Repercussions - Chapter Three

Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned

Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned

----------------------------------------------------

December 17, 2021

Logan was everywhere. It was driving Alec mad. Everywhere he went, it seemed Max was there. And everywhere Max went, Logan was right beside her like an oversized shadow, leering and begging for affection like a dog for a bone. Why did she have to rub him in his face at every given opportunity?

Resentfully, he watched them from across the room as he sat eating his lunch. She looked sullen, as usual. It seemed Logan was trying to make her laugh by waving his arms around and pulling geek faces. Oh no wait, that was just Logan acting like his usual self.

Alec felt his entire body recoil with jealousy as Logan leaned forward to take Max's hand before whispering something in her ear. Holding his breath, he wishing he could tear his eyes away from the scene, his mind filling with the image of her smiling back in agreement of whatever disgusting thing he had just propositioned her with.

To make his aggravation worse, Alec had been feeling really lousy all morning. He'd had migraines before, but usually after a long night of hard drinking. That hadn't been the case for him last night. Passing a hand over his face, Alec tried to massage away the ache in his temples. Loganism. That's what it was, he thought with a wry chuckle. He'd been exposed to far too much of the guy these past few days, and it was starting to make him sick.

"Hey you." Match interrupted his thoughts by plonking her lunch tray on the table and sitting beside him.

Alec smiled, his introspection momentarily diverted. "Hey yourself."

Match grinned, bouncing on her seat with excitement. "I got an early Christmas present for ya. Just to cheer you up."

He returned her grin with a wide-eyed look of surprise. "Match! You didn't have to do that!"

"It's okay. I wanted to." She produced from her bag a bottle of Glenfiddich and a pair of shot glasses. "Far be it for me to encourage alcoholism, but sometimes it helps to drink until you can no longer feel the pain - or at least your legs."

She looked over at the table where Alec's eyes kept reverting. "This is perhaps one of those times."

He turned back to her and plastered on a wide grin, before picking up the bottle and holding it to his chest as one would a baby. "Know what Match? You're the sweetest person I've ever known."

Match smiled back at him, relieved to see her friend happy at last and not knowing him well enough to realise he wore a mask.


You're the sweetest person I've ever known.

The words reverberated in Max's skull like the thunderous sound of an avalanche.

Overwhelmed by bitter jealousy, she felt the blood pumping in her ears as heat rose up to her face, decorating her skin pink. She tried to ignore Alec's words - to ignore Alec. But that one sentence played over and over in her mind like a hammer, driving her into the ground.

She pulled her eyes away from Alec and turned to Logan, who was oblivious to all but the sound of his own voice as he talked about his latest Eyes Only campaign.

Not caring about anything except retaliation, Max stood up and slowly raised her hands above her head in a languid stretch, waiting for all eyes to fall on her before sitting back down - on Logan's lap. Trying not to look in Alec's direction, she forced a smile as Logan hesitantly drew his arms around her, and then leaned in to whisper in his ear.


"Are you alright Alec?"

Alec forced a smile and began with his trademark reply, but changed his mind. Instead, he surprised Match by leaning in towards her and planting a soft kiss on her lips. Pulling back slightly, he cupped her face and leant in to kiss her again, allowing his lips to linger longer this time.

Match's smiled as he broke the kiss. "What was that for?"

He returned her smile, but met her inquisitive look with eyes that were sad and far away.

"Just... because."

Match's smile faded as she caught his glance towards to Max and realised for herself what his kiss was for.


Max felt her heart sink at the thought of what the longing in Logan's eyes meant. With every day that passed in his company, she wanted to shrink within herself and disappear. But she refused to show weakness, not after spending many years mastering the fine art of the Completely Expressionless Face to hide her emotions behind.

Therefore, she maintained her composure as she stood up from Logan's lap and stretched out a hand to him. She stayed calm as he took her hand and stood to his feet with a look on his face that made her want to tear her hand away and run from the room. Rather than run, she forced herself to lead him casually out of the room, maintaining her composure until she was no longer in sight of Alec.

Then she dropped Logan's hand as if it burnt her, and pushed him away as he tried to draw her to him again.

"Leave me alone Logan. I'm not your girlfriend." She held up her hands as he tried to reach for them again.

He looked at her in shock, realising she had only showed him affection to hurt Alec. Anguish accompanied this knowledge and it tore through him like poison.

"Well, neither are you Alec's by the look of things." Logan couldn't keep the bitterness from his voice, nor could he resist making a remark he knew would cut her as she had cut him.

Max fumed at the way in which he spoke the words - as if gloating over the fulfilment of a prophesy he had set down for their relationship from the day it began. The fact that her relationship with Alec had been a farce anyway, was of no consequence to her damaged pride right now.

"You shouldn't have come back to Terminal City, Logan. This isn't your place."

Max had spoken the words at last, but all of the iron determination had gone out of her voice. She meant the words with every ounce of her being, but she was simply too weary to put in the effort.

"Are you saying you want me to leave Max?" The words felt leaden on his lips. A realisation struck him with a wrench to his gut: after coming so far with Max - through all the obstacles that had risen before them - it was over. The retro-virus had built a barrier between them and the cure had come too late.

"Yes Logan! That's exactly what I'm saying!"

Relief flooded through Max as she spoke the words aloud at last. Once this man standing before her had meant so much - so much so that she would at times feel hollow and numb at just the thought of existing without him in her life. But since the siege had begun, she'd at last found a place in the world - amid her own kind. And to live as an ordinary now seemed like a foolish childhood fantasy. Her place was here, with these people who were like her - a breed that humanity would never truly understand, or trust. There was just no place for Logan Cale in her new life within Terminal City. And the thought no longer hurt. Not at all.

Logan stood helpless as he watched Max turn and walk away, wishing he could say something to make her come back. How could she expect him to leave? Where could he go now that he too was hunted? Everything he had, he'd given up for the transgenics in one way or another, and this toxic scrap of land was his home now. Whether they liked it or not.


Strangely enough, Alec and Match were having a very similar dilemma…

"Don't use me as your pawn Alec."

He opened his mouth to feign ignorance but stopped himself. She wasn't stupid, and deserved better than for him to treat her so. "I'm sorry Match. I'm just not feeling on top of the weather lately. I don't know what's wrong with me…"

He couldn't meet her eyes. The pounding headache had grown worse, but it was hardly an excuse for his actions. Instead he closed his mouth and rubbed a hand to his temple, irritability suddenly washing over him at having to explain anything.

"Look. I know you love her. And by the looks of it, she's hurting just as much as you are."

Match placed a fingertip over his mouth as he opened it to protest. "Don't make me get tough on you! A blind person can see she doesn't care about Logan anymore. Somewhere along the lines, you two got your wires crossed."

Alec's protests fell short, and he had to grudgingly agree. "So whadda you suggest?"

Matched rolled her eyes and thumped him on the arm, laughing. "You're asking relationship advice from someone who's never had one in her life?"

Shrugging, Alec forced the headache out of his mind as he slung an arm amicably around his friend's shoulders. "Yeah you're right. I should confront her and sort this bitch out. But I think I'll let her stew a while first. Meanwhile, we've gotta bottle of Scotch to drink."


Max wandered through the streets of Terminal City, longing for a high place to escape to where she could mull over her thoughts. But there was no rest for the wicked or the condemned within Terminal City. It seemed every nook and cranny harboured a transgenic seeking escape from the ordinary world.

On a better day, she might find peace, but not today. There was no place to hide when the voice of accusation screamed from inside her own mind. The wind blew through the Christmas decorations that hung from the odd street lamp, causing tin cans painted in red and green to rattle against each other like a haunting song.

The sound emphasised Max's loneliness, reminding her of the days as a young Manticore escapee when she had stood before shop windows during Christmas and stared in wonder at the beautiful displays before her. She couldn't understand why the coloured lights and sparkling tinsel had appeared almost overnight, but knew only that it made the people who passed by smile in some great secret she wasn't privy too.

Stepping out from an alleyway, she broke out of her thoughts to find herself on Alec's street. She looked around in surprise, realising she had lost herself in thought and found her way here by instinct. Maybe this was fate, perhaps it was time to forget the events of the past few days and confront Alec at last?

As she was about to approach Alec's apartment, he stepped from around the corner with Match by his side and the bottle of scotch between them. Max shrank back into the shadows as they reached his door and watched Alec place an affectionate hand on her back as they stepped inside.

You're the sweetest person I've ever known.

Max tried to block the memory of those words out of her head but they rained down on her regardless. Why did she even care if Alec had some other girl? Did she really want him anyway? Sure, they'd grown pretty close to each other since Logan had slipped out of the picture, but that didn't mean they owned one another.

Clinging to these affirmations as if they were some kind of lifeline, Max turned back into an alley, feeling the sudden need to escape her fellow transgenics altogether.


"I'm beginning to find your bed rather comfortable you know Alec."

He looked over at his friend, nestled amid a pile of blankets and grinned as he leant back into a flattened old pillow. "Yeah. And my neck is finally getting used to the couch."

Match laughed at him and pulled a face, "Aaaw… Poor thing."

Alec turned longingly to his TV set across the room. "Which channel do you wanna watch?"

He laughed as Match's eyes widened in amazement and she exclaimed, "You have a functioning TV here?"

'Well, no. But a guy can pretend right?"

She looked at his serious face and burst into laughter. "You need to get out more!"

He raised an eyebrow in contemplation of the idea before replying, "Hey, if you've watched as much of the old boob tube as I have, all you gotta do is close your eyes and let it play back in your head. Trust me. It's a great way to learn about the world."
Match looked down at the near empty bottle between them.

"Alec my dear, perhaps you need to have another drink."

They were doing well, or rather Alec was - considering she'd been pushing him to drink while she sat back and barely touching a drop herself. It was amazing how rapidly one transgenic could consume a bottle of spirits and still string complete sentences together. The thought that worried Match was the fact Alec had said nothing about Max since they'd stepped into his apartment. The whole reason why she planned to get him drunk in the first place was so he'd loosen up and spill the beans.

"So, how long have you known Max?"

His mind flickered back to the day he had entered Max's cell in Manticore and the astonishment he had felt when she kicked him across the room. Though he hadn't realised it at the time, in that instant she had claimed dominion over him - body and soul. Although, he'd by no way realised this at the time.

He knew it now though, and the thing that worried him at the back of his mind (right next to the headache which just wouldn't quit) was the knowledge that the one other time he'd ever felt such strong feelings for a girl, terrible things had happened. Even now, the agony and terror of re-indoctrine began to blacken his mind and suddenly Alec regretted the fact that he'd never allowed himself to deal with these pain-filled memories.

Match watched Alec's smile abruptly die as his mind turned to the one subject he'd been trying so hard to forget. She had known of his failed mission for Manticore and she knew he was reliving it now. Apprehension slid down her spine as she watched his eyes cloud over, knowing that he was drifting back into memories of past horrors. As his jaw tensed and his face winced with pain, she wondered if the ghosts of his mind would ever be laid to rest. She'd suffered her fair share of disappoints for Manticore; and knew the wrath of their superiors. And she knew also that if Alec didn't deal with these memories, they'd eventually find a way to deal to him.

"Alec?" Tenaciously, Match reached out and gripped his shoulder, shaking him slightly in the hope of stirring him back into reality. "Hey Alec, come back huh?"

Blinking away the horror's at last, Alec glanced at Match and quickly dropped his gaze to the hands that had become tightly clasped together in his lap. He could see pity and understanding awash in her eyes, and he didn't want either. He didn't want her silent permission to let go of his pain in her presence. Shrugging away her hand, he plastered on his usual happy-go-lucky smile and feigned a lax attitude once more.

"Let's not go down that conversational path huh? Why don't we talk about you?"

Match sighed in defeat and stood up. "Sure thing Alec. We'll talk about me. But I'm just gonna pop out for a minute okay? Our alcohol supply is running low and I have a small stash back at my place."

He nodded, and watched as she walked out the door. The apartment suddenly felt so unbearably empty once the door shut behind her. As the sudden silence descend upon Alec, he wondered if he'd ever felt so alone. Staring at the dead TV before him, he dolefully wondered if somewhere out there in the world, the tube was playing an interesting show tonight.

--- flashback --- >
"So Max, if we're supposed to be together in the carnal sense of the word, I guess this means I should move into your place huh?"

Max stared at him in stony silence as he tried to cajole her into a response by use of an elbow connecting playfully with her ribs. Finally, she grabbed his arm and twisted it sharply, fire igniting in her eyes as she turned about to face him.

"Don't think I'm gonna be your girlfriend just 'cause I'm your girlfriend!"

"Oh tut-tut-tut Max. Do you have any idea how badly you just contradicted yourself in that statement?" His words were like water on a grease fire and he grinned as the proverbial flames within her dark pupils rose higher.

"You're such a pain in the ass Alec!"

The cocky grin was replaced by a look of faux hurt and she released his arm in exasperation. But Alec refused to give up the last word, and added with a cheeky grin, "You know what? You're cute when your eyes light up like that. It kinda makes 'Max the Bitch' that much more tolerable."

Max held her glare for a long moment before smiling sweetly up at him. "Thanks Alec. Flattery gets you no-where."

He chuckled as if he begged to differ, then turned away to unpack a box filled with his few belongings. One day, the girl was gonna have to fess up…
--- end flashback --- >

Alec shook his head to rouse himself from his thoughts. When was Match going to come back? His headache was worse, buzzing even - like a swarm of bees were making their way through his skull, pressing down upon his sinuses and tickling the back of his eyes with their beating wings. The sensation was making aggravating and he almost wanted to smack his skull to make it stop. Alec laughed without humour as he recalled his earlier excuse for the pain. Loganism. Maybe more scotch was in order. He opened the bottle beside him and took a long swig, then polished it off completely. Perhaps this would help chase the thoughts from his mind.

Minutes ticked by, the room was silent. Perhaps Match wasn't coming back? Alec struggled to think through the alcohol-induced haze. Had he done something to offend the girl - other than kiss her to make Max jealous?

Closing his eyes to ponder this great mystery, Alec unwittingly slipped into memory once more.

--- flashback --- >
A warm hand stroking his forehead slowly roused Alec from his dreams, but the unusually gentle voice woke him up with a snap.

"You know, you're not so intolerable when you're sleeping."

He kept his eyes closed, intrigued by this revelation and understandably, wanting to hear more.

"So I guess I have to admit I don't hate you as much as I'd like to. Fact is, I'm kinda glad to have you around. Sometimes."

The hand that stroked his forehead now moved to brush back the untamed strands of hair from his face, pulling away as he flinched from shock, but returning again soon after.

"Of course, I'd never tell you this if you were awake."

He fought hard against the smile, feeling it tug at the corners of his mouth anyway. Her hand suddenly froze as she noticed the twitch, he could hear a sharp inhalation as she held her breath.

"You asshole!"

That did it, he was doomed now. The smile turned into a grin, a cocky grin at that. He couldn't help it, he didn't wear the expression - it wore him.

"How long have you been awake!"

He tried to ignore her, finding himself able to control his facial muscles at last, but of course it was too late now anyway. She shook him roughly, rolling him to his back and straddling his torso as she pummelled his chest. Hmm…This was a nice feeling, apart from the patter of fists…

"Answer me damn it!"

Finally he opened his eyes to meet her glare with a smile.

"So I'm not so intolerable huh? Is that only when I'm sleeping though? Come on, be honest, cause personally, I think…"

He stopped when he noticed her thoughtful, yet slightly enraged expression, and the fact she had stopped hitting him. It kinda scared him.

"What else?"

He stared at her in confusion, waiting for her to repeat the question and hopefully elaborate a little.

"What else did you hear?" She punctuated the words and her tone suggested that if he didn't say what she wanted to hear, he would most likely lose the ability to sit on his ass for a good week.

"Oh, everything after… Why Max? Had you been telling me Logan was the wrong guy for you, and you should've been with me all al ong?" He asked the question in jest, but nearly gagged in shock as he saw the blush spread across her face.

"You wish!" She leapt off him (somewhat reluctantly he thought) and walked to the door. "I just didn't want you to hear the things I had to say about… your ass."

He chuckled as she disappeared through the door, he didn't blame her for being a tad obsessed with his ass. Hell, he'd seen nuns give it appreciative glances. But he was intensely curious as to what his mysterious little X5 had really been talking about while he slept…
--- end flashback --- >

In the back of his mind, Alec became aware of the mattress shifting as someone lay on the bed beside him. His mind still content within his dreams as the pain of his headache had lessened at last, he rolled towards the person and wrapped his arms around the body, smiling contently as he felt within the realm of half-sleep, arms return the embrace.


December 18, 2021
Max sat on the edge of the kitchen bench, watching Original Cindy as she searched the cupboards for something that might resemble breakfast. In the few months since Joshua had taken flight to Terminal City, Max, Alec and Mole had begun to organise the place. They'd rigged up a supply system that to some extent, worked. Staple food, blankets, clothing and medical provisions were in irregular but satisfactory supply. In other areas, Mule had taken charge in the construction of an evacuation tunnel; the Oak Street X5's had converted an empty warehouse into a training yard (only light training - Max didn't want to see Manticore reinvented); and even headquarters had been refurnished with a high-tech computer system. But in the case of breakfast cereal… well that was a whole other issue.

Cindy looked across at her friend who was noticeably more sombre than usual. In fact, she'd barely spoken a word since her arrival, at least not about the important issue. And Cindy could guess who the issue involved.

"So who you gonna spend Christmas with Boo?" She sat down beside her friend and hit her straight up with the question Max had been trying to evade for days now.

"What do you mean? It's not as if I got a line up." Max shrugged, trying to pretend she didn't care.

"Sure you do boo, you know that. You got Logan, Alec…"

"Alec! Why'd I consider a fleeting minute in his company - let alone Christmas?" Suddenly flamed into life by the absurdity of such a suggestion, Max pulled her head back and shot her friend a filthy look.

Cindy sighed and rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Come on girl, ya know you don't mean that."

Max stared down at the ground, refusing to meet her friend's eyes.

"You gotta learn to cut the guy some slack!" Cindy took hold of Max's arm and turned her around to face her.

"You two've had a lotta shit go down and you've stuck it out together - he's stuck it out with you throughout, and that's more than I'd have expected of him once. Don't you think he's proven himself already? You can't tell me you're still draggin your boy through the dirt?"

"Yeah well, he's got a new flame now."

"And why is that Max?" Cindy knew she was risking potential limb loss by asking, but it had to be done. Someone had to make the girl consider such things as consequences.
Max remained fastened in her cocoon of silence, not wanting to consider Cindy's words but finding herself forced to regardless. Her friend did have a point; she hadn't stopped using him as a kicking post since the day he walked into her life. But what else was she meant to do? Drop a life time of building walls around herself and go all soft? Unlikely.

"I can't help it OC, every time I'm around him, sparks fly…"

"So he fires you up huh?"

"Yeah…"

"Makes you feel alive?" OC smiled knowingly.

Max knew what her friend was hinting at, and greeted such suggestion with stony silence. She didn't want to be on this conversational track, certainly not after the events of the past few days. It brought back too many memories of the kiss that she didn't dare tell OC about. The girl would slap her one for throwing the chance away.

"Makes it feel like the good old days huh? Before everything turned all, 'confined to a toxic waste ground by the US Military' on you?"

"Yeah…" Max's voice drifted off as she thought back to the good old days of being on the run from every institution that had ever wanted to capture her and her kind, and use them as lab rats. Or worse. "Like those days."

"So he's good for you. That's a fact!" OC's enthusiasm snapped her to attention. "Now let's get back to my original point of conversation. Who are you gonna spend your Christmas with?"

Max turned to her, eye's bright with agitation. "What does it matter OC? It's not like the day has ever meant anything to me before? I've lived my whole life without celebrating anything. Why should I start fluffin' over some dead son of a non-existent god now?"

"Oh come on Boo! No one ever celebrates Christmas for that reason." Original Cindy rolled her eyes at her friend as if to say 'duh'. "It's all about the spirit of fun, of belonging, celebrating family… that's what we break out our Santa hats and bon bon's for!"

"Family. Interesting concept OC. You know, I believed in that once, but I don't have…"

"I don't wanna be hearin' that Boo. You know you got family. More so now than when you were with your unit in Manticore I bet."

A spark of enthusiasm almost lit Max's eyes. Perhaps it would be a good thing. Sometimes she was just a little sick of being tough, trying to not care. But what else could she do in a world where rock bottom was still not a deep enough a place for where ordinaries wanted her kind to go?

"And Alec needs you boo, you're his family. You're more than that. You know he loves -"

"No!" Max jumped to her feet and began to pace the room, her face contorting into an expression of anger, with a large helping of denial to boot.

"I know what you're gonna say and you can spare it for some one who cares. He only loves himself."

Her final words came out louder and more aggressive then she intended, therefore drowning out the sound of the door drawing open behind her.

"Hey Max, it's Alec…" OC's eye's had widened to the point where her eyebrows could quite possibly been mistaken as part of her hairline, but Max was oblivious.

"Exactly OC - it's Alec! You know, Mr. I Know Everything?"

"Uhh, no Max…"

"No, no that's the one OC! Don't you remember? Mr. I'll Sell My Soul For A Buck?"

"No Max…"

"Other wise known as Mr. I'm Always Alright Until I Mess Up And Need Max To Bail My Ass?" Without pausing for breath, Max's words grew more hurtful in her retaliation. "Do you really think I'd wanna care about someone like that? I've spent most the past year regretting the day he walked in to my life!"

"Max!" OC remembered the point of having legs at last and used them to spring to her feet and grab Max, swinging her around to face the open door, and the figure standing in the doorway.

"I meant it's Alec!"

Max's jaw dropped open, and she stood frozen in shock of her own self.

Opposite her, Alec stood slouched against the wall as if her words had driven him backwards, the wide eyes that met her own were filled with the pain of realising no matter what he did, she'd never see him as anyone other than the selfish screw up she always accused him to be.

No one in the room spoke, only Cindy had retained the ability to draw breath as for a full minute, shock wound it's way through each individual's bloodstream like poison.

"Oh god." At last Max found her cursed voice and stepped forward towards Alec. "I didn't mean…"

As her hands reached out to him, he flinched and broke his gaze, melding even further into the wall. He ran a hand over his head, clutching his skull as if in pain. At last he looked up to meet her eyes once more, but his face wore a black look worse than raging anger, worse even that absolute hate. His glare was empty, devoid of any emotion. Like a soldier. Like Manticore.

Wordlessly, he turned and strode out of the room, leaving Max and Original Cindy staring in opened mouthed shock in his wake.

"You know what boo?" Max turned back to OC with horror, but her friend faced her with a look she had only ever seen reserved for the likes of tactless men.

"Maybe you gotta ask yourself if you even deserve him."