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Chapter Fourteen

"Alec y …"

The sharp ringing of her phone cut her off. And confused at first, halted wondering how the little device could have survived the dive. It rang again and snapping out of her musings she managed to pull it out of her pocket and answer the shrilling apparatus.

"Hello?"

"Max? Where in god's name are you?!"

"Cindy this isn't a good time," Max sighed putting her mobile between her shoulder and ear and shakings Alec's face gently side to side by his cheeks.

"ISN"T a GOOD time?!?"

Max was pretty sure that was what she'd just said, "You disappear overnight with only a note, you don't call, you don't even text Original Cindy! Dogboy don't know where you are, Logan don't know where you are, Alec is with you wherever the hell that might be…" Cindy's tone was rising with each word and Max cringed as she continued to listen, "Five tonnes of packages arrive at Terminal City along with your NEW mobile number, Original Cindy call's you AND IT ISN"T A GOOD TIME!"

"…" Max didn't reply; she wasn't exactly sure what to say.

"Listen boo, you trying to give this chica ulcers?"

"Cindy I'm sorry I haven't called, it's just things have been hectic and we just lost all track of time and…" Max began to apologise but Cindy interrupted, "Woah woah woah there girl slow down… …are you sayin' what Original Cindy thinks you sayin' girl?!"

There was a pause as Max tried to think what her friend was thinking, "Depends on what you're thinking."

"Is this a lil love trip tween you and yo b…"

"God no!" the X5 spit out. 'Well it isn't,' her mind rationalised, 'its just turning out like that,' she thought before quickly trashing that notion, "I am not sleeping with Alec."

"Then what's this trip, I know you ain't seeing no brotha o' sista of yours cos Original Cindy knows her girl."

Biting her lip Max contemplated telling Cindy, and finally lost on what to do she blurted out, "I just kissed him five minutes ago and now he's fainted."

"He fainted?" Cindy didn't say anything, just cracked up laughing, and by laughter meaning hysterical, "Oh the poor boy, Cindy ain't all that surprised now that she thinks bout it, you must have given the cat one big heart attack!"

"Cindy you're not helping," she pointed out, not quite as amused, "What am I supposed to do now?"

"Well don't kiss him again, you might send him into a coma!" she laughed again but gaining her composure she replied seriously, "Boo, this gurl dunno what you two up to but she know one thing, the boy liked it, who wouldn't with those lips o' yours? You listen and listen good, make it very clear what you want, what eva tha may be an it'll sort out. And when all this is ova, Cindy wants details."

Realising she'd put the phone down Max followed suit, putting it back in her pocket and bit her lip. She couldn't carry him back to the hotel, people would either ask lots of questions or try and sell her to the circus. She had to find a way to take him there that was inconspicuous and fast.

A sigh escaped her as she stared down at him. As one last try she slapped his face a couple of times, not hard but sharply and still nothing, He was out cold.

"Oh this is just fantastic," Max hissed exasperated looking around for help but founding none she pulled out her cell phone again, "Please be there Alden."

Now on the couch Alec looked a little more comfy, still soaking but comfy, "What did you do to the boy," Alden asked in curiosity turning to Max, a confused smile on his face.

Meeting his eyes the X5 sighed and looked away back to Alec once again, "Kissed him," she deliberately left out the flying and throwing him into the fountain part, for discretion and laying low purposes.

"So you tried to wake him up by dunking him into the fountain?"

"No, not quite. Close though," Max grinned and Alden's knowing aged smile cracked back at her as he put an arm round her shoulders, "I'll leave you two alone."

Without giving her time to say anything he was already halfway out the door but just before closing it he stopped, "Better change him out of those wet clothes. You wouldn't want him to catch a cold kitkat."

Max hated this kind of silence. Sometimes it was good, like when Alec took a bite of a slice of pizza and was enjoying it so much he wouldn't speak for a minute or two; or when Cindy gave her one of her looks smiling and she was caught out and had to tell her everything. When Jondy and her used to have staring contests and on the needle. In those moments silence was welcomed, embraced with open arms but in moments like these Max hated it. On the way to Logan's cabin with Zack the silence had close to drawn her insane, when she'd found Tinga in that tank it had etched at her, screamed at her. When Alec had put his shirt back on and gone to sleep, she'd hated that silence.

Here it was, present again, telling her that she should be doing something and her mind splitting into two arguing trying to decide.

Nothing could distract her from the task at hand, she couldn't rush off, come back later and find it done, "I'm a masochist, and there's no other explanation."

Resigning herself to what she needed to do Max sighed, huffed and stomped her feet eventually picked him up and carried him to the bed laying him softly upon it. Considering them a reasonably safe start the nervous X5 grabbed his shoes pulling them off along with his drenched socks and chucking them on the floor uncaringly. There were no safe items left. Max moved on to his shirt, trying to simply pull it off and realising pretty quickly that wasn't gonna happen and she was getting soaked in the process.

Not keen on having the clothes she'd changed into get wet too she removed her shirt feeling the need to turn her back to him despite the fact that he was unconscious. Huffing at her trepidation she ground her jaw as she stepped out of her shorts and slippers, "This is absolutely ridiculous."

Determined she walked back to her lounging friend and kneeled behind his head, pulling his body to lean against hers in consequence lifting his bust off the bed doing two things; keeping his wet body off the duvet and allowing her to pull his shirt off. Arrival of one tiny problem. Alec's head got stuck because of the wet material and the stubborn X5 that was trying to pull it off, annoyed yanked harder removing the item and delivering a cold, wet and very topless Alec onto her own bare skin.

Whether the gasp that came out of her was because of the temperature difference or the feel of skin against skin Max wasn't sure, but she definitely knew the answer she was going to give if anybody asked.

Scrambling out from beneath him she tried to explain to her brain why she couldn't beat him up for aggravating her. He wasn't doing it on purpose, 'Yeah but I bet he'd be enjoying this if he was awake.'

"God dammit Max! Head out of the gutter for christ's sake!" she hissed at herself moving to sit beside him, "And stop blaspheming or talking to yourself."

Her hands shook unbuckling his belt and she tried to keep her eyes off his chest, it was nothing she hadn't seen before, in fact Max had seen it several times, she had also liked it, wondered what it felt like to run her finger down its ridges and contours. This was hopeless. Eyes closed, she took a moment to get her wits together; Max doubted many women could keep their wits while being in bra and panties and undressing Alec. With a small groan slash whine she let her head fall and it collided with his stomach resting there for a minute.

Eyes snapped open and as predicted, encountered an area she had never expected to be quite this close to. Slowly pulling back Max sighed again.

This was one big fat pickle, to keep the language PG and closely resembling sesame street; unfortunately Max had to scold herself for her thoughts, completely defeating the purpose of her language from the beginning, "Quit it."

Unbuttoning his pants and unzipping his fly she desperately tried to pull off his wet jeans. With no success she jumped off the bed and going to the feet of the bed -and Alec's- she turned away facing the living room, grabbed the hems of his trousers and pulled with all her might. This concluded in success. Sort of. Finally coming off Max flew forward with her gained momentum into the couch holding onto his pants… and his boxers.

Her head fell into her hands making a soft chack noise. Max was very close to… something… maybe an aneurysm.

Gathering her courage though she closed her eyes, for the sake of his virtue not her sanity, and walked towards the bed. Smart enough to no feel around for the covers she headed to the side he wasn't on and found her pillow and followed it down to the edge of the duvet with her hands. Yanking on it she'd almost fully pulled it out from under him when a sudden noise alerted her to the fact that Alec had moved.

THUMP!

'This is a nightmare, wake up Maxie, wake up,' it wasn't a nightmare though but she was beginning to wish it was.

Adjusting the duvet at the feet of the bed she sighed, gathered up whatever determination she had left and walked over to him with only one eye open trying to avoid spotting anything she wasn't supposed to. So keeping her gaze on his face and fighting the urge to sneak a peek she channelled her vision blocking everything out lifted him from underneath his armpits and placing his torso on the bed and then following with his feet.

Max pulled the duvet over his body and sighed in relief.

Now, just one more thing before going to sleep, "The bed or the couch?"

He was naked. Not just naked, he meant naked naked. Not an ounce of clothing was on him and Alec remained immobile, too scared to open his eyes. Memories were kinda hazy, nothing was fully clear; he wasn't even sure where he was. That might have helped if he opened his eyes but he wasn't taking any chances, 'Think you dumbass think.'

Not much showed up though, a bar, bill gates? Something to do with a fountain. Alec didn't remember drinking but his head hurt. And not just hurt, it hurt hurt. If his explanations didn't prove something than nothing would. Alec slid a hand to the back of his head and gently touched around wincing as he came across swollen, tender flesh, "Ow…" everything was just making him further confused. And where was Max?

Good question. Alec wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know if he was naked with a possible concussion. In fact Alec wasn't so sure he wanted to know what happened last night but yawning he stretched and blinked his eyes open and sitting up. At least he was in their hotel room and there were no signs of sexual activities. You know, clothes thrown all over the place, that kinda thing.

"You're awake."

"Remember anything from last night."

"Yes… a little… no."

A/N: Believe it or not, reviews get me writing really quickly. So tell me what you thought…