Blood and Balls
Disclaimer: Would I even be here if I owned Dark Angel? I think not.
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: M/A
Summary: Max and Alec have to attend a charity ball in an attempt to retrieve some blood samples that have fallen into the wrong hands. Naturally, it leads to all manners of confusion.
Author's Note: I wrote this story ages ago, way before I had even started writing 'Triangle' or 'Freedom on the inside'. I didn't particularly like it, cos I thought, if I was being brutally honest, it was a bit on the cheesy side but I thought I'd let you guys be the judge of that. Please read and review!
Chapter Two
Dresses, Doormen, Doctors
The knock came loud and clear on Logan's front door.
"That's probably Max now," he said on cue turning to look at Alec, who had visibly paled in the last two seconds,
"I'm not going looking like this!"
"Well too late, I'm afraid," Logan laughed.
On the exterior his laugh seemed friendly and a tad mocking, but Logan wasn't entirely comfortable with the situation. Number one; he wanted to go himself and the whole stupid virus thing was downright rude for overstaying its welcome and was just bugging the hell out of him now. Number two; though he hated suits and thought they just made guys look egotistical and fake; it seemed to do something quite different for Alec, which was why he was particularly uneasy about Alec and Max's 'date'. And number three; did he mention the virus?
The knock came louder and was more impatient this time. Oh boy, that was Max alright. Logan unlocked the door, waiting for the beautiful vision he had in all honesty been looking forward to since the very first second Max had agreed to the plan.
Max walked in and smiled casually at Logan, "Hey!" whilst Logan just stood there gawking, "Uh hey."
She hadn't disappointed. The sleeveless gown came in tight at her petite waist, accentuating her perfect curves. The layered deep pink fabric over a white bodice and skirt, gave her a softer more innocent look as her soft lush curls cascaded on to her bare shoulders. No jewellery flashed under the lights of the apartment, but then again Max didn't really need it, nor did she have the money for it. The dress actually belonged to Original Cindy's new girl; so she had had no problems in the 'what to wear' department.
Slightly confused by Logan's expression, she tried to settle the unease,
"So that bad huh?"
"Uh what?" Logan said blinking.
"Having Alec round for a whole afternoon; don't know how you survived!" smiled Max.
"Oi, I heard that."
Max looked beyond Logan to see Alec hovering at the bedroom doorway. Alec smiled cautiously, causing Max to run an instinctive hand through her hair and to fold her arms almost protectively across her chest. She had not expected or been prepared to see Alec in a suit. The jacket fit almost too snugly on his well built form. His white shirt was pressed and buttoned and his shoes gleamed in the light. The only thing missing was the bow tie. It seemed he had opted for the silk tie instead. She was bizarrely entranced, before snapping out of her daze and responding the only way she knew how,
"Well if it isn't the transgenic, part-man, part-penguin."
"Hey, you know you better be careful there Max, this is your boyfriend's suit, not mine."
"Really?" Max looked up at Logan, eyebrows raised.
"I had no choice, he was going to go in jeans and a t-shirt," Logan said defending himself.
"Ok, well, we better get going now, or we'll be late. I'll keep in touch."
Logan nodded, as Max turned to Alec,
"Shall we, Dr. Howard?" she said in the most posh and stuck-up voice she could manage.
"Why of course, Dr. Hart," replied Alec just as sarcastically.
Logan watched as each of the transgenics turned their back on him and exited the safety of his apartment. Their recent exchange did nothing to quell his unease.
Alec slid out of the taxi and opened the car door to allow his 'date' out. Max gathered her dress around her and slid out gracefully after him with a full smirk plastered on her face,
"When did you become so chivalrous?"
Alec linked his arms with hers, trying to make themselves look the part,
"I always have been Maxie."
"Yeah right," muttered Max under her breath.
They both approached the entrance to the grand mansion. The front doors were wide open and decorated with silver and dark purple balloons either side. A huge banner across the front read,
35th Seattle Medical Institution
Charity Ball
The whole thing was so clichéd. The Rolls Royce's and limos, the ridiculously expensive dresses and more ridiculous yet, all the shoes that probably cost more than the actual dresses. Even the guy at the door checking the tickets was clichéd; not to mention the fact he practically had pervert written in lipstick across his forehead. You wouldn't have thought any of the women here had PhD's; they all seemed like average airheads. Alec no doubt was loving this.
He showed Mr Pervert their tickets and without really looking at them he ushered to say they could go in. The whole time, his eyes had never once left Max, so Max being Max played along, fluttering her eyes and winking at him as they walked past.
Now it was Alec's turn to smirk,
"Now now Max, what would Logan say?"
Max scowled, "I was just playing along, you idiot!"
"Uh huh!" Alec laughed.
Max whacked him hard on the arm.
"Oi, be nice honey," he said lowering his voice, "We've got to fit in remember?"
"Why don't we just go and get the samples and get the hell out of here?" Max whispered.
"Cos it'd look suspicious."
"You're enjoying this aren't you?"
"Not at all Max, not at all," said Alec with a very sincere straight face."
Max despite herself felt the corners of her mouth lifting into a smile, "Ok, so when do we go?"
"First, according to Logan, is the speech, then dinner and then the dancing."
"Well, we are most definitely not staying that long," whispered Max.
"Oh that's the best part," whinged Alec.
"What the speech? I never thought you to be so intellectual either, Alec," Max smiled back, "I say we make our move after dinner."
"Good plan, at least I get to eat," said Alec placing a hand on his stomach. Max whacked him again.
"If it's not girls or beer, it's food."
"A man needs his strength you know."
"Oh is that what you are?" Max raised her eyebrows as she reached out and took a glass of wine from a passing waiter.
"That hurt, Max, really," mocked Alec placing a hand on his chest.
Max scoffed and took a sip of her drink, "Let's go listen to the medics, hey," signalled Max towards the hall.
"Of course, darling," exaggerated Alec interlocking his arms with Max's again. He didn't dare look down at Max's expression; he could just imagine what it looked like.
They walked side by side along the gangway. The attendants standing by showed them to their seats as designated on their tickets. Max filed in first, closely followed by Alec.
The hall was large, seating about 400 at its maximum capacity. Straight ahead was the stage, with a large screen overhead on the wall behind.
"Must be Dr. Murphy's private cinema," whispered Max to Alec.
"I thought doctors never have any spare time."
"Those would be the doctors that actually worked for a living."
"Yep," Alec nodded in agreement.
More doctors started to enter the hall now and the seats began to fill up. The seats beside Max and Alec were now occupied. Max sat beside a large round man, who's hair was a desperate brown, obviously coloured. Alec was seated beside, quite typically, a blond woman, who was obviously older than she was trying to look. The perfectly plastic nose was the dead give away and the full blown flirty smile she sent Alec's way was just plain sickly. Alec of course, was beaming. Max kicked his shin discreetly under the seats, which immediately removed the smile from off his face on to Max's. That usually brought him down from ga ga land.
The lights dimmed and the audience fell silent. The spotlights at the front of the hall fell on the stage and the audience clapped as the tall, old, but definitely charming looking Dr. Murphy came forward. Max sat not clapping, while Alec opted for a slow clap.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen," came the predictable opening as the clapping ceased. "Welcome to the 35th annual Seattle Medical Institution Charity Ball. Today is a celebration of all our medical achievements over the last year and all donations made today will be going to the Medical Institituion, where the money will be spent on better medical care for Seattle and also into research, which could help conquest some of the devastating illnesses that plague our streets today.
Tonight, I'm very honoured to introduce our very special guest, who has been studying the technology behind gene splicing and genetic enhancements over the past few years. . ."
Max and Alec watched with utter panic lodged in their throats as the familiar fake features came into view, "Dr. Ames White!"
A/N 2: How's that for chapter 2? Anyway I will update again soon and to all those asking about 'Freedom on the inside', I've updated that now. Thank you very much to all of those wonderful people who reviewed last time, its cos of you that I will get the rest of this story up on the net. So thanks and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!