DISCLAIMER: All "Dark Angel" characters belong to James Cameron and Charles Eglee (Cameron Eglee Productions) and "Dark Angel" itself belongs to FOX.
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Tender Loving Care
By Valjean
This is a stand-alone story following the events of Max Allan Collins' DARK ANGEL novels SKIN GAME and AFTER THE DARK, and incorporating information revealed in D.A. Stern's THE EYES ONLY DOSSIER. -- author's note
*************************************
Alec kept his eyes closed for several long seconds, enjoying the last few spasms of his orgasm as they faded away, drowning in the sensation. Then, with one final thrust of his hips -- he was done.
"Did you say a hundred bucks, sweetheart?" he panted, looking down at the blonde girl lying beneath him as his heartbeat and breathing slowed.
She cupped his naked ass with her hands and smiled up at him. "For you, Alec, it's a free ride. You know that. Especially since it's been so long. Where've you been anyway?"
Don't you watch the news? he silently wondered, a bit astounded that she didn't know he was a transgenic who'd been living in Terminal City.
"Outta town, sweetie," he said. "On business."
"Are you back for good?" she asked, running her tongue up the side of his face. "Because if you are, I'll tell Mike at the Blowfish Tavern my special guy still gets in no cover charge."
She tried to keep him inside of her, but -- flaccid now -- he withdrew, ignoring the little pout on those too red lips. Then he reached down over the side of the bed, picked his blue jeans up off the floor, and took a wad of cash out of one pocket. Counting the bills, he handed her two hundred.
"I said it was free," Veronica protested, trying to get him to put the money away.
"Hey," Alec said. "A girl's gotta eat. 'Sides. I don't really need it."
"Since when doesn't someone need cash?" she asked, blue eyes widening at the very thought.
Alec counted out the rest of the bills, almost a thousand total. "Take it all," he said easily, putting the green into her hand. Then he looked toward the apartment door, his meaning clear. Beat it.
"Can't I stay with you tonight?" she cooed, curling up next to him and caressing his naked body with her hands. "If you're paying so much, I need to earn it don't I?"
"You already have earned it, sweetie," Alec said quietly. Then, sitting all the way up on the mattress, he took hold of her waist with his big hands, lifted her off the bed, and gave her bare bottom a little smack. "Scoot."
"But Alec--"
"Get outta here."
Veronica started to argue some more, but the cool look in those hazel-green eyes silenced the words. Picking up her panties, she wriggled into them followed by the little red faux-leather dress she'd been wearing at the tavern earlier that night when Alec had picked her up. Last were her high-lace boots -- which she didn't bother completely lacing.
"See you soon?" she said hopefully as she stood with her clothes still askew in the doorway.
Standing naked by the bed, Alec regarded her for a long moment, his eyes traveling over her voluptuous body as if he wanted to memorize every curve. Then he smiled. "Probably not," he said. "Ya see ... I'm gonna be leavin' again real soon. This time for good."
"By-by then," Veronica said sadly, blowing him one last kiss. "They don't make them like you any more." She closed the door.
"No, they don't, sweetheart," Alec said, nodding at the truthfulness of that observation, as he twisted the deadbolt into place. No. They. Don't.
He pulled on his jeans, but didn't bother fastening the fly, letting them ride low on his lean hips. He then padded barefoot to the bar that separated the living area from the small kitchen. There was a bottle of Scotch -- good Scotch -- waiting there for him, and the smile returned as the X5 poured himself a full glass of the warm brown liquid. Tilting his head back, Alec drained it in one gulp, grimacing slightly as the alcohol burned sliding down his throat, relishing the way it made him feel so alive, almost like another orgasm.
With glass in hand, and blinking slightly watering eyes, the X5 then looked around, counting down in his mind what he still had to do. There was pizza on the counter, too -- delivered an hour or so ago right after he'd come in with Veronica. But he wasn't really hungry, even though it was his favorite. Still, it smelled good. That was important for some reason -- that it smelled good ...
The young transgenic shook his head, and poured himself another drink, then moved to stand by the window where he could look out at the Seattle skyline. It had been a good idea ... coming back to his old apartment -- the one that had been Brain's and that he'd had to vacate during the Terminal City siege. Yellow police tape had still barred the doorway when he'd checked it out yesterday -- and the furniture and floor were dusty as hell -- but other than that, the interior was still quite livable. His old key even worked. Apparently the squatters had been intimidated by the police tape as well as the fact one of the fearsome "freaks" had lived here. The only thing missing had been his television set, stereo, and CDs, which he imagined the Sector Police had confiscated. The sheets had even still been on the bed ...
He could see the Space Needle from here, a broken beacon on the midnight horizon. Alec knew that if he looked harder ... used his telescopic vision ... he could also probably see part of Terminal City where his friends and family used to live.
Actually, they still lived there ... only they weren't his friends and family any more. Max had seen to that ...
Max. With a wry smile, Alec raised his glass to his "sister" in a one-sided toast. "You finally won, Maxie," he said softly. "You're finally gonna be rid of me for good." He closed his eyes again as the memory of that afternoon's events replayed in his mind, every sharp detail cutting deeply into his soul.
12 hours earlier ...
"We know you're the one who's been leaking information about Eyes Only, Alec. You told someone where he lived, didn't you?"
"Max, I don't know what you're talkin' about. I swear I--"
"Look!" 452 shouted, slamming a document down on the big oak table in front of him and pointing a finger at the print. "Isn't this your contact down at City Hall?"
"Yeah," Alec said, noting the name. "So what?"
"So, this is a registered letter that came to Logan's apartment this morning, only it was addressed to Eyes Only."
"Max, lots of people know Logan's supposedly a contact for Eyes Only. What's the big deal?"
"The big deal is that along with the letter were pictures of Logan at his computer desk doing an Eyes Only broadcast! Someone had taken them with a telephoto lens. Now, they're blackmailing Logan, saying they'll expose his Eyes Only persona unless he pays them a million dollars."
"Max, I don't even know this guy at City Hall. I've only talked to him once or twice."
"Well, I talked to him really good about an hour ago, Alec! He claims you're the one who told him Logan was Eyes Only, and that you also told him where Logan lived."
"Why the hell would I do that!"
"Because he promised you fifty thousand dollars, you son of a bitch!" she yelled. "Damn it, I ought to break your neck like I did your brother's!"
Alec backed away from her then, aghast at what she'd just said. "Max, I swear, I'm innocent. I didn't sell our Logan. I'd never--"
"Shut up!" she screamed. "Just shut the hell up!" Then she pointed to the door of the control center. "I want you out of here! Now! Out of Terminal City, out of Seattle, and most of all out of my life!" Then her voice had grown incredibly cold. "And if I ever see you again, Alec, I swear ... I will kill you."
And Max's accusations hadn't been the worst of it. The worst had been that everyone else in TC had believed her ... believed him to be a traitor ... even Joshua. True, he didn't have a sterling reputation with regards to honesty, but he'd never, ever turn against his family ... How could they--
Alec jerked his thoughts back to the present. He'd ridden his motorcycle away from Terminal City, fully intending to never look back ... to simply strike out on his own. But for some reason he'd stopped by here ... his old place ... on his way out of town. And then he'd started drinking, and the more he drank the more lonely he felt and the more futile his whole life seemed.
Which had ultimately led to his buying a bottle of his favorite Scotch on the wharf, picking up Veronica at the Blowfish Tavern, and ordering a triple cheese with pepperoni pizza.
And now that he'd had all of his favorite things in life, it was time to leave. There wasn't any place in the world for him any longer, and trying to make it on his own was just too damn hard.
Walking over to the kitchen counter, he tore a blank sheet of paper out of an old notebook and picked up a pen. Then he wrote: Max, I really didn't do it. There's still a traitor in Terminal City. Stay safe. I always loved you. Alec.
He set the empty Scotch glass on one corner of the message to anchor it down, then turned and spotted the backpack he'd brought with him. It was over by the bed. Crossing the room, he reached down and took out a Glock 65 pistol -- a gift from Mole last Christmas. Expertly, he checked the clip then looked around the apartment.
The wall by the old fireplace would do.
Bracing his back against the bricks, Alec thumbed off the safety, cocked the pistol, then slowly brought the barrel up and placed it firmly against his forehead, dead center between his eyes. There would be a mess on the wall from the exit wound -- blood and brains -- but the brick should absorb most of the impact. No danger of the bullet going through plaster and possibly wounding a neighboring tenant.
Briefly, Alec wondered who'd find his body. (He sincerely hoped it wouldn't be Max.) If it was the Sector Police -- summoned because of the smell of a rotting corpse -- Max might never know, although it's possible Logan with his contacts would hear of a transgenic body being brought to the morgue. They'd cut him up there ... or else pack him in ice and send him to forensics at the CDC. Ordinaries were curious about his kind ... his feline/human hybrid DNA ...
Either way, the parts of him that didn't end up floating in formaldehyde would be burned, his supersoldier genetics too valuable to remain viable in the world. A vision of Rachel Berrisford's flower adorned headstone flashed in his mind. There'd be no grave for X5-494 ... no place for anyone to visit ... no one to mourn him even ...
Maybe he'd hook up with Ben somewhere out there in the beyond ... or find Rachel again ...
Alec smiled a little at that thought. Then he took a deep breath (his last), closed his eyes, and whispered a single word, "Max," as his finger tightened on the trigger.
Which is when someone began banging a fist against the apartment door.
*****
Alec tried to ignore it ... squeezed his eyes more tightly closed ... but the moment had passed. It was no use. Lowering the Glock, he scowled toward the commotion.
"Alec!" a familiar sounding voice called. "Are you in there? Alec, I need help."
Setting the gun down on the kitchen counter, 494 walked to the door, unfastened the deadbolt, and opened it to find a very distraught looking Asha Barlow dressed in jeans, pink midriff baring t-shirt, and a dark blue hooded jacket standing on his threshold.
I'd forgotten how pretty she is, was the odd first thought that crossed the suicidal X5's mind.
Suddenly a little bit self conscious, Alec jerked the waistband of his unfastened jeans up on his hips, and ran fingers back through tangled dark blond hair. "Long time no see," he said in a clipped tone of voice. "Whatdaya want, Asha? I'm kinda busy at the moment."
Big brown eyes widened, and Alec realized how that -- considering his state of undress -- must have sounded.
"I'm sorry," she stammered. "I didn't think--" She was looking behind him, toward the empty bed in the alcove. "I wasn't even sure I'd find you here. They told me in Terminal City you'd left and they didn't know when you'd be back. I came here on a hunch."
"Well, you found me," Alec said with a forced smile and clenched teeth. "Who needs rescued now?"
"My mother," Asha said without hesitation.
Alec had been joking. She obviously wasn't.
"Your mother?"
"I know where she is."
"Your mother who disappeared six years ago?" Alec said, trying to wrap his mind around what Asha was saying. He recalled once reading something about Margaret Curran's disappearance while snooping through some Eyes Only records in Logan's apartment, but he hadn't memorized any details.
"What other mother would it be, Alec?"
"Yeah, right," he said, trying to shake off the pint of Scotch that was clouding his thinking.
Asha was looking at him funny, and then her nose wrinkled. "God, you stink," she said. "Have you been drinking?"
"Copiously," he replied honestly.
"Max kick your butt again?" the blonde girl said with a wry smile.
"In a manner of speaking," Alec sniffed. "She threw me out of TC ... thinks I'm a traitor, which I'm not. It's kind of a long story."
"Well, I'm not here to soothe your woes," Asha said crisply. "I'm here because I need some heavy duty help. You X5s are supposed to be all that and a bag of chips, right?"
Grinning in spite of himself, Alec swung the door wider and indicated she should come in. "Lemme get dressed," he said, heading for the bed alcove and his backpack. "And I'll see what I can do. After all," he tossed back over his shoulder. "It's not like I had anything better planned for tonight."
*****
"Why would Max think you're a traitor?" Asha asked as they walked Alec's motorcycle out of the building and into the street. "I thought you were her right hand man and more."
"I thought I was too," Alec said. "Although I don't know about that 'more' part. She's head over heels in love with Logan you know. And I'm not an idiot."
"Oh, come on, Alec," Asha chided him as she climbed on the bike behind him and wrapped arms around his waist. "You've always wanted Max just the way I've always wanted Logan. We're a pathetic pair, you and me -- lusting after people who can never love us."
"Who said anything about wanting love?" Alec griped. "I'd just settle for satisfying the lust part. Ow!"
Asha had pinched him.
"What'd you do that for?" he called back as he slipped the bike into gear and glided out onto the street.
"Because you're a pig!" Asha said, also raising her voice to be heard above the sound of the engine. "But I still need your help!"
Alec -- for the first time that evening -- genuinely grinned.
*****
She directed him to a place called "Dusty Sparkler's Tavern" in Sector 5.
"Hey, Asha, if you'd just wanted a drink I think I had some Scotch left back at my place," the X5 said as he swung a leg over the seat of the bike, all the while taking in the gaudy neon sign proclaiming Dusty's as some kid of tourist wonderland.
"We're not here for a drink. We're here to find my mother."
"You're gonna hafta to explain a little more," Alec said scratching his head. "Your mother's bein' held prisoner in a bar?"
"No," Asha said, her pretty face drawing down with worry as she looked up at the dark store fronts facing the streets. "She's being held prisoner beneath a bar."
Light dawned. "The city under the city," Alec said, his eidetic memory pulling up the article he'd read at Logan's. "The old streets were destroyed in an earthquake in the 1800's and the new streets were built on top of 'em. Up until '16 there used to be tours of the underground -- organized out of this very tavern -- but those stopped after the riots. Right?"
"Right," Asha confirmed. "And Logan and I always thought that -- after the underground was closed to the public -- the city moved in and built some kind of top secret prison down there. There are references to a 'Sector 55' and a contractor who specialized in underground construction."
"And a note supposedly from your Mom that surfaced last year saying something about purple light," Alec added, remembering more about the case now. "Why not just go to Logan on this?"
"Because Logan's world is pretty much limited to Max and the transgenics now," she sighed.
Alec could sympathize. The two lovebirds -- Max and Logan -- spent an awful lot of time together, and there was even a rumor they might move away from Seattle -- a rumor he'd unsuccessfully tried to pin Max down on.
"Why'd Max kick you out of TC?" Asha asked as they casually strolled down the street looking like a couple while really examining the sidewalk and building foundations for signs of some kind of secret entrance.
"Eyes Only got outed to the press and she thinks I was the one with the big mouth," Alec said tightly.
"Were you? The blabbermouth?"
"No. Which actually has me worried since that means Max still has a traitor in TC. But her highness won't listen to me any more so there's no use even tryin' to warn her."
Asha's hand on his arm brought them both to a halt. "I'm sorry," she said simply. "She hurt you, and I'm sorry."
"Why? Why do you give a damn about me?" he had to wonder. He grinned. "I dumped you, remember?"
"As if you and me could ever have gone anywhere," she said with a wry smile of her own as she shook her head sadly.
"Well, you did come home with me that one night," Alec had to point out.
"And nothing happened," she reminded him.
"Only 'cause you passed out on my couch."
"Oh, you mean if I hadn't passed out you'd have made love to me?"
"Absolutely," Alec declared with more conviction than he really felt.
"And you never asked me out again after that because?"
"In the sober light of day I realized it wouldn't have been fair to you," Alec said, speaking the truth. "My kind is a danger to your kind, little girl. We don't belong with you."
She looked up at him sadly. "Must be lonely, huh? Feeling as if you don't dare form a relationship with anyone? I mean, it's not like there are a lot of X5 females out there for you to hook up with, right?"
"Yeah," Alec admitted. "Sometimes it's lonely. But that's okay. I was raised to be solo. I'm fine."
"You don't look fine," Asha said softly. "You've got dark circles under your eyes."
"I haven't been sleepin' very well lately." Alec thought a moment. "In fact, I haven't slept at all in the last 48 hours."
"You were drinking alone, too. Not a good sign, Alec."
The X5 snorted. "What are you? My caseworker?"
Asha stopped, and brought him to a halt with her. "Look, Alec, I'm just saying that if you need someone to talk to ... or someone to, you know, be with I--"
He held up a hand. "Don't go there. I'll just get you killed."
"She really did a number on you, didn't she?" Asha said, her voice now filled with sympathy.
"Who?"
"The girl you once loved ... the one who ripped your heart to shreds, and I don't think it was Max."
"It wasn't," Alec said, surprised at himself for answering. "Max that is. It was -- someone else, and a long time ago. And she didn't rip my heart to shreds, I ripped hers. And then I killed her."
Asha blinked at that.
"I was an assassin, remember?"
"I remember. Alec ... I'm so sorry."
It was more than Max had ever said to him about Rachel, Alec realized. And far more sympathy than X5-494 deserved. They'd reached the end of the block. "I don't see any secret entrance," he remarked.
"That's because it's secret," Asha replied dryly. "Let's check around back, in the alley."
A pair of Sector Policemen were approaching, and Alec quickly put an arm around her shoulder. "Look natural," he said in a low voice, lowering his head to hers, wanting them to seem like an innocent couple making out in the shadows. His lips touched hers in what was meant to be a fake kiss -- but it wasn't, fake that is. The tip of Asha's tongue touched his. Opening his mouth wider and closing his eyes, Alec let her gently explore, reciprocating in kind -- the chasteness deepening into something a lot more sensuous than it was supposed to be -- and all of a sudden he found himself imagining what the rest of this girl's body would feel like ... felt himself hardening.
Dangerous thoughts ...
He was the first to pull away, breaking the spell.
"Alec--"
His finger touched her lips, shushing the words, even as hazel-green eyes that glowed slightly in the dark shined down on her face. "Asha, I'm not human."
"Yes, you are," she said adamantly. "You're human and a whole lot more. You're wonderful, Alec, and I can't believe you've let Max beat you down to the point where you don't have faith in yourself any more."
He didn't have an answer for that.
"What were you going to do tonight?" she asked. "In that apartment?"
"Kill myself."
Her brown eyes widened. He knew she'd guessed as much, but having the fact confirmed had to be startling.
"What a waste," she whispered, her fingers reaching up to caress the side of his beard-stubbled cheek. "What a god damned, incredibly huge waste ... You're so special ... so good and kind and strong. There's so much you could do with your life if only--"
"If only what?" Alec asked, honestly wanting to know her answer.
"If only you'd accept the love of someone who really cares about who you are and not what you are." And then she forestalled the smart aleck reply she saw in his eyes. "And don't give me a speech about how you were made in a lab and raised to be an assassin. I know your drama, Alec. I know the whole pity party."
"No, you don't," he said huskily. "Asha--"
"Come home with me, Alec. Come home with me now and let me show you why your life's still worth living."
She had hold of his hand, and God help him, Alec didn't want her to ever let go. "But your mother--"
"We'll come back tomorrow, in the daylight," Asha said. "We'll find her then. But in the meantime you need a little TLC."
"TLC?" He didn't understand ... had never heard the term before.
"Tender loving care."
*****
"Oh, God," Asha groaned as he pushed himself into her depths. Her hands clasped his back, nails raking skin. Panting hard, Alec focused on one thing -- pleasuring the woman beneath him. But she was intent on pleasuring him as well. Unselfish, giving, for once a girl wanted to make him happy rather than the other way around.
It was a unique experience ... a wonderful one. Tonight, Asha Barlow was all his. And -- as cum rose in his shaft and the blonde girl shuddered beneath him moaning his name -- Alec realized that his life just might be worth living after all.
THE END
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