Week of the Cat: Wednesday, part three
Peta opened the door for her, slipped out after her. The night crew was filtering into command, to monitor the cameras, to gear up for sentry duty. Peta’s eyes flicked across familiar faces before she remembered that Jay, Clara’s honey bunches of oats, wasn’t scheduled again until tomorrow night.
“Hey, Max,” Carter was getting back from his own long work day. Problem with most Alpha’s? Besides the snark thing? Workaholics, the lot of them. One of the reasons she had and Alec had so little to do lately except be political figureheads and crack mission commandos; the well-oiled machine they were running wasn’t in any danger of breaking down. She wouldn’t be surprised if Jeri was still making her rounds to the Med Stations, inventorying supplies… if she wasn’t still workin’ with Max’s blood sample. And Switch… she hadn’t seen Switch since the Command meeting on Monday, who knows what that girl was up to.
Max, thought, not for the first time, that she needed some more men on her staff. But men had to be pretty powerful to beat out the females, whom Nature had given a natural edge.
“Max,” Guess Carter wasn’t just saying hey, after all. He was frowning at her, blue eyes shining in his fair skin. “Some of the trannie’s on Oak Street… Well, there’s some talk…” He frowned, trying to find a way to come out and just ask…
“Riled up again?” Max sighed. She liked to pretend that she didn’t know that Alec didn’t sometimes have to shove faces into concrete. That he didn’t have to sometimes be the one to put some of the muscle-bound idiots back in place. “That’s kind of Alec’s department. I’ll talk to ‘em if you want, but if we’re talking bleeding elbows-“ It hurt her to even say that it was necessary, but six months had taught her… She could talk till she was blue in the face, she could have an edge in the Alpha category on every damn transgenic in this city, thanks to perfect DNA, but sometimes… sometimes Alec and his stupid larger muscle mass had to be the one to take care of things. She didn’t have to like it, but she could look a little to the left and accept it.
Carter blinked. Before his eyes narrowed. “You want…” He paused slightly, sneakily… “your Second to take care of it?”
Max stared at him, her mouth twisting. “That’s what I said, isn’t it?”
More than one tense shoulder was relaxed in relief.
“So what’s the problem?” Max demanded, ‘cuz she wasn’t blind.
“Nothin’” Carter shrugged, then, because it was kind of his job, “Nothin’ except that rumor is you and Alec threw down this afternoon, and you beat him, so he stepped down as Second and left T.C.”
Max’s mouth dropped open. “Are you kidding me?!” Max's eyes swept across the room, lookin’ for the unofficial leader of the transhumans> Her voice descended to an annoyed mutter. “Where the hell is Mole, isn’t it usually his job to control what gets around? I thought the whole point of him information mongering was to give us control of all the damn gossip.”
Carter's mouth worked in shock for a few moments before he was able to demand, “Wait, are you serious?! That’s planned? I thought he just liked it!”
Max smirked, and Carter’s esteem for his Fearless Leader skyrocketed drastically. Boredom could make gossip spread like wildfire through the enclosed area of T.C.. And while most of it was harmless, some of it could cause needless panic, such as if the rumor were to involve the military, or bombs, or the upheaval of the chain of command, like it had today in Mole’s absence. Everyone knew that Mole was the best source for gossip, so naturally everyone always checked with him, and word got around, and when he kept it in check, suddenly the worst, most harmful, of the whispers disappeared, and… wow, she was awesome.
“I think I love you,” Carter blinked.
“Don’t tell Carly,” Peta snarked.
“You know what this means?” Max sighed.
“Gonna have to figure out a way to show all of T.C. you and Alec are still the bestest of buds?” Peta asked.
“Pretty much,” Max grunted. “If I can ever find him…”
“Please,” Peta rolled her eyes. “It’s a Wednesday. It’s hump day, tensions are always high, and you guys always end up fighting about something. He’s probably drinking with the lizard as we speak. They’ll both amble in tomorrow, actin all chummy, probably in better moods.”
“You don’t like Mole, much, do you?” Max turned to blink at her friend.
Carter grinned. “I think it’s jealousy. If Peta had ever met Josh, I don’t think she’d like him either; she wants Alec all to herself.”
Peta sniffed. “Don’t you have to go home and sleep, Half-Life?” It was one of Peta’s favorite terms for those without shark DNA… they had to sleep during the night, and so lost half their lives, or so she insisted when she was trying to be annoying.
Everyone knew she meant; she was just jealous ‘cuz she couldn’t take a nap whenever she wanted, only got a couple of hours during the day, once every couple of days. “Leavin’ right now, vampire,” Carter grinned.
“I’m going, too,” Max sighed. “Gonna go eat, see if Alec shows up on my doorstep with half a buzz (which was also known to happen on a Wednesday) and an idea on how to fix all the rumors. I might be back in later; try and get some work done or something.”
“See ya,” Peta shrugged. Her shoulders squared as she turned away, becoming all business, and she started calling out names. Some of the sharkies started ambling up to the woman to get their night assignments as Max finally pushed her way out into the evening air.
Her quarters weren’t too far away, closer than Alec’s, so she didn’t have to face too many curious, probing eyes. She nodded briskly, but didn’t stop to talk, no matter how intense a stare might be, how hard the questions might be burning behind pursed lips.
She took the steps two at a time. She kind of wished Josh was here. He knew how to deal with Alec. He could soften something within her friend that Max could not, not without breaking down and crying about Ben, not without the accompanying pain of losing another friend to a raid. Josh… She’d told him he’d never find Sandeman… but… he’d insisted, and he was a grown man and her friend, and he had to do what he had to do.
Max paused on the second floor landing, staring down the hallway, looking at a figure slumped on the ground against her door.
“Alec?” She questioned softly. And then more firmly, as worry grew. “Alec?” She flew down the hallway. Oh god, what had happened? He hadn’t gone and got himself shot/beat-up again, had he? She crouched next to him, expression tense, and lifted his face. Then scowled.
“Idiot,” She muttered, dropping his jaw. He was just asleep. Her voice startled him awake, his head jerking.
“Max?” He asked, looking up, squinting.
She rolled her eyes, opening her door, pretending not to be amused when he almost fell into her apartment backwards.
“You n’ Mole get your Wednesday bonding time?” Max made a face, stepping around him and into her place. Alec lifted himself from the ground slowly, clutching a bit at the door frame as she flicked on the light.
“You okay?” She asked, hesitating.
He shrugged, his face bland. “I’m fine.” He eyed her, playing it off. “Still a bit tired. Been waiting here forever. Where you been?”
“Working,” Max scowled, and she told herself she was still angry at him as she stomped into her living room, peeling off her customary fingerless leather gloves. “Where you should have been.”
“You kicked me out of Command,” Alec protested, stepping carefully into her apartment, closing her door gently.
“No, I didn’t.” She corrected stubbornly, her arms folding across her chest as she turned to him. “I told you to grow up. You kicked yourself out.”
“Yeah, but who would want to stay when you were being such a bitch?” Alec asked cheerfully, leaning back into her door, his head falling backwards, eyes closing in gentle amusement.
Max’s jaw dropped open.
Before it snapped back shut and she rolled her eyes. Typical Alec. “I hate you sometimes,”
His eyes focused, and refocused, on her. “No you don’t, or you wouldn’t have Claimed me,” His eyes darkened and he pushed away from the door, taking slow, sauntering steps towards her. A smirk bloomed on his face and the air crackled, became alive, and everything became surreal. Maybe it was small spaces… Maybe she shouldn’t have let him shut the door. Maybe she should go open a window… get away from him and those lips and those eyes. He was still talking, in that low voice, and Max swallowed a whimper. “If you hated me, would you have let me seen you naked?” He was almost before her, his eyes were glancing across her lips, “Would you have kissed me?” He was getting too close, she was arching towards him, no, she had to put more distance…
She turned and Alec blinked as he was suddenly faced with her rapidly disappearing backside. “We got problems,” She declared as she went into her bedroom, her haven of retreat.
“Story of our lives,” Alec slumped against her breakfast bar.
“Everyone seems to think that we had a big fight, (“We did,” he scoffed) and that you either stepped down as Second or that I relieved you of command,”
“Well,” Alec pointed out, “You kinda did,”
“I did not,” She huffed. What was she even doing in there, he wondered, his eyes closing. Then he wondered if she was changing, wondered how bad it would be if he very, very carefully made his way over there to check. Time must be all screwy, ‘cuz he’d only managed to take one step before she reappeared in a tanktop and formfitting sweats.
“It’s not bath night, is it?” Alec asked, eying her hopefully. Hopin’ she might break out the robe and the nakedness.
Max wondered at his hopeful expression, asking in confusion. “What?” What, was he tryin’ to say she smelled or something? Man, that was childish, even for him.
“Nothing,” He sighed, taking a step back, leaning again, into the bar. “So, what are you saying, we gotta act nice the rest of the week, present a unified front so that people don’t think we’re trying to send their world into upheaval?”
Max frowned. “That and get Mole talking to the right people.”
Alec sighed in annoyance, rubbing his eyes. “So much for avoiding you tomorrow,”
“What?!” Max demanded. “You were going to avoid me?!”
“Yeah,” He shrugged, smiling in amusement. “But can you blame me? You’re kind of a jerk.”
“So are you,” Max retaliated, and he nodded, like it was a fair statement. She still wanted to be mad at him about Logan but she couldn’t work up the annoyance.
“I’d ask you if you wanted coffee, but caffeine’s probably the last thing you need-“ Max was crossing around him when he lunged, but he took a few too many steps and it was with a grunt that they tumbled over the back of her couch, bounced past her cushions, and crashed to the ground on the other side.
A muffled groan came from under him and Alec lifted his head in worry as the shock wore off.
“Are you okay?” He demanded, eyes darting across her face, worried. “I didn’t get your ribs, did I?”
“No,” She wheezed, “You big idiot, get off, you’re squishing me.”
He glanced down. “Oh. Sorry.” He lifted his torso, lifted some of his weight off of her, but didn’t move away, stayed there between her legs, just staring at her. And he must have realized where he was, because his face went solemn.
This couldn’t be good, Max realized.
His hand came up, carefully, brushed away some strands of hair from lips she hadn’t known were parted. Fingertips glided across her cheek, and hazel eyes were unblinking, watching as his fingers glanced down her throat, slid against her collar bone.
“Alec, what are you doing?” Her voice was soft. This is not what they needed. They needed boundaries. Clear definitions.
“I’m not… really sure,” He frowned. His hands splayed around her, he leaned into his arms, almost in a push-up, close, so close, his breath washing across her face, across her lips, and Max’s eyes narrowed as she smelled something tell-tale, right before Alec’s lips caught her own.
It was a kiss unlike the first. Wasn’t mindless and needy like the one of the previous night. It was slow, and yet insistent, it was firm, commanding, and knowing, and it drew her towards him when he pulled slightly away to gauge her reaction. She released her caught breath, released her tensed toes, and made herself stop trailing after his mouth in disappointment. He smiled, just a bit, waiting until she managed to lift heavy eyelids before he leaned down into one forearm and caught her mouth again, this time more demanding, pulling a hard gasp from her lips and into his. His left hand slid against her arm, up to her shoulder, and a small part of her felt his pinky slide under a spaghetti strap, slide against skin, before lowering the white material away from her shoulder. Her blood was rapidly crashing away from her brain, and she needed… needed to think… He broke away from her mouth, peppering warm, full kisses against the side of her face, down her neck, across a shoulder that felt achingly bare without that thin strip of material.
“Alec,” She breathed.
She was still mad at him.
Her eyes shut as he pressed a long, warm kiss into the curve of her shoulder.
They were only friends.
His mouth slid down to her collarbone, his teeth scraping, just for a second. She gasped.
And Logan was her boyfriend.
He pressed an openmouthed, almost nipping, kiss, on the tight skin above her heart. She shifted more fully against him, her knees sliding up around him.
They shouldn’t be doing this.
His mouth was sliding against the edge of her white top, little kisses slowly moving the material down, millimeter by millimeter, and he didn’t have any intention of stopping.
They shouldn’t be doing this, and he smelled like alcohol.
“Alec, have you been drinking?” She gasped.
He paused, his mouth still on skin, and his eyes darted upwards. “Maybe,” He murmured, a little guiltily, against her flesh.
Max frowned and pushed him away, sitting up, leaning back into her forearms. “Are you drunk?” She demanded, all of his very careful movements suddenly stacking up in her mind.
Alec rolled his eyes, leaning back into his knees, still between hers. “Transgenics can’t get drunk,” He shook his head.
“How much have you had?” She scowled.
“Doesn’t matter,” He scowled right back, suddenly annoyed. “Transgenics can’t get drunk,”
“Then why are you coming on to me?” She demanded.
“Max, I’ve been coming on to you since I first met you,” He rolled his eyes. Then paused, not noticing Max’s blush, saying in wonder, “Wow, did I really just say that? Maybe I am drunk,” He shook his head. “Maybe I’m tipsy. Have you ever been tipsy? My inhibitions and my mouth-brain control both seem a little low and that’s usually what happens to Sketch when he drinks.”
“Alec-“
“Eh,” He shrugged, eying her like he was about to do the hardest thing he’d ever done in his life. “It happens,” And he hesitated only for a moment before something hardened in his eyes and her leaned back over her, one steady palm sliding the white of her night shirt down. She almost collapsed back into the ground with a gasp as his warm mouth slid surely across her suddenly naked breast.
Boundaries. This was definitely outside the boundaries.
“Alec-“ One hand curled over his shoulder, but didn’t even make an attempt to push him away. She arched as skin that hadn’t even seen a man’s eyes in almost two years was suddenly lavished with attention.
His arm slid beneath her waist, she watched the muscle bunch in a blue cotton sleeve, and his tongue swept across her, pulling a moan from her lips, right before he broke away, easily pulling her forward, onto his lap. She felt the muscle in his thighs tighten and he went to his feet in one fluid motion, his arms keeping her steady, so maybe he wasn’t drunk after all, at least not in any way that she normally associated with drunkenness.
Her head fell forward, into the crook of his neck, the neck that held her mark, as he carried her to her bedroom. So this was it, two days of back and forth and finally-
Alec tossed her on her bed, onto her brand new sheets. “I’m gonna go take a shower. Maybe it’ll clear my head.” He was glancing around, like he wanted to make a run for it. He hadn’t meant to add that whole ‘kiss Max in delicate areas’ to his plan, but he was going to blame the Claim and the alcohol if anyone asked.
She sat up. “What?!”
“I can smell Mole’s turpentine, and it keeps distracting me,” Alec made a face. That, and if he really was tipsy, he wasn’t sure he should let Max be taking advantage of him like this. He was pretty delicate.
Wow. Did he say that outloud?
The pillow hit him in the face, but eh, it was a pillow, it didn’t hurt.
“Use your own shower!” She shouted as he disappeared into her bathroom. He ignored her, shutting the door, and she scowled, flopping back into bed, righting her shirt with a sudden blush. Man, and she thought she was good at running away.
It never took Alec long to shower, and he was out soon. She was still sitting on the bed, her foot jiggling in impatience and annoyance.
“We still need to talk about tomorrow,” Max scowled, eyes flicking across damp hair and a blue shirt, sticking to skin. “And today.”
“Can we do that tomorrow?” He sighed, the shower seemingly having washed away some of his playfulness. “I’m really tired. I didn’t get any sleep last night,” Then he glanced sharply at her. “And what did you mean, when you said earlier that I wouldn’t be able to sleep?”
She shrugged, “Just a feeling I had.” She eyed him. “You need help back to your apartment?” She asked.
“’S why I showered. I think I can handle it,” He sighed, and left without another word. Such was their oddball relationship.
A knock at her front door would pull her from a magazine almost an hour later.
“Can’t sleep,” He muttered, looking frazzled and tired and every bit as bad as he had the night she’d claimed him.
She stepped aside with a sigh, let him in.
And when he was curled behind her, his breathing even in sleep, his arm draped around her torso, pressing against her breasts, she’d wonder what had happened to the nice, normal life that she used to have.