Future (Complete) – Deceptions: Epilogue

DECEPTIONS – EPILOGUE

 

“I don’t get it. So, fine, he switched the results. But why leave a copy behind at all? For a guy that supposedly loved her, wasn’t that potentially really dangerous?”

“Damn human’s nothin’ but a weasel, that’s why. Gimme a shotgun and I’ll nail him for ya,” Mole threw in. He’d never been a fan of Logan Cale and made no pretense otherwise.

Everyone laughed, knowing full well that if given the chance, the great big lizard would do just that.

 The group was standing around Command and catching up on the gossip. Axel, finally off bed rest and on his way to a full recovery from his injuries, was sharing details of the recent in-house soap opera.

“Well,” Axel tried to explain, “Alec went through Logan’s things before he wrecked Eyes Only and found new identity papers. Passports, plane tickets drivers’ licenses, the whole nine yards. We’re assuming the plan was to purposely expose Max, giving him a valid reason to get Max to leave the country and everyone she knew behind and go away with him somewhere.”

Kat’s jaw dropped. “What?”

“Yeah, you know, mastermind the whole thing and then play the hero.”

Mole’s eyes narrowed. “Son of a bitch,” turning to Axel he added, “Just say the word…”

Axel laughed. “I’ll let ya know, Mole. Anyway, it might have worked if he hadn’t had a partner with invested interests. Those can be tricky, but then, Cale never was all that bright. Max wasn’t too happy when she found out the full extent of his plan.”

“When did she find out?” Kat wanted to know.

Mena stuck her tongue out at Axel and then ruffled his hair affectionately, laughing as he batted her hands away. “This idiot was telling Alec that he fenced them.”

“Hey!” Axel protested. “All I said was that they must have cost a fortune and that we scored really big with the fence.”

Mena just looked at him. Axel shrugged and gave a lopsided smile. “Okay, so she was pissed but it’s not like anyone’s complaining that she went back to his place to rip him a new one!”

“No, but it was dangerous; and Alec was mad as hell that she went alone.”

Mole snorted. “Don’t know why. He coulda gone with her. But the boy’s been avoiding our fearless leader like the plague ever since the show-down with that Hailey chick.”

Mena nodded. “Yeah, it’s been weeks since she moved back to Terminal City and not a peep out of her when he’s around. And Alec spends most of his time wherever she isn’t. It’s almost painful to watch.”

Mole shook his head. “I don’t understand him. I don’t understand any of you X series.”

“Feeling’s mutual, buddy,” Cade, a fellow X5 with special mental abilities, said with a grin, clapping the lizard on the back. “But you’re only half right. Alec hasn’t talked to her, true, but she’s kept her distance, too. Max thinks his feelings for Hailey run deeper than he claims and that it’s Max’s fault that Hailey left…or something.”

Kat rounded on Cade with fire in her eyes. “Wait, you read her mind? That’s an invasion of privacy, Cade!”

Unfazed, Cade shrugged. “Look, guys. Max isn’t always the easiest person to deal with, but I like her and I respect her even more. The last time she slipped into depression things got really hairy. I didn’t want that happening again; I won’t apologize for looking out for her because I care.”

“She really thinks that?” Alec’s voice carried softly from a few feet away. The group fell strangely silent, uncomfortable and a tad guilty at having been overheard gossiping – and about the man in question, too.

Cade didn’t reply right away but after a few moments of silent he nodded. “More or less. I wasn’t close enough to make a good connection. She was spacing out and I could see into her eyes, but it wasn’t clear.”

Alec’s eyes saddened and he drifted off to his own little world. After a minute or so he thanked Cade. “But don’t let me catch you doing it again,” he added when the other man as he was about to leave. “We’re not at Manticore anymore, man. Ask first.”

Alec turned to Mena and inquired, “Know where I can find her?”

Mena, understanding immediately, replied quietly, “Yeah. She’s helping Gem at the nursery.”

Alec’s eyes lit up and a ghost of a smile appeared. “Thanks, Mena.” Nodding to the others he added, “Everyone. Later.”

=============================

Alec waited patiently as she played with the children, smilingly listening as she sang songs and read stories with them. She was a natural.

“Hey, Max,” he called.

Just hearing his voice made her eyes sparkle and she smiled for a moment; that is, until remembering just who he was and how things were between them.

Strained, distant.

She slowly turned around toward him but didn’t meet his eyes. She said something to Gem who nodded in return, and then walked over to meet him.

“Alec,” she acknowledged.

He inclined his head in the direction of the kids. “You’re really great with them.”

“They’re good kids,” she countered, a note of pride in her voice as she observed the future of their people growing and thriving with the love and care that she and her generation had been denied.

The two stood side by side in silence. Being near him after all that had happened unnerved her and Max began to fidget uncomfortably. “Did you need something?” she asked finally.

“Walk with me?” he asked, holding out his hand in a manner that suggested chivalry. She didn’t reach out to take it, but began walking and he joined her. They made their way down the hallway to a large room that had been converted into a training area, fully furnished with punching bags, mats, climbing ropes, rings and other sports equipment.

Even now, she didn’t look at him. It both amused and upset Alec to see that Max wouldn’t look at him directly.

“I just…wanted to see you. We haven’t seen much of each other lately.”

She shrugged. “We’ve both been busy.”

“No,” he denied quietly, keeping his eyes on her face, hoping she would look at him, see the truth in his eyes, the emotion he wore plainly on his face. “I’ve been avoiding you.”

She visibly stiffened. “Oh.”

“It’s not easy,” he began, leaning forward against a rail lining one wall of the room.  “It’s not easy learning that your mate isn’t really your mate, and that the child you call son isn’t yours by blood – not that it matters, he’s still my son, but the rest of it was a lie, my sacrifice was just a big waste of time.”

He felt her eyes on him and swung his head to catch her gaze. “I just needed a little time to deal. It’s not every day that you find out someone tried to control your life.”

“Manticore did that for twenty years,” she pointed out.

“Manticore wasn’t the woman I loved.”

Her heart broke a little more upon hearing those words. She was right after all; he really did love Hailey. Not really feeling sorry at all, Max offered her condolences. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly.

“You should be,” Alec replied sharply.

She wasn’t expecting *that*.

“Excuse me?” she bristled, drawing to full height and crossing her arms  over her chest. Max had nothing to apologize for as far as Hailey was concerned. “It’s not my fault that -,”

“Not Hailey, Max. You.”

Her eyes widened in surprise and her gut clenched at the same time. Hearing Alec say he loved her; her, Max. But use of the past tense was a crushing blow. 

“What did you think? That I couldn’t be trusted to make my own choices? Logan had a point, Max. If you loved me, you would have trusted me.” This tone was bitter and the words biting and guilt twisted within her.

“It wasn’t like that!” she exclaimed, “It had nothing to do with trust.”

“No?” he asked disbelievingly. “Explain it to me, then.”

“Alec, I was afraid that you would make the choice to stay with me – even knowing that I couldn’t give you what you wanted most. There was never a question of trust – I knew you loved me and I loved you. I didn’t want you to end up hating yourself for that choice later – or worse, hating me.”

“Okay…still don’t see it. You didn’t trust me. I understand that you were concerned for me and it’s sweet and appreciated but it wasn’t your choice to make, Max, it was mine. And you didn’t trust me to make the right decision. So you made for me.”

“I didn’t want -,”

“Don’t you get it, Max? It shouldn’t have been about *your* wants or *your* fears. And the only reason I’m still talking to you is that your reasons, while slightly selfish, were mostly well intentioned and for my happiness…no matter how twisted that logic is, because GOD, Maxie! You *were* my happiness!” Alec caught his breath and ran a shaky hand through his hair. “You couldn’t know, Max. Neither of us could know what might or might not happen!  You can’t live on ‘what if’s or you’ll never get anywhere. And, man, this is gonna sound corny but the only thing we can rely on is the here and now and trust in each other to do the right thing.”

Had he been paying attention throughout his rant, Alec might have seen that not only had Max not squared her shoulders or hardened herself against the onslaught, but he would have seen that her shoulders had slumped, her eyes were downcast and the lashes glistening with unshed tears.

It wasn’t until she sniffled that he knew she was crying – or valiantly trying not to.

But it wasn’t supposed to be about her, it was about him, and he wanted answers. He wanted to know,

“Why, Max? Why? Why couldn’t you trust me enough to say something, *any*thing about what was going on? Why hide it? Why push me away?”

She sniffled again. “I was scared.”

He nodded. It was a start. “Of what?”

Max didn’t reply.

Alec nodded again. “Okay. So, you were scared. Were you scared of your feelings? Of *my* feelings?”

More silence.

Alec slammed his fist into the wall, making Max jump at the sudden noise and violent reaction. “Just tell me, damn it! I think I deserve to know after all that’s happened.” He whirled around and gripped her shoulders. When their eyes met, Alec’s anger faded. Max appeared vulnerable as he had only seen her once before. He raised a hand and cupped her cheek gently.

“I think you need to tell me, Max.” She looked away and he turned her head back to face him again. “If we’re going to get past this, I need to hear it.”

Hope flared within her and Max nodded. Alec released her and stepped back. A moment passed while Max gathered her thoughts, swallowed and composed herself, regaining some of that confidence that so marked her personality.

“We were created perfect. Aside from the seizures, I was perfect. Even the damn base pairs – no junk DNA, or whatever.” When she began, her words were a bit stilted, but slowly grew steadier. “Finding out that-that I wasn’t perfect. It hurt like a bitch. Like, through all the torture and abuse Manticore couldn’t break me but with this virus thing, they finally did it. They broke me and I wasn’t going to let them break you.”

Alec was a little puzzled by her reasoning. “How would a virus targeting Logan break *me*?”

“If I would have told you… what if you *had* chosen to stay with me -,”

“I would have,” he cut in forcefully.

“Okay,” she agreed, “And then what? One day you might regret it. What if we ended up mated and you wanted a family after all, what then?”

Alec gave a short laugh. “Do you really think I’m that fragile that I’d break from something like that? Come on, Maxie, you can do better than that.”

“I told you, I was scared.”

Alec shook his head and sighed. “And you’re still avoiding the truth.”

“Fine, okay? Fine! It was easier to push you away before than to lose you after.” Max turned and began walking, putting distance between them.

Ah. Finally, the heart of the problem, the crux of the matter, the real reason. Definitely trust issues, but not just with him – with her, too.

“Max,” Alec called to her, “Did you really think I would leave you? Have I left you ever? Well, aside from the obvious, but still, have I ever left you? That first time you tried to cure the virus and I made that crazy deal with White? I didn’t leave then and we weren’t even friends yet. I could have bailed so many times since then, but I didn’t.” Alec crossed the room and planted himself in front of the only woman he would ever want, the only woman he had ever truly loved.

“I’m still here.”

Max raised her head, eyes shining with unshed tears.

Alec stared intently into her eyes and asked, “Maxie, if there was one thing in the world that you could have what would it be?”

Max’s heart began to pound. That was the same question she had asked him that fateful day up on the Space Needle, before her choices and sent them down such frightfully different paths.

“I want to be happy; we deserve to be happy,” she echoed the words of the past.

“I like that plan,” a new voice said with a chuckle.

The two Transgenics whipped around to find Axel and Mena standing in the doorway holding an alert little boy tight in her embrace. She smiled at the couple.

“This little guy wanted his ‘Dada’.”

Alec beamed. “Of course he does. It was his first word, too.”

Axel snorted. “It’s his only word, man.”

“Shut up.”

“Never.”

Mena ignored the two men as they playfully bantered with each other. She was happy to have Axel up and about, even if he was moving a bit slower than he had prior to the attack.

Mena smiled brightly at Max. “I see he found you.”

“He was looking for me?”

She nodded. “You guys okay?”

The child latched on to Mena’s a few strands of hair and Mena winced. “He’s got a good grip.”

“Want me to hold him?” Max offered with arms outstretched to the boy. Kaie immediately released Mena’s hair and looked at Max, head cocked sideways. He put a finger to his plump little lips and then pointed it at her and stated,

“Mash.”

“Mash what, little guy?” Axel asked with a grin, ruffling the little boy’s soft blond curls.

“Mash!” he repeated, clapping happily.

The occupants of the room fell silent in wonder. Kaie, oblivious to adults’ shock, leaned forward, reaching chubby hands towards the brunette.

“Did he just…?” Axel asked incredulously.

Mena giggled, handing the squirming toddler to her friend. “Looks like someone’s got a crush.”

Max laughed and rubbed noses with the boy, making him squeal in delight.

Grinning, Alec draped an arm across Max’s shoulders, pulling Max and Kaie into his chest and whispered in her ear,

“That’d make two of us.”