Trusted Opposition
Summary: Alec can always trust Max to do the exact opposite of anything he suggests. Sometimes, it's useful, and sometimes it's deadly… MA.
Well, I was trying to write the normal Christmas one-shot, and instead this little 12 chapter baby finally came to life. Ya just never know what the muse is going to throw at ya. So let's get started. On we go!
Chapter One
Max paused, and looked both ways, trying to decide the best route to the meeting point with a possible supplier. She wasn't happy with the setup, and didn't want them to see her coming.
"Which way, Max?" Alec asked. He pointed to the left and raised an eyebrow.
Max was already annoyed with him, so she purposely turned to the right and began to march down the opposite alley. She heard a low chuckle as Alec followed close behind. For some reason, his easy acquiescence grated on her, and she quickened her pace.
"I know we're in a hurry and all," he said, "but could you slow down some? I did get shot yesterday."
Max actually quickened her pace. "You're the one who said you were up for this. If you can't keep pace, you can go back to TC and I'll handle it."
"Did I say I wasn't up for it?" Alec muttered. "Not like we can afford to lose you. You get picked up and where does that leave the rest of us?"
Max could hear him continuing to trudge behind her, grumbling the whole time.
"We get some shady message that this random guy heard we were in the market for gas, and you drag me out at the crack of dawn." He scuffed his feet. "You might do fine without sleep, but some of us like to rest once in a while, especially when we've been shot. Again."
"I thought you were supposed to be fast. Is it my fault you got caught?"
"Yes," he bit out, "since I was being stealthy, while someone else with a lot less training, was making enough noise to wake the dead."
"I did not-"
"You knocked over the crates and set off the alarm, Max. The guards would've had to be deaf, blind and even dumber than they were to miss us."
Max gritted her teeth. He wasn't exactly wrong, but he's wasn't right either. They'd been running and she'd been forced to duck for cover when a guard made an unexpected change to his rounds. It was just their horrible luck that the walls were made from corrugated aluminum and when she knocked over the crate, the thing had made enough noise to alert the entire sector. Alec had been hit in the hail of gunfire that had followed. The round had cut a furrow across his side and she was just grateful it hadn't been worse.
The blood… She'd been so afraid that he…
"Whatever," Max snapped. "Just keep up. I don't like this whole set-up and I want to get there early to check it out."
Alec mumbled something else under his breath, but he kept up and she turned down another alley. The early hour meant there wasn't as much traffic out, but it also meant there weren't as many people around to keep the sector police distracted, so they were keeping to the shadows.
They'd been looking for a contact who could keep them in gasoline, but so far they hadn't had any luck. TC's fleet of motorcycles and dirt bikes ran on a lot less fuel than cars, but gas still cost money, and even at that it wasn't always easy to come by.
Max stopped as they reached the other end of the alley. She peeked out, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary, just another collection of dirty, decaying buildings that used to be businesses and apartments.
"This should be it," she said quietly.
Alec moved to her side so he could take a look as well. He put his hand on her hip as he leaned out, but Max didn't think he even realized what he was doing. He wasn't as touch-starved as she was.
"No good place for cover," he observed.
Max nodded. "We're supposed to meet up by the payphone."
"We have a code word or a secret handshake or something to know we're meeting the right guy?"
Max shot him a glare. "Could you please take this seriously?"
Alec glared right back. "Trust me, Max. I really don't want another fiasco like yesterday, so I kinda want to know what we're looking for."
Max didn't say anything else, just pointed. "Do you see that? On the side of the phone?" It wasn't a booth, just one of the old phone stands.
Alec squinted, although she knew it wasn't necessary. His eyesight was as good as hers. "Looks like a letter stuck to the side."
Max gave the entire area a good look just to make sure nothing was out of the ordinary, then walked across the street to the phone. She grabbed the envelope in a smooth motion to minimize drawing any attention, and came back to stand beside Alec.
"It has your name on it." Alec shifted uneasily.
"Yeah." Max frowned. It was a regular envelope, not even sealed. She flipped open the flap, and pulled out a single slip of paper and a picture.
Max glanced at the picture and handed it to Alec. He grimaced at the image of a man lying on a wood floor, but he was mostly unrecognizable because of the red, blistered skin. Chemical burns, maybe? "That had to hurt." He looked up. "What does the note say?"
Max looked down again at the single line of carefully printed script. "You can thank me later." She handed it to him as well. He looked at it for a few seconds, not liking the implications any better than she did.
Alec sighed. "One thing's for sure… We're not getting our gas."
More tomorrow...