Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel...unfortunately

Summary: Alec finds the cure, and Max gets freedom... but from what? M/A, OC, AU from LATR

Chapter 1: Prologue

Max stood in TC's central headquarters, looking at Sam. It was strange to think that there was a whole other person walking around with her face, her body. She knew that they all had twins, Alec and Ben were living proof, but it had never really clicked that that meant there was another one of her too. Maybe she had never wanted to think that there was someone else walking around with her face, and body, and everything. She still had trouble some days, accepting that Alec was Ben's twin. As she looked behind her, to Joshua, she saw Alec approaching. For some unknown reason, she felt better knowing that he was back in TC.

'Score anything?' she asked, walking over to him.

'Jacked an SUV from some, uh, gangster guys outside a strip club.' He looked up as he handed her the keys, and gave her his trademark smirk. She felt her stomach give a tiny lurch, but pushed it aside. She gave him a smile in return.

'Thanks'

'It's gonna be a long ride to Canada. She's got some explaining to do.' Alec said, as they looked over to Sam, who sat on an old couch, talking to her son. Alec thought to himself, even though she was a completely different person to Max, he could still totally see the family resemblance – namely, the bitchiness. Although he had to admit, it suited them both very well.

Max interrupted his thoughts, saying 'I appreciate this.'

He looked back at her, and smiled. 'Well, anything for a friend…or a clone of a friend.' And with that he walked over to where Joshua and Luke were standing, while Max turned to go over to Sam. A clone of a friend? Is that how he sees them? As clones of us? But he's 494, and Ben was 493 so does he think that he's Ben's clone? What do I care anyway?

'You're all set' Max said, handing over the car keys to Sam, who just looked at her.

'If you're expecting a thankyou, forget about it. None of this would have happened if it wasn't for you.' Was the only response Max got. But she understood. She was starting to understand more, what it had been like for everyone after they had escaped, especially their twins. She remembered when the night that she had told Alec about Ben, how guilty she had felt and how he had simply held her, let her cry. Now she thought about how hard it must have been for him, 6 months in Psy-ops, checking to see if he was going to start killing people at random. Yet he had never said anything, not since that first time in her cell. So she just looked at Sam and said 'You're right.' Just at that moment, Alec, who couldn't help but overhear, walked by on his way out and said 'You know, if Manticore hadn't gone down, you wouldn't even be with them right now. And you know who took it down' and with that he gave a slight glance at Max, before walking out.

'Not bad.' Sam said as she watched Alec walk outside. With a quick look at her husband and son, she turned and followed him out. 'Hey, Alec'

'Uh, Max? No, Sam. What's up?' He said as he stopped on his way to where his bike was parked next to Max's now damaged Ninja.

'I just… Well, I guess you've told Max some of what happened to us back at Manticore, after they left. 'Cause when I was talking about it, she wasn't as surprised as I thought she would be.'

'Yeah, it came up once or twice. So? I know we blamed them for everything back at Manticore, but it wasn't their fault, you know? They left. Maybe part of us was just jealous, 'cause they did what we never could. I don't know, and honestly, I don't really care anymore.' Alec replied, in a rare moment of honesty. But as soon as he was done he gave her a typical Alec smirk.

'I just don't understand how you can't care. It just doesn't make sense! You know better then anyone else. You got the worst of it, yet you sit there defending her.' Sam said this last bit with incredulity in her voice. Alec just looked at, and shook his head.

'You just don't know her, Sam. You don't know what she's done. You know how many times she's saved my ass? And half the time, I never even say thank you. But she still keeps doing it. All for the sake of family – and with everything I've done to screw up her life, I still don't understand how I manage to fall anywhere near that category.' He looked up at the sky, as if looking for an answer and then he looked back down and stared Sam straight in the eye. 'I know you wanna hate her, but take my advice. Life's a whole lot simpler when you just let it go and realise it was never their fault. Now that that's in the open, I'm gonna go back inside, cause I also know that I wasn't made for these kinds of heart to hearts, as touching as this has been. Good luck with your family' And with a grin, he walked back inside.

Max walked out of the head quarters of TC looking for Alec and she saw him talking to Sam and started towards them, but stayed hidden in the shadows when she realised what they were talking about.

'It just doesn't make sense! You know better then anyone else. You got the worst of it, yet you sit there defending her.' She heard Sam say, her voice full of disbelief. It made her remember a time a few months earlier when she had fully come to realise what life at Manticore had really been like after they left. She remembered Alec, sitting alone at the bar, completely quiet and so out of character.

'I would, see, but you wouldn't understand. You can't understand; you weren't there. You ran. You and your little rugrat brothers and sisters. You think life was rough when we were ten? A little schooling, a little brainwashing, some manoeuvres outside? You think that was tough?' he had asked her

'Sucked pretty hard' was how she had replied, not understanding.

'Take it from me. Later on, it got a whole lot worse. But you did what you had to do. Then you tried to forget. And when you couldn't forget, they had ways of making you not care.' He had said, with such bitterness in his voice, and pain, that Max almost shuddered just imagining what they had done to him.

Remembering what he had been through, she waited to see how he would reply. She heard him say 'You just don't know her, Sam. You don't know what she's done. You know how many times she's saved my ass? And half the time, I never even say thank you. But she still keeps doing it. All for the sake of family – and with everything I've done to screw up her life, I still don't understand how I manage to fall anywhere near that category.' He paused briefly, and she too wondered when he had become such an important part of her life. But she didn't have time to consider this any further because he continued 'I know you wanna hate her, but take my advice. Life's a whole lot simpler when you just let it go and realise it was never their fault. Now that that's out in the open, I'm gonna go back inside, cause I also know that I wasn't made for these kinds of heart to hearts, as touching as this has been. Good luck with your family.'

She laughed softly at this. It was such a typical Alec manoeuvre, to brush off anything remotely honest, or human, with a joke. She saw Alec move back towards the building, and she left the shadows and walked over to Sam.

'Hey, I think your little boy's looking for you. And I think your husband is just about ready to get out of here. Even without the others, I think Mole would be enough to scare any ordinary' she laughed as she said this, thinking almost fondly of the giant lizard man.

'Yeah, well we should probably get going. So, sorry about the whole 'trying to kill you thing'. No hard feelings?' Sam asked her, half joking half serious.

'I was about to ask you the same. Sorry. We didn't know. Honestly, if we had, we would've come back for you.' Max looked at Sam honestly, not wanting to let her leave until she'd settled this.

'Yeah, well, I guess sometimes you just gotta move on, put things behind you. Anyway, thanks. Look after yourself.' And with that Sam walked towards the building, and her family. Almost as an afterthought, she turned back to Max and said 'Oh, and I'd keep 49 – Alec around if I were you. He's pretty stuck on you, and he's a good guy. Better then most.' With this as a parting, Sam turned and walked out of Max's life and into her new one with her family.