Chapter 8
This calls for a celebration
A/N: To continue the story this chapter picks up on the day that Max's heat starts. She goes to Command to claim Alec, the first scene from this chapter is that scene from Biggs' POV, the rest is what follows while Max and Alec are otherwise occupied, and beyond. My thanks go out to Lyra as usual for correcting my blatant mistakes and nudging me to post it by assuring me it's good.
Command
The morning began as every other for Biggs except that he had a nagging thought that wouldn't leave him alone. 'I know Jondy wants me, it's written all over her face but then why? Why did she stop me, why won't she talk to me? Why can't women just tell me what they want instead of keeping me guessing? I don't deal well with 'vague' problems like those. At least our women don't ask question like is she prettier than me? Ordinaries can be so lame that way, what do they expect me to say? Obviously not the truth because when I said that I got punched, but don't outright lie either that gets you covered in beer. Aaarggh, focus soldier!'
Straightening his shoulders Biggs walked to their offices and decided to drop in on Alec. Maybe there'd be some news on the soldiers they were supposed to train. Biggs wanted to get the intel so he could plan a schedule. He had 5 requests for a week's leave on his desk for heat cycles. And even worse, they had discovered in the last few weeks that X6's had them too. Most X6's were between 14 and 18 and Biggs had several incident reports on his desk for mate fights between X6's. Freedom was great but maintaining a battle ready rapid task force when most men seemed determined to beat each other to a pulp was difficult to say the least.
Sighing he decided they would need to make some sort of command decision on it, hopefully that would structure the fighting and leave him with more able bodies. Another thing on his plate was the plan for DOD to have their men trained by transgenics, most wouldn't take kindly to taking orders from what they considered inferior beings. Life certainly wasn't easy on this side of the fence but Biggs wouldn't trade it for anything, his freedom was very dear to him. Gathering up the pile of papers he decided to see if Alec's weekly show had already started and take some of this up with him after it was over.
He was interrupted by the sound of the door and immediately the scent of pheromones filled his nose. His eyes immediately flew across the room to ascertain the origins and he was confronted by the sight of his lifelong friend standing frozen to the spot looking to the door with a look in his eye Biggs fondly remembered having for Cece. He knew only one woman could do this to him and he smiled when he realized that Max had finally come to her senses and had come to claim her mate. From the corner of his eye he spotted one of the youngest X5's moving stealthily towards Max and with one jump he was behind him and knocked some sense into him before he would do something stupid. No one else seemed to notice, so Biggs dragged him from sight and watched from a distance as Max circled her man, inspecting him. Biggs was assaulted by the memories of Cece doing the same. Although Cece had never been as alpha as he was he had always felt responsible for her as the youngest of their unit. When she came to him in her heat he hadn't been able to turn away from the look of pleading and adoration in her eyes and call in her voice. The short time that followed while they were together Cece had always remained amazed at the fact that she had managed to draw his attention. She had showered him with affection and Biggs had let her, content in knowing he had a woman who would never look elsewhere and that foresaw his every wish and desire.
Still locked in his memories he watched as Alec carried Max out and he grabbed the stack of papers that Chat was thrusting at him. He went to work with a reminiscent smile on his face and it never left him. He realized that although he'd been content in his connection to Cece, it wasn't the same as what he just witnessed. Max and Alec had come together as equals. Biggs could feel a pang of guilt when he considered that but he comforted himself by repeating she'd been happy with him. Later that morning he tracked down Joshua and had him deliver some food to Max's apartment. Joshua had seemed elated at the thought of both his best friends finally happy together and immediately started planning a party for them. Biggs grinned at the thought of how both X5s would feel about that when they came out of their haze, and offered his assistance with the organizing.
While at the mess hall he joined the rest of the Alpha unit and had lunch with them discussing the latest developments. Since their return they had been off duty, which meant they hadn't seen each other a lot since then. At present he was watching Jondy, back to her own irrepressible self, teasing their youngest member with the shiner he'd come in with. Ordinarily small nicks like that were nothing special but the kid had made the mistake of trying to hide it from his unit mates. Right now Jondy was enticing him into telling all of them the story. Although he didn't know the details Biggs had a strong impression it had something to do with Donna, the medic from Delta unit.
That reminded him of the scene he'd been watching that morning between Max and Alec, it had reminded him again how lucky he was to still be alive to see it happen. Life had given him more than a few close calls with death, occasionally even just scraping out of a situation. He felt blessed to be here now, surrounded by his friends forming a society of their own. He felt sad that Cece couldn't be here to see it happen as well, he promised her in Manticore that someday they'd be free. It did comfort him that Cece got to taste that freedom before she died. Being out here had been hard for her, however, she had put on a brave face but she had missed the structure that Manticore had provided for them and she was unable to cope with the fluidity of life on the street.
He always watched from the sidelines as the rest of his unit joked around together, he never joined in, didn't know how to be spontaneous like that, but he was content to watch them play around with each other. Soon, however, the time for training arrived and Jondy ordered the others to 'volunteer' for duty to train the X8's. Although no one expected the kids to fight on the frontlines, it was imperative that they were trained in the art of Escape and Evade. Most had received a little training already at Manticore but none were very proficient yet. Which meant they could probably fool ordinaries, since the 'niners' hadn't been much older when they escaped and evaded capture. But no one was sure they could fool familiars. No one really complained at the duty since it meant they could pretend to be kids for the afternoon, playing mostly hide and seek.
When Jondy returned to the table she saw Biggs was still staring into space and had barely touched his food. She couldn't help but to feel concern for him, when Biggs was worried about something he generally forgot to eat and that brought out the mother hen in Jondy. She quickly hollowed out a roll and stuffed some of the pasta still on his plate inside with some sauce. She tapped his arm carefully and waited till his focus shifted to her, when it did she presented him with the roll and headed out the door with Zane. Outside, Jondy took Zane's hand and they goofed around on their way to the obstacle courses, soon they were completely oblivious to the outside world, completely engrossed in whatever silly game they had made up to pass the time. Biggs watched them as he followed, marvelling at the closeness and their obvious comfort. Part of him wished Jondy could be like that with him as well, and that he could do those things with her.
In the locker room they quickly changed into their PT gear and moved to the waiting area at the start of the obstacle courses. Running various courses warmed them up for the hand to hand and special training that lay ahead in the rest of the afternoon. This warming-up and the sparring that followed were mandatory for everyone, however, and today was the turn of the support personnel to run. Most were still sporting bruises of yesterday's sparring but nothing serious had occurred so all were present for the run of today.
Biggs watched on with rapt delight and barely concealed desire in his eyes as Jondy stretched her muscles. Gem and Zane stood together a short distance away snickering at the scene. Winking at the fellow conspirator she nudged Zane and called out to Jondy in a mock-concerned tone.
"Hey, Jon. You've got a smudge on your pack."
Jondy bended down at the waist to check her bag from all angles and Biggs' eyes widened at the sight and he let out a small groan at the sight Jondy was unconsciously presenting him with. Barely containing their grins, Gem glanced over to Zane to check whether he had heard as well. Better yet, Zane was biting his lip and tapped his nose before moving to Biggs, leaving Gem in another fit of giggles. He spread his arms wide but focused clearly on Jondy while speaking to the X5.
"Are we admiring the view or are we running?"
Biggs glanced over and saw where Zane was looking; anyone else and he'd been in serious jeopardy of loosing a limb. Biggs merely glared at Zane giving him a mute warning and briskly moved to the front of the group to start the training session. Zane was trailing behind barely containing his mirth, every time he thought he had it under control he would steal a glance at Gem and they'd both start up again. While running the course they avoided looking each other in the eye. The rest of the training session went without a hitch but Zane and Gem saw clearly how both Jondy and Biggs stole furtive glances at each other when they thought no one else was watching. At the end, Biggs took off to find a shower before the progress meeting that evening over dinner. While in the shower he had some time to himself to think about things between him and Jondy and he had a moment of clarity. Maybe if she knew about things between him and Cece and how it was giving him trouble, maybe then things could go back to normal. He felt he owed Jondy that much considering Jondy had never been afraid to share things with him and he wanted to be able to talk to her again without feeling awkward about it.
Watching her from a distance had lost some of its appeal now that he knew all these intriguing things about her, like those sounds she would make when he kissed her or the feel of her hair as he ran his fingers through it. Now that he thought about it, he also wanted to investigate this bump he had felt at the waistline of her pants; most X5's barely had any scars. Even he only had a few, some from Manticore experiments some from his close encounter with an angry mob.
He wanted to know everything about her, since so much was still a mystery. Like how she made a living before she came to TC with her 2 brothers in tow. Fresh with determination and the content feeling that training always gave him, he snatched up a shirt that, upon quick inspection, was reasonably clean and a clean pair of jeans. He bounded down the stairs actually sliding down the handrail at some point, whistling away. Halfway to the mess hall he was caught up by Zane who had noticed Max had been missing at the session and demanded to know where his baby sister was.
With a sardonic grin Biggs told Zane to ask Joshua about it then entered the mess hall still carrying his tune. At the sight of him entering the room in such an obvious good mood most transgenics were wondering what was going on, Biggs never whistled or looked this happy for that matter. They were extremely curious as to the cause of such happiness but knew better than to ask. In the meantime, Jondy was sitting at their table giving herself another stern lecture about not letting Biggs affect her as much as he did. Wanting to begin immediately now that he had come to a course of action, Biggs headed over to Jondy the instant he spotted her, leaving a number of females disappointed behind. Most were jealous at the attention the 'niners' were getting. Oblivious to the stir he was causing, he pulled up a chair next to Jondy and sat close to her waiting for her to put down her papers. He waited patiently but when it became clear she wouldn't acknowledge him he softly called her attention.
"Jondy?"
Finally, when she couldn't ignore him any longer she lifted her head and looked at him with a sorry excuse for a smile plastered on her face. Usually, after she refused him and told him to go away he ignored her for at least a week so the fact that he was right next to her, drawing her attention to him surprised her. She looked for answers in his face and was startled when she read concern in his eyes; he was never one to let his feelings show like this. Biggs watched her with rapt attention, it had been only a little while since he'd laid eyes on her but he was finding it harder and harder to let her out of his sight without knowing when he'd see her again. He could see from her reactions that something was wrong and he was worried he was contributing to her unease. Feeling the familiar feeling of inadequacy creep up inside him, he quickly squashed it back down and hid those unwelcome feelings, even from himself. With a sigh Jondy looked back down at her papers, every time he hid his feelings like that it made her feel so rejected. She bit her lip to keep a sob inside and waited for him to leave her alone so she could pull herself together again.
He didn't leave, instead he sat next to her, waiting for her to look up again, when she didn't he spoke in the same soft, soothing tone he'd used before.
"Jondy?" When she didn't seem to responds he slowly lifted one hand to touch her cheek with the back of his hand and continued talking. "Jondy, I need to talk to you. Will you come to see me when this is done?"
Jondy shook her head without looking up, she didn't trust her voice right now. All she could think was for him to leave, she couldn't deal with this right now, just to have her hopes crushed later. Undeterred, Biggs pushed on hoping to convince her to change her mind.
"Jondy, I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important. Would you please come, or if you prefer I could come to you?"
Jondy still didn't dare to look up, she knew that if she did she would lose all conviction and do whatever he would ask. "I…you can't."
Biggs decided to try a little teasing to get her to look up. "You should speak with more determination if you want people to take a no seriously."
That ignited her anger, her head shot up to look at him with fierce determination. When she uttered her denial her voice was clipped and she was barely restraining her fury. "Excuse me, I think no should be acknowledged as such no matter how it is uttered. Here is my report of the exercise. Please excuse me."
She thrust the stack of papers at him and Biggs barely caught them against his chest. Jondy flew from her chair when he stuck out a hand to stop her, and the chair flew backwards, crashing to the ground. Unaware that all motion stopped the instant Jondy had leaped from her chair she stomped out and headed straight for her place, without looking up once. For an instant Biggs was frozen to the spot, wondering what just happened, but he recovered quickly and set out to go after her. He was intercepted by Zane before he reached the doors, however. Shaking his head he muttered under his breath to keep the conversation between them.
"Just let her go, man. She'll come back when she's cooled down."
But Jondy didn't return that day, or the next morning, despite working closely together, Jondy made every effort to avoid his presence. Biggs' mood dropped below freezing when he realised that and the walked around with a permanent scowl on his face. He wanted to talk to Jondy, set things straight with her and now she was ignoring him, SHE was ignoring HIM. No one ever ignored Biggs, especially women, it just didn't happen and Biggs found that he didn't like to spend even one day without having Jondy's attention.
Meanwhile, Jondy wasn't having a great time either. She had wanted to give in to Biggs so desperately when he asked her but she couldn't risk being alone with him any longer. She had also done some serous thinking after leaving Max's place and had come to some very important decisions. Although she was thrilled that Max had decided to accept Alec as her mate and with that to accept her own nature, Jondy would never mate. She really loved Biggs but she was never going to let any man near her like that again. She knew with her heart that Biggs would never do anything to harm her, but even the thought of letting someone, anyone touch her, let alone mate with her made her retch.
All her hopes and dreams of a family had been crushed by that one week of her heat over 18 months ago. Jondy shed bitter tears that night over the loss of her dreams and she decided she needed to distance herself from Biggs, maybe then she could let him go so he could be happy with someone else. Because Biggs needed someone to take care of him, remind him to take care of himself when he was worried. She desperately wanted to see him be happy but the thought of seeing him with someone else broke her heart. Exhausted from crying and brooding she fell asleep and drifted to a world where she wasn't afraid of making love to her dark-haired love. The real Biggs lay awake that night, wondering how he could lure Jondy back to his side, angry at himself for spending so much time thinking about her but unable to do otherwise.
Though still worried about Jondy, the next day flew by for Biggs as he was trying to negotiate a deal with the DOD representatives. Obviously Biggs' lack of diplomacy ruffled more than a couple of feathers at the other side but at the end of the day they had a workable agreement on the table. Biggs was extremely suspicious of the determination and haste the government seemed to have with starting up this project. Ordinarily these negotiations took up weeks while each side tried to scam the other, now it seemed the first rotation would begin in 2 weeks.
Biggs turned off the lights at his desk and wondered what he'd do next, what he wanted to do was talk to Jondy but she was proving very elusive when she wanted to be. His ego wouldn't allow him to go looking for her again and he told himself to get over it already. Shaking his head he let his feet lead him away from his desk and out the door. He halted at the door leading to the security section, if he wanted to find Jondy then the security tapes would tell him where she was. He shook his head forcefully again and instead headed for the gym, hoping some strenuous exercise would help him to regain his focus. Starting on the machines he started a tough rhythm and never looked up.
Over the next few days while Alec was away Biggs got closer and closer to losing it, he could force himself to focus at times but mostly he just wondered about Jondy. This had never happened to him before; no one had ever occupied his thoughts like that. But Jondy had always been by his side before, as soon as she had proved herself she had been in his squad. That was it, he decided, he was just used to seeing her every day and as soon as he got used to not seeing her things would get back to normal.
Things didn't get back to normal, however, even after Alec and Max returned from their vacation he couldn't keep his focus for very long. He saw Jondy from a distance every day during PT and training but she never spoke to him once. Even Alec had noticed the second day after he got back and had commented on it to Biggs. It had taken all of Biggs' restraint not to punch his best friend over his callous remark.
Biggs' only hope, as far as he could see, was Joshua's party. It was planned for the next day and Biggs couldn't take it any longer, he was going to corner Jondy at that party and force her to talk to him. He needed to get his life back in control and she was the key to making that happen. Irritation at his dependence on her had left him for demure acceptance. He was sure, however, that if he forced her to talk, she would fight with him but then at least she'd be speaking to him again.
While Biggs was slowly losing it, Max was feeling the strongest she had ever done and she was determined to deal with all the stuff she had let go while she was easing back into her life. While alone with Alec they had talked a lot about what her instincts meant to her and how they helped her survive her capture. Despite that she lost a lot of her humanity along the way letting her instincts control had proven to have some inherent advantages. The least of which was that when her instincts ruled her mind she was able to use her enhanced abilities to their fullest capacity.
In turn, Max had asked Alec about how their instincts had been regarded in Manticore. From him she learned that the ordinaries just saw their instincts as a mean of controlling them, never allowing them to act on them unless it suited their purposes. Because of this most transgenics felt self-conscious about their instincts and didn't like dealing with them. Alec explained that most of them now looked at Max with a mixture of admiration and fear since she slipped in and out of her instincts. Now that they were both back to work Max had spend a lot of time talking to various people, asking them a lot of questions and training even harder to improve her skills. While training she noticed that the X6 series weren't at the level the X5's could attain and this worried her. The skirmishes she'd been in with the familiars guards while in their care had showed her their strengths. Most familiars were as well trained as most X5's and they had the added bonus of feeling no pain. Max was convinced they needed something to tilt the balance in their favour.
One morning a transhuman asked her how she had traversed the minefield so quickly, when Max explained how she had made a mental picture of the mines the transhuman was convinced she wouldn't be able to do the same. That made her realize the skills she had uncovered weren't as common as she thought. Particularly when Chat showed up by her side that same afternoon and asked her to teach him some tricks she learned. Until then it had been her who learned from them. It was very difficult for Chat to let go of his fear of releasing his instincts but the few times he managed his abilities peaked.
When she say Alec and told him about it, especially Chat's fear of releasing his instincts Alec recognized the potential of what she was saying and encouraged her to pursue it. This was one of the first things she would have to do and thinking about what she was about to do made her slightly nauseous but the proud look in Alec's eye when she took up her rightful position amongst the leaders helped overcome her unease. Alec was slightly amused at her visible unease; it was still amazing to see the transformation from the old Max who could do nothing but mope to this one. And best of all, she was his now, openly and for the entire world to see. He had just one worry, he knew she'd come to a decision on Logan and since she hadn't shared that conclusion with him it led him to believe he wouldn't appreciate it, whatever it was. He tried to block it from his mind, insecurity didn't suit an alpha male but he couldn't help it. Max had a track record of lousy decisions when it came to that man and he was afraid this one would cost her more that she realized.
As the last to enter the room Mole closed the door behind him and took his seat next to Star, looking less obstinate than he usually did. Alec let his eyes roam across the table, noticing only Biggs who looked decidedly worse for wear. He wondered if he had ever looked like that while Max had been stringing him along and hoped fervently that it wasn't the case. He didn't know how to help his best friend without ruining any chance of a quiet home life. 'Well,' he decided shortly after, 'who needs quiet anyway,' and began thinking up a scheme, while still paying mind to what was said in the meeting. Since he knew what Max was proposing, he spend his time gauging everyone else's reaction while part of his brain was still working on Biggs' problem as well.
Slowly a sly smile crept across his features and went to a full-blown grin when the solution hit him. He nearly hit himself, it was that easy, but he quickly reigned in his rampant grin before others could notice. 'Busted,' he thought when he felt Max glare at him, but not even the promise of dire recompense coming off her in waves could stop him from going over his plan once more to see if he had covered all contingencies. It was then that Max got to what she considered the hardest thing she'd ever have to do.
"As for Logan, I have decided," Max paused to take a deep breath, praying she'd make it through the next few minutes without causing irreparable damage to her new relationship with Alec. "I have decided to get him off this base."
She could feel Alec's gaze but she didn't dare to look at him, Max was afraid she would lose her courage. "We will offer him the opportunity to start over somewhere new. I don't want any ordinaries to have an opportunity to interfere with our plans. That includes Logan Cale." Max had looked at a distant spot on the wall as she spoke, she now faced Mole and addressed him directly.
"Mole, I expect you to arrange transport for him to a safe location, without any accidents." She paused for a moment then continued, "I mean it, Mole, no accidents or I'm holding you personally responsible."
The lizard was still looking at her as though he was struck by lightening, unable to utter a single word. That passed soon enough, though, and he opened his mouth to give her a piece of his mind. "Look here, your highness, I really thought you'd gotten a clue. Especially when you decided to take loverboy here, " he pointed at Alec with his cigar, "but you're off your rocker on this one. No way, your highness, get someone else to play lackey but not this lizard."
Mole then jabbed his cigar at Alec and ploughed on. "And you! Mr. smartass over here. You expect us to sit back and watch a traitor walk out of here scot-free? What's next, forgive your favourite familiar? You better change her mind pretty boy or…" Mole faltered, not sure which threat to use.
Max jumped on it and tried to convince him otherwise but Mole wouldn't have anything of it. He threatened to walk out several times but Alec managed to convince him to stay in the room. Although he couldn't believe what he was hearing, he'd always known Max wouldn't want to kill the man but he wasn't prepared to let the man go free either. Mole finally let off when Max agreed to see Logan with Mole and question him on his motives.
Max dreaded the confrontation she was about to have, mostly because she was worried what she would do. She wanted to seek comfort from Alec but she knew he didn't understand her motives and resented her for forgiving the old man, when she had never forgiven Alec in the past. Max knew all of these things and had wrecked her brain trying to come up with a solution, she was briefly tempted to let him down there and never think of him again but she knew that wasn't a solution. Sooner of later someone would get fed up with the ordinary and there would be an 'accident'.
When they reached the long corridor the others fell back and Max, Alec and Mole headed for the door at the end. Mole took the keys from the sentry at guard and told the kid to take a break. He turned the key and opened the door. The three of them entered the cell that Logan was occupying, Max remained at the threshold while the men took up flanking positions in opposite corners.
Max was waiting for a wave of emotions to hit her but nothing happened, she looked at the man in front of her, she could hear him pleading with her but she felt nothing, not even contempt. She was expecting to be angry, to feel hurt at his betrayal but she realised it didn't matter. She was happy now and in a place where Logan could never reach her. She looked at Alec to share her amazement with him and saw he had closed off his face from all emotion. Wanting to share her discovery with him she moved to him, to be halted by the feeling of a hand on her arm. She looked at Logan with a frown and shook him off then moved close to Alec. She stood there wondering how to make Alec understand that Logan no longer had a place in her life, that was why she wanted him gone. She could still hear Logan talking in the background but she tuned out his voice and directed all her attention on Alec.
Alec noticed with detached emotion that Max didn't appear to have any reaction to Logan and he was preparing himself for the blow of hearing Max forgiving the old man for his betrayal. He fought so hard to steel his emotions that he didn't register her approach till she was right in front of him. Curious to her intentions he looked at her and realized she was watching him just as intently. He could feel the rest of the world fade away as he directed all his attention to his mate. He could see a soft smile creep into Max's face and she held out a hand to caress his cheek, completely oblivious to the effect this was having on Logan.
Logan watched helplessly as he saw the woman he loved turn to another man and dismiss him completely. Now, a rational man might have realized his defeat and accepted it but Logan was no longer rational. He was convinced that given enough time and the absence of Alec he could win Max back. Logan raised his hand as if to strike the blonde X5 to provoke a reaction from them.
Somewhere from the deep recesses of him mind that never completely blanked out his surroundings Alec recognized the threat and delivered a decisive blow without even taking his eyes off his mate. Logan slumped to the floor as Max entered the circle of Alec's arms. She stood on her toes and drew his head close.
"I don't care what happens, you decide."
She pulled back to bring her face next to his and rubbed her cheek against to his in a loving gesture. She then walked away without giving Logan another glance.
After Max left, Alec looked down at where Logan was on the floor. The last time he was here, he'd been so angry it would have been easy to kill the man but now Alec found he couldn't bring himself to do it. He knew that he couldn't let him go, aside from being an obvious security risk, the others on the base wouldn't understand; but it had been a long time since Alec had killed a man in cold blood and he wasn't sure he wanted Logan to be the first.
Without looking at Mole he turned and walked out, he heard the shot ring through the hall as he was halfway and heard the lizard's footsteps as he caught up. No words were spoken between them but both knew it had been necessary.