Remember

Chapter 1

The figure stood to one side of the crowded street next to a wall covered with colorful graffiti, observing the two transgenics bickering at the entrance of Jampony.

Apparently, there was a debate on who should deliver a certain package. The female transgenic, complete with a frown on her face, was attempting to relieve the male transgenic of the brown paper package clutched under his arm. The male transgenic playfully sidestepped her attempts, laughing at her. The female transgenic lunged at him suddenly, and the package barely avoided capture. He held the package over his head, looking down at the smaller transgenic warily. The female transgenic, perched on her toes, tried to wrestle it from him.

They were frolicking like kittens shamelessly in the open.

The figure’s eyes narrowed, lips curled in distaste at the public display put on by the transgenics. Fists clenched, the figure turned and faded back into the crowd.

~*~*~

“Alec…” Max warned. She tried to swipe the package from him. Again, he moved, barely avoiding her hand. He grinned mischievously, holding the package over his head.

Alec studied her warily as she raised herself up on the tip of her foot, trying to gain extra height to enable her to reach the package which was so tantalizingly close. But at the same time, still unreachably far. Balancing on her toes, she tried to grab the package, carefully making sure that she was not in contact with any of Alec’s body parts. She had never liked all those touchy-feely stuff. Maybe that’s why she stayed with Logan even though they could not touch.

‘Nah, Max. You are still with him because you love him,’ the voice in her head said. She frowned. Why was she having these thoughts now? She has more important thing to focus on at this moment. She tried to stretch he arms further.

Alec was enjoying this. ‘This’ being his daily dose of high from pissing Max off anyway he could or driving her up the wall by his asinine comments. He knew that his actions were not helping their volatile friendship much, if it could even be classified as such. But he just could not resist it. Max gets riled up so easily, it’s too much to ask of him to avoid annoying her on purpose. But this time, he was not doing it deliberately.

“Come on, Max. I deserve some fun too,” he pleaded, his eyes widening in an attempt to appeal to the softer side of Max. If that exists. He held the package up higher, away from her grasp.

Max gave him an incredulous look. The fun-loving, irresponsible socialite of a transgenic was complaining of lack of fun?

“And I’m supposed to believe that fun is something that occurs so infrequently for you? Alec, you didn’t even turn up for work for the last two days! Haven’t you had enough fun?” she said, raising her eyebrows. Still on her toes, she tried to snatch at the package. Alec clucked disapprovingly, shaking his head at her.

“I was ill,” he said not too convincingly, as Max snorted disbelievingly. Then he ignored her and continued, “I get bored easily. Besides, you had your fun. You have been out here for how long? Ten years? The way I see it, I need it far more than you do. Besides, it is my package,”

“If I have to deliver my package to Sector 1, I won’t be able to make it there in time,” she complained. Then, after a moment’s deliberation, she said, “Okay… I’ll PAY you for it,” Hoping that Alec would fall for the lure of cold, hard cash. She looked at him with a hopeful expression on her face.

“Uh-uh…Not this time. No amount of money would be worth losing the only chance I have to see it. Tough, Max. You are on your own this time,” Alec said, shaking his head. What? Does she think he could be bought so easily? He snorted inwardly. Outwardly tossing Max his trademark smirk, he made a move towards his bike.

He was just going to walk away? “Hey, where are you going?” she asked of his retreating back, irritation flaring.

“What does it look like? To do my job, of course…” Alec said, throwing a backward glance at a very disgruntled Max. He grinned. Knowing that it would only serve to rile her up further, he continued with…

“…And I might just pay a visit to a certain motorshow while I am in the area,”

~*~*~

She was even more pissed off than usual today. Well, maybe it was not strictly Alec’s fault this time. But why couldn’t he swap the package with her. Why does he want to go to that motorshow anyway? It’s not like he NEEDED to go. She, on the other hand needed to get her hands on some bike parts for her baby. Those parts which she had not been able to find for months. Why can’t he understand that?

Alec? No… Stopping to think of someone else apart from himself? Max snorted. That selfish smartass of a transgenic cannot think of anything but himself, she continued ranting in her head.

As if on cue, the contrary inner voice butted in, as expected, ‘Max, you know that is not fair on him. He did come through for others and even you on occasions,’

‘Yeah, right, like when?’

‘He helped save the underwater division transgenics, for one,’ the contrary voice in her head answered.

‘That’s just because he was hoping to score with the mermaid, that sick bastard,’ the other Max exclaimed, even though she knew that the idea was ridiculous.

‘Don’t be unreasonable. You can’t seriously believe that?’ the inner voice continued in an incredulous tone.

“Whatever,” she said under her breath, knowing that she was fighting a losing battle to her inner voice. Anyway, she needed to find another package which needs to be delivered to sector 8, where the exhibition was being held, she thought as she walked into Jampony.

Sketchy has the misfortune of being in Max’s path as she barreled back into Jampony after the discussions with Alec. He flinched back involuntarily when Max suddenly stopped in front of him, hands on her hips. She was frowning deeply.

“Sketch, you got any packages going to Sector 8?” she asked impatiently.

Shaking his head, Sketchy said, “No, not me. But I think Celia over there said something about riding out to sector 8 to deliver a package…” His voice trailed as Max started walking from him, headed towards a girl who was just outside the entrance.

Max bemoaned her luck that day as she approached the girl. Of all people, it must that one girl. The girl who, in their short acquaintance, had always given her the cold-shoulder for reasons unknown to Max. The girl had started at Jampony just a couple of days ago. OC had thought she was hot and quietly hoped that she was batting for the all-girls team. Unfortunately for OC, Celia was very much more interested in the male species than the female. Sketchy, of course, had tried to flirt with her without any results, much to his disappointment. Even Normal ogled her over the top of his spectacles.

Max wondered what would Alec’s reaction be to the new girl, but she can pretty much guess what will happen if those two meet up. She has yet to see Alec practice restraint when it came to the female population. It seems to her that he is up for any female of any shape, size or form. And thanks to Manticore and their genetic tinkering, majority of the female population finds him irresistible. Max could understand why. Even for Manticore’s standard, Alec was considered exceptionally good looking.

As she caught up with the red-head, she reached out a hand to the girl’s shoulders, trying to gain her attention, “Celia!”

The voluptuous girl, dressed in figure hugging cream top and black cargo pants, turned around to face Max. Her lips curved in a fake smile which turns Max’s stomach. “Max, hi. What’s up?” she asked.

Plastering an equally fake smile on her face, Max said, “Listen, Celia, I was wondering if you would like to trade packages. I heard you are heading towards Sector 8?”

“Oh yeah. That’s right. But I am afraid I can’t do that,” Celia said, shaking her head in a motion which conveys regret, and she continued, “There’s something I need to do in sector 8,”

Max slumped visibly.

Max struggled to keep her face straight as she detected a flash of satisfaction in Celia’s grey eyes at her obvious disappointment. The bitch was going to make her beg for it? Swallowing her pride, she offered, “How about this? I deliver the package and run your errant as well?”

“Sorry, Max. I really can’t. It’s something I have to do by myself. It was sweet of you to offer, though,” Celia gave Max a sickly sweet smile.

Max gritted her teeth and nodded. She forced out a smile. “No biggie. Later,” she said, walking away from Celia.

Almost immediately, she shook all thoughts of the unpleasant encounter out of her mind. She does not have time to waste on that redhead. What she needed to do was to come up with a plan. She was beginning to feel a growing sense of desperation, the motorshow exhibition was a one day deal only and she had to get there today.

~*~*~

The wind whipped past him as Alec pedaled his way to sector 8, whistling a tune. He did not know the name of the song, but it had been stuck in his head since that morning. The package Max so desperately wanted as an excuse to go to sector 8 was strapped securely across his back.

The route he was traveling on was one the messengers chose to use normally as it was much less crowded that the main routes. Deserted actually. No one wanted to travel on a disused dirt road full of potholes - normally. However, it was easier to travel through here as he did not have to worry about knocking anyone over, considering the speed at which he was traveling.

He grinned as he caught the whirring sound of another pair of bicycle wheels not too far behind him. It must be Max, he thought. Some sucker have fallen for Max’s charms and swapped packages with her. Must be one of the guys. She’s hot and could be really charming if she put her mind to it. Manticore had made sure of that. It was a crying shame that most of the time she was such a bitch. Well, to him anyway. He wondered what was it about him that compelled her to treat him that way. She definitely treats Logan and Zack differently. Heck she even treats Normal better than the way she treats him.

‘Man, ever thought that it might be because you tried to kill her and her dog-boy friend not so long ago? As if that was not enough, you made her choose between saving you or her sex-life. Small wonder she does not have warm fuzzy feelings towards you,’ he mocked himself. Well, it no biggie, as Max would say. He has no problem with the way things stand between them. Considering that friendship was pretty scarce all his life, what Max offered was more than he could ever asked from anyone else. And he never liked to ask for anything.

There’s sex, of course. Yeah, that’s the only other thing he would ever ask from a hot female. Hot monkey sex.

Hell would freeze over the day Max agrees to that, he thought. Alec smirked. Though it would be fun to ask her, just to see her react. And boy, would she react. It possibly would be the fastest, most painful way he could imagine to get himself killed.

He grinned at himself for thinking thoughts of Max and sex in the same vein. I need to get laid, he thought as he shook his head.

He decided to slow down, to give her a chance to catch up. At least he would have some company during the exhibition. Max probably wants to grab some stuff for her Ninja while she’s there. She had been whining about her bike for the last few weeks, or was it months? So this exhibition actually came at a right time. He wondered of she was actually going to pay for the stuff, or she was just going to help herself to it.

As he heard the other bicycle approach, he braced himself for the inevitable tongue lashing from Max. No doubt she was going to berate him for not helping her when he could. He turned to glance over his shoulders.

His eyes widened in shock.

~*~*~

Chapter 2

His eyes widened in shock.

And recognition.

Alec stopped his bike at the side of the road. Now that the wind was not blowing in his ear any longer, he noticed the eerie silence which surrounded him.  The crumbling buildings all around him were the only witness to his presence in the area. Except for the girl not too far behind him. The silver bicycle she was riding slowed as she approached him, a smile on her lips.

What was she doing here, he thought as she stopped beside him. He raised his eyebrows in a wordless question to her. Unsure what to expect, he kept a safe distance away from her.

“Hello 494,” she said in greeting.

Alec inclined his head at her to return her greeting. He had not seen her since their last encounter in Manticore.

“I go by Alec now. What are you doing here?” Alec asked warily. He tried but he could not read the expression in her grey eyes. He had never been able to, he suddenly realized.

“Same as what you are doing,” she said rather unhelpfully. She hopped off her bicycle and bent over to lower it to the ground. As she straightened up gracefully, Alec could see her exposed cleavage.

Yanking his eyes away from the view she so obviously displayed on purpose, he frowned. She caught his eyes and smiled at his unease.

“What exactly does that mean?” Alec could not help the note of impatience which seeped into his voice. She made him uncomfortable. She had always done so from what he could remember. He could feel a niggling thought in his head fighting to resurface, but he could not put his finger on it. There was something he should remember about her.

“Same old 494. All that passion, all pent up in the name of Manticore. But I knew, didn’t I? I found out,” she said to him.

“I don’t know what the hell you are on about,” he snapped back, feeling even more ill at ease now.

“Now come on, Alec,” she said, sounding as if she was savouring his name as she spoke it out loud.

Alec forced himself not to shudder at the way she said his name. The niggling thought still eluded him. Damn, why can’t I remember, he thought to himself in frustration.

“Is that how you treat an old friend?” she continued, her eyes boring into his intently. That smile was still on her lips.

Alec snorted incredulously and his lips twisted, “You are seriously deluded. We were never friends. Back when I knew you, the concept of friendship did not even exist,”

“It does now that we are out here. But I agree with you. We were never mere friends. We were much more,” she purred seductively, her eyes still locked on his. She took a step towards him.

Instinctively, he backed away from her. He frowned at his own reaction, slightly embarrassed. Why did I do that? Am I afraid of her? Alec wondered in confusion. He rarely felt this feeling of fear and apprehension. This whole encounter felt wrong.

She moved closer, reaching her hands out to touch him. He jerked away, disdain displayed clear across his face. Apparently unaffected by his reaction, she laughed and reached out again.

Once she laid her hands on his face, Alec felt a strange haze clouding his mind. A small part of his mind which retained its grasp on reality suddenly realized what was wrong.

Too late, he remembered what happened the last time she got close.

~*~*~

Impatiently, Max revved her bike as she passed the sector checkpoint. The sector 8 law-enforcers let her through after she flashed her Jampony sector pass at them. She continued to head towards the building which housed the exhibition. The posters along the lampposts directed her towards a road which led to a converted warehouse.

“Please let them be there still,” she prayed under her breath. Her deliveries to Sector 1 took longer than she expected. Even with her stamina and speed, she could not have ridden there and back in time. She had decided to stop home to grab her baby. Hoping that the additional speed would be enough for her to catch the last hour of the exhibition.

No such luck.

As she pulled into the front of the building, she visibly slumped in defeat as her eyes took in the sight before her.

Too late, she sighed.

The scene of ordered chaos in front of her was the last thing she wanted to see. The exhibitors and traders were loading their display and merchandise back into their trucks; some had even pulled out of the parking bay. Several guys who were loading the vehicles noticed her presence and paused momentarily in their movements. They wolf-whistled as their eyes roved up and down her curvy leather clad form. Max rolled her eyes. Men.

One of them, a guy who looked as if he had been overindulging in body-building supplements, hollered at her, “Hey, pumpkin. Nice ride you got there, but we’ve got a better one here,”

“Yeah, you wanna come ride with us? We can show you how to have a good time,” another leered. His friends joined him in laughter.

Max gave them the finger, giving them a shark-ish smile as she did so.

“Aww, baby, that’s not nice,” the first one said in an admonishing tone as he started strutting towards her.

Another man, obviously the boss, waved his arms at them and shouted, “Get back to work. We need to get the merchandise to Canada tomorrow. Don’t know about you but I want some rest tonight before we leave this place. And I didn’t pay you to drool over girls. Or you lot don’t want your pay?” Suitably chastised, or threatened rather, they went back to loading the truck.

Max’s eyes followed them as they loaded a red Ninja into their vehicle. The shiny bike was a newer model than hers. And will undoubtedly have the parts she required to upgrade her machine.

Resigning herself to do what she has been trying to avoid, she turned her bike around and left the parking bay. I must stop doing this, she thought to herself. Even as the thought formed in her head, she could feel her body flush at adrenaline rush that always came hand-in-hand with the mere thought of a heist.

Once at a safe distance, she stashed her bike in an alley, covering it with some old, half decaying planks. She wrinkled her nose at the smell coming from the dumpster nearby as she exited the alley.

Stealthily, she crept back towards the converted warehouse.

The truck she was interested in was one of the last to leave, she noted with satisfaction. She waited until the last guy got into the front of the truck before she made her move.

As the truck started moving, she blurred towards the back, careful to keep away from the line of sight of the truck’s rearview mirrors. A graceful leap later saw her clinging precariously at the back door. Crossing her fingers in hope that no one has decided to sit at the back, she opened the latch, letting herself into the rear compartment.

Her pupils dilated as her eyes adjusted to the darkness within. No one was inside. Rigging the latch so that she would not be accidentally locked in, she let out the breath she was holding.

A huge grin spread across her face as she spotted what she was looking for.

The shiny red Ninja was displayed in all its full glory right in front of her.

It was the most beautiful thing she ever saw.

~*~*~

Alec blinked as he forced his eyes open.

Stilling, his heart pounded as he looked around the unfamiliar room, wondering where the hell he was. It was obviously a motel room, considering the furnishing. A cheap one, at it. He looked out of the window; the sun was just setting.

He sat up, noticing his nakedness for the first time. There was also a familiar stinging feeling on his back. He frowned. What did he do? And who did he do it with? Maybe he got into a fight, he thought. With all those scratches? Fight with what? A cat? He shook his head, attempting to clear the hazy web surrounding his mind.

Throwing the covers off himself, his eyes were drawn to the sticky residue at the top of his thighs, evidence of the activity or activities, which he obviously took part in. Activities which took place not too long ago, considering the state of the ‘evidence’.

His frown deepening, Alec looked around for clues. The sheets were rumpled. The bedside lamp was knocked over. He sniffed the air, detecting a very faint smell only a female could produce. Thank goodness it was a female, he thought with a wry bark of laughter. Other than that, he did not find anything out of the ordinary. Well, nothing out of the ordinary apart from the fact that he woke up in a strange motel room with no recollection of how he got there. Strange.

Continuing his inspection of the room, he saw his clothes folded in a neat pile on a chair and the rucksack he was carrying on the floor. Getting off the bed, he snatched the rucksack off the floor. As he did so, the clipboard fell out. Reading through the last couple of entries, he remembered vaguely that he was supposed to be delivering some packages to Sector 8. Obviously the packages reached their destination, he thought as he noted the signatures on the clipboard.

He went towards the door which he assumed was the bathroom, grabbing his clothes on the way.

Standing in the shower, face tilted towards the spray of water, he felt better as the fog surrounding him seemed to lift. Methodically washing himself, he rapidly finished his shower.  He dried himself and pulled on his clothes. He desperately wanted to get out of this room to get some fresh air. Maybe the reception downstairs could shed some light on this, he hoped.

Unfortunately, his discreet interrogation of the old man at the desk downstairs came up with blanks. The old man could not remember who was with him when he checked in.

As he pedaled back to Jampony to drop off his clipboard, his thoughts returned to the strange incident. However drunk he was, he had always managed to remember what he did. To say that this incident had him stumped was a glaring understatement.

A moment later, he caught the whirring sound of another pair of bicycle wheels not too far behind him. Turning back, he saw another messenger from another company.

-deja-vu-

Hadn’t this happened earlier? His face twisted in concentration.  He was convinced that earlier that day, the very same thing happened.

Think, Alec. THINK…the whirring sound of bicycle wheels…

He remembered thinking, ‘It must be Max’.

Then it hit him. Chunks of his memories came rushing back in flashes, like a slow motion slide show in his head.

Whirring bicycle wheels.

Deserted road.

Asking a female for hot monkey sex.

Max and sex.

Him needing to get laid.

Him slowing down to give a chance for Max to catch up.

Him waking up alone in a motel room, evidence of sex all over him.

Shocked, he momentarily lost control of his bike and swerved, almost knocking into the other cyclist. The irate cyclist shouted indignantly at him, “Hey! Watch where you are going!”

Too engrossed in his own thoughts, Alec did not even notice as the cyclist muttered under his breath and cycled away. He slid off his bike slowly. A sheen of perspiration dotted his forehead as he concentrated hard on remembering. WHY COULDN’T HE REMEMBER?

Frustrated, he threw his rucksack down. He just could not remember. But all the bits he could remember and the evidence on him pointed to one thing. He slapped both hands to his face and groaned.

Him.

Max.

Sex.

He’s a dead man.

~*~*~

Chapter 3

Him.

Max.

Sex.

He’s a dead man.

He was somewhat surprised that he was still standing there intact. Well, not really intact, he thought as his mind wandered to the scratches on his back.

She must have been in heat, Alec thought. Because there was no way in hell she would have let him touch her otherwise. As he thought about the empty room he had woken up to, Alec realized that Max must have gotten up and freaked out at what they did.

And what does Max normally do when she freaks?

She runs, what else!

He got back on his bike, thinking that he should find Max soon. They needed to talk.

~*~*~

It was almost 5am when Max finally arrived home. She could not stop a grin from spreading across her face when she recalled the night she had. The red Ninja had provided all the spares she required for her baby and more. She had discarded the outer shell as it was too obvious and dismantled the bike, keeping some parts and reinstalling some parts on her own bike. Her baby was now as powerful as the latest model.

She had raced all the way back here, the power in her newly revamped bike rumbling beneath her as she twisted the throttle with glee.

Max killed the engine on her bike as she reached the front of the building which housed the apartment she and Original Cindy was sharing. She pushed her bike into the hoist and waited for it to rise to her floor. As the hoist stopped, she pushed her bike out into the hallway.

She wished she could share her night with Original Cindy. However, she did not know what Original Cindy’s take would be on the fact that her friend had brought back thousands of dollars of stolen bike parts. As good a friend as Original Cindy was, there were some things that Max did not feel comfortable sharing with her. Stealing was one of those things.

She entered her dark apartment silently, hoping that she would not wake her friend up. Noiselessly, she placed her bike at its customary spot and moved towards the kitchenette.

A sudden sound made her eyes dart towards the couch, as she reflexively crouched in readiness for a fight.

“I see that some of the Manticore training still survived after so many years,” a voice drawled from the shadows, near the couch.

Alec.

Max sighed in relief. It had been a long night and she was not up for any heavy-duty fighting. Relaxing now that she knew it was only Alec, she asked as she gave him a curious look, “What are you doing lurking there? Where’s Original Cindy?”

Alec emerged out of the shadows, shrugging as he answered, “Don’t know. She wasn’t here when I got here,”

Only half listening to Alec, she thought to herself, I need to stash these somewhere. Spotting the unused cupboard next to the window, she decided that it would do. “When did you get here?” Max asked distractedly as she focused her attention on the task of unloading the extra parts strapped to her bike

He shrugged, feigning nonchalance, and said, “About five hours ago. Where have you been?” He looked at the objects Max was busy unstrapping from her Ninja and wondered how she got all those stuff across the checkpoints.

Looking up from her task, Max frowned at his question, “Not that it’s any of your business, but I went to Sector 8 to get some stuff. No thanks to you! You haven’t told me yet. What are you doing here? What have you gotten yourself into this time?”

Into you; like that wasn’t obvious, he thought, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

Oblivious to his thoughts, she picked up the parts and brought them to a cupboard next to the window, stacking them carefully. Standing next to the window with her arms empty now, she turned her full attention back to Alec. She waited for his answer, tapping her foot. “So?” she prompted impatiently.

Now that she was asking, Alec felt a bit unsure of how exactly he was going to broach the subject. He had not thought this far when he decided to come see her.

“Yeah, about that. I just thought that we needed to talk. After…you know,” Alec finally said, rather lamely. He raised one of his hands to rub the back of his neck. A gesture which made him looks really unsure of himself.

“What? After what you made me do? Hell, Alec, for once I was trying to do the right thing, you know,” Max said irritably. If she had managed to catch the exhibition on time, she would have bought the part she required. Yes, bought. As in legal tender, with a receipt. She even had the cash with her. For once, she wanted to buy something for herself, instead of stealing it. And look what Alec made her do? And why was he looking so sheepish anyway?

“It’s neither your fault nor mine. You can’t help yourself. I know that,” Alec said, feeling even more uncomfortable now. The way Max put it, it sounded as if he took advantage of her. Surely she knew that it takes two to do what they just did.

Max gaped at him, “Not your fault? How can it be not your fault? If you had swapped with me, then I would have to steal!”

HUH? Alec was startled at her words. Steal? What has that got to do with anything? Out loud, he said cautiously, “Max, are we talking about the same thing here?”

After deliberating for a moment, replaying their conversation in her head, Max said, “I was taking about what happened today. What are you taking about?”

He raised both his hands and cupped her face, looking deep into her eyes to study her reaction. “I was talking about what happened today as well. When we were together,” Alec said slowly. He wanted to know how she felt.

Confusion clouded her eyes. She jerked her head away from his hands, “What? We were NOT together today. You went off on your own sweet way, remember?” Max said as she jabbed him in his arm with enough force to cause pain even to a transgenic. She was bewildered by his actions. What was he doing, touching my face like that?!

“Max, come on. I can tell you are scared by what happened. But denial is not the way to go,” Alec said to her, his tone uncharacteristically patient. He did not even appear to notice her finger stabbing his arm.

“Just what are you talking about? Alec, you are not making any sense,” Max frown deepened as her confusion increased. The expression on his face was unsettling her. He was looking at her in embarrassment and something else. She was beginning to feel slightly unnerved by the way he was studying her.

Alec said in exasperation, “As much as it may pain you to hear this, you must have wanted me at that time, otherwise nothing would have happened,”

As her eyes rounded in shock at his words, Max practically yelled, “What?! I wanted you? I wanted to kick your ass, you mean! Look, I don’t know what your dealio is, and whatever it is, I have a feeling that I don’t want to know,” she said warily. Alec was behaving very strangely and she did not know what to expect. So she did what she was trained to do when faced with the unexpected. Hedge. Talk. Delay. Gather information. Unfortunately Alec was not being very forthcoming. He just kept coming up with these cryptic comments.

“Come on, Max. Sleeping with me can’t be that bad. I’ve never had any complaints,” Alec teased, trying to lighten the mood. Her reaction seemed over the top to him.

Max stared at him incredulously. She could not believe what she was hearing. “What’s the matter with you? What drugs were you on? Read my lips, pretty boy. I DID NOT SLEEP WITH YOU. Never have, and never will. Get it?” she snapped. Her confusion made her tone harsher than she intended.

Alec felt hurt at her tone. He kept his face bland and his voice level to disguise his feelings. “Fine, be that way. I don’t care. I was just trying to help since, you know, we were in it together,” he said, running his hands through his hair in a show of discomfort.

Noting Alec’s discomfort, Max felt slightly ashamed of her outburst. They were friends after all, so maybe she should at least listen to what he wanted to tell her. Max let out a frustrated breath and said, “’Kay, Alec. Let’s start again. What happened?”

“I thought you just said you did not want to know,” the now irritated Alec retorted, feeling slightly offended at her reluctance to admit what happened.  If she wanted to pretend it didn’t happen, who am I to stop her. Max was the queen of denial. Just look at her and her not-like-that relationship with Logan, he thought.

“You are going to tell me or not?” Max asked again impatiently. She wanted to know why Alec had those thoughts in his mind, but she was not going to beg for it.

Feeling like a complete fool for approaching her now, Alec said dismissively, “Forget about it. Nothing important,”

Frowning at Alec’s uncharacteristic behaviour, Max turned away from him and said over her shoulders, “Whatever, Alec,” She headed towards the kitchen to grab herself a drink. Whatever it is, he’ll get over it, she thought.

A moment later, she heard the door to the apartment open and shut quietly. She slowly put down the glass of water she was holding, a crease marring her brows as she contemplated their conversation. He basically said I slept with him. Where did that come from?

Max wondered if she had done anything recently to give Alec that idea. A quick sweep of her memories told her nothing. She had not been in heat recently either. And that was the only time she would do something like that.

So what’s up with Alec?

A feeling of apprehension suddenly crept up Max’s spine as she thought back to the first day she met Alec

FLASHBACK

“ You look like someone I used to know,” Max said

Giving her a look, he said, “ Well, my designation's 494”

“His was 493. You must be twinned,” she realised.

494 nodded with a smirk, “ 493...Your fellow traitor. Went psycho,”

Frowning at the expression on 494’s face, she challenged, “What do you know about it?”

494 answered, “I know that because of him I had to spend six months in psy-ops. They wanted to make sure it wasn't genetic,”

END FLASHBACK

Max rested her hands on the kitchen counter to keep herself steady. It cannot be. This is a completely different case. Alec doesn’t have the same issues, she scolded herself.

“Alec is stronger,” she said out-loud, trying to convince herself.

She forced herself to ignore the little seed of doubt in her mind.

~*~*~

The transgenics were standing by the window, seemingly deep in conversation. The figure squinted at the effort to make out their expression. Too bad it was too far to hear their conversation. It would be interesting to know what they were talking about.

The figure watched silently as the male transgenic lifted his hands to caress the female transgenic’s face. That should be me, the figure fumed, hands fisted. A jealous pair of eyes followed the transgenics and they moved away from the window.

They are not meant to be together. It’s not the way it’s supposed to be.

Enraged at the sight and the thought of what was going on beyond the window, the figure turned around and walked towards the almost-hidden vehicle in the alley. Not noticing that the male transgenic has silently exited the building.

Not noticing the look of recognition and suspicion on the transgenic’s face as he saw the vehicle pull away.

~*~*~

After the long day of deliveries, Alec felt that he definitely deserved a beer, or two…or more. It was not only the deliveries that got to him. It was Max too. She had been giving him furtive looks all day, thinking that he would not notice.

Still feeling self-conscious about the way things turned out last night, Alec had stayed out of her path. He did not want to go over it again. If it was so bad that she had to pretend it never happened, then so be it. It was no skin off his back, he told himself. Deep down, he knew that it hurt that she did not trust him enough to talk about it.

It was bad enough that he could not remember anything of the actual event. And ever since the conversation last night, Alec was beginning to have doubts. Maybe he was hallucinating. But then how about those scratches on his back? Those were real enough. But if it was not Max and it was someone else, then he really did made a fool out of himself.

He could hear the pre-pulse music pounding as he opened the door to his regular hang-out. Stepping into Crash, Alec’s eyes gave the place a quick scan. Spotting Sketchy and Original Cindy, he headed in their direction. They were sitting at a table, both facing the bar as they nursed a beer each.

His steps slowed as he saw Max headed towards them as well. Berating himself inwardly, he forced his legs to move forward. He could not possible avoid her forever. They were friends, for goodness’s sakes. Might as well pretend the whole thing was just a dream.

Alec and Max both reached the round wooden table at the same time. They exchanged an uncomfortable look.

“Alec, my man,” Sketchy greeted enthusiastically, slapping Alec on the back. Not surprisingly, Sketchy did not notice the tension between his two friends.

Alec winced in pain as Sketchy attacked his sore back. Glancing over at Max, he saw her frown at his reaction. She seemed surprised, Alec thought as his doubts returned.

“Hi, boo,” Original Cindy said over a glass of beer. She poured two glasses of beers from the pitcher and handed one each to Max and Alec. “Grab a seat,” she offered, suspecting that something was not quite right between the two transgenics.  

Alec sat down next to Original Cindy. Max sat on the other side. Original Cindy’s suspicion grew but she clamped it down. Knowing that whatever the problem was, it normally sorted itself out in time. Original Cindy decided to abandon her useless thoughts on Max and Alec’s violent friendship.

“So, where were you last night, Boo,” Max asked. Her flickering eyes and the fact that she avoided looking at him were tell-tale signs which told Alec that she recalled their conversation last night.

Flicking her hair into place, Original Cindy answered, “I was out with a new honey. Went back to her crib. That girl, she was hot, I tell ya!” Original Cindy said dreamily. Then her eyes clouded over.

Noticing her friend’s look, Max asked curiously, “So? Why the look?”

“Turns out that she’s married and hubby was coming home tonight,” she said dejectedly. “All the good lickety-boos; all taken by dogs. What is this world coming to?”

Alec, Sketchy and Max laughed at the look of misery on Original Cindy’s face.

Max’s laugh died abruptly on her lips as a movement by the entrance caught her attention. The rest of them turned to look curiously in the same direction, wondering what was so interesting.

“Oh hell!” Alec cursed as his eyes took in the object of interest.

~*~*~

Chapter 4

“Oh hell!” Alec cursed as his eyes took in the object of interest. What was SHE doing here?

At the same time, Max said, “Any shorter she wouldn’t need to wear a necklace,” Max remarked in a bitchy tone, her dislike of the woman obvious to all of those around her. But even then, Max grudgingly admitted that she deserved the attention, if you only consider her looks. Dressed in a very short black mini-dress, it was not hard to understand why Celia had the attention of practically all the male (and some female) patrons in Crash. Her personality was another matter.

A look of surprise came across her face as Max belatedly digested what Alec said as she was making her comment. She tried to remember if Alec had met Celia. She did not think he did. She turned to face him curiously and asked, “You know her?”

Turning his attention away from the redhead, he answered slowly, “Yeah. I do,” His eyes carried a wary look as he considered Max’s reaction. Obviously Max did not know who she is, Alec realised.

“Oh,” Max said in a flat tone. Another one of his conquest, no doubt. And now that he had enough of her, he obviously wanted to avoid her, she thought in disgust.

“Man, how come you know all the hot chicks? She just started a few days ago!” Sketchy exclaimed, his eyes busy with the sight of the busty redhead as she swayed towards the bar. Men all around were falling over themselves to get to the bar to buy her a drink.

“The usual way, I presume. She is just his type,” Max said snidely as she rolled her eyes.

Alec frowned at her implication, “Hey, did I say that?!” He felt slightly offended that she evidently thought he would sleep with just about anyone. Well, not just ‘anyone’, he thought. The corner of his lips lifted.

Deciding to interrupt before the two transgenics started fighting, Original Cindy asked, “So pretty boy, tell us then, how did you know Celia?”

So, she calls herself Celia now, does she? Alec thought. He caught Max’s eyes and gave her a meaningful look as he answered, “We used to go to the same school back home,”

Max’s jaw dropped. Swallowing, she asked with an equally meaningful look, “The boarding school you used to go to before you started in Jampony?”

Alec nodded, holding Max’s wide eyes. They both knew what he meant; Manticore.

She’s a transgenic! Max thought with a frown. But how was it that she had not realised it?

Maybe because Celia’s trying to keep a low profile, Max, a voice inside her answered.

“So you know each other well?” Max asked curiously. Maybe Celia was his breeding partner before he was landed with herself for ‘copulation’. Ugh, how sick! Max grimaced. The image of Celia ‘copulating’ with anyone was enough to make her hurl.

As Alec shook his head in denial, Max felt an almost imperceptive feeling of relief wash over her. She frowned at her own reaction. Then she realised that it was most probably due to her dislike of that woman. Preoccupied with her own thoughts, Max almost missed Alec’s next words.

“…It was a large school. She was in a different class. I can’t remember how I met her but this much I can remember; I don’t like her much. Never did. There’s something not quite right with her,” Alec finished, feeling a phantom chill up his spine. He frowned as he tried to remember how they met. As his mind hit a blank wall, he frowned and wondered why was he finding it difficult to remember things these few days.

“Dude! What are you saying? Everything is alright with her as far as I can see,” Sketchy said, almost drooling.

Shaking her head, Original Cindy smacked Sketchy upside the head, “Watch the drool, fool,”

“Hey, it rhymes!” Sketchy noted with a grin.

Max frowned as she considered what Alec had been saying. X5’s have photographic memories. They don’t just forget. Alec’s behaviour, or rather, lack of memory was beginning to worry her. Particularly after his visit to her apartment last night. Max hoped that there was nothing wrong with Alec. The unwanted memory of Ben’s psychosis entered her mind, unbidden. She forced herself to pay no attention it. Ignoring Sketchy and Original Cindy, Max asked suspiciously, “What do you mean? You don’t remember?”

As he rubbed his head in obvious confusion, Alec said, “I know it’s strange, okay. I just don’t remember,”

Sketchy’s entire face suddenly broke into a large grin. “Man! She’s headed this way,” Sketchy exclaimed, almost jumping off his seat in his excitement.

Max exchanged a look with OC. Not wanting to be in the company of that woman, she tugged at Original Cindy’s hand “Up for a game of pool?” Max asked, eyebrows raised.

“Sure, boo,” Original Cindy answered, “Original Cindy’s always up for a good game,”

As they walked past Celia, they both gave her a nod of acknowledgement without stopping. Celia did not seem to notice them as she stalked towards Alec with a predatory smile on her face, her hips swinging to the beat of the music. It reminded Max of a predator who was stalking her prey.

~*~*~

Max leaned over to pool table, her eyes picking out the shortest, surest way to get the ball into the pocket. Being a transgenic has its perks, she thought as the ball she just hit rolled smoothly into the pocket. She smiled and shook her head as she thought of Sketchy who always insisted on playing with Alec. Poor Sketchy, he hasn’t go a clue what he’s up against.

“Now that’s not fair. I ain’t got no souped-up eyes to help me here,” Original Cindy frowned as she studied the balls on the table, fiddling with her cue.

Leaning against the table, Max grinned at her friend. Seeing the look on her friend’s face, she teased, “At least we are not playing for money,”

Original Cindy removed her attention from the pool table and gave her friend a warning glare, “Boo, you even think of that, I’ll put the smack down on your pretty ass,”

Max laughed and they went back to their game.

Suddenly, Original Cindy nudged her side. The shot Max was aiming for went wide.

“Hey!” she complained loudly, looking up at Original Cindy with accusing eyes.

Ignoring Max’s look, Original Cindy inclined her head towards their table, “Look, boo!”

Max turned to look in the direction her friend indicated. Her eyes narrowed as she saw what caught Original Cindy’s attention. Alec and Celia was walking away from the table, leaving Sketchy staring at their retreating backs in an obvious look of envy. Alec’s arm was entwined intimately around the redhead’s hips.

Max rolled her eyes and snorted. Mimicking Alec, she said, “‘I don’t like her much. There’s something not quite right with her’. Yeah, right! That lasted for like what? 10 minutes?” Her eyes followed Alec and Celia as they disappeared out of the door with his arms around her shoulders.

“All men are dogs. Better off batting for the home team,” Original Cindy said, shaking her head.

 “At least he could have been honest about it,” Max muttered. She wondered why Alec bothered to lie to them. It was not as if they did not know about his reputation with the opposite sex.

“Who knows? Maybe he had seen the error of his ways and decided to change. Just that he couldn’t help himself when faced with such a delectable lickety-boo,” Original Cindy said, shrugging. Then she looked at Max curiously, wondering when did her transgenic friend started being so concerned about who Alec followed home.

Oblivious to Original Cindy’s thoughts, Max said, “Anyway, let’s go keep Sketchy company. And I could do with another beer,” Max said, dropping her cue on the table as she moved away from the pool table. Original Cindy followed her back to their table.

Sketchy shook his head at Max and Original Cindy as they approached the table. He has the look of utter dejection on his face as he returned his attention to his beer.

Max knew that she would regret it but she asked anyway, “What’s wrong?”

Sketchy looked up from his beer and answered, “They went off just like that. Without even saying good bye,”

“Who? Alec and Celia?” Original Cindy asked.

Sketchy nodded, “I don’t understand. He never did that before,”

“What have you done to him, you fool?” Original Cindy asked in exasperation, stabbing her finger against his arm.

“Nothing! I didn’t even get in a word edgewise as they were talking,” Sketchy said, flinching away from Original Cindy’s abuse.

Her curiosity peaked now, Max asked, “So what were they talking about?” Maybe she could learn something about that woman.

Sketchy scrunched up his face as he tried to remember, “Something about Monti Cora, I think. And cells? And a number 119. Alec seemed pretty pissed off at her about something, but she didn’t seem to care. I don’t know! I don’t remember. I think I had too much to drink,” Sketchy finished as he leaned his elbows on the table, burying his face in his hands.

As Original Cindy patted Sketchy back to console him, Max noticed that Alec had left his jacket over the back of his chair. She frowned. Alec had always claimed that it was his favourite jacket and that he would not part with it. Picking up the jacket, Max wondered if there was something more to this than meets the eye. She highly doubted that Alec would be so entranced with a woman such that he forgot his jacket. Sketchy, maybe. But not Alec. Alec has droves of women flinging themselves at him on a daily basis.

She ran through Sketchy’s words. 119? Could that be Celia’s designation? Alec was apparently mad at Celia about something that happened back in the cells at Manticore. So maybe Alec wasn’t lying after all. Maybe he really did not like her. But why did he go with her then? Considering the way he had his arms around her, it was likely that they were heading somewhere more private. But why do that if you did not like someone?

Max tried to put herself in Alec’s shoes. She smirked; that would be interesting to say the least. If she was Alec, she would go with someone she dislikes only if there were no other choice or if she was forced to do so. But what was it that Celia has to hold over him as a threat? The whole thing was beginning to smell a bit fishy to Max.

“Okay, call me crazy but I think something is a bit off here. Alec’s not himself,” Max said thoughtfully to Original Cindy as she caught her friend’s eyes.

Original Cindy noted the worried look in Max’s eyes, “Alec is a big boy. I don’t think we need to worry, boo. He can take care of himself,” she said, laying a reassuring hand on Max’s shoulder. It was rare for Max to feel like this about Alec. Normally she couldn’t wait to get rid of Alec, especially considering the tension between them earlier today. But Original Cindy knew that underneath her prickly exterior, Max actually cared for Alec. After all, apart from Joshua, he’s the only other transgenic she had contact with on a daily basis.

Max nodded her head absently; she was still trying to figure out Alec’s weird behaviour. Ah well, Original Cindy is probably right. There’s nothing to worry about, Max thought to herself. Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she turned to look at Sketchy who was now slumped over the table.

“Come on. Let’s get you home,” Max said as she tried to haul Sketchy onto his feet. Sketchy looked up for a second and mumbled incoherently. Then he promptly let his head fall back on to the table.

Original Cindy went to the opposite side of the table and snaked her arms under her unconscious friend’s arms. She grimaced as Sketchy leaned on her, “For someone so scrawny, he sure is heavy,” Original Cindy grumbled as both her and Max tried to pull Sketchy off the chair he was so reluctant to leave.

~*~*~

Max exhaled a sigh of relief as she sank bonelessly into her couch. She shut her eyes and tried to relax as she listened to the sounds made by Original Cindy as she moved about their apartment, preparing herself for bed. It was late but as usual, Max was not sleepy. She was just tired. The shark DNA was a bitch. Opening her eyes, she snuggled deeper into the couch, relaxing as she picked up a magazine which was lying on the coffee table in front of her.

The phone suddenly rang, jolting Max out of her hard-found peace. She frowned as she glanced at the clock. It was 3am. She wondered who would be calling at this time of the night. Pushing herself off the couch, she walked towards the phone, ready to give whoever it was an earful of her displeasure.

“Yeah?” she snapped into the phone ungraciously.

A whisper came over the receiver, “Max?”

Recognizing the voice on the line despite the lack of volume, Max asked in irritation, “What have you done now?”

“I didn’t do anything, Max. I don’t know what but something is wrong. You got to help me,” the voice continued in a furtive whisper, the distressed sound almost drowned by the background noise which sounded suspiciously like running water to Max.

Her irritation replaced by a feeling of alarm as she heard the tone of his voice, Max asked urgently, “Where are you, Alec?” What has he gotten himself into now, she wondered, worried now.

“At home, in the bathroom. But I can’t remember how I got here. And Celia is here as well,” he whispered in a rush.

Her brows furrowed. Max moved the phone away from her ears and stared at it disbelievingly. Why did Alec want her there when Celia was there? She pressed the phone back to her ear. “What are you playing at, Alec? I am not interested in those sorts of games,” she said tersely, her irritation returning full force.

“No!” Alec protested vehemently, “Max, believe me. I am not playing at anything. I am trapped in here with Celia outside. And I can’t escape. There are no windows in here,”

Confusion evident in her voice, she asked, “Alec, what’s going on? Why don’t you just get out? Shove her out of your apartment if you don’t want her there. Kick her ass,” Why can’t he just get to the point? It’s like pulling teeth, she thought.

“Max, I don’t know what’s going on. I told you there’s something not quite right about her. Something is telling me not to go near her. And if I do, I’ll regret it. I know it’s strange, but I really can’t remember. You got to come over,” Alec whispered desperately. “Please!”

Alec’s desperation was beginning to really worry her. Making up her mind, Max said, “Okay, stay there. I’ll be there as soon as I can,”

She hung up the phone and yelled to Original Cindy, “Alec thinks he is in trouble. I am going over,”

Emerging from the bathroom at Max’s urgent tones, Original Cindy asked, “What sort of trouble?”

Shaking her head, Max said, “He didn’t really say what exactly. But Celia is over there and he called me from the bathroom, whispering all the way. Sounds like he’s trying to avoid her. And it sounds like she got him cornered. He said something about not going near her, but he doesn’t know why,”

Confusion now marring Original Cindy’s face, she said gently, “Max, if Alec is having girl trouble, maybe you should let him sort it out himself. This is not something Original Cindy thinks her boo should get involved in. I am sure your boy could handle it himself,”

Glancing up at Original Cindy as she shrugged into her jacket, Max explained, “I don’t think it’s that simple. Celia is from Manticore. And somehow, whatever she’s doing is freaking Alec out, big time. And Alec doesn’t strike me as someone who scares easily. But he sounded worried on the phone. I don’t like it,”

Not waiting for Original Cindy’s reply, she pushed her Ninja out and slammed the door behind her.

~*~*~

Chapter 5

Alec leaned against the wall in the bathroom, deep in thought. He had finished his shower long ago but the water was still running.

He did not think too much of it at that time, but he realised something now that he cast his mind back to it. When he woke up in the motel, he had felt disoriented until he had his shower. Then his mind seemed to clear, even though he could not remember what happened. The same thing has just happened as he stood under the shower this time.

He was about to turn the water off and return to the living room when he heard faint sounds of movement in there. He paused and listened; alarmed as he could not think of any reason why someone should be in his living room at this time of the night. He had never brought any of the women he slept with back to his apartment. It had always been their place. It was safer that way.

Then he heard her call him. His face paled as he recognized her voice. Celia. Something tugged at his memory. Something about not letting her physically close to him. He searched his mind in an attempt to grasp that elusive memory. He came up with nothing concrete.

These lapses of memory are getting out of hand, he thought, worried. He hoped that it was not permanent.

The last thing he remembered was Crash. He was sitting at the table with Sketchy, Original Cindy and Max when he noticed Celia coming towards them. The next thing he knew, he was under the shower. He couldn’t even begin to guess what happened between Crash and the bathroom.

I need to get out, he thought anxiously.

He did not have to look around the small bathroom to know that there were no windows, hence no escape route apart from the door which led into the living room; straight into Celia’s clutches. Fear rose in his as he knew he was trapped. So he did the next best thing.

He kept the water running in hope that Celia would think that he was still in the shower. Picking up his rumpled jeans which was tossed carelessly into the corner of the bathroom, he extracted his mobile phone.

He called Max.

~*~*~

Max moved with a catlike silence she descended from the roof over Alec’s apartment, careful to ensure that her approach remained undetected. Celia. Alec sounded as if he was afraid of Celia. As she made her way there, Max had tried to make sense of Alec’s words, with not much luck.

So that meant that she has to be extra cautious. This meant that she was approaching the target zone from the narrow ledge running along the side of Alec’s apartment building. She clung precariously to the wall as she literally inched sideways towards Alec’s window, her back tight against the brick wall.

Max stood immobile as she finally arrived at Alec’s living room window. Holding her breath, she darted a surreptitious glance into the living room, before flattening herself back against the wall.

She saw Celia leaning on her side against the wall beside the bathroom door. She was saying something to Alec through the door. Max concentrated on making out the words she uttered. The sound of Celia’s voice was not particularly clear through the glass, but Max could hear her.

“Come on Alec. You know you want to come out. You can’t stay in there forever,” Celia said, sounding for all as if she was trying to coax a small child out of a closet.

A muffled sound filtered through the bathroom door. Max tried, but she could not hear it. It must be Alec, she thought. She felt relieved. He was still in the bathroom, so she guessed that he was relatively alright.

“You won’t remember any of this tomorrow anyway,” Max heard Celia reply to whatever it was that Alec said. The tone the red-head used made Max’s skin crawl in apprehension. What the hell was she? Did she make Alec forget? How? The string of questions ran through Max’s mind.

Another muffled sound.

“Ah well, seeing that all this would be non-existent to you tomorrow anyway, I suppose I could tell you…” Max heard her say with laugh.

Curious, Max listened intently as the other woman continued, “You won’t remember; I’ve made sure of that. I was the psy-ops unit deployed to aid with your reindoctrination. After your failed mission…”

What appeared to be muffled protest came through the door at Celia’s word. Questions were again running through Max’s mind. Psy-ops? Alec failed a mission? Max was guessing that Alec was denying the failure of the mission, whatever it was.

“No, you wouldn’t remember unless there was some sort of trigger. That was part of the reindoctrination. Hmm… actually, you did remember something when we were in Crash just now. Interesting…” Celia answered thoughtfully.

Max almost jumped as she heard a loud thump on the bathroom door. Alec was getting pissed off. She did not blame him; she would feel the same way too, if she was told that her memory had been wiped clean as part of Manticore’s reindoctrination.

Max heard Celia chuckle at Alec’s reaction. She shuddered involuntarily. This woman is insane!

“Now, now, Alec… That’s not a nice thing to say, seeing that I am the one who have you trapped in there. But since you want to know, I’ll tell you. They designed me for brain-manipulation and infiltration. I obtain the data Manticore desires and make the subjects forget they ever met me,” Celia said proudly. Max could almost imagine her tossing her hair as she said that. Max rolled her eyes, clamping down on her urge to snort.

A muffled question came through the door. Max listened intently.

Celia answered, “Ah, that. A mistake on my part to let you into the shower. I suspect that you can think clearly now because you washed off the residues of the serum I produced from my skin. The serum which made you malleable to my suggestions. It only affects you when you breath in the fumes, so when you washed it off, your mind is clear again. In small doses, I can only influence the thoughts you make a few minutes before or after you are exposed to the serum. Prolonged contact, however, would achieve much more than that. I could even manipulate your long term memory. To make you think that whatever I say is reality,”

Celia stopped as Alec said something to her through the bathroom door. She laughed again and said, “You did not have any objection to me when we had sex a couple of days ago. You enjoyed it too, I am sure,”

Max flinched as she heard Alec’s voice this time as he shouted at the top of his lungs, “You sick bitch!”

Understanding dawned on Max. So that was what happened. Celia practically forced him into having sex with her, or rather, drugged him. Max’s face twisted in disgust. She could not believe that Celia did that. How low could she sink, the slut!

Apparently growing tired of all the explanations, Celia finally said, “I think that’s enough of talking,” Max could hear her voice harden as she asked in a dangerously low voice, “Are you coming out or do I have to come in to get you myself?”

At Celia’s words, Max realized that time was running out. She needed to think of something fast before Celia could sink her claws into Alec again.

~*~*~

Celia cursed as the bathroom door refused to give way under her kick. She cursed again, this time at Manticore for failing to splice her genes such that she has as much strength as the regular X-series. She was much stronger than the Ordinaries, but it was not enough.

Pressing her head to the locked door, she tried again, “Alec…” she purred, “Make it easy on yourself. You know you have to come out sometime,”

She heard him snort through the door, followed by sarcastic, “Why, you can’t manipulate the door into opening? Hey, if you want me, you have to come get me yourself. I don’t like being forced. And I don’t particularly want to aid you in raping me,”

“Such brave words, 494. That’s what you used to tell me before. You don’t remember that either, did you,” Celia said with a smile. She shook her head in pity. 494 knew he had no chance against her and yet he had to make it hard on himself. Celia knew that the minute he walked out of that door, he would be hers again. For a while at least, until she managed to convince him to remain with her. She realised that it would take time. Total mind manipulation always did. But Celia was patient. She would take all the time she needed to make him hers.

There was a pause before she heard Alec drawl in a mocking tone, “Hey, now that you mentioned it, I remember something. Weren’t you the psy-ops unit who got punished for insubordination. 119, right? Not to mention you never did make it out into fieldwork because your manipulation skills were not quite up to scratch? HUH?” She could hear him chuckle through the door.

Celia felt her face redden. He had no right to say that. It was entirely his fault that she was punished. Clenching her hands into fists, she forced out through gritted teeth, “Shut up, 494. I was willing to sacrifice everything for you,”

She heard a bark of laughter from the other side of the door, and then he said, “Remind me what exactly you did for me, 119. Because much as I would like to thank you for your sacrifices, my mind could not find the relevant memory slots in my head. Thanks to you,”

Celia thought back to the first time they met. 494 was brought back from a mission he failed and was sent for reindoctrination. When the standard methods failed to bend him to their will, Manticore had brought her in to assist. 494 became the focus of her life then. She had spend every waking hour of those months with him, slowly manipulating his mind, making him forget the failed mission and his despicably weak feelings for his targets. Celia’s lips curled in disgust as she recalled his obsession with the target’s daughter.

Slowly, Celia had realised that her preoccupation with 494 went beyond the professional capacity. She had tried to approach him openly about it. Whenever she had broached the subject without trying to manipulate him, he had shied away from her. He had mocked her with his rejection. And that made her more determined to achieve her ultimate goal - 494.

She had no choice. It was not as if she had any control over what she felt towards him; her feelings were so strong. So she had made him forget that she was his psy-ops operator. She made him forget that he despised her. Bending him to her will once he was physically close to her was not too hard; he was lonely, weak and had no contact with any other apart from herself for months. That was when they slept together. And she made him forget they had sex.

Everything worked out fine until that bitch Renfro got involved. Celia could still remember the day Renfro came in while she was working on 494. Renfro had wanted to pull 494 out of reindoctrination. The stern face woman with face caked with obscene amount of cosmetics had told 494 that he had a new mission.

Celia had protested. She argued that he was not ready. But all she achieved in doing then was to put herself in Punishment for insubordination. Punishment had lasted one week. However, for Celia, that was a major disgrace. Psy-ops units were rarely punished.

The humiliation of being sent to Punishment had still been fresh in her mind when she found out that 494’s new mission was to copulate with 452. HER 494 had been sent to copulate with a filthy ’09-er. Celia’s face twisted in anger as she recalled the day she went to 494’s cell only to find that he had been escorted to 452’s cell.

Shaking away the unwanted memories, Celia scanned the room, trying to find something which she could use to force the door to the bathroom open. She smiled as she spotted an old metal chair. That will do, she thought.

~*~*~

Chapter 6

The figure watched her as she headed towards the male transgenic’s place. She slipped furtively into the doorway leading to the apartment, unaware that she was being watched. The figure fought to make sense of the entire thing; even tried to rationalise the behaviour of the two transgenics. Perhaps there was nothing going on between them. Perhaps it was just an overactive imagination running rampant. But one could not deny what one’s own eyes has seen the past few days, the figure thought, repressing the anger within.

The figure decided that it was time to get the whole thing out in the open. It was time for confrontation. There was no other way.

~*~*~

Alec paced in agitation within the small space in the bathroom. He still could not remember what happened in Manticore. However, random flashes of what have taken place in motel room had invaded him since Celia mentioned it, triggering some of his memories. His face twisted in revulsion. The woman was clearly deranged, he thought.

Now he finally understood Max’s reaction the night he confronted her. He smirked at himself. He was surprised that she did not cause him any further bodily harm at the ‘accusations’.

Alec could feel the desperation grow within him. What is she doing, taking so long to get here? He hoped that Max had not suddenly decided to leave him to his own devices this time. He knew that she considered him as a pain in her ass, but surely she would not just abandon him as he needed her help.

Would she?

~*~*~

Max frowned. She knew that time was running out and yet she still could not come up with a feasible plan. She finally decided that she should just do what she normally does. She would just barge in and think later.

Grabbing the top of the window, she lifted herself up and swung herself in an arc. As her feet crashed through the glass, she sent a mental apology to Alec for ruining his window. Landing feet first in Alec’s living room, she quickly stepped away from the shattered remains of the window, scanning the room till her eyes locked on Celia.

Obviously not too happy with Max’s uninvited presence, Celia shot her a death glare. Then Celia seemed to realise something. The death glare faded as Celia bared her teeth in a resemblance of a smile. Max could see the confidence in her steps as she moved to close the distance between them.

Max had heard enough of their one-sided conversation to know that it was essential for her to keep away from Celia. Or rather, keep from breathing in whatever shit that slut produced. She offered a silent thanks to Manticore for all the time she was forced to spend in the tank.

Holding her breath, Max darted past Celia, noting the other transgenic’s surprised expression out of the corner of her eyes. She could hear Celia gasp in outrage as she grabbed the metal chair. Lifting the chair, Max swung it at Celia, careful to keep from touching the other woman. She was trying not to accidentally come into contact with the serum.

Celia managed to duck the first swing. The redhead sneered and took advantage of Max’s close proximity to punch her in the guts. Max doubled over for a second, still clutching the chair. She forced herself to keep her breath in; she already could feel the pressure in her lung increase from the lack of air. Gritting her teeth, she swung around, her legs lifted in an arc, catching Celia in her ribs. Celia screeched in pain at the impact.

Max raised the chair higher and brought in down hard. She grinned as the chair smashed into Celia’s back. As Celia fell, Max blurred away from her, sucking in much needed air. It belatedly occurred to her that holding her breath immobile in the tank and holding her breath while she tried to kick someone’s ass was a completely different matter.

“ALEC! Get your ass out of there!” she yelled at the closed door. As the bathroom door opened, Max continued, “Hold your breath. Don’t touch her,” Max darted a worried glance in Celia’s direction. She cursed as she saw a small movement from the other transgenic.

Stepping out of the bathroom, Alec rolled his eyes at Max’s statement and said, “Gee, you’d think I would know that by now,” Looking around, he grimaced as he spotted Celia pushing herself off the floor.

Max stepped back, extending her arm to push Alec back as well.

“Now is a good time to leave, Max,” Alec said softly, keeping his eyes on Celia warily. His body tensed in readiness. For what, he was not sure.

“Stating the obvious, aren’t you?” Max retorted, looking around for a way to escape. Unfortunately, Celia stood between them and the window.

Celia’s face twisted in anger as she saw Alec and Max standing together in front of the bathroom door. “You filthy bitch! Stay away from him,” she snarled as images of Max and Alec ‘copulating’ in Manticore started flashing through her mind.

At Celia’s unexpected outburst, Max glanced at Alec with a questioning look. Alec just shrugged. He truly did not know what Celia got against Max.

Glaring at Celia, Max said, “I don’t like to be called names. Especially when I don’t recall doing anything to deserve it. Or did you conveniently erased my memory of you?” Max paused as if she was thinking, and then carried on with a smirk, “That may not be such a bad thing, you know,”

Her eyes almost bulging out with rage, Celia spat, “You don’t deserve him. He was meant to be with me, instead he was forced to be your breeding partner,”

“Huh?” Alec interrupted, a frown creasing his forehead, “What the hell are you talking about? You were my freaking psy-ops operator. Anything else was definitely not initiated by me. And not to mention you had to practically knock me out with your so called serum to get me near you. I am sorry, sweetheart, but we are definitely NOT meant to be together,” he said, shaking his head.

“NO! We are meant to be together. You just haven’t realised it,” Celia insisted loudly, her face twisted in an expression akin to anger.

“I think you have been breathing in too much of your own concoction. You have to be seriously deluded to even think that I would have gone anywhere near you voluntarily, after what you have put me through,” he paused as he appeared to think on the words he just said. Then he continued with a smirk, “Actually, good thing I don’t remember, otherwise I would be quite disturbed,”

Resting her hands on her hips, Max said, “And just for the record; I did not ask to be paired up with HIM as a breeding partner, alright! Who would want to?” A small pause. Then looking pointedly at Celia, Max continued, “Oh yeah, I forgot…you would!”

“Hey, who’s side are you on?” Alec asked as he stared at her incredulously.

“I’m not taking sides, Alec. I just want to set the record straight!” Max said in exasperation.

“‘Successful copulation. Twice.’ Remember, Maxie?” Alec teased; his eyes twinkled in anticipation of Max’s response.

Max snorted, “One of the things that I prefer to forget,” What the hell does Alec think he’s doing? This is so not a good time to catch up on unpleasant memories, she thought irritably.

Alec smirked, “Aw, come on Maxie. Admit it, it was good for you too, wasn’t it?” he looked at her meaningfully. He was trying to buy more time so that he can think of a way out of this.

Finally understanding his intent, Max played along. She drawled sweetly, “You don’t actually think I was going to admit to that, do you? I still have a reputation to protect, unlike you,” She hoped that they could rile Celia up. Then maybe she would get careless.

“Sweetheart, your responses to my touch told me what I needed to know. Actions speak louder than words, haven’t you heard? You can’t hide it,” Alec said, waggling his eyebrows.

“As if you can hide yours any better. Your groans could have woken up the entire continent,” Max retorted saucily, winking at him. Alec bit back a laugh at the expression on her face.

Celia stared back and forth at the pair of transgenic in front of her. Her eyes narrowed. They are ignoring me! How dare they ignore me?!

“Enough!” Celia shouted at the top of her voice. Seemingly startled out of their conversation Max and Alec turned towards her, blinking innocently.

Celia decided she had heard enough. Less talk and more action, she thought. Purposefully, she strode towards them. She smiled as they backed away from her warily, keeping the few feet of gap between them.

~*~*~

The figure stood at the door, listening to the conversation which filtered out from the other side of the door.

“Aw, come on Maxie. Admit it, it was good for you too, wasn’t it?” the male transgenic prodded.

“You don’t actually think I was going to admit to that, do you? I still have a reputation to protect, unlike you,” the female answered flirtatiously.

“Sweetheart, your responses to my touch told me what I needed to know. Actions speak louder than words, haven’t you heard? You can’t hide it,” the male transgenic drawled.

“As if you can hide yours any better. Your groans could have woken up the entire continent,” the female said in a sexy tone.

A sexy tone that she never used on him ever since she came back from Manticore with Alec in tow. His lips compressed in a tight line. He knew that his jealously was fuelling his rage, but he could not help it. Not after what he had seen, and now heard. He had hoped that his eyes were deceiving him. But now he had verbal confirmation from the horses’ mouth themselves.

Shutting his ears to block out anymore conversation, he pushed the door open.

~*~*~

Stepping forward of Max, Alec signalled to her behind his back.

As she read his instructions, she moved slightly to the left. Alec moved to the right. Alec wanted her to distract Celia as he attacked. She took in deep breaths to prepare herself to hold her breath.

A sudden movement by the door caught Alec’s eyes. Three pairs of transgenic eyes zeroed in on the door as it swung open.

Max’s eyes widen as she took in the figure standing by the door looking at them.

“Logan! What are you doing here?”

Logan’s angry expression faded to a confused one as he saw the transgenics. Surprised at seeing not two, but three of them in Alec’s living room, Logan gave a small shrug and said, “Erm…Just looking for Alec,”

Alec’s eyes narrowed as he recalled the day he left Max’s apartment; the night he saw Logan’s car pulling out of the alley. He had wondered then what the older guy was up to, but caught up in his own problems, Alec had forgotten all about it.

Now he suspected that Logan has been keeping tabs on Max. As he kept an eye on Celia who was suspiciously quiet during the bizarre interruption, he asked, “What can I do you for, Logan?”

Not answering Alec’s question, Logan ignored the tension in the room and walked in.

Max tensed as she took in the new light in Celia’s eyes. Shit! Too late, she realised what Celia was about to do.

“Logan! Get out of here. Stay away from her!” she shouted in panic. She was about to start forward when Alec pulled her back, shaking his head.

Not heeding her words as usual, Logan walked towards her. His eyes were drawn to Alec’s hand around Max’s arm.

Not about to let the opportunity pass, Celia grabbed him as he was about to pass her.

“Hey!” he protested indignantly at the sneering woman who had him in her grasp. He struggled against her hold, but to no avail. Belatedly, he realised that with her strength, the woman was probably another transgenic. Her arms tightened around his chest painfully. As he tried to suck in more air, he felt his mind growing numb.

Still keeping her eyes on Max and Alec, Celia whispered in Logan’s ears, “You did not see me here tonight, did you? I am not here. Say you did not see me here,”

Blearily, Logan mumbled almost incoherently, “Did not see you here. You are not here,”

As she watched Logan capitulate under Celia’s influence, Max’s face twisted in anger as she snarled, “You are really something, you know that? Manipulating people all around you. It’s pathetic. You make me sick!” Holding her breath, she shook Alec’s arms off and made a move towards Celia.

“Uh-uh, 452…You wouldn’t want me to accidentally snap his neck, do you?” the redhead threatened, the maniacal gleam in her eyes told Max how serious the other woman was. Max stopped mid-stride and glared at her.

Holding his hands up, Alec said, “Come on. This is getting ridiculous. Let the man go, 119!” Logan was not his favourite person in the world but he did not deserve to die this way.

“All I ever wanted was you, 494,” Celia said, the gleam in her eyes turning wistful, then she continued in a harder tone, “But you went with her instead. Why her? Why not me?”

Alec was at a loss for words. How do you explain to a psychotic spawn of a test-tube that people don’t just automatically get something just because they wanted it? How do you tell someone to her face that you found her revolting?

Alec’s silence and the disgusted expression on his face was all it took to push Celia further over the edge. With a growl, she tossed Logan carelessly to the side. Still disoriented, the cyber-journalist tripped over the metal chair lying on the floor and fell headlong into the wall, the impact knocking him unconscious.

As Celia advanced towards them, Max and Alec exchanged a look. Alec nodded, hoping that she understood that he wanted them to carry on with the plan he signalled earlier.

Returning his nod almost imperceptibly, Max held her breath and blurred to her left, catching Celia’s attention as she did so. As predicted, Celia turned her attention to Max.

“You bitch! You are going to pay for taking 494 away from me!” the redhead snarled, her eyes full of hatred for Max.

Smirking, Max sidestepped the punch Celia aimed at her. Crouching down, Max tried to sweep her feet from under her. Celia anticipated the move and jumped just as Max’s leg was about to catch hers.

Unfortunately for Max, her position gave Celia ample opportunity to attack her. Max barely avoided a kick aimed to her side. She rolled away, but she was still too close to Celia. Her lungs were beginning to suffer from the lack of oxygen, Max realised. She desperately craved a lungful of air, but she knew that she had to hold on until Alec made his move.

Celia advanced again, the maniacal grin plastered on her face a testament of her insanity. As she watched Celia’s advance warily, she saw a movement behind the other woman.

To ensure that the Celia remained ignorant of Alec’s approach, Max decided to feign an attack. As she blurred towards the surprised woman, Alec made his move.

In a swift motion, he lowered the large bin bag he had in his hands over the unsuspecting transgenic’s head. Once covered, Alec wrapped his arms around her, effectively immobilising her. He knew that she would pass out soon from the lack of air. If she had the same training as they did, it would take about 5 minutes. But then again, he wasn’t sure because the psy-ops units were give different training programmes.

Alec tightened his hold on her as Celia continued to struggle. Then after a few minutes, she slumped in his arms. Alec waited for another couple of minutes to make sure she was truly out before he loosened his arms.

Instantly, Alec realised his mistake as she wretched out his grasp. As both Max and Alec moved towards her, Celia staggered blindly, trying to remove the offending bag from herself. Her uncontrolled, frantic movements made the simple task difficult.

Max and Alec looked on, frozen in horror as Celia tripped over the rug and fell face down onto the upturned metal chair. Max cringed as the other transgenic impaled herself with one of the metal legs. Celia gasped and twitched spasmodically then went still in a show of finality. Max and Alec stared, stunned, as a pool of blood began to form under her.

Alec decided to break the silence. Eyeing Celia’s still form, he said, “Now I suppose I have to clean up,”

Max nodded wordlessly’ she barely heard what Alec said. She had not intended for this to happen. She did not know what else could they do to get rid of Celia, but she would not have killed her.

At Max’s silence, Alec turned around to face her, registering the look on her face. Turning her to face him, he said, “Hey, Maxie…You okay?”

This time she managed to choke out, “Yeah,”

The look Alec gave her was full of concern as he told her, “I am going to wrap her up and bring her down. I hope Logan wouldn’t mind me using the boot of his car. We need to dispose the body,” he paused as he gave her a considering look, “You’ll be okay here?” he asked softly.

Max nodded. This time she seemed to snap out of whatever that was occupying her mind. Holding Alec’s gaze, she said, “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Do what you have to do with…” she gestured at Celia’s body, then continued, “I’ll stay and check up on Logan,”

~*~*~

Max sat down on the floor until Alec left the apartment with the bundled-up body. She did not want Logan to wake up to a dead body beside him. As the door clicked shut behind Alec, she stood up.

Max walked towards Logan, who was lying down unconscious by the wall. Kneeling down beside him, she prodded him gently with her shoe-clad foot.

“Logan, wake up. LOGAN!” she shouted, resisting the urge to touch him. She knew well enough that her touch would kill him. He did not respond.

She went into the bathroom and emerged again with a pail of cold water. Standing over Logan, she splashed the water over his face.

Max exhaled a sigh of relief as Logan’s eyes fluttered behind his spectacles.

He opened his eyes and blinked rapidly. “Max?” he spluttered, raising his hand to his wet face.

As he digested her presence, he remembered why he was there. A furrow began to from between his brows as he looked past her to see Alec entering the room to stand just behind her. Logan’s head spun as he sat up unsteadily. He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to a standing position. His exoskeleton whirred softly as he straightened.

Leaning against the wall to keep himself steady, he asked with a frown, “So, want to tell me what’s going on?”

Logan’s lips compressed as he saw Max and Alec exchange a not so discreet look.

Alec answered just as Max opened her mouth, “You said you came here to look for me. You didn’t say what for,” He wanted Logan to admit to following Max all by himself. Knowing what Max was like, Alec did not want to start throwing accusation at her ‘not-like-that’ boyfriend until he has some solid proof.

Ignoring Alec, Logan turned to Max and said in a hurt tone, “I saw and I heard what’s going on, Max. You can tell me,”

Frowning in confusion, Max stared at him for a moment before she asked slowly, “Logan, what are you talking about? What did you see and hear?”

Almost shouting in frustration, Logan snapped, “You and him, that’s what! I saw him at your place, touching you. And today I heard you talking. I don’t want to believe it. But it’s true, isn’t it? Tell me, Max!”

Max’s eyes widened at his accusations. She sputtered, “You can’t possibly think…Me and Alec?” Throwing her hands up in the air, she groaned, “What’s going on with everyone? I have heard enough of this the last few days to last me a lifetime! First Alec, then Celia and now YOU? How could you possibly think that?”

Logan recoiled visibly at her vehement response. Steeling himself, he plowed on, “It’s not just that, Max. You have been…distant…since you returned from Manticore. Since you got to know him,”

“What? I…” she started.

Alec decided that he should interrupt, “Hey, Logan. Just in case it escaped your notice, she’s distant because she can’t actually touch you without killing you. So why don’t you cut to the chase and just tell her that you don’t trust her,”

“Alec!” Max snapped at him, her eyes shooting daggers at the other transgenic.

Although he knew that he should stay out of this conversation, Alec could not help himself saying, “Ask him! Ask him what he was doing the night I came to see you,”

Turning her attention to Logan, Max asked in apprehension, “Logan? What is he talking about?”

“I told you. I saw him at your place, touching you. I was downstairs,” Logan admitted, his lips set in a stubborn line. No sign of remorse could be detected in his voice.

All colour left her face as Max stared at him disbelievingly, “You were following me… You were stalking me?” she said incredulously. She could not believe that he would stoop so low as to spy on her activities. Then she said, “Why don’t you just ask me, Logan? Why did you have to do all that?” At his silence, Max understood, “You don’t trust me,” she said in a flat tone.

Logan ignored the hurt look in her eyes as he remained silent. He threw an accusing glare at Alec, who just stared back indifferently.

Max took a moment to think about what she was about to do. Coming to a decision, she turned to Alec and said, “Could you give us some space? Logan and I need to talk,”

Shrugging carelessly, Alec said, “No problem. Take your time; I needed a walk to clear my head anyway,”

Alec turned and left the apartment, leaving Max and Logan standing staring at each other.

~*~*~

Alec found her up in her usual perch; the space needle.

He walked towards her, subtly making his presence known so that he did not startle her. He detected a slight tensing of her shoulders as he approached. Then she relaxed. Somehow, she had known that it was him even without turning around. He smiled at the thought.

“Nice view,” he said as he reached her side.

Max nodded, “I come up here to think,”

Alec sat down beside her, “You think too much sometimes. Now me, I am all action. Go get what you want and think about it later,” he said in his usual light-hearted manner.

“Yeah, and that’s how you get your ass into trouble all the time, just in case that escaped your notice,” Max snapped at him.

Recoiling from her sharp tone, he looked at her and said defensively, “Hey, what was that for? I was just making conversation. You know, small talk? Like normal people do?”

“Alec, we are not normal. Far from it. We are mutants, remember? Freaks,” Max said irritably.

What’s up with her now? He wondered. She seemed grumpier than usual.

He decided to risk her wrath, “Hey, Max. You okay? You can tell me you know. Is it Logan?” he said softly, trying to look into her eyes. Wordlessly, she continued staring straight ahead at the Seattle sky-line. The sun was just beginning to rise, threading rays of light between the buildings.

“Okay, okay. Have it your way. Keep it all in. Don’t blame me if you implode one day!” Alec said in exasperation.

Surprised at his sudden outburst, Max looked at him and said, “No…I am not thinking about Logan. It’s all over between us. I told him just now,” Shaking her head, she continued with a heavy sigh, “I should have seen it coming,”

Alec absorbed the news. Transgenics and humans were not meant to be together anyway. It’s a good thing that the thing between Logan and Max ended before it was too late.

“Okay, it’s not Logan then. So what’s on your mind?” he asked.

~*~*~

Max was feeling guilty at the thoughts she had about Alec a couple of days ago. About how she thought his behaviour was due to the psychosis Ben had. She should have known better. Alec was nothing like Ben. And also she literally tore him apart as he was trying to tell her what happened. Or rather, his version of what happened that fateful day he went on that delivery. Max realised now that contrary to what she thought, he was not the love-‘em and leave-‘em type of guy. He actually had the decency to come talk to her when he thought that they had slept together. Instead of just brushing aside the whole thing. She knew that she should ease up on him. Even Original Cindy thought so.

Knowing that she should say something about her less than pleasant words to him, Max resigned herself to be ridiculed, “Alec, you know what I said to you when you came over that night to talk about…uh…you know?” she started hesitantly. She found it hard to bring herself to say what she wanted to say to him after everything they have been through.

“Yeah, from the sound of it, the very thought of sleeping with me freaked you out,” Alec said wryly, as he recalled her words from the night he went to her apartment. Thinking back to all the things that had happened since they met, he said, “Not that I blame you. And anyway, it’s nothing new. Your reaction back in Manticore when we first met was pretty much the same. At least I did not get kicked to the door this time!” He let out a laugh directed to himself.

“It’s not like that,” Max protested quickly, and then went silent.

Surprised at what she just said, Alec asked, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I don’t really mean it that way,” she said hesitantly, unsure how to explain herself.

Alec gaped as he tried to absorb what she meant, “So are you saying that you would sleep with me?” Never in a million years he would have thought the she would say that.

“NO! What I meant was…Argh! Forget it!” Max said in frustration. She turned away and moved to put some distance between them. He was too close for comfort.

Understanding her built-in response to run whenever she felt out of sorts, Alec grabbed her arm. He said, “Hey, you can’t say things like that and stop halfway,”

Taking a deep breath, knowing that she backed herself into a figurative corner, Max said grudgingly, “All I am saying is that you are not as objectionable as I made it out to be, okay!”

Alec felt a cheesy smile spread across his face, “Um, Max? Do I detect a hint of interest there?” Alec teased mischievously, enjoying her discomfort.

Max bristled as she reached out and gave him a hard smack on his arms. Alec winced exaggeratedly at the contact. He held his arms up in a gesture of surrender.

“In your dreams, pretty boy,” she retorted, her discomfort evaporating as she noted the teasing look in his eyes. She was relieved that he did not take it ‘that’  way. Then she frowned, did he?

They sat wordlessly, both caught up in their own thoughts for a few minutes before Alec decided to break it.

“Er… Max, I am not really in to these chick-flick moments but…well,” he paused, slightly embarrassed at what he wanted to say. He had been meaning to tell her but he never found the right time to do it.

Max raised her eyebrows, wondering what Alec was about to say before he stopped. She prompted, “Yeah?”

“I know I have been a pain all these time you know me. And yet you were always there when I needed help. All I am trying to say is; thanks for saving my ass again,” Alec said in a rush; he wanted to get it out of his system before he changed his mind.

“It’s no biggie,” she said with a smile, giving him a soft punch on his shoulders, “And anyway, what would I do with all my free time if you don’t need me to save your ass?!”

Rolling his eyes, Alec said, “Gee, Max, nice to know that I am that high on your list of priorities,”

They sat together in companionable silence, watching the sun rise above the horizon. To them, it seemed to signify the beginning of a change in their relationship.

The End

...h.o.m.e...