WHEN SOMEONE WANTS YOUR CANDY

Summary: Alec's interest on another girl drives Max crazy. Can she accept the reason for her jealousy?.

Disclaimer: It's not mine. I wish, but it isn't.

A/N: This takes place after LATR but FN never happened. Biggs is still alive cause he has an important role to play in the story and I think Alec needs an X5 male friend. M/A, D/A.

CHAPTER 1: THE REUNION

´Thank god it's Friday´, thought Alec while enjoying his beer at Crash. It was quite ironic really, considering he didn't believe in God. At least no in a higher power that had something to do with him. As a Manticore product he wasn't supposed to be in any higher being's plan, so why should he thank someone that had nothing to do with his actions?. But he had lost his main train of thought. Oh yeah. It was Friday, finally!. He usually enjoyed his week. It's not like he did great amount of work, almost none in fact. Being a Golden Boy had its advantages, even if Normal gave him the creeps sometimes with his weird dreams. But this week had been difficult enough and he was glad it was almost over. First, the whole ordeal about Max telling Logan about an imaginary relationship between them. What was she thinking?. It was insane. But he had played along all the same, was still playing along. He could never say no to her. Why?. No rational answer for that particular question. And if he was completely honest with himself, he didn't want to know. There was something about it that made him uncomfortable. And then, to top it all, Biggs near death experience. If Max and him had arrived two minutes later........ He left the thought hanging in there. Better to not go there. He was just glad his friend was alright. He was the only one from his past at Manticore that he had reunited with. I mean, as bad as Manticore had been, there were still some things to rescue from the experience: his friends. Or as much of a friend you could become back there. But the outside missions had their benefits. You could get to know some people better. It made Manticore almost bearable to know that you would have the opportunity to hang out with them on your next assignment. Biggs was one of them, one of the few. Of course there was always your unit, but true friendship?. Only a few could reach that status.

He looked around the table. OC and Max were deep in conversation. ´Probably Max moping about Logan and OC trying to calm her down`. Sketchy trying to hit on a girl that seemed more interested in OC's back than the blonde guy in front of her. That brought a smile to Alec's features while he took another sip of his beer. ´Poor Sketch, he needs more help than even I can give him`. Sketchy, he was a good friend. He loved hanging with the guy, he was a good person and he admired Alec so much. ´Funny, I never thought I had what it takes to be a role model, far from it considering my past`. And he even accepted his transgenic ass when he found out the truth about Max and him. He had to thank OC for that. Yeah, OC was a great girl. He would even consider her a great catch if it wasn't for the fact that she didn't consider the male species worthy of her time. But she was a great friend too, for both transgenics. Even Max could be considered his friend. Once you got pass the insults and beating of course. She was his own kind. They had grown closer for the past couple of weeks, with all the Rachel and Ben issues. They had learned a lot about each other. Alec stopped himself right there. Something about even thinking about Max made him nervous. He couldn't place it, but there was something about her. Maybe the fact that he owe her his life or that she had set him free, but there was a feeling growing inside him that he didn't understand or even wanted to acknowledge. So, returning to the main topic, he had a lot of friends now and that made him a very lucky man. Not that he would let them know, it would destroy his reputation. But still, there were things he shared with Biggs that he couldn't share with any of them. They wouldn't understand. Not even Max, she wasn't there. He didn't blame her any more for escaping, not her or the rest of his siblings, not even Ben. But she still didn't know half of what he had gone through for all those years.

He finished his drink and took a quick look at his watch, a frown appeared on his forehead. ´Speaking of Biggs, where was him anyway?`. He was getting bored. There was only so many times a guy could beat Sketchy at pool before it got old. ´What can a guy do for fun while waiting?`. He knew the answer even before the question had fully formed on his brain. ´Piss Max off`. A mischievous smirk replaced the frown.

"Hey Maxie!. What's up with the bad mood?. Don't think about it like you lost your ´not like that` grandpa. Think about the incredible handsome boyfriend you gained."

Max looked up not believing her ears. "Shut up Alec". And after a few seconds added as an afterthought: "And don't call me that".

"Oh, come on. Don't be so rude. I might get tired of your tough girl attitude and dump you."

"Alec, I swear if you don't shut up..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You are going to kick my ass". He said this trying to imitate her voice and with his hands on his waist, doing an excellent Max impersonation. Then, after the murderous look on her eyes, he dropped the act and spoke in a normal voice. "Not that I mind you having such interest in my body, but Maxie that mouth of yours is very unfeminine". Again the smart ass smirk covered his face.

"Just.... shut up!". A small smile made its way to her features. He could be so annoying. But lately, she couldn't stay mad at him for long. Why?. She didn't know. But he had this way of making her forget about everything that was wrong in her life. Even her problems with Logan. Either by making her laugh or by making her scream at his latest actions.

Before she could think about it some more, before Alec came out with his next teasing, Biggs voice was heard as he made his way to their table.

"People. Sorry I'm late."

Alec was about to say something about that, something along the lines of ´what was her name?`, when a girl reached Biggs side. She was gorgeous. Tall and slim, with green eyes and short black hair that barely reached her shoulders. Around 20 years old, with a walk that showed both a great confidence in herself and the feline grace of her DNA.

"Alec, look who I ran into this afternoon in TC. She just arrived today and I thought you would like to see her."

It wasn't until Biggs spoke that she truly paid attention to the people at the table, even if she had assessed the whole place the moment she woke in. ´X5`, thought Max while trying to understand why she felt so threatened by her presence. She discarded the feeling immediately. She was one of them, family, there was nothing wrong about her.

"494?". The girls words unsettled Max yet again. She knew Alec?. Who was she?.

"688?". Alec surely knew her. But what gave Max a sinking feeling in her stomach was Alec's expression. Max could only describe it as a mixture of intense happiness, confusion and could it be lust?.

Alec and ´the girl` (insert disdain here), as Max now liked to call her, were now on a tight embrace. ´Since when Manticore encouraged off duty interaction between their soldiers, their embrace seems pretty friendly to me. And why the hell is this bothering me?`. When they finally broke it off, it was Alec who spoke first.

"How? Why? How?". (I said he spoke first, not that he made a lot of sense). Biggs and 688 laughed out loud at their friend's reaction. The rest of the table, Max, OC and Sketchy were still confused and felt a little left out.

"I heard about TC on the news and thought about checking it out, see if I could help with anything."

"So you are staying?"

"Yes. TC seems nice enough. I might stay a while, if I'm needed of course"

That owe her a huge smirk from Alec. "Always".

Max cleared her throat. That achieved the objective, the three X5s finally realized they were not alone in the world, or in the table.

"Sorry Maxie. This is Max, OC and Sketchy". Alec said this while signaling each of them with his finger. "Girls and guy..". He looked at Sketchy who was checking the new member of the team with great interest. ¨Sketch, you have no idea..`, this thoughts followed by an inner laugh. "This is 688...". He trailed off and looked at her.

"I go by Danielle now."

"Nice one. I'm Alec by the way. Funny story how I got it. You see, I was...". Max cleared her throat again, interrupting him. "Oh yeah. Sorry. Remember me to tell you later". Now he turned around again to face the others. "This is Danielle. We know each other from Manticore. We were partner up together for some missions. Some of them with Biggs too. We always had a blast together, as hard as it is to believe considering. But this girl, this girl rocks. Remember Acapulco?"

And with that Max and the others were once again forgotten while the three mission buddies sat there, drinking and remembering past experiences. Quite a lot actually. Too many for Max's liking.

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A/N: Ok, this is it. The first chapter. Review and tell me what you think.