"Huh, Sir... I think we've got a problem..."
"Really? And would it be too much, next time, to warn us before we actually get busted!" He muttered harshly under his breath.
The guests hadn't noticed anything yet, too engrossed in applauding Alec’s spectacular performance.
"The house is surrounded! Do you want us to intervene?"
Alec came down off the stage, shaking people's hands without even looking at them. His green eyes were focused on Max and the man who held her captive.
"Stay put and sit tight! We'll try to do this the easy way... What's the best exit we have?"
Alec was getting closer to his goal now, careful not to attract too much attention, which was hard what with all the old married women handing him their personal cards.
"Library window. Third door after the reception room. East Side. Once out, take 60° North. Team 3 will be waiting for you in the grove..."
"Ah, 494... We’ve been waiting for you!"
Alec clenched his fists but didn't let anything show on his face.
"Well, Ames, you know me...The wild-party freak!"
White was holding Max firmly at the elbow. She was obviously trying to get away from his grip but didn't want to cause a scene right away. He could see her eyes darting all over, calculating the odds.
"I was telling 452 earlier that you hadn't lost your touch either..." The cold man grinned a little. "But then again, that is why you were so convincing on the Berrisford project. Am I right?" He really was enjoying the situation.
"I hear you even got some compensation from the daughter... Rachel was it?" A sadistic flame was burning in his eyes.
Max saw Alec's jaws tightening and his eyes beginning to harden with fury.
White arranged his blue tie with one hand.
"Oh, 'hit a sore spot did I?" His lips pursed in a poor attempt at a smile.
In a second, Alec pinned him to the wall behind them holding him by the collar.
"Don't you... Ever... mention her name AGAIN!" Alec's voice was low but full of anger.
The familiar didn't flinch, meeting his glance squarely, perfectly relaxed.
"Some would think you're cute, but you're just pathetic... Both of you." He shook his head. "You think you can have a normal life someday, with a perfect companion and a little house with a white picket fence... You're wrong. Deep down, you know you'll always be Manticore's genetically twisted lab-rats. You make me sick!"
But Max wasn't listening anymore; she was just staring at Alec. Hatred and darkness had taken control of his whole body, and it chilled her to the bone. She had seen those crazy eyes once before....
"Alec ?" She put her small hand on his arm, but he pushed her away. Letting go of his initial prey, he gave her a haunted look that held no human warmth at all.
"Alec ! " She said a little louder this time. It seemed to bring him out his dazed state.
White casually wiped imaginary dust from his perfectly tailored business suit and laughed.
"See what I mean ? You can’t fight instincts. It’s in your blood... You’ve been created to kill..." Max was boiling but people were watching them.
"And, 452... You should be careful with your little pal here. 494 is not so different from 493... It’s in his genes; he’s a natural born killer! One of these days he’ll just snap... "
Max was examining Alec’s expression, which was perfectly blank.
" But since we’re taking you back... " At the same moment, the alarm went off echoing loudly through the entire house. People started running everywhere.
Max felt her hand being pulled through the crowd. Gunshots were being exchanged outside.
Alec had reacted instantly to the diversion. He was full of adrenaline, his mind running everywhere like quicksilver, calculating angles, looking for the safest way out.
They walked quickly down the short corridor, keeping to the sides until they reached the library. But they were met at the door by a group of guards.
Heavily built and equally armed, the four men didn't seem open to negotiation.
Max turned to Alec questioningly.
"Familiars?" She mouthed. He shook his head.
Max straightened herself and faced their opponents. She flashed a smile.
"Do you know where the bathroom is?" She purred. Alec rolled his eyes.
They heard the click of a long thin knife being flicked out as one of the men stepped forward in their direction, holding a pair of handcuffs.
"Nice try, girly... But you'll have to come with us!"
Max shrugged and winked at her partner. "Alright then... Street rules, no tap out!"
The guard never saw the foot that flew through the air as Max swivelled 180 degrees. The knife went flying out of his hand and flew across the floor. A flat arm came down across his neck and he slumped to the ground in a heap, looking like a sack of potatoes. Max stepped over his body and headed towards Alec who was being attacked by the others. With incredible speed he disarmed two of them and had both their heads under his arms. He tightened his grip waiting for them to pass out. But the third attacker held his gun out ready to shoot.
Max jumped in the way, grabbing hold of the weapon and kneeing him in the stomach. She punched him straight in the throat and saw his eyes bulging out of his head as his face turned red. Bullets sprayed across the wall, shattering a mirror and screeching off the light-fittings She staggered backwards, her left hand holding her right shoulder. The gunman fell sideways and crashed to the floor. Max stared at the wound gasping as the pain hit her.
Alec let go of his prisoners who could barely breath anyway and ran to her side with a worried frown. He quickly checked out the injury and without hesitation tore a piece of his shirt off to use as a bandage.
"OK, let's go!" He helped her up and beckoned her to the library. She reached the window on the far side of the room and was on her knees even before Alec had closed the door. He joined her and they stared out at a deserted park. Alec slipped out of the window ahead of Max to check their surroundings.
Dogs were barking to their left but there was no one to be seen in any direction. Hearing the crunch of heavy boots on broken glass Alec put a finger to his mouth then pointed to a group of trees where the spinney began. His companion nodded. They covered the distance to safety in less than three seconds and ducked behind the bushes and waited. Men were running around the estate firing on everything that moved. Max closed her eyes praying that nobody got hurt. This was supposed to be an in and out mission. No sweat. What had gone wrong ?
After five minutes, Alec tapped on her shoulder and indicated that they had to get moving. They walked for a little while heading deeper into the woods when Alec suddenly stopped. Max was beginning to feel dizzy and was leaning on him to steady herself. She focused her eyes in the direction that Alec was looking in.
A young man dressed in camouflage uniform was closing in. She barely had time to recognise him.
"Biggs?" She said weakly. As she passed out.
"Get out of my way you genetically empowered idiots!" DeDe screamed as soon as they walked in. The news had spread rapidly in TC and people had crammed together at the entrance door to check out what was happening. The blond woman pushed everyone aside with loud groan. She ran to Alec who was carrying an unconscious Max.
"What the Hell happened?" She stopped shouting as soon as she saw the shaken expression on his face.
Two transgenics behind her had brought a stretcher and were waiting to get the patient to their improvised operating block. DeDe checked Max’s pulse.
"It's alright! You can let her go, we're taking care of her."
Alec did as he was told but held onto Max’s hand while they wheeled her away.
DeDe glanced at Joshua who was standing there staring in shock.
"C'm'on Big Fella, go get Gem... Tell her there's an emergency!"
The dogman badly wanted to howl.
"Little fella's going to be OK?"
The woman tried to smile reassuringly and patted the side of his face.
"Yes, don't worry... Now go!"
She ran after the crew and started to question Alec again.
"I heard on the radio that she was shot in the shoulder... We're X-Soldiers! That kind of wound doesn't make us loose consciousness. So what else happened?"
DeDe held her hand up to prevent him from going in the operating room. Alec ran a hand through his hair and laid intense eyes on the woman standing in front of him.
"I don't know! I think the bullet’s still in there but it's nothing she can’t handle... I thought about it on the way back here and I don't get it either.
Something's wrong with her heart maybe?"
The woman shook her head.
"No, the transplant was a complete success... Zack's heart was perfect."
Gem came running up, holding her baby.
"Let's go!" The little woman said, shoving the child in Alec's arms.
"But..." The women were gone.
Waiting outside would have accomplished little, and with the little girl squirming in his arms he decided to find a quiet place to get her to settle down. Grumbling under his breath, Alec directed himself decisively to his office with Joshua close behind. The X5 lay on the shabby couch, bringing his knees up; he let the child sit on his stomach with her tiny head resting on his legs. Small sparkling honey coloured eyes stared back at him.
"So what do we do now?"
Joshua sat on the chair in front of the desk.
"Wait, I guess... But Alec needs to take care of Hope." The young man paused, believing for a moment that he was being sent a message. Alec looked back at the baby. Her little fingers were gripping his index finger tightly.
"Hope... So Gem and Dalton finally agreed on a name." He remembered that just before he’d left from TC with Max and a few others, the two had been "debating" loudly and frequently on the subject. The transhuman nodded.
"Yeah, very important... She the first child of the Freak Nation!" He smiled sweetly, repeating what he had been told by the proud parents.
Alec was rocking Hope with his legs looking at her with amazement. No barcode. She was a miracle and she would be free.
The three of them stayed there in silence for several minutes, lost in their respective thoughts. Slowly, eyelids drooped downwards, unable to resist the tempting call of sleep.
Gem and DeDe had finally come out of the O.R., tired but relieved to know that Max was out of danger. Mole informed them of Alec's whereabouts and the two women hurried to give him the good news.
They knocked on the door and when nobody responded, they pushed it open.
Gem walked to the couch to pick her daughter up but then stopped with a smile.
"Couldn't you just eat him on the spot?" She whispered in her friend's direction.
"Yeah, I know what you mean... He is yummy, even by X's standards!" DeDe licked her lips to stress her comment.
"Anyway... I'm hooked on my own little X-Man, so you can keep him!" They both started to giggle waking up Alec and Joshua in the process.
"What the Hell's so funny?" The young man said grumpily.
Joshua stood up and bit his nails in anguish.
"Max, OK now?"
DeDe cleared her throat while Gem looked down at her feet.
"Don't worry guys... False alarm! Max is perfectly fine..."
Alec raised a brow, the baby still soundly asleep in his arms.
"I'm not a doctor... but people don't usually faint when they're fine! That’s for norms, Max is an X5 !"
"Yeah, well, I wanted to talk to you about that..." The blond transgenic made a sign to Gem. The woman delicately took Hope and turned to Joshua.
"C'm'on Big Fella! I need your help to prepare this girl's formula..."
The dogman followed her out eagerly.
"So what is it?" Alec moved into a sitting position and rubbed his eyes.
DeDe was walking back and forth in front of him, obviously confronted with some kind of dilemma. She suddenly stopped and took the chair that Joshua had vacated.
"OK, what I'm going to tell you should stay behind these walls..."
She paused meaningfully and held her hands tightly in front of her.
"You must have heard the rumours before, when we were still in Manticore, that a few children of the first X5 generation had some kind of genetical deficiency causing them to have severe seizures, uncontrollable shakes and high fever.They were supposedly eliminated one by one..." DeDe coughed with discomfort.
"I talked with Logan right after I came out of the O.R. And I learnt some interesting things..."
Alec's face was unreadable.
"Max was amongst the lucky ones... Actually, that's why her unit decided to escape. They had been able to cover for her for a while, but one day somebody discovered their secret. They didn't have a choice; they couldn't let their sister be killed. So they ran away from the only place they recognised as their home just to save her life..."
Still no reaction.
"Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe 452 hasn’t had any seizure’s since her last stay at Manticore. So my guess is they tried to fix her up. And it seems they were successful enough not to warrant further examination."
DeDe was beginning to wonder if Alec was listening at all.
"So how did they do that? I've thought about it for a while and remembered a conversation I had had with her a few weeks after Hope was born. Gem was there telling us women’s stuff... " DeDe smiled as she remembered.
"At some point, Max started telling us about her wild days and more specifically how she dealt with her heat periods."
At this Alec finally showed his first sign of interest when he questioningly raised an eyebrow.
"You do remember that our girl has cat DNA, don't you? And if I believe a third of everything that Biggs has been telling me, you've experienced first hand the side effects of that kind of DNA on female Xs."
Alec didn't answer but the smile he gave her was answer enough.
"Anyway, I clearly recall her saying that she was relieved that Manticore had taken care of the problem. But the thing is, I don't think they did do it on purpose. I mean, she was in the breeding program, and their best chance of getting her pregnant was by waiting for her to be in heat..."
DeDe snapped her fingers.
"That's when I made the connection... Whatever they did to solve the shaking issue stopped Max's reproduction cycle as well. And there's only one thing that can do that when you're young and healthy.. Flaws in your hormonal system! They certainly lulled some part of her hypothalamus to regulate the adrenaline and prevent the seizures but somehow, they must have messed up with the part controlling the luteinic hormones flow as well, thereby stopping completely her ovulation."
Alec sighed heavily.
"Could you just get to the point?"
The blond X5 smirked, happy to have his full attention.
"Max's actual condition is a direct consequence of all this. Any normal woman would have had medical complications a long time ago with her test results, but being a transgenic, her metabolism has been able to palliate the hormonal maladjustments for a while... Until now."
Alec bit his lower lip, processing the information.
"Alright, we know where the problem is. Can we fix it?"
"Well, that's another thing I wanted to discuss with you. I think we could start with hormonal treatment to see what happens and then, if it's inconclusive we could go for surgery."
Alec stood up in relief.
"That sounds good, why not start now?"
DeDe looked down.
"I don't know if Max will agree because if I do start the treatment, it will reset her ovulating cycle. And from what I've heard, she didn't deal very well with her heats and I'm not talking PMS issues here."
"Then wait for her to wake up and let her make the decision, otherwise we won’t hear the end of it. What happens if she refuses?"
"Basically not much except she'll keep losing weight and all her feminine curves. The only thing that worries me is that we won't be able to control the fainting; it will just come and go... Not too good for a leading soldier, huh?"
Max woke up to the sound of the monitor bipping to the rhythm of her heartbeat. She didn't open her eyes right away, appreciating the peacefulness surrounding her. But then again, she had the last remainders of her dream to put her in a good mood.
"Alec..." She whispered with satisfaction.
She heard somebody cough loudly to her left. She froze and her eyes shot open. Original Cindy was looking at her with a repressed grin.
*Had they heard...?* She thought, panic crawling up her throat.
By the expression on everybody's faces, she instantly knew the answer?
Logan was staring at her angrily while DeDe and Joshua kept their eyes firmly stuck on the ceiling.
What gave her goose-bumps though was somebody else's gaze.
*Damn!* She lamented inwardly.
Alec was leisurely leaning on the wall at the opposite side of the room. He eyed her intensely, arms crossed on his chest. She shivered.
DeDe was the first to break the tension invading the room. She moved to Max's bedside and held a flashlight to her patient's eyes.
"How do you feel?"
"OK, I suppose... Considering I've been shot!"
The blond woman took a thermometer out of her pocket and shoved it in Max's mouth checking her watch.
After a few minutes, she wrote down the results and made a few notes.
"So, how many days do I have left?" The weakened X5 said trying to lighten the atmosphere.
Joshua took a step forward and took his friend's hand in his.
"Little fella's fine... DeDe and Gem took good care of you!" He gave her one of his disarming fully-toothed grin. Max patted the side of his cheek and twisted a lock of his hair around her index finger.
"I'm sure they did..." She looked at her "Doctor" gratefully.
"I have a few questions though..." She said as low as she could. She knew the woman would pick up the message.
DeDe cleared her throat and turned to the others.
"Alright people, visiting time's over. The lady here is glad you cared enough to come around, but she's still recovering and needs some rest."
OC blew a kiss at Max and walked away followed by Joshua.
Logan made an attempt to get closer but DeDe blocked his way.
"Everyone, I said." She didn't raise her voice but clearly discussion wasn't an option.
Logan threw a dirty look in Alec's direction on his way out.
Alec didn't move an inch. DeDe rolled her eyes and sighed.
"You guys are so dense... Come on Pretty Boy, step out before I kick your butt..."
"And I would gladly give her a hand..." Max said hoarsely, eyebrow raised.
"Why am I not surprised?" Alec straightened and tucked his hands in his pockets.
"You girls have an attitude problem... Xs are supposed to respect their superiors, didn't they teach you anything in Manticore?"
He walked towards the women and stopped at the end of the bed, his face seemingly serious.
"I knew this one was hopeless." He said pointing at Max. "But you, DeDe... I expected so much more from you. You should learn how to pick your friends..."
DeDe tried to control her giggling. "Oh, puuuu - lease!"
Max on the other hand snorted. "I only show respect to people who deserve it..."
Alec shook his head in reprobation.
"Ok, I give up... You two are out of reach!"
Laughter rang in the room as the last visitor left.
Max sobered up and took her friend's hand. She squeezed it anxiously.
"Go on DeDe... I wanna hear everything!"
Logan was waiting outside Alec's office not looking at the people around him. Everybody knew who he was but they all passed by without acknowledging his presence.
They had received instructions not to lay a finger on him. Politeness however wasn't required.
Mole entered the hall and the others stiffened at the sight of the high-ranking officer. A few youngsters even saluted him along the way. The transhuman smiled slightly.
He spotted the four-eyed troll waiting by himself and decided to join him.
"Cale, Cale, Cale... To what do we owe the displeasure of your company?" He said sweetly, blowing smoke in the man's face.
"Let me guess... The lovely 452! Ah... So tell me, how is Poison Ivy?"
Logan pursed his lips into a fake smile.
"Max's fine, she’s a tough girl..."
"The Magic of genetics!" The two men turned around abruptly at the sound of Alec's voice.
The X5 passed between them and pushed his door open. He sat at his desk and took out a brown notebook. He pointed to the chair in front of him.
"Logan take a seat... Mole, see you at lunch!"
The reptile-looking man was about to protest when Alec firmly raised his hand. "Close the door behind you, would you!" He wasn't in the mood to argue.
When they were finally alone, Alec pushed the notebook in Logan's direction.
"I hope you don't mind... I took the liberty of reading a few pages. Interesting stuff." The older man started to scan the pages as if he was able to process all of the information at once.
He pushed up his eyeglasses and smiled.
"You did a great job... You could have done a better one with Max though!"
The X5 pushed himself back and levelled his feet on the desk.
"Log, buddy... You know what, you're completely right! We both know she's never counted on you to do that..."
Logan stood up indignation.
"What's that supposed to mean?" He was boiling inside.
"Cale, spare me the 'hurt diva' attitude, would you ? I'm not in the mood... Just remember this: I'm not the one who has been sending Max on high-risk missions for the past two years..."
Alec started rocking his seat thoughtfully eyes locked on the man before him.
"Sit and listen to me now, instead of bitching around. You've got what you want, now are you ready to help me in return?"
Logan tensed his jaws and sighed.
"I guess I owe you that much... What can I do for you?"
"This has to stay between you and me... I don't want Max to know any of this."
The older man nodded and slowly sat back on his chair.
"As I told you earlier, I did a little reading... Our guy was really thorough in keeping notes. Retirement insurance I suppose... Anyway, something caught my attention in all this pimping business."
Alec took the notebook and opened it to a particular page.
"For the past six months, Martelli has been providing girls to an unidentified group only referred to as..."
"Project 5493..." Logan looked up in astonishment.
"Yeah, I know the feeling... Strange coincidence, huh?"
The young transgenic rolled his shoulders and rubbed his eyes.
"Anyway, I want to check it out, just in case... Could you work on that for me?"
The journalist stood up and took the "precious" notebook. His eyes were hard when he finally answered.
"I might owe you for this one but shall I remind you how much you owe me. How many times you blew my chances to be with the woman I love... Now, I'm gonna do this, not because of you but because if you're right, I'm sure Max would never forgive me for not checking it out!" He walked to the door and turned the knob.
"Me, myself and I... I might have grown up in a cold and uncaring environment but there's one thing I've learnt about love: A relationship usually consists of two people...... So tell me Logan, why is it that when you talk about your relationship with Max, you always seem to be talking only about you? It's always what you feel, what you need, what you endure, what Max might do to you... Do you ever think about how hard it is for her as well? Or are you too busy thinking about how to save the world?"
The older man opened the door.
"At least, I'm not a self-centred and uncaring low life that nobody loves or respect’s..." He walked out.
The cool wind of the early morning whipped her face. She felt all her muscles coming to life. Her mind was focused solely on the motion of her feet. She didn't even notice the pinkish shade of the sky as the sun began its ascension. Alec watched her from the entrance gate. He was relieved to see how fast she had regained her strength... He felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around he came face-to-face with a frowning DeDe.
"How long has she been out there?"
"I don't know.. I've just arrived. Ask Josh, he's been keeping an eye on her constantly for the past few days." Alec leaned in to whisper at the woman's ear. "I guess Logan will have to accept a little competition..."
DeDe punched him in the shoulder.
"Stop making fun of Joshua... He's been worried sick about Max. He's just making sure that she recovers properly. Behaving like a friend, you know? Which reminds me... Where have you been hiding these days?"
The young man puffed some air out of his mouth.
"Well, you know... Had to work like any normal citizen! Would you believe I haven't seen a single cop since we did our little show? Not a word, even in the news! So it seems I'm still allowed to roam the streets of Seattle freely." "Yeah, right!"
The blond woman looked in her patient's direction.
"That girl is so hard-headed... I told her she shouldn't push too hard for now!" She brought her fingers to her lips and whistled loudly. Several transgenic turned around with puzzled looks, but at least it caught Max's attention, she turned and started running back. "DeDe, my dear, as much as I love your company... I gotta blaze. Time's money!" Alec didn't wait for her to answer and disappeared. CeCe sighed not wanting to think about what she was going to tell the smiling X5 that was approaching.
*Finally, the last package of the day!* Alec thought as the old lady gently placed her signature on the delivery note.
"Thank you. Have a nice day!"
He knew he should have gone back to his apartment but since they had been allowed to come out of TC, it didn't feel as homey anymore...
All he wanted to do right now was to ride back to his office and drink the bottles of Scotch he had locked in the drawer of his desk. He needed to clear his head.
Their last encounter with White had him thinking a lot about his future. And it scared him. He thought about Rachel, he thought about Ben. Was the love of killing really written in his DNA? Would he turn into a blood-thirsty psychopath like his twin...
And even if he didn't, maybe Logan was right... He was just an uncaring low-life that nobody loved.
But in way, it suited him just fine. After what had happened with the only love of his life, he wasn't sure he wanted to experience love ever again. Why did he feel so bad then?
Somehow, through his meditation, he was able to ride back to Jam Pony. He left his bike there not acknowledging any of his colleagues. Outside his motorcycle was waiting for him.
Yeah, he definitely needed a drink.
The old scientist took the last tube of Logan’s blood.
"That should be enough for now... The elements of information you gave are valuable but I’ll need to take some blood from the carrier as well."
He efficiently rubbed the man's arm with a cotton wool soaked in alcohol.
Logan pulled his sleeve down and nodded.
"I don't think Max will mind. She's been wishing for a cure just as much as I have." He couldn't wait to tell her the news. He didn't want to get her all excited but he really felt that they had a good chance this time.
The Russian was neatly rearranging his medical tools in a leather bag not giving his «client» a second glance.
"You don't know how much this means to us, Professor Koumakhova. Thank you."
Logan joyfully offered his hand to the scientist. The old man looked down and hesitated. He finally extended his hand without even thinking of removing his sterilised gloves.
"Yes, yes. As I told you before, I'm happy to help..." Nothing on his face showed that he felt such an emotion.
They were interrupted by the phone ringing.
"If you'll excuse me, I'll take that in my office. Will you be able to find the way out?" Logan didn't like to leave the man that way but on the other hand he didn't feel quite comfortable around him either.
"Of course.." The man bowed respectfully and put the last of his tools in his bag.
Logan rolled to the living-room and came back with a roll of dollar bills. "This should cover the expenses for now."
The person calling obviously didn't want to give it up and the younger man hurried to his desk.
"...Alright, what do you have for me?..."
The professor didn't need to hear more and didn't care anyway. He didn't feel comfortable in this place and only wanted to get out. He finally removed his gloves and threw them in a trash-can nearby.
He smoothed out his suit and picked up his bag. On his way out, he stopped in front of the entrance mirror and took one last look at his hair.
"...As long as I get payed..." He whispered with a bored pout.
Everybody was asleep except for the two or three squads patrolling outside in turns. It was just perfect. He brought his glass up to his brow and closed his eyes letting his mind wonder off.
The hazy light coming from the old lampshade on his desk gave the whole place a mysterious and shadowy atmosphere.
Darkness. He loved darkness. And right then it fitted his mood perfectly.
He was beginning to feel fuzzy and enjoyed the sense of appeasement overcoming him; though he didn't want to think about the quantity he had swallowed down to get there.
This was all he needed: some peace and a glass or 50 of this yellowish liquor that put fire in his throat.
He took another sip and felt the warmth rising to his chest.
He heard light footsteps and his door open.
He knew who it was without even opening his eyes.
"What do you want?" Alec said grumpily. He wasn't sure if it had anything to do with the alcohol but he was suddenly very much aware of her scent.
He wasn't in any state to have a discussion or knowing Max to have an argument.
When she didn't answer, the young man just decided to ignore her in the hope that it would make her go away. But her smell was completely intoxicating.
"Are you avoiding me, Alec?" Max wanted to slap herself. For the past two weeks she’d been rehearsing this exact scene in her head to make sure she didn’t sound stupid and there what had she done she’d just stated the obvious.
She saw him bring the glass to his lips and drink slowly. Then he looked at her, eyes half opened.
"No." He was keeping his sentences short because the Scotch mixed with her perfume was having a deadly effect on him.
"Would you, for once in your life, stop being childish? I'm trying to have a mature conversation with you right now..."
He could see her mouth moving but the words didn't seem to make sense to him. Something was wrong. He had experienced this before but couldn't pinpoint exactly when and why it had happened. And she was still yapping like crazy increasing the tension invading his body.
"Oh, please Maxie... Just shut up and come back tomorrow!"
Max hit the desk loudly in anger.
"Don't you dare talk to me like this! I'm sorry for interrupting your drinking interlude but we're going to have this conversation right here, right now... Whether you like it or not."
She was getting too close which wasn't helping his train of thought.
That's when he realised what was going on. He had to take drastic measures.
"Max, you're such a drama queen. It's really getting boring. Get a life, would you?"
She looked at him with round eyes, not quite believing what she was hearing.
"What?"
"I'll make myself clear... Go yell at someone else. Somebody who actually cares maybe? Get out of here and get out of my life now!"
Max waltzed round the desk and pinned him to his chair furiously. Alec cursed himself for being so foolish. If it weren’t for the alcohol, he wouldn't be struggling so hard to control his compulsion.
So he did the only thing that he knew would scare her enough to make her leave. She saw the predatory glow in his eyes too late. She felt him pull her wrists and ended up on his lap.
"What the -?’ The words died on her lips as the drunk transgenic crushed his mouth to hers. It began as a savage and brutal kiss, one intended just to hurt. Max hammered at his chest as hard as she could in attempt to free herself from his bruising hold.
But slowly, Alec’s lips turned more tender and she stopped her punches. Her arms clutching at his shirt.
Alec ran his hands softly along the back of her neck sending shivers through her whole body. She opened her mouth as a reflex and he ran his tongue along her teeth to get better access. She felt the tender caress inside her mouth.
Sparks of desire washed over them as their tongues started to dance sensuously together. The blood was pounding in their heads and their heartbeats grew faster. The sensation was amazing and completely overwhelming. Max ran her fingers under Alec's shirt and felt his muscles quiver at her touch. She heard him groan in pleasure, deepening the kiss along the way...
They were startled by the sound of a mobile phone ringing.
Max pushed herself away from him, out of breath and face all flushed. Alec's eyes were locked on her red and lightly swollen lips. He smiled seductively. She stood up and smacked him in the face.
"Has the fact that you're completely psycho managed to escape your attention..." She banged the door behind her.
Alec ran his hand through his hair in frustration. At least she was gone. He picked the phone up and shook his head when he saw the caller's identity.
"Well, talk about great timing, buddy!"
