Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for my Muse-Alec, who actually owns me, grrg
Stuck
By Jillybean
Stuck In A Lift
"I so did not!"
Logan jumped as Max's voice echoed throughout his apartment, Asha shared a grimace with him and the two headed away from the computers to find Max and Alec standing on opposite sides of the living area, screaming at each other.
"Oh yeah? How come my lunch just happened to gravitate towards your locker?"
"Why would I steal your lunch?"
"Because you can't cook, plus I stole stuff from Logan's."
"I'm gonna get you!" Max leapt at him, and the two toppled over.
"Logan, why did you get two kittens?" Asha demanded, heading back to their work.
Logan sighed and approached them, Max sprung away as if she had been electrocuted. Alec grinned up at him, lying flat out on the wooden floor.
"Don't you two have work to go to?" Logan asked.
"She stole my lunch!" Alec moaned.
"I did not!" Max cried back.
"Did so!" Alec jumped up and hid behind Logan. Max glowered.
"Have you two been on the drink again?" Asha asked as she came in again. "Get the hint, we need peace."
"Yeah, c'mon Maxie, get the hint." Alec teased, dancing out of her reach.
"Both of you!" Asha yelled. "Out!"
"It was so your fault." Max muttered as they were sent out of the apartment.
"I wasn't the one who started wrestling."
"You were participating pretty much." Max snapped back.
"You were just looking for a chance to feel me - ouch! Max that hurt!"
"Good."
They smiled at the little old lady who was waiting for the lift. She smiled, a little warily, back at them.
"See, you're scaring the nice old lady." Alec leaned closer to her ear to whisper, below the range of human hearing.
"Oh yeah? Well you're the one who's gonna get an elbow in the stomach if you don't leave me alone." Max muttered back. Alec stepped away respectfully, his hands in the air, a grin on his face.
Thankfully, the lift doors opened.
Inside were two people, a business man and a young woman. They smiled courteously at Alec and Max, but the transgenics were used to smiles, they were pretty on their own, together they never failed to attract attention.
Max rolled her eyes as she noticed the young woman eyeing Alec up. Alec leaned closer to her.
"Jealous?" He asked softly. She glared at him. He grinned at the young woman and winked roguishly. The woman seemed flustered. Max contented herself with a mental image of Alec hanging from the space needle, his eyes popping out of his head.
Screeeeeccchhhhhh Bang
"What was that!?" The old lady demanded as the lift scraped to a halt and the lights went out. Max felt herself tense, White? She turned to Alec and he gestured upwards at the trap door on the ceiling. the young woman stumbled into Max.
"Ow! Watch it!" She snapped. Alec put a hand on her shoulder.
"They can't see." He reminded her.
"What's happening?" The old lady moaned. The young woman suddenly flicked on the torch that was in the emergency cabinet. Alec raised an eyebrow in Max's direction. "Good for a mere mortal." He muttered.
"The phone's dead." The business man said. Max frowned.
"I don't think-"
"Neither do I, not his style." Alec agreed. He looked upwards. "We could still get out."
"You will not rip up this lift!" Squealed the old woman. "I forbid it!"
"There you go." Max said to him. Alec sighed and sat down heavily.
"Can't be long." He whispered to himself.
"All right, when I went on holiday I brought with me a pair of sunglasses, an umbrella, a laptop, a cell phone, a beeper, a little black dress, a raincoat, a map, a convertible, a denim jacket, a pair of heels, a pair of wellies, a business suit and a - girl." Alec finished lamely. Max sighed at him.
"Okay, when I went on holiday I brought with me a pair of sunglasses, an umbrella, a laptop, a cell phone, a beeper, a little black dress, a raincoat, a map, a convertible, a denim jacket, a pair of heels, a pair of wellies, a business suit, a girl and a guy." She turned to the young woman, it was her turn next.
"How do you guys remember all that?" She asked. They were all sitting on the floor, playing a memory game, and wondering how many hours it had been. "I can barely remember what I chose."
"Sunglasses, black dress and a pair of heels." Max and Alec said wearily together. "Woah - you guys are so cool!" She cried. Max and Alec shared a look.
"How much longer do you think?" The business man asked, his head in his hands.
"God, it can't be any longer." Alec said.
"Yeah - it's been like hours." The young woman said nervously.
"Two and a half." Max and Alec said together.
"Oh you guys are so cool! Do you think I'll find a soul mate like you two did?" The young woman asked happily. Max and Alec glared.
"Wait - do you hear that?" Alec asked, leaping to his feet. Max was on her feet too.
"Yes!" She cried gloriously. "Oh they're coming to get us!"
"There is a God!" Alec cried, shutting his eyes in relief.
The top trap door of the lift slid off.
"Hey - did you guys not know about this cover?" The workman asked.
Max sighed as she came into the foyer of the Towers. Asha and Logan had met them at the top and marveled at the speed at which they had rushed down the stairs with.
"Max, are you okay?" Alec asked. Max looked at him, shaking now.
"Fine." She snapped. "Why do you ask?"
"You're shaking, you get seizures I bet."
"Even if I d-did. Doesn't matter." Max said, resolutely putting her denim jacket on as they left. Alec stopped her.
"Seizures can be dangerous Maxie."
"Don't call me that!" Max snapped at him. She folded her arms in front of her chest, clenching her jaw to keep herself from shaking.
"Where do you get your tryptophan?" Alec asked. Max glared at him. "Listen Maxie, you need to get some, either at home or from your dealer, and I'm coming with."
"Why?"
"Because my alternative is facing Normal and explaining where I've been for the past three hours."
Max sighed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stuck In A Cupboard.
Max sighed as she tapped on the door of her pharmacist. Alec was watching the grey street, huddled in his jacket. Max had no idea why he was following her, not that she wasn't glad, she wouldn't have made it this far without his goading comments to drive her on. But at least he had forgotten about her stealing his lunch.
"Is anyone home?" Alec asked, his breath fogging in the chilly air. Max sighed and peered in the glass, shaking. suddenly the door opened, sending both X5's flying backwards in fright.
"Hello dear?" An elderly asian woman asked. Max and Alec stared at her, their hands on their chests.
"These mortals are getting too good." Alec muttered as he followed Max in.
"What can I get for you dear?" The old woman asked, shuffling around the dingy shop. Max folded her arms to keep herself from shaking too much.
"Tryptophan." Alec said, subtly watching Max fight the shivers.
"Oh certainly dear, Tryptophan . . . now where did I have that last?" The old woman asked herself. Alec glanced down at Max, she shrugged, still shaking.
"Think please." Alec said, he turned a full blown smile at the old woman and she simpered. "Oh - I really can't think. Perhaps in that cupboard over there? The old woman headed towards a small dark shelved cupboard full of various bottles.
"Oh it's that box!" She cried happily. "Can you get that down for me dear?" She asked, stepping away. Max headed for the box/
"Oh no - you'll need a big strong man to help you there." The asian woman said as Max reached for the box. Grinning Alec stepped into the cupboard.
"You heard the lady Max." He grinned and then they were plunged in darkness with an eerie metallic screech.
"What was that!?" Max demanded, her voice sounding panicked.
"Now - I'm sure that we can get out." Alec said from the door, he pushed against it and got nowhere. A dangling light cord hit his head and he pulled it. The tiny cupboard flooded with yellow electrical light.
"It's okay Max." Alec began, starting to hyperventilate. "It's okay, we're not stuck in a cupboard. We're just about to get out." He turned back to the door and started to pound it.
"Please! Freaky old lady! Let us out!" He bellowed.
"Alec?" Max asked timorously.
"What!?" Alec snapped.
"There's no tryptophan in this box."
"Oh . . . . fiddle sticks."
"Max?"
"Yeah?"
"You okay?"
"Not much has changed in five minutes Alec."
"Right." .
.
.
.
"Max?"
"Yeah?"
"You still okay?"
"Yup."
"Right." .
.
.
.
"Alec?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you okay?"
"Fine."
"Right." .
.
.
.
"Max?"
"If you ask me how I'm doing I will rip every small bit of skin off your body and feed it to Joshua on a plate."
"Right. So how you doing?"
They sat on the floor, Alec leaning against the metal reinforced door.
"I have a cramp in my left leg." Max said, shaking constantly now.
"Ah - I got a crick in my neck."
"Well I'm getting a head ache."
"Already there, and I have a really sore hand from leaning on it."
"I feel light headed, oxygen deprivation."
"If you have oxygen deprivation then surely so do I?" Alec said, looking at her.
"Not necessarily, maybe they designed you better."
"Um - Max, you're the one with no junk DNA."
"Just because every gene is coded to do something doesn't mean that some of them are messed up. These seizures for example, going into Heat for another."
"What's your cycle like?"
"None of your b-b-business." Max shifted slightly as she was wracked by a particularly violent set of shakes. Alec watched, concerned, but knowing she wouldn't let him get close. They heard a soft noise outside, like scraping metal.
"Could it?" Alec asked, jumping up. Max tried but failed to stand up. The door opened and they could smell a burning smell.
The old woman looked at them worriedly.
"Sorry, but my husband doesn't let me run the shop, I had to lock you in when I saw him coming." The old lady said. Alec turned and pulled Max up.
"C'mon." He said.
"Gerrof!" She batted his hand away and promply fell as he let go. Alec caught her again and helped her out.
"Ssssh - here's your tryptophan, quiet!" The old woman demanded suddenly there was an angry yell from upstairs. The woman flinched.
"That's my husband."
"He's coming down the stairs." Alec said, hearing the footsteps.
"Aggie! The dinner burnt!" A male voice came from the stair well. The old woman ushered them to a door.
"Hide in the car! Quick! Please don't let him catch you!" She said. Alec helped Max into the garage and into the car.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stuck In A Car
Max fell onto the back seat of the car and Alec came in, trying to help her up.
"I'm just gonna check on the car Aggie!" The male voice called. Max and Alec's eyes met. Alec rolled his eyes and they lay on the car seat, Alec on top.
There was an ominous clicking noise and the little plastic locks went down. Alec and Max froze.
"Left the car unlocked, good thing it's alarmed and locked now huh?" The man went back inside and the sound of the garage door locking was heard plainly.
"Don't move." Max hissed, slowly opening the jar she held in her hands that were pressed underneath Alec.
"Max, I appreciate your feminine desires but - oooooohhh!" Alec fell onto her as she kneed him in the groin.
"Oof!" Max gasped as a sturdily built X5 landed on her.
"Max!" Alec managed to gasp.
"Motion sensor!" Max growled, indicating with her eyes the trigger for the car alarm.
"Right." Alec said, shifting slightly and wincing. Max managed to get her hand to her mouth and swallowed three tryptophan pills.
"How long has it been?" Max whispered, lifting her head a little.
"It feels like a lot longer than fifteen minutes." Alec muttered, his arms quivering under the strain of keeping off Max.
"When do you think that little old lady will come and disable the alarm?"
"If, she disables the alarm." Alec warned. Max wriggled a little.
"Max!" Alec hissed.
"What? I've got an itch on my leg."
"Would you please stop that?" Alec asked, his teeth gritted.
"Oh - sorry." Max stopped wriggling and looked around. "I think if I could move that seat I could block the motion sensor."
"Great." Alec said reverently. Max eased her arms out from under Alec and put them above her head, trying to reach the slide on the seat in front of her. Alec raised his head so that he couldn't see her. Sure she was an arrogant bitch, but she was a hot arrogant bitch and was wearing a tight t-shirt.
"Ouch."
"You okay?" Alec asked instantly.
"Fine. Ah - got it." Max slid the seat forward. She looked up at Alec. "Wanna move?"
"Let's try it." Alec eased himself off of Max. No alarms sounded. Max climbed away from him, they sat on opposite ends of the back seat, both extremely glad to get out of there. Alec turned and pulled the plastic lock up. Silently the two X5's got out and into the garage.
Max's bones clicked as she stretched. Alec turned first to the exterior door, it was locked. He went to the interior door.
It was locked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stuck In A Garage
Alec leaned his full weight against the garage's sliding door. It didn't move. It didn't even creak. Alec stepped away from it and wondered which particular God was laughing at him.
"I can't pick this lock." Max muttered, she was crouched by the door that led back into the shop. Alec looked up, the garage was a solid concrete building, unusual for post pulse Seattle.
"Alec, are you listening? Are you even trying that door?" Alec put his hands up and felt along the ceiling, trying to find a gap between wall and roof he could get out of.
"We can't break the door down if that's what you're think Alec, that old lady would be murdered."
God knew he was trying but she was a difficult woman to ignore.
"Alec-"
"Max! I am trying to concentrate!" He snapped at her. Max pouted and stalked up to him. "Listen buster, have you heard a word I've said?"
"Do you want a transcript?" Alec asked.
"Don't make me knee you in the balls again." Max growled, turning away. Alec sighed, shut his eyes and took deep calming breaths.
"Do you hear that?" Max asked.
"Hear. What?" Alec asked, his temper rising.
"That." Max said as the sound of footsteps was clearly audible to them. The footsteps were approaching them quickly.
"Hide." Alec ordered, turning to find a hiding place.
"Where!?" Max demanded. She cast around wildly. "There's nowhere!"
The door unlocked with a click.
"Aggie - I'm hearing voices in the garage!" The male yelled. Alec turned to Max.
"On three, the door." He said, she nodded and they stood in front of the door.
"Three!" Alec yelled and they charged it.
"This is just not my day." Alec groaned after he rebounded off the metal. Max lay a little away from him, holding her head.
"Bad day. Bad bad bad day." She muttered to herself. Aggie's husband came in, in his hands rested a shotgun. Max and Alec stared.
"Oh come on! What guy has a reinforced garage door and a shotgun!" Alec exclaimed. Aggie's husband stared, his eyes popping out of his fat little head. His round mouth opened and:
"Burglars! We've got burglars! Cat burglars!" He screamed. Alec sighed and slowly started to pull himself up. Max rolled away and sat up, her hand on her head.
"Don't move!" Aggie's husband leveled the loaded shotgun straight at Alec's chest. Max warily looked around her. Alec smiled benevolently.
"Listen, I've had a bad day. Don't antagonize me."
Aggie's husband prepared to fire, Alec's hand moved so fast it wasn't seen, he jerked the barrel forward and past him. The shotgun discharged, making Aggie's husband jump. Alec let loose with a violent punch and Aggie's husband was flat on the ground.
"Max. Shall we?" Alec asked, gesturing to the garage door. Max sighed and nodded, they pulled the door apart and left through it, not taking their chances that the store was alarmed too.
The streets were almost dark, Max looked around and huddled into her denim jacket, feeling the glass jar of tryptophan press against her ribs.
"Max - you won't believe this." Alec said quietly.
"What?" Max asked. Alec turned to her, a huge rip in his t-shirt across his stomach, blood staining the material.
"Oh - Alec you have to get that cleaned." Max turned to the metal which he'd cut himself on. It wasn't the cleanest garage door.
"My place is closer." Max added. "Plus I have a medical kit, do you?"
"Um . . . I have alchohol."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stuck In A Bedroom
Max opened the door to her apartment wearily, Alec followed her, hand clamped over his wound.
"Take off your t-shirt." Max ordered, praying for her voice to remain steady throughout this.
"You're just feigning concern for my well being." Alec said, but he pulled his t-shirt over his head non the less. He was a soldier, not a hormone driven male. Honest.
"First aid kit's in here." Max said, heading to her bedroom. Alec followed, hovering on the threshold.
"Max? That you?" Original Cindy called from her room, her voice strangely shaky. Max turned around in her room, pausing, Alec turned his head to see if OC was in the living room.
"Yeah it's me." Max said. "Why is something-" She was cut off by the door slamming. Alec had a brief glimpse of something lime green as he was shoved by the wood onto the floor. He yelled as his deep gash protested against the movement.
"OC! You okay?" Max demanded, rushing to the door.
"Fine. Thanks." Alec grunted. Max spared him a glare.
"Fine Max!" OC's voice came through tremulously.
"Let us out Original Cindy." Max said, in her best 'army-orders' voice.
"I can't." OC told her, a little more distantly this time.
"OC!" Max yelled. "Please!"
"You can't see my hair!" Original Cindy yelled back.
Max and Alec stared at each other.
"All right OC, let's start from the beginning." Alec said, coming to the door. Max stepped backwards, trying to put as much distance as possible between her and that finely muscled chest of his. Alec spoke calmly and reassuringly.
"What happened huh, we're friends, you can tell us."
"I spilt lime green paint on my hair, it's a mess!" Original Cindy exclaimed. Alec looked down, his facial muscles working overtime to conceal laughter. Max shot him a death glare.
"OC, it's okay. We're friends, you can let us out." Max said, keeping her voice sounding reasonable.
"No I can't!"
"We'll blindfold ourselves."
"I don't trust you!"
Alec rolled his eyes.
"Wherever she get that from?" He asked quietly. Max glared again. Alec rolled his eyes again.
"Please, OC, you don't understand, I've had a really bad day and-"
"Alec's hurt?" OC interrupted. "His t-shirt's all bloody."
Max hesitated. Alec shrugged.
"Yeah - he's hurt, he needs help."
"Your med kit's in there isn't it?" OC asked. Max and Alec cursed under their breath.
"Well - yeah-" Max began.
"Then treat 'im. Don't worry, shouldn't take more than a few hours to get this out."
Max sighed and went to the med kit.
Deep breaths. She thought to herself. Don't think about that example of masculine modesty behind you, think about the wound. The wound needs treating, that's all. Don't rise to Alec's bait.
"I have to clean it." She said, turning around with a swab. Alec grinned roguishly at her.
"Hey - I'm yours."
"Like I want you!" Damn, damn, damn. Max crouched, staring straight at the gash, not letting her eyes rove up his perfectly smooth and very silky chest. Stop it Max! Stop it!
"Um - Alec . . . ?"
"Yes?" Alec's voice sounded a little hoarse. She wondered if she was hurting him.
"You're gonna have to - uh - take off your p-pants." Max refused to look him in the eye.
"What?" Alec squeaked.
"That gash's got your hip as well, you need to drop your pants." Max said, trying to keep the smirk from her face. "I can do it for you if you don't have enough practice."
Alec gave her a look to freeze lava.
Don't think about where Max's hands are, that would be suicide. Just take deep calming breaths. Yes, deep calming breaths. Alec looked down at Max. Think of something to annoy her, something that'll stop her.
"You having fun there Max?"
Max glared.
That's good, get her mad, mad equals hot, damn you fool.
"You finished yet?" Alec asked. Max jumped up.
"Yup."
Thank you God.
"Do you think OC's finished yet?" Max asked, looking out the window at the dark night. Alec shrugged, he was lying on her bed, his hands clasped over his chest and his fingers drumming absently.
"You could call through and ask her you know."
"Takes the fun out of guessing." Max turned away from the window and looked at him. Why did he have to be shirtless?
"S'pose so." Alec continued. "Remind me why we can't break the door down?"
"Because it would violate OC's wishes." Max repeated dully.
"You and your morals." Alec said with a little sigh. Max turned to him.
"What's with you Alec?"
"What do you mean?" Alec asked, looking at her with an expression of confused innocence.
"You're so horrible! You never care about other people-"
"Excuse me? I care a lot about other people."
"You do very well hiding it." Max said bitterly, turning away. Alec leapt off the bed with surprising speed, grabbing her shoulder and shouting in her face.
"How dare you tell me I don't care about people, when I think of all the times I've-"
"You've what? Messed up my life!?" Max yelled back, angry.
"Do you think I intentionally try to annoy you? What do you think, that I wake up and say to myself 'hey! Nothing better to do - let's annoy Max!' I'm sorry but you are not my number one concern!"
"Am I interrupting something?" OC drawled, her hair hid under a black hat. She stood at the door, watching them with mirth. Alec was holding Max's shoulders and leaning down, Max had her head tilted up and she was pouting. It made for an interesting scene. Alec jerked away and Max stared at him as if he were something she'd stood on.
"Like Hell." Max snapped. Alec stormed out, picking up his t-shirt.
"Yeah - you wish." He snarled back, leaving. Five seconds later he was back, to haughtily collect his jacket.
"You stayin' for some coffee?" OC asked mischievously. Alec turned to glare at her when Max's bleeper went. Max glared at him as he tossed her his phone.
"Logan? You need both of us? Are you sure about that? Right. No - no everything's just fine."
"Peachy." Alec added, shooting daggers with his eyes.
OC watched them leave, chuckling to herself. She knew what was in store.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stuck In A Bathroom.
Logan and Asha waited for their two cat burglars to stroll in through the door. They had a perfect plan. What Max and Alec really needed was some quality time together, to work out their differences as it were. They had a perfect plan.
"This better be really good." Alec yelled as he and Max literally marched in, they were in their 'no-mess' mode. Logan and Asha looked at each other, gulping slightly.
"It's - it's in the bathroom." Asha said, swallowing past the lump in her throat.
"What is?" Max asked, angry.
"A transgenic?" Alec asked, heading for the bathroom. Max followed, glaring a hole in his back.
"Not exactly." Logan said. As soon as they stepped into the tiny bathroom the door slammed.
Max and Alec didn't even bother.
"Figures." Alec said, sitting down on the floor and making himself comfortable. Max nodded and sat on the edge of the bath.
"So - why are you locking us in here?" Max asked.
"We think you two need time to adjust to each other." Asha called through the door. Max chuckled and shook her head. Alec grinned.
"For how long?" He called back.
"Till we get back from Crash - that should be enough time." Asha said. "Don't try to break through the door- we took precautions and got Joshua to shift that big mahogany wardrobe in front of it."
"Joshua?" Max asked, surprised.
"Bye little fella." Joshua called remorsefully.
"Alec?" Max asked, after she'd done inspecting her nails.
"Yup?" Alec asked, he was going through Logan's stuff, checking out the after shave and making faces at the smell. Max knew why, to their acute senses fragrances were an assault.
"Why did you want to know about my Heat cycle?" Max asked. Alec glanced at her, he seemed a little surprised.
"Oh - that's right." He said as something clicked in his brain.
"What's right?" Max persisted.
"You escaped before we started going into Heat - heh, that was interesting. Lydecker was going spare."
"What happened?" Max asked, genuinely curious. Alec grinned at her.
"Contrary to popular belief - we were all still sleeping together at ten years of age. One of the girls tried to jump me-"
"Yeah right."
"It's true!" Alec persisted, he grinned at her. "What, you jealous?"
"Hah - I bet she just got mad at your constant stupidity."
"You know - I am a superior officer to you." Alec said, grinning dangerously. Max grinned back at him.
"I don't take orders well." She was practically purring. Alec grinned and then launched at her, the two were involved in a brief yet heated tickling match.
Max triumphed on top.
"Who's the best?" She demanded of him. He grinned up at her.
"I let you win."
"You so did not."
"Just to really make this day Logan and Asha should walk in." Alec said, still grinning. Max smiled fully.
"Let 'em." She said, leaning down and kissing him full on the lips.
It was possibly the most surprising thing that had ever happened in Alec's entire life. He wasn't arguing though, it was much more fun to just lie there and take it, no pun intended. But the day was determined not to go well. The door opened.
"Logan!" Max cried in surprise, turning (there was no room in the tiny bathroom to spring away)
"Sorry to disappoint." White drawled dangerously as ten or more red aims played on Max and Alec.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stuck In A Cage
Max came to with her limbs entangle with Alec's. Her first thought was: Oh shoot - what happened last night, but then she noticed she was in a cage. Either she and Alec had been very kinky with their clothes on or someone had captured them.
She thought back to what happened - she remembered being locked in the bathroom, Alec laughing at her, that glorious kiss and then - White. She disentangled herself from Alec's bruised body and checked for a pulse.
He was alive, and she told herself that her all encompassing relief was due to his prowess as a kisser and not the fact that she actually might like him.
"Alec." She whispered, shaking him. "Alec - wake up."
"Mmm." Alec moaned, turning his head. He had nasty bruises on his cheek. Max tried to remember how they had been captured. She remembered White's goons training guns on her. Then . . . someone had shot her, a tranquilising dart. She remembered little else apart from Alec's angry yelling. She wondered how badly he'd been beaten - X5's didn't bruise easily.
"Alec?" She asked - continuing to shake him. Her movements were making the cage swing. Alec had his hands tied behind his back, obviously they felt the male of the species presented more of a threat.
"Max - where are we?" Alec asked, catching on quickly.
"Well -" She consulted her bleeper. "It's 23:36, this day's not over yet."
"Right. Max?" Alec shifted himself so he was sitting up. "Ah my head hurts."
"You look a pretty picture." Max told him fondly. Alec grinned but the movement hurt. "Thanks. Promise me that when the clock strikes twelve this day will end."
"Promise." Max said, smiling at him.
"So why do you think they didn't kill me?" Alec asked. Max glanced at him.
"Don't talk like that." She scolded lightly.
"It's true though." Alec said. "They should have killed me."
"Maybe they're trying to torture me by making me stay near you."
"You couldn't keep your hands off me earlier."
"I was bored."
"Yuh huh? And your faithfulness to Logan went where exactly?"
"Alec- you were going through his cupboards, didn't you see what he had?"
"Uh . . . loada after shave for a guy with a permanent five o'clock shadow?"
"An open packet of extra protection. An open, in date packet of extra protection." Max said.
"So what - I'm payback?" Alec asked, he sounded a little angry.
"You're my next move."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stuck In A Warehouse
"Hope I'm not interrupting." White drawled, an unpleasant smile on his features as he walked up to them. He nodded to his sidekick who released the bottom of the cage. It was to Manticore and Lydecker's credit that both X's landed with their feet on the ground - ready to fight. White smiled at them from above, they were surrounded by soldiers and they weren't going anywhere.
"Tranquilize the female, I have some unfinished business with X5 494." White leered at Alec who still had his hands tied behind his back. "You owe me a bar-code 494."
Max glanced back at her new partner.
"I told you that was a stupid idea."
"Oh really? You weren't exactly listening when I told you my life was in danger." Alec snapped back.
"Well it's not as if I asked you to get an explosive in the back of your neck." Max retaliated, oblivious to the looks the soldiers were shooting at each other.
"Perhaps if you had taken the time to listen to me you wouldn't have had to waste your money." Alec added, managing to free himself from his bonds. White looked discomforted. Alec and Max started circling, back to back, facing outwards.
"If you hadn't tried to play with the big boys none of this would have happened." Max muttered, her hands up by her chest, ready to take the soldiers on.
"If I hadn't 'tried to play with the big boys' then White would have had no reason to keep me alive. And then we wouldn't be able to do this:"
They froze in their circling, linking arms behind each others back and kicking up so they ascended over the aims of the soldiers. Instant gunfire was let off.
Max spun in mid-air, grabbing out at the cage, it swung straight at White's platform and sent him sprawling with the impact. She dropped and elbowed backwards, hitting one soldier in the face, another came at her and she kicked him in the stomach, a sound of machine gun fire behind her assured her that Alec had gotten a gun and was making quick use of it.
The clock struck twelve and the lights went out.
"A brown out!" Someone yelled. Max could see perfectly, Alec grabbed her hand and they bolted, dodging bullets fairly easily.
Their luck was finally in, several army vehicles were outside the warehouse. Max jumped into one, revving the engine and driving away, Alec looked behind them.
"They're a coming." He half sung, checking his gun. He threw it out the window at them. Max stared and he shrugged.
"No bullets left."
Max watched the road as their truck pelted along it, they were coming to a bridge. "Alec, how good were you in the tank?" She asked, putting her foot down. Alec grinned at her.
"I excelled." He said smugly. Max grimaced.
"We'll see." She said, sending the truck flying into mid air.
It hit the water with an almighty thwack. Alec watched as the water came up and around them, he watched as it filtered in through the window he'd opened, good. Any Manticorian knew that the pressure had to be equal in the car before you could open the windows.
A hail of bullets above them thudded into the car lid, but they grew less as they descended. He tapped Max on the shoulder and indicated that now they should escape then regroup under the brudge. She nodded and they slipped out of the doors, continuing to swim downwards. As soon as Alec felt he had gone down far enough he started to swim back underneath the bridge.
When he surfaced for air the cold breeze hit him. Max came up seconds later.
He raised his hand above the water in the signal for 'Status?'. She nodded and smoothed some hair back from her face. Above them they could hear the soldiers. Alec indicated up the river, they wouldn't be looking that way. Max nodded and the dove again. This time not pausing until they were a good few miles up stream.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stuck In A . . . Bed?
Max wasn't desperate to wake up. Or even move more to that matter. In fact, she was comfy where she was. It was warm and she felt like her pillow was made for her, it contoured perfectly.
In fact - if she was so happy, why was she even contemplating getting up? Something kept nagging at her. She screwed her eyes tighter shut and buried into her pillow.
Quite suddenly her pillow moaned and rolled over.
"For God's sake, go away!" It threw an alarm clock at the nagging and the nagging had to quickly dodge it. Max sat bolt upright, clutching her sheets around her. The nagging stood, hand on hip, giving Max and evil glare.
"Boo - everyone makes mistakes." It began.
"Oh OC - shut up!" Alec rolled over again and tried to hide his head underneath a pillow. Max glanced down at him and then at herself. She remembered last night, or this morning, she wasn't quite sure, with startling clarity. There was a reason Alec attracted girls and it wasn't just his charming banter.
"Shall we talk?" OC asked, gesturing to the living room. "Your bleeper is going crazy."
Max looked around for some type of clothing that wasn't shredded but had to make do with the duvet.
"Hey!" Alec protected, curling into a foetal shape to protect his masculine pride. OC suddenly became much more interested in Max's bedroom than the living area and Max had to drag her out, while holding her covers round her like a toga.
"Shut it off." Max muttered, slamming a hand down on her beeper. OC sighed at Max, smiling a little.
"So - I hope it was worth it." She said, intending to make Max feel a little guilty. Max's face split into a grin.
"Oh yes." She said. "Definate affirmative."
"Boo - what are you gonna tell Logan, huh?" Original Cindy asked, concerned. Max sighed and looked away.
"You know - I just don't know. It's probably not a good idea to have Alec with me at the time. Probably not a good idea to have Alec and Logan meet under any circumstances."
"Uh huh. So who you with Max?" OC asked, sounding skeptical.
"Original Cindy, this was just a night of passion okay? As my prize leather jacket is testimont to. I mean - I only realised I liked Alec yesterday and-"
"So it's Logan?"
"Hell no." Max said quickly. OC grinned and held her hand up.
"I am so pleased - that boy can be naked in our house whenever he wants, think Kendra would want to see? Maybe we should take pictures-"
"No!" Max exclaimed, laughing. "Mine!"
"Uh - Max?" Alec called. "I don't have any clothes I can wear." He sounded slightly nervous. OC turned to Max.
"Oh please, just a little peek?"
"No." Max said firmly. "Think about girls, remember who you're going after." She backed into the room, OC jovially trying to follow.
"Honey - there is no one on this earth who wouldn't chance for a peek at him."
"Then I'll just have to make sure they know he's off limits." Max said pleasantly, slamming the door.
It was some time before she emerged fully dressed.
Max took a deep breath as she came into Logan's, in her hand she held a small bag of Alec's clothes which she'd stopped off to pick up. Her heart was beating so fast she could hear it. Logan smiled at her.
"Max - hey, you look . . ." He trailed off as he tried to put a finger on it. Asha came in, wearing only a short t-shirt of Logan's.
"Max- you got a glow!" Asha exclaimed. Max smiled at her.
"So do you Asha." She said, she smiled at Logan who looked a little taken aback.
"Uh . . . Asha was just here for the night . . ." He began to stammer. Asha looked offended.
"Logan - you said we'd tell her." To prove it Asha grabbed his hand and stood beside him possessively. "We're a couple Max."
Max nodded, trying to keep from laughing.
"Right. Well. There's probably something you should know about Alec and I . . ."
Later that day, as they hung around Jam Pony Max explained to OC about how Logan had reacted to the whole thing.
"So he was cool with it?" Original Cindy surmised. Max nodded.
"Yeah - I think so. We sort of realised that, we can't live our lives together and abstain from human contact. Alec and Asha are - well - they're the next step."
"I'm not true love?" Alec moaned, coming up behind her and putting arms around her waist. Sketchy raised an eyebrow in OC's direction as the two made out.
"You'll do." Max told Alec as they parted a good four minutes later. Alec grinned.
"All right people -this is not an orgy, we have work to do." Normal called as he walked swiftly past. Sketchy sighed.
"Alec, you wanna help me with these boxes Normal wants us to shift?" He asked. Alec nodded, giving Max a last kiss before heading off. OC sighed as she watched Max stare dreamily at Alec's backside.
"You have got it so bad boo."
"I see tinges of green on your face."
"That lime paint?" OC asked worriedly. "I thought I got it all out!"
Alec paused as he came to the cupboard.
No way, that day was a one off. He said to himself, but he checked behind the door just to make sure there was no old asian woman to slam it closed.
"Hey Alec, you helping me here?" Sketchy asked, lifting a box of weights and about to drop them. Alec jumped in to help.
Slam.
"Hey Alec - are we stuck in here?" Sketchy's plaintive voice asked.
Please e-mail the author of this story with your comments. jillybean@yahoo.com