A/N: This fic is an alternative ending to the episode 'Hello, Goodbye' - Max/Alec. :)

Releasing the Ghosts

by Sorrow Reminisce

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"I knew it. I always knew Zack was out there somewhere, but you know, just my luck this guy Logan had to be the one to find him. Now he figures I'm going to go and do the right thing because I owe him...like I even care."

Logan stared helplessly as Max turned her back on him and strode out the door, leaving him alone to face his personal ghosts once more. He should have known she would turn to the one she claimed to hate the most. Isn't that the way it goes?

He knew their relationship had been drifting apart long before he stepped out of his car to witness Alec saunter away from Max with a satisfied grin that made his blood boil.

Logan's paused in his reminiscing to ask himself, what relationship?

Long nights of passionate pasta dishes and gratifying pre-pulse wine could hardly qualify as a love affair. Hell, even before the latex gloves there had been a barrier of falsity between them. He just wished he could work out why…

Think about it, lets see what past actions triggered fate to turn on you huh?

Like the Ghost of Christmas Past, Logan felt his conscience pull him into bygone days, to the times he had used information on Max's siblings as a bribe in order to force her into helping his Eyes Only cause.

{{"They would have used surrogate mothers to carry you to term after the in-vitro work. If I can track one of them down..."

"What's in it for you?"

"Your help." }}

She had needed someone to look up, and he had used her for his own personal gain; he'd taken advantage of the emotionally messed-up and lonely '09 escapee beneath the leather and tough girl attitude.

And look at you now - look at what you've become?

Logan made his way down the hallway and into the bathroom. He stood before the mirror and ran his hand over four day old stubble, grimacing at the dark circles beneath his eyes.

His mind turned to the Snow White of this story, the face that had stolen the magic from his mirror - Alec.

He couldn't help but compare himself with him. Alec… genetically engineered to perfection, just like Max. Chosen as her breeding partner to create the ultimate offspring. Forever firing Max up with his antics and banter, causing her eyes to alight in a way Logan never could. He had been jealous of him from the moment he first stepped into his house with a gun in his hand and a smirk on his face.

And for good reason.

And what does the future hold for you now Logan?

The ghosts of his conscience taunted him with their blatancy. He knew where this conversation was heading. Shaking his head, Logan blinked and drew his eyes into focus - upon the empty glass in his hand, the empty bottle on his desk. He laughed mirthlessly at himself, at having realised his mistakes all too late. And now it seemed he was breaking down. Collapsing inwardly against himself. Imploding.

His conscience posed the question that he couldn't avoid, nor could he answer. What did the future hold for him now?

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Max heard Alec approach her from atop of the Space Needle. She told him she wanted to be alone, but she was glad for the company. Glad to have a fellow transgenic to share her feelings with at last. Someone who could understand. Someone who would never question her, would never look at her in fear when it seemed her back was turned.

""So, you got any deep thoughts you want to share? Any, uh, profound realizations about life?""

She pondered the question; right now, all she could think of was Logan - and the time she had wasted searching her soul for a fragment of love to share with another.

For so long, she had been unable to find that love, she had begun to wonder if she was even capable of feeling such a thing. It finally dawned on her tonight, why she had so often stared at Logan, searching his eyes for something that was missing within herself, missing within him, and finding nothing.

She had been searching the wrong pair of eyes.

""Yeah. Love sucks.""

They sat together in silence for a while, content in their new-found intimacy, feeling no need for words to bond them, merely taking comfort in the presence of each other. On a level that transcended any need for speech.

But finally, Alec could suppress his curiosity no longer. He knew something had changed between the two of them, and that something had changed between her and Logan. But he wanted to hear it from her - to know for sure.

"Care to elaborate on that Maxie?"

Letting out a sigh of long suppressed emotions, Max turned to him and smiled at the cocky grin she had come to know and…

"Love sucks when you think you have to hide who you are to deserve it. Love sucks when you've spent over a year searching for it in the wrong place."

Max paused, searching Alec's face for a sign; a sliver of encouragement. He met her eyes and tentatively wrapped an arm around her. She leant into his embrace and rested her head against his shoulder; closed her eyes to savor the strength in his embrace.

After a while, Alec gently pushed Max back so that he could turn her towards him, tilting her face so that their eyes were inches apart, their lips separated only by the few words that remained unspoken between them.

"Love sucks when it strolls into your cell and declares itself your mate and in reply, you kick it across the room huh?'

He was taking a risk saying this, and so he tried to lift the tone of his voice so he could fall upon a tease if she were to throw his words back in his face.

Silence descended, as if the whole world lay in trepidation of her reply.

Max didn't know what to say, she didn't know how to close the gap between them with words. And so she chose not to. Words could wait.

Leaning forward, she brushed her lips against Alec's, feeling herself sinking into their softness as perfectly as a hand would fit into a… no, she didn't want to be thinking of gloves right now.

Stunned by Max's spontaneity, Alec didn't know how to respond. He had never expected this moment would ever come. He had never allowed himself to believe. Drawing back, eyes filled with doubt and disbelief, he asked in a voice husky with desire and trembling with emotions that had been locked away for far too long, "What about Logan?"

"Logan?"

When Max had walked away from Logan tonight, she had felt an immense burden lift from her. Never more would she ever pretend to be someone she was not, never more would she hide herself beneath Pinocchio lies. She couldn't help but reach up and stroke the satin softness of Alec's cheek, basking in the contact with skin as perfect as her own. "I realized tonight, that Logan is the one I wasted my time on for so long."

She saw the hesitation in Alec's face and she kicked herself for causing him to feel so much doubt. Cupping his chin in her hands, she pressed her lips upon his once more and heard him groan as he let go of his fears and fell into her kiss. His arms enfolded her, drawing her closer pulling her against him until she thought they would become infused forever - and she smiled inwardly to think that for once, Manticore had finally done something right.

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Fin