The Surprise
Chapter 5: Max's Surprise
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Max sat in front of the apartment door with her arms wrapped around her knees and her feet flat on the floor. She was wearing red pyjama bottoms and a grey T-shirt. Her hair was in a loose ponytail with a few strands that had escaped from the band holding them in place tucked behind her ear.
Alec was in the kitchen making coffee for him and Max, both of them enjoying one of those rare moments when there was silence that allowed them to concentrate only on their own thoughts. Alec looked up and frowned when he realised that Max was still sitting where he had left her last night. He hadn't really noticed when he had first got up but that was probably due to the fact that . . . well . . . he had just got up.
Both of them had been up until three in the morning and when Alec had finally went to bed Max had been sitting in front of the door. In fact he seriously doubted that she had even moved an inch, and he knew why. The results of Jen's DNA workup would be delivered toda so after two weeks of waiting Max was really worried so had kept herself up all night. Not that she wouldn't have been up anyway. He sighed, poured a cup of coffee, and brought it over to Max.
"Here." Max looked up and took the cup of him gratefully, giving him a peck on the cheek. "Thanks," she whispered. Alec walked away as he knew that at this stage there was nothing that would make Max feel better apart from having the results in her hand.
"Have you actually moved at all in the past few hours?" he asked, concern evident in his voice. "Yeah, at about six there was a fly that was buzzing about, it had to die," said Max, slipping back into her trance. She had spent the last few hours worrying herself into a frenzy. She still wasn't sure what she wanted the letter to say despite her best attempts at soul searching.
She had watched Jen closely looking for anything that might mean that she would be a transgenic, even though Alec told her that she wouldn't be able to tell until she was a few years older. She had contemplated what it might mean for Jen if she was, if her life would be totally screwed up because she had genetically superior parents. Although Alec had not said anything she knew that he had wanted Jen to have their abilities, knowing that it would mean she would always be able to look after herself and though that idea comforted Max, she couldn't help but remember what a horrible childhood she'd had.
Max's pulse began to race as she heard the elevator doors open and footsteps beginning to walk in the direction of the apartment. Alec was immediately alert too, getting up and staring at the door. Max was also on her feet and opened the door before the messenger began to knock.
Max acknowledged her with a nod, as she knew her from Jam Pony. She whipped the clipboard out of the messenger's hands and Alec tossed her a pen as she signed quickly. "OC wanted to deliver it but Normal wouldn't let her saying that it was just an excuse to chat with her friends," said the girl flashing Max a knowing smile. She handed the envelope over and Max shut the door in her face before she started talking again.
Max moved silently to the couch where she sat down beside a now nervous Alec. Max ran her fingers around the edge of the envelope, which felt like it contained a good few pages thick of information. "So the moment of truth," said Alec weakly but Max hardly noticed as she was concentrating on the package in her hands in a way that was not unsimilar to a soldier sizing up it's opponent.
The large, brown envelope was sealed on all sides and although Max had spent countless hours delivering them she had never realised how intimidating they could be to this very moment. Despite the fact that all she had wanted to do was rip the envelope open to reveal its' contents Max couldn't bring herself to do it. "I can't, you do it," said Max as she gave up trying to summon the strength to open the envelope and handed it over to Alec who ripped it open immediately and began to read aloud.
"Max and Alec, sorry it took so long, had to make sure this wasn't put on the wrong desk. I did a full work up of Jen's blood and DNA she will develop transgenic abilities with time and they will be to the same standard as yours. The abilities will progress in exactly the same way as your own."
Alec stopped after this and looked up to see Max's reaction. She gave a slight smile before motioning for him to continue. "We have also discovered that her DNA has only feline additives, like the both of yours. Otherwise she is a perfectly healthy baby. Hope you got the result you wanted, Sam," Alec finished. He flicked through the next few pages. "They are just all the technical details and results. Shit are you ok?"
"Yeah, better than I expected actually. The relief of knowing pretty good as well," she said with a yawn. Alec smiled and leaned over, and brushed the fallen strands of hair out of her sleepy eyes before wrapping his arms around her. "Get some sleep, even shark DNA needs to rest sometime," he said softly, kissing the top of her head,
Surprisingly Max went towards the bedroom without any argument where she soon feel into a deep, contented sleep.
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Three Months later.
_______________________****************__________________ A girl with long black hair and an athletic figure walked into Jam Pony. She had blue eyes and after looking round the room noting the people, doors and general layout, she walked right over to the dispatch desk as if she owned the place.
"Hey! You with the glasses, can I have a word?" she called out to Normal who was reorganising the employee files. "Sorry, no jobs available at the moment," he said without even bothering to look up. "Actually, I'm looking for someone who works here. Her name's Max, Max Guevara." This however caught Normal's attention and his head jerked up immediately.
He gave the girl the once over as if he was deciding to tell her what she wanted to know or not. "What do you want to see her for?" he asked, curious at why some stranger had come looking for Max. "We are old friends, we go way back. The girl was like a sister to me before we lost touch," she explained, with a smile and a casual stance, quite similar to Max's.
"She's not into today. I could give you her address if you want."
"That'd be great, I really need to talk to her."
Normal began to shuffle through the files on the counter until he finally came to Max's. "Okay, she lives at . . . oh wait I haven't updated this yet. She's living with Alec now."
"Way-hey go Max . . . so can I have that address then?"
"Sure," said Normal rhyming it of without looking at the file.
"Mmm ok then, thanks," said the girl, walking of a little creeped out.
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Just for a change, Logan was sitting in front of his computer staring intently at the screen. He had spent the past few months watching Max and Alec, how they behaved around each other, their daily routine and just general stuff that could help him win back Max. At first, he had thought that it would be an easy task but the more time he spent watching them the more he realised that she honestly thought that she was in love with him. Logan mentally 'pahed' at the idea of Max being in love with Alec when he was waiting for her.
He had managed to hack into the surveillance cameras at Jam Pony and had pretty much forgotten about Eyes Only as he struggled relentlessly to think of ways to get Max back. From watching her he had learnt lots of new things about her that he hadn't known before so all he had to do was use them to his advantage and she would be his once more.
That was when he realised what he had to do. The one thing that Max hated the most was disloyalty. All he had to do was make her think that Alec was cheating on her or betrayed her in some way and she would come running to him for support. 'It shouldn't be too hard, he always used to be a screw up. Old habits die hard.'
It would be about here that if Logan was any kind of a man that he would began to laugh evilly. There was silence in the apartment only broken by the tapping of computer keys.
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Max moaned hearing the door being knocked. "Piss off!" she yelled rolling over. She had been unusually tired recently and Alec had taken Jen out to give her a chance to get some rest but as the knocking was becoming consistently louder, Max gave in and got up. "Someone is so about to get there ass kicked," she mumbled as she tumbled out of bed, heading for the door.
Max swung the door open and came face to face with the girl who had been in Jam Pony earlier. After studying her familiar looking features, Max realised who it was. "Jondy?"
"Hey Max." As Max flung her arms around her sister, she could not help but feel that something was wrong. "Hmm, after twelve years surely you could have thought of a better greeting than simply 'Hey Max'"
Finally letting go of each other Max stood back and let her sister in. "What can I say; I had other things on my mind on the way over." Jondy rubbed her forehead and when Max saw the worried look on her face, she decided to inquire further.
"Look, as much as I would love nothing more than to sit and have one of those long, girly, heart warming talks about the events if the past few years, I can't help but get the feeling that this is not just a social visit."
Jondy smiled. "Ah I forgot, you always were the intuitive one. Not being one to beat around the bush I might as well tell you that I'm here to bring you back to San Francisco with me." When Jondy saw the look of shock on Max's face, she hurried on before she began to argue.
"Everyone is meeting up there in three days. As you know the transgenic situation is getting out of hand and we have a had a few close calls with this bad ass called White though I'm sure that by now you are acquainted." Max nodded so Jondy continued glad and not having to explain. "We have decided that we have to do something about it. Kat and Zane are pushing for us to go somewhere the other side of the country where he can't find us, so although we still have to make the final decision that is probably what will happen."
Max felt anger bubbling up inside her. She couldn't believe that they were going to hide and that they expected her to all right with it. "No way! We can't just leave them to fend for themselves. Running would be taken the coward's way out and for some reason I seriously doubt that genetically engineered soldiers were designed to run away when things get too hard."
"Look, I know you have a problem with this but we need to look after our own unit and . . ."
"And there is no way that as soon as I get my life back into order and that I am truly happy that I am going to pack up and drag my ass across the country because you are afraid."
Jondy was getting irritated. She knew Max would be against it but this was too far. Was Max so selfish that it did not occur to her that the rest of them had lives that they were going to give up as well? Determined to get Max to see that she could just start a new life somewhere else she decided to challenge what was keeping her in Seattle.
"Give me one perfectly good reason why you can't move and start over." Hearing familiar footsteps nearing the door Max smirked. "I'll give you two."
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Jondy was still in shock by the time she had reached Original Cindy's apartment. Max and Alec had offered their couch but Jondy was partial to the simple comforts like a bed. So Max had phoned OC and told her everything.
Granted Jondy wasn't sure what to expect of Max after not having seen her for twelve years but from what Krit and Syl had said she was too much of a free spirit to be a family values kind of girl. Therefore seeing her with a live-in boyfriend, who just happened to be the twin of her dead brother, and a baby came as quite a surprise.
Original Cindy handed her a cup of coffee. "Thanks." "So you took this whole baby thing hard as well?" she asked eager to get to know one of Max's sisters.
Jondy could only nod. "It took me about five minutes to stop saying 'holy shit.' It was just such a shock to the system, I know that you have known her for ages but surely you weren't expecting it either."
"Not expecting it? That's an understatement, the shock of it all almost turned Original Cindy straight. I'm still not sure how it happened." When Jondy raised an eyebrow OC muttered something about her being too much like Max.
"Look we could talk this to death but you travelled all the way from San Fran so maybe you should get some rest." But Jondy only shook her head. "Nah, like Max I'm also cursed with shark DNA. That's why we were the closest, we always stayed up late, talking. So, tell me what Max is like. I know she is my sister but I don't know the grown up Max."
"Well she is headstrong, always willing to help and unbelievably stubborn. She's the kind of girl that doesn't take crap from anyone and always calls it how she sees it. Although she'd never admit it she is afraid. I know you wouldn't think it but she is." This confused Jondy. "Trust me, after today I find it hard to believe that Max afraid of anything."
"She's afraid of letting people in. She thinks that if she lets people in it will make her weak, that's why she was always so secretive and that's why I think her and Alec ended up together. She had no need to be secretive with him. He knew her past so she couldn't hide it, even if she wanted to. He understands what she went through because he went through it himself. That is why when he first got out they hated each other so much, they both knew that they wouldn't be able to keep each other out and put on that mask that all you transgenics do so well. So when they finally stopped trying to keep up the barrier to hide behind, they realised what good potential there was for a strong, healthy relationship. Not even of the romantic sort, but I'm glad that it did turn out that way."
There was a silence in the room as Jondy thought about Cindy's reflection. "You Cindy are a very insightful person," she finally said. "Well, I have to admit that those little pieces of knowledge are usually best when they are concerning Max and Alec. Those two have so much emotional baggage they need someone on the sidelines to show them what is really going on."
Jondy got up and gave Cindy a hug. "Thanks I really needed that. Now tell me about Alec, I'm sure he is all right cause you seem to like him and it seems like you are a very good judge of character."
"As apparently so are you," said OC, laughing. They both spent the night talking about anything and everything before finally giving in at around three and going to bed.
Jondy smiled as she flopped on to Max's old bed. She really liked OC and it seemed that Max really had made a good life for herself in Seattle. Jondy went to sleep looking forward to catching up with her sister, playing with her niece and interrogating Alec of course.
___________________*************__________________ So what ya think? Please review!
Chapter 5: Max's Surprise
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Max sat in front of the apartment door with her arms wrapped around her knees and her feet flat on the floor. She was wearing red pyjama bottoms and a grey T-shirt. Her hair was in a loose ponytail with a few strands that had escaped from the band holding them in place tucked behind her ear.
Alec was in the kitchen making coffee for him and Max, both of them enjoying one of those rare moments when there was silence that allowed them to concentrate only on their own thoughts. Alec looked up and frowned when he realised that Max was still sitting where he had left her last night. He hadn't really noticed when he had first got up but that was probably due to the fact that . . . well . . . he had just got up.
Both of them had been up until three in the morning and when Alec had finally went to bed Max had been sitting in front of the door. In fact he seriously doubted that she had even moved an inch, and he knew why. The results of Jen's DNA workup would be delivered toda so after two weeks of waiting Max was really worried so had kept herself up all night. Not that she wouldn't have been up anyway. He sighed, poured a cup of coffee, and brought it over to Max.
"Here." Max looked up and took the cup of him gratefully, giving him a peck on the cheek. "Thanks," she whispered. Alec walked away as he knew that at this stage there was nothing that would make Max feel better apart from having the results in her hand.
"Have you actually moved at all in the past few hours?" he asked, concern evident in his voice. "Yeah, at about six there was a fly that was buzzing about, it had to die," said Max, slipping back into her trance. She had spent the last few hours worrying herself into a frenzy. She still wasn't sure what she wanted the letter to say despite her best attempts at soul searching.
She had watched Jen closely looking for anything that might mean that she would be a transgenic, even though Alec told her that she wouldn't be able to tell until she was a few years older. She had contemplated what it might mean for Jen if she was, if her life would be totally screwed up because she had genetically superior parents. Although Alec had not said anything she knew that he had wanted Jen to have their abilities, knowing that it would mean she would always be able to look after herself and though that idea comforted Max, she couldn't help but remember what a horrible childhood she'd had.
Max's pulse began to race as she heard the elevator doors open and footsteps beginning to walk in the direction of the apartment. Alec was immediately alert too, getting up and staring at the door. Max was also on her feet and opened the door before the messenger began to knock.
Max acknowledged her with a nod, as she knew her from Jam Pony. She whipped the clipboard out of the messenger's hands and Alec tossed her a pen as she signed quickly. "OC wanted to deliver it but Normal wouldn't let her saying that it was just an excuse to chat with her friends," said the girl flashing Max a knowing smile. She handed the envelope over and Max shut the door in her face before she started talking again.
Max moved silently to the couch where she sat down beside a now nervous Alec. Max ran her fingers around the edge of the envelope, which felt like it contained a good few pages thick of information. "So the moment of truth," said Alec weakly but Max hardly noticed as she was concentrating on the package in her hands in a way that was not unsimilar to a soldier sizing up it's opponent.
The large, brown envelope was sealed on all sides and although Max had spent countless hours delivering them she had never realised how intimidating they could be to this very moment. Despite the fact that all she had wanted to do was rip the envelope open to reveal its' contents Max couldn't bring herself to do it. "I can't, you do it," said Max as she gave up trying to summon the strength to open the envelope and handed it over to Alec who ripped it open immediately and began to read aloud.
"Max and Alec, sorry it took so long, had to make sure this wasn't put on the wrong desk. I did a full work up of Jen's blood and DNA she will develop transgenic abilities with time and they will be to the same standard as yours. The abilities will progress in exactly the same way as your own."
Alec stopped after this and looked up to see Max's reaction. She gave a slight smile before motioning for him to continue. "We have also discovered that her DNA has only feline additives, like the both of yours. Otherwise she is a perfectly healthy baby. Hope you got the result you wanted, Sam," Alec finished. He flicked through the next few pages. "They are just all the technical details and results. Shit are you ok?"
"Yeah, better than I expected actually. The relief of knowing pretty good as well," she said with a yawn. Alec smiled and leaned over, and brushed the fallen strands of hair out of her sleepy eyes before wrapping his arms around her. "Get some sleep, even shark DNA needs to rest sometime," he said softly, kissing the top of her head,
Surprisingly Max went towards the bedroom without any argument where she soon feel into a deep, contented sleep.
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Three Months later.
_______________________****************__________________ A girl with long black hair and an athletic figure walked into Jam Pony. She had blue eyes and after looking round the room noting the people, doors and general layout, she walked right over to the dispatch desk as if she owned the place.
"Hey! You with the glasses, can I have a word?" she called out to Normal who was reorganising the employee files. "Sorry, no jobs available at the moment," he said without even bothering to look up. "Actually, I'm looking for someone who works here. Her name's Max, Max Guevara." This however caught Normal's attention and his head jerked up immediately.
He gave the girl the once over as if he was deciding to tell her what she wanted to know or not. "What do you want to see her for?" he asked, curious at why some stranger had come looking for Max. "We are old friends, we go way back. The girl was like a sister to me before we lost touch," she explained, with a smile and a casual stance, quite similar to Max's.
"She's not into today. I could give you her address if you want."
"That'd be great, I really need to talk to her."
Normal began to shuffle through the files on the counter until he finally came to Max's. "Okay, she lives at . . . oh wait I haven't updated this yet. She's living with Alec now."
"Way-hey go Max . . . so can I have that address then?"
"Sure," said Normal rhyming it of without looking at the file.
"Mmm ok then, thanks," said the girl, walking of a little creeped out.
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Just for a change, Logan was sitting in front of his computer staring intently at the screen. He had spent the past few months watching Max and Alec, how they behaved around each other, their daily routine and just general stuff that could help him win back Max. At first, he had thought that it would be an easy task but the more time he spent watching them the more he realised that she honestly thought that she was in love with him. Logan mentally 'pahed' at the idea of Max being in love with Alec when he was waiting for her.
He had managed to hack into the surveillance cameras at Jam Pony and had pretty much forgotten about Eyes Only as he struggled relentlessly to think of ways to get Max back. From watching her he had learnt lots of new things about her that he hadn't known before so all he had to do was use them to his advantage and she would be his once more.
That was when he realised what he had to do. The one thing that Max hated the most was disloyalty. All he had to do was make her think that Alec was cheating on her or betrayed her in some way and she would come running to him for support. 'It shouldn't be too hard, he always used to be a screw up. Old habits die hard.'
It would be about here that if Logan was any kind of a man that he would began to laugh evilly. There was silence in the apartment only broken by the tapping of computer keys.
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Max moaned hearing the door being knocked. "Piss off!" she yelled rolling over. She had been unusually tired recently and Alec had taken Jen out to give her a chance to get some rest but as the knocking was becoming consistently louder, Max gave in and got up. "Someone is so about to get there ass kicked," she mumbled as she tumbled out of bed, heading for the door.
Max swung the door open and came face to face with the girl who had been in Jam Pony earlier. After studying her familiar looking features, Max realised who it was. "Jondy?"
"Hey Max." As Max flung her arms around her sister, she could not help but feel that something was wrong. "Hmm, after twelve years surely you could have thought of a better greeting than simply 'Hey Max'"
Finally letting go of each other Max stood back and let her sister in. "What can I say; I had other things on my mind on the way over." Jondy rubbed her forehead and when Max saw the worried look on her face, she decided to inquire further.
"Look, as much as I would love nothing more than to sit and have one of those long, girly, heart warming talks about the events if the past few years, I can't help but get the feeling that this is not just a social visit."
Jondy smiled. "Ah I forgot, you always were the intuitive one. Not being one to beat around the bush I might as well tell you that I'm here to bring you back to San Francisco with me." When Jondy saw the look of shock on Max's face, she hurried on before she began to argue.
"Everyone is meeting up there in three days. As you know the transgenic situation is getting out of hand and we have a had a few close calls with this bad ass called White though I'm sure that by now you are acquainted." Max nodded so Jondy continued glad and not having to explain. "We have decided that we have to do something about it. Kat and Zane are pushing for us to go somewhere the other side of the country where he can't find us, so although we still have to make the final decision that is probably what will happen."
Max felt anger bubbling up inside her. She couldn't believe that they were going to hide and that they expected her to all right with it. "No way! We can't just leave them to fend for themselves. Running would be taken the coward's way out and for some reason I seriously doubt that genetically engineered soldiers were designed to run away when things get too hard."
"Look, I know you have a problem with this but we need to look after our own unit and . . ."
"And there is no way that as soon as I get my life back into order and that I am truly happy that I am going to pack up and drag my ass across the country because you are afraid."
Jondy was getting irritated. She knew Max would be against it but this was too far. Was Max so selfish that it did not occur to her that the rest of them had lives that they were going to give up as well? Determined to get Max to see that she could just start a new life somewhere else she decided to challenge what was keeping her in Seattle.
"Give me one perfectly good reason why you can't move and start over." Hearing familiar footsteps nearing the door Max smirked. "I'll give you two."
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Jondy was still in shock by the time she had reached Original Cindy's apartment. Max and Alec had offered their couch but Jondy was partial to the simple comforts like a bed. So Max had phoned OC and told her everything.
Granted Jondy wasn't sure what to expect of Max after not having seen her for twelve years but from what Krit and Syl had said she was too much of a free spirit to be a family values kind of girl. Therefore seeing her with a live-in boyfriend, who just happened to be the twin of her dead brother, and a baby came as quite a surprise.
Original Cindy handed her a cup of coffee. "Thanks." "So you took this whole baby thing hard as well?" she asked eager to get to know one of Max's sisters.
Jondy could only nod. "It took me about five minutes to stop saying 'holy shit.' It was just such a shock to the system, I know that you have known her for ages but surely you weren't expecting it either."
"Not expecting it? That's an understatement, the shock of it all almost turned Original Cindy straight. I'm still not sure how it happened." When Jondy raised an eyebrow OC muttered something about her being too much like Max.
"Look we could talk this to death but you travelled all the way from San Fran so maybe you should get some rest." But Jondy only shook her head. "Nah, like Max I'm also cursed with shark DNA. That's why we were the closest, we always stayed up late, talking. So, tell me what Max is like. I know she is my sister but I don't know the grown up Max."
"Well she is headstrong, always willing to help and unbelievably stubborn. She's the kind of girl that doesn't take crap from anyone and always calls it how she sees it. Although she'd never admit it she is afraid. I know you wouldn't think it but she is." This confused Jondy. "Trust me, after today I find it hard to believe that Max afraid of anything."
"She's afraid of letting people in. She thinks that if she lets people in it will make her weak, that's why she was always so secretive and that's why I think her and Alec ended up together. She had no need to be secretive with him. He knew her past so she couldn't hide it, even if she wanted to. He understands what she went through because he went through it himself. That is why when he first got out they hated each other so much, they both knew that they wouldn't be able to keep each other out and put on that mask that all you transgenics do so well. So when they finally stopped trying to keep up the barrier to hide behind, they realised what good potential there was for a strong, healthy relationship. Not even of the romantic sort, but I'm glad that it did turn out that way."
There was a silence in the room as Jondy thought about Cindy's reflection. "You Cindy are a very insightful person," she finally said. "Well, I have to admit that those little pieces of knowledge are usually best when they are concerning Max and Alec. Those two have so much emotional baggage they need someone on the sidelines to show them what is really going on."
Jondy got up and gave Cindy a hug. "Thanks I really needed that. Now tell me about Alec, I'm sure he is all right cause you seem to like him and it seems like you are a very good judge of character."
"As apparently so are you," said OC, laughing. They both spent the night talking about anything and everything before finally giving in at around three and going to bed.
Jondy smiled as she flopped on to Max's old bed. She really liked OC and it seemed that Max really had made a good life for herself in Seattle. Jondy went to sleep looking forward to catching up with her sister, playing with her niece and interrogating Alec of course.
___________________*************__________________ So what ya think? Please review!
