Disclaimer - If they follow me home, can I keep them? er.. Just one, then? How about if I hide him under my bed?
A/N: The M/L bits of Freak Nation never happened. *mutter* *grumble* Learning of Alec - Chapter 12 - Conclusion. - infie
Alec curled his arm around Max tightly, snugging her against the length of his body as they lay on their sides, facing each other. He reached across with his other hand and grabbed his shirt up off the floor, twitching it so that it covered her bare shoulders and back. She hummed contentedly against his chest and cuddled closer.
"You know, 494 is still in here." he broke the silence tentatively, tapping a finger against his temple.
"I know." Max said softly.
"Aren't you worried? Aren't you afraid?"
Max idly drew caduceus designs on his chest. "No." Her tone brooked no argument.
"Uh huh."
Max heaved a sigh, and pushed herself up on one elbow so she could look him in the eyes. "Alec, of course 494 is still in there. He's you. You're him. There's no difference. That's part of the point." she placed her fingers against his lips quellingly when he would have interrupted. "Shutting off your emotions is a skill, Alec; one we both know you'll need again. It lets you get the job done. It's as much a skill as shooting straight, or playing the piano." she gave a mischievious look. "Or making love well. It's a part of who you are. And I could never be afraid of that."
"Because you'd kick my ass?" he gave her a smile, but the intent look in his eyes belied his apparently carefree demeanour.
"Hardly. I think your little display with our crack kidnapping team has fixed that small misconception. I can only imagine what you'd do if you were really trying." she replied wryly. "No. It's because I know that you would never hurt me. Never." Alec blinked at the vehemence in her tone. "You refused orders to get me pregnant. You lied to Renfro to protect me. You led those kids to rescue me from White. You had a bomb in your head, and you chose to die rather than kill me." Max paused, looking away from his serious hazel gaze. "Biggs reminded me, a couple of weeks ago. What you'd been willing to give up to keep me safe. When you saved Kyle the other day rather than let him get killed, even accidentally, it just confirmed it for me."
"I could have been lulling you into a false sense of security."
Max just looked at him.
Alec raised his hand and touched her cheek. "No. I could never hurt you."
Max covered his hand with her own. "No." She smiled at him tremulously. "Now you just need to remember that tuning out is an area of expertise, not a lifestyle. Being like that, 24-7, just isn't healthy. After a while it'd make you..." she stopped abruptly.
{Ben,} his mind supplied unhelpfully. {It'd make you... Ben.} He swallowed hard. Max smiled at him gently, and he knew that she knew what he was thinking. Suddenly she smiled at him.
"Alec", she said softly. "Whatever you are to me..." she leaned forward and nipped his earlobe with her teeth. "You are not my brother."
Alec grinned back at her, relief at her acceptance of the darker parts of his nature reflected clearly in his eyes. {Amen to that.} "A skill, huh? I'll keep that in mind."
Max stretched briefly, sitting up and arching her back. Suddenly she pounced, rolling Alec the rest of the way onto his back. She ending up laying along his body with her legs straddling his hips, her arms braced on either side of his head. She moved until her lips were so close to his that she could feel their heat.
"Any other skills you'd like to practice?" she breathed against his mouth.
Hours later, Alec awoke to the sound of his stomach grumbling. {Christ, I can't remember the last time I slept so much.} He yawned and stretched hugely, opening his eyes to see Max standing over him, fully dressed. He moaned in mock disappointment, and she dropped the pile of his clothes on his head.
"Come on, hot boy. Get up." she told him. He shrugged and slid into his pants, then looked at the tatters of his much the worse for wear shirt and tossed it behind him. He raised his eyebrows at Max.
"Hot boy?"
Max grinned at him. "It's what Original Cindy calls you."
"See, now I'm flattered."
"Huh." Max preceeded him to the metal door, pulling out the key as she went. "Come on, Alec. I'm hungry!"
Alec trailed his fingers down her arm. "Max?"
"Yeah?" she turned at the question in his tone, and her face softened as she saw the uncertainty in his expression. "Really, Alec. I'm hungry. I'm ready to get back into the world. But you're coming with me."
Alec let out the breath he had been holding and nodded. "Let's go. I'm starving."
Max unlocked the door and opened it, revealing one of the hallways in HQ. A hallway that was currently full of prone, snoring bodies. Max grinned in delight as she recognized the members of Alec's squad, plus Joshua, Mole, Kyle. Logan was propped against Mole, a picture she was sure she would never be able to eliminate from her psyche. Even Spot was there, cervical collar comical against the spotted leopard fur. Yule was there too, asleep sitting up. The tightly wound bandage around his midsection revealed the reason for his stiffly upright position, and Max grinned as Alec made a small, embarrassed noise. "Hmmm... I thought I felt a couple of ribs break. Oops."
At the sound of his voice, Joshua sat straight up. "Alec!" he shouted happily, startling the rest of the waiting group awake. They all came jumped to their feet like the floor had become electrified, staring at him wide-eyed. Ruthlessly he suppressed the almost overwhelming desire to flick his fingers and yell 'Boo!'
"Hey, Josh." he said instead, into the silence. "What's shaking?"
The hallway erupted into a pandemonium of welcome. CeCe launched herself at him from three steps away, wrapping him in an ecstatic hug and planting a kiss. He grinned involuntarily, staggering backwards and returning her embrace with enthusiasm. The rest of the group mobbed him delightedly, pounding his back and hugging him. Finally, after a few minutes the furor died down enough for Alec to catch his breath.
"Uh, not that I'm not thrilled and all, but what's up?" he asked quizzically. "It's not like I just brought back your favourite TV show or anything."
"Geeze, Alec, its nothing like that." Dix chattered excitedly. "We just figured you'd come out mad as hell and ready to take the place apart, and then we'd have to try and stop you, and a lot of us'd get hurt..." he glanced at Spot and Yule quickly, "So we're just happy we don't have to kill you!"
Alec raised an eyebrow and eyed the group warily, noticing the weaponry each person carried.
{Not fucking likely.} He gave a small, private smile.
"Uh. Huh." he shrugged. "Well, when you put it that way, who wouldn't be flattered?"
{Friday - Terminal City}
The night air slid with silky, humid grace across the rooftop of HQ, ruffling Alec's hair as he gazed alone out over Terminal City. The full moon bathed him in pale light, highlighting his hair with splinters of silver and reflecting in his eyes, lightening their colour to a pale, fiery shade. His shirt was torn and bloody where the bullet had violated his arm, and the newest bruise on his left cheekbone stood out in stark relief against his pale skin. Each movement made him flinch ever so slightly in pain.
Max watched him from the doorway to the roof, noting the rigidness of his stance and the stiffness of his movements as he idly brushed some of the dirt off his pants. She made a small noise and he spun around, dropping into a defensive stance. He relaxed as he saw it was her, his whole face alight with his smile of delight. Max thought he'd never looked so precious. He held out his hand to her, and she crossed the roof with long steps to take it.
His fingers felt warm and welcoming in hers, and he pulled her close, tucking her against his side as he returned to looking out over the buildings surrounding them. "You did a good job tonight," he told her sincerely. "It's not easy to lead people like us."
"Professional soldiers who have spent their entire lives taking orders? Yeah. That's a real stretch."
"Ex-professional soldiers whose very nature is telling them to split up, run and go to ground." his voice rolled with his amusement. "You have their respect, Max. You touched them. Good job."
Max thought of her impassioned speech to the transgenics after the police had bailed. Her eyes had sought Alec's in the crowd, and even before he raised his hand, the wryly crooked smile on his lips had told her everything she needed to know. His squadmates had followed his lead, and the rest had followed them. Followed her. She hugged Alec's waist tightly, and felt his arm tighten in response. Her hair blew loosely in the breeze, tickling his face and catching ever so slightly in his stubble.
"I'm sorry about CeCe." she said softly.
"Me too." Grief clouded his face. "I'll be all right, though. Later." They stood in silence.
Finally Alec roused himself and sighed, gesturing at the siege fires already beginning to burn. "They think they have us boxed in." he commented idly.
Max laughed. "It's only a prison if we let it be."
Alec turned his head and looked at her with serious eyes. "Terminal City is not a prison, Max. We're in it together."
Max raised herself on tiptoe and kissed him.
"Yes," she said. "We are."
{END}
A/N#1: I had a great time writing this fic, largely because of all the very generous feedback I received. Many grateful thanks to all of the folks who spent so much time reading and reviewing! Extra hugs go to everyone who reviewed more than once.
A/N#2: A "gee, thanks" to scarlet for inflicting the whole Mole/Logan bug on me. *hrmn* Now everytime I think of Logan, I have an irresistable desire to have Mole making suggestive comments...