Title: Harm's Way
Author: Bent137
Chapter: One
Rating: R, Violence, Language.
Genre: Angst, Humor
Pairing: M/A Friendship with undertones, M/L angst
Summary: Max finds out how Seth came to die, and she's none too pleased.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything at all to do with Dark Angel, if I did it would still be on the air.
Author's Note: First, Thanks to Adrolien for taking a chance an unknown and new writer and betaing. This is a response to a challenge posted at NWP. It's the "After Seth" challenge posted by Vanessa_TaleWeaver, and includes spoilers for the entire run of the show and the first book "Before The Dawn."
Challenge: Here are the parameters:

1) Can be set anytime season 2, after freak nation, or in an alternate universe.

2) Alec and Joshua must help Max work through the fall out. OC would be nice too, but that's not compulsory.

3) Sketchy must make an appearance, in which he shows he's not as dumb as he usually acts. (long or as short as you want.)

4) Max must confront Logan about not telling her about Seth, and they need to have a rip-roaring fight.

5) Someone needs to point out to Logan that the deal he made with Max was extremely heedless of her safety, given what happened to Seth.

6) Logan cannot be portrayed as stupid or maliciously selfish. Narrow-minded, blinkered, and not nearly as accepting of Max's special abilities as he pretends to be, sure!

7) One of Max's other siblings must be mentioned. Living or dead, real-time or flashback, mentioned in passing or full-blown guest appearance - anything goes.

8) Whether Max forgives Logan or gets together with Alec is up to you. BUT she cannot blame any part of this mess on Alec, and they must be friendly, at least, at the end. Hot love and steamy sex are always preferred, however.

9) Alec cannot be the one to tell Max about how Seth died. He can be the first to know, but he cannot be the one to actually tell her.

Chapter One: Leaving The City

The siege didn't last nearly as long as they had thought it would. Thanks in large part to Ames White. The coming had begun, and it had arrived quicker than expected. Dix had barely finished translating Max's ruins when Alec realized that it would happen that weekend.

They moved quickly, establishing groups of transgenics with specific purposes, gathering supplies, training, gathering intelligence. Meanwhile, Max had contacted Detective Clemente, she and Alec met with him secretly, and showed him their findings, explaining who was doing what and when.

Clemente was amazed of course, just when he thought things had reached their peak of weirdness, they'd gone and "built a whole new level of crazy," he commented with a heavy sigh and the look of someone who comprehended what they'd said, but didn't know where to begin.

They agreed the transgenics would lay low until the weekend, then when the time came, if they were needed, Clemente had said, they would be called upon. Max and Alec knew they would be needed, but agreed without dispute anyway, promising to be prepared.

They were prepared, well prepared. They'd brought down the cult and the city of Seattle had rejoiced, they'd been rewarded with a removal of the barricades. They'd earned their freedom, and while they still had a few pigheaded activists against them and their kind, most of the norms were glad for the transgenic assistance, as well as their patronage when they came to their businesses.

They were being treated normally, and Clemente had clarified that, that sounded exactly like what it meant. If one of their kind was caught committing a crime, they would not hesitate to take them down.

Most of the transgenics still lived in Terminal City, in the short time there, it'd become a home to them. Now it was better than when they began. Almost all the transgenics took on jobs, legal jobs, and some of those jobs included construction, electric, and even plumbing. Their extra strength and speed giving them assistance with their jobs.

They returned to Terminal City and used their newfound skills to rebuild the place. Max had to admit it looked fantastic, she thought as she packed her bags. She and Alec were leaving Terminal City that day. They'd thought it over together, and decided they wanted to get back to their belongings, what few they had. As well as be closer to Jam Pony.

Part of Max was relieved to be returning to her old life, but she knew her new life would also be a part of it. It was a feeling she wouldn't trade for the world, and she knew she had many people she could count on now.

"Hey, are you ready to go?" Alec asked from her doorway.

Max looked up, "Oh, uh, yeah I guess." Her gaze swept the room, not seeing anything she didn't pack she zipped her last bag. She looked up at him, "Are you sure this is the right decision?"

"Yeah, for now at least, we can always move back if we need to. Everyone I've talked to understands our want to be closer to our jobs. Especially Dix and Mole since we are paying them to keep tabs on any information about Manticore and other transgenics."

Max nodded. "Alright, let's go."

Max and Alec left the room together. Heading for the gates. Max worried about the state of the rest of the transgenics though and how they viewed her and Alec's exit she was kind of happy about the decision to move back "home".

She'd be back at work, earning cash. She could hang with her friends at Crash. Things would almost be normal again. Plus it'd be a lot better now that Sketchy knew what she and Alec were.

What she didn't count on however, was her mind drifting back to one of the questions that had haunted her for a long time. The crisis' of the last few years may have pushed the thought to the back of her mind, but now that the siege was over it was back in the forefront of her mind. It may have happened years ago, before she met Logan, before Manicore went down and before Alec, but to her it was the most important thing at the moment. It was figuring out why her brother Seth died.