Disclaimer
Chapter Seven
"See Max? It isn't that bad is it?" Max sulked, her arms crossed over her chest as she looked with eyes of fire to the smirking blonde that sat opposite her. Eyes sparkling at her in amusement didn't do anything to dissolve the unvoiced threats in her flaming irises.
No reply came from her lips and Alec rolled his eyes, "Oh you can't possibly still be bitter on exactly how I got you into this bathtub!"
When all she did was sink further into the water and glower some more Alec burst into laughter, "Get over it Max. You're acting like I pinned you to the bed, ripped your clothes off you and dragged you kicking and screaming bare naked into the bathtub we are now enjoying."
"Shut up," she hissed quietly at him, "I don't want to hear another peep."
Biting his lip to control his bubbling laughter Alec tried to keep a straight face failing miserably and finally giving in to the temptation he erupted into fits of laughter, "You should have seen your face. It was classic."
"Alec which part of 'shut up' are you having difficulty comprehending?" she ground through her teeth, "Oh give it a rest. You're fine, you're bra is fine and you gained a new swimsuit."
"Aaarrgh!" she screamed in frustration at him and getting up quickly she went to jump out forgetting that skin on porcelain when water is involved tends to be slippery. Her feet shot out from under her as she banged her knee against the side and fell backwards, water splashing out of the tub and soaking the floor.
Coming up spluttering she wiped the plastered strands of hair off her forehead angrily, "Didn't you specifically say you didn't want to get your hair wet?" Alec commented. The glare he received for his troubles however could have powdered an elephant on the spot and left nothing but one dust particle as its remains.
Swallowing his next comment he merely smiled innocently and watched her carefully step out of the Jacuzzi and slamming the door behind her on the way out, "Sheesh talk about PHS."
A loud yell came from beyond the door startling him, "I heard that jackass and it's PMS by the way," regaining his composure Alec chuckled, "No it isn't my sweet. You don't get menstruation you have a heat cycle."
Burying his laughter Alec closed his eyes and relaxed further into the tub, her muttered reply echoing in his mind, "Asshole."
Max angrily wrapped a robe around herself as she ground her teeth thinking of every way possible that she might get revenge on the laughing blonde that was still cackling on the other side of the door she'd just slammed. Aaaarrgh the nerve of that guy! she exclaimed inside her own head violently opening the wardrobe and rifling through it.
"Cut him some slack. He is still a boy no matter his age… or genetic make up," croaked a familiar voice but Max jumped nonetheless, surprise plastered all over her features.
Turning she came face to face with a smile more wrinkled than she remembered but just as contagious as the last time she'd seen it. Alden cleared his throat and straightened up under her gaze, "He knows you're here child, he's looking forward to seeing you."
"Yeah well the feelings aint returned. He's the last person in the world I ever want to see," she muttered turning her back to him and looking through her clothing once again, between the same two shirts repeatedly and acting like she had thousands of items to choose from.
A slight, "Hmmm," halted her actions and she caught Alden's gaze again becoming for a second the child she'd been for a while under his care all those years ago before she put up her well practiced front and cleared her eyes of any emotion, "But that wont stop you one little bit from milking him for all he's worth wont it Maxie? Your limo is here."
Looking at his retreating back she sighed jumping in surprise when a hand touched her shoulder. With a strangled yelp she spun catching Alec's confused green eyes trying to suppress his amusement, "You okay Max?"
Noting his half clothed body she swallowed flicking her eyes away from his still wet torso instead to catch his eyes once again, "I'm fine. Finish getting ready we're going shopping."
*******
"Shopping? Why shopping?" Alec complained trailing along behind Max through the lobby, "We've only just gotten here. Why do I have to be tortured?" he continued overdramatically, hands buried deep in his pockets sulking along.
His still wet hair stuck up this way and that making him seem even more like the pouting little boy. The navy shirt clung to his skin doing anything but conceal the solid muscle beneath. He didn't have his jacket with him but there was no need for it. Vegas was hot and his barcode had been lazered off along with Max's just before leaving Seattle.
Max still slightly in her own thoughts brought herself out of her inner musings of the man she didn't want to see again and focussed them on the winging X5 next to her.
Alec silently appraised her, the fitted cargoes and body-hugging blue top no doubt covering her favourite red tank top she'd worn most of the car ride, "What's wrong with the clothes you have now? We don't need anymore."
"You only know half the plan. I need slightly more… formal wear I guess you could say. Plus I feel like a shopping spree okay? I'll buy you stuff too, now get your ass into gear," she replied hooking her arm with his and making Alec pick up his pace.
When they got to the huge mall Alec was still smiling to himself. Max's arm was still hooked with his as they walked inside the glass doors, both releasing a sigh of relief at the cooler temperature that chilled their heated skin.
"Anything you have in mind?" he asked, the grudging tone partly lifting from his voice as he looked around.
Pulling out a credit card she grinned, "Yup."
"Hey where did you get that? Do I get one too?" his eyes widened, lips forming a charming grin eyeing the small bit of plastic in mischievousness only he could pull off as amiable.
A chuckle fluttered into the air as she held it out of his reach, "No I hold the card, you simply point to what you want. Question is, are you in the mood to help me spend, four-hundred- and-ninety-thousand dollars?"
"I thought this whole trip was to save Jampony. You know earn money that Normal lost... any of this ringing a bell?" he said confused, waving his arms around as if the fresh air wafted into her face might bring her to her senses.
"Yes but to make money you have to spend money. And also kick a little ass on the way," she replied cryptically, "And since when has spending money ever been a problem for you?"
Biting back a laugh she watched him hold up his hands in resign. A lazy grin caught his lips, irking them upwards, "Well… you got me there," he replied hooking his arm with hers this time and dragging her still laughing further into the mall.
Hours later.
Alec had had enough. There was only so much shopping a man could take even with an almost unlimited supply of cash. There was a time for drawing lines and saying stop and Alec was drawing. He was definitely drawing.
Ruffling of paper and swishing of bags was the only thing he could hear. So loudly in fact it nearly drowned out the noises of the busy shops and attractions. It also did not help that he could barely see past the parcels, packets, bags and boxes. Despite his superhuman strength he strained beneath their weight having held them for the past 3 hours.
Max dragged him around, no sign of stopping leaving him to grudgingly try to follow her. The novelty of having her buy for him everything he ever wanted had ended quite quickly. As soon as he couldn't see what she was buying him in fact.
"Max please I want to go home," the X5 moaned from exhaustion balancing his load carefully, "Can this nightmare please end?" he over dramatized.
She bit her cheek to keep from laughing at his tone and nodded forgetting the gesture was lost on her nearly blind companion, "Don't worry pookie I'm done. For today," she added grinning on the end.
"Pookie?" was the only reply she received as she led him outside back towards their hotel.
Another laugh echoed, "Yes pookie now come on."
****
The aching X5 lay collapsed on the bed. The items he'd previously discarded some 45 minutes before forgotten on the ground in the exact placed he'd dropped them simultaneously. And as he waited for Max vacate the bathroom so he could have his own shower his mind wistfully flitted upon his suspicions. Max's almost impossible good spirits to begin with, her smiles and laughter, not that he was complaining. It was nice, she was nice but the innovation was almost enough to make him want the other Max back.
The one who whined and moped and hit him repeatedly treating him like vermin. Okay maybe without the last part he thought to himself.
Then there was her sudden mood hitch about her virginity. Sure it must not have been a memory to treasure but her sudden harshness and return of violence was doubtful, not to mention her sudden forgetfulness of a man she was supposedly in love with.
Logan thought her and Alec were an item and from they way he acted he'd let her go but Max knew the truth. For someone so deeply in love with a man, enough to send him away for his own good, she seemed remarkably cheerful.
Her idea of this wild goose chase was also another, the scams, the cons. Miss only-stealing-from-the-bad-guys herself suddenly advocating all types of larceny. That was probably the only thing he could understand. An X5 is after all an X5. You cannot tame them or housebreak them. She may have stopped for the good of robo-boy but he had no doubt that she'd missed the life.
And then there was the hotel manager not to mention the whole secrecy over what the scam they were going to pull off here in Vegas. There was something about Alden or whatever that man was called that irked him. As if him and Max already knew each other.
Too tired to even think anymore Alec let it go for the time being, groaning instead at the stiffness of his muscles. It was at times like these that he pitied the ordinaries. He was in pain and he was genetically enhanced. He could only imagine the hurting, husbands, boyfriends, and the male population in general suffered on account of these sprees.
Dusk was settling over the city of lights in a beautiful myriad of a spectacle just for him as he watched the world outside through the huge glass windows that exposed the city to him.
The bed shifted slightly and he trained his ears, not bothering to look who it was, knowing by instinct that it could only be Max. Alec felt her crawl all the way up the bed, avoiding contact with his body until she hovered above him. He couldn't feel the strands of her hair brushing against his neck, and at this proximity he should have been able to.
Tensing his back he paused for a split second, questioning his senses, inhaling the air once again. The scent of cherry lip-gloss and baby oil hit his nose. It was Max. Slapping himself mentally he realised she must have put her hair up and he turned.
The sight that hovered above him was something else entirely.
Max watched his eyes widen in shock and then squint in perusal at her as he studied her intensely as if expecting to see someone else.
Her hands propped her up either side of his head, and her knees did much the same astride his hips as she grinned jovially at him, "What do you think?"
Her words registered in his brain and a smile caught his lips, "Looks good Max. Why did ya cut it though?" he asked in curiosity. She still floated above him, the most mischievous of looks upon her face, playful and amused.
Shrugging her shoulders she tilted her head as if pondering, never breaking eye contact with the man beneath her looking up, "Well I had split ends and I got bored of dead straight length. Looked too dreary. So I thought I'd go back to my old look."
"Looks good. Makes you more fun, not so weary. I like it. You lose part of the bitch factor though," he joked flinching awaiting the slap but instead received a laugh.
A smile mirrored her wide grin but he squinted again in suspicion as the impish flame flickered hotter, "Well we can't have that now can we?"
Last thing he saw was plump fabric before a pillow collided with his face echoed by another. Like any self-respecting transgenic however Alec wasn't gonna go down without a fight. Flipping her off him he scrounged for a weapon of his own firming his hands upon a cushion.
Swinging it like Conan the warrior would his sword he beat off her attacks. Her eyes widened in panic as Alec's flung her pillow away and she froze. An evil grin spread across his features and a raised eyebrow mocked her.
In a split second she took off running round the bed and at full speed towards the living room. Flying over the couch she'd almost made it when jumping right behind her Alec tackled her to the ground. Holding her head to his chest in protection they rolled with momentum stopping finally near the entrance.
Not wasting a second Alec attacked; all Max could do was shriek at his relentless attacks. He laughed like a kid on Christmas joining her as his blows eased out weakened by his loud mirth.
"Ahem."
The two trangenics froze. Alec still on top looked at Max noticing her sudden wide brown eyes.
Black shoes and black pants. Polished black shoes and impeccably creased black pants.
Rising to his feet Alec hoisted Max up with him and looked at the man that stood at their doorway. In his early thirties he easily looked the part of the rich boy bully of the sandpit that was Vegas. Too much money and spoilt rotten.
Max's previous good mood was gone. Instead she was tense half beside him, half behind him as she stared at the man in what Alec could only describe as determination. A child facing the monster beneath her bed. A tortured soul facing one of its demons.
"Hello Max."