Breeding Partners, or Not!

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement had been intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: Thank you so much for reviewing the last chapter! I know, I know, it had been years since I updated! But here it is now, hope you enjoy it. It’s a bit longer than usual to make up for the delay!

Breeding Partners…or not - Chapter 4

(By elle6778)


Day 4


The cold expression on Renfro’s face mimicked the weather as she stared at the two transgenics in front of her in the training grounds. Alec kept his eyes locked straight to the front at some imaginary point, resisting the urge to turn to his side and throw his breeding partner a scathing glare. A scathing glare probably would not cut it. What that jumped-up chick needed was a serious lesson in discipline and maybe a stint or two in psy-ops, he glowered inwardly.

He wondered how Max would respond to the question Renfro had just asked with regards to their copulation.

“Copulation unsuccessful, ma’am,” Max replied tonelessly.

Alec heard Renfro ask frostily, “Now, can you tell me why it was unsuccessful this time, 452?”

Max remained silent.

Bad move, 452, Alec thought, anticipating Renfro’s annoyance at Max’s silence.

“I’m talking to you, 452!” Renfro snapped.

“X5-494 passed out, ma’am,” Max finally said.

Alec wanted to roll his eyes. He would not have passed out if she had not cut off his air supply. The bitch.

Renfro raised her eyebrows and stepped directly in front of Alec. “Is that true, 494?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Alec gritted out. Better keep it simple, he thought.

“I see,” the older woman said thoughtfully as she eyed him and Max. Alec did not like the contemplative look Renfro had on her face. His instincts were telling him that she was plotting something which did not bode well for the two of them. Last time was the punishment box. What did she have in store for them this time?

And then Renfro continued, “Clearly something needs to be done to… assist the two of you in this mission. I will look into it, but in the meantime, carry on as scheduled.”

Every single alarm in Alec’s head went off. Shit, now he knew for sure it was not something good. Renfro could not even be bothered to punish them, so what was she up to? Alec gritted his teeth, pushing back the overwhelming urge to shout at Max for landing them in more trouble.

And the fury he was feeling towards her now was nothing compared to how he had felt last night when he realised that she had been playing him, tricking him into submission. He had been suspicious at her sudden turnabout, but he had never expected her to do what she had done. It was an understatement of the century to say that he had been shocked to be so rudely choked from his highly aroused state.

Tonight, he would not allow himself to be so easily duped again. The mission was his priority, and he intended to complete it once and for all. With luck, he might even manage to keep Renfro from dragging him back to Psy-Ops.

He knew that Max would definitely not cooperate, so he would have no choice but to just do it the only way he could. Without her consent. It was for the best, he thought to himself. She had to know that there could be no other outcome to her stubbornness.

His mind set, Alec focussed his attention back to the morning drills.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Max joined the rest of the transgenics lining up in two lines at what she recognised as the sparring area at one end of the training grounds.

She flicked her eyes momentarily in Alec’s direction. He was standing in the line opposite hers with some of the other transgenics, his hands loosely clasped behind his back, his attention fixed on the pair sparring in front of them. The image of the perfect Manticore prototype.

Max did not know what she had expected from Alec after what she had done last night, but it was definitely not the calmness he had exhibited to everyone this morning, including her. It seemed unfair that she was the one who had to feel shaken while he carried on as if nothing had happened.

Well, he was not the one who had to be forced into some stupid breeding programme, she thought. Of course he was carrying on like normal. He was probably waiting for tonight to complete his mission. Forcefully, she thought in disgust.

Yeah, Max. He definitely forced you last night, a voice sounded in her head.

Max frowned. Last night was different. She had to make him lower his guards to knock him out. The guy was better trained and physically stronger than her, much as she hated to acknowledge it. But he was still a guy, hence somewhat susceptible to feminine manipulation. Max had counted on that last night. And it worked like a charm.

Not that it actually helped when it came to Renfro.

Renfro’s interrogation unnerved her, and Max did not like it. The woman was plotting something fishy. Why else had she let the two of them off so easily this time? The whole thing just did not make sense.

The drill sergeant’s voice interrupted her thoughts. Max turned her attention back to the space in front of her to find a male transgenic pushing himself to his feet. Max saw him glance at his opponent out of the corner of his eyes and a grateful smile flitted across his lips, too brief for the sergeant to notice. His sparring partner gave him a curt, almost imperceptible nod before he walked back to the gap in the line-up.

Max’s brow went up. She was beginning to think that those who had remained behind in Manticore had their emotions all erased and their humanity completely squashed, but if what she had seen so far was any indication, she might have been wrong.

Before she could analyse her observation further, the drill sergeant called out, “Next! 452 and 494.”

Max froze. He’s got to be kidding, she thought edgily. Alec was probably dying to show her how thoroughly he could beat her and the sergeant had given him the perfect chance. Great!

“X5-452! Step forward now!” the sergeant yelled when she failed to move.

Max straightened her spine and left the line, walking towards Alec. He was already in the sparring area, his feet apart and his arms held loosely at his side, appearing deceptively relaxed. But Max could see the sharpness in his eyes and hear the measured evenness of his breath, the telltale signs of his readiness for the fight.

The moment the drill sergeant gave the go-ahead, Max and Alec began to circle each other.

“So, what dirty trick do you have up your sleeve this time, 452?” Alec asked in a low voice, just enough for Max to hear it.

Guessing that it was Alec’s way to distract her, Max let his comment slide without replying. Instead, she kept her attention focussed on him, trying to gauge his opening move. Distraction was something she could not afford.

“Nothing to say, 452? Have to say that that’s a new one,” Alec continued to taunt her.

Max bit her tongue to stop herself from retorting.

“Hey, don’t try too hard. You can explode from all that pent up feeling. Let it out. You know you want to,” he said, raising an eyebrow.

Clenching her teeth, Max gritted out, “Shut up and fight, jackass.”

Alec smirked and continued to circle her. “Tsk, tsk, sweetheart, there’s no need for name calling.”

“There’s every need when talking to someone like you. And don’t call me sweetheart,” Max retorted, irritated at the perpetual smirk on his face.

“That’s harsh, especially coming from someone who’s supposed to be my breeding partner. Note the ‘supposed’. I can’t remember the last time we indulged in some breeding activity. Anyway, don’t you think that being your partner and all, I’m allowed to show you some…erm…signs of affection?”

Max could not help it. She snorted. “Yeah, right, dick-head. Like you know anything about that. I didn’t realise that Manticore had introduced lessons on something called ‘emotions’. Or did you skip that class?”

Alec adopted a wounded expression. “You love to hurt my feelings, don’t you? I’m being sincere here. Right from the bottom of my heart.”

Rolling her eyes, Max said, “I bet your heart is so deep that you’ll need like a couple of decades to get to the bottom of it. Now if-”

“452! 494! This is a sparring session, not a date. Now, commence sparring unless you’d like to pay a visit to the box,” the drill sergeant interrupted them, sending some of the other transgenics sniggering. Turning his attention back to the rest, the sergeant snapped in annoyance, “Eyes front!”

Max took that opportunity to lunge towards Alec, hoping to catch him off guard.

But he was too fast. In a blink of an eye, he sidestepped her axe-kick and made a grab for her foot. Max managed to spin around, crouching lower to sweep Alec’s feet from underneath.

He did not stay down long. Jumping back up, Alec blurred towards her, delivering a hard backhand to the side of her head. As her head snapped back, Max twisted out of the path of his sidekick, cursing under her breath. The hit to her head burned where his fist had connected with her cheekbones.

Springing off her bent knees like a cat, Max bounced off the ground, looking as if she was running in mid-air, as she headed straight for Alec’s head. She grinned as she saw Alec stepping to the side just as she swung her legs in the same direction. His eyes widened a little in surprise before her booted foot contacted with his chest, sending him sprawling to the ground with a loud thud.

As she landed, she heard a collective sharp intake of breath from the surrounding transgenics. Suppressing a satisfied grin, she watched as Alec pulled himself to his feet, his jaw tightly clenched.

“Not bad, 452,” she heard him say softly. Grudgingly, she realised.

Max just raised her brows in reply.

And then, before she could comprehend what his intention was, Alec blurred at her. She raised her hand to block his uppercut just in the nick of time. But the next thing she knew, his fist contacted with her midsection, knocking the wind out of her.

Doubling over, Max staggered back as she glared at him murderously. Damn, the idiot got some strength in those fists of his, she thought irritably.

But Alec was not done yet. Before she could straighten, he came at her with a spinning kick. Max tried to move out of the path of danger, but she was not fast enough. Although she managed to avoid a full-on contact, his kick still managed to catch her left arm, right where her limb met her body. Max squeezed her eyes shut as a sickening pop sounded just before she landed on her right side.

“That’s enough. 511 and 452, proceed to the infirmary,” the drill sergeant said, much to Max’s relief. “The rest of you report to weapons training after your showers. You are expected there at 1130 hours.”

She looked up to find Alec’s hand in front of her, his face blank of any emotions. She was suddenly inundated with a variety of feelings; anger, frustration, embarrassment and pain being the dominant ones.

Not wanting his help, especially considering that he would probably taunt her about it non-stop, she ignored his hand and deliberately looked away. Swallowing her groan of pain, she used her right arm to push herself up, barely hearing the murmurs from the crowd surrounding them.

Gritting her teeth against the pain in her left shoulder, Max joined another X5 who sported a bleeding surface cut on his head, also headed for the med bay. She did not bother to look back to Alec.

As they made their way there side by side, Max looked up in surprise when the X5 spoke.

“Hey, so you’re the infamous 452, huh? I’m 511,” he said casually.

Raising her eyebrows, she retorted, “What is it to you?”

Looking genuinely surprised, 511 held his hands up. “Whoa, there’s no need for that tone. I’m just making conversation. It’s quite a walk to the med bay, you know?”

Eyeing him warily out of the corner of her eyes, Max said tightly, “Forgive me for not being all happy and chirpy. A dislocated shoulder doesn’t do much for my mood.”

To her surprise, the X5 laughed, shaking his head. “No, I guess it doesn’t,” he said. And then, sobering up, he said, “494 should have held back a little.”

Max felt her hackles rise. Did they have such a low opinion of her that they all thought that he should have gone slow on her? Outwardly, she gritted out, “I can handle it.”

Obviously noticing her annoyance, 511 said calmly, “I’m not suggesting that you can’t. But as an unspoken rule, we don’t spar for real, we just try to make it LOOK real so that the sergeants leave us alone. What 494 did today was just an accident. He didn’t really mean it.”

Max stared at him, disbelief written clear across her face. “And I suppose that cut of yours is an accident too.”

511 shrugged. “Happens sometimes. I grazed it against a sharp piece of stone when I went down. 228 didn’t foresee that, and I don’t expect him to,” he explained. “Just like what happened with you and 494,” he added pointedly.

“I doubt it,” Max muttered under her breath. She guessed that what 511 said about holding back was true. After all, she had seen it with her own eyes when the pair before her sparred. But as for Alec, he probably had done it on purpose to pay her back for last night, that idiot.

A curious look on his face, 511 asked, “What makes you think that?”

“Long story,” Max replied shortly. Lengthening her steps, she turned into the wing which housed the med bay. The last thing she wanted was to tell 511 what had been happening during their ‘breeding’ sessions. The whole thing was messed up enough without having it being spread around the facility as fodder for gossip.

“Hey, wait up,” 511 called out just as he caught up with her. Lowering his voice, he asked, “Has this got anything to do with him being your breeding partner?”

Max stopped short. Swinging around to face him, she replied in a clipped tone, “No.”

511 rolled his eyes. “Okay, okay, I get the idea.”

Max glared at him.

“Look, I know you have issues with the guy, but don’t take it out on me,” 511 said, grinning.

Not bothering to answer, Max just yanked the door to the med bay open, keen on getting away from more of 511’s probing questions.

Once they were in the treatment room, both of them sat silently while the medics tended to their wounds.

As the nurse silently reset her arm, Max wondered how she was supposed to keep Alec at bay in her condition. Her dislocated arm would heal fast compared to any ordinary human, but she would still be weaker. And with Alec, she could not afford to be weak. She needed her full strength to deal with him.

With a sigh, Max resigned herself to coming up with other methods to thwart Alec’s intent that coming night.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The sound of military boots hitting the concrete floor at uniform intervals echoed through the hallway.

Alec’s lips compressed tighter as he approached Max’s cell. He was in no state of mind for any of her unreasonable resistance tonight. He was in a foul mood.

Ever since she had left the training ground that morning, he had been subjected to reproachful glares by quite a number of his fellow transgenics. Although these transgenics formed the minority of the population in the facility, Alec had still felt the effect of their reaction.

It was not as if he had intended to dislocate her arm on purpose. She should have ducked or sidestepped. Heck, she should have blocked. His intention was so clear that anyone could have seen it coming ages before his kick came into contact. The girl needed to be more alert.

Hell, why did he care anyway? Sparring had always been rough, whoever he trained with. It was what Manticore expected. It was what they were all trained to do. He was not about to make himself feel responsible for something which was not his fault. If Max wanted to blame anyone, she could blame Manticore.

Alec turned his head side to side, cricking his neck as he got to Max’s cell, subconsciously preparing himself for another confrontation. He suppressed the urge to groan in frustration as he watched the guard fumble with the lock.

Well, at least with her injury, maybe she would not bother to fight him off. Maybe she would finally let him complete this mission before Renfro decided to throw him into psy-ops as his punishment for inability to come up with results on such a simple mission. As it was, Alec was surprised that the blonde woman had not done so yet. She had been uncharacteristically tolerant of them. Normally, he would have guessed that she would send him to reindoctrination and replaced him with someone else. Renfro must really want their particular mix of DNA for Manticore’s new generation of transgenic kiddies.

As the door swung open, Alec stepped in warily.

Max was sitting cross-legged on her bunk, her back leaning against the wall. Her left shoulder was bandaged with a strip of white cloth. She stared straight at him with an unreadable look on her face.

Deciding to break the silence, he said awkwardly, “How’s that shoulder?”

Max raised her eyebrows. “Great. Never better. Thanks to you,” she replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Alec frowned at her tone. “Hey, the sparring session was not any tougher than usual. If you have stayed like a good little transgenic, you won’t be having that dislocated shoulder,” he paused, and then added, “And if you hadn’t run away, we won’t be having this problem with unsuccessful copulation and by now, I’m positive that you’d be inseminated and I’ll be off to some other mission.”

She gave him a sweet smile which made him feel like throttling her, and then she said, “Oh, you poor thing. I feel so sorry for you, being stuck with little ol’ me. Hmm, how about this? I can give a good reference for you to get yourself another breeding partner.” Dropping the smile from her face, she continued stonily, “Because there’s no chance in hell you’re getting near me that way, dumbass!”

Alec shook his head slowly. The woman was just impossible. “Sweetheart, don’t flatter yourself. What makes you think that I want to be anywhere near you? This is just a job, my mission. OUR mission, actually. But you just can’t seem to understand that, can you?” he shot back.

Max jumped up into a standing position in front of her bunk, her hands on her hips. Glowering at him, she hissed, “And I can’t understand why it’s so hard for you to understand that the whole thing is just sick!”

“I’m done wasting time here. Let’s just get on with what we’re supposed to be doing,” Alec stated, striding towards her. It would seem like there was no way he could talk her into it, so he guessed that she left him with no other alternative but to proceed forcefully.

Stepping sideways away from him, Max snapped, “Back off, or you’ll be sorry.”

Alec smirked. He admired her resolve but what else could she possibly do to him this time? There was no chance that she would be able to pull the same trick on him again now that he was prepared and on guard. No chance at all.

“I promise you won’t regret it. Just don’t fight it,” he advised, and then followed his words with a feral grin.

Narrowing her eyes, Max spat, “Kiss my ass, you jerk.”

His face displaying an amusement he did not really feel, Alec said, “I would love to, sweetheart.”

He could feel her irritation emanating in waves from her. “Stop calling me ‘sweetheart’. My name is Max!” she practically shouted at him.

Unperturbed by her tone, Alec continued to advance towards her. “Don’t make this hard on yourself, Max.”

“I said, back off!” she repeated hotly, her hands clenched by her side.

He took another step and then suddenly blurred forward, trapping her in one of the corners. His two arms and his widespread legs pressed close to her, forming a human cage around her.

Ignoring her gasp of outrage and her struggles, Alec used his right arm to pin her left arm tight against the wall. Considering her injury, he was not surprised when she could not shake his arm off. But her right arm was definitely trying, he thought dryly as he pressed closer to avoid her hits.

He could feel the contours of her curvaceous body moulded against his. Unbidden memory of what had occurred the night before assaulted him. The feel of her lips against his, the feel of her breast against his hand, and the rest of the hot, steamy touches they had shared flashed across his eyes, clouding his mind even before he made any move to touch her intimately.

And his body responded instantly.

He swore inwardly at himself. This was no time to lose control. The hellcat in front of him would surely use that to her advantage, something he could not allow this time. The stakes were too high. The success of the mission and his survival in Manticore depended on him having a clear controlled mind, not one influenced by his wayward hormones.

Steeling his resolve, Alec grabbed her right wrist without losing hold of her left one, leaving one of his hands free to grab her top in his fists. With a hard yank, he tore her shirt clean down the middle, the sound of cloth ripping piercing the air. She was now struggling even harder, her legs kicking out in a futile attempt to dislodge him, but he had positioned himself in such a way that her kicks would not strike him.

“Get off me, you freak!” Max yelled into his ear.

Wincing at this new form of attack, Alec pulled his head back to look at her. “If I’m a freak, you’re one too. Now, just calm down and let me get this over with,” he said levelly, glad that his voice remained steady.

Baring her teeth at him, she spat, “You’re all sick, you, Renfro, Manticore…all of you! If you think for a minute that I’m going to calm down and let you rape me, you’re sadly mistaken. I’m not one of you, unfeeling and heartless soldiers, just treating this as another so-called mission. It is not JUST another mission, dumbass! It’s my body you’re talking about here. Mine! Not Manticore’s. Not yours!”

Temporarily rendered mute by her proclamation, Alec just gaped. He knew what he had to do, but a twinge of hesitance nudged him as her words penetrated. Unfeeling and heartless? Alec was not sure whether he should agree or not with that assessment.

Was he heartless? Was he incapable of feeling?

Heck, no!

It was simple; he had been given a mission. A mission he had to complete to ensure that his own interests remained protected in Manticore. Not to mention that he had to keep himself out of psy-ops and away from Renfro.

So why the hell was he hesitating?

t.b.c.


A/N: Yes, a cliffie. What will happen, I wonder? Please review and let me know what you think of this!