Angel and Alec

I crouched low to the ground carefully watching the guards patrol the perimeter. Silently I ran to the fence and chucked the bag I had brought with me. Hiding in the shadows I pulled out a pair of pliers and began to carefully peel back the metal. The gap was only just large enough to allow a fairly slim, fairly flexible transgenic female crawl through. Luckily I fulfilled these criteria. Not eating for three days helped too.

I pulled myself carefully up and dusted off the dirt from my jeans. I stooped to pick up the bag and then froze hearing footsteps coming stealthily towards me. Slowly I straightened up keeping my hands in the air. A young boy and a lizard like man were pointing two ugly guns at me. "It's alright. I'm an X5." Keeping my eyes fixed on their faces I pulled my hair over one shoulder and turned around showing them the barcode branded onto the back of my neck.

"Okay." The transhuman said. "She's legit Dalton. C'mon girl, we'll take you to HQ." Slinging my bag over my shoulder I trooped after them further into the winding alleys that made up the safe haven for us of the genetically enhanced persuasion. HQ was an abandoned factory or warehouse full of transgenics flitting around, some carrying scrappy bits of paper, some had headphones in their ears listening to police reports and others had spanners grasped in their oil stained hands as they tinkered with various motorbikes and generators.

"Max! We got a new one!" a dark haired women turned around from a table littered with papers.

"Hey. I'm Max." she held out her hand and smiled warmly.

I took it. "Hi, I'm,"

"YOU!" I turned around to see a man making his way towards us. A very familiar man.

Max sighed and rolled her eyes. "Alec, could you not terrify the new arrivals? Seriously." She turned back to the table.

"Alec?" I asked frowning at the man. Because I knew him. I knew him very well. "494!"

494's, I mean, Alec's face broke into a smile but his expressive eyes, the ones I remembered so well, still betrayed some confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"What are we all doing here?" I replied. "Not running. You're called Alec now, huh? Why 'Alec'?"

"She picked it." He gestured at Max, "What about you? You still 500?"

"Yeah, 'cause that had such a ring to it. I'm… Angel." I stood awkwardly not really sure what to do with my hands. I settled with fiddling with the bag strap over my shoulder.

"Why 'Angel'?" he asked. I blushed. "Why? Tell me!" he grinned knowing I was uncomfortable.

I sighed trying to hide my obviously flushed cheeks behind my curly hair. "It was the last thing…" I trailed off. Alec stepped closer and my heart began to beat faster of its own violation. "You called me 'angel' on our last time together."

I kept my eyes averted but felt his stare burning on my skin. I glanced up, caught his gaze and held it. We stood watching each other until someone coughed. "Alec?" Max asked, "You wanna set Angel up with one of the rooms in building 3? We've still got some free apartments left. Than I guess we better get started on another one. Mole can you and Kovu get started on hooking up water and power?" Max turned back to the paper strewn table.

"That your stuff?" Alec gestured at the army surplus bag over my shoulder.

I shook my head slightly to clear it. "No." I dumped the bag on the floor and deftly loosened the ties at the neck. "I brought some stuff I thought people might need." Reaching into the bag I pulled out a wad of material and piled it on an oil free patch of surface. "Clothes, blankets, baby stuff, basic med stuff." I placed the bandages, antibiotics, stitches kits, pain relief, antiseptic wipes and two bottles of the all important tryptophan on top of the first pile. "I nabbed this from a pimp," I placed a pack of cigars on the top.

The lizard like man called Mole pounced on them. "I call dibs!" he growled.

I smiled and tugged out a fat envelope. "I also relieved the fine gent of this cash. I don't know how useful it is when we're kinda cut off but… I really didn't appreciate this guy pinching my ass." I laughed.

Max grinned. "Thanks a lot, Angel. We really need this kinda stuff."

"Glad to be of assistance. I'm sure Master Pimp is pleased to help the transgenic cause also."

Alec pushed open the door to a two room apartment. "It's not much but with so many people here we couldn't really leave everyone in one giant car park. The babies and the females in heat kept things… interesting." He glanced at me and I could tell he was remembering the same thing I was.

I wanted to break his gaze, I wanted to be embarrassed but I couldn't stop a grin creeping across my lips. He smirked back at me. "Oh shut up!" I smacked him playfully on the shoulder.

He clutched at it in fake pain and eyed me reproachfully. I peeled off my leather jacket. "There's running water." Alec said pointing to the chipped sink. "It's not always warm but…" I chucked the jacket over the arm of a battered armchair and splashed lukewarm water over my arms and face and glanced into the cracked, spotted mirror hanging on the wall. I looked the same I suppose. Same alabaster pale skin, wild head of red curls and black eyes. But different somehow. Different smile maybe? Different look in my dark eyes? Different.

"You feeling OK?" I watched his reflection in the mirror.

"Yeah." I smiled and for the first time in a long time I saw my eyes warm too.

I sat cross legged in the chair and laughed at Kovu's pathetic imitation of Mole. Kovu had a bit too much lion or something in his cocktail, as Max liked to say, his dark gold hair bushed around his face like a mane and he had a wide flattened nose tipped pink, tawny eyes and slightly pointed fangs. He had stuck a pen in the corner of his mouth and was barking imaginary orders.

Someone yelled, "Head's up!" and tossed me a soda. I cracked it open and called my thanks over the room. "Oh." I sighed, "I gotta say I do miss pizza. Ordinaries can't half cook. Hey Alec! You reckon they'd deliver a pizza to this place?" I laughed. Alec barely glanced at me. I chucked a pen at his head, it bounced off but he didn't turn. "Mind the com for me?" I asked handing Kovu my head set. I jogged after Alec's retreating figure. "You OK?" I asked catching up with him.

"I'm always OK." He said keeping his gaze ahead and walking briskly down the street. "You want something Angel?" he asked brusquely.

"I haven't seen you for a while." I said uncertainly. This was not the joking Alec who had talked and laughed with me the past couple of weeks. "Been avoiding me?"

Alec didn't answer me. "Hey!" I lost my temper and darted ahead of him forcing him to stop. "What? That time of the month?" Alec shoved past me. "Alec? Alec!"

We'd turned the lower floor of an old warehouse across the street from HQ into a sort of gym. Transgenics went there to burn off extra energy. It had been hilarious when four X5s had drove up to the perimeter in a van full of gym equipment and even funnier when we had watched the report on the furious governor whose expensive home gym had mysteriously vanished…

The room had a couple of treadmills, some weights, punch bags with various faces cut out and stuck down, Ames White, Senator McKinley etc. and some crash mats. A few partners were sparring playfully. I scanned the room and saw Alec feverishly pummelling one of the punch bags. Hot fury blazed through my veins. Just who did this guy think he was? What the hell gave him a right to ignore me? I stalked over to him. "Hey!" I yelled. Alec turned around and quickly blocked the punch I threw at him.

Strong fingers wrapped around my fist. "What do you want now Angel?" he asked with barely disguised exasperation.

"I want an apology." I spat back wrenching my hand away.

Alec laughed coldly. "Forget it." I flung another punch at him and he blocked it but only just. "Cut it out."

"Forget it!" I mocked trying to block out the excited mutterings of the gathering crowd. I heard a couple of them quickly place bets. I aimed a kick at him and he caught my ankle yanking me off my feet. Furious I twisted catching the backs of his knees with my shin and sending him crashing to the floor. Lightening fast I straddled his chest and held his arms to the ground. He struggled half heartedly. "I know you have a massive alpha ego Alec but nothing, nothing gives you the right to treat me like you did yesterday. You get it?"

Alec glared up at me. He grabbed my forearms and pushed me hard. I fell back onto mat. Now Alec was kneeling above me my wrists pinned above my head. "I loved a girl once." He said through clenched teeth. "I loved her and she died. It was my fault! I killed her. I have no right to even consider…" he trailed off his eyes suspiciously moist. "You?" he asked mostly to himself, he screwed his eyes tight shut. "You're too good. I… I'm… not." He ended lamely.

"What are you saying?" I whispered keeping very still. I was suddenly extra sensitive of the warmth he gave off so close to me. Alec's brow was furrowed. Very slowly I raised my head off the mat. Our lips were only a breath away when I paused. Alec closed the space between us.

Fireworks danced through my head as we kissed. Alec let go of my wrists to cup my face tenderly between his palms. My hands were clutching his worn, soft t-shirt half afraid that if I let go he would vanish. I forgot about the dozen or so transgenics watching us, I forgot about the covert and overt government agencies that wanted us dead, I forgot that we were surrounded on all sides by frightened, brutal humans. It was just me and him. Nothing else mattered. Just me and him and how much I loved him.

Oh.

Dear.

Lord!

Love? Did I just say love? I did didn't I? Whoa!

Love.

I did love him. I didn't know much about love but I'd heard that you would do anything for the person you love. I knew instinctively I would die in a heartbeat to save Alec a second's pain. I knew that when he looked at me I felt like I was burning. And when he touched me…? Especially as he was now with barely restrained passion managing to perfectly blend tenderness with fervour. Yes. I loved him with every genetically modified fibre of my being.