Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel. Or Alec. But a girl can dream, right?
Story: Alec gets a hard lesson in responsibility...
A/N: This is just a whimsical one-shot. I needed a break from the serious drama of chapter fics, and I might not have a whole lot of time to write anything pretty soon, so I wanted to get a complete fic! off my chest. Well, anyway, the idea comes from a cartoon called "Home Movies," from the episode where Brendon Small realizes that all of the mini movies he makes end in the same phrase: "It's time to pay the price!" I hope you like it!
Rated T+ for some language and some explicit content. (Not too bad though, don't worry...)
"I bet you fifty bucks you can't do it, man."
Alec grinned at his old friend from Manticore. "Well, I'll raise you another fifty that I can and will," Alec informed him smugly.
Biggs shook his head insistantly. "No, I'm tellin' ya, man. She'd never let you get close enough! You'd hit the floor faster than you can say, 'Manticore.'"
"Hey, are you in or out? One hundred bucks... C'mon, if you're so sure I can't do it, then you got nothin' to lose, right?"
Biggs looked uncertainly at his friend. "Fine. I'm in, but it's your wallet, buddy."
Alec smirked, supremely confident. "Just sit back and watch the master at work." He turned around and sought out his victim.
Finally, he spotted her by her locker, stuffing a jacket inside and pulling out a Jam Pony bag. Alec crept up to the locker silently and watched her for a second, studying her movements.
He eased the camera from his own bag slung across his shoulders and adjusted the lens to focus on the big, ugly bruise staining her cheek. It rested just below her eye and almost made that eye appear to be swollen shut. All in all, it made quite a spectacle, since it rested on the face of the bad-ass female who practically ruled the roost known as Jam Pony.
Lens adjusted properly, Alec simply stood in silence and waited for her to turn to the right angle before taking the shot that would make him a hundred bucks richer.
At the sound of the camera, Original Cindy looked up from her locker in shock, looking for all the world like a deer in the headlights. Alec chuckled as her swollen eye fell on him and her face scrunched up in anger as much as the bruise would allow. He decided to make his grand escape.
"Alec."
Hearing his name spoken like that, deadly calm and quiet, Alec winced and looked up at the speaker. "Oh, hey Max."
Without warning, she grunted as her fist smashed into the camera that had taken the offensive picture. It broke into a million unrecognizable pieces of metal and plastic.
A wide-eyed Alec helplessly watched the shards fall. "What the hell was that, Max? Look what you did!"
Max shrugged and casually brushed camera guts off of her fist. "That's what you get for tryin' to take a snapshot of the bruise OC got when she fell off her bike this morning," she said nonchalantly.
Alec's mouth hung open. "That was Sketchy's camera, Max. The one he takes everywhere with him! Like his teddy bear. He let me borrow it! What the hell do I tell him? He's gonna be so pissed!"
"Not my problem. That's the price you pay for being a dick." And with that, Max walked away with a glowering Original Cindy.
Back at his apartment that night, Alec held his head in his hands. Stupid Max, breaking the camera like that and not even caring! Stupid Biggs, challenging him and putting money at stake! Stupid Sketchy, acting like a father who just found out Alec impregnated his daughter! Stupid OC, getting that ridiculous bruise in the first place! Really, who falls off their own bike? Stupid, stupid Max!
Alec checked his watch and saw it was high time he got some sleep before facing his demons at work again. He threw off his shirt and jeans, crawled into bed in his boxers, and drifted off to sleep with Max's last words ringing in his head.
"That's the price you pay..."
The sun on his face woke Alec the next day, and he hopped out of bed, pulled on some fresh clothes, bolted a quick breakfast, and revved up his motorcycle to take him to work.
At the entrance of Jam Pony, he was greeted by Biggs. Alec sighed in relief that it wasn't Max.
"So. Did you get the picture?" Biggs asked expectantly.
Alec's features twisted into a grimace. "Sort of. I took it, but then... uh... Max kinda... smashed the camera. But I took it. I just can't get it developed," Alec said with a chuckle, spreading his hands helplessly and shooting Biggs a disarming smile.
Biggs smirked at his friend. "I didn't see it, so how do I know you're not lying, Alec? That means it's time to pay the price," he said, rubbing his fingers together in a gesture implying the $100 pay-off.
Alec groaned and fished two fifties out of his wallet.
Biggs walked off whistling a happy tune as he pocketed the cash.
Alec started toward the Jam Pony entrance, glaring behind him at his friend's retreating back. He whipped his head around just in time to avoid crashing into a very angry Sketchy. He smiled nervously. "Hey, Sketchy, my man! How's it goin', buddy?" he asked, patting the glaring man on the arm amiably.
"Alec. It's time to pay the price."
Alec almost fell in surprise. "Wha... Were you talkin' to Biggs or somethin'?"
Sketchy ignored him and pressed on. "C'mon, man. You lost my camera! Dropped it in the sewers! Pay up, dude. You owe me a new camera."
Alec heaved a defeated sigh. Stupid Max! But he really did owe Sketchy. He pulled out his wallet again. "So how much do I owe you?"
Alec rode off on his bike with packages to deliver, fuming. He would need to pull another night-job heist to make up for the hits his wallet took today. It wasn't even ten o'clock in the morning yet! Incredible. Just frickin' incredible.
Alec reached the delivery point and knocked on the door of a beat-up, dirty little home on a slummy street. "Jam Pony messenger! I've got a package for you!"
The door opened after a minute, and Alec found himself frozen to the spot with ice forming in his belly. There in front of him was one of the blonde bimbos that stood in Alec's long line of conquests. Holding a baby.
The woman apparently recognized him, since she glared at him venomously and began to yell in a whiny voice. "You! Just what do you think you're doing here? After all, I thought you never wanted to see me again. At least, that's the impression I got the morning after!" she shouted at him in a rage. "I mean, we went to my place, and I had thought you were wonderful, and then I wake up and find you GONE! Leaving me alone and pregnant like that, you cheap bastard!" she screamed.
A dog barked in the yard and the baby in her arms started to bawl shrilly. The woman patted its bottom absently, a little harder than necessary in her anger, still glaring daggers at Alec.
Alec's eyes were wide throughout the whole tirade, and when the woman said, "pregnant," he swallowed hard. "That's... mine?" The woman gave a curt nod. "You're sure," he asked, sounding uncertain.
"Of course I'm sure! As if I wouldn't know!"
Alec felt it safer not to mention that she was the type to have a few contenders for the title of "my baby's daddy," and also decided against telling her the baby was too ugly to be his. Instead, he shrugged and said, "Well... what do you want from me?"
"Child support would be nice, dickhead! You're a year late! Take some responsibility for your actions!"
Alec's mouth fell open.
Taking that for an argument, she shouted vehemently, "It's time to pay the price!"
Alec's eyes bugged at her words. He slowly shut his gaping mouth and silently pulled out his wallet. Again. He cleared his throat to allow him to speak, and asked in a small voice, "How much do I owe you?"
Alec was riding his bike back to Jam Pony for another package, wallet considerably lighter, when he found himself surrounded by large, unpleasant men with bulging biceps and callused knuckles. Oh, great. What now? he thought as he pulled his bike to a stop.
"Hey, fellas. What can I do for you gentlemen this morning?" Alec asked with a charming smile.
All of them continued to glare at him. One of the toughs cracked his knuckles loudly. The one in the center facing Alec directly spoke after a moment. "Mista McDowell. Our boss sent us to give you a message."
Alec frowned slightly in confusion. "Your boss."
"Mista Lorenzo wanted us to let you know that he don't like bein' double-crossed," the man said coldly.
"Oh, Lorenzo! I remember him. So you mean he didn't like his supply of andy?"
"He never got none o' the andy!"
Alec feigned shock and anger. "You mean to tell me that my supplier never came through? That's an outrage! I am going to have a stern talk with him, and I can assure you gentleman that Lorenzo will get his andy soon. Now if you boys will excuse me...," he finished quickly, making a move to leave.
The thug took a step closer. "Nuh-uh. Mista Lorenzo wanted his andy a week ago. You didn't deliver. Now Mista Lorenzo don't got no andy, and now you don't got no luck, Mista McDowell. It's time ta pay da price," the man said with a cruel smile.
Alec was stunned. Was any of this really happening? Was he just going crazy? He shook himself out of his reverie and scanned the circle of big men with guns. Hell, they looked like they used andy themselves! Alec was in a royal fix this time. All because he sold the friggin' stuff to a higher bidder at the last minute. Some junkie who had doubled Lorenzo's pittance of an offer.
Alec swallowed. "How much do you want for the andy, and the mess-up? Hm? Five hundred? Eight? C'mon, name your price."
The men cracked their knuckles again. "Don't worry, Mista McDowell. We don't want ya money," the big guy in the middle said menacingly as he rolled up his sleeves.
Alec finished brushing dirt off of his good jacket as he rode quickly the rest of the way to work. Damn, that had been close! Good thing he was a genetically engineered killing machine who, it turned out, could also make grown men, ex-cons and mobsters that were all ten times his size run off in fright and cry for their mothers. Alec almost laughed. Real men don't cry, he thought contemptuously.
At the sight that met his eyes at Jam Pony, though, Alec certainly felt like crying.
There at the door stood Marina and Little Suki, two ex-employees of Jam Pony. The lovely ladies had quit once they found out they were both dating Alec at the same time. They smiled sweetly at him as he approached. That terrified him infinitely more than having them scream at him in a rage.
"Oh Alec! Can you come here? We'd like to talk to you," said Marina in a sickeningly sweet voice.
By contrast, Little Suki's voice dripped with venom behind an obviously fake, tight smile. "Yeah, Alec. It's time to pay the price!" She was even cracking her knuckles!
Alec nearly fainted.
Just when he thought he was dead for sure, the heavens parted and Max rushed outside staring straight ahead, heading away from the two deadly women. She nearly collided with Alec in her haste.
"Hey, hey Max! Max, wait up!" he jogged after her. She turned around and looked up at him a little wild-eyed. "Max, here, I'll go with you to deliver these," Alec said, nodding to the packages she held while keeping a keen eye trained on Marina and Little Suki.
Max looked up at him with eyes like saucers as she bit her lower lip. "N-no, Alec. I can do it myself."
Alec gave her a pleading look. "Max, c'mon! I'm trying to escape a fate worse than death here! Give a guy a break, will ya?"
Max's eyes narrowed. "A fate worse than death?" she said skeptically.
"Yeah, like if two girls totally kick my ass in public, or tell the world I'm a two-timing jerk, thus eliminating any chance of sex for at least a week or two," Alec mused.
He thought he heard Max's breathing hitch a bit at his candid mention of sex. Her eyes grew wider again.
Alec frowned. "Max. Max? Are you OK?"
Max's breathing definitely quickened as she became aware of Alec looking at her. For that matter, her face had a light sheen of sweat covering it. Her eyes locked with his for a moment, his full of concern and hers fevered.
Abruptly, Max ripped her gaze away from Alec and sprinted towards her bike, taking off on it at a crazy speed. Unfortunately for the oddly behaving transgenic, she hit a pothole in the road and fell off of her bike, her face hitting the ground with a loud thud.
Alec had just been staring in confusion, but he jerked once he saw her fall. "MAX!" he yelled. He quickly ran to catch up with her and knelt down, scooping her limp form up into his arms.
"Max, are you alright? Max?" he asked as he brushed her hair out of her face.
A dazed-looking Max's eyes fluttered open, and she tensed once she saw Alec holding her. Alec felt her body temperature rise, felt her breaths quicken, saw her lips part slightly as she looked at him, saw her pupils dilate and light on fire.
Finally, Alec understood what was happening. He should have guessed; Max's pheromones were nearly smothering him. Alec felt his own body react painfully, as well. He had to get out of there, get away from Max!
Alec slowly let her down onto the ground and stood up.
So did she.
And before he had time to react, Max pulled Alec's mouth down onto hers.
The reaction was immediate. Alec felt like every fiber of his being was on fire. He couldn't think straight, and he sure as hell couldn't stop himself from returning her kiss hungrily. His arms circled her slender waist and he pulled her closer to him, deepening the kiss and caressing her back.
Max pulled away slowly, and when Alec opened his eyes again, they were at his apartment. Part of Alec's heat-stricken brain found this very strange, but the majority focused on the gorgeous woman in his bedroom looking at him with passionate eyes and undressing slowly.
Alec threw off his jacket, and Max walked up to him in her lacy black lingerie. In one smooth motion, she ripped the white T-shirt he was wearing right off of his chest and tossed the tattered cloth to the ground. Alec watched as she admired his bare upper body and purred with pleasure before closing the space between them and ravaging his mouth once more.
He broke free of the hot kiss for a breath of air and gasped in utter disbelief, "Max, what are we doing?"
She looked up at him through long lashes. "What do you think, pretty boy? You mentioned sex to me while I was in heat. And then you didn't leave me alone, and then you touched me, and now there's no turning back." She slid her face around his to put her mouth next to his ear. "It's time to pay the price, Alec," she whispered in a voice soft as silk.
This time, Alec thought his heart might have stopped. That's it. She killed me with six words. So I'm dead. And oh, God, this must be heaven!
All other thoughts were drowned out by the feel of Max's body on his.
Alec lay in his bed, reflecting on his encounter with Max. He felt her hand slide around and rest on his bare chest. He turned to look at her sleeping figure laying languidly under the covers and briefly wondered what they were to each other now, how what they had just done had changed things. He sincerely hoped she didn't hate him, thinking perhaps that he had taken advantage of her heat cycle to get some meaningless action. He had to tell her that that wasn't the case, even if she couldn't hear him.
"Max, I - "
Just then, the door to his bedroom was thrown open, and Logan walked in looking at Alec murderously.
"Alec. I knew it."
The startled transgenic sat up and looked at the homicidal Ordinary, who was now pointing a gun in his face. "Logan, what the - "
"Get the hell away from her! Get your greasy paws off of my woman!" he screamed at Alec.
Max stirred at the noise and sat up, pulling the covers over her bare body with a start as she realized what was happening. "Logan!"
"How dare you! She goes into heat, and you grab her up and spread her legs while she'll let you, is that it, Alec?"
"What the hell, Logan! It's not like that! Put the gun down before you do something you're gonna regret!" he said, eyeing the piece of lethal metal aimed at his head.
Logan shook his head. "No. See, blowing your arrogant, sex-crazed, ego-centric, punk-assed brains clean out of that pretty little head of yours is not something I would regret." Logan cocked the gun and kept it trained on its target. He spoke in a deadly voice, soft and filled with malice. "Alec, it's time to pay the price."
The gun went off loudly, and Alec briefly heard Max scream before the whole scene faded from existence.
Alec shouted a curse as he sat bolt upright in bed, panting and sweating. He felt his chest, still intact, as he tried to control his breathing. He threw the covers off of his body and saw that he was still wearing his boxers. "It was all... a dream?" he asked himself out loud. "No way, it felt too real!"
Just to check, Alec took his wallet off of his nightstand and took a peek inside. Yep, his money was all still there. "So it was just a dream," he said, feeling a bit disappointed for some reason.
Alec started as he heard a knock on his door. He slipped out of bed and padded over to the doorway, the impatient knock continuing all the while. "I'm comin', I'm comin'! Keep your shirt on," he mumbled.
Alec pulled open the door and was surprised to see Max standing there with OC. On second thought...
Max looked stunned at his state of undress, and Alec found his bare upper body the uncomfortable object of her scrutiny. He swallowed and found his voice. "Max. Cindy. What're you ladies doing here? Are we having a slumber party?" he added with a mischievous grin.
Max snapped her face up to Alec's and shot him a deadly glare. "In your dreams, Pretty Boy! Me 'n' OC just came to collect."
Alec stared in shock. Her words hit way too close to home for his comfort. "Collect...?"
"Yeah. You owe my girl an apology, and you owe Sketchy a camera. So I figured if you apologize nice and sincerely to OC right now, I'll help pay for the new camera, since technically my fist was what smashed it in the first place."
Alec snorted. "Technically? Are you serious?"
Max glared again. "Fine. I broke it. But if you say you're sorry, and mean it, I promise your face won't be the next thing I break. Got it?"
Alec nodded sourly.
"But first, you gotta pay the price," Max added to emphasize her point.
Alec's eyes bulged and his skin paled. Abruptly, he pushed past the two girls and blurred away as fast as he could down the street, leaving them baffled in his dust.Max and OC gave each other incredulous looks.
"What the hell was that all about? Hot Boy looked like he was gonna throw up all over da place," OC said.
Max shrugged. "I don't know what's wrong with him, and I don't care." The girls turned to go to work. "Oh well. I'll just have to kick his ass later."
OC paused. "D'ya think he knows he's practically naked?"
Max shrugged again nonchalantly.
"Should we bring 'im some clothes?"
Max started to chuckle. "Nah, no freakin' way. Like I said, that's the price he pays for bein' a dick."
A/N: Well, that's all, folks! I hope you enjoyed the ride. Let me know if you liked it, and if I should feel encouraged to write more comedies in the future. Or go ahead and tell me if you thought it sucked. But please, be tactful about it. Just don't be afraid to tell me what you really think. I love to see people's opinions! Thanks for checking this out!