Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A/N: Hope you like this chapter. M/A all the way. )

Fire and Blood

By: human28

Chapter Fourteen

Somewhere near Foggle Towers, a man stood hidden by the shadows, watching one of the windows of the luxurious apartment. He had seen them – seen them kill the priestesses. And he was intrigued by the twins and one of the males. He had been hiding behind the bushes, observing them. They fought with inconceivable skill and strength. They moved with the silence and agility of cats.

Watching them, they made him remember his father, and his dreams to create the perfect being.

"Where are you dad?" he whispered to the night.

He blinked as one of the twins came to stand by the window, looking down below, her head moving slowly, as if she was searching for something. It was almost as if she had heard him.

"Do you know where he is?" he asked, staring at her.

"Who?"

Startled, he spun around, fists raised feebly.

What he saw made him stumble backwards.

"Don't be afraid." A strong hand grabbed hold of his arm and held him upright. He then found himself staring at a seven-foot tall man, with a face resembling a – dog. And realization dawned on him.

"I remember you," he said to the transhuman in recognition. "You're the first."

The dog-man smiled, baring all of his sharp yellow teeth. "That's right. Joshua special. Joshua first."

"Nice to meet you Joshua. I'm CJ. And I guess you could say we're sort of related."

"Related?" he echoed. And then nodded slowly. "You're an X-series. One of them." He pointed towards the window he had been watching for the past few minutes.

CJ stared at him, wondering if he should tell him the truth. That he wasn't a transgenic. That he was Sandeman's youngest son. Now isn't the right time. He thought, following Joshua's gaze towards the window. If they find out…His thoughts trailed off. He didn't want to be locked up in a dusty old cell with a crazy person anymore. He relished the fresh air…the taste of freedom.

And they thought they were prisoners. He said to himself, looking at Joshua. I'm the prisoner.

"So Joshua. You know that girl?"

Joshua once again graced him with a sharp-toothed smile. "Max."

"Max." CJ thought for a minute. Doesn't ring a bell. "Okay. So, where do you live Joshua?"

"Transgenic Central – Terminal City."

…

"Argh! Can you please stop fussing over me? I'm FINE!" Dawn exclaimed with a huff. "It was just a scratch. No biggie."

Max sighed. After their successful rescue mission, they had all retreated back to Foggle Towers, where they had left Logan to find out all that he could about the freaky priestesses and their freaky rituals. It was obvious that they were part of some ancient cult. But how dangerous were they exactly? They needed to know, because it was certain that those people would soon be on the hunt for vengeance.

"Hey guys, you want something to eat?" Xander called from the kitchen were he was helping himself to some leftover chicken and pasta. "Because I swear, that whole incident was rather tiring."

Faith snorted. "Yeah right. All you did was sit in a stinky van with the G-man." She thought for a minute. "On second thought, yeah, that could be pretty tiring."

Giles glared at her.

"Just kidding G-man. Hey Xander, hold up. Leave some for me!" Faith bolted into the kitchen.

"Me too. I'm starved." Willow muttered, making her way towards the kitchen at a much slower pace.

"I'm going to go and check up on Dawn, see if she's alright." Giles said with an exasperated sigh. The two Summers sisters had been arguing for about fifteen minutes already with a little help from Spike who had been giving comments here and there, and it was starting to get on everyone's nerves.

Sam was in the computer room with Logan, trying to see if he had anything regarding her lost brothers and sisters. If they were still alive.

Which left Max and Alec alone in the living room.

"Hey Maxie, you alright?" Alec asked from the couch. He had taken over the couch the moment they had arrived in Logan's penthouse. She glanced at him from her spot near the window. His feet were propped up the coffee table, with his hands behind his head, and he had that annoying smirk on his face. "Because if you aren't, I know something that could make you feel a whole lot better."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

His eyes glimmered with mischief. "Really. C'mere."

She rolled here eyes and approached him. The minute she neared him, she was grabbed by the arms and thrown on the sofa where she was attacked by a barrage of tickles. Her eyes widened, and she bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"Stop it Alec! Stop it!" That was it. She burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. "I." Laughter. "Swear I'm." More laughter. "Going to." Even more laughter. "KILL YOU!"

Alec raised his arms in defeat. "Alright, alright. I was just playing." He grinned at her.

Despite herself, she smiled. "My turn." She said gesturing for him to sit on the floor. He shrugged and did as told, seating himself between her legs. She placed her hands on his shoulders and began to massage them.

"That feels great," he murmured, his eyes fluttering shut.

She couldn't help it. He looked so – angelic.

So she leaned over and kissed him.

…

What the…? Is this a dream? He wondered to himself, feeling warm lips on his, urging them to open. Her tongue came to run over his lower lip. Oh god. This isn't a dream. Max is kissing me. He felt himself smile before responding to her almost immediately. This is WAY better than a dream. He slowly turned himself around and grabbed Max by the waist, pulling her closer.

Heat radiated between the two of them. Unconsciously, she began to run her fingers through his hair, and she was surprised how soft they were, almost as soft as his lips…

"Oh. My. God."

Reluctantly, they pulled away from each other.

Faith was standing in the doorway looking rather pleased with herself. "I knew it!" She crowed triumphantly. "Spike! Get your scrawny ass over here!"

The bleached blonde vampire came strolling into the living room. "What?" he asked Faith. She grinned smugly at him and motioned towards the couple sitting on the couch. He frowned. "I didn't see anything! You could be lying!"

"It did too happen!" Faith insisted. "You owe me fifty bucks!"

Spike looked at her disbelievingly.

"You bet on us?" Max asked incredulously.

"That's right. I told Spike that by the end of this day, Alec would be dragging Max on his bed…" She paused. "Or maybe the other way around…?" She grinned impishly at them.

"I've got no proof!" Spike protested, hanging onto his fifty bucks.

"Come on guys! Help me with this!" Faith pleaded. "Show 'him. Show him I won!"

Alec shrugged and pulled Max towards him and kissed her. Unable to resist, she answered back, almost forgetting that they weren't alone in the room anymore.

"Ha! Fifty bucks buddy!"

Spike growled and handed her the money. "Pillock. Thought it would take at least two days."

…

Max woke up the next morning to find a pair of arms wrapped around her, along with a very warm, very naked body pressed up against her. It took her a few seconds to recall everything that had happened last night. For years of being together at Manticore, it was only now that they were able to finally accept the truth. It wasn't heat. It wasn't infatuation. It was love. And maybe that was the main reason on why they were so scared to tell each other that in the first place. Or maybe it was simply because they had been locked up in Manticore. It would've been fatal to fall in love with each other.

She smiled softly at the sleeping transgenic. He looked so peaceful when he was asleep. Probably sensing her gaze, he stirred, eyes fluttering open. He grinned at her. "Morning sunshine." He yawned and stretched lithely beneath the sheets. He looked at her. "So what's up for today?"

"Work." Max answered, reluctantly climbing out of bed. She winced as her feet touched the cold floor. She was about to put on her clothes when Alec's hand stopped her. She twisted around and smirked. "What? You want another round?"

Alec didn't seem to hear her. He slowly ran his fingers across her shoulder blades, pushing away stray locks of hair. "Did you get a tattoo Maxie?"

"A tattoo?" she echoed, puzzled. "Why would I get a tattoo?"

He gently rubbed a spot on her shoulder. "It won't come off." He murmured, more to himself than to her.

"What won't come off?" she asked, getting bewildered by the minute.

"I think you'd better look in the mirror, Maxie."

She frowned at him, and went to stand in front of the floor-length mirror in her room. She turned around and gazed at her reflection on the mirror. She gasped. "What the hell?"

Alec went to stand next to her, observing the inky-black imprints on her skin. "They're made up of the same shit as our barcodes. And it happens to be in ancient Minoan." He noted. "Too bad Manticore didn't teach me that stuff."

She was starting to get worried. "Do you think this could be a message from him?"

"You mean from Sandeman?" Alec asked, looking doubtful. "The one Joshua kept on going about back at Manticore?"

"Yeah." Max nodded. "Maybe he's trying to tell us something."

Alec stared at her reflection on the mirror. "And the million-dollar question is: what?"

…

"Something happened." Were the first words out of Original Cindy's mouth the moment the two transgenics walked into Jam Pony. They exchanged a confused glance.

"What are you talking about?" Max asked, ignoring Normal's incessant 'bips'.

"You two are lookin' bubbly this morning," OC said with a knowing look. "Either you two were up making love to one another the entire night, or you just won the lottery."

Max blushed.

Alec grinned.

OC laughed. "I'm thinking it ain't the latter one." She tapped Alec's cheek rather fondly. "You are one lucky man. Don't mess this one up."

"Oh I won't." Alec replied, wrapping an arm around Max's shoulder. Her lips slowly twitched into a smile. Unfortunately, Normal saw them.

"If you cellar rats want to get paid then you'd better start deliver these packages!" Normal shouted. "Now bip!"

"Catch ya later?" Alec asked Max.

"Yeah. I was thinking we'd drop by Logan's. Maybe he knows something about my – tattoos." Alec nodded and caught her lips in a brief kiss before dashing away to do Normal's bidding. Max followed a bit more reluctantly. As much as she loved getting free sector passes, she was wondering if it was worth spending all day delivering packages to cranky old ladies.

…

Logan was awakened to the sound of relentless knocking. Stifling a yawn, he hurriedly changed into a pair of jeans and a sweater, and went to answer the door. To his surprise, it was Buffy.

"Hey Logan. Hope I didn't wake you." She said, making her way in without waiting for an invitation. Logan sighed and followed her towards the living room where she picked up a purse.

"I forgot this last night," she said holding it up. "Guess I got caught up in the excitement."

"Yeah, it was pretty exhilarating." He agreed. "So um, do you want some coffee or something?"

"Nah, I just had breakfast." She said. "But thanks anyway."

"I'd like some."

The two of them spun around to see Alec and Max standing a few feet behind them. Both were carrying messenger bags, and wearing identical unreadable expressions.

"Hey guys," Buffy greeted them amicably. "Thanks again for all your help, by the way. Guess we owe you one."

Max waved it off dismissively. "It was nothing."

"Yeah, compare it to the crap we've been made to do. It was a piece of cake." Alec piped up, making himself comfortable on Logan's couch.

"You guys cutting work again?" Logan asked, raising his eyebrows.

"It's for a good reason." Alec said with a smirk. "I mean, we came to see you, didn't we?"

Logan sighed. "What do you want?"

"We were just wondering if you know ancient Minoan." Max said, removing her messenger bag. Then she removed her jacket. Then she started to remove her shirt.

"Woah! Max, what are you doing?" Logan asked, alarmed.

"Thought you'd like the free show," Alec said grinning. He received scowls from both Max and Logan. Buffy on the other hand looked curious.

"Ancient Minoan?" She asked. "Giles knows ancient Minoan."

"The G-man knows ancient Minoan?"

"He doesn't like to be called G-man," Buffy stated unconsciously.

"Wait, wait. Why do you want to know about ancient Minoan?" Logan asked incredulously.

"Because ancient Minoan started appearing on Max's back for some bizarre reason." Alec informed them.

"Oh, so that's why she wanted to take off her shirt." Logan said in realization.

"You're a smart one, aren't you? You really didn't think that she was going to give you a free show did you? Because all those are just supposed to be reserved for me…"

"Shut up Alec." Max turned to Buffy. "Can we drop by your place later tonight?"

"Sure, no problem. We owe you one, remember?"

…

To be continued…

…

A/N: Please review. )