Previously in Back In Black
They started walking and as they reached Max's ninja they were stopped in their tracks by a voice from behind them. Turning they saw a man standing there staring at them, Max froze causing Alec to glance at her, not understanding her reaction,
In a very low voice Max said to Alec "we need to get out of here. Right. now"
'If I didn't know better I'd say that she was scared' Alec thought before saying out loud "Come on Max, it's one guy I don't see any back up, we can take him, even if he does look like his eyes are bleeding, which is just plain disturbing"
As they stood there, in a battle of wills as to which direction they were going to go, the man spoke again, and this time both transgenics heard it
"Help me" he groaned before collapsing on the ground
"seriously Max you're afraid of that" Alec said pointing at the man on the floor in a voice that was both condescending and also a little disappointed, as if she hadn't quite lived up to an expectation he had of her.
"Alec" Max replied in an exasperated tone "we're leaving right now; there could be more and they Can. Not. See. Me. … Or you" she added as an afterthought. And with this she grabbed his arm dragged him on to her bike and drove off before he could object again.
Only the determination in her voice prevented him from pulling away just to prove a point about not being manhandled by women.
As soon as they were out of sight of the alley Alec noticed that Max relaxed a fraction. But his curiosity was peaked, he needed to know what was going on, he needed to know what he had missed.
"Where am I taking you?" Max called over her shoulder
"Go to mine, 'cause you are going to tell me everything, I am missing some vital information. And I'm not just talking about how good it would be if we had sex" Alec replied cockily
"Ahh Alec it's such a shame that there are some things that your pea sized brain just can't cope with" she teased
"Oh but Max, I promise no part of me is small, I'll show you if you're very good" he leered
"Alec, I have slightly higher standards than the bimbos you sleep with"
"Now now maxie there's plenty to go round, don't be jealous"
"You wish" Max snorted
Don't I just
After a few hair raising turns that had Alec clinging on for dear life, they reached Alec's apartment.
"Woman you drive like a maniac" Alec said as soon as he got his feet on solid earth
"But damn can you drive" he murmured, the comment just reaching Max's sensitive ears, and causing a smug grin to appear.
Before long they were sitting on the floor in front of Alec's couch each holding mugs of coffee.
"Ok Max, there are officially no more time wasting activities available. Spill" Alec demanded. He couldn't help it, not only did he hate being out of the loop, but the way Max was shifting about, studying her shoelaces he just really wanted to know. And if he didn't find out soon he felt he might have a stamping his foot and pouting moment. Something he feared Max would never let him forget.
"What do you want to know?" Max asked, so quietly that Alec almost didn't catch it.
"Ok well, how about we start with that guy with the bleeding eyes" Alec shuddered just thinking about it.
"He's a red"
"Max, that sounds the type of name you'd come up with" Alec teased trying to lighten the mood
Instinctively Max reached out to punch his arm, and as she did it, couldn't help but smile. This seemed to at least partially lift her out of her withdrawn state.
"All right, you want the 411? Here it is, but just remember you wanted to hear it 'cause it's long." After a deep breath she continued
"A few years back some sleaze bag who had a grudge against me, (I mean rightfully so, I kicked his ass on so many levels) figured out what I was and tipped off the reds, they're a group of South African soldiers recruited off of death row. They've put implants in the backs of their necks which connect to their nervous system, making them unbeatable in one on one combat. They're stronger than us and on top of that feel no pain, but the implants mean that they burn out and die within a year. The man who was in charge of these soldiers wanted to make me mummy to the next generation to prolong the effects. Surprisingly I had a bit of a problem with that, I nearly got my ass handed to me, but I made it out alive. I hoped that would be the last of it, but they came back and this time kidnapped OC. I knew I couldn't take them, and that I didn't have any hope of saving her, so I did what I had to do. I put an implant in my head. 'Cause of my superior genetics, the process was kind of speeded up and I started bleeding from the eyes immediately. But I managed to kick ass, and Cindy and Logan gave me a massive electric shock to the head, which saved me. And here I am today, with a nice metal insect in my brain, but hey nobody's perfect"
"Except you" he responded absentmindedly
Throughout this outburst Alec had been shocked, mainly because, despite his time on the outside, he had always kind of assumed the 09ers must have had a really easy life while the rest of them were going through hell back at Manticore. But also because the idea of Max being scared, Max being in trouble, for whatever reason just didn't sit well with him. And the fact that she had nearly died, made him want to go and find whatever was left of these soldiers and tear them limb from limb. But, he thought with a grin, it sounded like Max had done a pretty good job of that herself.
"Although" she continued unaware of his thoughts "something good did come out of it, it meant I had to tell my home girl the truth about me. And not a day goes by when I'm not grateful for that"
For a long time they just sat in silence, Max was wondering, whether, if she asked, Alec would tell her what had happened in Manticore after she and her unit had left. Alec was wondering if he should press for more details of her life on the outside, although he would never admit it he was more than intrigued. Both of them eventually decided not to risk rocking the boat of friendship they now found themselves in, and so there they sat, leaning against the sofa, shoulders touching, in comfortable silence.
"Alec, was that you?" Max accused with a wrinkled nose.
"The one who smelt it dealt it" Alec returned with an injured look
"The one who said the rhyme did the crime" Max shot back, as she stuck her tongue out.
Alec quickly realised he had nothing to return to that, and so lunged at Max sending them both rolling around on the floor, both of them in fits of giggles within seconds, both completely oblivious to how much they resembled some kittens playing with a ball of string.
Max suddenly felt a familiar and unwelcome ache in her bones, and sobered up in a second. She pushed a bewildered Alec off of her and without looking back, headed to his door muttering that she had to go, and would talk to him later.
Alec called after her, but she was already out the door.
"That girl is majorly hot but SO weird" Alec said to himself as he shut the door.
Max felt a tremor rise up in her hand and clenched her fist brutally as she hurried home; she needed to make it back, and quickly. Damn Manticore, they couldn't just give me this one little thing, they couldn't just cure my seizures, oh no, they just made it so I thought they had and so I'm not carrying around tryptofan. Perfect.
She made it halfway back to her apartment before she doubled over in pain as the shakes wracked through her body. She heard someone come up behind her and painfully pulled herself up to a standing position to assess the threat.
"Hey lady, hand over your wallet" A guy with a tattoo on his arm said to her as he pointed a gun at her head. He was backed up by two guys, flanking him on either side.
"Come on, hurry up, or I will kill you"
"Boys, you picked the wrong girl to try and mug, and just for the record, I hate it when people point guns at me, you will pay for that" Max returned, defiance and a little amusement oozing form her every pore.
Tattoo was more than a little shocked at this but quickly covered it up by advancing on her.
As soon as he got within reach of Max, she spun to execute a roundhouse kick that would knock the gun out of his hands. But just at that moment another seizure knocked her to the ground. Tattoo wasted no time to hold her down on the ground, gun now pressed to her temple.
"Oh yeah, darlin' you really showed us huh"
Ahh shit Max thought.
Thank you so much to my fantastic reviewers: gamegirl452; JG; Chance32; Calistra; Caboodle; Nica; Alana84; Iridescent Twilight; angelofdarkness78; Alec'sAngel494; honey X5-452; Chicita; Original Proxy; Angelkougaeri; Screamingheathen69; Natasqi; Latinapotterfan; cherrygirl1987 and rolli.
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