Chapter 6

The four transgenics stood speechless, each staring at Alec in shock. The tension in the room was thick and no one dared to speak. Alec entered the apartment and slammed the door, the sound making the others flinch.

He walked toward his friends, circling Quinn and Max deliberately. Their eyes followed him, unsure, as he seemed to inspect the damage.

"Well?" he prompted. "I'm waiting with baited breath," he said stonily.

Max watched as the muscles in his jaw twitched, betraying his at temp t at nonchalance. "I - we - it's not what you think," she finally choked out.

Alec cocked an eyebrow. "So you said. Doesn't explain shit."

"And we need to explain, why?" Quinn interjected. "I'm not seeing why any of this concerns you."

Lianna saw Alec's body tense. This is going to explode in our faces if we don't do something fast.

Alec glared at Quinn with a gaze of marble, and Quinn - though a tough man in his own right - had the urge to back up a couple of steps. "Right, doesn't concern me in the least," he spat, giving Quinn a look that said 'You know damn well why I care.'

Biggs readied himself for what would come next - either they would talk and everything would work out, or they would have one hell of a fight on their hands. Knowing how stubborn both males were, the latter was probably more likely.

"Coulda fooled me. Last night you weren't exactly acting like you cared. So I decided to step up," Quinn taunted, unwilling to back up or back down for that matter. He knew how stupid it was but it might actually be the only way to get Alec to admit how he felt.

Max glanced from one man to the other. They obviously each knew what the other meant, but she was truly lost. "Just what the hell are you two talking about?"

"C'mon, Max," Alec said icily, not sparing her a glance. He kept his eyes on Quinn as he spoke. "Quinn stepped up, you spread 'em and now we're all happy."

Max's jaw dropped and she flushed at the insinuation. Before her mortification turned to anger, Quinn's fist connected with Alec's jaw.

"Who the fuck are you to talk to her like that!"

"Was she a good fuck?" Alec sneered, spitting blood out of his mouth and wiping at it with the back of his hand.

When Max moved to intervene, she was hissing and spitting with indignation and furious rage. Biggs grabbed her shoulders and held her.

"Trust me, Max. You don't want to touch Alec now," he spoke low against her ear. And for some reason she slackened in his arms, watching the two men facing off.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Quinn retorted, his face dark with anger. "What really has me curious? Is how good a fuck Lianna was. You and Biggs must have had a good time. The sound effects surpassed your usual standards."

Biggs dropped Max like a hot potato. "You saying what I think you're saying, buddy?" he growled, advancing towards Quinn, body tensely coiled. "Lianna wouldn't pull the kind of shit you did."

Max would've threatened Biggs in her usual manner if she wasn't so damned lost. Instead, she stood up, brushing the seat of her pants with her hands and trying to follow just what the hell was going on.

Lianna moved to stand beside her, a hand on her elbow. "Those stupid boys," she said, saying the last word like a curse. "Who the hell do they think they are? They basically just called us both whores." The men in the room paid no attention to either woman, as if they no longer existed.

Quinn's eyes narrowed as he advanced a few steps on Biggs. "You don't even fucking know what happened, so don't pretend you do. From the stuff Maxie and I heard last night, there was some serious action goin' on in that room. And it wasn't you screamin' Lianna's name," he spat pointedly. I know damn well what I heard.

Biggs stepped around a sputtering Max to stand face to face with Quinn. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about. I was with Lianna last night," he paused, remembering that Alec had been with her earlier. Don't think that! You know nothing happened! he told himself. "Well - most of the night."

Quinn snorted, muttering, "Right. Must've switched off at some point." Ordinary ears wouldn't have caught the words, but no one in the room was ordinary and the tension thickened.

"What the fuck? Bastard!" Lianna raged. Quinn didn't even have the sense to look apologetic.

"What?" Biggs' hands clenched into fists at his sides. "You have no idea - " His words ended abruptly as Alec stepped closer.

He stopped only when his nose was millimeters from Quinn's. "You have some nerve even suggesting that Lianna would sleep around. She and I didn't do anything. But even if we had, I seriously doubt you would have heard us."

Quinn snorted his disbelief and Max watched in fascination as Alec leaned even closer to Quinn, their bodies almost touching. He gripped Quinn by the throat and slammed him against the wall.

"How would you have when you two were obviously busy," He injected venom into the last word, slamming Quinn's head into the wall again.

Quinn tensed, ready to inflict as much damage on the man in front of him as he could. Having seen quite enough, Lianna stepped between the two men. She placed a hand on each of their chests and pushed. "Enough!" Alec stumbled back a few paces and Lianna kept Quinn pinned against the wall. "I've had enough male bravado bullshit to last me a lifetime!" Alec opened his mouth to speak and Lianna held up a finger, the look on her face enough to keep him quiet. " I. Did. Not. Sleep. With. Alec!" she said, iterating each word threateningly.

Max's body almost visibly relaxed as some of the tension melted away with Lianna's vehement words. She, however, could not ignore the implications of what had been said, so she decided to follow Lianna's example. "And, for the record, Quinn and I," she said, motioning with a hand to herself and Quinn, "didn't do anything either." Lianna breathed a sigh of relief, but Alec only snorted. He caught Max's gaze and then she followed his eyes as they turned to the scratches on Quinn's torso, a smirk touching his lips.

Max moved to stand in front of Alec. She wanted to slap the smirk off his face.

CRACK Her hand smacked his cheek, forcing his head to the side. He raised his hand to cover the red welt that now adorned his golden skin. For once, Alec was speechless.

"Like I said earlier, I did not sleep with Quinn." Max closed her eyes and tilted her head to the side. She hated admitting her weaknesses, but she wanted to clear the air. She wanted to clear the air for Alec.

"I had a seizure last night. And apparently, Quinn took some hits," she said quietly, letting out a sigh of resignation.

Biggs and Lianna were still taking in the fact that Max had actually slapped Alec, when Max's explanation sent them reeling again. They glanced at each other, then back at the scene unfolding before them.

Alec wanted to believe her so bad - She slapped me! - but part of him still couldn't accept it. "What the hell does a seizure have to do with your new wardrobe?" he said, gesturing to Quinn's shirt that Max had borrowed.

He wants me to slap him again. That must be it. Max sighed again, this time in frustration. "I needed Tryptophan and, seeing as how I had no pills and was seizing, Quinn brought me milk. Have you ever tried to drink anything while seizing? It's a bitch. My shirt got the worst of it." Max almost grinned as she thought how much worse the reaction would've been had she come out of the bedroom wearing a shirt with dried white stains on it.

Her mirth quickly disappeared as she remembered that the situation was bad enough as it was. "What's it to you anyway?"

Lianna said a silent prayer to a god she wasn't sure she believed in that Alec would defy his male nature and just tell the truth.

Alec stared at Max for a moment. He wanted to tell her; to explain why he reacted like he did. But it would be hard enough to say to her, let alone to an audience, and he wasn't ready for that kind of public exhibition.

"Truthfully? I don't really care. I'm just tired. Being kicked out of my room with all the sexcapades, feeling uncomfortable in Cindy 's bed and sitting in a seedy bar down by the docks until the sun came up really messed with my head."

He held a hand out to Quinn in apology. "Sorry, Man. No sleep made me jumpy."

Quinn kept his hands at his side, refusing to accept Alec's apology. His jaw still hurt and Alec was still being, well, Alec. "No sleep, huh? You go to Cindy 's since you couldn't get any?" His lips turned up in a bitter smile, and he ignored the pain the movement caused. "You'd go after any woman. Doesn't matter who so long as she's pliant."

Max's jaw dropped as she witnessed the exchange. Shit! Just when it looked like things were calming down marginally, one of the males had to step it back up a notch. Testosterone poisoning, I swear.

"You bastard!" Alec spat at Quinn, shoving him to the floor and tackling him. "She's the most decent person I know and you have to - fuck you!" He was furious, his fists pummeling the other X5 at a blur.

Max couldn't sit and watch any longer and from the looks of it, Biggs and Lianna were shocked to the core and powerless to move. She grabbed Alec's shoulders, trying to pull him from Quinn when she found herself flung across the room, her face slamming against the wall. She raised a shaky hand to her nose, blood trickling through her fingers.

Max's head was pounding and her sight a bit blurry, but she wasn't deterred. She lunged at Alec, toppling him, straddling his stomach as she landed a punch to his jaw.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!" she screamed.

Alec's haze of rage cleared and he saw Max's bloodied face. He reached out tentatively to touch her cheek.

"Who did this to you?" he breathed, concern and pain in his eyes.

Max was shocked at the sudden change in his demeanor. She winced and eased back a bit, away from his touch. Her whole face hurt and even Alec's gentle caress sent a dull ache through her cheek. "Well," she said quietly, "you did."

Alec's eyes widened, guilt and shame evident in them. "I - I did that?" He reached out again, wiping some of the blood off her face. "Does it hurt much?"

Max rolled her eyes. "No, of course not. Getting your face slammed into a wall is kinda therapeutic. I'm thinkin' I should do this weekly."

Alec wrapped his arms around her, before rolling over. He didn't let go, instead pulling her up with him to a sitting position.

"I'm so sorry, Maxie. I never meant to hurt you," he said softly.

Suddenly aware that she was sitting in his lap, Max scuttled away. She glared at him. "No, you were too busy beating the shit out of Quinn," she hissed.

"Oh my god, Quinn!" she cried as she sprang from the floor and hurried to his side. Lianna was already dabbing at his mottled face with antiseptic. Biggs was splinting Quinn's left arm, noticeably bruising and very broken.

Alec's head dropped and he shuddered. I did that. I nearly killed my friend, and why? Because I'm scared of a girl. I'm pathetic.

"Max...Max, please look at me," he pleaded.

Max heard the pain in his voice, but couldn't bring herself to look at him. He says he didn't really care - why the hell did he do this? she wondered, her eyes roving over Quinn's battered features. Without her noticing, she'd started crying, the tears tracking blood down her face.

Lianna continued her treatment of Quinn's wounds, trying not to think too much about what had happened. She saw Max crying and fought her own tears. God, how did everything get so fucked up? Biggs, as if sensing her thoughts, put an arm around her carefully, trying not to hinder her ministrations.

Alec saw her shoulders tense and then slump, saw the slight tremors overtake her and knew she was crying. Should I - he stopped suddenly. He'd done enough.

"I'll go," he said sadly, as he rose to his feet and walked towards the door.

"That's probably best," came Lianna's muffled reply. She was leaning over Quinn, swabbing at a gash on his neck.

Biggs shook his head. "I guess this is what they call a 'jealous rage', huh?" he quipped, trying to lighten the mood.

Alec stopped just inches from the door. "I guess you're right," he replied quietly. Exiting the apartment, he closed the door softly behind him.

The four transgenics stared dumbly at the door. "Did he just agree with me?" Biggs asked in bewilderment.

Lianna nodded her head wordlessly. Her hand slacked and pressed a little too hard on one of Quinn's injuries and he yelped. "Sorry," she muttered. She glanced at Max and saw that the tears had stopped. "My god, Max, you're a bloody mess," she whispered, taking in Max's disheveled appearance. Lianna offered Max a damp cloth. She accepted it distractedly and wiped the drying blood from her face.

Max was confused. "Did he - I mean - did I? Jealous?" Dammit! I can't even form a coherent sentence! She looked at her friends questioningly, needing answers.

Biggs nodded knowingly. That was all the answer she needed. She squeezed Quinn's uninjured arm and managed a small smile. "Sorry, Quinn." Then she jumped up quickly, dismissing the dizziness the fast movement caused. Within seconds she was out the door.

"Alec, wait!"

Alec was lost in thought. His gait was slow, almost drunken, his guilt weighing heavily on his heart. He'd really blown it this time. Any chance he might have had at winning Max's heart were utterly destroyed. He'd probably ruined his friendship with Quinn, and Biggs and Lianna would never look at him the same again. He really was a screw-up.

He started down the stairs, putting one foot in front of the other, forcing himself to walk away from the scene of devastation he'd created.

He saw Max's face flash before his eyes. Her nose was at an odd angle, her lip bruised and swollen. And the blood...trailing down her chin to her neck, soaking Quinn's shirt. The shirt he'd lent her after her seizure.

'Who did this to you?'

'Well...you did.'

Alec sank to his knees just outside the entranceway to the apartment building.

"Alec, wait!" Now he was hallucinating. Imagining things. Hearing things he wanted, things that would never happen. Not anymore.

"Alec?" Max said quietly as she reached him. "Alec, are you alright?" Stupid question, she immediately thought, but didn't retract her statement. She knew that everything that had happened had to be weighing heavy on him, but she just wanted him to know she cared. And to find out what really happened in there. She sat down beside him on the building's steps, still keeping her distance.

Alec stared straight ahead, failing to acknowledge her presence. The truth was, he was too ashamed of his actions, too wrapped up in himself to notice her by his side.

Seeing that Alec was there, but not really there with her, she scooted closer to him. Tentatively, she put one hand on his back, and the other on top of his hand which rested on his leg. "Alec, talk to me, please?"

Max didn't know if she could handle him not speaking to her - they'd tried it before, but never managed to keep it up for long; one of them had always caved.

He felt, more than heard her. It was sudden. Her scent overwhelmed him, comforting him. Yet he felt wary.

"Max."

Finally. But it wasn't enough. "Alec, what did you mean by that?" Max asked quietly, softly rubbing her thumb over the top of his hand.

Feeling her fingers on his skin, he looked down. Why is she touching me? he wondered idly, still subdued and not quite aware. What does she want?

"I want to understand," she whispered. "Please?"

Her words broke through the haze and he turned his head to find her face inches from his. "Understand what? Why I destroyed a friendship? Maybe all four of them?" he replied finally.

Max choked back tears at the lost and hurt look in his eyes. "Alec, I don't think they're ruined. I can vouch for me at least that it isn't. I want to understand - what - what you meant when you said what you did," she said softly, moving the hand that had been tracing lazy circles on his back up to the nape of his neck.

"Said what?" He really couldn't remember what he'd said. Only what he'd done. He closed his eyes, reveling in the sensations her touch evoked. And for a moment he forgot everything.

He didn't remember. Max's mind raced with thoughts, wondering if, in the state he was in, he had really even heard what Biggs had said. Her heart sunk in her chest as she spoke, her voice shaking slightly. "You - Biggs said it was a jealous rage..." She let the words hang in the air, seeing what his reaction would be.

"Jealous rage," he breathed. "All that pain, the blood, your face..." he trailed off, closing his eyes. "I hurt you. That's what I do. I hurt the ones I lo-" he clamped his mouth shut and looked down at his feet.

Max's heart fluttered as she took in what he'd nearly said. She put her hand under his chin, forcing him to look at her. "Someone told me the same thing once. That I was poison. And I almost believed them, too." Alec tried to pull away from her, disgusted with himself. "No, Alec. Look at me. Please, just look at me." I've been so blind. For the first time in what seemed like forever, she let every emotion she felt show on her face; pain, confusion - and love.

His eyes locked with hers, and what he saw there stunned him. The only other time he'd seen Max so open was when they'd talked about Ben. But then her eyes had swirled with pain and guilt. The emotions now reflected in her chocolate orbs were all too familiar. His heart skipped a beat.

Alec reached up and ran his fingers over her bruised cheek, gingerly skimming her nose and trailing softly over her swollen lips. "It's true, Max. Look what I did to you."

Max laid her hand over his, holding his fingers against her lips. She pressed a soft kiss to his fingertips.

Max pulled his hand down to rest with hers on her leg. She smiled at him softly. "Alec, I know you would never hurt me intentionally. No matter how many times I may have driven you to want to."

Alec raised his other hand to cup her cheek. "That isn't how I wanted to touch you," he said quietly, huskily, his eyes burning intensely into her own.

Max's breath caught in her throat. "How did you want to touch me, Alec?" she asked in a trembling voice. The passion in his eyes was almost too much for her to endure, but she fought not to look away - he needed her not to. She needed not to.

He pulled her toward him by her chin gently, never closing his eyes. Their lips were only centimeters apart, and Max could feel his brush over hers as he spoke. "Like this." Closing his eyes, he captured her lips. Everything he'd been holding back for so long made its way to the surface to be shared in that one kiss. Even if she doesn't want me, I'll always have this, he thought.

Max's eyes fluttered as he pulled back and she was short of breath. "I think I can live with that," she murmured quietly, producing a hesitant smile from Alec. She leaned forward, their foreheads resting against one another.

"Really?" Alec felt lightheaded, as if he were floating. Even still, doubt nagged at his mind.

She lifted her head and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. "No." Seeing the dismay in his eyes, she grinned widely. "No, I know I can live with that." With that she pulled him into another kiss. I love you, Alec.

What had begun as a chaste kiss was quickly escalating into something much more. Neither knew who had deepened the kiss and neither cared. Hands roamed freely, tongues explored each others' mouths, and passion flared. Only when they'd gotten an appreciative whistle from a passer-by did they remember they were still outside and in plain view.

"Let's take this inside," Alec breathed, his voice husky with desire. His hand reached around to cup Max's ass as he stood, lifting her with him. She wrapped her legs around his waist and felt the hardness of him through his jeans. As he carried her back inside the building and up the steps, the jarring movements made her rub against him. She moaned, causing Alec to nearly stumble up the stairs. He righted himself quickly and sped up the remaining steps in nearly a blur.

Alec let Max down as they reached the top, their lips never leaving one another. Alec pushed Max backward until her back was against the apartment door. He fumbled with the knob behind her and they stumbled inside.

Three pairs of eyes turned to to the door and widened simultaneously in shock. They were still seated on the floor, tending to Quinn's wounds. Lianna looked at Biggs and then Quinn, her face showing pure surprise. "Damn, didn't think it would happen this quick," she said. A weak grin tugged at the corners of Biggs' mouth, but soon vanished as he saw that the oblivious couple were on a blind collision course with them.

"Shit!" Lianna exclaimed. She and Biggs scrambled away from Max and Alec as they tripped over Quinn's legs. Alec landed on top of Max and Biggs just shook his head in amusement as he saw that not even the sudden fall had been able to break the lip-lock they had on one another.

As the two frantic lovers began removing articles of clothing, Biggs averted his eyes and motioned for Lianna to help him get Quinn standing. Quinn leaned on them for support, still a little dizzy and disoriented from the fight with Alec earlier.

Alec and Max's moans and whimpers of pleasure brought a deep flush to Lianna's cheeks. Biggs tried to ignore the sounds and the heat they sent to his groin, but his quiet groan gave him away. Lianna flashed him a seductive look and giggled as he shifted uncomfortably, knowing he was caught. Together, they held Quinn up and quickly made their way out of the apartment leaving Alec and Max completely unaware that anyone had ever been in the room with them, let alone that anyone had left.

Needless to say, they never made it to the bedroom.

TBC

A/N: A quick thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed. Your comments and support are greatly appreciated!