"So, explain to me again, why the hell you look like a cat who ate a canary?" Max questioned suspiciously, hands on her hips, and the door swung wide behind her.
Alec's grin got wider, "I want you to say it first," he had the air of someone who was utterly and totally convinced of their own importance. Not unusual for Alec, but this was definitely cockiness at its complete worst, a type of god-complex the likes of which Max had never before observed in her fellow transgenic.
She supposed, since he had given her a proper excuse to get out of sitting at Logan's for another four hours she could be a little patient. God help me if he drags this out, I swear… "Say what, Smart-Alec?"
Alec knew he was being a smug bastard, he wasn't quite that oblivious, but he really enjoyed the reaction it got out of Max. She was so funny and gorgeous and deadly all at the same time when she got angry that he couldn't help but try to provoke her when he had the chance. "Tell me I'm god."
She was going to smack him, wipe that annoying smirk right off his face. The only thing that stopped her from punching him out, right then and there, was that he didn't look like he was doing this just to piss her off. Sure, he was definitely making this longer then it needed to be, but Alec had been serious when he said he needed to talk to her. Must be some good information if he thinks he's going to get away with being this much of an asshole! "Fine," she exaggerated her words like one of the blonde ditzy girls that always followed Alec around, acting like he really was god. "You're god, Alec, I mean, wow, you're just… brilliant like that!"
Alec jumped up from the chair he had been reclining in, and immediately his expression was one of excitement, "You really need to work on believability, Maxie… you're wearing way too much to play that part." He waited a beat for Max to roll her eyes, then continued, "But I'll let it go this time. What would you say if I told you I'd hacked into Manticore's database?"
Max pursed her lips in barely concealed amusement; he looked like some little kid in a candy shop and had about the same attention span. "I'd say, Logan's gonna kill you."
Alec's face fell, he'd expected 'brilliant, genius, insane, idiot,' or an assortment of Max's other favorite terms for him, not… "Huh?"
And now Max couldn't help but laugh, the look on his face was perfectly priceless, she really loved doing that to him. Getting his mind all revved up on one track, then pulling the proverbial carpet out from under his feet; priceless. "Logan, he's been trying to get into that database all day."
Now it was Alec's turn to roll his eyes and he made a half snorting sound that suggested exactly what he thought of Logan's hacking abilities. "Wait, contain your enthusiasm, before you compliment me anymore, I must make a confession." Max humored him with a look of rapt attention, "I actually hacked into the wrong database."
Noticing his sheepish expression, Max took pity on him and reduced her full-blow laugh to a slight chuckle, stepping out of the doorway and patting Alec on the back, "Gee, maestro, that was really smart."
Alec laughed, but shut his door and led Max over to a table, holding up a notepad triumphantly. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's see you get into any Manticore database, and then we'll talk."
But Max totally ignored his comment, her attention focused on the piece of paper in his hand, her voice serious, if slightly curious. "What did you find?" There were millions of things she could think of finding in a Manticore file, some good, some very bad.
Alec separated the two pieces of paper and handed the topmost one, facedown, to the other transgenic, his voice without any hint of amusement. "Why don't you look and see."
Max flipped the piece of paper over and her breath caught in her throat as she saw what was scrawled there in Alec's slightly sloppy writing. Maria Andréa Rodriquez; test subject 9.5, Manticore X-series carrier of X5-452, currently located at Shadle Hills Mental Institution, Blueville, Washington. Then the lump in her throat receded enough to allow speech, and Max turned wide eyes on Alec, "It's… you've found her… my mother…"