Title : Closer Than Expected

Fandom : Dark Angel/The Avengers/Fantastic Four
Characters: Alec, Max, Mole, Joshua, other Transgenics (some OCs), Steve, Tony, Bruce, other Avengers, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, other Fantastic Four members.
Pairing : eventual Max/Alec, no other non-canon relationships except between OCs

Rating : Mature (for some scenes of violence and torture - in the style of Manticore)
Word Count : just under 130,000

Spoilers : If you've seen to the end of Dark Angel - this takes place after that. It also takes place mostly after the Avengers movie (2012), although there are a few references to Captain America's discovery and his initial joining of the Avengers. It is also after the two Fantastic Four movies. It doesn't contain any major spoilers for either of them.

Disclaimer : All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.


Chapter 1

Alec sat in the apartment he was currently sharing with Joshua. Apartment was a very loose term but given that they'd both spent years living on Manticore's terms this was almost bearable. For the minute, Alec was home alone and he was thankful for the respite. He and Joshua had grown accustomed to each other, but without actual military protocols to fall back on, it was easy to end up feeling in need of space and time alone; something Alec had never really had growing up. It was strange in a way to think of needing it so badly now.

He hadn't been out in the world for long, but he'd grown used to things that ordinaries took for granted; space, food choices, entertainment choices. The space at Manticore had been at a premium and the only times he'd had anything resembling space had been during Psy-Ops trips or re-indoctrination. Come to think of it, he'd been almost jealous of Max when he'd seen her solitary cell when he'd been sent in as her breeding partner. Maybe it was because it had been so sparsely experienced in all those years that it had become the thing he relished most after his escape.

Choice of food. It hadn't been that the food at Manticore was so bad. For the most part, there was plenty and it was filling, but it was also boring and predictable – it served its purpose to fuel an army of super soldiers and nothing more. Outside he may well be faced with living in a depression, but at least out there he had some free choice and the option to follow cultural influences, which was something that had taken a while to get used to. Of course, like all the rest of the best that he'd found since Manticore, that too had been stolen from him by his incarceration along with the rest of the Transgenics in Terminal City. Now they were struggling to put food on the table at all. It didn't help. Without sufficient calorific intake, Transgenics became more aggressive, fighting for the 'lion's share' so to speak of what was available; their rational thinking became, well, less rational all round. Alec knew from experiencing both punishments and endurance testing during his time in Manticore that while aggression was one of the first signs a Transgenic was getting enough food to feed their high metabolic rate, it was swiftly followed by impaired planning and difficulty in executing orders, however simple. They became tired and vulnerable. He'd argued with Max (again) over the need to keep the raiding parties reasonably well fed, if they were to stand any chance of them not being caught during raids and any of the supplies they gathered actually returning to TC to be distributed. He wasn't sure that Max really understood just how difficult it was for some of those men to function and to move around outside without blowing either the operation or their cover, it just added all around to the stress. Alec didn't know how to explain it without it looking like he simply wanted more food for his own unit at the expense of others in TC. It wasn't that they as individuals deserved any better treatment than anyone else in Terminal City, it was that they needed to have their wits about them while moving around outside.

Pretty much the only solution he'd come up with so far was to have a regular supply of food that was adequate to feed them all. And that was always going to be easier said than done.

Reaching for the remote control, he changed channel on the small TV he and Joshua had in what passed for a living room. He'd grown to like the mindless mind-numbing trivia that was dispersed at all hours of the day and night through the TV. He'd had access to TVs while at Manticore, thought they were on to something good when he made it far enough up the ranks to gain regular access to the communal lounges where they could watch them. It was only once he was outside that he came to believe that everything he'd watched inside had been chosen specially and censored liberally. There was a whole world of stuff that he had no idea even existed, and he wasn't even thinking about the soft porn channels he could pick up even with this crappy TV.

He flicked through the channels again, finally settling on a news broadcast, with pictures of government and scientific personnel working in Arctic conditions. He felt an unwanted shudder pass down his spine at the thought of the extreme cold and wondered what the government was hoping to achieve in such a desolate area.

"Almost unbelievably, after all this time, it is thought that scientists working in the Frozen North have located a World War Two aircraft of Nazi origin. Initial reports suggest that this may be the final resting place of Captain America. A brave war hero, known worldwide for his daring solo rescue of men trapped behind enemy lines by Hydra forces, it is believed that Captain America, single-handedly stopped the Hydra leader known as Red Skull from carrying out a plan that would have changed not only the direction of the war, but the outcome and the life we lead today. We owe our freedom, to Captain America's brave actions in overcoming the Red Skull and forcing his aircraft down to crash in this desolate and isolated area, preventing what would have been the worst losses on US soil of the war. Although in the aftermath of the war, searches were conducted, no sign was ever found of the late Captain's final resting place until now. If reports are correct, we can expect them to find and free the late Captain's body so that it can be brought home for the proper burial the man, the hero deserves."

Alec snorted, "Fat lot of good a burial at home after this many years will do him."

The reporter continued, "Captain America was one of a kind. A brave, loyal, patriotic citizen of the U.S. in difficult times. The Captain was America's one and only super soldier. A man who was willing to risk his own life, not only on the battlefield but also in the scientist's laboratory to become more than just an ordinary man. Captain America was the prototype super soldier first envisaged by Dr Erskine, a former German citizen who brought his knowledge and research to the US early in the war after seeing firsthand the way in which Hydra and the Nazis wished to use it. He brought it over, developed it further, his aim to provide our country with a way to win the war effort and keep Justice and Freedom in our world. Dr Erskine, working with the creative technological genius of the late Howard Stark created the means to turn an ordinary man into Captain America."

"Yeah, 'cause we all know how much the US loves its super soldiers, how it treasures them and nurtures them and provides for them in their hour of need," Alec said bitterly.

"Unfortunately," the reporter continued, "the Captain America project despite its success was only able to be used once, as Hydra managed to infiltrate the project and destroy the research, killing Dr Erskine in the process. Never again would America see such a pinnacle of achievement in its hour of need."

The image on the screen flicked back to newsreaders in a studio and Alec continued to watch. "In other news tonight, three more Transgenic mutants were found in Seattle tonight. Set upon by mobs of angry Seattle citizens, this modern day blight of society was soon subdued and all three were given the justice they deserved. Popular opinion confirms the belief that the sooner our society can be rid of these scientific freaks the better our world will be, the safer we can sleep in our beds at night."

Tears welled in Alec's eyes as the camera zoomed in on the broken bodies of three more of his Transgenic kin lost to bigotry and unwarranted rage. "Fucking hypocrites," he yelled at the screen, his head roaring with the injustice of a world in which thousands of dollars of taxpayers' money could be spent on retrieving the body of the supposed first super soldier, while his modern day equivalent could be hunted down and killed and the perpetrators of such an atrocity would be lauded with praise and acclaim.

Anger overwhelmed him and he stood up, crossing the room and picking up the small TV and wrenching it from its power socket and hurling it through the window, before turning back to the chair he'd been sitting on, lifting it and swinging it to smash against the wall beside him. On and on he went, smashing everything he could lay his hands on before resorting to just kicking and hitting out at the walls, until he collapsed bloody, broken and exhausted, tears tracking down his cheeks as he fell into an uneasy slumber.

# # #

Joshua was uneasy. He'd left home earlier in the evening, leaving Alec slumped in front of the TV again. He had agreed to attend a meeting of artists and artisans. Most of them had been the so-called 'nomalies from the Manticore basements, experiments that had failed as far as the scientists were concerned, but who were stored so as to be utilized later for further testing. Some had gone crazy, losing their minds, while others had thrown their abilities into creativity. Joshua, between caring for those he could, had always found a way to draw. It wasn't until his time outside in Sandeman's house that he'd discovered a latent talent for painting. It was why he was here now, listening to all the suggestions for how they could improve their surroundings. If this was to be their home for the future, this was what they had to offer to their community. It made sense, Joshua wanted to be involved but there were more important things at stake. He knew that this was a desperate attempt by the people around him to be seen as contributing and earning their place in this new society, but he couldn't help but feel that it still wouldn't be seen as important or relevant by many of their neighbors. Times were hard, food was in too short supply and some of the more hard-line X5s were talking about only feeding people who deserved to be fed. They all faced the prejudice from the outside world, but it didn't mean that some of them weren't faced with it in here as well.

Joshua knew from his own experience that X5s had been trained not only to be superior and to lead but also to fear the 'nomalies. The threat when they were children of being thrown into the basement cells was enough to institutionalize the hatred some of them now bore for the Transhumans. He also knew they could learn to be different, as Alec had done, if only they were willing.

Much as he wanted to be involved in this project, he found it difficult to keep his attention on the discussions as his mind returned again and again to Alec and his concern for his friend. Alec was sinking into depression he was sure of it, becoming intense and even a little irrational in his ways of dealing with other people, particularly Max. Max didn't help matters, Joshua knew that. The two of them were stubborn, Max believing she knew best from her years of being outside and free and Alec believing he knew best from his years of dealing with the Xs and their different triggers. Alec knew what hunger meant from personal experience. Joshua had seen at a distant some of the tests that had been done on the X5s, but Alec was too stubborn, maybe even too proud to tell Max what he knew because she would want to know how he knew and having to admit to some of the torturous things Manticore had done was more than he was willing to do.

Max was too stubborn to believe that Alec knew what he was talking about without him proving it. How little she really understood about Alec's "And then I went to Psy-Ops" or "They tried re-indoctrination", how much he glossed over as if it were a moment of time passing that bore no further thought.

Alec would probably never remember that he and Joshua had met before Max, that more than once when Alec was younger, Joshua had sat outside the gates to his cell as he lay barely conscious inside surrounded by the worst of the mindless to add to his tortures. Joshua would sit through the darkest hours of the night telling him stories in barely more than a hushed whisper that Sandeman had told him first, or humming songs he had heard as a child before his father left, anything he knew to save Alec from sinking into the fear their position engendered. Alec wasn't the only X5 that Joshua had taken pity on, but he was the only one he'd seen since, seen free and known that even if they never remembered, it had been worth it.

The meeting was drawing to a close, a vote was being taken and Joshua cast his vote just wanting a decision to be made so he could make his way home, check on Alec. It didn't take long for them to decide and he was thankful for the good humor among them all, that fact that he got to deal with the easier natured of Terminal City's inhabitants. Democracy was easier when you weren't raised from infancy to lead.

He said his goodnights and made his way out into the dark streets hurrying as much as he could to make his way home.

# # #

As Joshua rounded the corner and came in sight of the building in which he and Alec were living, his eyes were drawn immediately to the TV lying destroyed in the middle of the thoroughfare. He looked up and saw the matching broken window, just as he'd known he would. He was thankful that the two of them had set up their home away from the busiest areas of Terminal City, carving out a few clear rooms in what had once been the office of a gym. Logan had told him that there had been a time when people wanted gyms near their places of work, so they could exercise before going home. The good thing about it meant they had a bathroom each, once Alec had figured out how to get water in again and given that they were surrounded by factories and offices, other areas, more obviously residential, tempted the rest of the Transgenics more.

Joshua liked the quiet, liked the space away from everyone else and it seemed to suit Alec well too. Alec wasn't as sociable as many people believed. Joshua had sometimes wondered whether the continued tests and reindoctrination had broken something inside Alec, making him a little prone to getting lost inside his own thoughts at times. He would put up a front, could act like everything was alright but Joshua had noticed that there was a lot more depth behind the façade than many people gave him credit for.

Alec knew the worst of how X5s could be treated, by the scientists, the military and by each other. Alec also had a core that ran through him of caring and kindness, concern for others. Joshua knew they tried to torture it out of him back at Manticore, then they'd turned his peers on him, calling him weak. Alec, Joshua knew, was anything but weak, but it left him torn between his nature and his upbringing. It was not a dilemma that was easily reconciled, particularly given the changing world he lived in.

Hurriedly, Joshua picked up the TV moving it out of sight, away from where other people's eyes would be drawn to it and then rushed up the stairs to their apartment. He fumbled with the key in the lock and let himself in, looking round for Alec, not sure what he might find. He took the fact that the door was locked as a good sign, hoping it meant that what he found inside was likely to be just Alec. A soft light glowed at the far side of the room and Joshua closed and locked the door behind him beginning his hunt for Alec. Not that it was much of a hunt. The X5 was curled up asleep, crammed into a tight corner between a salvaged cupboard and the wall.

Joshua crossed the room and knelt down beside Alec, taking note of the swollen and bloody knuckles and the dark shadows around Alec's eyes. Keeping just far enough back so as to be out of reach if Alec woke up swinging, Joshua gently called his name. "Alec. Alec, you need to wake up."

Alec stirred, grimacing as he moved his hands before finally opening his eyes. His eyes were sad as they settled on Joshua. "Hey big guy," he greeted gruffly.

Joshua smiled and moved closer, trying to get a hand behind his back to pull him upright. Alec accepted the help, leaning on Joshua once he was upright as they made their way through to the kitchen. "Umm, I guess I should say sorry," Alec muttered. "I kinda busted the TV . . . the window and did some damage to the wall."

Although the words sounded flippant, Joshua knew they were no such thing. "Not worried about things . . . worried about Alec," he said in reply.

Alec snorted, then said derisively, "Well, maybe that's where you're going wrong."

"No. Not wrong. Alec need Joshua's help."

Alec sighed, "Yeah, you're probably right." He looked down at his hands. "I probably can't fix these up so well on my own. If you don't mind. . ."

Joshua sighed. "Alec not understanding. Alec needs help, not with these," he waved at Alec's hands. "But with this," he tapped Alec's forehead with one finger. "Alec getting lost inside. Thinking too much."

"Max would disagree with you on that one," Alec said, tiredly.

"Alec doesn't explain himself very well to Max. Needs to tell her what he knows, not just think she should believe him. Max not like that. Max needs to hear and see the truth. She doesn't know what Alec knows. She didn't see what Alec saw at Manticore, not all of it."

"Well, maybe she should trust me," Alec said, bitterly.

"Alec different. Max different. Neither like other X5s. But Alec he knows other X5s, real Manticore X5s, needs to show Max how they are different." There was a moment's quiet as Joshua worked on cleaning the knuckles of one hand and then covering them before setting the hand on the table and laying an ice pack over them. "Alec need to talk to Max even when he doesn't like what he talks about."

Alec sighed, resignedly, "I'm tired, big guy."

"Not tonight. Tonight, Alec needs to sleep. Talk to Max tomorrow."

# # #

Joshua had stood in the doorway of Alec's room until he finally fell asleep, body relaxing and letting go of its stresses. He sighed as he closed the door, thankful that Alec had fallen asleep before the footsteps that he now heard on the stairs outside. He wondered if he could convince Max that they should go to hers to talk, or if he could claim to be on his way out. The last thing any of them needed was more misunderstandings and he looked at the state of the living room and knew that Max wouldn't see the pain, just the rage and lack of control. She wouldn't understand what had driven Alec to this. Joshua didn't know what the trigger had been, but he knew more of the pain behind it.

He opened the door before she got there and stepped outside. "Oh, Max!" he said, turning from locking the door to bump into her and pretending surprise. "You're here . . . ummm . . . going out . . . ummm. . ." He hoped it would be enough. He didn't really want to lie to her, but if he didn't misunderstanding would pile on misunderstanding until she and Alec couldn't talk at all without arguing. Terminal City's inhabitants didn't have time for that to happen.

"Oh, where are you going to at this time of night, big guy?"

He snuffled a half-laugh, "Uh, fresh air . . . outside. Like being able to move round, not like before."

She looked at him warily, then shrugged and followed him down the stairs. "I'll come with you. You know . . . you still need to be careful, Joshua. Not everyone here is . . ."

"I know," he said sincerely. "I know what some Xs are like, bred and trained for violence. Joshua careful, Joshua stay away from their areas. Still plenty of quiet in Terminal City. Space and room to move."

Max was quiet, walking at his side without difficulty despite the difference in their heights. "Joshua, is everything okay with you and Alec? I mean . . . we could get you a place on your own, you know, if Alec is bringing girls back all the time or something." Joshua could see that her concern for him was genuine, but wasn't sure that he could easily convince her that Alec really wasn't a problem. He wished she could trust Alec more. He could see when she watched him that she liked him, was maybe attracted to him, but all she seemed to concentrate on was the things that Alec had done wrong.

"No, no girls. Just Alec and Joshua, roomies. It's good. Good company. Joshua used to Alec, Alec used to Joshua."

"Okay," she said, "But if that changes. I know what Alec is like, so if it changes, you tell me and I'll make sure we find you somewhere decent."

"No, Max! Max doesn't know Alec, not really. Alec clever, Alec knows about Manticore, about Xs, about hunger . . . Max needs to listen to Alec more," Joshua took the opportunity to try and persuade Max to understand."

"You're saying I don't know about Manticore?"

"You know only little about Manticore. You know about outside world, Alec, he knows about inside world. You should listen, learn from Alec."

She rolled her eyes and he could see her frustration. "Right, sounds like a great idea. What about Alec listening to me and following orders? What about Alec toeing the line of what's best for everyone in Terminal City? He can't come and expect me to give more rations to the raiders at the expense of all the people in here. You can't think that's a reasonable request?"

"Alec knows what he's talking about. Manticore did experiments . . . X5 reactions to not enough food. Alec knows . . . Impaired judgment, slower reactions, hallucinations . . . Can't send people outside, expect them to work extra hard, burn more energy, more adrenaline and do job if have bad reactions. They get caught . . . then no food for anyone, more Transgenics dead, more X5s dead. No X5s, no one who can go outside, no one who knows what outside is like, no one left to blend in. Joshua can't blend in outside. Mole and Luke, same as Joshua. No good to get food."

"Everybody's hungry, Joshua. There isn't enough to go round and every time more people make it in, it's more mouths to feed."

"Priorities. Give them food to get more food. When more food, more X4 and 5 can go out and get still more, then enough for everyone. "

"Would you want to give up food and feed an X5? You think any other Transhuman is going to want to give up food for the X5s?"

Joshua shrugged, "Talk to Mole, won't like it. But he knows. Many Transhumans designed to last longer without food, some made to eat things other than just human food. X5s made to be dependent on food . . . control for ordinaries, keep X5s in line. Big problem, need to find solution quick."

Max ran a hand down her face as she tried to think of a better solution than the one Joshua was suggesting.

"You need sleep. Talk to Alec tomorrow. Go home, little guy."

She smiled at him, her hand resting against his arm. "I don't know that I can do what you're suggesting, but thank you for trying to help. It isn't fair on any of the other X series to prioritize X5s over them. I should talk to Alec, maybe if he'll listen we can figure out a way to solve this. Have you walked enough? Ready to go home and then maybe I can catch Alec tonight-"

"No! No talking to Alec tonight! If Alec home, Alec need sleep! Max needs to go home, not coming into Joshua's home tonight!"

Max was surprised at the vehemence in his tone and found herself backing off, agreeing to go home, acknowledging that she too was tired and needed sleep. Maybe if she did sleep, she would wake refreshed enough for new ideas.

# # #

Steve Rogers wasn't quite sure what to make of this new world he'd woken up in. So much had changed, there was little to make him feel like he should be there. Director Fury gave him a mission. Wanting it didn't come in to it, in the end it was all he had, the only purpose to being there. So he accepted and before long he was being 'integrated' into the world, given a fast track education that made him thankful that the serum had worked on more than just his physical body but had made learning new skills easier too.

Next on the to-do list according to Agent Coulson was meeting the rest of the 'team'. There was a certain emphasis on the word team that made Steve pause and wonder what exactly he was letting himself in for. When he mentioned 'super serum', Coulson tensed, prevaricated before settling on saying that wasn't exactly how the team had come about.

Steve pressed the point, demanding some sort of answer and instead found himself sitting in front of a desk and being told to 'read their files'. After all as Captain, he needed to know his team. So top of the pile was Natasha Romanov and an accompanying list of aliases. Her skills are impressive . . . very impressive, but it was another sign of the times that show how well trained and how much freedom she was given, something he couldn't imagine Peggy ever being given, no matter her strengths and intelligence.

Steve moved on through the pile to Clint Barton, Hawkeye, a long list of former employment and missions accomplished, but no sign of the kind of military background that Steve himself had, and yet again no sign of any experimental additions.

Bruce Banner was the first sign that the world was still trying to recreate something like Dr Erskine's serum. It reminded him, yet again, what a waste Erskine's death was. Seventy years later and the world didn't appear to have successfully repeated what he'd done. Despite all of the advances that Steve saw around him every day and if anything the world was more of a mess than in his childhood. Banner wasn't a soldier but he was a scientist . . . and a barely controllable monster. He wondered how he was supposed to maintain order, make an effective and cohesive team from such disparate personalities. There were still two more files to go and Steve dreaded to think what he'd find inside them.

Thor Odinson. Steve's first thoughts about the unusualness of the name were rapidly overcome as he continued to read and saw 'from the planet Asgard'. Well, if that didn't beat super-soldier serum, he didn't know what did. Reading through the file and seeing some of the 'acclimatization issues' that Thor was having, Steve couldn't help but feel a degree of sympathy. The man, or should he think alien? The man was clearly as out of his depth as Steve himself.

The first thing that struck Steve when he opened the last file was the name. Stark. He hadn't expected that, wasn't prepared to see it. It shook him up even before he started to read. It made sense that Howard would continue to be involved in the research into the serum, although Steve wouldn't have thought he'd have tried it on his son. As he read onward, Steve was struck by how different Antony Stark was to his father. Clearly what his father had started, he had been able to continue and expand, but the descriptions of his behavior were unnerving. For all Howard's brash forthrightness, his son came across as arrogant and foolish, regardless of what his achievements might have been. The biggest surprise though was to discover that far from being a super soldier, Tony Stark was a vigilante, a man who had designed a super powered suit, but was nothing special without it and his money.

Steve's inclination was to dislike him just from what he'd read, but he was a better soldier, a better leader than that, he reminded himself. A piece of paper didn't always convey the whole truth. He needed to give the man the benefit of the doubt . . . at least until he'd had the opportunity to see for himself what kind of man Howard's son was.