Author's note: The war is not over, but battles have been won. Many transhumans chose to stay in Terminal City and live with their peers. A short cease-fire was negotiated and some transgenics were allowed to go back into society. Those allowed to return, however, had to agree to submit to a trial period under complete scrutiny of the authorities, in proof of their good faith... Max was amongst the chosen ones, thereby allowing the authorities to keep the leader of the ‘Freaks’ under close scrutiny. Those in power are doing their utmost to keep feelings against the ‘Freaks’ running high by accusing the "laboratory designed soldiers" of several heinous crimes.

Disclaimer : I don’t own the characters from Dark Angel, not even Alec though I’d love to. Blah, blah, woof, woof ! So please don’t sue me for using them without authorisation. This is a M/A fic so if you don’t like that style... That’s too bad for you !

Dedication : Thanks to my great Betas, CrystalEyes and KiwiChick... You’re the best ! And Thelma, if it hadn’t been for you, I would have jumped off the damn mountain ! Miro, Nik and Shoe... Words are not enough to say how I love you guys !




The sun battled the clouds as soon as it came out. Some things never changed.
Max was resting on the couch her left leg tucked under her, as her fingers were mindlessly running back and forth on the armrest.
"I really need you to do it, as soon as possible..." Logan turned his eyes away from his screen to watch her reaction.
She didn't seem very enthusiastic; actually, he wasn't sure she had even listened to what he had been saying. Max had this far away, empty look she always seemed to have recently.
Logan walked over to her, almost reaching out... "Max, are you OK?" He said in a low worried voice. Her head shot up and she backed away as far as she could when she realised what he was about to do.
She let out an annoyed sigh. "You're not wearing your gloves Logan..." she said not looking at him. Finally she raised her head and met his eyes. *How in the name of any God that existed, had she gotten into such a mess?*
Suddenly, the events of the past weeks seemed to weigh like a ton on her shoulders. This was too much; she loved the man standing in front of her with his questioning eyes... No doubt about it. But she needed to touch, to cuddle, to be held, to inhale his lightly spiced skin without worrying about giving him the kiss of death. She had been deprived of loving contact since she was a child and could sense the emptiness it had left in her heart... And she was craving for it.
Logan was still watching her behind his glasses trying to imagine what she was thinking.
Max almost felt like crying. She had thought that day, at Terminal City, when they were up on that hill holding hands, that everything would be OK. She was seeing her peers enjoying their freedom and it felt good. If they had been able to overcome all those obstacles, so would Logan and her... Well, that was what she had thought then, in the euphoria of the moment. That "you and me against the world" thing seemed so appropriate, so possible... But it wasn't. Again she looked at Logan's delicate hands. He saw her doing so and shot up a questioning brow. "I can get them if you want..." Max shook her head... He didn't understand, gloves weren't the problem. She needed more than just his hands.
*Well, Max you'll learn someday what hands can actually do and you might reconsider all your beliefs...* she smiled remembering what Alec had said to her two days ago as he had somehow "overheard" a conversation she was having with Original Cindy. Typical! That guy really was all about THAT!
Thinking about it, it wasn't surprising though. As transgenics, all their senses were enhanced. Knowing how most "normal" Human males had their brains in their pants, male transgenics' libido HAD to be somewhat ... more demanding. Max chuckled to herself at the thought. Shrugging imperceptibly, she brought herself back to business. How the Hell had she gone from thinking about her dramatic "relationship" with Logan to Alec's sex-drive!
She cleared her voice and tucked a straggling lock of hair behind her ear. "Ok, I'll do it..." She smiled a little shakily. "Do you have all the information I need or do I have to do some on the ground research?"
Logan went back to his desk and grabbed a green-covered file. Handing it to Max, he tried to ignore the fact that for the last couple of minutes she had been studying the floor with deep interest making sure not to look directly at him in the process.
At that exact moment, the entrance door was banged open rather noisily. Asha's distinctive whining voice could be heard as she made her way to the living-room. "I can't believe they've confiscated my papers again!" She let out a shrilling noise that was suppose to show the degree of her annoyance but Max thought for a second that a dog was being run over in front of Logan's building.
"It's OK, I'll make a few calls..." Before he could finish his sentence, Logan felt Asha's arm tightening around his neck. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Max rolled her eyes trying to hold back her need to throw up.
"Oh, I hope I didn't barge in on anything important!" Asha finally said as Logan tried to push her away as nicely as he could.
Max just looked at the girl and shook her head in despair... Asha was such a... "How come you always get nabbed, Asha? Don't they teach you anything in your S1W hot-shot intervention team? Or do you only have to bake and sell cookies?"
Asha turned to Max in dismay then back to Logan for help. With her hands on her hips and a hurt look on her face, she spoke up trying to control her anger. "Are you questioning my skills as a soldier, Max?"
"What skills?" The other girl answered back jutting out her chin. "I mean, you've had to get new papers 4 times since I came back... And that was nine months ago! That doesn't say a lot about your professionalism!"
"Sorry, everybody is not a perfectly trained little transgenic!" Asha spat out in full-hatred mode.
"OOuch! That hurts!" Max seemingly unmoved stood up straightening her back in a feline stretch and walked in Logan's direction but stopped in front of Asha. The blond girl looked suddenly terrified, realising that she might have gone too far. Max's glare was unreadable. "Anyway, I'm out of here!" She was looking at Logan this time with disappointment. *He didn't even back me up! * It was always the same story when that blond bitch was involved. Not for the first time she wondered what had been going on between those two while she was at Manticore.
As she was heading for the door, Logan seemed to finally come out of his stupor and called out after Max.
"I think you should get some help for that thing we talked about..." He couldn't believe he was going to say this "Ask Alec maybe?" Max smiled at the thought... Yeah, she'd think about it.
She turned to the other two before walking out.
"Thanks for everything, Logan..."
She put on a high-pitched voice and blurted out "Thank you, thank you, thank you..."

***

The building was buzzing with activity as usual. Mostly people talking and Normal yelling... His entrance almost went unnoticed while bikes where passing by him back and forth. He stood there clad in a black sweater and grey baggies, looking around. A lovely brunette dropped a package at his feet and he picked it up for her. "Thanks, Alec." The girl said sweetly, unconsciously flicking her tongue on her bottom lip as he curved his mouth into a smirk. " Just be careful next time!" Alec was standing a few inches from the girl who seemed unable to move.
"Bip, bip Lexy... I gave you that package ten minutes ago! Brace yourself, close your mouth, say goodbye to Loverboy and MOVE!"
The girl suddenly seemed to snap back to reality, blushing all over as she moved away from her colleague.
"See ya!" She said not looking at him.
Alec just watched her going out and smiled... *Nice view* He thought to himself. Life was good; Life was very good indeed!
Sketchy grabbed him at the elbow dragging him by their lockers where they wouldn't be heard.
"Man, I'm so excited... I couldn't sleep yesterday just thinking about it!!!" Sketchy noticed the lost look on his friend’s face.
"Alec, please don't tell me it was cancelled... Tell me it's still on!" The handsome transgenic was still thinking about Lexy's tight jeans and wasn't quite following what his friend was saying.
"Man, you know! Tonight, the pageant..."
"Oh, yes that!" Alec didn't seem that enthusiastic.
Sketchy gave him a bewildered glance.
"I can't believe you FORGOT about that... I mean, Man... All those girls, who do you think you're trying to fool? Look at me and tell me you're not looking forward to it!"
Alec glanced away and ran his left hand through his tangled hair. When he turned his eyes on Sketchy, that naughty spark was back in the game. His friend punched him in the shoulder appreciatively. "Right on Man!"
Alec couldn't help himself from grinning as Normal brought Sketchy back to reality by yelling that he had to get his incompetent ass out of the building if he wanted to keep his job...*Yes, this was definitively going to be a good day!*
He took his biker's gloves out of his assigned locker when he heard Original Cindy speaking excitedly to somebody. *Max*
"... That new chick... what's her name again... Oh yeah, Lexy! Even her name makes Original Cindy want to get a taste of her!"
Max smiled at O.C. unfulfilled cravings.
"The fact that she's straight doesn't bother you just a little bit?"
The girl smiled knowingly and winked at her favourite transgenic.
"Boo, I told you before... You never wanted to believe me but once a gal gets a glimpse at what Original Cindy can do..." She rolled her eyes meaningfully "Spank it, sugar. My, what a honey!" She sucked her lower lip at the thought.
"And she's got conversation too.... " The girls shot their heads in Alec's direction surprised that he had been listening to their conversation all along. He smiled whilst chomping on a candy bar.
Max bristled at the words. "As if YOU were interested in her conversation!!!"
The young man smirked, obviously having fun at the reaction.
"Really Max, I'm hurt that you would think me so shallow as to not value a girl's intelligence..." OC shrugged in despair trying not to laugh at his cockiness.
Max was up now fumbling in her bag obviously quite annoyed. "You know Alec, you don't spell intelligence *B.O.O.B.S*"
Alec looked at her crossing his arms on his chest and leaning on her locker with an innocent expression on his face.
"Humm..I sense an underlying meaning there. Please do elaborate!"
Max waved her hands in the air in mock surrender, obviously struggling to stay civilised.
Original Cindy chose that moment to speak up.
"Anyway, Boo don't be putting salt in my game" She poked a finger in Alec's chest playfully.
"Ouch!" He was rubbing the spot as if it had really hurt..."Well, I must have read the signals the wrong way then!"
Max sneered getting off the old bench she was sitting on. "Since when can you read any fucking signs, Alec... Another course that I missed at Manticore?"
"What?" Cindy was looking a bit confused.
Alec ignored Max's last comment and smiled smugly in OC's direction.
"Well, it seems that little Lexy is quite keen on bumping into me or dropping things in front of me, not that I’m complaining, mind you!" He bit the skin of his left thumb and winked at Max.
"Have you even considered that the girl might have a balance problem?” She let out, exasperation starting to run up her spine.
Alec just loved pushing her off the edge. It was so easy; he knew exactly which button to push...
"Well, she must be at least psychologically unbalanced if what he thinks is true..." She whispered in her best friend's ear.
"Hey, I heard that!" But Max decided to ignore him and finished putting a few things in her backpack. Alec watched her waiting for the harsh comeback. But when it didn't come, he decided it might be time to go and actually work a little.
"Anyway, have a good day, Ladies!"
As he was walking out of the place, bike in hand, he felt someone brushing his arm. He shifted his head slightly and his eyes stopped on brown ones. He grinned... He couldn't help himself. Max walked out to a retreated spot in the alley and, in a silent glare, asked Alec to do the same.
He looked at her, burying his hands in his pockets. He waited for her to speak up but as the minutes flew by, he decided to start.
"So, Max, I know you can't take your eyes off me, but what else is new?"
*Oh, yeah... And he was so proud of himself!* Max shot him a glare expressing no other feeling than annoyance.
"Well, there's this thing Logan asked me to do..." Alec wasn't looking at her as she was talking, but rather on what was going on behind her, waving at some people passing by or just winking cockily.
She snapped her fingers in front of his face; her left hand on her thigh.
"Is it too hard to ask for two minutes of your attention?" She asked raising her voice, her temper flaring.
"My, my Maxie! You just don't comprehend the principle of sharing, do you? You should really work on that"
"And YOU don't seem to comprehend the principle of me kicking your ass if you don't shut that big thing called your mouth to listen to me... I'd love to work on THAT!"
"Been there, done that... And as much as I appreciate the profound interest you seem to have with my buttocks, Maxie, really, you should check on your manners. Being violent and aggressive is so unladylike."
The young woman just smiled tightly not wanting to let him get to her.
"Anyway, Logan thinks I shouldn't be on my own for this one so he suggested that..."
"Hold it!" His attention was fully fixed on her now, and she didn't feel any better. Actually, those playful green eyes nagging at her made her somewhat uncomfortable.
"I'm sensing a 'I desperately need your help, Alec' coming... Would you just give me a second to settle down so I can fully enjoy your begging me to give you a hand?"
As fast as the last words trailed out of his mouth, he felt a painful cuff at the back of his head.
"There's no way in Hell that I'm gonna beg, we better get that straight now!" Max was struggling hard not to shout.
Alec sighed in resignation. "OK, shoot!"
"There's this guy, a politician or something who's into the commerce of children... And I'm not talking about adoption, if you see what I mean! The thing is money can't buy you brains and the sucker suffers from a pathological lack of 'em." Max paused looking at the young man's curious expression. "It seems M.Martelli keeps a written trace of each of his transactions, some kind of diary, which, in this line of business, is not the smartest thing to do... Especially since we're gonna steal it from him and let Eyes Only go public with the info!"
Alec yawned, boredom clearly written on his face.
"And we would do that because...?"
"Because it would get some mean piece of trash off the streets thus probably saving a few children along the way..."
"So it would only be for the whole 'thou shalt love thy neighbour' thing again... Geez, sometimes I wonder if you were trained to be the perfect soldier or the perfect girl scout!!!"
The young woman smiled sweetly before flashing an amused grin.
"Oh, and I forgot to tell you... That Martelli guy, he was the one to supply Manticore with young and healthy surrogate mothers..."
She let her words sink in as realisation slowly dawned on him. He rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully.
"Right, so, I'm in... What do you want me to do?"
Max felt slightly relived as she had thought for a few seconds that he was going to turn her down. She felt a little guilty for still thinking the worst of him. *Bad habits die hard*.
As arrogant and self-centered as he seemed, his participation to the growth and well-being of the population in Terminal City showed that he cared after all.
"We need to go over a few details before we decide on the plan of action... There's a party we need to attend tomorrow evening, so I suggest we meet this evening at Crash."
Alec's eyes shifted uneasily at the news.
"The thing is, Max, I have a prior engagement for this evening... "
She waggled her eyebrows in surprise.
"And may I ask what can be so important to prevent you from planning a life-saving mission with me?"
His soft pinkish lips pursed into a naughty smile.
"I've been chosen to be a judge at some contest..."
"What kind?" Max had the feeling she knew where this was leading.
"A beauty pageant actually... Nothing kinky I can assure you!" Alec looked at her squarely with an innocent glare that anyone would have taken as genuine. Anyone but Max..
"Right... And where does it take place?" She didn't even care but her mouth seemed to have a mind of its own, dropping question after question.
Alec was rocking from one foot to the other now, biting the skin off his thumb.
He smiled at the situation. Here he was, the perfect soldier, trained to be a killing machine, supposedly able to face up to any harsh method of questioning... And yet, the look she was giving him made him feel like a five-year-old caught red-handed stealing sweet’s from the candy jar. He straightened up, an amused smirk on his face. He let his eyes rest on the beautiful face in front of him... The golden texture of her skin, the deep darkness of her stare, the fleshy outline of her mouth... A lump was forming in his throat and he swallowed hard before speaking up.
"Oh, you know... In that club I took you to that day we wanted to save the little mermaid."
Max gaped in astonishment. "Nothing kinky, huh? You're gonna do some quiz test maybe?" She could only imagine what was going to happen. All those girls jigging up and down in front of Alec in the hope of getting enough of his attention to at least win the prize and maybe get him to ride them home... She didn't like the light pang she felt in her chest at the thought.
Alec was still watching her in barely suppressed amusement. Max just sighed giving up.
"I don't even know why I bothered... You're so unreliable!" She knew it was a low shot but she wasn't in the mood to spare his feelings right then. She turned her back to him, slowly walking away, swaying her thigh’s in that style that was only hers.
"I'm a street cat, pretty boy... I'm used to working on my own!"
***
The event had been the talk of the town for several weeks and the place was packed.
The girl in front of him was doing things with her body that even he, with all his transgenic suppleness, would have thought impossible to do. He was twisting his head from left to right following her moves as she was stretching her left leg beneath her armpit to let it rest under her chin.
Sketchy beside him seemed to share his amazement.
"Man, can you imagine how useful that move could be in her day-to-day life?" "Night-to-night, you mean?" Alec smiled at his friend but his heart wasn't in it. He had not even tried to assess all those girls' "sexual" potential as he usually did. At first, he had been really excited when the manager had asked him to be a judge at the contest. Only a few people had that kind of privilege but he had been quite a regular for the last few months.
He had expected that it would be funny but it was all becoming really boring instead.
And he was beginning to feel bad about turning down Max's call for help. He ran a hand through his hair suddenly pulling hard out of frustration. *Unreliable* He cringed at the word. He would have gone without a second thought if she had asked nicely instead of bitching around.... Oh, but no! Being friendly with Alec was a foreign concept to her. *Serve her right!* He thought, his pride coming on top of the guilt he was beginning to feel. Next time she wanted something from him, she'd think twice before addressing him like a dog. So he had not always been a perfect friend, but since they at spoken up on the Space Needle, he had thought that her bad-ass attitude would lessen somehow. He sneered to himself and Sketchy shot a curious glance at him.
Oh, yeah! Things had changed... After the events that took place at TC, she just kept giving him the cold shoulder, obviously perfecting the bloody "Ice Queen" character. His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing.
"Alec?"
*Damn, not him!*
"Yeah, what's up Logan ?" His eyes were wandering on a slim red-head dancing in front of him in a green dress that showed more than it hid, with high-heeled sandals that spelled "no fear of heights".
"Is Max with you ? Can I talk to her?"
"Nope" He usually tried to be nice but he didn't feel like wasting time with small talk.
"Huh, no she's not with you or not I can't talk to her".
Alec sighed. The guy was so dense sometimes. "Both... One leading to the other actually."
"Oh, you sure? I tried her phone but she's not answering..." Logan's voice was wary. He hadn't been able to get a hold of her since she had left rather hastily from his apartment that morning.
*So she wasn't answering to her hero's phone calls? Interesting...*
"Listen Cale, she's an adult you know! I don't think she needs a nanny ... And lately she’s got so much on her mind what with the leadership of Terminal City and all. Maybe she just wants a little time for herself right now."
"Yeah, you might be right..." Logan could hear the music in the background and the distinctive sound of ... Women's laughter?
Alec was winking at the next contestant, some kind of cowgirl who was doing interesting things with a rope, when he heard his interrupters voice again. "So, did Max get a chance to talk to you about the Martelli situation?" Alec really wanted to get this over with without sounding rude.
"Yeah., yeah..."
"So what's the deal?" Logan felt relieved at the knowledge that she wouldn't be working alone on this.
"She's going in by herself..." Alec really felt like hanging up on him 'by accident'.
"What?! Are you both crazy? She can't do this by herself ... Has she shown you the blue-prints and the lay out of the guards?"
"Actually, I was unavailable this evening so she didn't give me all the data." Logan laughed sourly.
"Unavailable, huh? You can be so unreliable sometimes, Alec..."
And the line went dead.

***

"...Don’t you agree?" Max was waiting for her friend's approbation. Original Cindy just nodded, not wanting to contradict her, and took a sip of her drink. Max was ordering her eighth beer, fidgeting on her stool, fingers lightly tapping on the bar, her state of agitation at its peek. When she was finally served, OC decided it was time to clear things up.
"So let me get this straight... You' re upset because you don't know if you're strong enough to face that bitch preventing you from touching your man Logan, with whom you used to be 'not like that' before telling him - for his own protection of course - that you were having a mad affair with our boy, the transgenic smart ass. Right?"
Max was listening, eagerly nodding at each of her friend's sentences.
"And then you've got your brother Alec, who actually isn't your brother but who looks like one of them anyhow, who represents everything that you despise but whom you still chose to have an imaginary fling with..."
"Well, it's not exactly..."
Original Cindy just brought her hand up to silence her.
"Let me finish! But now you're regretting not taking the opportunity of getting busy with that flat-out evil Alpha Male, especially since you've realised that Logan might have shared a little more than his time and meals with that Asha girl." She took the time to drink the rest of her pint and sighed. "Yeah, Boo... You do have some issues!"
Max just kept looking at her with wide eyes.
"Cin, you've got it all wrong! I don't want to get into Alec's pants... The idea is just gross and creepy!"
OC rolled her eyes. "Yeah right!"
They were interrupted by the bartender's voice booming over the music and everybody else's conversation.
"Ladies and gentlemen... It's time for the drinking contest!" Gasps of surprise ran through the crowd at the announcement. "Our man Spike..." He pointed to a tall bald man, weighing around 250 pounds, and grinning with a bestial glint in his eyes. "He's been our champion six times in a row and has yet to be defeated... Any volunteers up to the challenge." There was a loud buzzing in the room but nobody seemed ready to step up.
That's when OC saw Max remove her leather jacket and stand up.
"That's exactly what I need... Something to clear my mind!" She tied her hair into a pony-tail and winked at Original Cindy.
"Boo, stop that! You've had enough drinks for tonight!"
Max bent a little to whisper in her friend’s ear.
"Just keep my seat warm... It'll only take a minute." And then she was off to the other end of the bar, walking slowly as the others ceased their babbling. Max stopped in front of Spike and looked at him from beneath half-closed eyes. "OK, Joe... Let's do this!" The ladies in the room started to applaud while the men looked at one another with quizzical glances.
The bartender took out 12 shot-glasses, placing six in front of Max and six in front of the champion.
"The rules are simple. The first one who throws up, faints or falls asleep loses."
Spike looked at Max's little frame from head to toe and groaned. "Come on Joe, you can't be serious... Did you look at her?"
The man smiled at him as he put a bottle of the chosen alcohol in front of the contestants.
"And tonight it will be... Tequila!" Someone in the crowd just screamed "AArrrrrrrriba!" and the game began.

***

As he entered Crash, Alec noticed that the pool table had been deserted and that everyone was squeezing against the bar.
*Drinking contest !" He assumed with a smile... But then he froze when he saw her.
He thought for a while that his eyes were playing tricks on him but no, it was really Max up there, drinking like a sailor. *What the heck was going on!* He spotted Original Cindy and slowly made his way to her. She looked completely panic-stricken finally he was facing her. Her chocolate-brown hand came to rest on his forearm.
"Thank God your here! Max has gone out of her fucking mind! She'll win for sure but at what price? I'm not sure I'll be able to bring her back home in her state."
Alec's eyes didn't leave Max even when he answered.
"Don't worry, OC! Our metabolism is faster than any of yours... It takes a lot to make us drunk! Trust me on that one, it can be a real curse sometimes!" He was trying to calm her down, but he didn't like the turn of events either. "I know that!" Cindy whispered loudly in Alec's ear as the cheering was growing louder around them. "The thing is, she didn't exactly start the contest sober!" Understanding suddenly hit him. He looked in Max’s direction and saw her flushed face as she was swallowing her eleventh shot. He had to stop that! He tried to get to her but people were pinning him to the other side of the bar. And then, he saw King Kong going down.
"The challenger wins!"
People started to applaud as Max bowed to her public. Joe gave her a bottle of pre-pulse Champagne as her prize before she was carried away by the crowd. She kept on laughing loudly, clearly enjoying herself. The X5 was completely mesmerised at the sight. The music was turned on again and Max was put down. She began moving to the rhythm of the music, rubbing her back against some of the guys around her, still holding her bottle.
OC pulled Alec's arm in alarm.
"We have to act fast before she begins stripping in the middle of the dance floor!"
The young man looked at her in shock. Cindy brushed his arm soothingly. "Believe me, you don't want to know..."
Somehow, Alec and OC were able to get her out without any problems. She had been a bit disappointed at having to leave but was now excitedly talking to Original Cindy. She had a hard time putting one foot in front of the other but her friends were there to help her through every step.
Alec stopped and removed her arm from around his neck to put it on OC's other shoulder.
"You both stay here while I get the car."
Max watched him walking away and then looked at Original Cindy with a naughty flame dancing in her eyes. She licked her lips playfully.
"You were right Cin, Manticore did know how to make them yummy!"
The other girl laughed.
"I didn't exactly say that but I think I'm getting your point!"
"I mean, did you check that piece of ass?!" OC went into shock. "OK, I'm not hearing this... You've got quite a mouth on you, young lady!"
Max pouted. "Do you really think there's something wrong with me not having taken the chance to jump him senseless?”
Original Cindy couldn't believe her ears. "Oh, come on Max. It's normal, we're humans, not beasts, and you love Logan therefore you've never had any reason to go after your 'FRIEND' Alec." She saw headlights closing in. "And now shut up if you don't want to embarrass yourself."
OC laid Max in the back of the car and went to sit in the front seat next to their driver. They headed back to the girls' apartment in silence, relief finally washing over them.

***

Original Cindy pushed the door open and switched the lights on before letting Alec enter with Max sleeping soundly in his arms. When he laid her on the couch, she didn't even wake up.
"Well, I think I'm gonna get going, Cin... It's late and..."
OC put her index finger on his mouth.
"Oh, come on Romeo... Just sit and I'll get you a cuppa coffee. That's the least I can do after this!" She said pointing to Max's lifeless body. "'Kay."
Alec let himself fall onto a seat next to the couch and smiled at the sight in front of him. It felt good being with her... *when she's asleep!* a little voice piped up in his head.
After a few minutes, Max moved a little, rubbing her feet on the couch in the process. The young man stood up to remove her shoes as she was beginning to spread dirt on the quilt lying under her.
He turned his back to her and started untying her laces.
"I think you were right all along." Max's voice sounded a bit sleepy but the husky tone she used made him turn around in surprise.
"What?"
She purred, stretching herself on the couch but not trying to get up. She smiled suggestively at Alec, her eyes raking his body thoroughly.
"You know, about that obsession I have with your butt... And if you keep wiggling it at me like you just did, God help me, I'm not answering for my acts!"
Alec stood there in shock as Original Cindy tripped on her way back with the cups in her hands.
"Boo!"
"What?!"
OC carefully laid the cups and what was left in them on the table in front of Max. She put her hands on her thighs with a reproving look on her face. "OK, that's it bed-time for you, Pussycat!" As Original Cindy made an attempt to get closer, Max pulled Alec's hand with all her strength causing him to tumble on top of her.
"Hello gorgeous!" Max winked at him. The X5 just kept staring at the stranger in front of him. *How many drinks had she drunk?*
His struggle to untangle himself from her failed as she twisted her body to let her head rest on his stomach.
"Wanted to go somewhere maybe?" She wasn't ready to let go.
OC bent to try and pull her up but Max resisted the assault quite easily. Her friend growled in frustration.
"Would you stop that?! You need to get some sleep if you don't want to feel like you've been hit by a steam-roller later on."
Max pouted, a little voice coming out of her throat. "I don't want to go to bed unless he comes with me..." She pointed in Alec's direction to make herself clear.
Original Cindy raised her hands to her face in resignation. "That's it, Boo, I give up! Just don't be coming to cry on Cindy's shoulder tomorrow if you do anything stupid..."
Alec, who had never stayed silent for 10 straight minutes, finally decided to come out of his muteness.
"Don't worry Cin, go to bed..." OC gave him a suspicious look. "I'll just stay here with her, on the couch...I promise I'll behave."
The woman sighed for the hundredth time that night.
"It's not you I'm worried about... It's her."
Alec nodded and watched Original Cindy enter her bedroom. Looking down at Max, he met her unflinching gaze.
"So that means it's just you and me..." She whispered, eyes half closed.
"Yep." The X5's throat was getting really dry.
Her hands were softly caressing the inner skin of his forearm. *Don't forget to breathe, you moron!*
He straightened his back to compose himself and pulled her wrists away from him to let them rest on her own stomach.
"Now sleep!"
Max didn't try to touch him again but nuzzled against his chest as close as possible, smiling with satisfaction.