Fiction- Overload

Title: Overload
Author: Restive Nature (aka bavite)
Rating: PG-13 for naughty words and ideas
Disclaimer: The characters and settings of Dark Angel do not belong to me. They belong to Cameron/ Eglee. No profit is being made from this fiction.
Timeline: This takes place a few weeks after “Fhuggedaboutit” (sp.). Alec has physically recovered from the… blow… that Max gave him. But mentally? Eh, we’re not so sure.
Summary: When it rains, it pours.

A/N- This fiction came about from a really weird dream that I had. And it just seemed to fit Alec perfectly. I hope you enjoy.


 “Alec, we need to talk!” the voice rang out authoritatively. Alec glanced around, glad for any distraction from the mundane task of delivering packages. A broad grin graced his face as CeCe approached him, her stride purposeful. It helped that Biggs was right behind her. Well almost. He was always glad to see his friend. But for some reason, Biggs didn’t seem too pleased with his best friend at the moment. Perhaps it had something to do with his girlfriend’s frowning countenance.

“Sure CeCe,” he replied easily, tossing his messenger bag to the side to make room for the transgenic female. But it seemed that she wasn’t all that inclined, seeing how she was now standing over him, well, towering was a more apt description. Alec held back a groan as he noticed exactly where her hands were placed. In fists, on her hips. Something bad as going to happen. “So, uh, what’s up?”

“What’s up?” she repeated incredulously. Her tone rose in pitch as she screeched, “what’s UP!”

“Uh yeah,” Alec frowned. He glanced at Biggs, who seemed to be keeping a lookout for something as CeCe dealt with whatever was bothering her. “That’s what I’m asking.”

“What’s up,” she enunciated carefully, now folding her arms over her heaving chest, “is that I’m pregnant!”

Well, that was a surprise. But hey, who was he to judge others. He pasted another smile on his face as he grabbed up his messenger bag and stood. “So, I guess congratulations are in order,” he smirked. He was slightly stunned when Biggs rounded on him and stared with loathing at Alec’s outstretched hand. After an awkward moment, he pulled his hand back

“It’s not his,” CeCe hissed, her hands going back to her hips as her foot began to tap impatiently. Alec couldn’t constrain his eyebrows from flying up in surprise. He turned his gaze to Biggs. Wow! He really didn’t know what to say to the guy who was his best friend, who’d just found out that his girlfriend, had cheated in him.

“Sorry man,” he began. He wasn’t sure what he could say with CeCe right there. Maybe offer to go out and drown their sorrows later? But before the offer was fully formed in his mind, Biggs’ wicked right hook had caught him in the jaw. Alec, really not expecting that, more so than anything else the morning had thrown at him, went down heavily, sprawling across the mucky Jam Pony floor in shock. One hand cradling his jaw, he stared up at the couple.

“You should be you bastard!” Biggs spat at him. Then, without another word, he hugged CeCe to him and the duo stomped off. Alec couldn’t help but wonder what the hell that had been about. CeCe was pregnant and Biggs wasn’t the father and they were mad at him and oh… crap.

Alec scrambled up to his feet, torn between running after his friend and protesting his innocence and maintaining his dignity. What little he had left. But how on earth did they believe that he was responsible? He’d never even touched CeCe. And for Biggs to believe that he was that low that Alec could horn in on his best friend’s girl. Well, maybe he didn’t want to chase after them. If they were so eager to believe in his so called guilt. And CeCe should know better. She knew he’d never touched her. Unless… of course she might have been drunk when she cheated on Biggs. But that was a big if.

Alec rubbed his jaw and collected his bag. He may as well get his ass in gear and get working. But before he could get very far, he was startled when Normal popped out from around a corner. And there he was with the hangdog look. “How could you Champ?” Normal whined. “We were shorthanded enough and then you had to go and do this.” Normal’s shaking hand came up to wipe at his sweat soaked forehead.

Already puzzled enough by the events that had unfolded so far this morning, Alec chanced a glance over Normal’s shoulders. There, by the main counter, stood two very familiar, very angry young women. Lucky for him, they hadn’t seemed to notice him yet. Alec was about to protest his innocence on that matter, because really, none of them had claimed exclusivity, but Normal continued on.

“I mean, nothing against you Champ,” he whimpered, “but have you never heard of safe sex?”

The words caught Alec off guard and he gulped heavily as he took another look over Normal’s shoulder. He studied Marianne and Little Suki closely, but it was only when they turned that he could see the subtle swell of their burgeoning stomachs. His jaw dropped and he ducked his head, taking care to scrunch down so that the girl’s wouldn’t see him. He tuned out Normal’s continued ranting, looking for the best course out of this madhouse. Obviously, he shouldn’t have come in to work today.

Finally, he had his escape route in mind. Totally ignoring Normal now, he waited until Marianne and Little Suki’s attention was elsewhere and ducked out the back. He thanked whatever higher power existed in this dimension that he’d left his bike outside.

As Alec rode towards his first drop-off of the day, a vaguely familiar address, and his mind screamed invectives at him. Safe sex. Safe sex! He always practiced safe sex. And while it was weird enough that CeCe and Biggs seemed to be blaming him for CeCe’s pregnancy, what on earth were the odds that both Marianne and Little Suki would end up pregnant? At the same time? And both by him?

Well maybe that was the key. They couldn’t both be his? Could they? It was certainly possible that while he hadn’t been exclusive with them, they weren’t being exclusive with him. There, that had to be it. Alec felt a huge weight relieved from his mind. It wasn’t his problem. They’d just assumed it was him because he was such a virile looking stud. Because Alec, like the good little Manticore soldier that he was, never allowed his little soldiers out to play like that.

Feeling that he had found the answer that he needed, Alec hurried on to his first delivery. He was suddenly eager to get something done. He grinned when he pulled up to the avant-garde building in Sector Two that had been familiar to him a few months past. He sauntered into the art gallery, pulling the square package from his bag. He dug for a moment as he walked, looking for his clipboard.

A soft grunt kept him from walking into the person standing directly before him. Alec halted in mid-step at the small noise and glance up from his bag. There before him was Rita, the manager of the art gallery and a good friend after all to Joshua. He smiled his most charming smile, knowing that Rita might be able to resist, for a minute or so. ‘Cause hey, she’d forgiven Joshua for breaking into her gallery to steal back his own painting. Alec hadn’t even remotely done anything close to that, aside from selling her the art that Joshua had wanted returned.

But by the frowning faced, crossed arm, slightly swayback stance she’d taken, Alec knew he was in some sort of trouble. But it was when her hands suddenly went to her stomach; Alec had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. There, now outlined as she pressed her hands to the contours of her muumuu covered, rounded stomach… yup, Rita was pregnant.

“It’s about time you came back to the scene of the crime you pig!” she spat out at him. Alec, his mind whirling with the implications, could think of nothing else than what Manticore had taught him. Escape and Evade. He tossed her package onto the nearby desk.

“I think you have me confused with someone else,” he mumbled as he scrambled away from her. Even as he was wrenching the heavy glass door open to make his escape, he could hear her heavy footfalls and screams as she chased after him. Never in his life did he ride that bike as fast as he did that morning.

Alec’s mind was so caught up in the confusion that morning had brought, that he nearly caused two accidents, been the recipient of another three, luckily all minor, except for the last one. He’d braked hard when a car honked to bring his attention back to the road. But Alec had been so startled, that he’d inadvertently jerked a little too hard on his handlebars, veering off course and crashing his poor bike into a nearby garbage can. He went down, scraping one knee through his jeans in the process. He’d pulled the material up over his leg, examining the grit filled scrape with distaste. He barely felt the scrape, but knew that if he didn’t clean it out, he was risking a low grade infection.

Quickly picking up the few packages that had spilled from his bag, Alec searched his brain to pick out the other familiar address. It was a package headed to Metro Medical. That was great. He could deliver the package and nick a few bandages for his knee. Well, at least something was going right for him.

As he rode, he began to notice a slight ache in his knee. But he figured that was probably because he was forcing his mind to focus on something more mundane than the strange occurrences of the morning.

He reached Metro Medical and flashed his badge at the guard. The guy barely glanced at it before waving him in. Alec found a safe place to park his bike and limped himself into the outer office of the emergency room. He waited a moment, taking in the mien of the patrons waiting for their turn with the overworked and underpaid doctors and nurses that made up this hub. So far no one had seemed to notice him. That was good. He shot a glance at the receptionist’s desk, seeing that a young man was seated at the desk.

Finally, he could get a little work done without crazy women blaming their lack of discretion on him. He moved over to the desk, clearing his throat to get the young man’s attention. But all that happened was the guy kept filling out paperwork with one hand while the other reached for a clipboard.

“Fill this out and take a seat,” the young man reeled off automatically. “A doctor will be with you as soon as possible.”

“Actually man,” Alec smiled, pushing the clipboard back towards the harried man, following it with his own. “Jam Pony delivery. I have a package I need you to sign for.” That caught the guy’s attention and his hand stopped writing as his head came up. He rolled his eyes in a good-natured manner.

“Sorry,” he grunted, reaching out his hand for Alec’s clipboard. He signed quickly on the line that Alec indicated. “It’s been a hectic morning already.”

“I know what you mean, man,” Alec sighed in mutual understanding. He removed the large rectangular package from his bag and held it out. The man stood to accept the package after setting his clipboard back in its slot, to await the next potential patient. Alec returned his clipboard to his bag.

“Hey,” the receptionist noted, “you’re bleeding. You sure you don’t need a doc?”

Alec glanced down at his leg. There was a small amount of blood still trickling down his leg and seeping through the denim. This made sense. The wound wouldn’t stop bleeding while he was active. “Nah,” he told the man. “Just scraped my knee. Got anywhere I can wash it out?”

The guy nodded, slightly distracted as another patient walked in. His hands were again reaching for the dratted clipboard. “Down the hall, on your left.”

Alec threw a thank you over his shoulder as he hurried down the hall, but the receptionist never even acknowledged it. It was indeed a busy morning. Alec followed the straight hallway, devoid of anything but institutional beige paint and medical carts and waste barrels. As he passed one of the carts, Alec carefully nicked a few packages of new four by four gauze pads and some bandages. Antibiotic cream would be nice, but cleaning the wound was uppermost on his mind. Trying to remember if he had any cream at home in his joke of a medicine cabinet, he never noticed that the harried young man at the front desk had told him to go the wrong way. For there, on Alec’s right, was the bathroom. But following directions, Alec turned left, right into a scene out of a nightmare.

Women were screaming, nurses yelling, doctor’s flailing. Normally, this sort of thing really didn’t faze Alec. He’d seen much worse on his overseas missions. But in this particular instance, he had another sinking feeling that something horrendous was about to descend on him. And yet, when he recognized the older woman standing at the patient’s bedside, he felt some minor relief.

“Annie,” he sighed, recalling the woman who’d given him a chance and allowed him entry into her cage fighting matches, despite his not looking like a killer. Surreptitiously glancing at her waistline, he was relieved to see that it was as trim, if it could be called that, as the last time he’d seen her, almost a year ago. But before she could reply, there was a scream from the patient in the bed.

“Ooh! Snuggy bear! I knew you’d make it! Didn’t I tell you that he’d make it Grandma?”

Alec’s eyes widened fearfully as he took in the form on the bed. Cathy, or was it Candy? Hell, it was so long ago that of course he couldn’t remember her name. That chick he’d hooked up with just after Max had blown Manticore Take Two to kingdom come. She was Annie’s granddaughter? Annie had grandkids? Hell, Annie, that gruff old bat, had kids? And not only that, but Cathy-Candy was right in the throes of… labor?

“Damn it all to hell!” Alec yelled, unable to control himself. His first impression of this room was right. This was a nightmare, completely and utterly. Annie was staring at him coldly, while Cathy-Candy was all moony eyed. At least until another contraction seemed to hit her. The nurse coached her through it, and all Alec could do was watch numbly. After the panting and squealing ended, Annie turned back to her granddaughter.

“So this is the idiot that knocked you up?” she demanded, her voice gruffer than Alec remembered. Cathy-Candy nodded happily.

“And now he’s come to be with me while I have our child,” she sighed dreamily. “Isn’t it wonderful Alec?”

Alec could only whimper.

“Well I got news for you,” Annie grumped in her usual voice. She turned to her side and pulled a car seat closer to herself. Alec gulped heavily as he noticed that the car seat was most definitely occupied. No. No. That was just too much. “Lover boy Monty Cora has to deal with our baby first!”

It was too much. Before Annie could produce the fruit of their… something, Alec had bolted, back the way he’d come and straight into the bathroom he’d missed earlier. He never noticed the pain in his scraped knee as it collided with the cold tiled floor. All that mattered was purging whatever he could from his body as the horrendous thought flew through his mind. Him and Annie?

What the hell was going on here? What had White done to him the last time he’d seen Annie. He knew that there had been a few hours between when he’d finished his last fight for Annie and when he’d woken up in a cage. Was there something there that his brain hadn’t told him about that intervening time? He’d always assumed that the time lapse had been because of the drugs those goons had injected him with to keep him unconscious until they arrived at their little hideaway. But now, a new horrible suspicion was growing in his mind.

“Wake up,” he panted, pinching at the slightly sensitive skin on the inside of his elbow. Nothing. “Wake up!” He pinched more forcibly, but still, he remained on his knees before the steel encased toilet. Rubbing one weary hand against his eyes, the other sought to flush away the graphic evidence of how much this day was disturbing him.

“Snuggy bear!”

Alec’s head snapped up. He had to get out of here. He had to find someone to help him make sense of this. Who could he go to? He couldn’t talk to Biggs for obvious reasons. There was no way he was going near anyone of the female persuasion. That left… Logan. Well, he was better than no one. And maybe, just maybe, he would have heard if there had been a recall on the condoms that Alec always used. Yeah, that was it. The condoms had to have been defective. How else could all this have happened?

The ride to Fogle Towers was accomplished in quite a haze for the poor, beleaguered X5 male. He rushed into the elevator of Logan’s building, smacking the button for Logan’s floor with impatience. There was an older woman approaching the elevator that Alec was sure he’d never met, but at this point, he surely didn’t want to be around women any more than absolutely necessary. Finally the machine chugged its way upward. Alec exited on Logan’s floor and barged down the hallway to the corner penthouse. He banged his fist against the solid wooden door, calling out as he did, “Logan! Let me in! I need to talk to you! Let me in!”

It only took Logan a few minutes to swing the door open. Alec was about to barge in and lay all his problems at the mercy of the older man, but the cold, disdainful look marring Logan’s features stopped him cold. They stood, toe to toe, eye to eye. And Alec was hard pressed not to shrink back. He had a roiling, bubbling feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“You’ve got a lot of nerve,” Logan began. “You know that?”

“What the hell?” Alec demanded, uncertain over this issue. Surely not Max… That would be the only reason that Alec could see that Logan would be so upset. Yeah, he’d be pissed if his ‘not even like that’ girlfriend got knocked up by another guy, especially one with his devastating good looks and sharp wit.

But to Alec’s relief, it wasn’t Max that appeared in the living room. It was Asha. And she didn’t look too good. In fact, she took one look at Alec and raced to the closest receptacle and mimicked Alec’s behavior just half an hour prior. Alec groaned as the squelchy sound reached his ears.

“Yeah!” Logan grunted. “I’ve been dealing with that for the last two days! And not just days. But all night too! Morning sickness my ass!”

“Look man,” Alec began loudly, trying to drown out the retching noises with his own voice. “It wasn’t me. Something weird is going on. I swear I did not get Asha pregnant!”

“Right?” Logan scoffed. “Like Asha would lie about something like that. You need to grow up. And if you’re not going to accept responsibility about this, then you can just get the hell out. Maybe Asha will call you, if she ever forgives you.” And with that, Logan shoved the dumbfounded X5 out the door, slamming it shut behind him.

Alec had no idea what to do now. There was just no way that he could handle anymore surprises like this. And he still, thanks to that last little interlude, figured out what was going on. “Home,” he mumbled to himself. “Just go home.”

But even home, he was to find, could afford no calm surcease from the hell he was living. The bike ride home and the walk up to his floor were quiet. It seemed no other living soul was around. This was good. Very good. No people meant no women. No women meant no more pregnancies of various stages. Yet, when he rounded the corner to the hallway where his apartment stood, there was a living being. A short living being. Alec shook his head, trying to remember where he’d seen short stuff before. And then it came to him.

“Bugler?” he asked, slightly incredulous. The last he knew Bugler had accompanied his group to Canada. What was he doing here? “What are you doing here? Are you by yourself?”

Bugler waited until the older man came a little closer. “I needed to see you sir,” he answered somewhat shyly. “And I am alone, out here.” Alec breathed a sigh of relief. A little prematurely it turned out. “The others are inside, arguing.” Alec muttered a vehement curse under his breath.

“Arguing?” he demanded. “About what?”

“I don’t know sir,” Bugler replied with alacrity. He looked almost close to tears. The result of Max treating him like a little kid instead of the soldier he was, Alec supposed.

“It’s okay,” Alec soothed, telling himself firmly that he wasn’t coddling the kid. He just didn’t want to have to decipher what the kid was saying through tears. “What’s going on? Why did you guys come back?”

“Bullet insisted,” Bugler stated, happy that he knew that much at least. “And Fixit and Ralph are sick. And I don’t think Zero and Bullet have been able to find them the right medicine.”

“What do you mean they’re sick?” Alec demanded with that oh so familiar feeling of dread in his stomach.

“Well,” Bugler said slowly, as if ordering his thoughts. “A few months after we left Seattle, they both started swelling up, like they were allergic to something. Except, they only got big in their stomachs. And before they were swollen up, they threw up a lot. And ate a lot. And they’re really mad all the time. But they don’t have fevers.”

Alec’s eyes drifted shut. How much more of this was he supposed to take? He felt Bugler’s small hands patting at his arm. “Are you okay sir?”

It was on the tip of his tongue to say no, but then he took a good look at the young boy. Was he really that naïve about what was really going on? Well, okay, he was a Manticore bred kid. Of course he was naïve about the birds and the bees. As far as the X-8’s knew, infants always came from the genetics lab. They’d had absolutely no contact with the breeding program initiates.

“It’ll be okay Bugler,” he finally replied, ruffling the hair that had finally grown on the kid’s head. “I know exactly what’s wrong with Fixit and Ralph.”

“You do?” Bugler breathed with relief. Alec nodded. “Can you cure it?”

“You know what,” Alec started with a grin, “I think I can. I just have to go get some uh, medicine. Yeah, I’ll run out and get that.”

“All right!” Bugler was now a happy child once again. “Thank you sir!”

“No,” Alec protested as he backed is way down the hallway, “thank you. For the heads up. Really, really, thank you.” And then he was around the corner and running for all he was worth. A drink. That was what he needed. If he was going to be stuck in this nightmare of extreme proportions, he might as well get some enjoyment out of it.

Without thought, he automatically headed to Crash. Hoping against hope that at two o’clock in the afternoon, it would be deserted. Aside from the male bartenders, of course. But such just wasn’t his luck. The moment he stepped over the threshold, it seemed that every woman he’d ever met in his life, with a few noticeable exceptions, was in Crash, all in various stages of childbearing mode. Some had kids, some looked about ready to burst and some were trim and green around the gills. And speaking of gills, was that the mermaid they’d rescued a few weeks back? Judging from the occasional chirp Alec heard, he was guessing it was. He didn’t even want to know how he’d fertilized her eggs. But there at the forefront of the group, was Original Cindy.

“Boy you better not be thinkin’ o’ runnin’ yo’ punk ass away agin, or Original be layin’ the smack down on yo’ ass, transgenic or no!” Cindy barked out. Alec was about to protest that Cindy was blowing his cover about the whole transgenic thing. But glancing around at all the other women, angrily muttering to themselves and each other, he figured that no one had caught that. They were all too caught up in their various and nefarious plans of how to punish him. All for being Manticore’s premier stud.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Alec sighed in resignation. He stumbled down the steps as the menacing crowd of females pressed closer to him. “But can I at least have a drink before you all kill me? I think I deserve at least that much.” He knew it was a long shot. Every woman here had murder in her eyes. But then, that squeaky and familiar voice that tickled at the back of his mind piped up.

“Of course you can sugar,” Mia crooned as she cut swiftly through the crowd. She bent over Alec’s limp form and linked her arm through his. “All right ladies,” she announced to the crowd at large as she dragged him along behind her. “Whatever you need to say to Alec can wait a few minutes.”

As if by magic, the woman quieted and parted like the Red Sea before Moses. Mia thankfully led him to the quiet end of the bar and pushed him onto the barstool. She leaned forward and gestured to the bartender. In seconds, a Scotch neat was wending its way to Alec’s eager hand. “Thank you,” he murmured gratefully, not caring who heard.

“So,” Mia broke in once he’d taken in a few gulps of the soothing liquid. “You’ve had quite an eventful day, haven’t you?”

Alec shot her a disbelieving glance. “How’d you know about that?” he demanded. She laughed lightly and patted his shoulder.

“Well duh Alec,” she simpered. “I am Psy-Ops after all.”

“Oh, right,” he grunted, turning his attention back to his drink. “Well since you know all about it, maybe you can explain to me exactly what the hell is happening.”

“Oh that’s simple,” Mia shrugged. “It’s all a dream.”

“Yeah, after the first few times, I kind of figured that out,” he groused at her. But Mia, being the person she was, just let it roll off her like water off a duck’s back. “What I meant was why me and why the hell can’t I wake up?”

“That’s pretty simple too,” Mia smiled as she slid onto her own barstool. Alec sighed inwardly. The movement smacked of her settling in for a good long therapy session.

“Well why don’t you enlighten me?” Alec demanded, gesturing to the bartender for the bottle. He had the feeling he was going to need it.

“Okay,” Mia grinned. “First of all, you asked why you. There are a couple of reasons for that.”

“And those would be?”

“Well, for one, have you ever heard ‘to have thought so is to have sinned’?” she asked lightly. Alec just threw her a puzzled glance. She went on to explain. “In the Bible, one of the disciples was talking about how just thinking of something was a sin. That people needed to keep their thoughts pure so that their bodies could follow.” Alec still was a little puzzled. He wasn’t overly religious, so how did that relate to him.

“Okay,” he drawled.

“Basically, what I’m saying is that you’re a man,” Mia simpered, playing up to him suggestively. “Of course you’ve wondered…” she trailed off suggestively. And then Alec understood. Of course he’d wondered about all these ladies. Some he’d done the deed with, others had merely speculated. Like CeCe and Asha and a few others.

“Okay that explains the sex part,” Alec acceded. “But it doesn’t explain the…” he didn’t even want to say that word, or anything even related to it anymore. He gestured around at the women and then at his stomach. Mia laughed and waved her hand dismissively.

“Another easy one,” she chuckled. Alec raised one eyebrow at her, as if daring her to prove it. “See dreams are generally the manifest of our daily lives. They exist to sort out the things that our subconscious has shut away to deal with later.”

“And what am I dealing with?” Alec demanded with another grunt as he lifted the bottle to refill his glass.

“Oh Alec,” Mia sighed, as if she were talking to a child. “It’s very obvious that you’ve been worried about a certain portion of your anatomy. And this is your mind’s way of telling you that you have nothing to worry about.”

Alec glanced around again. What, aside from his knee had been damaged. But as his gaze fell again on Mia, certain things began to connect in his head. Slowly the memory, and the pain associated with it began to filter through his brain. “Max,” he breathed. That bitch! That was right. Last week she’d delivered a hefty blow and he had been afraid that the boys would never recover. But according to Mia… Well that was a relief.

Suddenly, the quick feeling of lightheartedness was replaced as another sobering thought ran through his mind. “I have another question,” he mentioned quietly, the Scotch filled glass dangling from his fingertips.

“I’ll answer if I can,” Mia replied honestly, leaning in closer.

“All these women,” he began, unable to meet her eyes. “And why not Rachel? I mean, I thought about her. A lot.”

“Again an easy one,” Mia spoke softly. Alec chanced a glance at her face. He didn’t know whether he was relieved or upset to see the sympathy on her face. “As much as you feel guilty, as much as you hurt from losing her, your mind wouldn’t torture you that way. Rachel is something pure to you. Untouchable.”

“Okay,” he breathed out shakily. That made sense to him. And really, he was glad that Rachel hadn’t appeared like the others had to him. That would have pushed him over the edge. But he was eager to get off the subject nonetheless. “Here’s another. Why not Max?”

Mi smirked at him, giving him a knowing look. “Same reason, silly boy.”

“What?” Alec sputtered, his Scotch spraying out of his mouth. Mia just laughed. No, she had to be wrong. After all, she was just a figment of his dream, wasn’t she?

“Okay, okay,” he hurriedly searched for a new topic. He glanced at her slim waist. “How come you’re not? I mean I know I definitely…”

“What makes you think I’m not?” Mia teased. Alec smiled and shook his head. Of course Mia was. It only made sense in this crazy dream. “And I have to ask,” she continued, “what are you going to do about it?”

“What am I going to do?” he repeated. She nodded. Alec rolled the tumbler of Scotch between his fingers. He downed the last few drops left before setting the glass away from him on the counter. “I’m going to wake up. That’s what I’m going to do.”


And he did.

*****                                

“What’s up with Alec?” Biggs demanded as he drew closer to Original Cindy. He’d only been working at Jam Pony a few weeks, but already he knew that she was the go to girl for information. Especially when it came to Max and Alec. This morning especially, he needed information. As soon as he’d walked in with his girlfriend CeCe, Alec had gone skittish and was avoiding them.

“What’cha mean Boo?” Cindy asked distractedly. She looked up at the good looking young man, recognizing once again that Manticore sure knew how to design a soldier.

“Alec,” Biggs repeated. “He’s out of whack. Did something happen at Crash last night?”

“Not that Original knows,” Cindy answered honestly. “But something’s gonna happen soon.” Biggs turned back to where his friend was seated before his locker, going through his messenger bag. He tensed immediately as he saw Max approaching his friend. There were always fireworks when those two got within a ten foot vicinity of each other. Biggs didn’t know whether to call out a warning or just sit back and enjoy the show.

“What’s up with Max?” he asked softly. He wasn’t sure that OC would answer, but she did.

“My girl finally decided it was time to come correct about that little trick she pulled on Hot Boy last week,” Cindy explained. Biggs nodded.

*****            

Max’s hands twisted together the closer she got to Alec. Her stomach was twisting and roiling. She couldn’t believe that she had actually worked up the nerve to apologize. Because really, she didn’t regret what she’d had to do the week prior. Alec had refused to throw the match. She had warned him. And he had called her a bitch. Which, granted, she occasionally was. But did he have to so rudely point it out? Max glanced back at her friend and roommate. Cindy was waiting expectantly.

That had been Max’s mistake. She’d announced her intention to apologize out loud in front of the black woman. And now Cindy was going to hold her to it. Well, she might as well get it over with.

“Alec? We need to talk.”

But for all her life, Max never expected the reaction she got to those five little words. Alec’s eyes went wide and his eyes darted around the room. He jumped to his feet, his eyes falling to where her hands her fluttering over her nervous stomach.

“I didn’t do it!” he yelled. “It’s not mine!” His hands dropped his messenger bag to run through his hair. No, not run through. It looked as if he were tearing the hair from his scalp. “Oh God! I didn’t do it! You can’t prove anything!” And with that last announcement, he took off running. Max could only stare after him dumbfounded.

“What the hell was that about?” Original demanded as she and Biggs both approached Max. It was as if the entire crew of Jam Pony was waiting breathlessly for an answer. Especially since no one, no one had ever seen Golden Boy Alec behave like that before.

“That,” Max sneered, “is why I’m not nice to him.” She rolled her eyes in disgust. Sheesh, she’d just been trying to be nice to the guy whose nads she’d mashed.

“I think we got that,” Biggs chuckled. He was going to have fun teasing Alec about this for a good long time to come. He couldn’t wait to spread it around Terminal City.

“Yup." Cindy agreed. “Nice Max equals Crazy Alec. I think you’d better go back to the status quo Boo.”

“Not a problem OC,” Max laughed. “Not a problem.”