Ryder Adams (corpuscles) wrote in city_limits, @ 2009-04-16 23:56:00 |
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Current mood: | mellow |
Entry tags: | alec reed, faith lehane |
Take A Ride With Me
A day off after working a six-day week and Alec was enjoying it; he'd slept in late and then thrown on some casual clothes before rummaging out his riding jacket and his house keys, intending on putting miles of Chicago behind him as he let the bike out on the roads.
He'd gotten about four blocks before he realised that there was no way that the amount he had in the tank would actually last him long enough to make this great expedition. Alec swung into a gas station and stepped off the bike, making sure to kick out the stand so it didn't end up falling over ... he hated ruining its paint.
Alec rubbed his fingers through his hair as the other one fed fuel into his bike, green eyes watching the pump until he was sure he would have enough for an outward and return journey. "That'll do," he muttered, easing the pressure on the trigger on the mechanism itself, hearing the momentum slow until the pump went silent. A couple stray droplets of petrol hit the asphalt beneath his boots and picked up beneath the treads as Alec closed up the cover on his fuel tank, rummaging out his wallet to pay for the gas in the store attached to the place.
He eyed the line and took a deep breath, willing his impatient mood away. Alec had never been that good at waiting. He managed the first couple of minutes successfully, but then spent the next four tapping his foot and chewing on the edge of his thumbnail.
Come on, come on.
Having walked to the convenience store because of a sudden and inexplicable hankering for one of those hot dogs with the works, Faith's eyes grew wide as she saw the line of people waiting for who knew what. The Slayer had never seen so many people at a convenience store before -- it was enough to make her wonder what the big deal was.
A quick glance showed there were no police officers present, so the thought of a robbery or attack were out of the question. There were no signs in the windows or out in front of the store telling of some massively crazy deal, so that couldn't be it, either.
What was the deal? All Faith wanted was a sandwich she probably shouldn't be eating anyway. Then again, Slayer metabolism had its advantages.
Noticing the familiarity of the figure standing in front of her with a tapping foot, the Slayer smiled a little. She never figured Alec to be the impatient type, but she guessed it made sense. When one was a doctor, he or she needed test results and the like five minutes ago ... which was ironic, since patients spent the majority of their time in hospitals waiting.
"Guess now ya know how the rest of us feel when we're in the ER," she joked, brushing a strand of brunette hair out of her face when the wind picked up for a moment.
It took Alec a moment to break out of his thoughts and realise he was being spoken to, but when he did he gave Faith his full attention. "Faith," Alec said, looking surprised. "Didn't think I'd be seeing you again." Which was true.
He picked up on her joke a few moments later, giving a small laugh and rubbing at the back of his neck. "Yeah, I guess I do, but I'd like to point out that when I occasionally cover that area of the hospital the waiting isn't very long at all."
Alec took a step forward, but unfortunately his legs were several inches too long for the small gap that had been created, and he ended up bumping into the woman in front of him. She was shortly put at ease by a very disarming smile and a sincere apology.
Moving forward when the line did, Faith's knowing smile grew a little. "I'll keep that in mind next time I get beat all to hell."
Part of the Slayer wondered if Alec knew what happened to her. She knew her arrest and subsequent release had been in the papers, and probably on television as well. Faith wondered if the national media had picked up on it as well ... surely, Alec knew something of what happened. The way the media worked anymore, one had to live under a rock or in Antarctica not to know what was going on.
"So," she added, "how ya been?"
"You do that," Alec said with a wink and a slow dimpled smile.
Briefly his mind flickered back to Jessica and the state she'd been in when he'd dressed her wounds and a part of him wanted to bring it up, but then decided to keep quiet. It wasn't any of his business.
"Me? Overworked, underpaid and worried. My housemate's got himself worked up into a state over his friend who seems to have done a complete disappearing act. Apparently, she missed a regularly-scheduled appointment and she's never done that. I swear, he's going to make himself sick with worry." He had in fact watched the news, read the papers and listened to the gossip at work about the Slayer who stood next to him; it would have been hard to miss it.
Alec rotated a ring on his thumb then looked at Faith directly. "Congrats on the release, by the way. With all the media about the supernatural in this world, people jump to conclusions, the whole afraid of what they don't understand." He turned his eye back to the line and shrugged his shoulders. "Nobody's perfect, we all make mistakes, and do really stupid things, doesn't mean we deserve to rot in prison for something they thought we did."
Faith's smile broadened. "Thanks," she offered, scratching the back of her head. "It was kind of a drag, being called a murderer when you know you didn't do it."
Never mind the fact that when people called Faith a murdered, it was actually true -- just not for that guy in the alley with a stake in his chest. But Alec didn't need to hear about all that. Not from her, anyway. The news probably dragged it up, citing it as "context" for her most recent arrest, so he probably new about L.A. and Sunnydale anyway.
But she wasn't going to tell him. The whole new city, new start thing. The whole purpose of meeting new people had been to have a circle of people who knew little and cared less of the Slayer's checkered past. To tell Alec about that would render the whole purpose moot.
Faith wondered if the friend Alec mentioned happened to be Kris. The whole thing Hayden told her about seemed off; Kris didn't seem like the type to just up and vanish for no reason. The Slayer didn't like that, and she hoped the other Slayer showed up soon.
"Your friend should do something," she said. "Like, maybe try to find her or somethin'."
Alec took another step forward and was wise enough to moderate this movement, to make sure he didn't bump into the woman again. He didn't think she would appreciate it happening twice. "A real drag, I'd imagine."
"I don't think he knows where to start. Tried leaving messages for her, but she isn't answering her phone." Alec slid his wallet away and then tucked his hands into the back pockets of his jeans, trying to ignore the fact the line hadn't moved at all.
Alec ran his teeth along his bottom lip, catching on the corner of it. "So, what're you up to today?"
"Starving. Got this hankering for one of those dogs." She rolled her eyes and gave the doctor a playful grin. "Yes, I know they're bad for me, but c'mon. Look at this figure."
Extending her arms to either side, twisted her hips each way for a second, teasingly giving Alec a look at her body. She was messing with him mostly, but she did recall how they seemed to hit it off the night they first met. Hell, now that she thought about it ... Faith gave this guy her number that night.
Only to never hear from him. What the hell?
An eyebrow arched skyward, and the Slayer poked Alec in the arm. Careful not to hurt him, just get his attention. "Ya know, if I recall ... you have my number."
Alec allowed his eyes a good look at Faith's figure and gave the Slayer an admiring smiling. "You still look just as good as I remember."
He eyed the poke and then lifted an eyebrow. "Hey, I left you messages, you never called me back. Granted, I was bitching about the weird guy who works in the morgue, but, still, that was just an excuse to call you."
Alec reached over and poked her in the arm. "So, the ball was totally in your court. I feel all rejected and stuff. What? I'm not hot enough for you?" He might have sounded serious, but his grin said otherwise.
The Slayer's face etched into a look of confusion. Glancing down at where her cell phone sat in her jeans, she frowned a little. "I never got any of those," she admitted, wondering if he actually had called and she never received them for some reason, or if he was trying to make it seem like he did.
Hell, Faith didn't know. She was never very good at this sort of thing.
"Oh, you're alright," she teased with a wink. "Being a doctor helps, I guess. means you got cash."
"Your phone clearly sucks," Alec stated, rummaging out his own phone and flipping it around so she could see the outgoing calls and sure enough there were a couple to Faith's number. "Maybe I should give you my number so we don't have this problem again in future?"
Let it never be said that Alec lacked confidence.
He laughed and smirked over at Faith. "So you're in this for the money, huh? Go figure."
Faith smirked, digging out her phone and flipping it open. "The money helps," she said. "Not like my job pays a lot."
Well, technically it did, but Faith realized that was because of a personal arrangement she had a few years ago with Rupert Giles than anything else. She knew Slayers weren't paid to be Slayers -- they just were. Arguably the world's most dangerous gig, and there was no paycheck and no benefits.
Boy, the Slayer hoped union groups never heard about that ...
"Alright, gimme your digits."
"Guess the good acts are supposed to make up for it," Alec mused. "Even if the general public doesn't always appreciate them."
Alec leaned over and spoke out his digits to Faith, correcting one digit with a gesture of his finger. "There, that's me." He looked up under his lashes and smiled at her, opening his mouth to say something when his phone buzzed. Alec looked at his message and frowned.
"Shit, still no word from Toby's friend Kris." He thumbed back a response with what little he could say to reassure the other man then tucked his phone away again.
"So, I expect one call from you at the very least, just so you know."
Sliding her phone back into her pocket, Faith frowned at the fact that there seemed to be no news regarding Kris. The more she thought about that situation, the less she liked it. She shook her head to force that out of her mind, though, when Alec spoke again, her face lighting up into a little bit of a grin -- but not too big.
Girl had to keep some of her cool.
"Count on it," she said. "Might give you a ring after patrol one night. Gotta warn ya, I like bein' out late."
Alec gave another smile. "That's fine, but you might get my answering machine if I'm working a late shift at work. Other than that I'm all yours." He let her make what she would of that as the line had finally cleared and he could pay for his gas, picking up a pack of gum at the last moment before turning to look at Faith. "You wanted a hot dog, right?"
He gestured towards the back. "And one of those for the lady." Alec looked at Faith again. "You wanna tell the guy what you want on it?"
All hers, huh? Well, then ...
"Everything," she said, beaming at the guy behind the counter. "Don't be shy."
Okay, that last bit was directed at both the guy fixing the hot dog and the doctor with whom she was conversing. If Alec was fancying himself as someone who could tease Faith, she was more than willing to play that game.
Besides, she couldn't help but wonder if he could keep up with her.
The guy behind the counter shared a look with Alec and laughed quietly to himself, leaving Alec shaking his head. Once the hot dog was ready, Alec took it from the guy and handed it to Faith, paying for his stuff along with the hot dog in question.
In the hand-off, he got a bit of mustard on the edge of his thumb and without much fuss Alec sucked the yellow paste off his skin, stepping out of line so the next person could be served. "Let's get outta here." Alec wandered over to the door and held it open for Faith, waiting for her to step out before he headed in the direction of his bike.
"Thanks," she said, passing through the door and peeling open the wrapping around the hot dog. Grinning at the sight of the dog smothered in mustard and relish and diced onions -- but not ketchup, as per Chicago tradition -- it took her no time to take that first ravenous bite.
She hadn't been slaying since early the night before, but Faith was still awful hungry.
Wiping the relish off the corner of her mouth with her thumb, the Slayer glanced at Alec again. "So, what's ..." Her words tailed off when she saw the bike, a bigger grin splaying across her lips.
"No way ... you bike too?"
Alec turned and grinned at Faith. "Yeah, had tons of bikes in my time. Only way to travel." Even if his folks hated it and kept trying to convince him to buy a nice safe car, screw that. He was in it for the freedom and the adrenaline kick.
"I was so fucking glad when I finally got a place to stay and I could get this brought here"
Halfway through her hot dog at this point, Faith kept a safe distance to ensure nothing from her semi-meal got on the bike. The shine was far too pretty to ruin, and the Slayer didn't want to be the offending party.
"I ride some," she said after finishing a bite. "Not much -- motorcycle's not that good for trackin' down vamps."
Alec nodded his head. "Can't imagine it is. Easier than a car, but still pretty loud and that would broadcast your presence to everything lurking in the dark. Not something you want to be doing."
He rubbed at one of his shoulders. "I was actually thinking about going for a drive, getting out of the city limits, that sort of thing." Alec turned his head and looked over at the Slayer. "If you've got your bike you could ride along if you wanted or failing that you can always jump on the back of mine, but I'm only asking under the assumption you'd have nothing better to do with your time."
Alec chuckled quietly. "Wouldn't want to set off knowing I hadn't asked, never know anything unless you ask."
Finishing her hot dog, Faith smiled and balled up the wrapper before tossing it into a nearby waste bin. Her bike was back at the apartment, since she'd decided to walk to the store. But the idea of riding along with seemed like one she could get behind.
Brushing hair out of her face again, the Slayer slid her hands into the back pockets of her
jeans. "I'm game," she said. "Promise I won't hold on too tight."
Alec smiled, pleased that she'd agreed to come along with him. Alec kicked up the stand and straddled the bike, slipping the key back into the ignition and starting it with a twist of the handle.
"Hold on as tight as you want," he said with a wink. "I won't break." He folded his arms across the top of the handles and waited for Faith to slide onto the back. Hopefully she wouldn't mind going fast, he wasn't able to drive any other way.