Not Quite Dead – Chapter Five

Taya Guevera

Alec watched as Mischa stopped dead in her tracks and turned to glare at him.

"Don't you think you're being a little dramatic?"

Glancing at his watch, Alec became all business and blurred to her side, grabbing her arm. Pulling her towards the door and her motorbike, he said,

"Trust me. These aren't people you want to mess with. We can hide you in TC and you'll be protected with the rest of us. If we don't leave now, they'll get two X5's instead of one."

Mischa struggled against the grip on her arm and finally got her arm free. With a glare at Alec's determined face, she turned on her heel and slowly walked back into the living room. Alec rolled his eyes and shook his head.

Why do I always get the difficult ones? Stubborn, pig headed and obstinate must be common denominators with the 09ers.

Leaning against the wall near the door, he folded his arms across his chest and propped a foot up on the wall.

"Eva, I wasn't playin' around when I said we need to leave."

Nothing. Not a single response. Sighing again and glancing at the door with longing, he walked back into the living room and found Mischa looking at the photos on the mantelpiece and found that his non existent patience had gone.

"For the love of, we don't have time for this. "

Glaring at him again, she reached for the last picture, one of her and her 'family' and placed it in her backpack. Turning and slowly looking at the rest of the room, she walked past Alec and muttered,

"Fine. We're gone."

"Finally."

Following her out of the house, he watched in annoyance as she took the time to lock the door and check the mail. Like it mattered, she wouldn't be able to come back here again. Adjusting her backpack on his back, he sat on the bike and waited for her to get on so they could leave.

"I don't think so buddy."

"You don't think so what?"

"It's my bike, my town. I know where I'm going so I'm driving."

"Why is it always an issue with you. Geez, you'd think that someone was about to break your favorite toy."

"If you're gonna get all pissed about it, you can drive when we get to Seattle."

"We don't have time for this Eva."

"Get your ass of the damn bike pretty boy, before I remove it for you. You're riding on the back."

Shifting his position, she zipped up her jacket and got on the front of the bike. She didn't really know how everything had escalated so quickly, but now that it had, she could feel the anger of her past coming back to her. It wasn't that she had anything against Alec, he seemed to be alright, but he represented everything that she didn't want to remember, and that brought back painful memories. Ones that told her that her family probably didn't make it that night. She didn't like lashing out at Alec, it wasn't in her nature. But seeing him and knowing that he was an X5 like herself made her miss those that she called her family. Zack, Brin, Jondy, Krit, Ben, Syl, Zane, Tinga and especially Max.

Taking care not to gun the engine, she slowly maneouvered the motorbike out of the driveway and onto the street.

"Seeing as you've mentioned that they probably know where I live, I won't put the lights on until we're on our way."

"Wow, you are intelligent."

"And don't call me Eva."

Swallowing down the desire to strangle him, or beat him to within an inch of his life, she took a deep breath and took off down the road.

About ten minutes after Mischa and Alec had left her place, the black SUV was back followed by a black Mercedes. Parking in the same spot that Alec had been sitting in for the last few days, they started to monitor the house.

"Any signs that she's here?"

"Well Sir, the lights have been on since we arrived. Your contact told us that she's usually home at this time. We found out from the girl at the coffee shop that she finished work about the same time that we arrived."

"Did she know you were there?"

"According to the girl Sir, she was rostered to finish at that time."

"Did you see anything that seemed out of the ordinary?"

"No Sir."

"Was anyone else in the shop when you went in?"

"Just some guy who was chatting up the girl that we talked to."

"Okay. We'll assume that she's here then. I want full surveillance for the rest of the night. If someone comes or goes, I want to know about them. Understood?"

"Yes Sir."

"Good."

White got out of the SUV and back in the Mercedes. This could be the break that he was looking for. He would have to ask the Conclave what they wanted him to do with his 'informant'. She could prove to come in handy for the future with regards to 766.

Half an hour later, Mischa pulled into a driveway of an expensive looking house in a posh area of the City. Turning the bike off, she threw her leg over the front of the bike and stood up. Unzipping her jacket and shaking her hair out, she looked at Alec who looked lost.

"Where are we?"

"If these people are as resourceful as you say, then they can probably trace my credit cards, so that doesn't exactly leave a whole lot of options for places to crash tonight does it?"

"I guess not. But that doesn't answer my question."

He said as he got off the bike and ran his hand through his hair, making it stand up a little. Mischa tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. He looked gorgeous with the lost look on his face, and with his hair standing up like it was, she bit her bottom lip.

"Maybe it's not such a good idea to bring you here. Maybe we should just risk it."

"Now what are you talking about? And why are you looking at me like that?"

"I don't have time to explain it, but just pretend that you're with me. That we're about to go on a lovers holiday and that you can't stand to be apart from me."

"What?"

Before she could say anything, the front door opened and an attractive, tall, blond haired, blue eyed guy walked out with a big smile on his face.

"Mischa, Mischa, Mischa!"

"Hey Andreas."

She found herself in a bear hug and grinned. It was as if nothing had changed.

"And who's this?"

Getting out of the hug, Mischa walked over to Alec and put her arm around his waist. Kissing him lightly on the lips, she snuggled into his side and smiled at Andreas.

"This is my hot boy Alec. Alec, this is one of my best friends, Andreas."

Alec didn't know what to think, so, being the way he was, he threw on the charm and acted like it was all true. Putting his arm down her back and resting his hand on her ass, he lightly squeezed and nodded at Andreas.

"Hey. Nice to meet you."

"You too. Known Mischa long?"

With Mischa still close to him, he pulled her closer and touched his lips to hers for a moment.

"Only a few days, but you know how it is. Love at first sight and all that. Couldn't stay away."

Andreas laughed and motioned for them to follow them into the house.

"She seems to have that effect on the male population. Hey Misch, you can put your bike in my garage later if you want."

"Thanks Drea, that would be great."

Walking behind Andreas into the house, Mischa elbowed Alec in the ribs.

"Ouch" he said, only loud enough for her to hear. "What was that for?"

"You know perfectly well what that was for. Cut it out."

"I'm just playing along. Besides, you started it."

Before she could say anything else, they entered the kitchen, which reminded both Alec and Mischa that they hadn't eaten for a while. Andreas looked to be cooking up a storm.

"What's the big occasion Drea? Got a hot date that we're crashing?"

"No, not tonight. It seems that every time I get the urge to make something special for dinner, you decide to show up. I've just gotten used to my hunches."

"So, what culinary masterpiece are we having tonight?"

"This is Balinese Chili Squid. I added some extra chili, cos I know how much you like it hot." The double entendre made Alec feel uncomfortable, which was unsual for him. He could usually adapt as needed, but there was obviously something between Mischa and Andreas that he didn't know about.

"I'm assuming that you'll be staying for a day or two like usual right?"

Mischa looked at Alec who shrugged in return. He needed to get in touch with Logan and let him know that she would be returning with him to Seattle, but he wasn't sure how long it would take for Logan to fix everything up.

"If that's okay with you." Alec said, once again taking his place beside Mischa. There was something predatory about Andreas that he couldn't quite out his finger on, so he thought that he'd better act the part of devoted boyfriend so that he didn't accidentally catch anything going on between Andreas and Mischa.

"Not a problem. Mischa knows where the bedrooms are, she can show you. Dinner will be ready in 30 minutes."

"Thanks Drea."

"No problems honey."

Mischa walked towards the staircase near the front door, with Alec in tow and made her way to the second floor. Alec, unable to help himself, caught himself doing his usual cat burglar trick of casing the place. This place just screamed money. If it was in Seattle, he would rip it off without a second thought, but here in Australia, he doubted that it would be that easy to fence stuff.

"Nice place."

"It is. It's so…. Andreas."

Of course.

Mischa walked to a partially open door not far from the stairs and pushed it open. Inside was a queen sized bed, with expensive looking side tables and dresser and the room had an ensuite. Taking her bag from Alec, Mischa put it on the bed and started taking some things out.

"Is this your room?"

"You could probably call it that." Mischa said as she walked into the bathroom, placing her toothbrush, toothpaste and hair brush on the sink.

"So, you stay here a lot?" Alec had walked over to the window and glanced out of it, taking care not to move the curtain too much in case someone was watching.

"It's a long story, but sometimes I stay a lot, sometimes I just crash, other times I just sleep over."

Yeah, I'm getting the ex boyfriend vibes here. Although, he's not the one from that photo back at her place, so maybe it's an ex, ex, boyfriend.

"This is where we're gonna sleep tonight. How long will it take for you to get your contacts to get us out?"

Alec walked over to the bed and laid down on the left hand side, closest to the door. Sighing, his muscles rejoiced at the softness of the bed, It sure beat the car that he'd been sleeping in for the past 2 days.

"I'll call them after dinner. I think it will probably take a couple of days, unless Logan's gotten some more information about White and his friends."

"Who's Logan?"

"My contact. He's the one who figured out that you were here."

"Right." She wanted to ask more, especially to ask him about her brothers and sisters. Whether he knew if they'd made it or not, but time was a wastin' and the heavenly smell of dinner was calling them back downstairs.

"It's a long story. I'll tell it to you later. What about you and Andreas?"

"Long story. We can swap stories later, but right now, that food is calling for me."

Walking towards the door, Mischa paused and turned to look at Alec.

"Are you coming?"

Grinning, he got off the bed and caught up with her at the door. Taking her hand in his, he smirked at her and raised his eyebrows.

"Gotta stay in character. I'm sure your friend down there thinks we were making out up here."

Mischa laughed lightly. He probably did, especially thanks to his 'playing the game' down on the driveway.

Wait until I tell him about Andreas.

"Anything yet?"

"No Sir. The lights are still on, and there's the flickering of the television, but apart from that, there's no sign that anyone's in there."

"Has anyone come or gone?"

"No Sir. The phone has rung a couple of times, and it has been answered, so she is still there."

"Fine. I'll call for another status check in 4 hours."

Dinner had been delicious. Andreas' profession of being a chef was something that Mischa had always taken from granted. Ever since she had met him, he always spoilt her for dinner. He was such a great friend, but it hadn't always been like that. Sipping her wine, she glanced around the table. Andreas was talking to Alec, who had his hand on her leg. They seemed to be getting a long well, but she could tell that Alec felt that he needed to protect her from something although she wasn't sure what.

They had been talking about America, and the Pulse, which Alec, although he had told her that he was still at Manticore until a year ago, knew a lot about. Andreas was heavily into the world news, so they had been talking about different events for the last half hour.

"Don't you think Misch?"

"What?"

Alec smiled and glanced at Andreas. He knew she hadn't been paying attention and she did look a little tired. Putting his arm around her shoulders, he shrugged at Andreas.

"I think this one's about ready to crash."

Mischa nodded, still trying to figure out what the question was when Alec stood up and waited. Biting her bottom lip, she smiled at Andreas who looked like the cat who got the cream.

"Thanks for dinner Drea. It was one of your best."

"Not a problem. Alec's right, you do look quite tired. Go on up, have a good rest and maybe I'll see you before I go to work in the morning."

"Thanks again Drea."

"Yeah, thanks man. That meal was one of the best I've had in a while."

Alec's comment made Andreas smile widely as they turned and walked back upstairs to their bedroom. Packing up the dishes, he wished he was in Mischa's position. That boy had to be one of the finest specimens of the male species that he had ever seen. Too bad he was straight.

Closing the door, Alec looked over at Mischa who had started taking her shirt off on the way to the bed. It wasn't as if he wasn't used to seeing women do that around him, but there was something different about Mischa. Turning around, he walked over to the window and looked out again. They hadn't turned the lights on, but their feline DNA made it easy to see.

"So, what was the question that you guys asked me?"

"Oh, Andreas was talking about the transgenic threat in the US and the implications."

"Hmm, sorry I missed it."

"He doesn't seem to know much, so I played dumb."

Mischa laughed lightly.

"Sure you played?"

Turning around with a grin, he was about to give a smart ass comment, when he noticed that she was just standing there in her underwear and a tight tank top that didn't leave much to the imagination. Turning around again, he took a deep breath.

"Well, you know how it is. I can't let on that I have this amazing intellect to normal people. They'll be jealous, not like they aren't already."

"Please."

He heard the rustling of the bedsheets as she got in so he turned around. Yeah, it wasn't as if he had a problem with being around women when they were in different stages of undress, but sometimes, it amazed him that he could be so modest. For all the comments to Max about her getting naked, he knew that if he was in the room when she did, he would be acting the same as he was now with Mischa.

He was going to ask about Andreas again when he noticed that her breathing had settled into a slow, rhythmic pattern, indicating that she was already fast asleep.

Guess it will have to wait. May as well ring Logan.

Taking his cell phone out of the pocket of his jacket, which he had left over the back of a chair closer to the door, he went back downstairs and out the front. Seeing Mischa's bike in the driveway, he grinned. Flipping open his phone, he hit the speed dial for Logan and waited for someone to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Logan, it's Alec."

"How's it going?"

"Well, that information you gave me about White turned out to be true. They showed up at her work, but I got her out. At the moment, we're at one of her friend's places laying low, because White's men have her place under surveillance. "

"She took you to a friends place?"

"Yeah. She said that if these people were as resourceful as they seemed to be, they would trace any electronic fund transferals connected with her debit and credit cards."

"Sounds like her Manticore training hasn't been completely lost."

"So, she's going to be coming back to TC with me. Can you get us on the next plane out?"

"I can probably arrange it for a day or two. "

Alec balanced the phone between his shoulder and sat on Mischa's bike. Flipping the stand back with his foot, he balanced the bike and finished his conversation with Logan.

"Okay. Anything else about White?'

"Nothing new. They're doing surveillance on her house, but that's it. As far as they're concerned, she's there and she doesn't know about them."

"Good. Let's hope it stays that way until we're on our way back to Seattle."

"Were you able to make a copy of that report that she gave her parents?"

"Yeah, I left it for a while to do something checking around. When I came back about 2 hours later, it was still there. I have a full copy of both the Manticore file as well as the notes that she made to go with it"

"Good. It could answer a lot of questions."

"Anyways, I'm gonna head up and get some sleep. I'll touch base with you later."

Closing his phone, he put it in his pocket before releasing the brake on the bike and rolling it into the garage that he had opened while talking to Logan. It was a beautiful bike, which looked to be either brand new or at least a year old. It was jet black with the hawk shaped headlights.

Alec knew his motorbikes, and this one was gorgeous. Different to the one he had back in Seattle and even to the Ninja that Max owned.This one had the 599cc liquid-cooled inline four-cylinder engine, dual stage fuel injected carburetor, computer-controlled digital transistorized with three-dimensional mapping. According to his knowledge, the Honda CBR600RR was one of the best.

Might get me one of these when we get back home

Closing the garage, he headed back up the stairs into the house. Just as he closed the front door and headed towards the stairs that would take him back to their room, he saw Andreas walk out of the living room and towards him. He nodded at him and hoped that he wouldn't want to talk but it seemed that whoever was in charge of the Universe had different ideas.

"Saw that you went outside to make a phone call. You could have just used my phone."

Alec smiled at him, groaning inwardly at the beginning of the conversation. All he was thinking about was getting into bed and getting a few hours of sleep in something comfortable.

"Well, Mischa forgot to put her bike in the garage, so I figured I would just make the call while I was out there doing that."

Andreas nodded in understanding. He knew what sort of relationship she had with her bike, and how she would react if something happened to it. Turning, he said,

"Want to join me in a drink?"

The tired part of Alec disagreed, but the other side of him agreed so Alec found himself smiling in agreement and following Andreas into, what looked like a formal living room. Andreas was standing behind a well stocked bar filling a small glass with some ice cubes.

"What's your poison?"

Setting himself down into a leather lounge chair, he crossed one leg over the other and rested his arms on the armrests.

"Scotch if you've got it."

"On the rocks or straight?'

"Straight up."

Quickly but quietly making their drinks, Andreas walked over to Alec and handed him his drink before sitting in the chair across from him and taking a sip of his vodka and orange.

"Are you and Mischa going on a trip?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Heard you talk about getting tickets to go somewhere."

Alec paused in taking a sip of his drink, his mind ticking over. He had only talked about that when he was on the phone with Logan a few minutes earlier. Deciding that he should probably stick to their story, he quickly took a mouthful and savored the taste of the scotch as it lightly burned down his throat.

"Well, we talked about going away, so I planned a surprise trip for us. A friend of mine was organizing it so she wouldn't know, which is what I was checking out."

"Whereabouts are you going?"

Raising his glass to his mouth again, he smiled slightly and pointed a finger at Andreas.

"I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you. Don't want to ruin the surprise."

Andreas nodded again before getting up and getting the bottle of scotch from the bar and bringing it back over to Alec.

"Refill?"

"Why the hell not?"

After filling his glass, he went back to the bar and made himself up an apple martini. He knew that Alec and Mischa were together, but in his experience, you never knew what someone was into unless you straight out asked them, or made a move on them. Just as he was making his way over to Alec to see what might happen, Mischa appeared in the doorway, still wearing the tight tank top and her underwear. She looked like she'd been asleep, but had just woken up. It had been an hour since they had gone upstairs after dinner.

"Alec? I thought you were going to come straight to bed?"

Clearing his throat,Alec looked away from Mischa and swallowed the rest of the scotch before putting it on the table in front of his chair. Grinning at Andreas he shrugged and went to Mischa.

"Thanks for the drink Andreas. Just what the Doctor ordered."

Smiling slightly, Andreas picked Alec's glass up and went back to the bar.

"Not a problem. Anytime."

Taking his hand, Mischa put Alec's arm around her waist and reached up, cupping her hand around the back of his head. Standing on her tip toes, she whispered in his ear,

"I thought I should come out and save you before things got weird."

To Andreas, it looked like something completely different and he sighed silently. So much for the possibility of becoming better acquainted with Alec. Alec grinned and turned slightly into Mischa's hair, whispering back,

"You'll have to explain it to me."

Sighing again, Andreas watched as the two of them seemed to be whispering about what they were going to do later and saw Alec's grip tighten on Mischa's waist as well as his hand drifting a bit lower. Throwing back his martini, he started to make himself another one.

Standing on her feet again, but her hand around Alec's waist as well, she smiled at Andreas.

"Night Drea."

"Night Misch. Night Alec."

Slightly pulling Alec along, she lead them up the stairs and to their bedroom.

JeNsEns wifey ChAdZ lover:I know you wanted this to be a Max/Alec fic, but I wanted to stick as close to the show as I could. Sorry :D I hope you still like it.

ZombieGurl98: thanks for the continued reviews! I really appreciate them!

Black Rose9: Thanks for the ideas and the review!

I know this one's a bit long, but please read and review!