Thanks for all the lovely reviews! I'm always happy and amazed to find there are people who still love Max and Alec.
Now where were we? Alec's acting angry and weird, quit his Jam Pony job, and mentioned missing the old days. On we go!
Chapter Two
Max went back to work the next day. As uneasy as she was, she didn't feel like losing any more money because Alec was off his rocker. She told Normal Alec had to leave town to see a specialist. He'd taken too many hits in the ring and he'd quit because he was too embarrassed to admit it. She could practically see Normal mentally working on a Get Well Soon gift basket for him.
Max had briefly considered hanging around Alec's apartment and following him to see what kind of trouble he got into, but she'd given up on that idea as well. Since he'd been missing so much work lately, she figured he'd been doing whatever he was doing already. Following him wasn't going to change anything. He'd seemed put together and all, and she wasn't his keeper. If he didn't want to work for Jam Pony, that was his business. It wasn't like she'd been pleased when he showed up in the first place. He could go be moody and weird somewhere else.
After work, Max headed for Joshua's. He had to have noticed Alec's behavior as well, and she wanted to make sure he was handling it all right. For some bizarre reason Alec and Joshua had become buddies. Max didn't get it, but then she didn't have to. The two were friends and it would hurt Joshua to have Alec ditch him like he had his other friends.
Maybe, she thought, Joshua might have some ideas. He seemed to understand Alec better than she did in some ways. He'd got how troubled Alec was during the Berrisford mess and how much he was hiding long before Max understood the real extent of it.
Max stashed her bike outside Josh's house and headed inside through the back, making quick work of the locks meant to keep the average losers out. "Hey, Big Fella," she called. "You home?"
Joshua appeared around the corner. "Hey, Little Fella," he said, standing close enough that he blocked her way and Max had to draw up short. "Max visit early." He seemed a bit out of breath and… twitchy.
"Yeah," Max said. "I wanted to talk to you."
"Little Fella have problem?" he asked worriedly.
"Maybe we should sit down?" He was still blocking the way and fidgeting. Joshua was horrible at playing it cool.
"Joshua… painting. Need space," he said, obviously coming up with a terrible excuse. "Muse go away when crowded."
Max raised an eyebrow. "Muse?"
Max had smelled the combination of Alec and blood as soon as she walked through the door. The amazing thing was that these two knew she was a Transgenic and still tried to hide the truth from her.
"I know he's here," she said. Max crossed her arms and Joshua immediately looked contrite. He hated lying to her, and she was going to blame this little episode all on Alec.
"Might as well let her through, Josh," Alec called from the other room. It was almost a growl. It didn't sound like his normal smartass self.
Joshua hung his head and let Max pass. She walked around him into the front living room where Alec was lying on the sofa, bleeding from what looked like a gunshot wound to his leg.
"Got shot, huh?"
"Missed your calling. You should've been a detective."
His breathing was slow, and he was bleeding badly. Joshua had shoved some towels beneath the leg to keep him from ruining the couch, but with the amount of blood, she wouldn't be surprised if he'd nicked an artery.
Max sighed and crossed the room. Joshua must have been keeping pressure on the leg before he'd gone to intercept her, and Alec appeared to be too weak to do it himself.
"What happened?"
"I parked on the sidewalk. The Sector Police are cracking down," he said, a bit breathless. He groaned when she knelt beside him and put some heavy pressure on his leg wound.
Max took a better look at him. He had scratches on his face and hands, and his knuckles were bruised. He'd definitely been in a fight. She wondered if he'd gone back to the ring to make a few bucks. He always liked to go on and on with Normal about the good old days of Monty Cora. That didn't explain the gunshot wound though.
"What happened?" she asked again. "And don't be an ass about it."
Alec shrugged. "Working on something," he said, definitely sticking with vague. "Didn't work out."
"So they shot you?"
Alec glared at her. "Funnily enough, not everybody is as drawn to my charm as you are."
Max pressed more tightly to the bullet wound and Alec yelped.
"Seriously?" he bit out.
Something was still wrong. He was always hiding behind his normal carefree façade, but it was more than that. Something was going on and he didn't want her knowing about it.
"You running scams again?" she asked.
"Something like that." Alec pursed his lips. "I… Look, I…"
He trailed off and Max was sure he'd been about to tell her the truth. Something had stopped him though.
"M'tired," he said. "Just… just lemme rest and the leg'll heal up."
Max rolled her eyes. Whatever was going on, he wasn't going to fess up just yet.
Joshua was standing a few feet away, shifting nervously back and forth. "Alec ok?"
"He will be, Big Fella. You have any first aid stuff?"
"Have a kit," he said. "Not much though."
"That's ok. Gonna need some scissors too. We're gonna have to cut his jeans off." Joshua nodded and hurried away to find his supplies.
"Paid a lot for these jeans," Alec muttered, and Max could tell he was well on his way to unconscious.
"Yeah, well, it's that or manhandle you while we work your jeans off over the bullet wound."
Alec sighed. "Fine. Whatever."
"Seriously, Alec. How did this happen? Maybe I can help," she tried.
"Butt out, Max," he said, warning in his tone. He turned his face slightly away from her, and his voice softened as he added, "Just… trying something new."
"Seems to be working out for you," she replied dryly.
"It's a work in progress."
Joshua returned with the first aid kit and the scissors. Like most of Manticore's children, she'd long since gotten over any shyness. She'd spent a large part of her childhood standing naked with a group of her peers in front of doctors who couldn't care less that they were living, breathing, thinking beings. She hadn't even known to be embarrassed it was such a way of life. Max had learned to be practical then, and she still was. Stripping off a man's pants to patch up a bullet wound was just business as usual.
Max took the scissors from Joshua and quickly cut the leg of Alec's jeans away from ankle to thigh. When he didn't gripe again about his jeans, Max looked up and saw that Alec had passed out, which she supposed was a blessing.
Max peeled back the blood-soaked denim, and got her first good look at the wound. The bullet had cut through the meat of his thigh. She could see an entry and exit, which at least meant she didn't have to go digging around. The amount of blood, though, still had her worried. The bullet had to have hit something important.
Joshua popped open the ancient plastic box that had been around since before the Pulse. There wasn't much more than a few band-aids, some antiseptic, and some gauze. Thankfully, as long as they could keep Alec from bleeding out, his body would repair the rest.
Max grabbed some of the gauze from the kit and mercilessly jammed it into the wounds. Alec didn't manage more than a moan, so Max went about wrapping the leg to keep some good pressure until his body got itself in gear.
"Did he say anything to you, Big Fella?" she asked.
"No." Joshua shook his head, clearly agitated. "Alec came in, said not to call you."
"Do you have any idea what he'd been up to?"
Again Joshua shook his head. "Won't talk. Alec acting strange. Not laughing. Not watching boob tube."
That was news. Alec loved watching TV. She was starting to wonder if this was something from the bad old days that had popped up again, but she just didn't know. Logan hadn't mentioned anything weird going on, but then again, they hadn't exactly been talking since she'd told him she and Alec were an item.
"He hasn't said anything at all?"
"Alec said not to worry. Working on plan. Alec said won't be here as much. Busy for a while."
"No details, though, huh?"
"Alec have secret." Joshua huffed. "Stupid."
"He mention Manticore?"
"Father?"
"Anything. He was talking about missing the old days and using his skills."
"Make no sense." Joshua cocked his head. "Not like him. Alec doesn't care about skills. Likes food, money. Likes to sit and watch boob tube."
"He's kept things from us before, but… yeah. This feels different from the other stuff he was hiding," she replied, turning back to Alec. She looked at the wound again and could tell the bleeding was beginning to slow. She'd need to change the bandages again before too long, but his body was already working on it. It had just needed some assistance to plug the holes.
"Different, how?"
"I… I told you about Ben," she whispered. Joshua remained silent, as always patient and kinder than she deserved. "He was Alec's twin, and he… he went nuts. He was dangerous. But you know all that." She hadn't told him everything, just enough to let him know why Alec had needed a place to hide from the cops until they could figure it out, but she guessed Alec would have filled in the rest of the details. "Ben missed Manticore. He said everything made sense there and he wanted to go back. Now Alec's acting all angry and weird and talking about missing Manticore…"
"Alec not like Ben," Joshua said.
Max certainly hoped so.
Max sat in the kitchen with Joshua. Once they were sure the bleeding had stopped, he'd made macaroni and demanded that she come and eat. Alec had still looked pale, but he'd been resting so she'd finally agreed.
Joshua smacked his lips, clearly enjoying his food, while Max munched quietly, all the while listening for any movement in the front room. She heard the occasional breathing change or shift in his sleep, but he was still down for the count. She wouldn't put it past Alec to bolt as soon as he woke up. She'd considered tying him up to keep him from going anywhere, but had decided against it. He was hurt and she'd be able to catch him if he tried it.
"What are we gonna do, Big Fella?"
"Don't know," he said glumly, and Max was sorry for ruining his mac and cheese buzz. "Alec have to figure out for himself."
"I don't know if that's a good idea," she said. "If something's really wrong, I don't know what he could do. You didn't see him with Berrisford. He was going to let that guy shoot him, Joshua."
Joshua growled low in his throat. "Joshua talk to him. Joshua get truth."
"I don't know, Big Fella. Every time I try, he just blows me off." She pointed toward the living room. "Something's up, and he's already managed to get himself shot. What if he's trying to get himself killed or… or who knows?"
"Alec confused."
Max sighed. "Yeah."
"Father… Manticore… all of us messed up."
"Yeah, we are, but it's gonna get him dead. I just… I don't want him to hurt anyone else either."
"Alec not like that." He shrugged. "Not kill Joshua when Alec had bomb in his head."
Max frowned. She didn't like to think how close Alec had come to hurting one of her friends. Still, he'd chosen not to kill Joshua, and he'd proven himself over and over since. Yeah, she'd accused him of being capable of murdering Ben's victims before she knew what was what, but she'd been blindsided when the cops told Alec's "lawyer" about the charges. Given time to think, she knew Alec wasn't like that. At least, she thought so. This whole thing had her questioning what she thought she knew.
Max heard some shuffling in the living room. Joshua cocked his head and she knew he'd heard it too. "Should we take him some?" she asked. "He's an idiot, but he'll need food."
"Mac and cheese make everyone feel better."
Max smiled and picked up her plate. Joshua followed her, grabbing the pot with the rest of the macaroni for good measure.
They needn't have bothered. Alec was gone.
Max crossed her arms in annoyance. "I knew I should have tied him up."
More soon… Some actual answers tomorrow, maybe… (feel free to insert an evil laugh here)