Chances

<snip>"What happens if you’re not around to save us next time Jay? What happens if Max gets in his way? What then?"</snip>

Alex observed the scene, feeling awkward even through his drunken haze.
“Cass...”
She looked at him, face furious and impatient. “What?”
“Jay's right. Let's not hurt anyone, eh?”
“But he-”
“I know.”
“He's a smegging danger and we need to get rid of him!”
“Yes he is, but think about it...”
He moved towards her, reaching from his re-shouldered blanket to put a calming hand on her arm, she snatched it away and narrowed her eyes.
“Oh, right, one shared evening in a vent-shaft and we're best buddies? Think again, Solvay.”
Alex raised his eyebrows “Uh.. ouch. And no, I just-” he noticed Jay and Katrina's curious faces and turned to them. “Er, it wasn't like that... by th'way.”
Katrina looked at Jay.
Jay coughed. “I.. whu. I didn't say anything.”

Alex turned back to Cass. “wanna take a walk?”
“No. I do not 'wanna take a walk'” she mimicked his voice. Wow. She was so angry. She reminded Alex of a livid cat.
“I want to tell you something.”
He tried putting a wing of his blanket around her, to try and guide her a few steps from the others but she pushed it away. “Get the hell off, you drunken idiot.”
He rolled his bloodshot eyes, a little more dramatically than he'd intended.
“Look. You're angry and pissed off. I get it.”
She snorted.
“I do get it. And I get that” he prodded Jaxx's buttock with his bare foot. Its firm muscle caused it to spring, satisfyingly. “An'... and a bunch of other stuff too.” His eyes drifted, tell-tale, Jay and Katrina's direction.
Now she was more like an ironing board than a cat. Stiff and tense. Fists clenched.
He gave her a Well? look. Then played his trump card.
“Wouldn't forget it... that's what you said...”
She let out a massive, irritated, sigh. “All right... All right.”

They walked a little way from the others, who were now rabbling away among themselves. Alex heard the words “relationship” from Jay and Katrina, “Justin” and “Seymour” from Jacky and Bedge and “Seymour” and “filthy” from Phi, Phil, Whitewolf and Efof.

“What is it, Solvay?” She humphed, but her face was more sulky than furious now. Her head was slightly downcast and she peered at him through her eyebrows.
“Do you want them to comden... comd.. condom.. con-”
“Condemn” she snapped.
“... Condemn... people because they're dangerous?” He gave her a pointed look before continuing. “Not so long ago you were in danger of being flushed from an airlock... Shouldn't we give everyone a chance?”
She lifted her head and glared at him, angry again now. Eyes burning with emerald fire. She hated what he was saying but...
Smeg, he was right.
She squinted at him. “You...”
He squinted right back and gave her a lopsided slight-smile. “... are annoying. Yep.”
“One chance...”
“Three chances...”
“Two... He's already had about eight.”
“Three.”
She sighed. “All right, three.”
She had no idea why she was listening to Solvay. She was pretty much his superior in all ways. He wasn't exactly the brightest LED in the circuit, she could run intellectual rings around him. Maybe, somehow, he knew what he was talking about though. She softened slightly and grumbled.
“It's just, he's so-”
“I know.”
“I really would have killed him...”
Alex's face fell into a serious expression again. He nodded slightly.
“... I know. That's one of the-”

But he didn't finish the sentence, because about then Phi let out a spine chilling scream.

They looked back to the water's edge. Bedge had collapsed, knocking Phi on top of Jaxx, where she was sprawled in a Bedge/Jaxx sandwich, face near Jaxx's bottom, hand trailing in the murky water. As a clean-freak... pretty much one of her worst nightmares.

<Bedge's circuits have gone dead.>