a/n: This chapter has a memory that is not completely necessary and maybe Tplus? I don't know, I'm bad with ratings, its really not that bad, but you can skip it if that type of thing bothers you
Chapter 2
Max Guevarra stood still for a moment, shocked at the news. Her full lips parted as she took it in. Her large chocolate eyes were wide with surprise at hearing what had happened.
Alec repeated the information, hoping for a more vocal reaction this time. "Max," he spoke softly, "I'm telling you, Logan contacted me."
Max stared into his hazel eyes. They were serious. His usual mischievous glow was missing, and his lips held together gently in a thin line, missing the usual curving at the corners of his signature smirk. He held the firm appearance of a true Manticore soldier. If what he said was true, her hopes had finally been realized. He wasn't dead.
"Alec," she began, not sure what to say.
Alec stared into her eyes. They were begging for reassurance. The last thing he wanted to do was give her false hope. He had lied into those eyes in the past. After spending so much time with Max, he found that lying into those eyes was something he was no longer capable of.
"Max," he explained at her silence, "I don't know how he did it, but he did. There was a weak signal coming through with Morse code. Every other word was my bar-code, Max."
"Well, what was the message?" Max asked slightly frantic. If Logan was truly alive, why hadn't he contacted her?
"Keep her safe from the twin," Alec reported.
Max listened to his words, confused. She stared at the computer screen, not blinking. Where was her message? If he knew how to contact Alec, he knew how to contact her.
"Why would Sam be a threat?" Max asked him, confused.
Alec's heart ached as he gazed into her worried eyes. He wished he had answers for her. He would have put off telling her to if only to save her from hurting had he not known better. Max was not one to be left in the dark. Besides that, he felt he needed her help. They ought to work together to find Logan Cale.
"I don't know," Alec answered honestly. "I think I should spy on Sam, though, contact her or something."
Max refused immediately, "No way!" She didn't want him to leave her. "What if it's a trap? Besides that, I have no idea where she is now."
"Well where was she last?" Alec asked.
"Canada," Max answered, "Or at least, on her way."
"Maybe the answer is in here," Alec suggested, pointing to the computer in front of her.
They were standing in Logan's penthouse. His disappearance was very unsettling. If it had been truly planned, his files surely would have been missing. If it had been a kidnapping, or a murder, surely they would have destroyed his computer or stolen it. If it was petty theft, his valuables would be gone.
The apartment was untouched, exactly the same. The only thing missing was Logan.
They had been attempting to hack into his computer for weeks now. Max had cursed at herself countless times for not thinking to ask Logan about his passwords before he'd disappeared.
Alec had been fairly successful in accessing his files, but many still remained protected. Logan had an immeasurable amount of top secret information, ranging from government cover-ups and conspiracies to mob activities around Seattle and also on a global scale.
Max at first was surprised to see the amount of Manticore files Logan had at his disposal that he'd never shared with her. She wanted to see those more than any other, but they were the most protected files.
Alec had been working almost nonstop at uncovering whatever Logan had in his computer. He hated the task. It wasn't a good use of his skills. Although he was far more talented than most people in accessing the protected files, it wasn't what he was designed for.
"If only we knew what was in there," Max commented, wondering if they'd ever be able to discover the extent to what Logan knew.
"I wonder if it has something to do with Eclipsa," Alec thought out loud, referring to the file that had the most protection. Alec was nowhere near finding the codes to opening it.
"I don't think that's Manticore," Max dismissed the idea. She and Alec were both products of the place, and they'd never heard of anything close to that name. Max reckoned it was some other government project possibly.
"Max, this is what we've been waiting for," Alec tried to convince her. It was true, they'd been searching desperately for leads.
"So Logan tells you to protect me from Sam, and what do you do? Go running right to her? I don't really think that's what Logan wanted." Max argued.
Alec wanted to calm her. She consumed his wants lately, his desires all led straight to Max. He wasn't quite sure at what point in time Max's happiness had come to mean more to him than his own or anything else in his life. With Logan gone, Alec had been forced to step up. Max needed someone she could rely on, someone to depend on.
Alec remembered how vulnerable she looked when she had come to him that day. He thought they'd broken up, something he secretly wished for and yet something he didn't want to see happening, knowing it would hurt her. He was at first angry, he wanted to hurt the bastard for screwing up again and hurting Max.
He figured Logan had done something stupid, pushed Max away for the last time. Maybe he'd dumped her. Alec should have known that wasn't the case, Logan was too selfish with Max to completely give her up.
But Alec had been thrown at the real reason for Max's distress that night. He rarely saw her so vulnerable, and once he found out why, he knew he had to do something. If Logan had disappeared, Alec assumed what he knew she was too afraid to think- he was dead.
Max loved Logan, Alec knew this. He immediately put aside his usual sarcastic nature. Max couldn't afford for Alec to be short and distant with her, she needed him.
Alec wanted to calm her. He wanted more than that, he wanted to protect her, wanted to make her happy- he wanted to love her.
Alec didn't want to admit to Max that when he first discovered Logan's message he had wanted to keep it hidden. He found himself jealous, a feeling he wasn't used to.
That was when Alec knew he had to find Logan for Max. Alec wasn't good enough for her. The closer he became with Max, the more selfish he found he was, wanting Max not only to confide in him, but to be with him. He didn't want to have just a little of Max, he wanted all of her. Alec didn't know if Logan was better, but he knew that was the choice Max had made. She wanted Logan, she loved the man.
Alec remembered the one moment he'd shared with Max.
"Maxie! To what do I owe the pleasure? Let me guess… there's a toilet that you need me to unclog!" Alec was speaking both sarcastically and truthfully. Lately it seemed he was her errand boy.
Max didn't reply with her usual fire. That was when he noticed, her deep brown eyes. They were full of fear.
"Max, what's wrong?" His voice changed suddenly, he was softer, comforting.
She allowed herself to cry in front of him. "Logan is gone, Alec."
He had taken her delicate face into his hands, wiped her tears. Her face was so empty, her eyes had lost their shine.
He wasn't sure why he did it. Even though she was pleading with her eyes, he knew it was wrong. He felt like he was taking advantage of her. But it was her eyes- they were begging him.
He pressed his lips against hers, and immediately found them open, welcoming him to comfort her, to be with her.
He pulled away for a moment, was he really going to do this? Was this really what she wanted. Her body leaned toward him, not wanting him to back away.
"Max," he breathed, asking if it was what she wanted.
He found that simple taste of Max was enough to ignite his desires for her. He had always noticed how beautiful she was, being genetically enhanced. But he never imagined how it would feel to taste Max, to be with her. He found he could no longer respond to what she wanted without confusing it with what he wanted.
She gently lifted his shirt slowly, showing him her answer.
His own hands gently held her arms, following them to her hands, asking her to look at him.
She finally did meet his gaze, her hands still pressed against his naked abdomen, lining his strong muscles.
"Alec," she answered, before kissing him again, asking him to take her, to be with her.
Alec stopped responding to Max as his hunger overtook him. He wasn't reacting for her, he was reacting for himself.
She didn't open her lips this time, but held them against his, until the kiss was interrupted by removing his shirt.
She paused, questioning herself it seemed, staring at Alec in a way she hadn't before, taking in just how beautifully Manticore had designed him to be.
"Max," he breathed again, this time not with question, but with desire. He placed quick, soft kisses along her neck, following them to her mouth, teasing her, taunting her.
Max let her head lean back, while her body leaned into him, wanting more. As he breathed her name again before pressing his lips against her forcefully, she could feel his breath, and she gasped with desire she didn't realize she had.
He took the moment to take her, as he kissed her deeply and passionately.
Alec was glad the moment hadn't gone further. He remembered the interruption. Though at the time, it had been unwelcome, Alec was relieved it had stopped whatever he didn't want to imagine would have happened.
Asha had come unexpectedly, wondering where Logan was.
As both transgenics heard the knocking, they seemed aware of their situation, of their responsibilities. They couldn't do this. People needed them at the moment.
Alec stared at Max hesitantly, not wanting to answer the door and go back to reality unless she was willing.. She stood still, calm, staring back with sadness. He then realized, reality had already found her again. She was aware it seemed, that Logan was gone without a trace, and that she was standing in front of the one person who might be able to help her find him. Alec realized that although her body was still warm with her desire, she wasn't going to let anything happen. He released her, and pulled his shirt back on once he realized the moment was gone.
Alec opened the door, surprised at the sight of who it was. "What is it?" he asked, trying to hide his annoyance.
Her blue eyes stared at both of them, eyeing the situation. Although human, she was fairly perceptive, and seemed to understand that she'd just interrupted something intense. "Um," she began, pausing to gather her thoughts again as to why she'd come.
"Come in," Alec offered, finally finding his manners.
She stepped in quietly. "Hey, Max," she greeted kindly with a smile on her face, though looking distraught otherwise.
Max nodded warmly in return, but said nothing.
Asha again looked to Alec, "So, I don't know if you've heard.." She then looked to Max, "Logan is gone," she blurted.
Max nodded again, showing her sadness, though she held herself together far better than she had in front of just Alec only moments before. "I know. Do you have any idea where he is?" Max eyed the girl, realizing that Asha, too, had come to Alec before anyone else at realizing Logan's disappearance.
Asha shook her head, before she became the second person that night to fight back tears at the situation. "I mean, what if he is hurt? What if he's…"
The rest of the night had been just talk. They realized that no one knew where Logan was or why he'd disappeared. Unfortunately, they still didn't know.
Alec hadn't tasted Max since that night. He tried not to think about it, for fear the aching for Max would overtake his senses. He wasn't sure what he would do if he was able to taste a little of Max but not all of her. He felt he would take her, again, feeling he wasn't good enough for her. She deserved someone who could love her for all that she was, not for the desire of their own selfish thoughts.
"We'll never know what Logan wanted," Alec answered, forcing himself to focus on thoughts other than Max.
"So you're telling me you're going to leave, on your own?" Max asked.
"Max, if we don't hear anything else from Logan within a week, I am going to head to Canada and find Sam," Alec decided, slightly compromising.
Max nodded, clearly upset. "Are you coming into work tomorrow?" She asked, changing the subject.
"Yea, I guess I may as well. I don't think I can crack this code any more than I already have," Alec answered, grateful that she wasn't fighting him on this.
Max cocked her head slightly, "And how are you gonna convince Normal that you still deserve your job?"
"I have my ways," Alec insisted before adding, "Besides, who could say no to this face!" He flashed her a cheesy smile.
Max rolled her eyes, "Okay, Pretty Boy. But don't ask me to cover for you!"
She didn't want him to go, but she was grateful to have a week hiatus, so to speak, on everything that was going on.
She was smiling, but inside she was worried, this time not for Logan, but for Alec. She didn't feel right about him leaving. Even though she wanted a normal week, another part of her hoped that Logan would somehow reach them again so that Alec wouldn't have to leave.
a/n: thanks again for reading and for the feedback. hows this one unfolding so far? not sure at the moment what the next ch will be about, but i'll post when its ready
