The sun was edging toward the horizon when Max arrived at the docks. Alec stood at the end of a wide pier staring out across the gentle waves, his hands in his jacket pockets. The warm glow reflecting off the water illuminated his profile and highlighted the gold in his light brown hair. He was as still as a statue. Even with her superior sight, Max couldn't make out the minute rise and fall of his chest. Maybe he wasn't breathing. Maybe this was some meditation exercise Manticore had taught their soldiers long after she'd escaped. Being careful not to make a sound, she dismounted from her bike. She wondered if he'd even noticed her arrival.
"Way to be on time, Maxie," Alec's sarcasm broke the silence. Well, that answered that question.
His bike and messenger bag were leaning against a stack of wooden crates that stood not too far from him. Max set her bike next to his and walked over to him. She had her excuse ready. "What can I say? That last run Normal sent me on took longer than I expected." The other X5 turned his head to lock eyes with her. One eyebrow was raised and his trademark smirk graced his lips.
"It's amazing to me that you've been out in the world hiding who you are all this time but you're still such a horrible liar." His words brought a scowl to Max's face. She flipped her hair over her shoulder.
"Fine. I swept the perimeter. I don't know your contacts, so I don't trust them." She shrugged and said as insincerely as possible, "No offense."
Alec shifted so that he was facing her fully. "None taken," he returned. "I would have done the same thing. Standard tactics." Max's eyes widened in surprise before she could stop them. He caught her change in expression and smiled cheerfully, walking towards her. "Of course," he continued, "I would have gotten here early to do it so that I'd be on time."
She made a face at him and then looked around them, spreading her arms wide and challenging, "So, where is this great contact of yours, huh?"
"Oh, the meet isn't for another ten minutes," he replied, still smiling. "I just told you five o'clock because I knew you'd be late." Ignoring her scowl, he put his arm around her shoulders. "It's good to be right."
Max pushed him away. "I'm reconsidering calling you 'Dick', you know." He winked at her and laughed outright, before turning back to look across the water. Max felt her lips turn up at the corners and immediately brought her scowl back, hoping that Alec had missed her smile. She had recently come to the disturbing realization of just how much she looked forward to the sound of his laughter. Not his mocking snicker or his self-deprecating chuckle, but the pure sound of delight he gave when he was genuinely amused. Of course, she'd never let Alec know. No reason to give him more ammunition to use in their banter.
The first time she'd really noticed the sound was one week earlier when she was chasing him through the woods attempting to retrieve her clipboard. He'd been a laughing pied piper, and she drawn to follow him. Later that same day she'd heard his clear laugh mingled with Joshua's canine chortle and it had given her a natural high. In the past week, she'd witnessed Alec and Joshua growing closer, they seemed able to crack each other up nonstop. So, Max had made it a point to spend extra time with the two of them together.
Around Joshua, Alec seemed to drop some of the cocky, cynical, smart-alecky walls that he kept firmly in place in the outside world. He seemed more genuine and more vulnerable. It was a condition that she seemed to have in common with him. There was something about being around Joshua and Alec together that made her feel open and safe in a way that she hadn't felt since she'd been with her siblings.
"I know I'm hot, Maxie, but you think you could quit staring?"
Max blinked, realizing that her eyes had been pulled toward Alec's profile. She shook her head and then made a face at him. "Whatever. I was not staring."
"Ri-ight." He drew the word out, making sure to give his sarcasm time to drip off each letter. Max crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her hip, attitude incarnate.
"Even if I had been, it would only be because I can literally watch your head expand with your rapidly inflating ego."
He was about to spit out his answering gibe, but stopped suddenly and cocked his head to the side as if hearing something.
"He's here," Alec announced.
Max stilled and listened. Then she caught it. Beyond the screeching calls of seagulls and the lapping of the waves against the wooden docks was the distinct whir of a motorboat coming closer. Her first impression as it came into view along the horizon was that it was quite small. But as the skiff approached the docks she realized that the vessel was only small in relation to the man sitting within it.
"Ahoy, Alec!" The man called out with a chuckle. To say Alec's contact was rotund would be a serious understatement. It was a wonder that the boat didn't capsize beneath his weight and the massive bulk of the several bags that overloaded the rear of the craft. As it was, the motorboat rocked precariously as he stood up to throw the lead rope onto the pier.
Alec caught the rope and gave the big man a grin. "How's it going, Bear?" He quickly secured the boat, then offered a hand. He made a show of straining to pull Bear onto the pier, though Max knew he could have bench-pressed the man with very little effort.
Bear grunted, "Same shit, different day, kid. But, I tell ya, you're a real life saver. I can't believe you've got a buyer for twelve dozen steroid-injected pigs feet and forty pounds of illegally cloned ham hocks!"
Alec leapt nimbly into the boat and began to unload the craft. "Always happy to help a friend in need."
Max gave an un-ladylike snort from the sidelines. Bear turned his attention to her for the first time. He took a moment to examine her lithe figure from head to heels and back again. All the while, Max's ire was rising.
She put her hands on her hips and decided to give the man fair warning. "Do you have a problem?" The tone of her voice was frostier than the raw October gusts blowing across the water.
Ignoring the warning, Bear glanced at Alec before nodding in her direction. "Who's the looker?"
"That would be Max," Alec answered without pausing in his task of placing the black market goods on the docks. The process was taking much longer than usual since, for the sake of appearing normal, he was only carrying two large bags at a time.
"Never woulda guessed such a feisty chick'd be your girl," Bear chuckled.
"She's not my girl."
"I'm not his girl." The denials chorused together. Max and Alec glanced at each other and then looked away as soon as their eyes met.
Alec unloaded the last of the bags and jumped up himself. "Uh, we're just friends." He tossed Max one of the bags. She caught it deftly then marched toward the bikes. He sighed as he watched her angry steps. "Give me just a sec to get your money."
"No prob, kid." Bear smiled knowingly. "Take all the time you need."
As soon as Alec reached her side, Max turned fiery brown eyes on him. "I should've known your contact would be just as rude as you," she hissed.
"Relax, Maxie," he whispered back, as he pulled an envelope stuffed with bills out of his messenger bag. "Unless you want Bear to comment on how much you need to get laid." Alec knew enough to simultaneously duck a slap to the head and dodge a kick to the shin in the next moment. He danced out of her reach and chuckled, his eyes sparkling. "You're becoming kinda predictable, you know." He was still smiling as he made his way back to the end of the pier.
Bear glanced into the envelope as soon as Alec put it into his hands. His eyes were gleaming and a large smile was gracing his round face when he looked back at the young man. "It was a pleasure doing business with you, as always."
"Same here," replied Alec. He watched Bear tuck the envelope into the waistband of his pants, where it promptly disappeared beneath the enormous fold of his belly. Alec moved to untie the boat from the pier as the other man stepped gingerly into his skiff. "Let me know next time I can take something off your hands," Alec said at the start of boat's motor.
"Will do, kid," Bear called over the whir of small propellers.
Alec watched for a few moments as the craft moved across the dark waves. Just as he was turning away he felt his legs abruptly swept from underneath him. He landed hard on his backside and looked up to see Max towering over him. He hadn't even heard her walk up behind him. "What the hell was that!?"
She shrugged. "Wouldn't want to be too predictable." She smiled sweetly, flipped her hair, and sashayed back to their bikes.
Alec stood and dusted off the seat of his pants, a sardonic twist to his full lips. "I'm really starting to hate that smile," he mumbled under his breath.
Max looked over her shoulder at him, her smile even bigger and sweeter. "You coming?"
Downtown Seattle was teeming with pedestrians rushing home for the evening. Alec and Max deftly rode through the crowds, avoiding collisions with unconscious ease. They were on their way to Joshua's with the bags evenly distributed between their two bikes. The sun had just set, leaving the sky a rapidly-cooling ocher.
"So, how'd you get the cash for that little buy back there?"
"I think we should take Market." He quickly turned to his left, cutting off an oncoming rusty truck and a man pushing a dirty laundry cart down the sidewalk, and headed for a narrow alleyway. Max followed just a hair behind him and with similar disregard for traffic patterns.
"Answer the question, Alec." She pedaled a little harder until she was even with him again. The spreading lavender of the sky shone down through the fire escapes jutting from the alley's buildings, making Alec's face appear alternately shadowed and luminescent.
"I, uh, sold a car."
"How'd you get a car?"
"Stole it, of course."
"Figures."
He rolled his eyes. "Would it help if I said I stole it from a really, really bad guy?"
"Alec, we're supposed to use our super powers for good, not evil." After a few moments of silence, Max realized that Alec hadn't responded with any of the usual smart ass comments that she expected from him. She glanced to her side and met Alec's horrified gaze. "What?"
"Well, what you said made me think that you sound like the female version of Logan. But, you don't look like him – my eternal thanks to Manticore for that – which made me wonder what the female version of Logan would look like." The green pallor of disgust began to overtake the look of horror on his face. "So then this image of Logan in a dress popped into my head. And now I think I'm gonna hork."
Max's leg shot out to kick at Alec's tire. Only his transgenic reflexes kept him from ending up sprawled face-down on the pavement. While he recovered from the drive-by assault, the vision of Logan in a dress insinuated itself into her imagination. She shuddered…which made her feel guilty because a girl wasn't supposed to get the willies when thinking about the supposed love of her life, no matter what the circumstances. Of course, the horror involved with seeing Logan in a dress, even if only in her mind, did sort of amount to extreme and extenuating circumstances.
She scowled at her companion. "Shut up, Alec."
He held up one hand in innocence. "I'm just saying…"
They rounded a corner onto an adjacent lane that spanned a few blocks. Max suddenly pulled to a halt. She jerked her chin toward the end of the narrow space between the buildings. Her voice was full of urgency when she asked, "Do you see that?"
Stopping beside her, Alec let his eyes zoom in to where she'd motioned. He saw a bald transhuman with skin the color of paste and beady eyes wide with the panic of a trapped animal running down the street. When the creature saw them, he veered to the right down a side alley, obviously unaware that it was a dead end.
Alec sighed and shook his head at the sight. "Typical." He looked over at Max. "What the hell was he thinking coming out in the open? It's not even full dark yet."
"I don't know," she answered, "but he's got company." Hearing her words, Alec cast his gaze back down the street. Four sector cops armed with assault rifles charged onto the scene, hot on the nomalie's trail.
"I don't suppose we have a plan?" Alec's question was thrust to the wind as Max sped off. He raised his hands in defeat. "Why do I even ask?"
In the blink of an eye, Max was to the wall of the corner building. She used her transgenic abilities to quickly scale the five story wall, finding footholds and handholds where there were none. Few seconds had passed before she hoisted herself onto the roof and blurred over to the far corner to peer down into the blind alley.
A set of fire escapes lay directly beneath her, the kind with a retractable ladder. On the asphalt beyond the rusty platforms, the sector police had backed the small transhuman into the solid wall, surrounding him on thee sides and cutting off any chance of escape.
The man nearest to the captive spoke up with clear authority, "Call for backup. I don't know what this thing is, but I'm not taking any chances."
Max didn't need to hear any more. She back flipped off the roof, shooting out a hand while in midair to catch hold of the ladder. Her momentum pulled the iron rungs down, swinging her over the nomalie's head. She released the ladder, allowing her body to sail through the air and plow into the officer reaching for his radio. As his body slammed into the wall behind him, Max sprang backwards, landing in a handstand before bounding up and taking the leader out with a roundhouse kick to the head.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Alec ride up. He popped his bike up onto its front tire, using the back tire to knock over a third man while he piked his legs forward over the handlebars in a move that would have made any extreme sportsman proud. He let go of the bike just as his feet connected squarely with the chest of their last opponent.
Alec surveyed the unconscious policemen lying strewn across the alley and dusted off his hands. "Well, that was fun." He grinned over at his cohort, whose cheeks were flushed a pretty pink with her own excitement. "Nice move with the ladder, Maxie."
"A girl does what she can," she said with a smile and a shrug of her shoulders. Then she noticed the slightly mangled form of his bike laying on the ground, the impact of hitting the sector cop having taken its toll. She knelt down beside it, shaking her head. "We really need to get you your own motorcycle. This is just getting ridiculous." Her slender hands deftly bent the twisted metal back to its proper shape. "How do you pull off any decent heists using this as your getaway gear?" She glanced up to find Alec staring down at her. She quickly stood, wiping her hands on her pants with a nervous gesture. "Uh, not that you should be doing heists anyway. Because it's, you know, wrong."
A smart-ass comeback was on the tip of Alec's tongue, but then he decided that subtlety was the way to go this time. So he plastered his most knowing smirk on his lips and gave Max a cheeky wink. She responded by huffing, scowling, and turning her back on him.
The X5's took notice of the other transgenic for the first time since they'd rescued him. He blinked coal black eyes at them. He was certainly a runt, dressed in tattered layers that were most likely castoffs. Slightly pointy bat-like ears sported small tufts of coarse dark hair, the only hair on his body from what they could see.
Max cocked her head to the side and nodded at him. She questioned him with a kind and gentle tone. "You alright?"
The transhuman gave a quirky smile. "Yeah, I am. Thanks."
Alec spoke up from just behind Max's shoulder. "Guess you weren't any good at Escape & Evade back at Manticore, huh?"
The little guy just shook his head. "No need. They made me to dig trenches." He pointed a thumb at his chest. "Name's Luke."
Max completed the introductions, "I'm Max and that's Alec." She smiled. "Nice to meet you."
Behind her, Alec rolled his eyes. "Far be it for me to break up the party, but maybe we oughta blaze before the cavalry arrives?"
Luke grinned. "Sounds like a good idea to me. You guys wouldn't happen to know the best way to Terminal City from here?"
In answer, Alec walked a few feet away and lifted a thick manhole cover with absolute ease. "Might I suggest Seattle's lovely sewer system?"
"Head north-northeast for about six klicks," Max added, as Luke scampered over to the opening. "That should run you safely behind Terminal City's perimeter."
He lowered himself into the hole. "Thanks guys. See ya around!" With those parting words, he disappeared into the darkness below.
Alec replaced the cover just as the faint sound of sirens came to their ears. "I think that's our cue."
They retrieved Max's bike as well as the bags of food that Alec had hurriedly discarded before joining in the rescue, and then took the fastest route away from the approaching sirens.
A few minutes later, they were safely back on course to Joshua's house. A comfortable silence reigned over them. That is until Max noticed it. Her brow furrowed. A quiet Alec usually meant trouble. She glanced to her side and saw that his bottom lip was caught between his teeth and his hazel eyes seemed to be looking more in than out.
Deciding to interrupt his thoughts, she asked, "What's up, Alec?"
Awareness came back into his eyes at the sound of her voice. He gave a shrug. "I was just thinking that it's about time we told Josh about Terminal City. He needs to be around people like him."
Max turned away and faced down the road. "He is. He's around us." She could feel the weight of Alec's gaze.
"Max, that's not what I meant, and you know it."
Max chewed on her lip. "He's safer staying inside."
"Oh, because keeping him locked up in some ancient house is really a good idea." The sarcasm flowing from Alec made Max whip her head around to glare at him.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
He threw up one hand in a vague gesture of exasperation. "Max, how long do you think it will be before someone sees him? How long before he accidentally gets spotted passing by a window?"
Max rolled her eyes. "This coming from the same guy who convinced Joshua to go outside with a bike helmet on and deliver packages."
"I'm pretty sure that I've already apologized for that."
"A little adventure, I might add, that ended in the poor guy high off his gourd and totally freaked out."
"I'm not talking about marching him down Main Street, Max. I'm talking about making his world a little bigger and letting him see that there's more to life outside than Sandeman's shack." When Max didn't respond he continued, "You should tell him about Terminal City, about there being a place where other transgenics are living together in relative safety. Let him make his own decision."
That was not a conversation Max was prepared to have. As they crossed onto Joshua's block, she shook her head stubbornly and insisted, "He's not ready yet."
"Joshua's a grown man, Max. He's older than all of us. He's not your pet."
"I didn't—"
Alec cut her off. "Back at Manticore he took care of all the rejects who ended up in the basement. Now he's the one locked up in solitary, trapped in a cell waiting for someone to come take care of him."
Max was taken aback by the bitterness she heard in his voice. "Alec—"
"No Max, you're wrong on this one." They pulled up in front of the rundown house and Alec sat back. "You're robbing him of that all-important freedom you're always talking about and you don't even see it."
She opened her mouth to protest, but was silenced by the look in Alec's eyes. Max wasn't sure she'd ever seen him so serious. He got off his bike, grabbing the bags from his handlebars and the back of his seat, and started moving away.
Max couldn't let it end there. "He needs us, Alec."
He paused, but didn't turn around. She heard a soft sigh precede his next words. "Just because we love him doesn't mean we're all he needs, Maxie." He continued up the steps, leaving her sitting speechless.
She watched him disappear through the door, a feeling akin to anguish filling her chest. Was Alec right? Was she hurting Joshua by trying to protect him? Max couldn't know for sure. But she was absolutely certain that if she let him go and something happened to him, it would kill her. She shook her head once more and said firmly to no one, "Not yet. He's not ready." The sound of her words seemed to reassure her. She squared her shoulders and went up to visit Joshua.
Arms heavily laden with contraband, Max walked into the dim halls of the dilapidated house. The sound of Joshua's animated voice drew her toward the kitchen. On her path, she passed by the living room and noticed Alec's colorful finger painting hanging over the dusty fireplace. As she entered the kitchen, she saw Alec casually straddling one of the kitchen chairs, his chin resting on his arms where they crossed on the back of the chair. All evidence of their recent disagreement was gone from his face and he seemed absolutely at ease. Joshua was standing in front of the chair, hugging Alec's bags to his chest.
"Should Joshua make ham hocks tonight?"
Alec sat up straighter and waved his hands by his shoulders in the universal sign of refusal. "Uh, no bro, that's okay," came his quick answer. "They're all for you." Max managed to suppress a laugh at the look of mild panic on Alec's face -- it surprised her a bit that there was anything that he wouldn't eat. But she must have made some small movement or sound because Joshua turned toward the kitchen door.
"Hey Lil' Fella," he greeted her.
"Hey Big Fella."
A huge canine grin split his face as he noticed the bags in her arms. "Lil' Fella with more ham hocks!" His excitement was so radiant that Max imagined that she could see a tail wagging wildly in the air behind him. She put the bags on the table and went over to his side for a much needed hug.
"Yep. I think Alec may have scored a year's supply for you."
"Nah," Alec denied. "He's a transgenic, these will last him a month, at most." He rubbed his hands together. "And speaking of food, what's for dinner?"
Joshua released Max and hurried to open the stove. "Lasagna. Found recipe in one of Father's old cookbooks. Except didn't have ground beef, so used little hot dogs instead."
Alec nodded his head in approval, and Max said "That sounds great, Joshua."
The dog-boy was wiggling with delight as he pulled the casserole dish out of the oven. His oven mitts were covered in cartoon dogs wearing aprons. They'd been a gift from Original Cindy. Max had no idea where her roommate had found them. Joshua carefully set the dish on top of the stove. The delicious aroma wafted through the kitchen. "Yummy!"
Max glanced to the side and caught Alec studying her. The roguish glint in his eyes was making her nervous. "What?"
"Nothing." A sly smirk was tugging at his full lips. "It's just I didn't realize you ate pasta outside of Logan's penthouse." He didn't even bother to dodge the smack to the arm that came his way.
"Quit being such a smart ass and set the table."
He looked to Joshua for support. "Now why would we sit at the table when there's a perfectly good couch sitting in front of that tv I scored for us?" He shook his head in mock sorrow. "I'm telling you, she learned this formal crap from stuffy Logan. It's such a shame." Joshua chuckled. Max fumed.
"Shut up, Alec."
"Now that wasn't very lady-like. What would grandpa – uh, I mean, Logan say?" Max was just about to lunge for him when her pager went off. She unclipped it from her belt, where it rested next to her new phone. Alec crept up next to her and read the phone number over her shoulder. He rolled his eyes. "Gotta give it to the old man, he does have impeccable timing."
"Alec!"
"What?"
"Quit yapping and give me your phone."
Alec raised an eyebrow at Max's outstretched hand. "I got you your own phone for a reason, you know." She ran her other hand gently over her cell before placing it on her hip and scowling at him.
"Now, Alec."
Alec rolled his eyes and reluctantly reached into the breast pocket of his leather jacket. "I'm guessing that you ran away before Manticore taught us the meaning of the word 'please'?"
She snatched up his phone and started dialing before she answered. "Well, I had already learned enough to know how to kick your ass, so I figured I was good to go." She turned her back to him and started talking into the phone. "Hittin' you back…Yeah. We're at Joshua's….Does it have to be right now? Joshua's making dinner and…" She went silent for a moment as Logan apparently cut her off. She rolled her eyes at something he said. "Uh-huh. Fine…I won't…Yeah, I'm leaving now." She hung up without further ado, and turned to her curious companions.
Joshua gave a pitiful whimper. "Max gotta blaze?"
Her eyes were full of regret as she answered. "I'm sorry Big Fella, but I'm gonna have to skip out on dinner this time."
Alec stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "What'd Logan want?"
"Not sure. He'd only say that it was big and time sensitive."
"Maybe I ought to tag along."
Max shook her head. As much as she wanted to avoid seeing Logan alone, he'd been pretty explicit about her not bringing her sidekick. "Don't worry, I'll give you a call if it looks like it'll be any fun."
He gave her a wry smile. "You're not just trying to weasel out of our little pool tournament, are you?"
"You wish. I'll meet you at Crash later." She gave Joshua a quick hug. "And I'll come by tomorrow, Big Fella. So save me some lasagna."
Joshua's grin was luminous. "Sure thing, Lil' Fella."
When the front door slammed closed behind Max, Alec clapped his hands together. "Well, I guess it's just you and me, buddy. Why don't we dig in?"
A short while later, the two guys were seated comfortably on the battered sofa watching music videos and making heaping servings of dinner rapidly disappear. During a commercial Joshua broke their companionable silence.
"Alec?"
"Yeah, big guy?"
"Can Joshua tell you something…man to man?"
Alec popped open a can of cola and raised it toward his friend. "Shoot."
"Alec belong with Max."
"You're right. We all gotta stick together, that's the plan," he said before taking a drink.
"No. Medium Fella and Lil' Fella get busy. That's the plan." As Alec choked and sputtered on his beverage, Joshua elaborated on his statement. "Max help Alec see what he can be. Alec help Max remember what she is."
After a few moments, Alec was able to calm his coughing fit. "Buddy, once again I think these paint fumes are going to your head." He slapped a jovial hand on Joshua's shoulder. "What do you say we go take a refreshing jaunt through the sewers, huh?"
"Not joking, Alec. Joshua has two eyes, can see whole picture."
"How can you be serious, Josh? All Max and I ever do is argue with each other and get under each other's hides."
"Life is challenge. Medium and Lil' Fellas help each other live life whole in a broken world." Joshua patted the X5 on the head then stood and walked out of the room, leaving Alec blinking on the sofa.
Realizing that a straight answer seemed to be beyond the transhuman's abilities, Alec rolled his eyes and threw up his hands. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?" His bellowed query was met with silence.
But not for too long. The big guy's head peeked back around the doorway. "Alec want seconds?"
The younger man stared at Joshua for a heartbeat before yielding with a shrug of his shoulders. "Yeah, sure thing." He rose and followed his friend into the kitchen.
"Hey Logan, I'm here," Max called out her greeting as she entered the large penthouse. She made her way into the den where she found Logan talking on the phone. He held up one finger to her and continued his conversation.
"She just walked in…Right away…Yeah, we'll be there in fifteen minutes." As soon as he hung up the phone he sprang out of his chair and practically did a little jig around her.
"Woo-hoo! Max, I finally did it!"
Max just arched an eyebrow at his antics. She was feeling more that a little cranky about having to leave Joshua, especially after that awful conversation with Alec. "You mind telling me what black market drugs you've been doing?"
Logan paused in his celebratory dance. His brow furrowed as he stared at her. For a moment there she'd sounded just like Alec.
After a few seconds of Logan staring and not saying anything, Max put a hand on her hip. "What?"
"Uh, nothing. It's nothing." He shook his head, though he still looked mildly perplexed.
"Ooo-kay. So are you planning on telling me what's so urgent I just had to rush right over?" The kookie smile split Logan's face again. Max fervently hoped he wouldn't resume that jumping around thing he was doing before.
"Brace yourself, Max." Logan paused as Max leaned against his desk.
"I'm braced. Go on," she said dryly. Once again she sounded too much like Alec for Logan's taste. But he wouldn't let that rain on his parade. He took a deep breath and let his absolute joy shine through his smile and his next words.
"Max, I've found the cure."
TBC