Fiction- TWH- Chapter Sixteen

Title: The Waking Hours

Author: Restive Nature

Disclaimer: All characters within this fiction are the property of Cameron/ Eglee. I just like to play with them.

Rating: PG-15

Pairing: M/A

Summary: Dreams don’t often come true for Manticore-bred soldiers. So when the chance comes along for Alec, he’s not quite sure how to take it.

Spoilers/ Time line: Sequel to Dream Within.

Feedback: Always welcome!

Distribution: Ask first, please.

Chapter Sixteen

Breaking New Ground

The screams continued as he ran. The change in tone and tremor differed, though he didn't realize it until he had burst into the decrepit old building that the noise was emanating from. Alec was stopped short though by the extremely odd sight of Max taking on an invisible foe with a two by four in hand.

His eyes darting around, searching out the danger, his body tensed instinctively, crouching slightly, he advanced. Listening now to what she was saying, rather than just reacting.

“Stupid, stinking son of a whore-!” she growled as the two by four swung through the air. “Filthy little piece of-! Die, you bastard!” She shrieked again and danced backwards, right into Alec's suddenly upraised arms. The shriek that she had emitted prior to that were like babies compared to this as she whirled around, blooded wood raised again, before she saw who it was. “Alec!” she gasped. “You scared the hell outta me,” she admitted breathlessly. And then with a frown, shoved at his hands.

“Kinda like me when I thought the whole of the Familiar army was comin' down on your head?” he asked archly. Her brows pulled together, confusion coloring her face.

“Huh?”

“You, screaming, old board, attacking... what?” he enumerated for her and then took a moment to glance over her shoulder. There seemed to be nothing there until his eyes lit on the floor. “A rat? Seriously?” The adrenaline bled from his body as he twitched slightly at the splattered organs raw and obvious on the ground.

“Oh for...” Max began heatedly and then glanced at the thick board in her hand before dropping it. The clatter echoed only slightly and Max inched away from the rat corpse on the floor. “It dropped outta nowhere on my shoulder. Tried to take a bite out of me. How the hell was I supposed to react?” she demanded harshly.

“Did it get you?” Alec asked quickly, relieved to turn away from the sight of the small animal. He didn't really want to know, but it kinda looked like she had brained it pretty good. Before she could even answer, he was pulling her hair back, checking over her face, neck, ears and surprisingly, she stood still to let him.

“Don't think so,” she murmured. One hand came up to smooth at her hair. She pulled her fingers through it on her right side and turned her face, trying to see. “Damn it, little bugger took a chunk of my hair.”

“You're lucky that's all it seemed to take,” Alec sighed, though given where her fingers where, a secondary check of the skin in that area seemed prudent. But everywhere his fingers and eyes probed, there was smooth unblemished skin. “Who knows what diseases that thing could have. Rabies, uh... germs... maybe dysentery.” That at least got a laugh out of her.

“Yeah, it's real lucky that I had my hair down,” she agreed. And then fixed him with a baleful stare. “And also real lucky that we're probably immune to rabies and germs and dysentery, which I didn't know that rats spread.”

“Bio-rat,” Alec snarked back quickly, as his pulse finally began to settle from the fright it had been given. “Livin' in this place, who knows what it's capable of transmitting?”

“Long life, apparently,” Max snorted, now finger combing through her hair once more. Alec couldn't tell if she were looking for something or just trying to restore order. Possibly both. “Only thing worse would be a cockroach right?”

“Gah,” Alec complained instantly. “I know they're to be admired for the industrious indestructibility, but have you ever seen them come boiling up out of your underwear just as you're getting ready to put them on?” He shuddered at the memory of it, even as Max giggled.

“Uh, no,” she commented and patted his shoulder. “You'll have to tell me about that some time.”

“Nuh, once was too much,” he groaned. Now that the crisis seemed over, he recalled that he had had a message for her, but Max had turned away from him and had returned to an unsteady counter on the far side of the room. He could see that she had a notepad and pencil there. It also must have been where the rat attack occurred, since she gave the ceiling the stink eye before returning to her paper. “So what are you doing down here?” he wondered aloud.

“Just... thinking,” she hedged and Alec knew right away that it had to be something more.

“Thinkin' about what?” he demanded gently, approaching the counter she stood at. There was movement from her as if she wanted to hide what she had been working on, but she seemed to stay her hand. Which Alec found odd. If Max didn't want him knowing, then it usually entailed a physical scrap to get what she had or wanted away from her. But this time, he was able to easily look over her shoulder. There on the pad of paper laying on the flat surface, was a crude facsimile of the room they were standing in. Except, the area was full of additions and Alec was squinting to read in her tiny chicken scratch, just what it was she was filling the place up with.

“What do you think?” she asked suddenly, as if she had been holding question and breath until it just burst out of her. Alec blinked and moved so that he was standing next to her instead of behind her. Reaching for the pad of paper to bring it closer to his face, he staved her off with a mild soft grunt.

“Does that say pull taffy?” he wondered aloud.

“Huh?” she demanded, reaching for the paper. He was fully prepared to defend and snatch it out of reach, but instead, she just pushed slightly at his wrist, lowering it so that she could peer at the paper as well. Then she let go and scoffed. “No! Alec, it says pool table!”

“Oh, so sorry highness,” he scoffed, trying to ignore the way his skin tingled where her fingers had brushed against him. “Your writing is like trying to decipher hieroglyphs.”

“Shut up,” she groaned, but then chuckled. “Yeah sorry, I was in a rush. Not a lot of room.”

“Yeah, I see that,” he agreed softly, surprised that she wasn't really taking that much offense. “Walk me through it,” he commanded and tossed the paper back on the counter. Instead of that though, she pulled the paper back to herself and made a few more notes. Then pushed it towards him again, a grin on her face.

“Does that help?” she chuckled, pointing to the new header she had added.

“The “All-Nighter”?” he asked dubiously and then laughed as well. “Geez Max, you planning some sort of high end brothel or somethin'?”

“No!” she protested immediately, but was laughing as well. “The reinforcing of the walls alone to withstand that would take too long. Not to mention actual soundproofing of rooms.” She gave him a nudge with her elbow and when he glanced down at her, responded immediately to her smile. “Plus, thinking that some of the older kids could visit occasionally, mmm, not really the best example, you know?” she gave him a wink that startled him for several reasons.

“So uh,” he began but had to clear his throat. “So what are you planning?”

“Well,” she drawled slowly, letting the paper rest again and leaning her elbows on the counter. “I guess I had more of a... a recreation room sort of thing here.”

“A rec room?” he repeated. She nodded quickly and then the words began to flow quickly.

“Yeah, I mean, not everyone is as lucky with their housing like those of us that got here first or are in command,” she began and Alec would have protested that, had he been able to get a word in edgewise. “We all know that everyone needs to have some down time and a place to relax that isn't always necessarily home. And I was thinkin this place could be it. There's room through that door for a kitchen. Wouldn't be anything fancy, but there's a stove. I'm sure we can rig up some refrigeration for it. Maybe stock some non-perishable snacks. Or people can bring their own. Just as long as everyone knows to share. And we can bring in some couches, chairs, a pool table, eventually of course, since I know we don't have that right now. Just a place to sit and relax with friends. Maybe some music. And if we can get our hands on it, some liquor every once in a while.”

“Well, that sounds great Max,” Alec was finally able to intercede, “but don't you think-!”

“Oh I know,” she enthused again. “We'll have to be careful getting it and having it here. But you know, if everyone kind of keeps an eye on everyone else, especially the kids. I mean, it's not like sneaking a few shots are gonna kill them. But we can set up a schedule if we wanna party and make sure the kids are occupied with something else.”

“No Max, that's not what I meant,” Alec sighed.

“And of course, we'll keep an eye on those who are on duty,” she went on, seemingly oblivious to his words, if not his presence. “Though I think everyone's responsible enough to police themselves, don't cha think?”

“Yeah, probably,” he agreed quickly. “But I was just thinking...” he trailed off, hoping that her curiosity would get the better of her. And it did as she beamed up at him.

“Thinking what?” she asked. “Don't you like it?”

“Huh?” he gaped at her for a second before recovering. “Yeah, oh yeah, of course Max. How could I not? You'd just think that something like this would have been my baby,” he grouched and was rewarded with a laugh.

“It probably was,” she retorted, not unkindly. “You've probably had the idea of a bar fulminating in that brain of yours for forever. And probably still thinking and schemin' on ways you could get around me to accomplish it.”

“Well,” he winced, seeing that she was right on the money about that. At least, in the old days it would have been like that.

“And,” she continued, raising her voice slightly, “you would have got it done, at least the booze part, where you and your cronies would meet in secret, thinking you were outsmarting everyone, which you would for a while, but we'd catch on, I'd storm in and there'd be hell to pay, while you try to charm your way out of trouble before it all descended into a pissing match about our perceived failings projected onto each other.” She finally took a breath and grinned up at him. “That sound about right?”

“Pretty much,” he nodded slowly and then shook his head. “Are we that predictable?”

“No, not at all,” she dead panned and then cracked up laughing. Alec was helpless but to join her, shaking his head again.

“So why then?” he wondered, gesturing to the paper once more. “You're just gonna bypass all that and go ahead with this?”

“Well, I heard all your arguments in my head already,” she sighed, but it was more a happy sound than one of frustration. “Cause we're that predictable, right? And I really didn't have any argument against the idea in principal. It will take some time to get this accomplished. And if we're gonna be thinking about the welfare of our people, well, it's not all security measures and supplies, right?”

“No,” he answered softly, watching the dim light filtering into the building dance in her eyes. “It's not.” He turned his face away quickly as she turned her face up to his again. He could feel the emotion written all over his face, but he wasn't sure that he was ready for her to see it. The thoughts, the uncertainties ,the emotional roller coaster that he had been on for days now was still too new and delicate. He could admit to himself that even as much as he had always purported to be all right, he was not dealing well with these new and puzzling changes. In her and in himself. They stood in silence for a moment, as Max doodled in a few more things and Alec watched. She added a foosball table and a dart board to the drawing and he smiled. It almost looked like she was trying to recreate Crash, her home away from home. Not that that was a bad thing.

“So,” she began, breaking the momentary silence. “Was there any reason in particular you were over this way?”

“Huh? Oh yeah,” Alec nodded, breaking out of his reverie. “Luke wanted to let you know that he had your stuff.”

“Okay, good,” she nodded and gathered up the paper. “I suppose we should keep this between ourselves for now?”

“Unless we want a riot on our hands,” Alec retorted dryly, completely in tune with what she was thinking. Or at least he hoped he was. “It's gonna take a while. Especially,” he decided as he glanced again at the dead rodent on the floor, “since we might wanna bait and destroy the vermin population first.”

“Agreed!” she announced vehemently, causing Alec to chortle.

“So, uh,” he began when the mirth died down. “You got any idea's as to who is gonna get assigned that detail. And I can already tell ya, it won't be me.”

“Their beady little eyes freak you out,” Max nodded along knowingly. Alec tilted his head just slightly.

“How'd you know that?” he asked suspiciously. It wasn't like there had ever been a time that he had told her that, or it having come up when she was in hearing range. In fact, there probably wasn't any time that he had specifically said so.

“Uh, everybody hates rats, Alec,” Max grinned widely. “And that's always the reason they use. And it's just at the top of a long list for me. Plus, you always mentioned the rats every time we had to use the sewers, escape through sewers or search said sewers.”

“Oh,” he grunted. That was eminently reasonable as a line of logic. All true and her supposition was correct. “We getting out of here?” he asked as Max stepped away from the counter. It wasn't that it was a bad place, but there was the dust factor such that he felt on the verge of sneezing every ten seconds.

“We're going,” Max nodded. “For some reason, I really feel the need to boil a little water, take a little bath.”

His eyes widened as usual at the instant visuals those words brought to mind and her amused, muffled chuckle did break through the haze. But when he looked back to her, her face was serious, though her eyes were twinkling in the filtered light. “The vermin you know,” she added before taking off through the door. “See ya tomorrow Alec!” she called back over her shoulder. He stared after her and wondered what she thought he had to do. His day was done and he had intended to head home and relax the rest of the evening.

Of course, his brain whispered o him, letting Max go on ahead, giving her plenty of time to heat that water and slide into her bathtub... Alec shuddered, wondering if he was in for a repeat performance of last time. Although, it wasn't that bad, as experiences went, but really, he was male enough to admit that he'd rather have the real thing. And that real thing was a little too much... too much... It was just too much.

But even as Alec determinedly ambled his way home, his steps were slower true, but not dragging in the least.

*****

Alec was in a much better frame of mind the next morning.

Despite all the confusion and the back and forth of the previous day, because really, as much as he internally declared his dedication to not being sucked back into the despair of the situation between he and Max he'd been there all along. It might have all been in his head at that point, but it was exhausting.

But at the same time, if they'd been predictable, as Max had pointed out, then he really would have been a hurting puppy at the end of the day. But somehow, ending on the high note that they had, ended up easing things so much for him. He still wasn't sure of where he stood with her, where she stood with him, not sure of a lot of things really. But sometime during the night, something had relaxed and when he had woken, it was with the renewed realization that he had a chance to figure it all out. If he just quit hanging on so tight, then maybe he'd see more than just a thing or two here and there in a new light. He needed to see it all that way.

Feeling so much lighter now than he had in months, literally months, maybe even back to before he met Max, he headed to her apartment, intent on getting that fresh start. But what he heard made him pause. His heart jumping into his throat as emotions tumbled through him that he might have erroneously, in his desire to just be okay, skimmed over in that column of okay-ness.

“How's that?” a vaguely familiar male voice asked. Alec frowned as he tried to place it. It wasn't familiar enough that he heard it every single day, but in the recent few weeks, he was sure...

“That,” Max giggled, sounding absurdly pleased, “is a very good length. Just right.”

“Glad you think so,” the male chuckled. “You know, despite what you've heard, I actually don't do this much.”

“Well,” Max sighed, sounding very relaxed, “maybe it's not the amount of experience you have, but what you choose to do with it. My God, your hands are magic. Not just your hands, your very fingers make my skin tingle.”

Alec felt a pain in his chest and started doubling over, holding a fist to his sternum as black spots danced in his vision.

“Well, thank you very much,” the male chuckled. “That's about the nicest thing a girl has said to me recently.”

“Well you deserve it,” Max threw back hurriedly. “Talent like yours should be taken seriously.”

“Like you did,” the male's voice was soft, but Alec, deadly focused on the door that was the only barrier between himself and... his hypersensitive ears heard it all. “I'm really, really glad you called me Max. I mean, sleep would have been nice. But I guess staying up all night, going at it like we did, I really appreciate what you gave me. What you said, it meant a lot.”

“I'm glad,” Max replied just as quietly. “And just... don't ever sell yourself short. Like I said, we, especially us women around here are lucky to have you. They're going to be coming, knocking down your door in droves after they see my smiling face this morning.”

“You do glow, you know,” the male laughed, sounding joyful and the black spots in Alec's vision increased. He felt his jaws working, alternating between grinding his teeth together and gaping to pull in oxygen that his brain seemed to demand as necessary. How could his body focus on this... losing her was like losing his reason for being alive. He'd never had a chance. Never got to...

“Well,” the male continued, a little louder now. “Let me get you a towel and dry you off. Don't want you dripping all over the place.”

“Thanks,” Max offered. “You really are a sweetie.” There was muffled noises behind the door that Alec was having trouble making out. And then, startling everyone, the door opened.

Alec glanced up from his hunched over position, recognition flaring in his eyes. And before he knew it, his fists were in the other guys jacket, yanking him through the portal. It happened so quickly, he couldn't even think of what he was doing, reacting on instinct. He felt nothing, not the pain in his fists, the cramps in his fingers, the other male's attempts to defend himself, or even the smaller hand wrapped around his bicep.

“Alec! Alec! Oh my God! Alec stop!”

He did however, feel when his arm connected with her and everything stopped. Terrified as he stared for a microsecond at his opponent before forcing himself to turn to see the damage he had wrought.

Max was on the floor, her back against the wall, her left hand, cradling her cheek, high up, staring at him with large, frightened eyes. Her body trembled as everything came rushing in on him at once.

“Max...” it came out soft, imploring, but she shook her head slowly at him.

“Don't,” she snapped. “Just... don't.”