How I Say I Love You

Warnings: Violence, swearing, terror

Alec's POV

I could see Sam from a mile away. Well, literally and figuratively, but most people only think that I mean that cutesy way.
Whatever. I guess I'll humor you saps. She was leaning against her locker, talking to Sketchy about something that she was obviously invested in, because her eyes were all lit up and that grin was plastered on her face. Trust me, whenever you're on the receiving end of her little smiles, you feel so special, like you're the only person in the whole world. Her hair was a bit messy, but I would suspect an imposter if it wasn't.
Deciding that I didn't really like the way that Sketchy kept looking her up and down, I dropped in for a short visit.
Sam jumped as my hands landed on her hips. "Hey, gorgeous," I greeted in her ear, letting my lips drag along the outer edge of it. If I didn't know her I wouldn't have seen it, and I'm not even sure it had really happened because of how spontaneous it was, but I could've sworn that she kind of shivered before pulling forward and out of my grasp.
Sketchy grumbled something about a pick up from sector eight and he was gone. As soon as he was out of sight, Sam turned and smacked my arm. I pretended that it hurt, even though we both knew that I wasn't fooling anyone around here. "Don't do that! You scared the hell outta me, Alec!"
Flashing an apologetic grin at her, I bit my lip (fully knowing that it drove her absolutely nuts), and said sheepishly, "Sorry, sweetheart. Didn't mean to give you a freight." In a complete undermining of my statement, I brought a hand up to my shaggy hair and shook it, sending raindrops flying everywhere. She immediately sent me a death glare, and I simply gave her another skittish smirk.
There were a million things that I was expecting, but what she said wasn't one of them. "Where is your jacket? The one day that you actually need it and you don't have it?" I was a little taken aback by the comment, so I did the one thing that I did best.
I used my gift. "I don't know. Maybe I'm not worried about getting sick because I'm a dude that was made in a lab!" I threw a wink in to reassure her that I was just joking, but the disapproving look didn't fall from her face.
"I'm going to get your jacket. I'll be back in an hour. Get a few runs done, Mr. Invincible," she retaliated, turning to walk away. My eyes traveled down slowly, and I was soon tilting my head to try and get a better look at her ass. Damn, it looked good in those jeans. I could just imagine what-
A smack at the back of my head that actually hurt somewhat made me startle. Sam had looked over her shoulder to send me a suggestive wink, and then I was alone with Max. I'll tell you one thing, when she started yelling at me to get off of my ass, I was not happy. Especially when she shoved three large packages at me, smiled sickly sweet, and turned away before I could redeposit them in her arms.
God, I hate her guts.

I had just finished delivering the package to a large, fancy home in sector five when my phone rang in my pocket. Letting out a frustrated breath of air, I took one hand off of the handlebars and snatched the phone out of my pocket. It took a bit more effort to press the answer button and hold it to my ear while I was trying not to run anyone over. "Alec the great and powerful speaking. Who's this?" As the last syllable ran off of my tongue, I silently prayed that it wasn't Max, because even though she was used to my "conceited" nature, the comment was a little over the line.
The person who answered, though, caught me completely off guard. "Alec, thank God."
I wanted to be relieved or thankful, but the tension in her voice made me sit on the edge of my seat. "Sam. Hey, baby, what's wrong?" There was a short pause, and then, her voice came back, even quieter than her original whisper.
"Alec, what do I do, there's someone in the apartment!"
My heart stopped beating in my chest. Dammit, I never should've dragged her into this. White and his stupid Familiars are probably gonna get a hold of whoever they can get. How could I have been so stupid as to let her stay and fall in love with me? It was just like Rachel. Sam was gonna be caught in the crossfire. Millions of questions ran through my head, but I could only tackle one at a time. "How many are there?"
I could hear her breathing now, but I couldn't tell if it was because she was nervous or because my senses were heightening as a result of this situation. I knew that it would come one day. I had to assume that the men were dangerous. "I don't know. Four or five? I'm hiding in the bedroom. I-I locked myself in here," Sam trembled out. My jaw clenched. Someone was scaring her. My Sam, and they were terrifying the hell outta her.
Despite the furious quiver in every movement that I made, my foot pressed harder to the pedal. "I'm coming, sweetheart. Hang in there." I tried to make my voice sound soothing, but it probably came out callous and strained. Not that I cared. I was having a hell of a time not running anyone over. "Do you know what they're doing?"
A muffled sound came through the speaker, and it took me a while to realize that it was a quiet sob. "They're destroying the apartment, Alec! It's only a matter of time before they find out that the door is locked from the inside. Alec, please hurry!" The desperation in her next sob made me push my bike to go faster than what was recommended.
And then, I saw the massive line to get through the sector police. My heart dropped. Oh, no. No, no, no, no, any day but today, any time but right now. "Shit," I muttered, eyes flashing around in a last attempt at finding a way through.
Apparently, Sam heard me, because her questioning was starting to get frantic. "Alec, where are you? Are you okay? What's going on?"
I couldn't help but feel a kind of irony that Sam was the one that was cornered by most likely White's men and tucked in the corner of our bedroom, yet she was asking me if I was okay. "I'm fine. I'm in sector five. I should be home real soon. I've just gotta get past-"
My breath caught in my throat as a distinct pounding sound came through the phone, followed by Sam's intensified crying. "Alec, they're at the door!" she whispered into the phone, tears in her voice.
Determination set in my mind, and I quickly made one of the most senseless decisions of my entire life. I gently led my bike over to the much smaller emergency line, the one where people went through when they had something wrong with them and they needed medical assistance. To my dismay, I was caught by the arm as I tried to slip past the bulky men in uniform. They didn't scare me, really, not in small numbers. But I didn't have the time to deal with him right now. Swearing internally as the policeman asked for my papers, I came up with the first excuse that came to mind. "Please, man, you've gotta let me go through. My wife… she's in labor. It's my first. I'm gonna miss it if you don't let me go through, please! I forgot my papers on the desk at home! She's been staying with her mother and-"
I hadn't even realized that I had rambled enough to easily give away my lie, but the policeman seemed a little upswept in the fable himself. He gave me one last clap on the shoulder, actually kind of friendly, and gave me permission to go. Jesus, imagine the look on his face if someone told him that he'd acted all buddy-buddy toward a transgenic.
I revved my motorcycle and took off, placing the phone back to my ear, only to be greeted with heavy breathing and an occasional sob, and muffled voices and crashing noises in the background. "Princess, you still there?"
"Oh my God, Alec." She let out another sob.
My mind raced ten times faster than my bike ever could. "What's happening?"
She sounded more distressed than before, if that were even possible. "They're picking the lock! Alec, they've almost got it, I can hear it clicking!"
Trying to be the calm one in the panic, I still felt a tug of dread as I came across the only option she had left. "Sam, if they get in, you have to jump out the window."
"WHAT? Are you nuts? Not all of us are invincible, Alec! I could break something!" She sounded like she was really starting to panic, as if her fate was really starting to set in.
I swallowed down the urge to vomit. "It will be a hell of a lot better than what they're gonna do to you, if my guess is right."
A small scream and loud bang had me slamming the gas down. "SAM, JUMP! NOW!" I yelled desperately into the phone, fear making a light sheen of sweat coat my face.
The motorcycle was screeching now, tires skidding along the ground so vividly that it left black marks on the pavement. The loud sound coming from it blocked whatever was happening on the other end of the line, but if that didn't do it, the blood pounding in my ears nearly made me deaf as is.
I whirled the corner in time to see Sam, backed against an alley wall, true terror in her eyes. Two Familiars stood in front of her, holding the foot-long tasers in front of them and smirking as if they liked the lighting it shone on Sam's face. Rage filled every inch of my body instantaneously. I ditched my bike on the sidewalk as I moved impossibly fast towards the two threatening my everything.
I crashed into the first one with the energy of a bull, then grabbed his suit jacket and throwing him into his friend. They both went flying into the side of a large garbage bin. Not even bothering to loosen the tight, angry muscles in my face, I turned to Sam. "C'mon," I persisted, gripping her wrist and rushing her over to my bike. "On, on. Now, let's go!" I urged as I swung my own leg over it. As soon as Sam's arms were wrapped around my waist and her face buried in my back, I hit the gas so hard that we nearly toppled over backwards. "Hold on tight back there, sweetheart," I warned sending a glance over my shoulder.
Sam simply nodded back and burrowed further into my back. She let out a little squeak at a loud BANG.
I risked a quick look back at the two Familiars, who had now grown into four. They were all pointing guns right for us, one shot coming right after the other, each one barely missing. Just as I skidded the motorcycle around the corner, something tore into my calf. I made a grunt of pain and squeezed my eyes shut, hands clenching around the handlebars. Being a transgenic did not mean that bullets magically didn't hurt you, I thought bitterly to myself.
It was a while after we'd outrun the Familiars, and Sam had relaxed her grip on my waist. So, as I pulled to the side of the road next to the Space Needle, I jumped a bit when she tightened her grip again. "Sorry," she mumbled, hastily letting go.
Sighing, I got up from the bike and stood next to Sam, silently tucking her into my chest and wrapping my arms around her. She fell apart as I kissed her hairline, whispered sweet nothings into her ear, ran slow circles into her back… until she had no tears left to cry. And even then, we stood there, a now homeless transgenic and the girl that I'd dragged down with me.
The moment was trashed, however, when Sam tried to tug me closer. Normally, I would've just laughed and stepped in after some playful banter. But, that's a little hard to accomplish when you've got a bullet embedded in your leg. I clenched my teeth together, but it did nothing to stop the groan from coming through, and my hands clamped down on the motorcycle on either side of Sam to steady myself. Her hands found my shoulders to gently push me away and get a better look at me.
Next thing I know, I'm back on my bike, Sam right beside me with my leg hoisted up on her lap, and she was digging the bullet out with a pair of tweezers. All the while, she went on about how much of an idiot I was for not taking care of it right away. It was endearing, almost. How quickly she could change dispositions. Her cute little nose turning up when you did something disgusting, her eyes widening when you asked a question that shocked her. She had my leather jacket on, too, I suddenly realized. It was adorable.
A sigh from the girl in front of me brought me back into reality and, seeing the look on Sam's face, I chastised myself for zoning out. What if I had missed something important? "I guess we'll have to stay at Max's house tonight. Until we get a better place to stay, that is. Joshua's is too far, you know? I'm exhausted, and it's getting late."
She swung her leg over the bike, but I didn't budge. She raised her eyebrows at me. "Alec, c'mere. Let's get going. I have a nap to be taking and you have healing to be doing." She pointed a strict finger at me, and I couldn't help but chuckle.
But my mind flashed to earlier almost on its own. The horror of realizing that White had sent his men to get Sam. My Sam. "I was worried earlier, you know? I thought that they were gonna get to you before I did. I thought-" I swallowed down the lump in my throat and tried again. "I thought that I'd lost you. And it was the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me. And I mean EVER. And then I came home and saw those Familiars surrounding you and I just-"
Arms wrapping around my neck cut me off, and I immediately returned the hug. I could feel her pull me down slightly to whisper into my ear. "I know. I was scared, too. But I know where you're going with this and I'm gonna stop you right there. Alec, I'm more safe with you than away from you." I could feel a smile against my neck, now. "And if you even try to leave "for my protection", then I'm just going to find you again. We'll visit the apartment in the morning to see if anything is salvageable. But for now…" She broke away from me to look up into my eyes. "For now, we'll be grateful that we've got each other."
The smile was spreading across my face before she had even finished. A warmth expanded from the center of my chest. Oh, I loved her. She always knew the exact thing to make me feel better. My innocent smile turning into a devil may care smirk, I picked her up by the waist and deposited her in the seat right in front of me. My favorite part was when she opened her mouth in this tiny gasp, shocked to her core that I had done something that abruptly. "Fine. We'll go. But you have to stay right here, so that I can protect you," I whispered into her hair. Carefully wrapping myself around her, I edged forward so that Sam was between me and the handlebars, but my feet could still reach the pedals and I still had a good grip on the handlebars.
I had to protect her. I couldn't lose her, too. Not when I loved her more than I had even loved Rachel. No, I couldn't let her out of my sight. My arms around her were a quiet way of saying "I love you".