She touched my cheek to get my attention. "Your boy just flew outta here like a bat outta hell. You gonna break it down for Original Cindy?"
"Yeah boo, just get me home first. And boo..."
"Yeah girl?"
"He's not my boy."
~~~One week later~~~
It was raining, again. Actually it hadn't stopped raining since that day at Crash. For the most part it was a thick sheet of mist but there were times when it pounded into earth. Normal made us go back to work but he sprung for some serious rain gear calling them "investments". If you asked me, it was more like saving his ass.
My last delivery took me by Alec's place so I figured to kill two birds with one stone. I still needed answers and pretty boy had been avoiding me like the Plague, taking every remote delivery so he could to be away. I guess I couldn't really blame him. Going soft? Nah.
I knocked on the door and schooled my features into a polite business face. No one answered. I called it in to Normal. "Yeah, a no show. So can I blaze or what?" I asked impatiently already headed for Alec's floor.
"Yeah, yeah just do it first thing or don't bother coming in," Normal threatened and I smiled.
Wow not much of a fight I must be wearing him down, I thought, and cut the line as I reached Alec's door. "Alec, time's up. Let me in," I called loudly and pounded on the door, no answer déjà vu. Grumbling inwardly, I extracted my pick set to let myself in. These older locks were no challenge at all, I thought absently while I worked with the 5-step tumbler mechanism. I caught the faint click as the last step shifted and shouldered the door open.
Heavy musk scent slammed into me like a physical blow and I nearly tripped over a pile of clothes. Even breathing shallow didn't help. I dropped into a crouch switching to combat mode and welcomed the adrenaline rush that came with shape shifting. Gold light caressed the edges of my vision as they changed to what I began to call my 'cat vision'. Shadows disappeared becoming crystal clear. I could now see temperature differences and track the thermal after images of his footsteps.
He had gone through the entire apartment. Most of the furniture bore claw marks. One of the couch pillows was entirely shredded. Broken plates littered the kitchen floor. His television screen was splattered with dried blood. Concentric spider web cracks radiated from the middle where the blood was at its thickest, like someone had punched it.
"Alec?" I called and followed the fresher footprints to the bathroom. I had a sense of movement and heard the door protest as he leaned against it.
"Max, get the hell out!" His voice was deeper than normal, tight and controlled with a touch of desperation.
"Not until you tell me what you found out!" I shot back and added my weight to the door. His scent thickened suddenly and swirled around me in a heady cloud. Shit!
"You can't be here right now," he insisted, the desperation upped another notch.
"Look, I don't give a damn if you have company. Send her home and get your ass out here! You owe me an explanation."
"Not that it's any of your business, but no one's here. No one's been here." Anger crept into his tone. That I was used to that I could deal with.
"Get off it Alec. Have you seen this place or were you just too wrapped up into who you were doing?" A flash of jealousy caused my heart to skip a beat. Frowning I pushed away from the door fighting to get myself under control. Where it had that come from, I pondered and re-explored the living room.
He was right. I focused into detecting another set of thermal footprints but failed to come up with anything. As I passed the couch a white cotton baby tee peaking out of a blanket draped over the top caught my attention. Both looked very familiar. I picked them up and breathed in deeply. Alec's scent permeated the fibers but there, very faint, was my own.
Curiosity short-circuited the explosion of rage I felt building in my chest. Mix in confusion and desire with a pinch of pure lust and you could come close to what I was feeling. Mind numb, I sat down on the couch clutching the blanket and shirt close to me.
"Max?"
I looked up to see Alec leaning against the kitchen counter as far away from me as he could manage in this room. Seeing him reestablished the fact that I was 'rip you a new one' mad.
"You should have stayed in the bathroom," I said in a deadly calm tone and launched off the couch, blanket and shirt still in hand.
He was ready and caught me midair by the waist, his grip steel tight. There was a brief pause, as if he were debating what to do. In deft, blurred movements he snatched the loose end of the blanket and flipped me up like a flapjack. When he caught me again I was wrapped so tight I could barely breathe. I couldn't unsheathe my claws either. He held me, back to him, with both arms.
The feeling of helpless never sat well with me. I arched backward and used my legs as a counterbalance. He outclassed me in raw strength, solidified his position by tightening his stomach muscles and wrapped his legs around mine. I called him every name I could think of and tried to struggle. Truth was that the feel of his body on mine seemed so right that I found myself wanting to snuggle in further.
"Let me GO!" I screamed and wiggled hard enough to challenge his balance.
"No! You won't hear me out if I do and we'll fight. My apartment has sustained enough casualties, thank you very much." He had adjusted his hold on my arms and rested his chin on my head. It was both annoying and intriguing.
"Fine, start talking and it had better be good or else..." I let the threat die since I could hardly enforce it. He didn't move or speak for a while. Through the blanket I felt his heartbeat slow, his breathing level out. "Hey, you still awake back there?"
No answer; must me my day for those. I gave an experimental wiggle and felt his muscles tighten but it seemed like a reflex response.
"Ask me why this feels right," he said into my hair.
"What?" My mind went blank for a moment as his breath raked across my ear. I could not have said anything out loud could I? Frantically I rewound the last few minutes in my head and confirmed that I hadn't said anything. "How did..."
"Just ask me," he reiterated and almost sounded bored.
"Okay, okay I'm asking."
At the end of the first half-hour my body began to protest being bound for so long. Essentially Alec just finished telling me that his heat was my fault. I almost laughed myself into a fit of hiccups.
"So it boils down to what Alec. Stop dancing around with technical terms and give it to me straight," I growled more for myself than to show annoyance. He had been rubbing his face in my hair the whole time and it was beginning to get distracting.
"And stop doing that. I am not your touchstone."
Amazingly he did as if he hadn't realized what he was doing it. "Manticore re-coded your DNA to trigger our changes when you were recaptured. We were slated to become their search and destroy team, a team who could track and kill without any technical assistance. With our animal appearances the incidents would be tagged as attacks by surrounding wildlife."
I shook my head not wanting to hear this. Yeah, I know I asked but still, the truth usually hurts. "But that means you had to be re-coded at the same time." He nodded against my head.
He released me so suddenly I fell to the ground. "When they sent me in to be your breeding partner, our scents imprinted on each other's sub-consciousness. They wanted an inseparable team for efficiency's sake but didn't want the female to be burdened by young. They encoded a female's heat cycle into my sequence to cancel out yours but I think they miscalculated."
"Miscalculated?"
"It was only supposed to activate if you were in heat yet this started before I came back into town. The only comfort I get from this constant heat was to have something of yours," he hissed and yanked the blanket away from me. "Original Cindy let it slip that you kept this stuff in your locker so I stole them in order to function without thinking of you twenty-four-seven."
"Will it stop?" was the only intelligent thought that came to mind. Everything else bordered on obscene. I had to get out of here fast or I'd start to quicken to his heat again.
"I hope so, Max, I really do," he groaned and bolted to his room. The door slammed in my face before I could follow. "Show yourself out, Max." His voice was thick with anger and tears.
Tears? Big tough-guy Alec doesn't cry. "I'm not leaving, Alec. We need to fix this." I was yelling to get through the door but I couldn't keep anger from tainting my tone. I usually don't like it when things don't make sense, especially after the explanation.
"Suit yourself. I'm going to bed," he yelled back.
"At five in the afternoon?"
"Max, shut up, get out or make yourself at home. I don't give a damn, but for today this conversation is over."
And then there was silence. Tears sprang to my eyes and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why I wanted to cry. Confused and somewhat hurt I picked my way back to the couch, settled in and cried myself to sleep.