A/N-- Okay, only one month instead of two-- see i am getting better...kinda. Mini warnings here for possible character abuse... and author abuse. PLEASE trust me. i know what i am doing.
All flames will be dealt with by a secret government agency. All reviews will be kissed by Alec...does anyone read these A/N? i wonder?
This is for SGOU who is reading this standing on her head, crossing her eyes whilst clapping her hands and wiggling her feet. Some people do anything for attention.
Chapter 9. Wake up older.
Max sat on the counter watching Aiden as he threw more ingredients into the pot.
"Mmm," she sniffed. "Smells divine. I don't know how long it's been since I had a decent meal."
"What, Alec doesn't feed you?" Aiden smirked but there was silence behind him. He turned looking into Max's sad face. "Max?"
"Alec isn't around often enough to feed me," Max said looking anywhere but at him. "He's having fun beating up other men for money."
"Asshole," Dek muttered as he set the table for three.
"He's not," Max defended weakly. "He's just enjoying not having to deal with… everything for once in his life. He's happily vacationing in the land of not-dealing." She shook her head. "Sorry, too much daytime TV."
"Dealing or not," Dek said, "he shouldn't be neglecting you, Maxie."
"Maybe it's me," she said quietly causing Dek and Aiden to look at each other in alarm. "I mean I have been kinda tetchy recently. It's just that every little thing he does seems to drive me crazy. Sometimes he doesn't even have to talk and I want to hit him. That's not me, ya know?"
Aiden scratched the back of his head as he stared at her. "Max?"
"Yeah?"
"Did Tara ever tell about your shark DNA?"
Max grabbed a slice of mushroom from the tray and munched on it as she thought back. "Don't think so, why?"
Dek and Aiden shared another look and Aiden pointed at her with his knife. "It could explain why you have been so off recently, as you call it."
Max rolled her eyes, "So, on top of heat, I have to worry about biting people?"
"Not that kinda DNA," Dek grinned, "But ya know, if ya wanna…?"
Aiden slapped him upsides the head. "Lay off. Max, shark DNA, according to Tara's report sharks, especially the Great White and Grey Reef variety have complex social behavioural patterns, including multifaceted relationships with others and communication of body language and body patterns rather than sounds."
"So, instead of using speech or noises sharks communicate by touch and sign language?"
Aiden smiled. "You got it faster than Captain Einstein here."
"In my defence," Dek said, "we were fifty feet in the air at the time."
Max chuckled. "Ok, so what? I need to touch people? I do that."
"Kinda, but my guess is that although you can use sounds to communicate with, what you've been missing is others with shark DNA to share those social cues. Like uh…say you've been hanging around with kids all the time, your brain craves intellectual stimulation so it makes you get grouchy unless you can get it. Same with the shark thing; it's fine to be around others but you need that special shark feeling to make you complete."
"But I never had that in Wyoming," Max argued. "I barely touched the unit I was stationed with."
Aiden looked from her to Dek. "He asked the same question and you have no idea how scary it is that the two of you are that similar."
Max beamed at Dek and their eyes met in a gaze of understanding.
"So, brainiac?"
"Ooh no, let me!" Dek begged and sat up straighter with his feet on the floor. He pulled his hair down straight and spiked the front fringe with an exaggerated air. Then he said in a snooty voice, "I'm no Zoologist, though I am brilliant. But my very best guess, which is obviously right as it is me, is that you, Max, created some sort of internal social defence against the feeling when you were in Wyoming rendering that part of your DNA defunct until it was resurfaced by the arrival of…me!"
Max was in hysterics by the time he had finished and Aiden threw his tea towel at Dek. "I do not sound like that!"
"Oh, go play with your apron," Dek teased and Aiden joined them in laughter.
He hadn't said anything, but he had been so worried about Dek in the past few months and had doubled his efforts to find one of their unit. Dek had been increasingly irritable and withdrawn and Aiden had found it hard to live with the twitchy man.
It was a relief and a pleasure to see his friend act more like himself and, needless to say, he was ecstatic about seeing Max again.
"Is that all the thanks I get for cooking and cleaning up after your ass all these months? I feel so damn used!" Aiden pretended hurt and Dek's face fell.
"Aiden," he shifted uncomfortably. "I never—"
"Gotcha!"
"Ass!"
Max was laughing so hard that she almost fell off her chair. "God, I can't remember when I last laughed this hard. Probably back at Manticore."
Dek nodded. "Yeah, me and Aiden haven't been dull but it hasn't exactly been a barrel of laughs either. I mean the time we—"
"Time!" Max jumped up. "Shit, I forgot the time. Alec'll be back by now, wait until he hears I've met you guys again, he'll be so pleased."
"Great, I missed the old loser," Dek sneered playfully. "Hey, tell him I'll join his cage ring and beat his ass!"
Max laughed as she grabbed her jacket and headed for the door before pausing and racing back to hug Aiden tightly. "I missed you guys."
"Night, Max," Aiden said softly. "Come back tomorrow, okay?"
"Sure." Max made her way over and planted a kiss on Dek's cheek. "Later, handsome."
Dek pulled her into his lap and hugged her quickly before pushing her away, "Night, sweetheart. Sweet dreams."
The door shut firmly behind her and Dek looked up into Aiden's grinning face.
"What?"
"Sweet dreams," he fluttered his eyes. "Sucker."
Dek laughed at him. "She is a sight for sore eyes."
"Yeah." Aiden went to check on dinner. "Shame Alec isn't treating her better."
He didn't see as Dek's eyes narrowed and he stared out of the window. "Yeah."
Max shut the door to the apartment, hoping that she didn't wake Alec up as she crept in.
She saw him sitting on the couch flicking through the TV channels.
Her face lit up, "Hey, Alec you'll never guess wh—"
"Where the hell have you been?" he interrupted.
Max faltered in the doorway, "What?"
Alec stood up, his face red. He had been waiting here for her for over two hours, alone in the dark.
After his brush with the mermaid and her mate, he realised that he hadn't been as supportive or protective of Max as he could have been and so he cancelled his fight tonight and waited here to talk with her.
He hated that they were fighting all of the time and wanted to do something to make up for being as ass over this whole fighting thing.
He waited and waited and she hadn't shown and with each passing minute he had grown more and more worried. He knew that she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself but she hadn't even left a note or anything.
He called her cell phone again and again and each time that it was out of function was one more worry. Max hadn't turned off her phone since he had gotten it for her, so why wasn't she answering?
His mind began to play tricks on him as he paced the floor. What if she had been shot at by gang members and rushed to a human hospital? What if she had been captured by a gang and been raped and beaten? What if she had been hit by a car?
His irrational fears made his ire increase with each new scenario until his paces wore holes in the carpet.
The sheer relief he felt when she walked in was outweighed by the anger at his irrationality.
He knew she could take care of herself—that didn't make it any easier.
He clenched his teeth, trying to keep in his temper. "I have been sitting here worried sick, where have you been?"
"Out," she said in a disbelief that sounded more like exasperation to an exhausted Alec.
"You could have called; you could have text me, or paged me. Dammit, Max!" he exploded, the relief in his heart evident to him alone.
Max heaved another breath of disbelief, "Alec, I'm a fully trained Commanding Officer of Special Operations; a branch of highly trained killers, assassins and military generals combining lethal force and intelligence with speed and agility. I have more animals DNA in me than an entire zoo and am perfectly… perfectly capable of taking care of myself. What the hell are you shouting about?"
What was he shouting about? Alec almost gaped; didn't he have the right to be worried for her? Was she the only one in this relationship who was allowed to be concerned for her partner—or did she think that he didn't care?
Alec tightened his fists at the perceived insult and glared at her. "This is an entirely different jungle, sweetheart."
"Sweetheart?"
Alec continued as if he hadn't heard her, trying to get her to see his worries. "Men out there aren't like the transgenics, Max. They hunt in gangs and have guns. No matter how quick you are, a bullet is faster."
"So you're telling me that I have to… what, be more careful? Lay low?"
"Yeah."
Max gaped. "Screw you, Alec. If you refuse to do the low key thing then why the hell should I?"
He was laying low. Didn't she know that he had been approached about taking his fights national? He'd refused for her. He was being careful, why was she making such a big deal out of a few cage fights. Low publicised cage fights at that.
"You need to stay safe, Max. Stay down."
She folded her arms across her chest, "What? Yesterday you said that it was ridiculous for us to have to lie low and now you want me shut up someplace, why?"
Alec couldn't answer, because he didn't want her to know what was going through his head. She was always so damn independent and she made it clear on more than one occasion that he was only there on sufferance.
What if she truly didn't need him? What if she was looking for some way to get rid of him?
He had always been the one who had made the effort, who went after her, whereas it seemed to him that she could care less if he stayed or left.
After racing around with the mermaid and her mate and seeing the lengths he would go through to protect her and the way that she had clung to him; something had clicked in Alec. He realised that he wasn't protecting his mate as he could, hell, he barely saw Max these days and it had been so long since she had given him that look and it was killing him.
But even if she said that she could take care of herself, it was clear that she was overconfident about her own skills.
Max was out there all day on the streets and he had heard about all of the things that went on in Seattle; muggings, drive-by shootings and the like. While he was confident that Max could kick ass on even a gang of thugs, a gang of thugs with a knife and a gun were a different story.
No matter how well Manticore had designed them, they weren't bullet proof.
He wanted all the best things for her, for his love. He wanted to lavish her in diamonds and silks; he wanted the most luxurious apartment for her, he wanted for her never to have to lift another finger in her life. He wanted to wash away all of the pain that she had gone through in Wyoming and Seattle and he wanted…no, needed, to protect her from further hurt. He wanted so much for her and he wanted her so much.
He just had no idea that his wants were stifling her.
Max was suffocating and confused and most of all she was tired. One second Alec was holding her like she was made of china and she grated against being thought of as fragile and the next second it was as if he didn't care about her at all and she hated feeling like a second thought in his life. His hot and cold treatment was driving her crazy and she didn't know how much more she could take before she cracked.
"Alec?"
His gaze swept to her, his frustration showing in his eyes at her inability to see that he cared too much for her to allow her to be hurt. "God, Max, can't you just trust me?"
"I do," she said hurt. "It's you that doesn't seem to trust me. I can handle myself, Alec."
He scraped his hand through his hair again. "Maybe."
"No!" Max snapped, finally having enough of this conversation. "No 'maybe' about it. You haven't always been in my life. I managed ten years of hell before I met you, Alec. There is nothing… nothing that humans can do that my unit didn't at least try. Shooting? Drowning? Attempted rape? I survived that. On. My. Own. I like having you in my life, Alec. But I don't need you."
Silence reigned as the hurtful words echoed in the room. They both stood staring at each other in a painful hush.
"Ouch," Alec whispered sombrely as her words bit at his heart.
He almost doubled over with the pain of that sentence, at once all of his fears coming true and being vocalised by Max. The world spun until he thought he'd be sick.
Max looked at her hands, she hadn't meant to say that to Alec, because it wasn't true. She loved him, she needed him. But his refusal to see her, really see her rankled more than she could say.
Max rubbed her forehead and sat down on the arm of the sofa. "Damn, Alec, I didn't mean to hurt you."
"Then you should check your aim. Lethal as always," he said carefully not letting her see his feelings.
"Sorry."
Despite her words Alec knew that he needed her.
"I don't want to fight anymore," he confessed and held out his hand. "We are both mad right now and mad doesn't equal good for us. Can we just… just drop the argument and go to bed?"
Max looked away and he dropped the hand, stung. His heart hurting more with each rejection
"Alec… I've never been great with this emotions stuff. Give me an army and I can run it with precision but give me feelings and I flounder." She searched for the right words. "I do love you, I do care about you. But right now… I don't really like you much."
His jaw tightened.
There was nothing to say.
Max bit her lip in an effort to stop her tears. "Back at Manticore, we were not just friends or co-workers, we were best friends and we worked together on everything. We made a great team."
"We did," he said stiffly.
"Right now, we don't feel like such a team. You go away and do your own thing; you don't listen to me or my advice. You don't trust either my judgement or my abilities. My worries may seem trivial to you now, but you always used to listen. I feel like I don't even know you anymore," her voice cracked, "and that hurts. Too much. I can't… I won't…" she took a deep breath and stood up. "I need to go."
"Go!" Alec looked panicked. "What?"
"Just for a walk, or something," Max said softly, turning her head away so that he couldn't see the tear tracks that were slowly spilling down her face.
All Alec could see was her stiff back and resolute figure as she stormed for the front door. He heard the gruffness of her voice and grew annoyed at her. Dammit, why couldn't she see that all he wanted to do was protect her?
She was vulnerable out there, more so that she had ever been, and, as her mate, her appointed one, it was his job to protect her. His very being, his instincts told him to protect her.
Why couldn't she see that? Why did she have to get mad and walk away?
Suddenly, he was more angry than hurt; a welcome change.
Walk away, that was all the '09ers did when things got messy. They escaped. They didn't stay to sort things out, they just left.
"You call that charm?" she scoffed "You've obviously been in Psy-Ops one time too many."
494 found his temper rising. He had been in Psy Ops too often.
"Well if I have, it's thanks to you and your little '09 buddies. They put your twins through hell because of you traitors."
"Suck it up, Soldier," she yelled, "You haven't even begun to know hell, and for the last time we were NOT TRAITORS!"
They were standing nose to nose screaming at each other when the gentle clearing of a voice broke the spell.
She tossed her head and stormed past him, slamming an elbow into his side before striding to her quarters.
Alec watched as she bit her lip and felt that flare of annoyance that had sparked when he rolled over and saw her creeping through the trees away from their encampment.
He had gotten to his feet just as quickly and followed her, like her - waiting until they were far enough away that their voices wouldn't wake the others before confronting her.
"Going somewhere, sweetheart?" he drawled.
---
"What did I DO?" he yelled
"You pulled a gun on me!" she screamed back and silence fell all around as heavy as thunder. "Dammit Alec, I trusted you, with everything, and you pulled a gun on me!"
She suddenly felt a wave of relief pass through her as it finally came out.
He gaped and understanding passed.
"Maxie."
Overcome by a wave of anger at herself and him she did the only thing she could think of, she pulled back her leg and kicked.
Four hundred males hissed and bent in sympathy as Alec dropped to his knees cradling his groin, tears in his eyes.
Max stared as Alec struggled for breath, her own chest heaving.
Abruptly she spun on her heel and walked away,
Yeah, that's what Max did when things got tough, when things came to a head; she walked away.
Would she leave for good this time? She was his everything and if she left he would be the one who would crawl back to her, letting her use him as she would. Wouldn't he?
He was a soldier, not a sap. If she truly didn't need him then maybe it would be prudent to cut his losses and walk away with some dignity intact.
He loved her, he needed her, but he was sick of her mood swings and her constant tantrums. He had put up with a lot from Max and this time he couldn't watch her walk away. He wouldn't be the one waiting around for her this time. He wouldn't play that sap for her.
Her voice whispered hoarsely, "I'll be back."
And Alec made up his mind.
"I won't be here."
Max turned and looked at him as he stared up from the couch resolutely.
There was silence between them as they just looked at each other, remembering everything that they had been through together. There was a world between them and neither knew how to step over the gap that was growing wider and wider each day.
Max's bottom lip trembled as she let one tear fall down her cheek. "I will be."
Alec's heart broke as the door quietly shut behind her and the apartment was shrouded in silence.
>>>>>
Dek was awakened from his not-too-deep sleep by a shuffling around near his bedroom window. He slowly sat up and let the cool cotton sheets slide down his naked torso to pool at his waist as he listened hard.
There it was again. There was definitely something outside his room and it was getting closer.
Bringing his lithe body up smoothly into a crouch, he knelt on the edge of the bed and sniffed gently.
He couldn't smell any scent of animal, nor of machinery—which meant that whatever was prowling was of the two-legged variety.
He rolled off the bed and onto the floor, bringing himself up in one flowing gesture to stand by the French windows and he flicked the corner of the old curtain with one finger, quickly scanning the outside.
His heart was unnaturally loud to his sensitive ears as he caught sight of a shadow hiding behind a tree not ten feet away from the glass.
A shadow that wasn't moving at all.
Dek slid back the curtain and pushed at the handle that opened the door to the outside. With a finely oiled hinge, it slid effortlessly and, more importantly, noiselessly open.
He stepped out into the small garden and crept quietly along the grass, letting the dirt and mud seep between his toes and the earthy smell of the dew-wet ground fill his nose.
The breeze made goose bumps spring up all over his skin and he denied himself the urge to shudder as he edged closer to the figure.
About five steps away the shadow turned and their scent finally reached him and he froze.
"Max!"
Max moved slightly and the moonlight shone through the branches and illuminated her face. Her wet face, damp with tears and encased in pain.
She just nodded and rested her head back against rough bark, staring at the stars.
"Hey, honey, what is it?" he asked gently but she shook her head, looking like she was just keeping herself from breaking up.
He held out one arm and stroked her hair with his hand, strong and sure; letting her know that, if she wanted, she had his strength to lean on.
She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand slightly.
"Dek," she breathed. "I don't like this. This world hurts too much." She looked at him. "I want to go home."
His heart went out to her and he took her soft hands in his and pulled her towards the house and into his bedroom, letting her come on her own free will rather than be coerced.
Once they were inside the cool room he shut and fastened the windows behind them and turned to face Max in the darkness of his bedroom, the curtains settling down from the night breeze.
"Do you wanna talk?"
She shook her head and he bit his lip. This uncommunicative Max was downright scary.
"Wanna sleep?"
She nodded and he moved to the bed, turning down the covers.
"Dek," she whispered.
"Yeah?"
"Can you… you know, put some clothes on first?"
Dek chuckled as he recalled that he had been sleeping in the nude when he had heard her in the garden. "Sure thing, sweet thing."
She gave him a ghost of a smile as he pulled on some black silk boxers and settled into bed. He patted the side next to him and Max crawled into the warm bed next to him and snuggled up against his body.
She laid her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.
They lay there, just not talking for a while, listening to each other's heartbeat and the sounds of the night.
"He doesn't trust me anymore."
Dek was startled by the sound of her voice. He had just been drifting off to sleep when she had deigned to speak.
"Alec?" he asked.
"Hmm, he thinks that I've turned into some fragile flower that needs his constant protection. He actually yelled at me for not being there when he got back—like some… some… housewife."
Dek stroked one hand up and down Max's arm as he thought about that. "Maybe he was just worried that he didn't know where you were?"
"And how, exactly, was I supposed to tell him? Huh? He was out with his wrestling buddies all night."
"Bitter?"
"Frustrated," she corrected with an elegant prod to his ribs. "On one hand, he acts like his world is perfect and nothing can go wrong, and then he's telling me that I'm to check in with him because it's not safe out there without him. It's fine for him and not for me and that. Makes. Me. Crazy."
"Crazier," he corrected. "But I understand him to a point. Drew was the same. She was this big tough female, which was exactly what I wanted… what I want. But sometimes guys feel the need to play the big bad protector. It's nice to feel needed. And with you and Drew, well you don't need us."
Max winced as she remembered the words that she had thrown at Alec.
"See," Dek spoke again, shifting around to find his words, "in relationships, it's like each party has something to bring to it. One has the beauty, one has the brains. One hogs the limelight and the other does the backstage stuff. But with transgenics we have it all. One has both beauty and brains, is comfortable in the spotlight and can work backstage. We have our individual personalities but on the whole we are very insular."
"Big words," Max teased, but her heart wasn't in it as she understood his words and agreed.
"That's why some of us work so well together—like Feen and Techie. She is bold and brassy but he has the quiet strength. Tara has the brains and Carrot has the leadership qualities. Chance is quiet and insecure and Pix has all the balls and fun one person can have." Max grinned against his chest. "But you… and Drew. You're both smart, sexy, strong, secure, confident and yet you have this vulnerability that you want to conquer. It's a heady mix and draws guys like me and Alec. But, for us, we know that you have everything and rely on the fact that you may need us too. With that gone…" he trailed off.
Max closed her eyes tightly and huddled more into his arms. "I'm sorry."
"I need her too," he confessed huskily. "I act all right but damn, Max, it's killing me."
Max knew that if it wasn't for the night and the darkness, he wouldn't have voiced that thought, that weakness and she was glad that he had.
"I miss her too," she offered. "I've needed a best friend these few weeks. Drew was the greatest."
"Yeah." There really wasn't much to say after that.
With shared worries and feelings the two of them drifted off into unnatural sleep.
>>>>
Fingers tapped on the table, again and again. And again. In a rhythm that was not only irregular but annoying in the extreme.
White stared at the age-stained hands of Colonel Lydecker and imagined pulling those fingernails out one by one and sacrificing the older man to some pagan gods.
Any gods, it really didn't matter which. The more brutal the better.
Tap. Tap tap. Tap tap tap. Tap.
"So," Lydecker drawled. "Our test subject got away?"
White said nothing.
"And she stole the van."
Nothing.
"And killed your three men who were supposedly the best?" Lydecker smirked. "At what?"
White clenched his fists and forced himself to calm down at the mocking in Lydecker's tone.
"My men are the best in whatever they do," he growled.
"Oh, that I can't deny." Lydecker said sarcastically. "The point is that your little experiment has gone awry now that you have no subject to test… and, of course, the equipment and virus was in the van, guarded by your oh-so-able men."
"At least we caught one, no matter how brief and, gee, it didn't take us ten years." It was White's turn to look smug and Lydecker's turn to look annoyed at the criticism.
"But you lost her again… and three of your men in the melee."
"Melee?" White smirked. "Word-a-day calendar?"
"Some of us have more to distinguish ourselves than our looks."
"Obviously," White's gaze swept dismissively over Lydecker and he smirked at Lydecker's ragged face and tufts of hair.
"As pleasant as this bitch contest is," Lydecker snapped, "perhaps we should go over what it is that we need to do now."
"Now that your transgenic bitch has the virus," White snarled, slouching back in his chair and kicking his feet out, looking very much like a petulant child.
"Does your contact have further vials of the virus?"
"Cecil?" White shrugged. "No doubt he could whip something up; it might take a few weeks."
"No good," Lydecker shook his head. "The Committee wants this dealt with fast. They are getting impatient to see some results. We'll have to come up with something different." He paused. "Any luck with the composite?"
White scoffed. "Thin female with long dark hair and bloater-fish lips? We'd have every cell in the city full, it would be impossible for us to search them all. Wasted man-hours and we'd be chasing our tails for nothing. We don't even know if your tramp is in Seattle."
Lydecker grit his teeth. "That 'tramp' happens to be one of the best soldiers that Manticore ever trained."
White waved his hand dismissively. "So what? What do we do now? Walking around hoping one falls into our hands isn't the way I usually run things."
Lydecker glared again at the overly presumptuous man. "Well, I haven't been impressed so far. But I'm open to suggestion."
White frowned in thought as he ran through various scenarios in his mind. What he really wanted was all of these scums off his planet. But what was the best way to achieve that means? Well, he needed this 452 girl to give him the codeword that would bring all of the transgenics to him. But they didn't know where she was, she could be in the Bermuda triangle sipping Mai Tai's right now for all they knew.
The composite had been a good idea until he had seen three women who could match that description on the way to work and realised that every single stinking money-grabbing glory hound would hand in his own mother for the sniff of a reward.
So that wasn't a great plan.
"What would your transgenics do if exposure was risked?"
Lydecker stared at him with mounting horror in his stomach. "What?"
"If the world in general knew about transgenics, what would they do? Would they panic? Maybe make mistakes?"
Lydecker swallowed hard. That was a bad idea. No, that was possibly the worst idea in the history of the world. "They would become dangerous," he intoned. "They would find whoever had leaked the information about them and they would cheerfully rip them to shreds. That," he said carefully as if speaking to a small child, "would be bad."
White smirked, "Oh really?"
"Yes," Lydecker knew that he had to nip this in the bud right now. "If they had even the hint of exposure, they would guard themselves with their lives and if people turned on them they would attack."
And thus prove that they were monsters, causing the public to go against them and maybe start hunting them. White allowed himself a little smile. "Hmm."
Lydecker shook his head. "The committee would never go for it in any case. They want to limit exposure, remember?"
White said nothing, his mind working silently on another plan even as he half listened to Lydecker's words.
"Fine," he said. "So… no exposure."
Lydecker didn't trust Ames White as far as he could throw him, and there was something about that maniacal gleam in his eye that reminded him of Renfro and her own quest for power.
He remembered the icy blonde-bitch as one of his own nemeses and one who, in turn, infuriated, challenged and unnerved him. If there was one thing that Lydecker hated, it was being unnerved.
"What happened to the leads that your men found on the Mermaid?" Lydecker wanted to derail whatever train of thought that Ames White was heading along right now and so he came out with a left field question in the hopes that the man would have something more substantial and less hazardous to plot.
"The Blowfish tavern," White sneered at the name, "has had several smash and grabs in recent history and installed hidden cameras to beef up security. They were more than happy for RCF investigations to check out their hardware for them." he scoffed at the naivety of humans in general.
"Although the explosion instigated by one of the transgenics blew out the main circuitry of the system, we have been able to salvage more than enough to put together some sort of picture. Otto is working on it now; it should be ready in a few hours. So far they have assured us that we are dealing with two transgenics, who are definitely in the area… or were, last night at any rate."
"Good," Lydecker said, genuinely happy that they were getting closer to at least some of those who had escaped.
"What about the fingerprints on the glass and footprints on the roof?"
Lydecker folded his arms, "Technicians are running it through the database as we speak. They have a file on all of the transgenics that were manufactured. We should be able to tell who we are dealing with."
Lydecker smiled at his own genius in ensuring that they held DNA data on each of the transgenics, so as to be better able to identify them. It had been one of his saving graces after '09 and the one that ensured that he kept his own job instead of that bitch Renfro taking over.
What a disaster that would have been!
White smirked, "Are these the same technicians who were unable to determine the cause of the Seattle base fire?"
That had been a sore point with Lydecker for many months now. Despite their best efforts they were no closer to discovering who it was that set fire to the Seattle base a few months ago.
Oh, they knew that the charges were set in the DNA room and filtered out to the other sections. But they had no idea who it was that set the auto-destruct system off inside Manticore. Renfro had been under orders from the committee to restore all systems—not to scorch the earth and yet… something didn't sit quite right here.
They had tapped into the incoming cell calls made moments before the destruction of Manticore and one Renfro received, right before the explosion, was from an unspecified number that they couldn't trace.
The one technician that had escaped the blaze and had actually come forwards had been in the room when Renfro had given the order and he maintained that it had been an order from higher up.
But everyone on the board of directors had denied that such a call had taken place. If not the committee, then who?
He sat back as he thought back to the interview.
The man had been the very epitome of the classic geek. His mousy hair stuck up in all directions over his rat-like face; his glasses making his beady eyes look larger. He seemed to be a cross between a student and a certified hacker and his hands shook with a s much nerves as caffeine overdose.
Lydecker enjoyed the power he had over the man as he trembled.
"So, Mr. Richardson…Mind if I call you Daniel?"
"Uh…my name's Ike…but go ahead," he caved under the evil glare that Lydecker shot him.
Lydecker made one circuit around him, keeping silent so as to unnerve the man even more.
What Ike didn't know was that Lydecker was even more nervous than he was. The whole of his career and maybe even his life hinged on this moment and making sure that the fire was not his fault. He needed a scapegoat and fast and if Ike here didn't supply him with one then he was going to find himself as the whipping boy for the entire committee.
"So you want to tell me again, exactly what happened?"
Ike cleared his throat. "Can I have some water first?"
"No."
"I've been here for twelve hours, I'm kinda thirsty," he whined.
Lydecker stopped pacing and looked down at him. "Son, you are the only witness to one of the biggest disasters in human history. What you saw or didn't see," he nodded knowingly, "could change the way most humans think. Animal- human hybrids walking among the common people? Dating the common people? You are, what we call, a loose link here. Other than your information you have no use and are, in fact, a danger to us. Because you know, Ike, you know all about the operation."
Ike was starting to look green with nausea and Lydecker smiled.
"You came back, which helps… a little. Other than that you have no use and we should kill you."
"But I didn't do—"
"I know," Lydecker interjected smoothly. "The point is that if you are cooperative I will personally make sure that you live. Quietly and far away but you'll live. Now, tell me what happened."
Ike nodded fast. "Ok, so we were in the command room, monitoring the screens and there was call from the upper brass about that Eyes Only character and we were told to haul Renfro back to talk. We comm.-ed her and she watched the broadcast and then took a call on her cell."
"What was said?"
"She was speaking French."
Lydecker sighed, "So what was her mood like?"
"Pissed…I think. Anyway I didn't say that I didn't understand her, I just said she was talking French."
"So what was she saying?"
"I'm bad at foreign languages but I was on the net at the time and so I scoped up Babel fish. I was curious what she was saying."
Lydecker blinked. "What the hell is Babel fish?"
"It's uh… an archaic pre-pulse program that translates any sentence. So as she spoke, I tapped. She said: 'Oui Ces't Renfro, Oui monsieur, que Je comprends. Je regarderai dans lui monsieur. J'obtiendrai les données prêtes juste au cas où. Oui Monsieur Je suis bien informé de celui. Deniability plausible. Serrure vers le bas. D'accord."
It sounded like someone was chewing her ass." Ike smirked and then remembered who he was talking to and cowered. "Uh anyway the translation was 'Yes sir, I understand. I will look into it. I will get the data ready just in case. Yes Sir, I am well informed of that. Plausible deniability. Lock down. Okay.'"
"Good memory," Lydecker said caustically.
Ike nodded, "Yes sir. Anyway she then told us that we had to find the location of Eyes Only or the committee was going for scorched earth. She asked for backup on every piece of data we had and looked kinda narked."
"Then what?"
"We assembled the data and everything was all-systems-go. Until night came and we were assessing for the Sex Ed program and—"
"The what?" Lydecker interrupted harshly.
"Uh, the X's were given Sex Ed training to help them seduce targets in the field. Renfro's idea."
"Bitch!" Lydecker exploded.
"Yes, sir," Ike continued. "Anyway Eyes Only made another broadcast revealing our position and then the lights went out so we were ordered to lock down the barracks and go on full alert. She grabbed the disk with all of the details on which was when we discovered that the '09ers were tapping into our security system and faking our footage. Uh… then she got mad and ordered us to cauterise the site and…and…and burn them all," he swallowed, "that's what she said 'burn them all'."
Lydecker nodded. "I see. Anything else?"
"No, Sir," Ike shook. "Some one opened the locks and let everyone out. She ordered us to kill them before they could reach the fence and then just turned and walked out. We hit the fire buttons, activated the self-destruct and ran. All I could hear as I left were the firing guns as they opened fire on the transgenics."
"Such a shame," Lydecker had said as he reached into his jacket and soundlessly pulled out his Glock hand-gun. "Guns can be so loud."
There had been one sharp explosion and then the sound of a man slumping as Lydecker had closed the door quietly behind him.
"Such a shame."
White waved his hand in front of Lydecker. "Anyone home?"
Lydecker frowned at the annoying young man. "Can we continue this some other time; I have other things to do."
"Fine." White waved dismissively as Lydecker stood and grabbed his coat before heading for the door.
"I understand that, at your age, you need an afternoon nap."
Lydecker's hand tightened briefly on the door before he swept out.
>>>>>
To say that Aiden was surprised to see Max at breakfast was an understatement.
"Uh… when did you get here?" he asked as he walked into the kitchen.
"Hmm, about halfway through Simpson's?" Dek said ignoring them as he watched his morning cartoons.
Max leaned over with her coffee and slapped the back of his head.
"Dumbass," she retorted as she sat back. "I had an… interesting night and needed someplace to crash. Objections?"
Aiden shook his head and yawned. "Of course not, sweetheart. I was just surprised. I am glad that you are okay now, though."
"Sure, I have my guys here with me now, don't I?"
Aiden dropped into the chair next to her and laid his sleepy head on her shoulder.
"Mmm."
Max laughed as she stared down at the tousled hair in front of her. "Someone obviously isn't a morning person," she teased.
"Says the one who isn't human until she's had her coffee," Dek threw over his shoulder.
"Says someone who isn't human anyway," Aiden defended and got up.
Max gave him a quick shoulder squeeze for his efforts, as he passed, and grabbed her coffee mug again, settling back into her chair with a grin. "So, what have you guys got planned for today?"
Aiden shrugged as he pushed his toast into the toaster and grabbed some eggs and a frying pan.
"No idea," he said. "Breakfast, Maxie?"
Max shook her head. "Manticore's conditioned me to only eat slop for breakfast… or fruit."
"Yeah, like apples?" Dek gave Max a knowing grin and she winked back.
During their time at Manticore, more than once, Max had procured breakfast for Dek in the form of apples. It had also been one of those times that Max had gone into heat on Dek's lap.
Good times, Dek thought, peering over his shoulder at Max's long legs partially hidden beneath the table.
"What about you, tall, dark and geeky?" Max asked Dek. "Your plans for the day?"
"It's Saturday?" Dek asked distractedly. "Then we were gonna coast around for some Xs. You?"
"Well, I don't have work today," Max said, "thank Renfro! I guess I could help you guys do the searching thing. Manticore knows I could use the help."
"Now if I said that you needed help, you'd hit me," Dek quipped.
Max narrowed her eyes at the blond. "What kind of plan of action do you guys have?"
"A bad one!" Aiden said with his mouth full of hot toast.
"Dek's plan?"
"Dek's plan," Aiden confirmed and Max nodded.
"Hmm, bound to be bad then."
"Hey!" Dek turned around, finally giving the conversation his full attention. "My plans are not bad!"
Max and Aiden exchanged amused looks.
"Oh, really?" Max folded her arms as Aiden grabbed his coat. "Who's bright idea was 'Let's wake Pix up with the water-hose, he'll never guess it was us!'?"
"Or 'Renfro won't notice if we bunk off for the afternoon.'?"
"Or 'Alec will never suspect a rear attack.'?"
"Or—"
"All right, all right!" Dek held his hands up in surrender. "So, some of my plans were less than stellar!"
"It just proved what I knew all along," Max said as she and Aiden headed for the door, leaving Dek to grab his own coat and follow quickly.
"What was that?" he sneered.
"Manticore's induction program didn't include an I.Q. test!" Max poked her tongue out at him and raced out of the door.
A blurred form shot after her and the door slammed on an empty room.
>
In actuality Dek's plan was one that Max had been following herself; pick a quadrant and walk it from end to end, keeping an eye out for distinguishing marks, tracks or rumours. Make friends with local bar staff, let coins exchange hands to be informed of 'weird stuff'.
But their being together was better than any of them searching alone. Max was pretty enough to handle the old men who just wanted a smile, and Aiden was more than a match for those who wanted more. Dek was able to charm the ladies and between them they covered far more ground and had more fun doing it.
Max probably laughed more with Dek and Aiden in that one afternoon that she had in the last month combined.
It was almost like being home again.
"Damn, I miss Pix," she said and her two companions agreed.
"He always knew how to make me laugh, and the crazy thing was that he could get away with absolute murder."
Aiden paused. "Can't we all?"
"I didn't mean literally." Dek smacked his head. "I meant that some of the stuff he tried, if we had done the same the Trainers would have had us in Psy Ops faster than you can say 'ouch'."
"They found him funny, and he had a knack of always tying it to the lesson of the week," Max said. "Don't you remember when we were learning about misdirection?"
Aiden burst out laughing and had to stop, bracing his hand on a nearby dumpster to steady himself. "Do I ever?"
"I missed that." Dek pouted.
"Misdirection, you make them look one way whilst you are secretly heading the other. Oh, Pix used that like a charm. He posted a note on the door to the conservatory that said "In training for Clown academy. Please look up." Of course everyone who opened the door looked up."
"And tripped over the trip wire he'd laid across the doorway," Aiden gasped for breath.
Max laughed along. "Next to a sign on the floor which read "sucker". I swear almost every single X in the place fell for it."
"Except you," Aiden pointed out.
"Except me." Max grinned. "I just slapped him. But then he did it in the Trainers lounge."
"Ah, yes, the infamous Trainer pile-up of 2018. I remember it well!" Dek chuckled.
"How he got away with an informal reprimand I'll never know!" Aiden shook his head.
"Wait," Max peered closer into a shop window. "I think I see someone I know, give me a minute."
Max left the company of her two friends and walked into the dark interior of the shop. She had seen some familiar blond spikes.
"Sketchy, that you?"
The zany man turned and his face split into a huge beaming smile. "Max!"
"What you doing?" she asked, genuinely happy to see her friend.
"Just partaking of some fine Herbal refreshment from my friend here." He patted a black Rasta with dreadlocks longer than Max's own hair.
"Hey," Max said. "Look, Sketch, there is someone that I want you to meet."
"Later Brek!" Sketchy waved to his friend and followed Max out of the shop squinting in the bright light.
He saw two men standing to one side in deep conversation. Both were tall and broad shouldered. One had dark blond hair, a few shades darker than his own, and the other sported light brown hair. They were both good looking with amiable faces and Sketchy grinned as they looked him up and down.
"Guys, this is my good friend Sketchy. He got me the job at Jam Pony. Sketch, this is Dek and Aiden."
"Hi!" Sketchy waved brightly, happy to meet friends of Max. When she had first arrived at Jam Pony she was quite quiet and both he and O.C. had despaired of her coming out of her shell. But with these two guys it seemed that they'd get to see a side of her that they hadn't before.
He gave them a once over wishing he had the same good looks. "You guys need a job? Because Normal is kinda hard ta deal with."
"No, we don't," Aiden laughed at the funny nerdy looking guy. "We are…financially independent."
"I've always wanted to be that," Sketchy said enviously.
Dek clapped him on the back. "Thanks for taking care of our Maxie, though, appreciate that, pal."
Max poked him in the shoulder and he drew her into his arms. "Your Maxie?"
"Yeah," Dek swooped down and planted a kiss on her cheek. Max rubbed it away with a baleful glare at him but the glint in her eyes betrayed the fact that she wasn't displeased about it.
"Urgh, boy germs!" she said.
"Can you believe that she was voted most mature?" Aiden shook his head.
"Hey, you're supposed to be on my side!" Max complained and Aiden immediately looked contrite.
"Sorry, Maxie, you're right. I'm a bad friend."
Sketchy watched the interplay between them and grinned. "Hey, do you guys take the show to Broadway? Coz that is some cute act."
All three glared at him and Sketchy stumbled back from the collective force of the glare.
"We,"
"Don't,"
"Do,"
"Cute!" They finished in unison and held it for a moment before bursting into laughter at the horrified look on Sketchy's face.
"Whoa, you guys are seriously scary; did anyone ever tell you that?"
Dek hopped up onto a nearby wall and pursed his lips. "Did anyone ever tell me that I was scary?"
"Your manners maybe, but not you." Max grinned as she insulted him.
Dek grabbed his heart. "You wound me."
"Only once," Aiden added. "And only due to poor outdoor lighting."
"Outdoor lighting, hell! She deliberately put me in med-bay."
"Did not!" Max screeched. "You were the one who wanted to spar."
"Work with me, she says," Dek pointed Max out to Sketchy. "You'll be fine. I spent the next few days with bruised ribs and cracked bones."
"Days?" Sketchy frowned. "I thought it took months to get over that?"
They paused.
"Days…of bruises, months of agony," Dek corrected slowly. "She packs a mean punch."
"So, you guys were doing martial arts together?" Sketchy asked innocently but with unfeigned curiosity.
"Yeah, we trained for a while for this volunteer army thing back home," Aiden explained hesitantly. "It was more a free food, free gear type of thing."
"I hear ya!" Sketchy said. "They tried to recruit me once upon a time but I failed the written. I was too stoned to write my name."
Sketchy stared, bemused, as his new friends rolled around on the floor in hysterical laughter.
>>>>
Max sat on the roof of the building staring out at the stars, lost in thought. She hadn't been home for two days, not since she had that fight with Alec.
She just couldn't take the idea of going back there to find the place empty, or even worse, knowing that Alec wasn't there by choice.
How had it come to this?
She and Alec were supposed to live happily ever after; it said so in all the stories. The Prince and his Princess were supposed to be happy.
She wrapped her arms tighter around herself and licked her cold lips. It wasn't fair the way things had happened.
She had told Alec that she hated the way he was always leaving her and not supporting her and he seemed to care more about his job than he did her-- that wasn't supposed to happen.
But who was at fault here? Had she not asked him properly, maybe even nagged him to much? Had she not given him the freedom that he needed or the comfort that he requested?
Or was it him, did he just not care?
Max rubbed her forehead getting more and more annoyed with herself.
Two days.
She hadn't seen him in two whole days.
She couldn't recall another time, short of missions, that she had not seen him in that long. Not since he was in Psy-Ops, and even then she had visited as soon as she had heard.
She had spent the days with Dek and Aiden, catching up and making plans and the nights she had slept on the couch, not counting the first night which she had spent with Dek.
They spent the daylight hours searching, whilst Max thanked Manticore it was the weekend. She was to be back at work the next day and didn't want to be at all. She would rather be with Dek and Aiden having a joke and reminiscing than slinging packages at lowlifes who never bothered to tip.
Together they had covered quite a large area of downtown Seattle already but had found no one else.
The trouble was that they had been taught to hide too well.
Max sighed again.
"I don't have a penny but I can give you a Hershey bar for your thoughts," said a voice.
Max grinned at hearing him. "Hershey's worth more than my thoughts, Dek, and I don't steal from the blind."
"I'll eat it myself—"
"But I do tax the stupid," she finished. "Hand it over, boy."
Dek dropped and sat by her curving his body around hers. "So, what deep dark thoughts were we having this night?"
"Life, the universe and everything," she sighed.
Dek tightened his arms around her. "You know they have a cure for that, right?"
"They do?" Max blinked.
"Uh huh, it's called beer."
Max smirked and leaned back, glad to be in the comforting arms of her best friend.
"Aiden's in the kitchen," Dek offered when the silence dragged. "I think he wants to make you muffins," he paused. "I'm worried about him."
That elicited a laugh from her. "Why, because he likes to cook?"
"It's the sheer volume of cooking he does. Last night I dreamt of him in an apron."
Max raised her eyebrows. "Is there something I should know?"
Dek poked her in the side. "No. He's not my type."
"So glad to hear it."
"Is he yours?"
Max shifted. "Well, he has the tall dark and handsome thing coming on. I seem to like that."
"It would describe Alec well," Dek hazarded and Max sighed heavily again.
"I don't get it!" she said exasperated. "It's crazy. He loves me, I love him. It's like one of those crazy soup-opera things that Cece got hooked on, on that mission in Rio."
"I remember," Dek sniggered, thinking of an open-mouthed Cece staring at some guy called Cole and wondering if he was really the father of his mother-in-law's baby.
"It's just…I never thought Alec would be like this… I never thought I would be like this." Max groaned. "Okay, happily ever after was never really in the cards for a genetically enhanced super soldier cum lab rat. But some happy wasn't totally alien, right?"
"Hmm," was all Dek said.
"This never figured in on the fairy tale, ya know?"
"Yeah, well. I never thought I'd be sitting here. On the outside… without Drew," Dek sighed. "Shit happens…apparently."
Max gave an unhappy laugh. "Does it ever. I'm sorry about Drew. We will find her, I promise."
"I know, Maxie, I know. I have complete faith in you."
"Nice to know someone does," she whispered and if he hadn't been sitting so close with transgenic hearing he would have missed it.
There was a long moment of companionable silence between the two of them.
"I'm sorry Alec is such an ass recently, Max."
Max shrugged. "Yeah, well, he—"
"But," Dek interrupted, "I'm not sorry really, at all."
Max spun quickly and gave him an odd look. "And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"If Alec was being good to you, you wouldn't be here… with me."
Max looked up into the deep blue eyes of one of her best friends and was unnerved by the slow fire that burned there.
"Dek." Max bowed her head searching for words.
Dek touched her cheek with his forefinger and let it slide down her satiny skin to end under her chin. He smiled softly as he lifted her face, her eyes meeting his with the motion.
"Do you remember what I told you, last time we sat like this?"
Max bit her lip as she remembered standing with Dek on top of the highest building in Manticore. It had been after one of her many fights with both Alec and the others… after she had fought with Anna and Feen, almost pulverising the former in the gym.
Dek had come to meet her and tell her how the others felt; he had told her of his plans to get Drew back and… Max caught her breath recalling the end of that conversation.
"Between your charms and Pix's tricks, she doesn't stand a chance," Max had prophesied with a smile, "she won't be able to resist you."
"But if she does, I'm just letting you know that you're next on my list." He kissed the top of her head and she could feel the curve of his grin in her soft hair. "Fair warning."
Max smiled, her face lighting up at his soft words. "Gee, I'm runner up."
"Credit where it's due, I'll have to fight off Zan, Pix and Alec for you, Max." He poked her rib cage. "I'll be all battered and bruised when they're done."
"No-o," Max cleared her throat and tried again. "No Zan or Pix around this time."
Dek shook his head slowly. "No."
"You're in love with Drew."
"I am." His gaze dropped to her lips as his head descended.
"I love Alec."
"You do." He hovered above her mouth, their breath intermingling as their gazes locked; chocolate and sapphire. Max found herself breathing in tandem with his hot, ragged puffs of air.
"This is—"
"Crazy," he completed as his head lowered slowly.
Max made one last protest. "Dek."
Dek smiled against her lips. "Max."
Her eyes drifted closed as their lips met.
Okay, okay please put away the rope! Lynch mobs are so passé!
With thanks to my many wonderful reviewers without whom I would just stop writing and go back to bed.
Geminangel- I'm gad he seems less of a jerk, it was hard believe me!
Ellenemi- Kick in pants- gotcha.
Spanishwon2123- He will, don't worry he gets a huge boot up the butt next chapter and will be as good as new again.
Sigma1- Yes you and no good looking sweet and innocent missy, I know you!
Moonlightangel18- Cheers pet, how was that for interaction? Mwah!
Suenooneus- he does redeem himself, please don't hate him.
Jensens wifey chadz lover- thank you sweety, glad you like.
Mae- could have warned me about the squeal!
Messymissy- she is so much better when she is happy isn't she? And having them together means much more banter which is great. Alec will come right again, I promise. Who was the one person that always managed to get Alec being nice to Maxie again? Dek. See what he does now!
Kiwifriut03- It does serve him right for being male here.Always yay for Dek.
Moonlite star- Great, I don't want him a big jerk—just nicely misguided.
Bluejean452-the banter is what makes things special between them, I think.
Tina N Blair- I haven't updated in a while- I have had all sorts of problems so! I was trying to explain Alec's behaviour as something other than him being a male prat and I hope that I have succeeded here.
Starr Light1- See, I will deliver- eventually!
Keekee- I think Alec's problem is that he doesn't understand what she went through. He didn't live through that and so he doesn't think it as serious as it was and Max won't tell him because of her pride. Its not being nasty to tell me what I have forgotten—I do forget.
Raven- Good, I'm glad that he doesn't come off as being irrational. I'm sure having other SO's around will push things along.
Angel of darkness231- Cheers pet, I will try to do this faster.
Black rose9- Will do, pet.
Kristibella- It did take me longer than I thought- mad huh! But another long chapter here for you! What happens when Max goes into Heat? Good question.
Feenian- Good, please don't stop! I love knowing that people are enjoying this as much as I am. Even if I do take forever and a half to update the damn thing!
Lynn-50670- Ooh looks out for their cameo into TC- fun galore!
Ganko- very long awaited and okay just two but hey it is Dek and Aiden! A few more issues in Alec's case—like a whole back series but he'll be fine soon.
His Vampira- Aww bless ya, I am so sorry for not updating faster I really am. I will make Alec stop being a jerk now, he's done. The Gill girl thing just had to be written didn't it?
Guest type person- Good, I'm glad that you trust me! Dek and Aiden always make my night!
Honey00- I think that two heads are better than one and now that someone is working with rather then against Max we will have more meetings.
Lotamoxie- Don't despair- review and kick my ass into posting. Honestly I am such a scatter brain at the moment!
BlueAngel137- Alec needed a reality check and he is going to get that, one way or another.
I love Alec- I will update PO as soon as I can- two fics plus whatever else I have going on makes for rush jobs I'm afraid, I will try harder- my mid-year resolution
SGOU- LOL, oops sorry pet, here I updated mid-week for you so hopefully you will catch it quick. Logan will be coming into this story and bringing a few well known characters with him. Alec has picked up quite a lot from Max and I promise I won't have him as an ass for very long. He isn't totally oblivious and will be making his apologies. Yeah he really was living in the land of delusion if he expected Max to be the good little house wife! Ah see why I chose Dek? He was one of the only ones that Alec ever felt truly threatened by…and with good reason.
Erak- it's so hard when you are trying to find your way. I was s supervisor in my old job and now I am starting from the bottom again- its so difficult not to know anything when you are so used to knowing everything! I made this chapter long as well, hope that you like it as much as the last one. He found Nemo!
Hell's angel- Thank you, I'm glad that you enjoy this. I have to admit that it is a favourite of mine too, even though it does take me far too long to update—at least its not once a year.
Nevanroy- here ya go—enjoy
Natacup82- sorry that you have been in withdrawal, my advice when this happens is to go back and read it all again. Should take a few days at least.
Sweettweety06- Cheers angel, glad you liked that chapter. LOL, I will keep typing and try not to die. I do love this story though and will hopefully see it through to its end asap.
XxInsanityXX- I know I make it easy to hate Alec—you can tell I have guy issues at the moment can't you? Go ahead and scream I find it cathartic—although not at work obviously.
OrignalProxy- he is a bit of an ass but he will improve in the next few chapters, honest.
Daisy- there are worse things to be hooked on…skinny dipping for one- very embarrassing. I am glad that you like this so much, thanks for reviewing.
JG- thanks for the vote of confidence and I am glad that you think that they at least have the reasoning and motivation even if it is not right. Thank you.
Kim- something between Max and Dek—oh I think you got your wish in a weird way. I do think that Alec has some growing up to do and he is not so different to the shows Alec when you think of it.
Anarchy21- Thank you for reading and for reviewing—it was nice to hear from you.
Electricgurl- I know I know, hangs head in shame, I am so bad, I will update faster. She says. Yes of course you can have one question…was that it?
Elfie- Yeah he really has got it coming, and he will get it, worry not. OC doesn't know Max as well as she did in the show but we will see her thoughts in the next chapter—Loud and proud just how we like our OC. Pin the tail on the donkey? LOL. Who has the donkey DNA? It's Aiden isn't it? poor guy.
JadeK- the banter was one of the things that was missing in the early chapters of this, methinks and I am glad that I have them back, makes things work better
Magickal-one- Hey there, welcome to the dark side! Grins Thank you for the praise, I would have liked the series to go like this too, of course if James Cameron writes like I do we'd be on our sixth season with no sign of stopping anytime soon and each episode would be a month apart.. best leave it to the professionals! I think the best praise is when someone sees the relationship as what it could be. Thank you.
X5-459- see, only one month instead of two! I'm getting better!
SGOU- I know, you were very good and I appreciate that… and since you emailed again I got my ass in gear and sent this to my beta and now you have the next chapter- See what happens when I am poked. Thank you pet. Although standing on your head etc will make it harder to read this.
Athena80- Well caught up pet! Wow that took some doing to do, glad you could join us.