*Revolting...*
Alec watched their entwined hands with disgust.
He saw Mole looking at him from the corner of his eye.
"The ordinary's got a hold on your girl..." The reptile man whispered in a cloud of smoke.
The X5 shrugged indifferently.
"Max's head over heels crazy about me!"
Mole snorted and bit the end of his cigar.
"With that girl's strange taste in men, nothing would surprise me!"
Alec's precise eyes went back to the couple in front of him. His face turning to stone.
She had been the one to construct this supposedly wild romance between them without informing him.
She had been the one to wait until the last moment to tell him what she had done.
She had been the one to ask him to back her up on this.
And now she was the one making him look like an idiot in front of the whole community.
Alec could deal with anything.
But things could so easily change.
A Machiavellian smile started to appear on his face, a plan forming in his wicked mind.
Soon she would be the one to ask for mercy. She would beg for him to stop.
*Because revenge is a dish best eaten cold...*
He turned his back away from the crowd and headed to the ruined building they now called Home.
"OK, so we have to organise the schedule for the surveillance teams... Four groups of four in turns. Let's say every four hours. I think that..."
The door was opened loudly and Alec walked in, whistling softly, hands tucked in his pockets.
Max brought her hands to her thighs, her not-so-happy expression plastered on her face.
"Nice to see you've finally decided to join us, Alec."
The young man dropped into a chair and raised his feet on the table.
"Good morning to you too, Pumpkin!"
The transgenics around the table froze trying to hide their discomfort as Max raised a puzzled brow.
*What the Hell was wrong with him?*
She cleared her throat, deciding to ignore him.
"So, I was saying that maybe we should start doing a list of the supplies we need. Food and medication should be our priority. Just check with Dix and Joshua first, then we can put up a board in the entrance hall..."
Mole politely raised a green hand.
"Yes, Mole... And for Chris sake take that thing out of your mouth when you're talking to me.." Max said with authority.
"Funny, that's exactly what I told her last night..." Alec whispered in his friend's ear.
The transhuman choked on his intake of smoke.
A few pens fell to the floor in shock.
Max suddenly felt her cheeks turning into purple spots as embarrassment invaded her whole body.
She could see some of the people in front of her struggling to repress their urge to laugh.
The comment had not gone unnoticed.
She tucked a straggling lock of dark hair behind her ear and crossed her hands on her chest.
"Alec, would you stop acting like a moron for a sec'... People are trying to work here!"
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm down. She wouldn't let him get to her. Not this time.
"So...You were saying, Mole?"
The reptile looking man took a sip of water to calm his sore throat.
"I was thinking that adding a few weapons to the list wouldn't hurt either..." Max nodded.
"I understand your point of view but you have to agree that we have more important things to get first. Life saving supplies."
Mole let out a sarcastic snort.
"You think my wanting new guns has nothing to do with saving and protecting the lives of my people ?"
Max was obviously starting to get annoyed.
"You know perfectly well what I mean. And anyway, you know that I'm not fond of weapons. And we've been able to defend ourselves pretty well so far... So unless you give me one good reason to put them onto the list, other than your wanting to have new toys to play with, you'll have to deal with the fact that we won't be renewing our arsenal anytime soon."
The transhuman looked as if he couldn't care less.
"I think your woman is getting the old *Leader complex...*" He said to Alec behind a cloud of smoke.
"Yeah, I know... "He sighed. "But it just completely turns me on when she gets all domineering like that..."
He instantly saw the scowling glare turn in his direction. She walked to him and shoved a finger in his face.
"Now, if I hear one more stupid comment coming out of your mouth, I promise you I'm gonna kick your ugly transgenic ass so hard you won't be able to sit properly for a month..."
Alec gave the assembly his famous grin that made almost every woman in the room melt on the spot and winked at the angry woman in front of him.
"And she continues to entice me with her masterful use of the English language..."
This time giggles openly ran through the entire crowd...
Max groaned in frustration.
Together they had agreed on the fact that the little ones needed some kind of Education and were deciding the class schedule, the program and who would be teaching what.
They had transformed one of the labs into a classroom.
The young X7s were all playing around as Syl and Max were having their discussion. The brunette scanned the room in despair, the word "Devastation" instantly coming to mind.
"Some of these kids forgot discipline really fast.."
Syl laughed and whispered in her ear.
"Don't underestimate your authority Max... Just a word from you and they'll all freeze!"
Max glanced at her sister sideways, trying to look hurt.
"Do you mean to say that I'm scary or something?"
"Well, yeah!"
They repressed a laugh and checked the place again.
Their attention was caught by a little group standing in a corner.
Dix was a few steps away, quietly listening to several little girls that couldn't be more than 8 years old.
"Gem told me that the baby had come out of her belly. So I asked her how it had ended up there in the first place!" A tiny red-head said.
Her name was Carioca. Another of Max's choices.
The others were looking at her with deep interest.
"She turned pink and started telling me about flowers and bees or something... Anyhow, let me tell you, seeing how ignorant she was, I'm still wondering how she was actually able to have a baby." The little girl said with her face all serious, as the others nodded in agreement.
"So I decided to go and ask Alec... And it all became clear."
Syl and Max looked at each other in shock, expecting the worst.
Carioca eyed her audience gravely as if she was about to uncover the greatest secret of all times.
"He told me that sometimes when a man and woman love each other very very much, they like to cuddle and kiss. And when they are ready, they can decide to have a child together. The man has little seeds that he puts in the woman's belly. The seed grows becomes some kind of blob and then turns into a baby."
The audience let out "ohs" and "ahs" throughout the whole lecture as the talkative little girl beamed with pride.
Syl pinched Max's arm.
"Hey! What was that for?"
The blond woman pouted.
"Pure jealousy" She made a face.
"Alec's amazing with children and on top of all that he's drop-dead-gorgeous! You don't know how lucky you are!"
Max didn't feel comfortable talking about her relationship or more precisely her "virtual" relationship with Alec. The weight of the lie was slowly suffocating her.
"Don't be deceived by his cocky smile, Syl. That man is the greatest pain in the ass I've ever met..."
As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she realised they hadn't come out the way she had intended them to.
Her friend had an amused expression on her face that she decided to ignore.
Dix approached them still laughing after his pupil's exposé.
"Those children have yet again been endowing the fruits of their enlightened upbringing upon me."
A little boy who was busy writing something on a notebook by himself turned to Dix trying to look scholarly.
"Is that Shakespeare again, Sir?" Snoop said hoping to impress his mentor.
One of the older children that had been running around the room stopped in his tracks and looked at his friends who started laughing stupidly.
"Pre-teens.." Max whispered meaningfully.
"Tell me about it !" Syl answered under her breath.
The wild child dropped a hand on Snoop's shoulder.
"Alec says Shakespeare was the most boring Englishman that ever lived", he announced pompously. "He says Mr Shakespeare wrote very long books because the English do not have sex."
"Rob!" Max let out, eyes bulging in shock, not believing what she had just heard.
The rest of the boys went into fits of giggles and met him with several "high-fives" for his supreme wit.
Syl was trying to control herself and even Dix could see the humour of the situation.
Max just shook her head and turned to the blond woman beside her.
"What were you saying about Alec's gift with children?"
Her sister smiled, highly amused.
Max raised her hands in the air in despair.
"Ok, that's it.... I'm going to have a few words with Mr Perfect!"
"Don't worry, kid. He'll make time for me!" She answered not turning her eyes away from the door.
She violently pushed the door and was surprised to come face to face with Logan.
"Hi!... Huh... What are you doing here?"
Her first reflex was to get by Alec's side.
The older man smiled complacently.
"Well, I had information I wanted to give you... But I couldn't find you, so I came here to discuss it with Alec."
"You should have asked someone to come and fetch me!" She shot an accusing look to the man beside her.
He stared at Max with unnerving focus.
The thick lashes blinked slowly and, quite suddenly and unexpectedly, he lightly pressed his cello-curved mouth to her lips.
"How's my favourite lady today?" His fully-lipped mouth loosened into a ravishing smile.
She elbowed him heavily, her brows curled into a frown. She then looked alarmingly at Logan's curious face.
"I'm fine." She tried to stay natural.
"So what was it all about?"
Logan settled his glasses on his nose.
"I have some more rune translations, that you might want to check out. And then I found out a few things about Sandman. Might even have a lead on his location."
Max's expression was enough to make Logan high for a week. He continued.
"It seems that White has been organising micro-groups of Familiars after your last encounter. I wouldn't be surprised if we hear from him soon..."
But Max had stopped listening as soon as she'd felt a warm hand in the hollow of her back.
She tried to glance discreetly at Alec who was slightly behind her.
He had his full-attention on Logan's speech... Or so it seemed! For the hand kept drawing small circles on her tender skin.
Her eyes went back to the older man's face but the words wouldn't sink in. She shivered with pleasure and she knew without looking at the culprit that he was smiling.
A pulse in the depths of her pelvis was giving an unmistakable drum roll.
The hand slowly climbed up her spine, increasing Max's arousal.
She wanted to get as far away from him as she could but that would have raised Logan's suspicion.
She knew he already thought that their relationship was kind of strange.
And with the” holding hands" thing, as much as she had enjoyed the moment, she knew she might have misled his expectations.
He was the love of her life but the virus bitch was still there... And she wasn't sure that taking the risk of losing him just to be together was such as good idea.
She let out a moan as five nails started to lightly caress her flesh.
"Are you feeling alright, Max?" Logan said with concern.
*Maybe she was having a seizure!*
She was flushed but did not look feverish. He waggled a brow.
"Do you want me to get you something?"
Max straightened her back and walked away from Alec as smoothly as she could.
"It's OK, I'm just having headaches these days... Nothing serious. Just need some rest." She made a weak attempt at a smile.
Logan stood up with a squeaking sound.
"I'll go then... We can talk about this later."
"Actually", Alec dropped in. "Why don't you come and have dinner with us tonight?"
Max stared at him murderously, not quite believing what she was hearing.
He squeezed her hand, his eyes brimming with mirth.
"Don't worry, Pumpkin. I'm gonna do all the cooking..."
Logan could see Max's discomfort and saw an opportunity there.
He was sure this whole romance thing was a sham.
It was so obvious that his girl couldn't stand the cocky transgenic.
He knew Max wouldn't be able to keep up the act through a whole dinner.
Logan smiled at Alec and shook his hand.
"Of course, I'd be delighted!"
Max opened the door.
"I'm gonna escort you to the entrance." She said trying to sound calm when in fact she was boiling inside.
"See you tonight, then!"
Max rolled her eyes and let Logan walk out first.
Before closing the door, however, the young woman turned poisonous eyes on him and whispered as harshly as she could.
"If you call me Pumpkin one more time, be sure your head won't be the first thing I'm gonna squash!"
And she was gone.
Alec smiled devilishly.
He was only getting started.