Shift: my most recent fan, thanks for the reviews! I'm glad you enjoyed the previous series (even with the nagging for reviews on my part), I am trying to incorporate more of the younger X series as you'll see later on. And the bit about m/a's dna will come in as well. Plus I love it whenever I read about an alpha Alec. It's so full of life, and its primitive, I love it, so I love to incorporate it. I hope you enjoy this series as well to.
Recicup: my loyal fan…lol! Max's mood swings are 'seeable' as she notices them to but denies them to herself also, just as any woman would.
Enjoy ladies and gentleman…oh and reviews are good, they help us move in more desired directions. I mean we have our own but different ideas and criticisms do tend to help push us into seeing other possibilities.
Season 4 ep.4
It had been nearly a month. Time for the meeting that we had all been anticipating and dreading. In-between that time, we'd been working ourselves to the bone with projects and doing the B & E's I had done during my time outside of Manticore walls. Finding the precious pieces to procure hadn't been easy, but the exhilaration I got from doing them once again had been worth it.
One of the items had been the 18th century picture frame Alec had managed to get back from Rita. He went to a dealer just outside of Seattle and found the piece to be worth some serious coin. It had been just enough alone to start funding the martial arts class in one of the more "sound-proof" buildings. However, not all of us were able to wheel and deal with dealers like he was.
Many of us, like myself, used not only charm, but knowledge and understanding of the facts to help sell the procured items. I happen to have quite a flare in knowing art in many forms. Thanks to my days with a previous thievery bunch. They taught me quite a lot about fine arts and antiquities. Whod'a thunk that to some, old junk is old junk, but to others, it could be worth a fortune?
I guess it's true what they say. That one person's junk is another person's treasure. Reminds me of that near window-sized mirror Logan had on his wall.
American, neo classic, gold leaf detailed, late 1800's…I knew it would be worth two to three grand on the black market. Wonder if it's still hanging? Even if it has scratches on it, the time period alone makes it in the one to two thousand dollar range. And even if it's not there, I still remember seeing a few pieces that would be worth that same price range – heavier to get out but still…same price range.
I almost laughed out loud till I thought to myself…White was the last person up in that penthouse…surly he must have seen all the expensive art work and tried to…wait would he…? I don't see White trying to fence anything let alone a 1800's mirror. Still…Was it still there? I called up Fogle Towers to see if the penthouse had been housing people now. Logan has said once before that the penthouse was paid for. Did White raid the place as thoroughly as I would have?
The phone rang twice before someone picked up, "Thank you for calling Fogle Towers. My name is Heather, how may I help you?" a female answered in that snooty, phony voice. So, I immediately adopted a snobby tone myself. Hey, if I sound like a rich person, she may be more inclined to talk to me, right?
"Yes Heather, I was inquiring about the availability of the penthouse in your building, the one on the floor labeled PH above floor 26?" No need to give out names, I felt I just needed to sound important. The secretary was business-like and polite as she answered, "I'm sorry ma'am, but that floor is unavailable and will be for the next year." I was stunned, then again… "May I ask why? I was thinking of buying it myself." Total lie, but whatever.
"I'm sorry ma'am. The penthouse is currently not for sale. The owner has not yet returned and we are required by law to keep his penthouse off the market. I can advise the owner of your interest when he returns. May I have your name and phone number and I'll pass it on to him?" I didn't have time for this… "I know Logan Cale. I'll talk to him myself." I went to hang up when I remembered I might need to call again.
"Thank you for your time and information." I hung up before she could respond. I smiled…even if I could get in touch with Logan I wouldn't. Sides it's perfect…I can get in and out without the fear of being seen. For once Logan's money came in handy, I could use the procured art pieces to stock up on supplies for TC. Logan was initially helping us and he did sell more valuable pieces for less causes.
Seriously he sold paintings his family gave him so we could touch. It was sweet but when you're not actually together, talk about pressure to be with the man. Grabbing my jacket I threw it on as I left my office, then HQ and went down to my bike. I was in my last month to use my bike before I had to put her up for the rest of my pregnancy. Apparently the vibrations from it can disrupt the pregnancy and even cause a miscarriage.
Not wanting to take the risk at the end of this month, I will have to hibernate my bike sooner than normal just for the next seven months. Which totally sucks by the way!
But back to the here and now. Getting one of the cars we have – if you can call the rust bucket I'm driving a car - I leave through one of our fashioned exits and head to Fogle Towers to see about getting that mirror and maybe seeing what else might be in that safe I know he has. Lucky me, I knew how to find and get access to it.
He may not have trusted me completely, not that he had any reason to, but that doesn't mean that I still didn't take a look around in the beginning when I didn't hold all the trust in the world in him either. Making it there I noticed the clerk behind the counter. Waiting till someone else came in - which to my luck, was only a few minutes later - I went in with them, camouflaging myself as part of the group.
As she took care of them, I made note of security and where the cameras were located in the building. I snuck away quietly while the two security guards were talking to each other and I let myself in by using the stairs.
I initially went for the elevator when I remembered I'd need the keycard that Logan had given me. That was still over at Cindy's place since I never thought I'd have to come back here again. So instead, I slipped into the stairwell and climbed all twenty-seven flights of stairs to his old penthouse floor. Reaching the top, I was grateful for my training at Manticore. My legs didn't burn as much as they could have been had I not been training all this time.
Reaching the penthouse floor, I opened the access door to reveal the elevator – threw it a mild curse for needing to be operated by a fucking key card also. It took me just a moment to search the frame of the door for the spare key. I had un-intentionally found the key hiding there one day over a year and a half ago. Finding it on the top frame above the door, I unlocked it and let myself in. The place looked a mess, from top to bottom. White and his men searched the place well, that was for sure.
Walking through the place, all you could hear were crinkles and crunches of glass and paper. White and his men shot the place to smithereens, even shot the papers that had once littered the former dining room table, and I could only tell that due to there being confetti pieces all over the place…Really White? Really? You turned the paper into confetti? The rest of it White must have taken…I muse to myself. Rolling my eyes at the thought I saw all the monitors broken beyond normal repair.
You could scrap the insides if you wanted to but otherwise it was shot – no pun intended – to hell. Walking past the turned over, bullet-ridden table, I came across the desk that was bolted into the wall that held his completely trashed mainframes that were now ridden with bullet holes. No intel left on them. Knowing Logan, he would have purged them of their data before he bailed out.
The one time his ass made the right decision and actually ran…go figure. But it's better this way. At least whatever he had on me and mine, White doesn't have it. Safer that way. I saw that racks that had once been full of other hardware was torn down in disrepair. White and his crew were surely pissed off by what Logan had been doing. I had to admittedly feel a little satisfaction with that.
And knowing the building management, as much as they wanted to tidy the place up, they can't touch a piece of fabricated glass. Made it easier to hide sensitive information or valuables. Such as the safe kept underneath his most prized possession…his bolted in computer desk used to hold his computers. Which, in turn, held his information on the "evils of society".
But first, I wanted to see if the main prize (the mirror) was intact. Rounding the corner, I saw it still up on the wall. Thankfully, looters couldn't get up here. They would have ransacked this place like crazy. Easing it off the angled nails in the wall I placed it on the ground.
This piece was worth a few grand here. I wasn't about to scratch it up, especially if it ended up decreasing the value tremendously. Easing it to the front door I set it aside to make it easier to carry out later. I slipped back over to where I knew of the safe's location. In all honestly, I don't think even he knew that I knew of its location. Then again, how often does one pay attention to pressure differences in the floor? You couldn't tell unless you were really looking for it.
I only noticed the difference when I was in his seat a few times. Just kept the info in the back of my head for later usage…here was the later. The top of it was initially the wood that covered the floor, but a closer scan by a highly trained super-soldier with superior eye sight would reveal that the wood had a distinctive one by one foot lining going through it. Right now it was covered in about a pound and a half of glass, dust and numerous bullet casings.
Going to the source, I wiped away the glass, dust and casings, to reveal the crease in the edges. Sliding my nails into the edges, I lift open the wooden plank that was its cover to find the black metal door and the 0-100 numbered dial on top of it. Getting up close to it, I listen for the clicks with my enhanced hearing. 5 - 14 - 21 - 67 - 45 - 23. Bingo! Just like riding a bike, you never forget it! She was now officially opened. I frowned at my next thoughts. God damn Logan, did the combination really need THAT many numbers?
You were being guarded by an ex cop bodyguard before Bling. Brushing my irritation aside, I turn the last dial that made that final clicking sound I loved to hear. It was like "ear crack" to an adrenaline junkie…okay that sounded stupid, even to myself, but you get my point. Opening it up, I found many papers and files. I took them, planning to go over them later.
Pulling out everything portable – some CD like disks included - into my black sack I had attached to my belt, I thought to myself…something tells me Luke will enjoy seeing what's on those disks…I shut the safe once it was cleared out.
Hooking the black sack to my side with its carabiner in place attached to me, I leave out of his former place – mirror at my side - as if I was never there. But not before shoving the glass and crap back over the area where the safe resided first - as I left out the way I came in which with a mirror not that easy. The security was making their rounds…I must have slipped by earlier during a shift change.
Ass was standing right next to my exit too…I cursed mildly before doing what I always did…made it up as I went along. Grabbing some change from my pocket, I dodged into a corner before flicking the dime at irregular speed at the side of his head. He turned sharply before investigating the source, taking him past me. I blurred towards the exit, mirror in hand.
I was out the exit door and down the first flight before I heard the subtle click of the door shutting again. Security guard would have no clue. Not wanting to risk dinging the mirror, I carefully made my way down the rest of the flights before taking the exit to the car garage and taking that to the streets. Making it back to the car, I lifted the seats in the back to make room for the mirror.
After making sure it wouldn't get bumped around, I got in, put the sack into the passenger seat and rode home. I found one of our exit-slash-entrances into TC. Making sure I hadn't been seen or followed, I brought the car back to its resting spot. Black sack back with me and mirror now out of the car, I walked for all of five seconds before my prenatal instincts kicked in and had me nearly lashing out at Mole.
Only his scaly face kept me from breaking his nose. How I managed to do all that without losing the grip on the mirror was one for the ages. "How'd the trip go?" he asked calmly, un-fazed by my action. Though you could tell he was slightly stunned. But he was one of the few people around here that knew of my pregnancy, so he could probably overlook it as me just reacting.
"Well, I found out that White's men are freaking ruthless. I went to Logan's place to find it's trashed beyond repair. I doubt even Luke would have been able to salvage any computers parts. They were mostly all bullet-ridden. Glass was caking the ground like cheap frosting on nice cake. It was pretty bad." I explained. "But hey, no shortage of folks then and now that weren't looking to ice his ass." Or save it depending on who it was. Guy did have a lot of norm's working for him.
Mole grinned around his cigar. I'm beginning to wonder if they aren't just simply attached to him at the lip – so to speak - "So this prized piece going to get us pennies or dimes?" he asked, taking a puff looking at the mirror I was hauling with me. I was about to say something when he grabbed the mirror from me. At the curious look, he answered in a flat voice, "Don't need your man bitchin' to me bout 'letting' his baby momma lug around a mirror the size of a window." I smiled.
"Even if you are strong enough to carry it." I smiled more. Seeing the smoke still, I remembered wanting to ask him to quit smoking around me. But since he was actually making the effort to pull away when he let out the puff of second-hand death, and at least try to blow it in a different direction from me, I decidedly put it on the back burner…for now…that and he did take the mirror to try and help me out.
"More like nickels if I play my cards right." Now the scent was starting to linger its way over to me and the back burner became front and center now. It is a woman's prerogative to change her mind, right? Waving a hand in front of me to fan away the smoke, I wrinkled my nose, "Mole, you're gonna have to knock it out with those around me. At least let it go dead or something. You can always relight it later." He grunted and rolled his eyes, which kind of pissed me off.
"Mole I'm serious! I don't want any risks with this baby." I do want him/her to be healthy. Not only that, I wanted this baby to grow up free. But that's beside the point.
"Fine. But only when you're around. Can't have everyone asking me to stop smoking. I'd sooner date your crap ass of an ex. I do have an image to maintain." He mused, walking back with me. I smiled at my line of thinking here. To be able to smoke for life for free whom would he date…I wonder? "Okay…question for you." He looks over and down to me, "What?" he inquires.
"Logan or Deck…smoking for life for FREE which one would you date?" his eyes widened in knowledge of what I was asking. If he had to, to be able to smoke for life who would he date. "Your fu…" his voice started to die out…
Then a smirk crossed his lips, "You're good." Letting the cigar go out, for now, he said after a careful thought, "Deck." I was surprised and he answered my look of shock, "Logan, for all intended purposes, was decent in the beginning. But he was as cracked up as he thought he was. I have a feeling had you two stuck it out together he would have tried to command and treat us like his own personal transgenic and transhuman army against the 'evils' of Seattle."
Didn't I just think 'evils' just a little while ago? "You think?" I ask, wondering if that would have been the case…I was blind on a lot of things when it came to him. "Yup. No doubt, and you, you're better than being that normal's bitch. I think you would have been and I think he would have used us all till we did that…" he started to snap his fingers in hopes it would help him remember, "Oh yeah we would have eventually went 'mutiny' on your asses." So casual…but so very true.
It's what Zack and our unit technically did back in '09, only we jumped ship. "Maybe, but that's then. And this is now. I have a dealer to call about this. Till then, I have a meeting coming up. This could mean our future, so I need everyone to be on their best behavior while we're out. This is not just for us but for everyone here." Mole nodded in understanding. We may not have been the best of friends coming into this, but we're on decent terms now.
Walking into HQ, I immediately went to Luke, "How's the search for antiquities going?" I asked him. He typed away, bringing up several different pictures of the items online. I watched him type away I should have been stunned by how much faster his typing was than Logan's but honestly…I wasn't. I realized I had been doing a lot of comparison to him the last few days. I think it's because of the mirror that we now have in our possession…which reminds me…
Flipping out my cell, I dial Rita's number, "This is my personal line so unless you're a devastatingly handsome man, I'm hanging up." she croaked out. I blanched before responding, "Its Max, Alec's…" damn it – Alec what am I to you on the outside? You're Girlfriend? Mate? Wife? Fuck! What? "Girlfriend." I tried to resist letting it come out as a question. "Ohhh….yes. He and Joshua both talk about you." You could tell she was smiling into the phone.
"You okay? Your voice sounds off?" I inquired, didn't need a friend on the outside sick when we needed her, "Late winter cold." She explained, "Sorry to hear that. I may have an antique mirror you might be interested in." I like to get to the point, "Ohhh?" she sounded intrigued. "Yeah. It's in excellent condition." I looked to where Mole placed it…in my office…and went inside. "An American, neo classic, late 1800's gold leaf detailed mirror." I explained.
Hearing some minor shuffling in the background, I suspected she was righting herself, "Are you sure? To have something from that era within my gallery…" I think she was stunned, "I gather you're interested." I smile out, "When can you bring it in? For authentication purposes." She asked, voice still rough but excitement filling it. "When do you want to see it?" I asked.
"How does in an hour sound? I can be at 'The Nylon Gallery' then." I have to go back out… "Okay. See you then." I flipped my phone shut without thought as I headed back to the car, motioning Mole to follow me with the mirror. On my way, I let the files and disks from Logan's safe fall out onto Luke's desktop, "See what you can find out in there. It's all Logan's." he looked up at me, "Sure thing Max." he was already popping a disk into the computer. "Happy hunting." I remark as I leave HQ.
Getting back in the car with the mirror safely in the backseat, thanks to Mole's help, I left for Rita's gallery and arrive just under an hour later. The last two blocks were by foot with one minor stop to avoid a sector cop since this was more of a high rise area. Didn't want to take the chance of said sector cops patrolling the area. Slipping through the back door, I run into the assistant there. Didn't Alec say his name was… "Enzo, correct?" he nods wearily. "I have an appointment with Rita." I affirm to him.
Looking at my apparel, he nearly looks down his snooty nose at me which made me bristle in defense. I set the mirror down and glared at him. "Don't even go there. I work too hard to care about what I look like on a business run. Rita!" I heighten my voice so she can see me from my position. She had been showing some art to a customer when I called her over so I felt kind of bad….kind of. This was important business, "Oh it's okay Enzo. You must be Max."
She waves Enzo off, who sniffs at me and turns away. What-the-fuck-ever! I'd love to show up here one time for an 'art event' or whatever the hell they are, decked all out in style then shoving es cargots up his nose!
I ignore his haughty attitude as Rita approaches and shakes my hand. I answer her question in my usual way, "Yeah I am." After giving a firm handshake, I nod toward one of the paintings displayed prominently in the art gallery, "Good to see Joshua #1 is out here. I had thought it went into your private collection after he took number #2 back?" I asked her as she walked me back her to her office. "I'd love to but, alas…I miss Joshua #2…" she looked down.
Got an idea… "What do you say after we do the appraisal, we talk about you getting number #2 back?" she perked up, "Well that would be fantastic. My office." She shows me her door. Walking in, I see several easy places a safe could be. Not here…not to a good friend…sometimes my inner cat burglar came out when it wasn't needed. "So let's see the mirror you told me about." She gestures to uncover the large object.
Pulling the cover from it she takes a moment to examine its state, "Mint condition as described." She remarks looking at it more closely. "It's just been hanging on a wall for well over two and a half years so there's no chance of any degrading factors." I promise her. She looks it over, amazed. Going to her drawer she puts a set of gloves on her hands to examine the wood used.
"Truly wonderful." She left it for all of a few moments to take a picture and upload it online, "I need to verify a few things about the piece. Standard procedure." I nodded understanding. "As long as all the markings from the original designer and not a copy are in place, and the date is current to the designer's work, we'll be in business." She took a few minutes to read what appeared on her screen.
All smiles were all that were left. It made me feel happy. "How did you procure such a fascinating item?" she asked looking for the markings on the mirror. "Let's just say it was owed to me and leave it at that." Short, clean, to the point. "Very well." she pulls out a magnifying eye piece to examine the markings further and confirm them with the ones other galleries stated it would have.
After nearly ten minutes of examining the wood, the markings even the glass used, she finishes, "Truly beautiful. I'm surprised this wasn't first considered for the black market." She inquires, "Black market dealers tend to destroy the value of certain items, as well as the items themselves, if not properly taken care of. I didn't want to take that risk." Not to mention better deal in the gallery than on the black market. There's only so much that can go for an inflated price.
"I'll give you $2,500 for it." I was stunned. That was a grand more than what the black market would have offered. "I'll take it." I answer her. She shies away for a second, "What about Joshua number #2?" I see where this is heading, "I'll make you a deal." I offered. My usual deals were with hawking over cars, then taken to garages for stripping, or to black market dealers myself with items procured…but that was before I had managed to use one of Alec's "genuine" contacts.
"Both of them for…" I round off a figure in my head, "9,500." She purses her lips for a second, "Deal." She puts her hand out to shake on it. I want to say something about her taking the deal for so much but then again…we're getting this money for so little as well…I'll just keep my mouth shut on this one. "Oh by the way, congratulations." She smiles out.
Alec told her? "It's the last thing Alec mentioned about you. He already sounds like a proud father-to-be. Can't wait for his little one or ones to be born." I smiled with her for a minute…little ones…? It didn't occur to me till now that we might end up with twins. I mean, after all, we are essentially the product of being twinned or cloned off ourselves. I can see that as a possibility… "You know, Alec got that same silent feel to him when I said 'little ones' over the phone." I smiled more nervously now.
"We haven't talked much about the possibility of more than one. Didn't even think about it till now." wow… "Well how's this. As an early baby gift, I'll throw in an extra few into your 'pile'." She used quotations as she smiled. "How does an even ten grand sound?" I gasped slightly at the increase in price before hugging the lady, shocking her, "Thank you so much!" releasing her she rights herself up same as myself.
"I figure its only fitting. He did mention you're working on a few projects to get Terminal City up and running into a more appropriate atmosphere for the kids in there." I agreed there, "Yeah we're working hard recently to turn around several of the buildings and make them not just better for us, but profitable for Seattle as well…at least that's the goal if things really turn around with the deputy mayor." Still had to go see him at the end of this week.
She nodded her head, "You make sure those kids of yours get a proper education, it is after all the most important thing." Once again, we were both on the same mind tracks, "So I'll bring the painting to you by, say…Wednesday afternoon?" She looked confused, "What's wrong?" I asked, "Why not just bring it tomorrow?" she asked.
"Our pictures are still out there in sector cop circulation. We can still get arrested just for being what we are unless we're with an official." She nods her head, then mutters under her breath, "Capitalist pigs…" I giggle at her remark. She looks to me, realizing I've heard her remark, "Sorry I just-" I put my hand up, "Relax I feel the same way. If anything, your version was a lot more…tamed…than mine would have been." She smiles before I leave on a high note with her.
As good of an idea as it would be to do it now, I don't have the gas for the car. It'd have to wait till Wednesday no matter what. Arriving in the garage of TC, I left for my shared apartment. "Hey honey I'm home!" I call out. I smile at the inanity of my statement. It's what normal couples do and we're definitely NOT normal. His head poked out of our bedroom with the book in his hands.
"Hey Maxie! I've been reading this passage…" he comes up to me with the book he bought me as I put my backpack on the couch. As I took the book to see the passage, I heard the contents fall out of the backpack. Then I saw Alec's eyes, slowly narrowing at the sight of what I was carrying, "What's that?" he asked, picking up the large sum of cash I got from Rita. It was the full payment as she did trust us to give her the painting that Wednesday.
"The cash from Rita for a mirror." I answer, ignoring the look on his face in favor of reading the book. Plus I was really hoping he would ignore the cash as well. "Nice amount. What'd you sell to her to get this?" he asks in genuine curiosity. I sighed, "A mirror from Fogle Towers. Penthouse floor." I answered him…my voice did not just drop slightly in guilt when I said that. "You mean Logan's old place." he confirms.
His hand and presumably his eyes left the wad of cash and pulled my own eyes up to meet his, "Max. What's wrong?" He didn't seem angered, and that's when my head snapped up the rest of the way…and why the hell does it matter? "Nothing's wrong. I was in and out, easy. No big." I answered with a careless shrug. Don't know why I felt as if it would matter anyways, its not like Alec has an inferiority complex regarding Logan…more like the other way around.
"Was White watching the place?" he asked. Knowing he was worried about White more than Logan made me realize I had been thinking foolishly that he would be upset. See? There was nothing to worry over… "No, but I still took precautions which reminds me…" I start to walk away from him to the couch with my book.
"Logan's place was beyond busted up." I felt for Logan, especially since his last recorded hack at the time was about us…again…didn't find that out till a little while later on that one. Didn't realize that White had torn it down the way he had. "Looked like Jam Pony did after we had our run in with the Familiar bitches." I told him, looking at the small pregnancy passage.
"White's FBI-CIA-NSA guys or his no-pain-no-gain freaks?" he inquired, following me to sit on the couch. I folded my feet beneath me only to have Alec pull them back out and pull them onto his lap. It had been a while since we'd been able to just sit back and relax like this. It felt good and knowing it was going to be more sporadic as time went on due to the problems we had ahead of us…
He pulled the zipper of my riding boots down and then pulled them off, one at a time, letting them clunk on the floor. He had a brief moment of struggle when I playfully crunched up my feet to prevent the boot from coming off. His look of 'ha, ha funny' had me releasing my feet allowing the boots to come off, "Read the passage." He says conversationally. Focusing on the passage and grateful that he didn't say anything more about the money, I grabbed the book and started to read.
"During the second month of pregnancy your child will begin to develop internal organs as well as other major parts of the body." both of our eyes flew to my still flat stomach, "All that's going on in there?" Alec inquired. He sounded half way between a fascinated and frightened child. After all, this was new territory to the both of us. Looking back into the book I continue on, "The spinal column and brain will develop as well." I remark looking back down.
"The baby's eyes and ears will start to form though sight and hearing won't come until later on during the pregnancy." I stopped, seeing the passage written there and not by Alec…must have been from Gem. She was helping him with this, "Side note: due to the enhancements of X5's the baby can already start to hear and see sporadic things but there's no focus on being able to understand it later on." huh…I look to Alec.
"So our kid can hear things it just doesn't understand what it means." He iterates looking to me, "Like a dream you have…you can remember and see it clearly in the dream but when you wake up, you don't remember the numbers or the people…"I point out. Not unless they're chasing you, trying to hurt you… "I remember my dreams…" Alec huffed. I return my look to him, "It's kind of hard to forget ANY fantasy turned dream about you." I roll my eyes but can't help but laugh at him.
"I was referring to regular dreams. Not those influenced by sex." He 'ahh's' before without thought starts rubbing my sock covered feet. I'm so stunned by it that I can't even protest the action. All I can think is…my socks are two days old and thanks to my hardly ever washed boots they probably reek too. But the massage feels so good…my inner pregnant cat was purring in pleasure…but my feet probably stink…my inner pregnant girlie girl who doesn't want the treatment to stop says.
How is a pregnant X5 female who's enjoying this un-known, but very pleasant treatment, supposed to react to this? And he's still going at it; getting deeper into the job the longer he's at it. Making me want to lose my train of thought. "This can't be helping…" he says without thought and before I can react, strips away my socks. They fly in random directions as I sit up in shock. His reaction is that of confusion.
"What? Massaging through socks could only deter in the pain relief department right?" he answers. "I…your…I…you…." He looks at my obvious gapping goldfish face as I resume my back to the couch and he resumes his massage. After two minutes of feeling the glorious massage I ask him, "What possessed you to give me the massage? NOT that I'm complaining." I assure him. He looks thrown for a moment, "I…ah…well I worry…" He finally managed to get out.
My brow raised up, "Worry accomplishes nothing." I mocked out, "Maybe…still doesn't stop me from worrying about the woman that I love…" his hand reaches over to caress the side of my face. My inner cat purrs in familiar pleasure forgetting all about the foot massage. "Careful, your mate might get jealous." I tease out. He smiles before reaching over, abandoning my feet and climbing over me, "Well then…" he kisses me frivolously over my face.
"Better not let her find out." his tease back has me giggling before he pulls himself up, caressing the other side of my face. He says in a serious tone, "Teasing aside, I love you Max. More than anything. Our child is proof of that." He trails his hand down to touch my stomach where our child rests and forms. "More than proof Alec." I admonish. He smiles, "So what did Rita say?" he rests his head against my own.
She must have called afterwards… "She said that if we get her Joshua number #2 by Wednesday we can get ten grand from her. She threw in a little extra as a congrats for our baby." He acknowledged it for what it was before lifting himself off of me. I frowned, "Where are you going?" I asked, missing his warmth and comfort. Slipping his jean jacket on, he then threw his leather on over it, "Over to Joshua's old place. I can go pick it up and take it over to the gallery." He answered grabbing his boots.
My frown shifted slightly, "Okay I can get-" I went to pick up the cash when he grabbed it, "No you stay here. It's still cold out there and you've been out long enough." I blanched at the insinuated order…I don't take orders… "Alec I've been in worse weather situations than this." I point out, "And we're you pregnant then?" he pointedly asked. I narrowed my eyes, "You know the answer." I scowled.
Walking forward, he kissed me briefly on the lips before smiling at me, "I'll see you in a few hours. Love you." He walks out before I can respond, "Love you too." I reply to the air. Ten minutes later, after a few minutes of self-loathing, I get a call, "Max, that deputy guy's on the phone!" Luke blurted out. I rushed to HQ not bothering to reply back over the phone. Blurring to HQ, I bypassed Dix and Mole as I slipped through my office door and picked up my phone.
"Deputy Mayor Gamble, wonderful to hear from you. I trust you've reviewed the peace treaty we have?" I stated, my training preventing me from sounding even remotely out of breath. "Oh yes I have. I was actually thinking to speed the meeting up to tomorrow actually. I have a few 'adjustments' I'd like to make." I tried not to think any negative thoughts, "What kind of 'adjustments'?" I ask suspiciously… please don't let it be the projects or our citizenships… "How about we discuss it in person?" he answered.
"Tomorrow at noon?" I asked him, "Sounds good. I'll see you and your second then." I nod even though he couldn't see it, "See you then." I hang up and put my face in my hands, hoping that this is a good thing and not a negative…too much negativity in the world man…Scetchy's words rang through my mind. Leaving my office, I call Alec, "Hey Max." He answered.
"Hey… Gamble moved the meeting up to tomorrow." I told him, "Any reason why?" he asked, a hint of worry in his tone, "Said he had some 'adjustments' to make over the treaty." I answered walking back to our apartment, "I'm going to review the treaty myself while you're out. I'll see what we can…negotiate to change on…if Gamble is thinking to do just that." He grunted something that sounded like 'okay'. 'Everything okay?' I heard Rita's voice ask in the background.
I refrained from letting the vein in my neck pulse in negative response to my animal instincts ticking at me from hearing another female with my man, my mate… "See you when you get home." I hang up before he can respond, though I also did that so he couldn't hear the obscenity I had for him. "Ass…" I mutter out…first I can't go with him to pick up the painting and now this…
Going back to my office, I grab up my papers for the treaty before I leave again, "Dix how's that list of antiquities going?" I asked on my way out. "Oh great Max. I think in a few hours, we can have a list of selected items that scum bags have to procure." I smile, "You mean, you can have a list? That's great! This is your project Dix and we thank you for all your hard work." I make sure he knows credit for his work goes to him and not to someone who came in at the last minute.
He smiled in thanks before I bounced out and back to the apartment. Shutting the door, I went to our bedroom and got out a new notepad. My phone buzzes. Who would be calling now? I wonder as I check the display. "Hey Cece what's up?" I answer as I got comfortable on the bed and spread out the papers for easy reading. "Heard you were going over some extra crucial paperwork tonight. I got something that might help out, if you want. Mind if I come on over?" she asked.
"Sure. See you in a few." Five minutes later she knocked before I let her in, "Thought you might need this. It might come in handy." She smiled handing me a used Aspire notebook. "So Alec told me the paper work was going to be a bit more tense than usual." I guess she was trying to be conversational about it. "I think he said it so we wouldn't keep bugging you so much." she tried to laugh it off.
"Yeah…nice by the way." I thanked her, "Power cord?" I asked, she hands it over, "You okay? The muscle in your neck twitched when I mentioned Alec." I hadn't even noticed I did that.
"I'm fine, just worried over this treaty is all. I don't want this next meeting to backfire on us. And now Gamble's talking about 'adjustments'…" I realized that I wasn't angered at Alec; no I was really just over thinking the treaty and getting stressed over it.
Once Gamble had made me aware of possible adjustments" I started to worry. If I keep this up, I may have a mini-freak-out. "So, wanna give me a hand?" I asked, hoping she may have a different input than myself.
If I had another perspective, then it would help out to come up with more ideas and challenge me in coming up with alternatives. Twenty minutes later, we had already tackled a few ideas to make alternatives for, "So, since we can't exactly give Gamble votes as a way of exchange, then what can we give him?" I asked her. She was crossed-legged on the bed, same as myself.
Pen to her lips, she replies, "We still can, that'll just depend on whether or not he becomes the new mayor." I look up to her, "I mean, think about it Max. He's going to be handling all of the mayor's deal's, so if Mayor Preston doesn't get any better, we'll just have to look at him as the next official new mayor. So votes could still be used if he wants to run for election later…just not anytime soon." I realize her point.
"Okay so…so far we've got, us getting citizenship, more scrilla to build the buildings inside TC, which in turn gives them the bonus of making some money off of us for the city as well." we had that down, "We'll get immunity for being who and what we are and we can provide Gamble with members of staff. I think Toki could be helpful on that front." She agreed. Toki was an X5 'Brain' of the Japanese variety. She was quite the character to have around.
"If we could implement him on the city council as a helpful aid…I mean we'll have our seat still…I hope…but with her there…" things can improve for the betterment. "You think he'd go for it?" Cece asks. "I hope he does. Toki could be useful to them and is very useful to us all." I didn't call on her as often as I should have, but when push came to shove, she could help out.
The only real reason why we didn't get the chance to have her in meetings or missions was because as soon as we made TC official, she wanted to bunk out and have her own place. Figuring that since she never had media exposure, she didn't have to worry bout it, not to mention that like 'Brain', she was designed to be forgettable. It was probably why I kept forgetting to ask her for help too.
Maybe she messed with my head just a little. She had her own little place a few sectors over. Sure, she still came by…whenever she felt like it…but if we could work a deal with her to be in the office and help out Gamble, do her little talk and then disappear when needed, we could possibly have another angle to work with Gamble as well.
"We could also talk them into giving us regular jobs. I know I could get used to having my old job back." I found I actually missed Jam Pony during certain moments of the day…simpler times back then I guess… "Me too…even if I was only there for a little while." She sighed. "What about what they'd get from us?" Cece asked. Pen to my own lips, I take a moment before responding, "I'll think of something in a minute, moving on…." I skip to the next item on the list.
Hearing the door creak open, both of our response systems has us looking up to see Alec walking in, smirking at the both of us as he leaned a shoulder against the door jam. "I had a dream that started out like this one time…" he stated somewhat humorously.
I gave him a deadpan look, "Alec!" I snapped, his face went to mine in surprise, but I cracked a smile back at him, "You're confusing porn with reality." I smiled sickeningly sweet. Cece laughed at the comment, "My only porn these days occur right there." He pointed at the bed. Cece jumped off quickly. I chuckled at her reaction. "Oh my God… Seriously? You've been sitting on this bed for over an hour, and you're just now jumping off?" I asked blatantly.
"I hadn't thought of you and Alec having sex on the bed till just now." Now she was making "eww" and nasty faces as she grabbed up her jacket, "I'll head out…" she started for the door, making it to where Alec was, she turned back to me and asked really quick, "Just for future knowledge…" she did a quick sweep of the hall to the room, "What would be safe to sit on in here?" Alec smirked, unable to hide his pride at the many different places and surfaces we had taken each other against or on.
"You might wanna just bring a jacket with you from now on…" she crinkled her face, "Unbelievable." Alec's smirk only widened. I remarked, "Like you and Daniel are any different." She looks to me.
"At least we keep it to the bedroom. Although he did try one time on the bathroom floor, but it was too cold and hard…" my eyes fell on that one, "Okay onto a different subject. Later Cece and thanks for the laptop." I pick it up in a show of gratitude. "Any time, see you two." I watched Alec unload his wallet, cell, the gun he kept on his person, his jacket, and lastly his boots. He didn't even bother to toe them off. He sat down as I pulled some of the papers out of his way, "How'd it go?" I asked him.
Throwing his backpack on the bed, I reached over and unzipped to reveal the cash in there. One nice thing about being mated with the one you love, there was no need to worry about getting into that person's things, especially if your kind of already a snoop, like me…sorta. Everything was an open book to the other. "Nice. This should be enough to get the bakery and help the nursery get up and running."
He gazes at me as I praise his efforts, "It's a decent start, but we still need more. That list any better from the last time?" I glance back at the papers in front of me, "We'll always need more, but we've got a start, and that's still a good thing." seeing his shoulder shrug I ask him, "You okay?" this better not be a 'Heathcliff' moment. "Yeah I'm fine. Just been a long day." As he shucked his shirt to the ground he briefly kissed me before going to the bathroom.
Shaking my head, I grab his jackets to put up as he would do with my own when I zeroed in on a small glistening from his shirts collar. Picking it up I instantly smell the perfume on it and see the smudge of lip gloss. I feel slight fear hit me as I try and reign in my emotions, "You have a nice time at the gallery?" I couldn't keep the bite from my voice as I walked into the bathroom with the shirt in my hands. He looks at it and rolls his eyes, "You mean the drunk bitch that hung on me the whole time?"
I arched my brow, "Look I went in, gave Rita the painting one of her clients had apparently walked in 'tipsy' and as soon as she heard the word 'agent' leave Rita's mouth, she was all over me." he looked thoroughly annoyed with the events that had happened. "I wanted to throw her off of me, but apparently, she was the wife of a very powerful client of Rita's." he looked more upset by the second.
"You okay?" I asked, all anger evaporating. I didn't realize how angry I really was till it left me. Stupid hormones. I felt like they ruled my life at different intervals. "I don't like having another woman's scent on me but yours…" he looked off for a second, "In fact…let's take care of that right now!" he rushes me to the hallway, lips on mine as his hands are frantic over my body.
I'm definitely not complaining as I wrap my arms around his neck and jump up slightly as he reaches down to pick me up. Wrapping my legs around his waist, we head to the bedroom where he deposits me on the bed. I start to feel his hypnotic suckling when he slows down to a stop.
"What's wrong?" I moan out. He picks up one of the papers that Cece and I had been working on earlier, "You're going to agree to make public appearances with Gamble?" I noticed the skepticism on his face. "Yeah, I figure we can help 'promote' each other and our causes. At least in theory." He sighs, "What if-" I press my lips to his to silence him, "Can we not do this now? I want to make love to my mate." Normally, that would distract him, but not this time.
"Do you think this whole treaty thing is really gonna work?" he looked to him seeing his slight doubt. I took his head in my hands, "Hey look at me." his gaze penetrated my own, "We'll make this all work out. We always do. Sides…" I run the pad of my thumb over his lower lip. "With us working together with the help from our close friends and family, we can do anything we set our minds to. Believe me I've had my skepticism too." He nods in agreement.
"But in the end we've always pulled through. Hell we've made a lot of progress thus far. There aren't as many protestors out in front, Gamble is negotiating with us. He could have said 'screw you I'll just rely on everyone else's votes, but he didn't. He wants progress, just the same as we do. Maybe by the time the baby's born we'll be free citizens…" he smiles briefly, "I personally don't care. Cause at the end of the day our baby will be free. Just like Eve." I nod seeing his logic.
I pull his head in for a kiss. For some reason the taste of his lips always makes my own taste buds ignite. "You're right…but I think you know as well as I do the others would like the citizenship." I giggle into his hair. He smiles against my skin as I inhale his scent. His aroma relaxes me as we both take comfort in each other's presence. He shuts down the laptop, moves it over onto the night table, then leans back on the bed as we both settle on top of our sheets.
My body aches to have him touch me, but I get the feeling that he's too tired from work today to even try anything. I curl up next to him letting my body at least have the comfort of him next to me at night.
Morning came all too soon as I woke up without Alec with me again. Today was the day of the meeting and we had all of two hours to be there. I looked around for my phone which was in serious need of being recharged. Putting it on the charger (and cursing myself for forgetting to do it last night), I ran to HQ – after quickly changing my clothes to ones that were at least clean– to seek out my mate.
To hear that he was in our make-shift gym had me curious. I went there knowing we had only a tiny bit of time to get prepped before we had this meeting. The one thing that was always consistent with our make-shift gym was that when you got within ten feet of it, your transgenic or transhuman sense of smell could detect the smell of sweat coming from within. It wasn't odor-heavy, but it was cause enough for there to be a, what Mole called a "Lysol" crew.
Finding him already sweaty with only a set of sweatpants on had my hormones rising and my need for sex was damn near as bad as heat. But my focus wasn't on every guy in the room as my heats used to do to me. No, instead it was on Alec…ALL on Alec. His tight muscles were making me so hot. Fanning myself didn't do much as all it did was bring the issue of my hormonal need to the forefront. I could smell testosterone and estrogen from other men and women in the large space.
It only clouded Alec's which was probably a decently good thing since it prevented me – the so called "Leader of Transgenics and Transhumans alike" – to blur across the gym floor and in a very literal sense, JUMP my mate, and ride him on the floor – audience or not – but there were to many other scents for my own need to cloud my head to that point of embarrassment.
But I did need Alec to stop working out, training – what the fuck ever – so that we could get ready to go, "Alec!" I bellowed out. My voice carrying over the other men and women in the room catching Alec's extensive hearing, "We've got a meeting in under two hours, we need to get ready!" I figured it'd be better for me to remain where I was so that I didn't react to my hormones and jump him. I know I'd end up giving the other occupants an eye full.
He rolled his eyes, made one last fist snap at his opponent before walking over to me. I couldn't help but start to feel slightly wet at seeing him walking towards me, stride confident, muscles defined, sweat glistening, if anything he looked like he'd been doing this a bit more lately. I wonder why? It was his expression that started to kill off my morning "horny buzz", "Was it really necessary to yell at me in front of the entire gym quad?" he bit out.
I threw my hip out intending on getting a favorable reaction, his eyes moved for all of a second before they returned back to mine, "Well I figured it would have been better than me coming in, jumping you, and riding that fine ass of yours into the mat, with an audience to boot." His eyebrow rose, "Excuse me?" he asked not sure he heard me correctly. "You heard me I was…" I looked around noticed no one was close enough to hear me, "Am still horny enough to do that."
He finally started to see what I was meaning as he grabbed me around the waist. His intent clear, "And what makes you think I'd mind you jumping me?" I pointed out, "You wouldn't mind me riding you while others gawked at seeing my goods?" he opened his mouth a few times before the words, "I would have found a closet…or something." it was weak, "Alec…" I toyed with his lips against my fingers.
One arm was wrapped around his neck keeping him close to me while my other was curled on his chest and playing against his lips, brushing ever so slightly. I dipped my finger into his mouth not caring at the moment that we might have been watched, "Let me guarantee you when I say, you…" he looks to me, an expression of 'huh?' and 'Why'd you stop…?' etched across his face.
I smiled, "Wouldn't have had a chance of getting me to stop for a moment of getting your pants off…in fact…" I'm so totally blaming the pregnancy for my aptly, rapidly changing hormone levels. Somehow during the first portion of the conversation I had kept them at bay, but now that Alec was snug against my body… 'IT' was having other plans…like the fastest way to get him out of those sweatpants and inside of me. I looked around briefly noticing a few turned heads but otherwise nothing.
I pulled him into a hallway, and kept pulling him none to gently till I hit a wall, spun him around and pushed him against it. Lips claiming his own, I didn't care that we weren't secured behind closed doors which was my initial reason for yelling previously. It's just, I felt like we haven't hadn't had sex in just over two months now and I was horny as hell for my mate.
His hands didn't help the matters either when they pulled me closer, his now trying to dominate my own. But I wasn't having it, I was horny and I wanted to fuck…NOW. I was pulling him from his pants when a loud, "GET A ROOM!" was heard.
Mole…scaly ass mother…. "Min-" I was ready to yell out at him for interrupting when Alec's voice of reason broke the spell and had me deflating, "Max he's right. We're in the middle of the hallway. And I might add, we get a lot of traffic through here. We can't just christen every place we're at." I look at him bewildered. "This coming from a man that's had sex in god knows what places!" I stated stunned.
He raised his hands up in defense but I didn't give him a chance, "And you're telling ME…!" He kisses me in a quick succession to shut me up, "I didn't say we couldn't I just said not HERE. There are little supply closets around you know." Hearing his voice of reason I backtrack, "Okay, lets go." I was fully prepared to look for the nearest closet within our vicinity when he grasped my hands, "Didn't you come get me for something else?" he questions.
Damn…the meeting…I did come to find him for that to…why did he have t be the voice of reason here? I didn't want there to be a voice of reason, not now. Maybe this meeting'll tame down my hormone levels since my mate's taken up being the logical one here…my hormones officially hate me right now. I wonder if it'll backfire later on. "Fine. Get your ass ready. We have a meeting to get to."
I walked away, feeling stung by my mate's tentative rejection (i.e. being the voice of reason). It feels like it even if it really wasn't one. First, he's not there when I wake up in the morning. Then, he gets angered when I yell for him – even if it was for a good reason – then he tells ME we can't have sex… Granted we were in a hallway and he did suggest a closet before he reminded me that I did come to get him for completely different reasons.
I couldn't help it, my hormone level went from horny as hell to pissed as hell in two seconds flat. It was why I had walked extra fast, hoping I wasn't making it obvious that I was avoiding him. 'Cause in truth, I was. My hormones were out of whack, they either wanted to jump his bones and ride him like the alpha male he is – audience or not – or scream at him…audience or not…the fun little tricks my baby is wreaking on my body's hormone level functions.
As soon as I hit the apartment, I stripped and went to take a cold shower, hoping to calm down the raging hormones.
Not seeing any more towels – unless you count the half assed one that was about a ruler's length wide and about twoish feet long a towel – I grabbed the makeshift one – just described – as my only means of getting dry as I walked out of the bathroom and into my mate. Seeing his eyes look me up and down in clear lust for all of a few seconds before he shut it out. He rushed into the bathroom himself muttering something about "too fucking sweaty" and that he needed a cold shower.
I couldn't help but yell back at him, "You wouldn't need it if you just gave in for a little while! I could have made it worth your while!" I then slammed the bedroom door on his voice yelling out, "There wasn't any ti-" the shower lasted about fifteen minutes. He stepped out of the bathroom with a towel around his hip…must have grabbed it from the hamper we had…I didn't particularly grab old towels but I guess as long as it wasn't too old, guys didn't seem to mind. He looked completely scrumptious, and I hated him at that moment.
It wasn't fair that all he had to do was walk across a room to look like sex on legs and I had to work for it. Hell, he could walk in the room with a suit he just threw on, hair uncombed and spiky, and everyone would be eating out of his hands. As for me, I have to curl my hair just a tad, put on a little eye shadow and gloss for a nice clean effect without looking like I attacked my make-up kit…had I had one.
It was at all due to the fact that I was still slightly horny and he killed off his own drive in the cold shower. Nothing to do with that. Note of sarcasm…I was dressed to the nines in a business suit I had spared from my old side job working as Logan's partner during our little one-sided "Quid Pro Quo"… nice the way that turned out. Once again, sarcasm noted, right?
"You look nice." He commented before walking into the bedroom and proceeded in getting dressed himself. I had just applied the last of my lip gloss giving it a small shine. I pressed my lips together to spread it when I saw his reflection in the small mirror we had in the bedroom.
As good as it was seeing him drop his towel on the floor and start getting dressed in his suit (that, incidentally was never splattered with blood), I walked away to avoid getting even more horny for him all over again. He spares me a glance that I briefly see in the mirror, but I ignore it in favor of keeping my body in control. Well at least it's only with him I'm hot for, not other men. At least that was one plus to this pregnancy bit.
Now if only he would let go for a bit and make love - fuck – screw – oh hell, at this point I didn't care how it was done as long as it got done! And for whatever so-called logical "shouldn't do it" reason, he was avoiding the contact like that with me. "Let's take our bikes." I try to refrain from letting my hormonal emotions further cloud what is needed to be done, "Well take the car." He orders.
I look to him, "What's wrong with our bikes?" he bites back, "How does that make us look?" I look at him with a "what the hell are you talking about?" look. "Riding motorcycles to a meeting with the Deputy Mayor and convincing him to take us seriously?" I gave him a deadpan look, "People can be plenty serious and ride bikes. We all are not just 'babes and bitches'." I retort.
But Alec stood his ground, explaining patiently, "We know this…" he indicates between him and myself, "But we don't know how his mind works. Let him get used to us as people before we throw in the 'we love to ride bikes' part." He started to walk out with a briefcase. I looked at it strangely, "Where'd you get that?" I asked walking towards the car with him.
"Found it under a bunch of crap and dust in one of the other buildings. When the norms left TC, they didn't just leave behind a mess, they left behind a partial 'gold mine of crap'…some useless to others, but we can usually find a use for most anything…this was one of them. After a good cleaning, it didn't turn out half bad!" I sighed as I got in the car and he turned the ignition on, "Let's get this bitch over with." I grumbled in defeat.
We got there 20 minutes early which we used to go over together the peace treaty we had set up with the previous mayor. When it came down to it Alec and I are luckily able to put aside our petty…or not so petty…quibbles to focus on the more…at this particular point in time…tasks needed to be done. Seeing a black 2015 Buick coming up, I had already figured out it was Gamble. "Let the games begin." Alec mumbled out before Gamble could leave the vehicle.
Got that right…