Chapter 13
CIA HQ, Langley
A very quiet and long ride back to Langley, along with her Director saw Veronica back in her office without a word. There was no reprimand but there wasn't a hint of praise either. She wanted to argue the fact that without her help, the CDC wouldn't have found a cure as quickly as they did and a lot more lives would have been lost. She wanted to point out that without her, and the transgenics' help, the NSA wouldn't have their hands on the list of government conspirators, and those responsible for the outbreak. But from the dark expression on his face, she'd kept her mouth shut.
When Harry poked his head in her office around lunchtime, he was a welcome distraction from the internal battle she'd launched in her head over her future with the agency. "There's a lady on two, says she desperately needs to speak to you."
Picking up the handset, Veronica pressed the flashing light, and answered the call. "Veronica Walter speaking."
"I know this will sound strange to you, and you might strike me off as an eccentric but I just couldn't sit idle when I saw you and heard you on television."
Veronica smiled and relaxed in her chair. The woman sounded breathless and excited. A reaction like that could only be positive and she could do with a dose of positive reinforcement right now. "In my line of work, ma'am, I like to keep an open mind."
"My name is Hannah Sukova, and I live in Cottonwood, California but years ago I worked in Gillette, Wyoming. I believe you're familiar with a project that went on there."
A chill raced down her spine, and Veronica sat straighter in her chair. One minute the line seemed a little distant, soft, but the next words she heard were clear enough that she could have sworn the woman was sitting right next to her.
"I knew your sister."
Her breath caught in her throat and try as she might, she couldn't get her tongue to form any words. Tears blurred her vision and she brought her fingers to her lips. "You… you knew Susie?"
"I saw you on the telecast and it was like seeing a vision of her. I saw her eyes and…I'm so sorry about what happened to her."
With all the years that had gone by, Veronica was over trying to blame herself and everyone else for what happened to Susie. The thing that bothered her most was the girl that was out there somewhere. The child that had been born believing that she was created to be a soldier and nothing else - a child that had been brought up without love. She wanted her to know desperately, that someone had loved her. Loved her so much that it had cost her, her life. She could hear the pain and guilt in the woman's voice and her heart went out to her. She would have a carried that burden of a nameless girl for so many years. "You knew her…did you see… Did you see her daughter?"
"About two years ago in Seattle, she helped me get away from people who were still involved with Project Manticore. It was still active back then. She's about twenty, dark hair, very beautiful. Her name is Max. I wish I knew how to find her," Hannah confessed brokenly.
Veronica wiped away a tear that had slipped down her cheek. "You've given me more than I ever hoped for," she said gratefully. "I can't thank you enough." The next call she made after leaving Hannah, was the most nerve wrecking of her life.
Terminal City
That afternoon, Max lazily rolled to her side and watched her two angels sleeping. Alec had gone out with Biggs to the flea markets to see what they could find in the way of second-hand baby furniture, so far they'd been using two armchairs lashed together as a baby crib. There was a knock on the apartment door, and Max called out from the bedroom. "Who is it?"
"Joshua," came the muffled reply.
"In here Joshua. The kids are sleeping." She could have bolstered them with pillows and blankets and gone to greet him, but she felt too comfortable to move.
Joshua opened the door, and started dragging through the first box with him. Hearing more noise than she expected, Max fluffed pillows, put them next to the babies and went to investigate. Joshua had pulled two more boxes through by the time she came out to the living area.
"Joshua, where did all this come from?" Max said her eyes widening as she read the labels on the boxes. There were two self-assembly cribs kits, a change table, a tall boy dresser, a handcrafted toy chest, and Joshua was still pulling in more boxes from the hallway.
"A truck came twenty minutes ago. Delivery for Max Guevara." He handed her a small parcel that had her name on it.
Tearing off the brown paper, she found a carefully padded jewelry music box inside. As she lifted the lid, it started to play a beautiful tune. Inside the box was an envelope and a small case. She opened the letter first.
Dear Max,
To find out who you are after so many years, words just aren't enough to describe how I feel. If Susie could just see you, I get teary just thinking about it. Before I swamp you with everything I want to say to you, I better introduce myself. My name is Veronica Walter, and I believe that my twin sister, Susan Walter was your mother. After I gave the press conference on behalf of the CDC and at the request of President Glassner, I got a phone call from a lady you might remember, Hannah Sukova. She recognized me and told me all about you. I had no idea where to find you, but I had a feeling my best shot would be Logan. After all his involvement in Seattle with the transgenics in Terminal City I thought he might know how to find you.
It took a lot of self-restraint not to jump on the first flight I could get, but I realized that I should respect your wishes if you didn't care to remember anything about your past. I took the liberty of sending you a few things. Congratulations on the birth of your twins – something Logan told me. Feel free to kill the messenger. Just kidding, he's a good friend and I'd hate to lose him. Please accept the gifts and understand that it's not charity. You're my only niece, and I have to spoil you on behalf of Susie too. Please believe me when I tell you that she loved you so much. And I'm sure she watches over you every day.
From what I've heard of you, and the things you've done for others, she would be so proud of the woman you've become.
The music box was Susie's. It plays the tune Somewhere Over The Rainbow, and once belonged to our grandmother. Inside the little blue box is something Susie made for you before you were born. It took me forever to find it, but it was the last thing she kept with her till the day she died.
I'd love for us to meet someday, but I'll leave that open for you to decide.
Lots of love,
Ronnie.
Max opened the blue box, and inside was a tiny pink star. It was faded and seemed to be made up of fold upon fold of thin plastic. It was made with loving care. Her mother wouldn't have had access to much at Manticore, yet she'd managed to make something for her unborn child. Max clasped the star in her palm and brought her fist to her lips. Tears blurred her vision and she felt Joshua pull her into a hug. She hugged him back burying her face in his chest.
"She found me, Joshua," Max choked out through her tears.
Joshua rubbed her back and grinned into her hair. "Logan said you would like the surprise."
Max pulled back and looked at him with mock outrage. "You knew? Does everyone know?"
Joshua nodded. "Veronica called yesterday. You sent Alec out this morning to shop, but he promised not to tell. He will be back soon."
Max hit him playfully and glared at him. "He is so dead."
Alec and Max's apartment, Terminal City, A few weeks later
As he searched for the stone, Alec thought of how he would set it once he found it. A ring was the traditional type of presentation for a declaration of love, but too impractical. A friend had once described getting his ring finger caught on a chain and almost having his whole hand crushed in an industrial roller. He said he never wore his wedding ring to work again.
And in a fight, despite the damage you might do to a person's face, he imagined you'd probably break more of your own fingers if you had a ring on, especially with the rock the size it was. Or the stone might fall out. No, scratch the ring idea.
What about a necklace with a fine gold chain that complemented her perfect olive skin tone. The heart-shaped ruby resting just beneath her collar bone, nestled just between the valley of her full soft breasts...
He sucked in a deep breath. "Task at hand Alec, focus." He clenched his fists in a bid to quell the feeling that had settled into his nerve endings as he envisioned the feel of her resting against his palms. If he kept this up, he wouldn't make it though the rest of the day without dragging her to bed. He promised himself to take things slow. They'd already jumped the gun and started out on the wrong foot. They'd never even had an official date. But damn it, she just had to give him that look and all his promises were forgotten.
It was her fault. She was playing on his weaknesses. Up until late last week he'd been able to keep up his pledge of not touching her in that way, and she certainly hadn't made it easy on him. Every time their kissing got too intense, he managed to detour through the shower and cool off. But on Thursday last week she'd coyly, left him watching cartoons on the couch in the afternoon while she checked on the kids. Only she hadn't really been checking on them, she'd been putting on a gob-smacking outfit that was designed to provoke a dead man and one action alone. Okay, so he only had one weakness and she was it. Manticore might have created her to be beautiful, but it was the person inside that appealed to him most; her sharp wit, her coy smile, her intelligence, the fiery determination that backed her every move, her independence and her unbreakable spirit that drove him crazy, but it was also what he loved most about her. She wouldn't bend her will for anyone, except maybe their twins, who seemed to know just how to meld her around their small baby fingers.
He did have one over her on occasion though, usually in the bedroom. He smiled at the thought. He had always had that sneaking suspicion that beneath that cool and controlled exterior lay a tigress waiting to be unleashed.
Thinking back to the night they'd planned to steal that rare Star Wars collector's edition, he couldn't believe the lengths she had gone to without ever even sleeping with Logan. Although her situation at the time frustrated him to no end, he'd also been secretly pleased. All sorts of wild fantasies had popped into his head about propositioning her, and showing her a good time. What she was missing. Just a fling, no strings attached. Heck, she had to be craving something? How long could a woman go without sex? She'd been in Manticore three months and nothing had happened then. She and Logan had known each other at least a year before that. The thought of no action in that long had made his head spin.
He was glad though that he kept his mouth shut on the subject. A fling would never have been enough. Even though he would rather they had time to themselves before the kids had come along, he wouldn't have it any other way. He had two gorgeous kids, and a woman that most guys could only dream about. And he was going to make it up to her now. "Okay so necklace is a little too suggestive." If he was picturing her naked just thinking about it, imagine if he saw her wearing it everyday. He'd never get anything done.
What else was there? Earrings? No, he had only one stone, and there was no way he was cutting it. The risk was big enough as it was, his 'borrowing' it without her permission. If he altered it, halved it or damaged it in any way, all good intentions would be lost with her most likely wanting to maim him very slowly.
He opened the trunk in the corner. It was full of books and soft toys, no joy there. He went to her desk, that was scattered with bits of paper; daily notes of household stuff, feeding rotations, and diaper changes. Alec could see his name in bold and underlined several times as having Wednesdays and Saturdays. He chuckled to himself when he read something in small print underneath that read, "No chore time, no play time."
Well as the saying went, no pain, no gain right? If there was a down-side to having super-heightened senses, it was changing stomach-curdling, radioactive diapers. He had to hold his breath and change them at blur-speed just to avoid gagging. But to be fair, she did only give him two days of the week. She had graciously taken the other five, for which he was sincerely grateful. Just another reason why she was a rarity and worth impressing in his book.
Over the past couple of weeks he had done everything he could to show her that he loved her. He even told her every morning as she woke up and every night when they put the twins to bed. She didn't say it as often, but he knew that when she did, she meant it. She was a woman of few words, his one and only. So when she did have something to say, you'd better stand up and take notice 'cause she wouldn't say it again.
"Come on Max, where'd you hide it?" Alec said in frustration.
Where was the one place most people dreaded to look, let alone clean? A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. He went to the bathroom, and lifted the porcelain lid on the water tank. There at the bottom of the tank - tied around the float mount was a little white bag. Fishing it out, and opening the tie, he shook the contents into his hand. A little wrapped bundle fell out, and as he flicked back the folds of material, he grinned in triumph.
"Gotcha," he exclaimed. At that moment, a wail reverberated off the walls of the small apartment, and Alec sighed. Rinsing the stone quickly in the sink, he shoved it in his jeans pocket and went to check on his son.
"You're lucky you still can't talk yet, or I'd explain to you how ineffective tears are," Alec chided playfully. "Well, maybe not on your mother...at least for a little while longer," he said with a wink. Then he caught wind of the reason behind his son's cry this time around, and turned a ghostly shade of gray.
Taking a few steps back, he took in a gulp of untainted air, and moved back to the playpen. Three seconds later he had the lethal material, bagged and disposed. Collecting the now coo-ing and grinning baby from the changing table, he mopped the sweat from his brow and managed a smile in return.
"Remind me to check just what your mom's feeding you. With bombs like that, you gotta be on more than a liquid diet."
Jesse clapped and chuckled. Alec tried not to laugh. "Yeah I'd be happy to if I just got rid of something like that stuck to my butt too." He stuck out his tongue at the baby. Jesse mimicked him, and Alec's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, we are so gonna have fun now." He just had to be careful what kinds of expressions he taught his son, or Max might box his ears.
"But if you won't tell..." Alec warned.
Later that night
Max struggled to keep a straight face, her arms outstretched in front of her. One of her hands grasped Alec's, and she stopped walking for a moment, planting her feet. "Okay, I think we've walked far enough. Tell me already."
"No, it's a secret. I promised Biggs I wouldn't reveal the location to anyone, so you're not looking till we get there."
Sighing vocally, Max stomped her foot but let him continue leading her. With the children down for the evening and safely under Joshua's watchful eye, Alec had surprised her with a night out. Their first date, he called it. She'd laughed. Two kids, they were living together and sharing a bed. "A bit late for that, don't you think?" she remembered saying.
He'd given her a serious look in response and told her that it was never too late to indulge the woman he loved. "Tonight's just you and me," he said.
Max closed her eyes again under the blindfold. She'd given up trying to peek. He'd managed to effectively block out her sight without messing her hair, which was piled in an elaborate fashion, by the ever-talented OC atop her head for the occasion.
Despite her fussing, and her protests over not having anything suitably date worthy, that they wouldn't find a babysitter qualified to look after two lively transgenic babies, and that it wasn't safe to leave Terminal City, he'd met and over turned every argument she'd thrown at him.
A brand new, exquisitely feminine, chiffon knee-length dress was waiting for her on the bed when he'd urged her into the bedroom. "Just get dressed, I've taken care of everything else. Relax Max, OC said she'll be here in ten to help you get ready. I've put the water on the stove to warm the bottles, and we won't go till they're asleep."
"All right," she'd reluctantly agreed, all the while staring at the dress in silent assessment. She had only one other dress, the one Logan had brought for her. Every time she thought of how much it had cost him, she'd been really tempted to return it. He wouldn't have accepted the money though, and it would've only reminded them of things that they seemed to be doing well not dredging up. It would have been so much easier on them both if he had someone else in his life too. But as she was so often reminded, life wasn't always fair.
As sure as she was that she'd feel underdressed, and too exposed, her reflection in the mirror wasn't as foreign as she feared. Her legs could do with a tan but the sunflower-colored material fell in soft folds around her knees only added appeal to her toned calves and slender ankles. When she caught Alec's gaze on her, it sent shivers of satisfaction down her spine. She loved that he openly adored her body, but she loved more that it wasn't what he had proved he loved most.
"I love you Max. Yes, you're beautiful, and I'd be lying if I said that you weren't the sexiest woman I've ever met but it's how you make me feel...the person you are that impresses me the most. You care about every one, even the ones that don't deserve it. You've got a big heart, Max. And I'm so glad you never gave up on me."
Max remembered the night he'd said those words, and all the many times since he kept reminding her of those same feelings. It was the night he came back to her after facing White in D.C. When he'd first come back, after all those months of being gone and she'd woken up to discover him gone, she'd been hurt and angry. She had thought he'd abandoned her again, and just after she had begged him to stay. She thought he'd promised... he had tried not to hurt her, wanted to protect her and in the end it had almost cost them everything.
She shook her head, burying the bittersweet memory for now. They were safe. White was gone and transgenic hunt was over. She would enjoy tonight. Who knew when they'd next get a chance to go out like this?
"We're here," Alec announced, leading her up a step and closing a door behind her.
Everything brightened, as he removed blindfold. Max blinked taking in the room. Dozens of candles lined the floor and windowsills. And in the center of the room under a canopy of gauze and fairy lights was a dining table set for two.
"When did you even get time to..."
Alec grinned sheepishly. "Bribery works miracles, and well the candles - Biggs had them here already. Come on, my lady, dinner awaits." He ushered her to the table and pulled out her chair. When he had her seated, he rounded the table to his side and sat down.
Before she could ask just how he planned on serving dinner, an X7 appeared in serving attire, bearing trays.
"Avocado and Salmon sushi is your entree for this evening, ma'am. Would you like some wine with your meal?" Zed, asked politely.
Max recognized her as one of the girl's that Dalton often hung out with at the pool hall. She smiled at her, and took her hands away from the table so she could put down the plate. "A glass would be nice, thanks." She shot a veiled piercing glance at Alec. After their waitress was out of earshot, she whispered, "How am I supposed to look at her tomorrow?"
"The same way you always do," Alec answered with a chuckle. "We're two adults, just enjoying a quiet dinner together. What's so scandalous about that?"
Zed came back with an ice bucket and a bottle of expensive wine. Max raised an eyebrow at the label, and Alec shrugged. "A friend of a friend."
She took a bite of her sushi roll. No points for guessing who that friend was. "So even with Jesse in tow, you managed to pull this together right under my nose."
Alec polished off his entrée in two bites, he washed it down with a gulp of wine and grinned. "You were conveniently tied up."
"Dix having to run me through all the new security protocols and CeCe and Gem desperately needing a time out from TC, were all a diversion?"
Nodding with a self-satisfied grin, Alec took another sip from his glass. "Worked out nicely don't you think?"
Max wrinkled her nose. So he was a sneaky transgenic, and a particularly good one too. She'd have to keep a close eye on him. She didn't want their kids picking up any bad habits.
When they were done, Zed cleared their dishes and a reappeared a few minutes later with main course. "Cheese and herb stuffed Kiev chicken breast, and steamed vegetables. Enjoy."
Max felt her stomach rumble as the smell of oven-roasted chicken reached her nose. "I've been dying for chicken." She picked up her fork and knife and cut into the fillet, her mouth watering in anticipation.
Alec rolled his eyes. "And you've only mentioned it every day for the past week. I thought only pregnant women have cravings."
Her mouth full, Max shot him a dirty look. "Making up for lost time. I didn't have anyone but me to answer those before," she reminded him between chews.
Alec had been waiting for that retort, and didn't fuel a possible argument by taking the bait. He'd realized how hard it must have been for her, and that's why this was the first of many ways he hoped to make it up to her. "Which is why I wanted to get it for you tonight." She lost that fiery glint in her eye at his remark and they continued the rest of their meal in a comfortable silence. "Do you want to hold desert for a bit?"
Max nodded putting a hand over her stomach. "There's dessert?" She sagged in her chair. "I don't think I can still fit in this dress if I eat anything else."
Alec rolled his eyes at her attempt at dragging out a compliment from him. He'd already told her how gorgeous she looked tonight. However, she could have worn a potato sack and still look hot to him. Another tendril of hair had fallen loose against her cheek, his fingers itched follow her fingers as she tucked it behind her ear. She has such smooth, delicate ears with lush delectable lobes.
"Dance with me." Alec stood and held out his hand to Max and when her fingers curled around his, he rounded the table and he drew her to him. She fit so well in his arms, his palm spanning her slender waist, and her height just right to have her rest against his shoulder.
The song started to play right on cue and the light, rhythmic beat forced her to move with an enthusiastic flare.
/Jesse McCartney - Beautiful Soul
lyrics belong to Hollywood Records
I know that you are something special
To you I'd be always faithful
I want to be what you always needed
Then I hope you'll see the heart in me/
Alec grinned down at her, pushed her away and spun her around. Pulling her back against him, he chuckled at her flushed expression. Her eyes sparkled mischievously and he turned her in his embrace, crossing their arms over her chest. They swayed like that for a few beats until her round bottom, rubbing against him, started to become too much to bear for his steadily awakening lower body.
/I don't want another pretty face
I don't want just anyone to hold
I don't want my love to go to waste
I want you and your beautiful soul/
Max tilted her head back to look up at him. She eyed him curiously. "I could'a sworn you were only after me for my body."
He leaned in and playfully bit her ear. "No, I want to eat you. I dressed you up like this cause it's the icing on the cake. We're having you for dessert."
Laughing, Max nearly lost a heel when he spun her and pulled her back again.
/You're the one I wanna chase
You're the one I wanna hold
I won't let another minute go to waste
I want you and your beautiful soul/
When the song ended, she grinned up at him. "I didn't know you could dance." Max smoothed his dinner jacket lapel and trailed her finger over the top of his barcode. She couldn't see it, but she'd touched it often enough to know exactly where it was on his neck. Stroking him there seemed to evoke the same reaction as similar response to touching him elsewhere that was highly sensitive.
Alec's throat tightened, along with his pants. He reached up and disengaged her arms from his neck. She gave him a disappointed pout, but resigned to let him intervene with her intentions for the moment.
"Much as I enjoy that, I want to show you something." Putting his hand inside his jacket, he withdrew a velvet box from his inner pocket and gave it to her.
Max held the slim case in her hand and her eyes traveling over it and then back up at her tight-lipped partner. It looked suspiciously like a jewelry case. "Alec, we can't afford..."
He gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to grunt in frustration. She was certainly the treasury guard of the relationship. He couldn't even buy 12-pack for the guys without her giving him a sideways look. He remembered arguing that Manticore engineered them to be light-fingered for a reason. They were never supposed to worry about money issues. His comment had earned him a disapproving glare. He hadn't used that line of speech again.
Rubbing her arms, Alec gave her a pleading look. "Just open it. Not everyday something like this is gonna happen I promise you, so let this one slide?"
Max inclined her head thoughtfully, and then gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Okay. Nobody's ever given me jewelry before."
Alec grinned and poked her ribs. "Who said it was jewelry?"
Sticking her tongue out at him, Max opened the case. The candlelight glistened off the gold chain inside and she stared breathless at his gift for a several long beats. In delicate stylized letters, the bracelet spelled out, 'M-A-X--Y-O-U--H-O-L-D--M-Y--' and there was her heart shaped ruby. The complete message read, "Max, you hold my heart."
It was stone he'd found and given her all those months ago. She hadn't even realized it had been missing. To say that she had forgotten about it couldn't be further from the truth. It's just with having him back, she hadn't even thought about it. Before the children were born it was the only tangible thing that was uniquely theirs. Something of Alec's that she'd been able to hang onto. Many a night she'd fallen asleep thinking of him, whilst holding it in her hand.
"If you think it's too corny, or you'd rather something else..." Alec studied her with uncertainty. She wasn't exactly beaming. In fact she looked slightly stunned.
"No, no," Max protested quickly. "It's perfect, I just-" Tears welled up in her eyes and she threw her arms around his neck. "I love you Alec," she said huskily, her voice breaking.
Alec hugged her tightly, thoroughly relieved that she liked the bracelet. He'd spent all day in Chinatown with Jesse strapped to his chest, getting it made. He almost didn't make it home in time to hide it before she came back. Come to think of it, he was pretty pleased with himself over how the night had gone.
Max was a highly curious individual and she was remarkably intuitive. She could usually sense if someone was scheming, and had countless ways of extracting the truth from them. He'd been on the receiving end of her expert hand a few times before.
The next track on the stereo began to play, and Alec whispered in her ear, leaning down to put the bracelet on her wrist. "This probably sounds really dumb, but I heard about a tradition that ordinaries have, when a couple starts dating they have a song. We don't have to have one, but I wanted you to hear this one, because reminds me of how I feel about you."
As the words began, Max leaned into his shoulder and closed her eyes. They danced slowly, moving in time with the softer melody.
/Ronan Keating - If Tomorrow Never Comes
lyrics belong to Universal
'Cos I've lost loved ones in my life,
Who never knew how much I loved them.
Now I live with no regret,
The natural feelings for them
Never will reveal/
Max thought the lyrics were as meaningful for her as they were for Alec. She'd never been able to tell Tinga or Jondy, or even Zack how much they meant to her. Jondy, she might never meet again and that made her hurt inside. She'd often wondered if she would have survived in Manticore for as long as shehad without Jondy. They covered for each other's weaknesses, kept each other company at night when everyone else needed to sleep...
/So I made a promise to myself
Say each day how much she means to me
And avoid that circumstance
Where there's no second chance
Tell her how I feel
If tomorrow never comes
Will she know how much I loved her
Did I try in every way
To show her everyday
She's my only one/
Alec pulled her closer and bent his head, resting his cheek against her hair. He hoped that she knew it every moment of every day that he loved her. And that with everything he did, she would see that he would never leave her. They'd wasted enough time apart. He didn't care what he had to do; he would make sure she never had to go through anything alone again.
The song ended and for the longest time they just stayed swaying together, their hearts beating rhythmically against each other.
"Marry me, Alec." Where in the heck did that thought come from, and why the hell had she said it aloud? Max swallowed and stared at a spot on Alec's shirt. She remembered the time when Logan had asked her to his cousin's wedding. The look on Marianne's face as she walked down the aisle – she'd looked terrified. Right now that's exactly how she felt. He hasn't said anything because you've just scared him out of his mind. Damn it Max. This is Alec. As much as he says he loves you and as good as he is with the kids, he's not the marrying kinda guy. He's a free spirit and so are you. Do you really want to get tied down? And why go through the ceremony and all that expense only to have it all fall apart later? Remember public humiliation etc…and how can you promise to love someone forever…
She said it so softly that Alec thought she might not have said it at all. But when she stiffened slightly in his arms, he realized she had, and that his lack of response had made her doubt the feelings that had prompted her words. "Are you sure Max?" he asked just as quietly.
Max looked up at him, quickly masking the hurt that she knew she would have betrayed in her eyes. You said it because you know there's no one else that can make you feel as free as a bird yet grounded and safe at the same time. Someone who you know would give up their own life to save yours in a heartbeat because they love you more than anything else. And it's because you love him like that you're not afraid of forever… Why she tried to hide her feelings? She didn't know. Maybe it was a reflex she'd developed as a result of her upbringing, shielding herself from further embarrassment or ridicule. It didn't matter though. She'd learned that Alec read her easily enough whether she hid her feelings or not.
He gave her his best disarming smile and kissed her, telling her with his eyes and his touch that he cherished her more than anything. "I want you to be sure Max, 'cause once you say I do there's no getting rid of me," he said lightly teasing.
Max shoved him back in annoyance, smirking at the same time. "You really push it some times," she declared levelly.
"But the real test it knowing not to cross the line. I like to live dangerously or it'd take the fun out of being alive," he said with a wicked smile. "So how do we do this?" he asked seriously. "I mean we can't really rock up to the local judge and ask him to marry us."
"No," Max conceded. "But I have something in mind. It's my turn for me to know and you to find out," she said pushing a finger to his chest.
Alec raised an eyebrow. "Just so long as I don't end up wearing white." He cringed at the mental picture. White tailcoat, white shirt, white bow tie that cut off all blood flow to his head so he blended with the rest of his suit. No thank you.
Max crinkled her nose in disgust. "You know I have better taste than that."
Narrowing his eyes at her suspiciously, he studied her for a minute. "Just making sure..." he said hesitantly. "What ticks over in that beautiful head of yours is sometimes a little scary."
Max stuck out her tongue and pouted, causing Alec to muse over a devious thought. "So that's where he got that from."
"Where who got what from?" Max asked with a frown.
"It was you teaching him that dirty habit," Alec said with a stern look. "Do you know how many germs not to mention toxins are floating around in the air around here? I know our kids are probably immune but...owww. What was that for?" Alec frowned, rubbing the spot where she'd pinched his arm.
"I did not teach them that," she said indignantly, folding her arms across her chest.
Alec's eyes widened. "She does it too?" he queried in surprise. He watched Max fluster over her verbal slip up and he couldn't keep up the act any longer, he burst out laughing.
A twitch caught the corner of her mouth and soon she couldn't stop the giggles from escaping. "Okay I confess," she said trying to catch her breath after Alec's infectious laughter got the better of her. "But I swear I didn't do it to Jesse. I only noticed Tia doing it today."
Alec held up his hand in surrender. "Guilty."
"You self-righteous- You were just- argh you're so..." She resisted the urge to hit him again. That got old quick, and it reminded her that she did have an aggression problem. Something her lovely man pointed out a long time ago. And just because she could kick his ass didn't mean that she should. "You really love baiting me don't you," she said with a resigned groan.
"If it wasn't so much fun, I'd try not to-" At her questioning look he admitted, "Okay maybe just not as much."
Notes: Big thank yous to tabitha5, acirefox and Sie for the betas. calistra, more to come yet. ontheDL, thank you for your supportive feedback, I'm glad you're enjoying the characterizations. I work hard to make them believable and faithful to the show. Synthera & L80bug, hope you liked this too.